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

January 21, 1972

The Hockey News January 21, 1972

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01689/2869707-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="541" height="458"></div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>J</span>ean Ratelle of the New York Rangers spurted in the final week of the first half of the 1971-72 National Hockey League schedule and as a result he&rsquo;s $500 richer instead of Boston&rsquo;s Phil Esposito.</p><p>The high-scoring Ranger center broke a three-and-a-half year Boston monopoly on NHL prize money when he counted five points in the last game of the midway mark in the NHL schedule to end up with 71 points, one more than Espo to emerge as the first half individual scoring leader.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02570/2869700-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="273" height="442"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Phil Esposito</b></figcaption></div><p>Ratelle became only the third non-Boston player to collect awards&rsquo; money in the last few years when he slipped past Esposito as the leading scorer. Espo, the defending Ross Trophy leader who has earned $5,250 in 4&frac12; seasons, pocketed $250 as runner-up to Ratelle. Vic Hadfield, also of New York, and Boston&rsquo;s Bobby Orr, finished in a two-way tie for third place, 11 points in back of Ratelle.</p><p>Defensively, the story is Chicago&rsquo;s pair of Gary Smith, the shoutout leader with four, and Tony Esposito. The two share $250 as first-half leaders in the Vezina Trophy race and their average of 1.77 in the lowest at midseason since Montreal&rsquo;s Jacques Plante posted a 1.57 mark in 1955-56. Second are Minnesota&rsquo;s Gump Worsley and Cesare Maniago at 2.05. Best individual average is the 1.72 by Gilles Villemure of New York.</p><p>Since the Bruins, particularly Esposito and Orr, became a scoring power 3&frac12; seasons ago, the team has collected $8,000 of a possible $9,750 in individual scoring award money. Esposito received $4,750 in that time, Orr $3,000 and Ken Hodge $250. The other two non-Bruins to collect bonuses were Bobby Hull of Chicago ($1,500) and Phil Goyette of St. Louis ($250).</p><p>The Ranger line of Ratelle, Hadfield and Rod Gilbert has 81 goals and 189 points, well ahead of the record pace set by Boston&rsquo;s Esposito, Hodge and Wayne Cashman last season when they had 67 goals and 159 points at midseason and finished with 140 goals; 336 points.</p><p>Several other record set last season are within grasp if current paces are maintained. Ratelle, with a league-leading 45 assists, is three behind Orr&rsquo;s total at this time last season when he finished with 102. Esposito, with 34 goals, is even with his pace in 1970-71 which ended at 76 goals. On his way to a record 152 points, Esposito had 72 at the midway mark, only one more than Ratelle now had and two more than he has himself. Orr is within four points of his record 139 by a defenseman; Rick Martin of Buffalo with 29 goals and 49 points has as many goals as teammate Gilbert Perreault had points at this time last season and Perreault set marks for goals (38) and points (72) by a rookie; and Marcel Dionne of Detroit has 21 assists, five ahead of the pace set by Minnesota&rsquo;s Jude Drouin last season when he had a record 52 assists.</p><p>The Rangers, as a team, have 178 goals. Boston had 185 after 39 games last season and set a record 399. New York&rsquo;s East Division leading 60 points is one behind the record pace by Boston last season when Bruins had 121. Boston has 59 points and Chicago, leaders in the West Division, had 58 after 39 games.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03380/2869693-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="1173" height="1292"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Chicago coach BILLY REAY never has any goaling problems when he has TONY ESPOSITO around. The husky Hawks&rsquo; netminder combined with Gary Smith to lead first half for Vezina Trophy.</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0003-01

IN THIS ISSUE

Ratelie Beats Espo Chicago’s Espo, Smith To Scoring Money Grab Off Vezina Gold

<h2><b>Sat. Dec. 25 SALT LAKE 1 at DENVER 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0364/2871711-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="583" height="503"></div><h2><b>PORTLAND 0 at SEATTLE 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0459/2871704-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="580" height="400"></div><h2><b>Sun. Dec. 26 PHOENIX 2 at SAN DIEGO 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0546/2871697-1-eng-US/f0027-052.jpg" title="f0027-05" width="588" height="656"></div><h2><b>SEATTLE 2 at PORTLAND 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0639/2871690-1-eng-US/f0027-062.jpg" title="f0027-06" width="590" height="600"></div><h2><b>Wed. Dec. 29 PORTLAND 5 at PHOENIX 11</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0734/2871683-1-eng-US/f0027-072.jpg" title="f0027-07" width="602" height="1053"></div><h2><b>SEATTLE 1 at SAN DIEGO 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0831/2871676-1-eng-US/f0027-082.jpg" title="f0027-08" width="584" height="332"></div><h2><b>Thurs. Dec. 30 SEATTLE 2 at SALT LAKE 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0930/2871669-1-eng-US/f0027-092.jpg" title="f0027-09" width="589" height="500"></div><h2><b>Fri. Dec. 31 SALT LAKE 1 at DENVER 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1028/2871662-1-eng-US/f0027-102.jpg" title="f0027-10" width="591" height="623"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0027-03

Western League Summaries

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01703/2869831-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Big M is a Big Shooter but he&rsquo;ll tell you, as he tells us, that&rsquo;s not the only thing he does. So we make our CCM sticks to do more. Frank has to check so he needs a solid, strong stick. He has to pass so he needs a stick that is comfortable. He has to receive passes so he needs a stick that is responsive. He has to have support so he needs a stick that is sturdy. He has to have good balance so he needs a stick that always feels right.</p><p>For every game, Frank Mahovlich has three CCM sticks taped and ready to go plus the one he is using. And every one of those CCM sticks will do everything Frank asks of it, just as it will do for you.</p><p>As Frank says, &ldquo;there are a lot of sticks for shooters. There are very few like CCM for hockey players.&rdquo;</p><p>Bobby Hull.</p><p>Frank Mahovlich.</p><p>Darryl Sittier.</p><p>Paul Henderson.</p><p>Dale Tallon.</p><p>Marcel Dionne.</p><p>Gary Smith.</p><p>The CCM Athletic</p><p>Advisory Board.</p><p>We use more than their names.</p><p>We use their ideas.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0005-01

FRANK MAHOVLICH KNOWS YOU HAVE TO USE A STICK FOR MORE THAN JUST SHOOTING.

<div class="byline">BY BOB ELMER</div><p>BALTIMORE -</p><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>nother son of the sod joined forces with Terry Reardon&rsquo;s fast moving Baltimore Clippers during Christmas week as winger Don O&rsquo;Donoghue arrived from the west coast courtesy of the California Golden Seals.</p><p>Just what happened to O&rsquo;Donoghue is not exactly clear. A month ago he was ordered to report here, but balked, and then was suspended by Seals&rsquo; GM Garry Young. Later, the personable 22-year-old Kingston native repented and arrived on the Baltimore scene with his young and attractive wife and a pair of white hockey skates.</p><p>O&rsquo;Donoghue has fine credentials. After coming up through the St. Catharines Jr. A ranks, he was drafted by the Seals in the June 1969 amateur draft, and played the full 1969-70 campaign with California. Last winter he split the season with the Seals and the Providence Reds, with whom the parent NHL club was working.</p><p>So, the Clips welcome another good Irishman into their fold as O&rsquo;Donoghue joins the local Hibernian ranks featuring Reardon himself, Brian Murphy, Red Arsmtrong, Kent Douglas, Ted Mckneeley, Terry Murray, and office wheel Woody Ryan.</p><p>Meanwhile, the Clippers returned to the hockey wars as the new year dawned following a ten day layoff in which the locals only exposure to hockey came in daily practice sessions at the suburban Orchard rink.</p><p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t recall when we had these many days off,&rdquo; skipper Reardon reflected, &ldquo;At least not without playing a game. I have to believe that the rest benefitted our veterans such as Jim Morrison, Jean Gauthier, Dick Mattiussi, Joe Szura, Howie Menard and Red Armstrong, but I&rsquo;m not so sure what the effect may be on the younger players.&rdquo;</p><p>Prior to the hockey hiatus, the Clippers had posted their best December record in their ten year history. They put together seven straight wins and finished up the month by gaining a come-from-behind 3-3 tie in Boston against the young first place Braves.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01154/2871369-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="558" height="594"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DON O&rsquo;DONOGHUE&hellip;Changed His Mind</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0024-01

Clippers’ Offense Given Boost As O’Donoghue Arrives To Play

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01510/2872509-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Tony Esposito Solid Gaoling Led Hawks' Romp</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Hockey News Photo by Richard Pellegrini)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>&mdash;Page 3</b></p><p><b>HAWKS&rsquo; HETMINDERS CRAB VEZINA GOLD</b></p><p><b>&mdash;Page 3</b></p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-02384/2872502-1-eng-US/cover-022.jpg" title="Cover-02" width="1212" height="1415"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RATELLE MALFWAY LEADER</b></figcaption></div><p><b>EDWARDS&rsquo; WALKOUT BIG BLOW TO PENS</b></p><p><b>&mdash;Page 13</b></p><p><b>WILSON&rsquo;S TOUGH TACTICS SHOW UP IN WINGS&rsquo; ICE PLAY</b></p><p><b>&mdash;Page 11</b></p><p><b>HABS DISCOVER REPLACING DRYDEN NOT EASY</b></p><p><b>&mdash;Page 7</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Cover-01

RATELLE CRACKS BRUIN MONOPOLY

<div class="byline">BY TOM MONAHAN</div><p>BOSTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>n his own, quiet and efficient way, Freddie Stanfield is going about the job of helping prove the Bruins are No. 1 in the National Hockey League.</p><p>Although the 27-year-old center has been a key man for the Bruins since his arrival in Beantown five years ago, he still is the most underrated hockey player on the team as well as in the league.</p><p>He has scored 92 goals and had 190 assists in his four years with the B&rsquo;s and last year totaled 76 points on 24 goals and 52 assists for a personal high in one season.</p><p>But playing with Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr, Ken Hodge and Johnny Bucyk, Stanfield&rsquo;s efforts have been most noticeable for the lack of attention.</p><p>It is even thus today while the self-effacing Toronto native is working at a 100-point pace.</p><p>After 36 games, Fred was 16 points ahead of his 1970-71 pace as his eight goals and 35 assists placed him ninth on the NHL list.</p><p>One man who pays strict attention to Stanfield and appreciates his talent, however, is Bruin general manager Milt Schmidt.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to say that Freddy is probably playing the best hockey of his career for us,&rdquo; says Schmidt. &ldquo;He making the plays and doing a great job of fore checking.&rdquo;</p><p>Because of his inborn quietness, there has been a tendency to believe that nothing ever bothers Stanfield.</p><p>Yet he admits he gets down on himself occasionaly when he misses scoring opportunities.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m human you know,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;I like to put that puck in the net as much as the next guy. And I&rsquo;d like to have a few more goals to my credit this year.&rdquo;</p><p>But it is typical of Stanfield that he is interested in scoring only in so far as. the believes a misfire is hurting the team and one of his teammates.</p><p>&ldquo;I feel like kicking myself when Johnny (Bucyk) or Pie (Johnny McKenzie) makes a nice feed to me and I can&rsquo;t put it away,&rdquo; he says.</p><p>&ldquo;Oh, I don&rsquo;t worry about it too much,&rdquo; he continues, &ldquo;and I don&rsquo;t feel any pressure because I haven&rsquo;t scored more goals. I guess play-making really is my bag and I enjoy making a good play and seeing one of my wingers score. It makes me feel good, too.</p><p>&ldquo;And I&rsquo;m really happy when I see the team playing the way it has the past month. I think we are playing the game the way it should be played.</p><p>&ldquo;By that I mean the offense and the defense. Not just the offense. On top of the overall play we are getting great goal-tending.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the best goal tending we&rsquo;ve had in the five years I have been with the club.&rdquo;</p><p>And it matters little to Stanfield whether he does hit the century mark in the scoring column for the season.</p><p>&ldquo;The important thing is that we take every game as a big one for the rest of the season,&rdquo; he says.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01687/2869662-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="541" height="580"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>FRED STANFIELD&hellip;100-Point Pace</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0002-01

Overshadowed By Top Bruins, Stanfield Making B’s No.1

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-01751/2869752-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="515" height="522"></div><p>&bull; <b>BUD POILE</b> plans to make at least 90 percent of his team&rsquo;s road games between now and the close of the season. The Vancouver GM is far from pleased with his club&rsquo;s horrendous record playing away from home&hellip;Poile, incidentally, went to the hospital in Vancouver the other day, &ldquo;and before I got out, I had visited five of my players&rdquo;&hellip;Chicago coach Billy Reay made a few enemies in Philadelphia when he refused to permit Bobby Hull to appear for the post-game TV show beamed back to Philly. &ldquo;Club policy,&rdquo; said Reay. Asked the reason, Billy remarked: &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t remember the reason but it must be a good one&rdquo;&hellip;Don&rsquo;t invite the Philadelphia Flyers to anymore birthday parties for super stars. Their 6-2 loss to the Black Hawks came on the eve of Bobby Hull&rsquo;s 33rd birthday and as you&rsquo;d expect, the Golden Jet scored two goals. Last year the Flyers played the Boston Bruins on Bobby Orr&rsquo;s birthday and he, too, had a big scoring night&hellip;Charles (Lefty) Smith is doing a fantastic job coaching the Notre Dame hockey team. The Fighting Irish recently won the ECAC Holiday Hockey Festival in New York and are now one of the powers in U.S. collegiate puck circles. This is only the fourth year that Notre Dame has had hockey but Smith has recruited wisely and is making the most of the talent at his disposal&hellip;Chicago Black Hawks have been coming up spades in recent years with outstanding goalkeepers and it looks like they have another one in their organization playing with Dallas of the Central League. He&rsquo;s Mike Dumas who recently jumped into the No. 1 spot among CHL goalies. Bobby Kromm, Dallas coach, has him tabbed as a sure-fire NHL&rsquo;er in the future&hellip;It looks as if the San Francisco entry in the World Hockey Association will play their games at the Cow Palace&hellip;Russia&rsquo;s National Team made a fine impression wherever they played in the United States. Their spot passing is something to behold. There are several Russian players who could make it in the NHL, but it&rsquo;s hard to say how they&rsquo;d perform individually&hellip;The New York State Fair Coliseum in Syracuse will be the site of the first official meeting of the Greater New York State Junior Ice Hockey Federation&hellip;It takes place at noon Sunday, January 23., and all groups representing junior age hockey are invited&hellip;General Manager Garry Young of the California Golden Seals has been tough with his players of late. Center Wayne Carleton was deprived of the letter &ldquo;A&rdquo; on his sweater and fined an unspecified amount for disciplinary reasons, while speedy Bobby Sheehan has been hit with more than $700 in fines for various nocturnal missions. &ldquo;Sorry to have to keep doing this to you,&rdquo; Young is supposed to have said. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t worry.&rdquo; said Sheehan. &ldquo;Money is only money&rdquo;.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02702/2869745-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="254" height="456"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Wayne Carleton</b></figcaption></div><p>&bull; <b>WHEN ST. LOUIS</b> traded Jim Roberts to Montreal they didn&rsquo;t name a new captain. Instead, they are using four alternates. They are Barclay and Bob Plager, Frank St. Marseille and Carl Brewer&hellip;Other NHL clubs who fail to have a captain are Boston and Chicago&hellip;The International Hockey League is gradually becoming one of the finest minor pro loops in existence. Commissioner Bill Beagan has done a first-rate job since he took over the post. Saginaw and Kalamazzo, two flourishing Michigan cities, will be joining the IHL soon and there is talk that two or three of the Eastern Hockey League clubs might move into the IHL next sea son&hellip;A big worry lately at Madison Square Garden has been the increasing incidence of counterfeit tickets&hellip;Toronto&rsquo;s Brian Spencer has failed to score a goal in over 60 consecutive NHL games. Since Spencer is a forward this must rate as some sort of modern-day record. Last goal he scored was on February 10, 1971 against Chicago&hellip;Vancouver will fly more miles this season than any NHL club. The Canucks will fly 70,128 miles. Pittsburgh Penguins fly the least. They travel 38,200 miles through the air this campaign&hellip;Each NHL club averages 46,869 travelling miles this season&hellip;Youngest president of an NHL team is Weston Adams Jr. of Boston. Adams, 28, is interviewed in depth in the January issue of HOCKEY PICTORIAL&hellip;Calgary&rsquo;s entry in the WHA will be known as the Bronks&hellip;E. G. (Pat) Brown, former governor of California, is one of the owners of the Los Angeles entry in the WHA&hellip;Jerry DeLise declined the general manager&rsquo;s job with Miami, which was ultimately filled by 31-year-old Lester Patrick, son of Lynn Patrick of St. Louis and grandson of one of hockey&rsquo;s patriarchs&hellip;Miami will call their team the Screaming Eagles&hellip;The International Youth Hockey Tournament staged by the Kiwanis Club of Weymouth, Mass, is expected to be one of the biggest of its kind. All interested teams should advise the committee as soon as possible if they plan to participate&hellip;Rookie Rick Martin of Buffalo scored seven goals against California in four games, which prompted Seals&rsquo; left winger Stan Gilbertson to remark: &ldquo;I saw Martin checking out the schedule after the game he got the hat trick against us. He was probably figuring out when he&rsquo;d play against us again.&rdquo;&hellip;Garry Young of the Seals had this to say about Martin: &ldquo;He gets his shot away faster than anybody I&rsquo;ve ever seen play this game.&rdquo;&hellip;Just returned from Russia and Finland where he refereed the Moscow International Tournament is Lenny Gagnon of Medford, Mass. Lenny also scouts the colleges in New England for the Minnesota North Stars&hellip;The week of January 22 is being observed as Minor Hockey Week in Canada&hellip;Jacques Courtois, new president of the Montreal Canadiens, will serve as the club&rsquo;s NHL Governor. Sam Pollock remains as alternate.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03604/2869738-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="263" height="439"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Jerry DeLise</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0004-01

PASSING THE PUCK

<p>Founded October 1st, 1947</p><p><b>Published weekly except monthly June through September by Ken-Will Publishing Co. Ltd.</b></p><p><b>1434 St. Catherine Street West Montreal 107, Canada.</b></p><p><b>U.S. Office: 16 Maple Street, Rouses Point, N.Y. 12979</b></p><p><b>Kenneth William McKenzie</b></p><p>President and Publisher</p><p><b>Charlie Halpin</b> Editorial Director</p><p><b>Lyndon Little</b> Assistant To Editor</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>Postpage paid at Rouses Point, N.Y. 12979. Send address changes to 1434 St. Catherine Street West, Suite 212, Montr&eacute;al, 107, P.Q.</p><p>Second class mail&mdash;Registration No. 1327</p><p><b>Printed in Canada</b></p><p><b>Vol. 25 MONTREAL, JANUARY 21, 1972 No. 16</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

The Hockey News OFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY

<h2><b>Fan&rsquo;s Plan For NHL Realignment</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>ith divisional realignment a virtual certainty for next season in the National Hockey League, here&rsquo;s what I think would represent the most equitable arrangement:</p><p>NORTH DIVISION: Boston, Montreal, Toronto and Long Island.</p><p>ATLANTIC DIVISION: New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Buffalo.</p><p>CENTRAL DIVISION: Chicago, St. Louis, Minnesota and Detroit.</p><p>WEST DIVISION: California, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Vancouver.</p><p><b>RON PARLOW,</b><br><b>Penn Valley, Pa.</b></p><h2><b>Park-Orr Controversy Really Not An Issue</b></h2><p>In reference to your Dec. 31 issue article: Who Is Better, Bobby Orr Or Brad Park?, I agree that Park is good and that he didn&rsquo;t give up in the playoffs last year even though he had a knee injury.</p><p>But, one thing that is very clear&mdash;and I feel very sorry for any real hockey buff that will not admit it&mdash;is that Bobby Orr is the top professional player today. If any fans doesn&rsquo;t believe this, then I advise them to take a true objective look at him.</p><p><b>LARRY SMITH,</b><br><b>Saugus, Mass.</b></p><h2><b>Hawks&rsquo; Stan Mikita Hockey Dive Artist</b></h2><p>In a recent game I witnessed on television involving the New York Rangers and the Chicago Black Hawks, Stan Mikita of the Hawks on two occasions made beautiful swan dives over the sticks of Brad Park and Rod Gilbert. Both Rangers were called for tripping.</p><p>These were clear cases of acting.</p><p>I think NHL referees&mdash;and theater producers&mdash;should be made more aware of this type of acting. Who knows, there might be some future theatrical greats on skates!</p><p><b>TOM GULOTTA,</b><br><b>Long Branch, N.J.</b></p><h2><b>Fewer Protected Players Means Player Shuffling</b></h2><p>In past issues of the HOCKEY NEWS, readers have given their opinions on the attempt to gain parity among the NHL clubs. Some feel that clubs such as Montreal, Boston, Chicago and New York, should lose players and be able to protect only about 12 players.</p><p>These superior teams have good players because of the tactics used by outstanding general managers such as Sam Pollock of the Canadiens.</p><p>If the strong teams are allowed to protect only 10 players and two goaltenders, there will be some players who will be drafted by a different club each year, because only the stars like the Hulls, Mahovlichs, Orrs and Espositos, etc. will be protected.</p><p><b>KELLY LONERGAN,</b><br><b>Jackson&rsquo;s Point, Ont.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Fan Forum

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><p>NEW YORK&mdash;</p><p>Despite the fact that the Boston Bruins now have a three to one edge in games played between the two rivals, the Rangers expect the battle for the National Hockey League East pennant to come down to the wire.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-01780/2869862-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="276" height="450"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Gil Villemurc</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;Heck, we did all the work and they got all the goals,&rdquo; said Emile Francis, the New York general manager-coach after Boston had defeated New York 4-1 on January 2.</p><p>New York outshot the Bruins 41-15 and kept the Phil Esposito line from getting a single shot on goal, but still succumbed when Bobby Orr scored in the last minute of the first period and Derek Sanderson in the first minute of the second. Two more goals by Johnny Bucyk and one by Peter Stemkowski were only window dressing as Boston tightened up the game and played defense after forging their 2-0 lead.</p><p>The Rangers missed early close in chances by Jean Ratelle, Rod Gilbert, Vic Hadfield and Glen Sather. Then Orr turned the game around and left New York wondering what it has to do to beat the Bruins.</p><p>The Rangers GAG Line is still the highest scoring line in the NHL with 168 points in 37 games. The checking of the Walter Tkaczuk-Billy Fairbairn-Glen Sather trio is a treat to behold and the Bobby Rousseau, Bruce MacGregor-Ted Irvine trio both checks and scores.</p><p>Nonetheless, if the Ratelle line slows down a bit the Rangers might have trouble holding first place. A hot streak from Tkaczuk would help. When Stemkowski regains his full conditioning, Francis may be able to shift Rousseau up front with Tkaczuk and create more scoring power on this line. The Stemmer would then center the MacGregor-Irvine combination as he did late last season.</p><p>The emergence of Gil Villemure to full status as a goalie who works against anyone is a highlight of the first half of the New York season. He suffered only his second loss in the Boston game and had allowed only 34 goals in 19 games for a 1.82 goals against average in the first half of the season. His full record was 14-2-2. Eddie Giacomin logged 11-4-4 with 50 goals against and a 2.72 average.</p><p>With Dale Rolfe out, Gary Doak, late of the Vancouver Canucks and before that the Boston Bruins, was getting his chance to play regular.</p><p>&ldquo;I need regular ice to get in shape and show what I can do,&rdquo; said Gary just before Rolfe&rsquo;s injury. &ldquo;I can do a job if I get the chance.&rdquo;</p><p>Doak has gotten the chance and showed himself to be a willing, and somewhat truculent defenseman. He is not as fast as Rolfe, but works well with Park.</p><p>It might just be that Ab DeMarco, a puck handler supreme, might also get more time on the blue line in upcoming games.</p><p>&ldquo;My game is moving that puck and I&rsquo;ll get it out of our end if I get to play enough,&rdquo; says Ab.</p><p><b>BLUE CHIPS:</b> Warren Levine of Bayside was the winner of Radio Station WNBC Sportsline&rsquo;s Show to select a nickname for the Rangers Ratelle line. His selection: The Goal Diggers. Warren watched the Ranger-Philly game of December 29 from Marv Albert&rsquo;s broadcast booth and was interviewed by color man Bill Chadwick&hellip;Ranger TV schedule has change in that February 22 game with Montreal will be piped back via Channel 9 and January 29 game with Minnesota will switch to AM Radio&hellip;Vic Hadfield has 13 power play goals tieing him for all time season high for Ranger set by Camille &ldquo;The Eel&rdquo; Henry&hellip;Jean Ratelle recently notched his 500th career NHL point&hellip;Rangers stand 10-4-2 versus East and 152-4 versus West&hellip;Hadfield leads team with five game winners&hellip;Peter Stemkowski&rsquo;s goal against Boston was his 100th in the NHL&hellip;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0006-01

Rangers Expect Race To Go Down To Wire

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02636/2869893-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg"></div><h2>The Power Play</h2><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he point man is the key to the power play. With the defending team a man short, the attackers can take more chances and put on the pressure. Attacking de fencemen can play far forward and have a real role just inside the blue line.</p><p>Point men have the choice of passing to any of the three forwards who are close to the goal and waiting to tip the pass into the net. The point man. far out from the scramble, can take more time to select his target get it to the forward who has the best chance to score.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0006-02

Hockey for Kids

<div class="byline">BY GIL SMITH</div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t was nearly nine months between games for Phil Myre when he returned to action against California on December 29, but he played as though he&rsquo;d never been away.</p><p>Myre was the game&rsquo;s star and the main reason for Habs&rsquo; close 3-2 win over the hard-striving Seals. &ldquo;He just killed us,&rdquo; said Seals&rsquo; coach Vic Stasiuk. &ldquo;Some of his stops just were unbelieveable. He made two in a row off Bobby Sheehan in the third period that turned the game right around.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01731/2869924-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="259" height="434"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Phil Myre</b></figcaption></div><p>Said Myre: &ldquo;The saves off Sheehan were my toughest of the night. But, I got into the game early with a stop off Craig Patrick who had a breakaway about two minutes after the game began.&rdquo;</p><p>Myre subbed for the injured Ken Dryden who came up with a lame back. Dryden apparently injured his back against Toronto in a mid-December game. The tall goalie rushed out to the blueline to beat Normie Ullman to the puck, that night, and somehow hurt his back in the effort.</p><p>&ldquo;I knew right away something had happened,&rdquo; Dryden explained, later. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d reached out to check the puck away from Ullman and he fell over my stick. I turned to get back to my net and I either pulled a muscle or threw something out. It didn&rsquo;t seem like much at the time, but it got worse over the next few days.&rdquo;</p><p>Dryden couldn&rsquo;t play against Pittsburgh in a Christmas night encounter, and, surprisingly, Denis Dejordy got the call against the Penguins. Habs lost 4-2.</p><p>Dejordy, recently acquired from Los Angeles in the Roggie Vachon trade, had been dressed as back-up man to Dryden. When Ken found he couldn&rsquo;t make it, Dejordy was moved in to start the game.</p><p>Meanwhile Myre, who&rsquo;d been sitting out the Pittsburgh game, was ordered to dress as back-up man to Dejordy. Myre, according to reports, was far from happy with that arrangement and almost refused to dress. He was finally talked into it by teammates, including Dryden.</p><p>Myre then watched as the Penguins pumped four goals past Dejordy in what constituted the latter&rsquo;s debut in the Hab nets.</p><p>Four nights later Myre finally got into action against the Seals. As noted, he turned in a sparkling performance and was named the game&rsquo;s first star.</p><p>&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t as nervous as I thought I&rsquo;d be,&rdquo; said Myre, who only learned he&rsquo;d be playing on the afternoon of the game. &ldquo;I was just glad to get into action,&rdquo; he remarked.</p><p>However, things took another turn over New Year weekend ad Habs were trounced by Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings. Myre was in goal for both defeats.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0007-01

Replacing Ailing Dryden Not Easy

<p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>y selling their estimated 700,000 shares in Canadian Arena Company&mdash;owner of the Montreal Forum and Canadiens&mdash;before the imposition of the new Canadian capital gains tax, the Molsons probably saved themselves a fortune.</p><p>The Molson brothers, David, William and Peter, concluded the sale of their interests to a company called Placement Rondelle (Puck Investment) on December 30.</p><p>The newly imposed capital gains tax in Canada applies to assets sold at a profit as of January 1.</p><p>By moving two days before the deadline, the Molsons probably saved themselves a cool $2.5 million. It works out like this!</p><p>The 700,000 shares were sold for an estimated $22.00 a share. Total estimated selling price: $15.4 million. For valuation purposes, the Government takes the value of such taxable assets at their quoted price on December 22, 1971. On that date, the shares of Canadian Arena Company were quoted at $15.00 a share on the Canadian Stock Exchange. Profit per share, therefore: $7.00.</p><p>Half of that profit&mdash;$3.50, a share&mdash;would&rsquo;ve been subject to capital gains tax, had the sale occurred on or after January 1.</p><p>In other words, the Molsons would&rsquo;ve had to pay tax on some two and a half million dollars profit had they waited for the new tax laws.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Quick Sale Big Saving To Molsons

<div class="byline">&#x2014;By Bill Libby</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-01766/2869986-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="278" height="366"></div><h2><i><b>A Good Man Even On One Leg</b></i></h2><p><b>TIM HORTON IS</b> on his last legs and one of them was broken this season.</p><p>Off to a swift start, the Pittsburgh Penquins floundered when tough Tim cracked an ankle and was sidelined two months. Now that he has returned, they hope to regain their form.</p><p>It is a good example of what expansion has done to the National Hockey League when a 41-year-old man with a limp is welcomed with open arms, but Red Kelly was ready to kiss Tim when he came back.</p><p>Actually, it is quite a story how Horton wound up in Pittsburgh in the first place. He really should have been running around Toronto selling donuts this year, instead of playing a kids&rsquo; game and getting busted up.</p><p>Now in his 20th year in the majors, he had made up his mind to retire after last season and told his New York Ranger boss Emile Francis so. Francis took him at his word and did not protect him from the draft. Pittsburgh boss Kelly takes nothing for granted and took Horton.</p><p>It was not that after nearly 18 years with Leafs in Toronto and less than two years in New York, Horton did not like New York. On the contrary, he says, &ldquo;Last season in New York was the happiest of my career.</p><p>&ldquo;Emile is a great person and a fine coach and he treated me well. They have good guys and great players on the team. We didn&rsquo;t go as far as we hoped to, but we had good success.</p><p>&ldquo;Also New York is a very interesting and exciting city and it was quite an experience living there. I really got a lot out of it.&rdquo;</p><p>Nor was it his salary, which was in the $80,000 area, which is hard to give up.</p><p>But Horton, a uniquely honest and outspoken individual, admits he had tired of hockey and was enthusiastic about business, mainly his string of donut shops.</p><p>&ldquo;I feel about business the way I used to feel about hockey,&rdquo; he admits. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s fresh and interesting and challenging. Hockey ceased being that for me some time back, though I still enjoy the game.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had as much individual recognition as a man could want and played on more than my share of champions. And I can make good money in business, too.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02676/2869979-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="557" height="865"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TIM HORTON&hellip;Had Tired Of Hockey</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;In fact, I&rsquo;ve tried two or three businesses, but I found to make them go you have to really work at them, your name isn&rsquo;t enough. We&rsquo;re expanding our donut operation and we build our own buildings. We franchise, but you have to get the right locations, the right franchise-holders and so forth. This is my future and I worry that if I don&rsquo;t concentrate on it, it may not work for me as well as it should&rdquo;&hellip;</p><p>Also Tim and his wife, Lori, have four children, who are growing up and leaving home, and he felt it was time he spent more time with them.</p><h2><i><b>The Chain Of Circumstances</b></i></h2><p><b>WHY, THEN, WAS HE STILL</b> playing this season? He says, &ldquo;I played alongside Red Kelly for many years in Toronto and anyone who gets to know Red gets to respect him to the point where it is hard to say no to him for anything.</p><p>&ldquo;Also, my wife is from Pittsburgh. I met her while playing for the Hornets there early in my career, we have a lot of family there and we thought it would be fun for us to spend a season there.&rdquo;</p><p>It may also have influenced him that Pittsburgh, not the richest franchise in hockey, went for an extra twenty grand and a raise to $100,000 for him. That&rsquo;s a nice round figure, not only a lot of money, but a mark of distinction for a professional athlete.</p><p>So there were several circumstances in the chain which put Horton in Pittsburgh, where the Penguins, who are drawing much better now, wound up having to pay doctor bills for him instead of playing him.</p><p>Well, that&rsquo;s the breaks.</p><p>Kelly says, &ldquo;He is one of the most powerful men ever to play hockey and one of the smartest. He makes plays you don&rsquo;t see much any more. He is one of the oldest players still in the majors, but also one of the ablest.&rdquo;</p><p>If only he was one of the healthiest. &ldquo;These things happen,&rsquo; Kelly shrugs.</p><p>Pittsburgh won five of its first six games and then Horton got hurt. Kelly had ripped apart his disappointing defense in an effort to reclaim a playoff spot, but when Horton got hurt, he didn&rsquo;t have much left. However, half the season is left.</p><p>Many thought Tim would just throw in the towel when the injury came. After all, he was ready to retire, anyway. But Tim had made a commitment and unless he finds a return to action too tough, he probably will stick it out. The handsome, husky veteran is a pro, an all-time All Star, and there aren&rsquo;t many like him left.</p><p>He and Kelly helped Toronto and Punch Imlach to four Stanley Cup triumphs. They won&rsquo;t win the cup in Pittsburgh. Horton won&rsquo;t hang around long enough for that but if Red does, Tim will rush in with some donuts to dunk in the champagne. &ldquo;There comes a time when a man has to call it a career. I thought my time had come. It remains close,&rdquo; Tim smiles.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div><p>ST. LOUIS&mdash;</p><p>Al Arbour took over the St. Louis Blues in adversity, and the struggle back to respectability is not easy.</p><p>When Arbour took for the second time the job of St. Louis coach on Christmas Day, the Blues were on an eightgame winless streak, worst in the club&rsquo;s history. The string reached 10 before a 6-3 win over the Maple Leafs in Toronto in goalie Jacques Caron&rsquo;s debut in a St. Louis uniform.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03557/2870017-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="269" height="440"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bob Plager</b></figcaption></div><p>Not since the first couple months of their existence, when the Blues quickly sank to the bottom of the expansion division, had the team endured such a terrible stretch. Arbour was captain of the fledgling Blues when they went for seven games without a win from Nov. 12 to Nov. 26, 1967.</p><p>Lynn Patrick gave up coaching during that early winless string, and in the four-plus seasons of expansion hockey the Blues have now changed coaches more times than any other expansion team. Bill McCreary is the latest to move out of the coach&rsquo;s office. He changed jobs with Arbour and became assistant general manager.</p><p>Arbour is a worker and a worrier. Just as he gave totally of himself as a shot-blocking defenseman, so also does he throw his entire energy into coaching. When Arbour was coach of the Blues for 50 games last season, he compiled the best winning percentage of any Blues&rsquo; coach. This time, however, the job is tougher.</p><p>&ldquo;I think some of the players have lost confidence in themselves and maybe in the club,&rdquo; Arbour said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m trying to restore it. They have to be ready for every game.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t put the finger on one guy, and really there&rsquo;s no sense in doing so,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If we&rsquo;re going to win, we&rsquo;re going to do it together.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;Our best asset right now is youth,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and it&rsquo;s also our biggest handicap.&rdquo;</p><p>The Blues have made numerous personnel changes this season by trades and by shuttling players back and forth between the parent club and the farm teams at Denver and Kansas City. The average age of the team has been dropping steadily. But also dropping dangerously low are those intangible qualities which give a club stability and togetherness. Arbour and general manager Sid Abel believe that enough changes have been made and they would like to consolidate the young talent they now have with the Blues.</p><p>Complicating this plan, however, is the old hockey problem of injuries. Defenseman Noel Picard has been missing since mid-November when his foot was mangled in a horseback-riding mishap. George Morrison missed several weeks with a throat infection that left him weakened, and Christian Bordeleau is out with a broken left foot.</p><p>Bob Plager has missed nearly half of the games this season and is currently plagued by a painful calcium deposit in his left thigh. But when defenseman Carl Brewer suffered a knee injury, the rugged Plager laced on his skates and ignored the pain. Fans who didn&rsquo;t see him limp into the dressing room before the game were unaware of the pain involved in skating.</p><p>&ldquo;It hurts,&rdquo; Plager said, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;m going to play on it. I was in the hospital, and they had plenty of needles stuck in me, but the treatment didn&rsquo;t work on the calcium. Now there&rsquo;s nothing that can be done.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll just have to play him the way he is,&rdquo; said Arbour. &ldquo;At the end of the season a decision can be made about possible surgery.&rdquo;</p><p>The injuries have forced Arbour to juggle some of his lines and defensive pairs and he has also experimented with various combinations. But the coach would like to establish more stability in that respect also. One of his first moves was to reunite the potent line of Garry Unger, Jack Egers and Mike Murphy.</p><p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re playing pretty well and they&rsquo;re getting their share of goals,&rdquo; Arbour said. &ldquo;But they&rsquo;ll have to tighten up on their checking.&rdquo;</p><p>Arbour, the coach, expects from his players everything that Arbour, the player, was willing to give. Arbour could never tolerate iosing and he wants his players to have the same attitude.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-03

Shaping New Blues Arbour’s Big Task As Changes Ended

<div class="byline">BY HAL SIGURDSON</div><p>VANCOUVER&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>H</span>e tolds no title other than director, his direct shareholdings in the club are minimal, but Coleman E. Hall is once more the strong man in the executive suite of the Vancouver Canucks.</p><p>Controlling interest in the club, some 60 per cent of the issued shares, is nominally held by the Medical Investment Corporation of Minneapolis. Hall&rsquo;s original shares along with those of board chairman Cy McLean have been sold to Vancouver businessman Herb Capozzi.</p><p>Nevertheless, it is Hall, the man who has been in and around Vancouver hockey for 25 years, who has the dominant voice in board room decisions.</p><p>That was one of the conditions demanded and received when Hall and McLean acted as co-singners on a loan of almost $4 million that the Medical Investment people (Medicor) obtained from the Bank of British Columbia.</p><p>Tom Scallen of Medicor is still the club president and Lyman Walters, another medicor man, remains as vice-president, but until the loan is repaid, Hall is in command.</p><p>In this new position, Hall immediately went into a series of long huddles with club general manager Bud Poile to establish guide lines to repair the Canucks&rsquo; dwindling National Hockey League fortunes.</p><p>&ldquo;I think Bud needs more help from the ownership level,&rdquo; Hall stated. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s easier to make trades, for instance, if the general manager has someone who can talk to the other team&rsquo;s owners. I know all the owners. I&rsquo;ve known some of them for years.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-01745/2870048-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="272" height="448"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Coleman Hall</b></figcaption></div><p>There has also been a shuffling of responsibilities in the Canucks&rsquo; front office. Poile has been freed of a number of his administrative duties, giving him time to become more directly involved in the day-to-day operation of the hockey club.</p><p>Poile has always enjoyed the confidence of his owners ever since moving to Vancouver, but with Hall in control his position is even more secure.</p><p>The two worked together in San Francisco in the Western League. A close friendship resulted. It was, in fact, Hall who urged Medicor to hire Poile in the first place.</p><p>But if Poile&rsquo;s hand has been strengthened, the same can&rsquo;t be said for coach Hal Laycoe. As the Canucks quietly slumped into last place in the East Division, front office support of the coach was mostly a deafening silence.</p><p>Laycoe is completing the second year of a two-year contract.</p><p>The Canucks&rsquo; problems, however, seem more directly related to injuries than anything else. The defense hasn&rsquo;t been the same since Barry Wilkins suffered a shoulder separation that&rsquo;s likely to keep him out of action for the balance of the season.</p><p>Goaltender George Gardner, right winger Rosie Paiement centre Fred Speck and utility man Poul Popiel are still on the sidelines with injuries. Winger Wayne Connelly missed six games with a fractured cheek bone.</p><p>It&rsquo;s a situation that&rsquo;s made a difficult job almost impossible for Laycoe.</p><p><b>CANUCK CAPERS:</b> Center Richard Lemieux has been called up from Rochester for a trial with the Canucks&hellip;Lemieux was the Canucks&rsquo; third round amateur draft choice last June&hellip;The rookie had nine goals and 13 assists in 34 games in Rochester&hellip;If the five-foot-eight, 155-pound pivot plays well, his stay in the NHL could be extended indefinetely.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0009-01

Hall New Man In Command, Moves To Revitalize Club

<p>EDMONTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he fledgling World Hockey Association feels it has taken a major step towards icing a viable hockey league with the announcement Jan. 6 that Vern Buffey has accepted the position as referee-in-chief with the association.</p><p>Buffey, 41, a veteran of 11 years of National Hockey League officiating and more recently the chief eastern Canada scout for the National Hockey League Vancouver Canucks, has been signed to a three-year contract, it was anounced by Bill Hunter, the WHA&rsquo;s of playing activities. No financial terms were disclosed.</p><p>Hunter is also the principal operator of the Edmonton, Alberta, franchise in the league which hopes to begin play this fall with a maximum of 12 teams.</p><p>Commenting on the Buffey signing, Hunter said: &ldquo;Buffey assures the WHA of top-notch officiating and he&rsquo;ll have the responsibility for the full recruitment of a complete refereeing staff for the league.&rdquo;</p><p>Hunter added that Buffey is expected to start immediately to scout all professional and amateur leagues in Canada and the United States in search of officiating talent.</p><p>Interviewed in Montreal, Buffey said he hoped that relations between himself and the NHL&rsquo;s referee-in-chief Scotty Morrison, a long-time friend, would remain cordial, but that it seemed inevitable that some of the present NHL officiating staff would wind up in the new league.</p><p>As far as the chances for the WHA as a whole succeeding, Buffey said: &ldquo;I think the biggest advantage we&rsquo;ll have is that all the clubs will be starting out on an equal footing. They&rsquo;ll all be competitive from the beginning.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-01762/2870079-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="497" height="587"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>VERN BUFFEY&hellip;Hunting Talent</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0010-01

New WHA Hires Buffey As Chief Referee

<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2><p>MONTREAL&mdash;<b>Larry Pleau,</b> forward, and <b>Dale Hoganson,</b> defenseman, assigned to Nova Scotia of AHL.</p><p>ST. LOUIS&mdash;<b>Pete McDuffe,</b> goalkeeper, sent to Denver of WHL. <b>Larry Hornung,</b> defenseman, recalled from Kansas City and later returned. <b>John Arbour,</b> defenseman, recalled from Denver. <b>Jim Graham,</b> defenseman, reassigned from Kansas City to Denver as replacement. <b>Doug Smith</b> forward, reassigned from Kansas City to Denver, to replace <b>Claude Laforge,</b> forward, placed on disabled list after shoulder surgery.</p><p>BOSTON&mdash;<b>Bob Stewart,</b> defenseman, returned to Boston Braves on AHL. <b>Don Marcotte,</b> forward, recalled from Braves.</p><p>VANCOUVER&mdash;<b>Richard Lemieux,</b> forward recalled from Rochester of AHL. as replacement for <b>Fred Speck,</b> forward, placed on injury list.</p><p>CALIFORNIA&mdash;<b>Don O&rsquo;Donoghue,</b> forward, removed from suspended list after reporting to Baltimore of AHL. <b>Gary Kurt,</b> goalkeeper, and <b>Pete Laframboise,</b> forward, recalled from Baltimore.</p><p>LOS ANGELES&mdash;<b>Bill Mikkelson,</b> defenseman, returned to Springfield of AHL.</p><p>DETROIT&mdash;<b>Bob Wall,</b> defenseman, assigned to Tidewater of AHL.</p><p>PITTSBURGH&mdash;<b>Jim Rutherford,</b> goalkeeper, recalled from Hershey of AHL as replacement for <b>Roy Edwards,</b> goalkeeper, who quit team and returned to his home.</p><h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2><p>CLEVELAND&mdash;<b>Cal Hammond,</b> goalkeeper, recalled from Clinton of EHL as emergency replacement for <b>Fern Rivard,</b> goalkeeper, who was placed on disabled list with shoulder separation.</p><p>PROVIDENCE&mdash;<b>Rick Charron,</b> goalkeeper, sent to Omaha of CHL.</p><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2><p>SEATTLE&mdash;<b>Al Rycroft,</b> forward, dropped from roster and assigned to Fort Wayne of IHL.</p><p>PORTLAND&mdash;<b>Bill Pettinger,</b> forward, returned to Flint of IHL after completing 5-game pro tryout.</p><p>SEATTLE&mdash;<b>Glenn Irwin,</b> defenseman. returned to Richmond of AHL.</p><h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2><p>FORT WORTH&mdash;<b>Len Ronson,</b> forward, returned to San Diego of WHL. <b>Al McLoed,</b> defenseman, sent to Port Huron of IHL.</p><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2><p>PORT HURON&mdash;<b>Bob Langin,</b> defenseman. and <b>Brian McCutcheon</b> and <b>Kent Byrnes,</b> forwards, all released.</p><p>COLUMBUS&mdash;<b>Gerry and Mike DeMarco,</b> forwards, secured from Toledo of IHL. <b>Tom Reilly,</b> defenseman, released.</p><p>DES MOINES&mdash;<b>Ken Gratton,</b> forward, secured from Toledo of IHL after refusing to report to New Jersey of EHL.</p><h2>EASTERN LEAGUE</h2><p>GREENSBORO&mdash;<b>Jim Notman,</b> forward, released.</p><p>ROANOKE&mdash;<b>Marty Desmarais,</b> forward, secured from New Haven of EHL.<b>Doug, Kerslake,</b> defenseman. dropped from roster and returned to home.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Movements of Players

<p>DAYTON&mdash;</p><p>The Dayton entry in the new World Hockey Association received its first two rejection slips.</p><p>&lsquo;Lefty&rsquo; McFadden, present general manager and executive vice-president of the Dayton Gems of the International Hockey League, turned down an attractive six-figure three-year offer to serve as general manager of the Dayton club in the WHA when it begins operation here in 1972-73.</p><p>At the same time that McFadden was turning his back on the Dayton offer, the stockholders of the IHL Gems also decided against selling out their interests in a stock exchange with the new team.</p><p>Paul Deneau, president of the new Dayton team, said he was naturally disappointed that McFadden would not be available. &ldquo;We felt Lefty was the best local man for the job. Now we must look elsewhere,&rdquo; said Deneau.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02663/2870134-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="261" height="453"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Lefty McFadden</b></figcaption></div><p>McFadden was the second IHL general manager to reject the WHA. Jerry DeLise of Muskegon was reportedly under consideration for the Miami GM job but decided against it. It has since been filled by Lester Patrick, son of St. Louis Blues&rsquo; executive Lynn Patrick.</p><p>McFadden, who had attended several WHA meetings and was believed keenly interested in the new operation, suddenly backed out saying he would be doing a disservice to both the IHL and the parent Boston Bruins with whom he has been associated for the past eight years.</p><p>The hockey situation, meanwhile, has reached an impasse in Dayton and city officials and new club president Deneau were frankly discouraged by the whole situation.</p><p>Deneau said the possibility of two teams operating in competition with one another is not feasible. The city has approved the construction of a downtown 14,000&mdash;seat arena for the new WHA but it is believed one of the stipulations of the project was that both hockey clubs would have to come to a mutual agreement.</p><p>Dayton hockey men who have poured hours and finances into the coming of the WHA admit they are disappointed by the outcome. It seems resolving the problem will not be simple either.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-02

McFadden, Gems Reject WHA Offers For Dayton

<p>DAYTON&mdash;</p><p>Bill Dineen, former NHL forward, has signed a two-year agreement to coach the Dayton franchise in the new World Hockey Association.</p><p>Dineen, 39, who played five years with Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks, also will be in charge of acquiring players for the Dayton team.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Dineen Named Dayton Coach

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BERRY</div><p>DETROIT&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>M</span>ickey Redmond had no explanation for the streak that saw him score twice in four straight games, pop home 13 in a nine game span and scored in six straight games through Jan. 2.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-02694/2870220-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="274" height="430"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Larry Johnston</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not doing anything different they&rsquo;re just going in,&rdquo; the curly-haired Kirkland Lake, Ont., native said. Acquired one year ago along with Guy Charron and Billy Collins from Montreal for Frank Mahovlich, Redmond now is recovered from the ankle injury he suffered in his first start as a Detroiter.</p><p>Redmond didn&rsquo;t have any pet shot in his surge&mdash;he scored on slaps, drives to the goal mouth and deflections. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll take them any way I can get them,&rdquo; Redmond said, grinning.</p><p>Redmond scored his 19th and 20th against his old club, Montreal, on deflections of shots from the point.</p><p>Overshadowed in Redmond&rsquo;s hot streak was defenseman Larry Johnston who has teammed with Gary Bergman for Detroit&rsquo;s best defense pair. Johnston, who kicked around the minors before and after coming to Detroit in a Feb. 20, 1970 trade with Los Angeles along with Dale Rolfe and Gary Croteau for Garry Monahan and Brian Gibbons, played some for Wilson at Springfield and Wilson liked what he saw.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-02

Redmond’s Not Using New Tricks

<div class="byline">BY JACK BERRY</div><p>DETROIT&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he smoking lamp is lit again in the Detroit Red Wing dressing room. And not only is it lit, club owner Bruce Norris is sending down the box of Gold Labels.</p><p>A year ago, when Ned Harkness was coach, smoking was verboten in the Red Wing dressing room. Harkness, who doesn&rsquo;t drink or smoke, set the rules and the air was so pure you&rsquo;d have thought Ralph Nader and the American Cancer Society had joined forces.</p><p>It wasn&rsquo;t as if the Red Wings were prime users of cigarets. Very few smoked them. But there were several cigar smokers, chiefly club captain Alex Delvecchio and trainer Lefty Wilson. Visitors to the Red Wing room had to find crevices outside the dressing room to stash their stogies before they entered.</p><p>But now, just as Harkness had a free hand in setting the rules, he has given Coach Johnny Wilson free rein and Wilson is the first to light up one of Norris&rsquo; gift cigars after a victory.</p><p>That doesn&rsquo;t mean the Red Wings have softened. On the contrary, no Red Wing team in history has worked harder than Wilson&rsquo;s Wings&mdash;not even Jack Adams&rsquo; clubs.</p><p>For example, Wilson had the club in for what he termed &ldquo;a light skate&rdquo; the day of a game with the Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens.</p><p>Since Wilson is becoming known for his full workouts that last up to two hours, he was asked what a &ldquo;light skate&rdquo; is.</p><p>&ldquo;Oh, 40 minutes,&rdquo; Wilson said, drawing on the big Gold Label. Then he laughed. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re in condition, that&rsquo;s a piece of cake.&rdquo;</p><p>And indeed, even though the Canadiens had their motors running in the first period and outshot Detroit, 21-12, Detroit had a 4-3 lead and won the game, 6-4.</p><p>What does a &ldquo;light skate&rdquo; consist of? Practically everything&mdash;wind sprints, line rushes, shooting practice.</p><p>&ldquo;I gave them New Year&rsquo;s Day off,&rdquo; Wilson explained. &ldquo;I knew it wouldn&rsquo;t be any use having them in, that we wouldn&rsquo;t get a good practice.&rdquo;</p><p>The club whipped California for the first time in four tries, 63, on New Year&rsquo;s Eve and Wilson expected the players would be out celebrating the triumph and the holiday. &ldquo;</p><p>Asked if this &ldquo;light workout&rdquo; on a game day was extraordinary, the coach replied that he&rsquo;d had longer ones and disclosed he had the team out for an hour skate on Nov. 27, the day they played the New York Rangers.</p><p>That was the Wings&rsquo; best weekend of the season. They clipped the Rangers, 3-1, that night and turned around and beat Montreal the next night, 42. The hockey they played those two nights was reminiscent of pre-expansion hockey.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01753/2870189-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="554" height="504"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MARCEL DIONNE&hellip;Coming Around</b></figcaption></div><p>And Wilson gets away with his heavy workouts and unorthodox &ldquo;light workouts&rdquo; on game days without a whimper. Had Harkness tried the same thing last season the near-mutiny that occurred in January (and ironically led to Sid Abel&rsquo;s resignation and Harkness&rsquo; promotion to general manager) likely would have happened before Thanksgiving.</p><p>Certainly no one can argue with the success of Wilson&rsquo;s methods.</p><p>The Wings aren&rsquo;t blessed with a great amount of talent but they are skating, they are checking and they are playing respectable hockey.</p><p>They&rsquo;re getting fine play down the middle from Red Berenson, rookie Marcel Dionne and the veteran Delvecchio who hit his 40th birthday last month and is in his 21st NHL season.</p><p>Berenson is uncanny with his puck sense, his quick shot release, his backhand and his penalty-killing. Delvecchio ranks as one of the finest passers in the game&rsquo;s history&mdash;Mickey Redmond&rsquo;s December-January hot streak is additional testimony&mdash;and Dionne should merit serious consideration for rookie of the year.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-01

Wilson’s Tough Tactics Showing Up In Wings’ Play

<p>BUFFALO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>P</span>hil Goyette, the elder statesman of the Buffalo Sabres, was contemplating retirement as the National Hockey League schedule reached the midway point.</p><p>The 38-year-old center, the seventh choice in the expansion draft two years ago, missed two games because of ill health and indicated he might call it a career.</p><p>In his 16th season in the National Hockey League, Goyette was being used sparingly this winter after collect ing 15 goals and 46 assists a year ago.</p><p>He has three goals, all on the power-play, and 22 assists when he complained of not feeling well.</p><p>&ldquo;Phil is going home to Montreal to think things over, and will make a decision in a couple of weeks,&rdquo; said Punch Imlach, the Buffalo general manager and coach. &ldquo;He will advise me then of his plans.&rdquo;</p><p>Before leaving to rejoin his family, Goyette said, &ldquo;The Sabres have been fair, and Punch has been fair. I want to do the right thing.</p><p>&ldquo;When an athlete gets older his responsibilities change. I want to be positive that I make the proper decision.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01732/2870251-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="504" height="472"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PHIL GOYETTE&hellip;Might Call It Quits</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0012-01

Goyette Ponders Retiring

<div class="byline">BY CHARLEY BARTON</div><p>BUFFALO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>P</span>unch Imlach can appreciate the problems the stronger teams like New York, Boston, Montreal and Chicago have getting prepared mentally to oppose the clubs from the lower echelons.</p><p>What puzzles the general manager and coach of the Buffalo Sabres is why his team plays so well against the. powerhouses, and lets down against the weaker clubs.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02634/2870282-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="248" height="432"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Richard Martin</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;When I was in Toronto, I had problems getting the team jacked-up to play against the first-phase expansion clubs,&rdquo; Imlach said.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a natural thing, I suppose, to let down when the opposition isn&rsquo;t first-rate, but it&rsquo;s something every coach and manager must fight as much as possible.&rdquo;</p><p>In the first half of the current schedule, the Sabres&rsquo; top performances have been in a 2-1 loss at Chicago, and in a 2-2 tie with Montreal and a 4-4 tie with Boston, both in Memorial Auditorium.</p><p>In their first three games with the California Golden Seals, the Sabres were forced to settle for one tie and two defeats. A year ago, the Seals and the Sabres split six games.</p><p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t understand an expansion club like ours having trouble getting &lsquo;up&rsquo; for the weaker clubs, and going all-out against the best,&rdquo; Imlach said.</p><p>&ldquo;We should be hooting and hollering every night, and going full-blast every night.</p><p>&ldquo;We played a sound, two-way game the night we beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto. However, we were even better in the loss at Chicago and in the ties with the Bruins and the Canadiens.</p><p>&ldquo;What we must do is give it our best every minute.&rdquo;</p><p>The Sabres had a modest four-game unbeaten streak, two wins and two ties, alive until they ran into a 7-3 lacing at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings here.</p><p>In that one, the Red Wings held a 3-0 lead before the game was 7 minutes old and before the Sabres had taken a shot at the Detroit net. The Sabres came back to tie the score at 3-3, only to fold in the closing 20 minutes.</p><p>Dave Dryden, the Sabres&rsquo; No. 2 backstop, was in the chute for the unbeaten string, and was hammered in the loss to the Wings. Dryden, who had played exceptionally well earlier, was at something less than his best in that one.</p><p>The third-period debacle also troubled Imlach.</p><p>&ldquo;We were just awful for 20 minutes, and since it was the last period you have to wonder if the team is in shape, even at this stage of the season,&rdquo; he barked.</p><p>The Red Wings now have blown three and four-goal leads against the Sabres, and still have taken away some points.</p><p><b>ALONG THE BOARDS:&mdash;</b>With 38 games remaining, the Sabres&rsquo; prize rookie, Richard Martin, had 28 goals, 10 short of the freshman record of 38 set last winter by his linemate, Gilbert Perreault. Martin had 12 goals at home and 16 on the road&hellip;Martin&rsquo;s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Martin of Montreal, saw their first game in Memorial Auditorium when Richard registered his second hat trick in a 4-4 tie with California.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-02

Sabres Battle NHL Giants, Can’t Beat ‘Weak Sisters’

<p>BUFFALO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>G</span>eorge &ldquo;Punch&rdquo; Imlach, 53-year-old coach and general manager of the Buffalo Sabres was rushed to hospital Jan. 7 after suffering a strong heart attack while working in his office at Memorial Auditorium.</p><p>He was reported to be responding to treatment and a Sabres&rsquo; spokesman said Imlach was in good condition after a comfortable night. He was placed in the intensive care unit at Deaconess Hospital.</p><p>Imlach was hospitalized for 24 days in 1967 while with the Toronto Maple Leafs for what he said might have been a heart condition. However, it never was announced he had had such an attack.</p><p>Floyd Smith, the former player who is now an Imlach aide, handled the Sabres in their 2-1 loss to the Maple Leafs in Buffalo.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Imlach Lands In Buffalo Hospital

<div class="byline">BY BOB SMIZIK</div><p>PITTSBURGH&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>s if they didn&rsquo;t have enough problems the Pittsburgh Penguins picked up an unwanted one when veteran goalkeeper Roy Edwards packed his bags and went home.</p><p>It was the second such &lsquo;retirement&rsquo; for the 34-year-old netminder, who informed the Penguins he was returning to his home in Caledonia, Ont., because &ldquo;the strain of hockey was getting to him.&rdquo; Edwards announced he would be gone for an indefinite period, possibly for good, which wasn&rsquo;t too pleasing to the struggling Penguins.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01720/2870344-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="263" height="444"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Jim Rutherford</b></figcaption></div><p>The tiny netminder suffered a distressing head injury when with Detroit Red Wings and quit the game as the result last season. The Pens, nevertheless, drafted him and he reported this year performing admirably in 16 games posting a 2.55 goals against average and a 2-8-4 record.</p><p>As the result of Edwards&rsquo; sudden decision to go home, the Pens had to hustle young Jim Rutherford back from Hershey of the AHL.</p><p>Meanwhile, the Pens suffered through late October, November and December, losing a great deal, tieing some and winning a few but all the while gaining some solace by looking at their lengthy injury list.</p><p>&ldquo;Wait &lsquo;til we&rsquo;re at full strength,&rdquo; was the cry.</p><p>First it was Rutherford, then Tim Horton, then Jean Pronovost, then Syl Apps&mdash;all key performers&mdash;who went down with injuries. Apps&rsquo; six-game absence was the shortest. The 26 games that Horton missed was the longest.</p><p>But now the injuries are behind them and the Penguins must face the rest of the schedule unable to hide behind the injury excuse. Only Keith McCreary has been out for any duration of late and McCreary was not having a good season when he hurt his shoulder.</p><p>With Horton&rsquo;s return on Dec. 19 bringing an end to the major injuries it looked like the Penguins had righted themselves, tieing Boston, losing to New York and defeating Montreal.</p><p>But it was downhill after that and the Penguins had to begin wondering if they were made of the stuff they thought they were&mdash;playoff material.</p><p>Red Kelly was not put out. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re still in there fighting it out with California and Philadelphia,&rdquo; Kelly said, noting also that St. Louis was inching up from the rear.</p><p>But the fact remained that from Oct. 23 the Penguins won only six of 33 games&mdash;a pace guaranteed to give them the month of April for rest and relaxation.</p><p>But Kelly saw a silver lining, even in the defeats. &ldquo;We played well tonight,&rdquo; he was apt to say after a loss, more concerned with the artistic effort of the team than what showed in the wonloss column.</p><p>Through all the bad times Kelly stuck with a pat hand, occasionnally bringing up a player from the minors, but, except in the case of left winger John Stewart, returning them to the Penguins&rsquo; Hershey farm club after a few games.</p><p>The failure to trade drew Kelly criticism in some quarters, but the coach-general manager stuck by his belief that he had a sound team which only needed a little maturing and that Horton would be the maturing factor.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02673/2870337-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="1195" height="1128"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ROY EDWARDS&hellip;Packed And Went Home</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0013-01

Edwards Quits Claiming ‘Strain Of Game’ Too Much

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01720/2870487-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg"></div><h2><b>TOP 25 SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02609/2870480-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="1410" height="888"></div><p><b>(Including games of Sunday, January 9)</b></p><h2><b>BOSTON Bruins</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03471/2870473-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="746" height="769"></div><h2><b>BUFFALO Sabres</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04342/2870466-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="734" height="769"></div><h2><b>CALIFORNIA Seals</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-05258/2870459-1-eng-US/f0014-052.jpg" title="f0014-05" width="754" height="815"></div><h2><b>CHICAGO Black Hawks</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-06217/2870452-1-eng-US/f0014-062.jpg" title="f0014-06" width="732" height="708"></div><h2><b>DETROIT Red Wings</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-07175/2870445-1-eng-US/f0014-072.jpg" title="f0014-07" width="727" height="719"></div><h2><b>LOS ANGELES Kings</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-08150/2870438-1-eng-US/f0014-082.jpg" title="f0014-08" width="729" height="740"></div><h2><b>MINNESOTA North Stars</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-09136/2870431-1-eng-US/f0014-092.jpg" title="f0014-09" width="733" height="771"></div><h2><b>MONTREAL Canadiens</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-10120/2870424-1-eng-US/f0014-102.jpg" title="f0014-10" width="738" height="736"></div><h2><b>NEW YORK Rangers</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-11107/2870417-1-eng-US/f0014-112.jpg" title="f0014-11" width="733" height="782"></div><h2><b>PHILADELPHIA Flyers</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-1296/2870410-1-eng-US/f0014-122.jpg" title="f0014-12" width="732" height="802"></div><h2><b>PITTSBURGH Penguins</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-1379/2870403-1-eng-US/f0014-132.jpg" title="f0014-13" width="737" height="830"></div><h2><b>ST. LOUIS Blues</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-1460/2870396-1-eng-US/f0014-142.jpg" title="f0014-14" width="736" height="850"></div><h2><b>TORONTO Maple Leafs</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-1551/2870389-1-eng-US/f0014-152.jpg" title="f0014-15" width="728" height="822"></div><h2><b>VANCOUVER Canucks</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-1640/2870382-1-eng-US/f0014-162.jpg" title="f0014-16" width="735" height="798"></div><h2><b>NHL&rsquo;S EAST WEST SCOREBOARD</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-1738/2870375-1-eng-US/f0014-172.jpg" title="f0014-17" width="1431" height="341"></div><p><b>(Statistics include games of Sun. Jan. 9)</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-01

PLAYERS SCORING PENALTY RECORDS

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GILBERT</div><p>TWIN CITIES&mdash;</p><p>The Minnesota North Stars completed a December of struggling with nuisance injuries with one of their biggest games. It wasn&rsquo;t a victory, but the 2-2 tie with the Boston Bruins which sent Minnesota into the new year with the momentum of a solid, inspired performance.</p><p>The game attracted a crowd of 15,752&mdash;the largest Metropolitan Sports Center audience by 218 over the old record. In 18 home games, the Stars have drawn 274,551 fans, an average of 15,253. That figure is particularly significant in view of the Met Center capacity of 15,067. All but two of the first 18 home games had been standingroom-only.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01694/2870518-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="256" height="436"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Jude Drouin</b></figcaption></div><p>But, as strong as the fans have been coming, the Stars faded into a 10-game stretch of play that dropped them from first place in the National Hockey League West Division to a position of solid second place. Coach Jack Gordon called his players together to discuss the differences of those 10 games with the way they had played the 10 previous ones.</p><p>In the 10 previous, for example, the Stars had gone 8-1-1. In the more recent 10, their mark was 2-7-1, with four straight losses following a 4-1 victory over New York.</p><p>The Stars hadn&rsquo;t played that badly, but a string of minor injuries was accompanied by a letdown in backchecking, and suddenly the North Stars had waded into a batch of tough road games. Everything came together, and the result was that Minnesota started giving up goals in bunches.</p><p>In those 10 previous games, the Stars had eight times held opponents to a single goal, and had a goal advantage of 29-16. In the more recent 10, the Stars had been outscored 30-19, holding foes to one goal only twice, while getting a single goal themselves six times.</p><p>The Stars showed signs of coming out of the batch of injuries when they played an excellent game against the high-flying Rangers on Christmas Night. But New York escaped from Met Center with a 2-1 win. The next night the North Stars went to Detroit and swallowed a painful 5-1 thrashing.</p><p>It was after that when Gordon called the meeting. The players knew what had been happening, and knew what had to be done to snap out of it.</p><p>&ldquo;When you play badly,&rdquo; said center Jude Drouin, &ldquo;you just put your head-down, shut up, and do the work.&rdquo;</p><p>Drouin had missed six games with a shoulder injury, returning for the Ranger game. There had been others&mdash;Lou Nanne, Dean Prentice, Murray Oliver, Doug Mohns, Tom Reid&mdash;who were either sidelined or slowed down by bumps and bruises. Prentice went out with a knee injury and the Stars had to start the new year without his steadying influence.</p><p>When Drouin returned, Gordon reunited the line that carried much of the North Stars offensive firepower last season, putting Danny Grant on the left wing with Drouin and right wing Bill Goldsworthy for the Boston game.</p><p>The Stars opened with a furious rush, outshooting the Bruins 17-8 in the first period, but gaining only a 1-0 lead when defenseman Barry Gibbs&rsquo; powerplay walk-in from the right point beat Gerry Cheevers.</p><p>Cheevers stopped 21 more shots in the second period, though, and the Stars fell behind 2-1. It was indicative of their resiliency when the North Stars came back to gain a tie on Drouin&rsquo;s mid-air swat of another Gibbs attempt in the third period. That sent the big crowd home well entertained, as the Stars had outshot the Bruins 4640. The play of Cheevers and Minnesota&rsquo;s Gump Worsley had been excellent, but mainly the return to form by the Stars showed they may still be interested in challenging for first place.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-01

Injuries Plunge Stars Solidly Behind Chicago

<p>NEW YORK&mdash;</p><p>The National Hockey League has returned to the CBS television sports scene for another season with a schedule of 12 Sunday contests to be presented on the Game of the Week program.</p><p>The Montreal Canadiens-Chicago Black Hawks game Jan. 9 at the Chicago Stadium opened the 1972 TV schedule for the NHL. Ten of the 12 games will be telecast on the national TV program beginning at 2 p.m.</p><p>CBS announced that the Pittsburgh at Montreal game of Feb. 27 will start at 1.30 p.m. EST and the Minnesota at Boston game of March 19 will commence at 3 p.m. EST.</p><p>Following is the regularseason television schedule:</p><p>Jan. 9&mdash;Montreal at Chicago.</p><p>Jan. 23&mdash;Buffalo at Boston</p><p>Jan, 30&mdash;Minnesota at New York</p><p>Feb. 6&mdash;Toronto at New York</p><p>Feb. 13&mdash;Montreal at Boston</p><p>Feb. 20&mdash;Boston at Chicago</p><p>Feb. 27&mdash;Pittsburgh at Montreal</p><p>Mar. 5&mdash;Chicago at Minnesota</p><p>Mar. 12&mdash;Chicago at Detroit</p><p>Mar. 19&mdash;Minnesota at Boston</p><p>Mar. 26&mdash;St. Louis at Chicago</p><p>Apr. 2&mdash;Montreal at New York<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

CBS Sets 12-Game TV Slate

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02625/2870587-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg"></div><h2><b>THE TOP 10 NETMINEERS</b></h2><p><b>(Including games of Sunday, Jan. 9)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03528/2870580-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="1114" height="472"></div><h2><b>COMPLETE GOALKEEPING RECORDS FOR NHL TEAMS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-04410/2870573-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="1128" height="1977"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0015-02

LOOKING AT NHL GOALERS

<div class="byline">BY ED CONRAD</div><p><b>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</b></p><p>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;</p><p>Don&rsquo;t blame the Flyers for wishing there&rsquo;s a re-incarnation of Mrs. O&rsquo;Leary&rsquo;s cow.</p><p>You know, that mild-mannered beast that turned ill-tempered one evening and supposedly kicked over a lantern&hellip;setting the barn ablaze, the block ablaze and reducing almost the entire pleasant little city of Chicago to ashes.</p><p>The Flyers, undoubtedly, would park her beneath Chicago Stadium and hope for more of the same.</p><p>If you wonder why the Flyers are ready to turn to drastic measures, just examine Philly&rsquo;s record in Chicago Stadium since NHL expansion. It&rsquo;s pathetic, to say the least.</p><p>The Flyers have yet to win even once in 13 games in Chicago, an arena that&rsquo;s even worse to them than Boston Garden or Montreal Forum where at least they win occasionally. That&rsquo;s five seasons of absolute frustration.</p><p>&ldquo;We just seem psyched out when we play the Hawks on their home ice,&rdquo; explained one of the Flyer veterans, groping for a reason. &ldquo;We play too defensively, I think, and you can&rsquo;t stop a powerful scoring team like the Black Hawks that way.</p><p>&ldquo;Then, again, if we try and beat them offensively&mdash;as we&rsquo;ve done on occasion&mdash;suicide, too. They&rsquo;ve just got so much firepower. They over power us.&rdquo;</p><p>The Flyers don&rsquo;t play in Chicago Stadium again until Feb. 16 and it doesn&rsquo;t appear the Hawks will be passing out valentines on that occasion either. Unless a minor miracle happens, it&rsquo;ll be another lost cause for the Flyers.</p><p>It doesn&rsquo;t matter who&rsquo;s behind the Flyers&rsquo; bench, either. Current coach Fred Shero is having no better luck than his predecessors, Keith Allen and Vic Stasiuk.</p><p>It has been so bad in these Chicago Stadium confrontations since the 1967-68 season, that the Flyers have held the lead only once.</p><p>When you figure that they&rsquo;ve played 780 minutes of hockey, that&rsquo;s not saying much for the Flyers.</p><p>During the overall series, the Black Hawks have maintained a tremendous edge. They own an 18-3-6 advantage. In fact, until the Flyers pulled out a 6-2 victory at the Spectrum last Feb. 4, the Black Hawks had not been beaten by Philly in 16 consecutive games.</p><p>One of the shocking aspects of the somewhat series however, is that, when the Flyers and Black Hawks square off at the Spectrum this week, the Flyers will have a winning streak of their own. Their victory earlier this season, in their only previous meeting of the 1971-72 season in Philadelphia, resulted in a Flyers victory.</p><p>Tied in with their victory in their final regular-season Spectrum appearance last season, the Flyers will be trying to make it three in a row.</p><p>That is, if you forget the two straight beatings in the Stanley Cup playoffs.</p><p>And the way things have been going for the Flyers against the Black Hawks, they are more than willing to forget.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Chicago Stadium Jinx Still Hanging Over Philly Flyers

<h2><b>In The East</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t would appear that Jean Ratelle of the Rangers is finally making headway in his battle to get out of the shadow of rival center Phil Esposito of Boston.</p><p>The Bruins&rsquo; sharpshooter has been No. 1 both in scoring and awards in the past two years and Ratelle hasn&rsquo;t been making too much advancement towards dislodging him until this past week. The Rangers&rsquo; hot pivot grabbed off the first-half $500 prize money from Espo with a five-point outburst against Los Angeles on the weekend to nudge Esposito 71-70 in the points scoring race.</p><p>The New York star had a highly productive week coming up with four goals and five assists to take over first place from Espo at the midway mark in the schedule.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01541/2870649-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="533" height="666"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JEAN RATELLE&hellip;New York Rangers</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>In The West</b></h2><p>The trade that brought goalkeeper Gary Smith to the Black Hawks from California this season has to rate as a bonus for the front-running Chicago club. Smith has certainly done his part to put the Hawks so far ahead in the West Division race.</p><p>Recording his fourth shutout of the season against Pittsburgh 4-0, Smith lowered his personal goals against average to 1.74 to combine with teammate Tony Esposito to give the Chicago goaling tandem the first-half lead in the Vezina Trophy race among the netminders.</p><p>Smith leads the NHL in shutouts and has posted a personal record of 12-3-2 in wins, losses and ties. The Hawks&rsquo; ended up with an overall 1.77 goaling mark to beat out Minnesota in the goaling race.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02466/2870642-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="552" height="649"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GARY SMITH&hellip;Chicago Black Hawks</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0016-01

Player’s of the week

<p><b>C-Captain</b></p><p><b>A-Alternate Captain</b></p><h2>MONTREAL</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Phil Myre</p><p>Dems DeJordy</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Terry Harper A</p><p>Jocques Lapernere</p><p>Pierre Bouchard</p><p>J.C. Tremblay A</p><p>Guy Lapointe</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Henri Richard C</p><p>Pete Mohovlich</p><p>Chuck Lefley</p><p>Marc Tardif</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Yvon Cournoyer</p><p>ClaudeLarose</p><p>Guy Lafleur</p><p>Chuck Arnason</p><p>Jim Roberts</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Fronk Mohovlich</p><p>Rejeon Houle</p><p>Jacques Lemaire</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Serge Savard</p><p>Ken Dryden</p><h2>CHICAGO</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Tony Esposito</p><p>Gary Smith</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Pat Stapleton</p><p>Bill White</p><p>Keith Magnuson</p><p>Doug Jarrett A</p><p>Jerry Korob</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Stan Mikita A</p><p>Pit Martin</p><p>Bryan Campbell</p><p>Lou Angotti</p><p>Andre Lacroix</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>CliH Koroll</p><p>Chico Moki</p><p>Eric Nesterenko A</p><p>Darryl Maggs</p><p>Jim Pappin</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Bobby Hull</p><p>Dennis Mull</p><p>3anny O&rsquo;Shea</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Gerry Desjordin</p><h2>BOSTON</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Gerry Cheevers</p><p>Ed Johnston</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Bobby Orr</p><p>Dallas Smith</p><p>Rick Smith</p><p>Matt Ravlich</p><p>Ted Green A</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>PhJ Esposito A</p><p>Fred Stanfield</p><p>Derek Sanderson</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>John McKenzie</p><p>Ed Westfall A</p><p>Reg Leach</p><p>Ken Hodge</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>John Bucyk A</p><p>Wayne Cashman</p><p>Garnet Bailey</p><p>Mike Waiton</p><p>Don Marcotte</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Don Awrey</p><h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Ernie Wakely</p><p>Jim McLeod</p><p>Jacques Caron</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Andre Dupont</p><p>Barclay Plager A</p><p>Bill Hager</p><p>Bob Plager A</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Garry Unger</p><p>Terry Crisp</p><p>Brian Lavender</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Gary Sabourin</p><p>Frank St Marseille A</p><p>Mike Murphy</p><p>Gerry Odrowski</p><p>Phil Roberto</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>George Morrison</p><p>Floyd Thomson</p><p>Jack Egers</p><p>Jim Shires</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Noel Picard</p><p>Chris Bordeleau</p><p>Carl Brewer A</p><h2>DETROIT</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Al Smith</p><p>Joe Daley</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Gary Bergman A</p><p>Arnie Brown A</p><p>Ron Stackhouse</p><p>Larry Johnston</p><p>Ron Harris</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Alex Delvecchio</p><p>Red Berenson A</p><p>Marcel Dionne</p><p>Al Karlonder</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Tim Ecclestone</p><p>Mickey Redmond</p><p>Bill Collins</p><p>Doug Volmar</p><p>Leon Rochefort</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Nick Ubetl</p><p>Danny Johnson</p><p>Guy Chotron</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>None</p><h2>CALIFORNIA</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Gilles Meloche</p><p>Lyle Carter</p><p>Gary Kurt</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Carol Vadnais C</p><p>Bert Marshall A</p><p>Marshall Johnston</p><p>Dick Redmond</p><p>Poui Shmyr</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Joey Johnston</p><p>Walt McKechnie</p><p>Wayne Carleton A</p><p>Ivan Boldirev</p><p>Pete Laframboise</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Norm Ferguson</p><p>Craig Patrick</p><p>Gerry Pinder</p><p>Tommy Williams A</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Bobby Sheehan</p><p>Gary Croteau</p><p>Stan Gilbertson</p><p>Erme Hicke</p><p>Gary Jarrett</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Tom Webster</p><p>Jimmy Jones</p><h2>Toronto</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Bernie Parent</p><p>Jacques Plante</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Bob Baun A</p><p>Jim McKenny</p><p>Brad Seiwood</p><p>Brion Glennie</p><p>Ricky Ley</p><p>Mike Pelyk</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Norm Ullman A</p><p>Dave Keon C</p><p>Jim Harrrsson</p><p>Don Marshall</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Ron Ellis A</p><p>Brian Spencer</p><p>Guy Trottier</p><p>Billy MacMillan</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Garry Monahan</p><p>Dems Dupere</p><p>Darryl Sittier</p><p>Rick Kehoe</p><p>Paul Henderson</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>None</p><h2>Philadelphia</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Doug Favell</p><p>Bruce Gamble</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Barry Ash bee A</p><p>Wayne Hrllman</p><p>Bill Brossart</p><p>Ed Van Impe</p><p>Joe Watson</p><p>Rick Foley</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Bobby Clarke</p><p>Jimmy Johnson</p><p>Bill Clement</p><p>Dick Sarrazin</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Gary Dornhoefer A</p><p>Lew Morrison</p><p>Serge Bernier</p><p>Simon Nolet</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Jean-Guy Gendron</p><p>Bob Kelly</p><p>Bill Lesuk</p><p>Larry Keenan</p><p>Mike Porizeou</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Brent Hughes</p><p>Larry Brown</p><h2>NEW YORK</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Ed Giocomin</p><p>Gilles Villemure</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Brad Park A</p><p>Jim Neilson A</p><p>Rod Seiling</p><p>Ab DeMarco</p><p>Gary Doak</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Jean Ratelle</p><p>Walt Tkoczuk</p><p>Bobby Rousseau</p><p>Pete Stemkowski</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Rod Gilbert A</p><p>Bill Fairbairn</p><p>Pierre Jarry</p><p>Bruce MacGregor</p><h3>L.WING</h3><p>Jim Lorentz</p><p>Vic Hadfield C</p><p>Ted Irvine</p><p>Glen Sather</p><p>Gene Carr</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Dale Rolfe</p><h2>Pittsburgh</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Jim Rutherford</p><p>Les Binkley</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Darryl Edestrand</p><p>Dave Burrows</p><p>Sheldon Kannegiesser</p><p>Bryan Watson</p><p>Bob Woytowich</p><p>Tim Horton A</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Ron Schock</p><p>Rene Robert</p><p>Bryan Hextail</p><p>Syl Appt</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Nick Harbaruk</p><p>Ken Schinkel A</p><p>Jean Pronovost</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Keith McCreary A</p><p>Vol Fonteyne</p><p>Greg Polrs</p><p>John Stewart</p><p>Bobby Leitei</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>None</p><h2>BUFFALO</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Roger Crozier</p><p>Dave Dryden</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Al Hamilton A</p><p>lorry Hillman</p><p>Ray McKay</p><p>Jim Watson</p><p>Chris Evans</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Gilbert Perreault A</p><p>Gerry Meehan C</p><p>Don Luce</p><p>Phil Goyette A</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Ron Anderson</p><p>Steve Atkinson</p><p>Kevin O&rsquo;Shea</p><p>Eddie Shack</p><p>Mike Byers</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Danny Lawson</p><p>Richard Martin</p><p>Craig Ramsay</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Mike Robitaille</p><h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Rogatien Vachon</p><p>Gary Edwards</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Doug Barrie</p><p>Harry Howell A</p><p>Jean Potvin</p><p>Poul Curtis</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Ralph Backstrom A</p><p>Butch Goring</p><p>Bob Pulford C</p><p>Juha Widing</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Bill Rett</p><p>Lucien Grenier</p><p>Al McDonough</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Ed Joyal A</p><p>Bob Berry</p><p>Ross Lonsberry</p><p>Real Lemieux</p><p>Mike Corrigan</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Gilles Marotte A</p><h2>Vancouver</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Ed Dyck</p><p>Dune Wilson</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Pat Quinn</p><p>Jocelyn Guevremont</p><p>Dennis Kearns</p><p>John Schella</p><p>Greg Boddy</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>OrlandKurtenbach C</p><p>Andre Boudnas A</p><p>Ron Ward</p><p>Richard Lemieux</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Murray Holl</p><p>Bobby Schmautz</p><p>Ron Stewart</p><p>Wayne Connelly</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Wayne Maki</p><p>Ted Taylor</p><p>Dave Baton</p><p>Dale Tollon A</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Rosaire Paiement</p><p>Poul Popiel</p><p>Barry Wilkin</p><p>George Gardner</p><p>Fred Speck</p><h2>MINNESOTA</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Cesare Moniogo</p><p>Lorne Worsley</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Ted Harm C</p><p>Tom Reid</p><p>Dennis O&rsquo;Brien</p><p>Doug Mohns</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Ted Hampson</p><p>Murray Oliver</p><p>Charlie Burns A</p><p>Gordon Labossiere</p><p>Jude Drouin</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Bill Goldsworthy</p><p>Lou Nanne</p><p>Bob Nevin</p><p>Craig Cameron</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Danny Grant</p><p>Jeors-Paul Parise A</p><p>Deon Prentice</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Dennis Hextall</p><p>Barry Gibbs A<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

NHL Team Rosters

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01455/2870827-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="440" height="287"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02403/2870820-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="494" height="276"></div><h2><b>Tues. Jan. 4 CALIFORNIA 1 at LOS ANGELES 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03333/2870813-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="569" height="559"></div><h2><b>Wed. Jan. 5 VANCOUVER 4 at MONTREAL 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04260/2870806-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="580" height="781"></div><h2><b>BOSTON 2 at TORONTO 0</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05213/2870799-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg" title="f0017-05" width="582" height="353"></div><h2><b>ST. LOUIS 1 at NEW YORK 9</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-06178/2870792-1-eng-US/f0017-062.jpg" title="f0017-06" width="586" height="809"></div><h2><b>DETROIT 2 at MINNESOTA 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-07156/2870785-1-eng-US/f0017-072.jpg" title="f0017-07" width="584" height="641"></div><h2><b>PITTSBURGH 3 at CHICAGO 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-08125/2870778-1-eng-US/f0017-082.jpg" title="f0017-08" width="589" height="615"></div><h2><b>LOS ANGELES 2 at CALIFORNIA 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-09112/2870771-1-eng-US/f0017-092.jpg" title="f0017-09" width="593" height="676"></div><h2><b>Thurs. Jan. 6 BOSTON 5 at BUFFALO 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-10103/2870764-1-eng-US/f0017-102.jpg" title="f0017-10" width="589" height="618"></div><h2><b>ST. LOUIS 3 at PHILADELPHIA 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1186/2870757-1-eng-US/f0017-112.jpg" title="f0017-11" width="587" height="645"></div><h2><b>Fri. Jan. 7 DETROIT 4 at CALIFORNIA 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1276/2870750-1-eng-US/f0017-122.jpg" title="f0017-12" width="599" height="731"></div><h2><b>Sat. Jan. 8 LOS ANGELES 2 at MONTREAL 10</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1359/2870743-1-eng-US/f0017-132.jpg" title="f0017-13" width="598" height="895"></div><h2><b>PHILADELPHIA 2 at TORONTO 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1448/2870736-1-eng-US/f0017-142.jpg" title="f0017-14" width="590" height="462"></div><h2><b>BOSTON 3 at ST. LOUIS 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1539/2870729-1-eng-US/f0017-152.jpg" title="f0017-15" width="593" height="663"></div><h2><b>VANCOUVER 5 at MINNESOTA 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1637/2870722-1-eng-US/f0017-162.jpg" title="f0017-16" width="597" height="644"></div><h2><b>CHICAGO 4 at PITTSBURGH 0</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1730/2870715-1-eng-US/f0017-172.jpg" title="f0017-17" width="584" height="453"></div><h2><b>Sun. Jan. 9 MONTREAL 2 at CHICAGO 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1824/2870708-1-eng-US/f0017-182.jpg" title="f0017-18" width="587" height="670"></div><h2><b>TORONTO 2 at BUFFALO 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1919/2870701-1-eng-US/f0017-192.jpg" title="f0017-19" width="592" height="483"></div><h2><b>LOS ANGELES 0 at NEW YORK 8</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01460/2870694-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="591" height="691"></div><h2><b>PITTSBURGH 2 at DETROIT 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02370/2870687-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="586" height="590"></div><h2><b>CALIFORNIA 3 at PHILADELPHIA 10</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03273/2870680-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="591" height="1044"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0017-01

National Hockey League SUMMARIES

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><p>LOS ANGELES&mdash;</p><p>As a minor league hockey player, Fred Glover not only set American League records for goals with 520 and assists with 813, but for penalty minutes with 2,402. He was a tough customer. Thus, it has been comedown for him to coach first in Oakland then in Los Angeles&mdash;expansion teams without many agressive tendencies.</p><p>Recently, the Kings&rsquo; coach, when asked if the NHL&rsquo;s newest expansion would dilute the quality of play in the major leagues, snapped, &ldquo;It couldn&rsquo;t possibly become worse than it is now.&rdquo;</p><p>He observed, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s almost impossible to charge up a team any more. The players simply don&rsquo;t care. It&rsquo;s not that they&rsquo;re quitters. They don&rsquo;t care. They won&rsquo;t mix it up. They won&rsquo;t fight. The only time you see a good bodycheck today is when two players from the same team collide accidentally.</p><p>&ldquo;The players have become smilers. They say, &lsquo;Why should we hit each other? We&rsquo;ve got our players&rsquo; associations. They expect everything to be handed to them today,&rdquo; concluded the coach.</p><p>Thus it was that Glover welcomed Doug Barrie when the 25-year-old second-year major-leaguer came into the Kings&rsquo; camp along with Mike Keeler from Buffalo in exchange for Mike Byers and Larry Hillman after the 30th game. Keeler was sent to Springfield, but Barrie was brought right in. Byers can score, but Barrie is tougher.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s aggressive and that&rsquo;s the type of defenseman we sorely need. He gives up his mistakes fast. And he gives us excitement,&rdquo; observed general manager Larry Regan. After Glover had observed him in some games, he said, &ldquo;Barrie comes to play. He&rsquo;s a tough kid. He&rsquo;s aggressive. He hits, he can handle the puck and he can shoot it. He makes mistakes, but he knows when he makes them.&rdquo;</p><p>This is significant. Barrie says, &ldquo;I know what&rsquo;s right so I&rsquo;m aware when I do something wrong and I can try to avoid it the next time. Like when I go to hit a man in a situation where it takes me out of the play and leaves my goaler unprotected. Or I&rsquo;ll play with the puck until the forwards are on me. I&rsquo;ll say to myself, &lsquo;What did I do that for&rsquo;?&rdquo;</p><p>Barrie, who stands only 5-9 and weighs only 175, originally was in the Detroit system, acquired by Pittsburgh and then drafted by Buffalo. After four seasons in seven cities in the minors, he made the majors as a rookie last season and led the Sabres in penalty minutes with 168.</p><p>Not gifted with great natural ability, he gives it a go all the time on ice. &ldquo;Hustle covers up for a lot of mistakes. I try not to repeat my mistakes and as I gain experience I should improve,&rdquo; he says.</p><p>Punch Imlach is a demanding coach and Barrie and he had a loud argument on practice ice the day before he was dealt, but Barrie prefers to put that in the past and not go into it.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy here. The team hasn&rsquo;t been winning regularly, but it has players who can win, I&rsquo;m playing regularly and, I think it&rsquo;s a good spot for me,&rdquo; he observes.</p><p>He left behind in his Fort Erie home his wife, Jo Anne, who is expecting their first baby around June. Grinning, he says, &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been married four years without children and were supposed to have only a 10 percent chance of having any and as soon as we decided to try to adopt one, she got pregnant. She&rsquo;s very excited and I&rsquo;ll move her to southern California later in January after a long road trip.&rdquo;</p><p>Barrie just bought the house in Ft. Erie. Which is the best way discontented athletes have found to get traded. He has no plans to buy another in L.A. right now.</p><p><b>KINGS THINGS&mdash;</b>As of the 38th game of the season, the Kings still had not won two in a row, but were winning more often&mdash;two of the last three, three of six, and five of ten&hellip;Ralph Backstrom, who has been hustling, but not scoring, got his first goal in 23 games in the 36th game&hellip;Backup goaler Gary Edwards ran his amazing record to 7-9-1 in the 38th game. Here, that&rsquo;s amazing&hellip;Minnesota goaler Cesare Maniago now stands 10-0-1 lifetime vs. the Kings. That&rsquo;s amazing, too&hellip;Benched six games, Juha Widing scored five goals in the next seven games&hellip;Home attendance was in the 7,000&rsquo;s five nights out of six.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Barrie Filling Void As Hitter For Kings

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04215/2870913-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg"></div><p><b>(Standings On Tues. Jan. 11)</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/f0018-05161/2870906-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="1108" height="350"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tues. Jan. 4</b></p><p>California 1 at Los Angeles 4</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 5</b></p><p>Vancouver 4 at Montreal 6</p><p>Boston 2 at Toronto 0</p><p>St. Louis 1 at New York 9</p><p>Detroit 2 at Minnesota 4</p><p>Pittsburgh 3 at Chicago 3</p><p>Los Angeles 2 at California 6</p><p><b>Thurs. Jan. 6</b></p><p>Boston 5 at Buffalo 2</p><p>St. Louis 3 at Philadelphia 2</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 7</b></p><p>Detroit 4 at California 4</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 8</b></p><p>Los Angeles 2 at Montreal 10</p><p>Philadelphia 2 at Toronto 2</p><p>Boston 3 at St. Louis 5</p><p>Vancouver 5 at Minnesota 1</p><p>Chicago 4 at Pittsburgh 0</p><p><b>Sun. Jan. 9</b></p><p>Montreal 2 at Chicago 5</p><p>Toronto 2 at Buffalo 1</p><p>Los Angeles 0 at New York 8</p><p>Pittsburgh 2 at Detroit 4</p><p>California 3 at Philadelphia 1</p><h2><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h2><p><b>Tues. Jan. 11</b></p><p>Montreal at St. Louis</p><p>Philadelphia at Detroit</p><p>Minnesota at Vancouver</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 12</b></p><p>Los Angeles at Toronto</p><p>New York at Chicago</p><p>Boston at Pittsburgh</p><p>Minnesota at California</p><p><b>Thurs. Jan 13</b></p><p>Pittsburgh at Montreal</p><p>New York at Buffalo</p><p>Los Angeles at Boston</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 14</b></p><p>Vancouver at California</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 15</b></p><p>Buffalo at Montreal</p><p>New York at Toronto</p><p>Chicago at Boston</p><p>Los Angeles at Detroit</p><p>California at Vancouver</p><p>Philadelphia at Pittsburgh</p><p>Minnesota at St. Louis<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-04

NHL SCOREBOARD

<p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he men in charge of the Toronto Maple Leafs feel they have isolated the main reason why the Leafs, who at times have looked like permanent residents in the fourth-place spot in the National Hockey League East Division standings, have been frustrated in their attempts to move up a notch or two.</p><p>And, they feel the answer to their problem is at hand&mdash;the return of center Jim Harrison to the lineup.</p><p>Harrison, a rugged, abrasive type, has been sidelined from action since Dec. 15 with what has officially been diagnosed as a cracked larynx&mdash;a freak injury he picked up when he accidently collided with teammate Bobby Baun&rsquo;s stick in a practice session. Unable to swallow properly, Harrison was forced into hospital and lost a considerable amout of weight.</p><p>The loss of the big Western Canada product was keenly felt by the team as he was widely considered the Leafs&rsquo; top performer at the time of the injury. With out him to act as a sparkplug and do much of the heavy hitting, the remainder of the club seemed to slip into a non-aggressive style of play.</p><p>Leafs recent 2-0 loss at home to the Bruins seems to be the best example. The game was one of the quickest in the league this year and only two penalties were called.</p><p>Following the game, Toronto GM Jim Gregory exploded: &ldquo;It appears as if our guys were playing to not get beat too badly. There&rsquo;s no way you&rsquo;ll beat Boston that way. You have to be aggressive, especially in their end of the rink.&rdquo;</p><p>Coach John McLellan also took exception to the club&rsquo;s pacific tendencies. &ldquo;We had only 12 real takeouts in the entire game,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was our lowest output of the season.&rdquo;</p><p>With Harrison due to rejoin the team, this will likely change dramatically and the Toronto crew could still give the third-place Canadiens some anxious moments from here on in.</p><p>LEAF NOTES: The Leaf brass liked what they saw of winger Rick Kehoe, who was called up from Tulsa as an emergency replacement, so they decided to keep him for a longer look-see&hellip;Kehoe, normally a right winger but being used as a left wing by club, was Toronto&rsquo;s first draft pick this past summer&hellip;Oddly, Harrison&rsquo;s loss of weight due to his inability to swallow, may prove to have a benificial effect on his play. He claims he can stand to lose the poundage and that it will improve his speed.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01439/2870944-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="556" height="700"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JIM HARRISON&hellip;Can Turn On Muscle</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0019-01

Leafs Hoping Rugged Harrison Will Turn Club Around

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GILBERT</div><p>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Russian National hockey team demonstrated the poise and class which has come to be their trademark and clinched the World Cup championship at the Metropolitan Sports Center with an 11-1 romp over the United States Nationals.</p><p>The Russians, though upset by the Czechoslovakians 6-1 in their final tournament game, won with a 3-1 record while the outclassed Americans ended second with a 2-2 mark and the Czechs last with one win in four starts.</p><p>Despite two victories over the Czechs, it was pretty obvious where the Americans will stand when they encounter these same Russians when they meet at the Winter Olympic Games, Feb. 313 at Sapporo, Japan. It was no contest every time the two arch International rivals met.</p><p>The Russians won by resounding scores in two cup matches&mdash;13-3 and 11-1 and in three exhibitions&mdash;7-3, 9-3 and 11-4.</p><p>The Soviet team opened the Cup series at Colorado Springs with a 13-3 romp over the U.S., although the American team then bounced back to beat the Czechs 7-5.</p><p>The Soviet team beat the Czechs in the third game of the first round, 8-3, then took a day off and thumped the U.S. 7-3 in an exhibition game at St. Louis. The Czech team took an exhibition break and beat the university of Minnesota&mdash;Duluth 5-2.</p><p>The second round started at Met Center, and the Soviet team showed its remarkable teamwork and cohesive playing style, gliding to a 7-1 lead after one period. The U.S. team had its hands full simply holding the Russians to two goals each in the second and third periods before losing 11-1.</p><p>Concentrating on puck control, the Soviet team adjusted to the Americans intent to aggressively bodycheck them and consistently broke men free. Excellent shooters, the Soviets turned starting U.S. goalie Tim Regan, who left Boston University to join the Nationals, inside out, scoring with their first three shots on goal.</p><p>Boris Mikhailov got three goals for the Russians in the clinching victory, while Valeri Charlamov and Vladimir Vikulov got two each.</p><p>Kim Newman, former Air Force Academy star goalie from Eveleth, Minn., took over for Regan, who was the back-up goalie at Boston U., and held the Soviets down in the last two periods.</p><p>The Americans beat the Czechs the second time around again 6-3 before the visitors sprung the upset on the Russians in the windup game here.</p><p>The Russians went home with a bag full of victories boosting their record over the Americans to 61 wins in 63 games dating back to 1960.</p><p>Changes to strengthen the U.S. team will have to be made and quickly if the Americans hope to become a contender at Sapporo.</p><h2><b>HOW THEY STAND</b></h2><h3><b>WORLD HOCKEY</b></h3><p><b>Final Standings</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01283/2870975-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="582" height="103"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPUTED</b></h3><p><b>First Round</b></p><p>Russia 13, U.S.A. 3</p><p>U.S.A. 7, Czechoslovakia 5</p><p>Russia 8, Czechoslovakia 3</p><p><b>Second Round</b></p><p>Russia 11, U.S.A. 1</p><p>U.S.A. 6, Czechoslovakia 3</p><p>Czechoslovakia 6, Russia 1</p><p><b>Exhibitions</b></p><p>Russia 7, U.S.A. 3</p><p>Russia 9, U.S.A. 3</p><p>Russia 11, U.S.A. 4</p><p>Czechoslovakia 5, Univ. Minn-Duluth 2<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-01

Russians Romp To World Cup Beating U.S. Nats Easily

<div class="byline">BY JOHN ARNOLD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02206/2871006-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="824" height="1099"></div><p><b>SOLUTION IN JANUARY 28 ISSUE</b></p><h2>ACROSS</h2><p>1&mdash;This former NHL star now a player-coach in Switzerland.</p><p>8&mdash;An NHL captain.</p><p>9&mdash;Precious stone.</p><p>11&mdash;Girl&rsquo;s name.</p><p>12&mdash;Holds record for most penalty minutes one season. (70 games).</p><p>14&mdash;Each, (abbr.)</p><p>15&mdash;Number worn by Bill White.</p><p>17&mdash;Good for two points.</p><p>18&mdash;1 across once played for this team (abbr.)</p><p>19&mdash;Former goaltender Lumley.</p><p>21&mdash;Initials of Donaldson of Portland.</p><p>23&mdash;Initials of Tony&rsquo;s brother.</p><p>25&mdash;9th and 16th letters of the alphabet.</p><p>27&mdash;One of the Bruins answers to this.</p><p>28&mdash;1967-68 Lady Byng Trophy winner.</p><p>30&mdash;Pictured player is one. (abbr.)</p><p>31&mdash;Former Oakland forward.</p><h2>DOWN</h2><p>1&mdash;Pictured player.</p><p>2&mdash;Former Leaf defenseman.</p><p>3&mdash;Nickname of a former Leaf coach.</p><p>4&mdash;Coaches Columbus in International League.</p><p>5&mdash;Former WHL defenseman Goodwin answers to this.</p><p>6&mdash;Initials of one of the Rangers.</p><p>7&mdash;One of the Sabres, (init.)</p><p>10&mdash;Former Rangers&rsquo; defense man.</p><p>13&mdash;First name of an NHL linesman.</p><p>16&mdash;Initials of former lines man Atanas.</p><p>17&mdash;Played right wing on the Hawks&rsquo; Scooter Line.</p><p>20&mdash;An NHL general man ager.</p><p>22&mdash;Ten cents.</p><p>24&mdash;One of the Great Lakes.</p><p>26&mdash;1970-71 Bill Masterton Trophy Winner answers to this.</p><p>29&mdash;Initials of a Montreal defenseman.</p><h2><b>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S ANSWERS</b></h2><h3>ACROSS</h3><p>1&mdash;ANGOTTI</p><p>8&mdash;NEIL.</p><p>9&mdash;ONCE.</p><p>11&mdash;D.S.</p><p>12&mdash;REGAN.</p><p>13&mdash;RT.</p><p>14&mdash;F.M.</p><p>15&mdash;EEL.</p><p>17&mdash;ROY.</p><p>19&mdash;ART.</p><p>20&mdash;F.L.</p><p>21&mdash;11.</p><p>22&mdash;ONE.</p><p>24&mdash;E.V.</p><p>25&mdash;KEON.</p><p>27&mdash;LES.</p><p>29&mdash;00.</p><p>30&mdash;ANDRE.</p><p>32&mdash;G.A.</p><p>34&mdash;MACNEIL.</p><h3>DOWN</h3><p>1&mdash;ANDREA.</p><p>2&mdash;NESTERENKO</p><p>3&mdash;G.l.</p><p>4&mdash;O.L.</p><p>5&mdash;TOE.</p><p>6&mdash;INGARFIELD.</p><p>7&mdash;HENRY.</p><p>10&mdash;C.A.</p><p>12&mdash;R.M.</p><p>16&mdash;L.T.</p><p>18&mdash;OLIVER.</p><p>23&mdash;E.E.</p><p>26&mdash;N.A.</p><p>28&mdash;SEAL.</p><p>29&mdash;ORR.</p><p>31&mdash;NON.</p><p>32&mdash;G.M.</p><p>33&mdash;A.A.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-02

HOCKEY CROSSWORD

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><p>CHICAGO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>f Hubert &ldquo;Pit&rdquo; Martin has a shortcoming, it might be a lack of charisma. His stature is slight, the moves on the ice are born more of savy than brute strength, and, although a refreshingly honest soul, he&rsquo;ll never boast.</p><p>In fact the most publicity he&rsquo;s ever received came from the famed State of the Black Hawks message a couple years back, when he rattled a few skeletons by panning certain team policies.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01146/2871037-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="271" height="449"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Pit Martin</b></figcaption></div><p>But things have been a little different lately. Martin is attracting a lot of overdue attention, and it&rsquo;s likely no coincidence that the public&rsquo;s great awakening to his talent started when he suddenly became a center for Robert Marvin Hull, who&rsquo;s no stranger to publicity.</p><p>A series of injuries and slumps prompted Coach Billy Reay to insert Martin between Hull and right wing Chico Maki on the evening of Dec. 3 in Oakland for a game against the California Golden Seals.</p><p>After a 2-1 loss that night, the Chicagoans embarked on a real tear as did the Martin-Hull-Maki threesome. In 12 games thereafter, the line collected a startling 62 points. Of the 25 goals arranged by the trio, Hull bagged 14. But there seemed little doubt within the Hawk clan that the crafty Martin was the key.</p><p>&ldquo;Chico and I have played with a lot of different centers,&rdquo; smiled Hull. &ldquo;And we&rsquo;ve been able to adjust to most of them pretty well. But there&rsquo;s no trouble in adjusting to Pit. He&rsquo;s such a great hockey player. He can do anything and everything&mdash;skate, shoot and he comes back to check.&rdquo;</p><p>Martin seems to treasure his new assignment.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a lot of fun to play with Bobby and Chico,&rdquo; said Pit. &ldquo;They never get ahead of me when we go upice. They stay right with you. Sometimes with certain wings, you have to make a pass in neutral ice and try to make a play. But Bobby and Chico stick with you well past the blue line, and that&rsquo;s a help.&rdquo;</p><p>As a result, Martin finds himself carrying the puck more than ever, and the whole experience has boosted his confidence.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been doing some things I didn&rsquo;t even know I could do,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve gained a lot of confidence in my ability to make plays. I was never really sure I could do it consistently, but we&rsquo;re moving real well. Chico and Bobby handle the puck so well and so I end up doing it more. We keep puck possession. Our timing is good and we know what each other is going to do, so we just wheel around until we find a man open.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;Pit&rsquo;s too modest when he says we help him out by not getting too far ahead of the play,&rdquo; Hull said. &ldquo;The way he skates, I don&rsquo;t think we COULD get ahead of him. I&rsquo;ve never seen anyone who can bust out like Pit.&rdquo;</p><p>And the man who formed this dynamite triangle, Coach Billy Reay, was just sitting back and admiring. &ldquo;They really are going pretty well, aren&rsquo;t they?&rdquo; he understated.</p><p>A stunning sample of the Hull-Martin-Maki arsenal was the Hawks&rsquo; first game of the new year, a 6-2 pasting of the Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 2. Hull registered his 26th and 27th goals and an assist to mark his birthday&mdash;he was 33 years young. Martin notched a goal&mdash;his 14th&mdash;and four assists. Maki bagged a goal and three assists. The line&rsquo;s total for the evening: a dozen points.</p><p>The triumph placed the Hawks back in the winner&rsquo;s circle after they were soundly whipped 5-1 by Boston in their final game of 1971. That defeat snapped the Chicago string of 17 contests at home without a loss&mdash;one short of the club record established last season.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0021-01

Pit Martin Becomes Center Of Attention In New Hawks’ Role

<p><b>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS</b> Made in Canada by HILLERICH A BRADSBV, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><h2><b>HOW THEY STAND</b></h2><p><b>AMERICAN LEAGUE</b></p><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 11)</b></p><h3><b>EASTERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01163/2871082-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="580" height="155"></div><h3><b>WESTERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02103/2871075-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="581" height="281"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Tues. Jan. 4</b></p><p>Boston 2 at Baltimore 4</p><p>Hershey 5 at Cincinnati 3</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 5</b></p><p>Nova Scotia 5 at Tidewater 1</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 7</b></p><p>Tidewater 0 at Baltimore 3</p><p>Hershey 3 at Cleveland 0</p><p>Novo Scotia 4 at Providence 5</p><p>Boston 0 at Richmond 3</p><p>Rochester 5 at Springfield 5</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. B</b></p><p>Baltimore 2 at Cleveland 6</p><p>Cincinnati 3 at Hershey 5</p><p>Providence 3 at Springfield 1</p><p><b>Sun. Jan. 9</b></p><p>Baltimore 6 at Cincinnati 2</p><p>Springfield 4 at Providence 1</p><p>Hershey 3 at Richmond 8</p><p>Novo Scotia 8 at Rochester 1</p><p>Boston 1 at Tidewater 1</p><h3><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h3><p><b>Tues. Jan. 11</b></p><p>Springfield at Boston</p><p>Rochester at Novo Scotia</p><p>Providence vs Tidewater (at Norfolk)</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 12</b></p><p>Cleveland at Hershey</p><p>Rochester at Novo Scotia</p><p>Providence at Richmond</p><p><b>Thurs. Jan. 13</b></p><p>Cleveland vs Tidewater (at Hampton Roods)</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 14</b></p><p>Cincinnati at Richmond</p><p>Providence at Rochester</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 15</b></p><p>Cincinnati at Boston (afternoon)</p><p>Rochester at Hershey</p><p>Baltimore at Springfield</p><p>Richmond vs Tidewater (at Norfolk)</p><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><p><b>(Including games of Sun. Jan. 2)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0389/2871068-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="583" height="628"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0022-01

AMERICAN LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK SANTANIELLO</div><p>SPRINGFIELD&mdash;</p><p>Wayne Rivers, the 10-year hockey veteran, pushed in five goals against the Cincinnati Swords to put himself on a record course.</p><p>Obtained in the reverse draft last spring in the parent Los Angeles Kings, Rivers was in training with the big club until he was sent here to play. In his long journey in the game, Wayne has been known as a pro who could always find the range. Last season with the Baltimore Clippers, the permanent resident of Hershey, Pa., had 38 goals and right now is close to the 30 mark here. He will be out to hit 45 to tie the old club record made two years ago by Doug Robinson, who is now with Nova Scotia. Jim Anderson, now coaching in Oklahoma City, set the original club mark with 42 when a member of the Indians. The AHL record is 55 goals set by Guy Trottier with Buffalo in 1968-70.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0473/2871113-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="257" height="452"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Brian Carlin</b></figcaption></div><p>Despite the work of Rivers, Coach Gary Dineen is concerned that his club is unable to play any better than. 500 hockey and is not afraid to make many changes. He feels his club is going to have to start to put it all together right now, if they hope to catch get the front-running Boston Braves. The Kings have been poor on the road lately, like in past seasons.</p><p>But earlier in the year the team had been playing a lot better than normal away from home. This is one part of the game he hopes to improve upon very rapidly. Kings&rsquo; teams over the years have always faired better on home ice than on the road.</p><p>The Kings&rsquo; big line of center Ed Hoekstra along with wingers Wayne Rivers and Brian Carlin will stay together. Ed is playing the best hockey of his life in the pivot while Rivers has been sensational. Rookie Carlin also has been scoring at a good rate, including two hat tricks and four goals in a one-week span.</p><p>He is in the running for the top rookie award presented locally with 17 goals in 28 games.</p><p>Some added changes were made on the others lines. Mike Boland and Wayne Schultz will be on the wings with rookie Bob Poffenroth taking over at center for Wayne Chernecki, whose play has been up and down.</p><p>The third line has lots of balance with wingers Jim Stanfield and Bill Orban and pivor John Healey, who has not played too</p><p>much. He was been working on killing penalties and will now get a good chance to play. Last season, he also rode the bench a lot. Norm Park has also been sent to the bench for a spell.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0022-04

Kings’ Rivers On Record Scoring Course As Dineen Hoping To Improve Road Play

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0564/2871144-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="500" height="545"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GERMAIN GAGNON</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>G</span>ermain Gagnon has been slowly but quietly working his way up the ladder in the AHL&rsquo;s individual scoring race. The Nova Scotia Voyageurs&rsquo; winger clicked for four goals and an assist in a four-game span in one of the top individual performances. He counted a hat trick as the Vees dumped Boston 7-3.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0022-05

Player Of The Week

<p>NORFOLK&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>D</span>etroit General Manger Ned Harkness announced that Jack Timmins, a member of the NHL club&rsquo;s scouting staff, will become the new general manager of the Tidewater Wings of the American Hockey League. He is a native of Ottawa, Ont.</p><p>Timmins has been a player, manager-coach, game official and a scout. During his playing days, Jack saw service as a forward with Cornwall in the Quebec Hockey League, Toledo and Fort Wayne in the International Hockey League. He retired as a player in 1953 to become manager-coach of the Clinton Comets in the Eastern Hockey League. He held that position until 1958. Since then, Jack has been working in private business while keeping close to the hockey scene as a referee in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference and as a pro scout.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Jack Timmins Named New Tidewater GM

<div class="byline">BY JERRY LINDQUIST</div><p>RICHMOND&mdash;</p><p>As usual, it has been openseason on goaltenders, and now it seems they are prepared to fight back&mdash;literally.</p><p>In Springfield on December 18, Kings&rsquo; goalie Bill Smith had more than just words with Richmond&rsquo;s Dave Schultz. They went at it hot and heavy.</p><p>Later, Cleveland&rsquo;s man behind the mask, Gilles Gilbert, took unkindly to Fred O&rsquo;Donnell of Boston. They, too, locked up in an individual skirmish.</p><p>Richmond&rsquo;s Bob Taylor got into the act against Nova Scotia January 2, celebrating the new year with a very one-sided exchange with Voyageur right winger Ron Busniuk.</p><p>This one bad been building since the teams&rsquo; first meeting of the season, and when Busniuk dealt Taylor an elbow to the side of the head, Taylor dropped his stick and went after him.</p><p>In the classic example of a mismatch, Taylor tatooed Busniuk with lefts and rights. &ldquo;I must have hit him at least six times, hard, solid ones,&rdquo; Taylor said. &ldquo;I think he might have grazed me once.&rdquo;</p><p>One thing about Busniuk: he makes things happen. No one is rougher, nor tougher especially around the net, and opponents may be reluctant to express it but they admire his persistence. Busniuk takes an awful lot of punishment, mainly because he refuses to be intimidated by defensemen trying to remove him from in front of the crease.</p><p>Taylor won the battle, and the Robins the war, overcoming an early 2-0 deficit to take a 6-4 decision that featured two goals by Schultz, his first in more than a month.</p><p>For the second straight game, Schultz, the American League&rsquo;s runaway leader in penalty minutes, concentrated on playing hockey, and it paid off handsomely. Richmond, which had won only one of its last eight, picked up its second victory in a row.</p><p>The loss of valuable two-way performer Bill Clement to the parent Philadelphia Flyers caused more than untold problems. &ldquo;Now it seems Schultz is picking up the slack,&rdquo; said coach Eddie Bush.</p><p>Meawhile, diminutive center Rene Drolet continued to be the Robins&rsquo; most consistent performer. He was credited with a goal and assist against Nova Scotia, bringing his total in the last 11 games to 13 points.</p><p><b>PARTING SHOTS:</b> Rookie defenseman Glen Irwin rejoined Robins from Seattle of Western League&hellip;Veteran backliner Ralph MacSweyn had cast removed from left knee and was expected back in lineup soon. He hadn&rsquo;t played since November 30&hellip;Robins attracted 8,007 to Coliseum December 29 and responded with rousing 4-2 win over Tidewater. Michel Belhumeur was magnificent in goal, turning aside 42 shots.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1212/2871199-1-eng-US/f0023-122.jpg" title="f0023-12" width="558" height="602"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BOB TAYLOR&hellip;Won The Battle</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0023-12

Netminders In AHL Fighting Back—With Fists

<h2><b>Thur. Dec. 23 BALTIMORE 3 at BOSTON 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01143/2871300-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="591" height="581"></div><h2><b>Sun. Dec. 26 SPRINGFIELD 2 at PROVIDENCE 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02106/2871293-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="592" height="530"></div><h2><b>CLEVELAND 4 at CINCINNATI 7</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0382/2871286-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="598" height="841"></div><h2><b>BOSTON 3 at NOVA SCOTIA 7</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0467/2871279-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="603" height="737"></div><h2><b>HERSHEY 2 at ROCHESTER 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0552/2871272-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="588" height="529"></div><h2><b>RICHMOND 0 at TIDEWATER 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0644/2871265-1-eng-US/f0023-062.jpg" title="f0023-06" width="588" height="329"></div><h2><b>Tues. Dec. 28 PROVIDENCE 2 at NOVA SCOTIA 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0740/2871258-1-eng-US/f0023-072.jpg" title="f0023-07" width="592" height="521"></div><h2><b>Thur. Dec. 30 NOVA SCOTIA 2 at HERSHEY 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0834/2871251-1-eng-US/f0023-082.jpg" title="f0023-08" width="586" height="580"></div><h2><b>Sat. Jan. 1 NOVA SCOTIA 4 at BALTIMORE 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0927/2871244-1-eng-US/f0023-092.jpg" title="f0023-09" width="592" height="525"></div><h2><b>Sun. Jan. 2 NOVA SCOTIA 4 at RICHMOND 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1020/2871237-1-eng-US/f0023-102.jpg" title="f0023-10" width="594" height="781"></div><h2><b>CLEVELAND 3 at CINCINNATI 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1114/2871230-1-eng-US/f0023-112.jpg" title="f0023-11" width="594" height="623"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0023-01

American Hockey League Summaries

<div class="byline">BY GREG FARLEY</div><p>BOSTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen the Bruins staggered through the early weeks of the season with an 8-5 record, it was the Braves who came to the rescue of Boston&rsquo;s diehard hockey fans by steamrolling over AHL opponents left and right.</p><p>The Braves made a shambles of all Boston Garden opponents and even went so far as to threaten a number of league re cords. For awhile, at least, it appeared that the Braves were destined to replace the Bruins as main course on the Garden&rsquo;s menu of goodies.</p><p>Home attendance figures shot up from a 9,000-per game average to over 11,000 within the short span of two months. Miles ahead of their competition in the AHL&rsquo;s Eastern Division, the Braves boasted both the most potent offense and stingiest defense in the entire league.</p><p>All this and more from a first year expansion team.</p><p>But in recent weeks&mdash;and with the Bruins soaring&mdash;the Braves have stopped scoring. Not only that, they&rsquo;ve become a lot more generous with the puck in their own end these days too. The result?</p><p>A slump.</p><p>Yes, a slump. A word which just a few short weeks ago was nonexistent in Braves&rsquo; vocabulary has become a reality for the redmen and their followers.</p><p>And since the team&rsquo;s misfortune (seven game winless streak) began and continued through a recent extended road trip, the theory that perhaps the Braves are &ldquo;homers&rdquo; has presented itself.</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s ridiculous,&rdquo; scoffed coach Bep Guidolin, &ldquo;we&rsquo;ve got the best away record in the league. And that&rsquo;s pretty good when you consider that every team in every rink we visit is sky-high for us.</p><p>&ldquo;Sure, we&rsquo;ve lost a few these past couple of weeks, and we&rsquo;ll lose some more before the season ends. Looking at our record, though, you&rsquo;d never know we&rsquo;d just been through a winless streak&mdash;we&rsquo;ve still got a pretty fair first place lead.</p><p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t worry, we&rsquo;re going to be alright.&rdquo;</p><p>Despite his optimism, Guidolin was somewhat disturbed with the turn of events that transpired during his team&rsquo;s two week sojourn. He was furious with the officiating in most of the games, particularly in Springfield and Providence, where he was ejected from one game and almost tossed out of the other.</p><p>Perhaps Bep&rsquo;s biggest concern&mdash;and justifiably so&mdash;was the Braves&rsquo; poor showing in Nova Scotia, Cleveland and Springfield&mdash;where they dropped each game and could only muster a total of four goals versus 16 against.</p><p>If the Braves expect to seriously contend for the Calder Cup in April, it&rsquo;s essential that they handle these playoff-bound teams both home away.</p><h2><b>CANADIAN CENTRAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings On Wed. Dec. 29)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02105/2871338-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="576" height="156"></div><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0374/2871331-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="576" height="258"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0024-02

Surprise! High-Flying Braves Stop Soaring, Scoring

<div class="byline">BY GEORGE DUFFY</div><p><b>PROVIDENCE&mdash;</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01128/2871400-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="546" height="592"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DON BLACKBURN Fits In Anywhere</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span> year ago, veteran forward Don Blackburn led the Rochester Americans in scoring with 69 points, enabling him to finish among the leaders in the American Hockey League.</p><p>Now, wearing the spangles of the R.I. Reds, Blackburn is on the move again, is fourth in the AHL and the leader of the Providence scoring parade.</p><p>With the Reds off to a slow start in the East, Blackburn has played center and left wing. He prefers to be on the wing but the likeable Kirkland Lake native is not complaining. &ldquo;I like to play left wing but if playing center will help this team get into the playoffs, then I will certainly play center.&rdquo;</p><p>After 36 games with the Reds, Blackburn posted a scoring slate of 14 goals and 32 assists for 46 points. With a long way to go in the season, the 190 pound sharpshooter has visions of eclipsing his scoring mark of a year ago. &lsquo;&lsquo;We are beginning to do better as a team now&rdquo; he was saying recently &ldquo;and this is bound to help all of us in scoring.&rdquo;</p><p>To the question of whether he has a scoring plateau set for the 1971-72 season, Blackburn says &ldquo;I would like to reach at least 75 points.&rdquo;</p><p>As the center for right wing Alton White and left wing Bobby Leduc, Blackburn has been playing a steady game and has shown considerable improvement with each passing game. He laughlinly points out &ldquo;the old guy is rounding into shape.&rdquo; Blackburn was born on May 14, 1938.</p><p>While he has some individual goals for the season, Blackburn is more concenred with what happens to the Reds. &ldquo;Things haven&rsquo;t been that good with us but now I think the guys are starting to come around. Don&rsquo;t count this team out of the playoffs. We are going to be right in there.&rdquo;</p><p>Blackburn, whose cousin Bob is a Rochester defenseman and an ex-R. I. Red, began his career with Victoria way back in 195859. Since then Don, a six foot forward, has played for Kingston, Boston, Quebec, Rochester, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York and Buffalo.</p><p>He has played in a total of 125 National Hockey League games and like all players skating in a minor league, he thinks about being up in the big time. &ldquo;The NHL is a great place to play and I guess we would all like to be there. But being with the Reds is OK with me. Nobody knows what the future of hockey has in store for us. So I&rsquo;m just going to keep working hard here now.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0025-01

Top Scorer Blackburn Bright Spot For Reds

<div class="byline">BY HANS TANNER</div><p>ROCHESTER&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>R</span>ochester hockey fans never have seen Andre Hinse play, but they&rsquo;re perfectly happy now that the high-scoring left wing refused a Vancouver directive to report to the Amerks.</p><p>Because Hinse balked last fall the Canucks worked out a deal with Toronto whereby Hinse went to Phoenix of the Western League (where he wanted to play and where Toronto has a working agreement) and Vancouver got young Maple Leaf prospect Doug Brindley in return.</p><p>Brindley&rsquo;s steady play has helped keep the Amerks in the scramble for third and fourth place in the American Hockey League&rsquo;s Eastern Division.</p><p>The 22-year-old center leaves 1971 tied for second in points on the team- (one behind Ed Hatoum), tied for second in goals and second in assists.</p><p>Phoenix, where minor league pros beg to be sent, was to be Brindley&rsquo;s home this season until the trade.</p><p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want to go to Phoenix,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I liked it in Tulsa and would just as soon have stayed there. I played two years there, the weather was great, I met a lot of nice people and the club treated us well.</p><p>&ldquo;But I realized when 1 was told I had been traded that I&rsquo;d just have to make the best of it&hellip;pro hockey means a lot of moving around and if I&rsquo;m going to stay in it I&rsquo;ll just have to accept the moving.&rdquo;</p><p>Brindley&rsquo;s past performance chart is impressive.</p><p>He scored 40 goals and assisted on 37 others in his final season of junior with Niagara Falls.</p><p>His rookie pro season saw him get 22 goals and 25 assists in 65 Central League games with Tulsa, and last season he was 29-3867 in 65 games there.</p><p>Brindley played one playoff game for Buffalo in the American League post-season competition in the spring of 1970 and got into three NHL games with Toronto last season.</p><p>The Amerks have a monthly luncheon at which one player is honored as the star of the month. Goalie Lynn Zimmerman was the first winner this season, and Brindley was the latest to be picked.</p><p>If he can increase his scoring rate a little the rest of the season, Brindley will have to be considered when voting for the AHL rookie-of-the-year comes along.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Brindley’s Play Gives Amerks Lift

<div class="byline">BY JOHN TRAVERS</div><p>HERSHEY&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>O</span>nly three days after Jim Rutherford donned a Hershey Bears uniform the young goaltender had backstopped his teammates to a pair of victories and top spot in the American Leagus&rsquo;s Western Division before the call went out to return to the Pittsburgh Pinguins because of an emergency situation.</p><p>Hershey, which had been in a prolonged 11 game slump, had not won two straight shinny matches in more than a month. Prior to the pair of wins, the Bears had racked up only two victories since Nov. 27.</p><p>The 22-year-old Rutherford, who had won four of his nine NHL starts with the Penguins, was sent to Hershey to get more ice time. Then the Pens&rsquo; No. 1 goaler, Roy Edwards, walked out again claiming his nerves couldn&rsquo;t stand the pace of the game any longer leaving a void in the Pittsburgh goaling picture. The Pens quickly recalled Rutherford and he suited up for an NHL game his first week back.</p><p>Also assigned to Hershey at the time with Rutherford was 20-year-old defenseman Joe Noris. He made his AHL debut against Nova Scotia auspicious by scoring a goal.</p><p>Coach Frank Mathers revamped all three forward lines for the Dec. 30 Nova Scotia game in an effort to get some scoring punch. The strategy worked. The Bears took the Voyageurs, 5-2, then dropped Tidewater, 6-2.</p><p>&ldquo;We had to do something,&rdquo; said Mathers. &ldquo;We were not going anywhere.&rdquo;</p><p>The Bears presently have veteran Andre Gill and rookie Cam Newton on the roster. Through the first 30 games the two alternated at the job.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Bears Reluctantly Give Up Rutherford

<p><b>LOUISYILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS</b> Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><h2><b>HOW THEY STAND</b></h2><h3><b>WESTERN LEAGUE</b></h3><p><b>(Standings on Wed. Jan. 12)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0289/2871493-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="581" height="236"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Wed. Jan. 5</b></p><p>Seattle 3 at Portland 11</p><p><b>Thu. Jan. 6</b></p><p>Eenver 4 at Salt Lake 4</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 7</b></p><p>Portland 3 at San Diego 1</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 8</b></p><p>Portland 8 at Salt Lake 5</p><p>Phoenix 2 at Seattle 6</p><p>Denver 1 at Son Diego 2</p><p><b>Sun. Jan. 9</b></p><p>Phoenix 5 at Portland 7</p><p><b>Wed Jan San 12</b></p><p>Diego at Salt Lake</p><p>Denver at Portland</p><p>Phoenix at Seattle</p><p><b>Thur. Jan. 13</b></p><p>Son Diego at Phoenix</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 14</b></p><p>Portia nd at Salt Lake</p><p>Denver at Seattle</p><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><p><b>(Including games of Sun. Jan. 2)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0371/2871486-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="585" height="457"></div><h3><b>GOALKEEPERS RECORDS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0452/2871479-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="584" height="431"></div><p>Shutouts, Caley, Broderick, Kelly 2 each. Caron. Johnson Norris 1 each.</p><p>Penalty leader Hol Willis. Seattle. 134 mins<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-02

WESTERN LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCCONNELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01136/2871545-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="564" height="1244"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PETER McDUFFE&hellip;Wins in Debut</b></figcaption></div><p>DENVER&mdash;</p><p>The St. Louis Shuffle is still being played but the only tune the Denver Spurs seem to hear is the victory march.</p><p>Callups and injuries had reduced the roster to 14 players on their most recent road trip but the Spurs posted three wins in three different cities in three consecutive nights.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0545/2871538-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="274" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Fran Huck</b></figcaption></div><p>They&rsquo;ve won four straight, eight of the last nine, 11 of the last 13 and have a 10-point cushion on top of the Western Hockey League standings.</p><p>Their 25 victories match the Spurs&rsquo; record for a whole season.</p><p>Fran Huck scored at least one point in his 22nd straight game, one short of the WHL&rsquo;s consecutive game scoring record, and has jumped to third spot, in the individual points race. He owns 14 goals and 29 assists for 43 points, eight back of the co-leaders, Larry Lund of Phoenix and Art Jones of the Portland Buckaroos.</p><p>With Jacques Caron, the league&rsquo;s leading goaltender, called up to the St. Louis Blues, rookie Bob Johnson stepped in and is making his bid to become the loop&rsquo;s top puckstopper.</p><p>The 23-year-old former Michigan State University star from Farmington, Mich., allowed just one goal in each of three consecutive starts to reduce his goals against average to 2.70.</p><p>Pete McDuffe, shipped in by St. Louis as Caron&rsquo;s replacement, posted a 4-2 victory in his debut.</p><p>McDuffe, 26, was the All Star goaltender in the Central Hockey League last season for the Omaha Knights. He was traded to St. Louis by the New York Rangers.</p><p>The Rangers acquired McDuffe in July, 1969, from the Phoenix Roadrunners for goaltender Don Caley and forward Sandy Snow. The Roadrunners had drafted McDuffe in the amateur draft from the Chicago Black Hawks one month earlier.</p><p>Doug Smith, who caught the imagination of the Spurs&rsquo; rooters with a late scoring surge last season, rejoined the club from Kansas City of the Central loop after Claude LaForge was injured. Smith picked up an assist on a Huck goal in his first game back.</p><p>LaForge, who required surgery for a shoulder separation and torn liagements after the New Year&rsquo;s Eve game at Salt Lake City, is expected to be sidelined for at least six weeks, possibly the remainder of the season.</p><h2><b>QUEBEC CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Fri. Jan. 7)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0636/2871531-1-eng-US/f0026-062.jpg" title="f0026-06" width="584" height="235"></div><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0731/2871524-1-eng-US/f0026-072.jpg" title="f0026-07" width="586" height="333"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0026-01

NHL Retails, Shuffles Seen Not Slowing Down Runaway Spurs

<p>PHOENIX&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Phoenix Roadrunners broke their team scoring record by two goals with an 11-5 whipping of the defending Western Hockey League and Patrick Cup champion Portland Buckaroos.</p><p>The seven goals in the second period by the Roadrunners were the most ever scored against the Buckaroos in a 20-minute span and the 11 goals tied the high against the Bucks for a single game.</p><p>Seven goals by a team in one period is one short of the league record of eight and the 10 goals by both clubs in the second period was also one goal short of a league record.</p><p>Frank Hughes contributed his second hat trick of the season to the Roadrunner scoring feast and at week&rsquo;s end he had 13 goals in 12 games with Phoenix this season.</p><p>Larry Lund, who centers Hughes and Andy Hinse, collected three goals and three assists in the two-game series with Portland (Phoenix winning the second by 5-3), added an assist in the loss to San Diego and had caught Portland&rsquo;s Art Jones for the scoring leadership with 51 points a piece.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Runners Rout Bucks To Set Scoring Mark

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCCONNELL</div><p>SEATTLE&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>C</span>amille Lapierre speaks only broken English, is still somewhat of a mystery man to the Seattle press but is communicating very well with the Seattle Totem&rsquo;s fans.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01120/2871600-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="262" height="456"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Camille Lapierre</b></figcaption></div><p>The slender rookie center scored goals in five consecutive games and has six goals and five assists in the 10 games he has played with the Totems, who have been holding their own since breaking off their Western Hockey League record losing streak at 18 games.</p><p>Lapierre, 5-9 and 160 pounds in his overcoat, joined the Totems from the bench of the Springfield Kings of the American League. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings last summer from the Montreal. Junior Canadiens&mdash;the 76th player taken in the draft.</p><p>Not a strong skater, nor owner of a powerful shot nor the strength to overpower the defense. Lapierre has exhibited extraordinary balance and puck sense.</p><p>Lapierre scored the game opener and game winner in a 4-2 upset of the San Diego Gulls, was selected as the game&rsquo;s first star but refused to come out for the post-game radio interview from rinkside.</p><p>Broadcaster-Joe Daggett was slightly relieved. Joe speaks no French.</p><p>Lapierre&rsquo;s arrival, the improved play of veteran defenseman Larry Cahan and rookie rearguard Hal Willis, the return of All Star defenseman John Hanna after early season surgery are part of the Totems&rsquo; recent moderate success.</p><p>So has the steady play of Jimmy Peters&rsquo; line of Howie Hughes and Randy Miller and of Bob Ellett, the veteran picked up as a free agent from the Salt Lake City Golden Eagles and who is skating on Lapierre&rsquo;s wing.</p><p>A drawback was that the offense could only muster 13 goals. A standoff.</p><p>But the Totems won two and tied one of those six games and that is some improvement after winning only two of 25.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0027-01

Newcomer Lapierre Helps Totems On Road Back To Respectability

<p class="dropcap"><span>F</span>rank Hughes came back to the WHL this season after failing to make it with the California Seals and the Phoenix Roadrunners are happy it worked out the way it did. Hughes turned in a highly productive week for the Runners scoring five goals, including a hat trick in an 11-5 rout of Portland. It was Hughes&rsquo; second hat of the year and gave him 13 goals in 13 games since returning to the WHL.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0289/2871631-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="508" height="637"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>FRANK HUGHES</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0027-02

<h2><b>Sun. Dec. 26 OKLAHOMA CITY 3 at OMAHA 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0335/2871864-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="587" height="606"></div><h2><b>TULSA 4 at KANSAS CITY 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0425/2871857-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="585" height="759"></div><h2><b>Wed., Dec. 29 Tulsa 5 at FORT WORTH 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0519/2871850-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="590" height="628"></div><h2><b>OKLAHOMA CITY 2 at DALLAS 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0614/2871843-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="591" height="557"></div><h2><b>Fri. Dec. 31 DALLAS 3 at OKLAHOMA CITY 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0711/2871836-1-eng-US/f0028-072.jpg" title="f0028-07" width="592" height="462"></div><h2><b>FORT WORTH 3 at OMAHA 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-089/2871829-1-eng-US/f0028-082.jpg" title="f0028-08" width="589" height="734"></div><h2><b>Sat., Jan. 1 TULSA 1 at DALLAS 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-097/2871822-1-eng-US/f0028-092.jpg" title="f0028-09" width="595" height="558"></div><h2><b>FORT WORTH 0 at KANSAS CITY 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-108/2871815-1-eng-US/f0028-102.jpg" title="f0028-10" width="592" height="488"></div><h2><b>CMAHA 2 at OKALHOMA CITY 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-115/2871808-1-eng-US/f0028-112.jpg" title="f0028-11" width="590" height="584"></div><h2><b>Sun. Jan. 2 OKLAHOMA CITY 0 at DALLAS 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-125/2871801-1-eng-US/f0028-122.jpg" title="f0028-12" width="585" height="459"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0028-03

Central League Summaries

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</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>TULSA&mdash;</p><p>The spirited battle between Tulsa Oiler centers Jean Payette and Cal Swenson for the Central League scoring leadership was keeping the fans excited, even tough their team was out of town for nearly three weeks, and was losing ground in the fight to regain first place.</p><p>&ldquo;Breaking even on the road isn&rsquo;t too bad,&rdquo; commented Oiler general manager Ray Miron on the club&rsquo;s prolonged road trip during the holiday period, which saw them win in Oklahoma City and Fort Worth, but lose in Kansas City and Dallas. The schedule then turned in Tulsa&rsquo;s favor, with four of the next five games scheduled at the Assembly Center.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0259/2871770-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="277" height="427"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Jean Payette</b></figcaption></div><p>The Oilers had pulled to within one point of first place Dallas by beating the Hawks twice in a row, Dec. 12-15. But the Oilers played at a 3-2-2 clip against the other CHL teams the next two weeks. Dallas was 6-0-1 in the same span, with three straight wins on the road, and the Hawks moved six points in front New Year&rsquo;s night their widest advantage since they replaced Tulsa in the top spot, Nov. 21. Dallas atoned for the two earlier losses by trouncing the Oilers, 6-1, in the Hawks&rsquo; rink Jan. 1.</p><p>Payette, the 25-year-old veteran from Cornwall, Ont., was blanked in that Jan. 1 fray for the first time in six starts. But he had rung up his 22nd goal and 22nd assist three nights earlier, as the Oilers skated to a 5-1 triumph in Fort Worth.</p><p>Christmas night the Oilers had won in Oklahoma City for the first time since Feb. 28, 1970, but the following night they blew an early advantage, and lost in Kansas City, 6-4.</p><p>Swenson collected two goals in the Oiler victory in Fort Worth, both on power plays, and became the CHL&rsquo;s second 20-goal man for the season. (Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Greg Sheppard became the third when he scored twice against Omaha, Jan. 1). Cal had a total of 42 points to rank two behind teammate Payette.</p><p>Payette has had a startling series of ups and downs in his pro hockey career. He came off the Cornwall junior Royals to win a pro contract with Tulsa as a skinny 6-footer (165 pounds) in the fall of 1966. He had eight goals and 18 points for the lastplace Oilers that season, then soared to 19 goals and 50 points on the championship club of 1967-68. (Teammates kept setting him up for goal No. 20 through the last game of the season, and Jean kept missing the net).</p><p>He was assigned to Phoenix in the Western League for the following season, but suffered a back injury in an auto accident in mid-summer, and didn&rsquo;t join the</p><p>Roadrunners until the last six games of 1968-69. Although he was expected to play for Tulsa in the fall of &lsquo;69, Jean left training camp to return to St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia.</p><p>&ldquo;If I weighed 10 pounds more, I might have a chance in the National League,&rdquo; he wrote in a farewell note to boss Miron.</p><p>The fall of 1970 Payette decided to try pro hockey again. He failed to impress at Phoenix, and was reassigned to Tulsa in November, finishing the 1970-71 campaign with 15 goals and 40 points.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01112/2871763-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="553" height="583"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MICHEL DUMAS&hellip;Emerging As No. 1</b></figcaption></div><p>But the skinny 6-footer had been steadily building up his weight and strength in the years since his disabling accident. He reported to the Toronto camp this season at 177 pounds, and quickly established himself as the Oilers&rsquo; No. 1 playmaker.</p><p>Swenson, the &ldquo;blonde bomber&rdquo; from Naicam, Sask., has been a Tulsa resident year-round since he married a Tulsa girl in his first Oiler season, 1968-69. The 23-year-old, a 5-8, 183-pounder, came off the Flin Flon (Man.) unior Bombers, but his early pro career was handicapped by broken arm which hadn&rsquo;t been set properly.</p><p>He saw limited ice duty, usually on a wing, that first season, but scored 11 goals and 31 points. Converted to center in 1969-70, he had 18 goals and 42 points, then last season became the Oilers&rsquo; top scorer with 27 goals and 73 points, tied for sixth in the league.</p><p>Cal didn&rsquo;t get his first goal this season until game No. 8, (Nov. 6) and had only six in the first 19 starts. But he scored a hat trick against Oklahoma City, Dec. 3, and had four two-goal games in his sudden spurt to the top. He took over the CHL scoring lead Dec. 18, but dropped behind Payette the next week.</p><p>Adding to the excitement, a local dairy firm which prints hockey players&rsquo; pictures on its milk cartons came out with Swenson&rsquo;s name on Payette&rsquo;s picture, and vice-versa!</p><p><b>DALLAS:</b> With rookie Michel Dumas playing it tight in their nets, and a horde of talented forwards racking up goals at a record clip, the Black Hawks showed no signs of relinquishing their hold on first place.</p><p>Dumas, who sported a stingy 2.40 goals-against average through Christmas week, was leaving the rest of the CHL goalkeepers far in his wake.</p><p>Meanwhile the Hawk offense was so balanced, Dallas didn&rsquo;t have a man in the top six league scorers. For example, nine different players contributed the 11 goals they scored in two victories and a tie the week ending Jan. 1. Bob Sicinski and Larry Romanchych had two each, and J.P. Leblanc, Dan Spring, Dan Maloney, Ron Dussiaume, J.P. Bordeleau, Don Gordon and Danny Lodboa chimed in one apiece,</p><p>The Hawks&rsquo; first-place margin was cut to two points Dec. 29, when the Oklahoma City Blazers pulled their goalie and salvaged a 2-2 tie in Dallas. But the Hawks claimed 3-1 revenge in OC two nights later, than returned home to blast Tulsa, 6-1, stretching the league lead to six points. The Hawks owned four straight road victories, and were unbeaten in seven home games.</p><p><b>KANSAS CITY:</b> Rookie goalie John Garrett posted his third whitewash of the season when he turned back Fort Worth at home, 4-0, New Year&rsquo;s night. It was the third shutout for the 20-year-old Garrett, up from the Peterborough, Ont., junior Petes. He blanked Fort Worth, 6-0, in Kansas City, Nov. 10, and turned back Oklahoma City, 4-0, four nights later, again in KC.</p><p>No other CHL netminder had more than one shutout through Jan. 1. Other whitewash jobs were by Tulsa&rsquo;s Murray McLachlan (against For Worth), Dallas&rsquo; Dumas (against Kansas City), and Dallas&rsquo; Ken Brown (against Fort Worth).</p><p>The Blues have been known for their late rallies all season, but it would be hard to top their Dec. 26 performance at home against Tulsa. Down 3-1 after two periods, the Blues came to life when Dale Yutsyk scored with a slapshot from mid-rink just 18 seconds into the third.</p><p>Mickey Oja and Dave Pulkkinen then put KC ahead. Bernie Blanchette scored an empty-net goal with 56 seconds left, when the Oilers lifted goalie Ron Low in favor of an extra attacker. But Jean Payette scored for Tulsa with 42 seconds to go, and Tulsa coach Marcel Pronovost removed Low again in hopes of tying the game. Norm Dennis scored the Blues&rsquo; second empty-net goal of the night, with one second on the clock, to clinch a 6-4 triumph.</p><p><b>OKLAHOMA CITY:</b> The QC Blazers were winless at home in four games, but they broke that slump with a 4-2 triumph at home over Omaha Jan. 1, and pulled three points ahead of the defending champion Knights in the battle for fourth place.</p><p>The Blazers benefitted from lifting their own goalkeeper and seeing the enemy lift theirs during the week. Brian Bradley flicked in a 10-foot shot with 18 seconds left at Dallas, Dec. 29, as the Blazers scored twice in the final period to tie the Hawks, 2-2.</p><p>The Hawks gained revenge in OC two nights later, but then the Blazers topped Omaha, with Sheppard getting two goals, the last into an empty net with 11 seconds to play.</p><p>Coach Jim Anderson was enthusiastic about the Blazers&rsquo; play, even in their loss to Dallas. &ldquo;Both the Dallas games were great ones for the fans to watch, I would think&rdquo;, he commented. &ldquo;We played well both nights, we just made a couple of mistakes and they beat us.&rdquo;</p><p>Rookie Curt Ridley from Portage LaPrairie, Man., had taken over the regular goalie chores from veteran John Adams. &ldquo;Ridley&rsquo;s been hot, and I see no reason to change,&rdquo; observed the coach. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to be a National Leaguer.&rdquo;</p><p><b>OMAHA:</b> The Knights finally snapped a five-game losing streak when they took Fort Worth, 5-3, at home, Dec. 31. They had to come behind with three goals in the final period by Tom Williams, Norm Gratton and Terry West.</p><p>However, six straight losses on the road (their last road victory was Nov. 27) had general manager Jake Milford and coach Larry Popein fretting.</p><p>Wayne Wood had the league&rsquo;s second-best goals-against average (2.95 for 17 games), but the Knights&rsquo; attack wasn&rsquo;t yielding the expected rewards (a 2.81 average for 31 games(Rookie Tom Williams had 30 points on 14 goals and 16 assists to lead the attack.</p><p><b>FORT WORTH:</b> The Wings came so close to escaping the CHL cellar, but couldn&rsquo;t come up with the one victory they needed. They stayed within a point of fifth-place Omaha for more than a week (Dec. 18-29), but suffered four straight losses, and saw the margin spread to three points New Year&rsquo;s Eve.</p><p>&ldquo;We should have won the game in Kansas City the night we were shut out,&rdquo; moaned manager-coach Bob Lemieux. &ldquo;We missed the empty net three times, and we outplayed them for two periods.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>HOW THEY STAND</b></h2><h3><b>CENTRAL LEAGUE</b></h3><p><b>(Standings on Wed. Jan 12)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0184/2871756-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="579" height="238"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Thu. Jan. 6</b></p><p>Oklahoma City 3 at Fort Worth 1</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 7</b></p><p>Omaha 1 at Dallas 3</p><p>Fort Worth 0 at Tulsa 6</p><p>Oklahoma City 1 at Kansas City 6</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 8</b></p><p>Dallas 2 at Tulsa 3</p><p>Kansas City 2 at Fort Worth 2</p><p>Oklahoma City 0 at Omaha 4</p><p><b>Sun. Jan. 9</b></p><p>Dallas 3 at Omaha 5</p><p>Tulsa 1 at Kansas City 3</p><h3>GAMES TO COME</h3><p><b>Wed. Jan. 12</b></p><p>Kansas City at Oklahoma City</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 14</b></p><p>Dalias at Kansas City</p><p>Fort Worth at Oklahoma City</p><p>Omaha at Tulsa</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 15</b></p><p>Fort Worth at Dallas</p><p>Kansas City at Omaha</p><p>Oklahoma City at Tulsa</p><p><b>Sun. Jan. 16</b></p><p>Dallas at Oklahoma City</p><p>Tulsa at Fort Worth</p><p>Omaha at Kansas City</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 19</b></p><p>Omaha at Oklahoma City</p><p><b>Fri. Jan 21</b></p><p>Oklahoma City at Dallas</p><p>Fort Worth at Kansas City</p><p>Tulsa at Omaha</p><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><p><b>(Including games of Sun. Jan. 2)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0259/2871749-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="594" height="978"></div><h3><b>GOALKEEPERS RECORDS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0334/2871742-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="581" height="486"></div><p><b>Shutouts, Garrett 3, Dumas 2, Brown, McLachlan 1 each.</b></p><p><b>Penalty Leader*: Steve Durbano, Omaha, 198 mins.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-02

Dallas Holding Oilers Off But KC Blues Closing Cap

<p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen Bernie Blanchette came to the Kansas City Blues after starting the year in the American League with Nova Scotia Voyageurs, the Blues didn&rsquo;t know it then but they had a good thing. Blanchette came up with a productive week, the best in the CHL, as he scored four goals and set up a fifth in helping to spark the Blues&rsquo; upsurge. One of his goals turned out to be a game winner.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0427/2871895-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="494" height="618"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BERNIE BLANCHETTE</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0029-04

<div class="byline">BY HARVEY POLLACK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01105/2871961-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="542" height="590"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>STU ROBERTS&hellip;Four-Goal Blast</b></figcaption></div><p>GREENSBORO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he rumors that had been filling the air here came to fruition when Ron Spong, dean of all Eastern Hockey League coaches, was replaced as mentor of the Greensboro Generals by veteran player Don Carter.</p><p>It had been reported for some time that the new owners of the club this year were unhappy with the team&rsquo;s status in the Southern Division race. The Gens owners felt that the club should either be in first place or at least battling Charlotte for the spot. Instead at last reports the team was in a dogfight with Roanoke Valley for the second spot, far behind the front running Checkers.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0619/2871954-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="262" height="434"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Don Herriman</b></figcaption></div><p>Carl Scheer, Gens&rsquo; president, and the others couldn&rsquo;t understand the club&rsquo;s difficulties especially since the team was supposedly blessed with so much talent&mdash;the best of the Gens and Nashville teams of a year ago.</p><p>Spong, who had been the skipper of the club for 11&frac12; years and had won seven divisional crowns in that stretch, accepted the move without rancor.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s easier to change one man than an entire team,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We tried switching players and that didn&rsquo;t help. You can&rsquo;t continue to make changes. I feel that we have the team but it isn&rsquo;t producing. It&rsquo;s a coach&rsquo;s job to get his players up. If they don&rsquo;t get up, it&rsquo;s the coach&rsquo;s fault. His job is to win. If he doesn&rsquo;t, he isn&rsquo;t doing his job. I hope Don can provide something I didn&rsquo;t and get the team moving in the right direction.&rdquo;</p><p>Spong, who will stay will the club as director of player personnel (a post formerly held by Norman Curtis), was lauded by Scheer who said, &ldquo;Ron can stand on his impressive record. We just felt a change could provide more motivation for the club. Hopefully Carter can come in and gets us over the hump.&rdquo;</p><p>Carter, a 35-year-old center, had been out a good portion of the year because of injuries. He was an original member of the Gens and played here for nine years before moving to Denver and the Western League in 1968. A heart ailment supposedly ended his career but he came out of retirement last February to rejoin the Gens.</p><p>Carter said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t plan to make any immediate changes. We&rsquo;ve got the team. We&rsquo;ve got to get everyone playing together and playing hard.&rdquo;</p><p>Spong&rsquo;s record as Gens&rsquo; coach was 469-305-50 in the regular season and 53-51 in the playoffs.</p><p>Carter&rsquo;s hiring almost coincided with his return to action from a broken rib that had sidelined him from Nov. 17. Stu Roberts posted four goals in win over Johnstown Jim Notman dropped to make room for Carter. Don Burgess has been most consistent pointmaker for Gens.</p><p><b>LONG ISLAND:</b> Ducks feel the schedule in the second half of the season favors their chances of taking-divisional crown. Goalie Guy DeNoncourt has been making the big saves for the Ducks. Coach Ed Stankiewicz says it&rsquo;s tougher to get help as the season wears on. Intelligent hockey and harmony credited for club&rsquo;s success. Jean Marie Nicol is pacing club production.</p><p><b>SUN COAST:</b> Herman Karp&rsquo;s slump breakage has aided club. Team&rsquo;s record at mid-season of 16-15-6 was far better than anyone had hoped at campaign&rsquo;s outset. Suns had rough 11-game road trip. Cliff Pennington scoring well since joining team. Bob Malcolm returned to action after being out six weeks with broken wrist&hellip;Suns got fogbound on flight home and had to land at Sarasota instead of here.</p><p><b>CHARLOTTE:</b> Club more physical since Blaine Rydman was moved from defense to line with Bob Mowat and Wayne Schaab. Mike Rouleau and Frank Golembrosky in ding dong race for southern scoring lead. John Rodger sidelined a couple of weeks with knee injury. Defenseman Yvon Bilodeau loaned to Richmond for a game. Rick Loe&rsquo;s back-to-back goals nipped Roanoke Valley.</p><p><b>CLINTON:</b> Don Herriman suspended for altercation with Syracuse linesman. Comets protested ban and put blame on linesman. Goalie Ted Tucker&rsquo;s 21 saves in period were his high for year. Dave Lee regaining his scoring eye with Comets after acquisition from Jacksonville. Rich Scammell placed on injured list to make room for Lee.</p><p><b>ROANOKE VALLEY:</b> Jerry Wright back from Canada and Jim Jago off injured list. Rebels combined with Greensboro in game against Czechloslovakian national team on Gens ice. GM Horace Fitzpatrick fired and prexy Gene Hawthorne assumed duties. Club trying to set up radio broadcast of games. Colin Kilburn will be coach and charge of player personnel. Marty Desmarais purchased from New Haven. Doug Kerslake dropped and returned homesick to Canada.</p><p><b>SYRACUSE:</b> Blazers made some lineup changes. They put Rick Molinaro into the lineup when he was returned by Jersey and inserted Guy Dufour, who was out with a leg injury. Club tried to make deal for Wayne Horne and Danny Bell placed on injured list. Pierre Sigman became first Blazers&rsquo; goalie to register two shutouts in season.</p><p><b>JERSEY:</b> Coach Red Hay says club needs consistent play to make headway in northern race. Ken Gratton suspended by GM Ross Turnbull since the player, acquired from Toledo, doesn&rsquo;t want to play in EHL. Ron Legault injured when he slid headlong into the boards. Herb Price acquired from Jacksonville.</p><p><b>JOHNSTOWN:</b> Jets had disastrous southern trip which hurt their status in northern race. Jets lost six straight on the road before nipping Jersey. Jets biggest improvement this year has been in goals allowed department and also in the lesser number of penalties.</p><p><b>NEW HAVEN:</b> Hopes of reacquiring Kevin Morrison fizzled when Detrit GM Ned Harkness sent him to Fort Worth. Randy Sigurdson dropped in order to activate Doug Hearns from Jacksonville. Bobby Thompson activated and to make room Marty Desmarais was sold to Roanoke Valley.</p><h2><b>HOW THEY STAND</b></h2><h3><b>EASTERN LEAGUE</b></h3><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 11)</b></p><p><b>NORTHERN DIVISION</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0260/2871947-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="578" height="183"></div><p><b>SOUTHERN DIVISION</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0336/2871940-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="583" height="258"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Tues. Jan. 4</b></p><p>Roanoke 2 at Charlotte 2</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 5</b></p><p>Johnstown 5 at Syracuse 4</p><p>Sun Coast 4 at New Haven 4</p><p>Clinton 2 at New Jersey 4</p><p><b>Thurs. Jan. 6</b></p><p>Charlotte 3 at Roanoke 2</p><p>Long Island 2 at Clinton 4</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 7</b></p><p>Greensboro 3 at Charlotte 8</p><p>New Haven 3 at Syracuse 7</p><p>New Jersey 1 at Long Island 4</p><p>Sun Coast 4 at Johnstown 4</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 8</b></p><p>Syracuse 4 at Clinton 2</p><p>Sun Coast 4 at Long Island 4</p><p>New Jersey 1 at Johnstown 10</p><p>Charlotte 3 at Greensboro 3</p><p><b>Sun, Jan. 9</b></p><p>Greensboro 2 at Roanoke 3</p><p>Clinton 2 at Syracuse 6</p><p>Long Island 1 at New Haven 4</p><p>Sun Coast 2 at New Jersey 7</p><h3>GAMES TO COME</h3><p><b>Tue. Jan. 11</b></p><p>Sun Coast at Charlotte</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 12</b></p><p>Sun Coast at Greensboro</p><p>New Jersey at Syracuse</p><p>Clinton at New Haven</p><p>Long Island at Johnstown</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 14</b></p><p>Sun Coast at Roanoke</p><p>Volley Greensboro at Charlotte</p><p>New Haven vs Clinton (at Utica)</p><p>Johnstown at Long Island</p><p>Syracuse at New Jersey</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 15</b></p><p>Roanoke Valley at Greensboro</p><p>New Jersey at Syracuse</p><p>New Hoven at Clinton Long</p><p>Island at Johnstown</p><p><b>Sun. Jan. 16</b></p><p>Sun Coast at Greensboro</p><p>Syracuse at Long Island</p><p>Clinton at Johnstown</p><p>New Jersey at New Haven</p><p><b>Tues. Jan. 18</b></p><p>Roanoke Valley at Charlotte</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 19</b></p><p>New Jersey at Clinton</p><p>Syracuse at New Hoven</p><p><b>Thur. Jan. 20</b></p><p>Greensboro at Roanoke</p><p>Volley Charlotte at Sun Coast</p><p>Clinton at Syracuse</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 21</b></p><p>Sun Coast at Charlotte</p><p>Clinton at Long Island</p><p>New Haven at New Jersey</p><p>Syracuse at Johnstown</p><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><p><b>(Including games of Sun. Jan. 2)</b></p><p><b>NORTHERN DIVISION</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0426/2871933-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="581" height="283"></div><h3>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0526/2871926-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="577" height="288"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0030-01

Change Best For Generals Says Spong; Ducks See Schedule Aid To Title Win

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GUGGER</div><p>COLUMBUS&mdash;</p><p>When a team loses, changes are made. It&rsquo;s the old story of sports and life. Produce or be replaced.</p><p>The Columbus Golden Seals had been changing personnel in a continued effort to improve their lowly International Hockey League standing. The results, mostly bad, didn&rsquo;t change. As THE HOCKEY NEWS went to press, it appeared the Seals were to make another change. Reliable sources said Terry Gray was on his way out as coach of the expansionist Seals.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0189/2872013-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="248" height="422"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Terry Gray</b></figcaption></div><p>Seals&rsquo; general manager Chuck Catto, a close personal friend of Gray, was noncommital. Catto did acknowledge, though, there had been rumors and reports of Gray&rsquo;s departure.</p><p>If the boom is lowered on Gray, it will probably be done by parent California Seals&rsquo; GM Garry Young, who visited here two weeks ago and plainly expressed his displeasure with the plight of the team. It is known Young wanted Gray let go then, but Catto was opposed to the move.</p><p>If Gray is replaced, Catto, a former player and coach, may replace him for the remainder of the season, foregoing his major scouting duties with the California organization.</p><p>Certainly not all the fault of the Seals&rsquo; miserable 4-34-2 showing could be attributed to Gray, who coached and played for the Montreal Voyageurs of the American Hockey League last season. He was given a squad made up almost entirely of junior graduates who were obviously outclassed from the start by the older, more experienced IHL teams.</p><p>California officials now concede they badly misjudged the caliber of play in the IHL. But with just 32 games remaining there doesn&rsquo;t appear much left for Columbus to salvage from the 1971-72 season, since a play-off berth is all but mathematically impossible.</p><p><b>DAYTON:</b> Gems needed 21 wins in last 32 games to set IHL record&hellip;Club raised season average to 3,867 per game with recent crowd of 4.560 at Hara Arena. Gems have drawn 77,340 for 20 home games&hellip;Mike Sauter banished after picking fight with Flint&rsquo;s Derek Harker&hellip;Gems pushed home record to 19-1&hellip;Gems scored on first three shots of game in 7-2 romp over Fort Wayne&hellip;</p><p><b>DES MOINES:</b> Bob Perreault kicked out of game with Dayton after protesting referee Medo Martinello&rsquo;s call&hellip;Nellie LeClair. without a penalty in 35 games, scored winner against Fort Wayne&hellip;Leafs made allnight bus trip to Fort Wayne, arriving at 4 in morning&hellip;Ken Gratton secured from Toledo on waivers&hellip;Bob Kelly was scoring surprise with a point-pergame production&hellip;Brian Cadle led club in penalty minutes with 105&hellip;</p><p><b>FORT WAYNE:</b> K&rsquo;s shut out Toledo for 151 minutes, 50 seconds on home ice before Hornets scored&hellip;Al Rycroft secured from Seattle&hellip;Rick Pagnutti&rsquo;s 34 points surpassed his offensive output of last season&hellip;Best crowd of season, 6,556, turned out for New Year&rsquo;s Eve loss to Des Moines&hellip;K&rsquo;s were 7-5-1 in December&hellip;Defenseman Jim Wilton in for tryout&hellip;</p><p><b>TOLEDO:</b> Jim Paterson&rsquo;s scoring streak snapped at 16 games&hellip;Hal White fired winner with 55 seconds left in overtime to beat Port Huron as Hornets ended nine-game losing streak at home&hellip;Hornets upped victory streak to four, then lost three in a row&hellip;Glenn Ramsay, just back from retirement, played six games in goal in nine nights&hellip;Best crowd of season, 3,126, watched overtime win against Wings&hellip;</p><p><b>FLINT:</b> Gens had 36th consecutive sellout crowd&hellip;Club had transportation problems and arrived in Des Moines for game just hour before faceoff&hellip;Generals have never played at home on a holiday&hellip;Meeting called to air intra team problems&hellip;Gens&rsquo; 26 record in last eight starts attributed to faulty goalkeeping and defense&hellip;Duane Wylie scored hat trick in 7-3 win over Toledo.</p><p><b>MUSKEGON:</b> Mohawks haven&rsquo;t yielded a goal in third period of seven straight home games&hellip;Dave Hainsworth pulled after allowing five goals to Columbus in first period, but Hawks rallied for 8-6 victory&hellip;Mohawks were. 14-2-1 at home&hellip;Mohawks defeated Columbus three times within five days, rallying from ties or deficits to win each game.</p><p><b>PORT HURON:</b> Wings broke four-game skid with home victories over Flint and Columbus&hellip;Don Grierson led club in goals with 27&hellip;Coach Ted Garvin was still looking for productive third line&hellip;Loss streak on road at eight, four of the setbacks by one goal&hellip;Al Genovy broke slump with two goals against Flint.</p><h2><b>HOW THEY STAND</b></h2><h3><b>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</b></h3><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 11)</b></p><p><b>NORTHERN DIVISION</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0265/2872006-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="576" height="130"></div><p><b>SOUTHERN DIVISION</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0350/2871999-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="583" height="202"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Wed. Jan. 5</b></p><p>Toledo 3 of Dayton 6</p><p>Fort Wayne 5 at Flint 3</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 7</b></p><p>Muskegon 3 at Fort Wayne 1</p><p>Doyton 4 at Des Moines 2</p><p>Port Huron 3 at Toledo 6</p><p>Flint 2 at Columbus 3</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 8</b></p><p>Flint 2 at Fort Wayne 5</p><p>Columbus 1 at Muskegon 6</p><p>Dayton 4 at Des Moines 5</p><p>Toledo 3 at Port Huron 4</p><p><b>Sun. Jan. 9</b></p><p>Port Huron 6 at Flint 3</p><p>Fort Wayne 2 at Columbus 3</p><p>Muskegon 4 at Toledo 5</p><h3>GAMES TO COME</h3><p><b>Tues. Jan. 11</b></p><p>Des Moines at Dayton</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 12</b></p><p>Columbus at Flint</p><p>Des Moines at Fort Wayne</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 14</b></p><p>Flint at Columbus</p><p>Dayton at Muskegon</p><p>Fort Wayne at Toledo</p><p>Des Moines at Port Huron</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 15</b></p><p>Dayton at Fort Wayne</p><p>Des Moines at Muskegon</p><p>Flint at Port Huron&rsquo;</p><p>Columbus at Toledo</p><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><p><b>(Including games of Sun. Jan. 2)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0437/2871992-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="592" height="553"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0031-01

Catto May Take Over Coaching Hot Seat

<div class="byline">BY JACK BERRY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01103/2872044-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="510" height="578"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>IAN WILLIAMS&hellip;Five-Goal Game</b></figcaption></div><p>DETROIT&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen the Detroit Red Wings, along with Michigan Technological University, sponsored the first Great Lakes Invitational Hockey Tournament seven years ago there were plenty of seats in Olympis, both in the stands and in the press box.</p><p>Times have changed. Now both the stands and the press box are heavily populated, the stands with fans and the press row with scouts from the 14 National Hockey League clubs.</p><p>Both have liked what they&rsquo;ve seen. Since moving the tounament from the week prior to Christmas to the week between Christmas and New Year&rsquo;s, the crowds have grown steadily and this season&rsquo;s tourney drew a two-night record turnout of 22,756 which saw Tech successfully defend its title.</p><p>Jack Paterson, the Wings&rsquo; chief U.S. scout and director of the tournament since its inception, was pleased not only with the crowds but with the play of Tech defenseman Jim Nahrang and Michigan State defenseman Bob Boyd, Detroit&rsquo;s seventh and eight round picks in last summer&rsquo;s amateur draft.</p><p>The NHL scouts liked them too&mdash;they helped vote the two defensemen to the all-tournament team.</p><p>Pittsburgh Penguin executive director Jack Riley liked what he saw, too. He arrived in time to see Ian Williams, of Notre Dame the Pens&rsquo; sixth round choice last summer, score a tournament record five goals in a wild 9-6 loss to Dartmouth in the consolation game.</p><p>Tech, the pre-season coaches&rsquo; favorite to repeat as Western Collegiate Hockey Association champion, entered the tournament with a poor 4-6 record and plenty of questions.</p><p>But the Huskies from Michigan&rsquo;s Upper Peninsula Copper Country put it together with triumphs over pre-tournament choice Notre Dame&mdash;the Irish won the Madison Square Garden tournament the previous week&mdash;and then 3-2 over MSU in the championship game.</p><p>Notre Dame, down mentally after losing to Tech in the opener, yielded five first period goals to Dartmouth in the consolation round and was behind 7-0 before deciding to play hockey. Had the game lasted 10 minutes longer, the Irish may have pulled it out.</p><p>Tech, which has two prime prospects for the 1972 amateur draft in forwards Mike Usitalo, an Upper Peninsula native, and Gary Crosby, had to hang on against State to earn its third Great Lakes crown in five trips to the finals.</p><p>A goal by Crosby midway in the first period put Tech ahead to stay.</p><p>The biggest eye-catcher as far as the fans were concerned was MSU co-captain Don &ldquo;Zippy&rdquo; Thompson, of Toronto who is only 5-feet, 5-inches tall but is a whirling dervish on the ice. He set up both MSU goals but, like his 5-foot-5 co-captain, Gilles Gagnon, of Montreal, the pro scouts labeled him too small.</p><p>Thompson still made the alltourney team along with Boyd, Nahrgang, Tech goalie Morris Trewin, Dartmouth forward Fred Riggall and Notre Dame&rsquo;s Williams.</p><p>Following the tourney, Paterson said that Tech, the University of Michigan, Harvard and Boston University will play here next winter.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0032-01

NHL Scouts Get Eyes Opened As Michigan Tech Wins Event

<div class="byline">By John Gilbert</div><h2><i><b>Irish Skaters Stumble As Wisconsin Rolls On</b></i></h2><p>The Western Collegiate Hockey Association teams took their Christmas and New Year&rsquo;s holiday breaks and went toumamenting.</p><p>Wisconsin, riding a hot streak at the top of the WCHA standings, went to St. Louis and handed Harvard its first loss of the year, 2-1, en route to winning the tournament championship.</p><p>Michigan Tech won the Great Lakes Invitational, beating Notre Dame while Michigan State downed Dartmouth in first round action. Tech won the championship by edging Michigan State 3-2, while Notre Dame absorbed a surprising 9-6 loss to Dartmouth in consolation play.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0259/2872082-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="253" height="425"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Walt Ledingham</b></figcaption></div><p>Minnesota went east to the scene of its NCAA tournament runner-up finish, to face Boston University, the team that won the NCAA final in the same Syracuse War Memorial Arena. Undefeated Boston U. figured to be a big favorite over the struggling Gophers, still without center Mike Antonovich, who had suffered burns to his left leg in an accident at home while recovering from an injury to his right knee, and wound up back in the hospital. He got out before New Year&rsquo;s and started skating again, however.</p><p>Even without him, though, Minnesota threw a healthy scare into BU, leading until only 52 seconds remained in the third period, only to lose in two overtimes. The next night, Minnesota came back to down host Colgate 7-6 and forcing Colgate goalie Geoff McMullen to make 63 saves. Once again Minnesota lost a one-goal lead in the final minute, but this time it was the Gophers who came back in the overtime, with Doug Peltier scoring the winner&mdash;his fourth goal of the game.</p><p>Amid all the tournament battling, though, Denver and Minnesota-Duluth squared off in a conference series at Duluth. All-American Walt Ledingham&rsquo;s two goals led UMD to a 3-2 victory in the first game, but Denver came roaring back to squash the Bulldogs 8-3 in the rematch.</p><p>Defenseman Greg Hubick had given UMD a 1-0 lead after a period of the second game, but Denver exploded for five goals in the first nine minutes of the second period to put it away. Brian Morenz, Ed Hays, Vic Venasky and two by Mike Lampman keyed the Pioneers. Hays added two more goals in the third period. The hero for Denver, though, was goalie Ron Grahame, who made 17 saves in the first period against UMD&rsquo;s strong start while Denver got off only three shots.</p><p>There hasn&rsquo;t been a real controversy in Duluth for almost two years, but the school always seems to be on the verge of one.</p><p>It was announced that regular center Alan Young pulled out of the Denver series and went home which could seriously dim UMD&rsquo;s chances to make a run at the title.</p><p>Much criticism has been leveled at UMD, which is located in the heart of the largest American recruiting ground, the Minnesota high school program. UMD has only four Minnesota boys who are regulars, with the rest being Canadian imports, whose scholarships cost twice as much because they are out of state. Denver, for example, played five Minnesotans in the games at UMD, and only Michigan, Michigan Tech and Michigan State have fewer Minnesota players than UMD in the entire WCHA.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0330/2872075-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="251" height="418"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Alan Young</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0032-02

WESTERN WAY

<div class="byline">By Tom Burke</div><h2><i><b>Cornell Pulls Rug Out From Under BU Again</b></i></h2><p>Mosquitoes have their DDT. Napoleon had his Waterloo. And Boston University has its Cornell.</p><p>For the second straight year, the Big Red knocked BU from the ECAC Division One undefeated ranks. Last year it was 5-1 in Ithaca; this time, a much closer 3-2 decision in the finals of the Syracuse Invitational Tournament. But it was still enough to slide BU off the loop&rsquo;s top rung, despite a territorial advantage of 32-14 in shots on goal. A factor was BU&rsquo;s success on just one of five power plays.</p><p>Dave Westner tallied twice for the Big Red and earned tourney MVP accolades. He tied the game at 1:06 of the third period when he rifled home a 35 footer after an errant shot by Larry Fullan.</p><p>Bill Hanson scored on a breakaway with just 2:06 remaining to win it, giving Cornell its third straight Syracuse Invitational. Thunder Thornton and Guy Burrowes had the BU goals.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0424/2872120-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="243" height="422"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Steve Warr</b></figcaption></div><p>Cornell made the finals by thumping host Colgate 8-2. Minnesota took BU to two overtimes before bowing in their first round match, 7-6. Toot Cahoon tied the game with 52 seconds to go in regulation time, and captain John Danby took a breakway pass from Tric Jordan 47 seconds into the fifth period to score the sudden death-dealer.</p><p>The game was a rematch of last year&rsquo;s NCAA final which BU won 4-2. Minnesota goalie Brad Shelstad had 45 saves for the 2-10 Gophers, who won another overtime game the following night by the same 7-6 score over Colgate in the consolation game. Red Raider goalie Geoff McMullen faced 63 shots, giving him a two-night record total of 125 saves.</p><p>Elsewhere in the East, Clarkson took the RPI Invitational minus high scoring star Jerry Kemp and junior Bob Baldwin. After wins of 93 over New Brunswick and 8-2 over Ohio U., the Golden Knights tripped host RPI 4-1 to move above. 500 in Division One play.</p><p>Kemp, bedded down with pneumonia in Potsdam Hospital, listened to the radio as All-America defenseman Steve Warr scored his first goal of the year and helped pick up some of the scoring slack. Kevin Woods, who&rsquo;s been alternating in goal with Carl Piehl, backstopped the Knights.</p><p>Out in the St. Louis Invitational, both Harvard and Pennsylvania failed to get into the finals as each dropped an overtime game. Penn lost 6-5 to host St. Louis while the Crimson tied Wisconsin 1-1 with 2:11 remaining in the game, only to lose in the extra period. Kevin Hampe, Dave Cavanagh, and Bob Havern all left the game with injuries, but it didn&rsquo;t stop Harvard from rallying to beat Penn 7-4 the next night in the consolation.</p><p>Junior right wing Bill Corkery of Harvard&rsquo;s vaunted &lsquo;Local Line&rsquo; scored twice and added a pair of assists.</p><p>Soph Bob Goodenow also had a pair, including the goal which tied the game 4-4 at 7:44 of the third period. Harvard tested John Marks 44 times while Joe Bertagna faced 23 Quaker shots.</p><p>Dartmouth came off exam break and got thumped 8-3 by Michigan State in the opening round of the Motor City Tourney in Detroit after taking a 2-1 lead after one period. But Grant Standbrook&rsquo;s Indians showed some poise the next night by turning around to zap Notre Dame 9-6.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0517/2872113-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="247" height="421"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Mike Turner</b></figcaption></div><p>Mike Turner and Fred Riggall each amassed a hat trick for Dartmouth, which moved its overall record to 4-2. Goalie Peter Proulx was injured in the game and missed the next tilt, a 6-5 overtime loss to St. Louis, before Dartmouth returned home.</p><p>In other non-league games, Boston College moved onto the plus side of. 500 with wins of 9-2 over Boston State and 5-2 over Dalhousie of Halifax at McHugh Forum. Bob Reardon had two goals against Dalhousie while defenseman Harvey Bennett scored two unassisted jobs against State. &lsquo;</p><p>Rube Bjorkman returned to Durham for a couple of games between his Fighting Sioux and UNH and left with a split. The Sioux jumped off to a 5-0 lead and coasted to a 9-3 win the first night, but the Wildcats turned that around the next night by scoring 19 seconds into the game and hanging on for a 3-2 win.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0032-04

DOWN EAST

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div><p>BOSTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>ith the entrance of A.D. 1972, the majority of ECAC Division One coaches had been content to keep their teams record at or near the. 500 mark in preparation for the post-season playoffs. But a handful of their Division Two counterparts were worried about losing even a single league game as the battle for the top waxed fast and furious.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0427/2872179-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="260" height="435"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ned Dowd</b></figcaption></div><p>Bowdoin and Massachusetts both welcomed the new year with unblemished divisional records while rivals Vermont and Merrimack had been beaten but once in league play. Boston State, with a 7-4 slate, showed signs of jelling after a slow start.</p><p>In Bowdoin&rsquo;s Holiday Tournament over New Year&rsquo;s, Sid Watson&rsquo;s Polar Bears took the crown by dumping Division One&rsquo;s Princeton 4-3 in the first round and Dalhousie University 9-6 in the finale.</p><p>Senior Ned Dowd of Framingham, Mass., who was named Tourney MVP, fired a hat trick along with junior Dick Donovon to pace Bowdoin&rsquo;s championship win.</p><p>In opening round games the first night, Dalhousie of Halifax, N.S., edged Air Force Academy 6-5 in overtime and Bowdoin defeated Princeton. The following night Air Force trounced Princeton 6-1 for the consolation crown and then Bowdoin defeated Dalhousie for the tournament title.</p><p>The ambitious University of Massachusetts under Jack Canniff broke for nearly a month of exams with a 9-1 overall record. The only loss came to Yale of the Big Brother loop.</p><p>Mass departed for the month of January after taking the round robin Williams College Invitational which boosted its league mark to 9-0.</p><p>Boston State won 7-2, over Merrimack in the Codfish Bowl Tournament at Boston Arena. State lost three skaters to injury and one to fighting in a cranium crunching physical battle. Biggest loss was top team scorer Paul Fisher who had three goals and three assists for the tourney and shared MVP honors with goalie Mike Sullivan.</p><p>The loss toppled Merrimack from the loop&rsquo;s undefeateds after four wins. State, minus four players, dropped a 9-2 decision to Boston College the following night but rebounded to win 7-5 over Yale on New Year&rsquo;s Day.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0523/2872172-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="1803" height="856"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Dalhousie goaler BRIAN GERVAIS is beaten by a long shot fired off the stick of Bowdoin&rsquo;s NED DOWD, white sweater in badkground, as the Polar Bears trounced the Canadian collegians 9-6 to win the Bowdoin College holiday hockey tournament. Dowd was named tourney MVP.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>COLLEGE RACES</b></h2><h3><b>ECAC CONFERENCE</b></h3><p><b>DIVISION I</b></p><p><b>(Standings on Sat. Jan. 1)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0187/2872165-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="586" height="464"></div><p><b>DIVISION II</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0260/2872158-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="589" height="584"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>NON-CONFERENCE PLAY</b></p><p>Boston College 9, Boston State 2</p><p>Boston College 5, Dalhousie 2</p><p>North Dakota 9, New Hampshire 3</p><p>New Hampshire 3, North Dakota 2</p><p>Boston State 7, Yale 5</p><p>Bowdoin 4, Princeton 3</p><p><b>SYRACUSE INVITATIONAL</b></p><p>Boston University 4, Minnesota 3</p><p>Cornell 8, Colgate 2</p><p>Minnesota 7. Colgate 6 (OT)</p><p>*Cornell 3, Boston University 2</p><p><b>RPI INVITATIONAL</b></p><p>Clarkson 9, New Brunswick 3</p><p>RPI 2, Ohio U. 1</p><p>RP! 4, New Brunswick 3</p><p>Clarkson 8, Ohio U. 2</p><p>*Clarkson 4, RPI 1</p><p><b>CODFISH BOWL TOURNAMENT</b></p><p>Merrimack 8, Norwich 5</p><p>Boston State 8, Salem State 3</p><p>Salem State 6, Norwich 3</p><p>*Boston State 7, Merrimack 2</p><p><b>WILLIAMS COLLEGE INVITATIONAL</b></p><p>Massachusetts 8, Williams 3</p><p>Colby 11, Williams 2</p><p>Massachusetts 2, Oswego State 0</p><p>Williams 7, Oswego State 3</p><p>*Massachusetts 6, Colby 1</p><p><b>BOWDOIN HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT</b></p><p>Dalhousie 6, Air Force 5</p><p>Bowdoin 4, Princeton 3</p><p>Air Force 6, Princeton 1</p><p>*Bowdoin 9, Dalhousie 6</p><p>(*Tournament Winners)</p><h3>WCHA CONFERENCE</h3><p><b>(Standings on Wed. Dec. 29)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0339/2872151-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="583" height="370"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p>Minn-Duluth 3, Denver 2</p><p>Denver 8, Minn-Duluth 3</p><p><b>ST. LOUIS TOURNAMENT</b></p><p>Wisconsin 2, Harvard 1</p><p><b>St. Louis 6, Pennsylvania 5</b></p><p>Harvard 7, Pennsylvania 4</p><p>* Wisconsin 7, St. Louis 2</p><p><b>GREAT LAKES INVITATIONAL</b></p><p>Michigan State 8, Dartmouth 3</p><p>Michigan Tech 6, Notre Dame 3</p><p>Darthmouth 9, Notre Dame 6</p><p>* Michigan Tech 3, Michigan State 2</p><p><b>IMA FLINT TOURNAMENT</b></p><p>Bowling Green 1 1, Windsor 0</p><p>Michigan 4, Western Ontario 2</p><p>Western Ontario 2, Windsor 0</p><p>* Michigan 4, Bowling Green 1</p><p>(* Tournament Winners)</p><p><b>HOCKEY CANADA TOURNAMENTS</b></p><p><b>MARITIME SECTION</b></p><p>Moncton 6, Waterloo 5</p><p>Loyola 8. UPEI 2</p><p>UPEI 8, Waterloo 3</p><p>Loyola 6, Moncton 1</p><p><b>QUEBEC SECTION</b></p><p>Trois-Rivieres 8, Waterloo Lutheran 4</p><p>Dalhousie 10, Ottawa U 8</p><p>Ottawa U 5. Waterloo Lutheran 4</p><p>Trois-Rivieres 8, Dalhousie 3</p><p><b>ONTARIO SECTION</b></p><p>St Mary's 8, Guelph 0</p><p>Queen's 7, Saskatchewan 3</p><p>Guelph 7, Saskatchewan 4</p><p>St. Mary's 4, Queen's 0</p><p><b>NORTHERN ONT. SECTION</b></p><p>Laurentian 3, Carleton 2</p><p>U of Montreal 7, St Francis Xovier 2</p><p>St. Francis Xovier 8, Carleton 4</p><p>Laurentian 10, U of Montreal 1</p><p><b>THUNDER BAY SECTION</b></p><p>McMaster 4, Lakehead 1</p><p>Manitoba 4, Bishops 0</p><p>Lakehead 6, Bishops 4</p><p>*McMaster 4, Manitoba 3 (final)</p><p><b>WESTERN CANADA</b></p><p>Alberta 3, U. of Toronto 1</p><p>UEC 5, Sir George Williams4</p><p>U of Toronto 7, Sir George Williams 2</p><p>UFC 5, U of Alberta 2</p><p>(*&mdash;Section Winners)<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0033-04

Bowdoin, Massachusetts Romp To Tourney Ice Wins

<div class="byline">BY BOB BRISCOE</div><p>VICTORIA&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>heeling and dealing with almost reckless abandon, Victoria Cougar general manager Eric Bishop probably engineered his best swap of the season just as the new year began.</p><p>Cougars came up with two two-year forwards from Winnipeg Jets for a last-year goaltender and a two-year forward who had refused to report to Victoria after an earlier deal.</p><p>The big prize for Cougars was centre Reg Malinoski, a toprated player with this season and next to complete his junior eligibility. Malinoski was the Jets&rsquo; leading scorer when the deal was made with 19 goals and 14 assists.</p><p>Cougars had to give up last-year goaltender Dave Maynard to get Malinoski. Those two were the key figures in the deal although Jets also got former Flin Flon Bomber Rod Loynachan while giving up little-used Dean Magnus.</p><p>Cougars, after 36 games, were two points ahead of cellar-dwelling Vancouver Nats in the Western Division but 16 points back of fourth-place New Westminster Bruins. Bishop hopes to consolidate his club with some young players in order to take a run at a playoff spot that is all but impossible for the 1971-72 season.</p><p><b>VANCOUVER:</b> The WCHL&rsquo;s expansion to Victoria and Vancouver claimed its first coach just as the new year dawned&hellip;Fired as general manager and coach of the Vancouver Nats was Alf Cadman&hellip;He was replaced by former NHL goaltender Charlie Hodge as coach while club executive Gil Lundihn was named as general manager&hellip;Cadman last season coached Red Deer Rustlers to the Canadian tier two junior championship but was unable to get things going in the tougher WCHL with mostly last-year players&hellip;Nats won eight and lost 24 of their first 32 games.</p><p><b>NEW WESTMINSTER:</b> Bruins had a scare when coach Ernie McLean was taken to hospital with a suspected heart attack&hellip;McLean, who has survived a plane crash, did not suffer the unexpected heart trouble and was released after tests to return to his bench duties&hellip;</p><p><b>MEDICINE HAT:</b> Jack Shupe&rsquo;s Tigers took dead aim on second in the division when they bombed second-place Edmonton Oil Kings 12-6, and defeated Saskatoon 7-5 in two straight home games&hellip;Tigers are 20-181 in 39 games, compared to 2211-2 by Edmonton&hellip;Forwards Stan Weir and Tom Lysiak continue to lead the league in scoring with Lysiak showing signs of taking over top spot&hellip;</p><p><b>EDMONTON:</b> In an effort to improve their thin centreman problem, Oil Kings dealt three players to Vancouver for last-year centre Brian Ogilvie as the new year began&hellip;Ogilvie played last season in Red Deer and was ticketed for Edmonton before expansion to Vancouver became a reality&hellip;Sent to the West Coast were defensemen Mary Lank and Ken Kozak and forward Bill Garrow, all of whom have two or more years of junior eligibility&hellip;</p><p><b>CALGARY:</b> Just when it appeared as though Calgary might run away and hide on the division, they were knocked off 2-1 at home by Saskatoon Blades&hellip;Centennials, however, had lost only six games of their first 31&hellip;The leading scorers as the year came to an end were Ron Homenuke with 17 goals and 32 assists and captain Brian Walker with 24 goals and 19 assists&hellip;</p><p><b>REGINA:</b> Pats continued to maintain first place in the division although they lost three of four games on road in western division&hellip;They lost by a shutout to Calgary, by one goal in Edmonton, won by one in overtime in Victoria and lost by two in New Westminster, which proved Earl Ingarfield&rsquo;s young team will get stronger as the season progresses&hellip;Pats return home for three straight games before all-star game and could take a solid hold on first with wins in all of them&hellip;</p><p><b>SASKATOON:</b> Blades picked up two points not many teams will when they edged Calgary 2-1 in Calgary&hellip;It was the second win of a five-game trip for Blades, who lost previously in Edmonton, Victoria and New Westminster&hellip;the other win was an 11-1 waxing of Vancouver&hellip;Coach Jackie McLeod said he was happy with the trip having played only one bad game during the trip, that in Victoria&hellip;</p><p><b>BRANDON:</b> The Wheat Kings of Rudy Pilous seem to have recovered from tough road trip to Western Division and continue to threaten for top spot with 38 points (19-13) after 32 games&hellip;Wheaties get fat off Winnipeg Jets, who they have defeated in all but one game in Winnipeg this season&hellip;</p><p><b>FLIN FLON:</b> Pat Ginnell&rsquo;s Bombers, two-time league champions and three-straight division champions, began to make their move for a playoff berth&hellip;They defeated Winnipeg 3-0 in Flin Flon to open a five-point lead over Jets but Bombers (17-23) remained well below the. 500 mark and had played seven more games than Jets&hellip;Flin Flon lost first game of a seven-game trip to Western Division in Edmonton&hellip;Ginnell still appears to be having problems in goal where Herman Hordal and Roger Swanson have allowed 185 goals&hellip;</p><p><b>WINNIPEG:</b> Former pro Nick Mickoski most upset about play of Jets which saw them lose six straight and drop into last-place tie with Swift Current&hellip;An 8-4 victory over Swift Current snapped that string and gave Jets a 14-18-1 record after 33 games&hellip;Jet owner Ben Hatskin shrugged off suggestions that Mickoski would be replaced by player personnel director Jim Walker, insisting all the Jet front office people were to blame by over-estimating their talent early in the year&hellip;</p><p><b>SWIFT CURRENT:</b> Broncos problems aren&rsquo;t difficult to figure out but a good deal more difficult to solve&hellip;They are just a player or two short on offense and the same on defense&hellip;Stan Dunn&rsquo;s team had won 13 and tied one of 35 games.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0250/2872238-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="554" height="548"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>STAN WEIR&hellip;Holds Scoring Lead</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0334/2872231-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="533" height="550"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TOM LYSIAK&hellip;Throating Teammate</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0195/2872224-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="539" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>REG MALINOSKI</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>HOW THEY STAND</b></h2><p><b>WESTERN CANADA LEAGUE</b></p><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 3)</b></p><h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0420/2872217-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="576" height="181"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0518/2872210-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="577" height="180"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0034-02

Victoria GM Bishop Deals For Playoff Spot

<div class="byline">BY JACK GATECLIFF</div><p>OSHAWA&mdash;</p><p>Few sports are as unpredictable as junior hockey. Oshawa Generals afford an excellent example.</p><p>Last season the Generals finished ninth in the 10-team Ontario Hockey Association Major Junior A League with 41 points and missed the OHA playoffs.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0259/2872276-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="277" height="435"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Mike Amodeo</b></figcaption></div><p>At the midway mark of the 1971-72 schedule the Generals are in first place, already well ahead of the 41 points they earned last year and have been No. 1 since the schedule got under way the first week of October.</p><p>But even the Generals have had their ups and downs.</p><p>On home ice they trounced their closest rivals, the Toronto Marlboros, 7-2, then lost by exactly the same score 24 hours later in London to the Knights who are down in seventh position.</p><p>Then there&rsquo;s the St. Catharines Black Hawks.</p><p>The Hawks won the Ontario championship last season, have been eighth for almost the entire schedule so far but had put together a three-game win streak in late December which included three victories over first division Ottawa 67s.</p><p>Their string of successes was ended before their home fans when last place Hamilton Red Wings upset the Hawks 5-3 and moved back into contention for a playoff position.</p><p>The Wings have won only six games this year but four have been on the road and two of those four in St. Catharines.</p><p>If OHA secretary-manager Bill Hanley ordered a saliva test for the teenagers few would question his decision.</p><p><b>OSHAWA:</b> Their ability to win key games has contributed to their grip on first place&hellip;With the Marlboros closing in, rookie Bill Lochead scored two goals in 7-2 win over the Marlboros and despite a following 7-2 defeat in London, still held workable margin&hellip;Defenseman Mike Amodeo, who had played previously with Toronto, Niagara Falls and Hamilton having excellent year both offensively and defensively&hellip;Rick Middleton and Nelson Pyatt also scoring regularly&hellip;Loss to London was first for Generals in five games.</p><p><b>TORONTO:</b> After decisive loss in Oshawa, Marlboros bounced back to edge Peterborough 4-3&hellip;Bill Harris moved from first line with Steve Shutt and Dave Gardner but continued high-scoring with two goals against the Petes&hellip;Steve Shutt, who scored 70 goals last season, was exactly halfway to matching that mark with 35-goals in first 31 games&hellip;Paulin Bordeleau suffered another ankle injury&mdash;his third of season&mdash;and the Rouyn-Noranda native may have to have an operation.</p><p><b>KITCHENER:</b> Rangers scored 16 goals in two games beating Hamilton 8-1 and Niagara Falls 8-5&hellip;However they had to rally for three goals late in third period to defeat the hustling Flyers&hellip;Bill Barber who leads team with 53 points, Tom Cassidy and rookie Al Blanchard playing exceptionally well for Rangers who continue to be threat for championship with well-balanced roster&hellip;Coach Ron Murphy particularly pleased with robust play of defenceman Chris Meloff.</p><p><b>PETERBOROUGH:</b> Petes trimmed Montreal Canadiens 61, then time ran out on them as they skated from 4-0 deficit in Toronto to lose 4-3&hellip;Steady but usually unspectacular play by Petes keeping them in running for first division after winning pennant a year ago&hellip;Despite slower start than in 1970-71 when they were unbeaten in first 12 games, Petes with their playoff style of hockey should cause some surprises in post-season games.</p><p><b>OTTAWA:</b> The 67s still the mystery team&hellip;When they&rsquo;re &ldquo;right&rdquo; few teams can match them but occasional slumps have kept them from approaching Oshawa and Toronto at the top of the league&hellip;Coach Bill Long heaved sigh of relief when 67s ended four-game losing streak with close 5-4 win in Montreal when Dave Lee scored winner with less than two minutes left.</p><p><b>NIAGARA FALLS:</b> Coach Paul Emms&rsquo; Flyers still trying to crack first division but 8-5 setback to Oshawa and 8-5 to Kitchener put a crimp in their latest bid&hellip;Don Lever scoring regularly and is the undisputed team leader with solid help from Wayne Chrysler&hellip;Two losses stretched Flyers&rsquo; pointless streak to three games, one of their longest of season.</p><p><b>LONDON:</b> Knights ended brief two-game slump with 7-2 win over Oshawa and put extra space between themselves in seventh place and St. Catharines in eighth position&hellip;Reg Thomas, the subject of a player dispute between the Knights and Kitchener two years ago, scored three goals in win over league-leaders and the line he centres with Dennis Ververgaert and Randy Osburn still accounting for majority of Knights&rsquo; offensive power.</p><p><b>ST. CATHARINES:</b> Black Hawks had two goals called back by referee Tom Smith in 5-3 loss to Hamilton after two successive wins over Ottawa and one over Hamilton&hellip;Coack Frank Milne cracked after game: &ldquo;If he (Smith) had called one more back he&rsquo;d have had a hat trick&rdquo;&hellip;Hawks just got captain Bob MacMillan back in lineup, then lost second string center Bob MacGuigan of Charlottetown with cracked rib suffered late in game against Ottawa&hellip;Hawks still have three goaltenders on roster Brian Cousineau, Mike Ralph and Gord Black&hellip;All have played well and Black was in nets for 3-1 win over Ottawa, his first full game of Junior A.</p><p><b>MONTREAL:</b> Canadiens vacated cellar with two wins over Hamilton and tie with Peterborough but promptly hit slump again losing three straight to Kitchener, Peterborough and Ottawa&hellip;Coach Roger Beard&rsquo;s club has lost a great many close games including 5-4 decision to Ottawa when Dave Lee&rsquo;s shot at 18:08 of third period hit goaltender Nick Sanza&rsquo;s glove and trickled over goal-line to break 4-4 tie&hellip;Attendance still low in Montreal&hellip;Only 3,372 at Ottawa game compared with average of better than 10,000 last three years.</p><p><b>HAMILTON:</b> Harry Neale&rsquo;s Red Wings refuse to concede playoff position and 5-3 win in St. Catharines moved them to within two points of Montreal&hellip;Mike Veisor playing outstanding goal despite lowly position of club and forward Terry Ryan with 23 goals certain to be among top draft choices&hellip;Like Montreal, crowds are low at Hamilton Forum but recently improved play has given owner Nick Durbano cause for hope that increase will be shown.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0183/2872269-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="479" height="594"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BILL BARBER&hellip;Top Ranger Producer</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0035-02

Unpredictable Generals Still Hold Lead

<h2><b>ONTARIO MAJOR JUNIOR</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 4)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0337/2872426-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="586" height="283"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><p><b>Tues. Jan. 4</b></p><p>St. Catharines 6 atHamilton 5</p><p>Niagara Falls 4 at London 7</p><p>Montreal 3 at Ottawa 4</p><p><b>Thur. Jan. 6</b></p><p>Taranto 4 at Peterborough 7</p><p>Hamilton 2 at Niagara Falls 4</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 7</b></p><p>London 5 at Kitchener 5</p><p>Hamilton 3 at Niagara Falls 6</p><p>Oshawa 5 at Toronto 5</p><p>Si. Catharines 3 at Montreal 4</p><p>Peterborough 2 ot Ottawa 3</p><p><b>Sun. Jan. 9</b></p><p>Kitchener 3 at London 5</p><p>Ottawa 3 at Toronto 5</p><p>Hamilton4 at Montreal 4</p><p>Peterborough 2 at St. Catharines 2</p><p>Niagara Falls 4 at Oshawa 5</p><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0431/2872419-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="585" height="282"></div><h2><b>QUEBEC JUNIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 10)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0529/2872412-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="587" height="284"></div><h2><b>SOUTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 4)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0619/2872405-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="585" height="230"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0719/2872398-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="584" height="281"></div><h2><b>CENTRAL JUNIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 3)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0815/2872391-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="575" height="153"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0916/2872384-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="585" height="211"></div><h2><b>MICHIGAN SENIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Fri. Dec. 31)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1012/2872377-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="588" height="128"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1111/2872370-1-eng-US/f0035-112.jpg" title="f0035-11" width="586" height="280"></div><h2><b>NEW YORK METRO LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Fri. Dec. 31)</b></p><h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-127/2872363-1-eng-US/f0035-122.jpg" title="f0035-12" width="588" height="151"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-134/2872356-1-eng-US/f0035-132.jpg" title="f0035-13" width="585" height="132"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-144/2872349-1-eng-US/f0035-142.jpg" title="f0035-14" width="588" height="578"></div><h2><b>UNITED STATES LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standinqs on Fri. Jan. 7)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-154/2872342-1-eng-US/f0035-152.jpg" title="f0035-15" width="582" height="153"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-163/2872335-1-eng-US/f0035-162.jpg" title="f0035-16" width="588" height="658"></div><h2><b>ALBERTA JUNIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Dec. 28)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-173/2872328-1-eng-US/f0035-172.jpg" title="f0035-17" width="591" height="205"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-183/2872321-1-eng-US/f0035-182.jpg" title="f0035-18" width="589" height="480"></div><h2><b>NEW ENGLAND LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Sun. Jan. 2)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-193/2872314-1-eng-US/f0035-192.jpg" title="f0035-19" width="585" height="184"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-203/2872307-1-eng-US/f0035-202.jpg" title="f0035-20" width="582" height="282"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0035-03

Looking At The Amateurs

<div class="byline">BY JOHN PORTER</div><p>OAKLAND&mdash;</p><p>Half way through last season the California Golden Seals were last with no realistic hope of moving as high as sixth place.</p><p>At the midway point this season, the Golden Ones were in third place, had one of the best home record strings in the club&rsquo;s history (6-3-3) and five wins on the road (there were only three all of last season).</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0004-0161/2872471-1-eng-US/c0004-012.jpg" title="C0004-01" width="252" height="450"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ivan Boldirev</b></figcaption></div><p>Even so, general manager Garry Young wasn&rsquo;t doing any victory dances when he stopped for a moment to assess his young club&rsquo;s first half ice performance.</p><p>&ldquo;When I took over the job of rebuilding this club last summer it wasn&rsquo;t easy,&rdquo; said Young. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t have any first-round draft choices, so the only thing left was to build around trades. Overall I guess I&rsquo;m happy with our position in the standings, although we don&rsquo;t have as many points as I had hoped we&rsquo;d have.&rdquo;</p><p>Going into back-to-back games with Los Angeles, the Seals were two points in front of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, three points ahead of St. Louis and nine points to the good of L.A.</p><p>&ldquo;I think the second half will be a lot better for us because players like Ernie Hicke, who is capable of another 20-goal season, and Tommy Williams come on strong after slow starts.</p><p>&ldquo;Williams has been an exceptionally good leader on this club. You know his injury (fracture cheekbone) was a serious one, but he&rsquo;s starting to wheel on the ice&mdash;he scored two goals in two games&mdash;even with a mask on his helmet.</p><p>&ldquo;Our club was hurt most,&rdquo; continued the G.M., &ldquo;with the loss of Tommy Webster. It&rsquo;s disappointing not having him. He figured as our big trigger man (30 goals last season). He&rsquo;s a big loss to us on right wing. Our hope is the back operation is successful and we&rsquo;ll have him for next season.</p><p>&ldquo;Young Gilles Meloche has been a great boost for us with his goaltending, and of course Bobby Sheehan has scored some very timely goals. But making that deal with Boston for Ivan Boldirev (Seals gave up two minor leaguers) gave us one of the best center icemen in the West Division.</p><p>&ldquo;Gerry Pinder has been real steady on right wing and you could say Norm Ferguson is coming back into the Norm Ferguson of old. It looks as if he could end up with 25 or 30 goals.</p><p>&ldquo;Of course, Joey Johnston and Walt McKehnie (acquired from Minnesota for Dennis Hextall) have turned out well for us.</p><p>&ldquo;It hurt us to have Carol Vadnais, who is an all star, out nine games this year. Don&rsquo;t forget he missed 42 games last season because of injuries. In spite of that, he&rsquo;s playing extremely well now. Vad is one of the younger captains in the league and has handled the job well.</p><p>&ldquo;With Vad and Dick Redmond back on defense, we have an All Star combination. And one of the toughest defensemen in the league is our Paul Shmyr. He handles the puck and gives you 110 per cent.</p><p>&ldquo;One guy on our club nobody notices or says anything about is Bert Marshall. He may not be flashy, but game-in and game-out he&rsquo;s been a plus player for us on defense, Marshall Johnston filled in well when Vad was hurt, too.</p><p>&ldquo;Wayne Carleton has scored some important goals, but not as much as we hoped he would get.</p><p>However, he&rsquo;s another one of those players who comes on strong in the second half. He did last year in Boston.</p><p>&ldquo;And don&rsquo;t forget our coach. Vic Stasiuk has taught our youngsters a lot. He&rsquo;s getting the job done for us.&rdquo;</p><p>Young hadn&rsquo;t covered all the points about his team, but he had to stop. His other phone was ringing. Something about a trade.</p><h2><b>MICHIGAN JUNIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Dec. 27)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0004-0251/2872464-1-eng-US/c0004-022.jpg" title="C0004-02" width="581" height="242"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0004-0333/2872457-1-eng-US/c0004-032.jpg" title="C0004-03" width="581" height="258"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

Search for your favorite player or team

January 21, 1972

Ratelie Beats Espo Chicago’s Espo, Smith To Scoring Money Grab Off Vezina Gold

Western League Summaries

FRANK MAHOVLICH KNOWS YOU HAVE TO USE A STICK FOR MORE THAN JUST SHOOTING.

Clippers’ Offense Given Boost As O’Donoghue Arrives To Play