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 27, 1968

The Hockey News January 27, 1968

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-01887/3313542-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">TED HAMPSON, one of three newly-acquired players for Oakland Seals, scores on St. Louis goaler GLENN HALL during recent NHL game. Hampson has been standout since coming from Detroit in four-player trade.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

NEW SEAL FINDS SCORING RANGE

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01819/3313011-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="273" height="476"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eddie Joyal</figcaption></div>LOS ANGELES, Calif. -Recently we wrote a magazine piece in which Eddie Joyal explained that progress was difficult for the professional hockey player who is a bachelor. &ldquo;Come cut-down time or any other time when someone has to go, and, all other things being equal, the guy who gets the bad news will not be the guy with the wife and kids to feed,&rdquo; Eddie grinned wistfully.&ldquo;The guys in the front office look around and say: &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s send Eddie Joyal out again; he&rsquo;s not married, he&rsquo;s got no kids, the move won&rsquo;t be any hardship on him.&rdquo; And, bang, Eddie Joyal is on his way again,&rdquo; Joyal concluded.Joyal, of course, Is a bachelor. He is 27, he has been a pro seven previous seasons, and he has changed uniforms a dozen times. He has played for Calgary, Edmonton, Tulsa, Rochester, Pittsburgh and Detroit, with two or three hitches for a couple of these.He has scored 30 or more goals in a season three times in the high minors. Last season, he scored 32 and set up 51 others, totalling 83 points in his best-ever campaign, for Rochester in the American League.He had three trials with Detroit and one with Toronto in the big time and never stuck, though he scored 20 goals and set up 31 others in 121 games in the National League, which is not bad for a part-timer who was playing with a packed suitcase in one hand. &ldquo;I never got a real chance to get rolling,&rdquo; Eddie says.Thus, he was enormously enthusiastic when Larry Regan drafted him for the new L.A. Kings this year and coach Red Kelly put him in a regular role. &ldquo;Knowing you&rsquo;re wanted makes all the difference in the world,&rdquo; Eddie said when he reported.He was the Kings&rsquo; most spectacular player during the exhibition season, but an ankle injury slowed him down in the beginning of the regular season. He&rsquo;s healthy now, but it has been an uneven season so far for him, as it has been for most of the Kings.In 41 games to this writing, slightly more than half the season, the Edmonton-born performer, has scored 10 goals and set up 15 others, which is just fair. He had one stretch of nine games without a goal, and one stretch of eight games and two of seven games each without an assist, which is poor for a center.However, a close check of the records puts him in a favorable light. He leads the Kings with six &ldquo;important&rdquo; goals, including three game-winners.Eddie&rsquo;s first goal of the season tied the Maple Leafs in Toronto 2-2, although the Leafs went on to win 4-2. His second was an unassisted game-winner that decided a 5-3 win over Pittsburgh. Eddie picked up a loose puck at mid-ice, raced in and beat Hank Bassen from 30 feet.In November, as the Kings came from 0-3 to beat Oakland 5-4, Eddie provided the winner when he broke open on a perfect lead pass and ripped a 40-footer past Charley Hodge. Then he drove in the last two goals in a 4-1 upset of Toronto. He out man oeuvered All-Star Tim Horton, who had him covered, then snipped a short shot past Johnny Bower, later added a tally into an open net.In December, Joyal collected the winner in a 3-2 upset in Montreal. He burst in with Bill Flett, took a good pass and slammed an eight-footer past Rog Vachon with only 23 seconds left in the game. Then he drilled a 30-footer past the great Glenn Hall after only 44 seconds to get the Kings rolling on a 4-0 win over St. Louis.Eddie is not a clever shooter, but he is a strong shooter, and he is an exceptionally swift skater who gets a lot of opportunities. One of the knocks on the 6-0, 180 pound speedster is that he is not tough enough. He does have only one two-minute minor penalty in the last 27 games, 12 minutes the entire season, and his defense has been just so-so.It was something of a surprise and quite satisfying to Joyal when he was selected to represent the Kings in the All-Star game in Toronto although he was sick. He, himself, is the first to admit this season so far has not been all he would have hoped it would be. Yet it has had its big moments.The going is getting tougher now and the true test of the talent of Eddie Joyal and other veteran minor league stars who have felt they belonged in the big-time lies just ahead, in the last half on this critical first expansion campaign.If he falters, he can always get married and have some kids.KINGS THINGS - The Kings had lost eight straight when they returned home to tie the St. Louis Blues in The Forum. It was a brief interruption in the 10-night run of an ice-show spectacular. Many customers did not realize it was not the ice show they were seeing until they read their newspapers the next morning. The skating was lovely and graceful. No blood was spilled. The most exciting moment came when the red and blue, lines began to streak.It is hard to understand why a team in the Kings&rsquo; position would not come out swinging. Instead, they came out standing. Afterwards, owner Jack Kent Cooke, manger Regan and coach Kelly were deeply disturbed. So far, minor changes have not helped. Recalls from Springfield have flopped. Soon, major heads may be chopped off. Kelly gave the team three days off before the game. It was the team&rsquo;s only game in 10 days. They&rsquo;re rested. They&rsquo;re so rested, they&rsquo;re asleep. &#9632;

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Kings’ Center Happy To Be NHL Regular

<div class="byline">BY JACK GATECLIFF</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01238/3314678-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="566" height="955"><figcaption class="caption-body">DALE POWER&hellip;A Choice Of Sports</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02177/3314685-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="238" height="206"></div>ST. CATHARINES, Ont. -St. Catharines Black Hawk centre Dale Power, one of the oustanding rookies in the Ontario Hockey Association junior A League, is in the pleasant position of having two athletic careers from which to choose.Power, a slim, 18-year-old who stands 5 ft. 11 in. and weighs only 158 pounds missed three weeks of the junior A schedule after being struck by a slapshot fired by teammate Jerry Korab and losing six teeth.More than 20 stitches were required to close the wound in his upper lip.However since his return he has scored five goals in three games and has sparked the Hawks to two wins after they had lost their previous seven starts.Hockey isn&rsquo;t the only sport at which the Toronto native excels.He was the Ontario under 16-year-old tennis champion for two years and has won the Canadian junior tennis title the past two summers.Power has already been offered tennis scholarships at two American universities but insists that the sport he hopes will become a full time career is hockey.&ldquo;I enjoy tennis,&rdquo; said Power, &ldquo;but I find hockey far more exciting and if I&rsquo;m good enough to become a professional I&rsquo;ll definitely give it a try.&rdquo;A slick stickhandler, Power led the Etobicoke junior B team in scoring last season with 24 goals and at his present pace should pick up 25 or more during his first year of junior A.Despite his slim build he&rsquo;s proven he&rsquo;s rugged enough to survive the rough brand of junior A hockey.&ldquo;Some of my pals on the Hawks tell me I&rsquo;m so skinny I should forget hockey and stick with tennis,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;But there&rsquo;s not too much future in professional tennis for a Canadian.&rdquo;It could be that he&rsquo;ll combine the two sports, earning a university degree in business administration through his talents in tennis, then playing professional hockey when his schooling is completed.But no matter how you look at it, there aren&rsquo;t too many teenage athletes blessed with such tremendous talent in sports so different as the violent world of hockey and the more gentlemanly game of tennis. &#9632;

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Junior Star Dale Power Hoping For Pro Career

<div class="byline">BY DAN MOULTON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-02790/3313656-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="271" height="495"><figcaption class="caption-body">Billy Reay</figcaption></div>CHICAGO, III. -Billy Reay understands why Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita are gaining the major share of the attention in the Black Hawks&rsquo; rise from the depths back into a commanding position in the National Hockey League&rsquo;s Eastern division.And as a man who realizes the Importance of glamour and excitement to the success of a pro sports promotion Billy would be the last person to cool the fans&rsquo; fervor for the big scores and super-stars.But as a coach Billy can appreciate the contributions being made by each of his performers and he has his own little list of guys without whom the Hawks still would be floundering in the second division.&ldquo;No team can stay out of trouble unless it has one wing on each line willing to sacrifice scoring chances for defensive play,&rdquo; said Billy.&ldquo;Luckily, we have three great defensive wings, and one of them, Doug Mohns, is such a great skater that he can go in deep, score, and stiU be the safetyman for Stan Mikita and Kenny Wharram.&ldquo;The other two &mdash; Chico Maki and Eric Nesterenko &mdash; have to trail the play and pass up scoring chances to serve as the back-checkers but they do their jobs almost perfectly. &ldquo;Billy attributes most of the Hawks&rsquo; early season problems &mdash; six losses to start out the season&mdash;to the injuries which kept Mohns and Maki out of action.&ldquo;Without Chico and Doug, our defensive play was pretty dismal,&rdquo; said Reay. &ldquo;We couldn&rsquo;t keep the puck out of our end of the ice, let alone out of our net. &ldquo;Mohns has been able to combine his duty as Scooter Line &ldquo;trailer&rdquo; with offensive play so well that he&rsquo;s on the way to his most productive season. At this writing he&rsquo;d scored 18 goals.Nester and Maki have paid for their willingness to lay back, however. Despite the fact that he patrols right wing for Pit Martin and Bobby Hull, Maki has been able to score only 3 times, while Nesterenko, who provides the stability at right wing for young Dennis Hull and rookie center Paul Terbenche, has scored only 6 times.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-03646/3313649-1-eng-US/f0011-032.jpg" title="f0011-03" width="632" height="649"><figcaption class="caption-body">ERIC NESTERENKO&hellip; Scoring Suffers</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Those figures just don&rsquo;t make any difference to me,&rdquo; said Reay. &ldquo;We have enough guys who put the puck in the net. Success in Hockey, just as in football or baseball, depends on sound defense.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-04527/3313642-1-eng-US/f0011-042.jpg" title="f0011-04" width="622" height="648"><figcaption class="caption-body">CHICO MAKI &hellip; Checks for Hull</figcaption></div>Billy thinks that Nesterenko is playing the best hockey of his career, despite the fact that he&rsquo;s 35 years old and in his 15th NHL season.<h2>LOOKING AT NHL RACE</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-05430/3313635-1-eng-US/f0011-052.jpg" title="f0011-05" width="1395" height="812"></div> &#9632;

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Nesterenko, Maki, Mohns Lauded For Defense Roles

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0001-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0001-01199/3314716-1-eng-US/f0001-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Typical of the new helmet look among NHL&rsquo;s big name, stars is Pierre Pilote of Chicago, who wore one for first time in 13 years.</figcaption></div>MONTREAL, Que. -The expected outbreak of protective helmets developed around the National Hockey League last week.The tragic death of Bill Masterton of the Minnesota North Stars in a game Jan. 13 as the result of severe brain damage from a fall to the ice, undoubtedly shook most NHL players.Some wasted little time getting the headpieces on. Two of the first to strap on the white fibre helmets were Brian Conacher of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who turned up at the All-Star game wearing one. Howie Young of Detroit followed and last weekend in Montreal, four members of the Chicago Black Hawks, including the entire Scooter Line of Stan Mikita, Ken Wharram and Doug Mohns, strode out on the Montreal Forum ice with the helmets.Defenseman Pierre Pilote, a hard-nosed pro for 13 years, surprised the crowd by showing up on the ice in the same game with a helmet. &ldquo;It took a lot of thought to make the decision to wear one", said Pilote.How long the Black Hawks would wear the helmets and how many more will spring up in games, remained an interesting aftermath of the NHL&rsquo;s first ice tragedy in 51 years. &#9632;

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Masterton’s Fatal Injury Produces Rise In Helmets

<div class="byline">BY BOB HARRIS</div>TORONTO, Ont. -<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0001-02172/3314747-1-eng-US/f0001-022.jpg" title="f0001-02" width="261" height="475"><figcaption class="caption-body">Clarence Campbell</figcaption></div>There&rsquo;s more than a few changes in the wind for the National Hockey League next season and most are designed to bring the Old and the New closer together in a complete interlocking schedule.The NHL, striving to place the expansion division on a parity with the established teams in the minds of hockey fans everywhere, notably in the United States, has decided on a 76-game schedule instead of this year&rsquo;s 74 for the 1968-69 campaign.By lengthening its schedule, the National League is attempting to give the new teams a better feeling of solidarity both on the ice and at the box office.NHL President Clarence Campbell said it was unanimously agreed among the club owners that old teams would meet the expansion teams six times a year &mdash; three at home and three away &mdash; instead of the current four games.Campbell commented that &ldquo;in doing this, we will provide the new teams with more revenue from gate receipts. It will also help cut down the separation of divisions in the minds of the fans.&rdquo; Campbell said the owners were mainly interested in making the NHL &ldquo;a one-league concept".The NHL schedule will begin October 11 and finish April 7 meaning that with training camp and playoffs, big league hockey stars would be on skates from mid-September until early May in the future.It all adds up to more games and more money in the pockets of the players as well. Campbell said the NHL pension fund is rapidly increasing to the extent big league players will be the most solvent of any professional athlete when they retire at age 45.Campbell disclosed that there is a strong likelihood that the NHL&rsquo;s All-Star game will in future become an East-West affair with teams selected from each division to oppose one another in the annual game. He also said the site could be shifted around with the possibility of the game being played in the East one year and the West the next. &#9632;

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More East-West Play In 76-Game Schedule

<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>DETROIT &mdash; Roger Crozier, goalkeeper, recalled from Fort Worth of CPHL. Pete Mahovlich, Gary Marsh, Sandy Snow, forwards, and Irv Spencer, defenseman, recalled from Fort Worth of CPHL. Mahovlich, Marsh and Snow returned to Fort Worth.ST. LOUIS &ndash; Jean-Guy Talbot, defenseman, secured from Detroit of NHL on waivers.PITTSBURGH &ndash; Gene Ubriaco, forward, sent to Baltimore of AHL.MINNESOTA &ndash; Barry Meissner, forward, and Bill Plager, defenseman, called up from Memphis of CPHL. Bronco Horvath, forward, purchased from Tulsa of CPHL.BOSTON &mdash; John Arbour, defenseman, recalled from Oklahoma City of CPHL.OAKLAND &mdash; Gerry Odrowski, defenseman, recalled from Vancouver of WHL. Tom Thurlby, and Bob Lemieux, defensemen, sent to Vancouver.PHILADELPHIA &ndash; John Hanna, defenseman, recalled from Quebec of AHL.<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>ROCHESTER &ndash; Gary Unger, forward, recalled from Tulsa of CPHL.<h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>PHOENIX - Gordon Wilkie, forward, placed on active list. Ed Panagabko and Jack Faulkner, forwards, removed from active list.<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>OMAHA &mdash; Ian Campbell, forward, returned to Quebec of I AHL.<h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>DAYTON &mdash; Ken Sutyla, forward, secured from Columbus of IHL.MUSKEGON - Harry Pidhirny, forward, signed as free agent.PORT HURON &ndash; Steve Keeler, forward, secured from Detroit of NHL on loan for season.TOLEDO &mdash; Lyle Carter, goalkeeper, secured from Cleveland of AHL to fill emergency role and returned.<h2>EASTERN LEAGUE</h2>JOHNSTOWN - Jim Randle, forward, signed as free agent. Meehan Bonnar, forward, dropped. Danny Patrick, forward, signed from Orillia of Ontario Senior League. Bob Sutcliffe, forward, sent to Des Moines of IHL.NASHVILLE &mdash; Wayne Spooner, defenseman, secured from New Haven of EHL.FLORIDA &mdash; Alf Treen, defenseman, sent to Syracuse of EHL on loan. Jon Marich, forward, traded to Syracuse in exchange for Bob Peters, forward.GREENSBORO &ndash; Billy Armour, defenseman, loaned to Jersey of EHL. &#9632;

Movements of Players

<div class="byline">By Art Brewster</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01824/3313066-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"></div>BOSTON, Mass.&mdash;The Boston Bruins are winging on cloud nine in the current National Hockey League race and their torrid pace is best reflected in the surprising play of the team&rsquo;s No. 1 line &mdash; Johnny Bucyk, Fred Stanfield and Johnny McKenzie.It has been many years since the Hub has buzzed in the manner that has engulfed Boston&rsquo;s &ldquo;hot&rdquo; line. Bruin fans remember the scintillating scoring exploits of the famed &ldquo;Kraut&rdquo; line of Milt Schmidt, Porky Dumart and Bobby Bauer.Then along came the &ldquo;Ukes", Vic Stasiuk, Bronco Horvath and Bucyk.Now many years later, with the resurgence of the Bruins, the hockey mad Boston populace is starting to hum with enthusiasm for their newest line formation and Bucyk has stayed around to be part of It.No one has hung an appropriate name on the new Boston threesome mainly because they are relatively new to one another but it won&rsquo;t take long if they continue to harass opposing NHL netminders the way they have been doing this season.The Boston &ldquo;hot&rdquo; line Is also the NHL&rsquo;s highest scoring forward unit with a total of 134 points, three more than Chicago&rsquo;s more famed &ldquo;Scooters&rdquo; &mdash; Stan Miklta, Ken Wharram and Doug Mohns.The Bruins&rsquo; triumvirate Is running fourth, fifth and eighth In the Individual scoring race and their thrilling scoring efforts have been mainly Instrumental In lifting the Bruins from the NHL&rsquo;s doldrums to the rarifled atmosphere of first place.Stanfield as the classy playmaking center has breathed new life Into the Boston offense. Bucyk Is the hawk-eye goal sniper who generally finds the openings in the net. McKenzie, the battling right winger, digs the puck out of the corners to set up his linemates.Together, they&rsquo;re a sight to behold. Boston fans love &lsquo;eml &#9632;

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Bruins’ New ‘Hot’ Line Sizzles In NHL Play

<div class="byline">BY TOM MONAHAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02697/3313097-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="287" height="469"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ted Green</figcaption></div>BOSTON, Mass. -When it comes time for the National Hockey League to pass out its &lsquo;Comeback of the Year&rsquo; honor the voters won&rsquo;t have to look any further than the Bruins&rsquo; Teddy Green.Green not only has come back from three knee operations in the last two seasons but right now is playing better than ever.It&rsquo;s been a long hard road for the rugged defenseman who was a solid all-Star three years ago. During the 1965-66 season Teddy, one of the most popular players In Bruin uniform, first was hit with a virus. Recovered from the Illness, he then hurt his left knee.As a result he missed half the season and had to undergo surgery on his left knee both before the season was over and during the summer.After 47 games last year and just when he was beginning to regain full strength in his bad knee he injured the other leg and had to have surgery again in late spring.After this kind of trouble for two straight years there were many skeptics who felt the Bruins &lsquo;policeman&rsquo; would never again regain the form that made him one of the most respected defensemen in the league.But Teddy was determined to prove them wrong.Even before training camp started, he had worked hard during the summer months with therapatic exercises, bicycle riding, golf and walking to build up his legs.&ldquo;I had only weeks to regain the strength I had developed in my legs over a life time,&rsquo;&rsquo; says Teddy. After lying around for two summers not being able to do much of anything I had lost all the hardness in my muscles. It was brutal trying to get back where I was.&ldquo;In fact I&rsquo;m still not all the way back but I&rsquo;m feeling better and better all the time. When we finished a recent stretch of six games in nine nights, I was really bushed. But I bounced back and I think now I am over the hump. I feel I&rsquo;m skating like I used to before I hurt my knees.&rdquo;Coach Harry Sinden is enthused with Green&rsquo;s comeback.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s skating much better and as a result he Is carrying the puck much better,&rdquo; says Sinden. &ldquo;He is really doing a big job for us.&rdquo;&rsquo;&rsquo;Tv n thinks a share of the credit must go to his teammates.&ldquo;It makes everything easier when you have a team like we have now,&rdquo; says Green. &ldquo;Guys are in the right spot and there Is no confusion when you try to come out of your own end. When they are forechecking you can pass off, get a return pass and you&rsquo;re out of the defensive zone. Or you can just pass to someone who is free.&ldquo;It works the same way on defense, too. There is always somebody coming back to help the defense and you better believe this makes all the difference in the world.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Bruins’ Green Rates ‘Comeback Of Year’ Nod

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-01877/3313128-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg"></div><h2>Bruins For All-Stars, Not Same Old Faces</h2>Hockey News editor:For the last few seasons now, I have been a great fan of the Boston Bruins. They lost so many games, I guess I just kind of began to hope for them to win some.Well along comes 1967-68 and I figure that with all the trades and new players, the Bean towners are going to go places. And they have. Guys like Fred Stanfield and Phil Esposito are helping to keep the club in a hot fight with Chicago for first place in the NHL.In fact, the pair mentioned above, along with John Bucyk and Johnny McKenzie are all among the top ten scorers in the league.Yet when the all-star teams are selected, it&rsquo;s the same old names again. Howe and the boys always get on, not on current records, but on past performance. Stanfield and Esposito have more points than Howe and so does Bucyk, but the Red Wing star still gets the nod.What does a player have to do to get all-star billing? That&rsquo;s all I ask. These Boston players should all be all-stars, but the league prefers to pick the old time heroes instead to keep up the image of greatness. When will the selectors open their eyes and realize that talent and experience have little to do with one another and that a young player can reach stardom quickly if he has what it takes? When they do, then and only then will guys like Stanfield get the credit they deserve.Bud TOMLINSON, New York CityJoint Fan Clubs Set To Honor Nevin, DuffHockey News editor:We are the respective presidents of the Bob Nevin and the Dick Duff Fan Clubs. Our clubs are both new and we think they are a little different than most.We want to invite all fans of these two fine hockey players to join up now and get to know these two better. All members will receive all of the benefits including 8 x 10 glossy photographs, a club card and biographies. There are other features too.Send all letters to us at 213 Ridley Blvd., Toronto 12, Ontario and address it to whichever club you wish to join. We&rsquo;ll send you all of the details.DEBORAH KITTS and JUDY FRANKFORT Toronto, Ont.Goyette More Deserving Of All-Star Team BerthHockey News editor:How Jean Beliveau of the Montreal Canadiens and Eddie Joyal of the new Los Angeles Kings got picked for the center position on the National Hockey League all-star team over New York&rsquo;s Phil Goyette, I&rsquo;ll never know.It was very clear that Beliveau clearly made the squad on his name only. Certainly he did not make It on his performance. Out part of the season with injuries, Beliveau has not been in top form and has been rated In my opinion on his performances In past campaigns.While, you look at the other side of the story. Goyette has played steady hockey for the Rangers all season long and Is a much better point producer and higher In the stats than both Beliveau and Joyal. It makes one wonder if the NHL all-star team has any real stars at all.TONY CHIRLES, Teaneck, New Jersey. &#9632;

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FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY Ken Mc Kenzie</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02833/3313187-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="470" height="488"></div>&bull; TORONTO - The 21st Annual NHL All-Star Game was one of the better games of recent years. The players went all-out for most of the game and in general gave the capacity crowd in attendance a good show &hellip; There were several brilliant offensive manoeuvres and some scintillating goalkeeping during the contest which was won by Toronto, 4-3 &hellip; Toe Blake&rsquo;s first start as coach of the All-Stars was a losing one. In seven previous All-Star games as a coach Toe&rsquo;s Montreal Canadiens had won three, lost three and tied one &hellip; It was Punch Imlach&rsquo;s sixth appearance as coach in an All-Star tussle. His record is two wins and a loss as coach of the All-Stars and a win, a loss and a tie as coach of the Maple Leafs &hellip; Bruce Gamble in the Toronto nets and Bobby Orr on the Stars&rsquo; defense played particularly brilliant games &hellip; Gamble, Mikita and Orr were selected as the stars of the game &hellip; Lloyd Leeming, vice president Labatt&rsquo;s Ontario Breweries Ltd. acted as host at a brunch put on for the National Hockey League Writers Association on the day of the All-Star Game. Among those in attendance were Dick Bradbeer, Ontario public relations manager, Paul Roach, Public Relations Director and Player Development Director of the Canadian National Hockey Foundation, Jack (Red) Bow-nass, manager, coach and player of Canada&rsquo;s Eastern National Team located at Ottawa and Bob Berry, a player on the same team &hellip; Cy Wentworth, former NHL defense great and long-time employee of Labatt&rsquo;s, and Jack Church, ex-NHL defenseman and current salesman with Labatt&rsquo;s, were cutting up touches with some of the writers &hellip; Roach is very busy with the Hockey Foundation looking after the Scholarship Fund as well as scouting players for both the Eastern and Western National Teams &hellip; He is on loan to the Foundation from Labatt&rsquo;s Brewery.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03728/3313180-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="321" height="507"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bobby Orr</figcaption></div>&bull; MOST OF the mail received since the tragic death of Billy Masterton of Minnesota North Stars has been in favor of making the wearing of helmets compulsory for all players in professional and amateur leagues &hellip; A number of the NHL star performers feel the same way but they still won&rsquo;t wear a helmet themselves. They admit they won&rsquo;t start to wear one until told they had to &hellip; and then it would be the same for everyone &hellip; If Kent Douglas plays in all of the remaining Detroit games he will appear in 76 games this season &hellip; Oakland, incidentally, were terribly happy to unload Douglas &hellip; Rangers&rsquo; Ron Stewart has been doing very well &ldquo;shadowing&rdquo; Chicago&rsquo;s Bobby Hull in the last two New York-Chicago encounters. Emile Francis had this to say after last week&rsquo;s game: &ldquo;He held Hull to two shots in our last game and I don&rsquo;t think he got anymore tonight. Hull would try and change speeds, slip away from him but Ron was always there at his shoulder. Hull must be seeing him in his sleep.&rdquo; &hellip; Camille Henry, who was shunted to the minors by the Chicago Black Hawks, has been getting even with the Hawks. He has scored three goals in two games against them &hellip; Station WCAU, 1210 on your dial, which covers all of the Philadelphia Flyers games over radio, is so powerful that the mother of Joe Watson, the Philly defenseman, hears the games out in Vancouver &hellip; Although Bill Masterton was the first NHL player to be fatally injured during a game, it&rsquo;s been revealed that since 1955, at least 16 players have died in Canada as a result of hockey injuries, most of them from brain damage inflicted by the puck, a stick or the player&rsquo;s head striking the ice &hellip; In many of the deaths through head injuries, helmets might have prevented the damage according to medical reports at the time of the damage &hellip;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04626/3313173-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="285" height="505"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Stewart</figcaption></div>&bull; BAZ BASTIEN, long time hockey executive was voted the sports personality who did the most for Pittsburgh last year. Baz will get official acclaim on February 4 at the annual Dapper Dan Awards banquet, one of the most successful of its kind in the country &hellip; One of Toronto&rsquo;s newest radio stations, CHIN is now carrying the away games of the Junior &ldquo;A&rdquo; Marlboros and so far the ratings have been encouraging &hellip; Murray Oliver seems to be fitting right into Toronto Maple Leafs plans. He continued his good play with a goal against the All-Stars and then three days later popped in a big one as Leafs tipped Detroit and Roger Crozier 2-0 &hellip; Montreal Canadiens surge since Christmas has carried them into definite playoff contention. But coach Toe Blake says it isn&rsquo;t good enough. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going for first place,&rdquo; said Blake &hellip; Tim Moriarty of Newsday writes a column on his memories of covering the Rangers for 20 years. One memory: Harry Lumley&rsquo;s pink cheeks &hellip; Howie Meeker&rsquo;s crew cut &hellip; Gump Worsley&rsquo;s pot belly &hellip; Neil Colville&rsquo;s gray hair &hellip; Jack Crawford&rsquo;s bald head &hellip; Frank Mahovlich of the Maple Leafs looks better than ever since returning from his recent spell in hospital &hellip; Jack Kent Cooke is an active promoter and others know it. He was commended by the California State Senate for his contributions to sport in North America.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05501/3313166-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="273" height="468"><figcaption class="caption-body">Frank Mahovlich</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-06372/3313159-1-eng-US/f0004-062.jpg" title="f0004-06" width="1283" height="279"></div> &#9632;

f0004-02

PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01809/3313218-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="266" height="433"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stan Mikita</figcaption></div>TORONTO, Ont.&mdash;National Hockey League fans will likely see a new format in next year&rsquo;s All-Star game.This was hinted by NHL president Clarence Camp-bell as he watched the Toronto Maple Leafs turn back the league selects 4-3 in the 21st annual AH-Star game Jan. 16 in Toronto&rsquo;s Maple Leaf Gardens.It was one of the fastest and most competitive games seen in the classic in several years.Campbell let it be known that the game next season will probably match all-star aggregations from the NHL&rsquo;s two divisions. In other words, the league will have a legitimate East-West All-Star game in 1968-69.The NHL classic received a touch of &lsquo;expansion&rsquo; this year when each new team was permitted to name one player to participate in the game.Campbell is enthusiastic that the game will have a &lsquo;new look&rsquo; next year. Said the NHL prexy, &ldquo;once we make the change, there&rsquo;ll be no excuse to hold the game in any one city because there&rsquo;ll be no home team. We&rsquo;ll be able to move the game anywhere that seems logical,&rdquo; he added. It will be similar to baseball&rsquo;s plan of shifting the game back and forth from East to West each year.While the NHL&rsquo;s chief executive pondered the future of the game, the Maple Leafs showed the All-Stars that a team that plays together usually wins together and that&rsquo;s exactly what they did in the game.Sparked by the stellar net minding of goalie Bruce Gamble, the Leafs went on to extend the Cup champions win streak over the All-Stars to two straight games. Canadiens won last season 3-0 in Montreal.Murray Oliver, Allan Stanley, Pete Stemkowski and Ron Ellis each scored once to spark the Toronto victory. On the losing side of the ledger, Stan Mikita of the Black Hawks scored once and set up another tally by Ken Wharram, also of Chicago, while Norm Ullman of Detroit collected the third All-Star goal.Mikita was the pick of the &lsquo;Stars&rsquo; and it was his aggressiveness that helped power the selects into a 2-1 lead early in the game. But the Leafs prevailed and with Gamble backing them up in goal. they turned in a good checking game to put the Stars off stride throughout the final period of play. Rookie Al Smith, standing by for Injured Johnny Bower, took over the Toronto net in the final period and allowed one goal.The game&rsquo;s largest crowd &mdash; 15,740 watched as Punch Imlach recorded his second All Star win behind the Toronto bench. He also holds a victory with the Stars. Toe Blake guided the AB-Stars for the first time but was making his eighth game appearance. His record is 3-3-1.Gordie Howe, turning in one of his rare uninspiring displays in the AU-Star classic, appeared in his 19th game, a record, He also set a record for most aB-star game assists, eight, when he helped set up Ullman&rsquo;s goal. He had been tied with retired Red Kelly prior to the game.ALL-STARS 3, TORONTO 4ALL-STARS &mdash; Goal: Giacomin,. Sawchuk, Hall. Defence: Pilote, Howell, Orr, Laperriere, Tremblay, Baun. Forwards: Beliveau, Ullman, Howe, Hull, Bucyk Schinkel, Rochefort, Wharram, Balon, Mikita, Marshall.TORONTO &mdash; Goal: Gamble, Smith. Defence: Hillman, Pronovost, Rupp, Horton, Stanley. Forwards &mdash; Ellis, Armstrong, Oliver, Stemkowski, Keon, Walton, Pappin, Pulford, Conacher, Carleton, Mahovlich.Referee &mdash; Friday. Linesmen: Casselman, Shetler.FIRST PERIOD1. Toronto, Oliver (Mahovlich, Hillman) 5:562. All-Stars, Mikita (Hull, Tremblay) 19:53PENALTIES &mdash; Stemkowski 14:10, Howell 17:54.SECOND PERIOD1. All-Stars, Wharram (Mikita) :352. Toronto, Stanley(Stemkowski, Carleton) 7:561. Toronto, Stemkowski (Carleton, Rupp) 16:36PENALTY &mdash; Howe 3:53THIRD PERIOD1. Toronto. Ellis (Mahovlich, Hillman) 3:311. All-Stars, Ullman (Howe, Orr) 8:23PENALTIES &mdash; Walton, Howe 14:42.Shots on goal by:All-Stars 19 11 10&mdash;40Toronto 9 18 14&mdash;41GAME&rsquo;S THREE STARS1&mdash;Bruce Gamble (Toronto)2&mdash;Stan Mikita (All-Stars)3&mdash;Bobby Orr (All-Stars) &#9632;

f0005-01

All-Star Game May Be East-West Test

<div class="byline">BY ED CONRAD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02689/3313249-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="287" height="478"><figcaption class="caption-body">Larry Zeidel</figcaption></div>PHILADELPHIA, Pa.-Larry Zeidel must&rsquo;ve gone to the old school because he&rsquo;s got some mighty peculiar strategy when it comes to preparing for the big game.&ldquo;I just remember back to the night we beat Montreal,&rdquo; explained the Flyers&rsquo; veteran defenseman. &ldquo;Just remember how you played that night and it helps you to play that way again.&rsquo;&rsquo;The victory over the Canadiens in Montreal Forum was the psychological barrier which the P hilly skaters overcame in their bid for respectibility within the entire National Hockey League.In fact, when The Rock gets real serious about the wonders that hunger will work, he points to the first meeting between an expansion team and an &ldquo;old guard&rsquo;&rsquo; member in this year&rsquo;s NHL&rsquo;s Stanley Cup final.&ldquo;If you mention that you feel an expansion club can win the Stanley Cup, a lot of people laugh in your face,&rdquo; reasoned Larry, &ldquo;Right away they say, &lsquo;Hell, you&rsquo;re only a new team. Those other teams have been around for years.&rsquo;&ldquo;If you hear too much of that kind of stuff, you start doubting yourself&rdquo; concluded Zeidel. &ldquo;But right now I feel positive that it&rsquo;s possible.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s one of the reasons the Flyers are the class of the expansion division following their thorough domination in their recent back-to-back showdown with the Los Angeles Kings.The Flyers beat the kings 2-0 and 9-1 and, the way Zeidel sizes up the victories, the memory of Montreal had a lot to do with it.&ldquo;We were hungry the night we went into Montreal and beat the Canadiens (for their first win over a veteran club)", explained Larry. &ldquo;And we were hungry against Los Angeles, too.&ldquo;After all, we had just lost three straight games to established teams and we were determined to stop our slide. We knew we had to win.&ldquo;When we play hungry, we do real well,&rdquo; said Zeidel, at 39 one of the oldest players in the NHL. &ldquo;We get on top of the opposition and we keep the pressure on.&ldquo;But it doesn&rsquo;t seem to work unless we&rsquo;re hungry enough to make it work.&rdquo;Against Los Angeles, the Flyers&rsquo; chief competitor for the regular-season title, The Rock knew his teammates were determined to pull a sweep.&ldquo;Believe me, you could hear hunger in the voices of the guys on the bench,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That kind of stuff is a real pleasure to hear.&ldquo;It means the guys want the victory bad enough and it means they&rsquo;re going to givethat little extra. It&rsquo;s just the way we played against Montreal (in a 4-1 win).&rdquo;&ldquo;Anything can happen when you&rsquo;re hungry,&rdquo; reasoned Zeidel. &ldquo;Can you imagine us getting nine goals in a game? It&rsquo;s really something because it seems we&rsquo;re always involved in cliff hangers &mdash; 2-1 and 1-0. It was a welcome change.&rdquo;<h2>&rsquo;Fitz&rsquo; Heads NHL Writers Again</h2>TORONTO, Ont. &mdash;Tom Fitzgerald, veteran hockey writer of the Boston Globe, was re-elected president of the National Hockey League Writers&rsquo; Association during the annual meeting held in conjunction with the NHL&rsquo;s All-Star game.Jack Dulmage of the Windsor Star was returned as secretary treasurer and Red Fisher of The Montreal Star was named vice president.Directors of the association include Gilles Teroux, Montreal La Presse; George Gross, Toronto Telegram; Gerry Eskenazi, New York Times; Leo Monahan, Boston Record-American; Rick Roberts, Long Beach Post Telegraph; Ed Conrad, Philadelphia Daily News; and Mike Lamey, Minneapolis Star. &#9632;

f0005-02

Expansion Team Winning Cup? “Its Possible” Says Zeidel

<div class="byline">BY GIL SMITH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02732/3313280-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="275" height="477"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gilles Tremblay</figcaption></div>MONTREAL, Que. &mdash;Based on a ten-game undefeated streak that goes back to last Christmas, Montreal Canadiens are threatening the league leaders in the tightly-packed NHL standings.By mid-January, they were three points out of first place and just one behind Boston Bruins, who held down the second spot. Chicago continued to lead the pack with 52 points in 43 games.Habs had come alive despite the loss of &ldquo;Gump&rdquo; Worsley, out with a pulled hamstring muscle in his right leg, and Henri Richard who sustained his fourth knee injury of the season when he fell over a broken stick in a game in Montreal.The net minding chores were being handled by Rogatien Vachon, a forgotten man most of this season, while rookie centre Jacques Lemaire was filling in for the Pocket Rocket.The spectacular &ldquo;come back&rdquo; by Canadiens, who were dead last when the second-half began, could be traced to many things. Mainly, it was because the forwards seemed to have recaptured most of their scoring touch. In the ten-game streak, which included eight wins and two ties, they scored 39 goals &mdash; an average of practically four a game. Their best offensive game of the season was a January 17 effort against Detroit, when they hurled 55 shots at a beleagured Roy Edwards. They scored six goals.Said Toe Blake: &ldquo;That had to be our most sustained effort, as far as offense goes, this season. And, that includes our 7-0 win over Chicago, back on November 23rd. However, we should&rsquo;ve had a lot more than six goals against Detroit. We missed plenty of opportunities to add to the score.&rsquo;&rsquo;Blake had been getting big efforts from three well-balanced lines. He had Beliveau between Gilles Tremblay and Cournoyer, while Lemaire pivoted Duff and Rousseau, and Backstrom centered Ferguson and Provost. Claude Larose, who has scored just one goal this season, was seeing little action. So was Mickey Redmond. Rookie Danny Grant was frequently sitting out games.Beliveau, who scored his second hat-trick of the season and the 14th of his career in the aforementioned Detroit game, had moved into a tie with Bobby Rousseau as the team&rsquo;s top scorer. Big Jean had 18 goals and 17 assists in just 28 games. Rousseau was 9-26 after 43 games.Another who&rsquo;d been moving well in recent games was Gilles Tremblay, the fleet left-winger, whose 15 goals exceeded, by one, his goal output in 62 games last season. Much of his success is due to the fine playmaking of his centre Beliveau, of course, but it all adds up to more confidence for Gilles, which is something he can use.If he avoids injuries, Tremblay could wind up as one of the higher-scoring Habs this season, and may be a candidate for the Lady Byng Trophy, too. He&rsquo;d played 40 games without a single penalty up to mid-January, but so had Johnny Bucyk of Boston, who was considerably higher in the scoring parade. However, a strong second-half could re-establish Tremblay as one of the most proficient leftwingers in the league. &#9632;

f0006-02

Streaking Canadians Eyeing Room At The Top

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-01909/3313311-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ex-Canadiens&rsquo; stars ELMER LACH, left, and FLOYD CURRY will line up with Montreal team against Boston ice greats in Montreal game Jan. 28.</figcaption></div>MONTREAL, Que.&mdash;If you&rsquo;re going to be in or near Montreal on January 28th, treat yourself to a good time and take in the hockey game at the Forum, that night.You&rsquo;ll see names that have made hockey history, as the Montreal Oldtimers clash with Boston Oldtimers for the benefit of the usual worthy causes.Heading the Quebec contingent will be famed Maurice &ldquo;Rocket&rdquo; Richard, who at 46 years of age, is still perfectly capable of lifting crowds and putting the puck in the net. The Rocket will line up with his old centre man, Elmer Lach, who has been working like a trojan to get in shape for the big night.&ldquo;I can still go,&rdquo; says Elmer. &ldquo;The only thing is, I can&rsquo;t go as fast or as far as I used to.&rdquo;Lach is modest, of course, because in last year&rsquo;s old timers game against Detroit, he was easily one of the most outstanding figures on the ice.Other famed Canadiens who&rsquo;ll be on hand Include the &ldquo;Razzle-Dazzle&rdquo; line of Buddy O&rsquo;Connor, Gerry Heffernan and Pete Morin, whose pinpoint passing was the talk of the league when they played together years ago. Dollard St. Laurent, Floyd Curry, Glen Harmon, Jimmy Orlando, Junior Langlois, and the colorful Kenny Reardon will also be present, as will Jacques Plante.Boston&rsquo;s line up Includes the one of the two surviving members of the great Kraut line, Woody Dumart. He&rsquo;ll be joined by former top centres &ldquo;Cooney&rdquo; Weiland and Bill Cowley, the latter famous as the pivot who &ldquo;made more wings than Boeing.&rdquo; Flash Hollet, Johnny Pierson, Ken Smith, &ldquo;Wild Bill&rdquo; Ezinicki and Herbie Cain also figure to play, as does the Immortal Eddie Shore, Leo Labine, Johnny Crawford and Tom Hohnson. Jack Gelineau will play goal, Milt Schmidt has decided not to perform because of the fact he hasn&rsquo;t skated this season, this season.The Montreal old timers have raised more than $250,000for charity by means of these games in past years.SMITH &#9632;

f0006-01

Montreal, Boston Ready For ‘Oldtimers’ Clash

<div class="byline">BY LOU PRATO</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01848/3313342-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">In addition to being a top defenseman, rookie rear guard BILL SPEER of the Penguins is also a proficient barber. Here he demonstrates his barber shop skill on teammate KEN SCHINKEL in the dressing room.</figcaption></div>PITTSBURGH, Pa. -His coach calls him the best barber in the National Hockey League and the recognition is valid.But Penguins coach Red Sullivan also feels defenseman Bill Speer is one of the outstanding rookies of this season and a key man in Pittsburgh&rsquo;s drive towards the Stanley Cup playoffs.Speer is a chunky 25-year old native of Lindsay, Ontario, who cuts hair as a profession when he&rsquo;s not playing hockey. He even cuts hair as a side line when he is playing hockey, barbering the curls of his Penguin teammates, the team&rsquo;s general manager, Jack Riley and coach Sullivan.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a darn good barber", Sullivan says.But it&rsquo;s Speer&rsquo;s work on the ice rather than on the makeshift barber chair in the locker room, that has impressed Sullivan.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got a lot of moxie and he&rsquo;s an eager beaver,&rdquo; Sullivan says in describing Speer&rsquo;s primary assets. &ldquo;He moves the puck pretty well and he&rsquo;s not afraid to go down to block anyone&rsquo;s shot. He goes down with the best.&rdquo;It is Speer&rsquo;s style of blocking shots by dropping to his knees which has made him a big crowd pleaser in Pittsburgh. Playing that way is not recommended for anyone with an aversion for hockey pucks or bruise on the body, and others who adopt that style have been injured from time to time. But Speer says it&rsquo;s the only way to play.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s my style and if I don&rsquo;t do it I don&rsquo;t play well", Speer says. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a knack to it and you&rsquo;ve gotta have the timing. You can&rsquo;t be afraid of the puck.&ldquo;When I was kid I was puck shy, even in the junior B league. But I got hit accidentally a few times and it didn&rsquo;t hurt. So, I started to block shots on my own.&ldquo;I have to play that way, now. You know I&rsquo;m not the shiftiest defenseman. I like to hit but I&rsquo;m not an all out checker like some guys. I&rsquo;ve got to pick my spots. But when I block shots I&rsquo;m doing a big service to the goalie who is often screened out of the play.&rdquo;Speer is now working on defensive line with al MacNeil and the inexperience of Speer &mdash; who never played in the NHL before &mdash; is matching perfectly with the savay of MacNeil, an 8-year-NHL veteran.&ldquo;Al has helped me a lot", Speer says. &ldquo;He talks to me on the bench and points out things that other defensemen do that then helps us team up better.&rdquo;The success of Speer this year has come as a mild surprise to Sullivan. It&rsquo;s not that he didn&rsquo;t think Speer was of NHL caliber. Sullivan simply wondered how much Speer wanted to sacrifice to make the big leagues.Speer was one of four players purchased from Cleveland prior to last season and loaned to Buffalo of the AHL. But he was overweight most of the year and his performance on the ice showed it. By June he was nearly 40 pounds over his normal playing weight of 205.Sullivan placed Speer on a strict diet and by the time the Penguins went to training camp the youngster had become a &ldquo;slim&rdquo; 210. Still, Speer could not beat out Dune McCallum for the fifth defenseman spot on the Penguins and the barber was shipped to the real Clippers of Baltimore.&ldquo;That was the lowest I&rsquo;d ever been in my career", Says Speer, who began playing in the AHL in 1963-64. &ldquo;But I went down the Baltimore figuring I&rsquo;d just have to work hard and get the chance to come back up. Sully said someone would probably get hurt and I&rsquo;d get that chance".When Dick Mattiussi hurt his back in the fourth game of the season, Speer was recalled from Baltimore. He&rsquo;s been here ever since and improving with each game.However, if he does fall, Speer knows it won&rsquo;t be the end of everything. His three chair barbershop in his hometown of Lindsay is profiting well and expansion is likely in the future.&ldquo;I used to cut hair just to keep in practice", Speer says, smiling. &ldquo;But now I have another motive. After all, it&rsquo;s not every guy who gets a 25 cent tip from his boss for doing his job.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0007-01

’Barber’ Bill Speer Impresses Penguins’ Coach Red Sullivan

<div class="byline">&#x2014; PRATO</div>PITTSBURGH, Pa. -<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02730/3313373-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="282" height="485"><figcaption class="caption-body">Baz Bastien</figcaption></div>For the first time in history a hockey man has won the most coveted sports award in Pittsburgh.Baz Bastien, now a coach and assistant general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, was named winner of the annual Dapper Dan Award as the man who did the most to publicize Pittsburgh sports in 1967.Bastien was voted the honor for leading the now defunct Pittsburgh Hornets to the American Hockey League and Calder Cup championship during the 1966-67 season. He outpolled runner-up Roberto Clemente of the Pittsburgh Pirates, last year&rsquo;s award winner, by better than three to one in a vote by area sportswriters and sports casters.&ldquo;I am surprised and quite honored,&rdquo; Bastien said when notified of the award.Bastien will be presented the award at the Dapper Dan s 33rd Annual Banque, one of the biggest sports dinners in the country, in late January.Bastien, who still makes his home in a Pittsburgh suburb, was the general manager and coach of the Hornets, then a Detroit farm team. He re-joined the Detroit main organization this season when Pittsburgh received an NHL franchise ans has been doing much of the coaching for the Red Wings in recent weeks. &#9632;

f0007-02

Bastien First Hockey Man To Win ‘Dapper Dan’ Award

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>NEW YORK. N.Y. -<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-01897/3313411-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="271" height="466"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wren Blair</figcaption></div>Listening to National Hockey League bosses such as Lynn Patrick of St. Louis and Wren Blair of Minnesota college hockey leaders in the United States are a collection of nonpareil dunderheads.Their reasoning Is addressed to one basic point; that Is, college hockey which could be a great fountain of talent has, over the years, produced a mere trickle of players to the NHL &mdash; and few good ones in recent years.The blame, the NHL people insist, belongs to the college &mdash; and, in some cases high school &mdash; hockey barons who stubbornly refuse to adapt pro hockey rules. The &ldquo;stubbornly", mind you, is an expression used by the NHL, not by me.&ldquo;Why can&rsquo;t the college people adopt our rules?&rsquo;&rsquo; asks Lynn Patrick, a onetime NHL star with the Rangers, a coach at New York and Boston and manager at Boston and now St. Louis.Superficially, there seems to be no good reason why. The colleges ignore the center red line. They only permit bodychecking in the defensive zone. And they permit passing all the way from the defensive zone to the offensive blue line.The result Is a wide-open brand of hockey that accents breakaways and puts a limit on bodychecking. Collegians who play this brand of game are said to be unready for the jump into the NHL. It has been charged that top-flight college players such as Red Berenson, George Konik and Johnny McMillan flopped In the majors because they can&rsquo;t &mdash; or couldn&rsquo;t &mdash; make the adaptation.&ldquo;College rules are for the birds,&rdquo; Lynn Patrick tells me. &ldquo;Look at what&rsquo;s happened to the production of American players. Before World War n you had plenty of good Americans going to the NHL. Frankie Brimsek, Sam LoPresti and Doc Romnes, to name a few. Now, there&rsquo;s practically nobody.&rdquo;Patrick complains that today&rsquo;s U.S. college players never learn to take a man out of the play.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s one of the basic fundamentals of hockey,&rdquo; says Patrick. &ldquo;But the way they do things now It&rsquo;s like a kid coming out of touch football and right into the NHL.&rdquo;When I polled college coaches on the subject they reacted with a sense of Independence suggesting they have no obligations to the NHL nor do they believe the NHL system is necessarily correct.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not Incubators for the NHL,&rdquo; says Jim Fullerton, coach of Brown University. &ldquo;As far as the body checking Is concerned, the bone structure of the young boys cannot take such heavy play.&rdquo;Patrick was highly amused when he heard the &ldquo;bone structure&rdquo; theory.&ldquo;I saw Bobby Orr when he was 13 years old,&rdquo; counters Patrick, &ldquo;and I can assure you he was quite capable of playing with boys twice his age.&rdquo;Apart from the Injury factor, Fullerton contends that by allowing passing UP to the offensive blue line and limiting bodychecking, collegians produce a brand of hockey that accents the classic hip checking practically extinct among the pros. He says It also encourages the wide-open brand of hockey that many Americans prefer to the tight-checking styles of many pro teams.&ldquo;Our college game,&rdquo; says Fullerton, &ldquo;Is more interesting than the NHL game.&rdquo;Patrick not only dismisses the college style but goes even further and chides the use of helmets, especially by the NHL players.&ldquo;If I had to wear a helmet,&rdquo; Patrick says, &ldquo;It would bother me. As far as head Injuries are concerned, I don&rsquo;t know of a head Injury that&rsquo;s occurred in the NHL that would have been prevented by a helmet. Hockey isn&rsquo;t a game that&rsquo;s conducive to fractured skulls or concussions.&rdquo;Naturally, the NHL&rsquo;s position Is selfish. With the addition of six teams and the creation of 120 new jobs, there&rsquo;s a need for manpower and, one might observe, a great dearth of it; or, at least, of stars.Were the colleges to adopt big league hockey rules there&rsquo;s no telling how many more Americans would be playing the game nor how much more appealing it would be to audiences in the ten U.S. cities.Wren Blair, the man who discovered Bobby Orr, fumes whenever he discusses the matter of U.S. college rules.&ldquo;If Canada, a country with only 20,000,000 people can produce all the NHL hockey players,&rdquo; argues Blair &ldquo;then our (NHL) system must be right.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03662/3313404-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="618" height="640"><figcaption class="caption-body">GEORGE KONIK &hellip; Couldn&rsquo;t Adjust</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0008-01

COLLEGE-PRO HOCKEY WAR STILL RAGING

<div class="byline">BY DAN CONNOLLY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02798/3313449-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="267" height="478"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ned Harkness</figcaption></div>BOSTON, Mass. &mdash;Again it is the year of the Big Red &mdash; Cornell and Boston University &mdash; as the Eastern college teams start into the second semester of action. Coach Ned Harkness has his Cornell team leading everything in sight with a 12-1-0 record behind the fine goaltending of junior Ken Dryden and the work of a rapidly developing group of sophomores. Boston U. under Jack Kelley is again challenging for the top spot which they held last season.After the top two comes the scramble as Clarkson, Boston College and St. Lawrence run true to pre-season predictions with RPI providing the real surprise of the season as the Engineers are off to an 8-3-0 record including big wins over Harvard and Boston U. Brown has provided the biggest surprise, though, with a 6-3 win over Cornell in Providence in December as each team in the East suffered a loss in its first four games, except Clarkson which went to seven before losing.CORNELL (12-1-0) - Ned Harkness brought the NCAA championship back to the East for the first time last year since he had won the crown at RPI in 1954. The Big Red were 27-1-1 with a good portion of the credit going to Ken Dryden the goalie from Islington, Ont., who turned in a fine 1.48 goals average. This year Dryden is registering 1.31 including 5 shutouts in 13 games. Harkness has come up with another good group of sophomores led by John Hughes, Bill Lewis, Dan Lodboa, Steve Giuliani, forwards, and Gordie Lowe, a defenseman, for what appears to be another great season in Ithaca.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04436/3313442-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg" title="f0008-04" width="618" height="628"><figcaption class="caption-body">KEN DRYDEN&hellip; Sparks Cornell</figcaption></div>BOSTON U. (9-2-0) - Last year the Terriers were undefeated in regular season ECAC play and lost twice to Cornell in the playoffs, the last game being 4-1 for the National championship. Although he has lost six regular from last year&rsquo;s 25-4-1 team, Coach Jack Kelley has his team pointing for a January 23 meeting with Cornell at Boston Arena. Herb Wakabayashi, who tied for the scoring lead in the East with 67 points, Serge Bolly and Eddie Wright provide the big punch for the Terriers having 29 goals in the first 11 games, while Mike Hyndman, Mickey Gray and Larry Davenport back them up with 27.CLARKSON (7-2-1) Year-in-year-out Lennie Ceglarski turns out some fine teams in Northern New York and this year is no exception. Although he suffered the loss of three of his top four defensemen through graduation, Ceglarski has come up with sophomores Wayne Lachance and Steve Woods to go with vet Andy Hamilton and the Golden Knights were 5-0-1 giving up only 12 goals.BOSTON COLLEGE (9-3-1) - Although picked by some as the top team in the East the Eagles have had their problems since much of their success rests with sophomore forwards. The major attraction of the team is the first line of Tim Sheehy, Gordie Clarke, and John Snyder which has accounted for 26 goals.RPI (8-3-0) - Coach Gary Kearns is pleasently surprised with his Engineers. With only two seniors on the squad and a defensive unit returning which had allowed 158 goals in 24 games last year the prospects were little more than &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s hope for next year.&rdquo;After losing to Cornell and St. Lawrence in their first three games things seemed to be just that way, but they have reeled off seven wins in eight games including a 4-2 win over Boston U. &#9632;

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Cornell, Boston U., Top Threats Again

<div class="byline">BY JACK BERRY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-01871/3313480-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="274" height="481"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kent Douglas</figcaption></div>DETROIT, Mich. -Sid Abel figures that if he can ever get his team together, the Red Wings will make a good run for a Stanley Cup playoff spot.Abel said it during trying times &mdash; a string of seven straight games without a victory.But he felt he had indications of good strength, especially with the addition of defenseman Kent Douglas whom he obtained from the Oakland Seals after nearly seven months of negotiating.Douglas, Abel feels, is the experienced, mean defenseman the Wings need and, he can fire a puck with the best of the point men which Douglas promptly affirmed with two goals and two assists in his first four games.For Douglas the Wings yielded youth in defenseman Bert Marshall, and exceptional center in Ted Hampson plus minor league forward John Brenneman who didn&rsquo;t figure in Detroit plans.But while Douglas gave a tougher look to the Detroit blue line, there still was a hospital look up front. Paul Henderson was out for four weeks and finally fitted with a harness to protect his chest.Toronto&rsquo;s Bob Pulford crunched Henderson just after he fired a goal and the muscles pulled away from the rib cage.&ldquo;In some cases it&rsquo;s worse than a fracture and takes longer to heal,&rdquo; said Dr. Milton Kosley of the Detroit medical staff.Bruce MacGregor was hurt twice, Floyd Smith had a broken bone in his foot and Dean Prentice has a sinus condition that hampers his breathing so much he had to have minor surgery in mid-January and will undergo more extensive surgery following the season.Because of the injuries and ailments, Abel hardly put out the same lines two periods in a row let alone two games in a row.One line that he did put out was quickly dubbed the &ldquo;Sky Line.&rdquo;It had to be one of the tallest in NHL history. Peter Mahovlich, 6-4, was on left wing, Jimmy Peters, 6-3, at center, and Doug Roberts, 6-2, at right wing.Abel put the big boys out against Chicago and Mahovlich, brother of Toronto&rsquo;s Frank, scored twice including the tying goal in a 4-4 game.Roberts effectively used his body and Peters was a persistent forechecker.Roberts, a native Detroiter, has been up and down several times with the Wings and is at his best when he plays tough hockey.This has been evident to Abel. The Wings, other than Gordie Howe, were looking like bloc candidates for the Lady Byng Trophy.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been playing it too mild,&rdquo; Abel said.He got his point across.ICE CHIPS: After a week of skating in Detroit, goalie Roger Crozier was assigned to the Wings&rsquo; Fort Worth farm in the Central League to try and win his way back to the NHL.Crozier hinted he&rsquo;d try wearing a mask. He wore it during his practices at Olympia. Before the 25-year-old goalie shocked hockey by retiring Nov. 6 he refused to wear a mask in a game and wouldn&rsquo;t wear it in practice even though Abel requested it.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to change my attitude,&rdquo; Crozier said.He wants to leave the game on the ice, not blame himself and worry unduly over goals scored against him, be more relaxed. It&rsquo;s a large order.With the success of Douglas after joining the Wings, Jean-Guy Talbot obtained Oct. 19 from Minnesota, became expendable. The Wings tried to waive him to Fort Worth but St. Louis claimed him for $30,000.Abel tried several weeks before to get rookie Jim Watson waived out so he could play and gain more experience but &ldquo;five or six&rdquo; clubs put in claims on the big defenseman.Abel wasn&rsquo;t about to carry seven rear guards so Talbot went.The waiver, and the trade earlier between Oakland and Detroit shook up the club. Abel hopes it will shake them right into the playoffs. &#9632;

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But Wings Still Can’t Find Win Formula

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-02779/3313511-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg"></div>OVERALL WON AND LOST RECORDS THIS SEASON BETWEEN NHL TEAMS(Statistics include Games Of Wednesday, January 17) &#9632;

f0009-02

How Teams Compare In National League

<div class="byline">BY SPENCE CONLEY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02753/3313573-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="287" height="490"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bert Marshall</figcaption></div>OAKLAND, Calif.-The Oakland Seals gambled &mdash; and won! They went for a four-player deal with the Detroit Red Wings sending defensive ace Kent Douglas to the Motor City in ex-change for center Ted Hampson, left wing John Brenneman, and defenseman Bert Marshall.They knew they were getting strength in Hampson and Brenneman, by comparison to what they had, but the big question In Oakland&rsquo;s mind was whether or not they&rsquo;d get adequate defense with Douglas gone.Marshall has filled the bin with journeyman ability.Seal boss Bert Olmstead admits that it was a gamble in giving up the 31-year old Doublas&rsquo; vast experience and offensive ability, but the Seals had to do something.Right now, they are smiling.Hampson, 31, may well be the No 1 pivot in the Western Division. Who&rsquo;s better? He&rsquo;s got speed hustle, mixed with playmaking and scoring ability. He was just what the Seals needed.With the Red Wings, he was middleman with Floyd Smith and Gary Jarrett and sometimes Smith and Dean Prentice. He was fifth in team scoring with nine goals and 18 assists.When he joined the Seals, he was teamed with Brenneman, a good skater but a player with questionable scoring ability, and Larry Popein, a good-skating NHL veteran.Hampson and Brenneman appear to have meshed very well. And in a week, they enjoy the added speed of wing Bill Hicke.In the newcomers&rsquo; first game with Oakland, a 2-2 standoff with St. Louis, Hampson and Marshall were in town for about 10 hours.But that was just enough time for the two Red Wing pals to collaborate on a play which resulted in Hampson&rsquo;s first goal as a Seal&mdash;the tying goal! Both went home to Detroit after the game and rejoined the Seals in Minnesota two-days later.Hampson&rsquo;s line is going at a goal-a-game pace. Brenneman has a pair of goals and assists; Ted has three helpers in addition to his goal, and Popein has two assists.Popein, of course, is a center. He&rsquo;s very good at getting the draw and he may be shifted around once Hicke and wing George Swarbrick get out of sick bay.Hicke has continued to have difficulty with a lung Infection and the Seals sent him to Hawaii for a week to dry out following a short hospital stay. Team physicians want him completely cured before he returns to action.Billy&rsquo;s scoring ability and speed, added to the quality of Hampson and Brenneman, should give the Seals a line whose skills could rank as the best in the division and one of the best anywhere.Swarbrick has a broken finger which is mending slowly. He may return in two weeks.In any event, with Hicke working with Hampson and Brenneman (team officials say that&rsquo;s the plan), then Popein may move over to left wing on the third line with Billy Harris at center and Swarbrick.Now add to those two lines a unit of center Charlie Burns, and wings Gerry Ehman and Wally Boyer, and for the first time this year, the Seals will have three good attack squads.Defensively, the Seals are about as good as they ever were and for nine games, they were without all-star defenseman Bob Baun.With Baun back, however, they are that much better defensively, and with Hicke and Swarbrick back, the Seals might just be the kinds of hockey team they should have been in the first place.But much of the credit for the Seals new life must go to Hampson.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been great in every way", says Seal aide Gordon Fashoway. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s just a great team man and a good guy. He&rsquo;s lived up to everything we expected.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a hard-working player who is going to get a few goals tor us as well as pick up our playmaking.&rdquo;Hampson is glad to be in a position where he can help the Seals make the playoffs.After a recent loss (6-3 to Philadelphia) Hampson commented:&ldquo;I hope we don&rsquo;t quit now, we&rsquo;ve got a good chance to make the playoffs. We&rsquo;ve just got to concentrate for 60 minutes a game. We&rsquo;ll be OK.&rdquo;The move may well have been a big break for the 5-8, 171 pound center.Hampson had been protected by the Wings during the expansion draft and with the single exception of Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Earl Ingarfield, there wasn&rsquo;t a real top notch center among the new clubs. &#9632;

f0010-02

Hampson, Marshall, Instant Hit With Seals

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-03603/3313604-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="262" height="480"><figcaption class="caption-body">Billy Hicke</figcaption></div>OAKLAND, Calif.Billy Hicke, the Seals&rsquo; ailing winger was expected back in the Oakland line up Jan. 20 after recovering on a holiday in Hawaii.Hicke bothered by a troublesome lung infection has been out of action two weeks.The Seals announced that Tom Thurlby has been assigned on loan to Vancouver of the Western Hockey League. The 29-year-old left wing and defenseman spent six seasons with the WHL Seals and started the 1967-68 campaign with Vancouver before being called by the Seals of the NHL in November.The latest report on the Seals&rsquo; &ldquo;walking wounded&rdquo; is encouraging. Captain Bob Baun was back in the line up when the Seals played Pittsburgh January 17th. Hicke is regaining his strength in Hawaii and George Swarbrick&rsquo;s broken finger is mending according to the medicos, and he may be back in action before the end of the month. &#9632;

f0010-03

Hawaiian Holiday For Ailing Hicke

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01873/3313687-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0011-01

NHL SCORING RACE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01858/3313718-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="278" height="471"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bruce Gamble</figcaption></div>The Toronto Maple Leafs plucked Bruce Gamble out of the minor hockey league &lsquo;doghouse&rsquo; of owner Eddie Shore two years ago and today the move looks like one of the shrewdest ventures manager-coach Punch Imlach has pulled off since taking over the Leafs.Gamble has proved to be an outstanding backup goalie for aging Johnny Bower and when the NHL&rsquo;s oldest netminder was injured a few weeks back, the Leafs didn&rsquo;t hesitate to throw Gamble into the breach.The rangy Toronto goalie has responded with a topflight effort to help the Leafs keep hot on the trail of the leading Boston Bruins. Gamble had a highly productive week for the Leafs. He started by standing the NHL All-Stars on their collective heads for a 4-3 win and followed up with a 4-2 decision over Boston a 5-1 win over Minnesota and a 2-0 blanking of Detroit for a perfect week. Gamble has three shutouts to his credit and has pushed the Leafs&rsquo; goalkeeping team into the lead in the Vezina Trophy race.THE HOCKEY NEWS and El Producto cigars are pleased to salute the NHL&rsquo;s player-of-the-week in the East:<blockquote class="pullQuote">Bruce Gamble &hellip;Toronto</blockquote> &#9632;

f0012-01

NHL Flayer OF The Week — IN THE EAST

<div class="byline">BY NORMAN MacLEAN</div>NEW YORK, N.Y. -Camille &ldquo;The Eel&rdquo; Henry wrote a fantastic chapter in the old saga of the discarded player returning to his former team and ruining them, when in his first appearance at the Chicago Stadium since his return to the Rangers, he scored two goals to get New York a vitally needed 3-3 tie.And Henry was only in the game as a replacement for Vic Hadfield who suffered a badly dislocated shoulder when he crashed into the boards at one end of the Chicago Stadium. In fact, Emile Francis and most of the Rangers were only too happy to settle for Hadfield&rsquo;s injury being as relatively minor as it turned out. When Vic slipped on a bad piece of ice and crashed head first into the boards it appeared that he was seriously hurt, a la Lou Fontinato whom Hadfield body checked when Lou suffered his broken neck.The inert Ranger strong man was carried from the ice &mdash; and taken to a Chicago hospital. Upon his return to New York, Dr. Kazuo Yanagisawa examined Vic at length and determined that what had appeared to be a broken shoulder was only a severe dislocation. The tough Hadfield will be out about two weeks.Henry, given a chance to replace Vic at left wing on the Jean Ratelle, Rod Gilbert line, as he did with Phil Goyette and Bob Nevin when Don Marshall was hurt lost no time. His tying goal was a typical Henry &ldquo;garbage&rdquo; production from up close, but that all count.Camille is a magician who seems only able to produce in the unusual atmosphere that New York hockey creates for him. His tallies were the 249th and 250th scores in a Blue uniform.In the first two games of their make or break swing through the western bad lands, New York tied Chi 3-3, as mentioned and decisioned the St. Louis Blues 3-1 in the first ever game between Rangers and Blues in the Mound City.More of same is required if New York is to get back in the charmed circle of playoff spots. It will be tough with Chicago, Boston. the hot Montreal Canadiens and the tough Toronto Maple Leafs all slightly ahead of the Blueshirts.The brightest note in the entire first half plus portion of the season has been the emergence of Jim Neilson as a star of all league proportions. Since December first, Neison has been the best Blue shirt defenseman, a rusher par excellence and a blocker supreme.&ldquo;We now call Neilson, the Super Chief,&rdquo; says Emile Francis, the Rangers General Manager-Coach.&ldquo;And you will notice that I am using him as a point man on the power play.&rdquo;Neilson, who is 26, is in his sixth year in the N.H.L. He made his debut as a frightened, but powerful six foot 200 pounder, alongside Doug Harvey back in 1962-63.Right fully, he has been known as Neilson, the New York enigma, the man who had all the potential but not that much performance. Now he has put it all together, after suffering two painful eye Injuries which slowed him down earlier in the campaign.Jim skates, shoots and carries the puck with abandon &mdash; and soon will earn sobriquet of Chief Rushes the Puck if he continues his successful length of the rink dashes.Francis says, &ldquo;Neilson gets the puck out of our zone better than any of our defensemen. I count on him to get the puck up ice.&rdquo; &#9632;

’Eel’ Shows Black Hawks Old Ice Touch

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02744/3313773-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="296" height="496"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ray Cullen</figcaption></div>The Minnesota North Stars have been sluggish since the tragic accident last week that claimed the life of their teammates &mdash; Bill Masterton.In fact, the Stars couldn&rsquo;t put together a good game no matter how hard they tried. Not until the past weekend when a hard-nosed performer by the name of Ray Cullen stepped in and provided the spark to start the North Stars rolling again.Cullen sank two big goals and set up a third as the Stars stopped Pittsburgh 4-3. It was Minnesota&rsquo;s first win in five games. For Cullen it raised his season total of 15 goals, tops on the club.THE HOCKEY NEWS and El Producto cigars are pleased to salute the NHL&rsquo;s player-of-the-week in the West:Ray Cullen&hellip;Minnesota &#9632;

f0012-02

NHL Player OF The Week — IN THE WEST

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01842/3313804-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0013-01

National Hockey League Summaries

<div class="byline">By JIM PROUDFOOT</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01844/3313835-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="297" height="492"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave Keon</figcaption></div>TORONTO, Ont. -A perplexing inability to play good hockey away from home is all that&rsquo;s keeping Toronto Maple Leafs out of first place in the National League standings. In games played at Maple Leaf Gardens, they&rsquo;ve dominated their opposition, just as so many analysts predicted they would this season.After 41 games had been played, as of Jan. 15, this was the breakdown:At home&mdash;15 wins, five ties, four losses, 35 of a possible 48 points.Out of town&mdash;four wins, four ties, 11 losses 12 of a possible 38 points.And the significance of it all is that, of Leafs&rsquo; 33 remaining 1967-68 matches, 19 were to be on the road and only 14 here in Toronto. Briefly, then, If Leafs continue to handle things the way they have so far, they&rsquo;ll be struggling just to qualify for Stanley Cup competition.There&rsquo;s another bad side to it all, too. Let Punch Imlach, Leafs&rsquo; coach and general manager, explain:&ldquo;The only really important game we&rsquo;ve won on the road was our very first, back in October. We beat Chicago, Our only other wins out-of-town have been one in Oakland and two in Detroit. Those are the two last-place clubs.&rdquo;What goes wrong?Obviously, there are men on the payroll who do their best work in Toronto and are much less efficient in the other part of the schedule. And Mike Walton, who got 19 of his first 22 goals in Toronto, is by no means the only one. This strange malady afflicts even the best members of the club, such men as Dave Keon and Frank Mahovlich.One thing must be said in Leafs&rsquo; defence: Because they play regularly at home on Saturday nights, and Wednesdays almost as often, they usually are a tired team coming in to take on a rested opponent.Statistics show how really difficult it is to win the second halves of these two-city doubleheaders, unless both clubs are following the same routine.&ldquo;This has to be the worst road team I&rsquo;ve been associated with in 40 years as a player, coach and general manager,&rdquo; Imlach said, after a particularly frustrating series against Pittsburgh Penguins. Leafs were beaten, 4-3, in Pittsburgh, then came back the following afternoon with a completely impressive, 7-0 victory.&ldquo;Thank goodness,&rdquo; Imlach added, &ldquo;they play it big at home.&rdquo;Imlach observed: &ldquo;What&rsquo;s annoying is that if we had any kind of a road record at all, we&rsquo;d be leading the league. You have to win away from home to be first and eventually, you have to if you&rsquo;re going to take the Stanley Cup. So we&rsquo;ll have to get straightened out sooner or later.&ldquo;It wouldn&rsquo;t alarm me so much if we were just getting by on home ice. But we&rsquo;re winning with authority. That means only one thing to me. We should be winning some close ones, and tying some, on the road.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s natural, of course, that a team will do better on home ice. The players have been in the home and family atmosphere and they have the incentive their own fans provide. Then, in Toronto, we know people from coast to coast are watching on television.&ldquo;What I&rsquo;m saying,&rdquo; Imlach elaborated, &ldquo;is that I can understand why the club plays so well at home. It shouldn&rsquo;t happen with professional athletes.&rdquo; I&rsquo;ve always felt that you should be able to break even on the road. If you could do that, you&rsquo;d have a shot at the championship. I don&rsquo;t see any way we&rsquo;re going to get to the .500 level now.&rdquo;Another problem with Leafs is that they keep losing to western division clubs, which are supposed to be weaker. Imlach fines each of his men $100 for every game they lose to an expansion opponent, but that hasn&rsquo;t prevented them from dropping five such matches.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re the best thing that&rsquo;s happened to the expansion teams,&rdquo; Imlach said, following the 4-3 defeat in Pittsburgh, Leafs&rsquo; second loss to Penguins.&ldquo;It happens more easily than you think,&rdquo; says Leafs&rsquo; Keon, &ldquo;because these expansion clubs aren&rsquo;t bad defensively and most of them have first-rate goalkeeping. You find it difficult to get yourself prepared for these games and you get off to a bad start. Suddenly, you&rsquo;re a couple of goals down and they&rsquo;re playing defensive hockey and they aren&rsquo;t bad and they&rsquo;re fired up and you find you just can&rsquo;t catch up.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0014-01

Failure To Win On Road Keeps Maple Leafs Out Of First Place In NHL

<div class="byline">By Bill Libby</div><h2>Hockey Death A Tragedy</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02729/3313880-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="290" height="489"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Favell</figcaption></div>The death of Bill Masterton of Minnesota has depressed everyone in hockey. Against the back-drop of the artificial drama of winning and losing has been placed a very real tragedy. His was a freak accident. Jarred somehow, possibly severely, In a pile-up, Masterton remained standing when the others skated off. Then Bill toppled to the ice, cracking his skull critically. He was taken to the hospital, where he bled internally so badly doctors declined to operate. Then, he died.Ironically, the former collegian used to wear a helmet, but he was not wearing one when he was hurt fatally. Actually, it is Incredible that similar accidents have not happened more often in this sport. But they have not. This was the first such fatality in 51 years of National Hockey League play. So it is short-sighted and foolish to suggest that the wearing of helmets must now be made mandatory.Masterton was not a great player. But he was a fine, intelligent young man. He played only two seasons as a professional, then had been retired .for the last four years while he put his college degree to work In contract administration for a major concern. At 29, hungering for hockey success, he was tempted by a big-league offer from Minnesota to try again this season. Expansion opened up new opportunity for many players. By a freak of fate, it turned out to be a false flash of glory for the young man from Winnipeg, who has left behind him a lovely wife, a young son and a young daughter.It is a rough game of crashing bodies, played with sticks and a hard rubber puck that can split your skull wide open. A few men have been crippled or blinded by it. Now, in the NHL, one has been killed by It. From now on, we will watch it with renewed respect.<h2>Favell &lsquo;Sleep Walker&rsquo;</h2>Doug Favell plays it cool. Like nothing ever bothers him. The kid goal-keeper of the Philadelphia Flyers snoozes like a baby before games. You talk to him after games and his eyelids are almost closed, like he&rsquo;s about to fall asleep. A Philly official says, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a sleep-walker. He does it all in his sleep. He doesn&rsquo;t know what he&rsquo;s doing but he does it right. He&rsquo;s a heck of a goal-tender". Yet before a recent game, his hands were shaking seriously. During the game, he continued to shake. He admitted to coach Keith Allen he was shaking, but insisted he was all right. Reluctantly Allen let him remain in the game. And Favell wound up with a shutout.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03570/3313873-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="290" height="484"><figcaption class="caption-body">Andre Lacroix</figcaption></div>You never know what&rsquo;s going on Inside of a guy Recently, Favell threatened to quit hockey. He wasn&rsquo;t playing as much as his buddy Bernie Parent, another fine kid goalie, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not greedy", he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to play all the games. I just want to play my share. I&rsquo;m real happy Bernie is doing well. I realize coach Allen has a problem. I don&rsquo;t pretend to know how to solve It. But I&rsquo;ve played behind Bernie for four years now and this sitting around is driving me crazy. I&rsquo;m a bundle of nerves.&rdquo;Manager poile and coach Allen talked to him and smoothed him and soon he was playing again and doing well again. Poile said, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all right. You want a guy who wants to play. &ldquo;Allen said, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not easy trying to play two good goalies enough so both stay happy. I guess I haven&rsquo;t done it well enough yet.&rdquo;But he did it well enough so his two youngsters shared the cash prize for having completed the most effective goal-keeping performance to midseason of the NHL campaign.Actually, Poile and Allen have done a brilliant job of building and guiding the team, which so far seems to be the best of the NHL&rsquo;s new clubs. Owner Bill Putnam told us he is completely happy with both men, as well he should be. The Seals lost a good man when they let Poile get away from them. Right now, the Bay Area boys are floundering. &ldquo;The next time I&rsquo;m in town I&rsquo;ll straighten them out", grins Bud, who swears he is not bitter.<h2>All-Stars Need Revising</h2>Generally, &ldquo;name&rdquo; players were nominated for the berths in the recent All-Star game. Recent performances were ignored, especially in the expansion division. Some of those selected did not deserve the honor on the basis of this season&rsquo;s showings. Previously, the game was played prior to the start of the new season, a sort of hangover of the previous campaign. Now that it has been moved to mid-season, it should be scheduled so that the top twelve men in the mid-season all-star ? balloting form the basis of the select squad. And it would be a good idea to convert the attraction from a game matching the defending Stanley Cup champions against men from the other teams into b a clash of the stars of the Eastern and Western Divisions.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04414/3313866-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="293" height="489"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob McCord</figcaption></div>Detroit appears to have gotten the best of its deal with Oakland in which it acquired Kent Douglas, an established standout, in exchange for Bert Marshall, John Brenneman and Ted Hampson. Of course Marshall and Brenneman are young, and if one should develop into something special, the deal would be something else again. Generally however, a team like Oakland cannot improve by getting quantity for quality. Clubs build up to the top on the basis of their best players, with a few key stars, not with a number of ordinary men. Give me Bobby Hull, Dave Keon and Bobby Orr and y I&rsquo;ll build a contender from the men in the minors right now.The Philadelphia brass think they have a superstar in the making in Andre Lacroix, a 22-year-old center with Quebec City in the American League, but have been reluctant to call him up because they think he&rsquo;ll benefit from another season of preparation. &ldquo;He may not be quite ready,&rdquo; says coach Keith Allen &hellip; Minnesota manager-coach Wren Blair says, &ldquo;After a lot of years of being kicked around, Bob McCord, the veteran defenseman we obtained in trade this year, may be on the verge of super star status. I&rsquo;ve always been high on him and now he seems to be coming into his own.&rdquo; Blair also tabs young defenseman Bob Woytowich as a super-star of tomorrow. &ldquo;He has all the talent it takes". Blair concludes.Larry Zeidel is an old star who Is shining brightly once again. He talked his way back into the majors to play with Philadelphia. Among other things, he suggests, &ldquo;Every franchise needs a good Jewish star.&rdquo; After a recent game, Philly manager Bud Polle said, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s like finding money in the street. Larry&rsquo;s almost forty, but he&rsquo;s outplaying twenty-year-olds. &ldquo;Larry says, &ldquo;During the off-season, a doctor got me started running. I&rsquo;d run along with a lot of old guys who&rsquo;d hoff and puff and wheeze about their heart conditions. But it really helped me. My legs never felt so good. I haven&rsquo;t felt as good in ten years. I wish I&rsquo;d found out about running sooner. Also, I&rsquo;m not out to hurt anyone anymore I just want to help myself and my team. I just want to do my job. I&rsquo;m not a bad guy any more.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0014-02

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY GLENN REDMANN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01821/3313918-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="288" height="490"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike McMahon</figcaption></div>TWIN CITIES. Minn. -One of the Twin Cities daily newspapers published a story recently by Stan Fisch-ler of New York regarding the merits of the six expansion teams as their schedules reached the half-way mark.The Gotham free lance writer used only a few paragraphs to describe what he thought of Minnesota&rsquo;s entry in the West Division, but as far as manager coach Wren Blair is concerned, one of Fischler&rsquo;s opinions was completely out of line.&ldquo;The part where he called our set of defensemen the most inept in the entire league seems uncalled for,&rdquo; said Wren.&ldquo;I respect his right to criticize, But I can&rsquo;t possibly see how he can say we&rsquo;re the worst in anything when we&rsquo;ve only played in New York (Fischler does not travel with the Rangers) twice and some of the other expansion teams have been there once or not at all.&rdquo;After lauding Blair&rsquo;s coaching and the goaltending of Cesare Maniago and stating that in his opinion the North Stars had a good chance of finishing behind Philadelphia and Los Angeles to make the playoffs, Fischler singled out veterans Pete Goegan and Moose Vasko as being the main drawbacks in the Minnesotans&rsquo; blueline brigade.It was suggested that neither Goegan nor Vasko was supplying enough muscle and also that each had mobility deficiencies.Rather than defend either Goegan or Vasko individually, Blair chose to point up the fact that at this writing only four other NHL teams &mdash; Philadelphia and St. Louis in the West Division and Toronto and Montreal in the East &mdash; had held the opposition to less goals than his squad.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d have to say that our five defensemen have had a big part in holding the opposition to an average of less three goals per game,&rdquo; added Blair.Oddly enough, Goegan and Vasko, who between them have played in more than 1,000 NHL contests, are used alternately by Blair as his fifth or swing defenseman.In other words, the one who isn&rsquo;t swinging teams up on the left side with Bob Woytowich, the Stars&rsquo; right handed-shooting captain.Blair&rsquo;s other tandem is made up of the vastly underrated Mike McMahon on the left and rugged Bob McCord, who was obtained early in the season from Detroit in the deal that sent Jean-Guy Talbot to the Wings, on the right side.Woytowich, who as a New York Ranger farmhand played for St. Paul in the CPHL (1963-64)before spending 21/2 seasons with Boston, missed the first four games of the campaign while recovering from elbow surgery.But since returning, Bob has been a consistent performer at both ends of the rink and especially adept at clearing the puck out of his own end when things are the stickiest.The 33-year-old McCord shares Vasko&rsquo;s problem of back trouble. But even so, he has provided the muscle that Talbot didn&rsquo;t and frequently has stayed on the ice to help kill a penalty for the entire two minutes.&ldquo;Back in December when we had those six victories and a tie against only one loss,&rdquo; said Blair, &ldquo;I felt it was McCord as much as anyone who was responsible for our holding the opposition to less than two goals a game on the average.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s not always going to be that sharp because of the muscle spasms he has in his back, but I&rsquo;ve seen enough of him to know that he can do the job up here.&rdquo;<h2>Veteran Talbot Claimed By St. Louis On Waivers</h2>ST. LOUIS. Mo. -<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02725/3313911-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="271" height="472"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jean-Guy Talbot</figcaption></div>Jean-Guy Talbot, a veteran of 14 seasons in the National Hockey League, joined the St. Louis Blues defense corps in time for action against the Chicago Black Hawks at Chicago, Sunday, Jan. 14. Talbot was obtained on waivers from the Detroit Red Wings.Talbot, a fourth round draft choice of the Minnesota North Stars last summer, was traded to the Detroit club earlier this season along with Dave Richardson for Bob McCord and Duke Harris.An All-Star choice in the 1961-62 NHL campaign, the 170-pound native of Cap de la Madeleine, Quebec was a pillar of strength for the Montreal Canadiens for 13 seasons. He is a versatile performer and rated an outstanding penalty killer. &#9632;

f0015-01

Blair Defends Backliners Against Ineptness Charge

<div class="byline">BY GEOFFREY FISHER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03588/3313949-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="268" height="454"><figcaption class="caption-body">Seth Martin</figcaption></div>ST. LOUIS. Mo.&mdash;Over breakfast coffee at the Chase-Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis, Emile (The Cat) Francis was &lsquo;telling this writer among other things that goaltending is still about 70 per cent of the game of ice hockey.The Cat, who started battling rubber biscuits as a pro goalie back with the Chicago Black Hawks 22 years ago, hasn&rsquo;t changed much in appearance in the Interval. He is down to 138 pounds, about three or four less than he weighed when he wore the big pads, but that is probably because he finds the dual role of general manager and coach of the New York Rangers even k tougher than fighting off swarms of frozen rubber.The Cat still looks more like a jockey than a hockey player and he used to give opposing forwards a devil of a headache because sometimes they couldn&rsquo;t tell which was Francis and which was the goal post.The Cat is particularly impressed with the St. Louis goalie team of Glenn Hall and Seth Martin. He would get few arguments anywhere on that. Backstopped by Hall and Martin, the powder puff St. Louis offensive was not quite as noticeable by its absence. Braced by a thick-muscled defense and a sticky crew of close-checking forwards, the Blues were making steady progress in improving their position as the Western Division playoff race headed into the home stretch.Possibly St. Louis&rsquo; greatest hour came at Chicago Stadium, Sunday, Jan. 14 they took the best the Chicago Black Hawks could dish out and waltzed off with a 2-2 tie that had some 17,000 Hawks fans disgusted enough to chew their seats.Based upon past performance records or any other yardstick, it would have appeared that sending the St. Louis Blues into the Chicago Stadium against the powerful Hawks was the equivalent of tossing them into a pit full of poisonous snakes. It was like trying to stick up a Brinks armored car with a pea shooter.The Blues took all the Hawks could throw their way and nearly waltzed off with the victory. In a second period when a penalty sent a St. Louis player into the detention coop, Chicago launched its vaunted power play but Seth Martin in goal and his furiously skating bodyguards spiked the menacing guns of Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita and Pierre Pilote. At the moment the penalty ended and the Blues still not fully united, Gordon (Red) Berenson sliced into enemy ice and snapped the Blues&rsquo; second goal past a gasping Denis Dejordy.Earlier in the game St. Louis had the audacity to take a 1-0 on a shot from rookie Craig Cameron, playing his first week of pro hockey with the Blues, having been summoned from the Kansas City farm.Item: Both Berenson and Cameron joined the Blues after the season got underway and represented the kind of thing that had been happening to a rapidly improving St. Louis hockey club. &#9632;

f0015-03

Francis Praises Blues’ Net Team

<div class="byline">BY CHARLEY BARTON</div>BUFFALO, N.Y.&mdash;Fred Shero thought most of his problems were solved when Ron Attwell joined the Buffalo Bisons, but two serious injuries less than 25 minutes apart had the freshman coach scowling again.Attwell, picked by the St. Louis Blues in the National Hockey League&rsquo;s expansion draft, was sent to the Bisons by the parent New York Rangers. Hie Rangers had obtained Attwell and Ron Stewart for Red Berenson and Barclay Plager.During Attwell&rsquo;s debut with the Bisons, a 4-3 win over the Quebec Aces, right-winger Larry Mickey broke his left arm and defenseman Bob Blackburn incurred a shoulder separation.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01649/3313987-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="588" height="744"><figcaption class="caption-body">LARRY MICKEY&hellip; Another Broken Arm</figcaption></div>The Bisons had planned to send center Dennis Hextall to Omaha of the Central League, but switched signals after Mickey was hurt.Mickey and Blackburn weren&rsquo;t Shero&rsquo;s only medical problem. Center Larry Wilson and right winger Guy Trottier were out with injuries, Trottier with a badly twisted knee and Wilson with muscle spasms in his back.To make matters even worse, both goalies were on the limp literally and figuratively. Ed Chadwick suffered a broken toe in practice, and Gilles Villemure twisted his right knee in a vain effort to make a save on Boddy Leiter on a penalty shot in Hershey.The next guy who tells Shero injuries are all part of the game better have a running start.Mickey broke the same arm he did a year ago in an auto mishap in Omaha, and Blackburn was injured when decked by Rosaire Paiement, who came out of the penalty box and hit Black-brun from the blind side.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02563/3313980-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="620" height="735"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON ATTWELL&hellip;Sent By Rangers</figcaption></div>Blackburn&rsquo;s injury meant rookie Sheldon Kannegeisser, up from Omaha, would get regular duty. The handsome youngster has been used sparingly, and mostly up front.ALONG THE BOARDS - The night honoring Frank Christie, veteran Buffalo trainer, has been shifted from Jan. 28 to Feb. 9. The switch was made at Christie&rsquo;s request to accomodate members of his family coming here from his native New York &hellip; The Bisons, who moved their midweek games from Wednesday to Friday this season, are pleased with the attendance Increase and will continue the scheduling next winter &hellip;A year ago the Herd won only 14 games all season, their 15th win came in the 37th game of the schedule. &#9632;

f0016-01

Injuries To Mickey, Blackburn Hurt Bisons

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03451/3314018-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0016-03

American Hockey League Summaries

<div class="byline">BY JOAN TRAVERS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02490/3314063-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="276" height="483"><figcaption class="caption-body">Don Marcotte</figcaption></div>HERSHEY. Pa. -Roger De-jordy, one of a handful of American Hockey League skaters ever to top the 50 goal mark in one season, Is running a neck-and-neck race with teammate Don Marcotte for the Hershey Bears goal scoring lead.DeJordy, who connected for only eight tallies In the first two months of play, has suddenly come up with a hot stick in January. The 30-year-old veteran drilled in seven goals in the first seven games this month.His effort pulled him even with the rookie flash Marcotte, who hammered in his 20th goal against the Springfield Kings Jan. 10.Last season, DeJordy, a first all-star team wing selection, set a Hershey club record by blinking the goal light 52 times.As for the club point race, DeJordy leads his linemate, center Mike Nykoluk, the league&rsquo;s most valuable player last season, by a single point, 45-44, as of Jan. 14.Though the Bears have been unable to win on the road, the club has been potent on home ice and thus has kept itself in the race with Springfield for the Eastern Division flag.Springfield paced the East on Jan. 14 with 45 points, just seven ahead of the on-rushing Bears, who have six games in hand on the Bay Staters.Hershey has won only three of 16 road games, managing to gain a tie in three, while dropping 10. In the process the opponents have out-scored coach Frank Mathers men, 71-55.However, at the Sports Arena, the Bears are 14-5-1 and show a whopping goal edge of 91-59 against the opponents.&ldquo;Our problem,&rsquo;&rsquo; claims Mathers, &ldquo;is we haven&rsquo;t been able to string together four of five wins. We&rsquo;ve been in and out since late December.&rdquo;Since Dec. 30 the Bears have fallen into a win-lose-win-lose, etc., routine.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll start clicking on the road,&rdquo; predicted Mathers. &ldquo;And when we do we&rsquo;ll roll, I still think we can win our division. And we&rsquo;re in a good position now with a half-dozen extra games on Springfield.&rdquo;Though Mathers isn&rsquo;t complaining, Injuries have hampered the team. Time and again, he&rsquo;s had to re-adjust the forward lines.At the 20-game home mark the club had pulled 97,556 fans, about 13,000 less than last year at the same stage. But Mathers believes the team will close the regular season around the 210,000 mark and maybe even go higher if it can regain the Eastern Division top spot going to the wire.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04313/3314056-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="592" height="847"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROGER DEJORDY &hellip; 7 Goals in 7 Games</figcaption></div><h2>How They Stand</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01553/3314049-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="657" height="445"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDTuas. Jan. 16Portland 0 at Baltimore 5San Diego 2 at Quebec 5Providence 4 at Vancouver 2Wed. Jan. 17Rochester 6 at Buffalo 2Portland 2 at Cleveland 4Springfield 1 at Hershey 6Fri. Jan. 19San Diego 2 at Baltimore 5Portland 4 at Providence 3Buffalo 1 at Rochester 4Hershey 5 at Springfield 2Sat. Jan. 20Buffalo 2 at Cleveland 1Portland 2 at Hershey 2San Diego 3 at Springfield 5Sun. Jan. 21Springfield 2 at Baltimore 7Portland 4 at Buffalo 2Hershey 2 at Cleveland 1San Diego 8 at Providence 3Quebec 2 at Rochester 4GAMES TO COMETues. Jan. 23Cleveland at QuebecWed. Jan. 24San Diego at HersheyFri. Jan. 26Providence at BuffaloBaltimore at ClevelandSan Diego at RochesterQuebec at SeattleSat. Jan. 27San Diego at ClevelandProvidence at HersheyRochester at SpringfieldQuebec at VancouverSun. Jan. 28Son Diego at BuffaloHershey at ProvidenceBaltimore at RochesterCleveland at SpringfieldQuebec at Portland &#9632;

f0017-02

DeJordy Bounces Back To Lead Team Scorers

<div class="byline">BY HANS TANNER</div>ROCHESTER, N.Y.&mdash;January 7, 1968 &hellip; a day to remember by many of the Rochester Americans.Yes, it 11 be a long time before a number of the Amerks forget that date, and It&rsquo;ll be a long time before the fans who attended that night&rsquo;s American Hockey League match with the Hershey Bears will forget it, either. And it&rsquo;ll be a long time before Hershey&rsquo;s Bears forget it, too.First of all, there was the score. Rochester went into the game with one victory, seven defeats and four ties in its previous dozen games and fell behind, 2-0, with a lacklustre first period.Another unin spiring defeat thought many of the some 3,000 spectators.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03405/3314094-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="246" height="466"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ted Taylor</figcaption></div>Boss Joe Crozier had other ideas, however. First he voiced his disapproval in no uncertain terms (and unprintable words) to his athletes between periods, then re-arranged his lines into brand new combinations.Furekal1&mdash;Ted Taylor scored the first three-goal hat trick of his six-year career as a professional hockey player. He tallied once on the power play, once with the teams at even strength and once while the Amerks had a man in the penalty box. Ted hadn&rsquo;t scored more than a single goal in a game for the past two seasons.2&mdash;Dick Gamble, the big gunner who hadn&rsquo;t been able to locate the trigger all season and last scored at home back on Nov. 4, slammed in two goals and picked up an assist. Gamble had 48, 47 and 46 goals the previous three campaigns, but had mustered a paltry five prior to that night.3&mdash;Len Lunde, who hadn&rsquo;t skated in hockey equipment for more than two months until the previous night and who had been on skate! just three days, was the best of the Americans while scoring one goal and setting up three others. Len had played only seven games all season with the Minnesota North Stars before going home when assigned to Memphis by the NHL club.4&mdash;Les Duff, who keeps ripping the &ldquo;to be shipped&rdquo; label off himself, found himself relegated to a penalty killing role following the line changes after being the best forward in the first period. So Lester knocked in what proved to be the game-winning goal while a teammate was in the penalty box.5&mdash;Marc Reaume assisted on three goals &mdash; his first points all season on home ice.Now, back to the score. It ended Rochester 9, Hershey 2 &hellip; certainly a night to remember. &#9632;

f0017-03

Crozier Cracks Whip And Amerks Respond

<div class="byline">BY VIN CIMINI</div>PROVIDENCE, RI.&mdash;Adam Keller does not possess exceptional size. He is not what one would call a very fast skater and he does not possess what many feel is a prime ingredient of a top-notch defenseman, namely, if you&rsquo;ll excuse the phrase-animal tendencies.What Adam Keller does have is brains, poise, and skill. It has made him both an excellent defenseman and an equally fine offensive hockey player.Last year Keller did not don, x Reds&rsquo; uniform until after twelve games had elapsed in his new club&rsquo;s schedule. He had come to providence in a straight swap which sent big Noel Picard to the Seattle Totems. Since both Keller and Picard were owned by the Montreal Canadiens neither became the permanent property of their new clubs.As the National League expansion draft drew near last summer Reds&rsquo; general manager Buster Clegg feared that Keller would be lost. The man who was the Reds&rsquo; highest scoring defenseman with 37 points the previous year and who had become a favorite with the players and fans alike seemed destined to find himself a place with an expansion club.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05255/3314132-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg" title="f0017-05" width="574" height="635"><figcaption class="caption-body">ADAM KELLER &hellip;Reds&rsquo; Team Leader</figcaption></div>Almost unbelievably, it seemed, the draft had come to a close and Keller&rsquo;s rights had not been dealt for. With no hesitation Clegg began negotiations with the Canadiens and, almost as quickly, secured the talented blueliner.To this date no one has experienced regret as a result of that deal and Keller is producing like never before in his professional career.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re very happy we have a guy like Adam on our team,&rdquo; said player-coach Dave Creighton.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s really become a team leader, and Is undoubtedly one of the best all around defensemen in the league.&rdquo;Adam, whose brother Ralph plays for the Hershey Bears, Is a position defenseman who knows where to be at the right time and almost always holds the opposition at bay.On offense he, like Mo Mantha and young Ray Clearwater, can really move the puck and has a blazing slap shot.The 28 year old Saskatoon native attested to his two-way ability with his play during the Reds&rsquo; Western junket in early January when he was voted the Reds&rsquo; outstanding player in two games and garnished six points during the five game tour of his old hunting grounds.At the time of this writing Keller had collected a total of 21 points and was living up to every bit, if not more, of the respect which the letter A on his jersey warrants. It may well be that he finds a job with a National Hockey League team in the not too distant future.<h2>Point Race</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-06215/3314125-1-eng-US/f0017-062.jpg" title="f0017-06" width="669" height="662"></div> &#9632;

f0017-05

Reds’ Adam Keller Unique, He’s High-Scoring Rear guard

<div class="byline">BY JOHN WHITE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01559/3314191-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="286" height="480"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gordon Redahl</figcaption></div>PHOENIX, Ariz.&mdash;You don&rsquo;t go calling Christmas a miserable time of the year unless you&rsquo;re prepared to take on motherhood and the U.S. Marine Corps at the same time.But it&rsquo;s a reasonably safe bet that the Phoenix Roadrunners, Individually and collectively, have enjoyed holidays more than Christmas of 1967.If they were in a mood for reflection, the Roadrunners could think back on 11 defeats in their last 13 hockey games.The Western Hockey League playoffs seemed mostly a conversation piece for the 1968-69 season.And then, a spark was struck. In fact, quite a few sparks. Starting the day after Christmas, the Roadrunners took five of a possible six points in the standings in three home games against the tough Portland Buckaroos.Suddenly, starting on December 26, the Roadrunners lost only twice in 10 straight games (posting seven victories and a tie) and climbed in mid-January into fourth place &mdash; the final WHL playoff spot.Even after this hot streak, the Roadrunners had no time to laugh It up. In mid-January, they had played eight more games than San Diego, six more than Portland, four more than Seattle and one more than Vancouver.It might hurt later on If chief rivals picked up points while the &lsquo;Runners could do no more than read the papers.&rsquo;But there were some reasons for optimism, too.Most important, in their hot streak, the Phoenix club quit folding up in final periods. In their first 32 games, when little went right, the Roadrunners were outscored in final periods and overtimes by a horrendous 59-25 margin.In the sizzling string of 10, the &lsquo;Runners didn&rsquo;t exactly dominate, but they did outscore foes 17-14 In final periods and overtimes.There were other bright signs.Before Christmas, the &lsquo;Runners had played six games decided by one goal and had lost five of them. After Christmas, they played two one-goal decisions and won both.Power-play production increased to 12 goals with the man advantage in 10 games from 17 In the previous 32.Yet the &lsquo;Runners were flexing their muscles. Only once in those 10 games of comeback did they fail to draw at least four minor penalties. They had failed to do this 16 times in their first 32 clashes.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02456/3314184-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="597" height="633"><figcaption class="caption-body">LOU JANKOWSKI&hellip; Two Game Winners</figcaption></div>In the 10 games with the 7-2-1 record, Phoenix had been outshot only twice.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03343/3314177-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="605" height="649"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOMMY McVIE&hellip; Top WHL Sniper</figcaption></div>And individually, it was not difficult to document reasons for the post-Christmas surge.Take big rookie center Wall McKecknie. He scored 18 points in his first 19 games this season and was the talk of the circuit. Injured in the East, he missed four games, then could score only one point in his first eight times back in action.McKecknie suddenly returned to early season form with 10 points in 10 games.Tommy McVie, on Christmas night, had 15 goals for the season but only two in his last nine games. He exploded for nine in his next 10, took the Western League lead with 24 for the campaign.And in the process, McVie became the ninth player In Western League history to hit the 300-go al mark in his career.Lou Jankowski, third highest WHL goal scorer of all time, hit Christmas with a 12-game goal slump and a 9-game point slump. Then he went 4-5-9 In 10 games, scored his first two game-winning red lights of the season.Gordon Redahl, bothered by early-season Injuries, scored 5 points In his first 14 games, then snapped back with 7 in 8contests.Redahl had quite a record in the clutch, too. Of his first 7 goals, 4 were the first of games and one was a game-winner.<h2>How They Stand</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-06164/3314170-1-eng-US/f0018-062.jpg" title="f0018-06" width="691" height="232"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDTues. Jan. 16Seattle 1 at Phoenix 5Providence 4 at Vancouver 2San Diego 2 at Quebec 5Portland 0 atBaltimore 5Wed. Jan. 17Portland 2 at Cleveland 4Thurs. Jan. 18Seattle 0 at Phoenix 1Fri. Jan. 19Seattle 3 atVancouver 2San Diego 2 at Baltimore 5Portland 3 at Providence 4Sat. Jan. 20Vancouver 4 atPhoenix 0San Diego 3 at Springfield 5Portland 2 at Hershey 2Sun. Jan. 21San Diego 8 at Providence 3Portland 4 at Buffalo 2GAMES TO COMETues. Jan. 23Vancouver at PhoenixWed. Jan. 24San Diego at HersheyVancouver atPortlandFri. Jan. 26Quebec at SeattleSan Diego at RochesterSat. Jan. 27Quebec atVancouverSan Diego atClevelandSun. Jan. 28Phoenix at SeattleQuebec at PortlandSan Diego at Buffalo<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-07140/3314163-1-eng-US/f0018-072.jpg" title="f0018-07" width="648" height="184"></div> &#9632;

f0018-01

Phoenix Hottest Of WHL Teams

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04263/3314229-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05201/3314222-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="944" height="201"></div> &#9632;

f0018-04

WHL Summaries

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01540/3314267-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="280" height="475"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ross Perkins</figcaption></div>SAN DIEGO, Calif. -If San Diego has hopes for a Western Hockey League championship, then the final two weeks of January would prove without question the most critical of the entire season for the Gulls.On tap was the eight-game swing through the American Hockey League.These games are important, of course, to any Western League club. They count in the standings, No further explanation is needed.But they would be especially crucial for San Diego, because the Gulls still had to prove they could play tough hockey on the road.In the first half of the campaign, home ice was no problem for the Gulls, cheered on by the largest crowds (and that includes the National League) on the West Coast.In fact, San Diego left for the East with a five-game home-ice winning streak and a season record of 15-4-1 in the International Sports Arena.The Gulls&rsquo; home record was the best in the Western Hockey League.But the road was proving something else. The Gulls could win only two of their first 14 games away from home. The record was 2-11-1 and that&rsquo;s not good enough to contend for a title. The playoffs, yes! First place, no!The figures were a bit staggering.San Diego, in its first 34games, was the highest-scoring team in the Western League with 126 goals.But 99 of those goals had been scored in20home games. Fourteen road tests had produced only 27 goals.Further, things seemed to be getting worse Instead of better.In their first six road games of the season, the Gulls had scored 19 times&mdash;an average of a shade over three a contest.In their next eight road games, the Gulls scored just eight goals&mdash;obviously an average of only one a contest&mdash;and in six of those eight had failed to score more than once.The road record was reflected by the goals-against averages of San Diego&rsquo;s two netminders&mdash;Dave Kelly and Bob Champoux.After 34 games, Kelly was a sizzling 2.07 at home but was 3.67 on the road. Champoux was a steady 2.83 at home but was 5.21 on foreign ice.The scorers, meanwhile, had played six more games at home than on the road. But this certainly didn&rsquo;t account for astounding differences in red lights.On home Ice, Len Ronson had collected 19 of his first 23 goals, Fred Hilts 18 of his first 19 and Willie O&rsquo;Ree 12 of his first 13.Three players were &ldquo;perfect".On home ice, Ross Perkins had sniped eight of his eight goals, John MacMillan six of his six and young defenseman Dennis Huculak three of his three.Ed Ehrenverth was close&mdash;four out of five in the Sports Arena.Point totals told the same story. Check some of the records for total points:<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02460/3314260-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="648" height="652"></div>Clearly, the offense was going to have to explode a bit away from home if the Gulls were going to battle for a championship in their second season back in the Western Hockey League. &#9632;

f0019-01

Gulls Hopes For WHL Title Hinge On Swing Through AHL

<div class="byline">BY JOHN KOROBANIK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-04310/3314305-1-eng-US/f0019-042.jpg" title="f0019-04" width="279" height="486"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Witiuk</figcaption></div>NELSON, B.C.Western International Hockey League, experiencing a trying season this year, enters the final half of the schedule with Spokane Jets still maintaining a narrow-percentage points margin over defending champion Nelson Maple Leafs.The WIHL, forced to play an unbalanced schedule in the 1967-&rsquo;68 season, works the standings on percentages instead of the usual points system.Spokane, the only club playing 44 games, has suffered only seven losses this year against 20 victories for a .740 average. Nelson, Western Canada Allan Cup finalists in 1967, are 16-10 for a .615 mark.SPOKANE - Coach Colin Kilburn&rsquo;s club is finally showing the overall team balance expected of it. Fourteen Jets scored two or more points in Spokane&rsquo;s three lop-sided victories recently. Tom Rendall led the way with two goals and seven assists while ex-Western Hockey League star Steve Witiuk hit for four goals and four assists.NELSON &mdash; The Maple Leafs, with forward Gerry Sillers just returning from a six-game suspension, have hot and cold under new coach Frank Carlson. The club two weeks ago won four straight, including a 15-0 win over Cranbrook Royals. But they had to snap a four-game losing streak to do so. Since then they have won and lost. The entire team, under outside pressure, finally appears to be healthy with the return to form of defenceman Bill Steinke, forward Carl Chwachka and goalie Billy McDonnel.KIMBERLEY &mdash; Dynamiters, with two of the top three scorers in the league, are taking their first serious run at the title in several years. But lack of consistent good net minding is hurting. Bob Wardle and Ken Budarick share the duties with rookie Budarick showing well for a 3.92 average in 13 games, But Wardle, in 12 games has allowed 52 goals.TRAIL - Smoke Eaters, former World Champions, are again on the blint of elimination from league playoffs. With rushing defenceman Harry Smith gone to the Canadian Nationals, the Smoke Eaters have managed only eight wins in 24 games and with the exception of Gerry Penner, haven&rsquo;t been playing good hockey.CRANBROOK &mdash; Cellar-dwelling Royals, with six victories, are pushing Trail for fourth place, thanks to the emergence of Ron Huston and Eddie Maher. Both players were almost picked up by Jackie McLeod last year, but returned and are in the top seven scorers. Huston has a league-high 24 goals in 26 games. Lack of good net minding is also hurting the Royals as Bill Sides is their best with a 5.83 average in 12 games.<h2>San Diego Still Top Draw With 8,785 Crowd Average</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-05258/3314298-1-eng-US/f0019-052.jpg" title="f0019-05" width="1308" height="1230"></div> &#9632;

f0019-04

Spokane Showing Way In Fight With Nelson

<div class="byline">BY MATT DENNIS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01385/3314343-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="310" height="429"><figcaption class="caption-body">Carol Vadnais</figcaption></div>TULSA. Okla.&mdash;Coach John McLellan kept his Tulsa Oilers rolling along in high gear atop the Northern Division of the Central Professional Hockey League losing only one of their seven engagements in the first two weeks of January.They took a firm nine-point hold on first place ahead of the Kansas City Blues playing a wide-open style that saw veteran Len Haley and rookies Andre Hinse and Gerry Meehan grab three of the top four spots in the circuit&rsquo;s scoring parade.Haley had clicked for 14 goals and chipped in with 28 assists to top the circuit with 42 points. Hinse triggered 20 goals and came up 18 assists and Meehan sported an 1819 mark.Gary Unger had recovered from a leg injury after grabbing off nine points in eight games when a deal was worked out with Rochester Americans, the American League farm club of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Unger a centreman was scheduled to join the Amerks while defenceman Jim Dorey, right winger Mike Byers, and veteran pivotman Bronco Horvath were slated for the Oilers.The Oilers had run up a 10-game undefeated streak at home by mid-January.KANSAS CITY Craig Cameron was called up to the St. Louis Blues as a replacement but the Blues kept moving with a three-game undefeated streak.A turn away crowd of 6,147 was on hand in the American Royal Building as the Dallas Black Hawks paid a visit boosting the attendance to 70,079 for 15 home appearances.George Guilbault retained his spot as the leading point-getter for Doug Harvey&rsquo;s Blues by firing 17 goals and chalking up 16 assists over his first 34 games.Gary Veneruzzo was chasing Guilbault with 11 goals and 20 assists, in 32 outings.FORT WORTH The Wings were stin holding on to top spot in the Southern Division although coach Fern Flaman had been forced to shuffle his line up time and time again due to recalls by the parent Detroit Red Wings.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02292/3314336-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="632" height="779"><figcaption class="caption-body">DRAKE JOPLING&hellip; Paying Off For Stars</figcaption></div>Floyd Smith and Paul Henderson were on the side lines at Detroit when Doug Roberts and Pete Mahovlich were summoned and when Dean Prentice was forced out Sandy Snow left the Wings for DetroitOKLAHOMA CITY: Ron Buchanan held top spot for the team&rsquo;s point getting honors firing 10 goals and counting 24 assists in his first 33 contests.Rookie Jim Lorentz followed one point back playing in all 34 of the Blazers&rsquo; engagements with 15 goals and 18 assists.Barry Gibbs served 129 minutes in 32 games as the league&rsquo;s penalty leader.MEMPHIS Coach John Muckler kept the South Stars in third place in the Northern Division within range of the second-running Kansas City Blues and gave credit to the improved defensive performances of International League graduates Drake Jopling and Lou Kazowski.Len Zimmerman came in to help in the go al tending department after Carl Wetzel was traded to Rochester and was solved for 10 goals in his first three appearances.Bob Charlebois was the top point-getter for the South Stars with 20 goals and 15 assists in 30 games. Germain Gagnon trailed with 14-14 in 35 outings.DALLAS: The Black Hawks were battling to stay ahead of the late-surging Houston Apollos and Brian McDonald was their leading point-getter with 10 goals and 25 assists for 35 points in 33 outings.Jean Paul Leblanc and Oscar Gaudet were forced from the line up through injuries and the &lsquo;flu bug felled McDonald.HOUSTON: It took Ernie Wakely 31 games to get his first shutout but it was a big one zeroing the Oklahoma City Blazers, 1-0 for the first time they had been shut out on their home ice since entering the CPHL three seasons ago.Carol Vadnais joined the Apollos and helped tighten up the defence. He has started the season with Montreal Canadiens but had been a standout in 21 games last winter with the Apollos.Coach Ray Kinasewich was pleased with the showing of his two big lines; Richard Sentes, Jude Drouin and Robin Burns forming one unit and Gary Monahan, John Vandenburg and Lucien Grenier. Both trios were skating fast and were main cogs as the Apollos fought back into contention.Vandenburg was the top point getter for the Apollos with six goals and 20 assists in 34 games. OMAHA Coach Steve Brkla-cich was trying to put the Knights on the winning track but was hampered when defencemen Randy Legge and Cal Purinton were stopped with injuries.Doug Barrie joined the Knights after opening the season with Kansas City.&rsquo; &#9632;

f0020-01

NHL Recalls Fail To Deter Blues Wings

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03246/3314374-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0020-03

Central Hockey League Game Summaries

<div class="byline">BY HARVEY POLLOCK</div>GREENSBORO, N.C. -One of the principal reasons for the great success of the Greensboro Generals in Eastern Hockey League play this year Is their ability to knock off their most formidable rivals in their own backyards.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0588/3314405-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="276" height="472"><figcaption class="caption-body">Don Carter</figcaption></div>If team is going to whip Its deadliest rival, it must do so at its home rink. But Charlotte and Nashville, the only two teams with any chance of catching the Generals In the Southern Division race, haven&rsquo;t been able to capitalize on the home Ice advantage against Ron Spong&rsquo;s Generals.For Instance, Greensboro has invaded Nashville Ice four times this year and hasn&rsquo;t lost a game. The Gens&rsquo; record is even better at Charlotte where they&rsquo;ve won five straight times. So against their toughest foes, the Gens are 9-0 on enemy Ice.Naturally this type of record Is helping the Gens stay safely ahead of all opposition In the Southern race. In fact, their consistent ability to win on the road against any opposition makes the Gens an outright choice to win the southern pennant.Spong isn&rsquo;t exactly claiming the title already, but he realizes his team will have to collapse considerably to blow the lead. So Spong Is looking to the future and checking Clinton&rsquo;s record In the North. In the eventual finals between the Northern and Southern Division winners, the team with the most points will gain the odd home game. Naturally the Gens would like to acquire this advantage but the way they&rsquo;ve been playing on the road, there evidently won&rsquo;t be too much of a disadvantage If they don&rsquo;t do so. Yet Spong Is aware that Clinton only has lost one home game all year and that beating the Comets away will be a tougher task than whipping southern foes away.Spong&rsquo;s team features the southern scoring leader In Don Carter; the best goalie In the south In John Voss and the best goal scorer In Dom DiBerardino. Such Ingredients form the nucleus of a champion.LONG ISLAND: Defenseman John Brophy suspended for season for attack on referee. Dwight Winters bagged second hat trick vs Syracuse and already has topped his goal output of last season. He&rsquo;s passed the 31 goal and 65 point mark. Play halted in game here when lights dimmed for 20 minutes Tom Burgess bothered by infected elbow. Ducks and Jersey Devils face fines for coming off bench to join melee here, Bobby Brown had hat trick vs Devils.CLINTON: Comets snuffed New Haven ambitions by beating Blades twice and tieing another game. Johnstown nipped Comets, 4-3, for first home loss. Borden Smith had fray with Johnstown&rsquo;s Mike Crupi. Bill Bannerman has drawn closer to Johnstown&rsquo;s Reg Kent In the scoring race but hasn&rsquo;t overtaken him yet. Bannerman, Jack, Kane, Smith and Howie Dietrich all have four hat tricks. Comets celebrated 40th anniversary by beating Syracuse.NEW HAVEN: Blades have been drawing better than any team in the north with steady crowds over the 3,000 mark. Blake Ball&rsquo;s goal with 1: 11 left gave Blades tie with Clinton. Defenseman Larry Brown scheduled for look-see by Omaha. Russ McClenaghan due back any day after breaking leg early in year. Coach Don Perry says Clinton can&rsquo;t be caught and the Blades must &ldquo;go all out&rdquo; to stave off Johnstown.JOHNSTOWN: Dick Roberge reached 1,400 point mark, a total unparalleled In AHA play. Andy Brown&rsquo;s 51-save job helped Jets win at Clinton. Jim Randle signed at defense after playing in Austria earlier this year and in Ontario Senior A last year. Meehan Bonnar dropped to make room. Danny Patrick rejoined team at center after playing earlier with Orillia, Ont. in OHA. Bob Sutcliffe sent to Des Moines, and Steve Keeler to Port Huron. Galen Head, Bill Ives and Bill Reid had hat tricks vs Syracuse.SYRACUSE: Norm Parrish subbed in nets for ailing Roger Wilson. Blazers played with only 10 men against Long Island Blazers went over a month without a victory owners made several deals to try to Improve team. Despite poor record, team still has chance to beat out Jersey for fifth place. Ray Adduono approaching 80 point mark to be far and away best point maker. Wilson&rsquo;s goals allowed average now over six per game.NASHVILLE: Loss of Flo Pilote with broken leg came shortly after Norm Ryder returned to duty. Team secured Wayne Spooner from New Haven to fill Pilote&rsquo;s spot. Joe Zorica on disabled list with groin Injury. Coach Lloyd Hinchberger says team Is better than he thought It would be back in training camp. Wally Sprange has chance at Ted McCaskill&rsquo;s club scoring mark. Hinchberger gave out cigars on birth of daughter back at North Bay, Ont.SALEM: Dave Lucas says one of club&rsquo;s problems Is lack of any other standout goal scorer outside of Jimmy Jago. Rebels hate to see Bill Young of Greensboro since latter scored 13 of his first 23 goals against them. Flu side lined Wally Chase for a stretch. Referee Jim Maxwell couldn&rsquo;t reach here for game due to weather and linesman Paul Boucher worked. Team drew 41,200 for first 22 home games.JERSEY Eddy Ferenz named to direct team on bench so Gordie Stratton can concentrate on playing. Devils beat Long Island twice with Lorne O&rsquo;Donnell&rsquo;s goal winning one game. Ray Crew was only Devil not fined recently for a bad performance with Stratton relenting on Crew because he tried to play despite the flu. Clobie Colling has been testing his fighting prowess against various foes.FLORIDA: Marc Brunet&rsquo;s first goal in 15 games beat Salem. Rockets blew 3-0 lead at Charlotte. Goalie Harrison Gray won $75 and a sports jacket as he blanked Charlotte at home. Rockets had 5-game non-losing streak. Rockets sent Alf Treen to Syracuse on loan on 24 hour recall basis. They also swapped Jon Marich to Blazers for Bob Peters. Brunet suffered cheekbone Injury, in collision with Gray.CHARLOTTE: Claude Ouimet, the club&rsquo;s top scorer on disabled list with ankle Injury. Ron Spratt came off injured list to replace Ouimet and to spark win at Knoxville. Defenseman Rick Foley continues to pile up points and ranks as the highest scoring defenseman in either division. Ernie Dyda broke a 16-game scoring famine with two goals that beat Florida. Checkers blanked for first time at Florida.GREENSBORO: Gens had 8-game non losing streak stopped at Knoxville. Ron Muir, who Is shooting for a 40-goal season, scored game-winner at Nashville, Gens loaned Billy Armour to Jersey on a 24-hour recall basis when defenseman returned to action for the first time since the league opener in October. John Voss had 53 saves at Charlotte.<h2>Troubled Knoxville Knights Plan To Finish Regular EHL Campaign</h2>The financially troubled Knoxville Knights will definitely finish out the 1967-68 Eastern Hockey League season, a team spokesman told THE HOCKEY NEWS at press time.Dave Patterson of Nashville, who successfully directed the operations of the Nashville Dixie Flyers of the EHL for so many years before selling out his interests, has taken over direction of the Knights and has solicited the help of Knoxville citizens and businessmen to keep the club going.The Knights were on the verge of disbanding when a new group moved in to save the team. &#9632;

f0021-05

Greensboro Maintains First Place Edge Beating Southern Foes In Own Rinks

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01234/3314436-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="725" height="4480"></div> &#9632;

f0021-01

Hockey Races

<div class="byline">BY BOB REED</div>FORT WAYNE, Ind. -<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01256/3314474-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="279" height="480"><figcaption class="caption-body">Harry Pidhirny</figcaption></div>When Merv Dubchak, goal scoring champion of the International Hockey League, went out of action indefinitely Coach Ken Ullyot of the Fort Wayne Komets had to devise some method of building up a new offensive, since his No. 1 line was suddenly broken up.It took some time and meanwhile the Komets were dragging along in an unaccustomed sixth position, But slowly and surely, a second line began to get results that may carry the Komets Into a playoff spot.This unit is composed of the veteran and once retired Reggie Primeau at center, with Randy Gates and Bob Baird on the wings. For the first 42 games this trio had accumulated 48 goals and a total of 123 points.They started skating together in mid November and began to click almost Immediately. Both Baird and Gates say they always know where their center will be and when he will give them the puck.Primeau, who Is 30, sat out all of last season and played only part of the season before. Gates, 22, didn&rsquo;t make It with the Komets last season and was sent to Port Huron on loan. He was voted by the Komet Fans Club as the outstanding player for the first half. Baird, 24, who is a strong candidate for the league&rsquo;s &ldquo;rookie of the year", came from the University of Michigan.In the meantime, Dubchak was planning to try out his injured ankle, with the idea of getting back to his right wing position on the first line, where Doug Reid had been showing great improvement in recent games.DAYTON &mdash; The Gems obtained Ken Sutyla from Columbus in a cash deal and installed him at center between Bob Regis and Gerry Moore&hellip; Coach Warren Back worked cut with the club but denied any intentions of resuming playing&hellip;Hie Gems flew to Des Moines but goalie Rick Best, who won&rsquo;t fly, went by train and barely made it by game time&hellip; Regis and Don Westbrooke were tie for the league scoring lead.DES MOINES &ndash; John Annable, on a scoring streak, had a four-goal game against Dayton and a total of nine in six games&hellip; The Oak Leafs missed a league record by 10 seconds when they hit three goals within 41 seconds. .. Goalie Phil Headley picked up his first assist on a pass-off to Terry Kerr &hellip; A penalty shot was called in a game with Columbus and Art Chiupka missed the free attempt &hellip; Rich Brown, playing his best hockey in two seasons here, was team scoring leader.MUSKEGON - The Mohawks took on the veteran Harry Pidhirny, who had 17 years in the American, Western and National Leagues and he scored a goal in his second game&hellip; Bryan McLay and Pierre LeBlanc had hat tricks in an 11-2 thumping of Toledo&hellip; Defenseman Lynn Margarit became the Mohawks&rsquo; most penalized player in history with 211 minutes, passing Bob Lemieux&rsquo;s 199 two seasons ago.COLUMBUS &mdash; The Checkers were expecting an early return of goalie Gordon Dibley, with Gerry Fleury still taking over for him&hellip; Jack Turner took over the coaching duties when Moe Bartoli was ejected from a game with the score tied and came out a winner&hellip; Bert Fizzell was shooting for his best scoring season in the IHL.PORT HURON - The Detroit Red Wings were sending in 22-year-old winger Steve Keeler to help the Flags&hellip; Defenseman Guy James bagged his first goal of the season&hellip; Flag Boosters sent a busload of fans to Toledo for a game&hellip; President John Wismer opined the Flags wouldn&rsquo;t make the playoffs but Coach Jerry Toppazzini and administrative assistant Lloyd Maxfield didn&rsquo;t agree.TOLEDO &mdash; Goalie Glenn Ramsay got into uniform and became a backup net minder for the first time in 12 years while Harold Murphy was in goal&hellip; Coach Terry Slater elected to go with four forwards and one defenseman against Muskegon and the scheme backfired as the Blades lost, 11-2&hellip; Lyle Carter came in from Cleveland to play one game in goal.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02187/3314467-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="619" height="598"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN ANNABLE&hellip; On Hot Scoring Streak</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0022-01

Fort Wayne Uncovers New Scoring Punch

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03162/3314505-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0022-03

Looking At The Hockey League Races

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01235/3314585-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="407" height="625"><figcaption class="caption-body">CARY EDWARDS Toronto</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02185/3314578-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="409" height="636"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRAD PARK Toronto</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03142/3314571-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="416" height="632"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM WHITTAKER Oshawa</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-04110/3314564-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="454" height="643"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM KRULICK1 Kitchener</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0589/3314557-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="433" height="641"><figcaption class="caption-body">PHU MYRE Niagara Falls</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0677/3314550-1-eng-US/f0023-062.jpg" title="f0023-06" width="414" height="648"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAN TANNAHILl Niagara Falls</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0768/3314543-1-eng-US/f0023-072.jpg" title="f0023-07" width="433" height="637"><figcaption class="caption-body">SKEETER TEAL St. Catharines</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0856/3314536-1-eng-US/f0023-082.jpg" title="f0023-08" width="430" height="636"><figcaption class="caption-body">FRED SPECK Hamilton</figcaption></div>TORONTO, Ont. &ndash;Personnel for the all-star teams-which-will play In Niagara Falls Jan. 31 have been announced by the Ontario Hockey Association junior A council.The 10-team league has been split into two divisions for the game.Representing the east-will be Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa 67s, Peterborough Petes, Oshawa Generals, Toronto Marlboros and Kitchener Rangers.Veteran Oshawa sportsman Matt Leyden will manage the eastern team and they will be coached by former National Hockey League star Gus Bodnar of the Toronto Marlboros.The western teams, coached by Eddie Bush of Hamilton and managed by Paul Emms of Niagara Falls will be drawn from players with the Red Wings, Flyers, St. Catharines Black Hawks and London Nationals. Niagara led the selections with eight players named.The 23 players named for the eastern team are goaltenders Cary Edwards of Toronto and Gary Doyle of Ottawa.Defencemen will be Norm Descoteaux and Pierre Bouchard of Montreal; Brad Park of the Marlboros; Mike Robitalle of Kitchener; Jim Whittaker of Oshawa; Dick Redmond of Peterborough.Forwards chosen are Richie Bayes, Terry Caffery and Tom Marton of Toronto; WaltTkaczuk, Lee Inglis, Jim Krullckl and Don Luce of Kitchener; Andre Gaudette, Paul Lessard and Re jean Houle of Montreal; Dave Tallon, Ron Dussiaume and Fred O&rsquo;Donnell of Oshawa; Rick McLeish of Peterborough and Pierre Jarry of Ottawa.The western team will be composed of goaltender Phil Myre, defencemen Rick Ley and Brad Selwood, forwards Tom Webster, Garry Swain, Don Tannahill, Steve Atkinson and Doug Brindley of Niagara Falls; goaltender Gerry Gray, defencemen Rick Smith and Brian Gibbons, forwards Danny Lawson, Ed Hatoum, Renald Leclerc and Fred Speck of Hamilton; defencemen Jerry Korab and Barry Salovaara, forwards Skeeter Teal, John Fisher, Maurice L&rsquo;Abbe and Peter Mara of St. Catharines; defencemen Guy Allen and Bob Pate, forwards Barry Boughner and Darryl Sittler of London Nationals.All proceeds from the game go to a special fund which assists players seriously injured during junior A games. &#9632;

f0023-01

Niagara Falls Places Eight To Grab Individual Honors

<div class="byline">BY JACK GATECLIFF</div>NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. &mdash; The key to the success so far this season for the Niagara Falls Flyers has not only been team balance but the ability to come up with an outstanding performance when they need it most.A typical example was their game In Maple Leaf Gardens against Toronto Marlboros.The Flyers had lost two of their three previous games (to Montreal and London and had their first place margin over the Marlboros to two points).This was the big chance for the Dukes, who had been chasing the Flyers all season for the top spot to move into a first place tie.However the Flyers&rsquo; first string line of Don Tannahill, Garry Swain and Tom Webster produced three goals and the Falls downed the Marlboros 4-2 before close to 10,000 fans in the Gardens.The defeat not only cost Toronto a chance of sharing first place but dropped them down to fourth position as Montreal Canadiens moved up to second by defeating London 6-3 and Kitchener grabbed third with an overwhelming 11-0 victory over the last place Ottawa 67s.Niagara Falls was expected to hit the skids this season after losing Derek Sanderson, the league&rsquo;s leading paints scorer, to the Boston Bruins.However his place as team leader has been taken over by Webster who Is solidly entrenched at the top of the points list with 76 on 27 goals and a league-leading total of 49 assists.Webster&rsquo;s line mates Swain and Tannahill are also among the leading dozen marksmen while they have been getting sound goaltending from Phil Myre.The scramble for first place Is being matched by the struggle for the final playoff position between London, Oshawa and Peterborough.Ottawa has lost just about all hope of earning a playoff berth with only nine points In their first 34 games.London Nationals appear to have the seventh spot clinched among the eight teams which will eventually qualify for the postseason games but any string of defeats could even put their position in jeopardy.Oshawa only salvaged one point in three games during the week tying the strong Kitchener Rangers 3-3 In Kitchener, then losing back-to-back games to St. Catharines Black Hawks, 6-3 and 3-1.However Peterborough failed to earn a point in their three games and are one-half game back of the Generals. &#9632;

Ability To Come Through In Clutch Keeping Niagara At Top Of Race

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-09" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0947/3314647-1-eng-US/f0023-092.jpg"></div><h2>SOLUTION IN FEBRAUARY 3, ISSUE</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1038/3314640-1-eng-US/f0023-102.jpg" title="f0023-10" width="1135" height="2551"></div> &#9632;

Search for your favorite player or team

January 27, 1968

NEW SEAL FINDS SCORING RANGE

Kings’ Center Happy To Be NHL Regular

Junior Star Dale Power Hoping For Pro Career

Nesterenko, Maki, Mohns Lauded For Defense Roles