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

February 13, 1970

The Hockey News February 13, 1970

<p><b>Save $$$$$$ Subscribe To The HOCKEY NEWS Receive 35 Issues At Home</b></p><p><b>For The Best In Hockey Reading It&rsquo;s HOCKEY PICTORIAL Hockey&rsquo;s Most Exciting Publication</b></p><h2><b>HOW THEY STAND</b></h2><h3><b>WESTERN LEAGUE</b></h3><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Feb. 3)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0184/2583929-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="599" height="349"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tues. Jan. 27</b></p><p>Portland 5 at San Diego 1</p><p>Denver 2 at Vancouver 9</p><p><b>Wed.Jun.2S</b></p><p>San Diego 10 at Sait Lake 3</p><p>Denver 1 at Portland</p><p><b>Fri. Jan.30</b></p><p>Portland 3 at Denver 4</p><p>San Diego 6 at Phoenix 4</p><p>Sait Lake 5 at Seattle</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 31</b></p><p>Portland 5 at Denver 2</p><p>Phoenix 2 at San Diego 11</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 1</b></p><p>Seattle 4 at Portland 1</p><p>Sait Lake 2 at Vancouver 4</p><h2><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h2><p><b>Wed. Feb. 4</b></p><p>Denver at Phoenix</p><p>San Diego at Portland</p><p>Vancouver at Seattle</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 6</b></p><p>Phoenix at Denver</p><p>San Diego at Seattle</p><p>Portland at Vancouver</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 7</b></p><p>Phoenix at Sait Lake</p><p>Denver at San Diego</p><p>Vancouver at Portland</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 8</b></p><p>San Diego at Denver</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><p><b>(Including Games of Sun. Jan. 25)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0249/2583922-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="585" height="646"></div><h2><b>GOALKEEPERS RECORDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0334/2583915-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="587" height="791"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0023-01

IN THIS ISSUE

WESTERN LEAGUE

<p>James Cole of 5830 Calhoun Ave., Dearborn, Mich., USA, is the January winner of the monthly Gruen Precision Watch contest.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

WINS GRUEN WATCH

<div class="byline">BY BOB LINDLEY</div><p>WATERLOO&mdash;</p><p>The Iowa Stars had just dropped a sloppy 8-7 verdict to the Blazers at Oklahoma City and Iowa general manager John Muckier was miffed.</p><p>&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t been hitting people and we&rsquo;ve been giving up too many goals,&rdquo; he said as his club was about to embark on a weekend series that included games against the CHL co-leaders, Fort Worth and Omaha.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0197/2584133-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="251" height="441"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ken Broderick</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;If we don&rsquo;t do a turnabout, and soon, we can kiss a playoff spot goodbye, because Oklahoma City is making a run at us right now.&rdquo;</p><p>His words did not fall on deaf ears.</p><p>The Stars whitewashed Fort Worth 3-0 on a Friday night, rallied with two last-period goals to nudge the Knights at Omaha, 32, on Saturday, then blanked Oklahoma City 5-0 on Sunday.</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what I call a profitable weekend,&rdquo; a much happier Muckier said as he looked over the Monday morning standings. &ldquo;We started out in a shaky fourth spot and wind up in a solid third only two points out of the lead.&rdquo;</p><p>The goaltending of Ken Broderick and Gilles Gilbert was flawless over the span, as evidenced by the fact that both Forth Worth and Omaha outshot the Stars by wide margins.</p><p>&ldquo;Omaha peppered Broderick with 40 shots,&rdquo; Muckier said, &ldquo;but he was really great in the clutch. And against Forth Worth he did a heck of a job coming in after Gilbert got hurt and preserving the shutout.&rdquo;</p><p>Gilbert left in the middle of the second period after being struck in the head by a Doug Volmar slapshot from 40 feet. He had blanked the Wings through 30 minutes, turning aside 17 shots. Broderick completed the shutout by stopping 16 more shots.</p><p>Broderick&rsquo;s efforts had to give Muckier and the Stars a big morale boost, because the 27-year-old second year pro had been having his troubles since replacing Fern Rivard.</p><p>And the triumphant weekend series also afforded a big psychological lift since Muckier was concerned that his Stars were not going to recover from the loss of Danny Lawson and Walt McKechnie.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not as good a club without them,&rdquo; he had said on their departure, &ldquo;but we&rsquo;re not a bad club without them.&rdquo;</p><p>With Mike Chernoff, Danny Seguin and Grant Erickson emerging as new leaders on of-fense, the Stars most definitley are not a bad team without them.</p><p><b>KANSAS CITY</b>&mdash;Injuries wiped out the heart of Kansas City&rsquo;s offensive attack, seriously hurting the Blues&rsquo; chances of climbing into a playoff spot. Blues lost Terry Gray (15 goals) and Jaroslav Jinik (14) for more than three weeks, and at various times played without Norm Dennis (11 goals), Brian Glenwright (9) and player-coach Camille Henry (5). Gary Edwards chalked up second shutout by blanking Dallas 4-0 on Jan. 24. Gary Veneruzzo led team in goals (16) and total points (40) through 45 games. Dennis (11 goals, 27 assists) and Ron Buchanan (9 and 26) were closest pursuers. Despite dismal won-lost record, Blues continued to lead CHL in attendance, averaging more than 4,000 per home date.</p><p><b>FORT WORTH&mdash;</b>Coach Doug Barkley praised young de-fensive corps and goaltending of Don McLeod and Jimmy Rutherford as Wings posted 10-3-1 mark for January, a surge that carried them from nine points away to top of CHL. Hank Monteith coming through with key goals as Wings staged late rallies to overcome foes. Monteith scored winning counter in three games over four-game span. Veteran Jim Cardiff, second year pro Gerry Hart and rookie Randy Manery anchored stingy defensive squad while Kerry Ketter, Brian Gibbons and Joe Zanussi alternate for other two starting spots. Rutherford holds second lowest goals-against average in CHL with 2.65 mark. McLeod, loser of only six of 28 starts, was at 2.78.</p><p><b>DALLAS&mdash;</b>Stumbling Black Hawks, defending champs in CHL, draw verbal blast from coach Bobby Kromm following fifth straight setback, three of them on home ice. &ldquo;Disgracefull,&rdquo; Kromm called lackluster effort. &ldquo;It was a disgraceful ex-hibition in our own building.&rdquo; The Hawks were fighting to avoid the cellar, which they have owned or shared with the Kansas City Blues since early in the season. The volatile Kromm did not single out which players were not hustling and which players were, placing the blame for the club&rsquo;s poor showing on everyone, from the goaltending down. The Hawks, understaffed on defense since the beginning of the season have received no help from the parent Chicago Hawks and have been forced to substitute forwards on the blueline since veteran Jim Graham broke an ankle more than six weeks ago.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0419/2584126-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="561" height="565"><figcaption class="caption-body">HANK MONTEITH&hellip;Scored Big Goals</figcaption></div><p><b>TULSA&mdash;</b>With talented rookie Doug Acomb out of the lineup with an injury and scoring leaders Ted Hargreaves and Danny Johnson hitting a slump, the Oilers skidded from second to fourth place on strength of 2-6-2 record over two-week span. Tulsa still getting top-flight goaltending from Serge Aubry (2.42 average), but lack of offense killing club. Johnson picked up only one assist from Jan. 11 to Jan. 26, Acomb and Hargreaves failed to notch a single point in that span.</p><p><b>OKLAHOMA CITY&mdash;</b>Blazers acquired right winger-center Art Quoquochi from Salt Lake City and lost Bill Klatt for five-week period with broken collarbone. Frank Spring returned from temporary duty at Boston. Ivan Boldirev assumed club scoring lead in absence of injured Tom Webster, Ivan had 13 goals, 29 assists for 42 points. Rookie Greg Sheppard second with 19 and 20 while Steve Atkinson (2214) and defenseman Barry Wilkins (7-29) tied for third. Rookie goalie John Adams chalked up fourth shutout of season, 2-0 over Tulsa, and leads CHL in that department. Blazers face tough schedule (16 of last 27 games on road) in stretch drive for playoff spot. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll be in them for sure,&rdquo; guarantees general manager Bill Levins.</p><p><b>OMAHA&mdash;</b>Knights&rsquo; brilliant 16-game unbeaten streak at Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum snapped in 3-2 loss to Iowa Stars Jan. 24. Sevengame winless streak (Jan. 11-25) saw Knights lose six-point bulge over second place club while Forth Worth made up nine-point deficit to claim lead. Knights miss muscular Andre Dupont on blue line. Jack Egers running away with CHL scoring race with 59 points on 29 goals, 30 assists through 47 games. Rookie Dennis Dupere leads league&rsquo;s first-year men with 23 goals. Omaha fans turning out in record numbers to see Knights in hectic CHL chase. Through first 20 home games, Omaha averaged 4,011, an increase of 773 per game over same stretch last year.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Iowa Stars Do Turnabout To Challenge Leaders

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-15" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-15124/2582980-1-eng-US/f0013-152.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-14153/2582987-1-eng-US/f0013-142.jpg" title="f0013-14" width="192" height="200"></div><p><b>(Standings on Wed. Feb. 4)</b></p><h2><b>EAST DIVISION</b></h2><h2><b>WEST DIVISION</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-1686/2582973-1-eng-US/f0013-162.jpg" title="f0013-16" width="1116" height="302"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Wed. Jan 28</b></p><p>Minnesota 4 at Montreal 5</p><p>Toronto 4 at Pittsburgh 4</p><p>New York 4 at Los Angeles 5</p><p>Philadelphia 2 at Chicago 2</p><p>St. Louis 6 at Oakland 1</p><p><b>Thurs. Jan. 29</b></p><p>Minnesota 5 at Boston 6</p><p>Philadelphia 3 at Detroit 4</p><p>St. Louis 3 at Los Angeles 2</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 30</b></p><p>New York 2 at Oakland 1</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 31</b></p><p>Boston 3 at Montreal 3</p><p>Toronto 4 at Minnesota 2</p><p>Detroit 2 at Los Angeles 1</p><p>Chicago 5 at Philadelphia 0</p><p>St. Louis 1 at Pittsburgh 2</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 1</b></p><p>Montreal 5 at Philadelphia 2</p><p>Toronto 6 at Boston 7</p><p>Pittsburgh 0 at New York 6</p><p>Detroit 3 at Okland 2</p><p>Minnesota 4 at Chicago 7</p><h3><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h3><p><b>Wed. Feb. 4</b></p><p>Montreal at Oakland</p><p>St. Louis at Toronto</p><p>Detroit at New York</p><p>Boston at Chicago</p><p>Pittsburgh at Minnesota</p><p><b>Thurs. Feb. 5</b></p><p>Montreal at Los Angeles</p><p>Toronto at Detroit</p><p>Philadelphia at Boston</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 6</b></p><p>Oakland at Philadelphia</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 7</b></p><p>Montreal at Minnesota</p><p>Oakland at Toronto</p><p>Detroit at Boston</p><p>Philadelphia at Chicago</p><p>Minnesota at Pittsburgh</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 8</b></p><p>Montreal at Chicago</p><p>Los Angeles at New York</p><p>St. Louis at Boston</p><p>Philadelphia at Detroit</p><p>Minnesota at Pittsburgh</p><p><b>Wed. Feb. 11</b></p><p>Toronto at Montreal</p><p>New York at Los Angeles</p><p>Boston at St. Louis</p><p>Pittsburgh at Chicago</p><p>Minnesota at Oakland</p><p><b>Thurs. Feb. 12</b></p><p>Toronto at Philadelphia</p><p>St. Louis at Detroit</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 13</b></p><p>New York at Oakland</p><p>TV GAME of the WEEK</p><p>Feb. 8 Philadelphia at Detroit 2 pm<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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THE NHL SCENE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01461/2584782-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg" title="Cover-01" width="745" height="1575"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>HARRY SINDEN</b><span class="photo-credit">(Hockey News Photos by John, Barnett and Richard Pellegrini)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>&mdash;PAGE 2</b></p><p><b>BLUES&rsquo; PHIL GOYETTE IS:</b>&nbsp;<i>&bull; Best Shooter In The NHL</i>&nbsp;<b>&mdash;PAGE 9</b></p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-02342/2584775-1-eng-US/cover-022.jpg" title="Cover-02" width="1394" height="1831"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PHIL GOYETTE</b></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-03145/2584768-1-eng-US/cover-032.jpg" title="Cover-03" width="728" height="1561"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BILL FAIRBAIRN</b></figcaption></div><p><b><i>Promising New Face</i></b></p><p><b>RANGERS HUSTLE TO NHL PEAK&mdash;PAGE 10</b></p><p><b>&mdash;PAGE 10</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Cover-01

SINDEN FIGURES BRUINS CAN MAKE TOP

<div class="byline">BY TOM MONAHAN</div><p>BOSTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen you are in a tie for second place and only four points off the top with slightly less than half a season remaining on the schedule, no apologies should be necessary.</p><p>That&rsquo;s the way Bruins&rsquo; coach Harry Sinden feels right now and he doesn&rsquo;t like to talk about the difference between being first and second, especially after the B&rsquo;s blew their chance to tie New York for first place in the NHL&rsquo;s East Division on a recent Saturday afternoon by getting bombed 8-1 in Madison Square Garden.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01616/2581975-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="270" height="440"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ed Johnston</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;No matter what I say about our situation and no matter how you guys write it, it will sound like an excuse,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure you guys won&rsquo;t think of it as an excuse because you are looking at things the same way I do. But fans don&rsquo;t look at things that way.</p><p>&ldquo;All they know is that you win or you lose and they don&rsquo;t want excuses for losing.</p><p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t blame them. I&rsquo;d feel the same way in their spot. They thought we had a good chance to be on top all year after the way we started out.</p><p>&ldquo;I thought so too. I still think we can finish on top. That still is our goal.</p><p>&ldquo;But there is one big reason as far as our own team is concerned for the way the standings are as of 45 games.</p><p>&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t the continuity of players as we did last year.</p><p>&ldquo;I thought when we lost to Chicago 1-0 on that disputed goal and then beat Montreal the next night 6-3 we had it going.</p><p>&ldquo;We had three lines jumping over the board one after, the other like clockwork.</p><p>&ldquo;Then we got guys hurt (Ron Murphy shoulder, Johnny McKenzie back, Ken Hodge knee) and sick (Wayne Carleton and Wayne Cashman flu). We have to go into New York and are playing a fine first period with a patched up lineup and Johnny Bucyk gets hit with that five-minute major.</p><p>&ldquo;The continuity went out the window. We just haven&rsquo;t been able to get up the head of steam. We still have Derek Sanderson and Gary Doak out of the lineup. In two of four years we have been able to keep at least two lines together for good stretches.</p><p>&ldquo;Not this year, though.</p><p>&ldquo;Now, there,&rdquo; said Sinden with a wry smile. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t going to talk about it. I wasn&rsquo;t going to say anything but I have. And I know it still sounds like an excuse.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t mean it that way because we still have a lot of games to play and a lot of things are going to happen. This thing can change in a matter of four games and we still can finish on top.&rdquo;</p><p>One thing that has changed is a switch in Sinden&rsquo;s policy of alternating goaltenders Eddie Johnston and Gerry Cheevers.</p><p>&ldquo;I have said all along that we would alternate goalies unless 1 felt one was getting hot.&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;Right now it 1ooks to me like Johnston is in a hot streak.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;In his three games Eddie could have had two shutouts. The 1-0 game with Chicago and the 3-1 win over Pittsburgh. He also had a 3-3 tie with Philadelphia.</p><p>&ldquo;I was willing to go along with alternating them as long as we were holding our own. But in a stretch of 15 games I have not been completely satisfied.</p><p>&ldquo;This is no rap on Cheevers he has done the job. But he might need a rest. He hasn&rsquo;t been playing quite to his season of last year while Johnston has been playing to his potential.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a guessing game. Who knows how it will work out? I can&rsquo;t say definitely but I&rsquo;m going with Eddie as one goal-tender for a spell and see what happens.</p><p>&ldquo;I could change my mind after one game, though,&rdquo; he advised.</p><p><b>ICE CHIPS&mdash;</b> Although Doak has returned to the squad, Sinden is completely satisfied with the work of rookie defenseman Rick Smith in the past month&hellip;&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the most improved player on the team,&rdquo; claims Harry&hellip;The return of Sanderson is indefinite he skated last week in his &lsquo;civvies&rdquo; but appears at least two weeks away from being able to get back into action after a hip strain&hellip;In 23 games this season Johnton&rsquo;s goals against average was 2.78 including a 9-2 pasting by Montreal early in the season&hellip;Cheevers&rsquo; average after the 8.1 New York debacle was an even 3.00&hellip;Johnston was in 11 winning and five losing games&hellip;Cheevers&rsquo; record was 13-6.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0002-01

Sinden Figures Bruins For Top But Admits Health Of Club Key

<p>CHICAGO&mdash;</p><p>Who would you select as the National Hockey League&rsquo;s &lsquo;Player-of-the-Decade&rsquo; if you were doing the picking?</p><p>If you said Gordie Howe or Bobby Orr, you missed your guess. It&rsquo;s Bobby Hull of the Chicago Black Hawks.</p><p>The Golden Jet was chosen by the Associated Press in a special poll conducted among sports writers and broadcasters across the country.</p><p>Hull, the NHL&rsquo;s greatest modern day scoring star with four 50-goal or more seasons, had to beat out the irrepressible Howe for the award, however.</p><p>It seems, there were a handful of players in the actual running for the AP award but only two&mdash;Hull and Howe&mdash;received serious consideration.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02589/2582006-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="274" height="406"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bobby Hull</b></figcaption></div><p>Hull polled 436 1/2 votes to easily outdistance Howe, who received 145 1/2. Boston&rsquo;s Golden Boy, Bobby Orr, was a distant third with 19 votes. Chicago&rsquo;s Stan Mikita ended fourth. Orr collected a mere 19 votes, Mikita seven, Jacques Plante, Jean Beliveau and Phil Esposito, two each, Gump Worsley and the retired Boom Boom Geoffrion one apiece.</p><p>Hull, a 12-year veteran of the NHL at 31, has a career total of 435 goals and set a new league record for a single season output last year when he rifled 58 pucks into the net.</p><p>Hull&rsquo;s coach Billy Reay is understandingly Bobby&rsquo;s biggest booster and he can speak from experience. &ldquo;Bobby is the greatest player I&rsquo;ve ever seen. In my time I played against Maurice Richard and Gordie Howe and I say Hull is better than both of them,&rdquo; reiterated Reay.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0002-02

Hawks’ Bobby Hull Named NHL’s ‘Player Of Decade’ In Walk Over Gordie Howe

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01618/2582100-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GORDIE HOWE&hellip;Top Tough Guy</b></figcaption></div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t is no surprise, but hockey men rate Gordie Howe, the rugged and durable Detroit wonderman, as the toughest player in the majors today. This, at least, was the consenus of opinion of 43 managers, coaches and players polled to determine hockey&rsquo;s ten toughest players in a poll conducted by HOCKEY WORLD Magazine.</p><p>Howe beat out the currently-injured Boston defenseman Ted Green and the Montreal mauler John Ferguson for top honors in the survey.</p><p>&ldquo;How do you get much tougher than Gordie Howe?&rdquo; asked former Montreal coach Toe Blake. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s in his 40&rsquo;s and has been playing in the NHL well over 20 years and is just as hard to handle now as he ever has been. He gives out a lot of punishment, but takes a lot without complaining.&rdquo;</p><p>Montreal star Jean Beliveau said, &ldquo;Howe&rsquo;s an iron man.&rdquo; Former Toronto manager and coach Punch Imlach said. &ldquo;Toughness is the mark of the great hockey player. Gordie Howe is as tough as any athlete who ever played.&rdquo;</p><p>Green had considerable support and would have had more except for the head injury he suffered during pre-season play, which has sidelined him this season and cast doubt about his returning to the top.</p><p>Red Kelly of Pittsburgh says, &ldquo;Boston is still a great, tough team, but they&rsquo;re not quite as great and tough without Green. He has been tough for a long time, but he also had become a great hockey player. He intimidates players and keeps foes honest.</p><p>Bruin Phil Esposito said. &ldquo;The way he&rsquo;s fighting back from injuries, he still rates with the toughest.&rdquo;</p><p>Green has been sending messages of encouragement to his teammates, promising to return soon, though this may be unwise. Boston officials want him back, but are worried that he may be risking permanent injury.</p><p>Ferguson missed part of this season with an injury, suffered also in a fight, through a fist fight and not a stick-fight. Like Green, Ferguson is rated among the toughest by foes not because of any fighting ability, but because he has become a fine hockey player who takes punishment as well as he gives it, intimidates foes and keeps them honest.</p><p>Many hockey men observed that Montreal&rsquo;s slow start this season was as much because Ferguson was sidelined as because Jean Beliveau was sidelined. &ldquo;Those guys are the heart of that great club.&rdquo; one pointed out.</p><p>Minnesota aide John Mariucci says, &ldquo;John Ferguson and Ted Green are very belligerent guys and they push people around and no one pushes them around.</p><p>Wren Blair, the Minnesota manager, couldn&rsquo;t decide between Ferguson and Bobby Orr of Boston. He said. &ldquo;Ferguson looks for trouble, Orr doesn&rsquo;t, but neither backs off from it. Ferguson gives you trouble all the time, while Orr has to put up with a lot of trouble. Ferguson is a tough man to beat in a scrap, and I don&rsquo;t think Orr has lost a bout yet.&rdquo;</p><p>Orr might be considered to be one of the surprises to land in the top ten. Bobby Hull perhaps might rate as another. And Boston&rsquo;s young Derek Sanderson as another. Tim Horton of Toronto. John McKenzie of Boston and Ted Harris of Montreal rated highly, too. Many others were mentioned.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02502/2582093-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="289" height="372"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>2&mdash;Ted Green</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03337/2582086-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="286" height="370"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>3&mdash;John Ferguson</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04204/2582079-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="288" height="372"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>4&mdash;Tim Horton</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-05125/2582072-1-eng-US/f0003-052.jpg" title="f0003-05" width="291" height="365"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>5&mdash;Bobby Hull</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-0684/2582065-1-eng-US/f0003-062.jpg" title="f0003-06" width="282" height="365"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>6&mdash;John McKenzie</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-0757/2582058-1-eng-US/f0003-072.jpg" title="f0003-07" width="292" height="366"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>7&mdash;Bobby Orr</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-0838/2582051-1-eng-US/f0003-082.jpg" title="f0003-08" width="296" height="365"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>8&mdash;Derek Sanderson</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-0925/2582044-1-eng-US/f0003-092.jpg" title="f0003-09" width="286" height="371"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>9&mdash;Ted Harris</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-1019/2582037-1-eng-US/f0003-102.jpg" title="f0003-10" width="295" height="371"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>10-Orland Kurtenbach</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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DETROIT GREAT GORDIE HOWE RATED NHL’S TOUGHEST PLAYER

<p><b>1&mdash;Howe</b></p><p><b>2&mdash;Green</b></p><p><b>3&mdash;Ferguson</b></p><p><b>4&mdash;Horton</b></p><p><b>5&mdash;B. Hull</b></p><p><b>6&mdash;McKenzie</b></p><p><b>7&mdash;Orr</b></p><p><b>8&mdash;Sanderson</b></p><p><b>9&mdash;T. Harris</b></p><p><b>10&mdash;Kurtenbach</b></p><p><b>HONORABLE MENTION</b></p><p><b>Henri Richard, Montreal; Ed Van Impe, and Reg Fleming, Philadelphia; Bob Baun, Detroit; Leo Boivin, Minnesota; Bob Plager, St. Louis; Ken Hodge, Boston; Vic Hadfield and Ed Giacomin, New York; Stan Mikita, Chicago.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Hockey’s Toughest Ten Men

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-01680/2582169-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="369" height="440"></div><p>&bull; <b>WE JUST</b> returned from a speaking tour in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia where we met the most enthusiastic and knowledgeable hockey fans it&rsquo;s been our pleasure to encounter for a long time. These friendly and hospitable Maritimers are doing a terrific job running minor hockey leagues&hellip;The minor hockey father and son &ldquo;Dog Night&rdquo; staged in Stephenville, Newfoundland and attended by over 600 boys, dads and moms was one of the best affairs it&rsquo;s been our privilege to attend. Joe Crane, president of the Bay of St. George Minor Hockey Association and Don Holloway, manager of the Stephenville Gardens, did a terrific job in organizing this fine evening&hellip;Junior &ldquo;A&rdquo; hockey is making a determined bid to catch on this season in the Maritime provinces and from all accounts it is here to stay&hellip;For the first half of the season Phil Goyette, St. Louis&rsquo; center, was the National Hockey League&rsquo;s most accurate shooter with 17 goals on 74 shots for a 23 percent mark. The Blues had the best average of the 12 teams. They scored on 10.4 percent of their shots and were the only team to shoot better than 10 percent&hellip;When St. Louis downed New York, 4-3, recently, it marked the first win by the Blues over the Rangers since November 13, 1968, and it also ended the Rangers streak of 21 straight wins over Western Division clubs&hellip;Minnesota North Stars have sold out their Met Center for every Saturday night game they&rsquo;ve played there since January 25, 1969&hellip;Of late, the North Stars have missed the penalty-killing skills of Charlie Burns since he took over the coaching reins and abandoned his playing career. Four of the 14 goals scored by opposition in the last three games were on power plays. Billy Collins continues to be one regular penalty killer, but Burns has been unable to come up with another forward as skillful as himself&hellip;If the Red Wings maintain their current attendance average they will become the first Detroit team to play before half-a-million fans in regular season action&hellip;Fran Huck, who quit Canada&rsquo;s National Team, may get a trial with Montreal Canadiens but he&rsquo;ll wind up with St. Louis Blues if he turns professional. That agreement has already been made.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02631/2582162-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="280" height="447"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Charlie Burns</b></figcaption></div><p>&bull; <b>AN ILLUSTRATION</b> of John Ferguson&rsquo;s value to Montreal is that five of the 11 goals he has scored have been winning goals. That despite one suspension and two thumb injuries&hellip;Wayne Cooper, publicity director of the Blues, commenting on the St. Louis Arena&hellip;&ldquo;If you stand in one place long enough you&rsquo;ll get painted&rdquo;&hellip;Bobby Orr is one NHL super star who believes that every NHL player will be wearing a helmet soon. Anyone who watched Bobby Rousseau carried from the Forum ice on a stretcher after his head had cracked the ice were of the same opinion&hellip;Let&rsquo;s not wait until it&rsquo;s too late&hellip;In the 27 games that Montreal and Boston scored the first goal of the game, Canadiens won 18 and tied seven while the Bruins won 12 and tied five&hellip;Out of 113 shots on goal, Jim Neilson of the New York Rangers, scored but one goal&hellip;Arnie Patterson, president of the Dartmouth Lakers of the Maritime Junior &ldquo;A&rdquo; League, is doing a sterling job in bringing junior hockey to the citizens of Dartmouth&hellip;Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; hard-nosed defenseman Terry Harper is still working on the invention of a new skate boot. It&rsquo;s patterned after ski boots and he hopes to get it on the market next season&hellip;Former Detroit stars will renew their series with the current Red Wings in the seventh annual Old-Timers Game at Olympia on Sunday, March 1. Some of the Old-Timers playing will be Ted Lindsay, Bill Gadsby, Joe Carveth, Marty Payelich, George Gee, Jimmy Peters and Gordie Howe, who always lines up with the oldsters&hellip;Usually a talkative coach whether his team wins or loses, Claude Ruel of Canadiens, silenced any critics quickly after a recent narrow win over Minnesota&hellip;&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t ask any questions tonight, you&rsquo;ll get no words from me,&rdquo; said Ruel in defense against second-guessers. The Montreal coach had yanked Goalie Rogatien Vachon for young Phil Myre following two easy goals early in the second period&hellip;Judge Elliott Hudson, long active in Maritime hockey circles, is president of a thriving Junior &ldquo;B&rdquo; League operating in and around Halifax this season&hellip;In spite of the great season experienced by Philadelphia&rsquo;s Bobby Clarke and Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Mike Briere, it appears the NHL rookie award will return to the East this season with Chicago goaler Tony Esposito and Rangers&rsquo; fine forward Bill Fairbairn rated the top two threats for the Calder Trophy. Danny Grant of Minnesota won it for the West last season&hellip;If the Bruins win the Eastern Division and end up in the cup finals, defenseman Bobby Orr could conceivably sweep the NHL silverware winning the Ross, Norris and Hart.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03536/2582155-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="273" height="449"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>John Ferguson</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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PASSING THE PUCK

<p>Founded October 1st, 1947</p><p><b>Published weekly except monthly June through September by Ken-Will Publishing Co. Ltd.</b></p><p><b>1434 St. Catherine Street West Montreal, 107, Canada.</b></p><p><b>Kenneth William McKenzie</b> President and Publisher</p><p><b>Charlie Halpin</b> Editorial Director</p><p><b>Yearly SUBSCRIPTION Rates: $6.00 in Canada $7.00 in the U.S.A, and $9.00 in Foreign Countries.</b></p><p>Postage paid at Rouses Point. N.Y.</p><p>Second class mail&mdash;Registration No. 1327 <b>Printed in Canada</b></p><p><b>Vol. 23 MONTREAL, FEBRUARY 13, 1970 No. 19</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

The Hockey News OFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY

<h2><b>New System Needed To Pick Top Goaler</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t has always been obvious to me that the goals against average is a poor indication of a goaltenders&rsquo; ability. Why it has been consistently used as a measure for goalies is beyond me.</p><p>Take, for instance, the cases of Gump Worsley and Roger Crozier. When with the Rangers some years ago, Worsley was constantly burned by the red light. When shipped to Montreal, he became an excellent goaltender. Crozier, on the other hand, won the Calder and Conn Smythe trophies, but when time weakened the Red Wing defense, Crozier weakened with them. Clearly, without a decent defense, a goalie has no chance for a low average.</p><p>For this reason, a new system of rating should be instituted. The shots on goal should be the important factor. Take that figure and divide it into the goals allowed, and the resulting percentage should be the yardstick.</p><p>With this system, good goalies playing with both strong and weak defensive teams, would have an equal chance at the Vezina trophy.</p><p>Is it any wonder that most Vezina winners were with first or second place teams.</p><p>THOMAS HILTON,<br>Brooklyn, N.Y.</p><h2><b>Ellis NHL&rsquo;s Premier Right Wing Says Fan</b></h2><p>I think the time has come when Ron Ellis is given the credit and recognition he truly deserves. He may not, at present or in the past, be as high in the scoring race as Howe or McKenzie but for my money he is the premier right winger in the NHL today. He is the complete hockey player; possessor of a fine shot, a sound positional player, a strong skater, he can use the body with authority, possesses fine leadership qualities, and above all has youth.</p><p>I realize that the cry will go up in other parts of the country in defence of Howe, McKenzie, Hodge et all, but lets face the facts. Howe, McKenzie and Hodge all play with established lines:</p><p>Mahovlich&mdash;Delvecchio&mdash;Howe Bucyk&mdash;Stanfield&mdash;McKenzie Carleton&mdash;Esposito&mdash;Hodge The experts say that this makes a difference! Well, Ellis has played on every Toronto line this season; with Keon, Ullman, Walton, Harrison, and still has managed to score 19 goals for a last place team. Should this not speak on his behalf?</p><p>With reference to the past, well, Ellis May never come close to breaking Howe&rsquo;s records but neither will anyone else. Howe was undeniably the greatest hockey player in his time but Howe is the past and this is the present. We must not be chosen for what we have done but for what we are doing.</p><p>Ron Ellis should be the All-Star right winger this year, simply because he&rsquo;s the best in the league.</p><p>FRED LAWRENCE, <br> Ponoka, Alta.</p><h2><b>Talent Must Catch Up Before More Expnasion</b></h2><p>I am inclined to agree with many of the statements by Rocket Richard that were recently published in HOCKEY NEWS, particularly as to the effect that expansion has had on the calibre of NHL play.</p><p>Simply putting a major league jersey on a player and calling a contest a major league game cannot make that player necessarily play with a skill we have all come to associate with the National Hockey League. He has to have a primary ability.</p><p>We should wait until talent catches up with the present expansion teams before we try to declare a major league team for every town that asks for one.</p><p>CLIFFORD KIRK, Mifflintown, Pa.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Fan Forum

<div class="byline">BY JIM PROUDFOOT</div><p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>o ascertain what&rsquo;s gone wrong with Toronto Maple Leafs this season, you don&rsquo;t have to look much further than their two former Detroiters, Norm Ullman and Paul Henderson.</p><p>A year ago now, Ullman had 24 goals and Henderson 17 and they were two of the chief reasons Leafs were in contention for third place in the National Hockey League. As the HOCKEY NEWS went to press this week. Ullman had scored eight times and Henderson seven and Leafs were last in the NHL&rsquo;s Eastern Division, eight points away from fourth place and the final spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01633/2582279-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="251" height="433"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Paul Henderson</b></figcaption></div><p>Leafs, however, are not greatly worried about Ullman and Henderson beyond the fact that they wish these two members of their offensive platoon were not in a slump.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s as if we have them in the bank,&rdquo; says coach Johnny McLellan.</p><p>There are two types of scoring slumps, you see. Both are bad, naturally, but one is much worse than the other.</p><p>The bad kind finds the player concerned doing nothing correctly. Watch him and you consider him a hopeless case. The good kind finds him playing efficiently, but failing somehow to cash in on his scoring opportunities. Ullman and Henderson fit in the latter category. Watching them at work, you are surprised to learn that their scoring output has been so low.</p><p>&lsquo;I&rsquo;ll just have to keep plugging away,&rdquo; Ullman shrugs. &ldquo;The goals are bound to start coming because I&rsquo;ve been getting the chances. If I weren&rsquo;t getting the chances, I&rsquo;d be really worried.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02579/2582272-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="552" height="1034"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>NORM ULLMAN&hellip;getting the chances</b></figcaption></div><p>Henderson has encountered especially poor luck in the goal area and as a result, Ullman&rsquo;s playmaking isn&rsquo;t paying off. And recently, he&rsquo;s been inclined to pass instead of shoot because of his own shoddy marksmanship.</p><p>A secondary effect is that opposition defenders, knowing Henderson isn&rsquo;t especially dangerous, have been able to concentrate on Ullman.</p><p>&ldquo;Normie hasn&rsquo;t been scoring a lot but he&rsquo;s doing a big forechecking job for us, keeping the other team off balance in its own end,&rdquo; testifies Bob Pulford, who has been enjoying a productive winter on right wing with David Keon and Murray Oliver. As of Jan. 26, he had equalled his 1968-69 goal total.</p><p>An example of Ullman&rsquo;s worth was Leafs&rsquo; important 3-2 victory in Chicago Jan. 25. Hawks pulled to within one goal with just under four minutes to go and McLellan used their Keon of Ullman throughout the remaining time, just to hold the Chicago attackers at bay.</p><p>Obviously Leafs&rsquo; strength is at centre. As checkers&rsquo; Keon and Ullman are without peer. Keon has already hit 20 goals and McLellan apparently thinks Ullman will start connecting.</p><p>Mike Walton hasn&rsquo;t had a vintage campaign, but Leafs like the aggressive toughness of big Jim Harrison, the centreman they acquired from Boston Bruins before Christmas.</p><p>&ldquo;The centres have to do the job for us,&rdquo; says club president Staff Smythe. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have that good a set of wingers. But if we get mileage from our centres, we can be tough.&rdquo;</p><p>Ironically, Leafs yielded two fine young centres, Pete Stemkowski and Garry Unger, in the 1968 trade which brought Ullman and Henderson here from Detroit.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Leafs’ Ice Problems Traced To Prolonged Scoring Slumps Frustrating Ullman, Henderson

<p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>sked to name their favourite Scotch, today&rsquo;s outgoing people are finding more and more that John Begg comes most easily to their lips. Gentle in taste. Light in price. Growing in demand. Only the Scots could have perfected such a blend. How canny can you get!</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03452/2582310-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="545" height="309"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JOHN BEGG OLD SCOTCH WHISKY</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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The Incoming Scotch for Outgoing People

<p>1&mdash;The late Nels Stewart set the original record of 34 goals by a rookie in the NHL. What two players tied the mark last season?</p><p>2&mdash;Bobby Orr has set a new NHL assists record for defensemen with 51. Pat Stapleton held the old standard of 50. Who set the mark before Stapleton and how many assists did he have?</p><p>3&mdash;Forbes Kennedy led the NHL in penalties last season with 219 but he was well short of the existing NHL record. Who holds it and how many minutes?</p><p>4&mdash;Can you name two of the four new NHL captains appointed this season?</p><p>5&mdash;Five of the present 12 NHL coaches never played regularly in the league. Which one of these six doesn&rsquo;t belong in this category: McLellan, Sinden, Ruel, Bowman. Reay and Glover?</p><p>6&mdash;The NHL schedule was increased from 74 to 76 games per team last season. It will be hiked again next year. How many games will each team play in 1970-71?</p><p>7&mdash;In the last six seasons. the NHL scoring champion has been a center ice player five times. What player broke the monopoly of the pivot performers?</p><p>8&mdash;Which one of these players doesn&rsquo;t belong in the 400-goal all-time category in the NHL: Howe, Beliveau, Geoffrion, Richard and Howe?</p><p>9&mdash;Which one of these NHL brother combinations is not legitimate? Chico and Wayne Maki; Bobby and Dennis Hull; Gilles and J.C. Tremblay; Barclay and Bob Plager.</p><p>10&mdash;Bobby Orr and Tim Horton were the first team All-Star defensemen last season. Who were the second-team tandem. Ted Green and Jim Neilson or Ted Green and Ted Harris?</p><h2><b>HOCKEY QUIZ</b></h2><p><b>ANSWERS</b></p><p>1&mdash;Norm Ferguson of Oakland and Minnesota&rsquo;s Danny Grant each scored 34 goals last year.</p><p>2&mdash;Bill Gadsby in 1958-59 counted 46 assists for New York Rangers.</p><p>3&mdash;Howie Young is the alltime NHL &lsquo;bad man&rsquo;. He collected 273 minutes in 1962-63 with Detroit.</p><p>4&mdash;Claude Larose, Dave Keon, Larry Cahan and Pat Stapleton are the four new NHL captains this season.</p><p>5&mdash;Billy Reay. He played with Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings for eight seasons. The rest never played in the NHL.</p><p>6&mdash;With Vancouver and Buffalo entering the NHL in 1970-71, each team will now play 78 games.</p><p>7&mdash;Bobby Hull, a left winger, won it in 1965-66.</p><p>8&mdash;Bernie Geoffrion doesn&rsquo;t. He ended his career with 393 goals.</p><p>9&mdash;The Tremblays, J.C. and Gilles, are not brothers, nor are they related.</p><p>10&mdash;Ted Green and Ted Harris were the second team All-Stars.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

two minute hockey quiz

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE HALPIN</div><p>&bull; <i><b>IF YOU</b> are wondering what&rsquo;s deterring the National Hockey League from making the wearing of helmets mandatory, the answer is pure and simple. The players themselves don&rsquo;t want them.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-01707/2582341-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="243" height="441"></div><p><i>NHL President Clarence Campbell has been bugged about the helmet issue in just about ever place he ventures and he doesn&rsquo;t hesitate to put the onus on the players. They don&rsquo;t want them right now and some have even taken steps to make sure Campbell knows how they feel by personally writing him letters pleading to keep them out of the NHL.</i></p><p><i>Some players figure the imposing of helmets will seriously detract from their playing style and jeopardize their hockey careers. This may sound like rubbish to a lot of people but to the big leaguers who would have to wear them at all times&mdash;league games, practices and exhibitions&mdash;it is a distressing matter.</i></p><p><i>If you were among the tube viewers last weekend when Canadiens&rsquo; lithe Bobby Rousseau was crunched to the ice, your immediate reaction no doubt was, &ldquo;if he had been wearing a helmet he wouldn&rsquo;t have gotten hurt.&rdquo; Maybe so, but still the sight of the prostrated Rousseau being wheeled from the Forum surface didn&rsquo;t appear to have any outward effect on the players. In a between-periods interview, Boston&rsquo;s defense ace, Bobby Orr, casually said he thought the day was coming when all players would be wearing helmets.</i></p><p><i>Orr recently told a newsman that if the NHL made the head protectors compulsory, he would go along with the edict and wear a helmet.</i></p><p>&bull; <i><b>IT IS</b> now clear that helmets won&rsquo;t find their way into the NHL for a number of years because of the opposition from the players.</i></p><p><i>The Boston Bruins, led by chairman of the board Weston Adams, had been making a valiant but fruitless attempt to get the NHL to pass the wearing of helmets. Adams managed to get two of the Bruins&rsquo; top farm clubs. Oklahoma City of the CHL and Dayton of the IHL, to make the protective headgear mandatory. The IHL went a step farther and informed the whole eight-team league to follow legislation and wear the helmets at all times. But the IHL appears to be alone in its struggle to force the helmets on their teams. No other league has come along&mdash;or team for that matter&mdash;to adopt them.</i></p><p><i>The NHL has apparently made some advancement towards helmets. Campbell revealed at the 23rd All-Star game in St. Louis that the NHL governors had voted $5,000 for research to find a better helmet for its players, but this could take years.</i></p><p><i>The crux of the argument with the performers is that there isn&rsquo;t a suitable helmet available that they would want to wear on the ice and feel at ease. Players have told Campbell in their letters that they&rsquo;ve tried the headgear and that they just can&rsquo;t play with them. Their objections to the helmets include lack of peripheral vision, lack of ventilation, their effect on sound perception and what they consider most significant&mdash;they are sweaty and totally uncomfortable on their heads.</i></p><p><i>At any rate, the injury to Rousseau and the serious skull fracture suffered by Teddy Green last September, are appropriate arguments for the adoption of helmets&mdash;when the NHL finds the right one.</i></p><p><i>Let&rsquo;s hope someone doesn&rsquo;t have to pay with his life in the meantime.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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INSIDE HOCKEY

<div class="byline">BY GLENN REDMANN</div><p>TWIN CITIES&mdash;</p><p>As if the North Stars were not having enough problems&mdash;now it seems that they can&rsquo;t even win on their home ice.</p><p>Within a span of 66 hours, Montreal, Philadelphia and Oakland all came, conquered and left Metropolitan Sports Center in nearby Bloomington two points richer.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02573/2582372-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="252" height="426"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Jean-Paul Parise</b></figcaption></div><p>Those three setbacks dropped the Minnesotans below the .500 mark at home (seven wins, nine losses, six ties) and left their fans wondering if a berth in the playoffs might be out of reach.</p><p>&ldquo;Things really look bad,&rdquo; said Frank Buetel, the popular sports director of WTCN-TV which televises 27 road games and three home games of the North Stars to a vast audience in the Upper Midwest.</p><p>&ldquo;When you can&rsquo;t even pick up a win on your home ice against a couple of clubs in your own (West) division,&rdquo; added Frank, &ldquo;you&rsquo;re hurting.&rdquo;</p><p>After falling behind Montreal by 4-1 at the one-period mark, the Stars fought back gamely to hold the Habs scoreless while Tommy Williams was knocking in a rebound for his fifth goal.</p><p>So the capacity mid-week crowd went home with the hope that their favorites would return to make hay against the Flyers and Seals.</p><p>But what they saw in the televised 6-0 loss to Philly had to be highly disappointing. Even though the Stars were credited with 40 shots on goal to the Flyers&rsquo; 27, the issue never was in doubt after power play goals by little Andre Lacroix and Jean Guy Gendron put the visitors up 2-0 before the game was four minutes old.</p><p>Despite the fact that the game was on the tube, a crowd of 14,368&mdash;one under capacity&mdash;showed up. Only half of them hung around after Jim Johnson, the ex-St. Paul Ranger star of Central League days, scored the 6-0 goal following a steal midway through the third period.</p><p>The Stars&rsquo; worst home-ice setback in their brief, 2&frac12;-year history apparently soured a large segment of the TV watchers, because gate ticket sales for the Oakland game the next afternoon were practically nil as the season&rsquo;s smallest crowd (11,956) turned out.</p><p>In that game, won by the Seals, 4-1, for their third triumph here in as many starts this season, the Minnesotans jumped to a 1-0 lead on Leo Boivin&rsquo;s goal at 1:22 of the first period.</p><p>But after that, tall Gary Smith kicked out everything in sight and, despite a whopping 36-to-15 edge in shots for the first two periods, the frustrated Stars had only a 1-1 tie to show for their efforts.</p><p>&ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t the end of the world,&rdquo; said Charlie, &ldquo;although it may seem as such to some people. We&rsquo;re still ahead of three teams (Pittsburgh, Oakland and Los Angeles) in our division and if we can work ourselves out of this, there&rsquo;s no reason why we can&rsquo;t stay ahead of them.&rdquo;</p><p><b>STAR-LITES:</b> J.P. Parise, the scrappy left winger, was rightfully accepting congratulations after first-half NHL statistics showed that among players who scored 10 or more goals, he was one of three who had achieved 100 per cent in the important category (first goal, score-tying goal, leading goal, insurance goal and proximate goal)&hellip;J. P. had 12 goals while the other two, Chicago&rsquo;s Eric Nesterenko and Jean-Guy Gendron of Philly had 10 apiece&hellip;Bill Goldsworthy with 22 goals in 116 shots on goal, was Minnesota&rsquo;s most accurate first-half shooter at 19 per cent.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0006-02

Slipping North Stars Even Lose Home Ice Touch

<div class="byline">BY PAT CURRAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01659/2582434-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Canadiens&rsquo; hottest scorer this season is JACQUES LEMAIRE, right, shown battling Minnesota&rsquo;s LOU NANNE for puck. Lemaire is crowding 30 goals and has his sights set on 40.</b></figcaption></div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>hree weeks ago when Jacques Lemaire became the first NHL player to score 20 goals this season, the young Montreal winger reluctantly talked of a 35-goal target by the end of the schedule. However now his shooting iron is hotter than ever and he admits 40 goals would make him happy.</p><p>&ldquo;Fifty? Who do you think I am Bobby Hull?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02600/2582427-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="276" height="439"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bobby Rousseau</b></figcaption></div><p>The 24-year-old Lemaire netted his first 20 goals in 36 games&mdash;actually in 30 after he was blanked in the first six starts of the schedule&mdash;and followed up with eight more goals in the next 10 games.</p><p>With 30 games to play, such a pace would bring Lemaire 47. goals and more in his first three NHL seasons than any other active player. He broke into the league with 22 goals in 1967-68 and followed up with 29 last season for a total to date of 79.</p><p>Only Canadiens&rsquo; captain Jean Beliveau scored more in his first three seasons with 97 which included six goals in a five-game amateur tryout.</p><p>Recently, after Lemaire netted his 27th and 28th goals in a span of 59 seconds at Detroit, Beliveau had high praise for his sharpshooting team-mate.</p><p>&ldquo;Jacques is making the most use of what he does best,&rdquo; said Big Jean. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t seen anyone get away the puck quicker or get in position for a pass so well. Everytime you look up, he&rsquo;s in the right spot in front of the other team&rsquo;s net. That&rsquo;s the way the big scorers get a lot of their goals.&rdquo;</p><p>Some observers believed Detroit goalie Roy Edwards had been weak on Lemaire&rsquo;s sharp angle shot for his second goal that turned the tide for Canadiens. But Beliveau thought differently.</p><p>&ldquo;Jacques is quick, very quick. On that second goal he was at such a sharp angle, I couldn&rsquo;t see how he could score. But he let the shot go under the goalie&rsquo;s arm and I suppose nobody in the rink, including the goalie, thought he could do that.&rdquo;</p><p>Another way to rate Lemaire&rsquo;s success is by the way goalies don&rsquo;t know what to expect from him. When he first came into the league, nearly all his shots were low on his own theory that if he didn&rsquo;t score there was always a better chance for a rebound. But this season he has been driving both high and low, giving goalies a hard time on every shot.</p><p>&ldquo;Lemaire is the big goal-scorer on this club right now and that&rsquo;s good,&rdquo; adds Beliveau. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s always good to have somebody new come along with a big year.&rdquo;</p><p>Last year it was Yvan Cournoyer who had 43 goals and 44 assists to make the second All-Star team. The diminutive rightwinger isn&rsquo;t close to that total this time but hardly for the lack of work as Canadiens make their yearly second-half bid to finish first.</p><p>Meanwhile veteran Bobby Rousseau is waging a battle with Lemaire for team scoring honors. After an indifferent first half, Rousseau has returned to his best form with at least one scoring point in 11 of his last 12 games. And during that stretch he has netted nine goals and earned 11 assists to move right up the league scoring ladder.</p><p>Another bright spot as the Habs won nine of their first 11 Games in the new year was their verall defense play with all five rearguards coming on strong and veteran winger Claude Provost up to his old tricks as a penalty killer.</p><p>As the team hit February, Coach Claude Ruel kept pinching himself that he had an njury-free lineup for the first time in his two-year NHL coaching career. Henri Richard rejoined the Habs after missing more than a month&rsquo;s play with a fractured foot.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0007-01

Hot Storing Lemaire Aims High, Admits 40 Goals How His Target

<div class="byline">&#x2014;By Bill Libby</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-01693/2582472-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="300" height="388"></div><h2><b><i>Bumper Rookie Crop</i></b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>E</span>ARLY THIS SEASON</b> a Chicago Black Hawk bombing of the Canadiens in Montreal was announced during a Boston Bruin game. The Canadiens were blanked on home ice. The Bruins won their game and Phil Esposito did well, but after the game he was seeking out newsmen to find out if his brother, Tony, had played goal for the Hawks. &ldquo;Wouldn&rsquo;t that be sweet revenge?&rdquo; he grinned hopefully. Well, he got his wish because it was Tony who returned triumphantly to the fabled Forum, blanking the team which gave him away in exchange for another goaltender, Jack Norris, in one of the worst trades in hockey history.</p><p>Having played just 13 games for Canadiens in the NHL last season, the former Michigan Tech collegian still is eligible for &ldquo;rookie of the year&rdquo; laurels and must be considered the odds-on favorite for the award, won by seven goalers before him. At 26, the masked netminder had ten shutouts at mid-season and was a threat to the modern full-season record of 13. Goaltenders are the most important players on any hockey team so when a rookie goaler has played as Esposito has, he has to be the leader among the rookies so far. His coach, Billy Reay, says, &ldquo;he&rsquo;s the best goalie in the league, he must be the best rookie.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02608/2582465-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="970" height="913"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Chicago goaler TONY ESPOSITO is odds-on favorite for NHL rookie award off great first half of season.</b></figcaption></div><p>Still, it&rsquo;s a bumper crop, one of the best in years, although last season&rsquo;s was one of the better ones with Danny Grant, Norm Ferguson, Brad Park, Gerry Desjardins and Walt Tkaczuk arriving, and all but Ferguson doing as well or better this second time around, too. The main reason for the quality of the crop is the open draft of graduating 20-year-old amateurs, which was begun last summer. No longer can Montreal control half of the best prospects and bury them in the minors. The cream of the crop has been spread around to teams which will give them early opportunities to make the majors.</p><p>Among these are Bob Clarke of Philadelphia and Michel Briere of Pittsburgh. Clarke, a diabetic, injects himself with 55 units of insulin every morning, drinks cola sweetened with teaspoonfuls of sugar before every game, drinks sweetened orange juice during and after every game, plays powerfully and gets mad when sob-sisters like me write like this. He is big and strong, is beginning to score and may be a great one. All his teammates, his manager, his coach and even many rivals are touting him for the award. Boston&rsquo;s Derek Sanderson, who won the award two years ago, says, &ldquo;I&rsquo;d go for him. The kid&rsquo;s certainly got plenty of guts and nobody&rsquo;s going to scare him. He&rsquo;s a heads-up hockey player and the big reason for the improvement in his team.&rdquo;</p><h2><b><i>A Toy Tiger Contends</i></b></h2><p><b>EARLY THIS SEASON,</b> Clarke was the kid hockey men were talking about most, but lately Briere has been drawing raves and he, too, has mates, his manager, his coach and many rivals pumping for him. Coach Red Kelly says, &ldquo;If he doesn&rsquo;t get the award, they ought to investigate. Opponents are crashing into one another trying to nail this little guy.&rdquo; Unlike Clarke, Briere is healthy, but tiny. However, he has a lot of guts, too, and more good moves than any player to break in for many years. After a recent game, the 160-pounder was drenched with sweat and looked like a little rag. &ldquo;If I get hit much, I get worn down, so I try not to let anyone hit me,&rdquo; he smiled. &ldquo;I like better to skate than to crash, anyway.&rdquo;</p><p>Once suspended for slugging a referee in an amateur game, Briere is a confident young man. Before the season began, he held out for a fatter contract than offered him by manager Jack Riley. Wlen Riley asked him on what grounds he merited more, Briere said, &ldquo;Because I&rsquo;ll be playing hockey for Pittsburgh for the next 20 years.&rdquo; Riley cracked up and forked over.</p><p>Among those who took a little longer reaching the big top is Keith Magnuson, who is 22 and detoured at Denver University. But the 6-1, 190-pound Chicago Black Hawk defenseman has to impress you if you know hockey. He has great ability and plays hard. Manager Tommy Ivan says, &ldquo;Keith has fantastic desire.&rdquo; Teammate Pat Stapleton says, &ldquo;He is alert, intense and loves the game with a passion.&rdquo; Magnuson, who talks so fast he has been nicknamed &ldquo;The Riddler&rdquo; by those who try to understand him, says, &ldquo;Karate training has helped me.&rdquo; At least that&rsquo;s what it seemed like he said. Another fine first-year defenseman is Minnesota&rsquo;s bruising Barry Gibbs.</p><p>None of these have had the publicity being given to Bill Fairbairn of the Rangers because he plays in New York. Big town is the most provincial town of all. After years of failure, Joe Namath wins one championship football game and he is acclaimed as superior to Johnny Unitas. After years of incredible mediocrity, the Mets win a baseball championship and they are voted the team of the decade over the Boston Celtics, who won nine pro basketball crowns in the 1960&rsquo;s. League-leaders at mid-season, the Knicks and Rangers were being hailed as wonder teams.</p><p>The Ranger writers think a Ranger deserves every individual award to be given out. Not to be penalized because of this, Fairbairn may deserve the rookie award. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s anyone close,&rdquo; says his manager and coach, Cat Francis. Fairbairn, a stocky 23-year-old, has shouldered responsibility, doing the heavy work on the hot line on the hot team in hockey. He&rsquo;s the silent sort, but his skills and supporters are speaking for him.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY VICTOR BERNS</div><p>ST. LOUIS&mdash;</p><p>In the excitement of this season&rsquo;s All-Star game you may have missed the battle of the organ at the St. Louis Arena.</p><p>The game was East against West. The organ dispute was also East against West, or rather Claude Ruel and William Wirtz against the fans of St. Louis.</p><p>The organ at the Arena is one of those big ones that is connected to the sound system and booms throughout the building. The console is located on a perch near the Arena roof and it is always in the hands of Norm Kramer.</p><p>Kramer got the job because he could play the &ldquo;St. Louis Blues&rdquo;&mdash;the song after which the team was named&mdash;better than anyone else who auditioned for Sid Salomon Jr., the club president, and his son, Sid Salomon III, executive vice president.</p><p>The St. Louis hockey fans have always been a raucous gang, and Kramer has developed a way of coaxing them into a frenzy. He plays a few chords, and the fans chant, &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s go, Blues;&rdquo; he plays another little ditty, and the fans clap rhythmically in near perfect timing throughout the cavernous Arena; he plays, &ldquo;When the Saints Go Marching In,&rdquo; and the fans sing the words while substituting the word &ldquo;Blues&rdquo; for &ldquo;Saints.&rdquo;</p><p>Visiting coaches have seen this phenomenon in action and they aren&rsquo;t particularly wild about the results. Minnesota&rsquo;s Wren Blair estimates that the inspiring home crowd is worth a goal a game to the Blues.</p><p>As preparations were being made for the All-Star game in St. Louis, officials of the Eastern Division saw a nasty possibility. They decided to nip it in the bud.</p><p>Ruel, coach of the Eastern Division team, announced that he didn&rsquo;t want Kramer to be the organist during the All-Star game. The fact that nearly half of the West squad was St. Louis players was not lost on the man from Montreal.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to give that West team any advantage,&rdquo; Ruel said. &ldquo;My guys will be playing for $500 a man. The loser gets $250, and I don&rsquo;t like being on the losing side.&rdquo;</p><p>The younger Salomon thought he had settled the issue by declaring, &ldquo;This is an All-Star game, and we have an All-Star organist.&rdquo;</p><p>However. Wirtz, president of the Chicago Black Hawks, took the matter to the National Hockey League&rsquo;s Board of Governors and presented the case for the East eloquently. Wirtz argued that the environment of an All-Star game should be as neutral as possible and he gallantly offered to neutralize Kramer by spelling him with Al Mel-gard, the organist at Chicago Stadium.</p><p>Wirtz complimented the governors by telling them that &ldquo;St. Louis is merely the host city for both All-Star teams, and the Blues&rsquo; management has nothing to say about how the game is conducted. That&rsquo;s for the league to decide.&rdquo;</p><p>Then he threatened them: &ldquo;We won&rsquo;t be defeated. We&rsquo;ll get 50 per cent of the organ play at the All-Star game or I&rsquo;ll never come back to St. Louis again.&rdquo;</p><p>The governors are reasonable men and saw Wirtz&rsquo;s compromise as the reasonable solution. And so all agreed that Kramer and Melgard would share time at the Arena organ.</p><p>But everyone forgot to consult the St. Louis fans. After all, they&rsquo;re a big part of Kramer&rsquo;s performances. Not only hadn&rsquo;t they practiced with Melgard, but they made it perfectly clear they didn&rsquo;t like the idea of an outsider replacing their beloved Norm even for a few minutes.</p><p>Kramer began the evening at the organ, and the fans were in their usual spirited form. Kramer sounded the familiar chords, and the fans chanted, &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s Go, West.&rdquo; When Scotty Bowman, coaching the West, iced an all-Blues five some for the West, the fans quickly switched to their usual &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s Go, Blues,&rdquo; and they added a little more gusto. The night was just like any other night at the Arena.</p><p>But. then, curse that compromise; Melgard took control of the keyboard. The fans were not amused. They booed as soon as he played the first few bars of some unknown song in a non-Kramer style.</p><p>As the second period started, Melgard figured he had the upper hand and began agitating the fans by ridiculing on the organ their familiar traditions. He played the Blues&rsquo; chant discordantly with sickening falsetto notes. The fans booed, and then booed more loudly.</p><p>&ldquo;Get that guy out of there,&rdquo; they were yelling, but Melgard waved derisively toward them and continued playing above the booing. While they were booing, Bobby Hull scored for the East. Then, more off-key organ notes, more booing, and Walt Tkaczuk scored to give the East their final 4-1 margin. Melgard had done his part for the East and he hurled one further insult at the distraught fans with a loud, brassy rendition of &ldquo;Chicago.&rdquo;</p><p>Kramer resumed his regular position at the organ in the third period, and the fans cheered lustily.</p><p>Some years from now the St. Louis fans may have forgotten that Gordie Howe scored the winning goal or even that Jacques Plante stopped 20 shots in a fantastic final period, but they won&rsquo;t soon forget the battte of the organ.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

‘Battle Of The Organ’ Roused St. Louis Funs At All-Star Classic

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-01675/2582527-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>The two outstanding executives in professional hockey last season in the estimation of THE HOCKEY NEWS were the Salomons of St. Louis. Here&rsquo;s publisher KEN McKENZIE presenting SID SALOMON JR., left, and his son SID SALOMON III, right, with THE HOCKEY NEWS awards for the 1968-69 season during ceremonies on the ice recently at the St. Louis Arena.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Hockey News Photo by Richord Pelleglini)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0009-01

Hockey News Honors Salomons As Top NHL Executives Of Year

<p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>Y</span>ou might expect Bobby Orr or Bobby Hull or even Stan Mikita to be the most accurate shooter in the National Hockey League but the honor belongs to the one-time &lsquo;Thin Man&rsquo; of the NHL&mdash;Phil Goyette of St. Louis.</p><p>The Blues&rsquo; veteran center participated in 36 games through the first half of the 1969-70 NHL campaign, scoring 17 goals on 74 shots at the net for a league-leading 23 per cent.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-02632/2582558-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="247" height="452"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Phil Goyette</b></figcaption></div><p>Maybe, Orr, Hull or Mikita, belonged in second place? Wrong again. Jim Harrison of the Leafs, whom Toronto acquired from Boston in a trade for Wayne Carleton, was No. 2 behind Goyette. The rookie pivot has a combined total of nine goals on 44 shots for a percentage of 20.5</p><p>Here are other top shooters who showed notable accuracy; Bill Goldsworthy of Minnesota 19.0; John Bucyk of Boston 18.9; Garry Unger of Detroit, 17.8; Walt Tkaczuk, New York, 17.6; Dave Balon, his Ranger linemate, 17.1; Frank St. Marseille of St. Louis 16.9; Jean Ratelle of Rangers and Ab McDonald of St. Louis each with 16.0; Jacques Lemaire of Montreal 15.8; Danny Grant of Minnesota 15.7; Nick Libett of Detroit 15.4; Eric Nesterenko and Lou Angotti, both of Chicago, at 15.2; Bill Sutherland of Philly 15.0.</p><p>Two members of the Bruins, Orr and Esposito, shared the honor of firing the most shots on goal during the first half of the schedule according to figures compiled by NHL statistician Ron Andrews. Both fired 204 shots at enemy netminders. Orr scored 12 goals for an accuracy of 5.9 per cent and Esposito 17 goals for 8.3 per cent.</p><p>Other team leaders in shots on goal were: Mikita, Chicago, 198; Vic Hadfield, New York, 167; Mickey Redmond, Montreal, 146; Red Berenson. St. Louis, 145; Claude Larose, Minnesota, 143; Mike Walton, Toronto, 139; Pete Stemkowski, Detroit, 130; Ken Schinkel and Michel Briere, Pittsburgh, 117; Carol Vadnais, Oakland, 117; Bob Clarke, Philadelphia, 111; and Ross Lonsber-ry, Los Angeles, 106.</p><p>Twelve players had at least one shot on goal in each game they played. They were: Orr, (204 shots); Esposito, (204); Hadfield, (167); Redmond, (146); Lemaire, (139); Frank Mahovlich, Detroit (127); McDonald, (119); Schinkel, (117); Henri Richard, Montreal (114); Bobby Hull, (97); St. Marseille, (89); and Larry Keenan, St. Louis (74).</p><p>The most accurate team was St. Louis which scored 125 goals out of 1,204 shots on goal for 10.4 per cent. The Blues were the only team to reach 10 per cent or more in shooting accuracy NHL the first time a West Division club has led in this department. Lowest in this category was Los Angeles, which scored 84 goals on 1,172 shots for 7.2 per cent.</p><p>Also, included in Andrews&rsquo; breakdown were important goals and points. The importance of a goal or point is based on the influence it has on the game at the time it is scored and is unaffected by any subsequent scoring. Following are the five categories of important goals: (assists on these goals are considered important points): the first goal of a game, a score tying goal, a leading goal, an insurance goal (one which puts a team two goals ahead of the opposition)., and a proximate goal (one which brings the losing team to within one goal of its opponent&rsquo;s score).</p><p>Of players who scored 10 or more goals, three succeeded in achieving 100 per cent in the important category. They were Jean-Paul Parise, Minnesota, 12 goals, Eric Nesterenko, Chicago and Jean-Guy Gendron, Philadelphia, each with 10.</p><p>As an indication of the importance of scoring the first goal of a game, of the 27 times each that Boston and Montreal opened the scoring, Bruins won 18 and tied five of those games while Canadiens won 17 and tied seven for 41 points each of a possible 54.</p><p>Players recorded a total 19 three-goal games during the first half of this season; one more than last year after 38 games. Detroit Red Wings had four (Gordie Howe, Frank Mahovlich, Garry Unger and Alex Delvecchio) as did Philadelphia (Andre Lacroix (2), Jim Johnson and Gary Dornhoefer) to lead teams in this department. Minnesota had three (Bill Goldsworthy, Ray Cullen and Danny Grant). Chicago had two (Stan Mikita and Cliff Koroll) and so did St. Louis (Red Berenson and Ab McDonald). The following recorded one each: Los Angeles (Eddie Shack); Montreal (Jacques Lemaire); New York (Vic Hadfield); Oakland (Earl Ingarfield)<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0009-02

Blues’ Phil Goyette Most Accurate Among Big League Hockey Shooters

<p>Following are the latest player movements in hockey:</p><h2><b>NATIONAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p>PITTSBURGH&mdash;<b>George Swarbrick,</b> forward, returned to Baltimore of AHL. <b>Keith McCreary,</b> forward, activated from 14-day injury list.</p><p>MINNESOTA&mdash;<b>Bill Orban,</b> forward, recalled from Iowa of CHL.</p><p>DETROIT&mdash;<b>Fred Speck,</b> forward, returned to Fort Worth of CHL. <b>Jim Watson,</b> defenseman, returned to Cleveland of AHL.</p><p>MONTREAL&mdash;<b>Dennis Hextall,</b> forward secured from Los Angeles in trade for <b>Dick Duff,</b> sent to Montreal Voyageurs of AHL. <b>Larry Pleau,</b> and <b>Marc Tardif</b> forwards, returned to Voyageurs. <b>Henri Richard</b> and <b>Christian Bordeleau,</b> forwards, activated from injury list.</p><p>BOSTON&mdash;<b>Gary Doak,</b> defenseman, recalled from Oklahoma City of CHL. <b>Frank Spring,</b> forward, returned to Oklahoma City. <b>Ron Murphy,</b> forward, back on injury list with shoulder troubles. <b>Don Marcotte,</b> forward, recalled from Hershey to stay up with Bruins for rest of season.</p><p>OAKLAND&mdash;<b>Tony Featherstone,</b> forward, returned to Providence at AHL.</p><h2><b>WESTERN LEAGUE</b></h2><p>SALT LAKE&mdash;<b>Art Quoquo chi,</b> forward, sent to Oklahoma City of CHL on loan for two weeks. <b>Larry McNabb,</b> defenseman, returned to Hershey of AHL.</p><p>PHOENIX&mdash;<b>Aut Erickson,</b> defenseman, placed on disabled list with back injury that may require spinal surgery. <b>Sandy Hucul,</b> defenseman, placed on disabled list with elbow injury in office accident.</p><p>TOLEDO&mdash;<b>Harley Hodgson,</b> defenseman, secured from Long Island of EHL. <b>Gary Wood,</b> defenseman, loaned to Columbus of IHL for season to make place on roster for Hodgson. <b>Ray Germain,</b> forward activated off 14-day injury list.</p><p>COLUMBUS&mdash;<b>Tim Tabor,</b> &lsquo;goalkeeper, secured from Muskegon of IHL. <b>Bob Trembecky,</b> forward, secured from Dayton of IHL. <b>Chuck Kelly,</b> forward, placed on disabled list for rest of season with dislocated shoulder.</p><p>DAY ON&mdash;<b>Dave Simpson,</b> defenseman, and <b>Art Thomas</b> forward, secured from Port Huron of IHL.</p><p>MUSKEGON&mdash;<b>Gary Gambucci,</b> forward, secured from US Nationals on loan until team injuries clear up.</p><p>DES MOINES&mdash;<b>Buddy Boone,</b> forward, signed as free agent on five-game tryout. <b>Meehan Bonnar,</b> forward, placed on 14-day injury list.</p><h2><b>EASTERN LEAGUE</b></h2><p>JOHNSTOWN&mdash;<b>Pete Christian,</b> forward sent to Jacksonville of EHL to make room on roster for <b>Dom DiBerardino,</b> forward. <b>Larry Young,</b> defenseman, returned to Summerland, B.C. home in Canada.</p><p>NEW HAVEN&mdash;<b>Kevin Morrison,</b> forward activated from injury list. <b>Norm Guimond,</b> forward sent to Syracuse subject to 24-hour recall.</p><p>NEW JERSEY&mdash;<b>Lou Jankowski</b> resigned as player coach. Replaced by <b>Wayne Kitchen,</b> forward.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Movements of Player

<div class="byline">BY NORMAN MacLEAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-01693/2582613-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ranger rookie BILL FAIRBAIRN (10) has been one of the New Yorkers&rsquo; big surprises this season. The kid star has 16 goals and could end up with 30 or more.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Hockey News Photo by John Barnett)</span></figcaption></div><p>NEW YORK&mdash;</p><p>In a horse race, the leading jockeys are those who know just when to apply the whip, even if ever so lightly. The league-leading New York Rangers felt Emile &ldquo;The Cat&rdquo; Francis&rsquo; whip and responded with a tremendous must win over Boston and a second success over Los Angeles.</p><p>At the Tuesday January 20 AllS-tar break the Rangers were sitting on top of the world with six players participating in the annual mid-season classic. These six were joined by the rest of the squad in St. Louis, as the schedule called for a Thursday January 22 game with the Blues.</p><p>On Wednesday the Rangers worked out, diligently, but with light hearts. On Thursday at noon time they took a light skate. Friday morning, Francis had the troops back on the St. Louis Arena ice, for fifty minutes of skating&mdash;just plain skating, back and forth. The denouement had been the loss by a 4-3 count to the home standing Blues.</p><p>&ldquo;We never touched the puck in the workout,&rdquo; said Jim Neilson, the big defenseman. &ldquo;We just skated back and forth and back and forth again.&rdquo;</p><p>Having been punished, the Blues came home to find the Boston Bruins challenging them for first place. The Beantowners were only two points back and for the first time since mid November. New York was being threatened.</p><p>When the smoke had cleared, the Rangers had left Boston for dead with a sound 8-1 thrashing. It was the second time New York had reached this apex. Previously they whacked Oakland by this count. Francis&rsquo; strategy had worked.</p><p>In the regime of Phil &ldquo;the Whip&rdquo; Watson, hard driving Phillipe once called a midnight workout after a disastrous loss to Toronto. This was part and parcel in the Blueshirts&rsquo; stretch collapse of 1958-59 which saw them sag from second place to fifth and out of the post-season playoffs in March. Watson&rsquo;s men resented the move and sulked. Francis&rsquo; players responded in the proper spirit and capped off the weekend with a narrow 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings. As the man said, they all count.</p><p>The role of Francis as the Rangers sole super star may eventually be usurped by sophomore center Walter Tkaczuk, but for the nonce, the Cat is the man. He juggled his lineup, by creating a fourth line made up of Jean Ratelle at center with Real Lemieux and Ron Stewart on the wings. Ratelle took his regular turn with Rod Gilbert and Vic Hadfield, also. In a more noteworthy move, Francis played Orland Kurtenbach with Bob Nevin and Don Marshall against both Boston and Los Angeles and started big Kurt against the Kings. Juha Widing did not dress in either game.</p><p>When asked if Kurt played on January 24 against Boston simply because of the Bruins&rsquo; muscle, Francis indicated this had no part in his thinking and that he planned to give Kurt a real shot.</p><p>&ldquo;He got mad out there against Los Angeles and this is what we have been looking for. Remember, it took Jean Ratelle a full year to recover from the same spinal fusion surgery that Kurtenbach endured and Jean was a bit younger than Orland,&rdquo; said Francis,&rdquo; I liked those two punches he hit Bill Flett with.&rdquo;</p><p>The smile on &ldquo;Lurch&rsquo;s&rdquo; face in the Ranger room, told his side of the story at a glance. Blue eyed, taciturn Kurtenbach looks like the prototype of a Nazi submarine commander, but his deportment in the Ranger dressing quarters had been subdued and quiet during the period when he was working only occasionally. Contact and confidence is what Francis wants from Kurt, who when physically right is the best policeman, albeit in a quiet way, in the NHL.</p><p>The play of the Bulldog line continues to amaze. Billy Fairbairn now has 16 goals-on the way to a possible 30, something done only by three rookies in the past, Boomer Geoffrion in 1951-52 and the messrs. Danny Grant and Norm Ferguson last season. If 30 goals and first place don&rsquo;t get Bill some consideration in the race for the Calder Memorial Trophy, nothing will. It is Fairbairn&rsquo;s brillant play which made two Ranger lines this season, the Bulldogs and the checking line wherein Bobby Nevin was ensconced, when he returned from the knee injury which gave Fairbairn his chance. The Rangers were one man away from serious contention and Billy has been that man.</p><p>&ldquo;We try to finish each game with a plus three in points. That way we figure to be at least a goal ahead,&rdquo; reveals Fairbairn.</p><p>All three are quiet boys, but they speak eloquently on the scoreboard when dressed in Ranger Blue.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-01

Francis’ Whip, Rangers’ Bounce Spur Blueshirts To Peak In NHL

<p><i>Here is Proof:</i></p><p><b>SCORING LEADERS</b></p><p><b>N.H.L. 1968-69 SEASON</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02611/2582644-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="784" height="772"></div><p><i>All wore C.C.M. &ldquo;Tacks&rdquo; except one</i></p><p><b>FOR THE BEST HOCKEY SKATES, HOCKEY STICKS AND PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT, GET THE CHOICE OF THE PROS:-</b></p><p><b>C.C.M.</b></p><p><b>A Division of Seaway Multi-Corp Limited</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-02

Year after year, the world’s top hockey players-professional and amateur-rely on C·C·M· equipment.

<div class="byline">BY JACK BERRY</div><p>DETROIT&mdash;</p><p>There was a time earlier in the season when the Red Wing management was unhappy with Pete Stemkowski.</p><p>It wasn&rsquo;t the first time that happened to the kielbasa-loving, 26-year-old bachelor from Winnipeg. Stemkowski had his ups and downs when he worked for Punch Imlach&hellip;up to Toronto&hellip;down to Rochester&hellip;up to Toronto, etc.</p><p>But the Wings didn&rsquo;t do anything that drastic. Manager coach Sid Abel moved him from center on a line with Nick Libett and Bruce MacGregor to left wing on a line centered by Garry Unger with Wayne Connelly on the right flank.</p><p>And the line has thrived.</p><p>In 23 games under the old arrangement Stemkowski had seven goals and Detroit had a 10-8-5 won-lost-tied record. In the 20 games following the switch, Stemkowski had nine goals and Detroit had a 12-6-2 mark.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01685/2582675-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="556" height="1264"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PETE STEMKOWSKI&hellip;On Scoring Spree</b></figcaption></div><p>The line produced 28 goals in the 20 games, more than Detroit&rsquo;s two other units scored in that time. Unger got 13 of them and Connelly six.</p><p>Stemkowski scored important goals, too&mdash;four winners after moving to left wing and three of them came in road games at St. Louis, Toronto and Montreal.</p><p>He scored a big one in a game against Philadelphia after the Flyers whittled a Detroit lead to 32 and were threatening to tie.</p><p>And, when NHL statistician Ron Andrews released his half season statistical analysis, Stemkowski, was No. 1 among the Red Wings in shots on goal. He was tied with Frank Mahovlich for winning goals and since has passed the BigM.</p><p>Stemkowski&rsquo;s Toronto reputation was that of a defensive player and that was primarily that Detroit had in mind when Stemkowski was included in the huge deal with the Leafs (Mahovlich, Unger, Stemkowski and Carl Brewer for Norm Ullman, Paul Henderson and Floyd Smith).</p><p>The Wings needed a husky center who could do some muscling.</p><p>Stemkowski has done that, although not as much perhaps as the Wings would like, but he&rsquo;s also shown a scoring touch that broke through only in the 1967 playoffs when he and Jim Pappin were offensive stars for the Leafs, Stemkowski scoring five goals and assisting on seven and Pappin scored seven&mdash;tops in the playoffs&mdash;and assisted on eight to lead all scorers with 15 points.</p><p>That was the last Stanley Cup for the Leafs.</p><p>It wasn&rsquo;t the end of Stemkowski&rsquo;s scoring, however. He fired 21 goals last season, his pro single season high, and is well on his way to bettering that this time around with 16 goals through 43 games.</p><p>Despite his scoring burst, Stemkowski probably is the most underrated of Red Wings forwards. If he keeps this up, that won&rsquo;t last much longer.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-01

STEMMER PUTS NEW LIFE IN WINGS

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BERRY</div><p>DETROIT&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span> sardine-packed house of 15,388 saw Montreal win a key game at Olympia, 4-1, and it was the largest crowd ever to see the Red Wings play at home.</p><p>Like many rinks, the Wings fit a seat in here and there during the off-season and hence their seating capacity creeps up each year. Olympia lists its seating capacity now at 13,235.</p><p>The Wings seem to be down more than they&rsquo;re up for their big games this season&hellip;in the last month they had very important contests with Chicago (three), Toronto (two) and Montreal (three) and posted a 3-4-1 won-lost-tied record&hellip;and five of the eight games were played at Olympia with the Wings winning only two of them and tying one.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-02634/2582706-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="267" height="443"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Roger Crozier</b></figcaption></div><p>Matter of fact, the Wing home record hasn&rsquo;t been anything to brag about this season&hellip;the road record is but not the home mark. Through 43 games Detroit was 10-7-4 on the road and 12-7-3 at home.</p><p>Even with masks, goalkeepers still have tough times&hellip;the Wings&rsquo; pair of Roger Crozier and Roy Edwards were knocked out of action in a three-game stretch.</p><p>First it was Crozier who twisted his ankle trying to prevent a goal&mdash;he didn&rsquo;t&mdash;in a game against Chicago and Edwards went to his relief. Three nights later a Jean Beliveau slap shot caught Edwards above the left ear and Crozier took over while Edwards went to the infirmary where 12 stitches were needed to close the wound<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-02

Detroit Not Getting Up For ‘Important’ Games

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01661/2582765-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"></div><h2><b>INDIVIDUAL SCORING LEADERS</b></h2><p><b>(Including games of Sun. Feb. 1)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02567/2582758-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="1833" height="1561"></div><h3><b>WEST DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03442/2582751-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="610" height="2564"></div><h3><b>EAST DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-04326/2582744-1-eng-US/f0012-042.jpg" title="f0012-04" width="614" height="2248"></div><h3><b>PENALTIES BY TEAMS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-05240/2582737-1-eng-US/f0012-052.jpg" title="f0012-05" width="580" height="332"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0012-01

TOP 25 SCORERS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-06" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-06194/2582803-1-eng-US/f0012-062.jpg"></div><h2><b>THE TOP 10 NETMINDERS</b></h2><p><b>(Including Games of Sun. Feb. 1)</b></p><h3><b>COMPLETE GOALKEEPING RECORDS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-07170/2582796-1-eng-US/f0012-072.jpg" title="f0012-07" width="1218" height="1700"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0012-06

Looking At NHL Coalers

<p><b>(Including Games of Sun. Jan. 25)</b></p><h2><b>TEAM STATISTICS AGAINST OWN DIVISION</b></h2><h3><b>East Division</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01652/2582911-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="578" height="180"></div><h3><b>WEST DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02607/2582904-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="581" height="176"></div><h2><b>AGAINST OTHER DIVISION</b></h2><h3><b>East Division</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03563/2582897-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="579" height="179"></div><h3><b>West Division</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-04514/2582890-1-eng-US/f0013-042.jpg" title="f0013-04" width="577" height="181"></div><h2><b>HOME AND AWAY RECORDS</b></h2><h3><b>East At Home</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-05422/2582883-1-eng-US/f0013-052.jpg" title="f0013-05" width="580" height="176"></div><h3><b>East On Road</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-06358/2582876-1-eng-US/f0013-062.jpg" title="f0013-06" width="578" height="179"></div><h3><b>West At Home</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-07329/2582869-1-eng-US/f0013-072.jpg" title="f0013-07" width="578" height="179"></div><h3><b>West On Road</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-08309/2582862-1-eng-US/f0013-082.jpg" title="f0013-08" width="584" height="182"></div><h3><b>POWER PLAY GOALS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-09294/2582855-1-eng-US/f0013-092.jpg" title="f0013-09" width="576" height="332"></div><p><b>(Key: GP&mdash;Games Played; ADV&mdash;Power Play Advantage; PPG&mdash;Power Play Goal; TS&mdash;Times Shorthanded; PPGA&mdash;Power Play Goals Against)</b></p><h2><b>INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS</b></h2><h3><b>POWER PLAY GOALS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-10274/2582848-1-eng-US/f0013-102.jpg" title="f0013-10" width="589" height="359"></div><h3><b>GAME WINNING GOALS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-11249/2582841-1-eng-US/f0013-112.jpg" title="f0013-11" width="587" height="379"></div><h3><b>GAME TIEING GOALS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-12217/2582834-1-eng-US/f0013-122.jpg" title="f0013-12" width="587" height="407"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0013-01

NHL WEEK —In Statistics

<div class="byline">BY SPENCE CONLEY</div><p>OAKLAND&mdash;</p><p>He&rsquo;s the littlest Seal. But then he was the littlest Black Hawk and the littlest King. too.</p><p>No matter his size, Howie Menard does his thing&mdash;skate and check&mdash;and it&rsquo;s keeping him in the National Hockey League and the Oakland Seals in the thick of the battle for a West Division playoff spot.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-13183/2582942-1-eng-US/f0013-132.jpg" title="f0013-13" width="252" height="442"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Howie Menard</b></figcaption></div><p>At 5-7, 160, Menard is hardly the type of player you&rsquo;d classify as a physical threat. But strangely enough, he tosses what weight he does have around with considerable authority.</p><p>Menard was drafted from the L.A. Kings last summer by the Hawks but spent his time riding the bench. Dec. 18 he was traded to Oakland for Gene Ubriaco. Now it&rsquo;s Uby who rides the bench.</p><p>Seal coach Fred Glover wasn&rsquo;t about to make a bench jockey out of the little centerman. The Seals can&rsquo;t afford the luxury of a free-loader.</p><p>Besides, Glover was remembering that as the littlest King, Menard was instrumental in the L.A. surge which ousted his Seals from the Stanley Cup semi-finals last year.</p><p>It took Menard 15 games to get back the legs and sharpness of play which he had left on the Hawk bench.</p><p>It wasn&rsquo;t that he was doing nothing; on the contrary, he did a lot-killed penalties, took a regular shift on the third line with wing Gerry Ehman and Norm Ferguson, and, as usual, he hustled.</p><p>He got his first goal against Pittsburgh, Jan. 21 as the Seals rolled to a 3-0 lead and then blew it to a 3-3 tie. But the two games before, in Chicago and especially in Montreal, he was all over the place, chasing the puck and generally getting into people&rsquo;s way.</p><p>&ldquo;Things couldn&rsquo;t be better,&rdquo; he enthuses. &ldquo;Coming to Oakland was the best thing that ever happened to me. Greatest bunch of guys I ever played with and the management is tops. Frank Selke is the best general manager of &rsquo;em all.</p><p>Menard makes no secret of the fact that he hated Chicago and wasn&rsquo;t exactly knocked out about L.A.</p><p>&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t playing in Chicago,&rdquo; he says with some hostility. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know why they drafted me from L.A. in the first place. It was just sitting on the bench and you can&rsquo;t be sharp on the bench.</p><p>&ldquo;Things are coming now. I&rsquo;m playing and I love it. I&rsquo;m killing penalties, taking a regular shift and getting plenty of ice time. I&rsquo;m really enjoying it and I&rsquo;m feeling better all the time. My big game is checking. I&rsquo;m not a goal scorer. I believe that if you forecheck you get the breaks and if you get the breaks, you score. That&rsquo;s the only way to play.&rdquo;</p><p>Glover is pretty happy with the way Menard has come around.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing just like we knew he would. He checks. He keeps people off balance. He hustles. He won&rsquo;t get a lot of goals, but he will make it possible for others to score.&rdquo;</p><p>Indirectly, he was responsible for an upswing in the scoring of Earl Ingarfield.</p><p>The Seals were having some problems on right wing. Ingarfield had played right wing last year and did a great job. but the big question was what to do about a third line center? Well, Menard didn&rsquo;t disappoint Glover in the test and Ingarfield went to wing and caught fire.</p><p>Menard was one of 13 children in a gold mining family from Timmins. Ont. Like nearly every young Canadian boy. he started skating early. But his reasons were different.</p><p>&ldquo;It would get 40 or 50 below zero at home and if you didn&rsquo;t play hockey, you didn&rsquo;t do anything.&rdquo;</p><p>He played his junior A hockey with the Hamilton Red Wings and was a member of the Memo rial Cup championship team of 1961. The next season, he turned professional with the Pittsburgh Hornets, the Wings&rsquo; AHL club.</p><p>Later he went to Springfield and had three pretty fair seasons&rsquo; in a row and won a shot with the Kings. His three goals and two assists in the Stanley Cup series with Oakland, boosted L.A. into the finals against St. Louis.</p><p>Oakland has given Menard a chance and he seems to be making the most of it.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a well-balanced team.&rdquo; he believed. &ldquo;There are no Hulls or Mikitas, just a pretty good bunch of guys who want to win.&rdquo;</p><p>Nobody wants that more than the littlest Seal himself.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0013-13

Seals Delighted With Menard’s Play

<div class="byline">BY ED CONRAD</div><p><b><i>&ldquo;You like 7up 7up likes you&rdquo;</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01649/2583018-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="551" height="732"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DOUG FAVELL&hellip;Socked It To Stars</b></figcaption></div><p>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;</p><p>It had to rank as the Flyers&rsquo; greatest weekend in their history because never before had they posted back-to-back shutouts or won two straight important games.</p><p>That&rsquo;s what they did within the span of 17 hours however, when Doug Favell stopped all 40 Minnesota shots while posting a 60 victory in the North Stars&rsquo; rink and Bernie Parent turned back all 30 St. Louis shots in a 2-0 triumph the following afternoon before a capacity crowd at the Spectrum and a national television audience.</p><p>It was a very important pair of victories because the win over Minnesota gave the Flyers some breathing room in second place in the Western Division, and the victory over St. Louis finally ended the long period of frustration against the Blues.</p><p>When Parent held St. Louis scoreless for the second time this season (the other shutout was a scoreless tie), it was the Flyers&rsquo; first victory over the Blues in their last nine games and only their second in the past 19 since their double-overtime victory in the sixth game of the Stanley Cup playoffs two years ago.</p><p>In fact, it was the first time since then that the Flyers won a game that counted, since the Blues were beaten late last season only after they had already clinched the division championship.</p><p>&ldquo;Boy, it sure feels good to beat them for a change,&rdquo; said Parent afterward. &ldquo;I think we have finally proven to ourselves that we can do it.&rdquo; That&rsquo;s the hardest part (getting psyched that the Blues are invincible).</p><p>Parent refused to make any predictions whether the Flyers, who were playing consistently good hockey, would be able to overtake the Blues in the final months of the season because his team still remained 11 points behind St. Louis.</p><p>&ldquo;All I will say is that we have been playing better and better against every team and, if they (St. Louis) finish first, we will not be far behind,&rdquo; forecast Bernie. &ldquo;We are getting a good effort from a lot of players every game. In the past maybe six or seven players would play well but the others would not. Now it seems everyone is coming through.&rdquo;</p><p>Favell&rsquo;s return to the outstanding form of his rookie season two years ago is all the more reason why the Flyers are naturally optimistic about the rest of the schedule. His performance in Minnesota, for example, was as good as any his rookie year.</p><p>&ldquo;I never felt I ever lost my touch,&rdquo; remarked Favell. &ldquo;I had a couple bad periods and then I just wasn&rsquo;t playing. Now that I&rsquo;m playing more often, I&rsquo;m getting sharp and this is most important. I never said I want to play every game, but I feel I can really help the team if I play more often than before.&rdquo;</p><p>According to Larry Hillman, the Flyers&rsquo; big weekend appeared to put them over the hump&hellip;since the goaltending, defense and offense seem to perking like never before.</p><p>&ldquo;The goaltending is the biggest thing of all,&rdquo; said Larry, the veteran defenseman who had played on six different Stanley Cup championship teams. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s where it all starts, in goal, and thank goodness both Bernie and Doug have been coming through like champs.</p><p>&ldquo;I really think the next three weeks will tell a great deal as to how we&rsquo;re going to finish the season,&rdquo; continued Larry. &ldquo;I say, if we can play just .500 hockey over that span, we&rsquo;ll just about sew up second place and I think we&rsquo;ll have a real shot at overtaking the Blues the rest of the way.&rdquo;</p><p>The Flyers, under coach Vic Stasiuk, aren&rsquo;t counting their chickens yet. However, they have to be encouraged by the overall performance in a season most experts had predicted they&rsquo;d want to forget.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-01

Favell, Parent Give Flyers’ Playoff Hopes Big Lift

<h2><b><i>In The East</i></b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>A</span>dmittedly Bobby Orr of the Bruins had a big week in the NHL but another conspicious defenseman did all right for himself, too. He&rsquo;s Jim McKenny of the Maple Leafs, who came up with an eight-point week, one less than Orr.</b></p><p><b>It isn&rsquo;t every week that a member of the lowly Leafs can step up and match strides with the Orrs, Espositos, Lemaires and the Tkaczuks. McKenny, who started the season on the wing but was forced to return to his long-time defense position when injuries depleted the Toronto lineup, has been one of the club&rsquo;s best performers in recent weeks.</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02543/2583056-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="286" height="434"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Jim McKenny</b></figcaption></div><p><b>During the past three Toronto games, McKenny scored once and assisted on another goal in a 4-4 tie with Pittsburgh; he set up two goals in the 4-2 win over Minnesota and came back to score his 10th of the year and assist on two more in the 7-6 TV donnybrook which the Bruins won last weekend.</b></p><p><b>THE HOCKEY NEWS and El Producto are pleased to salute the NHL&rsquo;s player-of-the-week in the East:</b></p><p><b><i>JIM McKENNY&hellip;Toronto</i></b></p><h2><b><i>In The West</i></b></h2><p><b>The Minnesota North Stars went absolutely nowhere last week, in fact they lost four times but it didn&rsquo;t keep Ray Cullen of the Stars from going on a personal point rampage that stood him above the rest of the Expansion division performers.</b></p><p><b>Cullen collected seven points in the four Minnesota losses and it wasn&rsquo;t his fault that the skidding North Stars continued to plunge to the bottom of the West division race. He did his part and some.</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03414/2583049-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="291" height="428"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ray Cullen</b></figcaption></div><p><b>The third-year Minnesota center had a goal and an assist in the 5-4 loss to Montreal. Against Boston the next night he tried vainly to win it all by himself with a three-goal hat trick but it wasn&rsquo;t enough and the Bruins walked off with a 6-5 decision. His outburst gave him 14 for the season as he stages his usual second-half scoring kick. He had 26 last year and 28 the season before.</b></p><p><b>Assists in both the weekend losses gave Cullen seven points on three goals and four assists. THE HOCKEY NEWS and El Producto are pleased to salute the NHL&rsquo;s player-of-the-week in the West:</b></p><p><b><i>RAY CULLEN&hellip;Minnesota</i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-02

NHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

<h2><b>Game-By-Game Summaries</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01624/2583220-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="858" height="584"></div><h3><b>Wed. Jan. 28 MINNESOTA 4 AT MONTREAL 5</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02561/2583213-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="595" height="735"></div><h3><b>PHILADELPHIA 2 AT CHICAGO 2</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03476/2583206-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="594" height="472"></div><h3><b>TORONTO 4 AT PITTSBURGH 4</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-04366/2583199-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="599" height="723"></div><h3><b>NEW YORK 4 AT LOS ANGELES 5</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-05272/2583192-1-eng-US/f0015-052.jpg" title="f0015-05" width="598" height="758"></div><h3><b>ST. LOUIS 6 AT OAKLAND 1</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-06224/2583185-1-eng-US/f0015-062.jpg" title="f0015-06" width="596" height="555"></div><h3><b>Thurs. Jan. 29 PHILADELPHIA 3 AT DETROIT 4</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-07198/2583178-1-eng-US/f0015-072.jpg" title="f0015-07" width="594" height="675"></div><h3><b>MINNESOTA 5 AT BOSTON 6</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-08176/2583171-1-eng-US/f0015-082.jpg" title="f0015-08" width="594" height="741"></div><h3><b>ST. LOUIS 3 AT LOS ANGELES 2</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-09161/2583164-1-eng-US/f0015-092.jpg" title="f0015-09" width="599" height="536"></div><h3><b>Fri. Jan. 30 NEW YORK 2 AT OAKLAND 1</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-10138/2583157-1-eng-US/f0015-102.jpg" title="f0015-10" width="588" height="430"></div><h3><b>Sat. Jan. 31 BOSTON 3 AT MONTREAL 3</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-11119/2583150-1-eng-US/f0015-112.jpg" title="f0015-11" width="588" height="554"></div><h3><b>TORONTO 4 AT MINNESOTA 2</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-1294/2583143-1-eng-US/f0015-122.jpg" title="f0015-12" width="596" height="554"></div><h3><b>CHICAGO 5 AT PHILADELPHIA 0</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-1382/2583136-1-eng-US/f0015-132.jpg" title="f0015-13" width="595" height="532"></div><h3><b>ST. LOUIS 1 AT PITTSBURGH 2</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-1469/2583129-1-eng-US/f0015-142.jpg" title="f0015-14" width="592" height="505"></div><h3><b>DETROIT 2 AT LOS ANGELES 1</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-1554/2583122-1-eng-US/f0015-152.jpg" title="f0015-15" width="585" height="413"></div><h3><b>Sun. Feb. 1 PITTSBURGH 0 AT NEW YORK 6</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-1650/2583115-1-eng-US/f0015-162.jpg" title="f0015-16" width="592" height="571"></div><h3><b>TORONTO 6 AT BOSTON 7</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-1747/2583108-1-eng-US/f0015-172.jpg" title="f0015-17" width="596" height="997"></div><h3><b>DETROIT 3 AT OAKLAND 2</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-1838/2583101-1-eng-US/f0015-182.jpg" title="f0015-18" width="591" height="471"></div><h3><b>MINNESOTA 4 AT CHICAGO 7</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-1932/2583094-1-eng-US/f0015-192.jpg" title="f0015-19" width="593" height="829"></div><h3><b>MONTREAL 5 AT PHILADELPHIA 2</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-2026/2583087-1-eng-US/f0015-202.jpg" title="f0015-20" width="586" height="578"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

<h2><b>MONTREAL</b></h2><p>GOALKEEPERS</p><p>Rogatien Vachon</p><p>Phil Myre</p><p>DEFENSEMEN</p><p>J. C. Tremblay</p><p>Ted Harris</p><p>Serge Savard</p><p>Terry Harper</p><p>Jacques Laperriere</p><p>FORWARDS</p><p>Jean Beliveau C</p><p>Ralph Backstrom</p><p>Bobby Rousseau</p><p>Yvan Coumoyer</p><p>Claude Provost A</p><p>Mickey Redmond</p><p>Jacques Lemaire</p><p>John Ferguson A</p><p>Bobby Sheehan</p><p>Luc Grenier</p><p>Henri Richard A</p><p>Christian Bordeleau</p><p>INJURED</p><p>None</p><p>SUSPENDED</p><p>Lorne Worsley</p><p>C&mdash;Captain.</p><h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><p>GOALKEEPERS</p><p>Jacques Plante</p><p>Ernie Wakely</p><p>Glenn Hall</p><p>DEFENSEMEN</p><p>Ray Fortin</p><p>Bob Plager</p><p>Noel Picard</p><p>Barclay Plager</p><p>Jim Roberts A</p><p>Jean-Guy Talbot A</p><p>FORWARDS</p><p>Phil Goyette</p><p>Red Berenson A</p><p>Frank St. Marseille</p><p>Gary Sabourin</p><p>Tim Ecclestone</p><p>Bill McCreary</p><p>Ron Anderson</p><p>Larry Keenan</p><p>Andre Boudrias</p><p>Ab McDonald</p><p>Wayne Maki</p><p>INJURED</p><p>Al Arbour C</p><p>C&mdash;Captain</p><h2>BOSTON</h2><p>GOALKEEPERS</p><p>Gerry Cheevers</p><p>Ed Johnston</p><p>DEFENSEMEN</p><p>Bobby Orr</p><p>Rick Smith</p><p>Dallas Smith</p><p>Bill Speer</p><p>Don Awrey</p><p>Gary Doak</p><p>FORWARDS</p><p>Ken Hodge</p><p>John Bucyk A</p><p>Wayne Carleton</p><p>Fred Stanfield</p><p>Garnet Bailey</p><p>Ed Westfall A</p><p>John McKenzie</p><p>Phil Esposito A</p><p>Jim Lorentz</p><p>Wayne Cashman</p><p>Don Marcotte</p><p>INJURED</p><p>Derek Sanderson</p><p>Ron Murphy</p><p>A&mdash;Alternate Captain</p><h2>OAKLAND</h2><p>GOALKEEPERS</p><p>Gary Smith</p><p>Charlie Hodge</p><p>DEFENSEMEN</p><p>Doug Roberts A</p><p>Wayne Muloin</p><p>Carol Vadnais</p><p>Dick Mattiussi</p><p>Bert Marshall</p><p>Harry Howell</p><p>FORWARDS</p><p>Billy Hicke A</p><p>Gerry Ehman</p><p>Ted Hampson C</p><p>Don O, Donoghue</p><p>Gary Jarrett</p><p>Earl Ingarfield A</p><p>Mike Laughton</p><p>Norm Ferguson</p><p>Bob Dillabough</p><p>Howie Menard</p><p>INJURED</p><p>None</p><p>A&mdash;Alternate Captain</p><h2>CHICAGO</h2><p>GOALKEEPERS</p><p>Tony Esposito</p><p>Denis DeJordy</p><p>DEFENSEMEN</p><p>Keith Magnuson</p><p>Doug Jarrett A</p><p>Ray McKay</p><p>Pat Stapleton C</p><p>Doug Mohns</p><p>FORWARDS</p><p>Lou Angotti</p><p>Pit Martin</p><p>Jim Pappin</p><p>Bobby Hull</p><p>Dennis Hull</p><p>Eric Nesterenko A</p><p>Chico Maki</p><p>Cliff Koroll</p><p>Jim Wiste</p><p>Stan Mikita A</p><p>Gerry Pinder</p><p>Gene Ubriaco</p><p>Gil Marotte</p><p>INJURED</p><p>None</p><h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><p>GOALKEEPERS</p><p>Bernie Parent</p><p>Doug Favell</p><p>DEFENSEMEN</p><p>Ed Van Impe C</p><p>Joe Watson</p><p>Larry Hillman A</p><p>Wayne Hillman</p><p>Dick Cherry A</p><p>Larry Hale</p><p>FORWARDS</p><p>Earl Heiskala</p><p>Andre Lacroix</p><p>Simon Nolet</p><p>Jean-Guy Gendron A</p><p>Red Heming</p><p>Bill Sutherland</p><p>Gary DomHoefer</p><p>Bob Clarke</p><p>Lew Morrison</p><p>Terry Ball</p><p>Garry Peters</p><p>Jim Johnson</p><p>INJURED</p><p>None</p><h2>DETROIT</h2><p>GOALKEEPERS</p><p>Roy Edwards</p><p>Roger Crozier</p><p>DEFENSEMEN</p><p>Bobby Baun</p><p>Gary Bergman A</p><p>Carl Brewer</p><p>Ron Harris</p><p>Matt Ravlich</p><p>FORWARDS</p><p>Alex Delvecchio C</p><p>Garry Unger</p><p>Gordie Howe</p><p>Garry Monahan</p><p>Bruce MacGregor A</p><p>Nick Libett</p><p>Wayne Connelly</p><p>Pete Stemkowski</p><p>Frank Mahovlich</p><p>Billy Dea</p><p>INJURED</p><p>Al Kariander</p><h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><p>GOALKEEPERS</p><p>Al Smith</p><p>Joe Daley</p><p>DEFENSEMEN</p><p>Duane Rupp A</p><p>Bob Woytowich</p><p>Bob Blackburn</p><p>Tracy Pratt</p><p>Jim Morrison A</p><p>Bryan Watson</p><p>FORWARDS</p><p>Bryan Hextall</p><p>Val Fonteyne</p><p>Nick Harboruk</p><p>Ken Schinkel A</p><p>Glen Sather</p><p>Ron Schock</p><p>Wally Boyer</p><p>Jean Pronovost</p><p>Dean Prentice</p><p>Michel Briere</p><p>Keith McCreary A</p><p>INJURED</p><p>Les Binkley</p><h2>TORONTO</h2><p>GOALKEEPERS</p><p>Bruce Gamble</p><p>Gerry McNamara</p><p>DEFENSEMEN</p><p>Tim Horton A</p><p>Pat Quinn</p><p>Jim McKenny</p><p>Ricky Ley</p><p>FORWARDS</p><p>Dave Keon C</p><p>Ron Ellis A</p><p>Murray Oliver</p><p>Jim Harrison</p><p>Brit Selby</p><p>Mike Walton</p><p>Floyd Smith</p><p>Paul Henderson</p><p>Bob Pulford A</p><p>Terry Clancy</p><p>Norm Ullman</p><p>George Armstrong</p><p>INJURED</p><p>Mike Pelyk</p><p>Jim Dorey</p><p>Marv Edwards</p><p>John Bower</p><h2>LOS ANGLES</h2><p>GOALKEEPERS</p><p>Gerry Desjardins</p><p>Wayne Rutledge</p><p>DEFENSEMEN</p><p>Dale Rolfe</p><p>Brent Hughes A</p><p>Bob Wall A</p><p>Larry Cahan C</p><p>Bill White</p><p>FORWARDS</p><p>Eddie Shack</p><p>Dick Duff</p><p>Bill Hett</p><p>Jim Peters</p><p>Butch Goring</p><p>Ted Irvine</p><p>Skip Krake</p><p>Mike Corrigan</p><p>Ross Lonsberry</p><p>Leon Rochefort</p><p>Bryan Campbell</p><p>INJURED</p><p>Eddie Joyal</p><p>Howie Hughes</p><h2>NEW YORK</h2><p>GOALKEEPERS</p><p>Ed Giacomin</p><p>Terry Sawchuk</p><p>DEFENSEMEN</p><p>Brad Park</p><p>Amie Brown</p><p>Rod Seiling</p><p>Allan Hamilton</p><p>Jim Neilson A</p><p>FORWARDS</p><p>Rod Gilbert A</p><p>Bob Nevin C</p><p>Orland Kurtenbach</p><p>Real Lemieux</p><p>Bill Fairbairn</p><p>Vic Hadfield</p><p>Ron Stewart</p><p>Dave Baton</p><p>Walt Tkaczuk</p><p>Jean Ratelie</p><p>Juha Widing</p><p>Don Marshall A</p><p>INJURED</p><p>None</p><h2>MINNESOTA</h2><p>GOALKEEPERS</p><p>Cesare Maniago</p><p>Fem Rivard</p><p>Ken Broderick</p><p>DEFENSEMEN</p><p>Barry Gibbs</p><p>John Miszuk</p><p>Leo Boivin A</p><p>Lou Nanne</p><p>Darryl Sly</p><p>Tom Reid</p><p>FORWARDS</p><p>Danny O&rsquo;Shea</p><p>Bill Goldsworthy</p><p>Danny Lawson</p><p>Ray Cullen A</p><p>Jean-Paul Parise</p><p>Tommy Williams</p><p>Bob Barlow</p><p>Claude Larose C</p><p>Bill Collins</p><p>Danny Grant</p><p>Walt McKechnie</p><p>Bill Orban</p><p>INJURED</p><p>None</p><p>C&mdash;Captain A&mdash;Alternate Captain<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

National League Rosters

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><p>LOS ANGELES&mdash;</p><p>If it had not been for hockey, Jack Kent Cooke would not have built his Forum in suburban Los Angeles. He bought the building to back up his application for the NHL franchise. He got the franchise, though it has not brought him much pleasure yet. The operation of the building is quite another thing.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01470/2583282-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="276" height="426"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Jack Cooke</b></figcaption></div><p>The Forum cost $6,250,000. It will be awhile being paid off, but it swiftly has become the most profitable operation of its kind in the country. In its second full year which just closed, there were 222 performances in the building which drew just under two million paid admissions&mdash;1,937,710 to be exact&mdash;and so grossed more than $7,500,000.</p><p>The pro basketball Lakers drew nearly twice the attendance of the hockey Kings, 668,174 to 379,606. And The Lakers had three crowds of above 17,500. But the top basketball crowd by a touch was the Harlem Globetrotters with 17,580 last January. (The Globetrotters just topped this with crowds of 17,693 and 17,460 for back-to-back games here. With two Laker games, the three-day weekend cage draw was 58,029.)</p><p>The top crowd of all was the Jehovah&rsquo;s Witnesses convention, which lured 22,598. Some 19 pop concerts drew 226,608, topped by 18,710 for one show of Jimi Hendrix and 31,721 for two of the Rolling Stones.</p><p>Moneywise, boxing was best on the average. This is the only city in the country in which the ring is flourishing. Eight shows drew 103,837 fans and $1,086,485 at the box office. The topper was a bantamweight fight in which Ruben Olivares of Mexico knocked the crown off the head of Lionel Rose of Australia before 18,408, who paid $269,095. This was slightly more than The Rolling Stones&rsquo; gross of $236,000.</p><p>Throw in the concessions and parking and it is clear Cooke&rsquo;s grandchildren will not have to tap-dance on street corners for pennies. It is a beautiful building, of course, and you can see a game better and watch it in more comfort here than in any other of the many fine new buildings in which we have been in.</p><p>Business can only get better because the hockey team can only get better and when it does its 8,500 average attendance will increase enormously and it no longer will be the only drag on the box office in this booming building.</p><p>It is ironic that the reason for the Inglewood palace&rsquo;s existence has become its biggest burden. But Cooke is more devoted to hockey than any other activity, and committed to the success of his team. As this is written, the club has lost eight straight games, tying the longest losing streak in the team&rsquo;s three-year history. There is no point to beating a dead horse, but it is clear there will have to be a reassessment before long.</p><p><b>KINGS THINGS&mdash;</b>The team traded 26-year-old Dennis Hex-tall to Montreal for 33-year-old Dickie Duff. And prepared to activate 45-year-old Doug Harvey. Duff was one of the veteran &ldquo;leaders&rdquo; former coach Red Kelly wanted originally, but that was three years ago and the &ldquo;money&rdquo; player has not been playing much lately. Gary Dineen, who played briefly with Minnesota, is getting a tryout at Springfield. The cast has come off Howie Hughes&rsquo; left knee and he is exercising prior to resuming skating.</p><p>Eddie Joyal missed every one of the eight straight losses with a bum ankle, and he&rsquo;s the team&rsquo;s best player. Goaltender Wayne Rutledge began to take his turn in the nets, finally recovered from his groin problems, and relieving Gerry Desjardins of unreasonable pressure&hellip;While the swing is supposed to be to helmets, bright rookie center Butch Goring has discarded his.</p><p>Based on shots scored as against shots taken, Goring was the team&rsquo;s most accurate shooter through the first half, followed by the departed Hextall, Joyal, Jimmy Peters, Mike Corrigan and Ted Irvine. Skip Krake was the least accurate, followed by Ross Lonsberry and Bill Flett. Among defensemen, Larry Cahan was the most accurate, Dale Rolfe the least accurate.</p><p>Except for Joyal, the fellows who took the most shots did the least with them, the fellows who took the fewest did the best.</p><h2>ICE QUIPS&hellip; &hellip;By MAKI</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02399/2583275-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="1206" height="1522"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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Forum Success Consoles Cooke As Kings Trail West Division; Lakers Double Hockey Crowds

<h2><b>WCHA DIVISION</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Sat. Jan. 27</b></p><h3><b>CONFERENCE PLAY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01385/2583404-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="587" height="367"></div><h2><b>(ON FERENCE PLAY)</b></h2><h3><b>OVERALL RECORD</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02336/2583397-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="591" height="372"></div><h2><b>NEW YORK COLLEGE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Sun. Jan. 25)</b></p><h3>East Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03275/2583390-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="582" height="235"></div><h3><b>West Division</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04213/2583383-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="578" height="233"></div><h3><b>Inter-Division</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05170/2583376-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg" title="f0017-05" width="577" height="103"></div><h2><b>NEW ENGLAND LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Fri. Jan. 23)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-06143/2583369-1-eng-US/f0017-062.jpg" title="f0017-06" width="583" height="228"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-07133/2583362-1-eng-US/f0017-072.jpg" title="f0017-07" width="589" height="303"></div><h2><b>ONTARIO&mdash;QUEBEC COLLEGE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Wed. Jan. 28)</b></p><h3><b>Eastern Division</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-08103/2583355-1-eng-US/f0017-082.jpg" title="f0017-08" width="587" height="234"></div><h3><b>Western Division</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-0991/2583348-1-eng-US/f0017-092.jpg" title="f0017-09" width="586" height="234"></div><h2><b>OTTAWA ST. LAWRENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 27)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1082/2583341-1-eng-US/f0017-102.jpg" title="f0017-10" width="590" height="301"></div><h2><b>MINNESOTA COLLEGE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 27)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1167/2583334-1-eng-US/f0017-112.jpg" title="f0017-11" width="589" height="302"></div><h2><b>UNITED STATES LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Wed. Jan. 28)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1258/2583327-1-eng-US/f0017-122.jpg" title="f0017-12" width="579" height="162"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1347/2583320-1-eng-US/f0017-132.jpg" title="f0017-13" width="587" height="555"></div><h2><b>MANITOBA SENIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 27)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1439/2583313-1-eng-US/f0017-142.jpg" title="f0017-14" width="583" height="168"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0017-01

LOOKING AT THE RACES

<div class="byline">BY JOHN TRAVERS</div><p>HERSHEY&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>V</span>eteran center Mike Nykoluk attained another milestone in his 14-year American League career when he collected his 600th assist on Jan. 21st against the Springfield Kings.</p><p>The 34-year-old Hershey Bears captain set-up winger Stan Gilbertson for two goals to hit the 600 mark.</p><p>Nykoluk is only the third player in &Agrave;HL annals to register 600 assists. The other two are Fred Glover, former Cleveland star, and Willie Marshall, Baltimore Clippers ace centerman.</p><p>Before the season&rsquo;s finished, Nykoluk, presently the league&rsquo;s top playmaker, should wind up as the AHL&rsquo;s eighth all-time point scorer.</p><p>He presently has a career point record of 761, just 26 shy of passing Zellio Toppazzini&rsquo;s mark of 786. In 902 games, Nykoluk has scored 161 goals.</p><p>Coach Frank Mathers had pinpointed January as a crucial stretch in the club&rsquo;s bid for a Calder Cup playoff position.</p><p>And the Bears came on with a roar to launch the new year, running off an unbeaten string of eight games before losing back-to-back contests against Buffalo and Springfield. However, from Jan. 3rd to Jan. 21st, Hershey picked up 13 of a possible 20 points to hold second place in the Western Division.</p><p>Barring a complete collapse, the powerful Buffalo club should clinch the Western Title by early March.</p><p>The New Yorkers, after 45 games, held a whopping 29 points spread over Hershey which had played seven less games. Even if the Bears won the seven games in hand, they still would trail Buffalo by 15 points heading for the wire.</p><p>Buffalo and Hershey still have five games remaining against each other, but the odds favor the Bisons to take at least three of the contests. In five earlier meetings, Buffalo won four, out-scoring Hershey, 24-14, and out-shooting the Bears 176-164.</p><p>Among other things, Hershey&rsquo;s inability to capitalize on a home ice edge has proven costly. The Bears have won only 11 of 20 home games, while the road record is a poor 5-9-4 standard.</p><p>At the season&rsquo;s halfway mark, only four forwards showed a better goal getting record than that of last year at the same stage.</p><p>Nykoluk and Bud DeBrody with 10 goals each; Roger Dejordy with 14 and Don Marcotte with 28 were the only forwards running ahead of last year&rsquo;s mark. Marcotte, recalled by Boston, apparently will remain with the Bruins for the rest of the season.</p><p>The defensive corps, Barry Ashbee, Ralph Keller, Mike Mahoney, Peter Ford and Bob Barber had chipped in with 15 goals after 36 games, one more than last season&rsquo;s halfway point.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01391/2583480-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="559" height="522"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DON MARCOTTE&hellip;To Stay With Bruins</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0018-01

Bears’ Nykoluk Becomes Third AHL Player To Het 600 Assists

<div class="byline">BY JOE CELDAK</div><p>QUEBEC CITY&mdash;</p><p>The Quebec Aces have two of the best young centers in American Hockey League.</p><p>&ldquo;Yes they are both honest good hockey players,&rdquo; said Flyers&rsquo; coach Vic Stasiuk.</p><p>&ldquo;They both have smart heads on their shoulders. They know how the game is played and they also know how to put the puck in the net.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03214/2583542-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="247" height="435"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Rene Drolet</b></figcaption></div><p>The two centers Stasiuk is referring to are Rene Drolet and Serge Bernier.</p><p>Drolet continues to press Buffalo&rsquo;s Guy Trottier for the AHL scoring title.</p><p>Rene has reached the 20-goal mark and now appears to have a good shot at doubling that figure.</p><p>&ldquo;If he continues at his present pace,&rdquo; states his coach, Turk Broda, &ldquo;there&rsquo;s no reason why he won&rsquo;t score 40 goals. He has been our most consistent player all season long.&rdquo;</p><p>Bernier got off to a slow start earlier this season and seems a cinch to hit the 30-goal mark.</p><p>&ldquo;Yes, he has been our hottest player of late,&rdquo; said Broda. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing and there&rsquo;s no way to stop him.&rdquo;</p><p>The Aces still are fighting the Providence Reds for third place in the Eastern Division. Second place is not completely out of reach for either the Aces or Reds.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-03

Bernier, Drolet Give Aces Center Strength

<h2><b>Sat, Jan. 24 CLEVELAND 4 AT SPRINGFIELD 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04167/2583622-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="581" height="684"></div><h2><b>HERSHEY 2 AT ROCHESTER 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05120/2583615-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="585" height="481"></div><h2><b>Sun, Jan. 25 HERSHEY 2 AT ROCHESTER 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-0699/2583608-1-eng-US/f0018-062.jpg" title="f0018-06" width="587" height="429"></div><h2><b>SPRINGFIELD 4 AT PROVIDENCE 10</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-0785/2583601-1-eng-US/f0018-072.jpg" title="f0018-07" width="589" height="889"></div><h2><b>Tues, Jan. 27 CLEVELAND 7 AT BALTIMORE 8</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-0873/2583594-1-eng-US/f0018-082.jpg" title="f0018-08" width="585" height="1010"></div><h2><b>SPRINGFIELD 2 at QUEBEC 8</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-0963/2583587-1-eng-US/f0018-092.jpg" title="f0018-09" width="582" height="761"></div><h2><b>Wed, Jan. 28 PROVIDENCE 3 AT HERSHEY 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1055/2583580-1-eng-US/f0018-102.jpg" title="f0018-10" width="588" height="655"></div><h2><b>Fri, Jan. 30 SPRINGFIELD 2 AT MONTREAL 7</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1150/2583573-1-eng-US/f0018-112.jpg" title="f0018-11" width="597" height="658"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0018-04

American League Summaries

<p class="dropcap"><b><span>L</span>OUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY CO. LIMITED WALLY ENTERPRISES LIMITED. AFFILIATE Arnold Street, Wallaceburo, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</b></p><p><b>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY CO. LIMITED WALLY ENTERPRISES LIMITED. AFFILIATE Arnold Street. Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</b></p><h2><b>HOW THEY STAND</b></h2><p><b>AMERICAN LEAGUE</b></p><p><b>(Standings on Wed. Feb. 4)</b></p><h3><b>Eastern Division</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01368/2583449-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="576" height="165"></div><h3><b>Western Division</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02316/2583442-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="587" height="285"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tues. Jan. 27</b></p><p>Cleveland 7 at Baltimore 8</p><p>Springfield 2 at Quebec 8</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 28</b></p><p>Providence 3 at Hershey 4</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 30</b></p><p>Hershey 2 at Baltimore 2</p><p>Quebec 2 at Buffalo 6</p><p>Springfield 2 at Montreal 7</p><p>Providence 2 at Rochester 10</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 31</b></p><p>Montreal 6 at Cleveland 4</p><p>Quebec 3 at Hershey 3</p><p>Rochester 5 at Springfield 5</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 1</b></p><p>Hershey 2 at Buffalo 6</p><p>Baltimore 3 at Cleveland 0</p><p>Quebec 4 at Providence 3</p><p>Montreal 2 at Rochester 4</p><h2><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h2><p><b>Wed. Feb. 4</b></p><p>Rochester at Baltimore</p><p><b>Fr. Feb. 6</b></p><p>Montreal at Buffalo</p><p>Providence at Cleveland</p><p>Hershey at Rochester</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 7</b></p><p>Baltimore at Cleveland</p><p>Hershey at Springfield</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 8</b></p><p>Springfield at Buffalo</p><p>Hershey at Providence</p><p>Montreal at Quebec</p><p>Cleveland at Rochester</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><p><b>(Including games of Sun. Jan. 25)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03256/2583435-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="585" height="605"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0019-01

AMERICAN LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY HANS TANNER</div><p>ROCHESTER&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>I Millar has been kicking pucks around hockey rinks professionally since way back in 1950-51 when he played 19 games for the New Haven Eagles of the American League.</p><p>You might say the 40-year-old goaltender is semi-retired right now. At least spectators at the Rochester Americans&rsquo; AHL games here figure Millar has a real soft job these days.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02305/2583511-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="242" height="423"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Al Miller</b></figcaption></div><p>Game after game, as spare goalie, he takes part in the pre-game warm-up by stopping a few shots, then moves off into a corner to chat with a couple of acquaintances. When the action starts, there he is sitting on a chair at the end of the Amerk bench just watching the play like the rest of the fans.</p><p>Al. at this writing, hasn&rsquo;t played a minute of any AHL game here since Nov. 2, and he&rsquo;s appeared in just 11&mdash;four of them as a part-timer&mdash;of the Amerks&rsquo; 39 games.</p><p>Nice easy season, eh?</p><p>But what the fans don&rsquo;t realize is just what Al Millar has done that particular week&hellip;and the week before&hellip;and the week before that&hellip;etc.</p><p>Here&rsquo;s a recent typical week for him.</p><p>Tuesday&mdash;After practicing with the Amerks here at 11 a.m. Al hustled to London, Ont., to watch a couple of Ontario Hockey Association Junior A teams play in another of his many roles, this one as scout for Joe Crozier in Vancouver.</p><p>Wednesday&mdash;Practice here at 11 and then to Toronto to scout a New York Ranger-Maple Leaf National League game.</p><p>Thursday&mdash;Practice at 11 a.m. here and then to Boston to scout the Los Angeles-Boston National League game.</p><p>Friday&mdash;Here for the Amerk-Quebec game and ready if needed to back up regular Bob Whidden.</p><p>Saturday&mdash;In Detroit to scout the Philadelphia-Detroit afternoon National League game, and then to Cleveland to scout the Montreal-Boston AHL game at night.</p><p>Sunday&mdash;Depending on the weather. Al would go to Detroit for the Los Angeles-Red Wings NHL game, to Toronto for a Junior A game, or to Syracuse for an Eastern League game in the afternoon before being back here ready to play if needed for an Amerk game.</p><p>But it&rsquo;s not all just watching when he&rsquo;s here, either. Al always is equipped with a pad and pencil and has to mark down the mistakes and give-aways so coach Dick Gamble will have some ammunition for his be-tween-periods talks.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-02

Goaler, Scout, Statistician All Part Of Millar’s Routine

<div class="byline">BY BOB ELMER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-04220/2583653-1-eng-US/f0019-042.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ALDO GUIDOLIN&hellip;Beating The Bushes For Clippers</b></figcaption></div><p>BALTIMORE&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t might seem strange for a man to admit that he doesn&rsquo;t miss playing the game as much as he thought he would considering that this individual had just completed his 17th year of active hockey participation last spring.</p><p>The NHL hockey guide actually records a total of 1,025 games played to be exact and the individual who put in all that ice time was Aldo Guidolin. Generally recognized as one of the best defensemen to play in the American Hockey League with a career that began in 1952 with Vancouver and took him to home rinks of the New York Rangers, Providence Reds, Springfield Indians, Cleveland Barons and finally the Baltimore Clippers, Guidolin hung up his skates this past spring and is now serving the Baltimore organization as its chief scout.</p><p>&ldquo;I guess there are moments when I miss the competitive aspect of hockey,&rdquo; the pleasant, bespectacled native of Guelph, Ontario allowed, &ldquo;but I really am enjoying this job, and I don&rsquo;t have too much time to think about what it would be like to still be playing.&rdquo;</p><p>Guidolin spent six of his last seven years with the Baltimore Clippers, as a player and for two and a half seasons as its player coach. Now pushing 38, Guidolin led the Clippers into the post-season playoffs in their first season in the AHL in 1962-63, coached them a full season in 1963-64, served as a player for the winters of 1964-65 and again in 1966-67 and 1967-68 and returned as coach last year.</p><p>The six foot, 200 pounder found a friendly home in Baltimore and is still regarded as one of the city&rsquo;s leading hockey images. This year, however, he has been on the road and it was only last week that he returned here to spend a week going over his recruiting and scouting &bull;program with Clipper general manager Terry Reardon and Coach Rudy Migay.</p><p>Able to use his home as an operating base, the former All-Star AHL defenseman takes in as he says &ldquo;about seven games a week and sometimes I see two games on a Sunday. Most of my time is spent covering both the Junior A and Senior OHA leagues all around the Ontario area. I have also covered most of the cities in the International and Eastern Leagues, and have watched a number of what we call B clubs and universities in Western Ontario.&rdquo;</p><p>It also is pertinent to point out that the former Clipper mentor is one of the very few full time scouts employed by a minor league hockey club. That the move figures to pay off, however, should become evident as early as next summer&rsquo;s draft sessions in Montreal.</p><p>&ldquo;Naturally, I&rsquo;ve seen a lot of good looking youngsters. Many of these will be drafted by the major league teams, of course, but I&rsquo;m hopeful of uncovering a few gems that might either be overlooked, or reach their playing peak at a later age after having been passed over by the &ldquo;biggies&rdquo;. I&rsquo;m thinking of a player or two out of the Senior OHA or either the International or Eastern Leagues.&rdquo;</p><p><b>CLIPPER CLIPPINGS&hellip;</b> The newspaper strike in Baltimore continues with both the Baltimore Morning and Evening Sun and News-American in limbo from the first of the year&hellip;Management gave away 2,000 Clipper tee shirts to the kids in a Sunday afternoon attraction that drew 5,500 despite snow and iced roads recently&hellip;Clips played Montreal to a 1-1 tie that sparkled with fine play&hellip;Rod Zaine has recovered fully from a broken jaw and takes his regular turn on the ice&hellip;Clips are video taping their home games under supervision of GM Terry Reardon&rsquo;s son Mike.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0019-04

Ex-Clipper Coach Guidolin Enjoys ‘Bird Dogging’

<div class="byline">BY CHARLEY BARTON</div><p>BUFFALO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he receiving line was overloaded with Buffalo Bisons when the American Hockey League distributed its post-season awards last spring, and a similar situation is certain to exist this year.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-05181/2583684-1-eng-US/f0019-052.jpg" title="f0019-05" width="243" height="428"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Terry Crisp</b></figcaption></div><p>Goal ten der Gilles Villemure was the Bisons&rsquo; big winner last winter. He won the Les Cun-ningham Trophy as the most valuable player; the Hap Holmes Trophy as the leading goaltender, and was named to the first All-Star team.</p><p>Bob Blackburn, now with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the National League, carried off the Eddie Shore Plaque as the outstanding defenseman, and was named to the first All-Star team.</p><p>Guy Trottier led the league with 45 goals, and also made the first All-Star team.</p><p>The second All-Star team included two Bisons, defenseman Ron Ingram, now with Seattle of the Western League, and center Dennis Hextall, now with Montreal of the American League.</p><p>Members of the first All-Star team and winners of individual awards get $300 per man from the league. Second-team AllStars get $200.</p><p>Villemure and Trottier are certain to attain first-team AllStar status again. Villemure undoubtedly will be the leading goalkeeper, and Trottier has a good shot at the scoring championship. They probably will be the leading candidates for the MVP award.</p><p>Trottier and his linemates, center Terry Crisp and left-winger Don Blackburn, make up the league&rsquo;s foremost unit. Crisp and Blackie will get marked attention in the balloting from members of the press, radio and TV.</p><p>Coach Fred Shero feels others on the team also will share in the voting.</p><p>&ldquo;All of our defensemen have played well,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Defense was supposed to be our weakness. It hasn&rsquo;t been. The guys have been steady and honest&hellip;all of them.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0019-05

Runaway Bisons Likely To Haul Off Bulk Of AHL’s Post-Season Awards

<div class="byline">BY BOB BROWN</div><p>CLEVELAND&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>lthough the Cleveland Convention Bureau doesn&rsquo;t include him among its list of local histo-rical landmarks, William Eric (Bill) Needham is of historical significance here. Just ask any long time Cleveland hockey fan.</p><p>Needham, the 39-year-old captain and veteran defenseman for the Barons, seems to handle the years as easily as he handles a puck. Now in his 13th full season here, Needham is closing in on the all time Barons&rsquo; record for career games. Barring injury, he will finish the current season just three games behind Fred Glover&rsquo;s Cleveland career record of 920. Glover&rsquo;s career in Cleveland spanned 15 seasons.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02149/2583722-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="247" height="434"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bill Needham</b></figcaption></div><p>Bill Needham approaches the game of hockey with a quiet determination. He steadies the club when he&rsquo;s on the ice and leads by example. The AHL&rsquo;s outstanding defenseman just two seasons ago, he once held the league record for consecutive games played with 525.</p><p>Needham&rsquo;s Cleveland career began in 1956-57 when he appeared in two games. The following season he became a regular and has been one of the most popular Barons since. He was captain of the Barons&rsquo; Calder Cup Championship Club of 196364.</p><p>SHORTIES. Jim Watson, recalled by Detroit two weeks ago, has rejoined the Barons. His return gives the Barons six defensemen. Poul Popiel, Jim Niekamp, Bob Falkenberg, Needham and Hap Myers are the others. Myers has played both forward and defense.</p><p>The Hall of Fame reception sponsored by the Baron Booster Club was well attended. Honored guests were the Hall of Fame inductees. Al Sutphin, who was the builder of the Arena and owner of the Barons, and Bun Cook, AHL coaching great, were unable to attend because of ill health. Former players. Les Cunningham, Fred Thurier, Danny Sprout and Jackie Gordon were on hand for the ceremonies.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03119/2583715-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="1173" height="1293"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Cleveland owner NICK MILETI presents Hall of Fame plaque to former Barons&rsquo; ice great LES CUNNINGHAM, left, during recent opening induction ceremonies to club&rsquo;s newly established fame hall. EARL MILLER, chairman of the hall committee, looks on at right.</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0020-02

Needham Closing In On Barons’ All-Time Game Mark

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01218/2583753-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="909" height="1218"></div><h2><b>SOLUTION IN FEB. 20 ISSUE</b></h2><h3><b>ACROSS</b></h3><p>1&mdash;Pictured player.</p><p>6&mdash;Home crowd does this when their team scores.</p><p>7&mdash;Negative reply.</p><p>11&mdash;Compass point.</p><p>12&mdash;Inactive Montreal forward.</p><p>13&mdash;Nickname of NHL coach.</p><p>14&mdash;Goalies protect this.</p><p>15&mdash;Nickname of former Blue Henry.</p><p>16&mdash;Initials of Rizzuto of Dallas.</p><p>18&mdash;Short for given name of NHL coach.</p><p>20&mdash;An NHL defenseman.</p><p>22&mdash;Keller of Providence answers to this.</p><p>23&mdash;To make mistakes.</p><p>24&mdash;Initials of a Penguin forward.</p><p>25&mdash;15th and 19th letters of the alphabet.</p><p>26&mdash;Former Boston defenseman.</p><p>28&mdash;Number worn by NHL captain.</p><p>29&mdash;New York forward.</p><h3><b>DOWN</b></h3><p>1&mdash;Last season&rsquo;s cup champs.</p><p>2&mdash;Initials of a Hawk centre.</p><p>3&mdash;Former goalie Rollins.</p><p>4&mdash;Menard of Oakland played here last year.</p><p>5&mdash;Many players consult one before signing.</p><p>8&mdash;One of the San Diego Gulls.</p><p>9&mdash;An ex Red Wing AllStar.</p><p>10&mdash;Initials of one of the Habs.</p><p>17&mdash;An NHL defenseman.</p><p>19&mdash;First name of one of the Seals.</p><p>21&mdash;Former Wing Reibel.</p><p>25&mdash;Most goaltenders wear this number.</p><p>26&mdash;One of the Leafs.</p><p>27&mdash;Initials of Nicholson of San Diego.</p><p>28&mdash;Number of goals scored by 17 down last season.</p><h2><b>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S ANSWERS</b></h2><h3>ACROSS</h3><p>1&mdash;MAGNUSON.</p><p>7-OO</p><p>8&mdash;OREE.</p><p>10&mdash;HARRIS.</p><p>11&mdash;S.H.</p><p>12&mdash;I.M.</p><p>13&mdash;T.R.</p><p>14&mdash;VAN.</p><p>16&mdash;TEE.</p><p>17&mdash;LEG.</p><p>18&mdash;R.N.</p><p>19&mdash;BEV.</p><p>20&mdash;CEC.</p><p>23&mdash;ONE.</p><p>24&mdash;HARPER.</p><p>27&mdash;K.R.</p><p>28&mdash;R.l.</p><p>29&mdash;SHOOT.</p><p>31&mdash;ALSO.</p><p>33&mdash;PLANTE.</p><h3>DOWN</h3><p>1&mdash;MAHOVUCH.</p><p>2&mdash;GORING.</p><p>3&mdash;NORM.</p><p>4&mdash;SOS.</p><p>5&mdash;OR</p><p>6&mdash;NESTERENKO.</p><p>9&mdash;EHRENVERTH.</p><p>15&mdash;A.E.</p><p>19&mdash;B.O.</p><p>21&mdash;EARL.</p><p>22&mdash;CRISP.</p><p>25&mdash;E.S.</p><p>26&mdash;R.H.</p><p>30&mdash;OCT.</p><p>31&mdash;A. A.</p><p>32&mdash;O.I.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-01

Hockey Crossword

<div class="byline">By Tom Burke</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0185/2583798-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>C</span>OLGATE&mdash;</b>The Red Raiders began the toughest four-game stretch on their schedule with a split of weekend games in Boston, beating Boston University 6-4 and losing to Boston College 4-1. The next two games on their slate were Clarkson and Cornell, both on the road. John Haney was spectacular in both games in the Hub, with 44 and 41 saves respectively. Tom Earl had a hat trick and one assist against BU while big John Dandy had a goal and 3 assists. The Raiders&rsquo; top line of Earl. Dandy, and Dave Conte could be the best in the East, according to some opponents. Both games were physically punishing for the Raiders, with power play goals figuring prominently in the loss to BU. Top defenseman Mike Babcock is still recuperating from a fractured ankle suffered in the Syracuse Tournament, but may be available in late February and for the playoffs.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0256/2583791-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="268" height="449"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Tom Earl</b></figcaption></div><p>RPI&mdash;The Engineers broke for exams after a 62 loss at Boston University, and things were looking up despite a 1-7-1 ECAC record. The BU game wasn&rsquo;t decided until the last six minutes, and three final period goals by the Terriers were on power plays. Coach Leon Abbott was particularly happy with the progress shown by his sophomores, especially Jack DeCloe, Jim Pollock, and Dave McMenemy. Sophomore goalie Terry Jordan had 42 saves against BU, with 19 coming in the first period. RPI has two tough road trips facing them when they resume, with back-to-back games against Boston College and New Hampshire on Feb. 6-7, then at Clarkson-St. Lawrence the following weekend.</p><p><b>BOSTON UNIVERSITY&mdash;</b>All-America candidate Mike Hyndman scored a hat trick-each goal a power play blast from the point-in 6-4 loss to Colgate. That moved him into a tie for second on the Terriers&rsquo; all-time scoring ledger with Herb Wakabayashi. Both have 145 points, behind Bob Marquis&rsquo; 10-year-old record of 164. Hyndman could crack that mark, and is already the top man in career assists with 95. A precision passer, he&rsquo;s a cinch to hit the century assist mark this year. Steve Stirling had a goal and three assists in the Colgate game.</p><p><b>NORTHEASTERN&mdash;</b>The Huskies snapped a nine-game losing streak and recorded their first Division One victory of the season in a 7-4 win over Army. Dave Poile put on a one-man show with 4 goals to bring his season total to 19-5-24. He had a hat trick within the first 16 minutes of the game. Dave, by the way, is the son of Bud Poile, former NHL player and Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; official.</p><p><b>DARTMOUTH&mdash;</b>The word around the Hanover campus is &ldquo;optimism&rdquo;. The Indians swept a two-game southern swing, besting Penn 7-4 and Princeton 5-4 in overtime to boost their record in the Division to 3-5 and tie Cornell for the Ivy League lead. Jeff Kosak had a hat trick in the win at Penn, which ended on a wild note, as both benches emptied for a full-scale donnybrook. Kosak drew a one-game suspension along with a Penn player, but it didn&rsquo;t bother his linemate, junior center Ken Davidson. At Princeton Davidson scored the first goal of the game, assisted on the game tying goal, and notched the sudden death clincher at 2: 47 of overtime. Middy Tilghman had 48 saves for Princeton while Jim Marks stopped 42 Dartmouth shots for Penn. In the Dartmouth goal, senior Tom Schuster returned from a hand injury to face Princeton while sophomore Dale Dunning played against Penn. Coach Ab Oakes is pleased with his team&rsquo;s progress and declared. &ldquo;We re really shooting now. And if we hadn&rsquo;t had that lapse in the beginning of the game with New Hampshire, our record would be even better.&rdquo; The Indians lost to the Wildcats 8-5, but were down 4-0 midway in the first period before making a game of it.</p><p><b>CLARKSON&mdash;</b>Coach Len Ceglarski believes that he has the East&rsquo;s best sophomore in wing Jerry Kemp. A native of Peterborough. Ont. Kemp had six goals and five assists in the Golden Knights&rsquo; western trip, in which they took three games out of four. Through 15 games Kemp led the Clarkson attack with 20-13-33. just ahead of Rick Magnusson. who had 11-20-31. Kemp has already earned an ECAC &ldquo;sophomore of the week&rdquo; scroll on two different occasions.</p><p><b>BOSTON COLLEGE&mdash;</b>The Eagles upped their divisional record to 10-1 in their first game back from exams as they defeated tough Colgate 41. Tim Sheehy&rsquo;s break-away goal was the margin of victory and was his fourth game winner of the year. Sophomore of the year candidate Tom Mellor had a goal and an assist from his defense post, and continues to draw raves. Sophomore Jack Cronin has moved into injured John Powers&rsquo; spot on defense and did a fine job. Powers, who has a separated shoulder, is expected to be lost for the year. Another shoulder separation victim, sophomore wing Joe Keaveney, is skating again but can&rsquo;t work out with the team. He could be back for the final few games.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0328/2583784-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="266" height="436"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Jerry Kemp</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0021-01

DOWN EAST

<div class="byline">By John Gilbert</div><p>The slowest starting team in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association&mdash;schedule-wise&mdash;was defending champion Michigan Tech.</p><p>The defending WCHA champion Huskies played non-conference opponents while most teams were engaging other WCHA foes, and the difference in scheduling may provide Tech with a very interesting finish.</p><p>Because they have played about half the number of games of some teams, Tech had far fewer losses. While Minnesota seemed to run away from the pack with a mid-season surge before facing Tech, the Gophers stood 11-3 but Tech was 4-3-2&mdash;tied in the loss column.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0421/2583853-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="277" height="465"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>John McInnes</b></figcaption></div><p>Needless to say, when the total number of games evens out, Tech, now set for the home-stretch, can keep its losses down by winning those games it must make up.</p><p>&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t backchecked consistently,&rdquo; said Tech coach John Maclnnes. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve gotten poorer goaltending and defensive play than we expected in some cases, but it&rsquo;s an-over-all thing.&rdquo;</p><p>MacInnes indicated the closeness of the WCHA when he said, &ldquo;The best club we&rsquo;ve played against with all things considered was Wisconsin. They played well at both ends of the rink and was the most impressive for territorial play.&rdquo;</p><p>At the time he said that, Wisconsin was in eighth place, but definitely not out of contention. With four games against Minnesota remaining, the Badgers could make up a lot of ground in a short time.</p><p>Tech&rsquo;s biggest problem has been in getting its games over on time. Seven times in their first nine WCHA games, the Huskies went into overtime. And the results weren&rsquo;t always favorable.</p><p><b>MINNESOTA&mdash;MICHIGAN:</b> Minnesota came from be-hind twice to upend the invading Wolverines and strengthen its grip on first place. Freshman Mike Antonovich scored three times, sparking the Gophers from a 4-2 deficit to a six goal rally in the third period and an 8-6 triumph in the first one. Then Minnesota roared back from a 3-0 deficit to claim a 6-3 verdict and send Michigan back home with a 7-7 record, while establishing itself as the team to beat at 11-3.</p><p><b>MICHIGAN STATE-COLORADO COLLEGE:</b> Tech coach MacInnes, whose team edged CC 4-3 in overtime, predicted that &ldquo;Colorado will beat somebody before it&rsquo;s over.&rdquo; But CC fans are wondering when, after missing a good chance in the second game against Michigan State. State took the first game 6-2 in Colorado Springs, but the second was tied 4-4 until State&rsquo;s Frank DeMarco scored with less than two minutes remaining. Gilles Gagnon, a cousin of Michigan&rsquo;s Bernie Gagnon, then scored into an open net to cap a 6-4 sweeper. At that time, Michigan State was solidly in second place at 7-3, with Denver as its next foe, then Michigan Tech before what could be the title series Feb. 13-14 at Minnesota.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0021-04

WESTERN WAY

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div><p>BOSTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he possible reshuffling of the WCHA into Big Ten and non-Big Ten Divisions opens up many exciting, new ways of determining the NCAA national championship. But there are also more than a few fledgling varsity sextets around the Midwest who will be demanding&mdash;and deserving national recognition within a year or two. Some of the ECAC&rsquo;s better teams have already tasted competition from these neophyte schools, and will readily attest to their competence.</p><p>First on the list is Lake Superior State College, an institution of 1000 or so which is located in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The Lakers, under coach Ron Mason, made a swing into upstate New York last December, and only weariness prevented them from making an unprecedented three game sweep. The first night, the Lakers downed St. Lawrence, 2-1, and followed that up with a 4-2 decision over powerful Clarkson. Their third game in as many nights saw the Lakers bow to the Larries 6-5 in overtime, but the North Country still rang with praise of the Lakers. Only three ECAC clubs have ever won back-to back games in the Clarkson-St. Lawrence swing.</p><p>In only their second year of varsity hockey, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame are showing signs of future greatness. Captain Phil Wittliff is the only junior on this squad of underclassmen who have already won the Merrimack Tournament in Massachusetts, the Nichols Tournament in Buffalo, and who have held their own against such powers as Wisconsin of the WCHA and Boston College of the ECAC. Coach Charles &ldquo;Lefty&rdquo; Smith teaches a fast skating, high scoring brand of hockey, and bright prospects like Kevin Hoene, a sophomore wing, and Bill Green, John Noble, and Paul Regan, all freshmen, have been leading the charge. Sophomore goalie Dick Tomasoni, who averaged 3.8 goals against through 11 games, will benefit from the experience accorded his mates as the season progresses. The Irish have built a beautiful new Arena, the Athletic and Convocation center, right on their campus, and will host the 1972 NCAA playoffs. Here&rsquo;s a wager that it won&rsquo;t be too long before they&rsquo;re right in the thick of things for the national crown themselves.</p><p>Carkson, on their way out to Denver, stopped for a pair of games in the new arena at Bowling Green University in Ohio, and they were hard put to take the pair by 4-3 and 7-4 scores&hellip;This is the first year for varsity hockey for the Falcons, under coach Jack Vivian, and they too promise to make news in collegiate hockey circles before long. Clarkson players all agreed that the new Bowling Green arena is the finest hockey facility that they had ever played in. The Golden Knights were down as much as two goals twice in their 4-3 win, and they scored the winning goal with 9 minutes remaining. Other Eastern teams who have faced the Falcons are RPI, who edged them 5-4, and Providence, who prevailed 5-2.</p><p>These three teams are only a few which typify the college hockey boom today, as the ice sport gradually becomes a truly national one.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0519/2583884-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="560" height="844"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DICK TOMASONI&hellip;Irish Goa ling Hope</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0021-05

Lake Superior, Notre Dame Typical Of New Hockey Colleges To Emerge

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GILBERT</div><p>TWIN CITIES&mdash;</p><p>Balance is the key to the success of the University of Minnesota hockey team this season, hut the spark that ignites that balance comes from a pint-sized freshman named Mike Antonov-ich.</p><p>From the tiny Iron Range town of Calumet, Minn., Antonovich made all-Minnesota high school teams for three years, leading Greenway High School to two state titles and a consolation crown in last year&rsquo;s state meet.</p><p>Barely 18, the 5-foot-5, 150-pounder has such balance on skates that he frequently keeps his feet while 200-pound defensemen take runs at him and wind up on the ice themselves.</p><p>Very aggressive and a bit cocky, Antonovich is quick enough to avoid many checks, but doesn&rsquo;t hesitate to mix it up if opponents&rsquo; elbows or sticks come at him head-high. His colorful play has not only led the Gophers to first place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with an 11-3 mark, but has also brought hordes of fans to Williams Arena to see what he&rsquo;s doing.</p><p>For the record, Antonovich scored 12 goals in Minnesota&rsquo;s first 14 WCHA contests, good for the league lead in goals although some teams have played several more games at this point. North Dakota&rsquo;s Earl Anderson also has 12 goals to share the lead, but Dakota had played 20 games when Minnesota had 14.</p><p>Because Antonovich, in high school was accustomed to win ning, he does not accept defeat lightly. That feeling has rubbed off on the rest of the Minnesota players&mdash;who are almost all from Minnesota high schools while the rest of the WCHA is predominately top Canadian Juniors.</p><p>This winning spirit has led the Gophers to come from behind for eight of their first 11 victories. The weekend of Jan. 23-24 was typical of what&rsquo;s happening to Minnesota.</p><p>Michigan invaded Williams Arena, bringing the WCHA&rsquo;s hottest scoring team&mdash;a 5.1 goals per game record&mdash;with the top scoring line of Bernie Gagnon, Paul Gamsby and Brian Slack, all Canadians.</p><p>Michigan, coming into the series at 7-5, could have tied Minnesota for first place with a sweep of the two games. After one period of the Friday game. Michigan led 1-0. After two periods, the Wolverines led 4-2.</p><p>But when it was over, Antonovich had flitted through the Michigan defense for three goals and the Gophers had exploded for a wild 8-6 comeback victory that sent 5,065 fans home thrilled.</p><p>The Saturday game was an afternoon contest, but still drew 4,957. This time, Michigan cen-ter Don Deeks scored twice and Gagnon got another, and the Wolverines stormed to a 3-0 first-period lead.</p><p>But Gopher fans have learned that their men are never out of any game, and sure enough, Minnesota roared back for a 6-3 triumph. This time Antonovich scored two assists, but St. Paul&rsquo;s Peltier brothers, junior Ron and sophomore Doug, each got a goal and their line triggered the comeback.</p><p>The Gophers might have balance even without Antonovich, but his flare has brought out the best aggressive play from everybody.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Tiny Mike Antonovich Big With Minnesota Gophers

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01103/2583967-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Manager-coach RAY KINASEWICH observes action from pressbox and can talk to bench with use of walkie talkie as he sees trouble spots.</b></figcaption></div><p>SALTLAKE CITY&mdash;</p><p>A new approach by a new hockey team to finding out the ills of a low scoring hockey club has brought the walkie talkie into service with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles.</p><p>Manager-coach Ray Kinasewich was desperate. I he Eagles were not only not winning but they weren&rsquo;t scoring either. That&rsquo;s when Kinasewich went into action soliciting the help of the electronic gadgets.</p><p>Seeking to spot specifically why the Eagle point production was down, why they frequently had trouble digging the puck out of their own end. Kinasewich left the bench&mdash;which he and others call &ldquo;the worst spot in the arena to watch a game&rdquo;&mdash;and moved upstairs into the pressbox to gain a better vantage point to watch the proceedings and call down tactical information.</p><p>To handle the bench chores&mdash;line changes, substitutions, etc, as well as the receiving end of the walkie-talkie system. Kinasewich designated the team&rsquo;s injured captain and star playmaker. Billy McNeill, who&rsquo;s been out of action since Nov. 11 with a broken ankle.</p><p>The first time the &ldquo;network&rdquo; was used, the Eagles skated to a 43 away-from-home win over the Denver Spurs; then came a roadtie against Phoenix Roadrunners, 3-3 and a home-ice win over Denver, 5-1. The string was snapped, finally, with an away-from-home loss to San Diego, but then the Eagles returned home to gain an incredible 6-6 tie against Vancouver, in which the Eagles scored five goals in the final period.</p><p>Altogether, since using the walkie-talkie system, the Eagles have a record of three wins, four losses and a pair of ties. They&rsquo;ve increased their pointmaking during that period by slightly more than one-goal per game while lowering their goals-against mark by about the same margin.</p><p>Needless to say, Kinasewich and the Eagles plan on continuation of the system as long as the Eagles continue to improve their play.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0335/2583960-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="560" height="1061"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GUYLE FIELDER&hellip;Hears Voices</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0022-01

WALKIE TALKIES HELP NEW SALT LAKE EAGLES SOLVE ICE PROBLEMS

<div class="byline">BY JOHN WHITE</div><p>VANCOUVER&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>R</span>umors are flying coast to coast, about who&rsquo;ll be coach or general manager or both of the Vancouver Canucks next season when the club starts playing in the National Hockey League.</p><p>It&rsquo;s strictly personal opinion, of course, but it anyone besides the current coach is even considered, you could rebuild the great wall of china with the rocks in the heads of the owners.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0247/2583998-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="265" height="427"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Crozier</figcaption></div><p>What Joe Crozier is doing this season makes you think a computer ran amuck and started spewing out phony hockey scores.</p><p>Back on November 22. the Canucks had a little problem in Denver. They lost a hockey game. 4-2. And they were. 500 in the Western League standings&mdash;9 victories. 9 defeats. 3 ties.</p><p>In their next 26 hockey games, the Canucks also were defeated. Like once. In Seattle. 6-5. They won 22 and tied 3 and constructed a 19-point lead in the title chase.</p><p>In the process, they ran oil 16 straight homeice victories to break a Western Hockey League record.</p><p>And all of a sudden coaches and sports writers and broadcasters were saying things which when translated came out. &ldquo;This is the greatest hockey team in Western League history.&rdquo;</p><p>Even a veteran campaigner like Billy McNeill, a two-time Most Valuable Player in the WHL. found himself, in a radio interview in Salt Lake Citv. making a ridiculous statement like. &ldquo;Vancouver has better forwards than last season.&rsquo;</p><p>Rubbish!</p><p>Vancouver is not the greatest hockey team in Western League history. It is not even the greatest hockey team in two seasons. And it the Canucks have better forwards this season than last, then National League scouts are idiots.</p><p>At this point, let&rsquo;s explain that we re talking about personnel. The problem is. lor the rest of the league, that Vancouver&rsquo;s players think they are the greatest players of all time in the WHL.</p><p>And because of this ridiculous notion, encouraged. no doubt, by Crozier. Vancouver&rsquo;s lads are plaving like the best hockey team that ever traveled the Pacific slopes or the Canadian prairies.</p><p>You take those forwards that McNeill talked about. Eight of. em are holdovers from the Canuck&rsquo;s club that won the Patrick Cup with eight straight playoff victories last spring.</p><p>Tick&rsquo;em off&mdash;Duke Harris, Len Lunde, Pat Hannigan, Murray Hall. Germain Gagnon. Ted McCaskill. Ted Taylor and Andy Bathgate.</p><p>There are three newcomers&mdash;Gerry Goyer, a center dumped by Portland and rejected by every other team in the WHL: Cleland (Keke) Mortson, a something-or-other who positively burned up the league two years ago with Seattle where he scored a staggering 11 goals in 72 games: and Paul Andrea. so distinguished he once was one of four players traded for Larry Jeffrey.</p><p>And the losses up front? Well, top scorer Bob Barlow is gone. So is No. 2 scorer Bryan Hextall. So is winger Jim McKenny. Anyone back East knows where they are.</p><p>The forwards better? Naw. they just think they are. Ted Taylor suddenly thinks he&rsquo;s a goal scorer. And darned if he isn&rsquo;t. And Len Lunde thinks he can score live goals in one game. And darned if he doesn&rsquo;t. And Bathgate thinks he&rsquo;s a kid. And darned if he isn&rsquo;t.</p><p>Back to the blue line, where Marc Reaume and Bob Lemieux are the only holdovers from last spring&rsquo;s champs. Poor Crozier. He thought he could lose top veterans like Darryl Sly and Don Cherry and Don Johns and bring in kids and win.</p><p>Ridiculous. Doug Dunville never burned up anything in Phoenix. Brad Selwood just became eligible to vote. John Arbour is tough but he&rsquo;s only 24 in a league with wily old pros. There&rsquo;s no wav this defense can win.</p><p>But darned it they aren&rsquo;t winning and belting everyone in sight, leaving a trail of bruises from border to border.</p><p>Naw this Vancouver club isn&rsquo;t as good as last year&rsquo;s Vancouver club&mdash;on paper.</p><p>But Western League rules stipulate the games must be played on ice. And on the ice. the Canucks think they could whip the Montreal Canadiens.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0022-02

Crozier Showing Vancouverites He’s Mun To Handle NHL Team

<h2><b>Tues. Jan. 20 SAN DIEGO 3 AT VANCOUVER 9</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0424/2584064-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="581" height="803"></div><h2><b>Wed. Jan. 21 PORTLAND 4 AT SALT LAKE 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0516/2584057-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="599" height="651"></div><h2><b>DENVER 1 AT PHOENIX 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0614/2584050-1-eng-US/f0022-062.jpg" title="f0022-06" width="584" height="550"></div><h2><b>Thurs. Jan. 22 SAN DIEGO 2 AT SEATTLE 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0714/2584043-1-eng-US/f0022-072.jpg" title="f0022-07" width="579" height="424"></div><h2><b>Fri. Jan. 23 PORTLAND 5 AT SALT LAKE 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0515/2584036-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="587" height="827"></div><h2><b>SEATTLE 0 AT VANCOUVER 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0612/2584029-1-eng-US/f0023-062.jpg" title="f0023-06" width="589" height="473"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0022-04

Western League Summaries

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCCONNELL</div><p>SAN DIEGO&mdash;</p><p>The San Diego Gulls trail the Seattle Totems in their third place battle and Seattle has a cushy home-dominated schedule coming up.</p><p>So how come the Gulls figure the advantage belongs to them?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0425/2584095-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="250" height="434"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Gerry Odrowski</b></figcaption></div><p>Five games in hand, a favorable home stand of their own and a rarity for Gulls, a healthy lineup, are three good reasons, for a start. Both San Diego and Seattle are playing. 500 hockey, the Gulls at 17-17-7 and the Totems at 22-22-2.</p><p>The Gulls have 11 of their next 15 games on enemy ice but each load trip of two to four games is broken up by a home game. Then, 11 of the last 16 are at home.</p><p>&ldquo;If we can hold our own over this next stretch,&rdquo; said coach Max McNab, &ldquo;we should be off and running.&rdquo;</p><p>With goalie Jack McCartan, center Alex Faulkner, wingers Ed Ehrenverth and Willie O&rsquo;Ree and defensemen Jack Evans and Jim Eagle all operating again, the Gulls are at full strength for the first time since mid-November.</p><p>Gerry Odrowski, invaluable at defense and forward as well, missed the recent trip north when the Gulls were bombed 9-3 by the Canucks in Vancouver and lost 3-2 to the Totems in Seattle.</p><p>The Totems have won six straight at home but that record pales in comparison to Vancou-ver&rsquo;s 16 straight home ice victories, a new WHL record.</p><p>The Canucks have disappeared over the horizon, with a 21-point lead over the second place Portland Buckaroos. They haven&rsquo;t lost in so long, hardly anyone remembers when. It&rsquo;s been once in the last 27 games.</p><p>Says McNab: &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve got themselves psyched. They don&rsquo;t think they can lose.&rdquo;</p><p>McCartan gave up six goals in two periods before being ifted for rookie Ted Ouimet and his goals against average suffered, but at 2.69 is still tops in the league. Vancouver&rsquo;s Chuck Gardner is second at 2.71 and Phoenix&rsquo;s Don Caley third at 2.81</p><p>The Roadrunners&rsquo; playoff hopes were dealt another severe blow with the indefinite loss of veteran defensemen Sandy Hucul and Aut Erickson.</p><p>Hucul, mini-bike riding with his son in the desert, was thrown and split the bursa sack in his elbow, a hard-to-heal injury that could keep the team captain out of the lineup for three to five weeks.</p><p>Erickson, whose spinal problems, kept him out of 24 of the first 35 games, is on the shelf again, probably for surgery to correct a ruptured disc. The last muscle spasm, causing him to list hard to port, came when he started one way and changed direction quickly.</p><p>Coach Alf Pike and general manager Bob Whitlow were casting around for defensive help but also could use an experienced hand at forward&mdash;somebody to put the puck in the net.</p><p>Don Caley has only allowed 13 goals in his last seven games to reduce his season&rsquo;s goals against average to 2.81, not far off the league lead, but the Runners have only won two and tied two of their last eight games, all at home.</p><p>It&rsquo;s a home stand the Runners had counted on to elevate them from fifth place into contention for a playoff spot, but with only 10 of the remaining 29 games on home ice, the Runners could close the gap considerably.</p><p>In spite of the disappointing record, the crowds have started to pick up again, a total of 18,255 for Saturday-Sunday games, pushing the average to 6,517.</p><p>The Runners&rsquo; last loss, 4-2 to the Portland Buckaroos, included an empty net goal, the sixth they&rsquo;ve surrendered this season, pointing up the rookie-filled lineup&rsquo;s inability to control the puck in the opposition end.</p><p>Inexperience again can be blamed on the Runners having lost 14 of 15 one-goal decisions, counting the six empty-net finishes as one-goal games.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0023-04

Gulls Flying Again, Set Sights on Third Place

<p><b>New Subscribers To THE HOCKEY NEWS Guaranteed To Get First Issue Within Two Weeks</b></p><p><b>HOCKEY NEWS Makes An Ideal Gift On Any Occasion. Give A Subscription To Dad Or Brother</b></p><h2><b>HOW THEY STAND</b></h2><h3><b>CENTRAL LEAGUE</b></h3><p><b>(Standings on Wed. Feb. 4)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0250/2584178-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="590" height="337"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Wed. Jan. 28</b></p><p>Dallas 1at Omaha 6</p><p>Oklahoma City 1 at Kansas City 8</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 30</b></p><p>Dallas 1 at Iowa 4</p><p>Kansos City 0 at Tulsa 0</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 31</b></p><p>Dallas 6 at Fort Worth 6</p><p>Oklahoma City 1 at Tulsa 2</p><p>Iowa 2 at Kansos City 2</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 1</b></p><p>Kansas City 2 at Omaha 3</p><p>Oklahoma City 1 at Dallas 5</p><p>Tulsa 1 at Iowa 1</p><h2><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h2><p><b>Wed. Feb. 4</b></p><p>Fort Worth at Omaha</p><p>Kansas City at Dallas</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 6</b></p><p>Fort Worth at Iowa</p><p>Omaha at Oklahoma City</p><p>Tulsa at Kansas City</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 7</b></p><p>Fort Worth at Kansas City</p><p>Omaha at Dallas</p><p>Tulsa at Oklahoma City</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 8</b></p><p>Dallas at Tulsa</p><p>Kansas City at Iowa</p><p>Oklahoma City at Omaha</p><p><b>Web. Feb. 11</b></p><p>Dallas at Oklahoma City</p><p>Omaha at Tulsa</p><p>Iowa at Fort Worth</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 13</b></p><p>Oklahoma City at Kansas City</p><p>Tulsa at Omaha</p><p>Iowa at Dallas</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><p><b>(Including Games Of Sun. Jan. 25)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0329/2584171-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="581" height="656"></div><h2><b>GOALKEEPERS&rsquo;RECORDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-132/2584164-1-eng-US/f0024-132.jpg" title="f0024-13" width="583" height="476"></div><p><b>Most Penalty Minutes, Dennis O&rsquo;Brien Iowa, 186</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0024-02

CENTRAL LEAGUE

<h2><b>Wed. Jan. 21 OMAHA 2 AT FORT WORTH 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0513/2584258-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="578" height="554"></div><h2><b>Fri. Jan. 23 OMAHA 3 AT OKLAHOMA CITY 7</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-069/2584251-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="579" height="731"></div><h2><b>FORT WORTH 0 AT IOWA 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-078/2584244-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="572" height="400"></div><h2><b>Sat. Jan. 24 IOWA 3 AT OMAHA 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-085/2584237-1-eng-US/f0024-082.jpg" title="f0024-08" width="587" height="508"></div><h2><b>KANSAS CITY 4 AT DALLAS 0</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-093/2584230-1-eng-US/f0024-092.jpg" title="f0024-09" width="579" height="528"></div><h2><b>SUN. JAN. 25 TULSA 3 AT OMAHA 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-103/2584223-1-eng-US/f0024-102.jpg" title="f0024-10" width="585" height="556"></div><h2><b>OKLAHOMA CITY 0 AT IOWA 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-113/2584216-1-eng-US/f0024-112.jpg" title="f0024-11" width="590" height="530"></div><h2><b>FORT WORTH 3 AT KANSAS CITY 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-123/2584209-1-eng-US/f0024-122.jpg" title="f0024-12" width="581" height="481"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0024-05

Central League Summaries

<h2><b>EASTERN LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Feb. 3)</b></p><h3><b>Northern Division</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0244/2584310-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="582" height="239"></div><h3><b>Southern Division</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0324/2584303-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="584" height="260"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPUTED</b></h2><p><b>Tues. Jan. 27</b></p><p>Salem 4 at New Jersey 2</p><p>Charlotte 6 at Jacksonville 6</p><p>Johnstown 4 at Syracuse 4</p><p>Greensboro 7 at Nashville 4</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 28</b></p><p>Long Island 3 at Syracuse 3</p><p>Salem 5 atNew Haven 2</p><p>Johnstown 1 at Clinton 3</p><p><b>Thurs. Jan. 29</b></p><p>Jacksonville 5 at Nashville 9</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 30</b></p><p>Salem 0 at Clinton 6</p><p>New Haven 7 at New Jersey 11</p><p>Long Island 4 atbxohnstown 7</p><p>Jacksonville 3 at Charlotte 7</p><p>Greensboro 6 atNashville 1</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 31</b></p><p>New Haven 0 at Clinton 5</p><p>Salem 3 at Long Island 2</p><p>New Jersey 2 at Johnstown 10</p><p>Nashville 0 at Greensboro 7</p><p>Charlotte 1 at Jacksonville 4</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 1</b></p><p>Salem 2 at Syracuse 1</p><p>Clinton 4 at New Hoven 1</p><p>Johnstown 8 at Long Island 4</p><p>Nashville 2 at Charlotte 5</p><p>Greensboro 6 at Jacksonville 3</p><h2>GAMES TO COME</h2><p><b>Tues. Feb. 3</b></p><p>Jacksonville atNew Jersey</p><p><b>Web. Feb. 4</b></p><p>Johnstown at Clinton</p><p>Jacksonville at New Haven</p><p>Salem at Greensboro</p><p><b>Thurs. Feb. 5</b></p><p>Greensboro atSalem</p><p>Charlotte atNashville</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 6</b></p><p>Jacksonville atClinton</p><p>Nashville atNew Jersey</p><p>Charlotte at Greensboro</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 7</b></p><p>New Jersey at Clinton</p><p>Jacksonville atLong Island</p><p>Nashville at Johnstown</p><p>Charlotte at Salem</p><p><b>Sun.Feb. 8</b></p><p>Syracuse at New Haven</p><p>Nashville atLong Island</p><p>Jacksonville at Johnstown</p><p>Salem at Greensboro</p><p><b>Tues. Feb. 10</b></p><p>Charlotte at Jacksonville</p><p><b>Web. Feb. 11</b></p><p>Greensboro atNew Haven</p><p>Long Island at Johnstown</p><p>Salem at Charlotte</p><p><b>Thurs. Feb. 12</b></p><p>Greensboro at Syracuse</p><p>Clinton at Long Island</p><p>Charlotte at Salem</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 13</b></p><p>Nashville atSyracuse</p><p>Greensboro atClinton</p><p>Johnstown atLong Island</p><p>New Hoven atNew Jersey</p><h2><b>NEW YORK METRO LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Sun. Jan. 25)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0415/2584296-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="577" height="267"></div><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-087/2584289-1-eng-US/f0025-082.jpg" title="f0025-08" width="618" height="355"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0025-02

HOW THEY STAND

<div class="byline">BY HARVEY POLLACK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0184/2584362-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="550" height="581"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>LOU JANKOWSKI&hellip;Threw In Towel</b></figcaption></div><p>NASHVILLE&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>C</span>oach Lloyd Hinchberger of the Nashville Dixie Flyers has mathematically figured out how his club can make the Southern Division playoffs in Eastern Hockey League action.</p><p>Lloyd checked over the last 30 games of his team&rsquo;s 74-game log and computed that &ldquo;if we can win 15 more games I think we can get a spot in the playoffs.&rdquo; Lloyd checked over the schedule of competing Jacksonville in arriving at his figures.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0514/2584355-1-eng-US/f0025-052.jpg" title="f0025-05" width="260" height="405"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Wayne Kitchen</b></figcaption></div><p>Lloyd figures a total of about 70 points would earn the Dixie Flyers a playoff berth, and he even says, &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to catch Charlotte for third place too, for they are certainly not out of reach.&rdquo;</p><p>In club&rsquo;s first nine games after his forecast, Flyers picked up nine points on three wins and three ties against three defeats. Lloyd felt that was a good start in his quest of the playoff berth.</p><p>His players also were optimistic about the future. For instance defenseman Kevin Smith thought the recent bolstering of the squad would be helpful in the stretch run.</p><p>&ldquo;The addition of Gary Brown and Jim McInally has greatly strengthened our team,&rdquo; said Smith. &ldquo;Gary skates very well and Jim is good to work with on defense. He clears the puck out of the zone quickly and moves up the ice well. We&rsquo;re all getting to work well together and I think we&rsquo;ll be putting some gaps between us and Jacksonville.&rdquo;</p><p><b>JERSEY:</b> Lou Jankowski quit as coach and he was replaced by playing mentor Wayne Kitchen. Bob Brown celebrated 27th birthday with a goal that tied Syracuse. He was named team captain to succeed Kitchen. Gilles Banville&rsquo;s illness forced club to use Brian Caley at Johnstown and latter had to leave game when hit in head with puck. Trainer Tim MacGuigan finished game. Bill Cameron acquired from Nashville.</p><p><b>SALEM:</b> Dave Schultz has cut down his fighting to concentrate on scoring. Jack Chipchase was called up by Rochester for one game and did so well the AHL team decided to keep him rest of season. Bob Lacey suffered shoulder separation and was lost for at least three weeks. Don Rozich (broken ankle) came off injured list to replace him. Rebels&rsquo; six game win streak was longest in club history. Leak in arena roof has been bothersome.</p><p><b>JACKSONVILLE:</b> Dale MacLeish had five two-goal games in nine outings. Billy Glashan lone regular in league who hasn&rsquo;t had a penalty called against him. Jean Levesque broke finger and is slated to be lost almost a month. Ron Willy due back shortly now that splint has been taken off his thumb. Attendance up here due to better dates. Team shifted game here from Macon due to lack of response in Georgia city.</p><p><b>CHARLOTTE:</b> Jack McCreary and Allie Sutherland have switched left wing posts on their respective lines. Sutherland&rsquo;s slap shot with 19 seconds left tied Salem. Hal Willis&rsquo; power goal with 32 seconds nipped Nashville. Hal nursing swollen left foot which was hit by two shots. Checkers leading loop in penalties. Goalie John Voss has helped change club fortunes.</p><p><b>GREENSBORO:</b> Tom Fox croft exploded for hat trick in debut for Gens after acquisition from Providence. Ernie Miller has returned to goalie duty to replace Bob Smith who filled in during Ernie&rsquo;s convalescence. Dom DiBerardino sent to Johns-town on loan to help regain use of operated knee. Club isn&rsquo;t keen about moving up to an AHL franchise. Stu Roberts has regained his scoring eye.</p><p><b>JOHNSTOWN:</b> Pete Christian sent to Jacksonville on loan to make room for Dom DiBerardino. Jets have used 27 players this year, one below club record set in 1957-58 campaign. Defenseman Larry Young went home to Summerland, B.C. when he was replaced on roster by Pete Fichuk. Rick Loe had hat trick vs Jersey. Reg Kent set club mark with assists in 13 straight games.</p><p><b>NEW HAVEN:</b> Dave Hainsworth blanked Long Island for second time and Ducks have scored just one goal against him in three starts here. Club doctor here had busy night using six stitches on ref Bob Smith&rsquo;s elbow, three on Don Walker&rsquo;s nose and three on hand of Long Island SUB goalie Chuck Rutledge. Kevin Morrison restored to duty and Norm Guimond sent on 24-hour recall to Syracuse.</p><p><b>SYRACUSE:</b> Brian Elwell&rsquo;s two goals helped gain tie at Jer-sey. Ray Adduono posted hat trick at Nashville to help boost his northern scoring lead. Elwell needed five stitches for facial lacerations when hit by a stick. Coach Ray Crew&rsquo;s return to duty marred by virus. Jules Marenger bothered by foot injury.</p><p><b>LONG ISLAND:</b> Ducks took tailspin with eight game losing streak. Butch Morris posted hat trick vs Johnstown to help break losing skein. Coach Blake Ball received penalty three seconds after opening face off in Johnstown game. Ducks purchesed Harley Hodgson from Jacksonville and later sold him to Toledo of IHL. Jake Hendrickson missed some action with ankle injury. Russ McClenaghan&rsquo;s scoring continues to be a bright spot.</p><p><b>NASHVILLE:</b> Ten goals by Greensboro represented second largest total for opposition in eight-year history. Newcomer Gary Brown posted four goals in five games. Kevin Smith is one of fastest skaters on squad and a fine penalty killer. Ex-Flyer Brian Harding doing well with Brandon. Game with Jersey was held up for net repairs and injury to ref Ted Daily.</p><p><b>CLINTON:</b> Don Davidson has taken Borden Smith&rsquo;s spot on roster. Billy Bannerman sprained wrist hampered his play. Jake Rathwell&rsquo;s hat trick helped Comets gain important tie at New Haven. Tom Mitchell sent Long Island&rsquo;s Brian McDowell to hospital with a jaw injury following their fight here. Tom also hurt his hand and missed some action. X-Rays due to determine whether I an Anderson will be available later in season.</p><h2><b>EHL POINT RACES</b></h2><p><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></p><p><b>(Including games of Sun. Jan. 25)</b></p><h3><b>NORTHERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-068/2584348-1-eng-US/f0025-062.jpg" title="f0025-06" width="583" height="279"></div><h3><b>SOUTHERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-078/2584341-1-eng-US/f0025-072.jpg" title="f0025-07" width="582" height="276"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0025-01

Nashville Sets Goal For EHL Playoffs; Jankowski Quits As Jersey Coach

<div class="byline">BY BOB REED</div><p>COLUMBUS&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>J</span>erry Schmelzer, vice-president and general manager of the Columbus Checkers, made a prediction, along about Christmas, that the Chex would be in second place in the Southern Division by January 17.</p><p>This didn&rsquo;t materialize, so Schmelzer and Coach Moe Mantha set about trying to correct the situation. They needed help, not only in an effort to bring the Checkers up in the standing but to replace some of the injured who were doomed to be sidelined for lengthy periods.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0192/2584400-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="261" height="442"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bryan McLay</b></figcaption></div><p>Mantha himself was slated to be out for five to seven weeks with a broken bone just above his left ankle. Then Chuck Kelly, the luckless center man who had missed 16 games early in the season with knee and shoulder injuries, sustained a dislocated shoulder, the result of a brawl in a game at Fort Wayne and was declared out for the season.</p><p>First the Checkers secured goalie Tim Tabor from Muskegon and Gary Wood, defenseman, from Toledo.</p><p>The acquisition of Tabor gave the Checkers three goalies. Mike Lovett had been in virtually all their games with Barry Olsen, who also doubles as trainer, as his standby.</p><p>Wood played 33 games with the Blades and led them in penalty minutes with 119. He played part of the 1967-68 season with Dayton before he was drafted by the U.S. Armed Forces and spent eight months in Vietnam.</p><p>In addition the Checkers picked up Bob Trembecky from Dayton and he came up with one goal and three assists in his first game.</p><p><b>DAYTON&mdash;</b>The Gems plan their first Hall of Fame night March 17 and first inductees will be Warren Back, Guy Trottier and Bob Bailey&hellip;Coach Larry Wilson figures that injuries to Dunc Rousseau, Tom lannone, Gordon Malinoski and Garry MacMillen cost the Gems 32 goals&hellip;Goalie Pat Rupp gave the Gems their third shutout of the season before a record crowd of 5,460.</p><p><b>FORT WAYNE</b>&mdash;The Komets had a record crowd of 8,537, with about 4,000 Boy Scouts guests of the management. Official seating capacity of Memorial Coliseum is 8,026. Eric Sutcliffe and Ron Ullyot joined Merv Dubchak on the injured list&hellip;Ray Brunel was voted most valuable player for the first half&hellip;The K&rsquo;s scored four straight goals to come back for a 5-5 tie with Des Moines. Bob Channell, just purchased from Toledo, had two goals and an assist to tie Dayton, 3-3</p><p><b>PORT HURON&mdash;</b>The Flags sold defenseman Dave Simpson and winger Art Thomas to Dayton for a sum &ldquo;over the waiver price&rdquo;&hellip;The Flags had a record of 327 games, dating back to Nov. 6, 1965, without being shut out&hellip;Coach Ted Garvin declared Len Fontaine &ldquo;best penalty Gratton was placed on the fulltime list after his five-game trial.</p><p><b>MUSKEGON&mdash;</b>The Mohawks secured center Gary Gam-bucci from the U.S. Nationals to help out until injured players return&hellip;Rookie goalie Norm Hann had a 6-0 shutout of Flint&hellip;Bryan McLay scored his 400th IHL goal&hellip;The Mohawks won six of their eight meetings with Southern Division leader Dayton.</p><p><b>TOLEDO&mdash;</b>Glenn Ramsay recorded his fourth shutout of the season and allowed just two goals in 201 minutes of play&hellip;Jack Criel, moved from defense to right wing, had the winning goal over Dayton, 4-3&hellip;Leading scorer Ray Germain went on the 14-day injured list.</p><p><b>FLINT&mdash;</b>Goalie Bob Perani had to stop 46 shots in the 6-0 loss to Muskegon&hellip;Doug Abel went out for two weeks with a broken hand&hellip;Defenseman John Vanderburg was secured from Montreal. He played with Cleveland of the AHL last sea-son&hellip;Bob Clyne came off the injured list.</p><p><b>DES MOINES&mdash;</b>Buddy Boone, last year&rsquo;s playing coach, joined the Oak Leafs&hellip;Bob Perreault had 40 saves in a 5-2 victory at Columbus&hellip;Ken Sutyla scored hat trick in 8-5 win over Port Huron&hellip;The Leafs had a schedule of eight games in 11 nights&hellip;Moe Morrissette tied Cliff Pennington for the scoring lead.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0245/2584393-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="538" height="680"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GARY WOOD&hellip;on move again</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0026-01

Checkers Strenghten Lineup For Stretch As Injuries Hit; McLay Nets 400th IHL Goal

<h2><b>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Feb. 3)</b></p><h3><b>North Division</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0329/2584445-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="579" height="165"></div><h3><b>South Division</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0415/2584438-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="579" height="242"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Tues. Jan. 27</b></p><p>Des Moines 0 at Dayton 3</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 28</b></p><p>Toledo 3 at Muskegon 6</p><p>Flint 3 at Fort Wayne 2</p><p>Des Moines 5 at Columbus 3</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 30</b></p><p>Fort Wayne 3 at Des Moines 2</p><p>Muskegon 7 at Toledo 5</p><p>Columbus 0 at Flint 2</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 31</b></p><p>Fort Wayne 3 at Des Moines 3</p><p>Port Huron 3 at Muskegon 4</p><p>Dayton 4 at Toledo 3</p><p>Flint 4 at Columbus 3</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 1</b></p><p>Muskegon 7 at Columbus 5</p><p>Port Huron 5 at Dayton 7</p><p>Toledo 0 at Flint 2</p><h3><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h3><p><b>Tues. Feb. 3</b></p><p>Fort Wayne at Columbus</p><p>Muskegon at Dayton</p><p><b>Wed. Feb. 4</b></p><p>Dayton at Fort Wayne</p><p>Des Moines at Toledo</p><p>Port Huron at Flint</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 6</b></p><p>Toledo at Muskegon</p><p>Fort Wayne at Port Huron</p><p>Columbus at Des Moines</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 7</b></p><p>Port Huron at Fort Wayne</p><p>Dayton at Muskegon</p><p>Flint at Toledo</p><p>Columbus at Des Moines</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 8</b></p><p>Dayton at Port Huron</p><p>Muskegon at Flint</p><p><b>Tues. Feb. 10</b></p><p>Columbus at Toledo</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 13</b></p><p>Fort Wayne at Des Moines</p><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><p><b>(Including Games of Sun. Jan. 25)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0513/2584431-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="585" height="432"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0026-03

LOOKING AT IHL RACE

<div class="byline">BY JACK GATECLIFF</div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen the Ontario Hockey Association Junior A League started the 1970 portion of its 270-game schedule the general concensus was that it would be only a matter of time before Montreal Canadiens clinched their second successive pennant.</p><p>Under coach Roger Bedard the defending Canadian junior champions were cruising along on a 12-game win-streak, stretched that record to 14 games early in January and had a comfortable seven-point margin over Peterborough Petes.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0176/2584476-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="270" height="452"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Roger Bedard</b></figcaption></div><p>Few were surprised that the Canadiens were leading the league. If there was a surprise it was that the Petes were that close.</p><p>However, junior hockey teams are as unpredictable as a snowmobile on an icy highway and for reasons which even Bedard can&rsquo;t quite fathom, the Canadiens suddenly hit the skids.</p><p>In their next seven games the Canadiens won only one game (9-1) over last place Niagara Falls Flyers, tied two (4-4) with Hamilton Red Wings and 4-4 with Oshawa Generals) and lost twice to Toronto Marlboros, one to London Knights and Ottawa 57s.</p><p>&ldquo;Put it down to over-confidence or just a natural slump after a long winning streak,&rdquo; said Bedard. &ldquo;Or it could be were not as good as what everyone says. Anyway I&rsquo;d rather lose a few now than in the playoffs.&rdquo;</p><p>Rather than the Canadiens wrapping the pennant in a neat package by early February, the race has developed into one of the most exciting in recent years.</p><p>In the same stretch of seven games Peterborough won five, lost one and tied one while St. Catharines went 13 games with no defeats and only one draw.</p><p>As a result Montreal saw their sizeable margin vanish and fell briefly into third place behind the Petes and Black Hawks.</p><p>Still an outside threat for first place are the Toronto Marlboros who went through a horrible month of December but bounced back with their double win over the Canadiens and a tie with Ottawa.</p><p>However the Marlboros, in fourth place, would need a long slump by all three of the top clubs to win their first pennant since 1964.</p><p>An equally interesting battle involves Oshawa Generals, London and Hamilton for the final two playoff positions.</p><p>Niagara Falls Flyers, with only one win in their last 19 games, will almost certainly finish in the basement but only three points separate the Generals, Knights and Red Wings.</p><p>Eight of the 10 teams qualify for the playoffs.</p><p>Marcel Dionne of the Hawks continues to lead the individual scorers.</p><p>The 18-years-old St. Catharines centre was held to a single goal in the only game the Hawks played (4-2 over Hamilton) but the 15 points he picked up the previous week gave him a handy margin over Rick MacLeish of Peterborough and Gilbert Perreault of Montr&eacute;al.</p><p>Dionne has one season of junior eligibilty remaining while Perreault and MacLeish graduate at the end of the 1969-70 season and are rated the top choices in the annual National Hockey League draft.</p><p>A native of Drummondville, Quebec, Dionne finished in second place last season, eight points behind the scoring champion Rejean Houle of Montreal Canadiens.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0027-01

Habs’ Bubble Bursts As Club Falls Behind Peterboro, Toronto

<p><b>Following arethe Ontario Hockey Association junior A pennant winners since the 1946-47 season:</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0246/2584507-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="537" height="559"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0027-02

Past Champs In OHA Loop

<h2><b>ONTARIO JUNIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Feb. 3)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0327/2584706-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="587" height="368"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Tues. Jan. 27</b></p><p>Toronto 9 at London 3</p><p>Kitchener 4 at Oshawa 6</p><p>Montreal 6 at St. Catharines 5</p><p><b>Thurs. Jan. 29</b></p><p>Niagara Falls 2 at Hamilton 6</p><p>London 3 at Peterboro 2</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 30</b></p><p>Montreal 4 at Niagara Falls 1</p><p>Oshawa 8 at Kitchener 2</p><p>Toronto 4 at Ottawa 1</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 1</b></p><p>Hamilton 4 at Montreal 9</p><p>Toronto 1 at St. Catharines 12</p><p>Peterboro 3 at Oshawa 5</p><p>Niagara Falls 0 at Ottawa 4</p><p>London 8 at Kitchener 2</p><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><p><b>(Including games of Sun. Jan. 25)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-27/2584699-1-eng-US/f0027-272.jpg" title="f0027-27" width="608" height="690"></div><h2><b>ONTARIO SENIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Fri. Jan. 30)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0422/2584692-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="587" height="301"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0514/2584685-1-eng-US/f0027-052.jpg" title="f0027-05" width="593" height="557"></div><h2><b>WESTERN ONTARIO JUNIOR</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Wed. Jan. 28)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-069/2584678-1-eng-US/f0027-062.jpg" title="f0027-06" width="581" height="194"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><p><b>Including Games Of Sun. Jan. 25</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-076/2584671-1-eng-US/f0027-072.jpg" title="f0027-07" width="573" height="528"></div><h2><b>ARROWHEAD JUNIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 20)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-086/2584664-1-eng-US/f0027-082.jpg" title="f0027-08" width="583" height="171"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-096/2584657-1-eng-US/f0027-092.jpg" title="f0027-09" width="587" height="201"></div><h2><b>IHL JUNIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Fri. Jan. 23)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-105/2584650-1-eng-US/f0027-102.jpg" title="f0027-10" width="589" height="164"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-115/2584643-1-eng-US/f0027-112.jpg" title="f0027-11" width="586" height="286"></div><h2><b>MICHIAN JUNIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 19)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-124/2584636-1-eng-US/f0027-122.jpg" title="f0027-12" width="585" height="235"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-13/2584629-1-eng-US/f0027-132.jpg" title="f0027-13" width="593" height="279"></div><h2><b>BORDER CITIES JUNIOR</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Thurs. Jan. 22)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-14/2584622-1-eng-US/f0027-142.jpg" title="f0027-14" width="585" height="199"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-15/2584615-1-eng-US/f0027-152.jpg" title="f0027-15" width="585" height="225"></div><h2><b>INTERLOCKING PLAY</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 19)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-16/2584608-1-eng-US/f0027-162.jpg" title="f0027-16" width="582" height="402"></div><h2><b>NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Wed. Jan. 28)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-17/2584601-1-eng-US/f0027-172.jpg" title="f0027-17" width="580" height="193"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-18/2584594-1-eng-US/f0027-182.jpg" title="f0027-18" width="582" height="302"></div><h2><b>NORTHERN ONTARIO SENIOR</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 22)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-19/2584587-1-eng-US/f0027-192.jpg" title="f0027-19" width="590" height="167"></div><h2><b>THUNDER BAY JUNIOR</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Fri. Jan. 16)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-20/2584580-1-eng-US/f0027-202.jpg" title="f0027-20" width="591" height="137"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-21/2584573-1-eng-US/f0027-212.jpg" title="f0027-21" width="586" height="275"></div><h2><b>CENTRAL JUNIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Thurs. Jan. 22)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-22/2584566-1-eng-US/f0027-222.jpg" title="f0027-22" width="587" height="196"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-23/2584559-1-eng-US/f0027-232.jpg" title="f0027-23" width="593" height="409"></div><h2><b>QUEBEC JUNIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Sat. Jan. 27)</b></p><h3><b>East Section</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-24/2584552-1-eng-US/f0027-242.jpg" title="f0027-24" width="587" height="229"></div><h3><b>West Section</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-25/2584545-1-eng-US/f0027-252.jpg" title="f0027-25" width="583" height="198"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-26/2584538-1-eng-US/f0027-262.jpg" title="f0027-26" width="593" height="523"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0027-03

Looking At Hockey Races

<div class="byline">BY BYRON YAKE</div><p>PITTSBURGH&mdash;</p><p>Dean Prentice says he wants to end his 16-year National Hockey League career in a blaze of glory.</p><p>For the Penguins this can be good and bad.</p><p>It could mean that if Prentice continues to have an excellent year with the Penguins he could hang up his skates at the end of the season. If. however, he should falter during the second half, he may think more seriously about returning next year.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c4-01171/2584737-1-eng-US/c4-012.jpg" title="C4-01" width="273" height="459"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Dean Prentice</b></figcaption></div><p>Either way. it&rsquo;s not a very happy situation for the Penguins, who picked up the dark-haired leftwinger from Detroit in the player draft last year when the Red Wings left him unprotected.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not uncommon for players to have mid-season thoughts like that.&rdquo; said Penguins&rsquo; coach Red Kelly.</p><p>But Prentice sounds more serious.</p><p>&ldquo;It (the schedule) gets to be a little bit tiresome. I can feel it especially when we have three games in four nights.&rdquo;</p><p>Prentice said he especially felt it in a recent game at the Civic Arena&mdash;the fourth game in five nights, including the All-Star game in St. Louis when he represented the Penguins along with defenseman Bob Woytowich.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really happy here,&rdquo; the 37-vear-old Prentice said. &ldquo;They gave me a second chance. But I think I&rsquo;m ready for a long rest. My wife has put up with this schedule&mdash;not seeing much of me&mdash;for 16 years and my two girls are growing up fast.&rdquo;</p><p>Prentice, who scored his 300th goal this season, has led the Penguins scoring most of the season along with Woytowich. After 42 games he had 16 goals and 17 assists for 33 points.</p><p>In the All-Star game he scored the West&rsquo;s only goal. Against Oakland the next night he added two assists as the Penguins gained a 3-3 tie after being down 3-0 after a period and a half.</p><p>Then against the Los Angeles Kings, a game which the Penguins won 4-2, Prentice scored a goal and added an assist.</p><p>&ldquo;You always want to go out with a good year,&rdquo; Prentice said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not definite vet (retiring) but I&rsquo;m definitely thinking about it.&rdquo;</p><p>Asked if finances would have anything to do with his final decision. Prentice smiled and said. &ldquo;It could have.&rdquo;</p><p>It may be enough of an incentive for the Penguins to try a little harder to keep him&mdash;especially if he finishes with a 30-goal season and the Penguins finally make the playoffs.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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February 13, 1970

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