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 20, 1973

The Hockey News April 20, 1973

And you have to go out in the cold to return THE HOCKEY NEWS you borrowed from the guy down the street! Do your own thing! Turn to page 23 and subscribe. You&rsquo;ll have 37 issues delivered to your door. That will save you 37 trips down the street. Don&rsquo;t you feel warmer already? &#9632;

IN THIS ISSUE

Baby It’s Cold Outside

<div class="byline">BY DAN PROUDFOOT</div>TORONTO&mdash;Introduiing, the league-leading Toronto Maple Leafs &mdash; leading, that is in terms of injuries.General manager Jim Gregory absorbed months of abuse and criticism for the fact that his team lost more games41 than any Leaf aggregation in history on its way to sixth place in the National Hockey League Eastern Division.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01931/3814719-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="269" height="422"><figcaption class="caption-body">Norm Ullman</figcaption></div>The team was so bad that coach-John McLellan, in despair, began considering other occupations long before the end of the schedule.Neither Gregory nor McLellan were faultless, of course, but statistics available now suggest they would have had a considerably easier winter if injuries hadn&rsquo;t decimated their already thin lineup.Consider the facts. Leaf players missed a total of more than 210 games. New York Rangers, the most prominent team whose pennant aspirations were ruined by injuries, had only 190 games missed because of injuries. And, of course, manager-coach Emile Francis had far more capable fillins than did McLellan.The first major loss was Bob Baun, who was forced into retirement by a spinal injury which could have caused paralysis if aggravated. Baun. a rock on defence who inspired teammates with his all-out play and mature dressing room manner, had two full years remaining on his contract.Suddenly, Baun was gone, and as a leader he couldn&rsquo;t be replaced. His experience on the blueline couldn&rsquo;t be replaced, either.&ldquo;There might be some dispute that he retired and shouldn&rsquo;t count in our injury total.&rdquo; said Howard Starkman, Leaf administration director. &ldquo;But I don&rsquo;t buy that. He figured big in our plans until he was injured. He played six games and missed 72.&rdquo;As for the others, they provide a lengthy parade of limping, ineffective players. Paul Henderson. the leading goal scorer on the club the year before with 38, missed almost half the season and sunk to 18 goals. Henderson missed one nine-game stretch with a pulled muscle in his groin area, and then played his last game of the season Jan. 31, scoring one goal and three assists before departing I with torn muscle in his shoulder.Brian Glennie, hardest-hitteron the team and practically the only hitter on the team in such arenas as Boston Garden, missed a total of 32 games. A sprained ankle kept him out of nine, and then torn knee-ligaments knocked him out with 23 games remaining.&ldquo;Maybe.&rdquo; Glennie cracked sadly, &ldquo;this will take care of my injury quota for the rest of the year.&rdquo; While he was in the lineup he was hampered by a shoulder injury that required post-season surgery.&ldquo;I considered having the shoulder done after I hurt the knee.&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but the problem was, how would I be able to get around on crutches after a shoulder operation?Joe Lundrigan another rookie defenseman, was slashed in practice and dropped out of sight for 10 games with a broken bone in his hand. Norm Ullman missed 11 games with a knee injury, two with a badly bruised instep, and played much of the year with sore hands and ankles that negated his play-making ability.Several players were lucky, only missing one to four games each: David Keon, Jacques Plante, George Ferguson, Errol Thompson, Rick Kehoe and Jim McKenny.Only one, Darryl Sittier, played in all 78 games in the schedule. And coincidentally perhaps, he was the leading Leaf scorer with 29 goals and 48 assists, good for 25th-place in the league. &#9632;

f0015-01

Maple Leafs Finished First—In Injuries

<div class="byline">BY DOUG McCONNELL</div>SALT LAKE &mdash;Brent Meeke and Ron Huston were at the California Golden Seals training camp together, both rookies, although Meeke was 20 and Huston 27.Meeke, a defenseman, was loaned to the Phoenix Roadrunners while Huston was assigned to the Salt Lake Golden Eagles under coach Al Rollins, who was responsible for bringing him out of the Western International Hockey League.Despite Huston having a great rookie season. Rollins just couldn&rsquo;t get the bulky centerman into the playing condition he wanted. Huston tipped the scale at 190. Rollins said 175 was enough.Then along came Meeke to help his old training camp buddy.Huston was sitting innocently on the Eagles&rsquo; bench during a March 2 game against the ke&rsquo;s stick strayed a little, streaked over the boards and smacked against Huston&rsquo;s jaw.It was fractured, meaning an operation to wire it shut and a liquid diet.A month later. Huston was a svelte 175.&ldquo;I feel a little weak.&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but not too bad.&rdquo;Not too bad!All he&rsquo;s done is continue his point-a-game-plus pace, with seven goals and nine assists in 14 games, to retain fifth spot in the scoring race. He has 39 goals and 41 assists for 80 points.&ldquo;It bothered me a little at first.&rdquo; said Huston, &ldquo;but that was because of the helmet and the mask I was wearing. It made it hard to see. I gassed it after two weeks.&rdquo;When Huston gets back on solid food, he says he&rsquo;s going to watch his weight in attempt to keep it at 175.&ldquo;I used to weigh 160-165 until I quit smoking three years ago.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I must have weighed about 160 when I went to Portland camp six or seven years ago.&rdquo;A rookie at age 27 is a little&rsquo; unusual, but Huston had turned down other offers to play pro hockey.&ldquo;I went to Seattle&rsquo;s camp about seven years ago.&rsquo; he recalls. &ldquo;They had guys like Guyle Fielder. Larry Lund and Gerry Leonard &mdash; not too had. Still. I think I could have made that club but I think they were looking for a player of their own. I was owned by Philadelphia and they wanted me to go to Jersey in the Eastern League. I said no thanks.&ldquo;Every season, somebody contacted me, but I got into an electrical contracting apprenticeship and said to heck with it. I&rsquo;d stay with it the four years, then if I got a chance. I might take it.&rdquo;The Boston Bruins gave him a chance two years ago. making him an offer he thought worth his while to play for the Boston Braves in the American League.&ldquo;I think I had the club made.&rdquo; said Huston, &ldquo;but when it came down to it. they offered me less money than I was making playing for Spokane in the WIHL and working at my job.&rdquo;Obviously, at Rollins&rsquo; urging, the California Seals parted with enough cash to get Huston&rsquo;s name on a two-year contract. &lsquo;Rollins wasn&rsquo;t gambling anything. He knew what Huston could do.Rollins coached Spokane to three WIHL championships and one Allan Cup before taking over the Salt Lake reins last season.In six WIHL seasons. Huston was voted most valuable player four times.Huston didn&rsquo;t immediately set the WHL on fire. An abundance of centermen prompted Rollins to start Huston at right wing, but later when shifted to center, the stocky native of Manitou. Man., started blazing away with one of the best shots in the WHL.&ldquo;He has a good wrist shot and a good slap shot,&rdquo; says Rollins. &ldquo;He scored a lot from 40 feet out. He wrists it quite a bit. getting it away quickly, but he has the ability to wind up for a big slap shot and still keep the puck low.&rdquo;Huston&rsquo;s not just a gunner.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02200/3815916-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="365" height="375"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON HUSTON</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01250/3815909-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="356" height="276"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRENT MEEKE</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0031-02

Forced Liquid Diet Helped Ron Huston

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div>LOS ANGELES &mdash;It was not just that the Kings tailed to finish fourth for a fourth straight year, but the way that they did it. The club deserves considerable credit for winning 11 more games and 24 more points than last season. It totalled a team record 73 points, which would have been enough to make the playoffs any of the five previous years since it was born with NHL expansion. And yet in the end they were a deep disappointment.The circum-stances were if the Kings won their last three games as they figured to, they would have made the playoffs. These were against two of the three worst teams in the entire league and two of the games were at home. Well, they didn&rsquo;t even give it a good go.They lost the first one at home to the Seals, 3-2. The Seals were lucky to win. They played lousy. But the Kings played their worst game of the entire season. It wasn&rsquo;t just that they were tense &mdash; messing up passes or missing on shots. They had won their two previous games against better teams by skating hard and hitting hard. They didn&rsquo;t skate at all and didn&rsquo;t hit anyone. And the season went down the drain. Serge Bernier scored both L.A. goals in this game and closed with 68 points, just two off the top club spot held by Juha Widing. It was a career high for Bernier.Then the Kings went into Oakland and both teams played better, but again the Kings weren&rsquo;t good enough and the Seals won, 3-1, mathematically elminating L.A. from playoff contention. Seals&rsquo; goaler Gilles Meloche was outstanding in this one as he had been in the previous one, but he wasn&rsquo;t that outstanding. The Seals won only 16 games all season, including these two.With nothing more at stake, the Kings returned home and trounced Vancouver. 6-3, to set a new team record of 21 victories at home and tie their team record of 31 victories in a season. That was in a shorter season, their first, when the schedule was softer and they finished only two games below .500 and second at 31-33-10 for 72 points.Last season they were 29 below .500 at 20-49-9 for 49 points. This season they moved up to five below at 31-36-11 for 73 points, which tied them for fifth with Pittsburgh, just three points behind St. Louis. But fourth place was there to be won and they didn&rsquo;t win it.They were 21-11-7 at home, 10-24-4 away. They were 9-17-4 against the old teams, 22-19-7 vs. expansionists.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01949/3814602-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="267" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body">Larry Regan</figcaption></div>First-year coach Bob Pulford reorganized the team. He stressed defense and cut almost a goal a game away from foes. He practiced and nearly perfected his penalty-killing and power-play units. He had good talent which produced some outstanding individual reasons.But they blew the biggest game of the season against a mediocre opponent at home with an incredibly uninsipired effort under the circumstances.They just weren&rsquo;t tough enough.In the last halt of the season they came from behind to win or tie only three games, while they blew leads to lose or tie 14 games, including the last two that counted. They blew a four-goal lead one time and a three-goal lead another timeAll season they said the last six weeks &mdash; the final quarter &mdash; would do it for them when they had 14 of their last 20 at home. Well, the schedule couldn&rsquo;t do it for them if they wouldn&rsquo;t do it for themselves. They only bioke even in these games &mdash; 8-8-4. They were only 6-5-3 at home, 2-3-1 on the roadThus, they can&rsquo;t complain that their early schedule did them in. They gave in to it. They opened with six straight on the road, losing five. With eight straight victories at one point, they reached mid-season in fine shape at 1817-4. Then they faced a six-week stretch of 20 games with 15 on the road, and won only five.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02795/3814595-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="1027" height="984"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hockey News Photo by Peter WoolleySERGE BERNIER &hellip; His Best NHL Season</figcaption></div>They never really recovered. Down the stretch they won only two of their last eight games before they were eliminated. One player said. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s face it, we choked up.&rdquo; After that shabby showing against the Seals, at other said, &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t understand it. At a team meeting that afternoon we agreed skating hard and hitting had been winning for us and we were going to go at them that night. Then we just stood around and didn&rsquo;t even hustle.&rdquo;Terry Harper said, &ldquo;The team played more like it didn&rsquo;t want to lose than that it wanted to win. You have to play with confidence and all the last half this team didn&rsquo;t have it. Maybe next year, when it will be more experienced.&rdquo; But coach Pulford said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to hear about next year. Right now I care about this year. We weren&rsquo;t improved enough if we didn&rsquo;t make the playoffs.&rdquo;General manager Larry Regan was so angry he didn&rsquo;t want to talk. Team owner Jack Kent Cooke, recovering from a heart attack, sent a gentlemanly telegram of condolences thanking his players for a good season, suggesting the next one will be better. Well, who knows about next season? Some teams wait ten or twenty years. You can&rsquo;t live in the future forever. This season was the best in a longtime, as far as it went. Attendance hit a record total of 424,456, an average of 10,883 and the team gave the fans a show. They were competitive against the best and threw in a lot of thrills. &#9632;

f0013-01

Kings Choked in Final Run To Wire

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01646/3816841-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg" title="Cover-01" width="490" height="430"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-02485/3816834-1-eng-US/cover-022.jpg" title="Cover-02" width="444" height="439"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-03218/3816827-1-eng-US/cover-032.jpg" title="Cover-03" width="395" height="437"></div>&mdash;Page 16<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-0471/3816820-1-eng-US/cover-042.jpg" title="Cover-04" width="290" height="469"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hockey News Photo by Peter Woolley</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-0525/3816813-1-eng-US/cover-052.jpg" title="Cover-05" width="172" height="250"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-069/3816806-1-eng-US/cover-062.jpg" title="Cover-06" width="370" height="561"><figcaption class="caption-body">GILBERT PERREAULTMr. Wonderful Of Buffalo SabresHockey News Photo by Robert Shaver</figcaption></div> &#9632;

Cover-01

CUP CHAMPS FACE OUSTER

<h2>NHL Teams</h2>Atlanta&hellip;&hellip;18Boston&hellip;&hellip;14Buffalo&hellip;&hellip;7California&hellip;&hellip;23Chicago&hellip;&hellip;5Detroit&hellip;&hellip;44Los Angele&hellip;&hellip;13Minresota&hellip;&hellip;11Montreal&hellip;&hellip;6N.Y. Islanders&hellip;&hellip;20N.Y. Rangers&hellip;&hellip;2Philadelphia&hellip;&hellip;12Pittsburgh&hellip;&hellip;8St. Louis&hellip;&hellip;9Toronto&hellip;&hellip;15Vancouver&hellip;&hellip;22<h2>Other Leagues</h2>World Hockey&hellip;&hellip;24American&hellip;&hellip;27Western&hellip;&hellip;30Central&hellip;&hellip;32Eastern&hellip;&hellip;34International&hellip;&hellip;35Colleges&hellip;&hellip;36OHA Major&hellip;&hellip;38WCHL&hellip;&hellip;39<h2>Columnists</h2>Ken McKenzie&hellip;&hellip;4Bill Libby&hellip;&hellip;8<h2>Other Features</h2>Fan Forum&hellip;&hellip;4Stanley Cup&hellip;&hellip;16Cup Summaries&hellip;&hellip;17WHA Summaries&hellip;&hellip;26Crossword&hellip;&hellip;41Jr. Jottings&hellip;&hellip;43 &#9632;

WHERE YOU’LL FIND IT ALL

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02860/3814026-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="245" height="434"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill Fairbairn</figcaption></div>NEW YORKProving that yon play the games on the ice the surprising New York Rangers changed the form sheet around by charging into Boston and completely demoralizing the favored Bruins in the first two games of their quarter-final Stanley Cup Playoff series.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01945/3814033-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="213" height="534"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRAD PARK&hellip;Two-goal Start</figcaption></div>&ldquo;They fore-checked the hell out of us.&rdquo; admitted Bep Guidelin, the Boston coach. &ldquo;Phil Esposito was held to two shots, both in the third period.&rdquo;With the Rangers shooting often and steadily they broke down the Bruins&rsquo; 44-year-old retread netminder Jacques Plante, who looked shaky on numerous occasions&rsquo;. It was pretty much the same story in game two. The double win on Boston ice shocked one and all, as did the crippling injury to Phil Esposito who was knocked out for the balance of the playoffs with torn knee ligaments when belted by Ron Harris.&ldquo;Plante made only one good save all night and never really stopped the puck with authority.&rdquo; said a rival general manager who must go unnamed. His team eliminated from the playoffs, he watched the opener with interest.Emile Francis, the New York general manager-coach scratched forward Gene Carr from the lineup, but overall claimed no early victory.&ldquo;I said before it will be a long series and I still say it.&rdquo; insisted Francis. &ldquo;The big thing for us is that both Vic Hadfield and Bruce MacGregor had played only a couple of games since Feb. 11. They mean a lot to us and showed it with their play.&rdquo;MacGregor put the Rangers ahead at 7.25 of the second period slipping the puck between Plante&rsquo;s legs after eluding Bobby orr.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m still short of wind, but when you win the bumps don&rsquo;t count,&rdquo; said Bruce Mac had returned from a fractured ankle suffered Feb. 11.Brad Park, rested in late-season games in order to give his balky knee time to heal for the playoffs, stood out with two goals, both on long shots which was Francis strategy against Plante.&ldquo;If you let Jake get away with 27 or 28 shots he stays fresh and sharp.&rdquo; said Emile. &ldquo;The idea is to make him work and keep shooting at him.&rdquo;Walter Tkaczuk scored twice, hot on semi-long shots as did Peter Stemkowski. In all, five of the six goals against Plante were of the longish variety. Stemkowski was rebounding from a late-season slough-off which had seen him draw some boos from the Madison Square Garden crowds.Francis went with Eddie Giacomin in goal. If he holds true to previous form he will use Giacomin until he falters and needs relief from Gilles Villemure Giacomin&rsquo;s knee is still a bit strained but. he is moving with snap. Eddie made a big save on Johnny Bucyk with three minutes left in the first period in the score tied 1-1.Bobby Rousseau. Francis&rsquo; pinch hitter was superb in the opener, working the power play and filling in. Ted Irvine, coming oil a disappointing injury-filled season, provided sock and even took Bobby orr to the penalty box with him for seven minutes. In the final audit Orr was on ice for three N.Y. goals and in the box for two.&ldquo;I come to play.&rdquo; said Ted. &ldquo;No one is going to push us around. I got into a go with Ken Hodge in the first period when he was going to bump Giacomin who was behind our net near the boards. And orr doesn&rsquo;t scare me one bit. especially as a fighter. He hit me on the back of the head with his stick and called me a cheap shot artist.&rdquo;Having thus proved, to some extent, that the late season el foldo (9-10-4) was caused by injuries, the Rangers proudly pointed to two individual marks chalked up over the last weekend of the regular campaign. Both Billy Fairbairn and Steve Vickers notched their 30th goals. Vickers&rsquo; achievement in his rookie season, after missing 10 games with a knee injury is remarkable and should heighten his chances for the Calder Trophy as the NHL Rookie of the year. Hard-rock Fairbairn has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that his honest digging and barelling in the corners gets results. A few years back the Rubbed more often than connected in front when presented with scoring chances.&ldquo;I think the fact that both Billy and I got 30 is a tribute to our center. Walter Tkaczuk.&rdquo; sagely observed Vickers. &ldquo;He gets the puck out to you in the slot.&rdquo;Tkaczuk has come on strong in the playoffs as he did last season in the early round absence of the tehn injured Jean Ratelie.&ldquo;&rsquo;Tkaczuk is a key man with New York. He is strong enough to handle Phil Esposito, if Francis assigns him that task, and can bulldoze his way with most of the smaller Chicago centers if New York meets the Hawks in the second round.&rdquo; noted King Clancy on a recent Toronto sojourn of the Rangers.BLUE CHIPS: Jean Ratelle led New York in scoring with 41-53-94. Jean was presented with the West Side Association&rsquo;s MVP award as voted upon by the members of the Hockey Writers Association prior to the final regular season game with Detroit. The popular Renger veteran also received the Rangers Fan Club Frank Boucher Trophy before the Mar. 25 game with Minnesota &hellip; The Players Player award was won by Tkaczuk &hellip; If you count Mike Murphy&rsquo;s 22 goals, 18 of which were scored with the St. Louis Blues, New York has eight players with 20 or more markers at the close of the season. Ratelle (41), Rod Gilbert (25), Tkaczuk (27), Fairbairn (30), Hadfield (28), Stemkowski (22) and Steve Vickers (30) complete the roster &hellip; In the regular season the Rangers and Bruins split six games with New York outscoring Boston by 23-19 &hellip; Rod Seiling, out with a broken collar bone is helping out on TV as the Rangers&rsquo; assistant color broadcaster &hellip; Derek Sanderson summed up the Rangers with. &ldquo;I told everyone they were not a choke-up club and they proved it.&rdquo;&hellip; &#9632;

f0002-02

Rangers’ Playoff Stock Booms After Shocker On Boston Ice

<div class="byline">BY GIL SMITH</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-05182/3814116-1-eng-US/f0003-052.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">HENRI RICHADTeam Captian</figcaption></div>If playoffs were decided by reputation, the Stanley Cup would go to the Montreal Canadiens almost automatically.No other team can match them in post-season triumphs over the years, and even when they fail to win the coveted Cup, they usually put up a battle royal before bowing out.&ldquo;It don&rsquo;t know whether it&rsquo;s tradition with them or what,&rdquo; says a rival coach. &ldquo;But, even the newcomers to the team seem to be inspired when it comes to playoff time. The Canadiens just seem to thrive under the kind of pressure that playoff hockey creates.&rdquo;Habs have won the Stanley Cup 15 times since the Modern Era of hockey; that is, from 1927. Overall, they&rsquo;ve won it 17 times. Of more significance is the fact that 11 of their triumphs have occurred in the last 20 years. Narrowing it further: live of those wins have come about in the last eight campaigns. Those are discomforting statistics for the opposition.&ldquo;No doubt, the players on Canadiens feel they have a responsibility to live up to at playoff time,&rdquo; says Jean Beliveau, the retired Hab great. &ldquo;And, I guess something like that can provide incentive; give a team the necessary spark.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01951/3814109-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="457" height="456"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hockey News Photo by Peter WoolleyKEN DRYDEN &hellip; Sparked Last Cup Win For Canadiens</figcaption></div>Habs&rsquo; last Cup win was in 1971, and most of the players from that team are still there. Ken Dryden was the big man in that triumph, stopping some of the greatest scorers in the league as he rose to the heights in his first NHL playoff series. He was the key, as Canadiens upset the power-laden Boston Bruins in the quarter-final; fought off a stubborn Minnesota North Stars team in a semi-final battle; then squeezed past Chicago Black Hawks in a seven-game final series thriller.Talking about Dryden&rsquo;s performance against the Boston Bruins in those 1971 playoffs, Phil Esposito said:&ldquo;Some of the stops the guy made were unreal. The puck&rsquo;d be heading for the upper corner, with him flat on the ice, and from nowhere his arm would come up and bat it away. Or, he&rsquo;d catch it in his glove, which sometimes seemed big as a basket. Generally, he&rsquo;d just stand right up there and block everything you shot. The guy&rsquo;s so big, there&rsquo;s nothing to aim at but him.&rdquo;That brings up the old saw about goaling being the most important single factor in playoff hockey; and, the theory is substantially correct. Great Cup teams have had fabulous netminders over the years. During the famous five-year stretch beginning in 1956 when Habs won five straight Stanley Cups, they had a peak-form Jacques Plante in the nets and he was the difference on many an occasion. His top moments of glory came in the 1960 playoff rounds, the last year of Habs&rsquo; uninterrupted reign, when he posted a sensational 1:35 goals-against average in eight contests.&ldquo;He was the best goalie I ever had and very nearly the best I&rsquo;ve ever seen,&rdquo; said Toe Blake, who coached the Hab juggernaut. &ldquo;In that 1960 series he was fantastic. He allowed just 11 goals and hung up three shutouts in the eight games. A tremendous effort.&rdquo;Goaling was the difference in some other years, too, when Habs failed to win the Cup despite the presence of such star as Maurice &ldquo;Rocket&rdquo; Richard, Elmer Lach and Bernie &ldquo;Boom Boom&rdquo; Geoffrion in their lineup. They ran into a Detroit Red Wings team in 1952 that had the great Terry Sawchuk in the nets, and he really blunted the Hab sharp-shooters.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02816/3814102-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="420" height="406"><figcaption class="caption-body">Terry Harper and Henri Richard sip champagne.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03544/3814095-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="356" height="405"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hockey&rsquo;s winningest coach Toe Blake stores cup for last time.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04322/3814088-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="377" height="407"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hockey News Photo by Peter WoolleyJean Beliveau raises cup high after 15th win.</figcaption></div>Detroit outscored Canadiens 112 in the four-game final series, that year, to win the Cup in a breeze. So effective was Sawchuk in the nets, that he caused Canadiens to tie a record for futility. The two goals Habs were able to manage against him were the fewest scored by a team in a four-game series since 1935.However, as important as goaling is. it&rsquo;s not everything by any means. Ken Dryden performed brilliantly in the Hab nets last spring, but the team was ousted by N.Y. Rangers in six games. The year before. Chicago&rsquo;s Tony Esposito was near-sensational between the pipes for the Hawks, posting a classy 2:19 goals-against average in is games as compared to Dryden&rsquo;s 3:00 in 20 Cup contests, but Hawks were eliminated by Habs four games to three when they clashed in the memorable finals.&ldquo;As far as I&rsquo;m concerned.&rdquo; said Tony Esposito. &ldquo;I played the best goal of my life in that series against Canadiens. I thought we had them when we shut them out 2-0 in the key fifth game. But, we wound up on the losing end just the same.&rdquo;Habs got some terrific performances out of some of their big guns in 1971, notably Frank Mahovlich. who racked up 27 points (14-13) in 20 games. But. Chicago had Bobby Hull then and he had 25 points (11-14) in 18contests.The difference was probably in balance and depth. In 1971. Canadiens still had Beliveau, and his peerless pivoting for the Big and Yvan Cournoyer contributed greatly to that last Cup win. They had muscle, too. in the person of hardrock John Ferguson who patroled left wing on a line with Pete Mahovlich and Rejean Houle. They had Henri Richard and Jacques Lemaire, and younger types like Marc Tardif to round out their forward lines.It was Richard, a player schooled in a winning tradition it ever there was one, who scored the tieing and winning goals against Chicago. And, he did it under the most trying of circumstances, involving a highly-publicized pop off against then-coach Al MacNeil.On defense, the &lsquo;71 Habs had the heady J.C. Tremblay and the steady Jacques Laperriere. who played the last five games against Chicago with a taped-up broken wrist. Augmenting them was the immensely-tough Terry Harper, mobile Guy Lapointe and the willing young Pierre Bouchard.Even the loss of a brilliant rearguard like Serge Savard, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner of two seasons before, couldn&rsquo;t stop the Habs that year.But, consider the situation a year later &mdash; 1972. Beliveau had retired, taking away the largest chunk of talent at the all important center ice spot. John Ferguson had retired, thus depriving Habs of a muscleman, to besure, but also a player who could and did put the puck in the net And, sundry others had been traded, &mdash; the Roggie Vachons, Phil Robertos, Leon Rocheforts &mdash; and some of the replacement didn&rsquo;t quite pan out.In fact, the center ice spot, long the main area of strength on Canadiens, became a question mark Various players were shuttled in and out of the pivotal position, and nothing much clicked.The result? Playoff elimination in six games by Rangers, who&rsquo;d finished just a single point ahead of Canadiens at the end of the regular season.&ldquo;One of our troubles.&rdquo; said coach Scotty Bowman, &ldquo;was we depended too much on Ken Dryden. Not only during the playoffs, but all through that &rsquo;71-72 season. Some of the guys seemed to have the idea that because we had an exceptional goalie, they could forget about defensive hockey. We lost games as a result of that type of thinking.&rdquo;Bowman moved to over come the problems this season, and the goals-against average dropped appreciably through most of the campaign. He also tried to shore up some weak spots in specific positions, and seems to have assembled some well-balanced lines. That should make Canadiens dangerous again in the current Cup rounds, but injuries always have to be reckoned with. Especially if they affect the important center-ice spot.&ldquo;Pete Mahovlich got hurt in February and missed a whole clutch of games.&rdquo; said Bowman. &ldquo;We just have to hope he&rsquo;ll have regained full playing stride at playoff time.&rdquo;What Bowman must be hoping for is the kind of performance Habs came up with in 1965, whet they recaptured the Cup for the first time in five years; or since their record five straight Cup victories.That was the year that Canadiens swept the defending chain pion Toronto Maple Leafs, who&rsquo; who honors three years in row. out of the playoffs in six games in the semi-final round They then defeated Chicago foul games to three in the finals. The deciding game was played in the Montreal Forum May 1, 1965, ant before it started, team captail Jean Beliveau had a strategy meeting with his linemates, Bobby Rousseau and Dick Duff.&ldquo;I suggested that we try to gel the jump on the Hawks by scoring as early as possible,&rdquo; Big Jean re calls. &ldquo;But, I never expected whal happened.&rdquo;What happened was that Beliveau scored against Glenn Hal in the Chicago nets just 14 seconds after the opening faceoff to set a record for what turned out to be the fastest winning goal in Cup play. Hawks never recovered from the lightning thrust, and Habs went on to a 4-0 Cup-clinching win.That was the first year that the Conn Smythe Trophy was awarded &ldquo;to the most valuable player for his team in the entire playoffs.&rdquo; The winner was Beliveau.It also marked the sixth time that Hector &ldquo;Toe&rdquo; Blake had coached a Cup winning team, which was another record; cracking the old mark of five that had been set by Toronto&rsquo;s Clarence &ldquo;Happy&rdquo; Day.And, to top everything else off, that 1965 win moved Canadiens ahead of their longtime rivals, Toronto Maple Leafs, in the number of Cup victories attained during the modern era. The win was No. 11 for Habs. breaking the 10-10 tie that had existed between hockey&rsquo;s oldest clubs.That&rsquo;s the stuff of which playoff legends are made. That&rsquo;s what Canadiens&rsquo; role in the playoffs is all about. &#9632;

f0003-05

They’ve Won It A Record 17 Times

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011003/3814168-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="328" height="377"></div>&bull; THE GOALKEEPING has been sensational in the Stanley Cup playoffs to date with no fewer than five shutouts recorded in the first 16 games. Three of the four games in the Philadelphia-Minnesota series ended with one goalie earning a shutout. The Black Hawks blanked St. Louis Blues in one game while Eddie Giacomin of New York turned in the finest shutout of his career as the Rangers white washed Boston, 4-0 &hellip; New York&rsquo;s last recorded shutout came on April 6. 1950 in Montreal as the Rangers turned back the Canadiens, 3-0. Charley Rayner was in the New York goal that night &hellip; Jacques Plante was anything but terrific for the Bruins in their first two games and it appears that maybe old age is finally catching up with him &hellip; Rangers are favored by many to meet Montreal in the finals &hellip; Boston suffered a tough blow with Phil Esposito being out for the remainder of the play-offs. Hopefully he will be able to start skating in September but not before that time &hellip; Dean Prentice has been playing well for the North Stars. Dean scored 20 or more goals for the fourth year in succession, making Wren Blair&rsquo;s purchase of the veteran winger from Pittsburgh in 1971 look better with each goal &hellip; Gilbert Perreault has been phenomenal for Buffalo in every game played but he saved his finest effort for the Sabres&rsquo; 5-1 win over the Habs in the fourth game of the series. He scored twice and assisted once and with any kind of luck might have had another two or three goals. Perreault is becoming the top drawing card in the National League. &ldquo;People may think I do everything naturally,&rdquo; he told reporters after the game, &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s all hard work&rdquo; &hellip; Rene Robert. Rick Martin and Don Luce have all played well for the Sabres in the series thus far &hellip; Cincinnati Swords and Nova Scotia Voyageurs are favored to meet in the finals of the American Hockey League. Coach Al MacNeil will be seeking his second straight Calder Cup with the Voyageurs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03854/3814161-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="244" height="448"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gilbert Perreault</figcaption></div>&bull; PUNCH IMLACH has hinted that he might retire at the end of this season. Let&rsquo;s hope it isn&rsquo;t so as the 55-year-old Buffalo General Manager performed an outstanding job in building up the Sabres into a playoff team in three seasons. Starting from scratch in 1970 when the Sabres joined the National Hockey League he has drafted well and traded in the same astute manner he did with Toronto during the 1960&rsquo;s. Buffalo is a hockey-mad city right now and the exploits of the Sabres in making the playoffs was front page news in the local papers. The Sabres had 11 players on their roster with absolutely no previous Stanley Cup playoff experience &hellip; Many Montreal fans annoved at the $4.50 standing room price for the playoffs&hellip; This was reflected in the disappointing attendance at the first two playoff games &hellip; The Buffalo Sabres had the best defensive record of any NHL club at home this season. They allowed but 80 goals by the opposition during the championship schedule, which was 12 less than the opposition was allowed to score at the Montreal Forum. Only four of their 15 NHL opponents finished the schedule with better records than the Sabres. If they were in the NHL Western Division they would have finished in second place &hellip; Quebec Nordiques of the WHA East are reported to have offered Guy Lafleur $50,000 more per season than what he signed for with Montreal Canadiens. Lafleur inked a multi-year contract just minutes prior to the start of Canadiens second game against Buffalo &hellip; NHL players remember: &ldquo;My Most Thrilling Stanley Cup Game&rdquo; in the April issue of HOCKEY PICTORIAL &hellip; Also appearing in the same issue of HOCKEY PIC I ORIAL is &ldquo;Montreal Canadiens: A Playoff Legend&rsquo; plus a free Paul Henderson Poster.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05614/3814154-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="243" height="440"><figcaption class="caption-body">Guy Lafleur</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04752/3814147-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="240" height="447"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Harris</figcaption></div>&bull; CESARE MANIAGO has been simply outstanding in goal for the Minnesota North Stars in their series against Philadelphia. He had two straight shutouts against the high-scoring Flyers which is a major feat indeed &hellip; Ron Harris. New York defenseman. has been a standout for his club in the series against Boston with his strong but clean body checks &hellip; The National Hockey League will change its rule governing stick curvatures in June &hellip; An 18-member Toronto group has been told that it will have to make a better offer if the Canadian National Exhibition Coliseum is to be the home ice of the Ottawa Nationals of the World Hockey Association. The Nats, who lost $1.5 million in their first season in Ottawa, plan to move to the Toronto area next season &hellip; All of the pre-expansion teams have done pretty well at the St. Louis Arena with the exception of the Detroit Red i Wings. Over six seasons of expansion hockey the Wings have a poor 3-12-2 record against the Blues in St. Louis. The Red Wings have not won in St. Louis since January 24, 1970&hellip; The coach and assistant coach of the Blues were once traded for one another. In October, 1967, Jean-Guy Talbot was traded by Minnesota to Detroit for Bob McCord. Both McCord and Talbot ended up with St. Louis &hellip; General Manager Sam Pollock of the Caladiens is an avid art collector and possesses over 100 paintings. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m an art collector and not an investor.&rdquo; he stated &hellip; Around Montreal they&rsquo;re saying that Canadiens coach Scotty Bowman loves hockey so much that he wants to be reincarnated as a goal-post &hellip; There are 12 French Canadians on the 23-man Montreal roster &hellip; NHL referee Bruce Hood has been singled out for some fine praise for his outstanding work in the playoffs. Bruce is one of the top officials in the game today &hellip; Bob Clarke and Rick MacLeish were selected as the most popular players by the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; Fan Club. The first annual Fightin&rsquo; Flyers Award went to Dave Schultz. This award goes to the member of the Flyers who contributes to the team effort of winning the best way he can &hellip; Schultz, incidentally, is now known as &ldquo;The Hammer&rdquo; and is sporting a FuManchu moustache&hellip; &#9632;

f0004-01

PASSING THS PUCK

OFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY Founded October 1st, 1947 Published weekly except monthly June through September by Ken-Will Publishing Co. Ltd. 1434 St. Catherine Streel West, Montreal 107, Canpda. U.S. Office. 16 Maple Street, Rouses Point, N.Y. 12979 Kenneth William McKenzie President and Publisher Charlie Halpin Editorial Director United States Adverting Representatives Boston Stephen Ganak Mediarep Center Inc., 1425 Statler Office Bldg., Boston Moss 02116, telephone (617) 482-5233 New York Raymond Ogren, Sports Communiatons Inc 770 Lexington Ave., New York, N.Y. 10021, telephone (212) HA 1-7800; Chicago Hooper Jones & Associates, 3322 W. Peterson Ave Chicago. III 60645 telephone (312) 478-5544 Yearly SUBSCRIPTION Rafes: $7.00 in Canada $8.00 in the U.S.A. and $10.00 in Foreign Countries. Post page paid al Rouses Point. N.Y. 12979. SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO 1434 ST. CATHERINE STREET WEST, SUITE 212, MONTREAL 107, P.Q. Second class mail Registration No. 1327. Printed in Canada &#9632;

The Hockey News

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02959/3814223-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg"></div><h2>Barber Deserving Of Calder Cup</h2>I&rsquo;m tired of hearing about Schoenfeld, Sheppard, Vickers, or Lefley as top rookie candidates. I think the credit should be given to the one who deserves it the most, Billy Barber of the Philadelphia Flyers. He&rsquo;s super! He&rsquo;s been an asset to the Fivers&rsquo; great success this season. He is the top scoring rookie to date and has been most of the season. That&rsquo;s quite a feat considering he&rsquo;s just out of the juniors and this is his first pro season.If anyone deserves the Calder Cup, Bill Barber does!PEGGY ARNAUD,Philadelphia, Penn.<h2>Expansion Weakens Calibre Of NHL</h2>As an avid hockey fan, I would like to bring to the attention of fans all over North America the problem of expansion in the NHL. When my father was a young man, there were seven teams in the league and the calibre of play was super. I admit that some expansion teams are doing well, like Atlanta, for instance.Overall expansion I think, hurts the playing calibre of the NHL. Remember when the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens clashed numerous times throughout the season? No longer! It&rsquo;s too bad that the subject of money has to ruin the sport of hockey.BOBMOORE,Shrewbury, Massachusetts.<h2>WHA In Buffalo Needed For Fans</h2>It has always been said that competition is healthy. This should hold true in hockey, as well.Every Sabre game regardless of who their opponent is, is sold out.Many of us Buffalo hockey fans who cannot afford a season ticket, do not get to see a live Sabre game.It is in this light that I suggest a World Hockey Association team be brought to Buffalo and be given the name of our old American League &ldquo;Bisons&rdquo;.I am sure a WHA team could draw very well, as Buffalo has thousands of hockey-starved fans.ANGELO M.SEGGIOCheektowaga, N.Y.<h2>Street Hockey Leagues Would Solve Problem</h2>Being an amateur hockey player, I know how hard it is to get ice time for practicing during the hockey season. In the summer, when the ice is available indoors, it is expensive to rent, and most people aren&rsquo;t interested anyway.With the rising sales in street hockey equipment, I think street hockey leagues should be organized. Many city players can&rsquo;t get away to pro hockey camps, and city parks and playgrounds would be ideal for such an inter-urban league.New York could use something like this.JERRY KOKICH,New York City.<h2>NBC&rsquo;S Coverage Of NHL Excellent</h2>NBC is to be congratulated for finally giving the American viewing audience real pro hockey commentators in the likes of Tim Ryan, Ted Lindsay and Brian McFarlane. America&rsquo;s air waves are graced to have men who are in the same league as commentators as the great Danny Gallivan, Bill and Foster Hewitt and their respective crews employed by Hockey Night in Canada.I perhaps, especially appreciate NBC&rsquo;s hockey package and the professionalism of their commentators because I once had the great and regular privilege of tuning in on a cold winter evening and hearing the &ldquo;voice of the Montreal Canadiens or Toronto Maple Leafs.&rdquo;LES PALINKASan Diego, Calif.<h2>Perreault Looms As No. 1 In NHL</h2>I believe that Gilbert Perreault is the best forward in the game today, and will soon replace Bobby Orr as hockey&rsquo;s outstanding player. I cannot understand why Tom Johnson ever picked Ratelle and Keon on the All Stars, who both had fewer points than Perreault. He is a brilliant playmaker, and is the heart of Buffalo.I also think that he should be given serious consideration for the Lady Byng Trophy, even though Jacques Lemaire has fewer penalties.RAYMONDCAIN,Tatamagouche, N.S.<h2>A Good Hockey Player And Fighter</h2>I have been a hockey fan for many years, and have seen a lot of good fighters. But I have never seen anyone who could hold a candle to Bob &ldquo;Battleship&rdquo; Kelly, Rochester Amerks&rsquo; leading scorer and muscleman. I don&rsquo;t see why some NHL team hasn&rsquo;t picked him up, since I keep hearing how Vancouver and other teams lack muscle.Furthermore, since Kelly joined the Rochester organization, the average attendance is on the increase. Thus, I am sure a drawing card like a player of Kelly&rsquo;s calibre would be just the ticket for an ailing team like the California Golden Seals.BILL CARR,Columbus, Ohio.<h2>Bruins Sheppard CalderCup Hope</h2>In many lists for Calder Cup candidates, the name of Greg Sheppard has been omitted. After being called up from several games into the season from the AHL, and then missing some games because of injuries, Sheppard has played with remarkable poise. Taking a regular shift on Boston&rsquo;s third or &ldquo;checking&rdquo; line, as well as killing penalties, Sheppard has amassed a formidable record of 24-26-50, including two short-handed goals.Greg had remained Boston&rsquo;s number three center, even after the much heralded return of Derek Sanderson. He has been a tireless forechecker, and consistent back-checker, accumulating only 16 penalty minutes. But he does not shy away from any rough going.Greg Sheppard should win hands down, if the rookies are judged by their ability, and not the team thev play for.JOE WRONKOWSKI,Cranston, R.I. &#9632;

f0004-02

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01877/3814254-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">STAN MIKITA&hellip;Ends Year With Milestone Goal</figcaption></div>Stanley Mikita reported back to work just in time for the Stanley Cup playoffs. That&rsquo;s the best news the Black Hawks have received since they were transferred to the West Division.The Uncheckable Czech broke a bone in his left heel Feb. 9 and performed the soft shoe routine for six weeks. He returned to the lineup for the homestretch of the regular season, reached and surpassed the 400-goal plateau, then pronounced himself quite fit for post-season activity.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m ready &hellip; at least I better be,&rdquo; said Mikita as the Hawks engaged the St. Louis Blues in the Cup quarter-finals. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t go for as long as I should, but my wings will carry me. Actually, I should be grateful that every thing&rsquo;s gone as well as it has &mdash; a little bit ahead of schedule.&ldquo;I have a little trouble stopping on the injured foot. I have to use both feet. And I can&rsquo;t turn as well or sharply as I&rsquo;d like to. But I&rsquo;m not complaining.&rdquo;Mikita registered his landmark 400th in Detroit on March 31, a sharp drive from 55 feet away which whizzed past Red Wing goalie Roy Edwards. Mikita thus became the eighth player in NHL annals to reach that plateau.&ldquo;You know what Bobby (Hull) did after his milestone, don&rsquo;t you?&rdquo; chirped Mikita, the non-stop joker, about the former Hawk&rsquo;s 600th achieved late last season.&ldquo;He jumped leagues,&rdquo; chortled Mikita, with a wink.The joke wouldn&rsquo;t be so funny for the Chicago six, of course, if Mikita followed suit. And, as the Hawks embarked on the Cup competition, there was a slight cloud concerning several team members whose contracts were up and who admitted discussing future plans with the World Hockey Association.Besides Mikita, who was talking with the Chicago Cougars, there is Ralph Backstrom, Tony Esposito and Pat Stapleton. All parties chose to postpone lengthy discussion on such a topic until Stapleton admitted he &ldquo;will listen&rdquo; to flirtations by the Los Angeles Sharks.&ldquo;They are very interested in having Pat,&rdquo; said Jeff Rosen, the Chicago advisor for the All-Star defenseman. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve asked us to come out to the West Coast after the season, and I expect we will. Of course, Pat is still very interested in remaining with the Black Hawks, and I&rsquo;m sure we&rsquo;ll be talking with them before long,&rdquo;Stapleton&rsquo;s other alternative was to retire, a move he&rsquo;s pondered for sometime in order to devote more hours to a blossoming rink business. But he played so well toward the last half of the current campaign that he might shelve such aspirations for a spell.The Hawks completed their irregular regular season with 42 victories &mdash; four fewer than last year. They scored 28 more goals than 1971-72, which was remarkable what with the exit of Hull. But they also became decidedly more generous &mdash; surrendering 225 scores compared to the Vezina total of 166 last winter.Their West Division margin of only eight points indicates a difficult path to the top, and it was, although the club exhibited a knack of rising to the occasion whenever an important game developed.&ldquo;If we can play to our potential,&rdquo; said goalie Esposito, &ldquo;we have a good chance to go all the way. I&rsquo;m not saying we&rsquo;ll win it, but I feel we have a chance. The way I figure it, we&rsquo;re one of three clubs with a good shot &mdash; Montreal, us and the winner of the New York-Boston series.&rdquo;The Hawks did remarkably well against the Big Three in the East Division. They recorded an 8-6-1 log versus Boston, Montreal and the Rangers, including three triumphs against the mighty Canadiens, who lost only 10 times. Last year, the Hawks won only one game each against the East aristo.HAWK-EY TALK: Hawks have admitted an interest in Vancouver&rsquo;s Dale Tallon. who is allegedly discouraged with the Canucks&rsquo; scene. &ldquo;I think it would be a little far-fetched that they&rsquo;d trade him.&rdquo; said Reay. &ldquo;But if they are willing to. I would think we&rsquo;ll he interested.&rdquo; The Hawks possess surplus goalkeeping, a commodity which might tempt the Canucks &hellip; Hawks again planned to beam home playoff games to four local outlets via theater TV for a fee of $6 per ticket &hellip; The MPH Line of Pit Martin. Jim Pappin and Dennis Hull completed a most productive season with 109 goals. 163 points and 269 points &hellip; Esposito authored the team&rsquo;s only four shutouts &hellip; Hawks went into the St. Louis series with a perfect record in quarter-final playoffs since they entered the West conference: 12 victories, no losses. &#9632;

f0005-01

Stan Mikita Ahead Of Schedule, Set For Cup Playoffs

<div class="byline">BY GIL SMITH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011034/3814285-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="486" height="748"><figcaption class="caption-body">PETE MAHOVLICH&hellip;Needed Playoff Goal</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;Scotty Bowman hasn&rsquo;t come out and said: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to play them one at a time,&rdquo; but that worn-out cliche probably sums up Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; attitude in the playoff rounds this year.Rated even-money to win the Stanley Cup before a single game had been played, the Habs got off to a somewhat rocky start &hellip; winning a 2-1 squeaker over Buffalo in the opener &hellip; while looking pretty up-tight most of the way.&ldquo;We were kind of off-stride,&rdquo; Henri Richard said. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t skate the way we can. But, give Buffalo credit, they played well for a team making its first start in the playoffs.&rdquo;Habs needed a third-period goal by Yvan Cournoyer, his 30th in NHL playoffs, to edge the determined Buffalo crew after the teams had traded second-period goals in the hard-fought contest. Among other things, the game marked the first time in NHL history that brothers had opposed each other in the nets in Stanley Cup play. Dave Dryden was in goal for the Sabres while Ken, of course, started for Canadiens.The feeling even after game two, which Canadiens also won by a resounding 7-3. seemed to be that while Habs should certainly win the round, they could be in for a tough battle on a game-to-game basis, especially in Buffalo.&ldquo;Can&rsquo;t see why people should he surprised at the idea of the Sabres putting up a tough fight against us, even if they lose the ballgame,&rdquo; said Scotty Bowman. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve given us trouble all season.&rdquo;Montreal were 2-1-2 against Buffalo during the season, outscoring the Sabres by the narrowest of margins, 14-13.&lsquo;And, it was an empty-net goal that gave us the edge.&rdquo; Bowman said.One game doesn&rsquo;t make a playoff series, of course, but there was concern in some quarters, after the Montreal opener had been played, that Hab centers would need time to find themselves.With the exception of Jacques Lemaire, the pivots looked a bit lost. And. that brought back some of the fears of 1972 when a below-far performance by most of the centers helped Habs to a quick exit.One man in particular who seemed to be on the spot &mdash; at least he was going into the playoff round, and after the first game &mdash; was Pete Mahovlich. The towering Peter didn&rsquo;t play well and failed to get on the scoresheet &mdash; bringing to mind the fact that his last playoff goal had been scored almost two years ago, in the Cup-wirining finals against Chicago,Mahovlich, who was blanked in the six playoff games against N.Y. Rangers, last year, had 10 markers in the 1971 rounds.He got goals No. 9 and 10 on the same night, Sunday, May 10, 1971, in Montreal to give Habs a 43 win in the sixth game of that series and tie the round at three games each. Habs took it from there to win the Stanley Cup in the seventh contest on Chicago ice.Last season, the king-sized younger brother of Frank, was a major disappointment to everyone, including himself, as he was held to two assists.&ldquo;No doubt about it, I was bad in the playoffs last year,&rdquo; Peter has been quoted as saying, recently, while expressing the hope that this year&rsquo;s effort will more than make up for it.Pete had been coming on strong in the closing games of the regular schedule, after an injured kneecap had put him on the sidelines.At his best, he&rsquo;s rated one of the most talented centers in the game. &#9632;

f0006-01

Habs Worried About Pivot Pete After Struggle In Series Start

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01925/3814316-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hockey News Photo by Robert ShaverDespite his 43 years, veteran defenseman TIM HORTON turned in a remarkable season for the Sabres winning the Frank Eddolls Memorial Trophy as the team&rsquo;s most valuable player. The award was voted on by his teammates</figcaption></div>BUFFALO&mdash;&ldquo;The best thing about this,&rdquo; said Joe Crozier, &ldquo;is that we didn&rsquo;t back in. We did it the right way, by wining it ourselves. There&rsquo;s no other way to do it.&rdquo;Crozier, who had been talking playoffs to his Buffalo Sabres since training camp in St. Catharines, Ont., last September, saw the club make it on the final night of the National He key League season.The Sabres defeated the St. Louis Blues, 3-1, in a home game while the Detroit Red Wings tied the New York Rangers, 3-3, in Madison Square Garden.A tie would have sufficed tut the Sabres won the game after falling behind in the first two minutes of play. Buffalo thus finished fourth in the East Division with a two-point margin over Detroit and became the first expansion club to make the Stanley Cup playoffs by beating out pre-expansion teams.&ldquo;When we started the final week we needed three wins to make the playoffs and Detroit needed four,&rdquo; Crozier pointed out. &ldquo;We won our three (over the New York Islanders, Philadelphia and St. Louis). We deserve to be in.&rdquo;Detroit, meanwhile, won twice, lost once and tied once in its final four games.The Sabres bounced back from a miserable showing in Boston, when they lost, 6-1, to finish the season with three straight victories.They had a tough time in their final road game, against the New York Islanders but won it, 3-2. Then they returned home and outmuscled the Philadelphia Flyers in a game in which 130 minutes in penalties were doled out and two players from each team were banished with game misconducts. Buffalo won, 6-3.The Sabres closed with the triumph over the Blues. What made Coach Crozier feel good about that game was that each of his lines scored.Gil Perreault got the first goal, after Wayne Merrick put the Blues ahead in the second minute of play. Then Larry Mickey scored and Jim Lorentz put in the insurance goal.Perreault&rsquo;s goal gave him three in the final two games and 28 for the season. The reunited French Connection picked up two points in the game to give Perreault, Rick Martin and Rene Robert 29 in the club&rsquo;s last eight games after a late-season slump.Martin, who had 44 goals last season, finished with 38. &ldquo;I aimed at 35,&rdquo; said the sophomore winger. &ldquo;I knew it would be tougher than last season because I would get closer checking and it was. My other aim was making the playoffs and we did.&rdquo;ICE CHIPS &mdash; Joe Crozier, in his first full season i as a National Hockey League coach, certainly deserves consideration as the league&rsquo;s coach of the year. The Sabres last season won only 16 games, fewest of any team in the NHL.&ldquo;Punch Imlach deserves the credit for this team,&rdquo; Joe said, after the last game. &ldquo;He gave me the chance to coach and he supplied the material for me to work with.&rdquo;Tim Horton, 43-year-old defenseman, received the Frank Eddolls Memorial Trophy as the team&rsquo;s Most Valuable Player, voted on by his teammates. Perreault was voted Most Popular for the Wayne Larkin Memorial Trophy by members of the Buffalo Sabres Booster Club. &#9632;

f0007-01

“We Didn’t Back In”, Boasts Sabres’ Boss

<div class="byline">&#x2014;By Bill Libby</div><h2>The Best This Season</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011024/3814354-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="287" height="367"></div>Montreal veteran Henri Richard was talking to Mark Mulvoy of Sports Illustrated Magazine: &ldquo;How many games have we lost this year? And each loss, it has been disaster. All the time it has been pressure. And now there will be even more pressure. If you finish first and do not win the Stanley Cup, these people, they forget you finished first. Remember, when you are the Canadiens, you cannot make mistakes.&rdquo;Well, it is that time to try to imprint on the minds of readers the sort of long season the Canadiens enjoyed. winning their first pennant in four years, but their l5th in 30 years, before they try to add a record 17th to their history of Stanley Cup playoff victories.The Canadiens won 52 games, tied 16 and lost only ten, the fewest for any team since the schedule was increased from 50 games, an incredible record. No one else was even close. Chicago captured the West Division pennant, but not only Montreal, but Boston i and New York had better records in the East Division.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02920/3814347-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="447" height="565"><figcaption class="caption-body">SCOTTY BOWMAN&hellip;High standards</figcaption></div>Nowhere around the league, not even in Toronto, is so much attention paid to a team. Newspaper, television and radio publicity pounds at the players. The fans in the stand and on the streets appreciate positive performances, but do not neglect the negative. Each new team is expected to add to a hockey history of almost constant success and the players must measure up to incomparable immortals.After a tie in Los Angeles this season, the Canadiens&rsquo; coach Scotty Bowman went profane with rage. Dressing slowly, Richard said, &ldquo;We have set very high standards for ourself.&rdquo; Thoughtfully, goaler Ken Dryden noted, &ldquo;A lot is expected of you. Demanded of you really. When you play for Canadiens, you come through or get out.&rdquo;Ex-Canadien Terry Harper commented, &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re in Montreal, you expect to win games, not most games, every game. When you don&rsquo;t win one, you figure it&rsquo;s a fluke. You know you&rsquo;re going to win the next one. It&rsquo;s a very positive attitude. When the team gets down for a season or so, there&rsquo;s hell to pay. They can&rsquo;t tolerate it if 5 the team is anywhere but on top.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a tough way to live, but it is a way that wins game,&rdquo; he concluded.Since expansion came six seasons back, a lot in this league has turned around. There is little stability to the circuit these years and considerable inconsistency in team and individual performances from year to year. But Canadiens started this stretch with a depth of talent which gave them an advantage over the rest.They were able to advance prospects properly. And they could trade fading stars or players who did not fit for future selections from the new draft of graduating amateurs. This was supposed to be a draft which would divide the talent, equally. Laugh now. The league did not protect the poor from themselves. Canadiens have had 14 first-round picks in the last five years, while Seals have had two and Kings one. Last year, Canadiens had four first-round choices out of 16. This year they have seven out of 20. At this rate, Canadiens Will have a corner on the top talent for many years to come. And they keep their players from jumping when a World Hockey Association emerges, raiding.This trategy has been pursued by Sam Pollock the vice-president and general manager of the team. He is a tough boss, probably the best in the business. At 47, he is dedicated to his profession, shrewd and has yet to slow down. He is not unanimously loved, but everyone respects him.The same can be said for Scotty Bowman. Sometimes graceless, he gets the job done. He is so intense, his wife, Suella, says, &ldquo;He wants to be reincarnated as a goalpost.,, He, too, may be the best in his business. As an Englishmen coaching The Flying Frenchmen&mdash;even now more than half his roster in French&mdash;he has had his problems with his players and his press, but he has prevailed.Last season he succeeded Al MacNeil, who was fired, after being blasted as a bad coach by the benched Richard, despite having just won the Stanley Cup. Sometimes even the ultimate title is not enough for this team. This season Scotty skirted disaster when internal dissention erupted on the team. Some players suggested reporters be barred from the dressing room. Richard said they should not be. Serge Savard asked. &ldquo;What are you, sleeping with them?&rdquo; Richard simply slapped his face.Somehow, Canadiens overcome such disharmony. On the ice, they pulled together as a team, for which Bowman must be given credit. Savard, Guy LaPointe and Jacques LaPerriere anchored a defense in front of the splendid Dryden who was durable despite injuries. Richard and Jim Roberts did not score much, but opposing forwards scored even less against them.Opposing goaltenders consider Jacques Lemaire and Yvan Cournoyer, speedsters with explosive shots, the most dynamic attackers in the league. Each scored more than 40 goals this season. Frank Mahovlich scored almost 30. He and brother Pete are rated among the biggest and toughest towards to handle.Guy Lafleur, Marc Tardif, Rejean Houle, Steve Shutt, Murray Wilson and Bob Murdoch, among the kids Pollock picked up, all contributed considerably. This team blends veterans and youngsters splendidly. It achieved one of the great records ever in sports. It probably will capture the Cup. but if it shouldn&rsquo;t its startling season should not be forgotten. &#9632;

f0008-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY DAN DONOVAN</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;A coach who makes the playoffs creates a lot of work for himself &mdash; but so does a coach who doesn&rsquo;t make the playoffs.The season ended on a Sunday and by Tuesday. Penguin Coach Ken Schinkel was busy with the latest ob the Penguin fifth place finish created &mdash; the search for more talent.Schinkel was in Canada by Tuesday, scouting for good players to use those three draft choices in the first two rounds on. And soon after, he was in Hershey for the Penguin farm team&rsquo;s playoffs so he could get a look at the prospect there. The bears ended up with eight 20-goal scorers including Jim Wiley, a young prospect the Penguins are extremely high on.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03774/3814385-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="263" height="431"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jim Wiley</figcaption></div>And all this before he had a firm contract for next year.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve talked about it.&rdquo; Schinkel said. &ldquo;The job is there, though, there&rsquo;s no doubt about that.&rdquo;Though he felt the heat when he replaced a pretty popular Red Kelly and then again when the team didn&rsquo;t make the playoffs. Schinkel was not about to give up on coaching.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to coach yet,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I have no thoughts about quitting now.&rdquo;One of the first tests of a coach is how well he handles the pressure.&ldquo;The pressure didn&rsquo;t really bother me a that much,&rdquo; Schinkel said. &ldquo;I felt pretty cool during a game. The hardest part was the mental part after the game.&ldquo;In your mind you rehash the game many times. I lost a lot of sleep this year.&rdquo;Schinkel admitted there was not thing he could have done to change the face of the Penguin team in midseason.&ldquo;I basically stayed with the same lines because they fit well together,&rdquo; Schinkel said. &ldquo;I went a little bit to experience. I brought up Jean Guy Lagace rather than Jack Lynch and Robin Burns rather than Steve Cardwell.&rdquo;One major change he did use was sticking very strictly to three lines.&ldquo;I only used four lines when we were far ahead Or the game got out of our hands. Then it was just to give everybody a shot at some ice time.&rdquo;Though the coaching change disrupted a fairly good playing season, Schinkel doesn&rsquo;t regret the change.&ldquo;I pretty much knew what I was getting into,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I knew what coaching was going to be like.&rdquo;Schinkel admits it may even harder next year, because it may take even more points to make the playoffs.&ldquo;Last year we made it with 66 points,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;this year it took 76. I think all the teams realize it may take three or four more points to make it next year.&rdquo;In retrospect, it is easy to find the Penguins&rsquo; problem last year&mdash;a porous defense. They set a team record in scoring with 257 goals, but also gave up a record 265 goals.&ldquo;We have to look at our whole defensive structure, from the forwards all the way back to the defenseman,&rdquo; Schinkel said. &ldquo;Maybe that is why we scored so many goals. The guys just weren&rsquo;t concentrating much on defense.&ldquo;Look at Minnesota a few years back. They were scoring lots of goals, but they didn&rsquo;t start winning until they started thinking about defense. That&rsquo;s what we have to do &mdash; start thinking about defense.&rdquo;Despite the finish, Schinkel knows there is more talent in the Penguin lineup than a fifth place finish.&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t score that many goals and have no talent,&rdquo; he said.For next year, Schinkel must start thinking about how to use that talent. &#9632;

f0008-03

No Time For Tears, Schinkel In Search Of Draft Prospects

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;The St. Louis Blues have never missed the Stanley Cup playoffs. This year they came perilously close to being out of the post-season action; they finished fourth&mdash;lower than they have ever finished. But they kept intact the amazing record of being in the playoffs every year of their six seasons of existence.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-01989/3814423-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="259" height="464"><figcaption class="caption-body">Fran Huck</figcaption></div>The victory that clinched the playoff spot in the Blues&rsquo; last home game of the season was a 7-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, the only team that had a chance to edge ahead of the Blues for fourth place. The St. Louis Arena was jammed with 20,009 fans, the largest crowd ever to see a National Hockey League game. The big throng pushed the Blues&rsquo; season attendance to 726, 158, another NHL record.Garry Unger scored his 40th and 41st goals of the season, Phil Roberto scored his 19thand20th. Fran Huck notched his 15th and 16th. and rookie Wayne Merrick picked up his ninth. Wayne Stephenson had an excellent game in the St. Louis net, and Barclay Plager, leading the St. Louis defense, blocked countless shots.Huck scored the winning goal on a shot by Plager that bounced off Huck&rsquo;s leg and past Pittsburgh goalie Andy Brown. The Blues took a 3-0 lead in the first period and kept hammering away at the Penguins.&ldquo;Six years in the big money,&rdquo; yelled Gary Sabourin, who has played more games in a St. Louis uniform than any other member of the Blues past or present. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just beautiful. Everybody worked for this, and the management lived and died with us all season. I guess this is about the closest we&rsquo;ve ever come to missing the playoffs.&rsquo;The Blues had a mediocre record the last two weeks of the season, but Plager took satisfaction in the fact that &ldquo;we won it ourselves; we didn&rsquo;t back in. We worked hard and we deserve it.&rdquo;Huck, finishing a season in which he established himself in the NHL, called the win over Pittsburgh the &ldquo;biggest win this year&rdquo;.&ldquo;We wanted it more than Pittsburgh,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think too many teams would have beaten us. It&rsquo;s just lovely.&rdquo;Stephenson said, &ldquo;We had that 3-0 lead but there was no way we were going to let down. It was too big a game for us. I think it was a matter of who got the first goal; we did I and we just kept going.&rdquo;Unger said, &ldquo;I knew we were going to make the playoffs, but I also knew it would go down to the last few games. But that&rsquo;s the kind of life I like&mdash;a lot of excitement. You can&rsquo;t get a feeling like that no matter what other kind of job you have.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-02868/3814416-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="539" height="903"><figcaption class="caption-body">GARRY UNGER&hellip;Gets 41 Goals</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0009-01

Sixth Straight Year In Playoffs

Is that the person down the street who is always borrowing your copy of THE HOCKEY NEWS? Tell all the Alice Coopers to turn to page 23. That&rsquo;s where they&rsquo;ll find a record-breaking reduction of the price of the HOCKEY NEWS. You can get the long-playing subscription for three years for only $l5 ($l6 U.S.)MAKE IT HAPPEN! &#9632;

Who’s Alice Cooper?

MONTREAL &mdash;Though they&lsquo;re much too preoccupied with playoff matters to think as tar ahead as next tune, Montreal Canadiens look to be in unusually good shape for the summer bargaining.They own three first-round draft choices, including their own. The others are courtesy of Minnesota North Stars and California Golden Seals.The latter finished last in the NHL&rsquo;s West Division, so will be drafting high in the annual June sessions.Canadiens should do pretty well in the second round of the draft, too. though their situation here is not as clear as in the first go-round; and could alter further by June, contingent upon whether they were to exercise various &ldquo;options.&rdquo;As far as can be determined, Habs &mdash; while not having their own second round choee, have options on four others.Those options, according to reports, involve the choices of the New York Islanders. Atlanta Flames, California Golden Seals and Los Angeles Kings.The Islanders finished a distant last in the NHL,&rsquo;s East Division, and had the lowest number of points of any team in the league.The Islanders have declared they will definitely draft first in the summer go-round and plan to claim defenseman Denis Potvin, the highly-touted defenseman of the Ottawa 67s. who is expected to go as the No. 1 pick in the amateur grab-bag. Potvin is the brother of Islanders&rsquo; new defense acquisition. Jean Potvin, which would give the New Yorkers a natural brother defense act &mdash; something rare in NHL history.L. A. Atlanta and California wound up sixth, seventh and eighth respectively, in the eight-team West Division of the NHL this past season, and should the Canadiens come up with their draft picks in return for &lsquo;future considerations&rsquo; made in previous deals, it would be nothing new to draft followers.The Canadiens had two of the first seven selections in l970, grabbed three of the top 11 in 1971 and walked away with four of the first 14 last summer. &#9632;

Talent-Rich Habs Still Stocking Up On NHL Draft Picks

<div class="byline">BY RICK MONAGHAN</div>TWINCITIES &mdash;lt the weight of experience makes a difference, Minnesota North Stars are playing the role of heavy-weights to Philadelphia&rsquo;s welterweights during the Stanley Cup quarter-final series between the West Division clubs.&lsquo;Going into the best-of seven series, the 18 North Stars with Stanley Cup experience had played 608 playoff games. The 12 Flyers who have appeared in Cup notion had 172 games behind them.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01971/3814509-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="255" height="449"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Mohns</figcaption></div>Defenseman Doug Mohns, who got his first taste of Stanley Cup play 19 seasons ago, is the most experienced man on the ice in this series. The ex-Scooter from Chicago has played in 12 previous series, in 88 playoff games. &ldquo;If everything else is equal,&rdquo; said Mohns on the eve of the series, &ldquo;experience will make a difference. &ldquo;You have to realize that playoff hockey is different than regular-season hockey. The checking is so much closer. Each game in the series is so much more important.&ldquo;The adrenalin is pumping through everyone&rsquo;s system. No one wants to make a mistake because a mistake will loom much larger in one of maybe seven playoff games than it will in one of 78 regular season games.&ldquo;I have to believe that the more experienced player &mdash; having been through it a number of times before &mdash; is less likely to make those mistakes than the less-experienced player.&rdquo;Mohns recalled how nervous he was in his first Stanley Cup series when at age of 20 he played for Boston against Montreal in the first round of the 19.34 playoffs.&ldquo;You can bet that my feet were shaking in my skates. Lookback at that Montreal lineup&mdash;Rocket Richard. Bouchard (the older), Harvey, Johnson, Beliveau. You know. Beliveau and I broke in the same season.&rdquo;He was reminded that he has outlasted the Hall of Fame center from Montreal, but that his 240 goals are less than half of those scored by Beliveau.&ldquo;You have to remember.&rdquo; he said with a grin, &ldquo;that he played center and I played defense for a good share of the time. Then, if you count all the goals I scored in practice, I might come close to him.&rdquo;Mohns suffered a severe groin pull in mid-season that cost him 10 games and since his return has played a rotating role in the North Stars&rsquo; defense corps of Ted Harris, Fred Barrett, Barry Gibbs, Dennis O&rsquo;Brien and Tom Reid. Coach Jack Gordon often plays the 39-year-old native of Capreol, Ont., on the Minnesota power-play unit.When tragedy struck the family of Harris&mdash;his younger brother was killed in a traffic accident the Saturday before the series started &mdash; the North Stars&rsquo; defense was dealt a blow. Harris attended the funeral of his brother on Wednesday when the series opened, but the North Stars&rsquo; captain returned to action in the second game of the quarter-finals.It is on the defense where much of the North Stars&rsquo; hopes against the Fivers are pinned. Philadelphia outscored Minnesota. 296 croak over the season. But the North Stars gave up onh 230 goals to 236 for the Flyers.Coach Jack Gordon feels it will take an all-out defensive effort not only by the blueline brigade but also by the team&rsquo;s forwards to harness high-scoring Flyers sue! as Bobby Clarke (37 goals and 10-points) and Rick MacLeish (goals and 100 points).&ldquo;No question about it said Gordon, &ldquo;it will take a hard defensive effort by all hands to contain them. We&rsquo;ve never had playoff series in the history of the club where we had to lace two 100 point scorers.&rdquo;While none of the North Stars finished among the NHL&rsquo;s leadin; scorers, this year&rsquo;s team has hat the best-balanced attack in Min nesota&rsquo;s history. Seven player; scored 20 goals or more for a club record. Left winger Danny Gran led the way with 32. Center Denni; Hextali had 30. Left winger J.P Parise, center Jude Drouin ant right winger Bill Goldsworthv hat 27 apiece. Left winger Dear Prentice had 20. Right winger Buster Harvey close out the season with 21.NORTH STARS&rsquo; NOTES: The 37 victories by Minnesota during the regular season ties the team&rsquo;s all-time record, but the North Stars&rsquo; 85 points falls one short of the mark set last season&hellip;Minnesota has missed only one playoff year. That came after the 1968-69 season&hellip; Philadelphia won all three of its games, on home ice against Minnesota this season, but the North Stars returned the favor by winning both of their contests at the Met against the Flyers &hellip; The Minnesota State High School hockey tournament held in March at Met Sports Center attracted more than 84,000 spectators in three days.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-02835/3814502-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="1169" height="1259"><figcaption class="caption-body">The president of the Minnesota North Stars, WALTER BUSH, right, accepts THE HOCKEY NEWS award from publisher KEN McKENZIE as NHL executive of the year for 1972 during presentation ceremonies on the ice at the Metropolitan Center in Bloomington, Minn. Bush has contributed a great deal to the American hockey scene and also received the Patrick Trophy for his efforts on behalf of hockey in the U.S. this year.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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North Stars Carrying Big Edge Over Flyers In Playoff Years

PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Rick MacLeish&rsquo;s bonus reward for becoming the first player to score 50 goals in his first full NHL season is a new Corvette.At a pre-playoff luncheon, Fivers&rsquo; board chairman Ed Snider revealed that MacLeish and Bobby Clarke had been offered equal cash bonuses, but both preferred new cars. Clarke, who became the ninth NHL player to score 100 points in one season, chose a dune buggy. He already owns a Corvette.Clarke&rsquo;s 104 points and MacLeish&rsquo;s 100 combined for an NHL record: it&rsquo;s the first b time any team had two triple-figure centermen.MacLeish hit the 50-goal mark in the regular-season finale in Pittsburgh, whipping a loose puck in front past goal-tender Cam Newton at 2:02 of the second period.&mdash; FLEISCHMAN &#9632;

Flyer Stars Get ‘Wheels’

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div>PHILADELPHIA &mdash;Meet Fred Shero, mystery man Two years in Philadelphia as Flyers&rsquo; coach and hardly anyone outside the Spectrum knows him. Those who do know the man who brought a distinguished minor league coaching record to Philadelphia like him but little attention has been focused on Shero.It&rsquo;s not because Shero, 47 is uncooperative. The onetime New York Rangers&rsquo; defenseman is very quotable and has an encyclopedia-size file of hockey anecdotes he refers to whenever a unique current event occurs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01985/3814540-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="277" height="453"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave Schultz</figcaption></div>Shero isn&rsquo;t a back-slapping, how-ya-doin&rsquo; sort. However, if you initiate the conversation he can talk non-stop. He also has a delightful dry sense of humor Example: while the Fivers and Toronto were warming up on Maple Leaf Gardens&rsquo; ice. Shero glanced toward the ice faked a startled expression and said. &ldquo;What? No fights yet?&rdquo;Two reasons for his low-profile are the team he rides herd over and his coaching colleagues in Philadelphia.The Flyers, alias Mad Squad and Broad Street Bullies, have suddenly blossomed into one of the NHL&rsquo;s most entertaining teams. There&rsquo;s little space left for the coach when everyone is finished interviewing his cast of characters who met Minnesota in the Stanley Cup quarter-final series.Coaches of Phillv&rsquo;s other pro teams stirred more controversy than Shero. When Ed Khayat coached the Eagles and Frank Lucchesi managed the Phillies, they were always involved in disputes.Until he was fired as coach of the NBA&rsquo;s all-time worst 76ers. Roy Rubin maintained a steady feud with the press and. often, his players. The early season Phil Watson-John McKenzie Show with the WHA&rsquo;s Blazers kept people shaking their heads in disbelief.Against such competition. Shero has walked softly and let his players carry the big sticks. Together with assistant, coach Mike Nykoluk. Shero has molded the Flyers into a bruising, high-scoring outfit that broke the NHL season penalty record by 383 minutes and finished fourth in goal-scoring behind Boston. Montreal and the Rangers.Four of the Flyers went over the 200-minute mark on the way towards setting the NHL penalty mark of 1.754 minutes. Tough Dave Schultz emerged as the new league &lsquo;bad man&rsquo; with 259, Boh Kelly went for 236. Andre Dupont for 215and Don Saleski 205.When the occasion arises though. Shero is as outspoken as any coach in captivity. For instance, in the Flyers&rsquo; final-week 6-3 loss in Buffalo, Shultz and Saleski the most penalized wingers in NHL one-season history, received game misconducts from referee Bruce Hood just 1:07 into the game that eventually included 130 penalty minutes. Afterward, Shero snarled. &ldquo;The referees decided the issue. Twice two of their men attacked one of ours. If they (officials) aren&rsquo;t working for the other club&hellip;&rdquo;Asked his opinion of Bobby Clarke&rsquo;s retaliatory flagrant ankle slash of Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Syl Apps in the regular season finale. Shero replied, &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t blame Clarke. You should have seen what Apps did to him. Clarke should have hit him over the head with hisstick.&rdquo;Obviously. Shero fits in with the Mad Squad. Yet, Shero is a loner on the road. Even at his Cherry Hill. N.J. home he spends hours reading and coming up with dressing room blackboard messages for the Flyers like: &ldquo;It is now time for us to show that we are capable of sublimating our individual ambitions for the benefit of the team.&rdquo;One of hockey&rsquo;s heavy thinkers, Shero with you, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not morally right to tell a guy to go out and hit someone. I&rsquo;ve heard coaches do it with kids &mdash; they should be in jail. You can ask a player to go out and get a piece of some one.Perhaps the Shero mystery will be a little clearer now. &#9632;

f0012-01

Unknown Coach Away From Rink, Shero Lets Players Do Talking

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01968/3814633-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="511" height="775"><figcaption class="caption-body">ED JOHNSTON&hellip; Elder Statesman</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;It seems certain that Eddie Johnston will not be with Boston next year and the guessing is that he will be with &lsquo;Toronto &hellip; If so the Bruins will miss a great guy &hellip; In addition to his play, which has been sometimes maligned unjustly. E.J. has been the Bruins&rsquo; elder statesman, and player rep &hellip; Over the years, his standard on making decisions has been. Is it for the good of the game?&rdquo;&hellip;For those who may snicker at such a phrase, let it be said that Johnston always talked this way. whether it be in regard to the team: outside appearances; signing autographs, anything &hellip; Johnston is a team man always ready to help any Bruin especially the rooks &hellip; As Frank Selke said when he nominated Tom Johnson for the Hall of Fame. &ldquo;He was always a good man for his team.&rdquo; It counts&hellip;Don Awrey who with Dallas &rsquo; Smith and Mike Walton are up for contract renewal this year. says of Johnston. &ldquo;It has not been Eddie&rsquo;s fault this season. We always seem to play better &rsquo; in front of the ther guys. I can&rsquo;t quite put my finger on it hut we as a team, have player superin front of Jacques and Ross&rsquo;.&mdash;McCarthy &#9632;

f0014-01

B’s To Miss Popular EJ. If He Goes

<div class="byline">by JACK McCARTHY</div>BOSTON&mdash;As the Bruins attempt to defend the Stanley Cup. the time will be nigh shortly for balloting by the hockey writers on the various heroes of the 1972-73 season.How many Boston ends up with is a matter of conjecture, of course, but one wonders about a special award for Armand &ldquo;Bep&rdquo; Guidolin the coach who righted the Bruins&rsquo; listing ship.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02807/3814664-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="256" height="426"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bep Guidolin</figcaption></div>Before anyone starts squawking. let us admit that Bep only, coached 26 games. So he is probably not eligible for any established piece of silverware. We could, however, make him the coach-of-the-year for 1973. Why not? He took over the Bruins from &lsquo;Tom Johnson on Feb. 5. From there until the end of the season, they were 20-6-0 and they won 40 out of a possible 52 points.When Guidolin went behind the bench, the Bruins were in third place. From a standing start. Bep drove them and skated them, and shuffled them until they won 10 in a row at one stretch, jumped over the Rangers intosecond place, and won the games they had to win.It should be noted, however, that Boston was 31-16-5 under &lsquo;Tom Johnson, and that is not so bad a record, either. But the Bruins&rsquo; brass was not completely sure. I&rsquo;m positive, that this team would make the Cup playoffs the way it was going. And the Cup playoffs are worth a small fortune, and therewas noway they were going to take any chances on having Buffalocatchthem.Then, of course. Harry Sinder reached into Maple Leaf Gardens on March 3. and came up with Jacques Plante, and went 7-1-0 to lock up second place and the home-ice advantageover New 5 ork.But Bep did a masterful job with a floundering club. He sat people down indiscriminately, with no regard to reputations, and his physical fitness routine began to pay off when the Bruins came on and on to win games in the third period. This had been a tough period forthem since the beginning&rsquo; of the season.We&rsquo;re not talking about All Star players now-just coaching. So you have to give Bep a lot of credit for going into a pressure situation and turning hingsaround.Boston, alter its many years of languishing in the NHL cellar, brushing away cobwebs, broke out and began to dominate the league. And the tans thought they would and should stay at the top forever.Torn Johnson had followed a tough act when he replaced Harry Sinden and he did damn well. But Guidolin came in cold in the middle of the season and pulled the Bruins up short by the scrub of the neck. Good job.Meanwhile, the injury that put Phil Esposito out for the season alter knee surgery rocked the Bruins playoff hopes and removed a than who couldn&rsquo;t be overlooked when it came time to talk awards.If nothing else. Espo had to get an award for durability. Coming off a tough series with Team Canada. in which he played every game, he went the distance with the Bruins, too. He Wound up playing in every game, all 78, and won the Ross &lsquo;Trophy once more as the outstanding scorer in the NHL. with 55 goals and 75 assists for 130 points.Going 78 games in which he was a target in all 78. is some, kind of physical achievement alone, not to mention his scoring, his power play chores and penalty killing.Rugged is not the word usually associated with Phil slick, crafty, etc. are those usually used-but he was durable until his playoff injury.Bobby orr of course, played in 63 games. 15 less than Espo. but Bobby wound up with 101 points on 29 goals and 72 assists. He played most of the season with his leg bothering him again, and controlled most of the games he was in. It seems the Hart Trophy people will have their perennial problem once more. &#9632;

f0014-02

Guidolin Coaching High Point But Espo’s Loss Jolts Bruins

CHICAGO&mdash;Both West Division series in the Stanley Cup quarter-finals have been turning out as predicted. The Chicago Black Hawks knocked off St. Louis Blues with little concern for a 3-1 lead on the round. The Philadelphia Flyers and Minnesota North Stars have been fighting all even in a highly interesting playoff likely to last the full seven games.The Black Hawks, who finished 23 points better than the fourth-place Blues in the West, promptly established the trend in the series opener at Chicago Stadium&mdash;the trend of veterans leading the way.Stan Mikita set the pace with a brilliant performance for live assists as the home team chalked up a 7-1 triumph. It wasn&rsquo;t so easy the next night but a couple of veterans did the trick again in a tight 1-0 victory. Lou Angotti tipped in a first-period shot by defenceman Pat Stapleton and Tony Esposito made the goal stand up on 29 saves towards the third playoff shutout of his career.The series shifted to St. Louis Arena and again veteran playoff performers paced the Black Hawks. Ralph Backstrom, in the Stanley Cup showdown for the first time since he left Montreal Canadiens three years ago, scored two goals along with a pair by Jim Pappin as the Hawks won 5-2. However the Blues staved off elimination in the fourth game. Phil Roberto, Fran Huck and Gary Sabourin scored on three straight shots late in the second period while helping St. Louis to a 5-3 victory at the expense of Chicago goalie Gary Smith.The Minnesota &mdash; Philadelphia series became a battle of goaltenders with Cesare Maniago and Doug Favell matching performances.Maniago was brilliant in taking the home ice edge away from the Flyers with a 3-0 shutout in the series opener at the Spectrum. The next night was Favels turn (against the Stars&rsquo; Gilles Gilbert) as Philadelphia came back for a 4-1 victory.Maniago, six-foot-three stringbean, returned when the series shifted to Bloomington and promptly recorded another blanking, 5-0. Not to be outdone, Favell was superb in the fourth contest that squared the series. He pulled off 31 stops and recorded the first playoff shutout of his career in a 3-0 Philadelphia victory.Bobby Clarke, the strong Hart Trophy candidate, got his first goal in 22 playoff periods going back to last year and ended Maniago&rsquo;s shutout streak that covered 138 minutes and 57seconds.The series was expected to be rough and the hardrocks didn&rsquo;t disappoint the fans. There was a scrap or two in each of the first four contests.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04417/3814795-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="256" height="449"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Favell</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0016-04

North Stars, Flyers Likely To Go Limit With Hot Goalers

NEW YORK&mdash;Award money will hit a total of $1,281,000 for NHL regular-season finishes and Stanley Cup playoff bonuses. It&rsquo;s a boost of $315,000 from last season.First place in each division was worth $4,000 a man to the Montreal Canadiens and, Chicago Black Hawks. Second carried $2,000 payoffs with $ 1,250 for third and $750 for fourth.Quarter-final playoff losers will get $2,500 per man while semifinal losers will earn $5,000.The winners&rsquo; shares in the Stanley Cup Final will be $15,000 each with $10,000 shares for the losers.Thus, based on their division championships, if either the Canadiens or the Black Hawks go on to capture the Stanley Cup their total bonus awards will be $19,000.This is an increase of $1,500 per man over last season when the Boston Bruins took the East Division title and the Stanley Cup. &#9632;

Cup Winners To Receive Extra $1,500 From NHL

BUFFALO &mdash;It all depends where you sit in on the Stanley Cup playoffs whether the Rangers or the Sabres have caused the biggest surprise in the quarter-finals.Considering how Montreal ran away with the East Division championship while Buffalo barely struggled past Detroit for the fourth play-off spot, there&rsquo;s Lan element of surprise that the Sabres won a game from the Canadiens.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01774/3814764-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="265" height="441"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ed Giacomin</figcaption></div>But, considering how New York faded so badly in the stretch while Boston came on strong to take second place, it&rsquo;s also startling the Rangers took a commanding 3-1 lead in their quarter-final against the Bruins.The young Sahres, whose fans hoped more for a respectable showing than victory in their first taste of Stanley Cup action, gave it everything they had in the opening contests at Montreal. But in each game they faded after a strong start, bowing 2-1 in the series opener and 7-3 in the second contest. In that second encounter. Montreal&rsquo;s Yvan Cournoyer pulled the hat-trick while Ken Dryden was far more effective in the Habs&rsquo; goal than his brother Dave with the Sabres.The same story prevailed when the series shifted before the thousands of rabid fans at Buffalo&rsquo;s Memorial Auditorium. Again the Sabres started out well and held the Habs even into the middle period. However two Montreal goals 16 seconds apart changed the trend as Canadiens came on to a 52 victory.The writing was on the ice for a swift series exit by the Sabres in the fourth game but someone apparently forgot to tell Buffalo&rsquo;s French Connection Line. Gilbert Perreault, who&rsquo;scored two goals, was outstanding all night. He was to say later how the Sabres felt that, at their best, they could give the Canadiens a battle just as they did during the regular season.His linemates, Rene Robert and Richard Martin also paced the Buffalo barrage of 50 shots on Montreal goalie Ken Dryden. The defence led by rookie Jim Schoenfeld and veteran Tim Horton gave goalie Roger Crozier great protection.Even if the Sabres never won another game in their first invasion of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they made their point with the fans and the Canadiens who, however, were still heavily favored to wind up the series when it moved back to Montreal.While Perreault was the spark of the Sabres, little Yvan Cournoyer emerged as the Canadiens&rsquo; standout with five goals and three assists in four games.The New York &mdash; Boston series proved surprising from the outset. The Rangers, injury-riddled and playing poorly as the regular schedule came to a close, invaded Boston Garden and promptly came away with a convincing 6-2 victory in the series opener. The Bruins gambled and lost on veteran goalie Jacques Plante who was to admit later: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what happened, I just wasn&rsquo;t sharp.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02665/3814757-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="302" height="574"><figcaption class="caption-body">STANLEY CUP &rsquo;73</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03533/3814750-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="1194" height="1745"><figcaption class="caption-body">Veteran center LOU ANGOTTI produced the only goal cf game two to provide Chicago with a 1-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues in their Stanley Cup quarter-final playoff series.</figcaption></div>But while the Rangers&rsquo; opening victory was surprising, it wasn&rsquo;t fluke. They came right back bee at the Bruins and Plante again 1-2 in the second game at Boston And if that setback wasn&rsquo;t enough for the favored Bruins, their hope of recovery in the best-of-seve round appeared finished when they lost scoring champion Ph Esposito in the third period. He suffered a knee injury that reuired surgery and shelved him for the series, causing Bobby Orr admit &ldquo;Without Phil, we&rsquo;re a most dead.&rdquo;Probably the last place Dere Sanderson expected to windup on his return to Boston from Phildelphia of the WHA was replacing Esposito at centre. However the Turk did just that and was tin leader in the third game as tin Bruins won-1-2 at Madison Square Garden. Eddie Johnston, reportedly ticketed for Toronto in the trade for Plante, helped rescuet In Bruins with a fine 35-saves per lormance.But the fourth game, back at Madison Square Garden, gave goalie Ed Giacomin his turn to shine. He pulled off 33 stops to wards a shutout as the Ranger; came up with a 4-0 triumph. &#9632;

f0016-01

Bruins, Sabres Fighting Elimination As Black Hawks Near Clincher West

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05281/3814878-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01667/3814871-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="638" height="3476"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02576/3814864-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="1854" height="1496"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03466/3814857-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="630" height="3328"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04357/3814850-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="1826" height="1727"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hockey News Photo by Robert ShaverThe Buffalo Sabres stayed alive in their Stanley Cup playoff series against Montreal Canadiens when the French Connection Line finally got untracked. Led by spectacular GILBERT PERREAULT, the high-scoring unit clicked in game four after being held in check for thefirst three games.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0017-05

STANLIEY CUP SUMMARIES

<div class="byline">BY JIM HUBER</div>LOUISVIlLE SLGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U. S. and CanadaLOUISVIlLE SLGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U. S. and CanadaATLANTA&mdash;They are scattering to the four winds now, as is the custom with hockey players when their season&rsquo;s jig is danced and nothing is left but next year.What they left behind when the Atlanta Flames began to pack their bags is the story here. Six months ago they attacked this city with a fervor and pleasantly honest force and the Deep South hasn&rsquo;t been the same since. Nor will it ever be the same again. Once the home of chitlin&rsquo;s, corn bread, smooth bourbon and college football par excellence, the south was hardly prepared to withstand the not-so-subtle expansionists.Within hours after that memorable first game on Oct. 14, this city and its suburbs was agog with fascination, curiosity, perhaps just plain old hysteria. It began with curiosity when a capacity house watched history being made that night. No Southerner had ever seen a live major-league hockey game in their back yard before. They had watched the game on television &hellip; sometimes. But the rumors and stories that had spread about this great, brutal, very hypnotic game played by Canadians were enough to bring them out that first night.The Flames finished their first season by drawing more fans than any expansion team in the last four years except Vancouver &mdash; nearly 500,000. The Flames won 25 games and put 65 points beside their name in the standings, both records for post-1967 expansion clubs.Figures and facts are nice when you&rsquo;ve got to fill up space but they don&rsquo;t begin to tell the tale of how hockey overtook a city as ignorant of its wiles and ways as Sydney, Australia might be. Before the Flames, children played in vacant lots with taped bats and day-in, day-out broke Ruth&rsquo;s record before Henry Aaron could get to the plate. After the Flames, they clamored for broken hockey sticks and tried their hand at Bobby Orring instead. Retail sporting goods shops could not stock enough hockey equipment. Once there was only one rink in town, a rather run-down half-sized joint which did little business. Now there are several with nearly a dozen on the drawing boards. Senior teams started to roll, junior teams began. Hockey hysteria hit every possible facet of life in Atlanta.The Flames themselves were taken into the very hearts of their new neighbors. Fan clubs formed. Young girls baked cakes for their favorite&rsquo;s birthday. Elderly matrons swooned over a balding defenseman&rsquo;s virility. Thousands of all ages gathered after every game, the value of a Flame&rsquo;s autograph considerably higher than any other in town.In August, six fans formed a Flame Fan Club. In March, there were 812 dues-paying, flag-waving, red-jacket wearing members. They held meetings every month and 400-plus showed up. They gave trophies and generally made their enthusiasm well-known.The story of the Flames&rsquo; first season, from that memorable first 10-game road trip on which they won five to the sad but expected slide at the end, is well known by now. The stories have been told over and over again.But that tale is nothing like the novel of the Deep South&rsquo;s love affair with the game. During the summer before the first season, an advertising agency made the words &ldquo;The Ice Age Cometh&rdquo; a household phrase. The buildup for Atlanta&rsquo;s initial skate was phenomenal.Well, the Ice Age Cameth. The first hard freeze has begun to melt away now but the seed which was planted last October survived in rather miraculous fashion.You can officially count Atlanta as one of your &ldquo;hockey cities&rdquo; now. &#9632;

Flames Wind Up As No. 2 Draw Among Expansion Teams

<h2>In The East</h2>Yvan Cournoyer says he hasn&rsquo;t fully shed the stomach muscle ailment that bothered him towards the close of the regular season. The swift Montreal right-winger scored 40 goals and 39 assists in 67 games and figures he could have done much better if he hadn&rsquo;t been injured.So playoff foes should be happy that Cournoyer still isn&rsquo;t 100 per cent healthy. After just four games of the Stanley Cup quarter-finals, diminutive Yvan became the playoff player of the week with five goals and three assists. His output included a hat-trick in the Habs&rsquo; convincing 7-3 victory in the second game against Buffalo.Two years ago, Cournoyer connected for 10 goals in 20 playoff contests and played a big part in Canadiens&rsquo; drive to the Stanley Cup. Healthy or not, Montreal fans hope Yvan will do the same this season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01682/3814940-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="536" height="613"><figcaption class="caption-body">YVANCOURNOYER&hellip; Montreal Canadiens</figcaption></div><h2>In The West</h2>Cesare Maniago is getting to be like good wine. The older he gets and the longer he plays the better the stringbean goaltender seems to perform.Through the regular season, after ageless Gump Worsley was injured and then retired, Maniago became the anchor that kept the Minnesota North Stars in the thick of the West Division race. He wound up playing 47 games and worked a 2.89 average while posting 21 victories and five shutouts.Now the 34-year-old native of Trail, B.C. is back in grand form as leading goaltender in the playoffs while the North Stars and Philadelphia Flyers are all even. Maniago posted shutouts in both the first and third games of the series and a 3-0 setback in the fourth contest left him with an impressive 1.00 goals-against average. His goaltending could be the key factor in the North Stars&rsquo; chances of going the limit towards the coveted Stanley Cup.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02546/3814933-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="545" height="540"><figcaption class="caption-body">CESARE MANIAGO&hellip; Minnesota North Stars</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0018-01

⋆Player’s of the week⋆

<div class="byline">BY GILSMITH</div>MONTREAL &mdash;Henri Richard has gone into the current Cup rounds just 14 games away from a record.The Pocket Rocket needs that many games to surpass the mark of the retired Red Kelly, whose 164 playoff games are the most ever engaged in by an NHL player. Henri&rsquo;s total is 151.Richard, 37, has completed his 18th NHL campaign and is embarking on his 16th year in p1ayoffs. He missed one back in 1961-62 with an injury&rsquo; and sat out the 1970 post-season rounds along with his teammates, when the Habs tailed to earn a playoff berth.Henri is currently No.4 on the list of those with most playoff contests to their credit. However, the three players ahead of him have all retired.Besides Kelly, who bowed out as a player in 1966-67 after 20 years in the NHL, there is Jean Beliveau and Gordie Howe. Beliveau, at the moment, ranks as second-highest player in the matter of playoff contests appeared in. He played in 162 or them. Heretiredin 1970-71.Gordie Howe, who suffered through some lean years with Detroit Red Wings, appeared in 154 playoff games before retiring the same time as Beliveau.If Henri stays healthy even through the first round of the present Cup series, he&rsquo;ll pass Howe and move into the No.3 spot.Only Beliveau has more postseason games to his credit than Henri on the Canadiens team, going back to its beginnings. Maurice Richard, illustrious elder brother of Henri, played in 133 playoff contests; some 20 less than his kid brother now has.Goalwise, Henri has a bit of catching up to do with regard to some of the retired greats. His 40 playoff markers look to be a bit thin beside the Rocket&rsquo;s record 82, Beliveau&rsquo;s 79 and Howe&rsquo;s67.However, there&rsquo;s a competition looming between Henri and Frank Mahovlich for top playoff scoring amoung present Habs in the matter of goals. The score is 41-40 for Frank as the present series gets underway.Pointwise, it&rsquo;s a different story. Henri has 72 playoff assists for a total points figure of 112. The &lsquo;Big M&rsquo; has 51 assists for a total of 92 points.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01653/3814971-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="274" height="456"><figcaption class="caption-body">Henri Richard</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0019-01

Richard Eyes Record For Playoff Games

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02540/3815002-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="749" height="674"></div> &#9632;

f0019-02

Stanley Cup Scoreboard

<div class="byline">By HARRY KLAFF</div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;&ldquo;A lot of different players are going to wear an Islander uniform this year.&rdquo; promised General Manager Bill Torrey at a press conference last summer. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to be looking for any deal that can help this club.&rdquo;The bow-tied Torrey kept his word as he engineered no less I than seven I trades during the course of his team&rsquo;s first year on ice. It is to his credit that almost all of them worked out to his benefit.Perhaps the best trade that Bill made was one that never came about. Ever since last June&rsquo;s expansion draft, rival G.M.&rsquo;s have approached Torrey with Cheshire Cat grins offering to help him out. They weren&rsquo;t asking much for a couple of veteran hockey players &mdash; just the Islanders&rsquo; No. 1 pick in the 1973 amnateur lottery.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02366/3815040-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="193" height="300"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jean Potvin</figcaption></div>&ldquo;If there&rsquo;s one thing I won&rsquo;t do, it&rsquo;s trade my draft picks,&rdquo; he said on many occasions. &ldquo;The only way to build an expansion club is to hang on to those top choices. Look at how far Buffalo has come with three good drafts.&rdquo;Despite a growing restlessness among the spectators at midseason when the Islanders were really at low ebb, Torrey stood firm. As a result, his number one pick this June should be Denis Potvin, the high-scoring defenseman of the Ottawa 67s. Incidentally, if the Islanders had somehow beaten out the California Golden Seals, the Montreal Canadiens would have wound up with Potvin. The Seals had dealt their top pick to the Habs earlier.Torrey was busy right from the start as he tried to complement his somewhat flimsy starting roster. Shortly after the June draft he purchased left wing Germain Gagnon from the Canadiens. A lifelong minor leaguer, Gagnon played well for the Islanders and might have had a shot at twenty goals had it not been for a broken ankle suffered at mid-season.In September Torrey found the St. Louis Blues willing to give up forwards Brian Lavender and Dave Pulkkinen for cash. Pulkkinen turned out to be the New Haven Nighthawks&rsquo; leading scorer and is rated as a good shot to make the NHL next season. Lavender wound up being sent to Detroit as part of a better deal in January.If there was one thing the Islanders had plenty of when training camp opened at Peterborough, Ont. last September, it was goaltenders. Denis DeJordy was expected to back up Gerry Desjardins, but young Billy Smith played so well in camp, one of the front-liners became expendable.Consequently, Torrey dealt DeJordy to Detroit for defenseman Arnie Brown and goalie Gerry Gray just before the season opened. Torrey made the right choice by sending Dejordy, as the former Chicago Black Hawk star never regained his touch. National TV viewers will remember that it was DeJordy who fanned on a late Bruins the Wings a valuable point in their battle for a playoff spot.A minor November deal brought veteran Ron Stewart to the Islanders from the Rangers, but Stewie played little after missing two months with a shoulder separation. Stewart was rumored to be returning to Broadway at the trading deadline for the stretch drive, but nothing materialized.Probably the best exchange of the year took place in midJanuary when the Islanders swapped defenseman Ken Murray and Brian Lavender to Detroit for center Ralph Stewart and right wing Bob Cook. The deal seems especially lucrative in that Lavender and Murray had done little in the league, Stewart, on the other hand, was the Central League&rsquo;s leading scorer, and Cook was a proven minor league talent. The new Islanders played well the rest of the way, with Cook&rsquo;s highlight being a hat trick against Vancouver.On Feb. 13, Torrey made many Islander fans happy by unloading Arnie Brown to Atlanta for Ernie Hicke. This too, seems like a steal as Hicke was the Flames&rsquo; second leading scorer at the time of the deal and Brown was in the doghouse. Arnie wasn&rsquo;t exactly pleased when he learned that he was returning to New York in October and his play showed it. The Ians were reciprocal as they pelted the former Ranger with jeers and banners. Hicke buchered his knee in his first game as an Islander, but should be an important member of the cast next season.As the March 4 trading deadline approached, it appeared that the Islanders would stand firm, but Torrey managed to complete his last gem at the wire. Terry Crisp was sent to Philadelphia in exchange for defenseman Jean Potvin, who just happens to be the brother of the Isles&rsquo; potential No.1 draft pick. Potvin quickly became one of New York&rsquo;s top defensemen.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01500/3815033-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="213" height="219"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILL TORREY</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0020-02

Torrey Made Seven Trades

LONG ISLAND&mdash;&ldquo;That guy just played so well he almost singlehandedly knocked us out of the playoffs.&rdquo; said Buffalo Sabres coach Joe Crozier. Veteran defenseman Tim Horton added, &ldquo;That kid is unbelievable. He had three players hanging on to him and he still set up their first goal.&rdquo;That &ldquo;kid&rdquo; is 21-year-old right wing Bill Harris &mdash; who posted 10 goals in the last 15 games for the Islanders. Overall, Harris had 28 goals and 22 assists for 50 points over the regular season schedule.Said Derek Sanderson, the 1968 recipient of the Calder Memorial Trophy. &ldquo;I feel sorry for Billy, he&rsquo;s one of the best I&rsquo;ve seen in a long time. If he&rsquo;d been a center like Sheppard, he could do things on his own, but as a winger, he has to wait for his centers to get him the puck. Who does play center for Harris?&rdquo;Though Harris has meant more to the Islanders than any other rookie has to his team. 81.5% of his 28 goals are deemed as &lsquo;important&rsquo; by the NHL Statistical Bureau and 70.3% of his 50 points are also considered in the same category.Part of the reason Harris&rsquo; name has been omitted on several Rookie-of-the Year lists is because of the inexperience of his team-mates and in particular, his centers. Prior to the start of this season, the grand total of combined NHL experience garnered by his four different centers amounts to just 29 games.The biggest obstacle that Harris had to overcome this season was thathedidn&rsquo;t have any other teammates to make him look better. In Philadelphia, rookie candidate Bill Barber plays on a line with Bobby Clarke. In Boston, Greg Sheppard plays on the team with the incomparable Bobby Orr while in New York, Steve Vickers plays on a line with Walt Tkaczuk and Bill Fairbairn. But as Los Angeles Kings coach Bob Pullford said, &ldquo;If they (Islanders) get any more like Harris, it won&rsquo;t take them long to be very good&rdquo;. &#9632;

Harris Standout Rookie For Lowly Islanders

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01341/3815095-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0021-01

FABULOUS HOCKEY MEMENTO

<div class="byline">BY HAL SIGURDSON</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;Vancouver Canucks began their 1972-73 National Hockey League season with a dispute between coach Vic Stasiuk and goaltender Dune Wilson.They ended it the same way.Wilson, suspended for breaking curlew on the eve of Vancouver&rsquo;s first exhibition game last fall, was again in the eye of the hurricane in the season&rsquo;s finale, a 6-3 loss to the Kings in Los Angeles.Halfway through the second period Stasiuk ordered him to take over in goal from rookie Dave McLelland. Wilson declined, not necessarily with thanks.Since then acting general manager Hal Laycoe has termed the closing incident an &ldquo;internal matter,&rdquo; saying it was &ldquo;well taken care of.&rdquo; He didn&rsquo;t elaborate.Between the two confrontations with Wilson, the season produced a lot of heartaches for Stasiuk, but a few encouraging signs, too.At season&rsquo;s end, he talked about both.&ldquo;What this club needs most,&rdquo; he said,&rdquo; is someone to take over as leader in the physical sense. Whether it&rsquo;s a defenseman or a winger doesn&rsquo;t really matter so long as it&rsquo;s there for the rest to follow&hellip;to look up to.&ldquo;The entire club has to tighten up defensively. Overall, the players are going to have to tighten up and play the way the coach &mdash; whether it be me or someone else &mdash; wants them to, not the way they want to. Doing your own thing is fine up to a point, but it has tc be confined within the framework of what&rsquo;s best for the club.&ldquo;There has to be co-operation between the players and the coach. Without co-operation, the coach is strapped. The team will just keep going through coaches. Sure, there&rsquo;s apt to be a conflict of feelings from time to time, but the co-operative effort has to be there, or&hellip;&rdquo;Stasiuk left the sentence dangling.Returning to the physical leadership aspect, Stasiuk said he didn&rsquo;t know whether or not it is a commodity that will be available in next June&rsquo;s amateur draft. He notes however, that Buffalo acquired it there when they drafted rookie defenceman Jim Schoenfeld.He believes it&rsquo;s a matter to which Vancouver&rsquo;s scouting staff and new general manager (when he&rsquo;s hired) should pay close attention.&ldquo;Should you draft strictly on the basis of who has the best record,&rdquo; he wondered, &ldquo;or do you try to fill Vancouver&rsquo;s specific requirements?&rdquo;As an example, he suggested the relative merits of Lanny McDonald, a brilliant skating, high-scoring right winger with the Medicine Hat Tigers and Blaine Stoughton,&rsquo; a hard-nosed (and high scoring) right winger with the Flin Flon Bombers be carefully weighed next June.Stasiuk then turned his attention to various players on his own team and offered some of the following comments.Dune Wilson: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a helluva goalie &mdash; when he wants to be. But his attitude right from Day One has left something to be desired. I think I can understand some of the stress a goaltender has to face, but he still has to be co-operative in practice and in his relationship with the other players.&rdquo;Dale Tallon: &ldquo;In the last month he&rsquo;s shown me he can be a major league defenseman (Stasiuk has often suggested Tallon would make a better center), but if he wants to satisfy his desire to play like a Bobby Orr he has to be prepared to toughen up on his physical fitness. Otherwise, he has to be a centerman. He has all the tools to be a clever centerman. Chicago is interested in trading for him and I would guess they want him to play center.&rdquo;Bobby Lalonde: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of our more complete players except for size. He made a fine transition from center to right wing. He was really coming on at the end of the season.&rdquo;Don Lever: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a big future plus no matter what position he plays, but I&rsquo;ve often wished I could have given him a thorough trial on the wing.&rsquo; Early in the season we decided that since he made his reputation in junior as a center that&rsquo;s where he should play, but was it the right decision? It Kurt (center Orland Kurtenbach) hadn&rsquo;t got sick, I&rsquo;m sure I would have tried him at wing. But no matter. He&rsquo;s going to be a good player no matter what the position. He had a terrible plus-minus record for the first couple months, but since December he&rsquo;; been about even or maybe a plus.&rdquo; Disappointments? Stasiuk mentioned his numerous confrontations with players and a gal bladder problem that robbed the team of Kurtenbach&rsquo;s services for most of the season.&ldquo;You can only wonder what would have happened if Kurt hat been able to play for us the whole season the way he played the las month,&rdquo; he said.Under the heading of things that pleased him, he cited the club&rsquo; performance in the last month.&ldquo;Some of it may just have been out-of-the-playoffs looseness,&rdquo; he conceded, &ldquo;but just the same were playing a co-ordinated game. We seemed to get some of the team character I&rsquo;d been looking for all season. Our four regular defensemen (Tallon, Josh Guevremont Barry Wilkins and Dennis Kearns) came along just beautifully.&rdquo;On his return next year, he says at this stage he just doesn&rsquo;t know, but he&rsquo;d like to be back.I&rsquo;d like to be a successful coach.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think I learned a lot of things this season.&rdquo;CANUCK CAPERS: The club has signed Lalonde and Richard Lemieux, his almost equally small linemate, to three year contracts&hellip; Lemieux was third highest scorer on the club (behind Bobby Schmautz and Andre Boudrias) and Lalonde fourth&hellip; Vice-president Lyman Walters has been acquitted by directed verdict on a charge of issuing a false prospectus&hellip; The trial president Tom Scallen on charges of theft of $3 million and issuing a false prospectus continues&hellip; The club has also signed Boston University grad David Wiesner, 22, a five-foot-10, 180-pound left winger.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01372/3815126-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="358" height="434"><figcaption class="caption-body">DUNC WILSON &hellip; At Odds With Coach</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Canucks Need Physical Leader Most Says Stasiuk Vancouver

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02282/3815157-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg"></div>American Airlines now has 120 lines and 54 dots.And since one of those dots is Toronto, the other 53 are utterly simple to get to.For example:We fly to New York seven times each day from Toronto.And, by the way, we land at La Guardia, not Kennedy. So you&rsquo;re half an hour and about four dollars cab fare closer to downtown Manhattan.You can even make some hot connections in New York. To some of our warmest dots.Like St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands and San Juan in Puerto Rico.Chicago is also easy to get to. We fly there four times a day from here. We call it our Gateway. Be-cause it&rsquo;s also easy to get out of.We&rsquo;ve connecting flights to practically any dot on the map.From Toronto we can fly you one-stop to San Francisco, or Los Angeles. (From there you can catch a flight to sunny San Diego or balmy Palm Springs.)More? Hawaii. American Samoa. New Zealand. Fiji. Mexico City. Acapulco. Australia.And you never have to fuss with luggage.You put it on the plane in Toronto. And forget about it until you get where you&rsquo;re going.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.We&rsquo;ll make sure you get the best of everything.All along the lines.American AirlinesOur passengers get the best of everything. &#9632;

f0022-02

American proudly presents all its lines and dots.

<div class="byline">BY GEOFFREY FISHER</div>OAKLAND &mdash;Not even his worst enemy would deny Fredrick Austin (No Kid) (Hover his moment of gratification that the 1972-73 National Hockey League season had finally come to an end for the California Holden Seals.From his earliest days as a professional player back with the Indianapolis Capitols of the American Hockey League some 25 years ago, through 16 star-studded years as a brilliant right wing with the Cleveland Barons, through several excursions in the NHL, and finally his NHL coaching career. Glover has never encountered the trials and tribulations he had to face in the season just concluded.He began the season as an executive with the Cleveland Crusaders of the WHA, three weeks later packed his bags, said goodbye to Crusader owner Nick Mileti, and took over as executive vice-president of the Seals, the club that had fired him a year earlier.His coach with the Seals was Gary Young, the man who had sent him packing the previous season when Young was general manager.The season was less than six weeks old when Young resigned in a flurry of charges and counter charges leveled by Seals owner Charles Finley who accused young of deception in player contracts.Overnight, Glover found himself holding three jobs with the Seals, executive vice-president, general manager and so-called &ldquo;interim coach&rdquo;.The only trouble with that last title was that the &ldquo;interim&rdquo; proved to be something that lasted all season. It marked Glover, one of the toughest little forwards to ever pull on a pair of hockey skates, as the most overworked executive in the entire modern history of the NHL.Besides being fully responsible for all the pressure-packed duties that go with the jobs of executive vice-president and general manager, Glover was a full-time coach, an executive who spent his time on the ice instead of in an office swivel chair.Also inheriting a club that had lost its finest players to the WHA. Glover had to contend with a series of near player revolts over burning dissatisfactions with the policies or lack of policies, of owner Finley.Against that dismal backdrop, the job that Glover did in holding his squad of mostly raw rookies together probably rates him for some special NHL award that hasn&rsquo;t even been created.The Seals finished a poor last in the Western Division with 48 points but the squad of youngsters, averaging among the youngest in the NHL, showed periodic flashes of great potential.They skated all-out down to the final horn and swept through to victories in their last four games, rocking Toronto, Detroit and playoff-hungry Los Angeles twice to eliminate the Kings from the postseason series.When it was all over, there was champagne in the dressing room. It wasn&rsquo;t the scene of a loser, not quite the setting of a winner, but there was that proud climate of a bunch of youngsters that knew they had carved their niche.While there was wide speculation that Finley might not be the owner of the Seals come next season, there was strong indication that most of these Seals would be back in the gold and kelly green unforms when the next bell rang in September.Glover said he had talked to all hands about contracts. The offers were acclaimed by several players as far more enticing than they had anticipated.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01350/3815188-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="454" height="499"><figcaption class="caption-body">FRED GLOVER &hellip; It was trying hockey season</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0023-01

Longest Season Ends And Clover Crateful

PHILADELPHIA &mdash;Problems with NHL rebels have plagued Philadelphia Blazers right into the playoffs. They have lost goalie Bernie Parent and all three games of their best-of-seven quarter final against Cleveland Crusaders.The Blazers, who suffered a nightmare with Derek Sanderson before letting him go back to Boston, were hit again before the second game of their playoffs when Parent walked out because of a contract dispute. The goalie, on a five-year $750,000 deal, claimed the club hadn&rsquo;t deposited the last $100,000 insurance on his salary, and was advised by his lawyer not to play until the Blazers did so.As a result, Philadelphia ran up against it in the playoff series. After losing a tough 3-2 verdict with Parent in goal for the first game, the Blazers were trounced 7-1 with Marcel Paille and Yves Archambault between the pipes. They played in 58 straight games before quitting the club.New England Whalers also took a commanding lead in their quarter-final as they defeated Ottawa Nationals 6-3 and then 4-3 in shifting to Toronto&rsquo;s Maple Leaf Gardens where the Nationals have moved from Ottawa for all their playoff games.In the WHA&rsquo;s West Division playoffs, playing coach Bobby Hull&rsquo;s Winnipeg Jets had a 2-0 lead over Minnesota Fighting Saints. The Jets used their home ice advantage to chalk up 3-1 and 5-2 victories before the best-of-seven round moved to St. Paul Civic Center for the third and fourth contest.The other series was deadlocked with Houston Aeros trouncing Los Angeles 7-2 in the first game but the Sharks coming back for a 4-2 win at Sam Houston Coliseum.Besides the loss of Parent, a factor in the Blazers&rsquo; playoff downfall has been a lack of scoring punch.Philadelphia coach Johnny McKenzie pointed to the statistics. Andre Lacroix, who led the WHA with 124 points, Danny Lawson, a 106-point man, and McKenzie, himself with 78 during the schedule, have managed only one point in the three playoff games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03198/3815250-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="553" height="581"><figcaption class="caption-body">BERNIE PARENT&hellip; Jumped Blazers</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0024-03

Parent Walks Out On Blazers As Crusaders Take 3-0 Lead

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02282/3815281-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="251" height="1257"></div> &#9632;

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WHA Playoffs

<div class="byline">BY ALEX HARDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01360/3815219-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="258" height="436"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chris Bordeleau</figcaption></div>WINNIPEG&mdash;Interest in the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s first-ever playoffs is excellent throughout North America.It comes on the heels of a highly successful regular schedule in which the image of the new league improved with every game as crowds grew, the hockey got better and competition was un believably close, Some people felt the image was tarnished when league president Gary Davidson&rsquo;s directive which gave Alberta Oilers fourth place in the West over Minnesota Fighting Saints on the basis of their superior record against teams in their own division (the two clubs were tied everywhere else) was overruled by the league governors.It went contrary to the league by-laws, which ironically was the work of the two teams involved (Minnesota&rsquo;s Glen Sonmor moved it and Alberta&rsquo;s Bill Hunter seconded the motion last summer).However, the ensuing sudden death playoff on neutral ice at Calgary, Alberta, which Minnesota ultimately won 4-2, generated tremendous interest among hockey fans. The extra-game showdown thus proved to be a good move.Parity was the big drawing feature of the WHA, and was expected to carry over into the play offs. New England Whalers, East regular season champions, an generally rated to have the best talent in the league. But their first-round opponents. Ottawa (now Ontario) Nationals, finished strongly. Philadelphia and Cleveland were expected to be nip-and-tuck in the other East semi-final.In the West. Winnipeg was favored although lets slumped near the end. Part of that was doubtless due to having clinched first place. Houston was a slim favorite over Los Angeles, largely because of home-ice advantage and more experienced personnel.WINNIPEG: Jets boosted their average home attendance to past the 6.000 mark with a good-drawing last half, and playoff crowds were even better. Jets were counting heavily on the Bobby Hull &mdash; Chris Bordeleau&mdash; Norm Beaudin line in the playoffs. The line scored more than 300 points during the regular season. Hull finished with 51 goals to lead the West. Bordeleau with 47 was No. 2. Winnipeg was also counting on its excellent power play (second best in the West) and good penalty killing unit (also second best).HOUSTON: Ted Taylor finished the season with a bang and was being looked to along with another veteran. Gord Labossiere to provide the stability and scoring punch to get Aeros to the top in the West. Together, Labossiere and Taylor accounted for a full one-quarter of Houston&rsquo;s regular season goal output.LOS ANGELES: Sharks, who were the second most penalized team in the West, were resting mich of their playoff hopes on their top-flight penalty killing unit. Coach Terry Slater was especially looking to shorthanded experts Tommy Serviss and veteran led McCaskill plus various sets of defensemen. Serviss. nicknamed the &ldquo;People&rsquo;s Choice&rdquo; because his man-in-motion, hustling style has captured the imagination of Shark fans, scored three goals during the season while his team was a man short.ALBERTA: Oilers&rsquo; general manager Bill Hunter was understandably hot at having to play a sudden-death game for fourth place after thinking his club was in, hut the Alberta players voted unanimously to play the game. One thing that helped sway the players was the extra money to he made from the playoff. Oilers&rsquo; winger Billy Hicke, president &lsquo;the WHA Players&rsquo; Association, says players on both Alberta and Minnesota got a good share of receipts from the sudden-death game.MINNESOTA: Smart thinking by Saints&rsquo; executives got them their sudden-death playoff with Alberta when it appeared they were out after losing the final game of the regular schedule to Oilers. Saints claimed league president Gary Davidson couldn&rsquo;t change the bylaws of the WHA. that any change had to be by a vote of the governors. They ruled Saints were correct after a hectic two days of telephone conversations.CHICAGO: It was an early summer for Cougars, but a gratifying one for left-winger Rick Morris who was named &ldquo;Cougar of the Month&rdquo; for the last month of the season. &ldquo;Several years ago I almost quit pro hockey, but this award makes me glad I stuck around.&rdquo; Meanwhile, Cougar farm hand Dave Walter appears a good prospect for regular employment with the WHA club next season after finishing second in rookie of the year polling in the Eastern League. The sandy-haired centerman scored 108 points for Rhode Island. &#9632;

f0024-01

Minnesota Wins Extra Playoff As Jets Favored To Take West

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-04120/3815371-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="648" height="2626"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-05101/3815364-1-eng-US/f0025-052.jpg" title="f0025-05" width="1880" height="1471"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0683/3815357-1-eng-US/f0025-062.jpg" title="f0025-06" width="623" height="2611"></div> &#9632;

f0025-04

Final World Hotkey Assotiation Statistics

PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Andre Lacroix of the Philadelphia Blazers had been the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s leading scorer only one week all season. But in his case, once was enough. And worth $4,000.After waging a two-man battle with New York&rsquo;s Ron Ward for the league&rsquo;s point-getting championship through the second half of the season.Lacroix emerged victorious. Ward had held or shared the lead for 19 straight weeks. Lacroix scored 50 goals and 74 assists for 124 points to win the $4,000 awarded by the WHA to its scoring leader. Ward was second with 51 goals and 67 assists for 118 points. Danny Lawson, the WHA&rsquo;s leading goal-scorer with 61 and Lacroix&rsquo;s mate on the Blazers&rsquo; &ldquo;Fire Line,&rdquo; was third with 106 points.The WHA recorded eight 100-point scorers. Lacroix had 124, Ward 118, Lawson 106, New England&rsquo;s Tom Webster 103, Winnipeg&rsquo;s Bobby Hull 103, Winnipeg&rsquo;s Norm Beaudin 103, Winnipeg&rsquo;s Chris Bordeleau 101 and New England&rsquo;s Terry Caffery 100.Hull, Beaudin and Bordeleau are the first line in major league history to score 300 points with each member contributing 100 or more points.Five players scored 50 or more goals. Lawson had 61, Webster ad 53, Hull and Ward 51 each and Lacroix 50.Quebec&rsquo;s J.C. Tremblay won the assist title with 75&rsquo; and was the WHA&rsquo;s highest scoring defenseman with 89 points.Houston&rsquo;s John Schella, with 239 minutes, won the most-penalized player title. He was the only WHA player with more than 200 penalty minutes charged against him. Tom Gilmore of Los Angeles was second with 191.The Cleveland tandem of Gerry Cheevers and Bob Whidden won the WHA goaltending award (also $4,000) by allowing only 237 goals against them.Cheevers had a 2.83 goals against average and a 11.37 goals allowed frequency. He also led the league in shutouts with five.Bernie Parent, Philadelphia&rsquo;s ironman, recorded the most victories (33) and finished the season by appearing in 57 consecutive games. Cheevers had 32 victories and Al Smith of New England logged 31. Winnipeg&rsquo;s Joe Daley had the best percentage among goaltenders, winning 17, losing 10 and tying game for a .625 mark.Jack Norris of Alberta saw the most action in goal, appearing in 64 of his team&rsquo;s 78 games and getting 3,705 minutes of net time.In other categories, Lacroix had the most game-winning goals (11). Lawson had the most power play goals (20) and Bob Dillabough of Cleveland, Terry Ryan of Minnesota and Harrison tied for honors with the most shorthanded goals (6). &#9632;

Lacroix ‘Stole’ Scoring Title

<div class="byline">BY WALT BURROWS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01305/3815326-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="254" height="431"><figcaption class="caption-body">John McKenzie</figcaption></div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;It was just like Christmas Day. The Philadelphia Blazers jumped up and down like a bunch of kids.The team had clinched a playoff berth in the World Hockey Association Eastern Division, Andre Lacroix had won the individual scoring championship and Danny Lawson had scored his 60th goal.All that happened on March 31. And it turned the Blazers&rsquo; dressing room into pandamomium.&ldquo;Nobody believed we could do it,&rdquo; said playing coach John McKenzie, &ldquo;but we&rsquo;ve got a good hockey club. It took us a while to get straightened out, but once we did, I think we played as well as anyone.&rdquo;Lacroix trailed New York&rsquo;s Ron Ward for the scoring title most of the season, but closed with such a rush that he left the Raiders&rsquo; ace in his wake. Andre, needing a point to tie Ron with two games to play, broke out with four to take a 121118 lead. Lacroix added three the final night to finish with 124 points.&ldquo;I was nervous,&rdquo; admitted Lacroix, &ldquo;I was up at 6 a.m., I couldn&rsquo;t sleep. It was just the pressure of the playoff possibility and the opportunity I had of winning the point title.&rdquo;To Lacroix, it also meant an $8,000 bonus. The WHA rewards the top scorer with a $4,000 prize and the Blazers matched the amount for their high scoring center iceman.Lawson carved his name in the record books by picking up his sixth three-goal hat trick of the season in the 5-1 conquest of Chicago.&ldquo;It was a great load off my mind,&rdquo; admitted Lawson, who becomes only the second player in history to score 60 goals during the regular season in a major league. Phil Esposito turned the trick twice. Alain &ldquo;Boom-Boom&rdquo; Caron scored 77 goals in the Central League in 1963. Caron recently completed the season with Quebec.&ldquo;I think sub-consciously I was pressing,&rdquo; Lawson said. &ldquo;I know it&rsquo;s certainly a milestone in my career. It feels so great, we made the playoffs, Andre won the scoring championship and I got my 60th goal.&ldquo;But most importantly, we achieved our goal. That was to make the playoffs. A lot of people throught we couldn&rsquo;t do it when we fell so far behind, but we kept faith in ourselves.&rdquo;Goalie Bernie Parent summed it up best. &ldquo;No money can buy the feeling we have now.&rdquo; he said.Lawson came back the following night to score his 61st goal, the winning one as the Blazers raillied to defeat Winnipeg, 4-2, and clinch third place.The Blazers took a three-game winning streak into the WHA playoff series.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02225/3815319-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="528" height="540"><figcaption class="caption-body">GERRY CHEEVERS&hellip;Shutout King</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03154/3815312-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="545" height="540"><figcaption class="caption-body">J.C. TREMBLAY&hellip;Top Playmaker</figcaption></div>NEW ENGLAND: The Whalers ended their season on a winning note as Tom &ldquo;Hawkeye&rdquo; Webster scored a hat trick and ran his seasonal goal count to 53 as Quebec fell, 8-3. The Whalers, coasting after having sewed up first place, bowed to Cleveland and Ottawa in the final week, as coach Jack Kelley began preparing for the playoffs. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re at full strength and ready to go,&rdquo; Kelley said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a week layoff before we start the series with Ottawa because of the Boston Garden availability. Both clubs should be well rested and we&rsquo;ve done well every time we&rsquo;ve had a break in the scheduled.&rdquo;CLEVELAND: Bill Needham&rsquo;s crew will take the hottest streak into the playoffs. The Crusaders won their last five games of the regular season including a revengeful spanking of the Whalers. Cleveland scored four goals in the final 10 minutes to beat New England as Rich Pumple, Gary Jarrett, Skip Krake, who sat out fourth months of the season with a broken leg, and Jim Wiste scored the goals. Ron Buchanan scored his 42nd goal as the Crusaders downed Houston, 4-2; defenseman Ralph Hopiavuori scored a goal and an assist in a 4-2 jolting of Ottawa and Cleveland wrapped up its campaign with a 5-1 nod over the visiting Chicago Cougars.OTTAWA: The fast closing Nationals ran out of time and gas in their bid to finish third, dropping the season&rsquo;s last two games to Cleveland and Houston. A victory in each game would have given coach Bill Harris; surprising skaters the third position. Gavin Kirk scored a three-goal hat trick to propel Ottawa past New England, 5-2. He also scored twice as the Nationals thumped Minnesota, 6-1. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re at our peak now,&rdquo; said Harris, describing the play of his Ottawa skaters. &ldquo;And anything can happen in a short series. We&rsquo;ve play tough against New England. It should be interesting.&rdquo;QUEBEC: The Nordiques went down fighting, bowing out on the next to last game of the season, even though winning it over Houston, 5-1. &ldquo;Boom-Boom Caron scored his 38th and 39th goals as Quebec downed Minnesota, 5-3, and in a wild, penalty-filled contest the Nordiques lost a biggie to Alberta, 5-4. The third period of the Oilers&rsquo; game saw everything from brawling to a penalty shot in which the Nordiques, Reynald Leclerc scored his 25th goal after an Alberta player jumped and held a puck in his own goal crease. Quebec also defeated the Oilers, 5-4, as J.C. Tremblay scored assists on each of the five Nordique goals. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re evaluating our entire program,&rdquo; said coach Maurice Filion, after his team just missed the playoffs. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got ideas on improvement, but were going to wait until after the playoffs.&rdquo;NEW YORK: Raiders dropped last four games on road, losing any opportunity of making playoffs as Houston, Winnipeg, Minnesota and New England turned the tide. Brooklyn Judge ruled the Raiders the right to play in Nassau County Coliseum had they made the playoffs, but that was proved unnecessary. New owners were expected to be announced shortly. &#9632;

f0025-01

Bonuses, Playoff Berth Overwhelm Blazers

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01311/3815440-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="266" height="351"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02254/3815433-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="495" height="1033"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03214/3815426-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="577" height="1567"></div> &#9632;

f0026-01

World Hockey Association Summaries Playoff

LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01291/3815471-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="304" height="950"></div> &#9632;

f0027-01

AHL PLAYOFFS

<div class="byline">BY GREG FARLEY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03169/3815509-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="247" height="436"><figcaption class="caption-body">Phil Hoene</figcaption></div>PROVIDENCE&mdash;Despite a strong showing (3-3-2) in their season series, the Reds entered their quarter-final showdown with the relentless Nova Scotia Voyageurs as decided underdogs.More than any other area, the Reds appeared to be hopelessly outclassed in experience, but as Rangers&rsquo; foreman Emile Francis remarked following Providence &rsquo; s torrid March clip, &ldquo;the Reds got hot at the right time, just before the playoffs, and such momentum could carry them a long way in the Calder Cup playoffs.&rdquo;Throwing out a 12-2 drubbing inflicted by the Swords in Cincinnati (extending Providence&rsquo;s winless skein against the Ohioans to two years), the rampaging Reds posted a 9-2-1 slate in the season&rsquo;s final month, surrendering a paltry 20 goals during that stretch.Most significant were a 3-1 win and a 0-0 stalemate in two Civic Center mettings with &lsquo;Scotia, highlighted by the brilliant goalkeeping of Wayne Wood, who overshadowed Vees&rsquo; All Star backstop &lsquo;Bunny&rsquo; Larocque on both occasions.Reds&rsquo; gen. mgr. -coach Larry Popein, understandably concerned about thwarting the Voyageurs&rsquo; overwhelming top line of Tony Featherstone, Morris Stefaniw and Yvon Lambert, agreed that a hot goaltender could turn things around for his club:&ldquo;We certainly have a shot if Wayne continues to play like he did in March,&rdquo; theorized Popein. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re loaded at every position, but a goalie with a hot hand can make all the difference in the world.&rdquo;Larry has been around long enough to know that anything can happen in a short series.SPRINGFIELD: Kings&rsquo; goal keepers failed to post a single shutout, joining the New Haven not minders in that dubious distinction department &hellip; Only Baltimore (5-29-4) managed a worse road record than the Kings (5-258) but not by much &hellip; Phil Hoene was a runaway winner of team scoring laurels and his 36 goals and 44 assists earned him 10th spot in the league point race.BOSTON: The loss of high-scoring All Star winger Ron Anderson cast a shroud over the Braves&rsquo; Calder Cup hopes.&ldquo;Andy was our bread-and-butter man this year,&rdquo; admitted player-coach Matt Ravlich,&rdquo; and we&rsquo;re obviously going to miss him, but we&rsquo;re not conceding the Calder Cup to anyone by a longshot.&ldquo;Last year we lost Garry Peters for an extended period and a lot of people expected us to fold, but instead the team pulled together and played its best hockey of the year. We know we&rsquo;ve got our hands full with Rochester, and we realize there are some guys on their club who&rsquo;d love to put us out of the playoffs.&ldquo;But we&rsquo;ve got a lot of pride on this team, and we&rsquo;re not going to throw in the towel without a fight.&rdquo;Chris Oddleifson was the latest addition to the Braves&rsquo; casualty list, but medics were optimistic he&rsquo;d be ready for at least part-time service.NEW HAVEN: Final Night hawks attendance figure was 179, 469 for the 38 home games, an average of just over 4,700 per game &hellip; Dave Pulkkinen emerged as the first Nighthawk team scoring champion with his 25 goals and 41 assists &hellip; Hawks posted identical home-away marks of 820-10.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02232/3815502-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="272" height="255"><figcaption class="caption-body">WAYNE WOOD&hellip; Can He stay Hot?</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0027-03

Reds Pin Hopes On Goater; Hoene Tops For Lowly Kings

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-04130/3815540-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0027-04

Looking At AHL Lenders

<div class="byline">BY JOHN TRAVERS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02202/3815606-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="307" height="374"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB MURRAY&hellip; Nova Scotia Defense</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01277/3815613-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="226" height="295"><figcaption class="caption-body">MICHEL LAROCQUE&hellip; Nova Scotia Goal</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03151/3815599-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="305" height="381"><figcaption class="caption-body">RAY McKAY&hellip; Cincinnati Defense</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04120/3815592-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="300" height="377"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILLY INGLIS&hellip; Cincinnati Center</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-05102/3815585-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="286" height="379"><figcaption class="caption-body">YVON LAMBERT&hellip; Nova Scotia L. Wing</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0685/3815578-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="304" height="376"><figcaption class="caption-body">TONY FEATHERSTONE&hellip; Nova Scotia R. Wing</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0775/3815571-1-eng-US/f0028-072.jpg" title="f0028-07" width="259" height="428"><figcaption class="caption-body">Don Cherry</figcaption></div>HARRISBURG&mdash;The talent-laden divisional champion Nova Scotia Voyageurs and Cincinnati Swords dominated team selections and individual awards in the 21st annual American Hockey League coaches&rsquo; All Star balloting for THE HOCKEY NEWS and Harrisburg, Pa. Sunday Patriot News.Don Cherry, of Rochester, former Hershey defensive star was named coach-of-the-year, winning by a single vote over Cincinnati&mdash;s Floyd Smith, another one-time Bears standout winger.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the only individual award I&rsquo;ve ever won in my entire hockey career.&rdquo; said Cherry, who several years ago captained and played for three Rochester Calder Cup championship teams. &ldquo;To be voted the top coach by your fellow coaches has to be the greatest honor I&rsquo;ve ever received.&rdquo;Cherry started out the season in training camp without enough players to form a squad. He went on a beg, borrow or steal tour of big league camps until he latched on to a team, one which turned out to be the surprise of the circuit. The club, with no National League affiliation, was picked in a pre-season poll to finish last. But Cherry drove it to a Calder Cup playoff position.Balloting for rookie-of-the-year wound up in a three-way deadlock between Virginia goalie Doug Grant; Hershey center Jim Wiley and Boston&rsquo;s right winger Ron Anderson. Each drew three votes. Five rookies were were given votes.First team center Bill Inglis, of Cincinnati, copped the most valuable nod, while Nova Scotia&rsquo;s Bob Murray was picked as the best &mdash; defenseman. Seven skaters were in the running for MVP and best defenseman recognition.The voting was based on home and away performances. The teams are all opponent; that is, no coach was permitted to vote for his own players in team selections. However, they could ballot for their own men for individual honors.&ldquo;The two teams are about the finest the coaches ever named.&rdquo; said Mathers. &ldquo;It would be pretty difficult to top them. The official league teams probably will be about the same.&rdquo;The league&rsquo;s official clubs, selected by sportswriters and sportscasters, along with the players, are named later.Michel Larocque, of Nova Scotia, who figures to close with best goaltending average, just nipped Grant, a surprising vote getter. for the first team spot.Murray and Cincinnati&rsquo;s rough-and-tumble defenseman, Ray McKay, out-distanced the field for first team as did the two Nova Scotia wingers Yvon Lambert and Tony Featherstone. Featherstone missed by one first place vote of being a unanimous choice. Lambert, Featherstone and Inglis finished 1-2-4 in the league&rsquo;s individual scoring race.In addition to Grant and Anderson. the second team was composed of defensemen Ralph Keller, Hershey and Rick Pagnutti, Rochester; Virginia center Art Stratton, the league&rsquo;s oldest skater at 38. and left wing John Gould. Cincinnati. &#9632;

f0028-02

Voyageurs, Swords Dominate Selections

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-08" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0869/3815644-1-eng-US/f0028-082.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0028-08

How Coaches Picked Them

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03131/3815713-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="815" height="1164"></div> &#9632;

f0029-03

AHL SUMMARIES

CLEVELAND &mdash;There just isn&rsquo;t anything to call the Barons these days, except maybe the No-Name Barons. That&rsquo;s not meant to be nasty. It&rsquo;s just the plain truth.The Barons started the season in Cleveland and finished it in Jacksonville. but will not play in either city next season, according to owner Nick Mileti.Mileti, busy with his Cleveland Indians baseball team and Cleveland Crusaders hockey club of the World Hockey Association, said he definitely intends to keep the Barons in the AHL next season, but doesn&rsquo;t know where.&ldquo;What I&rsquo;m working on,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;is selling something like 75 percent of the club to local interests in a city. That&rsquo;s what the Philadelphia Flyers of the National League did in Richmond when the Quebec City franchise was moved and I think it&rsquo;s a good idea.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not at liberty to say right now what cities we&rsquo;re considering, but I&rsquo;d say a half dozen cities in the proper geographical area for the AHL are interested. I hope to have my plans finalzied very soon.&rdquo;Mileti was asked what he intends to use for players for his AHL team since this season&rsquo;s Barons, with the exception of goalie Ted Ouimet, were all owned by Minnesota of the National League and will be moved to New Haven next season since Mileti&rsquo;s agreement with the North Stars has expired. Ouimet is owned by St. Louis and was with the Barons on loan. &#9632;

Mileti Says Barons Not Returning To Jacksonville

<div class="byline">BY HANS TANNER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02197/3815675-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="530" height="568"><figcaption class="caption-body">MORRIS STEFANIW&hellip; Four-Goal Windup</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01238/3815682-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="238" height="412"><figcaption class="caption-body">Barry Merrell</figcaption></div>ROCHESTER &mdash;No matter what fate befalts Rochester Americans in the American Hockey League playoffs their fans had enough good news at the end of the regular schedule to keep them satisfied and looking forward to next season all summer.The Cinderella Amerks first surprised everybody by clinching third place in the Eastern Division on the next-to-last night of the season. And they did it by winning back-to-back road games in New Haven and Springfield.Providence, waiting here for Rochester and looking for a head-to-head battle on the final night for third place, instead was relegated to fourth before that game.Although the game meant nothing, a standing-room only crowd of 7,295 showed up for the finale, pushing the total attendance for 38 home games to 206,505.But even better news for the fans was that announced the morning of Rochester&rsquo;s first playoff game in Boston. Don Cherry, obviously in demand to coach elsewhere after his amazing job here, agreed to terms to return as coach and general manager next season.Rather than a long, hard bargaining session which might be expected since Cherry was in a good position to drive a tough deal, the whole thing was settled in a five-minute meeting following the final game.Neither the owners nor Cherry would say what kind of contract he agreed to, but both sides said it was for one year and both parties were happy with it.As for the playoffs, superstitious fans were hoping the Amerks would take a quick victory against Boston because that would put history definitely on the side of Rochester.Only once in 10 previous playoff appearances have the Americans won a game in their first series and failed to advance to the Calder Cup championship round. This was the 11th try for a Rochester team in the city&rsquo;s 17 years in the AHL, but the first in the last five years.Amerk clubs have won three Calder Cups and lost in the championship round three other seasons. They lost in the first round &mdash; three times being eliminated without a victory &mdash; the other four seasons.Barry Merrell, whose wife had a 7-pound girl the day of the final game of the regular season, was picked as the most valuable Amerk this season and presented a large trophy at center ice before the last game.Merrell scored five of the Amerks&rsquo; last six goals, including three in Springfield on March 31 as Rochester took a 4-3 decision to clunch third. He finished with 32 goals &mdash; the only Amerk to reach 30 &mdash; and led the team in assists with 40.NOVA SCOTIA: As it has been so much of the season, the big story with the Voyageurs as they closed out their regular schedule was the scoring of the No. 1 line in AHL history.All three members &mdash; Yvon Lambert, Tony Featherstone and Morris Stefaniw &mdash; sailed over the 100-point mark in the unofficial final point standings. And all reached the 30-goal figure &mdash; Morris Stefaniw using a four-goal outburst in the final game to just make it.Lambert closed with 52 goals and 52 assists for 104 points, Featherstone with 49 goals and 54 assists for 103 points and Stefaniw with 30 goals and 71 assists for 101 points.Never in the history of the AHL had any team had more than one player in the 100-point-plus category. Prior to this season, 19 players were in the club.The Lambert-Featherstone-Stefaniw line totaled 131 goals for the Voyageurs and assisted on 26 scored by other players &mdash; meaning they had a hand in 157 goals.Stefaniw&rsquo;s 71 assists made him tied for sixth highest in league history even though he didn&rsquo;t join the team until after a dozen games had been played.Nova Scotia&rsquo;s 8-1 rout of Boston in home ice in the final game of the regular gave the Vees a league record for points at home with 66. Cincinnati finished with 65, and both teams beat the former record of 63 set by the Vees when they were in Montreal in 1969-70.Nova Scotia lost only three games in Halifax &mdash; the last Jan. 21 to Virginia. The league mark for fewest home ice defeats is two set by the Montreal Voyageurs in 1969-70.CINCINNATI: The record wrecking Swords closed the season with a rush &mdash; winning 12-2 and 6-2 at home as they prepared to open the playoff against Richmond, a team they beat six times and tied twice during the regular schedule.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re aware that the playoffs are a new season and will be a short one if we don&rsquo;t play well,&rdquo; said coach Floyd Smith. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been playing well and I see no reason we shouldn&rsquo;t continue that way. We&mdash;ve been looking forward to playing in the playoffs for a month.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t feel Richmond will be easy, but our club stayed up mentally and physically right to the end. and that&rsquo;s a good sign. I certainly feel a lot better going into the playoffs this year than I did last year.&rdquo;Among the league records set by the Swords were those for most games won (54). most games won at home (32), most games won on the road (22), most points in the standings (113) and most points on the road (48).Their late season scoring surge &mdash; 57 goals scored in the final eight games &mdash; carried them to 351 goals for the season. That was second on the all-time AHL list, with only the 357 netted by Cleveland in 1949-50 being higher. &#9632;

f0029-02

Voyageurs’ Hot Line Sweeps AHL Laurels With 308 Points

<div class="byline">BY JOHN TRAVERS</div>VIRGINIA &mdash;Despite the fact the powerful Nova Scotia Voyageurs swept the Eastern Division in record fashion, there are those among American League followers who believe the Calder Cup winner will emerge from the Western Division.Most are pointing at coach Floyd Smith&rsquo;s devastating Cincinnati Swords who played in a league of their own. Without question, the club has to be rated as one of the greatest ever seen in AHL annals.Yet, some are of an opinion the Virginia Red Wings or even the Hershey Bears have a good shot at the Cup.Virginia, behind the brilliant goaltending of rookie Doug Grant, charged down the stretch to win nine of their last 12 games, including a streak of six straight wins.Grant, who turned in two shutouts in the stretch, paced the league goaltenders with six shutouts.Virginia faced Hershey in the opening best-of-seven quarter-finals and the Red Wings entered the match showing a winning series record against the Bears. In eight season meetings the Wings held a 3-2-3 win edge. Added to this, coach Doug Barkley&rsquo;s forces got the first two games on its ice as the Bears Arena was tied up by a week-long entertainment production.Ironically, Grant didn&rsquo;t fare too well against the Bears during the season. He tied two games and lost a third. However, he&rsquo;s come a long way since.Hershey coach Frank Mathers didn&rsquo;t view the first two games at Virginia as a disadvantage.&ldquo;We know we&rsquo;ve got to win one of them,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That should keep the club keyed up.Hershey rookie Jim Wiley led all his team scorers against the Wings, popping in five goals, while big Hank Nowak notched a three game hat trick in the season series.BALTIMORE &mdash; Though the Baltimore Clippers finished in last place in the West, a division they won only a year ago, coach Jim Morrison&rsquo;s forces had a hand in determining the runner-up positions in both divisions. One of their big wins in the final two weeks was an 8-2 landslide triumph over Boston. General manager &lsquo;Kerry Reardon has indicated there will be a lot of shoring of the club during the offseason. He can be expected to make a number of deals. The independent Clippers own 12 of their players. It was only two years ago that Reardon went wheeling dealing on the market and latched on to skaters who paid off with a division championship and a trip to the Calder Cup finals.RICHMOND &mdash; No one envies the Robins opening assignment in the Calder playoffs. Coach Larry Wilson has to face Cincinnati, which didn&rsquo;t lose a game to Richmond in regular season action. They won six and tied two. The Swords, however, have had ease going in the stretch and might find it difficult to get the momentum going again. Richmond has the goal scorers for an upset in Orest Kindrachuk, Rene Drolet and Danny Schock, among others. &#9632;

Wings Seen Cup Threat With Vees

LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTDArnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S and Canada<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03165/3815792-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="300" height="795"></div> &#9632;

f0030-03

HOW THEY STAND

<div class="byline">BY DOUG McCONNELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01272/3815830-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="262" height="430"><figcaption class="caption-body">Phil Maloney</figcaption></div>SEATTLE &mdash;The Seattle Totems, seemingly doomed to the Western Hockey League basement, were suddenly in command in the battle for the fourth and last playoff position.They have made up 10 points on the floundering Denver Spurs, were dead even with 61 points apiece and held an important game in hand on the Spurs.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just the result of fantastic coaching.&rdquo; joked Phil Maloney, who happens to be the Seat tie coach.&ldquo;No. it&rsquo;s no big mystery. We were going great in early season, leading the league for a while and staying right up there. Then Vancouver took three of our best players and down we went.&ldquo;We just got them back and we&rsquo;ve been winning again.&rdquo;Bryan McSheffrey. Barry Wilcox and Jim Hargreaves were the players recently returned from the Canucks.&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve been a big part of it,&rdquo; said Maloney, referring to the club&rsquo;s record of five wins and two ties against just one loss in the last eight games. He blames that loss on the schedule.&ldquo;It was our eighth game in 11 days with five of them on the road.&rdquo; said Maloney. &ldquo;We were just plain bushed and we lost 5-3 to Salt Lake at home in Seattle.&rdquo;On the final weekend, Denver wrestled fourth place away from the &lsquo;Totems finishing with 67 points to Seattle&rsquo;s 66. They lace Salt Lake in the playoffs while Phoenix opposes San Diego.Although the Totems played two of their last four at home, Maloney still wasn&rsquo;t happy with the schedule. The four games were in a span of five days and complete a stretch of six games in eight days.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tell you whoever made up the schedule should be bleeped.&rdquo; said Maloney.Or at least made to follow the Totems on it, including the predawn wakeups, airline breakfasts and sleep where you can catch it.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got the whole club scoring now. though.&rdquo; said Maloney. &ldquo;We won 7-3 over San Diego 9-3 over Denver and 7-3 over Portland in Portland.&rdquo;The three straight victories is the first time the Totems have been able to put together back-to-back wins since Nov. 16 when they followed a victory over Phoenix with one over Fort Worth &mdash; both on home ice.Don Westbrooke was named WHL player-of-the-week for his seven point scoring burst in three games. He scored five goals, including his first hat trick of the season in the9-3 rout of the Spurs.Bob Wait on still leads the WHL in scoring with 96 points, 40 on goals. He has a four-point edge and a game in hand on Murray Heatley of the Phoenix Roadrunners.Walton&rsquo;s leftwinger. Danny Seguin, is sixth in the WHL points derby with 31 goals and 45 assists for 76 points.McSheffrey, who skates Walton&rsquo;s right wing, has 25 goals and 20 assists in the 35 games he has been away from the Canucks.Wilcox isn&rsquo;t keeping pace with McSheffrey, but 19 goals and 20 assists in 43 games isn&rsquo;t exactly hurting the Totems.Walton&rsquo;s40 goals break the club record for centermen, 37, set in 1948-49 by Rudy Filion.Dave Dunn, the big redhead who is the key to the Totem defense, has made the top 10 in scoring. He is deadlockec with Denver centerman Norm Dennis with 69 points a piece.The 6-3, 215-pound 24-year-old would have been waived out of pro hockey in the middle of last season except that Vancouver needed bodies to fill the floundering Seattle franchise it had just purchased.Dunn hasn&rsquo;t turned out too badly. Despite nursing a painful stomach ailment which is expected to require post-season surgery, he has 18 goals and his 69 points are just five shy of the WHL record by a defenseman, 74, set back in 1961-62 by Doug Barkley, for Calgary.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02214/3815823-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="278" height="295"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE DUNN&hellip; In Top 10</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0030-01

Seattle, Denver Carry Playoff Battle Down To Wire

Series&lsquo;A&rsquo;PHOENIX vs SAN DIEGOThur. Apr. 12 at PhoenixSat. Apr. 14 at PhoenixSun. Apr. 15 at San DiegoTue. Apr. 17 at San DiegoWed. Apr. 18 at PhoenixFri. Apr. 20 at San DiegoSat. Apr. 21 at PhoenixSeries &lsquo;B&rsquo;SALT LAKE vs DENVERWed. Apr. 11 at Salt LakeFri. Apr. 13 at Salt LakeWed. Apr. 18 at DenverFri. Apr. 20 at DenverSat. Apr. 21 at Salt LakeSun. Apr. 22 at DenverTue. Apr. 24 at Salt Lake(Both best-of-seven series) &#9632;

Patrick Cup Playoff Dates

PHOENIXThe Phoenix Roadrunners announced that defenseman Harry Shaw, who had played most of the season on loan to New Haven of the American Hockey League, had been traded to the New Haven club for a player to be named later from the Minnesota North Stars reserve list&hellip; The Roadrunners still own six defensemen &mdash; Jim Murray, Adam Keller, Dave Woodley, Gary Braun. Howie Young and John Barber.John Gofton, who has scored 34 goals this season, leads the league in game winning goals with seven and the Roadrunners in fights. The 178-pound leftwinger has been in seven scraps, giving better than he takes, despite giving away weight in every one. often more than 20 pounds &hellip; The Roadrunners are one goal short of their first 300-goal season. &#9632;

Roadrunners Trade Shaw To New Haven

DENVER&mdash;A couple of weeks ago. Denver Spurs&rsquo; coach John Choyce was analyzing his club&rsquo;s chances of holding onto the fourth and last playoff spot in the Western Hockey League.The Seattle Totems were showing signs of stirring, vacating the basement and moving past the Portland Buckaroos. who are having a dozen years of disastrous seasons rolled into one.But the Totems were 10 points behind Denver and Denver had a much better home schedule over the closing weeks.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a great finishing schedule.&rdquo; said coach Choyce. &ldquo;but I don&rsquo;t have the players.&rdquo;Chuck Hamilton apparently attempted to come back too soon after knee surgery, was used sparingly in one game, said he felt fine but the next day strained a muscle in back of his knee doing his weight therapy routine.Mike Lampman, who owns 31 goals in 43 games, has been playing on a gimpy knee. Doug Smith is out for the season with knee surgery. Claude Laforge was an earlier casualty, a back injury that shelved him for the rest of the sea son.The St. Louis Blues promised help, if possible.Luc Simard joined the Spurs with six games remaining. The little 22-year-old winger scored 68 goals and a total of 124 points this season for the Cape Cod Cubs ir the Eastern Hockey League.Brian Coughlin, 21, a 6-3, 200 pound defenseman. arrived in time to play the third period of the fourth to last game and in his second shift on the ice got into a fight with Seattle defenseman Jim Hargreaves. Coughlin had scored nine goals and 31 assists for the Johns-town Jets in the Eastern League this season while piling up 182 penalty minutes.Meanwhile, the Spurs lead disappeared.The Totems lost one and tied two while winning five in an eight game stretch while the Spurs were losing seven and tying one of eight.The Spurs and the Totems are tied going into the final week of the season and the Totems hold a game in hand. That could be wiped out. of course, if the Spurs can handle the Totems in their final meeting at Denver.The Spurs&rsquo; big line, at the worst possible time, went into a nosedive.Norm Dennis and Don Borgeson, both among the WHL&rsquo;s top 10 much of the second half of the season, in addition to veteran Milan Marcetta, went into prolonged slumps.Borgeson, a leftwinger, scored two goals in 11 games, and his center Dennis one in 12. Marcetta went 10 games without scoring and finally bagged one in his 11th game.c&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the best defensive as well as offensive player on our club, home and away.&rdquo; testifies Rollins. &ldquo;1 have to be awfully pleased with him. He kills penalties and when we&rsquo;re two men down, he&rsquo;s the guy I put out there.&rdquo;Huston says he&rsquo;s not playing much differently than he did in senior company in the WIHL, first with Cranbrook, then with Spokane.Rollins thinks Huston has made an adjustment, but it&rsquo;s not yet complete.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03162/3815947-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="252" height="419"><figcaption class="caption-body">Luc Simard</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0031-03

Simard Joins Spurs In Desperate Stand To Hold 4th Spot

LOUISVIlLE SLGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U. S. and CanadaLOUISVIlLE SLGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U. S. and Canada<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02189/3815978-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="586" height="1494"></div> &#9632;

f0032-02

Semi-FinalsFT. WORTH vs OMAHATue. Apr. 10Omaha at Fort WorthWed. Apr. 11Fort Worth at OmahaFri. Apr. 13Fort Worth at OmahaSat. Apr. 14Omaha at Fort WorthSun. Apr. 15Fort Worth at Omaha(Best-of-five series)Winner to oppose Dallasin championship finals. &#9632;

Adams Cup Playoff dates

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div>DALLAS &mdash;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01252/3816040-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="520" height="1435"><figcaption class="caption-body">MOE L&rsquo;ABBE&hellip;Equaled CHL Mark</figcaption></div>Maurice Joseph L&rsquo;Abbe, better known as &ldquo;Moe&rdquo; to Dallas Black Hawks fans, tied a Central League record in Tulsa, Mar. 31. The final score was: L&rsquo;Abbe 5, Oilers 3!The speedy, 5-9, 170-pound right winger from Montreal scored every kind of a goal in his record spree. He scored twice while the teams were at even strength (first and second periods), tallied on a power play (first period), scored while shorthanded (second period), and finally scored an empty-net goal that beat the game-ending buzzer by a fraction of a second.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03130/3816033-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="244" height="433"><figcaption class="caption-body">Lynn Powis</figcaption></div>L&rsquo;Abbe, 25, broke in with the Hawks two seasons ago as a rookie from Greensboro Generals of the Eastern League. He had a 17-goal rookie campaign. He was assigned to Portland in the Western League last season, had differences with the management, and spent most of the campaign with Flint in the International League, where he had another 17-goal season.The singlehanded triumph over Tulsa raised Moe&rsquo;s current scoring figures to 27 goals and 33 assists for 60 points, tied for 10th in the Central League scoring chart.He equaled a league record set by Tulsa&rsquo;s Tom McCarthy and St. Louis&rsquo; John McKenzie back in 1964-65, matched last season by Steve Vickers for Omaha, and earlier this season by Ralph Stewart for Fort Worth (at Portland, Nov. 15).It was the Hawks&rsquo; second victory-over Tulsa in two nights, following a 6-3 verdict at home. That moved Dallas to within a&rsquo; point of clinching first place for the second straight season. The victory celebration was delayed, however, as the streaking Omaha Knights refused to lose. But there was no denying Dallas the top rung as the schedule closed.The Hawks ran their overall winning streak to three games, and had won four straight at home. Don Gordon, although blanked for the week, continued to lead the club scoring with 63 points, ninth in the league. L&rsquo;Abbe and teammate Dave Kryskow shared the 10th spot at 60.Kryskow notched his 33rd goal in the home win over Tulsa. The Hawks salted that one away when Gary Donaldson, Ian McKegney and Bob Peppier tallied in a six-minute span, early in the final period.Duane Wylie of the Hawks had the only goal of the first period. Krysksow made it 2-0 in the second, but John Gray spoiled the &rsquo; shutout bid of Hawk goalie Mike Veisor 39 seconds before that period ended.After the threggoal of the first periodeoal flurry made it 5-1 after 7-1/2 minutes of the last period, Reg Bechtold and Lyle Moffat scored for Tulsa. McKegney got his second goal of the night with three seconds left.The next night in Tulsa the Oilers outshot Dallas, 40-27, but Michel Dumas turned in a great job in the nets, and the line of Walt Ledingham, McKegney and L&rsquo;Abbe kept cashing in on Tulsa&rsquo;s mistakes.L&rsquo;Abbe opened the scoring on a power attack at 2:50, rebounding Ledingham&rsquo;s short shot, which had nicked a goalpost. Scott Garland tied the score on a Tulsa power play, and Dave Shardlow and Gray tallied 32 seconds apart, as the Oiler forechecking kept the Hawks perned in their own zone.But Ledingham fed L&rsquo;Abbe on a 2-on-1 break at 17:40 of the first to narrow the deficit. Moe tied the score while penalty-killing at 2:46 of the second period, then scored the winning goal at 16:02 of the middle session. After Tulsa had failed to cash in on repeated flurries around the Hawk cage, L&rsquo;Abbe got a 3-on-1 break with McKegney and Ledingham.The third period was scoreless until the waning seconds. Tulsa again dominated the play, but couldn&rsquo;t put the puck in the net. Goalie Grant Cole was pulled in favor of an extra attacker with 1:14 left. The Oilers were launching a final assault from center ice, when L&rsquo;Abbe blocked a pass with his skates, chased the loose puck to the center red line, then had an unopposed journey to the emptynet. His only enemy was the clock, and he got off his 30-foot scoring shot so that the red goal light flashed the tiniest fraction of a second before the green light that signaled time had i an out.OMAHA: Two triumphs on the road ran the amazing Knights&rsquo; string to 10 straight victories and 11 games without defeat. Both streaks were within one game of tying the CHL records, set by the Knights in the inaugural campaign of 1963-64. Oklahoma City (1968-69) and Tulsa (Dec. 30-Jan. 11, this season) had tied the record unbeaten streak.The Knights rang down the curtain on interlocking play between the Central and Western Leagues (possibly forever) with a 4-2 triumph in Denver, Mar 28. They went into Fort Worth and took a 53 decision. Mar. 31. That gave them five straight wins on the road to go with a string of five at home, and they were unbeaten in six straight at their Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum. The Knights hadn&rsquo;t lost since Mar. 3 (a 9-1 rout by Tulsa in Omaha) and had won every game since a 3-3 home tie with Seattle, Mar. 4.Lynn Powis of the Knights had two goals and two assists in the two outings, climbing to a fourth-place tie in the CHL scoring race with Fort Worth&rsquo;s Mike Cormier at 69 points. Wayne Schaab (two goals for the week) had 65 points, tying Fort Worth&rsquo;s departed Ralph Stewart for seventh place.Schaab, Don Martineau, defenseman Al Beaule and Mike Conroy, left wing on trial from Clarkson College, scored in the victory at Denver.Powis got two goals in the triumph in Fort Worth, with Doug Horbul, Schaab and Allie Sutherland also scoring. The Knights had a 2-1 lead after two periods, but put the game out of reach when Schaab scored 59 seconds into the third period, and Sutherland counted at 2:23.Linesman Frank Kubasek injured a leg when he fell, while trying to break up a battle between Omaha&rsquo;s Gary Coalter and Fort Worth&rsquo;s Dave Smith in the final period. The game was finished with two officials, and they were &ldquo;shorthanded&rdquo; when Martineau and Bernie Gagnon of the Wings staged a wild fight late in the third.The Knights recalled goalie Ted Lenssen from Des Moines, and also brought up rookie blueliner John Huber, who led the International League in penalties with 282 minutes in the season just concluded.FORT WORTH: The first playoff spot actually decided was third place, which went to Fort Worth when the Wings played a 2-2 tie at home with Tulsa, Mar. 29. Fort Worth&rsquo;s hopes of second place had been chilled by Omaha&rsquo;s winning streak a week earlier.With Omaha needing to win all four of its remaining games, and needing Dallas to lose its last three, to nose out the Hawks for first place, the playoffs were tentatively set to begin April 10, with Fort Worth playing Omaha in the best-of-five semifinals. The winner would then take on Dallas in a best-of-seven showdown for the Adams Cup.Meanwhile the league&rsquo;s individual scoring race was heading into the last week of the regular schedule with a three-way tie for the top. Fort Worth&rsquo;s Dan Gruen, and Tulsa&rsquo;s Reg Bechtold and Lyle Moffat had 76 points apiece, each with two games left. The race was even tighter than a year ago when Jean Payette of the Oilers and Ross Perkins of the Wings finished in a dead heat with 97 points.Gruen was scoreless for the week&rsquo;s two games, Bechtold picked up a goal and an assist, while&rsquo; the busy Moffat collected four goals and two assists. Mike Cormier of the Wings was tied with Omaha&rsquo;s Lynn Powis for fourth at 69 points, Bob Collyard was sixth with 67, while Ralph Stewart (traded off the Wings&rsquo; roster in mid-January) shared seventh place with Wayne Schaab of Omaha at 65.The Wings saw a 2-0 lead evaporate against Tulsa, Mar. 29, when the Oilers pulled their goalie with 2:03 to play, and Moffat scored with 1:37 left. Bernie Gagnon had scored for Fort Worth in the first period, and Gordie Brooks in the second. Brian Bowles launched the Oiler comeback at 9:22 of the third.Charlie Shaw, Gagnon and Gordie Redden did the Wings&rsquo; scoring in a 5-3 home loss to Omaha, Mar. 31. It was Fort Worth&rsquo;s second straight home game without victory, and the Wings had lost three straight on the road.Rookie George Hulme continued to be the Wings&rsquo; only goalkeeper, but coach Bob Lemieux was planning to bring in a backup for the playoffs.TULSA: The disappointed Oilers saw their last hopes of a playoff berth disappear Mar. 29, but had really been out of contention for three weeks before that.All that remained before heading back to Canada was the bid of Moffat and Bechtold for the CHL scoring championship. They were tied with Fort Worth&rsquo;s Danny Gruen at 76 points.There was some happiness the last week of March, a 5-1 romp at home over the Western League&rsquo;s cellar dwellers, the Portland Buckaroos, Mar. 25. But it was the Oilers&rsquo; only triumph in their last seven starts.Moffat got his 34th and 35th goals in that one, with Brian St. John. Bob Roselle and Mike Sauter also scoring. &#9632;

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Hawks’ L’Abbe Fires 5-Goal Game In Windup Thriller

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01225/3816071-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="797" height="893"></div> &#9632;

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WHL-CHL SUMMARIES

DALLAS &mdash;The WHL-CHL interlocking series, which was not renewed for next season, ended with the Central League on top. 47-3910. Two of the four CHL teams had winning records against the West &mdash; Dallas (15-5-4).and Fort Worth (14-10), while only two of the six WHL teams won their interlocking schedules &mdash; Phoenix (11-5) and Denver (8-6-ll.Tulsa and Omaha of the CHL finished 9-12-3 against WHL rivals. Of the remaining Western teams, Salt Lake was 6-8-2, San Diego 6-9-1, Seattle 4-8-4, and Portland 4-10-2 against the CHL. &#9632;

CHL Captures Interlocking Against WHL

<div class="byline">BY FRANK BROWN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01244/3816133-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="276" height="290"><figcaption class="caption-body">PAT KELLY&hellip; Moves To Charlotte</figcaption></div>SYRACUSE&mdash;The Roanoke Valley Rebels had the Syracuse Blazers in their sights but they couldn&rsquo;t close in for I the kill.Stunned by the Rebs 5-4 in the overtime opener, the powerful Blazers came back with a vengeance to lower the boom on Roanoke by a resounding 17-1 in game two and a 7-4 romp when the series swung down south to the Rebels&rsquo; home ice for the third and fourth games of the best-of-seven Walker Cup finals.Despite the Blazers&rsquo; easy handling of the Rebs in games two and three, Eastern Hockey League fans were still buzzing over Roanoke&rsquo;s series-opening win.Wayne Horne, given up on by Bill Charles at the start of the season, scored three goals and added an assist on the winning marker to lead Roanoke to its overtime victory over Syracuse in the first game of the championship series.Horne rocked a standing room only crowd of more than 5,000 at the State Fairgrounds Coliseum, clicking on a pass play with Pierre Paiement, who rammed the winner past-Joe Junkin at 38 seconds of the extra period.For the Blazers, the loss put an end to a 42-game unbeaten streak at home as well as an 18-game unbeaten streak overall.ROANOKE VALLEY: Claude St. Sauveur, whose pass to Horne set up the winning goal, led playoff scorers with 19 points in just nine games going into the finals. Wayne Mosdell was second with 14 in nine games. Rebs coach Gregg Pilling approached the series cautiously, despite the fact that his club was 8-2 in playoff games so far. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t matter if the series goes four games or seven,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The only thing that&rsquo;s important is that you win the last one. Blazer coach Ron Ingram agreed. Danny Sullivan continues his solid play in goal with Yves Archambault sidelined.SYRACUSE: Joe Junkin had it rough in the opener; one goal was a tip-in, another went in off his glove, the tieing fourth went in after he had stopped a shot and a rebound. Joe finished with 34 saves and his first playoff loss. 15 i of the game&rsquo;s 21 penalties were called against the Blazers. Coach. Ron Ingram wasn&rsquo;t too sure about what to expect from the Rebs. He had only seen them three times and, he said, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to judge a club when you don&rsquo;t see them much.&rdquo;CLINTON: Ed Stanley is looking for a coach after losing Pat Kelly to Carlotte. Kelly&rsquo;s Comets failed it make the playoff this year. He replaces Jack wells as coach of the Checkers. Wells held the Charlotte golone season.CHARLOTTE: The Checkers announced that they would retain their ties with the National Hockey League Buffalo Sabres shortly before the story broke that the Checkers were leaving the EHL. The end of this cloak-and-dagger, will-they-or-won&rsquo;t-they-jump business will definitely end at the April 30 meeting in Montreal.SUNCOAST: Public relations director Paul Caron sat in on the recent meetings as the Suncoast representative. Steve Kirby, the regular Suncoast governor, was unavailable.LONG ISLAND: Al Baron has bought but his partners in the Long Island Ducks, and now owns the team exclusively. How many players he has is anybody&rsquo;s guess. A number of them said they would not return after the ruckus on the last day of. the regular season. We&rsquo;ll just have to wait and see.RHODE ISLAND: The situation regarding a home arena for the Eagles is still up in the air. Brother Adelard Arena is too small, even though the team had a problem filling it last season. There should be some word soon regarding the construction of a new Civic Center. If the Eagles can&rsquo;t get support after doing so well in their rookie EHL season, they&rsquo;ll probably move.JOHNSTOWN: One of the Jets&rsquo; biggest problems on the way to their defeat by Roanoke Valley was that the Rebels scored the first goal in a number of the victories, so the Jets were constantly coming from behind. Vern Campigotto was tied for second in playoff scoring with Wayne Mosdell at 14 points, but Mosdell was going to the finals, and Campigotto was going home. Despite their loss, John Mitchell will probably be back as general manager next year.NEW JERSEY: Carlee Smith might be considering moving his club to a central Pennsylvania location. Central Pennsylvania, however, does not mean Wilkes-Barre, where a group has applied for a franchise for two years from now.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02190/3816126-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="297" height="378"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Junkin</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Blazers Bounce Back To Overpower Roanoke Valley

GREENSBORO&mdash;A Greensboro newspaper broke a story that the Generals, along with the Charlotte Checkers, Roanoke Valley, and Suncoast, had notified the Eastern League of their intention to leave the EHL in favor of a new league next season. There was no comment on the story from the league office.Generals are looking to a Winston-Salem team for a natural rivalry. The two cities are just 23 miles apart. &#9632;

Southern Cities Reported Ready To Form Own League

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03146/3816188-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="251" height="853"></div> &#9632;

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EHL Playoffs

<div class="byline">BY LEN HOYES</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01236/3816226-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="545" height="590"><figcaption class="caption-body">DANNY GLOOR&hellip; Rookie Of Year</figcaption></div>PORT HURON&mdash;Coaches in the International Hockey League would do well to concentrate on defense in 1973-74.The 1973 Turner Cup playoffs, which quickly boiled down to Fort Wayne and Port Huron, are following the defensive pattern of the regular season.Coach Marc Bodeau&rsquo;s Fort Wayne Komets, who allowed an average of only 2.96 goals for the 74-game regular-season route, were the first to reach the finals. The Komets outscored Flint, 31-9, and won their semi-final series, four games to one.Don Atchison, considered the No. 2 netminder behind Robbie Irons, became the man of the hour when Irons suffered a broken hand in the first game. He won three of the next four, including a shutout in the clinching game and a 4-2 victory in the second game at Flint when he made 45 saves.The Komets got a major lift from Lad\ Luck when five Flint players were injured and unable to play but the ourushing Indianans had momentum and probably would have won under any circumstances.Counting a 4-1 record in the play offs. Fort Waynes had a 21-5-1 record since Jan. 30 and won 10 of 14 road contests in that span.Boileau was hoping for an early end to the Port Huron-Dayton semi-final so his Komets wouldn&rsquo;t have too long to sweat out the finals.Coach Ted Garvin&rsquo;s Wings obliged by taking the first two games against Dayton. Lack of ice at their Hara Arena home forced the Gems toswitch the series opener to Port Huron but they had no better luck in game No. 2 at Hara. Dayton won the third game at home.Port Huron clinched the series in the fourth game at home to reach the Turner Cup finals for the fourth straight year. It lost to Dayton in the 1970 finals but beat Des Moines in 1971 and Muskegon in 1972.Fort Wayne, which last took the Turner Cup in 1965, got great goaltending from Irons and Atchison all season. Irons had a 2.89 goals-against average and Atchison was 2.94.Port Huron&rsquo;s defense is anchored by Bob McCammon, voted the Governors&rsquo; Trophy as the top blueliner, and rookie goalie Bill McKenzie, both of whom made the All Star first team. McKenzie&rsquo;s 2.84 average broke Port Huron&rsquo;s record of 3.38 set last season by Brian Cropper and backup netminder Glen Seperich also bettered the record with 3.32.Port Huron&rsquo;s defense was third in goals allowed, an average of 3.25 for 73 games.Dayton, which had to win three straight from Port Huron to reach the finals, was No. 2 on defense with an average yield of 3.22 per game. Goalie Curt Ridley was the IHL&rsquo;s best with a 2.70 average.Sc the 1973 Turner Cup boils down to defense.Scouts for the IHL teams would do well to concentrate on goalies and defensemen for next season.FORT WAYNE: Ray Brownlee, without a goal for 18 games, got the clincher in vital 4-2 victory at Flint &hellip; Komets&rsquo; home crowd of 8,032 for third game was an IHL playoff record &hellip; Komets had 10-game winning streak broken despite 71 shots on goal at Flint &hellip; Terry Pembroke continued in playoffs despite thumb injury which will require post-season surgery.DAYTON: Jerry Kemp scored five of Gem&rsquo;s 10 goals in 3-0 sweep of Des Moines, including two game-winners &hellip; Gerry Mazur voted most valuable, Jim Bannatyne best defenseman and Con Schmidt most improved &hellip; Gems without a victory all season at Port Huron &hellip; Mazur, Pete Gaw, Kemp and Ken Davidson all 30-plus goal scorers&hellip; Gems broke IHL team record for penalty minutes with 2,015, breaking previous mark by 398.DES MOINES: Danny Gloor, 42-goal scorer, voted IHL rookie of year&hellip; Caps 0-3 in playoff quarter-finals against Dayton, losing all by one goal&hellip; &ldquo;Vancouver line&rdquo; of Gloor. Larry Gould and Steve Stone accounted for 107 goalsand 134 assists&hellip; Pete Mara and Ken Gratton joined trio as 30-plus goal men.FLINT: Generals secured Kirk Bowman from Greensboro (EHL) as emergency replacement and he scored winning goal in overtime for only playoff triumph&hellip; High-scoring Wayne Zuk had &ldquo;iron man&rdquo; string ended at 134 games because of injury&hellip; Generals missing five men worth 111 goals for third playoff game&hellip; Five-game Flint-Fort Wavnesemi-final drew 28.019.PORT HURON: Meehan Bonnar clinched 3-2 quarter-final series triumph with goal 17 seconds from finish&hellip; Goalie Bill McKenzie first in IHL&rsquo;s 28:season history with back-to-back shutouts in playoffs&hellip; Scoreless string ended at 125-20&hellip; Thief walked away with McKenzie&rsquo;s gloves&hellip; Ray Germain&rsquo;s 65 points second best in nine-season IHL career despiteseveral injuries.MUSKEGON: Scoring champ Gary Ford added Gatschene Trophy (MVP) and newly-instituted Andy Mulligan Trophy&rsquo; (sportsmanship and talent combination)&hellip; He&rsquo;s third Mohawk to earn MVP laurels&hellip;Ford had one minor penalty in 59 games&hellip; Three-season high of 4.997 at home watched Mohawks lose playoff spot in final game with 8-5 setback by Toledo.TOLEDO: Three shutouts in last four home games hurt Hornets&hellip;John Gravel missed All-Star berth but finished No.2 in voting for best defenseman.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03147/3816219-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="240" height="444"><figcaption class="caption-body">Don Atchison</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Fort Wayne: Port Huron Set For Turner Cup ‘Showdown’

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02198/3816257-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="242" height="685"></div> &#9632;

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IHL Playoffs

BOSTON&mdash;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01214/3816330-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="314" height="384"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON GRAHAME&hellip;Denver</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02161/3816323-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="308" height="382"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILLNYROP&hellip; Notre Dome</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03119/3816316-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="312" height="382"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB BOYD&hellip;Michigan State</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0476/3816309-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="307" height="386"><figcaption class="caption-body">ED WALSH&hellip;Boston Univ.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0632/3816302-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="314" height="375"><figcaption class="caption-body">KEITH SMITH&hellip; Brown</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0547/3816295-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="306" height="394"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB McMANAMA&hellip; Harvard</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0728/3816288-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="264" height="417"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat Boutette</figcaption></div>Boston area players dominated the Fastern All American selections for 1973 while WCHA Champion Denver and Notre Dame skaters proved to be the lass the Western selections in the recently announced NCAA dream teams.Goaler Ed Walsh and Steve Doloff, a senior forward both from Boston University, made the East squard along with defenseman Tom Mellor of Boston College, the ECAC&rsquo;s most valuable player. Fourth Boston-district All-American chosen was Harvard forward Bob McManama.Rugged defenseman Keith Smith of Brown University was the other backliner while forward Gordie Clark of New Hampshire rounded cut the Eastern team. Smith&rsquo;s selection was surprising since Brown tailed to catch a playoff berth in the ECAC.In the West. Denver placed goaler Ron Grahame and forward Rob Palmer on the All-American squad while Notre Dame contributed forward Eddie Bumbacco, the WCHA&rsquo;s leading score, this season, and big defenseman Bill Nyrop. Forward Pat Bouttte of Minnesota-Duluth was the other Western forward.An ironic twist to the All-American selections was the fact neither the Eastern champions. Cornell, nor the Western and, NCAA title hoders, Wisconsin placed a player on either team.In the college division All-American selections. Division II champion Vermont placed two players, defenseman Brad Cooke, and forward Pat Wright on the Eastern team which also included Dick Donovan of Bowdoin, the East&rsquo;s MVP performer and a high scoring forward.Mankato State and Lake Forest each placed two men on the Western college All-American team. &#9632;

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Boston Stars Dominate East, Denver, Notre Dame Top West

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0823/3816361-1-eng-US/f0036-082.jpg" title="f0036-08" width="713" height="781"></div> &#9632;

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All-American Teams

LOS ANGELES&mdash;A new hockey league comprised of schools in California. Arizona and New Mexico has been formed.Formerly the California College Hockey League, the name was changed with the induction of schools in Arizona and New Mexico. The old league formed almost a year ago, was made up of club teams from UCLA. California Seatie College-San Diego, California State College at Northridge. Northern Arizona University at Flagstaff, and the California Institute of Technology at Pasadena.At a melting in Los Angeles, the University of Arizona at Tucson and the University of New Mexico were admit ted.Named as commissioner was Michael Allen. Los Angeles radio announcer and well-known West Coast hockey enthusiast. Allen announced an extensive schedule with many Los Angeles area club teams playing eight games next season in the home of the Los Angeles Kings, the Fabulous Forum in surburban Inglewood.After many problems getting off the ground this past season, it appears next season will bring much reward. Already, there has been a great deal of reaction to several games already played, and the interest an all campuses promises to bring a banner year of support and interest.A majority of the players have only been playing hickey for a number of years and clubs are making an effort to upgrade the quality of hockey. However, they are limited by a lack of funding from the schools and from outside sources. Many of the club teams have only been in existence for about a year to two years.Scheduling for next season will take place during the first week of September, with play to begin sometime in October.Commissioner Allen says, &ldquo;This is the beginning of something that in two years will be the biggest thing to come out of the West Coast since John Wooden. Everyone has dedication, drive and spirit&hellip;the things you need to make this venture a success. By this time next year, you will be very-surprised. We are not trying to relive the days when UCLA, USC and Cal Berkeley had varsity teams. We can learn from the past, but college hockey in this part ot the country is an idea whose time has come.&rdquo;All the teams in the Southwest College Hockey League are looking for Canadian and American players from all parts of the country on which to build for the future.Allen has extended an open invitation to all young men interested in going to school in California. Arizona or New Mexico and lending their athletic ability to further collegiate hockey in the West, to write him care of the South west College HockeyLeague, P.O. Box 5755. Santa Monica, Calif.. 90406 or phone him at 213399.5550.The new commissioner also pointed out that they do not have scholarships and are an independent conference but outside subsidies are being investigated for future implementation. &#9632;

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April 20, 1973

Baby It’s Cold Outside

Maple Leafs Finished First—In Injuries

Forced Liquid Diet Helped Ron Huston

Kings Choked in Final Run To Wire