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.

February 1, 1969

The Hockey News February 1, 1969

<h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 28)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01161/2864636-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="596" height="284"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDWed Jan. 22Des Moines 4 at Port Huron 3 Dayton 7Muskegon 3 at Fort Wayne 4Fri. Jan. 24Muskegon 5 at Port Huron 5Fort Woyne 2 at Toledo 2Des Moines 4 at Columbus 6Sat. Jan. 25Doyton 4 at Fort Wayne 4Des Moines 4 at Muskegon 7Port Huron 4 at Toledo 2Sun. Jan. 26Fort Woyne O at Dayton 4Des Moines 3 at Port Huron 3Toledo 2 at Columbus 3LEADING SCORERS(Including Games of Sun. Jan. 19)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02101/2864629-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="586" height="384"></div><h2>ONTARIO JUNIOR &ldquo;A&rdquo;</h2>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 28)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0387/2864622-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="590" height="380"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDTues. Jan. 21Kitchener 1 at Port Huron 3 London 8Peterborough 1 at Hamilton 1Wed. Jan. 22St. Catharines 5 at Montreal 5Fri. Jan. 24Peterborough 3 at Niagara Falls 4Ottawa 6 at Kitchener 3Oshawo 1 at Port Huron 3 Montreal 5Toronto 0 at London 4Sun. Jan. 26Toronto 2 at Montreal 5Ottawa 5 at St. Catharines 8Hamilton 3 at Peterborough 5London 4 at Port Huron 3 Oshowa 5Niagara Foils 4 at Port Huron 3 Kitchener 0<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3>(Including Games of Sun. Jan. 19)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0471/2864615-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="588" height="284"></div><h2>CENTRAL JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Wed. Jan. 22)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0562/2864608-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="578" height="158"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0649/2864601-1-eng-US/f0022-062.jpg" title="f0022-06" width="586" height="336"></div><h2>IHL JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standinas on Sat. Jan. 25)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0747/2864594-1-eng-US/f0022-072.jpg" title="f0022-07" width="588" height="172"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0841/2864587-1-eng-US/f0022-082.jpg" title="f0022-08" width="584" height="282"></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Hockey Races

<div class="byline">BY LOU PRATO</div>PITTSBURGH. Pa. &mdash;If ever a team needed a breather in the schedule it was the Pittsburgh Penguins during the All-Star break.The Penguins have been struggling to get out of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s Western Division cellar most of the year. And just when it looked like they&rsquo;d make it for good, they embarked on their longest road trip.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01692/2863432-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="259" height="447"><figcaption class="caption-body">Keith McCreary</figcaption></div>When it was over, after five, games in seven nights, Pittsburgh was still in last place &mdash; although not alone &mdash; and trailed fourth place by six points. They won just one of the five games and towards the end of the trip it was evident that fatigue had taken its toll.It wasn&rsquo;t simply the strain of the travelling from Boston to Oakland. But the situation was compounded by a series of casualties that left Coach Red Sullivan with a taped-up version of his hockey team.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re a tired club,&rdquo; Sullivan said upon returning from the lengthy trip. &ldquo;Four games in five nights on the road took a lot out of us and injuries hurt, too.&rdquo;Sullivan wasn&rsquo;t alibing but simply stating the facts.By the time the club reached Oakland for the final game on the disastrous trip, four regulars had been sidelined in some way or another.The most serious loss was that of winger Keith McCreary who had suddenly developed into the team&rsquo;s leading goal scorer as the trip got underway. He had scored 13 goals and was within one of his season total last year when stricken with the flu.McCreary made it from Boston to Minneapolis but no further. He remained in a Minneapolis hospital while the Penguins continued onto Detroit and Los Angeles.Against Minnesota, Earl Ingarfield crashed into the boards after scoring on a sensational rebound shot while both feet were in the air. The collison left the Penguin captain with head and shouldei injuries that forced him out ol the lineup.&ldquo;It was a gutty thing to do,&rdquo; Sullivan said of Ingarfield&rsquo;s scoring play. &ldquo;Earl had been out earlier in the year with a concussion and what he did took lotta courage. He went after the puck and it gave us the spark to win.&rdquo;The next night, Lou Angotti, still not totally recovered from a leg injury, suffered a shoulder injury in a 4-3 loss to Detroit.In Los Angeles it was defenseman Dune McCallum&rsquo;s turn-again. Twice this season McCallum has been beset with sidelining injuries. Against the Kings he suffered a fractured rib.All things considered, the Penguins didn&rsquo;t fare too badly the next night in losing to Oakland 6-3 with the Seals being unable to break the game open until the last ten minutes. Of course. Pittsburgh lost a goalie in the process as Les Binkley injured his foot on a skate blade while blocking a shot behind the net and had to leave the game at the end of the second period.So, the Penguins limped home as the All-Stars got together for their annual clash.Despite the rash of injuries. Sullivan still believes his team can make the playoffs. His team &mdash; or what&rsquo;s left of it &mdash; thinks so, too. Their success may depend entirely on a decrease in the medical bill. &#9632;

f0015-01

Penguins Welcomed All-Star Break, “We’re Tired Club,” Says Sully

EAST<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-06172/2862347-1-eng-US/f0002-062.jpg" title="f0002-06" width="538" height="300"></div>WEST<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-07100/2862340-1-eng-US/f0002-072.jpg" title="f0002-07" width="553" height="303"></div>Ken McKenzie&rsquo;s column. 4 Bill Libby&rsquo;s column &hellip;&hellip;. 8Ed Fitkin&rsquo;s column &hellip;&hellip;.. 14 Crossword Puzzle &hellip; 23AHL &hellip; 16 WHL &hellip;. 19 CHL &hellip;. 20 EHL &hellip;. 21 IHL &hellip; 22 &#9632;

f0002-06

WHERE THE NHL TEAMS ARE

<h2>NORTHERN ONTARIO JR</h2>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 21)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0372/2864878-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="592" height="203"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0457/2864871-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="594" height="239"></div><h2>FINGER LAKES COLLEGIATE</h2>(Standings on Wed. Jan. 22)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0545/2864864-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="583" height="411"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0639/2864857-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="593" height="235"></div><h2>PENNSYLVANIA JR</h2>(Standings on Mon. Mon. Jan. 13)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0734/2864850-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="591" height="212"></div><h2>MASSACHUSETTS JUNIOR</h2>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 20)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0830/2864843-1-eng-US/f0024-082.jpg" title="f0024-08" width="589" height="173"></div> &#9632;

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Hockey Race

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0001-01145/2864923-1-eng-US/f0001-012.jpg" title="f0001-01" width="574" height="789"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0001-02118/2864916-1-eng-US/f0001-022.jpg" title="f0001-02" width="259" height="318"></div>&mdash;ON THE INSIDENHL Cracks Down On Goalers&mdash;Page 24Oakland To Stay In Bay Area&mdash;Page 2Hull Captures Patrick Award&mdash;Page 2<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0001-0353/2864909-1-eng-US/f0001-032.jpg" title="f0001-03" width="1796" height="1804"></div> &#9632;

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RANGERS PURR FOR THE “CAT”

MONTREAL, Que. &mdash;If the Oakland Seals are going to move to Vancouver or Buffalo, it won&rsquo;t be in the foreseeable future.This fact came to a light during the recent meeting of NHL governors prior to the East-West All-Star game here.The board of governors announced that the Oakland franchise would remain in the San Francisco Bay area &ldquo;as long as it is a reasonable prospect to keep them there.&rdquo; The announcement was made through league president Clarence Campbell.The situation will come up for further discussion Feb. 18 at a meeting in New York. The NHL has received bids from promoters in both Buffalo and Vancouver who are after the Seals&rsquo; franchise. The Seals have been the poorest-drawing team with the worst financial standing in the league.Failure to get the Los Angeles Kings, Oaklands West Coast NHL neighbours, to comply with the move was given as one of the main reasons for refusal of the two &ldquo;moving&rdquo; bids.Campbell pointed out that Kings&rsquo; owner Jack Kent Cooke was promised two years ago that there would be an NHL club in the San Francisco area. Without one, the Kings would apparently face the prospect of playing at least. 16 doubleheaders and spending $7,500 in travelling expenses for each road game.&ldquo;The Kings&rsquo; home schedule would be destroyed without the Oakland team,&rdquo; emphasized Campbell. &ldquo;There just wouldn&rsquo;t be enough days in the season to accommodate it.&rdquo;According to Campbell, the NHL&rsquo;s biggest concern in the next month would be to thrash out the Oakland ownership question and to get in touch with possible alternative backers who might be willing to take over the operation.Campbell revealed that two companies called &ldquo;Puck Inc.&rdquo; and the San Francisco Seals, Inc. currently share ownership responsibilities. Puck Inc. currently owns the Oakland franchise, while the second company owns player contracts and other team rights.The NHL chieftain indicated it was Puck Inc., which sold the franchise option to a group of Buffalo businessmen who tried in vain to move the team to Buffalo. San Francisco Seals Inc., meanwhile, borrowed $500,000 from a Vancouver group headed by Labatt&rsquo;s Breweries. Their dealing ostensibly gave Vancouver first preference if the Oakland franchise was moved before March 17.Campbell, however, has vetoed both possibilities. &ldquo;It looks to me like these two companies have been selling options it is not their right to sell,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The right to move a franchise belongs to the league &mdash; not to the owners.&rdquo;Campbell said that the governors reiterated an earlier decision to give first option to Vancouver in any future expansion of the league. However they refused to set a deadline for any such move. &#9632;

NHL DECIDES OAKLAND TO STAY IN BAY AREA

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02646/2862302-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01685/2862309-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="238" height="207"></div>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 28)EASTERN DIVISIONWESTERN DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03537/2862295-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="1144" height="270"></div>MID-SEASON STANDINGS(After first 38 games for each team)EASTERN DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04381/2862288-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="1153" height="306"></div>WESTERN DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05266/2862281-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="1123" height="264"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDTues. Jan. 21West All-Stars 3, East All-Stars 3Thurs. Jan. 23Oakland 5 at Montreal 3Los Angeles 1 at New York 3Minnesota 3 at Pittsburgh 1Toronto 3 at St. Louis 2Boston 2 at Detroit 2Philadelphia 2 at Chicago 2Sat. Jan. 25Philadelphia 3 at Montreal 6Toronto 2 at Pittsburgh 0Chicago 0 at New York 3Los Angeles 2 at Minnesota 3Oakland 3 at Detroit 5St. Louis 0 at Boston 4Sun. Jan. 26Montreal 2 at New York 3Toronto 2 at Detroit 3Minnesota 3 at Boston 4Oakland 1 at St. Louis 3Pittsburgh 3 at Philadelphia 5Los Angeles 3 at Chicago 9GAMES TO COMEWed. Jan. 29Minnesota at MontrealToronto at Los AngelesDetroit at New YorkBoston at OaklandSt. Louis at PittsburghThurs. Jan. 30New York at St. LouisBoston at Los AngelesChicago at PhiladelphiaFri. Jan. 31Toronto at OaklandSat. Feb. 1New York at MontrealSt. Louis at DetroitChicago at MinnesotaPhiladelphia at PittsburghOakland at Los AngelesSun. Feb. 2Montreal at Chicago (afternoon)Toronto at St. LouisPittsburgh at New YorkDetroit at BostonMinnesota at Philadelphia &#9632;

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THE NHL SCENE

NEW YORK. N.Y. &mdash;Bobby Hull, the dynamic and colorful Chicago Black Hawks&rsquo; left wing who three times has scored 50 or more goals, has been named the recipient of the 1969 Lester Patrick Trophy for outstanding service to hockey in the United States.Hull was selected by a committee that included Clarence Campbell, president of the National Hockey League; William Wirtz, president of the Black Hawks; William MacPhail, vice-president of Television Network Sports for the Columbia Broadcasting System; Jack Griffin, sports editor of United Press International and Peter Axthelm, sports editor of Newsweek Magazine.The tronhy presented to the league by the New York Rangers in 1966 to honor the memory of their long-time general manager and coach, will be presented to Hull at a dinner at Toots Shor&rsquo;s restaurant Tuesday evening, February 18.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-0860/2862378-1-eng-US/f0002-082.jpg" title="f0002-08" width="253" height="399"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bobby Hull</figcaption></div>Past winners of the trophy are Jack Adams in 1966, Gordie Howe, Charles F. Adams and James Norris Sr. in 1967, and Tom Lockhart, Walter Brown and General John Reed Kilpatrick in 1968. The trophies were awarded posthumously to Charles F. Adams, Norris, Brown and Kilpatrick. &#9632;

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Bobby Hull Named Winner Of Patrick Hockey Award

<div class="byline">BY NORMAN MacLEAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01687/2862430-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03378/2862423-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="1468" height="1056"><figcaption class="caption-body">Oakland&rsquo;s NORM FERGUSON, (17) left, and rugged VIC HADFIELD (11) of New York reach out to battle one other before linesmen step into fracas.</figcaption></div>NEW YORK. N.Y.&mdash;Bernard (Boom Boom) Geoffrion made an impassioned plea to his New York Rangers to &ldquo;win this one for me&rdquo; in his final address to his players last week before leaving on a three-week recuperative trip.His words have made a deep impression on the Blues because they haven&rsquo;t stopped winning since.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02568/2862416-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="242" height="444"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bernard Geoffrion</figcaption></div>Geoffrion, in his first season as team coach following a spectacular 16-year playing career, was relieved of all his duties on the recommendation of doctors. The decision to have the Boomer sit out at least three weeks followed consultation between general manager Emile Francis, the club brass, Geoffrion, team physician Dr. Kazuo Yanagisawa and Dr. Charles Madden, who operated on the Boomer for ulcers last year.Francis, who yielded the coaching job to Geoffrion this year, has taken over as interim coach. Despite repeated rumors that Geoffrion would not return even after he has recuperated, Francis made it clear that, &ldquo;Boomer is the coach today and will be the coach tomorrow and he&rsquo;ll be the coach three weeks from now.&rdquo;Geoffrion, fighting back the tears, spoke briefly to his players and asked them to win one more for him and hastened away to his home to take his enforced rest.Meanwhile, the Rangers are rolling again with the Cat (Francis) at the helm once more. The Broadway Blueshirts went five straight without a loss and who can say that the Boomer&rsquo;s final words of inspiration didn&rsquo;t provide the incentive for the Rangers.The Rangers have failed to generate a big league offense this season and therein lies the reason for their low estate. As we went to press at the All Star break, the team had scored 120 goals, the lowest in the entire NHL East. And St. Louis of the NHL West was ahead of the Broadway Blues with the Mound City Blues having registered 126 times.Injuries to such as policeman Orland Kurtenbach, who has not played a game all season, big gun Rod Gilbert and others have hurt, but the team has also lacked spark and has not hit back when tested physically by other NHL teams. Boston, in particular, seems able to physically int imidate the Rangers.In actuality, no one in the Ranger front office has given up on the team, although the probability of duplicating last year&rsquo;s second place finish is dimming fast. Boston and the Canadiens seem to be a bit better than the rest of the loop, although Francis says, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t count anyone out of the race for first. A Montreal or Boston losing streak and thev will come back to the field, we cannot afford a bad spell, however, or we won&rsquo;t even make the playoffs.&rdquo;Most of Rangerville would settle for making the playoffs (fourth place) and hoping for the best in the Stanley Cup playdowns. The attack, with emphasis on the power play, must improve and the team in general must hit more than they did in the first half of the campaign. Jim Neilson. Rod Seiling and Arnie Brown all move the puck up ice well, but they do not scare anyone in front of their own net. The injury to Harry Howell, which at present has the former Norris Trophy winner in traction in the hospital with a bad back, has brought rookie Brad Park to the fore and Park has responded very well indeed. He was named one of the stars of the game in St. Louis.A Rod Gilbert second half hot streak, ala 1968, would go a long way towards insuring the conveted playoff spot. Also, Rod&rsquo;s buddy and long time partner Jean Ratelle has produced points, but not goals in the last two months Ratty has scored only one goal (an empty net red light in Philadelphia) since December 4. A return to form around the goal by Jean probably would do the trick for the New S&rsquo;ork offense.Also, if Gilbert can only stay healthy for an extended period, Geoffrion may be able to settle down his power play alignments. Right now Gilbert is number one with Neilson and Seiling following in that order.BLUE CHIPS &mdash; New York, meaning the defense and goaltender Eddie Giacomin was tied with the first place Boston Bruins with only 112 goals against at the All Star break. The surprising Toronto Maple Leafs also had only allowed 112 tallies.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04224/2862409-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="1189" height="1557"><figcaption class="caption-body">EMILE FRANCIS&hellip; The Cat Returns</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0003-01

Boomer’s Plea To Win For Him Taken To Heart As Rangers Roll

THE INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLYFounded October 1st, 1947Published weekly except monthly June through September by Ken-Will Publishing Co. Ltd. 1434 St. Catherine Street WestMontreal 3. Canada.Kenneth W. McKenzie President and PublisherWilliam Z. Stevenson Managing DirectorYearly Subscription Rates: $5.00 in Canada and the British Commonwealth $6.00 in the U.S.A, and $8.00 in Foreign Countries.Postage paid at Rouses Point, N.Y.Authorized as second class mail, Post Office Department, Ottawa and for payment of postage in cash.Printed in CanadaVol. 22 MONTREAL, FEBRUARY 1, 1969 No. 17<h2>Rochester Fans Disgruntled</h2>This is a story about the possible end of professional hockey in Rochester.My wife and I were Amerks season ticket holders for three seasons. I had started to invest for season tickets this season but I had plans to move out of state. Plans failed.We are disappointed in what has happened to the Rochester Americans hockey team. It was sold to a minor Western Hockey League team (Vancouver) on the promise that it would eventually obtain a National Hockey League franchise. Also the Montreal hockey team is involved. According to the Vancouver officials Montreal promised the loan of several hockey players. That fell through, too. Just another promise. So Joe Crozier, the GM of Vancouver and Rochester, took the cream of the Rochester team. Rochester just fell by the way side.We have been to seven out of 16 home games this season. The calibre of hockey is nil. The boys try hard but it&rsquo;s hopeless. We feel sorry for Dick Gamble, the coach of Rochester. It looks like he was left holding the bag. It sure is a dirtv trick.ANTHONY SYLVESTER, Geneva, N.Y.<h2>Every NHL Team Needs a Captain</h2>It seems that it is becoming quite a fad around the N.H.L. to abandon the practice of having a team captain, in favour of delegating the responsibility to alternate captains! At this writing it is this policy that is being followed by at least 4 teams: Toronto. Chicago, Boston and Minnesota (I am not sure about L.A.).I realize that it is a burden to be given the position of team leader; but this true in any area of enterprise, whether it be politics, business or sports. I presume that the present practice has been adapted to spread the responsibility 3 or 4 ways rather than in one direction. But who ever heard of an army with all lieutenants and no captains, or a corporation with all vice-presidents and no president? I really feel that it takes away from the team spirit in a psychological sense &hellip; for every group of people needs ONE person to whom they may look up: in hockey it is the team captain!Toronto Leafs obviously were waiting for Geo. Armstrong to make the decision he has announced, and were thus justified. But what of the other teams? I suppose Chicago does not wish to make the choice between Mikita and Hull; but there are other choices. Ed Westfall is a heady, respected veteran in Boston who could lead the pack if Bucyk doesn&rsquo;t wish to wear the &ldquo;C&rdquo;. And, even though expansion teams trade captains as if they were journeymen or fringe players, surely Wayne Connelly or Mike McMahon qualify for this position in Minnesota!Let&rsquo;s hope these teams forget the false modesty and pussyfooting (player unions or not), and appoint some ice generals in the old-fashioned traditional way; before they begin to look like amateurs in the fans eves.Rev. G.R. GOODHAND Eganville, Ont.<h2>Expansion Formula Seen Radical One</h2>My number one suggestion to improve the National Hockey League is to hold another expansion draft eliminating the Pittsburgh and Oakland teams and giving the players to the other four teams in their division making two five-team divisions.ddMontreal, Detroit, Philadelphia. St. Louis and Toronto would bein one section. Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Minnesota and New York would be in the other. Have the top three teams in each division in the playoffs with the first team playing the winners of the second and third series.The two division champions would meet for the Stanley Cup. This would strenghten the other teams and attendance in the four other cities is above 10,000 per game.STEVE BALDWIN, Memphis, Tenn. &#9632;

Fan Forum

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-01749/2862506-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="402" height="495"></div>&bull; RUSSIA COULD round up three clubs that would be capable of competing against NHL clubs, according to Arkadij Chernischev, one of the two Russian coaches, recently in Canada with the Russian team that so decisively defeated the Canadian Nationals in five straight games played in various cities across Canada &hellip; A team of NHL All-Stars will undoubtedly play a series of games against Russia&rsquo;s No. 1 team within the next couple of years &hellip; and you can bet these games will be played under NHL rules &hellip;That&rsquo;s one point the National Hockey League will insist upon &hellip; Bill Putnam, president of the Philadelphia Flyers, spends considerable time in Quebec City looking over the future Flyers. Bill is determined to add some scoring strength to his Philadelphia crew. The Flyers are one of the best defensive teams in the league but along with Los Angeles are the poorest scoring team in the circuit &hellip; Norm Ullman was raving about Tim Horton&rsquo;s strength the other day. The 39-year-old Toronto defenseman who appears to get better each year was picked by Ullman as the strongest player in the NHL. &ldquo;Watch him in the corners,&rdquo; Ullman stated, &ldquo;most players have trouble pinning one player against the hoards. Horton can hold two players in there and there&rsquo;s not much they can do about it.&rdquo;&hellip; The fastest slapshot in hockey is credited to Bobby Hull (who else?) &hellip; and his renowned slapshot was timed at 118.6 miles per hour in a game against Toronto played in Chicago on December 17, 1967 &hellip; Philadelphia was happy to score three goals against Canadiens the other night in Montreal. Prior to this game the Flyers were shut out by Canadiens in three consecutive games and by three different goalkeepers which must rate as some kind of a record &hellip; One of the first things Wren Blair did upon assuming the coaching reins of the Minnesota North Stars again was to name veteran defenseman Elmer (Moose) Vasko the captain. &ldquo;I feel he can provide leadership for the team and in recognition of his great comeback.&rdquo; reasoned Blair in making the choice.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03602/2862499-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="259" height="462"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill Putnam</figcaption></div>&bull; TOE BLAKE was given the biggest cheer of anyone when the introductions were made at the start of the NHL All-Star Game. The former Montreal coach, who handled the Eastern squad in the All-Star tilt, is still loved by the Montreal fans. It was probably the greatest ovation he&rsquo;s ever received at the Forum &hellip; Look for a Minnesota-Chicago trade upcoming &hellip; also don&rsquo;t be too surprised at a Toronto-Chicago trade &hellip; Bobby Orr was the outstanding player in the All-Star Game for the second year in a row. The youthful Boston defenseman stands an excellent chance of being the greatest player in the history of hockey &hellip; Lou Nanne, former United States Olympic star, explains the difference between amateur and pro hockey. &ldquo;The big factor is that your reaction is so much quicker,&rdquo; says the Minnesota defense prospect. Things happen 10 times as fast in the NHL. You have to be ready, there&rsquo;s no chance to relax.&rdquo; &hellip; Jacques Plante summed up the West&rsquo;s fine effort to force a 3-3 tie with the East. &ldquo;This is the history of expansion teams,&rdquo; claimed the colorful goalie. &ldquo;On paper we are always the under-dogs. But when we go all out on the ice we are pretty tough to beat.&rdquo; &hellip; Oakland&rsquo;s Bryan Watson gave Montreal&rsquo;s John Ferguson a dandy shiner in a recent scrap. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been picking my spots lately,&rdquo; said Watson in a post-game needle for Fergy. Watson and Ferguson are close pals &mdash; off the ice, that is.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02700/2862492-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="246" height="459"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bryan Watson</figcaption></div>&bull; GEORGE TRUSS of The Ryerson Press made a big hit with everyone attending the NHL All-Star Game in Montreal through his excellent hospitality suite at the Sheraton-Mount Royal Hotel. Ryerson Press publish most of the hard-cover books on hockey and hockey personalities and the fine display of hockey books on view throughout the suite were very well received by the many hockey people in attendance &hellip; Gerry Cosby, pioneer hockey equipment distributor in the United States, supplied the Western Division All-Stars with their smart-looking uniforms for this year&rsquo;s game. These were the finest-looking uniforms to be shown in All-Star games to date &hellip; Bob Campbell, genial publicity director of the Dallas club in the Central League, advises that attendance has picked up over last season by close to 700 people per game. The team is now averaging more than 4,000 per game &hellip; The main reason Dallas hasn&rsquo;t climbed higher in the standings has been on account of the nine losses early in the season. Lately they&rsquo;ve been holding their own in goals scored and goals against with the leaders but they must run off a string of wins to knock Oklahoma City Blazers out of the top spot in the Southern Division of the keenly-contested Central Hockey League &hellip; Tom Watt has coached the University of Toronto Blues to two Canadian college titles in three years &hellip; The Toronto Blues are the Montreal Canadiens of the college ranks. In 11 of their last 14 seasons they&rsquo;ve finished in first-place, placing second the other three years in the Ontario-Quebec Athletic Association &hellip; Mario Machado is the handsome young man who handles the public address system at all home games of the Los Angeles Kings. Born in Shanghai, Mario did the color commentating on the CBS soccer games last summer. He also acted as MC for the International Horse Show at the Forum and has worked on numerous sports and game shows on TV in the Los Angeles area. He&rsquo;s a good one.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04522/2862485-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="274" height="456"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mario Machado</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="byline">BY TOM MONAHAN</div>BOSTON, Mass. &mdash;Every time coach Harry Sinden hears the fans chanting, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re Number One&rdquo;, the 36 - year - old coach of the Bruins cringes.This is because Sinden is a realist rather than an idealist or a dreamer.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01701/2862544-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="274" height="436"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ted Green</figcaption></div>I&rsquo;ll take Number One any time we are there,&rdquo; said Harry as the National Hockey League broke for its first all-Star meeting between he East and the West at Montreal with the Bruins on top of the East Division by four points over Montreal.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to be up there.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But it is another thing to stay there.&rdquo;Sinden also was pleased that four of the Bruins, Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito. Ted Green and Gerry Cheevers were picked to play for the East squad.&ldquo;They certainly deserved that honor the way they played the first half of the season,&rdquo; said Sinden.&ldquo;I can think of a couple more of our guys who could have been picked for that game,&rdquo; he went on. &ldquo;but being on an all-star game doesn&rsquo;t win you much in the landings these days.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t say our position is not to my liking either. But I can&rsquo;t say that this means we have things cinched.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been saying all along we have to win more than our share of games and we&rsquo;ve done it up to now. But we have to keep on doing it.&ldquo;The way the race is going, the standings can switch upside down in a week. Say, for example, we hit a bad spell and lose four games. We could be fighting for our lives for second place.&ldquo;We have 30 games left on the schedule going into this week. That&rsquo;s a matter of 60 points at stake.&ldquo;Just suppose we took only half those points. We mights wind up the season with 95 points or so and still be in danger of not making a playoff spot.&ldquo;I still say this whole thing will not be settled until the last week of the season.&ldquo;Eight of our last nine games are played home-and-home-with Toronto. Chicago, New York and Montreal. The only West Division team we meet is Pittsburgh that&rsquo;s in the Penguins&rsquo; rink.&ldquo;Naturally. I believe that&rsquo;s the way the schedule should be worked.&ldquo;Every team in each division should be batt ling it out with each other.&ldquo;This may not be a comfortable situation for any of the teams but it is what should happen.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to see us open up a real gap and have some insurance for a slump but I can&rsquo;t expect it. We&rsquo;ve just got to keep working and battling to make sure we don&rsquo;t slump.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02620/2862537-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="1176" height="1356"><figcaption class="caption-body">Boston&rsquo;s wonder boy, BOBBY ORR, right, was in pretty select company at the NHL pre-game All-Star dinner. Here he sits alongside Chicago&rsquo;s two super stars, BOBBY HULL, left, and STAN MIKITA</figcaption></div>&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t win games sitting around dreaming about things.&rdquo;ICE CHIPS &mdash; At the outset of the season one of the improvements Sinden was striving for in the Bruins was better power play performance &hellip; This was accomplished during the first half of the season &hellip; The B&rsquo;s outscored the opposition 32-31 in power play goals while leading the league in penalty minutes &hellip; In addition they scored five goals while short-handed to a pair of short-handed goals by the opposition &hellip; Top power play men were Johnny Bucyk, Fred Stanfield and Phil Esposito with five each &hellip; Johnny McKenzie scored four, Ken Hodge three with Ron Murphy, Ted Green and Bobby Orr chipping in two each &hellip;Chicago&rsquo;s Bobby Hull registered three of his goals on power plays against the Bruins &hellip; Bucyk and Derek Sanderson are expected back in the lineup this week but Eddie Shack still is a question mark &hellip; Shack aggravated a torn right shoulder muscle last weekend and was unable to practice last week before the Thursday game at Detroit and the past weekend games with St. Louis and Minnesota. &#9632;

f0005-01

Sinden Admits Nice To Be No. 1, But Another Thing To Stay There Cautions Coach Of Leading Bruins

MONTREAL, Que.&mdash;Red Fisher, hockey writer and columnist for The Montreal Star, was named president of the National Hockey League Writers&rsquo; Association during the annual meeting prior to the league&rsquo;s All-Star game.Fisher replaces Tom Fitzgerald of the Boston Globe.The Association, now in its third year of operation and with a member enrollment of nearly 200, also elected George Gross of the Toronto Telegram as vice-president. Jack Dulmage of the Windsor Star was returned as secretary-treasurer for a third year.Directors include Jack Berry of the Detroit Free Press; Red Burnett of the Toronto Star; Gilles Terroux of Montreal La Presse; Wallv Cross of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Ed Conrad of the Philadelphia Daily News, and Duane Netland of the Minneapolis Tribune. Ex-president Fitzgerald is also a member of the board of directors.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03469/2862575-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="264" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body">Red Fisher</figcaption></div>Berry and Conrad are NHL correspondents of THE HOCKEY NEWS. &#9632;

f0005-03

Montrealer Red Fisher Named To Head NHL Hockey Writers

JERRY WEST, basketball plaver, Los Angeles:BOBBY HULL. Because he&rsquo;s so explosive and effective. Because he&rsquo;s so exciting, which makes me like most fans, I guess. Gordie Howe also interests me. As a pro athlete, I can appreciate how many things Gordie does, and how smoothly and effortlessly he does them. It seems to me he&rsquo;s giving something away on defense these days, but he&rsquo;s still fascinating to watch. I&rsquo;ve become a fan since L.A. got an NHL franchise and I seldom miss a game on off-nights at home. I guess I&rsquo;m a critical fan, like most athletes.&rdquo; &#9632;

THE FANS CORNER

WINNIPEG, Man.&mdash;St. Louis Blues have their Red Berenson, but the Russians can counter with Anatoly Firsov.Berenson, who set a moder-day NHL record with six goals in one game earlier this season and received a brand new station wagon to commemorate the performance, saw his spectacular feat equalled by Firsov last week.The starry forward of the Soviet National team rammed home the first six goals of the game as the Russians drubbed Canada 10-2 in Ottawa in the fourth match of a seven-game exhibition tour.That two of Firsov&rsquo;s tallies were deflected in by Canadian defenseman John Ferguson failed to detract from the significance of the Russian&rsquo;s exploit. However, Soviet team officials could not see their way clear to present Firsov with a new station wagon!The Russians won the first five games of their tour including lopsided victories in Vancouver (7-0) and Victoria (8-3). Two other games were decided by the more presenttable margin of 4-2. Toronto and Winnipeg.That the Russians asserted their superiority over Canadas National team is evidenced by the combined score with which the Reds polished off their hosts in the first five games. The Soviets were able to put 33 pucks behind the Canadian goaltenders, while Canada solved the Russian defense for just nine goals.By handling Canada with such ease, the Soviets would seem to have lent support to their claim that they were encountering &ldquo;inferior opposition&rdquo; on their tour. Perhaps they aren&rsquo;t too far from the truth in thinking that they could compete favorably against National Hockey League teams. &#9632;

Russians Have Own Rocket, He Scores Six In One Game

<div class="byline">BY GEOFFREY FISHER</div>ST. LOUIS, Mo. &mdash;Just about everything the St. Louis Blues have done since the National Hockey League dealt them into the big game two years ago has had a Cinder rella twist.The Sidney Salomons and Robert Wolfson had a franchise offered to them before they had a hockey stick or a building to put the stick in if they had a stick. They quickly came up with the sticks and a reconditioned igloo that is as attractive and functional as any in the league. St. Louis hockey fans are jamming the St. Louis Arena with standing-room only crowds for nearly every game. A real, Cinderella story.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-01778/2862654-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="254" height="450"><figcaption class="caption-body">Billy McCreary</figcaption></div>Lynn Patrick and Scotty Bowman, forced by expansion to put together a club from something old, something new and something not quite either, saw their odd collection come off the floor of the expansion division last year to win the West and force the Montreal Canadiens to dig deep to capture the Stanley Cup in four games that were all decided by a single goal. Another Cinderella story.And now, heading down the stretch in their second season, the St. Louis Blues, bolstered by a bunch of Cinderella players, have raced so far in front of the rest of the Western Division that they are in danger of losing radio contact.One of those remarkable Cinderella players is William Edward (Billy) McCreary, a native of Sundridge, Ont., who quit professional hockey in 1963 because, as Billy puts it, &ldquo;the fun had gone out of the game for him.&rdquo;Billy, an eight-year-pro at the time, was playing with the Spring field Indians of the American Hockey League, a club owned by Eddie Shore.Shore, one of the greatest defensemen of all time as a player with the Boston Bruins, is a member of Hockey&rsquo;s Hall of Fame and was an eight-time selection on the NHL All-Star Team. But Shore, who was among the roughest and toughest to ever lace on skates in the big time of hockey, was no less severe as an owner than he was as a player. His domination of his team was more than most players could endure.McCreary, while sharing some of the bitterness that players felt towards Shore, still has some admiration for him as a teacher.&ldquo;I always thought,&rdquo; says McCreary, &ldquo;that any player who could spend a year with him would find it an advantage &mdash; especially a defenseman. I was not mistreated during the four years I was with Shore but there were many players who could not go a month without being fined or suspended.&rdquo;After the 1962 season McCreary wrote Shore that if he couldn&rsquo;t meet his salary request he would not return. Shore responded by saying the demand was too much and followed by placing a story in the Springfield paper indicating that McCrearywas unreasonable. That was enough for Billy. He quit.It was Sammy Pollock, general manager of the Montreal Canadiens, who arranged to acquire McCreary from Springfield.&ldquo;It was Pollock who got me back into hockey and thinking the right way again,&rdquo; declares McCreary.After being acquired by Montreal and gaining a fresh enthusiasm for the game he loved so much, McCreary was dispatched to Omaha where he succeeded Scotty Bowman as coach early in the season and as player-coach led the Omaha club to the Central Hockey League Cup. In 1964-65 McCreary led Omaha to the semi-finals of the playoffs. When the franchise was shifted to Houston, McCreary was bumped up to assistant manager along with his duties as coach and player. In the four seasons in the Central League he piled up another 96 goals despite the pressure of his many duties.&ldquo;I never even dreamed that I would get a chance to play in the National Hockey League again.&rdquo;says Billy. I had some discussions with Sammy Pollock and he thought my chances for making it in the NHL would be pretty good.&rdquo;McCreary got on the phone to the Blues Lynn Patrick and the Blues arranged an agreement with Montreal to obtain his contract.Getting to the NHL through the door of expansion hockey marked the high point in his 13-year professional career for Billy and his wife, Carole.Billy had a slow start with the Blues last year, being hobbled for several weeks by a broken bone in a foot. But the came on fast in the second half, scoring 10 of his 13 goals and drilling home some major game winners. He led the NHL in scoring goals while the Blues were shorthanded, with a total of four.But this year McCreary has won a key job with the Blues as they dash toward the Western Division title. Playing a left wing position with Ron Schock at center and Craig Cameron on the right side, this trio has developed into one of the best checking lines anywhere.General Manager-Coach Scotty Bowman uses them against the biggest guns in the game, sending them out to ride herd on the Howe&rsquo;s, the Hull&rsquo;s and Esposito&rsquo;s.McCreary thinks this is his best year in hockey. I think it takes a year to adjust to the league unless you are an outstanding player. With a show of modesty that is&rsquo; typical of him he declares that he feels he is just an average player &ldquo;and I&rsquo;ve got to work every game to prove I belong up here.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0006-01

McCreary’s Success Something Out Of A Book

<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>PITTSBURGH &mdash; Duane Rupp, defenseman, secured from Minnesota of NHL in trade for Leo Boivin, defenseman. Bill Speer, defenseman. Gary Swain and Paul Andrea, forwards, recalled from Amarillo of CHL.PHILADELPHIA &mdash; Ralph MacSweyn, defenseman, and Rosaire Paiement, forward, recalled from Quebec of AHL.DETROIT &mdash; Danny Lawson, forward, assigned to Fort Worth of CHL. Ed Hatoum, forward, recalled from Fort Worth. Brian Gibbons, forward, recalled from San Diego of WHL and reassigned to Denver of WHL.CHIC AGO &mdash; Jim Wiste, forward, recalled from Dallas of CHL.BOSTON &mdash; Colin McCormick, goalkeeper, called up from Hershey of AHL for emergency stand-by.MONTREAL &mdash; Tony Esposito, goalkeeper, returned to Houston of CHL.<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>BUFFALO &mdash; Al Johnstone, goalkeeper, recalled from Omaha ofCHL.CLEVELAND &mdash; Marshall Johnston, forward, secured from Minnesota of NHL on loan.HERSHEY &mdash; Don Marcotte, forward, returned bv Boston of NHL.<h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>DES MOINES &mdash; Moe Bartoli, forward, claimed on waivers but refused to report to IHL club. Michel Jacques, forward, secured from Providence of AHL. George Wood, goalkeeper, secured from Rochester of AHL on loan.FORI&rsquo; WAYNE &mdash; Ken Knapton, forward, secured from Toledo of IHL on waivers.MUSKEGON &mdash; Norm Descoteaux, defenseman. secured from Montreal of NHL on loan.PORT HURON &mdash; Alan Cecile, goalkeeper, called from Leamington, Ont., juniors for five-game tryout.<h2>EASTERN LEAGUE</h2>NEW JERSEY &mdash; Billy McEwan, forward, obtained from Quebec of AHL.CHARLOTTE &mdash; John Chapman, forward, secured from Clinton of EHL.NASHVILLE &mdash; Chuck Goddard, goalkeeper, picked up from Charlotte of EHL on waivers.JOHNSTOWN &mdash; George Forgie, forward, recalled from Nashville of EHL. Claude Piche, forward, secured from Salem of EHL on Ioan. &#9632;

Movements of Players

<div class="byline">BY JIM PROUDFOOT</div>TORONTO. Ont. &mdash;The Ice Follies were Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; downfall last season, one of the chief reasons they wound up in fifth place and out of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in a decade.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01729/2862709-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="270" height="456"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat Quinn</figcaption></div>You see, Leafs must go on the road when the ice show plays their rink in Toronto. The rest of the time, they work on almost an alternating basis, home and away, home and away. But during Follies&rsquo; Toronto run, they take off for a 2-week stretch that takes them from one coast to the other.Last winter, this junket was decisive and crushing. They hit a slump from which they never did recover.On Jan. 28, 1968, Leafs scored a 3-1 victory in Chicago and moved to within a point of first place. They then lost six consecutive road matches, while Toronto fans were enjoying Don Jackson and the other Follies stars, and then extended that losing streak to nine games before finally winning again. And at that point, they had fallen 20 points behind the streaking Montreal Canadiens.They were in fifth place to stay.Ice Follies are in Toronto again now and Leafs are travelling. Following the schedule break for the all-star game, they were to play six times away from home &mdash; St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Los Angeles, Oakland and St. Louis &mdash; before returning home.It could be the turning point in Leafs&rsquo; 1968-69 campaign.&ldquo;I look forward to it this time,&rdquo; said manager-coach Punch Imlach. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re a much better road team than we were last year. This trip could actually make this Toronto club because we play five expansion teams. We should come home in pretty good shape.&rdquo;Leafs are better away from home because of the enthusiasm and muscle such youngsters as Jim Dorey, Mike Pelyk and Pat Quinn have added to the club. And there is better spirit, more enthusiasm in this year&rsquo;s group. They don&rsquo;t blow leads the way they used to and they perform with more enthusiasm and courage before hostile audiences.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been better on the road right from the start,&rdquo; Imlach said. &ldquo;As a matter of fact, we&rsquo;ve won as many out-of-town games now as we won all last season.&ldquo;Funny thing was that we were playing badly at home in the early part of the schedule, but we&rsquo;re improving on that now.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0007-01

Leafs Better Prepared This Time-Imlach

TORONTO, Ont.&mdash; Scotty Morrison, chief referee of the National Hockey League, has been barred from further appearances on telecasts originating in Maple Leaf Gardens. Punch Imlach. Leafs&rsquo; coach and general manager, applied the ban.Gardens officials have censorship rights under terms of their television contract.Morrison had appeared on television to I defend referee John Ashley, who&rsquo;d been accused of mishandling a recent Leaf game in Boston. Imlach had blasted Ashley in newspaper reports and had complained to NHL offcials. Now Ashley was claiming Imlach&rsquo;s charges were without foundation.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want him going on television and whitewashing his officials,&rdquo; Imlach fumed.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02649/2862740-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="266" height="422"><figcaption class="caption-body">Scotty Morrison</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0007-02

Gardens Imposes TV Ban On NHL Referee-in-chief

<div class="byline">BY ED CONRAD</div>PHILADELPHIA, Pa.&mdash;There is no love lost between the Flyers and the St. Louis Blues, and that&rsquo;s why certain people just wish they meet in the Stanley Cup playoffs again this season.One such guy is Flyers&rsquo; forward Gary Dorn-hoefer who remembers last year&rsquo;s playoff very well because he was the victim of a broken leg in the series which went the full seven games before the Blues won out.&ldquo;I really wish we meet them in the playoffs again this year because I know we can beat them,&rdquo; said Gary. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been having our troub les beating them so far this season but I know, if we have to go up against them in the playoffs, things will be different.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-01764/2862771-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="265" height="453"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gary Dornhoefer</figcaption></div>&ldquo;The Blues think they&rsquo;re a bunch of All-Stars. Why, they&rsquo;re riding so high right now, they&rsquo;re all walking around feeling like they&rsquo;re Jean Beliveau (the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; star). They&rsquo;re going to hit a slump one of these days and then they&rsquo;ll know how it feels.&rdquo;What has irritated Dornhoefer has been the way the Blues have been getting so many breaks this season. No matter what they do, it seems they wind up with a victory or a tie.True, they&rsquo;ve been getting a great effort by their personnel &mdash; particularly veteran goalies Jacques Plante and Glenn Hall &mdash; but, except for the goalies and center Red Berenson, the Blues have no clear-cut edge down the rest of the roster.That&rsquo;s why it seems amazing that the Blues have run away from the field in the regular season, particularly when most of the experts figured&rsquo; third place was the highest they&rsquo;d finish. They&rsquo;ve been one of the surprise teams of professional sports this year, playing second fiddle only to the Jets&rsquo; victory in football&rsquo;s Super Bowl.&ldquo;When things are going right they really go right,&rdquo; said Flyers&rsquo; goalie Doug Favel&rsquo;, who has taken his lumps against the Blues this year, including Berenson&rsquo;s six-goal game. &ldquo;Everything they&rsquo;ve been doing has been turning out right for them. That s how she goes sometimes.&ldquo;I guess we&rsquo;d better forget about catching St. Louis because I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s possible any more. We&rsquo;ve just got to concentrate on finishing second.&ldquo;As far as the playoffs are concerned, our target is second place if we can&rsquo;t finish first. I&rsquo;m not saying that because we&rsquo;d miss playing the Blues in the opening-round of the playoffs (first place vs. third, second vs. fourth). There&rsquo;s just a much better breakdown of prize money for second place over third.&ldquo;I myself wouldn&rsquo;t mind meeting the Blues in the opening round of the playoffs, though. I really feel we can beat them.&rdquo;Last season, the Flyers and Blues battled through seven bruising contests, including two overtimes, before St. Louis won the final game, 3-1, on Larry Keenan&rsquo;s winning goal and Red Berenson&rsquo;s insurance goal into the empty net.The game before, the Flyers tied the series at 3-3 when Andre Lacroix scored with 15 seconds remaining after Bernie Parent had come out of the net for an extra skater. Then Don Blackburn&rsquo;s long shot from the blue line beat Hall in the second overtime.The playoff elimination by the Blues who advanced to the finals against the Montreal Canadiens, was especially distasteful to the Flyers who had lost only once in 10-regular-season games with St. Louis. They had carried a 7-1-2 edge into the playoffs.This means that the Blues might find themselves in just about the same situation but with everything reserved. Already they&rsquo;ve been assured of taking the regular-season series from the Flyers, who had only one tie in the first five meetings this season.The way Dornhoefer and Favell and other Flyers feel about it, though, the regular season is all in the past when playoff time rolls around. It&rsquo;s the start of a whole new season.Certainly, the Blues should carry plenty of momentum into the playoffs off their fine performance and undoubtedly their first-place finish. But they have been lucky enough to avoid a serious slump this year and, if that happens late in the season, their opponent in the playoffs may be in clover.For the Flyers, the season has been somewhat of a disaster particularly after last year&rsquo;s championship. The club can make amends in a big way with a spirited effort in the playoffs. Right now, however. Flyers&rsquo; big job is making sure they qualify. &#9632;

f0008-01

Flyers Not Convinced of Blues’ Superiority; Hope For Playoff Clash

<div class="byline">&#x2014; By Bill Libby</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03556/2862809-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="328" height="426"></div><h2>Hockey Life Puts Strain On Kings&rsquo; Star</h2>&bull; THIS IS THE WAY it has been for Lowell MacDonald. He is 27 years old and in his seventh vear as a professional hockey player. He was born and raised in New Glascow. Nova Scotia, where he still lives during the off-seasons, and his father, a policeman, practically pushed him onto the ice. Once Lowell scored nine goals in a high school game and when he got home that night his father refused him supper because he felt the lad hadn&rsquo;t played hard enough.&bull; Lowell is an intelligent, sensitive individual, a serious, studious person. He likes many things beyond hockey. He admits he is not hung up on hockey, has attended colleges whenever and wherever he could, and he speaks of quitting hockey to complete his education, which hockey people speak of as a sin. He does not leave the game because he can make more money and provide a better life for his family playing hockey right now than he can, by doing anything else.Playing hockey is hard for him. He has good size and good ability, but he is by nature a nervous person, a worrier, and he suffers through the highs and lows of his performances. Playing hockey, he must fly around 75 times a year. Flying frightens him. Thinking of flights, he cannot sleep or eat. On flights, he is drawn taut. Others kid him about this a though it was very funny, but he accepts the kidding with good humor. The thing he hates most is being away from his wife and two young sons while travelling half of every season.Throughout his hockey career he has been sick or injured a lot and missed many games, and. while he was considered a prime prospect, he was shuttled between the majors and minors and shifted from team to team by men who suspected he was a malingerer who didn&rsquo;t have the stomach for the game. There have been times he couldn&rsquo;t play because he felt so bad he suspected he had cancer, but the doctors could not find anything wrong with him.With expansion, he was acquired by Los Angeles last season. The Kings gave him a fresh opportunity to make the National Hockey League. When Bill Masterton of the Minnesota team died of a head injury suffered in a game at mid-season, MacDonald was one of the players who began to wear a helmet. However, he had an outstanding season. He scored 21 goals. Perhaps more significant, he played in every one of the 74 games. He felt he had proven himself a big leaguer.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02675/2862802-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="520" height="892"><figcaption class="caption-body">LOWELL McDONALD &hellip;Bounced Back With L.A.</figcaption></div>The first two months of the current campaign. MacDonald performed poorly. He said he was not feeling well, but the doctors again could not find anything wrong with him. and his bosses suspected he simply was making excuses. In December, they demoted him to the Kings&rsquo; minor league team at Springfield in the American League. MacDonald refused to report. He said there was no point to it, since he was not feeling well enough to help the team. He was suspended.No one believed there was really anything wrong with him, but while Lowell stayed home with his wife and sons at their rented apartment in suburban Inglewood, where they pitch their tent, like gypsies, during the season, he was subjected to further medical examination. It was discovered that he had an abcessed tooth. Abcessed teeth often are not painful, but poison the svstem and weaken the person. The tooth was yanked. Shortly after that. MacDonald said he was feeling better and agreed to report to Springfield. The Kings&rsquo; brass told him he would be there only two weeks or so. long enough to play himself back into shape. So Lowell flew 3000 miles away to New England, leaving his wife and sons in Los Angeles.Lowell scored six goals in nine games in Springfield. While he was there, however, his wife called him and told him their oldest son missed him badly. The boy is only four. He is a nervous youngster, he is devoted to his father, and he suffers during his father&rsquo;s absences. Although he did not expect to stay in Springfield long. Lowell could not be sure he would not. and although he is not a highly-paid player. Lowell decided to fly his family to New England to rejoin him. The team does not pay for this.Lowell moved his family into a motel with him. When anotherdemoted King, Gordon Labossi&egrave;re, was recalled to Los Angeles, an apartment he and his wife had rented became available, and the MacDonalds moved in. Two days later, the Kings&rsquo; Eddie Joyal was hit by a stick which broke his contact lens and scratched his eye. sidelining him. MacDonald was hurriedly recalled. He had to fly back to the Kings, leaving his wife to pack up and follow him with the children later.<h2>Air Tragedies Make Lowell Feel Uneasy</h2>&bull; LOWELL PLAYED VERY well his first few games back with the Kings and it seemed sure he would stay with them. The night after the SAS airliner crashed in the Pacific Ocean just short of the Los Angeles International Airport, killing 15. I asked him how he felt about flying then. I meant it kiddingly, although it is nothing to kid about. He smiled wistfully and said he&rsquo;d suffered through the worst night of his life at the airport. I was surprised, because I had no idea he&rsquo;d been at the airport, and couldn&rsquo;t imagine why. He explained:He had gone to meet his wife and sons, who were flying back from Springfield to rejoin him. Two minutes before they were due to land, it was announced the airport had been closed to air traffic because of an accident. Then came word that an airplane was down in the bay. Since his family&rsquo;s plane had been due in. Lowell assumed it was them. Shocked and heartsick, he joined other scared persons converging on the information counters to try to find out what had happened. It was sometime before Lowell finally found out it was another plane.So, he sat at the airport. After planes began to land again, he met some he thought had his family on board, but they did not. First, they were set down in Phoenix. Then in San Diego. Finally. 6&frac12; hours late, they arrived in Los Angeles, and Lowell, relieved, but still shaky. drove them through the night to their rented apartment. &#9632;

f0008-03

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-01743/2862868-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Before the East and West hit the ice at Montreal&rsquo;s Forum Jan. 21 for the 22nd annual NHL All-Star game, players from both sides attended the pre-game dinner. At left, are CLAUDE LAROSE, Minnesota, and RED BERENSON, St. Louis.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-04478/2862861-1-eng-US/f0009-042.jpg" title="f0009-04" width="990" height="711"><figcaption class="caption-body">DEAN PRENTICE of Detroit holds lineups as NORM ULLMAN of Toronto checks it out.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-06318/2862854-1-eng-US/f0009-062.jpg" title="f0009-06" width="1003" height="723"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB NEVIN, New York, and DENNIS HULL, Chicago, right, enjoy a light moment.</figcaption></div>MONTREAL, Que. &mdash;You&rsquo;re not supposed to cross up The Establishment It just isn&rsquo;t done, even in hockey.The Western Division &mdash; or expansion &mdash; All-Stars &mdash; tried their darndest to turn the tables on their established cousins &mdash; The East &mdash; in the 22nd annual National Hockey League All-Star game in the Montreal Forum and they almost succeeded.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-02684/2862847-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="259" height="339"><figcaption class="caption-body">Frank Mahovlich</figcaption></div>The teams came out of the lack-lustre classic tied 3-3 in the first game matching East against West in All-Star history.The Establishment &mdash; with the likes of Frank Mahovlich, Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr, were supposed to skate the Western stars into the ice. But such was not the case. The East showed a definite disinterest in playing and the West relished in the thought they might even win the Sgame once it got underway and they dominated the play.The West claimed a &lsquo;moral victory&rsquo; and they were completely justified. They out-skated and outhustled the Eastern selects most of the evening and except for a solid performance from Mahovlich. Orr and Bobby Rousseau, they would have succeeded in beating the best of the old teams.Mahovlich came up with two goals for the East while Bob Nevin tallied the third. Orr didn&rsquo;t score nor did he get a point but he played a tremendous two-way game and continually saved his teammates from defeat.The Red Baron of the St-Louis Blues, Red Berenson, showed the way for the West with a goal and an assist. Jim Roberts and Claude Larose scored the other Western goals.Scotty Bowman of St. Louis guided the West and Toe Blake came out of retirement to handle the East.Blake wasn&rsquo;t too enchanted with his players&rsquo; performance. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t see too much hitting out there.&rdquo; said Toe, who informed the press that he was retiring again. &ldquo;For the rest of the year at least and that&rsquo;s all I&rsquo;m going to say about it.&rdquo;Hockey observers wondered whether there was any significance behind Blake&rsquo;s statement.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-05372/2862840-1-eng-US/f0009-052.jpg" title="f0009-05" width="1182" height="1224"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rival All-Star game coaches SCOTTY BOWMAN, left, and TOE BLAKE, took advantage of the pre-game dinner to frolic about the game and old times.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0009-01

West Surprises East In All-Star Tie

<h2>WEST 3, EAST 3</h2>West All-Stars: Goal, Glenn Hall, Jacques Plante, Bernie Parent, Defense, Ed Van Impe, Al Arbour, Elmer Vasko, Doug Harvey, Noel Picard, Bill White, Forwards, Red Berenson, Danny O&rsquo;Shea, Billy Hicke, Ted Hampson, Ken Schinkel, Jim Roberts, Carol Vadnais, Claude Larose, Ab McDonald, Danny-Grant.East All-Stars: Goal, Ed Giacomin, Gerry Cheevers. Defense, Pat Stapleton, Bobby Orr, J. C. Tremblay, Ted Harris, Ted Green, Tim Horton. Forwards, Bob Nevin, Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Dennis Hull, Frank Mahovlich, Phil Esposito, Norm Ullman, Bobby Rousseau, Rod Gilbert, Stan Mikita.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-03568/2862899-1-eng-US/f0009-032.jpg" title="f0009-03" width="631" height="1125"></div> &#9632;

f0009-03

ALL-STAR GAME

<div class="byline">BY ED CRANE</div>SPOKANE, Wash. &mdash;The Spokane Jets have gained just a little breathing space in their drive to retain possession of the Savage Cup, emblematic of senior hockev supremacy in British Columbia.The Jets now hold a 5-point lead over the Kimberley Dynamiters in the Western International Hockey League race after seeing Kimberley close to within one point. It may well turn out that the Jets&rsquo; recent 1-0 victory over the Dynamiters on Kimberley ice was the high point of the campaign. The Jets have 14 games remaining, while Kimberley has 15. But the teams meet each other only twice more, which means Kimberley will have to rely principally on other teams to beat the Jets for them.An equally exciting race-within-a-race is the jockeying for position by the Nelson Maple Leafs and Trail Smoke Eaters. Nelson is currently in third place with 38 points (1915-0) and the Smokies (17-190) trail them by four. Since the fourth place winner meets the champions in the post-season playoff semi-finals, third place is a much better spot to be in.Trail probably is at a disadvantage because one-third of its 12 remaining games is with Nelson, and the Leafs hold a-6-2-0 edge in their meetings to date. On the other hand, Nelson has a tough schedule ahead &mdash; in addition to the four Trail games, the Leafs meet Spokane and Kimberley four more times each, and so far have only a 2-4-0 record against each of them. Their other two games remaining are with the lastplace Cranbrook Royals. &#9632;

Spokane Jets Open Up Lead In Cup Race

<div class="byline">BY PAT CURRAN</div>MONTREAL. Que. &mdash;The team floundered, the coach was confounded and the natives hounded the Canadiens as they continued to play poorly on home ice. Their latest disappointing display was a 5-3 upset by the Oakland Seals for their fifth loss in five games at the Forum and their fourth defeat by an expansion club this season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-01760/2862961-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="265" height="420"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ralph Backstrom</figcaption></div>Still General Manager Sam Pollock and the rest of the Montreal brass refused to push the panic button as the Eastern Division lead slipped further into the hands of Boston Bruins. The patience of Pollock and Coach Claude Ruel was a throwback to last season when the club was kept intact despite last place as late as January.The Canadiens eventually started winning and staged a whirlwind finish to take the Eastern Division championship and carry on to the Stanley Cup.&ldquo;If we can just play one game in which everyone goes well, we should carry on to battle for first place again,&rdquo; said Pollock pointingout that drastic lineup changes didn&rsquo;t seem necessary for the pe-renially powerfull Canadiens. &ldquo;The only way out of our problems is hard work for everybody.&rdquo; Pollock scoffed at a recent claim by St. Louis Coach Scotty Bowman that the Blues&rsquo; style of play featured stiff checking and working to regain the puck after they lose it.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s not only their game, that&rsquo;s the game of hockey,&rdquo; said Sam. &ldquo;Too many of our fellows are losing the puck and skating away from it. We&rsquo;ve just got to bear down.&rdquo;Pollock was as bewildered as everyone else around Montreal that the Canadiens had the best road record in the league of 13 wins, six losses and four ties but had played only a few sound games at home with a mediocre mark of 12-7-3.&ldquo;For some reason we are not hitting and we have been playing softer hockey on home ice. We wind up playing into the visiting team&rsquo;s hands.&rdquo;The GM warned that the club had eyes wide open for any player in the minors who might help the team. However he said that when it comes to a point protected players have to be sent down it might be time to get rid of them.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt that at least three or four forwards and at least one defenceman. are not up to par,&rdquo; noted Pollock.He didn&rsquo;t mention names but might have been referring to Dick Duff and Gilles Tremblay who failed to get a shot on goal against the Seals; Jacques Lemaire who was on the ice for four Oakland goals; centre Ralph Backstrom who has scored only six times this season and rearguard J. C. Tremblay who has been in such a slump that home fans have been jeering him.Forum fans who used to lift the Habs and were so hostile to any opposition have been hard on the club in recent weeks.&ldquo;Certainly the fans are not helping our present situation and some of the players are jittery on home ice,&rdquo; admits Pollock, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s far different in St. Louis and Boston and even here with the Junior Canadiens.&rdquo;The Juniors, drawing near sellout crowds for their exciting brand of play, have a record of 14 triumphs, one loss and a tie at the Forum.Meanwhile, the Canadiens continued to have net minding worries. Rogatien Vachon rated hot and cold, playing two fine games against Philadelphia (4-0) and Chicago (3-1) before appearing faulty on two of the Seals&rsquo; goals.Veteran Gump Worsley remained inactive after being ordered to get into shape or else by Pollock. Just as he began to regain some semblance of old form and seemed fit for duty, the Gumper suffered a bruised ankle in practice.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02661/2862954-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="1794" height="1179"><figcaption class="caption-body">Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; general manager LARRY REGAN, left, receives proclamation from L.A. mayor SAM YORTY signifying Hockey Week in the California city. Mayor was given autographed stick in return by Regan and Kings&rsquo; broadcaster JIGGS McDONALD, right. Hockey interest is at a new peak in the city with 40,191 more fans attending Forum games than this time last year.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0010-01

‘Brass’ Not Pushing Panic Button As Habs Flounder On Home Ice

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01751/2863013-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"></div><h2>INDIVIDUAL SCORING LEADERS</h2>(Including Games of Sun. Jan. 26)EASTERN DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-02692/2863006-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="604" height="2306"></div>WEST DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-03584/2862999-1-eng-US/f0011-032.jpg" title="f0011-03" width="625" height="196"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-04494/2862992-1-eng-US/f0011-042.jpg" title="f0011-04" width="645" height="2656"></div> &#9632;

f0011-01

NHL SCORING RACE

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div>LOS ANGELES, Calif.When the Los Angeles Kings secured the Springfield club of the American League and acquired Dale Rolfe, many observers felt they had landed the best defenseman in the minors, one who should have been in the moiers for several years.The tall, angular fellow, 6-4 and 200 pounds, Rolfe is not a big hitter, but he can wrap up rushers with his long arms, he gobbles up the ice with his long strides, he handles a puck well and shoots it very well. He was only 27 and should have been playing at his peak.However, last season, his play was deemed so disappointing, he was sent back to Springfield for awhile, while another Springfield graduate, Bill White, surpassed him and gained general recogniton as one of the finest all-around defensemen in the entire NHL.And prior to this season, coach Red Kelly experimented with converting the big guy to a left-wingslot, saying if he didn&rsquo;t make the club there, he wouldn&rsquo;t make it.As it turned out, Rolfe didn&rsquo;t make it at wing in Kelly&rsquo;s estimation, but he did make the club on defense. And he has been playing better and better as the current season has progressed, to the point where Kelly now considers him simply sensational.Recently, the Kings won only one of 13 games and lost four straight. They came home and snapped the slump with upset triumphs over New York, 3-1, and Chicago. 3-2, and a trouncing of Pittsburgh, 4-0.Bill Flett busted two goals in the first game and two more in the third. Gerry Desjardins played well in all three and got his fourth shutout in the last one. It turns out Kelly wanted to use Wayne Rutledge to rest the rookie, but Rut has a torn groin muscle, so Desjardins had played 15 straight games.But of all the men who played well in this stretch. Rolfe stood out most. In the corridor after one of the games, Kelly was saying. &ldquo;You have to make your moves faster in the majors than the minors, you can&rsquo;t hesitate; it takes some men longer to make the adjustment, and now I think Rolfe is one of those.&ldquo;When he winds up and moves out with the puck, there isn&rsquo;t a man in the league who can stay close to him. He&rsquo;s exceptionally big and strong and he has amazing stamina. He never seems to tire. And he has a tremendous shot. He&rsquo;s not shooting it. but if he does, he&rsquo;ll scare people out of the rink.&rdquo;The more Kelly talked, the more carried away he became. &ldquo;This guy has the potential to be a Bobby Hull and Jean Beliveau wrapped up into one. He can do it all. He could be the greatest player in the game &hellip;&rdquo;At this, we drifted into the dressing room while Kelly continued talking. Told what Red was saying about him, Rolfe grinned: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m playing well because I feel great, but I really don&rsquo;t know why,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;I still think I could play a wing, but I&rsquo;m not unhappy on defense. It&rsquo;s true I&rsquo;m not shooting enough. I make one move too many. I try to be too sure. I just don&rsquo;t pull the trigger. And I&rsquo;ve been afraid of being trapped up ice.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-05414/2863044-1-eng-US/f0011-052.jpg" title="f0011-05" width="571" height="579"><figcaption class="caption-body">DALE ROLFE &hellip; Back Where He Belongs</figcaption></div>&ldquo;But I&rsquo;m not as afraid as I was. I&rsquo;m regaining confidence. I&rsquo;m beginning to feel loose. I&rsquo;m beginning to let it all out. I should begin to fire the puck now. It&rsquo;s only when a guy is free-wheeling that he can make the most of his ability, and I&rsquo;m beginning to free-wheel now.&ldquo;I will say my attitude is much better this season, but I&rsquo;d prefer to leave it at that,&rdquo; he said. A smile spread over his face. Patting his stomach, he said, &ldquo;As Doug Harvey says, if you take care of the old body, it&rsquo;ll take care of you.&rdquo;He was still laughing when we returned to the corridor. Now Kelly was saying, &ldquo;I told these guys, if they&rsquo;ll put out, they can win the Stanley Cup&hellip;&rdquo;Why not? If Dale Rolfe can get enshrined in the Hall of Fame so quickly, why can&rsquo;t the Kings win the Stanley Cup? They&rsquo;re not too many games under .500 now and may even make the playoffs. And if they do, with Bobby Hull and Jean Beliveau leading them, well, tomorrow the world.KINGS THINGS &mdash; In the first half of the season, Flett and Joyal led the Kings with three winning goals each. While Howie Hughes had two. In &ldquo;important goals,&rdquo; including also tying, shorthanded and first goals, Joyal led with nine, while Flett had five, Bob Wall four and Ron Anderson three.Larry Cahan led in penalty minutes with 40. Rolfe had 39, Brent Hughes 28, part-timer Dave Amadio 27 and all-star White only 14. Among the forwards. Real Lemieux led with 32, followed by Flett and Ted Irvine with 27 each. Irvine had only 26 minutes all last season.At this writing, the Kings&rsquo; penalty-killers &mdash; Lemieux, Jimmy Peters, Hughes, and Anderson &mdash; had not been scored on in 15 straight short handed situations and only one of the last 30 &hellip; The victory over Chicago came in the Kings&rsquo; 40th, and was only the fourth in which they came from behind to win.On the Thursday night with Chicago, the Kings drew their second biggest crowd of the season, 12,269. This completed the first half of their home schedule with 160,380 fans drawn, an average of 8,441 per game. Ten games with Eastern foes averaged 9,448, nine games with Western foes 7,321. &#9632;

f0011-05

Rolfe’s Sensational Defense Play Rules Out Experiment As Forward

<div class="byline">BY DAN MOULTON</div>&ldquo;you like 7UP 7UP you likes you&rdquo;&ldquo;you like 7UP 7UP you likes you&rdquo;Hope that the Black Hawks would be able to sustain themselves in the thick of the fight for the Eastern Division title while Bobby Hull battled the effects of a fractured jaw has been dashed &hellip; but not because Bobby hasn&rsquo;t been able to adjust to playing with wired jaws.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01730/2863075-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="253" height="414"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jim Wiste</figcaption></div>To be sure, Hull&rsquo;s play has suffered slightly. He admits he&rsquo;s not able to go into the corners with his former abandon because of the danger of reinjury.And it&rsquo;s apparent that the loss of weight (he&rsquo;s down about 17 pounds) brought on by Bobby&rsquo;s being able to eat only what can be taken through a straw has diminished his ability to move at top speed for the 30 to 40 minutes he spends on the ice.But the Hawks&rsquo; skid, which started with losses in Oakland and Los Angeles, is only remotely connected with Bobby&rsquo;s problems. Rather it&rsquo;s been caused by a genseral defensive letdown, from the goal on out, and from a rash of injuries and illnesses that coincided with Hull&rsquo;s fracture.For instance, Doug Mohns performed at left wing with Ken Wharram and Stan Mikita during the western swing but his effectiveness was hampered by the fact that he was recovering from a fractured left hand.And defenseman Matt Ravlich worked full-time, too, despite having suffered cracked knuckles on his right hand when he bounced a right hand off the upper lip of Los Angeles player Real Lemieux two weeks ago.Missing entirely during the trip were center Chico Maki and right wing Eric Nesterenko. Maki was nursing cracked ribs and Nester was battling a severe bronchial cough.Center Jim Wiste was brought up from Dallas of the Central League in the emergency but most of the time, defenseman Howie Young functioned as the third middleman in Maki&rsquo;s absence.The fact that Wiste was unable to contribute during his first stretch of NHL duty-had to set the Hawks&rsquo; brass to wondering. The University of Denver grad, who twice was named to the NCAA AllAmerican team, had been regarded as one of the brightest hopes in the team&rsquo;s bid to solve what has become a chronic problem at center ice.Another Denver grad, Cliff Koroll, has been performing spectacularly at right wing with Dallas, and may get a call soon, unless the rather mysterious decline in Hawk goal-scoring is checked.A slight slump by All-star Pat Stapleton appears to have touched off the team&rsquo;s defensive skid. It&rsquo;s a case of one of Pat&rsquo;s great assets turning on him.Anticipation long has enabled Pat to diagnose enemy intentions well in advance, and thus compensate for his lack of real bulk. But a wrong guess generally leaves Pat struggling in the wake of a goal-bound opponent.Lately, the gap between the number of times Pat&rsquo;s anticipation has served him well and the times it&rsquo;s served him poorly merely has grown a bit narrower of late. &#9632;

f0012-01

HULL HOLDS UP BUT HAWKS’ DEFENSE LETS DOWN

&mdash; IN THE WESTIt&rsquo;s been a morale-busting season so far for Minnesota North Stars, who recently (1) slipped into last place in the Western Division, and (2), fired coach John Muckier.In fact, one of the few bright spots in an otherwise disastrous campaign has been the continued strong play of the Stars&rsquo; forward line of ex-Montreal-owned Danny Grant, Danny O&rsquo;Shea and Claude Larose.Larose, in particular, reached his peak last week. The fiery right winger netted the tieing goal in the all-star game as the West defied the experts by earning a 3-3 standoff with the powerful East.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02632/2863106-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="274" height="432"><figcaption class="caption-body">Claude Larose</figcaption></div>Larose then vented his talents in regularly-scheduled encounters that saw Minnesota escape last place. He scored the first goal of the game to push the Stars on to a 3-1 victory over Pittsburgh Penguins and two nights later set up Lou Nanne&rsquo;s game-opening tally that catapulted the Stars to a 3-2 triumph over Los Angeles Kings.He ended a productive week with two goals that gave Minnesota a 2-1 first period margin over Boston Bruins, sparking a near-upset over the East Division leaders. However, the Bruins bounced back to win 4-3.El Producto and THE HOCKEY NEWS are pleased to salute the plaver-of-the-week in the West:laude Larose.&hellip;Minnesota &#9632;

f0012-02

NHL Player Of The Week

&mdash; IN THE EASTVic Hadfield, the &ldquo;forgotten man&rdquo; of the New York Rangers&rsquo; forward line that includes more publicized aces Rod Gilbert and Jean Ratelle, will be kept in mind by NHL fans for quite awhile after his snazzy performance of last week.Hadfield led the Broadway Blue-shirts to three straight victories, extending the Rangers, undefeated string to five games since the un-timely collapse of team coach Bernie Geoffrion.Hadfield, usually known as the bruiser of the Rangers&rsquo; forward ranks, showed he can set up goals and score them too. He started the New Yorkers off on the right foot after the all-star break, assisting on all three goals in a 3-1 victory over Los Angeles Kings.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03501/2863137-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="265" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body">Vic Hadfield</figcaption></div>The robust left winger tallied a goal and an assist two days later as the Rangers blanked Chicago Black Hawks 3-0. He capped off his heroics with two goals, including the winner, as the Rangers posted a dramatic 3-2 come from behind triumph over Montreal Canadiens.El Producto and THE HOCKEY NEWS are pleased to salute the player-of-the-week in the East.Vic Hadfield..&hellip;New York &#9632;

f0012-03

<h2>THURS. JAN 23</h2>OAKLAND 5 at MONTREAL 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01718/2863301-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="602" height="656"></div>LOS ANGELES 1 at NEW YORK 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02671/2863294-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="604" height="502"></div>MINNESOTA 3 at PITTSBURGH 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03623/2863287-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="608" height="480"></div>PHILADELPHIA 2 at CHICAGO 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-04571/2863280-1-eng-US/f0013-042.jpg" title="f0013-04" width="624" height="480"></div>BOSTON 2 at DETROIT 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-05469/2863273-1-eng-US/f0013-052.jpg" title="f0013-05" width="590" height="506"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-06399/2863266-1-eng-US/f0013-062.jpg" title="f0013-06" width="1772" height="944"></div><h2>SAT. JAN. 25</h2>CHICAGO 0 at NEW YORK 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-07369/2863259-1-eng-US/f0013-072.jpg" title="f0013-07" width="592" height="465"></div>OAKLAND 3 at DETROIT 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-08346/2863252-1-eng-US/f0013-082.jpg" title="f0013-08" width="607" height="639"></div>TORONTO 2 at PITTSBURGH 0<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-09329/2863245-1-eng-US/f0013-092.jpg" title="f0013-09" width="592" height="411"></div>ST. LOUIS 0 at BOSTON 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-10307/2863238-1-eng-US/f0013-102.jpg" title="f0013-10" width="598" height="510"></div>LOS ANGELES 2 at MINNESOTA 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-11282/2863231-1-eng-US/f0013-112.jpg" title="f0013-11" width="583" height="558"></div>PHILADELPHIA 3 at MONTREAL 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-12247/2863224-1-eng-US/f0013-122.jpg" title="f0013-12" width="613" height="210"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-13213/2863217-1-eng-US/f0013-132.jpg" title="f0013-13" width="603" height="579"></div><h2>SUN. JAN. 26</h2>MONTREAL 2 at NEW YORK 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-14180/2863210-1-eng-US/f0013-142.jpg" title="f0013-14" width="603" height="303"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-15148/2863203-1-eng-US/f0013-152.jpg" title="f0013-15" width="610" height="288"></div>Toronto 2 at Detroit 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-16106/2863196-1-eng-US/f0013-162.jpg" title="f0013-16" width="616" height="594"></div>PITTSBURGH 3 at PHILADELPHIA 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-1785/2863189-1-eng-US/f0013-172.jpg" title="f0013-17" width="613" height="738"></div>OAKLAND 1 at ST. LOUIS 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-1872/2863182-1-eng-US/f0013-182.jpg" title="f0013-18" width="625" height="528"></div>LOS ANGELES 3 at CHICAGO 9<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-1955/2863175-1-eng-US/f0013-192.jpg" title="f0013-19" width="622" height="915"></div>MINNESOTA 3 at BOSTON 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-2036/2863168-1-eng-US/f0013-202.jpg" title="f0013-20" width="601" height="675"></div> &#9632;

f0013-01

National Hockey League Summaries

<h2>MONTREAL</h2>Goal, Vachon, Worsley, Defense, Laperriere, J.C Tremblay, Harris, Hillman, Savard, Forwards, Beliveau, G. Tremblay, Backstrom, Duff, Cournoyer, Provost, Rousseau, Richard, Ferguson, Redmond, Lemaire.<h2>TORONTO</h2>Goal, Gamble, Bower, Defense, Pilote, Pronovost, Horton, PeIyk, Dorey, Forwards, Ellis, Ullman, Oliver, Keen, Mickey, Walton, F. Smith, Henderson, Pulford, Armstrong<h2>CHICAGO</h2>Goal, Dryden, DeJordy, Defense Marotte, Young, Reid, Ravlich, Stapleton, Jarrett, Forwards, Orban, Martin, Pappin, B. Hull, D. Hull, Mohns, Neterenko, C. Maki, Wharram, Schmautx, Sutherland.<h2>NEW YORK</h2>Goal, Giacomin, Simmons, Defense, Hamilton Brown, Park, Neilson, Seiling, Forwards, Gilbert, Nevin, Fleming, Jeffrey Hadfield, Stewart, Balon, Ratelie, Goyette, Marshall, Tkaczuk.<h2>DETROIT</h2>Goal, Crozier, Edwards, Sawchuk, Defense, Baun, Douglas, Popiel, Bergman, Harris, Forwards, Unger, Howe, Delvecchio, F. Mahovlich, MacGregor, Libett, Lawson, Stemkowski, Monteith, Prentice.<h2>BOSTON</h2>Goal, Cheevers, Johnston, Defense, Orr, Green, Westfall, Smith, Doak, Awrey, Forwards, Esposito, Hodge, Bucyk, Cashman, Sather, Sanderson, Stanfield, McKenzie, Shack, Murphy, Harrison.<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2>Goal, Parent, Favell, Defense, Van Impe, Watson, Miszuk, Stanley, Hale, Cherry, Forwards, Lacroix, Rochefort, Selby, Gendron, Nolet, Sarrazin, Peters, Blackburn, Johnson, Kennedy.<h2>OAKLAND</h2>Goal, Hodge, Smith, Worthy, Defense, Roberts, Vadnais, Lacombe, Watson, Marshall, Odrowski, Forwards, Laughton Eh-men, Hicke, Hampson, Jarrett, Swarbrick, Dillabough, Ferguson, Szura, Perry.<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2>Goal, Binkley, Daley, Defense, Rupp, Legace, Price, McCallum, Woytowich, Forwards, Angotti, Fonteyne, Burns, Ingarfield, Ubriaco, Schinkel, Dea, Harris, Boyer, Pronovost, McCreary.<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2>Goal, Hall, iPlante, Defense, Arbour, Bob Plager, Roberts, Barclay Plager, Talbot, Picard, Forwards, Berenson, St. Marseille, Schock, Sabourin, Ecclestone, McCreary, Cameron, Keenan, McDonald, Henry.<h2>MINNESOTA</h2>Goal, Maniago, Bauman, Defense, W. Hillman, Boivin, Vasko, McCord, Nanne, Forwards, O&rsquo;Shea, Cullen, Parise, Connelly, Boudrias, Johnston, Larose, Collins, Grant, MacDonald, Goldsworthy<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2>Goal, Rutledge, Desjardins, Defense, Wall, Amadio, Rolfe, B. Hughes, Cahan, White, Forward, Campbell, Peters, R. Lemieux, H. Hughes, Irvine, Joyal, Flett, Labossiere, Anderson. &#9632;

NHL TEAM LINEUPS

<div class="byline">with ED FITKIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01718/2863370-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="325" height="435"></div>WEARING A BLUE TURTLENECK and looking completely relaxed, Stan Mikita was sitting in the plush seats at the fabulous Forum in Los Angeles watching a pair of squirt-class teams playing in a preliminary game to the Chicago-Kings&rsquo; joust recently &hellip; &ldquo;Seems like a hundred years since I was that size,&rdquo; Stan remarked &hellip; He and Dennis Hull, Matt Ravlich, Howie Young and other Hawks has arrived at the Jack Kent Cooke emporium early, and, like all other visiting players, if there is a hockey game going on, they seem to be unable to resist watching &hellip; One youngster was dazzling everybody with his skill that night and looking like a miniature Bobby Hull &hellip; In fact, he&rsquo;s the 9-year-old mascot of the Kings and before every game Red Kelly&rsquo;s team plays at home, little Kevin Sloan takes part in the Kings&rsquo; pre-game warmup, clad head to toe just like the rest of the Kings &hellip; The experience and confidence he has acquired were reflected on this night: He scored six goals and assisted on another in his team&rsquo;s 9-0 victory &hellip; Mikita, who got away to a fast start this season and then slumped, looks like he&rsquo;s ready to make his usual second-half charge for the scoring title &hellip; &ldquo;Stosh&rdquo; has won it two years in a row and four times in the past five years. Amazingly, he&rsquo;s also been a triple-trophy winner two years in succession, winning the Art Ross for scoring; the Hart as most valuable and the Byng as the top clean play exponent in the NHL &hellip; and all because one day he analyzed himself and his play, decided to quit being a chippy guy on the ice, drawing needless penalties, and the resultant improvement in his effectiveness and the rewards have been gratifying indeed.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02607/2863363-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="286" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stan Mikita</figcaption></div>GERRY DESJARDINS, the 24-year-old French-Canadian rookie goalie of the Kings, had to face the fire power of the Hull freres three times in rapid succession during January and, never having had the pleasure (?) of their company before, it proved to be quite an experience &hellip; The first occasion was in Chicago. Dennis Hull, then on a blistering streak that produced 14 goals in 11 games, scored his 19th and 20th goals, both on faster-than-sight shots. Brother Bob also scored and I turned to my broadcasting sidekick, Ken (Jiggs) McDonald and remarked: &ldquo;This is turning out to be a Hull of a night for the Kings.&rdquo; &hellip; And For Desjardins. Not only did Dennis score two goals but he let go a bullet that caught the Big D of the Kings on an unpadded part of his shoulder and provided him with a deep purple bruise as a souvenir &hellip; The next confrontation with the Hawks, and the Hulls, was almost a duplicate for the Kings and Desjardins, only this time Bobby was the big bomber, scoring his 29th and 30 th goals as the Hawks won again &hellip; On his first goal, the Golden Jet blazed one from well out. &ldquo;I thought I had that one all the way,&rdquo; Desjardins said, &ldquo;and I thought it was safe in my pads. But somehow it got through.&rdquo; &hellip; Who has the harder shot not by much.&rdquo; &hellip; Before his third duel with the tossup,&rdquo; Desjardins mused. &ldquo;Bobby shoots from anywhere, Dennis sort of waits to pick his spot. I guess Bobby has the harder shut not my much.&rdquo; &hellip; Before his third duel with the Hulls, three nights later. Gerry said he would sure like to keep Bobby from scoring. He did, the Kings beat the Hawks in L.A.. 32. But Dennis got one of the two goals and afterwards Desjardins was showing reporters his latest Hull souvenirs: bruises on the shoulder, the arms and on a thigh &hellip; Ah. yes. The life of a goalie.REAL (FRENCHY) LEMIEUX and Matt Ravlich of the Hawks tangled in Chicago and fired some pretty good Sunday punches at each other &hellip; Ravlich threw a few better and harder and knocked Lemieux to the ice but, while on his back, Frenchy was still swinging &hellip; However, the colorful Kings&rsquo; left winger admitted Ravlich had won that one &hellip; &ldquo;First fight I lose in three years,&rdquo; Frenchy told Kings&rsquo; p.r. man Jon Washington. &ldquo;And after the fight I have two stitches in my mouth. Then a couple of hours later I open my mouth too wide eating a hot dog at the airport, the stitches break and I have to get two more&rdquo; &hellip; Emile (The Cat) Francis says the New York Rangers have missed ruised. two-fisted Orland Kurtenbach this season and tags that factor as one reason why the New Yorkers are not playing the aggressive, hard-hitting hockey that put them in the playoffs the past couple of years&hellip; Kurt was plagued by a bad back at training camp, the ailment never did clear up and an operation was finally prescribed &hellip; Injuries to Rod Gilbert, captain Bob Nevin and iron-man defenseman Harry Howell also helped take away the fine balance between winning and losing in the tight East division race and plummeted the Blueshirts from the top to bottom&hellip;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03469/2863356-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="268" height="435"><figcaption class="caption-body">Real Lemieux</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0014-01

Footloose

<div class="byline">BY GLENN REDMANN</div>TWIN CITIES. Minn. &mdash;In the wake of John Muckier being relieved as coach of the Minnesota North Stars by general mana ger Wren Blair after a 3-1 loss to St. Louis, on Jan. 19 extended the National Hockey League club&rsquo;s winless streak to 14 games, there are many things that should be said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04340/2863401-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="268" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ra.v Cullen</figcaption></div>1. Muckier started out in fine fashion by leading the North Stars to three victories and a tie in their first six starts under him, but then was victimized by a string of injuries which simply made it impossible to put three capable lines on the ice for long stretches.2. By starting out with reasonable success&mdash;the Stars went from 3-6-1 to 6-82 in his first two weeks behind the bench &mdash; Muckier may have been lured into a false sense of security.3. John&rsquo;s troubles began when Chicago blanked the Stars, 2-0 on Nov. 20, thus setting off a streak of 10 games without victory that didn&rsquo;t end until a 4-1 win over a weakened New York Ranger club on Dec. 14.4. Starting with that loss to the Black Hawks, Muckier was able to get only three victories and five ties out of his charges while losing 21 times.5. And of those 21 defeats, 12 came on home ice which undoubtedly had the most to do with the executive board&rsquo;s decision to make a change.6. In between the winless streaks of 10 and 14 there was one brief period when the club appeared to be snapping out of it. 1 his was during a three-game road swing to Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New York just before Christmas. The Stars picked up three points and were still clinging to a one-point lead over the Flyers in fourth place.7. Although a loss to the Rangers on that trip started the 14-game tailspin that led to his dismissal, Muckier still had the club going quite well until St. Louis made its first invasion of the Sports Center and walked away with a 2-0 win on Christmas night.8. From that point on, it was just about all downhill even though John tried everything during the skid to right his club. There were fines, demotions, two-a-day practices, club meetings individual meetings and just about anything else one might imagine. But nothing worked.9. Injuries? Yes sir, a bundle of them. But the ones which hurt most were those to right winger Claude Larose (groin pull) and centerman Ray Cullen (fractured ankle). Besides being the club&rsquo;s two leading scorers,. Claude and Ray each played on a different line and their replacements simply didn&rsquo;t do quite what was expected of them.10. Finally, something must be said of the club&rsquo;s goals-scored and goals-against record during the 14-game streak which produced just two ties. The North Stars scored only 24 times to the opposition&rsquo;s 58. Muckier wasn&rsquo;t able to win with that sort of production. But who could&rsquo;ve? Perhaps not even the greatest coach who ever lived.At Blair&rsquo;s suggestion, Muckier was to have been given &ldquo;two weeks off&rdquo; after the switch and then report back to Wren &ldquo;for other duties.&rdquo;What these other duties will entail for the likeable 34-year-old former Memphis general manager and coach weren&rsquo;t disclosed right away. Perhaps it will be scouting, since Blair is known to covet Muckier&rsquo;s judgement of hockey flesh.Reporters on the hockey beat for Twin Cities newspapers, radio and TV stations nearly always found Muckier to be extremely cooperative.This wasn&rsquo;t most of the newsmen&rsquo;s first experience with a firing since major league sports arrived in Minnesota more than nine years ago, for the baseball Twins had fired three managers (Cookie Lavagetto, Sam Mele and Cal Ermer) and the football Vikings had replaced Norm Van Brocklin with Bud Grant.Blair couldn&rsquo;t have picked a more difficult time to take over the club since it was scheduled to play five of its first seven games under him on foreign rinks.Through all the adversity, North Star fans seemed to stick pretty much behind Muckier and his team by continuing to turn out in large numbers.Only two crowds of 10,000 or less were recorded in the club&rsquo;s first 23 home games and attendance stood at a whopping 285.133 at the All Star game break.That&rsquo;s an average of 12,400 per opening which exceeds last season&rsquo;s gate gait by almost 1,300 and still makes the North Stars the No. 2 attraction in the expanded West Division.As one visiting coach put it recently, &ldquo;your games would be sold out days ahead of time here if your club was playing anywhere near the pace St. Louis is. This is great hockey territory and you&rsquo;ve got finest building in the league to watch a game from.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0014-04

Early North Stars’ Successes Gave Muckier False Security

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02623/2863470-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="500" height="574"><figcaption class="caption-body">LEO BOIVIN</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03526/2863463-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="498" height="578"><figcaption class="caption-body">DUANE RUPP</figcaption></div>PITTSBURGH. Pa.&mdash;The Pittsburgh Penguins have a new defenseman and one of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s oldest performers has moved along to the Minnesota North Stars in a one-for-one trade.The Penguins sent veteran defenseman Leo Boivin, a 36-year-old performer with 16 years service behind him, to Minnesota in return for Rupp, a 36-year-old who has played less than 100 NHL games. Rupp, also a defenseman. was acquired in the expansion draft by the North Stars. &#9632;

f0015-02

Penguins Swap Vet Boivin To North Stars For Rupp

<div class="byline">BY JOHN TRAVERS</div>ASK YOUR DEALER ABOUTLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS (FORMERLY WALLY) (Hockey sticks distributed in the U.S. through the Hillerich & Brodsby Co.)ASK YOUR DEALER ABOUTLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS (FORMERLY WALLY) (Hockey sticks distributed in the U.S. through the Hillerich & BrodsbyCo.)HERSHEY, Pa. &mdash;Bob Barber, one of the American League&rsquo;s smallest defensemen, is still looking for his first goal of the season but the 25-year-old Bears&rsquo; blueliner claims his luck is bound to change.&ldquo;All season long,&rdquo; said the Fairview, Alberta product, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been hitting everything in sight with one exception &mdash; the net.&rdquo;Coach Frank Mathers has high regard for the 5-10, 170-pound Barber&rsquo;s play.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s not a big guy, but he&rsquo;ll hit people,&rdquo; said Mathers. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a scrapper who holds his own with much bigger men.&rdquo;A rodeo rider in the off-season, Barber has chipped in with 16 assists in aiding the Bears to the top of the Eastern Division.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01539/2863501-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="280" height="444"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob Barber</figcaption></div>In the off-season Barber may be found anywhere west of the Mississippi &mdash; from Arizona to Alberta.&ldquo;I pick up the rodeo trail in early May,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and usually wind up the season in early September somewhere in Western Canada.&rdquo;Barber maintains a 1,000 acre cattle spread near Calgary. On the rodeo circuit his specialty is steer wrestling.&ldquo;I use to ride Brahma bulls and the bucking broncs,&rdquo; said Barber. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s too dangerous. Too much chance of an injury.&rdquo;However, he thinks nothing of diving off a speeding quarter horse to wrestle a 1,000 pound steer whose sharp horns could impale a man. He&rsquo;s a pro at the sport, having been on the circuit four years. In a near four month stand he can pick up around $3500 if his luck holds.As for the 1968-69 Bears edition, Barber says:&ldquo;We have the best skating team in the league, one that is explosive. Our only problem is winning on the road. Once we get going there we&rsquo;ll be in great shape. &#9632;

f0016-01

Looking For First Goal, ‘Bronco-buster’ Barber Rated High By Mathers

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 28)Eastern Division<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02464/2863539-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="622" height="177"></div>Western Division<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03365/2863532-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="619" height="141"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDTues. Jan. 21Springfield 3 of Baltimore 1Wed. Jan. 22Springfield 1 at Hershey 4Baltimore 2 at Cleveland 5Fri. Jan. 24Hershey 2 at Baltimore 6Providence 0 at Buffalo 7Cleveland 5 at Rochester 3Sat. Jan. 25Buffalo 3 at Cleveland 3Providence 2 at Hershey 8Rochester 1 at Springfield 7Sun. Jan. 26Baltimore 1 at Buffalo 4Springfield 1 at ProvidenceCleveland 6 at Quebec 2Hershey 5 at Rochester 5GAMES TO COMETues. Jan. 28Cleveland ot QuebecWed. Jan. 29Springfield at BaltimoreRochester at HersheyBuffalo at ProvidenceFri. Jan. 31Baltimore at ClevelandProvidence at RochesterHershey ot SpringfieldSat. Feb. 1Providence ot BaltimoreQuebec at ClevelandBuffalo at HersheyRochester at SpringfieldSun. Feb. 2Cleveland at BuffaloHershey at ProvidenceSpringfield at QuebecBaltimore at Rochester &#9632;

f0016-02

How They Stand

<h2>SUN. JAN. 19</h2>QUEBEC 4 at BUFFALO 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04292/2863689-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="612" height="705"></div>Penalties: Hextali 3:18, Ball 6:55, Taylor 12:09.CLEVELAND 1 at PROVIDENCE 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05221/2863682-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="612" height="450"></div>SPRINGFIELD 2 at ROCHESTER 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-06174/2863675-1-eng-US/f0016-062.jpg" title="f0016-06" width="612" height="525"></div><h2>TUES. JAN. 21</h2>SPRINGFIELD 3 At BALTIMORE 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-07161/2863668-1-eng-US/f0016-072.jpg" title="f0016-07" width="618" height="510"></div><h2>WED. JAN. 22</h2>BALTIMORE 2 At CLEVELAND 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-08145/2863661-1-eng-US/f0016-082.jpg" title="f0016-08" width="621" height="405"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-09124/2863654-1-eng-US/f0016-092.jpg" title="f0016-09" width="622" height="180"></div>SPRINGFIELD 1 At HERSHEY 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-10104/2863647-1-eng-US/f0016-102.jpg" title="f0016-10" width="613" height="489"></div><h2>FRI. JAN 24</h2>HERSHEY 2 At BALTIMORE 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1191/2863640-1-eng-US/f0016-112.jpg" title="f0016-11" width="622" height="558"></div>CLEVELAND 5 At ROCHESTER 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1276/2863633-1-eng-US/f0016-122.jpg" title="f0016-12" width="631" height="573"></div>PROVIDENCE 0 At BUFFALO 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1365/2863626-1-eng-US/f0016-132.jpg" title="f0016-13" width="640" height="612"></div><h2>SAT. JAN. 25</h2>BUFFALO 3 At CLEVELAND 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1460/2863619-1-eng-US/f0016-142.jpg" title="f0016-14" width="634" height="525"></div>PROVIDENCE 2 At HERSHEY 8<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1554/2863612-1-eng-US/f0016-152.jpg" title="f0016-15" width="607" height="432"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1651/2863605-1-eng-US/f0016-162.jpg" title="f0016-16" width="604" height="315"></div>ROCHESTER 1 At SPRINGFIELD 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1745/2863598-1-eng-US/f0016-172.jpg" title="f0016-17" width="607" height="669"></div><h2>SUN. JAN. 26</h2>CLEVELAND 6 At QUEBEC 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1842/2863591-1-eng-US/f0016-182.jpg" title="f0016-18" width="604" height="663"></div>BALTIMORE 1 at BUFFALO 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1938/2863584-1-eng-US/f0016-192.jpg" title="f0016-19" width="622" height="591"></div>HERSHEY 5 At ROCHESTER 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2038/2863577-1-eng-US/f0016-202.jpg" title="f0016-20" width="607" height="699"></div>SPRINGFIELD 1 At PROVIDENCE 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2136/2863570-1-eng-US/f0016-212.jpg" title="f0016-21" width="610" height="501"></div> &#9632;

f0016-04

American League Summaries

<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2>(Including Games of Sun. 19)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01453/2863727-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="604" height="522"></div><h2>GOALKEEPERS&rsquo; RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02401/2863720-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="595" height="501"></div> &#9632;

f0017-01

AHL Point Race

<div class="byline">BY GEORGE DUFFY</div>PROVIDENCE. R.I. &mdash;For the second year in a row, the Rhode Island Reds of the American Hockey League may have a 40 goal scorer on the squad.During the 1967-68 season, Eddie Kachur, chunky right winger of the Reds, fired home 47 goals, more than any player in professional hockey.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03331/2863758-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="274" height="426"><figcaption class="caption-body">Yves Locas</figcaption></div>Now Yves Locas, the personable right winger of the Reds who played at Springfield last season, seems headed for a 40 goal campaign. As this is written, Locas has 20 goals and 37 games remain on the Providence schedule.In 1963-64, Yves was a member of the now defunct Pittsburgh Hornets. He pumped in 40 goals that season and added 30 assists while earning a berth on the AHL all-star team.&rsquo;If Locas can lift himself into the 40 goal stratosphere, he will do it under somewhat different circumstances than in 1963-64. A left handed shot, he was on left wing in those I days. Now Locas plays right wing for Coach Dave Creighton&rsquo;s Reds.However, playing right wing is nothing new to Yves. During three different American League seasons, he tallied 20 goals while playing on the right side.A solid defensive player as well as offensive, Locas is unconcerned about playing on right wing. &ldquo;I have become accustomed to the position,&rdquo; he said recently, &ldquo;and I do not mind it as long as the goals keep coming and we keep winning games.&rdquo;Creighton has made many I moves this season in making the Providence skaters a pennant threat.One of Creighton&rsquo;s most important moves was placing veteran center Don McKenney on a line with Yves Locas at right wing and Tony Goegan on left wing.McKenney is the leading Reds&rsquo; scorer with 43 points on 19 goals and 24 assists.But his linemates are not far behind. Locas boasts 20-19-39 while Goegan has 12-23-35. Locas leads the Reds in goals while McKenney and Goegan are running one-two in the assist department. &#9632;

f0017-03

Locas Seen As Potential 40-Goal Scorer For Reds

<div class="byline">BY BOB ELMER</div>BALTIMORE. Md. &mdash;A funny thing happened to the Baltimore Clippers on their way out of the Civic Center recently.They discovered how to win on the road.Beginning with the January 5th game in Cleveland on an overcast and chilly afternoon and ending with a rain-spattered night in Hershey on January 18th, Coach Aldo Guidolin&rsquo;s minions played six straight games away from home and didn&rsquo;t lose one. Putting it the other way around. Baltimore&rsquo;s hockey team won four and tied two in the current American League&rsquo;s eastern division pennant chase and took a giant step towards closing the gap between themselves and first place Hershey.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04259/2863796-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="270" height="436"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jean Cossette</figcaption></div>In setting a new club record for consecutive road triumphs, the Clippers got started with a 6-4 win over the Barons in Cleveland when Sandy McGregor broke a 4-4 tie with two third period lamplighters. It was a large weekend for the original Clipper as he hit for the hat in a 4-3 win over Springfield on the previous Friday and then sandbagged Cleveland&rsquo;s Ernie Wakeley for the game winners two days later.The following Friday found the Clips measuring Springfield in the Kings den, 31 and this was followed with back-to-back stalemates in Quebec. On Sunday. Jan. 12th it was a 3-3 standoff and two nights later the final was 4-4. Generally speaking this must be regarded as a moral victory for the visitors as it is always tough to beat not only the Quebec team, but its fans and officials alike.Baltimore&rsquo;s road swing which wound up as the &ldquo;impossible dream&rdquo; saw the local ices winning in Providence, 5-2 for the first time this winter and then edging the pace-setting Bears in Hershey, 3-2 the following night. This also represented a seasons first for the Orange. Black and White.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-06177/2863789-1-eng-US/f0017-062.jpg" title="f0017-06" width="1165" height="1208"><figcaption class="caption-body">ALDO GUIDOLIN &hellip; His Clippers Flying On Road</figcaption></div>All of this surprising news took place while the Clippers brass was offering an ice show at the Civic Center which drew a record gathering of more than 100,000 patrons for the ten day run. So the news was all appetizing during this mid-January junket.Unfortunately the bubble burst at the wrong time and place.After amassing 10 of a possible 12 points on a road trip that most fans figured would produce a maximum of 4 points at best, the Clips returned home on Tuesday. Jan. 21st and fell flat on their collective faces in taking a 3-1 defeat. Adding to the disappointment was the fact that veteran goalie Gil Boisvert, who inspired the Clips to six straight wins on the road, lost to the Kings by allowing all three of their goals within the first eight minutes of the game.Jean-Marie Cossette, who is having his best year, led the Clippers on the road with 9 points on a (3-6) count. &#9632;

f0017-04

Clippers Discover How To Win On Road

<div class="byline">BY LOUIS FUSK</div>QUEBEC CITY, Que.&mdash;Even when things looked blackest early in the schedule, General Manager Bud Poile and coach Vic Stasiuk never hesitated to predict that the only Canadian team in the American Hockey League would take over second place in the Western Division. &ldquo;I cannot call them to finish first,&rdquo; said Stasiuk on one occasion. &ldquo;Buffalo is away to a flying start.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05212/2863827-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg" title="f0017-05" width="254" height="444"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rene Drolet</figcaption></div>At this writing Aces are in third place but just one point behind runner-up Cleveland Barons. They had a disastrous weekend (Jan. 18 and 19) losing games at Cleveland and Buffalo, two Western Division teams, while Rochester Americans won two. However, Aces look as if they can regain second spot and hold on to it.Aces started their move with the New Year where they ran up four wins, one loss and two ties. They posted wins at Baltimore and Rochester and then returned to Quebec where they defeated Rochester twice within three days and then played a pair of ties against Baltimore Clippers.The parent Philadelphia Flyers have been sending players to Aces and taking others away. Only recently they sent Rosaire Paiement and Simon Nolet here and attendances started to increase noticeably. Now they&rsquo;ve called back Paiement and also defenceman Ralph MacSweyn just on the eve of Aces games against Cleveland and Buffalo, a pair of road games which Aces dropped.Rene (Chico) Drolet is scoring consistently and has held the league scoring lead for the past 10 days. The defence has also tightened up and after 42 games, goalie Dune Wilson has an average of 2.53 for 16 games. MacSweyn has been the big man on defence, with Terry Ball. Darryl Edestrand and Paul Cates providing good protection for the goaltenders. &#9632;

f0017-05

Stasiuk Confident Aces To End Second

<h2>ONTARIO SENIOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Sat. Jan. 25)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01458/2863935-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="592" height="340"></div>Plays partial league scheduleLEADING SCORERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02368/2863928-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="594" height="684"></div>SASKATCHEWAN JUNIOR(Standing on Mon. Jan. 20)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03272/2863921-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="586" height="168"></div>LEADING SCORERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04214/2863914-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="594" height="482"></div>NEW YORK METRO LEAGUE(Standings on Mon. Jan. 25)Eastern Division<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05160/2863907-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="594" height="172"></div>Western Division<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-06132/2863900-1-eng-US/f0018-062.jpg" title="f0018-06" width="598" height="176"></div>LEADING SCORERS(Including Games of Mon. Jan. 20)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-07116/2863893-1-eng-US/f0018-072.jpg" title="f0018-07" width="600" height="280"></div>NEW ENGLAND LEAGUE(Standings on Fri. Jan. 17)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-0898/2863886-1-eng-US/f0018-082.jpg" title="f0018-08" width="584" height="212"></div>LEADING SCORERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-0986/2863879-1-eng-US/f0018-092.jpg" title="f0018-09" width="588" height="302"></div>WESTERN INTERNATIONAL(Standings on Mon. Jan. 20)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1077/2863872-1-eng-US/f0018-102.jpg" title="f0018-10" width="594" height="208"></div>Interlocking Games<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1172/2863865-1-eng-US/f0018-112.jpg" title="f0018-11" width="583" height="100"></div>UNITED STATES LEAGUE(Standings on Mon. Jan. 20)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1266/2863858-1-eng-US/f0018-122.jpg" title="f0018-12" width="588" height="244"></div> &#9632;

f0018-01

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK SANTANIELLO</div>SPRINGFIELD. Mass. &mdash;There are many behind the scenes people the fans never get to see in the Springfield Kings organization. Without them, there would be no team.These unheralded people are valuable in the operation of the club here.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1354/2863966-1-eng-US/f0018-132.jpg" title="f0018-13" width="244" height="444"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Wilson</figcaption></div>Coach and general manager, of course, is oJohn ilson. who coached at Princeton U. and played many years in the National Hockey League. Special assistant to him is oJim Anderson, who works with the rookies and is now back playing.Public relations is all taken care of by Charles Hill. Radio broadcasts home and road games are performed by Bill Rasmussen, with help from Jack Slattery. Irene Roberts has charge of the Kings office. Sometimes that gets hectic.Ever-smiling Fred Lee serves as ticket manager. Sometimes he ends up with all the headaches, like trying to admit 6.000 people to an arena which seats 5.934. But Freddy&rsquo;s a patient guy and most of the time he finds everyone a seat.Rink announcer is Jim Denver, a fellow employee with us at the Springfield Park Department. He is also official timekeeper at all home games.Former, retired sports writer. Les Stearns is official statistician. Well along in years, Les is still alert and hearty and manages to get his job done. Jim Slattery also gives him a hand in this work.Working to keep the team in top shape is head trainer Bill Burnett, with many years experience. This season he&rsquo;s got art assistant, Andy Burgess. They sharpen skates. minister to players, repair uniforms, pack trunks and much more.Goal judges for the club include Casey Jones, Butch Lollio and Dan Mulville. They are responsible for turning on the red light when someone scores during the game.The program for every home game is put together by Charlie Hill. He does a good job. Equally busy with various iobs for the club are Dr. William Coons, Jr., who serves as team physiciand and team dentist, Dr. Frederick Colin. Hectic play and resulting injuries sometimes makes their job hard.Walt At anas, Ron Telford, Junie Fontana, Charles Ghedi and Joe Faucette are on the payroll as team&rsquo;s linesmen. They generally assist the referee and keep order during the game. &#9632;

f0018-13

GM-Coach John Wilson Heads Dedicated Springfield Crew

<div class="byline">BY CHARLEY BARTON</div>BLFFALO. N.Y &mdash;The Buffalo Bisons carried a 15-point lead &mdash; their widest of the season &mdash; into the second half of the schedule in the American Hockey League&rsquo;s Western Division.Injuries caused the Herd some discomfort as forwards Pat Hannigan. Billy Knibbs, Dennis Kassian and Wayne Rivers, and defenseman Bobby Ash were forced to the sidelines.At one point, Coach Fred Shero operated with just seven forwards, but the stress of double duty on the healthy Bisons failed to slow the club&ldquo;We&rsquo;re lucky to have a guy like Al Hamilton here at a time like t-his,&rdquo; said Shero. &ldquo;Hamilton is a defenseman. but he can play well on the forward line, and we use him there.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1450/2863997-1-eng-US/f0018-142.jpg" title="f0018-14" width="247" height="426"><figcaption class="caption-body">Al Hamilton</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Two of our voung defensemen, Randy Legge and Larry Hornung, have fitted in well. This has taken some of the load off our veterans. Ron Ingram and Bob Blackburn.&rdquo;Shero can&rsquo;t find enough good things to say about Gilles Villemure, the brilliant Buffalo goaltender. Villemure. leading the AHL with a 2.19 average as this was written, also owned five of the seven shutouts posted thus far.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always maintained Gilles is the best goalie in the minors, and better than a lot of guys in the National League,&rdquo; Shero said.&ldquo;He hasn&rsquo;t given us a bad game this season, and played a couple of times when he wasn&rsquo;t feeling well enough to actually play.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the backbone of this team.&rdquo;ALONG THE BOARDS &mdash; The Bisons were some 40.000 paid customers ahead of last season at the box office as the schedule reached the midwav ooint&hellip; Former Bisons Paul Mundrick, Max Bennett and Tommy Cooper held a reunion at a game here &hellip; The Buffalo players and their wives were guests of owner Ruby Pastor at a gala mid-season party. &#9632;

f0018-14

Villemure, Kids Combine To Keep Riddled Herd Up

<div class="byline">BY HANS TANNER</div>ROCHESTER. N.Y. &mdash;The defending American Hockey League champion Rochester Americans have had an assortment of problems this season, but one they haven&rsquo;t beer plagued witf is poor performances before big home crowds.Not that the Amerks have had a lot of big turnouts, but they&rsquo;ve done fairly well the nights the fans have come out.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1548/2864028-1-eng-US/f0018-152.jpg" title="f0018-15" width="268" height="444"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bronco Horvath</figcaption></div>At this writing, five 5.000-plus attendances have been recorded here this season and the Amerks have a 3-1-1 record for those games. Considering Rochester&rsquo;s over all home mark was 10 wins, eight defeats and two ties, the 3-1-1 record isn&rsquo;t bad.The Americans beat Quebec. 41. here October 12 as 5,174 viewed the opening game of the season. Thanksgiving Night was the next 5,OO()-plus turnout&mdash;it was 5,303&mdash;and the Amerks managed to tie powerful Buffalo, 3-3.Rochester topped Eastern Division leading Hershey. 4-3, on January 12 as 5,132 watched. The lone defeat came January 17 before the top crowd of the campaign&mdash;5,536&mdash;when Buffalo edged the locals 6-5 in a game which the Americans should have won. They got back on the right track two nights later, whipping Springfield, 5-2. before 5,133.ICICLES&mdash;Bronco Horvath recorded the 250th goal of his AHL career in the January 19th win over Springfield. He&rsquo;s only the 18th player in league history to reach that figure. &#9632;

f0018-15

Amerks Show Large Crowds They Can Win

<div class="byline">BY JOHN WHITE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02384/2864066-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="535" height="558"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB BARLOW &hellip; Hottest Canuck</figcaption></div>For The Best In Hockey Reading It&rsquo;s HOCKEY PICTORIAL Hockey&rsquo;s Most Exciting PublicationIt Will Be A Happy 1969 If You Give The HOCKEY NEWS To The FamilyVANCOUVER. B.C.&mdash;In me medical world. 1968 was the year of the mass transplant of human hearts.In the professional hockey world, 1968 also was the year of the mass transplant &mdash; of human hockey players.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01437/2864073-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="238" height="396"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Crozier</figcaption></div>The Vancouver Canucks of the Western Hockey League shelled out a million bucks and bought themselves a farm club, the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League.Medically speaking, transplant of hearts was working out quite well, thank you, by early 1969.The other transplant wasn&rsquo;t doing too badly, either.The most simple way to tell the story is this:Rochester&rsquo;s Amerks last season won the American League championship. In the Western League, Vancouver finished last.By mid-January of this season, Rochester was in last place in the American League. Vancouver was tied for first place and sizzling &mdash; only two defeats in the Canucks last 13 games through mid-January &mdash; in the Western League.None of this surprised most observers in the West. If anything was surprising, it was the Canucks started the season at such a leisurely pace.A major fault of many hockey analysts at this time of the season is that they look at the standings and believe them. But the standings don&rsquo;t always tell the truth. Some clubs are not the same teams that compiled so-so records in October.Of their first 20 games, the Canucks won 9, lost 8 and tied 3. They outscored opponents only 60-59.Of their next 24 games, the Canucks won 13, lost only 6 and tied 5. They outscored opponents by 17 goals, 81-64.You could break it down further.On the night of November 22 in Vancouver &mdash; before more than 10,000 adoring home-town fans &mdash; the Canucks were humiliated. Portland&rsquo;s Buckaroos waxed them, 7-1.What Coach Joe Crozier said to the boys that night &hellip; or the next day &hellip; or the day after &hellip; may never be revealed.But Vancouver&rsquo;s home-ice record at the time of that defeat was 7-4-1. The Canucks played the next nine in a row without a single loss &mdash; eight victories and a tie.On the road, the Canucks were a respectable but not outstanding 5-9-3 in their first 17 games. In their next six games away from home, they lost only once.What was doing it?The offense, for one thing, started to roll.Big Bob Barlow, who sniped 43 goals for Rochester last season, scored only four in his first 20 games for Vancouver &mdash; then collected 15 in his next 23 clashes.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-06174/2864059-1-eng-US/f0019-062.jpg" title="f0019-06" width="384" height="564"><figcaption class="caption-body">DUKE HARRIS &hellip; Finds Range</figcaption></div>Duke Harris scored two goals in 18 games. Then he popped in 12 in his next 25.Add &lsquo;em up. Six goals in 38 games from Barlow and Harris &mdash; then 27 goals in 48 games. It helps.Tough Bryan Hextali picked up seven points in 12 games. He shifted gears and scored 36 in his next 30. Murray Hall jumped from 7 points in 11 games to better than a point-a-game pace.Then there was the defense. It was good at the start of the season. But by mid-January it was strong, both on the blue line and in the nets where George Gardner was tougn.In their first 20 games, the Canucks yielded 2.95 goals a contest. Solid. In their next 24 games, they gave up just 2.67 goals a contest. Suddenly Vancouver had the best defensive record in the Western Hockey League &mdash; unbelievable when you consider that the Portland Buckaroos of Hal Laycoe were still around.The Canucks were by far the shootingest team in the league. And they were starting to throw their weight around, too. By mid-January they led the league in minor penalties and in total penalty minutes were 109 ahead of the closest challenger, the Seattle Totems.Strenuous exercise of the jaw muscles was partially responsible for this, since the Canucks by mid-January had drawn 14 misconduct penalties, more than twice the total of any other team in the Western League.But misconducts can reflect spirit, and the Canucks, indeed, were spirited.No one was conceding anything.For one thing, the Canucks weren&rsquo;t overpowering many people. By mid-January they had played 16 games decided by a single goal, winning 10 and losing 6. San Diego, in contrast, had played only eight one-goal decisions, the Portland Buckaroos only four.Further, the Canucks in midJanuary were only 6-6-5 against top challengers Portland and San Diego. They were 16-8-3 against the bottom three clubs, Seattle, Phoenix and Denver. And they had eight games left against the league&rsquo;s highest-scoring team, San Diego.Strangely, Portland, tied for first with Vancouver in midJanuary despite playing three fewer games, and the Canucks would clash only three more times after January. &#9632;

f0019-02

Slow-Starting Vancouver Gaining Momentum As Canucks Blaze Into Battle For Top Place

<h2>WED. JAN. 15</h2>DENVER 3 at PHOENIX 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03312/2864125-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="601" height="636"></div>VANCOUVER 4 at PORTLAND 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-04267/2864118-1-eng-US/f0019-042.jpg" title="f0019-04" width="595" height="609"></div><h2>FRI. JAN. 17</h2>PORTLAND 3 at PHOENIX 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-05222/2864111-1-eng-US/f0019-052.jpg" title="f0019-05" width="601" height="486"></div><h2>SAT. JAN. 18</h2>PORTLAND 3 at PHOENIX 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-07150/2864104-1-eng-US/f0019-072.jpg" title="f0019-07" width="591" height="534"></div> &#9632;

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WHL Summaries

<h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 28)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-08135/2864163-1-eng-US/f0019-082.jpg" title="f0019-08" width="595" height="246"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDTues. Jan. 21Seattle 4 at Phoenix 4Wed. Jan. 22Portland 2 at Son Diego 6Thurs. Jan. 23Portland 5 at San Diego 2Seattle 3 at Phoenix 2Fri. Jan. 24Portland 6 ot Seattle 6Son Diego 2 ot Vancouver 4Sat. Jan. 25Phoenix 2 at Denver 3Sun. Jan. 26Phoenix 3 at Denver 9Portland 2 at Vancouver 0San Diego 1 at Seattle 4GAMES TO COMETues. Jan. 28San Dteqo at VancouverWed Jan. 29Son Diego at PortlandVancouver at SeattleThurs. Jan. 30Phoenix at San DiegoFri. Jan. 31Denver at PhoenixPortland ot VancouverSat. Feb. 1Denver at Phoenix Portland ot VancouverSun. Feb. 2Denver at San DieqoSeattle ot Portland<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2>(Including Games of Sat. Jan. 18)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-09114/2864156-1-eng-US/f0019-092.jpg" title="f0019-09" width="589" height="621"></div> &#9632;

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<div class="byline">BY TOM RENO</div>For Something Different, Informative In Hockey Reading See T.V. Sections, Thumbnail Sketches In HOCKEY ANNUALHOCKEY NEWS Makes An Ideal Gift On Any Occasion. Give A Subscription To Dad Or BrotherAMARILLO. Tex. &mdash;While Jim Lorentz and Tom Webster of Oklahoma City continue to set a fast scoring pace in the Central Hockey League, a real battle has developed among the other leaders.Lorentz now has 76 points&rsquo; including 55 assists and 21 goals, and Webster, who has 59 points, owns the league high of 27 goals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01281/2864201-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="262" height="418"><figcaption class="caption-body">Len Bazay</figcaption></div>Chris Bordeleau. Houston, is third with 48 points, Bill Fairbairn, Omaha, fourth with 45 and three players are tied for fifth, each with 44. They include Oscar Gaudet, Dallas, Ernie Hicke, Houston, and Cary Veneruzzo, Kansas City.Rookie Jim Shires of Amarillo has been named &ldquo;Player of the Week&rdquo; following his four-game effort last week for the Wranglers. Shires, on loan from Detroit, scored two goals and five assists as Amarillo thumped Memphis, 72, then collected three straight ties.Shires joined Amarillo Wednesday and promptly scored two goals and two assists at Memphis and was credited with putting some much-needed zip in the Wrangler attack.There were nine ties in 16 league games last week as both the North and South Divisions tightened. Tulsa has climbed into a first-place tie with Kansas City in the North with Omaha only four points back, 42-38.TULSA &mdash; It was a week of ties for the Oilers, but it was good enough to spur them into a first-place tie with Kansas City, each with 42 points on 14 wins and 14 ties. Two Oilers remain among the scoring leaders, Andre Hinse with 40 points and Len Bazay with 37. Early in the week, Ft. Worth fought back in the final period to gain a 2-2 tie with Tulsa as Irv Spencer tapped in the winning shot. The same two clubs also tied, 1-1, on Saturday and Dallas knotted up the Oilers, 3-3, Sunday.KANSAS CITY &mdash; Failure to win in two weeks of play has cost the Blues sole possession of first place in the North. Coach Fred Hucul now feels his club has had more than its share of injuries, forcing the Blues to drop to only three defensemen and shifting John DeDiana to the backline. Ray Fortin broke his hand a week ago and now Gerald Lemire has been benched with a shoulder injury. Even more frustrating for Hucul is the fact that it&rsquo;s been six games since the Blues have scored in the final period and four times last week Kansas City had two-goal leads only to tie or lose games. Ian Campbell, out for almost two months with a separated shoulder, has returned to action.OMAHA &mdash; The Knights art slowly making their way toward Tulsa and Kansas City. Now only four points back of the co-leaders, 42-38, Omaha made its most recent jump on two victories in three starts. The Knights turned back Memphis, 5-2, and then rallied to stop Kansas City, 5-3. Sunday night, Omaha took a break from league play to meet its parent club, the New York Rangers. In a wild scoring game New York won, 12-6, before a crowd of 4,552. Only four minor penalties were called.MEMPHIS &mdash; An impressive 44 tie at Oklahoma City was one of two deadlocks chalked up last week by the South Stars. Barrie Meissner took time out from a pair of fights with Barry Wilkins to score the &ldquo;hat trick.&rdquo;Oklahoma City trailed, 4-3, after two periods, but Ross Lonsberry hit the nets 51 seconds after the final period opened. Joey Johnston has climbed into a tie for eighth in scoring with 42 points and teammate Gary Dineen also ranks among the leaders with 35. The other tie of the week for Memphis was 3-3 at Amarillo.OKLAHOMA CITY &mdash; The Balzers exchanged victories with Houston and were held to a tie by Memphis, but they still lead the South by nine points. Clem Tremblay tallied three goals and an assist and Steve Atkinson had two goals and two assists during the week. Atkinson has moved into a tie for 13th in the league with 40 points. Jim Lorentz and Tom Webster had slow weeks, but still rank 1-2 with 76 and 59 points, respectively. Bill Lesuk, a left winger, is on injury recall to Boston.HOUSTON &mdash; Caron and Chris Bordeleau each scored two goals and three assists during a week in which the Apollos won and lost to Oklahoma City and tied Kansas City and Amarillo. Ernie Hicke also added a goal and three assists to the cause. Bordeleau is third in league scoring with 48 points, Hicke is tied for fifth with 44 and Caron is tied for 10th with 41. The Apollos still are in the No. 2 spot in their division, but have little breathing room as Fort Worth is only two points back, 50-48, and Dallas is a strong fourth with 44.FORT WORTH &mdash; It was a good week for the Wings, who closed out the action with a come-from-behind triumph over Kansas City. Almost as thrilling though was the record crowd of 9,705 in Fort Worth&rsquo;s Tarrant County Convention Center that saw the Wings and Dallas play to a 4-4 tie. Fort Worth plans to play two more games this season at the new facility. The Wings also tied Tulsa twice, 2-2, and 1-1. John Cuniff scored the &ldquo;hat trick&rdquo; at Kansas City, including the go ahead goal at 13:54 of the third period. Ed Hatoum fired in the tieing goal at 10:03 of the third and put the game out of reach on an open net shot with only six seconds remaining after Rick McCann poke-checked the puck clear near the center line. Hatoum went up to Detroit on recall and forward Danny Lawson came down to take his place.DALLAS &mdash; A 5-1 victory over Omaha and ties with Fort Worth and Tulsa enabled the Black Hawks to stay hot on the heels of Houston and Fort Worth. Dallas has been beaten only once in two weeks, but has had trouble gaining ground because of the way Houston and Fort Worth have played. Oscar Gaudet is tied for fifth in league scoring with 44 points, Cliff Koroll two points back with 42, and Jim Weste and Brian McDonald each have 39.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-158/2864194-1-eng-US/f0020-152.jpg" title="f0020-15" width="546" height="552"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM SHIRES &hellip; Player Of Week</figcaption></div>Jack Norris leads all goalies with a 2.45 goals-against average and his four shutouts also are tops.AMARILLO &mdash; The Wranglers opened the week with a rousing 72 lashing of Memphis and played three straight ties &mdash; K.C., 2-2; Memphis, 3-3, and Houston, 2-2. Jim Shires on loan from Detroit and last with Omaha, joined the club in time for the win at Memphis, scoring two goals and two assists. This and other feats during the week earned him &ldquo;Player of the Week&rdquo; honors in the CHL. Paul Andrea, the leading scorer for Amarillo, was called by Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday. He ranks among the league&rsquo;s top scorers with 36 points in only 32 games. The Penguins also summoned defenseman Bill Speer and forward Garv Swain to the NHL. &#9632;

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Hot Tulsa Oilers Surge To Top Place; Newcomer Shires Beefs Up Amarillo

<h2>FRI. JAN. 10</h2>HOUSTON 4 at OMAHA 0<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02204/2864316-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="582" height="430"></div>KANSAS CITY 4 at MEMPHIS 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03170/2864309-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="582" height="652"></div>TULSA 5 at OKLAHOMA CITY 9<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04129/2864302-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="580" height="760"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0567/2864295-1-eng-US/f0020-052.jpg" title="f0020-05" width="580" height="196"></div><h2>SAT. JAN. 11</h2>FORT WORTH 3 at MEMPHIS 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0649/2864288-1-eng-US/f0020-062.jpg" title="f0020-06" width="582" height="458"></div>OMAHA 3 at DALLAS 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0740/2864281-1-eng-US/f0020-072.jpg" title="f0020-07" width="596" height="678"></div>OKLAHOMA CITY 5 at TULSA 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0833/2864274-1-eng-US/f0020-082.jpg" title="f0020-08" width="594" height="362"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0922/2864267-1-eng-US/f0020-092.jpg" title="f0020-09" width="592" height="332"></div><h2>SUN. JAN. 12</h2>AMARILLO 1 at FORT WORTH 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1018/2864260-1-eng-US/f0020-102.jpg" title="f0020-10" width="594" height="388"></div>DALLAS 4 at KANSAS CITY 0<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1112/2864253-1-eng-US/f0020-112.jpg" title="f0020-11" width="586" height="406"></div>MEMPHIS 2 at HOUSTON 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1211/2864246-1-eng-US/f0020-122.jpg" title="f0020-12" width="588" height="84"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-139/2864239-1-eng-US/f0020-132.jpg" title="f0020-13" width="596" height="546"></div>TULSA 5 at OMAHA 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-148/2864232-1-eng-US/f0020-142.jpg" title="f0020-14" width="580" height="708"></div> &#9632;

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Central League Summaries

<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 28)Northern Division<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01144/2864403-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="590" height="178"></div>Southern Division<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02107/2864396-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="590" height="180"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDWed. Jan. 22Amarillo 1 at Oklahoma City 6Houston 4 at Memphis 1Thun. Jan. 23Memphis 3 ot Amarillo 4Oklahoma City 2 at Omaha 4Fort Worth 0 ot Dallas 1Sat. Jan. 25Houston 2 ot Dallas 2Memphis 2 ot Oklahoma City 9Omaha 5 at Kansas City 3Tulsa 2 at Fort Worth 6Sun. Jan. 26Fort Worth 5 at Amarillo 6Omaha 6 ot Houston 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3>(Including Games of Sun. Jan. 19)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0370/2864389-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="598" height="462"></div><h2>EASTERN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 28)NORTHERN DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0459/2864382-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="590" height="240"></div>SOUTHERN DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0552/2864375-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="586" height="180"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDTues. Jan. 21Clinton 3 at Syracuse 2Salem 5 at New Jersey 2Long Island 4 at Jacksonville 5Wed. Jan. 22Salem 3 ot New Haven 4Long Island 3 at Greenboro 4Thun. Jan. 23New Jersey 2 at Syracuse 1Long Island 0 at Nashville 5Fri. Jan. 24Salem 2 at Clinton 2New Hoven 5 at Long Island 3Greensboro 2 at Charlotte 8Nashville 5 at Jacksonville 3Sat. Jan. 25New Haven 2 at Syracuse 1New Jersey 3 at Clinton 3Long Island 3 at Johnstown 9Nashville 0 at Greensboro 8Jacksonville 5 at Charlotte 3Sun. Jan. 26Clinton 5 at New Haven 4Syracuse 3 at Long Island 8New Jersey 3 at Johnstown 6Greensboro 7 at Nechville 8<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3>(Including Games of Sun. Jan. 19)NORTHERN DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0645/2864368-1-eng-US/f0021-062.jpg" title="f0021-06" width="596" height="282"></div>SOUTHERN DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0737/2864361-1-eng-US/f0021-072.jpg" title="f0021-07" width="592" height="280"></div><h2>WESTERN ONTARIO JUNIOR</h2>(Standings on Sat. Jan. 25)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0832/2864354-1-eng-US/f0021-082.jpg" title="f0021-08" width="596" height="204"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0926/2864347-1-eng-US/f0021-092.jpg" title="f0021-09" width="598" height="432"></div> &#9632;

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<div class="byline">BY HARVEY POLLACK</div>CLINTON, N.Y. &mdash;The Clinton Comets continued to beat off the challenge of the Johnstown Jets and New Haven Blades in the hot battle to capture the Northern Division title but it hasn&rsquo;t been easy for Pat Kelly&rsquo;s warriors.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1023/2864434-1-eng-US/f0021-102.jpg" title="f0021-10" width="252" height="426"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat Kelly</figcaption></div>The Comets moved four full points ahead of Johnstown with two wins and two ties in four starts last week giving them six out of a possible 8 points. But the pesky Jets came up with two wins to hold second spot, four points behind Clinton.New Haven got into the act as well with three wins in four starts last week to create a cozy three-cornered struggle for the lead position.With the schedule past the halfway mark. Clinton. Johnstown and New Haven appear geared for a head-knocking dash to the wire to win first place. The Comets look to be the choice club but don&rsquo;t rule out either the Jets or Blades.In the Southern race, Nashville Flyers stayed four points ahead of Greensboro with three wins last week. The Generals, who were 2-2 for the week, have 67 points. Nashville has 71.JERSEY: Devils are still searching for first road win of season to strengthen their quest for a playoff berth. Larry Pleau&rsquo;s hat trick helped beat New Haven. Rene Lavigueur broke his arm while on loan to Johnstown. Devils added Bill McEwan, a winger from the Quebec Aces. Gordie Stratton&rsquo;s elbow injury was more serious than anticipated and his return to duty is indefinite. Hat tricks by Bill Christodal and Jamie Kennedy beat New Haven.CLINTON: Pat Kelly upset over shutout to Johnstown and threatened fines. Lynn Carter&rsquo;s back to back shutouts of Clinton foes preceded the shutout but that didn&rsquo;t satisfy Kelly. John Chapman recovered from fractured wrist but was sent to Charlotte. Referee Bob Smith has topped Ed Babiuk&rsquo;s shutout total of last year.CHARLOTTE: Goelie Bob Whidden says he has been disappointed with his season thus far and hopes to do better the last pari of the year. Frank Golembrosky&rsquo;s hat trick sparked win over Jacksonville. Checkers trying to stave off challenge of Rockets. Tim McCormick scoring steadily since acquisition from Syracuse. So has Golembrosky who scored 11 goals in his first 13 games with team.NASHVILLE: Ed Hebert&rsquo;s hat trick helped Flyers gain tie with Greensboro. Flo Pilote celebrated his 33rd birthday with some vicious checks vs Salem. Wally Sprange&rsquo;s last minute goal tied Greensboro. Leo Olivier bothered by knee injury. Chuck Goddard has taken over as Nashville goalie in Duffy Lewis&rsquo; stead. Goddard picked up on waivers from Charlotte.LONG ISLAND: Herman Karp, the youngest of the Ducks, posted hat trick vs Syracuse. Norm De Felice reinjured shoulder vs New Haven and will be out at least a month and possibly for season. Roger Wilson has taken over cage duties. Russ McClenaghan&rsquo;s left leg still not healthy. Les Calder continues to pace club scoring. Loss of DeFelice has coach John Brophy pessimistic.GREENSBORO: Stu Roberts&rsquo; third hat trick in two weeks helped beat Salem. Ron Muir&rsquo;s last period goal beat Jacksonville. John Murray suffered head injury from Marc Brunet&rsquo;s stick. Only his helmet saved him from further injury. Muir&rsquo;s goal with 25 seconds left tied Nashville. McDuffe had 48 saves in game. Team&rsquo;s balanced attack has delighted coach Ron Spong.SYRACUSE: Goalie Tony Gale aggravated a knee injury and was sidelined for a stretch. In one game trainer Chuck Rutledge had to take over the cage duties. Doug Ferguson tabbed a goal in his first game with Blazers alter acquisition from Charlotte for Tim McCormick. Paul Lessard tallied twice in losing cause at Long Island. The Blazers played three of their games for the benefit of the March of Dimes.JACKSONVILLE: Coach Bob Sabourin elated over 45-save performance by Harrison Gray at Salem which he termed &ldquo;one of Gray&rsquo;s finest games.&rdquo; The largest crowd of year, 4298 saw Rockets nipped by Greensboro. Marc Brunet and the Gens John Murray had a set-to in this game which ended with Brunet hitting Murray over the head with his stick. Shorty Melanchuck placed on disabled list with neck ailment. Ed Pare back in action from broken jaw injury that befell him in November.NEW HAVEN: Blake Ball took over the coaching reins while Don Perry was convalescing from knee surgery. Bus broke down on Jersey trip and team had little sleep for next night&rsquo;s game. Blades blanked Long Island behind Dave Hainsworth as Ferry gave team a vernal barrage before game. Mike Rouleau&rsquo;s goal vital in win over Jersey.JOHNSTOWN: Jets recalled George Forgie from Nashville where he had been sent on loan. Jim Mair due back in action shortly since a walking cast has been put on his leg, Lynn Zimmerman&rsquo;s second shutout came over Clinton. Jets also received Claude Piche who had been loaned by Clinton to Salem. Galen Head took easy verdict over Clinton&rsquo;s Bill Bannerman in a set-to. Hat tricks by Gene Peacosh, Garry Sharp, Reg Kent and Head sparked 14 goal outburst vs Syracuse.SALEM: Wally Chase back in action while Claude Boucher on injured list with arm injury. Coach Dave Lucas shuffled his lines in an effort to get more punch after his club had doubled foes&rsquo; shots in two games and lost both. Lucas ousted by ref Ted Daily for protesting tripping call. George Surmay continues to have brilliant games in goal. &#9632;

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Clinton Holding Off Hot Challenge From Johnstown, New Huven

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1117/2864556-1-eng-US/f0021-112.jpg" title="f0021-11" width="397" height="381"></div>SKATE EXCHANGEMAIL ORDERSFILLED PROMPTLY(Use the order form below) Check off desired Item Insert size where requiredToronto, Chicago. Montreal, New York Detroit, Boston, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Minnesota, Pittsburgh.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1210/2864549-1-eng-US/f0021-122.jpg" title="f0021-12" width="776" height="68"></div>HOCKEY STOCKINGS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-139/2864542-1-eng-US/f0021-132.jpg" title="f0021-13" width="788" height="42"></div>Toronto, Chicago, Montreal, New York, Detroit, Boston.HOCKEY PANTS(All with braid trim)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-148/2864535-1-eng-US/f0021-142.jpg" title="f0021-14" width="774" height="210"></div>Actual waist size(Hockey pants automatically oversized. We will size accordingly.)NHL HOCKEY CRESTS(All washable Swiss embr. emblems)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-158/2864528-1-eng-US/f0021-152.jpg" title="f0021-15" width="782" height="354"></div>(Add 50&cent; per emblem sewn to jersey)HOCKEY SWEATSHIRTS(Chicago, Boston, Montreal, New York, Detroit, Toronto)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-167/2864521-1-eng-US/f0021-162.jpg" title="f0021-16" width="768" height="72"></div>HOCKEY GLOVES<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-176/2864514-1-eng-US/f0021-172.jpg" title="f0021-17" width="754" height="346"></div>3247 W. Lawrence Ave Chicago 25, III. Phone Keystone 9-5044BRAND NAMESC.C.M. &mdash; WINWELLCOOPER WEEKS JOHNSONBAUER AERFLYTEHYDE NORTHLANDHOCKEY SHINGUARDS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-186/2864507-1-eng-US/f0021-182.jpg" title="f0021-18" width="774" height="178"></div>HOCKEY ELBOW PADS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-196/2864500-1-eng-US/f0021-192.jpg" title="f0021-19" width="768" height="144"></div>HOCKEY HELMETS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-206/2864493-1-eng-US/f0021-202.jpg" title="f0021-20" width="764" height="110"></div>(One size only fits all)GOALIE GLOVES<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-216/2864486-1-eng-US/f0021-212.jpg" title="f0021-21" width="768" height="140"></div>GOALIE PADS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-225/2864479-1-eng-US/f0021-222.jpg" title="f0021-22" width="768" height="174"></div>GOALIE MASKS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-234/2864472-1-eng-US/f0021-232.jpg" title="f0021-23" width="766" height="70"></div>TOUQUES<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-243/2864465-1-eng-US/f0021-242.jpg" title="f0021-24" width="770" height="112"></div> &#9632;

f0021-11

NED SINGER’S HOCKEY SUPPLY CO.

<div class="byline">BY BOB REED</div>COLUMBUS, 0. &mdash;Moe Bartoli, controversial and deposed playing coach of the Columbus Checkers, is now the property, technically at least, of the Des Moines Oak. Leafs.The Oak Leafs secured rights to Bartoli via the waiver route. But the hitch is that Bartoli has no plans to report to the Des Moines club.Jerrv Schmelzer, vice-president of the Columbus club explained the situation regarding his former coach:<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0937/2864674-1-eng-US/f0022-092.jpg" title="f0022-09" width="248" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body">George Wood</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-1030/2864667-1-eng-US/f0022-102.jpg" title="f0022-10" width="246" height="426"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jerry Korab</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I talked with Andy Mulligan (commissioner of the International Hockey League) and he indicated that Moe might be interested in making a deal for himself with another league. In order for him to do that he would have to be put on waivers in the IHL.&ldquo;Two of the other six clubs put in claims &mdash; Port Huron and Des Moines &mdash; and by league rule the club lower in the standing gets the waived player. So now he is the property of Des Moines and if he does not report to them he is on their protected list&rdquo;.Bartoli&rsquo;s answer was, &ldquo;That doesn&rsquo;t change my mind. I am not reporting to Des Moines. I am continuing to formalize plans to make an offer to buy the Checkers&rdquo;.The former player-coach filed corporation papers with the secretary of state&rsquo;s office&rdquo; to acquire, hold and operate a hockey franchise and to maintain, operate and control a hockey club and conduct hockey games and athletic events&rdquo;.FORT WAYNE &mdash; The Komets had their biggest scoring game of the season in trouncing Port Huron, 9-2, before a Sunday crowd of 5,823. Ken Knapton, secured from Toledo on waivers and Ron llyot, son of the Komet general manager had hat tricks &hellip; Mery Dubchak racked up his 30th goal of the season &hellip; Doug Reid joined the casualty list witha knee injury, fourth such for the Komets this season.MUSKEGON &mdash; The Mohawks were having a big season on home ice with a 16-3-3 record but had a feeble road mark, exactly the opposite, at 3-16-3 &hellip; They brought in a new defenseman, Normand Descoteaux, from Montreal &hellip; Largest crowd of the season &mdash; 3,990 &mdash; saw the &lsquo;Hawks nip Columbus, 53 &hellip; Gary Ford and Bryan McLay were in a close race for scoring honors.DAYTON &mdash; In their battle with Toledo for first place, the Gems and Blades stood exactly even in eight meetings, each winning three with two ties &hellip; Don Westbrooke had a big lead in scoring with 68 points, followed by Dune Rousseau with 48 and Coach Larry Wilson, in only 30 games, with 46 &hellip; Tom Iannone, recently secured from Seattle, had a hat trick.DES MOINES &mdash; Michel Jacques purchased from Providence of the American League, scored on his first shot in a Des Moines uniform &hellip; The Leafs also acquired goalie George Wood, property of Toronto who has been playing with Rochester in the American League &hellip; Wood made 54 saves in his first game, boosting Oak Leaf saves in five consecutive games to 224 &hellip; Steve Sutherland continued his hot pace with 11 goals in 14 games.TOLEDO &mdash; Coach Terry Slater announced he would go with 15 players the rest of the season, one under the IHL limit &hellip; Goalie Glenn Ramsay, who gave up six goals at Des Moines had not given up that many since Nov. 8. also against Des Moines &hellip; The Blades won their first game in Des Moines in four starts after losing two and tieing one.PORT HURON &mdash; Coach Ted Garvin restored defenseman Jerrv Korab to good standing after a fine and suspension when Korab apologized for poor play and remarks &hellip; Meehan Bonnar had a knee operation postponed while his wife was having a babv&hellip; The Flags were giving a tryout to goalie Alan Cecile. 20, from Leamington. Ont. &hellip; Art Chiupka. newest member of the Flags, had three goals his first three games. &#9632;

f0022-09

Bartoli Refuses To Report To Oak Leafs; Dayton, Toledo Battle For First Place

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-1127/2864712-1-eng-US/f0022-112.jpg" title="f0022-11" width="583" height="675"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-1226/2864705-1-eng-US/f0022-122.jpg" title="f0022-12" width="579" height="683"></div> &#9632;

f0022-11

Goalkeepers’ Records

<div class="byline">BY JACK GATECUFF</div>OSHAWA. Ont. &mdash;It would be understanding the case to say that Oshawa Generals have missed Bobby Orr since he left junior hockey and started making life more pleasant for Boston hockey fans.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01141/2864743-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="252" height="444"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Acomb</figcaption></div>The last season Orr played with the Generals the club finished in third place, then won the Ontario championship before losing to Edmonton four games to two in the Memorial Cup final.Without trying to detract from the Edmonton victory it must be said in all honesty that one of the major reasons the Generals were beaten was that Orr was operating with a badly twisted knee.Crowds packed the Oshawa arena during the three years Orr played there and quickly disappeared when he left.The Generals&rsquo; fortunes dipped after that successful 1965-66 season.Without Orr they finished dead last in 1966-67. ninth in 1967-68 and missed the playoffs both seasons.They got away to another slow start this year but their fortunes improved when coach Ike Hildebrand was replaced by school teacher Doug Williams.They had their biggest moments in three years last weekend when they posted back-to-back victories over the first place St. Catharines Black Hawks.The Generals crushed the Hawks 6-2 in Oshawa. then defeated them 4-2 at Garden City Arena, marking the first time St. Catharines had dropped more than one game in succession.Rick Kessell has been one of the dominant forces with the Oshawa club, leading the league in points and playing a sound defensive game.The Generals have also been helped by the improved goaltending of Bob Smith and &lsquo;some fine defensive work by John Clayton, Bob Stewart. Jerry Met he and Dave Pulkinen.Stewart, a 6 ft. 2 in. 195-pound defenceman. has been especially effective in recent games and could be headed for a National Hockey League career in the future.The two wins boosted the Generals into sixth place and. as eight teams qualify for the playoffs, they seem reasonably certain of catching one of the post-season berths.Montreal continued its climb and. barring a sudden slump, seem almost certain of passing the leading Black Hawks.A Canadian record for junior hockey. 16.889 fans, watched the Canadiens blank Hamilton Red Wings 5-0 in the Forum, lifting the junior Habs to within four points of St. Catharines.They also have six games in hand.Doug Acomb of Toronto Marlboros continues to lead in actual goals scored with 45 and could pose a threat to the 68-goal Ontario Hockey Association junior A record set by Brian Cullen of St. Catharines Teepees in the 1953-54 season.The Marlboros. like the Generals, should make a playoff spot, leaving London and Ottawa to battle it out for the eighth position.Kitchener Rangers, despite some improvement, are well out of content ion after winning the pennant the past two years. &#9632;

f0023-01

Oshawa On Way Back In OHA Race

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02104/2864774-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="885" height="1192"></div><h2>SOLUTION IN FEBRUARY 8 ISSUE</h2><h2>ACROSS</h2>1&mdash;Pictured player5&mdash;First name of one of the Hawks.8&mdash;Avenue. (abbr).9&mdash;Beverage.10&mdash;Current Central League scoring leader.12&mdash;9th and 12th letters of the alphabet.13&mdash;Louis Blues.14&mdash;One of the Rangers answers to this.16&mdash;First name of one of the North Stars.18&mdash;Before.19&mdash;Initials of Erickson of Phoenix.20&mdash;Initials of one of the Blues.22&mdash;A vase.24&mdash;Distress signal.25&mdash;One of the Houston A polios.27&mdash;Number worn by Kent Douglas.29&mdash;Preposition.30&mdash;Initials of Ingram of Buffalo.31&mdash;First name of one of the Hawks.34&mdash;One of the L.A.<h2>DOWN</h2>1&mdash;An N.H.L. captain.2&mdash;Berenson received one for scoring six goals in one game.3&mdash;First name of Locas of Providence.4&mdash;One of the Wings answers to this.5&mdash;A former Canadien.6&mdash;Former Hawks Rollins answers to this.7&mdash;First name of an injured Hab.11&mdash;A Toronto centre.15&mdash;Initials of Hall of Fame referee Elliott.17&mdash;One of the Penguins.21&mdash;Initials of a Montreal defenseman.23&mdash;Scored one goal in the recently played N.H.L. All-star game.24&mdash;First name of last season&rsquo;s top scorer.26&mdash;The(Fr.)28&mdash;Ireland, (abbr.)31&mdash;Initials of one of the Oakland Seals.32&mdash;One of the Bruins answers to this.33&mdash;Initials of Nolet of Philadelphia.<h2>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S ANSWERS</h2><h3>ACROSS</h3>2&mdash;ULLMAN.5&mdash;S.P.7&mdash;B.A.8&mdash;I.C.9&mdash;ETE.10&mdash;RUTLEDGE.11&mdash;I.G.12&mdash;.S.13&mdash;AMI.14&mdash;A.H.L.16&mdash;N.K.17&mdash;C.T.V.18&mdash;O.B.20&mdash;OO.21&mdash;OWL.22&mdash;N.E.24&mdash;L.S.26&mdash;D.A.28&mdash;MIKE.30&mdash;B.L.32&mdash;BOIVIN.33&mdash;EEL.35&mdash;LE.36&mdash;LONSBERRY.<h3>DOWN</h3>1&mdash;UBRIACO.2&mdash;LAUGHTON.3&mdash;MILK.4&mdash;ACES.5&mdash;STEMKOWSKI.6&mdash;P.E.9&mdash;EGAN.15&mdash;LV.19&mdash;B.L.21&mdash;OLIVER.23&mdash;ED.25&mdash;ABEL.27&mdash;AB.28&mdash;MILE.29&mdash;E.N.31&mdash;LEO.34&mdash;L.N. &#9632;

f0023-02

Hockey Crossword

MONTREAL, Que. &mdash;The National Hockey League has legislated against the men in the big pads.The NHLs Board of governors decided at the annual meeting here before the All-Star game that in future league teams will not be permitted to have more than two goalkeepers in the lineup for any one game.The rule was introduced to keep NHL teams from employing three goalers in one game a practice that has come about this season in games involving Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues, who are currently carrying three regular netminders each on their roster.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01152/2864812-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="253" height="444"><figcaption class="caption-body">Terry Sawchuk</figcaption></div>Detroit has Terry Sawchuk, Roger Crozier and Rov Edwards up with the big club. The Blues have Glenn Hall. Jacques Plante and Garv Edwards.NHL President Clarence Campbell said there is no objection to a club retaining three goalkeepers on their roster, but only two can be used in any one game and the pair must be designated by the coach before the game starts.Under the new rule if the starting goaler is removed and subsequently replaced by his backup man and the substitute is then withdrawn or injured, the original starting goalie must return to the game, Campbell outlined.&ldquo;In the event of an injury the team will have to either put the first goalie back in or else take someone else from the lineup,&rdquo; said Campbell.Which leads to the question, what happens the night Worsley starts in goal, gets hurt and has to give way to Vachon, who also becomes injured? Worsley can&rsquo;t return. Who is going to play goal then?Jacques Laperriere or Terry Harper, you say. You could be right!<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02103/2864805-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="1167" height="1950"><figcaption class="caption-body">Injured Starting Goalers Must Recover Quickly</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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February 1, 1969

Hockey Races

Penguins Welcomed All-Star Break, “We’re Tired Club,” Says Sully

WHERE THE NHL TEAMS ARE

Hockey Race