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.

January 6, 1968

The Hockey News January 6, 1968

MONTREAL, Que.-The National Hockey League is determined to cut down on the incessant brawling that it is spreading among league games in recent weeks.NHL president Clarence Campbell, before departing for Los Angeles and the opening of Jack Kent Cooke&rsquo;s fashionable new hockey Forum, lowered the axe on members of the Oakland Seals and Boston Bruins and two NHL coaches &mdash; Bert Olmstead of the Seals and Montreal&rsquo;s Toe Blake &mdash; both for violating league rules and stepping out on the playing ice surface.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0001-02168/3300110-1-eng-US/f0001-022.jpg" title="f0001-02" width="275" height="463"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bert Olmstead</figcaption></div>Campbell handed Olmstead a $200 fine for taking up a hockey stick and chasing a fan by way of the Boston Garden ice level. Campbell contended that Olmstead had no right to leave the bench and pursue the fan. Going on the ice cost Olmstead an automatic $50 raising his fine total to $250, the same amount Campbell tacked on Blake a few days earlier for chasing Referee Bill Friday on the same Boston ice to protest a call.In all Campbell assessed players of the Seals and Bruins and Olmstead a total of $1,450 for their Christmas night brawl in Boston. Oakland players fined Included Tom Thurlby, Bob Lemieux, Bob Baun, Billy Harris, Billy Hicke, Tracy Pratt, Alain Caron, George Swarbrick, Ron Harris, Larry Popein, Mike Laughton and goalie Gary Smith. The Boston players were subgoaler John Adams, Bobby Orr, Ed Westfall, Gary Doak, Dallas Smith, John Bucyk, Glen Sather, Derek Sanderson, Fred Stanfield, John McKenzie, Ed Shack and Ron Murphy. &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

NHL CRACKS DOWN ON BRAWLS

NEW YORK, N.Y. &ndash;Emile Francis, the New York Rangers Cat on a Cool Ice Sheet is scratching up a feud with the National Hockey League&rsquo;s refereeing staff over the way the arbiters are handling faceoffs.&ldquo;This year they let the linesmen handle the faceoffs for the most part on the theory that the referee could then watch the play better and call more penalties like faceoff interference. Instead, the linesmen handle the faceoffs and nobody calls any faceoff interference penalties after the first two weeks of the season. Why bother having a rule if it is not going to be enforced,&rsquo;&rsquo;griped Francis recently.The Cat also is irritated over the practice of throwing both men out after a couple of false starts on faceoffs. This way, he feels a superior faceoff man can be eliminated by a dub.&ldquo;If it keeps up, I may have Bob Nevin or Donnie Marshall take faceoffs. When they get knocked out and take the opposing center with them, we can drop our best man Phil Goyette into the faceoff, so long as he is on the ice,&rdquo; schemes Emile.This might just work as Sir Phillipe is far and away the best of the Blueshirt center men when it comes to winning the draw. If one of the wingers lined up against the enemies quick draw artist &mdash; and accidentally caused a false face, New York would wind up with Goyette versus the opponents substitute.Francis doesn&rsquo;t really want to go to this extreme, but he feels that there should be more faceoff interference penalties c ailed and that only the offending player should be ejected from the drop. Right now it seems that the linesmen who are making the drops just clear everyone out.This might be food for thought for Referee in Chief Scotty Morrison and supervisor of Officials Frank Udvari. &#9632;

Francis Blasts Handling Of Faceoffs By Referees

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04175/3299816-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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Central League Summaries

<div class="byline">BY ED CONRAD</div>PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -Want to know why Ed Hoekstra has been the surprise player on the Flyers this year? Just examine the halo on his head.At last look, Hoekstra was still without a single minute in the penalty box while being one of the sensations of the swift getaway by the Philly skaters in the Western Division of the NHL.&ldquo;Oh, I&rsquo;ve had penalties already this year,&rdquo; admitted Ed with a guilty twinkle in his eye. &ldquo;The only thing about it, they haven&rsquo;t caught me yet.&rdquo;Actually, the Flyers&rsquo; 30-year-old center feels that&rsquo;s one of the reasons he evidently has found a permanent home in Philadelphia after going to training camp as a definite longshot.&ldquo;Really, I&rsquo;m not a dirty hockey player,&rdquo; said Ed. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m the kind of guy who&rsquo;s lucky if he winds up with 10 minutes in the penalty box all year.&ldquo;The way I look at it, you don&rsquo;t do your team any good when you&rsquo;re sitting In the box.&rdquo;By taking advantage of every minute of ice time, Hoekstra has been one of the early-season scoring leaders for the Flyers. He had registered nine goals and nine assists in the first 24 games of the campaign.Compared to the scoring antics of Chicago&rsquo;s Bobby Hull or Boston&rsquo;s Johnny Bucyk, Hoekstra&rsquo;s point total isn&rsquo;t sensational. That is, until you realize that Ed&rsquo;s scoring has carried more weight than first imagined.That&rsquo;s because the Flyers&rsquo; success to date has been due to their theory to score a couple goals a game, then protect it with a rock-ribbed defense.In fact, Hoekstra already has scored three winning goals this season and his other point-getting has gone a long way in turning the tide in the tight games.&ldquo;One guy doesn&rsquo;t do It (score a lot of points) himself,&rsquo;&rsquo; reasoned Ed. &ldquo;I have to give a lot of credit to Leon Rochefort and Don Blackburn who really have been playing well and helping me.&ldquo;Rochefort, Blackle and I played together In Qu&eacute;bec (with the AHL Aces) for a couple years,&rdquo; he continued.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re a couple of damn good hockey players and they can hold their own against anybody in this entire league.&rdquo;The Hoekstra - Rochefort - Blackburn line didn&rsquo;t waste any time becoming the Flyers&rsquo;. No 1 goal-producing unit. There, tor awhile, they were the only Philly line scoring goals with any kind of consistency.Since Rochefort and Blackburn were high draft choices by the Flyers (Leon from Montreal and Don from Toronto), the surprise guy has been Hoekstra, who was acquired when the Flyers purchased their Quebec Aces&rsquo; farm club.&ldquo;Other people may have been surprised at how well I&rsquo;ve been going In my first chance In the NHL,&rdquo; explained Ed. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s only because they were judging me on last year&rsquo;s record alone. This was the wrong thing to do.&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t forget, I missed training camp last year and later missed two whole months during the season. When you miss time like that, your statistics just aren&rsquo;t what they should be at season&rsquo;s end.&rdquo;After dividing his time between Quebec and California (WHL), Ed&rsquo;s output was only 12 goals and seven assists in 38 games, a far cry from his previous years with the Aces.&ldquo;Until last year, though, I was right up there among the top ten in the AHL in scoring.&rdquo; said Hoekstra. &ldquo;I was averaging about 25 goals and 50 assists for three straight years.&rdquo;Actually, Ed had racked up 64, 79 and 74 points the three campaigns previous to last year-scoring 20, 28 and 24 points, respectively, in the process. According to those statistics, it is no surprise that he is going so well with the Flyers.&ldquo;But even when you&rsquo;re going great guns in the minors, it&rsquo;s tough to get noticed,&rdquo; he concluded. &ldquo;People only seem to notice the progress of the superstars. There simply were too many players and not enough (major league) jobs.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s one good reason Ed is making the best of his own situation in Philadelphia. After nine frustrating years in the minors, he is hungry enough to want to stay.The editors of HOCKEY NEWS wish to announce that, because of the New Year&rsquo;s holiday, publication date had to be advanced not allowing us to include weekend games of Dec. 31 - Jan. 1 in this issue. They will be carried complete in the next issue. &#9632;

Philadelphia Center Likes To Play Clean

<div class="byline">BY NORMAN MacLEAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0001-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0001-01196/3300079-1-eng-US/f0001-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rangers&rsquo; Rod Gilbert is watched by Canadiens&rsquo; ice leader Jean Beliveau. Gilbert has become hottest scorer in East after slow start.</figcaption></div>NEW YORK, N.Y.-It took a visit from the St. Louis club of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s Western Division to chase Rodrigue Gilbert&rsquo;s almost season long blues away.When Gilbert slammed home three goals against Seth Martin, the Blues 34-year old rookie netminder, it upped his season total to a respectable 8 and gave both Gilbert and loyal Ranger followers visions of a change in fortunes for the second half of the season.The handsome, red cheeked matinee idol right wing, who has survived two spinal fusion operations, was once again in the spotlight in the crowded New York dressing room after the Sunday December 17 Ranger win. A grinning Gilbert stood in his birthday suit and patiently answered the same questions over and over again.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think that I was producing and instead of having two good line, we were down to one and a half. The (Phil) Goyette, (Bob) Nevin and (Donnie) Marshall line was doing alright and Jean Ratelle and Vic Hadfield were playing weH on the second line. But I was not holding up my end. The extra goals I should have been getting are the difference in those close losses and ties that we have been suffering through. For example, my three goals tonight gave us a 5-3 win. In the last month or two without my help this might have been a 3-2 loss,&rdquo; said Gilbert.Rod has a point &mdash; as most teams employ two lines to score and one as a checking combo. Without a high flying Gilbert, the New Yorkers were severely handicapped in the vital goals for department and it showed in the standings.Gilbert has no complaints about his back, which kicked up in the second half of the 1966-67 season and caused so much off season worry. He has played well all over the ice &mdash; and had been getting his shots in regular quantities. For example he took seven additional shots at Martin on his big night and almost had a fourth goal when he went in on a semi breakaway late in the third period.Rod commented on this with a surprising, &ldquo;I may have been getting shots, but I was pressing and forcing them. Also most of them were dead on and were hitting the goalie in the middle of his pads. You have to fake a little and aim for those corners.&rdquo;While optimism about Gilbert was rampant after his big game, it must be remembered that the 26-year old, 5&rsquo; 11", 175 pound Montreal native has a record similar to that of the Rangers themselves. He is murdering the Expansion clubs, having scored seven of his eight tallies against the fledgling National League, and only one against the more solid East.Gilbert is the New York hope for the future. He can become a super star and was one for half a season a year ago, when he outscored Bobby Hull up until the All Star game break in January. &#9632;

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Ranger Ace Gilbert Finds Scoring Eye

<div class="byline">BY GLENN REDMANN</div>TWIN CITIES, Minn. -In the wake of Cesare Maniago&rsquo;s three shutouts within a 74 - hour span, perhaps it&rsquo;s worth mentioning that the lanky goal-keeper might not be wearing a Minnesota uniform had it not been for the North Stars&rsquo; failure to land an early pick in the NHL&rsquo;s special expansion draft for goalies.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01814/3298579-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="285" height="441"><figcaption class="caption-body">Cesare Maniago</figcaption></div>Although Wren Blair has been high on the abilities of the 6-foot-3 Maniago for several years, the manager-coach is honest enough to admit that he might easily have selected somebody else had the Stars picked first or second instead of fourth.Blair recalled that historic June day in Montreal recently:&ldquo;In a meeting of scouts, owners and others in our group the night before the draft, it was agreed upon to pick a man with NHL experience if at all possible.&ldquo;To be truthful, we were not very interested in Terry Sawchuk (who went to Los Angeles on the first pick), Glenn Hall (St. Louis&rsquo; choice on the third pick) or Charlie Hodge (taken by Oakland on the fifth pick).&ldquo;So after Philadelphia got the second pick and took Bernie Parent (who more than likely was Blair&rsquo;s personal choice), we decided on Cesare.&ldquo;Because he didn&rsquo;t play much in New York last season, I think a lot of people had forgotten how well he played in spots for the Rangers the year before.&ldquo;I felt fortunate to get him. He&rsquo;s not as young as, say, Parent, (22) but at 28 he should be able to give us quite a few good years.&rdquo;Blair&rsquo;s reasons for shying away from Sawchuk (38), Hall (36) and Hodge (34) - all former Vezina Trophy winners &mdash; likely went beyond their ages.Besides being committed to a longer-range program than some of the other expansion clubs, Wren wasn&rsquo;t anxious to get into a salary squabble with either Sawchuk or Hall, who probably are getting twice as much as Maniago.As for Hodge, it isn&rsquo;t exactly a secret that Wren believes the ex-Montreal veteran is overrated. This dates back as far as the 1959-60 season when Blair felt that Charlie&rsquo;s work for Hull-Ottawa in the EPHL left something to be desired.Those who criticized Blair for picking Maniago were chuckling to themselves during and after training camp when not one, but two other goalies looked better than the tall. Vancouver native.One was Gary Bauman, the former Montreal backup who drew the starting assignment for the season opener in St. Louis, and the other was former U.S. Nationals ace Carl Wetzel.That opener saw Bauman perform splendidly as the Stars gained a 2-2 tie with the Blues. Nevertheless, Maniago was in goal for his team&rsquo;s next start in Oakland and after trailing only 1-0 after two periods, big Cec was bombed in the third to take a 6-0 setback.Oddly enough, it was another 6-0 whitewashing at the hands of Philadelphia and Parent which ended Maniago&rsquo;s amazing streak on Dec. 21 on the Flyers&rsquo; ice.Before that, Cesare stopped a combined total of 78 shots in blanking Los Angeles 4-0 at Minnesota on Dec. 13, the Kings again 3-0 at L.A. on Dec. 15 and Oakland 1-0 on the Seals&rsquo; ice Dec. 16.When Pat Hannigan&rsquo;s goal from close range at 5:06 of the first period gave the West Divisionleading Flyers the only goal they really needed, it ended a scoreless streak of 188 minutes and 38 seconds for Maniago.The last goaltender to carry a longer string in the NHL was Hall, whose three straight shutouts and 198:10 scoreless minutes helped him to a 2.11 goals against average and the Calder Memorial Trophy with Detroit in 1955-56.Just before reeling off his three shutouts, Maniago was in goal for a 7-4 win over Pittsburgh &mdash; the first action he&rsquo;d seen in nearly two weeks.Prior to that, Bauman had done yeoman service in five games &mdash; allowing but 10 goals while his team won two tied two and lost one, mostly on the road.Offensive heroes during the combined Bauman - Maniago 10-game hot streak which produced a 6-2-2 record and pushed the Stars into third place were Ray Cullen, Wayne Connelly and Parker McDonald among others.Cullen&rsquo;s two goals in the 3-0 win over L.A. gave him 19 points for the season, only one behind team leader Andre Boudrias. Connelly notched two goals in a game twice, including the first and last of Maniago&rsquo;s initial shutout. MacDonald was the goal-scorer in the third period of the 1-0 win over Oakland.The loss to Philadelphia dropped Minnesota&rsquo;s road record to 6-7-3, but it still was the second best away log among expansion clubs. Only the Flyers&rsquo; 5-5-2 mark was better.After losing to Philadelphia in a game which saw Maniago&rsquo;s close-in protection completely desert him, Blair contemplated switching back to Bauman. &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t Cesare&rsquo;s fault that we lost this one,&rdquo; reasoned Wren. &ldquo;But if I go with Garry in our next game, it will be more because I don&rsquo;t want him to get stale.&ldquo;Matter of fact, I don&rsquo;t want either of them to get stale. But right now rather than alternate them every game, I intend to stick pretty much with the one who&rsquo;s hot.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Maniago 4th Draft Pick But Wren Blair Happy He Didn’t Take Big Name

Following are the latest player movements in hockey:<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>NEW YORK &ndash; Camille Henry, forward, and Don Simmons, goalkeeper, recalled from Buffalo of AHL. Gilles Villemure, goalkeeper, sent to Buffalo.BOSTON &ndash; Ross Lonsberry, forward, sent to Oklahoma City of CP HL. Ron Murphy, forward, recalled from Oklahoma City.OAKLAND &ndash; Bob Lemieux and Tracy Pratt, defenseman, recalled from Vancouver of WHL. Gerry Odrowski, defenseman, and Terry Clancy, forward, sent to Vancouver.LOS ANGELES &ndash; Jim Murray, defenseman, recalled from Springfield of AHL. Brent Hughes, defenseman, recalled and returned to Springfield.ST. LOUIS &ndash; Don Caley, goalkeeper, recalled from Kansas City of CPHL.PHILADELPHIA &ndash; John Hanna, defenseman, assigned to Quebec of AHL.TORONTO &ndash; Tom Martin, forward, called up from Toronto Marlboros of Junior OHA on emergency basis.DETROIT &ndash; Jim Peters, Gary Marsh, Doug Roberts and Ron Anderson, forwards, recalled from Fort Worth of CPHL. Dave Richardson, forward, called up from Fort Worth and returned.MINNESOTA &ndash; Jean-Paul Parise and Milan Marcetta, forwards, purchased from Rochester of AHL in exchange for Ted Taylor, Duke Harris, Murray Hall and Len Lunde, forwards, and Don Johns, defenseman. Carl Wetzel, goalkeeper, loaned to Rochester for rest of season to complete trade.<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>ROCHESTER &ndash; Jim Dorey, defenseman, recalled from Tulsa of CPHL.<h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>SEATTLE &ndash; Don Fedun, defenseman, dropped from roster.PHOENIX &ndash; Bill Smith, forward, added to lineup. Bill Shvetz, forward, removed. Gary Milroy, forward, returned to Toronto Marlboros of Senior OHA after pro tryout.<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>OMAHA &ndash; Ian Campbell, forward, secured from Seattle of WHL.MEMPHIS &ndash; Pete Panagabko. forward, secured from Vancouver of WHL.<h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>COLUMBUS &ndash; Jim Currie, defenseman, signed as free agent. Ted LeBioda, defenseman placed on waivers.TOLEDO &ndash; Harold Murphy, goalkeeper, secured from Los Angeles of NHL. Jim Helkie, goalkeeper, signed as free agent.PORT HURON &ndash; Kevin Smith, defenseman, left team.<h2>EASTERN LEAGUE</h2>NEW HAVEN &ndash; Jim McCarthy, forward, released. Wayne Spooner, forward, obtained from Columbus of IHL. &#9632;

Movements of Players

<div class="byline">&#x2013; REDMANN</div>TWIN CITIES, Minn.&mdash;Minnesota North Stars manager-coach Wren Blair walked into the dressing room of the Russian National hockey team in M&eacute;tropolitain Sports Center Dec. 19 and immediately someone shouted &ldquo;Blair.&rdquo;It turned out to be Anatoli Tarasov, known in Russia as the &ldquo;Father of Hockey,&rdquo; who embraced Wren and kissed him on each cheek.After kidding each other about their expanding waistlines, Blair and Tarasov recalled old times.&ldquo;You remember when my Whitbys played your team on Russia&rsquo;s first trip to North America, don&rsquo;t you,&rdquo; said Blair.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03600/3298634-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="276" height="480"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wren Blair</figcaption></div>&ldquo;The date was Nov. 22, 1957 and your team had us down 2-0 before some of the 15,000 people were in their seats at Maple Leaf Gardens. But we came back with five of our own in the period and went on to beat your team 7-2.&rdquo;Tarasov nodded in agreement. &ldquo;You had great team, Blair. But our team play better hockey now. Now we are the best.&rdquo;That Whitby team of Blair&rsquo;s went on to win the World title in Oslo later that season, again downing the Russians. &ldquo;We had a lot of success by bumping them as much as the rules allowed,&rdquo; said Wren.&ldquo;It was the same way that night in Toronto. After we got behind 2-0, I told my players to either start hitting or they might as well pay $4.50 the same as everyone else in the house.&rdquo;Blair was In the stands one night later when Tarasov&rsquo;s defending World champs beat the U.S. Nationals, 3-2, before 8,501 fans. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s right,&rdquo; said Wren. &ldquo;This is a better Russian team than the one we faced. I was very much impressed. &ldquo; &#9632;

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World Tourney Recalled As Russian Greets Blair

<div class="byline">BY TOM MONAHAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01819/3298672-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="267" height="457"><figcaption class="caption-body">Milt Schmidt</figcaption></div>BOSTON. MASS.&mdash;The Bruins have shown many points of Improvement thus far this season but probably the most significant is that they are thriving under pressure.Just a week ago there was an abundance of long faces around Boston Garden. Bobby Orr was on the Injured list with a cracked collarbone and the Bruins had lost four out of five games. They also had lost their two goaltenders.Veteran Eddie Johnston suffered a broken bone in his right hand during a practice at Chicago when he was hit with a puck while, warming up behind the cage. Gerry Cheevers dislocated his shoulder during the second period of the Dec. 20 game with the Black Hawks.Predictions of a rapid tailspin were rampant.Even General Manager Milt Schmidt was near desparation.Just a couple of years ago, goal was the strongest position in the Bruins&rsquo; organization. They had Johnston, Cheevers, Bernie Parent Doug Favell, Ian Young and Claude Dufour.But now both Parent and Favell are with Philadelphia and both Young and Dufour have been forced to retire with eye injuries.Schmidt made several frantic telephone calls and up came Andre Gill, a 26-year-old who stands only 5:6, from Hershey. The skeptics watched the mini-goalie in practice and shook their heads sadly.Three nights&rsquo; later the same skeptics were shaking their heads in amazement.In his National Hockey League debut, Gill not only turned back the Rangers but presented the B&rsquo;s with their second shutout of the season 4-0. In all he stopped 45 New York shots.In his second game he wasn&rsquo;t quite that effective but he foiled the Oakland Seals by a 6-3 score and the Bruins still were only two points out of first place with Chicago coming to town.Complimenting the surprising play of Gill was the unexpected return of Orr for Christmas night as well as the return of veteran left wing Ron Murphy for the same game.&ldquo;It was a tough stretch to look at with Orr, Johnston and Cheevers all out at the same time,&rdquo; said Coach Harry Sinden. &ldquo;But everyone really did a job. That&rsquo;s been a big thing about this team. When something has happened everyone seems to dig a little harder.&ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s a good sign. If we can pull out of bad situations like this I think it is an indication that we won&rsquo;t be affected by any pressure later on in the season. &ldquo;The B&rsquo;s now enter another tough stretch. The Ice Capades have taken over the Garden and the Bruins will be on the road for six straight games.The schedule calls for games at Minnesota, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, Toronto and Chicago before they return home to meet Detroit on Jan. 11.Although the Bruins have played only 500 hockey in 13 games on the road today, this is far better than their road record of the previous half dozen years and a continuation of that percentage will be acceptable to Sinden.&ldquo;Naturally,&rdquo; says Sinden, &ldquo;I hope we do better than that. But if we can continue to play 500 on the road and maintain our home record, I&rsquo;ll be satisfied.&rdquo;The Bruins home record in 18 games is 12-3-3 and already with 18 victories on the board have surpassed last year&rsquo;s total of 17.&ldquo;We had a little bad spell a couple of weeks ago,&rdquo; said Sinden we lost three games in a row and two of the losses were to expansion teams. But we weren&rsquo;t hurt too badly even though we dropped to second place.&ldquo;No one has been able to open any real daylight and we have shown we can take our lumps and not let them bother us.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02693/3298665-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1275" height="2147"><figcaption class="caption-body">ANDRE GILL&hellip; Defied The Hockey Skeptics</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Tiny Andre Gill Rushes To Rescue Of Bruins’ Riddled Goaling Crew

BOSTON, Mass. &ndash;The Garden witnessed another bench-clearlngbrawl On Christmas night with the Seals &hellip; It was the third such display in Boston this season &hellip; Previously the Bruins had been engaged by Toronto and Montreal &hellip; And as was the case in the first two, the Bruins remained on their bench until the Seals had made their move &hellip; Coach Bert Olmstead and the fans even got Into the act this time with one fan being ejected &hellip; Johnny Bucyk finally broke a six game scoring slump with his 19th goal of the season against the Seals &hellip;With Murphy back In action, Sinden returned Eddie Shack back to right wing with Derek Sanderson and Murphy &hellip; The return of Murphy also brought about a cut in the Bruins squad since they were two men over the limit. Ross Lonsberry went to Oklahoma city of the CPHL for a start. &#9632;

GARDEN SCENE OF 3rd BRAWL

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02828/3298727-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg"></div><h2>Expansion Players Must Earn Individual Awards</h2>Hockey News Editor:Mr. Bill Wirtz is in favor of separate NHL awards and says, &ldquo;Why should the Western Division have to miss out on the chance for honors and cash?&rdquo;The simple answer is that they don&rsquo;t. If a player from the Western Division shows he is worthy of winning allstar honors or a trophy, I am sure he will receive the votes due him.But to give individual trophies to the Western Division is no answer.Even if his method will &ldquo;help promote&rdquo; and merchandise the game in the expansion sites, this is still not reason enough to make that particular move.The trophies and all-star honors have always been awarded to the best players in the entire NHL and in spite of Mr. Wirtz&rsquo;s far out ideas, I&rsquo;m sure they will continue with the same method as before.DAVID HOFFMAN Sheho, Sask.<h2>Trading Larry Hillman Would Have Hurt Leafs</h2>I would like to make some comments on Larry Hillman of the world champion Toronto Maple Leafs.I was sure glad the Leaf bosses and Larry were able to get together and ink that very important piece of paper.In my opinion, the Leafs would have made a great mistake if they had sold or traded Larry to another club. He is the type of defenseman most people love to watch.He loves to lead the occasional rush and he&rsquo;s best at lugging the puck out of his own end of the rink. He also has an accurate slap shot from the point, especially valuable on power plays.Last year Larry as well as the rest of the Leafs&rsquo; defense played really well in the Stanley Cup playoffs.He is only in his early 30&rsquo;s and should be a great asset in years to come if he is given the chance. Yes sir, guys like Horton and Pronovost can&rsquo;t go on forever can they? But Hillman should be filling out a sweater for a long time yet.DAVID RING, Saint John N B<h2>EHL Ice Fans Cheer Charron&rsquo;s Progress</h2>Hockey News Editor:I&rsquo;m sure that by now someone has told Melvin Chasan, who had a letter in the Fan Forum that the Eastern Hockey League no longer plays sudden-death overtime. He certainly doesn&rsquo;t keep up to date with the changes.Thanks very much for the great column &ldquo;Charron&rsquo;s net play sparks Roadrunners". I&rsquo;m sure the writer deserves a tip of the hat and Ricky must have really appreciated it.The hockey fans following the Eastern Hockey League, particularly from New Jersey wish him the best. He was a fine goalie and a terrific guy. We remember him when he was seriously hurt in Jersey and had to be sent to the hospital.We are happy that he made a quick recovery. We hope he continues to improve and goes right to the top.EDNA PETERS, New Jersey<h2>Black Hawk Fan Club Said Very Much Alive</h2>Hockey News Editor:I am writing due to the fact that many people have complained that there is no Chicago Black Hawks fan club.They are wrong. I have one. And we have quite a few members. The activities include monthly newsletters, feature stories and pictures.Those interested are urged to join. Just write me at 4121 Gratiot, Apt. 20, Port Huron, Michigan. 48060. I&rsquo;d also like to hear from other fan clubs for Ideas and suggestions.KEVIN SITTON Port Huron Michigan &#9632;

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FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">By Ken mcKenzie</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03723/3298779-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="463" height="486"></div>CHICAGO TO finish first in the Eastern Division and Philadelphia to end up in the same position of the Western Division is the way the keen observers are predicting the National Hockey League race to finish &hellip; Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull, Chicago&rsquo;s great one-two punch, have both been hotter than pistols during the past month and are entering 1968 at the head of the NHL scoring derby &hellip; Canadiens will be happy to see the end of the 1967 portion of the schedule and start afresh in 1968. It has been one of the worst seasons in history as far as injuries are concerned to the Montrealers. There are only five players on h the club who haven&rsquo;t missed at least one game as a result of injuries. In games up to December 20, Toronto Maple Leafs had the poorest record against Western Division teams of any of the established clubs &hellip; The Leafs picked up 11 of a possible 20 points for a 55 percent mark &hellip; New York Rangers, on the other hand, had the best record, The Rangers garnered 18 points out of a possible 20 for a 90 percent &hellip; Chicago picked up 20 out of 28 points for a 71.4 percent &hellip; Toronto had the finest record among the &ldquo;old&rdquo; clubs, however &hellip; In 23 games against the established NHL teams the Leafs dropped but two &hellip; New York have had considerable difficulty earning points playing against the &ldquo;old&rdquo; teams and are thankful for the expansion teams &hellip; Jimmy Skinner, Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; chief scout, left on Christmas Day for Europe. He wants to have a look at some of the better European players. The Red Wings are anxious to be the first NHL team to develop European players to National Hockey League standards.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04621/3298772-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="266" height="463"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jimmy Skinner</figcaption></div>KANSAS CITY BLUES lead the Central League in attendance with an average of 4,602 for the first 12 home games &hellip; Oklahoma City, perennial attendance leaders in the CPHL, are down a little this season &hellip; Art Stratton has been receiving oodles of praise for his play with the Pittsburgh Penguins, The long-time minor league sensation is showing he can do just as well in the Big League now that he&rsquo;s been afforded the opportunity &hellip; Charlie Schulz, creator of the very popular &rsquo;Peanuts&rsquo; comic strip is a frequent visitor to home games of the Oakland Seals. He drives over 60 miles each way to the Oakland rink with wife and five children. As a native of St. Paul Minn., Charlie is familiar with hockey and is a sponsor in the construction of a new arena in Santa Rosa, California &hellip; Schulz is optimistic about the future of hockey in Oakland and believes the club will be well-established in two or three years despite the small crowds so far this season&hellip; Don Carter, veteran captain of the Greensboro Generals of the Eastern Hockey League, is pacing his team in scoring again for the umpteenth year &hellip; Greensboto is one of the solid entries in the EHL and hockey has been a huge success right from the start in this thriving North Carolina city &hellip; Roger Crozier, who quit the Detroit Red Wings on November 9, is working these days as a carpenter in his home town of Bracebridge, Ont&hellip; &ldquo;The money may not be as good but I enjoy the work. In fact, you might call me &rsquo;The Fastest Hammer in the North&rsquo;,&rdquo; he joked &hellip; Jean Beliveau is expected to pass Maurice Richard&rsquo;s mark soon as the Montireal Canadiens player with the most NHL points. Richard had 965 &hellip; Ray Miron, general manager of Tulsa Oilers of the CPHL, is trying an ambitious mailing promotion this month. He is mailing 60,000 brochures to householders i in the middle and upper-middle income brackets in an all-out effort to sell more tickets to Tulsa games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-01872/3298765-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="296" height="495"><figcaption class="caption-body">Roger Crozier</figcaption></div>HOCKEY&rsquo;S NEW ARENAS - $97 million worth, is a special bonus feature in the January issue of HOCKEY PICTORIAL &hellip; There is also a great feature in this same issue on Paddy Harmon, the man who built the Chicago Stadium and died broke&hellip; Excellent four-color photo of the Minnesota North Stars and LA Kings in action on the January PICTORIAL &hellip; New York&rsquo;s Ron Stewart and Detroit&rsquo;s Gordie Howe are rated the two best stand-up comics in the NHL right now &hellip; Ex-NHL&rsquo;er Babe Pratt, rated one of the best all-time hockey comedians, doing some commercial work for Simon&rsquo;s Cigars on the Canadian West Coast &hellip; One of the most colorful names in hockey belongs to the Green Bay Bobcats of the United States Hockey League &hellip; Tim Daly retired Toronto trainer, has been Santa Claus at the Leafs&rsquo; Christmas party for 40 consecutive years. Tim is now 86 &hellip; Dayton Gems of the IHL one of the best get most of their goals in the middle session &hellip; The Gems played one of their finest games this season when they bounced the International Hockey League All-Stars, 6-1 &hellip; It&rsquo;s been a dismal season for Boom Boom Geoffrion thus far. He hasn&rsquo;t helped the Rangers the way they planned. Boom Boom has been hampered by injuries and stomach trouble and has had difficulty getting into first-class shape &hellip; Allan Albert, brother of Marv Albert, Rangers play-by-play announcer, combines his love for hockey with his love for broadcasting. Allan is backup goalie for the Ohio University team and also is the hockey broadcaster of all the team&rsquo;s games. He broadcasts the games from the bench and in full uniform. Whenever Allan&rsquo;s services are required on the ice, he simply turns the microphone over to an assistant and the game continues&hellip; both on the ice and on the air.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05496/3298758-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="275" height="470"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bernard Geoffrion</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="byline">BY GEOFFREY FISHER</div>ST. LOUIS, Mo. &ndash;Coaches and general managers In sports are the champs when It comes to cliches, the trite, stereotyped remark that Is designed to answer any question. But Lynn Patrick, the general manager of the St. Louis hockey Blues, is refreshingly honest in declaring that he has no wise answers to why his hockey club has been having so much trouble finding the net with a puck.As the Blues continued to wallow in the lower echelons of the NHL&rsquo;s Western Division, Patrick did not settle for such obvious explanations as &ldquo;we keep hitting the pipes&rdquo; or &ldquo;the crazy puck just doesn&rsquo;t seem to bounce for us&rdquo; or &ldquo;every goalie we go up against looks like he&rsquo;s bucking for the Vezina Trophy&rdquo; or &ldquo;our guys are over-anxious&rdquo; or &ldquo;how come the company that manufactures hockey sticks send us the ones without any goals in them.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01806/3298810-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="295" height="488"><figcaption class="caption-body">Lynn Patrick</figcaption></div>Not Patrick. The one-time New York Ranger All-Star left wing is by nature too honest a gentleman for that kind of alibing.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s simply a matter of not being able to score and it beats me to be able to figure out why,&rdquo; says Patrick.&ldquo;We have been getting our share of chances and I can&rsquo;t say that we have failed to function well offensively. We carry the play into the attacking zone very well but then we sputter when we try to get it into the net.&rdquo;Patrick said that the thing that baffles him most is that the Blues have players whose past record of scoring is very good.&ldquo;These same players who brought good scoring records with them to this club have just been unable to finish a play,&rdquo; he said.The Blues&rsquo; general manager, who last month gave up his dual role of coach-general manager and elevated William &ldquo;Scotty&rdquo; Bowman to head coach, claims that the Blues&rsquo; problem is a lack of confidence.&rdquo;&ldquo;We have been working hard on trying to build up that scoring confidence and Scotty (Bowman) has even ordered the goalies in practice to let some of the shots go in so that the players could get that good feeling of seeing their shots hit the inside of the net.&rdquo;&ldquo;When you have players with proven scoring ability in the kind of slumps we have, it&rsquo;s got to be a lack of confidence that is hurting them,&rdquo; Patrick said.&ldquo;I remember what Bill Cook (ex-great New York Ranger scoring star) used to say when he was in a slump. Bill would tell me that he would skate in on the goal, close his eyes and shoot the puck flat on the ice with no attempt at deception. That was the way he would do it until he got his confidence back.&rdquo;Patrick said that as a player he would follow pretty much the same formula.It was quite apparent after the Blues first 31 games in which they had connected for 59 goals that shooting with eyes closed would scarcely reduce their ability to score.In those 31 games the Blues had been shut out four times, three times losing 1-0, and again by a 4-0 count.Patrick said that he thought the Blues were playing a sound defensive game and that the goaltending of Glenn Hall and Seth Martin was exceptionally good.He also remained confident that the Blues would bust out of their scoring famine and start a move that would carry them into a playoff position during the second half of the season.Only one club in the Western Division held a better goals against record at year&rsquo;s end. That was Philadelphia. Only Montreal and Toronto in the old division had better defensive records. &#9632;

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Blues Lack Confidence To Put Puck In Net Says Patrick Of Slump

ST. LOUIS, Mo.&mdash;St. Louis fans were anything but disenchanted by the failure of the Blues to get out of the Western Division depths. They continued to draw customers at a better clip than Los Angeles, Pittsburgh or Oakland and it was clear that if they were capable of mounting a winning streak in the second half they would be one of the top draws in the expansion division.After 31 games they had averaged about 7,400 per game with the smallest turnout being 5,126 and the largest an 11,003.They had also proven that they had the stuff to win in the tougher Eastern loop by victories of 5-1 over Boston, 3-2 over Detroit and 2-1 over Toronto.They had only to solve one major dilemna &mdash; how to get the puck into the net. In 31 games they had fired 775 shots at opposing goalies and managed to get only 59 on the scoreboard.It seems they were building up a lot of candidates for the Vezina Trophy. &#9632;

BLUES LOW BUT CROWDS HIGH

ST-PAUL, Minn. -The U.S. National Hockey Team has &ldquo;come a long way&rdquo; since it began its season in September but &ldquo;we still have a long way to go,&rdquo; says Murray Williamson, coach and general manager.&ldquo;We need more experience to compte successfully in the Olympic tournament,&rdquo; (Feb. 5-16, Grenoble, France) Williamson said. &ldquo;Well probably be the youngest and one of the most Inexperienced teams competing in the Olympics. Our average age is about 23. The Russians&rsquo; (defending world champions) average age is about 28.At the same time, Williamson feels &ldquo;We have the most representative squad of U.S. hockey players that could be assembled. We&rsquo;ve recruited all U.S.-born all American players from the past five seasons and have given them extended tryouts. Right now, it appears that most of them are a good year of hard competition away from competing successfully in international hockey.&rdquo;After guiding the U.S. Nationals to a surprisingly strong fifth place finish, only two goals out of second place in the 1967 World Tournament, Williamson began preparing for the Olympics last spring.&ldquo;I examined lists and scoring records of hundreds of U.S. hockey players from the colleges and the amateur ranks,&rdquo; he said.Late in September, Williamson held an Eastern training camp at Framingham, Mess. &ldquo;We looked over a number of outstanding but Inexperienced prospects there, then went to Europe for nine games.&rdquo; The Nationals scored upset victories over Canada and Czechoslovakia, lost five games and tied two.&ldquo;When we returned to St.-Paul, we made five personnel changes and gave those who were cut from the U.S. squad a chance to earn their way back by playing for the Minnesota Nationals of the United States Hockey League.&rdquo; Based at South St. Paul, Minn., the Minnesota Nationals are playing very tough opposition in the USHL, Central Professional Hockey League, colleges, Western International Senior Canada leagues.&ldquo;Some coaches are with extensive road schedules; they should travel with our clubs for a month,&rdquo; Williamson said.&ldquo;You know, it&rsquo;s a feather in the cap of these teams to knock us off. Consequently, we never catch the opposition on a soft night &mdash; especially if there happen to be Americans on the other team who were not selected for the Nationals, &rsquo;&rsquo;Williamson observed.&ldquo;We have yet to catch a team on a &rsquo;down&rsquo; night this season so it&rsquo;s impossible for us to let up for one minute and still win. &ldquo;In other words, it will take a hard-skating team with depth and endurance to upset the superb Soviets, Williamson continued. &ldquo;Also, the World Championships are now seven games. In 1960, when the U.S. last won the Olympic tournament, there were only five games,&rdquo; he added.That&rsquo;s not to say the possibility of a strong U.S. showing at Grenoble does not exist, Williamson emphasized. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve come a long way this season, especially due to the tough road schedule,&rdquo; he said.Between now and the Olympic tournament, Williamson will concentrate on Improving the squad&rsquo;s passing and positional Play.&ldquo;Team play is the hardest thing for a young player to learn,&rdquo; Williamson said. &ldquo;He must cast off bad habits he might have picked up earlier, especially In regard to stick handling. I think there&rsquo;s far too much stick handling In college where you can beat a lot of players with It. However, In International hockey It doesn&rsquo;t mean that much and can be nullified with a good check.&rdquo;Appraising the U.S. squad&rsquo;s pluses and minuses, Williamson said, &ldquo;Size and speed are our greatest assets. I think we&rsquo;re a well-balanced team. If anything, we&rsquo;re a little stronger on defense &mdash; stronger there than I expected, actually.&ldquo;Our goaltenders are also extremely dependable and on offence, we&rsquo;re reasonnably fast and most of the forwards shoot well,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;If anything is lacking, it&rsquo;s experience. We tend to make positional mistakes that cost goals. We need every minute of every game to learn and to improve. Actually, we&rsquo;re trying to cram into a few short months skills that really take a few seasons to learn. But I think the games against the Russians and the other stiff competition will help us.&rdquo;&ldquo;Generally,&rdquo; Williamson summarized, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m satisfied with our showing to date and I&rsquo;m confident we&rsquo;ll make a respectable showing in the Olympic tournament. However, the competition is stronger this year and the U.S. squad may be a year away.&rdquo; &#9632;

Americans To Be Youngest At Olympics

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-01904/3298889-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div>OVERALL WON AND LOST RECORDS THIS SEASON BESTWEEN NHL TEAMS(Statistics include Games Of Wednesday, December 20) &#9632;

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HOW NHL TEAMS COMPARE

<div class="byline">BY NORMAN MacLEAN</div>NEW YORK, N.Y. -&ldquo;It is now or never. The next eight games will tell us whether these guys want to be in there or not.&rdquo;The speaker was Emile Francis, the Rangers GenManager-Coach just prior to the Blueshirts contest with St. Louis on December 17. During an almost uninterrupted home stand stretching over three weeks the New York sextet will play seven of their next eight games on home ice. Only a Christmas night trip to Philadelphia will break up the home ice party.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01845/3298927-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="277" height="486"><figcaption class="caption-body">Reg Fleming</figcaption></div>It beehoves the Broadway Blues to make a move now or possibly be counted out in the race for playoff spots. They are only three points ahead of the last place Montreal Canadiens as we went to press, but conversely are only six points from first place.When the Rangers defeated the St. Louis Blues by a 5-3 count on December 17 it made for their eight straight Sabbath success &mdash; and made the count 9-1 against the Western Expansion clubs.Frances was exuberant over three items in the victory which he believed presaged better days ahead.They were Rod Gilbert&rsquo;s hat trick, Phil Goyette&rsquo;s continued fine play which resulted in the winning goal and the fact that Vic Hadfield knocked Um Ecclestone of the Blues flat after he and goalie Eddie Giacomin had engaged in a spirited stick encounter.Gilbert&rsquo;s three goal spree gave hopes that Rod had finally broken out of his season long slump and would take charge in the scoring department. Goyette with his twelfth goal tied the total he got last season in 70 games. This was his 29th game this year. The winning tally came In the third when Donnie Marshall took a shot from the blue line on which his stick broke. He reached back to the bench and borrowed Jean the bench and borrowed Jean Ratelle&rsquo;s stick. When the puck returned to the line, Marsh shot for the second time and Goyette netted the rebound, for his fourth game winner of the season.Giacomin was also glad to have Hadfield on his side. He was speared by Ecclestone as the later came around the back of the net. Tim probably was feeling his oats as he had just scored his first two major league goals. After Ecclestone got past Go Go, Eddie gave him a solid whack with his stick. Following this, Hadfield skated over to Um and dumped him with a &ldquo;cross check-shove, &ldquo;whatever that is.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02728/3298920-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="1277" height="1638"><figcaption class="caption-body">EMILE FRANCIS, right, manager-coach of the New York Rangers receives THE HOCKEY NEWS award from publisher KEN McKENZIE for his selection as pro hockey&rsquo;s coach of the year for 1966-67. Award was presented prior to the Rangers, Dec. 17 game in Madison Square Garden.</figcaption></div>Giacomin said, &ldquo;It is a terrific feeling for a goaltender to know that he will get help In clearing out the area around his net. I think that Vic gave the entire team a lift with his action.&rdquo;This was the second skirmish that the pugnacious Giacomin had gotten into this season. Earlier, he and John Ferguson, puck&rsquo;s bad boy of the Montreal Canadiens had gotten into a running battle over Fergy&rsquo;s shooting of the puck at Go Go after the whistle had blown.In the third period Eddie received a tripping penalty for decking Jim Roberts the scrappy St. Louis forward. It cannot be said that GO GO has not served notice on the opposition forwards to stay away from his crease.Francis also had words of praise for Reg Fleming who popped his eight goal of the season in the game and for Orland Kurtenbach, Arnie Brown and Jimmy Neilson who played solid aggressive hockey. More of same is a must if the Good Ship Ranger is to sail safely into a playoff port as season ends. More of same against the old line N.H.L. is a must. New York seems to work just fast enough to murder the expansion clubs but falls short against the Eastern Division.BLUE CHIPS &mdash; Ken McKenzie the publisher of THE HOCKEY NEWS presented Emile Francis with his 1966-67 coach of the year award prior to the December 17 game &hellip; Rangers were turned down in their bid to sign Czechoslovak center Vaclov Nedomansky &hellip; New York attendance is still holding up with tickets at a premium. Most Sunday games are sellouts and certain contests during the Holiday Seasor are almost impossible to get in to without early reservations &hellip; Harry Howell playing well, but not scoring like last season when he got 12 goals&hellip; Jacques Plante was recent New York visitor. Plante is the Commisioner of a Junior loop in Quebec and looked trim and fit. &#9632;

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Rangers In Key Home Stand Play 7 of 8 On Garden Ice

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div>LOS ANGELES. Calif.-Although the L.A. Kings had been slumping seriously as December began to run out and the NHL neared the half-way point in Its current season, neither manager Larry Regan, nor coach Red Kelly were discouraged. And the Kings still were flirting with the .500 level and in the fight for first place in the expansion division.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-01892/3298989-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="297" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brian Smith</figcaption></div>Clearly, the club which started fastest of the first-year entries had slowed perceptibly and many felt the &ldquo;so-called experts&rdquo; who pegged the Kings for the lower depths were about to be proven right. Certainly, no one in the King organization from owner Jack Kent Cooke on down was happy about the turn of events.At this writing, the Kings had lost seven of their last 12 games but had begun to bounce back. The offense, which was well-balanced and consistent while they were winning, had quieted to a whisper. They were shut out twice in a row by Cesare Maniago and his Minnesota mates, and also by Doug Favell and Philadelphia to make it three times in four games and four times this season.They went 240 minutes and 17 seconds, the equivalent of four full games, without scoring against expansion division foes. Ironically, the string was broken by a goal by Brian Smith against his younger brother Gary, making a rare start in the nets for the Seals. Brian later got an empty-net goal to seal a 3-1 win that was sparked by defenseman Bob Wall&rsquo;s best showing of the season.The Kings also went 128 minutes and 49 seconds &mdash; more than two full games &mdash; without scoring in one stretch, then 162 minutes and 35 seconds &mdash; far more than two full games - in another stretch against all foes and all within five games. Both strings were busted against Boston, the first by Ted Irvine, who had only one goal in 14 preceding games, the second by Howie Hughes, who had only one goal in 28 previous games, the whole season.The hustling Hughes, an honest little player and a good shooter, had been used almost exclusively as a penalty-killer, however, and was just beginning to get a long-overdue shot at cracking the regular lineup.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had to play a lot on the road, especially against established clubs, and we&rsquo;ve had to play in two different arenas at home, plus practice in a third rink far away. We&rsquo;ve had the toughest schedule in the league,&rdquo; pointed out coach Kelly. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re just getting into our permanent home arena, The Forum, which will help a lot. Under the circumstances, I&rsquo;m very proud of my boys,&rdquo; Kelly said.&ldquo;All clubs suffer these bad stretches. We&rsquo;re 6-7 with the established clubs, which is OK. And now the guys are beginning to find out they can&rsquo;t let down against the other expansion clubs. We play nothing but expansion clubs for awhile, so we should get in the groove against them. I think we&rsquo;ll be all right.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02794/3298982-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="1279" height="2180"><figcaption class="caption-body">Los Angeles Kings expect to stay in fight for first place but they&rsquo;ll need big effort from team&rsquo;s second-line performers like REAL LEMIEUX (9), shown here in action earlier against Montreal goalie ROGATIEN VACHON.</figcaption></div>Manager Regan said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not happy with our recent play, but I&rsquo;m happy with our overall play so far. And, despite the recent bad stretch, I think we&rsquo;ll get stronger as the season goes along. For one thing, the depth we have and Philadelphia has, having purchased farm clubs, which the other expansion clubs do not have, should begin to show as injuries mount.&ldquo;For another thing, we have a lot of young players who have faltered here and there, but who have shown they have the stuff and are bound to improve. And we have some older players who have disappointed me so far, who have found out the expanded NHL is a lot tougher than they thought it would be, and who now realize they&rsquo;re going to have to give a little extra, both on and off the ice, if they are going to play to their potential, which I think they will begin to do.&rdquo;&ldquo;Finally, I think we have a lot of former minor leaguers who used to coast and shrug off a couple of bad games as long as they were high in the standings, who now realize you have to take every game seriously in the majors, who now realize you have to fight for two points every night you take the ice if you&rsquo;re going to survive in the big time. Overall, I&rsquo;m quite pleased with where we are at this stage.&rdquo;Regan praised Kelly: &ldquo;He has done a fantastic job. I really think he&rsquo;s the best coach in hockey already. Watching him game after game. I&rsquo;m impressed as he gets steadily stronger and sharper. I&rsquo;m particularly impressed by his patience. He doesn&rsquo;t panic. He has the team under a firm hold. With Red, this team should wind up a big winner.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0008-01

Kings’ Slowdown Fails To Dismay Regan, Kelly After Losing 7 of 12

LOS ANGELES, Calif. &mdash;Red Kelly&rsquo;s patience began to run out for the first time during the Kings&rsquo; scoring slump when he threatened to send some &ldquo;out of condition&rsquo;&rsquo; players down if they didn&rsquo;t wake up. Several disappointing veterans responded noticably and Kelly wound up making only one change. Young Brent Hughes, who had been recalled to fill injured spare defenseman Jacques Lemieux&rsquo;s spot, was returned to Springfield and first-year pro Jim Murray, one of owner Jack Kent Cooke&rsquo;s favorites, was called up for a trial run under pressure.Hughes, a left-hander, was playing out of position on the right side. Murray, also a lefthander, often has played the right side. High draftee Paul Popeil was left down because he is a left-sider also, and has been inconsistent in the A HL. Hard-hitting. Larry Johnston missed his chance because he has a busted hand. The Kings need a hitter. Regan said. &#9632;

Impatient Kelly Ponders Shakeup

<div class="byline">BY LOU PRATO</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-01882/3299044-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">KEN SCHINKEL &hellip; Can Teach Kids Thing Or Two</figcaption></div>PITTSBURGH, Pa. &mdash;He doesn&rsquo;t have the dramatic charm of Andy Bathgate nor the spectacular scoring flair of Art Stratton. And when it comes to checking he doesn&rsquo;t appear to be the bruiser that Leo Boivin is.But on the Pittsburgh Penguins, there may not be a more valuable player than a 35-year-old right wing named Ken Schinkel.On the Ice, Schinkel&rsquo;s play is often overshadowed by the more flamboyant manoeuverings of his teammates. But his steady, proficient efforts have earned him the highest praise from his coach, Red Sullivan.&ldquo;Schinkel is by far the best right wing in our division,&rdquo; says Sullivan, not known as a man to pass out meaningless compliments. &ldquo;And he&rsquo;s not far from the others in the other division.&ldquo;If any kids are coming into this league as right wings they should watch Schinkel. He&rsquo;ll show them how this game should be played.&rdquo;The worth of Schinkel can be readily seen in the Western Division statistics. Bathgate and Stratton have been waging a pretty close battle for scoring honors in the West but just a step or two back is Schinkel.What&rsquo;s more both Sullivan and Stratton credit Schinkel for the recent goal producing spree that has catapaulted Stratton into the scoring race.&ldquo;Without Schinkel it&rsquo;s doubtful if Art would have scored as many goals as he has,&rdquo; says Sullivan. &ldquo;They form a pretty good combination out there. &ldquo;Stratton agrees, saying, &ldquo;Both Kenny and Keith (McCreary) have worked hard setting up plays for me. No doubt I wouldn&rsquo;t be the scoring threat without Kenny passing the way he does. He takes a lot of pressure off, too, with his skating.&rdquo;The Penguins picked Schinkel off the New York Rangers roster in the expansion draft and although he had 265 previous NHL games to his credit he had spent most of the past four years in the American Hockey League.&ldquo;I knew there were guys I could beat out but I don&rsquo;t think I had a fair chance,&rdquo; he says in recalling those years.&rdquo;It wasn&rsquo;t until the Penguins sixth game of the year that Pittsburgh fans took a special Interest in Schinkel. Then, the Penguins entertained the Chicago Black Hawks at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena and Schinkel was assigned to guard the scoring master, Bobby Hull.Schinkel accomplished that job and more, holding Hull to one goal, and scoring the three goal hat trick himself to lead a 4-2 win &mdash; the first victory by an expansion team over an established club. Two months later when assigned guard duty on Hull again, Schinkel kept Hull scoreless as the Penguins gained a 1-1 tie.Speaking modestly about his performance afterwards, Schinkel spoke mostly of the team than of his own efforts. It is this unselfish attitude which has impressed Sullivan.&ldquo;He comes to play, no matter how rough it is,&rdquo; Sullivan says. &ldquo;What I like most about him is that he&rsquo;ll take a check to save a score.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s the only way Schinkel could play it.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just as concerned about bow many goals are scored against me,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;They don&rsquo;t pay off that way but I&rsquo;ve always figured teams need players like that.&rdquo;And undoubtedly, the Penguins need a player like Kai Schinkel. &#9632;

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Best Right Wing In Expansion Says Sully

<div class="byline">&#x2014; Prato</div>PITTSBURGH, Pa.-It took him two weeks to do it but Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Andy Bathgate finally got the goal that moved him into eighth place among the all time NHL scorers.The goal, number 325 in Bathgate&rsquo;s 16 year career, came December 23 against Minnesota before a hometown crowd at Pittsburgh&rsquo;s civic Arena.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02749/3299075-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="270" height="446"><figcaption class="caption-body">Andy Bathgate</figcaption></div>Bathgate took a pass from Al MacNeil and slammed home the record goal from 40 feet out at 4:40 of the first period. The goal started the Penguins on a 4-0 win over the North Stars and Bathgate was unaware that it was his 325th.&ldquo;I forgot about it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t remember until after they announced it.&rdquo;Bathgate had been tied with Nels Stewart at 324, having scored that goal on December 9 also in a game with Minnesota.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to get to 350,&rdquo; Bathgate remarked, &ldquo;but I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ll ever get there.&rdquo;Undoubtedly, the 35-year-old right wing will prove to be a poor prophet. At the rate he Is scoring nowdays, he may reach that milestone by the end of the season.He was already two up on the mark by Christmas night as he led Pittsburgh to a 4-3 win over Los Angeles. &#9632;

f0010-02

Bathgate Ends Two-Week Wait, Scores 325 th Big League goal

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01869/3299120-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Oakland&rsquo;s CHARLIE HODGE makes big stop off Montreal&rsquo;s HENRI RICHARD.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-02787/3299113-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="1275" height="1250"><figcaption class="caption-body">GARY BAUMAN of Minnesota leaps high in air to grab pack.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-04526/3299106-1-eng-US/f0011-042.jpg" title="f0011-04" width="1940" height="1956"><figcaption class="caption-body">Montreal goaler GUMP WORSLEY goes down to block shot.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0011-01

NHL NETMINDERS UNDER FIRE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-03643/3299151-1-eng-US/f0011-032.jpg"></div>INDIVIDUAL SCORING LEADERS(Including Games of Thursday, Dec. 28) &#9632;

f0011-03

NHL SCORING RACE

<h2>NHL Player Of The Week &mdash; IN THE EAST</h2>The hockey skeptics scoffed when little Andre Gill stepped into the Boston net as a last-minute replacement for the Bruins.He&rsquo;ll never do was the common remark heard around the Hub as the 27-year-old, 5&rsquo;7&rdquo; goaler (one of the smallest in pro hockey) was pressed into service when Ed Johnston and Gerry Cheevers, Bruins&rsquo; two regular goalies, were hit with injuries.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01853/3299182-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="272" height="408"><figcaption class="caption-body">Andre Gill</figcaption></div>Gill answered the critics in his own way and he undoubtedly left them shaking their heads. Gill, up from Hershey of the AHL, started his first NHL game Dec. 23 by shutting out New York Rangers 4-0. Then he followed up with a 6-3 decision over Oakland and a 7-2 rout of the Black Hawks.With that kind of netminding, it would seem that Johnston and Cheevers, could conceivably have a hard time getting their jobs back.THE HOCKEY NEWS is pleased to salute the NHL&rsquo;s player-of-the-week in the East:Andre Gill&hellip;Boston &#9632;

f0012-01

HOEKSTRA SURPRISE FOR FLYERS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02740/3299213-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg"></div>Standings on Fri. December 29<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Sat Dec. 23Oakland 2 at Montreal 4Detroit 3 at Toronto 5Boston 4 ot New York 0Philadelphia 2 at Chicago 3Minnesota 0 ot Pittsburgh 4St. Louis 0 at Los Angeles 4Mon. Dec. 25Montreal 1 at Chicago 3Toronto 3 at Detroit 1New York 3 at Philadelphia IOakland 3 at Boston 6Los Angeles 3 at Pittsburgh 4St. Louis I at Minnesota 0Wed. Dec. 27Montreal 2 at Toronto 2Minnesota 3 at New York 3Chicago 2 at Boston 7Oakland 0 at Pittsburgh 0Los Angeles 2 at St. Louis 4Thur. Dec. 28Minnesota 2 at Montreal 6Philadelphia 2 at Detroit 5GAMES TO COME<h2>Fri Dec. 29</h2>Pittsburgh at St. LouisSat Dec. 30Oakland at MontrealSt. Louis at TorontoBoston at Minnesota (afternoon game 1Chicago at New York (afternoon game)Detroit at PittsburghPhiladelphia at Los Angeles (Afternoon gameSun. Dec. 31Toronto at New YorkBoston at DetroitOakland at ChicagoLos Angeles at PhiladelphiaWed. Jan. 3Toronto at MontrealBoston at New YorkLos Angeles at MinnesotaOakland at St. LouisThurs. Jan. 4Boston at PhiladelphiaOakland at DetroitLos Angeles at PittsburghSat. Jan. 6New York at Montreal (afternoon game'Boston at TorontoDetroit at ChicagoPhiladelphia at PittsburghMinnesota at OaklandLos Angeles at St. LouisSun. Jan. 7Los Angeles at OaklandMontreal at DetroitToronto at New YorkBoston at ChicagoPittsburgh at Philadelphia &#9632;

f0012-02

LOOKING AT NHL RACE

Pittsburgh Penguins are happy today they did a little shopping before the expansion draft last summer.One of their bargain basement specials was a not-so-young netminder by the name of Les Binkley.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03582/3299268-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="299" height="407"><figcaption class="caption-body">Les Binkley</figcaption></div>Today, Binkley stands out as one of the top three goalkeepers in the NHL&rsquo;s new expansion division and the Penguins deserve credit for having the foresight to secure Binkley&rsquo;s services before the teams sat down to the expansion selections. Binkley was purchased by the Penguins in mid season of 1966-67 and allowed to play for San Diego of the WHL.This past week the greying, 31-year-old goaler rewarded the Penguins by posting two shutouts. He stopped Minnesota 4-0 and then responded with a flawless performance as the Penguins and Oakland Seals battled to a scoreless tie.THE HOCKEY NEWS is pleased to salute the NHL&rsquo;s player-of-the-week in the West:Les Binkley&hellip;Pittsburgh &#9632;

f0012-03

NHL Player Of The Week — IN THE WEST

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01837/3299299-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0013-01

National Hockey League Summaries

<div class="byline">BY GIL SMITH</div>MONTREAT,. Que. &mdash;The Montreal canaaiens are hoping that 1968 will be a Boom Year.Specifically, they&rsquo;re waiting for some of their silent guns to start booming in the second-half of this longest-ever hockey campaign.And, if the guns don&rsquo;t go &ldquo;boom,&rdquo; then another type of boom is liable to be lowered on some of the unproductive members of the squad.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01839/3299330-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="299" height="469"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gilles Tremblay</figcaption></div>Actually, Habs are hoping that past history will repeat itself, particularly as it applied to the second-half of last season. They were a fourth place club going into the second-half a year ago, and most of their scorers were in the midst of a famine. However, by the time the season ended, they were in second place and had more than doubled their scoring output in the latter part of the schedule.Some of the players like, Henri Richard, Jean Beliveau and John Ferguson, overcame very rocky starts to finish with respectable point totals last season. Richard, for instance, had eight goals and 14 assists in the first half; finished with 21-34. Beliveau&rsquo;s total was four goals, eight assists going into the second half. He ended with 12-26. Ferguson had a 5-10 record at the halfway mark, last year. He wound up with 20 goals and 22 assists. Gilles Tremblay was another who came on strong after a poor start.Obviously, Habs are going to have to get all-out performances again if they&rsquo;re to salvage their reputations this season. Any number of them, including Richard, Ferguson, Tremblay and Claude Larose have had a bad time of it in the first half. Much of it has been due to injuries, of course, which have also caused top-scorers Beliveau and Yvan Cournoyer to miss games. But, as the cynics say, every team has injuries to contend with, including those that finish at the top of the heap.One man who&rsquo;d been moving well as the half mark approached, was Bobby Rousseau. He&rsquo;d discarded the helmet he was going to wear &ldquo;forever,&rdquo; and was clicking big on the right side of a Richard-Duff combine. He&rsquo;d been a star in several straight games, after having played mediocre hockey in much of the early going. Even Rousseau, himself, is at a loss to explain why he goes in streaks instead of playing consistently well.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t really understand it,&rdquo; he said, recently. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll have a stretch of games where I play quite well, then I slump, then play well again. I&rsquo;d prefer a more consistent average.&rdquo;Rousseau was consistent enough last year, however, with nine goals and 26 assists in the first half, 10-18 in the second, for an overall 19-44-63 total. He was the team&rsquo;s leading scorer.There should be something to look forward to on defence, too.J.C. Tremblay, a notoriously slow starter and the subject of trade rumors (to Toronto for Bob Pulford, yet), usually gets better as the season progresses. Canadiens, who quickly denied trade talk concerning J.C, are, no doubt, hoping that he comes alive for them in the second alf. The same could be said for Ted Harris, whose hitting and blocking usually pay dividends in the late stages. &#9632;

f0014-01

Habs Hoping Big Guns Boom In Second Half; Top Stars Not Scoring

<div class="byline">&#x2014; By Bill Libby</div><h2>St. Louis Rink Tops</h2>The St. Louis Arena looks like a Taj Mahal that fell apart and some cockeyed kid put it back together again. But it has a new coat of paint outside and Inside and a $3,700,000 renovation on the Interior has made it one of the more comfortable buildings in the National Hockey League. Although It was built about 40 years ago, around the time of the stock-market crash and the depression, it is a sturdy structure, without a single post to mar the view. &ldquo;We may have the only old building to come into the major leagues this year, but we have one of the best buildings,&rdquo; Lynn Patrick says. &ldquo;I love the town and I&rsquo;m very impressed with the interest there in sports and hockey. Our attendance isn&rsquo;t what I would have hoped, but neither is our record. We&rsquo;ve been losing low-scoring games. When we pick up. so will the crowds.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02725/3299375-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="288" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dickie Moore</figcaption></div>The manager of the Blues recently turned the coaching reins over to his aide, Scotty Bowman, as he had planned to do eventually anyway, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s too much to try and do both jobs. It might be all right if you&rsquo;re winning, but we were losing and I wasn&rsquo;t sleeping nights. I was thinking only of coaching and letting the other job go to pot. Scotty was helping me, but now l can help him. I&rsquo;ll travel with the club as much as possible and attend all the games and watch from up above. That way we can put together A two different views of what happened when we i compare notes later,&rdquo; Patrick pointed out. &ldquo;And I&rsquo;ll travel between games to see if I can find anything on other clubs, especially in the minors, that might help us. Our Kansas City farm is very convenient to us In St-Louis and Doug Harvey is doing a great job there. The attendance is real good. I guess you&rsquo;d have to consider Kansas City in any future NHL expansion.&rdquo;Patrick has been at the bottom so many years in Boston, Los Angeles and now St. Louis, he get the bends whenever one of his teams wins a game, but he is very optimistic about his present club. &ldquo;We have had more problems putting together an effective combination than some of the other expansion teams,&rdquo; he points out. &ldquo;We have five players who were amateurs last year and never played pro before. That&rsquo;s a lot of inexperience. But these are talented players and we&rsquo;ll grow with them. We have a lot of old guys, sure, like Glenn Hall, Al Arbour, Dickie Moore and Don McKenney, but I just wish we had them all the time. We&rsquo;ve had more injuries than most clubs. McKenney missed the first nine weeks. Moore just joined us. We have good personnel and when we settle down with everyone playing regularly we&rsquo;ll be tough to beat. We need scoring, which is why we signed Moore.&rdquo;<h2>Moore Needs Conditioning</h2>Hall and Arbour are sturdy men on which to anchor a defense. They remain among the best in the game. The offense is something else. Moore retired three years ago with bad knees. Now he&rsquo;s trying a comeback, which demonstrates how desperate the Blues are. Still he looks pretty good. &ldquo;I feel pretty good, too.&rdquo; Dickie said as he stripped wearily from his first game back. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s quite a challenge, but I think I&rsquo;ll make it now. My knees don&rsquo;t bother me too much, but I&rsquo;ve been out of action a long time. &ldquo;McKenney added, &ldquo;I think Dickie will find conditioning is a bigger problem than his knees. I missed a couple of months and find that I can&rsquo;t go a full two-minute turn without getting very tired. I begin to slow down after about a minute and fifteen seconds.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03567/3299368-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="288" height="483"><figcaption class="caption-body">Baz Bastien</figcaption></div>Some of the Blues are so old they count time by the minutes and seconds, not even by the game or the season. Even some of the rookies are old. At 33, goalie Seth Martin may be the oldest rookie In captivity. Bowman says, &ldquo;when &rsquo; we get organized, well be tough to beat,&rdquo; Maybe so, but, like the World War II song, right now the Blues are either too young or too old, which is why they are scraping around at the bottom of the heap with Oakland. The Seals have 12 men who played in the Western League last season, three of whom were used sparingly, which is why they&rsquo;re where they are. They hit everything but the back of the net. Here, Bert. Olmstead is trying to be both manager and coach at the same time, too.<h2>Two Coach System Ideal</h2>This season, Sid Abel general manager and coach of the Detroit Red Wings, has been observing games from the upper seats, while Baz Bastien, his assistant, runs the bench. Baz, who managed and coached Pittsburgh to the American League title last season, says, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s an ideal system, especially if the two men work well together. Sid and I are buddy-buddy off the ice as well as on. It&rsquo;s worked well with Punch Imlach and King Clancy in Toronto and Emile Francis and Jackie Gordon in New York, although usually the boss is the man on the bench. The bench is the worst seat in the house. You&rsquo;re screened out of most of the action. You do have personal contact with the men, of course. &rsquo; The man upstairs actually gets a better look at what&rsquo;s happening and why. I find that when Sid and I compare notes later, it&rsquo;s sometimes like we saw different games. Together, we can handle all angles. In most sports, coaches have more assistants than they do in hockey, anyway. It&rsquo;s too much for one man to handle, especially if he&rsquo;s manager as well as coach. And I&rsquo;m enjoying my role on the bench, helping him try to produce a winner in the majors.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04411/3299361-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="288" height="457"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill Collins</figcaption></div>Early on the morning of Dec. 22, my wife, Sharon, presented me with a dear girl, Laurie Theo. Our Allyson, turning two, is now a big sister. Mother and daughter are doing fine. Papa is still quivering.When Minnesota had won only seven games, Ray Cullen had scored only five goals, but four of them had been game-winners &hellip; Another I gutty North Star has been Billy Collins. He had his nose broken and suffered a seven-stitch cut in one game, came back against orders to play in the next game the following night. He&rsquo;d just won a regular job. &ldquo;It doens&rsquo;t come easy to get here,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You work darn hard to make it in the NHL and you don&rsquo;t step aside easily once you&rsquo;re in there.&rdquo; &hellip; Another gutty star, Chicago Black Hawk variety, Is Stan Mikita. He virtually had his right ear cut in half in one game, was ordered to the sidelines by the team doctor, but dressed to play the next game. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s my ear and we need this game,&rdquo; he told coach Billy Reay, who used him. Stosh played it by ear, of course. Detroit manager Sid Abel says Alex Delvecchio, not Gordie Howe, has been Detroit&rsquo;s best player for more than a month now &hellip;With 870 points, Portland&rsquo;s Art Jones now is second only to Guyle Fielder in all-time Western League scoring. With 1,227 minutes, Portland&rsquo;s Jim &ldquo;Red-Eye&rdquo; Hay now is second to no one in all-time Western League penalties &hellip; They play overtimes in the WHL, not In the American League. They&rsquo;re playing overtime only in Western games of the Interlocking series. Ironically, the AHL has won all three that have been played so far and is well ahead in the overall standings .. &#9632;

f0014-02

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY JACK BERRY</div>DETROIT, Mich. -Paul Henderson was philosophical.&ldquo;At least the puck went in the net,&rdquo; said the 24-year-old Red Wing forward.Henderson is watching games from the press box for two weeks now because of torn muscles in his right shoulder.Toronto&rsquo;s Bob Pulford hit Henderson with a crunching check just as Henderson was following through on a long shot against the Maple Leafs.&ldquo;I saw him out of the corner of my eye when the play started but I didn&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;d run at me,&rdquo; Henderson said. &ldquo;I saw the defenseman and when I shot I didn&rsquo;t watch the puck &mdash; I started to protectmyself but I didn&rsquo;t do it fast enough.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01816/3299406-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="274" height="506"><figcaption class="caption-body">Paul Henderson</figcaption></div>The goal light flashed and Henderson went down, then out to the hospital for x-rays which showed no fractures, fortunately.But now it&rsquo;s two seasons in a row that Henderson has been beset by injuries.&ldquo;And I&rsquo;m not injury-prone,&rdquo; he said, shaking his head. &ldquo;I played four years junior without missing a game. Then there was that stuff last year and now this. Well, maybe I can get it all over with at once.&rdquo;The Wings were looking to Henderson for big things last season. He&rsquo;d scored 22 goals the previous season and assisted on 24. That was his second full season with Detroit.Henderson scored nine goals in the first 11 games last season and then came down with a strange breathing malady that finally resulted in a mid-season trip to Arizona to bake out the germs.He caught fire when he returned to the lineup New Year&rsquo;s Eve and so did the Wings. Then he missed the final weeks of the campaign with a badly pulled groin.Nevertheless, Henderson scored 21 goals in just 46 games and the Wings were figuring on a really big year this time around.And Henderson perked at the start and then went nine games without a goal. He cracked that in Toronto and promptly was knocked out of the lineup.Ironically, Henderson was on right wing when he scored, taking one turn because Gordie Howe was winded.General manager Sid Abel had Intended to move Henderson back to right wing to see if that would get him untracked.A natural right hander, Henderson was moved to the left side two seasons ago and scored most of his 22 goals that season from left wing.Henderson&rsquo;s shoulder injury came during a period of nagging injuries that contributed to the club&rsquo;s first real slump of the season.Third line center Ted Hampson, who&rsquo;d been having a fine year, had a sore shoulder and groin. Bruce MacGregor had a broken nose and was forced to miss two games for surgery, the first games he&rsquo;d missed in nearly three years.Defenseman Howie Young had an ear infection and missed three games.The injuries resulted in mass movement between Detroit and Fort Worth and left wing Gary Marsh and right wing Ron Anderson were impressive in trials with the big club.Marsh scored his first NHL goal and assisted on three in a five game test and Anderson scored his first NHL goal in a five game workout.So far the Wings have used 26 players this season &mdash; they&rsquo;ve got 12 to go to match last year&rsquo;s total.Apparently up for the balance of the season is Jimmy Peters Jr., 23-year-old son of the former National Leaguer.As an unprotected player, Peters could appear in five games with Detroit and still be sent back to Fort Worth without waivers.He&rsquo;s played the five games, plus a couple on emergency basis, and then was formally recalled by Detroit.Peters had 10 goals and 18 assists for 28 points for Forth Worth&rsquo;s Central Hockey League southern division leaders. &#9632;

f0015-01

Henderson Knocked Out With Shoulder Injury

<div class="byline">BY JOHN TRAVERS</div>HURSHEY. Pa -Just when it appeared the Hershey Bears were commencing to fit all the pieces together, the injury bug hit the club hard, sidelining three key players, including forwards Myron Stankiewicz and rookie Bud Debrody.Also joining the pair on the crippled list was defenseman Ralph Keller, who hurt his foot in a 5-2 win over the Buffalo Bisons Dec. 16, the night Hershey ended a six game winless streak.Debrody, the club&rsquo;s second leading goal sniper, has an ankle ailment, while Stankiewicz received a skate cut of the wrist in a game against the Quebec Aces.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01644/3299444-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="281" height="487"><figcaption class="caption-body">Myron Stankiewicz</figcaption></div>Fortunately, the Bears had enough manpower to plug the gaps with veteran forward Bruce Cline coming out of retirement to ink a contract.Young defenseman Pete Ford, who hasn&rsquo;t seen much action this season, stepped into the lineup as a winger against the Rochester Americans Dec. 17 and did a capable job as the Bears notched a 7-1 win with a make shift outfit.Stankiewicz may be sidelined for at least two weeks while Debrody and Keller figure to miss only a couple of games.Along with this, the parent National League Boston Bruins recalled goalie Andre Gill after Eddie Johnston and Gerry Cheevers were injured.The Bears had gone from Dec. 1 until Dec. 12 without a win, losing four and tieing two. However, in the next two starts against Buffalo and Rochester, Hershey outscored the pair, 12-3, to notch back-to-back wins.&ldquo;We played two of our better games against them,&rdquo; said coach Frank Mathers. &ldquo;Goalie John Henderson turned in two fine efforts in those games. He turned things around for us in the second period of the Buffalo game with two great saves when the score was tied.&rdquo;Rookie Don Marcotte continued to pace the club&rsquo;s goal snipers with 15, while Debrody was one off his teammate&rsquo;s pace.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re two of the finest young players in the league,&rdquo; added Mathers. &ldquo;If we ever had a chance to win the rookie award, this should be the year with Marcotte and Debrody.&rdquo;The rookie prize is the only individual award to escape Hershey, which has won all the other individual awards at least once.<h2>How They Stand</h2>(Standings On Thurs. Dec. 28)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02558/3299437-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="354" height="1134"></div> &#9632;

f0016-01

Injury Jinx Sidelines Three Key Performers As Bears Hit Stride

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04344/3299475-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0016-04

American League Summaries

<div class="byline">BY VIN CIMINI</div>PROVIDENCE. R.I.-There is a word in the English language which over the years has become watered down and commonplace because of its frequent usage as a description of many in the world of sports.As in times past this word has found yet another sports figure to apply itself to. The word is underrated. The man it pertains to is John Sleaver. It is rather unfortunate that a player such as Sleaver hasn&rsquo;t been fully recognized for his full worth by those not so familiar with his play. Nevertheless this description is an actuality but it seems that his value to his team is finally coming out of the shadows.In the summer of 1966 the reverse player draft was held at the National League&rsquo;s annual meetings. The reverse draft is an infrequent event and with the Reds having finished last in the American Hockey League standings of the previous campaign they were given the privilege of picking first out of the available players and their pick had to be a good one.As is usually the case in such a draft the majority of the names included on the list had seen their better days with many contemplating retirement and others no longer possessing the steam to make good in pro hockey. Still there were available the youngsters waiting their chance to prove themselves and also some veterans whom the National League clubs had left aside to make room for some promising youths who were making impressive headway in their aspirations to make it in professional hockey.It was from this latter category that the Rhode Island Reds procured John Sleaver.Long John, as he is affectionately called, had spent his last three seasons before the draft in the Western Hockey League, each year finishing high in the individual scoring race averaging over sixty-five points a campaign.On two occasions Sleaver saw brief service with the Chicago Black Hawks and in the A HL he had played for Buffalo and Springfield. With those two teams he saw action in 71 games and last year with the Reds he played the entire schedule.John ended the season with 55 points, tying player-coach Dave Creighton for the most assists on the club with 42.Reds&rsquo; general manager Buster I Clegg had this to say of Sleaver&rsquo;s play of a year ago.&ldquo;John got off to a slow start last season but it didn&rsquo;t take him long to show what he could really do.&ldquo;His line was a constant offensive threat every time it got the puck and the same is true this year-and don&rsquo;t forget how he played defensively.&rdquo;When you get right down to the outstanding aspect of John&rsquo;s play it has to boil down to his defensive ability. In the pro ranks he has been widely acknowledged as one of the finest forecheckers in the business and as a result is one of pro hockey&rsquo;s most effective penalty killers.The way Sleaver uses his feet to deflect passes sometimes make one wonder if he is wearing skis, and his uncanny knack of getting in the opposition&rsquo;s way takes one back to the Laurel and Hardy era, It&rsquo;s for sure that John Sleavei doesn&rsquo;t wear skis and is no Star Laurel or Oliver Hardy but try to convince the rest of the American Hockey League when they&rsquo;re trying to make their way up the ice.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01548/3299506-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="575" height="574"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN SLEAVER &hellip; Comes Out Of Shadows</figcaption></div>It&rsquo;s in these inglorious aspects of the game of hockey that John Sleaver excels and in which he is so valuable to the Reds this yearAll anyone can do is to point out what an all &rsquo;round fine job Long John does. &#9632;

f0017-01

Underrated As Hockey Player, Sleaver Proving Boon To Reds

QUEBEC, Que. &ndash;The Quebec Aces&rsquo; Andre Lacroix, the American Hockey League&rsquo;s Leading scorer as this edition of THE HOCKEY NEWS went to press, was i taking dead aim on the all-time, one season &ldquo;hat trick&rdquo; record as the schedule reached the &rsquo; halfway point.Paul Gladu, long retired, and Willie Marshall, now with Baltimore, share the record with 6. Gladu set the record in 1948-49 while playing with the defunct St. Louis Flyers, and Marshall tied Gladu in 1955-56 while playing with Pittsburgh.Lacroix registered his fifth three-goal performance of the season in the Aces&rsquo; 7-3 win over &rsquo; Buffalo at Quebec. It was only the Aces&rsquo; 27th game &rsquo; of the 72-game schedule, leaving Lacroix with 45 games to tie and break the record.Marshall, with two &ldquo;hat tricks&rdquo; this season, is the all-time leader in that department with 24.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03402/3299537-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="543" height="1292"><figcaption class="caption-body">ANDRE LACROIX</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0017-03

Lacroix’s Fifth ‘Hat’ One Away From Record

<div class="byline">BY HANS TANNER</div>ROCHESTER, N.Y.-The Rochester Americans figured to have defensive problems this season, but not quite to the extent which greeted general manager-coach Joe Crozier when he directed a practice just before Christmas.Not Only did Crozier not have two healthy blueline tandems with which to scrimmage, he didn&rsquo;t even have one.Ken Block, who almost didn&rsquo;t even make the squad at the beginning, was the lonely defenseman.Jim McKenny, prize Toronto prospect who had turned in several exceptional games for the Amerks, suffered a broken left ankle Sunday, Dec. 17, and will be lucky to return to the lineup before the end of February.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04311/3299568-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="280" height="480"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jim McKenny</figcaption></div>Captain Don Cherry was kayoed by asthmatic bronchitis and missed three straight games.Darryl Sly was recalled by the Toronto Maple Leafs to replace an ailing Al Stanley in a game in Montreal on the 20th.And veteran Marc Reaume had returned to his Windsor, Ont., home on a brief visit okayed by Crozier.Jim Dorey, who started the season with Rochester but was sent to Tulsa of the Central Pro League early in the month, was recalled to fill the gaping hole left by McKenny&rsquo;s injury, but had not yet reported.Block kidded Crozier with &ldquo;I&rsquo;m the best defenseman you&rsquo;ve got on the ice today, Joe".And as Crozier surveyed his one-man corps, he must have felt like keeping him out of all drafts, off the street and locked in a nice safe place so nothing would happen to him.McKenny&rsquo;s break wasn&rsquo;t the only one suffered by the Amerks in that 17th game agains Hershey. Bronco Horvath, veteran center, snapped a bone In his left thumb when he was tumbled into the boards. There was another bad break for the fans here, too. Rochester lost the game on home Ice by a 7 to 1 count. &#9632;

f0017-04

Amerks’ Defense Crew Riddled As McKenny Suffers Broken Ankle

<div class="byline">BY CHARLEY BARTON</div>BUFFALO, N.Y. -Joe Szura arrived in Buffalo several hours before Gerry Ouellette suffered a slight concussion late in the third period of a 7-3 loss in Quebec, and Fred Shero, the Buffalo Bisons&rsquo; freshman coach, was back doing his shuffling act again.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02485/3299599-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="273" height="470"><figcaption class="caption-body">Billy Knibbs</figcaption></div>Snowstorms in the Southwest and Midwest slowed Szura&rsquo;s crosscountry auto trip from Oakland, after he was loaned to the Bisons by the Seals. Travelling with his wife and two small sons, Szura was snowbound for two days in Nebraska.Ouellette was hurt when he crashed into the boards and struck his head on the ice after being checked by Quebec&rsquo;s Terry Ball. He was hospitalized for several days, and released when x-rays revealed he did not suffer a fracture.Szura, the American League&rsquo;s all-star center two years ago, had been off skates for 10 days when he checked in, but Shero planned to use him regularly at once.Ouellette&rsquo;s injury, and the absence of Billy Knibbs, out with a tear fracture in his left ankle, left the Herd shorthanded incenter ice.Shero teamed Szura with Camille Henry and Mike Labadle, andSzura was scheduled to make his debut as a Bison in Cleveland. Szura was with the Barons for five seasons on loan from the Montreal Canadiens before being picked by Oakland last summer in the expansion draft.&ldquo;We have to beef up our attack, particularly on the road,&rdquo; Shero said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve really missed Knibbs on the road, and Szura is also a guy who plays well away from home.&ldquo;Szura was only able to get in a couple of skating workouts before playing, but I&rsquo;m expecting big things from him,&rdquo; Shero said.ALONG THE BOARDS - It will be &ldquo;Frank Christie Night&rdquo; here Jan. 28 when the Bisons meet the San Diego Gulls of the Western League in an Interlocking game. Co-chairmen Don Altman and Ray Weil report plans to honor the veteran Buffalo trainer are progressing well &hellip; Bad weather foiled the Bisons&rsquo; plans to fly to Quebec for two games. They travelled by train to Quebec from Toronto, and flew from Montreal to Toronto coming back after riding the bus to Montreal. &#9632;

f0017-02

Szura’s Arrival Timely For Hard-Press Herd

SEATTLE, Wash.&mdash;Most &ldquo;improved&rdquo; hockey player &mdash; at least offensively &mdash; In the Western Hockey League this season is Chuck Holmes, veteran Seattle Totems&rsquo; winger, with Fred Hilts of the San Diego Gulls ranking second.Holmes, in 24 games played through December 9, scored 18 points, 13 more than he collected in the same number of games last season. Hilts, in his first 17 games scored 30 points, an increase of 10 over the same period of last season.Tied for third with &ldquo;plus 9&rdquo; ratings were a pair of Phoenix Roadrunners, Del Topoll and Dick Lamoureux.Some of the WHL&rsquo;s veteran performers have been picking off milestones lately like they&rsquo;re going out of style.Lou Jankowski has fired his 350th WHL goal and has passed the 700-point mark at the sametime.Chuck Holmes is eyeing his 200th goal, 300th assist and 500th WHL point. As of Dec. 10, he was 199, 295 and 495.Danny Belisle recently played his 500th WHL game as well as Bill Saunders of Portland. Gord Sinclair of San Diego is closing in his 900th WHL game and Del Topoll of Phoenix is nearing game No. 600.San Diego&rsquo;s Warren Hynes picked up his 400th and 401st points recently while Jankowski climbed into the league&rsquo;s all-time top 10 in scoring with 697 points. He displaced Colin Kilnurn, who retired with 695.Art Jones of Portland is alone in fourth place on the all-time WHL list of scorers with 870 points.Goalie Don Head of the Seattle Totems is off to the second best start of any Western Hockey League goalie in at least eight seasons.Head starts action this week with a goals-against average of 2.26 only better record at this point of any of the past seven compaigns was that of Bruce Gamble of the Portland Buckaroos with a 2.21 average at this point in December of 1961. &#9632;

Holmes Most Improved Player Among WHL’s Offensive Stars

(Standings on Fri. Dec. 29)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01554/3299661-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="336" height="618"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02451/3299654-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="188" height="586"></div>The editors of HOCKEY NEWS wish to announce that, because of the New Year&rsquo;s holiday, publication date had to be advanced not allowing us to include weekend games of Dec. 31 - Jan. 1 in this issue. They will be carried complete in the next issue. &#9632;

f0018-01

Looking at The WHL Race

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01535/3299692-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="679" height="1737"></div> &#9632;

f0019-01

WHL Summaries

CLINTON, N.Y.&mdash;Ed Stanley, business manager of the Clinton Comets, will be honored with a special Ed Stanley Day on Sunday, Jan. 14.It will be held at the Trinkaus Manor in Oriskany, N.Y. at 6:30 p.m. The affair is being held to pay homage to Stanley who organized Clinton&rsquo;s first hockey team in 1928.Not only did Stanley organize this team in 1928, but for the last 40 years he has devoted himself to keeping hockey as the number one sport in this area. Thus the committee has organized the dinner to fete him.The committee, headed by D.R. Cameron and treasurer Arthur Scoones, is trying to contact all former Clinton hockey players to invite them to attend this function. The present Comets have an off-night that evening and thus will be on hand as a unit.Many of Stanley&rsquo;s former proteges also will be on hand and invitations also have been tendered to EHL league president Tom Lockhart; Wren Blair, GM at Minnesota, and other luminaries in Eastern Hockey League circles. &#9632;

Clinton Set To Hold Night For Stanley

FLIN FLON, Man.&mdash;Pat Ginnel&rsquo;s Flin Flon Bombers continue to set the pace for the rest of the Western Canada Junior Hockey League and much of the team&rsquo;s good showing can be attributed to the play of native youngsters.Ginnel&rsquo;s front-runners have seven home grown boys on the club, which indicates a very productive minor league system. The Bombers turned in an amazing performance before losing 5-2 to the Moscow Selects. The Russian team stated the young Flin Flon hockey club were much superior to their own Juniors.ESTEVAN: The most amazing winning streak in modern day sports came to a halt as the Eastern Bruins were beaten 4-3 by the Saskatoon Blades. Estevan had won the first 22 games of the league schedule, which must be a professional and amateur sports record. Many felt that goaltender Gord Kopp&rsquo;s absence may have been one of the reasons for Estevan&rsquo;s loss, however, the Saskatoon Blades must receive full credit for a great performance. Gord Kopp suffered a 28&rdquo; eye and face cut and a broken nose. He was out for four games and then returned to shut-out Brandon 5-0.MOOSE JAW: Coach Brian Shaw is ecstatic about the play of winger Gary Bredin, obtained from the Edmonton Oil Kings. The youngster scored three goals against his former teammates in a recent game and has helped spark the Moose Jaw Canucks into third place. A 20-goal rookie last year, 17-year old Jimmy Booth has decided against university and has returned to the hockey club.EDMONTON: The home attendance of the Oil Kings was probably higher than either the Canadian National team or the Vancouver Canucks. More people have watched the Oil Kings play at this point of the season than they did for the entire 1966-67 season. The Oil Kings exhibition game with Russia January 8th, is already a sell-out.WINNIPEG: The Jets won ten consecutive home games and one of the league coaches confided that he feels the Jets will have a great last half and win the league. He is extremely impressed with the exceptional play of Jim Benzolack and the overall size of the Winnipeg club.REGINA: Five year veteran and team captain, Ken Faranski has quit the club. He apparently was disturbed over his inability to find a regular position on the club after missing much time because of injury. Coach Bob Turner stated he would like to have him back put emphasized that he must earn his place on the hockey club.SASKATOON: The surprise team had to be the Saskatoon Blades as they defeated the Estevan Bruins 4-3 to stop the 22-game Estevan winning streak. The crowd in the Saskatoon arena stood and roared for the final fourteen minutes of the game. Many felt it was one of the finest hockey games ever played in the hub city.WEYBURN: Darwin Mott, younger brother of Morris Mott with the Canadian National team, has come up with some big goals of late. The Red Wings are very pleased with the play of defenseman. Barry Buchanan but they would still like to find another rearguard.SWIFT CURRENT: Harvey Roy&rsquo;s Broncos enjoyed their biggest weekend of the year when they won three out of four points over the Winnipeg Jets. The Broncos home attendance is one of the highest in the league.CALGARY: Cec Papke&rsquo;s Centennials won two straight games, both thrillers over Estevan at home and 6-5 over Regina from the road. The Calgary club has lots of hustle and still has their sites set on a playoff spot. &#9632;

Flin Flon Running Ahead With Team Of Homebrews

<div class="byline">BY MATT DENNIS</div>TULSA. Okla.-The Tulsa Oilers checked in with their 12th victory of the season before Christmas and were only two behind the entire winning output of the 1966-67 Oilers.With a new coach in Johnny McLellan and eight rookies in the lineup. the 1967-68 club is making the fans forget last year&rsquo;s squad that finished in the Central Professional Hockey League basement.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01380/3299785-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="271" height="477"><figcaption class="caption-body">Al Smith</figcaption></div>Atop the Northern Division, much credit for the success of the Oilers&rsquo; return to contention was given to goalie Al Smith.Last fall when the Oilers were at camp and the time came to assign the players who had trained with the parent National Hockey League Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto general manager-coach George &ldquo;Punch&rdquo; Imlach spoke out in favor of the netminder who stretches to six feet one and hits the scales just short of 200 pounds.Imlach said, &ldquo;I think that Smitty is a good, young goalie. With plenty of work, he can become a great one.&rdquo;So Smith was sent to Tulsa and after the Oilers had made their way through 25 games was showing a sparkling 2.76 goals-against average seeing action in 17 contests while Serge Aubry handled the others.In games with Victoria in the Western League last winter, Smith played in 56 contests posting a 3.26 goals-against mark.Up front veteran Len &ldquo;Comet&rdquo; Haley was as frisky as a young colt although he has been in the pro ranks since 1951. In the first 25 games, Haley notched 10 goals and assisted on 17 for 27 points while his rookie linemates Andre Hinse and Gerry Meehan combined for 49.Jim Dorey joined the club and was working for a regular rearguard berth after Harry Shaw was sent to Phoenix. Centerman Neil Clark also came in from the same Western League club.After playing 21 games scoring three goals and assisting on four Jim Keon left the Oilers and headed back to Toronto where it was reported he was anxious to return to school.FORT WORTH - As the injuries mounted with the parent Detroit Red Wings, they looked to the Fort Worth Wings for help. Before Christmas Gary Marsh, Ron Anderson, Jimmy Peters and Doug Roberts were with the &ldquo;big&rdquo; club.But Fern Flaman&rsquo;s crew kept moving and with a 6-2 win over Omaha Knights extended their winning streak to six straight.Rick McCann returned after a jaunt to Detroit and regained his lead in the scoring race showing 10 goals and 20 assists for 30 points in 24 outings.Doug Roberts drew a two-game suspension and $100 line meted out by League president Jack Adams for pushing linesman Ed Butler as the Wings nipped Memphis. 4-3 on Fort Worth ice Dec. 13.KANSAS CITY &mdash; Doug Harvey&rsquo;s Blues were holding runnerup spot in the Northern Division five points back of the pace-setting Tulsa Oilers.George Guilbault with 26 points, better than-a-point-per-game average was leading the offensive.Wayne Rivers was assigned to the Blues from the St. Louis Blues of the National League and the veteran forward made his appearance felt by grabbing off six scoring points in his first three games in Kansas City toggery.OKLAHOMA CITY &mdash; The Blazers saw the Fort Worth club take a 10-point lead over them in the battle for first place in the Southern Division and were having trouble finding consistent scoring punch. They notched 12 ans gave up 10 goals in four games and all they could show for their efforts were a pair of tie games.Jim Lorentz and Ron Buchanan were tops for the team in the point race each showing 25 over the first 24 games.Defenceman Barry Gibbs was the top penalty-getter of the loop serving 104 minutes.MEMPHIS &mdash; The South Stars went on a non-victory drop that extended for 11 games before they rapped Kansas City and Oklahoma City on successive nights.With Bob Charlebois, the loop&rsquo;s top goal-getter called up to Minnesota, Andre Pronovost returned.Pete Panagabko, who saw previous CPHL service with Minneapolis and Oklahoma City was acquired by the South Stars from Vancouver of the WHL and was expected to provide more strength along the right side.DALLAS &mdash; The Black Hawks found the Houston Apollos only three points behind them after both teams had played 27 contests.Coach Bob Kromm was encouraged by the play of rookie Jim Stanfield but was looking for more goals from veteran members of the club.The night they played to a 3-3 draw with Houston on home ice the American Cancer Fund was the big winner of $45 in the Score-0 competition arranged by publicity director Bob Campbell with Santa Claus slipping the disc home.Brian McDonald was pacing the Hawks up front but needed extra help and Kromm was looking to an improved performance by his defence that had given up 104 goals in 27 outings.OMAHA &mdash; Roger Lafreniere returned to the Knights from Buffalo and Sheldon Kamegeisser was assigned to the American League team.Ian Campbell, a five-foot-ten 180-pound forward who performed in the Eastern Amateur League last season, has been sent to the Knights from Seattle of the Western League.HOUSTON &mdash; As the Houston Apollos unloaded a eight-game undefeated streak, coach Ray Kinasewich was outspoken in the praise of goalie Ernie Wakely and defenceman Bryan Watson. Sent to Houston by the parent Montreal Canadiens, Watson was showing aggressiveness back of the blueline lending help to rookies Danny Sharpe, Paul Curtis, John Vanderburg, Murray Flegal and John Schella.Wakely only gave up 19 goals along the eight-game burst.With Danny Grant and Mickey Redmond showing up strong with Montreal Canadiens, Kinasewich was putting the load on rookie forwards Dick Sentes, Jude Drouin, Elgin McCann, Ernie Hicke, Chris Bordeleau and Robin Burns and all were responding.<h2>How They Stand</h2>(Standings on Fri. Dec. 29)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02288/3299778-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="324" height="1136"></div><h2>Point Race</h2><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3>(Including Games of Mon. Dec. 25)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03243/3299771-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="347" height="327"></div>The editors of HOCKEY NEWS wish to announce that, because of the New Year&rsquo;s holiday, publication date had to be advanced not allowing us to include weekend games of Dec. 31 - Jan. 1 in this issue. They will be carried complete in the next issue. &#9632;

f0020-01

Rejuvenated Oilers Heading Division

<div class="byline">BY HARVEY POLLACK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0585/3299861-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="670" height="1483"></div>COMMACK, N.Y. -The belief that John Brophy, the unpredictable defenseman of the Long Island Ducks, had calmed down this year has been dispelled as the veteran has been suspended for at least a month and fined $100 by Eastern Hockey League president Tom Lock hart.<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0674/3299868-1-eng-US/f0021-062.jpg" title="f0021-06" width="136" height="241"><figcaption class="caption-body" style="width: 136px">John Brophy</figcaption></div>Brophy blew his top after receiving a misconduct penalty from referee Bill Pringle and knocked him twice to the ice in a game here with New Haven. This explosion came on the heels of another explosion by Brophy at Johnstown. Thus in view of his EHL record which is dotted with numerous escapades with officials, sticks, fans, etc., Lockhart evidently decided to throw the book at Brophy.&ldquo;Brophy is a menace to officials and a constant threat to fans in other rinks,&rdquo; Lockhart told Ducks president Al Baron, and &ldquo;you can figure on him being out at least 30 days.&rdquo;Baron naturally was upset over the decision which if carried out for 30 days would mean Brophy&rsquo;s loss for 13 games. He said that the punishment was severe in comparison to the light penalties given to players like Blake Ball of New Haven last year after he was involved in three separate incidents with officials.&ldquo;Over the years there has been a constant campaign by some EHL owners to have Brophy banned from the league and it appears that the pressure is beginning to bear fruit, Baron said: &ldquo;The issue here is not how Brophy plays the rough game of hockey but why he would be the target of every fan on the road who believes that his admission price entitles him to bait and provoke Brophy, who admittedly has a low boiling point, into retaliation and subsequent fine and suspension.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve travelled with Brophy for 4 years and can say unequivocally that he is marked man as soon as he steps on foreigh ice. He would have to be superhuman to ignore the unending stream of abuse directed at him. We agree there never is any justification for roughing an official and Brophy should be properly penalized but in proportion to the precedents in other cases. We protest the attitude of Lockhart in finding Brophy guilty before trial.&rdquo;Lockhart earlier this year had announced stricter punishments for molesting of officials. Evidently the lenient treatment of the past helped players figure that they could get away with roughing officials. Now that Lockhart is clamping down, the first club hurt is yelping. It&rsquo;s tough enough to get competent officials to work the games, and if the EHL lets players get away with manhandling the refs, there will be problems in getting officials.Baron, who said he would use Brophy as a public relations man during his suspension, said he wanted an immediate hearing but Lockhart said he would set up a hearing only when he had full reports from all parties concerned. The last major suspension in the EHL was given to Don Perry, at New Haven in the mid-50&rsquo;s when he was ousted for half a season.NEW HAVEN: Ray Carpentier posted four goals in a shutout over Syracuse. Al Johnstone&rsquo;s spectacular stop saved game at Long Island, Jim McCarthy dropped to make room for Wayne Spooner from Columbus. Blades unbeaten in last 9 games at home. Murray Kuntz and Sandy McAndrews had scraps with Syracuse foes. Johnstone&rsquo;s third shutout tied him for league lead.FLORIDA: Defenseman Joe Marich injured in an auto accident. Ron Willy is pacing the club in points. Disappointing crowd of only 1,400 saw Salem game at St. Petersburg. Coach Bob Sabourin says &ldquo;we average two giveaway goals a game.&rdquo; Jackie LeClair got seven-stitch eye cut from a puck that hit him over the left eye while he was sitting on the bench. Ed Pare had double vision after being checked into the boards. LeClair&rsquo;s four goals beat Salem.CHARLOTTE: Fred Creighton says Greensboro and the Checkers are even in talent and that only the breaks decide the game between the two teams. Claude Ouimet already has passed his point totals and goal total of a year ago.SALEM: Benny LeBlanc hurt his shoulder in a board crash at St. Petersburg. Rebels nonwinning streak stopped at 23 games with 3-1 verdict over Knoxville. Bob Zupan had 58 saves at Florida. Wally Chase&rsquo;s two goals helped forge a tie with Florida. Jim Jago leads team in goals and points. Sam Gregory in assists and Tom Schiller in penalties.CLINTON: Testimonial for Ed Stanley slated Jan. 14 at Oriskany, N.Y. All former Clinton players invited to affair. Howie Dietrich&rsquo;s hat trick topped Jersey. Ed Babiuk produced his third shutout at Johnstown. Bill Bannerman&rsquo;s two tallies beat Jets. Defenseman Ian Anderson is well on the way to his biggest season as a pointmaker, Bannerman holds narrow lead over Borden Smith, Don Davidson, and Jack Kane for Club scoring lead.JOHNSTOWN: Claude Gunette not signed after trial here and and Johnstone join another EHL team Golf Club and will assumer duties after season ends. Joe Beggs released to make room for newcomers. Reg Kent has bolstered northern division scoring lead and his closest foe is mate John Gofton.LONG ISLAND: Coach Gene Achtymichuk was fined $100 for attempting to influence referee Bill Pringle&rsquo;s report about his roughing by John Brophy. Latter&rsquo;s absence has hurt defense considerably. Ducks have experienced considerable trouble with New Haven, bowing five times to Blades. Tom Burgess was wed and honeymooned in Bermuda. Dwight Winters missed game with army injury. Les Calder scoring at steady clip.SYRACUSE: Blazers won 7 out of nine at home, but their road record was still dismal. Bob Buchanan picked up on waivers from Jersey. Chris Finnerty&rsquo;s solo forays keep the fans on the end of their seat and have earned him the nickname of &ldquo;Mr. Amazing.&rdquo; Crowds continue well under the thousand mark. Roger Wilson had 47-saver vs Johnstown. Danny Mayers is out 20 days with broken nose, Danny Sandford back in action.NASHVILLE: Flyers&rsquo; hex on Knoxville broken in sixth meeting between clubs. Flyers operating on the theory that they retain title by winning big at home and breaking even on the road. Coach Lloyd Hinchberger continues to stress hitting when the opponent is Greensboro due to his club&rsquo;s inability to keep pace with the speedy Gens. Team has perfect record at home except for 2 losses to Greensboro.GREENSBORO: Gens scored all seven goals in second period vs Knoxville with Ron Muir and Dom DiBerardino both hitting hat tricks in session the latter in 6:30. Don Carter continues as Southern Division scoring pacesetter and John Voss is top goalie in either division with 2:63 average. Bob Sicinski has bone chip injury in left wrist. Don Burgess&rsquo; hat trick nipped Florida. Gens won 12 out of first 15 road games.JERSEY: Wayne Kitchen&rsquo;s hat trick helped Devils beat Long Island for first time. Team has jelled considerably since Ray Crew joined club. Claude Boucher had eight goals including two hat tricks in three-game span. Gordie Stratton says defense of Crew, Ted Szydlowski and Bill Adair helps keep the game under control &hellip;KNOXVILLE: Coach Pat Egan pleased with Club&rsquo;s penalty killining and its forechecking. Al Sarault&rsquo;s improved play evidently means he won&rsquo;t go to Jersey as was contemplated until an 11th hour change in decision. Knights fans gave goalie Gaye Cooley $25 for his shutout over Greensboro and he presented $15 of it to a Christmas fund. The other Knights matched Cooley&rsquo;s gift to the fund. John Marshall suffered shoulder separation and will be lost for 7 weeks.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>Point Race</h2>LEADING SCORERSIncluding Games of Sun. Dec. 17<h2>Hockey Race</h2><h3>EASTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE</h3>(Standings on Fri. Dec. 29)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03124/3299854-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="326" height="1192"></div><h2>How They Stand</h2><h3>ONTARIO SENIOR LEAGUE</h3>(Standings on Fri. Dec. 29)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02170/3299847-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="323" height="842"></div> &#9632;

f0021-05

Ducks Protesting One-Month Ban On Brophy For Slugging Referee

<div class="byline">BY BOB REED</div>TOLEDO, O.-Three teams In the International Hockey League will wind up their season on March 24, earlier than they had hoped.This was determined when the IHL board of governors decided to reject a proposal that the number of playoff teams be Increased from four to six, thus eliminating only one club. A telephone vote was taken after a number of the clubs had expressed themselves in favor of the proposal.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02183/3299934-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="290" height="417"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Goodwin</figcaption></div>At the same time the governors decided not to go through with a plan that had been under discussion to stage a post-season series with the champions of the Eastern Hockey League.Holding the playoffs down to four teams is certain to provide even sharper competition in a race that has been one of the best in years. The fifth place club, for instance, was only three points out of the final playoff position.The Fort Wayne Komets. who have been out of the playoffs only once in 10 years, was one of the teams in early danger, as was Des Moines. These two were tied for the last position and so evenly matched were they that they had played three tie games in five meetings.Dayton&rsquo;s Gems, season champions last year and the Muskegon Mohawks, who finished last, were having a see-saw battle for the lead, the Gems flashing the highest scoring combination in the league and the Mohawks the tightest defense.FORT WAYNE &mdash; Latest estimate on the return date of Mery Dubchak, out with a broken ankle, was the last week of January &hellip; Dave Parenteau, obtained from Toledo, hit for three goals in his first three games &hellip; Johnny Goodwin and Len Thomson moved up on idle Dubchak to tie for scoring honors with 37 points &hellip;TOLEDO &mdash; The Blades were waiting on a later examination of goalie Glenn Ramsay&rsquo;s knee to determine if an operation would be necessary. In the meantime Jim Helkie was tending the nets &hellip; Stan Maxwell was back on ice after missing three games with a groin injury &hellip;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03158/3299927-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="617" height="1111"><figcaption class="caption-body">SID GARANT &hellip; New Gems&rsquo; Captain</figcaption></div>DAYTON &mdash; Sid Garant was elected captain of the Gems, succeeding suspended Bob Bailey. Ron Meier took Garant&rsquo;s place as alternate captain &hellip; The Gems were given a plane ride for their 308-mile trip to Muskegon on Christmas day &hellip; The Gems were much better off than last year in the goals department for their first 29 games, with 136-112 compared to 107-109.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04124/3299920-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="606" height="1099"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE PARENTEAU &hellip; Wields Hot Stick</figcaption></div>COLUMBUS &mdash; The Checkers secured defenseman Jim Currie of Sudbury, no relation to the winger of the same name traded to Des Moines &hellip; The Chex broke a slump that cost them 10 of 12 games, when every player was fined $25 &hellip; The Checkers placed the veteran defenseman Ted LeBoda on waivers.MUSKEGON &mdash; The Mohawks had the top two goalies in the league, with Bob Perani at 2.24 and Tim Tabor at 3.00 &hellip; They had three of the leading scorers in Joe Kastelic, Gary Ford and Carl Brewer &hellip; After playing only twice in 13 days the Hawks had a run of eight games in 11 days.PORT HURON &mdash; After helping the Flags to three wins and a tie in four games, Coach Jerry Toppazzini was forced out, possibly for a month, with a groin Injury &hellip; He had one goal and four assists in the four games &hellip; Frank Golembrosky was returned to the lineup.DES MOINES &mdash; The Oak Leafs played their third He in five meetings with the Komets, losing a 5-3 lead &hellip; The new Chiupka-Fahey-Brown line scored 16 of 37 goals in eight games.The editors of HOCKEY NEWS wish to announce that, because of the New Year&rsquo;s holiday, publication date had to be advanced not allowing us tc include weekend games of Dec. 31 - Jan. 1 in this issue. They will be carried complete in the next issue.<h2>LOOKING AT IHL RACE</h2><h3>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h3>(Standings on Fri. Dec. 29)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-05105/3299913-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="322" height="462"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0679/3299906-1-eng-US/f0022-062.jpg" title="f0022-06" width="160" height="519"></div><h2>Hockey Races</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0768/3299899-1-eng-US/f0022-072.jpg" title="f0022-07" width="354" height="2113"></div> &#9632;

f0022-02

Governors Decide On Four - Team Playoff

<div class="byline">BY JACK GATECUFF</div>NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. &mdash;During the first two months of the Ontario Hockey Association junior A season it seemed that the only thing to be decided was in what order the teams would finish from second position to 10th.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01230/3299979-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="274" height="493"><figcaption class="caption-body">Garry Swain</figcaption></div>Niagara Falls Flyers, in short, appeared to have the pennant all but clinched.They went through their first 13 games without a loss and at one stage held a 10-point lead over their closest rival.However, injuries to key personnel slowed the runaway Flyers into a dog trot and they managed to pick up only two points (both on ties) in their next eight games.Just when the other clubs were beginning to believe that there was still hope the Flyers started soaring again.They pulverized the new Ottawa entry 7-1 and 6-0 then recorded the largest goal total of the year, trimming the reasonably proficient London Nationals 14-2.With Tom Webster back in uniform, the Flyers&rsquo; top line of Garry Swain, Don Tannahill and Webster accounted for 24 scoring points and nine goals at the expense of the Nationals with Swain and Tannahill each firing four goals.Toronto Marlboros refused to give up the pursuit however, defeating Peterborough 7-3 and London 4-2 and while the Flyers still clung to first place the Marlboros looked more and more like the team which won the Memorial Cup in the spring of 1967.Richie Bayes, a skinny forward now in his third season of junior A was the rather unlikely-looking Toronto Marlboro leader.Bayes sprinted into the points lead and is already certain of increasing the 20-goal production of his first two seasons.A rather awkward but effective skater Bayes started his junior career with St. Catharines Black Hawks in the 1965-66 season and scored 20 times although not playing regularly.At the request of his father he returned home to Toronto to play with the Marlboros last season and has been a major cog in their success ever since.One of the big surprises of the year came in Oshawa where the Generals gave up third period goals and lost 3-2 to Ottawa.It was only the second win in 25 games (they also have two draws) tor the 67s and preserved their waning hopes of earning a playoff position in their first year in the Ontario league.Kitchener Rangers, regarded by some observers as the &ldquo;sleeper&rdquo; in the Ontario group this year, also remained in contention for first place, playing to a 5-5 tie with Hamilton, then defeating Oshawa 6-2 the following night.<h2>Looking At OHA Race</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02181/3299972-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="324" height="809"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03139/3299965-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="321" height="826"></div> &#9632;

f0023-01

Crippled Niagara Flyers Soar After Shaking Off Injury Jinx

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0586/3300017-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg"></div>SOLUTION IN JANUARY 12 ISSUE<h2>ACROSS</h2>1&mdash;Pictured player.8&mdash;One of the St. Louis Blues.10&mdash;Initials of Chadwick of Buffalo.11&mdash;A former Ranger.13&mdash;Bronco Horvath played for five different teams in this league.15&mdash;This Oakland forward once scored 77 gofe in one season.16&mdash;Number of shutouts registered by ex-Hab Plante during playoffs.17&mdash;New Tssiameit. (abbr.)18&mdash;Conjunction.19&mdash;Native Province of Lowell MacDonald, (ab.)20&mdash;Salt water fish.22&mdash;Period of time.23&mdash;Topoll of Phoenix answers to this.24&mdash;&ldquo;Lefty&rdquo; Wilson is one.29&mdash;First name of recently acquired N.H.L. Veteran by St. Louis.31&mdash;One of the Rochester Amerks.33&mdash;25th and 1st letters of the alphabet.34&mdash;Longtime W H L star Goodwin answers to this.35&mdash;Denotes scoreless tie.<h2>DOWN</h2>1&mdash;A Red Wing forward.2&mdash;This Flyer played for Montreal last season.3&mdash;9th and 2nd letters of the alphabet.4&mdash;Hoekstra of Cleveland answers to this.5&mdash;First name of one of the Hawks.6&mdash;Reigning world amateur champs, (abbr.).7&mdash;A Montreal Rookie.9&mdash;Beverage.12&mdash;One of the Bruins.14&mdash;12th and 14th letters of the alphabet.21&mdash;First name of 31 across.23&mdash;A Pittsburgh forward.25&mdash;1st and 9th letters of the alphabet.26&mdash;Skating requisite.27&mdash;New Hampshire, (abbr.).28&mdash;Native country of Charles Burns, (abbr.).30&mdash;7 down answers to this.32&mdash;Initials of 2 down.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0674/3300010-1-eng-US/f0023-062.jpg" title="f0023-06" width="412" height="554"></div> &#9632;

f0023-05

Hockey Crossword

<div class="byline">BY ALEX HARDY</div>EDMONTON, Alta. &ndash;Pressure weighs heavily on any 16-year-old kid who is trying to jump straight from Midget to Junior &ldquo;A&rdquo; hockey.The pressure is twice as heavy when you&rsquo;re trying to keep a regular defensive berth on one of Canada&rsquo;s all-time great junior teams. You&rsquo;re being paid to produce, and you&rsquo;re constantly being compared with three other defensemen on the team, all of whom are veterans.Your coach is Bill Gadsby, one of the finest defense men ever to perform in the NHL, so you know he&rsquo;ll spot every error you make. And you know there are dozens of eager kids waiting to take your place if you fail.Such is the pressure weighing on young Ron Jones. If he were nervous, it would come as no surprise.But Jones isn&rsquo;t worried. In fact, he has shown so much poise that his coach, general manager and everyone else are astounded.Jones is a rookie blueliner with Edmonton Oil Kings, and his veteran-like play has become the talk of the Western Canada Junior League.During a recent conversation, Wes Montgomery, who broadcasts Oil Kings games for an Edmonton radio station, searched for superlatives to describe Jones&rsquo; poise.&ldquo;He seems to have a world of confidence,&rdquo; said Montgomery. &ldquo;Nothing seems to bother him. I rarely see him get caught out of position. Despite his lack of experience, he has been able to handle the fastest and shiftiest players in the league.&rdquo;Jones came to the Oil Kings this season from Vermilion, Alberta. Oil Kings had already rated him one of the province&rsquo;s finest midget players after he had starred for his home town in a Centennial Midget tourney in Grande Prairie, Alberta.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01233/3300048-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="553" height="656"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON JONES &hellip; Making Big Jump</figcaption></div>However, while he was already 6-foot-1 and had potential galore, nobody expected him to crack the Oil King lineup in his first attempt. With three returning defense men, competition for the two remaining spots was tough.Although Jones had a good training camp, it was decided to give him a year of seasoning in the Oil King farm system.However, the day before the Western Canada Junior League opened, he was taken to Cranbrook to play in an exhibition game against the senior Royals. He had such an outstanding game that he won a starting spot in the league opener. He has held it since.General manager Bill Hunter believes Jones will follow Bert Marshall, Al Hamilton and Bob Falkenberg, Oil King defencemen, who went on to play in the NHL in the last three years. Marshall is presently a regular with Detroit.&ldquo;He has shown us plenty defensively,&rdquo; coach Gadsby says of his young star. &ldquo;He is also improving offensively every day. His shot is fast and hard, and is going to become a tremendous weapon when he gets more experience.&rdquo;Inevitably, the youngster is compared with another teen-age whiz-kid who has gone on to NHL stardom, Bobby Orr.&ldquo;Jones is not as good as Orr was at 16,&rdquo; says Montgomery. &ldquo;But,&rdquo; he adds, &ldquo;name me a player who could compare with Orr at that age.&rdquo;Montgomery saw Orr play against Edmonton in the 1965-66 Memorial Cup when the Boston defenseman was 17.&ldquo;He was as good then as he is now. If there wasn&rsquo;t a rule against it, Boston would have turned Orr pro when he was 16,&rdquo; says Montgomery. &ldquo;But while Orr had almost reached a peak at 16, Jones is going to get a lot better. He&rsquo;s not an all-star yet, but he will be next year.&rdquo;Montgomery, like most others, rates Jones as the top NHL prospect on the Oil Kings. He has four years of junior eligibility left, and is going to get bigger and better. &#9632;

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January 6, 1968

NHL CRACKS DOWN ON BRAWLS

Francis Blasts Handling Of Faceoffs By Referees

Central League Summaries

Philadelphia Center Likes To Play Clean