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

February 4, 1972

The Hockey News February 4, 1972

ESPOSITOS SPAPK TOP NHL TEAMSALSO INSIDE&bull; The Birth Of The Blues New KID LINE&bull; NHL All Star Picks Attest To RANGER POWER&bull; Bruins&rsquo; Johnson Lauds His Club&rsquo;s NEW BALANCE<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-02396/2951392-1-eng-US/cover-022.jpg" title="Cover-02" width="762" height="1725"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK MARTIN Hot Scoring Ace After Rookie Mark (Hockey News Photo by Robert Shaver)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01523/2951385-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg" title="Cover-01" width="1622" height="1473"><figcaption class="caption-body">TONY ESPOSITO With Help Hawks&rsquo; Star Gets Job Done (Hockey News photo by Richard Pellegrini)</figcaption></div>MARTIN CLOSING IN ON PERREAULT&rsquo;S GOAL RECORD&mdash;Page 15 &#9632;

Cover-02

IN THIS ISSUE

MORE EXPANSION IN 1974—Page 2

<div class="byline">BY HANS TANNER</div>ROCHESTER&mdash;It was just like the old John Wayne western movies when the cavalry came riding over the crest of the hill just at the right moment and saved the town.But this time it was a three-man &ldquo;rescue squad&rdquo; from Vancouver which arrived not on horseback but by jetliner. The result was the same, however. Rochester was &ldquo;saved&rdquo;, at lesat for the time being, in its struggle to stay alive in the American Hockey League this season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01172/2950223-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="264" height="406"><figcaption class="caption-body">Murray Hall</figcaption></div>Bobby Schmautz, Murray Hall and Ed Dyck were the re-inforcements finally sent here by the parent Canucks.Dyck got into the Jan. 12 game in Halifax, Nova Scotia, after his team was trailing 2-0 when goalie Serge Aubry departed with a sore back. Rochester went on to lose, 5-2.Schmautz, a right wing, and Hall, a right wing and center, arrived here the morning of Jan. 14 and were on the starting line that night against Providence. The Amerks lost 2-1, but Schmautz netted the Ione goal and Hall assisted.New coach Don Cherry made a few pointed observations to his skaters just before the game the following night in Hershey. He told them, among other things, that if they ever expect to get to the National League, they should pay attention to the way Schmautz and Hall, the hardest working skaters that night, performed after just being demoted.Apparently his words had some effect&hellip;and so did Schmautz, Hall and Dyck.Dyck made his first start in goal and stopped 45 Hershey shots. And Schmautz scored one goal and set up the other in the 2-1 victory over the western Division leaders.The Amerks hurried home to test Eastern Division leading Boston the following night. Dvck again was in goal, and this time made 40 saves. Schmautz scored two goals and assisted on three others and Hall had a goal and three assists as the Americans rolled to a 7-4 decision.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02120/2950216-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="486" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">ED DYCK&hellip;Throttled Braves</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0384/2950209-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="353" height="464"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB SCHMAUTZ&hellip;On Scoring Spree</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Schmautz, Hall, Dyck Sparkle As Ex-Canucks Turn Amerks On

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01474/2949608-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="440" height="300"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02421/2949601-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="508" height="282"></div><h2>Tues. Jan. 11 BOSTON 2 at ST. LOUIS 0</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03347/2949594-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="548" height="434"></div><h2>CALIFORNIA 1 al MINNESOTA 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04272/2949587-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="556" height="432"></div><h2>Wed. Jan. 19 TORONTO 0 at MONTREAL 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05225/2949580-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg" title="f0017-05" width="566" height="409"></div><h2>NEW YORK 5 at LOS ANGELES 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-06189/2949573-1-eng-US/f0017-062.jpg" title="f0017-06" width="576" height="607"></div><h2>MINNESOTA 4 at DETROIT 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-07167/2949566-1-eng-US/f0017-072.jpg" title="f0017-07" width="582" height="499"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 6 at PITTSBURGH 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-08136/2949559-1-eng-US/f0017-082.jpg" title="f0017-08" width="583" height="700"></div><h2>CALIFORNIA 0 at CHICAGO 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-09121/2949552-1-eng-US/f0017-092.jpg" title="f0017-09" width="597" height="428"></div><h2>Thurs. Jan. 20 VANCOUVER 0 at BUFFALO 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-10111/2949545-1-eng-US/f0017-102.jpg" title="f0017-10" width="596" height="379"></div><h2>CHICAGO 2 at PHILADELPHIA 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1194/2949538-1-eng-US/f0017-112.jpg" title="f0017-11" width="597" height="554"></div><h2>Fri. Jan. 21 NEW YORK 5 at CALIFORNIA 0</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1283/2949531-1-eng-US/f0017-122.jpg" title="f0017-12" width="605" height="539"></div><h2>Sat. Jan. 22 BOSTON 8 at MONTREAL 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1367/2949524-1-eng-US/f0017-132.jpg" title="f0017-13" width="602" height="969"></div><h2>TORONTO 1 at MINNESOTA 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1456/2949517-1-eng-US/f0017-142.jpg" title="f0017-14" width="596" height="541"></div><h2>NEW YORK 2 at VANCOUVER 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1546/2949510-1-eng-US/f0017-152.jpg" title="f0017-15" width="603" height="760"></div><h2>BUFFALO 2 at DETROIT 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1644/2949503-1-eng-US/f0017-162.jpg" title="f0017-16" width="602" height="573"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH 0 at ST-LOUIS 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1737/2949496-1-eng-US/f0017-172.jpg" title="f0017-17" width="601" height="389"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA 2 at LOS ANGELES 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1831/2949489-1-eng-US/f0017-182.jpg" title="f0017-18" width="613" height="626"></div><h2>Sun. Jan. 23 MONTREAL 3 at PITTSBURGH 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1925/2949482-1-eng-US/f0017-192.jpg" title="f0017-19" width="604" height="624"></div><h2>TORONTO 0 at CHICAGO 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-2017/2949475-1-eng-US/f0017-202.jpg" title="f0017-20" width="591" height="517"></div><h2>BUFFALO 3 at BOSTON 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-2110/2949468-1-eng-US/f0017-212.jpg" title="f0017-21" width="598" height="640"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS 1 at DETROIT 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01479/2949461-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="596" height="533"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA 1 at CALIFORNIA 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02387/2949454-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="599" height="505"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES 3 at MINNESOTA 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03287/2949447-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="600" height="685"></div> &#9632;

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National Hockey League SUMMARIES

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div>CHICAGO&mdash;So what can you do if you&rsquo;re Douglas William Jarrett? You work hard at this business of hockey, and you have been for eight years in the big leagues, and yet you suffer from three drawbacks which are constantly staring you in the face.Drawbacks like Bill White, probably hockey&rsquo;s best defensive defenseman. Drawbacks like Pat Stapleton, one of hockey&rsquo;s best two-way defensemen. Drawback&rsquo;s like Keith Magnuson, rough and tough and the people&rsquo;s choice because of his charisma.,So what do you do if you&rsquo;re Douglas William Jarrett?&ldquo;I just go out and try to keep the other team from putting the puck in our net, and the better I do that, the more money I&rsquo;ll make,&rdquo; philosophizes Jarrett. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s enough recognition for me. I don&rsquo;t mind not getting a lot of publicity.&rdquo;Actually White and Stapleton. and Magnuson are not really drawbacks to Jarrett, after all. They&rsquo;re his fellow defensemen on the Black Hawks, who are making the art of keeping the puck out of their net a rather splendid spectator sport. But while White and Stapleton and Magnuson seem to reap a deserved large amount of bouquets, Jarrett has to settle for an occasional carnation.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-01765/2948918-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="564" height="596"><figcaption class="caption-body">DOUG JARRETT&hellip;Respected Around NHL</figcaption></div>Explains his boss, Billy Reay: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a more even type of defenseman, and while he may not overly excel at one thing, he is able to do everything. He isn&rsquo;t very flashy but he is very respected around the league&rdquo;.Reay adds that Jarrett is one of the few remaining fellows around who will use a well-aimed hip check to jolt a foe with ideas about coming into Chicago terrirtoy.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something you can&rsquo;t do too often,&rdquo; Jarrett said. &ldquo;You have to pick the right spots and you have to time it just right. If you don&rsquo;t, you can take yourself right out of a play.&rdquo;This season, the Jarrett-Magnuson tandem has been of staunch character. It&rsquo;s a decided turnabout from last spring&rsquo;s Stanley Cup playoffs&mdash;especially in the semi-final round against New York&mdash;when both men were hurting a bit physically and artistically.&ldquo;My shoulder was giving me trouble,&rdquo; Jarrett said, &ldquo;but that&rsquo;s no excuse. I just played awful, and I can&rsquo;t explain it. It was worse than when I was a rookie. I was fighting the puck, and I knew if I went out there, that I&rsquo;d do something wrong.&ldquo;Billy benched me some of the time during the New York series and I&rsquo;m glad he did for the good of the team. I wasn&rsquo;t doing anything. I got depressed, and I kept thinking about it and it kept getting worse. Nothing like that has every happened to me before.&rdquo;Jarrett rebounded during the Cup finals to a better level of performance, and this season&rsquo;s first half probably represents the best hockey of his career.When he was scaling the shinny ladder as a youngster, the husky Jarrett used to be a pugilist of note. But now he is not a boxer, just a hitter.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t really had the opportunity to get in many fights,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Besides I don&rsquo;t think I could fight my way out of a paper bag. But a lot of fights start when somebody gives you a stick or something. I just try to check clean, and I don&rsquo;t think most players mind taking a good hit. It may hurt, but there&rsquo;s no reason to fight.The stellar display by the Jarrett-Magnuson duo this winter stems, according to Jarrett, from both players getting to know each other a little better.&ldquo;The guy you&rsquo;re playing with means so much,&rdquo; Jarrett said. &ldquo;Keith has really improved when he has the puck. He used to hesitate a little and wait for the perfect play, and sometimes he&rsquo;d end up making a bad pass. Now he figures that the main job for us is to just get the puck out of our end, and not worry about trying to set up a goal.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Doug Jarrett Forgotten Man Of Black Hawks’ Blueliners

TWIN CITIES&mdash;The National Hockey League will expand to 18 teams for the 1974-75 seasons with formal applications and $25,000 deposits on file from three American cities.NHL President Clarence Campbell disclosed that the NHL will definitely add two more teams in its fourth expansion program since 1967 when it swells its ranks to 18 entries.He did not speculate on what cities were under consideration but it was believed final selection of two new clubs would center around such cities as Cleveland, Baltimore, Milwaukee, San Diego and Portland-Seattle, which would be a combined entry.Campbell said that once the present NHL teams decide on what alignment they prefer&mdash;four four-team divisions or two eight team sections&mdash;the NHL will implement the system for the next two years. While the league did not object to two divisions of eight teams each, it was believed the present NHL clubs preferred adopting the four-division plan.Here&rsquo;s how many believe the final four-section alignment will look: New York, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia in one Division; Toronto, Montreal, Buffalo and Vancouver in another; Minnesota, Chicago, Los Angeles and California in a third; and Boston, Detroit, St. Louis and Long Island in the fourth group. It was known Detroit was opposed to not having a Canadian city in whatever division it was grouped, a factor that forced alignment talks to spill over to a second day prior to the All Star game here.The NHL Players&rsquo; Association was admant in its demands for a bigger share of the playoff spoils. Spokesman R. Alan Eagleson, the executive director of the association, said the players were asking for a 150 per cent increase in playoff money, which was a whopping raise from the present system.Eagleson said that because of the fact the NHL teams are making a larger profit on the playoffs than they suspected, the players wanted a bigger cut of the Stanley Cup playoff money. Under the present scheme, a player who performs with a first place club that wins the cup, takes home a $10,000 bonus. The players want the figure increased to $25,000 per man, which is comparable to the astronomical football bonuses paid Super Bowl performers.Campbell said the NHL will continue to play a 78-game schedule next season in spite of accepting two more teams. The league will open Oct. 3 and close April 1.The two newest NHL teams&mdash;Atlanta and Long Island&mdash;were formally accepted into the league at the pre-All Star game meetings after turning over payment of $700,000, which was broken down to $350,000 per club. Atlanta and Long Island will pay an additional $1,4 million to the NHL by May 31 of this year.It was also disclosed that Atlanta will complete payment of its $6 million franchise fee by 1977 and Long Island will negotiate payment of its $11 million, including $5 million indemnity to the New York Rangers, by 1991.In other business, Atlanta will be represented on the board of governors by Bill Putnam with Dillard Munsford as alternate. Roy Boe will be the Long Island governor backed up by Robert Carlton.The NHL has awarded the 1973 All Star game to New York, Chicago will stage the 1974 classic and either Montreal or Vancouver will get the &lsquo;75 game. Philadelphia already has been awarded the 1976 game. &#9632;

NHL To Expand To 18 For 1974 Campaign; Players Make Demands

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01709/2948587-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="339" height="361"><figcaption class="caption-body">JACK EGERS</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02589/2948580-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="333" height="371"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE MURPHY</figcaption></div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;The line of Garry Unger, Jack Egers and Mike Murphy has developed into an explosive scoring unit for the St. Louis Blues.With Unger handling the puck, Murphy digging it out of the corners and Egers specializing in long, powerful shots the young trio is on a scoring binge that has helped the Blues to some recent prosperity.Egers and Murphy came to the Blues with Andre Dupont in mid-November in the trade that sent Gene Carr, Jim Lorentz and Wayne Connelly to the New York Rangers. Bill McCreary, then coaching the Blues, immediately plopped Egers and Murphy on to the wings of Unger&rsquo;s line.The line played well, but the Blues dropped into a 10-game winless streak, and McCreary took Egers off the line in an effort to bolster a second scoring line.When Al Arbour replaced McCreary as coach on Christmas Day, one of the first things Arbour did was to reunite Unger, Egers and Murphy, and the three have been scoring so much since Christmas that breaking them up now isn&rsquo;t likely. They even remain together as a unit when the Blues have a power play.In the first 10 games after being reunited the line scored 21 goals and 19 assists for a total of 40 points. That&rsquo;s a line average of four points a game, and the Blues lost only two of the 10 games with a 6-2-2 record.Arbour is delighted with the line&rsquo;s scoring, and now the defenseman-turned-coach is trying to perfect the line&rsquo;s defensive ability.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s just no doubt that they&rsquo;ve been playing well offensively,&rdquo; Arbour said. &ldquo;Now I want them to work on checking so they&rsquo;ll be a complete line. I&rsquo;d like to see them keep their goals against respectable; if they play a good sound positional game, they&rsquo;ll always be in good shape offensively.&rdquo;The new Unger-Egers-Murphy combination, nicknamed by some the Hot Line, could be together for a long time. Unger is the oldest of the three after celebrating his 24th birthday about two months ago. Egers was just 23, and Murphy is 21.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll get better the longer we&rsquo;re together,&rdquo; Unger said, &ldquo;because you start to do things automatically. I think it makes a difference when a center can communicate with his wingers, and the three of us get along well together.&rdquo;Unger and Murphy, both bachelors, live together with another forward on the team, Floyd Thomson. Egers, a married man and father, is banned from that arrangement but he still knows his linemates pretty well.Murphy says, &ldquo;We talk a lot in practice and we have a lot of spirit. Al gives us confidence behind the bench, and I&rsquo;m happy we&rsquo;re back together.&rdquo;&ldquo;We usually try to get two guys in on the goal and one guy back,&rdquo; Murphy said. &ldquo;I like to go into those corners; I&rsquo;m not a good puck-handler, and I have to go into the corners.&rdquo;Egers disputes Murphy&rsquo;s claim to the bad-puck-handling rap and says, &ldquo;The other two are better than me at handling the puck. My specialty is shooting from far out.&rdquo;Indeed, much of the success of the line apparently stems from the fact that the three have a blend of talents that is the classic mixture for a good line. What one lacks in skill, another practices as a specialty. The total combination of their talents means they can do just about anything offensively.&ldquo;All of the great lines in the National Hockey League have been together for a long time, Egers said. &ldquo;I hope that we can stya together.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03393/2948573-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="1203" height="1217"><figcaption class="caption-body">Blues&rsquo; mod center GARRY UNGER is in full flight as he skates up the ice with the puck against Buffalo. At 24, Unger is oldest of Threesome that makes up new kid line for Blues. (Hockey News Photo by Steve Goldstein)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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WHIZ KIDS EGERS, MURPHY PERFECT MATES FOR UNGER

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-01771/2948632-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="524" height="533"></div>&bull; THE HOTTEST rivalry in the National Hockey League right now is between the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers and a new book by Brad Park, New York&rsquo;s outstanding defenseman, isn&rsquo;t going to cool it any. Park calls Phil Esposito &ldquo;gutless&rsquo; and says Derek Sanderson plays dirty to compensate for a lack of ability. The trouble with most books authored by athletes these days is that you don&rsquo;t know if they mean what they say or whether they are just trying to be controversial and sensational in order to sell their books. Sanderson is a fine hockey player and Esposito has never shown any signs of being timid&hellip;Sanderson, incidentally, went through school in Niagara Falls, Ont&rsquo; with Bill Goldsworthy of Minnesota&hellip;Goldy has been having a great season with the North Stars. In a 2-2 draw against Vancouver recently he had an assist and scored the tying goal. He scored four times in one same against Vancouver last year&hellip;Gordon (Duke) Keats, member of Hockey&rsquo;s Hall of Fame and considered one of the greatest stickhandlers of all time, died the other day in Victoria, B.C. at the age of 76. Many oldtimers recall Keats for a feat that has become a legend. Playing center for Edmonton Eskimos in the nearly 20s, Keats reputedly picked up the puck and skated backwards the entire length of the rink before scoring a goal against an opposing team&hellip;Rookie center Gene Carr of the New York Rangers was born and grew up in Nanaimo, B.C. He was a stick-boy at a Ranger exhibition game in Nanaimo 10 years ago. His father. Red Carr, had a brief trial with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1944&hellip;Montreal&rsquo;s Ken Dryden, who signs his share of autographs like all other NHL players, says: &ldquo;signing autographs is a complete waste of time for everyone concerned&rdquo;. The articulate goalkeeper said: &ldquo;an autograph is supposed to indicate a closeness between the signer and the collector. But in most cases you never even see the face of the person or you end up signing them one after the other.&rdquo;&hellip;Bobby Hull has started doing anti-smoking commercials. He used to smoke a cigar on occasion but promised his children he&rsquo;d quit if they never started&hellip;Hull&rsquo;s teammate Stan Mikita has been bothered with a sore shoulder of late&hellip;Doug Jarrett is known as &ldquo;the forgotten man of the Chicago blueline&rdquo;&hellip;Defenseman Barry Gibbs of Minnesota, who fractured his jaw early in January, is playing with a protective mask. His jaw is wired forcing him to eat meals that have been prepared by a blender&hellip;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02722/2948625-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="260" height="450"><figcaption class="caption-body">Barry Gibbs</figcaption></div>THE 9-1 LOSS St. Louis suffered to the New York Rangers was the worst loss ever for the Blues. The worst previous defeat was 8-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs&hellip;Wayne Stepehnson, 26-year-old goalie who played with Canada&rsquo;s National Team from 1965 until it disbanded in 1970, has joined St. Louis for a 30 day trial period&hellip;When Buffalo&rsquo;s Gil Perreault makes one of his picture plays he is almost impossible to stop. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just about impossible to play the puck against him,&rdquo; said Scotty Bowman, Montreal coach&hellip;Donnie Graham former head scout of Eastern Canada for the Detroit Red Wings, has been appointed director of scouting for the new Atlanta franchise in the NHL&hellip;Ned Harkness, Detroit GM, was critical of the way Al MacNeil added players to the NHL Eastern All Stars. Harkness accused MacNeil of politics and said that each NHL team should have at least two members on the All Star squad. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s great that Berenson was selected,&rdquo; Harkness said., &ldquo;but I also think that Gary Bergman and Mickey Redmond deserved to be in the game&rdquo;&hellip;Berenson was the sole Detroit player named to the Eastern All Stars&hellip;Scout Al Millar of Buffalo, seriously injured in an auto accident in Quebec last summer, is recuperating at the Rehabilitation Center of Montreal&hellip;Dallas Hawks are averaging 4,354 per game, which is tops for the CHL. Dallas is averaging 1.400 more per game than for the same period a year ago&hellip;Rookie Guy Lafleur, Montreal&rsquo;s No. 1 draft pick, has drawn some criticism for missing all seven of Montreal&rsquo;s optional workouts this season. Usually such volunteer drills are command performances for first year players&hellip;Ken Dryden was as brilliant as ever against Toronto in his first game since December 22. He&rsquo;s been Canadiens&rsquo; most valuable player this season by a wide margin&hellip;Guy Charron, 22-year-old left winger of the Detroit Red Wings, was accosted by a knife wielding man as he left a practice session recently. Charron lost his watch, wallet and new car&hellip;Alan Laythorpe informs us that a group of hockey-oriented Americans and Canadians have built up a thriving hockey league in Nevada and that the rivalry between the Las Vegas Gamblers and the Reno Aces is hard to believe. The Gamblers compiled a 354-1 record last season with a double win over Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey league&hellip;Teams from all over West ern Canada and some of the Western States visit. Las Vegas for exhibition games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03624/2948618-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="274" height="430"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gil Perreault</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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PASSING THE PUCK

Founded October 1st, 1947Published weekly except monthly June through September by Ken-Will Publishing Co. Ltd.1434 St. Catherine Street WestMontreal 107, Canada.U.S. Office: 16 Maple Street, Rouses Point, N.Y. 12979Kenneth William McKenzie President and PublisherCharlie Halpin Editorial DirectorLyndon Little Assistant To EditorYearly SUBSCRIPTION Rates: $6.00 in Canada $7.00 in the U.S.A, and $9.00 in Foreign Countries.Postpage paid at Rouses Point, N.Y. 12979. Send address changes to 1434 St. Catherine Street West, Suite 212, Montreal, 107, P.Q.Second class mail&mdash;Registration No. 1327Printed in CanadaVol. 25 MONTREAL, FEBRUARY 4, 1972 No. 18 &#9632;

The Hockey NEWS OFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY

<h2>Soviets Not Ready Yet To Meet NHL</h2>On January 4 of this year I witnessed the USA vs. Russia hockey game at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. I can now say with complete conviction that the Russians are in no way ready to tangle with NHL competition.Disregarding the four top NHL teams, namely Boston, New York, Chicago and Montreal, I am throughly convinced that the Minnesota North Stars could represent the NHL and soundly whip the USSR team.Keep in mind the North Stars are a team that has been in the league only four and a half seasons yet playing under NHL rules they would annihilate the Soviets.While it is true the Russians won the game, 9-3, it was a far cry from hockey as played in the NHL. There was literally no body-checking whatsoever. Russian players skated in front of the net unmolested. I thought at any minute the Americans were going to stop the game and serve them tea.Let&rsquo;s stop this silly talk about the Russians being on a par with the NHL. The Russians are on a par with the NHL about the same way the Los Angeles Kings are on a par with the Boston Bruins.FRANK MCDERMOTT, Trenton, N.J.<h2>&lsquo;Defensive&rsquo; Rearguards Should Get Recognition</h2>It&rsquo;s time someone gave players like Rod Seiling, Bill White, and Rick Smith some of the credit they deserve.These defensemen aren&rsquo;t on the scoreboard very much, but when they&rsquo;re on the ice the other team isn&rsquo;t either. After all, who defends against two-on-one rushes after their defensive part ners have made a valiant rush up the ice to be caught out of the play?These &ldquo;defensive defensemen&rdquo; are a dying breed. Fans have come to expect fantastic defensive plays from them and more often than not they get it. Not all hockey players are point conscious.WALTER KOWAL JR. Newark, N.J.<h2>Shots On Goal Should Count In Net Average</h2>Is the &ldquo;Goals Against Average&rdquo; a true indication of a goalies worth?As in avid hockey fan, this question has crossed my mind many times in the past several years, believe many goalies in the NHL are greatly under-rated because of their goals against average. I believe that the number of shuts that are taken should also be taken into consideration in any true evaluation of a goalies performance.The NHL has many fine defensemen and it seems that many of the premier defensemen are on the top four or five teams. These men make a great difference in the number of shots their goalies must turn aside.DAVID SMITH, Hiller, Pa.<h2>Ratelle, Not Espo, On First Star Team</h2>I think the National Hockey League All Star game selectors made some pretty big mistakes. First I think Jean Ratelle should be the first team center. Has Esposito done as much for Boston as Ratelle has done for the Rangers?First team: Anyway, here is how I figure the East team should be. Center, Ratelle; Left Wing, Vic Hadfield; Right Wing, Rod Gilbert; Defense, Bobby Orr and Brad Park; Goal, Gilles ViL lemure.Second Team: Center, Phil Esposito; Left Wing, Richard Martin, Right Wing, Yvan Cournoyer; Defense, Bobby Baun and Rod Seiling; Goal, Ken Dryden.JOE MOYDA, Toronto, Ont. &#9632;

Fan Forum

<div class="byline">BY TOM MONAHAN</div>BOSTON&mdash;The Bruins had four players named as participants for the NHL&rsquo;s East-All Star team against the West at Minnesota&rsquo;s Metropolitan Sports Center, which is a nice touch for Boston fans.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01723/2948718-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="266" height="458"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Walton</figcaption></div>It&rsquo;s nice to know that people recognize the ability of Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr, Dallas Smith and Johnny McKenzie.But coach Tom Johnson is more impressed by the fact that the Bruins seem finally to have effected a more balanced offense.Instead of Esposito, Ken Hodge and Wayne Cashman carrying the load with McKenzie, Johnny Bucyk and Fred Stanfield chipping in their bit, the combination of Mike Walton-Derek Sanderson and Eddie Westfall finally has come alive.Which leaves Johnson with his original &lsquo;Black Aces&rsquo; of Don Marcotte, Ace Bailey and Reggie Leach in reserve.The Walton-Sanderson-West-fall line hit a peak in a 9-4 victory over Detroit at the Garden with Sanderson bagging three goals and two assists, and Walton and Westfall each claiming a goal and four assists.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02631/2948711-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="1176" height="888"><figcaption class="caption-body">DEREK SANDERSON&hellip;First Hat Trick In Three Years</figcaption></div>It&rsquo;s been a long time coming and Johnson had gone through the hell of switching and reswitching to get the combination working efficiently.He had started with Leach on right wing, went back to Westfall went back to Leach again while trying Bailey in the combination in between.But two weeks ago he put Walton, Sandy and Westfall back together and something jelled.Although Sanderson had his first hat-trick in three years, the voluble 25-year-old center credits the development of Walton as the key.&ldquo;That kid (Walton is 27) is becoming a terrific left wing, said Sanderson. &ldquo;I think he has All Star potential.&ldquo;He has the makings of another Yvan Cournoyer. He&rsquo;s great at making scoring chances like Cournoyer but there is one thing he can&rsquo;t do as well. He hasn&rsquo;t learned the knack of going into the corners the same way.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s because he played center with Toronto, and, in Toronto, the centers never went into the corners until they got Norm Ullman.&ldquo;So Shaky has had to learn how to play the position. And when you figure the limited ice time he gets, you have to know he&rsquo;s doing a great job.&ldquo;You can figure he misses five shifts in an average game. Eddie Westfall and I kill the penalties while he sits out. \&ldquo;That doesn&rsquo;t leave much ice time for this kid but look at the way he has produced. He has become a real good player.&ldquo;Westfall is always good. A damn good player. Now we are playing together. We can help each other and the team.&rdquo;Hodge put the Sanderson comments in more perspective with, &ldquo;The pressure is on Esposito and on our line, Phil&rsquo;s the big scorer so the other team puts their checkers on him. He&rsquo;s scoring great despite it and the line is going pretty well.&ldquo;Stanfield&rsquo;s line is also going well. The third line has been great defensively. Now it&rsquo;s beginning to move offensively and what a help that can be.&rsquo; &#9632;

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Johnson Lauds Club Balance As Sanderson Line Sizzles

<div class="byline">BY JACK BERRY</div>DETROIT&mdash;It isn&rsquo;t likely that Brian O&rsquo;Neill, the executive director of the National Hockey League, receives any fan mail for the schedules he concocts for the 14 clubs.One thing is certain though&mdash;he isn&rsquo;t about to get any complaining letters from the Red Wings.From the first of December to the 31st of January, a span of 27 games, the Red Wings have just five games against old line teams, two in December, which they lost, and three this month in which they&rsquo;re 1-1 so far.Knock them out and they&rsquo;re 11-4-2 so far in the two month period and still courting hopes of climbing into the playoffs, crossing their fingers that they&rsquo;ll catch lightning in a bottle andToronto will stumble on its current seven game journey.No matter who they were scheduled against last year, the Wings would have&mdash;and did&mdash;botched it up but Johnny Wilson has had the current Wings handling it quite well, especially at Olympia. Sparked by a suddenly resourceful power play and the shooting of Mickey Redmond, the Wings ran off a string of eight straight home ice victories after a 2-1 loss to St. Louis on Dec. 5. The string came to an end Jan. 19 when the Minnesota North Stars skated off the Olympia ice with a 4-1 win over the Wings.It was Detroit&rsquo;s best Olympia winning streak in years&mdash;the 1965-66 club won seven straight and the team record was set the previous campaign when Ted Lindsay returned to help lead to Red Wings to first place. That unit won 14 in a row at Olympia.The opposition was considerably more difficult in those times but Wilson isn&rsquo;t about to decline any of the points picked up in this streak&mdash;after all, the Red Wings couldn&rsquo;t even handle the newer clubs last season.The stretch of home games&mdash;11 of them in 5 1/2 weeks&mdash;comes at a good time for Wilson who was able to mold the team to his liking on the road, away from rather angry, quick-to-jeer fans.Now at Olympia they&rsquo;ve played confidently, played quite well and, more importantly, played as a team. There still are problems on the road but Wilson now seems to be getting maximum performance in front of the home fans.In the eight home ice victories the wings outscored the opposition, 42-17, and Al Smith hung up shutout victories over Vancouver and Philadelphia. At the clip they scored you&rsquo;d have thought they were the New York Rangers or Boston Bruins.Redmond continued to carry the hottest stick and upped his goal production to 18 in 15 games and Wilson figured Redmond and defenseman Gary Bergman would get bids to the All Star game, but they didn&rsquo;t.While Redmond was the second highest goal scorer among all right wings, regardless of division, as of Jan. 17, he not only wasn&rsquo;t voted to the team by the writers, he wasn&rsquo;t a supplemental pick by East Division coach Al MacNeil.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02653/2948749-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="555" height="603"><figcaption class="caption-body">MICKEY REDMOND&hellip;By passed By Selectors</figcaption></div>The NHL statistics on the 17th showed New York&rsquo;s Rod Gilbert with 30 goals and Redmond next among right wings with 25, followed by Montreal&rsquo;s Yvan Cournoyer with 23. No other right wing was in the 20-goal bracket and Boston&rsquo;s John McKenzie, one of MacNeil&rsquo;s picks, had only 12 goals.Red Wing management hinted darkly that MacNeil overlooked Redmond because Montreal traded Redmond to Detroit last year and didn&rsquo;t want to look bad. These things always come up when someone is left off an All Star lineup and they add to the spice of the event.Nevertheless, the omission of Redmond is difficult to understand. He is in the top 15 in scoring and has played very well. &#9632;

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Aroused Wings Hope Momentum Carries Them Past Leafs

MONTREAL&mdash;The death of Detroit Hockey Old Timer George Gee recently in a hockey game isn&rsquo;t going to stop the Montreal NHL Old Timers from completing their 1971-72 schedule but it is going to make them take preventive measures to help safe guard against a similar misfortune.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-01800/2948780-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="272" height="462"><figcaption class="caption-body">George Gee</figcaption></div>That&rsquo;s the word from Pete Morin, coach of the Montreal Oldtimers, who are scheduled to go to Detroit for a game with the former Red Wings&rsquo; stars next month.&ldquo;Gee&rsquo;s death was unfortunate, but it won&rsquo;t scare any of our guys out of playing,&rdquo; commented Morin.&ldquo;Our guys realize things like that will happen, and it won&rsquo;t stop the show. After all, it&rsquo;s happend before.&rdquo;Morin says his Oldtimers will be taking preventive measures just the same.&ldquo;We have always insisted the guys be in shape first,&rdquo; said Morin, &ldquo;but from now on we will make it mandatory for each player to get a medical certificate from a doctor before we let him step on the ice. Some guys get a medical on their own anyway, but we should do it as a team.&rdquo;Meanwhile, the Detroit Old Timers were extremely saddened by their loss.Gee, a member of the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; 1950 Stanley Cup champions, died of a heart attack while resting between periods of a Red Wing Old Timers benefit game against a junior team in suburban Wyandotte.Gee, who was 50, sat down between Bill Gadsby and Joe Klukay during the first intermission, lit a cigaret and slumped to the floor. He had no history of heart trouble. &#9632;

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Gee’s Death Won’t Deter Old Timers

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03482/2948811-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg"></div>Watch That Pass!Remember what you were taught; play the man, not the puck. It&rsquo;s quite simple if you think about it. The puck can be shot away faster than you can move to pre vent it.If an attacker is coming in alone on you, play him and you&rsquo;ll play the puck as well.If two attackers are coming in on you when you&rsquo;re alone, get between them so you can intercept a pass. Don&rsquo;t worry about the puck, let the goaltender stop it.By getting between attackers, you stand a chance of breaking up a passing attack and can&rsquo;t be used as a screen for a quick shot by a puck carrier. &#9632;

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Hockey for Kids

<div class="byline">&#x2014;By Bill Libby</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-01786/2948856-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="290" height="366"></div><h2>A Little Of This And That&hellip;</h2>INTO THE HOME STRETCH of the season, Boston&rsquo;s Bruins were brawling less and relying on defense more in their determined drive to dominate the National Hockey League by winning both their divisional pennant and the post-season playoffs as they just missed doing when they won the Stanley Cup in 1970 after tying for first place in the regular season, and when the cup escaped them in 1971 after they captured the pennant. The WHA will have no Boston Bruins for awhile.Among their stars have been their alternating goal-tenders, Gerry Cheevers and Ed Johnston, much maligned when their team seemed to win strictly by outscoring the opposition in the past. Johnston points out, &ldquo;Like any other player, we play to win. With this team&rsquo;s scoring, we would frequently find ourselves ahead, 5-1 or 6-1 or something like that. It would be hard not to let down a little. We&rsquo;d wind up winning 6-4 or 7-5 and our records would suffer. We&rsquo;ve been trying to avoid that this season.&rdquo;Inevitably and understandably, they&rsquo;ve been overshadowed by such super stars as Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito. Cheevers says, &ldquo;Some really outstanding players on this team don&rsquo;t get the publicity they would get on other teams. But I think most of us see that the team is the thing and if we each do our jobs and the team wins that&rsquo;s what matters most. I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s any jealousy. If anyone could do what Bobby and Phil do, they&rsquo;d do it. They deserve all the attention they get. As long as we&rsquo;re paid for our performances, we accept the way things are.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02696/2948849-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="816" height="850"><figcaption class="caption-body">GERRY CHEEVERS&hellip;Likes Rotating</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03574/2948842-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="812" height="850"><figcaption class="caption-body">ED JOHNSTON&hellip;Winning More Beautiful</figcaption></div>Most of the season, coach Tom Johnson has played each every other game. Cheevers says. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s great. We know when we&rsquo;re going to play and we&rsquo;re always ready. The schedule and travel and pace today is too tough for one goaler to handle all the games and be at his best. Goaltending has become a job where two men share it. Regular rest and regular play keeps you sharp. The ego thing doesn&rsquo;t enter into it.&rdquo; Johnston adds, &ldquo;We know ahead of time who&rsquo;s going to go and we&rsquo;re ready to go. We each do our best and between us we take pride in our team performance.&rdquo;Johnston was around when this was a last-place team. He says life is a lot more beautiful now. He says, &ldquo;After games before, you could hear a pin drop. You&rsquo;d think no one was in the dressing room. Now there&rsquo;s always a lot of noise. If we lose, we&rsquo;re grousing because we know we&rsquo;re good enough so we usually shouldn&rsquo;t lose. If we win, and we usually win, we&rsquo;re cutting up. This is a loose group. Life with a loser in pro sports is pretty depressing. Life with a winner is a lot of fun. The pressure is on you to produce, but if you can&rsquo;t meet that challenge you should be in some other profession.&rdquo;The 16 NHL teams next season will need at least 32 goal-tenders. The WHA will need many more.<h2>New WHA Tempting For Some&hellip;</h2>THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE is expanding to two more teams next season while the new World Hockey Association says it will then launch its challenge, and Boston&rsquo;s flashy Derek Sanderson was saying, &ldquo;Every NHL team has an underpublicized player or an underpaid player and a new league and a new team could tempt these. If you&rsquo;re 24 or 26 or 28 or 30 and you have a wife and kids, what are you going to do if you&rsquo;re getting $30,000 here and can get $60,000 there? I&rsquo;d say the idea of a new league would be great for the players, but bad for the sport. Most hockey players come from Canada and it&rsquo;s not a country with a large population and I don&rsquo;t know how many teams can be stocked that would still deserve to be called major league.&rdquo;Teammate Phil Esposito, tied down with a long-term half-million-dollar contract, says, &ldquo;I believe in something I can see. I don&rsquo;t know anything about this new league, so I can&rsquo;t really believe in it. But money talks. It has in other sports and it could in hockey. An athlete has only 10 to 15 years to make that bread and after that nobody cares and he has to get a job as an insurance salesman. But there&rsquo;s a lot of security to being with an established organization and it would take a rebel or a gambler to jump. If any do jump, it will help the rest because they&rsquo;ll pay to keep their players and salaries will go up.&rdquo;A thought has occurred to us. The new franchises in the NHL are costing $6.000,000. With indemnities to be paid the Rangers in their New York territory, the Long Island owners may have to pay twice that. If owners in a new hockey league had this kind of money and took it and say were willing to each pay $1,000,000 for a super star and $500,000 each for a couple of solid stars and maybe $200,000 each for five solid major leaguers they probably could come up with truly top talent to build around and still have millions to round out their roster and promote their franchises. But the WHA owners don&rsquo;t have and aren&rsquo;t putting up this kind of dough. &#9632;

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Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Having won six of their previous eleven starts for their hottest streak of the season, the Los Angeles Kings then had to start the new year on a seven-game road-trip, mostly against top established foes, and they were routed 6-2 in Oakland, 10-2 in Montreal and 8-0 in New York in their first three starts. However, Gilles Marotte was sidelined with a bruised foot in these three.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04399/2948887-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg" title="f0008-04" width="264" height="468"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gilles Marotte</figcaption></div>Marotte returned to action and the Kings returned to their recent form, tying 1-1 in Toronto and 1-1 in Boston, sagging in a 74 loss in Detroit, but then deadlocking, 3-3 in Philadelphia. Finishing the trip with three ties in the final four games after it had started so disastrously was a pleasant surprise, for which Marotte was partly responsible.The 26-year-old veteran of seven prior NHL campaigns bounced from Boston to Chicago before landing in L.A. with his super star promise tarnished, but he has become a key man for the Kings. The 5-9, 205-pounder hits sometimes, though not as often as people expect, and he makes mistakes sometimes, but he is a tough, trying player, even in times of stress for a team which loses a lot more than it wins.An honest man, he says, &ldquo;Maybe too much has been expected of me. But if I&rsquo;m booed, I don&rsquo;t let it bother me and if I&rsquo;m cheered I don&rsquo;t get carried away with it. Win or lose, I just try to do the job as best I can every shift every night. It isn&rsquo;t easy when things are going bad, but I take pride in my performance and I hope to be still here when things are better, as they have been lately.&rdquo;Paul Curtis, the 24-year-old defense man, starred in the ties in Toronto and Boston, had a bad night in Detroit, but was stopped from assaulting an official in rage when teammate Marotte pinned him to the boards. Dan Avey, the Kings&rsquo; radio-TV colorman and a crisp, sharp analyst, who with play-by-play pro Jiggs McDonald gives the club brilliant and relaxed broadcasting, calls Curtis &ldquo;the best shot-blocker in the NHL.&rdquo;The Kings&rsquo; defense corps was bolstered by the addition of 30-year-old Bob Woytowich from Pittsburgh in exchange for 21-year-old forward Al McDonough. The Kings did give up a lot of age and it was another example wherein a once highly-regarded young prospect was written off, but the goaltenders needed more help.Gary Edwards, his record a remarkable 7-9-3 now, made 39 saves in Toronto and 29 in Philadelphia. Rog Vachon, a luckless 4-18-1, made 38 in Boston, 29 in Detroit, where Eddie Joyal&rsquo;s two-in-a-row gave the Kings a 4-3 lead before a four-goal surge in the last 8:06 embarrassed them. The Kings led three times before settling for a tie in Philadelphia.Coach Fred Glover said, &ldquo;Goaltending never has been this team&rsquo;s problem. The goalers just needed some support. &#9632;

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Marotte Plays Part As Kings Defense Lifts Club’s Hopes

<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>CALIFORNIA&mdash;Tommy Williams, forward, waived through NHL and sent to Boston of AHL on loan. Jimmy Jones, defenseman, sent to Salt Lake of WHL on loan. Pete Laframboise, forward, returned to Baltimore of AHL. Craig Patrick, forward, assigned to Baltimore for two-week period and subject to recall.VANCOUVER&mdash;Ed Dyck, goalkeeper, Bob Schmautz and Murrey Hall, forwards, assigned to Rochester of AHL.MINNESOTA&mdash;Bob Paradise, defenseman, returned to Seattle of WHL.BUFFALO&mdash;Terry Ball, defenseman, recalled from Cincinnati of AHL as replacement for Ray McKay, defenseman, who was placed on disabled list with leg injury.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Ralph MacSweyn, defenseman, recalled from Richmond of AHL. Don Saleski, forward, returned to Richmond.DETROIT&mdash;Gerry Hart, defenseman, recalled from Fort Worth of CHL.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Duane Rupp, defenseman, recalled from Hershey of AHL.<h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>DENVER&mdash;Jim Graham, and Dave Smith, defenseman. returned to Kansas City of CHL. Mike Cormier, forward, signed to five-game pro tryout, Glen Patrick, defenseman, recalled from Columbus of IHL on five-game pre tryout.<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>FORT WORTH&mdash;Serge Lajeunesse, defenseman, Ron Walters, Rene Leclerc and Ralph Stewart, forwards, secured from Tidewater of AHL. Doug Hinton, defenseman. recalled from Port Huron of IHL. Francois Lacomne, defenseman, returned to Buffalo of NHL and reassigned to Cincinnati of AHL. Kevin Morrison, defenseman, and Bob Cook, forward, sent to Tidewater. Dave Ferguson, forward, returned to Syracuse of EHL. Jim Adair, forward, given outright release. Barry Salovaara, defenseman, sent to Port Huron of IHL.DALLAS&mdash;Milt Black, forward, placed On disabled list for season with broken forearm.OMAHA&mdash;Wayne Bell, goalkeeper, assigned to Des Moines of IHL.<h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>COLUMBUS&mdash;Wayne Gibbs, defenseman, placed on waivers.MUSKEGON&mdash;Murray Flegel, defenseman, secured from Baltimore of AHL on loan.FLINT&mdash;Larry Gibbons, defenseman, secured from Greens boro of EHL.<h2>EASTERN LEAGUE</h2>CLINTON&mdash;Ray Butterworth and Brian Randall, forwards, added to roster as emergency replacements for injuries.GREENSBORO&mdash;Pierre Duguay, forward, assigned by Cincinnati pf AHL. Don Labelle, defenseman, placed on injury list. &#9632;

Movements of Players

<div class="byline">BY JOHN PORTER</div>OAKLAND&mdash;When things aren&rsquo;t going well, many times a change can bring about happy times again.When the California Golden Seals were worked over 10-3 in Philadelphia, general manager Garry Young and coach Vic Stasiuk decided it was time to make a change.California was scoring plenty of goals, but the oppositon wasn&rsquo;t having much trouble doing likewise, so clearly evidenced by the treatment accorded the Golden Ones by the Flyers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-01782/2948973-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="268" height="450"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gilles Meloche</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Our goaltenders aren&rsquo;t that bad,&rdquo; said one player. &ldquo;We needed a new system&rdquo;.Now in basketball, there is a move called the fast break, sometimes referred to as cherry-picking. Coaches and GM&rsquo;s will tell you in hockey it&rsquo;s one-way playing, i.e. all offense, no defense.So the Seals&rsquo; brain trust changed systems. Think defense and cut down the goals against. Only one forechecker into the enemy zone.California tried it for one day in practice, then came out against the Minnesota North Stars with their new system. Final score: Seals 2, North Stars O.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t say we didn&rsquo;t have a system before,&rdquo; said Seals&rsquo; center Ivan Boldirev, who had a short-handed goal in the game. &ldquo;We had a system, but many times we would wind up with three forwards in deep and the other team would break 3-on-2 against our defensemen. You didn&rsquo;t see many of those against Minnesota.&rdquo;It was a pleasent change for goalie Gillies Meloche, who began the season with a shutout of Boston, but was shelled from then on.&ldquo;The guys were great,&rdquo; said the happy goalie. &ldquo;They never let the other team near me. This is the way I like it.&rdquo;The next game the Seals, outfitted for the first time in their white boots, played a good checking game, holding Vancouver to eight shots for the first two periods.It was a little disconcerting to have the Canucks ahead 2-1 after Orland Kurtenbach scored a rare goal when the Canucks were skating two men short.However, California came back in the third period to win with a four-goal burst, the tieing marker from Stan Gilbertson and the go-ahead goal from Walt McKechnie.Two wins in two games under the new system. Not bad.Next game is the following night in Vancouver, both clubs having chartered out after the match in Oakland.Same system, but different result. Vancouver gets 46 shots on goal and and the victory, 4-3.&ldquo;No help from the forwards,&rdquo; was what Young said. &ldquo;Gary Kurt played as fine a game in goal as I&rsquo;ve seen recently. The forwards have got to check better.&rdquo;SEALS SHOTS: California loaned veteran Tommy Williams to the Boston Braves of the American League and defenseman Jimmy Jones to Salt Lake City of the Western League&hellip;Left wing Pete Laframbroise was returned to Baltimore and right wing Craig Patrick was dropped to the Clippers for a two-week stay. &#9632;

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Seals Swing To Defense Pays Off In Double Win

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div>NEW YORK&mdash;&ldquo;Dallas Smith, who in heck is Dallas Smith?&rdquo; The speaker was Bill Chadwick, the radio color voice of the New York Rangers. &ldquo;The only reason he is on the All Star team is Bobby Orr keeps talking him up at every opportunity. Rod Seiling is far better than Smith, in fact he is better than both Dallas and Rick Smith combined. What do you say to that?&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01773/2949011-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="266" height="462"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rod Seiling</figcaption></div>Our answer was to the point, &ldquo;Seiling, Jim Neilson, Bob Baun and Jacques Laperriere are all better than Dallas Smith. I wonder if the writers who vote for the All Stars get to see enough games with expansion and the reduced schedule. Remember the teams only play each other six times, which comes down to two or three meetings in the first half of a schedule. Maybe they should let the players vote for these All Star teams and make a rule preventing them from voting for their own teammates.&rdquo;Seiling was selected by East All Star coast Al MacNeil as one of seven players added to augment the team.Seiling is the best defensive defender in the NHL. He makes it look easy, ala Willie Mays, Joe DiMaggio and Jean Ratelle. Add Jean Beliveau to that list and you get the idea. The puck seems to come to Seiling, but that is a mirage, of course. He adapts to the situation on ice instanteously and is in the right spot at the right time. Rod, now 27, has enough offensive smarts to be a forward, but is just slightly slow afoot for up front. He does well there when called upon and scored a key Stanley Cup goal last spring while playing as a forward.&ldquo;On defense Rod is something special,&rdquo; says King Clancy, the erudite Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; vice president. &ldquo;He shows he was brought up in the close checking Toronto system. Somehow, he stops the oncoming attack, takes the puck away and head mans it back up, all in jig time, without too much fuss. And he is getting better all the time. On many teams he would play the point. If you notice his shots are usually on the net and low at ankle height.&rdquo;Seiling, once maligned around Madison Square Garden for his lack of hitting, takes out a man when needed and is rarely &ldquo;trapped&rdquo; up ice, out of position. Dallas Smith never gets caught up ice, because in his job as Orr&rsquo;s caddy, he isn&rsquo;t allowed the luxury of an offensive sortie. Seiling at six foot and 190 is bigger than most and hits squarely and solidly when needed. And he combines with Jimmy Neilson, like ham and eggs.&ldquo;Which ever one rushes the other fellow stays back and covers up, just like a well oiled team,&rdquo; says Seiling. &ldquo;The Chief can move that puck, block shots and play the point pretty well, too.&rdquo;Without a doubt Neilson rates over Dallas Smith, in our humble opinion and we believe a gross miscarriage of justice has been done in the first half voting for the NHL East All Star squads.The initial part of the Rangers&rsquo; excursion into the NHL bad lands resulted in a Mexican Standoff with a tie, 5-5 in Chicago January 12, a win 5-2 in Buffalo January 13 and a loss 4-3 in Toronto January 15. Major devlopments included the continued fine work of Jean Ratelle&rsquo;s GAG Line, the hot streak by Walter Tkaczuk&rsquo;s &lsquo;Bulldogs&rsquo; and a bit of questionable play by goalie Ed Giacomin.Giacomin missed a long shot by Pit Martin that dipped and dropped in the Chicago game and then blew a seventy footer from Jerry Korab which allowed the Hawks to get out with the tie. In Toronto, after Brad Park lost the puck, Dave Keon, drilled a game winner in the last minute of play. Again Eddie was the victim.Gil Villemure won the Buffalo game, one in which the Bulldog Line of Tkaczuk. Billy Fairbairn and Gene Carr scored all the goals for New York. Tkaczuk got two. Fairbairn two and Carr the clincher when the Sabres were threatening. Tkaczuk is shooting the puck with abandon now, ripping his shots and finally connecting.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-02708/2949004-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="542" height="530"><figcaption class="caption-body">WALTER TKACZUK&hellip;Finding The Range</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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All Star Picks Attest To Rangers Power

MONTREAL&mdash;The way things have been going with Canadiens recently, they&rsquo;re beginning to look like a Broadway stage production.Broadway shows are taken on the for tryouts. That&rsquo;s when the scenery falls down, and actors forget their lines. The gimmicks are worked out eventually, however, and when the show comes to Broadway it&rsquo;s a Socko Success!Montreal Canadiens have been touring on the road lately, and their record for mishap is formidable. In a stretch that extended for a month after last December 17th and involved eight games, they failed to post a single win away from the friendly Montreal Forum.They had one tie and seven losses during that stretch on the road. At home they remained undefeated since the start of the present season.Teams that are no threat to Canadiens in the Montreal Forum have been walloping them soundly on the road.One of the latest examples involved back-to-back games against the Buffalo Sabres. On a Saturday night in Montreal it was 6-2 for Bowman&rsquo;s boys and the score would&rsquo;ve been higher had it not been for goalie Roger Crozier. The next night in Buffalo the Sabres won 4-2, despite the fact that Habs had more shots and less penalties than their opponents. &#9632;

Canadiens’ Road Play Turns Sour

<div class="byline">BY GIL SMITH</div>MONTREAL&mdash;Two-goal games don&rsquo;t cause much stir in the NHL, nowadays, but three of them in just over a week can do a lot for a player&rsquo;s confidence.Pete Mahovlich found that out, recently, when a clutch of two-goal games nearly doubled his season&rsquo;s production and boosted his morale sharply. &ldquo;I feel like I&rsquo;m hitting the kind of stride I had last season when I scored 35 goals,&rdquo; said Peter. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good feeling.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01752/2949073-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="265" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">Serge Savard</figcaption></div>Peter, the towering younger brother of Frank, had gone through the first half of this season in a persistent kind of slump. He not only wasn&rsquo;t scoring, but wasn&rsquo;t making the moves he displayed to such advantage just a season ago. His problems were reflected in his goal production. He&rsquo;d notched a meagre eight goals in the 33 games he&rsquo;d played in the first half. Then, suddenly, things took a turn for the better.A two-goal effort against Los Angeles on January 8th marked the turning point.&ldquo;I really think I&rsquo;m out of my scoring slump now,&rdquo; Pete said after that game.He failed to score in his next two contests against Chicago and St. Louis, though Tony Esposito robbed him blind in the Windy City outing. But, on January 13th, Peter was brilliant while scoring twice against Pittsburgh and two nights later he shone again with two goals against Buffalo.&ldquo;Goals bring confidence and that brings more goals,&rdquo; says Peter. &ldquo;A lot of this game is mental. When you&rsquo;re in a slump you think too much. You worry about what you&rsquo;ll do on the next scoring chance, and when the chance comes you louse it up. Sometimes, a guy is so busy planning his moves as he crosses the blueline, he hardly gets a shot off. That happened to me against Toronto earlier this year.&ldquo;Once the puck starts going in for you, you feel you can rely again on instinct. That makes it very hard for a goalie to outguess you.&rdquo;Peter, the biggest man on Canadiens and, on some nights, the biggest talent, says that confidence and a highly developed &lsquo;instinct can result in greater alertness around the net, as well.The alertness bit was amply demonstrated in the way he got his second goal of the night against Pittsburgh. After taking a pass from Yvan Cournoyer, he bulled his way in close and blasted a quick shot at goalie Jim Rutherford. The Penguin netminder made the save, but the puck caromed off his pad right back to Peter. The puck, at that point, was several inches off the ice, but Pete whacked it right into the net.&ldquo;Another time I wouldn&rsquo;t have come close to hitting that puck in mid-flight,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But, when things are going right it makes a guy sharper.&rdquo;HAB-BITS: Peter Bronfman, a director of Canadian Arena Co., has been named Chairman of the Board, as the new regime takes hold of the Canadiens helm&hellip;Irving Grundman, 43, head of a Canadian bowling chain, has been appointed executive assistant to Jacques Courtois who replaced David Molson as president of the Arena company and the hockey team&hellip;Jean Beliveau has been elected a director of Canadian Arena&hellip;Scotty Bowman was humiliated by Habs 7-3 loss to the Blues on his first visit to St. Louis as coach of the Montreal team&hellip;Serge Savard has been given the green light to begin scrimmaging with Canadiens and may be back in the lineup by early February. Savard&rsquo;s last game was Jan. 30th, 1971, when he suffered the second broken leg of his career following a clean, but terrific check from Toronto&rsquo;s Bob Baun&hellip;At the halfway mark this season, Habs had a 23-9-7 record and were in third place with 53 points. Last year, at this time, they were 19-12-8 and were in third place with 46 points.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02650/2949066-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="510" height="666"><figcaption class="caption-body">PETE MAHOVLICH&hellip;Regains Touch</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Pete Mahovlich Breaks Out To End Half-Season Slump

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01740/2949104-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"></div>Bobby Hull&rsquo;s value to his team is substantial. His value to hockey is virtually immeasurable. Yet other players of lesser skills are constantly attempting to minimize his effectiveness. They check him harder. Watch him more closely. Follow him everywhere. And Bobby copes not only with them but with all the normal hockey situations.A fall. A stick. A stray shot. And more.Bobby is outfitted from his Tackaberry skates to his shoulder pads with CCM equipment. He knows as a member of our Advisory Board that all our hockey equipment must satisfy not only himself but our other Advisory Board members. If it doesn&rsquo;t, the design is improved to meet CCM&rsquo;s consistently high standards.Bobby Hull, the million dollar investment, is protected by CCM. We&rsquo;re very happy about it. And we&rsquo;re certain the rest of hockey is, too.Bobby Hull.Frank Mahovlich.Darryl Sittler.Paul Henderson.Dale Tallon.Marcel Dionne.Gary Smith.The CCM Athletic Advisory Board. We use more than their names.We use their ideas. &#9632;

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HOW DO YOU PROTECT A MILLION DOLLAR INVESTMENT LIKE BOBBY HULL?

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01740/2949247-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg"></div><h2>TOP 25 SCORERS</h2>(Including Games Of Sunday, January 23)<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02629/2949240-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="1415" height="893"></div><h2>BOSTON Bruins</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03490/2949233-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="745" height="776"></div><h2>BUFFALO Sabres</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04358/2949226-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="749" height="837"></div><h2>CALIFORNIA Seals</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-05268/2949219-1-eng-US/f0014-052.jpg" title="f0014-05" width="749" height="739"></div><h2>CHICAGO Black Hawks</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-06226/2949212-1-eng-US/f0014-062.jpg" title="f0014-06" width="736" height="735"></div><h2>DETROIT Red Wings</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-07184/2949205-1-eng-US/f0014-072.jpg" title="f0014-07" width="750" height="722"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES Kings</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-08158/2949198-1-eng-US/f0014-082.jpg" title="f0014-08" width="737" height="727"></div><h2>MINNESOTA North Stars</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-09144/2949191-1-eng-US/f0014-092.jpg" title="f0014-09" width="740" height="752"></div><h2>MONTREAL Canadiens</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-10128/2949184-1-eng-US/f0014-102.jpg" title="f0014-10" width="741" height="767"></div><h2>NEW YORK Rangers</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-11115/2949177-1-eng-US/f0014-112.jpg" title="f0014-11" width="746" height="770"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA Flyers</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-12104/2949170-1-eng-US/f0014-122.jpg" title="f0014-12" width="740" height="822"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH Penguins</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-1387/2949163-1-eng-US/f0014-132.jpg" title="f0014-13" width="738" height="846"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS Blues</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-1468/2949156-1-eng-US/f0014-142.jpg" title="f0014-14" width="740" height="844"></div><h2>TORONTO Maple Leafs</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-1559/2949149-1-eng-US/f0014-152.jpg" title="f0014-15" width="744" height="824"></div><h2>VANCOUVER Canucks</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-1648/2949142-1-eng-US/f0014-162.jpg" title="f0014-16" width="742" height="778"></div><h2>NHl&rsquo;S EAST-WEST SCOREBOARD</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-1746/2949135-1-eng-US/f0014-172.jpg" title="f0014-17" width="1413" height="380"></div>(Statistics include games of Sun. Jan. 23) &#9632;

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PLAYERS SCORING PENALTY RECORDS

<div class="byline">BY DAN PROUDFOOT</div>TORONTO&mdash;Maple Leaf management has begun glowering at its players, one eye on their sagging home record and the other on the surging Detroit Red Wings, and talking openly of trades.After Leafs were tied 1-1 by Los Angeles Kings, the glowering was especially intense. The next day, the players read a newspaper account in which general manager Jim Gregory was quoted as saying: &ldquo;I guess we need something like a trade to get them moving again.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01714/2949278-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="278" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brad Selwood</figcaption></div>Harold Ballard, president of the team, produced a similar quote. &ldquo;Perhaps we need something like a trade to get them moving again.&rdquo;Gregory left immediately on a talent and trade mission.Coach John McLellan hoped his team would advance in the East Division standing as it enjoyed a stretch in the schedule with seven of eight games in Maple Leaf Gardens.Leafs came through briefly with two big games for wins over Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers. But in the other contests they lost twice to St. Louis Blues, once to Boston Bruins, and tied Philadelphia Flyers and the Kings.They gained only six of a possible 14 points.Further, they faced their longest road trip of the year, opening Jan. 19 in Montreal and continuing for six more games without a return to Toronto.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re just going to have to play it tight on this road trip,&rdquo; said McLellan, without looking too confident.Leafs long were content in their fourth-place position, reassured by the belief they were the fifth-best team in the league and sure to improve.Management lost its cool slightly, however, as Red Wings started improving faster than Leafs. Indeed, it became questionable if the Leaf improvement was significant at all.Brad Selwood&rsquo;s stature rose at right defense. But left defense was considered questionable with Jim Dorey out of uniform with his cut finger. Strength on the wings was still limited to the first two lines, and sometimes only one line.Below par team performances against Philadelphia and Los Angeles led to the trade talk. Such declarations by management often are intended to shake up players, but mean little.In Leafs&rsquo; case the printed report undoubtably was designed to kick the players in the pants via the press, but there also was some substance to what was said. General manager Gregory has been seeking trades all season without success, and he has continued talking with other general mangers. Ballard, after cooling down and witnessing the Leaf win over Rangers, denied that Gregory was seeking a deal in a hurry to pick up the team.LEAF NOTES: The series of injuries which has hurt the team all season continued&hellip;Paul Henderson encountered a groin injury against New York&hellip;Mike Pelyk missed three games with torn cartillage in his right knee&hellip;Jim McKenny missed a single game with a strained clavicle&hellip;Harrison returned after missing nine with a cracked larynx, then missed two more with influenza&hellip;several Leafs were slowed by the flu, including Brad Selwood, Guy Trottier, Denis Dupere and Ron Ellis&hellip;Rick Kehoe, called up as an emergency replacement, was retained for a better look but got little ice time before connecting for his first NHL goal. &#9632;

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Leafs’ Brass Talk Trade In Bid To Shake Up Club

MONTREAL&mdash;The Esposito brothers, Tony the goalie of Chicago and Phil, high-scoring center of Boston, both turned in sparkling performances last week which helped their teams strengthen their holds on first place in their respective Divisions.Tony Esposito turned aside all 63 shots directed his way by the California Seals and Toronto Maple Leafs to record season-shutout numbers four and five while trimming his personal goals against average from 1.89 to 1.75. Combined with Gary Smith&rsquo;s 1.98 mark. Chicago&rsquo;s duo has now opened a formidable 15-goal lead over its nearest rivals. Gump Worsley and Cesare Maniago of Minnesota who have a combined average of 2.12.Not since 1955-56, when goalies Jacques Plante and Boh Perreault of Montreal Canadiens combined for a 1.78 goals against average after 46 games, has a team enjoyed such superb netminding. If the Hawks can maintain this average over the balance of the season, they would win the Vezina Trophy with the lowest mark since 1939-40 when Dave Kerr of New York Rangers won it with a 1.60 average.Meanwhile, in the scoring race. Phil Esposito picked up five points last week&mdash;including his 400th career assist against Buffalo&mdash;for a total of 81 and increased his lead to two points over runner-up Jean Ratelie of New York. Esposito leads in goals scored with 39 while Ratelle has the most assists. 51, a personal high.Ratelle&rsquo;s linemates. Rod Gilbert and Vic Hadfield. along with Bruins&rsquo; Bobby Orr share third place with 66 mints each, four more than Bobby Hull of Chicago who is second in goal-scoring with 35.Twenty-year-old rookie sensation Rick Martin of Buffalo. who says he would like to fashion his playing style along the lines of that of veteran Bobby Hull, isn&rsquo;t going far wrong. He now has 33 goals, only two fewer than his boyhood idol, and needs only six more in Sabres&rsquo; remaining 30 games to shatter the rookie record of 38 goals set last season by teammate Gilbert Perreault.Not to be forgotten among individual performances last week is that of little Andre Boudrias of Vancouver. He led all scorers, collecting six points, and registered the first three-goal-game of his seven year career against the Rangers. &#9632;

NHL WEEK—In Review

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02641/2949347-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="674" height="436"></div><h2>THE TOP 10 NETMINDERS</h2>(Including games of Sunday, Jan. 23)<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03540/2949340-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="1123" height="476"></div><h3>COMPLETE GOALKEEPING RECORDS FOR NHL TEAMS</h3><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-04421/2949333-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="1128" height="1929"></div> &#9632;

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LOOKING AT NHL GOALERS

<div class="byline">BY BOB SMIZIK</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD. Arnold street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U. S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD. Arnold street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U. S. and CanadaPITTSBURGH&mdash;Take a look at Dave Burrows record and you&rsquo;d never know why the Penguins dratted him from Chicago.Take a look at Burrows on the ice and you&rsquo;d soon forget he&rsquo;s there. The Penguin front office is unamimous in its opinion of the 23-year-old rookie defenseman. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not flashy or colorful,&rdquo; said Executive Director Jack Riley. &ldquo;The guy is non-descriptive,&rdquo; said assistant general manager Jack Button, who first put the Penguins on to Burrows.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01561/2949378-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="270" height="394"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave Burrows</figcaption></div>Burrows is as exciting as a Ma and Pa Kettle movie. He&rsquo;s about as mistake prone as a computer. Use your index fingers to count the mistakes he makes on the ice.You&rsquo;ll need only one hand.The rookie blueliner will never be the Penguins&rsquo; leading scorer, but he&rsquo;ll always be the leading nonscorer. He won&rsquo;t get many points, but he&rsquo;ll give up even less.Last year Burrows terrorized. Central League goalies for one goal and 11 assists. For some guys that&rsquo;s a week&rsquo;s work. For Burrows it was a season.The previous year was his big one. He scored four goals. It was close to his all-time high.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never scored more than five goals in my life,&rdquo; said Burrows, the best thing to happen to the Penguin defense since they selected Les Binkley in the original expansion draft.National Hockey League goalies have not exactly been cringing in fear when Burrows takes the ice. Through the Penguins first 44 games, he had no goals and one assist.Okay, so Burrows doesn&rsquo;t score a lot of goals. Maybe he&rsquo;s a tough guy, banging away on opponent&rsquo;s heads.Burrows had 49 penalty minutes with Dallas last season in 67 games. For his defensive partner on the Penguins, Bryan Watson, sometimes that&rsquo;s a few games work.What then, you ask, does Burrow do?&ldquo;He&rsquo; a great defensive defenseman,&rdquo; said Kelly, who saw Burrows once last season, but that was enough to make him the Penguins&rsquo; first pick in the intra-league draft&mdash;the fourth player selected.Here&rsquo;s how Burrows looks at hockey. &ldquo;I get just a big a thrill out of stopping a scoring play as some guys do out of scoring a goal,&rdquo; he said.Taking full advantage of his size, 6-1, 182 pounds, Burrows plays a disciplined, unspectacular type of game, riding opposing puck carriers away from the net.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t consider myself that strong,&rdquo; he explains. &ldquo;But a lot of it is leverage. I just get my stick between the player&rsquo;s legs and lean on him.&rdquo;&ldquo;He takes the man,&rdquo; Kelly said, &ldquo;and doesn&rsquo;t play the puck too much. Fundamentally he&rsquo;s very sound.&rdquo;In a comparison of styles, Burrows closely resembles Chicago&rsquo;s Bill White, a 6-2, 190-pound veteran, who is, perhaps, the premier defenseman in the Western Division.&ldquo;They have a lot of similar traits,&rdquo; Kelly concedes, &ldquo;but I think Burrows will be more physical.&rdquo;He has been paired with Watson since training camp. Opposite in almost every sense, they have become the Penguins&rsquo; most effective defensive combination.&ldquo;Bryan always talks to me on the ice,&rdquo; Burrows said of his fiery little partner, whose manner of taking an opposing player out of a play has been known to have a rankling effect on the enemy.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been a boost in helping me get my confidence,&rdquo; Burrows said. &#9632;

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Defensive Play Endears Rookie Burrows To Penguins

<h2>In The East</h2>Little Andre Boudrias has always been a prolific scorer despite his size. It was one of the reasons the Vancouver Canucks took a chance on him when they drafted him for their expansion club.Boudrias paid off the Canucks&rsquo; faith in him last year with a 25-goal season and this year he is right back knocking on the door with 16 already in the bag for the current campaign.The diminutive Vancouver pivot fired four of those 16 markers past the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers last week to turn in a productive four-goal-two-assist performance.Three of Boudrias&rsquo; goals came in the same game and helped upset the high-flying Rangers 5-2. In the other game, he shot the winning goal to topple the Penguins 6-1.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02484/2949416-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="557" height="665"><figcaption class="caption-body">ANDRE BOUDRIAS&hellip;Vancouver Canucks</figcaption></div><h2>In The West</h2>The Chicago Black Hawks are running away from the pack in the NHL&rsquo;s West Division, and one of the reasons they&rsquo;re so far ahead is their brilliant netminding.The Hawks&rsquo; twosome of Tony Esposito and Gary Smith won the first-half honors in the Vezina Trophy race because both are on a par as far as effectiveness is concerned. Esposito showed the hot hand last week in the NHL by recording a pair of back-to-back shutouts to raise his season total to five&mdash;tops for the entire league.The sure-handed Chicago puck-stopper blanked the California Seals 2-0 and slammed the door on the slumping Toronto Leafs 4-0 in his next outing, making him the first goalkeeper to record to two shutouts in one week this season in the NHL.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03383/2949409-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="550" height="643"><figcaption class="caption-body">TONY ESPOSITO&hellip;Chicago Black Hawks</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0016-02

Player’s of the week

<h2>MONTREAL</h2>GOALPhil MyreDenis DeJordyKen DrydenDEFENSETerry Harper AJocquet LaperrierePierre BouchardJ.C.Tremblay AGuy LapointeCENTERHenri Richard CPete MahovlichChuck LefleyMarc TardifR. WINGYvon CournoyerClaude LaroseGuy LafleurChuck ArnasonJim RobertsL. WINGFrank Mohovlich ARejean HouleJacques LemaireINJUREDSerge Savard<h2>CHICAGO</h2>GOALTony EspositoGary SmithDEFENSEPat StapletonBill WhiteKeith MagnusonDoug Jarrett AJerry KorabCENTERStan Mikito APit MartinBryan CampbellLou AngottiAndre LacroixR. WINGChiff KorollChico MakiEric Nesterenko ADarryl MaggsJim PoppinL. WINGBobby HullDennis HullJonny O&rsquo;SheaINJUREDGerry Desjardins<h2>BOSTON</h2>GOALGerry CheeversEd JohnstonDEFENSEBobby OrrDallas SmithRick SmithMatt RavlichTed Green ACENTERPhil Esposito AFred StanfieldDerek SandersonR. WINGJohn McKenzieEd Westfall AReg LeachKen HodgeL. WINGJohn Bucyk AWayne CashmanGarnet BaileyMike WaltonDon MarcotteINJUREDDon Awrey<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2>GOALErnie WakelyJim McLeodJacques CaronWayne StephensonDEFENSEAndre DupontBarclay Plager ABill PlagerBob Plager AJohn ArbourCENTERGarry UngerTerry CrispBrian LavenderFrank St Marseille AR. WINGGary SabourinMike MurphyGerry OdrowskiPhil RobertoI WINGGeorge MorrisonFloyd ThomsonJack EgersJim ShiresNJUREDNoel PicardChris BordeleauCarl Brewer A<h2>DETROIT</h2>GOALAl SmithJoe DaleyDEFENSEGary Bergman AArnie Brown ARon StackhouseLarry JohnstonRon HarrisGerry HartCENTERAlex Delvecchio CRed Berenson AMarcel DionneAl KarlonderR. WINGTim EcclestoneMickey RedmondBill CollinsDoug VolmarLeon RochefortWINGNick LibettDanny JohnsonGuy CharronINJUREDNone<h2>CALIFORNIA</h2>GOALGilles MelocheGary KurtDEFENSECarol Vadnais CBert Marshall AMarshall JohnstonDick RedmondPaul ShmyrCENTERJoey JohnstonWall McKechnieWayne Carleton AIvan BoldirevR. WINGNorm FergusonGerry PinderTommy Williams AL. WINGBobby SheehanGory CroteauStan GilbertsonErnie HickeGary JarrettINJUREDTom Webster<h2>TORONTO</h2>GOALBernie ParentJacques PlanteDEFENSEBob Baun AJim McKennyBrad SelwoodBrian GlennieRicky LeyCENTERNorm Ullman ADave Keon CJim HarrissonDon MarshallR. WINGRon Ellis AGuy TrottierL. WINGGarry MonahanDenis DupereDarryl SittlerRick KehoePaul HendersonINJUREDJim DoreyBilly MacMillanMike Pelyk<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2>GOALDoug FavellBruce GambleDEFENSEBarry Ashbee AWayne HillmanBill BrossartEd Van ImpeJoe WatsonRick FoleyRalph Mac SweynCENTERBobby ClarkeJimmy JohnsonBill ClementDick SarrazinR. WINGGary Dornhoefer ALew MorrisonSerge BernierSimon NoletDon SaleskiL. WINGJeon-Guy GendronBob KellyBill LesukLorry KeenanMike ParizeauINJUREDBrent HughesLarry Brown<h2>NEW YORK</h2>GOALEd GiacominGilles VillemureDEFENSEBrad Park AJim Neilson ARod SeilingAb DeMarcoGary DoakDale RolfeCENTERJean RatelleWalt TkaczukBobby RousseauPete StemkowskiR. WINGRod Gilbert ABill FairbairnPierre JarryBruce MacGregorWINGVic Hadfield CTed IrvineGlen SatherGene CarrINJUREDNone<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2>GOALJim Rutherfordles BinkleyDEFENSEDarryl EdestrandDove BurrowsSheldon KannegiesserBryon WatsonTim Horton ADuane RuppCENTERRon SchockRene RobertBryan HextallSyl AppsR. WINGNick HarbarukKen Schinkel AJean PronovostAl McDonoughL. WINGVal FonfeyneGreg PolrsJohn StewartBobby leiterINJUREDKeith McCreary A<h2>BUFFALO</h2>GOALRoger CrozierDave DrydenDEFENSEAl Hamilton ALarry HillmanRay McKayJim WatsonChris EvansTerry BallCENTERGilbert Perreault AGerry Meehan CDon LuceJim LorentzR. WINGRon AndersonSteve AtkinsonKevin O&rsquo;SheaEddie ShackMike ByersL. WINGDonny LawsonRichard MartinCraig RamsayINJUREDMike Robitaille<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2>GOALRogatien VachonGary EdwardsDEFENSEDoug BarrieHarry Howell AJean PotvinPaul CurtisBob WoytowichGilles Marotte ACENTERRalph Backstrom AButch GoringBob Pulford CJuha WidingR. WINGBill HeltLucien GrenierL. WINGEd Joyal ABob BerryRoss LansberryReal LemieuxMike CorriganINJUREDNone<h2>VANCOUVER</h2>GOALDune WilsonGorge GardnerDEFENSEPat QuinnJocelyn GuevremontDennis KearnsJohn SchellaGreg BoddyCENTEROrland Kurtenbach CAndre Boudrias ARon WardRichard LemieuxR. WINGRon StewartWayne ConnellyRosaire PaiementL. WINGWayne MakiTed TaylorDave BalonDale Tallon AINJUREDPoul PopielBarry Wilkins<h2>MINNESOTA</h2>GOALCesare ManiagoLorne WorsleyDEFENSETed Harris CTom ReidDennis O&rsquo;BrienDoug MohnsBarry Gibbs ACENTERTed HamptonMurray OliverCharlie Burns AJude DrouinFred SpeckR. WINGBill GoldsworthyLou NanneBob NevinCraig CameronL. WINGDonny GrantJean-Paul Parise ADeon PrenticeINJUREDNone &#9632;

NHL Team Rosters

<div class="byline">BY ED CONRAD</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Day by day and game by game, it is apparent the Flyers are in serious danger of not even qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs.All of a sudden they are a long way from the plateau they attained while rallying brilliantly in the final weeks of last season to climb from fifth place to finish third.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04225/2949663-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="287" height="443"><figcaption class="caption-body">Andre Lacroix</figcaption></div>That was under the deposed Vic Stasiuk as coach and before the current regime of Fred Shero, who probably still can&rsquo;t believe the season has turned into a disaster.But why?Well, first and foremost, the Flyers, their fans and front office had been completely misled about the effect the new coach would have on team production. By no stretch of the imagination was it in the same class with, say, the Minnesota North Stars, whom the Flyers beat out for third the year before. Yet almost everyone predicted second place (except a realist here who said they&rsquo;d be lucky to finish fourth).The North Stars had made such a considerable improvement up and down their roster, gaining experienced personnel to fortify their defense. Their goal scoring ability was never in question. The Flyers, meanwhile, were all ifs, ands or buts.After Chicago and Minnesota, there was too much competitive balance among the also-rans, consequently a torrid battle for the remaining two playoff positions. When the Flyers&rsquo; shot at second place quickly dissipated and they sank to mediocrity, it had a psychological effect. Its&rsquo; one thing to shoot high, but it&rsquo;s also important to temper that confidence in case you miss.Once the Flyers had fallen well off the pace of the front runners, they weren&rsquo;t playing with the same drive or determination. It seemed only natural since their goal of a high finish had become impossible.Basically, the Flyers made a number of glaring mistakes.First of all, their trades have not brought about the desired results. Several players who were brought in just didn&rsquo;t fit into their plans. So they vegetated on the bench until finally let go.The biggest trade of the season is still a question mark. Veteran center Andre Lacroix definitely could&rsquo;ve scored at least 20 goals, probably 30, if given reasonable playing time by the Flyers. Instead, Lacroix was traded for Rick Foley, a defenseman of limited NHL experience, even though the Flyers&rsquo; defense had seemed quite adequate both in Philadelphia and on the Richmond farm club&hellip;while goal scoring was still the No. 1 need.Probably the Flyers&rsquo; biggest mistake was starting off the season with so many players of little or no NHL experience. They were top-heavy with youth but soon discovered that a lineup so overloaded can be disastrous. Mistakes, instead of being corrected, were being compounded.Yet the Flyers&rsquo; brass was insistent on sticking with youth even after the obvious mistake was evident in the first month of the season. They still kept players such as Rick MacLeish, Pierre Plante and Larry Wright in Philly.There have been other reasons for the tailspin, a record of 12-228 after 42 games, which is their worst mark at that juncture in history.Most noticeable, the Flyers cannot win on the road. They had won only two of 24 road games up until the All-Star game break.For another, they&rsquo;re not scoring goals with reasonable consistency. They were averaging under 2.45 goals-per-game, including the club record 10 goals in a recent 10-3 triumph over California.In addition, the Flyers have become fall guys to the New York Rangers, after being their equal for the last three years. The Flyers haven&rsquo;t a single point to show for four meetings and have been hopelessly outclassed in all but the first one. Previous game plan against them was much more successful yet it had been shelved.Blame the offense for not scoring goals, blame the defense for not stopping them, blame the goaltending for lack of consistent effort. &#9632;

f0018-04

Unproductive Trades, Kid Stars Responsible For Flyer Tailspin

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05170/2949701-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg"></div>(Standings on Wednesday, Jan. 26)<h2>EAST DIVISION</h2><h2>WEST DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-06141/2949694-1-eng-US/f0018-062.jpg" title="f0018-06" width="1105" height="348"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tues. Jan. 18Boston 2 at St. Louis 0California 1 at Minnesota 1Wed. Jan. 19Toronto 0 at Montreal 1New York 5 at Los Angeles 1Minnesota 4 at Detroit 1Vancouver 6 at Pittsburgh 1California 0 at Chicago 2Thurs. Jan. 20Vancouver 0 at Buffalo 1Chicago 2 at Philadelphia 3Fri. Jan. 21New York 5 at California 0Sat. Jan. 22Boston 8 at Montreal 5Toronto 1 at Minnesota 4New York 2 at Vancouver 5Buffalo 2 at Detroit 3Philadelphia 2 at Los Angeles 4Pittsburgh 0 at St. Louis 1Sun. Jan. 23Montreal 3 at Pittsburgh 3Toronto 0 at Chicago 4Buffalo 3 at Boston 3St. Louis 1 at Detroit 3Philadelphia 1 at California 3Los Angeles 3 at Minnesota 5<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tues. Jan. 25All Stars at MinnesotaWed. Jan. 26Toronto at Los AngelesBuffalo at New YorkSt. Louis at PittsburghThur. Jan. 27Minnesota at MontrealPhiladelphia at BostonDetroit at BuffaloVancouver at ChicagoFri. Jan. 28Toronto at CaliforniaSat. Jan. 29St. Louis at MontrealToronto at VancouverNew York at MinnesotaBoston at Philadelphia (afternoon)Los Angeles at DetroitChicago at PittsburghSun. Jan. 30Minnesota at New YorkSt. Louis at BostonDetroit at ChicagoLos Angeles at BuffaloCalifornia at Vancouver (afternoon)Pittsburgh at PhiladelphiaTue. Feb. 1Montreal at St. LouisToronto at DetroitChicago at Los AngelesWed. Feb. 2Minnesota at TorontoBoston at New YorkVancouver at CaliforniaThur. Feb. 3Montreal at Los AngelesNew York at BuffaloMinnesota at BostonDetroit at PhiladelphiaPittsburgh at St. LouisFri. Feb. 4Montreal at CaliforniaChicago at Vancouver &#9632;

f0018-05

NHL SCOREBOARD

<div class="byline">BY CHARLEY BARTON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01458/2949732-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="546" height="817"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM LORENTZ&hellip;Two-Goal Blast</figcaption></div>BUFFALO&mdash;Joe Crozier&rsquo;s victories over the Montreal Canadiens were 11 years apart, and perhaps it was only fitting that he was behind the bench in the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; first triumph in history over the world champions.Now 48, Crozier was a journeyman defenseman at best in the minor leagues, and has gone on to compile one of the most impressive coaching records in the sport at any level.He&rsquo;s handling the Sabres on an interim basis while Punch Imlach, the general manager and coach, is hospitalized with a heart attack.In nine games across two seasons, the Sabres lost five and tied four with the Canadiens. The ninth was a 6-2 reversal in Montreal, and No. 10 was a 4-2 Buffalo victory in Buffalo the next night.It was Crozier&rsquo;s fourth game at the controls, and the third since Imlach was stricken. Earlier this season, Crozier guided the Sabres in a 5-2 loss at Vancouver, where Imlach turned over the reins to him in an abortive attempt to deal the Canucks a king-sized needle.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a long time to go between wins over any one team, 11 years, but I suppose in view of the circumstances it&rsquo;s all quite fine. Anyway, I&rsquo;m sure this win will be a good bit of medicine for Punch, and that&rsquo;s what is really important.&rdquo;Crozier didn&rsquo;t move into any soft spot in the schedule when he took over the Sabres. Their first game, prior to the weekend doubleheader with Montreal, was with the New York Rangers here.The Rangers won in a romp, 52, and the Canadiens, had no problems in their 6-2 win at the Forum. It was a different story 24 hours later in Buffalo, and Crozier fully savoured his first NHL coaching triumph.&ldquo;Fine&hellip;just fine, and the boys did a great job,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I just can&rsquo;t wait to tell Punch about this one.&rdquo;ALONG THE BOARDS: Defenseman Terry Ball was recalled from Cincinnati, the Sabres&rsquo; American League affiliate, for the second time this season when Ray McKay was hospitalized with a bruised kidney&hellip;Forward Rod Zaine may require surgery to repair a knee injury. Zaine was hurt after being sent to Cincinnati midway through the season&hellip;While Crozier was leading the Sabres to their first win over the Canadiens, Floyd Smith, his replacement at Cincinnati, scored a notable victory. The Swords ended the Boston Braves&rsquo; unbeaten treak at home at 22, giving Smith three straight wins in his new post. &#9632;

f0019-01

Crozier Elated After Ending Montreal Jinx

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BARTON</div>BUFFALO&mdash;Jim Lorentz didn&rsquo;t waste any time making his presence felt with the Buffalo Sabres.In his second game with the Sabres after moving over from the New York Rangers, the 24-year-old center scored two goals and set up a third in a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens.Despite an obvious lack of game condition due to extended periods on the bench, Lorentz worked well with his wingers, Richard Martin and Steve Atkinson.A graduate of the Niagara Falls Flyers of the Junior &ldquo;A&rdquo; OHA, Lorentz opened the season with the St. Louis Blues.Was he unhappy about coming to the Sabres from the Rangers, obviously headed for the playoffs?&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t happy in St. Louis, but I was happy in New York, except that I wasn&rsquo;t playing,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;I want to play, and Buffalo is perfect for me. I married a Niagara Falls girl, and we live there in the off-season.&ldquo;Truthfully, I&rsquo;m happy to be here. It will take me a while to get back into shape again, I&rsquo;ve played so little this season.&rdquo;For Lorentz, the Rangers will get a player to be named later. &#9632;

New Sabre Pays Fast Dividend

<div class="byline">BY DWAYNE NETLAND</div>TWIN CITIES&mdash;It was a gnawing question, which the Minnesota North Stars preferred to ignore as long as possible, but eventually it had to be faced.Have the North Stars, like the St. Louis Blues of a year ago, played themselves a West Division limbo?Scotty Bowman often lamented last season, while he was running things at St. Louis, that the Blues were so isolated in second place that they had nowhere to go. &ldquo;We aren&rsquo;t going to catch Chicago &ldquo;, Scotty would say, and&rdquo; nobody&rsquo;s going to catch us.&ldquo;The team knows it, and they often play like they know it. It&rsquo;s not a good situation and in the spring it may hurt us.&rdquo;Bowman was referring, of course, to the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Blues coasted to a second-place finish, but they had no momentum and they were eliminated in the first round by the fourth-place North Stars.The North Stars were recently facing that same sort of dilemma. And like the Blues of 1971, they found it difficult to crank up.At one stage of this season, Minnesota had an 18-4-2 record and led the Black Hawks by five points. In their next 15 games, the North Stars were 4-8-3. That Left them 10 points behind Chicago, but there was still a 17-point cushion over both St. Louis and California.&ldquo;I think some of our guys are becoming a little self-satisfied, said Minnesota coach Jack Gordon. &ldquo;They think they&rsquo;ve got it made in second. Well, I don&rsquo;t feel that way and things are going to have to be straightened out.&rdquo;Gordon learned long ago that a professional hockey season is never a smooth ride, but he was visibly irritated by the performance of the North Stars in two successive games with Vancouver.The Canucks came into Metropolitan Sports Center and whipped Minnesota 5-1 for their first road victory in nearly three months. Gordon was almost willing to accept that as one of those nights, and he was hopeful the North Stars would reverse that result in the game three nights later at Vancouver.Instead, the Minnesota team continued to play sluggishly and needed a gift goal late in the third period to salvage a 2-2 tie. The chartered flight down to Oakland that night was a grim one.While the North Stars were on the road, general manager Wren Blair was just returning to a fulltime office schedule back home following his major lung surgery in December and a month of recuperation.Wren is such a competitive man that he cannot tolerate any sustained stretches of mediocre play by his hockey team. It was Blair who assembled the talent for Minnesota&rsquo;s West Division bid this season, and he was desirous of not only establishing a club record for points accumulated but of maintaining a solid foothold on second all year.&ldquo;We have some fellows who have been easily satisfied throughout their professional careers,&rdquo; the Minnesota general manager noted. &ldquo;I guess that&rsquo;s just part of expansion hockey. But we&rsquo;ve got to bear down harder when the points are available to take.&rdquo; &#9632;

North Stars Lose Incentive With Nowhere To Go In Race

<div class="byline">BY JOHN ARNOLD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03185/2949811-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="867" height="1154"></div><h2>SOLUTION IN FEBRUARY 11 ISSUE</h2><h3>ACROSS</h3>1&mdash;Pictured player.6&mdash;Initials of one of the Leafs.7&mdash;Compass point.8&mdash;Former New York and Montreal defenseman.10&mdash;Ronson answers to this.11&mdash;A Buffalo defenseman.13&mdash;Initials of former Red Wing Reibel.14&mdash;Former Boston line.16&mdash;25th and 2nd letters of the alphabet.17&mdash;One of the Hawks answers to this.18&mdash;Denotes scoreless tie.19&mdash;Position played by pictured player. (abbr.)20&mdash;Initials of Ubriaco.21&mdash;One of the Kings.22&mdash;Former forward Stankie-wiez.23&mdash;Ex-Leaf Armstrong.25&mdash;A Vancouver forward.27&mdash;A former Penguin.28&mdash;Wears No. 15 for Montreal.<h3>DOWN</h3>1&mdash;Recently coached Tidewater in AHL.2&mdash;Former New York center.3&mdash;First name of an NHL veteran.4&mdash;23 across used to wear this number.5&mdash;1966-67 Conn. Smythe Trophy Winner.7&mdash;One of the Rangers.9&mdash;First name of an NHL coach.12&mdash;A St. Louis defenseman.14&mdash;Leaf center.15&mdash;Same as 20 across.20&mdash;Former NHL forward Ingarfield answers to this.21&mdash;First name of former defenseman Buller.24&mdash;28 across was born in this month. (abr.)25&mdash;Former Chicago forward.26&mdash;Nickname of a former U.S. President.27&mdash;Initials of one of the Penguins.<h2>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S ANSWERS</h2><h3>ACROSS</h3>1&mdash;PRICE3&mdash;NEB.6&mdash;PERU.7&mdash;ANGOTTI.9&mdash;DALEY10&mdash;ERR.12&mdash;R.A.F.13&mdash;OO.15&mdash;VI.16&mdash;NIL18&mdash;ALE.19&mdash;L.A.20&mdash;HILLMAN.23&mdash;C.D.24&mdash;A.C.25&mdash;J.R.26&mdash;H.H.27&mdash;KELLY.29&mdash;CRISP.<h3>DOWN</h3>1&mdash;PLAGER.2&mdash;INGARFIELD3&mdash;NEILSON.4&mdash;E.R.5&mdash;BUCYK.6&mdash;P.T.A.8&mdash;TD.11&mdash;RAVLICH.14&mdash;OIL.17&mdash;LARRY.18&mdash;A.H.21&mdash;MAKI.22&mdash;ACES.25&mdash;J.L.26&mdash;HI.28&mdash;LP. &#9632;

f0020-03

HOCKEY CROSSWORD

<div class="byline">BY HOWIE MEEKER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01303/2949849-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="342" height="347"></div>TORONTO&mdash;I wonder if the majority of people involved in the production of Hockey Night in Canada fully realize how important they are to the mood of most Canadians the day following the telecast. I guess I can really and truly only interpret the feelings of those I come in contact with in the Maritimes and Newfoundland.However, when it comes to hockey entertainment, I&rsquo;d imagine our citizens are the same coast to coast. We prefer to see a Canadian team playing the strongest opposition available. Hockey fans in franchised cities naturally prefer a steady diet of the Canucks, Leafs, and Canadiens. However down east where loyalties are divided, a Boston-Toronto or Habs-Ranger or Chicago contest puts every hockey fan in a jovial mood the following day.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02222/2949842-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="259" height="432"><figcaption class="caption-body">Howie Meeker</figcaption></div>For the majority (and in this instance we are no different than the rest of Canada) Saturday and Wednesday evening hockey is the highlight of the week.The actual telecast of the game only provides a small portion of entertainment when compared to the hockey fans comments and arguments the following day&mdash;alter a Toron-to-Boston thriller&mdash;the commuters first greeting when climbing aboard the bus is an enthusiastic &ldquo;Great Game Last Nite, eh Joe&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t that Orr something else&rdquo;&mdash;instead of the usual grumpy half asleep &ldquo;Good Morning&rdquo;.NHL Hockey is usually the topic of conversation on the street corner&mdash;over the desk&mdash;above the roar of the stamping machine&mdash;during the coffee break&mdash;the noon hour lunch period and on the way home from work.The skill of the player has improved and will continue to improve. However, we are not producing talent in great enough numbers to make enough of the teams competitive and entertainment aspect by Canadian standards. I don&rsquo;t think the professional Junior &ldquo;A&rdquo; hockey promoter, the CAHA and its branch members or Hockey Canada really and truly have the slightest interest in what&rsquo;s going on below Junior &ldquo;A and college hockey.Apparently, the NHL members could care less about developments below Junior &ldquo;A hockey. I he top leagues are finding less and less talent in the midget division and the intellectuals in Hockey Canada wouldn&rsquo;t stoop to getting involved (other than obtaining first rate propaganda) in high school or minor hockey, an area that lacks program, leadership, expertise and money.Only when we begin a national training program with the teaching of skills more important than winning games at the pee wee and bantam age level will we, in the entertainment business, be able to guarantee Canadian hockey fans the greatest sports spectacle a Montreal-Chicago Black Hawk game&mdash;or NHL Hockey as we knew it before expansion on every telecast. &#9632;

f0020-01

HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA LA SOIREE DU HOCKEY

LOS ANGELES&mdash;The Los Angeles entry in the new World Hockey Association called a press-conference in early January to announce plans for a first season that is scheduled to start in October of 1972. The team will be called the Sharks and plans 34 home games in the Los Angeles Sports Arena, where the old minor league Blades played and where the Kings began before their Inglewood Forum Jack Kelly was constructed, and five home games in the nearby Long Beach Arena.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01164/2949880-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="262" height="472"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jack Kelly</figcaption></div>Don Dyer, a Long Beach lawyer, is president of the club and Fred Beckham, an Anaheim auto-dealer, is chairman of the board. Both have varied business interests. Dennis Murphy, one of the founding fathers of the American Basketball Assn. and former general manager of the ABA&rsquo;s Oakland Oaks and Miami Floridians, is executive vice-president and general manager.Terry Slater, tough, bespectacled young veteran from Ontario, briefly a player for the Montreal Canadiens and the old Blades, a college coach at Toledo and coach and general manager of the Toledo International League champions of 1969, will coach the SharksThe selection of the name &lsquo;Sharks&rsquo; by the L.A. entry adds another to the growing list of WHA team names. Miami will lie known as the Screaming Eagles. St. Paul will be the Fighting Saints. Edmonton will be the Oil Kings. Winnipeg will be the Jets and Calgary will be known as the Bronks.The New England team in the WHA has appointed-Jack Kelly, current coach of Boston University, as general manager and coach of its franchise.Kelly has been a long-time coach at BU and has compiled an enviable record over the years. He is also the second current college coach to join a WHA team. Glen Sonmor left the University of Minnesota to become general manager and coach of the St. Paul entry.Metropolitan Hockey Club, Inc., will operate the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s New York franchise&mdash;in 1972-73.&ldquo;We have been offered a full slate of playing dates in Madison Square Garden for the coming WHA season,&rdquo; said Richard I. (Dick) Wood, president of the club.&ldquo;There definitely will be a New York entry in the WHA next season,&rdquo; Wood said. &ldquo;Our management will be young and aggressive. We&rsquo;re in the process of obtaining the best available general manager and coach. We&rsquo;d like to give the New York fans a coach whose name is familiar to them.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0021-01

Los Angeles, New York Set Plans

LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallacaburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallacaburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada<h2>HOW THEY STAND</h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE(Standings on Mon. Jan. 24)<h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01182/2949932-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="582" height="158"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02122/2949925-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="583" height="294"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. Jan. 17Springfield 7 at Tidewater 3Tues. Jan. 18Baltimore 5 at Boston 3Providence 3 at Cincinnati 4Cleveland 1 at Novo Scotia 4Wed. Jan. 19Boston 2 at Hershey 1Springfield 3 at Richmond 3Cincinnati 3 at Rochester 4Thurs. Jan. 20Nova Scotia 2 at Boston 5Fri. Jan. 21Richmond 2 at Baltimore 5Rochester 2 at Cincinnati 6Cleveland 0 at Providence 4Nova Scotia 5 at Springfield 5Sat. Jan. 22Rochester 5 at Baltimore 5Providence 1 at Boston 4Tidewater 2 at Hershey 4Cleveland 1 at Springfield 6Sun. Jan. 23Baltimore 2 at Cincinnati 1Tidewater 5 at Providence 7Cleveland 3 at Richmond 2Hershey 4 at Rochester 9<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Mon. Jan. 24Nova Scotia at BostonTues. Jan. 25Tidewater at BaltimoreWed Jan. 26Springfield at ClevelandNova Scotia at HersheyBoston at Tidewater (Hampton Roads)Thur. Jan. 27Springfield at CincinnatiFri. Jan. 28Hershey at BaltimoreBoston at RichmondNova Scotia at RochesterSat. Jan. 29Rochester at ClevelandBaltimore at HersheyRichmond at SpringfieldConcinnati at Tidewater (at Norfolk)Sun. Jan. 30Tidewater at CincinnatiHershey at Cleveland (afternoonBoston at Nova ScottiaRichemond at ProvidenceSpringfield at RocherterTues. Feb. 1Springfield at BostonRochester at Nova ScotiaWed. Feb. 2Providence at BaltimoreCleveland at HersheyRichmond at Tidewater (et Norfolk)Thur. Feb. 3Rochester at Nova Scotia<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3>(Including Games Of Sun. Jan. 16)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03105/2949918-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="595" height="537"></div><h3>GOALKEEPERS RECORDS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0487/2949911-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="588" height="697"></div> &#9632;

f0022-01

AMERICAN LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY GREG FARLEY</div>BOSTON&mdash;&ldquo;The pressure&rsquo;s off now,&rdquo; sighed Bep Guidolin following his team&rsquo;s first loss on home ice following an AHL record string of 22 games without a loss.The culprits were the Cincinnati Swords, who just a few weeks back snapped a long home ice unbeaten skein by the Cleveland Barons. &ldquo;Their goalie (Ray Reeson) was nothing short of sensational in that one,&rdquo; pointed out Bep, &ldquo;but we did come up a little flat for the game.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0577/2949970-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="249" height="432"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tommy Williams</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to make excuses for it though. We&rsquo;re proud of the record we set, and we&rsquo;re looking forward to starting another winning streak.&ldquo;Underneath it all,&rdquo; he continued, &ldquo;I think the guys are relieved that it&rsquo;s over now, and I think you&rsquo;ll see an improvement in our play from now on.&rdquo;The Braves looked like their old selves when they returned home to belt Springfield, 5-2, following their winless road trip of a few weeks ago. But then came the Cincinnati loss 3-2 following by a sloppy 7-4 setback at Rochester, the Braves&rsquo; first to the Amerks in six games this season.At last look, Nova Scotia had closed to within six points of the first place Braves, with no games in hand for either contestant. Despite the loss of several key operatives to the parent Montreal Canadiens, the Voyageurs have been coming on like gangbusters in recent weeks.If the Braves hope to maintain their lock on the top spot in their division, they&rsquo;ll have to get back on the right track, soon.&ldquo;I think most of the guys have felt right along that Halifax is our toughest opponent,&rdquo; advised defenseman Paul Hurley recently.&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve got a lot of depth and experience which will benefit them in the stretch run and probably right into the playoffs. They&rsquo;re a strong team, but so are we.&ldquo;It should be very interesting if we meet them in the playoffs.&rdquo;BRAVES BRIEFS: The latest report on injured Garry Peters is not encouraging. The Braves&rsquo; captain and leading scorer will be sidelined longer than originally expected&mdash;perhaps an additional three weeks&hellip;To help offset the loss of Peters, the Braves were able to secure the services of veteran National Leaguer Tommy Williams, who was waived through the NHL and sent to the Braves by the California Golden Seals. Williams has been hobbled by injuries in the past year and a half and suffered a broken cheekbone earlier this season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0659/2949963-1-eng-US/f0022-062.jpg" title="f0022-06" width="552" height="1167"><figcaption class="caption-body">BEP GUIDOLIN&hellip;Looking Ahead</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0022-05

Guidolin Hoping Pressure Off His Club With Onrushing Voyageurs Closing In

WEST SPRINGFIELD&mdash;Coach Bep Guidolin of the Boston Braves was fined $300 for &ldquo;abuse of the officials and conduct prejudicial to the welfare of the league.&rdquo;Jack Butterfield, president of the American Hockey League, set the fine on charges stemming from an incident on New Year&rsquo;s Day in a game involving Boston at the Springfield Kings.During the game Guidolin was ejected for obscene gestures after protesting a two-minute minor pelanty called by official Alf LeJeune against the Boston goalie for firing the puck out of the rink. &#9632;

Guidolin Fined $300 By AHL

<div class="byline">BY JOE MINSTER</div>CINCINNATI&mdash;What a difference a weekend&mdash;and three hockey games&mdash;can make! Just ask the Cincinnati Swords of the American Hockey League.The youthful Swords, who had been having trouble putting together winning efforts, started this particular weekend in fifth place in the Western Division of the AHL. Their prospects weren&rsquo;t particularly bright, either, as they faced road games with the red-hot Richmond Robins and Eastern Division pacesetting Boston Braves before returning home to tackle Richmond again.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01161/2950032-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="284" height="477"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rocky Farr</figcaption></div>What happened in the three-day span is history now, but it&rsquo;s the type of history that interim Coach Floyd Smith and his scrappy Swords won&rsquo;t soon forget.A sensational effort by goalie Rocky Farr in Richmond sparked Cincinnati to a 4-2 conquest that enabled the winners to replace the Robins in fourth place. The next afternoon, goalie Ray Reeson matched teammate Farr&rsquo;s performance with a 3-2 victory over Boston, first home setback of the season for the Braves.Climaxing the three-day spree, 21-year-old Butch Deadmarsh became the first Sword to fire the three-goal &ldquo;hat trick&rdquo; as he led his team to an easy 6-1 win over the Robins.These three vital victories left Cincinnati one game under .500. More important, it lifted the improving Swords into a tie for second place in the Western AHL with Baltimore, just three points behind front-running Hershey.Members of the Cincinnati team were jubilant at this sudden turn of events, and the same could be said for their new coach. Smith. Floyd is replacing Joe Crozier at the helm of the team after Crozier was summoned to the parent Buffalo Sabre club to take over for the ailing Punch Imlach.Echoing the sentiments of his immediate predecessor, Smith pointed out that &ldquo;these are a great bunch of hoys we have here in Cincinnati. They&rsquo;re bound to improve as the season progresses, and there&rsquo;s no doubt in my mind that some of them will be playing in the National League real soon.&rdquo;Reviewing the weekend three-game sweep. Smith had particular praise for his two goalies, Farr and Reeson, and team Capt. Keke Mortson, while lauding his defense corps and wingers for outstanding defensive skating in all three contests.&ldquo;You would have to say that those wins were real team efforts, with everyone contributing,&rdquo; Smith pointed out. &ldquo;But the highlight had to be our terrific showing in Boston, where we simply refused to fold under the pressure and played excellent hockey all the way.&rdquo;That loss, incidentally, was the first of the season at home for the rampaging Braves, who had registered 18 victories and played to four ties in their previous 22 outings on the Beantown rink. The winning goal came late in the final period, with the red light lit by Sword winger Hughie Harris, a prolific point-maker in recent games.SWORD SLASHES: Defenseman Terry Ball, No. 1 scorer on the Cincinnati team, was recalled by Buffalo and was on hand as the Sabres knocked off the Montreal Canadiens, 4-2&hellip;Frank (Fran&ccedil;ois) Lacombe, a chunky defenseman, joined the Swords and tallied the first goal in the 6-1 conquest of Richmond.&hellip;Deadmarsh&rsquo;s hat trick enabled him to become Cincinnati&rsquo;s first 20-goal man of the season, despite the fact that he has missed 12 games because of a brief stint with Buffalo and subsequent injuries to his shoulder. Butch&rsquo;s final two goals came in a 29-second span early in the second period against Richmond, one at 2:28 and the finale (his third) at 2:57.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02122/2950025-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="508" height="591"><figcaption class="caption-body">BUTCH DEADMARSH Fires Hat Trick&hellip;</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0023-01

Vital Victories Lift Swords In west Race

<h2>Sun. Jan. 9 SPRINGFIELD 4 at PROVIDENCE 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0396/2950147-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="595" height="485"></div><h2>HERSHEY 3 at RICHMOND 8</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0476/2950140-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="599" height="781"></div><h2>BOSTON 1 at TIDEWATER 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0560/2950133-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="605" height="379"></div><h2>Tues. Jan. 11 SPRINGFIELD 2 at BOSTON 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0651/2950126-1-eng-US/f0023-062.jpg" title="f0023-06" width="602" height="529"></div><h2>PROVIDENCE 5 at TIDEWATER 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0747/2950119-1-eng-US/f0023-072.jpg" title="f0023-07" width="626" height="614"></div><h2>Wed. Jan. 12 CLEVELAND 3 at HERSHEY 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0839/2950112-1-eng-US/f0023-082.jpg" title="f0023-08" width="607" height="466"></div><h2>ROCHESTER 2 at NOVA SCOTIA 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0931/2950105-1-eng-US/f0023-092.jpg" title="f0023-09" width="586" height="625"></div><h2>PROVIDENCE 2 at RICHMOND 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1023/2950098-1-eng-US/f0023-102.jpg" title="f0023-10" width="601" height="740"></div><h2>Thur. Jan. 13 CLEVELAND 6 at TIDEWATER 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1117/2950091-1-eng-US/f0023-112.jpg" title="f0023-11" width="596" height="637"></div><h2>Fri. Jan. 14 PROVIDENCE 2 at ROCHESTER 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1215/2950084-1-eng-US/f0023-122.jpg" title="f0023-12" width="591" height="488"></div><h2>CINCINNATI 4 at RICHMOND 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1310/2950077-1-eng-US/f0023-132.jpg" title="f0023-13" width="600" height="585"></div><h2>Sun. Jan. 16 RICHMOND 1 at CINCINNATI 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-149/2950070-1-eng-US/f0023-142.jpg" title="f0023-14" width="597" height="562"></div><h2>BOSTON 4 at ROCHESTER 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-158/2950063-1-eng-US/f0023-152.jpg" title="f0023-15" width="602" height="888"></div> &#9632;

f0023-03

American Hockey League Summaries

The Philadelphia Flyers sent young Rick MacLeish to the Richmond Robins for the purpose of regaining his scoring touch and to give him more steady ice time. It appears he is achieving both with considerable success. MacLeish is one of the AHL&rsquo;s hottest snipers at the moment. He recently turned in a four-goal performance against Providence to give him six goals in a four-game span. Since joining the Robins he has scored 17 times in 28 games, including five game winning goals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-167/2950178-1-eng-US/f0023-162.jpg" title="f0023-16" width="510" height="590"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK MacLEISH</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0023-16

Player Of The Week

<div class="byline">BY BARRY SWINEHART</div>CLEVELAND&mdash;Gordon Labossiere, who missed 10 late December-early January contests while on emergency recall with the Minnesota North Stars, is still making his presence felt in the race for the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the American Hockey League&rsquo;s highest scorer for the season. Ironically enough the two players he is taking aim at now are Baron teammates Buster Harvey and Terry Caffery.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0465/2950254-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="278" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gordon Labossiere</figcaption></div>The veteran Cleveland center, in his first campaign with the club has picked up nine points in the five games since his return to the AHL Inclued in that total are four goals and three assists in the first three games of a lengthy Barons road trip.Even though Labossiere has appeared in only 31 contests he leads the Cleveland club in goals with 24 and has added 23 assists to place him third on the club scoring slate behind Harvey and Caffery who each have 56 points. At his current average of a point and a half a contest, Gord has a chance to reach he 100-point mark this season.Although Harvey and Caffery are in their first year in the AHL, Labossiere&rsquo;s name among the AHL scoring leaders is nothing new. The Barons&rsquo;s assistant coach won the Sollenberger Trophy while at Quebec in 1966-67 with 95 points and finished second in the point race with 89 while at Springfied for the 1969-70 year. Labossiere, who just celebrated his 32nd birthday, has also finished in the loop&rsquo;s top 10 on two other occasions. His current goal production also gives him a shot at a 40-goal season, an area he has reached only once in his career.BLUELINERS: The Barons appear to be at their healthiest in recent months with only goaltender Fern Rivard, still sidelined with a shoulder separation, out of action. The Barons will again hold a camera night in connection with the annual induction ceremonies for the Barons&rsquo; Hall of Fame game with Richmond. &#9632;

f0024-04

Labossiere Aiming To Overtake Mates

THE GREEN BAY: Bob cats still No. 1 at halfway mark, is a credit to rookie coach Paul Coppo, great goaltending from Mike Curran, plus superb defensive play. Cats undefeated in all games (5) after scoring first goal. Hard working center Randy McArthur leads pack with 23 scoring points. Home attendance tops circuit.THUNDER BAY: twins recent five-game winning streak cut Bobcats lead to six points. League&rsquo;s top line of Mike Mitrush, Barry Hogan, and Bill McEwan setting fast pace with 30 points in last six games. Hogan leads all USHL scorers. Coach Lee Fogolin pleased with play of newcomer Archie Orazietti, former All American. The stocky rearguard has averaged a point per game in ten contests.SAULT: Canadians snapped dry spell with 6-5 overtime victory against Marquette, moving into third sport. General Manager Maurice Stone subbing for coach Jim Glenwright, out with knee operation. Team captain and veteran centre Alf Coletti&rsquo;s 25 points leads club. Team has won all four games in which winger Dave Evoy has scored opening goal.WATERLOO: Bill Dobbyn&rsquo;s Black Hawks ended road famine with convincing 7-3 win at Thunder Bay. Team boasts best home record with 6-1 mark. The line of Jack Barzee, Paul Johnson and rookie Mike Randolph leads offense, with perenial All Star Johnson scoring 11 goals in 13 games. Goalie Jim Coyle playing well behind short-handed defence crew. League directors Joe Nutting of Waterloo and Jim Van Essen of Green Bay will attend Winter Games at Sapporo, Japan.MARQUETTE: Iron Rangers, last year&rsquo;s champions, in six-game tailspin. Injuries to key personal, plus recent retirement of center Bill Ostwald, has coach &ldquo;Oakie&rdquo; Brumm looking for player help. Veteran utility player Anthony Ciaschini joined club after obtaining release from Sault, collected goal and two assists in first game. Speedster Ozzie O&rsquo;Neill returned after playing four exhibition games with U.S. Nationals. &#9632;

Around The USHL

<div class="byline">BY JOHN TRAVERS</div>HERSHEY&mdash;Two veteran centermen, Wally Boyer and Mike Nykoluk, paced the Hershey Bears&rsquo; point parade as the 1971-72 American League season reached the halfway mark.Boyer, skating his eighth year in the AHL, had 32 points on 10 goals and 22 assists, while &ldquo;Big Bear&rdquo; Nykoluk also was at the 32 point level. He had 24 assists and eight goals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01141/2950309-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="248" height="422"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Nykoluk</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Wally and Mike have been a very steady influence on the younger players,&rdquo; said coach Frank Mathers. &ldquo;Duane Rupp is another who has done a good job. Ralph Keller, too. These are veteran hands who can settle things down.&rdquo;The 34-year-old Boyer has played on a couple of Calder Cup championship clubs during his stay in the league. He was a key man for the 1964-65 and 1965-66 Rochester Americans&rsquo; Cup winners under Joe Crozier.And Nykoluk has helped spearhead two Hershey outfits (195859 and 1968-69) to Cup titles. Mike is the league&rsquo;s fourth all-time high scorer with 869 points in 1,044 games. He&rsquo;s closing in fast on third spot, held by Dick Gamble, the ex-Rochester star who ended his career with 892. Nykoluk needs only 24 more points to pass Gamble&rsquo;s standard.Throughout his career, Boyer has played close to a point a game clip. In 382 games he had 317 points on 125 goals and 192 assists.Winger Jean Gratton continues to lead the goal snipers with 17, while young Rick Kessell with 15 and Ron Snell, 13, are close behind.As the Bears hit the 37-game mark, they were the only team in the 11-club circuit with a winning road record (8-7-3) and held top spot in the Western Division. However, Baltimore, Cleveland, Richmond and Cincinnati were closing fast. Only seven points separated first and fifth place, setting the stage for a blanket type finish.&ldquo;When it&rsquo;s all over,&rdquo; said Mathers, &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s going to be the club with the best home record that wins its division. No one can seem to put together a hot streak on the road. It&rsquo;s just tough to win away from home this season.&rdquo;Rival coaches agree with Mathers, claiming there&rsquo;s excellent balance in the league and home ice so far has been the decisive factor.&ldquo;Look at Boston,&rdquo; said Mathers. &ldquo;They haven&rsquo;t lost at home in 22 games, but on the road they&rsquo;re just another team. Nova Scotia&rsquo;s the same way. They lost one at home, but on the road they have won only six of 22. I&rsquo;ll be surprised if there is more than two teams with a .500 road record when the season ends.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0025-01

Veterans Pare Bears On Ire

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK SANTANIELLO</div>SPRINGFIELDDespite a rash of injuries, the Kings are still hanging in there and have a chance for first place, if the Boston Braves lose a few and the Kings win with continued regularity.Wayne Rivers, the 10-year man, is leading the team in total points and scoring despite beeng out of action for some time with an ankle infection due to a skate cut. It was the second time he was out this season as he works to break the 45-goal scoring record for the team and possibly the 55-goal AHL standard set by Guy Trottier. He had 29 goals in his first 32 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0293/2950347-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="264" height="425"><figcaption class="caption-body">Billy Smith</figcaption></div>Defenseman Neil Komodoski has also been on the sidelines with a bad hip as the result of a pinched nerve.The goal-tending on the team has been good. Bruce Landon needs a lot more work to get back the form he showed a couple seasons ago.One can never say enough about Bill Smith, the other netminder, who currently leads the AHL with four shutouts.He just moved into the cage last season when Landon was hurt and he has been there ever since. He was not even expected to play here last season. The brass figured he needed a season in a lower league. How wrong they were as Smith led the club into the Calder Cup finals, which the Kings won. If anything, his play has improved even more this season as he continues to show great form in the net. But Smith also needs work. He does not perform well after long layoffs. Right now he&rsquo;s getting the bulk of the action and the Kings are winning.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0366/2950340-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="552" height="580"><figcaption class="caption-body">WALLY BOYER&hellip;Shows Kids How</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0025-02

Smith’s Net Play Holding Kings In As Top Stars Limp Back From Injuries

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCCONNELL</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold street. Wallacaburg. Ontario Sold in U. S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold street. Wallacaburg. Ontario Sold in U. S. and CanadaPHOENIX&mdash;Phoenix hockey fans are wondering what they can expect for an encore.Five players, a coach and assistant trainer were thrown out of a game between the Phoenix Roadrunners and San Diego Gulls on Phoenix ice. Two nights later, Jean Guy Talbot, the general manager and coach of the Denver Spurs, was ejected along with trainer Toby Wilson as the Roadrunners scored a final seconds victory over the Western Hockey League leaders.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02101/2950385-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="272" height="432"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jean-Guy Talbot</figcaption></div>Referee Alf Lejeune called 36 penalties in the Roadrunner Gulls&rsquo; battle and the only reason it isn&rsquo;t a WHL record is that the same two teams broke the record by 10 with 45 penalties in a Dec. 26 game at San Diego. The game was televised live back to Phoenix.Phoenix coach Aut Erickson, assistant trainer Andy Andress, Roadrunner captain Ted McCaskill, defenseman Harry Shaw and goalie Marv Edwards weren&rsquo;t around for the finish of the latest Phoenix-San Diego skirmish.Neither were San Diego captain Earl Heiskala nor defenseman Al Lebrun.McCaskill and Heiskala were the first to leave with game misconduct penalties, when Lejeune tought they carried a first period fight too far.Edwards left at the end of the second period, also with a game misconduct penalty.That&rsquo;s when Erickson followed Lejeune to the door of the officials&rsquo; room, attempting to &ldquo;have a few words with him.&rdquo; Before they reached the door, Andress struck Lejeune and the official had the final word. It was &ldquo;out! &ldquo;Phoenix defenseman Shaw, just before the mid way mark of the final period, drew a match penalty and ejection for his attempt to knee Jim Cardiff in a center-ice scuffle. Shaw drew two minutes for slashing, two for high sticking and two for roughing, besides the match. Cardiff took a two minute roughing sentence.Defenseman Lebrun, who jumped on Shaw&rsquo;s back during the fight, took a game misconduct as the third man into the fracas.The Gulls won the game 5-3, their second consecutive victory over the Roadrunners after losing three and tying two of their first five meetings this season.The Phoenix-Denver game was a quiet, solidly played affair until the final seconds.Talbot, 39, who took up coaching this season after 17 National League seasons as a defenseman, delayed the game with about two minutes remaining, objecting to a faceoff being held behind the Denver blueline.When Talbot delayed the game again, with 34 seconds remaining, in objection to a penalty whistled by referee Ron Ego on defenseman Gord Kannegiesser for controlling the puck with his hand, Ego called a bench penalty.The Roadrunners turned the two-man advantage into the winning goal, their second power play goal of the period and the second goal of the night by Andy Hinse.The Denver bench immediately erupted, sending sticks and other assorted objects flying across the ice.Talbot seized an armload of sticks, hurled them over the boards and leaped onto the ice in pursuit of the referee.Before play was resumed, Ego had ejected Talbot and trainer Toby Wilson, who threw a towel at the official, then stood at center-ice making gestures.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0380/2950378-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="1176" height="944"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tough TED McCASKILL (11) of Phoenix aims uppercut at San Diego&rsquo;s EARL HEISKALA in fight between two team captains in recent brawling WHL game on Phoenix ice. (Phoenix Gazette Photo)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0026-02

Talbot, Erickson Among Seven Bounced By Referees

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01148/2950416-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="504" height="584"><figcaption class="caption-body">RANDY MILLER&hellip;Shots Going In</figcaption></div>SEATTLE&mdash;&ldquo;This is something new for me,&rdquo; said Randy Miller, a little incredulous of his role as the leading goal scorer on the Seattle Totems.Miller has 10 goals but eight have come in the last 11 games.Through his nine-year pro career, Miller has built a reputation as a defensive forward.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re just going in for me,&rdquo; said the 6-0, 185 pound leftwinger. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not really shooting more. We&rsquo;re just getting more chances. Most of my goals have come from tipping them in or scrambles around the net.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got two good guys to play with in Jim Peters and Howie Hughes.&rdquo;The three played together last season with Denver. &#9632;

f0026-01

Top Scorer New Role For Totem

PORTLAND&mdash;Art Jones isn&rsquo;t letting any young upstart like Guyle Fielder usurp his position as the big gun of the Portland Buckaroos.Fielder, 41, scored 13 points, 12 of them on assists, in his first six games with the Buckaroos to climb into a tie for 10th among the Western Hockey League scoring leaders.Jones, 37, seeking his fourth consecutive scoring championship, scored 13 points in the five games he&rsquo;s played since Fielder joined the Buckaroos from Salt Lake City. He sat out one game with a virus.The spurt opened up an eight point lead over runnerup Larry Lund of the Phoenix Roadrunners. Jones has 24 goals to also take the lead by one in that department from Denver&rsquo;s Ron Buchanan. San Diego&rsquo;s Bob Courcy has 22. &#9632;

Jones Keeping Up With Guyle

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCCONNELL</div>SALT LAKE CITY&mdash;The Salt Lake City Golden Eagles are the hottest team in the Western Hockey League and are closing in on fourth place.That may not sound like much, but the Eagles lived in the basement their first two seasons in the WHL and all that helped them escape the same fate &ldquo;B.L.B.&rdquo; was the lowly plight of the Seattle Totems.&ldquo;B.L.B.&rdquo; is &lsquo;Before Lyle Bradley&rsquo;.The slender centerman and winger Fred Hilts, who both joined the Eagles in the trade that sent veteran center Guyle Fielder to Portland, has injected some scoring power into the Eagles.The eagles had scored just 17 goals in the nine games prior to the trade. They have triggered 26 goals in the six games since.They&rsquo;ve won four and tied one of the six, the four wins in the last four games. In the five pointproducing games, they&rsquo;ve outscored the opposition by 21-12.Bradley has scored four goals and five assists in the five games he&rsquo;s played. He missed one game, a 5-1 victory over San Diego, when his car was snowbound at Twin Falls, Idaho, moving the family belongings to Salt Lake City from Portland.Bradley&rsquo;s production with the Eagles includes two game-winning goals and a game-winning assist. He&rsquo;s scored a point in at least every game.Hilts hasn&rsquo;t been doing badly, either, with two goals and four assists in six games.Bradley&rsquo;s arrival also shook Wilf Martin out of an eight-game slump. He responded with four goals and three assists in six games.Bradley and Martin played together last season at Denver. The 28-year-old center scored 68 points, including 25 goals, for the Mile High City team. Martin scored 37, 33 ans 24 goals in three seasons with the Spurs.This is Bradley&rsquo;s second tour of duty with the Eagles. He played 16 games for them in 1969 before being traded to Denver.<h2>HOW THEY STAND</h2><h3>WESTERN LEAGUE</h3>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 25)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02101/2950485-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="585" height="237"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. Jan. 19Denver 4 at Phoenix 5Thus. Jan. 20San Diego 4 at Salt Lake 3Fri. Jan. 21San Diego 5 at Phoenix 7Sat. Jan. 22Portland 4 at Seattle 2Phoenix 3 at Salt Lake 5Sun. Jan. 23Salt Lake 5 at Phoenix 3<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tue. Jan. 25San Diego at SeattleWed. Jan. 26Denver at Salt LakeSan Diego at PortlandThurs. Jan. 27Salt Lake at PhoenixSeattle at San DiegoFri. Jan. 28Portland at DenverSat. Jan. 29Portland at Salt LakeSeattle at PhoenixSun. Jan. 30Seattle at DenverPhoenix at San DiegoSalt Lake at PortlandWed. Feb. 2Seattle at DenverSalt Lake at PortlandThur. Feb. 3Seattle at Salt LakeSan Diego at PhoenixFri. Feb. 4San Diego at Denver<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3>(Including Games of Sun. Jan. 16)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0376/2950478-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="585" height="411"></div><h3>GOALKEEPERS&rsquo; RECORDS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0470/2950471-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="592" height="436"></div> &#9632;

f0027-02

New Eagles Make Club Fly

The Salt Lake Eagles figure they made a pretty good deal when they picked up Lyle Bradley and Fred Hilts from Portland for Guyle Fielder. Both new Eagles are pulling their weight, particularly Bradley, who has scored four goals and five assists in five games since joining Salt Lake. Two of his goals have been game winners as well.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01133/2950516-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="498" height="544"><figcaption class="caption-body">LYLE BRADLEY</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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<h2>Sat. Jan. 8 PORTLAND 8 at SALT LAKE 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0556/2950589-1-eng-US/f0027-052.jpg" title="f0027-05" width="590" height="975"></div><h2>PHOENIX 2 at SEATTLE 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0648/2950582-1-eng-US/f0027-062.jpg" title="f0027-06" width="600" height="704"></div><h2>DENVER 1 at SAN DIEGO 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0742/2950575-1-eng-US/f0027-072.jpg" title="f0027-07" width="582" height="507"></div><h2>Sun. Jan. 9 PHOENIX 5 at PORTLAND 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0839/2950568-1-eng-US/f0027-082.jpg" title="f0027-08" width="600" height="838"></div><h2>Wed. Jan. 12 DENVER 4 at PORTLAND 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0938/2950561-1-eng-US/f0027-092.jpg" title="f0027-09" width="597" height="795"></div><h2>SAN DIEGO 1 at SALT LAKE 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1036/2950554-1-eng-US/f0027-102.jpg" title="f0027-10" width="608" height="552"></div><h2>PHOENIX 2 at SEATTLE 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1131/2950547-1-eng-US/f0027-112.jpg" title="f0027-11" width="609" height="376"></div> &#9632;

f0027-05

Western League Summaries

LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street Wallaceburg, Ontarie Sold in U. S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street Wallaceburg, Ontarie Sold in U. S. and Canada<h2>HOW THEY STAND</h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE(Standings on Tues. Jan. 25)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0269/2950627-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="575" height="240"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. Jan. 19Omaha 3 at Oklahoma City 2Fri. Jan. 21Oklahoma City 10 at Dallas 7Fort Worth 1 at Kansas City 5Tulsa 0 at Omaha 4Sat. Jan. 22Dallas 3 at Fort Worth IOmaha 3 at Kansas City 5Tulsa 0 at Oklahoma City 4Sun. Jan. 23Kansas City 2 at Dallas 7Oklahoma City 0 at Omaha 4<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tues. Jan. 25Kansas City at TulsaWed. Jan. 26Oklahoma City at OmahaThur. Jan. 27Tulsa at Fort Worth (Convention Center)Fri. Jan. 28Omaha at DallasFort Worth at Tulsa OklahomaCity at Kansas CitySat. Jan. 29Kansas City at DallasOmaha at Fort Worth (Convention Center)Oklahoma City at Kansas CitySun. Jan. 30Dallas at OmahaTue. Feb. 1Dallas at Kansas CityFri. Feb. 4Dallas at Oklahoma CityFort Worth at OmakaTulsa at Kansas City<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3>(Including games of Sun. Jan. 16)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0344/2950620-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="584" height="855"></div> &#9632;

f0028-02

CENTRAL LEAGUE

Few hockey players experience the kind of night Steve Vickers enjoyed Jan. 15 against the KC Blues. The Omaha sharpshooter fired five goals and assisted on three more for an eight point night in a 10-1 rout of the Blues. The goal output tied one CHL record and the points set another for the New York Rangers&rsquo; No. 1 draft choice, who now has 20 goals in his first stab at pro hockey.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0433/2950689-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="536" height="526"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE VICKERS</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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FORT WORTH&mdash;Wholesale player changes gave the Fort Worth Wings a new look, as the parent Detroit Red Wings tried to mend fences at both their farm clubs. Tidewater in the AHL and Fort Worth in the CHL. Fort Worth acquired five players and turned loose of six.The biggest news for Fort Worth fans was the acquisition of 21-year-old defenseman Serge Lajeunesse and 23-year-old right wing center Ron Walters, both from Tidewater.Walters, at Fort Worth the three previous seasons, was the club&rsquo;s leading scorer last year with 69 points on 25 goals and 44 assists. Lajeunesse, former ace of the Montreal Junior Canadiens, started last season with Fort Worth, but was promoted to Detroit after 12 games, and stuck with the parent Wings.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0526/2950720-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="268" height="444"><figcaption class="caption-body">Serge Lajeunesse</figcaption></div>Also acquired from Tidewater were center-right wing Rene Leclerc and center Ralph Stewart. Leclerc played with Fort Worth in parts of three previous seasons, but had 44 games with Detroit last winter. Stewart, on loan from the Vancouver Canucks played mostly for Rochester in the AHL last year, but had two previous CHL seasons, with Houston in 1968-69 and Kansas City in 1969-70.Defenseman Doug Hinton, a rookie at Fort Worth last year, was recalled from Port Huron in the International League. The Wings sent down defenseman Barry Salovcara to replace him.Fort Worth gave an outright release to center Jim Adair, picked up on waivers from Oklahoma City early this season. Right wing Dave Ferguson was returned to Syracuse in the Eastern League.&ldquo;Blueliner Francois Lacombe was returned to the Buffalo Sabres, who reassigned him to Cincinnati in the AHL. Shipped to Tidewater were defenseman-left wing Kevin Morrison and right wing Bob Cook (on loan from Vancouver).The immediate results of the wholesale shuffle were not gratifying The last-place Wings lost a hard-fought 2-1 game in Oklahoma City. Jan. 14, then suffered a 6-1 shellacking in Dallas the next night. They had played 12 straight games without a victory since Dec. 16, hadn&rsquo;t won in nine road games since Nov. 27, and were winless in their last five at home. &#9632;

f0028-05

Fort Worth Cleans House As 11 Players Exchanged

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div>OMAHA&mdash;Rookie left wing Steve Vickers broke a Central League individual scoring record and tied another, as the Omaha Knights walloped the Kansas City Blues 10-1 in Omaha&rsquo;s Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum, Jan. 15. Linemate Billy Hogaboam also tied a league record in the barrage.Vickers, 20-year-old Toronto native who was the New York Rangers&rsquo; No. 1 draft choice last June after playing outstanding junior hockey for the Torolnto Marlboros, notched five goals and three assists in the bombardment. His eight points broke the record of seven established by Mike Walton for the Tulsa Oilers (three goals and four assists) on Christmas night, 1964, in St. Paul.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01123/2950658-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="262" height="458"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill Hogaboam</figcaption></div>The five goals tied the league mark, set by Tom McCarthy for Tulsa and John McKenzie for St. Louis, both in 1964-65.Hogaboam, 22-year-old center from Swift Current, Sask., turned pro with the CHL champion Knights last season, coming off the Saskatoon Blades. He had six assists in the blitz of the-Blues, equaling a league mark set by Art Stratton for St. Louis in 1966-67 and tied by Ron Ward of Tulsa the following season.The line of Hogaboam, Vickers and Norm Gratton was credited with seven goals and 13 assists in the big night. Gratton scored two goals, and Vickers and Hogaboam set up a goal by defenseman Bob Ash.Vickers counted the first two goals of the game, as the Knights zoomed into a 5-0 lead in the opening period. He had another with 33 seconds left in the second, then tallied two more in the third. Bob Collyard had the only KC goal off Omaha netminder Rick Charron at 12:25 of the second.Charron made his debut in the Omaha nets the previous night in Tulsa. Hogaboam scored a shorthanded goal with 13 seconds left in the game to salvage a 3-3 tie.The Knights had started the week with a 5-3 upset of league hading Dallas in Omaha, Jan. 9. Saturday&rsquo;s victory moved the defending champions into a tie with Oklahoma City in their battle for the fourth and last playoff spot, as the campaign passed the halfway mark. They were only two points back of third-place Kansas City. The Knights had won four straight games at home, and were unbeaten in four straight over-all.Charron, 29, is a veteran of five Western League campaigns, but was with Providence in the American League for the first half of the current season. He was scheduled to join the Knights in time for the weekend games of Jan. 7-9 but had to drive from Providence to his home in Phoenix, then back to Omaha.Rick led the WHL in shutouts with five for Phoenix in 1967-68, and again with four for the same team in 1969-70. He had two whitewash jobs last season for Salt Lake.&ldquo;Rick will give us the steady goalkeeping we&rsquo;ve needed.&rdquo; opined general manager Jake Milford. &ldquo;He kept us in the game at Tulsa, making 17 stops in the first period. Now our young kids Know, if they make a mistake, it doesn&rsquo;t automatically give up a goal.&rdquo;On the arrival of Charron, second-year pro Wayne Bell was loaned to Des Moines, in the International League, leaving rookie Wayne Wood as the Knights&rsquo; backup goalie. Bell turned pro with Omaha last season, but got in only 12 games as-understudy to all-star Peter McDuffe.TULSA&mdash; Cal Swenson scored two goals in the Jan. 14 tie with Omaha to take the league scoring lead on 49 points, two ahead of teammate Jean Payette, who was blanked in his last three starts. The Oilers suffered a 34 setback in Kansas City Jan. 9, but ran their home unbeaten streak to 10 games by tying Omaha and then beating Oklahoma City, 201, Jan. 15.Swenson extended his goal total to 26, three more than Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Greg Sheppard, who also scored two for the week. Sheppard was third in the total scoring with 43 points, while linemate Bill Klatt had 42. J.P. Leblanc of Dallas was tied with Omaha&rsquo;s Gratton at 40.Oiler Rick Kehoe, in Toronto since Dec. 30, was still tied with Fort Worth&rsquo;s Ross Perkins, who was blanked for the week. Their 39 points ranked seventh in the league. Hogaboam of Omaha and Dan Maloney of Dallas had 37.The Oilers were thin on defense after rookie John Gris-dale wrenched his instep in the Jan. 8 victory over Dallas, and was sidelined for at least two weeks. Right wing Brian Marchinko was being groomed for occasional blueline duty, then had to take regular duty there Jan. 14, when Larry McIntyre had painful minor surgery. Larry returned to duty the next night.Swenson&rsquo;s two power play goals and Brian St. John&rsquo;s long awaited third goal of the season apparently had won for the Oilers against Omaha. But the Knights scored in the waning seconds of each period, and Hogaboam broke away, while penalty-killing for the tying goal with 13 seconds to play.The shoe was on the other foot when the Oilers entertained archrival Oklahoma City the next night. Blazer goalie John Adams blanked Tulsa for 47 1/2 minutes, and Ken Baird&rsquo;s early goal seemed to be enough to win. But Lyle Moffat scored for Tulsa on a power play at 7:37 of the third, and Steve King got the winner at 8:56 when his shot bounced into the net off a Blazer stick. The Blazers haven&rsquo;t won a regular season game in Tulsa for three years (one tie and 18 losses since Jan. 11, 1969).DALLAS: The league-leading Hawks came back from two straight losses on the road to rack up two victories, one of them away from home. They stetched their lead over second-place Tulsa to seven points after 37 games of the 72-games schedule.It looked like three straight road reverses for coach Bobby Kromm&rsquo;s crew, when they trailed 4-2 halfway through the game at Kansas City, Jan. 14. But the Hawks scored three goals in less than three minutes&mdash;by Dave Hudson, John Marks and Mike Baumgartner&mdash;and went on to claim a 7-5 triumph. The next night there was seldom any doubt, as the Hawks danced to a 3-0 lead in the first period and went on to whip the Fort Worth Wings, 6-1. Goalie Michel Dumas lost his shutout bid when Brian Watts scored for the Wings with 50 seconds left in the middle period.KANSAS CITY&mdash; The week that started so well for the Blues, with their decisive 3-1 home triumph over Tulsa, ended with three losses in four nights, and Kansas City was threatened by Omaha and Oklahoma City in the fight for third place.The Blues took a 4-2 beating in Oklahoma City, Jan. 12, on two late goals by Sheppard, then saw their seven-game unbeaten string at home snapped by Dallas, before the disastrous trek into Omaha.Goals by Bob Roselle and Dave Pulkkinen, 33 seconds appart, had lifted the Blues to a 4-2 advantage in the second period, before Dallas came roaring back.The Blues had run up their home streak in spite of disabling injuries. Defenseman Jim Graham was out with cracked ribs, and right wing Tom Earl was sidelined with a badly cut foot.Although there was little cause for celebrating, KC captain Norm Dennis played his 500th CHL game in the Jan. 15 massacre by Oamaha.OKLAHOMA CITY&mdash; Coach Jim Anderson&rsquo;s Blazers, were starting to jell as a team, while Sheppard and Klatt were regaining their scoring touch, and third place was only two points away.Sheppard&rsquo;s 22nd and 23rd goals made the difference in the 4-2 triumph over KC. Klatt got what proved to be the winning goal in a 2-1 triumph at home against Fort Worth Jan. 14. &#9632;

f0028-01

Vickers Scores Five, Sets Point Record

<h2>Sun., Jan. 9 DAILAS 3 at OMAHA 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0193/2950786-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="602" height="586"></div><h2>TULSA 1 at KANSAS CITY 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0268/2950779-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="608" height="486"></div><h2>Wed., Jan. 12 KANSAS CITY 2 at OKLAHOMA CITY 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0343/2950772-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="596" height="580"></div><h2>Fri., Jan. 14 DALLAS 7 at KANSAS CITY 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0434/2950765-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="614" height="808"></div><h2>OMAHA 3 at TULSA 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0532/2950758-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="596" height="504"></div><h2>FORT WORTH 1 at OKLAHOMA CITY 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0622/2950751-1-eng-US/f0029-062.jpg" title="f0029-06" width="601" height="449"></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

Central League Summaries

<div class="byline">BY HARVEY POLLACK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01116/2950852-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="546" height="588"><figcaption class="caption-body">GALEN HEAD&hellip;Second Hat Trick</figcaption></div>CHARLOTTE&mdash;If you were going to pick a bugaboo for the Charlotte Checkers, it&rsquo;s a good bet that you wouldn&rsquo;t select the expansion Sun Coast Suns&rsquo;franchise in Eastern Hockey League action.But the EHL is the league of the unexpected and the Suns are prime exponents that nothing is sacred in the circuit. For the second time this season the Suns scuttled a Charlotte winning streak to infuriate coach Fred Creighton.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0626/2950845-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="264" height="459"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ray Adduono</figcaption></div>Earlier in the season, the Checkers had a 31-game home winning streak that went through all of 1971 including the tailend of last season and the early stages of the current campaign. Well that streak went up in smoke by a 5-1 count with the Suns the villains.Then just a few weeks ago, the Checkers approached the league standard of 21 games without a loss. This feat was created by the 1967-68 Clinton club and the Checkers figured they&rsquo;d handle that record ease when they reached the 18-game mark with a 14-0-4 slate.Again the stumbling block was Sun Coast which handed the Checkers only their second home defeat of the year by a 4-2 count to ruin Charlotte&rsquo;s chances for the record.The way the Checkers are playing these days records are the only things of interest to the club. They are far and away the leader in the South and there isn&rsquo;t a club that stands a chance of catching them in the regular season race. The Checkers have knocked off the Greensboro Generals repeatedly, and Roanoke Valley with regulairty. Only the Sun Coast skaters have given them any trouble but the Suns are too far back to cause any consternation in the race.Frank Golembrosky and Mike Rouleau are the key scoring operatives for the Checkers and unless there is a decided change, they will battle for the Southern scoring crown without any outside interference. Meantime goalie Gaye Gooley and Gary Bromley also are 1-2 in the goalie race.Checkers Robert Richer had nine goals in 5 games. 12 in nine and 16 in 18. Defenseman Don Brennan&rsquo;s goal with 2:04 left earned Checkers tie at Greensboro to save streak. Wayne Schaab is two summers away from completing a double major in physical education and history at the University of British Columbia.SYRACUSE: Ray Adduono in one stretch either scored or assisted on 10 of 11 Blazer goals. Adduono is away and running with individual scoring lead. He increased Northern edge to 17 points and was 10 better than Charlotte&rsquo;s Rouleau in South&hellip;Blake Ball took delight in dumping Dave Lee, his former minion at Jacksonville who now plays for Clinton. Defenseman Ray Schultz is playing his position more and helping team. Paul Larose scored four goals and assisted on two others in rout of Jersey. Bob Peppier&rsquo;s shoulder almost ready for him to play.ROANOKE VALLEY: Jack McCreary wasn&rsquo;t credited with an assist on a winning Rebels&rsquo; goal to topple Greensboro but his mates gave him credit for the score. Rookie goalie Roger Kosar has come up with many brilliant games. Dale MacLeish and Dave Parenteau in dogfight for club scoring lead. Former Gen Doug Carpenter got important goal in win over old Greensboro mates.CLINTON: Don Herriman finally reinstated by the league without any announcement as to whether he had been fined. Rich Scammell came off injured list. Moe St. Jacques still working himself into shape Ray Butterworth. formerly with Sun Coast, and Brian Randall, former Greensboro forward, have filled the breach during manpower shortage. Defenseman Brian McBratney bothered with knee injury. Dennis Desrosiers approaching 25 goals.JERSEY: Herb Price, late-of Jacksonville, scored two goals in Devils&rsquo; win over Suns. Devils bombed twice by Syracuse and Johnstown in 11-6 and 10-1 games. Coach Red Hay wonders if riding time on bus is reason for club&rsquo;s inconsistent play. Hay also isn&rsquo;t happy over club&rsquo;s ability to win the fights but lose the games. Claude Chartre is in slump and Hay has been resting him.LONG ISLAND: Jean Marie Nicol&rsquo;s charley horse sidelined him and hurt attack of the shuffled lines. Ed Stankiewicz still working on getting some additional help. Captain Butch Morris votes for mate Alain Langlais as the All Star left wing in the Northern Division. Langlais is battling Nicol for club lead in in goals. Bill Morris suffered bruised leg when he collided with Nicol.JOHNSTOWN: Rookie Brian Vescio posted second hat trick of career and Galen Head his second of one season in romp over Jersey. Wynne Dempster had a real wingding with Jersey&rsquo;s Gary Gresdal. Return of Eddie Kachur to duty is up in air since his shoulder is slow to mend&hellip;, Bob Vroman is getting heavy duty in the Jets&rsquo; cage. Gene Peacosh is far and away the club&rsquo;s scoring leader.GREENSBORO: Pierre Duguay, forward sent down from Cincinnati, is club&rsquo;s latest addition. Gens still having problems beating Charlotte. Owner Ted Munchak said one of the reasons he made coaching change was because his players were out of shape. Don Carter satisfied with tie against Charlotte after succession of losses. Defenseman Ted Lanyon, on the injured list, accompagnied Ron Spong on a scouting trip of the IHL. Don Labelle placed on injured list.NEW HAVEN: Winger Denis Romanesky&rsquo;s imminent return from a broken jaw injury means one of the Blades will have to go. A slipped disc in his back put Bobby Peters on injured list and coach Don Perry was seeking some help.SUN COAST: Suns had three ties and one win in successful northern jaunt. Club also broke winning streak of Charlotte and then added win at Greensboro. Suns trying to get a game with the Russian international team in March. Billy Smith rising rapidly in club&rsquo;s scoring fight. Rookie goalie Grant Green doing well.<h2>HOW THEY STAND</h2><h3>EASTERN LEAGUE</h3>(Standings on Tuos. Jan. 25)NORTHERN DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0271/2950838-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="596" height="200"></div>SOUTHERN DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0347/2950831-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="602" height="316"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tues. Jan. 18Ronanoke 0 at Charlotte 8Wed. Jan. 19New Jersey 2 at Clinton 6Syracuse 6 at New Haven 4Thur. Jan. 20Charlotte at Sun Coast (postponed)Clinton 1 at Syracuse 3Greensboro 5 at Roanoke 2Fri. Jan. 21Sun Coast 1 at Charlotte 6Clinton 5 at Long Island 6New Haven 3 at New Jersey 5Syracuse 5 at Johnstown 5Sat. Jan. 22Sun Coast 4 at Roanoke 7Charlotte 4 at Greensboro 4New Haven 3 at Syracuse 5Long Island 3 at Clinton 8New Jersey 0 at Johnstown 2Sun. Jan. 23Greensboro 6 at Roanoke 4Johnstown 0 at New Hoven 4Syracuse 6 at Long Island 3Clinton 0 at New Jersey 4<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tue. Jan. 25Roanoke Valley at CharlotteGreensboro at Sun CoastWed. Jan. 26Greenboro at Sun CoastLong Island at SyracuseRoanoke Valley at New HovenThur. Jan. 27Johnstown at Long IslandFri. Jan. 28Greensboro at CharlotteJohnstown at SyracuseNew Haven vs Clinton (at Utica)Roanoke Valley at New JerseySat. Jan. 29Charlotte at GreensboroSyracuse at ClintonNew Jersey at Long IslandRoanoke Volley at JohnstownSun. Jan. 30Sun Coast at GreensboroSyracuse at New HavenRoanoke Valley at Long IslandClinton at JohnstownMon. Jan. 31Sun Coast at CharlotteTue. Feb. 1Sun Coast at GreensboroWed. Feb. 2Long Island at SyracuseClinton at New HovenThurs. Feb. 3Greensboro at Roanoke ValleyFri. Feb. 4Roanoke Valley at GreensboroSyracuse at New JerseyClinton at Johnstown<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3>(Including games of Sun. Jan. 16)NORTHERN DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0435/2950824-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="595" height="318"></div>SOUTHERN DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0534/2950817-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="589" height="297"></div> &#9632;

f0030-01

Expansion Suns Jinx Leading Charlotte; Adduono Running Away With Scoring Title

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GUGGER</div>DAYTON&mdash;The step down from professional to amateur hockey often means a smaller paycheck. Usually the lights don&rsquo;t shine as brightly, either.But for five of the Dayton Gems, it means playing on a winner rather than suffering with a loser. The Gems, who&rsquo;ve been atop the International Hokey League&rsquo;s North Division from the the opening face-off back in October, have been getting key contributions from five former pros.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01100/2950911-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="258" height="436"><figcaption class="caption-body">Glen Resch</figcaption></div>Forwards Nels Jacobson, Hugh Harvey, Gerry Mazur, and defensemen Bob Heaney and Dave Simpson have been pulling their weight on the amazingly well-balanced Gems. All played with teams that were .500 or less record-wise last season.Heaney and Simpson played at Amarillo where the Central League Wranglers finished 14-4711; Mazur played at Salt Lake City, which closed with an 18-495 record, and Jacobson and Harvey saw limited service at Oklahoma City, 30-30-12 last season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d much rather play for a team that is winning even if the league&rsquo;s different, &ldquo;Heaney said. &ldquo;We lost so many last year, and we got bombed so many times.&ldquo;I had the best plus-minus figure with a minus 24. One guy was over 90. The year before our team was horrible, too.&rdquo;Simpson and Heaney have been standouts or the Gem&rsquo;s defense. Heaney has scored seven goals, including a game-winner against Fort Wayne with five minutes to play. Simpson has shown marked improvment from his play here two years ago and scored an overtime goal that beat Des Moines recently.Harvey had 15 goals in 26 games with the Gems and 28 points. He had a string of scoring goals in nine out of 10 games and had three game-winners.Jacobson had slowed some after a blazing start, but still was scoring at a point-per-game pace with 18 goals. He, too, had three game-winners.Mazur is one of the best forecheckers in the IHL and had been a pleasant surprise offensively. He had 32 points in 23 games, 23 of them assists from his center slot. Mazur had three winning goals and one of Dayton&rsquo;s eight hat tricks.DES MOINES: General manager-coach Terry Slater accepted offer to coach new Los Angeles entry in WHA&hellip;Pete Slater, Terry&rsquo;s younger brother, fired overtime winner in Flint&hellip;Leafs have won four overtime games and lost one&hellip;Owner Crawford Hubbell was trying to interest more businessmen in Oak Leafs&hellip;FORT WAYNE: Rick Pagnut-ti, league&rsquo;s top scoring defenseman, hit two goals in 3-2 victory at Toledo&hellip;Jim Boyd scored winner against Des Moines&hellip;COLUMBUS: Ray Martynuik had just 18 saves in win over Flint, lowest total of season for a Seals goalie&hellip;Coach Terry Gray&rsquo;s job saved when club won four of seven, equalling previous victory total for first 40 games&hellip;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0537/2950904-1-eng-US/f0031-052.jpg" title="f0031-05" width="1187" height="742"><figcaption class="caption-body">U.S. Nationals&rsquo; STU IRVING, left, and ROBBIE FTOREK, signal a goal against makeshift Saginaw Stars&rsquo; team in first game played in $11.5 million dollar Civic Center Stars&rsquo;goaler is CAL HAMMOND</figcaption></div>MUSKEGON: Goalie Glenn Resch had 38 saves in shutout of Dayton, his third zero of season&hellip;Hawks had same number of losses, 13, as Dayton&hellip;Murray Flegel obtained from Baltimore&hellip;PORT HURON: Marty Reynolds reinjured shoulder and it was feared an operation might be necessary&hellip;Bill LeCaine sidelined by rib cage injury&hellip;Doug Hinton recalled by Fort Worth and replaced by Barry Salovaara from CHL club&hellip;FLINT: Generals scored twice in last two minutes of play to tie, then Ron Ringler scored in overtime to beat Port Huron&hellip;Larry Gibbons obtained from Greensboro&hellip;Gens had lost seven one-goal decisions&hellip;Though Gens were carrying 21 players, injuries forced manpower shortage&hellip;Leigh Bannister out indefinitely with knee injury&hellip;TOLEDO: Hornets fell to 8-15 at home&hellip;Greg Jablonski fired 21th goal&hellip;Leading scorer Willie Marshall was in slump and had just one goal in last 19 games&hellip;<h2>HOW THEY STAND</h2><h3>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h3>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 25)NORTHERN DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0275/2950897-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="581" height="133"></div>SOUTHERN DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0360/2950890-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="598" height="209"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tues. Jan. 18Muskegon 4 at Port Huron 6Columbus 3 ot Dayton 8Fri. Jan, 21Dayton 0 at Flint 3Port Huron 2 at Toledo 3Columbus 4 at Des Moines 9Fort Wayne 3 at Muskegon 7Sat. Jan. 22Columbus 3 at Des Moines 7Flint 1 at Muskegon 4Dayton 1 at Port Huron 3Fort Wayne 4 at Toledo 9Sun. Jan. 23Muskegon 4 at Fort Wayne 2Toledo 3 at Dayton 7Des Moines 3 at Flint 9<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3>(Including Games of Sun. Jan. 16)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0445/2950883-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="588" height="673"></div> &#9632;

f0031-01

‘Old Pros’ Put New Life In Day ton

<div class="byline">BY JOHN POZENEL</div>SAGINAW&mdash;Hockey came to this Michigan city of 100,000, located 90 miles north of Detroit, on Jan. 15 when the U.S. Nationals bombed a makeshift Saginaw Stars team, 9-1, in the first game ever played in the new $11.5 million Saginaw Civic Center.The game itself was intended to be more of a demonstration of hockey than anything else, according to Wren Blair, owner and general manager of the Saginaw franchise that will begin play in the International Hockey League next fall.The Nationals looked sharp in one of their last appearances before departing for Sapporo, Japan, and the 1972 Winter Olympics. Mark Howe, 16-year-old son of former Detroit Red Wing great Gordie Howe, scored two goals for the U.S. team, as did 20-year-old Henry Boucha, who is the property of the Wings, if and when he chooses to turn pro.The opposition was made up of three ex-NHL stars now retired, players from Minnesota&rsquo;s Clinton and Cleveland farm teams and a few non-pros from the Minneapolis area. Parker MacDonald, Leo Boivin and Bill Gadsby donned skates to help usher in a new era in Saginaw.A sell-out crowd of 5,700 turned out for hockey&rsquo;s introduction in the 5,471 seat arena, which has most of the latest conveniences.IHL Commissioner Bill Beegan was on hand for the event and was enthusiastic about the Saginaw hockey operation. All the ingredients for success are here,&rdquo; said Beegan. He compared the facilities to those in Fort Wayne, Ind., San Diego, Calif, and Hershey, Pa.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t see a bad seat anywhere and you know I consider Wren Blair one of the finest operators in hockey,&rdquo; he added.Blair, who is general manager of the Minnesota North Stars, announced prior to the game, another contest between a pair of IHL teams (Flint and Muskegon) would be played here on Mar. 6. &#9632;

Sellout Crowd Sees First Game In New Saginaw Rink

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div>BOSTON&mdash;Judging by some of the news both sent and leaked North from the NCAA&rsquo;s annual convention in Florida this month, we can look forward to some lively discussion at the ECAC meetings in February.A nationwide rule was passed by the Florida meeting to allow freshman eligibility in all varsity sports; up to that time, no schools could play frosh in football or basketball. The measure may stave off the impending hockey schism in ECAC Division One which only this season decided amid much ruffling of feathers to give the green light to freshmen on hockey varsities.Earlier in the campaign Dartmouth cancelled its hockey contracts with teams which chose to use frosh on the varsity this year. Others, including Yale, Harvard, and Boston College, had indicated that they would drop frosh-playing opponents beginning with the 1972-73 schedule. A second group including Clarkson, St. Lawrence, and the four other Ivy League schools indicated that they would not use the first-year men on their varsity but would not adjust their schedules either.The balance of the league favored freshman eligibility in hockey. With the new national provision for frosh on all varsities, some of the originally conservative ECAC schools may have to reassess their according to Boston College athletic director Bill Flynn, statds, since the floodgates are apparently open for good.A ruling not decided in Florida but leaked from there by a Boston sports writer threatens to throw a monkey wrench into the newly restyled ECAC Division Two playoff system, which for the first time has been expanded to an eight-team, three-game format much like Division One.The academic brass of the eleven-team New England small college conference, itself recently established for uniformity and strict standards in areas like recruiting and scholastic eligibility, decreed that its members could not take part in the three-game playdowns because it would involve a considerable amount of travel and time out of classes.Division Two is comprised of six of these eleven schools plus 16 others in New England and New York. All or most of these six, including Bowdoin, Amherst, Colby, Williams, Hamilton, and Middlebury may be required to sit out the post-season confrontations if the format remains at eight teams.If the ECAC would revert to a four team, two-game, setup, the eleven presidents would allow the schools of their conference to compete, if eligible. But, it&rsquo;s doubtful the ECAC would want to to go back to the old way since several Division Two schools have come a long way hockeywise in recent years. No fever than ten teams still rate a shot at the top spot in the division, currently shared by Massachussetts 9-0 and-Bowdoin 5-0. &#9632;

New Freshman Rule To Alter ECAC Teams’ Outlook

<div class="byline">By Tom Burke</div><h2>Harvard Upset Lifts Holt&rsquo;s UNH Wildcats</h2>Harvard defeated Cornell, and the mathematicians and prognosticators emerged with their schedules, looking ahead for the game in the future when, or if, the Crimson would at last fall from the ranks of the unbeatens. Harvard&rsquo;s players might have been looking ahead to rematches with BU and Cornell, because when they put their undefeated divisional streak on the line up in Durham the University of New Hampshire responded with a stunning 4-3 overtime win that virtually assured Charlie Holt&rsquo;s Wildcats of a berth in the postseason playoffs.Senior wing Guy Smith whipped a high shot over Joe Bertagna&rsquo;s left shoulder at 0:42 of the extra period on a power play. It was UNH&rsquo;s third straight win over a key foe, and the third overtime win in eight nights. Smith and his linemates John Gray and Gordie Clark pulled the trigger in all three overtime wins; Gray&rsquo;s goal defeated Boston College 6-5 a week earlier while Clark netted the sudden death dealer in a 3-2 triumph over Clarkson at Durham.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01110/2950997-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="262" height="434"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jerry Kemp</figcaption></div>The &lsquo;Cats also nailed St. Lawrence 5-2 during the productive pre-exam week. Clark and Smith each scored twice in that one. All told, the Clark-Gray-Smith line netted eight of UNH&rsquo;s 12 goals for the week. In the big win over the Crimson, UNH outshot their foes 33-29. Harvard commanded the first ten minutes of play and jumped out to a 2-0 lead but from then on UNH carried the play and went up, 3-2 before Harvard&rsquo;s Dave Hynes tied it up with 7:51 left.RPI found its scoring touch in its pre-exam week, also amassing three wins to build a cushion for a tough February stretch run for the playoffs. Senior Terry Jordan played his first game and blanked Princeton 6-0, making 23 saves. Five straight goals in the final ten minutes lifted the Engineers over Northeastern. 9-4, and Ray Tonelli&rsquo;s hat trick paved the way for a 7-5 win over Providence.The Friars, who received a pair of goals from freshman Sean Shanahan in the RPI loss, had come from behind to dump young Colgate 6-3 the previous night. Mike Gaffney&rsquo;s second goal of the game broke a 3-3 third period deadlock in Hamilton after scores by Gary Williamson and Eric Dixon squared things for the Friars.Boston University gave retiring Boston College coach Snooks Kelly a fine reception and farewell sendoff as the Eagles visited BU&rsquo;s new Walter Brown Rink for the first time. After acknowledging his gifts which included a clock from the BU varsity club, Snooks cracked &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve given me everything else, so why not give us the game?&rdquo;The Terriers then proceeded to edge BC 4-1 to even the all-time series between the two teams, which began back in 1918, at 49-49-4. Junior transfer Dave Wisener paved the way with a pair of goals off rebounds in front. It was the only game of the week for both sextets and sent the Eagles into exam break with a 4-5 loop record.You&rsquo;d have to go all the way back to the 1965-66 season to find the last time Cornell lost two games in a row during the season. But after Big Red lost to Harvard in Cambridge, they boarded a plane for South Bend and dropped a 5-4 overtime decision to Notre Dame before getting back on the beam with a 7-1 win at St. Louis. In case you&rsquo;re wondering, it was Denver, 5-1 and 4-2, that turned the trick back in &lsquo;65-&rsquo;66 out in Colorado. But Harvard&rsquo;s loss to UNH moved Cornell back into first place by seven percentage points over the Crimson.After their loss to New Hampshire, Clarkson got back into the black with a 6-4 win over Dartmouth in Hanover. Russ Audycki and Jerry Kemp each had a pair of red lights. Dartmouth got off to an early 3-2 lead but couldn&rsquo;t hang on. Goalies Peter Proulx of Dartmouth and Carl Piehl of the Golden Knights each had 29 stops. Also in Hanover, the Indians absorbed a 7-3 loss to Harvard, who jumped out to a 2-0 lead after just 90 seconds and a 5-0 bulge after a period. Statistically speaking, shots on net were equal at 33.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0265/2950990-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="262" height="434"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Bennett</figcaption></div>Brown is starting to move as expected and could make a lower playoff berth, but can&rsquo;t afford too many more losses. Al Soares had lamented his team&rsquo;s early season lack of scoring, which seems to have been remedied somewhat. Third period goals by Bill Coakley, who&rsquo;s been moved to forward from the backline, and Dave Patterson lifted the Bruins to a come from behind 4-3 win over Penn. Patterson&rsquo;s game winner was on a power play. When Dartmouth visited Meehan Auditorium, three goals in the first and third periods were enough for a 6-3 Brown win. Senior John Bennett scored a hat trick.St. Lawrence&rsquo;s only divisional game of the week was the 5-2 loss to hot New Hampshire that dropped the Larries to the .500 mark. Penn returned home to Philadelphia after the loss to Brown and erupted for six goals in the final period to overcome a two goal Northeastern lead and win 6-3. Six different Quakers scored after Paul Daigle pilfered a clearing pass early in the frame to set up the icebreaker.The pair of losses for Fernie Flaman&rsquo;s Huskies dropped then to 19 on the vear. At this point, the odds seem to be favoring Harvard. Cnffletl. and BU the top three spots, not necessarily in that order. &#9632;

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DOWN EAST

<div class="byline">By John Gilbert</div><h2>New WCHA Point System Helps Denver Move Up</h2>Wisconsin keeps making giant strides toward the Western Collegiate Hockey Association title, but under this season&rsquo;s new point format, Denver University is all set for its annual late-season run.While Wisconsin had its hands full in putting down the league&rsquo;s upstarts, Colorado College, Denver put Michigan away twice in games counting four points each. Each team has eight points on the line with everybody else in the WCHA this year, so if teams meet only twice instead of four times, each game is worth four points instead of two.Wisconsin, after its 6-5 and 7-6 victories over CC&rsquo;s mighty mites, has 34 points backing its lofty 13-3 record. Denver&rsquo;s rexord is a less impressive 9-5, but the Pioneers, after stopping Michigan 10-1 and 4-3, have a heavy home schedule coming, and 22 points in the bank. Colorado stunned Michigan Tech 71 earlier in the week.Only two behind the Badgers in the loss column, Denver could wind up right at the wire when the Pioneers and Badgers collide to end the season with two four-point games.Minnesota-Duluth was clinging to second place by an eyelash with a 9-7 record, good for 24 points, but the Bulldogs felt Denver coming after going to Houghton, Mich., to help Michigan Tech dedicate its new arena. UMD didn&rsquo;t plan to be such congenial guests, but Tech blitzed the Bulldogs 6-5 and 7-3.Center Bob D&rsquo;Alvise scored twice as Tech came from a 3-2 deficit in the first game, built a 6-4 lead, then watched it get shaved when Mark Heaslip tallied his second of the game in the final 30 seconds. The next night, Mike Usitalo&rsquo;s two goals led Tech, which trailed 2-0 after one period, but salted it away with four straight goals in the final period.While Tech, Wisconsin and Denver all swept, so did North Dakota and Michigan State. Michigan State stopped Notre Dame 8-2 and 4-1, while North Dakota went to Minnesota and won 7-3 and 4-3 decisions.North Dakota was led by junior center Jimmy Cahoon&rsquo;s line. Cahoon and winger Earl Anderson each got three goals over the weekend, while Mike Lundbohm, the other wing, got one. The second game saw freshman defenseman Alan Hangsleben score with 50 seconds to go to break a 3-3 tie. Mike Polich, a Minnesota freshman, had scored twice to tie the game at 2-2 and 3-3.The final 50 seconds were then marred by several fights, one of which cost the Gophers the services of junior center Mike Antonovich for the rest of the season. Antonovich, skating gingerly on an injured knee, severely damaged ligaments in his right knee in a pileup with 16 seconds remaining, and underwent 2 1/2 hours of surgery immediately after the game. The Sioux lost Rick Wilson and Mike Lundby on one-game suspensions, while Bill Butters joined Antonovich on the list of those suspended for a game. Tim Delmore, a freshman North Dakota goalie from Roseau, Minn., won both games&mdash;his first starts for the Sioux.Another freshman from Minnesota, Dean Talafous, from Hastings, scored two goals to lead Wisconsin&rsquo;s sweep over Colorado. Then Hastings, too, was involved in a fight and ejected, with the mandatory one-game suspension issued as well.Denver&rsquo;s big line of Vic Venasky, Tom Peluso and Pete McNab continues to be the hottest thing going in the WCHA. Venasky is headed for his second straight scoring title, although all three members of the sophomore line are among the top five league scorers. &#9632;

WESTERN WAY

ROCHESTER&mdash;John Lloyd, a sophomore business administration major at RIT, has been chosen offensive player of the week by the Finger Lakes Hockey League.Lloyd ended a six game scoring drought, scoring a hat trick and one assist, as RIT shutout Syracuse University 9-0.In next game, against Hobart, he had another goal and assist to boost his season total to four goals and five assists.Thanks to the capable scoring of Lloyd and his teammates, RIT is in first place of the Finger Lakes Hockey. League. with a 4-1 record. &#9632;

RIT’s John Floyd Named Top Player

<h2>ECAC CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 15)<h3>DIVISION I</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0194/2951146-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="592" height="455"></div><h3>DIVISION II</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0267/2951139-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="594" height="586"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>RPI 6 Princeton0New Hampshire 3, Clarkson2Brown 4, Pennsylvania3Harvard 7, Dormouth3Vermont 8, Hamilton3Clarkson 4. Dorthmouth4Boston University 4. Boston CollegeProvidence 6. Colgate3Notre Dome 5 Cornell4New Hampshire 5, St Lawrence2RPI 9. Northeastern4Brown 6, Dartmouth3New Hampshire 4. Harvard3Cornell 7. St Louis1Pennsylvania 6. Northeastern3RIP 7. Providence5Hamilton 2. Williams2Salem State 4. Colby4St Anselm&rsquo;s11 Norwich 5<h2>WCHA CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Wed. Jan. 19)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0346/2951132-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="591" height="285"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wisconsin 6. Colorado College 5Wisconsin 7. Colorado College 6Michigan Tech 6. Minn-Duluth 4Michigan Tech 7, Minn Duluth 3North Dakota 7. Minnesota 3Michigan State 8. Notre Dome 2Michigan Stote 4. Notre Dome 1Denver 10, Michigan IDenver 4, Michigan 3Air Force 7, St. louis 3Lake Superior Stole 16.10. Wisconsin State 1<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0434/2951125-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="592" height="280"></div><h2>ONTARIO CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Thurs. Jan. 26)<h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0529/2951118-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="591" height="219"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0622/2951111-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="584" height="186"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sherbrooke 5. Sir Georges 3Trois-Rivieres at Montreal (postponed)Trois-Rivieres 15, McGill 5Bishop&rsquo;s 5, RMC 2Sir George 8, RMC 2Loyola 11, McGill 1Loyola 11, Montreal 3Sir George 14, McGill 1Toronto 4, York 3Lourentian 5, Carleton 4Guelph 8, Ryerson 1Windsor 6, Waterloo 4Windsor 7, Brock 1Toronto 19, Ryerson 1Ottawa 5. Lourentian 3Queen&rsquo;s 4, McMaster 0St Mary&rsquo;s 4. St. F Xavier 0Memorial 3. Moncton 2Moncton 4, Memorial 3PEI 8, New Brunswick 6Acadia 5. St. Thomas 2Alberta 6, Brandon 1UBC 3, Saskatchewan 2Calgary 13, Manitoba 4<h2>QUEBEC CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Wed. Jan. 19)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0719/2951104-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="587" height="231"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0817/2951097-1-eng-US/f0033-082.jpg" title="f0033-08" width="597" height="259"></div><h2>MARITIME CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 18)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0914/2951090-1-eng-US/f0033-092.jpg" title="f0033-09" width="592" height="292"></div><h2>WESTERN CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Thurs. Jan. 13)<h3>EAST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1013/2951083-1-eng-US/f0033-102.jpg" title="f0033-10" width="592" height="133"></div><h3>WEST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1113/2951076-1-eng-US/f0033-112.jpg" title="f0033-11" width="591" height="132"></div> &#9632;

f0033-01

COLLEGE RACES

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GILBERT</div>EAST LANSING&mdash;Michigan State increased its winning streak to tour with two straight Western Collegiate Hockey Association series sweeps, stopping Notre Dame 82 and 4-1 and surging toward the WCHA&rsquo;s upper reaches.The Spartans, climbing the rungs toward a favorable home playoff berth, are embroiled in a three-team deadlock with Michegan Tech and North Dakota. All three had 18 points to stand even in fourth place in the WCHA.Don Thompson, Michigan State&rsquo;s flashy centerman, got two goals in the 8-2 game and another in the 4-1 victory. Dick Tomassoni made 38 saves for Notre Dame, but-Jim Watt, MSU&rsquo;s goalie, had 33 and was solid. The losses dropped the Fighting Irish to 5-7, for 14 points, and eighth place in the 10-team league.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1212/2951177-1-eng-US/f0033-122.jpg" title="f0033-12" width="269" height="444"><figcaption class="caption-body">Don Thompson</figcaption></div>Michigan State drew 5,000 fans for each game, and packed the arena for all four of their last home games.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve passed the plan to build a new arena,&rdquo; said Amo Bessone, Michigan State&rsquo;s coach. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s supposed to seat 6,000, but our crowds have been so good lately, I&rsquo;m fighting to make the new one seat 8,000&rdquo;. &lsquo;Along with Thompson, the major architects of MSU&rsquo;s surge has been Gilles Gagnon, although he was held out of the Notre Dame action to recover from a minor ailment. Also, the development of Bessone&rsquo;s third line has been critical.&ldquo;Dave Roberts, Bill Sipola and Frankie DeMarco, playing on our third line, each got a goal in our 8-2 win,&rdquo; Bessone said. &ldquo;And Sipola and DeMarco got one each in the 4-1 game the next night.&rdquo;With the return of Gagnon, who was the third-leading scorer in the WCHA with 24 points prior to the Notre Dame series, the Spartans are looking higher than fourth place.While the Spartans have set consolidation of their present fifth-place rung in the WCHA as their immediate objective, they haven&rsquo;t given up hope of advancing even further before the regular season schedule draws to a close.Actually, only first place&mdash;in the strong grasp of the powerful Wisconsin Badgers&mdash;is out of the question. Currently, second-place Minnesota-Duluth carries only a six-point bulge on the State team while Denver is only four away in third spot and surprising Colorado College only two ahead in the fourth spot. &#9632;

f0033-12

Spartans Sweep Irish In Run To Playoffs

<div class="byline">BY BOB BRISCOE</div>NEW WESTMINSTER&mdash;Earlier in the Western Canada Hockey League season, there were those who thought Calgary Centennials might run away and hide with first place in the Western Division.All eyes, however, are now on the surging New West minster Bruins as they assert themselves as a power in the division.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01103/2951229-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="268" height="454"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rudy Pilous</figcaption></div>In a dramatic turn about Bruins have won 12 straight games to move from a solid fourth place into third and threatening for the top positions, held by Edmonton Oil Kings and Centennials.The surge by Ernie McLean&rsquo;s squad has come just at the right time, with most of the games at home in Queen&rsquo;s Park Arena or against the weaker expansion teams in Vancouver and Victoria.But they&rsquo;ve also illustrated, like most people expected, they are capable of challenging for the division flag, having lost only 15 of 39 games&mdash;only three losses more than Edmonton and six more than Calgary.And all this has come about after a horrendous start caused by injuries, bad goaltending and a general adjustment of the veteran players after the move to New Westminster from Estevan.And when the Bruins&rsquo; season success, or lack of it. is written it will all depend upon the continued good play, or lack of it, of rookie goaltender Terry Richardson, who may be responsible for turning the season around so far, and veretan forwards Lorne Henning, Bernie Luckowich, Don Martineau and Les Jackson.EDMONTON: A drive by the Oil Kings to top place in the West Division was due to a road trip to the Eastern Division where they won three of four games&hellip;Oil Kings owned a one-point lead over Calgary but the Centennials had four games in hand&hellip;Oil Kings won in Regina, Winnipeg and Brandon, losing by one goal in Saskatoon and the difference was the solidification of their defensive play, allowing only 12 goals in the four games.CALGARY: Cents were stunned by loss in Medecine Hat which gave them their ninth defeat out of 37 games&hellip;Goaltender John Davidson contines to lead in the league&rsquo;s goaltending department with a fine 2.19 per game average and five shutouts with the only problem being that his mates haven&rsquo;t been providing as many goals now as they were earlier in the season&hellip;MEDICINE HAT: All those games-in-hand Bruins owned on Tigers caught up as the second half of the schedule began and New Westminster went on hot streak&hellip;Tigers, however, are three games above .500 after 42 games (22-19-1)&hellip;Tigers&rsquo; total of 204 goals is the best in either division but their defensive play, always suspect, has allowed 193, second worst in division that includes two expansion teams&hellip;Forward Tom Lysiak leads teammate Stan Weir in scoring race 82 points to 81&hellip;Lysiak has 23 goals and 59 assists while Weir was 37-44&hellip;VICTORIA: All the turmoil and changeover that took place in the first half of the season appears to have ceased with Cougars now intent to prepare for next season&hellip;Cougars won only 11 and tied two of their first 42 games&hellip;General manager Eric Bishop and coach Fred Hucul feel team has settled into shape but rough schedule against red-hot New Westminster Bruins, in which Cougars lost three, wasn&rsquo;t easy place to prove it&hellip;VANCOUVER: Nats, too, seem to have written off first year and are working at establishing some solid scouting and recruiting&hellip;Inexperienced Nats won two of three earlier games for halfway coach replacement Charlier Hodge but haven&rsquo;t done much since having almost matched Cougars record with 11 wins, 29 losses, no ties&hellip;REGINA: Pats lost one of their rare games at home, 3-2 to Edmonton after owning a 2-0 lead midway through the second period but still owned a two-point edge on Saskatoon Blades, who lost at home the same night&hellip;Pats have allowed only 125 goals in building up a 24-15-1 record with much credit due to play of goaltender Bernie Germaine&hellip;Forward Mike Wanchuk had six game-winning goals to lead the entire league in that department&hellip;SASKATOON: Just when it appeared as though Blades might have a chance to grab a share of first place with Pats after being in second for three weeks, they lost at home to Winnipeg&hellip;defenceman Lawrence Sacharuk scored three goals in Blades&rsquo; 6-5 win over Edmonton&hellip;Part of reason why Blades have remained in hunt for pennant has been play of goaltenders Don Atchison (2.94), Ed Humphreys (3.46) and Sam Clegg (4.33)&hellip;BRANDON: There were some stange happenings as Wheat Kings assumed their 17th and 18th losses of season without lacing on a skate&hellip;Enroute to Flin Flon for a weekend doubleheaader, Wheat Kings got to within 70 miles of the northern Manitoba centre, turned around and went home&hellip;general-manager and Coach Rudy Pilous said seven of his players&mdash;including both goaltenders&mdash;had the flu&hellip;FLIN FLON: Bombers&rsquo; boss Pat Ginnell protested because Brandon failed to show for two games and Flin Flon was awarded the four points and two wins by league secretary-manager Tom Fisher&hellip;that gave Flin Flon 20 wins in their first 48 games&hellip;forward-captain Blaine Stoughton continues to lead team scoring with 36 goals and 38 assists, good for third spot in the league&hellip;WINNIPEG: Brandon boss Pilous and Jets haven&rsquo;t been on good terms since &lsquo;season began and one could have some second thoughts about why Pilous conceded two games to Bombers, giving them a seven-point lead on Jets for last playoff spot&hellip;Jets had moved to within three-point of Bombers with shutout win in Saskatoon&hellip;SWIFT CURRENT: In a fine public relations move, the Broncos and their booster club announced they were sending parents of their two All Star selections to All-star game in Vancouver&hellip;then along came the air controllers&rsquo; strike which complicated plans to fly the boy&rsquo;s parents to the game&hellip;Having won only 13 of first 42 games. Broncos just aren&rsquo;t making gains toward setting out of basement&hellip;<h2>HOW THEY STAND</h2><h3>WESTERN CANADA LEAGUE</h3>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 17)EASTERN DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0258/2951222-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="576" height="181"></div>WESTERN DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0342/2951215-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="585" height="185"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0428/2951208-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="584" height="636"></div> &#9632;

f0034-01

Surging NW Bruins Threaten Kings, Cents; Leading Regina Pats Hold Edge On Blades

<div class="byline">BY JACK GATECLIFF</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0191/2951323-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="564" height="877"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARTY HOWE&hellip;Man In The Mask</figcaption></div>TORONTO&mdash;Oshawa Generals continued to head the race as the Ontario Hockey Association Major Junior A schedule reached the two-thirds point but their margin over the onrushing Toronto Marlboros grew slimmer.So far the Generals, under coach Gus Bodnar, have been the &lsquo;Cinderella&rsquo; team of Ontario junior hockey&mdash;the counterpart of the New York Mets&rsquo; success story when they rose from last place in 1968 to World Series champions in 1969.However, the way the Marlboros have been scoring goals lately the midnight hour just might be approaching for the Generals.While Oshawa has been edging through with victories such as a 3-2 decision over Kitchener Rangers, the Marlboros&rsquo; vaunted scoring power has been crushing the opposition.In two weekend games the Marlies scored a total of 18 goals, beating last place Montreal Canadians 9-4 in Maple Leaf Gardens, then defeating eighth place St. Catharines Black Hawks 9-6 the followng night.The powerful offensive unit of the Marlboros is led by the line centered by Dave Gardner with wingers Steve Shutt and Bill Harris.Gardner was second only to Marcel Dionne of St. Catharines in points last season and is having another brilliant year. Shutt scored 70 goals in 1969-70, just one short of the record 71 counted by Richard Martin, then with the Junior Canadiens and now a high-scoring rookie with Buffalo Sabres. Shutt is already well over the 40-goal mark.Oddly enough many scouts rate Harris as the best pro prospect of the three Marlboros but there&rsquo;s little doubt all three will go high in the National Hockey League draft of graduating amateurs next June. The three Marlies rank second, third and fourth in the individual scoring race behind leader Don Lever of Niagara Falls.TORONTO: Highly-rated Paulin Bordeleau still having ankle problems but the Marlies patched up that hole in their strong offense by acquiring Ron Bobette from Ottawa in exchange for defenseman Stu Towers&hellip;Bobette was one of the top scorers with the 67s last season but had only eight goals before his switch to Toronto&hellip;He added four more in his first three games with the Toronto club&hellip;defenseman Marty Howe wearing bird-cage face mask on helmet to protect fractured cheekbone.OSHAWA: Attendance more than double last season as the Generals continue to play winning hockey&hellip;As reported here before the Generals don&rsquo;t have the individual stars boasted by Toronto but have exceptional balance and could be a power for some time as they lose few players through the age limit. Defenseman Jack Lynch scored winner in 3-2 win over third place Kitchener.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1015/2951316-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="1781" height="816"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Toronto Marlboros are riding high in pursuit of the Oshawa Generals and three players who have been playing a big part are left to right, BILL HARRIS, DAVE GARDNER and STEVE SHUTT. The trio form the highest scoring line in the OHA. (Hockey News Photos by Lyndon Little)</figcaption></div>KITCHENER: Just when the Rangers appear to be ready to make their move to challenge Oshawa and Toronto for the top two spots they invariably run into trouble. They suffered a double weekend defeat&mdash;3-2 in Oshawa, 7-4 at home with Niagara Falls Flyers&mdash;and remained well off the pace and with only a slim hold on third place&hellip;OTTAWA: The acquisition of Stu Towers on defense should help the 67s who depended in this department mainly on Dennis Potvin, ranked the top blueliner in the OHA Junior A League&hellip;Ron Bobette, who coach Bill Long had to give up to get Towers, had been a disappointment after a 38-goal season last year&hellip;Peter Goth scored twice in 5-3 win over Hamilton.PETERBOROUGH: Coach Roger Neilson must by mystified by the movement of Towers to Ottawa&hellip;The Petes were almost forced to trade him to Toronto when it was claimed his father needed him home to help with the family business&hellip;However he no sooner arrived in Toronto than he was swapped to Ottawa which is even farther from his Toronto home than Peterborough&hellip;NIAGARA FALLS: Don Lever became the first Niagara Falls player in many years to pass the 40-goal mark when he scored three times in 4-0 win over St. Catharines Black Hawks &hellip; The Flyers, Rangers, 67s and Petes in torrid four-way battle for third place&hellip;Shutout was first perfect game by goaltender Gord Cook&hellip;LONDON: After mid-season slump Knights back in winning form again with their top line of Reg Thomas, Dennis Ververgaert and Randy Osburn leading the way&hellip;London still well entrenched in seventh place and now seem certain of making playoff position after they had been threatened briefly by Montreal and St. Catharines&hellip;ST. CATHARINES: Already thin in experienced players Hawks hit with injuries to veterans Bob MacMillan, Jeff Jacques and Mike Bloom leaving only Paul Shakes and Tim Jacobs as regulars from last year&rsquo;s championship club&hellip;MacMillan and Jacques both injured in exhibition games in Thunder Bay&hellip;MONTREAL: Canadiens still trying desperately to wrest final playoff spot from St. Catharines&hellip;Moved to within six points of Hawks with win over St. Catharines in the Forum, then lost four straight while slumping Hawks were also hitting the skids&hellip;HAMILTON: It&rsquo;s just one of those years for Hamilton Red Wings when nothing seems to go right&hellip;Under coach Harry Neale Wings have lost many close games, usually running out of stamina in third period&hellip;<h2>HOW THEY STAND</h2><h3>ONTARIO MAJOR JUNIOR</h3>(Standings on Tues. Jan. 25)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0267/2951309-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="584" height="279"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tues Jan. 18Oshawa 5 at Halmilton 7Montreal 5 at London 5Toronto 7 at Ottawa 5Thurs. Jan. 20Halmilton 2 at Peterborough 5Fri. Jan. 21Oshawa 6 at Kitchener 4St. Catharines 6 at Montreal 2Toronto 8 at Niagara Falls 6Hamilton 0 at Ottawa 4Sun. Jan. 23London 3 at St. Catharines 2Niagara Falls 4 at Ottawa 5Kitchener 5 at Montreal 4Toronto 6 at Oshawa 1<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0344/2951302-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="595" height="296"></div><h3>QUEBEC JUNIOR LEAGUE</h3>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 24)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0438/2951295-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="588" height="285"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0533/2951288-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="581" height="316"></div><h3>SOUTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR</h3>(Standings on Thurs. Jan. 20)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0623/2951281-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="593" height="234"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0723/2951274-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="590" height="281"></div><h3>MICHIGAN JUNIOR LEAGUE</h3>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 17)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0819/2951267-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="587" height="175"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0920/2951260-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="590" height="281"></div> &#9632;

f0035-01

Marlies Coming On Strong As Generals’ Edge Shrinks

<div class="byline">BY LORNE WHITE</div>CORNWALL&mdash;Anyone who predicted, before the 1971-72 season began, that he Cornwall Royals would be on top of the Quebec Junior Hockey League standing in mid-January obviously was missing something somewhere.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c4-01189/2951354-1-eng-US/c4-012.jpg" title="C4-01" width="264" height="446"><figcaption class="caption-body">Orval Tessier</figcaption></div>After all the lone Ontario based QJHL club was the doormat for the entire 1970-71 season, and even an improvement seemed at best, a playoff position this go round.A playoff spot was the aim of the Royals&rsquo; management when training camp began back in September, and newly appointed coach. Orv Tessier, put his finger on fourth place&mdash;even that was wishful thinking.The Royals got off to an impressive start during the first month of the schedule, but still league officials tagged the sudden upstarts as possibly fifth or sixth place finishers come March.Now in mid-January, the Royals are still winning games and believers with regularity.Coach Tessier, who was voted the first half All Star coach by his peers, has molded what many feel is the best balanced club in the short history of the league.The team has scored the second highest amount of goals in the league, but until last week didn&rsquo;t have a player on the top ten scoring list.The first to break into the elite since October was 19-year-old centre, Gerry Teeple, who has scored three hat tricks in his past six games. He now has 29 goals and 37 assists for 66 points, good for eighth place among the league leaders.QUEBEC: Jacques Richard is running away with the scoring title with 99 points on 45 goals and 54 assists&hellip;The Remparts won their past two games in sudden death overtime at the Quebec Coliseum&hellip;With or without Guy Lafleur, the Remparts are among the best drawing junior hockey clubs in Canada&hellip;Andre Savard, 18, is third on the scoring parade with 74 points and is already being touted as a top draft pick in 1973.DRUMMONDVILLE: For the second time this season the Rangers were shut out by the Cornwall Royals in Cornwall&hellip;The Rangers lost 13-0 after dropping 12-0 decision a month earlier&hellip;At home the Rangers have lost only three games this season, but have lost 11 of 18 on the road&hellip;SHAWINIGAN: The Bruins have been depending heavily on the line of Yves Bergeron, Johnny Martin, and Rene Villemure, all of whom played in the mid-season All Star game&hellip;Claude Dolbec coached the All Stars to a 7-1 victory over the Quebec Remparts&hellip;SOREL: Noel Desfosses, the Black Hawks&rsquo; high scoring left winger suffered a fractured skull in Quebec City when hit by Jacques Richard and is expected out of action for at least a month&hellip;In their past two games, the Black Hawks have forced the opposition into overtime, but lost both in the first five minutes of play&hellip;SHERBROOKE: The Beavers lost the services of highly rated Claude St. Sauveur for four games, but managed to win two of them&hellip;Jean Lemieux is the highest scoring defenceman in the QJHL&hellip;TROIS-RIVIERES: The Ducs are still lacking the scoring power needed to break into the first division&hellip;They&rsquo;ve been getting good defensive play from the likes of goaltender Denis Herron and rearguards Michel Laurendeau and Serge Beaudoin.VERDUN: The retirement of coach Gilles Picard hasn&rsquo;t hurt the Maple Leafs any&hellip;They&rsquo;ve won three of their past four games, the latest of which was an 8-7 win over third place Drum-mondville in Drummondville&hellip;ST. JEROME: Maurice Desfosses has managed only three goals in the past eight games but still a-mong the league leaders with 35&hellip;Defence is the biggest problem with the Alouettes who seemed destined to finish out of the playoffs.LAVAL: With the youngest squad ever to perform in the QJHL, expectations aren&rsquo;t high in the Nationals camp&hellip;Thinking ahead to next year, the Nationals traded way their top scorers, Yvon Rolando and Jean Marie Lehoux both 19, for several junior B players. &#9632;

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February 4, 1972

MORE EXPANSION IN 1974—Page 2

Schmautz, Hall, Dyck Sparkle As Ex-Canucks Turn Amerks On

National Hockey League SUMMARIES

Doug Jarrett Forgotten Man Of Black Hawks’ Blueliners