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.

May 3, 1974

The Hockey News May 3, 1974

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01231/3797855-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="617" height="946"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Mon. April 15Peterborough 4, Kitchener 1Wed. April 17Peterborough 5, Kitchener 2Sun. April 21St. Catharines 3, Peterborough 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02193/3797848-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="608" height="1656"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. April 15Sorel 6, Montreal 5Laval 9, Quebec 5Wed. April 17Quebec 10, Laval 1Fri. April 19Quebec 9, Laval 3Sun. April 21Quebec 5, Sorel 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03143/3797841-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="615" height="824"></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

HOW THEY STAND

<div class="byline">By Bill Libby</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011019/3796370-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="275" height="354"></div>ONE OF THE THINGS Ross Brooks wanted most in life was to win a Stanley Cup game for the Boston Bruins this season. That may not seem like much for a fellow who tied a National Hockey League record by winning 14 games in a row during the regular season, but he never expected to be in the NHL at all. He missed his only chance last season and at 36 years of age. time seemed to be running against him.Ross represents one of the really remarkable success stories in sports. He has risen from the ashes, partly because of the additional opportunities provided players since expansion came to hockey and because he wound up with a team which has let good goaltenders such as Bernie Parent, Doug Favell, Ed Johnston, Gerry Cheevers and Dan Bouchard.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02915/3796363-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="321" height="427"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ross Brooks</figcaption></div>Desperate, the Bruins had to deal for Gilles Gilbert and they wound up with Brooks as his backup, a guy who used to belong to them. but had been released by a minor league team once at the age of 32, a guy who had bounced around the bushes with bad records for a long time, a guy who didn&rsquo;t even get to play pro until he was well on in years.&ldquo;I remember figuring for a long time I was going nowhere. I remember figuring I was finished not so long ago.&rdquo; Brooks sighs, wistful with the wonder of it all. About the only thing he has forgotten is how to lose. Last season he went undefeated in his first 13 games before he lost his last game of the season. This season he won 14 games before he was beaten near the end of the season.&ldquo;I guess I&rsquo;ve surprised some people.&rdquo; Ross smiles. Surprised, heck, he darn near dumbfounds them.Donald Ross Brooks was born in October of 1937 in Toronto. He signed as an amateur in the Bruin organization and prepped in Junior A play with the Barrie Flyers. is first season he gave up more than six goals a game. The following two seasons he surrendered more than four goals a game. At 20 there was no great interest in him from the Bruins or any other team to turn him pro. He hung on. playing with North Bay, Windsor and Kitchener in the Northern Ontario Hockey Association, but allowed more than five goals a game.He went on with it. He drifted into the Eastern League, which was a sort of semi-pro circuit at the time, and gypsied through the Washington Presidents. Philadelphia Ramblers. Long Island Ducks Johnstown Jets. Charlotte Checkers, and Nashville Whoever-they-weres for six seasons, in which he averaged allowing no less than four goals a game and one season as many as seven goals a game. One season he surrendered 337 goals. Two other seasons he gave up almost 300.He wondered why they never turned out the red light behind his head. He thought all nets came complete with a puck in them. He says. &ldquo;I saw more shots than a fellow at the front. Some of those teams didn&rsquo;t have enough money to hire defenseman. Of course, those guys didn&rsquo;t think I was much of a goalie. To tell you the truth. I was beginning to wonder myself. It may sound strange, but I wasn&rsquo;t sure. I didn&rsquo;t know if it was me or my teams.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t in it for the money. I mean I was making $150 a week playing for Philadelphia in 1964 when I got married. My wife was making $100 a week or so working for a bank in Philly or we&rsquo;d never have gotten by. But, she stuck by me. She knew it was what I wanted to do. I mean maybe it was crazy to go on, but it&rsquo;s hard to give up on something you&rsquo;ve been doing since you were 15 or so and have dreams of doing all your life.&rdquo;There is a saying that applies here: &ldquo;If you can keep your head while all others around you are losing theirs&hellip; you don&rsquo;t understand the seriousness of the situation.&rdquo; Ross Brooks didn&rsquo;t seem to realize he was being taken apart piece by piece and soon would be carried away in a basket.Not the least amazing aspect to his story is that at this point he was offered the opportunity to became a real pro in the high minors with the Providence Reds of the American League in 1964. at 27 and after two trial runs with them earlier. He stayed with them seven seasons, usually playing less than 20 games a season as reserve behind such as Ed Giacomin and Marcel Paille, only once averaging less than four goals a game and twice more than five. Stubbornly, he insists. &ldquo;I just wasn&rsquo;t seeing enough action to stay sharp.&rdquo; He was about a sharp as a balloon.In his seventh season there, the Reds loaned him to Phoenix of the Western League, which was about as desperate for an emergency goaltender as a team can get. He played one game for Phoenix, gave up five goals and was sent back to Providence. Only the Reds didn&rsquo;t want him back. He sat at the home he&rsquo;d bought in Providence and waited for them to call him to the arena but the phone never rang. He felt sort of silly being backup goaltender in his living room, so he requested and received his release.Naturally, he did not give up. Encouraged by his wife, he wrote letters to every team in the majors and most of the teams in the top minors, offering his services as an experienced netminder. He didn&rsquo;t explain his experience was mainly in giving up goals. It most him $3 in stamps. He said. &ldquo;I figured someone would want me.&rdquo; One wonders why he figured that way. but he did.Incredibly, he received replies from eight Incredibly, he received replies from eight teams. The last seven were too late. He&rsquo;d already grabbed his first offer, a telephone call from Murray Davidson of Boston&rsquo;s Oklahoma city farm team which had run out of goalers. He gave up five goals a game for them. He played one gave up five goals a game for them He played one period of one playoff game and gave up live goals.Naturally, this earned him a training camp trial with the big team the following season. He was assigned to their American League team in Boston as tutor to young Bouchard and. Io and beheld, he had a splendid 2.9 goals-against average and shared goaler-of-the-year honors with Boitchard. The Bruins let young Bouchard go in the draft and kept old Brooksie. And he was 2.5 tor the Braves and 2.6 for the Bruins last season. He won 11 games and tied two for the Bruins before losing his last game. And this season he had a 2.3 average for the Bruins and won 14 straight to tie the mark set by another Bruin. Tiny Thompson. 44 years ago. He had one shutout last season and three this season, two in a row. one against mighty Montreal. &ldquo;It is like a dream, but I always felt I could do a job if given support.&rdquo; Well, it turns out he was right, after all. Statistics sometimes lie. Either that, or he suddenly got good awfully late in life.He and his wife. Anita, and their three young children. Chris. Colleen and Kelley, still have their home in Providence. For the first time, their life is good. He is making some money now and can take pride in the performance of his profession. He was knocked out after giving three goals in the first period of his only playoff game last season, but figured he&rsquo;d get that coveted cup victory sooner or later. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m 36. but I sat out so much of so many seasons I feel like I&rsquo;m 26. he says. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel all those years behind me were wasted. They helped prepare me for this opportunity. I want to make the most of it.&rdquo; The glamor guys of the Bruins may be Orr and Esposito and Hodge but this is the guy the guys in the stands should be rooting for. The glamor guys have had it easy. This little guy couldn&rsquo;t have had it harder. &#9632;

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Making It The Hard Way

TORONTO&mdash;The seventh annual Charlie Conacher Awards Dinner will be held May 30 in Toronto as the Charlie Conacher Research Fund aims for the half-million dollar mark in totals funds raised towards cancer research.The dinner, to be held at the Royal York Hotel, will feature some of the biggest names in hockey, both past and present. The awards to be presented at the dinner are the Charlie Conacher Memorial Trophy and the Charlie Conacher Team Trophy.The Memorial Trophy is presented annually to the active NHL player judged to have made outstanding humanitarian and public services contributions in the course of his career. The aim of the trophy is to draw attention to the office achievements of hockey players.Previous winners were George Armstrong. Bob Baun. Jean Beliveau. Bobby Orr. Orland Kurtenbach. Gary Bergman and Jimmy Peters. The 1974 winner will be selected from candidates nominated by each NHL team.The Team Trophy will be presented to the Montreal Canadiens for achieving the best regular-season record amongst the three Canadian teams in the NHL. The award, institued in 1969. has been won five times by the Canadiens and once by the Toronto Maple Leafs.The main purpose of the dinner is to raise funds for research in throat cancer &mdash; the disease that claimed Conacher&rsquo;s life in 1967.Conacher was a star with the Maple Leafs for nine seasons during the late 1920&rsquo;s and 1930&rsquo;s. He played one season with the Detroit Red Wings and two with the New York Americans before retiring in 1941.He coached junior hockey for five years before taking on the coaching job of the Chicago Black Hawks in 1947. He coached the Hawks for three years before leaving hockey in 1950.During his playing career he was named to the NHL&rsquo;s first All Star team three times and twice to the second team. He won the scoring championship in the 1933-34 and 1934-35 seasons and scored 225 goals during his career.He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961.To date the Charlie Conacher Research Fund has raised $430,600. &#9632;

Conacher Fund Aiming For Half Million Mark

<div class="byline">BY BUD KENNEDY</div>DALLAS&mdash;While the various newspapers of the Central Hockey League were exposing the CHL&rsquo;s All Star team selections, where league coaches pegged Fort Worth&rsquo;s Glenn Resch for their first-team goalie while writers took Omaha&rsquo;s John Voss for their&rsquo;s, a couple of other men in their hockey masks came running right out of the woodwork to show up the selectors. Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Gordie McRae led the way with a 2-0 shutout of Dallas in the first Adams Cup final game, then the Black Hawks&rsquo; Michel Dumas returned the shot with a 6-0 blanking of the Blazers in the second match of the best-of-seven series.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01267/3797658-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="256" height="420"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gord McRae</figcaption></div>Dumas kept the hot hand in the next two games as the series shifted southward. beating the Blazers by a pair of 4-1 scores in the Hawks&rsquo; State Fair Coliseum. The three-year CHL veteran had received mention for the second All Star team from both coaches and writers but neither chose him first.The series continued with an April 24 game in Oklahoma City, where the third-place Hawks threatened to confiscate the Adams Cup for the second time in three years. An April 26 match was slated in Dallas in case the Blazers closed the series gap.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re just not playing well.&rdquo; lamented Blazer coach Gerry Moore &ldquo;Our defense hasn&rsquo;t been as good as it was in the Fort Worth series (Oklahoma City edged out the Wings in five games.)&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been getting a lot of shots but we haven&rsquo;t been scoring goals. That just proves we can&rsquo;t score them.&rdquo;A crowd of 5.604 turned out for the series&rsquo; fourth game in Dallas, the third largest in Black Hawk playoff history. Hawks&rsquo; Walt Ledingham. Dean Blais and Brian Ogilvie pounded in first-period goals to stake the Chicago farmhands to a 3-0 lead.Duane Wylie picked up a second-period marker for Dallas and the Blazers&rsquo; Peter Williams deflected in a third-period goal but that ended scoring. Dallas outshot OC 35-24.&ldquo;We definitely have that edge now.&rdquo; said Dallas coach Bobby Kromm, who also piloted Dallas&rsquo; 1971-72 and 1968-69 Adams Cup Champions. &ldquo;They weren&rsquo;t confident to the point of being cocky but they were loose. I&rsquo;d say the way they played in the first two periods nobody could beat &ldquo;em&rdquo;.The Blazers were short two regulars. All Star defenseman Claire Alexander and rookie winger Bob Sykes. Both were injured.Sykes and Bill Butters had scored the goals in the Blazers&rsquo; first-game win in their Myriad home.CHL NOTES: Dumas wound up the year as the workhorse goalie in the league. playing in 67 games and posting a 2.98 goals-against average. Voss was 2.83 in 47 games while Resch was 3.13 over 55 games. Resch faced 35 shots per game over the regular season and an average of 45 per game from the Blazers in the playoffs.Tulsa&rsquo;s Alf Handrahan was the league&rsquo;s penalty leader with 240 minutes with another rookie. Dallas&rsquo; Randy Holt, not far behind at 222.Albuquerque and Tulsa kept their program printers busy this season. Both teams went through no less than 32 players while operating as independents.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02209/3797651-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="555" height="580"><figcaption class="caption-body">MICHEL DUMAS &hellip;Cools Blazers</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03160/3797644-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="553" height="571"><figcaption class="caption-body">DUANE WYLIE &hellip;Dallas Scorer</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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McRae, Dumas Hot As Hawks Get Jump On Blazers

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01643/3797924-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">EDDIE GlACOMINHis Hot Gosling Turned Habs Out</figcaption></div>GOALERS DOMINATE NHL PLAYOFFS &mdash; Pages 14-15<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-02483/3797917-1-eng-US/cover-022.jpg" title="Cover-02" width="1140" height="1753"><figcaption class="caption-body">TONY ESPOSITODouble Shutouts in First Round</figcaption></div>BRUINS BANKING ON NEW LINE AS SINDEN&rsquo;S &lsquo;CUP INSURANCE&rsquo; &mdash; Page 3TOROS, COUGARS PROVIDE WHA&rsquo;S PLAYOFF SURPRISE &mdash; Page 23STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS GAME SCORES SUMMARIES STATISTICS &mdash; Pages 14-15 &#9632;

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THE INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;As the Philadelphia Flyers rested for their Stanley Cup semi-final series, they paused to reflect on their final memorable visit to Atlanta. Memorable. that is, for everyone except coach Fred Shero.Among the agenda items on a wild, wild weekend were:&mdash;Shero unable to remember how he was beaten, forcing him to miss the concluding game of the quarterfinal playoff with Atlanta.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02856/3796087-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="267" height="425"><figcaption class="caption-body">Don Saleski</figcaption></div>&mdash;Dave Schultz&rsquo;s overtime goal that gave the Flyers a sweep of the series.&mdash;A bench-clearing brawl in game three, plus a disputed goal that infuriated Flames&rsquo; goaltender Dan Bouchard to the point of shoving referee Dave Newell and swinging his stick at linesman Neil Armstrong. All Bouchard received was a misconduct.&mdash;Don Saleski&rsquo;s goal that ended an 0-for-32 game goal-scoring famine.The Shero episode was the most baffling. All the unpredictable coach could recall was waking up in his hotel room Sunday morning and discovering bruises on his face and back. He also had a gash on his arm, a damaged thumb and his glasses were broken. No money or personal possessions were missing.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t remember anything about what happened.&rdquo; Shero said. &ldquo;All I seem to remember is deciding not to leave my room after our team meeting Saturday night.&rdquo;Later, an Underground Atlanta club operator, who declined to identify his establishment, said Shero was jumped by two men in his place. Flyers&rsquo; spokesmen had concluded that Shero had been attacked near the team&rsquo;s hotel during one of his routine midnight strolls.THE HOCKEY NEWS coach of the year did recall &ldquo;the word &lsquo;animal&rsquo; upset me.&rdquo; which gives the Underground Atlanta story credibility. If some customers had discovered who Shero was and started calling the Flyers animals, an argument was likely. The only drawback to this theory is Shero&rsquo;s aversion to crowds: his sole walks usually take him to off-beat, lonely spots.If Shero&rsquo;s attack did occur in Underground Atlanta, there is another twist to the tale: a Philadelphia press contingent spent several hours &ldquo;underground&rdquo; the same night. Their visit was all pleasure, however, as they witnessed the first female streakers at a lively banjo-and-beer hall. &ldquo;Linda the Streaker&rdquo; will always be a fond blur in the writers&rsquo; minds.Meanwhile, back on the ice. one highlight of the Flyers&rsquo; four straight victories over the Flames was Saleski&rsquo;s first goal since Feb. 2. It was hardly a classic maneuver as he deflected in Orest Kindrachuk&rsquo;s shot for the first goal in game three. Suggested headline for the goal: &ldquo;Saleski Uses Rump to Break Slump.&rdquo;That the second-year right wing was near the net to use his rump is further proof of the Flyers&rsquo; desire: where as some teams can&rsquo;t find any volunteers to station themselves in traffic, the Flyers, starting with Gary (The Battered) Dornheefer, have several courageous punishment takers.Although Saleski didn&rsquo;t show his frustration during his slump, he admits it was troubling him.&ldquo;Not scoring didn&rsquo;t bother me for awhile because we were all thinking about first place,&rdquo; &ldquo;Big Bird&rdquo; said. &ldquo;I just tried to check and work hard. But the last 15 games or so I was getting lots of chances. That&rsquo;s when it started to bug me.&rdquo;Hitting the 15-goal mark by mid-season may have been the worst thing that happened to him.&ldquo;Maybe I did get a little overconfident and start thinking I&rsquo;d get 20 goals easy,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Mike Nykoluk (Flyers&rsquo; assistant coach) worked with me on little things like. I was going away from the met when I was shooting. What really got me was when I&rsquo;d do things right and the puck still wouldn&rsquo;t go in.&rdquo;Although the Spectrum customers got restless. Shero never wavered. Saleski stayed in the lineup. As a rookie, the 6-3, 205-pounder was one of the Flyers&rsquo; steadiest forwards in the playoffs. Obviously Shero expects an encore from him. &#9632;

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Flyers Won’t Forget Last Visit To Atlanta In Hurry

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01940/3796118-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Goaler Bernie Parent of Philadelphia got off on the right foot in the Stanley Cup semi-finals by blanking Rangers 4-0. Details on Page 14.</figcaption></div><h2>BRUINS BENCH HODGE</h2>BOSTON&mdash;It&rsquo;s the playoffs. So where do you find a 50-goal scorer? On the ice. taking double shifts? No. On the bench. That&rsquo;s where Ken Hodge, a 50-goal scorer this season, spent most of the time during the Boston Bruins&rsquo; 8-6 victory over Chicago in the second game of the NHL semi-finals. &ldquo;He wasn&rsquo;t skating, shooting or checking and I don&rsquo;t care who it is,&rdquo; said Boston coach Bep Guidolin, &ldquo;If they don&rsquo;t want to play hockey for me. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll get them out of there and play someone else. I&rsquo;ll start (Dave) Forbes in Chicago and if he keeps trying he might keep playing. I know Ken is a 50-goal scorer but the thing now is this playoff series and I&rsquo;m not going to sit around waiting for him.&rdquo;<h2>RUSSIA WINS TITLE</h2>HELSINKI&mdash;For the 13th time the Soviet Union has won the amateur hockey championship of the world. The Soviets defeated Sweden 3-1 April 20 to clinch the Group A championship. The Soviets had little trouble with the Swedes, outshooting them 57-18. The Soviets, who had lost only one game in the tournament, received goals from Vladimir Shadrin, Valeri Kharlamov and Aleksander Malchev. Czechoslavakia, the only team to defeat the Soviets, lost 5-4 to Finland in the last game and finished second. Sweden placed third. The Soviets placed two players on the tournament All Star team, defenseman Valeri Vasilyev and forward Aleksander Yakushev.<h2>WHA, SOVIETS TO PLAY</h2>EDMONTON&mdash;Bill Hunter, general manager of the Edmonton Oilers, announced recently that the World Hockey Association will meet a Soviet national team in four-game exhibition series this fall. Hunter said that the Russians agreed to play four games against Canadian WHA teams. The last series between Canadian pros and Russians took place in 1972 when Team Canada met the Soviet Union in an eight-game series. The Soviets had been scheduled to return to play United States NHL teams in 1973 but the tour was cancelled following a disagreement over taxes. &#9632;

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Deadline Stoppers

<h2>NHL Teams</h2>Boston &hellip; 3Buffalo &hellip; 20Chicago &hellip; 9Detroit &hellip; 21Los Angeles &hellip; 12Minnesota &hellip; 36Montreal &hellip; 10N.Y. Islanders &hellip; 19N.Y. Rangers &hellip; 6Philadelphia &hellip; 2Pittsburgh &hellip; 18Toronto &hellip; 17Vancouver &hellip; 16<h2>Other Leagues</h2>World Hockey &hellip; 22American &hellip; 25Western &hellip; 28Central &hellip; 30International &hellip; 31North American &hellip; 32<h2>Columnists</h2>Ken McKenzie &hellip; 4Bill Libby &hellip; 8<h2>Other Features</h2>Fan Forum &hellip; 4Cartoon Corner &hellip; 9Crossword &hellip; 27 &#9632;

WHERE YOU’LL FIND IT ALL

<div class="byline">BY JACK McCARTHY</div>BOSTON&mdash;When the Bruins went into training camp last fall, is someone had said that the line which would be one of the toughest in the later part of the season and would bear the brunt of the offense into the playoffs would consist of Gregg Sheppard. John Bucyk and Bobby Schmautz. he would have been surrounded by blank stares.And. when Sheppard spent the first half of the season trying to beg. borrow or steal goal, the prospect seemed highly unlikely. Schmautz wasn&rsquo;t even with the club, and Bucyk was going to be rested now and again as befitted his status as the Bruins&rsquo; older statesman.General manager Harry Sinden knew that if the Bruins had any intentions of winning the cup back they relinquished to Montreal last season, he would most certainly have to have another solid line to turn the trick. After all it usually takes a solid three-line performance to win the Stanley Cup.So. the line came into being when Schmautz came over from Vancouver Canucks. Sheppard began to pick up in his scoring, playing fine last half to finish with 16 goals, continued into the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, in which Boston Ousted Toronto Maple Leafs in four straight games.In that series, little &lsquo;Shep&rsquo; was the leading scorer, with four goals and three assists, while the chief and Schmautz had two goals each.The fearless forecaster. Bucyk. had told Sinden before the Leafs series &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got a feeling that we will be a hot line in the playoffs. &ldquo;Later. Sinden said. &ldquo;Chief is a veteran prognosticator. and I&rsquo;ve got no reason to doubt him.&rdquo;What the line was doing was. according to Shep. &ldquo;Just playing our game which is to try to force the other team into mistakes.&rdquo; And Bucyk, the veteran. agreed that this is the way that playoff hockey usually goes.On Sheppard goals, he said. &ldquo;They just came because I was trying to play defensive hockey.&rdquo;Schmautz. who had been grabbed by Sinden for his ability as a playmaker, and. because he is tough cookie had been a sort of policeman for Boston in the Toronto series. Trouble seems to come to Schmautz. who is where the action is in the checking department.In the final outcome it developed it was the line that Sinden had been looking for to round out a solid squad for coach Bep Guidolin over the latter part of the season and into the cup playoffs, and it came to pass with the addition of Schmautz.One man who would have been delighted at the success of Sheppard was the late Weston Adamn. Sr., who always had a good word for Sheppard, even when it was generally believed that he was too small to make the big. boisterous Bruins of a few years ago.Shep went to several training camps in London, Ontario, but the cards were always stacked against him. But. Adams. Sr., was always in his corner, saying that his physical size didn&rsquo;t matter. that it was the size of his heart and his desire that counted.Sheppard was out of the same mold as another favorite of Adams. Sr., Johnny McKenzie, although perhaps not quite as boisterous on the ice.All in all, the line performed admirably against the Leafs &mdash; a big plus for the Bruins.Another player who performed well was Carol Vadnais. who had been signed to a new three-year contract as Sinden attempted to mail down his roster of signees. &ldquo;I am very happy.&rdquo; said Vadnais. The NHL is the League I want to play in and the Bruins are the team I want to play for.&rdquo;Just before the Chicago series began in Boston, Carol was presented with a daughter. Michele, by his wife. Raymonde. in Boston Hospital For Women.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02812/3796187-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="546" height="893"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOBBY SCHMAUTZ &hellip;Made The Line</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01946/3796180-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="1192" height="1595"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN BUCYK&hellip; The Chief Called The Shot</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03541/3796173-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="1144" height="1597"><figcaption class="caption-body">GREGG SHEPPARD&hellip; Like A Shot In The Arm</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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SCHMAUTZ, SHEPPARD, BUCYK — REPRESENT SINDEN’S INSURANCE FOR ANOTHER BOSTON CUP WIN

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-01998/3796239-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="446" height="436"></div>NEW YORK &mdash; The Rangers have defeated the Stanley Cup champions three straight years. They eliminated the Montreal Canadiens in 1972 and 1974. and the Boston Bruins in 1973&hellip; The play of Eddie Giacomin in the Rangers&rsquo; nets against Canadiens was superb. It was as fine an exhibition of goaltending as yon could ever hope to see. His terrific play had the crowd chanting &ldquo;Eddie&rdquo;&hellip; Eddie&rdquo;&hellip; &ldquo;Eddie&rdquo; throughout the final game here&hellip; It was a fine team effort why the New Yorkers but Giacomin was the leader. Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; quick fold was a big disappointment to their followers. Jacques Lemaire and Frank Mahovlich were the biggest flops among last year&rsquo;s Stanley Cup winners&hellip; Sam Pollock. Montreal general manager. said he had no plans to replace Scotty Bowman as coach. &ldquo;I know that Scotty was severely criticized during the season and after the recent playoffs,&rdquo; Pollock said. &ldquo;I have no excuses to offer for him. I don&rsquo;t hold Bowman responsible for the elimination of the Canadiens. I believe that he has done some fine work in the past three years&rdquo; &hellip; The sudden firing of Wren Blair as general manager of the Minnesota North Stars caught the hockey world by surprise. Wren was the last of the original expansion GM&rsquo;s of 1967 to be replaced&hellip; Ken Hodge is still trying to collect from his Boston teammates after they made a pact to pay $20 apiece for the overtime goal that eliminated Toronto&hellip; Four NHL stars who are expected to jump to the WHA Toronto Toros next season are Ken Dryden. Paul Henderson. Jacques Laperriere and Frank Mahovlich. It will be a wonder if the Toros can match the high salaries currently being pulled down by Mahovlich and Henderson&hellip; Joe Crozier is said to be all through as coach of the Buffalo Sabres. Joe is expected to move to Vancouver, but no one is certain whether it&rsquo;s the Canucks of the NHL or the Blazers of the WHA.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02954/3796232-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="279" height="443"><figcaption class="caption-body">Paul Henderson</figcaption></div>THE GOALKEEPING by Chicago&rsquo;s Tony Esposito and Boston Gil Gilbert in the Bruins&rsquo; 8-6 win over the Black Hawks was an exhibition of goalkeeping at its worst. Both netminders were horrible, although the game itself was fast and wide open and full of excitement&hellip; Johnny Bucyk&rsquo;s three goals were the highlight of the&rsquo; afternoon. The veteran Boston captain has a record of coming through with timely goals during the playoffs&hellip; Six power-play goals were scored, tying the NHL record, and Dennis Hull&rsquo;s goal from near center ice must have been traveling 150 miles per hour. Hull is reputed to have the fastest shot in all of hockey&hellip; Terry O&rsquo;Reilly is a great battler for the Bruins, and Bobby Schmautz gets better with each succeeding game. Harry Sinden, managing director of Boston, made one of his best trades when he obtained Schmautz from the Vancouver Canucks&hellip; Tony Esposito who was &ldquo;Mr. Wonderful&rdquo; in Chicago&rsquo;s 4-2 win over the Bruins, wears contact lenses and often during a game he will skate over to the bench to check and make sure both lenses are in place&hellip; Weare convinced there is no finer defensive defenseman in the NHL. right now that lanky Bill White of the Black Hawks. He may not be as flashy as Bobby Orr and&rsquo; Brad Park but when it comes to being effective and stopping the opposition White rates at the head of the list&hellip; Paddy Priestman. top American Airlines executive in Canada and a keen hockey fan. thinks the playoff games this year have been the most thrilling in years&hellip; Germain Gagnon, playing in his first Stanley Cup series, has been very impressive for the Black Hawks&hellip; It looks like Jimmy Skinner, a longtime member of the Detroit organization, will soon be named the permanent general manager of the Red Wings. Jimmy is an excellent hockey man who has done everything asked of him by the Red Wings over a long period of time. He was the coach the last time the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup in 1955&hellip; Boston&rsquo;s Gil Gilbert is a fine offensive goalkeeper. He has already picked up two assists during the playoffs and he recorded one assist during the regular season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03849/3796225-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="264" height="421"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gil Gilbert</figcaption></div>NEW YORK ISLANDERS cut their goals-against average by close to 80 this season. It&rsquo; general manager Bill Torrey can make one or two trades and get lucky in the draft the Islanders will be playoff contenders next season. One thing is certain and that is Torrey is sticking with youth&hellip; Even though most of the games have been thrillers. NBC is worried about the ratings of NHI. hockey this season. Bowling on ABC outdrew hockey on NBC by about two to one on recent Sunday afternoon. Roone Arledge. president of ABC Sports, says: &ldquo;The major difficulty with hockey on TV is that the game is so fast and the puck is so small &hellip; As a result of this the WHA is working on colored puck believing it might be easier followed by the telivision viewer. The WHA hopes to start next season with a red puck. They say it&rsquo;s a wild red and very close to the red on the Canadian flag&hellip; And talking about hockey telecasts. both Tim Ryan on NBC and Bob Cole on Hockey Night in Canada have done superb jobs to date in announcing these playoff games. Danny Gallivan still rates as the leader in the field but there are a great many fine young hockey announcers coming on to the scene &hellip; The, last sweater worn by the late Tim Horton of the Buffalo Sabres will be enshrined in Hockey&rsquo;s Hall of Fame&hellip; A statistical similarity between 1972 and 1974 is in power-play goals. In 1972 the Rangers allowed Canadiens but one power-paly goal in 24 tries. In 1974 Rangers have shut off 18 of 20 attempts.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04747/3796218-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="276" height="443"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jimmy Skinner</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0004-01

PASSING THE PUCK

OFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY Founded October 1st, 1947Published weekly except monthly June through September by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd., 1434 St. Catherine Street West Montreal 107. Canada. U.S. c/o W.C.C. Publishing Corporation. 150 E. 58th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022.Kenneth William McKenzie President. Publisher and Advertising DirectorCharlie Halpin Editorial DirectorChris Zelkovich Asst. To EditorUnited States Advertising Representatives: Boston: Steve Ganak. Ad Reps. 479 Statler Office Bldg. Boston. Mass 02116. telephone (617) 542-6913: Chicago Hooper Jones & Associates, 3322 W. Peterson Ave, Chicago III 60659 telephone (312) 478-5544. New York:Bill Hitzig. National Sports Publishing Corp. 150 East 58th Street, New York. N.Y. 10022. Telephone (212) 593-2100. &#9632;

The Hockey News

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05609/3796294-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg"></div><h2>Fans Integral Part Of Bruins&rsquo; Success</h2>If you&rsquo;ve never been to the Boston Garden, then I don&rsquo;t think you can say the real Bruins&rsquo; fans are bad at all, they&rsquo;re the best. As for the game which Chicago played Boston at the Garden the top balcony bazoos id most of the garbage throwing. Those people don&rsquo;t quite understand and fully appreciate hockey. One of Boston&rsquo;s reasons for the top spot and the best home record so far this year is because of the fans.EILEEN CRONIN,West Newton, Mass.<h2>Flyers Don&rsquo;t Rate For Stanley Cup</h2>I read that some of the best hockey writers from the United States and Canada made their predictions on the outcome of the 1973-74 National Hockey League campaign, and after doing so I can honestly say that they made the wrong choice. I would like to find out just what the Philadelphia Flyers are out to prove.Now having built up reputation as the Fourth Reich, do they seriously think a Stanley Cup can be won by completely crucifing the opposition? If fighting and rough house play won hockey games it would be fine and dandy, but simply it doesn&rsquo;t.Neither flying fists nor Kate Smith will win hockey games, let alone Stanley Cup admiration.JOHN CARNEVALE,Trenton, N.J.<h2>Sabres&rsquo; Fans Cheer Even When They Lose</h2>I think the Buffalo Sabres have the best fans in the NHL. Being a Sabre fan have seen them play in the Auditorium and their fans are always cheering them on. When the team goes wrong instead of booing, they keep on cheering them on. So if anyone doesn&rsquo;t believe me just go to the Aud and find out for themselves.WAYNE JAMES,Beamsville, Ont.<h2>Rangers&rsquo; Gilbert Deserves Award</h2>In my opinion, Rod Gilbert should be voted the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. He is having an outstanding season for the Rangers while at the same time is exhibiting sportsmanship a long with a strong dedication for the game. Remember that Rod has had two spinal operations and many doubted he would ever play hockey again. Yet with his strong desire he has become the all-time Rangers&rsquo; scoring leader and one of the finest right wingers in the game.MICHAEL STARINSKY,<h2>We Don&rsquo;t Need Fights In Hockey</h2>During the recent hockey season it was stated that Ed Chynoweth, president of te Western Canada Hockey League, fined three of his coaches a total of $650 for lack of control over their players after a big brawl.It is time that the coaches the NHL be fined when their players don&rsquo;t stop fighting. Winning games by brute force is not sport. Last year one coach boasted that he had four good musclemen on his team. He was warned by the president of the NHL, but not heavily fined. He actually went scot free. Is this an example to young hockey players? Teach the players sportsmanship, win or lose, and not try to cripple the opposition. In my opinion 90 percent of the fans go to the games not to see fights but to see clean, clever hockey.F. MUNRO,Penticton, B.C.<h2>Flyers Are Not &lsquo;Gang Fighters&rsquo;</h2>Concerning the letter written by a far the Flyers are the roughest team in the NHL and just because Dave Shultz supposedly lost a fight to &ldquo;Battleship Kelly of St. Louis doesn&rsquo;t mean that St. Louis is better than anyone else.Just look and see who led the league in penalties and probably in most fights. Now, I&rsquo;m not saying Shultz, Bob Kelly, Moose Dupont, or Don Saleski have won every fight, but their win-loss percentage, is excellent. Secondly, it&rsquo;s rare that I miss a Flyers&rsquo; game and in all the times that I&rsquo;ve seen them play, have never seen a gang fight, maybe two or three separate fights but never a gang fight.It&rsquo;s really too bad that I can&rsquo;t acknowledge your challenge to the Flyers but looking over the past few years a game against the Flyers and Blues it should read: Philadelphia Flyers vs. St. Louis Black & Blues.RALPH MANOPPELLO,Consshohocken, Pa.<h2>Bobby Orr Still The Super Bruin</h2>I read your April 12 issue and in it I saw an article on how the coaches rate the players. I also read that this season has been poor one for Bobby Orr. I can&rsquo;t agree with this statement.Orr has scored 100 points plus again this year making it five straight seasons. He was the first choice of the defensemen for the All Star team also. This to me is no poor showing.JOE LISKOWSKY, &#9632;

f0004-05

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011029/3796332-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRUCE MacGREGOR&hellip; Fires Two Game-Winning Goals</figcaption></div>NEW YORK&mdash;Last Spring Ron Harris took regular turn on the New York Rangers&rsquo; blueline in the Stanley Cup playoffs and was acclaimed a hero for his work in the opening round series, which New York won from Boston, four games to one. He checked All Star Bruin center Phil Esposito cleanly, and tore up Espo&rsquo;s knee, which didn&rsquo;t hurt the Rangers chances.This spring, with all hands healthy on the blueline corps. Harris was rated number six. behind Jim &ldquo;Chief Neilson and the regular foursome of Brad Park. Dale Rolfe. Gilles Marotte and Rod Seiling. Suddenly it&rsquo;s game four of the quarter-finals and the Ranger ship is sinking. Montreal leads two games to one. and is leading in the contest Emile Francis, the doughty never-say die GM-coach. inserts Harris at right wing with Bobby Rousseau at center and Jack Egers, another irregular, on the left side.About half minute later it&rsquo;s 1-1. as Ron. backhands a shot off the post and past Bunny Larocque.Montreal crept ahead again by 3-1 count. Rod Gilbert cut the margin to one and suddenly Harris is on at right wing with Pete Stemkowski and Teddy Irvine. Bruce MacGregor, the normal right wing, had been busy trying to keep up with Yvan Cournoyer. Montreal&rsquo;s hat trick hero.Dale Rolfe throws it ahead to Stemmer who feeds it to Irvine who shoots. Boom! Harris hits Larocque and the Rangers have tied the game.&ldquo;I might have grazed him bit.&rdquo; said happy Harris later. &ldquo;If I can get a legal hit I take it. I think he juggled the puck because of it.&rdquo;Three nights later, it was Harris again who was the hero. After playing a strong three periods on right wing. Harris scored the winner in overtime to give the Rangers a 3-2 victory and a 3-2 lead in games.MacGregor has been a tower of strength for the Rangers in the series. He scored six goals in the first five games of the quarter-final, including the tying goal in the fifth game and the winning goals in the first and fourth games. He also did an outstanding job of harnessing Yvan Cournoyer after the Roadrunner had scored five times in the first three games.Another irregular who shone in the game, and has played well whenever called upon, was Neilson. Since February. the Chief has been sitting on the bench as Francis worked in Marotte with long-time partner Seiling. Neilson, a 12-year vet. once a second team All Star, never got on the ice in Montreal in game two. but when challenged he responded with a great effort.&ldquo;So I played a good game.&rdquo; said the Chief. &ldquo;Big deal.&rdquo;Whether Neilson had won back his job from Marotte. at least for the playoffs remained to be seen but the Chief had shown the home folks that his skills had not diminished. He got the call when Gilles drew a tripping penalty halfway through the second period, pulling down Cournoyer.Rangers are without Vic Hadfield, whose injured ankle was placed in a cast. Hadfield played a bit in game one, but was only about 10 percent effective. Whether he can return for any future rounds is in doubt.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to come off the bench.&rdquo; noted Harris. &ldquo;The Chief did a great job. I find it hard to stay ready, but I work extra hard at it.&rdquo;Francis has juggled like mad. using nine different line combinations, in an effort to get things moving. Bobby Rousseau is playing with a bad thigh and missed game two. but has been a pinch player deluxe, as usual. He plays some center, some wing and the point on the power play.Ted Irvine, a regular, but one of the more unsung Rangers got two goals in the big come from behind effort and wanted to talk about it.&ldquo;We showed what we could do with work.&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;on the tying one when Harris was near Larocque I may have been lucky, but I beat Bunny on the ice on the second. It was me and him. I thought that might do it but they tied it again. We showed them by coming back again after that.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02792/3796325-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="563" height="525"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON HARRIS &hellip;Overtime Winner</figcaption></div>Another hard worker was perennial playoff hero. Peter Stemkowski who was tied with Park and Rousseau for the point leadership of the team after four games.The Stemmer was winning faceoffs, usually in key spots, taking 17 in the fourth game and swinging from line to line in the emergency, as well as killing the odd penalty, when Walter Tkaczuk and Billy Fairbairn didn&rsquo;t handle that chore.There is no question that Cournoyer was the key Canadien in the series &mdash; and that Gene Carr, now with Los Angeles might have handled him better than did the present Rangers.MacGregor, switched from his usual right wing spot in game four, was selected for his speed by Francis, after Yvan got five breakaways in the first three games.&ldquo;You need a rope to handle him.&rdquo; grinned Bruce.&ldquo;When you get a hat trick on breakaways (as he did in game two) you have to be lucky.&rdquo; said Yvan. &#9632;

f0006-01

Rangers’ ‘Have Nots’ Show The Way In Productive Playoff Performances

TWIN CITIES&mdash;While the hockey world sat stunned over the firing of general manager Wren Blair by the Minnesota North Stars, coach Parker MacDonald said he wasn&rsquo;t too confident of staying on with the National Hockey League club as coach for next season.The ouster of Blair, who had been an expansion original dating back to 1967. took the NHL by surprise. The fact he had two years to go on his present contract and that he had been scouting players in Europe for the North Stars, seems to indicate he was certain to be returning next fall.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03769/3796401-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="292" height="456"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wren Blair</figcaption></div>Walter Bush, president of the North Stars, said he hopes to come up with a replacement for Blair within the next two or three weeks before the summer hockey meetings begin in Montreal June 9-12.Bush said. &ldquo;The North Stars appreciate the contributions Wren made to the organization during his eight years. But we felt in view of last season&rsquo;s showing by the team (the North Stars finished seventh in the eight-team West Division) that we had to make a change.&rdquo;There is speculation that Jackie Gordon, who gave up coaching the Stars midway in the current season and was succeeded by Parker MacDonald, would get the job as GM. He&rsquo;s 45.No decision has been made on MacDonald&rsquo;s status as coach but the Minnesota pilot said he is expecting the axe as the result of Blair&rsquo;s firing.&ldquo;I guess I can see the handwriting on the wall for me,&rdquo; said MacDonald, who expressed surprised that Blair was removed from the Minnesota job. MacDonald said he could see himself relieved of the coaching job or players being traded off, but the club&rsquo;s dumping of Blair ranked as an outright surprise to him. &#9632;

f0008-03

Gordon Seen Possible Replacement For Blair As North Stars’ GM

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-01985/3796439-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"></div>&mdash;CHICAGOYes. that was the economy plan the Chicago Black Hawks used in the Stanley Cup quarterfinal dismissal of Los Angeles&rsquo; hard-working King.And no. that wasn&rsquo;t a typographical error in your morning newspaper Easter Sunday. The Black Hawks really and truly took only 10 shots in 60 minutes of hockey, and only three shots in the last 40 minutes and truly did win anyway. 1-0.&ldquo;That was the turning point of the series.&rdquo; said Los Angeles Coach Bob Pulford, &ldquo;to outshoot them 32-10 like that, yet still get beat.&rdquo; The triumph, one you didn&rsquo;t have to believe if you saw it. that the Chicagoans into a grandiose 3-0 lead in games. The fourth game, the Kings arose to romp 5-1 &mdash; the most lopsided defeat this season for the Hawks.Two evenings later, the Hawks were back to their stingy ways, to win a 1-0 affair the closeness of which was more indicative of the play than the margin of four games to one by which the Hawks prevailed.The 10-shot contest on the West Coast was truly remarkable. The Hawks scored on their first shot by Germain Gagnon at the 40-second mark then managed but nine afterward including just one in the second period and two in the third.&ldquo;Who was the goalie for Los Ange les. anyway?&rdquo; guffawed Dennis Hull &ldquo;we never did get to see him.&rdquo;&ldquo;How did my goal go?&rdquo; laughed Gagnon afterward. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know. It seemed like three days ago that I scored it.&rdquo;&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think that 1-0 lead would last, the way things were going.&rdquo; said President Bill Wirtz. &ldquo;But then I realized that we were just practicing faceoffs.&rdquo;Winners can chortle, of course, and indeed this contest is like a 39-minute faceoff drill. Time and again, the Kings would swoop in on Tony Esposito, particularly in a tense third period. But eventually the Hawks would dump it out. or freeze it. or he would author another save and/or smother.Seldom have teams scored in the opening minute, then upsed into an immediate shell. It would be analogous to a football team kicking a field goal on its opening set of downs, then going into prevent defense. But it worked, somehow.And it did turn the series inexorably toward the Black Hawks, though the Kings never stopped working. So difficult time did the Kings give the Hawks that the Chicagoans had to be well-prepared for a semi-final assignment against the mighty Boston Bruins, a club which failed to beat only one team during the National Hockey League regular season &mdash; Chicago.&ldquo;But that doesn&rsquo;t mean anything.&rdquo; said Esposito. This is a whole new ball game. They&rsquo;ve got a great club, and they can score. But we&rsquo;re playing the right type of game going into it. Tight.&rdquo;The Hawks were further buoyed by the imminent good health of two ailing stars. Phil Russell, who suffered a collapsed left lung in the final week of the regular campaign made a rapid return and was feeling only slightly sore as the team headed to Beantown.Pit Martin, meanwhile, was hopeful of opening the Boston series despite incurring a severly bruised left leg in the first game of the Los Angeles tournament. The Hawk hopes without him were slim, at best, and their chances difficult even with him.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-02865/3796432-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="541" height="1004"><figcaption class="caption-body">PIT MARTIN &hellip; Hawks Need Him</figcaption></div>Stan Mikita&rsquo;s 50th playoff goal on the second game for Chicago against Los Angeles. In the opener. Darcy Rota collected his first&hellip; The closing game of the series was scoreless until Jim Pappin beat Rogatien Vachon with only 4:37 remaining&hellip; Keith Magnuson and Cliff Koroll signed Hawk contracts for five years, so they won&rsquo;t be jumping. &#9632;

f0009-01

Few Shots, Few Goals Enough To Get Chicago Past L.A.

<div class="byline">BY CHRIS ZELKOVICH</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011007/3796477-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">MICHEL LAROCQUE&hellip; Unlikely Hero In Goal</figcaption></div>MONTREAL &mdash;Be they unlikely or expected, heroes will always emerge in the playoffs, and for the Montreal Canadiens, their heroes were both expected and unlikely.The expected: Yvan Coumoyer. Last year&rsquo;s Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP, who scored five goals in two games of the quarter-finals.The unlikely: Steve Shutt, the sophomore with the bullet-like shot that looked more like a pop-gun in the last half of the season, who scored four times in the first four games and was one of the Canadiens&rsquo; leading players throughout the players.Another unlikely: Michel &ldquo;Bunny&rdquo; Larocque, the rookie netminder with only two games played during the last month of the season, who gave the Habs the kind of playoff netminding they had become accustomed to under men such as Dryden. Vachon and Worsley.The third unlikely: Sophomore defenseman Larry Robinson, who became the top hitting defenseman for the Canadiens as well as the top rushing blueliner in the quarter-finals.For awhile it looked like Coumoyer was going to be a one-man wrecking crew in the series against the Rangers. After a rather quiet opening game, the Roadrunner exploded for three goals in the Canadiens&rsquo; 4-1 second-game victory.Two of the three came on Coumoyer patented plays &mdash; breakaways. With the scored tied 1-1 in the second period, Larocque juggles shot from the blueline.Defenseman Pierre Bouchard (&ldquo;like Hank Aaron going for number 715&rdquo;) bats the puck out of the air to center ice. There is a race for the puck between Coumoyer and Ranger defenseman Dale Rolfe and Rod Seiling, which is about as close as a race between Secretariat and Francis the Talking Mule.After barely-audible &ldquo;beep-beep&rdquo; the Roadrunner beats Ranger goaltender Ed Giacomin and it&rsquo;s 2-1.Two passes from center Jacques Lemaire in the third period and Coumoyer has the hat trick and the Canadiens have a victory. The Rangers have stiff necks from watching Coumoyer skate past them.&ldquo;I need him to play as well as I can.&rdquo; Coumoyer says after the game, nodding towards Lemaire. &ldquo;When he&rsquo;s going I can go. too.&ldquo;I had lots of time to make the move.&rdquo; he says, replaying his goals. &ldquo;I think he (Giacomin) played well, but I beat him. Other nights he beats me.&rdquo;Game three was not one of those other nights.With the Canadiens ahead 2-0 in the first period Coumoyer steals the puck from Bobby Rousseau and he&rsquo;s off again, leaving all the Ranger coyotes far behind. So it&rsquo;s 3-0. The Roadrunner scores in the second period, thanks to a tip-in by Seiling and it&rsquo;s 4-0.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02819/3796470-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="555" height="670"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE SHUTT &hellip;Hot Shot</figcaption></div>But outstanding playoff performances are nothing new for Cournoyer. They are new, though, to Shutt and Larocque.Shutt&rsquo;s performance has been the most pleasing to the Canadiens. Blessed with all the talent a goal-scorer needs. Shutt was held to 15 goals during the regular season. But his performance in the playoffs has been very encouraging.The 21-year-old effervescent left winger scored a goal in each of the Habs&rsquo; first four games and played as an aggressive brand of hockey as can be expected.&ldquo;This is playoff hockey.&rdquo; Shutt says, explaining his new-found aggressiveness. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to stay with your man now.&ldquo;Pride is the difference. Pride is the big motivator. It means a lot more than money.&rdquo; He was serious, too.If &ldquo;Stevie Wonder&rsquo;s&rdquo; performance is the most pleasing, then Larocque&rsquo;s is not far behind. Inconsistent goaltending has plagued the Habs this season, and Larocque has been far from inconsistent in the playoffs.He wouldn&rsquo;t be faulted in the Canadiens&rsquo; first loss and was outstanding in the two victories. He tired in the fourth game, a 6-4 loss, but came back strong in the fifth.The key to Bunny&rsquo;s play in the quarter-finals is confidence. He knows he can do the job and is doing it. Larocque has been making the key saves early in the game and once again is challenging the shooters. Goaltending has not been a problem in the playoffs.Robinson has been in the league only two seasons but has already established himself as a clutch playoff performer. Last year he scored an overtime goal in the semi-finals and had an outstanding playoff.While there haven&rsquo;t been any goals yet from the gangling defenseman. he has been a big plus on the blueline.Robinson has been leading Canadiens&rsquo; rushes, blocking shots and basically doing everything a defenseman is supposed to do. With Serge Savard slowed down by twisted knee and Guy Lapointe hobbled by a foot injury. Robinson&rsquo;s contribution has been doubly important.HAB-BITS: Larocque, in his first playoff ever, has set an NHL record. By collecting assists in the second and third games. Bunny became the first goaltender to do so. Seven goaltenders have one assist in playoffs&hellip; With his five goals in the first five games of the quarter-final Cournoyer has now scored 21 goals in his last 23 playoff games&hellip; Henri Richard is again leading the Canadiens in the work department. The importance of his inspiring work is underlined with each game. &#9632;

f0010-01

Lesser Lights Grab Limelight In Playoff Outburst For Habs

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div>LOS ANGELES &mdash;It was. more than anything also, a test of character, and the Kings came through with considerable courage.As they rose the respectability in the second half of the regular season, they looked good against the good teams. The playoffs. however, figured to provide the real proof of their quality.They were outclassed in the first two games of the first round in Chicago. but they bounced back at home in the third game with a tremendous performance in a 1-0 loss. Seldom have we seen a team more deserving of victory or more frustrated by defeat.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01980/3796508-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="251" height="458"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dan Maloney</figcaption></div>On the verge of surrendering in a four-game sweep, they returned the following night to play almost as strong a game. Losing 1-0 again, their frustration intensifying after being shut out for 120 minutes, the Kings tied the game in the second period and won easily in the third period.The victory may have been the biggest in this team&rsquo;s history, though they did lose the next game, l-0, in Chicago, and thus the series of five games. Again, only Rogie Vachon&rsquo;s spectacular goaltending kept them close and Tony Esposito shut them out for the fifth time this season and second straight time in the series, but they gave way grudgingly and went out with heads held high.Being swept out in four by the Black Hawks would not have been surprising, but it would have been depressing and would have created doubts about their future. Now. the Kings feel they should have won on Saturday night, they know they did win on Sunday night and they will pass the summer sure they now can compete with the class.Almost half this team was assembled within the past year. It is not yet together. Most of the key men are young, who should get better. The players do not pass well or make good plays, but they may in the future. They lack polish. and make mistakes, but should improve. They are physically tough, and skate explosively and can become a top team.Most of the players must be kept together with only a few replacements on the roster advisable, but there is a threat tomorrow. Two Kings are unsigned for next season and weighing offers from the World Hockey Associations.Forward Dan Maloney, the team&rsquo;s toughest member, is considering a return to Chicago to rejoin former Black Hawk teammate Pat Stapleton. now coaching the WHA Cougars. Defenseman Barry Long, the team&rsquo;s most improved player, is listening to a bid from Edmonton.Forward Randy Rota, who showed more promise in the playoffs than he did in the regular season, also is unsigned and talking to Edmonton. Edmonton also bid for improved forward Don Kozak. but he decided to sign again with the Kings.Maloney likes Los Angeles and coach Bob Pulford, but he and has wife also liked Chicago and Pat Stapleton, and the money may be better back there. Also Pully may be tempted by a bid from Buffalo for next season. The Kings have the signature of Maloney&rsquo;s lawyer to remain two more years in southen California, but how binding this is might have to be determined.The way the Kings looked in the playoffs, they currently have the cast to move forward to the top.Although they prefer to think otherwise, they were dominated in the first two games and the third one in Chicago. The Black Hawks do not make many mistakes and they took advantage of every King mistake to win. 3-1 and 4-1. Although there was an empty-net goal in the first team games, only remarkable saves by goaler Rogie Vachon kept the scores respectable. Most of the Kings, save tough Terry Harper and Danny Maloney, were tentative. holding back.Under pressure, the Kings started to scramble and the forechecking which featured their second-half surge disappeared.They returned home to sarcastic column bannered across the top of the Herald-Eminer&rsquo;s first sports page by sports editor Bud Furrlio. who suggested the Kings should be more comfortable at home because &ldquo;their mothers can drive them to the game.&rdquo; He called them less than creampuffs, who played politely and were afraid to bleed.Bud says he wrote this stuff in an effort to psych the team up. General manager Jake Milford siezed on it and ordered copies distributed to all the players. They went out and skated like madmen before bowing. 1-0. However, while the Kings were bitter about the story, they insist it had no bearing on their performance.The Black Hawks scored in the first minute, but under ferocious forechecking they drifted into incredible defensive tactics the rest of the way. For the game, they to talled only 10 shots, low in the 15 years shots have been recorded in playoff record books.In the last two periods, the Black Hawks took only three shots. They killed 10 seconds at a time at least 20 times by tying up the puck on their defensive boards and even twice bought time by icing the puck when they had a man advantage. I never have seen a team in such a shell for so long, but the Hawks did not make a mistake, the Kings got only one shot at a time and super-performances by gallant, tired defenseman Bill White and goaler Tony Esposito stopped these.Pully said he never had been prouder of team afterwards. The Kings had a right to feel proud, but they still were deeply disappointed. When you lose like this, it can be crushing.They were not able to play as well the next night, but they played better than anyone had a right to expect and it was good enough in game in which Pully and Chicago coach Billy Reay went to their reserve goaltenders. Gary Edwards and Mike Veisor.Carr, a lightning bolt who loves center. makes things happen. He has had a splendid series and he tied the game in the fifth minute of the second period. After Juha Widing got the big goal that put the Kings ahead early in the third period. Carr carried his line on the offense and Williams whipped in three goals in seven minutes, tying a Cup record for one period. &#9632;

f0012-01

Kings Win Respect But May Lose Stars To Offers From WHA

NEW YORK &mdash;The New York Rangers have established reputation over the past eight seasons as team that could not win the big games and team incapable of winning the Stanley Cup.Whether or not they live up to that reputation throughout this year&rsquo;s playoffs remains to be seen, but they&rsquo;ve already done good job in living up to their newest reputation.The Rangers, for the third consecutive season. became giant-killers by ousting the defending Stanley Cup champions in the quarter-finals. The Rangers defeated the Montreal Canadiens four games to two to win the quarter-final and advance to the semi-finals against the Philadelphia Flyers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02805/3796577-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="257" height="466"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ed Glacomin</figcaption></div>Last season the Rangers dumped the defending Cup champion Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs after ousting the Canadiens. also defending champions, the previous season.Eliminating the Canadiens this season was done in fashion not common to the Rangers. They came from behind in each of the last three games of series to win the quarter-final.Trailing 3-1 in the second period, and 2-1 in the series, the Rangers roared back to win the game 6-4 and even the series.Game five in Montreal was probably the turning point in the series. Murray Wilson scored on breakaway in the third period to give the Canadiens 2-1 lead. The Rangers were unable to score the equalizer and with minute remaining in the game pulled netminder Ed Giacomin for an extra attacker.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03609/3796570-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="470" height="735"></div>With time running out. defenseman Brad Park took a shot from the blueline that was juggled by Montreal goaltender Michel Larocque. The puck came out to Bruce MacGregor who scored with 16 seconds left in regulation time to force the game into overtime.The goal was MacGregor&rsquo;s fifth of the playoffs, including two winning goals.The overtime belonged to the Rangers, who won the game when Ron Harris. seldom-used defenseman. scored after Pete Stemkowski had won a faceoff deep in Montreal territory.&ldquo;If didn&rsquo;t even see it.&rdquo; laughed an excited Harris after the game. &ldquo;Pete got the draw. It just came back to me and just let &lsquo;er go. When looked up couldn&rsquo;t believe it!&rdquo;Giacomin was in reality the hero of the game and the series. He frustrated the Canadiens throughout the quarter-final with both his goaltending and wandering and made many key saves in the fifth game.The Rangers again came from behind to win the sixth game and the series. Despite outplaying the Canadiens throughout the first half of the game, the Rangers trailed 2-0 on goals by Steve Shutt and Henri Richard.But MacGregor and Bill Fairbairn scored 46 seconds apart in the second period to tie the game. On both goals, the Canadiens&rsquo; defense was caught up ice.Captain Jean Ratelle scored the winner mid-way through the final period when he took a pass from Rod Gilbert, who had raced in behind the Montreal defense to pick up a pass from Ted Irvine.The Canadiens lifted Larocque for the extra attacker in the final minute, but were unable to stop the Rangers. MacGregor knocked Shutt of the puck in the Ranger end. defenseman Dale Rolfe then passe to Stemkowski who scored into the empty net to crush the Canadiens hopes.Stemkowski scored another empty net goal 18 seconds later to close the game.&ldquo;It probably got down to Giacomin,&rdquo; said Montreal coach Scotty Bowman. You have to have good goaltending the playoffs to start with and they certainly had it with Giacomin.&rdquo;Stemkowski, who hurt the Canadiens with his skill on face-offs, surmised that the Rangers may have been in better shape, than Montreal.&ldquo;Maybe it was because we were in better condition or because we&rsquo;re bigger.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But we kept getting stronger as the series went on. And we won a couple of games in the third period &mdash; that should tell you something.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0014-02

STANLEY CUP ‘74

BOSTON&mdash;Tony Esposito the hero. Tony Esposito the goat.That was the story in the first two games of the semi-final between the Boston Bruins and Chicago Black Hawks.Esposito blocked 46 shots in the series opener to lead the Hawks to a 4-2 victory over the Bruins. Three days later Esposito saw eight pucks go past him as the Bruins bounced back with an 8-6 victory in an all-out offensive show.The other semi-final series wasn&rsquo;t quite as eventful as the Philadelphia Flyers had no trouble dumping the New York Rangers 4-0.The second game of the Boston-Chicago series was one of the wildest playoff games in NHL history, almost matching last season&rsquo;s 8-7 win by Chicago over Montreal.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01963/3796539-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="559" height="990"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN MARKS</figcaption></div>Johnny Bucyk. the aging Bruin captain. was the hero of this game that saw goals scored from center and the bluelines and another that went in and out so fast the goal judge didn&rsquo;t even see it.Bucyk scored three goals, all on power-plays, to pace the Boston attack.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s like the World Series.&rdquo; Bucyk said of the game. &ldquo;Sometimes you get a tight pitching duel and sometimes you get slugfest, but you can never predict it in advance&rdquo;.Predictable this game was not. The first period was reasonably sane with both teams scoring twice.The fun started in the second when Boston&rsquo;s Terry O&rsquo;Reilly scored from center ice on shot that dropped almost a foot before sinking past Esposito.Three minutes later Dennis Hull scored for the Hawks on a backhand shot that fooled even the goal judge. But referee Bob Myers saw the goal and the game was tied 3-3.The teams traded regular goals before Phil Esposito scored for Boston with brother Tony, Chicago defenseman Bill White and Boston forward Dave Forbes scattered over the ice following a collision.&ldquo;I tried to tell him (Myers) I was pinned underneath Forbes and waiting for the whistle.&rdquo; Tony Esposito said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just damn bad luck for us because that goal was probably the turning point of the game.&rdquo;It wasn&rsquo;t, though. Hull scored on a drive from outside the blueline to tie the game. But the Bruins rebounded with three goals in four minutes to sew up the victory.Boston goalie Gilles Gilbert closed out the game by passing the puck behind the net to Chicago&rsquo;s Jim Pappin who relayed it to John Marks, who finalized the scoring.The game was a far cry from the opener. which saw the Bruins outshoot the Hawks 48-24 and lose 4-2. Tony Esposito was the big man in that game, frustrating the Bruins time and time again. The second period was Esposito&rsquo;s best as he stopped all 21 shots the Bruins took.In the other semi-final, the New York Rangers, who advanced in the playoffs because of strong goaltending from Ed Giacomin and aggressive checking, got neither in their opening loss to the Flyers.The Flyers completely stymied the Rangers and took advantage of shaky play by Giacomin to register a 4-0 victory.The Flyers held the Rangers to 19 shots (12 in the final period) and none in the first 13 minutes of the game.One of the keys to the Philadelphia victory was restricting Giacomin&rsquo;s wandering, which hurt Montreal in the quarter-final.&ldquo;They weren&rsquo;t hitting him just standing in his way so he couldn&rsquo;t get back in his net if he lest it.&rdquo; explained Flyer coach Fred Shero. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s nothing illegal about just standing there.&rdquo;Giacomin was caught twice. He lost his stick in a collision with Gary Dornhoefer and Ross Lonsberry scored. Lonsberry was the culprit late in the game when he beat Giacomin to a loose puck and passed to Rick MacLeish who put the puck into an empty net for his second goal of the game.&ldquo;I think we simply came out flat,&rdquo; said Ranger coach Emile Francis. &ldquo;Could be we were tired. And we missed Tkaczuk.&rdquo;Walt Tkaczuk. the Rangers&rsquo; talented center, was knocked out of action early in the first period when he knocked heads with Flyers&rsquo; Bobby Clarke.It was that kind of game for the Rangers. &#9632;

f0014-01

Bruins Get To Esposito In Cup Semi-finals; Rangers Oust Habs But Flyers Another Story

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01926/3796657-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="568" height="669"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02765/3796650-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="970" height="676"></div><h2>Series B&rsquo; Tue April 16 NEW YORK 3 at MONTREAL 2</h2><h3>FIRST PERIOD</h3>1&mdash;Montreal. Richard (Larose, Shutt) &hellip; 0:492&mdash;NY Rangers. MacGregor (Ratelle) &hellip; 12:42Penalties Bouchard 1:19. New York bench (served by Gilbert) 6:12; Roberts 15:04<h3>SECOND PERIOD</h3>No scoringPenalties: Tkaczuk 5:49: Shutt 7:07<h3>THIRD PERIOD</h3>3&mdash;Montreal. Wilson (P Mahovlich) &hellip; 5:244&mdash;NY Rangers. MacGregor (Park. Stemkowski) &hellip; 19:44Penalty: Rolfe 8:28.<h3>OVERTIME PERIOD</h3>5&mdash;NY Rangers. Harris (Stemkowski) &hellip; 4:07<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03605/3796643-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="616" height="148"></div><h2>Thur. April 18 MONTREAL 2 at NEW YORK 5</h2><h3>FIRST PERIOD</h3>1&mdash;Montreal. Richard (Cournoyer. Shutt) &hellip; 9:15Penalties: Lambert, Park (majors, minors) Gainey Butler 4:02. Cournoyer 12:54. Tkaczuk 16:08. Lapointe 17:36.<h3>SECOND PERIOD</h3>2&mdash;Montreal. Shutt (Lafleur. Richard) &hellip; 2:073&mdash;New York. MacGregor (Park) &hellip; 8:414&mdash;New York. Fairbairn (Vickers. Marotte) &hellip;9:27Penalties Robinson 2:52, Harris (triple minor) Mahovlich 10:03. Lemaire 10:24.<h3>THIRD PERIOD</h3>5&mdash;New York. Ratelle (Gilbert. Irvine) &hellip; 11:046&mdash;New York. Stemkowski (Rolfe) &hellip; 19:067&mdash;New York. Stemkowski (Fairbairn Rolfe) &hellip; 19:24Penalties: Tkaczuk 5:33. Shut? 12:59. Fairbairn 12:59<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-04465/3796636-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="596" height="144"></div><h2>Series D&rsquo; Tue April 16 LOS ANGELES 0 at CHICAGO 1</h2><h3>FIRST PERIOD</h3>No scoring.Penalties Russell (double minor) Carr (double minor) 6:49: Jarrett 7:51: Pappin (minor-major) Kozak (minor-major-misconduct) 10:13: Long 17:54.<h3>SECOND PERIOD</h3>No scoringPenalties Harper 8:22. Mikita 8:22: Bordeleau 9:31: Kozak. Pappin 11:01; Lesuk 18:04<h3>THIRD PERIOD</h3>1&mdash;Chicago. Pappin &hellip; 15:23Penalties: Nevin 2:48; Russell 9:54<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-05345/3796629-1-eng-US/f0015-052.jpg" title="f0015-05" width="553" height="147"></div><h2>Series &lsquo;E&rsquo; Thur. April 18 CHICAGO 4 at BOSTON 2</h2><h3>FIRST PERIOD</h3>1&mdash;Boston. Esposito (Cashman. Orr) &hellip; 6:40Penalties: Vadnais 1:38. Magnuson 5:11. Edestrand. Koroll (majors) 14:26. Tallon, Vadnais (minors. majors) 17:12, Esposito 18:51.<h3>SECOND PERIOD</h3>2&mdash;Chicago. Mikita (Koroll) &hellip; 3:483&mdash;Chicago. Rota (Pappin) &hellip; 8:12Penalties Redmond 9:16. Magnuson 13:33. Edestrand 18:45.<h3>THIRD PERIOD</h3>4&mdash;Boston. Edestrand (Esposito) &hellip; 9:085&mdash;Chicago. Marks (Pappin) &hellip; 16:566&mdash;Chicago. Hull &hellip; 19:39Penalties. None<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-06287/3796622-1-eng-US/f0015-062.jpg" title="f0015-06" width="596" height="144"></div><h2>Sun. April 21 CHICAGO 6 at BOSTON 8</h2><h3>FIRST PERIOD</h3>1&mdash;Boston. Bucyk (Orr. Vadnais) &hellip; 6:442&mdash;Chicago. Rota (Pappin. Tallon) &hellip; 9:043&mdash;Boston. Bucyk (Orr, Vadnais) &hellip; 11:564&mdash;Chicago. Tallon (Mikita, Redmond) &hellip; 19:50Penalties. Savard 10:03: Gilbert (served by Hodge) 17:48<h3>SECOND PERIOD</h3>5&mdash;Boston. Reilly (Smith. Gilbert) &hellip; 1:286&mdash;Chicago. Hull (White. Redmond) &hellip; 4:407&mdash;Chicago. Gagnon (Redmond. White) &hellip; 12:388&mdash;Boston. Bucyk (Orr, Vadnais) &hellip; 17:34Penalties: Pappin (minor, misconduct) 8:21; Magnuson 11:02; Edestrand 12:27; Redmond 16:17.<h3>THIRD PERIOD</h3>9&mdash;Boston. Esposito (Cashman. Forbes) &hellip; 3:5910&mdash;Chicago. Hull (Redmond) &hellip; 5:1211&mdash;Boston. Schmautz (Bucyk) &hellip; 7:5612&mdash;Boston. Marcotte (Savard. Reilly) &hellip; 8:4013&mdash;Boston. Sheppard (Schmautz, Smith) &hellip; 11:5314&mdash;Chicago. Marks (Pappin) &hellip; 13:52Penalties: Sims 3:36; Rota Sims 10:13.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-07252/3796615-1-eng-US/f0015-072.jpg" title="f0015-07" width="599" height="174"></div><h2>Series &lsquo;F&rsquo; Sat. April 20 NEW YORK 0 at PHILADELPHIA 4</h2><h3>FIRST PERIOD</h3>1&mdash;Philadelphia. MacLeish (Barber. Dornhoefer) &hellip; 19:03Penalties: Fairbairn, Schultz 3:22; Saleski 7:05; Rolfe 10:43; Stemkowski 14:00; Harris. Schultz (misconduct) 17:39.<h3>SECOND PERIOD</h3>2&mdash;Philadelphia. Lonsberry (Dornhoefer. MacLeish) &hellip; 4:333&mdash;Philadelphia. Barber (Kmdrachuk, Saleski) &hellip; 5:25Penalties: Kelly 5:42; Park 6:45; Barber 9:55; Dornnoeter. Park 15:53.<h3>THIRD PERIOD</h3>4&mdash;Philadelphia. MacLeish (Lonsberry. Dornhoefer) &hellip; 18:07Penalties Schultz 5:17; Rolfe 04; Dupont 10:33. (Philadelphia leads best-of-seven series 1-0)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-08227/3796608-1-eng-US/f0015-082.jpg" title="f0015-08" width="568" height="148"></div> &#9632;

f0015-01

STANLEY CUP SUMMARIES

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-09210/3796737-1-eng-US/f0015-092.jpg" title="f0015-09" width="602" height="149"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Wed. April 10Toronto 0 at Boston 1Thu. April 11Toronto 3 at Boston 6Sat. April 13Boston 4 at Toronto 3Sun. April 14Boston 4 at Toronto 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-10187/3796730-1-eng-US/f0015-102.jpg" title="f0015-10" width="604" height="154"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 10New York 4 at Montreal 1Thu. April 11New York 1 at Montreal 4Sat. April 13Montreal 4 at New York 2Sun. April 14Montreal 4 at New York 6Thu. April 16New York 3 at Montreal 2Thur. April 18Montreal 2 at New York 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-11166/3796723-1-eng-US/f0015-112.jpg" title="f0015-11" width="644" height="187"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. April 9Atlanta 1 at Philadelphia 4Thu. April 11Atlanta 1 at Philadelphia 5Fri. April 12Philadelphia 4 at Atlanta 1Sun. April 14Philadelphia 4 at Atlanta 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-12138/3796716-1-eng-US/f0015-122.jpg" title="f0015-12" width="602" height="163"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 10Los Angeles 1 at Chicago 3Thu. April 11Los Angeles 1 at Chicago 4Sat. April 13Chicago 1 at Los Angeles 0Sun. April 14Chicago 1 at Los Angeles 5Tue. April 16Los Angeles 0 at Chicago 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-13124/3796709-1-eng-US/f0015-132.jpg" title="f0015-13" width="613" height="177"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thur. April 18Chicago 4 at Boston 2Sun. April 21Chicago 6 at Boston 8<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tue. April 23Boston at ChicagoThur. April 25Boston at ChicagoSun. April 28Chicago at BostonTue. April 30Boston at ChicagoThur. MayChicago at Boston<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-14110/3796702-1-eng-US/f0015-142.jpg" title="f0015-14" width="619" height="163"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 20New York 0 at Philadelphia 4<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tue. April 23New York at PhiladelphiaThur. April 25Philadelphia at New YorkSun. April 28Philadelphia at New YorkTue. April 30New York at PhiladelphiaThur. MayPhiladelphia at New YorkSun. MayNew York at Philadelphia<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-1594/3796695-1-eng-US/f0015-152.jpg" title="f0015-15" width="618" height="2615"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-1687/3796688-1-eng-US/f0015-162.jpg" title="f0015-16" width="1799" height="1413"><figcaption class="caption-body">Goaler TONY ESPOSITO carried off the netminding honors for the first round on the NHL&rsquo;s Stanley Cup playoffs by turning in two shutouts in the five-game series against Los Angeles Kings. Esposito allowed only two goals in the four games he worked in the quarter-final playdowns.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0015-09

STANLEY CUP SCOREBOARD

VANCOUVER &mdash;The merry-go-round in the Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; front office, stopped briefly in late January with the hiring of Phil Maloney, appears ready to start moving again.Canucks&rsquo; president Coley Hall, who has fired a coach and general manager this season, says he wants a first-rate general manager and that Maloney, who now fills both coach and GM slots, will be solely coach.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01769/3796775-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="264" height="380"><figcaption class="caption-body">Coley Hall</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking for a real top general manager. Hall said. &ldquo;Phil did a pretty good job but I don&rsquo;t like to have one man handling both jobs.&rdquo;Maloney took over as coach and general manager of the Canucks on January 30 after coach Bill was fired, general manager Hal Laycoe was sent on a leave of absence and assistant general manager Bud Poile resigned.Since then, the Canucks&rsquo; play has improved and peace has settled upon the front office. Everyone, from the players to the fans, noticed the difference.&ldquo;Before Phil took over we had 18 guys in the front office and none of them had the power to do anything.&rdquo; said goaltender Gary Smith. &ldquo;This is a different team now.&rdquo;A different team is the only way to describe the Canucks following the arrival of Maloney. After he took over the Canucks established the fifth-best record in the East Division of the NHL. That&rsquo;s hardly a Stanley Cup performance. but when you consider that the Canucks were in last place when Maloney entered the scene, it is impressive.But. as important as the on-ice performance of the team, was the relative tranquility around Pacific Coliseum.That is. until now. Maloney&rsquo;s contract with the Canucks terminates June I and Hall has made it clear that his dual role will also terminate.Maloney did a commendable job as a general manager, although he is probably best-known for a trade that didn&rsquo;t quite work out. In an attempt to shake up the team. Maloney sent top scorer Bobby Schmautz to Boston for youngsters Chris Oddleifson and Fred O&rsquo;Donnell.Oddleifson showed promise and figures in the Canucks&rsquo; plans for the future. But O&rsquo;Donnell never showed up. He stayed in Boston and signed with the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association.CANUCK CAPERS: The Canucks have lost goaltender Ed Dyck to the WHA&rsquo;s Indianapolis Racers. The 23-year-old Saskatchewan native played parts of three seasons with the Canucks and had won the back-up job to Gary Smith mid-way through this season&hellip; Andre Boudrias&rsquo; 75 points broke Schmautz&rsquo;s club record of 71. His 59 assists broke Dale Tallon&rsquo;s record of 42&hellip; Gary Smith set a club record for shutouts with three.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02661/3796768-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="1146" height="829"><figcaption class="caption-body">PHIL MALONEY&hellip; Restricted To Coaching Role</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0016-01

Hall Wants Top GM Leaving Coaching To Maloney

<div class="byline">BY DAN PROUDFOOT</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01662/3796813-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg"></div>TORONTO&mdash;The dressing room in defeat is unpredictable. The mood can be angry, as in &lsquo;We Wuz Robbed&rsquo;, or defiant as in the &lsquo;Officiating Cost Us The Series&rsquo;.With Toronto Maple Leafs following the fourth loss in row to Boston Bruins and elimination from the Stanley Cup quarter-final, the best way to describe the reaction was in one word &mdash; honest.&ldquo;We just didn&rsquo;t have enough,&rdquo; said coach Red Kelly, &ldquo;we gave it everything we had and it wasn&rsquo;t enough.&rdquo;Bruins defeated Leafs 1-0 in the opening game at Boston, and Kelly seemed more pleased with his players than was Bruin coach Bep Guidolin with his winners. Leafs played that well, and the game could have been won by either team.From then on things gradually got worse for Leafs. The Toronto team played according to the established playoff style of its predecessors, emphasizing defense and hoping for the breaks, but inexperience on the part of the rookie defensemen hurt badly. Bruins not only got more breaks, they took better advantage of them than did the Leafs. Several top shooters came up dry. The strategy of stopping Phil Esposito proved inadequate because with the flu-ridden Espo muffled Gregg Sheppard came through as the leading Bruin shooter.Errors hurt the Leafs badly in the second game in Boston and they lost 6-3. Now they returned to Toronto knowing they had to win to stay in contention, and came up with their worst effort of the series. It was another 6-3 loss.In the final game at Maple Leaf Gardens. Bruins appeared to be playing just hard enough to win. and the result was a 4-3 win. Ken Hodge shooting the goal which ended the overtime in the second minute.&ldquo;I had all kinds of scoring chances, all kinds of them.&rdquo; said Paul Henderson. who was as far off target as he had been sharp in the Team Canada series two years earlier. &ldquo;We all had plenty, and didn&rsquo;t get the goals.&ldquo;I missed goals that should be automatic. When I did hit the net. my shot would go right into his (Gilles Gilbert) glove.&ldquo;And at the same time we gave up more bad goals (through poor play in the defensive zone) than we did in the 28 games before the playoffs.&rdquo;Mike Pelyk, a defenseman. observed. &ldquo;they seemed to score on almost every good chance, they got the breaks that way. We scored on maybe 10 percent of our chances.&rdquo;Goaltending was not the difference. Doug Favell played all but the third game, when Eddie Johnston took over against his ex-teammates. Leafs couldn&rsquo;t blame their goalies in any of the losses, and actually by next Favell could be considered their oustanding player of the series.Gilbert was outstanding for the Bruins, too. but the one game in which he was shaky was the third, when Leafs seldom threatened.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not crying, yet I&rsquo;m not happy either.&rdquo; said Inge Hammarstrom. whose goal forced the fourth-game overtime. &ldquo;Especially when we played such close games without winning one. I think we had very bad luck in those games in Boston.&rdquo;Ron Ellis had an excellent series, but could have had twice as many goals as the two he counted. &ldquo;Deep down.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I feel we gave a pretty good account of ourselves. I was here when the Bruins beat us 10-0 and 7-0 in the playoffs (1968) and that wasn&rsquo;t much fun. We lost this time but we still can look in mirror without flinching.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02571/3796806-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="1183" height="1158"><figcaption class="caption-body">Leafs could hardly blame goaltending in the series against Boston. Goaler DOUG FAVELL, left, was superb and possibly was the club&rsquo;s outstanding performer Defenseman MIKE PELYK, shown at right, skating ahead of Boston&rsquo;s BOBBY ORR, figured the Leafs didn&rsquo;t quite capitalize on their scoring chances like Boston did. Pelyk saw double duty on defense and as a penalty killer for Toronto.</figcaption></div>Bruins were surprised when Leafs maintained their ultra-conservative style in the third game. &ldquo;We expected them to come out charging.&rdquo; said Bruin Bob Schmautz. &ldquo;but they really didn&rsquo;t until late in the second period when Bob Neely. Eddie Shack and George Ferguson came out as a line. They charged into our end like we thought all the Leaf&rsquo;s would be doing from the start.&rdquo; You would have though they would open up. being down 2-0 in the series.&rdquo;In that key third game Leafs had 24 shots on goal in the third period alone, for game total of 48 that would seem to contradict Schmautz&rsquo;s opinion. However. the shots on goal didn&rsquo;t indicate the play and the fact remains that Leafs gave Gilbert little trouble on his shakiest night.Kelly finally staged a shakeup for the fourth game. The question remains if it was too late. In spite of Darryl Sittler&rsquo;s hard work, he and linemates Denis Dupere and Hammarstrom had been ineffective. So. Kelly took Dupere out of the lineup and inserted defenseman lan Turnbull at the forward position at Sittler&rsquo;s left. Later when the flu that forced Brian Glennie out of the lineup the night before caught up to him again. Kelly was forced to drop Turnbull back to defense and he moved Henderson in as Sittler&rsquo;s left wing.Keon. Ellis and Garry Monahan stuck together as Leafs&rsquo; most effective line. Ferguson, defenseman Neely and Shack were another trio, untried in regular sea son play. Norm Ullman. Tim Ecclestone and Errol Thompson made up the fourth line.Did Kelly wait too long? Should Leafs have opened up earlier? Probably not. because the reasons they lost would have remained the same anyhow. If a shakeup going into the third game had sparked some of the shooters, such as Henderson or Ullman or Shack, the series may have beer) extended an extra game or two.But. as Kelly said, it was a case of not having enough. Glennie&rsquo;s illness in the last two games hurt because he had been the most effective Leaf defenseman in Boston. More important was the weakness at right wing, with Rick Kehoe and Lanny McDonald missing the series with shoulder injuries.Ecclestone, of course, played, but his shoulder injury limited his effectiveness and his shooting.Leafs&rsquo; biggest problem in the end was inexperience. Bruin pressure hurt youngsters like Turnbull and Neely when they were jammed deep in the Leaf zone. The only thing is. we have to learn to be a little better defensively in our checking.&rdquo; said Kelly, &ldquo;but that comes with experience.&rdquo;Before the series began. Johnston was kidding several Bruins by suggesting they could use his cottage in Florida when the quarter-final was over. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s reserved for you Espo, you can have it for a while too Bepper,&rdquo; chuckled E.J.By now. E.J. is probably vacationing at the cottage himself. In 1975, with another year of experience. Leafs will be in a better position to back up his generous offer. &#9632;

f0017-01

Kelly’s Shuffling In Vain As Bruins’ Depth Pays Off

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01677/3796844-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">JEAN PRONOVOST &hellip; Set Record For Scoring On Road</figcaption></div>PITTSBURGH &mdash;For the Pittsburgh Penguins, the 1973-74 National Hockey League season will go down as an unproductive year, but for Jean Pronovost. it represented the pinnacle of his big league hockey career.You couldn&rsquo;t ask more from player than what Pronovost contributed to the Penguins, not only this season, but more specifically through the last six years.&ldquo;Pronie&rdquo;. as he is known to thousands of fans through his stint with Pittsburgh. has just completed his finest year as pro he scored 40 goals had 32 assists and 72 points, all highs for his career.Pronovost started the 1973-74 season on the right skate with a goal on opening night in Atlanta.He finished October with five goals and checked in with five more in November. That put him in double figures before Christmas for the first time since coming into the NHL. He had always been notoriously slow starter and had been plagued with an assortment of injuries from a broken nose to injured back that kept him from really having big year.In his first year (1968-69) after coming to the Pens from Boston he scored 16 goals. He hit the magic 20 circle in 1969-70 and upped that count to in 1970-71. Then came his finest year 1971-72 when he became the first Penguin in history to score 30 goals in one season.Pronie only had 20 goals that year when the month of March rolled around on the calendar. The first game in March saw the &ldquo;Flying Frenchman&rdquo; score and then he repeated that act for the next six games to establish a club record for scoring in seven consecutive games. He finished the month with a record 10 goals and a total of 30 on the year.Pronovost had 13 goals by the first of January this year, but when Al McDonough was traded to Atlanta, Pronovost returned to the right side of center Syl Apps and the goals really started to come.Pronovost and Greg Polis, also January tradee, had both scored 30 goals two years ago with Apps as their centerman. but Lowell MacDonald and McDonough became the wingers on the big line last year and checked in with club records of 35 (McDonough) and 34 MacDonald).The Shawinigan. Quebec native celebrated his reunion with Apps by picking up three assists in a first time home win over Buffalo.Jean could see his favorite month was rolling around and got into the scoring mood a bit early with goals against Los Angeles and Montreal in the final two days of February. The goal in Montreal, with many of his relatives in attendance. was the lone score in a 7-1 loss.When March arrived, the Pens, winger went on a two-point game tear. He scored a goal and set up the winner against Vancouver: he scored the first goal and set up the winner in a 2-1 win in Long Island: he scored both goals, one on a power play and one shorthanded in a 2-2 tie in Toronto: he set up the Pens first goal and scored an insurance marker in a big 7 &ndash; 5 win in St. Louis: against Montreal he twice brought the Pens from behind only to see the Habs eke out a 5-4 win which the Pens outshot Montreal by a record breaking 57-18.Pronovost continued his hot run throughout March adding nine goals in a seven-game period including Nos. 35 and 36. which enabled him to establish a new club record for goals. He is already the Penguins&rsquo; all-time scoring champion.After scoring nine times in March, he concluded the season with two in April to wind up the year with 40. His final two goals came against Philadelphia and nearly cost Bernie Parent of the Flyers the Vezina Trophy. Bob Taylor, subbing for the weary Parent, almost single-handedly blew the goaling award and Pronovost didn&rsquo;t help his cause.A further breakdown of his 148 NHL goals showed that he had scored 50 of them in the month of March, obviously his lucky time. This year Pronovost also established another new mark by scoring 21 goals in enemy rinks.Oddly, only one NHL team shut out Pronovost this season &mdash; the Chicago Black Hawks. Another source of disappointment to him was the fact he was still huntin his first hat trick performance. feat that has managed to elude him. He has scored two goals in a game 20 times in his career.In spite of his career highs. Pronovost still hunting his first hat trick perfor-final scoring statistics. Syl Apps led with 85 points while Lowell MacDonald emerged as the No. 2 scorer and also the top man on the Penguins with 43 goals scored. While Pronovost was the first to break the team&rsquo;s goal record with No. 36. it was MacDonald who came on the set the Pittsburgh high with 43. &#9632;

f0018-01

Hot Month Helped Pronovost To Best Season As Penguin

<div class="byline">BY HARRY KLAFF</div>LONG ISLAND &mdash;Not even the supreme optimist. Islander general manager Bill Torrey, would have believed that his club would give up fewer goals than eight NHL rivals. He knew his sophomore sextet had tightened up on defense, but not even he could have envisioned such a improvement.As improved as the Islanders were in their second season, there was one important area in which there was little growth: namely on offense. The young Islanders still hadn&rsquo;t acquired the knack of putting the puck in the net.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01648/3796875-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="293" height="434"><figcaption class="caption-body">Billy Harris</figcaption></div>Statistically, the Isles did bit better, but not enough to matter. In 1972-73. Long Island was at the bottom in goal production, registering a measly 170 goals. This year they scored 182; certainly not enough to put them into Stanley Cup contention at the moment.Right wing was the best of the three offensive positions this year, with Billy Harris. Bob Nystrom, and Craig Cameron all assured of positions next season. Captain Eddie Westfall is also technically a right winger, although he was called on to pick up the slack at center ice.Harris came on strong last year &mdash; as he had done in his rookie season &mdash; scoring two hat tricks in the final month. He finished with 23 goals, tying him for the club lead with Ralph Stewart.Nystrom was a pleasant surprise. The blond bombshell played superlative hockey in the second half of his first full NHL season, scoring 21 goals, many of them game winners. He was big with his firsts too. taking on and defeating some of the best punchers in the league, notably Vic Hadfield and Pat Quinn.Cameron is more of defensive specialist, but can score with regularity. The easy-going giant scored 15 this season, after registering career high of 19 the previous year.The center ice picture is not quite as sharp. Ralph Stewart is coming NHL star, and Westfall did an excellent job at an alien position, but after that there is little depth.Stewart was flying at mid-season when collarbone injury put him on the shelf for almost a month. Had he not been injured, he seemed like sure bet for 30 goal year. Instead he had to settle for 23.Tom Miller could turn out to be a steady performer if he can come back completely from the broken wrist which sidelined him for most of the season. Tom is an excellent playmaker &mdash; perhaps the best on the club. He can also play wing, if necessary.Left wing is in the most dire need of urban renewal. Plucky Gary Howatt was the high man among Islander port siders last term with a scanty six goals. Gary can fight however, and you can be certain coach Al Arbour will be glad to have him around when the things get a bit rough.The remainder of the left wing spots Will be up for grabs when the Islers return to their Peterborough training site in September. Brian Spencer &mdash; 1973&rsquo;s hero &mdash; was sent to Buffalo after a disappointing five months. Germain Gagnon. was dealt to Chicago before the trading deadline and that left Bill MacMillan. Dave Hudson, and a rejuvenated Bryan Lefley up front.MacMillan was the big disappointment as he was unable to to full tilt after summer back operation. A good defensive player, it is doubtful that Torrey would give him up.Ernie Hicke was supposed to be a big goal scorer tor the Islanders last year, but like MacMillan, was unable to show any kind of consistency. His status is up in the air.The question is. where will Torrey find new blood? here some hope down on the farm, especially in the person of one Skeeter Teal, who was the runner up in the Central League scoring parade. He should make the Islanders next year.The draft is always a big question mark, expecially now that the Islanders will be drafting third this time behind Washington. Kansas City, and the hapless California Seals. One man that Torrey would love to have is the Canadiens Steve Shutt. Shutt played on the same line as Billy Harris with the Toronto Marlies and would be a natural. The only problem is the most pragmatic one.&ldquo;I think the Canadiens would first give up the Hope Diamond before Steve Shutt.&rdquo; said Torrey before the six game of the Rangers-Montreal series.Consequently, it appears that the Islanders will go with basically the same cast as last year. But youth is on their side. One year in the NHL makes a big difference, especially to a 22 or a 23 year old. Torrey will have to wait for his home-grown talent to ripen. &#9632;

f0019-01

Need For Scoring Punch Islanders’ Top Priority

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div>BUFFALO &mdash;There wasn&rsquo;t much for the Buffalo Sabres to play for during their last week of the National Hockey League season except to help Rick Martin score his 50th goal.It took until the Final night but the speedy, hard-shooting left winger got it. And his 51st and 52nd. And he got one of them playing on the wrong wing.The first goal came on Buffalo power play early in the Sabres&rsquo; 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues. Rick took a pass off the back boards, skated out to the far edge of the faceoff circle and let go a slap shot that beat St. Louis goalie Wayne Stephenson on the short side.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01495/3796906-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="256" height="453"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Crozier</figcaption></div>On the next goal, which made the score 3-0. Rick was playing right wing on line with Don Luce and Craig Ramsay. Rene Robert, the right winger on the French Connection line, sat out the game because of a sore right knee, so Coach Joe Crozier shuffled his forwards.He had Gil Perreault, the Connection&rsquo;s center, between Norm Gratton and Steve Atkinson.For Rick&rsquo;s third goal of the night, however. Crozier had put him back with Perreault. Gratton was at right wing. This goal came on breakaway, after pass from Gratton put Martin in the clear.Martin said he wasn&rsquo;t worried, before the game, about scoring No. 50. which has been his objective since he got 44 goals in his rookie season. 1971-72.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t nervous at all.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Last night was the big one. I knew when I scored the 49th against Toronto that I would get the 50th. I knew I&rsquo;d get at least one chance tonight.&rdquo;Martin scored Buffalo&rsquo;s only goal in the Sabres&rsquo; semifinal game, a 3-1 loss to the Maple Leafs in Toronto. He was playing right wing that night, too. with Luce and Ramsay.His 52nd goal came with only 47 seconds left in the game.&ldquo;I was so psyched up for the 50th.&rdquo; said Rick, &ldquo;that once I scored it. I just sort of let down. I was so happy. didn&rsquo;t worry about scoring any more. But tonight was a night when things just sort of fell into place.&rdquo;Martin is the 10ath player in NHL history to score 50 goals or more in season. His 133 goals are tar more than any other player in the league ever scored in his first three campaigns. His teammate. Gil Perreault, is next with 94.The finale, with Martin scoring the hat trick, put a happy finish on a very frustrating season for the Sabres. Injury. illness or death hit the club on 27 occasions since training camp opened last September. Fifteen different players were affected.A total of 277 games were lost.&ldquo;Never before, in 16 years of coaching. have I had a year like this.&rdquo; Said Coach Joe Crozier. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what else could happen to us.&ldquo;But our guys gave me one heck of an effort under the circumstances, thought they played extremely well. hammered them. I pushed them, drove them and things kept happening.&ldquo;We have a great young hockey club, as far as I&rsquo;m concerned, one that will win the Stanely Cup in a few years.&rdquo;The Crow, who has been reporter going to Vancouver to coach the Blazers in the World Hockey Association, was asked if he will coach the Sabres tc the Stanley Cup.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a difficult question to answer.&rdquo; he replied, as he has whenever queried on his future plans. &ldquo;Nothing is clear at the moment.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0020-01

Martin Became NHL’s 10th 50-Goal Scorer In History

<div class="byline">BY JACK BERRY</div>DETROIT &mdash;There was good news and bad news for the Detroit Red Wings while others in the National Hockey League were involved in activity long foreign to the Detroiters in the playoffs.The good news was that goalkeeper Jim Rutherford, signed a three year contract passing up an attractive offer from the Vancouver Blazers of the WHA. an offer Rutherford found most tempting.Now the bad news for the Red Wings &mdash; Detroiters Chuck Nolton and Pete Shagena. as expected, moved the Los Angeles Sharks to the Motor City and the World Hockey Association team will begin play here this Fall.Nolton and Shagena immediately Went for former Red Wing coach Johnny Wilson, currently in the employ of the Indianapolis Racers of the WHA. &ldquo;Wilson is our No. 1 choice and he&rsquo;d love to coach here.&rdquo; Shagena said. &ldquo;He still has his home in Northville (a Detroit suburb) and he has a lot of friends here.&rdquo;Wilson also would like to show up the Red Wings who dismissed him after Detroit narrowly missed making the playoffs year ago.This past season they weren&rsquo;t in haling distance of the playoffs and this made Wilson&rsquo;s job with the Wings look all the better. Shagena said negotiations with the Racers involved draft choice or choices, player or players and &ldquo;a suitable replacement&rdquo; for Wilson.Nolton and Shagena renamed their team &ldquo;Michigan Stags&rdquo; and said they rejected over an 100 suggestions.&ldquo;We wanted a State name instead of just Detroit because all the other teams. Pistons. Red Wings. Tigers and Lions are named Detroit.&rdquo; Shagena said.&ldquo;We were going to name them the Wheels and even had a man working on a logo and then the football team (of the World Football League) took that name.What with all the singular nicknames being popularized now &mdash; Chicago Fire. Portland Storm. Southern California Sun. Philadelphia Bell and so forth, it was suggested that Shagena and Nolton missed out on a sure hit &mdash; Detroit River. After all, the new team will play in Cobo Arena, the city owned roundhouse on the banks of the river that separates Detroit from Windsor, Ont.It would have been great for the headline writers: &ldquo;River Flows&rdquo; or &ldquo;River Dammed&rdquo; or &ldquo;River Runs Dry&rdquo;.Shagena said the team had &ldquo;a few details to work out&rdquo; before making a major announcement of signing an NHL goaltender and said he expected the deal to be consummated by the end of the month.The WHA. which played two exhibition games at Cobo last Fall the Houston Aeros and the Howes hosting both &mdash; tried to get the arena as playoff base for the Chicago Cougars after the Cougars couldn&rsquo;t get second round dates at home.Cobo could have handled a second round but it&rsquo;s booked almost solid through May. &#9632;

WHA’s L.A. Sharks Move Into Wings’ Territory

DETROIT &mdash;One player the Red Wings won&rsquo;t have to worry about losing to the World Hockey Association is goaltender Jim Rutherford.The 25-year-old netminder signed a multi-year contract with the Wings at the end of the 193-74 season.&ldquo;We have to be solid down the middle if we are going to strengthen our team.&rdquo; said Red Wing coach Alex Delvecchio. &ldquo;The signing of Jim is a good start.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01336/3796961-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="264" height="403"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jim Rutherford</figcaption></div>It&rsquo;s ironic the Red Wings are banking their future on the miniature netminder. Three years ago. the Wings gave up on Rutherford and lost him to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the inter-League draft.At the time, recently-deposed general manager Ned Harkness said that Rutherford was too small to stand up to the rigors of NHL goaltending and did not fit in the Wings&rsquo; plans.But at that time, the Wings had Roy Edwards, who was emerging as a solid goaltender. When Edwards retired at the beginning of this season, the Red Wings were forced to go with rookies Doug Grant. Terry Richardson and Bill McKenzie.In January, after the Wings had used five goaltenders. Rutherford was obtained from the Penguins along with defenseman Jack Lynch in return for defenseman Ron Stackhouse.The 5&rsquo;8&rdquo; Rutherford responded to the change of scenery and fashioned a 3.63 goals-against average behind one of the poorest defenses in the league.The Beeton. Ont. native has spent four years in the and has appeared in 169 games. His best season was in 1972-73 when he played in 49 games with the Penguins and registered three shutouts with a strong 2.91 goals-against average.His lifetime average in the NHL is 3,32. with five shutouts. &#9632;

f0021-01

Wings Give Rutherford New Pact

<div class="byline">BY ALEX HARDY</div>ST. PAUL &mdash;Word out of Minnesota is that Fighting Saints&rsquo; new ownership has promised general manager Glen Sonmor a blank check in his quest for the best possible players. Topping Sonmor&rsquo;s list is Boston&rsquo;s Bobby Orr.Two giants of the music industry, Henry Mancini and Andy Williams, are investors in the group, which was to assume control of the Fighting Saints May 1.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01367/3796999-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="261" height="456"><figcaption class="caption-body">Glen Sonmor</figcaption></div>Giving Sonmor carte blanche to go after the best possible talent doesn&rsquo;t mean the Saints management was unhappy with this year second-place club. On a given night. Saints were capable of blowing any team out of the rink.Only problem was Saints often gave up when things started going badly. If an opponent bottled them up early in the game, they tended to get frustrated and collapse. &ldquo;But if they front run on you. look out.&rdquo; says one opposing coach.Besides big stars such as Mike Walton and Wayne Connelly, two lesser players who don&rsquo;t have to be worried about being replaced are young George Morrison and Murray Heatley. Morrison&rsquo;s 40 goals equalled his entire point production of 1972-73, and Heatley was Saints&rsquo; top-scoring rookie.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02280/3796992-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="1167" height="1194"><figcaption class="caption-body">GEORGE MORRISON&hellip; One Of The Untouchables</figcaption></div>EDMONTON: Trade rumors swirled. all involving injured star center Jim Harrison. One report had Oilers getting ready to deal Harrison to New England for Tom Webster and the rights to Yvan Cournoyer. But Toronto general manager Buck Houle said Edmonton had promised to deal with him first. This deal would see Toros providing Edmonton with either goalie Gilles Gratton or veteran Les Binkley since Ken Dryden is likely to play for Toros next season. Toros would also give Oilers the rights to Montreal defenseman Serge Savard, whose contract is up.Meanwhile, captain Al Hamilton was named Oilers&rsquo; most valuable player. It was a runaway vote. Rusty Patenaude was named most popular player, while Blair McDonald earned top rookie billing. McDonald led Edmonton&rsquo;s rookie scorers, ahead of Brian McKenzie.HOUSTON: Mark Howe was expected to win WHA rookie-of-the-year honors. Howe&rsquo;s non-supporters claim he doesn&rsquo;t deserve it; they say he rode through the season on his father coattails. These critics obviously weren&rsquo;t watching Aeros.However, young Howe is the first to credit his father for his amazing goal-scoring statistics. &ldquo;Normally I get twice as many assists as goals. But this season I got as many goals as assists because my dad and Jim (Sherrit) fed me so often.&rdquo;Young Howe and Sherrit are best buddies and room on the road. They also golf together. Incidentally, in the battle between Mark and Andre Hinse for rookie-of-the year laurels, few fans realized that Sherrit was also a good candidate. The award is open to any player who had been in fewer than 16 major league games prior to the 1973-74 season.Elsewhere with Aeros, goalie Don (Smokey) McLeod revealed how he came about his nickname. It was tagged on him as a junior with Edmonton Oil Kings and resulted from his butt-after-butt smoking habit.WINNIPEG: Several Jets players have revealed that the club management allegedly kept star players out of the lineup late in the season to make sure they finished fourth rather than third. The reason was management would rather have played Houston in the first round of the playoffs. One player claims Hatskin ordered six stars &mdash; Bobby Hull. Chris Bordeleau. Norm Beaudin. Larry Hornung. Bob Woy-to-wich and Ab McDonald &mdash; to remain home as Jets suffered a road loss to Los Angeles. Jets&rsquo; lower-paid players are hopping mad because there is a difference of $500 per player between finishing third and fourth. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a lot of money to me.&rdquo; said one who wished to remain anonymous.Jets&rsquo; nemesis this year was their power play. Near the end. one fan yelled as Jets got a man advantage: &ldquo;Refuse it. It only means trouble.&rdquo; Sure enough, the opposition scored shorthanded. Jets were scored on 15 times while they had a man advantage, tying the WHA record.VANCOUVER: Coach Andy Bathgate was hinting more strongly recently he&rsquo;ll be back next season. Bathgate also claims he knows what he needs to get Blazers winning: aggressive, defense-oriented players.&ldquo;We can win in this league with checking &mdash; we don&rsquo;t need 350 goals. We have too many offensive guys. I&rsquo;m after five defensive players right now, and I&rsquo;m fairly confident we&rsquo;ll get them.&rdquo;What Bathgate is saying is he doesn&rsquo;t need the 50, 40 and even 30-goal scorers. Are you listening Danny Lawson and Bryan Campbell? Lawson was one of three 50-goal scorers in the WHA this year.LOS ANGELES: Now that Sharks are a certainty to move to Detroit, Sharks&rsquo; executives are looking forward to bigger things from Marc Tardif. Tardif was a major disappointment this season, although he did manage a four-goal outburst at the end of the season to finish with 37. But it was still far under the 50-goal mark WHA experts were predicting, and he was a flop defensively. &#9632;

f0022-01

Minnesota GM To Hunt For Best Possible Players

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02270/3797037-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Chicago Cougars, definite underdogs for the WHA playoffs, came through with a major upset as they eliminated the New England Whalers in their Eastern semi-final series. Chicago coach PAT STAPLETON, left, and JAN POPIEL, right, were instrumental in the Cougar upset. Popiel scored the winning goal in the series clincher. Stapleton played a solid defensive game while leading the surprising Cougars into round two against Toronto.</figcaption></div>SPRINGFIELD&mdash;The Kings are dead Jong live the new ones &mdash; whoever they may be.The New England Whalers, defending World Hockey Association champions, have been dethroned and by the most unlikely foes. The Chicago Cougars, team that had to win the second-last game of the season to make the playoffs, ousted the First-place Whalers in the seventh game of the East Division semi-finals.The unlikely winners did it with an unlikely hero, the same unlikely hero that got them into the playoffs. Jan Popiel, a 26-year-old left winger who scored only 22 goals this year, beat New England goaltender Al Smith in the third period to give the Cougars a 3-2 victory and the series. Popiel had scored three times to pace the Cougars to victory over Jersey and move the Cougars into the playoffs.The Whalers, who have it all over the Cougars in the talent department, were done in by injuries. Tom Webster and Larry Pleau missed most of the series while defenseman Jim Dorey was out for the last three games.&ldquo;Losing Pleau and Webster broke up two of our line combinations,&rdquo; said Whaler coach Ron Ryan. &ldquo;And playing our first ever games in Springfield really made this road series for us.&rdquo;Chicago coach Pat Stapleton. who played solid game on defense for the Cougars, was elated with the victory. &ldquo;It was a definite solid team effort.&rdquo; said Stapleton. who directed Chicago to four victories in the last five games of the series after losing the first two to the Whalers. It looked like an impossible task for Stapleton&rsquo;s club but they came though in unexpected fashion to grab the series from the reigning WHA champs.Whalers swept the first two and then watched as Chicago fought back for three straight, including the pivotal fifth game in Springfield. But, in the third period on April 14, John French and Rick Ley scored and Al Smith kept the door shut for a 2-0 Whaler win and life. As usual, Tim Sheehy performed well with the money on the line.&ldquo;That was a big one,&rdquo; said Smith. &ldquo;Ralph Backstrom never quit skating and I was nervous right to the end. They had everything going for them, but we showed we wanted to win this thing.&rdquo;With Toronto playing Chicago in the last final the pick is Toros over Cougars, but in a tight close fight. Ralph Backstrom is capable of upsetting Toronto, but goalie Gilles Gratton of Toronto rates over Cam Newton in the Cougars net. With both teams playing wide open look for some high scores. Toronto&rsquo;s young legs figure to be in better shape after just five games with Cleveland than do Chicago&rsquo;s more elderly ones (Backstrom, Pat Stapleton) after seven with New England.Just as their record all season showed, the Cougars are courageous out fit.The Toros eliminated the Cleveland Crusaders four games to one, dominating the Crusaders throughout the serres. In the deciding game, played in Maple Leaf Gardens, Toros won 4-1, with Tom Simpson getting two first period goals and Pat Hickey another in the second for a 3-0 lead. Hickey got another in the final period. Ron Ward scored for Cleveland.&ldquo;It was a triumph of youth and aggressiveness,&rdquo; said Toro coach Billy Harris. &ldquo;These guys got the message just in time in the stretch and they came to play in the playoffs. Gilles Gratton did a great job in goal. He stopped 25 shots the last game and played every game.&rdquo;After Toronto won the first two games. Toros showed their mettle by winning again &mdash; in Cleveland April 12. Another youngster. Rick Sentes got a three-goal hat trick in the second period in that one. The next night. Cheevers spared the Crusaders the humiliation of a sweep, winnning 3-2 in the best game of the series, from a fan standpoint. It took overtime, but not until Toronto&rsquo;s Tom Martin had tied it with five minutes left.Buck Houle, the Toros&rsquo; GM was congratulated, but he said. &ldquo;All season these guys took some brickbats, but we really played 78 road games. Even the Maple Leaf Gardens is a road game, beacuse we can&rsquo;t practise there.&rdquo;Wayne Muloin won Cleveland only game, with an overtime shot from the blueline four minutes into sudden death. GM Jack Vivian and coach Bill Needham were bitter over the outcome of the Toronto series. In regular season play Crusaders had taken Cleveland five games to three.&ldquo;Carl Brewer slashed Gerry Pinder in the right eye in the opener and this seemed to set the pace for the series.&rdquo; said Needham. &ldquo;I had to break up the Ron Ward. Garry Jarrett. Pinder line. We moved Skip Krake up there with them and he got into a fight with (goalie) Gratton in the next game. In the final game, they got Krake. too.&rdquo;Krake was checked heavily by Toronto defenseman Mike Amodeo. and then crashed heavily into the boards. He was taken to the hospital for X-Rays, after regaining consciousness.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01345/3797030-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="526" height="666"><figcaption class="caption-body">RALPH BACKSTROM</figcaption></div>In the second period of the final game, the bad blood almost created a bench-clearing brawl, as defensemen Rick Cunningham or Toronto and Paul Shmyr of Crusaders tangled at the end of the period. Referee Bill Friday kept things under control, knowing that Ron Ego had had to call a record 92 minutes in the second game, a WHA playoff mark.&ldquo;Cheevers played well, stopping 45 shots in that final game.&rdquo; said Vivian. &ldquo;We needed more attack. Ward was very important to us and I look for him to lead one line next season.&rdquo;QUEBEC: Simon Nolet reportedly has signed contracts with both the Philadelphia Flyers and Nordiques. Nolet, a spare with the Flyers, wants somethings like an $80,000 signing bonus. Bobby Rousseau, the valuable Ranger pinch-hitter is also talking with Quebec, but might stay with Rangers, if not left open to the draft of an expansion NHL team. Rousseau also has been contacted by GM Jacques Plante, who has upped his offer to Bobby. The Nordiques had no one in the top 10 WHA goal scorers, no one in the power play leaders and only goalie Michel Deguise, listed eighth, in the top 10 goalers. They also had no one in the penalty minutes top 10 and no one in the top 10 assist leaders. Maybe coach Plante did better than people think.JERSEY: Owner Joe Schwartz is having trouble moving his orphaned team to Baltimore and is now considering San Diego, which would fit into the WHA plan of keeping West Coast partner for Phoenix, a new entrant next season. However, should he make this move, center Andre Andre Lacroix, the best offensive pivot in the WHA. might balk, as Andre lives in the Greater Philadelphia area and his contract says he must be satisfied as to all changes of locale. This contract forced his trade from the Vancouver Blazers to the New York Golden Blades Jersey Knights last summer after the Philadelphia Blazers had been sold and moved to the British Columbia city.INDIANAPOLIS: Johnny Wilson&rsquo;s club have signed Ed Dyck, former goalie for the Vancouver Canucks of the NHL. Dyck, 23, was a backup goaler with Vancouver this season and for the past two years. He fits in with Wilson&rsquo;s policy of going after youthful talent.&ldquo;Ed has a great glove hand,&rdquo; said Wilson. &ldquo;He will get every opportunity to win the regular job in camp.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0023-02

Cougars Surprised Crippled Whalers; Toros Bounced Crusaders With Ease

<h2>Mon. April 15 CLEVELAND 1 at TORONTO 4</h2><h3>FIRST PERIOD</h3>1&mdash;Toronto Simpson (Kirk) &hellip; 4:202&mdash;Toronto. Simpson (Amodeo. Kirk) &hellip; 9:473&mdash;Toronto. Hickey (King) &hellip; 19:59Penalties Neale 1:26. Gibson 5:43. Orr 10:17. rake 15:01. Amodeo 15:36.<h3>SECOND PERIOD</h3>4&mdash;Cleveland. Ward (Edur. Hemdl) &hellip; 13:59Penalties Shmyr 3:16. Hickey 18:45. Shmyr. Cunningham (majors) 20:00.<h3>THIRD PERIOD</h3>5&mdash;Toronto. Hickey (Carleton. Cuddie) &hellip; 15:07Penalty Cuddie 7:25.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01355/3797103-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="607" height="139"></div><h2>Tue. April 16 CHICAGO 3 at NEW ENGLAND 2</h2><h3>FIRST PERIOD</h3>1&mdash;Chicago Hardy (Stapleton) &hellip; 11:08Penalties Byers 2:28 Mavety 3:13. Stapleton 15:57.<h3>SECOND PERIOD</h3>2&mdash;New England Webster (French. Seiwood) &hellip; 6:203&mdash;New England. Webster (Dorey Williams) &hellip; 9:58Penalties Mavety 5:08. H. Harris 5:58. Benzeock 5:58. Watson 8:03. Green 11:12. Dorey 14:50. Selwood 18:06.<h3>THIRD PERIOD</h3>4&mdash;Chicago. Backstrom (Fleming. Harris) &hellip; 10:235&mdash;Chicago. Popiel (Sicinski. Maggs) &hellip; 13:26Penalties Paiement. Selwood (majors) 1:21 Harris. Ley. Liddington (majors) Coates (minor misconduct, game misconduct). Stapleton (misconduct. game misconduct) 4:09. Dorey 12:47<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02278/3797096-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="609" height="145"></div><h2>Thur. April 18 MINNESOTA 5 at HOUSTON 4</h2><h3>FIRST PERIOD</h3>1&mdash;Minnesota. Arbour (Antonovich) &hellip; 6:422&mdash;Houston Mark Howe (Popiel. Howe) &hellip; 8:453&mdash;Minnesota. Klatt (Antonovich Hampson) &hellip; 12:25Penalties G. Howe. Gallant 2:56. MacMillan 9:43. Popiel 16:48. Antonovich 16:48. Schella 18:23 Morrison 18:54.<h3>SECOND PERIOD</h3>4&mdash;Minnesota. Johnson (McMahon. Arbour) &hellip; 0:535&mdash;Houston. Popiel (Labossiere. Lund) &hellip; 8:10Penalties G. Howe. Gallant 6:39. Smith 7:20.<h3>THIRD PERIOD</h3>6&mdash;Houston. Lund (Hughes. Hinse) &hellip; 1:557&mdash;Minnesota. McMahon (Arbour. Connelly) &hellip; 9:238&mdash;Houston. Taylor (Labossiere. Marty Howe) &hellip; 10:46Penalties Lund (major) Klatt (major) Garrett, (minor) (served by Hampson) (misconduct) (served by Antonovich) 1:55.<h3>OVERTIME PERIOD</h3>9&mdash;Minnesota. Walton (Gallant) &hellip; 1:40Penalties None<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03195/3797089-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="606" height="148"></div><h2>Fri. April 19 CHICAGO 4 at TORONTO 6</h2><h3>FIRST PERIOD</h3>1&mdash;Toronto. Cuddie (Brewer) &hellip; 0:432&mdash;Chicago. Benzelock (Backstrom) &hellip; 8:45Penalties Amodeo 1:33. Benzelock 6:30.<h3>SECOND PERIOD</h3>3&mdash;Toronto. Dillon (Trottier. Leduc) &hellip; 4:564&mdash;Toronto. Martin (Carleton. Sentes) &hellip; 8:175&mdash;Chicago. Harris (Backstrom. Stapleton) &hellip; 12:396&mdash;Chicago. Morris (Gordon. Hardy) &hellip; 18:01Penalties Orr 10:50.<h3>THIRD PERIOD</h3>7&mdash;Chicago. Zaine (Benzelock. Watson) &hellip; 2:038&mdash;Toronto. Sentes (Carleton Cuddie) &hellip; 10:579&mdash;Toronto. Leduc &hellip; 12:4110&mdash;Toronto. Dillon &hellip; 18:29Penalties Mavety 1:45. Benzelock 3:24. King 8:09. Hardy 11:42.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04148/3797082-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="603" height="145"></div><h2>Sat. April 20 MINNESOTA at HOUSTON</h2><h3>FIRST PERIOD</h3>1&mdash;Houston. Hinse (Hughes. Lund) &hellip; 7:262&mdash;Houston. Lund (Mark Howe. Schella) &hellip; 15:593&mdash;Minnesota. Connelly (Morrison. Walton) &hellip; 18:314&mdash;Houston. Hall (Labossiere, Taylor) &hellip; 18:43Penalties MacMillan 2:10. Arbour 8:43. Grierson Goldthorpe (majors) 11:13. Paradise 11:58. Hinse 14:04 Taylor 17:58. Connelly. Labossiere 19:22.<h3>SECOND PERIOD</h3>5&mdash;Minnesota. Walton (McMahon. Connelly) &hellip; 3:216&mdash;Houston. Mark Howe &hellip; 8:237&mdash;Houston. Labossiere (Hall. Popiel) &hellip; 10:10Penalties Schella 1:28: Cardwell 5:00 Smith G. Howe 7:29. Gallant Howe 12:29.<h3>THIRD PERIOD</h3>No scoringPenalties Paradise 3:03. Labossiere 6:39. Smith 10:03. Grierson 10:45.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-05115/3797075-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="597" height="143"></div><h2>Sun. April 21 HOUSTON 1 at MINNESOTA 4</h2><h3>FIRST PERIOD</h3>1&mdash;Houston. Hughes (Hinse) &hellip; 11:03Penalties Hall 1:11. Schella (major.) Walton (major game misconduct). Marty. Howe. Cardwell (double minors, misconducts) 2:19. Goldthorpe. Schella 7:26 popiel 19:29.<h3>SECOND PERIOD</h3>2&mdash;Minnesota. Morrison (MacMillan. Connelly) &hellip; 5:063&mdash;Minnesota. Hampson (McMahon. Klatt) &hellip; 17:144&mdash;Minnesota, Morrison &hellip; 17:34Penalties Marty Howe 3:57. Morrison 19:19.<h3>THIRD PERIOD</h3>5&mdash;Minnesota. Connelly (Ball Morrison) &hellip; 14:05Penalties Smith 3:50. Grierson 5:46. Gallant. Grierson 8:17. Heatley 18:12.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0699/3797068-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="601" height="149"></div> &#9632;

f0024-01

World Hockey Association Playoff Summaries

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0784/3797176-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="609" height="161"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Mon. April 8Houston 5 at Winnipeg 2Wed April 10Houston 3 at Winnipeg 2Sat. April 13Winnipeg 1 at Houston 10Sun. April 14Winnipeg 4 at Houston 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0879/3797169-1-eng-US/f0024-082.jpg" title="f0024-08" width="597" height="151"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 6Edmonton 1 at Minnesota 2Sun. April 7Edmonton 5 at Minnesota 8Wed. April 10Minnesota 6 at Edmonton 2Fri. April 12Minnesota 1 at Edmonton 2Sun. April 14Edmonton 4 at Minnesota 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0972/3797162-1-eng-US/f0024-092.jpg" title="f0024-09" width="590" height="156"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 6Chicago 4 at New England 6Sun. April 7Chicago 3 at New England 4Tue. April 9New England 6 at Chicago 8Wed. April 10New England 1 at Chicago 2Fri. April 12Chicago 4 at New England 2Sun. April 14New England 2 at Chicago 10Tue. April 16Chicago 3 at New England 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1065/3797155-1-eng-US/f0024-102.jpg" title="f0024-10" width="587" height="157"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. April 7Cleveland 0 at Toronto 4Tue. April 9Cleveland 3 at Toronto 4Fri. April 12Toronto 4 at Cleveland 2Sat. April 13Toronto 2 at Cleveland 3Mont. April 15Cleveland 1 at Toronto 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1163/3797148-1-eng-US/f0024-112.jpg" title="f0024-11" width="609" height="162"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thur. April 18Minnesota 5 at Houston 4Sat. April 20Minnesota 2 at Houston 5Sun. April 21Houston 1 at Minnesota 4<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tue. April 23Houston at MinnesotaThur. April 25Minnesota at HoustonSat. April 27Houston at MinnesotaTue. April 30Minnesota at Houston<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1255/3797141-1-eng-US/f0024-122.jpg" title="f0024-12" width="607" height="156"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 19Chicago 4 at Toronto 6<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Mon. April 22Chicago at TorontoSun. April 28Toronto at Chicago<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1345/3797134-1-eng-US/f0024-132.jpg" title="f0024-13" width="604" height="450"></div> &#9632;

f0024-07

WHA PLAYOFF SCOREBOARD

HERSHEY &mdash;The Calder Cup playoffs continued to be a gravevard for divisional champions, at least that&rsquo;s the format the 1974 American Hockey League playoffs were following.First it was the North Division title-holders. the Rochester Americans, who went down to defeat in a six-game series with New Haven Nighhawks. Now the Baltimore Clippers, who won it all in the South Division race this season in a dramatic stretch drive, have fallen by the wayside.The Hershey Bears, coached by first-year man Chuck Hamilton, upset the champion Clippers and they did it in the quickest time possible - four straight it a best-of-seven semi-final series. The Bears skated into the cup finals against either Providence Reds or New Haven, as the result of disposing of the Clippers 3-1 and 4-2 right in Baltimore before going home to Hershey to deliver the coup de grace with a pair of 4-1 victories.It appeared a Hershey-Providence championship final was in the making after the Reds demonstrated their superiority over New Haven by sweeping three in a row from the Hawks .3-2 and 5-4 in Providence and 6-4 when the series swung back to New Haven for games three and four.With a 3-1 series lead, the Reds appear to be in the driver&rsquo;s seat for a shot at the Calder Cup.The Reds had just completed a six-game elimination of the game but inexperienced Nova Scotia Voyageurs in their quarter-final series. The Reds won the first three games before the Veet roared back with a last gasp shot at Providence winning 7-6 in overtime and 4-1. Then the series went back to Providence where the Reds mopped up the Nova Scotians 8-0 in the last game.No one was more instrurmental in the Voyageurs&rsquo; demise than little Andre Peloffy. the Reds&rsquo; French-born center. Andy did most of the damage in the early games when the Reds built up commanding 3-0 series lead.Nick Polano. Nick Fotiu and Ron Fogal were recalled by the Reds from Cape Cod of the North American Hockey League to strengthen the Providence club for their Calder Cup drive.The Reds went into the New Haven series with a 5-2-1 edge over the Hawks and the advantage appeared to be taking its toll in the actual semi-final series. The Reds were far superior.The Hawks had overcome great odds in the opening series with Rochester to win out 4-2 in games. Rochester had taken the first two at home 4-3 and 2-1 and seemed to be on their way to a quick sweep of the Hawks. But New Haven took advantage of a return to home ice to tie the series with 5-2 and 5-4 decisions before grabbing the next two as well for a four-game sweep. They won 4-1 and closed with a 6-3 romp in the sixth game to advance into the North Division finals against Providence. &#9632;

Hershey Sweeps Baltimore From Calder Cup Playoffs

<div class="byline">BY GREG FARLEY</div>NEW HAVEN &mdash;You&rsquo;ve got to hand it to the New Haven Nighthawks &mdash; they just wouldn&rsquo;t quit.Down two games to none in their quarter-final playoff showdown against North Division champion Rochester, team which had captured seven out of eight regular seasons contests between the clubs, the Hawks stormed back to take four straight and advance to the semi-finals against potent Providence.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01306/3797269-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="253" height="319"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve West</figcaption></div>&ldquo;We certainly never had a feeling of being out of it,&rdquo; observed coach Charlie Bums. &ldquo;Sure, we were disappointed to come back from Rochester 0-2 after playing well enough to win either or both games, but the guys refused to let it get them down.&ldquo;If anything. I feel those games (both overtime losses) gave us confidence that we could beat them. We realized that beating them four out of five wasn&rsquo;t going to be easily accomplished, so we just decided to take them one at a time.&rdquo;The Americans won the first two 4-3 and 2-1 in Rochester with Larry Me Killop scoring the winner in the second game in overtime. But the Hawks refused to roll over and play dead for the divisional champions and stormed back to take four in a row 5-2, 5-4. 4-1 and the windup game 6-3. Three of the Hawks&rsquo; wins came on New Haven ice as they outscored Rochester 24-16 in the series.Burns acknowledged his pre-series forecast that goaltending, and not scoring, could turn things around for either club.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s no secret that goalkeeping is the key to any series.&rdquo; he remarked. &ldquo;Lyle (Carter) played extremely well in the opening games, but we just couldn&rsquo;t get him any goals.&ldquo;We knew that once we started scoring. we&rsquo;d have a good shot at beating them, and fortunately we finally snapped out of it. After scoring just two goals in the first, two games, we really put things together and gave Lyle 20 in the next four games.&ldquo;But the way he was playing, we actually gave him more than he needed. He really did the job for us.&rdquo;It was truly team effort for the Nighthawks, who managed to win the final two games minus their scoring champion. Steve West, who suffered a knee injury in game five.Without West, who had scored four goals and added three assists in the first four games, the Hawks seemed doomed. but Blake Dunlop. Alain Langlais and Co. picked up the slack and relentlessly swarmed Amerks&rsquo; goalkeeper Lynn Zimmerman, who also gave an excellent account of himself.&ldquo;I was proud of the way the team pulled together after we lost Steve,&rdquo; Burns volunteered. &ldquo;After all. it&rsquo;s the first time in the playoffs for a lot of these kids, and you&rsquo;ve got to expect mistakes.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t say they fooled me. though. They&rsquo;ve been doing it all year for me. and nothing they do surprises me any more.Now if they can just keep it up for about three more weeks, there&rsquo;s going to be some kind of celebration in the Elm City.Getting by Rochester was an achievement in itself for Burns, who took over the club early in the season after Parker MacDonald was elevated to the Minnesota job. The Hawks, in the second year of operation, didn&rsquo;t even make the playoffs last year finishing in the then Eastern Division basement. For Rochester it was the second season in row they were ousted in the first round. Last year the Boston Bruins did them in during a six-game series.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02249/3797262-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="556" height="586"><figcaption class="caption-body">LYLE CARTER &hellip;Key To Win</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03209/3797255-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="551" height="592"><figcaption class="caption-body">CHARLIE BURNS &hellip; &ldquo;We Never Quit&rdquo;</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0026-01

New Haven Comeback Ousts Amerks As Hawks Win Without Top Scorer

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04162/3797468-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="605" height="595"></div>(Affiliations 1&mdash;Montreal. 2&mdash;Detroit. 3&mdash;Boston. 4&mdash;N. Y. Rangers. 7&mdash;Los Angeles 8&mdash;Pittsburgh 9&mdash;California. 19&mdash;Philadelphia. 11&mdash;Minnesota 14&mdash;Buffalo. 15&mdash;N. Y. Islanders. 17&mdash;Cleveland (WHA) x&mdash;Independent).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05128/3797461-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="621" height="150"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Tue. April 16Hershey 3 at Baltimore 1Wed. April 17Hershey 4 at Baltimore 2Fri. April 19Baltimore 1 at Hershey 4Sat. April 20Baltimore 1 at Hershey 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0699/3797454-1-eng-US/f0026-062.jpg" title="f0026-06" width="600" height="115"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 19New Haven 2 at Providence 3Sat. April 20New Haven 4 at Providence 5Sun. April 21Providence 6 at New Haven 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0788/3797447-1-eng-US/f0026-072.jpg" title="f0026-07" width="624" height="152"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 3New Haven 3 at Rochester 4Fri. April 5New Haven 1 at Rochester 2Wed. April 10Rochester 2 at New Haven 5Sat. April 13Rochester 4 at New Haven 5Sun. April 14New Haven 4 at Rochester 1Tue. April 16Rochester 3 at New Haven 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0878/3797440-1-eng-US/f0026-082.jpg" title="f0026-08" width="599" height="121"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 5Nova Scotia 4 at Providence 6Sun. April 7Nova Scotia 1 at Providence 4Tue. April 9Providence 4 at Nova Scotia 1Fri. April 12Providence 6 at Nova Scotia 7Mon. April 15Providence 1 at Nova Scotia 4Wed. April 17Nova Scotia 0 at Providence 8<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0972/3797433-1-eng-US/f0026-092.jpg" title="f0026-09" width="608" height="139"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 5Richmond 2 at Baltimore 5Sat. April 6Baltimore 0 at Richmond 10Tue. April 9Richmond 2 at Baltimore 4Wed. April 10Baltimore 4 at Richmond 2Fri. April 12Richmond 6 at Baltimore 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1068/3797426-1-eng-US/f0026-102.jpg" title="f0026-10" width="624" height="128"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 3Hershey 6 at Cincinnati 5Fri. April 5Hershey 2 at Cincinnati 6Tue. April 9Cincinnati 0 at Hershey 1Thu. April 11Cincinnati 2 at Hershey 4Sat. April 13Cincinnati 2 at Hershey 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1164/3797419-1-eng-US/f0026-112.jpg" title="f0026-11" width="623" height="557"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 20Portland 0 at Phoenix 7GAMES TO COMETue. April 23Portland at PhoenixFri. April 26Phoenix at PortlandSun. April 28Phoenix at PortlandMon. April 29Phoenix at PortlandWed. May 1Portland at PhoenixThur. May 2Portland at Phoenix<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1258/3797412-1-eng-US/f0026-122.jpg" title="f0026-12" width="606" height="145"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 10San Diego 2 at Phoenix 5Fri. April 12San Diego 5 at Phoenix 6Sat. April 13Phoenix 3 at San Diego 2Tue. April 16Phoenix 5 at San Diego 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1357/3797405-1-eng-US/f0026-132.jpg" title="f0026-13" width="609" height="120"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 10Portland 1 at Salt Lake 3Fri. April 12Portland 5 at Salt Lake 2Sat. April 13Salt Lake 0 at Portland 4Tue. April 16Salt Lake 3 at Portland 7Thur. April 18Salt Lake 2 at Portland 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1452/3797398-1-eng-US/f0026-142.jpg" title="f0026-14" width="605" height="443"></div>(Affiliations: 5&mdash;Chicago 6&mdash;Toronto. 15&mdash;N. Y. Islanders. 16&mdash;Atlanta. &mdash;Independent &lsquo;&mdash;Kansas City (NHL).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1548/3797391-1-eng-US/f0026-152.jpg" title="f0026-15" width="604" height="149"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 13Dallas 0 at Oklahoma City 2Sun. April 14Dallas 6 at Oklahoma City 0Wed. April 17Oklahoma City 1 at Dallas 4Sat. April 20Oklahoma City 1 at Dallas 4<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Wed. April 24Dallas at Oklahoma CityFri. April 26Oklahoma City at DallasSat. April 27Dallas at Oklahoma City<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1640/3797384-1-eng-US/f0026-162.jpg" title="f0026-16" width="645" height="183"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 3Fort Worth 2 at Oklahoma City 6Fri. April 5Fort Worth 2 at Oklahoma City 3Sat. April 6Oklahoma City 4 at Fort Worth 1Sun. April 7Oklahoma City at 4 Fort Worth 1Wed. April 10Fort Worth 1 at Oklahoma City 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1736/3797377-1-eng-US/f0026-172.jpg" title="f0026-17" width="594" height="124"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 3Dallas 3 at Omaha 2Fri. April 5Dallas 1 at Omaha 3Sat. April 6Omaha 2 at Dallas 7Sun. April 7Omaha 1 at Dallas 4Wed. April 10Dallas 4 at Omaha 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1835/3797370-1-eng-US/f0026-182.jpg" title="f0026-18" width="614" height="563"></div>(Affiliations: 2&mdash;Detroit 3&mdash;Boston. 4&mdash;N. Y. Rangers &mdash; Chicago. 8&mdash;Pittsburgh 11&mdash;Minnesota. 12&mdash;St. Louis 15&mdash;N. Y. Islanders &mdash; Vancouver Atlanta).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1933/3797363-1-eng-US/f0026-192.jpg" title="f0026-19" width="596" height="168"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 12Saginaw 1 at Des Moines 4Sat. April 13Saginaw 0 at Des Moines 6Tue. April 16Des Moines 0 at Saginaw 3Sat. April 20Saginaw 0 at Des Moines 8<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tue. April 23Des Moines at SaginawThur. April 25Saginaw at Des Moines<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-2029/3797356-1-eng-US/f0026-202.jpg" title="f0026-20" width="609" height="166"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. March 31Flint 1 at Des Moines 5Tue. April 2Flint 2 at Des Moines 3Thur. April 4Des Moines 8 at FlintSun. April 7Des Moines 11 at Flint 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-2124/3797349-1-eng-US/f0026-212.jpg" title="f0026-21" width="617" height="116"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 5Columbus 2 at Saginaw 4Tue. April 9Saginaw 4 at Columbus 1Wed. April 10Saginaw 6 at Columbus 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-2223/3797342-1-eng-US/f0026-222.jpg" title="f0026-22" width="593" height="168"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. March 26Dayton 7 at Saginaw 4Thur. March 28Saginaw 5 at Dayton 3Sat. March 30Dayton 3 at Saginaw 7Sun. March 31Saginaw 4 at Dayton 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-2321/3797335-1-eng-US/f0026-232.jpg" title="f0026-23" width="606" height="123"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. March 26Columbus 4 at Muskegon 2Thur. March 28Columbus 5 at Muskegon 2Sat. March 30Muskegon 3 at Columbus 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-2418/3797328-1-eng-US/f0026-242.jpg" title="f0026-24" width="605" height="115"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. March 26Toledo 3 at Flint 2Wed. March 27Flint 4 at Toledo 3Fri. March 29Flint 7 at Toledo 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-2516/3797321-1-eng-US/f0026-252.jpg" title="f0026-25" width="600" height="262"></div>Tue. April 2Roanoke 3 at Charlotte 7Wed. April 3Charlotte 5 at Roanoke 2Fri. April 5Roanoke 5 at Charlotte 2Sat. April 6Charlotte 2 at Roanoke 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-2613/3797314-1-eng-US/f0026-262.jpg" title="f0026-26" width="620" height="332"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-2711/3797307-1-eng-US/f0026-272.jpg" title="f0026-27" width="614" height="156"></div>GAMES COMPLETEDFri. April 5Long Island 2 at Syracuse 5Sat. April 6Syracuse 7 at Long Island 1Wed. April 10Long Island 2 at Syracuse 8Sun. April 7Long Island 0 at Syracuse 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-288/3797300-1-eng-US/f0026-282.jpg" title="f0026-28" width="609" height="243"></div>(Syracuse awarded best-of-seven series when Johnston refused to take ice for fifth game after Johnstown was awarded fourth game when Syracuse refused to continue game after brawl.) &#9632;

f0026-04

LOOKING AT THE MINOR LEAGUE SCOREBOARD

<div class="byline">BY JOHN ARNOLD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01286/3797499-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="891" height="1161"></div><h2>SOLUTION IN MAY 10 ISSUE</h2><h3>ACROSS</h3>1&mdash;Bobby Orr won this trophy last year.5&mdash;Former NHL forward.7&mdash;First name of an NHL captain.10&mdash;Former St. Louis coach.12&mdash;A Canadian Province, (abbr.)14&mdash;Estimated time of arrival, (abbr.)15&mdash;Former NHLer Gardner answers to this.16&mdash;Finished 3rd in the NHL east this year.17&mdash;Number worn by Dennis Hull.18&mdash;Initials of down.19&mdash;Native country of Henry Boucha.20&mdash;Some players may have one before game.21&mdash;An NHL coach, (init)22&mdash;Former Vancouver general manager.26&mdash;One of the Flyers.27&mdash;An NHL linesman answers to this.28&mdash;Short for first name of one of the Bruins.29&mdash;Former NHL forward Bathgate answers to this.<h3>DOWN</h3>1&mdash;One of the Chicago Cougars.2&mdash;Former Hawk nicknamed &ldquo;Rags&rdquo;.3&mdash;These are hard to get for NHL playoff games.4&mdash;Pictured player.6&mdash;Initials of one of the Habs.8&mdash;Initials of former Hawk Balfour.9&mdash;One of the Bruins, (init.)11&mdash;A former NHL linesman.13&mdash;Former NHL forward.19&mdash;A Toronto center.22&mdash;First name of Stapleton.23&mdash;Native province of Don Awrey.24&mdash;Denotes number worn by Yvon Lambert25&mdash;5th and 21st letters of the alphabet.27&mdash;13th and 9th letters of the alphabet.<h2>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S ANSWERS</h2><h3>ACROSS</h3>1&mdash;GAMBLE.5&mdash;TIM.7&mdash;KEON.10&mdash;L.C.11&mdash;FRED.13&mdash;HOOK.14&mdash;FAN.15&mdash;T.E.16&mdash;TEN.17&mdash;111.19&mdash;ONE.20&mdash;R.E.21&mdash;N.G.22&mdash;LUMLEY26&mdash;RICHARD.27&mdash;L.A.28&mdash;S.D.30&mdash;MARTIN.<h3>DOWN</h3>1&mdash;GEOFFRION.2&mdash;McKenzie.3&mdash;LEO.4&mdash;PILOTE.6&mdash;McKENNY.8&mdash;ED.9&mdash;N.H.12&mdash;R.A.16&mdash;T.H.18&mdash;INGRAM.20&mdash;REDS.22&mdash;L.C.23&mdash;U.H.24&mdash;MAKI.25&mdash;L.R.29&mdash;D.M. &#9632;

f0027-01

HOCKEY CROSSWORD

<div class="byline">BY DOUG McCONNELL</div>PHOENIX&mdash;The Phoenix Roadrunners had no doubts that they&rsquo;d win when the fourth game of their Lester Patrick Cup semifinals went into overtime.What&rsquo;s to doubt?The 5-4 victory, nailed down by Murray Keogan&rsquo;s second goal of the night, was the Road runners&rsquo; 18th overtime game this season.They&rsquo;ve lost only once (14-1-3).The San Diego Gulls, losers of three straight games in overtime to the Roadrunners and in the series, have not won in 15 (0-10-5).Sweeping the best-of-seven Lester Patrick Cup semi-finals in four straight games tied Western Hockey League record. Only twice before has a WHL club swept back-to-back series.By defeating the Eagles 4-0 in last year&rsquo;s finals and the Gulls 4-0 in this year&rsquo;s finals, the Roadrunners matched the Seattle Totems who defeated Vancouver in four games of the 1967 finals and won the semi-finals in four over Phoenix in 1968. and the Vancouver Canucks, who won the title in eight games in 1969.&ldquo;Never a doubt. shouted Bob Barlow over the dressing room din.&ldquo;You should have seen us in the dressing room before the overtime period. said Dave Woodley, who despite a broken toe. badly werenched knee and multiple bruises, helped hold the defense together. &ldquo;We were loose as a goose. I thought we were too loose.&rdquo;Woodley learned the next day that the season was all over for him. Team doctors ordered surgery for his torn knee cartilage.Team captain Adam Keller and Jim Murray hoped to be back on the defense for the finals.Keller missed the final four games of the season and all four games of the semi-finals with torn rib cartilage from a fall during severe turbulence on an airline flight. Murray missed two less games with a shattered thumb.Right wing Bob Mowat, whose experience on defense &ldquo;was zilch&rdquo; dropped back and helped out in the absence of Keller and several short absences by John Barber, who repeatedly aggravated shoulder injury and a bruised thumb. Two youngsters. Gary Braun and Wendell Bennett, with less than two years of pro defense experience between them, played like 10-year veterans.The Gulls, their backs to the wall, played solid hockey, taking 2-0 lead in the first period of the last game, and going ahead twice more as the Roadrunners kepi coming back.&ldquo;We were confident we could win it.&rdquo; said Gull coach Jack Evans, &ldquo;even going into the overtime and with our record. We just knew we couldn&rsquo;t let them have any good chances but they scored the first chance they got.&rdquo;Keogan lifted a rebound high with backhand from a scramble in front of the goalmouth with goaltender John Adams sprawled on the ice. having blocked two shots by Braun.&ldquo;I blew my chance to be the hero.&rdquo; grinned Braun afterward. &ldquo;I had two pops at it before Keogan put it in.&rdquo;Keogan also scored the tying goal, again with Adams down, that time flattened by teammate Kerry Bond. The Roadrunner center also assisted on an earlier goal by Darwin Mott for three point night.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01272/3797537-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="553" height="515"><figcaption class="caption-body">MURRAY KEOGAN &hellip; Sank Winner</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02197/3797530-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="546" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB MOWAT &hellip; Pinch Hitter</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0028-01

Runners’ Overtime Magic Continues As Phoenix Ousts Gulls From Series

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03147/3797575-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="551" height="585"><figcaption class="caption-body">LARRY PATEY &hellip; Best Freshman</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04116/3797568-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="551" height="579"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN BARBER &hellip; Lots Of Ability</figcaption></div>SALT LAKE CITY &mdash;To no one&rsquo;s surprise, at all. Larry Patey won the Western Hockey League&rsquo;s rookie-of-the-year award.The 6-1, 180-pound. 20-year-old redhead from Port Credit. Ont., was a runaway choice, polling 447 of a possible 475 votes in the all-opponent balloting. It was the widest margin of selection of any of the post-season award winners.Patey is the third Salt Lake Golden Ealges&rsquo; player to win the award in five years. Jack Rathwell was the 1970-71 winner and Ron Huston last year&rsquo;s winner.Patey scored 40 goals and 43 assists for 83 total points in 76 games for the Eagles.A ninth round draft choice of the California Golden Seals. Patey played last season for the Braintree. Mass., team in the New England Hockey League, while freshman at Boston University.Undecided whether to return to school or pursue a career in pro hockey. Patey did not participate in any preseason games but according to Eagle general manager and coach Al Rollins, &ldquo;otherwise had a great camp.&rdquo;Not being able to sharpen his shooting skills in pre-season play. Patey got off to slow start with just one goal in 15 games. He was looked on as a defensive forwards with a strong checking games.Then the gangling redhead began to find the range. During a stretch in late November and early December, he scored eight times in nine games. Late in December he put together a seven-game goal scoring streak.The runner-up in the rookie balloting was Seattle center Dan Gloor. who nosed Patey out by one point for third spot in the scoring race.Gloor closed with a rush, a 13-point final week lifting him from ninth to third with 36 goals. 48 assists and 84 total points, three less than Phoenix center Murray Keogan.Gloor polled 201 votes in the 5-3-1 voting system.Dennis Abgrall, who faded slightly after a quick start and wound up with 68 points, including 27 goals, was third with 83 points.The remainder of the rookie voting: Steve Stone. Seattle. 51. Gary Holt. Salt Lake. 49; Bob Stumpf. Denver. 44: Paul O&rsquo;Neil. Seattle. 36: Darwin Mott. Phoenix. 35; Bill Yeo. Denver. 27; Larry Gould. Seattle. 24: Peter Folco. Seattle. 9: Dale Lewis. Portland. 5.Meanwhile. John Barber became the third Phoenix Roadrunner in seven years to win the Hal Laycoe Cup as the WHL&rsquo;s outstanding defenseman.The 6-1. 200-pound older brother of the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; Bill Barber, polled 248 votes in the all-opponent balloting (on a 5-3-1 basis) to 238 for John Miszuk of the San Diego Gulls. Miszuk was the runner-up last year to Dave Dunn of the Seattle Totems.Sandy Hucul. now the Roadrunner coach, won the Laycoe Cup in 1967 and 1972.The competition was close with San Diego&rsquo;s Murray Kennett third with 230 votes. Portland Ron Wilson fourth with 204. Adam Keller of Phoenix fifth with 200. followed by Paul Shakes. Salt Lake. 186; Brent Meeke. Salt Lake. 184; Ray Fortin. San Diego. 141: Jim McElmury. Portland. 139: Jim Murray. Phoenix. 107: Jim Mair. Seattle. 106: Mike Stevens. Denver. 66. &#9632;

f0028-03

Patey WHL’s Top Rookie, Barber No. 1 Defenseman

<div class="byline">BY DOUG McCONNELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01233/3797613-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="557" height="993"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIMMY PETERS &hellip; Hot In Playoffs</figcaption></div>PORTLAND&mdash;The Salt Lake Golden Eagles didn&rsquo;t go quietly.The Portland Buckaroos. after losing the opener at Salt Lake City, came back with four straight victories to take the best-of-seven semi-finals series. 4-1.The Buckaroos open in Phoenix, April 20 and 23 and return to Portland for three games. April 25. 27 and 28. Further dates, if necessary, are April 30 and May 2 in Phoenix.The Buckaroos won the brawl-marred final game. 5-2. They were leading 2-1 when defenseman Connie Madigan and Salt Lake winger Gary Coalter tangled behind the Portland goal.Before order was restored. Madigan also fought with Eagles&rsquo; rookie Larry Patey and was ejected with three major penalties and a game misconduct.Portland&rsquo;s Art Jones and Salt Lake&rsquo;s Dave Hrechkosy were also ejected and the Bucks to skate shorthanded for five minutes, the first for minutes shorts by two men.The Eagles used the advantage to tie the score on Lyle Bradley&rsquo;s goal but the Buckaroos popped in three third period goals, by Andy Hebenton. Dale Lewis and Karl Haggarty. Vic Venasky scored two Portland goals and Patey the other Salt Lake goal.The Buckaroos whipped the Eagles 7-3 in the fourth game, opening it up with pair of second period power-play goals by Ken Campbell and Dennis Giannini. Giannini had a two-goal game.After losing the opener. 5-2. without Campbell, and losing goaltender Rick Charron early in the second game, the Buckaroos toughened up and got some unexpected but brilliant goaltending from Bob Vroman.Vroman had worked just 483 minutes &mdash; the equivalent of eight games &mdash; all season for the Buckaroos but followed up with just one goal against, including his first pro shutout, in his first 109 playoff minutes. The Buckaroos won the second and third games. 3-2 and 4-0 and Vroman has a 1.58 goals against average in 229 minutes.Haggarty. Dale Lewis and Jimmy Peters. who make up the Bucks&rsquo; checking line, have been accounting for much of the playoff scoring. Lewis is the points leader with eight, two on goals. Peters, who scored just seven regular season goals, has four in the playoffs, plus three assists to tie with Vic Venasky (5-2-7) and Dennis Abgrall (1-6-7). Haggarty has two goals and three assists.Steve Rexe, who posted a 3.81 goals against average in 51 games with Springfield of the American League, joined the Buckaroos as an emergency replacement for Charron.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02192/3797606-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="1162" height="1481"><figcaption class="caption-body">CONNIE MADIGAN&hellip; Tossed Out During Brawl</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

Portland Sweeps Last Four To Reach WHL Finals

<div class="byline">BY LEN HOYES</div>SAGINAW &mdash;Nothing could be more natural than a high-scoring final series between the International Hockey League&rsquo;s two highest-scoring clubs.Right?Wrong.The Des Moines Capitols and Saginaw Gears were in the finals all right, but the accent is on defense and the Turner Cup championship hinged upon a beat-of-three windup after they split. 2-2. in the first four games.Des Moines remained the favorite because two of the last three games are at home, but the second-year Gears are growing increasingly confident after spanking the Caps. 5-2 and 3-0. in Wendler Arena.&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re playing well enough to go out and win in their arena.&rdquo; said right winger Dennis Desrosiers, a midseason arrival from New Haven who has regained the scoring leadership he held last year as a first-team All Star.During the regular season. Des Moines scored 316 goals, an average of 4.2 per game, and Saginaw scored 310, a 4.1 average. In as much as the Gears ranked sixth defensively in a nine-team league, the pre-finals talk centered around Des Moines&rsquo; ability to score.Yet. the Capitols scored only 12 goals in the first four games of the finals. Saginaw scored only nine goals. No loser scored more than two.Thus, the accent has turned to defense and spearheading the defenses were rookie goalie Sam Clegg of Saginaw and Dave McLelland of Des Moines who actually is two seasons out of Junior but realistically is a rookie, too.Clegg&rsquo;s 3-0 shutout on April 16 was the first of his IHL career. although Ire &lsquo;shared one with Jim Armstrong earlier in the season. He faced only 19 shots and Pete Mara, the IHL&rsquo;s most valuable player and scoring champion, managed to test him only once.McLelland&rsquo;s 6-0 shutout on April 13 was the first play off whitewashing by a Des Moines goalie in the club&rsquo;s 11-season history a period covering 57 playoff games.Clegg was considered Saginaw&rsquo;s No. 2 goalie during the regular season. He played in 35 games and managed a 3.55 goals-against average.He was pushed into action in Saginaw&rsquo;s first playoff game on March 26 when the Dayton Gems scored four goals in the first 13 minutes against Armstrong. It became a fateful move for coach Don Perry because Clegg responded With six straight victories to get the Gears into the finals.INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUEHe beat Dayton three straight, including two at the Gems&rsquo; Hara Arena where Saginaw had won only once in two seasons. He beat Columbus three straight, including two in the Owls&rsquo; arena here he faced 92 shots but surrendered only three goals.Perry said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in the finals largely because of Clegg. He held us together. When he got the hot hand we had to stick with him. He couldn&rsquo;t have picked a better time to get hot.&rdquo;Clegg split 1972-73 among Saskatoon. Victoria and Medicine Hat in the Western Canada Hockey League and was drafted by the Minnesota North Stars.Ironically, the low point of Clegg&rsquo;s IHL playoffs was the peak for McLelland.Playing for the ninth time in 19 days. Clegg was relieved after 9 &frac12; minutes of the second game at Des Moines on April 16 when McLelland was putting together his second shutout of the season. The relief was more from compassion than unhappiness by Perry who wanted to give Armstrong some work.That move paid dividend two nights later when Armstrong beat the Caps. 5-2.McLelland 2.14 goals-against average for the play offs should surprise no one. especially his Des Moines&rsquo; fans. He was almost that good during the regular season although his heroics were submerged by the Caps&rsquo; scoring prowess.The 21-year-old netminder had a 2.85 goals-against average for 55 games, and was outranked by only Dayton&rsquo;s Jim Pettie (2.75) and Ray Martynuik (2.76) of Columbus.Coach Dan Belisle said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s as good as anyone in our league. He just didn&rsquo;t get the recognition. I guess everyone remembered him from last year and paid no attention.McLelland&rsquo;s first action for the Caps in 1972-73 resulted in a 9-1 pasting by the Flint Generals. After another brief appearance he was returned to Seattle with a 9.28 average. Yet. before the year was out. he played two games for the Vancouver Canucks.But he played in only 10 games all season.This year the Canucks wanted him to play regularly so he was sent to Des Moines early. The Caps also got Jim Park from Richmond, so Belisle allowed them to battle it out for the No. 1 job. McLelland came along so fast that the duel was decided in December.The accent on defense in the playoffs overshadowed the teams&rsquo; scoring woes.Mara, who averaged a point-and-a-half per game in the regular season, managed only five goals and three assists in eight games and three of the goals came in an 11-6 romp against Flint. Left winger rank DeMarco, the IHL&rsquo;s rookie of the year with 49 goals, had turned on the light only twice.Meanwhile the so-called third line of Bob Law. Terry McDougall and Scott Smith accounted for 17 goals and 24 assists.Marcel Comeau, who led Saginaw with 31 goals and 82 points during the regular season, was limited to three goals and eight points in 11 games. Stu Irving (4-7-11) and Desrosiers (5-6-11) were the Gears&rsquo; leaders.IHL NOTES: General manager Frank Gallagher vowed a &ldquo;house cleaning&rdquo; after his Flint Generals finished seventh in the overall standings but coach Doug Carpenter, midseason appointee, received a vote of confidence&hellip; Columbus owner Al Savill was presented with the Ohio IHL Challenge Cup by Lt. Gov. John Brown for having the best record among three Ohio clubs.Captain Wayne Zuk named Flint&rsquo;s most valuable player for the second straight year&hellip; Frank Boston named most improved and most popular. Jim Koleff top rookie. Dick Mortenson unsung hero and Jack Kell best defenseman&hellip; Pittsburgh Penguins coach Marc Boileau an onlooker at Saginaw-Des Moines playoff game&hellip;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01245/3797696-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="560" height="546"><figcaption class="caption-body">SAM CLEGG &hellip;First Shutout</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02196/3797689-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="560" height="542"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE McLELLAND &hellip;Solid In Goal</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0031-01

High Scoring Gives Way To Defense As Saginaw, Des Moines Seek Title

TOLEDO&mdash;A group headed by Attorney Richard Cohen has offered to buy the Toledo Hornets.Cohen made the offer to owner Paul Bright after the latter had announced he would not operate the franchise in Toledo for 1974-75.The amount of the offer wasn&rsquo;t revealed but earlier Bright said the asking price was $250,000.Cohen&rsquo;s group, which apparently consists of six people, made the offer after auditing the Hornets&rsquo; books. Bright said his three-year operation lost $100.000.Bright said earlier that he would sell to a Toledo group, sell and transfer the franchise to another city or inactivate the franchise for one year.Negotiations with a group from Lansing. Mich., apparently fell through when Bright demanded that an arena be expanded to at least 4,000 seats. &#9632;

Toledo Group Wants Hornets

<div class="byline">BY DEREK KNIGHT</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01247/3797751-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="558" height="703"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON INGRAM &hellip; New Challenge</figcaption></div>ALBANY&mdash;With all seven North American Hockey League teams slated to return next season, the latest talk centers around who will join them in 1974-75.According to executive director Bob Dextraze. &ldquo;There will be a maximum of three new franchises next season.&rdquo; The young NAHL ruler reveals that of the nine applications received three definitely have the potential to compete in the league next year. The three franchises could be Concord. New Hampshire. Scranton. Pennsylvania, and Cherry Hill. New Jersey.At least those are the three sights mentioned most often around the league.While the future location of the WHA Jersey Knights lies in limbo, sources around Jersey point to Baltimore or Miami as their more logical 1974-75 home. With the exit of the Knights there would be a vacancy at the Cherry Hill Arena and a group there is ready to set up franchise in the NAHL.There could also be a new wrinkle in league plans next season. Dextraze revealed the possibility of an interlocking schedule with four senior &ldquo;A&rdquo; hockey teams in Ontario. Of course, nothing will be decided until the NAHL&rsquo;s first post season meeting, slated for Montreal in mid-May.Expansion is not going to be the only topic for discussion on the agenda. Discipline is a word that members of the league will have to listen to. The rules and regulatoins committee, along with Dextraze. will have some words regarding the Johnstown Jets&rsquo; forfeit of the semi-final series to Syracuse. Action is expected to be taken against the Johnstown Hockey Club.Officiating is another concern of Dextraze and his top official Referee-In-Chief. Len Gagnon. &ldquo;We intend to upgrade officiating in our league.&rdquo; says Dextraze. he continued &ldquo;If it takes more money to improve officiating then we are prepared to spend it Dextraze intends to send Gagnon on an inspection tour of all of the league arenas.He will make his reports to the league and the NAHL would then see to it that their facilities are upgraded.Speaking of the league office, it will remain in Albany. Previous talk had headquarters moving to Montreal or Boston. The office will be open all summer and it is expected that another person will join Dextraze in Albany With the exception of secretary. Dextraze has had to carry the full burden of responsibilities that league office must handle.There are still other concerns that the first year league will talk about during the meetings. Scheduling, rules and regulations. and affilications will be discussed along with a new challenge in Syracuse, an American Hockey League entry.The AHL&rsquo;s Eagles will be competing against the league champions for fans and sponsors and most people feel there aren&rsquo;t enough of both to go around. The Blazers have continued working at a time when other teams go on vacation, simply because of the Eagles. While the battle has already begun, only time will tell who will win it.The Blazers apparently aren&rsquo;t going to slow down their efforts. Both President Francis Rivette and general manager-coach Ron Ingram are working furionsly to keep the Blazers&rsquo; operation going along. Ingram, who is being hailed for his efforts in handling the club and leading the team to its second title in a row &mdash; they also won it last year in the old EHL &mdash; is facing the new challenge of the AHL with determination.The NAHL Blazers, based on their fine season, would appear to hold the edge. However, almost anything could happen.The Blazers for the record won it all in four-game sweep over Long Island Cougars taking the best-of-seven series by outscoring the Cougars 27-5. The Blazers won 5-2. 7-1. 8-2 and 7-0 to become the holder of the NAHL&rsquo;s first championship trophy.In preliminary playoffs. Long Island made it to the final round by ousting Cape Cod in six games outscoring the Cubs 18-14. Syracuse won its stormy semi-final series in five games over Johnstown:There is talk that affiliations may bring about more news this summer. Mohawk Valley, now expected to play all their games in Utica. will seek to strengthen working agreement with the WHA Toronto Toros. Likewise the Long Island Cougars will be attempting to strength then their working affiliation with their parent club, the Chicago Cougars. &#9632;

f0032-01

Talk Of Expansion In NAHL To Top Post-Season Meeting

MONTREAL &mdash;When the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks entered the National Hockey League in 1970. the Sabres won coin toss that enabled them to choose first in the amateur draft. As it turned out. the coin toss had a large say in which team would succeed and which would not.The Sabres chose a center from the Montreal Junior Canadiens. Gilbert Perreault, while the Canucks took second choice. defenseman Dale Tallon from the Toronto Marlboros. Since then. Perreault has led the Sabres to one playoff berth while Tallon is no longer with the Canucks, who have yet to come close to the playoffs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01220/3797810-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="260" height="444"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Greschner</figcaption></div>The NHL&rsquo;s newest teams, the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts, also held a coin toss with Washington winning first pick in the amateur draft, which will be held May 29 in Montreal. Their choice will be an important one.One thing that could hurt both franchises is the quality of this year&rsquo;s graduating juniors &mdash; reputed to be one of the poorest in years. One NHL scout said that this year&rsquo;s junior crop is so thin there will barely be enough talent for a good first round.The lack of quality could force NHL teams to dip into 18-year-old talent, which through agreements with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, will be available. Both the NHL and WHA will be able to take players under the usual drafting age of 19, if they are chosen in the first two rounds.Following is look at what they&rsquo;ll have to choose from.Bill Lochead, left wing Oshawa Generals: Lochead is probably the cream of this year&rsquo;s graduating crop. At 6&rsquo; 1&rdquo; and 185 pounds, he&rsquo;s big enough for the pros. He&rsquo;s fast and has a variety of accurate shots. Defensive ability is questionable. Scored 57 goals with Oshawa this season and had 121 points.Ron Chipperfield, center. Brandon Wheat Kings: Chipperfield broke Reg Leach&rsquo;s single-season scoring record with 90 goals this year. At 5&rsquo; 11&rdquo; and 180 pounds. Chipperfield is built in the Phil Esposito mold and can score as effectively. Won WCHL scoring championship with 162 points.Ron Greschner, defense. New Westminster Bruins: This smooth-skating defenseman is big offensive threat. He scored 33 goals and added 70 assist for the Bruins this year. His defensive play could be sharper, though.Greg Joly, defense, Regina Pats: Joly is more of a defensive defenseman that most juniors and at 6&rsquo; and 190 pounds is strong. He can rush. too. as proven his 21 goals and 71 assists.Rich Chartraw, defense. Kitchener Rangers: This Erie. Pa. native has improved each year in the (JHA and was an All Star defenseman in his last year. The 6&rsquo;2&rdquo;. 210-pounder scored 17 goals and set up 44 others.Bruce Affleck, defense, Denver University: With college players eligible for first-round choice this year, several should be taken early in the draft. Affleck. an All-American the last two years, could be the first. He&rsquo;s 5&rsquo; 11&rdquo; and 190 pounds.Clark Gillies, left wing. Regina Pats: This 6&rsquo;3&rdquo;. 215-pound winger could be a future star if he asserts himself more. A tough checker and strong defensive player. Gillies scored 46 goals last year in Regina.Dick Spannbauer, defense. University of Minnesota: He led Minnesota to the US college championship and at 6&rsquo;2&rdquo; and 215 pounds could step right into the pros. Strong defensive player with good puckhandling skill and poise.Richard Nantais: left wing, Quebec Remparts: Nantais shows something that wasn&rsquo;t common in the Quebec league this year &mdash; defensive ability. He&rsquo;s an aggressive, chippy player. The 5&rsquo;11&rdquo;. 180-pounder can score &mdash; 63 goals and 189 points, this year.Gary MacGregor, center, Cornwall Royals: An aggressive playmaker and a good scorer. MacGregor&rsquo;s only drawback is his slight build &mdash; 5&rdquo; 11&rdquo; and 170 pounds. But he is a good skater.Mike Palmateer, goal. Toronto Malboros: He is rated the best junior goaltending prospect despite recurring knee problems and small stature (5&rsquo;8&rdquo; and 160 pounds). He has great reflexes and an outstanding catching hand.Doug Riseborough, center. Kitchener Rangers: A player somehwat like Walt Tkaczuk. Riseborough had his only season of Major A hockey cut short by an injury. But he did score 25 goals in 46 games and pro scouts feel he has the tools to make it in the big leagues.Jacques Cossette, right wing, Sorel Black Hawks: After scoring 156 goals in two seasons. Cosette is ready for the big leagues. He&rsquo;s a strong skater and likes the rough going. Has a quick, hard shot.Mike Rogers, center, Calgary Centennials: A deft forechercher and scorer. Rogers could be hampered in the big leagues by his size (5&rsquo;9&rdquo; and 170 pounds). But his 67 goals this season should be enough to prove he deserves a chance.Danny Gare, right wing, Calgary Centennials: Like Rogers. Gare suffers from a lack of size. At 5&rsquo;9&rdquo; and 175 pounds, he scored 68 goals this year. A good checker, strong skate and he&rsquo;s tough.Peter Lopresti, goal, Denver University: His size and standup approach to the game have combined to make Lopresti one of the top eligible goaltenders.Jerry Holland, right wing, Calgary Centennials: Holland scored 55 goals this season, but like teammates Gare and Rogers is hampered by his lack of size. (5&rsquo;10&rdquo; and 180 pounds has speed, plenty of hustle and strong shot.Robbie Watt, center. Flin Flon Bombers: This 5&rsquo;9&rdquo;. 170-pound speedster scored 59 goals with the Bombers this year and despite his small frame is a good prospect.John Hughes, defense, Toronto Malboros: This rugged rearguard is strong skater and hard hitter. He&rsquo;s coming off a poor season but his previous years make him a top priority.Jerry Badiuk, defense. Kitchener Rangers: An excellent rusher with a strong shot. Badiuk scored 19 goals and added 45 assists this year.Andy Spruce, left wing. London Knights: Spruce is an efficient checker who has the ability to score. Suffered a knee injury his last year in junior and scored only 12 goals. But his previous performances indicate promise.Bob Murray, defense, Cornwall Royals: A mobile and smooth-skating rearguard. Murray is strong playmaker. Rushing is his forte.Dennis Olmstead, center. University of Wisconsin: An aggressive forward, like his father Bert. Olmstead attracted scouts with his hustle. Skating is his wearkness.If 18-year-olds are drafted some of them could go quite high in the draft. Saskatoon defenseman Pat Price is sure to be chosen in the first round. He&rsquo;s being touted as the next Bobby Orr. Also sure to be chosen are high-scoring centers Jack Valiquette of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Rick Adduono of the St. Catharines Black Hawks and Kitchener goaler Don Edwards.Valiquette, in his first year of Major A competition, tied Adduono for first place in the OH scoring race. Valiquette scored 63 goals while Adduono scored 51. Both are excellent playmakers and good skaters.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0580/3797803-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="1174" height="1493"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02168/3797796-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="564" height="531"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK CHARTRAW &hellip;An All Star</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03124/3797789-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="491" height="468"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON CHIPPERFILED &hellip;No. 2 Pick</figcaption></div><h2>The Top 20 Amateurs</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04101/3797782-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="1255" height="918"></div> &#9632;

f0033-01

NHL Scouts Lament Lack Of Quality For Amateur Draft

<div class="byline">BY DWAYNE NETLAND</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01209/3797886-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GUMP WORSLEY&hellip; 25-Year Playing Career Ended</figcaption></div>TWIN CITIES&mdash;Is it really true that we&rsquo;ve seen the last of the little round man in the barrel?Gump Worsley has retired twice from hockey and each time he was talked into a comeback by Wren Blair, but as the Minnesota North Stars packed away their equipment recently. Worsley said definitely that he was through.It marked the end of a distinguished goalkeeping career encompassing 25 years of professional hockey. Worsley broke in as a pro. ironically, with the St. Paul Saints of the U.S. Hockey League in 1950 and closed it out across the river in Bloomington wearing the green and white spangles of the North Stars.Nobody was ever more serious about his job than the 5&rsquo;7&rdquo;. 180-pound Gump, but off the ice he was a witty and genial companion. Worsley often referred to the goal cage as the barrel, and made frequent references to his next assignment by saying. &ldquo;On Sunday it&rsquo;s my turn to go back into the barrel.&rdquo;Worsley joined the North Stars on March 1, 1970. He had quit the Montreal Canadiens earlier that season and was sitting out the winter when Blair flew up to persuade him to play again. At the time the Stars were in an almost hopeless situation as faras the playoffs were concerned, but they finished strong &mdash; Worsley shutting out Philadelphia 1-0 at the Spectrum in the clincher &mdash; to wind up in third place.&ldquo;I came down to play four weeks and I stayed four years.&rdquo; Worsley said. &ldquo;But enough is enough. I&rsquo;ll be 45 on May 14. I&rsquo;ve had enough of the barrel.&rdquo;Worsley felt the same way in January of 1973. Despite a 6-2-3 record at the time, he decided to retire. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t earning my salary.&rdquo; he explained at the time. &ldquo;Hockey had become work. Besides, this team has (Cesare) Maniago and (Gilles) Gilbert to tend goal.&rdquo;But Gilbert went to Boston in the off-season and Blair once again convinced Worsley to give it another year. After 831 regular-season NHL games and 70 more in the Stanley Cup. with a superb goals-against average of 2.89. Worsley came back for his farewell season.It wasn&rsquo;t the happiest of years for Gump, although he played extremely well. In 29 games he had 3.22 average and an 8-14-5 record, but he was toiling for team which won only 23 of 78 games and finished seventh in the West Division.&ldquo;Over the last half of the season noted coach Parker MacDonald. I really believe Gump played some of the best goal of his career. That may well have been true, but Gump had traditionally been a goaler with an average of under three per game and the way the North Stars played defense last season had to get to him eventually.&ldquo;We lacked enough muscle,&rdquo; Gump remarked after the season. &ldquo;We hadn&rsquo;t lost to Los Angeles for 20 straight games. but one night we went out there and took a licking. Not only did we get beat, but we got pushed all over the ice. The word got around in a hurry. After that, we weren&rsquo;t quite the same.&rdquo;Worsley was honed in the old school of hockey, which demanded total dedication. Without ever coming right out and saying so. he revealed his feelings a few times this season indicating some of the North Stars were more interested in their point bonuses than in the final standings.Blair has offered Gump as scouting job in the Minnesota organization, which Worsley will consider for awhile. So it may be that, although his days in the barrel are over. Gump may still be seen around Metropolitan Sports Center from time to time.NORTH STAR NOTES: Defenseman Ted Harris, who went from Minnesota to Detroit to St. Louis this season, has also been offered a scouting position for the North Stars once his playing days are over&hellip; The North Stars are moving the wrong way in the goals-against statistics. In 1971-72 they gave up 191. in 1972-73 they gave up 230 and this past season the total ballooned to 275&hellip; With Worsley and Gilbert gone, and Maniago hinting retirement after one more season. North Stars have a serious goaltending problem&hellip; Blair and president Walter Bush traveled to Helsinki for the World Tournament, hoping to land several of the Swedish players&hellip; Jude Drouin&rsquo;s point total dropped in one season from 73 to 43. and J.P. Parise from 75 to 55&hellip; Dennis Hextall finished with 82 points, identical to his 1972-73 log. &#9632;

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May 3, 1974

HOW THEY STAND

Making It The Hard Way

Conacher Fund Aiming For Half Million Mark

McRae, Dumas Hot As Hawks Get Jump On Blazers