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.

December 18, 1970

The Hockey News December 18, 1970

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><p>LOS ANGELES&mdash;</p><p>There is ample evidence for considering the Los Angeles Kings the most improved team in the National Hockey League. They show an improvement of five victories for the first quarter of 19 games in the new season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01911/3722460-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="268" height="443"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Mike McMahon</b></figcaption></div><p>The Kings, who had a 10-6-3 mark for the first fourth of their first season, 7-10-2 for the first fourth of their second season, and 3-15-1 for the first fourth of last season, bounced back to 8-101 on the getaway this season.</p><p>However, they had flattened out from a fast start, which saw them win four of their first five games and six of their first ten. Losing their 20th in Chicago, the Kings had won only two of their last ten and there was justification, too, for skeptics who feel the early showing was deceiving.</p><p>The Kings did not win their ninth game last season until their 45th outing, so they still had a lot of losing to do before falling back to that last-place level. However, they still were in sixth this season, being one position out of last at the quarter-pole in the division which has been expanded by one team to seven.</p><p>Most of the players on this team were not on last year&rsquo;s club. Eddie Shack and Dick Duff, who joined last year, were the latest to go, being sent to Buffalo in exchange for defenseman Mike McMahon and other considerations, presumably cash. Giving up Shack was a step in the right direction, while Duff was playing old.</p><p>For the first quarter, Gordon Labossiere led the team in goals scored with eight, followed by Bob Pulford and Mike Byers with seven each, Bob Berry with six, Eddie Joyal with five. Juha Widing with four, Bill Flett, Ross Lonsberry and Larry Mickey with three each and Doug Robinson with two. Lucien Grenier was the only scoreless forward.</p><p>Among defensemen, Matt Ravlich and Larry Cahan each had one goal.</p><p>Flett led in assists with 10, while Berry had nine and Lonsberry and Widing eight each. Berry led in total points with 15, followed by Labossiere with 14, Flett with 13 and Pulford and Widing with 12 each.</p><p>Defenseman Gilles Marotte had the most penalty minutes, 32, followed by forwards Lonsberry with 24 and Mickey with 21.</p><p>Multiply by four and you will get the pace of these players for the first part of the current campaign.</p><p>With 54 goals scored, the Kings ranked in the upper half of the NHL.</p><p>The team had won three games on the road but this matched its entire road victory total of last season. At home, the Kings stood-55-1. They had drawn 97,600 for 11 dates, an increase of 8,150 over last season&rsquo;s first 11 home games, and were averaging 8,873, which remains below NHL standards.</p><p><b>KINGS THINGS&mdash;</b>Owner Jack Kent Cooke, who seldom has missed two games had missed two weeks of games with sickness in his family&hellip;Manager and coach Larry Regan clearly was concerned about the decline in the Kings&rsquo; fortunes&hellip;The Kings blew a lead in losing 3-2 to visiting Minnesota in their 19th game, then fell behind 40 in the first period before succumbing in Chicago, 5-3, in their 20th start. DeJordy was relieved by Norris in that one.</p><p>Labossiere, back up top after more than a year in the minors, probably was the team&rsquo;s MVP for the first quarter&hellip;Radio-TV colorman Gary Morrell quit after 16 games and Dan Avey, now director of organization advertising, reassumed the post as sidekick to play-byplay stylist Jiggs McDonald, for the time being at least.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-01

IN THIS ISSUE

Kings Cooling Off After Blazing Bow

<p>WEST SPRINGFIELD&mdash;</p><p>AHL President Jack Butterfield dealt Baltimore defenseman Larry Johnston fines totaling $500 for his actions during a game at Providence on November 15.</p><p>The fines, the highest that Butterfield has dished out in his four years as the AHL prexy, were levied on Johnston for becoming physically involved with referee Ken Bodendistel. Johnston was ejected from the game and incurred automatic fines of $25 and $50 at the time of the game.</p><p>Butterfield, in announcing the extra fine of $425 noted that such actions on the part of the players will not be tolerated in the American Hockey League.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-05284/3723006-1-eng-US/f0019-052.jpg" title="f0019-05" width="501" height="544"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>LARRY JOHNSTON</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0019-05

AHL Slaps $500 Fine On Johnston

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01961/3722267-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"></div><h2><b>TOP 20 SCORERS</b></h2><p><b>(Including Games Of Sun. Dec. 6)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02822/3722260-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="1799" height="873"></div><p><b>Key: GP&mdash;Games Played; G&mdash;Goals; A&mdash;Assists; PTS&mdash;Points; PIM&mdash;Penalties In Minutes; PPG&mdash;Power Play Goals; SHG&mdash;Shorthanded Goals; WG&mdash;Winning Goals; TG&mdash;Tieing Goals.</b></p><h3><b>EAST DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03642/3722253-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="892" height="1678"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-05316/3722246-1-eng-US/f0012-052.jpg" title="f0012-05" width="885" height="1858"></div><h2><b>THE TOP 10 NETMINDERS</b></h2><p><b>(Including Games of Sun. Dec. 6)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-04430/3722239-1-eng-US/f0012-042.jpg" title="f0012-04" width="805" height="461"></div><h3><b>TEAM PENALTIES&mdash;POWER PLAY STATISTICS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-06260/3722232-1-eng-US/f0012-062.jpg" title="f0012-06" width="848" height="381"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-07226/3722225-1-eng-US/f0012-072.jpg" title="f0012-07" width="312" height="3462"></div><h3><b>WEST DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-08198/3722218-1-eng-US/f0012-082.jpg" title="f0012-08" width="909" height="3086"></div><h2><b>NHL SCOREBOARD</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-09162/3722211-1-eng-US/f0012-092.jpg" title="f0012-09" width="785" height="129"></div><p><b>(Including Games of Sun. Dec. 6)</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-01

NHL PLAYERS SCORING PENALTY RECORDS

<h2><b>Sat. Nov. 28 SPRINGFIELD 3 at CLEVELAND 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03400/3722923-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="570" height="128"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04295/3722916-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="574" height="192"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05222/3722909-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="573" height="304"></div><h2><b>ROCHESTER 1 at HERSHEY 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-06182/3722902-1-eng-US/f0018-062.jpg" title="f0018-06" width="570" height="353"></div><h2><b>Sun. Nov. 29 MONTREAL 2 at PROVIDENCE 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-07157/3722895-1-eng-US/f0018-072.jpg" title="f0018-07" width="581" height="627"></div><h2><b>SPRINGFIELD 1 at ROCHESTER 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-08132/3722888-1-eng-US/f0018-082.jpg" title="f0018-08" width="573" height="402"></div><h2><b>BALTIMORE 3 at QUEBEC 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-09113/3722881-1-eng-US/f0018-092.jpg" title="f0018-09" width="576" height="477"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-10100/3722874-1-eng-US/f0018-102.jpg" title="f0018-10" width="565" height="99"></div><h2><b>HERSHEY 3 at CLEVELAND 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1196/3722867-1-eng-US/f0018-112.jpg" title="f0018-11" width="582" height="622"></div><h2><b>Tues. Dec. 1 BALTIMORE 4 at MONTREAL 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1288/3722860-1-eng-US/f0018-122.jpg" title="f0018-12" width="573" height="499"></div><h2><b>Wed. Dec. 2 BALTIMORE 8 AT MONTREAL 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1376/3722853-1-eng-US/f0018-132.jpg" title="f0018-13" width="576" height="773"></div><h2><b>QUEBEC 2 AT CLEVELAND 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1470/3722846-1-eng-US/f0018-142.jpg" title="f0018-14" width="571" height="129"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-06221/3722839-1-eng-US/f0019-062.jpg" title="f0019-06" width="577" height="372"></div><h2><b>ROCHESTER 6 AT MONTREAL 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-07193/3722832-1-eng-US/f0019-072.jpg" title="f0019-07" width="580" height="589"></div><h2><b>CLEVELAND 5 at PROVIDENCE 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-08177/3722825-1-eng-US/f0019-082.jpg" title="f0019-08" width="576" height="632"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-09153/3722818-1-eng-US/f0019-092.jpg" title="f0019-09" width="569" height="172"></div><h2><b>HERSHEY 0 AT QUEBEC 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-10134/3722811-1-eng-US/f0019-102.jpg" title="f0019-10" width="573" height="387"></div><h2><b>BALTIMORE 0 at SPRINGFIELD 8</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-11118/3722804-1-eng-US/f0019-112.jpg" title="f0019-11" width="582" height="618"></div><h2><b>Sat. Dec. 5 MONTREAL 2 AT CLEVELAND 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-12110/3722797-1-eng-US/f0019-122.jpg" title="f0019-12" width="579" height="435"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0018-03

American Hockey League Summaries

Cover-01

BRUINS LOOK GOOD WINNING BAD GAMES

<div class="byline">BY JACK BERRY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01922/3721777-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="551" height="559"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>FRANK MAHOVLICH</b></figcaption></div><p>DETROIT&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>f the rest of the National Hockey League has as much trouble with Serge LaJeunesse as the Red Wings&rsquo; front office, he&rsquo;ll have some career in the National Hockey League.</p><p>It&rsquo;s not that the handsome, 20-year-old defenseman is tough to deal with, it&rsquo;s just that the brass can&rsquo;t spell his name correctly or pronounce it right.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02843/3721770-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="271" height="466"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Serge LaJeuness</b></figcaption></div><p>In training camp the publicity department spelled LaJeunesse. General manager Sid Abel and chief scout Jim Skinner called him &ldquo;Lajuhnay&rdquo; and Serge says it&rsquo;s la-juh-ness.</p><p>It was reminiscent of the late Jack Adams and his problem getting Frank Mahovlich&rsquo;s name right. Adams used to call him &ldquo;Maholovitch&rdquo; and Skinner, loyal to the boss, called him &ldquo;Maholovitch&rdquo; too.</p><p>It didn&rsquo;t hold the Big-M back in his major league career. Last week the dashing left winger became only the sixth man in NHL history to reach the 400-goal plateau. Mahovlich followed teammate Alex Delvecchio into the charmed &lsquo;400&rsquo; circle with the Detroit captain gaining the coveted milestone a few weeks ago.</p><p>Mahovlich joined Goride Howe, Maurice Richard, Bobby Hull, Jean Beliveau and Delvecchio as the only 400 scorers in the league.</p><p>It could well be a good omen for young LaJeunesse, who isn&rsquo;t the least perturbed by the difficulties encountered with his unusual name.</p><p>Whether they spell it with a capital &ldquo;J&rdquo; or pronounce it &ldquo;lay&rdquo; instead of &ldquo;ness,&rdquo; the youngster is very happy to be up with the Red Wings.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s great for me,&rdquo; LaJeunesse said, smiling. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m only 20-year-old&hellip;and I&rsquo;m in the National League.&rdquo;</p><p>Serge doen&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s got it wrapped up, though. Congratulated on his play after Detroit beat his boyhood idols, the Montreal Canadiens, LaJeunesse replied: &ldquo;No, I didn&rsquo;t play well. But better than last night.&rdquo;</p><p>He referred to a humiliating 94 defeat in Toronto, the Red Wings&rsquo; worst game of the season and they&rsquo;ve had some real bummers.</p><p>&ldquo;I can do better,&rdquo; LaJeunesse said. &ldquo;But I have no confidence now&hellip;I don&rsquo;t want to make the big mistake.&rdquo;</p><p>Serge chooses his words carefully. He grew up in a completely French district in Montreal and, playing with the Junior Canadiens, he hardly needed to know English. He&rsquo;s come a long way, though, just since the June meetings in Montreal when he was the Red Wings&rsquo; first pick in the amateur draft.</p><p>Interviewed then, LaJeunesse had difficulty understanding the questions and then answering.</p><p>There are few French-speaking players in the Detroit organization, though, so Serge is working into English. The only other French-speaking player on the Red Wings is defenseman Ron Harris. Harris and LaJeunesse have another thing in common&mdash;they&rsquo;re Detroit&rsquo;s only two right handed defensemen.</p><p>LaJeunesse would be happy to play anywhere, though. During an exhibition game, coach Ned Harkness asked Serge if he ever had played on the left side.</p><p>&ldquo;Oh sure, I play &lsquo;dere all&rsquo; da time,&rdquo; LaJeunesse answered.</p><p>He went out and played there well and bodychecked vigorously. After the game Harkness checked with Skinner, who had scouted LaJeunesse and Skinner said Serge never had played that side.</p><p>&ldquo;He just wanted to get in the game,&rdquo; Harkness said and it was obvious that he was more pleased with the youngster&rsquo;s desire than displeased over the misinformation.</p><p>LaJeunesse is one of the rookies the Red Wings are building their future on and they&rsquo;ve been playing more rookies than anyone in the league. They had eight in the lineup during victories over Vancouver and Montreal, nine in that loss at Toronto.</p><p>Don McLeod relieved Roy Edwards in goal after the second period of the Toronto debacle with the Maple Leafs, up, 6-1. McLeod yielded a goal to Darryl Sittler on the first NHL shot fired at him.</p><p>But McLeod bounced back the next night and played aggressively in goal, his first start, and backstopped an important 5-3 Detroit victory.</p><p>McLeod might&rsquo;ve started the season as Edwards&rsquo; backup but he injured his back in training camp and the post went to Jim Rutherford. Rutherford, just a second year pro, had tough sledding in his three starts and was sent back to Fort Worth for seasoning.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0002-01

LaJeunesse Elated At NHL Bow; Mahovlich Joins ‘400’ Scorers

<div class="byline">BY PAT CURRAN</div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p>Al MacNeil probably didn&rsquo;t realize how well he sized up the situation that brought on his appointment as coach of the Canadiens.</p><p>&ldquo;Coaches can be changed forever but the players have the last say in the success or failure of any team,&rdquo; said the soft-spoken Al MacNeil, a native of Sydney, N.S., who became the first Maritimer ever to pilot a National Hockey League club.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01927/3721815-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="248" height="382"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ralph Backstrom</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;My challenge will be to motivate the Canadiens and to get everyone going in the right direction which I hope will be around the top of the league. I think a lot of the fellows can play better and it will be up to me to get the most out of them.&rdquo;</p><p>Admittedly, it was Claude Ruel&rsquo;s inability to get the most out of the Habs that made him resign as coach in his third season.</p><p>&ldquo;Some nights I had nine men working, other nights only six. When I couldn&rsquo;t do the job my way it was time to resign.&rdquo;</p><p>Appointment of MacNeil, the assistant coach, to take over was announced at a hurriedly called press conference Dec. 3 just after the noon meeting of the team going into a home game against St. Louis.</p><p>In an emotional address to the jam-packed Forum press lounge, General Manager Sam Pollock announced that the club finally had accepted Ruel&rsquo;s resignation. It was a job he didn&rsquo;t want in the first place when he was elevated from scout to succeed Toe Blake three years ago. He returns to his old job of scout and director of player development.</p><p>Ruel&rsquo;s resignation forced a wholesale realignment in the Canadiens&rsquo; hockey directorate. Ron Caron, who has been doubling as manager-coach of the AHL Voyageurs, was moved up to become assistant general manager of the Canadiens replacing Floyd Curry, who was named assistant vice-president, general manager and coach of the Voyageurs. Caron will travel with the NHL club. Canadiens&rsquo; publicist Rolland Ricard will be given additional executive duties with both the Canadiens and Voyageurs.</p><p>Ironically, the resignation of Ruel as coach of Canadiens was followed by the news that veteran Ralph Backstrom had decided to rejoin the team.</p><p>Twice retired before the start of the season for various reasons, including a desire to move to a warmer climate, Backstrom said he &ldquo;missed the game too much&rdquo; and was glad to come back to the Habs.</p><p>Pollock said Ruel wanted to resign last year but was talked out of it.</p><p>&ldquo;Ten days ago he asked me again but I told him to think about it. Then he asked President Dave Molson to suggest that someone else take over the team. It was a request I had to consider. It would not have been fair to try to make him stay if he didn&rsquo;t want to.&rdquo;</p><p>When MacNeil was told about Ruel he immediately resigned as assistant coach.</p><p>&ldquo;I expected Al to do that because he was picked by Claude&mdash;that&rsquo;s the kind of guy he is,&rdquo; said Pollock. &ldquo;Then I asked him to take over the team and he accepted.&rdquo;</p><p>Ruel was obviously relieved after being under heavy pressure from the press and from complaining players in recent weeks as the Canadiens managed only one win in 11 games. There was a motion, unofficial of course, by the players for a change in coach.</p><p>&ldquo;I am happy now,&rdquo; said Ruel who went back to his old job as scout and director of player development. &ldquo;I am the Canadiens&rsquo; greatest fan. If I wasn&rsquo;t I would go to work for some other team. I am glad for Al MacNeil because he is an honest man.&rdquo;</p><p>Pollock denied that pressure from the press or the players brought on the decision to accept Ruel&rsquo;s resignation.</p><p>&ldquo;Maybe as much as seven per cent in the whole situation. This has to do with the personal life of a man and our hockey club.&rdquo;</p><p>One of the raps against Ruel was that he failed to command respect with the result that both old and young players wound up taking advantage of him. He got to a point where he said &ldquo;some of them just don&rsquo;t want to play for me.&rdquo;</p><p>Thus the naming of Allister Wences MacNeil posed the same question-whether the new 35-year-old coach, who doesn&rsquo;t project as a holler-guy or a taskmaster, is tough enough for the job.</p><p>&ldquo;Am I tough enough,&rdquo; MacNeil laughed at the question, probably thinking he was tough enough as a defenseman in the NHL for nine seasons. &ldquo;I can be tough with anybody.&rdquo;</p><p>He pointed out that a coach has to be firm because hockey is a game of discipline.</p><p>&ldquo;Every player himself has to discipline himself. An athlete who doesn&rsquo;t have that is just blowing in the wind.&rdquo;</p><p>While MacNeil refused to second-guess Ruel, he has ideas of his own about discipline. Basically his coaching methods won&rsquo;t be much different but he intends to have more scrimmages in practice.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a holler-guy. There are times when I&rsquo;ll shout but mostly I&rsquo;m pretty subdued behind the bench. If I have something to say to a player he will hear it just the same.&rdquo;</p><p>MacNeil took the new job without contract or terms of reference, raising a question whether he has been appointed only interim coach.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02793/3721808-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1145" height="1027"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Here&rsquo;s new Montreal coach AL MACNEIL, left, and CLAUDE RUEL, the man he succeeded, at the time of MacNeil&rsquo;s appointment as assistant coach of the Canadiens. This past week Ruel stepped down and MacNeil took over.</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0003-01

Motivating Habs Major Task Facing New Coach MacNeil

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-01979/3721867-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="365" height="414"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>L</span>EFTY McFADDEN</b> must be the most popular and best-liked sportsman in Ohio judging by the wonderful reception and tributes paid him on Lefty McFadden Day. The genial general manager of the International Hockey League champion Dayton Gems was the recipient of THE HOCKEY NEWS award as the Top Minor League Executive of 1969-70 and his numerous friends throughout the State of Ohio heaped all kinds of honors and awards upon him on this very special occasion&hellip;A big leaguer in every way Lefty has guided the destinies of the Dayton franchise in the IHL since its inception seven years ago. Lefty&rsquo;s Gems have won the IHL playoffs for the last two years while finishing in first place in their division during the same period and setting all kinds of attendance records&hellip;Twice within the last three years Lefty has turned down offers in two different sports to move into the Major Leagues. He has so many different things going for him in Dayton that it would have to be a very attractive offer to lure him away from the area where he is so highly respected and appreciated&hellip;Youthful Jack Walker, president of the Dayton Gems, did a tiemendous job in organizing Lefty McFadden Day&hellip;and enterprising Tom Kempton, public relations director of the Gems, also played a major role in making it all a huge success&hellip;After the advertising agency which handles the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; radio-TV sponsors complained to the club, broadcasters Budd Lynch and Bruce Martyn were allowed to go on the Wings&rsquo; charter flights&hellip;Newspaper writers are still persona non grata following the outcome of Bill Brennan&rsquo;s piece on Ned Harkness a couple of weeks ago&hellip;Sidney Salomon Jr, president of the St. Louis Blues, makes many of the road trips with his club. The other night in Montreal he was sitting high up in the Forum girders near the radio booth. Salomon, who is one of the most popular NHL owners, hopes to have escalators installed in the completely-refurbished St. Louis Arena in time for next season&hellip;Ken Ullyot, long-time General Manager of the Fort Wayne Komets of the International League, has been ailing with an attack of kidney stones.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02935/3721860-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="247" height="419"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Sid Salomon Jr.</b></figcaption></div><p><b>OWNER CHARLIE FINLEY</b> of the California Golden Seals was very fair in his dealings with retired executives Bill Torrey and Frank Selke Jr. and they both may realize in later years that they blew a good thing&hellip;Finley offered both of these non-working hockey execs the same contracts they received last year, but he was not going along with a number of fringe benefits included in both contracts but which had not been honored by the previous owners of the Seals. We saw the contracts ourselves in Finley&rsquo;s Chicago office recently&hellip;A record crowd to see a hockey game in Montreal turned out December 5, when 18,784 enthusiasts watched their heroes lose to the Bruins, 42. More vocal support was rendered the Bruins at this game by Montreal fandom than any ever heard previously&hellip;Attendance is up in all Central League cities with the exception of Amarillo which is again experiencing problems&hellip;Most NHL players have their hair cut when they visit Montreal. The reason being that haircuts are cheaper in Montreal than in any other NHL city&hellip;Minnesota GM Wren Blair is very high on Gary Geldart, a 20-year-old rookie defenseman with the North Stars&rsquo; Cleveland farm club. Only 158 pounds, Geldart has been put on a body building program, hoping to add 10 or 12 pounds&hellip;The North Stars have two natives of Fredericton, N.B. on their roster this season in the persons of Danny Grant and Buster Harvey. Coach Jack Gordon has frequently roomed the two Maritimers together on the road&hellip;Dan Maloney, Chicago&rsquo;s rookie left winger, is rapidly becoming the best fighter among NHL players. Recently he hit Rick Smith of Boston with a haymaker right that decked the Boston defenseman and was rated by astute puck observers as one of the best punches ever thrown by a hockey player&hellip;Ardent hockey fan John Hoermann, president of the M. J. Holloway & Co. of Chicago, still plays hockey on weekends during the season. A right winger he recently had one goal and an assist in a game and the buttons are still popping off his vest&hellip;Dayton Gems have yet to be shut out in a game this season&hellip;Carl Brewer has told the Toronto Maple Leafs that he has no intention of returning to hockey at this time.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03830/3721853-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="253" height="425"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Charlie Finley</b></figcaption></div><p><b>TWO DIFFERENT</b> groups are fighting over who will land the American Hockey League franchise in Nassau County, Long Island, when the new $21,000,000 arena is completed. The 14,000-seat arena is expected to open next fall in time for the 1971-72 hockey season&hellip;One of the better hockey announcers on the scene is Bob Chase of the 50,000-watt WOWO of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Bob does the play-by-play for the Fort Wayne Komets home and away games and has been broadcasting hockey games for 19 years. Hockey fans in most parts of the United States and Canada pick up the Komets&rsquo; games on the powerful WOWO band&hellip;Chase is also sports director of the radio station&hellip;Every player in the International League must wear a helmet. The Dayton Gems were the first IHL club to make it compulsory that players on the club wear helmets&hellip;A member of the Gems this season is Chick Balon, younger brother of New York&rsquo;s Dave Balon&hellip;Andre Lacroix&rsquo;s hat trick against Vancouver was his third in the NHL. The flashy little Philadelphia center is extremely popular with the fans in the City of Brotherly Love&hellip;Goalie Gump Worsley and John Mariucci, Blair&rsquo;s special assistant, were the witty speakers at a recent college hockey luncheon held in Minneapolis. Worsley was a guest of his former New York Ranger teammate, current University of Minnesota coach Glen Sonmor&hellip;Moe Benoit, veteran IHL star and coach, is now living, in Dayton and selling insurance as well as running the &ldquo;Blue Line&rdquo; bar. He has four sons active in amateur hockey in Dayton&hellip;Woody Ryan of the Baltimore Clippers front office does a terrific job in selling hockey through the State of Maryland and the Washington, D.C. area. He&rsquo;s worth his weight in gold to the Clippers&rsquo; organization.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04728/3721846-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="244" height="423"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Andre Lacroix</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0004-01

PASSING THE PUCK

<p><b>OFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY</b></p><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></p><p>President and Publisher</p><p><b>Charlie Halpin</b></p><p>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</p><p><b>Printed in Canada</b></p><p><b>Vol. 24MONTREAL, DECEMBER 18, 1970No. 11</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

The Hockey News

<h2><b>Boston TV Coverage Rates Best In NHL</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span> am writing in reply to a letter in the Nov. 13 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS. Mr. Ron Parlow wrote and discussed the superior TV coverage of the Canadian networks.</p><p>In the Boston area, I feel we boast the best television coverage. This season, WSBK-TV is telecasting 60 regular season games (including 22 home games).</p><p>In addition, we also feature slow motion. sto-action replays. With the expense of all this equipment for an independent station, I feel Boston does have the best television coverage in all of hockey.</p><p>NICK VONTZALIDES Lynn. Mass.</p><h2><b>Alignment of NHL Teams Sholuld Be Geographical</b></h2><p>I think the East-West alignment of the NHL is really poor. The teams should be divided as they are seen geographically on any North American map.</p><p>That way, the established teams would be split up a little better and would give the weaker teams a better chance to make the playoffs.</p><p>The East should be made up of Boston. New York, Buffalo, Montreal, Toronto, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The west should be Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, California, Vancouver, Los Angeles and Minnesota.</p><p>KATHLEEN HAYES Cambridge, Mass</p><h2><b>Hawks Not Title Cinch, What About Philly?</b></h2><p>I have to disagree with Mr. F. McDermott of Trenton, N.J. with his opinion that the Black Hawks will breeze into the West Division title.</p><p>All teams of the West Division have improved greatly this year and will give the Hawks a good fight all season long.</p><p>Remember, the St. Louis Blues have dominated the West the past three years. As a Philadelphia fan, I welcome the Hawks to our division. Now, we can give the Blues, and Hawks a battle for the West championship.</p><p>MICHAEL JONES Trenton, N.J.</p><h2><b>Western Teams Close Expansion Parity Gap</b></h2><p>Not much has been said or written about it lately, but the West Division teams have been constantly leading their East Division cohorts since the start of the year in East West play.</p><p>Addmittedly, the presence of the Chicago Black Hawks in the West Division helps, but a general tightening among other clubs is also prevalent. St. Louis and Chicago both have records to match Boston and Philadelphia and California are coming up fast.</p><p>JAMES LOWE Madison, Wis.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Fan Forum

<div class="byline">BY TOM MONAHAN</div><p>BOSTON&mdash;</p><p>A sports philosopher once noted that the mark of a good team is that it wins even when it plays badly.</p><p>This certainly can be applied to the Bruins. For while they haven&rsquo;t reached the top of the National League by making a habit of playing badly, they are staying there by the experience of winning their occasional clinker.</p><p>The most recent example of this came a week ago in a home game against the struggling Toronto Maple Leafs when they came from behind twice to win 42 on a short handed goal by Eddie Westfall, Phil Esposito&rsquo;s 15th goal that was scored by Maple Leaf Rick Ley and Bobby Orr&rsquo;s ninth into an empty Toronto net.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011010/3721946-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="262" height="432"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ed Westfall</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;That wasn&rsquo;t one of our great efforts,&rdquo; admitted coach Tom Johnson. &ldquo;We had some luck. They gave us a goal. We gave them one. But that&rsquo;s the kind of game you have to win. When you play badly and win, that&rsquo;s when it counts. It&rsquo;s still a victory no matter how you get it.&rdquo;</p><p>That victory kept the B&rsquo;s two points ahead of New York in the East Division&rsquo;s first place as New York was beating Pittsburgh, 6-2, and brought back a lot of memories to a pair of veteran Bruins-Westfall and Eddie Johnston.</p><p>Both played for the Bruins through the dark years of sixth place finishes and they can recall many times when the situation was reversed.</p><p>&ldquo;A half dozen years ago we&rsquo;d never have won that game,&rdquo; said Westfall. &ldquo;We&rsquo;d have come off the ice with our heads between our legs.</p><p>&ldquo;There were a good many nights back in those days when we played pretty well, better than the other team, but we never got a break. The puck would hit the post or just miss the corner and someone would make one mistake and that would be the game.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;You better believe it,&rdquo; said Johnston. &ldquo;Those are the things that happen when a team is struggling. You can play great hockey most of the game and somehow you&rsquo;ll find a way to blow it.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the difference between being on top or on the bottom. When you are on top the breaks seem to come for you most of the time.</p><p>&ldquo;And let me tell you it&rsquo;s a great win when you can play the way we did in that game and still get two points out of it.&rdquo;</p><p>Johnson had little to say to the squad about its performance in this particular game.</p><p>&ldquo;There was nothing to say really,&rdquo; he commented. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have to tell the guys they played poorly. They know it themselves.</p><p>&ldquo;There is no explanation for it either. You might just say they are only human. They wouldn&rsquo;t be if they were perfect every night.</p><p>&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t worried after that game. We had a lot of hockey behind us and we&rsquo;ve got a lot of hockey ahead of us. Maybe we were too relaxed, maybe we flattend out a bit Either way it&rsquo;s something that happens to every team a few times during a season.</p><p>&ldquo;And,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;We still won.&rdquo;</p><p>Maybe, as goalie Johnston says, it is all a matter of being on top and getting the breaks. But it seems more proper that the Bruins are making their own breaks.</p><p>Westfall&rsquo;s short-handed goal was the third in two nights for the B&rsquo;s and their eighth of the season. And while they rank third in penalties with 107 shorthanded instances, they have yielded only 12 goals.</p><p><b>ICE CHIPS&mdash;</b>The Bruins still continued to dominate the scoring race after 22 games with Esposito adding 24 assists to his 15 goals for 39 points&hellip;&lsquo;Orr was second with 9-23; Ken Hodge&rsquo;s 12-17 had him tied with Bobby Hull and Alex Delvecchio and Johnny McKenzie was one point behind with 8-17. Fred Stanfield and Gerry Cheevers were expected to be ready to return to the lineup after sitting out with a sore back and bruised hip respectively&hellip;Derek Sanderson took over Stanfield&rsquo;s duties with McKenzie and Johnny Bucyk, and Wayne Carleton centered for Don Marcotte and Westfall&hellip;Incidentally, Marcotte and Westfall each have scored three short-handed goals, Sanderson and Orr have one each.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Bruins At Stage Where Even Bad Games Look Good

<div class="byline">BY BYRON YAKE</div><p>PITTSBURGH&mdash;</p><p>The second round is sure to come. But how and when must wait for another writing.</p><p>You know spring will return. And you know that after round one comes round two. In this case round two comes or will come because of round one.</p><p>Well, there was this game between Montreal and Pittsburgh. The Penguins were getting clobbered. They hadn&rsquo;t won in three games. Montreal made it four and New York made it five a night later.</p><p>The Canadiens hadn&rsquo;t been faring too well themselves, but the Pens were good for what had been ailing them&mdash;at least for this night.</p><p>Montreal won the game 5-1. They also won the fight (round one). But remember round two follows round one.</p><p>Wally Boyer, all 160 pounds of him, was against the boards in a small tiff with 34-year-old Henri Richard who&rsquo;s more crafty, less fiery than he used to be.</p><p>&ldquo;I hit him into the boards and he high-sticked me,&rdquo; said Boyer, himself not the combatative type. Boyer and Richard apparently were ready to continue the game of hockey, but along comes Claude Larose&mdash;remember that name&mdash;to join the company of Henri and Wally.</p><p>Wham! Larose hit Boyer with a sucker punch. A black eye. What! Two stiches above the lip.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t mind fighting, but I don&rsquo;t like it when I can&rsquo;t see the punches coming,&rdquo; Boyer said.</p><p>Larose threw the first punch in Montreal but Brvan (Buggsie) Watson says it won&rsquo;t be the last.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s got to come back to him sometime,&rdquo; said Watson, &ldquo;if not tomorrow night, then another night. We play them five more times.</p><p>&ldquo;Larose has got to be expecting it. That&rsquo;s the code of the game. You can&rsquo;t &lsquo;sucker&rsquo; punch a guy and expect to get away with it,&rdquo; said Watson.</p><p>Watson saw action in the first round.</p><p>Watson and goalie Al Smith, who were both on the bench at the time, charged onto the ice along with most of the rest of the players on both teams.</p><p>Smith threw himself at Larose and Watson caught Larose with two sound punches, one early, one later. In between Watson&rsquo;s off the ice friend, John Ferguson, held him with a tight neck hold.</p><p>Larose and Watson collected 40 of the 60 minutes in penalties handed out.</p><p>Against New York, the next night, the Penguins played like they had no fight left. They lost 6-2 and had it not been for some slick goaltending by Smith, the score could have just as easily been 10-2.</p><p><b>PEN SCRIBBLINGS:</b> Keith McCreary continues to have the hottest Penguin shooting hand. He has scored six goals in an eight game stretch&hellip;Coach Red Kelly hasn&rsquo;t been in the best of moods these days. After the Pens lost to St. Louis by a 1-0 score on a goal which Christian Bordeleau shouldn&rsquo;t have had, Kelly was furious. &ldquo;We just handed it to them on a platter,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We just gave it to them. They were playing a conservative game, just waiting for a mistake and we made it.&rdquo; Bordeleau stole the puck from Duane Rupp in the Pens zone, then beat Smith with a shot between his legs&hellip;Against New York, Kelly was upset again. This time the Pens lost 6-2. &ldquo;Basically there&rsquo;s just too much monkeying around,&rdquo; he said.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Penguins Boil Over Fisticuffs, Kelly Burns After Double Loss

<p>Following are the latest player movements in hockey:</p><h2><b>NATIONAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p>ST. LOUIS&mdash;<b>Bill Plager,</b> defenseman, sent to Kansas City of CHL subject to recall. <b>Robbie Irons,</b> goalkeeper, recalled from Kansas City to act as standby.</p><p>VANCOUVER&mdash;<b>John Arbour,</b> defenseman. sold to St. Louis of NHL. <b>Len Lunde,</b> forward, announced retirement from hockey.</p><p>NEW YORK&mdash;<b>Ab DeMarco,</b> defenseman. returned to Omahaof CHL. <b>Don Blackburn,</b> forward, returned to Rochester of AHL.</p><p>MONTREAL&mdash;<b>Ralph Backstrom,</b> forward, placed on active roster from retired list.</p><p>BUFFALO&mdash;<b>Mike McMahon,</b> defenseman, sent to Los Angeles of NHL as part payment in Eddie ShackDick Duff deal.</p><p>PITTSBURGH&mdash;<b>Yvon Labre,</b> defenseman, returned to Amarillo of CHL.</p><p>DETROIT&mdash;<b>Doug Volmar,</b> forward, returned to Springfield of AHL.</p><p>CHICAGO&mdash;<b>Jerry Korab,</b> defenseman. recalled from Portland of WHL.</p><p>MINNESOTA&mdash;<b>Dennis O&rsquo;Brien,</b> defenseman, returned to Cleveland of AHL.</p><p>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;<b>Billy Woodyatt,</b> goalkeeper, recalled from Salem of EHL to act ash emergency standby and later returned to Salem.</p><h2><b>AMERICAN LEAGUE</b></h2><p>CLEVELAND&mdash;<b>Bob Heaney,</b> defenseman, sent to Amarillo of CHL.</p><h2><b>WESTERN LEAGUE</b></h2><p>DENVER&mdash;<b>John Rodger,</b> forward, placed on waivers.</p><p>PHOENIX&mdash;<b>Sandy Snow,</b> forward, placed on waivers.</p><p>SAN DIEGO&mdash;<b>Dick Proceviat,</b> defenseman, returned to Kansas City of CHL. Irv Spencer, defenseman, returned to active roster from disabled list.</p><h2><b>CENTRAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p>AMARILLO&mdash;<b>Jim Pritchard,</b> defenseman, dropped from active roster. Len Cunning, defenseman, recalled from Johnstown of EHL.</p><h2><b>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p>DES MOINES&mdash;<b>Gary Wood,</b> defenseman, claimed on waivers from Toledo of IHL. <b>Claude La-brosse,</b> defenseman, released.</p><p>MUSKEGON&mdash;<b>Marty Desmarais,</b> forward, sent to Dayton of IHL. <b>Frank Hamill,</b> forward, sent to Fort Wayne of IHL.</p><h2><b>EASTERN LEAGUE</b></h2><p>JERSEY&mdash;<b>Bobby Brown,</b> forward, placed on active roster. <b>Claude Cardin,</b> forward, claimed on waivers from Syracuse of EHL. <b>Larry Young,</b> forward, released.</p><p>LONG ISLAND&mdash;<b>Gordon Bradley,</b> defenseman, placed on active roster from disabled list. <b>Dan Creighton,</b> defenseman, dropped from roster.</p><p>JACKSONVILLE&mdash;<b>Al Calver,</b> defenseman, secured from Des Moines of IHL in exchange for <b>Luc Simard,</b> forward. <b>Jim Eagle,</b> defenseman, secured from San Diego of WHL.</p><p>SALEM&mdash;<b>Brian McDowell</b> and <b>Andre Bouchard,</b> forwards, dropped from roster. <b>Louis Morbacher,</b> forward, signed as free agent from Czech National Team. <b>Claude Piche,</b> forward, placed on active roster from disabled list.</p><p>CLINTON&mdash;<b>Len Speck,</b> defenseman, placed on active roster from retired list. <b>Steve Ross,</b> defenseman, released.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Movements of Players

<div class="byline">BY ED CONRAD</div><p>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t hasn&rsquo;t taken Bobby Clarke of the Flyers too long to realize why some guys stick around the NHL for years and other guys disappear in a hyrry.</p><p>According to Bobby, a lot of it is due to a player&rsquo;s ability to adjust to the game-by-game grind of the gruelling NHL schedule.</p><p>In simple terms, it means not wasting effort needlessly. Then, when you do need that extra energy you have it when it can do the most good.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01910/3722025-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="261" height="443"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bobby Clarke</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the biggest thing I feel I learned in my rookie season last year,&rdquo; said Bobby. &ldquo;I feel I tried to do too much. Now I&rsquo;m not trying to do it all and I&rsquo;m playing my position much better.&rdquo;</p><p>Same as Clarke last year, rookies in the big league for the first time are eager to make an impression. They feel they can best do that by outskating and outhustling an opponent no matter where he is on the ice. They&rsquo;re perfectly right because it is noticeable but. by doing so, they pay the price of not having enough in reserve. It&rsquo;s got to drain them physically.</p><p>Most guilty of this are guys like Clarke, a 21-year-old center who has made the tremendous jump right out of the amateur ranks, without benefit of other pro experience.</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the thing you&rsquo;ve got to stop these kids from doing because it&rsquo;s only natural to them after they&rsquo;ve playing in the junior leagues,&rdquo; said Alex Davidson, the Flyers&rsquo; chief scout.</p><p>&ldquo;As juniors, these kids are called on to do almost everything on the ice for their teams. So they get into a habit of doing it all. and it takes time for them to adjust once they do get into pro competition.&rdquo;</p><p>Clarke is a good case in point because last season he was the Flyers&rsquo; gung-ho guy, hustling every minute on the ice and defying his diabetic condition. The only problem, he was all over the place and this wasn&rsquo;t the best situation for the team, strange as it sounds. Other players were relying on him too much.</p><p>&ldquo;Now I&rsquo;ve come to realize that there are other guys on the ice who have a certain job to do, too,&rdquo; reasoned Bobby. &ldquo;I know now that I&rsquo;ve got to concentrate on doing my own job. Those other guys are pros, too, so they are quite capable of doing their jobs.&rdquo;</p><p>Clarke&rsquo;s realization of this fact is noticeable in how he has played a quarter of the way into his sophomore season. After 20 games, he had led the Flyers in scoring with eight goals.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Clarke Conserves Ice Energy

<div class="byline">&#x2014;By Bill Libby</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011000/3722063-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="282" height="367"></div><h2><b><i>There Can Be Only One Boss</i></b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>P</span>UNCH IMLACH WON FOUR</b> Stanley Cups in eleven seasons as manager and coach of Toronto Maple Leafs. As soon as the team slipped, he was fired. &ldquo;I had it in my contract that I was the boss, but I had a boss, Stafford Smythe, who wanted to be boss, so that, sooner or later, had to be it,&rdquo; Punch explains. &ldquo;He tried to get me to fire myself as coach, then he finally fired me as both manager and coach. We were swept out of the first round of the playoffs and when the last game ended, I walked into the dressing room and he stuck out his hand and shook my hand and said, &lsquo;That&rsquo;s it.&rsquo; I swear, I don&rsquo;t think the players were even off the ice yet. And it took a few moments for it to sink in. He could&rsquo;ve meant any damn thing. I asked if he was telling me I was fired. He said he was. The writers were outside. He asked me how I wanted to handle it. I told him that was his problem, not mine. He asked me if it wouldn&rsquo;t look better if I said I resigned. I said, &lsquo;hell, no. I didn&rsquo;t resign. You fired me. Go tell them that. It&rsquo;s the truth!&rdquo;</p><p>Punch is a wealthy man. He has good investments. He lives good He likes rare steaks and fine wine. He dresses good. He wears fancy hats over his balding head and expensive suits and alligator shoes. He didn&rsquo;t need another hockey job. He is 52 years old and has an ulcer. He didn&rsquo;t need the aggravation of continuing in coaching, where the pressure never lets up. He has a wife and two grown children he admits he&rsquo;s neglected for years. Perhaps it was time he spent more time at home. How could he top what he&rsquo;d accomplished? He could walk out with his head held high. Being fired was nothing. It&rsquo;s no disgrace. It happens to all coaches, good or bad, win or lose, he says. It happened to him and he&rsquo;d been a big winner, so, if anything, it was an insult and he had reason to chuck the rotten profession and go into business, maybe, which he has been good and successful at, too, or just take it easy for awhile.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02897/3722056-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="552" height="943"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PUNCH IMLACH &hellip; Wants Another Cup</b></figcaption></div><p>So he promptly maneuvered for an interest in the Vancouver franchise, which was due to be awarded an expansion berth in the majors, and when that fell through, he accepted the job of manager and coach at Buffalo, which got the other expansion berth. Now there is no more hopeless job in sports than running an expansion team. You pay a lot of money for castoffs and throw in some unproven kids and make the best deals you can make and wind up with a team which has to be a loser for years. It is much worse for Buffalo and Vancouver than it was for the six original expansion teams of three seasons back, for they at least got a division of their own, in which to compete for a pennant and four playoff berths, while these two latest ones were thrown in with established clubs. And Vancouver had an organization and some players and a beautiful new building and the sort of enthusiasm a Canadian city has for hockey which assured sellouts. Buffalo had no organization, no players, an ancient arena and uncertain support.</p><p>If he had to stay in hockey, weren&rsquo;t there more promising jobs open to a man with his history? &ldquo;Yes, there were,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There were at least three definite offers of coaching or coaching and managing jobs and a couple of others that might have been made definite. It&rsquo;s well known that I wouldn&rsquo;t want a place where I. wasn&rsquo;t in charge because there&rsquo;s no point in getting wet, otherwise; you have to be allowed to swim to shore, not get dragged down by someone who panics, so there were some who were interested in a coach or a manager who didn&rsquo;t want me and some I didn&rsquo;t want but there were some that had some promise, some that might have led to championships before too long. I turned them down because I didn&rsquo;t like one thing or another about them, but there were times I wondered about my wisdom, and there were times, like when the Vancouver thing fell through, when if they&rsquo;d called me back right then, I&rsquo;d have said yes.&rdquo;</p><h2><b><i>Buffalo Job a Challenge</i></b></h2><p><b>WHY, THEN, DID HE TAKE</b> the Buffalo job? &ldquo;No man ever managed and coached a team to four Stanley Cups, three in a row, and I can&rsquo;t see anyone topping that.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I can spoil that. But I&rsquo;ve done that. I&rsquo;d like to go on winning Cups, but winning them with teams a lot of guys could win with wouldn&rsquo;t be so much. But, starting from scratch, taking a new team to the top, well, there&rsquo;s the challenge, there&rsquo;s something that would be worth all the sweating and cursing and suffering that goes with this job. Someone has to be the first to win a Stanley Cup with an expansion team. I say it&rsquo;ll be me.&rdquo; He has predicted they will make the playoffs this first season. This is nonsense. He admits he has a mediocre team, yet he insists he will do it. He swears he is not just trying to give his team false hope. He can not be shaken on it. &ldquo;Some of the others, the established guys, are mediocie, too. If we work harder than them, we can make it. 1&rsquo;11 see that we work harder,&rdquo; he insists.</p><p>He sat in his hotel room, nattily dressed, but casual in his shirtsleeves and bald head. An old movie flickered on the TV set. His is a lonely job. He used to have King Clancy travelling with him. Now he had John Andersen. A man has to have someone, he said. &ldquo;If I didn&rsquo;t have the kind of wife to put up with it, I&rsquo;d never have made it this far, he sighed. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m known as a tough coach. I am. I&rsquo;m very demanding. But I&rsquo;m human I get lonely. I get disspirited. I get tired. But I bounce back. I had my chance to leave the game and I didn&rsquo;t because I love it too much. I guess I need turmoil. I hate losing, but I thrive on the ups and downs.&rdquo; His team had been taking some severe beatings. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re on our downs,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll get up. If I didn&rsquo;t think I could build a team up. I&rsquo;d have stayed out when I was put out. I&rsquo;m not a man who gives up easy.&rsquo; A week or so later he made his first return to Toronto and his Buffalo team routed Leafs, which made him the happiest man around.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY JOHN PORTER</div><p>OAKLAND&mdash;</p><p>Bert Marshall flicked off the radio. His team had just won, but for him the feeling of victory was hollow.</p><p>&ldquo;I listen to parts of the game,&rdquo; says Seals&rsquo; defenseman Bert Marshall, &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s very tough to tell what&rsquo;s going on, so I just leave the radio on and catch snatches of the game.&rdquo;</p><p>Attending a Seals game in the Oakland Coliseum Arena is even tougher for the injured 6-2, 205-pounder from Kamloops, B.C.</p><p>&ldquo;Hockey as a spectator sport is my pick,&rdquo; the impatient blueliner admits, &ldquo;but not when the Seals are playing. I can&rsquo;t stay in one place long. I just float around.</p><p>&ldquo;I dislike watching the Seals play,&rdquo; he continues. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s easy to sit in the stands and see what&rsquo;s wrong, that guy not doing very well or this one making a mistake. But I can&rsquo;t be the one to criticize because it could be me out there doing the same thing.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03753/3722094-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="268" height="457"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bert Marshall</b></figcaption></div><p>The cause of Marshall&rsquo;s discomfort is a broken left wrist.</p><p>In the fourth game of the season last year&mdash;at Los Angeles&mdash;Bert injured the wrist. Aferwards he went to the hospital to be x-rayed.</p><p>&ldquo;It was so sore and hurt everywhere that I couldn&rsquo;t tell them exactly where to x-ray,&rdquo; Bert said. &ldquo;They x-rayed it but had the wrong view. Two weeks later they took some standard wrist shots and it still didn&rsquo;t show up. Actually, I had a hairline fracture.&rdquo;</p><p>Marshall endured the pain and played the entire season and four playoff games. Gritty would be a good word to describe him, because he kept hitting and spent 109 minutes in the penalty box, despite the throbbing in his wrist.</p><p>The doctors told him to take it easy for three, weeks after the season (they thought he had arthritis), and then begin a conditioning program to strengthen the wrist.</p><p>&ldquo;I tried doing pushups but kept hearing a crack in my wrist, Bert recalls. When he tried a few golf swings on a local course, he knew the arthritis diagnosis was bogus.</p><p>Another check by x-rays finally revealed a half-inch space between two pieces of bone in his wrist. The ends had rubbed together and a specialist performed a bone graft operation on Marshall.</p><p>The doctor took bone chips from Bert&rsquo;s hip and fused together the ends of the fracture with aid of a steel pin. That was on June 17. On Nov. 10, they took off the arm-length cast and declared the Seals stalwart okay for limited skating.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve tried a few things with the wrist, but it&rsquo;s incredibly weak. There&rsquo;s no percentage in coming back too quickly if you just get hurt again,&rdquo; he adds.</p><p>When he does return to the lineup&mdash;the Seals hope it will be by Christmas&mdash;Fred Glover will have more experience for his rearguard corps.</p><p>&ldquo;Behind the net our defensemen are looking for somebody else to give the puck to instead of the guy who&rsquo;s there waiting for it,&rdquo; the coach said after dropping a 3-2 game to Minnesota.</p><p>By his own admission, Marshall isn&rsquo;t a flashy player; he doesn&rsquo;t score a lot of goals. But he does know to get the puck out of his own end of the rink.</p><p>And that&rsquo;s what Glover wants.</p><p><b>SEALS SHOTS:</b> The radio game Marshall was listening to was a 2-1 win over the Sabres in Buffalo which snapped a six-game loss streak&hellip;Bill Torrey released a statement in between the second and third periods of the Nov. 27 game with Minnesota, saying he could not in good conscience accept Charles Finley&rsquo;s contract offer&hellip;Both Torrey, former executive vice-president, and Frank Selke, former general manger, are staying in Oakland right now&hellip;Their attorney in Chicago says a law suit against all former and present owners concerned is imminent.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-03

Watching Game Worse Than Playing Claims Injured Seals’ Star

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div><p>ST. LOUIS&mdash;</p><p>The St. Louis Blues have been using four defensemen&mdash;and for them the system is brand new.</p><p>Over the bulk of the past three seasons Scotty Bowman had regularly used six defenseman. The system was unique in the National Hockey League but it worked well for the Blues. It also made the shifts a little easier for aging defensemen like Doug Harvey, Jean-Guy Talbot and Al Arbour.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-01967/3722125-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="251" height="430"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Jim Roberts</b></figcaption></div><p>Those three are gone from the Blues&rsquo; playing roster now, and Arbour, as coach, has switched to the more conventional system.</p><p>Arbour explains the change by saying, &ldquo;With the type of guys we have, they thrive on extra work.&rdquo;</p><p>The four are Barclay Plager and Noel Picard on one pair and Bob Plager and Jimmy Roberts on the other.</p><p>Roberts says, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re all pretty husky. It&rsquo;s probably good for us to get a lot of work.&rdquo;</p><p>Arbour made the change to the four-man system in the Blues&rsquo; exciting 2-0 shutout of the Boston Bruins in Boston. Glenn Hall had to leave that game after two periods because of heat exhaustion, and Ernie Wakely completed the shutout. The defense was spectacular, and Roberts set up the first goal by Frank St. Marseille and scored the second around Bobby Orr and into an empty net.</p><p>If Arbour intended the four-man system as an experiment, he couldn&rsquo;t argue with success. Although he had talked earlier in the season about the ability of a six-man system to use a different defensive pair with each line to improve cohesiveness, nevertheless the new coach made the decision to continue with the four-man system.</p><p>Picard says, &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s doing pretty good. You always stay hot and right on top of the game. I enjoy it.&rdquo;</p><p>Barclay Plager said, &ldquo;If it doesn&rsquo;t work, Al will switch back to six pretty fast. If he wants to use four, that&rsquo;s good with me; if he wants six, that&rsquo;s fine, too.&rdquo;</p><p>Arbour&rsquo;s chief reservation in using the four-man system is that two more defenseman. Bob Wall and Billy Plager, were not getting enough work. The Blues sent Billy to Kansas City on 24 hour recall to get him some needed ice time.</p><p>Arbour has indicated that Wall will see more action in the future, even if the Blues&rsquo; new four-man system continues working as perfectly as it has been. In the first five games it was used the Blues allowed a total of four goals.</p><p>Wakely said, &ldquo;It seems strange after the team has used six defensemen for three years to have the abrupt change. But it&rsquo;s worked well so far, and right now you can&rsquo;t knock success.&rdquo;</p><p>Roberts mentioned that part of the success is due to &ldquo;good support from the forwards.&rdquo; And, indeed, a team coached by Arbour, a peerless defenseman for 17 years in pro hockey, will not have its forwards caught on the wrong end of the ice.</p><p>Another interesting aspect of the four-man system as practiced by the Blues these days is that the pairings are brand new. Barclay Plager and Picard have not skated together regularly since they were minor-leaguers at Omaha seven years ago. And Bob Plager and Roberts are a regular pair for the first time even though both have been with the Blues since the very first day. In previous seasons Barclay had skated with Arbour. Bob and Noel had frequently skated together, and Roberts had been with a variety of partners and had seen some duty as a forward.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0009-01

Blues Find Magic In 4-Man Defense

<div class="byline">BY DWAYNE NETLAND</div><p>TWIN CITIES&mdash;</p><p>As the National Hockey League season rolled into December and proceeded inexorably toward the All Star break, the Minnesota North Stars were all the more convinced that they were (a) Perceptive; (b) Lucky or (c) Both in their second round of the junior amateur draft last June.</p><p>Defenseman Fred Barrett, Minnesota&rsquo;s pick in that second round, has not only made the break from the Ontario Junior Hockey Association to the NHL in one season, but he has done it with a flourish.</p><p>Barrett, only 20, is the most exciting young blueline prospect the North Stars have ever had.</p><p>He was given the advantage of being paired with veteran Teddy Harris in training camp, on the theory that the club would give him every break before he played himself into the minor leagues.</p><p>It is difficult to pinpoint the moment this season when general manager Wren Blair and coach Jack Gordon congratulated themselves on their wisdom, but the fact is that Barrett is still teamed with Harris and improving in every game.</p><p>He has, moreover, established himself already as an abrasive young man who deals out punishment. &ldquo;Barrett,&rdquo; mused goalie Gump Worsley one day, &ldquo;hits everything in sight.&rdquo;</p><p>Gump knows. He was put out of action for a week with a painfully bruised shoulder incurred before a recent game in New York when he bumped into Barrett trying to dodge a puck as the North Stars were skating around the Madison Square Garden ice.</p><p>The same night Barrett was the inadvertent precipitator of an injury that resulted in a concussion for Jack Egers of the Rangers. Egers had just followed through on a slap shot when Barrett checked him hard. Egers tumbled back, struck his head on the ice and suffered the concussion.</p><p>Barrett earned the unique honor that weekend of being named one of the three stars for the second consecutive game. He received his first tribute the night before when the North Stars blanked Buffalo 3-0, and he was honored again in the Garden the next night.</p><p>The next week, as the North Stars journeyed west for games in Vancouver, Oakland and Los Angeles, Barrett continued his hard-hitting style of play.</p><p>Typical of so many combative athletes, Barrett is soft-spoken and reserved off the ice. He recognizes his status as a rookie and has little to say. Fred is a handsome, curly-haired six-footer, however, and beneath that venee of silence the suspicion persists that there lurks a reservoir of poise and confidence. It is a cinch that in the years to come he will open up more and allow a more buoyant personality to surface.</p><p>Everybody seems to be comparing the bright young rookies of the NHL to Bobby Orr these days, and there is no disposition here to classify Barrett in Bobby&rsquo;s rare mold, but there is one similarity. Both are left-handed shots who play right defense.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

North Stars Ecstatic As Barrett Making Impact In Rookie Season

<div class="byline">BY NORMAN MacLEAN</div><p>NEW YORK&mdash;</p><p>Emile Francis, the Rangers General Manager-Coach was angry. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think Bob Nevin is playing any different now than he ever did,&rdquo; said the scrappy leader. &ldquo;It just seems that some members of the press appreciate him suddenly.&rdquo;</p><p>Nevin had just finished tying the Boston Bruins at 33 in the clutch second meeting of the young campaign. His goal came with a minute and forty five seconds left. Bob finished off a pass from Walter Tkaczuk which glanced off Bobby Orr&rsquo;s leg.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01953/3722156-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="265" height="453"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bob Nevin</b></figcaption></div><p>When the season started &ldquo;Nevvy&rdquo; was being booed by the Garden fans. This, happily has stopped. although not quite one hundred percent.</p><p>&ldquo;I hear it when I am sitting on the bench but I am able to tune it out when play is in progress,&rdquo; says Bob with a laconic grin.</p><p>Nevin&rsquo;s smooth long legged skating style sometimes gives onlookers the idea he is coasting instead of digging at top speed. This has led to dissatisfaction about his play from the paying customers, even if the management was perfectly satisfied.</p><p>&ldquo;I gave Bob a good raise this year,&rdquo; revealed Francis. &ldquo;He earned it. Some of his work last March was terrific.&rdquo;</p><p>It was in the stretch drive last season that &ldquo;Nevvy&rdquo; helped the sinking Ranger ship right itself and make the playoffs. He had started the campaign on the Walt Tkaczuk, Dave Balon line, only to hurt his knee on opening night in Boston. When Nevin was ready to return to action, Billy Fairbairn had won himself the job and &ldquo;Nevvy&rdquo; was shifted to the third line. His goal output, therefore dropped from 31 in 1968-69 to 18 a last year which was not bad considering his injury was a year long thing and his assignment was to shadow such as Gordie Howe and Johnny McKenzie,</p><p>&ldquo;If I can help the team I will play on the checking line,&rdquo; says Nevin. &ldquo;It can be a challenge playing against guys like Howe.&rdquo;</p><p>With the injury to Jack Egers, who suffered a concussion in a game against Minnesota on November 22, Nevin has replaced Jack as the right wing on the Tkaczuk line. At first, Francis tried rookie Jim Krulicki, who was recalled from Omaha when Egers was hurt. Jim did very well, setting up Balon with a neat pass which led to the Rangers only goal in a Thanksgiving Eve loss to Philadelphia in the Quaker City. Krulicki even started against Boston but midway through the game, Emile switched Nevin from the checking line, wherein he had been performing with Pete Stemkowski and Ted Irvine and subbed Ron Stewart for him.</p><p>&ldquo;I guess I am back where I started from&rdquo; said Bob, referring to the fact that the plans for 1968-69 started with him working with Tkaczuk and Balon.</p><p>Home is still the Rangers&rsquo; favorite domicile with the team carrying an unbeaten 8-0-2 record into December.</p><p><b>BLUE CHIPS:</b> Ranger Fan Club is accepting Reservations for Jan. 1 trip to Pittsburgh and Jan. 22 Dinner Dance at the Statler Hilton Hotel&hellip;Syl Apps notched his maiden NHL goal against Pittsburgh during 6-2 win on Nov. 29&hellip;Billy Fairbairn is improving and may be playing by the time this hits the street&hellip;Don Blackburn has been returned to Rochester and Ab DeMarco to Omaha.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-01

Berated Nevin Emerges As New Ranger Hero

<div class="byline">BY HAL SIGURDSON</div><p>VANCOUVER&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>H</span>al Laycoe had anticipated problems in many areas during, his Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; first NHL campaign, but one facet that did not concern him at the start of the season was killing penalties.</p><p>Why should it? That&rsquo;s one part of the game that had never caused him problems before.</p><p>During his long, successful run at the helm of the WHL Portland Buckaroos the job had always been done so efficiently it hardly even came to mind.</p><p>His stay with the Los Angeles Kings last season was brief&mdash;24 games to be exact&mdash;but while the Kings&rsquo; won-lost record wasn&rsquo;t much, their penalty killing record jumped from 12th to fourth.</p><p>But despite the Canucks&rsquo; remarkable getaway this season, killing penalties has been a constant and nagging problem.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a serious problem all along,&rdquo; said general manager Bud Poile, &ldquo;but now it&rsquo;s becoming critical.&rdquo;</p><p>It was an observation made shortly after the Canucks had surrendered their 23rd power play goal in 25 games.</p><p>Actually, the penalty killing problem seemed to be finally under control, but it flared up again in Philadelphia as Vancouver surrendered three power play goals in a 4-2 loss to the Flyers.</p><p>Laycoe, however, was more inclined to credit the Flyers with an outstanding job on the power play than to attribute any weakness to his penalty killing units.</p><p>&ldquo;Those were three nearly perfect goals,&rdquo; he conceded. &ldquo;They could have been scored against anyone.&rdquo;</p><p>Laycoe was willing to agree, though, that less than effective penalty killing can have far reaching effects on a team.</p><p>&ldquo;When you become overly concerned about taking penalties,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you tend to stray away from your normal game&hellip;play less aggressively than you normally would.</p><p>&ldquo;I hate to have to tell a team to careful about taking penalties, but I&rsquo;ve had to do that a few times this year. Then you wonder whether maybe Pat Quinn is playing it as tough as you&rsquo;d like him to.&rdquo;</p><p>Penalty killing, he insists involves no mysteries. To a large extent, he claimed, the art is a state of mind, a matter of self dicipline.</p><p>&ldquo;You need four strong checkers, of course,&rdquo; he elaborated, &ldquo;guys who will be strong-willed enough to play a positional, zone defence in their own end.</p><p>&ldquo;The only times you get into trouble killing a penalty are when you get caught up the ice or start running around in your own end.&rdquo;</p><p>The most common fault, he continued, is to chase an opposing forward into the corner.</p><p>&ldquo;Let him stay in the corner as long as he wants,&rdquo; says Laycoe. &ldquo;He can&rsquo;t score from there. Go after him and he&rsquo;ll get the puck out to someone in front of the net and then you&rsquo;re in trouble.&rdquo;</p><p>During his Portland days, killing a penalty was no problem at all. Laycoe would simply send out Redeye Hay and Connie Madigan on defence and Art Jones and Larry Leach as forwards.</p><p>&ldquo;Hay and Madigan were great at blocking shots.&rdquo; Hal recalled fondly &ldquo;Leach was a strong checker and Jones had that great sense of anticipation. He&rsquo;d deliberately leave a hole, then anticipate the pass and move in to intercept it.&rdquo;</p><p>He believes the problem in Vancouver is also diminishling. Darryl Sly and Marc Reaume, a pair of veteran defensemen, have been shifted to forwards on the man-short situation and except for Philadelphia have compiled a good record over the last two weeks.</p><p>The end of Ted Taylor&rsquo;s long holdout seige gives him another strong penalty killing forward. In fact, Taylor and captain Orland Kurtenbach may be his strongest penalty killing forwards, but Laycoe has sought an alternative to using big Kurt.</p><p>&ldquo;Even a big, strong guy like him can play only so long,&rdquo; he insisted.</p><p>Kurt&rsquo;s ice time has reached 40 minutes in some games.</p><p><b>GOAL DUST:</b> Len Lunde, waived out of the NHL recently, has informed Poile he intends to retire at 34&hellip;The Canucks and Flyers have been holding trade talks, but Poile admits &ldquo;things are still on a slow burner&rdquo;&hellip;The Vancouver GM has been casting covetous eyes at some of Philadelphia&rsquo;s penalty killers&hellip;Ed Hatoum, the right winger who suffered a shoulder separation two days before the season opener, is back in action&hellip;Forward Danny Seguin made his first start at home against Philadelphia.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Penalty Killing Still Haunting New Canucks

<p><b>The BOBBY HULL line by C&middot;C&middot;M&middot;</b></p><p>The best hockey equipment ever made for youngsters. Skates. Gloves. Shoulder protectors. Elbow pads. Pants. Shin guards. Sticks. And helmets.</p><p><b>C&middot;C&middot;M&middot; a division of Seaway Multi-Corp Limited</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03696/3722322-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="524" height="1445"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0013-03

What kind of hockey equipment does Bobby Hull recommend for young hockey players?

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01931/3722360-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"></div><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Dec. 8)</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/f0013-02787/3722353-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="1106" height="338"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Tues. Dec. 1</b></p><p>Philadelphia 4 at Vancouver 5</p><p><b>Wed. Dec. 2</b></p><p>Montreal 3 at Pittsburgh 3</p><p>Los Angeles 0 at Toronto 7</p><p>St. Louis 2 at New York 4</p><p>Boston 3 at Chicago 4</p><p>California 2 at Minnesota 3</p><p><b>Thurs. Dec. 3</b></p><p>St. Louis 3 at Montreal 6</p><p>Boston 4 at Buffalo 4</p><p>Los Angeles 4 at Detroit 4</p><p><b>Fri. Dec. 4</b></p><p>Philadelphia 4 at California 0</p><p><b>Sat. Dec. 5</b></p><p>Boston 4 at Montreal 2</p><p>New York 1 at Toronto 0</p><p>Detroit 0 at St. Louis 3</p><p>Vancouver 1 at Pittsburgh 3</p><p>Chicago 4 at Minnesota 1</p><p>Philadelphia 4 at Los Angeles 4</p><p><b>Sun. Dec. 6</b></p><p>Toronto 2 at Chicago 6</p><p>Vancouver 1 at New York 4</p><p>Pittsburgh 3 at Boston 6</p><p>St. Louis 4 at Detroit 2</p><p>Minnesota 0 at Buffalo 1</p><h3><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h3><p><b>Tues. Dec. 8</b></p><p>Toronto at Pittsburgh New York at Vancouver</p><p><b>Wed. Dec. 9</b></p><p>Montreal at Toronto</p><p>New York at Los Angeles</p><p>Buffalo at Chicago</p><p>Vancouver at California</p><p>Philadelphia at St. Louis</p><p>Pittsburgh at Minnesota</p><p><b>Thurs. Dec. 10</b></p><p>Minnesota at Montreal</p><p>Buffalo at Boston</p><p>Philadelphia at Detroit</p><p><b>Fri. Dec.11</b></p><p>New York at California</p><p>Pittsburgh at St. Louis</p><p><b>Sat. Dec. 12</b></p><p>Los Angeles at Montreal</p><p>Chicago at Toronto</p><p>Boston at Philadelphia (Afternoon)</p><p>Buffalo at Detroit</p><p>California at Vancouver</p><p>Minnesota at Pittsburgh</p><p><b>Sun. Dec. 13</b></p><p>Toronto at Buffalo</p><p>Los Angeles at New York</p><p>Detroit at Boston</p><p>Minnesota at Chicago</p><p>St. Louis at Philadelphia</p><p><b>Tues. Dec. 5</b></p><p>Philadelphia at Vancouver</p><p>Minnesota at St. Louis</p><p><b>Wed. Dec. 16</b></p><p>Montreal at Minnesota</p><p>Toronto at Pittsburgh</p><p>Buffalo at New York</p><p>Los Angeles at Boston</p><p>Detroit at California</p><p>St. Louis at Chicago</p><p><b>Thurs. Dec. 17</b></p><p>Los Angeles at Buffalo<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0013-01

THE NHL SCENE

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><p>CHICAGO&mdash;</p><p>It seems that Dennis Hull has lived in a shadow ever since he joined the Chicago Black Hawks. The shadow is called Bobby.</p><p>But the shadow may be vanishing. For one thing. Dennis admittedly is more relaxed than ever and through 23 games, he had notched ten goals&mdash;his best start ever.</p><p>For another thing: &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t heard the fans booing me as much lately.&rdquo; said Dennis. &ldquo;And that&rsquo;s nice.&rdquo;</p><p>Chicago Stadium hockey buffs have never been kind to Dennis. His blistering shot has made him a genuine scoring threat, and his hard skating has marked him as a diligent worker. But still the catcalls. Dennis never has seemed to satisfy the boo-birds.</p><p>&ldquo;At times I&rsquo;ve even felt a lot more comfortable playing on the road.&rdquo; claims Dennis. &ldquo;But lately I&rsquo;ve been more at ease and I&rsquo;ve been scoring more. Of course, the goals probably have helped me relax more. I&rsquo;m concentrating on playing my left wing alley. I start every game thinking and playing defensively and just taking the scoring opportunities as they come. And they&rsquo;ve been coming.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01944/3722391-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="267" height="375"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Dennis Hull</b></figcaption></div><p>The boss man, Coach Billy Reay, concurs: &ldquo;The main thing Dennis is doing now is staying on his wing. If he keeps doing that, he&rsquo;ll get his shots. And I&rsquo;ll tell you, with his shot, he&rsquo;ll score. I doubt if there is a goaltender in the National Hockey League who doesn&rsquo;t sweat when Dennis comes at him with the puck.&rdquo;</p><p>It appears that Dennis has an excellent chance to break his career high of 30 goals during the 1968-69 season. He had 15 at the midway point then.</p><p>In late November, he went on a binge of scoring in four straight games, still short of his brother&rsquo;s NHL mark of 10 games which is also shared by Andy Bathgate, then with the New York Rangers.</p><p>Dennis is an extremely pleasant man and has never prompted any comparisons between himself and Bobby. It seems to have all come from the fans who always want more from Dennis, no matter how well he did. But the boos are becoming fewer and fewer.</p><p>As quick as he is to be thankful for the spectators&rsquo; improved kindness and his own success, Dennis gives a rapid nod of thanks to his center, Stan Mikita.</p><p>&ldquo;Stan&rsquo;s terrific to play on a line with,&rdquo; Dennis said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s started to hit his stride after the back problems and at the start of the season and that&rsquo;s got to help.&rdquo;</p><p>Mikita notched 17 assists through November, also boosting right wing Cliff Korol (8 goals) to a quick take off. But Stan himself was off his goal output&mdash;he had just two. &ldquo;At this pace, &ldquo;he clowned &ldquo;my final statistics will be two goals and a thousand assists this season.&rdquo;</p><p>Though the Hawks were off to their second best start in history, injuries were hitting the club hard.</p><p>Doug Jarrett, the husky veteran defenseman, suffered a shoulder separation in practice. He underwent surgery&mdash;a pin was placed in the shoulders&mdash;but the most optimistic outlook was an early January return.</p><p>The Hawks&rsquo; stellar blueline corps was further pinched by the loss of Bill White, who hurt his left knee and was assigned a partial leg cast and inactivity for at least two weeks.</p><p>Both White and Jarrett were playing well and Reay moaned that &ldquo;those two injuries really hurt.&rdquo;</p><p>Still the Hawks were zooming along. They were unbeaten at home through the first dozen games (10-0-2). Their overall mark of 14-4-5 record was second only to the start made by the 1963-64 Hawks team which notched its 14th victory two days earlier (Nov. 27) than did the current squad.</p><p><b>HAWKEY TALK:</b> The Hawks, hurting on defense after the White and Jarrett injuries, summoned 22-year-old Jerry Korab from their Portland farn team of the Western Hockey League. Korab is one of the heaviest and strongest players in the NHL (6-2. 218 pounds). And he was on the ice for only 29 seconds in his debut Nov. 29 against Los Angeles before he collected his first point, an assist on Dennis Hull&rsquo;s a winning goal in a 5-3 victory.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-01

Hawks’ ‘Other’ Hull Having His Best Start

<h2><b>In The East</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>J</span>ust when it appeared Phil Esposito was losing ground in the NHL&rsquo;s individual scoring race, he turned on the power in a spectacular scoring week.</p><p>The rangy Boston center produced a 10-point offense last week to restore his commanding lead over teammate Bobby Orr. And what a run Espo enjoyed.</p><p>He scored seven times, including two hat tricks, and assisted on three other goals, giving him a season total of 22 goals and 27 assists for 49 points&mdash;11 more than Orr. Espo has 22 goals in 26 games to move ahead of Bobby Hull&rsquo;s record 58-goal pace in 1967-68.</p><p>Espo turned in his third &lsquo;hat&rsquo; of the season and it marked the eighth time in his career that he has scored three goals in one game.</p><p>THE HOCKEY NEWS has selected Esposito as the East Division player whom we think belongs among the NHL&rsquo;s Stars Of The Week.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02793/3722429-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="534" height="632"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PHIL ESPOSITO&hellip;Boston Bruins</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>In The West</b></h2><p>The St. Louis Blues welcomed the chance to take Jim Lorentz off the Boston Bruins&rsquo; hands this season. He could prove to be a tremendous find for the West Division club in time.</p><p>The Bruins couldn&rsquo;t find a spot in their lineup for the 23-year-old Lorentz but the Blues wasted little time in moving him into an active playing role and this past week they began to realize an early return.</p><p>Lorentz scored three times and set up a fourth goal as the Blues went on to divide four games. Two of his goals helped down Detroit 3-0 while the other was in a losing cause against New York. With only one goal in his first 20 games, Lorentz could be on his way after a three-goal week for the Blues.</p><p>THE HOCKEY NEWS has selected Lorentz as the West Division player whom we think belongs among the NHL&rsquo;s Stars Of The Week.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03604/3722422-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="542" height="571"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JIM LORENTZ&hellip;St. Louis Blues</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0014-02

STARS OF THE WEEK

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-26" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2642/3722697-1-eng-US/f0016-262.jpg"></div><p><b>C-Captain.</b></p><p><b>A-Alternate Captain.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-26

NHL Team Rosters

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01751/3722666-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="436" height="288"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02645/3722659-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="483" height="289"></div><h2><b>Tues. Dec. 1 PHILADELPHIA 4 at VANCOUVER 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03515/3722652-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="585" height="738"></div><h2><b>Wed. Dec. 2 MONTREAL 3 at PITTSBURGH 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04402/3722645-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="582" height="656"></div><h2><b>LOS ANGELES 0 at TORONTO 7</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05302/3722638-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="581" height="565"></div><h2><b>ST. LOUIS 2 at NEW YORK, 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-06245/3722631-1-eng-US/f0016-062.jpg" title="f0016-06" width="582" height="534"></div><h2><b>BOSTON 3 at CHICAGO 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-07222/3722624-1-eng-US/f0016-072.jpg" title="f0016-07" width="582" height="721"></div><h2><b>CALIFORNIA 2 at MINNESOTA 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-08203/3722617-1-eng-US/f0016-082.jpg" title="f0016-08" width="578" height="425"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-09181/3722610-1-eng-US/f0016-092.jpg" title="f0016-09" width="577" height="174"></div><h2><b>Thurs. Dec. 3 ST. LOUIS 3 at MONTREAL 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-10159/3722603-1-eng-US/f0016-102.jpg" title="f0016-10" width="587" height="700"></div><h2><b>LOS ANGELES 4 at DETROIT 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-11145/3722596-1-eng-US/f0016-112.jpg" title="f0016-11" width="586" height="637"></div><h2><b>BOSTON 4 at BUFFALO 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-12128/3722589-1-eng-US/f0016-122.jpg" title="f0016-12" width="578" height="608"></div><h2><b>Fri. Dec. 4 PHILADELPHIA 4 AT CALIFORNIA 0</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-13116/3722582-1-eng-US/f0016-132.jpg" title="f0016-13" width="581" height="555"></div><h2><b>Sat. Dec. 5 BOSTON 4 at MONTREAL 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-14109/3722575-1-eng-US/f0016-142.jpg" title="f0016-14" width="579" height="286"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1599/3722568-1-eng-US/f0016-152.jpg" title="f0016-15" width="579" height="330"></div><h2><b>NEW YORK 1 at TORONTO 0</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1695/3722561-1-eng-US/f0016-162.jpg" title="f0016-16" width="572" height="301"></div><h2><b>DETROIT 0 at ST. LOUIS 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1787/3722554-1-eng-US/f0016-172.jpg" title="f0016-17" width="578" height="396"></div><h2><b>VANCOUVER 1 at PITTSBURGH 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1880/3722547-1-eng-US/f0016-182.jpg" title="f0016-18" width="577" height="487"></div><h2><b>CHICAGO 4 at MINNESOTA 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1974/3722540-1-eng-US/f0016-192.jpg" title="f0016-19" width="584" height="519"></div><h2><b>PHILADELPHIA 4 at LOS ANGELES 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2059/3722533-1-eng-US/f0016-202.jpg" title="f0016-20" width="585" height="640"></div><h2><b>Sun. Dec. 6 TORONTO 2 at CHICAGO 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2156/3722526-1-eng-US/f0016-212.jpg" title="f0016-21" width="588" height="671"></div><h2><b>ST. LOUIS 4 at DETROIT 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2254/3722519-1-eng-US/f0016-222.jpg" title="f0016-22" width="584" height="610"></div><h2><b>MINNESOTA 0 at BUFFALO 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2352/3722512-1-eng-US/f0016-232.jpg" title="f0016-23" width="576" height="345"></div><h2><b>VANCOUVER 1 AT NEW YORK 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2450/3722505-1-eng-US/f0016-242.jpg" title="f0016-24" width="584" height="575"></div><h2><b>PITTSBURGH 3 at BOSTON 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2545/3722498-1-eng-US/f0016-252.jpg" title="f0016-25" width="579" height="253"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01646/3722491-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="581" height="480"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0016-01

National Hockey League SUMMARIES

<div class="byline">BY CHARLEY BARTON</div><p>BUFFALO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>P</span>unch Imlach reached out for two veterans who helped him win four Stanley Cups at Toronto when he acquired Eddie Shack and Dick Duff from the Los Angeles Kings.</p><p>Shack, 33, and Duff, 34, both left-wingers, were obtained in a trade for defenseman Mike McMahon Jr., 28, and Imlach&rsquo;s favorite phrase, &ldquo;future considerations.&rdquo;</p><p>The Entertainer, as Shack is known, played on all four of Imlach&rsquo;s Stanley Cup teams with the Maple Leafs. Duff played with two winners at Toronto, and three more at Montreal.</p><p>Duff scored the winning goal in the deciding game of Imlach&rsquo;s first winner, and Shack got the winner the last time an Imlach team won the cup for the Maple Leafs.</p><p>Imlach was pleasantly surprised when Shack and Duff reported less than 72 hours after the deal was completed.</p><p>&ldquo;I knew Duff would get here as soon as possible, but Shack owns a home out there, and you never know what he&rsquo;s going to do, anyway.&rdquo;</p><p>Shack made his debut with the Sabres against the California Golden Seals less than 24 hours after joining the club. Duff was held out of the game in order to enable him to get more skating in before taking a regular shift.</p><p>Shack admitted he thought twice about reporting in a hurry, and had fleeting ideas about asking to have his contract renegotiated before leaving Los Angeles for the frozen North.</p><p>&ldquo;Maybe I could have gotten some more money, but I&rsquo;m so anxious to play it isn&rsquo;t worth arguing about,&rdquo; Shack said. Then he knocked down earlier stories of his long and loud feuds with Imlach.</p><p>&ldquo;I played for him for eight years, and never had any more trouble with him that any other coach I&rsquo;ve played for.&rdquo; Shack said. &ldquo;When he traded me away to Boston for Murray Oliver, the Leafs also got $100,000. Punch made a lot of money for the club. That&rsquo;s all part of this business.</p><p>&ldquo;I hated to leave my nice home in Los Angeles, but other than that, I&rsquo;m happy to be in Buffalo and back with Punch.&rdquo;</p><p>Imlach used Shack with his other muscle man, Reg Fleming, on a line with center Skip Krake against the Seals, but indicated it wan&rsquo;t necessarily a permanent unit.</p><p>&ldquo;When we got Jean-Guy Talbot and Larry Keenan from St. Louis, and Phil Goyette and Don Marshall rejoined us, I said we were improved between 30 and 40 per cent.</p><p>&ldquo;Shack and Duff move us up another 10 to 15 percent. We now have 10 players we didn&rsquo;t have right after the expansion draft last June.</p><p>&ldquo;So, you can see we&rsquo;re slowly but surely getting a big-league look.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>ICE QUIPS&hellip;&hellip;By MAKI</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02558/3722728-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="958" height="978"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>&ldquo;I TOLD You That Our Coach Was a REAL DUMMY!&rdquo;</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0017-02

Imlach Giving Sabres ‘Big League’ Look

<div class="byline">BY BOB BROWN</div><p>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><p>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallacaburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><p>CLEVELAND&mdash;</p><p>The Cleveland Barons are right where they wanted to be after their first twenty games of the season&hellip;fighting for first place. And, with a third of their road slate behind him, the &lsquo;Mod&rsquo; Squad is in great shape to go all the way.</p><p>That&rsquo;s the feeling in Cleveland these days and it has local hockey buffs buzzing about this club like they haven&rsquo;t in many a season.</p><p>Coach Parker MacDonald has all his injured players back. too. with the exception of Wayne Schultz (broken shoulder) and the blue and white appears prime to make its move. The Barons play five of their first seven December games on home ice. a rink where their record stands at six wins and two losses.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01659/3722766-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="261" height="444"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Norm Beaudin</b></figcaption></div><p>Right winger Norm Beaudin is leading the AHL in scoring heading into December and has a shot at two Cleveland all-time records. If his current pace continues. Beaudin can better Fred Glover&rsquo;s single season mark of 107 points and Jackie Gordon&rsquo;s assists record of 71. Also, should he wind up on top of the scoring heap at the end of this season, he will be the first Baron to win the title since Glover turned the trick in 1959-60.</p><p>The only Cleveland question marks at the moment are goal tending and defense. Both have been inconsistent but, at times, both have been more than adequate. With backliner Dennis O&rsquo;Brien returned by Minnesota and goalkeeper Fern Rivard&rsquo;s injured knee healed, MacDonald will have the manpower to strengthen both areas.</p><p>Gary Kurt played brilliantly at times during Rivard&rsquo;s absence as he did a year ago when Gerry Gray was hurt and could never regain the number one job. With Kurt and Rivard both playing as they are capable, the Barons goal will be well protected.</p><p>On defense, MacDonald now has six players&rsquo; to move around&hellip;Young, O&rsquo;Brien and Geldart plus veterans Bill Needham, Tom Polanic, Marshall Johnston and Dick Redmond.</p><p>Cleveland fans like the hustle of the new Barons. Turnouts have averaged over 5,000 for eight games, nearly 2,000 per game over the first eight face offs a year back. Owner Nick Mileti, now in his thrid season at the Barons &lsquo;helm, is elated with the progress and his club&rsquo;s early showing.</p><p>&ldquo;This simply reafirms my confidence in Cleveland as a great hockey town,&rdquo; Mileti exclaimed. &ldquo;The fans relate to exciting hockey and they&rsquo;re getting it.&rdquo;</p><p>The way the attendance is headed, it could be the Barons biggest year at the gate in twenty years. Fans here are hungry. They haven&rsquo;t had a division title in nine seasons and their last Calder Cup winner was the 196363 club which finished thrid, then roared through nine straight post season games unbeaten.</p><p>Everything is go in Cleveland. The Mod Squad is doing the job on the ice. For Mileti and General Manager John Muckier, it&rsquo;s a sweet beginning to what they hope will be one of the Barons&rsquo; biggest years ever.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02529/3722759-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="547" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>FERN RIVARD</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0018-01

Barons’ ‘Mod Squad’ Turns On Cleveland Fans

<div class="byline">BY GEORGE DUFFY</div><p>PROVIDENCE&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen Nick Polano was with the Baltimore Clippers three years ago, he used to spend some time gazing at the venders working through the stands selling their wares.</p><p>Nick had a lot of time to do things like that because he played very little for the Clippers and might have accomplished more by selling programs or popcorn.</p><p>But before Polano applied for work at the office of the Civic Center cosession office in Maryland, he was rescued by the R.I. Reds who told Nick to pack his bag, put the one youngster and the wife in the family car, and head for Providence.</p><p>Like a guy who had just hit a whopping daily double at the track, Polano was so happy at the news that he was joining the Reds he could hardly talk. But he did say, among other things, &ldquo;Oh my God, my prayers have been answered.&rdquo;</p><p>The Reds, bustling along in first place in the Eastern Division of the American Hockey League, can thank Nick for some of the success. The 29-year-old who stands six feet and weighs 190 pounds, has played a steady defensive game and has dedicated himself to an all-out effort. He&rsquo;s aiming at an All Star berth and possibly a shot at the National Hockey League.</p><p>For one thing, Polano is not getting as many penalties and is dishing out one solid check after another. He recently hit Baltimore&rsquo;s Wayne Rivers so hard that Wayne&rsquo;s stick was blasted into pieces and the Clipper forward was shaken up.</p><p>Of that check, Polano said &ldquo;I have nothing against Wayne but every time we play Baltimore I remember all those games I sat around like a lost soul. I just try harder against the Clippers.&rdquo;</p><p>At the start of the season, Nick was teamed up with 22-year-old Neil Nicholson. When the latter was hurt, 20-year-old Terry Murray became Polano&rsquo;s skating mate on defense. Murray has played well and Polano&rsquo;s presence has helped.</p><p>But Nick takes no credit for what Murray has accomplished. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a fine young defenseman,&rdquo; says Nick, &ldquo;and Terry is going to get better.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-04346/3722975-1-eng-US/f0019-042.jpg" title="f0019-04" width="531" height="1020"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>NICK POLANO&hellip;Solid Hitter</b></figcaption></div><h2>HOW THEY STAND</h2><p><b>AMERICAN LEAGUE</b></p><p><b>(Standings on Wed. Dec. 9)</b></p><h3><b>EAST DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01630/3722968-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="563" height="167"></div><h3><b>WEST DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02519/3722961-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="569" height="300"></div><p><b>(Affiliations: 1. Montreal, 2. Detroit 3. Boston, 7. Los Angeles, 9. California, 10. Philadelphia, 11. Minnesota, 13. Vancouver).</b></p><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Mon. Nov. 30</b></p><p>Baltimore 4 at Montreal 1</p><p><b>Wed. Dec. 2</b></p><p>Quebec 2 at Cleveland 4</p><p>Baltimore 8 at Montreal 3</p><p><b>Fri. Dec. 4</b></p><p>Rochester 6 at Montreal 2</p><p>Cleveland 6 at Providence 5</p><p>Hershey 0 at Quebec 4</p><p>Baltimore 0 at Springfield 8</p><p><b>Sat. Dec. 5</b></p><p>Providence 3 at Baltimore 4</p><p>Montreal 2 at Cleveland 2</p><p>Hershey 5 at Springfield 2</p><p><b>Sun. Dec. 6</b></p><p>Hershey 5 at Providence 2</p><p>Rochester 3 at Quebec 6</p><h3><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h3><p><b>Wed. Dec 9</b></p><p>Springfield at Hershey</p><p><b>Fri. Dec. 11</b></p><p>Springfield at Baltimore</p><p>Hershey at Cleveland</p><p>Quebec at Montreal</p><p>Providence at Rochester</p><p><b>Sat. Dec. 12</b></p><p>Providence at Cleveland</p><p>Quebec at Hershey</p><p>Montreal at Springfield</p><p><b>Sun. Dec. 13</b></p><p>Montreal at Quebec</p><p>Cleveland at Rochester</p><p><b>Wed. Dec. 16</b></p><p>Montreal at Rochester</p><p><b>Thurs. Dec. 17</b></p><p>Providence at Quebec</p><p><b>Fri. Dec. 18</b></p><p>Hershey at Baltimore</p><p>Springfield at Cleveland</p><p>Providence at Montreal</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><p><b>(Including games of Sun. Nov. 29)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03406/3722954-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="571" height="406"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0019-04

Polano Aims At All Star Berth With Defensive Play For Reds

<div class="byline">BY HANS TANNER</div><p>ROCHESTER&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Rochester Americans closed out the first quarter of their 1970-71 schedule in a very familiar&hellip;for them recently&hellip;position&mdash;last place in the Western Division.</p><p>But the manner in which they wound up the first 18-game segment of the season was encouraging for general manager-coach Dick Gamble and the Rochester fans.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01479/3723037-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="271" height="440"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Duke Harris</b></figcaption></div><p>They played a thrilling 1-1 tie in Hershey on Nov. 28&mdash;scoring the lone goal while killing off a penalty. Ron Ward was the hero with the goal.</p><p>And the following night here the Amerks put away Springfield, 3-1.</p><p>This left the Americans only two points behind third-place Hershey and seven behind coleaders Cleveland and Baltimore., And Rochester had played one less game than Baltimore, two less than Cleveland and three less than Hershey.</p><p>More important than the tie, the win or the games in hand, however, was that for the first time this season, the Rochester Americans showed signs of playing as a team.</p><p>But to become a challenger, the Amerks will have to start scoring goals. Multiply the current outputs by four for a whole season and Rochester would have only one player with more than 25 goals.</p><p>Ralph Stewart with eight led the way through 18 games, and was being watched closely by National League scouts, obviously interested in his size and his ability. Duke Harris with six was next at the quarter-mark, followed by Don Blackburn and Red Armstrong with five and Rob Walton with four.</p><p>Gamble feels that as the teamwork develops, so will the much-needed scoring punch.</p><p>&ldquo;Remember, most of these guys never played together before. It takes time getting used to each other,&rdquo; Gamble said. &ldquo;And I&rsquo;ve been doing a lot of juggling trying to get the right combinations. I think we&rsquo;re getting close to that now, so I look for a lot more scoring.&rdquo;</p><p>The defense has been erratic, but it too should steady down as the players get used to each other. Rochester was outshot in 16 of the 18 games.</p><p>The man most responsible for the fact the Amerks still were so close to Hershey, Cleveland and Baltimore was goalkeeper Serge Aubry.</p><p>His play, if it continues anywhere near its present level, will earn him employment in the National League next season for sure&hellip;and maybe even this season.</p><p><b>ICICLES:</b> The Amerks scored five goals just once in their 18 games, reached four five times, three the same number, two four times, one twice and were blanked once&hellip;Aubry has limited the opposition to one goal in five games and has one shutout. The whitewash and three of the one-goal games were against Hershey, and the other two one-goalers against Springfield&hellip;Stewart shook up the fans here Nov. 29 when he sauntered up ice alone with the puck in the closing seconds and almost missed an open net with the Springfield goalie out. Stewart was coming in straight on, and his shot, with seven seconds, left, clanked in off a goalpost.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-01

Gamble Urging More Teamwork To Give Amerks Storing Punch

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK SANTANIELLO</div><p>SPRINGFIELD&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>J</span>ust when the Springfield Kings began to make their move at the front running Providence Reds in the Eastern Division of the AHL, key injuries and a callup gave the club a setback. However, despite this fact, the locals are still right there in the race for first place.</p><p>In addition, coming off a rough seven-game road trip covering two weeks, the Kings certainly had to welcome a return to home ice.</p><p>Ray Fortin, the rugged defenseman down from the NHL, is back on the sidelines with a broken hand.</p><p>Ray only recently returned from the injury list when he suffered a damaged knee on a freak accident when slammed into the board. Fortin is the steadying type of player, a veteran performer, needed to keep the kids hustling and also giving them encouragement. He&rsquo;ll be missed.</p><p>Dunc Rousseau, a top player last season with Dayton of the International League, also was on the sidelines with a damaged shoulder which has been giving him trouble.</p><p>Red Gibbons has been working with a bad elbow which further depletes the defensive strength of the club. Gibbons was returned here by the Phoenix Roadrunners and has been a welcome addition.</p><p>However, the recall to Detroit of American-born Doug Volmar hurt the team. A big man who can work the power play as well as check, skate and shoot, Doug was on loan to the Springfield team from the Wings, who had injury troubles themselves. He was returned last week but the Kings felt his absence.</p><p>Springfield must soon win some road games in order to take pressure off the club when it is playing at home. Coach John Wilson knows that and so do the players, but still the Kings have done poorly on the road this season, a good reason why the club isn&rsquo;t in first place.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Injuries, Callup Hit Kings At Wrong Time

<div class="byline">BY JOHN ARNOLD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02355/3723092-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="775" height="1033"></div><p><b>SOLUTION IN DEC. 25 ISSUE</b></p><h2><b>ACROSS</b></h2><p>1&mdash;Pictured player.</p><p>6&mdash;An NHL general manager answers to this.</p><p>8&mdash;A former Ranger defenseman.</p><p>11&mdash;A California forward.</p><p>12&mdash;Retired Canuck answers to this.</p><p>14&mdash;Initials of an NHL goaltender.</p><p>15&mdash;&hellip;Francisco.</p><p>18&mdash;15th&rsquo; and 12th letters of the alphabet.</p><p>19&mdash;Initials of NHL center.</p><p>20&mdash;An NHL left winger.</p><p>22&mdash;Registered 28 goals for St. Louis last year.</p><p>28&mdash;A former Pittsburgh forward.</p><p>29&mdash;First name of an NHL captain.</p><p>30&mdash;1st and 23rd letters of the alphabet.</p><p>31&mdash;A Chicago veteran.</p><h2><b>DOWN</b></h2><p>1&mdash;Once scored 6 goals in one game.</p><p>2&mdash;A Toronto center.</p><p>3&mdash;This will ruin a natural ice surface.</p><p>4&mdash;An NHL referee.</p><p>5&mdash;18th and 9th letters of the alphabet.</p><p>7&mdash;Recently came out of retirement (first name).</p><p>9&mdash;Initials of a hockey iron man.</p><p>10&mdash;Each (abbr.).</p><p>13&mdash;Same as 14 across.</p><p>16&mdash;19 acorss was one last season.</p><p>17&mdash;1966-67 Conn Smuthe trophy winner.</p><p>21&mdash;A New York defenseman.</p><p>23&mdash;First name of 28 across.</p><p>24&mdash;Auniversity degree. (init.)</p><p>25&mdash;Initials of former Bruin Tessier.</p><p>26&mdash;A U.S. State.</p><p>27&mdash;Proposition.</p><p>28&mdash;Initials of an NHL general manager.</p><h2><b>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S ANSWERS</b></h2><p>1&mdash;COLLINS</p><p>8. ARE</p><p>9&mdash;REGAN</p><p>11&mdash;REIBEL</p><p>13&mdash;ND.</p><p>14&mdash;T.R.</p><p>15&mdash;SAGE</p><p>17&mdash;ERE</p><p>19&mdash;TOR.</p><p>20&mdash;TOR.</p><p>21&mdash;T.S.</p><p>22&mdash;O.B.</p><p>23&mdash;T.O.</p><p>24&mdash;NIL</p><p>26&mdash;GIN</p><p>27&mdash;NEVIN</p><p>30&mdash;U.S.A.</p><p>31&mdash;REISE</p><p>34&mdash;POCKET</p><p>36&mdash;E.B.</p><p>37&mdash;N.H.L.</p><p>28&mdash;A.E.</p><p>1&mdash;CARLETON</p><p>2&mdash;ORE</p><p>3&mdash;LEITER</p><p>4&mdash;IRE</p><p>5&mdash;NELS</p><p>6&mdash;S.G.</p><p>7&mdash;ANDERSON</p><p>10&mdash;ANGOTTI</p><p>12&mdash;B.R.</p><p>16&mdash;AT</p><p>18&mdash;ROBINSON</p><p>23&mdash;LEACH</p><p>28&mdash;IRE</p><p>29&mdash;NETS</p><p>30&mdash;UP</p><p>32&mdash;SEA</p><p>33&mdash;EVE</p><p>35&mdash;K.L.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-02

HOCKEY CROSSWORD

<div class="byline">BY JOHN TRAVERS</div><p>HERSHEY&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>J</span>ust when it appeared Coach Frank Mathers had his Hershey Bears on a winning track, the club fell back into its earlier pattern of in-and-out hockey through the latter stages of November.</p><p>&ldquo;We just can&rsquo;t seem to score goals though we&rsquo;re getting plenty of good chances,&rdquo; said Mathers.</p><p>Mathers, at one stage, shook up all three lines and for three games got an 18-goal production, but then the firepower suddenly was snuffed out by the opposition.</p><p>In the club&rsquo;s first 20 games it has been unable to hit the.500 mark, showing an 8-9-3 log as Hershey departed the first week of December on an abbreviated four-game road swing.</p><p>Six of the club&rsquo;s nine defeats were by two goals or less. It was involved in eight one goal contests, four of which the Bears lost.</p><p>Lately, it&rsquo;s been a case of trying to play a catch-up style and in this department the Bears haven&rsquo;t shown a strong comeback brand over the season.</p><p>At last look Hershey was camped in third place in the Western Division, but trailed both the front-running Baltimore Clippers and Cleveland Barons by five points, while coming up fast behind them was the-Rochester Americans who had played four games less.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1419/3723214-1-eng-US/f0021-142.jpg" title="f0021-14" width="280" height="443"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bill Speer</b></figcaption></div><p>Defensively, Hershey shows one of the league&rsquo;s best standards. The Bears allowed only 55 goals in the first 20 games, but offensively it tallied only 57, far from a powerhouse rating.</p><p>Actually, only two lines have been finding the mark through the last seven starts. Of the club&rsquo;s 21 goals in that span, 15 were made by the first two forward groups of Mike Nykoluk, Michel Harvey and Frank Spring, and Stan Gilbertson, Bob Leiter and Ted Snell.</p><p>The Leiter line had 17 points on eight goals and nine assists, while Nykoluk&rsquo;s showed seven goals and nine assists for 16 points.</p><p>The defense was shored with veteran Bill Speer checking in from the Boston Bruins.</p><p>&ldquo;He had played only one game before he came to us,&rdquo; said Mathers, &ldquo;and I was surprised how well he did in his first three games. He carries the puck well, makes the good pass and is a hard checker.&rdquo;</p><p>Unless Mathers can solve the club&rsquo;s present non-scoring dilemma, things could get worse before they get better. The last time the Bears put together back-to-back victories was Oct. 28-31 on home ice against Cleveland and Baltimore.</p><p>Despite all the problems, the Bears still have pulled in the crowds at the 7,200-seat Sports Arena and are running slightly ahead of last year after 11 home games. The club drew 63,461 to date as compared with 62,497 last year at the same stage.</p><h2><b>HOW THEY STAND</b></h2><h3><b>WESTERN INTERNATIONAL</b></h3><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Nov. 23)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01321/3723207-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="577" height="205"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02221/3723200-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="575" height="284"></div><h2><b>SASKATCHEWAN SENIOR</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Fri. Nov. 27)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03146/3723193-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="569" height="171"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04113/3723186-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="577" height="261"></div><h2><b>ALBERTA JUNIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Nov. 23)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0596/3723179-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="576" height="230"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0681/3723172-1-eng-US/f0021-062.jpg" title="f0021-06" width="580" height="333"></div><h2><b>ALBERTA HOCKEY LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Nov. 23)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0769/3723165-1-eng-US/f0021-072.jpg" title="f0021-07" width="569" height="136"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0865/3723158-1-eng-US/f0021-082.jpg" title="f0021-08" width="575" height="155"></div><h2><b>NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Thurs. Dec. 3)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0954/3723151-1-eng-US/f0021-092.jpg" title="f0021-09" width="570" height="207"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1044/3723144-1-eng-US/f0021-102.jpg" title="f0021-10" width="578" height="459"></div><h2><b>NEW YORK METRO LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Fri. Nov. 27)</b></p><h3><b>EASTERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1134/3723137-1-eng-US/f0021-112.jpg" title="f0021-11" width="572" height="169"></div><h3><b>WESTERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1224/3723130-1-eng-US/f0021-122.jpg" title="f0021-12" width="572" height="173"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1322/3723123-1-eng-US/f0021-132.jpg" title="f0021-13" width="579" height="458"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0021-14

Bears Forced To Play Catch up Hockey

<div class="byline">BY JOHN WHITE</div><p>SEATTLE&mdash;</p><p>It now has been determined what the defensemen the Western Hockey League did last summer.</p><p>Almost every one of &lsquo;em curled up with a copy of the life story of Bobby Orr to study better how to score.</p><p>(Man, even Cassius never was that bad.)</p><p>With the 1970-71 campaignap proaching the one-third mark, it was becoming clear that WHL defensemen Larry Mavety never have been so offensive&mdash;or maybe that should read offense-minded to avoid confusion and assorted punches in the nose.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01349/3723245-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="287" height="442"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Larry Mavety</b></figcaption></div><p>This was the story:</p><p>Last year the highest-scoring defenseman in the Western Hockey League was Denver&rsquo;s Larry Mavety with 57 points.</p><p>He was followed by Portland&rsquo;s Dennis Kearns with 53 points and Portlands Rick Foley with 45.</p><p>At their pace through November, five Western league blueliners would score more points this year than Mavety did last year.</p><p>And a sixth would be mighty close.</p><p>Off his early pace, Portland&rsquo;s Foley would wind up with 85 points and break the all-time Western League record of 74 scored by Doug Barkley with Calgary back in 1961-62.</p><p>Francois Lacombe of Salt Lake City would wind up with 72 and come mighty close to fracturing Barkley&rsquo;s record.</p><p>And the projected totals&mdash;at the end of November&mdash;for the other top-scoring defensemen would be 66 points for Connie Madigan of Portland, 62 for Seattle&rsquo;s John Hanna and 60 for Mavety only hold over on the blue line with Denver.</p><p>And Salt Lake City&rsquo;s Larry McNabb would finish with close to 50 points.</p><p>The wildest story, in a sense, was being written in Salt Lake City.</p><p>It&rsquo;s true that the Golden Eagles weren&rsquo;t scoring many points in their first 22 games of the season.</p><p>But a pair of defensemen running one-two on the club in point totals?</p><p>That was the case&mdash;Lacombe first with 17 points and McNabb second with 14 at the 22-game mark.</p><p>Well down the list, with 12 points, was the Western League&rsquo;s all-time scoring champion, Golden Guyle Fielder.</p><p>At Portland, both Foley and Madigan entered December with seven-game point-scoring streaks alive.</p><p>Foley had picked up 26 points in 20 games&mdash;he missed two with injuries&mdash;and Madigan had scored 20 points in 22 games.</p><p>A year ago?</p><p>Foley scored his 26th point in his 54th game of the season. Madigan scored his 20th point in his 45th game of the campaign.</p><p>And at Portland, too, was Mike Donaldson, 10 points in 22 games. That&rsquo;s two more than the veteran blueliner scored during his entire last campaign.</p><p>Mavety, with November turning into December, ranked second in scoring with Denver with 20 points. And he was just one back of the club leader, Ed Hoekstra, who had 21.</p><p>At Seattle, John Hanna had 18 points in his first 21 games and was just three back of the club leader, veteran Charley Hol-mes.</p><p>It was entirely possible&mdash;with a minor spurt here and there&mdash;that the leading scorers of four of the six Western Hockey League teams after a week of December action would all be defenseman&mdash;Foley at Portland, Hanna at Seattle, Lacombe or McNabb at Salt Lake City and Mavety at Denver.</p><p>You think Bobby Orr isn&rsquo;t set-ting a trend?<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0022-01

Hot Scoring Defenders Show Up WHL Forwards

<h2><b>WESTERN LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Thurs. Dec. 10</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02265/3723290-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="589" height="324"></div><p><b>(Affiliations: 2, Detroit. 4, New York, 5. Chicago, 6. Toronto, 9. Los Angeles, 14. Buffalo)</b></p><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Wed. Dec. 2</b></p><p>San Diego 3 at Denver 5</p><p>Salt Lake 4 at Portland 7</p><p><b>Thurs. Dec. 3</b></p><p>Son Diego 0 at Salt Lake 6</p><p>Seattle 3 at Phoenix 6</p><p><b>Fri. Dec. 4</b></p><p>Seattle 3 at Denver 0</p><p><b>Sat. Dec. 5</b></p><p>Seattle 0 at Salt Lake 4</p><p>Denver 3 at Phoenix 4</p><p><b>Sun. Dec. 6</b></p><p>Denver 5 at San Diego 7</p><p>Phoenix 1 at Portland 4</p><h3><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h3><p><b>Thurs. Dec. 10</b></p><p>Denver at Salt Lake</p><p>Portland at San Diego</p><p>Phoenix at Seattle</p><p><b>Fri. Dec. 11</b></p><p>San Diego at Phoenix</p><p><b>Sat. Dec. 12</b></p><p>Denver at Salt Lake</p><p>Portland at Son Diego</p><p><b>Sun. Dec. 13</b></p><p>Portland at Phoenix</p><p><b>Wed. Dec. 16</b></p><p>Phoenix at Denver</p><p>Son Diego at Portland</p><p><b>Fri. Dec. 18</b></p><p>Seattle at Salt lake</p><p>Denver at Phoenix</p><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><p><b>(Including Games Of Sun. Nov. 29)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03231/3723283-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="572" height="385"></div><h3>GOALKEEPERS RECORDS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04185/3723276-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="573" height="557"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0022-02

Looking At The Race

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCCONNELL</div><p>SAN DIEGO&mdash;</p><p>Jack McCartan seems to improve with age, like a good wine&mdash;California wine, of course.</p><p>The St. Paul. Minn., born goaltender celebrated his 35th birthday in August and in November put together an eight game unbeaten streak to reduce his goals against average to 2.50 and take over the Western Hockey League lead in that department.</p><p>McCartan won the WHL All Star first team berth last season with a 3.21 mark and the previous year was a second team choice with a 3.38 average.</p><p>The former Olympic hero (U.S. hockey victory in 1960) has helped lift the San Diego Gulls to second place, on a four-game winning streak.</p><p>McCartan wasn&rsquo;t doing it all. Far from it.</p><p>Bob Courcy. notching his 20th goal, set a team record of points in 13 consecutive games. His centerman. Gerry Goyer. had his streak broken at 12.</p><p>Courcy. Goyer and their leftwinger. Al Nicholson, rank one-two-three in the league scoring race. Courcy has 20 assists for 40 points. Goyer is the league&rsquo;s assist leader with 23 and is second in points with 34. Nicholson, tied for runnerup in assists with Courcv, ranks third with 30 points.</p><p>Besides. McCartan&rsquo;s defense has improved and should continue to improve with the return of Irv Spencer.</p><p>Spencer, who just turned 33, popped his shoulder out in a collision with the hoards in training camp. Additional damge to muscle and tendons, kept him out of the Gulls&rsquo; first 20 games.</p><p>When he returned, coach Max McNab skated him at forward as well as defense, to help him make up for lost time. In the meantime, Dick Proceviat. borrowed on an emergency basis, was returned to Kansas City.</p><p>Meanwhile the Phoenix Roadrunners, winless in eight straight games (with two ties), sink deeper into the WHL cellar.</p><p>Coach Aut Erickson, disgusted by a lethargic performance in a 7-1 whipping by the San Diego Gulls, fined everyone $100 but offered them the chance to-earn it back in the next two games.</p><p>They outshot San Diego 35-22 but could only beat Jack McCartan once in a 2-1 loss and the next night outshot Portland 3327 but fell 4-3.</p><p>Erickson returned $50 after the game in San Diego and agreed they played equally well at home to Portland, but delcared: &ldquo;They get nothing for losing at home.&rdquo;</p><p>Center Jim Paterson was fined several times that amount&mdash;Erickson refused to be specific&mdash;for a &ldquo;training violation&rdquo; about which Erickson also refused to specific. He threatened suspension but agreed to allow Paterson a couple of games to prove himself.</p><p>&ldquo;I was stuck for a center.&rdquo; said the coach, but immediately installed defenseman Howie Young at center ice and Paterson only made brief appearances in the next two games.</p><p>Sandy Snow was put on waivers. The 24-year-old forward scored 17 goals for Phoenix last season.</p><p>One of the Roadrunners&rsquo; major problems is a lack of potent goal scorers. Andy Hinse&rsquo;s 13 goals puts him among the league leaders. but there is an immediate drop-off to Wayne Hicks with eitht, Frank Hughes with seven and Bob Charlebois with six.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

McCartan’s Goaling Helps San Diego Roll In WHL Race

<h2><b>Wed. Nov. 25 PORTLAND 5 at SEATTLE 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01329/3723380-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="582" height="555"></div><h2><b>DENVER 3 at PHOENIX 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02260/3723373-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="579" height="505"></div><h2><b>SALT LAKE 1 at SAN DIEGO 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03200/3723366-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="583" height="523"></div><h2><b>Fri. Nov. 27 SAN DIEGO 7 at PHOENIX 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-04160/3723359-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="586" height="485"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-05134/3723352-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="567" height="125"></div><h2><b>PORTLAND 3 at DENVER 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-06119/3723345-1-eng-US/f0023-062.jpg" title="f0023-06" width="583" height="654"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0023-01

Western League Summaries

<div class="byline">BY BOB LINDLEY</div><p><b>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS</b> Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><p><b>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS</b> Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallacoburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><p>DALLAS&mdash;</p><p>Sportswriters in this Texas metropolis used to say Black Hawks coach Bobby Kromm was the best thing to happen to pro sports in this area for some time, mostly because his hair-trigger temper and his volatile nature made good copy.</p><p>When the Hawks played below par, Kromm named names and said exactly what was on his mind, and the writers lapped it up.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01337/3723411-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="240" height="430"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Jim Shaw</b></figcaption></div><p>But what a change has come over the fiery Dallas coach, and the reason is simple&mdash;the Hawks are working harder than ever before, all the way down the roster.</p><p>After dropping a contest to last place Amarillo recently, Kromm said he just couldn&rsquo;t blame any of his skaters and that no one on his club was deserving of bad publicity.</p><p>&ldquo;These kids are hustling,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and the mistakes they make are honest ones, made through inexperience, not indifference.</p><p>&ldquo;As long as they&rsquo;re willing to put out the effort. I&rsquo;ll stick by them. They know they&rsquo;re going to improve, and I know they&rsquo;re going the get better, and right now things look pretty good for us.&rdquo;</p><p>Among the bright spots are rookies Dan Lodboa and Ron Dussiaume, late starters who have blossomed into major cogs in Dallas&rsquo; offensive machinery.</p><p>&ldquo;Dussiaume has scored some very big goals for us,&rdquo; Kromm said of the big winger, &ldquo;and he&rsquo;s really playing good, tough hockey. I said early in the season he&rsquo;d be one of the best on the club and he hasn&rsquo;t let me down.&rdquo;</p><p>Through 16 games, Dussiaume was the club&rsquo;s third leading scorer behind leader Don Gordon and Lodboa, Gordon with 14 goals, five assists, and Lodboa with eight and eight. Dussiaume had 6-8.</p><p>&ldquo;Actually, we&rsquo;re not playing as aggressively as I&rsquo;d like for us to play,&rdquo; Kromm said, &ldquo;which is reflected in the number of goals scored against us.</p><p>&ldquo;But that&rsquo;ll come. These kids are certainly willing enough. And as long as we&rsquo;re getting the job done offensively, I can&rsquo;t complain.&rdquo;</p><p>Despite the somewhat porous defense, the Hawks chalked up a 2-0 shutout over Amarillo with rookie goalie Jim Shaw doing the honors, his first as a pro.</p><p><b>FORT WORTH:</b> Coach Doug Barkley deeply concerned over lack of scoring on part of Wings, who averaged only 2.7 goals per game through first 20 contests. Barkley threatened stiff fines for indifferent play and warned that certain skaters would be benched if their production didn&rsquo;t pick up. Only one line carrying brunt of scoring&mdash;Ron Walters, Tom Martin and Hank Monteith. Barkley happy with play of rookie defenseman Lee Carpenter, who has earned regular starting job, forcing Barkley to shift Randy Manery to forward position, &ldquo;Manery has been one of my best wingers since I moved him,&rdquo; Barkley said of the second-year pro.</p><p><b>OKLAHOMA CITY:</b>&mdash;Blazers hottest team in league, led by second year man Bill Klatt, who bolted to team goal-sniping lead with 14 through 20 games. Blazers, with veterans Dick Cherry and Brian Bradley offering experienced leadership and added offensive power, posted 82-2 record after very slow start and posed serious threat to Omaha&rsquo;s reign as league leaders Secret to Blazer success is work on home ice where they went eight straight unbeaten in one stretch. Klatt (24), Gregg Sheppard (27), Cherry (22) and Ivan Boldirev (23) all scoring at better than point-a-game pace.</p><p><b>TULSA:&mdash;</b>Despite prolific offense. Oilers have only two skaters ranked in top 20 scorers, center Rene Robert, who was one of top goal snipers with 12 in 16 games. and Cal Swenson. Toronto returned promising defenseman Larry McIntyre to bolster sagging Tulsa rearguard.</p><p><b>KANSAS CITY:&mdash;</b>Rookies Tom Earl. Ron Climie and Gordie Brooks showing steady improvement for Blues&rsquo; coach Camille Henry. Goalie Robbie Irons called up to St. Louis. Ted Ouimet and Michel Plasse splitting goaltending duties for Kaycee. Through first 15 games. Earl and veteran Ron Buchanan tied with eight goals each, while Earl and veteran Norm Dennis share scoring lead with 15 points.</p><p><b>AMARILLO:&mdash;</b>Coach Rudy Migay shipped veteran defenseman Jim Pritchard out when Pritchard failed to get in shape. Move proved to be boon to struggling Wranglers, who received veteran Bob Heaney in return. The addition of Heaney and vet forward Rod Zaine showed immediate results as Wranglers lost only one of first five games with Zaine in lineup.</p><p><b>OMAHA:&mdash;</b>Knights really steamrolling through league, winning as easily on enemy ice as they do at home. Knights lost only three of first 12 road games. Goalie Peter McDuffe notched his first shutout of the season with 1-0 win over Fort Worth. Balanced scoring major factor in Knight success with Mike Murphy, Pierre Jarry, Mike Parizeau, Tom Miller, Gerry Ouellette ranked in the top ten in scoring for the Central League.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0024-01

Hawks Lack Experience But Kromm Likes Club’s Hustle

<h2><b>Sun, Nov 22 DALLAS 5 at OKLAHOMA CITY 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02265/3723484-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="586" height="749"></div><h2><b>TULSA 7 at OMAHA 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03187/3723477-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="582" height="737"></div><h2><b>Wed. Nov. 25 AMARILLO 0 AT DALLAS 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04142/3723470-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="580" height="344"></div><h2><b>Fri. Nov. 27 DALLAS 4 AT AMARILLO 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-05110/3723463-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="561" height="84"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0695/3723456-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="578" height="774"></div><h2><b>Sat. Nov. 28 TULSA 2 at OKLAHOMA CITY 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0780/3723449-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="589" height="672"></div><h2><b>KANSAS CITY 2 at AMARILLO 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0875/3723442-1-eng-US/f0024-082.jpg" title="f0024-08" width="581" height="506"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0024-02

CHL Summaries

<div class="byline">BY HARVEY POLLACK</div><p>CHARLOTTE&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>F</span>red Creighton, Charlotte&rsquo;s veteran mentor, is one skipper who finds it difficult to believe that a team can have as many scoring chances as his Checkers have had this season and not capitalize on them.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0592/3723543-1-eng-US/f0025-052.jpg" title="f0025-05" width="270" height="459"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bob Champoux</b></figcaption></div><p>Despite a failure to find the nets as often as Creighton would wish, the Checkers have either been leading or just out of the southern division lead in their Eastern Hockey League play this season.</p><p>What miffs Creighton is his club&rsquo;s tendency to come up with games in which they make the opposing goalie resemble an All Star netminder. Two games with Jacksonville are particularly sore topics to Creighton. The Checkers took 110 shots on goal in these two frays and scored exactly three times.</p><p>That type of average isn&rsquo;t good anywhere and Creighton is perplexed over the reasons. He has plenty of good scorers like Wayne Schaab. Frank Golembrosky, John Gould and the like. But his team seems to shoot right at the goalie on many occasions instead of seeking the open spot. Or there have been many cases where the shots have hit the posts when a goal would have been scored by a shot a few inches the other way.</p><p>There are occasions when the club breaks out of the slump such as at a recent game at Jacksonville where four goals came in a space of 4 1/2 minutes. Creighton says this lack of goals also has placed an added burden on goalie John Voss. Many of the Checkers&rsquo; games have become close affairs and put extra pressure on Voss when in reality, based on the shot making, the Checkers should have had comfortable leads. It is fortunate for Charlotte that Voss has a 1.69 goals allowed average, the best by far in either division, or else the club wouldn&rsquo;t have such a lofty position in the southern race.</p><p>Meanwhile, the New Haven Blades have cancelled their proposed tour of Russian cities because of a dispute over finances. The EHL club was informed by president Tom Lockhart that the tournament, scheduled for Dec. 6-13 in Moscow, has been called oil. Similarly the Russians will not make a tour of Eastern League cities, which was to begin Dec. 20.</p><p>Lockhart said the action to abandon the tour was based on the refusal of Soviet hockey officials to insure payment of roundtrip air fare to Moscow for the New Haven team.</p><p><b>JOHNSTOWN:</b> Jets tied four consecutive games. Defenseman Len Cunning recalled by Amarillo for temporary duty. Jim Coombs back at goal after convalescing. Bob Vroman did well in his stead. Dick Roberge&rsquo;s goal tied one game and Alan Cameron&rsquo;s tally deadlocked another. Jets fare better when schedule is busy than when there are gaps.</p><p><b>NEW HAVEN:</b> Dave Hainsworth&rsquo;s first shutout came against Clinton. Blades dispute Jersey version of what Kevin Morrison did to official in game on Devils&rsquo; ice. Blades bus broke down near Johnstown and trainer Ken Garrett hitch hiked to summon help. Bill Orr gave Rich Cloutier of Clinton a beating.</p><p><b>JERSEY:</b> Bobby Brown finally played for Devils after missing whole season with leg injury sustained in lacrosse during off-season. Wayne Kitchen and Larry O&rsquo;Connor bothered by injuries. Devils picked up Claude Cardin from Syracuse and dropped Larry Young. David Lee pacing club&rsquo;s scoring. Ron Legault&rsquo;s hustle goal tied New Haven.</p><p><b>LONG ISLAND:</b> Coach Ed Stankiewicz has been alternating Wayne Doll and Guy De-Noncourt in goal. Wayne Maxner and Herman Karp had two-goal games. Ducks sorely missed John Brophy during his five-game suspension. Gordon Bradley came off disabled list and young defenseman Dan Creighton was released reluctantly. Pete Christian leading club in scoring.</p><p><b>JACKSONVILLE:</b> Center Billy Glashan switched to defense when injuries crippled club. Dennis Romanesky, Wayne Bell and Ken Turlik all hurt. A 52-save game by Bob Champoux helped Rockets nip Charlotte. Gary Brown scored both goals in the win. Coach Red Bownass has denied reports he will activate himself. Defenseman Allan Calver secured from Des Moines for Luc Simard. Six-year pro Jim Eagle also due. Goalie Ron Low recalled by Tulsa.</p><p><b>SYRACUSE:</b> Forward Paul Lessard and Chuck Charlong were left home when Blazers went south to help injuries heal. Brian Elwell top pointmaker. Doug Ferguson scored winning goal at Jacksonville. Trainer Tom Anderson subbed in goal while Pierre Sigman&rsquo;s leg healed. Blazers lost tie with Clinton when ref Ted Daily ruled out goal with <i>7</i> seconds left.</p><p><b>SALEM:</b> Bill Woodyatt. replacing Jim Letcher (broken toe) in nets also was backup goalie for one game for Philly Flyers. Wayne Newell. Andre Bouchard and Brian McDowell dropped. Czech Louis Morbacher joined team. Ray Schultz still on injured list and Paul Grills on suspended list. Woodyatt had shutout at Jacksonville. Colin Kilburn delighted with club&rsquo;s checking. Claude Piche off disabled list.</p><p><b>GREENSBORO:</b> Ron Spong would like more practice time to keep his club sharp. Stu Roberts&rsquo; hat trick topped Salem. Newcomer Gary Mills has impressed at defense with his hitting and his puck movement. Defenseman Guy Parent returned to Jersey. Bert DeHate is only second American ever to wear Gens&rsquo; uniform.</p><p><b>CLINTON:</b> Veteran Len Speck, six-time all-league, has settled his contractual difficulties and rejoined Comets. Steve Ross dropped and said he&rsquo;ll try for post on U.S. National sextet. Moe St. Jacques broke out of slump to get goal to tie Johnstown and the winning tally to topple Syracuse. Bill Bannerman&rsquo;s goal with 18 seconds left also tied Johnstown.</p><p><b>NASHVILLE:</b> Dixie Flyers have to reschedule two home and two road games. Club won three of first four games upon return to action. The gate here is about 2,000 below a year ago. Bill Yeo posted shutout at Jacksonville as Flyers climbed out of cellar. Dom DiBerardino played one game with Fivers when strike erupted but had to pay same penalty as others.</p><h2><b>HOW THEY STAND</b></h2><h3><b>CENTRAL LEAGUE</b></h3><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Dec. 8)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01284/3723536-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="578" height="337"></div><p><b>(Affiliations: 2. Detroit, 3. Boston, 4. New York, 5. Chicago, 6. Toronto, 8. Pittsburgh, 1 2. St. Louis.</b></p><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Tue. Dec. 1</b></p><p>Amarillo 3 at Fort Worth 3</p><p>Tulsa 3 at Dallas 4</p><p>Omaha 2 at Oklahoma City 2</p><p><b>Wed. Dec. 2</b></p><p>Oklahoma City 6 at Kansas City 7</p><p><b>Thurs. Dec. 3</b></p><p>Omaha 1 at Fort Worth 4</p><p><b>Fri. Dec. 4</b></p><p>Oklahoma City 5 at Amarillo 3</p><p>Fort Worth 1 at Tulsa 6</p><p>Omaha 4 at Kansas City 4</p><p><b>Sat. Dec. 5</b></p><p>Amarillo 1 at Tulsa 2</p><p>Kansas City 1 at Dallas 5</p><p>Oklahoma City 0 at Fort Worth 1</p><p><b>Sun. Dec. 6</b></p><p><b>Amarillo 2 at Omaha 6</b></p><h3><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h3><p><b>Tues. Dec. 8</b></p><p>Clinton at Syracuse</p><p>Johnstown at Charlotte</p><p>Salem at Nashville</p><p><b>Wed. Dec. 9</b></p><p>New Jersey at Syracuse</p><p>Johnstown at Greensboro</p><p><b>Fri. Dec. 11</b></p><p>Syracuse at long Island</p><p>Clinton at New Jersey</p><p>Greensboro at Charlotte</p><p>Johnstown at Jacksonville</p><p>Salem at Nashville</p><p><b>Sat. Dec. 12</b></p><p>long Island at Clinton</p><p>Jacksonville at Salem</p><p>Charlotte at Greensboro</p><p>Johnstown at Nashville</p><p><b>Sun. Dec. 13</b></p><p>Clinton at Syracuse</p><p>Long Island at New Jersey</p><p>Greensboro at Jacksonville</p><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><p><b>(Including games of Sun. Nov. 29)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02208/3723529-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="585" height="601"></div><h2><b>EASTERN LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Dec. 8)</b></p><h3><b>NORTHERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03143/3723522-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="569" height="238"></div><h3><b>SOUTHERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-04110/3723515-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="568" height="267"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Tues. Dec. 1</b></p><p>Syracuse 3 at Charlotte 9</p><p>Jacksonville 5 at Nashville 4</p><p><b>Wed. Dec. 2</b></p><p>New Haven 3 at New Jersey 5</p><p>Syracuse 6 at Greensboro 7</p><p><b>Thurs. Dec. 3</b></p><p>Jacksonville 2 at Salem 6</p><p>Nashville 2 at Greensboro 6</p><p>Johnstown 3 at New Haven 10</p><p><b>Fri. Dec. 4</b></p><p>Clinton 3 at Syracuse 5</p><p>Johnstown 1 at Long Island 4</p><p>New Hoven 6 at New Jersey 4</p><p>Jacksonville 1 at Charlotte 11</p><p>Salem 3 at Nashville 1</p><p><b>Sat. Dec. 5</b></p><p>New Jersey 2 at Clinton 4</p><p>New Hoven 6 at Long Island 3</p><p>Syracuse 5 at Johnstown 4</p><p>Salem 1 at Greensboro 2</p><p>Charlotte 3 at Jacksonville 4</p><p><b>Sun. Dec. 6</b></p><p>Long Island 3 at Syracuse 7</p><p>New Jersey 1 at New Haven 5</p><p>Clinton 4 at Johnstown 4</p><p>Greensboro 4 at Salem 4</p><p>Jacksonville 1 at Nashville 4</p><h3><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h3><p><b>Tues. Dec. 8</b></p><p>Kansas City at Tulsa</p><p><b>Wed Dec. 9</b></p><p>Oklahoma City at Dallas</p><p>Tulsa at Kansas City</p><p><b>Fri. Dec. 11</b></p><p>Dallas at Amarillo</p><p>Fort Worth at Tulsa</p><p>Oklahoma City at Kansas City</p><p><b>Sat. Dec. 12</b></p><p>Fort Worth at Amarillo</p><p>Tulsa at Dallas</p><p>Oklahoma City at Omaha</p><p><b>Sun. Dec. 13</b></p><p>Dallas at Kansas City</p><p>Fort Worth at Omaha</p><p><b>Tues. Dec. 15</b></p><p>Amarillo at Oklahoma City<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0025-05

Charlotte Shooters Off Mark; Blades Cancel Russian Tour

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01288/3723581-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>On hand to honor Dayton&rsquo;s energetic LEFTY McFADDEN, in center, were from the left, KEN McKENZIE, publisher of THE HOCKEY NEWS, BILL BEAGAN, IHL Commissioner, TOM LOCKHART, EHL president, and ANDY MULLIGAN, former commissioner of the IHL.</b></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02233/3723574-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="1458" height="864"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Chosen as the 1969-70 Minor League Executive of the year, Dayton general manager LEFTY McFADDEN, left, received THE HOCKEY NEWS award from publisher KEN McKENZIE, during presentation ceremonies prior to the Dayton game Nov. 29.</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0026-01

INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

<p>DAYTON&mdash;</p><p>Lefty McFadden would gladly have swapped his &lsquo;big night&rsquo; for a victory over the Fort Wayne Komets.</p><p>The smiling, energetic general manager of the Dayton Gems watched as the Komets skated over the Gems 4-1 Nov. 29 in a regularly scheduled International Hockey League game. It was no regular night for Lefty. In fact, it was a time for honoring the man who had helped put hockey on the map here in Dayton in the last seven years.</p><p>Chosen as the 1969-70 Minor League Executive of the year by THE HOCKEY NEWS. McFadden was cheered by a crowd of 4.300 as he stepped up with his family prior to the start of the game to accept the award from publisher Ken McKenzie. It was a fitting honor for McFadden, who has been the moving force behind IHL hockey here in this city for many years. The Gems have won the Turner Cup for the past two years and it was in no small way the work of McFadden and his Dayton cohorts, who managed to put a winning team on the ice.</p><p>McFadden was also honored by the Dayton Chamber of Commerce. the Beavercreek Chamber of Commerce as citizen of the year and the directors of the Dayton club, who installed Lefty into the Gems&rsquo; Hall of Fame for his efforts on behalf of the hockey club.</p><p>New Dayton coach Gerry Moore told McFadden. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry we couldn&rsquo;t have won this one for you.&rdquo;</p><p>It was truly Lefty McFadden Day in Dayton Nov. 29 and even though the Gems didn&rsquo;t win the game&mdash;Lefty won the hearts of the fans.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Hockey News Salutes Lefty McFadden As Top Executive

<p>DAYTON&mdash;</p><p>The following sent letters or telegrams of congratulations to Lefty McFadden during his &lsquo;night&rsquo; at Dayton:</p><p>Larry Wilson, Coach, Providence Reds; California Golden Seals Hockey Club; Guy Trottier, Toronto Maple Leafs; Bill Jennings, Emile Francis, Dennis Ball, New York Rangers; Keith Allen, Philadelphia Flyers; Sam Pollock, Montreal Canadiens; Bob Campbell, Dallas Black Hawks; Dave Creighton, General Manager, Providence Reds; Don Perry, General Manager, New Haven; Portland Buckaroos Hockey Club; Ray Miron, General Manager, Tulsa Oilers; Al Manch, owner Charlotte Checkers; Terry Reardon, Baltimore Clippers; Dunc Rousseau, Springfield Kings; Don Westbrooke, Springfield Kings; Mark Parish and Lloyd Hincheberger, Nashville Flyers; Frank Gallagher, Flint Generals; Ted Kluszewski, Cincinnati Reds Baseball Club; Frank Mathers, Hershey Bears; Bill Levins and Murray Davison, Oklahoma City Blazers; John Muckier. General Manager, Cleveland Barons; Johnson Spink, The Sporting News; Dan Meyer, Salt Lake Golden Eagles; George Strode, Associated Press International; Jack Butterfield, President, American Hockey League; Fred Creighton, Charlotte Checkers; Max McNab, General Manager, San Diego Gulls; William Torrey, Oakland Seals; John Mitchell, Johnstown Jets; Paul Brown, Cincinnati Bengals Football Club; Bill Crowley, Boston Red Sox Baseball Club; Nathan Podol-off, New Haven Blades; Al Baron, Long Island Ducks; Joe Axelson, Cincinnati Royals Basketball Club; Bill Beagan, Commissioner. IHL; Gus Kyle, St. Louis Blues; Jerry Nuerge, Toledo Hornets; Bill Veeck, Suffolk Downs, Boston; Nick Mileti, Cleveland Barons; Bud Poile, Vancouver Canucks; Jake Milford, Omaha Knights.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

TRIBUTES TO ‘LEFTY’

<div class="byline">BY BOB REED</div><p>TOLEDO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he &ldquo;new look&rdquo; in the International Hockey League lies in the list of the scoring leaders. Any ressemblance between the men who finished in the 25 list for the 1969-70 season and those who make up the current leading 25 is purely coincidental.</p><p>In this week&rsquo;s list, there are just nine names that can be found in the same list for last season&rsquo;s final scoring. The reason, basically, is this: many of last year&rsquo;s top scorers are off to poor starts this season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03195/3723674-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="260" height="436"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Frank Hamill</b></figcaption></div><p>Cliff Pennington closed No. 6 in the IHL scoring last season and he is No. 1 this year. But his two closest competitors. Bob Brinkworth of Port Huron and Hal White of Toledo, didn&rsquo;t figure among last year&rsquo;s top scorers. Brinkworth is a newcomer to the IHL while White had just 22 points in 33 games with Toledo a year ago.</p><p>Along with Pennington, there are Berry Merrell. Bryan McLay, Bob Tombari. Marty Reynolds. Bob Munro. Steve Sutherland.</p><p>Geoff Powis, and Sid Garant who are top 25 holdovers from last season. But of the other 16 in last year&rsquo;s list just five&mdash;Don Westbrooke. Bernie Blanchette. Serge Boudreault Ray Brunel, and Wally Kozak&mdash;are no longer in the league. The other 11 are either experiencing difficulty matching last year&rsquo;s efforts, or being hampered by injuries.</p><p>Of the newcomers to the current top 25. all except Brinkworth. Corky Agar, Clem Tremblay. Duane Wylie and Howie Heggedal played in the IHL last season. Obviously, the balance of power at the top of the scoring list has switched. Whether this trend will continue remains to be seen.</p><p><b>FORT WAYNE</b>&mdash;The Komets bought Frank Hamill from Muskegon and he scored the hat trick in his first game&hellip;Two straight home-and-home victories over Dayton boosted the K&rsquo;s into third place&hellip;Goalie Bill Woodyatt was sent to Salem of the Eastern League&hellip;General Manager and Coach Ken Ullvot was expected to undergo surgery for a kidney stone&hellip;Randy Gates, out with a neck injury, started to skate&hellip;Season&rsquo;s largest crowd, 5,885, brought the average for 11 home games to 4.492&hellip;Paul Domn was moved to center and Mike Jacubo to wing</p><p><b>DAYTON</b>&mdash;The Komets beat</p><p>the Gems, 4-1, to spoil the &ldquo;night&rdquo; for Lefty McFadden, who was being honored by THE HOCKEY NEWS as minor league executive of the year&hellip;The Gems secured Marty Desmarais from Muskegon for &ldquo;over the waiver price&rdquo;&hellip;Sid Garant came back for four goals in three games after getting only two in 14.</p><p><b>PORT HURON&mdash;</b>Dave Gorman scored a tying goal for the Flags in the last second but Flint coach Ken Hodge and players charged on the ice, protesting to Referee Chuck Meadows that time had expired&hellip;Coach Ted Garvin was trying winger Brian Watts on defense&hellip;He also switched Billy LeCaine from left to right wing&hellip;The Flags hadn&rsquo;t won a game away from home in their first 10&hellip;Boh Howard, Marty Reynolds and Brian Crowder were given extra skating sessions to reduce weight.</p><p><b>FLINT&mdash;</b>The Generals suffered their first defeat on home ice in 12 games when they were beaten by Toledo 3-2&hellip;The Generals beat Port Huron goalie Phil Headley only the second time in 10 games against him&hellip;Randy Prior had his third winning goal of the season to lead the league&hellip;Doug Rembough had a hat trick in a 6-5 win over Fort Wayne&hellip;A crowd of 4.339 was a second largest in Generals&rsquo; history.</p><p><b>MUSKEGON&mdash;</b>The Mohawks finally made it to the top on Nov. 29 when they scored their third straight victory while Flint was dropping two to Toledo&hellip;The Hawks sold two players. Frank Hamill to Fort Wayne and Marty Desmarais to Dayton&hellip;Muskegon had three of the top ten league scoring leaders in Bob Smith. Bob Tombari and Darryl Knibbs&hellip;Lyle Carter led goalies with 2.17 average.</p><p><b>TOLEDO&mdash;</b>Three wins and a tie in four games boosted the Hornets to a tie-for fifth&hellip;They were the first to beat Flint on Generals&rsquo; ice. And a victory over Muskegon was their first in nine consecutive games overall, including four at Sports Arena&hellip;Coach Bill Mitchell made a big switch in team captains. naming Dino Mascotto as captain and Jim Sanko, Hal White and Jack Criel as alternates. replacing John Gravel. Chick Chalmers and Stan Maxwell&hellip;Dave Pulkkinen. acquired from Toledo, continued to look impressive&hellip;Moe Morissette had four goals in three games after returning from an injury.</p><p><b>DES MOINES&mdash;</b>General Manager Terry Slater placed all of the Oak Leafs on waivers but no deals had been reported&hellip;When the Leafs lost to the Gems. 7-4. it was their 14th in 18 games on Dayton ice&hellip;Cliff Pennington took over league scoring lead with a hat trick against Dayton.</p><h2><b>HOW THEY STAND</b></h2><h3><b>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</b></h3><p><b>(Standings on Fri. Dec. 11)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04150/3723667-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="578" height="325"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Tues. Dec. 1</b></p><p>Fort Wayne 0 at Des Moines 6</p><p><b>Wed. Dec. 2</b></p><p>Fort Wayne 5 at Des Moines 2</p><p>Flint 1 at Dayton 4</p><p><b>Fri. Dec. 4</b></p><p>Des Moines 2 at Port Huron 2</p><p>Muskegon 5 at Toledo 4</p><p><b>Sat. Dec. 5</b></p><p>Des Moines 4 at Toledo 6</p><p>Dayton 6 at Muskegon 5</p><p>Port Huron 2 at Fort Wayne 2</p><p><b>Sun. Dec. 6</b></p><p>Toledo 4 ot Dayton 7</p><p>Des Moines 6 at Flint 8</p><p>Fort Wayne 3 at Port Huron 5</p><h3><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h3><p><b>Fri. Dec. 11</b></p><p>Port Huron at Toledo</p><p>Muskegon at Des Moines</p><p>Dayton at Fort Wayne</p><p><b>Sat Dec. 12</b></p><p>Dayton at Toledo</p><p>Flint at Fort Wayne</p><p>Muskegon at Des Moines</p><p><b>Sun. Dec. 13</b></p><p>Fort Wayne at Dayton</p><p>Toledo at Port Huron</p><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05119/3723660-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="577" height="366"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0026-03

IHL Scoring Leaders Lose Touch In Year

<div class="byline">BY JACK GATECLIFF</div><p>OTTAWA&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>n the first six weeks of the Ontario Hockey Association Major Junior A schedule Peterborough Petes and St. Catharines Black Hawks were first and second and had plenty of space between them and the other eight teams in the group.</p><p>The Petes went a dozen games before suffering their first loss while the Hawks were consistent enough to hold a fairly solid grip on second position.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01269/3723705-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="262" height="502"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Michel Larocque</b></figcaption></div><p>However in the last couple of weeks Ottawa 67s and Montreal Canadiens have moved up to pose genuine threats.</p><p>Ottawa made the greatest advance, vaulting from fifth place to third with three wins in 72 hours&mdash;two of them on the road.</p><p>The 67s, under coach Bill Long, trounced London Knights 6-1 at home, then handed the Petes their first loss of the season in Peterborough by a close 5-4 margin.</p><p>The following night they stepped into Kitchener and won 6-3.</p><p>The six points boosted the 67s into third place, just one point behind St. Catharines and with one game in hand, were at least in shooting range of Peterborough.</p><p>Peterborough coach Roger Neilson, after his team had been held to a 2-2 tie in Peterborough by St. Catharines, said that he wouldn&rsquo;t be surprised if a slump was in the offing.</p><p>Just 48 hours later the Petes were defeated 4-1 in Montreal but came back to down the Canadiens 3-2 in Peterborough.</p><p>After losing 5-4 to Ottawa they scored a 6-3 win in Ottawa and while two losses and a tie in five games isn&rsquo;t actually a slump, it is far off the pace the Petes set early in the schedule. Now in their fourth season in the Ontario Junior A League, the Ottawa 67s have excellent balance defensively and on three forward lines and more than adequate goaltending by Larocque.</p><p>Larocque, John Garrett of Peterborough and George Hulme of St. Catharines are ranked the best three goaltenders in the Ontario group and it is no coincidence that the three teams for which they play are in the first division.</p><p>Montreal Canadiens, Canadian champions the past two seasons, do not have the over-all strength of their 1969 and 1970 winners but are still considered by many to be the team to beat.</p><p>After losing in Peterborough the Canadiens won back-to-back games against Niagara Falls (43) and London (5-3) to remain in the top four with the Petes, Hawks and 67s.</p><p>Toronto Marlboros, the fifth team most pre-season experts had selected to finish in the first division, have failed to play consistent hockey.</p><p>The Marlboros didn&rsquo;t pick up a point in the last week, losing 7-4 to Kitchener and 10-3 to St. Catharines and their chief problems appears to be goaltending.</p><p>The Marlies brought in Ron Jury from the Belleville junior B team but in this first start his defense gave him little protection and he could be faulted on few of the 10 St. Gatharines hots which eluded him.</p><p>With the season one third over there is a definite line between the top four teams, the next four and Oshawa and Niagara Falls.</p><p>Only one point separated Hamilton, Kitchener, London and Toronto, in the &ldquo;middle division&rdquo; but Oshawa and Niagara Falls fell farther back and unless they can put together a consistent winning streak could be the teams to miss the playoffs.</p><p>The Flyers ended last in 196970, the first time in 10 years a Paul and Hap Emms club has missed the post-season game while the Generals just squeezed into the playoffs in a pre-playoff series with Hamilton when the two teams finished tied for the last playoff spot.</p><p>Marcel Dionne, St. Catharines Black Hawk captain, will established records for career points and points scored during regular schedules.</p><p>The Hawk centre scored three times and assisted on two other goals in the 10-3 win over the Marlboros giving him 30 goals and 27 assists in 20 games.</p><p>This was just two points below the record 359 points set by St. Catharines captain Brian Gullen during three seasons with the old Teepees in the early 1950s.</p><p>Dionne also moved to within one point of the 290 points accumulated by Cullen in three Junior A schedules.</p><p>The native of Drummondville, Quebec is also just one point back of Cullen&rsquo;s record 69 playoff points but that mark will stand until the Hawks enter the playoffs in the spring.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0027-01

Ottawa 67s Newest Threat, Take Aim At Leading Petes

<h2><b>ONTARIO MAJOR JUNIOR</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Dec. 8)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02214/3723764-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="583" height="388"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Tues. Dec. 1</b></p><p>Montreal 5 at London 4</p><p>Peterborough 4 at Hamilton 3</p><p>Kitchener 5 at Oshawa 6</p><p>Toronto 12 at Niagara Falls 2</p><p><b>Thurs. Dec. 3</b></p><p>Hamilton 2 at Peterborough 5</p><p><b>Fri. Dec. 4</b></p><p>Ottawa 9 at Niagara Falls 2</p><p>Oshawa 5 at Kitchener 7</p><p>London 0 at Toronto 4</p><p><b>Sun. Dec. 6</b></p><p>Peterborough 5 at St. Catharines 7</p><p>Hamilton 3 at Montreal 11</p><p>Niagara Falls 2 at Oshawa 9</p><p>Ottawa 4 at London 2</p><p>Kitchener 4 at Toronto 5</p><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><p><b>(Including games of Tues. Nov. 24)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03157/3723757-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="579" height="580"></div><h3><b>NEW ENGLAND LEAGUE</b></h3><p><b>(Standings on Fri. Nov. 27)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-04124/3723750-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="571" height="236"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0597/3723743-1-eng-US/f0027-052.jpg" title="f0027-05" width="576" height="305"></div><h3><b>CENTRAL JUNIOR LEAGUE</b></h3><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Dec. 1)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0678/3723736-1-eng-US/f0027-062.jpg" title="f0027-06" width="580" height="206"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0027-02

HOW THEY STAND

<h2><b>ONTARIO SENIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Fri. Dec. 4)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0768/3723851-1-eng-US/f0027-072.jpg" title="f0027-07" width="582" height="309"></div><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0864/3723844-1-eng-US/f0027-082.jpg" title="f0027-08" width="587" height="638"></div><h2><b>MARITIME JUNIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Fri. Nov. 29)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0963/3723837-1-eng-US/f0027-092.jpg" title="f0027-09" width="577" height="134"></div><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1059/3723830-1-eng-US/f0027-102.jpg" title="f0027-10" width="580" height="433"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1150/3723823-1-eng-US/f0027-112.jpg" title="f0027-11" width="582" height="131"></div><h2><b>QUEBEC JUNIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Dec. 7)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1243/3723816-1-eng-US/f0027-122.jpg" title="f0027-12" width="577" height="387"></div><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1338/3723809-1-eng-US/f0027-132.jpg" title="f0027-13" width="583" height="243"></div><h2><b>SOUTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Dec. 1)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1434/3723802-1-eng-US/f0027-142.jpg" title="f0027-14" width="579" height="237"></div><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><p><b>(Including Games of Sun. Nov. 22)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1528/3723795-1-eng-US/f0027-152.jpg" title="f0027-15" width="581" height="334"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0027-07

Looking At The Races

<div class="byline">BY JIM PROUDFOOT</div><p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t&rsquo;s just like the good old days again. Toronto Maple Leafs have a big, strong, hard-shooting fellow wearing No. 27 and playing on left wing.</p><p>Frank Mahovlich used to fit that description, starting in 1957 and lasting through until March, 1968, when he was traded to Detroit Red Wings. He pot-ted 276 goals for Leafs during that period and was one of the Toronto team&rsquo;s most popular athletes. Brad Selwood</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01255/3723889-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="273" height="441"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Brad Seiwood</b></figcaption></div><p>The new No. 27 is 20-year-old Darryl Sittler, a rookie fresh out of junior hockey. He&rsquo;s not going to match the 20 goals Mahovlich scored in his first professional campaign, but in the words of coach Johnny McLellan. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good one.&rdquo;</p><p>Sittler is one of the fine young players around whom Leafs are rebuilding.</p><p>Sittler was a centre when Leafs made him their first choice in last June&rsquo;s draft of graduating junior players. In fact, he had played only two games at any other position&mdash;&rdquo;a disaster each he says.</p><p>But the simple fact was Leafs couldn&rsquo;t possibly use him at center. because they already had Dave Keon, Norm Ullman. Mike Walton and Jim Harrison to handle that assignment. Unless Sittler could take on some other job. he would have to be despatched down to the Central League farm club at Tulsa.</p><p>So he became a left-winger.</p><p>McLellan liked Sittler&rsquo;s size&mdash;six feet. 190 pounds&mdash;his toughness&mdash;126 penalty minutes in 54 games last winter&mdash;and his attitude. He felt there had to be room in his lineup somewhere for this youngster.</p><p>So he formed a new forward line, with Sittler and Ron Ellis on the wings and with Walton and Harrison sharing the center slot duties.</p><p>It clicked. Suddenly. Leafs had the offensive balance they had been seeking. Keon was centering Billy MacMillan and Garry Monahan. Ullman was skating between Paul Henderson and rookie Guy Trottier, who had 10 goals in Leafs&rsquo; first 22 games. Those were solid attacking units and so was the newly formed third line. There was a fourth centre, something all National Hockey League teams covet, and George Armstrong had come out of retirement to toil on the power play, to kill penalties and to play in spots.</p><p>This improved Toronto squad accomplished quite a lot as November ended. Meeting Detroit Red Wings, the club they figure they must beat to qualify for the playoffs. Leafs powered to a 9-4 win. They eased past Buffalo Sabres and out of the East Division cellar. And they played impressively right in Boston Garden. holding the lead twice before losing, 4-2.</p><p>The second goal of Sittler&rsquo;s NHL career put them in front 2-1 during that Boston visit. He&rsquo;d counted his first NHL goal the night before as Leafs indicated their capability of handling the Wings.</p><p>The success of his rookies is one of the reasons McLellan has been feeling optimistic, despite the fact they dropped 15 of their first-22 matches. All the rookies have been pleasant surprises.</p><p>Nobody had counted on Sittler to make it in the NHL right away. &ldquo;But he&rsquo;s very anxious to learn. He listens, which is a refreshing change,&rdquo; McLellan says.</p><p>Nobody had counted on MacMillan, who&rsquo;s come through brilliantly as Keon&rsquo;s right-winger. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a smart hockey player, and tough. He doesn&rsquo;t make many mistakes,&rdquo; says McLellan.</p><p>Nobody was certain Trottier&rsquo;s goal-scoring magic (55 goals at Buffalo last season) could be transferred successfuly to the majors. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got that touch around the nets,&rdquo; says McLellan.</p><p>And Leafs have been delighted with freshman defender Brad Selwood, although he got hurt at about the time they acquired Bobby Baun and therefore faced a difficult time regaining steady employment.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great year for rookies in the NHL.&rsquo;&rsquo;McLellan points out, &ldquo;and ours are second to none.&rdquo;</p><p>Those receiving the most publicity, of course, are the top two draft picks, Buffalo&rsquo;s Gil Perreault and Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; Dale Tallon.</p><p>&ldquo;But I think we&rsquo;re as well off as anybody,&rdquo; McLellan declares.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02184/3723882-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="539" height="872"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DARRYL SITTLER&hellip;Leaf Of Future</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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December 18, 1970

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