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

January 16, 1970

The Hockey News January 16, 1970

Founded October 1st, 1947Published weekly except monthly June through September by Ken-Will Publishing Co. Ltd.1434 St. Catherine Street West Montreal 107, Canada.Kenneth William McKenzie President and PublisherCharlie Halpin Editorial DirectorYearly SUBSCRIPTION Rates: $6.00 in Canada $7.00 in the U.S.A. and $9.00 in Foreign Countries.Postage paid at Rouses Point, N.Y.Second class mail&mdash;Registration No. 1327Printed in CanadaVol. 23 MONTREAL, JANUARY 16, 1970 No. 15 &#9632;

IN THIS ISSUE

The Hockey News OFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY

<h2>Thurs., Dec. 25 IOWA 3 AT OMAHA 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02114/2914430-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="579" height="674"></div><h2>DALLAS 2 AT OKLAHOMA CITY 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0380/2914423-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="572" height="554"></div><h2>Fri. Dec. 26 DALLAS 3 AT FORT WORTH 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0463/2914416-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="578" height="796"></div><h2>KANSAS CITY 1 AT TULSA 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0550/2914409-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="570" height="425"></div><h2>Sat. Dec. 27 FORT WORTH 2 AT DALLAS 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0642/2914402-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="573" height="610"></div><h2>Sun. Dec. 28 FORT WORTH 2 AT KANSAS CITY 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0737/2914395-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="572" height="649"></div><h2>OMAHA 3 AT TULSA 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0833/2914388-1-eng-US/f0024-082.jpg" title="f0024-08" width="575" height="479"></div><h2>IOWA 4 AT OKLAHOMA CITY 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0928/2914381-1-eng-US/f0024-092.jpg" title="f0024-09" width="574" height="502"></div> &#9632;

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Central League Summaries

<div class="byline">BY ED CONRAD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01465/2913441-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="559" height="581"><figcaption class="caption-body">KEITH ALLEN&hellip;Reaches Hockey Peak</figcaption></div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;It was a peculiar set of circumstances how Keith Allen got his name engraved on the Stanley Cup as a player and it has taken another unusual act that now has him in the big time as a general manager.When Bud Poile was dismissed as the Flyers&rsquo; GM because of what principal owner Ed Snider said were &ldquo;fundamental differences between him and the owners&rdquo;. Allen was elevated to the vacant position.Snider ripped up Allen&rsquo;s old contract, which still had a year-and-a-half to run. and gave Keith a new contract which extended through the 1972-73 season. There naturally was a sizeable increase in salary.It was a strange development because Poile had been the person responsible for bringing Allen to the Flyers in the first place. When Bud was named GM at the club&rsquo;s inception, he tabbed his former Western League rival to coach the team.Last summer, differences of opinion evidentally caused Snider to make a change. He promoted Allen to assistant GM and vice president, after Keith had directed the Flyers to a Western Division championship his first season and to a third-place finish last year.&ldquo;Keith and I had a long talk and we discussed every phase of the Flyers&rsquo; operation&mdash;A to Z&rdquo;, revealed Snider. &ldquo;Then I offered him the job of general manager and he accepted.&rdquo;It was the ultimate managerial position in hockey and Keith couldn&rsquo;t believe it happened to him so fast.&ldquo;If I hadn&rsquo;t accepted the job. somebody else surely would have.&rdquo; said Allen. &ldquo;I his has always been my ambition since I&rsquo;ve been out of hockey as a player. I promise to give my best to make the Flyers a championship club.&rdquo;Allen. 46. said he had some ideas about strengthening the club but said no major overhaul could be expected. He said his first job would be to open channels of communication between the Flyers and the other 11 clubs.Keith&rsquo;s appointment was not unexpected but Poile&rsquo;s firing was. He &lsquo;till had a year-and-a-half to go on his current contract but Snider said he would receive every cent due him.According to Snider. Poile was let go for doing &ldquo;a sporadic&rdquo; job and causing the Flyers some embarrassment with his behind-the-scenes stunts and statements. He did not elaborate.The tipoff to the ill feeling between Snider, who owns 60 per cent of the Flyers&rsquo; stock, and Poile was Allen&rsquo;s appointment during the summer and the elevation of Vic Stasiuk as coach. It was a year ahead of the club&rsquo;s timetable.When Snider made the startling announcement dismissing Poile. he told the press that Bud was fired for doing an inconsistent job.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d hate to think I&rsquo;d dismiss a man just because of a personality conflict,&rdquo; said Snider later. &ldquo;If 1 felt Bud was doing a great job, I wouldn&rsquo;t have let him go. But I don&rsquo;t want to get into a mudslinging thing here. We just had basic differences in the funade-mental operation of the club.&rdquo;For Allen, the general manager&rsquo;s hat is not new to him since he had held the position for 10 years at Seattle of the Western League prior to coming to the Flyers.&rsquo; The first nine years he was their player-coach.Keith&rsquo;s NHL playing experience is relatively brief and it was a strange ordeal how he finally got his shot to play in the big time.&ldquo;I was playing for Eddie Shore with Springfield in the AHL when he worked out a peculiar deal which would&rsquo;ve seen seven players playing for a team in the old Quebec (pro) League.&rdquo; said Allen. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t like th idea of a salary reduction and decided I had had enough of the game. In fact, I even drove back home to Saskatoon in a snowstorm.Keith, a defenseman. had many years of minor league experience and. at age 31, figured he would pack it in. He just about gave up on making the NHL.A few days later, he had an offer to join Sherbrooke. Que., as their playing coach. He accepted after considerable debate and was there only a few games when the Red Wings asked him to report to Detroit. &ldquo;Red&rdquo; Kelly was hurt and they needed a replacement.&ldquo;I really thought someone was playing a practical joke.&rdquo; recalled Keith. &ldquo;But I reported and. sure enough, it was true. I wound up finishing out the season with them and the club won the Stanley Cup.&ldquo;Wasn&rsquo;t that a switch? There I was. quitting a minor league team, then winding up getting my name on the Stanley Cup.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Allen’s Rise To GM Recalls Day He Got His Name On Stanley Cup

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCCONNELL</div>PHOENIX&mdash;Coach Alf Pike had promised the Phoenix Roadrunners&rsquo; fans a contender by Christmas but the Runners have only won four, while losing nine and tying one in a four week span and the fans were starting to scream for Pike&rsquo;s scalp.With five rookies in the lineup, Pike said it would take three months for the club to get moving. The rookies are developing, one with a recent scoring surge.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0555/2914281-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="287" height="428"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alf Pike</figcaption></div>Dennis Schick, 20, has seven goals on the season but six have been in the past four games, since he was moved to veteran Milan Marcetta&rsquo;s right wing. Marcetta leads the club in goals with 16 and Frank Hughes, another 20-year-old rookie, is tops in points with 31 on 14 goals arid 17 assists.The Runners have been unable to cope with the Denver Spurs, losing all four games this season, largely due to the play of exRoadrunner Del Topoll. He set up the winning goal late in the third period in two games and. scored the clincher in another. Topoll, who led Phoenix in points in the 1967-68 season and was voted the Most Popular Player by the fans, was sold to the Spurs in the summer of &lsquo;68.At San Diego, Marc Reaume and Pat Hanningan changed Jack McCartan&rsquo;s mind about wearing a mask.Reaume, Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; defenseman, drove a hard shot from the blueline and 10 feet in front of the San Diego goal Hannigan tipped it high, catching McCartan under the nose.The 34-year-old hero of the 1960 U.S. Olympic hockey victory missed the next two games as the Gulls lost four straight, but was back in the nets for a 6-0 shutout of the Salt Lake City Golden Eagles and reduced his league leading goals against average to 2.40.McCartan has been wearing a mask in practice for the past four years, at the insistence of Coach Max McNab, but refused until now to use it in a game.&ldquo;The one I have now irritates me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It makes me itch and sweat. And sometimes when I turn my head quickly, it shifts.&ldquo;But being out of the lineup makes me feel lousy and I don&rsquo;t like it, so I have to do something. Those tip-in shots, there&rsquo;s not much you can do about them except hope they miss you.&rdquo;The Gulls are challenging the Portland Buckaroos for second place although hard hit by injuries.Ross Perkins, reactivated from the disabled list, to replace Alex Faulkner (broken foot), re-injured his knee and appears headed for surgery. Winger Willie O&rsquo;ree has been in and out of the lineup with a charlie horse and Jack Evans is out with a scratched eyeball.Dave Richardson, assigned to Detroit&rsquo;s farm club at Fort Worth, but who never left San Diego, was returned to the Gull&rsquo;s lineup but Max McNab is hard pressed to find another center until Faulkner can skate.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0646/2914274-1-eng-US/f0023-062.jpg" title="f0023-06" width="540" height="658"><figcaption class="caption-body">DENNIS SCHICK&hellip;Breaks Out in Goals</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0742/2914267-1-eng-US/f0023-072.jpg" title="f0023-07" width="540" height="690"><figcaption class="caption-body">FRANK HUGHES&hellip;Top Point Getter</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Rookies Schick, Hughes Hot But Runners Betraying Pike; McCartan Forced To Wear Musk

&mdash;PAGE 8CANADA ROCKS HOCKEY WORLD BY WITHDRAWING FROM TOURNEY&mdash;PAGE 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01515/2914873-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg" title="Cover-01" width="605" height="855"><figcaption class="caption-body">UNGER SPURNS HOOKED BLADE FOR COALS</figcaption></div>&mdash;PAGE 7<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-02388/2914866-1-eng-US/cover-022.jpg" title="Cover-02" width="1747" height="1727"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILL GOLDSWORTHY and JACQUES LEMAIRE NHL&rsquo;s First 20-Gool Scorers Of Season</figcaption></div>&mdash;PAGE 12 &#9632;

Cover-01

NORTH STARS IN ORBIT WITH ‘GOLDY’

TWIN CITIES&mdash;Charlie Burns, 33-year-old veteran Minnesota forward who has played in more than 500 NHL games, took over as interim coach of the North Stars Dec. 30 and has piloted his team to two ties and a loss.General man ager Wren Blair, who also handled the coaching duties until his health and the pressure of management duties caused him to step down as pilot, stated that he had been thinking of taking this action for some time.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02658/2912251-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="298" height="437"><figcaption class="caption-body">Charlie Burns</figcaption></div>Burns will be at the helm of the Western Division second place North Stars for at least another two weeks. Under NHL rules, he cannot play while coaching. He had been seeing a lot of action with the Stars as a penalty killer.The veteran has some coaching experience he received in the Western Hockey League. He twice led the San Francisco Seals of that league to playoff berths.The appointment is not on a head coach basis, but Blair has stated that he&rsquo;d &ldquo;be more than happy if I never had to return to the bench&rdquo;. He did not rule out the possibility of his interim coach becoming the regular mentor of the club.&ldquo;This is what I want to do&rdquo;, said Burns of coaching an NHL team. He has been with quite a few NHL teams in his career, and since expansion has seen action with Oakland and Pittsburgh as well as the Stars.In last week&rsquo;s play the North Stars fought to a scoreless tie, the first of the season, with the last place Kings in Los Angeles in Burns&rsquo; debut. They entertained the New York Rangers at home and held the high flying Blueshirts to a 3-3 tie. Burns was feeling pretty good at this juncture.In Philadelphia the bubble burst as they dropped a 3-1 decision to the Flyers, but one bright spot saw Bill Goldsworthy net his twentieth goal of the season.Going into this weeks action, with a road game at Toronto, the Stars are two points up on Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, who share third spot in the Western division race. &#9632;

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Burns Gets Pair Of Ties In NHL Coaching Debut

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01698/2912220-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hockey Canada president CHARLES HAY was at Geneva</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;Canada&rsquo;s explosive decision to drop out of world hockey competition brought mixed reaction but in general it was hailed as a move that should have been made a long time ago.The impact of the Canadian withdrawal was felt around the hockey world as expected. It even brought tears to the eyes of European hockey czar Bunny Ahearne. who was deeply moved by the decision.The president of the International Ice Hockey Federation was stunned when Canadian Amateur Hockey Association president Earl Dawson pulled Canada out of international hockey and the 1970 world championship, which was to be played here and in Winnipeg in March.Ahearne had no alternative but to inform delegates to the Geneva meeting that the tournament would be staged in Stockholm, which was previously designated as the backup city in the event there had to be a change in venue.Dawson, who spoke on behalf of the Canadian delegation, which also included Hockey Canada president Charles Hay, didn&rsquo;t mince words when he told the&rsquo; Geneva gathering that Canada had had enough of European meddling and IIHF hypocrisy.&ldquo;We will not take part in any tournament until we are given the right to play our top players,&rdquo; Dawson told the meeting. He said there will be no exchange of games between Canada and European countries until courtesy is extended to the Canadian team which has had to send its second and sometimes third best performers into World and Olympic tournaments because of the rigid International ruling that professionals are not eligible to compete.Dawson also took an indirect swipe at the Russians. Czechs and Swedes when he said, &ldquo;Canada will also enter a team of amateurs in the 1972 Olympic Games and we intend to question the eligibility of every other team and make ineligible any and all teams which have professionals.&rdquo;While the Russians have never admitted to having pros on their world hockey championship clubs, it is a known fact that all of their players are subsidized by the government and most hold down army positions which enables them to do nothing else but play and practice hockey 12 months of the year. The Swedes on the other hand openly admit their players are out-and-out professionals and are well paid.The decision of Canada to leave the world tournament was a bomb in the eyes of the organizers. CAHA executive-director Gordon Juckes said that nearly $400,000 in sold tickets would have to be refunded for the tournament. which was to be shared by Montreal and Winnipeg. In Winnipeg alone. $300,000 was already in the till for the upcoming games.The emergency Geneva meeting was called when Avery Brundage, president of the International Olympic Committee, ruled that anyone playing with or against professionals in the 1970 World tournament would be declared ineligible for the &lsquo;72 Olympics. Canada had previouslybeenold it would be allowed to dress nine pros exclusive of players from the National Hockey League.Among the pros with the Canadian National team were Brian Conacher and Billy Harris, both former NHL players with Toronto and Barry McKenzie, who was loaned by the Minnesota North Stars to the Canadian team.David Molson, president of the NHL Canadiens and a director of Hockey Canada, lauded the position taken by Canada&rsquo;s representatives at Geneva.&ldquo;It is the first time Canada has taken a stand as a nation on the international hockey scene. I would think this decision forms a basis for the thinking of most Canadians on this subject.&rdquo;Molson added that, &ldquo;we have seen a classic example of hypocrisy that surrounds the IIHF.&rdquo;Hay, who had joined Hockey Canada as its president this year along with A.J. &lsquo;Buck&rsquo; Houle, the team general manager, said that Canada had agreed to stand firm against any alteration of the use of pros before he and the CAHA delegates went to Geneva.NHL President Clarence Campbell did not comment too much on the withdrawal because of the lack of first-hand information but his remarks hinted that Ahearne had yielded to IOC pressure and that Canada could no longer go on backing down to the Europeans and IIHF.It was reported that Ahearne would invite the United States to step up from the Group B division to replace Canada in the world tournament but USAHA president Tom Lockhart said he did not know if the invitation would be accepted until he submits a full report to the U.S. Olympic Hockey Committee.The general feeling of the Canadians was that the whole matter and especially the 1970 tournament had been sabotaged by Sweden and Russia.Dawson said:&ldquo;Sweden led the sabotage so they could get the tournament and benefit to the tune of $500,000. The Russians sabotaged the Canadian tournament so they would not be in danger of losing the gold medal.&rdquo;Dawson said the Russians had been complaining about the tournament schedule all along and now that the tournament is at Stockholm, the Swedes pro pose that the Canadian schedule be adopted and everyone agreed without a murmur.Hay, who had worked long and diligently to make Canada a respected hockey power, was disappointed that his country had to make the decision it did but he pointed out there was no other way.The Canadian Nationals closed the book on a hockey dream by defeating the Czechoslovakian National team 2-1 in their last game at Ottawa on Jan. 3.The victory was another indication that this was finally to become Canada&rsquo;s year. They showed the touring Russians on their recent Canadian tour that they were ready for a &ldquo;showdown&rsquo; and most people were convinced that the country&rsquo;s apathy in world hockey play had at last come to an end. &#9632;

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Canada Takes Stand, Rocks Hotkey World By Quitting Tourney

<div class="byline">BY NORMAN MACLEAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01700/2912310-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ED GIACOMIN (Hockey News Photo by Harry Klaff)</figcaption></div>NEW YORK&mdash;Any analysis of the New York Rangers success in the 1969 portion of the 1969-70 season is based on two main facts. The New Yorkers have been unbelievably successful against the West, standing 10-1-5 after Pittsburgh finally cracked through and beat them 3-2 on December 26. Secondly, the development of Brad Park, Walter Tkaczuk, Billy Fairbairn and Juha Widing have transferred the Blueshirts from a team scrambling to make the playoffs to one scrambling for the top.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02581/2912303-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="260" height="450"><figcaption class="caption-body">Emile Francis</figcaption></div>Despite the euphoria of New York&rsquo;s first place standing for over five weeks, Emile Francis, the shrewd General ManagerCoach knows that there are only twelve points separating first place from fifth. A slump means a trip down the coal shute into the nether regions of the NHL East. Right now the Blueshirts are embarked on what must be described as a crucial road trip. They play six straight road games starting with Pittsburgh on January 7 and visiting Montreal, Toronto, Philadelphia, Minnesota and St. Louis, through January 22. This is the annual exodus caused by the January visit to Madison Square Garden of the Ice Capades.A halfway analysis of the Rangers is mostly plus with very few minus factors. Rangerville really just wants more of same in the second half. Francis&rsquo; intense desire to win is shown by his early morning practice on Christmas Day. What follows is a quick peek at what the boys in blue would like in their second half stockings.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03388/2912296-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="1172" height="952"><figcaption class="caption-body">Scoring sensation WALT TKACZUK enjoying big season.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04229/2912289-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="1174" height="866"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rugged, young slap-shot artist BRAD PARK solid on defense. (Hockey News Photo by Harry Klaff)</figcaption></div>EDDIE GIACOMIN: The Vezina Trophy and success in the playoffs. Eddie has his 1969-70 assist and is running one-two in the goals-against race. He still has played all but one game. The worry is whether he will tire in the stretch and the Stanley Cup games. So far, Giacomin has held the Rangers up time and again with big saves and has been very consistent, something a contender must have in the nets.JIM NEILSON: A rousing second half, similar to the fine play which featured Neilson in January, February and March of both 1967-68 and 1968-69. Perhaps a little more puck luck so that his goal total might rise from his singleton of this season to somewheres near his ten pots of last.ROD SEILING: The Chief&rsquo;s (Neilson) partner on the blueline is having a fine season after rebounding from knee surgery. He could use a little understanding from those fans who boo him heedlessly and needlessly. Sod is a superb stick checking blue liner and a key part of the Ranger machine. He was responsible for the tying goal in the 3-3 New York-Los Angeles tie of December 28, but he has the highest plus rating in the NHL&mdash;26.BRAD PARK: The Rangers&rsquo; answer to Bobby Orr, is the best young defenseman to come into the NHL since Orr. If Bobby wasn&rsquo;t around, Park would be getting accolades by the ton. Brad still gets caught up ice a bit and has a few rough spots to iron out but his popularity in New York is assured. For a young fellow, he has become the People&rsquo;s Choice real quick. And he has converted to right defense real well. All Brad should wish for is maturity as a defenseman. It&rsquo;s great to be young and a Ranger.ARNIE BROWN: The BrownPark blue line combo has thirteen goals between them with Arnie owning six, including, 2 game winners. He has shown that last year&rsquo;s ten was not just one of those things. It is Brown who plays defense when Park rushes. Arnie is another plus from the 1964 Andy Bathgate deal with Toronto. He wants his name on the Cup and hopes this is the year.ALLAN HAMILTON: The rugged handsome fifth defenseman wants what all bench warmers want-ice time. Allan has made great strides under Francis this season and has been trusted with killing penalties when New York was even two men short. &lsquo;Nuff said.WALTER TKACZUK: There are those who think Ka-Chook is the best center in the NHL. As we went to press, both he and Phil Esposito had 14 goals. That speaks for itself. Like Park, Walter has it all in front of him. A little more savvy, a little more smarts, perhaps on faceoffs, and the sky is the limit.DAVE BALON: They keep waiting for Davey to slow down, but the 31-year-old from the Canadian West just wants to skate with those kids. With 13 goals at Christmas, Dave will take about that many in 1970 which would give him 26, two more than his peak with Montreal.BILLY FAIRBAIRN: The right wing on the Tkaczuk-Balon line, Billy is in the lead for the Calder Memorial Trophy as Rookie of the Year. With ten goals. Billy has to be hoping for at least twenty, which should give him ammunition for more wampum in his contract next season,JEAN RATELLE: When asked who was better Walter Tkaczuk. or Jean Ratelle, Emile Francis would not rate any of his centers. Ratty is still the key to the Rangers success and he has played well all season. Both 1967-68 and 1968-69 saw Jean score 32 goals. Since he said hello to Santa with 13, a second half with nineteen goals might fill the Rangers stocking with the NHL pennant and get Ratelle some much deserved ink.VIC HADFIELD: The left wing on the Ratelle-Gilbert line, Hadfield has proved his scoring success is no fluke. When he switched to the curved blade a few season back, it was a desperation move, which has paid off. Even a league ruling limiting the angle of the curvature of his banana stick has not slowed down big Vic. He has 13 pots, four game winners and should at least reach his 26 of last season. Would 30 be too high a figure to hope for?ROD GILBERT: All Rod wants is his health (out right now with an injured rib cartilage) and a patented Hot Rod hot streak. When that happens the goals will come and Gilbert should reach his usual total in the high twenties. Gilbert was just starting to move when he got hurt-and he wants to help the club so bad he can taste it.JUHA WIDING: Swede has done what he set out to do, when he decided at 16 to leave Scandinavia and move to Canada-become an NHL regular. He claims he only wants to get a regular turn and we believe him, but we also feel his goals and assists will really increase as his confidence and savvy comes on in the second half. Despite Phil Goyette&rsquo;s great season, New York may be better off with a young bull like the 22-year-old Yoo Hoo in the rough going of March and the Cups games.BOB NEVIN: The Captain is happy if the team wins. Two of his four goals were scored when he pinch hit for Gilbert on the Ratelle line. The knee injured in the first game of the season still isn&rsquo;t perfect, so Bob&rsquo;s wish is for a good hinge.DONNIE MARSHALL: The Rangers Assistant Coach is 37 and probably could use and occasional day off similar to the one Francis gave him against Oakland in December. Marsh still does the job. Donnie seems quiet, but he skates smoothly and carries a big stick. When the Blueshirts are down a man, the Cat employs the Marshall plan and usually comes away unscathed.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02475/2912282-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="546" height="878"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE BALON&hellip;Not Slowing Down</figcaption></div>RON STEWART: More ice time so he can get more game winning goals like the pair of short handed tallies he notched last month. Stew still glides over the ice with effortless strides which belie his 37 years and seventeen seasons. And like Donnie he bedevils opponents in short handed situations.REAL LEMIEUX: Lemieux is for real and has done a commendable job on the left side. He adds muscle and hustle to the holding line and like the others probably wants more ice.ORLAND KURTENBACH: Kurt has come a long way back from spinal surgery of November 1969, but he still lacks full game condition and it has to be hard to get it while only dressing occasionally. In order to really get in shape after what amounts to a year&rsquo;s layoff, Kurtenbach must play somewhere, either with New York or perhaps in the minors. This is hard to say and it is hard to write about a peerless pro, but at this stage it is true. Francis was waiting for some Kurtenbach body contact and got same when he inserted Kurt with New York floundering against LA on Dec. 28. Here&rsquo;s hoping Kurt has turned the corner.EMILE FRANCIS: It is not true that Francis walks on water, but we&rsquo;ll wager had be been born in Indiana instead of Saskatchewan, he would have led the Mets this past season instead of the Rangers. A born leader and tactician, the Cat is closing in on his goal in New York&mdash;a Cup team. The development of five rookies over the past two years is all Emile coule hope for. His only wish has to be more of same in the second half and then a successful Stanley Cup campaign. &#9632;

f0003-01

Can Rookies, Young Vets Keep Up Pace? New Yorkers Aim For Cup

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-01762/2912362-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="355" height="433"></div>THERE ARE presently 75 colleges playing hockey in the United States. I he NCAA Ice Hockey Committee has, recommended that the number of Canadian imports be limited to 14 per team in 1971, with the number being further reduced to eight per club by 1973, exclusive of goalkeepers&hellip;New York&rsquo;s tall center Jean Ratelle is recognized by most astute hockey observers as the NHL&rsquo;s most underrated player. His teammates and those close to the Ranger scene know the terrific job he is doing, however&hellip;Marcel Pronovost is enjoying the coaching job with Tulsa Oilers of the Central League. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s quite a challenge coaching the kids,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;As you see the youngsters progressing and think of a couple of them making it to the NHL you get a real feeling of satisfaction&rdquo;&hellip;In a recent St. Louis Blues&rsquo; game a hockey writer picked Barclay Plager as star of the game and his brother, Bob Plager, as second star. Bob quipped after the game: &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know my dad was in town. Did they ask him to do the picking?&rdquo;&hellip;Wayne Cooper, publicity director of the St. Louis Blues, has given up his job as PA announcer at the Blues games. The new announcer is Reed Farrel, a man with 20 years experience in broadcasting&hellip;Vancouver Canucks have averaged close to 8,000 for each home game this season. It&rsquo;s a nice increase from last year but still far off the pace of the San Diego Gulls who lead the Western Hockey League every year in attendance&hellip;The annual Rangers Fan Club dinner dance takes place on February 16, at the Statler Hilton Hotel. This is the highlight of the season for this extremely active fan club&hellip;Sportscaster Jim Gordon will be MC for the evening&hellip;The current issue of Sport magazine presents a fine feature on Frank Mahovlich titled: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m Starting to Enjoy Hockey Again&rdquo;, as well as naming the &ldquo;Top Performer in Hockey&rdquo;&hellip;Goalie Jack McCartan has been much more impressive in the nets for the San Diego Gulls since he started wearing a mask. The first time he wore the is mask in a league game he recorded a shutout.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02713/2912355-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="271" height="425"><figcaption class="caption-body">Marcel Pronovost</figcaption></div>THE JAPANESE will probably make the most spectacular impact on the hockey Scene during the 1970&rsquo;s, according to NHL President Clarence Campbell. He also believes Northern European hockey will continue to expand and the trend will be towards international league play instead of the present exhibition and tournament type of play, which is in vogue today&hellip;Punch Imlach is reported to have the general manager&rsquo;s job with the new Buffalo entry in the NHL. The announcement will take place sometime before. the NHL All-Star game on January 20&hellip;Joe Crozier will shortly be named general manager of the Vancouver team&hellip;Billy Harris, who retired from the Pittsburgh Penguins last September after a 12-year NHL career, has been playing for Canada&rsquo;s National I earn. He is most impressed with the play of the Russians&hellip;&ldquo;I liked what they were doing five years ago and they&rsquo;re improving all the time,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A few years ago their players would get flustered in one-on-one situations. Now they&rsquo;re throwing some great shifts at defenders. They also seem to be shooting the puck into the opposition&rsquo;s end more and skating after it, instead of trying to make those perfect passing plays across the blueline&rdquo;&hellip;Many St. Paul fans of the Minnesota North Stars were keenly disappointed when the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce did not honor the North Stars with a luncheon this season&hellip;Last season&rsquo;s fete was a 600-seat sellout&hellip;The Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce has honored the Stars with a luncheon in each of the last two seasons, both being sellouts&hellip;Our columnist Bill Libby&rsquo;s new book, &ldquo;Mr. Clutch&rdquo;, written around the career of pro basketball star Jerry West, was published recently by Prentice-Hall and has surged in sales. A previous book by Libby, &ldquo;Parnelli,&rdquo; received rave notices and is now in its third printing. Another by Libby, &ldquo;Rookie Goalie,&rdquo; based on Gerry Desjardins&rsquo; experience in his first season in the NHL, will be out next month&hellip;New York&rsquo;s Walt Tkaczuk is rated by many as the National League&rsquo;s next super star. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen a better second-year player,&rdquo; said Roy Edwards of Detroit.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03615/2912348-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="270" height="423"><figcaption class="caption-body">Walt Tkaczuk</figcaption></div>GERRY DESJARDINS will hardly forget the 1969 Christmas. The overworked Los Angeles goalie was peppered with 83 shots in five periods, against Toronto and Boston, being replaced by Wayne Rutledge in the third period against the Leafs&hellip;Gary Connelly, hardrock winger with the Memorial Cup champion Montreal Canadiens last season, recently suffered a fractured ankle while playing with the University of Michigan. He&rsquo;s out for the season&hellip;Everything has been happening to the Montreal Canadiens this season. Latest injury victim was Trainer Larry Aubut who suffered a fractured cheekbone when a stray puck came over the boards&hellip;Gilles Tremblay hasn&rsquo;t given up hope of playing for Canadiens again. The hardluck winger, still battling bronchial problems, recently donned his skates to join the Canadiens Christmas party&hellip;The recent, snowstorm that blanketed Montreal with a record 29.9 inches and most of the United States&rsquo; Northeast, caused two NHL clubs considerable difficulty travelling&hellip;The Canadiens charter flight from Detroit went only as far as Toronto with the Habs staying over and taking the train to arrive only five hours before a game against Philadelphia&hellip;In turn, the Flyers had to return to Philadelphia from Montreal by bus and it took them 18 hours to make the trip arriving shortly before game time against Boston&hellip;Two of the best young hockey announcers outside of the NHL are Bill Bennett of Denver and Lyle Stieg of Dayton&hellip;Bennett, who also doubles as the Denver Spurs&rsquo; publicity man, is the most exciting new air voice to hit the Mile High City for some time. He can make the dullest game sound like a Stanley Cup final. Lyle Stieg is the &ldquo;Voice&rdquo; of the Dayton Gems on both radio and television and has a big following throughout the International Hockey League. They say he can&rsquo;t miss making the big time&hellip;St. Louis Blues, playing to standing-room only crowds every game, are looking for places to add extra seats in the beautifully-refurbished St. Louis Arena&hellip;Emile Francis says that if Ranger right Winger Bill Fairbairn is not picked rookie of the year in the NHL, it will be &ldquo;highway robbery.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04530/2912341-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="271" height="460"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill Bennett</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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PASSING THE PUCK

<h2>Hawks On Way Back With Young Blood</h2>Even though Chicago Black Hawks will have a terrible season this year, they will be playoff contenders within two years and pennant contenders within three.They have many bright young prospects in their rookies such as Gerry Pinder, Jim Wiste, Cliff Koroll and Keith Magnuson. With Tony Esposito in goal, they, should have no worries there for years to come.To balance with their youth, they also have such relatively young veterans as Stan Mikita, Dennis Hull. Jim Pappin, Pit Martin, Lou Angotti, Pat Staple-ton ane Gilles Marotte. None of these show any signs of retiring in the near future.Bobby Hull doesn&rsquo;t make that much difference to the team because he overworks the other members of his line who have to &lsquo;cover&rsquo; for his defensive lapses. The Hawks can manage quite well without him.ALAN BJORNSSON Lundar, Manitoba.<h2>East-West Alignment Not Good For The NHL</h2>In view of the addition of two more teams to the NHL in 197071, it would be ludicrous to separate them into East and West divisions. After all, each team will play every other team six times. It would only be logical if the eight best teams be permitted to play off for the Stanley Cup.If the divisional standings are maintained, we will not have the eight best teams playing off for the cup. For example, last year Detroit and Chicago had better records than Oakland, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, yet they were kept out of the playoffs because of divisional classification. However, last year&rsquo;s play did not have every team playing the other teams the same number of times as will be the case next year.We hope the situation will be altered for the good of hockey and the equitv of the teams.JOHN JEAR, Montreal. P.Q.<h2>St. Louis Fan Lauds Blues&rsquo; Organization</h2>I am a St. Louis Blues season ticket holder. When the Blues management spent yet another $1 million on the St. Louis Arena this past summer, they replaced many of the seats with cushioned. more comfortable chairs. When we arrived for an exhibition game, we were delighted with the seats, but those of us in the first row of the Upper Circle found that the new seats were a bit lower and that unless we sat forward, our vision of the rink was partially obscured by a metal rail, which encloses the section.Someone apparently told the Blues management about this slight problem and, sure enough, when we returned for the first regular season game only a few days later, the rails had been lowered all around the building, and our line of vision was perfect.I think that fans around the league should know just how we in St. Louis feel about the greatest management as well as the greatest team in the NHL. Now maybe you know a little more clearly why we Blues&rsquo; fans yell and sing a lot&mdash;for the Salomons, for bringing NHL hockey and all of its magic to St. Louis, as well as for Berenson, Plante et al.HAPPY LEVIN, St. Louis, Mo.<h2>Ratelle Not Esposito Deserves All-Star Nod</h2>I think it is about time Jean Ratelle is given a little credit and recognition. He may not score as many goals as Phil Esposito, but he is just as important to the Rangers as Esposito is to the Bruins.Although he doesn&rsquo;t have the color of Rod Gilbert, he sets up most of Vic Hadfield&rsquo;s and Gilbert&rsquo;s goals. He should be an All Star this year because he will earnit.GLEN KARPOVICH Ramsey, N.J. &#9632;

Fan Forum

<div class="byline">BY VICTOR BERNS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01714/2912448-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Three members of the Galt Hornets model the new Bauer training suits prior to leaving on a two-week exhibition tour of Europe. The suits, designed by Bauer which also provides the team with its skates, are black with blue and white striped trim and are worn by Galt players PAT ADAIR, left, PETER BRENNAN and BILLY HWAY, right. Allan Cup champions are presently playing in Germany.</figcaption></div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;Tim Ecclestone established himself in the National Hockey League at age 20.Some players bounce between the NHL and the minor leagues several times before earning a permanent job in the big league. But Ecclestone made the job appear easy and already has completed two years of what probably will be a long majorleague career.Ecclestone stepped out of junior hockey after one year with the Kitchener Rangers and at 19 signed a professional contract with the New York Rangers. He says modestly that turning pro was &ldquo;a pretty good move.&rdquo;Before Ecclestone had a chance to play in the Rangers&rsquo; organization, the league held its expansion draft, in which the St. Louis Blues snatched Rod Seiling from New York. The Rangers wanted Seiling and agreed to pay the Blues&rsquo; price for his return. Lynn Patrick and Scotty Bowman set the price at four players, and St. Louis took Ecclestone, Bob Plager, Gary Sabourin and Gordon Kannegiesser.Ecclestone started that first expansion season with the Blues&rsquo; farm club at Kansas City, but, after the Blues lost 10 of their first 16 games, the call for help went to Kansas City. Ecclestone had eight points in 13 games with the minor-league Blues and was chosen as potential help for the parent club. He&rsquo;s been in the big league ever since.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d be happy to play about 20 years in the NHL,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;d be happy to play them in St. Louis. I was very fortunate to come to the Blues. With the old established clubs it&rsquo;s tough to crack the lineup; I was very happy about the trade.&rdquo;Ecclestone added, &ldquo;I never wanted to play in the minors; I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s too much future there. If I hadn&rsquo;t made the NHL. I guess I would have gone into some kind of business.&rdquo;But Tim is now in the business of developing himself into a star player. He had 14 points in 50 games of his rookie season and more than doubled that production with 11 goals and 23 assists last year.He was off to a slow start this season and sat in the stands for a few games as Bowman kept the front-running Blues on a hot pace. Timmy assisted on several of his teammates&rsquo; goals before hitting the net with his own first goal of the season along with two more assists in a 6-4 win over Detroit.&ldquo;That was a lucky one.&rdquo; Ecclestone said of his first goal.He was standing in front of the Detroit goal when a shot by Larry Keenan hit him in the thigh and bounced past Roger Crozier.But more important than Ecclestone&rsquo;s first goal of the season was his tight checking job on a line with Bill McCreary and Jim Roberts against Detroit&rsquo;s Production Line of Alex Delvecchio, Gordie Howe and Frank Mahovlich. Ecclestone shadowed Del-vecchio and held the veteran to one shot the entire game. Delvecchio. Howe and Mahovlich had a total of only five shots, and Ecclestone topped that by himself with eight.Ecclestone scored the first of the six St. Louis goals in that win over Detroit after the Red Wings had posted a 2-0 lead. And Ecclestone&rsquo;s second goal of the season also set off a St. Louis scoring splurge in a game in which the Blues were trailing Minnesota 30 but won 5-3. Ecclestone&rsquo;s goal against Cesare Maniago was at 15:32 of the second period.So, as the season progresses Tim&rsquo;s scoring should be increasing to go along with his fine defensive play.&ldquo;Sometimes you play well but you&rsquo;re just not scoring.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A lot of my teammates&rsquo; scoring this season has been on the power play. Phil Goyette is a fine hockey player, and Ab McDonald is scoring awfully well.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m always conscious of my defensive play.&rdquo; Ecclestone said. &ldquo;Our team plays pretty tight defense. We&rsquo;d rather win 2-1 than 6-5.&rdquo;Ecclestone calls his young career in the NHL &ldquo;almost like a boyhood dream.&rdquo;&ldquo;When I was a boy in Toronto I&rsquo;d watch and listen to the games on Saturday night and always had in the back of my mind the idea of playing in the NHL some day.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always had a desire to play the game from the time we flooded the back yard to make our own rink. As a professional there&rsquo;s no better living in the world.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02628/2912441-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="550" height="574"><figcaption class="caption-body">TIM ECCLESTONE&hellip;Promising Future</figcaption></div>Bowman says, &ldquo;Considering his age Timmy should be around for a long time. It&rsquo;s a big jump from junior hockey to the NHL. and he had only one year of junior, where most players have about three.&rdquo; &#9632;

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‘Bargain Buy’ Pickup In Ranger Trade, Ecclestone’s Defensive Play Fits Blues

BOSTON&mdash;The National Hockey League has turned thumbs down on making helmets compulsory by an overwhelming vote of 11 to 1.The NHL&rsquo;s Rules Committee solicited the 12 big league clubs to see if they wanted the helmets worn in pre-season, regular and playoff games after Weston W. Adams, chairman of the board of the Boston Bruins, filed a motion to the effect.The result stunned Adams, who naturally cast the only affirmative vote for the wearing of the head protectors on behalf of the Bruins, but it didn&rsquo;t discourage the Boston executive.Adams said after the vote had been taken that he will continue his efforts to have the helmest issue passed by the NHL.The Bruins were the lone NHL club to make a serious move towards the head guards following a fractured skull suffered by their star defenseman Ted Green in a preseason game against St. Louis Blues. &#9632;

NHL Turns Down Helmets By One-Sided 11-1 Vote

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE HALPIN</div>&bull; CAN YOU visualize an NHL All-Star starting team without a Hull or a Howe or a Beliveau on it?Admittedly it could happen after the NHL voters emerge from the smoke of making their 1969-70 selections for the Jan. 20 classic at St. Louis.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-01791/2912503-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="271" height="464"></div>It could very well be that neither Bobby Hull nor Gordie Howe will be picked on the Eastern team&rsquo;s first six performers and if they are not it is because of an upsurge in new talent forced by the emergence of the New York Rangers as an Eastern Division power.Just to start the hot stovers boiling how&rsquo;s this for a starting six for the East:Ed Giacomin of Rangers in goal; Bobby Orr of Boston and Rangers&rsquo; Brad Park on defense; Jean Ratelle of New York at centre: Ron Ellis of Toronto at right wing and Detroit&rsquo;s Frank Mahovlich on the left side. No Howe or Hull, you say?Well, we personally don&rsquo;t think that the Golden Jet warrants being named over the Big M after the splended first half the Detroit winger has enjoyed. He&rsquo;s playing like the old time Mahovlich and if he didn&rsquo;t get the nod, then how about a fellow named Vic Hadfield of New York or Boston&rsquo;s John Bucyk or Jacques Lemaire of Montreal. Still no, Hull, you say?The Hawks&rsquo; super star has made a tremendous recovery following a late start after haggling over contract and before the season is through, he could still be the NHL&rsquo;s premier left winger, but dear friends, not off the first 36 games at least.&bull; THE INDESTRUCTIBLE Howe continues to plug along with the Wings in his 24th season and his 19-year hold on an All-Star berth could be jeopardized this season by the likes of Ellis, Mickey Redmond, another Montrealer and hustling John McKenzie of the Bruins. At any rate, we like Ellis, an 18-goal scorer with a last-place team.It would seem that Ratelle, too, has finally blossomed into the super star status long predicted for him in New York and he looms as not only the East&rsquo;s No. 1 center, but the entire NHL. Phil Esposito of Boston, the amazing young Walt Tkaczuk of Rangers and veteran Henri Richard of Montreal and Chicago&rsquo;s venerable Stan Mikita are other worthies to be pondered.The East defense is a lockup for Orr and Park. Chicago&rsquo;s Doug Jarrett, Jim Neilson, also of the Rangers, and Montreal&rsquo;s Jacques Laperriere and Terry Harper, will come in for close scrutiny of course, but the starting duo has to be Park and Orr.The goaling limelight is reserved for Ranger &lsquo;Iron Man&rsquo; Giacomin and the hot-and-cold rookie Tony Esposito of Chicago. Giac is still No. 1 in our book and he should be the East&rsquo;s big hope for a victory in St. Louis.&bull; SWINGING WEST, the powerful St. Loo Blues are a shoo-in to walk off with most of the All-Star berths. Sadly for the rest of the division, the Blues could conceivably ice four starters on the West&rsquo;s six-man squad. Goalie Jacques Plante, defenseman Al Arbour, center Phil Goyette and left wing Ab McDonald are our nominations for the first team. Throw in blond Bill Goldsworthy of Minnesota at right wing and rough, tough Ed Van Impe of Philly at defense, and you have your western &lsquo;dream team&rsquo;.For a little &lsquo;backup&rsquo; depth for the West, insert Bernie Parent of Philadelphia behind Plante. On defense, you can add Bob Woytowich of Pittsburgh and Jim Roberts of St. Louis for starters. On the attack, Claude Larose, also of Minnesota and the Blues&rsquo; exciting Gary Sabourin tor right wing support, On the left side, Jean-Paul Parise and Danny Grant of the North Stars have been superb and you can include veteran Dean Prentice of Pittsburgh.The West will be solid down the middle of course but they&rsquo;ll al! have to be Blues&mdash;Goyette, Red Berenson and Frank St. Marseille.Any arguments? &#9632;

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INSIDE HOCKEY

<div class="byline">BY DAN MOULTON</div>CHICAGO&mdash;Doug Jarrett may have eaten himself into stardom. The Black Hawks&rsquo; big rearguard, who has been tabbed for stardom almost from the time he reported to the Hawks midway in the 1964-65 season, appears, at last. to be reaching his potential in his fifth full season in the National Hockey league.&ldquo;Sure hope you&rsquo;re considering Jarrett for an All-Star vote&rsquo;. said Bobby Hull recently. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s making it this year. Both my dad and I picked him as a sure All-Star the first time we saw him play as a junior at St. Catharines ans he&rsquo;s finally coming around&rdquo;.Bobby&rsquo;s brother Dennis was quick to agree.&ldquo;Doug is doing everything right this year&rdquo;. Dennis said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s handling the puck better than ever, skating hard, hitting the way he can. and staying up on the blueline to break up plays before the other team gets too deep in our end.&rdquo;Another endorsement came from center Stan Mikita who is no stranger to All Star teams.&ldquo;Doug would get my vote, if I had one.&rdquo; said Stan. &ldquo;The guys on other teams probably would have a better idea on the way. he&rsquo;s going but I can say that his passing particularly, and his general play have been great so far&rdquo;.Strangely enough. Jarett may have to credit a couple of extra potatoes each week for the trans-formation from disappointment to potential All-Star.He was picked for greatness on the strength of an impressive rookie year and an excellent sophomore season, but thereafter his play began to tail off. The biggest problem seemed to be that despite his 6-1,206-pound frame, he had a tendency to weaken late in games. He seldom was able to put two good performances together and was particulary vulnerable if required to come back on the second night of a week-end double header.Coach Billy Reay was unable to come up with a solution to the problem so he was forced to provide Doug with sufficient rest periods, while wondering whether it was lack of ambiition or some mysterious ailment which kept the defenseman from employing all of his talents full-time.Billy noted considerable improvement during training camp this year but a couple of weeks into the season. Doug began to flounder once again.He would run out of gas after only a minute or so of a shift and at times it took him several hours to regain his strength after a game.Finally, a full physical was ordered. Doctors found no serious problems but it was noted that Doug might be suffering from a lack of starch, caused by the dieting required to keep him at what had been considered his best playing weight.&ldquo;I was told to start eating potatoes again with my meals and not to worry so much about my weight&rdquo;, said Doug. &ldquo;1 also was given some vitamin shots and pills were prescribed. As a result I&rsquo;m playing at about five pounds more than my normal weight but I feel great.&ldquo;It may all have been in my mind. I don&rsquo;t really know. But I feel good and I&rsquo;m playing with a lot more confidence&rdquo;.It&rsquo;s pretty obvious that the rest of the Hawks are playing with a great deal more confidence in Jarrett this year. too.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02645/2912534-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="541" height="762"><figcaption class="caption-body">DOUG JARRETT&hellip;The Potatoes Did It</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Jarrett’s Play Moves Teammates; “He’s An All-Star,” Say Hulls

CHATHAM MEMORIAL ARENA*EXCELLENT ICE*ALL FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT THAT ANY CLUB WOULD REQUIRE*TOP ACCOMODATION*GOOD LOCATION FOR ALL MODES OF TRAVEL*ONE OF ONTARIO'SDirect inquiries to:Chatham MemorialCommunity Centre,80 Tweedmuir Ave, W.,Chatham, Ontario,Attn: Mr. C.J. CarsonPHONE 519-352-3888 &#9632;

1970 TRAINING 5 CAMP FACILITY AVAILABLE

<div class="byline">BY JACK BERRY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02656/2912603-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Detroit defenseman CARL BREWER, shown tussling with Montreal&rsquo;s J.C. TREMBLAY, right, has been one of the club&rsquo;s big surprises this season. He has been scoring, too, and recently pulled out a tie for the Wings.</figcaption></div>DETROIT&mdash;There are some things in hockey that remain constant&mdash;the size of the net, the size of the puck, criticism of referees&hellip;and the switching of sticks when a player goes into a slump.Most players are great tinkerers even in good times, testing sticks for the right flex, rounding them off here and there, sawing some off the shaft. Some tape the whole blade, others, like Boston&rsquo;s Bobby Orr, have a patch only a few inches wide on the blade&mdash;something like a gunsight.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01742/2912596-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="289" height="450"><figcaption class="caption-body">Garry Unger</figcaption></div>A stick is a very personal thing. But when the goals go out of it, few players wait long to change.The big thing now, of course, is the hook. Try and find a straight blade in a sporting goods store anymore. Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull so popularized the hook that every kid wants one.Now the Red Wings&rsquo; Garry Unger is very much with it. His cowboy boots give evidence of the Westerner in him but he wears mod clothes, the dark shirts, the wide-stripe shirts, the fat ties, the wire-rimmed amber sunglasses.He&rsquo;s 22 now and looks four years younger&hellip;and, of course, he goes for the hook stick. Or did.When Unger went goal-less for six games in December he did what hockey players have done since time immemorial&mdash;he switched sticks.He went straight.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d been using a Norm Ullman stick with a bend in it&hellip;but I&rsquo;ve been having trouble with the puck on my backhand&hellip;and Ullman&rsquo;s in a slump,&rdquo; Unger said, grinning.He could afford the grin. The night he switched sticks he scored three goals and paced the Red Wings to a 5-3 victory over Oakland. It was his second NHL hat trick.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t believe those goals,&rdquo; Unger said.Two of them were backhanders&mdash;where he&rsquo;d been having trouble&mdash;and the third was a perfectly placed, low, 35-foot slap shot just inside the far corner of the net to break a 3-3 tie.The slap gave him the most satisfaction&hellip;that&rsquo;s understandable since most players like the &ldquo;bomb&rdquo; shot. But he worked harder on the two backhands, giving Seals&rsquo; goalie Gary Smith several fakes before slipping the puck into the net.Unger&rsquo;s success with the straight stick isn&rsquo;t likely to send Phil Esposito, Bobby Hull, Mikita or the other hook-stick generation to the bonfires but it&rsquo;s interesting that a number of the league&rsquo;s top slot men, who need the backhand pass, do use straight sticks.Jean Beliveau and Henri Richard are straight men. So is the Red Wings&rsquo; Alex Delvecchio. Alex has had his problems scoring this season&hellip;but his assists are up among the leaders.During his goal drought Delvecchio too tried switching sticks only he went to a hook one night in Chicago. &ldquo;That really had me confused,&rdquo; he said afterward, laughing. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t do a thing with it.&rdquo;The stick-switching brings up a story that is a favorite of Gordie Howe.&ldquo;When Jack Adams was alive,&rdquo; Howe said, &ldquo;he used to get mad at Billy McNeill all the time. One time he became convinced that the reason Billy wasn&rsquo;t scoring was that his stick was too short.&ldquo;So one day during practice he called Billy over and looked at his stick and was really giving it to him. I was skating by and he yelled at me to come over.&ldquo;Jack told Billy: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll show you what a man&rsquo;s stick looks like&rdquo; and he asked for my stick. I gave it to him and he put it up against Billy&rsquo;s&hellip;and Billy&rsquo;s was longer. Jack turned red and threw Billy&rsquo;s stick as far up into the seats as he could, turned around and walked out,&rdquo; Howe said, chuckling.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01552/2912589-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="535" height="543"><figcaption class="caption-body">GORDIE HOWE&hellip;A Stick Tinkerer</figcaption></div>Howe has a very short shaft so that he can control the puck closer to him. To disguise it in the Adams era he&rsquo;d use a lot of tape at the end of one stick and put that one in front of his other sticks in the stick rack so Adams couldn&rsquo;t see the short ones behind it.Howe, too, is a stick tinkerer. A few years ago, when he was in a bit of a slump, he went to a Ron Ellis model stick. He&rsquo;s also borrowed Bruce MacGregor&rsquo;s clubs. Howe has a bend in his blade but it&rsquo;s quite small compared to the banana sticks.WING NOTES: The game&rsquo;s never over until the final buzzer when Montreal and Detroit have played this season&hellip;three of their four games were changed by goals in the final three minutes.Carl Brewer pulled out a tie in a game in Montreal with a goal two seconds before the buzzer and then Pete Stemkowski pulled out a victory on the next trip with a goal two minutes and 43 seconds before the buzzer.The Canadiens returned the &ldquo;favor&rdquo; in a game in Detroit when Terry Harper picked off a Howe pass and scored with 2:47 to play.The Wings found that the night after Christms is a better night for hockey than Christmas night&hellip;they&rsquo;ve always drawn good crowds Christmas night but not spectacular since some fans don&rsquo;t want to leave home&hellip;or are too stuffed.The night after Christmas, though, with Montreal the attraction, the Wings drew 15,246, their biggest crowd this season&hellip;that meant there were 2,011 standees since Olympia seats just 13,235. &#9632;

f0007-02

Wings’ Unger Scores Hat Trick After Discarding ‘Hook Blade’

<div class="byline">By Bill Libby</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-01777/2912641-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="304" height="387"></div><h2>A Tough Game For Tough Men</h2>IF VIC STASIUK had his way, hockey games would be played to the finish, with the survivors winning. That&rsquo;s the way he played the game, himself, throughout his pro career and for 13 years in the major leagues. He was big and strong, but he wasn&rsquo;t a great skater or a great shooter or a stylish puck-handler, and if he hadn&rsquo;t loved the game and played it with tremendous desire, he never would have lasted as long as he did. He cannot compose poetry about it but he is eloquent as he betrays his feelings with every word he speaks.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a tough game for tough men,&rdquo; Vic says.&rdquo;There&rsquo;s no room in it for those who back down or aren&rsquo;t willing to put out. A few with great natural ability get by without being hard or determined, but I don&rsquo;t admire them. They&rsquo;re not real hockey players. You need talent to make the majors, but undisciplined talent is as bad as no talent at all. Some of these guys have great individual careers, but they seldom help their teams win. so what good are they? You can take all the individual records and throw them out the window. The only records that count are the won-and-lost records of the teams.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02687/2912634-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="573" height="882"><figcaption class="caption-body">ED VAN IMPE&hellip;Never Lets You Down</figcaption></div>His coaches loved Vic. They always love those who dig in the corners and play the game at both ends of the ice and hustle all the time and hate to lose and suffer in the dressing rooms after losses. He made himself valuable to his teams, so it came as a terrible blow to him when he was waived out of the NHL. &ldquo;All those years I made myself a place in the big time until I must have thought I could keep making it forever and then suddenly no one wanted me and I was all through. I just woke up one morning and I didn&rsquo;t have a place any more and my heart was broken. I couldn&rsquo;t believe it. It was like the end of the world. If somebody had cut my throat, I&rsquo;d have thanked them,&rdquo; he says, shuddering.Instead, he got the chance to coach and grabbed it. It is a dreadful profession, full of pressures and impossible demands and incredible humiliations, and almost no matter what you do, you will be insulted by being fired in the end, but he grabbed it because it kept him close to the action, to the sweat in the dressing room, to the guys who were able to play. Now, he&rsquo;s the rookie coach of Philadelphia, back in the NHL at 40, and he says &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a dream, and I can&rsquo;t believe it, even if I have nightmares about winning and losing all the time.&rdquo; I&rsquo;ll coach &lsquo;till they can me, then I&rsquo;ll go home. I couldn&rsquo;t stand to be any further away from playing than I am now.&rdquo;He is a hard coach as he was a hard player, a fine teacher and a strict disciplinarian. &ldquo;I try to make my players see what an opportunity they have. If they&rsquo;re good enough to last 10 years in the majors, they&rsquo;re good enough to do anything, anyway. 1 ask my guys to give it everything they&rsquo;ve got. I try to recognize what they haven&rsquo;t got I&rsquo;m patient with them as long as they try and learn and put out. I have rules and if they break &lsquo;em, I don&rsquo;t want &lsquo;em on my team. A guy who can&rsquo;t abide by the rules will let you down in a critical situation, so what good is he?&rdquo;<h2>One Of The True Hard Rocks</h2>ONE GUY WHO NEVER will let him down is Ed Van Impe. Earlier this season, Ed went down to block a slap-shot by Wayne Muloin of Oakland. The shot hit Van Impe in the mouth, shattering a one-tooth plate and scattering pieces of it like shrapnel, and breaking off five upper and two lower teeth at the gum line. This happened midway in the game. In the dressing room, the doctor took 15 stitches in Van Impe&rsquo;s tongue and 35 in his lips. Doped up, Van Impe returned to play in the game with nine minutes left. This is some kind of man.The other night, his face still misshapen from the mishap. Van Impe sat sweating in another dressing room after another game and said, &ldquo;Please don&rsquo;t make too much of it. I mean, most hockey players would do the same thing. I did it before, three years ago, when Alex Delvecchio of Detroit hit me in the face with a shot and broke my cheek-bone in three places, costing me 20 stitches. We&rsquo;re raised this way. Maybe we re crazy, but that&rsquo;s the game.&rdquo;I asked him if Muloin&rsquo;s shot hurt, or was he numbed by it? He laughed a little, wistfully, shook his head and said, &ldquo;Hurt? It hurt so bad it made me sick to my stomach. It hurt for three weeks. It still hurts. The next day they had to dig up the broken pieces of teeth out of my gums and repair me and I had to miss one game, but then I returned and I&rsquo;ve played ever since. I think what hurt most though was being awakened the next morning by my oldest boy and looking at him and seeing the expression on his face when he saw my face. He said, &ldquo;Oh, my God, daddy, what happened to you?&rdquo; I felt very bad.&rdquo;Van Impe is an outstanding defensemen, one of the most underrated players in the game. Although with maturity he has stopped fighting as much as he once did, he still is regarded as one of the real hard-hitting bruisers around today. But off the ice, he is an intelligent, sensitive man and a good family man. He and his wife. Diane, have two sons, Howard, 6, and Gregory, 3.They rent a house in Philadelphia during the season and maintain a permanent home in Saskatoon, where Ed works for a brewery off-seasons. He is 29. he is in his 10th year as a pro and his fourth as a major leaguer, and he is a man after Vic Sta-siuk&rsquo;s heart. &ldquo;It took me a long time to get here and I&rsquo;m going to stay here a long time if it&rsquo;s up to me,&rdquo; Van Impe says. &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t easy, but then it never is. It&rsquo;s not an easy game, but I love it.&rdquo;&ldquo;What&rsquo;s a few teeth?&rdquo; Stasiuk smiles. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d give my right arm to be 10 years younger and Ed Van Impe right now. But then as a coach I&rsquo;d give my left arm to have a Van Impe if I didn&rsquo;t have him. He and his kind are hockey, not the front-runners who go around avoiding trouble. It&rsquo;s a game you got to make sacrifices for, like half your mouth.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0008-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY GLENN REDMANN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03567/2912672-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">North Stars&rsquo; BILL GOLDSWORTHY has more time to score this season. He has stopped trying to be the club &lsquo;policeman&rsquo;. Teammates TOMMY WILLIAMS, left, and CLAUDE LAROSE (16) congratulate him after scoring in a recent game.</figcaption></div>TWIN CITIES&mdash;Bobby Hull&rsquo;s patented slap shot ricocheted off the stick of a Minnesota player into the crowd.A split second or so after the whistle, an over zealous Black Hawk rammed into J.P. Parise and, almost instinctively, Bill Goldsworthy rushed to the aid of his linemate.But instead of doing something that might result in his drawing a penalty. Goldy just hollered at Parise&rsquo;s antagonist&mdash;probably something like, &ldquo;watch that stuff, buddy.&rdquo;No, Goldsworthy, the six-foot, 193-pound right winger out of Kitchener. Ont., hasn&rsquo;t gone soft. He has just wised up.&ldquo;I think half of the 108 penalty minutes I picked up last season were cases of retaliation,&rdquo; said Bill.&ldquo;Although it may have taken me awhile to realize it, that&rsquo;s stupid hockey. If you really want to get back at some guy, you can nearly always wait to do it.&rdquo;Goldy was asked to expand on his &ldquo;new&rdquo; theory.&ldquo;Ray Cullen and J. P. are probably most responsible for it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;From the beginning of training camp, both of them were on me to quit retaliating so quickly after something happens.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d have to say that this has been one of the biggest reasons for my good start (a league-leading 19 goals and 13 assists in 32 games at this writing).&ldquo;This and being placed on a line with two such hard workers as J. P. (at left wing) and Tommy Williams (at center).&ldquo;Sure, I&rsquo;ve been the one who&rsquo;s scored most of our line&rsquo;s goals. But I think if you&rsquo;ll check, J. P. or Tommy have made the play on every one of them.&rdquo;Goldsworthy went on to say that Parise and Williams have the unselfish attitude &ldquo;of not caring who gets the goal, just so long as it helps the club.&rdquo;He said that Williams seemingly had passed up many good scoring chances himself in order to set up himself and Parise, whose 10 goals and 20 assists were second high on the cub at the 32-game mark of the season although J. P. had missed two tilts due to injuries.When Tommy got his 100th NHL goal in a disappointing 5-3 home-ice loss to Oakland just before the new; year, Goldy couldn&rsquo;t have been happier if he&rsquo;d tallied himself.&ldquo;This guv is really busting himself to help the club,&rdquo; said Bill, &ldquo;and he&rsquo;s doing it with a left knee that still can&rsquo;t be 100 per cent (after a December, 1968 operation).&ldquo;I had two operations on my right knee three months apart during the 1966-67 season,&rdquo; added Goldy, &ldquo;and I know what it&rsquo;s like. That&rsquo;s why I&rsquo;ve got all the admiration in the world for Tommy.While the Williams line&mdash;also referred to by some as the Bruin line because all three were Boston chattels at one time in their careers&mdash;was functioning quite well for the Stars, neither of the other two units distinguished itself during an eight-game winless streak which began immediately after an impressive 8-5 win over the Hawks leveled their record at 9-9-6.Most of the problems incurred in the four ties and four losses were easily traced to a defensive letdown inasmuch as the opposition tallied 32 goals to the Stars&rsquo; 23.The Seals&rsquo; 44 shots on goal at Cesare Maniago. said Goldsworthy, &ldquo;is something that should never happen at home. It was the Californians&rsquo; third victory in as many tries this season over the Stars including two here.STAKLITES: President Walter Bush made a formal complaint to NHL president Clarence Campbell concerning &ldquo;abusive treatment accorded the North Stars by fans who sit behind the visitors&rsquo; bench in St. Louis Arena.&rdquo; As expected. Blues&rsquo; owner Sid Salomon denied the accusation and nothing was expected to come out of the charge&hellip;Publicitor Dick Dillman&rsquo;s l0-year-old son Tommy recently scored a goal in his first Pee Wee game of the season as a winger and also took a turn on defense and in goal. &ldquo;I think Tommy&rsquo;s skating has improved 100 per cent since his two-week stint with our hockey school last summer&hellip;&rdquo; &#9632;

f0008-03

Goldsworthy Credits Fast Start This Year To Keeping His Cool

<div class="byline">BY JIM PROUDFOOT</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-01756/2912703-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Toronto goaler BRUCE GAMBLE goes in streaks but despite his unpredictability, he is still key man to get Leafs into playoffs.</figcaption></div>TORONTO -As bad as the Toronto Maple Leafs have been in the first half of the National Hockey League season, they still believe they have a legitimate candidate for all-star honors.Mind you, goalie Bruce Gamble has no chance. He won&rsquo;t get any All-Star votes to speak of. He won&rsquo;t even be considered. It&rsquo;s just that Leafs shudder to think where they&rsquo;d be without his miraculous work.Even with it, they&rsquo;re last in the NHL&rsquo;s Eastern Division. Thanks to Gamble, though, they&rsquo;ve been able to keep within striking distance of a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs. And also thanks to their portly goalkeeper, they&rsquo;ve been encouragingly competitive in many of their defeats.Last season, coach Punch Imlach said it had been Gamble who&rsquo;d put Leafs in the playoffs, giving them a respectable defensive record despite the errors of an inexperienced rearguard. This term, the defense has been worse, while veteran Tim Horton has been struggling to regain his 1968-69 form, and Gamble has been equally as effective. He stops 40 or more shots most nights.Gamble&rsquo;s brilliance doesn&rsquo;t show up in his statistics. As 1969 ended, he had played 19 games and had won only seven of them, while losing 10 and tying two. But he had given up only 42 goals, had three shutouts and frequently had been left unprotected by an error-prone defensive platoon. Even Horton was making mistakes that threatened to deprive Gamble of what little hair he has left.Gamble often is described as a streak goalie. That means he has hot stretches, then will cool off for a while. It was to take care of those slumps that Leafs acquired Marv Edwards as a reserve man. But just at Christmastime, Edwards developed a severe knee injury which was expected to keep him out of the lineup at least a month. That meant Johnny Bower, who&rsquo;d been in only one match, had to serve as the backup man.In other words. Leafs couldn&rsquo;t afford one of Gamble&rsquo;s cooling-off periods.Put it another way. Gamble is like the girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead. When he&rsquo;s good, he&rsquo;s very, very good. When he&rsquo;s bad. he&rsquo;s horrid.Coach Johnny McLellan puts it this way: &ldquo;When Bruce is hot&mdash;and he&rsquo;s been hot lately&mdash;he&rsquo;s the best in the league. But when he blows, he blows sky-high.&rdquo;Captain Dave Keon is more analytical. He feels Gamble goes sour when he starts acquiring sloppy habits, like flopping to the ice on almost every shot.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s why he&rsquo;s been so good lately,&rdquo; says Keon. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s keeping his feet, standing up. more than he was at the first of the season.&ldquo;When he stands up, he&rsquo;s hard to beat. He&rsquo;s a big man and there isn&rsquo;t much to shoot at when he&rsquo;s standing up. So when he starts going down, he is taking away from his strong point.&rdquo;Getting Gamble was one of the wisest moves Punch Imlach ever made during his time as Leafs&rsquo; coach and general manager. The deal was made in 1965.Gamble had abandoned professional hockey rather than continue with Eddie Shore&rsquo;s Springfield team in the American League. That&rsquo;s where he&rsquo;d wound up after brief and unsuccessful NHL whirls with New York Rangers, the club which groomed him through junior competition and the minors, and with Boston Bruins.In that first season as a Leaf, 1965-66, Gamble scored four shutouts in nine games. But he remained with Leafs&rsquo; Central League affiliate at Tulsa until 1967 when Terry Sawchuk went to Los Angeles Kings in the NHL&rsquo;s first expansion draft. Gamble then began to share Toronto netminding chores with Johnny Bower.He worked 37 matches in his first full campaign with Leaf&rsquo;s, then 58 last winter as Bower found it more difficult to handle a lot of work.Imlach made no bones about it.&ldquo;Gamble&rsquo;s the guy who put us in the playoffs, holding the fort while those young defensemen were feeling their way around,&rdquo; Imlach stated.Similarly, Gamble is the one guy who can do it for Leaf&rsquo;s this time around. Hot goalkeeping is the unpredictable factor in big-time hockey. A superior team can lose to an inferior one if it runs into a netminder who&rsquo;s on. When Gamble&rsquo;s on, he&rsquo;s the best. If he&rsquo;s on often enough, Leaf&rsquo;s might cause some surprises when the season gets into the critical weeks of 1970. &#9632;

f0009-01

Leafs Credit Gamble’s Goaling For Keeping Playoff Hopes Alive

<h2>IHL JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Fri. Dec. 26)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-02691/2912762-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="571" height="162"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-03571/2912755-1-eng-US/f0009-032.jpg" title="f0009-03" width="581" height="251"></div><h2>GOALKEEPERS&rsquo; RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-04481/2912748-1-eng-US/f0009-042.jpg" title="f0009-04" width="574" height="225"></div><h2>NEW YORK METRO LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Dec. 22)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-05374/2912741-1-eng-US/f0009-052.jpg" title="f0009-05" width="578" height="270"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-06319/2912734-1-eng-US/f0009-062.jpg" title="f0009-06" width="577" height="303"></div> &#9632;

f0009-02

HOW THEY STAND

Following are the latest player movements in hockey:<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>BOSTON&mdash;Bill Speer, defenseman, recalled from Salt Lake City, of WHL. Bill Lesuk, forward, returned to Hershey of AHL.MONTREAL&mdash;Judes Drouin, Bob Sheehan and Luc Grenier, forwards, recalled from Montreal Voyageurs of AHL. Phil Roberto and Guy Charron, forwards, returned to Voyageurs.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Rosaire Paiement, forward, returned to Quebec of AHL.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Ron Snell, forward, recalled from Baltimore of AHL.TORONTO&mdash;Jerry McNamara, goalkeeper, signed to five-game pro tryout as emergency fill-in goaler from Orillia of OHA Senior League.MINNESOTA&mdash;Danny Lawson, forward, recalled from Iowa of CHL.<h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>DENVER&mdash;Jacques Lemieux, defenseman, secured from Springfield of AHL.SALT LAKE&mdash;Dave Rochefort, forward, recalled from Oklahoma City of CHL.SAN DIEGO&mdash;Willie O&rsquo;Ree, forward, Gord Sinclair and Jack Evans, defensemen, restored to active roster. Ross Perkins, and Ed Ehrenverth, forwards, Jim Eagle, defenseman, removed from active roster.<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>DALLAS&mdash;Don Uren, goalkeeper, recalled from Columbus of IHL on five-game pro tryout. Bill Young, defenseman, recalled from Greensboro of EHL.<h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>FORT WAYNE&mdash;Nels Tremblay, forward, and John Ferguson, defenseman, traded to Des Moines of IHL in return for Rich Brown, forward, and Bill Bond, defenseman. Jim Wilcox, defenseman, placed on disabled list for rest of season.DAYTON&mdash;Tom Iannone, forward, placed on disabled list for 10 weeks. Dunc Rousseau, forward, on disabled list for rest of season.PORT HURON&mdash;Reg Bechtold, forward, placed on disabled list for rest of season.MUSKEGON&mdash;Hugh Harris, forward, placed on unjury reserve list.<h2>EASTERN LEAGUE</h2>JACKSONVILLE&mdash;Ken Turlik, forward, secured from Springfield of AHL.SYRACUSE&mdash;Rod Diamond, defenseman, dropped from roster. George Graham, defenseman, added to roster.NEW HAVEN&mdash;John Rodger, forward, secured from Salt Lake City of WHL on loan. Len Haley, forward, signed as free agent from Newfoundland Senior Hockey League.JOHNSTOWN&mdash;Tom Burgess, forward, quit team to return home.SALEM&mdash;Colin Kilburn, player-coach, placed on active roster. Ron Rozich, forward, placed on disabled list.GREENSBORO&mdash;Dom DiBerardino, forward, restored to active roster. &#9632;

Movements of Players

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-01773/2912848-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">DON O&rsquo;DONOGHUE&hellip;New Face With Seals</figcaption></div>When the Oakland Seals reached out for young Don O&rsquo;Donoghue during the off season they were looking to the future as far as the former junior hockey star was concerned. The Seals don&rsquo;t expect the 20-year-old winger to make it big his first season in the NHL but they are willing to wait. He&rsquo;s that good a prospect. Last season with St. Catharines of the strong Ontario Junior League, he had 15 goals and 30 assists for 45 points. A native of Kingston, Ont.,., he is 5&rsquo;10&rdquo; and 180 pounds and can turn on the speed. He is one of two new rookies with Oakland this season. &#9632;

f0010-01

Meet The Rookies

OAKLAND&mdash;In the last few weeks, the Oakland Seals have found little to be happy about, and they just wound up their latest road trip on a sour note-the tune they adhered to throughout the swing through the East.In seven games, the Seals beat the North Stars in Minnesota, and followed up by dropping decisions to New York, Philadelphia and Detroit before gaining a tie with the Maple leaf in Toronto.Then the Seals met the Canadiens in Montreal and were jolted 5-1. Had it not been for the fine play of goaltender Gary Smith, the Habs would have broken their own losing streak much more decisively.New York Rangers put the finishing touches to the Oakland road series by trouncing the hapless Seals 5-2. The Californians headed home with the not-so-comforting thought that the high scoring Boston Bruins would be paying them a visit.One note of encouragement for the Seals, besides the outstanding showing of netminder Smith has to be the play of a new line that has Earl Ingarfield between winger Billy Hicke and alternate winger-reaguard Carol Vadnais. The combination has been the hottest scoring unit for the Seals since it was formed December 10, even though the team has scored only 14 goals in their last seven games.The Seals stand fifth in their division, five points behind Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and now only four up on the Los Angeles Kings. Also, the Kings have three games in hand over OaklandSEALS NOTES: Carol Vadnais&rsquo; 145 penalty minutes have been compiled in 33 games. Last season he had 151 for the entire season (76 games) most in the West Division and 4 th in the entire league. The NHL record for penalty minutes in a season is 273 set by Howie Young of the Detroit Red Wings in 196263&hellip;His two goals against the Detroit Red Wings on December 28, gave Seals captain Ted Hampson the club leadership in that department with a total of 10&hellip;Norm Ferguson&rsquo;s fourth goal of the compaign on December 21st in New York broke a 23-game streak in which &ldquo;Fergy&rdquo; had been unable to put the puck in the ney&hellip;The largest crowds to see the Seals play this season were the two games in New York. Both were sellouts, 17,250. The smallest gathering was 6,765 to watch the Seals in Pittsburgh&hellip;Through 33 games the Seals had 16 power play goals on 149 opportunities and had allowed 24 power play &middot; goals by opponents in 119 opportunities&hellip;Hampson leads the club with four power play goals, Hicke is next with three&hellip;Gary Jarrett has threeo oames winning goals to top the club in that department. Ingarfield and Mike Laughton have two each.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02670/2912817-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="560" height="615"><figcaption class="caption-body">GARY SMITH&hellip;Holding Seals Together</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0010-02

Smith’s Net Play Bright Spot As Seals Plunge

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Immediately following the firing of Hal Laycoe and the hiring of Johnny Wilson as coach, the Los Angeles Kings showed improvement in their next three games. Everyone&mdash;raved. However, two ties with Minnesota and victory over Chicago, all at home against clubs which failed to make the playoffs last season, are not exactly prize-winning achievements.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01764/2912886-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="267" height="439"><figcaption class="caption-body">Larry Regan</figcaption></div>The club then took to the road and were routed in Toronto and Boston 8-1 and 71, reverting to their former fashion and making it quite clear that what the Kings need most is to change not coaches, but players. They have some good players, but not enough of them, as losses this season of 5-1, 5-1, 6-0, 5-1, 7-1, 8-1, 8-1 and 7-1 would indicate beyond question.It is not a goal-tender problem, incidentally. Gerry Desjardins and Wayne Rutledge had to face 48 shots in Toronto and Gerry faced 55 in Boston. Earlier this season, Gerry had to handle hails of 40, 41, 45, 46, 49 and 58 shots in various games. He has been superb under cruel pressure. Gerry Eskenazi of the New York Times said, &ldquo;you run out of complimentary adjectives trying to describe his play. If he had defensemen who cleared the puck, he might be the best goal-tender in hockey.&rdquo;Nor is it a matter of hustle. Hal Laycoe used to say, &ldquo;If the players weren&rsquo;t trying, it would be different, but they are, so what can I say to them?&rdquo;ln their shellackings under Wilson, the Kings put out to the point of fighting and never seemed to surrender, but simply were seriously outclassed.&rdquo;In fact, in New York, the Kings bounced back to tie the league-leading Rangers, coming from behind to do it. Eddie Joyal, who has been the team&rsquo;s most brilliant and gallant player under stress this season, scored twice and Bill Flett, who may have found himself, scored the tying goal in the late clutch.However, games like this may have hurt the Kings, clouding the realities. In their three seasons they have made a habit of coming up with a big game or a big series of games just when you are about to give up on them. Encouraged by such games as last season&rsquo;s first round of the playoffs or this most recent New York game on the heels of mediocre performances hope refreshed, one is inclined to say the talent is good enough, after all.Jack Kent Cooke insists it is, which he has insisted all along. Of course he is by nature an optimist, who bounces through life even in years like 1969 when his basketball Lakers first lost another NBA title playoff, one they should have won, then are struck down by a cruel series of injuries in the new season, and his Kings go from bad to better to worse.Cooke&rsquo;s sporting bible is Scarne&rsquo;s &ldquo;Complete Guide to Gambling,&rdquo; which he says reveals through the nature of percentages that there is a law of averages which evens up bad breaks and good breaks in the end. He feels his luck is bound to turn in 1970. However, we wonder if a man rolling only one die can ever hope to roll seven or eleven.The law of averages did work in the case of Cooke&rsquo;s hockey manager, Larry Regan. In a position where he can only do so much and no more, Regan finally succumbed to pressure and frustration.While changing his mind about whether the Kings did or did not have good enough talent to win in the NHL, Regan was rushed to the hospital Sunday, Dec. 21, with what was called a suspected mild heart seizure, but which he termed simply exhaustion.Originally scheduled to accompany the club on its three-game road-trip, he was forbidden any communication with his team and, after his release on Christmas eve, went with his wife, Gloria, to Hawaii for a brief vacation. Mercifully, then, he was spared the horrors of Toronto and Boston. On the other hand, he also was deprived the thrill of New York, ties being as thrilling as victories for this team this season, and satisfying enough to restore hope.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-02704/2912879-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="1746" height="911"><figcaption class="caption-body">Despite troubles, goal-tending by GERRY DESJARDINS hasn&rsquo;t been Kings&rsquo; problem.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0011-01

Improvement Under Wilson Ends In Bombings

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01743/2912945-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"></div><h2>INDIVIDUAL SCORING LEADERS</h2>(Including games of Sun. Jan. 4)<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02645/2912938-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="1842" height="1550"></div><h2>EAST DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03511/2912931-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="616" height="2555"></div><h2>WEST DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-04371/2912924-1-eng-US/f0012-042.jpg" title="f0012-04" width="617" height="2541"></div><h2>PENALTIES BY TEAMS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-05278/2912917-1-eng-US/f0012-052.jpg" title="f0012-05" width="582" height="328"></div> &#9632;

f0012-01

TOP 25 SCORERS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-07" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-07202/2912983-1-eng-US/f0012-072.jpg"></div>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 6)<h2>EASTERN DIVISION</h2><h2>WESTERN DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-08177/2912976-1-eng-US/f0012-082.jpg" title="f0012-08" width="1113" height="302"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Tues. Dec. 30St. Louis 5 at Montreal 0Minnesota 0 at Los Angeles 0Wed. Dec. 31Montreal 2 at Pittsburgh 4Oakland 1 at Toronto 1Chicago 1 at New York 2Boston 1 at Detroit 5Thurs. Jan. 1Philadelphia 3 at Los Angeles 4Sat. Jan. 3Oakland 1 at Montreal 5Chicago 2 at Toronto 6New York 3 at Minnesota 3Detroit 6 at Philadelphia 1Pittsburgh 0 at St. Louis 6Boston 6 at Los Angeles 2Sun. Jan. 4Toronto 4 at Pittsburgh 4Oakland 2 at New York 5Chicago 0 at Detroit 4Minnesota 1 at Philadelphia 3<h2>GAMES TO COME</h2>Tues. Jan. 6Los Angeles at MontrealWed. Jan. 7Minnesota at TorontoNew York at PittsburghBoston at OaklandDetroit at ChicagoPhiladelphia at St. Louis&rsquo;Thurs. Jan. 8Pittsburgh at MontrealLos Angeles at PhiladelphiaSat. Jan. 10New York at MontrealBoston at TorontoDetroit at PittsburghChicago at St. LouisOakland at PhiladelphiaLos Angeles at MinnesotaSun. Jan. 11Oakland at BostonLos Angeles at ChicagoTues. Jan. 13Philadelphia at OaklandWed. Jan. 14Los Angeles at MontrealNew York at TorontoPittsburgh at ChicagoSt. Louis at MinnesotaThurs. Jan 15Toronto at St. LouisNew York at PhiladelphiaLos Angeles at BostonMinnesota at Oakland &#9632;

f0012-07

THE NHL SCENE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-09" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-09146/2913021-1-eng-US/f0012-092.jpg"></div>(INCLUDING GAMES OF SUN. JAN. 4)<h2>EAST-WEST SCORECARD:</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-10131/2913014-1-eng-US/f0012-102.jpg" title="f0012-10" width="1210" height="203"></div> &#9632;

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Looking At NHL Coolers

(Including Games of Sun. Dec. 28)<h2>TEAM STATISTICS AGAINST OWN DIVISION</h2><h3>East Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01731/2913129-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="581" height="177"></div><h3>WEST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02682/2913122-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="577" height="177"></div><h2>AGAINST OTHER DIVISION</h2><h3>East Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03633/2913115-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="581" height="180"></div><h3>WEST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-04581/2913108-1-eng-US/f0013-042.jpg" title="f0013-04" width="581" height="182"></div><h2>HOME AND AWAY RECORD</h2><h3>East At Home</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-05478/2913101-1-eng-US/f0013-052.jpg" title="f0013-05" width="573" height="179"></div><h3>East On Road</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-06408/2913094-1-eng-US/f0013-062.jpg" title="f0013-06" width="574" height="178"></div><h3>West At Home</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-07378/2913087-1-eng-US/f0013-072.jpg" title="f0013-07" width="576" height="184"></div><h3>West On Road</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-08355/2913080-1-eng-US/f0013-082.jpg" title="f0013-08" width="579" height="181"></div><h2>POWER PLAY GOALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-09338/2913073-1-eng-US/f0013-092.jpg" title="f0013-09" width="587" height="441"></div><h2>INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS</h2><h3>POWER PLAY GOALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-10316/2913066-1-eng-US/f0013-102.jpg" title="f0013-10" width="576" height="377"></div><h2>GAME WINNING GOALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-11290/2913059-1-eng-US/f0013-112.jpg" title="f0013-11" width="580" height="431"></div><h2>GAME TIEING GOALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-12254/2913052-1-eng-US/f0013-122.jpg" title="f0013-12" width="582" height="402"></div> &#9632;

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NHL WEEK—In Statistics

<div class="byline">BY PAT CURRAN</div>MONTREAL&mdash;Injuries to four regulars, Jean Beliveau, John Ferguson, Henri Richard and Chris Bordeleau were enough trouble for the Canadiens to welcome an end to the old year which brought back-to-back losses to St. Louis and Pittsburg. But 1970 had hardly been ushered in before the defending champs faced a new problem&mdash;the threatened retirement of Lome (Gump) Worsley.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-13220/2913167-1-eng-US/f0013-132.jpg" title="f0013-13" width="274" height="449"><figcaption class="caption-body">Lome Worsley</figcaption></div>The veteran goalie balked at an invitation to spend a fortnight with the Montreal Voyageurs and said he would hang up his pads before boarding a bus with the Habs&rsquo; American League farm team.Worsley&rsquo;s demotion wasn&rsquo;t altogether unexpected in recent weeks around the Forum where he had been gradually growing in disfavor with Coach Claude Ruel. The sophomore coach lost his patience with the 40-year-old Gumper&rsquo;s lax way of practicing, especially when he felt he couldn&rsquo;t call on the backup netminder when necessary.Ruel cited an instance before a game at Pittsburgh in mid-December. Although Worsley said he felt &ldquo;fine&rdquo;, the coach claims he complained about starting that night on the excuse he wasn&rsquo;t sharp without enough practice. Result was that Rogatien Vachon played again and Worsley wound up not only out of action but also out of uniform for the next six games.The problem was brought into the open just before New Year&rsquo;s when G.M. Sam Pollock called a meeting with Worsley. Sam suggested he could win back the No. 1 goalie job by spending time with the Voyageurs and getting into shape for Canadiens&rsquo; stretch run in the second half of the NHL schedule.Worsley accepted the proposal at first but later telephoned Pollock to say he would retire before going to the minors. A heart-to-heart talk with former coach Toe Blake failed to change Gump&rsquo;s mind.The situation was unchanged as Canadiens started a home stand of six straight games in the New Year. Worsley insisted he would quit rather than accept temporary demotion. The club stood its ground, trusting the goalie would change his mind in the face of losing an estimated $15,000 in salary he would earn the rest of the season.Meanwhile the Montreal goaltending situation was shaky with Rogatien Vachon feeling the pressure of playing so many games with an injury-riddled team as the Habs tied or lost several games in the dying minutes. Vachon wound up sitting out the last two periods of losses to St. Louis (5-0) and Pittsburgh (4-2) in favor of young Phil Myre, from the Voyageurs.&ldquo;The coach did the right thing to take me out,&rdquo; said Vachon who was yanked originally after the Blues scored four goals in the first period at the Forum. &ldquo;Everything I was doing was wrong&rdquo;.Vachon figured he needed a few games rest from the pressure so that he might return with new confidence.Ruel obliged by starting Myre in the next game against Oakland and the 21-year-old goalie did an adequate job in the 5-1 win over the Seals.Unless Worsley changes his mind, Myre may have to carry much of the Montreal goalie load the rest of the season.At the same time, the Canadiens continued to shuffle players to and from the Voyageurs with Bobby Sheehan, Lucien Grenier and Jude Drouin the latest minor leaguers up on trial. They put hustle into the Habs against the Seals.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-14187/2913160-1-eng-US/f0013-142.jpg" title="f0013-14" width="1161" height="1660"><figcaption class="caption-body">Little ROGATIEN VACHON will carry the major burden of the Montreal goaling now with the announced retirement of Lome Worsley. But Vachon, too, has been feeling pinch of overwork and asked the club to give him time off.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0013-13

Worsley’s Retirement More Aggravation For Cup Champs With 4 Regulars On Shelf

<div class="byline">BY TOM MONAHAN</div>&ldquo;You like 7up 7up likes you&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01731/2913198-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="541" height="577"><figcaption class="caption-body">DEREK SANDERSON&hellip;Loaded With Ability</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;It&rsquo;s popular to call him the happy bachelor of Boston. And it is a fact that he is a happy young man. That&rsquo;s his nature more than it is style. But there is a facet about this young man that demands a little more attention.It&rsquo;s his ability to play hockey.We are referring,&hellip;if no one guessed&hellip;to Derek Sanderson. The &ldquo;Turk&rsquo;, as he is called by his teammates, just may be one of the most underrated hockey players in the NHL.The fact also is that he may always be one of the most underrated hockey players in professional ranks simply because he is playing with a group of individuals who dominate the headlines.For example, Sanderson is a center. Ahead of him in that position are Phil Esposito and Fred Stanfield.They deserve their accolades and have the records behind them to prove the point.So Sanderson is relagated to third line duty and while there is no differentiation among the Bruins as to which line is one two or three, there always is that lingering thought in the minds of fans that the third line is just out there to give the big boys time to get their breath.This is the battle Sanderson is fighting now and there is no doubt that it is an all uphill battle. especially when there is a superstar on the team named Bobby Orr.Vet the 23-year-old from Niagara. Ont. continues to do his job of harrassing the enemy, scoring goals and killing penalties.He also is brash enough to make a wager with Orr that he will outscore Bobby this season while the talented defenseman from Parry Sound had run up a league leading total of 54 points after 34 games.It&rsquo;s just a friendly bet but with Sanderson a bet is a bet and he is an intense competitor who will take every edge he can get. He proved it this summer on a local golf course when involved in a golf match with a couple of young men who are known to play the game quite well.&ldquo;He claimed to have a 16 handicap and I&rsquo;m playing at six said one of his rivals. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think he was cheating on his handicap. But I had to go like heck to beat him. He shot 78 and hit the hall farther than any one I&rsquo;ve ever seen.But if Sanderson doesn&rsquo;t quite have the putting touch to get a golf ball into the cup he has no such weakness on the ice.He won the rookie of the year award three seasons ago with the Bruins by scoring 24-goals and followed it last season with 26 goals. He also totatled 47 assists in his first two seasons in the NHL.This season he experienced knee problems in training camp and missed 14 games before the medics cleared him for action.Since then he has scored eight goals and chipped in 10 assists.His only real weakness as a hockey player is that he is apt to get &lsquo;chippy&rsquo;.Last season, for example, he drew 146 minutes in penalties. This year in his 20 games he had moderated down to 49.Turk admits that drawing penalties is a fault.But while he is six-feet tall he weights only 175 pounds and he has a natural inclination to be aggressive.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t try to go after anyone.&rdquo; he says. But I feel there is only one wav to play hockey. You play it hard and tough. And you can&rsquo;t let anyone push you around. So when a guy takes a tun at me. I take a run back at him.&ldquo;I just want to play this game the best I can every time on the ice.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0014-01

Sanderson Faces Uphill Fight To Unseat Bruin Pivots

<h2>In The East</h2>Alex Delvecchio&rsquo;s faith in lucky charms has been restored and so has his eagle scoring eye.The 19-year NHL veteran was locked in the worst scoring slump of his long and illustrious big league career until this past week when a Detroit beauty queen gave him a good luck trinket, which he promised to pin to his suspenders. The Red Wings&rsquo; captain promptly scored two goals against Boston and followed up with a three-goal blast in Philadelphia in his next outing to raise his week&rsquo;s count to five goals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02620/2913236-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="267" height="465"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alex Delvecchio</figcaption></div>The feat was remarkable when you stop to consider that everything Delvecchio tried failed to work. He went 34 games without scoring until the pretty lady with the good luck charm came along and suddenly, life is worth while again for Delvecchio.It was the third hat trick of the Detroiter&rsquo;s career and one he won&rsquo;t forget in a hurry.THE HOCKEY NEWS and El Producto are pleased to salute the NHL&rsquo;s player-of-the-week in the East:ALEX DELVECCHIO&hellip;Detroit<h2>In The West</h2>The St. Louis Blues figure one of their best catches in the expansion grab bag had to be rugged Gary Sabourin.They were pleasantly surprised when he tallied 13 goals in his first season, doubled it to 25 last year and this season he is threatening to go even higher.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03482/2913229-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="268" height="398"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gary Sabourin</figcaption></div>Sabourin shot three goals last week to raise his season output to 14 and he still has another half of the schedule to go.The hard-hitting 180-pounder, who was destined to play for the Rangers before the Blues got their hands on him in a post-expansion trade, tallied twice in the first few minutes of the game to help St. Louis end a 22-game winless drought by upending Montreal 5-0. He came along to notch his 14th on the weekend as the Blues bombed Pittsburgh 6-0.A versatile performer who can go equally well both ways, Sabourin has proven a valuable member of the Blues and he is one of the big reasons St. Louis is the class of the West.THE HOCKEY NEWS and El Producto are pleased to salute the NHL&rsquo;s player-of-the-week in the West:CARY SABOURIN&hellip;St. Louis &#9632;

f0014-02

NHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01705/2913386-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="869" height="571"></div><h2>Tues. Dec. 30 ST. LOUIS 5 at MONTREAL 0</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02634/2913379-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="595" height="557"></div><h2>MINNESOTA 0 at LOS ANGELES 0</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-1862/2913372-1-eng-US/f0015-182.jpg" title="f0015-18" width="603" height="333"></div><h2>Wed. Dec. 31 MONTREAL 2 AT PITTSBURGH 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03533/2913365-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="589" height="554"></div><h2>CHICAGO 1 AT NEW YORK 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-04415/2913358-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="586" height="480"></div><h2>OAKLAND 1 AT TORONTO 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-05313/2913351-1-eng-US/f0015-052.jpg" title="f0015-05" width="587" height="427"></div><h2>BOSTON 1 AT DETROIT 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-06261/2913344-1-eng-US/f0015-062.jpg" title="f0015-06" width="582" height="557"></div><h2>Thurs. Jan. 1 PHILADELPHIA 3 AT LOS ANGELES 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-07234/2913337-1-eng-US/f0015-072.jpg" title="f0015-07" width="585" height="597"></div><h2>Sat. Jan. 3 OAKLAND 1 AT MONTREAL 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-08210/2913330-1-eng-US/f0015-082.jpg" title="f0015-08" width="589" height="608"></div><h2>CHICAGO 2 AT TORONTO 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-09194/2913323-1-eng-US/f0015-092.jpg" title="f0015-09" width="587" height="658"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS 6 PITTSBURGH 0</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-10171/2913316-1-eng-US/f0015-102.jpg" title="f0015-10" width="589" height="606"></div><h2>NEW YORK 3 AT MINNESOTA 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-11150/2913309-1-eng-US/f0015-112.jpg" title="f0015-11" width="590" height="584"></div><h2>DETROIT 6 AT PHILADELPHIA 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-12123/2913302-1-eng-US/f0015-122.jpg" title="f0015-12" width="587" height="673"></div><h2>BOSTON 6 AT LOS ANGELES 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-13109/2913295-1-eng-US/f0015-132.jpg" title="f0015-13" width="589" height="689"></div><h2>Sun. Jan. 4 TORONTO 4 AT PITTSBURGH 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-1496/2913288-1-eng-US/f0015-142.jpg" title="f0015-14" width="595" height="758"></div><h2>OAKLAND 2 AT NEW YORK 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-1580/2913281-1-eng-US/f0015-152.jpg" title="f0015-15" width="590" height="692"></div><h2>CHICAGO 0 AT DETROIT 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-1675/2913274-1-eng-US/f0015-162.jpg" title="f0015-16" width="588" height="512"></div><h2>MINNESOTA 1 AT PHILADELPHIA 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-1771/2913267-1-eng-US/f0015-172.jpg" title="f0015-17" width="591" height="564"></div> &#9632;

f0015-01

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

<h2>MONTREAL</h2>GOALKEEPERSRogatien VachonPhil MyreDEFENSEMENJ.-C. TremblayTed HarrisSerge SavardTerry HarperJacques LaperriereFORWARDSRalph BackstromDick DuffBobby RousseauYvan CournoyerClaudeProvostJudes DrouinMickey RedmondJacques LemaireMarc TardifLuc GrenierPeter Mohovlich<h2>BOSTON</h2>GOALKEEPERSGerry CheeversEd JohnstonDEFENSEMENBobby OrrRick SmithDallas SmithBill SpeerDon AwreyFORWARDSDerek SandersonKen HodgeJohn BucykWayne CarletonGarnet BaileyEd WestfallJohn McKenziePhil EspositoJim LorentzWayne Cashman<h2>CHICAGO</h2>GOALKEEPERSDenis DeJordyTony EspositoDEFENSEMENKeith MagnusonDoug JarrettRay McKayPat StapletonGilles MarotteFORWARDSLou AngottiPit MartinJimPappinBobby HullDennis HullEric NesterenkoChico MakiCliff KorollJim WisteStan MikitaGerry PinderGene UbriacoDoug Mohns<h2>DETROIT</h2>GOALKEEPERSRoy EdwardsRoger CrozierDEFENSEMENBobby BaunGary BergmanCarl BrewerRon HarrisMatt RavlichFORWARDSGarry UngerGordie HoweAlex DelvecchioGarry MonahanBruce MacGregorNick UbettWayne ConnellyPete StemkowskiFrank MohovlichBilly DeaAl Karlander<h2>TORONTO</h2>GOALKEEPERSBruce GambleJohn BowerDEFENSEMENTim HortonPat QuinnJim DoreyMarcel PronovostFORWARDSJim McKennyRon EllisMurray OliverJim HarrisonBrit SelbyMike WaltonFloyd SmithPaul HendersonBob PulfordTerry ClancyRon WardNorm UllmanGeorge ArmstrongDave Keon<h2>NEW YORK</h2>GOALKEEPERSEd GiacominTerry SawchuckDEFENSEMENBrad ParkAmie BrownJim NeilsonRod SeilingAllan HamiltonFORWARDSRod GilbertBob NevinReal LemieuxBill FairbairnVic HadfieldRon StewartDave BatonWalt TkaczukJean RatelieJuha WidingDon Marshall<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2>GOALKEEPERSJacques PlanteErnie WakelyGlenn HallDEFENSEMENRay FortinBob PlagerNoel PicardBarclay PlagerJim RobertsJean-Guy TalbotFORWARDSRed BerensonFrank St. MarseillePhil GoyetteGary SabourinTim EcclestoneBill McCrearyRon AndersonLarry KeenanAndre BoudriasAb McDonald<h2>OAKLAND</h2>GOALKEEPERSGary SmithCharlie HodgeDEFENSEMENDoug RobertsWayne MuloinCarol VadnaisDick MottiussiBert MarshallHarry HowellFORWARDSBilly HickeGerry EhmanTed HampsonDon O&rsquo;DonoghueGary JarrettEarl IngarfieldMike LaughtonNorm FergusonBrian PerryBob DillaboughHowie Menard<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2>GOALKEEPERSBernie ParentDoug FavellDEFENSEMENEd Van ImpeJoe WatsonLarry HillmanWayne HillmanDick CherryLarry HaleFORWARDSEarl Hei ska laAndre LacroixSimon NoletJean-Guy GendronReg FlemingBill SutherlandGary DornhoeferBob ClarkeLew MorrisonTerry Ball<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2>GOALKEEPERSLes BinkleyAl SmithDEFENSEMENDuane RuppBob WoytowichBob BlackburnTracy PrattJim MorrisonBryan WatsonFORWARDSBryan HextallKeith McCrearyVai FonteyneNick HarbarukKen SchinkelGlen SatherRon SchockWally BoyerJean PronovostDean PrenticeMichel Briere<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2>GOALKEEPERSGerry DesjardinsWayne RutledgeDEFENSEMENDale RolfeBrent HughesBob WallDale HogansonLarry CahanBill WhiteFORWARDSEddie JoyalEddie ShackBill FlettJim PetersButch GoringTed IrvineSkip KrakeMike CorriganRoss LonsberryLeon Rochefort<h2>MINNESOTA</h2>GOALKEEPERSCesare ManiagoFem RivardDEFENSEMENJohn MiszukLeo BoivinLou NanneDarryl SlyBarry GibbsTom ReidFORWARDSDanny O&rsquo;SheaBill GoldsworthyDanny LawsonRay CullenJean-Paul PariseTommy WilliamsBob BarlowClaude LaroseBill CollinsDanny GrantWalt McKechnie &#9632;

National League Rosters

<div class="byline">&#x2014;CONRAD</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Don&rsquo;t bother asking Ed Van Impe his roughest opponent in the NHL.It would have to be the Oakland Seals this season because the Flyers&rsquo; captain and veteran defenseman is batting an unpleasant 2-for-2 when it comes to hard luck against the Seals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02413/2913472-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="244" height="439"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ed Van Impe</figcaption></div>Remember when the teams met at the Spectrum in their first game. Defenseman Wayne Muloin took a shot and Van Impe. dropping down to stop it, caught the puck in the mouth. He needed 35 stitches to close deep cuts on his tongue, lips and mouth.The bad luck continued the first time the Flyers visited Oakland. Van Impe suffered two bro ken ribs in the third period.Both games, oddly enough, ended in 2-2 ties. Van Impe was the hard-luck loser. &#9632;

f0017-02

Seals Tough On Van Impe

LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Mode in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY CO. LIMITED WALLY ENTERPRISES LIMITED. AFFILIATE Arnold Street. Wolloceburq. Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada<h2>AHL POINT RACE</h2><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3>(Including games of Sun. Dec. 28)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1549/2913510-1-eng-US/f0018-152.jpg" title="f0018-15" width="576" height="567"></div><h3>GOALKEEPERS&rsquo; RECORDS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1647/2913503-1-eng-US/f0018-162.jpg" title="f0018-16" width="574" height="515"></div><h3>PENALTY LEADER</h3>Rosaire Paiement, Quebec 90 mins. &#9632;

f0018-15

AMERICAN LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY BOB BROWN</div>CLEVELAND&mdash;Jack Gordon doesn&rsquo;t take things sitting down. Gordon is a winner and he doesn&rsquo;t take lightly the fact that his Cleveland Barons are at the bottom of the Western Division standings. Although the Clevleand defense has been rather porous at times, the main concern with this season&rsquo;s edition of the blue and white is its lack of socring punch. This is Gordon&rsquo;s frustration.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01471/2913548-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="258" height="437"><figcaption class="caption-body">Cec Hoekstra</figcaption></div>Jack still holds the all-time Barons&rsquo; record for assists in a season. He was adept at moving the puck into position for a score. He knows well that line coordination puts goals on the board.When the season opened, the Barons appeared to be set with three balanced lines. Rey Comeau, Ken Kelly and Norm Beaudin were the scoring rages of the league in the early going. The other lines had veterans Howie Glover. Bob Ellett, Jim Mikol and Cec Hoekstra working with newcomers Dick Mortenson, John Cunniff and Crag Reich-muth. The situation seemed to be under control.However, the Comeau, Kelly, Beaudin line cooled off. The other lines, too, lacked scoring effectiveness and the Barons&rsquo; attack withered. Then, the adjustments began.Gordon has juggled lines since but with just minor success. Beaudin has continued to score consistently which goes to credit his individual play. Ellett has scored in spurts as has Glover. Still, the Barons&rsquo; attack has not been steady.As of this writing, the Barons didn&rsquo;t have any player in double figures in goal scoring. Glover and Ellett lead the club with 9 goals each.Part of the reason for the slim goal totals is the fact that the club lacks experience at center ice. The pivot is critical to line effectiveness, as Gordon, himself a smooth skating center, well knows.Comeau is in his second pro season. Rene LeClerc, on loan from Detroit, is in his third season as a professional, as is Brian Lavender, and second year pro Mortenson missed most of the season with a badly dislocated wrist.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02381/2913541-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="540" height="591"><figcaption class="caption-body">HOWIE GLOVER</figcaption></div>The only veteran at center is Cec Hoekstra who has done his usual hard working job all year. Koekstra does yeoman service at killing penalties and, because of injuries and effort to get the attack going, has also taken regular turns.This is the area where Gordon and Barons&rsquo; fans hope the early season games will begin to pay off. The youngsters are now more seasoned. Gordon hopes this experience plus his line shaking will eventually give him the attack he has been searching for. The Barons are still within striking distance of second place in the West but if they are to move up they must soon begin to put points on the board.BARON SHORTS: Western Ontario won the second annual Cleveland Cup Tournament played at the Arena in mid-December. The Mustangs downed defending champion Bowling Green State University of Ohio to win the crown. Brent Imlach, son of Punch, scored the hat trick in the title game for Western. Dartmouth finished third in the six team event.The Cleveland High School Hockey League is moving along well. Cleveland Heights leads the four team loop. There has been considerable interest in expanding the league to eight teams next season.The Barons-Hershey game of December 14, postponed when the Bears were snowed in at Har-risburg, has been rescheduled for Tuesday night, February 17.The Barons Hall of Fame Night will be January 16. Features of the evening in addition to the Barons-Providence clash will be induction ceremonies for Hall of Famers and an old timers game between Barons of the pre 50&rsquo;s and post 50&rsquo;s. &#9632;

f0018-01

Gordon Shakes Up Lines To Get Barons Moving

<h2>Sat. Dec. 27 BALTIMORE 6 AT HERSHEY 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03281/2913656-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="575" height="645"></div><h2>BUFFALO 2 AT SPRINGFIELD 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04221/2913649-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="575" height="550"></div><h2>Thurs. Jan. 1 CLEVELAND 3 AT BALTIMORE 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05167/2913642-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="577" height="526"></div><h2>BUFFALO 6 AT ROCHESTER 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-06138/2913635-1-eng-US/f0018-062.jpg" title="f0018-06" width="587" height="738"></div><h2>Fri. Jan. 2 PROVIDENCE 0 AT BUFFALO 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-07122/2913628-1-eng-US/f0018-072.jpg" title="f0018-07" width="571" height="378"></div><h2>QUEBEC 2 AT MONTREAL 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-08103/2913621-1-eng-US/f0018-082.jpg" title="f0018-08" width="573" height="677"></div><h2>Sat. Jan. 3 MONTREAL 2 AT HERSHEY 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-0991/2913614-1-eng-US/f0018-092.jpg" title="f0018-09" width="578" height="509"></div><h2>QUEBEC 1 AT BALTIMORE 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1079/2913607-1-eng-US/f0018-102.jpg" title="f0018-10" width="576" height="342"></div><h2>Sun. Jan. 4 MONTREAL 3 AT PROVIDENCE 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1174/2913600-1-eng-US/f0018-112.jpg" title="f0018-11" width="578" height="706"></div><h2>BALTIMORE 3 AT BUFFALO 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1268/2913593-1-eng-US/f0018-122.jpg" title="f0018-12" width="578" height="773"></div><h2>SPRINGFIELD 6 AT ROCHESTER 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1356/2913586-1-eng-US/f0018-132.jpg" title="f0018-13" width="575" height="765"></div><h2>HERSHEY 3 AT CLEVELAND 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1451/2913579-1-eng-US/f0018-142.jpg" title="f0018-14" width="577" height="607"></div> &#9632;

f0018-03

American Hockey League Summaries

<div class="byline">BY GEORGE DUFFY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01450/2913694-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="559" height="1029"><figcaption class="caption-body">NEIL NICHOLSON&hellip;Winning Respect</figcaption></div>PROVIDENCE&mdash;When the American Hockey League season began, the Providence Reds weren&rsquo;t counting on getting much help from rookie defenseman Neil Nicholson.&ldquo;Oakland didn&rsquo;t get him too early in the amateur draft.&rdquo; explained Dave Creighton, the Reds&rsquo; general manager-coach &ldquo;so I wasn&rsquo;t sure if he had the ability to make it in professional hockey.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02392/2913687-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="239" height="482"><figcaption class="caption-body">Nick Polano</figcaption></div>Creighton was eager to find out, though, so he inserted the 21-year-old native of St. John. N.B., into the Reds&rsquo; lineup during the exhibition season.&ldquo;Neil made a few mistakes, of course, as any other rookie is bound to do,&rdquo; Creighton admitted. &ldquo;But he never made the same mistake twice and always seemed eager to learn.&rdquo;Nicholson, who scored 16 goals and 26 assists for London last season, remained in the Reds&rsquo; lineup when the AHL season got under wav. He&rsquo;s been there ever since.&ldquo;Right now I&rsquo;d rate Neil as one of the best defensemen on our club and a definite future NHL star,&rdquo; the Reds&rsquo; boss declared. &ldquo;He still has a lot to learn, of course, but he has the talent and desire to make a name for himself with Oakland in another season or two.&rdquo;Nicholson points out he has received a great deal of help from his defensive partner, veteran Nick Polano,&ldquo;He&rsquo;s always willing to stay after practice to help me out,&rdquo; the 5-foot-ll, 180-pound Nicholson said. &ldquo;Nick has taught me a lot, and 1 appreciate it.&rdquo;Creighton also is delighted with the progress Nicholson has made since the start of the season.&ldquo;Neil is learning a lot, coming on fast,&rdquo; said Creighton. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s making a lot of friends here.&rdquo;Nicholson won the hearts of Providence fans a couple of weeks ago when he engaged in fist fights with Red Armstrong of Rochester and Jimmy Bartlett of Baltimore.His battle with Bartlett, before 4,587 fans at R.I. Auditorium, was delightfully one-sided.&ldquo;Neil is a quiet guy,&rdquo; pointed out Polano. who also is determined to win a job with Oakland, &ldquo;but that doesn&rsquo;t mean he&rsquo;s afraid of anyone.&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to have the respect of forwards to be a good defenseman,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;and Neil has earned it now.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0019-01

‘Nicholson Certain For NHL’ Says Reds’ Boss

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK SANTANIELLO</div>SPRINGFIELD&mdash;A year has made a big difference in the Springfield Kings. Last winter at this time, the club was in last place, making a threat but clearly both the goal-tending and available players just were not there. The team was an also ran.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03319/2913725-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="236" height="448"><figcaption class="caption-body">Noel Price</figcaption></div>This season, the team is fighting with Montreal for first place. Despite a few call-ups and a coaching change, the Kings are a contender and fans have been responding at the gate with good crowds at all the games. Tickets are becoming scarce.&ldquo;We promised the fans a good club next season,&rdquo; Larry Regan told us last July in Johnny Wilson&rsquo;s office. &ldquo;That means some good AHL calibre goal-tending and some top playing talent to make Springfield a winner.&rdquo; The man has not gone back on his word.Bruce Landon, Wayne Rut ledge and Bob Sneddon have been a big improvement on last season&rsquo;s goalers. Landon is sure fire for the NHL let alone the AHL. Rutledge played well in the nets here until he was recalled. Sneddon has not played much but he is sure-handed and dependable when he gets the call.Ironically, Claude Hardy has come back from Los Angeles after Rutledge was recalled.Biggest improvement has been on defense. Noel Price and Dave Amadio are experienced performers far above the average AHL player. Combined with Roger Cote, Greg Boddy and Larry-Johnston, this defense corps is the best in the whole league.Up front, the club is even stronger, though it lost Butch Goring, the rookie sensation and Mike Corrigan, who really developed fast this season. Cowboy-Flett was here for some conditioning games and then returned.Addition of center Dennis Hex-tall and winger-center Bryan Campbell must lift the Springfield club. Both are proven players who know how to score and maneuver.A few have been slow starting, like Bill Inglis, who is just beginning to find the range regularly. Doug Robinson has been scoring well the last few weeks with Claude Dufour also doing well. Mystery continues to surround Gary Croteau, who is not up to his scoring potential.In Croteau&rsquo;s case, he was told to lose considerable weight and it has not helped. Randy Miller has played steadily here. Most improved player has to be Brian Murphy, a big center who can hit and check, though not a real scoring threat. He keeps Kings&rsquo; opponents honest. &#9632;

f0019-03

Kings’ Chorus: ‘What A Difference A Year Makes’

<div class="byline">BY CHARLEY BARTON</div>BUFFALO&mdash;The Buffalo Bisons reached the midway point of the American Hockey League schedule with a 27-point lead in the Western Division and the pleasant prospects of a vastly reduced travel program.In their first 36 games of the 72-game schedule, the Bisons won 23, lost 7 and tied 6. In 15 games at home, they won 11, lost one and tied three. On the road they won 12, lost 6 and tied 3.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-06181/2913756-1-eng-US/f0019-062.jpg" title="f0019-06" width="235" height="436"><figcaption class="caption-body">Guy Trottier</figcaption></div>Only 15 of their remaining 36 games will be played on the road, and the schedule is an appealing one for the Bisons. They will be away for five games in January, four in February and three in March and April.&ldquo;While I realize we have played well on the road, it is comforting to know we&rsquo;re finished with the toughest part of our travel,&rdquo; Coach Fred Shero said.&ldquo;We had some tough trips, and had to play shorthanded because of injuries, as well. We&rsquo;ve had 17 players, one under the limit, for some time, but we haven&rsquo;t rushed into adding a player in order to be sure we got the man we wanted.&rdquo;The Bisons wound up the first half of the season with an 8-3 win over the Springfield Kings before a standing-room-only throng of 10,664 in Buffalo&rsquo;s Memorial Auditorium.It was the Herd&rsquo;s second win over the Kings in successive nights, and the banner turnout here waited for two hours and 25 minutes for the game to start. The storm which paralyzed the Eastern Seaboard delaved the clubs&rsquo; return.<h2>ALONG THE BOARDS</h2>Guy Trottier, the Bisons&rsquo; All-Star right-winger who missed one game with a severely bruised elbow, rejoined the club for the 8-3 win over Springfield and scored three goals to boost his league-leading total to 31&hellip;Coach Billy Reay of the Chicago Black Hawks was a recent visitor here. Reay coached the Bisons for two winters, and led them into the Calder Cup finals both times. Reay&rsquo;s team won the Calder Cup in 1962-63&hellip;Work to ready Memorial Auditorium as a National Hockey League site for next season will begin May 1. The roof will be raised 18 feet, at a rate of nine inches daily, to boost the seating capacity from 9,800 to 15,200. In addition, the playing surface will be lengthened 6 feet to 200&hellip;John MacDonald, who does the road games, and Phil Soisson, who handles the games in Buffalo, give the Bisons one of the best radio play-by-play teams in the sport. &#9632;

f0019-06

The Rich Get Richer, Schedule Favors Herd

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 6)<h2>EASTERN DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-04274/2913794-1-eng-US/f0019-042.jpg" title="f0019-04" width="586" height="174"></div><h2>WESTERN DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-05229/2913787-1-eng-US/f0019-052.jpg" title="f0019-05" width="588" height="290"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Thurs. Jan. 1Cleveland 3 at Baltimore 1Buffalo 6 at Rochester 1Fri. Jan. 2Providence 0 at Buffalo 2Quebec 2 at Montreal 5Sat. Jan. 3Rochester 2 at Cleveland 4Montreal 2 at Hershey 4Providence 1 at Springfield 4Quebec 1 at Baltimore 2Sun. Jan. 4Baltimore 3 at Buffalo 7Hershey 3 at Cleveland 2Montreal 3 at Providence 4Springfield 6 at Rochester 5<h2>GAMES TO COME</h2>Tues. Jan. 6Providence at QuebecWed. Jan. 7Montreal at BaltimoreSpringfield at HersheyThurs. Jan. 8Providence at QuebecFri. Jan. 6Hershey at BaltimoreSpringfield at ClevelandProvidence at MontrealBuffalo at RochesterSat. Jan. 10Buffalo at ClevelandRochester at HersheyMontreal at SpringfieldSun. Jan. 11Cleveland at BuffaloHershey at ProvidenceBaltimore at QuebecMontreal at RochesterTues. Jan. 13Baltimore at QuebecWed. Jan. 14Providence at Hershey &#9632;

f0019-04

<div class="byline">BY HANS TANNER</div>ROCHESTER&mdash;It was December 21st&mdash;a night of firsts for the Rochester Americans.Gerry Sillers, 24-year-old right wing in his second season of pro hockey, scored his first three-goal hat trick as a professional&mdash;getting a goal in each period in a 7-3 win over Hershey. Sillers went into the game with a meagre total of 10 goals in 87 games as a pro.Tim Gould, 23-year-old who starred on defense for Denver University last season, played his first game at center in front of the home folks and registered his first game-winning goal as a pro.Assisting on Gould&rsquo;s goal was Wayne Clairmont, and that was his first game-winning assist in pro hockey. Also assisting was Bob Cook. It was his first assist on a gamewinner this season.Wayne Mosdell, defenseman in his second season with Rochester, scored his first goal in 90 games as an Amerk.Veteran defenseman Claude Labrosse, who had been used sparingly here earlier, played a regular shift and picked up his first two assists on home ice this season.And it was the first home game the Amerks played under the new ownership of Medicor Investment Corporation of Minneapolis. Medicor closed the deal for the purchase of he Vancouver Canucks on the 19th. Rochester, owned by Vancouver, was part of the package.ICICLES&mdash;With nine of their 12 American League games from Dec. 21 through Jan. 18 scheduled for home ice, the Amerks hope to not only cement their hold on the third and final playoff spot in the Western Division, they have their eyes on the runne-rup spot behind Buffalo Bisons&hellip;Rochester played its first televised game of the season on Dec. 20 in Cleveland, and it was good advertising. The Amerks led 2-0 after one period, but trailed 42 after two They were down 53 in the third and pulled out a tie with 37 seconds remaining. The man who tied it was Howie Young, who should know about dramatic endings from his acting career as a member of the motion picture cast in None But The Brave.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02217/2913832-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="544" height="792"><figcaption class="caption-body">GERRY SILLERS&hellip;First Pro Hat Trick</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03181/2913825-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="534" height="775"><figcaption class="caption-body">WAYNE MOSDELL&hellip;First Amerk Goal</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0020-02

Americans Won’t Forget Night Of Dec. 21 In A Hurry

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01294/2913863-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="888" height="1205"></div><h2>SOLUTION IN JAN. 23 ISSUE</h2><h3>ACROSS</h3>1&mdash;Pictured player.4&mdash;10 across was born in this month.7&mdash;1st and 25th letters of the alphabet.8&mdash;Pictured player fires a hard one.10&mdash;A leading ranger scorer.13&mdash;Required to travel abroad.15&mdash;One of the Penguins.17&mdash;Maniago once played for this team. (abbr.)19&mdash;1 across has been around many&mdash;(abbr).20&mdash;Initials of a Penguin defenseman.22&mdash;Native Province of 2 down. (abbr.)25&mdash;A Buffalo defenseman.28&mdash;Initials of one of the Blues.29&mdash;He went by the name Rollins.30&mdash;One of the Vancouver Canucks.31&mdash;NHL defenseman answers to this.32&mdash;First name of one of the Kings.33&mdash;A St. Louis farmhand.<h3>DOWN</h3>1&mdash;Montreal player.2&mdash;One of the Penguins.3&mdash;Goalkeepers must have good&mdash;.4&mdash;City in Norway.5&mdash;A former Penguin.6&mdash;Preposition.9&mdash;NHL captain.11&mdash;One of the Blues.12&mdash;Initials of ex-Seal Popein.14&mdash;61-62 Stanley Cup Champs.16&mdash;Native Province of MacNeil of Les Voyageurs.18&mdash;First name of a referee.21&mdash;Initials of Andrea of Vancouver.23&mdash;A leaf forward answers to this.24&mdash;Recently came out of retirement.26&mdash;One of the Hawks.27&mdash;Pictured player has scored many. (S).31&mdash;Initials of Obendorf of Kansas City.<h2>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S ANSWERS</h2><h3>ACROSS</h3>1&mdash;HORTON7&mdash;D.J.9&mdash;EDWARDS11&mdash;N.R.12&mdash;P.R.13&mdash;DOME15&mdash;BAUN16&mdash;EWE17&mdash;R.S.19&mdash;SKI21&mdash;ICE22&mdash;OIL23&mdash;LEMAIRE27&mdash;TOR.28&mdash;FOUR.30&mdash;RAMS31&mdash;CULLEN<h3>DOWN</h3>1&mdash;HENDERSON2&mdash;ODROWSKI3&mdash;R.W.4&mdash;TAPE5&mdash;ORR6&mdash;N.D.8&mdash;JOHN10&mdash;STAN MIKITA.14&mdash;ME18&mdash;PETERS20&mdash;ILL24&mdash;EARL25&mdash;ROME26&mdash;LOU28&mdash;F.C.29&mdash;U.L &middot;30&mdash;R.N. &#9632;

f0020-01

Hockey Crossword

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04138/2913894-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Cornell captain DAN LODBOA receives MVP trophy from GEORGE SCHIEBLER as best player in Christmas ECAC tournament which Cornell won at New York&rsquo;s Madison Square Garden. (Hockey News Photo by Harry Kloff)</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;With the Holiday Tournament schedule about half completed, Ned Harkness&rsquo; 9-0 Cornell sextet had vanquished all challengers and established itself once more as ECAC kingpin, an honor which the Big Red have copped for the past three years. But nestled not too far back in the standings with a 2-1-1 Div. I record and a 7-2-1 overall slate was the real newsmaker, the University of New Hampshire.Charlie Holt&rsquo;s Wildcats stunned college hockey buff&rsquo;s everywhere when they swept the Dec. 19-20 Great Lakes Invitational Tournament at Detroit. Not only did they defeat WCHA leader Michigan Tech in the first round, they whitewashed the Huskies 7-0. Then in the final the &lsquo;Cats nipped Michigan State 4-3, after the Spartans had topped Princeton 5-2 the previous night. Oddly enough, UNH and Michigan State were paired for a rematch in the opening round of the Dec. 29-30 Boston Arena Tourney.GLI MVP award went to senior goalie Larry Smith, who hadn&rsquo;t played as a regular until this year. He had 57 stops in 2 games and was named to the all-tournament first team along with UNH wings Dick Umile and Guy Smith, and defensemen Ryan Brandt and Pete Stoutenberg. Umile, a sophomore from Melrose, Mass., had two goals in each game to miss by one the tournament goal record held by Bill Watt of Michigan State.&ldquo;We just played superb hockey against Michigan Tech,&rdquo; said Holt, who had nothing but praise for his Wildcats.A big shot in the arm indeed for Eastern hockey, from a team many figured would not even make one of the eight post-season playoff berths.Meanwhile, Cornell&rsquo;s Big Red just roll along. Earlier in the campaign, Ned Harkness described his club as one with &ldquo;no superstars&rdquo;. Instead, it&rsquo;s a team of &ldquo;ordinary&rdquo; all-stars.Latest conquest for the well-drilled Ithacans was the Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival, in which they pummelled RPI 9-0 and St. Lawrence 7-2 to gain the title. The Larries had upset previously-unbeaten Boston College 7-6 in the first round, coming from behind three times. BC defeated RPI 7-1 in the consolation tilt. &#9632;

f0020-04

Cornell Still On Top But UNH In Spotlight

Chicago Headquarters Skate and Complete Hockey Equipment4836 N. Clark StreetChicago, III., 60640312-275-5500OPEN7DAYS A WEEK from 10 A.M. to 10 P.M.Also by appointmentCCM&mdash;Cooper Weeks&mdash;Northland&mdash;Baver&mdash;Johnson&mdash;Harlick&mdash;MK&mdash;Strauss etc. Order Team uniforms now. Team prices. Order Team uniforms now. Team prices. &#9632;

RAINBO ARENA

<div class="byline">By John Gilbert</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01157/2913956-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg"></div>As the Western Collegiate Hockey Association teams took their break for Christmas and swung into the Holiday Tournament schedule, defending champion Michigan Tech was perched with a precarious hold on first place with a 1-0-1 record, because percentage determines position.The Huskies of coach John Maclnnes, rich on defense and in the goal but missing the scoring punch of Al Karlander, who graduated last year and is now with the Detroit Red Wings, were a surprise by the ease with which they yielded goals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02118/2913949-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="239" height="482"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rick Duffett</figcaption></div>Everybody else in the WCHA had been knocking heads for three or four weeks when Denver and Michigan Tech collided at Houghton. Mich., for the co-favorites&rsquo; opening conference series.Denver lost 6-5 to Tech in overtime the first night and the teams battled to a 5-5 overtime tie in the second game, making everyone believe they would be the two teams to beat. Most astonishing was the 21 goals scored when both teams rely on defense.As it turned out, however, both may have a rocky road ahead&mdash;another indication of just how close this race is going to be. Tech went on into the Great Lakes Tournament and was jolted 7-0 in the first round by an inspired New Hampshire University, which stayed around to win the tournament with a 4-3 championship victory over Michigan State. Tech came out of shock to beat Princeton 5-2 in the consolation game for a third place finish.Meanwhile, Denver wasn&rsquo;t looking like its usual irrepressible self. The Pioneers swept upstart Wisconsin 5-3 and 4-1, but the Badgers outshot Denver badly in the first game and the shots on goal were nearly even in the second.Instead of journeying back to Colorado, Denver went up to Grand Forks, N.D., to spend a leisurely week preparing for its series with North Dakota. The Sioux, struggling earlier in the season, sent Denver home with 3-2 and 2-1 losses, both again coming in overtime.So now Western observers are looking around to see what will happen next in the surprising WCHA.WISCONSIN&mdash;The Badgers may be in their first year in the WCHA, but the fans have jumped at the chance to watch. In the first conference series in the new arena at Madison, full houses of 6,811 and 6,919 watched. Wisconsin then opened the Big Ten tournament by nipping Minnesota 4-3 in overtime on Jim Johnston&rsquo;s goal.MINNESOTA&mdash;Senior goalie Murray McLachlan, being watched closely by his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs, kicked out 43 Wisconsin shots in the loss during the Big Ten tournament. It was the Gophers&rsquo; first action since splitting with North Dakota before fall quarter final examinations. They&rsquo;re second at 4-2 in the WCHA.COLORADO COLLEGE&mdash;Quarter exam break followed. 5-1 and 8-2 victories over the Air Force Academy for the Tigers, whose only conference games were two losses to Minnesota. Coach John Matchefts has realigned his three lines and expects the new units to provide more scoring punch as the Tigers, with mostly Minnesota players on their roster, invaded the &ldquo;home&rdquo; state to face the University of Minnesota to open the new year.MICHIGAN&mdash;Favorite as host in the Big Ten tournament, Michigan beat Ohio State 7-2 in the first round, having split overtime games with North Dakota. Sophomore flash Bernie Gagnon had seven goals in the first six conference games, which Michigan split 3-3.NORTH DAKOTA&mdash;The Sioux, after rallying through a series of overtime games, had finally reached the. 500 mark at 6-6 before smacking into Duluth. The Sioux appeared worn out from a heavy holiday schedule, but held 1-0 lead in both games before losing 5-2 and 5-4. Dave Hudson scored twice in the second game for the Sioux, while Bob Duncan had a goal each night.MICHIGAN STATE&mdash;All-American goalie Rick Duffett and an offense led by Don Thompson and Bill Fifield led Michigan State, 2-2 in WCHA play, to 2-1 win over Princeton before a narrow final loss to New Hampshire in the Great Lakes Tournament. Spartans had to then go from Detroit one day to Ann Arbor the next for the Big Ten Tournament to face Michigan in the semifinals.NORTH DAKOTA&mdash;The young Sioux seem to thrive on overtime games, having four straight and five in three two-game series, and winning four of those to become 6-6. Freshman Earl Anderson beat Minnesota in overtime, Dave Bragnalo beat Michigan, then Mike Baumgartner and Bob Duncan got winners against Denver. &#9632;

f0021-01

WESTERN WAY

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GILBERT</div>MINNEAPOLIS&mdash;There&rsquo;s no better indication of the closeness of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association race than the incredible number of overtime games.A 10-minutes sudden-death period is mandatory in the league after every tie, and North Dakota is currently leading the league with five overtimes in its 10 games.Denver, however, has played four overtimes in only six WCHA games, but hasn&rsquo;t fared as well as the Sioux.North Dakota, led by the rookie line of Fort William, Ontario, sophomores Brian DePiero and Dave Bragnalo, and Roseau, Minn., freshman Earl Anderson, beat Minne-sota 4-3 in sudden-death on Anderson&rsquo;s tally in Minneapolis on Dec. 5.The next weekend, North Dakota went to Michigan and lost 6-5 when Michigan&rsquo;s Bucky Straub tied the game with 14 seconds remaining in the third period, and Bernie Gagnon tallied at 7:05 of overtime. One night later, the Sioux bounced back, tying with a late goal by freshman Gerry Miller and getting the winner from Bragnalo at 8:14.Returning home, the Sioux apparently decided they liked to play more than the regulation three periods, tripping, Denver 3-2 on Mike Baumgartner&rsquo;s shot from defense at 1:47 of overtime in the Friday game. The next night, it was Bob Duncan who scored at 7:05 of overtime to sink Denver and finally get the improving Sioux up to 6-6 in the WCHA.Minnesota had previously beaten Minnesota-Duluth in an overtime before the loss to North Dakota. But the Gophers found the extra session distasteful in the Big Ten Tournament, losing to neighboring Wisconsin 4-3 when Jim Johnston tallied in over-time.Minnesota returns to the Twin Cities to take on the United States Nationals on New Year&rsquo;s Eve at Metropolitan Sports Center. The Nationals will have played North Dakota the night before in Bismarck, N.D.Fans who watched the holiday tournament last sear at Met Center, home of the North Stars, are also aware of overtimes. North Dakota and Minnesota hooked up in one there that went five overtimes before the Sioux survived as the weary winner. &#9632;

North Dakota Packs Wallop In Extra Period Encounters

<div class="byline">Tom Burke</div>CORNELL&mdash;Ned Harkness feels that this is his fastest club in years, and many think that it could be his best. They&rsquo;ve averaged 100-125 shots per game, on goal and otherwise, and score at a 6.8 clip. To boot, the goals are evenly distributed, so if one line is off the other two have picked up the slack. Dan Lodboa won the MVP award at the ECAC Holiday Festival. The senior co-captain-defenseman had a goal and 5 assists in 2 games. It&rsquo;s hoped that super soph defenseman Ron Simpson, injured early and operated on (knee) will he back for the playoffs, although Jim Higgs, a soph who&rsquo;s been his replacement, won&rsquo;t be easy to move out of the lineup. A four-goal third period, two by Garth Ryan, clinched the 7-2 win over St. Lawrence in the Holiday Fest final.DARTMOUTH&mdash;The Indians finished the Cleveland Cup Tournament in third place, beating McGill 6-5 and Bowdoin 2-1. Loss was 8-3 to Western Ontario, the tourney winner. Junior Jeff Kosak made right wing on the all-tournament team. Ken Davidson, Dave Hill, and Kosak, last year&rsquo;s top scorers as sophomores are again the top line and lead the goal parade. Senior goalie Tom Schuster, back from a thumb injury, had 22 saves in win over Bowdoin, his first game this year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0380/2914018-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="239" height="413"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave Conte</figcaption></div>RP1&mdash;Engineers had rough sledding in the Holiday Fest, losing 9-0 to Cornell and 7-1 to Boston College. Terry Jordan, sophomore goalie who&rsquo;s also a top student, did a fine job nonetheless, particularly vs. Cornell when he had 52 saves. Norm Bean, top scorer and center ice man. saw some action at defense in attempt to move the puck better in the defending zone.BOSTON COLLEGE&mdash;Eagles suffered a big defensive lapse in 7-6 loss to scrappy St. Lawrence, their first of the season. &ldquo;We let up after scoring three quick goals in the first period. You just don&rsquo;t do that in this game,&rdquo; said Snooks Kelley. In a two game set with NCAA champion University of Denver, BC lost 6-2 and 7-6 in overtime but gave a good account of themselves and the East. Most of the squad got hit with the flu on the trip. Seniors John Sullivan and Charlie Toczylowski played especially well.COLGATE&mdash;Tom Earl had a hat trick and two assists in 7-5 come-from-behind win over Penn. Gene Fewster moved from third line to first at left wing, re-uniting last year&rsquo;s third unit of Mike Finnegan. Dennis Webster, and Bob Keen. Second line of Al MacKinnon. Dave Conte, and Rick Rowell led the balanced scoring attack with 12 goals through 4 games.ST. LAWRENCE&mdash;Larries showed tremendous resiliency in comeback win over BC and performance against Cornell. &ldquo;This is a young team,&rdquo; said George Menard. &ldquo;They do make mistakes but they bounce back like rubber.&rsquo;&rsquo; Alex Campbell had two key goals, one which knotted the count at 5-5 vs. BC. and the winner at 18:23 of the final period.NEW HAMPSHIRE&mdash;Wildcat co-captain and left wing Allen Clark injured his shoulder against Michigan Tech and sat out the GLI final against Michigan State. It was diagnosed as a possible torn shoulder muscle, and his playing status was uncertain for the Arena Invitational in Boston.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0469/2914011-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="237" height="449"><figcaption class="caption-body">Allen Clark</figcaption></div>HARVARD&mdash;The Crimson left for Montreal&rsquo;s Invitational Tournament without star junior left winger Dan DeMichele. He&rsquo;s on the shelf for 6 weeks and possibly the season after fracturing his right ankle against Clarkson. The 6-2. 205 pounder is a fixture on the high scoring junior wave with Joe Cavanagh and Steve Owen. Two likely replacements are sophs Dave Cavanagh and Tom Paul.NORTHEASTERN&mdash;Huskies had been idle for about 3 weeks before Arena Tourney.&rdquo;Coach Jim Bell called a Dec. 28 practice and about half the team showed up. &ldquo;They were stuck all over the place, especially in parts of Canada, due to the snow.&rdquo; he explained. Dave Poile is expected to lead the team in all phases of the game as he did during the early going. &#9632;

f0021-03

DOWN EAST

MONTREAL&mdash;Canadian college hockey teams, who have been taking it on the chin against American schools in recent years, showed they haven&rsquo;t lost their touch after all.Loyola College Warriors of Montreal won their own holiday tournament by skating to a decisive 10-4 decision over the injury-riddled University &ldquo;of Toronto Blues. The Blues made it to the showcase final by thumping top-ranked Harvard University 7-5, a highly-touted U.S. squad coached by one-time NHL star Cooney Weiland.Coach Dave Draper&rsquo;s charges brought home the coveted Centennial Cup along with much praise for the vanquished Blues, who put up a good fight despite missing such key players as Paul Laurent, Mike Boland. Bill L&rsquo;Heureux and Bob Hamilton.The Loyola team was paced by fast-skating Mike Lowe, who scored three times in the windup game. Lowe this season attended the St. Louis Blues training camp after the NHL club drafted him last summer.In other preliminary games, Harvard beat McGill 7-4. Loyola downed Sir George Williams 7-1 and in the consolation round. Sir George edged McGill 4-3. &#9632;

Loyola Wins Ice Tourney

<div class="byline">BY JOHN WHITE</div>Save $$$$$$ Subscribe To The HOCKEY NEWS Receive 35 Issues At HomeFor The Best In Hockey Reading It&rsquo;s HOCKEY PICTORIAL Hockey&rsquo;s Most Exciting PublicationSEATTLE&mdash;As the New Year approached, the Seattle Totems&mdash;much like the Vancouver Canucks&mdash;already had played two distinctly separate Western Hockey League seasons.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01174/2914087-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="265" height="453"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bobby Schmautz</figcaption></div>The first one was enough to make Coach Bill Mac-Farland, who&rsquo;s also an attorney, think about a fulltime career of battles in courtrooms rather than in ice rinks.The Totems won just six and lost 12 of their first 18 games and appeared a pretty risky bet to even make the playoffs.The next season was just dandy, thank you. In 15 games leading up to New Year&rsquo;s Eve, the Totems won 10, lost only 4 and tied one.Suddenly, they were only four points out of second place, 11 out of first. Three of the four defeats were by a single goal. There was only one bombing, 8-1 in Vancouver.And at that the Totems were the only club playing the first-place Canucks of Vancouver on even terms&mdash;three victories each in the first six meetings.In fact, it was the Totems who ended Vancouver&rsquo;s unbeaten string at 12 in a row&mdash;longest in the Western League all season&mdash;with a 6-5 victory in Seattle on December 28.So what was doing it for the Totems?Well, steadier goaltending and an improved defense provided part of the answer.But the big reason was that Coach MacFarland went out and found a couple of playmates for winger Tommy McVie.McVie, obtained by Seattle in a trade that sent Larry Lund to Phoenix, ranks among the Western League&rsquo;s all-time scoring leaders, was sixth on the all-time goal list with 332 in 716 games as of the start of the season. But McVie needed linemates. MacFarland got &lsquo;em. He brought in night winger Bobby Schmautz in the deal in which Guyle Fielder &ldquo;unretired&rdquo; and reported to Salt Lake City.For a center, MacFarland obtained Gerry Meehan from the Philadelphia organization.Meehan, McVie and Schmautz jelled quickly&mdash;and how!McVie, after 33 games, had 31 points, including 11 goals. Meehan, after 27 games, had 32 points, including 14 goals. And Schmautz, after joining the Totems, had 21 points&mdash;11 goals and 10 assists&mdash;in his first 16 games.That&rsquo;s better than point-a-game production. And suddenly Seattle had two high-scoring lines.The other one was a sensation from the start. With the retirement before the season of Fielder, veteran Art Stratton moved between first All-Star Bob Courcy and the 1969 Rookie of the Year, Jack Michie.They clicked immediately.Courcy, after 33 games, had 21 goals and 44 points, and at that rate over a full campaign would better his last season&rsquo;s output of 43 goals.Michie, as a rookie last year, scored 19 goals. He had 17 in his first 29 games this season.And Stratton had 44 points in 33 games to tie Courcy for the club scoring lead. He was back in his old Central League and American League form after picking up just 59 points&mdash;a low total for Stratton&mdash;in 66 games last season.Two high-scoring lines make quite a difference:And that left the Totems with three of the finest-checking forwards in the league in Chuck Holmes, Gerry Leonard and Marc Boileau&mdash;plus rookie Jack Dale&mdash;to form a strong defensive third unit.All four of the latter can score clutch goals, too. Leonard had just five red lights in 33 games&mdash;but three of them were gamewinners.As mentioned in earlier editions of THE HOCKEY NEWS, teams, more than ever, seem to slump and streak&hellip;slump and streak&hellip;in the Western Hockey League this season.Well, the Seattle Totems started the New Year in a streak. If they keep up the pace, they could challenge for their first regular-season title since 1959.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02114/2914080-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="541" height="746"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOMMY McVIE&hellip;High On Totem Pole</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03100/2914073-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="546" height="695"><figcaption class="caption-body">GERRY MEEHAN&hellip;Big Boost For Line</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0022-01

New Line Brings Seattle Back Into Race As McVie, Schmautz, Meehan Lift Totems

DENVER&mdash;Gordon Vejprava has been named the Spurs team captain by Coach Rudy Pilous. Vejprava succeeds Ed Hoekstra, who quit the Denver club last week. Wilf Martin and Del Topoll are assistant captains.Jacques Lemieux, acquired from the Springfield Kings of the American Hockey League, played his first game for the Spurs Saturday. December 27 against Salt Lake. Lemieux, who played 25 games for the Spurs last season getting 5 goals and 8 assists for 13 points, is with the Spurs on a 24-hour recall basis. Lemieux is 6&rsquo;2&rdquo; and 190 pounds.Wilf Martin, who saw his consecutive scoring streak snapped at seven games last week, two shy of the league record, has picked up at least one scoring point in the Spurs last ten games. During that span, Martin has collected 13 goals and 6 assists for 19 points.Two other Denver players have point-scoring streaks going for them. Center Bob Cunningham has picked up a point in six consecutive games, and so has defenseman Roger LaFreniere. Cunningham has two goals and seven assists and LaFreniere, one goal and eight assists. The WHL record is held by Barrie Ross who picked up at least a point in 23 consecutive games for Winnipeg in the 1958-59 season.Center Del Topoll recently passed two more WHL milestones. He now has assisted on 403 goals and has 403 minutes in penalties. Earlier this season, Topoll passed the 700-game mark and 600 points in the, WHL. &#9632;

Vejprava Named Denver Captain

<h2>Thurs. Dec. 25 VANCOUVER 2 AT PORTLAND 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0482/2914198-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="577" height="525"></div><h2>SALT LAKE 3 AT SEATTLE 8</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0572/2914191-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="581" height="775"></div><h2>Fri. Dec. 26 SAN DIEGO 5 AT SALT LAKE 0</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0656/2914184-1-eng-US/f0022-062.jpg" title="f0022-06" width="575" height="470"></div><h2>SEATTLE 1 AT VANCOUVER 8</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0754/2914177-1-eng-US/f0022-072.jpg" title="f0022-07" width="581" height="669"></div><h2>PORTLAND 4 AT PHOENIX 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0847/2914170-1-eng-US/f0022-082.jpg" title="f0022-08" width="579" height="470"></div><h2>Sat. Dec. 27 SALT LAKE 4 AT DENVER 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0943/2914163-1-eng-US/f0022-092.jpg" title="f0022-09" width="582" height="530"></div><h2>PORTLAND 5 AT PHOENIX 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-1035/2914156-1-eng-US/f0022-102.jpg" title="f0022-10" width="585" height="822"></div><h2>Sun. Dec. 28 DENVER 1 AT SAN DIEGO 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0389/2914149-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="588" height="479"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 5 AT SEATTLE 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0471/2914142-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="597" height="744"></div> &#9632;

f0022-04

Looking At Western League Summaries

<h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01154/2914236-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="580" height="275"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Tues. Dec. 30Portland 6 at Son Diego 1Denver 2 at Vancouver 6Wed. Dec. 31Salt lake 3 at Phoenix 3Denver 2 at Seattle 4Thurs. Jan. 1Seattle 1 at Portland 3Fri. Jan. 2Denver 1 at Salt Lake 5Phoenix 2 at Vancouver 4Sat Jan. 3Vancouver 5 at Denver 4Salt Lake 1 at San Diego 7Phoenix 2 at Portland 5Sun. Jan. 4Vancouver 3 at Denver 3Portland 2 at Seattle 3<h2>GAMES TO COME</h2>Tues. Jan. 6Seattle at PhoenixWed. Jan. 7Vancouver at Salt LakeThurs. Jan. 8Seattle at PhoenixFri. Jan. 9Vancouver at Salt LakeSeattle at San DiegoSat. Jan. 10Salt Lake at DenverVancouver at PhoenixSeattle at PortlandSun. Jan. 11Vancouver at San DiegoDenver at PortlandWed. Jan. 14Vancouver at PhoenixThurs. Jan. 15Seattle at Salt LakeVancouver at San DiegoFri. Jan. 16Seattle at PhoenixPortland at Vancouver<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2>(Including Games of Sun. Dec. 21)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02115/2914229-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="584" height="654"></div> &#9632;

f0023-01

<div class="byline">BY BOB LINDLEY</div>DALLAS&rsquo;&mdash;If the Dallas Black Hawks roar out of the CHL basement to challenge for the championship again this year, it could be a youngster again who provides the fuel for the trip, just as it was last season.The Hawks went from a dismal start to the Adams Cup title. thanks last year to rookies Cliff Koroll and Jim Wiste.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01165/2914319-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="244" height="443"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tom Webster</figcaption></div>This year it appears newcomer Larry Romanchych could be the spark that guides the Hawks.A lean 20-year-old product of Flin Finn. Romanchych started out like anything but a candidate tor rookie of the year. But he caught fire after a couple of weeks and now leads the Hawks in goals with 14 and at this writing was the only player in the league to twice notch the hat trick.Oddly enough, on both occasions&mdash;they came three nights apart&mdash;the Hawks were beaten.&ldquo;Larry lacks experience.&rdquo; says coach Bobby Kromm, &ldquo;but he has a world of talent and in time he should be one of the best in the league.&rdquo;One NHL scout, after watching the Hawks in action, was particularly impressed with young Romanchych&rsquo;s puck handling.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got some great moves, the scout said, &ldquo;and he threw the puck around as good as any I&rsquo;ve seen in the league.&rdquo;A lot of folks have trouble with Larry&rsquo;s hard-to-pronounce name, but they better get used to it. They could be seeing it around for a long time.OMAHA&mdash;The Knights continued to win at home and Omaha fans continued to reward their heroes with turnouts that could give the Knights their best season ever at the gate. Through their first 14 home games the Knights had drawn 54.265 for an average of 3.590. This compared quite favorably to the 44.909 that saw Omaha in its first 14 home tilts last season. They love the Knights so much, as a matter of fact, that 3.754 showed up for one game despite a daylong snowstorm that dumped more than a foot of snow on the city.FORT WORTH&mdash;Fiery left winger Ron Garwasiuk (seven goals! was lost for an indefinite period due to severe hand injury. The 5-8. 155-pounder had come on strong with six goals in last nine games before getting hurt. Ed Hatoum took team scoring lead through 33 games with eight and 20. followed by Fred Speck with 15 and 12. Wings leading league in penalty minutes with 633. a complete reversal from last season when club ranked eighth among nine teams.TULSA&mdash;Danny Johnson leading Oilers with 19 goals. 14 assists through 31 games. Doug Brindley, scoring key goals, ranked second in goal-sniping with 11. Defenseman Willie Terry sent home to recuperate from mononucleosis attack. Goalie Serge Aubry, the man behind Tulsa&rsquo;s brilliant defensive corps, leading league with sparkling 2.47 goals-against average.OKLAHOMA CITY&mdash;Tom Webster first in CHL to reach 20-goal plateau with two against Dallas on Christmas night. Tom tied for league scoring lead with 42 points through 32 games. He and Tom Egers of Omaha deadlocked with identical 20-22&mdash;42 records. Rookie Greg Sheppard second on club with 14 goals. 14 assists in 27 games. Blazers sent Rick Pagnutti and Dave Rochefort back to Salt Lake after only three games. Rookie Don Tanna-hill almost completely healed from knee injury and ready to see action again.KANSAS CITY&mdash;Terry Gray and Jaroslav Jirik in battle for Blues&rsquo; goal-scoring title, each with 14 through club&rsquo;s first 32 games. But Gray, the veteran winger, had notched his in only 20 contests and had 13 assists for an impressive 27 points. Norm Dennis, bothered by a back injury. was team point leader with 30 on seven goals. 23 assists. Blues still waiting anxiously for defenseman Sheldon Kannegiesser to come off injury list. He busted thumb in first appearance with Blues after transfer from Buffalo.IOWA&mdash;Stars bolstered already muscular defense with acquisition of veteran AHL player Stan Fuller. 6-1. 190. He joins Tom Polanic. 6-2. 210. who was assigned to Stars in midDecember. Mike Chernoff and veteran Bill Orban tied for goalscoring lead with 14 through 33 games. Danny Lawson (12 goals) and Walt McKechnie (13 goals) called up to Minnesota. Rick Sentes. scoring in bunches, notched 11 goals in only 18 games after coming back from injury. Grant Erickson haunting former Oklahoma City mates with four of his nine goals drilled into Blazer cage.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1025/2914312-1-eng-US/f0024-102.jpg" title="f0024-10" width="537" height="562"><figcaption class="caption-body">LARRY ROMANCHYCH&hellip;Spark For Hawks</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Dallas Rookie Romanchych Dazzling; Omaha Settinq New Box Office Mark

New Subscribers To THE HOCKEY NEWS Guaranteed To Get First Issue Within Two WeeksHOCKEY NEWS Makes An Ideal Gift On Any Occasion. Give A Subscription To Dad Or Brother<h2>HOW THEY STAND</h2><h3>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h3>(Standings on Wed. Jan. 7)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1124/2914350-1-eng-US/f0024-112.jpg" title="f0024-11" width="563" height="271"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. Dec. 31Kansas City 2 at Omaha 5Tulsa 0 at Oklahoma city 3lowa 2 at Fort Worth 4Fri. Jan. 2Oklahoma City 0 at Omaha 8Iowa 4 at Dallas 2Tulsa 6 at Kansas City 3Sat. Jan. 3Dallas 1 at Fort Worth 4Kansas City 2 at Oklahoma City 6Omaha 2 at Tulsa 4Sun. Jan. 4Fort Worth 0 at Omaha 4Kansas City 1 at Dallas 5Iowa 0 at Tulsa 6<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Wed. Jan. 7Fort Worth at TulsaOmaha at DollasIowa at Kansas CityFri. Jan. 9Dallas at Oklahoma CityOmaha at Fort WorthTulsa at IowaSat. Jan. 10Fort Worth at DallasOklahoma City at Kansas CityTulsa at OmahaSun. Jan. 11Omaha at Oklahoma CityTulsa at Fort WorthIowa at DallasWed. Jan. 14Dallas at TulsaOklahoma City at Fort WorthOmaha at Kansas CityFri. Jan. 16Fort Worth ot OmahaKansas City at IowaOklahoma City al Dallas &#9632;

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CENTRAL LEAGUE

<h2>EASTERN LEAGUE</h2>(Standing on Tues. Jan. 6)<h3>Northern Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01133/2914489-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="582" height="243"></div><h3>Southern Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0289/2914482-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="582" height="205"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Tues. Dec. 30Long Island 2 at Syracuse 6Wed. Dec 31Clinton 5 at Johnstown 3Salem 4 at Greensboro 7Nashville 4 at Jacksonville 5Thurs. Jan. 1Long Island 0 at New Haven 3Fri. Jan. 2Johnstown 3 at Clinton 9Syracuse 3 at Long Island 5New Haven 2 at New Jersey 0Jacksonville 4 at Charlotte 4Salem 0 at Nashville 2Sat. Jan. 2Syracuse 2 at Clinton 4New Jersey 5 at Long Island 12New Haven 6 at Johnstown 5Salem 5 at Jacksonville 3Charlotte 2 at Nashville 4Sun. Jan. 4Clinton 7 at Syracuse 5New Jersey 2 at New Haven 9Jacksonville 3 at Greensboro 3Charlotte 6 at Nashville 5<h2>GAMES TO COME</h2>Tues. Jan. 6Clinton at New JerseyLong Island at CharlotteJacksonville at SalemWed. Jan. 7Syracuse at New HavenLong Island at GreensboroNashville at JacksonvilleThurs. Jan. 8Greensboro at SalemNashville vs Jacksonville(At Macon)Fri. Jan. 9New Haven at SyracuseNew Jersey at Clinton LongIsland at SalemGreensboro at CharlotteSat. Jan. 10New Haven at ClintonSyracuse at New JerseyLong Island at JohnstownCharlotte at GreensboroJacksonville at NashvilleSun. Jan. 11New Jersey at New HavenClinton at JohnstownSyracuse at SalemGreensboro at NashvilleTues. Jan. 13Syracuse at CharlotteNew Jersey at JacksonvilleWed. Jan. 14Johnstown at ClintonLong Island at New HavenSyracuse at GreensboroThurs. Jan. 15Clinton at Long Island New Jersey at NashvilleFri. Jan. 16Long Island at New JerseyClinton at JohnstownGreensboro at SalemJacksonville at CharlotteSyracuse at Nashville<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2>(Including Games of Sun. Dec. 21)<h3>NORTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0364/2914475-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="577" height="283"></div><h2>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0451/2914468-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="581" height="279"></div><h2>GOALKEEPERS&rsquo; RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0545/2914461-1-eng-US/f0025-052.jpg" title="f0025-05" width="578" height="327"></div><h2>PENALTY LEADER</h2>Dave Schultz, Salem 197 mins. &#9632;

f0025-01

<div class="byline">BY HARVEY POLLACK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0732/2914520-1-eng-US/f0025-072.jpg" title="f0025-07" width="552" height="663"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM COOMBS&hellip;War On Invaders</figcaption></div>JOHNSTOWN&mdash;There may be more explosive goalies in the Eastern Hockey League than Johnstown&rsquo;s Jim Coombs but there is none more zealous in protecting his area from enemy forwards.Coombs has been involved in more slashing incidents with the enemy than any goalie in the loop. As a consequence, until recently he was the Johnstown leader in penalties, an unusual situation for a goalie.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0634/2914527-1-eng-US/f0025-062.jpg" title="f0025-06" width="233" height="446"><figcaption class="caption-body">Len Haley</figcaption></div>In one of his latest incidents, Coombs slashed at Dave Ferguson of Syracuse. When he felt frustrated after a Blazer slid past him for a goal. A battle followed between both clubs, and naturally the fans got into the act by hurling objects and insults. In the same game, Coombs was knocked unconscious by a shot from the stick of Ray Adduono that hit him squarely in the head.Actually Coombs is deemed one of the more accomplished fighters in the circuit despite the fact that he is saddled with so much goalie attire.Coombs, who doesn&rsquo;t give the appearance of being belligerent, says he&rsquo;s not looking for fights but he doesn&rsquo;t back off either.&ldquo;Many of my penalties are misconducts. Some of them I deserved and some I never should have had,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Guys will come through the crease and crack you when the ref doesn&rsquo;t see it. Then when you crack back, the ref is looking right at you. I don&rsquo;t want guys running through my crease and taking advantage of me. If they try to do that, then I&rsquo;m going to crack them on the ankles or trip them.&rdquo;He claims his fights develop over boundary disputes as to the ownership of the crease. &ldquo;I feel that with my skates I have a better chance in a fight. Goaler&rsquo;s skates are a little longer and thicker than regular skates. So I just wait for them to come to me. If you go after them, you may be off balance and then you could lose.&rdquo;JERSEY: Dennis Plant has already topped assist total of last season and Ron MacPherson has exceeded his penalty figures. Devils allowed many players to go home for Christmas. Snow conditions then forced them to play with only seven men in losing effort at Long Island when players couldn&rsquo;t get back. Jacques Turmel&rsquo;s goal beat New Haven. Dave Lee had hat trick at Syracuse.CLINTON: Comets were able to salvage just one tie out of a five-game southern jaunt. Injuries to Don Herriman and Pat Kelly interfered with club efforts, Herriman with knee ligaments and Kelly with ankle ligaments. Moe St. Jacques fined by Kelly for getting game.penalty in Jacksonville. Four-game losing streak was longest in over two years.SYRACUSE: Ray Adduono&rsquo;s hat trick helped gain tie with Johnstown. Winger Rod Diamond dropped and defenseman George Graham added. Jim Whittaker restored to wing. Fan here hit Long Island&rsquo;s coach Blake Ball near eye with beer can. Bob Jamieson-bothered by ankle injury. Adduono is in dog fight with New Haven&rsquo;s Mike Hornby for northern scoring lead.NEW HAVEN: John Rodger secured on loan from Salt Lake City to fill in during injury period. Veteran Len Haley, a product of NHL. AHL; WHL and the CHL, who quit pro hockey this season after 17 years to coach in the Maritimes, was acquired to handle spot of Mike Rouleau, out with broken jaw. Murray Kuntz playing with face mask to protect broken nose. Bill Smith&rsquo;s second hat trick of year helped in win over New Haven. Kevin Morrison due back shortly.JOHNSTOWN: Pete Christian fought Salem&rsquo;s Lynn Margarit after the latter hit him when he wasn&rsquo;t looking. Jets beat Syracuse though they had just 22 shots on goal. Dick Roberge had eight game scoring streak and 10 games out of 12. Tom Burgess quit club and Wayne Hoganson moved to defense. GM John Mitchell seeking defenseman.JACKSONVILLE: Eddie Pare needs corrective operation for his ankle which he first injured last season. Dale Mac-Leish has come off the injurec list. Jean Therrian removed his glasses to adminsiter a whipping to Salem&rsquo;s Lynn Margarit. Roger Bamburk scored steadily after his acquisition from Syracuse. Coach Bob Sabourin concerned about mistakes his team makes coming out of its own end of ice.GREENSBORO: Bill Young left Gens to report to Dallas and his spot on roster was taken by Dom DiBerardino who had been out all year after knee operation. Gens have taken over southern lead. Bob Mullins has scored at least as many if not more unassistsed goals than any player in the league. Gens appear to have jinx on Charlotte, beating them 8 out of nine times. Ron Anderson knocked unconscious in game but later returned to action.NASHVILLE: Coach Lloyd Hinchberger concerned about lack of aggressiveness of his men on the road. Lars Hansen&rsquo;s nose broken in fight with Clinton&rsquo;s Pete Provost. Flyers maintain jinx on Johnstown which hasn&rsquo;t won her here in six years. Bill Cameron back to defense. Goalie Norm Martel playing well. Flo Pilote had stick fight with Salem&rsquo;s J.C. Garneau.CHARLOTTE: Winner of Charlotte-Greensboro series this year will receive a cup donated by Charlotte businessman. Tom Trevelyan hurt again with knee injury and his hold on southern scoring lead was endangered. It&rsquo;s second time he&rsquo;s been hurt in game with Greensboro. Coach Fred Creighton disenchanted by ref Howie Newstate&rsquo;s officiating.LONG ISLAND: Ducks hovering around. 500 mark for highest status in four years at this stage of campaign. Ducks hopeful of overtaking Syracuse and Johnstown when they catch rivals in games played. Heavy January schedule for Ducks. Coach Blake Ball had setto with Syracuse&rsquo;s Doug Ferguson. Team has one of best home records in loop. Jacques Blain underwent facial surgery to correct fractured cheek bone. Russ McClenaghan playing well.SALEM: Coach Colin Kilburn at 42 had to don a suit when winger Don Rozich broke his ankle. Wayne Caufield likely to stay in Canada for this season and not rejoin Rebels. Jim Lor-ette out with shoulder injury. Jim Jago posted club&rsquo;s first hat trick vs Nashville. Jack Chipchase skating with broken toe. Kilburn blamed a Johnstown player for swinging his stick from the bench for a rhubarb on Jets&rsquo; ice. &#9632;

f0025-07

Jets’ Coombs ‘Fighting Goalie’; New Haven Lures Len Haley Back

<div class="byline">BY BOB REED</div>TOLEDO&mdash;Plans are going forward for the International Hockey League&rsquo;s All-Star game, with a fresh optimisim for the event that was dropped last season after several years of disappointing crowds.The game will be played in Toledo on Feb. 11 and Andy Mulligan, former league commissioner and still manager of the Sports Arena declares that it will be a sellout &ldquo;or close to it&rdquo;. The Dayton Gems, as league champions, were entitled to play hosts for the game, but yielded to Mulligan&rsquo;s desire that it be played in Toledo, which has the longest history of play in the IHL, now celebrating its 25th anniversay.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01141/2914558-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="240" height="414"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill LeCaine</figcaption></div>Preliminary plans call for a new format for the All-Star game, which formerly pitted the previous league champions against a selected team. This year it will be North against South, with four players from each team making up the AllStar squads.How the players will be picked has not been announced but details are expected to be arranged when the board of governors holds its meeting in St. Louis on Jan. 20.If the plan to name four players from every team is followed, it will have the advantage of giving every team in the league full and equal representation. It may also lead to the elimination of some likely candidates once a team&rsquo;s quota of four has been reached.Also coming up at the Jan. 20 meeting will probably be consideration of two new franchises, St. Louis and Indianapolis. St. Louis Blues of the National League are interested in placing a farm club in the IHL. In Indianapolis, there is reported to be a group of 20, headed by Dr. Duane Hall, that is interested in bringing hockey back to the Hoosier capital.PORT HURON&mdash;Coach Ted Garvin was forced to go with 10 skaters at times because of injuries&hellip;Geoff Powis was still out and Mike Doersam&rsquo;s leg was put back in a cast for at least two weeks&hellip;Bill LeCaine continued great play for Flags, had 12 points in 11 games&hellip;Pete Mara, traded to Des Moines, had two goals and four ssists in Flags&rsquo; 7-3 loss to the Leafs.MOSKEGOIN&mdash;the Mohawks split two games with Dayton&rsquo;s South leaders, giving them a 4-2 season lead over the Gems. They were 4-2 over Toledo&hellip;The Hawks had lost only one game at home, to Port Huron, in 15 starts&hellip;They had the second best road record, 6-8-2&hellip;Andre Pronovost caught up with the injured Hugh Harris on his 20th goal.COLUMBUS&mdash;Coach Moe Mantha seeking to make a trade, had talks going with three different clubs, said &ldquo;They all want our best and we can&rsquo;t afford that at this time&rdquo;&hellip;One problem was goalie Mike Lovett, brilliant at times, disappointing at others&hellip;High scoring line of Bert Fizzell, Serge Boudreault and Danny Belisle was left intact while other lines were shifted.FORT WAYNE&mdash;The Komets vaulted into second place, only three points behing Muskegon, with four straight wins, then were stopped twice by Toledo&hellip;Goalie Paul Hoganson had 40 saves in a 7-4 defeat of the Checkers&hellip;The K&rsquo;s were looking for a defenseman to replace injured Jim Wilcox&hellip;Ron Ullyot was still out with an injured ankle&hellip;Christmas night crowd was 4,581 and the following Saturday 6,875.TOLEDO&mdash;Rookie Bruce Hellemond, secured from Omaha of the Central League, had four goals in his first three games&hellip;Jerry Serviss, defenseman who played with Coach Bill Mitchell at Windsor, was in for a five-game trial&hellip;The Blades offered Des Moines the rights to Ivan Prediger in exchange for rights to Ron Burman, neither of whom had reported&hellip;Ray Germain led Blades in scoring with 39 points.FLINT&mdash;Pete Fichuk, center or wing, former University of Minnesota star, began a five-game trial. Andre Van Opden-busch was dropped to make room. The Generals were jolted by Columbus, 12-3, the largest score of the season by winning team&hellip;Ron Ringler, out since Dec. 6, was scheduled for action&hellip;Generals hadn&rsquo;t won on the road since the opener at Des Moines Oct. 17.DES MOINES&mdash;Coach Terry Slater was ejected from a game in Dayton when he offered his glasses to Referee Billy Purcell&hellip;Slater claimed he had the best of the deal with Fort Wayne, Rich Brown and Bill Bond for Nelson Tremblay and John Ferguson&hellip;Larry Klew-chuk was shifted from defense to right wing&hellip;Gaye Cooley got back in the nets after a rest and was playing well.DAYTON&mdash;Goalie Mike Dumas posted a shutout of 2-0 over Des Moines but had a long-minute relief in the second period from Pat Rupp when a shot hit him in the head. He was back on the ice after taking six stitches but was waved off the ice by Referee Bill Purcell, who explained that a relief goalie must remain in the nets for at least one play after his two minute warmup&hellip;A heavy snowstorm cut attendance below 4,000 (3,717) for the first time in 29 straight games. &#9632;

f0026-01

Plans Going Ahead For All-Star Game Feb. 11

<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2>(Including games of Sun. Dec. 21)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0294/2914596-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="575" height="660"></div><h2>GOALKEEPERS RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0374/2914589-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="567" height="306"></div><h2>PENALTY LEADER</h2>Gil Gilbert, Flint, 122 minutes. &#9632;

f0026-02

IHL POINT RACE

<h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 6)<h3>NORTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0455/2914634-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="547" height="168"></div><h3>SOUTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0548/2914627-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="562" height="227"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Wed. Dec. 31Dayton 4 at Fort Wayne 8Flint 4 at Toledo 6Des Moines 1 at Muskegon 3Columbus 4 at Port Huron 5Thurs. Jan. 1Port Huron 3 at Dayton 4Fri. Jan. 2Fort Wayne 1 at Columbus 3 Des Moines 3 at Flint 2Sat. Jan. 3Des Moines 3 at Fort Wayne 5Flint 1 at Muskegon 1Port Huron 4 at Toledo 2Dayton 4 at Columbus 4Sun. Jan. 4Columbus 0 at Dayton 8Des Moines 3 at Port Huron 5Muskegon 0 at Flint 2<h2>GAMES TO COME</h2>Tues. Jan. 6Des Moines at ToledoWed. Jan. 7Muskegon at Fort WayneToledo at FlintPort Huron at DaytonFri. Jan. 9Fort Wayne at MuskegonDayton at Des MoinesFlint at Port HuronToledo at ColumbusSat. Jan. 10Flint at Fort WaynePort Huron at MuskegonColumbus at ToledoDayton at Des Moines &#9632;

f0026-04

<div class="byline">BY JACK GATECLIFF</div>MONTREAL&mdash;Montreal Canadiens finished first in the Ontario Hockey Association Junior A league last season, won the playoff title and then went on to take the Memorial Cup as Canadian champions.Graduations to professional hockey claimed players such as scoring champion Rejean Houle, Marc Tardif, Andre Dupont and Art Quoquochi but the Canadiens once again seem to be the power of Canadian junior hockey.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01125/2914665-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="293" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dennis Giannini</figcaption></div>Led by holdovers Gil Perreault, Bob Lalonde, Norm Gratton and Andre Lajeunesse plus the excellent goaltending of three-year veteran Wayne Wood, the Canadiens led the 10-team group in everything but the individual scoring race as the 270-game schedule reached the midway mark.The Canadiens had more victories, more goals for, the fewest defeats and the fewest goals against as the teenagers headed into the last half of the season.This year the Canadiens have made their move even earlier than during the 1968-69 schedule.It wasn&rsquo;t until the last two weeks a year ago that Montreal overcame St. Catharines Black Hawks&rsquo; first place margin and finished with a six-point edge.At the brief Christmas break this season the powerful Montrealers hadn&rsquo;t been beaten or tied in their last 12 games, going back to Nov. 16 when Peterborough trimmed them 9-4.Since than they have claimed victories over every other club in the circuit, on at least one occasion.Barring a late-season collapse the Canadiens appear to be almost certain of winning their second straight OHA junior A pennant while Peterborough, St. Catharines and Toronto scramble for second, third and fourth positions.Kitchener, which finished last in 1968-69, and Ottawa are playing enough consistent hockey to be fairly solid in fifth and sixth positions but the last two playoff spots are still up for grabs between Oshawa, London, Hamilton and Niagara Falls.Rick MacLeish of Peterborough continues to lead in total points but even here the Canadiens have a strong candidate for the top position in Perreault.Selected as centre to the first All-Star team last season, Perreault will almost certainly be the first draft choice at the National Hockey League annual meetings in Montreal next June.An outstanding skater, the possessor of an excellent shot and a fine team player, Perreault, in the opinion of most NHL scouts, just can&rsquo;t miss as a professional.Now that the Montreal Canadiens may no longer select the first two players of French Canadian descent, Perreault is destined to be chosen by one of the newest expansion teams, Buffalo or Vancouver.Player shuffles meanwhile continued as the schedule entered the new year.For some teams, such as London Knights, there were trades possibly motivated by desperation as they tried to assure themselves a place in the playoffs.For others, such as St. Catharines Black Hawks, attempts were made to bolster what they considered to be a weak link in their otherwise fairly strong roster.The Knights acquired high-scoring left winger Dennis Giannini from St. Catharines in exchange for right winger Clyde Simon.Giannini, a native of Kirkland Lake, scored 72 goals during regular league play and 21 in playoffs during two and a half seasons with the Hawks.At the time he was traded he had 50 points on 20 goals, 30 assists which ranked him third among St. Catharines scorers and fifth highest in the league.Giannini had expressed a desire to be traded in a letter to Hawk president Fred Muller last summer but was persuaded by Muller and Coach Brian Shaw to report to training camp.He was apparently still unhappy in St. Catharines and, three weeks ago, left camp and returned to his home in Kirkland Lake, reportedly to visit his mother who was ill.When he returned to the Hawks he was informed he had been traded to London. &#9632;

f0027-01

Montreal Canucks On Title Course; Hawks Swap Giannini For Simon

<div class="byline">BY ALEX HARDY</div>SASKATOON&mdash;The 1969-70 season for Saskatoon Blades has been chock full of losses, suspensions, coach Georges Agar&rsquo;s resignation, lineup shuffles, and more losses.Through it all, there has been one continual bright spot&hellip;veteran Jim Nichols.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0294/2914696-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="254" height="466"><figcaption class="caption-body">Nick Mickoski</figcaption></div>The Blades&rsquo; captain is among the Western Canada League&rsquo;s scoring leaders and has sparked Blades&rsquo; steady but slow resurgence after the team&rsquo;s horrendous start.&ldquo;There isn&rsquo;t a finer player in the league as far as I&rsquo;m concerned,&rdquo; says new coach George Senick. &ldquo;He can skate. He can score. He has all the physical attributes. But it&rsquo;s the other things that make him stick out. He always gives 100 per cent, can play any position, and will do so without a squawk.&rsquo;Nichols plays about 45 minutes a game. Besides taking his regular shift on a line with Laurie Yaworski and Doug Horbul, he also kills penalties and is on the power play.SLAP SHOTS&mdash;The Western Canada League is drawing bigger crowds than ever before. Five of the eight clubs are way ahead in attendance, while the other three are holding their own. Expansion talk is in the air, with Medicine Hat having posted a bond for 19/0-71 and Regina definitely interested&hellip;Saskatoon goalie Neil MacNevin was suspended indefinitely for hitting Calgary&rsquo;s Brian Walker in the face with his stick and breaking his jaw. He will likely be reinstated when Walker is fit to play.Nick Mickoski, who became Winnipeg Jets coach when Ed Dorohoy was fired, rarely raises his voice at his players, unlike Dorohoy. The choice of Mickoski as coach was a surprise. Jets owner Ben Hatskin earlier offered the job to injured Boston Bruins&rsquo; defenceman Ted Green, who refused beause he still hopes to play this season. Other names that popped up were Jimmy Walker, who has coached junior hockey for Chicago Black Hawks and is now a scout, Bob Turner, and Babe Pratt. Hatskin didn&rsquo;t consider Mickoski until two days before he gave him the job. The 42-year-old Mickoski played in the NHL with New York, Chicago, Detroit and Boston. &#9632;

f0027-02

Nichols’ Ice Play Helps Lift Blades

<h2>ONTARIO JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 6)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0369/2914804-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="578" height="377"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Tues. Dec., 30Toronto 2 at Ottawa 4Montreal 1 at Peterboro 7Thurs. Jan. 1Peterboro 5 at Hamilton 1Niagara Falls 2 at St. Catharines 7Toronto 3 at Oshawa 6London 2 at Montreal 13Fri. Jan. 2St. Catharines 9 at Niagara Falls 2Hamilton 2 at Kitchener 2London 2 at Ottawa 2Oshawa 4 at Toronto 2Sun. Jan. 4Niagara Falls 3 at Toronto 9Hamilton 3 at St. Catharines 6Peterboro 3 at Montreal 6Ottawa 7 at Oshawa 4Kitchener 2 at London 2<h2>WESTERN CANADA LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tues. Dec. 30)<h3>Eastern Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0463/2914797-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="584" height="169"></div><h3>Western Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0550/2914790-1-eng-US/f0027-052.jpg" title="f0027-05" width="583" height="170"></div><h2>WESTERN ONTARIO JUNIOR</h2>(Standings on Sat. Jan. 3)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0643/2914783-1-eng-US/f0027-062.jpg" title="f0027-06" width="577" height="205"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2>(Including games of Sat. Dec. 27)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0737/2914776-1-eng-US/f0027-072.jpg" title="f0027-07" width="589" height="459"></div><h2>ONTARIO SENIOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Sat. Jan. 3)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0834/2914769-1-eng-US/f0027-082.jpg" title="f0027-08" width="589" height="306"></div><h2>NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR</h2>(Standings on Sat. Jan. 3)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0933/2914762-1-eng-US/f0027-092.jpg" title="f0027-09" width="578" height="201"></div><h2>NEW ENGLAND LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Fri. Dec. 26)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1031/2914755-1-eng-US/f0027-102.jpg" title="f0027-10" width="581" height="238"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1127/2914748-1-eng-US/f0027-112.jpg" title="f0027-11" width="580" height="230"></div><h2>MICHIGAN JUNIOR</h2>(Standings on Mon. Dec. 22)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1225/2914741-1-eng-US/f0027-122.jpg" title="f0027-12" width="580" height="232"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1321/2914734-1-eng-US/f0027-132.jpg" title="f0027-13" width="581" height="285"></div><h2>INTERLOCKING STADINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1419/2914727-1-eng-US/f0027-142.jpg" title="f0027-14" width="580" height="411"></div> &#9632;

f0027-03

LOOKING AT THE RACES

PITTSBURGH&mdash;The Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; are fast becoming the scourge of the East, as the New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, and Toronto Maple Leafs will attest.The Penguins were the first expansionists to defeat the Rangers in 16 interlocking games this year, and held the spell over the East to skate to a 4-2 win over Montreal Canadiens last week in Pittsburgh.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0004-0162/2914835-1-eng-US/c0004-012.jpg" title="C0004-01" width="250" height="428"><figcaption class="caption-body">Keith McCreary</figcaption></div>In action at home, they won a point from Toronto, tieing the Maple Leafs 4-4. This was a comeback for the Penguins, considering the 6-0 rout they suffered at the hands of the St-Louis Blues 24 hours earlier.The Penguins have improved immeasurably with the coaching of Red Kelly much in evidence. They are presently in a battle for third place in the Western division with the Philadelphia Flyers. The two teams are tied going into this week&rsquo;s action at 28 points apiece, just two behind second place Minnesota.The St. Louis Blues have all but put first place out of reach for any of the three teams, as they now hold a commanding 14 point lead over their nearest rivals, the North Stars.The Penguins are the only expansion team which has yet to make the playoffs, and coach Kelly is priming his charges for a, run at the big money. At this point in the season, the Penguins, with their improved play and performing youngsters, seem almost a sure bet to grab a playoff berth, especially the way the two west coast teams, Oakland and Los Angeles, floundered in the first half.Their record against the established East Division so far is one factor which is making them strong contenders in the West. They are tied for the lead in wins with St. Louis and Minnesota, each with five, but have managed only two ties, leaving them with eleven losses. Minnesota, on the other hand, has counted eight ties and St Louis, four.A look at their play against their own division shows they have only 6 victories, almost the same as against the East. Here lies the Blues&rsquo; success. They have won 14 and lost only one against their own division, hence their staggering lead. The Penguins will have to fare better in their own loop in the second half to really salt away that playoff spot.Individually, Dean Prentice and Ken Schinkel, a pair of welltravelled hockey pros, are showing the way in scoring. Prentice has 24 points, Schinkel 21. Prentice leads in goals with 12 with Keith McCreary following in second spot with 10. McCreary scored twice in games last week to help the Penguins through their successful stint against the East. &#9632;

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January 16, 1970

The Hockey News OFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY

Central League Summaries

Allen’s Rise To GM Recalls Day He Got His Name On Stanley Cup

Rookies Schick, Hughes Hot But Runners Betraying Pike; McCartan Forced To Wear Musk