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 18, 1972

The Hockey News February 18, 1972

<p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Tidewater Wings haven&rsquo;t got too much going for them this season but they do have Dick Sentes and his hot-scoring stick. The Wings&rsquo; winger turned in a six-goal week for the lowly Tidewater club scoring three in one game despite a 7-5 loss. However, he scored two big goals as the Wings upset Boston 5-4.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1610/2984983-1-eng-US/f0023-162.jpg" title="f0023-16" width="536" height="508"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DICK SENTES</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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IN THIS ISSUE

Player Of The Week

<h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues, Feb. 8)</b></p><h3>NORTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0367/2985778-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="569" height="130"></div><h3>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0452/2985771-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="572" height="202"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Wed, Feb. 2</b></p><p>Port Huron 4 at Fort Wayne 3</p><p>Flint 2 at Columbus 3</p><p><b>Fri, Feb. 4</b></p><p>Toledo 4 at Flint 1</p><p>Muskegon 3 at Port Huron 4</p><p>Fort Wayne 5 at Des Moines 1</p><p><b>Sat, Feb. 5</b></p><p>Flint 3 at Muskegon 4</p><p>Toledo 2 at Port Huron 4</p><p>Fort Wayne 2 at Des Moines 7</p><p>Columbus 4 at Dayton 7</p><p><b>Sun, Feb. 6</b></p><p>Toledo 3 at Muskegon 4</p><p>Port Huron 3 at Flint 4</p><p>Des Moines 3 at Dayton 8</p><h3>GAMES TO COME</h3><p><b>Tues, Feb. 8</b></p><p>Des Moines at Port Huron</p><p><b>Wed, Feb. 9</b></p><p>Muskegon at Fort Wayne</p><p>Des Moines at Toledo</p><p>Flint at Dayton</p><p><b>Fri, Feb. 11</b></p><p>Columbus at Flint</p><p>Muskegon at Des Moines</p><p><b>Sat, Feb. 12</b></p><p>Columbus at Fort Wayne</p><p>Muskegon at Des Moines</p><p>Flint at Port Huron</p><p>Day ton at Toledo</p><p><b>Sun, Feb. 13</b></p><p>Flint at Fort Wayne</p><p>Toledo at Dayton</p><p><b>Wed, Feb. 16</b></p><p>Muskegon at Toledo</p><p>Fort Wayne at Columbus</p><p><b>Fri, Feb. 18</b></p><p>Flint at Muskegon</p><p>Port Huron at Toledo</p><p>Fort Wayne at Des Moines</p><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><p><b>(Including games of Sun, Jan. 30)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0542/2985764-1-eng-US/f0031-052.jpg" title="f0031-05" width="589" height="653"></div><h2>INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Thurs, Jan. 27)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0625/2985757-1-eng-US/f0031-062.jpg" title="f0031-06" width="572" height="136"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0720/2985750-1-eng-US/f0031-072.jpg" title="f0031-07" width="574" height="288"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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HOW THEY STAND

<p>SAN DIEGO&mdash;</p><p>Orest Kindrachuk rarely has his name spelled correctly by the wire services and the out of town press. It&rsquo;s just as often mispronounced by coliseum announcers and sportscarters.</p><p>They&rsquo;ll all learn, though Kindrachuk is giving them more and more opportunity.</p><p>The rookie San Diego Gulls&rsquo; centerman was the Gulls&rsquo; hottest scorer over the last half of January. In seven games, he scored 12 points. He has a total of 10 goals and 15 assists for 31 in the Gulls&rsquo; first 41 games.</p><p>San Diego&rsquo;s general manager and coach, Max McNab, isn&rsquo;t surprised by the 21-year-old&rsquo;s performance. He expected it sooner.</p><p>McNab spotted Kindrachuk at the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; training camp and obtained his services on loan from the National Hockey League club.</p><p>&ldquo;He really didn&rsquo;t seem like he was doing much out there,&rdquo; said McNab, &ldquo;but he was scoring a goal or an assist every game at camp.</p><p>&ldquo;I knew he knew how to score. He had 149 points, including 49 goals, for Saskatoon in that Western Canada Hockey League and it&rsquo;s one of the top two leagues in Junior A hockey.&rdquo;</p><p>Kindrachuk piled up ail those points in 61 games of a 60-game &iexcl;schedule and was runnerup for the WCHL scoring title to Chuck Arnason of the Flin Flon Bombers.</p><p>&ldquo;He had a good start with us,&rdquo; recalled McNab, &ldquo;but then he injured his shoulder.&rdquo;</p><p>Upended in a November game by Phoenix defenseman Gord Nelson, Kindrachuk landed on the point of his shoulder. The jammed shoulder took a couple of weeks to heal, then a couple of more weeks were needed to regain his conditioning.</p><p>He&rsquo;s 5-10 and 178 pounds, but is called the &ldquo;Little 0.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s stronger than he looks.&rdquo; said McNab &ldquo;and he can look after himself. He skates faster than you might think with that stiff-legged style.&rdquo;</p><p>The &ldquo;Little 0&rdquo; can take care of himself. A couple of hours or so after McNab had said Kindrachuk can take care of himself, he was repeating it. The rookie center had earned no less than a draw in a scrap with one of the WHL&rsquo;s established tough guys, Larry Lund of the Phoenix Roadrunners.</p><p>&ldquo;He really proved he&rsquo;s a good tough kid,&rdquo; said McNab.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

‘Little O’ Makes It Big With Gulls

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01531/2986323-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TONY ESPOSITO They Call Him The Stingy Man</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Hockey News Photo by Richard Pellegrini)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>MARTIN NEARING ROOKIE RECORD&mdash;Page 15</b></p><p><b>RANGERS&rsquo; FRANCIS Has The Last Laugh&mdash;Page 10</b></p><p><b>REDMOND HOTTEST SNIPER IN NHL&mdash;Page 15</b></p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-02404/2986316-1-eng-US/cover-022.jpg" title="Cover-02" width="1163" height="1176"><figcaption class="caption-body"><custom name="underline">BOBBY CLARKE</custom><span class="photo-credit">(Hockey News Photo by Stephen Newman)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Philadelphia Idol Almost A Canadien&mdash;Page 2</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Cover-01

HAWKS’ ESPO PUCK BANDIT—Page 3

<div class="byline">BY ED CONRAD</div><p>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;</p><p>It was minutes after the Flyers finally snapped to life against the Pittsburgh Penguins and, naturally, the topic of conversation was trade.</p><p>No, not the three-for-four deal between the Flyers and Los Angeles Kings which took place in the previous two days, but a discussion of the whopper that might have been. Only one Flyer was reportedly involved in this one, but the guy&rsquo;s name is Bobby Clarke, who is the hope of the future fo the Flyers.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01713/2983343-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="264" height="440"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bobby Clarke</b></figcaption></div><p>Reliable sources had Clarke, the hustling center, ticketed to Montreal in return for J.C. Tremblay and three of the Canadiens&rsquo; lesser knowns. It was a proposition made at Montreal&rsquo;s request but the Flyers apparently turned it down.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s all news to me,&rdquo; said Clarke, who had just been named star of the game in the victory over Pittsburgh. &ldquo;If it&rsquo;s true and Philadelphia had traded me, I guess I&rsquo;d have to accept it.</p><p>&ldquo;To say I wouldn&rsquo;t be happy wouldn&rsquo;t be true. I&rsquo;d be happy to play anywhere in the NHL. Of course, I would be disappointed leaving Philly and all the friends I&rsquo;ve made here. But trades are part of the game.</p><p>&ldquo;Look at our trade with L.A. They (the brass) figured they could help the hockey team by doing it. If they feel that by trading me, they can do likewise, I&rsquo;ve got to accept that fact.&rdquo;</p><p>Clarke, now in his third star-studded season after being the Flyers&rsquo; MVP the past two years, says the transaction with Los Angeles was consummated, apparently, because of the complacent attitude developed by the team as a whole.</p><p>&ldquo;Something just had to be done,&rdquo; reasoned Bobby. &ldquo;We just seemed to be floating along, even me: I had five goals by Christmas and was telling myself I&rsquo;ll soon start playing better and scoring more goals. But I had to wake up and realize that I had to work harder.&rdquo;</p><p>The mutiple trade that shook up the Flyer roster saw centers Jimmy Johnson and Serge Bernier and winger Bill Lesuk head West in return for the Kings&rsquo; offensive-minded line of center Eddie Joyal and wingers Bill Flett and Ross Lonsberry. In addition, the Flyers received young defenseman Jean Potvin.</p><p>Potvin, sort of a throw-in, was perhaps the most impressive of the new Flyers that first weekend. This is so even though Flett (against Boston in a tough 4-2 loss) and Lonsberry scored goals and the entire line played well offensively and defensively.</p><p>Meanwhile, Clarke scored a goal in each while being particularly impressive against Pittsburgh, as Montreal GM Sam Pollock watched from the stands.</p><p>Pollock&rsquo;s presence at the Spectrum was explained by Flyers&rsquo; GM Keith Allen as a stopover while Sam drove his family to Florida.</p><p>What would Sam want in the sunny South now? After all, his heart&rsquo;s in Montreal Forum where the Canadiens, minus the retired Jean Beliveau, need to add a piece to the puzzle to gain equal footing&mdash;over the season long grind&mdash;with the Bruins and N.Y. Rangers.</p><p>Clarke, they feel, would be a piece of the puzzle that fits.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Flyers Turned Down Hubs’ Bid For Clarke

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01717/2983381-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="490" height="457"></div><p>CHICAGO&mdash;</p><p>Tony Esposito, the stingy guardian of the Chicago twine, was doing his thing again as the month of January closed.</p><p>The man they say has the vulnerable unorthodox style, the man who flops too much, the man you can beat with high shots. This was the man who completed the first month of 1972 with a gaudy goals-against mark of 1.90 in 30 games.</p><p>Tony-0, as Black Hawk buffs label him. authored a particularly parsimonious streak when he kept the Chicago cage sacrosanct for more than three hours in his Chicago Stadium starts at the end of January.</p><p>He blanked California 2-0 on Jan. 19th, blanked Toronto 4-0 on Jan. 23rd. and blanked Vancouver 4-0 on Jan. 27th. Add to that 5:13 of shutout hockey in Esposito&rsquo;s start previous to the Seals&rsquo; game&mdash;a triumph over Minnesota 4-3 on Jan. 16. Add to that 7:16 of whitewashing in the Jan. 31 start against Detroit, which finally halted the string on a goal by Leon Rochefort. Elapsed time: 192 minutes, 29 seconds of Esposito zeroes.</p><p>You certainly were brilliant, Tony.</p><p>&ldquo;Well, the guys have been playing well in front of me. They have been especially good on rebounds. They come back and cover,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I still think I played better during the playoffs when we were up against New York and Montreal. That&rsquo;s a little tougher than when you&rsquo;re against the lower clubs.&rdquo;</p><p>In case you aren&rsquo;t familiar with the Esposito personality, he is not one to praise himself. If the Black Hawks win with him in goal, the guys played great in front of him. If the Black Hawks lose when he is playing, then it was his fault. Every, but every goal is his fault.</p><p>(Folks who cover the team are waiting for someone to score an empty net goal on the Hawks to see if Tony-0 will take the blame for that, too.)</p><p>Seriously, he will always talk, but he will never spout off. There is enough pressure in goaltending, he says, besides creating more trouble by saying things that you&rsquo;ll regret some day in the future. So he resorts to homilies.</p><p>He is a genuine guy, though and nervous enough to qualify for Goaltenders Anonymous. Maybe not flakey enough, hewever. And he&rsquo;s not merely babbling when he talks about all the help he gets from up front. The Hawks, you see, make a religion out of defense.</p><p>&ldquo;Shutouts may require a certain element of luck&rdquo;. Coach Billy Reay said during the three-shutout bonanza. &ldquo;But the way this team is playing defensively, the shutouts are deserved. They were earned.&rdquo;</p><p>The Hawks&rsquo; emphasis on defense was exhibited in a contest at Pittsburgh two nights after Esposito had whipped Vancouver. Behind Gary Smith, the Chicagoans had a shutout going with a four-goal bulge entering the final period.</p><p>But a couple of less-than-perfect maneuvers gave the Penguins two goals, and after the game, the victorious Chicago locker room was maudlin.</p><p>Reay managed a smile, but only after he realized that his men were not pleased by their generosity.</p><p>&ldquo;If allowing two goals like that bothers them, then it&rsquo;s a good sign,&rdquo; he said firmly.</p><p>Smith entered February with a sparkling 1.98 goals against record. The team average was 1.81. The duo had 11 shutouts&mdash;Espo 7 and Smith four. Esposito etched a club record two seasons ago with 15 blanks, also the top number for an individual in league history.</p><p>And according to the NHL office, if the Esposito-Smith tandem stayed staunch, it would cop the Vezina Trophy with the lowest mark since 1939-40. when Dave Kerr of the New York Rangers penned a 1.60 everage.</p><p><b>HAWK-EY TALK:</b> Bobby Hull missed a National Hockey League record by one game when he failed to register either a goal or assist in 22 straight contests. Hull had 23 goals and 11 assists in his 21-game binge, but failed to notch a point against Vancouver. The record Hull sought was established by Bronco Horvath, who centered the &ldquo;Uke&rdquo; line in Boston. Horvath collected 16 goals and 17 assists during a 22-game spin in the 1959-60 campaign, the same season that, ironically, Hull edged out Horvath in the final scoring derby by one point, 81-80. Horvath&rsquo;s streak spanned from Dec. 27, 1959, to Feb. 13, 1960. His linemates, incidentally, were left wing Johnny Bucyk and right wing Vic Stasiuk&hellip;The Canucks&rsquo; contest also marked the first time in 22 games that the line of Hull, center Pit Martin and right wing Chico Maki was kept scoreless. Martin had 11 goals, 19 assists and Maki 4-23 since the trio was formed Dec. 3. The line&rsquo;s total was 91 points in 22 games.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02595/2983374-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1174" height="1011"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TONY ESPOSITO&hellip;Top Man In The Big Pads</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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Stingy Man In The Hawks’ Nets

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-01779/2983426-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="506" height="514"></div><p><b>&bull; GOVERNOR WENDELL ANDERSON</b> of Minnesota turns the sod this month in a special ceremony marking the site where a beautiful new building will be constructed to house the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. The location is on the outskirts of Eveleth, Minn., and is an ideal location for such a hockey shrine and easily accessible by motorists driving through that part of the country. Gov. Anderson, a former hockey player himself, was a member of the U.S. Olympic team of 1956, and is one of the most enthusiastic boosters of the U.S. Hall of Fame&hellip;Gordie Howe will be one of the main speakers at a dinner held the eveningof the official sod turning&hellip;Roger Godin is the curator of the Hall and is working tirelessly to make certain the building opens on time and fulfills all the plans and expectations that United States hockey enthusiasts have for their own hockey hallmark&hellip;We toured the site following the NHL All Star Game at Bloomington and met many of the people behind the project&hellip;During our visit to the Eveleth area we ran into such former well-known players from that part of the country as Sam LoPresti, Frank Brimsek and John Karakas&hellip;John Karakas is a brother of Mike and a former player with Baltimore of the EHL and Los Angeles Monarchs of the PCHL. John is now a Hamm&rsquo;s Beer distributor for North-East Minnesota and one of the leading citizens of Eveleth&hellip;He told me, incidentally, that he was also an original subscriber to THE HOCKEY NEWS&hellip;Gathering place for the hockey people in Eveleth is Mitch&rsquo;s Bar & Lounge. Large photos of the old Chicago Shamrocks and the early Chicago Black Hawks&rsquo; teams adorn the walls along with photos of players from the Iron Range who&rsquo;ve made it to hockey&rsquo;s pro ranks. Mitchell Batinich, operator of Mitch&rsquo;s Bar & Lounge, says more hockey people have visited his place over the years than anywhere else on the Range&hellip;Al Peterlin, trainer of Eveleth hockey teams for 45 years and a trainer of many U.S. Olympic and National teams, was a visitor at Mitch&rsquo;s the day we were there&hellip;As one who has attended all 25 NHL All Star Games, the one in Minnesota this year rates as one of the finest ever staged in terms of preparation and execution. Everything about the event, from the accommodations, to the meetings, the dinner and the game itself was conducted in first-class fashion&hellip;Walter Bush, president of the North Stars, relaxed after the All Star game by taking a few days off to go skiing in Colorado&hellip;Furman Bisher, well-known and respected sports editor from Atlanta, took in his first hockey All Star Game. Furman accompanied Bill Putnam, president of the new NHL Atlanta franchise&hellip;Al MacNeil has the inside track for the coaching job with the new Long Island entry, while Ray Miron is candidate for GM job.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02730/2983419-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="266" height="435"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Wendell Anderson</b></figcaption></div><p><b>&bull; MORE GOALS</b> are being scored off the power play this season which makes one wonder if the penalty-killing combinations are not as good as in the past&hellip;Scotty Bwoman&rsquo;s name is being rumored about as the first coach to be hired by Atlanta&hellip;Montreal Canadiens have an extremely poor road record this season compared to their almost perfect record at home&hellip;Minnesota&rsquo;s Jackie Gordon has his North Stars playing extremely well on the road. The Stars have the NHL&rsquo;s fourth best road record&hellip;John Ferguson, ex-Montreal hardrock, reveals that he&rsquo;s refused two offers to coach&hellip;There are seven United States-born players in the NHL thesedays&hellip;It appears that Montreal&rsquo;s Ken Dryden, Buffalo&rsquo;s Rick Martin and Marcel Dionne of Detroit will battle it out for the Calder Memorial Trophy for 1971-72 and the balloting will be extremely close&hellip;Toronto Maple Leafs have a better record on the road than at home this season. One reason advanced for the poor home showing is that so many players on other teams played in Maple Leaf Gardens as juniors that Toronto is like home to them and they have as many fans rooting for them as the Leafs&hellip;Minnesota&rsquo;s Dean Prentice will retire at the end of the season. The 39-year-old forward is seeking a junior coaching post next year&hellip;Kansas City and Cleveland are given the best chances to join the NHL when expansion next comes&hellip;Close friends of Bobby Hull call him &ldquo;Zale&rdquo;, after Tony Zale, the former boxing champ who was known as The Man of Steel&hellip;Doug McConnell has written a very amusing book about characters in the Western Hockey League which has proven very popular with hockey fans. Those interested in obtaining a copy should write Panoramic Press, P.O. Box 13473, Phoenix, Arizona 85002&hellip;The Manitoba Junior Hockey League All Stars played a whale of a game against the OHA&rsquo;s Toronto Marlboros in an exhibition game in Winnipeg in aid of the Manitoba Hockey Players&rsquo; Foundation recently. The Marlies eked out an 8-7 win over the speedy Manitobans. A dinner was held the night preceding the game by the Manitoba Hockey Players&rsquo; Foundation at which time all of the junior clubs from the province who had won the Memorial Cup were honored. Teams from Manitoba won the Memorial Cup the following years: 1921, Winnipeg Falcons, 1923, U. of Manitoba; 1931, Elmwood Millionaires; 1935, Winnipeg Monarchs; 1937, Winnipeg Monarchs; 1938, St. Boniface Seals; 1941, Winnipeg Rangers; 1942, Portage La Prairie Terriers; 1943, Winnipeg Rangers; 1946, Winnipeg Monarchs; 1957, Flin Flon Bombers; 1959, Winnipeg Braves&hellip;The Manitoba Oldtimers will leave this month on a tour of European Army and Air Force bases and it marks the first time a team of Oldtimers from Western Canada has made the junket&hellip;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03632/2983412-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="269" height="435"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Dean Prentice</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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PASSING THE PUCK

<p>Founded October 1st, 1947</p><p><b>Published weekly except monthly June through September by Ken-Will Publishing Co. Ltd.</b></p><p><b>1434 St. Catherine Street West Montreal 107, Canada.</b></p><p><b>U.S. Office: 16 Maple Street, Rouses Point, N.Y. 12979</b></p><p><b>Kenneth William McKenzie</b><br>President and Publisher</p><p><b>Charlie Halpin</b><br>Editorial Director</p><p><b>Lyndon Little</b><br>Assistant To Editor</p><p><b>Yearly SUBSCRIPTION Rates: $6.00 in Canada $7.00 in the U.S.A, and $9.00 in Foreign Countries.</b></p><p>Postpage paid at Rouses Point, N.Y. 12979. Send address changes to 1434 St. Catherine Street West, Suite 212, Montr&eacute;al, 107, P.Q.</p><p>Second class mail&mdash;Registration No. 1327</p><p><b>Printed in Canada</b></p><p><b>Vol. 25 MONTREAL, JANUARY 28, 1972 No. 17</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

The Hockey News OFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY

<h2><b>Flyers Got Edge In Recent Swap</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>M</span>any people have wondered about the recent eight-player trade between the Philaelphia Flyers and the Los Angeles Kings. I&rsquo;d like to give a Flyers&rsquo; fan opinion of the deal.</p><p>Serge Bernier and Bill Lesuk are mysteries. They both have good potential but do not know how to finish off plays. Lesuk is a hustler who backchecks well but who gets into ruts and starts pressing. Bernier is a moody individual who plays only when the mood strikes him. He was under a lot of pressure from the fans, but he deserved it.</p><p>Jim Johnson hustles and gives 150 per cent, but doesn&rsquo;t score goals in bunches. He was the Flyers&rsquo; most consistent performer in the beginning, but then developed mononucleosis and has been sidelined ever since.</p><p>As for the players Philadelphia got in return, Ed Joyal was the Kings&rsquo; all-time leading scorer and along with Flett were the last of the original Kings. Joyal is (from what I hear) a decent goalscorer who had two sub-par years and may do well in Philly.</p><p>Bill Flett is not a natural goalscorer but is good in the corners and has a hard shot. Ross Lonsberry has good potential and has had two, 20-goal seasons back to back, as well as being a good checking winger. I&rsquo;ve only seen Jean Potvin a few times, but from what I saw he is going to be good.</p><p>I can&rsquo;t help but feel that the Flyers got the better of the deal in all facets.</p><p><b>RON PARLOW,</b><br><b>Penn, Valley, Pa.</b></p><h2><b>Beantown Braves Get Booster Help</b></h2><p>We just read your article in the January 21st issue about the Boston Braves.</p><p>If you had someone covering the first home game of the Braves, you&rsquo;ll now know better than to count them down and out, again. True, like most teams, they&rsquo;re more a &ldquo;home&rdquo; team. All they need on the road is a little reminder of what they have waiting back home to make those games as great as they are here.</p><p>The reception that they received when they returned proved that the Boston fans certainly don&rsquo;t agree with you. A standing ovation lasting over a minute to show the team how proud we are of them hasn&rsquo;t been seen here since the Bruins won the Stanley Cup. As coach Bep Guidolin has stated, their &ldquo;away&rdquo; games record is the best in the league. They&rsquo;re going to get a lot better now that a Braves Booster Club is being formed to be the reminder of what waits for them in Boston.</p><p><b>P. McDONOUGH,</b><br><b>Braves Boosters</b><br><b>Boston, Mass.</b></p><h2><b>The Golden Bear That&rsquo;s Bobby Orr</b></h2><p>Bobby Orr has no equal, which makes it difficult to select a nickname which is appropriate for one so great. The first time I saw him play as a junior against the big red machine from Moscow. He was the best man on the ice, and he was only a kid of seventeen. Since that time he has continually improved to become the greatest player I have ever seen, and I have been a keen follower of hockey since 1933.</p><p>All great players get called fantastic names, and I can think of a couple which might suit Orr. When Bobby is on the ice he controls the game like a barometer controls the weather. So how about &ldquo;Barometer&rdquo; Bobby Orr. He also fires a puck as accurate as Jack Nicklaus drives a golf ball, and hockey has no Golden Bear. So, Bobby is The Golden Bear of Hockey. How about that?</p><p><b>DON HADLEY,</b><br><b>Brampton, Ont.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Fan Forum

<div class="byline">BY GIL SMITH</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-01808/2983505-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>FRANK MAHOVLICH&hellip;Passes 1,000-Game Milestone</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Hockey News Photo by Robert Shaver)</span></figcaption></div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>ith two-thirds of the schedule gone and his Canadiens mired in third place, who could blame Scotty Bowman for instituting a hockey version of &ldquo;What&rsquo;s My Line?&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;Montreal fans are used to winning,&rdquo; says Bowman, realistically. &ldquo;They virtually demand it. They had great, winning teams for years and it&rsquo;s created a tradition for winning, here. I don&rsquo;t expect them to be easy on either myself or the club if we don&rsquo;t win.&rdquo;</p><p>To get his Habs on a winning track, Scotty stirred the pot and came up with a slew of diffferent line formations. In a six-game stretch at the Montreal Forum recently, Habs showed no less than 13 different combinations. Some were together only for a shift or two. Others played through several games.</p><p>The result was four wins against two losses for Habs as the game of musical chairs continued.</p><p>Canadiens scored 28 goals during that stretch, with three players&mdash;the Mahovlichs and Yvan Cournoyer&mdash;accounting for more than half of them. There was food for thought in the fact that Frank and Pete Mahovlich were among the few who&rsquo;d been together on the same line for nearly all of the six games.</p><p>The Mahovlichs scored 11 goals&mdash;Peter got seven of them&mdash;while Cournoyer had five tallies. During the six games, Yvan played with three different centers and saw three changes of left-wingers on his line.</p><p>&ldquo;Injuries accounted for some of the changes, of course,&rdquo; Bowman told writers. &ldquo;But, today&rsquo;s players have to be versatile and a coach has to try different things.&rdquo;</p><p>Among the more versatile was Jim Roberts, who found himself playing left wing and then right wing on a line pivoted by Henri Richard. Roberts also played right defense, with Jacques Laperriere and Guy Lapointe alternating as his partners.</p><p>Marc Tardif played left wing on three different combinations and even had a fling at center between Guy Lafleur and his great, good friend Rejean Houle. Houle played on four different lines, two of which found him at left wing and two others at right.</p><p>Lafleur was given a shot at center, again, between Houle and Tardif. He was subsequently returned to right wing where he has proved that he belongs.</p><p>The biggest plus, in fact, in all the shuffling was the uniting of Lafleur at right wing on a line with the Mahovlich brothers.</p><p>In two games against St. Louis and Minnesota the line picked up 13 scoring points. Frank Mahovlich had five of them, including a hat-trick.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0006-01

Bowman Plays ‘What’s My Line?’ In Bid To Move Habs

<p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p>The way Frank Mahovlich sees it, it&rsquo;s the second 1,000 games of a player&rsquo;s career that can really pose a challenge.</p><p>So, the &lsquo;Big M&rsquo;, playing in his 1,001st regular season game on January 27th, met the challenge with a hat trick against the Minnesota North Stars.</p><p>It marked the 13th time in his NHL career that Mahovlich had registered a three-goal game. He is now in his 15th NHL season.</p><p>The hat trick was the second of the current season for Mahovlich.</p><p>Mahovlich, born in January 34 years ago and traded to Canadiens in January of 1971, started the present NHL campaign with a career total of 421 goals.</p><p>That ranked him fifth among all-time goal scorers in NHL history. Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Maurice Richard and Jean Beliveau are ahead of him. But, only Hull is active now. The &lsquo;Big M&rsquo; however is still a good 61 goals away from equalling the mark of Jean Beliveau, to whom he is the closest in goals scored.</p><p>Beliveau retired at the end of last season with 507 goals in 18 NHL seasons.</p><p>Mahovlich had 446 goals, after his January hat trick.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Big M Gets 13th Career Hat Trick

<div class="byline">BY TOM MONAHAN</div><p>BOSTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>ll season long the Bruins have been a patient lot of hockey players and they are maintaining that compsure as they gun down on the No. 1 spot in the NHL East Division with one exception.</p><p>The exception is Don Awrey, an almost cherubic - looking 28-year-old defenseman.</p><p>Don has good reason for his impatience. Since Nov. 7 when he fractured his right ankle in a wrestling match with Montreal&rsquo;s Phil Roberto, Awrey has been on the sidelines watching and waiting and sweating out the healing of a cantakerous injury that at times has defied prognosis of complete recovery. The Bruins dropped him down to the AHL Boston Braves for a 14-day period to get this skating legs back prior to returning to regular NHL action.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01756/2983560-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="262" height="441"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Don Awrey</b></figcaption></div><p>To compensate for the loss of Awrey the Bruins acquired veteran Matt Ravlich but, as they rode into first place, they depended on the defensive combinations of All Stars Bobby Orr and Dallas Smith and Teddy Green and Rick Smith.</p><p>Always a team-man, Awrey hobbled around the Garden for the Bruins&rsquo; home games cheering his mates to bury the opposition but always he was waiting for his chance to get back on the ice and prove he can hold down the job he did so well the past two seasons.</p><p>No date has been set for Don actually to return to the Bruins&rsquo; lineup but it is likely it will be following his two-week tenure with the Braves.</p><p>&ldquo;I had played only 13 games when I was hurt,&rdquo; said Awrey after a strong workout late last week. &ldquo;Things were tight then and I felt awful that I couldn&rsquo;t be around to do my share.</p><p>&ldquo;Then as things got better for the team and my leg started to heal I was bothered a bit mentally&mdash;wondering if I could come back and still be able to help.&rdquo;</p><p>In the last two weeks Awrey has been skating regularly and with each day his leg has regained its strength.</p><p>With that has come renewed confidence that he again can do the job.</p><p>&ldquo;Until about a week ago I still has some misgivings about when I would be able to return to the lineup,&rdquo; said Awrey after his most recent practice.</p><p>&ldquo;I was worried that somebody would be able to get that extra step on me to my left.</p><p>&ldquo;I never worried about that before. I always felt I could move as quickly as anyone in the league but the right leg still was a bit weak. And I had the feeling that if I couldn&rsquo;t really move the way I used to I&rsquo;d hurt the team.</p><p>&ldquo;But it&rsquo;s all coming back now. I can feel it. I feel great. I have no trouble with the leg at all. I&rsquo;ve gone down to stop shots with it in practice and I no longer have any personal doubts.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;Now I&rsquo;m really impatient to get back into the action.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0007-01

Awrey Eager For NHL Return

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02665/2983591-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg"></div><h2>Defending Screened Shots</h2><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>hose screened shots are goalies&rsquo; nightmares. The puck can disappear from his view, then suddenly reappear. whistling past him into the net.</p><p>The best defence against a screened shot is a low crouch. Most of them come in just off the ice or skid along it, slow and perhaps rolling.</p><p>Play the odds: Crouch down so you can see through the tangle of legs. Chances are the shot will be a low one and you may see it coming.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0007-02

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/f0008-01794/2983636-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="276" height="365"></div><h2><i>The Ranger Hot Line&hellip;</i></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>N</span>EW YORK RANGER</b> manager and coach Emile &ldquo;The Cat&rdquo; Francis was saying of Jean Ratelle, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the most consistent player I&rsquo;ve ever seen. He&rsquo;s never had a bad game or a bad practice.&rdquo; Ratelle, who with Rod Gilbert and Vic Hadfield, has been centering the National Hockey League&rsquo;s hottest line this season, was saying, &ldquo;The most important thing in sports is consistency. It is no good to have a great game, then two or three bad games, then another great game, it is much better to have four or five good games in a row. It&rsquo;s better to be good all the time than great sometimes.&rdquo;</p><p>The Rangers may be the best passing team in hockey and the Ratelle-Gilbert-Had-field trio may be tops in moving the puck. Jean says, &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been together awhile and we work together well. I know we pass pretty well. I think we all take pride in executing a pretty play. But, of course, pretty isn&rsquo;t the big thing. Goal is. But I don&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;re selfish. I think we look to set up the one of us that has the best opening. Rod used to have more hook to his stick. Now both he and Vic have straighter blades and I think it makes for a more consistent pass from them. Both receive passes well.</p><p>&ldquo;There is always the chance that good passers will overpass. You have to force an opening and then take advantage of it the moment it presents itself. It happens sometimes that you try to be so perfect, so unselfish you make the one pass too many that ruins a play, that takes you past the best play, but we&rsquo;re aware of this and we&rsquo;re going for the goal, not just the sleight-of-hand stuff. A lot of players flip the puck. It goes on end or rolls or bounces. Some &ldquo;shoot&rdquo; passes too hard. We try to slide a pass right on a man&rsquo;s stick so he can take it in stride. We try to give it to him when he has daylight. We don&rsquo;t just get rid of it by throwing it to a teammate who&rsquo;s in close quarters.</p><p>The line has been christened the GAG Line, not because of prankster Hadfield, but because it was carrying much more than a goal-a-game average well into the second half of the season. At midseason, the trio had 81 goals and 189 points, far in front of the pace set by Boston&rsquo;s Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge and Wayne Cashman when they set a league record with 140 goals and 336 points least season. Ratelle pocketed $500 by leading Esposito to the midway mark in points, 71-70. Espo has 72 at that point last season on his way to a record 152 points.</p><p>The balance of the trio is reflected in their goal-scoring totals at midseason. Two games past the midway mark, each had 28 goals. Hadfield is in his 11th NHL season and his previous high was 26 goals in 1969. Gilbert, in his 10th season, is consistent, having scored 28 goals twice, and 29 once before netting 30 last season. But Ratelle, also in his 10th season, is the most consistent of all. He had 32 goals three years in a row before slipping to 26 last season. He had 46 assists three years out of the four, 42 the fourth.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02704/2983629-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="543" height="881"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JEAN RATELLE&hellip;Overshadowed By Stars</b></figcaption></div><h2><i>They&rsquo;re A Hot Team&hellip;</i></h2><p><b>FUN-LOVING VICTOR EDWARD HADFIELD,</b> 31 years of age, from Oakville, Ontario, fits in nicely with the French Canucks who work on his right side and seems to have drawn inspiration and steadied down from having been appointed by The Cat captain of this club. An off-seasons golf pro who with his wife Myrna has three children, Vic&rsquo;s booming slap shot hasn&rsquo;t made quite as much noise around the league as originally was anticipated, but he appears at his peak at this time. He says, &ldquo;Everything seems to be falling into place.&rdquo;</p><p>Handsome, mod-haired, stylishly-attired Rodrigue Gabriel Gilbert, 30, from Montreal, came up hailed as a budding superstar and came to be considered something of a disappointment. It would have been logical to blame a back injury which required delicate surgery, from which he fought back, often playing in pain. Some blamed the fact that he became a single man about Manhattan, supposedly living too good to play at his best. Perhaps, they just expect too much in Big Town. He&rsquo;s been a steady star who has gone from being overrated to being underrated. &ldquo;I just do the best I can,&rdquo; he says.</p><p>Slender, soft-spoken Joseph Gilbert Yvon Jean Ratelle, 31, from Lac St. Jean, Quebec, is the balance wheel of the trio. An off-season golf pro and investment banker who with his wife Nancy has two young daughters, Catherine and Carolyn, he is considered by his coach and his teammates as good as the best centers in the game, but he has been overshadowed in a position that has featured the awesome Esposito, durable Jean Beliveau and Stan Mikita and swift Dave Keon and Norm Ullman. Incredibly, Ratelle never has been either a first or second All Star selection. This may change this season. He says, &ldquo;That would be nice. We all have some ego. But as long as I am appreciated on my team for doing a job, I am not unhappy. I would be most happy for the team to win the Stanley Cup. I would give up all individual honors for that.&rdquo;</p><p>Francis says, &ldquo;Jean Ratelle is an exceptional human being. He is the sort one wants a son to grow up like.&rdquo; Ratelle says, &ldquo;That is a nice thing for a man to say, but it is hard to handle a compliment like that. I am just a hockey play, a man who tries to do right by his profession and his family and his friends. I enjoy life. I work hard. I like to win.&rsquo;</p><p>The Rangers are winning. In their dressing room after a win, there is a lot of good feeling. Brad Park, the brilliant young defenseman, grins as he freezes his sore knee under a bag of ice. He says, &ldquo;I do this after every game. It hurts less after games we&rsquo;ve won than after games we&rsquo;ve lost. We have solid goaltending, a hot line, good balance and good depth. If this is the year in last we go all the way, I&rsquo;ll do it on one leg it I have to.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03582/2983622-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="1161" height="1801"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Veteran JEAN-GUY GENDRON of the Philadelphia Flyers has indicated this will be his final year in pro hockey. The 18-year-old NHL campaigner wants to spend more time with his family and his golf game. Shown with Gendron are his wife, JOCELYNE, and sons MARC, 7 1/2 and CHRISTIAN, 5. Gendron says he will call it quits after this season with no regrets.</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0008-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY JACK BERRY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-01771/2983667-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="547" height="872"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RON HARRIS&hellip;12 Broken Noses</b></figcaption></div><p>DETROIT&mdash;</p><p>Ron Harris&rsquo; litany of injuries comes awfully close to &ldquo;The Twelve Days of Christmas.&rdquo; You know&hellip;&ldquo;and a partridge in a pear tree.&rdquo;</p><p>Harris&rsquo; latest injury is a sprained knee and. while resting in the press box, he recounted all the injuries that he could remember:</p><p>&ldquo;About 12 broken noses, I guess,&rdquo; Harris said for starters.</p><p>&lsquo;I&rsquo;ve had three shoulder fractures, twice the right one; broke my thigh bone once, had operations on each knee, had a double hernia operation, broken a couple of fingers and toes, tore some rib cartilage, fractured my jaw and wrist once each and got a whiplash when a police car hit me from behind at a red light.&rdquo;</p><p>And, of course there are all those missing teeth.</p><p>&ldquo;I should&rsquo;ve been a lover,&rdquo; Harris said, laughing. &ldquo;But all those things don&rsquo;t hurt now&mdash;all those pains are gone.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;The guy with the most muscles and the one that&rsquo;s hurt the most,&rdquo; Red Wing trainer Lefty Wilson said one day as Harris stretched out on a treatment table.</p><p>That&rsquo;s the irony. No one works harder at staying in condition than the 29-year-old, blond from the Montreal suburb of Verdun.</p><p>When a huge conditioning apparatus was erected in the Red Wing dressing room. with weights, pulleys and what have you sticking out in all directions, the players kidded that it was a present from club owner Bruce Norris to Harris.</p><p>Harris skates with weights in his shin guards during practice to build up his legs. He has a weight taped to a sawed-off stick that he uses to build up his wrists. When he skates you&rsquo;d swear his blades are going to slice through the ice to the concrete.</p><p>But he&rsquo;s been more brittle than an icicle. Only once, since turning professional in 1962 with Pittsburgh then a Red Wing farm club, has Harris played an entire schedule. That was 1964-65 for Memphis in the Central League.</p><p>&ldquo;The first year I was with Detroit from the start (1968-69) 1 played every game but the last three&hellip;then I twisted my ankle,&rdquo; Harris said.</p><p>Harris, who is very popular with his teammates and with the fans, will be missed in the time he&rsquo;ll be out.</p><p>He&rsquo;s the fifth defenseman but he&rsquo;s the man Coach Johnny Wilson sends out when he wants to loosen up the opposition. Harris&rsquo; game is hitting, obviously, and if he does that much damage to himself, you can understand why the opposition steps gingerly when he&rsquo;s on the ice.</p><p>&ldquo;Harry (Harris&rsquo; nickname) is a good man, both in the room and on the ice,&rdquo; Wilson said.</p><p>Wilson uses Harris both on defense and occasionally as a forward on a fourth line. His latest injury came on defense, during his first turn on the ice in a game at Buffalo.</p><p>&ldquo;I hit Gerry Meehan with my left shoulder but I must have been off balance and hit something in the ice&mdash;the ice was terrible, rutted and chippy,&rdquo; Harris said. And he went down on his right knee.</p><p>At first it was feared the damage was serious but examination in Detroit revealed only a sprain and Harris was expected to be out a week to 10 davs.</p><p><b>RED WING NOTES:</b> The Wings are making progress in their drive toward a playoff spot&hellip;losers of all three starts at Buffalo last year, the Wings won two and tied during their other visit to Buffalo this season.</p><p>January was a good month for Detroit. Not only did the Wings catch Toronto and tie for fourth place, they posted a 7-4-2 won-lost-tied record overall and 6-1-1 at Olympia. Minnesota and St. Louis were the only teams to beat Detroit in a 16-game period at Olympia stretching, from Thanksgiving to the end of January.</p><p>Mickey Redmond&rsquo;s slap shot past Chicago&rsquo;s Tony Esposito on Jan. 30 was his 27th goal of the season and equaled his NHL high in 1969-70 at Montreal.</p><p>Bob Wall was recalled from Tidewater and Serge Lajeunesse from Fort Worth. Lajeunesse was later returned along with Randy Manery. Wall is apparently up for the rest of the year.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0009-01

Injury-Prone Harris Still Valuable Wing

<p>Following are the latest player movements in hockey:</p><h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2><p>BOSTON&mdash;<b>Don Awrey</b>, defenseman, assigned to Boston Braves of AHL for 14-day period to play himself into condition.</p><p>DETROIT&mdash;<b>Serge Lajeunesse</b>, defenseman, and <b>Randy Manery</b>, forward, sent back to Fort Worth of CHL.</p><p>PITTSBURGH&mdash;<b>Steve Cardwell</b>, forward, recalled from Hershey of AHL.</p><p>MONTREAL&mdash;<b>Larry Pleau</b>, forward, recalled from Nova Scotia of AHL.</p><p>ST. LOUIS&mdash;<b>Jim McLeod</b>, goalkeeper, sold outright to Portland of WHL.</p><p>LOS ANGELES&mdash;<b>Billy Smith</b>, goalkeeper, recalled from Springfield of AHL as replacement for <b>Rogatien Vachon</b>, goalkeeper, who underwent knee surgery and is likely sidelined for rest of season.</p><h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2><p>SPRINGFIELD&mdash;<b>Bob Vroman</b>, goalkeeper, returned to Johnstown of EHL and later recalled from Johnstown.</p><p>BOSTON&mdash;<b>Bob Stewart</b>, defenseman, assigned to Oklahoma City of CHL.</p><h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2><p>KANSAS CITY&mdash;<b>Glen Patrick</b>, defenseman, returned to Columbus of IHL.</p><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2><p>DAYTON&mdash;<b>Nels Jacobson</b> and <b>Dave Bonter</b>, forwards, placed on waivers.</p><p>COLUMBUS&mdash;<b>Jim Young</b>, defenseman, reported from Flint after trade. <b>Dave Haley</b>, defenseman, secured from Seattle of WHL.</p><p>FLINT&mdash;<b>Art Quoquochi</b>, forward, reported from Columbus after trade.</p><h2>EASTERN LEAGUE</h2><p>SYRACUSE&mdash;<b>Bob Murphy</b>, forward, dropped from roster upon return of <b>Bob Peppier</b>, forward, from injury list. <b>Guy Dufour</b>, forward, sent to Roanoke Valley of EHL with right of repurchase.</p><p>GREENSBORO&mdash;<b>Brian Derksen</b>, defenseman. added to roster. <b>Pierre Duguay</b>, forward, released.</p><p>ROANOKE VALLEY&mdash;<b>Norm Bean</b>, defenseman, released. <b>Claude Piche</b>, forward, rturned to active roster after five weeks on injury list.</p><p>JERSEY&mdash;<b>Bob Murphy</b>, forward, picked up on waivers from Syracuse. <b>Herm Price</b>, forward, released.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Movements of Players

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><p>NEW YORK&mdash;</p><p>They laughed when Ranger general manager-coach Emile Francis traded Dave Balon, who had scored 36 goals last season to Vancouver for defenseman Gary Doak, but Francis is having the last laugh now.</p><p>Dale Rolfe, Brad Park&rsquo;s normal partner and the skating whiz of the New York back line suffered strained tendons on January 19 in Los Angeles. Then Ab De Marco fractured his right ankle in the January 26 game with Buffalo and suddenly the Rangers were down to just four defensemen.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-01790/2983722-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="269" height="430"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Gary Doak</b></figcaption></div><p>The Jim Neilson-Rod Seiling duo remains the same, but Park is now playing the left side and Doak is the right hand shot on the other combination. And Doak is making a fine fourth rearguard.</p><p>&ldquo;He is mean in front of the net,&rdquo; commented Johnny McKenzie of the Boston Bruins. &ldquo;He uses his stick, even in practice when he was with us and I know he means business.&rdquo;</p><p>Doak, who played with Boston in their Cup winning season of 1969-70, went to Vancouver in the expansion draft and was rated the Canucks&rsquo; Number One rearguard last year, even over Dale Tallon. Analytically, he is a bit slow, certainly slower than the messrs. Park, Neilson and Seiling, but he is a tried professional and very much wanted at the moment.</p><p>With DeMarco out from four to six weeks, with his second straight ankle fracture in two seasons and Rolfe just starting to try light skating, Doak&rsquo;s presence is most important. DeMarco broke his left ankle last season in Omaha and the right one this time, so no permanent problem should result. Mike McMahon, a former Ranger and North Star blue liner was brought up from Providence as an emergency standby until Rolfe could regain his health.</p><p>This is the third straight season that injuries have played hob with the New York defense corps, albeit this time the problems started earlier and seem to be patchable. In 1969-70, the injuries suffered by Jim Neilson, Brad Park and Rod Seiling cost the Rangers first place after they had led from November until March&mdash;and forced Francis to purchase Tim Horton from Toronto to fill the gap. And the slumping Blueshirts had to create a nine goal miracle on the last day of the season in order to squeeze into fourth place and the playoffs.</p><p>Last season, the weekend of February 27-28 saw Seiling and Park both suffer knee injuries and neither was really right after that. Park played hurt in the playoffs and did not really return to his top form until this season.</p><p>The G-A-G Line continued to spark the Rangers, but New York had fallen six points back of the Bruins at press time. Walter Tkaczuk received a nasty scare when hit in the ankle in the Rangers 4-2 loss to Minnesota on January 29. The teams then rushed back to MSG for an afternoon CBS-TV game with the same North Stars and fought to a 1-1 tie. Tkaczuk played and played well in the Sunday game in New York and all seemed alright. All three GAG Liners are now over the thirty goal mark, the first time the Rangers have ever had three 30 goal men in the same season. And all three will surpass their previous career highs, with Vic Hadfield and Rod Gilbert already having done so and Jean Ratelle closing in with 30 goals. Three times, in the past, Ratty notched 32 goals over the full term.</p><p>&ldquo;The game we didn&rsquo;t figure to win last week, we did,&rdquo; noted Gilbert. &ldquo;Nobody had any sleep and we handled Buffalo easily.&rdquo;</p><p>This was a reference to the 5-1 win over the Sabres on January 26, the night after the All Star game in which Gilbert, Hadfield, Ratelle, Park, Seiling and Villemure were stranded in a Northwest Orient 747 for six hours in the Minnesota airport. This was from 12:00 Midnight January 25 until 6:00 AM January 26, at which time everyone was transferred to the normal morning flight&mdash;sans sleep. In fairness, it must be reported that Gil Perreault, Rick Martin and Al Hamilton, the Buffalo stars were also on the same plane. But since this reporter found it hard to concentrate that night at the typewriter and microphone, it must have been doubly tough to play.</p><p>Gilbert got his 33rd marker in that game and Ratelle got two goals, his 29th and 30th. Ted Irvine picked up slack with two, his ninth and tenth.</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what a winning team does,&rdquo; said Ratty. &ldquo;When the so-called big guys want the night off. some one of the other fellows go out and do the job.&rdquo;</p><p>Gilbert has been flying and has twenty goals in his last 26 games. He is playing it tough on defense and is wristing the puck as often as slap shooting it.</p><p>Hadfield put it in perspective when asked to comment on the one half inch curved stick rule, &ldquo;It made Rod and I complete hockey players, not just shooters. Why it took us eight years to get smart I don&rsquo;t know, but now we got it and we are going to keep it.&rdquo;.</p><p><b>BLUE CHIPS:</b> The Ratelle line now has 221 points, at press time, tying them with the Ranger team record they set four years ago&hellip;Vic Hadfield with 16 power play goals and six game winners was showing the way in those departments as team captain. He was fighting for the NHL lead with Boston&rsquo;s Phil Esposito and Buffalo&rsquo;s Rick Martin&hellip;Speaking of Esposito, Tim Moriarty of Newsday has authored a splendid volume, &ldquo;The Brothers Esposito,&rdquo; which even hard core Ranger fans will enjoy. They will learn a lot about New York&rsquo;s main rivals.</p><div class="sidebar"><h2>WINS GRUEN WATCH</h2><p>Fred Jurkofsky Jr., of 2345 E. Sergeant Street, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.A., is the January winner of the Gruen Precision Watch contest.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0010-01

Francis Has Last Laugh As Doak Pays Off Trade

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01779/2983767-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="544" height="574"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JIM JOHNSON</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-02711/2983760-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="549" height="575"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BILL LESUK</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-03594/2983753-1-eng-US/f0011-032.jpg" title="f0011-03" width="555" height="579"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>SERGE BERNIER</b></figcaption></div><p>LOS ANGELES&mdash;</p><p>The more things change, the more they stay the same.</p><p>Since they were formed, the Los Angeles Kings have moved personnel in and out at a rapid rate. In this their fifth season as a franchise, on a course that could leave them out of the postseason playoffs for the third straight season, they completed their biggest trade late in January, but the chances of other changes following are far from remote.</p><p>Owner Jack Kent Cooke, passionate about hockey, a perfectionist and a demanding boss, no doubt will keep changing pieces until he completes the puzzle to his satisfaction. Eventually, it will take a Stanley Cup to satisfy him. That is a long way off, of course, but it is not beyond him. Criticized for changing coaches several times with his basketball team, he has come up with one who put together the record winning streak in pro sports.</p><p>Larry Regan, who executed the big trade, has been Cooke&rsquo;s hockey manager since the franchise was formed and he also coached it last season and the first ten games of the present season. Since moving from behind the bench, he has kept on the move on scouting assignments. Rumors have him moving into the Buffalo or Atlanta organizations next season. He may stay and he may go. He acts like a man on the go. No one is saying.</p><p>The fate of the current coach, Fred Glover, may depend on his rallying club into the playoffs this season, but this is far from clear. If he impresses Cooke, he could become the general manager, too. If not, he will go. His contract covers only the current campaign.</p><p>Jiggs McDonald&rsquo;s five-year contract expires this season. He has been the Kings&rsquo; broadcaster from the beginning and he and Dan Avey make a relaxed, articulate and attractive team. But, where the owner wants attendance to improve, it has declined, and the owner may want a new image.</p><p>Jiggs says, &ldquo;Rumors I&rsquo;m committed elsewhere are not true. But it&rsquo;s not impossible I&rsquo;ll wind up elsewhere. Mr. Cooke has not offered me a new contract, so he may not intend to. If he did, my requests would not be excessive. He&rsquo;s treated me well and I&rsquo;d like to return.&rdquo;</p><p>Gone now are the last two of the original Kings, Eddie &ldquo;the Jet&rdquo; Joyal and Bill &ldquo;Cowboy&rdquo; Flett, along with Ross Lonsberry and Jean Potvin to Philadelphia in exchange for forwards Serge Bernier, Jim Johnson, Bill Lesuk and defenseman Larry Brown, in a king-sized eight-man deal.</p><p>Again, it is a case of players failing to live up to high potential first shown here. No player ever has had more than two good years here. Joyal Flett and Lonsberry had two, each. Joyal was the team MVP the first season, Lonsberry the third season. Flett was the first King considered a developing &ldquo;superstar.&rdquo; Long-berry was another. All three were held highly at one time.</p><p>Joyal fell into disfavor after holding out for a bonus after the third season. His best buddy, Flett, joined him in the doghouse shortly thereafter. They played irregularly thereafter and their production fell off. Both almost were traded several times in bigger deals than this one, but by now their market value has declined.</p><p>Although he was the Kings&rsquo; representative to the All Star Game in January, Lonsberry&rsquo;s selection was a surprise. He was not among the two or three top Kings. Obtained originally at the high cost of amateur draft choices, he, too, had tailed off. Young Potvin never quite cut it.</p><p>After breading an eight-game winless streak, the Kings won two and tied two in five starts. After tying only once in their first 41 games, they tied five of their next ten. Their last game before the trade, Jan. 26th, they beat visiting Toronto, 5-3, for their first victory over a team with a winning record all season. In their first two starts after the trade, they tied at Detroit, 4-4, and at Buffalo, 2-2. Lesuk scored once in each game.</p><p>Johnson brought with him 13 goals, Bernier 12 and Lesuk seven. Last season, Bernier had 23, Lesuk 17 and Johnson 16. Johnson never has had more than 20 minutes is penalties in an NHL season. But Bernier had 77 and Lesuk 87 last season and both are agressive.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-01

Even Coach Fred Glover On Spot As Cooke Seeks Better Image

<div class="byline">&#x2014;NETLAND</div><p>TWIN CITIES&mdash;</p><p>Murray Oliver picked an appropriate time and place to observe the most significant milestone of his National Hockey League career.</p><p>Oliver recorded his 600th NHL point by scoring a power play goal in the third period to give the Minnesota North Stars a 1-1 tie in a nationally televised Sunday matinee with the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.</p><p>It came less than a week after the NHL All-Star game, a game in which Oliver was left off the West Division team despite leading the North Stars in scoring. The writers didn&rsquo;t name him among the top two West centers, and coach Billy Reay overlooked him in making his additional selections to the West team.</p><p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t realize that was my 600th point,&rdquo; Oliver said, &ldquo;or I would have gone in and saved the puck. I did know it was my 20th goal this season, and I haven&rsquo;t had that many for seven years.&rdquo;</p><p>The North Stars all got together later to help Oliver celebrate the occasion.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Oliver Gets 600th Point

<div class="byline">BY DWAYNE NETLAND</div><p>TWIN CITIES&mdash;</p><p>At first glance they seemed like an unlikely crew to challenge the great New York line of Vic Hadfield, Jean Ratelle and Rod Gilbert. But Jack Gordon, the Minnesota coach, knew precisely what he was doing on that frosty Saturday night back on Nov. 20.</p><p>The North Stars had been shelled by the Rangers in all six meetings the previous season. The heaviest New York artillery had been unloaded by Hadfield. Ratelle and Gilbert, the most explosive line in the National Hockey League.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02653/2983805-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="258" height="439"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Charlie Burns</b></figcaption></div><p>Gordon realized that something had to be done to muzzle them this season, so he assembled a checking line composed of Charlie Burns at left wing, Ted Hampson at center and Craig Cameron at right wing to dog the slippery Rangers.</p><p>The North Stars and the Rangers have, by now, met five times this season, Minnesota won 4-1 and 4-2 at home, lost 2-1 at home and twice tied the Rangers 1-1 at Madison Square Garden.</p><p>In those five games, the Ratelle line collected only three goals, one of which was scored, by Ratelle, on a line change. Ratelle got another one when he intercepted a Minnesota pass right in front of Gump Worsley, and Hadfield the other on a deflection of a Jim Neilson shot.</p><p>While relinquishing just those wo goals during their own time on the ice, the Minnesota checking line also scored two&mdash;both by Cameron.</p><p>All in all, it has been one of the finest examples of checking seen in the NHL this season, and now the Rangers have only one more game against Minnesota in which to gain some measure of retribution&mdash;on March 26 in the Garden.</p><p>Burns, Hampson and Cameron had never played together until Gordon put them together for a couple of practice sessions last November. They were the spare forwards on the roster&mdash;Burns playing occasionally at center and left wing while functioning primarily as a penalty killer, Hampson with just two goals in a trial as a regular center and Cameron seeing occasional spot duty.</p><p>&ldquo;They are three determined, dedicated guys,&rdquo; explained Gordon about his move. &ldquo;I had seen Burns and Hampson do some good checking for us last season, and I knew that Cameron had done a good job on Bobby Hull when he was with St. Louis.&rdquo;</p><p>Burns, 36, had coached the North Stars for the last two-thirds of the 1969-70 season. Part of the time he was behind the bench and part of the time he was a playing coach. General manager Wren Blair had to make a decision in the 1970 expansion draft whether to protect Burns or Ray Cullen. He selected Burns, and it was one of the wisest moves Wren has ever made.</p><p>Hampson, 35, came to Minnesota last season in the Tommy Williams deal. He was a regular center then, but he had an incredible string of tough luck in scoring this season, and with the return of Dennis Hextall from knee problems, Hampson fell off the regular line rotation.</p><p>Cameron, 26, was taken or waivers by Blair from St. Louis just before the season opened. He was headed to the Montreal Voyageurs in a deal, but Blair exercised his waiver rights with only 53 minutes to go and took the husky, soft-spoken winger on a hunch he could provide some muscle in the corners.</p><p>&ldquo;What we&rsquo;ve been trying to do is certainly no secret,&rdquo; explained Burns. &ldquo;Craig and I pick up the two wingers, Hadfield and Gilbert. Hampson goes in to forecheck. He has to give away quite a bit of size to Ratelle, but Ted is a strong man.&rdquo;</p><p>Ratelle, Hadfield and Gilbert, who have been running 2-3-4 in NHL scoring all season, confessed the Minnesota Three have done their job.</p><p>&ldquo;Whenever I look to make a pass,&rdquo; Ratelle said, &ldquo;my wingers are covered. Those North Star guys are good skaters, and they&rsquo;re experienced, too. They know how to work for the puck in the corners.&rdquo;</p><p>By the use of this checking unit, Gordon can actually deploy four different lines and that strategy certainly paid off while the North Stars were running up a string of seven games without loss, including five straight victories.</p><p>After defeating the Rangers 4-2 in a Saturday night game at Minnesota, the Stars went on CBS national television the next afternoon in Madison Square Garden with their four-line attack and tied the Rangers 1-1.</p><p><b>NORTH STAR NOTES:</b> Gump Worsley, still exhilarated over his selection to the West All Star team, lowered his goals against average to 1.63 with a series of superb games in the Minnesota nets&hellip;Lou Nanne scored the first hat trick of his NHL career in the North Stars&rsquo; dramatic 6-5 victory at Montreal&hellip;The North Stars recovered from a letdown during December and early January by taking 12 of a possible 14 points and opening up a 19-point gap over third-place California&hellip;Cesare Maniago, a former Ranger. played a brilliant game in the 1-1 tie at New York with 41 saves&hellip;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01760/2983798-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="523" height="506"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CRAIG CAMERON&hellip;Fits New Role</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0012-02

Gordon’s Checkers Get The Job Done

<div class="byline">BY BOB SMIZIK</div><p>PITTSBURGH&mdash;</p><p>His arrival, slightly more than a year ago, was heralded as the beginning of a new era in Penguin hockey.</p><p>Syl Apps, a centerman acquired from New York for Glen Sather, appeared to be the guy to fill the small, but gifted skates of the late Michel Briere. &ldquo;He can do it,&rdquo; chortled Coach Red Kelly after Apps scored one goal and assisted on another in his Jan. 27, 1971 debut, a 3-1 win over Toronto.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01748/2983860-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="259" height="410"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Syl Apps</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;If tonight is a sample of what he can do,&rdquo; Kelly enthused, &ldquo;he can put us over the hump. He could be the difference between being in the playoffs and not making it. We were losing by one goal, and this guy could be the difference of a goal.&rdquo;</p><p>The Penguins did not make the playoffs last season, though it was through no fault of Apps, who scored 25 points in 31 games and wielded himself, Greg Polis and Jean Pronovost into a productive scoring line.</p><p>Apps picked up this year just like last, scoring 19 points in the Penguins&rsquo; first 20 games. Then on Nov. 20 he was creamed by St. Louis&rsquo; Barclay Plager and missed the next six games.</p><p>Apps hasn&rsquo;t been the same since.</p><p>Neither have the Penguins.</p><p>Apps&rsquo; near point-a-game pace has fallen off to a point every two games. He&rsquo;s scored just 11 points in his first 21 games since returning from his injury.</p><p>While Apps slumped, rigor mortis set in with the rest of the team. The Penguins were 8-11-2 when the 24-year-old center was injured. In the first 23 games following his return they were an abysmal 2-14-7.</p><p>Though it would be ridiculous to lay the blame on the Penguins&rsquo; demise en Apps, his inability to score goals or to set up his teammates has been a factor. In general the Pens could use a lot more scoring punch.</p><p>&ldquo;Apps never has been a great goal scorer at any time,&rdquo; Kelly said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a passer. He sets up plays like Jude Drouin of Minnesota. But he should shoot more often. He passes too much.&rdquo;</p><p>But even Apps&rsquo; assist rate fell off during his slump. He went one stretch of five games without scoring a point.</p><p>Apps admits that goal scoring has never been one of his major talents. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always been a guy who likes to set people up,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>&ldquo;I know I should shoot more. But when things aren&rsquo;t going right for you, sometimes you just don&rsquo;t want to shoot.&rdquo;</p><p>Passing too much isn&rsquo;t a problem limited to Apps. &ldquo;Some fellas, you can tell them all night to shoot, but they pass, pass, pass,&rdquo; Kelly said. &ldquo;They think that one of those passes will go in, but the only way I know to score goals is to shoot at the net.&rdquo;</p><p><b>PENGUIN PATTER:</b> After an absence of several games, Polis returned to his regular line beside Apps and Pronovost. Polis was in Kelly&rsquo;s doghouse for a while and used on another line&hellip;Val Fonteyne was out of uniform for six games after minor wrist surgery&hellip;The Penguins fell to last place Feb. 1 when Los Angeles climbed ever them by upsetting Chicago.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0013-01

Slumping Pens Need Punch

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01747/2984003-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg"></div><h2>TOP 25 SCORERS</h2><p><b>(Including gomes of Sunday, Feb. 6)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02635/2983996-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="1418" height="906"></div><h2>BOSTON Bruins</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03495/2983989-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="750" height="768"></div><h2>BUFFALO Sabres</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04362/2983982-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="739" height="843"></div><h2>CALIFORNIA Seals</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-05272/2983975-1-eng-US/f0014-052.jpg" title="f0014-05" width="751" height="738"></div><h2>CHICAGO Black Hawks</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-06230/2983968-1-eng-US/f0014-062.jpg" title="f0014-06" width="738" height="726"></div><h2>DETROIT Red Wings</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-07188/2983961-1-eng-US/f0014-072.jpg" title="f0014-07" width="746" height="790"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES Kings</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-08162/2983954-1-eng-US/f0014-082.jpg" title="f0014-08" width="734" height="666"></div><h2>MINNESOTA North Stars</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-09148/2983947-1-eng-US/f0014-092.jpg" title="f0014-09" width="737" height="723"></div><h2>MONTREAL Canadiens</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-10132/2983940-1-eng-US/f0014-102.jpg" title="f0014-10" width="752" height="810"></div><h2>NEW YORK Rangers</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-11119/2983933-1-eng-US/f0014-112.jpg" title="f0014-11" width="739" height="771"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA Flyers</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-12108/2983926-1-eng-US/f0014-122.jpg" title="f0014-12" width="739" height="794"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH Penguins</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-1391/2983919-1-eng-US/f0014-132.jpg" title="f0014-13" width="740" height="841"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS Blues</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-1472/2983912-1-eng-US/f0014-142.jpg" title="f0014-14" width="751" height="828"></div><h2>TORONTO Maple Leafs</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-1563/2983905-1-eng-US/f0014-152.jpg" title="f0014-15" width="741" height="787"></div><h2>VANCOUVER Canucks</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-1652/2983898-1-eng-US/f0014-162.jpg" title="f0014-16" width="739" height="748"></div><h2>NHL&rsquo;S EAST WEST SCOREBOARD</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-1750/2983891-1-eng-US/f0014-172.jpg" title="f0014-17" width="1409" height="235"></div><p><b>(Statistics include games of Sun, Feb. 6)</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-01

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY CHARLEY BARTON</div><p>BUFFALO&mdash;</p><p>Gilbert Perreault couldn&rsquo;t understand what prompted a report in Montreal that he had decided to leave the Buffalo Sabres.</p><p>A number of Montreal newspapers said the 21-year-old center had left the Sabres to return to his home in Artha-baska, Quebec, and wouldn&rsquo;t rejoin the National Hockey League club.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01722/2984034-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="270" height="420"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Gil Perreault</b></figcaption></div><p>A few hours after the story appeared in print, last season&rsquo;s Calder Trophy winner was in the Buffalo lineup in a 2-2-tie here with the Los Angeles Kings.</p><p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know anything about the rumor until I came to the Auditorium for a team meeting and a kid outside the arena asked me if I was quitting,&rdquo; Perreault said.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how anybody could say I was quitting, and I don&rsquo;t know why anybody would want to write something like that. I haven&rsquo;t talked to any writers from Montreal for a couple of weeks.&rdquo;</p><p>Sabres&rsquo; officials were caught by sruprise by the stories out on Montreal, and the report raised a storm here.</p><p>Newsmen talked to Perreault&rsquo;s mother and to his brother-in-law and advisor, Robert Talbot. Both denied any knowledge of the youngster&rsquo;s plans to interrupt his career.</p><p>Perreault was named the No. 1 rookie in the NHL last winter when he established freshman records for goals and total points with 38 goals and 34 assists for 72 points.</p><p>In 50 games this season, his point production is ahead of last year&rsquo;s pace. He has 20 goals and 32 assists for 52 points, compared to 43 points on 26 goals and 17 assists in the first 50 games last winter.</p><p>When Phil Esposito, the Boston Bruins&rsquo; superstar, set records with 76 goals and 76 assists a year ago, he said, &ldquo;If anybody breaks these records, it will be Gilbert Perreault.&rdquo;</p><p>As this was being written. Perreault was concentrating on helping his teammate, Richard Martin, break the rookie scoring records.</p><p>In 50 games, Martin had 34 goals, four short of Perreault&rsquo;s record. Teammates, but not linemates with the Montreal Junior Canadiens, the two have been playing on the same line here part of the season.</p><p>&ldquo;I hope Richard breaks my record,&rdquo; Perreault said.&rdquo; Records are made to be broken. I&rsquo;d like to see him bust my record, and I&rsquo;d like to know who started all these stories about my quitting in Montreal.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ALONG THE BOARDS</b>&mdash;When the Sabres drew 15,142 against the Detroit Red Wings here, it marked the first time in 13 games they didn&rsquo;t hit the selfenseman Ray McKay of the Sabres spent more than two weeks in the Deaconess Hospital for treatment of a bruised kidney&hellip;Joe Crozier, the Sabres&rsquo; interim coach, tipped a Boston cab driver liberally, then asked him for a penny. Crozier put the penny in his shoe, and the Sabres a few hours later left the Boston Garden with a 3-3 tie with the powerful Bruins. Crozier will be looking for the same cabbie on the Sabres&rsquo; next visit to Boston&hellip;Playing to practically 100 per cent of capacity this season, the Sabres will finish with some 13,000 season-ticket holders in the 15,360-seat Memorial Auditorium. The Sabres may switch their subscriber policy next winter and sell out most of the Auditorium on a season basis.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-01

Perreault Resents Storm Over ‘Quitting’ Report

<p class="dropcap"><span>R</span>ight winger Mickey Redmond of the Detroit Red Wings is currently the hottest point-getter in the National Hockey League. Since each of the 14 teams passed their 39-game marks for the 1971-72 season, Redmond has picked up 21 points in 15 games, three more than any other player.</p><p>Redmond&rsquo;s play this season, besides leading the Wings into a playoff battle with Toronto, has removed the snickers that were heard around the NHL a year ago when Detroit acquired him, along with Bill Collins and Guy Charron, from Montreal Canadiens for superstar Frank Mahovlich.</p><p>In his last 15 games, Redmond has scored 12 goals and added nine assists. Only Rick Martin, Buffalo&rsquo;s rookie sensation, has scored as many goals in the same stretch. Third-highest scorer is season&rsquo;s leading pointman, Phil Esposito of Boston, who has 10 goals in Bruins&rsquo; last 14 games. Esposito and Rod Gilbert of New York, who has played 13 games in this half of the season, are runners-up to Redmond in points for the half, each with 18.</p><p>Esposito&rsquo;s lead atop the standing dwindled to two points over Ranger center Jean Ratelle last week as the Bruin center was able to score only one goal in four games. Leading point-getter among NHL leaders for the week was Redmond with eight, including a three-goal game, his first in the NHL. Redmond is now tied with Frank Mahovlich and Gilbert Perreault of Buffalo for eighth place, each with 57 points, 31 fewer than Esposito.</p><p>Defenseman Bobby Orr is third with 77 points and leads is assists with 54, one more than Ratelle. Gilbert is fourth with 76 points, one more than linemate Vic Hadfield. Bobby Hull of Chicago has 69 points for sixth place, nine points ahead of Rick Martin, who is tied with Hull as runners-up to Esposito in goals, each with 37. Esposito has 44. Martin&rsquo;s next goal will tie the rookie record set last season by Perreault.</p><p>Martin scored twice as Sabres piled up a 8-2 win over Boston. The goal-total was a club record for the young Sabres, their previous high being seven goals. It also marked the end of a 13-game undefeated streak for Bruins and was only the second time they has lost to Buffalo.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

NHL WEEK—In Review

<h2>SAN FRANCISCO HOCKEY LEAGUE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02647/2984110-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="586" height="182"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03545/2984103-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="591" height="918"></div><h2>CANADIAN CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues, Jan. 26)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-04426/2984096-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="580" height="158"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-05317/2984089-1-eng-US/f0015-052.jpg" title="f0015-05" width="581" height="283"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0015-02

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-06" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-06264/2984155-1-eng-US/f0015-062.jpg"></div><h2>THE TOP NETMINDERS</h2><p><b>(Including games of Sunday, Feb. 6)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-07237/2984148-1-eng-US/f0015-072.jpg" title="f0015-07" width="1122" height="413"></div><h2>COMPLETE GOALKEEPING RECORDS FOR NHL TEAMS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-08213/2984141-1-eng-US/f0015-082.jpg" title="f0015-08" width="1130" height="2104"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0015-06

LOOKING AT NHL GOALERS

<div class="byline">BY DAN PROUDFOOT</div><h2>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER</h2><h3>HOCKEY STICKS</h3><p>Mada in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallacbberg, Owtarie Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><h2>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER</h2><h3>HOCKEY STICKS</h3><p>Mada in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallacbberg, Owtarie Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p>While Toronto Maple Leafs slid in January, seemingly destined for fifth-place in February, their fans kept asking one simple question. Why?</p><p>Jim Gregory, general manager, and John McLellan. coach had the answer. &ldquo;Were not scoring,&rdquo; said the coach, after eight consecutive losses left Leafs falling behind Detroit Red Wings for fourth spot in the eastern division. &ldquo;Six goals in seven games. It&rsquo;s brutal.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01569/2984186-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="270" height="419"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Garry Monahan</b></figcaption></div><p>Gregory went further. &ldquo;Our big guns aren&rsquo;t coming through. Norm Ullman, Dave Keon, Ron Ellis, Paul Henderson. They aren&rsquo;t getting the goals we need.&rdquo;</p><p>The question which couldn&rsquo;t be answered, however, was why &ldquo;the big guns&rdquo; weren&rsquo;t counting.</p><p>Ullman had one goal in 10 games. His wingers. Ellis and Henderson, had similar troubles. Ellis finished January with no points in nine games, though he did score two goals in the previous 11. Henderson&rsquo;s production dropped to zero in six games after, he returned from missing one game with a groin injury.</p><p>So, Leafs&rsquo; No. 1 line totalled two goals in nine games. The No. 2 line at least had an excuse: its regular right winger. Billy MacMillan. missed several games with a bruised ankle. Surviving members Keon and Garry Monahan shot two goals in nine games.</p><p>The eight losses were the most in a row for Leafs since McLellan and Gregory took over, and that includes their last-place finish in 1969-70. They slipped to two wins in 12 games before finding themselves tied with the Wings.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a brand new season agains,&rdquo; McLellan reasoned, just before his team flew to Detroit for the crucial Feb. 1 game which McLellan hoped would end th&egrave; Leafs&rsquo; extended slump. But it didn&rsquo;t work out and Detroit won 4-0 to pass Toronto and move up to fourth place.</p><p>Leafs have beeen a disappointment most of the season, although it has been only recently that their failings have become spectacular.</p><p>They were expected to improve this year, as young players matured. Last season, of course, they finished with a stong quarter-final round against New York Rangers, playing impressively.</p><p>But they&rsquo;ve slipped in several ways. Keon and Ullman have not been able to perform with consistancy equal to that of last season, and because of the emphasis of centers in Leafs&rsquo; style, the effect is great.</p><p>The powerplay and penalty killing units have been major shortcomings. The percentage of successful power plays remains among the poorest of both NHL divisions. Almost one-third more power play goals are scored against Leafs than by them.</p><p>As things became worse. Gregory remained stoical. He repeated his usual answer that he was talking trades with other general managers, but wouldn&rsquo;t give any details.</p><p>In response to a rumor that Keon, the team captain, was on the block, Gregory said the idea was ridiculous. He said Keon&rsquo;s name had not been mentioned.</p><p>Further, &ldquo;we have faith in the players we have now. We&rsquo;ve won with them before, and they&rsquo;ve taken us into the playoffs.&rdquo;</p><p>But, with two wins in 13 games, he admitted that something had to be done.</p><p>The pressure became much, much more greater for McLellan and the Leafs after the loss to Detroit.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-01

Maple Leafs Nose Dive As Big Scoring Guns Silenced

<h2>In The East</h2><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Detroit Red Wings are streaking towards a National Hockey League playoff berth and one player who has helped give the team tremendous momentum is Mickey Redmond.</p><p>The hard-shooting Detroit right winger has been a virtual ball of fire since the teams turned into the second half of the schedule. This past week, he was the most productive performer in the East with five goals and three assists in four Detroit outings. Redmond crowned his prolific week by scoring three times against California to raise his season total to 32 goals, tops on the Red Wings.</p><p>Redmond continues to move towards his best season of his career. His previous high was 27 goals and 27 assists for 54 points, a mark he passed this past week while sparking Detroit in their fourth-place playoff battle with Toronto.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02492/2984224-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="555" height="629"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MICKEY REDMOND&hellip;Detroit Red Wings</b></figcaption></div><h2>In The West</h2><p>Young Butch Goring of the Los Angeles won&rsquo;t forget the 1970-71 National Hockey League season in a hurry. It was his sophomore year in the big time and he was expected to bloom if he was to make it as a star. But injuries and a stubborn case of mononucleosis changed all that.</p><p>Goring, figured if he stayed healthy this season he could make amends and become an asset to the Kings. Well it appears he has managed to accomplish such a feat and this past week he gave NHL fans an inkling of the kind of hockey he is capable of playing.</p><p>The 22-year-old center scored four times and helped set up six more for a 10-point week, which probably ranks as a club record for the Kings. Goring held the hot hand in the West Division and the overall NHL particularly in the Kings&rsquo; 8-1 romp over Pittsburgh. Goring scored twice and in all figured in six goals for an outstanding performance.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03391/2984217-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="558" height="646"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BUTCH GORING&hellip;Los Angeles Kings</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0016-02

Player’s of the week

<p><b>C-Captain</b></p><p><b>A-Alternate Captain</b></p><h2>MONTREAL</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Phil My re</p><p>Denis Dejordy</p><p>Ken Dryden</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Jacques Laperriere</p><p>Pierre Bouchard</p><p>J.C. Tremblay A</p><p>Guy Lapointe</p><p>Serge Savard</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Henri Richard C</p><p>Pete Mahovlich</p><p>Rey Comeau</p><p>Larry Pleau</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Yvan Cournoyer</p><p>Claude Larose</p><p>Guy Lafleur</p><p>Jim Roberts</p><p>Refean Houle</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Trank Mahovlich A</p><p>Jacques Lemaire</p><p>Marc Tardif</p><p>Germain Gagnon</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Terry Harper A</p><h2>CHICAGO</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Tony Esposito</p><p>Gary Smith</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Pai Stapleton</p><p>Bill White</p><p>Keith Magnuson</p><p>Doug Jarrett A</p><p>Jerry Korab</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Stan Mikita A</p><p>Pit Marfin</p><p>Bryan Campbell</p><p>Lou Angotti</p><p>Andre Lacroix</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Cliff Koroll</p><p>Chico Maki</p><p>Eric Nesterenko A</p><p>Darryl Maggs</p><p>Jim Pappin</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Bobby Hull</p><p>Dennis Hull</p><p>Janny O&rsquo;Shea</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Gerry Desiardins</p><h2>BOSTON</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Gerry Cheevers</p><p>Ed Johnston</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Bobby Orr</p><p>Dallas Smith</p><p>Rick Smith</p><p>Matt Ravlich</p><p>Ted Green A</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Phil Esposito A</p><p>Fred Stanfield</p><p>Derek Sanderson</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>John McKenzie</p><p>Ed Westfall A</p><p>Reg Leach</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>John Bucyk A</p><p>Wayne Cashman</p><p>Garnet Bailey</p><p>Mike Waifon</p><p>Don Marcotte</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Ken Hodge</p><h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Ernie Wakely</p><p>Jacques Caron</p><p>Wayne Stephenson</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Andre Dupont</p><p>Barclay Plager A</p><p>Bill Plager</p><p>Larry Hornung</p><p>Dick Proceviat</p><p>Bob Plager A</p><p>Carl Brewer A</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Garry Unger</p><p>Terry Crisp</p><p>Frank St Marseille A</p><p>Chris Bordeleou</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Gary Sabourin</p><p>Mike Murphy</p><p>Gerry Odrowski</p><p>Phil Roberto</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>George Morrison</p><p>Floyd Thomson</p><p>Jack Egers</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Noel Picard</p><p>Brian Lavender</p><p>John Arbour</p><h2>DETROIT</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Al Smith</p><p>Joe Daley</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Gary Bergman A</p><p>Arnie Brown A</p><p>Ron Stackhouse</p><p>Larry Johnston</p><p>Bob Wall</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Alex Delvecchio C</p><p>Red Berenson A</p><p>Marcel Dionne</p><p>Al Karlonder</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Tim Ecclestone</p><p>Mickey Redmond</p><p>Bill Collins</p><p>Doug Volmar</p><p>Leon Rochefort</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Nick Ubett</p><p>Danny Johnson</p><p>Guy Charron</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Ron Harris</p><h2>CALIFORNIA</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Gilles Meloche</p><p>Gary Kurt</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Carol Vcdnais C</p><p>Bert Marshall A</p><p>Marshall Johnston</p><p>Dick Redmond</p><p>Poui Shmyr</p><p>Ken Baird</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Joey Jnhnston</p><p>Walt McKechnie</p><p>Bill Rett</p><p>Ivan Boldirev</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Norm Ferguson</p><p>Gerry Pinder</p><p>Wayne Carleton A</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Bobby Sheehan</p><p>Gory Croteau</p><p>Star Gilbertson</p><p>Ernie Hicke</p><p>Gary Jarrett</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Tom Webster</p><h2>TORONTO</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Bernie Parent</p><p>Jacques Plante</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Bob Boun A</p><p>Jim McKenny</p><p>Brad Seiwood</p><p>Brian Glennie</p><p>Ricky Ley</p><p>Jim Dorey</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Norm Ullman A</p><p>Dave Keon C</p><p>Jim Harrison</p><p>Don Marshall</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Ron Ellis A</p><p>Guy Trottier</p><p>Rick Kehoe</p><p>Billy MacMillan</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Garry Monahan</p><p>Denis Dupere</p><p>Darryl Sittier</p><p>Paul Henderson</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Mike Pelyk</p><h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Doug Fovell</p><p>Bruce Gamble</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Barry Ashbee A</p><p>Wayne Hillman</p><p>Bill Brossarl</p><p>Ed Van Impe</p><p>Joe Wotson</p><p>Rick Foley</p><p>Jean Potvin</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Bobby Clarke</p><p>Ed Joyal</p><p>Bill Clement</p><p>Dick Sarrazin</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Gory Dornhoefer A</p><p>Lew Morrison</p><p>Bill Rett</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Jean-Guy Gendron</p><p>Bob Kelly</p><p>Lorry Keenan</p><p>Mike Parneou</p><p>Ross Lonsberry</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Brent Hughes</p><h2>NEW YORK</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Ed Giacomin</p><p>Gilles Villemure</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Brad Park A</p><p>Jim Neilson A</p><p>Rod Seiling</p><p>Gary Doak</p><p>Mike McMahon</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Jean Ratelie</p><p>Walt Tkaczuk</p><p>Bobby Rousseau</p><p>Pete Stemkowski</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Rod Gilbert A</p><p>Bill Fairbairn</p><p>Pierre Jerry</p><p>Bruce MacGregor</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Vic Hadfield C</p><p>Ted Irvine</p><p>Glen Sather</p><p>Gene Corr</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Dole Rolfe</p><p>Ab DeMo rco</p><h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Jim Rutherford</p><p>Let Binkley</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Darryl Edestrand</p><p>Dave Burrows</p><p>Sheldon Kannegietter</p><p>Bryon Watson</p><p>Tim Horton A</p><p>Duane Rupp</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Ron Schock</p><p>Rene Robert</p><p>Bryan Hextall</p><p>Syl Appt</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Nick Horbaruk</p><p>Ken Schinkel A</p><p>Jeon Pronovott</p><p>Al McDonough</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Greg Poln</p><p>John Stewart</p><p>Bobby leitei</p><p>Steve Cardwell</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Keith McCreary A</p><p>Vai Fonteyne</p><h2>BUFFALO</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Roger Crozier</p><p>Dave Dryden</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Al Hamilton A</p><p>Larry Hillman</p><p>Jim Watson</p><p>Chris Evans</p><p>Terry Ball</p><p>Tracy Pratt.</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Gilbert Perreault A</p><p>Gerry Meehan C</p><p>Don Luce</p><p>Jim Lorentz</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Ron Anderton</p><p>Steve Atkinson</p><p>Kevin O&rsquo;Shea</p><p>Eddie Shack</p><p>Mike Byers</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Danny Lawton</p><p>Richard Marfin</p><p>Craig Ramsay</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Ray McKay</p><h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Gary Edwards</p><p>Bill Smith</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Doug Barrie</p><p>Harry Howell A</p><p>Paul Curtis</p><p>Bob Woytowich</p><p>Gillet Marotte A</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Ralph Bockstrom A</p><p>Butch Goring</p><p>Bob Pulford C</p><p>Juha Widing</p><p>Jimmy Johnton</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Lucien Grenier</p><p>Simon Nolet</p><p>Serge Bernier</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Bob Berry</p><p>Real Lemieux</p><p>Mike Corrigan</p><p>Bill lesuk</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Larry Brown</p><p>Ragation Vachan</p><h2>VANCOUVER</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Dune Wilton</p><p>George Gardner</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Pat Quinn</p><p>Jocelyn. Guevremont</p><p>Dennis Kearns</p><p>John Schella</p><p>Greg Boddy</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Orland Kurtenbach C</p><p>Andre Boudrias A</p><p>Ron Ward</p><p>Richard Lemieux</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Ron Stewart</p><p>Wayne Connelly</p><p>Rosatre Paiement</p><p>Bobby Schmautz</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Wayne Maki</p><p>Ted Taylor</p><p>Dave Baton</p><p>Dole Tallon A</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Poul Popiel</p><p>Barry Wilkins</p><h2>MINNESOTA</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Cesare Maniago</p><p>Lorne Worsley</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Ted Harris C</p><p>Tom Reid</p><p>Dennis O&rsquo;Brien</p><p>Doug Mohns</p><p>Barry Gibbs A</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Ted Hampson</p><p>Murray Oliver</p><p>Charlie Burns A</p><p>Jude Drouin</p><p>Dennis Hextall</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Bill Goldsworthy</p><p>Lou Nanne</p><p>Bob Nevin</p><p>Craig Cameron</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Donny Grant</p><p>Jean-Paul Pante A</p><p>Deon Prentice</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>None<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

NHL Team Rosters

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01482/2984430-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="442" height="293"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02428/2984423-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="489" height="290"></div><h2>Tues, Feb. 1 MONTREAL 3 at ST. LOUIS 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03354/2984416-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="562" height="504"></div><h2>TORONTO 0 at DETROIT 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04279/2984409-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="562" height="503"></div><h2>CHICAGO 4 at LOS ANGELES 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05230/2984402-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg" title="f0017-05" width="582" height="854"></div><h2>Wed, Feb. 2 MINNESOTA 2 at TORONTO 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-06195/2984395-1-eng-US/f0017-062.jpg" title="f0017-06" width="583" height="505"></div><h2>BOSTON 2 at NEW YORK 0</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-07173/2984388-1-eng-US/f0017-072.jpg" title="f0017-07" width="584" height="452"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 5 AT CALIFORNIA 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-08141/2984381-1-eng-US/f0017-082.jpg" title="f0017-08" width="581" height="605"></div><h2>Thurs, Feb. 3 MONTREAL 1 AT LOS ANGELES 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-09126/2984374-1-eng-US/f0017-092.jpg" title="f0017-09" width="583" height="390"></div><h2>NEW YORK 4 AT BUFFALO 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-10116/2984367-1-eng-US/f0017-102.jpg" title="f0017-10" width="591" height="584"></div><h2>MINNESOTA 1 at BOSTON 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1199/2984360-1-eng-US/f0017-112.jpg" title="f0017-11" width="594" height="628"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH 4 at ST. LOUIS 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1288/2984353-1-eng-US/f0017-122.jpg" title="f0017-12" width="594" height="622"></div><h2>DETROIT 4 at PHILADELPHIA 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1372/2984346-1-eng-US/f0017-132.jpg" title="f0017-13" width="592" height="712"></div><h2>Fri, Feb. 4 MONTREAL 2 AT CAUFORNIA 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1461/2984339-1-eng-US/f0017-142.jpg" title="f0017-14" width="615" height="485"></div><h2>CHICAGO 6 AT VANCOUVER 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1550/2984332-1-eng-US/f0017-152.jpg" title="f0017-15" width="599" height="715"></div><h2>Sat, Feb. 5 PHILADELPHIA 3 AT TORONTO 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1648/2984325-1-eng-US/f0017-162.jpg" title="f0017-16" width="591" height="481"></div><h2>NEW YORK 5 AT ST. LOUIS 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1741/2984318-1-eng-US/f0017-172.jpg" title="f0017-17" width="598" height="854"></div><h2>DETROIT 2 at BOSTON 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1835/2984311-1-eng-US/f0017-182.jpg" title="f0017-18" width="597" height="578"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH 1 at LOS ANGELES 8</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1929/2984304-1-eng-US/f0017-192.jpg" title="f0017-19" width="591" height="731"></div><h2>BUFFALO 3 at MINNESOTA 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01465/2984297-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="592" height="577"></div><h2>Sun, Feb. 6 MONTREAL 4 at VANCOUVER 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02401/2984290-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="593" height="582"></div><h2>TORONTO 2 at NEW YORK 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03326/2984283-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="589" height="531"></div><h2>BOSTON 2 at BUFFALO 8</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-04280/2984276-1-eng-US/f0019-042.jpg" title="f0019-04" width="593" height="805"></div><h2>CALIFORNIA 2 AT DETROIT 8</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-05233/2984269-1-eng-US/f0019-052.jpg" title="f0019-05" width="588" height="773"></div><h2>MINNESOTA 0 AT CHICAGO 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-06185/2984262-1-eng-US/f0019-062.jpg" title="f0019-06" width="607" height="500"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS 2 AT PHILADELPHIA 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-07160/2984255-1-eng-US/f0019-072.jpg" title="f0019-07" width="591" height="499"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0017-01

National Hockey League SUMMARIES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02395/2984523-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg"></div><p><b>(Standings on Tuesday, Feb. 8)</b></p><h2>EAST DIVISION</h2><h2>WEST DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03295/2984516-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="1109" height="349"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETE</h2><p><b>Tues, Feb. 1</b></p><p>Montreal 3 at St. Louis 1</p><p>Toronto 0 at Detroit 4</p><p>Chicago 4 at Los Angeles 7</p><p><b>Wed, Feb. 2</b></p><p>Minnesota 2 at Toronto 3</p><p>Boston 2 at New York 0</p><p>Vancouver 5 at California 1</p><p><b>Thurs, Feb. 3</b></p><p>Montreal 1 at Los Angeles 1</p><p>New York 4 at Buffalo 2</p><p>Minnesota 1 at Boston 6</p><p>Detroit 4 at Philadelphia 5</p><p>Pittsburgh 4 at St. Louis 3</p><p><b>Fri, Feb. 4</b></p><p>Montreal 2 at California 2</p><p>Chicago 6 at Vancouver 2</p><p><b>Sat, Feb. 5</b></p><p>Philadelphia 3 at Toronto 1</p><p>New York 5 at St. Louis 6</p><p>Detroit 2 at Boston 3</p><p>Buffalo 3 at Minnesota 3</p><p>Pittsburgh 1 at Los Angeles 8</p><p><b>Sun, Feb. 6</b></p><p>Montreal 4 at Vancouver 2</p><p>Toronto 2 at New York 2</p><p>Boston 2 at Buffalo 8</p><p>California 2 at Detroit 8</p><p>Minnesota 0 at Chicago 5</p><p>St. Louis 2 at Philadelphia 2</p><h2>GAMES TO COME</h2><p><b>Tues, Feb. 8</b></p><p>Toronto at St. Louis</p><p>Philadelphia at Vancouver</p><p><b>Wed, Feb. 9</b></p><p>Pittsburgh at Toronto</p><p>Chicago at New York</p><p>Philadelphia at California</p><p>Los Angeles at Minnesota</p><p><b>Thurs, Feb. 10</b></p><p>Chicago at Montreal</p><p>Vancouver at Boston</p><p>Buffalo at Detroit</p><p>Los Angeles at Pittsburgh</p><p>Minnesota at St. Louis</p><p><b>Sat, Feb. 12</b></p><p>Los Angeles at Montreal</p><p>California at Toronto</p><p>New York at Pittsburgh</p><p>Buffalo at Boston (afternoon)</p><p>Chicago at Detroit</p><p>Vancouver at St. Louis</p><p>Philadelphia at Minnesota</p><p><b>Sun, Feb. 13</b></p><p>Montreal at Boston</p><p>Toronto at Chicago</p><p>Los Angeles at New York</p><p>Philadelphia at Buffalo</p><p>Vancouver at Pittsburgh</p><p><b>Tues, Feb. 15</b></p><p>New York at Vancouver</p><p>California at Boston</p><p>Chicago at St. Louis</p><p><b>Wed, Feb. 16</b></p><p>California at Montreal</p><p>Toronto at Pittsburgh</p><p>Detroit at Minnesota</p><p>Philadelphia at Chicago</p><p>St. Louis at Los Angeles</p><p><b>Thur, Feb. 17</b></p><p>New York at Los Angeles</p><p>Boston at Philadelphia</p><p>Pittsburgh at Buffalo</p><h2>TV HOCKEY</h2><p><b>CBS Game Of The Week</b></p><p>Sun, Feb. 13 Montreal at Boston 2 p.m.</p><p><b>Hockey Night In Canada</b></p><p>Sat, Feb. 12 California at Toronto 8 p.m.</p><p>Wed, Feb. 16 California at Montreal 8 p.m.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-02

NHL SCOREBOARD

<div class="byline">BY HAL SIGURDSON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01487/2984485-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="559" height="585"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ORLAND KURTENBACH&hellip;Shakes Off Injury</b></figcaption></div><p>VANCOUVER&mdash;</p><p>Ever since the turn of the new year the Vancouver Canucks have been hovering around the 500 mark in the National Hockey League.</p><p>That may not sound like much of an accomplishment in places like Boston and New York, but for the second-year Canucks it represents progress.</p><p>A number of factors have combined to make the Canucks competitive again. Dune Wilson, who went through a trying December, appears to have regained his confidence and is once again providing the team with consistent goaltending. He has a 2.81 average for his last 11 games.</p><p>That young defense, particularly the pair of Dennis Kearns and Josh Guevremont, is maturing and providing Wilson with better protection.</p><p>Rookie center Richard Lemieux, brought up from the Canucks&rsquo; AHL farm club in Rochester early in the year, is providing the club&rsquo;s third line with new spark.</p><p>But the big producers in the club&rsquo;s resurgence have been veteran centers Andre Boudrias and captain Orland Kurtenbach.</p><p>Little Boudrias. a fan favorite at the Pacific Coliseum, had his best-ever NHL season last year with 25 goals and 41 assists. Recently he&rsquo;s been scoring at a pace that suggests he my surpass those figures this season.</p><p>After 46 games, Boudrias had 17 goals and 23 assists and was again leading the club in scoring. His biggest night arrived Jan. 24 when he scored three goals in Vancouver&rsquo;s 5-2 upset of the New York Rangers.</p><p>Kurtenbach also had his most productive season last year despite missing 10 weeks of the schedule with torn knee ligaments.</p><p>He scored scored 53 points&mdash;21-goals. 32 assists&mdash;in just 52 games, putting him in the fairly exclusive club of players who averaged more than a point a game.</p><p>Kurt will need a strong finishing kick to average a point a game this season, but if he stays healthy he should break the 20-goal barrier for the second time in his NHL career.</p><p>He has 16 already to go with 17 assists. His production has increased noticably since finally shaking off the effects of a nagging ankle injury that hampered his play lor more than a month.</p><p>&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t had enough to keep me out of the lineup.&rdquo; Kurt ex-plained. &ldquo;but it did bother my skating and that&rsquo;s something really can&rsquo;t afford&rdquo;.</p><p>Meanwhile, the Canucks were shaken to learn that three of their top players are being wooed by the new World Hockey Association.</p><p>The St. Paul Saints have made overtures to Dale Tallon, Wayne Connelly and Dave Balon. The offers were revealed by lawyer Alan Eagleson, who represents Tallon and Boudrias, and later confirmed by the players and the St. Paul club.</p><p>It would require a substantial raise and the money would have to be guaranteed, Tallon and Boudrias agreed, but for the right money and the right terms they would be prepared to switch leagues.</p><p>So would a lot of players. The question, of course, is whether WHA teams are actually capable of paying the type of salaries it would require to lure away an established NHL player.</p><p><b>CANUCK CAPERS:</b> Rosaire Paiement, says his coach Hal Laycoe, is doing everything right except for putting the puck in the net&hellip;But despite all his hard work, Paiement&rsquo;s goal drought has now reached 33 games&hellip;Tallon played in the All Star game in Minnesota, but a painful hip injury limited his ice time and kept him out of Vancouver&rsquo;s next game in Chicago&hellip;Though they&rsquo;ve been playing better in 1972, the Canucks have been shut out three times, bringing their total for the season to 10&hellip;The Canucks have been blanked twice each by Montreal and Chicago and once each by Minnesota, Toronto, Boston, Detroit, Buffalo and California.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-01

Old Pros Putting New Life In Canucks

<p>SANTA ANA&mdash;</p><p>&ldquo;Our league is on schedule. We&rsquo;re taking everything in its proper order&mdash;one step at a time. The next item is our draft. Make no mistake about it. we will ice 12 teams for the 1972-73 season.&rdquo;</p><p>The speaker was Gary L. Davidson, president of the World Hockey Associat ion, and his carefully chosen words were directed at friend and foe. Davidson, a Santa Ana, California attorney, is well aware of the conjecture being raised about the WHA.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-08145/2984554-1-eng-US/f0019-082.jpg" title="f0019-08" width="261" height="452"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Gary Davidson</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;We have to expect it at this stage,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;Things are moving so rapidly, it&rsquo;s difficult for anyone to keep up with the development of the league.</p><p>&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t like the many rumors that have popped up, but they&rsquo;re all part of the game,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;There have been as many originating outside the WHA as within it.&rdquo;</p><p>Davidson is asked three questions the most:</p><p>How sound financially are the 12 WHA franchises?</p><p>&ldquo;Frankly, we&rsquo;re a bit surprised at the overall soundness of the league. Each of the groups holding a franchise was carefully checked to determine its ability to fund and-operate a major league hockey club. We&rsquo;re confident each of them can&mdash;and will&mdash;do the job.&rdquo;</p><p>Where will WHA teams play their games?</p><p>&ldquo;It would be haphazard to start any professional sports team without a plan for adequate playing facilities. Each of our franchises has a definite arena in mind with backup facilities available, if needed. In some areas, negotiations are currently under way, but we will have all of our arena plans firmed up shortly.&rdquo;</p><p>Where will the WHA get its players?</p><p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;ll come from all levels of the game&mdash;the other major and minor professional leagues, European amateur teams, North American colleges and Canadian junior teams. We have been very pleased at the response to our league by the players. We know many of them are looking forward to playing in the WHA. However, we believe it&rsquo;s premature to talk about any player signings at this time. That will come when the current season is over.&rdquo;</p><p>For the hockey fan, the new league&rsquo;s first player draft&mdash;Feb. 11-14 at Anaheim, Calif.&mdash;is a welcome progression in the WHA&rsquo;s prescribed order of things.</p><p>The man who buys the tickets probably has been wondering who he&rsquo;ll see wearing WHA uniforms next fall. After the draft, he should have some idea.</p><p><b>AROUND AND ABOUT:</b> Eight WHA teams have chosen nicknames, but there&rsquo;s a possibility of a couple of changes&hellip;Set are the Calgary Bronks, Chicago Cougars, Los Angeles Sharks, Miami Screaming Eagles, Minnesota Fighting Saints and New England Whalers&hellip;The Edmonton Oil Kings and Winnipeg Jets may change&hellip;Dayton, New York, Ontario and San Francisco haven&rsquo;t been named, yet&hellip;Don&rsquo;t try to convince Lester Patrick Jr. that Miami isn&rsquo;t going to be a good hockey town&hellip;The general manager of the Screaming Eagles says his club is sold out of its prime $10 box seats for next season&hellip;First game in WHA history is scheduled in the 13,000-seat Miami Executive Center Arena between the Screaming Eagles and Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 14&hellip;Robert L. (Sonny) Tate has joined Dayton as business manager and public relations director&hellip;Tate, 41, has been director of promotions and sales for the Cincinnati Reds of the National baseball league the past three seasons&hellip;The WHA has discussed a number of possible rule innovations, but the most popular are for one or more 10-minute sudden-death overtimes to break ties, elimination of the red line and a penalty foricing&hellip;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0019-08

“We Will Ice 12 Teams” Says Prexy

<div class="byline">BY DAN PROUDFOOT</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01311/2984585-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="256" height="444"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BRIAN SPENCER&hellip;Goals Never Came</b></figcaption></div><p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>S</span>ports is lull of success stories, but this one is about Brian Spencer and neither he nor his coach, John McLellan, could call his current season anything close to successful.</p><p>Somewhere, he lost his ability to score and by sending him to Tulsa of the Central Hockey League. McLellan hopes the 22-year-old Leal can regain his scoring touch.</p><p>Spencer had played 70 regular season and playoff games with Toronto Maple Leafs without a goal. The last one, if you check way back, was Feb. 10. almost a year ago in Chicago.</p><p>True, he scored in a pre-season. exhibition game. But as he began the schedule, playing regularly at right wing with Jim Harrison and Darryl Sittler, and the goals wouldn&rsquo;t come, the pressure began to build.</p><p>All Spencer could get was penalties. many of them because of his frustration.</p><p>He began pressing. He began roving excessively, racing all over the ice. and his defensive record suffered.</p><p>As his scoreless anniversary approached. Spencer had three assists and ever-increasing bench time to his credit. Coach McLellan began choosing Spencer when it came time to sit someone out to cut down for the 19-man lineup allowed for a game.</p><p>So things became even more difficult for Spencer his demotion to Tulsa seemed inevitable.</p><p>A whole year without a goal? Spencer repeated to a reporter.</p><p>Who would want that? But it seems so long ago that I scored the last one that I don&rsquo;t really remember it very well.</p><p>When I scored it, I guess there was nothing unusual about it at the time. I must have figured I was going to score another very soon, because I didn&rsquo;t take any special note. If I had known I wasn&rsquo;t going to score again for so long. I would have remembered more things about it.</p><p>Spencer was promoted from Leafs CHL affiliate at Tulsa in December. 1970, because Leafs thought his aggressiveness was needed. But the bruiser also could score. He notched nine goals and seven assists in his first 29 games.</p><p>Then things slowed down.</p><p>I try no to think about it. but when I&rsquo;m confronted with the fact, well, it worries me. The other night I was awake until 3:30 a.m.. trying to figure out what I&rsquo;m doing wrong. I know worrying doesn&rsquo;t help, but what can I do about it&rdquo;</p><p>When he did get on the ice. Spencer tried to shoot as much as possible.</p><p>Being used in spot shifts it&rsquo;s very difficult to have the tempo and rhythm to score. I&rsquo;m not a player like Guy Trottier who can play one shift a game and get a goal. He&rsquo;s got the touch around the net. but that&rsquo;s not my way. I have to scramble for my goals, added a disappointed Spencer.</p><p>Nobody likes being shut out a year at a time. The Leafs hope a stretch at Tulsa will give Spencer a chance to find himself again.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-01

Leafs Hope Spencer Can Regain Form With Tulsa

<div class="byline">BY JOHN ARNOLD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02230/2984616-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="828" height="1113"></div><h2>SOLUTION IN FEBRUARY 25 ISSUE</h2><h3>Across</h3><p>1&mdash;Pictured player.</p><p>5&mdash;Morning.</p><p>7&mdash;Native Province of 3 across.</p><p>9&mdash;A St. Louis goaltender.</p><p>11&mdash;Pronoun.</p><p>13&mdash;One of the Vancouver Canucks.</p><p>14&mdash;Mile, (abbr.)</p><p>15&mdash;Hotel.</p><p>17&mdash;Former Leaf Bailey was known as this.</p><p>19&mdash;Type of shot.</p><p>20&mdash;Virginia, (abbr.)</p><p>22&mdash;Winners of the Stanley Cup in 1960-61.</p><p>25&mdash;1 down once played for this team. (abbr.).</p><p>26&mdash;Where Bobby Orr played junior.</p><p>28&mdash;Initials of an injured Canadien.</p><p>29&mdash;One of the NHL&rsquo;s 50 goal scorers.</p><h3>Down</h3><p>1&mdash;Recently coached the NHL East All Stars to victory.</p><p>2&mdash;An NHL captain.</p><p>3&mdash;Led the league in shutouts in 1969-70. (first name)</p><p>4&mdash;Initials of Nicholson of San Diego.</p><p>6&mdash;Bobby Leiter was born in this month, (abbr.)</p><p>8&mdash;First name of a Minnesota rearguard.</p><p>10&mdash;15th and 1st letters of the alphabet.</p><p>12&mdash;An NHL veteran answers to this.</p><p>16&mdash;Negative reply.</p><p>18&mdash;One of the San Diego Gulls.</p><p>20&mdash;A former Black Hawk defenseman.</p><p>21&mdash;First name of a former Detroit coach.</p><p>23&mdash;Each team plays this part of the season at home.</p><p>24&mdash;9th and 23rd letters of the alphabet.</p><p>27&mdash;18 down was born in this month, (abbr.)</p><h2>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S ANSWERS</h2><h3>Across</h3><p>1&mdash;BERENSON.</p><p>8&mdash;ABEL.</p><p>9&mdash;KEON.</p><p>10&mdash;B.O.</p><p>12&mdash;OO.</p><p>13&mdash;MARVIN.</p><p>16&mdash;TEN.</p><p>18&mdash;VAL.</p><p>20&mdash;RED.</p><p>21&mdash;ICE.</p><p>22&mdash;NET.</p><p>23&mdash;MARC.</p><p>27&mdash;WEST.</p><p>28&mdash;VASKO.</p><p>30&mdash;LEN.</p><p>31&mdash;EIGHT.</p><p>34&mdash;GENTS.</p><h3>Down</h3><p>1&mdash;BACKSTROM.</p><p>2&mdash;E.B.</p><p>3&mdash;REDMOND.</p><p>4&mdash;E.L.</p><p>5&mdash;SKOV.</p><p>6&mdash;O.E.</p><p>7&mdash;NOON.</p><p>10&mdash;NO.</p><p>11&mdash;B.R.</p><p>14&mdash;IRVINE.</p><p>15&mdash;FLETT.</p><p>17&mdash;E.E.</p><p>19&mdash;ACES.</p><p>24&mdash;AVE.</p><p>25&mdash;RANG.</p><p>26&mdash;C.S.</p><p>27&mdash;WOIT.</p><p>29&mdash;KEN.</p><p>30&mdash;L.L.</p><p>32&mdash;G.S.</p><p>33&mdash;T.H.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-02

HOCKEY CROSSWORD

<div class="byline">BY BRIAN MCFARLANE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01172/2984654-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="340" height="344"></div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p>I&rsquo;ve always loved the game of hockey and I share King Clancy&rsquo;s motto: &ldquo;If you don&rsquo;t have fun&hellip;what&rsquo;s the sense of playing.&rdquo;</p><p>In my role as host of the Montreal telecasts, and more recently, as dean of the Scotiabank Hockey College, I often have the opportunity to speak to young players and fans. My advice is always the same. Enjoy the game to the fullest, whether as a player, a referee, a coach, a trainer, a broadcaster or simply a fan.</p><p>That&rsquo;s one reason we started the Scotiabank Hockey College a few months ago. Young Canadians can become more closely associated with our national game simply by opening a small account at any of the 850 branches of the Bank of Nova Scotia.</p><p>Through our free monthly news bulletins, we pass along stories about NHL stars, tips on fitness and sportsmanship and helpful coaching hints from Hockey Canada.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02125/2984647-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="280" height="461"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Brian McFarlane.</b></figcaption></div><p>Every month for four months 25 lucky draw winners garner valuable prizes, such as trips for two to a Stanley Cup game, a regular season NHL game, CCM bikes and skates and Gruen watches.</p><p>The response so far has been most encouraging and surprisingly, 30 per cent of our members are girls.</p><p>It&rsquo;s almost as much fun directing Scotiabank Hockey College activities as it is hosting the hockey telecasts.</p><p>Many years ago, when Jean Beliveau was the player I tried to check in a junior playoff series, I realized that the NHL was a goal I&rsquo;d never reach.</p><p>Since then, I&rsquo;ve played college hockey, industrial league hockey, and I&rsquo;ve spent hundreds of hours playing &ldquo;shinny&rsquo;&rsquo; on the ponds and neighbourhood rinks. I&rsquo;ve even been privileged to play with the NHL Oldtimers when they&rsquo;ve needed an extra body.</p><p>I&rsquo;ve refereed college hockey in Troy, New York and have been playing-coach of a minor league club in Schenectady, New York. Refereeing was almost as difficult as playing in some of those industrial league games. I&rsquo;ve coached a girl&rsquo;s team in Ottawa and I still help coach my son&rsquo;s bantam team.</p><p>The point of all this is to demonstrate that even even though an NHL career may elude you, hundreds of hockey-oriented job opportunities are available to you if you chase them. In the months ahead, hockey&rsquo;s popularity will grow at a tremendous pace, and there&rsquo;ll be twice as many positions for players, coaches, and yes, broadcasters too.</p><p>Only those who really love the game need apply.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0021-01

HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA LA SOIRÉE DU HOCKEY

<div class="byline">BY JOHN PORTER</div><p>OAKLAND&mdash;</p><p>Start thinking bad thoughts and they have a way of coming true.</p><p>Take Garry B. Young, general manager of the California Golden Seals, who was analysing his club&rsquo;s hopes of remaining in a playoff position during the final third of the season.</p><p>&ldquo;I really need another big, tough defenseman,&rdquo; the GM mused. &ldquo;You know, we&rsquo;re really playing with only four defensemen most of the time and the other clubs are using five or six.&rdquo; Before he could make a deal for some playoff insurance, the Seals ran aground in Vancouver, even though they sailed out with a 2-0 win.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0384/2984685-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="265" height="457"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Paul Shmyr</b></figcaption></div><p>Young knew his team wasn&rsquo;t deep with talent. He had a handful of good, young skaters who were making a few waves on hustle, but the key was to keep the team heathy. There simply weren&rsquo;t any reserves ready to walk in and cover up for an injury or two.</p><p>In the second period at Vancouver, captain Carol Vadnais was tripped an injured his leg. He was replaced by Marshall Johnston in the third period.</p><p>A few minutes before the game ended, Paul Shmyr, also a defenseman, was whacked across the hand by a Vancouver stick. A hairline fracture of his thumb was the result and the Seals defense, which yielded one goal in its last three games, was down to two regulars (Dick Redmond, Bert Marshall) and one reserve (Johnston).</p><p>Shmyr&rsquo;s been the forgotten man in the Gary Smith trade, if you don&rsquo;t count Kerry Bond. Big Smitty is kicking out plenty of pucks for Chicago, while Gilles Meloche is doing likewise for California. And Gerry Pinder has scored 18 goals to lead the Seals.</p><p>But Shmyr eludes the limelight, partly because he says he prefers it that way and also because he isn&rsquo;t a big goal scorer.</p><p>&ldquo;Maybe some of the fans expect Paul to be a big scorer like Bobby Orr, but there&rsquo;s only one Bobby Orr,&rdquo; said Vadnais. &ldquo;Shmyr is like Bert (Marshall). They&rsquo;re both out on the ice doing a good job, but few realize it.&rdquo;</p><p>Young and coach Vic Stasiuk are aware.</p><p>&ldquo;The most dedicated player on this team is Paul Shmyr,&rdquo; Stasiuk will tell you with conviction and without hesitation.</p><p>So what did the Seals do about their weakened defense?</p><p>Vadnais was ready to play the next game despite the bad leg and rookie Ken Baird was called up from Oklahoma City to fill in for Shmyr, who was expected to be out &ldquo;two or three weeks.&rdquo;</p><p><b>SEALS SHOTS:</b> Shmyr had missed only two games in his six-year pro career because of injuries before the latest mishap&hellip;California hit the two-thirds point in the schedule with 44 points, one point less than the total for all of last year&hellip;Meloche was on an amazing hot streak (5-1-1) with a 1.00 goals-against average that included three shutouts&hellip;The Seals are averaging 5,500 fans per game.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0021-03

Shmyr Unsung Hero Of Seals’ Defense

<h2>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER</h2><h3>HOCKEY STICKS</h3><p>Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD. Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><h2>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER</h2><h3>HOCKEY STICKS</h3><p>Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD. Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><h2><b>HOW THEY STAND AMERICAN LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues, Feb. 8)</b></p><h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01190/2984737-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="575" height="155"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02128/2984730-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="581" height="283"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Tues, Feb. 1</b></p><p>Springfield 3 at Boston 8</p><p>Rochester 0 at Nova Scotia 6</p><p><b>Wed, Feb. 2</b></p><p>Providence 3 at Baltimore 6</p><p>Cleveland 3 at Hershey 3</p><p>Richmond 3 at Tidewater 3</p><p><b>Thur, Feb. 3</b></p><p>Rochester 7 at Novo Scotio 4</p><p><b>Fri, Feb. 4</b></p><p>Richmond 3 at Cincinnati 1</p><p>Providence 3 at Rochester 5</p><p>Boston 3 at Springfield 3</p><p><b>Sat, Feb. 5</b></p><p>Providence 2 at Boston 1</p><p>Richmond 5 at Cleveland 2</p><p>Cincinnati 0 at Hershey 0</p><p>Tidewater 2 at Springfield 2</p><p><b>Sun, Feb. 6</b></p><p>Baltimore 0 at Boston 2</p><p>Cincinnati 1 at Cleveland 5</p><p>Tidewater 1 at Nova Scotio 1</p><p>Springfield 2 at Providence 4</p><p>Richmond 5 at Rochester 4</p><h3>GAMES TO COME</h3><p><b>Tues, Feb. 8</b></p><p>Rochester at Boston</p><p>Spring field at Hershey</p><p>Tidewater at Nova Scotia</p><p>Baltimore at Richmond</p><p><b>Thur, Feb. 10</b></p><p>Springfield at Tidewater (at Norfolk)</p><p><b>Fri, Feb. 11</b></p><p>Springfield at Baltimore</p><p>Tidewater at Cleveland</p><p>Cincinnati at Providence</p><p>Rochester at Richmond</p><p><b>Sat, Feb. 12</b></p><p>Providence at Boston</p><p>Hershey at Cleveland</p><p>Rochester at Springfield</p><p>Nova Scotia at Tidewater (at Norfolk)</p><p><b>Sun, Feb. 13</b></p><p>Cincinnati at Baltimore (afternoon)</p><p>Rochester at Providence</p><p>Nova Scotia at Richmond</p><p><b>Tues, Feb. 15</b></p><p>Springfield at Cincinnati</p><p>Hershey at Richmond</p><p><b>Wed, Feb. 16</b></p><p>Nova Scotia at Baltimore</p><p>Springfield at Cleveland</p><p><b>Fri, Feb. 18</b></p><p>Hershey at Providence</p><p>Baltimore at Richmond</p><p>Novo Scotia at Springfield</p><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><p><b>(Including games of Sun, Jan. 30)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03111/2984723-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="585" height="537"></div><h3>GOALKEEPERS&rsquo; RECORDS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0492/2984716-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="583" height="642"></div><p>Shutouts, Smith 4, Whidden, Bouchard, Gilbert, Voss 2 each, Brooks, Farr, Plasso, Paillo, Zimmerman, Landon 1 each.</p><p>Penalty loader, Dave Schultz, Richmond, 306 mins.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0022-01

AMERICAN LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY GEORGE DUFFY</div><p>PROVIDENCE&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he day after Christmas, Marcel Paille came back into action after being out with two broken fingers on his right hand. Ending an eight week absence from the Providence line-up, Paille downed the Kings at Springfield, 31.</p><p>Late in January, veteran forward Don Blackburn lifted his point total to 60 and assumed the individaul scoring lead in the American Hockey League. Blackburn recently took the occasion to score the 300th pro goal of his career as the Reds whipped Tidewater 7-5. In the early weeks of January, still another important thing happened to the Reds. Rugged little Ron Garwasiuk was shifted to left wing on a line with Blackburn and right winger Alton White. Despite the fact that White was playing with a cast on a broken right thumb, this line began to take its toll on league opponents.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0581/2984775-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="266" height="439"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ron Garwasiuk</b></figcaption></div><p>Early in the season, Garwasiuk, whose shot later put Paille out of action, was on the injured list. When the fiery little 5&rsquo;8&rdquo; winger came back, he started slowly. Once he joined forces with Blackburn and White, Ron became a new player. He was skating, shooting and as usual, tangling with everyone who tried to take him apart because of his size. At 154 pounds, Garwasiuk is no jolly green giant but he does, not back down from anyone.</p><p>An example of this came on the afternoon of January 22 at Boston Garden. Rich Leduc of the Boston Braves had a joust with Paille and was extremely unhappy. Leduc left the ice for first aid and the first time he got back into action, he and Garwasiuk wound up slamming hard together on the boards. The taller and heavier Leduc (5-11, 167) flung down his gloves and the surprised Garwasiuk began to battle back. Just before the scrap was halted, Garwasiuk landed a solid left and Leduc went off again, this time with blood dripping from a cut eye.</p><p>Because of his size, Garwasiuk probably takes as much punishment as any forward in the AHL. In fact last season, he was sent to Miami Beach for a week&rsquo;s rest by team owner George Sage on the recommendation of Larry Wilson. It worked because Ron wound up with a big year that included 31 goals and 24 assists in 71 games. He also had 96 minutes in the penalty box, further proof that he is no mama&rsquo;s boy.</p><p>After 36 games Garwasiuk has scored 16 goals for the 71-72 Reds. Does he expect to equal his 31 of a year ago?</p><p>&ldquo;It won&rsquo;t be easy,&rdquo; said Ron after a recent workout,&rdquo; but I am going to give it a big try. Playing with Blackburn and White should offer me many good scoring chances. I surely will be very saddened if I do not score at least 25 goals despite my injury-delayed start.&rdquo;</p><p>There is a time honored saying that big things come in little packages. This describes Garwasiuk. He is small to look at but has a booming shot that brings fear to every goalie in the league. Ron skates well and has courage to burn. A newspaperman once said of Garwasiuk: &ldquo;He could pass for a jockey but has a heart as big as a basketball and that makes him a great little player.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0661/2984768-1-eng-US/f0022-062.jpg" title="f0022-06" width="1180" height="1284"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Veteran DON BLACKBURN of the Providence Reds holds up puck after scoring 300th goal of his professional career recently as Reds downed Tidewater 7-5.</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0022-05

Reds Finally Putting It All Together

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK SANTANIELLO</div><p>SPRINGFIELD&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>F</span>ortunately over the last few seasons, the Springfield Kings have been able to develop some fine rookie players. But unfortunately, they have not developed fast enough to move up to Los Angeles to help the big team. However, a look at the records here over the past few years shows some fine rookie talent. This season is no exception.</p><p>Last year. Butch Goring. Bill Mikkelson and Al McDonough were top players. The lone rookie was Mikkelson who has been up and down with the big team. Two years ago. both Goring and McDonough were top first year rookies here.</p><p>Along with Goring, goalie Bruce Landon was in that crop of fine rookies and was a top NHL prospect and st ill is.</p><p>Last season, young Bill Smith was the big surprise in goal for the Kings and if anything he is once more a top player this season. doing even better than last year. Doug Volmar was another good rookie, but was owned by Detroit.</p><p>Brian Carlin, with 24 goals at this writing, is the top rookie this season. He has put together a sensational record with more experienced players on his line. Fellow winger Norm Park has 10 goals and is another of those hard working freshmen on this team.</p><p>Center Wayne Chernecki has also popped 10 goals at center and his play has been improving after being in a slump for part of the season. Defenseman Neil Komadoski was a big hit from the time he reported to the Kings&rsquo; training camp back in September. He has been improving rapidly at defense.</p><p>Collegiate graduate Bob Poffenroth was not seeing much action early in the season at center but once the big rookie got a chance to play he hustled and worked hard, though only scoring three goals. Winger Phil Hoene. who recently scored three times in one game, is another of those sleeper rookies who could easily develop into a real star.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Kings Turning Out Solid Rookie Crop

<div class="byline">BY GREG FARLEY</div><p>BOSTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he imminent return of star center Garry Peters to the Braves&rsquo; lineup is welcome news to both his teammates and the tribe&rsquo;s legion of faithfuls.</p><p>But no one is happier than Peters.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s close to two months now and I&rsquo;m just about at wit&rsquo;s end,&rdquo; disclosed the 29-year-old Peters. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been especially restless during the last few weeks, and I&rsquo;m anxious to get back and help out.&rdquo;</p><p>Garry disregards the theory that his injury (torn knee ligaments) and the team&rsquo;s sudden nosedive was more than just a coincidence.</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s ridiculous,&rdquo; he insisted. &ldquo;Look at it this way. The team was in first place when I was hurt and it&rsquo;s still there. We just ran into a mild slump, that&rsquo;s all.</p><p>&ldquo;We never expected to maintain our early pace throughout the entire campaign. It was getting so that every team we ran into was skyhigh for us, especially on the road.</p><p>&ldquo;And don&rsquo;t forget, a lot of the teams have improved during the course of the season. With a couple of exceptions, we&rsquo;re still pretty much the same team that began the season. But we&rsquo;ve got enough pride to feel that we&rsquo;re strong enough to win the Calder Cup, regardless of how much help the other teams may receive from their parent clubs.&rdquo;</p><p>Getting back to his injury, Garry made it quite clear that he doesn&rsquo;t expect to jump right back into the thick of the scoring.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be awhile before I&rsquo;m back to normal,&rdquo; he admitted. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a funny thing. You can get out of shape in three or four days hut it takes you three or four weeks to get back into it.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m in pretty good shape now. though, and it shouldn&rsquo;t take me more than a couple of games to get back in condition. I realize I&rsquo;ve got a lot of ground to make up, but I&rsquo;m hoping to get back up near the top of the scoring race before long.&rdquo;</p><p>The scoring race is not Garry&rsquo;s primary concern, however.</p><p>&ldquo;Sure. I&rsquo;d like to win it. but first place and the playoffs are a lot more important to me. We haven&rsquo;t forgotten that we were picked to finish last in a pre-season poll, and we&rsquo;ve got quite a hit to prove before this season&rsquo;s over.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01168/2984830-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="555" height="580"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GARRY PETERS&hellip;Return Timely</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0023-01

Peters Says Braves Strong Enough To Win Cup

<h2>Sun, Jan. 23 TIDEWATER 5 at PROVIDENCE 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02129/2984952-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="600" height="869"></div><h2>Mon, Jan. 24 NOVA SCOTIA 2 at BOSTON 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03102/2984945-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="578" height="414"></div><h2>Tues, Jan. 25 TIDEWATER 3 at BALTIMORE 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0481/2984938-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="597" height="733"></div><h2>Wed, Jan. 26 SPRINGFIELD 1 at CLEVELAND 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0565/2984931-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="597" height="651"></div><h2>NOVA SCOTIA 4 at HERSHEY 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0656/2984924-1-eng-US/f0023-062.jpg" title="f0023-06" width="591" height="576"></div><h2>BOSTON 4 at TIDEWATER 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0752/2984917-1-eng-US/f0023-072.jpg" title="f0023-07" width="597" height="744"></div><h2>Thur, Jan. 27 SPRINGFIELD 0 at CINCINNATI 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0844/2984910-1-eng-US/f0023-082.jpg" title="f0023-08" width="593" height="596"></div><h2>Fri, Jan. 28 HERSHEY 10 at BALTIMORE 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0936/2984903-1-eng-US/f0023-092.jpg" title="f0023-09" width="596" height="951"></div><h2>NOVA SCOTIA 4 at ROCHESTER 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1028/2984896-1-eng-US/f0023-102.jpg" title="f0023-10" width="589" height="557"></div><h2>Sun, Jan. 30 TIDEWATER 1 at CINCINNATI 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1120/2984889-1-eng-US/f0023-112.jpg" title="f0023-11" width="591" height="360"></div><h2>HERSHEY 4 at CLEVELAND 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1218/2984882-1-eng-US/f0023-122.jpg" title="f0023-12" width="589" height="651"></div><h2>SPRINGFIELD 8 AT ROCHESTER 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1313/2984875-1-eng-US/f0023-132.jpg" title="f0023-13" width="590" height="925"></div><h2>BOSTON 1 at NOVA SCOTIA 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1412/2984868-1-eng-US/f0023-142.jpg" title="f0023-14" width="595" height="523"></div><h2>RICHMOND 3 at PROVIDENCE 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1511/2984861-1-eng-US/f0023-152.jpg" title="f0023-15" width="586" height="593"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0023-02

American Hockey League Summaries

<div class="byline">BY BOB ELMER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01180/2985014-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CRAIG PATRICK&hellip;Newcomer Finds Range</b></figcaption></div><p>BALTIMORE&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>lready blessed with outstanding scoring productions from his first two forward lines, GM Coach Terry Reardon put together another winner recently when the clever Clipper mentor came up with a formidable rookie of Craig Patrick on the left side, Don O&rsquo;Donoghue as the pivot, and Hilliard Graves, starboard.</p><p>What amounts to an almost sophomoric line, this threesome promptly stole the limelight from their more experienced partners by accounting for three of the five goals in the 5-2 win over Richmond, and another three goals in the 7-3 rout of Tidewater, a few days later.</p><p>The newest offensive creation has added unexpected firepower to the Clippers&rsquo; rise to the top of the AHL West. All season long, Reardon has received steady contributions from the Mini line of John French, Bob Rivard and Howie Menard and the Big Lanky line of Pete Laframboise (team&rsquo;s leading scorer), Joe Szura and Marc Dufour.</p><p>Interestingly enough, Reardon has innovated a number of moves that no one else thought of before in putting these lines together. For instance, young Laframboise had never played anywhere but center during his junior hockey days in Ottawa and last winter in Providence, where he suffered a dismal winter with Larry Wilson.</p><p>But this year, Reardon put Laframboise at left wing to profit from the experience and brilliant moves of vets Szura and Dufour, and the answer may be found on the current scoring stats. After 41 games &ldquo;Harpo&rdquo; as the 22-year-old, curly headed prospect is called by his teammates, had netted 24 goals and a like number of assists.</p><p>Likewise, Reardon is responsible for moving the small but aggressive Menard from center to right wing, and pairing him with a couple of other fancy skating whippets&mdash;French and Rivard. Now this Mini Line really moves, and once again the stats are impressive as Menard has 22 goals and 16 assists, &ldquo;Rivet&rdquo; Rivard is enjoying one of his best winters with 11 goals and 26 scoring passes, while the hustling French has netted 11 goals and 16 assists.</p><p>Complimenting the offense, has fortunately, been an experienced, hard-hitting defense featuring team captain Kent Douglas, Jean Gauthier ageless Jim Morrison, Wally Chevrier, Dick Mattiussi and rookies Ted Mc-Aneeley and Terry Murray. That&rsquo;s seven defenseman and all have enjoyed bangup campaigns to date.</p><p>As for goaltending, it&rsquo;s now in the hands of capable Bob Whidden and lanky Lyle Carter. Gary Kurt has returned to California after saving the Clipper ship from capsizing earlier in the season with an outstanding stretch of 12 wins and a tie in 17 starts. This turned the Clips around from a cellar dweller to an attic attendant and it&rsquo;s now in the hands of Whidden and Carter to keep the Clippers afloat.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0024-01

Reardon’s Line Juggling Fires Clippers To Top

<div class="byline">BY JOE MINSTER</div><p>CINCINNATI&mdash;</p><p>Sports stories almost always are devoted to players, or their teams.</p><p>Very rarely do they pay tribute, or even give proper recognition, to the people who pay the freight and the salaries&mdash;the fans.</p><p>This is a story about a couple of hockey fans, Russell Schenck and his attractive wife, Rosemary, who were introduced to the sport just three months ago when the Cincinnati Swords met Providence at Cincinnati Gardens.</p><p>Actually, Russell and Rosemary could be any one of countless fans who have helped make ice hockey one of the fastestgrowing major sports.</p><p>It was back on Dec. 14. that the Schencks happened to be in attendance at their first hockey game. And since that time, they haven&rsquo;t missed a home game, and even have accompanied the Swords on road trips to Cleveland, Norfolk, Virginia (home base of the Richmond Robins) and to Boston.</p><p>Schenck, who is recovering from a serious auto accident suffered last October, officiates at high school and college basketball games during the winter and is employed as a lab technician with the Continental Can Company in Cincinnati.</p><p>He and his wife, parents of four sons ranging in age from eight years old down to 14 months, have always been sports fans, but never generated nearly the enthusiasm that they now have for ice hockey.</p><p>&ldquo;Who are the Swords?&rdquo; is the rhetorical question posed by these new-found fans. And then they go on to answer their own question.</p><p>&ldquo;Well, since the first game we attended, I believe that the Swords have introduced us to one of the most entertaining and exciting spectator sports we have ever witnessed,&rdquo; Schenck pointed out.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to explain how anyone can remain composed during a hockey game. Have you ever seen a basketball bustout, or seen a football player in a broken field run, or a beautiful diving catch in baseball?</p><p>&ldquo;We have seen all this in the game of hockey&mdash;the bustout for a score, the clever work of the player manipulating the puck down the ice, the finesse of the goalies reaching out to grab or block the puck like a big league catcher.</p><p>&ldquo;If people would only come out and watch the Swords in action, they would love the game of hockey, because it&rsquo;s so fast, and so hard-hitting, with hardly ever a letup in the slam-bang action.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;What I would very much like to see here in Cincinnati is an honest-to-goodness Booster Club for the Swords, that could give them their all-out backing and perhaps even take a few trips with them to out-of-town games,&rdquo; Schenck said. With that in mind, he is working hard to build up interest among his friends and hockey acquaintances to form such a club in the near future.</p><p><b>SWORD SLASHES:</b> For a brief time, Cincinnati shared first place with Baltimore in the Western AHL. But the Swords dropped a hard-fought 2-1 decision to Baltimore and then lost to Tidewater, 3-2, on the road, to fall to third place in the tight race&hellip;Tom Miller, Paul Andrea, Mike Robitaille, who recently came down from Buffalo, Frank Lacombe have done a great job of killing off penalties for the Swords. In a recent game, Miller, Robitaille and Lacombe were at their best, when they were called on to play two full minutes in a five-on-three situation and got the job done without yielding a score&hellip;Left Winger. Butch Deadmarsh is the leading goal-scorer for Cincinnati, with 24 to his credit, with Center Doug Rombough rating No. 2 in this department, with 20.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Swords’ Hockey Fans Boosting Club Off Ice

<div class="byline">BY JOHN TRAVERS</div><p>HERSHEY&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>O</span>ne of the hottest four game scoring streaks by any forward line in the American League this season was turned in by the Hershey Bears&rsquo; trio of center Jeannot (Gil) Gilbert and wingers, Steve Cardwell and Jean Gratton.</p><p>The Bears, who had held top spot in the Western Division practically the entire season, dropped four straight games in midJanuary when coach Frank Mathers de cided to make a few line adjustments.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01149/2985069-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="266" height="434"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Gil Gilbert</b></figcaption></div><p>He moved Gilbert between Cardwell and Gratton for a game against Tidewater Jan.22.</p><p>The trio clicked at once and through the next four games, two of which the Bears won to break the slump, Gilbert & Co. rapped in 12 goals and assisted on 21 for a whopping 33 points.</p><p>Gilbert, who got off to a great start earlier in the season with 14 goals, was slowed down by a knee injury and had gone through ten games without blinking the light. But in the short stretch with Cardwell and Gratton, he connected for four goals and helped set up seven others.</p><p>Cardwell was 5-7-12 and Gratton 3-7-10 through the 200-minute span. Added to this Gilbert and Gratton each collected game-winning markers. Before Cardwell got hot, he had shown only two goals in the previous ten matches. The same held true for Gratton.</p><p>During the slump Mathers pinpointed defensive mistakes and inability to score as the two main reasons for relinquishing first place to the Baltimore Clippers.</p><p>&ldquo;Four of the games we lost by two goals or less,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We worked hard but couldn&rsquo;t buy any breaks. We just kept making every goaltender coming into our-building look like a National Leaguer.&rdquo;</p><p>Goalie Cam Newton had a winning 2.66 average for three games, but still lost them all as his teammates couldn&rsquo;t get him any leads to work on.</p><p>&ldquo;Both Newton and Andy (Gill) played well and couldn&rsquo;t be blamed for the losses,&rdquo; Mathers said. &ldquo;All we were doing was trying to play catch up.&rdquo;</p><p>In the losing span, the Bears dropped four straight on home since, something no Hershey team has done in a long spell. Cleveland pulled off a 3-1 win, then Rochester and Boston won by identical 2-1 scores before Nova Scotia skated off a 4-3 victor.</p><p>During the tailspin Mathers insisted things would break the club&rsquo;s way as long as it kept working.</p><p>They finally did on Jan. 28 when Hershey shelled Baltimore with 10 goals at the Clippers&rsquo; rink to pare their western lead to a single game.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0025-01

Bears New Hot Line Collects 33 Points In 4-Game Outburst

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCCONNELL</div><h2>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER</h2><h3>HOCKEY STICKS</h3><p>Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY, LTD. Amold Street. Wallacaburg, Ontarie Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><h2>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER</h2><h3>HOCKEY STICKS</h3><p>Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY, LTD. Amold Street. Wallacaburg, Ontarie Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01156/2985107-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="545" height="797"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JACK NORRIS&hellip;Lacking Support</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02108/2985100-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="554" height="811"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JIM McLEOD&hellip;Returns From NHL</b></figcaption></div><p><b>SEATTLE&mdash;</b></p><p>The men in the big pads are in the Western Hockey League limelight these days.</p><p>The Portland Buckaroos have regained the services of the WHL&rsquo;s top netminder in recent years with the purchase of veteran Jim McLeod back from the St. Louis Blues. Bob Johnson, the Denver rookie ace, has unpre-dictably jumped into the No. 1 netminding spot with a 2.71 goals-against average and Jack Norris is a victim of a lot of good goalkeeping going to waste with the tail-end Seattle Totems.</p><p>The return of McLeod, a perennial WHL All Star in past years, to Portland is certain to bolster the Buckaroos for the final run to the playoffs. There&rsquo;s no doubt, the exciting McLeod will push the present two Portland goalers&mdash;Dave Kelly and Jim Shaw&mdash;to backup status as the champion Bucks strive to regain their composure after struggling in fourth place since the season began.</p><p>Johnson&rsquo;s success with Denver in his rookie season is laudible but most WHL hockey men are in sympathy with Norris and his Seattle plight, although things are starting to pick up for the much&mdash;travelled puck stopper.</p><p>The Totems scored only six times in a four-game span. It wasn&rsquo;t much support for Norris who only allowed 25 goals in 11 games, an average of 2.27 per game.</p><p>Still, it&rsquo;s an improvement. I he last place Totems are in almost every game now, even though they&rsquo;ve only won five of 42 with two ties.</p><p>Norris&rsquo; goals against average had soared as the Totems put together a WHL record of 18 straight losses, which they ended against their old rivals, the Port land Buckaroos, Christmas Day.</p><p>Norris celebrated with a shutout.</p><p>&ldquo;Mentally we were beaten before the puck even dropped, everybody was so disgusted,&rdquo; the 29-year-old goaltender told Bill Knight of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. &ldquo;1 was so frustrated I didn&rsquo;t even think about a shutout. Instead of coming to a game, hoping we&rsquo;d win, we were just hoping we wouldn&rsquo;t get beat by eight or nine goals.&rdquo;</p><p>Coach Chuck Holmes had threatened a fine system in December, with any loss by more than two goals costing everyone $25.</p><p>&ldquo;That was what stirred us up, I think,&rdquo; said Norris, &ldquo;We may not be burning up the league but we&rsquo;re playing with pride now.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-01

Totems Wasting Top Goaling By Norris; Portland Gets McLeod Back From Blues

<p>SALT LAKE CITY&mdash;</p><p>Funeral services, conducted in the Salt Palace here, were attended by an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 mourners, for Daniel H. Meyer, 45. founder-owner-president of the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the Western Hockey League club.</p><p>Meyer, who was attending meetings of the National Hockey League, died of a fall from his 19th floor hotel room at Bloomington, Minn., Jan. 25, 1972.</p><p>The service was non-denominational and was conducted by Fred S. Ball, executive-director of the Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerced. The invocation was given by Tom Duggar, president of the Screamin&rsquo; Eagles Booster Club, and the benediction by Father W. Ivan Cendese, principal of Judge Memorial High School in Salt Lake City.</p><p>Remarks were made by J. Bracken Lee, former governor of Utah and ex-mayor of Salt Lake City; William MacFarland, president of the WHL; John C. Osmond, former business associate; and Dan Valentine. a close friend and columnist for the Salt Lake Tribune.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Final Rites Paid To Dan Meyer

<h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Wed, Feb. 9)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01141/2985193-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="577" height="233"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Wed, Feb. 2</b></p><p>Seattle 1 at Denver 5</p><p>Salt Lake 3 at Portland 4</p><p><b>Thur, Feb. 3</b></p><p>Seattle 2 at Salt lake 2</p><p>San Diego 4 at Phoenix 5</p><p><b>Fri, Feb. 4</b></p><p>San Diego 2 at Denver 6</p><p><b>Sat, Feb. 5</b></p><p>Seattle 2 at Salt Lake 2</p><p>Denver 3 at Phoenix 7</p><p><b>Sun, Feb. 6</b></p><p>Denver 0 at San Diego 0</p><p>Phoenix 3 of Portland 6</p><h3>GAMES TO COME</h3><p><b>Wed, Feb. 9</b></p><p>Seattle at Denver</p><p>San Diego at Phoenix</p><p>Salt Lake at Portland</p><p><b>Fri, Feb. 11</b></p><p>San Diego at Denver</p><p>Salt lake at Phoenix</p><p>Portland at Seattle</p><p><b>Sat, Feb. 12</b></p><p>Phoenix at Portland</p><p>Salt Lake at San Diego</p><p><b>Sun, Feb. 13</b></p><p>Phoenix at Seattle</p><p><b>Wed, Feb. 16</b></p><p>Seattle at Denver</p><p>San Diego at Portland</p><p><b>Thur, Feb. 17</b></p><p>Seattle at Phoenix</p><p><b>Fri, Feb. 18</b></p><p>Salt Lake at Son Diego</p><p>Portland at Denver</p><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><p><b>(Including Games of Sun, Jan. 23)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02107/2985186-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="577" height="257"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0027-01

<p>SAN DIEGO&mdash;</p><p>Max McNab, general manager and coach of the San Diego Gulls, said he had been trying to get Rene Leclerc from the Detroit Red Wings &ldquo;for the last four years.&rdquo;</p><p>Finally, after the Gulls severed their working agreement with Detroit to switch allegiance to the Philadelphia Flyers, Leclerc was made availabel to the Gulls.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1133/2985224-1-eng-US/f0027-112.jpg" title="f0027-11" width="276" height="434"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Rene Leclerc</b></figcaption></div><p>The 5-11, 170-pounds 24-year-old joined the Gulls from Tidewater of the American Hockey League and in his first game, he scored the go-ahead goal to break a 2-2 tie on the way to a 5-3 victory over the Salt Lake Golden Eagles.</p><p>To make room on the 17-man roster, McNab shipped center Sandy Fitzpatrick on loan to Detroit&rsquo;s Central Hockey League farm club at Fort Worth.</p><p>Fitzpatrick, 6-1 and 205, played the last two seasons with San Diego, producing 30 goals. He only had two goals in 24 games this season.</p><p>&ldquo;I hope he gets a chance at Fort Worth to be a goal scorer.&rdquo; said McNab. &ldquo;I know he can be. He played 30 minutes a game for me, but he was killing penalites or we had him out there on the checking line. He really didn&rsquo;t get much of a chance to score goals this season.&rdquo;</p><p>Willie O&rsquo;Ree is about ready to return from a knee operation which sidelined him for several games.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0027-11

Gulls Ended 4-Year Wait For Leclerc

<p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>ed Hodgson has been popping goals at a record pace for the Salt Lake Eagles. In a recent two-game weekend series against Portland, Hodgson turned in a four-goal performance and added another the next night for a five-goal outing, both new club marks. With 18 goals, Hodgson has already matched his entire output of last season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0380/2985255-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="500" height="587"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TED HODGSON</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0027-03

<h2>Sun, Jan. 23 SALT LAKE 5 at PHOENIX 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0474/2985328-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="597" height="631"></div><h2>Wed, Jan. 26 SAN DIEGO 4 at PORTLAND 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0560/2985321-1-eng-US/f0027-052.jpg" title="f0027-05" width="593" height="740"></div><h2>Thur, Jan. 27 SALT LAKE 4 at PHOENIX 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0652/2985314-1-eng-US/f0027-062.jpg" title="f0027-06" width="590" height="702"></div><h2>SEATTLE 2 at SAN DIEGO 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0745/2985307-1-eng-US/f0027-072.jpg" title="f0027-07" width="593" height="625"></div><h2>Fri, Jan. 28 PORTLAND 4 at DENVER 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0842/2985300-1-eng-US/f0027-082.jpg" title="f0027-08" width="595" height="648"></div><h2>Sat, Jan. 29 PORTLAND 3 at SALT LAKE 8</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0941/2985293-1-eng-US/f0027-092.jpg" title="f0027-09" width="603" height="877"></div><h2>SEATTLE 3 at PHOENIX 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1038/2985286-1-eng-US/f0027-102.jpg" title="f0027-10" width="593" height="567"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0027-04

Western League Summaries

<p>SALT LAKE&mdash;</p><p>Ted Hodgson set a Salt Lake Golden Eagles&rsquo; team record with four goals in a game and five in a two-night, home-and-homesweep over the Portland Buckaroos.</p><p>Hodgson, a 26-vear-old right winger, is one of the original Eagles. In fact, he scored the Eagles&rsquo; first hat. trick in the club&rsquo;s first game in the Western Hockey League. It was against the San Diego Gulls. Hodgson already has 18 goals, matching his previous season&rsquo;s high in pro hockey.</p><p>The third-year Salt Lake City team is having its most successful season by far. Not only did the sweep from the Buckaroos move the Eagles to within two points of fourth place, currently held by Portland, but it helped tighten the whole WHL race.</p><p>The Eagles, in fifth place, are only 14 points behind the first place Denver Spurs.</p><p>The way the Spurs and the second place Phoenix Roadrunners have been floundering, a wholesale shakeup is possible among the first five clubs within a two week span. Denver went winless in seven games before finally taking a 3-2 victory from the last place Seattle Totems. The Roadrunners came out of January with a 6-7 record for the month.</p><p>The Eagles have won nine and lost 12 on the road, their victory total exceeding by one the total number won by the club it. its two previous years of existence.</p><p>The Eagles&rsquo; 20 victories are two more than last season&rsquo;s total and five more than their first season&rsquo;s total.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Hodgson’s Four-Goal Game Club Record For Salt Lake

<p class="dropcap"><span>E</span>rrol Thompson believes in making up for lost time. The Tulsa left winger sat out 10 straight games with an injury but once he got back into regular action there was no stopping him. Thompson scored five goals and helped set up three more in a four-game stretch last week for the Oilers, including a game-winner over Oke City Blazers.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0275/2985515-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="534" height="514"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ERROL THOMPSON</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0028-02

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div><h2>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER</h2><h3>HOCKEY STICKS</h3><p>Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arwld Street, Wallacebsrf, Ontarie Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><h2>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER</h2><h3>HOCKEY STICKS</h3><p>Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arwld Street, Wallacebsrf, Ontarie Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><p>OKLAHOMACITY&mdash;</p><p>Murray Wing, hard-skating, hard-shooting defenseman, fired in three important goals that kept the Oklahoma City Blazers in the thick of the fight for third place in the Central League.</p><p>The 5-11, 185-pounder, who came to the Blazers off the campus of the University on North Dakota, got the first and last OC tally in a 5-4 victory at Omaha, Jan. 26. The winning goal came while the Blazers were shorthanded.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01131/2985383-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="257" height="424"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Michel Archambault</b></figcaption></div><p>Two nights later Wing scored with a drive from the blueline with 1:59 left in the game to gain a 3-3 draw at Kansas City. Since KC and Omaha were the two teams currently jockeying with the Blazers for third and fourth places, the road victory and tie loomed big in the standings.</p><p>&ldquo;Wing has a great shot, usually right on the net, even from way out,&rdquo; commented Blazer general manager Bill Levins. He&rsquo;s a fine skater, perhaps the best on the club, and he wants to learn.</p><p>The young righthanded rearguard had played a lot of right wing at North Dakota, but Blazer coach Jimmy Anderson soon decided Murray was a better prospect on the blueline.</p><p>&ldquo;He still needs to learn a lot about checking,&rdquo; Levins said. &ldquo;He needs to be able to take the man out, and go into the corners with him. but he&rsquo;s improving.&rdquo;</p><p>The Blazer squad was increased to 21 with the addition of right wing Ross Webley and defenseman Bob Stewart, both OC players last season, who were sent here Boston Braves.</p><p>Webley, sidelined by a back operation during training camp, joined the Blazers Jan. 23. But he injured a knee in a crash into the boards in Tulsa. Jan. 29. and it was feared he faced another long layoff.</p><p>Stewart with Boston&rsquo;s AHL&rsquo;s Braves this season, and briefly with the National League Bruins, first blaked at reporting to Oklahoma City. But when he was threatened with suspension by the Bruins, the big blueliner capitulated.</p><p>The Blazers were temporarily-stymied in their bid to move into fourth place, when they suffered a 4-0 shutout at the hands of Rick Charron in Omaha, Jan. 23. But the victory three nights later in the same city moved OC into a third-place tie with Kansas City, while Omaha dropped to fifth.</p><p>The standings remained that way to the end of the week. After the tie in Kansas City, the Blazers lost their bid for undisputed third place by dropping a 3-1 decision in Tulsa, Jan. 29.</p><p>Center Greg Sheppard, who had regained the CHL scoring lead the previous week, fell back to second place, a point behind Tulsa&rsquo;s Jean Payette. Sheppard had two goals and an assist to run his point total to 54.</p><p>The Blazers had to give up on a plan to give a five-game pro trial to 21-year-old forward Angus Beck, leading scorer for the Columbus Seals of the International League. Injuries left Columbus sborthanded, and the parent California Seals vetoed the trip.</p><p><b>DALLAS&mdash;</b> Three home victories kept the Black Hawks in the driver&rsquo;s seat, with a nine-point lead over second-place. Tulsa, Coach Bobby Kromm&rsquo;s men had lost only three of their 21 home games to date.</p><p>Two of the week&rsquo;s victories were one-sided, but the Hawks had to rally with two goals in the final period for a 3-2 edge over Kansas City, Jan. 29. Ron Dussiaume got the winner with 3:44 to play.</p><p>J. P. Bordeleau got the club&rsquo;s first hat trick of the season, and ran his personal total to 22 goals, as the Hawks blistered Omaha. 10-4. Jan. 28. Back-to-back goals by Michel Archambault had featured a 7-2 romp over Kansas City. -Jan. 23.</p><p>Two serious injuries thinned the Dallas ranks. Right wing Milt Black was expected to miss another seven or eight weeks with a broken arm. Center Larry Romanchych suffered a hairline ankle fracture in Fort Worth. -Jan. 22. was out indefinitely. But right wing Don Gordon (knee bruise) and left wing Archambault (groin injury) came back after brief absences.</p><p><b>TULSA:</b> Errol Thompson made the big news for the Tulsa Oilers all week, and it was all good. The speedy left wing from Summerside. Prince Edward Island, returned to full duty for the first time since Dec. 26, and notched five goals and three assists in the week&rsquo;s four games. The line of Jean Payette. Thompson and Steve King did the bulk of Tulsa&rsquo;s scoring in an unbeaten week (two ties, two victories) that came on the heels of three straight losses, including shutouts on two consecutive nights.</p><p>Thompson suffered a pulled groin muscle in a victory over Dallas. Dec. 15. and sat out the next four games. Then he played a pair of games, and had a goal in the Christmas night victory at Oklahoma City.</p><p>But the injury hadn&rsquo;t healed completely, and Errol had only one turn on the ice in the next 10 games. He dressed, but did not play, in three of those.</p><p>His return gave the Oilers a &ldquo;production line&rdquo; for the first time in more than two weeks. He had first goal, and later set up another, as the Oilers tied Kansas City in Tulsa. 3-3, Jan. 25. after yielding a 3-0 lead to the Blues in the first 13 1/2 minutes.</p><p>King got the tying goal with 5:42 left in the game. The Oilers outshot the Blues. 49-25. but for a time it appeared KC goalie Chris Worthy was going to saddle Tulsa with its fourth straightloss.</p><p>Then came back-to-back games with Fort Worth. Jan. 27-28. In Fort Worth Thompson scored twice, and helped in another tally, as the Oilers kept rallying to gain a 5-5 deadlock. Defenseman Ken Desjardins put across the tying tally with 2:58 left.</p><p>The next night at home the Oilers erupted for three goals in the final period to beat the Wings. 4-2. Thompson first was credited with the winning goal, but it was later reported the puck had bounced in off King, who had the hip bruise to show for it!</p><p>Brian Spencer ended a string of 77 goal-less games (70 with Toronto and 7 at Tulsa), when he counted the Oilers&rsquo; go-ahead goal at 56 seconds of the third period.</p><p><b>KANSAS CITY:</b> Frustration was the word for Johnny Choyce&rsquo;s Kansas City Blues. They took a 2-1 lead over the leagueleading Hawks in Dallas, early in the final period. Jan. 29. only to see the Hawks rally for a 3-2 decision. The Blues had lost all eight games to the current season. four in each rink.</p><p>Six nights earlier the Blues had also lost in Dallas, hut they were never in that game, which ended on a 7*2 count. Then Tulsa and Oklahoma City rallied for 33 ties against the Blues, and the Jan. 29 loss in Dallas kept KC tied with the Blazers for third place, two points ahead of Omaha</p><p>Ron Climie had the first goal in Tulsa and remained the club scoring leader on 37 points.</p><p><b>OMAHA:</b> Wendell Bennett scored the hat trick against Oklahoma City, but it came in a losing cause, as the Blazers rallied to beat the Knights. 5-4.</p><p>More disappointments followed that loss at home. The Knights of coach Larry Popein lost both ends of their Texas invasion. dropping a 10-4 game in Dallas and then falling in Fort Worth. 5-3.</p><p>Norm Gratton, with two assists for the three-outings, remained the club scoring leader with 48 points. Tied for fifth in the league. Bill Hogaboam was seventh at 47.</p><p><b>FORT WORTH:</b> The Wings ended the week on a winning note against Omaha, but were still mired deep in the celler after a 1-1-1 week. Coach Bob Lemieux found some consolation in the club&rsquo;s rally to beat Omaha, after being down 0-3 before the game was 10 minutes old.</p><p>Bill Hogaboam. Jerry Butler and Steve Vickers had the Knights off and running, before Craig Reichmuth got the first of his two Fort Worth goals at 12:09 of the first. Three goals in the middle period by Jim Schraefel. Reichmuth. and Herb Boxer took the upper hand, and Brian Watts added thrid-period insurance.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-01

Wing’s Scoring Spree Lifts Blazers’ Playoff Hopes

<h2>Sun., Jan. 23 KANSAS CITY 2 at DALLAS 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0350/2985484-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="586" height="656"></div><h2>OKLAHAMA CITY 0 at OMAHA 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0438/2985477-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="588" height="468"></div><h2>Tues., Jan. 25 KANSAS CITY 3 AT TULSA 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0530/2985470-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="581" height="504"></div><h2>Wed., Jan. 26 OKLAHOMA CITY 5 at OMAHA 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0623/2985463-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="589" height="731"></div><h2>Thu., Jan. 27 TULSA 5 at FORT WORTH 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0720/2985456-1-eng-US/f0028-072.jpg" title="f0028-07" width="589" height="785"></div><h2>Fri., Jan. 28 OMAHA 4 at DALLAS 10</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0818/2985449-1-eng-US/f0028-082.jpg" title="f0028-08" width="588" height="925"></div><h2>OKLAHOMA CITY 3 at KANSAS CITY 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0915/2985442-1-eng-US/f0028-092.jpg" title="f0028-09" width="583" height="503"></div><h2>FORT WORTH 2 at TULSA 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1015/2985435-1-eng-US/f0028-102.jpg" title="f0028-10" width="591" height="605"></div><h2>Sat, Jan. 29 OKLAHOMA CITY 1 at TULSA 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1110/2985428-1-eng-US/f0028-112.jpg" title="f0028-11" width="579" height="447"></div><h2>KANSAS CITY 2 at DALLAS 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-129/2985421-1-eng-US/f0028-122.jpg" title="f0028-12" width="594" height="531"></div><h2>OMAHA 3 at FORT WORTH 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-136/2985414-1-eng-US/f0028-132.jpg" title="f0028-13" width="589" height="628"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0028-03

Central Hockey League Summaries

<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Wed, Feb. 9)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01101/2985553-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="584" height="229"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Tues, Feb. 1</b></p><p>Dallas 5 at Kansas City 1</p><p><b>Fri, Feb. 4</b></p><p>Dallos 5 at Oklahoma City 4</p><p>Forth Worth 2 at Omaha 6</p><p>Tulsa 5 at Kansas City 2</p><p><b>Sat, Feb. 5</b></p><p>Oklahoma City 0 at Dallas 9</p><p>Fort Worth 8 at Kansas City 4</p><p>Tulso 2 at Omaho 4</p><h3>GAMES TO COME</h3><p><b>Wed, Feb. 9</b></p><p>Tulso at Dallas</p><p>Kansas City at Fort Worth</p><p>Omaha at Oklahoma City</p><p><b>Fri, Feb. 11</b></p><p>Kansas City at Dallas</p><p>Fort Worth at Oklahoma City</p><p>Omaho at Tulso</p><p><b>Sat, Feb. 12</b></p><p>Dallas at Tulsa</p><p>Fort Worth at Omaha</p><p>Kansas City at Oklahoma City</p><p><b>Sun, Feb. 13</b></p><p>Dol&iacute;as at Omaho</p><p>Fort Worth at Kansas City</p><p><b>Fri, Feb. 18</b></p><p>Dallas at Tulsa</p><p>Fort Worth at Oklahoma</p><p>City Kansas City at Omaha</p><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><p><b>(Including games of Sun, Jan. 30)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0276/2985546-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="587" height="991"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0029-01

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div><p>TULSA&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>M</span>ixed reaction from fans and press in Oklahoma-greeted the Jan. 25 &ldquo;bombshell&rdquo; announcement that the Central and Western Hockey Leagues would merge for the 1972-73 season.</p><p>Some fans were keenly anticipating a chance to see the stars of the WHL. and to compare the brand of hockey in the two circuits. &ldquo;Seems like teams from all over the world will be coming in here to play hockey.&rdquo; commented an enthusiastic Tulsa telecaster.</p><p>Writers for morning newspapers moaned in anguish at the prospect of CHL teams playing games on the West Coast. All current CHL teams are in the Central time zone, a two-hour difference from the Pacific zone. We&rsquo;ll be lucky to get the final scores in the paper.&rdquo; was a frequent observation.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0350/2985584-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="254" height="432"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ray Miron</b></figcaption></div><p>Bill Levins. Oklahoma City general manager, pointed out this would be only an occasional aggravation, since the CHL clubs will probably play only two games a season in the, WHL cities.</p><p>Ray Miron. Tulsa general manager, pointed out. &ldquo;It will be interesting to see how our teams&rsquo; compare with theirs. We&rsquo;ve contended our brand of hockey is as good as, or better than their&rsquo;s. They feel theirs is superior.&rdquo;</p><p>Although some of the current WHL clubs are development teams, with an emphasis on young players, most CHL fans talk of the Western as a league dominated by older players.</p><p>Others wondered if the move would be worth the extreme added traveling expense. &ldquo;The major league teams must be better off financially than they&rsquo;re letting us know,&rdquo; said one writer. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve been crying about poor attendance, and even threatening to move franchises that are costing them money, and now they come up with this idea, which is going to cost them a lot more money.&rdquo;</p><p>There has been no statement yet as to whether major league teams would be allowed to have a farm in each division of the merged league. Toronto owns the Tulsa CHL franchise and has had a working agreement for many years with Phoenix in the WHL. St. Louis now owns the Denver WHL franchise, but has operated the Kansas City CHL team since it was established in 1967. Chicago works with Dallas (CHL) and Portland (WHL).</p><p>Some experts thought the move might have been necessary, because the two leagues may lose two or three members in the next National League expansion. There is major league talk in Kansas City (CHL), San Diego and the SeattlePortland area (WHL).</p><p>Most CHL fans are regretting that the merger will mean fewer games each season between the &ldquo;turnpike rivals&rdquo;, Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Dallas and Fort Worth. Those series are the biggest gate attractions in the four cities.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0029-03

Miron Sees CHL-WHL Merger Test Of Two Hockey Styles

<div class="byline">BY HARVEY POLLACK</div><p>JOHNSTOWN&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>R</span>ookies in the Eastern Hockey League normally feel their way through their first campaign without getting involved in rhubarbs, but tyro Vern Campigotto of the Johnstown Jets has been forced to forget that philosophy.</p><p>Campigotto a normally quiet individual, has been a pleasant surprise to coach Eddie Kachur all year long as he has been a steady contributor to the club&rsquo;s scoring production. In fact he has been coming along stronger in the latter stages of the season as he became more confident of his abilities to hold his own against the EHL adversaries.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01124/2985615-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="261" height="439"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Vern Campigotto</b></figcaption></div><p>At last count he was the team&rsquo;s fourth best scorer with only vets Gene Peacosh, Dick Roberge and Guy Delparte in front of him. His play had impressed many to merit consideration for Northern rookie of the year laurels.</p><p>But he has been disposed to stay-away from fights, that is until Jersey&rsquo;s Ted Scharf, deemed one of the top fist-fighters in the circuit, tossed the gauntlet at him. Just before the incident, Campigotto had skated the entire length of the ice to score an unassisted goal.</p><p>Scharf figured he should slow down the speedy Jet, and bounced him to the ice the next time he came down the rink. Sharf landed on top, discarded his gloves and threw some punches at the Jet while astride Vern. Once the skaters regained their feet, the tide turned. Campigotto charged after the retreating Scharf and landed some heavy blows before they were broken up. Scharf bad-mouthed Vern en route to the their separate boxes. Shortly afterwards the period ended and Campigotto skated directly to the Jersey penalty box stuck his stick near Scharf&rsquo;s nose and then landed some haymakers. He yanked Scharf out of the box and the two went to the ice again.</p><p>That was the end of the night for both of them, but for Campigotto the fight proved one vital point. He showed the Devils that he can handle himself in fisticuffs. And the word has gotten around the league that he can be aroused if infuriated enough. Vern would much rather stick to handling the puck, but he has let it be known that he won&rsquo;t back off if somebody wants action.</p><p>Bob Vroman posted first shutout this year and second as Jet over Jersey. Len Cunning suffered cartilage damage to knee and Brian Vescio sidelined with back ailment. Vroman was standby goalie for Springfield for several games. Guy Delparte hopes to top rookie year total of 31 goals. Rookie defenseman Jerry McDonald rated pro prospect by GM John Mitchell.</p><p><b>SUN COAST:</b> Over 4,000 fans disappointed when homecoming game for Suns was called off due to ice problems. It was second such incident this year. Team had 6-6-4 log in a month away. Coach Lloyd Hinchberger unhappy with lack of ice time for practice at home. Herman Karp, Andre Lajeunesse and Billy Smith in 3-way fight for club scoring lead.</p><p><b>SYRACUSE:</b> GM Bill Charles gave club another pep talk and the Blazers responded with wins that put them temporarily atop the Northern heap. Ray Adduono shooting for league record of 153 points. Paul La Rose&rsquo;s 46th goal was a club record. Bob Murphy dropped to make room for return of injured Bob Peppier. Guy Dufour sold to Roanoke Valley but can be repurchased at end of year. Record 6,231 crowd saw New Haven game.</p><p><b>LONG ISLAND:</b> Jean Marie Nicol sank 200th goal of his EHL career. Billy Morris suffered slight concussion after spill. Some narrow games have caused coach Ed Stankiewicz to proclaim, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve already aged five years and the season isn&rsquo;t even over yet.&rdquo; Al Baron warned WHA to keep hands off his players. Stanky failed in efforts to get Wayne Maxner, J.P. Mallette and Dave Armstrong to play for Ducks.</p><p><b>CHARLOTTE:</b> Seven different Checkers have tallied at least 27 goals. Gaye Cooley and Gary Bromley took turns in shutting out Roanoke Valley Rebels on successive Tuesdays. Rookie Robert Richer re-injured his bruised shoulder. Checkers beat Sun Coast Suns in what coach Fred Creighton termed a &ldquo;must&rdquo; game to show that the Suns didn&rsquo;t have jinx on them.</p><p><b>GREENSBORO:</b> Defenseman Brian Derksen added and winger Pierre Duguay dropped. Clyde Simon&rsquo;s goal with 18 seconds left cinched win over Roanoke Valley. Ron Anderson named captain and bothered by bruised ribs. Bob Buchy was hit in eye with a shot, and suffered a bruise and a shattered contact lens. Brian Randall is wearing Don Carter&rsquo;s uniform.</p><p><b>ROANOKE VALLEY:</b> Colin Kilburn shook up his troops on road jaunt, and left word for the injured Bobby Guindon and Marty Desmarais to do road work while the team was away. He&rsquo;s also issued a &ldquo;lose weight or money&rdquo; edict to some of his men. Norm Bean dropped. Jim Jago had first hat trick in two years Claude Piche back after missing five weeks with twisted knee ligaments.</p><p><b>JERSEY:</b> Red Hay says his lines are balanced now instead of having one trio shouldering the scoring load. Roanoke Valley stopped six-game home winning streak of Devils. Club set team seasonal penalty mark. Devils still looking for first win in five years over Roanoke Valley. Pete Donnelly&rsquo;s shutout over Clinton was his first in six years. He earned $100 for the feat. Bob Murphy picked up from Syracuse.</p><p><b>CLINTON:</b> Comets irate over disallowed tieing goal at buzzer at Long Island. Dave Lee and Don Herriman had hat tricks against Long Island. Injuries to Russ Friesen and Brian Mc-Bratney left club shorthanded. At coach Pat Kelly&rsquo;s suggestion, captain Jack Kane held team meeting without Kelly&rsquo;s presence to hash out problems. Cal Hammond glad to return to Clinton after spell with Cleveland where he saw little duty. Kelly hit with flu.</p><p><b>NEW HAVEN:</b> Blades&rsquo; players finally received retroactive pay raises and potential strike was averted. Norm Schmitz on disabled list with knee injury and fee agent Norm Bean may be his sub. Denis Romanesky back after being sidelined with fractured jaw. Six-game losing streak hurt club. Jim Armstrong&rsquo;s shutout win over Johnstown stopped streak.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0030-01

Jets’ Rookie Star Campigotto Scores With Stick And Fists

<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><p><b>Mon, Jan. 31</b></p><p>Sun Coast 1 at Charlotte 4</p><p><b>Tue, Fob. 1</b></p><p>Sun Coast 1 at Greensboro 6</p><p><b>Wed, Feb. 2</b></p><p>Long Island 4 at Syracuse 6</p><p>Clinton 2 at New Haven 10</p><p>Johnstown 2 at New Jersey 3</p><p><b>Thur, Feb. 3</b></p><p>Greensboro 2 at Roanoke 7</p><p>Clinton 3 at Johnstown 5</p><p><b>Fri, Feb. 4</b></p><p>Roanoke 4 at Greensboro 3</p><p>Syracuse 2 at New Jersey 4</p><p>Clinton 3 at Johnstown 3</p><p>New Haven 3 at Long Island 8</p><p><b>Sat, Fob. 5</b></p><p>Charlotte 4 at Roanoke 2</p><p>New Haven 3 at Syracuse 6</p><p>New Jersey 4 at Clinton 3</p><p>Long Island 2 at Johnstown 7</p><p><b>Sun, Fob. 6</b></p><p>Sun Coast 5 at Roanoke 6</p><p>Charlotte 1 at Greensboro 4</p><p>Syracuse 3 at Charlotte 5</p><p>Johnstown 4 at Long Island 3</p><p>New Jersey 2 at New Haven 7</p><h2>EASTERN LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues, Feb. 8)</b></p><h3>NORTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0279/2985681-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="584" height="181"></div><h3>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0355/2985674-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="588" height="253"></div><h3>GAMES TO COME</h3><p><b>Tues, Feb. 8</b></p><p>Sun Coast at Charlotte</p><p><b>Wed, Fob. 9</b></p><p>Roanoke Valley at Sun Coast</p><p>Greensboro at New Haven</p><p>Johnstown at New Jersey</p><p>Clinton at Syracuse</p><p><b>Thur, Feb. 10</b></p><p>Roanoke Valley at Sun Coast</p><p>Syracuse at Clinton</p><p><b>Fri, Fob. 11</b></p><p>Greensboro at Syracuse</p><p>New Haven at Long Island</p><p>Johnstown at New Jersey</p><p><b>Sat, Fob. 12</b></p><p>Charlotte at Roanoke Volley</p><p>Greensboro at Clinton</p><p>New Haven at New Jersey</p><p>Syracuse at Johnstown</p><p><b>Sun, Feb. 13</b></p><p>Roanoke Valley at Charlotte</p><p>Syracuse at New Haven</p><p>Greensboro at Long Island</p><p>Clinton at Johnstown</p><p><b>Tues, Feb. 15</b></p><p>Sun Coast at Charlotte</p><p><b>Wed, Feb. 16</b></p><p>Sun Coast at Greensboro</p><p>New Jersey at Syracuse</p><p>Johnstown at Clinton (at Utica)</p><p>Long Island at New Haven</p><p><b>Thur, Feb. 17</b></p><p>Sun Coast at Roanoke Valley</p><p><b>Fri, Fob. 18</b></p><p>Roanoke Valley at Charlotte</p><p>Syracuse at Long Island</p><p>Clinton at New Jersey</p><p>New Haven at Johnstown</p><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><p><b>(Including games of Sun, Jan. 30)</b></p><h3>NORTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0443/2985667-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="582" height="287"></div><h3>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0540/2985660-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="593" height="291"></div><h2>MID-WEST AMATEUR LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Wed, Jan. 26)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0631/2985653-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="586" height="156"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0722/2985646-1-eng-US/f0030-072.jpg" title="f0030-07" width="584" height="277"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0030-02

Looking At EHL Race

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GUGGER</div><p>DES MOINES&mdash;</p><p>Terry Slater has long been known as a coach who is able to extract better-than-average performances out of some very average hockey players.</p><p>Slater goes about picking his team like a housewife checks over the fresh fruit and produce in a supermarket. Often. Slater has procured &ldquo;lemons&rdquo; from other teams who have contributed greatly to his team&rsquo;s success.</p><p>And so. it came as no surprise that Slater was visibly upset as the Oak Leafs stumbled through the &bull;January portion of the International Hockey League schedule. The Leafs compiled a 5-9-1 log for the first month of the year and. despite the so-so record of Fort Wayne, were unable to put distance between themselves and the third-place Komets in th&egrave; International Hockey League&rsquo;s South Division.</p><p>Following a 7-6 loss to lowly Columbus. Slater fined each of his players $35.</p><p>&ldquo;The way we played was a farce and the players are going to pay for their lack of effort.&rdquo; Slater said. &ldquo;There is absolutely no reason why we should lose to a team like Columbus, which has won only nine games all year.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0282/2985719-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="252" height="427"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Wayne Zuk</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;I pick my own players&mdash;except for a few sent to us by New York&mdash;and I respect the ones I pick. But they aren&rsquo;t showing the same respect back to me, and until they do they&rsquo;ll continue to be fined.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re basically a better club than last year. But we don&rsquo;t have the same winning feeling that had developed by this time a year ago.</p><p>The 1970-71 Oak Leafs closed with a rush, finishing just four points behind regular-season champion Muskegon. 1&rsquo;hey made it to the sixth game of the Turner Cup finals before losing to Port Huron.</p><p>This 1971-72 Leafs showed a 24-22-3 record though they had. at one point, been six games above .500.</p><p>Slater apparently had salvaged another player from hockey&rsquo;s pile of cast offs when he took on Ken Gratton from Toledo on waivers: Gratton had responded with five goals, 14 assists in his first 14 starts with the Leafs.</p><p>Scoring wasn&rsquo;t a problem for the Leafs, who were averaging four goals a game. They had nine players with 10 or more goals.</p><p>But defensively, the Leafs were giving up nearly as many goals as they had scored. Slater was unhappy with the work of newcomer Wayne Bell in goal and had been using Rich Dumas more often to spell veteran Bob Perreault in nets.</p><p><b>TOLEDO:</b> Jim Paterson had four-goal game against Columbus, his third hat trick of season&hellip;Owner Paul Bright announced team would operate here next season&hellip;Hornets had 11-9 record since snapping 13-game loss streak&hellip;Bill Staub had eight-game scoring streak and points in 12 of last 13 games&hellip;Hornets won four of five games in Columbus&hellip;Club averaged six goals per game over seven game period&hellip;</p><p><b>DAYTON:</b> Gems placed Nels Jacobson, Dave Bonter, and Jim Benzelock on recallable waivers to see if any teams were interested in trades&hellip;Gems were 2-6 against Muskegon&hellip;Dave Simpson had penalty-box fight with Mohawks&rsquo; Lynn Margarit&hellip;Lorne Weighill&rsquo;s seventh goal beat Fort Wayne&hellip;Three of Weighill&rsquo;s goals have been game-winners&hellip;Club passed 100,000 mark in attendance&hellip;</p><p><b>FORT WAYNE:</b> Komets outshot Muskegon. 46-27, but lost in the Michigan city. 3-2&hellip;K&rsquo;s are 1-6 against Mohawks&hellip;First Sunday matinee drew 5,050&hellip;Larry Billows had two assists in return from knee injury&hellip;Komets are 16-9-1 at home&hellip;Team was two players over limit&hellip;</p><p><b>COLUMBUS:</b> Pete Vipond&rsquo;s goal prevented shutout at Toledo&hellip;Ross Webley reported to Oklahoma City instead of here&hellip;Forty-one players have worn Seals&rsquo; uniform so far&hellip;Low crowd of 645 and high of 2.633 posted in same week&hellip;Mike Jakubo suffered head injury&hellip;Angus Beck led in goals, 25, and points, 51&hellip;</p><p><b>MUSKEGON:</b> Hawks ran home record to 21-2-1&hellip;Bryan Mc-Lay&rsquo;s goal beat Fort Wayne as Hawks&rsquo; forward ended goal-scoring slump&hellip;Line of Darrell Knibbs-Bob Smith-Bob Tombari hot&hellip;Mohawks were shooting for IHL victory mark of 50&hellip;Club was averaging 2,800 per game for first 24 home dates&hellip;Murray Flegel fired winner against Dayton&hellip;</p><p><b>PORT HURON:</b> Wings took second victory in Dayton. where Gems have lost just three times all season&hellip;Club had 8-4-1 record despite rash of injuries to some of top performers&hellip;Steve Sutherland had duel with Des Moines&rsquo; Duke Asmundson&hellip;Len Fontaine moved into team scoring lead&hellip;Wings have 11 of last 19 games at home&hellip;Don Grierson hit 35th goal&hellip;</p><p><b>FLINT:</b> Generals were four players over limit&hellip;Wayne Zuk and Sandy Snow had hat tricks against Toledo&hellip;Eleven goals against Hornets was all-time high for Generals&hellip;After 11-goal burst, Flint lost to Fort Wayne. 3-1 next night&hellip;Gens passed 100,000 in attendance&hellip;Art Quoquochi reported from Columbus&hellip;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01107/2985712-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="553" height="644"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JIM PATERSON&hellip;Four-Goal Game</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0031-02

Oak Leafs Hit With Fines; Hornets Staying In Toledo

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01117/2985809-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Two of college hockey&rsquo;s most successful coaches, JACK KELLEY, left, of Boston University, and JOHN &lsquo;SNOOKS&rsquo; KELLEY of Boston College, will terminate their long-time rivalry this year when Snooks Kelley retires and Jack Kelley goes on to join the WHA.</b></figcaption></div><p>BOSTON&mdash;</p><p>One of college hockey&rsquo;s oldest, bitterest, and best known rivalries will have two new conductors orchestrating next year&rsquo;s performances.</p><p>Boston College and Boston University, the Commonwealth Avenue rivals in ECAC Division One, will both be looking for new coaches at the end of the current campaign. John &ldquo;Snooks&rdquo; Kelley will retire after&rsquo;36 years of coaching the BC Eagles, while Jack Kelley will be leaving BU after a lecade of coaching there to take over the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association. Ron Ryan will leave Colgate to become Jack&rsquo;s assistant and will be succeeded by assistant Brad Houston.</p><p>The series between the two teams began &lsquo;way back in 1917. When the Terriers topped the Eagles 4-1 last month at their new rink, it tied the all-time standing at 49 wins each along with four ties.</p><p>Jack and Snooks will meet twice more before packing it in. They open the Beanpot Tournament in Boston Garden on February 7 and face off again at BC&rsquo;s McHugh Forum on the 23rd of the month. The Terriers will be favored to win both games, and in fact have held a monopoly on the games with BC since 1965, losing but once out of 15 times. But that hasn&rsquo;t diminished the mutual admiration and respect these two gentlemen have had for each other since they met back in the late &lsquo;40&rsquo;s.</p><p>&ldquo;I wish the WHA had taken him ten years ago.&rdquo; cracked Snooks good-naturedly at a press luncheon recently. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d have had my 500th long ago.&rdquo;</p><p>The BC mentor was referring to the 500th win of his long career. As of this writing he is five short of that mark. Jack also is shooting for a milestone before he leaves but he&rsquo;ll fall a bit short. As of this writing he had amasssed 284 wins in 17 seasons of coaching at Colby and BU. But only eight regular season games plus up to five playoff contests remain for him, so he&rsquo;ll probably lack about six or seven wins in the quest for number 300. Snooks had 12 games left to win his five.</p><p>Speculation as to their successors has filled the Boston papers in recent weeks, and most of it seems to point to alumni as the leading candidates at the respective instutions.</p><p>But whoever the new coaches are, one thing is certain. Hockey in hockey-daffy Boston will never be quite the same again. In fact, their departure completes the coaching turnover at all of the Hub&rsquo;s major hockey colleges. Fernie Flaman took over at Northeastern last season, while Bill Cleary succeeded Cooney Weiland at Harvard for this campaign.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0032-01

Oldest Boston Rivalry To End When Kelleys Go

<div class="byline">By Tom Burke</div><h2><i>BU, Cornell Rolling Behind Solid Offense</i></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he hometowners were grumbling in Boston and Ithaca. &ldquo;Why don&rsquo;t we win like we did before?&rdquo; or words to that effect were frequent as BU and Cornell kept winning hockey games, but only by a goal or two. Some of the fans apparently looked at the margins of each victory rather than the wins themselves and began to worry.</p><p>But they&rsquo;re breathing better now as the margins widen in each game. Cornell dumped Boston College and Dartmouth, 10-3 and 80 respectively, in Lynah Hall, and suddenly the smiles of smug superiority are back on many Ithacans&rsquo; faces. BU, still minus captain John Danby who&rsquo;s nursing a back injury, cheered its followers with an easy 7-2 win over scrappy Providence, then returned home to blank St. Louis 5-0.</p><p>John Fumio had the hat trick for big Red against BC and Carlo Ugolini added a pair of goals. Cornell had 53 shots on net, then followed up with 44 against Dartmouth. Jim Higgs was the only one to score two goals in that one; Larry Fullan had three assists and broke the score clock with a deflected slap shot. In both games, Cornell added substantially to the final margin as the third period waned. Three goals came in the last four minutes against BC after Neil Higgins, who&rsquo;d made 43 saves including four breakaways, had left the game. Three goals also came in the last three minutes against Dartmouth after goalie Pete Proulx had departed. But Cornell still is playing excellent hockey, its best of the season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0272/2985871-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="265" height="432"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Jim Higgs</b></figcaption></div><p>The Terriers apparently have been saving something for February as well. Guy Burrowes had the hat trick in the 7-2 win at PC. Then BU threw 41 shots at St. Louis&rsquo; Carl Sapinsky and won handily 5-0. Ron Anderson and Toot Cahoon each had a goal and two assists, and Joe Robillard and Ed Walsh filled in for Dan Brady in the net after he sustained a sprained ankle in the first period.</p><p>BC, not out of contention for the playoffs yet, lost soph Ray D&rsquo;Arcy for the season with a damaged knee suffered when he was checked hard into the boards at Cornell. Ed Kenty and Vin Shanley each had two goals against St. Louis, who displayed a strong skating style in their Eastern swing. Shanley&rsquo;s empty net goal iced the close game, 6-4.</p><p>Providence stayed above the .500 mark in quest of a playoff berth with a 5-4 squeaker over Army. Mike Gaffney scored the big one for the Friars, who had a trip to the North Country to look forward to the following weekend.</p><p>Army has a 1-5 divisional mark but they&rsquo;re playing better than it would seem. Jack Riley elected to go with youth and strung together an all-freshman line which produced beyond expectation. Jeff Woloshyn centered for George Clark and George Reynolds and powered the Cadets to a four-game win streak before last week when they lost three one-goal decisions; 6-5 to Yale, 5-4 to BC and 4-3 in overtime at Colgate. Clark was injured for the Yale game, which saw Army, down 6-2 with three minutes left, score three goals and nearly pulled it out. Then against Colgate, Army goalie Eric Gorzelnick had 52 saves but Rick Rowell&rsquo;s first goal of the season beat him in the extra period. Rowell has been sidelined with a back injury. The 56vshots on goal was the best Colgate offensive show in two years for the young Red Raiders, who lost 4-3 at Clarkson during the week.</p><p>Sophomore John Harwood had four goals for Penn against Yale in the 13-3 game, and Bob Read had a hat trick. Penn had 63 shots on the Yale cage. Earlier in the week, the explosive Quakers ran up a six goal first period lead and had nine tallies on the board before Princeton scored one. Final score was 11-3, Penn. Jim Salfi&rsquo;s crew has the bulk of their tough schedule behind them now and will be a likely playoff participant.</p><p>Princeton coach Bill Quackenbush thought he&rsquo;d do a little experimenting with his goaltenders before the Penn game. The test lasted all of the first period, and junior Ed Swift was back in goal against Northeastern that Saturday. Swift stopped 41 NU shots as the Tigers held on to a 5-4 win over the Huskies in a game marked by 22 penalties and two fighting majors. Soph Walt Snickenberger a bright light this season had two goals for Princeton. Alan Dunkle had a pair for Northeastern, whose goalie Tod Blanchard made 28 saves. Dunkle had a hat trick earlier in the week in a 7-4 win over Norwich.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0341/2985864-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="262" height="423"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ray D&rsquo;Arcy</b></figcaption></div><p>Before their loss at Cornell, Dartmouth had a hand in droppind The St. Lawrence playoff stock by a good deal when they broke a 1-1 deadlock with three goals in the final period and beat the Larries 4-1. Dana Johnson, a wing-turne defenseman, rushed the length of the rink to score the clincer on Al Howes with 1:26 remaining. Howes, stellar all season for the Larries had 43 saves to Pete Proulx&rsquo;s 31. Bill Berry had a pair of goals tor Dartmouth. 1&rsquo;he night before. St. Lawrence salvaged a 5-5 tie at Vermont with Dave Yoshida scoring on a 6-on-3 situation at 19:43 of the final period. SLU took off for a couple of games with Air Force in Colorado after their two game swing in New Hampshire.</p><p><b>NOTES FROM THE EAST:</b> Brad Houston, a 1966 grad off New Hampshire and three years an assistant to Ron Ryan at Colgate, will assume the head coaching job after this season. Ryan has been picked by Jack Kelley as his assistant in the fledgling New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association&hellip;Ryan was all All-America under Jack at Colby, graduating in 1962&hellip;at BU, the name most often heard to succeed Jack Kelley is that of Bob Crocker, the head freshman coach for the past 12 years&hellip;Crocker recently won his 150th win with the BU frosh, and is generally considered to be one of the best player tutors and recruiters in college circles&hellip;others think that Richie Green, presently coach of Colby who played under Kelley at BU, will get the nod&hellip;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0032-02

DOWN EAST

<div class="byline">By John Gilbert</div><h2><i>Venasky&rsquo;s Loss Big Blow To Denver&rsquo;s Title Hopes</i></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>V</span>ic Venasky was sailing along toward his second straight Western Collegiate Hockey Association scoring title when Denver University came to play the University of Minnesota for the first time in 11 years.</p><p>Venasky, a sophdmore, had been the first freshman to ever win the WCHA scoring title a year ago. He scored a goal in the first game, a 3-2 victory for Denver, but in the third period he was tyring to stickhandle past a Minnesota defender when John Perpich caught up to him from behind to check him off the puck.</p><p>Venasky, from Thunder Bay, Ontario, went down and Perpich Came down on top of him. The verdict was torn ligaments in Venasky&rsquo;s left knee and he was flown home to Denver to face possible surgery, meaning his season was ended.</p><p>While the injury may hamper Venasky&rsquo;s negotiations&mdash;he had planned to turn pro after this season&mdash;it also hurts Denver&rsquo;s chances of overtaking Wisconsin for the WCHA title. The Pioneers did c&ograve;me back to beat Minnesota 2-1 the next night, but only with Ron Grahame&rsquo;s outstanding goalie play. Grahame made 27 of his 36 saves in the last two periods while Denver only got nine at Minnesota&rsquo;s Dennis Erickson.</p><p>Venasky&rsquo;s left winger. Tom Peluso, is draftable this year and has made it clear that if he gets a good enough deal he will turn pro rather than return for his junior year. Denver coach Murray Armstrong realizes that pro hockey constantly threatens to take away underclassmen from the colleges, but hopes Peluso may get drafted by a team which would rather see him spend another year or two developing in college. Armstrong figures, however, that Peluso may go among the top five draft picks and that his services may be needed right away.</p><p>Denver is not the only team which could lose some underclassmen. Minnesota-Duluth coach Terry Shercliffe said that juniors Walt Ledingham, Cam Fryer, David Roy and Alan Young could return to school next year, but could get their degrees and leave after this season, abandoning their last year of eligibility.</p><p>UMD sophomore Pat Boutette and sophomore defenseman Greg Hubick have also been mentioned as possibilities to turn pro after this season. UMD senior defenseman Mike Stevens, dismissed from the team by Shercliffe in mid-January, is also looking around for an early pro contract.</p><p>While Denver was sweeping its two four-point games from Minnesota to climb into second place in the WCHA, Wisconsin maintained its pace by sweeping two games from Notre Dame. The Badgers came from a 3-0 deficit to win 5-3 in the first game at South Bend, Ind., then won the second game by the same 5-3 count behind four goals by Gary Winchester.</p><p>And North Dakota headed into a crucial two-game series at Denver with the momentum of a six-game winning streak. The Fighting Sioux demolished ninth-place Michigan 9-1 and 10-1.</p><p>Karl Bagnell, Michigan&rsquo;s goalie, made 46 saves in the first game and 49 in the second, but to no avail. Gerry Miller got two goals in the first game, while Brian DePiero had five assists. In the second, Earl Anderson and defenseman Rich Wilson got two goals each and Miller got his third of the weekend. Wilson racked up three for the series, while Jim Cahoon and Mike Lundbohm had two goals each.</p><p>If Wisconsin is able to hold onto first place, the fight for second will be no less exciting with Denver, North Dakota and UMD all in the thick of it, and Colorado, Michigan State and Notre Dame by no means giving up the chase.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

WESTERN WAY

<h2><b>ECAC CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon, Jan. 31)</b></p><h3><b>DIVISION I</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01101/2986000-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="592" height="457"></div><h3><b>DIVISION II</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0274/2985993-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="585" height="580"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p>Yale 6, Army 5</p><p>St. Lawrence 5, Vermont 5</p><p>Cornell 10, Boston College 3</p><p>Boston Univ. 7, Providence 2</p><p>Clarkson 4, Colgate 3</p><p>Dartmouth 4, St. Lawrence 1</p><p>Pennsylvania 7, Princeton 3</p><p>Northeastern 7, Norwich 4</p><p>Boston College 6, St. Louis 4</p><p>Providence 5, Army 4</p><p>Boston Univ. 5, St. Louis 0</p><p>Brown 9, St. Nick&rsquo;s 2</p><p>Clarkson 3, Norwich 1</p><p>Colgate 5, Army 4</p><p>Cornell 8, Dartmouth 0</p><p>Pennsylvania 13, Yale 3</p><p>Princeton 5, Northeastern 4</p><h3>DIVISION II</h3><p>Boston State 6, Colby 2</p><p>Williams 8, Middlebury 5</p><p>Vermont 5, Massachusetts 2</p><p>Bowdoin 7, Salem State 4</p><p>Norwich 3, Middlebury 2</p><h2>WCHA CONFERENCE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues, Feb. 1)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0353/2985986-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="577" height="277"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p>Winsonsin 5, Notre Dame 3</p><p>Wisconsin 5, Notre Dame 3</p><p>Denver 3, Minnesota 2</p><p>Denver 2, Minnesota 1</p><p>North Dakota 9, Michigan 1</p><p>North Dakota 10, Michigan 1</p><p>Michigan Tech 2, Lake Superior State 2</p><p>Michigan Tech 9, Lake Superior State 2</p><h2>ONTARIO CONFERENCE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues, Feb. 1)</b></p><h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0441/2985979-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="587" height="181"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0536/2985972-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="580" height="179"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p>Queen&rsquo;s 13, Carleton 1</p><p>McMaster 9, Ryerson 0</p><p>Toronto 4, York 3</p><p>Western 5, Waterloo 0</p><p>Guelph 6, Lutheran 4</p><p>Toronto 4, Queen&rsquo;s 4</p><p>McMaster 7, Lutheran 3</p><p>York 20, Ryerson 0</p><p>Wind son 6, Queen&rsquo;s 4</p><p>Western 9, Carleton 3</p><p>Guelph 4, Waterloo 3</p><p>Ottawa 9, Western 3</p><p>Laurentian 5, York 5</p><p>Guelph 8, Ryerson 2</p><p>Carleton 4, Queen&rsquo;s 3</p><p>Lutheran 5, Windsor 5</p><p>Toronto 6, Waterloo 2</p><p>Western 5, Guelph 2</p><p>Toronto 9, Carleton 0</p><p>Waterloo 3, Ottawa 2</p><p>Laurentian 11, Ryerson 2</p><p>McMaster 9, Windsor 2</p><p>Ottawa 7, Lutheran 0</p><p>Guelph 9, Carleton 4</p><p>York 5, Queen&rsquo;s 4</p><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0628/2985965-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="577" height="287"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0725/2985958-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="583" height="267"></div><h2>QUEBEC CONFERENCE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Thurs, Feb 3)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0823/2985951-1-eng-US/f0033-082.jpg" title="f0033-08" width="581" height="236"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p>Montreal 6, McGill 5</p><p>Sherbrooke 5, RMC 3</p><p>Montreal 8, Bishop&rsquo;s 2</p><p>Sherbrooke 9, RMC 3</p><p>Loyola 6, Bishop&rsquo;s 0</p><p>Sir George 6, Trois-Rivi&egrave;res 6</p><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0920/2985944-1-eng-US/f0033-092.jpg" title="f0033-09" width="586" height="292"></div><h2>MARITIME CONFERENCE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Wed, Feb. 3)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1018/2985937-1-eng-US/f0033-102.jpg" title="f0033-10" width="584" height="286"></div><h2>WESTERN CONFERENCE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon, Feb. 1)</b></p><h3>EAST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1117/2985930-1-eng-US/f0033-112.jpg" title="f0033-11" width="578" height="132"></div><h3>WEST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1216/2985923-1-eng-US/f0033-122.jpg" title="f0033-12" width="576" height="131"></div><h2>MINNESOTA INTERCOLLEGIATE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Thurs, Jan. 27)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1310/2985916-1-eng-US/f0033-132.jpg" title="f0033-13" width="580" height="229"></div><h2>NEW YORK COLLEGE LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Sun, Jan. 30)</b></p><h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-149/2985909-1-eng-US/f0033-142.jpg" title="f0033-14" width="576" height="175"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-158/2985902-1-eng-US/f0033-152.jpg" title="f0033-15" width="577" height="180"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0033-01

COLLEGE RACES

<div class="byline">BY BOB BRISCOE</div><p>WINNIPEG&mdash;</p><p>Things just haven&rsquo;t worked out the way Winnipeg Jet, Coach Nick Mickoski had them planned.</p><p>Hoping that his rookie-laden young Western Canada Hockey League team would jell to make a playoff spot in the tough Eastern Division over the second half of the season, Mickoski has seen the Jets stumble to fifth with only 16</p><p>wins and a tie in 44 games. Jets find themselves seven points behind Flin Flon Bombers in the battle for the fourth and final playoff berth but they have six games in hand on Bombers. Those games, however, aren&rsquo;t worth much unless they can defeat the clubs above them and they lost two important games they needed in Flin Flon during the week, both by one goal.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0265/2986038-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="260" height="428"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Nick Mickoski</b></figcaption></div><p>Mickoski claims he has never worked as hard with a team with so little result but there are underlying reasons why the Winnipeg team hasn&rsquo;t made the strides expected of it since its inception five years ago.</p><p>In the early years, Jets used very few Winnipeg players and as a result had problems recruiting in the city when the changeover to local talent was attempted to be made. And because of a zoning system used for territorial rights of Tier Two teams in the city. Jets find themselves without an affiliated club with which the management could begin the basics of a farm system.</p><p><b>REGINA:</b> The Pats of Earl Ingarfield continue to lead the division by six points over Saskatoon&mdash;Pats have won 27 games and tied one of 44 starts&hellip;Dennis Sobchuk the league&rsquo;s leading scorer with 72 points.</p><p><b>SASKATOON:</b> Jackie McLeod&rsquo;s Blades gained some valuable ground on Pats when they defeated Edmonton Oil Kings 2-1 in Edmonton&hellip;Although Pats own a six-point bulge on Blades, Saskatoon has two games in hand with which they hope to close that gap&hellip;Blades are in contention in the division because they play excellent two-way hockey&hellip;Lawrence Sacharuk, a defenseman, is their top scorer with 48 points&hellip;</p><p><b>BRANDON:</b> The Wheat Kings remained in the fight for the top three spots by winning 24 of their first 44 games to keep one point behind Saskatoon&hellip;Robbie Neale continues to lead the Rudy Pilous-coached Wheaties with 74 points for fifth place in the scoring derby&mdash;Ron Chipperfield follows with 69 points&hellip;</p><p><b>FLIN FLON:</b> Led by captain Blaine Stoughton. Bombers are making a good move for a playoff position&hellip;Stoughton occupies third place in the scoring derby with 38 goals and 40 assists in 48 games&hellip;Flin Flon leads the league in total penalty minutes with 1,276 in 48 games.</p><p><b>SWIFT CURRENT:</b> The Broncos remained 11 points off a playoff spot through their first 45 games, winning 14 and tying one for 29 points&hellip;They have five games in hand over the fourthplace Bombers&hellip;The leading scorer for coach Stan Dunn is Terry McDougall with 26 goals and 30 assists in 42 games. Defenseman Dave Williams fourth in the penalty department having served 194 minutes&hellip;</p><p><b>CALGARY:</b> Chuck Holda-way&rsquo;s Centennials opened a nine-point lead in the division with a seven&mdash;game win streak after the All Star break&hellip;Rookie goaltender John Davidson sported a 2.26 goals-against average and five shutouts&hellip;Leading scorer is Ron Homenuke with 22 goals and 38 assists over 40 games with captain Brian Walker next with 38 goals and 25 assists</p><p><b>NEW WESTMINSTER:</b> Bruins&rsquo; 17-win streak was sanpped in Medicine Hat when Tigers bombed them 11-6&hellip;Ernie McLeans&rsquo;s squad then dropped second straight game in Calgary&hellip;Goaltender Terry Richardson is pushing Calgary&rsquo;s Davidson for top honors with a 2.36 goals-against average&hellip;Lorne Henning the leading scorer with 28 goals and 40 assists.</p><p><b>EDMONTON:</b> Oil Kings appeared in danger of losing chance to finish second when they lost two straight home games to Medicine Hat and Saskatoon&hellip;Two points behind Bruins, Brian Shaw&rsquo;s Oil Kings own three games in hand on New Westminster. Don Kozak the leading scorer with 36 goals and 40 assists for fourth place in scoring derby.</p><p><b>MEDICINE HAT:</b> Jack Shupe&rsquo;s Tigers continue to dazzle the league with scoring&hellip;Their 226 goals is the highest total in the league, 14 more than Brandon&hellip;Tom Lysiak and Stan Weir continue to lead the scoring race, Lysiak number one with 28 goals and 61 assists and Weir with 30 goals and 46 assists.</p><p><b>VICTORIA:</b> The Cougars opened a six-point lead on Vancouver but were well off the pace for a playoff spot with 13 wins and two ties in the first 44 games&hellip;Gary Donaldson had assisted on 16 power play goals and goaltender Darryl Fedorak owned a 4.26 goals-against average&hellip;</p><p><b>VANCOUVER:</b> Picture has not brightened much for the Nats of Charlie Hodge&hellip;They&rsquo;ve scored only 137 goals, the lowest total in the league and allowed 253, the highest total&hellip;Nats were listed as third in penalty minutes served behind Flin Flon and Edmonton with 1,024 minutes.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01110/2986031-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="557" height="583"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ROBBIE NEAL&hellip;Top Brandon Scorer</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0034-02

Mickoski Laments Progress Made By Jets; Blades Hot In Pursuit Of Leading Regina

<h2>WESTERN CANADA LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon, Jan. 31)</b></p><h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0348/2986090-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="579" height="179"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0434/2986083-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="578" height="157"></div><h2>ALBERTA JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon, Jan. 24)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0529/2986076-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="582" height="206"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0620/2986069-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="585" height="536"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0034-03

<p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he attention of most followers of the Ontario Hockey Association Major Junior A Series was focused on both the top and bottom rungs of the league this past week where key battles were being fought as the OHA juniors braced themselves for the stretch run in the 1971-72 regular season schedule.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0198/2986121-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="265" height="468"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Steve Shutt</b></figcaption></div><p>In the upper echolon of the circuit where the Toronto Marboros and the Oshawa Generals are locked in a torrid scrap for league honors, the status quo remained unchanged. When the smoke of the week&rsquo;s action had cleared, both the Gens and the Marlies remained deadlocked with identical totals of 62 points for 43 games of work.</p><p>The Generals, everybody&rsquo;s surprise team this season, took a temporary hold on the top spot when they downed the slumping Ottawa 67s, 5-2, in Oshawa Saturday. The two-point cushion was shortlived, however, as the powerful Toronto crew of Frank Bonello, the overwhelming favorites during the pre-season, downed Harry Neale&rsquo;s last place Hamilton Red Wings by a 7-5 count the following afternoon in a Maple Leaf Gardens match that quickly shot them back into a share of the top spot. Hard-shooting Marlie left winger Steve Shutt connected twice against the Red Wings to maintain his margin in the league goal scoring race over niffty center Don Lever of the Niagara Falls Flyers.</p><p>Meanwhile, at the other extremity of the standings, the hot St. Catharines Black Hawks virtually wrapped up the eighth and final playoff position in the 10-team curcuit with three victories in as many outings&mdash;8-4 over Montreal&rsquo;s Junior Canadiens, 5-3 over Ottawa and 6-2 over Niagara Falls. These three triumphs coupled with a disastrous four-game sortie by the ninth place Junior Habs into Ontario left the defending champion Hawks with a seemingly insurmountable 14 point bulge on the Montreal crew of Roger Bedard.</p><p>The Baby Habs were sent reeling in their hopes of catching St. Catharines for the final playoff berth when they dropped a 6-2 decision to Peterborough, absorbed a 8-4 thrashing by the Black Hawks and were edged 5-3 by Kitchener Rangers and 5-4 by Ottawa, all in the space of five days.</p><p>A ninth or tenth place finish by the Montrealers would mark the first occasion they have failed to reach the post-season playdowns since they were admitted to the OHA in the early 60s.</p><p>As for the teams in the middle of the heap, the jockeying for preferred playoff spots continued with the aim being to finish in one of the first four spots, the fifth place team drawing the league champions in the first round of the playdowns. The Bill Long-coached Ottawa club received a stunning setback to their aspirations when starry defenseman Denis Potvin suffered a broken wrist in the team&rsquo;s 5-3 defeat on home ice by the streaking Black Hawks.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0035-01

Marlies-Gens’ Battle Rages Far Lead

<h2>QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR</h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues, Feb. 8)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0274/2986285-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="582" height="280"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Tues, Feb. 1</b></p><p>London 6 at Hamilton 8</p><p>Montreal 4 at St. Catharines 8</p><p><b>Thur, Feb. 3</b></p><p>Montreal 2 at Peterborough 6</p><p>Fri, Feb. 4</p><p>Montreal 3 at Kitchener 5</p><p>Peterborough 3 at Niagara Falls 3</p><p>St. Catharines 5 at Ottawa 3</p><p>Oshawa at London (postponed)</p><p><b>Sat, Feb. 5</b></p><p>Ottawa 2 at Oshawa 5</p><p><b>Sun, Feb. 6</b></p><p>Hamilton 5 at Toronto 7</p><p>Niagara Falls 2 at St. Catharines 6</p><p>London 2 at Kitchener 6</p><p>Montreal 4 at Ottawa 5</p><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0351/2986278-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="579" height="281"></div><h2>NORTHERN ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Thurs, Feb. 3)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0444/2986271-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="576" height="134"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0539/2986264-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="585" height="307"></div><h2>SOUTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR</h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues, Feb. 1)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0629/2986257-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="579" height="232"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0729/2986250-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="582" height="337"></div><h2>ONTARIO SENIOR LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Fri, Feb. 4)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0825/2986243-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="583" height="231"></div><h2>QUEBEC JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon, Feb. 7)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0925/2986236-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="582" height="284"></div><h2>UNITED STATES LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon, Jan. 31)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1019/2986229-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="580" height="162"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1117/2986222-1-eng-US/f0035-112.jpg" title="f0035-11" width="587" height="504"></div><h2>CENTRAL JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues, Feb. 1)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1212/2986215-1-eng-US/f0035-122.jpg" title="f0035-12" width="576" height="158"></div><h2>PRAIRIE HOCKEY LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon, Jan. 31)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-139/2986208-1-eng-US/f0035-132.jpg" title="f0035-13" width="575" height="158"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-149/2986201-1-eng-US/f0035-142.jpg" title="f0035-14" width="580" height="467"></div><h2>NEW YORK METRO LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Sat, Jan. 29)</b></p><h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-159/2986194-1-eng-US/f0035-152.jpg" title="f0035-15" width="580" height="156"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-168/2986187-1-eng-US/f0035-162.jpg" title="f0035-16" width="578" height="131"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-176/2986180-1-eng-US/f0035-172.jpg" title="f0035-17" width="584" height="487"></div><h2>NEW ENGLAND LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Fri, Jan. 28)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-186/2986173-1-eng-US/f0035-182.jpg" title="f0035-18" width="576" height="180"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-195/2986166-1-eng-US/f0035-192.jpg" title="f0035-19" width="583" height="285"></div><h2>MICHIGAN JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Atandings on Mon, Jan. 31)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-205/2986159-1-eng-US/f0035-202.jpg" title="f0035-20" width="580" height="177"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-212/2986152-1-eng-US/f0035-212.jpg" title="f0035-21" width="579" height="252"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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February 18, 1972

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