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.

March 3, 1972

The Hockey News March 3, 1972

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01460/2958214-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="435" height="298"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02397/2958207-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="477" height="295"></div><h2><b>Tues. Feb. 15 CALIFORNIA 3 at BOSTON 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03322/2958200-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="599" height="704"></div><h2><b>NEW YORK 5 at VANCOUVER 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-04277/2958193-1-eng-US/f0019-042.jpg" title="f0019-04" width="589" height="553"></div><h2><b>CHICAGO 3 at ST-LOUIS 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-05231/2958186-1-eng-US/f0019-052.jpg" title="f0019-05" width="589" height="579"></div><h2><b>WED. FEB. 16 CALIFORNIA 1 at MONTREAL 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-06183/2958179-1-eng-US/f0019-062.jpg" title="f0019-06" width="603" height="442"></div><h2><b>TORONTO 2 at PITTSBURGH 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-07158/2958172-1-eng-US/f0019-072.jpg" title="f0019-07" width="610" height="606"></div><h2><b>DETROIT 2 at MINNESOTA 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-08143/2958165-1-eng-US/f0019-082.jpg" title="f0019-08" width="604" height="626"></div><h2><b>PHILADELPHIA 3 at CHICAGO 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-09122/2958158-1-eng-US/f0019-092.jpg" title="f0019-09" width="595" height="643"></div><h2><b>ST. LOUIS 3 at LOS ANGELES 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-10103/2958151-1-eng-US/f0019-102.jpg" title="f0019-10" width="596" height="514"></div><h2><b>Thurs. Feb. 17 BOSTON 4 at PHILADELPHIA 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-1187/2958144-1-eng-US/f0019-112.jpg" title="f0019-11" width="590" height="564"></div><h2><b>NEW YORK 6 at LOS ANGELES 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-1280/2958137-1-eng-US/f0019-122.jpg" title="f0019-12" width="608" height="801"></div><h2><b>PITTSBURGH 2 at BUFFALO 0</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-1367/2958130-1-eng-US/f0019-132.jpg" title="f0019-13" width="619" height="374"></div><h2><b>Fri. Feb. 18 NEW YORK 2 at CALIFORNIA 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-1462/2958123-1-eng-US/f0019-142.jpg" title="f0019-14" width="587" height="507"></div><h2><b>ST LOUIS 2 at VANCOUVER 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-1555/2958116-1-eng-US/f0019-152.jpg" title="f0019-15" width="607" height="608"></div><h2><b>Sat. Feb. 19 PHILADELPHIA 1 at MONTREAL 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-1650/2958109-1-eng-US/f0019-162.jpg" title="f0019-16" width="596" height="464"></div><h2><b>BUFFALO 1 at TORONTO 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-1746/2958102-1-eng-US/f0019-172.jpg" title="f0019-17" width="604" height="584"></div><h2><b>BOSTON 6 at MINNESOTA 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-1842/2958095-1-eng-US/f0019-182.jpg" title="f0019-18" width="598" height="742"></div><h2><b>DETROIT 6 at PITTSBURGH 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-1938/2958088-1-eng-US/f0019-192.jpg" title="f0019-19" width="596" height="646"></div><h2><b>VANCOUVER 3 at LOS ANGELES 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-2031/2958081-1-eng-US/f0019-202.jpg" title="f0019-20" width="608" height="663"></div><h2><b>Sun. Feb. 20 MONTREAL 4 at BUFFALO 0</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01305/2958074-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="594" height="454"></div><h2><b>TORONTO 1 at PHILADELPHIA 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02224/2958067-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="588" height="448"></div><h2><b>DETROIT 3 at NEW YORK 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03186/2958060-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="598" height="580"></div><h2><b>BOSTON 3 at CHICAGO 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04142/2958053-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="589" height="457"></div><h2><b>PITTSBURGH 0 at MINNESOTA 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0576/2958046-1-eng-US/f0020-052.jpg" title="f0020-05" width="596" height="388"></div><h2><b>ST. LOUIS 4 at CALIFORNIA 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0658/2958039-1-eng-US/f0020-062.jpg" title="f0020-06" width="599" height="710"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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IN THIS ISSUE

National Hockey League SUMMARIES

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GUGGER</div><p>DESMOINES&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>F</span>or a long time, the traveling forced on the Des Moines Oak Leafs by their geographical location in the International Hockey League has been a sore point with coaches here.</p><p>But when a city is located 495 miles west of its nearest opponent, there isn&rsquo;t an easy solution. Nevertheless, Leafs&rsquo; coach Terry Slater made his feelings known by actions as much as words recently.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0922/2959475-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="270" height="450"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Jim Paterson</b></figcaption></div><p>The Leafs took off after a Saturday afternoon match. Slater&rsquo;s Night Riders made Dayton in time for the game, but the Gems made the Leafs, 8-3, as Dayton&rsquo;s Jim Benzelock scored five goals.</p><p>Slater had his players warm up with their pajama tops over their game jerseys. It was his way of protesting the scheduling of an aternoon game in Dayton following a night game in Des Moines.</p><p>&ldquo;We rode the bus all night from Des Moines,&rdquo; Slater said. &ldquo;We left there at midnight and got in Dayton at 10:30 in the morning. If you don&rsquo;t call that being up all night, I don&rsquo;t know what else is.</p><p>&ldquo;Our guys were tired but I thought it might help to loosen them up with the pajama bit. It had them laughing in the dressing room, at least.&rdquo;</p><p>The Dayton trip was the midway point of a horrendous bit of scheduling which placed the Leafs in four different cities for five games in six nights. In all, the Leafs had a stretch of seven games in nine days.</p><p>During the nine days, Des Moines traveled over 1,500 miles via bus. Four of the seven games were at home, but even that didn&rsquo;t help.</p><p>The Leafs lost six of the games, scoring just 20 goals in the process. Seven of the goals came in the only victory, a 7-2 lacing of Fort Wayne here.</p><p><b>MUSKEGON:</b> Bryan McLay scored his 480th IHL goal, moving him into second place on all-time career scoring list&hellip;Joe Kastelic, an ex-Mohawk, holds all-time mark with 551 goals&hellip;Hawks took rare sweep of two-game set in Des Moines&hellip;Hawks&rsquo; road mark of 14-15 was tied with Dayton for best in league&hellip;GM Jerry DeLise had run in with referee Ron Hogarth&hellip;</p><p><b>PORT HURON:</b> Biggest crowd of season, 2,766, saw victory over nearby Flint&hellip;Marty Reynolds out for playoffs&hellip;Al Globensky and Brian McCutcheon trimmed to make cut down limit&hellip;Nels Debenedet called up by Tidewater&hellip;Brian Cropper filled in at goal tor game with Tidewater&hellip;Wayne Ego&rsquo;s tying goal at buzzer disallowe at Flint&hellip;Cropper&rsquo;s goals-against mark was 3.27 well ahead of the team record of 3.66 by Phil Headley&hellip;</p><p><b>FLINT:</b> Larry Gibbons joined Moe L&rsquo;Abbe in walking out on club&hellip;Gens won protest of loss in Fort Wayne, but game will stand as is&hellip;Flint was most-penalized club in IHL&hellip;Generals have lost 12 games by one goal&hellip;Over three-season period. Flint has lost 18 of 20 games in Dayton&hellip;Wayne Zuk had 11 goals in last 19 games&hellip;Gens trimmed down by releasing Leigh Bannister and trading Gory Agar to Des Moines.</p><p><b>TOLEDO:</b> Jim Paterson fired fourth hat trick of year and pushed goal total to 35 in 43 games&hellip;Greg Jablonski broke 12-game scoring drought&hellip;Hornets beat Dayton for first time in nine games&hellip;Hornets had won six in row at home after 8-15 start at Sports Arena&hellip;Coach Bill Needham retired as player.</p><p><b>DAYTON:</b> Sunday turnout of 3,139 was smallest for an afternoon game in eight seasons&hellip;Goalie Pat Rupp overjoyed by American Olympic Medal feat since he played on U.S. Olympic team in 1964 and &lsquo;68&hellip;Gems needed nine wins in final 12 games to set single-season victory mark.</p><p><b>FORT WAYNE:</b> Rusty Patenaude had hat trick in 10-2 rout of Columbus&hellip;In same game every player, including goalie Paul Hoganson, scored at least one point&hellip;Jim Boyd sidelined with broken nose&hellip;Tommy McVie voted captain by players&hellip;K&rsquo;s erupted for three goals in two minutes to defeat Muskegon for first time at home.</p><p><b>COLUMBUS:</b> Angus Beck, Del Hall, Pete Vipond and Wayne King carrying most of scoring load for lowly Seals. Beck was top man and seemed certain to hit 30-goal mark&hellip;King only Seal to play in all 58 games&hellip;Club has dressed more than 40 players this year.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Leafs Wear Pajamas On Ice; McLay No. 2 Scoring 480th

<h2><b>Tue. Feb. 8 ROCHESTER 2 at BOSTON 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0294/2958714-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="599" height="402"></div><h2><b>TIDEWATER 1 at NOVA SCOTIA 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0367/2958707-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="604" height="630"></div><h2><b>BALTIMORE 3 at RICHMOND 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0452/2958700-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="616" height="670"></div><h2><b>HERSHEY 3 at CLEVELAND 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0546/2958693-1-eng-US/f0025-052.jpg" title="f0025-05" width="593" height="625"></div><h2><b>ROCHESTER 3 at SPRINGFIELD 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0635/2958686-1-eng-US/f0025-062.jpg" title="f0025-06" width="617" height="628"></div><h2><b>NOVA SCOTIA 4 at TIDEWATER 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0733/2958679-1-eng-US/f0025-072.jpg" title="f0025-07" width="599" height="490"></div><h2><b>Sun. Feb. 13 NOVA SCOTIA 3 at RICHMOND 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0829/2958672-1-eng-US/f0025-082.jpg" title="f0025-08" width="603" height="465"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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American Hockey League Summaries

<p class="dropcap"><span>R</span>on Buchanan of the Denver Spurs is back in the thick of the WHL goal-scoring race after a highly productive week in which he scored four timesand helped set up two others. Buchanan has 28 goals for the year, tops in the league along with Portland&rsquo;s Art Jones. Buchanan recently scored a hat trick against Seattle, which was his third three-goal game of the season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0437/2959000-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="514" height="506"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RON BUCHANAN</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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Player of The Week

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01525/2960158-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RICK MARTIN&rsquo;S 39th BREAKS ROOKIE MARK&mdash;Page 21</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Hockey News Photo by Robert Shaver)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-02398/2960151-1-eng-US/cover-022.jpg" title="Cover-02" width="1156" height="1413"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>EDDIE GIACOMIN Ranger Netminder Rebounds In Drive</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Hockey News Photo by John Barnett)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-03176/2960144-1-eng-US/cover-032.jpg" title="Cover-03" width="648" height="621"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ESPOSITO PASSES 50 GOAL-MARK BUT CAN&rsquo;T SHAKE OFF RANGERS&rsquo; RATELLE&mdash;Page 17</b></figcaption></div><p><b>SIX WEEK ORDEAL ENDS FOR BARRY GIBBS&mdash;Page9</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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RANGERS ON MOVE AGAIN—Page 2

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><p>NEW YORK&mdash;</p><p>After a January&mdash;February drought that saw them win only twice in eight games, the Rangers bounced back with three impressive wins during the second week of February. February 9 was Ed Giacomin night with the Italian netminder stopping 42 Hawk shots on the way to a 4-1 Ranger win.</p><p>After the game, the media once more stormed Eddie&rsquo;s dressing room cubicle. Old times were back again.</p><p>&ldquo;My mask saved me when I got hit by that shot from Pit Martin. Man, that was close, but it only took a few stitches to sew me up. I feel fine and think I am sharp for the stretch run now,&rdquo; said Eddie.</p><p>Giacomin, the five eleven, 180 pound, slightly graying Sudbury, Ontario native, was superb throughout, but scared everyone in the Garden when he flopped as if shot when hit flush in the face (on his mask) by a shot by Chicago&rsquo;s Martin. Trainer Frank Paice and Dr. John Grozine set records for transport across the ice without skates to the fallen figure, but after a whiff or two of smelling salts, Eddie resumed his post.</p><p>Emile Francis, the Rangers general manager-coach had opined before the Chicago tussle that New York was due to gain their second wind.</p><p>&ldquo;We played 13 games in 25 days, ten on the road and for our six all stars, 14 games. And we have multiple travel problems, too. Fatigue can beat any hockey team, but I am not disturbed. We will bounce back,&rdquo; said the Cat.</p><p>From now until March 2 the Rangers play four games a home and four on the road. Boston plays eight also, seven on the road and one at home. If the Blueshirts are to make any headway in cutting down the Bruin lead this is the time. One contest, in Boston, March 23 remains between the two rivals. The Rangers continued to bounce back in Pittsburgh February 12, with an 8-3 romp over the Penguins, buttressed by Walter Tkaczuk&rsquo;s five assists and Brad Park&rsquo;s second hat trick of the season, plus an assist.</p><p>Tkaczuk, who set an all time Ranger record, commented, &ldquo;I was lucky.&rdquo; His new linemate Peter Stemkowski said, &ldquo;Luck is the residue of design. I&rsquo;m glad to be on the line with Walter and Billy. I played a lot of wing in the past and checking has always been a strong part of my game. If you check, you get scoring opportunities. I think I can produce.&rdquo;</p><p>The Stemmer is the new left wing on the Tkaczuk line, replacing Gene Carr and occasionally Glen Sather. Carr will serve as a swing center, relieving Jean Ratelle, Tkaczuk and Bobby Rousseau. Bobby, once again is to serve as the pivot on the line with Bruce MacGregor and Ted Irvine. When he is just coming off the power play point assignment or a penalty killing chore, Carr will take over.</p><p>&ldquo;Gene is a natural center and this will give him a chance to work at his normal position,&rdquo; reasons Francis.</p><p>Park, now with 16 goals, breaking Arnie Brown&rsquo;s all time Ranger mark of 15, is happily on another hot streak, but doesn&rsquo;t make much of it. He has no seasonal goals in mind, speaking with tongue in check, &ldquo;if they go in, fine, if not, fine.&rdquo;</p><p>Tkaczuk and Park broke open the Pittsburgh game with a brace of quick goals giving New York a <i>4-</i>1 second period lead which later grew bigger. Walter hit Brad with passes leading to both goals. They came 18 seconds apart.</p><p>&ldquo;I fanned on one of those shots and it threw Jim Rutherford off,&rdquo; reveals Park. &ldquo;Sort of like a change of pace.&rdquo;</p><p>Tkaczuk came back three minutes later, stole the puck from Al McDonaugh on a Penguin power play and hit Billy Fairbairn with a pass which was converted. Fairbairn also had a pair in the Penguin game. He has been scoring in pairs all season, his goal total now having reached 16.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Rangers On Move Once More As Park, Tkaczuk Lead Way

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01707/2957055-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Here&rsquo;s Jim Dorey as a member of Leafs&rsquo; defense.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Hockey News Photo by Steve Goldstein)</span></figcaption></div><h2>LEAFS TRADE DOREY OFF</h2><p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p>The Toronto Maple Leafs have admitted they sacrificed a fine young defenseman in Jim Dorey to get more scoring punch into the team.</p><p>The Leafs swapped Dorey even up to the New York Rangers for disgruntled Pierre Jarry, who indicated his willingness to accept a trade rather than sit on the Ranger bench. Dorey was in his fourth year with Toronto. He is 24. Jarry, who is 22, scored 92 points last season for Omaha of the Central League.</p><h2><b>STORM STRANDS FLYER STAR</b></h2><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p>Snow storms play strange tricks even in the world of hockey. The violent blow that struck Montreal last weekend kept the fans away from the games in droves&mdash;only 8,066 saw the Canadiens beat Philadelphia 3-1, the lowest crowd in 30 years at the Forum.</p><p>But it also dealt Flyers&rsquo; veteran Jean-Guy Gendron an unsuspecting blow. Gendron had gone to visit relatives when the Flyers hit the citv and storm kept him from arriving at the rink at all for the game It was probably the first time an NHL player had missed a game because of a storm since three Rangers didn&rsquo;t reach Madison Square Garden, including goaler Ed Giacomin, several years ago.</p><h2><b>RED WINGS SIGN OLYMPIAN</b></h2><p>DETROIT&mdash;</p><p>The Detroit Red Wings have signed center Henry Boucha of the United States Olympic team to a two-year contract.</p><p>Wings&rsquo; General Manager Ned Harkness went to Las Vegas last weekend to ink the 20-year-old native of Warroad, Minn., to his initial professional contract making him the first member of the recent Olympic Silver Medal squad to jump to the pros.</p><p>No terms of the contract were disclosed. Harkness said Boucha would join the Red Wings immediately to practice with the team.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Deadline Stoppers

<div class="byline">BY GIL SMITH</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01711/2957093-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"></div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p>When the present season got underway, THE HOCKEY NEWS conducted its annual poll among writers to determine the order of finish of NHL teams.</p><p>Not surprisingly, Boston and Chicago were almost unanimous picks to finish atop their respective divisions. But, there was a surprise in the East Division picks for the No. 2 spot in the standings. Montreal Canadiens were chosen by most writers to finish ahead of the New York Rangers.</p><p>The year before, Rangers had finished second with a margin of 12 points over the Habs.</p><p>&ldquo;Montreal being picked to finish ahead of the Rangers probably evoked some eyebrow raising,&rdquo; said THE HOCKEY NEWS article, accurately enough.</p><p>But, the Canadiens players thought they had a good chance at second place.</p><p>&ldquo;The guy we have behind the bench should be good for an extra ten points,&rdquo; said Serge Savard, summing up the Canadiens feelings at the time. &ldquo;He could be the difference between us finishing second instead of third.&rdquo;</p><p>Now, with roughly two-thirds of the schedule gone, Habs are six points behind Rangers who hold down the second spot. Can Canadiens catch them by season&rsquo;s end? And, if so, how so?</p><p>Three factors become immediately apparent, following a look at the records.</p><p>The first is fairly obvious. Habs had not beaten Rangers in three meetings, at this writing. They had, instead, posted a tie and two losses. The tie was at home, the losses in New York. They meet Rangers three more times, this season. Two of the games will be in Montreal. It becomes almost mandatory for Habs to win those games. If they could then tie the game in New York in their last meeting of the season, next April 2, they&rsquo;d have gained an even split in points.</p><p>The pressure, obviously, is on Canadiens.</p><p>The second factor involves games on the road. Rangers were the better road team, up to early February. Five points better at least. They had a 14-8-4 record in 26 games away. Habs were 10-117 in 28 games away. If Canadiens are going to do anything about overhauling the Broadway crew, they&rsquo;re going to have to do a fair amount of it on the road.</p><p>Point three involves games against the West Division teams. Rangers have done a lot better against the West than have Habs. They had six more points against the other division in the same number of games. Canadiens have nine more meetings against the West, before the season&rsquo;s end.</p><p>Habs absolutely must improve their showing in this area, or second place will go out the window.</p><p>In particular, they need to improve against the Philadelphia Flyers whom they had not beaten once in their first three tries.</p><p>Can Habs do it? Who knows? The writers have said they could But, the writers are often wrong.</p><p><b>HABBITS:</b> Ten goals in eight games was the box score for Larry Pleau and Yvan Cournoyer since they got together on the same line. Pleau, centering for Yvan and Jacques Lemaire, had half of the goals&hellip;Cournoyer and Big Frank Mahovlich were waging a hot battle to see who&rsquo;d be first to hit the 30-goal mark, this season. Cournoyer made it with No. 30 against Philadelphia&hellip;Frank has scored better than 30 goals in each of the last three campaigns. He has 28 this season. He has seven 30-plus seasons in the 14 full years he&rsquo;s spent in the league&hellip;Terry Harper may be the first NHL player to grow a beard during the season. The Harp, whose right arm is in a sling following an injury early this month, is unable to shave. Wife Gladys does the job for him, when she has time. But, whiskers have sprouted and maybe Terry will decide to keep them when he returns to action?</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02591/2957086-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1171" height="1058"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>YVAN COURNOYER&hellip;First To Score 30 For Habs</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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CANADIENS’HOPES HINGE ON THREE CONFRONTATIONS WITH NEW YORK’S RANGERS

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-01773/2957145-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="510" height="524"></div><p>&bull; <b>BILL TORREY,</b> recently appointed general manager of the New York Islanders, has a very impressive hockey background. The former GM of the California Seals is not only an astute hockey man but he knows the promotional and publicity end of the game inside out. Bill operated his own-promotion and publicity business for over 10 years in Pittsburgh. President Roy Boe and his associates picked a good man to lead the Islanders in their initial NHL season&hellip;The first appointment Torrey made was hiring Earl Ingarfield, longtime NHL forward, as Western Canada scout. Ingarfield is coaching Regina of the Western Canada Hockey League&hellip;St. Louiscoach A! Arbour wrote an &ldquo;open letter&rdquo; to Philadelphia fans, apologizing for his conduct and that of his players during the Spectrum riot with fans more than a month ago. It must&rsquo;ve had an effect, because there were no incidents when the Blues revisited Philly&hellip;Floyd Thomson of the Blues suffered some cuts and bruises in an auto accident in St. Louis following a recent Blues&rsquo; game. 1 hornson&rsquo;s car was demolished and he took a cab to the home of president Sidney Salomon Jr., who drove him to Faith Hospital West for treatment&hellip;Dennis O&rsquo;Brien is coming on strong as a defenseman with Minnesota North Stars. Coach Jack Gordon is giving the big fellow, who is only 22, more and more ice time&hellip;The North Stars have broken the club record of 28 victories, set last season. Now they&rsquo;re after the expansion team record of 37, held by St. Louis&hellip;Blessed by a rather mild winter without an abundance of snow, the new Providence Downtown Civic Center is rapidly moving towards completion. The opening is set for October, 1972. The building will afford the American Hockey League Reds, one of the finest franchises in hockey, a luxurious new home&hellip;Defenseman Doug Mohns of Minnesota played his 1,200th NHL game the other night&hellip;Jim Lorentz, a center and left winger acquired by Buffalo from New York in mid-season, has proven to be a valuable asset to the club. In addition to his versatility, he is a muscular athlete who shows to best advantage in the heavy going&hellip;Red Hamill, former NHL star, had his. left leg amputated recently. The Sudbury Wolves Hockey Club is sponsoring a &ldquo;Red Hamil Night&rdquo; at the Sudbury Arena on March 3. Many frmer teammates of Red&rsquo;s and junior players he has coached over the years may welcome the opportunity to take part in this worthwhile occasion. All contributions should be sent to the Red Hamill Fund, The Toronto-Dominion Bank, 16 Durham St. S., Sudbury, Ont.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02724/2957138-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="271" height="455"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bill Torrey</b></figcaption></div><p>&bull; <b>SKATES, STICKS AND MEN,</b> The story of amateur hockey in the United States, is a fine new book to hit the book stalls. It was written by S. Kip Farrington, Jr., colorful Long Island sportsman who played goal until his early 60&rsquo;s. It traces the growth of hockey in the United States for the last 75 years and makes excellent reading for anyone who has played the game or been a close follower. The publisher is David McKay Company Inc. of New York&hellip;Latest promotion of Charles O. Finley is to give away 1,000 tickets for each home game to Bay Area college athletes. The dynamic owner of the California Golden Seals is determined to make hockey a success in the San Francisco-Oakland area. There isn&rsquo;t much doubt that his club is the most improved team in the NHL this year as they appear headed for a playoff berth. General Manager Garry Young and Coach Vic Stasiuk have done wonders with the players at their disposal. The Seals are the youngest team in the National League and Finley wants to go all the way with youth the same way he did with his baseball team&hellip;Dayton Gems passed the 100,000 mark in attendance for the eighth straight year. Bill Beagan&rsquo;s International Hockey League is currently enjoying one of its most successful seasons&hellip;Coach Fred Shero of the Philadelphia Flyers is disappointed with the play of some of his charges. This is the time in the campaign when he thinks they should be giving a little extra&hellip;Buffalo Sabres, who operate the Cincinnati franchise in the AHL, may lose as much as $400,000 in that operation this season&hellip;Derek Sanderson, outspoken Bruins forward, has created a rhubarb in Boston over some verbal shots he took at Jack Kelley, the Boston University coach who signed a long term contract with New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association&hellip;President Richard Wood of the New York Raiders of the WHA announced that he hopes to have a minimum priced ticket of $2 for workers and children. Top ticket prices will be $8. The Raiders will play their home games in Madison Square Garden&hellip;Hardrock John Ferguson has put on 20 pounds since he retired from the Canadiens.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03626/2957131-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="258" height="452"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Charles Finley</b></figcaption></div><p>&bull; <b>NEW YORK</b> used to play. 500 hockey against Boston, but they&rsquo;ve lost their last four games against them. Most coaches send a checking line against Rangers&rsquo; Ratelle-Had-field-Gilbert line but Tom Johnson puts his big Esposito-Cashman-Walton line against them&hellip;Ottawa Nationals will be the Ontario entry in the WHA. Buck Houle, former general manager of Hockey Canada, is expected to handle the same job with the Nats. Eddie Bush of Richmond Robins is mentioned as a possible coach. The team management is reported to have signed a three-year building lease to play in the 8,300-seat Civic Center&hellip;Boston&rsquo;s Eddie Johnston says he might not have the reflexes he once had but that he&rsquo;s smarter now and therefore is a better goalkeeper&hellip;California&rsquo;s Bobby Sheehan figures that all the extra plane travel the West coast clubs are involved in slows them down&hellip;Garry Unger, playing in his first NHL All Star Game, said: &ldquo;During warmups 1 was looser than I would be for a regular game, but standing there in the runway waiting to be introduced I felt the excitement of the game. It&rsquo;s like scoring a goal, even after you scored 50 of them. It&rsquo;s a thrill&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;Fort Worth. Texas will host an amateur Easter hockey classic from March 17-26. Teams from the United States and Canada will compete in classifications from pee wee through midget&hellip;California Golden Seals have added green laces to go with their white skates&hellip;Five members of the United States team which won the silver medal at the Olympics will discuss turning professional with Detroit Red Wings shortly. They are Henry Boucha, Tim Sheehy, Walter Olds, Tom Mellor and Bruce McIntosh. Coach Murray Williamson of the U.S. squad resigned at the completion of the Olympics. He is expected to accept a pro coaching offer. Bunny Ahearne&rsquo;s leadership will be challenged at International Ice Hockey Federation meetings this month in Prague&hellip;Dale Tallon&rsquo;s asking price from the Minnesota (St. Paul) Fighting Saints of the WHA is $150,00 for two seasons, with the money in the bank before the first faceoff. Andre Boudrias, another member of the Vancouver Canucks, is more modest. He wants $100,000 for two seasons, to be paid in full, whether the league operates or not&hellip;&ldquo;The Goldy Shuffle&rdquo;, &ldquo;The Brothers Esposito&rdquo; and &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve Got to be Me&rdquo; by Derek Sanderson, three hockey books selling well. &ldquo;The Goldy Shuffle&rdquo; is now in its third printing.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04536/2957124-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="268" height="470"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ed Johnston</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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PASSING THE PUCK

<p><b>OFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY</b></p><p>Founded October 1st, 1947</p><p><b>Published weekly except monthly June through September by Ken-Will Publishing Co. Ltd.</b></p><p><b>1434 St. Catherine Street West Montreal 107, Canada.</b></p><p><b>U.S. Office: 16 Maple Street, Rouses Point, N.Y. 12979</b></p><p><b>Kenneth William McKenzie</b> President and Publisher</p><p><b>Charlie Halpin</b> Editorial Director</p><p><b>Lyndon Little</b> Assistant To Editor</p><p><b>Yearly SUBSCRIPTION Rates: $6.00 in Canada $7.00 in the U.S.A, and $9.00 in Foreign Countries.</b></p><p>Postpage paid at Rouses Point, N.Y. 12979. Send address changes to 1434 St. Catherine Street West, Suite 212, Montr&eacute;al, 107, P.Q.</p><p>Second class mail&mdash;Registration No. 1327</p><p>Printed in Canada</p><p><b>Vol. 25 MONTREAL, MARCH 3, 1972 No. 22</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

The Hockey News

<h2><b>Total Games Played Not Scoring Factor</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>C</span>oncerning the recent eight-player trade between the Phila-delphia Flyers and the Los Angeles Kings, I noticed that at the time of the deal that the Kings had played four more games (50) than had the Flyers. In other words, the four players going to the Flyers could end up playing 82 league games this season, providing they have played in all games to date and continue to do so for the balance of the schedule.</p><p>My point is this: If such a deal were made between two clubs involving players at or near the top of the scoring parade, could one of them legally win the scoring title if he finished the season playing more games that the second-place man?</p><p><b>(EDITOR&rsquo;S NOTE:</b> Accor ding to NHL Information Director Ron Andrews, the number of league games a player participates in has no bearing on the awarding of the league scoring title Art Ross Trophy).</p><p><b>P.N. LEIGH, Ottawa, Ont.</b></p><h2><b>Kings&rsquo; Recent Play Wins LA Fan&rsquo;s Kudos</b></h2><p>I feel compelled to write this letter, more or less as public notice of fan appreciation for what the Los Angeles Kings have been doing lately. It would appear to some that all at once, a bunch of hapless hockey players have become a team of NHL caliber capable of play-off contention. But it has not happened all at once and it has taken special effort on the part of a lot of individuals.</p><p>First of all, Larry Regan had the courage to step down as coach and devote himself to fulltime general manager duties. This is not to say that Larry was a bad coach&mdash;it&rsquo;s just that both jobs are too much for any one man.</p><p>Secondly, we acquired Fred Glover as coach, who proved last year that he has the ability to mold a team.</p><p>Thirdly, Mr. Cooke, the owner, has had patience enough to bide his time and wait for the right trading moves and he has not hesitated to come forth with players and money when they were needed for the auction block.</p><p><b>Mrs, J.P. Smith, orrance, Calif.</b></p><h2><b>Leafs&rsquo; Jacques Plante Masterton Candidate</b></h2><p>I would like to question the overlooking of Jacques Plante in the awarding of the Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy last season. The Masterson trophy is awarded to the player &ldquo;who best exemplifies the qualities of preservance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey&rdquo;.</p><p>Plante constantly strives to attain perfection of the facemask. While most players spend the off-season on the golf course, or on the balmy beaches of Florida, &ldquo;Jake the Snake&rdquo; is up to his elbow in plaster, or fibreglass.</p><p>Jacques turned in a 1.88 goals against average, that alone should be worth more than a monetary reward from the Leafs, it should be good enough to have his name inscribed on a piece of silverware.</p><p><b>JEFFREY COTTER, Kenmore, N.Y.</b></p><h2><b>All Three Officials Should Call Penalties</b></h2><p>As a season ticket holder for a number of years in Madison Square Garden, I (like many other hockey fans around the NHL) have become increasingly aware of the fact that a new refereeing system is needed. It is too much to expect one man to see all the infractions which occur on the ice so I propose that all three officials be allowed to call penalities.</p><p>In baseball one umpire fre-quently over-rules another so this is not something new. However, it is becoming increasingly frus-trating and even more boring to constantly boo the refs or bear others do so when it is not their personal faults, but the fault of the rules which detract from a great game.</p><p><b>Robert W. Anthony, New York, N.Y.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Fan Forum

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HALIBURTON HOCKEY HAVEN

<div class="byline">BY JACK BERRY</div><p>DETROIT&mdash;</p><p>Etched deeply on John Wilon&rsquo;s tablet of commandments is &ldquo;Conditioning&rdquo; and around Olympia, you spell that with a capital &ldquo;C.&rdquo;</p><p>Conditioning, the Red Wing coach firmly believes, wins hockey games, especially in the third period and a number of Detroit rivals won&rsquo;t dispute that.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-01802/2957255-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="262" height="424"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mickey Redmond</figcaption></div><p>Matter of fact, reaching back to that late November weekend when the Red Wings proved to them-seves and their fans that this season would be different after all, the team has outscored its opposition by a generous 48-28 margin in third period play.</p><p>The big weekend was Nov. 27-28 when New York and Montreal each arrived at Olympia in first place and Detroit knocked off each one. The third period strength showed in the Ranger game when Detroit scored all its goals in the final 20 minutes for a 3-1 victory.</p><p>And. since that weekend, Detroit has won six games in the third period, pulled out a tie in four others and lost only three times to rivals&rsquo; third period rallies.</p><p>Wilson&rsquo;s conditioning program has been paying off even more as the season heads toward the stretch. Since Jan. 23, the Sunday prior to the All-Star Game, and up to Feb. 15, the Detroit defense allowed only four third period goals in 10 games.</p><p>Meanwhile, the offense was scoring 16 goals and the production resulted in a pair of victories and a pair of ties.</p><p>What it does is make a prophet of Wilson, the onetime iron man forward for Detroit, Chicago and New York. The first week he took over the club Wilson said &ldquo;If you&rsquo;ve got teams of equal ability, over the long haul the one that&rsquo;s on the best condition will win.&rdquo;</p><p>Wilson also said that he felt only five of the NHL&rsquo;s 14 teams had better talent than the Red Wings.</p><p>The Wings certainly have been proving him right. For example, Buffalo, a team that split with the Wings in their Year of Turmoil, didn&rsquo;t beat the Wings this year. Detroit captured that series with four victories and two ties.</p><p>The Red Wings will need all of the conditioning they can get in the dash to the playoffs because there aren&rsquo;t any more Buffalos on the schedule. The menu the final month is very lean&mdash;a pair with Boston, a pair with Chicago and three with New York. The final three games are with Boston, New York and Chicago, the latter two on the road.</p><p>With that kind of finish, it is imperative for the Red Wings to bank their points while the banking is good and they&rsquo;ve been doing it in exciting fashion.</p><p>They came from behind in every game during their last three game home stand, rallying from two goal deficits to trounce California, 8-2, and Buffalo, 4-2, and then red-hot Mickey Redmond earned a 3-3 draw with Chicago by scoring with 3:45 to play. That was Detroit&rsquo;s first point in four games with Chicago this season.</p><p>It also was Redmond&rsquo;s 27th goal in 27 games, sixth in seven and ran his consecutive game goal streak to four.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Wings Hope It Carries Them Into Playoffs

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02655/2957286-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg"></div><h2>Defensive Body Checks</h2><p class="dropcap"><span>D</span>efencemen must learn when and when NOT to use a body check. Remember, you may body a man out of the play, but you may be off balance or down and out of it.</p><p>Attempting to body check out in the open can be dangerous. You have to set yourself for a check and immediately telegraph what you&rsquo;re going to do. An attacker has the advantage and could go around you&mdash;on either side. If you miss him, you&rsquo;re off balance and unable to recover quickly enough to catch him.</p><p>Body checking close to the boards is another matter. A puck carrier can only go around you one way. You can hem him into the boards.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Hockey for Kids

<p>DETROIT&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Detroit Hockey Club will officially retire &ldquo;No. 9&rdquo;, the uniform number worn by Gordie Howe&mdash;former Red Wing super star&mdash;on Sunday afternoon, March 12, it was announced by General Manager Ned Harkness.</p><p>Howe, hockey&rsquo;s living legend, retired as an active player on Sept. 9, 1971 after 25 illustrious, record-breaking seasons in the National Hockey League. He will be duly honored at Olympia Stadium in ceremonies preceding the DetroitrChicago game on March 12.</p><p>Since this game has been selected by CBS as the &ldquo;Game of the Week&rdquo; and will be nationally televised, the opening face off is scheduled for 2:05 PM with the pre-game ceremonies beginning at 1:45 PM.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Wings Plan To Retire Howe’s Famed Number 9

<div class="byline">BY TOM MONAHAN</div><p>BOSTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t was Jan. 31, 1971 and the Bruins had just announced the acquisition of Mike Walton in a deal with Toronto and Philadel-phia for Rick MacLeish and Dan Schock.</p><p>The immediate reaction was, &ldquo;What do they need Walton for? If he can&rsquo;t play for Toronto, how can he possibly play for the Bruins?&rdquo;</p><p>It was a natural reaction. Walton had scored 72 goals for the Maples Leafs in three previous seasons but then things went sour. He was an unhappy and unsettled young man and had quit the Toronto club.</p><p>He answered to the nickname &ldquo;Shaky&rdquo; and, with the talent on the Bruins, where could the B&rsquo;s possibly use his questionable ability.</p><p>General Manager Milt Schmidt simply said, &ldquo;Walton is insurance. He has ability to play three forward positions and he can be a handy man to have around in an emergency.&rdquo;</p><p>The &ldquo;emergency&rdquo; didn&rsquo;t come in the second half of last season, although Walton did come in for action in the playoffs with Montreal.</p><p>But this year things were different. Shaky started the season happy and content and in shape and he was assigned the left wing spot with Derek Sanderson.</p><p>He played a steady, if not spectacular, game in the early going but his real value has come to the front in the last two weeks.</p><p>Ken Hodge was sidelined with a broken ankle and coach Tom Johnson had to move Wayne Cashman from left wing on the Phil Esposito line to right wing.</p><p>A brief try for Don Marcotte and Reg Leach in combination with that pair didn&rsquo;t seem the answer, so Johnson put Walton on the wing.</p><p>And, with Fred Stanfield experiencing some difficulty on the power play, Johnson decided also to use Walton on the left point in that situation.</p><p>Voila! The Bruins were back in business.</p><p>&ldquo;Stanfield seemed to be fighting the puck too much at left point on the power play,&rdquo; explained Johnson, &ldquo;I thought a change might do us some good. Mike popped in two against Buffalo and the way he has been playing the spot I can&rsquo;t get him off that unit.</p><p>&ldquo;And he&rsquo;s versatile enough so that if I want to put Stanfield back at the point I can move Mike to left wing.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01751/2957341-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="554" height="598"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MIKE WALTON&hellip;Fits Anywhere</b></figcaption></div><p>Playing with Espo and Cashman seemed to come natural to him. Mike gives the line a great burst of speed and he has the ability to work the corners. His speed takes the opposition off Phil a bit and this gives him more room.</p><p>&ldquo;And Mike has been getting good scoring chances.&rdquo;</p><p>Johnson sees another benefit in using Walton on the power play.</p><p>&ldquo;We use parts of two lines on the power play,&rdquo; he explains &ldquo;and now with Stanfield sitting out we can drop him back with the Black Aces (Ace Bailey and Leach) and Fred really helps those guys out.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an ideal situation because we have a strong line to go out right after a power play.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0007-01

Walton Paying Off Trade

<div class="byline">&#x2014; By Bill Libby</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-01788/2957379-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="285" height="363"></div><h2><i><b>Wren Blair Makes It Back</b></i></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>H</span>E WOULD ARRIVE</b> at the arena in immaculate order, his clothes a gaudy rainbow. No kid, he wanted to present a mod image to his mod kids. His sport-coat and slacks would be pressed just so, his tie neatly knotted, his shoes perfectly polished. His hair would be carefully combed, his expression pleasant, his voice soft, his speech articulate and measured.</p><p>During the game, he would begin to lose control, standing up on the bench, leaning over the boards, even standing on the boards, complaining shrilly to the officials from the bench, threatening opposing players, pleading with his own players. Soon, the hair would go awry and the jacket would come off. In the dressing room, he&rsquo;d taunt his men, preach to them, scream at them.</p><p>By game&rsquo;s end, he would be a wreck, sweat streaming from his mussed hair down his flushed face, his tie pulled loose, his shirt half pulled out of his pants, his pants wrinkled, his shoes scuffed. His expression would be wild, his actions animated, his voice hoarse, the words cascading from his sore throat. Eventually, he would wearily sit down, growing pale, close to collapse.</p><p>He once confessed, &ldquo;Being a hockey coach, a man of my temperment, it&rsquo;s almost suicidal.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02698/2957372-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="536" height="892"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>WREN BLAIR&hellip;Feeling Great Again</b></figcaption></div><p>Wren Blair has had a hard time building the Minnesota National Hockey League franchise from scratch, suffering especially when one of his players was killed in a game accident, while the wife of another died dramatically. It has not been written before, but when Wren, while waiting for his present coach, Jack Gordon, to become available, turned the coaching reins over to Charlie Burns a few seasons back, it was because of ill health.</p><p>In an interview for a book we are doing, &ldquo;The Coaches,&rdquo; he confessed, &ldquo;Coaching was getting to me. My health began to suffer. I began to suffer dizzy spells and when I went to the club doctor he found I&rsquo;d develped high blood pressure and told my boss. My boss wanted me to get someone else to go the coaching. One of my players, Burns, who had coached in the minors, said, &lsquo;Coach, you look like death warmed over, why not let me take over some practices for you or something to relieve you a little?&rsquo; I said, I&rsquo;ll tell you what, why don&rsquo;t you take over the coaching for awhile?&rsquo;</p><p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want to go back on that damn bench. I&rsquo;d never been sick before and I was scared now. I didn&rsquo;t want to die on some damn bench. We went 20 or 21 games without a victory. I want to tell you, life was brutal. I was walking into walls, standing in corners, trying to figure out what to do. But we wound up making the playoffs. And then Gordon became available and I was committed to him. So I had my coach and didn&rsquo;t heve to coach again.&rdquo;</p><p>Early last December, Blair admitted he had suffered from bronchitis almost all his life and had to go into the hospital for a delicate operation. The Minnesota manager recently recalled, &ldquo;About eight years ago I had tests taken which determined that I had a lung problem but it was not felt necessary to do anything drastic at that time. Recently, I had more trouble breathing and more tests taken. The doctor asked me how many times I coughed a day. I said, &lsquo;Would you believe three or four hundred times?&rsquo; He said, &lsquo;From the looks of your lungs, I&rsquo;d believe it. Every time, you were practically coughing up part of your lungs.&rdquo;</p><p>Shaking his head wistfully, Wren smiled, &ldquo;All that yelling I did, I was literally screaming my life away. Hockey and coaching didn&rsquo;t cause my condition, but it sure aggravated it.&rdquo;</p><p>He explained, &ldquo;Apparently, we have two lobes on our left lung and three on our right. The middle lobe on my right lung had collapsed and had to be removed because it was interferring with the function of the others.&rdquo;</p><p>Wren looked at the hockey schedule to work out the best time to be out for awhile and the operation was scheduled in six days. He says, &ldquo;I got shook when the doctor said there was some small &lsquo;life risk.&rsquo; He said it was only one or two percent. But in six days of waiting and thinking, you sure put yourself in that one or two percent before long.&rdquo;</p><p><b>IN DOING THE OPERATION,</b> surgeons made a long incision along his side and back, removed a rib and stretched others and did their delicate cutting and sewing. It took three hours. Afterwards? &ldquo;Oh, man it hurt,&rdquo; he confesses. He remembers the &ldquo;old biddies&rdquo; coming in hourly to coax him to cough to clear his lungs from threat of pnue-monia, but it hurt too much to cough. &ldquo;One used to threaten me with a tube which would hurt more. I damned her as a blackmailer,&rdquo; Wren grins. His wife worried herself almost sick. He admits he could not concentrate on hockey at that time. But he made a remarkably rapid recovery and was out of the hospital in 16 days and back at his desk in another two weeks and back on the road in another two weeks, and here he was in Los Angeles, looking marvellous and sounding pretty good, though still congested. He seemed a bit tired, too, but, as extroverted as ever, before we knew it, he wanted to show us his scar and was pulling off his tie and peeling off his coat and shirt and stripping to the waist right there in the Forum press room between periods.</p><p>He said, &ldquo;I feel great and they tell me I&rsquo;m better off than I&rsquo;ve been for years. I&rsquo;m looking forward to a long life. There&rsquo;s a lot of things I want to do yet.&rdquo; He has done magnificently in Minnesota, where his North Stars are now the most advanced of all the expansion teams. He has just paid $50,000 to own himself a Minnesota farm team in the International League in Saginaw, Michigan, where there is a beautiful new 5,476 seat arena, and is prepared to invest substantially in its success.</p><p>He did not ask for this story and will be embarrassed by it, but we write it to welcome him back, a hockey man with a heart, a colorful character with a lust for life, who proceeded through that most painful of professions, coaching, with nothing worse than complete collapse. His spirit remains splendid. When a writer reprimanded him for having screamed so much, Wren said, &ldquo;My screaming won us a lot of games.&rdquo; The writer laughed and said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad they didn&rsquo;t cut out your ego.&rdquo; And Wren laughed, too.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY HAL SIGURDSON</div><p>VANCOUVER&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Vancouver Canucks have already set a club record for consecutive losses and now they face the unnerving possibility of having to break out of their slump on the road.</p><p>When the Canucks were trimmed 5-1 at home Feb. 15 by the New York Rangers it marked their seventh straight losing effort.</p><p>Even in last season&rsquo;s maiden voyage through the NHL they never lost more than six in a row.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03576/2957410-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="263" height="398"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ron Ward</b></figcaption></div><p>To further complicate their plight, the Canucks schedule has them playing eight of their next 10 games on the road.</p><p>Seven of those games come in one, grueling 13-day journey.</p><p>In addition, the Canucks will have to come up with a sharp about face if they are going to equal last season&rsquo;s respectable debut of 24 wins and eight ties.</p><p>After 55 games of the current season, the Canucks have but 15 wins and five ties. That means they will have to win 21 points in their remaining 23 games to equal their first season record.</p><p>One of the many problems the Canucks face is the division in which they play. As members of the east division any realistic hopes of claiming a playoff position had vanished by Christmas.</p><p>But it they were in the west division, even their present meagre total would leave them with a chance of earning some playoff bonus money. With 35 points, they&rsquo;re only 11 points behind St. Louis, fourth in the west at this writing.</p><p>With the incentive of a playoff berth to dangle in front of his players, coach Hal Laycoe&rsquo;s job would be considerably easier. Even in their present losing streak, the club has been outclassed only twice.</p><p>They were never in contention during a 6-2 loss at home to Chicago. And when they lost 9-1 to the Bruins in Boston the score wasn&rsquo;t a true indication of the play. It could just as easily have been 15-1.</p><p>But in losses to Montreal, Phil-adelphia and New York at home and St. Louis and Pittsburgh on the road, the Canucks were very much in contention until the late stages.</p><p>Those losses were also imaginative. Against Montreal and Philadelphia, the Canucks ensured their defeat by giving up short-handed goals-one to Montreal&rsquo;s Jim Roberts, the other to Philadelphia&rsquo;s Bobby Clarke.</p><p>In St. Louis, the winning goal was scored when a defenseman lost the puck in front of his own net. In Pittburgh, the Penguins got the winning goal when an errant clearing pass bounced in off Jean Pronovost&rsquo;s shins.</p><p>The New York loss included a 165-foot goal scored by the Rangers&rsquo; Jean Ratelle. It was Ratelie&rsquo;s third goal of the game. He had just three shots at the Vancouver net.</p><p>In a desperation move, Laycoe pulled goaltender Dunc Wilson at 18:12 of the third period despite trailing 4-1. With the Rangers playing two men short, Laycoe reasoned he had nothing to lose.</p><p>He did. Ratelle won a faceoff in his own end and flipped a quick shot that found the empty net.</p><p>But there were a few bright spots. In Boston, the Canucks&rsquo; lone goal was scored by Rosie Paiement. It ended a 37-game scoring famine for the unlucky right winger.</p><p>Ron Ward, employed mostly as a penalty killer this season, scored his first NHL goal in Pittsburgh.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-03

Canucks Set Record They Don’t Want-Consecutive Losses

<div class="byline">BY DWAYNE NETLAND</div><p>TWIN CITIES&mdash;</p><p>It has been one of the incongruous truths of the long but eventful winter in Minnesota that Barry Gibbs has reached the summit of his National Hockey League career while handicapped with a broken jaw.</p><p>The young defenseman of the North Stars spent six weeks in physical misery after taking a right cross on the jaw from Detroit&rsquo;s Al Karlander in a game Jan. 5 at Metropolitan Sports Center.</p><p>He had the steel braces removed just recently, and a week later was able to dig into his first genuine sirloin steak in nearly two months. For the first two-thirds of his recuperation, Gibbs was confined only to a liquid diet, and then later was able to nibble on some chopped hamburger.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d hate to go through anything like that again,&rdquo; said Gibbs. &ldquo;I had trouble eating, breathing and sleeping. After the first few days, it wasn&rsquo;t as sore as it was inconvenient. I had to carry that food blender with me on the road all the time, and I never did get used to the feel of those braces.&rdquo;</p><p>Gibbs missed only three games with the injury. He returned wearing a special facial brace on his helmet, and it was apparent immediately that the enforced rest had done him no harm. Gibbs checked, carried the puck and shot with such gusto that even Barry&rsquo;s teammates were amazed.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been just tremendous,&rdquo; observed coach Jack Gordon. &ldquo;There have been times when he&rsquo;s done things that required a great deal of courage, things that involved a lot of risk.&rdquo;</p><p>Gordon was undoubtedly referring to an incident Feb. 10 at St. Louis. Gibbs, whose helmet had been brushed off his head, squared off against Mike Murphy of the Blues. The Minnesota bench was shouting at him to stay away, when suddenly Ted Harris appeared in front of Gibbs. Nothing further developed, but it isn&rsquo;t difficult to imagine what would have happened to Gibbs had one punch landed on his jaw.</p><p>Through it all, Gibss had reached a level of performance which the North Stars had envisioned for him when they obtained him from Boston in 1969. &ldquo;He really does a job out there,&rdquo; said Harris, Gibbs&rsquo; blue line partner. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s only 23, and he has a lot of hockey ahead of him.&rdquo;</p><p>In a season of notable accomplishements by the North Stars, Gibbs has been one of the team&rsquo;s most unherealded players. And yet nobody on the team has done his job with more consistency&hellip;or under greater physical duress.</p><p>The North Stars, meanwhile, were very much involved in the recent draft of the fledgling World Hockey Association. Gibbs, Bill Goldsworthy and Jude Drouin were all on the predraft negotiation list of the WHA; Harris was taken on the first round by Winnipeg, Ted&rsquo;s home town, and Gord Labossiere, with Cleveland, was picked by Day ton, also on the first round.</p><p>Cesare Maniago had originally been on a pre-draft negotiation list, too, but expressed his preference to remain in the NHL and was quickly abandoned by the WHA representatives.</p><p>Wren Blair, the Minnesota general manager, surveyed the draft results and couldn&rsquo;t resist coming up with a quip. &ldquo;Since most of the players drafted off our club were those I had traded for,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;it is most gratifying to me to confirm the fact that we made such good deals.&rdquo;</p><p>Both Blair and president Walter Bush of the North Stars, however, are anxious to lose no one to the WHA and are hopeful that the option clause will prevent any significant departures to the new league.</p><p><b>NORTH STAR NOTES:</b> Manaigo was struck near the right knee by a shot in the pregame warmup before the North Stars faced Philadelphia, so Gump Worsley was rushed in as a replacement and the North Stars whipped the Flyers 5-1 with Worsley making 36 saves. &ldquo;It was a little tough coming in cold like that,&rdquo; noted the Gumper. &ldquo;A goalie gets himself mentally ready all day for the game. You just don&rsquo;t walk in the building, put on the uniform and play. But these things are part of our job&rdquo;.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Six-Weeks’ Or deal Ended For Gibbs

<p>Following are the latest player movement in hockey:</p><h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2><p>TORONTO&mdash;<b>Jim Dorey</b>, defenseman, traded to New York in exchange for Pierre Jarry, forward.</p><p>BOSTON&mdash;<b>Don Awrey</b>, defenseman, recalled from Boston of AHL.</p><p>MONTREAL&mdash;<b>Dale Hoganson</b>, defenseman, recalled from Nova Scotia of AHL. <b>Reynald Comeau</b>, forward, returned to Nova Scotia.</p><p>ST. LOUIS&mdash;<b>Wayne Stephen-son</b>, goalkeeper, assigned to Kan-sas City of CHL. <b>Gord Kanne-giesser</b>, defenseman, recalled from Denver of WHL to replace <b>Andre Dupont</b>, defenseman. who went on injury list.</p><p>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;<b>Bob Taylor</b>, goalkeeper, recalled from Richmond of AHL to replace Don McLeod, goalkeeper, who went on injury list.</p><p>CALIFORNIA&mdash;<b>Craig Patrick</b>, forward, recalled from Baltimore of AHL. <b>Ken Baird</b>, defenseman, and <b>Ken Davidson</b>, forward, returned to Oklahoma City of CHL.</p><p>DETROIT&mdash;<b>Serge Lajeunesse</b>, defenseman, returned to Fort Worth of CHL.</p><p>NEW YORK&mdash;<b>Tom Williams</b>, forward, recalled from Omaha of CHL.</p><p>BUFFALO&mdash;<b>Ron Anderson</b>, forward, assigned to Salt Lake of WHL.,</p><p>MINNESOTA&mdash;<b>Bob Paradise</b>, defenseman, recalled from Seattle of WHL.</p><h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2><p>TIDEWATER&mdash;<b>Nelson Debenedet</b>. forward, recalled from Port Huron of IHL. <b>Brian Cropper</b>, goalkeeper, recalled from Port Huron for one game and returned.</p><p>SPRINGFIELD&mdash;<b>Bob Vroman</b>, goalkeeper, returned to Johnstown of EHL. <b>Billy Yeo</b>, goalkeeper, recalled from Sun Coast of EHL as backup netminder.</p><p>PROVIDENCE&mdash;<b>Wayne Wood</b>, goalkeeper, recalled from Omaha of CHL as backup netminder.</p><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2><p>DENVER&mdash;<b>JackKell</b>, defenseman, dropped from roster.</p><p>SEATTLE&mdash;<b>Hal Willis</b>, defenseman, dropped from roster.</p><h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2><p>OMAHA&mdash;<b>Wayne Bell</b>, goal-keeper, recalled from Des Moines of IHL as backup netminder.</p><p>TULSA&mdash;<b>Steve King</b>, forward, placed on disabled list for three weeks with fractured ankle.</p><p>DALLAS&mdash;<b>Don Gordon</b>, forward, placed on disabled list for six weeks with fractured ankle.</p><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2><p>FLINT&mdash;<b>Corky Agar</b>, forward, traded to Des Moines of IHL. <b>Leigh Bannister</b>, forward, released. <b>Larry Gibbons</b>, defenseman, quit team.</p><p>PORT HURON&mdash;<b>Al Globensky</b>, defenseman, and Brian McCutcheon, forward, both released.</p><h2>EASTERN LEAGUE</h2><p>LONG ISLAND&mdash;<b>John Rodger</b>, forward, secured from Charlotte of EHL on loan. <b>Dan Trem-blay</b>, forward, dropped from roster to make room for Derek Harker, defenseman.</p><p>CLINTON&mdash;<b>Brian Mo-Bratney</b>, defenseman, placed on suspeneded list.</p><p>ROANOKE&mdash;<b>Jack McCreary</b>, forward, dropped to make room on roster for J.C. Garneau, forward.</p><p>CHARLOTTE&mdash;<b>John Morrison</b>, forward, added to active roster. Blaine Rydman, defenseman, released.</p><p>NEW HAVEN&mdash;<b>Mike MoGiven</b>, forward, added to roster. <b>Bob Peters</b>, defeseman, on disa-bled list for rest of season to undergo back operation. <b>Denis Romanesky</b>, forward, placed on disabled list for rest of year.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Movements of Players

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><p>CHICAGO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>E</span>ven though they cost him a few sleepless nights and a brand new home, Chris Bordeleau evidenced no regrets about joining the Black Hawks from St. Louis early this month.</p><p>He leaped four places in the standings with one single phone call, and besides, he was sitting on his derriere with the Blues any-way. So when the jingle of bells awakened him from a pregame nap Feb. 8, there were no tears.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-01784/2957489-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="272" height="460"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Chris Bordeleau</b></figcaption></div><p>Bordeleau was informed that he&rsquo;d been exchanged for Danny O&rsquo;Shea. Size was the telling factor, he was also informed. He was about 165 pounds, O&rsquo;Shea weighed about 190. Sounds logical.</p><p>&ldquo;But I still don&rsquo;t really understand it,&rdquo; said Bordeleau. &ldquo;I was the same size for them last year, I played regularly against the top lines and I still scored 21 goals. Then all of a sudden this year, they weren&rsquo;t using me very much.&rdquo;</p><p>Bordeleau&rsquo;s situation was not aided by a broken left foot suffered in December. Yet, despite that and the decreased ice time, the 24-year-old center-left wing felt he was in good shape.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;All I want in Chicago is a chance,&rdquo; he said upon arriving in New York for a game the day after he was traded. &ldquo;I was a little surprised by it all, and I wasn&rsquo;t able to sleep the night after I heard about it, but I&rsquo;ll be all right.&rdquo;</p><p>Bordeleau and wife Jocelyn had just purchased a home in St. Louis, but their transition problems were eased somewhat because they had no little ones.</p><p>Bordeleau stressed that he was not bitter about his experiences in St. Louis (&ldquo;they treated me very well&rdquo;). But, as is natural for any athlete involved in bartering, the pride was amite dented.</p><p>The 1970-71 season was Borde-leau&rsquo;s first full one in the National Hockey League, and it was a good one. Besides his scoring knack, he showed a defensive prowess. This plus skating ability and a reputation as a scrappy performer, made him appear a well-rounded addition to the Chicago squad.</p><p>It didn&rsquo;t take too long for Bor-deleau to slip into the lineup. By the team&rsquo;s second outing, Coach Billy Reay had inserted him at left wing on the Hawks&rsquo; third line with center Lou Angotti and right wing Jim Pappin. Bordeleau bumped Bryan Campbell from the trio, but Reay indicated that he does not cherish the idea of Angotti performing regularly.</p><p>Although more often a center than a left wing, Bordeleau seemed to adapt quickly to the port side. It was this shift from his natural post as a pivot which started the beginning of the end for O&rsquo;Shea, a classy chap who completed his one year tenure in Chicago by struggling a bit.</p><p>O&rsquo;Shea was obtained in February, 1971, from Minnesota for defenseman-left wing Doug Mohns and minor leaguer Terry Caffery.</p><p>&ldquo;We certainly were pleased with O&rsquo;Shea&rsquo;s performance for us last season,&rdquo; said Chicago General Manager Tommy Ivan, &ldquo;but I couldn&rsquo;t say the same for him this year.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-01

New Hawk Off On Right Foot At Left Wing

<p>CHICAGO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>rd Schenk, the 27-year-old speed skater from The Netherlands who won three gold medals in the Winter Olympics at Sapporo, Japan, was placed on the negotiation list of the Chicago Black Hawks on Feb. 8.</p><p>General Manager Tommy Ivan submitted Schenk&rsquo;s name to the National Hockey League office in Montreal, thus allowing the Black Hawks first call on Schenk should the skating star wish to play pro hockey.</p><p>&ldquo;Bill Wirtz (team owner) gave me the idea,&rdquo; said Ivan. &ldquo;He feels that an athlete of that caliber and with that kind of ability must be able to help a hockey team in some way. So he asked me to do everything possible to get him into some phase of our organization.&rdquo;</p><p>Schenk won medals in the 1,500 5,000 and 10,000 meter speed skating events at Sapporo.</p><p>Each NHL team is allowed to list four amateur athletes on its negotiation list for the purpose of discussing contract. No consent is necessary from the individual for placing of names on the list. The teams are permitted one year to settle, after which the name must be dropped.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Hawks Tie Up Olympic Skater

f0011-01

BOSTON BROINS

f0012-01

THE ESPOSITOS KNOW THE SCORE, WHEN IT COMES TO HOCKEY SCHOOLS!

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03636/2957620-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Here is artist&rsquo;s version of what American Hockey Hall Of Fame building will look like when it is completed in Eveleth, Minn.</b></figcaption></div><p>EVELETH&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>M</span>innesota&rsquo;s hockey-playing Governor Wendell Anderson was on hand at Elevelth on Wednesday, February 16 as this community in the heart of Northeastern Minnesota&rsquo;s Iron Range broke ground for the first United States Hockey Hall of Fame.</p><p>Ceremonies were held at the Eveleth Area Technical School with remarks from Governor Anderson, a representative of 8th District Congressman John Blatnik (D. Minn), Eveleth Mayor Joseph Begich. and USHHF President Donald M. Clark.</p><p>Groundbreaking brings to a reality a project of the Eveleth Civic Association which began four years ago. Spearheaded by the Association&rsquo;s Project H. Committee, the turning point for the project was reached this past December when the Economic Development Administration through the accelerated public works program awarded a grant for $666,400 to the City of Eve-leth for the construction of the facility. The grant was secured under legislation authored by Representative Blatnik, and will be matched by $166,000 from private sources. A portion of the private funds have been raised and the remainder are expected to come from the successful completion of drives in Eveleth, Virginia, Hibbing and Duluth.</p><p>The United States Hockey Hall of Fame will honor those Americans who have made significant contributions to the sport as players, coaches, referees and administrators. However, more than this, the facility will cover all phases of hockey as played in the United States: high school, college, amateur, international, and professional. Display rooms will be devoted to these areas and there will also be a theater and library. Completion of the building is expected to take 14 months.</p><p>Eveleth&rsquo;s claim to fame is hockey: past, present, and future as the home of the United States Hockey. Hall of Fame. It is doubtful if any community of its size within the United States has contributed as much to the ice sport at all levels.</p><p>Eveleth has had a long hockey history extending back to the turn of the century. It has sent no less than eleven of its native sons into the National Hockey League, an extraordinary feat for an American town. Foremost among these is Frank Brimsek, the Boston Bruins&rsquo; legendary &ldquo;Mr. Zero&rdquo;, who backstopped his way to two Vezina Trophies and a Calder award during a 10-year career. Other Eveleth NHL players have been Mike Karakas, Sam LoPresti, John Mariucci, Joe Papike, Paul Schaeffer, Milt Brink, Al Suomi, and Rudy Ahlin (Chicago); Aldo Palazzari (Boston/New York); and Gary Gambucci (Minnesota). In the college ranks John Mayasich (University of Minnesota), John Matchefts and Willard Ikola (University of Michigan) were standout performers. The three joined with coach John Mariucci, now assistant to the Minnesota North Star&rsquo;s general manager Wren Blair, in bringing the United States a silver medal at the 1956 Olympics. The local high school has won the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament five times.</p><p>Don Clark, Cumberland, Wis., president of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, indicates that a selection committee is now being chosen to consider potential enshrinees.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re attempting to get men from both the East and West who have had long experience in working in and observing American hockey,&rdquo; comments Clark. &ldquo;In addition to this committee, we&rsquo;re also putting together a strictly media group to nominate current American players for a new award we intend to start giving next year.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01742/2957613-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="874" height="1339"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02688/2957606-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="1475" height="1395"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>While HOCKEY NEWS publisher KEN McKENZIE, left looks on, Hall Of Fame Executive Director ROGER GODIN points out highlights of new building, prior to ground-breaking ceremony at Eveleth, Minn. At right, McKenzie and Godin join a group of hockey enthusiasts from the Iron Range of Minnesota at one of their favorite hockey haunts&mdash;Mitch&rsquo;s Bar in Eveleth. Shown in front row from left are McKenzie, MITCH BATINICH, owner of the bar, Godin and JOHN KARAKAS, brother of former NHL goaler Mike Karakas. Hockey players, fans and officials have been gathering for years at Mitch&rsquo;s lounge, which has taken on a sports-celebrity look with its hockey-decked walls of past ice greats.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Hockey News Photo by Thomas&mdash;Leonard Studio)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0013-03

Ice Shrine To Be Built At Eveleth

<div class="byline">BY DAN PROUDFOOT</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01742/2957651-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Leafs&rsquo; netminder BERNIE PARENT stops for a drink after being shaken up on a play. Parent said he is considering WHA offer.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Hockey News Photo by Stevo Goldstein)</span></figcaption></div><p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he World Hockey Association has made much noise about luring players away from the National Hockey League, but so far only one NHL star has admitted openly he&rsquo;s ready to travel on.</p><p>He&rsquo;s Bernie Parent, the goaltender Toronto Maple Leafs consider to be the key to their future.</p><p>Parent&rsquo;s lawyer, Howard Casper of Philadelphia, gained his first infighting experience with Leaf general manager Jim Gregory during contract negotiations last fall, and he upset Gregory again in January by revealing Parent was headed for the Miami Screaming Eagles of the WHA.</p><p>Screaming Eagles, who are having difficulties constructing an arena in which to play, indicated they would pay Parent more than $600,000 for five years. Parent wouldn&rsquo;t move without a guarantee of payment, however, and Casper still was pursuing a suitable arrangement when this was written.</p><p>What was interesting, however, was the 26-year-old&rsquo;s open consideration of the move. Many players were investigating WHA possibilities, but wouldn&rsquo;t comment.</p><p>While Parent was the first to openly admit negotiating with the WHA, Bobby Hull of Chicago has since come out and declared Winnipeg Jets have offered him a five-year $2 million contract. Dale Tallon and Andre Boudrias have also admitted they&rsquo;ve had business with Miami of the new WHA. Tallon is asking $150,000 and Boudrias a more modest $100,000 for two seasons.</p><p>Leafs first reacted to Casper&rsquo;s admissions by saying Parent was under contract for next season. The WHA has stated it won&rsquo;t steal NHL players until their contracts have expired.</p><p>Casper parried by suggesting Parent might not be under contract at all.</p><p>Next, Leaf president Harold Ballard was quoted as saying Parent was free to go, if he was guaranteed $600,000. &ldquo;We wouldn&rsquo;t stand in his way if he has a chance to make that kind of money.&rdquo;</p><p>The controversy progressed when Clarence Campbell, president of the NHL, told the Globe and Mail that &ldquo;there&rsquo;s no way he can leave. We have options and he has a contract, so that&rsquo;s it.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an enforcable contract.&rdquo;</p><p>Campbell was referring to the reserve clause in the standard NHL contract which binds a player to his team as long as the team wants him. Campbell indicated the league believes the contract would stand up in court. Casper answered by saying the WHA thinks it won&rsquo;t.</p><p>The debate carried on with Parent saying little. But his belief, ever since he was traded to Leafs by Philadelphia Flyers, has been that an athlete&rsquo;s first loyalty must be to himself.</p><p>While Campbell, Casper and Leafs debated, their contradicting opinions smoking out of Montreal, Philadelphia and Toronto, Parent sat back and plucked his new guitar. The only thing bothering him, he said, was the blisters on his fingers&mdash;the result of his third lesson. The debaters did the worrying, Bernie played Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-01

Leafs’ Parent First To Admit $600,000 WHA Offer Inviting

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><p>LOS ANGELES&mdash;</p><p>Their streak of six straight games without a defeat ended on a disastrous road trip, the Los Angeles Kings came to the end of the third quarter of the present season with a disappointing 4-9-6 mark. For awhile it appeared they were on the way up, but this is falloff from their 8-12-0 of the second quarter and with it they fell back into the bottom of the league.</p><p>Barring a rally of surprising proportions, the Kings again will not make the playoffs. And they would have to win ten and tie six of their last 20 games to even match last season&rsquo;s figures. So this leaves them with individual considerations primarily, and their collective problems should not obliterate individual accomplishments, as, for example, those of Juha Widing, their best scorer at the three-quarter pole with 19 goals.</p><p>A handsome blonde, soft-spoken and reserved, Widing has the size and skills of a super star. The team MVP last season, few are aware he has been performing with pain from bone chips in his left elbow, which may require an operation later. &ldquo;I just have to live with it for now,&rdquo; he smiles.</p><p>Widing scored 25 goals in his first full season as a regular in the majors last season and has been on a similar pace this season. A swift skater and explosive scorer, he has gone in spurts this season. After scoring only four goals in the first 20 games, he had seven in one stretch of nine games and more recently five in a stretch of four games. &ldquo;I gained a lot of confidence last season,&rdquo; he says.</p><p>Last season, he centered the highest-scoring line in Kings&rsquo; history with Bob Berry and Mike Byers on the wings, but that was broken up and then Byers was traded this season. Widing was put on a line with Bob Pulford and Real Lemieux on the wings, but then he has played with other flankers, too.</p><p>He says, &ldquo;It helped to get in a groove with two guys going good last season and it was unsettling to be broken up this season. But when I&rsquo;ve been with good checkers like Pulford and Lemieux it has helped me a lot. They&rsquo;re unselfish players and they give a guy the puck, too.&rdquo;</p><p>A big man at 6-1 and 190 pounds, Widing has been criticised in the past for not being more aggressive. He was benched for awhile by coach Fred Glover this season, but brooded only briefly and went on a tear when he returned. Juha says, &ldquo;If I&rsquo;d sat out too long it might have hurt my confidence, but coach timed my return just right, just when I was getting mad.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01716/2957682-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="550" height="732"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JUHA WIDING&hellip;May Face Surgery</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;I asked the coach why he sat me down and he said I wasn&rsquo;t checking. I hadn&rsquo;t thought about it. So I thought about it and decided he was right. I&rsquo;ve been con-centrating more on checking since then.&rdquo;</p><p>Curiously, players often say when they&rsquo;re playing defense it helps their offense. Widing is one, explaining, &ldquo;Playing defense gets you involved in the whole game. When you&rsquo;re working and skating and alert, you get more breaks.</p><p>&ldquo;It also stops you from pressing if you don&rsquo;t score if you&rsquo;ve stopped the other guys from scoring, too. You go away from the arena at least feeling you&rsquo;ve earned your pay.&rdquo;</p><p>Born in Finland and apprenticed in Sweden and Canada, when he goes home it is to a rented house in the L.A. suburbs, a lovely wife from Canada, Susan, and a 4&frac12;-year-old son, Jimmy. &ldquo;We like L.A. and might settle here, but the way this team turns over its hard to feel secure,&rdquo; he admits.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-01

Widing Top Produ ter With Only 19 Goals

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01563/2957825-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"></div><h2><b>TOP 25 SCORERS</b></h2><p><b>(Including games of Sunday, Feb. 20)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02486/2957818-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="1440" height="906"></div><h2><b>BOSTON Bruins</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03385/2957811-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="747" height="760"></div><h2><b>BUFFALO Sabres</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04304/2957804-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="742" height="763"></div><h2><b>CALIFORNIA Seals</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05230/2957797-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="751" height="767"></div><h2><b>CHICAGO Black Hawks</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-06183/2957790-1-eng-US/f0016-062.jpg" title="f0016-06" width="745" height="739"></div><h2><b>DETROIT Red Wings</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-07170/2957783-1-eng-US/f0016-072.jpg" title="f0016-07" width="749" height="754"></div><h2><b>LOS ANGELES Kings</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-08154/2957776-1-eng-US/f0016-082.jpg" title="f0016-08" width="743" height="692"></div><h2><b>MINNESOTA North Stars</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-09133/2957769-1-eng-US/f0016-092.jpg" title="f0016-09" width="740" height="772"></div><h2><b>MONTREAL Canadiens</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-10113/2957762-1-eng-US/f0016-102.jpg" title="f0016-10" width="751" height="764"></div><h2><b>NEW YORK Rangers</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1199/2957755-1-eng-US/f0016-112.jpg" title="f0016-11" width="747" height="789"></div><h2><b>PHILADELPHIA Flyers</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1283/2957748-1-eng-US/f0016-122.jpg" title="f0016-12" width="745" height="782"></div><h2><b>PITTSBURGH Penguins</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1372/2957741-1-eng-US/f0016-132.jpg" title="f0016-13" width="739" height="838"></div><h2><b>ST. LOUIS Blues</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1466/2957734-1-eng-US/f0016-142.jpg" title="f0016-14" width="747" height="813"></div><h2><b>TORONTO Maple Leafs</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1558/2957727-1-eng-US/f0016-152.jpg" title="f0016-15" width="740" height="860"></div><h2><b>VANCOUVER Canucks</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1655/2957720-1-eng-US/f0016-162.jpg" title="f0016-16" width="736" height="756"></div><h2>NHL&rsquo;S EAST-WEST SCOREBOARD</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1748/2957713-1-eng-US/f0016-172.jpg" title="f0016-17" width="1433" height="362"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0016-01

PLAYERS SCORING PENALTY RECORDS

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div><p>ST. LOUIS&mdash;</p><p>Jack Egers calls his first hat trick in the National Hockey League &ldquo;my biggest individual thrill.&rdquo;</p><p>Egers&rsquo; 16th, 17th and 18th goals of the current season came in a winning effort against the New York Rangers, Blues. And, more importatntly to Egers, it came against proven All Star goalie Ed Giacomin.</p><p>&ldquo;Giacomin is one of the best in the league,&rdquo; Egers said. &ldquo;Just look at his record over the years.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01476/2957856-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="264" height="440"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Jack Egers</b></figcaption></div><p>The Rangers were trying to clear the puck out of their own end in the first period when Egers got the puck and lofted a 20-foot shot over Giacomin&rsquo;s shoulder. In the second period the Blues had a two-man advantage when Garry Unger passed to Egers behind the net, and Egers pumped another goal between Giacomin&rsquo;s legs from the corner of the crease. The hat trick came when Egers took the puck from Mike Murphy and raced all the way down the ice for a 25-foot shot.</p><p>Egers&rsquo; St. Louis teammates weren&rsquo;t able to get to him immediately to congratulate him, because the happy young man was jumping into the air and swinging his stick above his head.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t usually get that excited,&rdquo; he said later, &ldquo;but I was really excitea about the hat trick.&rdquo;</p><p>After the St. Louis players had offered their congratulations, Brad Park, coming off the New York bench, gave Egers an unobtrusive swat on the pants, and several other Rangers skated within speaking distance of their former teammate.</p><p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re all my good friends,&rdquo; Egers said. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t been gone from the Rangers that long.&rdquo;</p><p>Egers, Murphy and Andre Dupont came to the Blues Nov. 15 in the trade that sent Gene Carr, Wayne Connelly and Jim Lorentz to New York.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t hold anything against Emile Francis for trading me,&rdquo; Egers said. &ldquo;He gave me to a club where I could play.&rdquo;</p><p>Egers has been playing on a line with Unger and Murphy and he rates the night of his hat trick as &ldquo;the gest game our line ever played.&rdquo;</p><p>Calling it his biggest thrill is a milestone for the 23-year-old Egers, who also had the thrill of scoring a goal on his very first shot in Stanley Cup play. That achievement came two years ago when the Boston Bruins won the Cup. The Ranger rookie, brand new to the NHL, sped past Rick Smith and sent a savage shot past Gerry Cheevers.</p><p>The future looked very bright for the kid from Lively, Ont. He had played on the Kitchener Junior B team for two years, then the Kitchener Junior A team for two more seasons before turning pro at Omaha in 1968. He had a shoulder separation his first pro season but scored 27 goals. The following season he led the Central Hockey League in scoring with 42 goals and 48 assists to earn his chance with the Rangers at the end of the season and in the playoffs. Egers had three goals and an assist in five playoff games against Boston.</p><p>But last season with the Rangers he suffered a concussion in a game in November against Minnesota, and the injury limited his playing time nearly all season. This season the Rangers were off to a terrific start. Francis decided that 1) he wanted Carr, the husky St. Louis rookie picked as the Blues&rsquo; top choice in the junior draft, and 2) Egers was expendable.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d played regularly in only two games for New York this season before the trade was made,&rdquo; he sais. &ldquo;In the 15 others I was either spotted or didn&rsquo;t play at all.&rdquo;</p><p>But Egers is playing regularly now, and the goals are coming more often&mdash;like three in one game.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-01

First Hat Trick In NHL Biggest Thrill For Egers

<p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>E</span>ven though he is only the second player to score more than 50 goals in two different seasons and the first player to gain more than 100 points in three different seasons, Boston center Phil Esposito cannot shake off the challenge of New York Rangers&rsquo; Jean Ratelle in the National Hockey League&rsquo;s individual scoring race.</p><p>Both players passed the 100-point mark last week and are tied for the lead with 102 points each. Esposito&rsquo;s total, of course, includes a leagueleading 51 goals. He scored 76 last season and thus joins Bobby Hull of Chicago as the only players to score 50 or more goals more than once. Hull, who now has 39 goals with 19 games left to play, has reached the 50-or-more-goal mark four times.</p><p>Ratelle led all scorers last week with seven goals and 11 points to give him 43 goals and 59 assists for the season. He has broken all three Ranger club records, formerly held by Andy Bathgate, who in 1958-59 set the goal record with 40 and the point mark with 88. In 1961-62 he set the assist record with 56.</p><p>Bobby Orr of Boston maintained his four-point lead in third place with 92 points, including a leading 65 assists. Eight more points will give him his third 100-or-more-point season.</p><p>Here is a breakdown of the points by Esposito and Ratelie:&hellip;</p><h2>Against pre-1967 Teams Home</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-06191/2957894-1-eng-US/f0017-062.jpg" title="f0017-06" width="541" height="166"></div><h2>Against post-1967 Teams Home</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-07169/2957887-1-eng-US/f0017-072.jpg" title="f0017-07" width="541" height="187"></div><p>Esposito and the Bruins have four more home games against pre-1967 teams and four more on the road. They have four more home games against post-1967 teams and six more on the road. Rangers and Ratelie&rsquo;s remaining-game breakdown: four at home against pre-1967 teams and seven on the road; six at home against post-1967 teams and two on the road.</p><p>The goaltending race, meanwhile, still belongs to Chicago&rsquo;s combination of Tony Esposito and Gary Smith with a combined average of 2.05. Second is Boston&rsquo;s Gerry Cheevers and Ed Johnston with 2.20. Esposito leads in shutouts with seven.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-06

NHL WEEK—In Review

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02423/2957939-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="674" height="432"></div><h2><b>THE TOP NETMINDERS</b></h2><p><b>(Including games of Sunday, Feb. 20)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03349/2957932-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="1126" height="341"></div><h2><b>COMPLETE GOALKEEPING RECORDS FOR NHL TEAMS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04274/2957925-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="1126" height="2246"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0017-02

LOOKING AT NHL GOALERS

<div class="byline">BY JOHN PORTER</div><p>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER <b>HOCKEY STICKS</b> Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><p>OAKLAND&mdash;</p><p>&ldquo;I was injured the worst to-night,&rdquo; said Vic Stasiuk after one of the roughest games played this season at the Coliseum Arena.</p><p>The California Golden Seals coach was limping around the dressing room after his club beat Philadelphia, 3-2, but his sore foot was caused by one of his own players, or more specifically, his own bench.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01481/2957970-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="297" height="440"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ernie Hicke</b></figcaption></div><p>Seals&rsquo; center Bobby Sheehan jumped up at one point and tipped the heavy wooden bench over backwards onto stasiuk&rsquo;s big toe. Last season, the bench fell on trainer Barry Keast&rsquo;s foot, resulting in a fractured bone. Stasiuk&rsquo;s injury, however, wasn&rsquo;t that serious.</p><p>Willing to discuss his sore foot, Stasiuk became mum when asked about the aches and pains of his charges. Where no policy existed before, the Seals were now denying everything and refusing comment when it came to medical matters.</p><p>The action, precipitated by general manager Garry Young, was understandable. Many clubs in the National Hockey League are overly-cautious when it comes to talking about injuries.</p><p>But the Seals ran into trouble when it was discovered winger Ernie Hicke, the club&rsquo;s leading goal-scorer last season, was limping and unable to play two games later in a 6-3 loss in Boston Garden.</p><p>Hicke said he hurt himself in practice the day before the game and Young backed him up. The trainers refused to comment and Stasiuk said he couldn&rsquo;t discuss it because of California&rsquo;s &ldquo;no comment&rdquo; policy on injuries.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not that bad,&rdquo; said Young. &ldquo;Ernie will be back in a couple of games.&rdquo;</p><p>No one outside of the club knew what was wrong with Eicke, except that he had a limp and would be out a couple of games. The whole issue would have died right there, except Hicke never skated in that practice.</p><p>A team member, who requested anonymity, told one re porter that Hicke banged up his knee in a car accident the night before the practice.</p><p>Confronted with this news, team officials still had no comment.</p><p>In light of all this concern over injuries, it should be noted that California has been extremely lucky this season. Last year, the club was riddled with sidelined players.</p><p>Outside of Tom Webster, who is out for the season after playing five games for the club, the Seals have been fairly healthy.</p><p>In the rough-house game with the Flyers, Seals&rsquo; defenseman Paul Shmyr was in the thick of the hitting, and afterwards Young said it was because Philadelphia knew Shmyr was playing with a broken thumb.</p><p>With California scrapping down to the wire for the playoffs, and with few reserves down on the farm, the Seals aren&rsquo;t taking any chances in talking about injured players.</p><p>And that includes Ernie Hicke.</p><p><b>SEAL NOTES:</b> Winger Norm Ferguson took 13 stitches in one week. He fell to the ice and needed eight on the back of his head, and in another game was slashed by Boston&rsquo;s Ace Bailey and required five under his right eye&hellip;California returned rookie defenseman Ken Baird, called up on emergency to replace Shmyr, to Oklahoma City&hellip;At the same time, the Seals recalled right wing Craig Patrick from Baltimore.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-01

Cautious Seals Clamp Lid On Injuries In Latest Move

<h2><b>In The East</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>f the New York Rangers happen to fall short in their season-long battle with the Boston Bruins for top spot in the National Hockey League East Division, it certainly won&rsquo;t be due to any lack of effort on the part of star center Jean Ratelle.</p><p>Ratelle, who pivots hockey&rsquo;s hottest line together with wingers Vic Hadfield and Rod Gilbert, has made it abundantly clear from the season-opening faceoff last fall that 1971-72 is going to be his big year in the NHL, and shows no sign of slackening the pace.</p><p>This past week the smooth-skating native of Lac St. Jean, Que., struck for seven goals and helped on four others to lead all scorers. The big week pushed his year&rsquo;s point total to 102, making him the first shooter in Ranger history to break the century point barrier in a single season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02389/2958008-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="568" height="684"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JEAN RATELLE&hellip;New York Rangers</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>In The West</b></h2><p>Last season, Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; winger Bob Berry was riding high in the National Hockey League as a member of the Kings&rsquo; potent &ldquo;Bee Line&rdquo; with a total of 25 goals to show for his year&rsquo;s work.</p><p>This year, things haven&rsquo;t been going quite as smoothly for the hard-working 5&rsquo;11&rdquo;, 185 lb. Montreal product, but if more weeks like the past one keep pop-ping up on his record, it won&rsquo;t be long until he surpasses his 1970-71 figures.</p><p>Berry notched a total of five points in three Kings&rsquo; games with the big game coming when he figured in four of the Kings&rsquo; five goals&mdash;two goals and two assists&mdash;in the team&rsquo;s important 5-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks. That raised his season&rsquo;s total to 16 goals and 14 assists.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03289/2958001-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="576" height="598"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BOB BERRY&hellip;. Los Angeles Kings</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0018-02

Player’s of the week

<p><b>C-Captain</b></p><p><b>A-Alternate Captain</b></p><h2><b>MONTREAL</b></h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Phil Myre</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><p>Dale Hoganson</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Henri Richard C</p><p>Pete Mohovlich</p><p>Rey Comoau</p><p>Larry Pleau</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Yuan Coumoyer</p><p>Guy Lafleur</p><p>Jim Roberts</p><p>Rejean Houle</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Frank Mohovlich A</p><p>Jacques Lemaire</p><p>Claude Larose</p><p>Marc Tordif</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Terry Harper A.</p><h2><b>CHICAGO</b></h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Tony Esposito</p><p>Gary Smith</p><p>Gerry Desjardins</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Pat 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 Martin</p><p>Bryan Campbell</p><p>Lou Angotti</p><p>Andre Lacgoix</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>Chris Bordeleau</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p><b>None</b></p><h2><b>BOSTON</b></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>Mott 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>Don Marcotte</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Ken Hodge</p><p>Mike Walton</p><h2><b>ST. LOUIS</b></h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Ernie Wakely</p><p>Jacques Caron</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Andre Dupont</p><p>Barclay Plager A</p><p>Bill Plager</p><p>Larry Hornung</p><p>Bob Plager A</p><p>Carl Brewer A</p><p>Gord Kannegiesser</p><p>John Arbour</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Garry Unger</p><p>Terry Crisp</p><p>Frank St. Marseille A</p><p>Danny O&rsquo;Shea</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>Jock Egers</p><p>Brion Lavender</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Noel Picard</p><h2><b>DETROIT</b></h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Al Smith</p><p>Joe Daley</p><p>Andy Brown</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Gary Bergman A</p><p>Amie 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 Karlander</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Mickey Redmond</p><p>Bill Collins</p><p>Doug Volmor</p><p>Leon Rochefort</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Nick Libett</p><p>Danny Johnson</p><p>Guy Charron</p><p>Tim Ecclestone</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Ron Harris</p><h2><b>CALIFORNIA</b></h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Gilles Meloche</p><p>Gary Kurt</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Carol Vadnais C</p><p>Bert Marshall A</p><p>Marshall Johnston</p><p>Dick Redmond</p><p>Paul Shmyr</p><p>Ken Baird</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Walt McKechnie</p><p>Ivan Boldirev</p><p>Ken Davidson</p><p>Bobby Sheehan</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Norm Ferguson A</p><p>Gerry Pinder A</p><p>Wayne Carleton</p><p>Craig Patrick</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Gary Croteau</p><p>Stan Gilbertson</p><p>Garry Jarrett</p><p>Joey Johnston</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Tom Webster</p><p>Ernie Hicke</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><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><p>Pierre Jarry</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 Favell</p><p>Bob Taylor</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Barry Ashbee A</p><p>Wayne Hillman</p><p>Ed Van Impe</p><p>Joe Watson</p><p>Rick Foley</p><p>Jean Potvin</p><p>Brent Hughes</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>Gary Dornhoefer A</p><p>Lew Morrison</p><p>Bill Flett</p><p>Simon Nole</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Jean-Guy Gendron</p><p>Bob Kelly</p><p>Mike Porizeau</p><p>Ross Lansberry</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Bruce Gamble</p><p>Don McLeod</p><h2>NEW YORK</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Ed Giacomin</p><p>Gillos Villemuro</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Brad Park A</p><p>Jim Neilson A</p><p>Rod Seiling</p><p>Gary Doak</p><p>Dale Rolfe</p><p>Jim Dorey</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Jean Ratelle</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>Bruce MacGregor</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Vic Hadfield C</p><p>Ted Irvine</p><p>Glen Sather</p><p>Gene Carr</p><p>Tom Williams</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Ab DeMarco</p><h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Jim Rutherford</p><p>Les Binkley</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Darryl Edestrand</p><p>Dave Burrows</p><p>Sheldon Kannegiesser</p><p>Bryan Watson</p><p>Tim Horton A</p><p>Duane Rupp</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Ron Schock</p><p>Rene Robert</p><p>Bryan Hextali</p><p>Syl Apps</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Nick Harbaruk</p><p>Ken Schinkel A</p><p>Jean Pronovost</p><p>Al McDonough</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Greg Polis</p><p>Bobby Leitor</p><p>Steve Cardwell</p><p>Vai Fonteyne</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Keith McGreary A</p><h2><b>BUFFALO</b></h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Roger Crozier</p><p>Dave Dryden</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Al Hamilton A</p><p>Jim Watson</p><p>Chris Evans</p><p>Tracy Pratt.</p><p>Ray McKay</p><p>Mike Robitaille</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Gerry Meehan C</p><p>Don Luce</p><p>Jim Lorentz</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Ron Anderson</p><p>Steve Atkinson</p><p>Kevin O&rsquo;Shea</p><p>Eddie Shack</p><p>Mike Byers</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Danny Lawson</p><p>Richard Martin</p><p>Craig Ramsay</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Larry Hillman</p><p>Gilbert Perreault A</p><h2><b>LOS ANGELES</b></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>Gilles Marotte A</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Ralph Backstrom A</p><p>Butch Goring</p><p>Juha Widing</p><p>Jimmy Johnson</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Lucien Grenier</p><p>Serge Bernier</p><p>Mike Corrigan</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Bob Berry</p><p>Bob Pulford C</p><p>Real Lemieux</p><p>Bill Usuk</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Larry Brown</p><p>Rogation Vachon</p><h2>VANCOUVER</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Dune Wilson</p><p>George Gardner</p><h3>DEFENSE</h3><p>Pat Quinn</p><p>Jocelyn Guevromont</p><p>Dennis Keams</p><p>John Scholia</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>Rosaire Paiement</p><p>Bobby Schmautz</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Wayne Maki</p><p>Ted Taylor</p><p>Dave Baton</p><p>Dale Tallon A</p><p>Poul Popiel</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Barry Wilkins</p><h2>MINNESOTA</h2><h3>GOAL</h3><p>Cesare Maniago</p><p>Lome 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><p>Bob Paradise</p><h3>CENTER</h3><p>Ted Hampson</p><p>Murray Oliver</p><p>Charlie Burns A</p><p>Jude Drouin</p><p>Dennis Hextali</p><h3>R. WING</h3><p>Bill Goldsworthy</p><p>Lou Nanne</p><p>Bob Nevin</p><h3>L. WING</h3><p>Danny Grant</p><p>Dean Prentice</p><p>Jean-PaulPanse A.</p><h3>INJURED</h3><p>Craig Cameron<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

NHL Team Rosters

<div class="byline">BY ED CONRAD</div><p>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;</p><p>The place was the Flyers&rsquo; dressing room in Buffalo&rsquo;s Mem-orial Coliseum and the time was midway through the final period.</p><p>Doug Favell, who was removing his goaltending equipment after being ejected from the contest, saw the door open and then could hardly believe his eyes. Don McLeod, who had replaced him in the net, had injured his knee and was being assisted into the dressing room.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0749/2958269-1-eng-US/f0020-072.jpg" title="f0020-07" width="265" height="481"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Doug Favell</b></figcaption></div><p>This meant, if McLeod were unable to continue, the Flyers would have to finish the game with (a) a forward playing goal, or (b) a non-team member doing so.</p><p>&ldquo;I really felt like a heel,&rdquo; said Doug. &ldquo;I never should have gotten thrown out. I should have used my head. I figured I definitely cost us the game.&rdquo;</p><p>Favell, who had returned to the starter&rsquo;s role because of the heart attack suffered by fellow goaltender Bruce Gamble, had protested referee John Ashley&rsquo;s decision permitting a goal by the Sabres&rsquo; Jim Lorentz which tied the game 3-3 late in the second period. Favell argued that the goal should have been disallowed since Buffalo&rsquo;s Mike Byers was in the crease at the time. Ashley contended that Flyer defnseman Ed Van Impe had pushed Byers into the crease.</p><p>Favell admitted he used some purple prose. &ldquo;I cursed him,&rdquo; said Doug. &ldquo;I called him a homer. I told him he was afraid to wave off the goal.&rdquo;</p><p>Goalies are often given miscon-duct penalties, but it is highly unusual for a goaltenders to get ejected. When he did, McLeod, who had been recalled as an emergency replacement from Providence, entered the contest.</p><p>He was touched for a goal by Allan Hamilton which gave Buffalo a 4-3 lead early in the final period, Then, at the 4:22 mark, Don was injured when struck by a stick by Rick Martin during a flurry in front of the net.</p><p>Sabres&rsquo; physician Dr. Joseph Sheedy, who treated McLeod, advised him not to return to action.</p><p>That&rsquo;s when the Flyers had to come up with a goaltender in a hurry or else forfeit the game. Winger Gary Dornhoefer volunteered to play the position in the dire emergency but coach Fred Shero thought of Don Uren, the Sabres&rsquo; assistant trainer who once played a game for him in the Eastern Professional League.</p><p>Apparently Uren was agreeable but Sabres&rsquo; acting coach Joe Crozier turned thumbs down on the idea. So McLeod, defying doctor&rsquo;s orders, returned to the. ice.</p><p>What happened after that was one of the Flyers&rsquo; pleasant memories of a not too-bright season. The team, trailing 4-3, rallied for a 4-4 tie on Bobby Clarke&rsquo;s goal. They salvaged the deadlock as McLeod turned in several outstanding saves despite his injury.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-07

Fuvell’s Ouster From Game Caught Flyers Short In Goal

<div class="byline">&#x2014;CONRAD</div><p>OAKLAND&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Flyers and their fans are still keeping their fingers crossed that Bruce Gamble will return to health, whether or not he plays another NHL game.</p><p>Gamble, who was recuperating in Merritt Hospital here following an apparent heart seizure, was expected to return to Philadelphia where the Flyers were anxious to have their own physicians examine him more thoroughly at Lankenau Hospital.</p><p>Gamble, 33, definitely will not play another game this season and his NHL career may be permanently ended.</p><p>During his initial hospital stay, Gamble was deluged with get well cards and letters.</p><p>The Flyer Fan Club and other groups were contemplating projects which would financially help Gamble, who has three children.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Fans Pulling For Gamble

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-08" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0842/2958331-1-eng-US/f0020-082.jpg"></div><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Feb. 22)</b></p><h2><b>EAST DIVISION</b></h2><h2><b>WEST DIVISION</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0929/2958324-1-eng-US/f0020-092.jpg" title="f0020-09" width="1100" height="341"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tues. Feb. 15</b></p><p>New York 5 at Vancouver 1</p><p>California 3 at Boston 6</p><p>Chicago 3 at St. Louis 2</p><p><b>Wed. Feb. 16</b></p><p>California 1 at Montreal 1</p><p>Toronto 2 at Pittsburgh 4</p><p>Philadelphia 3 at Chicago 3</p><p>St. Louis 3 at Los Angeles 1</p><p><b>Wed. Feb. 16</b></p><p>California 1 at Montreal 1</p><p>Toronto 2 at Pittsburgh 4</p><p>Detroit 2 at Minnesota 4</p><p>Philadelphia 3 at Chicago 3</p><p>St. Louis 3 at Chicago 3</p><p>St. Louis 3 at Los Angeles 1</p><p><b>Thur. Feb. 17</b></p><p>New York 6 at Los Angeles 4</p><p>Boston 4 at Philadelphia 1</p><p>Pittsburgh 2 at Buffalo 0</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 18</b></p><p>New York 2 at California 2</p><p>St. Louis 2 at Vancouver 5</p><p><b>Sat Feb. 19</b></p><p>Philadelphia 1 at Montreal 3</p><p>Buffalo 1 at Toronto 4</p><p>Boston 6 at Minnesota 4</p><p>Detroit 6 at Pittsburgh 2</p><p>Vancouver 3 at Los Angeles 5</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 20</b></p><p>Montreal 4 at Buffalo 0</p><p>Toronto 1 at Philadelphia 3</p><p>Detroit 3 at New York 4</p><p>Boston 3 at Chicago 1</p><p>Pittsburgh 0 at Minnesota 2</p><p>St. Louis 4 at California 4</p><h2><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h2><p><b>Tues. Feb. 22</b></p><p>New York at Montreal</p><p>Toronto at Detroit</p><p>Boston at Vancouver</p><p><b>Wed. Feb. 23</b></p><p>Pittsburgh at Toronto</p><p>Philadelphia at New York</p><p>Boston at California</p><p>Buffalo at Chicago</p><p>St. Louis at Los Angeles</p><p><b>Thur. Feb. 24</b></p><p>Montreal at Minnesota</p><p>Vancouver at Detroit</p><p>Chicago at Buffalo</p><p><b>Sat Feb. 26</b></p><p>Detroit at Montreal</p><p>Vancouver at Toronto</p><p>Boston at Los Angeles</p><p>California at Chicago</p><p>Philadelphia at Pittsburgh</p><p>St. Louis at Minnesota</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 27</b></p><p>Pittsburgh at Montreal (afternoon)</p><p>St. Louis at New York</p><p>Philadelphia at Detroit</p><p>California at Buffalo</p><p>Vancouver at Chicago</p><p><b>Tues. Feb. 29</b></p><p>Vancouver at Detroit</p><p><b>TV HOCKEY</b></p><p><b>CBS Game Of Week</b></p><p>Sun. Feb. 27 Philadelphia at Detroit 1:30 p.m.</p><p><b>Hockey Night In Canada</b></p><p>Sat. Feb. 26 Detroit at Montreal, 8 p.m.</p><p>Wed. Mar. 1 Buffalo at Montreal, 8 p.m.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-08

NHL SCOREBOARD

<div class="byline">BY BILL HEWITT</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01166/2958369-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="339" height="345"></div><p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>N</span>eedless to say, in my role as play-by-play commentator for the Hockey Night in Canada telecast crew from Toronto I&rsquo;ve been witness to&mdash;indeed vocal participant in&mdash;almost countless exciting hockey games. I&rsquo;ve often been asked to name the games, or events, which stand out most in my recollection as particularly thrilling, important or historic for one reason or another. And my answer has always been, &ldquo;there have been so many terrific games and great players that it is almost impossible to select a few as being more memorable to me than the rest.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02122/2958362-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="266" height="445"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bill Hewitt</b></figcaption></div><p>That kind of an answer might not be acceptable to some, but how do you differentiate between a Bobby Hull in full flight, the magic of Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe effortlessly leading the Red Wings, the fire of Rocket Richard and the great moments of others like Schmidt, Keon, Mikita, Arm-strong, Beliveau, Esposito and all the rest who have thrilled us all? Sure, I remember a lot of important games, and great scoring plays and goaltending duels but there have been so many exciting years for me up in the gondola at the Gardens that I can&rsquo;t separate one from the rest.</p><p>My life in the gondola&mdash;and the dozens of other broadcast booths I&rsquo;ve worked in around the country&mdash;all began in December of 1936. In the early years of the Gardens and the Maple Leafs, one night a year had been designated &ldquo;Young Canada Night&rdquo;. It was a promotion designed to sell tickets&mdash;the games weren&rsquo;t all sellouts in those days and interest the youngsters in the Leaf team. I&rsquo;ve often wondered since how many of the current Leaf subscribers saw their first Leaf game on one of those &ldquo;nights&rdquo;.</p><p>At any rate, to carry on the &ldquo;Young Canada Night theme, someone thought of the idea of having me do a few minutes of play-by-play alongside my dad. When the idea was put to me, it sounded like fun, and remember&mdash;I was only 8 years old&mdash;so I didn&rsquo;t know enough to be worried.</p><p>Oddly enough, I don&rsquo;t recall very much, if anything, about that first broadcast, except for one thing. The catwalk leading out to the gondola, and the ladder which dropped down into the booth from the girders above, was not designed for kids! I was too young to be entrusted with the task of get ting into the gondola on my own, so someone devised a rope sling, and I was gently lowered down into the booth and hauled out the same way.</p><p>Broadcasters work in some strange locations and odd things happen to us which the public seldom hears about. Once in a playoff game in Boston, a Bruin fan dropped a lighted cigarette into my overcoat pocket. Before any of us noticed what had happened, a hole burned through my overcoat, suitcoat and pants! Another time, a little old lady in Chicago, back in the days when we boradcasted from the first row of the second balcony seats, thumped me solidly with a satchel-like purse and those same boisterous Hawk fans doused me with beer on another occasion.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0021-01

LA SOIRÉE DU HOCKEY

<div class="byline">BY CHARLEY BARTON</div><p>BUFFALO&mdash;</p><p>Richard Martin set a rookie record for goals as the National Hockey League moved into its final weeks.</p><p>The 20-year-old left-winger tied the record at 38 when he connected against the Philadelphia Flyers here in a 4-4 tie and then established the new standard at Toronto scoring the only goal for the Sabres in a 4-1 setback.</p><p>The record was set a year ago by Martin&rsquo;s linemate, Gilbert Perreault. The two also were teammates with the Montreal Junior Canadiens, but never player on the same line.</p><p>Martin connected for No. 38 in game No. 57 of a 78-game schedule. Perreault scored his 38th a year ago in the 78th and last game of the schedule.</p><p>Thus, 21 games ahead of Per-reault&rsquo;s pace, Martin was virtually a cinch score at least 45. Of their remaining 18 games, the Sabres will play 8 at home and 10 on the road.</p><p>Martin has scored 17 goals in Memorial Auditorium and the remaining 22 on the road. He has collected 18 power-play scores.</p><p>Meanwhile the medical people will chart a course of future activities for Punch Imlach, but the ailing general manager and coach of the Sabres isn&rsquo;t quite certain what he will do with their advice.</p><p>&ldquo;One thing is for sure, and that is that I won&rsquo;t be coaching any more this season,&rdquo; Imlach said at his home in suburban Toronto, where he is recovering from the heart attack he suffered Jan. 7.</p><p>The 53-year-old Imlach spent 25 days in the Deaconess Hospital, including 12 in the intensive care unit. He was discharged and told to return to his home for an indefinite period of further recuperation.</p><p>&ldquo;The doctors eventually will give me the answers, and then I&rsquo;ll have to make up my mind,&rdquo; Imlach said. &ldquo;Right now, I just want to get better.</p><p>&ldquo;I hope to be able to leave the house and see a hockey game in person soon, but at the moment I&rsquo;m following the games through the newspapers and the radio and TV. I&rsquo;m been in hockey all of my life, and it isn&rsquo;t a simple matter to leave it.</p><p>&ldquo;I have a pointments coming up with my doctors in Buffalo and in Toronto, and at this moment there isn&rsquo;t any way I can make any kind of decision on what I will do in the future. I can feel my strength returning, and I&rsquo;m told it will be three or four months before I get it all back.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m carefully watching my weight and my diet. I&rsquo;m at 163 pounds now, the weight I was at as a player, and I&rsquo;d like to keep it there.&rdquo;</p><p>Imlach&rsquo;s wife, Dodo, is certain to insist on a lighter work load for her husband, and is anxious for him to curtail his activities. If the doctors, as expected, tell him to quit coaching and restrict his duties to the front office, Mrs. Imlach won&rsquo;t object.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Rick Martin Shoots 39th Goal To Establish NHL Rookie Mark

<div class="byline">BY RICK PEARSON</div><p>ANAHEIM&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>heir theories apparently were as divergent as their geography, but the 12 World Hockey Association teams all seemed satisfied after the league&rsquo;s first player selection meeting.</p><p>The league&rsquo;s hospitality suite was filled with optimists following the two-day session, February 12-13. Virtually every club thought its own list of players was the best, that they could sign those players, and some were beginning to predict the way teams would finish in each division next season. In all 1,037 players were chosen in the draft.</p><p>Media reaction and coverage had pleased the WHA owners. They also had added Quebec and Ottawa two strong hockey cities, to the league. They had aligned their divisions for the first season.</p><p>The draft was open-players were selected with no distinction concerning playing level. Minne-sota chose the first player&mdash;Henry Boucha&mdash;from the United States Olympic team. Chicago then tabbed Roger Crozier, Buffalo Sabres goaltender. Quebec used its first choice to select Jacques Richard of the Junior A Quebec Remparts later in the round. And such were the different approaches to the draft.</p><p>All teams selected a complement of NHL players, but that was where the similiarity ended. Quebec, which officially joined the league the day before the draft after purchasing the San Francisco franchise, went almost exclusively for French Canadians, including New York Ranger goalie Gilles Villemure, junior Richard and Montral&rsquo;s Guy Lafleur, among others. Most wellknown of the non-French choices were John McKenzie of Boston and Red Berenson of the Detroit Red Wings.</p><p>Minnesota, coached by former University of Minnesota coach Glen Sonmor, went largely for college players and players well known in Minnesota. New England, with coach Jack Kelley, formerly of Boston University, calling the shots, also dipped into the college ranks, but essentially from the New England area.</p><p>The Canadian teams went into the junior ranks&mdash;Ontario and Quebec into the eastern leagues: Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg into the western. Ontario also leaned toward Canadian college hockey. Edmonton took nearly 100 players, almost a third of them NHLers.</p><p>Calgary created the biggest stir, drafting heavily from European hockey. Among the biggest names the Broncs will attempt to lure across the sea are Anatoli Firsov, Yuri Blinov, Valeri Charlmov, Jan Nedomanski and Valeri Pekka Ketola.</p><p>Dayton, Los Angeles and New York sought minor league pros, apparently following a win-immediately theory. New York also selected several European players. Los Angeles took the most players, naming 126.</p><p><b>JOTTINGS:</b> The final player selected in the draft was former Red Wing Gordie Howe. Los Angeles selected the all-time NHL great &ldquo;just on the chance we can talk him into coming out of retirement,&rdquo; according to a spokesman for the Sharks&hellip;fall&hellip;The WHA&rsquo;s East Division will consist of Dayton, Miami, New England, New York, Ottawa and Quebec&hellip;Calgary, Chicago, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Minnesota and Winnipeg will make up the West Division&hellip;New York announced its nick-name in Anaheim&mdash;the Raiders.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

New League Teams Optimistic Of Signing Drafted NHL Stars

<div class="byline">BY JOHN ARNOLD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01184/2958448-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="841" height="1111"></div><h2>SOLUTION IN MARCH 10 ISSUE</h2><h3>ACROSS</h3><p>1&mdash;Recently retired forward.</p><p>8&mdash;Either.</p><p>9&mdash;A veteran NHL defenseman.</p><p>11&mdash;12th and 22nd letters of the alphabet.</p><p>12&mdash;Statiticians do this.</p><p>13&mdash;Sly answers to this.</p><p>15&mdash;Initials of one of the Rangers.</p><p>16&mdash;Played 31 games for Vancouver last season.</p><p>17&mdash;Nickname of a former Montreal coach.</p><p>18&mdash;Initials of former NHL linesman Atanas.</p><p>19&mdash;Denotes scoreless tie.</p><p>21&mdash;One of the Penguins.</p><p>22&mdash;Initials of one of the Flyers.</p><p>23&mdash;Winter sport.</p><p>25&mdash;Selby answers to this.</p><p>28&mdash;Beliveau used to wear this number. (Rom. Nt mb.)</p><p>29&mdash;An NHL coach (init.)</p><p>30&mdash;An NHL right winger, (init.)</p><p>32&mdash;NHL general manager.</p><p>34&mdash;One of the Canucks answers to this.</p><p>36&mdash;Ken Hodge was born in this country, (abbr.)</p><p>37&mdash;First name of an NHL defenseman.</p><h3>DOWN</h3><p>1&mdash;Pictured player.</p><p>2&mdash;First name of ex-Bruin Tessier now a junior hockey coach.</p><p>3&mdash;Initials of an NHL captain.</p><p>4&mdash;One of the Espositos.</p><p>5&mdash;Initials of one of the North Stars.</p><p>6&mdash;Estimated time of arrival. (abbr.)</p><p>7&mdash;A Buffalo farmhand.</p><p>10&mdash;A St. Louis veteran.</p><p>14&mdash;A cereal plant.</p><p>20&mdash;Initials of an NHL captain.</p><p>21&mdash;One of the Rangers.</p><p>24&mdash;An NHL general manager.</p><p>25&mdash;Wears No. 21 for Toronto.</p><p>26&mdash;20 down once played for this team.</p><p>27&mdash;Same as 5 down.</p><p>31&mdash;Period of time.</p><p>33&mdash;15th and 5th letters of the alphabet.</p><p>35&mdash;Initials of 2 down.</p><h2><b>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S ANSWERS</b></h2><h3>ACROSS</h3><p><b>1&mdash;FIELDER.</b></p><p><b>2&mdash;MEND.</b></p><p><b>3&mdash;NICK.</b></p><p><b>4&mdash;BM.</b></p><p><b>5&mdash;SINDEN.</b></p><p><b>7&mdash;ZEIDEL.</b></p><p><b>8&mdash;IA.</b></p><p><b>9&mdash;KENNETH.</b></p><p><b>17&mdash;GLOVER.</b></p><p><b>20&mdash;BRIT.</b></p><p><b>22&mdash;RE.</b></p><p><b>23&mdash;RR.</b></p><p><b>25&mdash;EGAN.</b></p><p><b>26&mdash;RIB.</b></p><p><b>27&mdash;SOS.</b></p><h3>DOWN</h3><p><b>1&mdash;FLEMING.</b></p><p><b>6&mdash;EZINICKI.</b></p><p><b>10&mdash;LEAD.</b></p><p><b>11&mdash;KENT.</b></p><p><b>12&mdash;DI.</b></p><p><b>13&mdash;ND.</b></p><p><b>14&mdash;ED.</b></p><p><b>15&mdash;NET.</b></p><p><b>16&mdash;REG.</b></p><p><b>18&mdash;EN.</b></p><p><b>19&mdash;LI.</b></p><p><b>21&mdash;ORR.</b></p><p><b>24&mdash;HER.</b></p><p><b>26&mdash;RIVERS.</b></p><p><b>28&mdash;Gl.</b></p><p><b>29&mdash;AT.</b></p><p><b>30&mdash;BERENSON.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0022-01

HOCKEY CROSSWORD

WHA Teams Selected 1,073 Players

<p><b>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Oatarie Sold in U.S. and Canada</b></p><p><b>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Oatarie Sold in U.S. and Canada</b></p><h2>HOW THEY STAND</h2><p><b>AMERICAN LEAGUE</b></p><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Feb. 22)</b></p><h3><b>EASTERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01174/2958524-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="572" height="148"></div><h3><b>WESTERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02122/2958517-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="580" height="275"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tues. Feb. 15</b></p><p>Springfield 2 at Cincinnati 6</p><p>Hershey 1 at Richmond 6</p><p><b>Wed. Feb. 16</b></p><p>Nova Scotia 2 atBaltimore 2</p><p>Springfield 1 at Cleveland 6</p><p><b>Fri. Feb 18</b></p><p>Hershey 5 at Providence 3</p><p>Baltimore 3 at Richmond 2</p><p>Nova Scotia 2 at Spring field 3</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 19</b></p><p>Tidewater 2 at Baltimore 2</p><p>Boston 4 at Cleveland 1</p><p>Hershey 6 atSpringfield 2</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 20</b></p><p>Boston 3 atCincinnati 3</p><p>Hershey 2 at Novo Scotia 3</p><p>Cleveland 2 at Providence 7</p><p>Tidewater 1 ot Richmond 4</p><p>Rochester atBaltimore (postponed)</p><h2>GAMES TO COME</h2><p><b>Tues. Feb. 22</b></p><p>Cleveland al Baltimore</p><p>Hershey at Cincinnati</p><p>Rochester at Tidewater (at Norfolk)</p><p><b>Wed. Feb. 23</b></p><p>Boston at Hershey</p><p>Cleveland at Rochester</p><p><b>Thur. Feb. 24</b></p><p>Richmond at Nova Scotia</p><p>Cincinnati at Tidewater (Hampton RDS)</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 25</b></p><p>Hershey at Baltimore</p><p>Rochester at Providence</p><p>Richmond at Springfield</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 26</b></p><p>Boston at Baltimore</p><p>Tidewater at Cleveland</p><p>Richmond at Heryy</p><p>Providence at Springfield</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 27</b></p><p>Cincinnati atCleveland (afternoon)</p><p>Springfield ot Nova Scotia</p><p>Boston atProvidence</p><p>Hershey at Rochester</p><p>Baltimore at Tidewater (at Norfolk)</p><p><b>Tue. Feb. 29</b></p><p>Cleveland ot Boston</p><p>Springfield ot Nova Scotia</p><p><b>Wed. March 1</b></p><p>Providence ot Baltimore</p><p>Cincinnati at Richmond</p><p><b>Fri. March 3</b></p><p>Boston at Rochester</p><p>Cleveland at Springfield</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><p><b>(Including games of Sun. Feb. 13)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0385/2958510-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="586" height="529"></div><h2><b>GOALKEEPERS RECORDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0466/2958503-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="584" height="853"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0024-01

AMERICAN LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY GEORGE DUFFY</div><p>PROVIDENCE&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>D</span>on McLeod had not had that many happy moments for himself during the 1971-72 season. But when he whipped the Boston Braves, 2-1 in Boston Garden, &ldquo;Smokey&rdquo;, as he is known to his mates, acted like a guy who had won the Irish Sweepstakes.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0552/2958555-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="266" height="468"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Alton White</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;How about that, how about that&rdquo; shouted the 6-2 puckstopper as he lifted Negro star Alton White off the dressing room floor. White after all deserved the hug because he had a share in the Providence victory. A goal by Don Tannahill at 8:01 of the first period had put the Braves ahead 1-0 and it grew bigger and bigger as the minutes ticked away in the American Hockey League game.</p><p>Meanwhile, Ross Brooks, the former Providence netminder and McLeod were turning aside hots on goal. But just after the game had reached past the halfway mark of the final period, White busted his way through two Boston defenders and put the puck past Brooks.</p><p>A crowd that numbered nearly 15,000&mdash;an AHL record&mdash;sat in silence, except for the few hearty souls who had travelled 40 miles on Route 95 from Providence. They thought White&rsquo;s goal was a beauty.</p><p>However, White, the only member of his race in the American League, was not finished. Shortly after the clock had passed the point where six minutes remained in the game, Alton poked the puck away from former Boston Bruin Don Awrey and skated from the right in front of Brooks. With a fake, White drew Brooks out of the net and slid a backhander home for the winning tally. It was White&rsquo;s 26th of the year and came despite the fact that he wore a cast on his right thumb to cover a broken bone.</p><p>In the post-game celebration, White wanted the glory to go to McLeod. &ldquo;What a game Don played,&rdquo; Alton told newspapermen.&rdquo;He was just great. He held us in the game and then we were able to score. It sure was a big game for us.&rdquo;</p><p>By now, McLeod, his curly hair flopping over his sweaty rehead, was sitting exhausted in a corner. His mask was at his side and he simply was not ready to undress. Someone asked McLeod if he was tired. &ldquo;I guess you could say that,&rdquo; answered &ldquo;Smokey.&rdquo; But the quickly added &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t mind being tired when we win a game as big as this one. It could be the key to our whole season. The guys played hard on defense all night and &ldquo;Flip&rdquo; got the winning goals.&rdquo; McLeod calls White &ldquo;Flip&rdquo; after TV star &ldquo;Flip&rdquo; Wilson.</p><p>Statistics at the end showed McLeod had 43 saves. He had 15 in the first period and one of them was a shot from six feet out by star forward Don Tannahill. &ldquo;It was a hard shot,&rdquo; said McLeod &ldquo;but lucky for me I was in the right spot at the right time.&rdquo;</p><p>McLeod, owned by the Phila-delphia Flyers of the National Hockey League and on loan to the Reds, has since been recalled by the Flyers. He was with the Richmond, Va. Robins early in the season and at one time was third string. &ldquo;It was not too good a situation,&rdquo; pointed out Don, &ldquo;and when I got the chance to play for the Reds I was extremely happy.&rdquo; McLeod went up to replace ailing Bruce Gamble with the NHL club.</p><p>In 23 games for Providence, McLeod showed an average of 3.47. He and Marcel Paille com-bined to enable the Reds to pick up 24 of a possible 38 points in 19 games.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0024-05

Beating Braves Big Moment For Don McLeod Before Recall

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-06" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0643/2958586-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Providence coach LARRY WILSON talks with goalkeeper DON McLEOD after he had stopped Boston Braves. &lsquo;Smokey&rsquo; as his team-mates call him, was recalled by Philadelphia Flyers after regular netminder Bruce Gamble suffered heart attack</b></figcaption></div><p>PROVIDENCE&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>O</span>rson Welles could not have created more of a stir than the R.I. Reds on Februaray 13 by bombing the Rochester Americans, 15-3 at R.I. Audiytorium.</p><p>TV and radio announcers refused to believe it. Persons calling R.I. Auditorium would not believe it.</p><p>But close to 4,500 fans saw it all and did believe and as a result, pro hockey in Providence has had a transfusion.</p><p>The morning after the big blast, bus riders and those in downtown restaurants talked of nothing but the Reds. &ldquo;Unbelievable&rdquo; was the word widely used in the conversations.</p><p>Led by Don Blackburn and Brian Perry with four goals each,&mdash;the first time in AHL history two players scored four times in a game&mdash;the Reds led 5-0 at the end of one period and 11-1 at the end of the second. The witnesses included Vic Stasiuk, coach of the California Golden Seals; Bob Turner, Seals&rsquo; scout; Marcel Pelletier, farm director of the Phila-delphia and Bucky Kane, scout for the Buffalo Sabres. They could not believe their eyes.</p><p>The Reds in 46 years have won four Calder Cups. Great moments of excitement have been rampant at the old ice house on North Main St. But February 13, now ranks with the Reds&rsquo; &ldquo;Great Moments.&rdquo; The 15 tallies were the most ever scored in a game by the Reds and came within one of equalling the AHL record of 16 set by Buffalo in November of 1948 in a 16-4 triumph over Philadelphia.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0024-06

Reds Drub Americans For Record

<div class="byline">BY JERRY LINDQUIST</div><p>RICHMOND&mdash;</p><p>After going 10 games without a victory, the Richmond Robins managed a startling and dramatic aboutface.</p><p>They turned around and ran off a six-game unbeaten streak (3-0-3), longest of the season, but the Robins paid for it, too.</p><p>Rick MacLeish, their leading goal scorer, suffered an arm injury midway through a 6-3 decision over Baltimore, and he&rsquo;ll be lost to the team for a minimum of three weeks.</p><p>MacLeish doesn&rsquo;t know how it happened or when it happened. In fact, he might have scored his second goal of the game, a nifty breakaway at Clipper goaltender Bob Whidden&rsquo;s expense, with the arm already injured.</p><p>At first there was divided opinion on how serious the injury was. Two doctors gave two different opinions.</p><p>Finally, the young left winger-center was flown to Philadelphia where the worst fears were confirmed. He had torn ligaments running from his elbow to wrist, and an arm-length cast was placed on his arm.</p><p>MacLeish had 23 goals (in 39 games as a Robin) at the time of his mishap, and the next time out, the team failed to score. Only a magnificent performance by Bob Taylor, in goal for the Robins, secured a 0-0 standoff with Rochester.</p><p>The unbeaten. streak began, of all places, on the road where Richmond had been unspectacular all year.</p><p>It started with a 3-3 tie in Ti-dewater. Then, the Robins won their first game away from home since November 26 when they beat Cincinnati, 3-1.</p><p>The next night they secured a 5-5 tie in Cleveland, rookie Pierre Plante scoring the final goal midway through the final period. Continuing the four-games-in-five-nights grind, the Robins moved to Rochester where Plante had two goals and an assist, Taylor turned aside 21 shots in the last period, and they won, 5-4.</p><p>Returning home, the Robins opened a six-game stand by beating the Clippers. Dave Schultz also had two goals in that one.</p><p><b>PARTING SHOTS:</b> Taylor was called up by parent Philadel-phia Flyers when Don McLeod was injured&hellip;Schultz and Don Saleski played with injuries&hellip;Schultz only Robin to appear in every game&hellip;Club continues to average better than 6,400 at home, a credit to general manager Hillman Lyons as well as the team.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Robins Lose Hot Scorer MacLeish While Ending 10-Game Slump

<p class="dropcap"><span>V</span>eteran Ed Hoekstra does most of the puck manipulating for Springfield&rsquo;s high scoring line of Hoekstra, Wayne Rivers and Brian Carlin but gets few of the headlines for doing it. However, Hoekstra had his big moment last week when he produced four goals and seven assists to lead all AHL point getters.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01143/2958641-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="506" height="531"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ED HOEKSTRA</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0025-01

Player Of The Week

<div class="byline">BY GREG FARLEY</div><p>BOSTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>O</span>ne outstanding and perhaps underrated contributor to the Braves&rsquo; fortunes this season has been little Ron Boehm, who has spent most of the season patrolling left wing on the team&rsquo;s first line, together with Garry Peters and Doug Roberts.</p><p>Boehm came to the Braves this year from the Seattle Totems of the Western League where he picked up 10 goals and 26 assists ast season.</p><p>Previously, Ron had seen action with Omaha of the CHL, Minnesota of the old CPHL, Vancouver of the WHL (prior to that city&rsquo;s entrance to the NHL) and Oakland in the NHL (briefly, in &lsquo;67-68).</p><p>At 28, Ron was facing the crossroads of his pro hockey career and appeared destined to wind it up in the WHL until the Braves came along this year.</p><p>And with a second shot at the big time perhaps on the line, Boehm is taking full advantage of the opportunity.</p><p>&ldquo;The creation of the Braves was a tremendous break for me,&rdquo; declared the diminutive Saska-toon, Sask, native. &ldquo;I was beginning to think that maybe my size (5&rsquo;7&rdquo;, 160 lbs.) was going to be a permanent handicap to me, but now I realize that guys my size can make it big too.</p><p>&ldquo;Heck, some of the NHL&rsquo;s best players are shrimps like me&mdash;Johnny McKenzie, Pit. Martin, Yvan Cournoyer, etc. We smaller guys just have to offset our lack of size with more quickness and speed than the bigger fellows.&rdquo;</p><p>A virtual fireball on the Peters&rsquo; line through the first half of the season, Boehm&rsquo;s versaility became evident when Garry was hurt and coach Guidolin was forced into some line-juggling.</p><p>&ldquo;Ron is an extremely talented hockey player,&rdquo; explained Guido-lin. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve used him both at center and at left wing, on the power play and as a penalty-killer. He&rsquo;s a very dependable guy, and he&rsquo;s got a darned good shot.&rdquo;</p><p>A typical Boehm performance occured in the Braves&rsquo; last home game against Providence before they embarked on the current road trip.</p><p>Ron tallied the winning goal on a shorthanded situation, notched an insurance goal on a booming slapshot that Marcel Paille is still looking for, and sent Tom Williams in alone for the final score in the 4-1 triumph.</p><p>Selected in the World Hockey League player draft, Ron remained noncommital about his future plans.</p><p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t say anything about it because I don&rsquo;t know anything about it yet,&rdquo; he admitted. &ldquo;All I know is that I like it very much right here.&rdquo;</p><p><b>BRAVES BRIEFS:</b> Other Braves who &ldquo;went&rdquo; in the WHA draft were Garry Peters, Doug Roberts, Mike Hyndman, Paul Hurley, Tom Williams, Nick Beverley, Ray Fortin, Don Tan-natoli, Terry O&rsquo;Reilly and Freddie O&rsquo;Donnell.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01150/2958745-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="565" height="513"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RON BOEHM&hellip;Even Shrimps Make Out</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0026-01

Boehm’s Versatility Boon To Braves

<div class="byline">BY JOE MINSTER</div><p>CINCINNATI&mdash;</p><p>Keke Mortson has been around hockey for a long time&mdash;and he&rsquo;s still going strong.</p><p>He&rsquo;s the kind of a guy you really need on a club, to help keep things loose when the tension starts to grow.</p><p>And that&rsquo;s been the role he has played this year as captain of the fledgling Cincinnati Swords, contenders for the title in the West ern Division of the American Hockey League.</p><p>But Keke, who hates to admit it but hesitatingly will tell you that his first name is Cleland, is more than just a happy-go-lucky puck chaser.</p><p>As a matter of fact, teaming up with players almost two decades his junior, he has been a consistent point-maker all year and headed the scoring parade for the Swords with 54 points in the first 54 games.</p><p>Numbered among his impressive total are 14 goals and 40 assists, and he has tallied three game-winning goals and a like number of power play goals. He&rsquo;s also one of the most durable members of the Cincinnati squad, as he, along with Doug Rombough and Jim Nichols, is the only skater to have appeared in every contest his season.</p><p>Mortson is high on his two linematers, wingers Butch Dead-marsh and Rick Dudley.</p><p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re both young,&rdquo; he pointed out, &ldquo;and a look for them to go a long way in professional hockey. Remember, Butch only scored 11 goals last season and he&rsquo;s developed rapidly to the point that he already has lit the red light 24 times for us this year.</p><p>&ldquo;And Dudley, while he hasn&rsquo;t been scoring so frequently, has all the tools to be a good one, too. He gives out 100 per cent all the time and is a fine team player. He&rsquo;s tough, too (as Dudley&rsquo;s 253 minutes in penalties attest) and he looks like a cinch to improve real fast.&rdquo;</p><p>Keke doesn&rsquo;t make any bones about his age. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be 38 in a month,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;And I consider myself lucky to be playing. I love this game of hockey, which has been real good to me, and I would say that right about now I&rsquo;m halfway home to heaven. After all, you might say that I really haven&rsquo;t had to work, because I&rsquo;ve really enjoyed it.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01135/2958776-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="565" height="479"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>KEKE MORTSON&hellip;Top Point Man</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0027-01

‘Old Pro’ Mortson Showing Young Swords How it’s Done

<div class="byline">BY BOB BROWN</div><p>CLEVELAND&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Cleveland Barons enter the final five weeks of the season with better than half, 11 out of 20, of their final contests against clubs from their own division as the exciting and close American Hockey League Western Divison race enters the stretch run.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02103/2958807-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="279" height="472"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Buster Harvey</b></figcaption></div><p>With five of the six clubs bunched within eight points of each other, the race in the West looks like a real fight to the end. The Barons end up with six of those final 11 divisional contests at the Cleveland Arena where the club has posted 45 of a possible 56 points and a 20-3-5 record, second best in the league.</p><p>Cleveland, like five of the six clubs in the West, enters the final month with 15 games including four of those crucial &ldquo;Four-point&rdquo; contests at the Cleveland Arena. But the Barons must also play 13 of their final 23 on enemy ice and three of those are against the Baltimore Clipppers.</p><p>The schedule takes John Muckler&rsquo;s skaters away from Cleveland for the first two weeks of March but the final two weeks of the 1971-72 campaign finds the Barons playing six of their eight contests at the Cleveland Arena in that all important stretch drive.</p><p>The Barons continue to get high scoring from both Buster Harvey and Terry Caffery with both totaling 72 points in the first 53 games. That total, registered on identical marks of 27 goals and 45 assists, puts them within three points of the 75 that Norm Beaudin had to lead the Barons for the 1970-71 season.</p><p><b>BLUELINERS:</b> Fern Rivard&rsquo;s shoulder separation doesn&rsquo;t seem to have bothered him since the Barons&rsquo; netminder posted a 3-0 mark and a 1.67 goals against mark in his first three games back. The Seventh Annual North Olmsted Night held for the Barons-Hershey game of February 12 drew the season&rsquo;s largest crowd of 9,511 with over 3,000 of them from the Cleveland suburb. Winger Gary Gambucci remains out of the Barons&rsquo; line-up recovering from surgery on the fractured cheekbone he suffered early in February.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0027-02

Barons Face Division Foes In 11 Of Final 20 Contests

<div class="byline">BY BOB ELMER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01125/2958838-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Baltimore GM-Coach TERRY REARDON accepts THE HOCKEY NEWS award as minor league Executive Of The Year from publisher KEN McKENZIE in center. Looking on at presentation ceremonies from left are JACK BUTTERFIELD, AHL President, ROBERT &lsquo;JAKE&rsquo; EMBRY, club president, and ZAN KREIGER, extreme right, chairman of the board of the Clippers. Presentation was made to Reardon during periods of AHL game at Civic Center.</b></figcaption></div><p>BALTIMORE&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>O</span>ne of the better defenses in the American Hockey League has been Coach Terry Reardon&rsquo;s rearguard echelon consisting of ageless Jim Morrison, team captain Kent Douglas, veterans Jean Gauthier, Dick Mattiussi, Wally Chevrier, and the only youngster in the crowd. Ted McAneeley.</p><p>At twenty one years of age. McAneeley is not only the youngest member of the Baltimore Clippers defense, but the youngest on the whole squad. His birthday falls on election day this year&mdash;November 7th&mdash;and he is three weeks younger than teammate Hilliard Graves, who along with Pete Laframboise, the Clips&rsquo; leading scorer, and John French are all babies of the year 1950.</p><p>The Baby Clipper backliner belies a hockey coach&rsquo;s idea of a defenseman. He&rsquo;s not big (5-9), not heavy (175) and not excessively rough, but the Cranbrook, British Columbia native is aggressive, a good puck handler, good skater, perceptive thinker, and has a lot of &ldquo;moxie&rdquo; as Coach Reardon likes to describe as plain hustle and guts.</p><p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t start out as a defenseman,&rdquo; the mild mannered youth explained. &ldquo;When I was 12, I began as a forward in the pee wees. I was skating on the same line with my twin brother, Bob, when my coach pulled me off the forward line and asked me to play defense. Funny thing, once I went back to defense I never moved back up front.&rdquo;</p><p>Since young Ted is one of six defensemen for the Clippers (it was seven for a long time with Terry Murray, now at Boston, on the team) he does not see as much ice time as he&rsquo;d like.</p><p>&ldquo;But then, &ldquo;McAneeley admitted, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been able to learn so much more from the rest of the guys who&rsquo;ve been around much longer. Who wouldn&rsquo;t benefit from the years of hockey knowledge which guys like Morrison, Mattiussi, Douglas, Gauthier and Chevy have acquired? They are all great and have been a big help to me.&rdquo;</p><p>Also pleasing for Ted is the knowledge that he has been one of the early round choices in the recent World Hockey Association draft. He was picked by the new Dayton franchise as were his present Clipper teammates, Gauthier, Morrison and Mattiussi.</p><p>&ldquo;I called my parents right away to tell them,&rdquo; admits Ted. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s going to happen with that new league, but it&rsquo;s nice to know that they&rsquo;re interested in me.&rdquo;</p><p><b>CLIPPER CLIPPINGS:</b> Ken McKenzie, president and publisher of THE HOCKEY NEWS was the guest speaker at the recent Clippers&rsquo; press luncheon prior to the game that night with the Springfield Kings&hellip;The erudite editor presented Clippers&rsquo; GM and Coach Terry Reardon with the hockey Executive of the Year Award given annually by THE HOCKEY NEWS&hellip;Also in Baltimore for the same media luncheon were Jack Butterfield, president of the AHL and Kip Farrington, author of one of hockey&rsquo;s most recent treatise &ldquo;Sticks, Skates and Men.&rdquo;&hellip;Craig Patrick, Lynn&rsquo;s youngster, in pressed Clipper officials and fans with his hustle and skating ability during his brief two week stint in Baltimore livery&hellip;His older brother Lester, 31, is the new GM of the Miami club in the WHA and naturally drafted Craig&hellip;Most Clipper fans pleased with the new four-sided electric scoreboard which hangs over the middle of the rink.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-01

Clippers’ McAneeley Youngest Rookie

<div class="byline">BY HANS TANNER</div><p>ROCHESTER&mdash;</p><p>To borrow a well-used expression of the times, the Rochester Americans had both good news and bad news for their fans on Feb. 13.</p><p>First, the good news&hellip;</p><p>Barry Wilcox&rsquo;s goal at 18:02 of the second period in Providnce, R.I., that might was the 4,000th goal scored by the Amerks since they joined the American Hockey League in 1956-57.</p><p>The 1,000th was scored by Hank Ciesla in a 3-1 Rochester loss in Cleveland Nov. 5, 1960. The 2,000th was collected by Red Armstrong Nov. 22, 1964, here against Springfield. It was his second of the night and the game-winner in a 61 romp.</p><p>And No. 3,000 went to Bob Barlow here against Baltimore &bull;Jan. 28, 1968. It was his second of the night and the game-winner in a 4-1 victory.</p><p>Rochester coach Don Cherry had been informed ahead of time that the Amerks&rsquo; first goal on the 13th would attain the milestone. But he failed to have the puck retrieved.</p><p>That brings us to the bad news&hellip;</p><p>Wilcox&rsquo;s goal at 18:02 of the second period was the first of the night for the Amerks, but the 11th of the game!</p><p>Providence already had put 10 goals behind the Rochester goalkeepers when Wilcox flashed the red light.</p><p>Cherry was hardly in the mood to have the puck saved. But the next day, when he could smile a little again, he got to wondering how the happy Providence fans would have reacted to the Americans&rsquo; saving the puck on their first goal after giving up 10.</p><p>Rochester went on to lose 15-3, setting a team record for the most goals against in a single game in their AHL career.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0195/2958869-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="555" height="505"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BARRY WILCOX&hellip;A Milestone Goal</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0029-01

Wilcox Triggers Amerks’ All-Time 4,000th Goal

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK SANTANIELLO</div><p>SPRINGFIELD&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Springfield Kings have been forced to play musical chairs with their goal-tenders. It all started when Los Angeles goaler Rogatien Vachon was hurt and eventually had to be operated on for a knee injury which will keep him out of action the rest of the season. Then the fun started.</p><p>The NHL Kings called up Billy Smith from Springfield as their backup goaler. Only in his second season, Smith has been looking for his chance to get into the NHL and it looks like he will get it as he works with LA goaler Gary Edwards for the balance ofthe campaign. But it created problems here.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0270/2958900-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="260" height="424"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bruce Landon</b></figcaption></div><p>It left Bruce Landon, the three-year man, with all the work in the nets and no regular backup man to spell him. AHL rules require a second netminder to be on the bench, and that is where the problem began.</p><p>Earlier this season, the Kings had to send out American-born Bob Vroman to Johnston Jets of the Eastern League, so he could get a chance to play. Three goalies here meant Vroman would get little ice time. At Johnston, he has been sensational, putting his club in a fight for first place.</p><p>Vroman was recalled for a weekend to back up Landon and tied in a game at Baltimore. He has been a good luck charm for the Kings. In three games so far this season, Vroman has not lost. He racked up two ties and a single win with the Kings.</p><p>According to the agreement with the Jets, the Kings cannot bring Vroman back as long as his club has a chance to win the championship and playoffs. So he had to go back to Johnstown.</p><p>A temporary backup goal-tender was brought in from all places the St. Petersburg, Florida Sun Coast club in the Eastern League. He was Bill Yeo, who has been around hockey for some time. He will get a five-game amateur trial with the Kings. Then he has to return to Sun Coast, or turn pro.</p><p>The backup goalie turmoil is supposed to be resolved here soon by Springfield manager-coach Gary Dineen and Kings&rsquo; official Larry Regan.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0029-02

Vachon Injury Puts AHL Kings On Spot For Backup To Landon

<p>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER <b>HOCKEY STICKS</b> Made in Canada by HILLERICH A BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><p>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER <b>HOCKEY STICKS</b> Made in Canada by HILLERICH A BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><h2>HOW THEY STAND</h2><h3><b>WESTERN LEAGUE</b></h3><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 21)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0273/2958938-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="588" height="250"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Tues. Feb. 15</b></p><p>Seattle 3 at Son Diego 3</p><p>Denver 4 at Salt Loire 4</p><p><b>Wed. Feb. 16</b></p><p>Seattle 2 at Denver 6</p><p>San Diego 3 at Portland 4</p><p><b>Thur. Feb. 17</b></p><p>Seattle 2 at Phoenix 3</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 18</b></p><p>Salt Lake 4 at San Diego 5</p><p>Portland 3 at Denver 5</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 19</b></p><p>Denver 5 at Phoenix 3</p><p>Portland 11 at Seattle 2</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 20</b></p><p>Soit lake 3 at Prtland 6</p><h3><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h3><p><b>Mon. Feb. 21</b></p><p>Salt lake at Seattle</p><p><b>Wed. Feb. 23</b></p><p>Salt Lake at Denver</p><p>Portland at San Diego</p><p><b>Thur. Feb. 24</b></p><p>Phoenix at Soh lake</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 25</b></p><p>Phoenix at Denver</p><p>Portland at Seattle</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 26</b></p><p>Denver at Salt Lake</p><p>Phoenix at Son Diego</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 27</b></p><p>San Diego at Seattle</p><p><b>Wed. March 1</b></p><p>Seattle at Soit lake</p><p>San Diego at Portland</p><p><b>Thur. March 2</b></p><p>Denver at San Diego</p><p><b>Fri. March 3</b></p><p>Seattle at Salt Lake</p><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><p><b>(Including games of Sun. Feb. 13)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0349/2958931-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="592" height="468"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0030-02

WESTERN LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCCONNELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01118/2958969-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="536" height="580"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>LARRY MICKEY Intimidated Runners</b></figcaption></div><p>SALT LAKE CITY&mdash;</p><p>The Salt Lake Golden Eagles are now a team with a mission.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re dedicating the season to the late Dan Meyer,&rdquo; declared goaltender Wayne Rutledge, in a post-game interview. &ldquo;Dan always wanted a winner and we&rsquo;re going to give it to him. We&rsquo;re going all the way.&rdquo;</p><p>Meyer, founder, president and owner of the Eagles, died in a fall from his hotel room at at Bloomington, Minn., during the National Hockey League All Star game break.</p><p>The Eagles are currently-locked in a battle for fourth place with the Portland Buckaroos and San Diego.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not worrying about Portland and fourth place,&rdquo; said general manager and coach Al Rollins. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re looking to third place. San Diego is only three points ahead of us and Phoenix and Denver aren&rsquo;t that far ahead. either. They&rsquo;re not playing that well that they can&rsquo;t be caught.&rdquo;</p><p>Newcomer Ron Anderson, Reg Fleming and Larry Mickey intimidated the Phoenix Roadrunners for a 5-1 win in Phoenix, only the Runners&rsquo; fourth home ice loss of the campaign. The next night, the Eagles did the same thing for an easy 6-2 win in San Diego.</p><p>Anderson, 26, 6-0 and 180, came from Buffalo of the National League, arriving just 45 minutes before the Phoenix game. He scored 14 goals and 26 points for the Sabres last season. This year, he had been employed mostly as a penalty killer.</p><p>Mickey, according to Rollins, twice whipped Portland&rsquo;s rookie defenseman John Van Horlick, who has been busy establishing a fistic reputation in the WHL.</p><p>Fleming has his own reputation and has been living up to it.</p><p>Anderson was sent as a replacement for captain Skip Krake who has missed seven games with torn knee ligaments and is. expected to be out at least another week.</p><p>Rutledge has been giving the Eagles solid goaltending while playing the iron man role. He has played in 46 of the Eagles&rsquo; 49 games and is the goaltender of record in 45 with a 21-20-4 mark.</p><p>The six-footer is about 10 pounds heavier this season at 216. His bulk makes him one of the toughest to beat in close.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m heavier because I&rsquo;m playing regularly,&rdquo; said Rutledge. &ldquo;When I don&rsquo;t play as often, I watch what I eat.</p><p>&ldquo;Anyway, I think the extra weight is one reason I&rsquo;m playing better, although I&rsquo;m not really sure why.&rdquo;</p><p>Rutledge likes to rib Rollins, one of the NHL&rsquo;s all-time outstanding goaltenders.</p><p>&ldquo;When I&rsquo;ve played well, I say I&rsquo;ve played like Tony Esposito or Dave Dryden,&rdquo; said Rutledge, &ldquo;but when we lose, I say I played like Al Rollins.&rdquo;</p><p>Meanwhile the Seattle Totems finally gave goaltender Jack Norris a little support. And how.</p><p>The beleaguered netminder responded with a 7-0 shutout over the second place Roadrunners. It was the first time the Runners had been shut out this season and it was Norris&rsquo; second whitewash job.</p><p>The seven goals were the most scored by the Totems this season and tied the most allowed by the Roadrunners. The Totems&rsquo; previous high was set Jan. 8 in a 6-2 victory, also against Phoenix.</p><p>The victory was the second in a row for the Totems, who only own seven. They dumped Portland 3-2 the previous night with newcomer Garth Rizzuto scoring the winning goal.</p><p>Three of the Totems&rsquo; wins have been over Phoenix and three over Portland.</p><p>The back-to-back triumphs ended a 12-game Totem victory drought and Rizzuto&rsquo;s arrival set a Western Hockey League record. He is the 40th player to don the uniform of the last place Totems this season.</p><p>Rizzuto, 24, a center and winger, had been playing with Rochester in the American Hockey League and was reassigned by the Canucks to Seattle.</p><p>Rookie defenseman Hal Willis, who compiled 153 penalty minutes in 41 games, was dropped to make room on the 17-man roster for Rizzuto.</p><p>Center Camille Lapierre, 21, was recalled by Springfield of the AHL.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0030-01

Salt Lake Eagles Seen Team With Mission; Lowly Totems Give Norris Biggest Offense

<h2><b>Fri. Feb. 4 SAN DIEGO 2 at DENVER 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01102/2959080-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="599" height="632"></div><h2><b>Sat. Feb. 5 SEATTLE 2 at SALT LAKE 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0277/2959073-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="590" height="433"></div><h2><b>DENVER 3 at PHOENIX 7</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0362/2959066-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="600" height="727"></div><h2><b>Sun. Feb. 6 DENVER 0 at SAN DIEGO 0</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0447/2959059-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="601" height="338"></div><h2><b>PHOENIX 3 at PORTLAND 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0538/2959052-1-eng-US/f0031-052.jpg" title="f0031-05" width="607" height="649"></div><h2><b>Wed. Feb. 9 SEATTLE 4 at DENVER 9</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0621/2959045-1-eng-US/f0031-062.jpg" title="f0031-06" width="605" height="936"></div><h2><b>SAN DIEGO 2 at PHOENIX 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0716/2959038-1-eng-US/f0031-072.jpg" title="f0031-07" width="587" height="604"></div><h2><b>SALT LAKE 2 at PORTLAND 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0814/2959031-1-eng-US/f0031-082.jpg" title="f0031-08" width="618" height="676"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0031-01

Western League Summaries

<h2><b>Wed., Feb. 8 TULSA 6 at DALLAS 8</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0518/2959219-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="587" height="1011"></div><h2><b>OHAMA 3 at OKLAHOMA CITY 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0611/2959212-1-eng-US/f0032-062.jpg" title="f0032-06" width="589" height="655"></div><h2><b>KANSAS CITY 5 at FORT WORTH 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-078/2959205-1-eng-US/f0032-072.jpg" title="f0032-07" width="613" height="844"></div><h2><b>Fri., Feb. 11 OMAHA 3 at TULSA 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-086/2959198-1-eng-US/f0032-082.jpg" title="f0032-08" width="596" height="688"></div><h2><b>KANSAS CITY 4 at DALLAS 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-094/2959191-1-eng-US/f0032-092.jpg" title="f0032-09" width="597" height="631"></div><h2><b>FORTH WORTH 5 at OKLAHOMA 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-104/2959184-1-eng-US/f0032-102.jpg" title="f0032-10" width="602" height="663"></div><h2><b>Sat., Feb. 12 DALLAS 6 at TULSA 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-114/2959177-1-eng-US/f0032-112.jpg" title="f0032-11" width="605" height="824"></div><h2><b>KANSAS CITY 1 at OKLAHOMA CITY 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-124/2959170-1-eng-US/f0032-122.jpg" title="f0032-12" width="581" height="517"></div><h2><b>FORT WORTH 3 at OMAHA 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-132/2959163-1-eng-US/f0032-132.jpg" title="f0032-13" width="600" height="446"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0032-05

Central Hockey League Summaries

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div><p>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER <b>HOCKEY STICKS</b> Mada in Cauda by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><p>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER <b>HOCKEY STICKS</b> Mada in Cauda by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><p>TULSA&mdash;</p><p>The crippled Tulsa Oilers were much closer to third (and fourth) place in the Central League than to first place, as February neared the halfway point.</p><p>After leading the league for six weeks, and contending for first place through much of January, the Oilers had fallen 16 points behind the pace-setting Dallas Black Hawks, with only 23 games left on the Tulsa schedule.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01112/2959132-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="252" height="432"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Steve King</b></figcaption></div><p>What slim chances they did have for overtaking the league leaders disappeared when the Oilers lost a pair of showdown games to the Hawks, 8-6 in Dallas. Feb. 9 and 6-4 at home three nights later.</p><p>In between, however, coach Marcel Pronovost&rsquo;s Oilers man-aged a come-from-behind home victory over the Omaha Knights, 4-3, Feb. 11, and actually strengthened their hold on second place.</p><p>When the old year ended, the Oilers enjoyed a 13-point advantage over the closest challenger for second place. That margin was cut to five points in late January.</p><p>But the Omaha Knights, Oklahoma City Blazers and Kansas City Blues had February troubles of their own. As of Feb. 12, the Knights and Blazers shared third place, nine points out of second, while the Blues were two points farther back.</p><p>The Oilers were fretting about what would happen to their offense, with high-scoring center Cal Swenson out for a month after breaking a small bone at the bottom of his back in Kansas City, Feb. 4, and left wing Errol Thompson reinjuring an ankle in Dallas, Feb. 9. Thompson had been out with groin or ankle injuries since Thanksgiving week, but came back for a red-hot five-goal week at the end of January.</p><p>Others took up the scoring slack, however, but then the Oilers apparently forgot how to play defense. They scored 14 goals in the week&rsquo;s three games, but gave up 17, many of the cheap variety.</p><p>Steve King had a goal in each of the three games, and Lyle Moffat, Murray Heatley, Bob Duncan, Brian Spencer and Gerry O&rsquo;Flaherty scored in two of them. King added to the Oilers&rsquo; problems by fracturing his ankle, going to the sidelines for three weeks.</p><p>Jean Payette had six assists and gained ground in his battle to regain the league scoring championship. With 62 points, the Oiler center was only three behind top scoring J.P. Leblanc of Dallas, who had four assists for the week.</p><p>The injured Swenson, formerly tied with Payette for second place with 56 points, dropped to fifth.</p><p>The Feb. 12 loss (the CHL Oilers have lost all six games they&rsquo;ve played on Lincoln&rsquo;s birthday) was especially bitter to the Oilers and their fans. A string of 14 straight home games without defeat was scissored, as the Hawks twice rallied from two-goal deficits. Bill Young actually won the game with two third-period tallies, and J.P. Bordeleau added an insurance goal while the Oilers were short two men on penalties.</p><p>The Oilers were never in the Feb. 9 game at Dallas. The Hawks ran up a 5-1 margin in the opening period, and it was 7-2 before the Oilers started scoring in earnest. The closeness of the final score (8-6) was the result of two late Oiler power plays, and Steve King&rsquo;s long shot at the buzzer, to which Hawk goalie Michel Dumas offered only token resistance.</p><p>The home skein of 10 victories and four ties started Nov. 28. The last previous loss for the Oilers on their own ice was thanksgiving night, also against Dallas, a 6-3 affair.</p><p><b>DALLAS:</b> The Black Hawks showed they could come from behind in two weekend games, after their earlier easy home romp over Tulsa. Bart Crashley and Dave Hudson scored in the final period to gain a 4-4 tie at home against Kansas City, Feb. 11. Hudson&rsquo;s tying goal came with only 1:11 on the clock. The next night in Tulsa the Hawks came back from 2-0 and 4-2 deficits to post an 8-6 triumph. It left them unbeaten in six games.</p><p>The Saturday night triumph in Tulsa was sweet revenge for coach Bobby Kromm and veteran goalkeeper Ken Brown. Kromm became embroiled with Tulsa fans on the Hawks&rsquo; previous invasion of the Assembly Center, Jan. 8. Brown had been bombed out of his cage in his only two previous starts against Tulsa, lasting only two periods of one game, and one period of the next.</p><p>Four assists ran J.P. Leblanc&rsquo;s league-leading point total to 65. Bob Sicinski was fourth in the league race with 57 points, garnering a goal and four assists for the week. J.P. Bordeleau was tied for sixth with 53 points.</p><p>Bordeleau set a club record the previous week by scoring twice in 16 seconds in the 9-0 romp over Oklahoma City, Feb. 5.</p><p>Defenseman John Marks had a goal in each of the week&rsquo;s three games, including an incredible 75-foot shot at Tulsa. Eleven different Hawks had goals in those games, with defensemen accounting for seven. Bart Crashley had three (two of them at home against Tulsa),</p><p><b>OMAHA:</b> Three straight set-backs slowed down the Knights in their bid to wrest second place away from Tulsa, and at the end of the week Omaha had to share third place with the upstart Oklahoma City Blazers. The three straight losses followed three straight Omaha victories, which in turn had followed three straight reverses.</p><p>The Knights yielded three quick goals at the start in Oklahoma City, Feb. 11, rallied on second-period power plays, but dropped a 5-3 verdict.</p><p>Two nights later the Knights forged a 2-0 lead in Tulsa, but eventually bowed, 4-3. The crusher came in Omaha Feb. 12, when Fort Worth came from behind to rack up a 3-1 decision.</p><p>Veteran Rick Charron, who had looked brilliant in the three previous victories, was taking his lumps, as his teammates exhibited a leaky defense.</p><p>The Knights summoned Wayne Bell back from Des Moines of the International League as backup goalie. Rookie Wayne Wood was recalled by Providence of the American League.</p><p>The club&rsquo;s top scorer, Norm Gratton, was held to a goal and an assist for the week. With 53 points, he was tied for sixth in the league. Bill Hogaboam, with one assist for the week, had 52 points.</p><p><b>OKLAHOMA CITY:</b> The Blazers got their quickest goal in CHL history when Brian Bradley scored 11 seconds after the opening whistle in the Feb. 11 victory over Omaha. The former record was a goal scored in 14 seconds by Steve Atkinson, also against Omaha, in 1968-69.</p><p>The Blazers pulled into a third-place tie by whipping Kansas City, 3-1, in OC Feb. 12. But the previous night they dropped a home game to Fort Worth&rsquo;s cellar-dwelling Wings, 5-2.</p><p>Veteran goalie John Adams came within 4:26 of scoring his second shutout of the season. But Kansas City&rsquo;s Dave Pulkkinen spoiled the whitewash bid with a blast from the right point.</p><p><b>KANSAS CITY:</b> The Blues were fit to be tied. They had to score twice in the final period to get a 5-5 draw at Fort Worth, Feb. 11. Then two nights later, they let Dallas off the hook with a 4-4 draw, as the Hawks scored two late goals. That made 10 ties in 49 games for coach Johnny Choyce&rsquo;s KC skaters. Worse, they hadn&rsquo;t won in 10 starts since Jan. 22., and hadn&rsquo;t won in their last five games at home. The Feb. 12 loss in Oklahoma City ran their road record to 10 without victory.</p><p>Captain Norm Dennis had a goal and four assists in the week, and his 53 points tied him for sixth in the league scoring. Ron Climie had 39.</p><p>Dennis and Brit Selby scored 14 seconds apart to gain the tie in Fort Worth. It was Selby&rsquo;s second goal of the game.</p><p>Dennis was honored at the Blues Booster Club annual awards dinner, Feb. 6, getting the Mr. Hockey Award, presented to the person who did the most to further professional hockey in KC the previous year.</p><p><b>FORT WORTH:</b> Rival coaches are wondering just what Wings&rsquo; coach Bob Lemieux is serving for the pre-game meal! After the 5-5 home tie with Kansas City, the Wings went into Oklahoma City and took a 5-2 decision, then traveled to Omaha for a 3-1 verdict. And they had closed the previous week with an 8-4 romp in Kansas City.</p><p>Balanced scoring (and lots of it) was a big part of the Wings&rsquo; week without a loss (for the first time since mid-December). Eight different Wings scored the week&rsquo;s 13 goals, and three others had assists. The week&rsquo;s big gunner was Ralph Stewart, 23-year-old center from Thunder Bay, Ont., who had three goals and three assists for the week.</p><p>Stewart, Herb Boxer and Ross Perkins gave the Wings a 3-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the tie with KC, and Boxer and Perkins later added their second tallies of the game.</p><p>It was five goals in the middle period which buried Oklahoma City. Stewart and Bill Hicke had two each, and Craig Reichmuth the other.</p><p>The next night in Omaha, the Wings spotted the Knights a first-period goal, then cameback on tallies by Brian Watts, Joe Zanussi and Tom Martin. The back-to-back road victories broke a string of 11 without victory since Nov. 27.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0267/2959125-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="545" height="578"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BART CRASHLEY&hellip;Three-Goal Week</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0336/2959118-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="541" height="580"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JOHN MARKS&hellip;Sank 75-Footer</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0428/2959111-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="540" height="577"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BILL YOUNG&hellip;Sunk The Oilers</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0032-01

Fading Oilers Lose Sting, Leading Ice Stars

<h2><b>CENTRAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Thurs. Feb. 24)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0196/2959264-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="581" height="234"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Fri. Feb. 18</b></p><p>Dallas 4 at Tulsa 2</p><p>Fort Worth 4 at Oklahoma City 4</p><p>Kansas City 4 at Omaha 7</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 19</b></p><p>Fort Worth 0 at Dallas 8</p><p>Omaha 2 at Kansas City 2</p><p>Tulsa 5 at Oklahoma City 1</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 20</b></p><p>Tulsa 2 at Fort Worth 6</p><p>Oklahoma City 1 at Omaha 6</p><h2><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h2><p><b>Thur. Feb. 24</b></p><p>Omaha at Fort Worth</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 25</b></p><p>Omaha at Dallas</p><p>Fort Wh at Tulsa</p><p>Oklahoma City at Kansas City</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 26</b></p><p>Dallas at Fort Worth</p><p>Kansas City at Omaha</p><p>Oklahoma City at Tulsa</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 27</b></p><p>Tulsa at Dallas</p><p><b>Tue. Feb. 29</b></p><p>Kansas City at Fort Worth</p><p><b>Wed. March 1</b></p><p>Kansas City at Oklahoma City</p><p><b>Fri. March 3</b></p><p>Kansas City at Dallas</p><p>Omaha at Tulsa</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><p><b>(Including games of Sun. Feb. 13)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0269/2959257-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="596" height="998"></div><h2><b>GOALKEEPERS RECORDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0348/2959250-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="600" height="516"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0033-01

HOW THEY STAND

<h2><b>QUEBEC CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 14)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0436/2959330-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="587" height="231"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0531/2959323-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="579" height="238"></div><h2><b>WESTERN CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 14)</b></p><h3><b>EASTERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0624/2959316-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="582" height="131"></div><h3><b>WESTERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0721/2959309-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="585" height="131"></div><h2><b>MARITIME CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Thurs. Feb. 10)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0819/2959302-1-eng-US/f0033-082.jpg" title="f0033-08" width="581" height="277"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0916/2959295-1-eng-US/f0033-092.jpg" title="f0033-09" width="583" height="280"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0033-04

<p class="dropcap"><span>R</span>alph Stewart is playing with a last-place club but it didn&rsquo;t stop the 25-year-old Fort Worth center from turning in a productive six-point week, three of which were goals. Stewart had a two-goal game against Oklahoma City and for a late-comer to the club he&rsquo;s doing all right. In only 14 games, Stewart has 19 scoring points.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1015/2959361-1-eng-US/f0033-102.jpg" title="f0033-10" width="534" height="518"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RALPH STEWART</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0033-10

<h2><b>EASTERN LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Feb. 22)</b></p><h3><b>NORTHERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01105/2959413-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="571" height="184"></div><h3><b>SOUTHERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0260/2959406-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="590" height="257"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tues. Feb. 15</b></p><p>Sun Coast 2 at Charlotte 7</p><p><b>Wed. Feb. 16</b></p><p>Sun Coast 5 at Greensboro 4</p><p>New Jersey 2 at Syracuse 4</p><p>Johnstown 1 at Clinton 4</p><p>Long Island 5 at New Hoven 2</p><p><b>Thurs. Feb. 17</b></p><p>Sun Coast 4 at Roanoke 5</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 18</b></p><p>Roanoke 1 at Charlotte 5</p><p>Syracuse 4 at Long Island 8</p><p>Clinton 1 at New Jersey 1</p><p>New Haven 3 at Johnstown 12</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 19</b></p><p>Greensboro 3 at Roanoke 3</p><p>New Haven at Syracuse (postponed)</p><p>New Jersey at Clinton (postponed)</p><p>Long Island at Johnstown (postponed)</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 20</b></p><p>Greensboro 0 at Charlotte 6</p><p>Clinton 4 at New Haven 6</p><p>Sun Coast 4 at Roanoke 6</p><p>Johnstown at Long Island (postponed)</p><p>Syracuse at New Jersey (postponed)</p><h2><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h2><p><b>Tue. Feb. 22</b></p><p>Greensboro at Charlotte</p><p>Roanoke Valley at Sun Coast</p><p><b>Wed. Feb. 23</b></p><p>Roanoke Valley at Sun Coast</p><p>Johnstown at New Haven</p><p>Long Island at New Jersey</p><p><b>Thur. Feb. 24</b></p><p>Long Island at Syracuse</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 25</b></p><p>Greensboro at Charlotte</p><p>Syracuse vs Clinton (at Utk)</p><p>Johnstown at Long Island</p><p>New Hoven at New Jersey</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 26</b></p><p>Charlotte at Roanoke Valley</p><p>New Haven at Syracuse</p><p>New Jersey at Clinton</p><p>Long Island at Johnstown</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 27</b></p><p>Roanoke Valley at Charlotte</p><p>Syracuse at New Haven</p><p>Clinton at Long Island</p><p>New Jersey at Johnstown</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><p><b>(Including Games of Sun. Feb. 13)</b></p><h3><b>NORTHERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0344/2959399-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="582" height="281"></div><h3><b>SOUTHERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0430/2959392-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="581" height="283"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0034-01

<div class="byline">BY HARVEY POLLACK</div><p>COMMACK&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he slighest edge could mean the difference in making or missing the Eastern Hockey League playoffs, and coach Ed Stankiewicz of the Long Island Ducks is leaving no stone unturned to obtain that advantage.</p><p>The Ducks in 11th hour moves added two players who could prove the difference in the stretch drive in the tightest race in the memory of veteran EHL observers. The Northern Division battle is so close that at this point every one of the six clubs still has a mathematical shot at one of the four berths.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0526/2959444-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="257" height="432"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>John Rodger</b></figcaption></div><p>To enhance then chances, the Ducks acquired defenseman Derek Harker, the No. 3 amateur draft pick of the St. Louis Blues last year who has been playing with Flint in the IHL. At the same time they also were able to land some of the surplus talent of the Charlotte Checkers, Southern Division pacesetters. That ten strike was John Rodger, a 31-year-old former Western Leaguer who was a key figure in the Checkers winning the Walker Cup a year ago.</p><p>Rodger has been out a good portion of the year with torn knee ligaments and now that he&rsquo;s ready for action, the Checkers have no place on the squad for him. So they sent him to the Ducks to finish out the season. The veteran center&rsquo;s experience could be beneficial in the crucial stretch games that are yet to come.</p><p>Stankiewicz&rsquo; friendly relations with Fred Creighton at Charlotte and with St. Louis coach Billy McCreary enabled him to get the two additions. Harker, a 6-0 190-pounder, picked up 45 points last year with Edmonton and was impressive this year too. The Ducks only have him for the remainder of the year as St. Louis has plans for him next season. Rodger, too is, only loan.</p><p>The Ducks realize there will be a nice financial jackpot for the teams that make the playoffs. Even one round of action could produce some $600 or $700 a player based on the fine attendance at Syracuse, Long Island, and New Haven. Stankiewicz said &ldquo;there&rsquo;s a real incentive to do well in the playoffs, but the most important thing right now is to make them.</p><p><b>CLINTON:</b> Murray McNeil returned to duty with faceguard protecting tender area of his fractured cheekbone. It hampered his efforts. Ray Butterworth moved to defense when Brian Me-Bratney was given an indefinite suspension by the club for &ldquo;indifferent play.&rdquo; Borden Smith missed some vital games with knee injury. Comets trying to preserve record of playoff participation since 1958. McBratney missed a game with broken skate and no replacement available.</p><p><b>JOHNSTOWN:</b> Jets hurt when goalie Bob Vroman was called up by Springfield and club had to employ seldom-used backup goalie, Ron Docken. Vroman has since returned&hellip;Galen Head&rsquo;s hat trick won big game at Long Island. Jets have done well all year in winning faceoffs. Jets seeking first regular season title since 1964. Brian Vescio&rsquo;s rookie season is one of bright spots for Jets.</p><p><b>SYRACUSE:</b> Mike Ruest set club scoring record for defensemen topping old mark held by Guy Allen. Blazers drew 109,463 for first 27 games as compared to record 107,000 for 36 dates last year. Snowmobiles had to bring programs to game here when no other transportation available. Ray Adduono and Paul LaRose have become the first tandem 100-point men in club history.</p><p><b>ROANOKE VALLEY:</b> Unu-sual two goals by defenseman Jack Chipchase brought narrow win over Suncoast. Guy Dufour suffered 4-stitch cut when hit over head by Charlotte&rsquo;s Bob Shupe but no penalty was called since referee didn&rsquo;t see it. Five-point northern trip delighted Rebels. Jack McCreary dropped to make room for J.C. Garneau but Rebels want Jack back next season.</p><p><b>JERSEY:</b> Record crowd of 4,681 saw Devils whip New Haven for fifth straight home win. Bob Gerrard had hat tricks in two consecutive games. Wayne Hawrysh celebrated birth of daughter with goal against Johnstown. Coach Red Hay needed 12 stitches to close ear wound from a flying puck. Devils only have five holdovers from last season.</p><p><b>GREENSBORO:</b> Ken Turlik back in action after missing five games with knee injury. Don Labelle joined team again. Ted Lanyon made northern trip. Trainer Bob Smith took over in final period of Roanoke Valley game when goalie Ernie Miller was subpar. Don Carter definitely displeased by rough time club had in north after doing so well in south. Carter has big decision to make as to whether to activate himself for playoffs.</p><p><b>NEW HAVEN:</b> Andre Peloffy on disabled list with groin injury. Ed Sidebottom has been aiding Blades since recent arrival. Bobby Peters out for year and must undergo back operation. Denis Romanesky lost for year also after refracturing jaw. Norm Schmitz&rsquo; status still up in air&mdash;with his knee injury.</p><p><b>SUNCOAST:</b> Trio of Billy Smith, Herm Karp and Andre Lajeunesse key offensive figures for Lloyd Hinchberger&rsquo;s club. Suns switched postponed game here to Jacksonville. Walter Brock was seeking some help from Los Angeles for playoffs. Team set records of winless streak of nine and tied mark of eight straight losses. Tough log of 22 out of 23 away hurt team.</p><p><b>CHARLOTTE:</b> Checkers left ice in protest of penalty shot awarded Greensboro when Gaye Cooley, Checkers goalie, tossed puck into stands. Gens scored and final six seconds of game were never played. Checks protested penalty shot decision to league. Mike Rouleau hit 171-foot shot into open net against Roanoke Valley. Publisher Ken McKenzie presented THE HOCKEY NEWS minor-league coach of year award to Fred Creighton.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0034-05

Ducks Strengthened For Stretch Drive; Blazers’ 109,463 Ahead Of Record Year

<h2><b>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Feb. 22)</b></p><h3><b>NORTHERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0193/2959555-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="574" height="130"></div><h3><b>SOUTHERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0269/2959548-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="576" height="206"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Wed. Fab. 16</b></p><p>Muskegon 4 at Toledo 3</p><p>Fort Wayne 2 at Columbus 6</p><p><b>Fri. Fob. 18</b></p><p>Dayton 4 at Columbus 3</p><p>Flint 0 at Muskegon 7</p><p>Port Huron 3 at Toledo 4</p><p>Fort Wayne 3 at Des Moines 7</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 19</b></p><p>Fort Wayne 1 at Des Moines 7</p><p>Port Huron 4 at Muskegon 5</p><p>Flint 3 at Toledo 5</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 20</b></p><p>Flint 2 at Columbus 1</p><p>Toledo 2 at Port Huron 6</p><h2>GAMES TO COME</h2><p><b>Tue. Feb. 22</b></p><p>Muskegon at Columbus</p><p>Des Moines at Port Huron</p><p><b>Wed. Feb. 23</b></p><p>Muskegon at Dayton</p><p>Des Moines at Toledo</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 25</b></p><p>Columbus ot Des Moines</p><p>Port Huron at Flint</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 26</b></p><p>Toledo at Muskegon</p><p>Dayton at Port Huron</p><p>Fort Wayne atFlint</p><p>Columbus at Des Moines</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 27</b></p><p>Toledo atFort Wayf</p><p>Port Huron otMuskegon</p><p>Des Moines at Columbus</p><p>Flint at Dayton</p><p><b>Tues. Feb. 29</b></p><p>Muskegon at Dayion</p><p>Wed. March 1</p><p>Muskegon at Fort Wayne</p><p><b>Fri. March 3</b></p><p>Fort Wayne at Toledo</p><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><p><b>(Including games of sun. feb. 13</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0346/2959541-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="584" height="306"></div><h2>MICHIGAN JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 14)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0440/2959534-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="583" height="178"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0535/2959527-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="586" height="309"></div><h2>MICHIGAN SENIOR LEAGUE</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/f0035-0625/2959520-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="584" height="135"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0725/2959513-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="582" height="283"></div><h2>IHL JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Fri. Feb. 11)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0821/2959506-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="588" height="137"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0035-01

<p>DAYTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he hockey fans in Dayton and surrounding areas have been calling Jim Benzelock, just plain &lsquo;Cowboy&rsquo; in recent weeks, but they are going to have to do better than that, something like &lsquo;Dead Eye&rsquo; Jim.</p><p>The 25-year-old native of Winnipeg has been sensational in Dayton&rsquo;s last five games, scoring 14 goals, including five twice in a game, and his record three-goal hat trick in just 45 seconds of the first period of a recent game and one goal each in the second and third periods led the Gems to a 7-4 victory over Toledo&rsquo;s Hornets before a crowd of 3,663 at Hara Arena.</p><p>Benzelock now has 38 goals in 56 games and his six-point effort against the Hornets ran his point total to 66.</p><p>Dayton won four of those five games since Benzelock went on his scoring rampage and the Gems now boast a record of 42-18 with only 12 games remaining as they bid for the Southern division championship.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Dayton Sniper Fires Second 5-Goal Game

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GILBERT</div><p>ST. PETER</p><p>Gustavus Adolphus, a Swedish college located here in Southwest Minnesota, over an hour&rsquo;s drive from the nearest indoor ice arena, but is it is a college hockey power all the same.</p><p>Coach Don Roberts, who admits he was a basketball player during his youthful winters near here, hustles his team to the Minneapolis or a suburb to practice all through November and December until it gets cold enough to get the Gusties&rsquo; outdoor rink frozen.</p><p>Playing on the small-college, NAIA level, the Gusties went to the National tournament last year, which was won by Bemidji State, also of Minnesota.</p><p>Bemidji has a fine, new indoor facility, and the Beavers have won all four NAIA crowns. But Gustavus opened its season with a surprise victory over Bemidji this year, and later beat Bemidji again. The Gusties lost twice to big school Air Force Academy on a trip to Colorado Springs, then it was back to the 15-below practices at their own rink, which the players call the &ldquo;World Arena.&rdquo;</p><p>Led by George Roberts (no relation to the coach) and Jim Miller, Gustavus has only been beaten once in the Minnesota Inter-collegiate Athletic Conference. That was against St. Mary&rsquo;s, and Gustavus already avenged that one. They still have a ways to go to clinch the MIAC title, but they have a secret weapon going for them.</p><p>Rich Agren, a Swedish youth who was having trouble with English studies, decided to come to the U.S. to study for a couple of years. He picked Gustavus, and it turns out he&rsquo;s a talented hockey player. A fine stickhandler with a strong shot, Agren could find his stay on this side of the ocean lengthened if the pro scouts happen to spot him.</p><p>Gustavus has no scholarship program, except for needy students. The Gustie&rsquo;s hockey program hasn&rsquo;t been &ldquo;needing&rdquo; much; it&rsquo;s even flourishing without an arena to call home.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Little Gustavus Flourishing Without College Hockey Rink

<div class="byline">By Tom Burke</div><h2><i><b>Penn Slips Harvard Unexpected Setback</b></i></h2><p>Harvard ran into an unexpected road-block in their ride to the top of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference.</p><p>The big bomb dropped last week in the ECAC was the one University of Pennsylvania unloaded on the Crimson as they upset Harvard 3-2 right in dear old Cambridge.</p><p>Bill MacDonnell&rsquo;s goal with 59 seconds remaining lifted the streaking Quakers over Harvard and dropped the Crimson back into a tie with BU for first place in the loop. Harvard had dumped Northeastern 8-3 in the opening round, then followed up two nights later with a 6-2 shelling of Clarkson behind Dave Hynes&rsquo; four-goal effort. The Crimson had tied Penn 2-2 midway through the third period on Bob Mc-Manama&rsquo;s second goal, but Penn, winners of eight of their last 10 games, received excellent goaltending by John Marks with 33 saves. Earlier in the week Cornell tipped Penn 7-6 in overtime as Carlo Ugolini had three goals. Princeton took the Big Red to overtime in Ithaca before bowing 6-5, thanks to 52 saves by Ed Swift.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0192/2959641-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="257" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Keith Smith</b></figcaption></div><p>BU tipped BC 4-2 in the Beanpot opener, led by center John Danby&rsquo;s two goals. The Terriers had to score three times in the third period and shut off seven New Hampshire power plays to win, 6-5 The next night, UNH hopped off to a five goal lead in the first period and coasted by Providence, 8-2, with Terry Blewett, John Gray, and Gordie Clark each scoring twice.</p><p>Brown and Dartmouth, both storming back after poor starts, moved into playoff contention with a pair of wins each. The Bruins outshot Yale 52-18 and had to pull the goalie before Keith Smith got the tying goal on a rink-length rush, which performance he repeated in the middle of the third period at Army. Steve Shea netted the overtime goal at West Point while Bill Coakley scored the biggie against Yale Dartmouth meanwhile held BC to just 19 shots on net in a 4-2 win as Dave Walkom broke a 2-2 deadlock with 4:48 to go. Walkom also had two goals against Yale in a 7-3 decision while Bill Dunbar notched a hat trick. The win over BC was the first since 1959 for Dart mouth, and this was the first time since 1965 that they could win three Division One games in a row.</p><p>Luckless Army continued to lose one-goal games as RPI topped them, 4-3, behind a two-goal effort by Jack DeCloe. The Engineers split on their annual North Country trip, losing 5-3 at Clarkson and coming from behind to trip St. Lawrence 5-3. It was the first win in Appleton Arena since 1957 for RPI. Sophomore Greg Bull pounced on a loose puck in the Larrie zone and scored with 11 minutes left to ice the game after Rob Mackness had netted the go-ahead goal, his second of the game. Bull had all three scores against the Golden Knights the previous night. Brian McKenzie scored twice for the Knights to bring his total to six in the last four games.</p><p>Colgate, despite their poor record, really has St. Lawrence&rsquo;s number. Goalie Geoff McMullen came out of the stands for the third period in a game at Hamilton, allowed two quick goals and then shut off the Larries the rest of the way. Dave Desmond&rsquo;s hat trick paved the way for the Red Raiders&rsquo; 6-5 triumph.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0254/2959634-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="261" height="443"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Dave Walkom</b></figcaption></div><p><b>NOTES FROM THE EAST:</b> Looks like seven of the eight post-season playoff positions are all but sewn up. Not necessarily in this order, they will go to Harvard, BU, Cornell, New Hampshire, RPI, Penn, and Clarkson. Those vying for the eighth spot now appear to be Brown (7-8), Dartmouth (5-7) and Providence (6-7). Boston College (5-9) has the schedule against them from here on and recently received world that their second-leading goal getter, soph Joe Fidler, would miss the rest of the season with a broken leg. St. Lawrence (4-9-1) started off well also but has faded sophomorically. Yale (5-8) has too tough a schedule ahead to expect a berth.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0036-01

DOWN EAST

<div class="byline">By John Gilbert</div><h2><i><b>Michigan State Star Rewrites Record Book</b></i></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>D</span>on Thompson is only 5-foot-5, but goaltenders all over the Western Collegiate Hockey Association for the past three years wil long remember what he&rsquo;s done at Michigan State.</p><p>The senior center from Toronto, nicknamed Zippy, completed his rewrite job on the Michigan State scoring records in a sweep ove Minnesota.</p><p>Thompson scored at 0:25 of the first period of the first game with the Gophers, a goal that gave him 54 in his career. With 77 assists, that tied the Michigan State record of 131 career points. At 0:31 of the second period, Thompson got an assist on Mark Calder&rsquo;s goal that broke the point record, then he assisted with his other winger, Bob Michelutti, at 4:56 to give MSU a 6-0 lead.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0343/2959679-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="265" height="447"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Don Thompson</b></figcaption></div><p>The last-place Gophers rallied back with two goals by freshman Mike Polich, but Michelutti ended up hitting again in the final minutes for a 7-2 romp. Thompson assisted on that one, too.</p><p>The next night, Thompson scored another goal, then assisted the hot-shooting sophomore Calder at 0:32 of the third period on a goal that broke a 3-3 tie and carried the Spartans to a 6-3 triumph, eliminating any hope Minnesota may have held for making a playoff berth. Thompson fed Calder for the final goal, into an open net with three seconds to play, to wind up with two goals and five assists for the weekend, and peg the school scoring re cord at 137.</p><p>With Jimmy Watt, a senior from Duluth, Minn., standing as probably the top goalie in the WCHA, Michigan State had rolled to seven straight victories, lost a midweek game 6-2 to Michigan, then swept the Gophers for nine victories in 10 games.</p><p>While Michigan State soared up among the contenders, Denver, Minnesota-Duluth and North Dakota all split in their battle to take second. And Wisconsin, the WCHA leader all season, found Notre Dame was without ace goalie Dick Tomasoni, from Chisholm, Minn., and swept two games from the Irish to pad the lead.</p><p>Denver was ambushed by Colorado College 9-7 in Denver&mdash;the first time CC had pulled that off in 15 years. Steve Sertich, a speedy sophomore from Virginia, Minn., got four goals for the Tigers, although Doug Palazzari, a diminutive centerman who went into the weekend leading the WCHA in scoring, was held without a point. The next night, the teams went to Colorado Springs, and Denver throttled CC 13-4.</p><p>Minnesota-Duluth was ready and waiting for North Dakota, zooming to a 6-0 lead in two periods and taking a 7-1 lead halfway through the third. But the Sioux retaliated with four goals in less than five minutes before Duluth prevailed for a 7-5 triumph. Lyman Haakstad&rsquo;s two goals led the Bulldogs. North Dakota stayed alive in the upper reaches of the race when Kelly Cross tipped in a shot to provide the margin of a 3-2 victory in the rematch.</p><p>Wisconsin needed four third-period goals to take a 6-4 victory from Notre Dame, then tacked on a 5-1 decision. Jim Young returned to action after an injury and promptly got the go-ahead goal in the 6-4 game.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0431/2959672-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="262" height="443"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Lorne Stamler</b></figcaption></div><p>Michigan Tech, struggling to play. 500 in the balanced WCHA, bombed Michigan 9-4 and 8-3, with Lorne Stamler getting a hat trick in the first game and adding a fourth tally in the second. Bob D&mdash;Alvise had three goals for the weekend.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0036-03

WESTERN WAY

<h2><b>ECAC CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Fob. 14)</b></p><h3><b>DIVISION I</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0183/2959759-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="590" height="464"></div><h3><b>DIVISION II</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0261/2959752-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="613" height="596"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>BEANPOT TOURNAMENT</b></p><p>Harvard 8 Northeastern 3</p><p>Boston University 4, Boston College 2</p><p><b>DIVISION ONE</b></p><p>Colgate 6, St. Lawrence 5</p><p>RPI 4, Army 3</p><p>Brown 4, Yale 3</p><p>Harvard 6, Clarkson 2</p><p>Cornell 7, Pennsylvania 6</p><p>Dartmouth 4, Boston College 2</p><p>Boston U 6, New Hampshire 5</p><p>Clarkson 5, RPI 3</p><p>Cornell 6, Princeton 5</p><p>Brown 3, Army 2</p><p>Dartmouth 7, Yole 3</p><p>Pennsylvania 3, Harvard 2</p><p>New Hampshire 8, Providence 2</p><p>RPI 5, St. Lawrence 3</p><p><b>DIVISION II</b></p><p>Providence 3, Merrimack 2</p><p>Colby 12, Holy Cross 1</p><p>Hamilton 3, Amherst 1</p><h2><b>IVY LEAGUE</b></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/f0037-0338/2959745-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="597" height="211"></div><h2><b>WCHA CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 12)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0431/2959738-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="595" height="288"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Wisconsin 6, Notre Dame 4</p><p>Wisconsin 5, Notre Dame 1</p><p>Colorado College 9, Denver 7</p><p>Deaver 13, Colorado College 4</p><p>Minn-Duluth 7, North Dakota 5</p><p>North Dakota 3, Minn-Duluth 2</p><p>Michigan Tech 8, Michigan 4</p><p>Michigan Tech 8, Michigan 3</p><p>Michigan State 7, Minnesota 2</p><p>Michigan State 6, Minnesota 3</p><h2><b>ONTARIO CONFERENCE</b></h2><h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><p><b>(Standings on Tues. Feb. 15)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0526/2959731-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="590" height="208"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0622/2959724-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="579" height="214"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Queen&rsquo;s 9. Ottawa 2</p><p>York 21, Ryerson 0</p><p>Western 24, Brock 0</p><p>Toronto 3. Lutheran 0</p><p>Waterloo 6, Carleton 2</p><p>McMaster 8, Guelph 0</p><p>York 3, Ottawa 2</p><p>York 5, Queen&rsquo;s 4</p><p>Ottawa 8, Ryerson 3</p><p>Lutheran 3, Carleton 3</p><p>Windsor 5, Ryerson 2</p><p>Laurentian 10, Queen&rsquo;s 2</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0719/2959717-1-eng-US/f0037-072.jpg" title="f0037-07" width="597" height="286"></div><h3><b>WESTERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0817/2959710-1-eng-US/f0037-082.jpg" title="f0037-08" width="591" height="241"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0037-01

COLLEGE HOCKEY RACES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0037-09" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0915/2959790-1-eng-US/f0037-092.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Canada is back in international hockey with an All Star team of college stars who will participate in the World Student Games at Lake Placid, N.Y. Above, team coach CLARE DRAKE dicusses strategy with two of his top performers, defenseman RICK CUNNINGHAM, left, of Trent University and center JOHN WRIGHT of the University of Toronto.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Hockey News Photo by Lyndon Little)</span></figcaption></div><p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union has announced the names of the 20 college hockey players who will represent Canada in the World Student Games to take place at Lake Placid, N.Y., in late February.</p><p>The players&mdash;two goaltenders, six defensemen and 12 forwards&mdash;were chosen from a group of 40 collegiate performers who attended a week-long training camp at Toronto in December.</p><p>The defending CIAU champions, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, placed six men on the team which will be coached by Clare Drake of the University of Alberta. Loyola College of Montreal, last season&rsquo;s Quebec conference champions, had three selections as did Alberta.</p><p>Tom Watt of the University of Toronto will act as the team&rsquo;s manager.</p><p>The players selected were:</p><p><b>GOALTENDERS:</b> James Richardson, University of Alberta; and Ken Lockett, University of Guelph.</p><p><b>DEFENSEMEN:</b> Steve Carlyle, University of Alberta; Larry Carriere and Steve Sly, both of Loyola: Rick Cunningham, Trent; Greg McCullough, Dalhousie, Dave McDowall, University of Toronto.</p><p><b>FORWARDS:</b> Bill Buba, Gord Davies, Kas Lysionek, Bob Munro, and John Wright, all of University of Toronto; David Couves, Jack Gibson, both of University of Alberta; Jim Irving, University of Winnipeg; Steve Latinovich, York; Bob McAneeley, U.B.C.; Mike Quinn, St. Mary&rsquo;s and Gavin Kirk, Loyola.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0037-09

Canadian College Team Set For World Student Games

<h2><b>WESTERN CANADA LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 14)</b></p><h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01104/2959884-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="587" height="184"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0262/2959877-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="582" height="186"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0340/2959870-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="585" height="653"></div><h2><b>CANADIAN CENTRAL LEAGUE</b></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/f0038-0433/2959863-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="585" height="156"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0526/2959856-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="576" height="308"></div><h2><b>ALBERTA JUNIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 14)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0623/2959849-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="579" height="202"></div><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0720/2959842-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="583" height="838"></div><h2><b>UNITED STATES LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Fri. Feb. 18)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0814/2959835-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="572" height="151"></div><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0911/2959828-1-eng-US/f0038-092.jpg" title="f0038-09" width="574" height="498"></div><h2><b>ONTARIO SENIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Fri. Feb. 18)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1010/2959821-1-eng-US/f0038-102.jpg" title="f0038-10" width="592" height="227"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0038-01

<div class="byline">BY BOB BRISCOE</div><p>SWIFT CURRENT&mdash;</p><p>Wins have been very difficult to come by for the Broncos this season and for a very good reason.</p><p>Broncos have had trouble scoring goals and consequently have lost too many close hockey games and find themselves mired in the cellar of the Eastern Division with but 16 wins and a tie in 52 games.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-118/2959915-1-eng-US/f0038-112.jpg" title="f0038-11" width="249" height="421"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Earl Ingarfield</b></figcaption></div><p>The recent loss of forward Dan McCarthy, out for the season with a broken leg, didn&rsquo;t help matters much. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just been a whole season of injuries and little things that didn&rsquo;t pan out as we had hoped,&rdquo; moaned coach Stan Dunn.</p><p>Going into the last 15 games of the season. Broncos were down to only 15 players with little prospect of getting more.</p><p>Their Tier Two affiliated team in Humboldt is in a battle for first place in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. To add to the problem, a couple of the more promising Bronco youngsters on the farm have been offered U.S. scholarships and don&rsquo;t want to lose their chance by playing in the WCHL. U.S. college rules prevent teams from recruiting players from Canada&rsquo;s major junior leagues.</p><p>Surrounded by the dismal season after a brief glimpse of some playoff sunlight two years ago, there is some doubt about the future of the hockey club in this Western Saskatchewan centre. Fan support has been better than average for a seasoniong last place club but general community behind the scenes promotion help has not been what had been expected.</p><p><b>REGINA:</b> Earl Ingarfield&rsquo;s Pats played only two games during the week, winning one and losing the other but maintained a five point lead over Saskatoon after 49 games&hellip;Three rookies continue to lead the club in scoring&mdash;Dennis Sobchuk with 36 goals and 48 assists, Clark Gillies with 24 goals and 36 assists and Mike Wanchuk with 32 goals and 27 assists&hellip;</p><p><b>SASKATOON:</b> Blades solidified their hold on second in the division by defeating third-place Brandon in Saskatoon&hellip;That opened a five-point spread between the clubs with Blades also holding two games in hand&hellip;Defenceman Lawrence Sacharuk was the only Saskatoon scorer listed in the first 25 of the league with 31 goals and 24 assists in 43 games&hellip;</p><p><b>BRANDON:</b> The Wheat Kings suffered through a disastrous road trip, losing badly in three games and appeared destined to finish third in the division, losing the home game advantage in the semi-final&hellip;Poor defensive play hurt Wheaties as they allowed 32 goals in four games&hellip;</p><p><b>FLIN FLON:</b> Pat Ginnell&rsquo;s Bombers took a big step toward grabbing the fourth and final playoff spot by winning a week-end doubleheader against Swift Current Broncos&hellip;Bombers had played five more games than fifth-place Winnipeg but had five more wins and a l()-point spread after 56 games&hellip;Young Al Hillier making a move in the scoring race with 21 goals and 41 assists&hellip;</p><p><b>WINNIPEG:</b> Playoff prospects went from bad to worse for Jets as they lost three games on a West Coast swing while Flin Flon won two&hellip;Personnel director Jim Walker was behind the bench for three games as coach Nick Mickoski accompanied owner Ben Hatskin to World Hockey Association player selection meeting in California&hellip;In order to reach playoffs, Winnipeg must defeat Bombers twice in two games at Winnipeg then make up some ground with the five games in hand they own.</p><p><b>CALGARY:</b> The Centennials continued to streak toward their second division pennant in three years, opening a nine-point lead over New Westminster Bruins&hellip;Cents have also played five fewer games than Bruins&hellip;Cents won two games in the week without services of starry goaltender John Davidson, who was sitting out with a hand injury&hellip;Mike McCollam played the two games and received strong defensive help from the best defensive team in the league.</p><p><b>NEW WESTMINSTER:</b> Bruins saw their chances of a second-place finish hurt when they lost two games to third-place Edmonton&hellip;After their 17-game win streak, Bruins lost three straight, won two then lost another two&hellip;They held a two-point edge on Edmonton but had played five more games&hellip;Play of veteran forwards Lorne Henning, Bernie Luckowich and Don Martineau against Edmonton dismayed Bruin brass with Martineau the only one of the three suffering from any kind of an injury that should have affected his effort&hellip;</p><p><b>EDMONTON:</b> Oil Kings lost services of rugged forward John Rogers for remainder of schedule&hellip;Rogers underwent operstion to remove torn cartilege of the knee&hellip;Centre Brian Ogilvie had strong two games against New Westminster while being played against Henning&hellip;In fact, Henning was moved out of the face off circle because Ogilvie was so dominating the draws&hellip;</p><p><b>MEDICINE HAT:</b> Starry forward Tom Lysiak became first player in league to reach 100-point mark&hellip;He picked up five points in three road games to hit the century mark with 31 goals and 69 assists&hellip;Teammate Stan Weir follows in scoring with 41 goals and 55 assusts&hellip;</p><p><b>VICTORIA:</b> The Cougars appeared ready to strive for 20 or more wins in first season&hellip;They reached 15 in 48 games with win over Vancouver&hellip;Cougars were six points ahead of Vancouver but had no hope of catching a playoff berth&hellip;</p><p><b>VANCOUVER:</b> Nats&rsquo; big concern now is to get things headed in the proper following a disastrous first season on the ice and at the gate&hellip;With only 26 points out of 51 games, the Vancouver club faces a massive recruiting job in order to be competitive next season&hellip;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0038-11

Woes Pile Up On Broncos; Regina Keeps Eastern Lead

<div class="byline">BY DOUG AUSTIN</div><p>OSHAWA&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Ontario Major Junior League hockey bubble that surrounded the amazing and upstart Oshawa Generals since the start of the current season some five months ago now appears to be badly inflated, if not already busted, as far as their dreams of an upset league championship are concerned.</p><p>The Toronto Marlboros, who were rated as the loop powerhouse before the 71-72 campaign started, have come from behind a late December deficit of 11 points to move six points in front of the Generals at February&rsquo;s mid-way mark. And, with Marlies going all out for a loop title and if the throes of a torrid 12-game victory skein, it appears most unlikely that the baby Leafs will be threatened, at least until the April playoffs roll around.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0188/2959953-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="266" height="434"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Glenn Goldup</b></figcaption></div><p>The Generals, in fact, were in danger of being shunted further down in the standings during the final six weeks of the regular schedule. Since obtaining goalie Mike Veisor from Hamilton along with the installation of three balanced lines by coach Roger Neilson, the third place Peterborough Petes have moved to within three games of Oshawa with Kitchener and Ottawa also closing the gap.</p><p>But regardless of where the Generals finish they appear a lead-pipe cinch to wind up in the first division of the ten-team loop. Under the circumstances, freshman coach Gus Bodnar should win the OHA &ldquo;coach of the year&rdquo; honors in a walkway.</p><p>The modest, likeable and well-informed Bodnar hasn&rsquo;t scored one goal for the Generals, contributed as much as a single assist nor handed out a body-check thus far this season. But with all due respect to starry netminder Gilles Gratton, an experienced defense led by Mike Amodeo and some fine rookies, Bodnar is the main reason why the Generals have made a shambles of the preseason dope bucket.</p><p>One-time coach of the Marlbo ros, Bodnar took a one-year &lsquo;sab-batical&rsquo; from junior &ldquo;A&rdquo; mentor-ship ranks to coach at Salt Lake City in pro ranks last season. But his return to teenage coaching duties was certainly Oshawa&rsquo;s gain, and in spades.</p><p>The Generals don&rsquo;t have a scorer in the top 15 loop snipers as of the last release. They have Gratton, defensemen Amodeo and Jack Lynch and forward: Tom Simpson and Dennis How ard back from last season but they were members of a ninth place club. The answer has to be Bodnar whose Generals are un doubtedly the, best coached in the loop with their mixture of experience and predominant youth.</p><p>Bodnar&rsquo;s handiwork, incidentally, is fully appreciated by the owners of the Oshawa Club. Since taking over as coach, Bodnar has been made the team&rsquo;s general-manager and according to reports, will be given a piece of the ownership action if he doesn&rsquo;t already have same. If such is the case, it is only a fitting reward for his efforts.</p><p><b>TORONTO:</b> Everything has been coming up roses for manager Tom Symthe and his Dukes in recent weeks. His big Toronto line of center Dave Gardner, left wing Steve Shutt and right winger Bill Harris continued to pot goals with amazing regularity in pacing the club to their long win streak. In addition, Marlies have welcomed back starry sophomore winger Paulin Bordeleau after getting the flashy, high-scoring Ron Bobbette in a trade with the Oshawa 67&rsquo;s. Coach Frank Bonello is also getting consistent scoring from Glenn Goldup, Pete Marrin and lanky Fred Prosser while goalies Kevin Nelville and Doug James are beginning to benefit more and more by the defense anchored by Marty Howe and elongated Bob Dailey.</p><p><b>OSHAWA:</b> After their torrid early pace, the Generals hit a February thaw. After going un-beaten in five games with Niagara Falls, Oshawa bowed to the Flyers by a 5-2 score in the city of the Big Roar. Two nights later they dropped a 6-1 decision to onrushing Peterborough. Further handicapping the Generals was a leg injury suffered by rearguard anchor-man Amodeo and ailments that have plagued Tom Simpson, a potent scorer from last season.</p><p><b>PETERBOROUGH:</b> After a hot and cold four months of the season, in which only their superiority on home ice kept them in the first division race, the Petes are putting it all together again. Coach Roger Neilson&rsquo;s acquistion of goalie Mike Veisor from the last-place Hamilton Red Wings in exchange for another last-year goalie Paul Elford could be the biggest &ldquo;steal&rdquo; of the year. One of the best goalies in the circuit, Veisor is showing his class since joining the more checking-dedicated Petes and is one of the main reasons for their recent surge. The line of Bob Smulders, Ron Lalonde and Bob Gaincy, put together by Neilson, has developed into a top scoring unit with Lalonde the only last-year junior on line.</p><p><b>KITCHENER:</b> Rated by pre-season experts as the club to give Marlboros the toughest battle, the Rangers have been the most erratic club in the loop. Some nights, and especially on home ice, they play like world beaters. But with nine lastyear players in their lineup they are still fighting a dogged battle to escape a possible sixth place finish. On the other hand, a late spurt in the blanket battle developing in back of Toronto could find them ending as high as second if they suddenly live up to expected form. To be fair about it, Coach Ron Murphy&rsquo;s cub has suffered from injuries and ailing players and the Rangers should be tough indeed at playoff time. The likes of Al Blanchard, Bill Barber, Tom Cassidy, Jerry Byers, Chris Abrens and goalie Glen Seperich gives Kitchener too much power to be overlooked.</p><p><b>OTTAWA:</b> Like Murphy, coach Bill Long has had his problems with an Ottawa club rated as one of the three strongest in the league. In goalie Michel (Bunny) Larocque, Ottawa has the loop&rsquo;s best puck-stopper and one of the league&rsquo;s best defensemen in Denis Potvin who still has another junior year remaining. The likes of Bryan McSheffery, Wayne Merrick, Paul Sheard, Peter Gaw and Blake Dunlop should give the 67&rsquo;s the most formidable scoring machine in the loop, next to Toronto. But Ottawa is currently the sixth lowest scoring club in the circuit and are fortunate indeed that Larocque gives them the best defensive mark in the loop.</p><p><b>NIAGARA FALLS:</b> Coach Paul Emms has starry loop&mdash;leading scorer Don Lever and defenseman Jim Schoenfeld spearheading a hustling club which threatens to take over third place after their cellar finish of the past two years. With erratic play hitting Ottawa and Kitchener, Flyers could be much higher in the standings save for very spotty, and frequently weak, netminding. Team captain Lever has hung onto the league&rsquo;s scoring lead since the third week of the season despite the fact that he is the number one target and not complemented by high scoring linemates.</p><p><b>LONDON:</b> After a slow start, the Knights under rookie coach Bronco Horvath are mounting their trusty steeds for late battle. Since January they have moved up to within five points of sixth place at one time and have been steady occupants of the seventh spot. The line of Thomas, Ververgaert and Osburn continues to supply over a third of the team&rsquo;s goals but Lou Nistico, who was recently fitted with contacts, has also come up with some big goals.</p><p><b>ST. CATHARINES:</b> After their ill-fated and a bruptlyter-minated Memorial Cup Eastern Canada final series of last year, the Hawks under coach Frank Milne had a battle on their hands to hang onto the eight and last playoff spot for the first half of the season. But the recent return of captain Bob MacMillan from a bout of monocucleosis, the scoring emergence of youthful Dave Gorman, the play of veteran defense ace Paul Shakes, frequent stretches of brilliant netminding by Brian Cousineau and a hustling crew have the Hawks all but a playoff cinch.</p><p><b>MONTREAL:</b> The Baby Habs of coach Roger Bedard appear certain to miss the playoffs for the first time since they entered the OHA circuit. Stripped of such past talent as Marc Tardif, Rejean Houle, Gil Perreault, Rick Martin and Jocelyn Guevre-mont by the yearly ravishment of over-age graduations, the Habs have plenty of promising rookies but few stars.</p><p><b>HAMILTON:</b> Despite the presence of two promising NHL drafts in their midst in the persons of team captain Terry Ryan and fellow center Ed Gilbert, Nick Durbano&rsquo;s struggling Wings will be playing out the rest of the season largely to escape the ten-team basement. Under likeable coach Harry Neale, who deserved a batter fate, the Wings have languished in the cellar since the season&rsquo;s starts</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0259/2959946-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="1198" height="899"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Oshawa coach GUS BODNAR can look forward to a fine future with the Generals if he continues to turn out stars like young BILL LOGHEAD, who is only 17 and a long junior career ahead of him.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Hockey News Photo by Lyndon Little)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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March 3, 1972

National Hockey League SUMMARIES

Leafs Wear Pajamas On Ice; McLay No. 2 Scoring 480th

American Hockey League Summaries

Player of The Week