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.

April 21, 1972

The Hockey News April 21, 1972

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCCONNELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01170/3086125-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Defenseman HARRY SHAW of Phoenix, despite playing with his hand in a cast for a cracked thumb for four weeks, scored three times in that span to help the Runners in their stretch drive.</b></figcaption></div><p>PHOENIX&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Phoenix Roadrunners, struck by late-season injuries and illness, got heroic performances from Harry Shaw, amateur fill-in Ron Anderson&hellip;&hellip;and Roadrunners Booster Club president Angelo Siragusa.</p><p>As a result, the Roadrunners clinched at least a tie for second place in the Western Hockey League standings with a 5-4 victory over the San Diego Gulls.</p><p>The Roadrunners needed only a tie in one of their two remaining games, at home against Denver or at San Diego with the Gulls. Or, the Portland Buckaroos had only to be held to a tie in one of their three remaining games. The Runners wrapped it up in the next-to-last game by defeating Denver 4-2.</p><p>San Diego, six points behind the third place Buckaroos, finished fourth.</p><p>Shaw, 28, has had his left hand encased in a cast with only his finger-tips showing, to protect a cracked thumb, for the past four weeks. In that time, he&rsquo;s scored three goals&mdash;all bullets from the blueline as somehow he managed to grip his stick.</p><p>In the last two games. Shaw looked more like the victim of a train wreck or a refugee from an Egyptian tomb. Besides the wrist and hand cast, the bruising 185-pounder had his left leg taped from thigh-top to boot straps to protect loose cartilage. He could hardly walk, but with medication to kill the pain, he played a solid senior partner role with Anderson.</p><p>Anderson&rsquo;s Phoenix stop was for only two games. An All Star at Greensboro, N.C. in the Eastern Hockey League after being converted from his left wing position, the 23-year-old from Dryden, Ont., was on his way to Tulsa of the Central Hockey League to complete the season when he was temporarily rerouted to Phoenix as an emergency replacement for veteran Sandy Hucul.</p><p>Hucul. 38, suffered a recurrence of a pinched nerve in his neck and was placed on the today injured list. He was back in time for the Roadrunner Booster Club to honor him with a &ldquo;night&rsquo;&rsquo; in the final game of the schedule.</p><p>Defenseman Gord Nelson and leftwinger John Gofton have also dressed for the past few games but neither saw much service. Nelson nursing a shoulder sepa-. ration and Gofton a knee injury.</p><p>Obtained for the final two games and the playoffs, on loan from the New York Rangers organization. were center Bill he gaboam and defenseman Rick Newell. Both played at Omaha in the Central League.</p><p>The wise-cracking Siragusa accompanied the Roadrunners on a two-game road trip and when trainer Tom Ellis was called home due to family illness, the booster club president moved behind the bench.</p><p>The Roadrunners thumped the Salt Lake Golden Eagles 7-3 and Siragusa retired, claiming the title of the &ldquo;only undefeated trainer in pro hockey&rdquo;.</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what kept us so loose out there.&rdquo; cited captain Ted McCaskill, &ldquo;just laughing at this guy.&rdquo;</p><p>The Runners, with 38 victories overall and 13 on the road, broke team records of 36 overall wins and 12 on the road, set last season.</p><p>The Buckaroos hope to have injured goaltender Jim McLeod back in the lineup for the final weekend of the schedule and for the playoffs.</p><p>McLeod&rsquo;s value to the Buckaroos is evident in the won-loss column. He returned to Portland from St. Louis in mid-season, played 11 games and the Bucks won nine of them, before a knee injury knocked him out of the lineup.</p><p>The Buckaroos&rsquo; domination of the WHL standings is apparently at an end. In 11 seasons, they finished first eight times and second three times.</p><p>Their 30 losses tie the all-time team high (1963-64) and only-once before had they lost more than the nine home games they have dropped this season. The 1963-64 edition of the Buckaroos lost 11 at home and the 1968-69 team also dropped nine.</p><p>Meanwhile, the Totems not only won a road game&mdash;finally but went on a three-game road victory streak with a pair of wins at Phoenix and one at San Diego.</p><p>Then they returned home to lose their 51st game of the season a league record.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-01

IN THIS ISSUE

Runners Crab Second Plate From Bucks For Playoffs

<h2><b>Sun., March 26 OMAHA 0 at DALIAS 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0287/3086559-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="583" height="502"></div><h2><b>FORT WORTH 3 at TULSA 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0359/3086552-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="589" height="496"></div><h2><b>Tue., March 28 OKLAHOMA CITY 4 at FORT WORTH 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0445/3086545-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="595" height="729"></div><h2><b>Wed., March 29 DALLAS 4 at OMAHA 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0541/3086538-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="589" height="597"></div><h2><b>KANSAS CITY 2 at OKLAHOMA CITY 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0631/3086531-1-eng-US/f0029-062.jpg" title="f0029-06" width="584" height="620"></div><h2><b>Fri., March 31 OMAHA 1 at FORT WORTH 7</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0724/3086524-1-eng-US/f0029-072.jpg" title="f0029-07" width="598" height="695"></div><h2><b>TULSA 5 at OKLAHOMA CITY 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0820/3086517-1-eng-US/f0029-082.jpg" title="f0029-08" width="590" height="799"></div><h2><b>DALLA&rsquo; 4 at KANSAS CITY 7</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0918/3086510-1-eng-US/f0029-092.jpg" title="f0029-09" width="598" height="868"></div><h2><b>Sat., April 1 OMAHA 3 at OKLAHOMA CITY 8</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1014/3086503-1-eng-US/f0029-102.jpg" title="f0029-10" width="588" height="869"></div><h2><b>FORT WORTH 10 at DALLAS 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1111/3086496-1-eng-US/f0029-112.jpg" title="f0029-11" width="598" height="964"></div><h2><b>KANSAS CITY 3 at TULSA 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-129/3086489-1-eng-US/f0029-122.jpg" title="f0029-12" width="606" height="469"></div><h2><b>Sun. April 2 DALLAS 1 at TULSA 8</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-135/3086482-1-eng-US/f0029-132.jpg" title="f0029-13" width="585" height="723"></div><h2><b>OKLAHOMA CITY 3 at FORT WORTH 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-144/3086475-1-eng-US/f0029-142.jpg" title="f0029-14" width="582" height="551"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0029-02

Central Hockey League Summaries

<p><b>SAN DIEGO vs DENVER</b></p><p><b>Thur. April 13 Denver at San Diego</b></p><p><b>Sat. April 15 Denver at San Diego</b></p><p><b>Tue. April 18 San Diego at Denver</b></p><p><b>Wed. April 19 San Diego at Denver</b></p><p><b>Sat. April 22 San Diego at Denver (if necessary)</b></p><p><b>Sun. April 23</b></p><p><b>Denver at San Diego (if necessary)</b></p><p><b>Tue. April 25 San Diego at Denver (if necessary)</b></p><h2><b>PORTLAND vs PHQENIX</b></h2><p><b>Wed. April 12 Phoenix at Portland</b></p><p><b>Fri. April 14 Portland at Phoenix</b></p><p><b>Sat. April 15 Portland at Phoenix</b></p><p><b>Wed. April 19 Phoenix at Portland</b></p><p><b>Fri. April 21</b></p><p><b>Portland at Phoenix (if necessary)</b></p><p><b>Sat. April 22</b></p><p><b>Phoenix at Portland (if necessary)</b></p><p><b>Sun. or Tue. Apr. 23 or 25 Portland at Phoenix (if necessary) (Both semi-final series best-of-seven)</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Patrick Cup Playoff Dates

<div class="byline">BY GIL SMITH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01810/3084970-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="552" height="588"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>REJEAN HOULE&hellip;Playoffs Something Else</b></figcaption></div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p>Having a playoff reputation like the one owned by the Montreal Canadiens can be a mixed blessing.</p><p>On the one hand it can lift a team to the heights by reminding them of past glories, and emphasizing their responsibility to play up to established levels.</p><p>On the other, it can lull them into thinking that just because they are the Canadiens, playoff victory is bound to be theirs.</p><p>Habs own all kinds of records for cup wins, as well as final series appearances, and the overall effect is to presume that once the team gets into the playoffs, they&rsquo;ll go all the way. It&rsquo;s a dangerous philosophy, but fortunately most of the players are realists and take nothing for granted.</p><p>Rejean Houle, the well-spoken young winger, summed up the feeling of the team, recently.</p><p>&ldquo;The thing we tried to remember, before starting the playoffs, was how close the tour top teams were at the finish of the regular schedule,&rdquo; Houle said. &ldquo;That showed us how tough a battle it could be in the playoff rounds.&rdquo;</p><p>Houle was referring to the narrow spread in points between Boston. New York. Montreal and Chicago during the course of the season.</p><p>&ldquo;The Bruins had 119 points which put them ahead.&rdquo; said Houle. &ldquo;Then, you had New York, ourselves and Chicago all with nearly the same number of points. Rangers finished with 109, we had 108 and Chicago had 107. We tried to keep those figures in our head, so we wouldn&rsquo;t get complacent.&rdquo;</p><p>In the last 20 years, Canadiens have been in 1.5 playoff finals and have come up with 11 Stanley Cup wins. On four other occasions they made it to the semi-finals before being ousted, and once&mdash;in 1970&mdash;they didn&rsquo;t get into the playoffs at all.</p><p>The last time they lost a quarter-final round was in 1942. when Detroit beat them two games to one in a best-at-three affair.</p><p>Though they manhandled the Rangers in playoffs over the past couple of decades, it is the New Yorkers who&rsquo;ve given Canadiens considerable trouble in post-season rounds going back to 1927. the start of hockey&rsquo;s modern era.</p><p>Habs held only a. 5-4 edge in series versus New York prior to the one this year. They&rsquo;d done far better against other teams, notably Boston and Chicago whom they&rsquo;ve beaten by wide margins.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-01

Realistic Canadiens Know Road To Cup Tough

<p><b>REAY OPTIMISTIC HAWKS CAN WIN CUP&mdash;Page 2</b></p><p><b>THE NHL PLAYOFFS A WHOLE NEW SEASON&mdash;Page 3</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01547/3087197-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg" title="Cover-01" width="546" height="1782"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RANGERS&rsquo; OFFENSE OVERPOWERS MONTREAL&mdash;Page 6</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-02418/3087190-1-eng-US/cover-022.jpg" title="Cover-02" width="801" height="1779"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CANADIENS &lsquo;OWN&rsquo; STANLEY CUP BOOK&mdash;Page 11</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Hockey News Photo Stephen Newman)</span></figcaption></div><p>Turned Hot Scorer For N.Y. In Playoffs</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-03185/3087183-1-eng-US/cover-032.jpg" title="Cover-03" width="537" height="1276"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF PICTURE&mdash;Pages 14-15</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

Cover-01

HAWKS SWEEP PENGUINS OUT—Page 14

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01746/3084536-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="560" height="1176"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BILLY REAY&hellip;Never Won A Cup</b></figcaption></div><p>CHICAGO&mdash;</p><p>Gazing into the horizon a bit at the one prize he&rsquo;s never won as a coach&mdash;the Stanley Cup&mdash;Billy Reay acted like a confirmed optimist.</p><p>&ldquo;I like our chances,&rdquo; said the boss of the Black Hawks. &ldquo;If every-body stays healthy, I like our chances. We&rsquo;re just coming off another tre-mendous season, and I&rsquo;m very proud of the team.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02694/3084529-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="278" height="441"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Tony Esposito</b></figcaption></div><p>Indeed, the Chicagoans hit the regular season finish wire in a blaze. After gift-wrapping a 5-3 victory for the Sabres in Buffalo on February 24, the Hawks completely reversed their ways and lost but one of their remaining 17 games&mdash;a 2-1 verdict to Minnesota March 5.</p><p>&ldquo;Soon after losing that second game to Buffalo in two nights,&rdquo; remembered Reay, &ldquo;we went on a six-game road trip and started to come around. The way we finished was very encouraging because there wasn&rsquo;t too much at stake after we&rsquo;d clinched first place.&rdquo;</p><p>The Chicagoans completed the campaign by equalling a franchise record for most standings points, 107, and fewest losses, 17. They also converted a foregone conclusion into a bygone conclusion by icing the Vezina Trophy by a runaway 25 goals, and they closed up shop with a 21-point chasm between themselves and the second&mdash;place Minnesota North Stars&mdash;one more point than last year&rsquo;s prance over St. Louis.</p><p>&ldquo;What really pleases me&hellip;and one record that may never he matched,&rdquo; said Reay, &ldquo;is that we lost just three games at home all season, and one of them (against Buffalo) we lost ourselves by scoring both goals for the other team.&rdquo;</p><p>The season-ending string of nothing games was spiced by the activities of none other than Robert Marvin Hull.</p><p>On the final night of the campaign against Detroit, the 33-year-old study in sinew scored twice to reach the 50-goal mark for a record fifth time in his brilliant 15-year-career.</p><p>Hull started his collection of 50s in the 1961-62 season when he hit the number squarely. Then he bagged 54 in 1965-66, 52 in 1966-67, and 58 in 1968-69. Only his old buddy, Phil Esposito of Boston, who accomplished the feat for the second time this season, has reached the 50 plateau more than once.</p><p>Other National Hockey League players to achieve the 50-goal level for a season include Montreal&rsquo;s Maurice (Rocket) Richard and Boom Boom Geoffrion, Boston&rsquo;s Johnny Bucyk and Vic Hadfield of New York. The latter hit 50 for the first time the same afternoon that Hull struck 50 for the fifth time at night.</p><p>&ldquo;I saw Hadfield do it on TV in the afternoon,&rdquo; said Hull. &ldquo;And I figured it might be possible for me to do the same. This has been a very gratifying season for me. Except for a month or so when I was tired and my weight was down. But I&rsquo;m eating better now and I feel better.&rdquo;</p><p>Hull collected Nos. 49 and 50 in the first period of a Chicago Stadium contest against the Detroit Red Wings.</p><p><b>HAWKEY TALK:</b> Goaltenders Tony Esposito, Gary Smith and Gerry Desjardins announced plans to split the $2,000 obtained through their Vezina Trophy win&hellip;Esposito finished with nine shutouts and a goals-against mark of 1.77 while Smith logged five blanks and a 2.42 mark&hellip;Chicagoans swept the season series from St. Louis, allowing just four goals and postting four whitewashes in the six games&hellip;Stan Mikita resigned as the team&rsquo;s player representative for &ldquo;personal reasons.&rsquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0002-01

Reay Optimistic Over Hawks’ Chances To Land Elusive Cup

<p>&mdash;CHICAGO</p><p>Hockey games between The Chicago Black Hawks and Montreal Canadiens seldom induce drowsiness, and this season&rsquo;s activity was no different.</p><p>In fact, on the basis of the teams&rsquo; last outing here March 29, all you know what might break loose if they meet in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.</p><p>The game was meaningless in the standings, and it finished an appropriately loose and entertaining 5-5 deadlock. But it didn&rsquo;t really finish when it finished.</p><p>As coaches Scotty Bowman of Montreal and Billy Reay of Chicago exited their respective benches at game&rsquo;s end, words started to fly, then a shove by Reay and who knows what would have happened had not linesmen Claude Bechard and Bob Kilger intervened?</p><p>It seems that Bowman became furious over the physical tactics employed by mammoth Jerry Korab during the contest. The Habs&rsquo; boss mentioned same to Dutch Van Deelan, an NHL supervisor of officials, at the end of the second period. Van Deelan was seated behind the Montreal bench.</p><p>&ldquo;And he kept yelling &lsquo;Dutch, Dutch&rsquo; everytime Korab hit somebody in the last period,&rdquo; fumed Reay. &ldquo;I got sick of hearing him scream. I guess nobody&rsquo;s supposed to check the Canadiens in this league.&rdquo;</p><p>Countered Bowman: &ldquo;Reay gave me that garbage before the game about not getting anybody hurt on either side. Is he kidding? Then he puts Korab out there ramming into everybody. After the game I just yelled back to the supervisor to take note of what the referee (Lloyd Gilmour) let Korab get away with. Then Reay started yelling at me. He&rsquo;s lucky I didn&rsquo;t punch him in the nose.&rdquo;</p><p>Countered Reay: &ldquo;The Canadiens get no sympathy from me. Not after what they had John Ferguson do to Eric Nesterenko in the playoffs a few years ago (a bludgeoning in 1965). That was the most brutal thing I&rsquo;ve ever seen in hockey.&rdquo;</p><p>And finally Korab had a word: &ldquo;I like to play it rough. They said we didn&rsquo;t do enough hitting last year in the playoffs, so I figured this was a good time to start.&rdquo;</p><p>For the record, Ferguson wore no. 22. So does Korab.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Hot Words Flare Up Old Rivals

<div class="byline">BY GIL SMITH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01751/3084605-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="504" height="507"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>KEN DRYDEN</b></figcaption></div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p>You&rsquo;ve often heard it said that the playoffs represent a brand new season. Believe it.</p><p>More often than not&mdash;in fact, in six of the last 10 years&mdash;the team that finished first during the regular season failed to win the Stanley Cup.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02627/3084598-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="275" height="436"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Andy Bathgate</b></figcaption></div><p>Upsets have been the order of the day, and never was that more clearly demonstrated than during last spring&rsquo;s playoffs when the mighty Boston Bruins were ousted by the Montreal Canadiens. After having swept through the opposition during the regular schedule, Boston was regarded as a cinch to take the Stanley Cup. Instead, they were belted out of contention in the quarter-finals by a team which had finished 24 points behind them in regular season play.</p><p>Or, how about the playoffs following the 1966-67 season? Chicago Black Hawks were the big guns during the regular campaign, but were dumped by Toronto in six games of the playoff semi-final.</p><p>Hawks figured to be a shoo-in after having swept to their first league title in the history of the club. They finished the season 17 points up on their nearest rivals in 66-67 and set a league record for goals, scoring 264, or 52 more than Detroit who were secondbest in the goals department. But in the &lsquo;new season&rsquo; of playoffs, the Hawks never got off the ground.</p><p>Individuals have furnished plenty of surprises in playoffs, too, and have contributed to as many upsets as have the teams.</p><p>Who would&rsquo;ve dreamed, before the Cup rounds started last year, that a rookie netminder named Ken Dryden would emerge as the outstanding figure of the postseason games? Or, that Phil Esposito, a 76-goal scorer in the regular campaign, would be held to a mere three goals in the all-important playoffs?</p><p>How about the surprise furnished by Serge Savard in 1969, when he won the Conn Smythe Trophy in what was only the second playoff year of his NHL career?</p><p>There was an even greater surprise furnished in 1966 when Canadiens&rsquo; J.C. Tremblay failed to win the Smythe award after having come up with the best playoff series of his life.</p><p>Space doesn&rsquo;t permit too lengthy a review of the many Stanley Cup thrills and spills over the years, so we&rsquo;ll confine ourselves to the past 10 years of playoff action. It was in 1962 that Toronto Maple Leafs supplied plenty of drama by winning their first Cup since 1950-51. Guided by George &ldquo;Punch&rsquo;&rsquo; Imlach. who&rsquo;d never played NHL hockey but who&rsquo;d made a brief appearance at a Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; training camp after the war Leafs took the coveted trophy in 12 games.</p><p>New York Rangers and Chicago Black Hawks were Toronto&rsquo;s victims, as they skated to their first Cup triumph in 11 seasons. Dick Duff, then a 26-year-old Leaf winger, emerged as the hero of the piece by scoring the winning goal against Chicago. Duff had gone from series goat to hero in the space of seven minutes. It had been his errant pass from behind the Leaf net that had enabled Bobby Hull to tie the game. Scoring the winner bailed Duff out of the doghouse.</p><p>&ldquo;I sure was glad to score it,&rdquo; said Duff, realistically. &ldquo;I picked up George Armstrong&rsquo;s pass behind me, whirled and shot,&rsquo;&rsquo; he explained. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know it went in. Glenn Hall went down to block and I couldn&rsquo;t see. But. wow, what a thrill when the light went on. &ldquo;</p><p>Some of the Leafs were virtually overcome with the emotion of the Cup triumph, that year.</p><p>&ldquo;A lot of fellows grew up and became nen when we won that Cup in Chicago Stadium.&rsquo;&rsquo; said captain George Armstrong, with feeling. But, Punch Imlach took a more pragmatic view.</p><p>&ldquo;We won it because we had strength down the middle, plus a good mixture of youth and experience,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll keep it. too.&rdquo;</p><p>And they did. For three whole years, till Canadiens took over in the mid-Sixties.</p><p>In 1963, Detroit&rsquo;s Sid Abel was very new to the post of General Manager of the Red Wings and he could still be philosophical about the team&rsquo;s losses.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really proud of our guys,&rdquo; he, said, after Detroit had been eliminated in five games by Toronto in the cup finals. &ldquo;They gave it all they had, but I guess it just wasn&rsquo;t meant for us to win the Stanley Cup.&rdquo;</p><p>Actually, Sid&rsquo;s Wings hadn&rsquo;t done badly, considering that they&rsquo;d finished fourth in the regular season of &lsquo;62-63. Gordie Howe, who&rsquo;d won the scoring title and MVP awards that season, paced Detroit in playoffs, too. He wound up as top scorer with 7 goals and 16 points in 11 playoff games. Norm Ullman did well for the Wings in those playoffs, as well, but there was one section of the country that figured Alex Faulkner was the real hero. Faulkner&rsquo;s home base of Newfoundland gave him a reception rivalling that of a visiting monarch when he got back there after the cup rounds.</p><p>Faulkner, who never before or again scored a goal in NHL playoffs, had five of them that year. Three of his markers were gamewinners. This caused such a stir in his native Newfoundland that the then-Premier-Joey Smallwood declared a school holiday, and a 1,000 car motorcade es-corted Faulkner from St. Johns to his home in Bishop&rsquo;s Falls.</p><p>Canadiens&rsquo; Jean Beliveau had long been regarded as one of the all-time greats, but when he came to the end of the first half of the &lsquo;64-65 season with a paltry five goals, heads were shaken sorrowfully in Montreal.</p><p>&ldquo;He should&rsquo;ve quit last year when he was still ahead,&rdquo; they said, recalling his 28-goal season of 63-64, when he&rsquo;d won the Hart Trophy as Most Valuable Player for the second time in his illustrious career.</p><p>But, Beliveau persevered and finished the campaign with 20 goals, though he&rsquo;d played only 58 games. Then, he really caught tire in the playoffs, scoring eight goals and 16 points in 13 games as Canadiens recaptured the Stanley Cup.</p><p>Beliveau put the icing bn the cake in the seventh and deciding game of the finals against Chicago, by scoring after just 14 seconds of play. The goal proved to be the winner as Habs shutout the Hawks 4-0, and it was a record. It was the earliest at which a Stanley Cup winning marker had been scored in the deciding game.</p><p>Big Jean&rsquo;s eye-popping performance made him the first winner of the newly-awarded Conn Smythe Trophy, which went to the &ldquo;most valuable player for his team in the entire playoffs.&rdquo;</p><p>But, if Beliveau was the most valuable man in playoffs, that year, the happiest had to be Gump Worsley. Traded to Canadiens the season before, he&rsquo;d lasted eight games and then been sidelined with injuries. When he returned, he found the job had been taken by Charlie Hodge. Gump, who had survived endless years in the N.Y. Rangers&rsquo; nets, was ironically dumped to the minors in his first season with Canadiens.</p><p>In &lsquo;64-65, however, he managed to play 18 games for Habs and then was given the nod by coach Toe Blake to handle most of the playoffs.</p><p>&ldquo;It was the first time I&rsquo;d ever appeared in a cup final,&rdquo; said Worsley. &ldquo;In those days, playing with the Rangers meant you never saw much of the playoffs as such, and certainly not the finals&rdquo;</p><p>Habs repeated their triumph in 65-66, but there was a sour note struck when defenseman J.C. Tremblay failed to win the Conn Smythe Trophy. The award went to Detroit netminder Roger Crozier, who appeared to be as much surprised by it as anyone else. The little goalie was, hauled out of the Detroit dressing room to receive the award, and didn&rsquo;t even have time to put on his suit jacket, or tie his tie. In the Hab&rsquo;s dressing den, Tremblay made little effort to hide his chagrin.</p><p>&ldquo;Sure I&rsquo;m mad about it,&rdquo; he snapped. &ldquo;I thought I deserved it, so why shouldn&rsquo;t I be mad?&rdquo;</p><p>It was, officially. a new ball game in &lsquo;67-68 when the first major expansion took place, but there was something familiar about the playoffs. Montreal Canadiens took the honors again, losing only one game in 12 on their way to yet another Cup win.</p><p>Canadiens met the newly-franchised St. Louis Blues in the finals, that year, and the Blues did their best to keep it from being a rout. Though they never won a game. St. Louis lost all four final contest by the margin of a single goal. Two of the games went into overtime. Glenn Hall, longtime NHL veteran, was brilliant in the Blues&rsquo; nets and well-deserved his selection as the 1968 winner of the Conn Smythe Award.</p><p>The big news came right after the final series ended.</p><p>Toe Blake, hockey&rsquo;s &ldquo;winningest&rdquo; coach, stunned a lot of people with his sudden and dramatic retirement, moments after the cup win.</p><p>&ldquo;This is it,&rdquo; said Blake. &ldquo;My last year. The tension is too much. I&rsquo;m quitting. For good.&rdquo;</p><p>Blake, who had managed to alienate just about everyone in hockey during 13 uproarious years as coach of the Habs, went out a winner&mdash;and so he should have. He was hockey&rsquo;s greatest coach, and he deserved his victories.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03420/3084591-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="1180" height="1467"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Former Canadiens&rsquo; coach TOE BLAKE puts the Stanley Cup away for the last time in 1968 announcing the tension was too much and that he was quitting. Blake left the game as hockey&rsquo;s most successful Cup-winning coach of all time.</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0003-01

First-place Finishers Victimized Six Times In Last 10 Years Bidding For Stanley Cup

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-01810/3084650-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="512" height="526"></div><p>&bull; <b>WALT TKACZUK</b> has been great for the New York Rangers in their playoff games against Canadiens. The rugged two-way performer rates as one of the most valuable players in the NHL and his contributions to the Rangers this season have been many&hellip;Walt is anchor man for New York&rsquo;s Bulldog Line featuring rookie Gene Carr and Bill Fairbairn on the wings and Manager-Coach Emile Francis is thrilled at the way this trio has played. Rookie Carr has checked Yvan Cournoyer to a standstill which is some accomplishment&hellip;Veteran Bobby Rousseau was the hero for Rangers in the fifth game of the series when he scored two goals and earned an assist against his former teammates on the Canadiens. It marked the first time he had scored two goals in a playoff game&hellip;Two other veterans Coach Francis added late in the season, Ron Stewart from Vancouver and Phil Goyette from Buffalo, have played well in the playoffs. Francis is a magician the way he gets the maximum mileage out of these older players&hellip;Scotty Bowman, Montreal coach, has been criticized for the way he has shuffled his lines and also for not playing Terry Harper more in the first two games of the series&hellip;John Ferguson. ex-Montreal favorite, was especially critical of Bowman&hellip;Steve Durbano, called up as a reserve player by the Rangers for the playoffs, set a pro hockey penalty record this season at Omaha of the Central League. He had a total of 405 minutes&hellip;New York Raiders of the World Hockey Association want Harry Howell as coach&hellip;Toronto Maple Leafs made a much better showing against Boston than most fans expected&hellip;Bobby Orr&rsquo;s injured knee was one of the best-kept secrets of the season. It was injured on February 17 against Philadelphia. Injured knee or not you wouldn&rsquo;t know by the sensational way he has been playing. Orr will undergo surgery to repair his left knee immediately following the playoffs&hellip;Barry Gibbs of Minnesota is one of the most improved defensemen in the league and he&rsquo;s now a mainstay for the North Stars in their playoff tussles with St. Louis&hellip;Rangers are the only NHL team to qualify for the playoffs for six straight seasons&hellip;As expected Chicago had little trouble sidelining Pittsburgh Penguins in four straight. The Hawks will be favorites in many areas to win the Stanley Cup this spring&hellip;1&rsquo;he California Seals set a new-home season attendance record of 237,532, which surpassed 1969-70 when the Seals drew 236,555. Last year the total was 208,953&hellip;When Pit Martin flicked in the fastest overtime period goal in 12 seconds to oust Pittsburgh, half of the house was still trying to get back to its seats from the intermission when it was all over.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02764/3084643-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="254" height="448"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Walt Tkaczuk</b></figcaption></div><p>&bull; <b>BRUCE GAMBLE,</b> Philadelphia goalie who suffered a heart attack a while back was presented a Cadillac and a host of other gifts during festivities on Bruce Gamble Night. Presentation took place at the Flyers&rsquo; final home game of the season against Pittsburgh. Said Bruce.&middot; &ldquo;I just can&rsquo;t believe people could be so nice&rdquo;&hellip;The Flyers Fan Club, including President Lou Damia, were instrumental in making the affair such a huge success&hellip;Bobby Clarke has been voted the most popular player on the Flyers in separate balloting conducted by both the regular members of the Flyers Fan Club and also in a special vote by the junior members&hellip;The last time Rangers beat Canadiens in a playoff round was back in 1950. They won the best-of-seven series tour games to one and outscored the Habs. 15-7. Pentti Lund. Don &ldquo;Bones&rdquo; Raleigh and Edgar Laprade were the big guns for Rangers along with goalie Charlie Rayner&hellip;Boston Braves of the AHL averaged more than 11,001) fans a game this season playing at the Boston Garden&hellip;Vic Hadfield, New York captain who is manager-pro ot a golf course outside Toronto during the summer, says the swing in hockey and golf are now quite similar, with one big difference. &ldquo;In golf you want to keep your head down. In hockey you better keep it up or somebody will take it off.&rdquo;&hellip;St. Louis Blues have never beaten the Black Hawks in Chicago in five seasons of trying. The Blues&rsquo; record at Chicago Stadium is 0-11-3&hellip;On the night that St. Louis clinched a playoff spot for the fifth consecutive year defenseman Barclay Plager said: &ldquo;This was our 76th game, and the last 50 have been under pressure because of the lousy start we had&rdquo;&hellip;Flint Generals of the IHL established a new attendance mark in their third consecutive successful season. Total attendance for the regular season was 152,272. Last year it was 148,174 and the first year the team was in business they drew 123,444&hellip;Pat Kelly has been appointed general manager as well as coach for the Clinton Comets of the EHL next season. Pat has been defenseman-coach of the Comets for seven seasons and has done an outstanding job throughout that time&hellip;In an article in the May issue of Sport Magazine, Bobby Hull, celebrating his 15th year in the NHL says; &ldquo;There is much more concentration on scoring than there was 10 years ago. Ten years ago, you got a 2-0 lead, that was it, you won. &ldquo;&hellip;California coach Vic Stasiuk after the Golden Seals lost their final game of the season 9-4, in Los Angeles; &ldquo;It set the game of hockey back 10 years&rdquo;&hellip;The Seals went through the season with three goalies who had a combined NHL experience of two games. Gilles Meloche was in the nets twice for Chicago. Gary Kurt and Lyle Carter had never been out of the minors.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03666/3084636-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="276" height="460"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bruce Gamble</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0004-01

PASSING THE PUCK

<p>OFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY</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><b>Printed in Canada</b></p><p><b>Vol. 25 MONTREAL, APRIL 21, 1972 No. 29</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

The Hockey News

<h2>Junior Club Thrives In Medicine Hat</h2><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span> would like to draw attention to the fantastic success story of the Medicine Hat Tigers Junior A hockey team of the Western Canada Hockey League in the club&rsquo;s second season of operation. The Tigers&rsquo; attendance in 34 home games, exceeded 129,000. This was second in the league only to Calgary. Medicine Hat has a population of 27,000 while Calgary&rsquo;s population is more than 375,000. Calgary managed only 200 more fans.</p><p>Playoff tickets are going at a phenomenal pace. For the first home game, the 3,500 tickets were sold in less than two and a half hours. The lineup for the 1,000 standing room tickets was more than that number more than two hours before they went on sale. The reported attendance was 4,470, but this is only for the benefit of the fire chief, who restricted the attendance. The actual number of people at the game is not known, as it is certain that more that 4,500 people were present.</p><p>The two chartered buses going to Calgary for a playoff game between the Tigers and the Centennials were sold out in 80 minutes. Around 1,000 Medicine Hatters motored the 200 miles to Calgary to see the game.</p><p><b>NORMA BOZAK,</b><br><b>Acadia Valley, Alta.</b></p><h2>Refs Give Bruins Special Treatment</h2><p>It seems like there are two sets of rules in the NHL. One rule for the Boston Bruins, the other rule for all other NHL teams.</p><p>On March 19, CBS showed a nationally televised game between Minnesota and Boston. The game was ignited when Cashman slashed Hextall as the North Star center was breaking out of his own zone with the puck. Bill Friday signaled a penalty, Cashman cracked Hextall again with his stick and Hextall retaliated by swinging his stick and catching Cashman. The Bruin forward dropped to the ice and teammate Phil Esposito took after Hextall. While they were mixing it up, Cashman made a leap against the glass hitting Hextall over the head with his stick.</p><p>Result&hellip;Cashman received two minor penalties and Hextall got a major for spearing. Esposito got nothing.</p><p>Earlier in that same game behind the Minnesota net, Dennis O&rsquo;Brien got tangled up with Hodge and O&rsquo;Brien gets hit by Esposito and Vadnais. Who gets the penalty? Not Hodge, not Esposito but O&rsquo;Brien and Vadnais.</p><p>Anywhere else in the league a third man in a fight gets an automatic game misconduct.</p><p><b>LUC LeBON,</b><br><b>Minneapolis, Minn.</b></p><h2>Ovation for Hull Showed Fans&rsquo; Class</h2><p>How proud I am. Proud that I was part of an audience that on Saturday March 5, gave Bobby Hull a standing ovation on getting his 600th goal here in Boston. Our Boston Garden is often referred to as a jungle around the NHL, but we do understand class, and Mr. Robert Marvin Hull has class as he waved twice to us, and then made his feelings and thanks known to us on national television.</p><p><b>ELAINE NAPOLITANO,</b><br><b>Revere, Mass.</b></p><h2>65 Niagara Flyers Sent 13 To NHL</h2><p>In recent issues, several of your readers have written concerning the number of Junior &ldquo;A&rdquo; graduates their favorite teams have sent to the National Hockey League or to pro hockey.</p><p>I feel that they all must bow to a club that has 13 players from one year now playing in the NHL. That team is the 1964-65 Memorial Cup championship Niagara Falls Flyers. Here&rsquo;s a list: Rick Ley and Bernie Parent (Toronto), Steve Atkinson and Jim Lorentz (Buffalo), Don Marcotte and Derek Sanderson (Boston), Barry Wilkins and Rosaire Paiement (Vancouver), Doug Favell (Philadelphia), Giles Marotte (Los Angeles), John Arbour (St. Louis), Bill Goldsworthy (Minnesota) and Jean Pronovost (Pittsburgh).</p><p>Four others from that club are also playing pro hockey in the high minors.</p><p><b>C. WILKINS,</b><br><b>Toronto, Ont.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Fan Forum

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01754/3084729-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"></div><p>&bull; A high prestige hockey program plus a boy&rsquo;s full camp life.</p><p>&bull; Top flight NHL instructors, no other camp of its kind has more NHL personalities.</p><p>&bull; Our camp has something for every boy to enjoy Water programs include swimming instruction, water skiing, canoe trips, sailing and motor boating Observance of safety rules&mdash;coralled swimming area, the &ldquo;buddy swimming system&rdquo; and life guards on duty guarantee an enjoyable and safe summer for the boys.</p><p>&bull; Organized sports played on the athletic fields include soccer, lacrosse, touch football, basketball, softball, volleyball, badminton and field hockey. The Camp even sponsors golf instruction to add to the enjoyment. Go-Carting is a popular attraction. Indoor entertainment features shuttleboard courts, darts, bingos. movies, handball, camp fires sing-a-long&mdash;as you can see. something for every boy to enjoy</p><p>&bull; The &ldquo;world&rsquo;s fastest sport&rdquo; is taught with individual tutoring and daily hockey instruction concentrates on general skating, shooting, body checking, passing and overall team play, as well as several scrimmage sessions each week<b>.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0005-01

HALIBURTON HOCKEY HAVEN

<p>NEW YORK&mdash;</p><p>The West Side Association presented the MVP award to Jean Ratelie prior to the April 2 afternoon game with Montreal&hellip;Vic Hadfield, who got two goals versus Detro&rsquo;it on March 29 to clinch second place and two more against Montreal in a 6-5 loss for his big 50, was awarded the Player&rsquo;s Player Award. The Hadfield pair against the Wings tied the game at 2-2 and came in the last two and a half minutes of action&hellip;The GAG Line finished with 302 points, second high in NHL history. It is possible that with Ratelle healthy all three members would have gone over the 50-goal mark. Jean finished with 46 and didn&rsquo;t play after March 1&hellip;Rod Gilbert missed five games with a neck problem and returned to the lineup wearing a collar and brace on his neck&hellip;He scored in his return against Toronto on April 1. Rod wound up with 43 tallies and 97 points. Hadfield had 50 and 106 points and Ratty still led with 109 points&hellip;</p><p>Hadfield led with 23 power play goals, followed by Brad Park&rsquo;s eight, Gilbert&rsquo;s six and Ratelle&rsquo;s five&hellip;Vic also took the honors with seven game winners while Billy Fairbairn, a penalty killing terror notched four shorthanded goals with Bruce MacGregor having three and Walt Tkaczuk and Park two each. The team total of 14 was a new Ranger record&hellip;Rangers scored 60 power play goals in 257 attempts while the opposition notched 44 in 282&hellip;Against the East&rsquo; New York played 21-10-5 hockey and versus the West 27-78&hellip;The Montreal strike of TV technicians forced New York&rsquo;s WOR telecast of the fourth game of the series off the air, much to the chagrin of both fans and the television team of Tim Ryan and Norm MacLean.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Players Pick Hadfield For Their Award

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-01841/3084760-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Both the City of New York and the Rangers paid tribute to the club&rsquo;s high-scoring GAG line at a dinner held prior to the playoffs at Gallagher&rsquo;s 33 Restaurant in New York. From the left, TIM RYAN, WPIX-TV sportscaster and Voice Of The Rangers, presents ROD GILBERT, VIC HADFIELD and JEAN RATELLE each with copies of just published 25-volume encyclopedia by Funk & Wagnalls. The Rangers&rsquo; trio became first NHL line in history to score more than 40 goals apiece in one season.</b></figcaption></div><p>NEW YORK&mdash;</p><p>Without Jean Ratelle, still mending from a cracked ankle suffered March 1, the amazing Rangers made believers of the Montreal Canadiens by whipping the proud Stanley Cup champions in the first two games of their Cup quarter final round, 3-2 and 5-2.</p><p>Chief contributors were 50-goal scorer Vic Hadfield, the forechecking duo of Walter Tkaczuk and Billy Fairbairn and the hardbitten defense.</p><p>Hadfield, operating out of the slot, scored two key goals in the first game and Fairbairn got the winner on a backhander in the second.</p><p>&ldquo;No matter, the Canadiens are tough, but we&rsquo;ll win,&rdquo; said Hadfield. Vic was playing with a sore hand, which handicapped his shooting and rough stuff.</p><p>The Rangers chances of winning quick, was slowed by a third game 2-1 loss in Montreal, after New York&rsquo;s opening period surge was stopped by goalie Ken Dryden.</p><p>Fairbairn, the much underrated 24-year-old right winger, burst into stardom with the opening goal in the first game and winner 40 seconds into the third stanza of the second.</p><p>&ldquo;Fairbairn always busts his gut. He is an honest hockey player. Billy got more on his backhander than Dryden expected and that did it. He played, the last two playoffs under difficulty. In 1969-70 he had two cracked ribs which were heavily taped, and last year he was still recovering from mononucleosis,&rdquo; noted Emile Francis, the Rangers&rsquo; general manager-coach.</p><p>Tkaczuk, working with Fairbairn, was a commanding figure. Walter threaded a needle with the insurance goal in the 5-2 win and his overall puck-lugging and corner work was superb. Joining the line, most of the time, was 20-year-old Gene Carr, who was assigned the task of working against the Canadiens&rsquo; speedy Yvan Cournoyer.</p><p>&ldquo;When Emile (Francis) told me I was going to guard Cournoyer, I could hardly sleep,&rdquo; revealed Carr. &ldquo;Ron Stewart said not to worry that I had the wheels and could do the job.&rdquo;</p><p>Stewart knew what he was talking about, as Carr held Cournoyer off the board and to only three shots in the first two games. Yvan was also scoreless in the third game when Montreal coach Scotty Bowman had the last pick in the line matchups, because of the Canadiens&rsquo; third game home ice.</p><p>Stewart, the 39-year-old utility forward, was fulfilling the dream of the average middle-age man. He had potted two key goals, in very limited ice time, and was proving Francis&rsquo; move in reacquiring the veteran from Vancouver on March 5, was solid thinking.</p><p>&ldquo;I have been a part-time player for 10 years and I know what Francis wants from me,&rdquo; said Ron.</p><p>The Rangers, using as many as seven different line combinations, got excellent service from Slats Sather, when Sather hit Stewart with the pass leading to the New York goal in the third game. The score was 2-0 at the time and it gave the Rangers another shot at tying the game. Sather was also working in a utility role.</p><p>Bobby Rousseau, standing in for Ratelie. between Hadfield and Rod Gilbert, emulated Jean to a tee in the first game with two assists, including the game winning play. Bobby, a 21-goal scorer this season, after getting only four last year with Minnesota, stole the puck from J.C. Tremblay and hit Hadfield with the game-winner. He also drew Canadien penalties in the third game and stopped a one-on-one breakaway.</p><p>&ldquo;Rousseau is a solid professional,&rdquo; commented Gilbert. Rod, scoreless so far, was playing with his neck still protected in a brace. He is the all-time New York playoff leader in goals and points&mdash;and has never played a poor playoff series since his debut in 1961-62.</p><p>If New York gets past Montreal, it can expect a tough series with Chicago, which unfairly gets the home ice advantage despite finishing with less points than Boston, New York and the Canadiens in the NHL East. Chicago legislated itself quite an advantage when it &ldquo;agreed&rdquo; to switch to the NHL West two summers ago. Last season, in a seven-game semi-final series, Chicago won because of the extra home game.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0006-01

Hadfield, Tkaczuk, Fairbairn All Sparkle As Ranger Offense Overpowers Canadiens

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01785/3084815-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>e don&rsquo;t have to tell you about the name Cooper, or our equipment. But, what we do want to tell you is&hellip;we&rsquo;re opening a better sports camp.</p><p>Our coaches are professionals. You won&rsquo;t see their names all over the sports pages. They&rsquo;re all educators, or teachers who specialize in hockey and other sports training. And they&rsquo;re good at it, too.</p><p>Coaching to them is not a part time summer job. It&rsquo;s their life&rsquo;s work, all year long. That&rsquo;s why we think they re the best for our sports camp.</p><p>They&rsquo;re top professional coaches from the top universities. You&rsquo;ll receive full time coaching in hockey plus four other sports, six hours a day.</p><p>And you&rsquo;re going to like the &lsquo;&lsquo;off hours&rsquo;&rsquo; as well. You&rsquo;ll live on campus at Appleby College on Lake Ontario. Every day you&rsquo;ll have at least 3 hours ice time in the large modern arena right on campus.</p><p>You can learn tennis on 5 regulation courts. You will receive coaching in baseball, football, and soccer on any of 6 turf fields. Swim in the indoor pool. Work out in our complete gymnasium and receive professional basketball coaching. Then relax in your own dorm.</p><p>See what we mean about a &ldquo;better sports camp? If it sounds like a better deal to you, send us this coupon and we&rsquo;ll send you complete details.</p><p>If we can make you a better hockey player and you have fun doing it, can you think of a better way to spend some time this summer?<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0007-01

The people who bring you better sports equipment…bring you a better sports camp.

<div class="byline">&#x2014;By Bill Libby</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-01827/3084853-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="288" height="366"></div><h2><i><b>Redmond Put It All Together</b></i></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>M</span>ICKEY REDMOND STARTED</b> the late-season game in Los Angeles, but long before it was over Gilles Marotte slashed him on his right knee and he had to be helped to the dressing room. And, as the rest of the Detroit Red Wings trooped into their quarters after the game, Mickey sat there, already in civies, disgusted and depressed.</p><p>&ldquo;My knees have been bothering me for some time,&rdquo; he said softly. &ldquo;Last night my left knee got whacked and I played tonight with it taped up but then my right knee got whacked tonight and now it&rsquo;s taped up. I just couldn&rsquo;t skate any more and I had to come out. It&rsquo;s terrible when you can&rsquo;t contribute when your team needs all the help it can get.&rdquo;</p><p>Detroit was duelling Toronto for the fourth and last playoff spot in the NHL&rsquo;S Eastern Division. After winning only three of its first ten games, Red Wing owner Bruce Norris and general manager Ned Harkness replaced coach Doug Barkley with Johnny Wilson and the team seemed to improve noticeably.</p><p>More than any other single man, Redmond was responsible. A husky 25-year-old right-winger with black, curly hair and a quiet, intense manner, he scored 27 goals for Montreal two seasons back, but was traded to Detroit for Frank Mahovlich in a controversial deal last season. This year he went on a spectacular tear at mid-season and had ascended to stardom with 40 goals when we talked to him, but he didn&rsquo;t want to talk about himself.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just all come together for me personally,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but we&rsquo;ve got a team effort here. I&rsquo;m as proud of my defense as I am of my offense. We have a fantastic coach and tremendous spirit on the club now and I feel like I&rsquo;m letting the team down if I have to sit out big games down the stretch. I don&rsquo;t know if I&rsquo;ll need any operation or anything after the season. I&rsquo;ll worry about that then. I just won&rsquo;t want the season to end early. These guys have put too much into it to lose out,&rdquo;</p><p>He sat rubbing his aching legs, his head hung, his expression shot with disappointment and concern.</p><p>Johnny Wilson was standing outside saying, &ldquo;All you can do is take &lsquo;em one at a time, play your game, not worry about what the other team does and hope for the best. But every time Toronto pulls one out it hurts.&rdquo; Veteran Detroit aide Baz Bastien was consoling the nervous Wilson, when manager Harkness, travelling with the team, called his coach over for one of their regular conferences.</p><p>Owner Norris was raked over the coals when he handed college coach Harkness authority over his pros, prompting the departure of Detroit stalwart Sid Abel. Harkness was raked over the coals when he tore apart the Wings and reconstructed them. Wilson, who suffered through half a season in a hopeless cause in Los Angeles before returning to Springfield to lead his team to the AHL playoff pennant, now had his best shot in the big time. The trio was torn by tension.</p><p>Toronto&rsquo;s forces had put a lot into the season, too. As the team struggled toward the last month of the season, coach Johnny McLellan could not eat or sleep properly. He was attacked by his ulcer and he was ordered south to rest. Old King Clancy took over as he has before, with brilliant results as he has had before. The Leafs had lost four of their last five before Clancy came in. They wound up winning eight and tying three of their last 15. Wilson&rsquo;s Wings, three points behind Toronto when he took over in the first month of the season, finished four points behind.</p><p>For Redmond and the rest of the Red Wings, it was like an illusion, an exercise in smoke, They reached for it, and it was gone. It didn&rsquo;t matter that Toronto then was faced with Boston in the playoffs, the Leafs had made the playoffs and the Wings had not, and it was worth $2,000 a man to make it and it was worth a lot more in prestige to the team. Make the playoffs, no matter your record, and your season is considered a success. Miss them, no matter your record, and it is a failure. That is the harshness of life in professional sports.</p><p>Detroit had ten points more than the last team to make the playoffs in the weaker Western Division, but this is the way of major league hockey as it is set up today. Shed a tear for such sad souls.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02737/3084846-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="578" height="808"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MICKEY REDMOND&hellip;Could Face Surgery</b></figcaption></div><h2><i><b>Blues Got Hot At Right Time</b></i></h2><p><b>IN THE WEST,</b> St. Louis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and California went into the final weeks in a scramble for the last two playoff spots. Al Arbour, who had been removed as coach last season, then became the team&rsquo;s third coach this season, got his Blues hot at the right time and it clinched its spot with a week to go. Vic Stasiuk, whose Philadelphia team lost a playoff spot when it failed to win in its last seven games two seasons back, had his California team lose its spot when it failed to win in its last eight this season.</p><p>That left it between Fred Shero&rsquo;s Philadelphia team and Red Kelly&rsquo;s Pittsburgh team for the last spot in the west this season, with two games left. They met in Philadelphia on the last Saturday of the season and Philadelphia could clinch its spot with a victory, but it blew a 4-2 lead and Greg Polis tipped in a shot with 47 seconds remaining to give Pittsburgh a 4-4 tie and keep the Penguins alive.</p><p>All down the stretch, Pittsburgh was losing, being tied or tying teams in the last seconds and coach Kelly, who has been through this so many times, sighed and said, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s enough to make a young man old.&rdquo; Now, one game remained for each team. Even if Pittsburgh won, Philadelphia still would take the playoff spot with either a victory or a tie. Pittsburgh won, over St. Louis. Philadelphia went into the last period against lowly Buffalo ahead, 2-1. Buffalo tied it midway in the period. Philadelphia hung on. With only four seconds remaining, a low 30-foot shot eluded goalie Doug Favell, Buffalo won 3-2 and Philadelphia lost everything.</p><p>Philadelphia finished with exactly the same record as Pittsburgh, but because the NHL, which plays a season which may come close to 100 games for some teams, and plays playoffs into the summer, refuses to play off tied positions. Philadelphia lost the playoff sport by the slim margin of having lost the season series to Pittsburgh, 3-2-1. It didn&rsquo;t matter that Kelly and his Penguins faced a crushing by Chicago in the playoffs; they bad made the playoffs. We&rsquo;re well into the playoffs now, but the violent turns of fortune in the last moments of the regular season should be remembered. Men&rsquo;s skulls can cave in from such pressure in this profession.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div><p>ST. LOUIS</p><p>The St. Louis Blues hope to have an advantage when the National Hockey League holds its June draft of amateur players.</p><p>The Blues this season have been taking part in a computer scouting program with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers. If the system works, the Blues should be able to come up with several potential NHL players from the supply of Canada&rsquo;s juniors and possibly from the colleges.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03610/3084884-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="260" height="436"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bill McCreary</b></figcaption></div><p>The Blues&rsquo; computerized scouting is in the capable hands of Bill McCreary, former St. Louis player and coach. McCreary is enthusiastic about computerized scouting, and his thoroughness is one quality leading to what apprently will be a successful&mdash;and permanent&mdash;venture for the Blues.</p><p>&ldquo;The computer eliminates all the emotion when you&rsquo;re scouting young boys,&rdquo; McCreary said. &ldquo;A boy may not get a chance because somebody doesn&rsquo;t like the way he looks&mdash;but the computer changes that. Pro football is into computerized scouting for many years now, and hockey will also become more scientific.&rdquo;</p><p>The computer doesn&rsquo;t eliminate the role of scouts, who still must attend many games in many rinks and scribble notes about many teenaged hockey players. But, when the notetaking is completed, then the computer goes to work in evaluating the scouts&rsquo; reports.</p><p>When the reports come into the Blues&rsquo; offices, Gordon Ziegler, working with McCreary, transcribes the information on to scanner sheets, which are then sent to the computer firm, Optimum Corp. in Palo Alto, Calif.</p><p>&ldquo;There are about 40 characteristics on which a player can be graded,&rdquo; McCreary said. &ldquo;We can pull a file on any one of about 600 players.&rdquo;</p><p>Less than one-third of that number will be selected in the junior draft, so the Blues will be prepared to make umpteenth-round choices until other teams are tired.</p><p>&ldquo;On the first few rounds every teams will have a lot of information about the players involved,&rdquo; McCreary said. &ldquo;But the computer should become more important on the later rounds. In the fifth or sixth rounds we should be picking up players that will be assets to the St. Louis Blues.&rdquo;</p><p>The Blues won&rsquo;t be relying exclusively on computer printouts when they make the amateur selections. The individual scouts&rsquo; ratings and the collective opinion of the Blues&rsquo; own staff will be given equal consideration.</p><p>&ldquo;With too few scouting reports the computer can&rsquo;t do a good job,&rdquo; McCreary said. &ldquo;The scouts are important.&rdquo;</p><p>Because the computer has never played hockey and never even been to Canada, several unequal factors are fed into the computer to assure accurate evaluations. The various junior leagues are weighed, with, for example, the Ontario Hockey Association, which has produced many NHL players, being given a high rating. Then also, the scouts themselves are given biases in the computer, so that the opinion of an habitually enthusiastic scout can be weighed with the opinion of a scout who finds little promise in the current crop of juniors.</p><p>Some qualities in a hockey player are more difficult to grade than others&mdash;with or without a computer.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-03

Blues Hope Computer Will Turn Up Gems In Amateur Draft

<div class="byline">BY DWAYNE NETLAND</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-01804/3084915-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CESARE MANIAGO&hellip;first 20-Win Season</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Hockey News Photo by Robert Shaver)</span></figcaption></div><p>TWIN CITIES&mdash;</p><p>Although they finished their regular National Hockey League season in a disappointing loss at Vancouver, the Minnesota North Stars had every right to be proud of their accomplishments in 1971-72.</p><p>The North Stars waltzed home with the second-place prize in the West Division with a record of 37-29-12 and 86 points. The 37 wins tied the record for an expansion team, set by St. Louis in 1969 and equalled by the Blues in 1970, and the 86 points were just short of the Blues&rsquo; expansion record in that department.</p><p>Minnesota&rsquo;s 86-point total, however, established a club record by 14 points, eclipsing easily the previous North Star summit of 72 set last season.</p><p>The North Stars also had the honor of placing four of their own players in the NHL All Star game played at Minnesota&rsquo;s Metropolitan Sports Center last Jan. 2. They were winger Bill Goldsworthy, goalie Gump Worsley and defensemen Ted Harris and Doug Mohns.</p><p>The season was a particularly satisfying one because the North Stars, for all their recent success in the Stanley Cup playoffs, have never really been a formidable team in regular-season competition. They posted 27 wins and 69 points for a fourth-place finish in their maiden expansion season of 68; slipped to 18 wins, 51 points and a last-place status in 69; got 19 wins for 60 points and third place in 1969-70; and last season had 28 wins and the 72 points for fourth place.</p><p>This will come as a surprise to some observers of the hockey scene, but the North Stars had never finished over. 500 until this season. Moreover, they managed to reduce their goals-against from 257 in 1969-70 to 223 last season to a new club record this season of 191.</p><p>&ldquo;That was one of the most gratifying things about our regular season,&rdquo; said coach Jack Gordon. &ldquo;We had set a goal in training camp of keeping our goals against to 200 or less. &ldquo;I regard that statistic as a key to any club&rsquo;s hopes of making a playoff spot. It took a lot hard work, but I&rsquo;m glad we did it.&rdquo;</p><p>The North Stars received excellent goaltending all season from Gump Worsley and Cesare Maniago. Worsley, who won just four games in 1970-71, was in 16 winning games this season with a 2.10 average. Maniago was a 20-game winner, for the first time in his NHL career.</p><p>Worsley finished the regular season in a whirl, shutting the Rangers out at New York and coming within 1:20 of achieving another whitewash at Oakland. The stocky veteran had one of the great seasons of his distinguished NHL career and happily signed, without any fanfare, a two-year contract shortly before the end of the season.</p><p>That contract will take Gump until shortly before his 45th birthday, at which time he can start collecting his pension. No wonder the rotund goaler was such a happy warrior going into the playoffs.</p><p>At the gate, the North Stars were also shattering records. They drew an all-time Minnesota mark of 597,400 in 39 home openings for an average of over 15,300, in addition to the 15,600 at the All Star game.</p><p>Goldsworthy won the club scoring title, succeeding Jude Drouin, with 62 points. Drouin and Murray Oliver were right behind him. Goldsworthy finished with 31 goals, Oliver had 27 in his best NHL season ever, Lou Nanne and Dean Prentice each reached the 20-goal plateau.</p><h2><b>NORTH STAR NOTES:</b></h2><p>Oliver won the Masterton Memorial award as Minnesota&rsquo;s most valuable player, voted by his teammates. Barry Gibbs won the Dill Memorial as the most proficient&rsquo;defenseman and Nanne was named the Stargazers Club&rsquo;s most popular player&hellip;The North Stars, who were 0-6 against New York last season, were 3-1-2 this season, taking 8 out of 12 points from the Rangers. They were 4-2 with St. Louis and 3-1-2 with Philadelphia, their most heated expansion rivals&hellip;The Stars, who completed the season with an afternoon game, had to wait until later that evening to discover who was to be their opening round playoff foe. It turned out to be the Blues.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0009-01

North Stars High On Season After Second-Place Waltz

<p>Following players were added to NHL rosters as standbys for playoffs:</p><p>BOSTON&mdash;<b>Dan Bouchard</b>, goalkeeper, <b>Nick Beverley, Matt Ravlich, Ron Jones,</b> defensemen, <b>Ron Boehm</b>, <b>Fred O&rsquo;Donnell, Terry O&rsquo;Reilly, Garry Peters, Doug Roberts, Don Tannahill</b> and Tommy Williams, forwards, from Boston of AHL, <b>Ron Plumb,</b> defenseman, <b>Chris Hayes, Chris Oddliefson</b> and Greg Sheppard, forwards, from Oklahoma City of CHL.</p><p>MONTREAL&mdash;<b>Noel Price</b> and <b>Larry Robinson</b>, defensemen, <b>Chuck Arnason, Rey Comeau, Germain Gagnon, Yvon Lambert, Chuck Lefley, Randy Rota and Murray Wilson</b>, forwards, from Nova Scotia of AHL.</p><p>MINNESOTA&mdash;<b>Gilles Gilbert</b>, goalkeeper, <b>Fred Barrett, Jim McElmury</b>, and <b>Wayne Muloin, defensemen, Norm Beaudin, Terry Caffery. Grant Erickson, Gary Gambucci, Fred Harvey, Bill Heindl, Gord Labossiere</b>, and <b>Fred Speck</b>, forwards, from Cleveland of AHL. <b>Bob Paradise</b>, defenseman, from Seattle of WHL. Ron Wilson, defenseman. from Fort Worth of CHL.</p><p>ST. LOUIS&mdash;<b>Wayne Stephenson</b>, goalkeeper, <b>Ron Climie, Dale Yutsyk</b>, and <b>Norm Dennis</b>, forwards, from Kansas City of CHL. <b>Gord Kannegiesser</b>, defenseman, <b>Ron Buchanan, Fran Huck, Jim Shires, Floyd Thomson</b> and <b>Gary Veneruzzo</b>, forwards, from Denver of WHL.</p><p>TORONTO&mdash;<b>Marv Edwards</b>, goalkeeper, and <b>Bob Liddington</b>, forward, from Phoenix of WHL. <b>Dave Fortier, John Grisdale, Joe Lundrigan</b>, and <b>Larry McIntyre</b>, defensemen, <b>Steve King, Brian Marchinko, Lyle Moffat, Jean Payette</b> and <b>Errol Thompson</b>, forwards, from Tulsa of CHL.</p><p>NEW YORK&mdash;<b>Marcel Paille</b>, goalkeeper, <b>Steve Adrascik, Morris Stefaniw</b> and <b>Alton White</b>, forwards, from Providence of AHL. <b>Steve Durbano</b> and <b>Rick Newell</b>, defensemen. <b>Bill Hogaboam, Norm Gratton, Steve Vickers</b> and <b>Tom Williams</b>, forwards, from Omaha of CHL. <b>Mike McMahon</b>, defenseman, from Rochester of AHL.</p><p>CHICAGO&mdash;<b>Mike Baumgartner, Len Frig</b> and <b>John Marks</b>, defensemen. <b>Mike Archambault, J.P. Bordeleau, Dave Hudson, Dave Kryskow, J.P. Leblanc, Dan Maloney, Larry Romanchych</b> and <b>Bill Young,</b> forwards from Dallas of CHL. <b>Barry Long</b>, defenseman, from Portland of WHL.</p><p>PITTSBURGH&mdash;<b>Larry Bignell, Yvon Labre, Jcan-Guy Lagace</b> and <b>Joe Noris</b>, defensemen. <b>Wally Boyer, Robin Burns, Rick Kessell, Brian McKenzie, Ron Snell</b> and <b>John Stewart</b>, forwards from Hershey of AHL. Dune McCallum, defenseman, from San Diego of WHL.</p><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2><p>DENVER <b>Glen Patrick,</b> defenseman. called up from Columbus of IHL as emergency replacement.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Movements of Players

<div class="byline">BY GIL SMITH</div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p>Whatever they may do, or not do, in post-season play this year, the Montreal Canadiens will retain a formidable number of playoff records.</p><p>The Stanley Cup Record and Statistics Book, put out by the NHL and edited by Ron Andrews, shows Habs owning 17 team records outright and sharing in some 18 others.</p><p>Among the marks, which apply to the modern era dating from 1927 are:</p><p>Most Stanley Cup championships (15) and most consecutive cup wins (5). Most years in playoffs (41) most final series appearances (21) and most consecutive final series appearances (10). They also hold the mark for most consecutive playoff appearances (21).</p><p>In the &ldquo;goals&rdquo; department, Canadiens own five records outright and share in a clutch of others: though one of the marks involves fewest goals by a team in a four-game series. The number is two, and Habs share the dubious distinction with Boston Bruins.</p><p>On the positive side, Habs own the record for most goals by one team in a four-game series (26) in a five-game series (24) and in a seven-game series (28). They also have the record, going into the current round, for most goals by a team in a game (11) and most goals by a team in a period (7). The last two marks were against Toronto in 1944 in a game which Habs won 11-0.</p><p>Canadiens are also very quick on the trigger. They own the records for the fastest three, four and five goals by one team in playoffs. One of the marks was against Detroit, two against Toronto.</p><p>The Habs&rsquo; power play has put them in the record book, too. They have the record for most power play goals in one playoff year by a team (21) and in a series by a team (11).</p><p>They also hold the mark for most penalties one team, one series (72). That was in 1965 against Chicago. Habs took 65 minors, three majors and four 10minute misconducts.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Habs ‘Own’ NHL Playoff Record Book

<div class="byline">BY HAL SIGURDSON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01792/3085032-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="546" height="1273"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>WAYNEE CONNELLY&hellip;Headed For WHA?</b></figcaption></div><p>VANCOUVER&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>s general manager Bud Poile so bluntly stated the case back in February, &ldquo;the question isn&rsquo;t whether Hal Laycoe will be fired; the question is whether he&rsquo;ll be rehired.&rdquo;</p><p>For the Vancouver Canucks, their second NHL season is over and true to his word, Poile did not dismiss Laycoe as his coach. But now the waiting game begins.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02681/3085025-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="258" height="448"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Hal Laycoe</b></figcaption></div><p>Laycoe&rsquo;s contract expires May 31 and to this point Poile has carefully avoided even suggesting Laycoe will be rehired for a third season behind the Vancouver bench.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve made some proposals to Hal and suggested he take five or six days to think them over,&rdquo; was as far as he would go.</p><p>For his part, Laycoe gave no hint whether or not Poile&rsquo;s &ldquo;proposals&rdquo; met with his general approval. But at a downtown press conference attended by both men, Laycoe discussed frankly the club&rsquo;s accomplishments and future needs.</p><p>First of all he made it plain he feels the club has made substantial progress despite the fact it finished with the worst record in both divisions.</p><p>He said he feels the team is in much better shape to face Year Three than it was to face Year Two.</p><p>Both he and Poile made some frank evaluations of their personnel and in at least one area the two are in complete agreement: The Canucks&rsquo; most pressing need is a consistent major league goaltender.</p><p>At the same time Poile made it plain George Gardner is through as an NHL goaltender with Vancouver. Gardner will not be protected in next June&rsquo;s draft, he said and left the impression he expects Gardner to defect to the World Hockey Association next season.</p><p>Poile also stated he would be prepared to trade the Canucks&rsquo; first amateur draft choice &ldquo;or our best player&rdquo; to obtain a proven NHL goalie.</p><p>The deal would have to right, however, he amended.</p><p>If no such deal is available, Poile said the Canucks may well make goaltender Michel Larocque of the Ottawa 67s their first amateur draft choice next June.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll be scouting him carefully between now and the end of the season, be said, &ldquo;and if we&rsquo;re convinced he can step right into the NHL, he&rsquo;s the guy we&rsquo;ll go for.&rdquo;</p><p>Vancouver will have third choice of the graduating juniors, right behind the two expansion to ams. Long Island and Atlanta.</p><p>And apparently Poile doesn&rsquo;t intend to take any chances. He said the Canucks hope to have whomever they make their No. 1 choice signed prior to the draft. He said he has already been in touch with Larocque&rsquo;s business agent.</p><p>This is obviously a reflection of concern over the budding WHA. To a team like Vancouver, it would be a major disaster to lose a first draft choice to the rival league.</p><p>And the Canucks are already headed for their first major showdown with the new league. Wayne Connelly has been offered a five-year $250,000 by the St. Paul Fighting Saints.</p><p>Connelly, who came to the Canucks this season via St. Louis and New York, reportedly has verbally agreed to terms.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s more than a verbal agreement,&rdquo; his lawyer Morden Lazurus said from Montreal. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s money paid on account and now it&rsquo;s a question of getting everything in order.&rdquo;</p><p>However, he said he will give Vancouver a &ldquo;reasonable time&rdquo; to match the offer.</p><p>Poile has countered with a two-year deal, but says he doesn&rsquo;t expect Connelly to accept it. He said he can understand any player, including Connelly, using the WHA as a lever, but insists &ldquo;I won&rsquo;t be blackmailed.&rdquo;</p><p>Instead, he says the Canucks will take the case to court if Connelly indeed signs a contract with St. Paul, the city where he makes his off-season home.</p><p>But goaltenders were the main topic of discussion with both Poile and Laycoe.</p><p>Poile conceded he was a little disappointed with the overall performance of Dune Wilson, for whom he held such high hopes at the start of the year, but added, &ldquo;I still haven&rsquo;t given up on him.&rdquo;</p><p>Laycoe, on the other hand, was singing the praises of rookie Ed Dyck.</p><p>&ldquo;He really showed me something in the last few games of the season,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He proved to me he has the potential to be an outstanding NHL goaltender.&rdquo;</p><p>Dyck&rsquo;s late trial began early in the second period of a late-season game with Philadelphia with the Canucks already down 3-0. He gave up only one more goal the in the remaining 37-plus minutes.</p><p>The kid was sensational in a 21 loss two nights later in St. Louis and certainly adequate in a 4-2 loss and a 4-4 tie with the Los Angeles Kings.</p><p>&ldquo;If he shows as much promise next training camp, I&rsquo;d say he has an excellent chance to be one of our two goaltenders next season,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>But the question remains. Will Laycoe be the man to make that judgement.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-01

Lay toe’s Status Up In Air; Poile Wants Top Netminder

<div class="byline">BY TOM MONAHAN</div><p>BOSTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t doesn&rsquo;t figure at all. Not even by any stretch of the imagination should it be expected. But from the view point of justice and popularity the second best handline to BRUINS REGAIN CUP would be TED GREEN CUP HERO.</p><p>Even with Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito entering the quarter-final round for the venerable trophy with cranky knees, they still are the twin leaders of the Bruins charge.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01775/3085063-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="262" height="462"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ted Green</b></figcaption></div><p>And there was some doubt as to how much action Green would see during the playoffs.</p><p>Going into the final two weeks of the season the 32-year-old defenseman had been relegated to. a bench role. In one stretch of seven games he took but a single turn on the ice.</p><p>Those were bad days for Green, to be sitting out the waning days of his 10th active season with the Bruins.</p><p>In the struggling years of the early 1960&rsquo;s Teddy was the leader of those downtrodden B&rsquo;s. He had participated in two playoffs with Montreal wiping the Bruins out in four straight in 1968 and taking the cup again in six games in 1969.</p><p>A pre-season head injury cost him the chance to revel in the glory of winning the cup in 1970. Last year he made an unbelievable comeback to make the playoffs again only to have Montreal snatch the moment he yearned for so deeply.</p><p>This may not have been the most enjoyable year Green ever has experienced personally, and, perhaps, even the front office doesn&rsquo;t yet know what his future will be.</p><p>There is the matter of another expansion draft coming up and the Bruins have done very little thinking on their protected list.</p><p>But it is possible that this could be Green&rsquo;s last chance to play a role in winning a Stanley Cun and no one is more deserving of what all of that entails than Green.</p><p>Yet Teddy will not complain even if he should not see a minute of ice time during this series.</p><p>He has maintained the same outward calm and composure he showed while riding the bench heading into the home stretch of the season.</p><p>&ldquo;I won&rsquo;t say it&rsquo;s easy,&rsquo;&rsquo; commented Green. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;ll sit on the bench if it&rsquo;s for the betterment of the team. I&rsquo;ve seen the same thing happen to guys before in the 12-13 years I have been around. Sitting is part of the game. It&rsquo;s tough and maybe no one ever really accepts it. But there is not much one can do about it.</p><p>&ldquo;My job,&rdquo; he went on,&rdquo; is to be as ready as I possibly can if I am needed. You just work hard in practice, even though you can&rsquo;t get 100 per cent competition and it&rsquo;s tough to keep your spirits up. But you know you can&rsquo;t just go to sleep.</p><p>&ldquo;Too many things can happen, so you&rsquo;ve got to stay in the best shape possible and do the job when the chance comes.&rdquo;</p><p>Teddy proved to coach Tom Johnson that all the bench time had not hurt him when Carol Vadnais and Orr both were forced out of the final couple of games by supposedly minor injuries.</p><p>He played as well as he ever did before his head injury and when he scored in the final game of the season against Toronto he was given a standing ovation by his loyal Boston fans.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0013-01

Veteran Could Be Making Last Cup Bid With Bruins

<h2>STANLEY CUP 72</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01774/3085094-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="566" height="572"></div><p>CHICAGO&mdash;</p><p>History repeated itself for the Chicago Black Hawks in this year&rsquo;s first-round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.</p><p>The Hawks did to the Pittsburgh Penguins exactly what they did to the Philadelphia Flyers in 1971&mdash;a four-game playoff sweep.</p><p>Gaining a berth in the semifinals for the 20th time in their history, the Hawks lowered the boom on the Penguins winning 31, 3-2, 2-0 and finally 6-5 in overtime on Pit Martin&rsquo;s record 12-second goal.</p><p>Now it&rsquo;s on to the second round in a crossover best-of-seven series against either the New York Rangers or the Montreal Canadiens in the Hawks&rsquo; second step towards a possible showdown final with the Boston Bruins for the cup.</p><p>Oddly, Martin&rsquo;s game winner that ousted the Penguins in four straight games went in off a Pittsburgh player&rsquo;s skate. Defenseman Tim Horton was the unsuspecting victim in the overtime period.</p><p>The Hawks&rsquo; big blaster, Bobby Hull, strangely silent in the first three games of the series, broke out in game four with a hat trick to lead the way.</p><p>While the Hawks did the Penguins in, the Minnesota North Stars and St. Louis Blues were locked in a head-to-dead battle in the other West Division quarter-final series. Each had won twice on home ice.</p><p>Phil Roberto, with four goals in the series, was the offensive leader for the Blues. The Stars won the first two 3-0 and 6-5 on Bill Goldsworthy&rsquo;s overtime goal before heading back to St. Louis for game three and four. The Blues won 2-1 on Roberto&rsquo;s two goals and followed up with a 3-2 thriller with Barclay Plager firing the winning goal on a set-up by Roberto.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-01

Hawks Take Penguins Out In Four

<p>BOSTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he power-laden Boston Bruins returned home to deliver the death blow to the Toronto Maple Leafs in their opening round playoff in the Stanley Cup series but the doughtly Leafs were determined to go down fighting.</p><p>The Bruins needed only one victory in the last three games, two of which were to be played on Boston ice, to wrap up their best-of-seven series and move into a crossover semi-final playoff against either Minnesota or St. Louis.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02662/3085153-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="256" height="450"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bobby Rousseau</b></figcaption></div><p>The Bruins won the opener in a romp 5-0 but the pesky Leafs battled back to steal the second game here 4-3 on Jim Harrison&rsquo;s 50-foot slapshot in the suddendeath overtime period.</p><p>Powered by Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr and Ken Hodge, the Bruins turned the series into a one-sided 3-1 edge by winning 20 on goals by Mike Walton and Orr and then coming back to overpower the Leafs 5-4 in the fourth game with three goals in the third period after Toronto had run away and hid from the Bruins with a 4-2 lead.</p><p>Esposito set up Ken Hodge for the game winner after he himself had pumped in the tieing goal for the Bruins.</p><p>But the Leafs didn&rsquo;t yield and only a pair of flucky goals by Hodge&mdash;one went in off his knee and the other off his skate&mdash;proved to be the difference for the inspired Toronto team. Goalie Bernie Parent turned in two solid performances and the offense, led by veterans Norm Ullman, Ron Ellis and Paul Henderson, gave the Bruins a hard time through the two games on Toronto ice.</p><p>The odds were stacked against the Leafs winning. They had not won in Boston this season until Harrison&rsquo;s overtime goal won the second game of the series and overall, they trailed the Bruins, including the playoffs, 7-2-1, on the season.</p><p>In the other East Division playoff, the New York Rangers ran true to form in their best-of-seven series with Montreal Canadiens.</p><p>Rangers, who had beaten Montreal three times and tied them twice in six season starts, belted the Canadiens about for a commanding 3-1 lead in the series and needed only one win in their last three games to send the Stanley Cup champions packing in a playoff upset.</p><p>New York won the first two at home 3-2 and 5-2 with Vic Hadfield, Bill Fairbairn, Bobby Rousseau and Walt Tkaczuk leading the way. Hadfield scored twice in the opener. Montreal stalled the Rangers&rsquo; drive winning the third game 2-1 but the Rangers were right back in the fourth game to skate away from the Canadiens 6-4 with Rousseau scoring twice against his former mates to put the champions on the rones.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03517/3085146-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="554" height="566"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JIM HARRISON&hellip;Fired Overtime Winner</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04374/3085139-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="380" height="457"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>EMILE FRANCIS</b>&nbsp;<i>General Manager&mdash;Coach New York Rangers</i>&nbsp;<b>SPECIAL CONSULTANT</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-05279/3085132-1-eng-US/f0014-052.jpg" title="f0014-05" width="380" height="457"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RED SULLIVAN</b>&nbsp;<i>Scout Boston Bruins</i>&nbsp;<b>INSTRUCTOR</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-06237/3085125-1-eng-US/f0014-062.jpg" title="f0014-06" width="380" height="445"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>REG FLEMING</b>&nbsp;<i>formely of the Chicago Black Hawks</i>&nbsp;<b>INSTRUCTOR</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0014-02

Rangers, Bruins Nearing Berths In Semi-Finals

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01748/3085296-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"></div><h2><b>SERIES A</b></h2><h3><b>Wed. April 5 TORONTO 0 at BOSTON 5</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02673/3085289-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="613" height="617"></div><h3><b>Thur. April 6 TORONTO 4 at BOSTON 3</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03558/3085282-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="623" height="728"></div><h3><b>Sat. April 8 BOSTON 2 at TORONTO 0</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-04436/3085275-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="592" height="547"></div><h3><b>Sun. April 9 BOSTON 6 at TORONTO 5</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-05324/3085268-1-eng-US/f0015-052.jpg" title="f0015-05" width="626" height="753"></div><h2><b>SERIES &lsquo;B&rsquo;</b></h2><h3><b>Wed. April 5 MONTREAL 2 at NEW YORK 3</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-06270/3085261-1-eng-US/f0015-062.jpg" title="f0015-06" width="621" height="622"></div><h3><b>Thur. April 6 MONTREAL 2 at NEW YORK 5</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-07241/3085254-1-eng-US/f0015-072.jpg" title="f0015-07" width="596" height="687"></div><h3><b>Sat. April 8 NEW YORK 1 at MONTREAL 2</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-08217/3085247-1-eng-US/f0015-082.jpg" title="f0015-08" width="598" height="551"></div><h3><b>Sun. April 9 NEW YORK 6 at MONTREAL 4</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-09200/3085240-1-eng-US/f0015-092.jpg" title="f0015-09" width="602" height="839"></div><h2><b>SERIES &lsquo;C&rsquo;</b></h2><h3><b>Wed. April 5 PITTSBURGH 1 at CHICAGO 3</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-10177/3085233-1-eng-US/f0015-102.jpg" title="f0015-10" width="597" height="641"></div><h3><b>Thur. April 6 PITTSBURGH 2 at CHICAGO 3</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-11156/3085226-1-eng-US/f0015-112.jpg" title="f0015-11" width="610" height="539"></div><h3><b>Sat. April 8 CHICAGO 2 at PITTSBURGH 0</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-12129/3085219-1-eng-US/f0015-122.jpg" title="f0015-12" width="588" height="442"></div><h3><b>Sun. April 9 CHICAGO 6 at PITTSBURGH 5</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-13115/3085212-1-eng-US/f0015-132.jpg" title="f0015-13" width="593" height="944"></div><h2><b>SERIES &lsquo;D&rsquo;</b></h2><h3><b>Wed. April 5 ST. LOUIS 0 at MINNESOTA 3</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-14102/3085205-1-eng-US/f0015-142.jpg" title="f0015-14" width="606" height="585"></div><h3><b>Thur. April 6 ST. LOUIS 5 at MINNESOTA 6</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-1586/3085198-1-eng-US/f0015-152.jpg" title="f0015-15" width="610" height="958"></div><h3><b>Sat. April 8 MINNESOTA 1 at ST. LOUIS 2</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-1681/3085191-1-eng-US/f0015-162.jpg" title="f0015-16" width="584" height="525"></div><h3><b>Sun. April 9 MINNESOTA 2 at ST. LOUIS 3</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-1777/3085184-1-eng-US/f0015-172.jpg" title="f0015-17" width="599" height="587"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0015-01

STANLEY CUP SUMMARIES

<h2><b>SERIES &lsquo;A&rsquo;</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-1868/3085355-1-eng-US/f0015-182.jpg" title="f0015-18" width="539" height="203"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Wed. April 5</b></p><p>Toronto 0 at Boston 5</p><p><b>Thur. April 6</b></p><p>Toronto 4 at Boston 3</p><p><b>Sat. April 8</b></p><p>Boston 2 at Toronto 0</p><p><b>Sun. April 9</b></p><p>Boston 5 at Toronto 4</p><h2><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h2><p><b>Tue. April 11</b></p><p>Toronto at Boston</p><p><b>Thur. April 13</b></p><p>Boston at Toronto (if necessary)</p><p><b>Sat. or Sun. April. 15 or 16</b></p><p>Toronto at Boston (if necessary)</p><h2><b>SERIES &lsquo;B&rsquo;</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-1959/3085348-1-eng-US/f0015-192.jpg" title="f0015-19" width="558" height="198"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Wed. April 5</b></p><p>Montreal 2 at New York 3</p><p><b>Thur. April 6</b></p><p>Montreal 2 at New York 5</p><p><b>Sat. April 8</b></p><p>New York 1 at Montreal 2</p><p><b>Sun. April 9</b></p><p>New York 6 at Montreal 4</p><h2><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h2><p><b>Tue. April 11</b></p><p>Montreal at New York</p><p><b>Thur. April 13</b></p><p>New York at Montreal (if necessary)</p><p><b>Sat. or Sun. April 15 or 16</b></p><p>Montreal at New York (if necessary)</p><h2><b>SERIES &lsquo;C&rsquo;</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-2046/3085341-1-eng-US/f0015-202.jpg" title="f0015-20" width="548" height="201"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Wed. April 5</b></p><p>Pittsburgh 1 at Chicago 3</p><p><b>Thur. April 6</b></p><p>Pittsburgh 2 at Chicago 3</p><p><b>Sat. April 8</b></p><p>Chicago 2 at Pittsburgh 0</p><p><b>Sun. April 9</b></p><p>Chicago 6 at Pittsburgh 5</p><h2><b>SERIES &lsquo;D&rsquo;</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-2135/3085334-1-eng-US/f0015-212.jpg" title="f0015-21" width="551" height="202"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Wed. April 5</b></p><p>St. Louis 0 at Minnesota 3</p><p><b>Thur. April 6</b></p><p>St. Louis 5 at Minnesota 6</p><p><b>Sat. April 8</b></p><p>Minnesota 1 at St. Louis 2</p><p><b>Sun. April 9</b></p><p>Minnesota 2 at St. Louis 3</p><h2><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h2><p><b>Tue. April 11</b></p><p>St. Louis at Minnesota</p><p><b>Thur. April 13</b></p><p>Minnesota at St. Louis</p><p><b>Sat or Sun. April 15 or 16</b></p><p>St. Louis at Minnesota (if necessary)</p><h2><b>PLAYOFF SCORING</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-2225/3085327-1-eng-US/f0015-222.jpg" title="f0015-22" width="549" height="789"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0015-18

Looking At The Playoff Picture

<div class="byline">BY JOHN PORTER</div><p>LOUISVIILE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U. S. and Canada</p><p>OAKLAND&mdash;</p><p>The man was talking about the high points and the low points of the past six months.</p><p>At the top of the scale was a game early in the season in Boston. Down at the bottom were two recent road trips. Reflecting back to the Boston game evoked a grin from Vic Stasiuk, who took over as coach of the California Golden Seals in the fourth game of this season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01586/3085386-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="270" height="434"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Craig Patrick</b></figcaption></div><p>It was the same club, although much of the personnel had been changed and was to be changed, that the National Hockey League record for season losses (53) the year before.</p><p>&ldquo;From a rebuilding standpoint&mdash;you know, new players, manager and coach&mdash;we&rsquo;ve done well. From the playing part great progress was made. Why just take the number of changes made&mdash;and they were good changes&mdash;and see the potential here.</p><p>&ldquo;That first game Gilles Meloche played in goal for us (2-0 win in Boston) was the high point. Just from the emotional point it was something. At that time, things looked pretty grim.&rdquo; he said.</p><p>&ldquo;The low point,&rdquo; the coach continued, &ldquo;was going on the road and having that February slump. We leveled off a little bit going into that last trip with Minnesota, St. Louis, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.</p><p>&ldquo;We just needed a win or two there to have a chance for the playoffs and we were unable to do it. We almost got one in Pittsburgh (Seals led 3-0 and 4-1, but lost 5-4) but that was the kind of game that hurt us all year.&rdquo;</p><p>Indeed, it&rsquo;s been a season of losing games where the Seals have led by as many as five goals.</p><p>The Seals won only one more game (21) than last season, but they had 13 more ties (18) to increase their point total from 1970-71 to this season by 15, points.</p><p>&ldquo;Everybody was disappointed after riding along so long in third place and then not making the playoffs. But we made one leapfrog (over Los Angeles) in the standings and came close to doing it to three other clubs (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and St. Louis,&rdquo; said Stasiuk.</p><p>&ldquo;The most improved player on our team would be Craig Patrick,&rdquo; added the coach. &ldquo;If every body on the club gave, practiced and pushed the way he did and had Craig&rsquo;s attitude, then you&rsquo;d reach the goal of a coach.</p><p>&ldquo;Bobby Sheehan had the great start (17 goals in the first half of the season), but he didn&rsquo;t get better in the second half. Ivan Boldirev was getting better, then the illness (mononucleosis) got him</p><p>There were other things the coach could point to on the team: injuries, inexperience and what he calls &ldquo;lack of the killer instinct.&rdquo;</p><p>The Seals lost their last six games of the season.</p><p>So the Seals missed out on the playoffs for the second straight year. But attendance was up, goals-for were up and goals-against went down.</p><p>It&rsquo;s a team on the rise, according to Vic Stasiuk. But it&rsquo;s not clear if he&rsquo;ll be around to help lift the club into the playoffs next year. His contract was to be renegotiated at the end of this season. As of this writing, it hasn&rsquo;t been done.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-01

Young, Stasiuk Compliment Seals As Team On The Rise

<h2><b>In The East</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Boston Bruins are on the verge of wrapping up their first playoff series and it is only natural that the man who helped put them there in the first place would be the star.</p><p>The Bruins&rsquo; brilliant center Phil Esposito, who won the Art Ross Trophy as individual scoring champion for the third time this year, showed he hasn&rsquo;t lost his touch with the start of the 1972 playoffs.</p><p>Espo came through with four goals and four assists in the B&rsquo;s first four playoff encounters against Toronto. He won the opener for the Bruins with the game&rsquo;s first two goals and then came back in game four to score the tying goal before setting up Ken Hodge with the game winner. He also had a hand in the game-deciding goal by Mike Walton in the third game of the series.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02508/3085424-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="557" height="670"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PHIL ESPOSITO&hellip;Boston Bruins</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>In The West</b></h2><p>If the St. Louis Blues make it past the Minnesota North Stars in their West Division quarter-final playoff, they can toss a few bouquets in the direction of rugged Phil Roberto.</p><p>The transplanted Montreal winger never looked better in the heavy-hitting series for the Blues. The North Stars probably wished he had stayed with the Canadiens. In game two, Roberto figured in three goals in a losing cause but personally won the third game with both goals in a 2-1 squeaker over the Stars that left 18,822 fans delirious.</p><p>Roberto was back at the Stars&rsquo; throats in game four as he helped set up Barclay Plager with the winning goal after shooting the Blues&rsquo; opening goal&mdash;his fourth in four playoff starts.</p><p>With seven points through the first four games, it is little wonder the North Stars wished Roberto was still with the Canadiens.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03407/3085417-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="544" height="648"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PHIL ROBERTO&hellip;St. Louis Blues</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0016-02

Player’s of the week

<div class="byline">BY BOB SMIZIK</div><p>PITTSBURGH&mdash;</p><p>There were the Penguins down on the ice playing out their season finale with St. Louis and not any great action taking place.</p><p>But up in the stands, 13,100 people&mdash;full capacity at the Civic Arena&mdash;were going bananas.</p><p>Word had flashed, almost instantaneously, from the two dozen or so transistor radios in the Arena, that Gerry Meehan had scored a goal with four seconds to go in the BuffaloPhiladelphia game and the Sabre victory had put the Penguins into the playoffs.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01498/3085462-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="260" height="432"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Eddie Shack</b></figcaption></div><p>All the Penguins had to do was hold onto their 6-2 lead over St. Louis for the final 10 minutes of the game. It wasn&rsquo;t hard to do. Philadelphia&rsquo;s loss was as big a boon to the Blues as it was to the Penguins. It assured St. Louis of third place, while minutes earlier they seemed destined for fourth as Philadelphia led Buffalo.</p><p>The final night of the season climaxed the second-most successful season in Penguin history and also put them in the playoffs for the second time in their five-year history.</p><p>While players bathed each other with champagne inside the dressing room, coach Red Kelly talked calmly with reporters just outside the bedlam.</p><p>Kelly looked back over the season and made what sounded like a strange statement. &ldquo;The turning point for us this season was the night we lost to Vancouver, 6-1.&rdquo; That was the game the Penguins were tied 1-1 going into the final period only to be blitzed by the Canucks.</p><p>It was a strange statement because the Penguins lost four and tied one after the Vancouver defeat. But Kelly explained.</p><p>&ldquo;We made a lot of changes after that night. When you start to build, things don&rsquo;t happen right away. They take time. But after that game we were going in the right direction.</p><p>The Vancouver game was Jan. 19 and the Penguins were going in the right direction after that. From February on they played some of the best hockey in the Western Division. The team was in last place on Feb. 2, but was in fourth place on April 2.</p><p>The Penguins were 14-95 during that time. Kelly listed three reasons&mdash;personnel-wise&mdash;for the team&rsquo;s resurgence.</p><p>First came the insertion of Val Fonteyne on the team&rsquo;s No. 1 line beside Syl Apps and Jean Pronovost. They played together for 17 games and during that span accounted for 22 goals and 38 assists. Pronovost scored 12 goals and 22 points, Apps six goals and 23 points and Fonteyne&mdash;a notoriously low scorer&mdash;four goals and 11 points. Fon-teyne had scored only two goals and four points before joining up with Pronovost and Apps.</p><p>The second reason was the acquisition of Eddie Shack from Buffalo on March 4. Shack seemed to light a fire under the Penguins who lost only three of the 13 games The Entertainer played with them.</p><p>Finally, was Kelly&rsquo;s decision to go with four lines down the stretch. All four produced. Greg Polis, after being pulled off the Apps Pronovost line, found new life with Bryan Hextall and Ken Schinkel and ended the season with 30 goals after a late flurry.</p><p>Shack teamed with Bob Leiter and Al McDonough and that line, too, become productive. Even the Penguins&rsquo; supposed checking line of Nick Harbaruk, Ron Schock and Steve Cardwell was putting the puck in the net.</p><p>Harbaruk scored five goals in the team&rsquo;s last eight games. Schock finished with 17 goals, a career high for him, and Cardwell, recalled from Hershey in February, scored seven times.</p><p><b>PENGUIN PATTER:</b> Apps tied Andy Bathgate&rsquo;s club record of 59 points by getting two assists on the final night of the season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02443/3085455-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="584" height="614"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>NICK HARBARUK&hellip;Hot In Stretch</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0017-01

Pens Clicked After Changes

<div class="byline">BY DAVE HODGE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02406/3085531-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="338" height="343"></div><p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>f I&rsquo;m ever lucky enough, I can tell the kids one day that I was on a team with Gordie Howe, Johnny Bower, George Armstrong, Bob Goldham, Harry Sinden, Howie Meeker and Phil Goyette, among others.</p><p>It will be a trifle difficult to explain that my position was that of &ldquo;host&rdquo;, and that I really only talked a good game, but then, the first time I take them skating, they&rsquo;ll notice my wobbly ankles anyway.</p><p>I think I know how Guy Lafleur might have felt entering his first season in the NHL with hockey&rsquo;s most successful team, the Montreal Canadiens. As he contemplated sharing the same dressing room with the likes of Henri Richard and Frank Mahovlich. I was preparing my first show as host of Hockey Night in Canada&rsquo;s Toronto production, in the big leagues of Canadian television.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03305/3085524-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="261" height="375"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Dave Hodge</b></figcaption></div><p>There was one important difference. A large segment of the hockey populace expected Guy to be another-Jean Beliveau. They didn&rsquo;t even know 1 was coming!</p><p>So what did I have to lose? My breath, my cool and my previous meal, that&rsquo;s what! The trauma lessens as time passes. but don&rsquo;t ask me to recall what took place that first night. The records show New York beat Toronto 5-3. and Lafleur was playing somewhere at the same time.</p><p>One important lesson this season has taught me is never to be certain you know all there is to learn about hockey. But don&rsquo;t be afraid to ask. either. As I watch and analyze the game with former greats, previously mentioned as my teammates. I&rsquo;ve picked up numerous tips on aspects of the game which are not always apparent. Hopefully, some of the information has been passed along to the viewers.</p><p>It&rsquo;s always pleasant to begin a new job and receive favorable reaction, for which I thank those who have written. However, the biggest compliment paid me was a rather negative one. The chief criticism of my work so far concerns the length of my hair. With apologies to those who would prefer it shorter. I must say that 1 have to be pleased with my performance if my biggest shortcoming is a reluctance to allow the barber &ldquo;carte blanche&rdquo;.</p><p>Those of us involved with the sport of hockey proudly call it &ldquo;the greatest game in the world&rdquo;. And this would. I&rsquo;m sure, be seconded by the large number who fill arenas, watch Hockey Night in Canada, and read this HOCKEY NEWS publication. It is great, not only for the action that is visible on the ice. but also for the men who provide the thrills.</p><p>There&rsquo;s something about the atmosphere in a hockey arena that is contagious. Several of our analysts have told me their retirement would be ever so much tougher without the contacts and conversations that ensue when old &ldquo;hockey&rdquo; friends are together.</p><p>After only one season. 1 know what they mean. My friends are new. but I hope I have the pleasure of calling them old friends some day.</p><p>Old teammates, too&hellip;Eh, kids?</p><p><b>(Jack Dennett will be our guest columnist in the windup May 5 issue.)</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-02

HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01502/3085493-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>General-manager and coach PUNCH IMLACH, left, shown with team president SEYMOUR KNOX III, returned to Sabres&rsquo; hockey scene briefly in the club&rsquo;s windup game as a &lsquo;spectator&rsquo;. Imlach, recovering from a Jan. 9 heart attack, will make a decision shortly on his future duties with club.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Hockey News Photo by Robert Shaver)</span></figcaption></div><p>BUFFALO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>P</span>unch Imlach. back in Buffalo for the Sabres&rsquo; final game of the season, returned to his office the next day and started preparing for the 1972-73 campaign.</p><p>&ldquo;We have to do better next year.&rsquo;&rsquo; said Punch. &ldquo;We have a young team and a lot to do. I he first order of business is to build up the defense.&rdquo;</p><p>The first hockey game the Sabres&rsquo; coach and general manager saw since suffering a heart attack Jan. 9. was a rouser. The Sabres knocked the Philadelphia Flyers out of the playoffs when Gerry Meehan, the team captain, scored with four seconds remaining to give Buffalo a 3-2 victory.</p><p>The Flyers came to town needing a win or a tie to be sure of fourth place in the West Division. When they lost, while Pittsburgh was beating St. Louis, they finished tied with the Penguins in points and victories and lost the playoff berth because Pittsburgh won the season series between the two.</p><p>The Sabres, ironically, had done their best to knock the Penguins out of the playoffs. In their last two meetings with the Pens, they won and tied.</p><p>The Philadelphia and Pittsburgh games were part of a heartening finish for the Buffalo team, which lost only two of its last nine starts.</p><p>&ldquo;The club played very, very well for me down the final stretch.&rdquo; said Joe Crozier, who replaced Imlach as coach while Punch was recuperating. &ldquo;This club is not far away from being a playoff contender. Just a couple of players. They proved they can play good NHL hockey. &ldquo;</p><p>It probably will be some time before it is decided what the coaching and general manager set-up will be for next season, Imlach has been told he can have whatever job he wants, either or hot h.</p><p>The 53-year-old veteran of a dozen NHL campaigns as coach and general manager said he doubts that he will handle both jobs from now on but that no decision has been made yet.</p><p>Punch revels in the touching atmosphere but the travel would make that job more taxing on his health. Crozier, his longtime associate and friend, who started the 1971-72 season as coach of the Sabres&rsquo; Cincinnati farm club, undoubtedly figures in future plans.</p><p>It was. as Gerry Meehan said, &ldquo;a funny year, a frustrating year.&rsquo;&rsquo; for the Sabres. They finished with fewer victories than they did in their initial NHL campaign, they scored fewer goals and they finished sixth in the East, compared to fifth the year before.</p><p>But they had many more injuries&mdash;a total of 13 Sabres were knocked out of action by injury or illness, including the two young stars, Gil Perreault and Rick Martin&mdash;and two veterans who helped considerably the previous season, Dick Duff and Phil Goyette, retired. Phil, or course, came back to play for the Rangers. New York after Buffalo sold his contract to the Rangers.</p><p>Besides that, the Sabres probably were the only club ever to have a coach and general manager (Imlach), and assistant general manager (Fred Hunt) and a head trainer (Frank Christie) all hospitalized during one season. Not to mention one of the writers who had covered every game since they entered the league. Charley Barton of the Buffalo Courier-Express.</p><p>As Meehan said, &ldquo;Next year has to be better.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-01

Imlach Puts Emphasis On Sabres’ Defense Build-Up

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03338/3085600-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg"></div><p>American Airlines now has 121 lines and 55 dots.</p><p>And since one of those dots is Toronto, the other 54 are utterly simple to get to.</p><p>For example:</p><p>We fly to New York seven times each day from Toronto,</p><p>And, by the way, we land at La Guardia, not Kennedy. So you're half an hour and about four dollars cab fare closer to downtown Manhattan.</p><p>You can even make some hot connections in New York. To some of our warmest dots.</p><p>Like St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands and San Juan in Puerto Rico.</p><p>Chicago is also easy to get to. We fly there four times a day from here.</p><p>We call it our Gateway. Because it&rsquo;s also easy to get out of.</p><p>We&rsquo;ve connecting flights to practically any dot on the map.</p><p>From Toronto we can fly you one-stop to San Francisco, or non-stop to Los Angeles on our exclusive Astro-Color movie flight. (From there you can catch a flight to sunny San Diego or balmy Palm Springs)</p><p>More? Hawaii. American Samoa. New Zealand. Fiji. Mexico City. Acapulco. Australia.</p><p>And you never have to fuss with luggage.</p><p>You put it on the plane in Toronto. And forget about it until you get where you're going.</p><p>So if you&rsquo;re going to one of our dots, ask your Travel Agent to put you on American Airlines, and use your Chargex card, if you like. Or call us at 925-4822.</p><p>We&rsquo;ll make sure you get the best of everything.</p><p>All along the lines.</p><p><b>American Airlines</b></p><p>Our passengers get the best of everything.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0019-03

American proudly presents all its lines and dots.

<div class="byline">BY JACK BERRY</div><p>DETROIT&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>here are sure to be some changes when the 1972-73 Red Wing model is unveiled in Detroit next fall but there will be some familiar standard equipment&mdash;like Alex Delvecchio.</p><p>Delvecchio, senior active member of the National Hockey League since linemate Gordie Howe retired, said he is 90 percent sure of returning for his 22nd season next fall.</p><p>The Red Wing playoff drive fell short but the 40-year-old captain said he felt he didn&rsquo;t have a bad year after winding up fourth in the club scoring derby (67 points) to rookie Marcel Dionne (77), Mickey Redmond (71) and Red Berenson (69).</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01482/3085569-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="276" height="460"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Larry Johnston</b></figcaption></div><p>Delvecchio scored 20 goals for the fifth straight season and the 13th time in his career and he played well in the futile stretch run which saw Detroit lose out to Toronto in the final week of the season.</p><p>Two seasons ago it was headlined in Detroit that Delvecchio was going to retire, that the travel was getting him down. At the time, the Wings were involved in another playoff drive and they made that one.</p><p>Delvecchio was a little embarrassed over the magnitude of the story and that was the last that was heard of him retiring.</p><p>Alex was back at his old stand in 1970-71 a dreary, disappointing season in which nothing went right for the club and if ever there was a time when retirement would seem welcome, that was it.</p><p>But he returned again and with another hot-shooter on his right flank&mdash;Redmond. Delvecchio, once praised by Howe as being the best passer in the game, helped Redmond notch 42 goals to lead the club.</p><p>Coach Johnny Wilson took notice of Delvecchio&rsquo;s gray hair and advancing years and took him off the penalty-killing team and Delvecchio was thankful and said that Wilson&rsquo;s handling of him is one of the reasons why he is virtually certain of playing again next season.</p><p>Delvecchio missed only three games this season and now has played 1,461 games. Only Howe played more. And Delvecchio has registered 1,205 points.</p><p>Offense was a strong point for the Red Wings who finished fourth in scoring with 261 goals behind Boston, New York and Montreal. The club had one 40-goal scorer in Redmond, one 30-goaler in Nick Libett and three others scored 20 or more. Four players had 15 or more goals.</p><p>Obviously the off-season aim of management is strengthening the goalkeeping and defense&hellip;and that&rsquo;s easier said than done.</p><p>The Wings came up with a real find at the blueline in Larry Johnston who was an NHL rookie despite a number of years kicking around the minors and the year&rsquo;s experience did Ron Stackhouse good.</p><p>General manager Ned Harkness definitely is seeking a goalkeeper but so far the price has been too high and it&rsquo;s possible the Wings will wait until the amateur draft in June to try and get one.</p><p><b>RED WING NOTES:</b> There was some talk of the players and their families going to club owner Bruce Norris&rsquo; Florida resort for a week&rsquo;s vacation as they did last year but Harkness said &ldquo;the situation is different this year. Last year we had a lot of new players and it was felt that would be a good way of getting them to know each other.&rdquo;</p><p>Harkness said he talked to several veteran players and they didn&rsquo;t feel the trip was necessary this year.</p><p>The Red Wings&rsquo; road record against the top four clubs in the East Division was a good indicator of why they didn&rsquo;t make the playoff&rsquo;s: 0-11-1. The single point came in a 2-2 tie at New York which the Rangers pulled off on Vic Hadfield&rsquo;s two goals in the last three minutes and six seconds.</p><p>The Wings did manage to beat Boston in their final meeting, 63, at Olympia and it snapped a string of nine straight losses to the Bruins.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02413/3085562-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="1186" height="886"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ALEX DELVECCHIO&hellip;Not Ready To Quit Yet</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0019-01

Delvecchio To Play 22nd Year As Wing

<div class="byline">BY GIL SMITH</div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p>How many people remember Nick Metz, who played for Toronto back in the &lsquo;thirties and &lsquo;forties? Not many, no doubt.</p><p>Metz set a playoff record in 1941 when he got three assists in one period as Leafs whomped Boston 7-2. Amazingly, the record has never been broken since&mdash;unless someone managed it since the 1972 playoffs got underway. However, no less than 15 other players have tied Metz&rsquo;s old mark in the past 30 years, and one man did it twice.</p><p>The last to do it was Habs&rsquo; retired Jean Beliveau who set up three goals against Minnesota on April 27, 1971.</p><p>Everyone from Toe Blake to Danny Grant managed to equal the long-standing record, but no one can crack it.</p><p>Blake equalled Metz&rsquo;s mark on March 23, 1944, against Toronto. He was then an active member of the famed Punch Line of the Montreal Canadiens. One week later, to the night, Blake&rsquo;s linemate Elmer Lach picked up three assists in a period to create a three-way tie for the mark.</p><p>Two years later, in 1946, Bobby Bauer of Boston&rsquo;s celebrated Kraut Line, equalled it. In 1954, Jean Beliveau tied it for the first time, then repeated the performance with his effort last year.</p><p>Maurice Richard did it in 1956, Doug Harvey in 1957, Don Mc-Kenney, then with Boston, in 1958, Dickie Moore. Canadiens, in 1959 and Henri Richard in 1960.</p><p>There was a five-year wait, then Bobby Rousseau of Canadiens tied the record in &lsquo;65 and Detroit&rsquo;s Alex Delvecchio matched it in &ldquo;66.</p><p>Ab McDonald, of St. Louis Blues, became the 13th player to share the mark in 1970.</p><p>Last year, incredibly, four different players tied the unyielding record, two of them in different games on the same night.</p><p>Bobby Orr got three assists against Canadiens on April 8, 1971. in the second period to match Metz&rsquo;s old magic. Two weeks later, on April 22, Grant collected three assists, also against Canadiens, while in another rink on the same night Jean Ratelle picked up three against Chicago. Then came Beliveau on April 27.</p><p>Maybe this is the year that Metz&rsquo;s 31-year-old record will finally melt from sight?<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Will Metz’s 31-Year Mark Be Shattered In Playoffs?

<div class="byline">BY JOHN ARNOLD</div><p><b>SOLUTION IN APRIL 28 ISSUE</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01328/3085655-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="868" height="1143"></div><h2><b>ACROSS</b></h2><p>1&mdash;Pictured player.</p><p>8&mdash;Either.</p><p>9&mdash;A Pittsburgh defenseman.</p><p>11&mdash;Fifty-five. (Rom. num.)</p><p>12&mdash;Statisticians do this.</p><p>13&mdash;First name of 16 across.</p><p>15&mdash;Initials of a Ranger forward.</p><p>16&mdash;A former NHL defenseman.</p><p>17&mdash;Nickname of a former Montreal coach.</p><p>18&mdash;Initials of ex-NHL linesman Atanas.</p><p>19&mdash;Denotes scoreless tie.</p><p>21&mdash;A Pittsburgh forward.</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;Number worn by former Hab Beliveau. (Rom. num.)</p><p>29&mdash;Initials of an NHL coach.</p><p>30&mdash;A Toronto right winger (init.)</p><p>32&mdash;An NHL general manager.</p><p>34&mdash;First name of a Ranger veteran.</p><p>36&mdash;Native country of Ken Hodge, (abbr.)</p><p>37&mdash;First name of a Black Hawk veteran.</p><h2><b>DOWN</b></h2><p>1&mdash;High-scoring West Division forward.</p><p>2&mdash;Former pro Tessier answers to this.</p><p>3&mdash;Initials of Heiskala of San Diego.</p><p>4&mdash;First name of an NHL goaltender.</p><p>5&mdash;Initials of one of the North Stars.</p><p>6&mdash;Estimated time or 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;An NHL captain.</p><p>21&mdash;Initials of a Ranger defenseman.</p><p>25&mdash;Wears No. 21 for Toronto.</p><p>26&mdash;Nine across used to play for this team.</p><p>27&mdash;Same as five 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 two down.</p><h2><b>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S ANSWERS</b></h2><h3><b>ACROSS</b></h3><p><b>1. ESPOSITO.</b></p><p><b>7. LE.</b></p><p><b>8. R.E.</b></p><p><b>9 D.B.</b></p><p><b>10. UBETT.</b></p><p><b>12. ED.</b></p><p><b>13.I.L</b></p><p><b>14. EHMAN</b></p><p><b>16. SIX.</b></p><p><b>17. LD.</b></p><p><b>18. TOO.</b></p><p><b>20. AGE.</b></p><p><b>22. ORR.</b></p><p><b>23. F.B.</b></p><p><b>24. DAN.</b></p><p><b>26. F.U.</b></p><p><b>28. SANDERSON.</b></p><p><b>31. A.V.</b></p><p><b>32. DEAN</b></p><p><b>33. NEIL</b></p><p><b>34. T.W.</b></p><h3><b>DOWN</b></h3><p><b>1. ELLIS.</b></p><p><b>2. SEILING.</b></p><p><b>3. OREE.</b></p><p><b>4. SETH</b></p><p><b>5. TD.</b></p><p><b>6. OBENDORF.</b></p><p><b>11. T.M.</b></p><p><b>15. ALTO.</b></p><p><b>19. ORBAN.</b></p><p><b>20. A.A.</b></p><p><b>21. EGAN</b></p><p><b>25. DAVE.</b></p><p><b>25. N.D.</b></p><p><b>26. FRED.</b></p><p><b>27. U.S.A.</b></p><p><b>28. SAN.</b></p><p><b>29. ED.</b></p><p><b>30. ONT.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-01

HOCKEY CROSSWORD

<p><b>near Concord, N.H.</b></p><p><b>Has everything for Boys 7-1 8</b></p><p><b>CHOOSE ONE OR MORE OF SIX SESSIONS</b></p><p><b>JUNE 28&mdash;JULY 5 $125</b></p><p><b>JULY 5&mdash;JULY 12 $125</b></p><p><b>JULY 12&mdash;JULY 19 $125</b></p><p><b>JULY 19&mdash;JULY 26 $125</b></p><p><b>JULY 26&mdash;AUGUST 2 $125</b></p><p><b>AUGUST 2&mdash;AUGUST 9 $125</b></p><p><b>10% <i>off for more than one session.</i></b></p><p>&bull; <b>Brand new professional arena</b></p><p>&bull; <b>Professional instruction</b></p><p>&bull; <b>Finest accommodations and mature professional staff of top New Hampshire children&rsquo;s camp</b></p><p>&bull; <b>Three hours daily ice time</b></p><p>&bull; <b>Water skiing, sailing, canoeing, swimming in crystal clear lake.</b></p><p>&bull; <b>Golf, tennis, soccer, basketball, touch football.</b></p><p><i><b>For further information and application form write to:</b></i></p><p><b>NEW ENGLAND HOCKEY CAMP, DEPT. M. CONTOOCOOK, N.H. 03229.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

IN THE U.S. THE NEW ENGLAND HOCKEY CAMP

<div class="byline">BY ED CONRAD</div><p>PHILADELPHIA</p><p>One thousand and one&hellip;one thousand and two&hellip;one thousand and three&hellip;one thousand and four.</p><p>The time it took you to read that paragraph, amazingly enough, is the time that came between the Flyers making the Stanley Cup playoffs this season and finishing an also-ran.</p><p>Unfortunately. Flyers were victimized by former terminate Gerry Mee-han&rsquo;s goal with just lour seconds remaining in the final regularseason game in Buffalo which doomed them to a unbelievably shocking 3-2 deleat, dashing their playoff hopes.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01187/3085686-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="269" height="457"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Gerry Meehan</b></figcaption></div><p>All the Flyers had needed was to have the game end before Meehan&rsquo;s shot and they were assured a playoff berth.</p><p>And. even more astounding, they had been within one goal of finishing in third place. Had they protected the 2-1 lead they took into the final period, they would&rsquo;ve finished higher than St. Louis, which lost in Pittsburgh.</p><p>But the Flyers were elimated because Meehan&rsquo;s 50-foot shot sailed past goalie Doug Favell in what has to rank as one of the most bizarre finishes of a playoff race in years.</p><p>&lsquo;This whole thing is so unbelievable&rdquo;. said Bobby Clarke. &ldquo;Why, you probably could go back through the whole history of hockey&hellip;you could go back foil years&hellip;and nothing like this has ever happened before.</p><p>&ldquo;Imagine, four seconds away and we don&rsquo;t make it. Four lousy seconds. It&rsquo;s absolutely unbelievable.&rsquo;&rsquo;</p><p>One of the unfair things about the Flyers&rsquo; collapse is that Clarke personally deserved a better late. He was playing the last game on&rsquo; an itching leg. but managed to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead on perhaps his most picturesque goal of the entire season. He got No. 35 by sliding the puck past goalie Roger Crozier after being decked from behind.</p><p>Clarke scored two goals against Pittsburgh and. with his redlight against Buffalo, wound up the season eith 35 goals. In fact, he had scored 30 of them in I he last 46 games.</p><p>Clarke&rsquo;s indivdual heroics couldn&rsquo;t prevent the shocking ending. which was hardly expected&hellip;at least not the wav the Fivers&rsquo; final two games had been going.</p><p>Needing a victory over Pittsburgh at the Spectrum the night before to assure a playoff berth, the Flyers were deprived of it in the final 46 seconds. Red Kelly had pulled his goaltender in lieu of a sixth attacker and Greg Polis scored the tying goal. In that game, the Flyers had been up twice by two-goal margins. 3-1. and 4-2. before the 4-1 tie.</p><p>Despite the outcome, the Flyers appeared almost a sure bet to make the playoils the following evening. Pittsburgh had to beat St. Louis at Civic Arena, something the Penguins hadn&rsquo;t been able to do previously this season, just by collecting a tie in&rsquo; Buffalo, where the host Sabres were playing without sensational rookie Rick Martin.</p><p>Just nine seconds before the first period ended. Clarke gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead with his brilliant goal. Then defenseman Rick Foley made it 2-0 midway through the second period.</p><p>At about that juncture, there was a score from Pittsburgh where the Blues were leading the Penguins 2-1. It appeared Pittsburgh was going to lose its shot for a playoff berth on its own.</p><p>However, it wasn&rsquo;t to be the Flyers&rsquo; night. First Gil Perreault beat Favell two minutes later to cut Philly&rsquo;s lead to 2-1. Then nine minutes into the final period. Rene Robert scored a powerplay goal to tie it up. setting the stage lor Meehan&rsquo;s death blow.</p><p>Mike Byers, another former Flyer, picked up a loose puck and passed over to Meehan who moved into Philadelphia territory before firing away at the net while closely guarded by defenseman Ed Van Impe.</p><p>&ldquo;I never saw it until it was on top of me.&rdquo; explained Favell. &ldquo;I just can&rsquo;t believe it went in.&rdquo;</p><p>Meehan felt the best way to describe his goal was by calling it ironic.</p><p>&ldquo;I looked up at the scoreboard a little while before I scored and the message up there said I had once played 12 games lor the Flyeurs,&rdquo; said Gerry. &ldquo;I kept thinking wouldn&rsquo;t it be funny if I scored the goal that made it 3-2. I had no idea that I would but I kept thinking it would be funny if I did.</p><p>&ldquo;I think maybe Van Impe screened Favell a little on the play. I just wound up and shot. The puck went by him about knee high. Sure I feel sorry for the guys, but what can you do. You have to go out and give it your best shot. We helped Philadelphia enough. We beat and tied Pittsburgh recently.&rdquo;</p><p>In retrospect, the Flyers and everything going for them in that game and the one before against Pittsburgh at the Spectrum when a victory would&rsquo;ve elimnated the Penguins.</p><p>Once against Buffalo and twice against Pittsburgh the night before, the Flyers had held a two-goal lead.</p><p>In fact, the Penguins trailed, 42, in the final period before they got a goal. Then they pulled their goalie in lieu of a sixth attacker in the final minute. Greg Polis&rsquo; goal tied the score, marking the first time all season Pittsburgh had been successful in that delicate maneuver.</p><p>When the regular-season ended, then, the Flyers were tied with Pittsburgh with identical records of 26-38 14. Hovewer, the Pengins are the higher finisher because of their 3-2-1 season domination in the series.</p><p>Naturally. Meehan&rsquo;s shot was in the net. few could believe what they were seeing&hellip;especially coach Fred Shero.</p><p>Afterward. Shero supplied an appropriate description of how he felt.</p><p>&ldquo;I feel the same way I did when my mother and father-died,&rdquo; said Fred, revealing tre-memdous emotion for a guy who rarely doesn&rsquo;t show any.</p><p>The Flyers, confident of making the playoffs, were dead and weren&rsquo;t going anywhere but back to their homes. For an excruciating summer of bitter remembrance.</p><p>Those who were part of the club two years ago probably didn&rsquo;t seem to feel it was possible that the club could ever duplicate its stunning elmination from the playoffs two years ago&hellip;when it lost six straight low scoring games, including the last two on home ice by 1-0 scores.</p><p>Well, they have not only duplicated that finish. They have found out that things can be even worse.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0021-01

Flyers Stunned As Playoff Jinx Strikes Second Time

<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><h2>AHL PLAYOFFS</h2><p><b>Quarter-Final&middot;</b></p><h2>SERIES &lsquo;A&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02144/3085762-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="595" height="119"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Tue. April 4</b></p><p>Providence 1 of Boston 8</p><p><b>Sat. April 8</b></p><p>Providence 1 at Boston 2</p><p><b>Sun. April 9</b></p><p>Boston 2 at Providence 6</p><h3><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h3><p><b>Tue. April 11</b></p><p>Boston at Providence</p><p><b>Thur. April 13</b></p><p>Providence at Boston</p><p><b>Sun. April 16</b></p><p>Boston at Providence</p><p><b>Mon. April 17</b></p><p>Providence at Boston (if necessary)</p><h2>SERIES &lsquo;B&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03121/3085755-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="594" height="107"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Tue. April 4</b></p><p>Springfield 0 at Nova Scotia 4</p><p><b>Fri. April 7</b></p><p>Springfield 0 at Nova Scotia 6</p><p><b>Sat. April 8</b></p><p>Novo Scotia 2 at Springfield 3</p><p><b>Sun. April 9</b></p><p>Nova Scotia 5 at Springfield 2</p><h3><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h3><p><b>Wed. April 12</b></p><p>Springfield at Nova Scotia</p><p><b>Fri. April 14</b></p><p>Novo Scotia at Springfield (if necessary)</p><p><b>Sat. or Sun. Apr. 15 or 16</b></p><p>Springfield at Novo Scotia (if necessary)</p><h2>SERIES &lsquo;C&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0499/3085748-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="601" height="108"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Thur. April 6</b></p><p>Cleveland 5 at Baltimore 3</p><p><b>Fri. April 7</b></p><p>Cleveland 0 at Baltimore 6</p><p><b>Sat. April 8</b></p><p>Baltimore 3 at Cleveland 1</p><h3><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h3><p><b>Tue. April 11</b></p><p>Baltimore at Cleveland</p><p><b>Wed. April 12</b></p><p>Cleveland at Baltimore</p><p><b>Fri. April 14</b></p><p>Baltimore at Cleveland (if necessary)</p><p><b>Sat. April. 15</b></p><p>Cleveland at Baltimore (if necessary)</p><h2>SERIES &lsquo;D&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0588/3085741-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="586" height="109"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Wed April 5</b></p><p>Cincinnati 5 at Hershey 4</p><p><b>Sat. April 8</b></p><p>Cincinnati 5 at Hershey 2</p><p><b>Sun. April. 9</b></p><p>Hershey 2 at Cincinnati 7</p><h3><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h3><p><b>Tue. April 11</b></p><p>Hershey at Cincinnati</p><p><b>Aed. April 12</b></p><p>Cincinnati at Hershey (if necessary)</p><p><b>Thur. April 13</b></p><p>Hershey at Cincinnati (if necessary)</p><p><b>Sat. April 15</b></p><p>Cincinnati at Hershey (if necessary)<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0022-02

AMERICAN LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY BOB ELMER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01207/3085800-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="541" height="733"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JOE SZURA&hellip;Top Performer</b></figcaption></div><p>BALTIMORE&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>s another AHL season climaxed with perhaps the closest race in its colorful 36-year history, two established awards were conferred upon this year&rsquo;s members of Terry Reardon&rsquo;s Baltimore Clippers by the local constabulary.</p><p>The two perennial trophies in question which were presented to their winners in the pair of weekend finales at the Civic Center against the Cincinnati Swords and the Hershey Bears respectively concerned the annual most valuable Clipper player presented by the Sports Boosters of Maryland and the Daniel Ellis Unsung Hero Award.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0666/3085793-1-eng-US/f0022-062.jpg" title="f0022-06" width="277" height="464"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>John French</b></figcaption></div><p>Needless to say, the sifting of the candidates was anything but easy and as veteran Dick Mattiussi remarked to this writer on a WFBR radio interview, &ldquo;we have 20 most valuable players.&rdquo;</p><p>However, the annual polling was consumated and veteran center Joe Szura captured the MVP award as voted upon by members of the press, radio and TV who have watched most of the Clipper games both home and abroad. Szura, quiet, soft-spoken 33-year-old pivot from Thunder Bay thus joins an illustrious list of previous winners that began with Dave Creighton, now GM at Providence winning in 1962-63 followed by Gilles Villemure, now goaling for the Rangers in 1963-64; Ken Schinkel. star winger with the Pittsburgh Pens, in 1964-65; Jean-Marie Cossette, retired, in 196566; the ageless wonder Willie Marshall in 1966-67; Tom McCarthy, retired, in 1967-68; Wayne Hicks in 1968-69; defenseman Mike McMahon in 1969-70, and three winners last year in Wayne Rivers, now with Springfield, Kent Douglas, current Clipper team captain and goalie Andy Brown, now with the Detroit Red Wings.</p><p>Szura enjoyed another outstanding campaign. The 6-2, 200-pounder was tied on the Clippers in goals scored at 38, had 38 assists for 76 points and second in the team&rsquo;s scoring behind sophomore Pete Laframboise, who also came in for heavy consideration in the voting.</p><p>The MVP trophy was presented to Szura in the final home night here Easter Sunday prior to the Hershey game by Sports Boosters president Michael Fox along with officials Bob Pinkner and Bob Footlick and secretary Maurice Schochatt.</p><p>The Dan Ellis Award is an annual presentation to that player regarded as the team&rsquo;s Unsung Hero of the year. Ellis has been a Clipper season ticket holder since the club got its franchise in 1962 and a loyal, veteran supporter and backbone of the Clippers Booster Club. A panel of judges selected three players for the final runoff which was voted upon by the Clipper Booster club members and the winner was the ever-hustling left winger John French.</p><p>The 21-year-old youngster from Orilia, Ontario, enjoyed a banner season under Reardon. He is the property of the Montreal Canadiens and was sent to Baltimore on loan in the deal that had the California Seals trading Randy Rota to the Canadiens&rsquo; organization.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0022-01

Veteran Szura Named MVP of Clippers

<div class="byline">BY BARRY SWINEHART</div><p>CLEVELAND&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he American Hockey League quarter-final Calder Cup series matching the Cleveland Barons against the Baltimore Clippers provides something new in Calder Cup history.</p><p>Although the Barons are making a record 31st appearance in the annual post-season playoffs, it marks the first time the two clubs have faced each other in Calder Cup play.</p><p>Although the Barons finished fourth in the AHL West, five points behind the division leading Clippers, they had a good year against Baltimore with five wins and a tie in the eight games. At the Arena, the Barons opened with a 2-2 tie and then scored 43, 5-2 and 6-2 victories over the Clippers. In Baltimore, Cleveland alternated wins and losses starting with a 6-3 defeat, posting a 6-2 victory, losing 7-3 before registering a 7-1 decision over the Clippers on March 22 in the last regular season meeting.</p><p>In registering a 5-2-1 edge in the series, John Muckler&rsquo;s skaters averaged 4.5 goals while allowing the Clippers only 3.1 goals per outing. The Barons totaled 36 goals to Baltimore&rsquo;s 25 to gain that edge.</p><p>The Barons have won the Calder Cup a record nine times with the most recent being the 1963-64 playoffs. Interestingly that year the Barons earned the third and final playoff spot in the West Division and then went on to win the Calder Cup.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Baltimore, Baron Series An AHL First

<div class="byline">BY JOHN TRAVERS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01184/3085855-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Hershey Booster Club President JOE TIGHE presents Bears&rsquo; retiring star MIKE NYKOLUK with sports car from Hershey fans during appreciation night staged by Bears for the 14-year-veteran and team captain.</b></figcaption></div><p>HERSHEY&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t was quite a night for Mike (Big Bear) Nykoluk. Hershey Bears&rsquo; captain and veteran center who hangs up the blades at the conclusion of the 1971-72 American League season.</p><p>A standing room crowd of 7,486 greeted Mike the night of Mar. 29 at the Sports Arena. They were present to honor the big guy who put in 14 years of outstanding play for Hershey.</p><p>Mike, who captained Hershey to its last Calder Cup championship in 1968-69, was overwhelmed by the reception accorded him, his lovely wife. Dolly, and their four handsome children, Mike, Jr. 13; Kim, 11; Christine. 9 and Mia, 2.</p><p>&ldquo;No speech could ever be written to express my feelings,&rdquo; said Nykoluk. who received four standing ovations during the ceremonies. &ldquo;This is the greatest moment in my career. My family and I thank you. God bless all of you.&rdquo;</p><p>Joe Tighe, Hershey Booster Club president, topped off the nights&rsquo;s program by presenting Nykoluk with a beautiful red sports car.</p><p>&ldquo;This is from all your fans,&rdquo; said Tighe, who along with Booster Club members, handled the proceedings in first class fashion.</p><p>Coach Frank Mathers drew a tremendous roar from the crowd when he announced Nykoluk&rsquo;s No. 8 jersey would be retired. It was the first time any Hershey player was ever accorded that honor.</p><p>&ldquo;Mike has given so much of himself over the years there&rsquo;s nothing we could give him, so we&rsquo;re taking away something, his jersey,&rdquo; said Mathers in tribute to Nykoluk. He presented Mike with a No. 8 jersey encased in a frame.</p><p>Nykoluk, the most popular Hershey player in modern times, was showered with a number of other gifts from fans, present and past team-mates, opponent AHL teams and sportswriters and sportscasters.</p><p>Mike&rsquo;s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Nykoluk, of Toronto, his older bother Danny, an AllCanadian pro tackle with the Toronto Argonauts and wife, were on hand. Mrs. Nykoluk&rsquo;s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Bernardi, Toronto, also attended.</p><p>Jack Butterfield, AHL president; Arthur Whiteman, chairman of the board and club president Lloyd Blinco, offered their congratualtions. They cited Mike&rsquo;s outstanding efforts over the years.</p><p>&ldquo;Thanks for 14 years of great hockey, Mike, &ldquo;said Whiteman.</p><p>&ldquo;We have always been proud of you, Mike, both on and off the ice,&rdquo; added Blinco.</p><p>Trainer Scotty Alexander, who has been with the Bears for 28 years, along with a dozen players who skated at one time or another with Ny-koluk were on hand. They included, Hec Lalande, Wally Boyer, Bucky Hollingworth, Pete Conacher, Marc Reaume, Claude Dufour. Bruce Cline, Paul Popiel, Michel Harvey, and Gill and Mike Mahoney. They each represented one of Mike&rsquo;s years was Hershey. Representing the present club was Rick Kessell. lost for the season with a shoulder separation.</p><p>Maybe Nykoluk&rsquo;s biggest moment of the program was when the circled the Arena ice in his new car, waving to the cherring fans as organist Mitch Grand played Auld Lang Syne.</p><p>Nykoluk, who had been shelved since Mar. 8 with a severe ankle injury, is ready for the playoffs, his 13th postseason appearance with Hershey. He was on the 1958-59 Calder Cup championship squad and was in the finals with three other Hershey teams and also reached the semi-finals three other seasons.</p><p>A two-time All Star selection, Mike became only the second Hershey player in club history to be named the league&rsquo;s most valuable player when he won the honor in 1966-67. George (Red) Sullivan, another great centerman, was the first in the earlv 1950s.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0023-01

Nykoluk ‘s No. 8 Retired’

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02144/3085900-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg"></div><h2><b>HOME RECORD</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03113/3085893-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="573" height="295"></div><h2><b>AWAY RECORD</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0490/3085886-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="574" height="302"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0023-02

Comparing AHL Teams

<div class="byline">BY GREG FARLEY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01196/3085952-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="564" height="592"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DON BLACKBURN&hellip;Wins It All</b></figcaption></div><p>BOSTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>O</span>ne of the few Braves with a great deal of playoff experience under his hell is defenseman Matt Ravlich, who has participated in post-season play in 10 of his 14 pro seasons.</p><p>Ironically, Matt&rsquo;s only previous appearances in AHL eliminations came as a member of the Providence Reds hack in the early sixties when he was first property of the Bruins.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0480/3085945-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="283" height="447"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Matt Ravlich</b></figcaption></div><p>Now, at 33, the wheel has turned full cycle for Ravlich, and the youth-oriented Braves are counting on his experience to spearhead the defense in the team&rsquo;s quest for the Calder Cup, which began in a best-of-seven quarter-final series against Providence.</p><p>&ldquo;I played with the Reds for three full seasons when the Bruins owned me,&rdquo; he recalled. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no revenge motive involved though. That was quite sometime ago.&rdquo;</p><p>The Bruins cast Ravlich adrift in 1964, and he saw action with Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles of the NHL before the B&rsquo;s purchased him earlier in the year to fill in while Don Awrey&rsquo;s cracked ankle healed.</p><p>Since joining the Braves, Matt has been one of the squad&rsquo;s most consistent performers, and his heady play has been reflected in the overall improvement of the defensive unit since his arrival.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re proud of our defensive record during the regular season,&rdquo; he explained, &ldquo;and we&rsquo;re hoping to continue it right through the playoffs.&rdquo;</p><p>Assessing the current Braves-Reds confrontation, he said: &ldquo;The Reds aren&rsquo;t about to roll over and play dead for us in this series, and were going to have to watch them closely.</p><p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve got some gunners that gave us trouble during the season&mdash;like Don Blackburn and Alton White&mdash;and we&rsquo;re going to have to keep them away from the net.</p><p>&ldquo;And having that home game advantage doesn&rsquo;t mean too much with this club, since they&rsquo;ve already beaten us a couple of times at home this year.</p><p>We&rsquo;re not selling Providence short, and we know it&rsquo;s going to be a tough series&mdash;but we&rsquo;re ready for it.&rdquo;</p><p>Veteran Blackburn of the Reds finished the regular season with 99 points on 34 goals, 65 assists to win the John Sollenberger Trophy as the league&rsquo;s leading scorer. Goal-scoring honors went to Springfield&rsquo;s Wayne Rivers with 48 while teammate Ed Hoekstra led all scorers with 69 assists.</p><p>Boston&rsquo;s Dan Bouchard and Ross Brooks formed the best goaltending tandem allowing only 191 goals to give them and the Braves the Harry &lsquo;Hap&rsquo; Holmes Trophy.</p><h2><b>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02140/3085938-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="592" height="770"></div><h2><b>GOALKEEPERS&rsquo; RECORDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03101/3085931-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="606" height="644"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0024-01

Braves Tackling Reds With Little Experience

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK SANTANIELLO</div><p>SPRINGFIELD&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he final regular season game of the Springfield Kings was a pleasant affair. The Kings&rsquo; Booster Club put on its annual awards night, and fans were treated to something special.</p><p>The Ross Lowe Trophy, sponsored by the Booster Club, which conducts two votes each season, honored the most valuable player of the past season and what better player to get this coveted presentation than Wayne Rivefs, the 30-year-old, 10-year man who had a tremendous year in a Kings&rsquo;uniform.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01163/3085990-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="278" height="440"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Brian Carlin</b></figcaption></div><p>Rivers broke every scoring record on the club as he finished with 48 goals, which was a new club record, breaking the old one of 45 held by former Kings&rsquo; star Doug Robinson who played with Nova Scotia this season. Despite some games out of action with injuries, Rivers was the top scorer all season and well deserving of the great honor.</p><p>The Jane Ramsdell good sportsmanship award was given to Wayne Chernecki, one of the top contenders for rookie of the year in the AHL. He was unsung when he was drafted and inked by the Kings out of the amateurs. As the season went on. he continued to get better with each game.</p><p>For his tremendous season with the Kings, 35-year-old Ed Hoekstra, who skated, scored, set up plays and killed penalties, went home with the Jimmy Anderson Trophy, the players&rsquo; player award, which is voted by his teammates and is a most highly coveted award.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02109/3085983-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="552" height="584"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>WAYNE RIVERS&hellip;Rewarding Year</b></figcaption></div><p>The Unsung Hero Award, the Adam Oberheimer Trophy, was given to trainer Pete Demers of the Kings, the first time in memory when the medicine man of the club was honored with such an award. Demers, who had his headaches during the season with many injuries, worked hard to keep the club fit. It is said a good trainer wins half a dozen games a season. Pete did.</p><p>Brian Carlin, who popped 36 goals in his rookie season, won the Clemente W. Santaniello Memorial Award, sponsored by this writer and his brother John. Carlin also came into camp out of the Western International Hockey League in Canada. He made them stand up and take notice this season with a great year.</p><p>Chernecki, Phil Hoene, Carlin, Al Beaule, Norm Park, Bob Poffenroth, Neil Komadoski, Mike Keeler and Camille Lapierre were presented trophies for their first goals with the Kings.</p><p>Hoekstra came in for another special award, a trophy for his 400th point in American Hockey League scoring. For his 500th point in the AHL, Rivers also got a special award commemorating this event. Then it was into the business of defending the Calder Cup.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0025-01

Fans Give Scoring Ace Rivers MVP Award

<h2><b>Wed. March 29 NOVA SCOTIA 0 at PROVIDENCE 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0379/3086049-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="583" height="328"></div><h2><b>Sat. April 1 TIDEWATER 2 at CLEVELAND 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0460/3086042-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="586" height="526"></div><h2><b>Sun. April 2 HERSHEY 7 at BALTIMORE 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0553/3086035-1-eng-US/f0025-052.jpg" title="f0025-05" width="601" height="1162"></div><h2><b>ROCHESTER 10 at SPRINGFIELD 8</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0640/3086028-1-eng-US/f0025-062.jpg" title="f0025-06" width="607" height="714"></div><h2><b>BOSTON 2 at NOVA SCOTIA 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0737/3086021-1-eng-US/f0025-072.jpg" title="f0025-07" width="603" height="586"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0025-03

American Hockey League Summaries

<p><b>LOUISVILIE SLUGGER</b> HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & 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>(Final Standings)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02122/3086094-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="577" height="222"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Wed. April 5</b></p><p>Son Diego 4 at Denver 7</p><p>Seattle 4 at Portland 6</p><p><b>Fri. April 7</b></p><p>Denver 2 at Phoenix 4</p><p>Portland 4 at Seattle 2</p><p><b>Sat. April 8</b></p><p>Salt Lake 3 at Denver 5</p><p>Phoenix 5 at Son Diego 3</p><p>Portland 1 at Seattle 2</p><h3><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h3><p><b>(Including Games of Sun. April 2)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0397/3086087-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="581" height="378"></div><h3><b>GOALKEEPERS RECORD</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0473/3086080-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="583" height="359"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0026-02

WESTERN LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCCONNELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01154/3086180-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="838" height="1039"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RAY LAROSE&hellip;Through For Year</b></figcaption></div><p>DENVER&mdash;</p><p>Chuck Hamilton jammed his feet into a fancy pair of cowboy boots only to find them filled to the brim with champagne.</p><p>That&rsquo;s how freely the bubbly flowed in the dressing room when the Denver Spurs finally clinched first place in the Western Hockey League standings.</p><p>The 5-2 defeat the Spurs took at Salt Lake City that night didn&rsquo;t matter as the Seattle Totems&rsquo; 5-2 upset victory at Phoenix erased the last possibility of the Roadrunners catching the Spurs.</p><p>It didn&rsquo;t matter except that in that game with the Golden Eagles the Spurs lost All Star defense candidate Ray Larose to a kneee injury. He needed knee surgery and is finished for the season.</p><p>The Spurs returned home to a band and a welcoming committee headed by Denver Mayor Bill McNichols at Stapleton International Airport. That night, as if to convince everyone, they outdueled the Roadrunners, 2-1.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s good to get it over with,&rdquo; said Jean Guy Talbot, of his first campaign as a coach. &ldquo;The fellows have been up tight lately, anxious to get about the playoffs.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s like trying to score that last goal to earn your bonus&hellip;it seems like it will never come.</p><p>&ldquo;Now, we&rsquo;ll spend the remaining games getting as sharp as possible for the playoffs.&rdquo;</p><p>Talbot summed up his feelings as a winning coach for Harley Key of the Rocky Mountain News.</p><p>&ldquo;Great! But I think it&rsquo;s tougher as a coach than as a player.&rdquo;</p><p>Talbot had been a defenseman on eight Stanley Cup winners with the Montreal Canadiens, played in 19 playoffs, 16 in the National Hockey League.</p><p>&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re playing, you are busy&hellip;you are in the action. As a coach, you sometimes feel a little helpless.&rdquo;</p><p>Larose, 30, had his best ever season brought to a painful close by a solid bodycheck by Salt Lake rookie rearguard Dan Helm.</p><p>&ldquo;It was a good clean check,&rdquo; said the solid 198-pound Denver defenseman. &ldquo;He just caught me with my leg extended and my knee locked as 1 lost the puck and tried to retrieve it while going around him.&rdquo;</p><p>Larose was heralded around the league as one of the most underrated performers but during the last half of the season was winning recognition.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0027-01

Spurs’ Victory Party Dampened By Larose Injury

<h2><b>Fri. March 24 SAN DIEGO 4 at DENVER 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02117/3086323-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="584" height="524"></div><h2><b>PORTLAND 2 at SALT LAKE 8</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0388/3086316-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="583" height="709"></div><h2><b>SEATTLE 5 at PHOENIX 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0481/3086309-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="592" height="580"></div><h2><b>Sat. March 25 PHOENIX 3 at SAN DIEGO 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0567/3086302-1-eng-US/f0027-052.jpg" title="f0027-05" width="581" height="397"></div><h2><b>Sun. March 26 SALT LAKE 1 at PHOENIX 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0658/3086295-1-eng-US/f0027-062.jpg" title="f0027-06" width="594" height="343"></div><h2><b>DENVER 6 at PORTLAND 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0751/3086288-1-eng-US/f0027-072.jpg" title="f0027-07" width="597" height="650"></div><h2><b>Tue. March 28 DENVER 2 at SALT LAKE 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0848/3086281-1-eng-US/f0027-082.jpg" title="f0027-08" width="592" height="553"></div><h2><b>SEATTLE 5 at PHOENIX 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0947/3086274-1-eng-US/f0027-092.jpg" title="f0027-09" width="606" height="468"></div><h2><b>Wed. March 29 PHOENIX 1 at DENVER 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1044/3086267-1-eng-US/f0027-102.jpg" title="f0027-10" width="584" height="416"></div><h2><b>SEATTLE 6 at SAN DIEGO 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1137/3086260-1-eng-US/f0027-112.jpg" title="f0027-11" width="587" height="790"></div><h2><b>Thur. March 30 PHOENIX 7 at SALT LAKE 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1231/3086253-1-eng-US/f0027-122.jpg" title="f0027-12" width="584" height="677"></div><h2><b>Fri. March 31 PORTLAND 4 at SAN DIEGO 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1326/3086246-1-eng-US/f0027-132.jpg" title="f0027-13" width="589" height="539"></div><h2><b>Sat. April 1. SAN DIEGO 4 at PHOENIX 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1422/3086239-1-eng-US/f0027-142.jpg" title="f0027-14" width="592" height="675"></div><h2><b>SALT LAKE 2 at PORTLAND 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1518/3086232-1-eng-US/f0027-152.jpg" title="f0027-15" width="589" height="541"></div><h2><b>DENVER 6 at SEATTLE 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1614/3086225-1-eng-US/f0027-162.jpg" title="f0027-16" width="604" height="626"></div><h2><b>Sun. April 2 SALT LAKE 1 at SEATTLE 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1711/3086218-1-eng-US/f0027-172.jpg" title="f0027-17" width="594" height="378"></div><h2><b>DENVER 1 at PORTLAND 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1810/3086211-1-eng-US/f0027-182.jpg" title="f0027-18" width="598" height="416"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0027-02

Western Hockey League Summaries

<p><b>LOUISVIILE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS</b> Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U. S. and Canada</p><h2>CHL PLAYOFFS</h2><h3><b>Semi-Finals</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0538/3086361-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="583" height="99"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Wed. April 5</b></p><p>Oklahoma City 2 at Dallas 6</p><p><b>Sat. April 8</b></p><p>Oklahoma City 7 at Dallas 6</p><p><b>Sun. April 9</b></p><p>Dallos 1 at Oklahoma City 4</p><h3><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h3><p><b>Tue. April 11</b></p><p>Dallas at Oklahoma City</p><p><b>Fri. April 14</b></p><p>Oklahoma City at Dallas</p><p><b>Sat. April 15</b></p><p>Dallas at Oklahoma City (if necessary)</p><p><b>Sun. April 16</b></p><p>Oklahoma City at Dallas (if necessary)</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0631/3086354-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="574" height="112"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Wed. April 5</b></p><p>Fort Worth 4 at Tulsa 8</p><p><b>Fri. April 7</b></p><p>Fort Worth 1 at Tulsa 4</p><p><b>Sat. April 8</b></p><p>Tulsa 3 at Fort Worth 6</p><h3><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h3><p><b>Tue. April 11</b></p><p>Tulsa at Fort Worth</p><p><b>Wed. April 12</b></p><p>Fort Worth at Tulsa</p><p><b>Fri. April 14</b></p><p>Tulsa at Fort Worth (if necessary)</p><p><b>Sun. April 16</b></p><p>Fort Worth at Tulsa (if necessary)<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-05

CENTRAL LEAGUE

<p class="dropcap"><span>O</span>ne of the reasons the Fort Worth WingS were the &lsquo;Cinderella&rsquo; team coming down the stretch was the inspirational leadership provided by veteran Ross Perkins. The Wings&rsquo; team captain personally racked up 14 points in the final four Fort Worth games to steer them into a third place finish and give Perkins a piece of the CHL individual scoring title along with Tulsa&rsquo;s Jean Payette. Each had 97 points.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0448/3086444-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="528" height="606"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ROSS PERKINS</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0028-04

Player Of The Week

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div><p>FORT WORTH&mdash;</p><p>In one of the greatest turnabouts since Cinderella rode to the hall in a pumpkin, the once-lowly Fort Worth Wings clinched third place in the Central Hockey League on the next-to-last dav ol the 1971-72 schedule.</p><p>When they were 15 points out of fourt place in early February, many of the skeptics doubted the Wings would, even get out of the cellar, hut GM-coach Bob Lemieux insisted they would be in the playoffs.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01144/3086413-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="267" height="442"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bob Lemieux</b></figcaption></div><p>Instead of boasting, &ldquo;I told you so,&rdquo; Lemieux calmly said. &ldquo;Well, we made it an interesting race,&rdquo; after the Wings nailed down third place April 1. They left little doubt who was the hot club going into the CHL playoffs.</p><p>The Dallas Black Hawks had wrapped up first place two weeks earlier, and the Tulsa Oilers locked up the runnerup spot, Mar. 26. That left Omaha, Oklahoma City and Fort Worth fighting for the last two spots in the playoffs.</p><p>The Wings left no obstacle standing in their path. They had just won three out of four points in a back-to-back series with Dallas, then posted a 4-2 triumph in Tulsa.</p><p>They came home to trim the OC Blazers, 6-4, Mar. 28, stayed home to knock the starch out of Omaha&rsquo;s Knights, 7-1, Mar. 31. The next night the Wings took the turnpike to Dallas, and trounced the first-place Hawks, 10-4, eliminating all rivals for third place. With nothing at stake, they edged Oklahoma City, 4-3, in Fort Worth to wind up the schedule, Apr. 2.</p><p>Nothing at stake, that is, but the CHL individual scoring championship. Fort Worth center Ross Perkins, who had led the league through the early season, but dropped off the pace after a knee injury, came on with a late rush to tie Tulsa&rsquo;s Jean Payette for the title with 97 points.</p><p>All Perkins did was collect six goals and eight assists in the Wings&rsquo; last four games, giving him 41 and 56 for the season. He had two assists in the Tuesday tilt with OC, two goals and five assists against Omaha, two goals and one assist Dallas, and again two goals and one assist in the finale with the Blazers.</p><p>His 41 goals tied OC&rsquo;s Greg Sheppard and Dallas&rsquo; J.P. Bordeleau for the league lead in that department.</p><p>The Fort Worth turnabout followed a wholesale shuffling of players in January-February between the Wings and their Tidewater &ldquo;cousins&rdquo; of the American League. Centers Ralph Stewart and Jim Schraefel, right wings Tom Martin and Billy Hicke, Left wing Brian Conacher, defenseman Serge Lajeunesse and goalie Andy Brown all came from Virginia to play important roles in the Fort Worth revival.</p><p>Brown was called twice to the parent Detroit Red Wings, and stayed on his second trip. Gerry Gray, who was with Fort Worth at the start of the season, returned from Tidewater, and played &ldquo;extremely well&rdquo;, according to-coach Lemieux. Stewart had three goals and six assists in the last four games.</p><p>The Red Hot Wings open the playoffs in Tulsa, Apr. 5, while Oklahoma_City was in Dallas to start the other best-of-seven semi-finals. The defending champion Omaha Knights did not make it.</p><p>Martin was lost with a knee injury in the Mar. 26 game at Tulsa, but Lemieux moved Schraefel onto the right wing spot with Perkins and Brian Watts. Another potent line had Stewart between Bob Guindon and Herb Boxer. Conacher was skating with Hicke and Craig Reichmuth.</p><p>Lemieux was down to nine forwards and five defensemen, but his job was made easier by young Gordon Redden. The only rookie of the lot, Redden has proved he can play capably at either right wing or right defense.</p><p>Boxer had two goals, including the winner, in the Mar. 28 game with Oklahoma City, and Serge Lajeunesse added a tally into the empty net. Stewart had the hat trick, getting all three goals in the final period, in the victory over Omaha.</p><p>The Wings took a 4-0 lead in the first 11 minutes at Dallas, Apr. 1, and never let up. Then, just to show they could win the other way, they spotted Oklahoma City three goals in the first 35 minutes and came back with four of their own. Apr. 2. Perkins, Conacher and Boxer tallied in the final period, Boxer clinching the victory at the 8: 10 mark.</p><p>That gave the Wings nine straight ganies without defeat, and an amazing record of 20-4-5 from Feb. 5 to the end of the schedule.</p><p><b>DALLAS:</b> The Black Hawks of coach Bobby Kromm were building up the wrong kind of momentum, heading into the playoffs, after clinching first place in runaway fashion. The Hawks lost their last three games of the regular schedule, giving up 25 goals in three nights, and had a 2-5-1 record for their last eight games.</p><p>Kromm admitted, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to get the boys up for every game, when they&rsquo;re so far ahead.&rdquo; But he was beginning to climb the walls as the defense and goalkeeping crumbled.</p><p>Contributing to the defensive collapse was the serious illness of blueliner Bart Crashley, who had set a club scoring record for defensemen with 20 goals and 38 assists before dropping out of the lineup. Doctors were testing him, but had yet to come up with a final diagnosis. Many of the symptoms led them to suspect mononucleosis.</p><p>The Hawks opened the final week in grand style with Ken Brown blanking the Omaha Knights, 4-0, at home. But in a Mar. 29 rematch at Omaha the Hawks lost the lead three times and settled for a 4-4 tie. Then came a 7-4 shellacking in Kansas City, Mar. 31, the 10-4 loss to Fort Worth in Dallas, Apr. 1. and an 8-1 bombardment in Tulsa, Apr. 2.</p><p>J.P. LeBlanc, fighting for the league scoring lead through the late months of the season, got a goal and two assists in the last four games to wind up fourth on 90 points. But he did tie the CHL record of 68 assists, set by Jim Lorentz for Oklahoma City in 1968-69. Leblanc also was the recipient of all three Dallas individual awards as the MVP, Huslin&rsquo; Hawk and most popular player in the club&rsquo;s windup game. It was a fitting end to a tremendous season for the Dallas ice captain.</p><p>The Hawks broke the league scoring record. Dave Hudson got their only goal in Tulsa, but it was their 317th. The old mark of 316 was set by their predecessors, the St. Louis Braves, in 1963-64.</p><p><b>TULSA:</b> After clinching second place, the Oilers weren&rsquo;t impressive in their next two outings. They let a 5-3 lead slip away in the last period of a 5-5 tie at Oklahoma City, Mar. 31, and suffered a 3-1 loss at home to Kansas City the next night.</p><p>But all was forgiven when the Oilers ran berserk to bury Dallas, 8-1, in the finale. Rookie right wing Steve King paced the attack by getting the club&rsquo;s eighth hat trick and becoming the team&rsquo;s seventh 20-goal scorer.</p><p>Center Jean Payette had a goal and five assists for the night, winding up in a tie with Fort Worth&rsquo;s Ross Perkins for the league scoring title. Payette had been held to two assists on Friday and one Saturday.</p><p>The Oilers welcolmed defenseman Ron Anderson from Greensboro in the Eastern League for a pro trial. He had played two games for Phoenix in the Western League, took part in the Oilers Apr. 2 windup, and could have five more trial games. At the same time, all of the club&rsquo;s injured players came back into the lineup for the playoffs, and coach Marcel Pronovost had the unusual assignment of picking one man to sit out each game.</p><p><b>OKLAHOMA CITY:</b> It was getting to be a case of you couldn&rsquo;t tell the goalie, with or without a program, as the Oklahoma City Blazers finished fourth in the CHL despite moving the netminders in and out of the cage like a Chinese fire drill.</p><p>Veteran John Adams was out with a knee injury, leaving the load on rookie Curt Ridley. Ray Martynuik was acquired from Columbus of the International League for a trial.</p><p>Ridley was in the nets as the Blazers lost in Fort Worth, Mar. 28, dimming their playoff hopes. At home the next night against Kansas City, Ridley started, but had to leave after eight minutes with a twisted ankle, and Martynuik took over. Ridley, wearing a ton of tape, came back for the second period, but had to leave in three minutes when he retwisted the ankle. In spite of their goalie woes, the Blazers prevailed, 6-2.</p><p>For Mar. 31, at home against Tulsa, the Blazers had hurriedly borrowed Don Wallis from Salt Lake in the Western League. Martynuik started, but was touched for two quick goals and a 4-2 disadvantage early in the second period. Wallis came on, and his mates rallied to a 5-5 draw.</p><p>The next night the Blazers borrowed Dan Bouchard from the American League Boston Braves. They gave hi&rsquo;m strong support and whipped Omaha, 8-3, in Oklahoma City, to clinch fourth place. But he had to fly back to Boston. Ridley, apparently on the mend, was in the nets for the final loss at Fort Worth.</p><p><b>OMAHA:</b> The vanquished Knights ended the season Apr. 1, suffering their second straight loss and their fourth game without a victory. They held third place, going into the final week, but couldn&rsquo;t survive the trips into Fort Worth and Oklahoma City.</p><p>Steve Durbano, who set a CHL penalty record with 405 minutes was one of five Knights who were immediately summoned to New York on a standby basis for the parent Rangers in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Others were goalie Wayne Bell and forwards Tommy Williams, Steve Vickers and Norm Gratton.</p><p><b>KANSAS CITY:</b> It wasn&rsquo;t too great a season for the KC Blues, but they ended it on a great note. They whipped first-place Dallas, 7-4, with Bob Collyard notching the hat trick. Then they wound up the schedule with a 3-1 victory in Tulsa over the second-place Oilers. Gordie Brooks posted the winning goal while penalty-killing.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01112/3086406-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="512" height="542"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>J.P. LEBLANC&hellip;Sweeps Dallas Awards</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0287/3086399-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="592" height="1063"></div><h2><b>GOALKEEPERS&rsquo; RECORDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0361/3086392-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="594" height="648"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0028-01

Fort Worth’s ‘Cinderella’ CHL Finish Makes Wings Serious Playoff Threat For Oilers

<div class="byline">BY HARVEY POLLACK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01137/3086597-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="560" height="595"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TED OUIMET&hellip;Hot In Goal</b></figcaption></div><p>SYRACUSE-</p><p class="dropcap"><span>S</span>yracuse is in the finals of the Eastern Hockey League playoffs and a major reason for its chance at the Walker Cup is the clubs foresight in acquiring goalie Ted Ouimet.</p><p>Ouimet&rsquo;s play was a key factor in the Blazers beating Johnstown, 4-2, and moving into the finals against a Charlotte Checkers&rsquo; team which vanquished Greensboro in five contests.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0824/3086590-1-eng-US/f0030-082.jpg" title="f0030-08" width="260" height="443"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Wayne Schaab</b></figcaption></div><p>The Blazers started the campaign with Pierre Sigman as their lone goalie and he played virtually non-stop in the nets. It was apparent that the Blazers weren&rsquo;t going to go anywhere this season with Sigman not getting any relief. The new EHL rule which permitted an extra goalie to be on the roster gave the Blazers the opportunity to add a man.</p><p>But General manager Bill Charles hided his time since he wanted the right man. And sure enough the right man came along when the Jacksonville franchise went under. Among the availables was Ouimet, who had played both for the St. Louis Blues and the Kansas City Blues and who had been sent to Jacksonville by Denver.</p><p>Charles acquired both Ouimet and Blake Ball from the Rockets and that was the turning point of the season.</p><p>As Charles said, &ldquo;we now have two top goalies who could do the job when called on. and coach Ron Ingram could maneuver them both to give them rests during the grueling portions of the season.&rdquo;</p><p>At the time the backup goalie to Sigman was Dave Reece who left the club for a spot on the U.S. Olym, squad. But Reece wasn&rsquo;t in Ouimet&rsquo;s class.</p><p>Anyway Ouimet and Sigman shared the net role during the regular season but came the playoffs and Sigman&rsquo;s work took a dip and Ingram decided to go more with Ouimet. It was a great decision and Ouimet rewarded the confidence in him by scoring a 4-0 shutout oven Johnstown in the vital fifth game for the club&rsquo;s first shutout ever in post-season competition. This win inspired the Blazers to go to Johnstown two nights later to take the decisive sixth game.</p><p>Ouimet was brilliant in the playoffs and attributes his success to the fact that &ldquo;I always play better the second half of each season but I think the fact that I&rsquo;ve learned to work harder in the pre-game warmup has helped me too.&rdquo;</p><p>Teddy has had many enemy forwards hit the posts with their shots and he says this result is not lucky. &ldquo;I just cut the angle and don&rsquo;t give the shooter anything to hit but the post. The posts are part of a goalie&rsquo;s equipment.&rdquo;</p><p>Ingrain hasn&rsquo;t given up on Sigman, but he is leaning more and more on Ouimet in the play-off action. Charles&rsquo; foresight in grabbing him could be the big factor in the finals since Gaye Cooley of the Checkers is also having a fine playoff with two shutouts among his achievements.</p><p>Paul Larose&rsquo;s four goals killed Jets in in second game. Larose, a notorious low shooter, is varying his shots now with higher shots. Blazers used more body contact than usual against the Jets who are more of a skating club than a physical team. Dave Ferguson had hat trick in fourth game. The Larose-Ray Adduono&mdash;Lee Inglis line tops scoring by far.</p><p>Meanwhile, Prexy Tom Lockhart imposed $250 lines on New Haven, Charlotte, Sun Coast and Greensboro for using ineligible players in playoffs. Roanoke Valley got a $500 fine for using two unregistered players.</p><p><b>CHARLOTTE:</b> Gaye Cooley&rsquo;s shutout at Greensboro settled that series though the Checkers posted clincher, at home. Wayne Schaab&rsquo;s hat trick instrumental. Checkers scored six goals in 8: 43 to rout Gens in finale. Checkers tight-lipped after win as they don&rsquo;t want to give Syracuse any incentive for beating them. Lack of ice here caused scheduling problems for Syracuse series. Don Brennan received Mr. Hustle&rsquo; award.</p><p><b>GREENSBORO:</b> Brian Derksen played final games with helmet and face mask to protect his triple broken nose. Karl Haggarty needed stitches to close a busted lip. Necessity of using different combinations due to injuries ruined cohesion of Gens in Charlotte series. Ron Hindson&rsquo;s adjustment from center to wing was one of few bright spots for Gens.</p><p><b>JOHNSTOWN:</b> Gene Peacosh had a five-goal game in rout of Syracuse for club playoff mark. Jets scored nine straight goals after trailing 2-0 in third game. Jets blamed layoff for early losses to Syracuse. Goalie Ron Docken drafted by Minnesota Saints and will go to their camp. Fifteen-year vet Dick Roberge finishing his EHL career to concentrate on job as golf pro.</p><p><b>CLINTON:</b> Former Comet Ian Anderson has dropped his job as manager of a sporting goods business near here. Bill Bannerman received award as club&rsquo;s most popular player from CYO group. Bill was club&rsquo;s leading scorer in regular season. Mike Legge, a late season addition, will, pitch semi-pro baseball in the off-season.</p><p><b>NEW HAVEN:</b> Pierre Leblanc, who led the Blades in scoring this season, has announced his retirement and has returned to Sorel, Que. He was upset over being passed over by the WHA and feels his 117 goals in three years should have earned him a chance. Some folks think the Blades will have difficulty competing against the AHL team if they move to Springfield.</p><p><b>SUN COAST:</b> Goalies Bill Yeo and Mike Schneider, forward Andre Lajeunesse and defenseman Jerome Engele have been invited to Los Angeles training camp next fall. Schneider didn&rsquo;t play a single game this year due to a back injury. Suns hope to play all games at home next year instead of taking some to Jack-sonville or West Palm Beach.</p><p><b>JERSEY:</b> John McAdams had quit post as assistant to president Jerry Burg and says he has feelers from two other EHL teams. Club&rsquo;s future status is being discussed and a concrete answer is due next month when league holds annual meeting in Bermuda. McAdams was a statistical bug who gave the press great statistics on the Devils and the EHL as a whole.</p><p><b>ROANOKE VALLEY:</b> Wayne Mosdell chosen most valuable Rebel; goalie Roger Kosar the most popular; and Claude Piche and Jack Chipchase shared the most inspirational award. Dale MacLeish was leading point scorer and goal scorer and Ray Woit No. 1 in assists and the best road player. Phillv Flyers expected to move Tom Stachniak up ladder next season.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0030-01

Blazers Banking On Ouimet For Final With Charlotte

<p><b>League finals</b></p><h2>SYRACUSE vs CHARLOTTE</h2><p><b>Tue. April 11</b></p><p>Syracuse at Charlotte</p><p><b>Fri. April 14</b></p><p>Syracuse at Charlotte</p><p><b>Sun. April 16</b></p><p>Charlotte at Syracuse</p><p><b>Tue. April 18</b></p><p>Charlotte at Syracuse</p><p><b>Wed. April 19</b></p><p>Syracuse at Charlotte (if necessary)</p><p><b>Fri. April 21</b></p><p>Charlotte at Syracuse (if necessary)</p><p><b>Mon. April 24</b></p><p>Syracuse at Charlotte (if necessary)</p><p>(Best-of-seven series)</p><h2><b>NORTHERN DIVISION</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0292/3086663-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="585" height="107"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Thur. March 23</b></p><p>Johnstown I at Syracuse 7</p><p><b>Fri. March 24</b></p><p>Johnstown 2 of Syracuse 8</p><p><b>Sat. March 25</b></p><p>Syracuse 2 at Johnstown 9</p><p><b>Tue. March 2</b></p><p>Syracuse 5 of Johnstown 7</p><p><b>Thur. March 30</b></p><p>Johnstown 0 at Syracuse 4</p><p><b>Sat. April 1</b></p><p>Syracuse 5 at Johnstown</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0368/3086656-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="586" height="112"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Thur. March 9</b></p><p>New Hoven 1 at Syracuse 5</p><p><b>Sun. March 12</b></p><p>New Haven 2 at Syracuse 5</p><p><b>Tue. March 14</b></p><p>Syracuse 5 at New Hawn 3</p><p><b>Thur. March 16</b></p><p>Syracuse 4 at New Haven 8</p><p><b>Fri. March 17</b></p><p>New Haven 3 at Syracuse 4</p><p><b>Sun. March 19</b></p><p>Syracuse 3 at New Hoven 4</p><p><b>Tue. March 21</b></p><p>New Haven 2 at Syracuse 5</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0455/3086649-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="580" height="111"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Wed March 8</b></p><p>Clinton 0 at Johnstown 8</p><p><b>Sat. March 11</b></p><p>Clinton 3 at Johnstown 4</p><p><b>Sun. March 12</b></p><p>Johnstown 2 at Clinton 6</p><p><b>Tue. March 14</b></p><p>Johnstown 3 at Clinton 0</p><p><b>Thur. March 16</b></p><p>Clinton I at Johnstown 2</p><h2><b>SOUTHERN DIVISION</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0549/3086642-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="593" height="108"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPUTED</b></h3><p><b>Tue. March 21</b></p><p>Greensboro 0 at Charlotte 5</p><p><b>Wed. March 22</b></p><p>Charlotte 3 at Greensboro 5</p><p><b>Fri. March 24</b></p><p>Greensboro 5 at Charlotte 6</p><p><b>Sun. March 26</b></p><p>Charlotte 4 at Greensboro 0</p><p><b>Tue. March 2</b></p><p>Greensboro 2 at Charlotte <i>7</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0639/3086635-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="587" height="105"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Tue. March 7</b></p><p>Sun Coast I at Charlotte 6</p><p><b>Fri. March 10</b></p><p>Sun Coast 3 at Charlotte 2</p><p><b>Sun. March 12</b></p><p>Charlotte 3 at Sun Coast 5</p><p><b>Mon. March 13</b></p><p>Charlotte 4 at Sun Coast 2</p><p><b>Tue. March 14</b></p><p>Sun Coast 1 at Charlotte 7</p><p><b>Wed. March 15</b></p><p>Charlotte 3 at Sun Coast 2</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0730/3086628-1-eng-US/f0030-072.jpg" title="f0030-07" width="580" height="103"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETE)</b></h3><p><b>Tue. March 7</b></p><p><b>Roanoke 2 at Greensboro 5</b></p><p><b>Wed. March 8</b></p><p>Greensboro 2 at Roanoke 3</p><p><b>Mon. March 13</b></p><p>Roanoke 3 at Greensboro 8</p><p><b>Tue. March 14</b></p><p>Greensboro 3 at Roanoke 4</p><p><b>Wed. March 15</b></p><p>Roanoke 3 at Greensboro 6</p><p><b>Sat. March 18</b></p><p>Greensboro 4 at Roanoke 0<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0030-02

EHL PLAYOFFS

<p>CAPE COD&mdash;</p><p>The Cape Cod Cubs, a proposednew entry in the Eastern Hockey League, are expecting to be activated in time for the 1972-73 season.</p><p>The team fws set up temporaryoffices while a $1.5 million facility here is being completed. President Richard Terrio also will serve as managing director ot the Coliseum which will seat 5,100. Season ticket inquiries have cleared the 1,000 mark.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Cape Cod Cubs Eye EHL Play

<div class="byline">BY JOHN GUGGER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01119/3086788-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="558" height="584"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BRIAN CROPPER&hellip;Two Playoff Shutouts</b></figcaption></div><p>PORT HURON&mdash;</p><p>The Port Huron Wings are going to be back to defend their International Hockey League Turner Cup championship.</p><p>The Wings made it to the IHL cup finals again when they outlasted the Fort Wayne Komets 32 in a &lsquo;home ice&rsquo; best-of-five semi-final series in which the home team won all five games with the Wings gaining the advantage with the fifth and deciding game in Port Huron.</p><p>The five-set victory over the Komets advanced the Wings into a best-of-seven Turner Cup championship series against the powerful Muskegon Mohawks, who just wound up the regular season by dominating the overall league to take the title away from Dayton Gems.</p><p>The final is a rematch of the 1971 quarter-finals when these same two clubs met and the Wings pulled an upset on their way to the cup by ousting Muskegon in six straight. The Hawks are a vastly changed club this year and things could be a lot different for Ted Garvin&rsquo;s Wings. Meanwhile they were using two scoreboards to keep count as Port Huron and Fort Wayne fought to meet Muskegon.</p><p>And fought is the word, because keeping track of who won the game was much easier than keeper score of which team was winning the numerous fights that spiced the semi-final series.</p><p>Port Huron is probably the most physical team in the IHL, at least in the playoffs in recent years, but Fort Wayne wasn&rsquo;t backing off when the Wings applied the muscle. The Komets expected &lsquo;rough stuff from the Wings when the series opened here, and they got it, even before the first faceoff.</p><p>Ralph Hopiavuori of the Wings and Bernie MacNeil of Fort Wayne, who didn&rsquo;t see ice time in the first three matches because of a leg injury, engaged in a fight as the teams skated around in pre-game drills. The fight seemed to be another episode in a running feud between the two. who were tagged with coincidental spearing penalties in an earlier game this season.</p><p>&ldquo;He speared me after I said. &ldquo;Better keep your head up tonight,&rdquo; MacNeil said. &ldquo;I speared him back and then asked him to drop his gloves. He didn&rsquo;t until Bill Lecaine got between us. Then Lecaine stepped away and we went at it.&rdquo;</p><p>Steve Sutherland of the Wings had a minor scuffle with Gary Swain of the Komets before the game began, then roughed up the visiting player in the third period of the match.</p><p>Bob Fitchner and Don Grierson of the Wings battled in the opening period shortly after Grierson scored to get the Wings moving toward a 3-0 victory. Fitchner was shadowing Grierson when the Port Huron player broke away for a goal. Grierson gave Fitchner the choke sign, then spent a few uncomfortable moments ducking punches from the rangy Fitchner, one of the better fist-fighters in the IHL.</p><p>Lecaine was tossed out of the game for trying to pry Fitchner off Grierson, then was suspended for the game the following night for bumping the officials when they tried to restore order.</p><p>The Komets evened the series in the second game at Fort Wayne when Jim Boyd snapped in his own rebound midway through the third period to break a 2-2 tie. Fifty penalty minutes were called in that game, which featured fights between Len Fontaine of the Wings and Fort Wayne&rsquo;s Ron Wilson, Larry Klewchuk of Port Huron and Swain, and another spearing session involving Fitchner and Sutherland.</p><p>Fitchner was the center of attraction as the series shifted back to Port Huron for the third game. He again dueled with Grierson, and later traded punches with Sutherland for a good 15 seconds before the linesmen intervened. Lecaine was banished from the game for a second straight time when he entered the first fight.</p><p>Sutherland, whose contributions in the series to that point amounted to one goal and 14 penalty minutes, came on to score two third-period goals that lifted the Wings to a 7-4 victory and a 2-1 edge in the best of five series.</p><p>&ldquo;If they want to fight, we&rsquo;ll fight,&rdquo; Garvin said. &ldquo;If they want to play hockey, we&rsquo;ll do that, too. We can do both of them pretty well.&rdquo;</p><p>Overlooked was the brilliant play of tiny Brian Cropper in the Port Huron goal. Cropper, who took the No. 1 job away from George Hulme at mid-season, had registered two shutouts in seven playoff games against Flint and Fort Wayne and had a goals-against-average of less than 2.00.</p><p>Muskegon advanced in surprisingly easy fashion, running Dayton out of post-season competition by taking their bes-of-seven series, four games to one. Each team won 49 regular-season games, but the Mohawks, who have a history of playoff collapses, won three games at home and one in Dayton to close out as South Division champs.</p><p>Muskegon built a 6-0 lead and then coasted to an 8-3 victory in the fifth game, played before 4,833 fans, the largest crowd of the season in the Michigan city.</p><p>The key to the series came in the fourth game at Dayton, where the Gems could have evened the set with a victory. But Bob Tombari broke a 2-2 tie with a goal early in the third period and the Hawks went on for a 4-2 victory.</p><p>&ldquo;Enough is enough,&rdquo; Moose Lallo, Muskegon coach, said after the series-clincher. &ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t won the Turner Cup in four years and we&rsquo;ve got the best team we&rsquo;ve ever had this year.&rdquo;</p><h2>IHL PLAYOFFS</h2><h3>Finals SERIES &lsquo;E&rsquo;</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0293/3086781-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="581" height="104"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Sat. April 9</b></p><p>Port Huron 5 at Muskegon 2</p><h2>Semi-Finals SERIES &lsquo;A&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0377/3086774-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="579" height="104"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Wed. March 22</b></p><p>Dayton 3 at Muskegon 6</p><p><b>Sat. March 25</b></p><p>Dayton 4 at Muskegon 5</p><p><b>Sun. March 26</b></p><p>Muskegon 1 at Dayton 4</p><p><b>Wed. March 29</b></p><p>Muskegon 4 at Dayton 2</p><p><b>Sat. April 1</b></p><p>Dayton 3 at Muskegon 8</p><h3><b>SERIES &lsquo;D&rsquo;</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0461/3086767-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="578" height="100"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Fri. March 31</b></p><p>Fort Wayne 0 at Port Huron 3</p><p><b>Sat. April 1</b></p><p>Port Huron 2 at Fort Wayne 3</p><p><b>Mon. April 3</b></p><p>Fort Wayne 4 at Port Huron 7</p><p><b>Wed. April 5</b></p><p>Port Huron 2 at Fort Wayne 4</p><p><b>Thur. April 6</b></p><p>Fort Wayne 2 at Port Huron 4</p><p>Quarter-Finals</p><h3><b>SERIES &lsquo;B&rsquo;</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0551/3086760-1-eng-US/f0031-052.jpg" title="f0031-05" width="576" height="103"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Wed. March 22</b></p><p>Flint 2 at Port Huron 3</p><p><b>Fri. March 24</b></p><p>Port Huron 1 at Flint 5</p><p><b>Sat. March 25</b></p><p>Flint 0 at Port Huron 2</p><p><b>Tues. March 28</b></p><p>Port Huron 5 at Flint 3</p><h3><b>SERIES &lsquo;C&rsquo;</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0633/3086753-1-eng-US/f0031-062.jpg" title="f0031-06" width="576" height="104"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Tue. March 21</b></p><p>Des Moines 3 at Fort Wayne 5</p><p><b>Wed. March 22</b></p><p>Des Moines 3 at Fort Wayne 5</p><p><b>Fri. March 24</b></p><p>Fort Wayne 5 at Des Moines 1</p><h3><b>NEW YORK METRO LEAGUE</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0725/3086746-1-eng-US/f0031-072.jpg" title="f0031-07" width="572" height="103"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0821/3086739-1-eng-US/f0031-082.jpg" title="f0031-08" width="576" height="101"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0913/3086732-1-eng-US/f0031-092.jpg" title="f0031-09" width="577" height="102"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1011/3086725-1-eng-US/f0031-102.jpg" title="f0031-10" width="570" height="99"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-118/3086718-1-eng-US/f0031-112.jpg" title="f0031-11" width="573" height="102"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0031-01

Port Huron Wings Outlast Fort Wayne To Oppose Muskegon Hawks In Cup Final

<div class="byline">BY RICK PEARSON</div><p>HOUSTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>O</span>utside the row of plate glass windows. Mecon Fountain spewed sweeping ares of white water as traffic bustled past. Inside the Warwick Hotel, a huge ice-cut swan perched atop the buffet table, dripping slightly from its bill.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01126/3086819-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="270" height="458"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Guy DeNoncourt</b></figcaption></div><p>Media representatives. city officials and some important strangers in town shared drinks, conversation and good food. And all the while a mid-day Houston sun shone down on the World Hockey Association.</p><p>Within the space of 48 hours, the new league had healed two of its most infirm. The day before, amid less favorable weather (a spring snowstorm). the WHA had announced new. sound ownership in Chicago. Then, for lack of an arena, the Dayton. Ohio, owners decided to cast their lot in 1&rsquo;exas.</p><p>After months of searching for a Dayton roof under which to plant some ice. the new Houston people wasted no time inking an agreement to play hockey in the Sam Houston Coliseum, a downtown arena with 9.300 seats.</p><p>The Coliseum. currently painted in those same lovely shades of light green and tan that make U.S. Army buildings so attractive, will receive a facelifting before the season opener come October.</p><p>Reports are that new dressing, rooms will be built&mdash;one for the Aeros (as the WHA club will be known) and one for the Rockets (the local National Basketaball Association team)&mdash;and the visitors&rsquo; quarters will be refurbished.</p><p>A hockey-style press box will be added and the entire building will get a paint job. including color coding of seats.</p><p>&ldquo;This has been fantastic.&rdquo; said James S. Smith, president of the Aeros, after being approached by a representative of the city&rsquo;s convention bureau. &ldquo;Imagine, people offering to help us sell tickets.&rdquo; His tone indicated the change was welcome.</p><p>Arena problems scuttled Dayton&rsquo;s bid lor its first major league team. The owners of the Aeros franchise had hoped to build a 14,000-seat arena on a downtown site in time for the 1973-74 season.</p><p>Elsewhere, the New York Raiders signed Guy DeNoncourt of the Long Island Ducks; the AllStar goaltender of the Eastern Hockey League&rsquo;s Northern Division. DeNoncourt, 22. is the first player announced by the Raiders and the third by the WHA.</p><p>All are goalies. Bernie Parent of Toronto is reportedly set to play with the Miami Screaming Eagles, Mike Curran of the U.S. Olympic team has come to terms with the Minnesota Fighting Saints.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0032-01

Houston, Chicago Set To Solidify League: N.Y. Inks DeNoncourt

<div class="byline">BY BOB BRISCOE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01119/3086857-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="552" height="570"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TOM LYSIAK&hellip;Scoring Champion</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0274/3086850-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="508" height="582"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TERRY RICHARDSON&hellip;Hard-Luck Goaler</b></figcaption></div><p>CALGARY&mdash;</p><p>Calgary Centennials learned quickly that a regular-season pennant means little or nothing when playoff time arrives.</p><p>The runaway Western Division pennant winners in the Western Canada Hockey League have found themselves in trouble handling the pesky Medicine Hat Tigers in the start of the league playoffs.</p><p>After six games, the aroused Tigers had the haughty Centennials on the ropes and weren&rsquo;t about to let them off without a fight. Calgary levelled the Tigers 11-3 in game six to give them a 32 edge with one game tied in the best-of-seven series, which opened with Medicine Hat winning the first two games.</p><p>In other WCHL quarter-final action, Edmonton led New Westminster 3-1, Flin Flon was up 2-1, with one game tied, in their series against Regina while Brandon and Saskatoon went down to an eighth and deciding game when the two teams ended up even 3-3 in games, with a seventh tied.</p><p>Cents were stunned 4-2 in the opening game of the series right in the Calgary Corral, then fell 41 to Jack Shupe&rsquo;s suddenly defensive conscious Tigers in game two in Medicine Hat.</p><p>Only a tough 4-3 victory in game three back in Calgary took some pressure off Chuck Holdo-way&rsquo;s Cents but they were still faced with the prospect of winning three of four games with two of them to be played in Medicine Hat. In the WCHL, that&rsquo;s comparable to a National Hockey League team having to win two games against Boston Bruins in the Boston Garden. But the Cents came all the way back to deadlock the series.</p><p>The knock against Tigers all season as they finished in fourthplace in the West was that they weren&rsquo;t capable of playing well enough defensively to win in the playoffs. Shupe acknowledged that Tigers, with the highest scoring team in the league led by scoring champion Tom Lysiak and Stan Weir, needed better defensive play and they went to work on it over the last few weeks of the schedule.</p><p>The improvement in that area by both the forwards and defensemen and good goaltending by Jerry Thomas has the Tigers in excellent position to author the upset story of the last five years in the league.</p><p>Much of Oil Kings&rsquo; success can be attributed to another sensational playoff series by 16-year-old goaltender Larry Hendrick. Hendrick played a key role as Brian Shaw&rsquo;s Oil Kings won the first game 4-2 in Edmonton. He had some shaky moments in game two and was replaced by another 16-year-old, Doug Soetaert&mdash;after allowing three goals in the first period of the second game, also in Edmonton. Soetaert merely blanked the Bruins for the rest of the game as Edmonton rallied for a 5-3 win. In both those games, the insurance goals were scored into an empty net as the Bruins outshot Edmonton by a wide margin.</p><p>As the series resumed in New Westminster, Shaw went right back to Hendrick and although Edmonton lost 4-2 to Ernie McLean&rsquo;s aroused Bruins, Hendrick played sensationally. Shaw then went right back to Hendrick in the fourth game, also in New Westminster, and he was better yet as Edmonton rallied from a 2-1 deficit by out-scoring Bruins 1 in the third period, again with the insurance marker in the 3 win going into the empty net.</p><p>Hendrick, of course, was the big story for Oil Kings last season as he came up from the club&rsquo;s farm system as a 15-year-old to lead Edmonton to the Memorial Cup final against the Quebec Ramparts.</p><p>The hard-luck story is Bruins&rsquo; netminder Terry Richardson.</p><p>Given much of the credit for Bruins&rsquo; strong surge to a third-place finish, Richardson played well enough in all four games to win them but was the loser in three of them.</p><p>Second-place Saskatoon Blades appeared at first as though they might easily polish off third-place Brandon Wheat Kings in one of the Eastern Division semi-final series. Jackie McLeod&rsquo;s Blades trounced the Wheat Kings of Rudy Pilous 8-0 in the first game in Saskatoon and took a 2-0 lead with a 4-2 decision in the second.</p><p>Wheat Kings, however, got themselves right back in the series with a 9-5 win on home ice, then rode to a 5-4 victory on the three goals of scoring sensation Ron Chipperfield in the fourth game played in Winnipeg because of lack of ice in Brandon.</p><p>The other series in the Eastern Division between the pennaptwinning Pats and fourth-place Flin Flon Bombers had only just begun as all other series had progressed to three and four games.</p><p>Lack of ice availability in Regina forced Pats to play the first game of the series in Flin Flon. Leading 2-1 with two minutes to play, Pats fell apart as Pat Ginnell&rsquo;s Bombers rattled home two goals to win it 3-2.</p><p>Earl Ingarfield&rsquo;s Pats, however, had their next two games on home Exhibition Stadium ice and were still expected to advance to the division final.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0034-01

Medicine Hat Battling Calgary To Wire

<h2><b>ONTARIO MAJOR JUNIOR</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0356/3087007-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="591" height="412"></div><h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0442/3087000-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="614" height="110"></div><h2><b>QUEBEC JUNIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0534/3086993-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="596" height="415"></div><h3>SEMI-FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0623/3086986-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="583" height="210"></div><h2><b>WESTERN CANADA LEAGUE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0718/3086979-1-eng-US/f0034-072.jpg" title="f0034-07" width="588" height="460"></div><h2><b>ALLAN CUP</b></h2><h3>Eastern Canada</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0814/3086972-1-eng-US/f0034-082.jpg" title="f0034-08" width="581" height="107"></div><h3>Western Canada</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-099/3086965-1-eng-US/f0034-092.jpg" title="f0034-09" width="583" height="206"></div><h2><b>CENTENNIAL CUP</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-109/3086958-1-eng-US/f0034-102.jpg" title="f0034-10" width="582" height="106"></div><h3>Western Canada</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1110/3086951-1-eng-US/f0034-112.jpg" title="f0034-11" width="589" height="215"></div><h2><b>BRITISH COLUMBIA JUNIOR</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-129/3086944-1-eng-US/f0034-122.jpg" title="f0034-12" width="592" height="113"></div><h2><b>NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-135/3086937-1-eng-US/f0034-132.jpg" title="f0034-13" width="583" height="80"></div><h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-143/3086930-1-eng-US/f0034-142.jpg" title="f0034-14" width="586" height="207"></div><h2><b>SOUTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-154/3086923-1-eng-US/f0034-152.jpg" title="f0034-15" width="589" height="105"></div><h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-164/3086916-1-eng-US/f0034-162.jpg" title="f0034-16" width="594" height="208"></div><h2><b>UNITED STATES LEAGUE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-172/3086909-1-eng-US/f0034-172.jpg" title="f0034-17" width="594" height="102"></div><h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-18/3086902-1-eng-US/f0034-182.jpg" title="f0034-18" width="596" height="101"></div><h2><b>MICHIGAN JUNIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-19/3086895-1-eng-US/f0034-192.jpg" title="f0034-19" width="584" height="104"></div><h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-202/3086888-1-eng-US/f0034-202.jpg" title="f0034-20" width="601" height="215"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0034-03

Amateur Playoff Races

<div class="byline">BY JACK GATECLIFF</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01106/3087045-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="484" height="496"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DON LEVER&hellip;All Star Center</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0282/3087038-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="552" height="492"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BUNNY LAROCQUE&hellip;Wins Goaling Award</b></figcaption></div><p>ST. CATHARINES&mdash;</p><p>When a team like the Toronto Marlboros scores a record 363 goals in regular season play, it comes as no surprise to find them dominating the forward positions in the 1971-72 OHA Major Junior All Star teams released by league secretary-manager Bill Hanley.</p><p>High-scoring Toronto wingers Billy Harris (57 goals, 72 assists) and Steve Shutt (63 goals. 49 assists)&mdash;two thirds of the Marlies&rsquo; potent Shutt-Gardner-Harris trio&mdash;where named to the first squad at left and right wing respectively, while center Dave Gardner (53 goals, 76 assists) was selected as the pivot on the second team ending a possible firstteam line sweep by the Marlies.</p><p>Joining Harris and Shutt on the first-team forward line was center Don Lever (61 goals, 65 assists) of the Niagara Falls Flyers, who beat out Gardner.</p><p>It was also fitting that the team with the best defensive record&mdash;the Ottawa 67s&mdash;should dominate the first-team defensive positions.</p><p>Ottawa goalie Michel &ldquo;Bunny&rdquo; Larocque, who was the recipient of the Dave Pinkney Trophy as the netminder with the team with the fewest goals against, was the first-team choice in the nets while teammate Denis Potvin was selected on defense. St. Catharines Black Hawks&rsquo; high-scoring rearguard Paul Shakes completed the first team.</p><p>Flanking Gardner on the second-team forward line were a pair of hard-shooting wingers from the eight-place London Knights. Dennis Ververgaert (44 goals, 72 assists) was placed on left wing while teammate Randy Osburn (43 goals, 57 assists) was the right wing choice.</p><p>The second-team defense was composed of Ian Turnbull, the leading scorer for the ninth-place Montreal Junior Canadiens, and Jim Schoenfeld of the Niagara Falls Flyers with Oshawa&rsquo;s Gilles Gratton named in goal.</p><p>The league scoring race for the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy turned out to be a family affair between Marlie linemates Gardner and Harris. Immediately following the last game it was believed Harris had won the title by one point however a quick check of statistics showed that Gardner had not been credited with an assist which he had earned in an earlier game and the two linemates finished with identical 129-point totals.</p><p>As well as tying for the points championship (the first time in league history two players have finished with the identical total in the top spot) Harris became the first winner of the Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy.</p><p>In two years with Peterborough Mahon scored 83 goals and had 66 assists from his right wing position.</p><p>Last summer he was electrocuted in a freak accident at a farm near Windsor, Ont. and the Peterborough club donated a trophy in his memory which will go annually to the highest-scoring right-winger in the OHA Junior A League.</p><p>Mahon had one season of Junior A hockey remaining at the time of his death and was rated an outstanding professional prospect.</p><p>Lever, who sparked the Flyers from last place a year ago to sixth this season, won the Albert (Red) Tilson Memorial Trophy which carries the greatest prestige in Ontario Junior A. After leading the league for most of the season Lever finished third in points with 61 goals, 65 assists.</p><p>The trophy was presented by the Toronto Globe-Mail 28 years ago in memory of the Oshawa player who led the league in scoring in 1942-43 and was killed later during active service with the Canadian Army in World War II.</p><p>Although the wording on the trophy is similar to the Lady Byng in the National Hockey League (the player best combining ability with gentlemanly conduct) it has become similar to the Hart Trophy for the most valuable player.</p><p>Lever incurred 81 minutes in penalties which would have automatically disqualified him from the &ldquo;Lady Byng&rdquo; portion of the wording but sports writers and broadcasters around the circuit, as usual, ignored that section and the Falls center was a worthy winner as most valuable.</p><p>The Falls center received seven of 26 first place votes.</p><p>All members of the Marlboro line received first place votes&mdash;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0035-01

Niagara Ace Halts Marlies’ Bid For All Star ‘Sweep’

<p>LONDON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>H</span>ow often is a hockey coach relieved of his position while his club is still in the midst of playoff action? Very rarely, but it happened to Bronco Horvath of the OHA Junior London Knights.</p><p>The announcement of Horvath&rsquo;s dismissal was made by Howard Darwin, one of the two Ottawa businessmen who own the club. Darwin said he was unhappy with Horvath&rsquo;s conduct&mdash;both on and off the bench and felt that &ldquo;it is in the best interests of the team that we replace him.&rdquo;</p><p>Horvath, a former National Hockey League star with the Boston Bruins and member of the Bruins&rsquo; Uke line, was involved in player-fans brawl during the Knights&rsquo; playoff series against the Ottawa 67s.</p><p>After being upset by the eighth place Knights in Ottawa in the opening game of the best-of-seven series, the 67s defeated the Knights 5-2 in London with 206 minutes in penalties issued.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0450/3087076-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="294" height="430"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bronco Horvath</b></figcaption></div><p>The following evening in Ottawa the 67s, who finished fourth during the regular schedule, won 3-2 and at the end of the game fans poured onto the ice to join players in a battle which resulted in several injuries including a broken nose and fractured cheekbone to Ottawa player Ray Antila.</p><p>Antila did not regain consciousness until being admitted to hospital.</p><p>OHA president Tubby Schmalz immediately ordered both clubs to post $1,000 bonds which will be forfeited if any other outbreaks occur.</p><p>Replacing Horvath behind the Knights&rsquo; bench was former American Hockey League player Ted Power.</p><p>Meanwhile, two teams completed their quarter-final series and began semi-final play against each other. The pennant-winning Toronto Marlboros and the third-place finishing Peterborough Petes both eliminated the Kitchener Rangers and St. Catharines Black Hawks respectively in five games in their best-of-seven series.</p><p>The highly-favored Marlies appeared headed for a four-game sweep of their series with Kitchener when they carried a 3-0 lead in games into Kitchener April 4 then gained a 4-0 margin in the second period of game four. However, the Rangers, unfortunately hampered by injuries to stars Chris Ahrens, Chuck Blair and Tom Cassidy, rallied on the strength of Al Blanchard&rsquo;s four-goal effort to claim a 8-6 victory to force a fifth game in Toronto.</p><p>Back at Maple Leaf Gardens the Marlies wrapped it up with a 9-4 win. In the high-scoring series the power-packed Toronto crew outscored the Rangers by a 39-23 count.</p><p>The Petes rode sensational goaltending by Mike Veisor to their series victory over St. Catharines, the defending champions. The Petes limited the Black Hawks to only nine goals in the five games as Veisor, obtained at mid-season in a trade with the Hamilton Red Wings, led the way, scoring his first shutout in four years of junior hockey as Petes won 4-0 in the third game.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0035-04

Knights Take Drastic Step, Fire Horvath During Playoffs

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0035-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0358/3087128-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg"></div><h2>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0632/3087121-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="587" height="1365"></div><h2>GOALKEEPERS RECORD</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0731/3087114-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="591" height="698"></div><h2>Tilson Trophy Award Winners</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0543/3087107-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="524" height="712"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0035-03

OHA All Star Teams

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><p>LOS ANGELES&mdash;</p><p>It would be difficult to diminish the dimensions of the plight of the Los Angeles Kings. Off to the swiftest start among all the new expansionists before dropping back to miss out of the Western Division pennant by only one point their first season, they fell to fourth their second season and now after five seasons have become the first of the original expansion teams to miss the playoffs three straight years.</p><p>They have finished on the bottom in two of the last three years. They are finished sixth in 1970, with a 14-52-10 record, which set a record for losses in the league, surpassed by Fred Glover&rsquo;s Oakland team last season when the Kings moved up under Larry Regan to 25-40-13 and a tie for fifth place, then sank into seventh (another team had joined up a year earlier) this season with a 20-49-9 mark, under its fifth coach, Glover, who took the team to 18-42-8 after Regan opened at 2-7-1.</p><p>The Kings&rsquo; quarters this season were 3-15-1, 8-12-0, 4-9-6 and 513-2. Only two victories and a tie in games with lowly Vancouver and Oakland saved their last quarter somewhat. Only their 50-1 record with Vancouver over the season, first ever unbeaten mark against one team over one season, kept them from posting an even worse record. Only Vancouver finished with a poorer record, three points worse. Only Buffalo finished with fewer victories, five less, but with ten more ties Buffalo finished with as many points. And Vancouver and Buffalo were the two teams which entered the league three seasons after L.A. and the other original expansionists.</p><p>The Kings never won more than two games in a row all season, although they went six games without a defeat at one stretch in late January and early February. They had two losing streaks of six games each, one of four, another of seven. They lost 10 of 11 at one point and 11 of 12 at another. They lost 15 of 17 games in one stretch.</p><p>The Kings finished 17 points out of a playoff berth captured by ex-coach Red Kelly&rsquo;s Pittsburgh team with a mere 26-38-14 mark, 37 points behind the top expansion team, Minnesota, which went 37-28-12, and 56 points behind divisional pennant-winner Chicago, which went 45-1715.</p><p>Their final-game turnout of 10,143 brought seasonal attendance to 338,399 for 38 home dates, an average of 8,676 per game. This was a drop from the total of 361,144 and average of 9,260 of last season, but was in the same 8,000 range as their first three seasons. Considering the club&rsquo;s lack of accomplishment, it is difficult to fault the fans.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Search for your favorite player or team

April 21, 1972

Runners Crab Second Plate From Bucks For Playoffs

Central Hockey League Summaries

Patrick Cup Playoff Dates

Realistic Canadiens Know Road To Cup Tough