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.

December 13, 1974

The Hockey News December 13, 1974

(Including Sun. Dec. 1)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02160/3382787-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="605" height="1079"></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

WHA Leaders

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02740/3381632-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICHARD NANTAIS&hellip;He Stays Ready</figcaption></div>TWIN CITIES &mdash;What was that Walter Bush Jr., president of the Minnesota North Stars, said about the development of the rookie harvest? Give them six weeks to two months to get their NHL legs.It was the seventh week of the 197475 season when the St. Louis Blues came to Metropolitan Sports Center, and the number one and two amateur draft choices were watching the teams skate up and down the ice, from the bench.For Richard Nantais, the 20-year-old Repentigny, Que. left winger, it was an opportunity to watch in uniform rather than from the press box. For Doug Hicks, 19-year-old defenseman from Thomson, Man., it was more of a frustration since he had been seeing less action in the previous few games, after starting out as a regular.Then center Fred Stanfield went down in a collision along the boards, and left to have an injured right elbow treated. Nantais moved to the left side and Murray Oliver took Stanfield&rsquo;s center spot.Shortly after, defenseman Dennis O&rsquo; Brien was flipped over by Bob Plager of the Blues, and suffered a knee injury. Bring in Hicks.Setting the scene further, the Blues and North Stars were renewing their long rivalry, which usually has something at stake. This night. Nov. 21. it was third place in the Conn Smythe Division.Midway through the third period, Garry Unger of St. Louis was sent off for holding with the game tied 1-1. The power-play effort appeared to be misfiring, and GM-coach Jack Gordon shuttled Hicks and Nantais into the game for the final seconds of the opportunity.Henry Boucha whipped a pass to Hicks at the point, and the 6&rsquo;, 190-pound defenseman whistled a shot off Nantais&rsquo;s shinguard into the net behind goalie Eddie Johnston to break the tie. Four minutes latter. Nantais scored again for a 3-1 lead and the eventual winner in a 3-2 decision that gave the North Stars a share of third with the Blues.&ldquo;What does it mean to see the kids come through?&rdquo; pondered veteran winger J.P. Parise. &ldquo;Two points, that&rsquo;s what.&rdquo;Team captain Bill Goldsworthy elaborated, &ldquo;Thev were given the opportunity to play and they both came through. It means a lot to them and to the team. They came out aggressively, made a good combination and picked us up. It&rsquo;s good to see the kids get the points and take the pressure off some of the guys who are expected to do all the scoring.&rdquo;In the locker room after the game, there was quite a scene centered around the two youngsters. In one corner, Hicks was smiling at the razzing from teammates for a one-stitch cut he suffered in practice. In another, first Parise and then rookie John Flesch, who has played well most of the season, were serving as the journalistic interpreters for the French-speaking Nantais.&ldquo;You know,&rdquo; said Hicks, &ldquo;I thought at first it was my goal on that shot from the point. But Richard has not played too much and it should really be a boost to his confidence. What the heck, when you play a part in a victory, it means a lot&hellip;a lot to your confidence.&rdquo;Nantais, through his spokesmen, said: &ldquo;I know it&rsquo;s my first year and that maybe I won&rsquo;t get to play too much. But Jack Gordon expects to be ready and that&rsquo;s what I concern myself with.&rdquo;And on his aggressive style of play, which led to a fight on one of his first shifts, Nantais answered, &ldquo;Fights put meat ease&hellip; they help me feel like I&rsquo;m in the game.&rdquo;If similar results continue, Gordon will feel more ease about the North Stars recovering from a slow start that must have caused him some sleepless nights.NORTH STAR NOTES: Speaking of sleepless nights, the victory over the Blues marked the one-year anniversary of Gordon&rsquo;s decision to quit coaching the North Stars because of health reasons, which included loss of weight and sleepless nights. Gordon, who returned to the job after Wren Blair was dismissed last spring, was good-naturedly reminded about the anniversary by Dan Stoneking, president of the Pro Hockey Writers Association. Stoneking presented Gordon with a bottle of sleeping pills&hellip;The victory over St. Louis left the teams with an over-all series record of 20-20-10 since their expansion season of 1967-68&hellip; The Blues and North Stars were suffering from the same road plight&hellip;Each team had won only one road game this year, both in Vancouver. &#9632;

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Nantais, Hicks Impressive In Escape From Bench

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01843/3381025-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GARRY HO WATT&hellip; 144th Draft Pick Made It</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04283/3381018-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="1195" height="1043"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOBBY CLARKE&hellip; A Gamble That Paid Off</figcaption></div>TORONTO&mdash;Around the executive suite of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the name Ernie Moser is one that isn&rsquo;t heard too often.Or mention Ray Martyniuk to the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; hierarchy, and they turn a funny color.Those two players, winger Moser of Estevan Bruins and goalie Martyniuk of Flin Bombers, were first-round selections in the National Hockey League&rsquo;s universal amateur draft. Neither player has played a game in the NHL.They&rsquo;re among the rather short list of failures in the NHL&rsquo;s pipeline into the North American hockey talent crop. Since the draft became a truly effective force in 1969, the manner in which teams have selected players is a major determing factor in their futures.The universal amateur draft really was initiated in 1963 when only players who were unaffected by NHL sponsorship of junior teams were available for the draft.In 1964 to&rsquo;66, players on sponsored lists also were available.The NHL sponsorship of junior teams ended in 1967. For the next three seasons, the number of players on sponsored lists gradually decreased until 1969, when the NHL had its first draft with all graduating junior players available.To the NHL expansion teams, the draft was their one chance to move into the front ranks. By 1970, it had become one of the most interesting aspects of the game, a widely publicized feature that saw the top juniors rating considerable exposure.That year, speculation over which player, Gil Perreault of the Montreal Junior Canadiens or Dale Tallon of the Toronto Marlboros, would be the No. 1 selection earned for hockey space comparable to that devoted to the National Football League draft of top college stars.The trading of future draft choices has been a controversial matter. In the early years of expansion, some new teams with talent-thin rosters sacrificed one of their few assets, future draft picks, to the established teams for stop-gap veterans.In many cases, the new clubs traded a field of tomorrow&rsquo;s wheat for a loaf of yesterday&rsquo;s bread. At one time, some NHL people contemplated a league rule which would have banned the trading of draft choices.However, after soaking the new teams $6 million for NHL membership, they hardly had the right to tell them how to use their assets. Some draft-pick deals created a &ldquo;the rich get richer&rdquo; syndrome. For instance, the shrewd Sam Pollock, general manager of the Montreal Canadiens.has acquired assorted first-round draft choices in deals, a major reason for the Canadiens&rsquo; hold on a position of NHL prominence.In 1972, the Canadiens had four first-round picks. In 1973, the Habitants had five selections on the first round but traded away four of them.Two teams which were heavy traders of draft selections were the Los Angeles Kings and California Seals. When Jake Milford took over as the Kings&rsquo; general manager in the 1973-74 season, he said that his biggest challenge was trying to figure out which foes had the Kings&rsquo; draft choices for the future.Here&rsquo;s some examples of the trading of draft picks which many NHL executives claim showed a lack of foresight on the part of the expansion clubs.In 1968, the Kings sent their first pick in the 1970 draft to the Boston Bruins in exchange for forward Skip Krake. The Bruins used that selection to pick Reg Leach, a fine prospect although hl&rsquo;s never really got his NHL career into high gear. Krake scored eight goals in two seasons as a King.An example of Pollock&rsquo;s brilliance at the barter table was the 1970 swap between the Canadiens and California. The Habs sent Ernie Hicke plus their first-round pick in the &lsquo;70 draft to the Seals in exchange for Francois Lacombe and California&rsquo;s first pick in the 1971 draft.In the 1969-70 season. Guy Lafleur of the Quebec junior Remparts had scored 103 goals and was eligible for the &lsquo;71 draft. The Seals used the pick from Canadiens to choose Chris Oddliefson while the Canadiens chose Lafleur as the No. 1 man in &lsquo;71 after he had scored 130 junior goals.The expansion club which made the wisest deals involving draft choices was the Minnesota North Stars, under then general manager Wren Blair.In 1968, the Stars sent their first pick in the 1972 draft to Montreal in exchange for Claude Larose and Danny Grant, two players who had big seasons in the Stars&rsquo; early success, although both have departed from Minnesota in recent seasons. The Canadiens selected Dave Gardner from the Toronto Marlies with that &lsquo;72 pick.In 1969, Blair swapped the Stars&rsquo; first selection in the 1969 draft (Don Tannahill) to the Boston Bruins for defenseman Barry Gibbs and Tommy Williams. Gibbs has been a Minnesota mainstay ever since.&ldquo;Trading draft choices is not automatically a bad thing,&rdquo; Blair said at the time. &ldquo;Gibbs was only 22 at the time, just over the draft age. and I doubt if we would have secured a defenseman. which we needed badly, of his potential in the &lsquo;69 draft.&rdquo;The team which parlayed the amateur draft into the quickest success is the Buffalo Sabres who entered the NHL in 1970, just in time to take Gil Perreault as their first selection.The Sabres have nine players in their lineup now who were secured in their five drafts. The backbone of young talent gives them a big future.Undoubtedly, the most famous draft incident happened in 1969. Center Bobby Clarke, fresh from two consecutive Western Canada Junior League scoring titles with the Flin Flon Bombers, was eligible and on talent, rated in the top three. But because he was a diabetic, most NHL teams were wary of Clarke&rsquo;s future.The result is history. The Philadelphia Flyers who had claimed Bob Currier from Cornwall juniors as their first pick, took Clarke as the 17th player selected. He&rsquo;s merely a super-star and a Hart Trophy winner now.The current champion among players with the highest draft number who have made it as regulars in the NHL is little Garry Howatt, the pugnacious, half-pint winger of the New York Islanders. He was the 144th player picked in 1972.With a sort of peace declared between the NHL and the World Hockey Association which has drastically reduced the battle for established players, the amateur draft will assume even more importance in the future.This year, both leagues dipped heavily into the underage ranks, which will make the draft crop extremely thin in the next couple of years.In 1974, some NHL teams claimed players who already were at work as pros in the NHL. For instance, the Boston Bruins claimed Mark Howe, the super-talented winger of the WHA Houston Aeros. &#9632;

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BONANZA FOR SOME-HEARTBREAK FOR OTHERS

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U. S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U. S. and CanadaTORONTO &mdash;Words seem to have different results depending upon who is speaking them and to whom they are being spoken.Take the Toronto situation for instance. Harold Ballard comes out and verbally blasts the Toronto Maple Leafs and gets nothing but grief for his outburst.Toronto Toros general manager Buck Houle blasts his hockey club and he gets such production that he could solve the economic crisis if he could motivate factory workers the same way.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01212/3382756-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="276" height="381"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tom Simpson</figcaption></div>&ldquo;You&rsquo;d think with the money some of these guys are making they&rsquo;d be ready to play every game,&rdquo; said Houle after his club lost 8-1 to the Edmonton Oilers in Toronto.So just to prove that Houle was all wet, the Toros won their next three games on the road scoring an incredible 23 goals in that streak which included consecutive 9-2 wins over Indianapolis and Quebec.Tom Simpson scored fourgoals in the one game against Les Nordiques, duplicating a feat he performed earlier in the season. The outburst brought his total to 17 for the season, tying him with Bobby Hull for tops in the league. Paul Henderson got two goals against Indianapolis to bring his total to 15 and Pat Hickey registered number 13. They have so much power up front they have scored 100 goals in their first 20 games, eight more than the defending Avco Cup champion Houston Aeros. The production has furnished them with a six point lead over the second place Nordiques. who are having trouble winning on the road.In absorbing the two losses to Houston, it brought the Aeros&rsquo; Record to 13 consecutive victories over the Blazers, a string which stretches over three World Hockey Association season &mdash; back to when the Blazers were in Philadelphia.WINNIPEG: Bobby Hull&rsquo;s 16th and 17th goals of the season produced a 3-1 victory over Minnesota in Winnipeg and only a late goal by Saints&rsquo; Murray Heatley prevented Ernie Wakely from gaining his second straight shutout.But disturbing to the Jets was their 3-1 home loss to the Phoenix Roadrunners, a game that could have left them five points ahead of Edmonton and only, one behind the second place Nordiques.Outside of the prolific production of Hull, the Jets have been having trouble offensively, getting only one goal each from Danny Johnson and Veli Pekka Ketola in their last two games.QUEBEC: Everyone at Le Colisee was furious with Brian Shaw, the colorful coach of the visiting Edmonton Oilers. Shaw, it seems, decided not to play Jacques Plante in the building where 9.518 fans had gathered, expecting to see the former coach and general manager of Les Nordiques on his comeback attempt at the age of 45.As it turned out. Shaw, didn&rsquo;t even dress Plante.&ldquo;Look, I think Plante is the best goalie in hockey,&rdquo; said Shaw. &ldquo;But we don&rsquo;t have just Plante. Chris Worthy has a goals-against average of 1.30. I have some choice to make.&rdquo;It turned out to be the wrong choice for Shaw as Les Nordiques got to Worthy for four goals and a 4-2 victory over the Oilers.EDMONTON: Oilers suffered their first home loss before a full house as the Houston Aeros got an overtime goal from Frank Hughes to take a 4-3 victory. The loss had to be particularly disappointing for Edmonton as Houston was playing their third game in three nights and are supposed to be a club with ageing players. Rusty Patenaude had his seventh and eighth goals of the season along with an assist to be involved in all Oiler scoring.VANCOUVER: Blazers brought their record to one tie in their last seven games with back-to-back losses to the Aeros and the pressure continues to mount on general manager and coach Joe Crozier.Blazers have been completely at pains to score goals and the condition of the forward lines allowed assistant coach Andy Bathgate to attempt his comeback despite the condition of the eye he hurt in a freak accident three years ago.&ldquo;I may not help them too much, but I&rsquo;m sure not going to hurt us any the way we&rsquo;re going.&rdquo; said Bathgate.&ldquo;This is Joe&rsquo;s (Crozier) toughest job since coming into hockey and he&rsquo;s working 18-hour days to try and solve the problem. I don&rsquo;t really know what it is. We just don&rsquo;t seem to be getting the effort from these guys.&rsquo; &#9632;

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Toros Romp On Road With Overpowering Offense

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;Garry Unger&rsquo;s distinction of playing in more than 500 consecutive games fits his personality perfectly.He says, &ldquo;I&rsquo;d have to have a cast on an arm or leg before I wouldn&rsquo;t play.&rdquo;And furthermore, he can&rsquo;t stand to watch his team play without him. When Unger was held out of and exhibition game before this season, he reported to the St. Louis Arena but during the contest he couldn&rsquo;t tolerate being a spectator, so he left his seat and played pool in the players&rsquo; game room with Sid Salomon IV, 14-year-old son of the Blues&rsquo; president, Sid Salomon III.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02771/3380897-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="266" height="400"><figcaption class="caption-body">Garry Unger</figcaption></div>Unger played in his 500th straight game Nov 19 against Vancouver. He has not missed a game since Feb. 24, 1968, over a period of nearly seven years with three teams, Toronto, Detroit and St. Louis.In the history of the National Hockey League only five other players have seen action in more than 500 games consecutively, Andy Hebenton holds the record of 630 straight games, Johnny Wilson played in 580, Alex Delvecchio 548, Murray Murdoch 508 and Glenn Hall 503.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been healthy.&rdquo; Unger says simply. &ldquo;You would think that over that span of time the law of averages would catch up. But I&rsquo;ve played some games in which I was sick, and our trainer. Tommy Woodcock, has managed to get me into some games that I wouldn&rsquo;t have made without him.The last game; Unger missed was Feb. 21, 1968, when the Blues beat the Maple Leafs 5-1 in Maple Leaf Gardens. The 20-year-old Unger rode the Toronto bench. Three nights later Unger started his long string of games as the Leafs snapped their seven-game losing streak with a 1-0 win over the Boston Bruins in Toronto with rookie Jim McKenny getting the game&rsquo;s only goal and Bruce Gamble getting the shutout.&ldquo;One injury that could have stopped the string when I was with Detroit was a nasty cut across the eye that required 17 stitches,&rdquo; Unger says &ldquo;I played with one eye in Boston, and you can bet I got hit a few times that night.&ldquo;I got food poisoning one time with the Wings. I cooked some pork chops for myself at home and got really sick, but I played against Philadelphia.&rdquo;Unger has also played with some bad colds and during bouts with the flu. But probably the closest he came to missing an entire game was not because of an injury. In the opening game of last season at Oakland, Unger was given agame misconduct after six seconds of play. If he had left the building immediately. nobody on the street would have believed he played in a hockey game because he wasn&rsquo;t even sweating.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a lot more fun playing than not playing,&rdquo; Unger says, and his comment epitomizes his philosophy toward hockey. He has always insisted that hockey is the most important thing in his life, but not the only thing.Unger believes in doing well whatever he is doing, and he approaches his job of playing hockey with serious intentions. He is seldom guilty of a lackadaisical effort on the ice. and his strenuous efforts are an example to his teammates and to all hockey players.Every hockey player wants to have the feeling that he has contributed to whatever success his team&rsquo; attains. The first requirement for contributing on the ice is to be in the lineup, to answer the bell for every game. Unger has answered the bell for more than 500 straight games, and no player currently in the NHL has contributed more to his team in that respect. &#9632;

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Unger Among NHL’s Elite Iron Men, Playing In 500th Consecutive Game

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01838/3380928-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">WAYNE CASHMAN&hellip;Back Disc Surgery</figcaption></div><h2>INJURY BUG SPREADS</h2>BOSTON&mdash;Hockey observers are hard pressed to remember the last time NHL teams were so hard hit by injuries as in the 1974&mdash;75 campaign. The clubs have been virtually clobbered by ice mishaps that have put some pretty big hockey names on the sidelines for anywhere from six weeks to the balance of the season. The latest to go out was Boston&rsquo;s Wayne Cashman, who underwent a back disc operation. He&rsquo;s gone for six to eight weeks. The Toronto Leafs lost defenseman Ian Turnbull for possibly the rest of the year after he submitted toan operation for torn knee ligaments. The Leafs also lost Rod Seiling, also with torn ligaments. Rangers declared their camp a disaster area after Walt Tkaczuk broke his leg, Bobby Rousseau went out of action for the rest of the year with back fusion surgery, Ron Harris had a broken hip socket and Dale Rolfe had a broken foot. Montreal&rsquo;s Jacques Laperri&egrave;re hasn&rsquo;t recovered from off-season knee surgery and Henri Richard broke his ankle and is out until January. Atlanta&rsquo;s Bobby Leiter broke his leg.<h2>WHA RACERS ON BLOCK</h2>INDIANAPOLIS&mdash;As if the Indianapolis Racers didn&rsquo;t have enough troubles on the ice &mdash; they&rsquo;ve won only four of 22 games &mdash; they&rsquo;re being plagued with off ice problems.Racer president John Weissert was given a 10-day grace to come up with money owed the WHA for an expansion franchise. He wasn&rsquo;t able to meet the deadline and now the club is reportedly going to be sold. A last-minute cash advance by a bank allowed Weissert to pay his players but another pay day was approaching. There is also a report that coach Gerry Moore would leave the Racers as coach if Weissert sells. Moore it seems has not been too popular with his players and a change could be in the offing. The last-place Racers have been averaging 7,000 fans per game.<h2>JETS CHANGE HANDS</h2>WINNIPEG&mdash;Ben Hatskin has been trying for a long time to unload his Winnipeg Jets and he has succeeded. Hatskin, former president and co-owner of the WHA club, handed the franchise over to Bob Graham, who heads a group of Winnipeg businessmen which organized a public fund-raising drive to purchase the club.The change is one of several that could affect WHA clubs. President Dennis Murphy held a Toronto &lsquo;house cleaning&rsquo; meeting amid rumors that Chicago Cougars are headed to Baltimore and that Indianapolis will either change ownership or be taken over by the league. The WHA has taken steps to assist Michigan Stags financially if the team goes broke.<h2>NHL, WHA CLUBS TRADE</h2>VANCOUVER&mdash;Well, it finally happened. A National Hockey League team traded with a World Hockey Association club. The individual involved was Butch Deadmarsh of the Kansas City Scouts, who was sold outright to the Vancouver Blazers of the WHA. Deadmarsh was reportedly headed to the Blazers next season anyway, and the Scouts obliged by trading him this past week. Deadmarsh signed a contract with the Blazers last summer but was legally bound to start the season with the NHL team. It was believed to be the first deal ever in which an NHL team has sold a player to the rival WHA. &#9632;

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Deadline Stoppers

<h2>NHL TEAMS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03609/3380987-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="527" height="818"></div><h2>WHA TEAMS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04418/3380980-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="522" height="472"></div><h2>OTHER LEAGUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05293/3380973-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="520" height="408"></div><h2>COLUMNISTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-06197/3380966-1-eng-US/f0002-062.jpg" title="f0002-06" width="527" height="141"></div><h2>OTHER FEATURES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-07116/3380959-1-eng-US/f0002-072.jpg" title="f0002-07" width="528" height="192"></div> &#9632;

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WHERE YOU’LL FIND IT ALL

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02714/3381063-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="526" height="744"></div><h2>NHL Draft Year-By-Year</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03481/3381056-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="514" height="295"></div> &#9632;

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NHL Team Totals Of Drafted Players

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-05161/3381101-1-eng-US/f0003-052.jpg"></div><h2>HIGH DRAFT CHOICES WHO MADE IT</h2><h2>LOW DRAFT CHOICES WHO DIDN&rsquo;T MAKE IT</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-06111/3381094-1-eng-US/f0003-062.jpg" title="f0003-06" width="1222" height="341"></div> &#9632;

f0003-05

NHL Draft Chart

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-01896/3381153-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="455" height="452"></div>&bull; HENRI RICHARD says it took him five years before he was able to talk in the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; dressing room and 10 years before he shaved there. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all together different today,&rdquo; he adds. The Montreal captain also feels that the big money and player independence doesn&rsquo;t make for better hockey. &ldquo;The pride of the players is missing today,&rdquo; Richard stated&hellip; The recent Team Canada-Russia series failed to produce the financial bonanza excepted. The games lacked full sponsorship on TV and the Canadian promoters will be fortunate if they show a profit of more than $100,000&hellip;When Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; Bobby Hull scored four goals against Michigan Stags, it marked the seventh time in his pro career that he has scored four in a game&hellip; Garry Monahan, the Toronto Maple Leaf who was traded to Vancouver Canucks at the start of the season, thinks the Leafs have lost confidence in themselves. Thus far this season the Maple Leafs have been the biggest disappointment in the NHL&hellip; In the last two years over 160 players have been drafted into professional ranks from the Western Canada Hockey League&hellip; The outstanding play of the Buffalo Sabres this season has even surprised their coach Floyd Smith. The Sabres had 16 wins after their first 23 games this season. It took them 34 games to register their 16th triumph a year ago.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02852/3381146-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="269" height="535"><figcaption class="caption-body">Garry Monahan</figcaption></div>&bull; RICK MIDDLETON, New York Rangers&rsquo; brightest new star, explaining why not one hat was thrown on the ice after he scored a hat trick against the California Seals: &ldquo;Nobody wears hats anymore. They&rsquo;re just tooexpensive.&rdquo;&hellip;Despite reports to the contrary, Derek Sanderson has kept his Rolls Royce. Even with Manhattan&rsquo;s notorious parking and traffic problems, Derek says the automobile has survived quite well. &ldquo;A few dents neverhurt any car,&rdquo; says Sanderson&hellip; After evidently spearing then fighting Rod Seiling, during Philadelphia&rsquo;s 6-3 romp over Toronto Maple Leafs on a nationally telecast NHL game recently Bobby Clarke called Seiling the next day from Philadelphia. Seiling was Clarke&rsquo;s roommate during the Team Canada-Russia series in 1972. Seiling suffered a serious cut under the eye. &ldquo;He said I didn&rsquo;t spear him and that he got out of the way in time,&rdquo; said Clarke. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t realize it was him when we started. We&rsquo;re good friends. When he was with the Rangers his wife used to stay at our house.&rdquo;&hellip;People in Connecticut are starting to talk and follow the pursuits of the New England Whalers with a great deal of interest. The Whalers are invading brand new hockey territory and it is a potentially lucrative market. The Whalers open their beautiful new building in Hartford on January 11. The official opening was moved up from January 15&hellip; Edmonton has become the pro hockey capital of Western Canada, as it was 50 years ago&hellip; The Oilers appear to be the best draw in the WHA and are reputed to be on sound footing financially now that Gulf and Western, the big conglomerate seeking control of Madison Square Garden, has 30 percent of the Edmonton Oilers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03747/3381139-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="277" height="495"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rick Middleton</figcaption></div>&bull; MIKE MARSON, only the second black player to perform in the NHL, has been getting plenty of press in the Washington papers. The 19-year-old graduate of the Sudbury Juniors has been improving with each game and the Caps expect big things from him&hellip; Ron Ryan, coach of the New England Whalers, is recognized as the most eloquent. and Harry Neale, coach of the Minnesota Fighting Saints, is the most quotable, according to reporters in the World Hockey Association&hellip; Garry Unger, usually a little slow each season in getting started with his scoring heroics, has begun to pick up the pace now and is back in his familiar position as the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; leading scorer. Unger is featured on the cover of the December issue of HOCKEY WORLD and there&rsquo;s a fine story by Frank Orr titled: &ldquo;The Misrepresentation of the Unger Reputation&rdquo;&hellip; Jim Herd has been appointed vice-president of administration with the St. Louis Blues. Herd had previously been with the St. Louis TV station that carries most of the Blues&rsquo; road games&hellip; Talking about TV, Hockey Night in Canada is doing an outstanding job in televising Montreal. Toronto and Vancouver games across the nation. Don Wallace, who is in charge of all the games emanating from the Montreal Forum, has been a real find for Hockey Night in Canada. He&rsquo;s an excellent administrator and idea man&hellip; Madison Square Garden&rsquo;s 13th ECAC Holiday Hockey Festival will be played January 3-5, with Boston College, Brown, Cornell and St. Lawrence competing. Cornell is a three-time winner&hellip; Bill Hanley is resigning from the Ontario Hockey Association after 27 years of service. A dinner will be held at the Westbury Hotel. Toronto, on January 27, honoring Bill&hellip;Max McNab&rsquo;s father passed away in Chilliwack, B.C. recently on the eve of his 82nd birthday. Max is the popular president of the Central Hockey League&hellip; Barry Keast, former trainer of the California Seals, is doing well and enjoying his new position as salesman for Lange Skates.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04645/3381132-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="269" height="493"><figcaption class="caption-body">Don Wallace</figcaption></div>The Hockey NewsOFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLYFounded October 1st, 1947Vol. 28 No. 10 DECEMBER 13, 1974Published weekly except monthly June through September by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd., 1434 St. Catherine Street West, Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7. U.S. c/o W.C.C. Publishing, 150 E. 58th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022.Kenneth W. McKenziePresident, Publisher and Advertising DirectorCharlie HalpinEditorial DirectorHans HoenigAdministration ManagerUnited Stated Advertising Representatives: Boston Steve Ganak, Ad. Reps. 479 Statler Office Bldg. Boston, Mass 02116, telephone (617) 524-6913 Chicago: Hooper Jones & Associates. 3322 W. Peterson Ave.. Chicago. Ill 60659 telephone (312) 476-5544 New York: Bill Hitzing. National Sports Publishing Corp., 150 East 58th Street, New York. N.Y. 10022, Telephone (212) 593-2100YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $9.50 in Canada $10.50 in the U.S.A, and $14.00 in Foreign Countries. Second class postage paid at New York, N.Y., 1001 and at additional mailing offices. SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO 1434 ST. CATHERINE STREET WEST, SUITE 217, MONTREAL, CANADA, H3G 1R7. Second Class mail Registration No. 1327. All Inquiries pertaining to subscriptions should be addressed to Subscription Dept., The Hockey News, 1434 St. Catherine St. W. Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7 Printed in Canada &#9632;

f0004-01

PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05519/3381208-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg"></div><h2>New Caps Blundered Not Retaining Seiling</h2>At the beginning of the current NHL season, Washington Capitals&rsquo; GM Milt Schmidt made an undeniably true comment. He said that the expansion draft was unfair and that the Caps hadn&rsquo;t got their money&rsquo;s worth.Well, NHL benevolence works in strange ways. A few weeks ago, Rod Seiling was made available on waivers and wisely snatched up by Washington. But, before he had broken in his star-spangled sweater, he was dealt to Toronto for Willie Brossart and Tim Ecclestone. They are good hockey players but still, it was a one-sided deal. Seiling is a solid, experienced NHL defenseman, a commodity the D.C. team is woefully short of Then the Caps front office blundered again, sending Ecclestone to the Flames for cash and &ldquo;future considerations&rdquo;. With today&rsquo;s high salaries, the cash is nearly worthless. So, unless the considerations are considerable, which is doubtful, the infant Caps have been deprived of some much-needed help on the blueline while getting little in return.New teams generally promise competitiveness in three or four years. If the Caps continue to muff these opportunities, it&rsquo;ll be a much longer wait at Capital Centre.TIMOTHY DAUENHAUER Willoughby, O.<h2>Fan Highly Critical Of Clarke&rsquo;s Tactics</h2>On Nov. 23, in a game between Philadelphia and Toronto, I found out why Bobby Clarke has often been singled out for his ice play. In this game, Clarke received 18 minutes in penalties. But these weren&rsquo;t ordinary penalties. He got two for slashing and one for cross-checking. And then, in the third period, he speared Rod Seiling in the stomach and started throwing punches. Seiling got 11 stitches and Clarke received five minutes for spearing and five for fighting. Ask Clarke what the Lady Byng Trophy is for. He wouldn&rsquo;t know.HARDY WILLIAMS, Waterloo, Ont.<h2>Fan Suggests Bruins Getting Pretty Mediocre</h2>As anyone who has followed the Bruins this year knows, they are hardly the class team of the NHL any more. In fact, they&rsquo;re getting pretty-mediocre. In spite of coach Don Cherry&rsquo;s pre-season puffing about how much hitting the team would do, not only are they not hitting, but I can count the number of solid checks they&rsquo;ve thrown on one hand. They are terrible at winning faceoffs. That was the main reason they lost to the Flyers in last year&rsquo;s playoffs. And last year&rsquo;s All Star goalie, Gilles Gilbert, has not looked very impressive. Sure, he still makes some spectacular saves, but he has allowed too many pheap goals because of his tendency to stray too far in front of the net, his failure to prevent rebounds and his poor puck clearing.The Bruins still look like world beaters when they play Washington or Kansas City, but it&rsquo;s a different story when they play Buffalo, Toronto, or the other improved teams in the league, who seem more hungry for victory than do the Bruins.GEORGE GRANT Quincy, Mass.<h2>WHA Deserving Of More Support</h2>The WHA has good players and good teams, but they aren&rsquo;t drawing as many fans as the NHL. People who live in cities with WHA franchises should support these teams. Detroit has two hockey teams (Detroit Red Wings and Michigan Stags) but the Stags aren&rsquo;t drawing very large crowds for their home games at Cobo Arena. Sure, they&rsquo;ve been outscored, but they do more hitting than the Red Wings. Watch the Stags!THE HOCKEY NEWS treats the WHA as if it were a minor league. Why not include more descriptions of players and teams and more statistics.TIM WAHOWSKE, Emmett, Mich.<h2>Boston&rsquo;s Tim Sheehy Actually A Minnesotan</h2>Ken McKenzie&rsquo;s Nov. 8 column referred to Tim Sheehy as Boston born and Boston trained. Tim Sheehy was actually born in International Falls, Minnesota and learned much of his hockey in Minnesota. I might add that Sheehy is a long way off from super star status. Better super star bets from Minnesota are Henry Boucha from Warroad, Stan Gilbertson from Duluth, Doug Palazzari and Pete LoPresti, both from Eveleth, Dean Talafous from Hastings, Mike Antonovich from Calumet and finally Mike Curran, from Sheehy&rsquo;s own home town, International Falls.JOE HACKL, St. Paul, Minn.<h2>Canucks Held Edge Over Leafs Last Year</h2>I would like to correct a glaring and insulting mistake in an article about the Vancouver Canucks, written by Dan Proudfoot in the Nov. 1 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS. Proudfoot wrote that last season&hellip; &ldquo;the Canucks managed only one tie and four losses against Leafs&hellip;&rdquo; That statement should have read: the Leafs managed only one tie and four losses against the Canucks. I suggest that Proudfoot get his facts straight in the future.JENNIFER HILL, West Vancouver, B.C.<h2>Orr Shouldn&rsquo;t Get Preferential Treatment</h2>I have to agree with Stan Mikita&rsquo;s statement that if Bobby Orr doesn&rsquo;t get his way, he throws a fit. That goes for Phil Esposito too. I&rsquo;ve seen these guys have crying fits every time there&rsquo;s a call against the Bruins. Sure, Mikita is going to get his stick all over the opponents&rsquo; bodies &mdash; that&rsquo;s his style. But let Orr defend himself the way the rest of the players do. Why should he be allowed to scream his head off to the ref and not even draw a penalty for delay of game or something.The Boston fans can have their big, bad bullies and all the Stanley Cups they want. I&rsquo;ll take the Kings or the Black Hawks, who win games by playing the best they can, without screaming or crying to the officials.By the way, about the statement in THE HOCKEY NEWS that the loss of Barry Long would probably be felt by the Kings, as he was an up and coming star. Well, I&rsquo;ll take Larry Brown any day. He&rsquo;s a heady defenseman and doesn&rsquo;t take all those unnecessary penalties like long did last year.RICK LEWIS, Santa Monica Cal. &#9632;

f0004-05

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div>NEW YORK&mdash;With defensemen Dale Rolfe and Ron Harris and center Walter Tkaczuk all out for extended periods of time, the New York Rangers&rsquo; timetable for their expected climb out of the Lester Patrick Division cellar has suffered a severe setback.Rolfe and Harris were hurt in the Rangers 5-2 setback at the hands of the Boston Bruins Nov. 23. Rolfe suffered a fracture of the first metartarsal of the right foot. That&rsquo;s the small bone at the base of the right toe. Progonosis: four to six weeks.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-01926/3381270-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="260" height="469"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Harris</figcaption></div>Harris is most likely out for the season with a cracked bone in back of the hip socket. He suffered his injury in a collison with the Bruins&rsquo; Bobby Orr when Bobby followed through on a slap shot.Gilles Marotte. another blueliner, also suffered an injury in the Boston game, sustaining a hip pointer in a series of collisions with Terry O&rsquo;Reilly. He played against Pittsburgh, but might have a future problem if hit there again.To compound the injury-filled weekend, Tkaczuk broke his right leg just above the ankle joint when he collided with Pittsburgh&rsquo; Barry Wilkins. Tkaczuk&rsquo;s fracture will cost him about five weeks.The Rangers defeated Detroit 5-4 on Nov. 20 and also took Pittsburgh 7-5 on Nov. 24. But the effects of the injuries negates the victories. In the Red Wing game Derek Sanderson was used at left wing and did quite well, getting the first goal of the game.Emile Francis, the general managercoach, says, &ldquo;Sanderson is an intelligent hockey player. He can play anywhere.&rdquo;Center Jean Ratelie, who had Sanderson on his left side and long time partner Rod Gilbert on the right, opines, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re getting together a bit now. And were talking out there, which helps.&rdquo;&ldquo;I just do as I&rsquo;m told,&rdquo; says Sanderson. &ldquo;I have been trailing the play, with Rod (Gilbert) breaking for the net.&rdquo;None of this will mean much now with Tkaczuk out. Derek will take over the vacated center spot for Tkaczuk. Francis has been juggling almost constantly, with left wing Greg Polis seeing more bench duty than ice time.But the injury to Tkaczuk will create a need for more tight checking. Jerry Butler, who was only penalty killing in Detroit, wound up getting the game winner in the Pittsburgh game on a pass from Sanderson.The defense situation now has only Brad Park and Marotte as solid NHL regulars. Ron Greschner, the June draft choice, has impressed with his natural skills, but still makes the odd rookie mistake. To replace Harris and Rolfe, New York recalled John Bednarski and Joe Zanussi from Providence of the AHL. Zanussi, a former Winnipeg Jet, is the first former WHA player to play for New York. The second is Bob MacMillan, who will replace Tkaczuk on the roster. Bob, a brother of the Islanders&rsquo; Billy, was drafted three years back by the Rangers, but opted for the Minnesota Fighting Saints for two campaigns.MacMillan is a good checker and Zanussi is the most experienced of the blueliners and started with Bednarski in the Penguin game.&ldquo;Bednarski hits and then some,&rdquo; says Rangers farm system director Dennis Ball. &ldquo;He had 205 and 22 PM in the last two seasons in the AHL.&rdquo;Bednarsksi is 22, Greschner is still only 19, Zanussi is 27. For the time being they will have to do the job along with Nick Beverley, also 27.BLUE CHIPS: The game of Nov. 25 was Pete Stemkowski&rsquo;s 300th as a Ranger&hellip;Rick Middleton, playing with more confidence, is leading NHL rookies with 12 goals&hellip;Ranger&rsquo;s Fan Club now plans Air Charter Trip to Atlanta in March&hellip;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02737/3381263-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="542" height="770"><figcaption class="caption-body">WALT TKACZUK &hellip; Broken Keg</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0006-01

Rangers’ Chances Rocked By Injuries With Tkaczuk, Rolfe, Harris Sidelined

Following are the latest player movements in hockey:<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>MONTREAL &mdash; Chuck Lefley, forward, traded to St. Louis for Don Awrey, defenseman.KANSAS CITY &mdash; Butch Deadmarsh, forward, sold outright to Vancouver of WHA. Glen Burdon, forward, recalled from Baltimore of AHL.CALIFORNIA &mdash; Terry Murray and Brent Meeke, defensemen, recalled from Salt Lake of CHL.CHICAGO &mdash; Duane Wylie, forward, recalled from Dallas of CHL.DETROIT &mdash; Brian Murphy, forward, purchased from Baltimore of AHL. Blair Stewart, forward, recalled from Virginia of AHL.N.Y. RANGERS &mdash; Bob MacMillan, forward, recalled from Providence of AHL. Joe Zanussi, defenseman, returned to Providence.ST. LOUIS &mdash; Brian Ogilvie, forward, assigned to Denver of CHL. Frank Spring, forward, recalled as replacement.TORONTO &mdash; Claire Alexander, defenseman, and Jack Valiquette, forward recalled from Oklahoma City of CHL.VANCOUVER &mdash; Jim Wiley, forward, sent to Seattle of CHL.PITTSBURGH &mdash; Wayne Bianchin, forward, recalled from Hershey of AHL and reassigned to Johnstown of NAHL for 14-day conditioning period.MINNESOTA &mdash; Rod Norrish, forward, recalled from New Haven of AHL.BUFFALO &mdash; Paul McIntosh, defenseman, recalled from Hershey of AHL.<h2>WORLD HOCKEY ASSN.</h2>INDIANAPOLIS &mdash; Steve Andrascik and Steve Richardson, forwards, traded to Michigan in return for Jacques Locas and Brian McDonald, forwards.MINNESOTA &mdash; Gary Gambucci, forward, recalled from Johnstown of NAHL.SAN DIEGO &mdash; Bob Blanchet, goalkeeper, returned to Syracuse of NAHL.INDIANAPOLIS &mdash; John Sheridan and Ross Smith, forwards, recalled from Mohawk Valley of NAHL.CLEVELAND &mdash; Ron Anderson, defenseman, recalled from Cape Codders of NAHL. Wayne Hillman, defenseman, placed on suspended list for failing to report to Michigan after trade.CHICAGO &mdash; Dick Proceviat, defenseman, and Jim Benzelock, forward, assigned to Long Island of NAHL.VANCOUVER &mdash; Andy Bathgate, forward, placed on active roster.MICHIGAN &mdash; Paul Hoganson, goalkeeper, and Paul Andrea, forward, assigned to Tulsa of CHL.PHOENIX &mdash; Dave Gorman, forward, sent to Tulsa of CHL.<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>PROVIDENCE &mdash; Larry O&rsquo;Connor, defenseman, recalled from Port Huron of IHL.SYRACUSE &mdash; Mike Corcoran, goalkeeper, sent to Hampton of SHL on loan.HERSHEY &mdash; Ron Jones, defenseman, assigned by Pittsburgh for 14-day conditioning period.NEW HAVEN &mdash; Lowell Ostlund, defenseman, recalled from Lansing of IHL.VIRGINIA &mdash; Pierre Jarry, forward, placed on suspended list for leaving club.<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>OKLAHOMA CITY &mdash; Mike Palmateer, goalkeeper, recalled from Saginaw of IHL under emergency conditions.OMAHA &mdash; Frank DeMarco, forward, returned to Des Moines of IHL.DALLAS &mdash; Mike St. Cyr, defenseman, recalled from Flint oft IHL under emergency conditions.DENVER &mdash; Don Wheldon, defenseman, sent to Colombus of IHL.<h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>FORT WAYNE &mdash; Randy Aiinoe, forward, sent to Greensboro of SHL.KALAMAZOO &mdash; Rey Tessier, defenseman, secured from Colombus of IHL.DAYTON &mdash; Mike Legge, forward, sent to Columbus on loan.DES MOINES &mdash; Bobby Geoffrion, forward, signed as free agent. Len Cunning, defenseman, traded to Fort Wayne of IHL in exchange for Len Chalmers, defenseman.PORT HURON &mdash; Randy Sokoll, forward, placed on voluntary retirement list to return to college.LANSING &mdash; Charlie Labelle, forward, claimed on waivers from Fort Wayne. Bill Ciraulo, forward, secured from Muskegon. &#9632;

Movements of Players

<div class="byline">&#x2014; By Bill Libby</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-01915/3381308-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="302" height="363"></div><h2>On Rebel Leagues&hellip;</h2>&ldquo;IDEALLY,&rdquo; GARY DAVIDSON says, &ldquo;you start a league by selecting the cities that will best support teams in that sport. Realistically, you settle for cities in which you can get teams. Ideally, you accept only the wealthiest, most business like and most dedicated men to own the teams in the league. Realistically, you take what you can get. And it is very difficult to judge what you&rsquo;re going to get in advance. Some do not have as much money as they say they have. Others are not as willing to spend what they do have as they say they will be. They all say they are not apt to make money for a few years, but once the red ink starts to run, some of them start to run for the hills.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02816/3381301-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="311" height="521"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gary Davidson</figcaption></div>While Dennis Murphy dreamed up the World Hockey Association and the American Basketball Association, Davidson dreamed up the World Football League and was what might be called &ldquo;the midwife&rdquo; and first president of all three. While the World Hockey As sociation seems to be becoming big business and the ABA remains in business, the WFL is almost out of business and Davidson has a lot of revealing things to say about the formation and operation of these rebel leagues, which we are free to report now for the first time with the publication of the Atheneum book we have done with him, &ldquo;Breaking The Game Wide Open.&rdquo;There are printed details of the financing of franchises, conflicts with the establishment, and penny-by-penny player salary revelations included, but perhaps the most significant passages currently would be those that concern the in-fighting that went on in the higher echelons of the hockey league because they relate so revealingly to the floundering of the football league and the ousting of Davidson as operator of the rebel circuit:&ldquo;The first year for any new league is rough sailing. You have to find your way home in a storm through mine fields. You have to figure you know more than the others do or you wouldn&rsquo;t be president. If you don&rsquo;t, you won&rsquo;t be president long. You have as many problems on the inside as you do on the outside. The infighting is murderous. After awhile, you wonder if you have more enemies among your friends or among your foes. It&rsquo;s a game to these guys until the first game is played. Once the shooting starts one owner is as liable to shoot a fellow owner in the back as he is a rival owner in the heart. They&rsquo;re all jockeying for advantage, ready to hurt each other to get ahead of each other.&rdquo;SPEAKING OF HIS FIRST venture, Davidson observes, &ldquo;From the moment they named me president, they fought me at every turn. They never stopped fighting among themselves. They never stopped pulling in different directions. I know I was not right in everything I wanted them to do, but I did try to do the right things for the league as a whole, unselfishly, because if the league did not make it, I would not. I believe that every league needs a dictator. Without one, there is no way to get a group such as these guys to agree on anything. Characters become owners of sports teams and they become barracudas. They&rsquo;ll eat one another alive.&rdquo; In his latest venture, Davidson was devoured.Speaking of the World Hockey Association, Davidson says, &ldquo;I needed support and I got some, but I didn&rsquo;t get as much as I should have. Few of the owners were willing to take me on head-on, but there was a lot of complaining behind my back. They complained that I wasn&rsquo;t a Canadian or a hockey man and had the league offices in Orange County. And that I had other interests. But I didn&rsquo;t neglect my league duties. I did neglect the owners. I didn&rsquo;t spend all my time travelling around, holding hands. They called me a Hitler. I told them if they didn&rsquo;t like the way I ran a league, they could leave.&rdquo; He was the one to leave, instead. To go on to his football league. Here, the owners told him to leave.There are reasons the football league has not worked as well as his hockey league or even the basketball league. For one thing, the cost of peopling and operating a team is larger and the losses greater. For another the established league had more teams than the others and there were fewer towns with potential to invade.The World Hockey Association lost a lot when it lost its franchises in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, but at least it got going on a wave of publicity promoted by being in the big cities. It lost when owners of franchises originally planned in Miami, Atlanta, Dayton, Long island and San Francisco fell through. Davidson says Dayton, Atlanta and Long Island were stolen away from him by the National Hockey League, but praises these moves as among the only wise ones made by the old league in dealing with a threat from a new league. He admits that if the NHL had acted sooner and stronger, the WHA never would have gotten off the ground. But they laughed when the new league drafted such as Bobby Hull and Gordie Howe. They stopped laughing when these super stars left the old league.THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE lost a lot when it was denied by Canadian league interests the right to compete in Toronto and by NFL moves the opportunity to place franchises in such attractive communities as Seattle, Tampa and Phoenix. It is not generally known that when the old league set an $18 million purchase price for its forthcoming Tampa operation, the owners there almost defected to the new league. Gary has observed that if owners were willing to put into a new league half the franchise fees required to join and old league they could put together tremendous teams and solid operations which would be welcomed into old leagues even if the new ones failed. But he also observes that after accepting an owner, you can&rsquo;t tell him how to run his business no matter how badly he runs it.In football as well as in hockey he underestimated the problems an American would face in trying to operate teams in South America, Asia and Europe, so his &ldquo;world&rdquo; concept, which would have attracted international interest and funding, has not been realized.DAVIDSON IS A CANDID character and no con-man. He is honest. He told all potential investors it was a gamble and if they couldn&rsquo;t afford to pay, they shouldn&rsquo;t play. Their egos were such they wouldn&rsquo;t admit what they couldn&rsquo;t afford. He estimated their first-year losses at upto $1 million. Now as they head for the hills, unpaid bills left behind, they holler about losses a lot less than they were warned about.He might have made a million and is damned for it, but who starts a business who does not expect a share of any profits? He says he is a businessman, and does not pretend to be benevolant. And since so little of the money owed him and his fellow founding fathers for franchises has been paid, he may wind up with nothing. His marriage has failed. But he is not in hiding. He is facing the music with a brave book and may bounce back. He has made mistakes. He is human. He may have gotten ahead of himself. But he brought into being hockey and basketball leagues that have meant a lot to many.The leagues were able to hold on in hockey and basketball, but not in football because men could be found with the $100,000 to $200,000 to take over two or three troubled teams in hockey, but few were willing to put up the $500,000 to $1 million needed to bail out six or seven floundering football franchises. Setting up league reserves sufficient to carry a couple of teams was enough in hockey, but not in football. &#9632;

f0008-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY JAY GREENBERG</div>KANSAS CITY&mdash;Opening night was Ed Thompson&rsquo;s night, and after four years of fighting for a hockey team nothing cheered the Scouts&rsquo; owner more than having 14,758 persons show.up to watch it.The game, a 43 loss to Chicago, was close and interesting, and the crowd appreciative, and from outward appearances left in the kind of mood that might bring them back.&ldquo;What I would like to know&rdquo;, says Thompson three weeks later, &ldquo;Where have they been since?&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03679/3381339-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="265" height="451"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ed Thompson</figcaption></div>In the seven ensuing home games, the Scouts broke 8,000 only once, for a Saturday night game with Buffalo, and 9,000 two weeks later for Montreal. It left the average around 8,000 and Thompson wondering what he can do to get more people into Kemper Arena.There were many ways to rationalize the less-than-overwhelming response &mdash; competition with the basketball Kings, football still being in season, having too many home games in too short a time (10 in November), and bad publicity over the now largely-cleared up parking situation at Kemper Arena.But there is always going to be some other place for the people to spend their money. In theory, this isn&rsquo;t anything Thompson didn&rsquo;t understand when he went into the hockey business, but cultivating an audience is turning out to be more of a job than he figured.But the first question to be answered is: How disappointing have the early crowds been?&ldquo;Naturally, we would like to have capacity crowds,&rdquo; says Thompson. &ldquo;But other franchises at this stage of the game were drawing 3,000to 4.000. I think the fans that have come have enjoyed what they&rsquo;ve seen. They&rsquo;ve certainly been enthusiastic.&rdquo;While Thompson never went so far as to order extra stationery for the season-ticket waiting list, he has a more practical view of the job in front of him than he did when awarded the franchise 30 months ago.He knows now that simply opening the doors is not enough. He&rsquo;s been asked whether he thought the club had done enough promotion. &ldquo;No,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;But we will. We just didn&rsquo;t have the time before, with the arena problems we had. But we&rsquo;ve got to get the message across.&rdquo;The people who put the business end of the franchise together are admitted novices to the hockey business, and to a certain extent, new at running a sports franchise, period. But there have been enough promotional ideas tested in other cities that will have to be put to work in Kansas City.Promotions such as Ladies&rsquo; Night, Puck Night and Stick Night were being planned as the Scouts reversed their original policy of no give-aways. Thompson says he realizes the key to success is to get children in the building, and will be helped by a surprising Junior hockey program that survived the two years when there was no hockey in Kansas City.And a hard core of 5.000 fans are already well established, but working to the Scouts&rsquo; disadvantage is the size of the city. This is no longer a one-cow town certainly, but the Kansas City metropolitan area is one of the smallest of the so-called major-league cities.The state of the economy can&rsquo;t help, and neither can the meager prospects for victory in the first few years, but the Scouts suffered only one rout (to Buffalo) at home in the first eight home games. As long as the club is reasonably competitive, the hard core of 5-6,000 will renew their season tickets, and the overall average may creep up to the 10,000 average Thompson says he needs to break even the first year.&ldquo;The experienced clubs tell us during the latter part of December attendance picks up.&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;By the end of the year we hope to be able to tell them to get tickets for next year now or they won&rsquo;t be able to get them at all.&rdquo;The hard core is suitably revved up, but beyond that Kansas City might as well be Atlanta two years ago. There&rsquo;s still a lot of education to be done. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had people call and want to know whether you have to wear a coat to the game.&rdquo; Thompson says. &ldquo;They don&rsquo;t know whether the games were inside or outside.&rdquo;That, as much as anything, shows it&rsquo;s going to take patience to succeed. &#9632;

f0008-03

Opening Night Throng Leaves Scouts’ Owner Asking Where Fans Are

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-01888/3381401-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"></div>&ldquo;Get Over Here With A Contract &mdash; I Think The Stanley Cup Just Walked In&hellip;!&rdquo; &#9632;

f0009-01

CARTOON CORNER

<div class="byline">BY BILL HEUFELDER</div>PITTSBURGH &mdash;At the moment, the fortunes of the Pittsburgh Penguins rest heavily with Gary Inness.It is a lot to ask of a 25-year-old goal tender, who less than two years ago was playing college hockey, but Inness has handled himself impressively.He had carried with him just 20 games of pro experience with Hershey of the American League when the Penguins promoted him to share the netminding with Andy Brown last season. Despite lapses that could be expected from a young, inexperienced goalie. Inness displayed a promising stylishness, appearing in 20 National Hockey League games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-02790/3381370-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="274" height="443"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gary Inness</figcaption></div>&ldquo;That helped me realize I was capable of playing here,&rdquo; says Inness, who had attended the University of Toronto with the idea of becoming a schoolteacher.&ldquo;I knew it in no way guaranteed me of a job this year though. It looked like a dogfight to back up Andy. When he jumped to the World Hockey Association, the situation became even more confusing.&rdquo;When the season opened, the Penguins returned Denis Herron to Hershey, keeping Inness and Bob Johnson, who had performed admirably in helping the Bears take the Calder Cup. But Johnson&rsquo;s adjustment to the NHL has been painful forcing Inness to backstop the Penguins regularly.His objective was simply to make the club in pre-season. Inness said. &ldquo;I knew I&rsquo;d have to come to camp in shape and be ready.&rdquo;Inness had played last year at 200 pounds, but slimmed down to 185 by the time he reported, &ldquo;I had a little trouble adjusting,&rdquo; he notes, &ldquo;but I think losing the weight helped.&ldquo;When I played two games in two nights last season, I&rsquo;d just be exhausted. I just finished playing four games in five nights. Sure, I&rsquo;m tired, but I didn&rsquo;t feel too bad.&rdquo;Through that stretch, Inness lowered his goals against average close to 3.00 while Johnson, who had appeared in less than one-third of the club&rsquo;s games, remained at 6.03.If he had experienced a similiar stretch last season, Inness might have been mentally tired as well. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s one of the toughest things.&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;trying to get ready for back-to-back games.&ldquo;When we won the national championship at U of T two years ago, we played only 42 games, counting exhibitions and playoffs, and I never played two games in two nights, I alternated with another goaltender.&rdquo;To catch up with the competition, Inness carried his good study habits into the NHL. He spent hours poring over Penguin game films.&ldquo;The tapes are an invaluable aid,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;They don&rsquo;t lie. You might be doing something wrong in a game that you don&rsquo;t realize until you see yourself on film.&rdquo;He continues to rely on them, although less frequently. &ldquo;If I&rsquo;m not feeling right about the way I&rsquo;m playing. I&rsquo;ll look at the films,&rdquo; he says.Inness doesn&rsquo;t need a screening to correct a shortcoming that proved damaging last season. He developed a habit of dropping to the ice too often, a flaw that did not escape coach Marc Boileau.&ldquo;Marc has worked very hard with me,&rdquo; Inness says, &ldquo;getting me to stand up more. I&rsquo;ve noticed that I&rsquo;ve played my better games when I stand up in there.&ldquo;I never thought about it before turning pro. I guess I could get away with that, but the shooters in this league are too smart. They&rsquo;ll wait and pump it upstairs.&rdquo;There have been complications in disciplining himself. &ldquo;Sometimes I&rsquo;ll hesitate before making a move.&rdquo; he points out. &ldquo;Once the idea of standing up becomes instinctive with me. I&rsquo;ll be all right.&rdquo;Inness has an equal amount of faith that Johnson will settle down and lend him more support.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got all the confidence in the world in Bob,&rdquo; Inness says. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s had rough luck. I know Marc has confidence in him, too.&ldquo;Bob knows this. He and I have talked about it.&rdquo;Meanwhile, Inness is prepared to carry the load.PENGUIN NOTES: Winning four or five games, the Penguins were able to reach the .500 mark and climb into third place in the Norris division&hellip;During that stretch, the club shelled opposing goalies for 33 goals&hellip;Boileau is getting the balanced scoring he has sought. &#9632;

f0009-02

Inness Ready For Iron Man Role With Penguins

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div>CHICAGO &mdash;The question is not where the Black Hawks will finish in the Conn Smythe Division, Clarence Campbell Conference, National Hockey League.Nay, the question is WILL they finish.At this writing. Les Chicagoans boasted the most talented press box in the league, and not because of the eminence of The Windy City&rsquo;s Team Typewriter.Jim Pappin was up there, as was Dale Tallon, as was Keith Magnuson, as was Pit Martin, as was Bill White. Even a few sportswriters were up there.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-01906/3381439-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="553" height="792"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM PAPPIN &hellip; Suspended</figcaption></div>&ldquo;When it rains, it pours,&rdquo; noticed coach William T. Reay, just to coin a phrase.The plundering of Chicago&rsquo;s roster reached disaster proportions in mid-November when, within a week. Pappin was issued a five-game suspension for bodychecking referee Bob Myers and Pit Martin was sidelined after undergoing an emergency appendectomy.Added to these ineligibles were Magnuson, who was recovering from a fractured right wrist; Tallon, out until perhaps February with a dislocated hip; and White, whose recurrent back spasms seemed to be recurring more often than last year.Pappin&rsquo;s departure caught no one by surprise, though the Black Hawk management felt the severity of the penalty was a bit stiff. During Chicago&rsquo;s 2-1 victory at Los Angeles Nov. 16. Pappin became enraged when, early in the third period. Martin was dumped near the Kings&rsquo; net by Frank St. Marseille.Myers did not whistle an infraction, and Pappin charged the man in stripes. The lean right winger first bumped Myers, then relented when he was assessed a 10-minute misconduct.But then Pappin resumed his displeasure and, according to the written report of the incident, knocked Myers down with a forearm. Pappin was then issued a game misconduct.In that report, filed by supervisor Dutch Van Deelen, it was pointed out that Myers missed the call.&ldquo;And in view of that,&rdquo; said Reay. &ldquo;I feel that a five-game suspension is a little tough. I&rsquo;m not saying that molesting an official is the right thing to do &mdash; they&rsquo;ve got to stop it. What I am saying is that Pappin&rsquo;s anger was justified. It&rsquo;s a shame when an official blows an obvious call like that, and a player has to pay for it.&rdquo;National Hockey League president Clarence Capbell couldn&rsquo;t have agreed less.&ldquo;One thing has absolutely nothing to do with the other,&rdquo; said Campbell. &ldquo;Pappin thinks that by alleging a penalty call was missed, he can minimize the extent of his misconduct. That isn&rsquo;t the case at all.&rdquo;Pappin uttered angrily: &ldquo;That&rsquo;s ridiculous. Campbell says the referee blowing the call has nothing to do with what I did. It had everything to do with it. If he hadn&rsquo;t have blown it, I wouldn&rsquo;t have argued. Besides, the guy (Myers) went down because he was off balance. I didn&rsquo;t push him over.&rdquo;The Hawks briefly forgot their woe by enjoying a three-game unbeaten string, capped by a 6-0 rout of Kansas City on home ice. The last goal in that game was provided by Martin, who afterward complained of stomach pains.He was whisked to the hospital and underwent surgery for removal of his appendix. Reay feared that the sprightly center would be out of the lineup for three to four weeks.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know whether we&rsquo;ll bring anybody up or not.&rdquo; said the boss. &ldquo;But it looks like we&rsquo;re down to two centers for a while.&rdquo; They went up to three when Duane Wylie was recalled from Dallas.Asked if all this misfortune might ex pedite Hawk plans for a trade, Reay retorted: &ldquo;Right now, we have nothing in the works.&rdquo;Hmm. They could always trade the press box.PARTING SHOTS: That 6-0 win over Kansas City was Tony Esposito&rsquo;s 49th career shutout. He had played all but one game at this writing.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02765/3381432-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="557" height="499"><figcaption class="caption-body">PIT MARTIN &hellip; Appendectomy</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0010-01

Hawks’ Thin Roster Keeps Thinning Out

<div class="byline">BY JACK MCCARTHY</div>BOSTON&mdash;The jury is still out on whether Bruins&rsquo; coach Don Cherry looks better with or without his mustache, but so far as the Bruins are concerned, his razor did the trick for them.Cherry&rsquo;s not superstitious&mdash;of course not. But when the club was sputtering a bit, and had lost to Canadiens in Boston Garden, he readily agreed when the players suggested that he shave the hirsute adornment.&ldquo;It came after the loss to Montreal.&rdquo; says the coach. &ldquo;Some of the guys said that if shaved it. we wouldn&rsquo;t lose again. I don&rsquo;t know about that, but we&rsquo;ve gone five now. eh?&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01885/3381477-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="564" height="650"><figcaption class="caption-body">DON CHERRY&hellip;Hirsute Offering</figcaption></div>As they headed on a three-game coast road trip (with not the best road record in the world) the second place Bruins had beaten first place Buffalo, gone into the New York Garden and zapped the Rangers, and then had beaten Vancouver Canucks back in Boston Garden, getting seven goals past Gary Smith. Big Gary and only given up four, tops, in previous games.It is safe to assume that Cherry did not bring any hair-grower on the trip, and made sure he packed the razor.The Bruins also were sporting a new look among the forward lines, as Cherry was forced into line switches because of injuries to Bobby Schmautz (still out with a broken hand), Wayne Cashman (cranky back), and the latest, Andr&eacute; Savard (bruised bicep muscle).Cherry put Don Marcotte at left wing with Phil Esposito and Kenny Hodge, and Marcotte responded with two goals against Vancouver.Esposito, meanwhile, also winged home a couple against the Canucks, the second being his 20th of the year. It came in the 21st game of the season, putting Espo just shy of a goal-a-game pace.In another line shift, Dave Forbes, who is playing agressive hockey and had scored eight goals, was put with Johnny Bucyk and Gregg Sheppard at right wing. Forbes is a fast skater, and Bucyk says, &ldquo;Forbsie fits in nicely. It takes a few games to learn a linemate&rsquo;s style, but now we&rsquo;ll begin working well together.&rdquo;In yet another move, Walt McKechnie was shifted to his favorite spot, center, between Terry O&rsquo; Reilly, and Darryl Edestrand, left winger.All three of these players are hitters, and Cherry, never one to wince at a good body check, grinned,&rdquo;How do you like The Rattle Line? They really rattle those boards.&rdquo;O&rsquo;Reilly is the only survivor of the original third line, as Marcotte has gone with Espo, and Savard got hurt. Savard reports, &ldquo;My shoulder&rsquo;s not bad. I&rsquo;m taking treatments, and it should be O.K. soon.&rdquo; He picked up the injury against the Rangers in New York.Gilles Gilbert meanwhile had gone a stretch of eight straight games in goal without a relief from Ross Brooks, and posted a 6-2-0 record.The Bruins had had a tendency to let down in the final periods of games, and this was costing Gilbert in the goals-against column. But that changed somewhat, and when the Bruins beat the Red Wings in Detroit, 5-2, Cherry said, &ldquo;The biggest thing for me that night was to hear the players on the bench in the last period, saying, &lsquo;Let&rsquo;s help Gilly&rsquo;. There was none of that going for 100 or a million goals. This in the way we have to be and this is the way we&rsquo;ll win a lot of games.&rdquo;Espo had 20goals and 38 points, with 12 goals coming on the power-play, and Bobby Orr had 15 goals and 40 after 21 games. Sheppard, meanwhile, who has his dry spells now and then, ran in three goals in two games and apparently was on his way.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-02799/3381470-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="1133" height="1442"><figcaption class="caption-body">TERRY O&rsquo;REILLY&hellip;Member Of The Rattle Une</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0011-01

Cherry Razor Shaves Sabre Margin Over Bruins

<div class="byline">By Goran Stubb</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01877/3381508-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"></div><h2>West Germans Reaching Up</h2>IN WEST GERMANY hockey is striving for a place in the sun. The trouble is hockey is mainly played in small towns in Bayern. Teams from Fussen, Landshut, Garmich-Partenkierchen (SC Riersersce) and Bad Tolzhave for many years been among the best clubs in the German &lsquo;Bundesliga. EV Fussen had done especially well until last season.At present some big towns are trying to build up teams. Dusseldorf has been a big hockey-center in the Ruhr-area and Dusseldorfer EG&rsquo;s home games are usually sold out.Berlin put up a strong team last season with Finnish and Swedish imports. Thanks to Finns&rsquo; Hannu Koivunen and Jaakko Marttinen and Swede Brans-trom, Berlin took its first German Championship title in 30 years. In the &ldquo;old&rdquo; days Berliner Schlilschuck Club dominated German hockey.At present a third big city, Cologne (Koln) is working hard to reach the top. The EC Koln club brought in Finnish National team defenseman Jouko Oystila for this season and is coached by a Czechoslovavian.There are a lot of imports in German hockey, even if every club can carry only two foregin players. Most imports are from Canada. Czeckoslovakia, Sweden and Finland.Local Stars are National team captain Alois Schloder, Kuhnhackl (scoring champion last season), Kremershof, Hanning, Langemann and Wild. Even with the bigger cities trying to get into hockey, the National team is still in trouble. West Germany dropped from the World championship A group two years ago in Moscow. Last spring they failed to regain their place as the young United States team won the B group. This season West Germany beat Norway in Oslo but lost badly in the beginning of November against Poland. Poland won at home 9-1, their biggest victory ever over the Germans.<h2>Swedes To Tackle Czechs</h2>NEW SWEDISH NATIONAL team coach Sura-Pelle Petterson picked an interesting team for the three away-games against Czechoslovakia. There are three rookies on the team, defenseman Jan-Olof Svensson. Brynas and forwards Finn Lundstrom, Timra and Hardy Nilsson, Skelleftea.The Swedish Nationals are composed of the following players: goalkeepers, Leif Hol mqvist, William Lofqvist; Defense: Roland Bond, Kjell-Rune Milton, Karl-Johan Sudqvist, Bjorn Johansson. Mats Waltin. Jan-Erik Silfverberg, Jan-Olof Svensson. Per Karlsson; Forwards: Dan Labraathen, Mats Ahlberg, Dan Soderstrom, Willy Lindstrom, Hardy Nilsson, Tord Lundstrom, Stefan Karlsson, Per-Olov Brasar, Kjell-Ame Wikstrom, Hakan Petterson, Mats Lindh. Finn Lundstrom.The Czechs are usually in great shape at this time of the season, while the Swedes are usually in trouble at Prague.&ldquo;But this year I want to win in Prague,&rdquo; says coach Petterson. &ldquo;Many Swedish clubs have been on the ice since July. There is no reason why the Czechoslovakians should be better than us,&rdquo; he added.<h2>Finns Pick Nationals</h2>FINNISH COACH SEPPO Liitsola named the following team for the three games against Soviets at home: goal: Jorma Valtonen, Leo Seppanen; defense: Seppo Lindstrom, Tuomo Martin, Pekka Marjamaki, Reijo Laksola (rookie on the Nationals), Pekka Rautakallio, Tapio Flinck, Timo Saari, Jukka Karlsson; forwards: Lasse Oksanen, Jorma Peltonen, Juhani Bostrom, Juhani Tamminen, Jukka Alkula, Esa Peltonen, Henry Leppa, Timo Sutinen, Harry Linnonmaa, Lauri Mononen, Seppo Repo and Seppo Ahokainen.The most interesting player will be center Repo, TPS, Turku, Repo has had an extremly good start in the league and is scoring goals at an average of over one per game. Repo is on top of the scoring race with 11 goals and five assists. Second is Helsinki-centers Matti Hagman (10-4), Antti Ravi (8-5). followed by Jorma Peltonen, Ilves (7-5), Esa Peltonen, IFK Helsinki (6-6) and Hannu Kapanen, Jokerit (5-7).<h2>Russian Launches Comeback</h2>RUSSIAN VETERAN Vlateslav Starsinov made a comeback last month. The 34-year-old center left his coaching-position to get back on the ice to help his Spartac club out of trouble in league play. It worked. In a week Sparta went from 9th to 6th in the league race. The Red Army team ZSKA is still flying in the Russian league. ZSKA is already three points ahead of the surprise-club, Himik. Last year&rsquo;s champion, Krylja Sovitov &mdash; Sowjet Wings&mdash;had a poor start, but is climbing in the league after two wins last week.Boris Mikhailov is still the number one scorer with 13 goals and two assists. Vladimir Petrov was second with 7-8. Both are playing for ZSKA. &#9632;

f0012-01

HOCKEY IN EUROPE

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div>LOS ANGELES &mdash;The Kings have concluded the first quarter of the new season with 10 vic lories, two defeats and eight ties. This surpasses the 10-7-3 mark they made in the first quarter of their first season, which was their previous top start.In between have been bleak periods in which they twice started seasons with 3-15-1 marks and had one quarter of 1-16-2 in their third season which I represented rock bottom in their erratic history.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02757/3381539-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="280" height="441"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jake Milford</figcaption></div>They fell one win short of the .500 level their first season, then dropped on the decline until last season when they showed they were well on their way back by breaking even in wins and losses for the first time in their history. Now they are eight games games over .500 after losing only two of their 20 games and while most of the season remains to be played, they appear to have proven they are respectable contenders for the future.This is a good spot to point out that while the team has been turned around not only by Bob Pulford&rsquo;s defensively-oriented, opportunistic, one-for-all and all-for-one coaching system. and by trades bringing in explosive youngsters engineered by Jake Milford after he took over as manager near mid-season last year, his predecessor Larry Regan assembled most of this team and merits much of the credit for its rise.Now coaching the Montreal Juniors, Regan produced deals during his administration netting Juha Widing, Bob Berry, Mike Corrigan, Bob Nevin, Dan Maloney, Frank St. Marseille, Terry Harper, Bob Murdoch, Larry Brown, Rogie Vachon and Gary Edwards, This is the heart of this team. Regan laid the groundwork for good times today.He also made the final decisions on the drafting of Butch Goring. Don Kozak. Neil Komadoski and Vic Venasky. who were spotted by super-scout George Maguire and his staff, which has made so much out of so little in the way of high selections left after trades. Picking from the amateur grab-bag after the good kids supposedly were gone, they spotted players who could play, some of whom have departed in deals, hut many of whom have helped.Milford did make the deals for Tom Williams, Mike Murphy, Gene Carrand Sheldon Kannegiesser. which seemed to make the difference in the development of this club into a top team, but he was building on a solid base left behind when Regan and owner Jack Kent Cooke differed and parted for the final time.The man who asserts his authority on all from manager and coach through to the last spare player. Cooke is the only constant of the club&rsquo;s history and if he was blamed for failures in the past, he must be applauded for successes in the present.Tying Montreal at home, 3-3, and Pittsburgh on the road, 0-0, the Kings reached the quarter pole with the best record in the league and in first place in a tough division. They were a point up on Montreal and had three games in hand on the Candiens.Despite this, they were disappointed by blowing a 3-1 lead in the last period against Montreal and failing to score for the first time this season in their game in Pittsburgh, where the remarkable Rogie Vachon recorded his third shutout of the season.They can become contenders by conquering the ordinary clubs, but to prove they are a top team must beat top teams. As hot as they have been, they lost to the Black Hawks and settled for ties with the Rangers and Canadiens in recent efforts against quality clubs.Still, it was a good sign that there was depression in the dressing room following the Montreal tie. Captain Harper, a former Canadien, pointed out, &ldquo;There was a time we would have celebrated tying the Candiens. Now we were disappointed by a tie with them because we had them beat before we went into a shell, made some mistakes, and let them catch us.&ldquo;I see here some of the feeling we had in the dressing room at Montreal, which all top teams have. You can&rsquo;t win if you don&rsquo;t expect to win. We now expect to win against any team, home or away from home. We feel we won&rsquo;t be beat if we don&rsquo;t beat ourselves. We aren&rsquo;t making many mistakes and we aren&rsquo;t being beat much.&ldquo;I expect we&rsquo;ll lose some games, but I believe we&rsquo;ll bounce back from defeats and in this way prove we are for real. I think we&rsquo;ll keep going and put together the sort of record by the end of the season which will establish us as contenders.&ldquo;A lot depends on how we handle pressure because now we aren&rsquo;t going to surprise anyone and we have to produce night after night. We show up in towns and the other teams are pointing for us.&rdquo;The Kings went on to win in Detroit 4-1 behind backup goaler Gary Edwards to run their undefeated road record to five victories and five ties in their ten outings. Both their losses came in close games at home, but after one fourth of their home schedule. 10 games, they had averaged an attendance of 11,670. which is an increase of around 600 persons per game over last season&rsquo;s record average.A King cliche is to say that this is a team without a super star, but after a fourth of the season and only one loss in 13 starts, Vachon&rsquo;s goals-against average was down to well below 1.50, the best in the league, and he may have become the best netminder in the league, as well as a spectacular one to watch. Edwards was below 2.50.Nevin got his tenth goal and Williams his ninth to get the Kings going to their first victory in Detroit since February of 1969. Murphy had two against Montreal to run his revival to four goals in four games. The sometimes spectacular and much improved Murdoch split the defense on a solo scoring effort that almost split the Canadiens for the contest. Almost all are dangerous on this squad now. &#9632;

f0012-02

Credit For Building Of Kings Shared By GMs Milford, Regan

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03594/3381570-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">PIERRE LAROUCHE&hellip; Pittsburgh Penguins</figcaption></div>There&rsquo;s little doubt that Pierre Larouche just happened to come along at the right time. This year was the first time NHL clubs were allowed to draft players under the age of 20 and coming off the season he had, the timing couldn&rsquo;t have been better for Larouche. The 19-year-old center had a fantastic season last year with the Sorel Black Hawks, scoring 94 goals and assisting on 157 for 251 points, breaking Guy Lafleur&rsquo;s Quebec Major Junior Hockey League records for assists and points. He was drafted on the first round by the Penguinsand showed enoughin training camp to stay with the big team. Larouche has good skating ability and excellent moves and has already shown he has enough talent to be a solid playmaker in the NHL. &#9632;

f0012-03

MEET THE ROOKIES

<div class="byline">BY ALAN TRUEX</div>ATLANTA&mdash;The defensemen of the Atlanta Flames, who a month ago were considered the team&rsquo;s weakness. lately have been carrying the Flames.And they&rsquo;ve had to. For injuries have taken away for extended periods three of the team&rsquo;s top four scorers of last season.Larry Roman-chych has been bothered constantly by bad knees. Bob Leiter suffered a broken ankle, and Jacques Richard has had so many injuries you&rsquo;d think he was waging war.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01856/3381601-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="279" height="408"><figcaption class="caption-body">No&euml;l Price</figcaption></div>But through it all, the Flames have been winning, and the credit must go to Phil Myre&rsquo;s goaltending and astrong set of six defensemen.Myre recently went through a stretch of giving up just seven goals in five games. He had two 1-0 shutouts and a tie and a win against the Stanley Cup kings, Philadelphia.His record was 3-0-2. and only two of the goals he surrendered were hit from farther than three feet out.I think Phil is faster than he&rsquo;s ever been,&rdquo; coach Bernie Geoffrion says. And Myre says. &ldquo;I feel more relaxed.&rdquo;One reason he can relax is that Atlanta&rsquo;s defensemen started making drastic improvement.Randy Manery continues to rank among the league&rsquo;s top-scoring defensemen. and his partner. Pat Quinn, has strengthened his shot and has become very efficient at moving bodies out of the slot.The most surprising player on defense has been Noel Price, who teams with young Jean Lemieux in Geoffrion&rsquo;s six-man setup.Price, nearly bald and nearly 39, suddenly has decided in his late age that he can score goals. Nobody can figure out where he got that notion, because Price had not scored a goal in two seasons with the Flames.It had reached the stage where he was asking to be exempted from team practice sessions where players put up money and hold a shooting match.&ldquo;I decided I was hanging back too much, when I could be moving up and getting in position to score once in a while.&rdquo; Price says. &ldquo;A lot of times I was back in my end. the action was somewhere else, and I felt out of it.&rdquo;So Price became more aggressive, while still carrying out his defensive assignments. Result: he scored two goals in two straight games. After two years of famine, he was feasting.The Flames&rsquo; most improved defensive pair has been rookie Dwight Bialowas and sophomore Bob Murray. Bialowas. who played poorly in a trial last season and had an unimpressive training camp last September, has played extremely well this season.Next to Quinn, the 6&rsquo;2&rdquo;, 190-pound Bialowas is the team&rsquo;s most physical defender, and he&rsquo;s also quick and has a strong shot. Meanwhile. Murray, who scored no goals and three assists last year, had already surpassed that point total with this season only a quarter finished.Geoffrion credited his defensemen with being the major factor in Atlanta&rsquo;s drive to within two points of Philadelphia after the Flames won 4-3 in the Spectrum.&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve been playing very solid,&rdquo; the Boomer said. &lsquo;They&rsquo;re standing up like they should, and they&rsquo;re hitting. When my defensemen want to take their man. they&rsquo;re as good anybody.&rdquo;The defensive surge was essential considering the injuries to Flames&rsquo; forwards. Richard has been the hardest hit. He&rsquo;s had his nose broken, a cheekbone broken, a sprained ankle and a swollen hand, where he took the force of a hard shot.Fortunately, Geoffrion was able to get strong fill-in work from Keith McCreary and rookie Dean Talafous pending the recoveries of Romanchych. Leiter and Richard.NOTES: Geoffrion keeps splitting the goal duties evenly between Myre and Daniel Bouchard, even though Myre has been the more impressive so far. But the two are so close to even in ability that Geoffrion says he&rsquo;ll stay with the 50-50 system&hellip; Bryan Hextail, 33-year-old center, has been playing a regular shift, plus killing penalties&hellip; Hextall already has scored as many goals (4) as he did all last year, but he points out that last year he rarely played. &ldquo;I had 21 goals two years ago with Pittsburgh, but then they quit playing me. I sat on the bench there for 41 games, and I&rsquo;ll never know why. Pittsburgh gave me the shaft, but I&rsquo;m glad. I&rsquo;d rather be in Atlanta than Pittsburgh.&rdquo; he said. &#9632;

f0013-01

Maligned Flame Defense Finds The Price Is Right

<div class="byline">By Jules Furth</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01861/3381663-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="194" height="317"></div><h2>Russian, Czechs, Swedes Banned From World Cup</h2>Canadian amateur officials today yielded to national pressure from provincial citizenry and banned all foreign teams from participation in World Cup play. Citing reasons from national subsidizing of players to biased officiating, people from all over Canada voiced their displeasure at the continual embarrassment of losing to &ldquo;those darned foreigners&rdquo;. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s our national game. We invented it and no commie-red team is going to deprive our guys of our rightful championship.&rdquo; Not since 1961 when Canada beat Czechoslovakia has the World Cup been &ldquo;Hockey Country&rdquo;. Meanwhile, Russia has announced a step-up in their women&rsquo;s hockey program and will compete against the National Teams in Europe this coming season.<h2>AHAUS Bars Canadian Teams In U.S. Tourneys</h2>American amateur officials today yielded to pressure from parents and coaches by banning all Canadian teams from participating in United States tournaments. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve been playing fortwiceas long,&rdquo; said one. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve got more ice up there,&rdquo; cried another. &ldquo;They start skating sooner. They even skate back and forth from school every day.&rdquo; &ldquo;The kids up there are bigger and they lie on their birth certificates.&rdquo; &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not fair, they know the rules better.&rdquo; No&hellip;this is not an exclusive story nor is the date All Fool&rsquo;s Day. In fact, thank goodness, the good folks involved in amateur hockey are not fools. And I haven&rsquo;t been sipping out of an old rusty skate either. It&rsquo;s just that I thought you might like to pick up a paper and read what would have happened if the hockey parents and groups had taken the same stand as those imaginative people that control Little League Baseball in America. The group is well named. Little indeed. Amateur Hockey is developing rapidly and is under the guidance of persons who feel that clean healthy competition, under safe conditions and at graduated levels of competence, makes sense. It will no longer be a Little League World Series in baseball. It will just be a glorified National Championship. Hockey still can claim a World Cup emblematic of world dimensional competition.C&rsquo;mon you National Pastimers of America, get with it&hellip; make a big league reconsideration. And by the way&hellip;please don&rsquo;t anyone write to tell me that the national sport of Canada is lacrosse&hellip;a friendly old Indian told me that in confidence just before he died.<h2>There&rsquo;s No &ldquo;C&rdquo; In Chicago</h2>Dear Jules:I would like to know why the Chicago Black Hawks do not have a team captain. I know they have three alternates but no captain. I think they should make Stan Mikita the captain because he is probably the most experienced player on the Hawks.John Minter Chicago, II.Dear John:1 agree with you. Not only is Stan the most experienced (with the Black Hawk organization for 16 years) but he has all the requisites for the job including:leadership ability, respect fromteammatesand officials, knowledge of the game and rules, plus he is a true sportsman and gentleman. Billy Reay, the capable coach, makes these kind of decisions so I told him that Mikita was our choice. He agreed that it was a good choice. He also mentioned that he appreciated our suggestion but after due consideration (about two years) he felt that it would not be right to place additional pressure on any player so therefore our worthy suggestion would be regretfully denied. He would however welcome any ideas you might have on how to score some more goals.WHISTLE STOPS: Congratulations to those responsible for the 1974-75 amateur hockey officials examination. There are 10 questions that really make the guys think. It is well written&hellip;hope the graders don&rsquo;t get eyesore reading the essay answers&hellip;strange because it is a true-false-multiple choice test&hellip;Hal Trumble&hellip;will the AHAUS refs wear helmets too??&hellip;those that wish to now could be called smart&hellip;you&rsquo;ve been called worse things certainly!!!&hellip;is it true that a certain NHL referee hired a secretary to fill out his game report in Oakland, Calif., after the Flyers and Seals main event???&hellip;the official scorer got writers&rsquo; cramp and didn&rsquo;t finish until late morning&hellip;the Seals must have known something&hellip;their media guide lists three team physicians, two dentists and a pharmacist.Any reader having any questions regarding rule interpretations or game situations can write to HEY REE, c/o THE HOCKEY NEWS, 1434 St. Catherine Street West, Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7. &#9632;

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hey, ref!

<div class="byline">BY HARRY KLAFF</div>LONG ISLAND &mdash;&ldquo;All right, panel, the votes have been cast.&rdquo; said Garry Moore, host of the latest version of TV&rsquo;s &ldquo;To Tell the Truth&rdquo;. &ldquo;Will the real New York Islanders please stand up.&rdquo;Such has been the story of the 1974-75 Islanders, who have created enough questions to stock every quiz show on the tube for the next decade. Are they the Islanders who jumped off to a shocking 7-1-2 record early in the season? Or are they the old familiar Islanders who then proceeded to drop their next five in a row on the road?And then again, are they the Islanders who recovered to win two and tie two in their next four, and once again take on the appearance of genuine playoff contenders? Trying to predict the Islanders&rsquo; fortunes this year has-been like playing Russian Roulette, and not even Czar Alger I can lock the controls.After dropping the first three of those, road games last month, the Islanders looked forward to breaking the skein against the expansion Kansas City Scouts. But when the Scouts handed the Isles a 4-2 beating Arbour saw red.Prior to the collapse. Arbour had been going with three set lines: Eddie Westfall centering for Clark Gillies and Billy Harris; Ralph Stewart pivoting Ernie Hicke or Bill MacMillan and Craig Cameron; and rookie Bob Bourne between Garry Howatt and Bob Nystrom.Then came the slump and the subsequent shakeup. When the Islanders met the Red Wings on the final stop of the tour, three new trios hit the ice. The club played perhaps its best game on the trip, but somehow lost the knack of killing penalties in the process. Four Detroit power-play goals gave the Wings a 5-3 triumph.Now it was back to the Nassau Coliseum (where the Islanders have lost only once all season) for a &ldquo;must&rdquo; game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who had given the Isles their worst beating of the year (8-2) only a week before. The feeling was that if the Islanders couldn&rsquo;t get up for this one. then the entire season could have gone down the drainage ditch.Convinced that his new matchups in the Detroit game weren&rsquo;t sufficient. Arbour juggled further. And this time he was downright radical.First he put young Andr&eacute; St. Laurent between Garry Howatt and Eddie Westfall. That&rsquo;s right. Eddie Westfall &mdash; the man the Islanders drafted to play right wing and then placed on left wing, defense. and center &mdash; was finally going home to play in his natural habitat.Then Arbour moved Billy Harris from right wing to left wing on a line with Bourne and Nystrom. Harris is a left-handed shot, and Arbour felt the switch to his strong side would give him a few more scoring opportunities. Ralph Stewart moved between Gillies and Craig Cameron on the third line, with Doug Rombough centering a fourth threesome with MacMillan and little-used Lorne Henning on the flanks.Needless to say, it worked, as the Islanders hung on to a 4-3 decision over Pittsburgh in a rather sloppy contest. Eddie Westfall, looking comfortable at his old position, potted two goals and the designation of star of the game.But Westfall wasn&rsquo;t all that happy at moving back to right wing. &ldquo;Frankly, now I&rsquo;d rather play center.&rdquo; said the soft-spoken captain. &ldquo;But the coach is the boss and I have to listen to him. I guess I&rsquo;d even play goal if he asked me to.&rdquo;Billy Harris was even less enthused with his new assignment. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like it.&rdquo; said Harris, who would score twice in his next two games from the left side. &ldquo;I played left wing once in my life &mdash; when I was 15 years old in Toronto. I&rsquo;m just not comfortable there at all.&rdquo; After a week, he was still not comfortable, but adjusting to the situation.The Harris line was altered slightly a few games later, after Bourne had coughed up the puck a couple of times in Chicago. His errors had helped lift the Hawks to a four-all tie in a game that the Isles had twice led by two goals. Rombough was substituted for Bourne in the next outing against Toronto (an impressive 6-0 triumph), and did well, especially on face-offs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01837/3381694-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="571" height="688"><figcaption class="caption-body">LORNE HENNING &hellip; Off Bench</figcaption></div>Bourne was shifted down to the fourth line for the Toronto game, with Henning and MacMillan as his mates. He picked up his first goal in nine games in that one, as Henning displayed some hustle in setting it up. Henning has been the target of some booing since the Isles were formed, as many fans felt he was not going all out. He spent most of the early going this year in the press box, but may have received a new lease on life.ISLAND SOUNDS: After going two years without a shutout, Billy Smith now has three shutouts in 14 games&hellip; Gerry Hart missed most ofthe road trip &#9632;

f0015-01

Isles Winning To Tune Of Arbour Shuffle

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;With the National Hockey League season one-quarter completed, a progress report on Reggie Leach is in order. As nearly everyone from Leach to Flyers&rsquo; GM Keith Allen admits, the report should read &ldquo;Progress fair: long way to go.&rdquo;To put it bluntly, through 20-odd games Leach has not been the devastating goal scorer on right wing the Flyers expected. Shortly after Leach was freed from the California Seals last spring. Bobby Clarke forecast a &ldquo;40-goal season even in a bad year for him&rdquo; for his former Flin Flon linemate.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01667/3381732-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="267" height="450"><figcaption class="caption-body">Fred Shero</figcaption></div>Leach&rsquo;s early statistics with the Stlanley Cup champions are not pathetic by any means, especially after scoring his first Philadelphia hat-trick against Detroit to raise his goal total to nine. However, Leach is cast as several steps above an average NHL winger.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s my worst start ever,&rdquo; the Riverton, Man., native admits before scoring his third NHL hat trick.&ldquo;You do get a little fed up. especially when you&rsquo;re getting the chances like I am. Maybe I&rsquo;m hurrying too much. I think I&rsquo;ll try taking an extra second. I&rsquo;ve already switched to a longer stick with a longer blade.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s too early for coach Fred Shero to consider switching Leach to another line. In fact, Shero is among the minority who find little fault with Leach&rsquo;s performance.&ldquo;All I&rsquo;m interested in is team effort and position.&rdquo; says Shero. &ldquo;Recently Leach has been following our system better. I don&rsquo;t care if he scores 25 or 30 goals. If he&rsquo;s still in the lineup he must be doing the job.&rdquo;Some critics believe Leach is finding it awkward adjusting from the Seals&rsquo; free-wheeling style to Sheio&rsquo;s disciplined system.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no pressure here really.&rdquo; Leach insists. Then he adds. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;ve got to keep winning. The thing is. I don&rsquo;t want to make a liar out of the guy (Clarke).&rdquo;Like Shero, it is not Clarke&rsquo;s style to publicly criticize a Flyer. All the Flyers&rsquo; captain will say is. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure not scoring more goals is bugging Reg. but we&rsquo;re not getting many goals scored against us.&rdquo;Keith Allen agrees the ClarkeLeach-Bill Barber line has been sufficiently stubborn defensively.&ldquo;If we had guys with 10 or 15 goals and he (Leach) only had four goals I would really be wondering.&rdquo; the GM says. &ldquo;But we just aren&rsquo;t playing that well offensively. We&rsquo;ve been winning mainly on defense.&rdquo;Allen is more critical of Leach than Shero, which isn&rsquo;t surprising since it was Allen who sent Alan MacAdam, Larry Wright and the Flyers&rsquo; top amateur pick (Ron Chipperfield, who preferred the WHA&rsquo;s Vancouver Blazers) to California for Leach.&ldquo;At this stage we thought he (Leach) would be playing better. If he was honest with himself I think he would say the same thing.&rdquo;The good sign is that Leach is honest with himself. Which means Clarke&rsquo;s prediction for a 40-goal season for the winger with one of hockey&rsquo;s hardest shots is still within reach.FLVER FACTS: Bob Kelly celebrated his 24th birthday with back-to-back goals, giving him five for the year, one more than his total last season&hellip;Losses to Vancouver and Atlanta (both by 4-3) were the Flyers&rsquo; first double dip at the Spectrum since January 1973&hellip;After playing his most consistent hockey ever. Bill Clement was sidelined for three games by a pulled groin.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02580/3381725-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="1186" height="1081"><figcaption class="caption-body">REG LEACH&hellip;Long Way To Go</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Leach Not Impressing Philly’s Fans, But Flyers Are Happy With His Play

<div class="byline">BY RUSS WHITE</div>WASHINGTON &mdash;The Washington-Richmond shuttle has paid an early dividend to the Capitals&rsquo; hockey team. Steve Atkinson received round trip mileage, and upon his return, almost pulled off a victory for the National Hockey League team.Atkinson Was demoted to the Richmond Robins on Oct. 30 after a slow start with the expansion Capitals. He was recalled Nov. 22.In his first game back with Washington. Atkinson scored the goal that had the Caps up 4-3 on the Minne sota North Stars at Capital Centre. It wasn&rsquo;t quite enough as the visitors tied the score at 15:10 but the Caps weren&rsquo;t complaining. The 4-4 tie was a point in the standings, only the seventh the team has in two months.Atkinson, 26 was expected to be one of the Capital leaders. He was picked up from the Buffalo Sabres in the expansion draft. He didn&rsquo;t round into shape at the London, Ont. training camp, however. On the day the team played its first exhibition game. Atkinson choked on his pre-game meal and had to be rushed to the hospital.&ldquo;I was too damn excited to get going,&rdquo; he said.When he got over that first meal misery, Atkinson failed to dish out enough hockey to satisfy his bosses. General manager Milt Schmidt likened Atkinson&rsquo;s speed to that of a snail in a game against Minnesota on Oct. 12 and Atkinson played little thereafter.There seemed to be a noted change in his speed, style and aggressiveness upon his return from Richmond and the American Hockey League. Atkinson wasn&rsquo;t too keen to talk about it. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t get a chance to show myself before,&rdquo; he said.The way Caps coach Jimmy Anderson had it figured there would be more Washington-Richmond-Washington shuttling. &ldquo;It looks like a good way to make the team aware of what we have to do,&rdquo; said Anderson.In the move that brought Atkinson back to the club, the Caps sent down a forward line and recalled one at the same time. Shipped out were center Jim Hrycuik (who scored the team&rsquo;s first goal), Bob Gryp and Ron Anderson. Recalled were right winger Atkinson, center Andr&eacute; Peloffy and left wing Paul Nicholson, the club&rsquo;s third round amateur draft pick.Atkinson, Peloffy and Nicholson had their line intact for the Minnesota game and Anderson was pleased with the results.The Caps now had three regular lines for the first time. The top unit is centered by veteran Tommy Williams with Denis Dup&eacute;r&eacute; and Dave Kryskow on thew wings. Dup&eacute;r&eacute; is the team&rsquo;s leading scorer and goal getter. He added his ninth and tenth goals in the Minnesota game. Dup&eacute;r&eacute;, the ex-Maple Leaf, has 19 points scored in his first 20 games.It amuses Dup&eacute;r&eacute; to refer to his line as &ldquo;The Gazelles&rdquo;, saying each of the guys on it skates like a gazelle, particularly himself. In the brief history of the Caps the guys on the Gazelle line are entitled to call themselves anything they please. They&rsquo;ve been a defnite asset.The second Washington line is its best checking line and is centered by big Pete Laframboise with Mike Marson and Gordie Brooks at the wings. Marson. after a 14-game scoring famine, scored a couple of goals against the Seals and added an assist next time out against Buffalo. The 19-year-old rookie apparently has got his skates on the ground.The club was also encouraged by defenseman Greg Joly&rsquo;s latest efforts. Joly is the number one amateur pick. Marson number two and Nicholson number three and all three are already major league starters. Much depends on them for the expansion team&rsquo;s future.Meanwhile Schmidt continued to look for immediate help from the other NHL teams who might be interested in obtaining Washington&rsquo;s top amateur draft choice of 1975.Sam Pollock of Montreal was the one most interested but the Henri Richard injury made Pollock hold up any transaction.NOTES: Caps reached 100.000 mark in home attendance after 12th home game at Capital Centre. Winger Jack Egers underwent back surgery and is out for at least two months&hellip; Caps 0-9 on road, 0-4 in red pants, 0-4 in white pants, 0-1 in blue. Teams are simply beating the pants off them.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01569/3381763-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="574" height="626"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE ATKINSON &hellip; More Aggressive</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Caps’ Atkinson Benefits From Demotion

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01576/3382046-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg"></div><h2>ATLANTA</h2>Flames<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02469/3382039-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="197" height="173"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03352/3382032-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="741" height="586"></div><h2>BOSTON</h2>Bruins<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04268/3382025-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="179" height="175"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05205/3382018-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="745" height="586"></div><h2>BUFFALO</h2>Sabres<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-06167/3382011-1-eng-US/f0018-062.jpg" title="f0018-06" width="194" height="191"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-07142/3382004-1-eng-US/f0018-072.jpg" title="f0018-07" width="741" height="648"></div><h2>CALIFORNIA</h2>Seals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-08117/3381997-1-eng-US/f0018-082.jpg" title="f0018-08" width="270" height="118"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-09100/3381990-1-eng-US/f0018-092.jpg" title="f0018-09" width="744" height="699"></div><h2>CHICAGO</h2>Black Hawks<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1087/3381983-1-eng-US/f0018-102.jpg" title="f0018-10" width="209" height="186"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1183/3381976-1-eng-US/f0018-112.jpg" title="f0018-11" width="744" height="619"></div><h2>DETROIT</h2>Red Wings<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1275/3381969-1-eng-US/f0018-122.jpg" title="f0018-12" width="253" height="137"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1363/3381962-1-eng-US/f0018-132.jpg" title="f0018-13" width="739" height="643"></div><h2>KANSAS CITY</h2>Scouts<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1458/3381955-1-eng-US/f0018-142.jpg" title="f0018-14" width="200" height="198"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1556/3381948-1-eng-US/f0018-152.jpg" title="f0018-15" width="736" height="649"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES</h2>Kings<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1654/3381941-1-eng-US/f0018-162.jpg" title="f0018-16" width="183" height="227"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1744/3381934-1-eng-US/f0018-172.jpg" title="f0018-17" width="736" height="553"></div><h2>MINNESOTA</h2>North Stars<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1840/3381927-1-eng-US/f0018-182.jpg" title="f0018-18" width="212" height="191"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-1936/3381920-1-eng-US/f0018-192.jpg" title="f0018-19" width="737" height="610"></div><h2>MONTREAL</h2>Canadiens<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-2037/3381913-1-eng-US/f0018-202.jpg" title="f0018-20" width="212" height="169"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-2135/3381906-1-eng-US/f0018-212.jpg" title="f0018-21" width="741" height="640"></div><h2>NEW YORK</h2>Islanders<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-2232/3381899-1-eng-US/f0018-222.jpg" title="f0018-22" width="211" height="195"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-2330/3381892-1-eng-US/f0018-232.jpg" title="f0018-23" width="736" height="609"></div><h2>NEW YORK</h2>Rangers<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-2429/3381885-1-eng-US/f0018-242.jpg" title="f0018-24" width="186" height="201"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-2529/3381878-1-eng-US/f0018-252.jpg" title="f0018-25" width="737" height="637"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2>Flyers<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-2628/3381871-1-eng-US/f0018-262.jpg" title="f0018-26" width="235" height="161"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-2727/3381864-1-eng-US/f0018-272.jpg" title="f0018-27" width="735" height="615"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH</h2>Penguins<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-2823/3381857-1-eng-US/f0018-282.jpg" title="f0018-28" width="218" height="199"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-2918/3381850-1-eng-US/f0018-292.jpg" title="f0018-29" width="744" height="588"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS</h2>Blues<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-3018/3381843-1-eng-US/f0018-302.jpg" title="f0018-30" width="182" height="157"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-3117/3381836-1-eng-US/f0018-312.jpg" title="f0018-31" width="741" height="639"></div><h2>TORONTO</h2>Maple Leafs<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-3216/3381829-1-eng-US/f0018-322.jpg" title="f0018-32" width="193" height="188"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-3316/3381822-1-eng-US/f0018-332.jpg" title="f0018-33" width="735" height="677"></div><h2>VANCOUVER</h2>Canucks<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-3413/3381815-1-eng-US/f0018-342.jpg" title="f0018-34" width="216" height="142"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-3513/3381808-1-eng-US/f0018-352.jpg" title="f0018-35" width="726" height="605"></div><h2>WASHINGTON</h2>Capitals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-3611/3381801-1-eng-US/f0018-362.jpg" title="f0018-36" width="257" height="131"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-379/3381794-1-eng-US/f0018-372.jpg" title="f0018-37" width="740" height="662"></div> &#9632;

f0018-01

Player’ Scoring & Penalty Statistics

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01556/3382077-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"></div>(Including names of Sun. Dec. 1) &#9632;

f0019-01

TOP NHL SCORERS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02471/3382108-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg"></div>(including games of Sun. Dec. 1) &#9632;

f0019-02

Looking At NHL Goalers

<div class="byline">BY JACK BERRY</div>DETROIT&mdash;When do you ever remember a player having a &ldquo;day&rdquo; that everything turned out right?Usually he goes O-for-4 if it&rsquo;s baseball, striking out twice, hitting into a doubleplay and popping up with the bases loaded.In Alex Delvecchio&rsquo;s case, he didn&rsquo;t even have a chance to get to the plate. Delvecchio. as Detroit Red Wing general manager and. coach, is a non-combattant now. no longer the passing artist of the ice but a pacer behind the bench.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03371/3382139-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="282" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body">Marcel Dionne</figcaption></div>And after all the flowery words on Delvecchio&rsquo;s &ldquo;night.&rdquo; with telegrams from President Gerald Ford, proclamations from the governor and the mayor, visits from old friends including Kansas City Scouts GM Sid Abel and Chicago Black Hawks GM Tommy Ivan, kind words from club owner Bruce Norris and the promise of an oil portrait by artist LeRoy Neiman, Delvecchio still had to go behind that bench.And when he did. his club virtually went O-for-3&hellip; nothing to show for three periods against the Los Angeles Kings who. even with No. 2 man Gary Edwards in goal instead of super-hot Rogie Vachon, beat Detroit. 4-l.And afterward. Delvecchio, recipient of so many kind words before the game, had none afterward.But that&rsquo;s getting to be the rule rather than the exception for the Red Rings who started the season by going unbeaten in their first five Olympia appearances and then lost four of the next five.Not even Marcel Dionne&rsquo;s greatest performance in his four professional seasons could pull out a victory.Dionne was every superlative in the dictionary during the Wings&rsquo; 5-4 loss to (he New York Rangers. He-scored three goals and set up linemate Danny Grant for the other and had. 13 shots on goal for the night, three shy of the NHL record of Ranger Rod Gilbert.It was an absolutely virtuoso performance by the stocky little captain who has been absolutely outstanding this season.Dionne never was quicker, never passed better and had Grant and right wing Doug Roberts been sharper and more fortunate and Ranger goalie Ed Giacomin a little less agile. Dionne would have had three, maybe four or five assists for the night.But the night soured because Detroit lost and Delvecchio benched rookie Bill Lochead and Guy Charron for their defensive lapses.Lochead went into the Ranger game tied with ailing Mickey Redmond (hospitalized. his back in traction) as the club goal leader with 10. But he was on the ice for two of New York&rsquo;s three first period goals.&ldquo;A lot of goals have been scored off his wing. If he wants to play, he&rsquo;ll have to knuckle down.&rdquo; Delvecchio said.&ldquo;Sometimes when the puck is going in for a player, he doesn&rsquo;t want to back-check. I hope he learns &mdash; he&rsquo;s just young and he&rsquo;s got a lot to learn.&ldquo;The players who want to work both ways are the ones who will play,&rdquo; Delvecchio said.But work as Delvecchio might in practice, the Red Wings still don&rsquo;t produce the backchecking in the games.&ldquo;We always seem to have to come from behind.&rdquo; Delvecchio said.The loss to the Kings on &ldquo;Delvecchio Night&rdquo; wound up a home stand that saw the Wings play six of eight games at Olympia but they collected only three points from the possible 12 on home ice and then embarked on a string of six of seven games on the road where they had only three points of a possible I8.RED WING NOTES: The NHL earmarked $2,000 to the charity of Delvecchio&rsquo;s choice as its gift on his &ldquo;night&rdquo;&hellip;the players gave Delvecchio a combination TV-radio-stereo and trainer Lefty Wilson presented a red jacket with THE BOSS printed on the back.King Clancy represented the NHL at the half hour ceremony and telegrams were received from a number of former teammates. The club handed out 22-by-32inch posters to all the fans&hellip;some of the fans, disenchanted by the team&rsquo;s performance, folded the posters into paper airplanes and floated them to the ice.Dionne, while scoring his first goal in his three goal game against New York, split Dale Rolfe and Ron Greschner and broke in on Giacomin&hellip;&rdquo;If I get the puck at the blue line. I&rsquo;m going to beat anybody.&rdquo; Dionnosaid. then, breaking into a big smile he added &ldquo;unless it&rsquo;s Bobby Orr.&rdquo;Although he&rsquo;s only 5-foot-8, Dionne weighs 185 pounds which was a point of contention between him and Delvecchio who wanted him down to 175. &ldquo;I asked him to let me play at what I thinks is best and if I didn&rsquo;t play well, then I&rsquo;d get down.&rdquo; Dionne said.Delvecchio isn&rsquo;t talking about Dionne&rsquo;s weight now. &#9632;

f0019-03

Kings Add to Wings’ Home Ice Woes; Dionne’s Hat Not Enough For Victory

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-04315/3382170-1-eng-US/f0019-042.jpg" title="f0019-04" width="595" height="713"></div> &#9632;

f0019-04

Team Penalties

MONTREAL &mdash;&bull; Center Bobby Clarke of Philadelphia Flyers showed signs last week of making a determined big to oust the NHL&rsquo;s perennial scoring leaders, Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr of Boston Bruins. Clarke finished fifth, second and tenth respectively in the point race in 1973-74. 1972-73 and 1971-72.The 25-year-old native of Flin Flon. Man., began last week in 13th position in scoring. He then proceeded to score one goal and assist on four others in Flyers&rsquo; 6-2 victory over Detroit, and inflicted the identical punishment on the Kansas City Souts. Those 10 points in two games pushed his season total to 35 and vaulted him into a fourth-place tie in the point parade with Buffalo&rsquo;s Ren&eacute; Robert. Clarke&rsquo;s totals include 26 assists. just one fewer than Bobby Orr who is the over-all scoring leader with 42 points. Esposito is second with 40 points, including a league-leading 21 goals. Sabres&rsquo; Gilbert Perreault is third with 39 points.&bull; Clarke&rsquo;s two-game performance was the best in the NHL since Orr scored 11 in two contests just over a year ago. Orr scored three goals and four assists (the single-game record for defensemen) Nov. 15. 1973 against NY Rangers then had four assists two nights later versus Detroit.Clarke&rsquo;s 10 points also brought his career total to better than a point per game&hellip;In 410 regularseason games. the tireless center has accumulated 158 goals and 258 assists for 416 points. He was Philadelphia&rsquo;s second choice (the 17th player selected over-all) in the 1969 Amateur Draft, won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy in 1971-72 and captured the Hart Trophy the following season.&bull; Elsewhere, Buffalo&rsquo;s &ldquo;French Connection&rdquo; line of Gilbert Perreault at center. Ren&eacute; Robert at right wing and Rick Martin at left wing has enjoyed phenomenal success in recent weeks and is collecting points at a great clip. In 26 games thus far. the trio has combined for 49 goals, 58 assists and 107 points. If they were to maintain their present pace over the balance of the schedule, they would finish with 151 goalsand 329 points. The record for goals and points by a line was established by Bruins&rsquo; Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge and Wayne Cashman in 1970-71 when they amassed 140 goals and 336 points. The three Sabres have scored an amazing 33 goals in their last 14 games. Robert has led the way with 15 goals in his last 14 games. He only managed three in his first 12 games. Martin has 10 goals in his last 14 games while Perreault scored eight. &#9632;

NHL WEEK - In Review

LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S and CanadaTORONTO&mdash;You&rsquo;ve got to admire Red Kelly&rsquo;s sense of humor. Here he is, coaching a team that&rsquo;s in its worst slump in years. He&rsquo;s lost his top defenseman (Borje Salming) and three other defensemen (Rod Seiling, Ian Turnbull and Jim Me Kenny) to injuries. On top of all that, his boss (Harold Ballard) has just publicly lambasted the team and its coach for ineptitude.One of Ballard&rsquo;s statements, and he had a derogatory one for almost every member of the team, was that Kelly was not tough enough and wasn&rsquo;t cracking the whip on his players.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01400/3382225-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="306" height="476"><figcaption class="caption-body">Red Kelly</figcaption></div>Kelly, never one to let criticism upset him, decided he&rsquo;d show Ballard how tough he was. At the Leafs&rsquo; Nov. 27 game in New York, Kelly carried a six-foot bullwhip while coaching the Leafs to a 4-1 loss to the Rangers.&ldquo;There have been a couple of comments that I&rsquo;m not cracking the whip enough,&rdquo; Kelly explained, &ldquo;so I cracked it a few teams behind the bench. It worked well enough in the first period, hut after that it didn&rsquo;t do so well&rdquo;.Kelly&rsquo;s actions were no doubt designed to take a little pressure off the Leafs, who have won only once in their last eight games.&ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t bother me,&rdquo; said goaltender Doug Favell, who made 47 saves in the game. &ldquo;He couldn&rsquo;t reach the net with it,&rsquo;so I was safe.&rdquo;While Kelly may have taken some of the pressure off the Leafs, the team is far from carefree at this point. The slump continues and things appear to be getting worse instead of better.Salming, who was heading for All Star honors in the early going, is out for anywhere from a month to two months with a cracked heel bone. Seiling may be finished for the year after a heavy check by Derek Sanderson tore knee ligaments. McKenny took a shot in the groin and while he may not miss a game, will be playing at limited capacity. Turnbull has undergone knee surgery and is lost indefinitely.That series of injuries leaves the team with only two regular defensemen, Brian Glennie and Bob Neely. Dave Dunn has been moved back to defense to help, but few NHL teams can operate with only four defensemen.There doesn&rsquo;t appear to be much help available at the Leafs&rsquo; Oklahoma City farm club, either.With Turnbull and Seiling lost for long periods the only solution appears to be a trade. But when a club is desperate for help and everyone else in the league knows it. that club isn&rsquo;t going to get any bargains.Maybe Kelly could gel something for his whip. &#9632;

f0020-01

Coach Kelly Cracks The Whip While Leafs Burn

RENE ROBERTBuffalo SabresBuffalo&rsquo;s French Connection is once again connecting for a lot of goals, but this year there&rsquo;s a difference. Rick Martin, a 52-goal scorer last season, is not leading the trio in goals. Neither is the line&rsquo;s top point-getter, Gilbert Perreault.The new gunner on the line is right winger Ren&eacute; Robert who upped his goals total to 18 last week with six goals. The 25-year-old winger added two assists to move himself to fourth place in the NHL scoring.Robert scored twice, including the tying goal, in Buffalo&rsquo;s 5-5 tie with Pittsburgh, twice in their 6-3 win over Pittsburgh and once each in victories over Chicago and Detroit.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02304/3382263-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="574" height="589"></div>BOBBY CLARKEPhiladelphia FlyersBobby Clarke has been called everything from a hatchet-man to a super star, but there&rsquo;s one thing that almost everyone will agree on &mdash; he&rsquo;s the heart of the Philadelphia Flyers. As Clarke goes, so go the Flyers.Clarke kept the defending Stanley Cup champs ahead of the surprising Atlanta Flames last week with a two goalseven assist performance.The 25-year-old center scored once and set up three goals in a 6-4 victory over Detroit and added another goal and four assists in a 10-0 rout of Kansas City.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03255/3382256-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="563" height="499"></div> &#9632;

f0020-02

NHL’S Stars of the week

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div>BUFFALO&mdash;&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know of anyone else who could have scored it but he&rsquo;s only the best hockey player in the league.&rdquo;Punch Imlach. the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; crusty general manager, was talking about the goal Gil Perreault scored to give the Sabres a 4-4 tie in Atlanta after the Flames had taken a 4-1 lead into the final period.Punch is prejudiced, no question about that, but almost anyone in the National Hockey League will have to admit that Perreault is playing hockey as well as any forward around.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01249/3382301-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="274" height="421"><figcaption class="caption-body">Roger Crozier</figcaption></div>He&rsquo;s shooting more this season than he has since his first year with the Sabres when he set an NHL rookie record of 38 goals. And he&rsquo;s scoring, l4goals in his first 22 games.The two prettiest came in ties.On Oct. 20, he raced almost the length of the ice and scored on Dune Wilson at the 18:25 mark of the third period to give the Sabres a 5-5 tie with the Toronto Maple Leafs. That was his second goal of the game.He scored only once in the Atlanta game a month later but what a goal that was.Rick Dudley and Ren&eacute; Robert brought the Sabres back into the game by scoring within a 37-second span midway through the final period.Time seemed to be running out on the Sabres, however, when Perreault picked up a loose puck in the Atlanta end. He accelerated as he hit the red line and flew along the boards with only Noel Price ahead. Gil gave the veteran defenseman a couple of moves and swept around him and in on Dan Bouchard. who has given the Sabres plenty of trouble over the last three seasons.The goalie, going with Gil&rsquo;s motion, began moving to his right and Perreault stuck the puck into the short side.Price shrugged when talking about the goal afterward. &ldquo;1 made the right move,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;made him to the long way around, kept him from coming down the middle. There&rsquo;s just noway to stop that guy when he&rsquo;s moving at top speed.&rdquo;Because Perreault has been playing so well since the opening game, when he scored three goals against Boston and assisted on two others, the Sabres have been the surprise team of the league.&ldquo;If we&rsquo;re going to win consistently,&rdquo; says coach Floyd Smith, &ldquo;the big guy has to produce. And he has been producing.&rdquo;Smitty has told Gil to shoot when he has the chance. The last two seasons, the smooth-skating center was looking for someone to pass to when he had chances to shoot.&ldquo;The center&rsquo;s job is to set up goals for his winger,&rdquo; Gil would say. Smitty, however, has Perreault convinced that when he&rsquo;s open he should shoot. Few players in hockey have a harder shot.&ldquo;When I go in on goal now,&rdquo; Perreault says, &ldquo;I have changed. I make myself think &lsquo;Shoot&rsquo;.&rdquo;Most of the goaltenders in the league probably wish Perreault wouldn&rsquo;t tell himself that. But when he passes off, the netminders still are in trouble. His Jeft winger, Rick Martin, has an even harder shot and his right winger, Ren&eacute; Robert, has a sizzler, too.With Perreault flying, the French Connection has been scoring at the fastest clip of any line in the league. Martin is closing is on Perreault&rsquo;s own club record of scoring at least a point in 18 straight games.ICE CHIPS: Martin scored twice to help veteran Roger Crozier record his fourth straight goaltending victory in his comeback bid, a 6-4 decision over the Montreal Canadiens in Buffalo. That victory gave the Sabres three in three starts against the Canadiens and assured the Buffalo club of winning its first season series ever against Mon treal&hellip; The game was a wild one, with referee Andy Van Hellemond calling a total of 154 minutes in penalties on the two teams &mdash; 27 minors, 10 majors, a 10-minute misconduct and four game misconducts. There was a benchemptying brawl in the final period&hellip; The Sabres scored three power-play goals in that game to up their leagueleading total to 30. Don Luce scored a shorthanded goal to give the Sabres four for the season while a man short, three of them against the Canadiens.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02181/3382294-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="572" height="1159"><figcaption class="caption-body">GIL PERREAULT &hellip;The Best?</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0021-01

Perreault’s Tendency To Shoot More Key To Buffalo’s First Place Standing

<div class="byline">BY CHRIS ZELKOVICH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01272/3382339-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="507" height="451"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02201/3382332-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="450" height="455"></div>MONTREAL&mdash;If you take a close look at the National Hockey League scoring leaders you&rsquo;ll notice something that Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; fans haven&rsquo;t had the pleasure of seeing in recent years. For instance, there&rsquo;s a Canadien in fourth place in the scoring race. Another one in sixth. Another in twelfth. Yet another in 18th place.Four Canadiens in the top 20. That&rsquo;s a rarity for a team that hasn&rsquo;t had a scoring champion in 14 years (Bernie Geoffrion in 1960-61) and seldom has more than one or two players in the top 20.There&rsquo;s nothing mysterious about the Canadiens&rsquo; invasion of the top 20. It&rsquo;s simple &mdash; this club is scoring a lot of goals. And when you score a lot of goals, well, you&rsquo;re going to have a lot of players rating high in the scoring statistics.Since being shut out by Bernie Parent and the Philadelphia Flyers Nov. 2 the Canadiens have scored 66 goals in 11 games. That, friends, is a lot of goals. After 23 games of the current season only the Buffalo Sabres had scored more times than the Canadiens.With the Canadiens beating enemy netminders at an unprecedented rate you&rsquo;d expect all to be well at the Montreal Forum. While the Canadiens&rsquo; record of 6-2-3 for those 11 games isn&rsquo;t causing any unhappiness here, the team&rsquo;s goals-against record is.The Habs&rsquo; yield for the last 11 games has been 40 goals, an average of almost four per game. That, friends, is a lot of goals.The man to blame for the rash of goals is Jacques Lapierri&egrave;re, the veteran defenseman who has spent all of this season and the second half of last season on the sidelines because of a knee injury. It&rsquo;s not really fair to blame a man who&rsquo;s injured, but that&rsquo;s basically why Laperri&egrave;re is the culprit: The Canadiens miss him, badly.Laperri&egrave;re is the type of defenseman that plays strictly defensively and on a team populated by defensemen who play like forwards the skill of a Laperri&egrave;re is needed.Guy Lapointe and Serge Savard have been scoring goals more often than some of the Canadiens&rsquo; forwards, combining for 15 goals and 23 assists by the team&rsquo;s 23rd game. Defensively, though, they&rsquo;ve been a little lax.Larry Robinson has had a poor start and Pierre Bouchard has played so erratically lately he&rsquo;s been replaced by utility man Jim Roberts in the starting defensive alignment.The forwards have to take some of the blame as well. They&rsquo;ve been so busy scoring goals lately they haven&rsquo;t had time for defensive responsibilities. And Ken Dryden, who has seen his goals-against average soar to 3.18, hasn&rsquo;t even played as well as Wayne Thomas and Michel Larocque (remember them?) did last season.But those problems can be overcome if a man such as Laperri&egrave;re is in the lineup. Unfortunately, he isn&rsquo;t and there is still no indication as to when he will be or if he will be.His uncertain status opens up the possibility of a trade. The Canadiens need a defensive defenseman to fill the gap until Laperri&egrave;re returns and in either Thomas or Larocque and the handful of Canadiens who sit out every game, the team has definite trade bait.But Sam Pollock, the man who makes the trades here, isn&rsquo;t saying he&rsquo;s going to make any. He also isn&rsquo;t saying he won&rsquo;t.&ldquo;We re always trying to strengthen the team,&rdquo; he says, in a classic issuance of non-information. &ldquo;However we haven&rsquo;t been able to find anything that suits us yet.&rdquo;Pollock won&rsquo;t saying anything more than that (he couldn&rsquo;t have said much less), but it&rsquo;s apparent that the Canadiens can&rsquo;t trade either Thomas or Larocque for anything of value. Neither played well enough to keep the number onejob last year and they&rsquo;ve played one game between them this season. It&rsquo;s also common knowledge that Larocque is dealing with the WHA, so no team will offer much in return for him.So, if any trade is to be made it will most likely involve five or six players in one of Pollock&rsquo;s old-fashioned five-for-two trades or several smaller deals.And there are indications that a trade is in the wind. Larocque, who had played only one of the first 23 games, started against Pittsburgh and since the Penguins are in the market for a goaltender&hellip;The entire situation hinges on Laperri&egrave;re&rsquo;s knee. If it mends soon enough the Canadiens will have their defensive defenseman. If not. expect a trade.HAB-BITS: A national magazine writer was considering writing an article on Pierre Bouchard, but the Canadiens&rsquo; management advised him not to. Could it be because Pierre may not be in a Canadiens&rsquo; uniform much longer?&hellip; Glenn Goldup got the message when Mario Tremblay was given his number when the latter was called up from Nova Scotia. A week later Goldup was sent to the minors&hellip; The line of Tremblay, Yvon Lambert and Doug Risebrough has been one of the Canadiens&rsquo; best of late&hellip; Dryden surrendered 12 goals on the last weekend, including six in a 7-6 win over the Kansas City Scouts&hellip; Guy Lafleur missed that game with inflamed tonsils&hellip; Murray Wilson, who has only three goals to his credit, is bothered by a groin injury.<h2>SPORTS</h2>Guides, Yearbooks, Programs, Photos, Tickets, etc. Largest Selection. Lowest Prices. Fastest Service.FOR NEW CATALOG SEND 25c TO:G.-S. GALLERY, Dept. HN-MZ P.O. Box 475, Allentown, Pa. 18105. &#9632;

f0022-01

Canadiens Scoring More, But Enjoying It Less

MONTREAL &mdash;It didn&rsquo;t take the Montreal Canadiens long to make a move to strengthen their defense.After the Candiens defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Nov. 27, general manager Sam Pollock announced that left wing-center Chuck Lefley had been traded to the St. Louis Blues for veteran defenseman Don Awrey.Awrey, 31, is a 10-year veteran of the NHL who saw service with Boston and St. Louis. He is known as a defensive defenseman, something the Canadiens are sorely lacking with Jacques Laperri&egrave;re recuperating from a serious knee injury.The trade stunned both Awrey and Lefley.&ldquo;As far as I was concerned there wasn&rsquo;t even a rumor of a trade in St. Louis,&rdquo; Awrey said. &ldquo;I feel kind of bad leaving there. The team&rsquo;s doing badly and you feel like you should stay and help them. But I&rsquo;m going to a top team. It&rsquo;s like deserting a sinking ship.&rdquo;Lefley, 24, wasn&rsquo;t available for comment but he reportedly was not happy with the trade. But moving to St. Louis should provide him with ice time, something he was not getting with the Canadiens.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03175/3382377-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="553" height="636"><figcaption class="caption-body">DON AWREY &hellip; New Hab</figcaption></div>Lefley was a first round draft choice of the Canadiens in 1970 and scored 45 goals in just over two years with the team. This season he had one goals and two assists while playing sparingly.Most of the Canadiens were surprised by the trade, mainly because they felt someone other than Lefley would go.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04135/3382370-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="554" height="638"><figcaption class="caption-body">CHUCK LEFLEY &hellip; Ice Time</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I thought it would be someone like me or John Van Boxmeer,&rdquo; said veteran Claude Larose. &ldquo;But not Chuck Lefley.&ldquo;Of course, there might be something coming right behind it. You never know.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0022-03

Habs Bolster Leaky Defense By Trading Lefley For Awrey

<div class="byline">BY HAL SIGURDSON</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;You have this team that has come from left field to move into a big early lead in the National Hockey League&rsquo;s Smythe Division.Suddenly everyone in hockey is asking the same question: &ldquo;Hey, are these guys for real?&rdquo;A fair question and what better way to get the answer than to send the Vancouver Canucks, the team responsible for all this curiosity, on a road trip that required them to play the Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers, the rugged New York Islanders and the Stanley Cup finalist Boston Bruins in a four-day span.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01251/3382408-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="269" height="433"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chris Oddleifson</figcaption></div>Since the Canucks managed to escape this series of pitfalls with a .500 record of a win, a loss and a tie, there is now concrete evidence they really are something more than morning glories.The Flyers may still suspect Vancouver was using mirrors since the Mad Squad came out of the game with a 40-15 advantage in shots after hitting every blue sweater in sight. But they couldn&rsquo;t argue with the final score which read Vancouver 4, Philadelphia 3.While the Flyers were trying to run them out of the Spectrum, the Canucks scored two power-play goals in the first period. Then they scored on the only shot they got in the second period, which left it to Chris Oddleifson to drill home the winner late in the game after a goal by Jimmy Watson had tied the score at 3-3.And Oddleifson was back two nights later to jab home the tying goal against Long Island with just 45 seconds left to play and goal tender Gary Smith on the bench in favor of a sixth attacker.That goal extended the Canucks&rsquo; unbeaten streak to a club record seven games (5-0-2) without a loss and improved their road record to 6-1-2.But the next night the Canucks ran out of miracles. The aroused Bruins pelted them with a 46-shot attack en route to a 7-4victory. Railbirds insisted it was Boston&rsquo;s best performance of the young season.But worrying general manager-coach Phil Maloney more than the loss was a growing string of injuries.Right winger Dennis Ververgaert came out of the Philadelphia game with a bruised shoulder to go with his already wonky knee. But though he needed help to get on his equipment, he insisted on skating the next day and refused to come out of the lineup.Defenseman Bob Dailey had a charley horse as a souvenir of his visit to the Island, while defenseman Mike Robitaille came out of the Boston game with a badly sprained wrist that knocked him right out of the lineup and will keep him out for 10 days.At the time the Canucks already had two regulars out with injuries, though both are now playing again. Winger Paulin Bordeleau missed four games with a bruised back, while defenseman Dennis Kearns was forced out of five with a pulled muscle in the thigh.But as long as one player&mdash;goaltender Gary Smith&mdash;remains healthy enough to play, the Canucks are obviously going to be tough.There is absolutely no question that Smith is for real and with him in their nets, so are the Canucks. &#9632;

f0023-01

Canucks Prove They’re For Real On Gruelling Road Trip

(Standings on Mon. Dec. 2)<h2>NORRIS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-239/3382701-1-eng-US/f0024-232.jpg" title="f0024-23" width="539" height="182"></div><h2>ADAMS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-248/3382694-1-eng-US/f0024-242.jpg" title="f0024-24" width="540" height="156"></div><h2>PATRICK DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-256/3382687-1-eng-US/f0024-252.jpg" title="f0024-25" width="535" height="156"></div><h2>SMYTHE DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-264/3382680-1-eng-US/f0024-262.jpg" title="f0024-26" width="541" height="186"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. Nov. 25St. Louis 2 at Toronto 2.Tue. Nov. 26Vancouver 3 at Kansas City 4Wed. Nov. 27Toronto 1 at N.Y. Rangers 4; N.Y. Islanders 3 at Los Angeles 3; Detroit 4 at Philadelphia 6, Kansas City 2 at Atlanta 4; Montreal 3 at Pittsburgh 2; Washington 4 at Minnesota 6; Vancouver 6 at St. Louis 1: Buffalo 3 at Chicago 1. Boston 3 at California 1.Thu. Nov. 28Detroit 2 at Buffalo 5Fri. Nov 29N.Y. Rangers 2 at Atlanta 3; N.Y. Islanders 3 at California 3Sat. Nov. 30N.Y. Islanders 0 at Vancouver 3; St Louis 1 at Montreal 7; Washington 1 at Toronto 7; Buffalo 5 at Pittsburgh 5; Detroit 1 at Kansas City 0; Boston 0 at Los Angeles 2; Chicago 3 at Minnesota 5.Sun. Dec. 1St. Louis 4 at N.Y Rangers 4; Kansas City 0 at Philadelphia 10; California 5 at Washington 2; Pittsburgh 3 at Buffalo 6. Minnesota 0 at Chicago 3; Toronto at Detroit (postponed).<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Mon. Dec. 2Atlanta at MontrealTue. Dec. 3Buffalo at Washington Minnesota at Vancouver. California at St LouisWed. Dec. 4Detroit at N.Y Rangers. Atlanta at California; Boston at Montreal. Toronto at Pittsburgh; Minnesota at Los Angeles. Kansas City at ChicagoThu. Dec. 5Toronto at N.Y Islanders; Chicago at Philadelphia; Washington at Buffalo; Detroit at BostonFri. Dec. 6Philadelphia at Kansas City. Atlanta at Vancouver; Minnesota at CaliforniaSat. Dec. 7N.Y Rangers at Chicago; Kansas City at N.Y. Islanders; Atlanta at Los Angeles; Pittsburgh at Montreal. Washington at St. Louis; Detroit at TorontoSun. Dec. 8Montreal at N.Y Rangers. N.Y Islanders at Philadelphia; St Louis at Washington; Pittsburgh at Boston. Vancouver at Detroit; Toronto at Chicago; Minnesota at BuffaioTue. Dec. 10St. Louis at N.Y Islanders; Montreal at Minnesota; California at Vancouver; Boston at Kansas CityWed Dec. 11Chicago at Atlanta; Los Angeles at TorontoThu. Dec. 12N.Y Rangers at Washington Minnesota at Philadelphia; Montreal at Pittsburgh; St Louis at Detroit; Los Angeles at Boston; Vancouver at Buffalo; California at Kansas CityFri. Dec 13Philadelphia at Atlanta &#9632;

f0024-23

LOOKING AT THE NHL SCOREBOARD

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01255/3382649-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg"></div>WARNING: The Department of National Health and Welfare advises that danger.to health increases with amount smoked.<h2>Mon. Nov. 25</h2>ST. LOUIS 2, TORONTO 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02193/3382642-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="588" height="484"></div><h2>Tue. Nov. 26</h2>VANCOUVER 3, KANSAS CITY 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03137/3382635-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="595" height="545"></div><h2>Wed. Nov. 27</h2>TORONTO 1, RANGERS 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04105/3382628-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="602" height="513"></div>ISLANDERS 3, LOS ANGELES 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0584/3382621-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="598" height="489"></div>DETROIT 4, PHILADELPHIA 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0671/3382614-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="594" height="438"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0757/3382607-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="588" height="146"></div>KANSAS CITY 2, ATLANTA 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0852/3382600-1-eng-US/f0024-082.jpg" title="f0024-08" width="585" height="463"></div>MONTREAL 3, PITTSBURGH 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0947/3382593-1-eng-US/f0024-092.jpg" title="f0024-09" width="587" height="460"></div>WASHINGTON 4, MINNESOTA 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1041/3382586-1-eng-US/f0024-102.jpg" title="f0024-10" width="588" height="286"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1139/3382579-1-eng-US/f0024-112.jpg" title="f0024-11" width="590" height="349"></div>VANCOUVER 6, ST. LOUIS 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1233/3382572-1-eng-US/f0024-122.jpg" title="f0024-12" width="594" height="597"></div>BUFFALO 3, CHICAGO 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1325/3382565-1-eng-US/f0024-132.jpg" title="f0024-13" width="584" height="455"></div>BOSTON 3, CALIFORNIA 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1419/3382558-1-eng-US/f0024-142.jpg" title="f0024-14" width="604" height="438"></div><h2>Thur. Nov. 28</h2>DETROIT 2. BUFFALO 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1515/3382551-1-eng-US/f0024-152.jpg" title="f0024-15" width="592" height="586"></div><h2>Fri. Nov. 29</h2>HANGERS 2, ATLANTA 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1613/3382544-1-eng-US/f0024-162.jpg" title="f0024-16" width="589" height="270"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1711/3382537-1-eng-US/f0024-172.jpg" title="f0024-17" width="591" height="253"></div>ISLANDERS 3, CALIFORNIA 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1810/3382530-1-eng-US/f0024-182.jpg" title="f0024-18" width="598" height="517"></div><h2>Sat. Nov. 30</h2>ISLANDERS 0, VANCOUVER 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1910/3382523-1-eng-US/f0024-192.jpg" title="f0024-19" width="595" height="408"></div>ST. LOUIS 1, MONTREAL 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-209/3382516-1-eng-US/f0024-202.jpg" title="f0024-20" width="602" height="610"></div>WASHINGTON 1, TORONTO 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-219/3382509-1-eng-US/f0024-212.jpg" title="f0024-21" width="607" height="522"></div>BUFFALO 5, PITTSBURGH 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-229/3382502-1-eng-US/f0024-222.jpg" title="f0024-22" width="593" height="160"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01206/3382495-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="605" height="410"></div>DETROIT 1, KANSAS CITY 0<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02145/3382488-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="589" height="413"></div>BOSTON 0, LOS ANGELES 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03105/3382481-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="579" height="353"></div>CHICAGO 3, MINNESOTA 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0480/3382474-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="596" height="583"></div><h2>Sun. Dec. 1</h2>ST. LOUIS 4, RANGERS 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0570/3382467-1-eng-US/f0025-052.jpg" title="f0025-05" width="612" height="577"></div>KANSAS CITY 0, PHILADELPHIA 10<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0654/3382460-1-eng-US/f0025-062.jpg" title="f0025-06" width="613" height="557"></div>CALIFORNIA 5, WASHINGTON 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0751/3382453-1-eng-US/f0025-072.jpg" title="f0025-07" width="593" height="494"></div>PITTSBURGH 3, BUFFALO 6FIRST PERIOD<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0843/3382446-1-eng-US/f0025-082.jpg" title="f0025-08" width="597" height="524"></div>MINNESOTA 0, CHICAGO 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0937/3382439-1-eng-US/f0025-092.jpg" title="f0025-09" width="596" height="444"></div> &#9632;

f0024-01

National Hockey League Summaries

C&mdash;CaptainA&mdash;Alternate*&mdash;Rookie<h2>BOSTON</h2>GOALGilles GilbertRoss BrooksKen BroderickDEFENSEGary DoakDarryl EdestrandBobby Orr AAl SimsDallas Smith ACarol VadnaisCENTERPhil Esposito AWalt McKechnieAndre SavardGregg SheppardR. WINGKen HodgeTerry O&rsquo;ReillyDave Hynes*L. WINGJohn Bucyk CDave ForbesDon MarcotteINJUREDBobby SchmautzWayne Cashman<h2>BUFFALO</h2>GOALGary Bromley *Rocky Farr*Roger CrozierDEFENSELarry CarriereLee Fogolln*Bill Hajt*Jerry KorabJ. GuevremontPaul McIntosh*CENTERDon Luce AJim LorentzGil Perreault AR. WINGNorm GrattonLarry MickeyRene RobertDanny Gare*L. WINGRichard MartinCraig RamsayBrian SpencerRick DudleyINJUREDPeter McNab*J. Schoenfeld C<h2>DETROIT</h2>GOALJim RutherfordDoug GrantDEFENSEThommie BergmanGary Bergman AJean HamelJack LynchBryan WatsonBarry Salovaara*CENTERRed BerensonMarcel Dionne CGuy CharronBrian Murphy*Rick McCann*R. WINGEarl Anderson*Mickey Redmond ABill Lochead*Doug RobertsBrian McCutcheon*L. WINGNick Libett AHank Nowak*Danny GrantBlair Stewart*INJUREDBill Hogaboam<h2>ISLANDERS</h2>GOALGlen Resch *Billy SmithDEFENSEDave Fortier*Gerry HartDave LewisBert Marshall AJean PotvinDenis PotvinCENTERLorne HenningBob Bourne*Ralph Stewart AEddie Westfall CDoug RomboughR. WINGCraig CameronBilly Harris ABob NystromAndre St. LaurentL. WINGClark Gillies*Ernie HickeGarry HowattBilly MacMillanINJUREDNone<h2>MONTREAL</h2>GOALKen DrydenMichel LarocqueWayne ThomasDEFENSEPierre BouchardGuy LapointeLarry RobinsonSerge Savard AJ. Van BoxmeerDon AwreyCENTERJacques LemairePete MahovlichDoug Risebrough *Yvon LambertR. WINGYvan Cournoyer AClaude Larose AJim RobertsGuy LafleurMario Tremblay *L. WINGBob GaineyGlen SatherSteve ShuttMurray WilsonINJUREDJ. LaperriereHenri Richard C<h2>RANGERS</h2>GOALEd GiacominGilles ViilemureDEFENSENick BeverleyJoe Zanussi*Gilles MarotteBrad Park CJohn Bednarski*Ron Greschner*CENTERJean RatelleDerek SandersonPete Stemkowski ABob MacMillan*R. WINGJerry ButlerBill FairbairnRod Gilbert ARick Middleton*L. WINGTed IrvineSteve VickersGreg PolisBert Wilson*INJUREDDale RolfeRon HarrisBobby RousseauWalt Tkaczuk<h2>TORONTO</h2>GOALDoug FavellDune WilsonDEFENSEBrian GlennieJim McKennyBob NeelyClaire Alexander*Dave DunnCENTERDave Keon CDarryl SittierNorm Ullman AJack Valiquette*R. WINGRon Ellis ABill FlettBlaine StoughtonLanny McDonaldGary SabourinL. WINGInge HammarstromLyle Moffat*Eddie ShackErrol ThompsonINJUREDIan TurnbullRod SeilingBorje SalminqGeorge Ferguson<h2>VANCOUVER</h2>GOALGary SmithKen Lockett*DEFENSEBob DaileyDennis KearnsTracy PrattAb DeMarcoJohnTarisdaleCENTERAndre BoudriasChris OddleifsonGerry MeehanR. WINGPaulin BordeleauGregg BoddyDennis VervergaertLeon RochefortJerry O&rsquo;FlahertyL. WINGJohn GouldDon LeverBobby LalondeGarry MonahanBob Hurlburt*INJUREDMike Robitaille<h2>KANSAS CITY</h2>GOALMichel PlassePeter McDuffe*DEFENSEMike Baumgartner*Brent Hughes AJim McElmury*Bart CrashleyLarry GirouxRoger Lemelin*CENTEREddie Gilbert*Richard LemieuxHugh HarveyDave HudsonLynn PowisR. WINGSimon Nolet CWilf Paiement*Randy Rota ATed SnellL. WINGRobin Burns*Gary CroteauGlen Burdon*INJUREDNone<h2>ATLANTA</h2>GOALDan BouchardPhil MyreDEFENSEDwight Bialowas*Jean LemieuxRandy ManeryPat Quinn ANoel Price ABob Murray*CENTERCurt BennettRey ComeauBryan HextaliTom LysiakR. WINGHilliard GravesBuster HarveyDean Talafous*Tim EcclestoneL. WINGJacques RichardKeith McCreary CEric VailINJUREDLarry RomanchychBob Leiter A<h2>CALIFORNIA</h2>GOALGilles MelocheGary Simmons*Marv EdwardsDEFENSELen Frig ARick Hampton*Brent Meeke*Bob StewartTerry MurrayCENTERRon Huston*Larry Patey*Stan WeirDave GardnerR. WINGWayne King*Morris MottWarren WilliamsAl MacAdam*Jim Moxqy*L. WINGJoey Johnston CJohn StewartDave Hrechkosy*Brian LavenderINJUREDMike Christie*Tom Price*Jim Neilson<h2>CHICAGO</h2>GOALTony EspositoMike Veisor*DEFENSEDoug Jarrett ADick RedmondPhil RussellBill White ARoger Wilson*CENTERIvan BoldirevPit MartinStan Mikita ADuane Wylie*R. WINGJ.P. BordeleauAlain Daigle*Cliff KorollGrant Mulvey*Jim PappinLOWINGDennis HullDarcy RotaJohn MarksGermain GagnonINJUREDKeith MagnusonDale Tallon<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2>GOALRogatien VachonGary EdwardsDEFENSELarry BrownTerry Harper CDave Hutchison*S. KannegeisserNeil KomadoskiBob MurdochCENTERGene CarrButch GoringVic VenaskyJuha Widing AR. WINGMike CorriganDon KozakMike MurphyBob NevinFrank St. MarseilleL. WINGBob BerryDan Maloney ATom WilliamsINJUREDNone<h2>MINNESOTA</h2>GOALCesare ManiagoPeter LoPresti *DEFENSEBarry Gibbs ADoug Hicks *FredBarrettTom ReidChris Ahrens*CENTERJude DrouinDennis Hextail AMurray OliverR. WINGJohn Flesch*Bill Goldsworthy CLou NanneHenry BouchaL. WINGDon Martineau*Blake Dunlop*Jean-Paul Parise A.Richard Nantais*Rod Norrish*INJUREDFern RivardDennis O&rsquo;BrienFred Stanfield<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2>GOALWayne StephensonBemie ParentBob TaylorDEFENSEAndre DupontTed HarrisEd Van ImpeTom BladonJimmy WatsonJoe WatsonCENTERRick MacLeishBill ClementTerry Crisp AOrest KindrachukBobby Clarke CR. WINGGary Dornhoefer AReg LeachDon SaleskiL. WINGBill BarberDave SchultzBob KellyRoss LonsberryINJUREDNone<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2>GOALGary Inness*Bob Johnson*DEFENSEDave Burrows ABarry WilkinsRon StackhouseBob ParadiseDennis Owchar*Jean-Guy Lagac6CENTERSyl Apps ARon Lalonde ARon Schock CPierre Larouche*R. WINGChuck ArnasonRick KehoeKelly Pratt*Jean PronovostL. WINGVic HadfieldNelson Debenedet*Bob KellyLowell MacDonaldINJUREDSteve Durbano<h2>ST LOUIS</h2>GOALJohn DavidsonEddie JohnstonDEFENSEBob Gassoff*Bob Hess*Barclay Plager CBob Plager ALarry Sacharuk*Chris EvansCENTERWayne MerrickGarry Unger ADoug Palazzari*Ken Richardson *R. WINGBill CollinsPierre PlanteFrank Spring*Craig PatrickL. WINGAce Baileyt* Stan GilbertsonFloyd ThomsonI Phil RobertoChuck LefleyINJUREDNone<h2>WASHINGTON</h2>GOALMichel BelhumeurRon LowDEFENSEGreg Joly*Yvon LabreBill MikkelsonDoug MohnsGordon Smith*Willie BrossartCENTERAndre Peloffy*Pete LaframboiseTommy WilliamsDave KryskowR. WINGSteve AtkinsonGordie BrooksLew MorrisonMike Marson*L. WINGBruce Cowick*Denis DupereBob Gryp*Bill LesukPaul Nicholson*INJUREDJack Egers &#9632;

NHL Team Rosters

BOBBY HULLWinnipeg JetsMost hockey fans will remember those unfounded rumors that circulated early last season claiming that Bobby Hull was over the hill. If Hull is over the hill then Phil Esposito is a minor leaguer.Hull proved his worth again last year with another 50 goals and at the rate he&rsquo;s scoring this season the Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; left winger could hif 70. He boosted his total to 23 last week with six goals and two assists in leading the Jets to three WHA victories.The highlight was a four-goal outburst in Winnipeg&rsquo;s 7-6 victory over Michigan.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03128/3382825-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="586" height="617"></div>HUGH HARRISPhoenix RoadrunnersIf there was any question that the New England Whalers misjudged Hugh Harris&rsquo; abilities he answered it last week. The answer is a definite yes.The Phoenix left winger was shipped to the Roadrunners by the Whalers after a 24-goal season. The former Buffalo Sabre has shown the Whalers they made a mistake in trading him by scoring 10 goals in the early weeks of the season.The 26-year-old scored four goals last week and added thige assists as the Roadrunners picked up three points in three games. Now all he has to do is score a few of those goals when the Roadrunners meet the Whalers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0497/3382818-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="601" height="622"></div> &#9632;

f0026-03

WHA’s Stars of the week

<div class="byline">BY RICH PASSAN</div>SPRINGFIELD &mdash;The New England Whalers are playing hockey the way they did in the 1972-73 season and that spells trouble for the rest of the World Hockey Association. particularly the East Division.There&rsquo;s nothing spectacular about the Whalers unless you regard winning as spectacular. If you do, then coach Ron Ryan&rsquo;s skaters have been sensational.In their first 17 outings, the Whalers emerged victorious on 13 occasions with a fine display of offensive and defensive balance and some outstanding goaltending. In only two games have they been blown out of the arena &mdash; losses to Toronto and Houston. &ldquo;This has been a team thing with us,&rdquo; pointed out Ryan, trying to duplicate the Whalers&rsquo; World Trophy championship during that initial WHA campaign. &ldquo;Our defense is much better as a team. It&rsquo;s been something we&rsquo;ve worked on since training camp.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01194/3382863-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="278" height="416"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Hillman</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t forget, we&rsquo;ve added a lot of new people (seven) which could have made it difficult, but everybody has adjusted well.&rdquo;Ryan had particular praise for defenseman Rick Ley and center Wayne Carleton. &ldquo;Ley is playing, by far, the best hockey he&rsquo;s ever played for us,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;And Carleton is playing great twoway hockey. He&rsquo;s not getting his points, but we have so much balance, it&rsquo;s tough for anybody to get up there from our team.&rdquo;&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no way I can be happier with Carleton&rsquo;s attitude. He&rsquo;s a compeltely dedicated team player and a great addition to our club. We have a few leaders on our club and he&rsquo;s added to that leadership.&rdquo;The return of another pivot, little Terry Caffery, has proved immeasurably helpful. Especially to right winger Tom Webster.Hawkeye, as Webster is known to his his teammates and opponents, saw his goal production fall off from 53 in his first WHA campaign to 43 last season. And the reason, many suspect, was the absence of Caffery, out for the year with a bad knee.&ldquo;They play so well together,&rdquo; said Ryan. It reflects in Webster&rsquo;s stats, which show him with 12 goals in his first 15 games.&ldquo;Caffery is a tremendous opportunist,&rdquo; praised Ryan. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t give that line a break. It&rsquo;s not big physically, but they are tremendous with the puck.&rdquo; Al Karlander plays the left wing on the line.Carleton centers for Mike Byers and left winger Fred O&rsquo;Donnell. &ldquo;That line has given up a very low number of goals,&rdquo; Ryan pointed out.The top all-around line has Larry Pleau centering for right winger Tim Sheehy and left winger John French. &ldquo;These guys usually draw the other team&rsquo;s top scoring line,&rdquo; said Ryan.The penalty killing of veteran Tom Earl and rookie Gary Swain brings a smile to Ryan&rsquo;s face. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there are any two better in the league,&rdquo; he said. The Whalers&rsquo; penalty killers allowed only four goals in the first 15 games.The over-all fine defense has aided goalies Al Smith and Christer Abrahamsson to ring up one of the best set of statistics in the league. In a recent 4-0 victory over the Indianapolis Racers, the defense blocked 21 shots, most by Paul Hurley and Brad Seiwood.The Whalers&rsquo; good start, which included a seven-game winning streak, obviously pleases Ryan, but he is taking nothing for granted, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s still a little too early yet,&rdquo; he cautioned. &ldquo;A lot of things can happen.&rdquo;This edition of the Whalers appears to be stronger than the one that went all the way in the spring of 1973. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a lot stronger physically,&rdquo; said Ryan, an assistant to Jack Kelley at that time.The Whalers will be moving into their new home at the Hartford Civic Center sooner than expected. Instead of opening Jan. 15 against the Chicago Cougars, they will open four days earlier against the San Diego Mariners since construction of the new building is ahead of schedule.GM Jack Kelley has rewarded goal tender Al Smith&rsquo;s fine play by tearing up his old contract and giving him a new multi-year pact with a raise.CLEVELAND: The Crusaders finally won a game at home, handing the Quebec Nordiques a 3-1 setback Nov. 24 at the Coliseum. The C&rsquo;s dropped their first two home efforts to Edmonton and Toronto.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s good to get that first one&rsquo; sighed coach John Hanna after the game. Hanna also was happy to see Gerry Cheevers return to form after a couple of sub-par performances.What has hurt the Crusaders more than anything is an impotent powerplay. In an eight-game stretch, the Clevelanders had 17 opportunities with a man advantage and clicked on none. Hanna has tried several power-play combinations, but to no avail.Rookie defenseman Paul Baxter, whose knee was ripped up while playing with the C&rsquo;s farm team at Cape Cod of the North American Hockey League, has dropped 44 pounds since training camp and is now down to a svelte 178. He expects to begin therapy later this month and says he&rsquo;ll be ready to play by late January.Veteran defenseman Wayne Hillman has been suspended by the C&rsquo;s for failure to report to a trade. GM Jack Vivian swapped the rearguard to the Michigan Stags, but Hillman maintains he has a no-trade clause in his contract and did not report. Vivian still hopes to make the deal, which would bring two forwards and a young defenseman to Cleveland.INDIANAPOLIS: Things have gone from bad to worse for the hapless Racers. Right after their first winning streak of the season &mdash; three games &mdash; they plunged to the depths of another losing streak, one that reached seven games and was going strong by Nov. 24.But the schedule maker, as much as anyone, had to do with the Racers&rsquo; anyone, had to do with the Racers&rsquo; woes. In a 12-day stretch, the club played eight games with Houston, Chicago, New England. Toronto, Winnipeg, Quebec, Cleveland and Houston again.It got so bad that the Racers went 177 minutes and 28 seconds between goals at home during one frustrating stretch.New England and Houston hung whitewashes on Indy between Brian McKenzie&rsquo;s goal against San Diego and Nick Harbaruk&rsquo;s tally in a 9-2 loss to Toronto. It was Harbaruk&rsquo;s first goal of the season in 19 games.Bearing up under it all has been goal-tender Andy Brown, who has amazed the fans with his net wizardry. &ldquo;Can&rsquo;t fault him for that,&rdquo; is the familiar chant when Brownie lets one get by. His goals-against average, which has risen to 4.43, is not indicative of his play for the Racers.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02152/3382856-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="1163" height="1405"><figcaption class="caption-body">WAYNE CARLETON&hellip; Playing Top Two-Way Hockey</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0027-01

Whalers In Old Time Ice Form Losing Only Two Of 17 Starts

(Standings on Tue. Dec. 3)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-2410/3383198-1-eng-US/f0028-242.jpg" title="f0028-24" width="562" height="592"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Tue. Nov. 26Phoenix 6 at Houston 4; Winnipeg 4 at Indianapolis 0; Vancouver 5 at Michigan 1; Minnesota 6 at Toronto 2; Edmonton 1 at San Diego 5; New England 5 at Quebec 4Wed. Nov. 27Chicago 4 at Phoenix 2; Winnipeg 4 at Cleveland 5.Thu. Nov. 28Edmonton 0 at Houston 2; Quebec 7 at Indianapolis 5; Chicago 3 at San Diego 2; Vancouver 6 at Toronto 2.Fri. Nov. 29New England 1 at Vancouver 5; Toronto 4 at Phoenix 4; Indianapolis 2 at Cleveland 4; Michigan 6 at Winnipeg 7.Sat. Nov. 30Cleveland 5 at Houston 4; Chicago 7 at Minnesota 5.Sun. Dec. 1Phoenix 3 at Mihnesota 4; New England 4 at Edmonton 8; Quebec 2 at Winnipeg 3; Houston 7 at Indianapolis 3; Michigan at Cleveland (postponed); Toronto 3 at San Diego 1<h2>GAMES TO COME</h2>Tue. Dec. 3New England at Michigan; Houston at Toronto; Phoenix at San DiegoWed. Dec. 4San Diego at Phoenix; Minnesota at Quebec; New England at Cleveland; Houston at WinnipegThu. Dec. 5Chicago at Indianapolis; San Diego at Michigan; New England at QuebecFri. Dec. 6Edmonton at Phoenix; Winnipeg at Minnesota.Sat. Dec. 7San Diego at Cleveland; Michigan at Vancouver; Toronto at Chicago; Indianapolis at New England.Sun. Dec. 8Houston at Quebec; Michigan at Edmonton; Toronto at Phoenix; Chicago at Winnipeg; San Diego at Indianapolis; Minnesota at Vancouver.Tue. Dec. 10Vancouver at Cleveland; Winnipeg at Indianapolis; Minnesota at Toronto; Michigan at San Diego; Phoenix at ChicagoWed. Dec. 11Vancouver at Houston; Edmonton at Quebec; Minnesota at New England.Thu. Dec. 12Vancouver at Phoenix; Winnipeg at Michigan; Cleveland at Quebec.Fri. Dec. 13Edmonton at Minnesota; Cleveland at Toronto.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-259/3383191-1-eng-US/f0028-252.jpg" title="f0028-25" width="252" height="281"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-269/3383184-1-eng-US/f0028-262.jpg" title="f0028-26" width="215" height="283"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-279/3383177-1-eng-US/f0028-272.jpg" title="f0028-27" width="245" height="243"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-289/3383170-1-eng-US/f0028-282.jpg" title="f0028-28" width="246" height="256"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-299/3383163-1-eng-US/f0028-292.jpg" title="f0028-29" width="237" height="243"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-309/3383156-1-eng-US/f0028-302.jpg" title="f0028-30" width="320" height="237"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-319/3383149-1-eng-US/f0028-312.jpg" title="f0028-31" width="260" height="256"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-329/3383142-1-eng-US/f0028-322.jpg" title="f0028-32" width="262" height="241"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-339/3383135-1-eng-US/f0028-332.jpg" title="f0028-33" width="220" height="219"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-348/3383128-1-eng-US/f0028-342.jpg" title="f0028-34" width="280" height="212"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-356/3383121-1-eng-US/f0028-352.jpg" title="f0028-35" width="241" height="246"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-366/3383114-1-eng-US/f0028-362.jpg" title="f0028-36" width="309" height="330"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-375/3383107-1-eng-US/f0028-372.jpg" title="f0028-37" width="301" height="246"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-385/3383100-1-eng-US/f0028-382.jpg" title="f0028-38" width="211" height="244"></div> &#9632;

f0028-24

WHA Scoreboard

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02124/3383062-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="603" height="720"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01185/3383069-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="154" height="206"></div><h2>Tue. Nov. 26</h2>PHOENIX 6, HOUSTON 4WINNIPEG 4, INDIANAPOLIS 0<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0390/3383055-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="599" height="461"></div>VANCOUVER 5, MICHIGAN 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0470/3383048-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="609" height="497"></div>MINNESOTA 6, TORONTO 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0558/3383041-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="591" height="547"></div>EDMONTON 1, SAN DIEGO 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0649/3383034-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="596" height="551"></div>NEW ENGLAND 5, QUEBEC 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0742/3383027-1-eng-US/f0028-072.jpg" title="f0028-07" width="597" height="608"></div><h2>Wed. Nov. 27</h2>CHICAGO 4, PHOENIX 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0838/3383020-1-eng-US/f0028-082.jpg" title="f0028-08" width="594" height="498"></div>WINNIPEG 4, CLEVELAND 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0934/3383013-1-eng-US/f0028-092.jpg" title="f0028-09" width="601" height="701"></div><h2>Thur. Nov. 28</h2>QUEBEC 7, INDIANAPOLIS 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1033/3383006-1-eng-US/f0028-102.jpg" title="f0028-10" width="593" height="309"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1127/3382999-1-eng-US/f0028-112.jpg" title="f0028-11" width="600" height="456"></div>EDMONTON 0, HOUSTON 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1225/3382992-1-eng-US/f0028-122.jpg" title="f0028-12" width="602" height="480"></div>VANCOUVER 6, TORONTO 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1321/3382985-1-eng-US/f0028-132.jpg" title="f0028-13" width="593" height="554"></div>CHICAGO 3, SAN DIEGO 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1415/3382978-1-eng-US/f0028-142.jpg" title="f0028-14" width="568" height="101"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1515/3382971-1-eng-US/f0028-152.jpg" title="f0028-15" width="558" height="355"></div><h2>Fri. Nov. 29</h2>MICHIGAN 6, WINNIPEG 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1614/3382964-1-eng-US/f0028-162.jpg" title="f0028-16" width="602" height="706"></div>INDIANAPOLIS 2, CLEVELAND 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1712/3382957-1-eng-US/f0028-172.jpg" title="f0028-17" width="592" height="500"></div>NEW ENGLAND 1,VANCOUVER 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1813/3382950-1-eng-US/f0028-182.jpg" title="f0028-18" width="598" height="533"></div>TORONTO 4, PHOENIX 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1913/3382943-1-eng-US/f0028-192.jpg" title="f0028-19" width="598" height="649"></div><h2>Sat. Nov. 30</h2>CLEVELAND 5, HOUSTON 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-2011/3382936-1-eng-US/f0028-202.jpg" title="f0028-20" width="602" height="551"></div>CHICAGO 7, MINNESOTA 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-2111/3382929-1-eng-US/f0028-212.jpg" title="f0028-21" width="598" height="723"></div><h2>Sun. Dec. 1</h2>PHOENIX 3, MINNESOTA 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-2210/3382922-1-eng-US/f0028-222.jpg" title="f0028-22" width="616" height="519"></div>NEW ENGLAND 4, EDMONTON 8<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-2310/3382915-1-eng-US/f0028-232.jpg" title="f0028-23" width="602" height="299"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02105/3382908-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="600" height="407"></div>QUEBEC 2, WINNIPEG 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0379/3382901-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="597" height="461"></div>HOUSTON 7, INDIANAPOLIS 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0460/3382894-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="607" height="565"></div> &#9632;

f0028-02

World Hockey Association Summaries

<h2>NEW ENGLAND</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01153/3383348-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="587" height="576"></div><h2>SAN DIEGO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02124/3383341-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="588" height="622"></div><h2>VANCOUVER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0383/3383334-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="595" height="531"></div><h2>CLEVELAND</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0463/3383327-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="597" height="586"></div><h2>WINNIPEG</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0557/3383320-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="597" height="584"></div><h2>PHOENIX</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0642/3383313-1-eng-US/f0029-062.jpg" title="f0029-06" width="597" height="515"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0733/3383306-1-eng-US/f0029-072.jpg" title="f0029-07" width="600" height="74"></div><h2>INDIANAPOLIS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0829/3383299-1-eng-US/f0029-082.jpg" title="f0029-08" width="600" height="669"></div><h2>TORONTO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0925/3383292-1-eng-US/f0029-092.jpg" title="f0029-09" width="592" height="575"></div><h2>QUEBEC</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1021/3383285-1-eng-US/f0029-102.jpg" title="f0029-10" width="599" height="589"></div><h2>CHICAGO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1118/3383278-1-eng-US/f0029-112.jpg" title="f0029-11" width="609" height="648"></div><h2>MINNESOTA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1214/3383271-1-eng-US/f0029-122.jpg" title="f0029-12" width="595" height="613"></div><h2>MICHIGAN</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-139/3383264-1-eng-US/f0029-132.jpg" title="f0029-13" width="583" height="233"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-148/3383257-1-eng-US/f0029-142.jpg" title="f0029-14" width="592" height="389"></div><h2>HOUSTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-154/3383250-1-eng-US/f0029-152.jpg" title="f0029-15" width="609" height="526"></div><h2>EDMONTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-162/3383243-1-eng-US/f0029-162.jpg" title="f0029-16" width="614" height="557"></div><h3>GOALERS&rsquo; RECORDS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-172/3383236-1-eng-US/f0029-172.jpg" title="f0029-17" width="590" height="336"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-182/3383229-1-eng-US/f0029-182.jpg" title="f0029-18" width="564" height="892"><figcaption class="caption-body">SERGE BERNIER &hellip;Leading Nordique</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

WHA’s Team Scoring, Penalty Statistics

<h2>CLEVELAND</h2>GOALGerry CheeversBob WhiddenDEFENSERay ClearwaterTom EdurLarry HillmanWayne HillmanWayne MuloinPaul ShmyrRon AndersonCENTERJim HarrisonRich LeducJohn Stewart*Ron WardR. WINGTerry Holbrook *Skip KrakeAl McDonoughL. WINGSteve CardwellGrant EricksonGarry JarrettGerry PinderRuss WalkerINJUREDNone<h2>CHICAGO</h2>GOALDave DrydenCam NewtonDEFENSEBryon Baltimore *Darryl MaggsJim WatsonLarry MavetyPat StapletonDune MacCallumCENTERRalph BackstromMark Lomenda *Gary MacGregor*RodZaineJoe HardyR. WINGPete Mara*Don GordonDuke HarrisRosaire PaiementL. WINGBob LiddingtonRick MorrisJan PopielFrankie RochonINJUREDNone.<h2>EDMONTON</h2>GOALKen BrownChris WorthyJacques PlanteDEFENSEDoug BarrieKen BairdAl HamiltonBarry LongRay McKayJim McCrimmonCENTEREddie JoyalRoss PerkinsMike Rogers *Bobby SheehanRon BuchananR. WINGTom GilmoreBruce MacGregorRusty PatenaudeDon HerrimanL. WINGRon ClimieBlair MacDonaldSteve CarlyleINJUREDNone<h2>HOUSTON</h2>GOALWayne RutledgeRon GrahameDEFENSELarry HaleMarty HoweGlen Irwin*Poul PopielJohn SchellaCENTERGord LabossiereLarry LundTerry Ruskowski*Jim SherritR. WINGMurray HallGordie HoweFrank HughesBill PrenticeL. WINGAndre HinseMark HoweTed TaylorDon Larway*Bill Preston *INJUREDNone<h2>INDIANAPOLIS</h2>GOALAndy BrownEd DyckDEFENSEBob AshRoger CoteMurray KennettJim HargreavesCraig Hanmer *Ralph HopiavouriBilly HortonKen DesjardineCENTERBob Fltchner*Steve Richardson*Bob SicinskiBob WhitlockJacques Locas*Brian McDonaldR. WINGRoss Smith*Nick HarbarukRon WaltersL. WINGJim WisteKerry Bond*Rich PumpleJohn Sheridan*INJUREDNone<h2>MICHIGAN</h2>GOALGerry DesjardinsJim MacLeodDEFENSEPaul CurtisLarry JohnstonJohn MiszukArnie BrownRandy Legge*Jerry Zrymlak *CENTERJ.P. LeblancSteve West*Joe RobertsonFred SpeckR. WINGLen FontaineEd Johnstone *Tom ServissGary Bredin *Guy TrottierSteve Andrascik *L. WINGDanny Gruen*Marc TardifGary VeneruzzoSteve SutherlandINJUREDReg Thomas<h2>MINNESOTA</h2>GOALMike CurranJohn GarrettJack McCartanDEFENSEJohn ArbourTerry BallBob BoydRon BusniukPat Westrum *Dick ParadiseRick SmithMike McMahonCENTERTed HampsonJim JohnsonDanny O&rsquo;SheaFran HuckMike AntonovichGary GambucciR. WINGMike WaltonWayne ConnellyKevin O&rsquo;SheaCurt BrackenburyL. WINGMurray HeatleyGeorge MorrisonDon TannahillINJUREDGortf Gallan<h2>NEW ENGLAND</h2>GOALC. AbrahamssonAl SmithDEFENSET. AbrahamssonJim DoreyPaul HurleyRick LeyBrad SeiwoodTed GreenCENTERTerry CafferyAl KarlanderLarry PleauGary SwainR. WINGMike ByersFred O&rsquo;DonnellTim SheehyTom WebsterL. WINGWayne CarletonDon BlackburnJohn FrenchTom EarlNick FotiuINJUREDNone<h2>PHOENIX</h2>GOALGarry KurtJack NorrisDEFENSEAl MacLeodWendell BennettGerry OdrowskiMike StevensJim NiekampJohn HughesCENTERBob BarlowJim BoydMurray KeoganDennis SobchukR. WINGDon BorgesonCam ConnorJohn GrayL. WINGHugh HarrisMichel CormierHowie YoungINJUREDRick NewellRobbie Ftorek<h2>QUEBEC</h2>GOALSerge AubryRichard BrodeurMichel. DegutseDEFENSEAlain BeauleDale HogansonRic JordanPierre RoyJ.C. TremblayFrancois LacombeCENTERSerge BernierAndre GaudetteJeannot GilbertMichel ParizeauR. WINGRene LeclercAlain CaronReal CloutierRejean HouleJean Garneau *L. WINGPierre GuiteMike RouleauCharles ConstantinBobby GuindonINJUREDNone<h2>SAN DIEGO</h2>GOALJoe JunkinRuss GillowBob Blanchet*DEFENSERon PlumbKen BlockHarry HowellKevin MorrisonBob FalkenbergBob WallCENTERAndre LacroixRay AdduonoWayne RiversMike LaughtonR. WINGRick SentesJamie BatemanBrian MorenzTed ScharfL. WINGKevin DevineGene PeacoshCraig ReichmuthNorm FergusonINJUREDNone.<h2>TORONTO</h2>GOALGilles GrattonLes BinkleyDEFENSEMike AmodeoRick CunninghamSteve CuddieJim TurkiewiczGeorge KuzmiczCENTERPat HickeyGavin KirkVaclav NedomanskyWayne DillonR. WINGTony FeatherstoneBob LeducTom MartinTom SimpsonL. WINGPaul HendersonFrank MahovlichBrit SelbyRichard FardaINJUREDJim Shaw<h2>VANCOUVER</h2>GOALDon McLeodEd HumphreysDEFENSEJim CardiffDon McCullochMike PelykPat PriceDuane RuppPete McNamee*CENTERBryan CampbellRonClaude St. SauveurRob WaltonR. WINGDanny LawsonPaul TerbencheJohn McKenzieAndy BathgateL. WINGDon BurgessJimmy Jones *Butch DeadmarshPeter Driscoll *John MiqneaultINJUREDPete DonnellyMurray Myers<h2>WINNIPEG</h2>GOALJoe DaleyErnie WakelyCurt LarssonDEFENSELarry HornungDuke AsmundsonAnders HedbergHeikki RiihirantaLars-Erik SjobergBob WoytowichPerry MillerCENTERDanny JohnsonVeli Ketola *Ulf NilssonChris BordeleauJean-Guy GrattonR. WINGNorm BeaudinRon AshtonDanny SpringRon SnellL. WINGMike FordMilt BlackBobby HullINJUREDNone. &#9632;

WHA Team Rosters

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01179/3383403-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON BUSNIUK&hellip; Minnesota Saints</figcaption></div>Minnesota Fighting Saints have always been known as a team partial to American developed players. One such performer is Ron Busniuk, a talented defenseman-forward who learned hockey around Fort William, Ont., in Canada but went south of the border to play and star for University of Minnesota-Duluth in the top-ranked WCHA. Busniuk jumped from the Cincinnati Swords of the AHL to the WHA this season after being named All Star defenseman last season in the AHL. The 5&rsquo;11&rdquo;, 190-pound Busniuk is 26 and was signed by the WHA Saints out of the clutches of the Detroit Red Wings, who claimed him in the NHL minor league draft last summer. Busniuk never reached Detroit and he has been a refreshing new addition to the Saints. &#9632;

f0030-01

WHA ROOKIE PARADE

<div class="byline">BY HANS TANNER</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaHALIFAX&mdash;There probably isn&rsquo;t a scout in pro hockey who can believe that the Don Howse scoring goals with regularity for the Nova Scotia Voyageurs this season is the same Don Howse who played two seasons of Junior A with Ottawa of the Ontario Major League.But it is, and it&rsquo;s simply another case of the tricks performed by Al (The Magician) MacNeil. Pulling rabbits out of a hat is not one of his specialties, but turning a &ldquo;he&rsquo;ll never make it&rdquo; hockey player into a National League prospect is.Example&hellip; Don Howse.He scored three goals in 50 games of Junior A hockey with Ottawa in 1969-70.He scored five goals in 58 games the following season with the same club.Hardly a pace to attract the attention of pro scouts to a left winger.Frustrated, disappointed and maybe a little homesick to boot. Howse returned to his Grand Falls. Newfoundland, home instead of staying at the top level of junior hockey for his final season of eligibility.&ldquo;Those were two depressing years away from home. It was the first time this Newfie was away from home. I wasn&rsquo;t quite able to adjust to that level of hockey and I couldn&rsquo;t cope. I went home thinking I&rsquo;d quit hockey altoghther,&rdquo; Howse says.But he didn&rsquo;t quit. He played hockey around home and Wayne Maxner, a former pro, arranged for him to have a tryout with the Los Angeles Sharks of the World Hockey Association.&ldquo;I went to their camp and they sent me to Greensboro of the Eastern League. I played with two great guys there &mdash; Wally Sprange and Stu Roberts. They really took me under their wings and fathered me.&rdquo;.Howse suddenly blossomed as a scorer, firing 35 goals and collecting 54 assists in 64 games.So Howse went to Montreal&rsquo;s camp and was sdespite a painful injury asigned to Nova Scotia.ROCHESTER: Ron Garwasiuk and the Amerks continued their hot streaks. A tie in New Haven and another lopsided victory over Syracuse gave the Americans eight victories, a loss and two ties in the 11 games they played since Garwasiuk&rsquo;s arrival.And, despite a painful injury 15 seconds into the New Haven game, Garwasiuk, ran his consecutive-game goal-scoring streak to seven games.Rochester was without Doug Gibson and Dave Hynes for the game. They were up with the injury-hit Boston Bruins.PROVIDENCE: The rash of defense injuries to the New York Rangers has altered coach John Muckier&rsquo;s blueline corps considerably.He started the season with Ron Greschner, Dave Maloney, Joe Zanussi, Marty Gateman and John Bednarski.Greschner was called up about the time the Rangers sold Rod Seiling, then Bednarski and Zanussi went up, although the latter was returned.&ldquo;We brought Larry O&rsquo;Connor back from Port Huron and he played with Gateman. Maloney played with Bobby Craig and Craig was the best defenseman on the ice,&rdquo; Muckier said of the Nov. 24 2-2 tie with Richmond.If the Reds lost anything defensively with all the callups, it wasn&rsquo;t noticeable. Coalie Glen Seperich had to make only two saves in the third period and didn&rsquo;t have to stop a puck in the five-minute sudden-death overtime.The Reds were down 2-0 in the first 13&frac12;minutes of the game, but rallied on goals by Craig and Bob MacMillan.Norm Dennis who scored 23 goals and assisted on 50 for the Reds last season and was being boomed as an MVP candidate by Muckier, is having trouble getting started this season. He didn&rsquo;t have a goal in the first 17 games, had only eight assists and was limited to killing penalties.NEW HAVEN: Coach Dean Prentice was quite worried fora while about rookie defenseman Dwayne Pentland, who suffered a head injury.He was involved in a fight in Springfield with Doug Buhr, then got punched by Gilles Lupien of Nova Scotia.&ldquo;Two other players were fighting and Dwayne grabbed Lupien&rsquo;s sweater as is customary.&rdquo; Prentice said. &ldquo;Lupien apparently didn&rsquo;t understand because he just whacked him. Then in Nova Scotia, he was carried hard into the glass, hitting his head.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know it until later, but he had a headache when he went into that game. We took him toa hospital there to be checked over, then again when we got back home.&ldquo;He had a bruise on the inside of his skull, I think it&rsquo;s called a postconcussion.SPRINGFIELD: The Kings played shorthanded because of penalties for 17 minutes and 47 seconds in Virginia Nov. 23 and did not give up a goal.Coach Ron Stewart was lavish in his praise of his penalty killers.&ldquo;The main ones up front are Dale Lewis and Jimmy Peters, and Mark Heaslip and Phil Hoene, with Bob Poffenroth in there, too,&rdquo; Stewart said. &#9632;

Howse Coming Into His Own With Vees

<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01160/3383458-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="606" height="382"></div> &#9632;

f0031-01

AHL Leaders

<div class="byline">BY JERRY LINDQUIST</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01162/3383489-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="570" height="913"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM HRYCUIK &hellip;Returns To AHL</figcaption></div>SYRACUSE &mdash;Bill Charles knew it wouldn&rsquo;t be easy, building an American Hockey League team virtually from scratch, and in that regard he hans&rsquo;t been disappointed.The season isn&rsquo;t one-third gone, and Charles, Syracuse Eagles&rsquo; president and general manager, has been beset with problems, all of them grade-A.Not the least of them is the team&rsquo;s performance, impressive on occasion but not nearly often enough to suit the man whose success in the old Eastern League has been well-documented. The Eagles went nine games without victory and only four ties before breaking into the win column.It was during that skid that Charles stepped from behind the scenes and allegedly issued a memorandum to coach Art Stratton outlining practice procedure. Included were orders for two-a-day practices with emphasis on defense.Say allegedly because Charles will not come right out and admit he gave Stratton such orders. What he does say is that &ldquo;I had a private talk with Straton and I told him there were other areas I felt needed more attention.&ldquo;Yes. I believe in two practices a day. I&rsquo;m what you might call very defensive minded. We&rsquo;re going against some very talented teams, and if our defensive play is poor&hellip;&rdquo;Charles also met with the players and told them exactly how he felt. &ldquo;We lost several games, and 1 became concerned,&rdquo; Charles said. &ldquo;Several of my partners became concerned. We were losing games, and crowds were dropping off.&ldquo;I thought the fellows were too lax. and I told them so. I told the coach and the players We&rsquo;ve got to start taking things more seriously.&rdquo;The reaction. Charles said, was predictable. He felt the players had not been performing as a unit. Now they had something in common. All were angry at him. &ldquo;They got together and we began winning some games,&rdquo; Charles continued.&ldquo;I accomplished what I wanted, and I pulled away&hellip;got back in the background again.&ldquo;But as I backed away, they started slacking off again.&rdquo;Charles wanted it understood he wasn&rsquo;t blaming Stratton. Not directly anyway.&ldquo;Art is going through a transition period from playing and being one of the boys to coaching, and it&rsquo;s not easy Not for him. Not for anyone,&rdquo; Charles said.&ldquo;He is working hard. He&rsquo;s doing the best he can.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t quarreled with Art. I&rsquo;ve given him a free rein.&rdquo;Meanwhile, Charles has been faced with other difficulties. Syracuse is being asked to support two professional teams, the Eagles and the North American League&rsquo;s Blazers who proceeded them into the War Memorial. It is, Charles admits, a less than desirable arrangement.&ldquo;Two clubs cannot operate in this city or any other city. Both will not survive in Syracuse. Everyone realizes that,&rdquo; Charles said.&ldquo;Which team survives all depends on which promotes best and has the better quality.&ldquo;We feel we have the better product. We are better equipped to go a longer duration. I never expected the other club to roll over and get out of our way. All has gone as I expected so far.&rdquo;Even the most casual observer of professional hockey here can recognize the bitterness that exists between the Eagles&rsquo; and Blazers&rsquo; managements. There have been rumors, all kinds of rumors.One of the latest, according to a recent the HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo;report had Cleveland sources suggesting the Eagles might be pulling up stakes and moving to the Ohio city which, until midway of the 1972-73 season, was an AHL fixture for 36 years. Beset with poor attendance, the Barons switched to Jacksonville, and that franchise in turn was sold to Charles last summer.Charles branded the report &ldquo;completely false&rdquo;, and he fired another volley in the Eagles-Blazers war by implying the Blazers might have had something to do with it.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a fabrication by some local people trying to put some doubt in people&rsquo;s minds here&hellip;that they should support the Blazers because the Eagles might leave. They&rsquo;re trying to imply that Cleveland still owns the franchise,&rdquo; he said.All along there has been some talk about a possible merger. Eagles and Blazers, but Charles quickly wrote that off as no more than just that &mdash; talk. &ldquo;The people connected with me are not about to compromise in any shape or manner.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;As I said before, we feel we have the better product, and we can last longer. We can go at least another year like this. I don&rsquo;t think they can.&rdquo;Another item appeared in print saying the Blazers were outdrawing the Eagles. Again Charles refutes the claim. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re exaggerating their crowds by anywhere from 600 to 700 a game. I&rsquo;m not going to do that,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The figures we release to the media are accurate. In the first 12 games, we averaged 2.643. That&rsquo;s it.&rdquo;Finally, Charles was asked about another prevailing rumor circulating the league, that the Eagles are underfinanced. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d say our payroll is equal to most teams in the league,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Underfinanced? Just say I never say I&rsquo;m overfinanced. If you say that, your people don&rsquo;t work as hard.&rdquo;HERSHEY: Rookie defenseman Paul McIntosh recalled by Buffalo to replace the injured Jim Schoenfeld&hellip;Injured in a water skiing accident last summer. Ron Jones returned to Bears&rsquo; lineup but coach Chuck Hamilton still had only four along backline. Decision still hail to be made whether to recall Donnie Brennan from Charlotte (Southern) or Guido Tensi from Johnstown (North American)&hellip;Rookie Yves Bergeron teaming with veteran Billy Inglis and second-year pro Morris Titanic to give Bears most productive line.RICHMOND: Shuttle between Richmond and Washington Reactivated. with Capitals recalling Andre Peloffy, Steve Atkinson and Paul Nicholson and sending Jim Hrycuik, Bob Gryp and Ron Anderson to replace them&hellip;Hrycuik led Hershey&rsquo;s Calder Cup champions in scoring last year&hellip;Peloffy scored two goals in finale with Robins including winner in 6-5 decision over Springfield&hellip; Robins survived first overtime, a 2-2 standoff in Providence&hellip;Coach Larry Wilson went to Philadelphia for a two-day meeting with Flyers&rsquo; brass.BALTIMORE: Kansas City recalled rookie defenseman Roger Lemelin&hellip;For sale sign remains on Clippers but prospective buyers awaiting better deal from Civic Center (rental fee and share of concessions) before putting name on dotted fine&hellip;Current owners assured league headquarters they would continue to operate club for balance of season even if sale fell through.SYRACUSE: Rookie goaltender Mike Corcoran loaned to Hampton of Southern League&hellip;Veterangoalie Lyle Carter back after sidelined with bruised thumb and bad case of the flu&hellip;Cal Swenson&rsquo;s 10-game scoring streak slopped in Providence (8-3. Reds). &#9632;

f0032-01

Syracuse Battling Adversity, Cross-Town Rivals

<h2>Tue. Nov. 12</h2>PROVIDENCE 3, RICHMOND 1FIRST PERIODNo scoring.Penalties: Gateman 1:54, Anderson 18:39SECOND PERIODRichmond. 1&mdash;Atkinson (Goodenough. Peloffy) 8:07; Providence. 2&mdash;Wright (Maloney) 12:53; 3&mdash;Zanussi (Laganiere) 14:56.Penalties: Zanussi 6:34, Maloney 16:54, Lajeunesse 17:25.THIRD PERIODProvidence, 4&mdash;Anderson (Maloney. Monahan) 0:41.Penalty: Bednarski 8:36.Saves. Ridley (Prov.) 30. Parsons (Rich.) 37.Attendance: 3.410.<h2>Wed. Nov. 13</h2>NOVA SCOTIA 2, NEW HAVEN 4FIRST PERIODNew Haven. IwLanglais (Colley) 0:05; 2&mdash;Rogers (Norrish. Milter) 15.56.Penalties Rogers 0:52, Risebrough 10:59, Andruff. Delparte 16:14. Lupien. Chinnick 18:39SECOND PERIODNo Scoring.Penalties: Risebrewgh 1:48. Lupien (major, game misconduct), MacPhail. Nova Scotia bench (served by Latulippe) 6:40. Andruff 8:06, Risebrough (major) 9:40, Rogers 10:01.THIRD PERIODNova Scotia. 3&mdash;Sullivan (Andruff) 11:14;4&mdash;Howse(Geldart) 14:20; New Haven. 5&mdash;Chinnick (Ledingham) 14:43; 6&mdash;Wilson (Colley) 15:38Penalties: Langlais 0:14, Risebrough 1:23, Cahoon 6:51, Nova Scotia bench (served by Chiasson) 8:16, Risebrough 12:38. (game misconduct) 14:43, Engele 15:08, Hubick 17:25. Pentland 18:59Saves, Elenbaas (NS) 28. Holderness (NH) 29. Attendance: 3.746PROVIDENCE 3, HERSHEY 4FIRST PERIODHershey. 1&mdash;Bergeron (Inglis. Titanic) 3:19, Providence. 2&mdash;Monahan. (Dennis, Bednarski) 18:08.Penalties: Wright 2:40. Campbell 3:49. Bednarski, Campbell 7:24, Bergeron 15:56.SECOND PERIODHershey, 3&mdash;Titanic (Inglis, Bergeron) 2:09; Providence 4&mdash;Nichols (Laganiere. MacMillan) 16:25.Penalties: Zanussi 4:41. Sheremeta 10:43, McSheffrey 15:15, Campbell 16:07, Dube 18:59.THIRD PERIODHershey. 5&mdash;Titanic (McManama, Inglis) 6:47, Providence. 6&mdash;Laganiere 8:13.Penalties: Anderson 6:48, Dennis 10:09.OVERTIME PERIODHershey. 7&mdash;Bergeron (Titanic) 3:24.Penalties: NoneSaves. Ridley (Prov.) 39, Regan (Her.) 44. Attendance: 4,447.<h2>Fri. Nov. 15</h2>VIRGINIA 4, PROVIDENCE 5FIRST PERIODVirginia. 1&mdash;Mellor (Stewart) 3:34; Providence.2&mdash;Holland (Teeple, Laganiere) 4:29; Virginia.3&mdash;Houde (Drolet, Mann) 18 42Penalties. McCann 1:15. Stewart 4:00, Wright 7:31, Bednarski 17:07.SECOND PERIODVirginia. 4&mdash;Bergeron (McCann) 5:45; Providence, 5&mdash;Bednarski (Nichols. Teepte) 13:08;6&mdash;Wright (Anderson, Monahan) 14:34; Virginia,7&mdash;McCutcheon (Bergeron. McCann) 17:25.Penalties: Zanussi 10:03, Bergeron 11:12.THIRD PERIODProvidence. 8&mdash;Craig (Teeple) 9.58; 9&mdash;Anderson (Wright. Monahan) 16:33.Penalties NoneSaves. Richardson (Virg.) 17. Ridley-Seperich (Prov.) 22.Attendance: 5,806RICHMOND 2, SPRINGFIELD 6FIRST PERIODRichmond, 1&mdash;Fullan (Goodenough, Lundrigan) 6:04; 2&mdash;Atkinson (Fullan. Peloffy) 14:31; Springfield. 3&mdash;Harasym (Heaslip. Hoene) 17:18Penalties: McLean 2:11, Witherspoon 4 51, Jacobs 13:40, Cummins 14:11. Lampman 16:33, Buhr (major), McLean (major) 19:20.SECOND PERIODSpringfield, 4&mdash;Harasym (Heaslip) 0:38;5&mdash;Cassidy 3:46: 6&mdash;Blanchard (Poffenroth. Sargent) 8:55; 7&mdash;Abgrall (Lewis. Cassidy) 16:13;8&mdash;Lewis (Abgrall. Cassidy) 19:41.Penalties: Sargent 11:08. Coates 15:02THIRD PERIODNo scoring.Penalties: Fullan. Cummins 10:54. Lundrigan 12:02.Saves. Parsons-Adams (Rich.) 26. Charron (Spr.) 17.Attendance: 1.866SYRACUSE 2, ROCHESTER 6FIRST PERIODNo Scoring.Penalties: Rathwell 2.59, Warr 11:14.SECOND PERIODRochester, 1&mdash;Rathwell (Shaw, Sturgeon) 4:28,2&mdash;McKillop (Garwasiuk, Graham) 4:48;3&mdash;Garwasiuk (Merrell, McKillop) 16:28Penalties: Warr(minor, misconduct) 0:34. Shaw 8.18, Noris 18:19.THIRD PERIODSyracuse. 4&mdash;Sarrazin (Lachance, Warr) 6:25;5&mdash;Swenson (Rycroft, Simard) 8:37, Rochester6&mdash;Clark (Gibson, Hynes) 11:59; 7&mdash;Merrell (Simmons) 15:44; 8&mdash;Merrell (Maluta, Shaw) 19:51.Penalty: Maluta 17:52Saves, Caron-Corcoran (Syr.)36. Reece (Roch.) 32.Attendance: 5,296<h2>Sat. Nov. 16</h2>ROCHESTER 5, SYRACUSE 1FIRST PERIODNo scoring.Penalties: Maluta 7:15, Milbury 10:06. Ferguson 11:17, Bonnar 14:31. Foley (major) 14 45, Gibson 18:54SECOND PERIODRochester, 1&mdash;Clark 1:20 2&mdash;Garwasiuk (Simmons. Rathwell) 3:52: Syracuse. 3&mdash;Rycroft (Foley, Swenson) 12:08; Rochester, 4&mdash;Gibson (Langdon) 18:40.Penalties: Bonnar (major) 3:14, 8:36. Syracuse bench (served by Brooks) 15:02.THIRD PERIODRochester. 5&mdash;Clark (Gibson, Milbury) 16:58; 6&mdash;McKillop (Merrell. Simmons) 18:54Penalties: Graham 2:27 14:33, Bonnar (misconduct) 7:35. Foley 16:48. Simard 18 29Saves, Sneddon (Roch.) 21, Caron (Syr.) 33. Attendance: 3.588NEW HAVEN 2, SPRINGFIELD 10FIRST PERIODSpringfield. 1&mdash;Cassidy (Abgrall. Lewis) 7:19; 2&mdash;Poffenroth (Peters) 11:18: 3&mdash;Abgrall (Cassidy. Lewis) 17:32.Penalties: Colley 8:16, Miller 10:04. Jacobs 10:42, Chinnick 17:09SECOND PERIODSpringfield. 4&mdash;Hoene (Harasym. Abgrall) 5:55; 5&mdash;Lewis (Cassidy. Abgrall) 6:22; 6&mdash;Abgrall (Cassidy. Jacobs) 9 39; 7&mdash;Hoene (Harasym. Shakes) 15:40, New Haven, 8&mdash;Grenier (Langlais, Chinnick) 19:51.Penalties: Engele 7:53. Langlais 14:55. Lewis 18 48. Rexe 19:04.THIRD PERIODSpringfield, 9&mdash;Peters (Lewis, Shakes) 0:45; 10&mdash;Lewis (Peters. Witherspoon) 6:53; New Haven. 11&mdash;Chinnick (Kessel I. Grenier) 7:04; Springfield. 12&mdash;Hoene (Harasym, Heaslip) 14 58Penalties; Grenier (major). Cassidy (major) 1:45, Miller 6:24, Heaslip 7:41.Saves. Holderness (NH) 22, Rexe (Spr.) 24 Attendance: 2.357.<h2>Sun. Nov. 17</h2>HERSHEY 2, PROVIDENCE 4FIRST PERIODProvidence. 1&mdash;Anderson (Wright. Monahan) 0:42; 2&mdash;Zanussi (MacMillan. Teepie) 8 49Penalties: Lukowich 1:51. McManama 8:00, Titanic. Laganiere 8:18. Bergeron 11:29, McIntosh 18:32, Bednarski 18:42SECOND PERIODHershey. 3&mdash;Bergeron (Titanic, Inglis) 2:01:4&mdash;Titanic (McManama) 7:35: Providence. 5&mdash;Holland (Laganiere) 10 02; 6&mdash;Laganiere (Nichols) 19:44Penalties: McIntosh 2:38. Monahan 6:45. Sheremeta. MacMillan 14:36, McIntosh 18:23THIRD PERIODNo Scoring.Penalties: McIntosh 6:52. Monahan 12:18. Bednarski 14:33. Bennett. Zanussi 15:56.Saves. Regan-Herron (Her) 28. Seperich (Prov.) 22.Attendance: 5,038.RICHMOND 1, BALTIMORE 4FIRST PERIODBaltimore. 1&mdash;Kemp (Gilmour. Rousseau) 7:44;2&mdash;Kemp (Gilmour. Rousseau) 8:09Penalties: Rousseau 3:05. Mcllhargey 5:43, 14:28.SECOND PERIODRichmond, 3&mdash;Peloffy (Atkinson) 10:47; Baltimore 4&mdash;Stefaniw (Horbul, Menard) 16:36.Penalties: Murray 7.02, Sirois 14:41, Mcllhargey 18:56.THIRD PERIODBaltimore. 5&mdash;Bignell (Douglas, Rivard) 0:11 Penalties. Bignell 7;02, Dufour 11:46, Nicholson 18;36, Lefley 20:00Saves, Adams (Rich.) 28. Zimmerman (Balt.) 36 Attendance: 5,017.NEW HAVEN 1, SPRINGFIELD 4FIRST PERIODSpringfield, 1&mdash;Lewis (Cassidy, Witherspoon) 6:41; 2&mdash;Abgrall (Cassidy) 6:51Penalties: Engele 6:32, 7:55. Jacobs 9:26, Giannini 10 48, Sargent 17:52, Rogers 19:35.SECOND PERIODNo scoring.Penalties Engele 7 30, Heaslip 1618, Peters17 46. MacPhail 18:09, Cummins 19:41.THIRD PERIODSpringfield, 3&mdash;Abgrall (Lewis) 6:55, New Haven. 4&mdash;Kessell, (Miller. MacDougall) 13:16; Springfield 5&mdash;Harasym (Heasl&rsquo;p) 18:36.Penalties: Harasym, MacDougall 7:11, Cassidy 10:44.Saves. Heitz (NH) 36, Charron (Spr.) 31Attendance: 3.775 &#9632;

American League Summaries

<div class="byline">BY JERRY LINDQUIST</div>NORFOLK&mdash;Pierre Jarry, a number one amateur draft choice of the New York Rangers in 1969, decided he didn&rsquo;t want to play in the American Hockey League any more and quit the Virginia Red Wings.The 25-year-old left winger told Doug Barkley, the Virginia coach, he was going home and that if a trade wasn&rsquo;t made &mdash; one thatwould put him back in the National League &mdash; he would sit out the balance of the current campaign, renegotiate his contract and jump to the World Hockey Association.&ldquo;There was no animosity,&rdquo; Barkley said. &ldquo;He came in and leveled with me. You can&rsquo;t blame him for being honest. I explained what would happen to him and he understood &mdash; that he would be suspended without pay.&rdquo;Sent down by the parent DetroitRed Wings, who acquired him last year from Toronto, Jarry appeared in 12 games for Virginia, accumulating eight goals and seven assists as well as nine penalty minutes.What apparently prompted Jarry to leave was Detroit&rsquo;s decision to call up V-Wings Rick McCann and Brian McCutcheon to fill vacancies on the roster caused by injuries.&ldquo;They were called up on my recommendation,&rdquo; Barkley continued. &ldquo;Detroit felt they wanted to leave him (Jarry) down another one or two weeks.&rdquo;Often under such circumstances, players have been known to change their minds and come back. &ldquo;I doubt very much if he&rsquo;ll come back here,&rdquo; Barkley said.A trade appeared more likely. &ldquo;Washington&hellip; Kansas City&hellip; California. someone like that could use him,&rdquo; Barkley said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s no a great checker but he sure can score goals.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01143/3383544-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="564" height="597"><figcaption class="caption-body">PIERRE JARRY &hellip; May Jump To WHA</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0033-01

Jarry Suspended After Quitting Virginia

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Wed. Dec. 4)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02104/3383603-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="611" height="412"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. Nov. 27Baltimore 1 at Hershey 3; Nova Scotia 3 at Springfield 2; Providence 5 at Virginia 3.Fri. Nov. 29Providence 0 at Baltimore 3; New Haven 4 at Nova Scotia 4; Hershey 3 at Richmond 4; Springfield 5 at Rochester 4; Syracuse 5 at Virginia 2.Sat. Nov. 30Syracuse 4 at Baltimore 4; Providence 5 at Hershey 2.Sun. Dec. 1New Haven 5 at Nova Scotia 6. Syracuse 1 at Richmond 4; Providence 4 at Rochester 6: Baltimore 0 at Springfield 7.<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Wed. Dec. 4New Haven at Hershey; Baltimore at Richmond, Rochester at Virginia.Thu. Dec. 5Syracuse at Nova Scotia.Fri. Dec. 6Rochester at Baltimore; Providence at New Haven; Richmond at Syracuse.SAT. Dec. 7Springfield at Baltimore; Rochester at Hershey; Richmond at Virginia.Sun. Dec. 8Providence at Nova Scotia; Rochester at Richmond; New Haven at Springfield; Baltimore at Syracuse.Wed. Dec. 11Nova Scotia at Syracuse; Baltimore at Virginia.Fri. Dec. 13Baltimore at New Haven; Syracuse at Providence; Nova Scotia at Rochester; Richmond at Springfield; Hershey at Virginia.Sat. Dec. 14Providence at Baltimore; New Haven at Hershey; Virginia at Richmond; Nova Scotia at Springfield; Rochester at Syracuse<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standing on Wed. Dec. 4)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0375/3383596-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="595" height="366"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. Nov. 25Omaha 1 at Salt Lake 3.Tue. Nov. 26Seattle 7 at Tulsa 2.Wed. Nov. 27Tulsa 0 at Dallas 5; Seattle 4 at Oklahoma City 4; Fort Worth 2 at Omaha 5.Thur. Nov. 28Oklahoma City 2 at Tulsa 3; Denver 5 at Salt Lake 2.Fri. Nov. 29Dallas 6 at Denver 8.Sat. Nov. 30Fort Worth 2 at Dallas 7; Tulsa 3 at Oklahoma City 8; Denver 2 at Omaha 5; Seattle 5 at Salt Lake 1.Sun. Dec. 1Salt Lake 3 at Omaha 5.<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Wed. Dec. 4Oklahoma City at Fort Worth; Salt Lake at DenverThu. Dec. 5Omaha at Seattle.Fri. Dec. 6Salt Lake at Dallas; Fort Worth at Tulsa; Oklahoma City at Denver; Seattle at Omaha.Sat. Dec. 7Dallas at Fort Worth; Salt Lake at Tulsa; Omaha at Denver; Oklahoma City at Seattle.Sun. Dec. 8Salt Lake at Fort Worth; Tulsa at Omaha.Mon. Dec. 9Dallas at Salt Lake.Tue. Dec. 10Oklahoma City at Denver.Wed. Dec. 11Omaha at Tulsa; Fort Worth at DenverThu. Dec. 12Denver at Seattle.Fri. Dec. 13Omaha at Dallas; Oklahoma City at Tulsa; Salt Lake at Seattle.Sat. Dec. 14Tulsa at Dallas; Fort Worth at Salt Lake.Sun. Dec. 15Oklahoma City at Omaha; Fort Worth at Seattle.<h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Dec. 3)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0460/3383589-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="595" height="434"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. Nov. 27Kalamazoo 1 at Des Moines 2Columbus 1 at Dayton 3Port Huron 0 at Flint 3Lansing 5 at Saginaw 4Fort Wayne 6 at Toledo 7Thu. Nov. 28Saginaw 4 at Fort Wayne 3dayton 3 at Muskegon 2Flint 2 at Port Huron 5Toledo 9 at Lansing 7Des Moines 5 at Columbus 6Sat Nov. 30Des Moines 4 at Fort Wayne 3Lansing 2 at Muskegon 5Toledo 4 at Port Huron 5Dayton 4 at Kalamazoo 3Flint 2 at Columbus 3Sun. Dec. 1Muskegon 4 at Flint 3Des Moines 8 at Saginaw 7Fort Wayne 4 at Lansing 7Kalamazoo et Dayton (postponed)Columbus at Toledo (postponed)<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tue. Dec. 3Flint at KalamazonWed. Dec. 4Muskegon at Saginaw; Toledo at Dayton; Lansing at Fort Wayne;Thu. Dec. 5Toledo at Columbus.Fri. Dec. 6Saginaw at Muskegon; Fort Wayne at Port Huron; Dayton at Des Moines; Kalamazoo at Flint; Lansing at Toledo.Sat. Dec. 7Flint at Fort Wayne; Kalamazoo at Muskegon; Columbus at Port Huron; Dayton at Des Moines; Saginaw at Lansing.Sun. Dec. 8Fort Wayne at Dayton; Columbus at Flint; Lansing at Saginaw; Muskegon at Kalamazoo; Port Huron at Toledo.Wed. Dec. 11Columbus at Fort Wayne; Muskegon at Des Moines; Kalamazoo at Saginaw.Fri. Dec. 13Lansing at Kalamazoo; Saginaw at Flint; Dayton at Columbus; Port Huron at Muskegon; Des Moines at Toledo.<h2>NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Dec. 3)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0551/3383582-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="591" height="258"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Syracuse 5 at Philadelphia 2.Wed. Nov. 27Cape Codders 12 at Maine 3: Mohawk Valley 2 at Philadelphia 3.Thu. Nov. 28Syracuse 4 at Broome 1: Long Island 2 at Johnstown 2.Fri. Nov. 29Cape Codders 4 at Mohawk Valley 6: Johnstown 3 at Philadelphia 5.Sat Nov. 30Broome 3 at Maine 5.Syracuse 1 at Cape Codders 7: Philadelphia 3 at Johnstown 4.Sun. Dec. 1Broome 3 at Maine 5: Syracuse 1 at Cape Codders 7; Philadelphia 3 at Johnstown 4.<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tue. Dec. 3Maine at Philadelphia.Wed. Dec. 4Maine at Syracuse; Cape Codders at Long Island; Johnstown at Broome.Thu. Dec. 5Maine at Mohawk Valley.Fri. Dec. 6Long Island at Cape Codders; Philadelphia at Broome.Sat. Dec. 7Long Island at Maine; Johnstown at Mohawk Valley; Philadelphia at SyracuseSun. Dec. 8Johnstown at Broome. Syracuse at Philadelphia; Maine at Long Island.<h2>SOUTHERN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Dec. 3)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0639/3383575-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="584" height="181"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Nov. 26Hampton 3 at Charlotte 10 Roanoke 4 at Winston-Salem 5Wed. Nov. 27Charlotte 9 at Greensboro 4 Roanoke 6 at Hampton 7Thu. Nov. 28Winston-Salem 1 at Roanoke 3 Greensboro 3 at Charlotte 2Fri. Nov. 29Winston-Salem 2 at Hampton 6Sat Nov. 30Hampton 8 at Greensboro 3 Charlotte 2 at Roanoke 3Sun. Dec. 1Roanoke 5 at Hampton 3<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tue. Dec. 3Winston-Salem at Charlotte.Wed. Dec. 4Winston-Salem at Greensboro.Thu. Dec. 5Greensboro at Winston-Salem.Fri. Dec. 6Roanoke at Charlotte; Greensboro at Hampton.Sat. Dec. 7Charlotte at Greensboro; Hampton at Roanoke.Sun. Sec. 8toanoke at Winston-SalemTue. Dec. 10Roanoke at Charlotte.Wed. Dec. 11Roanoke at Greensboro.Thu. Dec. 12Winston-Salem at HamptonFri. Dec. 13Winston-Salem at Charlotte; Greensboro at Roanoke. &#9632;

f0033-02

LOOKING AT THE MINOR LEAGUE SCOREBOARD

NHL: 1&mdash;Montreal 2&mdash;Detroit. 3&mdash;Boston 4&mdash;N.Y. Rangers. 5&mdash;Chicago 6&mdash;Toronto 7&mdash;Los Angeles. 8&mdash;Pittsburgh 9&mdash;California. 10&mdash;Philadelphia. 11&mdash;Minnesota 12&mdash;St. Louis. 13&mdash;Vancouver 14&mdash;Buffalo. 15&mdash;N Y. Islanders. 16&mdash;Atlanta. 17&mdash;Kansas City 18&mdash;WashingtonWHA 19&mdash;Cleveland. 20&mdash;San Diego. 21&mdash;Vancouver 22&mdash;Michigan 23&mdash;Toronto. 24&mdash;Quebec 25&mdash;Edmonton 26&mdash;Houston 27&mdash;Chicago 28&mdash;Winnipeg. 29&mdash;Minnesota. 30&mdash;New England 31&mdash;Indianapolis. 32&mdash;Phoenix. 33&mdash;Cincinnati.Inter-League 34&mdash;Phoenix (WHA) & Vancouver (WHA). 35&mdash;Philadelphia (NHL) & Washington (NHL). 36&mdash;Los Angeles (NHL) & California (NHL) 37&mdash;Minnesota (NHL) & N.Y Islanders (NHL) 38-Kansas City (NHL) & N.Y. Islanders (NHL) 39-St. Louis (NHL). Montreal (NHL) & N.Y. Rangers (NHL). 40&mdash;Pittsburgh (NHL) & Buffalo (NHL). 41&mdash;Boston (NHL) & Washington (NHL). 42&mdash;New England (WHA) & Cleveland (WHA). 43&mdash;Buffalo (NHL). California (NHL) & Vancouver (WHA) 44&mdash;Winnipeg. (WHA), Houston (WHA), Cleveland (WHA), Indianapolis (WHA), Phoenix (WHA). 45&mdash;Michigan (WHA), N.Y. Islanders (NHL) & Quebec (WHA). 46&mdash;Edmonton (WHA) & N.Y. Rangers NHL). 47&mdash;Boston (NHL) &mdash; Washington (NHL). 48&mdash;N.Y. Rangers (NHL) &mdash; Kansas City (NHL). 49&mdash;Chicago (NHL) &mdash; Edmonton (WHA). Vancouver (NHL). Philadelphia (NHL) &mdash; Atlanta (NHL). 51&mdash;Indianapolis (WHA) &mdash; St. Louis (NHL). 52&mdash;Michigan (WHA) &mdash; San Diego (WHA). 53&mdash;New England (WHA) &mdash; Cleveland (WHA). 54&mdash;Indianapolis (WHA) &mdash; Toronto (WHA). 55&mdash;Buffalo (NHL). California (NHL) &mdash; Vancouver (WHA) 56&mdash;Winnipeg (WHA), Houston (WHA), Cleveland (WHA), Indianapolis (WHA) &mdash; Phoenix (WHA). 57&mdash;Michigan (WHA). Quebec (WHA) &mdash; N.Y., Islanders (NHL). 58&mdash;Edmonton (WHA) & N.Y Rangers (NHL). 59&mdash;Minnesota (WHA) & Pittsburgh (NHL) 60&mdash;San Diego (WHA). Michigan (WHA) & Philadelphia (NHL). *&mdash;Independent &#9632;

Minor League Affiliations

LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaDENVER&mdash;The Denver Spurs continued to battle the Salt Lake Eagles for the Central Hockey League&rsquo;s North Division lead and the way hockey men figure it &mdash; the struggle could last all season.The Spurs took advantage of a 5-2 victory in Salt Lake and an 8-6 romp over Dallas Black Hawks to pull ahead of the Eagles 36-34 in points in their torrid division race.A crowd of 9.974 looked on as Denver overpowered the Eagles, who had toppled Omaha 3-l prior to their showdown meeting with Denver.Ironically both Northern powers had a chance to advance even farther but neither could get past their divisional brothers &mdash; Omaha and Seattle. The Knights whipped Salt Lake 5-3 and Seattle did it 5-l the night before. At the same moment, Omaha was upsetting Denver 5-2.SALT LAKE: The Eagles were hard hit with recalls by California&rsquo;s injuryriddled Seals. Defensemen Brent Meeke and Terry Murray both went up to the NHL club when injuries struck rookie Tom Price and Mike Christie putting both Seals&rsquo; rearguards out of action. The recalls came at a bad time for the Eagles, who lost twice after riding a 10-game winning streak at the Salt Palace.SEATTLE: The Totems are actually the hottest team in the CHL at the moment. In their last 10 games, they have lost only once. The Totems shone on the road with three wins and three ties in six starts as Howie Hughes, held to two points in his first 18 games, suddenly came up with a hot hand and now has 15 points in 25 games.OMAHA: Two roster changes have helped turn things around for Fred Creighton&rsquo;s Knights. Billy Klatt and Jerry Byers are the newest Knights and they have been sizzling. Klatt had six goals and an assist in five games while Byers had a goal and three assists in three games since coming down from Atlanta. Klatt joined the Knights after starting the year with Minnesota of the WHA and running into injuries. Klatt scored four straight goals in Omaha&rsquo;s 5-2 win over Fort Worth. Omaha and Seattle are hot enough to make a run at the division leaders &mdash; Salt Lake and Denver, both of which have slowed down after a spectacular start.DALLAS: The Hawks continue to hold first place in the Southern Division race. They won two out of three last week to maintain a two-point bulge over Oklahoma City. Rejean Giroux, playing smart hockey for Dallas, leads the club with 12 goals and 24 points. Coach Bobby Kromm uses a four-line system and as a result Giroux and Rob Palmer crashed the CHL&rsquo;s top 10 for the first time last week.OKLAHOMA CITY: The Trunpike Series saw Oke City and Tulsa split a pair of games last week &mdash; the Oilers winning 3-2 in Tulsa while the Blazers bombed the Oilers 8-3 a few nights later in Oklahoma City. Defenseman Claire Alexander and forward Jack Valiquette were recalled by Toronto as injuries overtook the Leafs. Defenseman Ron Clarke of the Blazers suffered a broken leg in Seattle and could miss the rest of the season.TULSA: Goaler Paul Hoganson. just assigned by Michigan Stags of the WHA, won three big games for the Oilers 3-1 and 4-2 over Dallas and 3-1 over Oklahoma City. Paul Andrea, who joined the club along with Hoganson from the Stags, scored four goals in six games, including the game winner over the Blazers. Dennis Olmstead from Denver University still having trouble finding scoring range with one goal but has proved fine playmaker with 10 assists.FORT WORTH: The Texans having problems on and off the ice. Leading scorer Vic Teal was put out of action for two weeks after receiving injuries to both legs in an automobile accident. Teal was leading CHL in goals with 16 at the time.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0547/3383658-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="494" height="496"><figcaption class="caption-body">JERRY BYERS &hellip; Sent Down</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0034-05

Denver Wrestles Lead From Eagles As 9,714 Look On

<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01154/3383689-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="598" height="438"></div> &#9632;

f0034-01

CHL Leaders

<div class="byline">BY MORLEY HOWE</div>THUNDER BAY&mdash;Thunder Bay Twins, lone Canadian entry in the nine-team United States Hockey League, probably put in more travel miles a season than any Canadian senior team ever.Because of the geographical location of the city, perched on Lake Superior&rsquo;s west shore in Northwestern Ontario, and far from any Canadian senior leagues, the Twins decided five years ago to look south for competition. They joined the far-flung USHL, which embraces four states in the U.S. They travel as far west as Sioux City, Iowa, and south to Chicago, Ill., all by plane.After a faltering start Twins have developed into the league&rsquo;s power-house. They started coming on in 1971-72 when they swept the league play-offs. Since then they&rsquo;ve been superb, winning the league pennant the past two seasons and the playoffs both years. They set just about every team record in the book in the process. This season they&rsquo;re away to another great start, currently tied for top spot with the Marquette Iron Rangers.Twins, who went with pretty well the same lineup the past two seasons, have undergone a facelifting this season with no ill effects to date. They&rsquo;ve lost such key players as 1973-74 scoring champ Barry Hogan, John Ferguson, the league&rsquo;s top defenseman in 1972-73 and goalies Joe Bamford and Rod Manty. But they&rsquo;ve managed to fill the gaps, and after a dozen games new coach Dave Siciliano&rsquo;s problem is still one of cutting four or five players to get his squad down to size by the league deadline.Rocky Menard, 20-year old from Ottawa, has proved to be a real find in goal, with a 2.90 average.Vet Jack Owchar, an original member of the team, is the lone hold-over defenseman at present but steady Steve Rubenick, away at trade school, will rejoin the team in early December. A big catch on defense was that of local product Murray Wing, back from pro-hockey, where he played last season in Europe for London Lions. Also returning, after three years with Johnstown Jets, is Brian Vescio. These three along with local junior product Jack Davies, who spent 10 days at Toronto Toros&rsquo; camp, have been getting plenty of work. Rick Lefebvre, former Eastern League performer, and Jack Gruen. a former Twin, are also trying for berths and have seen some action.Up front Brian Depiero, Dave Bragnalo and Gary lnquist, all hold-overs, have been the team&rsquo;s hottest line to date. Vets Tom Deacon and Murray McLeod have had a variety of linemates to date. Center Jack Byerley and left wing Chuck Kelner, two of the highest scorers in the league in recent years, have played just a couple of games to date, but will soon be back on a full-time basis. They&rsquo;ve been workingout of town. Byerley was 1972-73 scoring champ, and Kelner runner-up.Returning wingers Billy McDonald and Dave Vaillant. Kevin Taylor, with Greensboro last season, and Larry Zulianello and George Letowski, from Lakehead University Nor&rsquo;Westers, are all battling for jobs. Coach Siciliano, who can play center or wing, also is on the team. There&rsquo;s also a chance Hogan may come out of retirement.Twins, who are taking dead aim at their fourth straight USHL championship, also would like to win the elusive Allan Cup. They&rsquo;ve been close the past two years. They&rsquo;ll be playing exhibitions with the touring Russian. Czech and Polish national teams this season and a two-game exhibition series with St. Boniface Mohawks. The past two years Twins gained a 6-6 tie and lost only 5-4 against the powerful Soviets.Meanwhile Twins moved back into a first place tie with Marquette by scoring three consecutive victories at home during the past week.Waterloo Black Hawks remained tied with Sioux City Musketeers for the Southern Division leadership by defeating Chicago Warriors 6-4.At Traverse City, Michigan, Central Wisconsin Flyers, the circuit&rsquo;s newest expansion club, split a pair of weeked exhibition contests with the Traverse City Bays (5-8 and 5-3). The Bays, scheduled to join the USHL next season on a regular basis, drew close to 4,000 fans for the two contests.In off-ice activities, USHL, commissioner Robert Kasubeck handed down a six game suspension to Chicago Warriors&rsquo; Dave Maciuk for his stick swinging incident at Central Wisconsin on Nov. 9. &#9632;

Thunder Bay Twins Most Travelled Club Among USHL Entries

<h2>UNITED STATES LEAGUE</h2>(Standing on Wed. Nov. 27)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01143/3383758-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="594" height="418"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Nov. 19Copper Country 5 at Thunder Bay 9Fri. Nov. 22Sioux City 9 at Copper Country 5; Chicago 4 at Waterloo 6; Milwaukee 3 at Thunder Bay 11Sat. Nov. 23Sioux City 3 at Marquette 6; Waterloo 1 at Green Bay 4; Milwaukee 5 at Copper Country 11Sun. Nov. 24Sioux City 3 at Thunder Bay 8.<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02116/3383751-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="590" height="324"></div><h3>GOALERS&rsquo; RECORDS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0386/3383744-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="595" height="175"></div> &#9632;

f0035-01

HOW THEY STAND

<h2>Mon. Nov. 11</h2>TULSA 2, SALT LAKE 7FIRST PERIODTulsa, 1&mdash;Mowat (Migneault. Liesemer) 9:30; Salt Lake. 2&mdash;Meloche (Seagrist. Girard) 18.27; 3&mdash;Holt (Bradley) 19:54.Penalties: Lariviere 3:28. Ahern 7:30, Affleck 10:10, McNamee 13:40, Held 16:21SECOND PERIODTulsa, 4&mdash;Adair (Beaudoin. Chernoff) 2:24; Salt Lake. 5&mdash;Bradley (Holt. Price) 4:12Penalties: Meloche 0:37, Beaudoin 13:26, Murray (minor, misconduct) 13:34, Meloche 15:22. Beaudoin (major) 19:02.THIRD PERIODSalt Lake, 6&mdash;Hall (Simmer. Affeck) 1:22; 7&mdash;Girard (Meloche. Seagrist) 8:57, 8&mdash;Ahern (Simmer. Murray) 15:00; 9&mdash;Meloche (McAneeley. Patrick) 17:04.Penalties: Murdock 3:41. Held 10:17, Price 16:10, Murray 18:12.Saves, Humphreys (Tul.) 25, Martyniuk (SL) 15.Attendance: 4,786.<h2>Tue. Nov. 12</h2>SEATTLE 4, FORT WORTH 5FIRST PERIODFort Worth, 1&mdash;Desgagnes 2:28; Seattle. 2&mdash;Wiley (Seguin, Hughes) 6:14; 3&mdash;Gould (Gloor, Westner) 7:23; Fort Worth. 4&mdash;Marchinko (Helm, Teal) 15:22; Seattle, 5&mdash;0 Neil (McCord. Murfey) 18:16.Penalties. McCord 8:52, Wiley 14:41, Snepsts (minor, major), Andersen (double minor) 15:31. McPhail 18:21.SECOND PERIODFort Worth. 6&mdash;Desgagnes (Nicholson. Marchinko) 5:00; Seattle, 7&mdash;Westner (Gould, Gloor) 8:23; Fort Worth, 8&mdash;Marchinko (Nicholson) 8:43.Penalties: Desgagnes 2:49, Teal 4:16, 7:06. Hurlburt 11:02. McPhail 13:27, Hurlburt 19:43.THIRD PERIODFort Worth, 9&mdash;Teal (Cook. M Kennedy) 7:34Penalties: Homenuke 6:02, Gloor 8:46. Seguin 10:08, Desgagnes 17:29. Hughes 18:15.Saves. Brady (Sea.) 27. Miskiewicz (Ft. W.) 20.Attendance: 1.459.<h2>Wed. Nov. 13</h2>SEATTLE 1, DALLAS 4FIRST PERIODDallas, 1&mdash;Palmer (Murray. Smith) 12:37; 2&mdash;Hinton (Blais. Elliot) 14:08Penalties: Sedlbauer 0:22, Gould 6:25, Wilson 8 49. Archambault 14:45, Gould 19:00.SECOND PERIODDallas. 3&mdash;Hinton (Blais. Holt) 13:05.Penalties: Snepsts 5:58, Donaldson 10:00THIRD PERIODDallas. 4&mdash;L&rsquo;Abbe (Holt) 0:37; Seattle, 5&mdash;Sedlbauer (Wisener) 7:16.Penalties: Ness 0.37, Murray 5:32,(misconduct) 7:32.Saves, Bullock (Sea.) 29, Dumas (Dal) 17.Attendance: 1,862.FORT WORTH 1, OKE CITY 3FIRST PERIODNo Scoring.Penalties: Burgess6:00. Dempster 7:41. Johnson 11:33. Handrahan 12:42. Cook 18:55.SECOND PERIODOklahoma City. 1&mdash;Handrahan (Alexander. Valiquette) 4:17.Penalties: Williams (minor, major), Cutts (minor. major served by M. Kenndy) 0:38, Nicholson 3:30. Boutette 4:35. Cook 6:28, Cutts (served by Desgagnes) 7:17. Puncan 8:15, Butters 14:15, Boutette (double minor). Johnson (double minor) 19:29.THIRD PERIODOklahoma City. 2&mdash;Butters (Boutette, Sauter) 6:18, 3&mdash;Alexander (Handrahan. Valiquette) 9:12; Fort Worth. 4&mdash;Anderson (Dempster) 17:59.Penalties: Williarff&rsquo;f&rsquo;wsconduct) 2:59, Cutts (served by R Kennedy) 7:22, Sauter. Andersen 8:03, Sykes 12:01, Butters (major), Johnson (major) 13:15, Dempster 19:45.Saves, Cutts (Ft.W.) 32, Hamel (Okla.) 30.Attendance: 2,168.<h2>Thur. Nov. 14</h2>TULSA 2, SALT LAKE 8FIRST PERIODSalt Lake. 1&mdash;Simmer (Hall. Ahern) 11:09;2&mdash;Murdock (Holt. B McAneeley) 13:36.Penalties: Held 2:22, B. McAneeley 14:24, Olmstead 19:15.SECOND PERIODSalt Lake, 3&mdash;Ahern 7:18; 4&mdash;Patrick (Ahern) 7:59; 5&mdash;Murdock (Meeke. B. McAneeley) 11:13; Tulsa, 6&mdash;Chernoff (Adair, Mandryk) 11:32; Salt Lake, 7&mdash;Simmer (Patrick, Price) 12:07.Penalties Held 8:25, Lariviere. De-Lorenzi 13:29, Murdock 15:49, Chernoff 16:32.THIRD PERIODSalt Lake. 8&mdash;Holt (B McAneeley) 2:01, 9&mdash;Ahern (Holt) 10:05; Tulsa, 10&mdash;Migneault (Liesemer. Mowat) 17:47.Penalties: B. McAneeley 7:18, Price 13:53, Lariviere 20:00.Saves. Aberhart (Tul.) 31. Miller (SL.) 17Attendance: 4,654.<h2>Fri. Nov. 15</h2>SEATTLE 4, FORT WORTH 1FIRST PERIODFort Worth. 1&mdash;Teal Webster) 6:38; Seattle. 2&mdash;Gloor (Westner. Gould) 16:20.Penalties R. Kennedy 1:34, Gloor 4:41, Helm 14-24SECOND PERIODSeattle. 3&mdash;Hurlburt (Homenuke, Snepsts) 0:33; 4&mdash;Seguin (Folco, Wisener) 12:42; 5&mdash;Sedlbauer (Hurlburt) 18:39.Penalties. Cutts 3:21, Gould (major). Johnson (major) 16:46, M. Kennedy 18:11. Murfey 20:00.THIRD PERIODNo Scoring.Penalties: McPhail 2:20, Wilcox 7:33, Cook 9:25, Sedlbauer, Andersen 15:15, Sedlbauer 18:03.Saves. Brady (Sea.) 23. Cutts-Hughes (Ft W.) 18.Attendance: 1,954.SALT LAKE 7, TULSA 2FIRST PERIODNo Scoring.Penalties: Girard 10:50, Israelson 19:56.SECOND PERIODSalt Lake. 1&mdash;B. McAneeley (Meeke, T. McAneeley) 1:24; 2&mdash;Holt (T. McAneeley) 10:54; 3&mdash;B McAneeley (Girard. Murdock) 12:28; 4&mdash;Simmer (Ahern, Murray) 17:03.Penalties: Lariviere 2:15, T. McAneeley 6:51. Martyniuk 14:09, Patrick 19:48THIRD PERIODTulsa, 5&mdash;McNamee (Watt, Mandryk) 3:00; 6&mdash;Chernoff (Migneault. Liesemer) 5:23; Salt Lake, 7&mdash;Meloche (T McAneeley, Seagrist) 7:24: 8&mdash;Murdock (Holt, B. McAneeley) 8:55;9&mdash;T. McAneeley (Hall, Meeke) 11:46.Penalties: Meloche 2:22, Murdock 4:21, Mowat 8:38, Price, Israelson 10:41Saves, Martynick (SL) 35, Humphreys-Aberhart (Tul.) 24.Attendance. 2,463.OKE CITY 5, DENVER 2FIRST PERIODOklahoma City. 1&mdash;Sauter (Boutette) 11:46Penalties: Marsh (major), Spring (major) 0:15, Gassoff 3:25, Williams 3:58, Tower 7:48, Butters 13:41.SECOND PERIODOklahoma City, 2&mdash;Williams (Valiquette) 1:10: Denver. 3&mdash;Babin (Spring. Gassoff) 2:19.Penalties: Butters 6:09, Wiseman 17:02.THIRD PERIODOklahoma City, 4&mdash;Alexander (Butters) 3:30: 5&mdash;Garland (Dolloff) 5:53; Denver, 6&mdash;Spring (Borotsik. Serafini) 11:17; Oklahoma City. 7&mdash;Duncan (Marsh, Sykes).Penalties: Babin (misconduct) 5:53, Gassoff (misconduct) 20:00Saves, McRae (Okla.) 49, Belanger (Den.) 31.Attendance: 5,106DALLAS 7, OMAHA 0FIRST PERIODDallas. 1&mdash;Murray (Ness, Wilson) 1:56; 2&mdash;Hinton (Blais. Palmer) 19:49Penalties Ribble 1:07, Holt 3:05, Huber 19:11, Hinton 19:58SECOND PERIODDallas. 3&mdash;L&rsquo;Abbe 0:50; 4&mdash;Palmer (Donaldson) 3:13; 5&mdash;Archambault (L&rsquo;Abbe) 4:26: 6&mdash;Giroux (Koleff, Wilson) 17:38.Penalties: Logan. Holt (major), Huber, Ribble (major), Van Horlick (double minor, game misconduct) 3:47, Logan (game misconduct) 5:47, Sutherland 7:21, Smith 8:53.THIRD PERIODDallas, 7&mdash;Giroux (Koleff, Holt) 19:25.Penalty: Ness 2:01.Saves. Dumas (Dak) 28. Voss (Om.) 24.Attendance: 4,622.<h2>Sat. Nov. 16</h2>FORT WORTH 4, DALLAS 7FIRST PERIODDallas, 1&mdash;McKegney (Koleff) 11:21; 2&mdash;Giroux (Koleff, Logan) 12:51; 3&mdash;Murray (Palmer, Wilson) 14:50.Penalties: Logan 8:39, Andersen 14:20, Logan 16:55.SECOND PERIODFort Worth. 4&mdash;Teal 0.07; Dallas. 5&mdash;Elliott (Wilson. Murray) 0:34; 6&mdash;Donaldson (Palmer. McKegney) 13:12; Fort Worth, 7&mdash;Johnson (R Kennedy, Desgagnes) 17:25; Dallas. 8&mdash;Palmer (Donaldson) 17:45.Penalties Murray 11:32. Smith 13:23. Helm, L&rsquo;Abbe 14:57, Wilson 19:11.THIRD PERIODDallas, 9&mdash;Giroux (Koleff) 12:07, Forth Worth, 10&mdash;Johnson (Barber) 17:55; 11&mdash;Johnson (penalty shot) 19:12.Penalties: Logan 6:28, Marchinko 9:53. Helm 11:59, Logan 12:52, Dempster (misconduct) 15:37, Holt 16:23. Murray 19:33.Saves, Hughes (Ft.W.) 27. Dumas (Dal) 23.Attendance: 5,029.SALT LAKE 5, OKE CITY 3FIRST PERIODOklahoma City, 1&mdash;Alexander (Deslauriers, Boutette) 13:21; Salt Lake. 2&mdash;Holt (Patrick. B McAneeley) 15:15.Penalties: Deslauriers 3 39, Price 11.48, T McAneeley 17:33.SECOND PERIODSalt Lake. 3&mdash;Meloche (Seagrist, Murray) 5:21;4&mdash;Simmer (Ahern, Murray) 9:26; Oklahome City,5&mdash;Alexander (Valiquette) 11:35; Salt Lake.6&mdash;Hall (Simmer. Affleck) 13:27.Penalties: Williams 1:19, Dolloff 3:31, B. McAneeley (misconduct) 12:54, Ruest 18:23.THIRD PERIODSalt Lake. 7&mdash;Murray (Meeke, Meloche) 10:11; Oklahoma City, 8&mdash;Williams (Boutette, Alexandersson) 13:48.Penalties. Boutette. T. McAneely. 8:20. Ruest 8:53, Meloche 11:30, B. McAneeley 15:10, Alexander 19:01.Saves. Martyniuk (SL) 15, McRae (Okla.) 31.Attendance: 3,237.SEATTLE 3, TULSA 3FIRST PERIODSeattle. 1&mdash;Hurlburt (Murfey. Gould) 11:26; Tulsa. 2&mdash;Migneault (Olmstead. Erickson) 11:39.Penalties: Wisener 1 08, Hurlburt 4:11, Mair 8:08, Israelson 9 58. Beaudoin 16:28. Hurlburt 16:41.SECOND PERIODSeattle. 3&mdash;Wilcox (O&rsquo;Neil. Wiley) 7.18; 4&mdash;O&rsquo;Neil (Sedlbauer) 16:35Penalties: Clarke 6:14. Snepsts (major), Israelson, Beaudoin (misconduct) 18:50.THIRD PERIODTulsa, 5&mdash;Liesemer (Lariviere. Mowat) 2 08; 6&mdash;Mowat (Liesemer, Migneault) 9:50.Penalties: Mair 0:58, Sedlbauer. Lariviere 4 01, Wisener 4:51, Lariviere 6:46Saves. Bullock (Sea.) 24, Aberhart (Tul.) 37.Attendance: 2,609OMAHA 3, DENVER 5FIRST PERIODDenver, 1&mdash;Kelly (Roberto, Kuntz)&rsquo;7:48; Omaha, 2&mdash;McMasters (Schaab) 9:10: 3&mdash;Schaab (Sotting, Surbey) 13:05.Penalty: Gassoff 11:08.SECOND PERIODOmaha, 4&mdash;Surbey (Schaab. Huber) 15:25Penalties: Ribble 3:18, McCord&rsquo;14:23, Gassoff 14:46, Sutherland 19:54THIRD PERIODDenver, 5&mdash;Spring (Babin. Gassoff) 0:26; 6&mdash;Kelly (Wiseman. Serafini) 5:01; 7&mdash;Kelly (Roberto, Tower) 7:32; 8&mdash;Roberto 10:03.Penalties: Conroy 7:11, Gassoff 13:20, Buynak 17:14.Saves, Hulme (Om.) 46. Watt (Den.) 25.Attendance: 4.008. &#9632;

Central League Summaries

<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0283/3383851-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="599" height="466"></div> &#9632;

f0036-02

IHL Leaders

KALAMAZOO&mdash;Yes, hockey fans. It finally happened. Kalamazoo won a hockey game. It took 15 attempts to do it but the new IHL club turned the trick.Ned Dowd was Wings&rsquo; first hero with his overtime goal beating Columbus, 2-1, for initial victory in 1-13-2 record&hellip; Coach Bob Lemieux happy wittrdefense. displeased about lack of scoring punch&hellip; Wings allowed nine goals in four-game stretch before yielding 6-2 decision to Muskegon&hellip; Brett Callighen, rookie defenseman, player-of-game in four straight home contests&hellip; Dale Turner placed on waivers, Yves Quenne-ville on inactive list&hellip; Wings scored on only 10 of first 76 power-play opporturities&hellip; Wings one of three teams without scorer among league&rsquo;s top 20&hellip; Defenseman Ray Tessier obtained from Columbus&hellip; Lemieux pleased by line of Glen Ing, Mike Wanchuk, Dale Cook. &#9632;

Kalamazoo Finally Wins Game After 15 Unsuccessful Tries

<div class="byline">BY LEN HOYES</div>For the finest in Hockey Magazines subscribe today to the Hockey Twins:HOCKEY WORLD & HOCKEY PICTORIALFor the same price as a ticket to ONE GAME you can read over 1600 PAGES of outstanding news about Hockey by subscribing today toTHE HOCKEY NEWSLANSING &mdash;It&rsquo;s no fun playing for a losing team which attracts few fans but you&rsquo;d never tell by John Gravel&rsquo;s performances for the Lansing Lancers.He remains the steadying influence for coach Real Turcotte, often logging 40 minutes per game by taking regular shifts, killing penalties and working the point on power-plays.Those are key assignments for the veteran defenseman, who reached his 33rd mile-stone a week into the 1974-75 season in the international Hockey League. He&rsquo;s in his ninth IHL season, having played one year at Omaha and seven at Toledo before coming to Lansing when owner Paul Bright transferred the former Toledo Hornets to Michigan&rsquo;scapital city.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01124/3383820-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="269" height="417"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brian Walker</figcaption></div>That move has been nothing but headaches for Bright and also his men who were transplanted from Toledo. Promised renovations at Metro Ice Arena didn&rsquo;t materialize and the IHL&rsquo;s board of governors went to the final few days of training camp before it became definite that the Lancers would operate.Bright stands to lose a bundle of money. perhaps more than in his three seasons at Toledo where he announced losses of $100,000.Rumors of the franchise&rsquo;s demise have been prominent all season. Whenever the rumors get strongest, rival club officials begin to rub their hands in anticipation of getting some of the Lancers&rsquo; players.Gravel is first on that list because he&rsquo;s first with the Lancers. Almost every club, especially one near the bottom, needs defensive help. Three times an All Star and a former rookie-of-the-year. the Montreal native would turn some teams from also-rans into contenders.Gravel must realize that situation but won&rsquo;t talk about it. He prefers to be optimistic about the Lancers.He said. &ldquo;I think we have a young club with potential. But players young or old don&rsquo;t like to play before 300 or 400 people. Big crowds help a playerget fired up for a game.&rdquo;The Lancers have yet to lure 1.000 for a home game and have been as low as 250.That surprises Gravel, especially in view of hockey&rsquo;s solid footing in the Lansing area because of Michigan State University&rsquo;s presence.He said, &ldquo;This arena is much better than what we had in Toledo. The ice is better and we&rsquo;ve been able to get on the ice when we wanted to. In Toledo that wasn&rsquo;t the case. This arena is well-lighted and there shouldn&rsquo;t be a bad seat anywhere.&rdquo;As long as their leader remains optimistic, the Lancers may yet salvage a successful season.FORT WAYNE: Brian Walker&rsquo;s second straight game winner earned 2-1 edge at Kalamazoo and scoring at goal-per-game pace for new coach Ralph Keller&hellip; Komets scored three power-play goals in 5-3 verdict over Toledo&hellip; Keller urged team to shoot more&hellip; Robbie Laird saw first action after suffering broken wrist in training camp&hellip; Robbie Irons stopped 48 shots in 3-2 victory at Columbus, giving Keller 5-1 split for first six games&hellip; Dale Power scored goal after ending nine-game spell on injured list&hellip; Randy Aimoe sent to Greensboro (Southern), Charlie Labelle placed on waivers and picked up by Lansing Lancers.FLINT: Rookie goaler Bob Volpe pushed team-record shutout skein to 194:37 before dropping 3-0 decision to Saginaw&hellip; Three days earlier Volpe shpt-out Gears 3-0&hellip; Veteran Merlin Jenner sporting league&rsquo;s best goals-against average. 1.86&hellip; Frank Beaton suffered broken hand while decisioning Toledo&rsquo;s Paul Tantardini and placed on injured list&hellip; Doug Manchak&rsquo;s 16th goal pushed him to league lead&hellip; Rookie defenseman Mike St. Cyr called to Dallas in manpower emergency&hellip; Kirk Bowman celebrated choice as alternate captain by claiming team scoring lead&hellip; Brad Winton activated as left winger.TOLEDO: Coach Ted Garvin collected $50 from all Goaldiggers after 5-1 home-ice setback by Flint&hellip; Tantardini zeroing in on team record for penalty minutes, needing only 18 to break 11-year-old mark of Ted Lebioda&hellip; Pete Mateja signed as emergency goaler when Ted Tucker sidelined by knee infection&hellip; Moe Brunel&rsquo;s goal salvaged 1-1 tie against Des Moines&hellip; Ian MacPhee, 5&rsquo;,6&frac12;&rdquo;, credited with6-0record in scraps&hellip; Bill Trognitz fined by commissioner Bill Beagan after match penalty&hellip; Goaldiggers averaging 31 penalty minutes per game&hellip; Bill McCreary, player personnel director for California Golden Seals, viewed 81 smashing of Dayton, &lsquo;Diggers&rsquo; first win in four tries against South leader.COLUMBUS: Coach Moe Bartoli disturbed by club&rsquo;s 3-6-0 home-ice record&hellip; Owls greeted by year&rsquo;s largest crowd. 3.615,for Dayton game&hellip; Marty Reynolds and Ed Kenty scored in final two minutes to earn 4-4 tie at Dayton, ending string of 20 losses at Hara Arena&hellip; Terry Casey contributed two goals&hellip; Owls&rsquo; bid for South lead hampered by 0-3-1 record against Dayton&hellip; Defenseman-winger Mike Legge sent on loan to Port Huron&hellip; Defenseman Bill Bond reactivated and Don Wheldon obtained from Denver&hellip; Owls blitzed by six Muskegon power-play goals in 7-6 overtime loss on home ice.LANSING: Newly-acquired goalie Roly Kimble beat Port Huron 7-4 in debut with 43 saves&hellip; Coach Real Turcotte unhappy about Lancers&rsquo; 1-7 road record&hellip; Dave Staffen boosted team lead to 12 goals&hellip; Lancers outshot Saginaw 55-32, but suffered 7-3 setback&hellip; Season&rsquo;s second-biggest crowd, 755, attended Puck Night&hellip; Bill Ciraulo obtained from Muskegon, John Preville reactivated after being dropped earlier.DES MOINES: Bob Geoffrion. son of Boom Boom, saw first action&hellip; Len Cunning, defenseman, sent to Fort Wayne in swap for Len Chalmers whose first goal produced 4-4 tie at Kalamazoo&hellip; Terry McDougall&rsquo;s goal earned 1-1 tie a Toledo, snapping five-game losing string&hellip; Goalie Jerome Mrazek sidelined briefly after being struck above eye by puck&hellip; Rookie-of-year. top goal scorer Frank DeMarco. returned by Omaha.SAGINAW: Goalies Mario Lessard and Mike Palmateer recorded back-to-back shutouts over Flint and Port Huron&hellip; Defenseman Tom Thomson scored three goals in back-to-back games&hellip; Doug Marit on four-game scoring spree&hellip; Paul Evans picked up five assists in four games after only one in first eight games&hellip; Gordie Malinoski boos- the PM total from 27 to 70 in back-to-back games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0364/3383813-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="561" height="669"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB OLEIN &hellip;A Plus Player</figcaption></div>MUSKEGON: Twelve players shared in Mohawks&rsquo; 36 power-play goals which are threatening league record of 58&hellip; Bob Olein helped 6-2 victory over Kalamazoo with two goals&hellip; Gary Ford. Bob Tombari and Ernie Moser ranking 1-2-6 in league scoring&hellip; Bob Fowler&rsquo;s goal produced 7-6 overtime triumph at Columbus&hellip; Dave White reactivated, George Klasons sent to Waterloo&hellip; Sid Prysunka became fourth Mohawk to score lOgoals in only 20 games&hellip; Carlo Ugolini sidelined by fractured cheek bone.DAYTON: Brian Kinsella&rsquo;s two golds aided 7-3 victory over Columbus&hellip; Steve Self propelled into fourth place in league scoring with 10 goals in four-game span&hellip; Defenseman Larry Bo-lonchuck out with abdominal injury&hellip; Five-game winning streak ended in 8-1 setback at Toledo&hellip; John Riley restored to active list&hellip; Yvon Bouillon scored game-winner in 5-4 triumph over Saginaw&hellip; Goalie Jim Pettie went route first time but surrendered eight goals to Toledo in return from injury list&hellip; Rich Bragnalo ranking third in IHL scoring with 11-17-28 combination&hellip; Gems fattened home-ice record to 7-1-1 in 5-3 victory over Des Moines.PORT HURON: Captain Larry Klewchuk became emergency goaler when Ty Langton went out with injury&hellip; Mike Ralph was banished for run-in with referee Jim Hanham&hellip; Team scoring leader Rankly Sokoll left team abruptly to return to college&hellip; Mike Boland received two-game suspension after fracas at Toledo&hellip; Flags scored power-play goal in 12 straight games&hellip; Ralph scored back-to-back shutouts at Muskegon and Toledo, extended string to seven periods before being forced out by illness. &#9632;

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Lansing’s Problems Growing On, Off Ice; Keller Turning Fort Wayne Komets Around

<h2>WCHA CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Nov. 26)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0286/3383965-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="594" height="295"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wisconsin 4, Minn-Duluth 2Wisconsin 7. Minn-Duluth 5Michigan 10. Minnesota 1Minnesota 7, Michigan 5Michigan State 7. North Dakota 4Michigan State 6, North Dakota 2Michigan Tech 8. Colorado College 7Colorado College 4, Michigan Tech 2Notre Dame 5. Denver 3Denver 7, Notre Dame 4Wisconsin 5. Michigan State 4Wisconsin 4. Michigan State 3Colorado College 7, Minnesota 4Colorado College 4. Minnesota 2Denver 3, Minn-Duluth 3Denver 4. Minrt-Duluth 3Michigan 7, Michigan Tech 4Michigan 5, Michigan Tech 3Notre Dame 5, North Dakota 3Notre Dame 3. North Dakota 2CCHA CONFERENCESt. Louis 7. Lake Superior State 4Lake Superior State 2, St. Louis 1Bowling Green 5, Lake Superior State 2Bowling Green 7, Lake Superior State 1NON-CONFERENCESt. Louis 9. Ohio State 2Bowling Green 5. Ohio State 2Michigan Tech 8. Lake Superior State 2Michigan Tech 6, Lake Superior State 2Bowling Green 9. Buffalo 4Bowling Green 12. Buffalo 0St. Louis 3. Vermont 2St. Louis 7, Vermont 4St. Louis 7, Colorado College 5Colorado College 5. St. Louis 4ECAC CONFERENCEBoston University 7, Providence 5Providence 4, Merrimack 1Clarkson 9. Norwich 4RPI 4. Vermont 3NON-CONFERENCEWisconsin 6. Vermont 5Wisconsin 6. Vermont 1St. Lawrence 5. Buffalo 2Clarkson 6. Buffalo 5Providence 4. St. Louis 2Providence 5, St. Louis 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0359/3383958-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="591" height="468"></div><h2>NEW YORK COLLEGES</h2>(Standings on Tue. Nov. 19)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0448/3383951-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="605" height="236"></div> &#9632;

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College Races

<div class="byline">BY MIKE LUCAS</div>&mdash; MADISON&mdash;The loss-gain factor in mind, Bob Johnson of Wisconsin predicts the eventual demise of minor league hockey, resulting in the strengthening of the college sport.He forsees the big money agents leaving a potential player in college, where he won&rsquo;t cost the pro team a cent to develop, instead of yanking him out before his graduating class and assigning him to a farm club.&ldquo;Because of the lack of minor league teams, I don&rsquo;t think the pros will grab as many or encourage as many players to leave school early,&rdquo; said Johnson.&ldquo;When a team pays a kid a lot of money to sign, they want him to play in the majors right away, and not in the minors.Because of expansion and the large salaries, most teams will be forced to go with one farm club or maybe even a taxi squad in the future.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0726/3383996-1-eng-US/f0037-072.jpg" title="f0037-07" width="266" height="402"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob Johnson</figcaption></div>The Western Collegiate Hockey Association was cleaned out by a rash of pro signings over the summer. Johnson, in fact, lost his first two players, Dennis Olmstead (Phoenix) and Dean Talafous (Atlanta), to the pros.&ldquo;I think it reached its peak last year,&rdquo; he admitted. &ldquo;Many players, after talking to their agents, felt that last year was the time to jump.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt you&rsquo;ll always lose your key players, but I feel next year you won&rsquo;t see as many leaving. It should go down again.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s funny, until the WHA came along the NHL was pretty good about signing the younger players. But obviously the competition between the two leagues forced them to dig deeper.&rdquo;An apparent crackdown by the NCAA rules and regulations committee will only nurture more American-bred players, according to Johnson.&ldquo;Many of the real good Canadian kids may be declared ineligible, especially the younger players in the Tier I program.&rdquo; he pointed out. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s amazing how many Minnesota kids are playing in our league right now.&rdquo;Minnesota won the NCAA championship last year with a roster of solely Minnesota players &mdash; a trend Johnson sees developing at more and more schools.He calls the WCHA the &ldquo;best league around&rdquo; and superior to junior hockey.&ldquo;In the age group of 17 to 20 years old there&rsquo;s simply no comparison &mdash; the WCHA has the best talent,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It gets better all the time. I think as coaches we&rsquo;re doing a better job because ofthe longer season and the rise in competition.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just really impressed with the skating ability in the league as compared to Junior A and the minor pro leagues &mdash; it&rsquo;s just unbelievable.&rdquo;Johnson captured the Class B title in the World Tournament last year with a club composed of predominantly WCHA players. Fourteen out of 20 players were from the league.He said the West has the advantage on Eastern hockey because of its early jump on the season.&ldquo;We start practice now in September and play in October,&rdquo; he explained, &ldquo;while many teams out East haven&rsquo;t even begun to play yet.&rdquo;Johnson will return to the World Tournament this spring in the class A bracket, facing the challenge ofthe Soviet Union. Finland, Sweden. Poland, and Czechoslovakia.He will also be the head coach of the 1976 United States Olympic team which will train in Madison.Consequently, he will take a leave of absence from coachingjob at the University of Wisconsin.The loss-gain factor is strictly on his side, however.As it is for the WCHA. &#9632;

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Wisconsin’s Johnson Sees Colleges Taking Over As Player Developers

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01114/3383920-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="572" height="795"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE GROULX &hellip;Cornell Ace Back</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;Okay boys, who&rsquo;s it going to be this year?What ECAC Division One hockey team, loaded with talent, will not advance beyond the paper tiger stage during the season which is now upon us? Conversely, whose building year is going to turn into a &ldquo;built&rdquo; year, as the unexpected prefabrications suddenly fit to gether?The only certain thing is that it&rsquo;s bound to happen to one or more teams. Question is, which one? We don&rsquo;t pretend to know, so judge for yourself with the followi ng capsulized outlooks and save this paperfor a retrospective chuckle in March.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0537/3383913-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="273" height="396"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill Cleary</figcaption></div>BOSTON UNIV: (23-8 last year, ECAC Playoff Champs). Only goalie Ed Walsh has graduated from last year&rsquo;s awesome Terriers, who&rsquo;ll begin Jack Parker&rsquo;s first full season as head coach. All four lines return intact, with eight of those forwards bettering 40 points a year ago. Best of this super lot are Bill Burlington (15-30-45). Rick Meagher (19-21-40) and Mike Eruzione (21-19-40). All-American Vic Stanfield back again at defense, with Junior Pete Brown just as effective. Anyone could play winning goal at BU this year. The only possible obstacle to a banner year is complacency at BU. Not much chance.HARVARD: (17-11-1) Not quite as deep as BU, especially at defense. But Bill Cleary has enough forwards on hand to outskate CCCP if necessary. Levy Byrd, Dave Hands and Mark Noonan all graduated from a backline corps which probably played over its head last year anyway. Maybe a forward or two will have to drop back eventually to help out Ed Rossi and Steve Janicek. Of 11 returning forwards, All-American Randy Roth (21-32-53) the brightest light. Then there&rsquo;s Jim McMahon (50 points), Kevin Carr and Steve Dagdigian (38 each) and on and on. Soph Brian Petrovek could split the goalie duo of Jim Murray and John Aiken, both of whom return. Will be a very good year at Watson.CORNELL: (19-7-1) As usual, loss of a handful of fine players but a flock of good returnees, Seven lettermen gone. 16 back, including top scorers Dave Groulx (23-19-42) and Dave Peace (1030-40). Forwards Bob Murray and Doug Marrett and defensemen George Kuzminz and Bill Murray difficult to replace, but Dick Bertrand always manages. The keys may be the backline performances of seniors Gunar Skillins and Steve Bajinski, along with senior goalie Steve Kelleher (4.02). Not invincible, these Big Red, just good again. What else?NEW HAMPSHIRE: (22-9) &mdash; A team which grew up fast and finished first a year ago, UNH has all but four lettermen back, although in the real squeakers they won&rsquo;t be able to look for Gordie Clark any more. Cap Raeder, one of the best goalies in the East, healthy again. The four-frosh defense of Joe Rando, Tim Burke. Paul Powers and Jim Harvie is back, along with senior Glenn Hunter. Top Eastern scorers Cliff Cox (27-30-57) and Jamie Hislop (21-35-56) lead a balanced group of forwards. A good home ice playoff bet.BROWN: (10-13) Picked a surprise fifth by the coaches in THE HOCKEY NEWS poll, Brown is starting first full year under coach Dick Toomey, who took over with eight games to go last season. Perhaps three straight years of disappointment is enough for the Bruins, with nine lettermen gone but 11 back along with a plethora of rookies from a 19-0 frosh six. In goal, senior Jim Madich will probably share the duties with soph Kevin McCabe. Regular defensemen Jack Ahern, Tom Colehour, and Gary Faryniuk will be supplemented by bruisers Bill Roman and Jim Lindquist. The soph line of Bill Gilligan. Bob McIntosh and Bill Lukewich, a 212-point combo a year ago, should spearhead an attack that hasn&rsquo;t been nearly potent enough in recent years. Is this finally Brown&rsquo;s turn?VERMONT: (28-5) &mdash; No need to debate the Catamounts&rsquo; capabilities this season, as they move officially from Division Two to a Division One schedule. Jim Cross lost seven regulars including All-Americans Willie MacKinnon and Ted Castle, but the Burlington well is deep. 17 lettermen are back, with the line of Tim O&rsquo;Connell, Bill Koch and Roger Mallette the expected bellwethers. Tom McNamara will move right in as replacement for graduated goalie John Kiely. John Murphy. John Glynne, Ken Yeates and Ted Curtis all have regular defense experience, and Cross has attracted his usual fistful of excellent Massachusetts freshmen. The Catamounts have to fit in somewhere on this, their maiden voyage. Discount the four early road losses at Wisconsin and St. Louis. Mere tighteners.PROVIDENCE: (14-11-1) Another team which grew up quickly under the accute coaching of Lou Lamoriello, PC will be a power again unless the defense gets decimated by injury. Only three graduated, and PC now boastsexcellent balance, age-wise, on the roster, with seven seniors, juniors and sophs aboard during pre-season. Rick Moffitt and Phil Anchukaitis are proven goalies. Sensational frosh backliner Ron Wilson is in harness again, and only has to polish up his defensive game to become a super star. His supporting cast is Jeff Nixon, Kevin Gaffney and parttimers Pat Lovett and Terry Nagel. The top 10 scoring forwards are returning, too, so this should be one of a string of playoff years for Providence.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0631/3383906-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="1190" height="1098"><figcaption class="caption-body">Seniors Dave Cooper, left, and Dan O&rsquo;Driscoll will lead Cor-nell&rsquo;s Golden Knights this season in their bid to top the ECAC hockey race. Cooper is the best of the returning defensemen while O&rsquo;Driscoll paced the Knights in scoring last year.</figcaption></div>BOSTON COLLEGE: (16-12) A surprise pick for seventh along with Providence in coaches&rsquo; poll, the Eagles have a lot of proving to do before they can be considered for the post-seasons. Eight front-liners either graduated or were academically excised, leaving Len Ceglarski with a grand total of two seniors and two juniors as returning regulars. Top scorers Richie Smith (21-21-42) and Bob Ferriter (11-23-34) lead the way with Mark Riley and Mark Albrecht up front. Senior Rich Hart must direct a be vy of frosh and soph rearguards in front of a yet-to-be-named goalie. Best candidates are soph Bill Wilkens and frosh Dan Redmond. The Eagles appear to be a year away.ST. LAWRENCE: (12-15-1) When the veterans led SLU to a thrilling 0-9-1 start last year, everything appeared over for another year. But then the kids took off and powered the Larries to a 9-3 second half and the playoffs. Now only five have graduated and the youngsters will be a power if they can pick up where they left off. Fifteen lettermen answered the call for practice, led by top scorer Pete Blair (10-28-38). Eight others are back from the forward lines, with only Mark Slater, Scott Graham, and Gordon Rivoire in their senior years. Three lettering goalies are in harness, along with three blueliners. All the Larries need is a bit of depth at defense and they will be in it all the way.RPI: (14-15-1) Despite the Engineers&rsquo; protestations, they won&rsquo;t miss goalie Don Cutts who was their only major graduation loss. Youthful inconsistency plagued Jimmy Salfi&rsquo;s crew at times, but much of that should yield to experienced polish this year. Since eight top scorers are back led by superlative Barry Martinelli, defensive stiffening is the key factor. Junior pair Mike Prpich and Gerry Beauclair will be together again, as will soph duo Dave Jack and Rick Marsh. Five men are battling for the goalie slot. RPI will again be a major factor.DARTMOUTH: (13-11-1) Perhaps their flaccid second half showing explains the Green&rsquo;s dearth of support among the coaches in our poll, but Grant Standbrook has all the tools to take them at to the playoffs again. Thirteen lettermen are back while seven depart, with last year&rsquo;s top five scorers still in tow. Footballer Tom Fleming was high at 37 points and will need a while to work into the lineup. But Ken Pettit. Pete Quinn, Dan Tomlak and Greg Gronin will carry the scoring load. Dave Dunbar and Gordie Miles lead agood defensive crew, while either Dan Ringsred or Jeff Sollows will replace Chuck Walker in goal.CLARKSON: (12-14-1) It&rsquo;s Jerry York&rsquo;s third year at the helm and Potsdamites are looking for an upswing in the Golden Knights&rsquo; fortunes. It might not be easy because starting goalie Syl Larose is shelved with a knee problem and regular defender Lee Palmer didn&rsquo;t make the academic cut. Forwards Dan O&rsquo;Driscoll (34 points) and Dave Taylor (30) have to lead the scoring again, along with Gary Imeson (23), Sandy McAdam (17), and Marco Cardoni (11), other forwards whose production will be counted on. Dave Cooper (14) is the best of three defense lettermen back.Clarkson has several ifs, and could go either way.NORTHEASTERN: (10-13-4) Inconsistency was a Hunkie hallmark last year, and unless Fernie Flaman can cultivate some of his youngsters in a hurry, it could be the same way this season. The big line will be Jim Martel (46), Dave Sherlock (45) and Charlie Huck (40), and they alone will win some games for NU. Duncan Finch and Norm Reise will anchor the defense while Tod Blanchard&rsquo;s replacement in goal has some big pads to fill. Bill McKenna and Jay Mason have the inside track for the job. Another team like Clarkson, a sprinkling of fine players but with questionable depth; let&rsquo;s wait and see.PENNSYLVANIA: (10-14) Just a hunch, but lightly regarded Penn might be the big surprise of the year. It&rsquo;s the third year of Bob Crocker&rsquo;s tenure, and should show us the kind of recruitercoach he is. Even with their losing record of last season, the Quakers never got bombed. Crocker&rsquo;s defensive style lessens the impact of the unimpressive scoring totals by the returnees. Mark Irwin (24 points), Ed Parkinson (22), Steve Siba (15) and Gary Lyte (14) are the only ones in double figures among the ten lettermen. Penn&rsquo;s frosh were 16-2 last year with the top line of Mickey Ball, Jamie Hodge and Brad Kuglin netting 71 goals. Tony Ciresi (3.6 average) is a steady netminder. If Penn can stay close to .500 in the early going when they play nine straight road games, they&rsquo;ll make the playoffs.PRINCETON: (9-14-1) Few realize it, but the former Princeton Wine Presses were so rejuvenated by rookie coach Jack Semler last season that they were in playoff contention until right near the end. Only Walt Snickenberger will be missed on the offensive side, while goalie Phil Robinson is gone to India to collect his pension for viewing 40 years&rsquo; worth of rubber in the last three seasons. Whoever winds up in goal from among the four candidates will have a complete defense returning in front of him, with junior Paul Dionne considered the best of the lot. Up front, junior Gary O&rsquo;Meara was high scorer on the team last year with only 23 points, but ten players scored in double figures. Mark Stuckey (22) and Craig Dahl (20) are both back too. Like Penn, Princeton is most effective as a hangtough defensive outfit. This team could win more than expected, too.YALE: (7-16) Once again Ken McKenzie can be expected to win some tough games almost singlehandedly for the Elis, but there won&rsquo;t be enough of them due to lack of enough depth in rugged Division One. Eight lettermen are gone, among them the top four scorers led by flashy Bobby Kane (30 pts.). Frank Paveck showed the most of the returnees last year with 18 points, with Ron Graber and Dave Buchar tallying 15. Some help can be expected from brilliant but of-injured D&rsquo;Arcy Ryan (13), and the sophomore line of Randy Ludwar, Brian Kinsman and Bob Wheeler. Ludwar has had injury problems in pre-season and won&rsquo;t be ready right away, however. The defense, though unspectacular, gained some experience last year and should be steady. Yale will win some biggies, but not enough to qualify for the playoffs.COLGATE: (11-16-1) With 14 regulars back, the Red Raiders have to be given an outside shot at the playdowns, although pro hockey defectors Chris Grigg (goal) and Dan Desmond (defense) will be hard to replece. Top three scorers John Barnett (44), Rick Mirabelli (37) and Joey Cyr (30) will lead the way, with the likes of Neil Abbott (24), Al Forsiund and Larry Hay (19 each) providing adequate second line depth. Bill Davis and Steve McGrath took lumps as frosh blueliners last season and should be better. Freshmen will have to fill out the other spots on the roster, leaving Colgate with suspect depth. Frosh Kevin Barry and Ron Spadaccini will battle for the goalie slot. The Raiders, too, will pull some upsets but have to be considered long shots at best. &#9632;

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Boston U., Harvard, Cornell Have It For New Eastern Conference Struggle

<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0291/3384065-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="591" height="318"></div> &#9632;

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NAHL LEADERS

<div class="byline">BY DEREK KNIGHT</div>Follow All The Action Every Week By Subscribing Today ToTHE HOCKEY NEWSSuperb Hockey Reading Each MonthHOCKEY WORLD & HOCKEY PICTORIALLEWISTON&mdash;It was a long time coming for Maine Nordique fans but they finally saw their club win a game, even though it wasn&rsquo;t a 60 minute affair. Gregg Pilling, coach and general manager of the Philadelphia Firebirds (5-1 losers that night), pulled his team off the ice after he and referee Walt Garnerd is a greed over whether or not the Firebirds&rsquo; goaltending replacement should be allowed warmups. It was a long involved scene with the ultimate ruling up to the league office. After preliminary hearings, commissioner Bob Dextraze fined the Firebirds $1,000 and placed Pilling under indefinite suspension pending the completion of the league&rsquo;s investigation. The following day Philadelphia was to receive worse news. Pilling was suspended for five games and placed on probation for the remainder of the year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01137/3384034-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="279" height="441"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gregg Pilling</figcaption></div>MAINE: Jean Charles Gravel is the now coach with a tough task ahead. To succeed he&rsquo;ll really have to tighten up on defense. The Nordiques are giving up far too many goals. More help will have to come from his top three scorere Paul LaRose, Bob Murphy and Denis Patry. Michel Belisle and Tom Pinder look like fine additions. Gilles Tremblay looked sharp in a recent stint against Long Island. Although losing 4-3 in overtime, Tremblay played a fine game. It looked for awhile like Maine would have their first win. Although they didn&rsquo;t win in Long Island, their first two points were to come only 24 hours later.JOHNSTOWN: Club lost Gary Gambucci on recall to the parent Minnesota Fighting Saints. Doug Falls, an impressive defender in training camp, was given his release. Goaltender Louis Levasseur placed on 14 day injury list. Activated was last year&rsquo;s top Jet net-minder Ron Docken. Also activated was Jean Tetrault while Norm Descoteaux was placed on the 14 day injury list. Jack Carlson leading league with 120 minutes in penalties and in goals with 11. The Carlson line has come up with 19 goals and 43 points.PHILADELPHIA: Tom Young, the club&rsquo;s leading scorer, out 14 days with a severely sprained ankle. Pleasant acquisition has been Bob Collyard (Washington Capitals) with 23 points in 19 games. Pierre Henry, mostly recognized as a defenseman, has taken up the left wing position and statistics show the position switch was a good one. Dan Sullivan was sporting a 3.73 goals-against average in 12 games, posting a winning record of 6-5-1. Michel Plante has missed some games with a severely bruised heel. Club is winning despite key injuries. Defenseman Lee Crozier has been added to the squad.LONG ISLAND: Call Mike Smith &ldquo;Game Winner&rdquo;. The young left winger has three game winning goals to his credit, two with Long Island, one with Syracuse. Smitty&rsquo;s latest came against Philadelphia. In one weekend, the Cougars snapped a three-game losing streak with two consecutive overtime wins at home. Bill Fraser scored two goals in win over Phillie. Brian Coates took over team scoring leadership with 17 points, replacing Peter Mara who was up with Chicago. Defenseman Dick Proceviat and right winger Jim Benzelock were reassigned to Long Island. Al Mackenzie looking good up front with eight goals. A defenseman last season, Mac has played at right wing and center this year.SYRACUSE: The hot line for the Blazers consists of Bill Evo, Tom Trevelyan and Brian Perry, who connected on seven goals in three games. Trevelyan and Perry notched game winners over Broome, and Mohawk Valley respectively. Goaltending situation continues to improve. Highly rated Bob Blanchet was returned by San Diego (WHA). At the same time, Guy De Noncourt was added on to active roster. In their absence. John Kiely was holding the fort and doing rather well winning four of five starts. Blazers have averaged2,100 for first nine home dates despite poor weather. The &ldquo;Pro Line&rdquo; has Blazer fans excited. Consisting of Bobby Jones, Alton White and Brian Bradley, the line has accounted for 21 goals in 17 games.MOHAWK VALLEY: John Sheridan and Ross Smith were recalled by parent Indianapolis (WHA). Sheridan had accumulated 15 points in 15 games. Doug Brindley, Jeff Jacques and John Cook in three way tie for team scoring race with 24 points. Guy Provost leading Comet defensemep with 12 assists. Jim Park sporting a 3.47 goals against average and a fine 6-2-1 record. Gordie Titcomb, and Ron Anderson off to good starts with 19 points each. Ten Comets have scored in double figures with eight players notching five or more goals. Comets pleased with first sellout since 1970. It happened recently in a Comet win over Syracuse, the third time the Blazers have been knocked off by Briand Conacher&rsquo;s club this year.BROOME: Dusters are still on top of the NAHL standings. A seven point performance by Rod Bloomfield increased his league scoring lead. &ldquo;Hot Rod&rdquo; had 16 goals and 21 assists after 21 games. Paul Brown leads in penalty minutes with 55. Coach Wayne Clairmont has done a fine job with his Dusters. Roger Kosar sports a sparkling 2.85 goals-against average after 10 games while Rick Lemay shows a 3.36 average in 11 games. Bill Gratton and Ken Davidson each have 11 goals. Ken Gratton second leading scorer with 21 points.CAPE CODDERS: Codder defense was hurting recently as Ron Anderson was recalled by Cleveland. Also a previous injury to Gerry Methe lingers on with Methe unable to see all that much action. Bob Charlebois is back at left wing after starting the season at center. Denis Lemieux, a center last year and left winger this year, may be back playing center by the time you read this. Dan Cowley doing a creditable job as Codder swing man. After 18 games, the Codders were averaging 4.72 goals per game, second only to Mohawk Valley&rsquo;s 4.76 per game figure. By the same token. only Maine was averaging more goals allowed. Maine&rsquo;s per game figure was 6.35 while the Codders was 4.27. A 9-2 loss to Broome didn&rsquo;t help.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0362/3384027-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="527" height="517"><figcaption class="caption-body">JACK CARLSON &hellip;League Leader</figcaption></div>NAHL NOTES: Commissionner Bob Dextraze has been taking a strong stand on rule offenders. Several fines and suspensions have been handed out after complete investigating of all incidents. &#9632;

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December 13, 1974

WHA Leaders

Nantais, Hicks Impressive In Escape From Bench

BONANZA FOR SOME-HEARTBREAK FOR OTHERS

Toros Romp On Road With Overpowering Offense