The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.

March 28, 1964

The Hockey News March 28, 1964

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-07" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-07196/3260582-1-eng-US/f0010-072.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0010-07

IN THIS ISSUE

American Hockey League Summaries

TULSA, Okla. &mdash;Hockey returned to this city for two nights only March 9 and 11, but it left quite an impact.The St. Paul Rangers and Cincinnati Wings played two regularly scheduled Central Pro League games here and the two-night stand attracted 12,710 fans with a capacity crowd of 6,888 watching the second game.Tulsa will have a CPHL entry of its own in 1964-65 with Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL sponsoring the team, which will be known as the Tulsa Empires. &#9632;

CPHL Attracts 12,710 At Tulsa

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01806/3261068-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"></div><h2>SOLUTION NEXT WEEK</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-04454/3261061-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="1242" height="2804"></div> &#9632;

f0015-01

HOCKEY CROSSWORD

DETROIT, Mich.Gordie Howe remains the Old Master, the Merlin of Hockey.During a Red Wing power play in the final regular season game with Chicago, Howe had the puck behind the Black Hawk net.Goalie Glenn Hall was peeking around the corner and two Hawk defenders stood mesmerized as Howe shuffled the puck back and forth, waiting for a Red Wing to get in position for a pass.When Howe couldn&rsquo;t find anyone &hellip; and the Hawks stood like statues &hellip; Howe flipped the puck up on Hall&rsquo;s back and it rolled off into the net - - one of the few times a player has scored from behind the goal line.That was the game that right wing Floyd Smith scored the Wings second hat trick of the season, scoring the Wings&rsquo; first three goals, and he could have had a couple more.When the writers crowded around Smith in the dressing room afterward, defenseman Bill Gadsby broke up the room by loudly &ldquo;introducing&rdquo; the writers to Smith.&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve never had anyone near you all season,&rdquo; Gadsby kidded Smith. &#9632;

Howe Up To Old Puck Tricks

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0001-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0001-01190/3261182-1-eng-US/f0001-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">CHARLIE HODGE &hellip; Made The Experts Swirl</figcaption></div>&mdash;MONTREAL, Que.Montreal Canadiens &mdash; the team that was supposed to finish possibly out of the playoffs __ and little Charlie Hodge __ the goal-keeper many proclaimed as not good enough for the NHL __ today are sitting on top of the hockey world waiting to pluck the game&rsquo;s biggest prize, the Stanley Cup.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0001-02162/3261175-1-eng-US/f0001-022.jpg" title="f0001-02" width="279" height="419"><figcaption class="caption-body">Glenn Hall</figcaption></div>The Canadiens came charging through the stretch like a bull in a china shop with Hodge superbly in the forefront to beat out the Chicago Black Hawks for the NHL championship and set the stage for a shot at pro hockey&rsquo;s cherished and lucrative world championship.Canadiens won the race to the wire with the Hawks on the final night of the 1963-64 league season by dumping the New York Rangers 2-1 for the 10th time this season while the Hawks looked on helplessly. The Canadiens ended the schedule with 85 points, one more than the Hawks to win the NHL title and the $1.500 per player bonus money that goes with finishing first. The Hawks each pocketed $750.Toronto Maple Leafs ended third and Detroit Red Wings fourth to set up the Cup semi-finals playoffs with Canadiens meeting Toronto and Chicago squaring off againust Detroit.Montreal&rsquo;s gallant dash to the title aroused new hope among club followers that this could be the year the &lsquo;Flying Frenchmen&rsquo; return to the throne room with Lord Stanley&rsquo;s famed pewter. The last time the Canadiens won the playoff title was in 1959-60 against the same Leafs they&rsquo;ll face in this year&rsquo;s first playoff round.The &lsquo;59-&rsquo;60 season will long be remembered by the Leafs since it was the year of the &lsquo;short final&rsquo; as the Habs won the cup in four straight games.The big man in the Canadiens&rsquo; cup hopes is little Charlie Hodge, who certainly rates as hockey&rsquo;s surprise package of the year with his unexpected coup of the Vezina Trophy, the considered property of Chicago&rsquo;s Glenn Hall.Hodge, who wasn&rsquo;t even in the NHL when the season started __ he was called up for the Canadiens&rsquo; 11th game when Gump Worsley was injured __ has made the experts swirl with his sensational goalkeeping this season. Even when most people were writing him off, diminutive Charlie Hodge was busily whittling away at Hall&rsquo;s seemingly impregnable Vezina Trophy lead. Hodge cut 18 goals off Hall&rsquo;s edge in the final 35 games and came out ahead at the finish 167-169.While many hockey observers consider the Canadiens&rsquo; feat of winning the title the highlight of the season, most were of the opinion Hodge&rsquo;s dramatic victory in the Vezina Trophy will have to stand out as the most thrilling event of the entire campaign no matter what lies ahead in the playoff round.<h2>Stanley Cup Dates</h2><h3>SERIES A</h3>Thursday, March 26 &mdash; Toronto at Montreal.Saturday, March 28 &mdash; Toronto at Montreal.Tuesday, March 31 &mdash; Montreal at Toronto.Thursday, April 2 &mdash; Montreal at Toronto.Saturday, April 4 &mdash; Toronto at MontrealTuesday, April 7 &mdash; Montreal at TorontoThursday, April 9 &mdash; Toronto at Montreal<h3>SERIES B</h3>Thursday, March 26 &mdash; Detroit at Chicago.Sunday, March 29 &mdash; Detroit at Chicago.Tuesday, March 31 &mdash; Chicago at Detroit.Thursday, April 2 &mdash; Chicago at Detroit.Sunday, April 5 &mdash; Detroit at ChicagoTuesday, April 7 &mdash; Chicago at DetroitThursday, April 9 &mdash; Detroit at Chicago &#9632;

f0001-01

Canadiens Eye Cup After Title Win; Hodge’s Vezina Triumph ‘Thriller’

Bobby Rousseau, who has just celebrated his third full season in the NHL by scoring more goals than ever before, is hungry for goals in the playoffs.The stylish Hab winger has yet to net the puck in a playoff encounter. He has three assists in 11 playoff games, over the past two years.Two of Bobby&rsquo;s assists came in the one contest. That was on April 3rd, 1962. when he set-up goals for Beliveau and Gilles Tremblay in a game against Chicago. Last year, he assisted on another goal by Tremblay against Toronto Maple Leafs.Rousseau, it&rsquo;s safe to say, would dearly love to go on a scoring spree in the present series __ and he just might do it. He&rsquo;s been the hottest goal-getter on the Canadien team in the last half of the schedule. Should Bobby&rsquo;s productive habits continue into the playoff rounds, he could emerge as a top sniper.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03595/3259905-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="616" height="613"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOBBY ROUSSEAU &hellip; Lots of Assists</figcaption></div>Other Habs are also on the prowl for their first playoff goal: and. some are looking for the first playoff point. Rookies like John Ferguson, for instance, are hoping to chalk up a score in this, their first playoff in the NHL. The same goes for newcomer Jim Roberts, and Bryan Watson if he sees action. &#9632;

f0002-03

Hob’s Star To Seek First Cup Play Marker

MONTREAL, Que. __Wilder Larochelle. 58. a wiry right-winger who played with Montreal Canadiens in the days when the great Howie Morenz was at his peak, died March 20.Larochelle first turned pro with Canadiens in the 1925-26 season but was traded the next season to Providence, R.I., of the old Canadian-American Hockey League.He returned to Canadiens in 1929 and stayed with them until 1936 when he was traded to Chicago. He retired in 1940 after playing one season with New Haven, Conn.During his tenure with the Canadiens. he played in two Stanley Cup playoffs. &#9632;

Former Hab’s Star Larochelle Dies

<div class="byline">BY GILL SMITH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01804/3259874-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="287" height="500"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gordie Howe</figcaption></div>MONTREAL, Que.A man who is a near-stranger to NHL playoffs will be guarding the nets for Montreal, when the chips go on the line this week.Charlie Hodge, the perennial standby, is making what amounts to his debut as a regular netminder in playoffs at the NHL level. His only previous experience was as a fill-in for Jacques Plante, in the playoff series of 1954-55. Charlie played part of four games, that time, in what was a highly unusual manoeuvre on the part of Canadiens. It involved a round-robin system, whereby Plante would play part of a game and be relieved by Hodge at regular intervals throughout the contest. The system was abandoned after a four-game trial.Charlie came out of it with an average of 1.50, having allowed six goals during his four-game stint in the nets. All told, however, he&rsquo;d put in little more than an hour in actual playing time, and that represents the extent of his experience in NHL playoffs, to date.What it adds up to, of course, is another challenge for Charlie, who is capping his most sensational year in the game. Since arriving as a hurry-up replacement for Gump Worsley, last November, Hodge has written a glittering success story in the Hab nets. When he took over, Canadiens had a goals-against average of 3.00, which he proceeded to whittle down, steadily. Playing behind an inexperienced defence, he has risen to new heights, this season, in his all-out battle for the Vezina Trophy.<h2>Charlie Facing Test</h2>If Charlie meets the challenge of the current playoffs as he met the test of the past season. Habs will have little to worry about. And, Charlie seems determined to prove that he&rsquo;ll stand up when the chips are down.But, while Canadiens were looking to Hodge to keep pucks out, they could look to Boom Boom Geoffrion to put them in. Going into his 14th consecutive playoff campaign, the Boomer has a couple of scoring marks that he&rsquo;d like to keep, or add to. As things stand, Geoffrion had scored more goals in playoffs than any other man new active. He also holds the mark for most game-winning tallies. among present day players. But, Gordie Howe is breathing down Geoffrion&rsquo;s neck in relation to both these marks; and the Boomer needs-geals to stay out in front.Geoffrion has netted 55 goals in 13 playoff appearances, to date. Howe has 48 in 15 playoffs. The seven-goal spread in the Boomer&rsquo;s favor is not too comfortable a margin, when the competition is being furnished by a Gordie Howe. Accordingly, Geoffrion will be hoping to increase his lead, if possible, in the upcoming series. It&rsquo;s a circumstance that could make him one of the more productive per. formers on the Canadiens squad.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02743/3259867-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="1810" height="1596"><figcaption class="caption-body">Habs&rsquo; coach TOE BLAKE is counting heavily on veteran winger BERNARD GEOFFRION in forthcoming Stanley Cup playoffs. Boomer is NHL&rsquo;s all-time goal-scoring leader in playoffs among active players with 55 in 13 post-season series.</figcaption></div>Neither Howe nor Geoffrion are close to the all-time record for goals in playoffs, which is held firmly by Maurice Richard. The Rocket scored 82 goals in playoff competition, and, in that respect, stands alone. But, the battle is on to determine whether the Boomer or Howe will occupy the runner-up position.As for game-winning tallies among present day players, the margin between Geoffrion and Howe is even narrower. The Boomer has 13 winning goals in playoffs, in 13 years. Howe has nine, spread over a 15-year span. &#9632;

f0002-01

Hodge Virtual Playoff Rookie, To Lead Habs Into Cup Round

<div class="byline">BY BOB HARRIS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01809/3260016-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="542" height="609"><figcaption class="caption-body">GLENN HALL Chicago &hellip; Goalkeeper</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02683/3260009-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="625" height="627"><figcaption class="caption-body">PIERRE PILOTE Chicago &hellip; Defense</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03462/3260002-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="494" height="618"><figcaption class="caption-body">TIM HORTON Toronto &hellip; Defense</figcaption></div>&mdash;MONTREAL, Que.The Chicago Black Hawks may not have won the National Hockey League championship but individually they were the big favorites of the fans across the country when it came to picking the all-star teams.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-0932/3259995-1-eng-US/f0003-092.jpg" title="f0003-09" width="328" height="445"><figcaption class="caption-body">Toe Bloke</figcaption></div>The results of THE HOCKEY NEWS 17th annual all-star poll announced this week clearly indicated the fans had eyes mostly for the Black Hawks, who lost the NHL title in a dramatic stretch race to the Montreal Canadiens.The Hawks almost pulled off a first team sweep, something unheard of in NHL circles. In all Chicago placed five players on the first &lsquo;dream&rsquo; squad and only defenseman Tim Horton managed to break through the Black Hawks monopoly to win a defense berth.The Hawks placed a total of six on the two teams, with Montreal and Toronto each earning two spots and New York and Detroit one each. The Boston Bruins again drew an all-star blank.The onesided voting for first-team members showed the fans decided to stick with the big names in selecting their first team members. Voting was more brisk than in other years, again indicating more and more fans are participating in the poll with each season.Selected to the fans&rsquo; first team were Glenn Hall of Chicago in goal; Pierre Pilote, also of the Black Hawks, and Horton, on defense; Stan Mikita, another Hawk and the NHL&rsquo;s 1963-64 scoring champion, at centre; Ken Wharram and Bobby Hull, a pair of Chicago stars, at right wing and left wing respectively.Picked to the second team were amazing little Charlie Hodge of the Canadiens in goal ; Harry Howell of New York and Chicago&rsquo;s big &lsquo;Moose,&rsquo; Elmer Vasko, on defense; Jean Beliveau of Montreal at centre; and Gordie Howe, the Detroit Red Wings great, at right wing, and Frank Mahovlich, Toronto&rsquo;s &lsquo;Big M&rsquo; at left wing.Beliveau, who completed a highly successful year as Canadiens&rsquo; top point man, won double honors in THE HOCKEY NEWS poll. As well as being named a second-team all-star, Beliveau was chosen as the NHL&rsquo;s most valuable player. Jacques Laperriere, the brilliant freshman defenseman of the Canadiens, was named the outstanding rookie of the year.Canadiens&rsquo; Toe Blake was selected as coach of the year on the first all-star team with Billy Reay of the Black Hawks named to the second team. Blake&rsquo;s feat in directing Canadiens to the title won endorsement from the fans.There were three repeaters on the first team this season. Hall, Pilote and Mikita were also named last season. For Mikita it was the third straight year he made THE HOCKEY NEWS first all-star team. Vasko was a repeater on the second team while Hull and Horton moved up from the second to the first team since last season.Hull, the Hawks&rsquo; &lsquo;Golden Boy&rsquo;, received the most votes in the poll collecting a total of 15.185. Pilote ran a close second with 15.095.Hall garnered 13,475 votes to win first-team honors from Hodge, who received 5,850 for his sensational performance in leading the Canadiens to the NHL championship.Pilote easily gained the first team while Horton had 9.935 votes. Vasko with 5.985 votes and Howell with 3,575 pulled in second-team berths.Mikita, the Hawks great scoring centre, topped all NHL pivotmen with 13,305 votes with Beliveau second with 8,555. It was strictly a two-man race between the two with no other centre was even close.Hull with 15,185 and Mahovlich with 9.850 also dominated the left wing balloting. Wharram. winding up the best season of his NHL career with 39 goals, received 12,620 votes while Howe was accorded 5.945 in the poll.It marked the second straight year the Black Hawks have monopolized THE HOCKEY NEWS all-star poll. Last season they won six out of 14 nominations even though they wound up without the Stanley Cup.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04270/3259988-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="639" height="636"><figcaption class="caption-body">STAN MIKITA Chicago &hellip; Centre</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-05155/3259981-1-eng-US/f0003-052.jpg" title="f0003-05" width="483" height="636"><figcaption class="caption-body">KENNY WHARRAM Chicago &hellip; Right Wing</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-06106/3259974-1-eng-US/f0003-062.jpg" title="f0003-06" width="640" height="638"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOBBY HULL Chicago &hellip; Left Wing</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-0770/3259967-1-eng-US/f0003-072.jpg" title="f0003-07" width="574" height="631"><figcaption class="caption-body">JACQUES LAPERRIERE Montreal &hellip; Top Rookie</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-0846/3259960-1-eng-US/f0003-082.jpg" title="f0003-08" width="587" height="585"><figcaption class="caption-body">JEAN BELIVEAU Montreal &hellip; Named MVP</figcaption></div><h2>How The Fans Picked Them</h2><h3>FIRST ALL-STAR TEAM</h3>Goal &mdash; GLENN HALL, Chicago Black HawksDefense &mdash; PIERRE PILOTE. Chicago Black HawksDefense &mdash; TIM HORTON, Toronto Maple LeafsCentre &mdash; STAN MIKITA, Chicago Black HawksR. Wing &mdash; KEN WHARRAM, Chicago Black HawksL Wing &mdash; BOBBY HULL, Chicago Black HawksCoach &mdash; TOE BLAKE, Montreal Canadiens<h3>SECONO ALL-STAR TEAM</h3>Goal &mdash; CHARLIE HODGE, Montreal CanadiansDefense &mdash; ELMER VASKO, Chicago Black HawksDefense &mdash; HARRY HOWELL, New York RangersCentre &mdash; JEAN BELIVEAU, Montreal CanadiensR. Wing &mdash; GORDIE HOWE. Detroit Red WingsL. Wing &mdash; FRANK MAHOVLICH, Toronto Maple LeafsCoach &mdash; BILLY REAY, Chicago Black Hawks<h3>MOST VALUABLE PLAYER</h3>JEAN BELIVEAU, Montreal Canadiens<h3>OUTSTANDING ROOKIE</h3>JACQUES LAPERRIERE, Montreal Canadiens &#9632;

f0003-01

Chicago Misses Sweep, Places Five On First Team; Beliveau Named MVP, Laperrière Leading Rookie

<div class="byline">By Ken McKenzie</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-01863/3260061-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="445" height="475"></div>&bull; VANCOUVER &mdash; CANADA HAS but four cities represented in professional hockey at the present time and unless a new arena is built very soon in this city the number will be reduced to three &hellip; Vancouver is the third largest city in Canada. It has the finest football stadium in the country. It also has the poorest arena of any city engaged in pro or major amateur hockey &hellip; As a result the citizens are staying away from the WHL games and fast losing interest in the sport as played in the Coast circuit, although they still maintain a keen interest in NHL hockey &hellip; You hear more talk about Montreal and Toronto hockey clubs than you do about any of the teams in the Western &rsquo; League &hellip; Max McNab, general manager-coach of the Vancouver Canucks, was far from pleased with the players the New York Rangers sent him this past season and he is visiting the Rangers HQ this week in an attempt to secure a better deal for next season &hellip; Ran into Rudy Pilous of the Denver Invaders while here and the former Chicago coach still rates as hockey&rsquo;s No. 1 story-teller &hellip; Rudy even managed to joke about the money Denver, which is Toronto&rsquo;s WHL farm team, is losing this year. &ldquo;Whenever Punch Imlach wants to know how a first place club can lose so much money, I tell him it&rsquo;s easy. Also to send along some more money because the game&rsquo;s just getting good.&rdquo; &hellip; First thing Rudy said to us was: &ldquo;Just the same as uptown. Only not so busy.&rdquo; &hellip; There&rsquo;s no doubt about it. The colorful Bohemian did a great job in leading the first-year Denver club to first place in the WHL championship race &hellip; Coley Hall is said to be trying to sell his interest in the San Francisco Seals &hellip; Bud Poile was so incensed at being replaced as coach of the San Francisco team that he is thinking seriously of picking up stakes and moving Eastward &hellip; But just where would he go? &hellip; He is still the general manager of the Seals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02819/3260054-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="315" height="484"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mox McNab</figcaption></div>&bull; GUESTED WITH Jim Cox of CKNW between periods of the Canucks-Seattle game here. Also on the program were Babe Pratt and Charley Rayner, two of the greatest players to ever wear a New York Ranger jersey. Pratt and Rayner along with Bill Juzda, all ex-greats with the Kenora Thistles Juniors, will attend a banquet in the Lake of the Woods city soon as plans are unfolded on the construction of a new arena for that one-time hockey hotbed &hellip; Pratt is as mirthful as ever. Kidding Scotty Milne, Rangers&rsquo; scout in this area, Babe said : &ldquo;Last week, Scotty went to a masquerade party disguised as a Rangers&rsquo; scout and he didn&rsquo;t look any different&rdquo; &hellip; One of the better players with the Canucks is Billy McNeill, formerly with Detroit of the NHL. Bill also does a fine job as a sales rep with Carling&rsquo;s and attends the weekly luncheons hosted by Carling Breweries Ltd&hellip; . Ran into Cyclone Taylor at the game here and the evergreen member of Hockey&rsquo;s Hall of Fame is past 80 and still looks wonderful. He wishes to be remembered to all his friends in Eastern Canada &hellip; We also appeared on Al Davidson&rsquo;s sports show over Station CKNW and with Ted Reynolds over the CBC network &hellip; Everyone telling me that Bill Libby&rsquo;s story on Seattle&rsquo;s Guyle Fielder was the best story ever written on the all-time scoring king of the Western League. This story appears in the March issue of HOCKEY PICTORIAL.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03715/3260047-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="261" height="437"><figcaption class="caption-body">Billy McNeill</figcaption></div>&bull; TOP price for a Stanley Cup playoff ticket will be the $8 charged by the Chicago Stadium &hellip; Toronto Maple Leafs will be the team to watch in the playoffs. The addition of Don McKenney and Andy Bathgate have made the Leafs a good bet to win their third Stanley Cup in a row &hellip; The current issue of Sport Magazine has an interesting story on Jean Beliveau explaining his struggle last season to overcome the tension that was sabotaging his great abilities. Says Jean: &ldquo;When I scored three goals in a game, the crowd would want four, five etc., always more.&rdquo; Hence the title of the Sport feature: &ldquo;Jean Beliveau: The Best Was Never Enough.&rdquo; All NHL fans following the Stanley Cup playoffs will want a copy of the brand-new Stanley Cup Records and Statistical Book. This excellent book contains all the records of Cup play and it&rsquo;s official as everything was taken from Official NHL Game Reports &hellip; Only costs 50 cents &hellip; Send to: Stanley Cup Record Book, Box 248, Montreal, Canada &hellip; Only a limited supply of these books on hand so you would be well advised to send today &hellip; Gene Osborn will broadcast the Detroit-Chicago playoff games on closed circuit TV to two Detroit theatres &mdash; Palms and Woods &mdash; on March 31 and April 2. Gene is a fine play-by-play announcer who handled the Red Wings games during the 1960-61 playoffs. &#9632;

f0004-01

PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>NEW YORK, N. YNew York Rangers, fat from one of their best money years ever, invited Red Sullivan to coach the Broadway Club again next season. Indubitably, the invitation will be hastily accepted.Batting 1.000 in the non-playoff League, Sullivan has led the Rangers to two 5th place finishes in the past two years. The latest Ranger edition finished conspicuously below the cherished .500 mark.Hardly depressed by such inanities, General Manager Muzz Patrick appeals enthused with Sullivan, win, lose or tie.&ldquo;Sullivan has encouraged more changes than any coach we&rsquo;ve had in years", said Patrick. &ldquo;He has fixed ideas about the kind of players he wants and we decided to go along with him.&rdquo;The first major change in Sully&rsquo;s regime was the trade of Dean Prentice to Boston for Don McKenney late in the 1962-63 campaign. The deal proved less than satisfactory to New York.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04613/3260092-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="299" height="434"><figcaption class="caption-body">Red Sullivan</figcaption></div>Early this season Sullivan inspired the dismissal of defenseman Doug Harvey and, later, the worst backline corps in recent memory. Finally, Andy Bathgate, the Rangers&rsquo; perennial super star, was traded to Toronto with Don McKenney.We finished fifth for three seasons with Bathgate, two seasons with McKenney,&rdquo; said Patrick. &ldquo;And good as they are I&rsquo;m sure we&rsquo;d continue to do so.&rdquo;Sullivan, who previously coached at Baltimore and Kitchener, didn&rsquo;t appear dismayed by Patrick&rsquo;s remarks. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be glad to be back, he said. &ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve accomplished a few things and there are some other things I have in mind, some mistakes I want to correct.&rdquo;At the start of this season, Sullivan spewed gloriously about the Rangers being the best New York representative in years. Many observers agreed they belonged in the playoffs and by late January, it appeared they were right.But when Sullivan guided his skaters into the homestretch they collapsed like a playing card castle and abysmally expired in an place, several laps behind with place Detroit.When Sullivan reassembles the pieces next season several of the current troupe will be missing. It is conceivable that among the defensemen, only Harry Howell and Jim Neilson will return, depending on deals Patrick can swing.But reliable sources indicate that center Don Marshall will retire. Just about anybody else, including Vic Hadfield &mdash; whose effectiveness diminished when Andy Bathgate departed &mdash; is trade bait for a good defenseman.Up front, the high-scoring &ldquo;French Line&rdquo; of Phil Goyette, Camille Henry and Rod Gilbert figures to return along with Bob Nevin and Dick Duff.The other bloke who doesn&rsquo;t have to worry is Sullivan who won&rsquo;t be traded. But one more fifth place finish may alter his hallowed status. &#9632;

f0004-04

Rangers Ready To Rehire Coach As Sully Ponders More Changes; Retirement Of Marshall Hinted

NEW YORK, N.Y. &mdash;With quiet perseverance and grim determination Harry Howell has conquered the toughest audience in North America &mdash; the Ranger hockey fans.It took the handsome defenseman more than a decade to do it but he finally was voted the most popular Ranger as well as the most valuable.Nearly booed out of the Garden for his phlegmatic but efficient technique, Howell won over Garden critics in the past few years merely by playing well.Others, like Allan Stanley, were traded before they could make the conquest. Don McKenney never really had a chance.&ldquo;McKenney is a fine player,&rdquo; said General Manager Muzz Patrick, &ldquo;but he had no future in New York because of the way he was treated by a small group of observers.&rdquo; &ldquo;Howell, another fine player, got the same sort of treatment but he never let if affect his play. Some fellows can roll with the punches, some can&rsquo;t.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05489/3260123-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="473" height="606"><figcaption class="caption-body">HARRY HOWELL &hellip; Wins Second Award</figcaption></div>Constantly teamed with mediocre defensemates, Howell has managed to excel and is rated even-money as second team All-Star. &#9632;

f0004-05

Howell Climaxes Big Year, Named Most Popular Ranger

<div class="byline">BY JACK BERRY</div>DETROIT, Mich.This was to be Larry Jeffrey s year - - Larry Jeffrey, the Red Wings&rsquo; new Ted Lindsay.Jeff is one of the Wings quintet of talented forwards 24 years old and younger who have put new zip into the club this season, particularly in the second half, a member of the Jet Set.But it hasn&rsquo;t quite been Jeffrey&rsquo;s year. It&rsquo;s been a year of frustration caused by injuries. the hindrance of a knee brace worn almost since the start, sore feet and a couple of headaches.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01801/3260178-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="284" height="442"><figcaption class="caption-body">Larry Jeffrey</figcaption></div>For a youngster, the game isn&rsquo;t all eating steaks, flying in jets, signing autographs and scoring goals.Occasionally there have been whispers that Jeffrey &ldquo;throws snow,&rdquo; backs off. doesn&rsquo;t dive into the corners.&ldquo;Some nights he looks like a star, other nights he might as well be keeping me company on the bench.&rdquo; said manager-coach Sid Abel.But Abel and Jimmie Skinner. the Wings&rsquo; chief scout and Jeff&rsquo;s biggest booster, hold firm in their prediction of stardom for the 23-year-old left wing from Goderich, Ont., the Wings&rsquo; new Ted Lindsay.&ldquo;There are some guys who wonder if he has guts,&rdquo; said Skinner pointedly, &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s got too much. I&rsquo;ve never seen him back away.&ldquo;That was one thing we were always on him for at Hamilton &mdash; not to take crazy penalties.&ldquo;Some say he&rsquo;s too cocky but I like that. I&rsquo;ve always said you can take some of that out of them but if they don&rsquo;t have it, you can&rsquo;t put it in.&ldquo;He puts fire in his line,&rdquo; said Skinner.Jeffrey is teammed with Norm Ullman and Floyd Smith, both of whom have been playing pro hockey for 10 years to Jeff&rsquo;s three and while proficient &mdash; Ullman has seven straight 20 goal seasons &mdash; neither can he considered a firebrand.&ldquo;Normie is a machine-like player.&rdquo; said Skinner, &ldquo;he&rsquo;s consistent and Smitty is pretty much the same way.&ldquo;But Jeff is unpredictable. He makes them skate and he&rsquo;s one of the better skaters on the club.&ldquo;You know, that&rsquo;s the way Lindsay was. Sid (Abel) and Gordie (Howe) were consistent but Teddy could go off like a rocket.&ldquo;The one thing about Jeff is that he goes into corners wide open &mdash; he&rsquo;s skating so fast he thinks he&rsquo;s the only guy on the ice and he&rsquo;s a perfect setup for these veteran defensemen. He&rsquo;s got to learn to protect himself more, get his stick and elbows up.&ldquo;A few more good, stiff cheeks will mature him and he&rsquo;s learning.&ldquo;Again, he&rsquo;s like Lindsay &mdash; when he&rsquo;s on the ice, they&rsquo;ve got to keep their heads up. Teddy might go along for a string of games and never touch a guy but they never knew so they had to keep watching. They couldn&rsquo;t just concentrate on the puck.&rdquo;So that part of it is fine. Jeffrey has the Lindsay temperament &hellip; but how about the Lindsay scoring?&ldquo;Jeff never was a high scorer in junior &mdash; 21 goals, 14 and 28 at Hamilton,&rdquo; said Skinner, &ldquo;but I think he&rsquo;s going to be a big scorer next season.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got a good wrist shot and he gets it away quick.&rdquo;And how about the Ted Lindsay comparison?&ldquo;I only saw Ted play once. I&rsquo;d just like to be half as good as he was,&rdquo; Jeffrey said.Skinner added that Eddie Bush, Jeffrey&rsquo;s coach at Hamilton, didn&rsquo;t think Jeffrey would be a pro because he wasn&rsquo;t thinking about it.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tell you one thing,&rdquo; Skinner said, &ldquo;you wouldn&rsquo;t be able to waive him out of the league. Any time anyone talks trade with us, they all want Jeff.&ldquo;I think he still might be in the convertible car stage, not matured, not settled down yet.&rdquo;Well, Jimmie, it looks like it&rsquo;s coming. Jeff is marrying hometown girl Sharon Somerville in June. &#9632;

f0005-01

Jeffrey’s Frustration Mounts As Injuries Cut Down Wings

<div class="byline">BY JACK BERRY</div>DETROIT, Mich.The darkhorse of the Stanley Cup playoffs is Detroit, a not unfamiliar role recently, and one the fourth-place Red Wings are doing so well in that they might take it all this time.Idle words? Maybe.But look at the second half of the current season. What club has been the best? Detroit.Or take the last six weeks. What club was the best? Detroit &hellip; easy.Look at the record. For the second half, Detroit went (18-12-5).For the last six weeks, the Wings had a sizzling (13-4-2) record.Sid Abel, despite a mountain of injuries, brought the Wings to their peak both physically and mentally in the second half of the season.The youngsters, five of them, gained confidence and experience and supplied the club with drive and zesty skating.The veterans, instead of being content with fourth place, were driving for third up to the final weekend.Gordie Howe, hindered in the first half first by an ankle cut, then by the quest for the goalscoring record and an assortment of linemates, settled into form in the second half.While Gordie&rsquo;s winning goal count was down to three, he set up the winning or tying goal a dozen times and again finished in the top ten in the scoring race.Norm Ullman, beset by a fracture in the first half and bruised ribs in the second, turned on a finishing blitz that enabled him to pass the 20 goal mark even though he had only four at the halfway point.Floyd Smith, sent to the minors for two months in the first half, found himself in the second and netted his first NHL hat trick at the expense of Chicago&rsquo;s Glenn Hall, all three of them coming on clean, well-drilled shots.The mid-February acquisition of defenseman Al Langlois in. creased the blue line efficiency, a weak spot, and the late February call-up of Irv Spencer supplied depth and dash.The Wings still aren&rsquo;t rebuilt the way Abel wants but he&rsquo;s been moving in more and more farm-developed players and the club is a better one than the one that dropped the first two semi-final games to Chicago last season and then whipped the Hawks four straight.Detroit was a tired club after the bruising games with the Hawks and couldn&rsquo;t stay with Toronto in the five game finals.There are some younger &hellip; and, granted &hellip; older &hellip; legs this time. There&rsquo;s also more time which should help players like Howe, Terry Sawchuk and Bill Gadsby.And this is a much better club than the one that eliminated Toronto three years ago and then went to six games before losing to Chicago in the finals.It&rsquo;s been nine years since the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup &hellip; this could be the year the drouth ends.&ldquo;If they keep skating, they I could do it,&rdquo; assessed Boston coach Milt Schmidt.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02685/3260209-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="511" height="678"><figcaption class="caption-body">FLOYD SMITH &hellip; Coming Into His Own</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0005-02

Red Wings’ Strong Second-Half Finish Sets Club Up As Playoff Dark Horse

<div class="byline">BY ROGER BARRY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-01895/3260247-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="297" height="443"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eddie Johnston</figcaption></div>BOSTON, Mass.The Bruins are just a bit of building away from being a contender for the Stanley Cup.And the rock on which they&rsquo;ve been re-building is Eddie Johnston.There&rsquo;s little doubt but that the key man on a hockey team is the goalkeeper. Johnston who has just completed his first full season as their regular goalkeeper, is a satisfactory key for the Bruins.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t find any fault with him on the basis of his work over the full schedule,&rdquo; said Lynn Patrick, the Bruins&rsquo; manager.&ldquo;As a matter of fact, Eddie exceeded the expectations of both Milt Schmidt and me. He has done such a good job that barring unforeseen circumstances we look sound in peal for next year and probably succeeding years.&rdquo;Johnston turned in the best goals-against average by a Bruins&rsquo; goalkeeper since Don Simmons in 1957-58. He had more shutouts than any Bruins&rsquo; goalkeeper since Terry Sawchuk in 1955-56.In addition, the personable Montreal native had more shutouts than any goalkeeper for a sixth-place team since Chuck Rayner had seven for the New York Rangers of 1948-49. and his goals-against record was the best for a sixth-place goalkeeper since the advent of the 70-game schedule.So the Bruins&rsquo; plans for adding strength for next season entail positions other than goal. And they may have the necessary personnel in their own organization.The Bruins finished up with veterans Tom Johnson, Leo Boivin, Doug Mohns and Bob McCord and young Ted Green on defense. Boivin sustained a fracture of the ankle shortly before the season closed, but the stubby Bruins&rsquo; captain plans to skate himself into playing condition this summer.The Bruins&rsquo; defense was improved and effective this season, if set fancy. It had six-man depth and versatility while Ed Westfall was here. Young Westfall will be back from Providence for another bid for steady work. So will 20-year-old Don Awrey.Schmidt has two-thirds of a scoring line established in Murray Oliver and Johnny Bucyk. There&rsquo;s a right wing position open on the Oliver-Bucyk line. Tom Williams was fine in the role two years ago, Gary Dornhoefer and Wayne Rivers were equally impressive there this season after Williams broke his wrist.Schmidt has big Orland Kurtenbach to center a line to be completed by two fast wings, one of whom may be rugged Forbes Kennedy. Kurtenbach&rsquo;s left wing for the last six weeks and a good one.The Bruins&rsquo; coach has a sound left wing in Dean Prentice, who must be placed with the right forward types. He also has Dornhoefer and Williams, who may be tried at center, his old position. Coming back from Hershey will be Bob Leiter, another young center of talent. Holdover forwards include Jerry Toppazzini, Guy Gendron and Andy Hebenton.But if the Bruins are not far from being a playoff team, picking the right players to make up the ground can still be tricky as well as difficult.New England hockey fans like some of their players with muscles which they do not hestitate to use. They won&rsquo;t encourage or support teams which are not aggressive, as they have proved in the past.In addition, new&rsquo; Bruins must of necessity have good speed, for as a team the Bruins are not fast. This season they had sufficient speed to slow down and skate with teams like Montreal, Chicago and Toronto, but it is doubtful that they can continue to do so if they lose any speed during the summer.There are several good National Hockey League prospects in the Bruins&rsquo; system at the professional level. It is possible but not probable that a graduating junior, like Ron Schock of the Niagara Falls (Ont.) Flyers, might jump all the way to the NHL.But at least there has been no talk around Bruins&rsquo; headquarters about the necessity of seeking a goalkeeper, and that&rsquo;s a change.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02724/3260240-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="1165" height="1703"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOMMY WILLIAMS &hellip; May Get Try As Pivot</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0006-01

Johnston Key In Bruins’ Future Plans

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BARRY</div>BOSTON, Mass. &mdash;The final assembly of cost figures has resulted in a change of plans for closed circuit television of Stanley Cup playoff games at Boston Garden.Walter Brown, Bruin&rsquo; president. announced the dropping of the plans when the cost of the project reached a reported $14.000 a game.&ldquo;The overhead would put the promotion away up in the risky class,&rdquo; said Brown, who had arranged for the showing of Montreal and Toronto games on a giant screen here.&ldquo;The initial cost would be considerably higher than the cost of putting on the Cassius Clay-Sonny Liston fight, just too much money for us to risk.&rdquo;The Garden&rsquo;s seating capacity for closed circuit showings would have been just under 12,000 customers. The Clay-Liston fight drew a capacity crowd here, several thousand prospective customers being turned away.Brown had also planned to use the television setup for the showing of playoff games on the road involving his Boston Celtics, the basketball champions. &#9632;

Closed Playoff TV Shelved In Boston

<div class="byline">BY HARRY MOLTER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02723/3260309-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="568" height="934"><figcaption class="caption-body">KEN WHARRAM</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01838/3260316-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="239" height="428"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chico Maki</figcaption></div>CHICAGO, Ill &mdash;The Chicago Black Hawks are hoping for a good performance by their &ldquo;little men&rdquo; in the 1964 Stanley Cup playoffs.Three seasons ago, in the spring of 1961. Pete Pilote, one of the smallest defensemen in the National Hockey League, set a playoff record for defensemen with 3 goals and 12 assists for 15 points. In the same series Stan Mikita. standing five-nine and 165 pounds, had six goals. Linemate Ken Wharram. at five-nine and 160 pounds one of the smallest forwards in the league, hustled all over the ice and added three key goals and five-nine, 178-pound Murray Balfour scored five times including a double overtime winner against Montreal.That was the year the third-place Black Hawks astounded the hockey world by ending Montreal&rsquo;s five year reign as Cup champions and went on to defeat Detroit in the finals.It was Chicago&rsquo;s first Stanley Cup triumph, in 23 years and &ldquo;little men&rsquo;&rsquo; Pilote, Mikita, Wharram and Balfour played mighty big roles.The next season the defending champion Black Hawks once again reached the Stanley Cup finals and again the &ldquo;little men&rdquo; played key roles.Mikita, in a losing cause, was the standout performer of the series as he broke Gordie Howe&rsquo;s playoff record for total points. &ldquo;Stash&rdquo; had another six goals and added a record 15 assists on his way to the record-breaking 21 points in 12 games.Wharram continued his fine two-way play and added another three goals as centre Mikita&rsquo;s hustling right winger. Pilote had seven assists.Last season the performance of the &ldquo;little men&rdquo; fell off somewhat and the second-place Black Hawks were eliminated unmercifully in the opening playoff round by fourth-place Detroit.The big gun was Bobby Hull who had eight goals in six games despite a broken nose. But Mikita hit for only three goals and two assists. Wharram for one goal and Balfour rode the bench most of the time. Pilote chipped in with another eight assists for a good six-game playoff.This year Chicago&rsquo;s &ldquo;little men&rdquo; appear ready for another big playoff.Mikita, who has earned all-star center honors the past two seasons led the NHL in scoring most of this season. He has become one of the super stars of the NHL and is as adept at killing penalties and handling the point on power plays as he is at scoring goals and setting up plays for his &ldquo;Scooter Line&rdquo; wingmates. Wharram and Ab McDonald.Wharram has had the best season of his career. The little hustler hit the 20-goal mark for the first time last year and matched that in his first 35 games this season. He rated All-Star right wing and Lady Byng honors over the first half and, had 39 goals and had been fourth to sixth in the scoring race most of the year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-03532/3260302-1-eng-US/f0007-032.jpg" title="f0007-03" width="544" height="920"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN McKENZIE</figcaption></div>Pilote, too. at five-ten and 167 pounds, a defenseman who must play by smartness and finesse instead of muscle, has attained top status in the league. For the past two seasons Pilote has been the winner of the James Norris Trophy as the outstanding defenseman in the NHL.With seven goals and 41 assists over the first 69 games of the season he was among the league&rsquo;s top twenty in scoring. He also is captain of the Black Hawks.Balfour, who once starred as right wing with Bobby Hull and Bill Hay on the &ldquo;Million Dollar Line,&rdquo; never has played top hockey since that 1961 playoff when he broke his forearm in the final series. He has ridden the bench much of the past two seasons and did not even dress for most of the second half of this year.Two other &ldquo;little men&rdquo; have come along to take up the slack left by Balfour&rsquo;s inactivity. These are Chico Maki and John McKenzie.McKenzie, who made it with Chicago on his third try at the NHL. has taken over Balfour&rsquo;s old spot at right wing with Hull and Hay. A real hustler and driver, he is the same type of digger Balfour used to be. He has chipped in with nine goals this year despite missing more than two months with a ruptured spleen operation.Maki, normally a right winger, made it as a centre in his rookie season last year. He has stayed in that spot this year, between veteran wings Eric Nesterenko and Ron Murphy, and has become a fine penalty killer.Cut in the mold of Kenny Wharram, Maki is five-ten and 165 pounds of all out hustle and speed. He goes two ways and. while not a big scorer as yet, knows what to do with the puck around the net. When he begins to score more consistently he could develop into one of the top players in the NHL.Balfour is still around should should any of his fellow &ldquo;little men&rdquo; falter or be sidelined. &#9632;

f0007-02

Hawks Expecting Big Performance From ‘Little Men’ In Playdowns

CHICAGO, III. &mdash;The Chicago Black Hawks emerged as the National Hockey League&rsquo;s &lsquo;muscle men&rsquo; this season piling up a record 1,116 minutes in the penalty box.And to make it more convincing, the Hawks&rsquo; fiery centre, Stan Mikita, just missed being the most penalized player in the league despite the fact he ended up on top of the scoring race.The Hawks&rsquo; penalty total eclipsed their own club record of 1,072 minutes set in 1960-61. It was also well above the high for last season turned in by the Detroit Red Wings, who led the NHL for the year with 964 minutes. The Hawks only totalled 906 last season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-04379/3260347-1-eng-US/f0007-042.jpg" title="f0007-04" width="286" height="452"><figcaption class="caption-body">Vic Hadfield</figcaption></div>Mikita lost the dubious penalty title to Vic Hadfield, the big Ranger whom New York coach Red Sullivan has berated for lack of aggressiveness. Hadfield was the season &lsquo;bad man&rsquo; with 151 minutes, a figure pale by comparison to the NHL record of 273 minutes set last year by belligerent Howie Young.In all 11 players went over the 100-minute mark this season. Terry Harper of Canadiens was second to Hadfield with 149, Boston&rsquo;s Ted Green was next with 145 then came Mikita with 144, which enabled him to knock Jean Beliveau&rsquo;s mark for most penalties by a centre out of the record book. Beliveau took 143. &#9632;

f0007-04

Robust Black Hawks Produce New Team Penalty Record

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04435/3260437-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg" title="f0008-04" width="798" height="259"></div>Little Charlie Hodge of the Canadiens culminated one of the most fantastic hockey stories of all time when he captured the Vezina Trophy last week from Glenn Hall of the Black Hawks.Hodge, the unwanted goalkeeper who probably had all of hockey rooting for him in the netminding race, showed the experts how wrong they can be. When the little goalie was called up from Quebec Aces at the outset of the season to replace injured Gump Worsley they said he wouldn&rsquo;t do. Gump would be back, they were certain of that.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-05330/3260430-1-eng-US/f0008-052.jpg" title="f0008-05" width="268" height="429"><figcaption class="caption-body">Charlie Hodge</figcaption></div>Well five months and some 62 games later, Hodge disproved their theory to come through and win the Vezina from Hall in one of the most stirring stretch races seen in the NHL for many years.Hodge, selected as the NHL&rsquo;s player-of-the-week, pocketed $1,000 in bonus money for beating out Hall as the two goalers carried the Vezina battle down to the final 70th game of the season. Hodge permitted 167 goals and Hall 169. Hall won the award last season.The 30-year-old Montreal puck-stopper was sensational in the closing half picking up a total of 18 goals on Hall in the last 35 games to virtually snatch the cup out of Hall&rsquo;s clutches. &#9632;

f0008-04

Player of the week

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02784/3260399-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="308" height="448"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stan Mikita</figcaption></div>MONTREAL, Que. &mdash;The National Hockey League exceeded its attendance record again this season and dished out a whopping $58,000 in bonus money as the curtain came down on the 1963-64 season, one of the best from a race standpoint in many years.While figures were unofficial, the NHL enjoyed another box office boom as a total of 2,850,000 fans attended games in the six leagues cities to eclipse last year&rsquo;s mark of 2,730,000, which was described as 92 per cent of the seating capacity at NHL rinks.With such a successful season at the gate, NHL club moguls didn&rsquo;t flinch when it was announced that bonus money to the players who made the headlines this season would be a whopping $58,000.It goes without saying they could afford it.Breaking down the bonus money allocations, there is $54,000 for the members of the four top teams and another $4,000 for individual proficiency.Stan Mikita&rsquo;s 89 points gave the Chicago centre the Art Ross Trophy and $1,000 as the No. 1 point-collector.No one was even close to Mikita and runner-up Bobby Hull in the aggregate but the old campaigner, Detroit&rsquo;s Gordie Howe, was the second-half leader with a 44-point performance and won $500 as such.Hull, the most prolific man on attack with 45 goals, collected $500 as runner-up to Mikita and another $250 as the No. 2 second-half man behind Howe. He produced 42 points in the final 35 games.Charlie Hodge, who beat Gump Worsley out of a job with Canadiens, meanwhile won the Vezina Trophy and $1.000 it carries, beating out Chicago&rsquo;s Glenn Hall in their final games.The award goes to the goalie who performs most regularly for the club with the best defensive record. The Canadiens yielded 167 to 169 for Chicago. Hodge making Up an 18-goal pull in the second half of the schedule with some superb work.As the second-half leader Hodge picks up an additional $250, while $500 goes to Hall as the over-all runner-up.Canadiens share in 18 units of $1,500 as the first place club, winners of an obscure award called the Prince of Wales Trophy.For Chicago&rsquo;s second place Black Hawks, stifled in their bid for the title as Chicago entries have been every year since joining the NHL in 1926. the unit figure is $750.This drops to $500 for Toronto&rsquo;s third place Maple Leafs and $250 for the fourth place Detroit.The league issues the money in units of 18 but it&rsquo;s up to the players themselves who deserves a full share.The big money, however, still lies ahead. The playoff bonus money will reach $135,000 for the Stanley Cup round.<h2>Point Race</h2>FINAL SCORING<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-01882/3260392-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="635" height="3292"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-01859/3260385-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="764" height="2738"></div><h2>How They Finished In NHL Race</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03651/3260378-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="1542" height="1034"></div> &#9632;

f0008-02

NHL Teams Establish New Attendance Mark; Bonus Money At Peak

<div class="byline">BY BUSTER CLEGG</div>PROVIDENCE, R. I.It may be that the Rhode Island Reds are involved in a crucial battle for a playoff spot, but much of the local attention has been focused recently on the progress of winger George Ranieri, who has been recovering from a serious head injury.Ranieri, who suffered a concussion and skull fracture in a game at Springfield on Feb. 29th. underwent a successful operation two weeks ago to remove a blood clot near the left side of his brain.The 28-year old veteran, who spent three hours in surgery, made what doctors called &ldquo;a remarkable recovery&rdquo; from the operation. Dr. Leonard J. Triedman, the team physician, said the operation was a &ldquo;complete success&rdquo; and that Ranieri is scheduled to be released from the hospital very soon.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-03612/3260468-1-eng-US/f0009-032.jpg" title="f0009-03" width="285" height="416"><figcaption class="caption-body">George Ranieri</figcaption></div>Ranieri suffered the injury during the second period of the game on Feb. 29th when he was checked to the ice by Springfield&rsquo;s Randy Miller. The check was legal, but caught George off guard. He was thrown backwards, his head hitting the ice first.Ranieri was rushed to Springfield&rsquo;s Wesson Memorial Hospital and two days later was transferred to Miriam Hospital in Providence, where he has rested since.At first. Ranieri&rsquo;s injury appeared to be only a concussion, but later examinations showed he also had sustained a skull fracture. An operation became necessary when symptoms indicated the presence of a developing blood clot. Dr. David M. Barry, a Providence neuro-surgeon, performed the operation.Ranieri, who had scored 20 goals before his untimely injury, is through for the season, of course. His hockey future has not been discussed to this time.The Reds, minus Ranieri, are in the final week of the 1963-64 American Hockey League season. They find themselves battling Baltimore for the third and final playoff spot in the Eastern Division. It may be that the whole issue will be settled on March 29th &mdash; the final night of the season &mdash; when the two teams face each other in Providence.COOP SCOOP &hellip; Willie Marshall continues to battle for the AHL scoring championship &hellip; His. top competitors are Rochester&rsquo;s Bronco Horvath, Brian Kilrea of Springfield and Wayne Hicks of Quebec &hellip; Injuries to Bob Beckett and Ranieri left the Reds shorthanded for important segments of the season &hellip; Beckett is home in Ontario recovering from a broken ankle &hellip; Nine of Pierre Brillant&rsquo;s 31 goals have been &ldquo;winners&rdquo; &hellip; Stan Baluik last week accepted the post of golf pro at the Kirkbrae Country Club in Lincoln. R. I&hellip; . Stan has been a pro in Canada for some time &hellip; Ed Giacomin has been great in the nets in recent weeks &hellip; Eddie Westfall has added strength to the blue-line. &#9632;

f0009-03

Reds’ Ranieri Recovering From Fractured Skull After Ice Spill

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-04501/3260499-1-eng-US/f0009-042.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0009-04

National Hockey League Summaries

<div class="byline">BY HANS TANNER</div>ROCHESTER. N.Y.Hockey&rsquo;s publicity men in March put politicians&rsquo; campaign managers to shame with the glowing adjectives they use to describe their own &ldquo;men who".But even the most prejudiced American Hockey League tub-thumpers will have to admit that the Rochester Americans are deserving of four positions on the first All-Star team this season.Intelligent observers cannot overlook Gerry Ehman at right wing and Al Arbour on defense, goalie Gerry Cheevers and center Bronco Horvath.How can the Amerks hope to place four men on the first team it they don t win me western Division championship?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-01872/3260551-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="310" height="488"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bronco Horvath</figcaption></div>Remember the 1958-59 season when Rochester placed third in a six-team circuit, yet boasted Billy Hicke, Rudy Migay, Gary Aidcorn and Steve Kraftcheck all on the first team. And that wasn&rsquo;t all &mdash; Migay and Hicke were co-winners of the league&rsquo;s most valuable player award. Hicke was adjudged the outstanding rookie and Kraftcheck collected outstanding defenseman honors.The value of Ehman and Arbour to Rochester is incalculable. Ehman. a 31-year-old who made the first team with Springfield in 1957-58, has been the club&rsquo;s most consistent performer all season. He&rsquo;ll finish with more than 35 goals even though he missed five games while spending some time with Toronto and was sidelined for another game by a throat infection. Tex has been among the circuit&rsquo;s leading scorers all season, too, and could wind up with the point championship.Ehman has been a two-way player, too, checking hard and digging the puck out of the corners.Arbour, of course, should have no difficulty in retaining the AU-Star berth he earned last season &mdash; his first in the American League. Al&rsquo;s blocking of shots and tying up of opposing forwards has been as impressive this season as it was last.Only reason Cheevers may not get the first team spot he deserves is that Cleveland&rsquo;s Les Binkley. Quebec&rsquo;s Gump Worsley, and Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Roger Crozier also have had outstanding years. The feeling is, though, that Binkley and Cheevers should be given more consideration because they&rsquo;ve been with their teams all season. Crozier and Worsley will play just barely the minimum number of games (about 43) to be eligible.Horvath, who should win the scoring championship this season, still has a wicked shot and the great knack of passing perfectly. Without his play-making and timely overtime scoring (he won three games with goals in the sudden-death period), the Amerks wouldn&rsquo;t have nearly as impressive a record.There are a couple of other Amerks deserving of a few accolades. too &hellip; defenseman Don Cherry and coach Joe Crozier. Cherry&rsquo;s solid body checking has kept many an opposing forward from barrelling down the right side.And what about Crozier? Joe admittedly had a pretty good hockey club several times this season &hellip; but it never stayed together very long.Recalls (Jimmy Pappin left for Toronto after scoring 10 goals in 16 games, and Larry Hillman departed twice and will finish the season with the Leafs) and injuries (Lou Angotti missed 12 games, Arbour was out for six and with Toronto for nine games. Red Armstrong missed four games with injuries. Wally Boyer 18. Les Duff 13. Ehman one. Horvath two. Eddie Litzenberger 21. Stan Smrke eight and Cheevers six) forced Crozier to constantly shift his combinations.That Rochester has its second best record in history, is a tribute to Joe Crozier&rsquo;s coaching.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02745/3260544-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="512" height="605"><figcaption class="caption-body">AL ARBOUR</figcaption></div><h2>How They Stand</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-03600/3260537-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="779" height="2160"></div><h2>Point Race</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-04461/3260530-1-eng-US/f0010-042.jpg" title="f0010-04" width="768" height="1839"></div> &#9632;

f0010-01

Arbour, Ehman Lead Amerks’ Four All-Star Hopes

<div class="byline">BY GEORGE TAYLOR</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01862/3260620-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="320" height="477"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gilles Boisvert</figcaption></div>BALTIMORE. Md.It&rsquo;s not difficult to look back on the schedule and spot a game or series of games responsible for particular anguish during a hockey season. Those games are there, whether a club finishes first or last.In the case of the Baltimore Clippers, who for the second straight year entered the final week of play as a borderline team to make the American League play-offs, they know that disaster is a word that combines with Rochester.It was bad enough that Rochester should win seven out of eight meetings between the Amerks and Clippers. But how Baltimore dropped the first and last meetings between these clubs is something that should haunt the Clippers long after the ice has melted this season.In the first game of the season, Rochester rocked the Clipper ship with a 9-1 pasting.Young Gilles Villemure, who was making his first start in the AHL after winning the &ldquo;Rookie of the Year&rdquo; award in the Western League, was in the nets for Baltimore that evening.Then, going into the final game of the season with Rochester, and the outcome expected to be a deciding factor in Baltimore&rsquo;s chances of making the play-offs, Villemure, by this time a candidate for &ldquo;Rookie of the Year&rdquo; honors in the American League, was looking for revenge.Even a six-stitch cut on his chin, suffered in practice the day before the game, did nothing to destroy his confidence.But. as the teams were warming up, Clipper Coach Aldo Guidolin noticed that Villemure did not appear sharp. Upon questioning Gilles, Aldo was told everything was &ldquo;OK".After a scoreless ten minutes in which Villemure was tested by a single slew shot, Rochester&rsquo;s Lou Angotti tried a desperation shot from far out. It went into the net Without Villemure making a move to stop it. Players theorized Gilles had been blinded on the shot.The next few minutes saw Bronco Horvath and Red Armstrong, both scoring with amazing ease. By this time, Guidolin was certain his brilliant netminder was ailing and upon a second questioning, Villemure admitted he felt &ldquo;groggy and weak in the legs".After he was replaced by Gilles Boisvert in the nets, the Clippers battled Rochester on even terms. But the damage had been done as Baltimore bowed. 4-1. It later was determined that Villemure was stricken by an attack of flu.Figures on the disastrous Rochester series showed that in seven and one-third periods, Villemure had been touched for 31 goals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-02783/3260613-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="575" height="1104"><figcaption class="caption-body">GILLES VILLEMURE &hellip; Easy Touch For Amerks</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0011-01

Clippers’ Playoff Hopes Crippled By Inept Record Against Rochester

<div class="byline">BY SHEL FULLERTON</div>CLEVELAND. O.When a good hockey club goes through a slump, it is as sure as death and taxes that eventually it will snap back into winning ways.Fred Glover, coach of the Cleveland Barons, is hopeful that the recent scoring slump suffered by his charges wall have come to an end by the time his Barons go into the American Hockey League&rsquo;s Calder Cup playoffs.One of the top clubs in the league throughout the entire season, the Barons have had a hard time buying goals as they battled down through the stretch run with the Pittsburgh Hornets and Rochester Americans.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-03640/3260651-1-eng-US/f0011-032.jpg" title="f0011-03" width="272" height="425"><figcaption class="caption-body">Cec Hoekstra</figcaption></div>At this writing, there is no telling where Barons will wind up the season. Whoever they face in the playoffs, they will need goals to win.In their last nine games, the Cleveland icers have produced only 16 goals and 12 of those came in three games. It takes no mathematical genius to figure out that the other four goals were spread out over six games, three of which were shutouts.The dearth of goals has hit all three lines, with the third unit of Cecil Hoekstra. Guy Rousseau and Bob Ellett suffering the least. This line, as a matter of fact, has done the bulk of the Barons&rsquo; scoring over the past three weeks.Other than an injury to Wayne Larkin, sustained on March 15 in a crash into the boards with Springfield&rsquo;s Bill White, the Cleveland forwards are in good physical condition. Larkin suffered a severe shoulder separation that required surgery. He is through for the season.The big line of Glover, Ron Attwell and Jim Mikol remains intact, while Ray Brunel, working with Joe Szura and Ray Kinasewich on the second unit, should not hurt the club offensively.General Manager Jackie Gordon was combing the bushes following the injury to Larkin to come up with some reinforcements for the playoffs.Tommy Williams, veteran defenceman. is another doubtful quantity for the playoffs. Williams recently underwent a knee operation. While he reports the knee as feeling 100% improved over what it was, whether or not he will be able to get back into action during the playoffs is doubtful.Gordon may turn to the amateur ranks for player help, or he may be able to get aid from the Montreal Canadiens when it is known which Montreal-owned players will be available at playoff time.The Barons still are aiming for first place and a crack at the Quebec Aces in the first playoff series. They had a hard job facing them to reach the lop. With six games still on their schedule, the Barons could look forward to only three contests on their home ice.Pittsburgh finishes with four of its last five games at home, but had played one more game than the Barons at this writing. &#9632;

f0011-03

Glover Hoping Barons Find Scoring Range Once Again For Calder Cup Playoffs

<div class="byline">BY CHARLEY BARTON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-04525/3260682-1-eng-US/f0011-042.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROY EDWARDS &hellip; Playing At Top Form</figcaption></div>BUFFALO. N.Y. &mdash;Losing hockey clubs rarely have words of praise for their goaltenders, but the Buffalo Bisons and Roy Edwards are the exceptions that prove the rule.While the defending champion Herd is playing out the string in the closing weeks of the American League schedule, their playoff hopes a thing of the past, Edwards is playing his best hockey of the season.It isn&rsquo;t any secret the Bisons weren&rsquo;t overjoyed at the prospects of starting this season with Edwards as Denis DeJordy&rsquo;s successor. As a result, Cesare Maniago was obtained on loan from the Monreal Canadiens.Edwards spent a season and a half with the Herd before losing the job to DeJordy three years ago. The soft-spoken Edwards was something less than adequate in his first stand here.He replaced Maniago in the ninth game of the current campaign, and steered the Herd to a 3-1 win at Springfield in his first start. He played the next 10 games and hung up a shutout streak of 173 minutes and 25 seconds over a four-game span.A stomach ailment forced him to the sidelines and Maniago took over for 13 games. Maniago went out with a head injury, and Edwards moved back for 14 games. Roy then missed three games with an eye injury.In 18 games since Jan. 1. Edwards has allowed 57 goals for a 3.1 goals-against average. more than respectable for a backstop with a lastplace club.&ldquo;Roy has played exceptionally well over the second half of the season,&rdquo; said player-coach Jack Evans. &ldquo;He seems to have regained his confidence, and is showing more authority on the ice.&ldquo;We certainly can&rsquo;t blame Roy for missing the playoffs. Although it&rsquo;s usually the goalie who catches most of the blame, it isn&rsquo;t the case here.&rdquo;Edwards, who celebrated his 27th birthday March 12. won the rookie award with the Calgary Stampeders of the Western League before his first stand with the Bisons in 1959-60.ALONG THE BOARDS &mdash; Maniago was recalled by Monreal two weeks before the AHL season ended, and will be the stand-by goalie for the Canadiens in the Stanley Cup playoffs &hellip; Bill Mazer, former Bisons&rsquo; play-by-play announcer, is leaving Buffalo April 1 to start a new sportscasting post with WNBC in New York City. Mazer also will do 30 Milwaukee Braves baseball telecasts this season. &#9632;

f0011-04

Edwards’ Netminding Seen Bright Spot In Dismal Hockey Season For Bisons

<div class="byline">BY PAUL LIPPMAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01843/3260713-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"></div>SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.A veritable cinch for rookie of the year award in the Western League is young Dave Kelly of Portland, and he probably will pick up a vote here and there for most valuable player honors.The 20-year-old goalkeeper, a product of Toronto junior teams, finished the season with such a blaze that he easily could be considered the best cage cop in the loop.This is not to take too much away from Denver&rsquo;s Al Millar as the latter only started to lose a game here and there when the Invaders had clinched first place some 20 games before the windup. Millar likely will be MVP.But Kelly surely would be crowding him had he started the season as well as he finished it. And in the process he carved out a couple of Western League records that had been shared by many and had been standing a good long while. One mark was the consecutive shutout skein. Kelly racked up three in a row and now will replace 20 goalkeepers in the record book, all of whom shared the old mark of two straight. The other was the longest stretch of shutout hockey in the league, Kelly putting a lock on the cage for 235 minutes and 12 seconds, completely shattering Jerry Cotnoir&rsquo;s 1950-51 stretch of 183 minutes, 34 seconds.The shutouts were against Seattle, 5-0; San Francisco, 4-0, and Los Angeles, 3-0. He then beat Vancouver, 4-1, to break the string, but wound up having allowed only the one goal during the four games.Going into the final week of play, his average was second best in the league, a respectable 3.09 as compared to leader Millar&rsquo;s 2.81. He also was tied with Millar and two other netminders for shutouts on the season at four each.But Kelly came up with his big game in the second-to-last week of play when Portland was moving from fourth place to second on a stretch run of nine victories, one loss and a tie in 11 games.Quite a pressure performance for such a young player. And to think he started out the season only as a distant back-up possibility for Don Head.ICE CHIPS &mdash; Lou Jankowski of Denver needed but one red light in the final week of play to hit the 40-goal mark. Others seeking this exalted level were Buddy Boone of Vancouver, 36; and Tom McVie and Art Jones of Portland, both with 35 &hellip; League penalty leader by a healthy margin was rearguard Mike Donaldson of Portland with 189 minutes &hellip; Barrister Bill MacFarland picked up the top team award at Seattle&rsquo;s annual hockey awards banquet, the Totem of the Year trophy. Other baubles went to goalie Claude Dufour, most valuable; Guyle Fielder, inspirational: Jean Marie Cossette, improved; and Fielder again for popularity. Father David Bauer, Canadian Olympic team coach, was the guest of honor and principal speaker .<h2>How They Finished In WHL Race &#9632;</h2>

f0012-01

Kelly’s Sensational Netminding Certain To Bring Rookie Award

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02730/3260744-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0012-02

Western Hockey League Summaries

<div class="byline">BY HARVEY POLLACK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03676/3260782-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="274" height="439"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ray Miron</figcaption></div>KNOXVILLE. Tenn.All season long Ray Miron has been beefing that ineffective goaltending was the sore spot in Knoxville&rsquo;s hopes of leading the Southern Division of the Eastern Hockey League.It wasn&rsquo;t until Lynn Davis was acquired for the stretch of the race that Miron let up on his yelping and said that finally he had the man who could do the job. Davis proved effective in the stretch when the Knights almost caught Greensboro.Now that the playoffs are in progress, Davis is making Miron look like a genius with his great goaltending. Lynn had a whale of a series as Knoxville eliminated Nashville three straight. At the same time goalie Jacques Monette, who is deemed a clutch goaltender by coach Ron Spong, also stifled the opposition as Greensboro took three straight from Charlotte.Now Knoxville and Greensboro are engaged in a best of five series for the division title. Knoxville held a 9-5 edge on the Generals in season play, holding a lead at home. 5-2, and on the Greensboro ice. 4-3. Now that Davis is with the club. Miron is confident his club can dethrone the Generals and go on to beat the Northern Division survivor.&ldquo;We will hold the home ice edge over any team from the North except Johnstown if we should beat Greensboro,&rdquo; Miron said.NASHVILLE: Marv Edwards had 54 saves in double overtime game. Jack Martin missed first playoff game with torn ankle ligaments which he hurt in regular season finale. Ken Murphy, Ted McCaskill and Joe Zorica were employed frequently in playoffs. Martin led team in scoring with 107 points. John McLellan says he won&rsquo;t coach at Charlotte and that if he&rsquo;s in the EHL next year it will be here.KNOXVILLE: Nashville protested Knights use of Gil Champagne. who played 18 games with Knoxville this year, as linesman. Reggie Grigg won sportsmanship award and the MVP trophy and Gene Achtymichuk took most popular player and top scorer awards. Grigg got extra $100 for being voted most valuable Knight by EHL coaches. All Knights who played in 4-4 tie with Russians received certificates from Mayor.GREENSBORO: Don Davidson&rsquo;s 120 points topped league and Jackie Nairn&rsquo;s 79 points led all juniors. Butch McLean nursed injured knee during playoffs. In late season game, Ron Muir picked up 17 penalty minutes compared to 22 for the rest of the year. Don Carter honored as best all-around player, Ron Quenville as most improved player and best defenseman and Ron Spong as winningest coach in league. Attendance, 120,415 for regular season.CLINTON: Hec Lalande&rsquo;s overtime goal enabled Comets to win at Long Island and square series. Norm DeFelice had 9-0 shutout in game in which a free-for-all developed and Norm received six stitches over eye. Bill Glashan won favorite player award. Comets routed Syracuse, 12-5, to win series, 2-1. Lalande led club scoring with 101 points.CHARLOTTE: Gaetan Dessureault played terrific playoff series for Checkers. Duncan MacDonald and Ralph Winfield idled with measles and shoulder injury. Bill Flett and MacDonald went to Rochester after Checkers were ousted. Turk Broda says Flett and MacDonald should have received more votes in rookie of year race.LONG ISLAND: Ricky Charron&rsquo;s 2-0 shutout got Ducks off on right foot against Comets, Jim Maxwell continues to come coach Fred Creighton stressed through in pressure games. Claude Boileau played fine defense against Hec Lalande. Buzz Deschamps&rsquo; 57 goals and 6 hat tricks topped league. Ed Stankiewicz won most popular player award, Deschamps the MVP, and Gerry Rafter the sportsman&rsquo;s trophy. Barney Krake dad of boy. Rafter second in rookie of year vote.JOHNSTOWN: Joe Daley, EHL rookie of year, came up with big shutout at New Haven to tie series with Blades. Butch Martin scoring well in playoffs. Absence of injured Jack Faulkner and Arlie Parker hurt club in early playoff games. Dick Roberge honored at season finale. Larry Johnston had set-to-with New Haven&rsquo;s Bob Taylor, pulling off his foe&rsquo;s jersey in the melee. Johnston&rsquo;s 133 penalties set EHL mark but his 356 minutes short of record.NEW HAVEN: Blades had few penalties in playoffs as clean play. Jim -Armstrong&rsquo;s 2-0 shutout got Blades off to great start against Jets. Billy Ives and Don Atamanchuk had battle. Scorers didn&rsquo;t do well in series. Local fans give Blades hard time with their hootings.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-04606/3260775-1-eng-US/f0013-042.jpg" title="f0013-04" width="569" height="550"><figcaption class="caption-body">JACQUES MONETTE&hellip; Solid For Greensboro</figcaption></div>PHILADELPHIA: Doug Adam went on a two-week Canadian scouting trip. He sought a goalie, big defenseman and good scoring winger. He consulted with Obie O&rsquo;Brien. ex-Rambler pilot, in St. Catharines. Reggie Meserve accepted MVP award at final game, with &ldquo;I want to thank all of you who voted for me because you voted for one of the best.&rdquo; Then he became goat of game with goat of game with Jets. &#9632;

f0013-03

GM Miron Says Knoxville Rests Hopes On New Goalie Lynn Davis

<h2>FINAL SCORING</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01828/3260820-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="619" height="1609"></div><h2>WHL Point Race</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02746/3260813-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="621" height="1061"></div> &#9632;

f0013-01

Davidson Wins Scoring In EHL With 120 Points

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-05498/3260851-1-eng-US/f0013-052.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0013-05

Looking At The Playoff Races

<div class="byline">BY BOB KRAGH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01829/3260889-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="301" height="427"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alain Caron</figcaption></div>OMAHA, Neb. &mdash;The Omaha Knights, with the league pennant tucked away weeks ago, prepared for the start of the Central Hockey League playoffs with the loop&rsquo;s top goalkeeper.Ernie Wakely, in their nets once again.The Knights got the &lsquo;Thin Man&rsquo; back from Montreal Canadiens of the NHL in time to lead the club against the third-place Minneapolis Bruins, who lost out to St. Paul Rangers in the final week battle for second place. The Rangers oppose St. Louis Braves in the other semi-final round.Wakely, who led all CPHL puck-stoppers before being called up by the Canadiens, returned to replace Jean-Guy Morrissette, the young man the NHL team sent down to take over when Wakely went up.Morrissette will remain with the Knights as stand-by goaler to Wakely, who gave up a similar role with Canadiens as Charlie Hodge&rsquo;s stand-in. He was replaced by Cesare Maniago, who got the call by the Habs from Buffalo of the AHL when the big league team decided it wanted a more experienced second netminder on hand for the Stanley Cup playoffs.Rookie Gary Peters, the Knights&rsquo; flashy 5-10, 170 pound center from Regina, Sask., went over the 30 goal mark in his first year of pro play to boom his chances for grabbing rookie of the year honors in the CPHL. Barclay Plager has written his name twice in the league record books; most minutes in penalties and the most assists.Alain Caron, the St. Louis Bombshell, won the league&rsquo;s scoring crown with 120 points and a fantastic total of 77 goals in 71 games.ST. PAUL &mdash; The Rangers continued their great late season rush to finish in second place. Coach Fred Shero had his charges right at the top of the heap early in the season and then the club, riddled by a series of injuries, began to fall off. Shero had been predicting a second place finish for his club since the beginning of the year. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve known we&rsquo;ve had the horses all season,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It was just a matter of bringing the best out of the boys. They&rsquo;re all fine skaters and many have National League potential,&rdquo; Shero adds.MINNEAPOLIS &mdash; An injury to Boston team captain Leo Boivin sent defenseman Don Awrey back to the parent club for the balance of the year. Awrey, one of the strongest skaters in the CPHL, opened the season with Boston trying gamely to make the big jump from junior A to the NHL. He was sent down to the Minneapolis Bruins for more work and has finally earned a shot at the NHL again.ST. LOUIS &mdash; A rash of late season injuries dimmed the Braves&rsquo; chances of a strong finish in the closing games. Ray Cullen, the club&rsquo;s second high scorer behind Caron, is lost for the season as is Mike Draper.<h2>How They Finished In CPHL Race</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02716/3260882-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="1237" height="1083"></div> &#9632;

f0014-01

Wakely Boosts Omaha For Playoffs; Caron Point Champ - Hits 77 Goals

Following are the latest player movements in hockey through last week:<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>MONTREAL &mdash; Cesare Maniago, goalkeeper, recalled from Buffalo of AHL. Ernie Wakely. goalkeeper, returned to Omaha of CPHL.DETROIT&mdash;Pat Rupp, goalkeeper, recalled from Johnstown of EHL for one game. Alex Faulkner, forward, recalled from Cincinnati of CPHL.<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>CLEVELAND&mdash;Len Ronson, forward, secured from Omaha of CPHL. Jean-Guy Morrissette, goalkeeper, loaned from Omaha of CPHL as emergency replacement.ROCHESTER &mdash; Bill Flett, forward, and Duncan MacDonald, forward, recalled from Charlotte of EHL.<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>ST. LOUIS&mdash;Gardner Evans, forward, secured from Buffalo of AHL. &#9632;

Movements Of Players

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03562/3260968-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0014-03

Central League Summaries

<div class="byline">BY BOB REED</div>FORT WAYNE. Ind.Among the questions that are likely to arise before the start of another International Hockey League season is that of whether to play overtime games or allow the score to stand as a tie at the end of the regulation period.Among present league directors who seem likely to be easting votes on the question for next season, two have already declared themselves asopposed to overtime. They are Ken Ullyot of Fort Wayne and Owen Fleming of Des Moines.Fleming spoke from bitter experience. His Oak Leafs, in 62 games, had been involved in 12 overtimes and had been able to win only two, although they managed four ties, for a total of eight points out of a possible 24.Ullyot&rsquo;s team had not done too badly, winning three and losing four, with no ties. But he was against the idea of overtimes on principle. &ldquo;It hurts the visiting team", he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard enough to win on the road and a tie is a moral victory.&rdquo; He was saying this, he said, in spite of the fact that the Komets had just pulled out an overtime victory in Des Moines that got them back into the lead.The Komet victory, in fact, was only the second time in 31 overtimes that a visiting team had won. Windsor had won in Chatham about a month before. There were nine ties, which means that the visiting teams had picked up only 13 points out of a possible 62, a statistical argument, at least, in favor of allowing the visiting teams to escape with a tie.MUSKEGON: The Zephyrs were within one point of fourth place Windsor when they dropped an 8-5 game at Fort Wayne while Windsor was winning . . , For the first time since joining the IHL, the Zephyrs failed to place a man on either the first or second All-Star team.FORT WAYNE: The Komets scored five goals in the last 13.35 to nose the Zephyrs, who had taken a 5-3 lead. There were three hat tricks in the game, by Joe Kastelic of Muskegon. Merv Dubchak and Ted Wright of Fort Wayne .points.DES MOINES: The Leafs had a win streak of six broken in 3 6-5 overtime loss to the Komets &hellip; Goalie Ray Mikulan had a scoreless streak of 167 minutes, 46 seconds. 30 minutes away from the league record.TOLEDO: The Blades hit the jack pot with five honors on the All-Star team. Glenn Ramsay in goal, Moe Benoit on defense, Greg Jablonski wing, Don Westbrook &lsquo;rookie of the year&rdquo; and Benoit tied with Ken Ullyot as coach.PORT HURON : The flags traveled to Syracuse. N.Y. for a pair of weekend exhibition games &hellip; Muskegon drew the first penalty shot of the season here and goalie Norm Jacques stopped Joe Kastelic.<h2>How They Stand</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02714/3260999-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="602" height="1404"></div> &#9632;

f0015-02

IHL Launching Move To Eliminate Overtime Games For Next Season

<div class="byline">BY HUGH TOWNSEND</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03585/3261030-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="289" height="448"><figcaption class="caption-body">Georges Roy</figcaption></div>WINDSOR, N. S.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to go all the way. We&rsquo;re going to bring the Allan Cup to the Maritimes.&rdquo;This was the prediction Windsor Maple Leaf coach Georges Roy made to reporters after his powerpacked club had won the Nova Scotia Senior Hockey League championship in eight straight games.&ldquo;This club is strong enough to take all the marbles", the happy pilot predicted following the Leafs&rsquo; wrapup victory over Halifax Schooners.Leafs, losers of only nine games in 70 regular season starts, wasted little time in racking up their first loop title.After blasting New Glasgow Rangers to the sidelines in four games, the Valley club had things pretty much their way throughout the Halifax series, receiving practically no opposition from the Schooners.With George Guilbault firing three goals, the Leafs blanked Halifax 7-0 in the series opener. They racked up a 5-1 triumph in the second tilt before goalie Serge Aubry scored another shutout in the third contest, 6-0. The finals saw Leafs score two third period goals for a 3-1 triumph to give the winners a handsome 21-2 goal advantage in the series.Speculation by sportswriters and fans after the title-clinching effort was that Roy has reason to be optimistic about his club&rsquo;s chances.A year ago NSSHL champion Moncton Hawks thrilled Maritime followers by going to the Eastern Canada finals in Allan Cup play before bowing to title-bound Windsor Bulldogs.This year&rsquo;s Maple Leaf club is believed at least 50 per cent stronger than the Moncton club of 12 months ago.Roy has a standout netminder in Aubry, has a strong, hard-hitting defence lead by himself, and three fast skating, high scoring lines.ATLANTIC BREEZES &hellip; Leafs meet the surprising Charlottetown Royals in the Maritime finals and are expected to have another easy time with the Prince Edward Island club. Royals pulled a surprise in eliminating Cape Breton League champion Sydney Millionaires in the Maritime semi-finals &hellip; Charlottetown&rsquo;s big ace is young Billy MacMillan, a former star with Neil McNeil Maroons in the Toronto organization who this year performed with St. Dunstan&rsquo;s in the Maritime Intercollegiate league &hellip; &#9632;

f0015-03

Windsor Coach Roy Predicts Allan Cup For Maritimes

<div class="byline">BY JIM PROUDFOOT</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01635/3261120-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="286" height="468"><figcaption class="caption-body">George Armstrong</figcaption></div>TORONTO, Ont. &mdash;Propelled by hockey&rsquo;s newest production line, the Maple Leafs prepared this week to defend their Stanley Cup championship.Originally, coach Punch Imlach had planned to seek a third successive world title with the same player alignment that had led the National Hockey League and captured the Cup last spring.He scrapped this theory when he acquired Andy Bathgate and Don McKenney in a trade with New York Rangers.Observers assumed Bathgate would become the sharpshooting right-winger Frank Mahovlich always has required.Quite by surprise, Bathgate wound up skating on the right flank with Dave Keon at centre and McKenney on the left side and this unit shaped up as Leafs&rsquo; payoff line.For his part, Mahovlich was shifted to centre, with Kelly on left wing and George Armstrong over on the starboard.A third trio, primarily for checking purposes, combined Eddie Shack. Bob Pulford and Ron Stewart.Billy Harris and Jim Pappin were the extra forwards.But the McKenney, Bathgate and Keon trio was the talk of the town.McKenney had been hooked up with Keon as soon as he arrived in Toronto and they acquired Bathgate as a partner when Mahovlich, Kelly and Bathgate failed to jell. They handled the puck beautifully but were ineffective as long as the opposition was in possession.It was a stroke of genius by which Imlach reassembled his threesomes.McKenney was strong and fast enough to take the defensive pressure off Keon and Bathgate profited from Keon&rsquo;s digging.McKenney, Keon and Bathgate were on for eight Leaf goals and none by the opposition when Toronto swept a final doubleheader against Rangers. The line collected 17 points.&ldquo;I never doubted our offensive ability,&rdquo; Keon analyzed, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;m really pleased that our defensive work is improving. We were handling the situation in our own zone much better. That&rsquo;s the important thing. Once you can do that, the rest is easy.&ldquo;You know,&rdquo; Keon went on, &ldquo;I was with Duffy and the Chief for two and a half seasons. In that length of time, a lot of important moves become instinctive. For example, it was understood a man would always drop back into the slot so we couldn&rsquo;t be trapped. And we went hard and always threw the puck up to the lead man. Now Don and Andy and I have to adjust, almost from scratch.&ldquo;Don likes to skate, which makes it easier, but Andy is accustomed to the Ranger stop and go system. You know, the man with the puck delays and waits for his two linemates to penetrate, then he dumps the puck in to them.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02550/3261113-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="522" height="870"><figcaption class="caption-body">ANDY BATHGATE</figcaption></div>&ldquo;But we&rsquo;re making headway.&rdquo; Leaf supporters would say amen to that. This could be the best Leaf line in years, a different situation from recent seasons when one unit was about the same as the other two.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03441/3261106-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="531" height="868"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE KEON</figcaption></div>There were suggestions this winter that Keon had slipped a little. Indeed, while he matched his 1962-63 points total with three games to go, his goals were down 25 per cent.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04339/3261099-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="528" height="866"><figcaption class="caption-body">DON McKENNY</figcaption></div>Some observers felt the opposition had caught on to many Keon moves and was waiting for them. This theory was disproved when McKenney joined him. As soon as there was a threat on the wing, Keon miraculously looked better. And with Bathgate added, he again looked very much like the best centre in hockey.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t judge by goals alone,&rdquo; Keon reasoned. &ldquo;You have to consider the overall picture.&ldquo;Last year, for example, I got seven goals in March. They were bouncing in off posts, off legs and everything. That didn&rsquo;t prove I was suddenly playing better. You&rsquo;re making a mistake if you&rsquo;re satisfied with goals alone. The way I figure, you do 5 a good job two ways and the points are bound to come, sooner or later.&rdquo;And so Leafs entered the play-downs in excellent shape. &#9632;

f0016-01

Leafs Pinning Cud Hopes On ‘New Line’

TORONTO, Ont. &mdash;For nearly a decade, Leafs have sought a right-winger to combine with Frank Mahovlich.In Red Kelly, they had a centre who could make the plays for the Big M. But they could never find a man to handle the starboard flank. Even Andy Bathgate didn&rsquo;t fit in.This is the inside story behind Leafs&rsquo; frantic attempt to sign Ron Ellis, the Marlboro junior star.Both coach Punch Imlach and Mahovlich himself had designated Ellis as the man for the job.He looked like a big-leaguer with every move he made in scoring 46 goals in 54 Marlboro games. But he gave Leafs heart failure by rejecting all professional offers. He wouldn&rsquo;t even indulge in a tryout appearance with Leafs in case it would jeopardize his plans for the future; to attend a U.S. college on a hockey scholarship and to play for Canada&rsquo;s Olympic team in 1968.He turned down two chances but finally succumbed March 11. He joined Leafs for a one-game audition and revealed he would accept a two-year pro contract.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve decided to give it two years,&rdquo; Ellis said. &ldquo;I can attend college in the summers and after two seasons, I&rsquo;ll assess the situation. If I think I&rsquo;m making progress in hockey, I&rsquo;ll continue. I can quit then and I&rsquo;ll only be 21, with lots of time to get any university degree I want.&rdquo; &#9632;

Search for your favorite player or team

March 28, 1964

American Hockey League Summaries

CPHL Attracts 12,710 At Tulsa

HOCKEY CROSSWORD

Howe Up To Old Puck Tricks