The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.

May 2, 1975

The Hockey News May 2, 1975

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BY BILL MAKI</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-01938/3595436-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">&ldquo;This League Needs Help&hellip; I Had To Pay To Get In!&rdquo;</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

CARTOON CORNER

<div class="byline">BY DEREK COOPER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01293/3595967-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="551" height="777"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK HAMPTON&hellip;Learned A Lot</figcaption></div>OAKLAND&mdash;Back in the so-called &lsquo;good old days&rsquo; of the National Hockey League, things were a little different. A young skater graduated from the junior ranks, spent his internship in the minors and when good enough, moved up to the big league.Like so many things, the &lsquo;good old days&rsquo; of the NHL are gone. They fell by the wayside in 1967 when the league opened its doors to expansion. That was also the year the doors were opened to younger skaters.,The 1974amateur draft was actually a continuation of the 1967 trend, as the NHL decided for the first time in its history to allow clubs to draft 18-year-old players.One of the young draftees admitted to the NHL&rsquo;s exclusive club was California Golden Seals&rsquo; defenseman Rick Hampton.When the Seals signed Hampton last June&mdash;he was their No. 1 pick in the amateur draft&mdash;the Bay Area media and the club&rsquo;s management went a little overboard in building up the young defenseman.Garry Young, then the director of hockey operations for the Seals, went on record as saying Hampton was the type of skater he &ldquo;could build a franchise around.&rdquo;Quite a responsibility to lay on the shoulders of any player, especially when that skater is the second youngest in the NHL. Chicago&rsquo;s Grant Mulvey holds the distinction of being the youngest by three months.&ldquo;It hasn&rsquo;t been the easiest experience in the world, that&rsquo;s for sure,&rdquo; says Hampton as he looks back on his rookie year in the NHL.&ldquo;I thought they (the Seals) made too much out of the whole thing,&rdquo; he admits. &ldquo;They said at the time they needed the publicity to help build up interest in the team.&ldquo;They really didn&rsquo;t know that much about my skating ability and 1 really think all the publicity put a lot of pressure on me,&rdquo; added the Seals&rsquo; rookie.Rick&rsquo;s debut in the big time was less than spectacular and the six foot, 180-pounder found himself warming a spot on the California bench for the first time in his career. &ldquo;I admit I got off to a bad start,&rdquo; he pointed out. &ldquo;I think I might have been trying too hard to live up to all that publicity.&rdquo;After months of disappointments, which almost included a trip to the club&rsquo;s CHL development club at Salt Lake, Hampton finally got his chance to see more action, and responded with the offensive authority and defensive steadiness that everyone knew he possessed. He finished his first NHL season as the leading defensive scorer on the club with eight goals and 17 assists for 25 points in 78 games. He picked up only 39 penalty minutes.&ldquo;I may not have had the kind of season everyone expected me to have, but I think the last couple of months of the schedule proved that I can skate in the NHL,&rdquo; said the young blueliner.Since he got on the ice more often in the second half of the season, Hampton became a bigger part of the Seals&rsquo; offensive plans. He scored a goal in his first-ever shift as a left winger and later added a score while performing at center on a power-play line.&ldquo;No I didn&rsquo;t mind being moved from position to position,&rdquo; he confided. &ldquo;I think everyone moving around like that only helped me become a more complete hockey player.&rdquo;Had his young age and the lucrative contract he signed back in June hampered him?&rdquo; I guess some of the older guys were a little upset at the beginning but they all tried to help me out from the start of training camp to the end of the year,&rdquo; says Hampton.&ldquo;The age thing really isn&rsquo;t an important factor.&rdquo; he adds. &ldquo;I really didn&rsquo;t know who the youngest player in the league was because I never gave it any thought.&rdquo;Although Hampton is a native of Toronto where the Maple Leafs are to sports fans what the Raiders are to Oaklanders, Rick admits he saw only two live NHL games prior to this season. &ldquo;I never really had time to go to the games when I was home. I was always busy playing the game myself,&rdquo; he explains. &ldquo;Besides you couldn&rsquo;t get tickets to see the Leafs anyway.&rdquo;Due to his admitted lack of exposure to the NHL, Rick confides that he really didn&rsquo;t know what to expect when he came into the league. &ldquo;I had never seen guys like Esposito or Orr before, but you read about them all the time,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;Some of the guys around the league are the same ones I skated against in junior so I knew what to expect from them,&rdquo; the young blueliner added.Rick would be the first to admit that he still has a lot to learn about the NHL and the game of hockey before he can consider&mdash;his career on the road to success.&ldquo;I made my share of mistakes this year, but I&rsquo;ve also learned a lot, too,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We are a young team and it will take time for us to get it all together as a real team. But I know we will.&rdquo;Given the chance, Rick off his first NHL season, and the young Seals just might find the path to success sooner than they hoped. Only time will tell. &#9632;

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Seals’ Hampton Overcoming Obstacles

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-03619/3595512-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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Hockey News’ Awards Winners

<div class="byline">BY HANS TANNER</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U. S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U. S. and CanadaROCHESTER&mdash;Having the home ice advantage is generally considered a very important factor in hockey playoffs.Teams play all season in the American Hockey League with the extra game at home in the playoffs a prime target.But there probably hasn&rsquo;t been a series in Calder Cup playoff history where home ice has meant as little as it has in the Rochester-Nova Scotia quarterfinal tussle.In six games, the home team won exactly one game as the Americans proceeded to defeat the Voyageurs 4-2 in their best-of-seven series and earn the right to advance into the semi-final round against Springfield Indians. The Amerks captured the deciding sixth game 5-2. The Indians made it to the semi-finals by disposing of Providence Reds in six games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01226/3596702-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="565" height="639"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE REECE&hellip;Solid In Goal</figcaption></div>In the other semi-final series, it will be New Haven against Hershey Bears after the Hawks eliminated Virginia in a surprise ending to their quarter-final series. Hershey took Richmond out in the seventh game of their best-of-seven quarter-final play down.The complete disregard for home ice in the Rochester-Nova Scotia series began with the very first game of the series.In game one the Amerks grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first 15 and a half minutes then went on to lose a 3-2 decision to the Voyageurs in Rochester.Game 2 nearly went the same way as the Amerks struck for the first goal again, but trailed 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 before pulling out an overtime victory.Moving to Halifax, the Voyageurs carried a 1-0 lead into the final 12 and a half minutes, but Jake Rathwell tied it in the third period and Dave Hynes scored at 7:47 of sudden-death overtime for a 2-1 Rochester victory.With goalie Dave Reece again doing an outstanding job (he had made 46 saves in the 2-1 overtime triumph two nights earlier), the Amerks took another 2-1 decision in Halifax to return home ready to wrap up the series in game 5.They scored in the first minute and a half as the Voyageurs were hit with two quick penalties in the first 63 seconds. After Nova Scotia tied the game, the Americans ran up a 3-1 lead before the game was 10 and a half minutes old.But coach Al MacNeil&rsquo;s Vees didn&rsquo;t quit. They scored a pair of goals before the first period ended, added one in the second period and clinched it with two goals in the final 26 seconds.In that game, the Amerks outshot the Voyageurs 41 to 20.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not the shots that count, it&rsquo;s the goals,&rdquo; said Amerk coach Dick Mattiussi after the defeat. &ldquo;Look at what happened to Boston in the last game against Chicago. The Bruins outshot them 56 to 19 and got knocked out of the playoffs.&rdquo;Nova Scotia coach Al MacNeil had nothing but praise for his penalty killers in that game.His team was hit with two minors to different players at the same time in the first, giving Rochester a two-man advantage for a full two minutes. And while his club was clinging to a 4-3 lead late in the game, Gilles Lupien was given two minors on the same play, meaning the Amerks had a man advantage for four minutes. Yet the Voyageurs held them off the board both times.The fifth game was sold out three days before the game and 7,370 were on hand.Gordie Clark, the former University of New Hampshire All-American, was emerging as the Amerk star of the series. He scored the winning overtime goal at home, fired the shot that eventually was knocked in for the overtime winner in Halifax and then broke a 1-1 tie with the winner in the second game in Halifax. &#9632;

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Rochester Outs Voyageurs By Winning Three In Halifax

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01613/3597731-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"></div>&mdash;Page 23PLAYOFF PICTURESTANLEY CUP&mdash;Pages 22-23AVCOTROPHY&mdash;Pages 28-29MONTREAL PLAYOFF TRADITION MAGIC&mdash;Page 3GUY LAFLEUR Keeps Momentum In Cup PlayoffsHOCKEY NEWS MINOR AWARDSROCHESTER&rsquo;S DOUG GIBSON SELECTED PLAYER OF YEARBERNIE PARENT Hot Notminding Finishes LeafsHOUSTON, QUEBEC ROMP IN WHA PLAYOFF START&mdash;Page 29<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-02465/3597724-1-eng-US/cover-022.jpg" title="Cover-02" width="1211" height="1659"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-03204/3597717-1-eng-US/cover-032.jpg" title="Cover-03" width="3017" height="869"></div> &#9632;

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FLYERS TAKE FIRST STEP TOWARDS CUP

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01891/3595084-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rangers&rsquo; all-time scoring champion Rod Gilbert could be on the move next season. Gilbert has been declared a &lsquo;free agent&rdquo; and may be up for grabs to the highest bidder. His Ranger salary this season was $175,000.</figcaption></div><h2>GILBERT FREE AGENT</h2>NEW YORK&mdash;Is the honeymoon over between Rod Gilbert and the New York Rangers? It would seem that way after Rangers&rsquo; president Bill Jennings declared that Gilbert, the highest scoring forward in the club&rsquo;s history, is now a free agent.The disclosure that the 33-year-old Gilbert, who carries a hefty $175,000 contract, was free to negotiate with any other pro team, came to light when Jennings said, &ldquo;Yes, Rod Gilbert is a free agent because of the &ldquo;consent decree&rdquo; signed with the WHA 1&frac12; years ago. The so-called consent agreement in effect did away with the option year of a pro player&rsquo;s contract. Gilbert, reportedly disenchanted in New York, has been talking with other NHL clubs and particularly with the WHA New England Whalers. Gilbert asked for a new 4-year contract. Rangers have offered three and do not appear to be in a rush to retain the services of their starry right winger, who has a career total of 341 goals, 510 assists and 851 points. One trade possibility has Gilbert moving to Atlanta in exchange for goaler Phil Myre.<h2>SEALS TO FRISCO?</h2>OAKLAND&mdash;The NHL-owned California Seals could be headed over the Golden Gate Bridge to San Francisco next season if present plans materialize.NHL president Clarence Campbell reportedly has said the deal offered the league by a San Francisco group headed by Mel Swig is so good the NHL may not be able to turn it down. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a firm offer. I don&rsquo;t see how it can be turned down but that&rsquo;s my opinion,&rdquo; said Campbell. He indicated if the NHL accepts the offer from Swig&rsquo;s group the team will look for an arena in the San Francisco area. At the same time, Campbell said he had no solution on the financial problems of the Pittsburgh Penguins. &ldquo;Their next step is bankruptcy if they don&rsquo;t get their finances sorted out,&rdquo; added Campbell.<h2>RUSSIANS CHAMPS AGAIN</h2>DUSSELDORF&mdash;The Russians are champs of the amateur hockey world again&mdash;for the 12th time to be exact. The Red skaters romped to the gold medal in the Group A World Tournament with a perfect 10-0 record. The Czechs ended second with an 8-2 mark, Sweden and Finland were 5-5, Poland 0-8 and United States 0-10.The Soviets placed four players on the tourney All Star team&mdash;Alexander Yakushev, goaler Vladislav Tretiak, defenseman Valery Vasilye and Vladimir Petrov&mdash;all familiar names to North American fans in the two Team Canada-Russia series. The disastrous showing by the Americans relegated them to Group B for the 1976 tournament. Canada did not compete.<h2>HAWKS WANT MacNEIL</h2>CHICAGO&mdash;If the Black Hawks exit from the playoffs in a hurry against the Buffalo Sabres, there could be an announcement out of the Windy City to the effect the Hawks will have a new coach next season.Speculation circulating around the Stanley Cup playoffs has present coach Billy Reay moving upstairs into the GM&rsquo;s chair relieving Tommy Ivan of the portfolio for a front-office executive post with the new man behind the bench being Al MacNeil, who currently coaches the Nova Scotia Voyageurs of the AHL. Everyone knows MacNeil can coach in the NHL. He has already won one Stanley Cup with the Canadiens but gave it all up for the more relaxing atmosphere of his native Halifax and the AHL, Voyageurs. &#9632;

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Deadline Stoppers

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Care for something to munch on while watching the Stanley Cup playoffs? Try this: the Flyers think Rick MacLeish is as exciting a hockey player as Buffalo&rsquo;s great Gil Perreault.While no one possesses the incredible head and body feints of Perreault, MacLeish&rsquo;s skating and puck-carrying is comparable to the super Sabre. And when MacLeish starts a coast-to-coast rush he is as dangerous a scoring threat as Perreault.Offering further evidence. Fred Shero says, &ldquo;I think MacLeish is a better playmaker than Perreault. And he&rsquo;s a little more aggressive when he wants to be. When you look at that Buffalo (French Connection) line, it&rsquo;s not as good as people think.&rdquo;Shero was referring to past Perreault&mdash;ReneRobert&mdash;Rick Martin defensive lapses. Bobby Clarke was referring to MacLeish&rsquo;s talent when he said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think anybody is a good as Orr, but Ricky is as good as Lafleur and Per-reault&mdash;when he wants to play. Sometimes he is lackadaisical out there.&rdquo;MacLeish wanted to play in the Flyers&rsquo; Stanley Cup quarter-final opener against Toronto. Using his wrist shot, one of the most feared in hockey, MacLeish scored the game&rsquo;s first two goals. Later, he collected his second Stanley Cup hat trick and in between he was diving at loose pucks.The three goals gave MacLeish the amazing total of 20 goals in 32 Stanley Cup games. When the Flyers were storming to their Cup conquest last year. MacLeish led all scores with 22 points on 13 goals. 9 assists. In his three full NHL seasons MacLeish has scored 120 goals, an average of 40 a year but has never rated All Star selection.Philadelphia Daily News columnist Stan Hochman wrote, &ldquo;If MacLeish played for the New York Rangers and scored 20 Stanley Cup goals in 32 games they would erect a statue of him in Central Park. Maybe even rename the park.&rdquo;With the Flyers, however, MacLeish plays in the shadow of Clarke, perhaps hockey&rsquo;s hardest worker. They are two different types, each valuable in his own way, but Clarke&rsquo;s preserce nullifies much support MacLeish might receive for individual awards.MacLeish is a graduate of Roger Neilson&rsquo;s disciplined Peterborough hockey style. However, MacLeish is more effective as a free-wheeler. There are times though when Shero thinks MacLeigh is &ldquo;floating&rdquo; too much. To correct this habit, Shero switched MacLeish to left wing on Clarke&rsquo;s line where he polished his defensive game while also scoring a few goals.Missing All Star recognition doesn&rsquo;t seem to bother the one-time Boston draft choice. Of course, nothing seems to bother him.&ldquo;When the playoffs come,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;I just think I&rsquo;ve got to start playing good hockey. When the big games come up, I don&rsquo;t play bad. I play fairly good.&rdquo;Any arguments?FLYER FACTS: The Flyers were wondering about Dave (Tiger) Williams&rsquo; eyesight. The aggressive young Toronto winger said after the playoff opener, &ldquo;Clarke&rsquo;s not that good.&rdquo;&hellip;Bob Kelly scored five goals in a pre-playoff intra-squad scrimmage as the &ldquo;Barry Ashbees&rdquo; routed the &ldquo;Mike Nykoluks&rdquo;, 11-3.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02819/3595115-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="556" height="1053"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK MacLEISH&hellip;Better Playmaker</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Shero Rates MacLeish Alongside Perreault, Says French Connection Not That Good

<div class="byline">BY RALPH BRIDGLAND</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01896/3595153-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jean Beliveau played on 10 cup winners in his 18 seasons with the Canadiens.</figcaption></div>Player&rsquo;s News SpecialMONTREAL&mdash;Tradition is a term that is very seldom used in the world of sport today.One professional team, however, that does have a reputation to live up to is the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League.Since 1930, when the Canadiens captured their first Stanley Cup, the club has won an NHL record 16 championships.Their habit of always coming up big in the playoffs is something that even the members of today&rsquo;s Canadiens must face, for over the years it has become expected of them.On April 3, 1950, the Canadiens started a tradition that has yet to be equalled in sport.A 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins gave Montreal a two-game sweep in their best-of-three final and their first Stanley Cup.Again in 1931 the Habs won the championship to make it two in a row and get the snowball rolling that was to get bigger and bigger as the years passed by. This time the victims were the Chicago Black Hawks who fell three games to two in the best-of-five final series.Such greats as George Hainsworth, Howie Morenz and Aurel Joliat were members of those two Stanley Cup championship teams.Thirteen years went by before the Canadiens again had their names inscribed on the trophy emblematic of professional hockey supremacy.Again the Black Hawks fell to the Habs&rsquo; potent attack as they bowed out in four straight games in the spring of 1944.Toe Blake, who was to gain greater recognition as a Stanley Cup coach, Maurice &lsquo;Rocket&rsquo; Richard, Elmer Lach and Bill Durnan were just a few of the players to help capture another championship.The Habs came back in the spring of 1946 to make it three Cups in two seasons, with Boston being the losers in five games of the best-of-seven final.It was on March 23, 1944, that the greatest career scorer in Stanley Cup history, &lsquo;Rocket&rsquo; Richard with 82 goals, scored five times in the Canadiens&rsquo; 5-1 semi-final romp over the Toronto Maple Leafs, a Stanley Cup record which still stands.In 1953 the Canadiens began a domination of the hockey world which is likely to be unequalled in the annals of sport.A four game to one triumph in the final series gave the Canadiens their fifth Cup but was really just an indication of things to come.Heading into the 1955-56 campaign the Habs had won five Stanley Cups in 26 years. Little did anyone realize Les Habitants were about to set out on a trek that would see them bring the coveted Cup back to Montreal in five consecutive years.Detroit Red Wings fell victim in 1956 after a five-game best-of-seven final series. The Boston Bruins were losers to the Canadiens in the final round in 1957 and 1958. The Uabs rounded out their unbelievable string of championships with successive titles against their archrivals the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1959 and 1960.Jacques Plante, Jean Beliveau, Doug Harvey, Henri and Maurice Richard, Bernie Geoffrion and Dickie Moore were the strongholds of these teams as they set a record which is not likely to be surpassed in current NHL play in these days of expansion.The coach of those five straight Cup champions was Toe Blake, who holds the record of coaching the most championship clubs, eight. Besides the five from 1956 through 1960, his Canadiens won the title again in 1965, 1966 and 1968.Such present day players as Serge Savard, Jim Roberts, Yvan Cournoyer and Jacques Lemaire began to play important roles in the Canadiens&rsquo; success as the club recorded six Cup wins in the 10 years from 1965-1974.A glance through the current issue of the NHL Stanley Cup record book demonstrates how impressive the Canadiens&rsquo; teams have been over the years and some of the tremendous individual efforts put forth by members of the squad.The Canadiens hold or share 30 team playoff records and 28 individual marks.The leader of the Habs in the individual records is Jean Beliveau, the classy center who was the Canadiens&rsquo; best center of all-time and possibly the NHL&rsquo;s best, especially come playoff time.Beliveau holds the marks&rsquo; for most consecutive years in the playoffs (16), most career playoff points (176) and most career playoff assists (97) to name just a few.The names of Maurice Richard. Henri Richard, Yvan Cournoyer and Jacques Lemaire are also prevalent in the playoff record book and if tradition means anything, there&rsquo;ll be some more Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; names added to that list in the near future and also more Stanley Cups.The total now stands at 16 and counting.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02764/3595146-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1181" height="1379"><figcaption class="caption-body">Guy Lafleur, left, and Henri Richard have grip on Habs&rsquo; last cup after 1973 conquest.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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MONTREAL’S 16 CUP WINS MAKE HABS NO. 1 IN HISTORY OF POST-SEASON PLAY

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-01947/3595205-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="433" height="454"></div>&bull; NHL PLAYOFFS have not been as exciting to date as in past years and fans are hoping the games coming up in the semi-finals and finals will produce more thrills than have been shown so far. It was a bad blow for the National League when such teams as Boston, Rangers and Los Angeles were eliminated in the first round. Many of the sport&rsquo;s super stars such as Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Brad Park, Rod Gilbert, Rogie Vachon, to mention a few, are all through for the season thus depriving the fans of watching the superior talent&hellip; Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; have to be the Cinderella Team of the playoffs&hellip; Owners of Madison Square Garden are trying to sell the building to the City of New York. So far they haven&rsquo;t been making much progress with the city fathers. The Garden cost $60 million to build but they&rsquo;d sell it for $50 million. The Garden hasn&rsquo;t made money one year since its doors opened in 1968&hellip; The Rangers&rsquo; Rod Gilbert and his lovely wife are expecting their first child in August&hellip; Dennis Murphy, WHA president until June, will run Sen. Henry (Scoop) Jackson&rsquo;s campaign in California for the Democratic Party&rsquo;s presidential nomination&hellip; Minnesota North Stars, once the healthiest of expansion NHL clubs, is suffering severe financial problems and will do everything possible to cut costs for next season&hellip;Bill Hajt, outstanding Buffalo rookie defenseman, signed a multi-year contract just before the playoffs began. Rick Dudley and Larry Mickey are the only Sabres unsigned for next season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02903/3595198-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="267" height="482"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill Hajt</figcaption></div>&bull; NEW YORK RANGERS will divest Cat Francis of his two jobs next season. He&rsquo;ll be either general manager or coach but not both. The feeling is that John Muckier of the Providence Reds will assume the coaching chores&hellip; Eddie Shore at 74 has done a great job of saving hockey in Springfield. Conditions have been on the upswing ever since Eddie took charge of the Indians around the mid-season mark&hellip; International Hockey League games averaged 3,177 this season. The league drew a total of 1,259,929 fans for the 396 games&hellip; Ned Clements, who played defense with Art Coulter for the old Coral Gables team in the Florida League after World War II, wonders how many people remember this semi-pro circuit that had teams in all of the major cities in Florida&hellip; Winnipeg Jets of the WHA have shown a marked increase each year since joining the league in 1972-73. They drew 237,982 that season, 249,654 the following season and a whopping 333,814 for 1974-75. As a result plans are being formulated to enlarge the Winnipeg Arena, home of the Jets&hellip; Fran&ccedil;ois Robert, promising 19-year-old defenseman of the Sherbrooke Beavers, wrote, edited and published a 150-page book on the story of the Beavers including the tragic bus accident earlier in the season that killed one player and severely injured several others. It also tells how the 12 English and 10 French-Canadian players live together in a special &lsquo;Hockey Hutte&rsquo; in Sherbrooke. It&rsquo;s the first time any junior player has written such a book. The Beavers, incidentally, are said to be the team to beat for top honors in the Quebec Major Hockey League&hellip; Florent Potvin, a cousin of Denis and Jean of the New York Islanders, has been named head scout of the Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA. He formerly scouted for Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Cougars&hellip; Jim Roberts is the dean of Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; playoff performers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03798/3595191-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="255" height="479"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jim Roberts</figcaption></div>&bull; THE HOCKEY NEWS Player of the Year, Rogie Vachon, was as outstanding in the opening round of the playoffs against Toronto as he had been all season for the Los Angeles Kings, but his teammates were not. The best player on the ice was Borje Salming, Toronto&rsquo;s Swedish import, who may have become the best defensive defenseman in hockey&hellip; The last game of the Kings-Leafs series at the Forum drew the first playoff sellout in L.A. hockey history, 16,005 fans. The Kings out-drew the basketball Lakers this season for the first time ever&hellip; Pittsburgh&rsquo;s veteran Vic Hadfield entered the playoffs having previously appeared in 61 post-season encounters, or more than the rest of the players on the Penguins combined if you subtract Ron Schock&rsquo;s 38 games played&hellip; With Doug Favell riding the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; bench, his attorney, Howard Casper, is hinting that Favell will be traded to &ldquo;one of the old, established teams in the east&rdquo; which sounds like Boston or the Rangers&hellip; St. Louis Blues&rsquo; defenseman Bruce Affleck will marry Cecily Quinn in June. She is the daughter of William Quinn, former governor of Hawaii, where the wedding will be held. The young couple met at Denver University&hellip; The hockey world was saddened by the death of Mrs. Frank Selke, wife of Frank Selke Sr., former general manager of the Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, and mother of Frank Selke Jr., of Canadian Sports Network. Mrs. Seike died April 19 at her home in Rigaud, Que., at the age of 78.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04696/3595184-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="299" height="464"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Favell</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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PASSING THE PUCK

Founded October 1st, 1947Vol. 28 No. 30 MAY 2, 1975Published 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. McKenzie President, Publisher and Advertising DirectorCharlie Halpin Editorial DirectorHans Hoenig Administration ManagerRalph Bridgland Asst. To EditorUnited 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, III 60659 telephone (312) 478-5544. New York: Bill Hitzig, National Sports Publishing Corp., 150 East 58th Street, New York. 10022 Telephone (212) 593-2100.Southern States: Edward F. Mullen & Associates, 810 Ponce DeLeon Blvd., Belleaire, Fla. 33516 telephone (813) 585-1763.YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $9.50 in Canada $10.50 in the U.S.A, and $1400 in Foreign Countries. Second class postage paid at New York, N.Y., 10001 and at additional mailing offices. SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO 1434 ST. CATHARINE 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;

The Hockey News OFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05565/3595260-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg"></div><h2>Canucks&rsquo; Goaler Smith Deserves Recognition</h2>I am responding to the March 28 article in which Bill Libby praises Rogie Vachon and Bernie Parent as being the top candidates for the NHL&rsquo;s MVP Award.He mentioned there were others who were in the running and one goalie who I feel should have been praised as well as Vachon and Parent, is Vancouver&rsquo;s Gary Smith. Smith not only led the Canucks from a dismal sixth place the previdus year to a first place position this season but he recorded six shutouts. That total of six is more than the previous Canuck goalies of four seasons put together.Gary has been a tremendous asset to the coastal team and the Canucks would be no where near the top of their division without him.I would also like to put in a vote for the Canucks&rsquo; coach Phil Maloney as coach of the year, as he has made some excellent trades in guiding the Canucks to win the Smythe Division championship.KEVIN MITCHELL Vernon, B.C.<h2>Don&rsquo;t Hold Breath Leafs&rsquo; Fans Reminded</h2>It really amazes me when I read this column and find people saying that there are and always will be Toronto Maple Leaf fans. It is unbelievable the way they retain their faith to an organization that is so unpredictable.In regards to Joey Broza&rsquo;s letter (Fan Forum, April 11) refering to the Leafs and four other N. H. L. teams, I don&rsquo;t think it is so astounding to see Toronto get beat by these teams who have by far better records.Toronto needs a lot of changes, which should include members of the executive, players and even the fans. When the Leaf brass draft a player (Dave Williams) and then send him to a hockey school to learn how to play the game, it kind of makes me wonder. As for the players, their present and past performances speak for themselves. And finally the fans, after hearing you boo the greatest player in the game today, it really convinced me that Toronto is an organization without any class.For those faithful fans who are waiting for the Maple Leafs to become a contender, please, do not hold your breath.TERRY GAMBLE Moose Jaw Sask.<h2>Red Wings&rsquo; Problems Not Only On Ice</h2>After watching the Red Wings stumble through another dismal season, I could not help but conclude that not all of their problems were occuring on the ice.The jeering and catcalls I&rsquo;ve seen directed at the Wings during several games this year were undeserved and could only result in having a detrimental effect on a home team&rsquo;s morale and overall performance.Added to this was the Detroit newspapers usual degrading coverage. Cheap shot headlines such as: &ldquo;Boring Wings Bow Again&rdquo; and &ldquo;Fans Exit Early at Dreary Performance&rdquo; unfortunately appear to have become the rule rather than the exception there.Granted, the Wings have had their problems with key injuries and youth, but support like this is not going to do anything to help motivate a team to really put out and get itself back in line.Hopefully with promising rookies like Michel Bergeron, Mike Korney and Bill Lochhead, plus some streng-thening of the defense, this team will turn itself around and be heard from in the near future.JOHN REINHART Pittsburgh, Pa.<h2>Can Expect Changes With Bruins, Rangers</h2>The early exit from the playoffs by the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers shows many things.As far as the Rangers go, injuries crippled them but the in and out goaltending, lack of motivation and poor management of players hurt them.The emergence of the Islanders as, a contender, the spirit of the Flames as well as the consistent play of the Flyers, may put the Rangers in a position they don&rsquo;t like&mdash;last place.In the Bruins&rsquo; division, the jelling of the Sabres and the feeling of the Bruins themselves that they would get untracked that never materialized contributed to their downfall. Don Cherry did a good job but Orr needs help.A team that finished 15 points lower than the Bruins is in the quarterfinals (Chicago). Why? They hustled and were hungry.Considering the Bruins&rsquo; and Rangers&rsquo; payrolls I expect many changes to be made.RON PARLOW Middletown, R.l.<h2>Gare Best NHL Rookie Performer</h2>I have become increasingly angry over the articles in THE HOCKEY NEWS on the rookie scoring race.Since when is the Calder Trophy awarded for the most goals and points?Best overall performance by a rookie should be the main factor.Danny Gare of the Buffalo Sabres should win the trophy hands down. Gare plays with Don Luce and Craig Ramsay, two of the best penalty killers in the league and because of this he misses several shifts a game. His two-way play is superb which is much harder to learn than plain offensive skills. And yet he has 30 goals.I believe he is the outstanding rookie in the NHL. It would be an injustice if he lost the Calder Trophy because he doesn&rsquo;t lead all rookies in scoring. He&rsquo;s saved as many as he&rsquo;s scored.KATHLEEN E. TROTT Buffalo, N.Y.<h2>More Junior Coverage Coming</h2>Arrangements have been completed to extend our coverage of junior hockey both in Canada and the United States. Readers of THE HOCKEY NEWS can expect to find more junior hockey features and statistics in upcoming issues. &#9632;

f0004-05

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY JULES FURTH</div>CHICAGO&mdash;April 15 is the day of reckoning here in the States. That is the day we settle up with Uncle Sam and pay the man his due.The day of reckoning for the Black Hawks came a little earlier in the month. Five days, to be exact. That was the day of their decision for 1975: they either had to prove that they were the team that everyone figured they were or discover that the Stanley Cup playoffs were a spectator sport. This was a day of mixed emotions. The Hawks had been soundly trounced in Boston 8-2 and had to win two crucial games to keep them from being TV viewers for the rest of the series.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-01979/3595305-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="258" height="391"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tony Esposito</figcaption></div>Mixed emotions? It they lost, it would prove that they were the mediocre team that hadn&rsquo;t won a crucial game all year. A win would start the gripes that the team hadn&rsquo;t played up to their potential, the coaching had been lax. or the whole playoff system was inequitable.Mistakes? That 8-2 was one of the worst ever by a Hawk team in the playoffs. Everyone shared the blame. Billy Reay was the author of a beauty. Reay, normally an ardent student of the rule book who has used the book to advantage on many an occasion, sent Darcy Rota out as a substitute for John Marks, who was in a struggle with Bobby Schmautz. Rota got hit with a double minor and game misconduct under rule 66 (e) as the first man (identifiable) off the bench during an altercation. In playoffs, this calls for an automatic one-game suspension. Lost: one agressive left wing for the next five and one half periods of play. Credit Boston coach Don Cherry with good eyesight.Reay offered no excuses for the bad showing and stated. &ldquo;We started out well and then got sluggish. School was out.&rdquo; Esposito (Tony) was flat and the defense was lacking. To add insult to the whole affair, the Hawks were trea-ted to a new benefit in air travel. They were able to view National Hockey League highlites as they flew back to Chicago.You guessed it. They watched the Boston Bruins Bobby Orr Special between refreshments. The flight ended with a bang. A tire blew out. a brake locked up and thankfully the only thing that hurt was pride.The second game started with a surprise. Reay had reunited the MPH (Martin-Pappin-Hull) line as starters. Hull, bad backand all. slammed Savard, flooring (or icing) him setting the tone of the match. The Hawks rose to the occasion and played, &ldquo;probably the best game of the year winning a crucial one&rdquo;. echoed all. It took some fantastic penalty killing and never quitting as Chicago saw their 2-0 lead disappear and then getting the insult of the evening. Orr scored on a power play. Only it was the Hawks power play advantage at the time. It tied the game and set up the thrilling score by Ivan Boldirev in overtime. It was Ivan&rsquo;s first cup score ever. He said. &ldquo;I had only dressed for a cup game when I was with Boston. I didn&rsquo;t play but I got to skate around when they tossed the eggs. And then I went with the Seals.&rdquo;The locker rooms after the game featured some rather feisty discussion. The only thing that everyone could agree on was that the officiating was. shall we say&hellip; controversial and inconsistent. Reay claimed he should have won in regulation time, (a quick whistle in favor of Boston) while a trio consisting of Tom Johnson. Cherry and Harry Sinden described Bruce Hood&rsquo;s judgement in the charming vernacular of a New England whaler. Phil Esposito, the gentleman he is, remained quiet, claiming. &ldquo;I am not the designated speaker. If I were. I would talk for three hours.&rdquo;Back to Boston for another &ldquo;crucial&rdquo; but on another airline this time. Was it too much to ask for another crucial win&hellip; two in a row when they couldn&rsquo;t do it over all year? The Boston scribe and rink announcer were impressed by John Mox. (Chicago fans know him as Marks.) This tall (6&rsquo;2&rdquo;) well built (200 lbs) defenseman had set up the overtime winner in game two. and then came on in the clincher. He merely set up Koroll and Bordeleau goals and then got one for himself. All this while playing left wing. The end result was a vital 6-4 victory.One Black Hawk, who shall remain unidentified said. &ldquo;We are a defensive team and that was what won if for us.&rdquo; Defense??? If you spell it Tony Esposito maybe. Fifty six (56) shots got past the defensive-oriented fives before hitting Tony somewhere on his black and blue anatomy. Again Boston was the victim of the first score. They lost most of their games when that happened. Inequities in the playoff system? Boston was in select company. Los Angeles, St. Louis, and the Rangers. All favorites? Two out of three series? Did it let someone have a second chance they didn&rsquo;t deserve?On to Buffalo for a surprise. It&rsquo;s Baltimore&rsquo;s Gerry Desjardins in goal. Chicago remembers him from another era. Three a row is too much to ask for. Reay asks and gets a tired response. Mikita says. &ldquo;Pray.&rdquo; For another blizzard maybe? It&rsquo;s the only way you&rsquo;ll get any rest.INDIAN HEADINGS: More rhubarbs for refs&hellip; Wally Harris this time&hellip; whistle not quick enough?? Mikita in verbal exchange with Harris&hellip; Mikita off ice for 10 minutes&hellip; Harris still on ice (ears ringing&hellip;) Rota in press box minus 10 fingernails and voice&hellip;constant snortings from Toronto have Bill White moving&hellip; not to play against the Hawks though.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02762/3595298-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="537" height="1589"><figcaption class="caption-body">IVAN BOLDIREV&hellip;Game Winner</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03542/3595291-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="537" height="1589"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN MARKS&hellip;Set Them Up</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0006-01

Hawks Proved To Themselves They Could Win In Clutch

<div class="byline">&#x2014;By Bill Libby</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-01968/3595343-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="293" height="358"></div><h2>NHL Playoffs An Injustice</h2>THEY WERE TEAMMATES who helped take Toronto&rsquo;s Maple Leafs to four Stanley Cup championships in the 1960&rsquo;s and now Bob Pulford and Red Kelly were coaching opposite sides as the 1975 playoffs opened. It had been the best year Los Angeles hockey ever had and as coach of the Kings Pully had just captured Coach of the Year honors among broadcasters in the National League, but it had been a bad year by Toronto&rsquo;s hockey standards and as coach of the Leafs Kelly was considered a candidate for dismissal. The playoffs, however, posed a threat to the pleasure of Pully and his side and provided an opportunity for redemption for Red and his players.The playoffs are the most critical and the cruellest season. All too often all that happens over the long campaign is obscured by what takes place in the short season. The balance is bad, but it is the system by which sportsmen prosper. Still, if the system is set up reasonably, men can live with it comfortably. The system the league had set up for 1974-75 was unreasonable and too many are being made to suffer injustices from it.The league was divided into four divisions that make no sense geographically or any way. It was deemed that the three top teams from each would graduate to the playoffs with the pennant-winner in each drawing a bye while the others contested best-of-three series in the opening round. The first thing that developed was that Atlanta did not make the playoffs although it had more points than Chicago or Toronto, which did make the playoffs. There is no explanation which can justify the injustice done the Atlanta team.Second, because it was in a division with one of the three strongest teams in the league. Los Angeles did not draw one of the byes although it had a far superior record to Vancouver, which was in the weakest division and brought out of it a bye. If four teams are to get byes, they should have earned them by having been one of the four most successful teams. Los Angeles earned what Vancouver received.If league operators cannot set up a system which rewards success more than failure, they should turn the operation of the league over to others.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02868/3595336-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="328" height="632"><figcaption class="caption-body">Red Kelly</figcaption></div>COMPOUNDING THE PROBLEM, it was clear from the first that best-of-three series were too short to be a true test. The best-of-five would have been better, best-of-seven best of all. If long playoff series would make the season too long, shorten the season. If playoffs are what matter most, lengthen them. Put the truest test where it belongs. If men must risk what they have earned over 80 games in three games, they have been put in unreasonable jeopardy.Accordingly, it was not surprising that three of the four first-round series produced upsets in which Toronto, Chicago and the New York Islanders turned the tables on Los Angeles, Boston and the New York Rangers in third games in foreign rinks and left them feeling&rsquo; Lady Justice had looked the other way. There was not much to choose between the Islanders and the Rangers, who had comparable campaigns, but by any sensible standards Toronto and Chicago should not even have been in the playoffs.All right, so that was the way it went. You&rsquo;re captives of an unsound system and you play the game as best you can. No one can blame Toronto and Chicago for taking advantage of the openings provided them; they still had to win the games and they won them.Boston routed Chicago in their opener, then let down. Chicago squared the series in the second game. Boston outshot Chicago in the third and decisive game. 56 shots to 19, but was outscored by Chicago, four goals to six. It was one of the most astonishing contests in playoff history. Most astonishing of all, Boston&rsquo;s players were booed by their fans at the finish and garbage was dumped on their hung heads. How badly could they have played? The Bruins had every right to believe that if the series had two more games to go they would have overwhelmed the Hawks, but instead they were sent from the season in the most miserable manner.Los Angeles had less cause for anger. Maybe they might have turned the series around had it had more games to go. but they were outplayed by Toronto as far as it went. Not by much, to be sure, but by enough. The Kings let 2-1 leads get away from them in each of the first two games, which the Leafs tied and sent into overtime. The Kings won the first, but lost the second. The Leafs then held on to a 2-1 lead in the third, decisive contest in Los Angeles.IT WAS NOT one of the better times in the hockey history of this southern California city, although the fans did have the fairness to applaud the losers as they left the ice at the finish of what had been a winning season. However, the last game was something else. Frustration tore at the Kings and the first capacity crowd ever to turn out in four seasons of playoffs here. Early in the third period, a King checked a Leaf into King goaltender Rogie Vachon. Seeing Vachon hit, another King, Gene Carr, tore into the Leaf, Dave Williams. After they fought and were parted, Williams was sent into the penalty box, but Carr refused to go and was sent to the dressing room. While the players milled about. Dave Hutchison, a young reserve King with a reputation as a fighter, left his bench, skated across the ice and threatened Williams.There is a difference of opinion as to whether Hutchison merely pointed his stick at Williams or swung it at him, but there can be no disagreement that he had gone where he did not belong, nor little disagreement with Williams&rsquo; swinging his stick at Hutchison if it was deemed necessary to defend himself. In any event, they swung their sticks savagely at one another for a few frightening minutes before Hutchison retreated. Los Angeles fans then joined the jungle that has sprung up in other major league cities. One leaned over into the box in an effort to get a Williams. Another removed the glass partition so he could climb into its confines to attack the player. Williams defended himself with his stick before police parted him from the people whose animal instincts had been shamefully stirred.EVENTUALLY, THE GAME resumed and was run out as time expired on the last desperate attempts of the losers. The most outstanding King. Rogie Vachon, was as brilliant as he has been all season, but as his defense came apart around him he gave up one more goal than his teammates could get off the inspired defense, led by the brilliant Borje Salming which the Leafs threw up around their rookie goaler, Gordie McRea.This was quite a week for the little, muscular, mustachioed Vachon, who may have been the Most Valuable Player in the league this season. He and his wife. Nicole, finally received the infant girl they had adopted, but feared lost in the plane crash of Vietnamese orphans. They have a son. They have youth, health and wealth. So they will learn to live with the loss of a hockey game. It is more than merely a game to these men, of course. It is their game, their profession, into which they put all their ability and desire.&rsquo; Vachon sat sadly in that tomb of a dressing room and said. &ldquo;It is hard to lose in one week what you have earned in 26 weeks.&rdquo;All around him, the Kings echoed the unfairness they fell for it. Young Mike Murphy wept. They talked to the repor ters, conducting themselves gracefully at a trying time Manager Jake Milford talked to the reporters, showing considerable character by coming out to take Pulford&rsquo;s place, explaining that Pulford, who had broken down trying to talk to the players, could not bring himself to talk to anyone else now.Intense and introverted. Pulford has admitted he hates having to talk to reporters and now he did not. Others who do not consider reporters an important part of sports have forced themselves to it in similar circumstances, but Pulford locked himself in a small room off to one side of the dressing room. Jack Kent Cooke, whose health should have kept him from the game, but did not, sent down a rquest that the players be told he regretted feeling too bad to see them. It was not passed on.AFTER AWHILE, Pully left and without a word went upstairs, met his wife, and went into his office with her. A little later, they left. A reporter wished them well. Roz nodded with a weak smile, her eyes wet. but Bob lowered his head and went on his way wordlessly.Meanwhile, the Leafs still celebrated, whooping and hollering their happiness. Within the dressing room, Salming, the best defensive defenseman on the tour, a one-man team much of this series, a marvellously-skilled and clever 24-year-old second-season pro imported from Sweden. sat and watched with subdued satisfaction the whoo-ping and hollering of his new teammates. In the corridor beyond. Kelly beamed as he accepted the congratulations of flushed owner Harold Ballard and beleaguered manager Jim Gregory. &#9632;

f0008-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div>TORONTO&mdash;It&rsquo;s a fact of life in the National Hockey League that the fortunes or misfortunes of a team during the 80-game schedule can be altered drastically by what happens in the playoffs.If a successful team exits quickly, only the playoff failure is remembered. If a team coming off a puny season suddenly has playoff success, that&rsquo;s what the fans remember, too.The opening Stanley Cup playoff round between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Los Angeles Kings demonstrated this vividly. The Leafs, who lurched through a disappointing season and were the lowest playoff qualifier with 78 points, got their act together in the best-of-three series and ousted the Kings, the NHL&rsquo;s most improved club with 105 points.In winning their first playoff series since 1967. the Leafs thus salvaged something from a mediocre season while the Kings end up with very little. For Leafs, the win represented some concrete proof that their reconstruction job is on the correct track.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03727/3595374-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="274" height="358"><figcaption class="caption-body">Borje Salming</figcaption></div>Granted, the Leafs didn&rsquo;t gain much by the win except the opportunity to play the Philadelphia Flyers in the quarter-final, a team the Leafs haven&rsquo;t defeated since 1973, and a couple of playoff gates for owner Harold Ballard which add approximately $250,000 to the coffers.For coach Red Kelly, the elimination of the Kings and the prospects of a strong show against the Flyers could be job-savers. Had the Leafs made a hasty exit against L.A. Ballard probably would have pulled the plug on Kelly even though he has three seasons to go on a five-year contract, a matter of some $150,000.The reasoning behind the Leafs being underdogs to the Kings was the fact that L.A. played superbly disciplined hockey while discipline and the Leafs have been infrequent bedfellows this season. In the end. the Kings&rsquo; poise faltered and the Leafs won the three-game set by playing sound positional hockey.&ldquo;Things came together for us at the right time.&rdquo; Kelly said. &ldquo;But during the last 20 games of the schedule. I felt the parts of the team were falling into place. After all. that was the first time we&rsquo;d been healthy since early in the season.&rdquo;The Leafs had no passengers in the games against the Kings but several players were standouts. Rookie goalie Gord McRae excelled. Dave Keon delivered his tireless trademark fore-checking. Darryl Sittler showed why he&rsquo;s one of the best half dozen centers in the NHL. Rod Seiling delivered backline poise and the team&rsquo;s young players demonstrated maturity.Pivotal in the upset, though, was the return of the last of the Leaf injured&mdash;defenseman Ian Turnbull. He wrecked his knee in early November and complicated surgery was required to sew it back together. He spent two weeks in the minors, then rejoined the Leafs for the final two games of the schedule.Reunited with Borje Salming, Turnbull played excellently against the Kings. Last season, the two young defenders formed the Leafs&rsquo; most reliable pair. Salming was simply outstanding in the short series.&ldquo;Ian was away so long that we&rsquo;d forgotten a little just what a fine young defenseman he is,&rdquo; Kelly said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s only 21 and we forget sometimes, too, that Salming is only 23. They&rsquo;ll be a standout pair for many years.&rdquo;McRae&rsquo;s fine work places the future of Doug Favell, the team&rsquo;s experienced goalie, in a slightly cloudy state. Favell had a miserable year when healthy and nursed back and arm injuries.McRae has the inside track on the No. I job for next season and young Mike Palmateer finished the season strongly with the Leafs&rsquo; Oklahoma City farm team in the Central League.The Leaf plans indicate that they&rsquo;ll go with the youngest possible roster in the 1975-76 season and that could include young goalies. Thus. Favell and several other post-30 veterans likely will be on the trading block. &#9632;

f0008-03

Putting It Together At The Right Time Leafs’ Success Story

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;The Kings came a long way this season. but it was a hard road they had to travel and they stumbled and fell short of their destination.The did not expect to win the Stanley Cup this season, but they did expect to win the first round and did hope to gain the semi-finals.They had the fourth finest record in the NHL during the regular season, but the divisional setup deprived them of a place among the four teams drawing first-round byes.They did draw as first-round foe a team, Toronto, they had not lost to all season and had beaten, 8-0, in their last meeting. And they had the home-ice edge and had lost only one of their final 15 games at home.Beating Toronto, they would have faced a team they felt they could beat, Pittsburgh, in the second round.But in a three-game series that is too short to be a true test, any advantage they should have had disappeared, and left them feeling cheated.Lacking super star skills in front of goaltender Rogatien Vachon, they had to work hard to put together a great record. They played 21 ties during the season and two more in the playoffs. Eleven more games were decided by a single goal. Fifteen more by two goals, many of these empty-net goals at the ends of games.By the end of the season, they had little left and were fading fast. Regaining players who had been idled by injuries much of the season, the Leafs were fresh and just coming on.Forechecking was a key to the Kings&rsquo; success this season, but they did little of this in the playoffs. They tried, but it wasn&rsquo;t there. They resorted to trying to sit on 2-1 leads in the third periods of the first two games and were tied both times. The Kings say they knew better, but couldn&rsquo;t help themselves.Mike Murphy connected on the end of a perfect pass from Gene Carr to capture the first overtime in the ninth minute, but Blaine Stoughton beat them in the 11th minute of the second.Put under pressure by defensive lapses throughout the series, Vachon was sensational but it wasn&rsquo;t sufficient. Two got by him and the Kings fell behind in the third and deciding game before the first 16,500-seat sellout in the Kings&rsquo; four seasons of playoff action.It was a fight-filled game marked by the ejection of Gene Carr after a bout and a stick-swinging bit of savagery initiated by Dave Hutchison with the Leafs&rsquo; Dave Williams, and finished off by the fans attempting to attack the foe.However, as hard as the Kings tried, they could not catch up. In fact, while they got a goal, they did not get a single good shot on the Leaf net the entire game. Borje Salming was superb as he anchored a defense that blocked the Kings short of a good shot repeatedly, and the Leafs iced the puck ten times in the final minutes.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-02830/3595405-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="545" height="659"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROGATIEN VACHON&hellip;Couldn&rsquo;t Do It Alone</figcaption></div>Afterwards, the Kings said they could not believe all they had accomplished all season had so swiftly been obscured. They seemed stunned. Coach Bob Pulford did not even talk to the reporters. Owner Jack Kent Cooke was too sick to speak to the players. Manager Jake Milford filled in, though drained with disappointment.Now, they must reassess their season and their standards. They can make the playoffs every season the way they presently are structured, but they will have to improve if they are to prosper in the playoffs. They must find an easier way to win.Basically a young team, they should improve some through natural development, but there is not a lot of help to be found on their farm team and they have traded away their best draft choices, so they may turn to another trade or two for a lift.Owner Jack Kent Cooke thinks the Kings are only one big player away from being competitive for the Stanley Cup.Accordingly, while increased team togetherness and spirit were fostered when the Kings became the only team in the league not to trade this past year, they are prepared to make one or two deals now if what they want is made available to them.They want a winger and a defenseman. They have been talking trade for a left defenseman and a right winger.However, they have their eye on a particular left winger.The latter trade could be a big one. A blockbuster is brewing, though it may not materialize, of course.The Kings do not want to drop back. They don&rsquo;t want to stand still while others pass them. However, they also don&rsquo;t want to break up a good, developing team, which had a wonderful season.Too much can be made of the results of a short series which was settled by 3-2, 2-3 and 1-2 scores.If one is satisfied only by a championship each season in sports, one will seldom if ever be satisfied. All one has a right to ask is that the team plays interesting games and has a chance to win every one.The Kings were more than merely interesting this season. They won a lot more games than they lost. They be-came one of the best teams in hockey and it was only fair that the fans cheered them off at the finish. &#9632;

f0009-02

Dissappointed Kings Seek Extra Lift They Need

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE HALPIN</div>MONTREAL&mdash;Frustration is written all over the face of Doug Gibson of the Rochester Americans.Because the Boston Bruins have three established centers, the high-scoring Gibson hasn&rsquo;t been able to get to play in the National Hockey League. Now it seems inevitable that Gibson will finally get his long-awaited chance at the big time next season.It hasn&rsquo;t been outlined where and how Gibson will make it but as far as the American Hockey League scoring champ is concerned he couldn&rsquo;t care less. Just as long as it isn&rsquo;t with the parent Bruins. Gibson is ready to take his chances with any of the other 17 NHL teams.Gibson has just about given up trying to catch on with Boston and he hopes the draft or a pre-draft trade will take him to some other NHL club. The Bruins, however, still hold his playing rights.The 21-year-old Gibson is the best NHL prospect in the minor leagues in the estimation of the hockey scouts, who have predicted he can&rsquo;t miss next year. As the result of Gibson&rsquo;s high credentials and scintillating scoring this season, the Rochester center has been selected as the Player of the Year by THE HOCKEY NEWS in their eighth annual awards for minor professional hockey.Gibson won the AHL scoring title with 116 points this season, stands an excellent chance of being both the league&rsquo;s most valuable player and the first team All Star center for his exciting campaign as leader of the explosive Rochester Americans&rsquo; offense.Joining Gibson in the select minor hockey league circle as recipients of THE HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; awards are Jack Evans, the former NHL defenseman who guided the Salt Lake Eagles to the Central Hockey League&rsquo;s Northern Division title and berth in the CHL&rsquo;s playoff finals, and Ted Garvin, the colorful but controversial general manager-coach of the rejuvenated Toledo Goaldiggers of the International Hockey League.Evans was chosen as the minor league Coach of the Year while Garvin was picked as the outstanding Executive of the Year for his dual role with Toledo.Gibson&rsquo;s selection as the top minor leaguer for 1974-75 could almost guarantee him a job in the NHL next season. The two previous winners of the THE HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; Player of the Year award, Larry Sacharuk last season and Yvon Lambert the previous year, have risen to star in the NHL. And prior to those two winners, past top performers like Jim Lorentz, Jack Egers, Ron Ward and Ross Perkins have all made it to the major leagues with either NHL or WHA teams in the last two seasons.Gibson, who became only the third player in the history of the AHL this season to score more than 115 points in one campaign, has experienced a brilliant year while leading the Americans into the Calder Cup semi-finals against Springfield. He has led the AHL individual race most of the season and helped the Americans&rsquo; powerful offense set a new team scoring mark of 317 goals. He tallied 44 of them and helped set up another 72.But in spite of his productive year, Gibson openly admits he hopes the Bruins relax their strings on him in order that he can hook on with some other NHL club for 1975-76. He admits his chances of dislodging Bruin regulars like Phil Esposito, Andre Savard and Gregg Sheppard are pretty slim.The selection of Evans as Coach of the Year was justified this past week when he was chosen by his fellow coaches for a similar honor in the Central League. His efficient handling of the Seals&rsquo; development team at Salt Lake has cast Evans in the limelight for possible elevation to the NHL next season as the next coach of the Seals.Reports out of Oakland have indicated present manager-coach Bill McCreary would like to concentrate on the GM job and bring in a coach-preferably Evans. Evans has coached successfully at San Diego in the old Western League and has done a tremendous job with a young Salt Lake team this season taking his Eagles to the showdown championship series against Bobby Kromm&rsquo;s Dallas Black Hawks.Garvin&rsquo;s selection as the oustanding executive in minor hockey circles this season wasn&rsquo;t too difficult a choice since the colorful Toledo general manager-coach has been constantly in the limelight&mdash;and hot water.Garvin has provoked people, irritated presidents and brought the wrath of his opposition down on his broad shoulders, but no man has done more for the expansion Goaldiggers.The Toledo club finished No. 2 in IHL attendance behind Saginaw drawing 158,000 and it was due in large part to Garvin, who took over the Toledo franchise which had been given up for dead after showing a profit only once&mdash;$800 in 1972-73&mdash;since the early 1950&rsquo;s. Garvin put a sometimes rowdy bunch of skaters on the ice and Toledo fans loved them. Crowds were approximately 69,500 ahead of last year.Garvin was adamant Toledo could succeed in the IHL. &ldquo;We showed a lot of people that Toledo is a good hockey city if you give the fans an exciting team.&rdquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt Toledo has been crowd pleasing. The Goaldiggers stormed through the IHL&rsquo;s first two playoff rounds dumping first Columbus and then the division champion Dayton Gems to earn a crack at the Turner Cup.Don&rsquo;t underestimate Garvin and his Goaldiggers in the championship final with Saginaw. He hasn&rsquo;t brought his team all this way to back down now with the title on the line.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-01958/3595481-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="511" height="727"><figcaption class="caption-body">JACK EVANS&hellip; NHL Bound?</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02796/3595474-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="551" height="725"><figcaption class="caption-body">TED GARVIN&hellip; Dual Role</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-04470/3595467-1-eng-US/f0010-042.jpg" title="f0010-04" width="1175" height="1546"><figcaption class="caption-body">DOUG GIBSON&hellip; Wants Chance At NHL</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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GIBSON NAMED PLAYER OF YEAR; COLORFUL GARVIN TOP EXECUTIVE

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div>BUFFALO&mdash;Punch Imlach has made some canny trades to build the Buffalo team that finished tied in points with Philadelphia and Montreal atop the National Hockey League this season.One of the best has to be the one in which the Sabres acquired Fred Stanfield from the Minnesota North Stars for Norm Gratton and future considerations.Stanfield, who played on two Stanley Cup champions with the Boston Bruins, performed an important role in Buffalo&rsquo;s stretch drive to the Prince of Wales Conference championship and it looks as though he will do the same in the Stanley Cup playoffs.The 30-year-old forward has played all three forward positions, has played center, right wing and the point on the power play and has killed penalties, on occasion.He filled in on the French Connection, first for left winger Rick Martin and then for right winger Rene Robert when they were hurt.At the end of the season he was centering a line with Jim Lorentz and Rick Dudley as his wingmen.In the 32 games he played for Buffalo, Fred scored 12 goals and assisted on 21 for 33 points.In the opening playoff game, when the Sabres took on the Chicago Black Hawks in the quarter-finals, Stanfield scored a goal and assisted on one as the Sabres registered a 4-1 victory.Stanfield is one of seven hockeyplaying brothers from the Dixie area outside Toronto, where their father, a policeman, has been involved in hockey &ldquo;ever since I can remember,&rdquo; according to Fred.Fred used to visit Buffalo&rsquo;s Memorial Auditorium on Sunday nights to watch the Bisons play in the American League. He was playing junior hockey in St. Catharines, Ont., at the time.One year, his brother, Jack, played for the Bisons. Jack, now retired from active participation, does the color broadcasts of the Houston Aero games in the World Hockey Association.Brother Jim plays for Spokane in the Western International League. Another brother, Vic, played college hockey for Boston University this year.Two more, Paul and Gordie, play amateur hockey for Dixie. One other brother, Joey, who played amateur hockey, now is a fireman.When Fred joined the Sabres he said, &ldquo;Am I glad to be here? You bet I am. I&rsquo;m tickled pink. It&rsquo;s great to be on a first-place club.&rdquo;Stanfield is used to playing with good hockey clubs. He turned pro with Chicago in 1964-65. He was in the playoffs with the Black Hawks that season and the next.Then he was traded to Boston in the famous deal that sent Phil Esposito and Ken Hodge to the Bruins with him for Gilles Marotte, Pit Martin and Jack Norris.He spent six years with the Bruins, in the playoffs every one and a Stanley Cup winner in 1970 and &lsquo;72. before being traded to the North Stars for goalie Gilles Gilbert.Stanfiled gives the young Sabres the playoff experience they need. Except for Buffalo&rsquo;s first venture into Stanley Cup competition two years ago in a six-game first-round series against Montreal, the only other Sabre forwards with NHL playoff experience are Jim Lorentz, Don Luce, Larry Mickey and Brian Spencer and they for a total of only 31 games.ICE CHIPS: The Sabres feel that one of their big improvements in their team over the 1973 playoff club is that all three lines can be counted on to score. All three lines did score in their opener against Chicago.Danny Gare, who scored at the 18-second mark of the Buffalo opener last October, his first NHL game, got the first goal in the playoffs, at 2:11. Stanfield, Gil Perreault and Rick Martin netted the other goals.In 1973, against Montreal, the French Connection of Perreault, Martin and Rene Robert, accounted for 11 of the 16 Buffalo goals.Goalie Gerry Desjardins, who once played for Chicago, started in goal for the Sabres in the opener. He posted a 6-2-1 won-lost-tied record during the regular season after jumping back to the NHL from the World Hockey Association Baltimore Blades.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01926/3595543-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="549" height="525"><figcaption class="caption-body">FRED STANFIELD&hellip;Versatile Performer</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Stanfield Playing Important Role In Cup Drive

KANSAS CITY&mdash;The Kansas City Scouts didn&rsquo;t win too many honors in their first National Hockey League season but they have a bona fide candidate for one of the NHL&rsquo;s post-season awards and he stands an excellent chance of winning.Top scoring Scouts&rsquo; forward Simon Nolet is the club&rsquo;s nominee for the Masterton Trophy which is given to the NHL&rsquo;s &lsquo;unsung hero&rsquo; and certainly Nolet fits the mold.The Scouts finished the 1974-75 campaign with a respectable 15 victories and 11 ties in 80 games and the hard working Nolet ended as their No. I scorer with 58 points.No one knows more than coach Bep Guidolin how valuable Nolet was to the Scouts. The sight of Nolet out of the lineup made Bep shudder. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think especially on a team like this, that any player could ever mean that much to us.&rdquo;Nolet came up limping at the close of the season and missed a chance at the 30-goal mark, which on a first-year club would have been a remarkable achievement.Nolet exceeded the expectations of the Scouts this season. When general manager Sid Abel drafted him he realized the club was getting a player who could score goals. But Nolet&rsquo;s performance overjoyed Abel, who admitted he had no idea now much Nolet would come to mean to the Scouts.As the result, the Kansas City club selected Nolet as their man for the Masterton and the fast-skating Scouts&rsquo; captain is rated a good chance to win the coveted player award. &#9632;

Scouts Rate Nolet Highly, Picked As Masterton Nominee

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01929/3595581-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"></div><h2>The Annual Award Farce</h2>LATER THIS MONTH, the members of the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association will mark their ballots for the All Star teams and various trophy awards in the National Hockey League. No matter what selections they make, the voters will be blasted by managers, coaches, players and even other voters.Not that the men who cover the NHL are dishonest although, undoubtedly, some chauvinism will creep into the selections. It&rsquo;s just that the system of picking All Star teams and award winners with much accuracy is almost impossible these days.In those days long ago when the NHL had only six teams, the selections were a breeze and a very seldom did a deserving player miss out. The teams played each other 14 times, which gave the selectors abundant opportunity to evaluate the candidates, even if they didn&rsquo;t cover all road games of the team in their cities. ,These days, the teams only meet five or six times during the season, hardly enough games to rate players who are in the hunt for NHL honors if the voters cover all games, home and away.Some scribes who will cast votes, especially in the U.S. cities don&rsquo;t travel with the teams in their towns. Thus, they&rsquo;ll try to rate players they&rsquo;ve watched only two or three times, hardly enough to learn the guy&rsquo;s name without a program, yet alone decide if he merits a first All Star team berth or is the best rookie or most valuable player in the league.Unfortunately, there just doesn&rsquo;t seem to be any other way of doing it. If there is. the NHL brass would love to hear about it. Under the present system, players&rsquo; point totals are all important and, in most cases of the All Star selection, the man with the highest point total among players at that position will be the choice.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02802/3595574-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="542" height="544"><figcaption class="caption-body">Danny Gare</figcaption></div>A few years ago, the NHL coaches did the voting after there were considerable beefs from the coaches that the writers couldn&rsquo;t pick their mothers out of a gang of pygmies. That system was abandoned when it was generally agreed that the coaches weren&rsquo;t any improvement over the scribes in the selection business.<h2>The Same Problem</h2>RED KELLY, THE COACH of the Toronto Maple Leafs, outlined the problems voters face when he was asked to give his selection for the Calder Trophy, the NHL&rsquo;s rookie award.&ldquo;In my case. I see more of Buffalo Sabres than any other team because I can see their games on television in Toronto and I also go to their games to scout our future opponents,&rdquo; Kelly said.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had a good chance to watch Danny Gare (Sabres&rsquo; good rookie winger) and know he&rsquo;s a good rookie, a strong NHL winger in his first season. But Pierre Larouche of Pittsburgh has played strongly in the games against us. and Eric Vail of Atlanta has 30 goals.&ldquo;Are they better than Gare? I just don&rsquo;t know. I haven&rsquo;t seen them all enough to make a really good comparison and evaluation.&rdquo;Last season, Joe Crozier, then coach of the Buffalo Sabres, carried the idea even farther. Crozier, of course, felt that Tom Lysiak of Atlanta and New York Islanders&rsquo; Denis Potvin were fine rookies but he also supported St. Louis Blues&rsquo; goalie John Davidson.&ldquo;I know Davidson must be a good goalie because his team is in contention for the playoffs and his average is under 3.00 (at the time),&rdquo; Crozier said. &ldquo;But you know something? I&rsquo;ve never seen John Davidson play. St. Louis hasn&rsquo;t used him in games agianst us.&rdquo;Some teams, especially those in the U.S. with active publicity departments. lobby outrageously for the award and All Star candidates. For instance. the Buffalo players unabashedly ask writers who visit their quarters if they&rsquo;ve given any thought to the rookie award vote and that a vote for Gare would be a vote for truth and justice. You&rsquo;d think Gare was running for the Senate.Last season, the Islanders and Flames conducted heavy publicity campaigns for Potvin and Lysiak as Calder candidates. They dispensed assorted glowing press releases about the two precocious youngsters.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what the outcome (Potvin over Lysiak) proved,&rdquo; said one writer. &ldquo;Did it prove that Potvin was a better rookie than Lysiak or that the Islanders have a better publicity man than Atlanta?&rdquo;<h2>Players No Better</h2>AN NHL VETERAN suggested that perhaps voting should be done by the players. However, any league which has tried that in the past has found that the pitfalls are wide.Players often are much stronger &ldquo;homers&rdquo; than either the writers and coaches. Besides, they have more bones to pick than either of the other groups. Suppose a player in voting for the All Star team and a top candidate for, say, a defense spot knocked the voting player on his behind six times during the season and beat him up in a fight. Is that player likely to mark the name of his nemesis on the ballot? If you think it wouldn&rsquo;t make any difference, then your faith in human nature is admirable.When leagues have tried the player poll to pick winners of awards, the discovery was that the method produced what appeared to be blockage voting. It works this way: Players aren&rsquo;t allowed to vote for their teammates but suppose one of those mates and one opponent are by far the top candidates for an All Star spot. The voting player, to help his mate, votes for a third man to deflect support away from the legitimate candidate.The NHL itself doesn&rsquo;t help the selectors with its refusal to make public the plus-minus statistics for players. Granted, those figures don&rsquo;t supply the definitive rating of a player&rsquo;s work but at least they can help. The NHL&rsquo;s plea is that the plus-minus mathematics, the difference between the goals scored for and against a player&rsquo;s team when he&rsquo;s on the ice in equal manpower situations, might be embarrassing to the player if publicized.But to an All Star team voter, it would be a help to know that a hot candidate winger, who shot 50 goals, had a minus of 30. Or that a 33 goal producer finished with a plus of 48. The World Hockey Association includes the plus-minus figure in its weekly statistical releases but the NHL refuses.Perhaps a more equitable arrangement would be some sort of nomination system. In the case of the NHL awards, the players on each team could pick that club&rsquo;s most valuable player, most gentlemanly worker, best defenseman and top rookie. At least that would give the writers who make the final selections some guidlines.Come to think of it, anything would be a help. &#9632;

f0012-01

FRANK ORR SAYS:

<div class="byline">BY HARRY KLAFF</div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;It was only 37 years ago that the Stanley Cup playoffs produced the last Battle of Gotham. That was in 1938 as the New York Americans topped a highly-favored Ranger sextet two games to one. Each team had notched a victory before the Amerks&rsquo; Lorne Carr iced the clincher after forty seconds of the third overtime. 3-2.As every hockey fan this side of Siberia knows by now, the N.Y. Islanders dealt the Rangers a similar death blow this year, winning two of three on the road at Madison Square Garden to advance to the quarter-finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins. And it was an overtime thriller, as J.P. Parise nai led the coffin after only 11 seconds of sudden death.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01902/3595643-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="259" height="420"><figcaption class="caption-body">Denis Potvin</figcaption></div>It was a strange game, but then again, the entire series had its share of the unexpected. The consensus before game one gave the Rangers the overwhelming nod, although most conceded that the Islanders should win their game at the Coliseum.But the Isles stunned their older cousins in the opener, coming from a 2-0 deficit in the third period to win. 3-2. on goals by Bill Harris. Jean Potvin, and Clark Gillies. It was the first time that the Islanders had come from two goals back to win all season.With the momentum swinging in their favor, it looked like the Islanders were fired up enough to put the Blueshirts away at the Coliseum. But the Rangers unleashed their potent attack and won easily 8-3, in a game that set a Cup record for most penalties by both clubs&mdash;50.Now it was back to the Garden, where the Rangers were the overwhelming favorites. The crowd was up for the game, although it expressed surprise when the opening lineups were posted on the message board.Emile Francis had decided to go with Gilles Villemure, who was the winning goaltender the night before, despite the fact that he had a bruised knee which was caused by a Denis Potvin bullet. Al Arbour went with Bill Smith, although Glenn Resch could not have been faulted on all six of the goals he allowed in game two.Most Rangers fans applauded Arbour&rsquo;s decision, remembering how Smith had yielded three bad goals in the first period only a month before. And he didn&rsquo;t appear sharp after replacing Resch in the second period the previous evening.But Smith was great. The Rangers threw everything they had at him in the first six minutes. He stopped Ratelie twice from in close. Then he denied Vickers camped on his doorstep; then Park with a blast from the point.That lift was all the Islanders needed, now it was their turn. Clark Gillies opened the scoring late in the first period with a 30-foot wrist shot off Villemure&rsquo;s glove. Denis Potvin added two goals in the middle period to give the Isles a 3-0 lead going into the finale.If it wasn&rsquo;t for an angel acting as a second goalkeeper, the Rangers&rsquo; embarrassment at that point could have been much worse. Villemure was having his problems, as the Islanders hit the goalpost an unbelievable six times in the first two periods, another inch on each one and the Islanders could have taken a 9-0 lead to the dressing room.Then the Rangers began to move. Bill Fairbairn broke through Gerry Hart and Denis Potvin to score at 4:44. A power-play goal by Fairbairn at 13:27 and a chip shot by Vickers 14 seconds later tied the game at three apiece. Once again Smith was called on to snuff the explosion as the Rangers did all they could to win in regulation time.Now it was sudden death. The Rangers were surging, and held the hottest overtime record in the league in recent years. Most of the Islanders were still feeling their way through their first playoff, let alone an overtime.&ldquo;Al (Arbour) didn&rsquo;t tell us anything special,&rdquo; said Bert Marshall, the Isles&rsquo; veteran defenseman. &ldquo;All he told us was to forget what happened. We knew what we had to do.&rdquo;Jude Drouin&mdash;who had been experiencing difficulties with Jean Ratelie on faceoffs&mdash;took the draw to start the extra period. Bert Marshall picked up the puck, and shovelled it to his partner, Dave Lewis.Lewis&mdash;who had been enjoying an exceptional series&mdash;sent the puck around the boards behind the net. Steve Vickers picked up the puck, but ignored the shouts of Ed Giacomin (who had replaced Villemure late in the second period) to skate it out. Instead he left a drop-pass to Nick Beverley, who wasn&rsquo;t looking.The puck trickled off the corner boards to Giacomin&rsquo;s left, where it was corralled by Drouin. Spotting J.P. Parise hanging outside the crease for an ever-so-slight instant, Drouin aimed a bullet pass at his linemate, who deflected it past Giacomin a split-second before he was up-ended by Brad Park.The goal came after only 11 seconds of sudden-death, a new cup record. The Islanders dashed off the bench and began their hour-long celebration.&ldquo;It was like a dream,&rdquo; began Parise, as he was mobbed by reporters in the dressing room. &ldquo;We had worked on that play before, but it all happened so fast. I couldn&rsquo;t believe it!&rdquo;Drouin also had a bit of trouble realizing the significance.&ldquo;I was just standing there. I thought we still had a whole period to play. Then I saw J.P. lying on the ground with a big smile on his face, and the red light on. Then I knew we won.&rdquo;Following the game it was on to Pittsburgh, with the Islanders believing in themselves more than ever before. But no matter what happens, the Isles won the big one.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02776/3595636-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="559" height="594"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILLY SMITH&hellip;Gives Isles Lift</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Islanders Win “Battle Of New York”

<div class="byline">BY HAL SIGURDSON</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;&ldquo;It takes a lot of ingredients to make a good stew,&rdquo; ranks as one of hockey&rsquo;s oldest cliches. It is also true, which is why it has endured long enough to become a cliche.The Vancouver Canucks in just one short year have acquired a remarkable number of right ingredients for their own version of a successful stew, but the taste is not yet quite right. With the late season emergence of Ken Lockett as a bonafide major leaguer, the Canucks appear solid in the key area of goaltending. They have the veteran Gary Smith and the rookie Lockett as a capable alternate.Over the course of the season Don Lever and John Gould established themselves as top goal scorers. Dennis Ververgaert and Chris Oddleifson should fit into that category if they can stay in one piece for an entire season and Paulin Bordeleau has the potential to become a big scorer. Veteran center Andre Boudrias is one of the better playmakers in the league.Garry Monahan and Gerry O&rsquo;Flaherty rate among the best penalty killers in the business and the defense headed by Bob Dailey and Mike Robitaille is deeper in talent than at any other point in Vacouver&rsquo;s five-year NHL history.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01912/3595674-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="267" height="489"><figcaption class="caption-body">Harold Snepsts</figcaption></div>Despite what their critics may claim, the Canucks&rsquo; pennant victory in the Smythe Division was no fluke, but one area is still conspicuously lacking.To become a genuine contender for all the marbles the Canucks have to become physically tougher.Early in their history the Canucks seemed to have a passion for acquiring talented, but small players. At the same time they dealt off policemen like Pat Quinn and Jerry Korab.There is of course, nothing wrong with small hockey players. People like Henri Richard, Dave Keon and Yvan Coumoyer prove that. But too much of any ingredient spoils the taste of the stew and the Canucks simply had too many jeeps and not enough tanks.There has been a conscious effort on the part of management over the past two seasons to improve the situation but the deficiency has not yet been fully corrected.Like it or not, a few meanies are vital ingredients to cook that stew. Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres are primaril high scoring, skating teams. But nobody, not even Philadelphia&rsquo;s Broad Street Bullies, intimidates them.Mess with Jacques Lemaire or Yvan Coumoyer and shortly you&rsquo;ll have to deal with Larry Robinson, Pierre BoucharorYvon Lambert. Start something with Rene Robert and in comes Jim Schoenfeld, Korab or Rick Dudley.But take a shot at Bobby Lalonde or Bordeleau and chances are the aggressor will get nothing more than a dirty look.Rookie defenseman Harold Snepsts, who played 27 games before suffering tom knee ligaments, could be part of the answer. The lage youngster of Latvian ancestry is obviously tough enough and a lot better hockey player than you would expect of a fourth round draft choice.But Snepsts will need an accomplice or two before the rest of the league&rsquo;s enforcers feel they better stop kicking sand in Vancouver faces.When that day arrives, the Canucks will be a much better hockey team. &#9632;

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Canucks Need More Muscle To Become Cup Contender

<div class="byline">BY RALPH BRIDGLAND</div>MONTREAL&mdash;All good things have to come to an end.However, Scotty Bowman and his Montreal Canadiens would have appreciated a better place and time for their domination of the Vancouver Canucks to come to an abrupt halt.Heading into their quarter-final series. the Habs had yet to lose to the Vancouverites in 27 regular season contests since the Canucks entered the framework of the NHL in the fall in of 1970.The best the Canucks had managed was a draw and even that on only three occasions.The Habs outscored the West Coast crew 17-8 during the past schedule on the way to sweeping their four outings. Over their five-year history the Canucks had been outscored 130-57.Ironically the Canucks&rsquo; first ever playoff contest was a 6-2 loss at the Montreal Forum and at the conclusion of that game it appeared the end of the Canadiens&rsquo; streak was a long way from becoming realtiy.Game two. Enter Gary Smith with his &lsquo;suitcase&rsquo; full of goaltending tricks. Exit Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; superb passing, skating and power-play expertise.Smith, who had given way to backup Ken Lockett in the opening encounter because of an injury suffered near the end of the regular schedule, blocked 38 of 39 shots sent his way in backboning the Canucks to a 2-1 victory right in the Canadiens&rsquo; backyard to deadlock the series at a game apiece and capture one more contest than they were expected to.The only shot to elude Smith was the 24th one as Doug Risebrough scored just past the mid-way mark of the second period.The Habs&rsquo; pin-point passing and record-breaking power play were noticeably absent in the 2-1 setback.Boos showered down upon the power play which broke the existing record for man-advantage markers in a single season with 92 during the past season, as the Habs were ineffective with the canucks a man short.After the game Bowman was quick to point out that this wasn&rsquo;t the first close game against the Canucks this season.&ldquo;We had two games similar to this one before this year and were fortunate that we won both 4-3,&rdquo; said Bowman.&ldquo;1 don&rsquo;t know if they were as much different from the first game as we were,&rdquo; opined Pete Mahovlich. &ldquo;We weren&rsquo;t skating like we did in the first game. They didn&rsquo;t steal it, they worked for it.&rdquo;The Canucks&rsquo; winning goal by Garry Monahan was far from being a classic.&ldquo;It was a shot from Monahan from the boards,&rdquo; explained Ken Dryden. &ldquo;The shot was there, I had it in my glove. I assumed I had it then heard yelling. (Leon) Rochefort was cutting across in front of the net and fell into me. I assume he hit my glove and knocked the puck into the net.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01883/3595712-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="571" height="481"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB GAINEY</figcaption></div>Any questions as to whether Dryden would be up to par in playoff action have been answered as he powered the Canadians to victories in game three (4-1) and four (4-0) in Vancouver. He blocked 37 shots in recording his second career playoff shutout as the Habs took a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.The most physical line in the series to date, as it was all season, has been the Yvon Lambert, Risebrough, Mario Tremblay trio.Risebrough in particular has been doing more than his share of keeping the Canucks off balance.&ldquo;Our line especially has to play it rough. It&rsquo;s our type of style and it&rsquo;s definitely my style,&rdquo; explained the rugged freshman center.Risebrough and Tremblay are the only members of the Canadiens not to have seen playoff action before.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a life and death situation,&rdquo; said Risebrough after this first Stanley Cup encounter. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s more pressure on yourself but it&rsquo;s a good atmosphere to play hockey in.&rdquo;HAB BITS: A bruised hip sustained in the second game sidelined left winger Steve Shutt and necessitated moving Bob Gainey onto the Mahovlich, Guy Lafleur line.Gainey responded with the winning marker in game three and Lafleur leads Hab sharpshooters with three goals and four assists for seven points.Yvan Coumoyer reached two personal playoff milestones as he potted his 50th Stanley Cup goal in the opening game and then recorded his 100th point in post-season play with a goal and an assist in fourth encounter.Utility man Jim Roberts notched his 13th playoff goal in 118 Stanley Cup games in the third meeting with the Canucks and member 13 certainly was a lucky one. Roberts&rsquo; shot went off the backboards to goaltender Smith, who was sprawled on the ice just to the left side of his crease, glanced off his glove and just sneaked over the goal line. Roberts&rsquo; marker, the Canadiens&rsquo; first of the game, seemed to break the Canucks&rsquo; back as they had been pressing the Habs while holding on to a 1-0 lead.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02745/3595705-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="559" height="751"><figcaption class="caption-body">DOUG RISEBROUGH&hellip;Playing It Rough</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Habs’ ‘Good Thing’ Comes To An End

<div class="byline">BY BILL HEUFELDER</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;The whole thing was incredible.One minute the Pittsburgh Penguins, the only National Hockey League team to sweep its first-round playoff, was confronted with the awesome challenge of meeting the powerful Montreal Canadiens in round two and sacrificing the homeice advantage.When the first round had been completed, the Penguins found themselves with the home-ice advantage in a best-of-seven series against the New York Islanders, one of three visiting clubs which had shaken the Stanley Cup picture with a victory in the third and last game.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01719/3595750-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="273" height="460"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Stackhouse</figcaption></div>The Penguins managed some surprises of their own, notably falling behind twice by two goals in their opener against St. Louis and trailing by a single goal three times in the next game before eliminating the Blues, 5-3.Vic Hadfield played a prominent role in the short, sweet playoff round and came up with a surprise of his own.With less than three minutes left in game No. 1 and the Penguins shut out in a power play that had just concluded, Hadfield ignored the pleas of his teammates from the bench to drop off the point for a defenseman.Instead, the hustling 34-year-old left winger outraced a St. Louis defenseman for the puck and fed it to Pierre Larouche streaking down the middle toward the net. A strong candidate for the league&rsquo;s rookie of the year honors, Larouche snapped home the winning goal.With game No. 2 at the St. Louis Arena, the Blues three times in succession pecked away for a one-goal lead, but Colin Campbell, on a shorthanded breakaway, lifted Pittsburgh into a 4-3 edge. Hadfield took the pressure off the Penguins by rifling home a long shot less than four minutes from the final buzzer and his teammates bolted off the bench to mob him.A respected motivating force, along with linemate Ron Schock, through the entire campaign, Hadfield, even a month before the Stanley Cup playoffs began, was confident the Penguins would prove they&rsquo;re for real.Discussing the possibility that Pittsburgh had peaked prematurely, he said, &ldquo;I think that holds true with an older club.&ldquo;But we&rsquo;re a very young club. The more we play, the more experience we get. We&rsquo;re going to have plenty for the playoffs.&rdquo;Hadfield, proving he did not bring his wife and three school-age children to Pittsburgh merely to continue payments on a reported $185,000 contract signed while with the New York Rangers, delivered 31 goals and 42 assists during the regular season.&ldquo;Possibly, he&rsquo;s exceeded our expectations statistically,&rdquo; said Button, who acquired him during the off-season for defenseman Nick Beverley. &ldquo;We figured he&rsquo;d give us 25 goals and 55 to 60 points.&rdquo;Button admits the Penguins received an added benefit from Hadfield&rsquo;s production on the point, an idea suggested by coach Marc Boileau. With Hadfield and Ron Stackhouse the deep men, Pittsburgh found scoring consistency with a manpower advantage.Of his performance, Hadfield says, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m satisfied, not for myself, but for the team. I get much more satisfaction out of winning than any feats I could accomplish.&ldquo;If I scored 40 goals and we didn&rsquo;t make the playoffs, it would hurt me.&rdquo;The way Hadfield continues to perk up the Penguins, the pain will be felt by the opposition.PENGUIN NOTES: Hadfield also figured in Pittsburgh&rsquo;s tying goal in the playoff opener against St. Louis, picking up an assist on Chuck Arnason&rsquo;s second goal of the game&hellip; Stackhouse. the most productive defenseman in any of the Penguins&rsquo; eight seasons. registered four points, including three assists, in the St. Louis series.Gary Inness performed commendably in goal against the Blues&hellip; He&rsquo;s been forced to handle all of the netminding without Michel Plasse, whose sprained ankle is healing slowly&hellip; Plasse twice re-injured the ankle since first hurting it late in the regular season&hellip; He has been immobilized periodically with a walking cast&hellip; Bob Johnson, who struggled through a stretch with the club earlier this year before being returned to Hershey, is backing up Inness while Plasse recovers.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02620/3595743-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="1172" height="1353"><figcaption class="caption-body">VIC HADFIELD&mdash;Bonus For The Penguins</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Penguins Credit Hadfield For Motivating Young Club

<div class="byline">BY JACK McCARTHY</div>BOSTON&mdash;When a team with Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito, plus a host of great expectations, goes down the drain as the Bruins did in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, there are bound to be recriminations, speculations and rumors up to your eyeballs&hellip; especially in a hockey town like Boston.GM Harry Sinden told this writer before the playoffs began that there would be a change in style of this club next year, and that there would be some personnel changes. He repeated this after the Black Hawks dumped Boston.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01617/3595788-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="261" height="417"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Cashman</figcaption></div>Coach Don Cherry, disappointed in his team&rsquo;s showing, also says that there will be some changes&mdash;and it appears that Cherry will be back to coach Bos ton again next season.It is not exactly clear how the folio wing could happen, but one Boston writer, the veteran D. Leo Monahan of the Herald-American, has written that the Bruins are after old friend Gerry Cheevers. This would entail, of course, a jump back to the NHL from the Cleveland Crusaders by Cheevers, once a Boston darling.Cheevers, of course, is reputed to have a contract in Cleveland that is out of this world, truly a deal he couldn&rsquo;t refuse at the time he was tempted away from Boston. If that situation could be resolved perhaps Cheesy would return&mdash;a la Derek Sanderson.If there is one single thing that caused the demise of the Bruins from their Cup championship status, it was the jump by Cheevers. Sure, there were some good kids lost in trades, but at the time they were made, the Bruins were loaded anyhow. The WHA grab of Cheevers was the blow that killed father, though.Writer Monahan, incidentally, is the guy who correctly predicted the move of Milt Schmidt to Washington.Since talent is thin around all of hockey these days, it is difficult to see how the Bruins could make any kind of startling deal although Sinden might not have too much trouble getting the defensive-minded wingers he is looking for. There is speculation that Phil Esposito might go for a flock of bodies. He has not yet signed for next year at this writing.Espo&rsquo;s big salary might be a factor in a trade, also, but that, of course, would be up to Storer Broadcasting&rsquo;s bankroll. It is hard to see Boston giving up Espo, the talent situation being what it is these days. You would have to get five forwards for him.Thumpers and back-checkers are what the Bruins need&mdash;and what ever happened to the guys who like to lay that shoulder into an opponent, anyhow?Espo was hampered last season by the switching of forwards on his line. The big line of Esposito, Ken Hodge and Wayne Cashman never really got to operate all year together. Hodge, of course, had a very disappointing year, and the boo-birds were at him as usual. Kenny could go. but his contract is for two more years, supposedly no-cut, and he has a good family set-up in the Boston area.Which brings us to Cashman. Coach Cherry has said, &ldquo;We had a lot of injuries this season, but the biggest injury was to Cashman.&rdquo; Cash had a back operation and then a severe groin pull at the end of the season. Says Cherry, &ldquo;We lost our sparkplug. He could have meant 15 or 20 points in the regular season.&rdquo; Cash is set.Whatever happens, the Bruins are due for whatever major overhaul Sinden can make with the replacement parts available. Cheevers would be something else. But perhaps Boston is reluctant to give up on a kid with such promise as Gilles Gilbert. Promise may not be enough, though.Some body-bangers who will do it on the road, some back-checkers out of the Toronto mold&mdash;that&rsquo;ll do for openers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02533/3595781-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="570" height="1079"><figcaption class="caption-body">GERRY CHEEVERS&hellip;Will He Jump Back?</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Bruins May Lure Cheevers Back In Bid For Defensive Strength

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01627/3595819-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE VICKERS&hellip; Potential 50-Goal Scorer</figcaption></div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaNEW YORK&mdash;The New York Americans&rsquo; finest hour in their 14 years of eating the Rangers&rsquo; dust was the playoffs of 1937-38 when they upended the Blueshirts two games to one, with Lorne Carr scoring the winning goal in triple overtime, 3-2, after the Rangers had gotten off to a two-goal lead.Long suffering American fans cherished that moment. For the three-year-old Islanders and their fans, nothing could have gotten them higher than the overtime killer scored by J.P. Parise in 11 seconds of sudden death, ending the Rangers&rsquo; season&mdash;and giving the Islanders a 2-1 opening-round win. Coming after the Rangers had overcome a 3-0 Islander lead and tied it up, the Islanders OT win shocked a sold out Madison Square Garden crowd of 17,500.&ldquo;It was my worst feeling,&rdquo; said Ranger captain Brad Park. &ldquo;I got to Parise a split second too late. But the Rangers are my team and I have to think we are better than the Islanders. But we didn&rsquo;t prove it.&rdquo;The Rangers privately and sometimes publicly have derided the team from Madison Square Garden East, although general manager-coach Emile Francis has been too smart to do so. saying, &ldquo;If they work hard they will be competitive sooner than anyone thinks.&rdquo;But it had to hurt the Cat when the Islanders knocked the Rangers out of the opening round, beating them in game one after the Blueshirts had a two-goal lead and then completely reversing the Rangers&rsquo; third period mo-mentum in overtime, in the deciding game.Most Islander fans were Ranger fans before moving to the suburbs and slowly adopting Bill Torrey&rsquo;s team. In the first two seasons, when the teams met at the Nassau Coliseum, the Rangers received almost as many cheers as did the Islanders.&ldquo;It felt strange not being the home team in our own building last year when we played the Rangers. I feel we proveda point in beating the Rangers. They have a funny team, one capable of great moments. We panicked in the final period against them and started running around. They almost blew us out, but we got together and played our game and won in the overtime. We didn&rsquo;t die&mdash;they did,&rdquo; said Denis Potvin.In the supercharged playoff meeting of April 10 at Nassau, the Rangers had their adherants, but most of the building was rooting for the Isles. Amazingly, the home team lost all three games, the Isles winning 3-2 and 4-3 in the Garden and the Rangers romping 8-3 in Nassau. And the new atmosphere in the Coliseum almost makes the Long Beach, Long Island based Rangers feel they are earning their $22,00-per-day road meal money when they play at Nassau.In the final game in the Garden there was a plethora of fights in the stands, a commonplace occurrance in the old Garden in the days of the rivalry between the Amerks and Rangers. The 50th Street side of the balcony was Ranger turf with the Americans holding the 49th.&ldquo;The Rangers bled the Americans dry with a high rental for years,&rdquo; says one former American fan, who is still bitter and who still roots against the Rangers. &ldquo;They forced them out.&rdquo;The Islanders only exist because of the threat of a World Hockey Association team in Nassau. They did agree to pay the Rangers $5 million idemnification for the invasion of Ranger territory, much like the football Jets paid to the Giants.Are the Islanders really better than the Rangers? The bottom line says so&mdash;and it says that the Isles are a more disciplined team than the high-scoring, but defensively weaker, Rangers.Overlooked in the Islanders&rsquo; kayo of the Rangers was Steve Vickers&rsquo; fine 41-goal season. Add 48 assists and the 1972-73 Calder Memorial Trophy winner has an 89-point campaign. His four-goal burst against Kansas City gave the Rangers a key win when they were slipping and helped them make the playoffs. None of Vickers&rsquo; big four travelled more than 12 feet. Two were Arnold Palmer tap-ins, one was from four feet out and the other a big 12 feet.&ldquo;Someone said Vickers gets just garbage goals,&rdquo; grunted Bep Guidolin. the Kansas City coach. &ldquo;But so does Phil Esposito from the slot. I&rsquo;ll take him on my team.&rdquo;Vickers has 50-goal potential&mdash;and may reach that mark some season.BLUE CHIPS: Rod Gilbert captured the West Side Association Trophy as Rangers MVP, Jean Ratelie won the player&rsquo;s player award and Gilbert was voted the Frank Boucher Trophy as the fan club&rsquo;s most popular&hellip; In the regular season the Rangers were 3-2-1 with the Islanders, but the new club won four of the last five, including the playoffs&hellip; Gilbert&rsquo;s 97 points tied his previous high and his 61 assists were a new career high&hellip;Bill Fairbairn scored four goals in the three Cup games, his shorthanded tally breaking open the 8-3 win and his second goal getting the Rangers close in the finale. &#9632;

f0018-01

Rangers End Season Stunned By Playoff Loss To Islanders

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02507/3595857-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="555" height="797"><figcaption class="caption-body">BERNIE PARENT Philadelphia Flyers</figcaption></div>Anyone who thought goaltending would not play as big a part in the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; bid for the Stanley Cup this season as It did last year, has already been proven incorrect.Bernie Parent went on a puckstopping spree that saw him keep the Toronto Maple Leafs off the scoreboard for 143 minutes and 16 seconds straight as the Flyers rolled over the Leafs in four consecufive games to capture the quarterfinal series.Parent recorded back-to-back shutouts but failed in an attempt to chalk up his third consecutive zero and tie an NHL playoff record.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03380/3595850-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="555" height="735"><figcaption class="caption-body">LOWELL MacDONALD Pittsburgh Penguins</figcaption></div>The Pittsburgh Penguins have been the surprise team of the playoffs thus far and a pleasing aspect, although no surprise to the Penguins, has been the play of Lowell MacDonald.He had a single marker, the clincher, as the Pens downed their quarter-final foes the New York Islanders 6-4 and then single handedly did the Isles in as Pittsburgh opened up a 3-0 bulge in games with a 3-1 win. MacDonald had two goals, including the winner, and assisted on the other tally.If the Pens hope to advance in the playoffs, it&rsquo;s going to take efforts such as MacDonald&rsquo;s. &#9632;

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NHL’s Stars of the week

TWIN CITIES&mdash;If it&rsquo;s any consolation to the Minnesota North Stars, who finished out of the National Hockey League playoffs for the third time in the club&rsquo;s eightyear history, they&rsquo;ll get to draft fourth when the NHL holds its grab-bag of top junior players June 3.Because of their lowly finish, the North Stars will pick after Washington, Kansas City and California. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt that we can draft a quality player because of our position,&rdquo; said general manager Jack Gordon.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01448/3595888-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="273" height="459"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jack Gordon</figcaption></div>It&rsquo;s five months to training camp for the North Stars but between then and now a great deal of off-ice work will be going on to improve on the team&rsquo;s fourth place finish this season.The task facing Gordon, coach Charlie Bums and their staff during the off-season is to bring the North Stars back into contention in the Smythe Division, which is made up of Vancouver, St. Louis, Chicago, Kansas City and Minnesota.There&rsquo;s no question that it will take a lot of work on the part of everyone in this organization,&rdquo; said Gordon, &ldquo;but the job is by no means out of reach. I look at the other teams in our division and I know in my heart that we can be there next season.&rdquo;Gordon pointed to youth as one factor in the North Stars&rsquo; favor. A total of 32 players performed for the Minnesotans this season. Sixteen of them were rookies, including such bright prospects as goaltender Pete LoPresti, centers Blake Dunlop and Dave Cressman and right winger Dean Talafous.The Minnesota GM also hopes to sign to professional contracts several of the Swedish players on the North Stars&rsquo; negotiation list. Two of them currently are playing with Sweden&rsquo;s National team in the World championship tournament.Immediately after the close of the NHL season. Gordon dispatched Bums to New Haven to watch North Stars&rsquo; farm team hopefuls in the American League playoffs. Among the players Burns is looking at are New Haven&rsquo;s leading scorer, center Tom Colley (29 goals. 47 assists, 76 points), left winger Alain Langlais, who led the Nighthawks in goals with 41 and Cressman, who made a fine impression during a five-game stay with the North Stars last month.NORTH STAR NOTES: Center Dennis Hextall won the team scoring championship for the third straight season. Hextall finished with 74 points, two more than right winger Bill Goldsworthy&hellip; Goldsworthy&rsquo;s 37 goals were tops for the North Stars. It was the second season in succession that the Minnesota captain has led the team in goals&hellip; Hextali also led the North Stars in penalty minutes with 147 minutes&hellip;Center Murray Oliver has missed only three North Star&rsquo;s games in the last four seasons&hellip; Goldsworthy topped the Stars with 11 power-play goals and tied with Dunlop with three game-winning goals. &#9632;

f0020-01

North Stars To Pick 4th In Draft

WASHINGTON&mdash;While the Washington Capitals were setting National Hockey League records for ineptitude on the ice they were making quite a hit at the box office.The Capitals played before 400,185 home fans during the past campaign, an average of 10,004 per game. Quite a feat for an expansion team.The Philadelphia Flyers averaged 9,625 during the regular season in their first year of NHL competition.Bright spots were few and far between for the freshman Caps but if one were to pick out the highlights of the past season they would have to include:The Capitals first ever win, a 4-3 edging of the Chicago Black Hawks on Oct. 17;The Caps first and as it turned out only road win. in California 5-3 over the Golden Seals on March 28;The first sell-out crowd, 18,130, when the defending champion Flyers visited Capital Center on Dec, 26;A 3-3 tie with Boston Bruins on Jan. 7 and the 7-4 win over the New York Rangers on Feb. 11;Ron Lalonde notching the Capitals&rsquo; first hat trick on March 30 in a game against the Detroit Red Wings;The regular season finale, an 8-4 win over the playoff-bound Pittsburgh Penguins in which the Caps&rsquo; Stan Gilbertson scored four times.The Capitals are already looking forward to their second training camp in London, Ontario when injured players Jack Egers (back), Jim Hrycuik (knee), Willy Brossart (ankle), Blair Stewart (ankle) and Ron Jones (shoulder) will return to hopefully spur the Capitals on to better things.One advantage to finishing with the worst record in the league is the first shot at the amateur drafts.There has been some specualtion that the Capitals will trade their first-round choice for several established players who might be able to lend some experience in the seasons ahead.The three expansion teams winning divisional titles and four others making the playoffs has to add a little bit of optimism to an otherwise gloomy picture. However, to be realistic, the Capitals are going to have to find pleasure in the little things, no matter now small they may be, for a few years before playoff hopes can become a reality. &#9632;

Capitals Last On Ice But First With Fans

DETROIT&mdash;The Detroit Red Wings didn&rsquo;t have too much to shout about this season but they did record one first&mdash;they had the highest scoring captain in the National Hockey League.Little Marcel Dionne led all NHL team captains in points with 121 and goals, 47. Dionne&rsquo;s third-place finish behind Boston&rsquo;s twin terrors, Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito, enabled him to beat out Philadelphia&rsquo;s Bobby Clarke, who had concluded with 116 points. Clarke was last year&rsquo;s leader with 87 points.Here&rsquo;s how some of the other NHL captains finished up: Jim Schoenfeld, Buffalo, 20 points: Joey Johnston, California, 37; Simon Nolet, Kansas City, 58; Terry Harper, Los Angeles. 26; Bill Gol-dsworthy, Minnesota. 72; Henri Richard, Montreal, 13; Ed Westfall, Islanders, 55; Brad Park. Rangers, 57; Ron Schock, Pittsburgh. 86; Barclay Plager, St. Louis, 28; Dave Keon, Toronto. 59; Andre Boudrias, Vancouver. 78; Doug Mohns, Washington, 21.. &#9632;

Wings’ Dionne Top Scoring NHL Captain

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-16" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-1640/3596103-1-eng-US/f0022-162.jpg"></div>WHL<h2>Series &lsquo;E&rsquo;</h2><h3>Tue. April 15 TORONTO 0, PHILADELPHIA 3</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01319/3596096-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="591" height="436"></div><h3>Thu. April 17 PHILADELPHIA 2, TORONTO 0</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02244/3596089-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="592" height="520"></div><h3>Sat. April 19 PHILADELPHIA 4, TORONTO 3</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03213/3596082-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="567" height="59"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04167/3596075-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="585" height="651"></div><h2>Series &lsquo;F&rsquo;</h2><h3>Tue. April 15 CHICAGO 1, BUFFALO 3</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-05141/3596068-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="590" height="526"></div><h3>Thu. April 17 BUFFALO 4, CHICAGO 5</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-06113/3596061-1-eng-US/f0022-062.jpg" title="f0022-06" width="592" height="700"></div><h3>Sun. April 20 BUFFALO 6, CHICAGO 2</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-07100/3596054-1-eng-US/f0022-072.jpg" title="f0022-07" width="592" height="616"></div><h2>Series &lsquo;G&rsquo;</h2><h3>Tue. April 15 VANCOUVER 2, MONTREAL 1</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0890/3596047-1-eng-US/f0022-082.jpg" title="f0022-08" width="599" height="526"></div><h3>Thu. April 17 MONTREAL 4. VANCOUVER 1</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0982/3596040-1-eng-US/f0022-092.jpg" title="f0022-09" width="594" height="552"></div><h3>Sat. April 19 MONTREAL 4, VANCOUVER 0</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-1072/3596033-1-eng-US/f0022-102.jpg" title="f0022-10" width="589" height="495"></div><h2>Series H&rsquo;</h2><h3>Tue. April 15 ISLANDERS 1, PITTSBURGH 3</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-1167/3596026-1-eng-US/f0022-112.jpg" title="f0022-11" width="594" height="552"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-1263/3596019-1-eng-US/f0022-122.jpg" title="f0022-12" width="507" height="62"></div><h3>Thu. April 17 PITTSBURGH 6, ISLANDERS 4</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-1356/3596012-1-eng-US/f0022-132.jpg" title="f0022-13" width="595" height="586"></div><h3>Sun. April 20 PITTSBURGH 1, ISLANDERS 3</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-1448/3596005-1-eng-US/f0022-142.jpg" title="f0022-14" width="589" height="462"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-1546/3595998-1-eng-US/f0022-152.jpg" title="f0022-15" width="1190" height="1407"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK DUDLEY&hellip;Two-Goal Performance ln Second Game</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0022-16

Mark Ten That’s taste!

PHILADELPHIA&mdash;The Philadelphia Flyers appear to be in a hurry to get another crack at the Stanley Cup.Team captain Bobby Clarke said the Flyers were intent on winning and all the players had the same wish&mdash;to play as few games as possible to win the cup for the second straight year.Defenseman Andr&eacute; (Moose) Dupont, who banged in the gamewinning goal in overtime on a pass from &lsquo;Bad Man&rsquo; Dave Schultz to eliminate the Toronto Leafs in four straight games, reiterated Clarke&rsquo;s statement.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01299/3596134-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="267" height="427"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob Kelly</figcaption></div>&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t get paid playoff money by the game,&rdquo; commented Dupont after this goal beat Toronto 4-3 in the fourth game of their best-of-seven quarterfinal series with the Leafs. &ldquo;So why take this thing back to Philadelphia?&rdquo; With that thought in mind Dupont went out and sank the game winner in a minute and 45 seconds of overtime in Maple Leaf Gardens.The four-win sweep by the Flyers sent them into the semi-final round against the survivor of the Pittsburgh-New York Islanders&rsquo; series and the way the best-of-seven was going, there was little doubt left that the Penguins would be moving on against the Flyers while the Islanders move out for the summer.The Pens had a 3-1 stranglehold lead in the series with two of the remaining three games on their home ice in the event the series went all the way, an almost insurmountable task for Al Arbour&rsquo;s surprising young club.The Flyers completed the four-game cycle winning two in the Spectrum 6-3 and 3-0 and two more in Toronto 2-0 and 4-3.Goaler Bernie Parent broke the Leafs&rsquo; backs with his stellar netminding racking up back-to-back shutouts and missing by one game of tieing the existing NHL record for three shutouts in a single playoff series set back in the 1940&rsquo;s by Frank McCool of the Leafs.Dupont, who also scored in the second game of the series, and Terry Crisp with two, accounted for all the scoring in Flyers&rsquo; 3-0 win. Gary Dornhoefer and Rick MacLeish scored in the 2-0 win while Reg Leach shot two and Bill Barber one in the windup game before Dupont settled it in overtime.The Penguins ran up three straight victories in their series with the Islanders before the New Yorkers staved off elimination by taking the fourth game 3-1 in Uniondale, N.Y. Lowell MacDonald fired two goals in the second-game win and added another in the third game in which Bob &lsquo;Battleship&rsquo; Kelly collected two goals. Kelly also connected in game four for the lone Pittsburgh goal but third-period scores by rookie Clark Gillies and veteran Jean-Paul Parise gave the Islanders the win and a life in the series. &#9632;

f0023-01

Cup Champs Seen Likely To Face Pens

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02235/3596172-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg"></div>STANLEY CUP &lsquo;75MONTREAL&mdash;It was all over but the shouting for the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Black Hawks in their quarter-final series with Montreal and Buffalo respectively.Both the Canadiens and Sabres were in command of their playoff series holding 3-1 leads with the advantage of home ice. It was pretty clear the two teams would advance into the next round of the Stanley Cup playoffs against one another in what shapes up as an exciting semi-final with two of the NHL&rsquo;s most explosive offenses on the same ice surface.The Canadiens displayed too much muscle and hustle for the Vancouver Canucks, who surprised the Habs by taking the second game 2-1 in Montreal to snap a five-year 28-game winless skein against the Flying Frenchmen. But the Canucks wilted after their Forum success and went down to defeat 4-1 and 4-0 on their own home ice where they had to win to stay alive in the series.The suddenly aroused Canucks stayed on top of the Canadiens in game two as Gerry O&rsquo;Flaherty and Garry Monahan pumped in goals to back up a sensational goaling performance by big Gary Smith, who handled 38 shots. But once the teams went to the West Coast the Canucks appeared to lose their momentum and rarely threatened the Mon-trealers.In game three, John Gould got them on the score sheet early but the Habs responded with four unanswered goals by Jim Roberts, Bob Gainey, Jacques Lemaire and Guy Lafleur. Smith again was the busy goaler with 37 shots.In the fourth game, goaler Ken Dryden shut the door on the Canucks as the Vancouverites reversed the trend and carried the offense to Montreal out-shooting them 37-24 but losing 4-0. Lafleur, Yvan Cournoyer, Pete Mahovlich and Serge Savard were the goalgetters.The Buffalo Sabres were proving too hot to handle as far as the Black Hawks were concerned and it was a case of too much of the French Connection line as each of the trio, Rene Robert, Richard Martin and Gil Perreault scored once each in a wild five-goal third-period offensive thrust that buried the Hawks 6-2 in the fourth game of the series on Chicago ice.The Hawks couldn&rsquo;t overcome a pair of first-period goals by Rick Dudley and one by Danny Gare in the second game and went down to their second straight loss 3-1 in the best-of-seven affair. When the series went back to Chicago, veteran Stan Mikita revived the Hawks&rsquo; hopes with an overtime-period goal to break a 4-4 tie for the first Chicago win of the series.But the Hawks didn&rsquo;t have it in game four and lost again to put the Sabres into a commanding lead that pointed them towards a showdown with Montreal in the Stanley Cup semi-finals for the ultimate right to earn one of the two berths in the NHL championship final.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03182/3596165-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="566" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body">JACQUES LEMAIRE</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0023-02

Montreal, Buffalo Headed For Playoff Wins

Preliminary Round<h2>SERIES &lsquo;A&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-04147/3596266-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="602" height="126"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Tue. April 8Toronto 2 at Los Angeles 3Thu. April 10Los Angeles 2 at Toronto 3Fri. April 11Toronto 2 at Los Angeles 1<h2>SERIES &lsquo;B&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-05122/3596259-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="597" height="119"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. April 8Chicago 2 at Boston 8Thu. April 10Boston 3 at Chicago 4Fri. April 11Chicago 6 at Boston 4<h2>SERIES &lsquo;C&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-06108/3596252-1-eng-US/f0023-062.jpg" title="f0023-06" width="603" height="125"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. April 8St. Louis 3 at Pittsburgh 4Thu. April 10Pittsbrugh 5 at St. Louis 3<h2>SERIES &lsquo;D&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0794/3596245-1-eng-US/f0023-072.jpg" title="f0023-07" width="601" height="125"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. April 8Islanders 3 at Rangers 2Thu. April 10Rangers 8 at Islanders 3Fri. April 11Islanders 4 at Rangers 3<h2>Quarter-Finals</h2><h3>SERIES &lsquo;E&rsquo;</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0879/3596238-1-eng-US/f0023-082.jpg" title="f0023-08" width="609" height="133"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. April 13Toronto 3 at Philadelphia 6Tue. April 15Toronto 0 at Philadelphia 3Thu. April 17Philadelphia 2 at Toronto 0Sat April 19Philadelphia 4 at Toronto 3<h2>SERIES &lsquo;F&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0965/3596231-1-eng-US/f0023-092.jpg" title="f0023-09" width="603" height="129"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. April 13Chicago 1 at Buffalo 4Tue. April 15Chicago 1 at Buffalo 3Thu. April 17Buffalo 4 at Chicago 5Sun. April 20Buffalo 6 at Chicago 2<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tue. April 22Chicago at BuffaloThu. April 24Buffalo at ChicagoSat or Sun. April 26-27Chicago at Buffalo<h2>SERIES &lsquo;G&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1055/3596224-1-eng-US/f0023-102.jpg" title="f0023-10" width="605" height="123"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLET ED</h3>Sun. April 13Vancouver 2 at Montreal 6Tue. April 15Vancouver 2 at Montreal 1Thu. April 17Montreal 4 at Vancouver 1Sat. April 19Montreal 4 at Vancouver 0<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tue. April 22Vancouver at MontrealThu. April 24Montreal at VancouverSat. or Sun. April 26-27Vancouver at Montreal<h2>SERIES &lsquo;H&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1142/3596217-1-eng-US/f0023-112.jpg" title="f0023-11" width="607" height="129"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. April 13Islanders 4 at Pittsburgh 5Tue. April 15Islanders 1 at Pittsburgh 3Thu. April 17Pittsburgh 6 at Islanders 4Sun. April 20Pittsburgh 1 at Islanders 3<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tue. April 22Islanders at PittsburghThu. April 24Pittsburgh at IslandersSat. April 26Islanders at Pittsburgh<h2>PLAYOFF SCORING</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1234/3596210-1-eng-US/f0023-122.jpg" title="f0023-12" width="609" height="499"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1329/3596203-1-eng-US/f0023-132.jpg" title="f0023-13" width="603" height="1572"></div> &#9632;

f0023-04

STANLEY CUP SCOREBOARD

<div class="byline">BY ALAN TRUEX</div>ATALNTA&mdash;Until now, the idea was almost unthinkable that the Atlanta Flames would consider trading a goaltender.&ldquo;In the past.&rdquo; Flames general manager Cliff Fletcher says, &ldquo;any inquiries we&rsquo;ve had about the possibility of one of our goaltenders being available&mdash;well, we pretty well squashed them right there.&rdquo;But times have changed, along with divisions. This season the Flames found themselves bogged down in the highly competitive Patrick Division, where they finished fourth out of four teams.Although they had a better team and a better record than last year, they did not make the playoffs, as they did a year ago. Atlanta was 30-34-14 last season and 34-31-15 this time while finishing five points out of the playoffs.Fletcher maintains that his team&rsquo;s failure to enter the playoffs won&rsquo;t affect his willingness to make off-season trades. But he also admits that he&rsquo;s changed his feeling about the goaltenders, Phil Myre and Dan Bouchard.&ldquo;If someone wants to talk to us about them,&rdquo; Fletcher says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not saying we won&rsquo;t listen. But to enter-tain any thought of trading a goaltender. we&rsquo;re gonna have to get excellent return.&rdquo;&ldquo;We would have to get a backup goaltender who could play 30 games and do an excellent job,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;and one outstanding young hockey player and another who could play well.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s a high price. Fletcher is giving the impression that he doesn&rsquo;t have any intentions of trading a goaler, but that if someone offers him a Godfather deal&mdash;well, he may not be able to refuse it.He says things like. &ldquo;Our goalten-ding has been the backbone of our team since the beginning. We&rsquo;re not looking to make a move in that direction.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01306/3596304-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="557" height="1005"><figcaption class="caption-body">PHIL MYRE</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02238/3596297-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="557" height="1005"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAN BOUCHARD</figcaption></div>But it&rsquo;s quite possible that trading a goalie is the only way the Flames can make a move upward in the stnadings. Next year the New York Islanders, who have younger personnel than the Flames, probably will be much better than they were this year. And no one expects the New York Rangers, Atlanta&rsquo;s other playoff rival, to have the string of injuries they encountered this season.The Flames, although Fletcher isn&rsquo;t admitting it, are almost forced into a trading situation to close the talent gap between themselves and the Islanders and Rangers.Fletcher says he expects to make one or two trades in the next month or two. and he will be looking to upgrade the team&rsquo;s right wing talent. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t get enough goal production from our right wingers,&rdquo; Fletcher said. The highest-scoring right winger was Buster Harvey, with 17 goals&mdash;and only two during the last 25 games.Fletcher would like to find a high-scoring right winger to put on a line with two of the league&rsquo;s finest young forwards, left wing Eric Vail and center Tom Lysiak.But to obtain a quality right winger. Fletcher will have to yield talent in return. The only area he has a surplus is in goal.&ldquo;Our goaltenders had equally fine seasons.&rdquo; Fletcher said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure ei-ther one could play 55 or 60 games a year.&rdquo;Bouchard, 23, had the same goals-against average as a year ago, 2,77. Myre, 26, improved his average from 3.33 to 2.85.While Fletcher would consider trading a goalie, he regards Lysiak and Vail as &ldquo;untouchables&rdquo;. He adds, &ldquo;If we have one defenseman who is untouchable. it is Barry Gibbs.&rdquo;But that leaves quite a few other Flames vulnerable, and Fletcher is shopping around. &ldquo;The next two-and-a-half months,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;are the busiest time of the year for me.&rdquo;FLAMES NOTES: Fletcher expressed a small doubt that coach Fred Creighton would want to return next year, but Creighton says he likes NHL coaching and looks forward to coming back &ldquo;The job is his,&rdquo; Fletcher says. Nobody blames Creighton for the Flames&rsquo; last place finish, and many people credit him with getting his team in chape and developing an effective offensive system which brought the club an 8-1-1 stretch record in the closing weeks&hellip;Flames&rsquo; attendance was down 700 per game this year, although it still held up over the 13,400 mark&hellip; Right winger Larry Romanchych wore a knee brace for most of the season, but he abandoned it for the final two games. He still has a long rehabilitation process ahead before he can return to his 22-goal form of two years ago. &#9632;

f0024-01

Flames May Yield Myre Or Bouchard To Close Talent Gap

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div>ST. LOU1S&mdash;The St. Louis Blues are somewhat embarrassed. They are the most successful of all the expansion teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs over the last eight years; yet they were wiped out so fast this season they appeared not to know what playoff hockey is all about.Twelve teams entered the playoffs this year, and the Blues were the first to be eliminated. They were the first team to be ousted in two straight games since 1942, when Detroit beat Boston two straight in a semi-final series.The Pittsburgh Penguins breezed past the Blues. 4-3 in Pittsburgh and 5-3 in St. Louis, and the St. Louis players suddenly wondered whether they were as good as they thought they were. The Blues had progressed steadily this season and the last two months of the regular campaign they were playing excellent hockey and ready to take on anybody.At one point early in February they had a 19-22-9 record. But in their last 30 games the record was 16-9-5, and the Blues finished in second place, two points behind Vancouver and two ahead of the Chicago Black Hawks, who finished 41 points ahead of the Blues in 1973-74.The Blues roared into the playoffs with plenty of optimism, and they were happy to be playing the Penguins, rather than the Boston Bruins, in the first round. But the Penguins were also finishing with a rush and getting some prolific goal-scoring they never had before. Nine players finished with 23 goals or more, four had more than 30. and Jean Pronovost had 43.Pierre Larouche, who had 31 goals in his rookie season, was the hero in the first game when his goal with 2:31 left in the game gave the Penguins the win after the Blues had led. 3-1. earlier in the final period. Chuck Arnason scored the two goals that tied the game.Coach Garry Young blamed the loss on &ldquo;silly mistakes&rdquo;, and the Blues were grim as they entered the second game of the series. More embarrassment was to come.The Blues were on a power play in the third period when Pittsburgh defenseman Colin Campbell grabbed a loose puck, skated into the St. Louis zone and slipped the puck past Eddie Johnston for the winning goal. Vid Hadfield added the insurance goal.St. Louis&rsquo; Garry Unger said. &ldquo;I honestly thought we outplayed them in the series, but maybe we opened up too much on them. A few of our young guys thought of the playoffs as regularseason games, but they&rsquo;re not like that.&rdquo;Unger reflected the thinking of his teammates when he added. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m disappointed we were eliminated so fast in the playoffs, but we had a great year.&rdquo;The Blues this past season were rebounding from the worst season in their history when they finished in sixth place and missed the playoffs for the first time. Their points total this season was 20 higher than the previous year.This past season the Blues set a team record for goals scored and another record by having seven players with more than 20 goals&mdash;Unger with 36. Pierre Plante 34. Wayne Merrick 28. Chuck Lefley 24. Denis Dupere 23. Bill Collins 22. and Lawrence Sacharuk 20.Throughout the season the Blues relied on some very young defensemen. and four of them undoubtedly are the regulars of the future&mdash;Sacharuk, Bob Hess. Rick Wilson and Bob Gassoff. Sacharuk, Hess and Wilson were rookies this season, and Gassoff missed being a rookie by three games.The goaltending situation this season became encouraging but confused. Johnston and John Davidson handled the duties for the first half of the season, but Yves Belanger was called from Denver in January to replace Davidson for two weeks and stayed with the team. The Blues used three goalies the second half of the season, but not one of them appeared to be helped by the three-goalie system.The Blues appear to have the brightest outlook in their division for next season with Kansas City struggling to survive on an expansion diet. Minnesota sinking deeper arid deeper, and Chicago perhaps facing a major overhaul. The Blues should be in a position to battle Vancouver toe-to-toe for next season&rsquo;s division title, and based on the last couple of months of this past season the Blues would have the edge.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01253/3596335-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="557" height="559"><figcaption class="caption-body">GARRY YOUNG&hellip;Silly Mistakes</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0025-01

Quick Playoff Exit Deflated Blues

<div class="byline">BY RICH PASSAN</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U. S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U. S. and CanadaHARTFORD&mdash;And the beat goes on for the New England Whalers. And so do the injuries.First, there was goaltender Christer Abrahamsson lost for the season with a knee injury. Then Al Karlander spends most of the season on the sidelines with a bum ankle.They were joined at one time or another by defensemen Rick Ley and Ted Green and center Garry Swain. Others skipped a game here or there because of an injury. It never let up.Then came the crushing blow. Clever center Terry Caffery was lost for the World Trophy playoffs with a shoulder separation. You would have thought that was it.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01258/3596366-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="286" height="427"><figcaption class="caption-body">Terry Caffery</figcaption></div>Guess again.The Whalers this season are getting their money&rsquo;s worth from Blue Cross hospitalization and any other medical protection they might have. The team physician is the busiest man on the team.The injuries have continued into the World Trophy playoffs. The Whalers lost two of the first three games to the Minnesota Fighting Saints and. at one time or another, lost the services of six men during that time.Green, Tom Webster, Don Blackburn, Brad Selwood, Fred O&rsquo;Donnell and John French have made interim coach Jack Kelley&rsquo;s job that much tougher by getting hurt.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like to cry about the injuries, but we&rsquo;ve had to patch up all the time,&rdquo; said Kelley, who took over the bench chores when Ron Ryan was excused for the rest of the season because of nervous exhaustion.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t believe all these injuries,&rdquo; Kelley continued. &ldquo;I tell everybody to be careful when he walks across the street. I guess we have to accept it.&rdquo;The Whalers had to play catchup hockey throughout most of the first game here, twice overcoming leads but never gaining it. The Saints finally broke a 3-3 tie and went on to win, 6-5.In the second game, seven World Hockey Association playoff penalty records were set, including 217 total minutes. Two bench-clearing brawls in the wild second period helped set the marks.The Whalers won. 3-2 in overtime on Ley&rsquo;s goal in the seventh minute, finishing the game with seven forwards and three defensemen because of injuries and ejections.The scene shifted to St. Paul for the third game. And the Whalers have never won in St. Paul. They kept their slate clean by dropping an 8-3 decision. The Saints scored on their first three power-play attempts and rolled from there.CLEVELAND: The Crusaders, the other East Division team in the playoffs, hung tough against the defending World Trophy champion Houston Aeros in the first three games.The C&rsquo;s played the Aeros to a standoff in the first two periods of the first game before dropping an 8-5 decision. The Aeros took advantage of some early third-period lapses to take a 7-3 lead and the rest of the period was blowout hockey.Goaltender Gerry Cheevers tried to take the blame for the loss, but his teammates wouldn&rsquo;t buy it.The second game of this hard-hitting series saw the Aeros eke out a 5-3 decision. As in the first game, the Crusaders played the Aeros even in the first two periods, but made a couple of mistakes early in the third period and the Houston icers took advantage of them for a 4-1 lead.The Crusaders came back on goals by Gerry Pinder and Russ Walker with seven minutes left, but super goaltending by Houston goalie Ron Grahame stopped them in the final minutes.Mark Howe, who scored a hat trick in the opener, hit an empty net with half a minute left to seal the verdict, but the Aeros knew the Crusaders would be no pushovers.The third game in Cleveland saw the C&rsquo;s snap the Aeros record playoff winning streak at nine games with a 3-1 victory.The Aeros, who won the first two games on the basis of their strong power play, lost this one when the Crusaders hit them with two power-play goals in the third period.Cleveland&rsquo;s Steve Cardwell and Ted Taylor of Houston were ejected by referee Bob Sloan when the two left wingers engaged in a stick fight early in the second period. &#9632;

f0026-01

Injury-Stricken Whalers Limp Into Playoffs

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02207/3596404-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="492" height="587"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE WALTON Minnesota Saints</figcaption></div>Minnesota ousting the New England Whalers had to be considered an upset and the man leading the Saints was veteran Mike Walton.Walton tallied twice In 4-1 win over Whalers in game five and then counted a hat trick and an assist In 6-1 sixth game triumph to give the Saints a 4-2 decision In the best-of-seven quarter-final series.The four-goal outburst brought his playoff total to six and his points output to nine.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03170/3596397-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="493" height="538"><figcaption class="caption-body">SERGE BERNIER Quebec Nordiques</figcaption></div>Continuing his fine play in the playoffs, Quebec&rsquo;s All Star center Serge Bernier powered the Nordiques to a five-game quarter-final series win over Phoenix.Bernier had two goals and an assist in 6-5 setback In Phoenix and then tallied a single marker in deciding 4-2 victory over Roadrun-ners.Bernier leads the Nordiques In scoring with a half-dozen goals and as many assists for 12 points. &#9632;

f0026-02

WHA’s Stars of the week

<div class="byline">BY DOUG McCONNELL</div>ST. PAUL&mdash;Gord Gallant was suspended and will never play for the Minnesota Fighting Saints again, said team president Wayne Belisle.Gallant punched Saints&rsquo; coach Harry Neale in a late night dispute over a missed curfew between the first and second games of the first round of the World Hockey Association playoffs at Hartford, Conn.Neale required 10 stitches over his upper lip and suffered a black eye. a bruised cheek and nose ligament damage.&ldquo;There is just no way any player can act like Gallant did and have the respect of management, his coach or his teammates,&rsquo;&rsquo; said Belisle. &ldquo;After discussing the facts of the matter with all the involved parties and as popular as Gord has become with our fans, I have no other choice other than to say that Gallant will never wear the uniform of the Minnesota Fighting Saints again.&rdquo;Gallant, 24, led the World Hockey Association in penalty minutes the last two years and last year was named in a World Almanac survey of hockey writers as the best fighter in the WHA.Neale said the team would miss Gallant. who scored a goal in the Saints&rsquo; victory in the opener.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a fact,&rdquo; said Neale. &ldquo;I hope this doesn&rsquo;t hurt him in the future and I hope it doesn&rsquo;t hurt the team and its playoff chances.&rdquo;During a midnight bed check. Neale said Gallant was one of two players missing. He would not identify the other.&ldquo;In both cases, I told their roommates to have them call me when they got in,&rdquo; said Neale. &ldquo;I went up to my room and went to sleep. The first player checked in 10 or 15 minutes later. I told him I would discuss the situation with him in the morning.&ldquo;At about one o&rsquo;clock. Gordie woke me up and I told him the same thing, that I&rsquo;d meet with him in the morning. He called back and wanted to meet with me then. Because he sounded like he had been drinking, I told him no.&rdquo;Shortly afterward. Neale received a call from Gallant&rsquo;s roommate saying that Gallant was on his way to Neale&rsquo;s room.Neale opened the door for Gallant. &ldquo;I turned away from him and started to walk back to a chair to sit down and he hit me,&rdquo; said Neale.Assistant coach Jack McCartan wrestled Gallant to submission and suffered a swollen lip and facial bruises.&ldquo;I was wrong and I lost my cool. I feel bad only because I suckered Harry. I didn&rsquo;t give him a chance to fight back. I was 100 percent in the wrong. It was a foolish thing to do.&ldquo;1 don&rsquo;t want to leave Minnesota. I love it here. But it doesn&rsquo;t look like there&rsquo;s much chance of staying now.&rdquo;At the same time. Gallant spoke critically of Neale.&ldquo;He treats the little guys a lot different than he does the superstars. They can just tell him where to go, but that isn&rsquo;t the case with me.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a big star like some guys on our team. I&rsquo;m not saying anything against any of the other guys on the team, or for the fact that Harry treats some guys different than others. You&rsquo;ve got to do that. But you don&rsquo;t have to pick on the guys who aren&rsquo;t stars.&rdquo;HOUSTON: The Houston Aeros&rsquo; Booster Club donated the Gordie Howe Trophy, a 24-inch bust of hockey&rsquo;s alltime leading scorer to be awarded the most valuable player in the World Hockey Association playoffs.Mark Howe, 20, the younger of Gordie&rsquo;s two sons who are his teammates with the Houston Aeros, quickly estblished himself as a candidate for the award.Mark scored a hat trick as the Aeros won the best-of-seven first round opener, 8-5, over the Cleveland Crusaders, added another as the Aeros took the second game. 5-3, and scored a fifth as the Crusaders bounced back on home ice to win the third game, 3-1.SAN DIEGO: The San Diego Mariners overcame early jitters at facing their first World Hockey Association playoff and took a 2-0 lead in games over the Toronto Toros in their best-of-seven opening round.The Mariners overcame a 3-1 lead built by the Toronto Toros in the first 30 minutes to win the opening game, 5-3, and took the second 7-6. Both were played in San Diego.Ray Adduono scored two goals and assisted on a third in the opening victory.Gene Peacosh scored a pair of goals in the second as the Mariners jumped off to 3-0 and 6-2 leads and held off the surging Toros to maintain the one-goal victory margin.PHOENIX: The Roadrunners, unable to solve their own penalty-killing problems and the flawless netminding of Richard Brodeur, quickly found themselves down, 3-0, in the best-of-seven, first-round series.Hockey Association playoffs.The Roadrunners, who allowed a record 76 power-play goals against this season, saw the Quebec Nordiques score on four of seven man-advantage opportunities to take the first two games at Quebec City, 5-2 and 6-2.BALTIMORE: The Baltimore Blades gave the hockey fans have something to remember in what may have been their last game as the Blades of the World Hockey Association.They upset the Western Division winning and 1974 Avco World Trophy champion Houston Aeros 4-2.The WHA will not continue to operate the club and unless local ownership is found, it will be moved.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01241/3596435-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="545" height="785"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARK HOWE&hellip;Starts With Splurge</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0027-01

Gallant’s Days With Minnesota Finished; Mark Howe Candidate For Father’s Trophy

<h2>Series &lsquo;A&rsquo;</h2><h3>Tue. April 15 HOUSTON 7. CLEVELAND 2</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01230/3596543-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="595" height="601"></div><h3>Thu. April 17 CLEVELAND 1, HOUSTON 3</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02162/3596536-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="592" height="496"></div><h2>Series &lsquo;B&rsquo;</h2><h3>Tue. April 15 QUEBEC 5. PHOENIX 6</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03122/3596529-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="598" height="708"></div><h3>Thu. April 17 PHOENIX 2, QUEBEC 4</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0499/3596522-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="589" height="209"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0585/3596515-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="599" height="361"></div><h2>Series &lsquo;C&rsquo;</h2><h3>Tue. April 15 NEW ENGLAND 5, MINNESOTA 2</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0671/3596508-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="595" height="548"></div><h3>Fri. April 18 MINNESOTA 4, NEW ENGLAND 0</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0761/3596501-1-eng-US/f0028-072.jpg" title="f0028-07" width="591" height="527"></div><h3>Sat. April 19 NEW ENGLAND 1, MINNESOTA 6</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0856/3596494-1-eng-US/f0028-082.jpg" title="f0028-08" width="594" height="460"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0952/3596487-1-eng-US/f0028-092.jpg" title="f0028-09" width="563" height="123"></div><h2>Series &lsquo;D&rsquo;</h2><h3>Mon. April 14 SAN DIEGO 2, TORONTO 5</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1051/3596480-1-eng-US/f0028-102.jpg" title="f0028-10" width="590" height="606"></div><h3>Wed. Apr. 16 SAN DIEGO 5, TORONTO 6</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1145/3596473-1-eng-US/f0028-112.jpg" title="f0028-11" width="595" height="643"></div><h3>Fri. April 18 TORONTO 3. SAN DIEGO 4</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1242/3596466-1-eng-US/f0028-122.jpg" title="f0028-12" width="592" height="525"></div> &#9632;

f0028-01

World Hockey Association Summaries

<h2>Semi-Finals</h2><h3>SERIES &lsquo;A&rsquo;</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1432/3596602-1-eng-US/f0028-142.jpg" title="f0028-14" width="610" height="117"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Thu. April 10Cleveland 5 at Houston 8Sat. April 12Cleveland 3 at Houston 5Sun. April 13Houston 1 at Cleveland 3Tue. April 15Houston 7 at Celveland 2Thu. April 17Cleveland 1 at Houston 3<h2>SERIES &lsquo;B&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1532/3596595-1-eng-US/f0028-152.jpg" title="f0028-15" width="601" height="138"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. April 8Phoenix 2 at Quebec 5Thu. April 10Phoenix 2 at Quebec 6Sat. April 12Quebec 3 at Phoenix 0Tue. April 15Quebec 5 at Phoenix 6Thu. April 17Phoenix 2 at Quebec 4<h2>SERIES &lsquo;C&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1628/3596588-1-eng-US/f0028-162.jpg" title="f0028-16" width="612" height="144"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 9Minnesota 6 at New England 5Fri. April 11Minnesota 2 at New England 3Sun. April 13New England 3 at Minnesota 8Tue. April 15New England 5 at Minnesota 2Thu. April 17Minnesota 4 at New England 0Sat. April 19New England 1 at Minnesota 6<h2>SERIES &lsquo;D&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1723/3596581-1-eng-US/f0028-172.jpg" title="f0028-17" width="615" height="135"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 9Toronto 3 at San Diego 5Sat. April 12Toronto 6 at San Diego 7Mon. April 14San Diego 2 at Toronto 5Wed. April 16San Diego 5 at Toronto 6Fri. April 18Toronto 3 at San Diego 4<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Mon. April 21San Diego at TorontoWed. April 23Toronto at San Diego<h2>PLAYOFF SCORING</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1824/3596574-1-eng-US/f0028-182.jpg" title="f0028-18" width="598" height="537"></div> &#9632;

f0028-14

AVCO TROPHY SCOREBOARD

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>TORONTO&mdash;There seems to be no limit to the ability of the Toronto Toros to get into the news.While the Toros are having their problems with the San Diego Mariners in the World Hockey Association quarter-finals, at least three major player controversies have arisen around the Toros.First there was a report that the Soviet Union&rsquo;s two top hockey players, Alexander Yakushev and Valeri Kharlamov, had each been offered $1 million, to sign with the Toros over a long term contract.The story, which arose at the World Hockey championships in Munich, was discounted by Soviet coach Boris Kulagin, but in light of the Vaclav Nedomansky-Richard Farda experience, it doesn&rsquo;t seem easy to pass off.&ldquo;A Soviet player does not go abroad,&rdquo; said Kulagin during the first week of the world tourney, a dismissal under the terms of reference. But will the two remain &ldquo;Soviet&rdquo;.Several extremely good musicans like pianist Vladimir Askenazy and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich have toured abroad and the former now lives in London, so it wouldn&rsquo;t be anything too startling if one of the two hockey stars were to choose to play outside the USSR.While all this was being ballyhooed, a threat arose in the Toros camp, a threat that they may lose Wayne Dillon to the Atlanta Flames of the NHL when his WHA contract expires.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1338/3596633-1-eng-US/f0028-132.jpg" title="f0028-13" width="239" height="383"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Dillon</figcaption></div>Dillon, who led the Toros in scoring over the regular season with 29 goals and 66 assists at the age of 19, would be prime bait for many NHL clubs, who would love to turn the tables on the WHA. Dillon, who signed a three-year contract with the Toros estimated at $150,000, still has one year remaining, and if the Toros want to keep him next year, they may have to save some of the rubles they are planning to offer the Soviets.The contract which the Flames are reportedly ready to offer Dillon would be in the range of $1 million over four years, a nice round figure.And while all this was going on, the WHA league trustees ruled that the league did not sanction the signing of Toronto Marlboros star Mark Napier by the Toros.Napier has allegedly signed as an underage junior with the Toros already, and owner John Bassett of the Toros says that there is really no way that the league or anyone else can relieve Napier of his rights to make a living for himself.Bassett, in trying to keep peace with the league and at the same time get Napier out of limbo, said the memo he received announcing the league decision referred only to drafting and not signing of under-age players.&ldquo;Napier came to us.&rdquo; said Bassett. &ldquo;He came with his agent and he wanted to sign. He signed a legal contract and he signed it at the age of majority.&ldquo;If the WHA does not let him play, I would say that he could launch one of the biggest lawsuits in the history of Canadian jurisprudence. And he would win.&rdquo;Bud Poile, the executive vice-president of the league, said that the league&rsquo;s decision means a WHA team may not acquire a player until he has been drafted and that the league must approve all contracts, something which they have not yet done in the case of Napier.Poile said that the Napier issue now seems to become an internal problem for the club and the player to work out and that it would be a conflict in league rules if the Toros were to allow Napier to play next year.Bassett, who appears to be on extremely firm legal ground, disagrees, and where the matter will go from there is as much a concern to every other underage junior as it is to Napier himself.Meanwhile, the chaotic situation in the front office of the Toros seemed to be taking it&rsquo;s toll on the club which was on the other side of the continent losing it&rsquo;s first two games to the Mariners.Again, it was the same problem as it has been all season for the club, its inability to prevent the opposition from scoring goals by the bushel.Toros lost the first game 5-3 when San Diego heavy Ted Scharf leaned on them in the second period, drawing raves from Mariner coach Harry Howell.&ldquo;He started hitting some people out there and got us going. He picks up the whole team,&rdquo; said Howell.The second game was a traditional Toros shootout, the only problem being that they came out on the wrong end of a 7-6 score. Only Nedomansky has scored two goals in the games so far for the Toros as they have had singles from all the other people in their attack. The club&rsquo;s problems were typified in the second period of the second game when they were outshot 23-12 and 46-40 on the night.QUEBEC: The Canadian Division champion Quebec Nordiques appered to be making short work of the Phoenix Roadrunners, as they went into the Arizona capital and stole the third game 3-0 for a 3-0 lead in the series.To support the superb goaltending of Richard Brodeur, the Nordiques were again led by their big three, as they have been most of the season.Serge Bernier opened the scoring in the first period of the seemingly decisive third game with his third goal of the series and in the second period Marc Tardif had bagged his second and Rejean Houle his fourth of the playoffs to ensure the offense to back up Brodeur.Nordiques&rsquo; coach Jean-Guy Gendron had said after the first two victories at the Colisee in Quebec City that he felt the third game would indeed be crucial.&ldquo;We hope we can control the series with a win in Phoenix.&rdquo; said Gendron. &ldquo;We would then be in great shape.&rdquo;In gaining that win. Brodeur stopped 32 shots by the Roadrunners while his teammates were making the most of the 18 they were able to muster on Gary Kurt.Nordiques won the first game of the series 5-2 on Tuesday, just two days after the regular season ended, a bit of timing that had Runners&rsquo; coach Sandy Hucul fuming.The Runners had spent all day Monday travelling because the Nordiques wanted to play the game Tuesday night instead of Wednesday, the date that the other three quarter-finals were to begin.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just a rotten deal by Quebec,&rdquo; said Hucul. &ldquo;It was they (Nordiques) who made the decision to play Tues-day. not the league.&rdquo;Tardif, with a goal and three assists, led the Nordiques to a 6-2 win in the second game of the series, one in which Serge Bernier scored two goals. &#9632;

f0028-13

Player Controversies Arise Around Toros

ST. PAUL&mdash;Give the Minnesota Fighting Saints the open road. They play better away from home. At least that&rsquo;s the impression they left with World Hockey Association playoff fans as they cleaned up the New England Whalers by winning on Hartford ice.The Saints ousted the faltering Whalers 4-2 in their best-of-seven quarterfinal series and they achieved it by taking two big games in the Whalers&rsquo; New England hideaway where the East Division champions were nearly invincible over the regular season. The Saints won the series opener 6-5 and the fifth game 4-0 in Hartford to return home where they wrapped up the series in the fifth game 6-1.The Saints now move against the Quebec Nordiques in the best-of-seven WHA semi-finals with the first two games on Quebec ice.Nordiques advanced along with the Houston Aeros in their quarter-final playoffs without hardly working up a sweat. The Quebecers overpowered the Phoenix Roadrunners 23-12 as they took the series 4-1 with three of the victories coming on Quebec ice where the Nordiques seldom lose a game.Houston Aeros followed a similar format in disposing of the Cleveland Crusaders 4-1 as they, too, won three times in Houston. The Aeros will move into the semi-final round against the survivor of the San Diego-Toronto series, which could conceivably go the limit. The first two games of the semis will be played in Houston.High-scoring Mike Walton emerged as the series hero for the Fighting Saints scoring six times in the six games including a series-windup hat trick that sent the Whalers packing for another season.In game two of the series, the Whalers rebounded to win 5-2 but goaler John Garrett turned hot and the Whalers were left gasping for the next two games as Garrett shut them out 4-0 in game five and limited them to one goal in game six. Wayne Connelly, with two, Fran Huck and Walton provided the offense in the fifth game and Walton took over in the final game as he fired three goals and set up a fourth.Houston Aeros&rsquo; young Mark Howe was the hot man in the five-game series with Cleveland as he rifled eight pucks past veteran netminder Gerry Cheevers. Howe scored a hat trick in game two. Gordie Howe had a goal and an assist in the series-clincher as the Aeros won 3-1 in Houston.In the Quebec-Phoenix series. Serge Bernier and Rejean Houle carried the Nordiques&rsquo; 23-goal offensive as Bernier scored six times and Houle five in the Quebecers&rsquo; romp over the Runners, who tailed off badly in the series. Michel Cormier&rsquo;s overtime-period goal in game four enabled the Runners to win their lone decision of the series as he broke open a 5-5 tie. Third-period goals by Bernier and Marc Tardif ended the year for Phoenix as the teams headed into the final period even at 2-2 in the fifth game. Tardif&rsquo;s goal won the game and Bernier wrapped up the series with an empty-net goal at 19.26.The Toronto Toros were battling to stay alive in their best-of-seven quarter-final series with San Diego and it appeared to be a losing battle for the WHA playoff favorites, whom many picked at the outset of the 1974-75 season to win it all.San Diego Mariners were proving a pesky lot for the big-name Toros as home ice was proving the deciding factor throughout the series. The Mariners took the first two at home 5-3 and 7-6 and went back to Toronto where they lost 5-2 and 6-5 to set the stage for game five in San Diego. The Mariners won 4-3 on Gene Peacosh&rsquo;s third-period goal, which was his sixth of the playoffs and second of the game to take the series lead 3-2.Wayne Dillon and Lou Nistico carried the Toros&rsquo; hopes at home as they led the way with a pair of goals each with Nistico getting a third but the Toros were faced with the prospects of winning one game in San Diego and that was proving their undoing in the series as the Mariners had the seventh and deciding game in San Diego if the playoff round went the limit.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01195/3596671-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="559" height="817"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN GARRETT&hellip;Hot In Goal</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02159/3596664-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="1195" height="745"></div>75 AVCO TROPHY Playoffs &#9632;

f0029-01

Minnesota’s Road Play Decisive; Toros On Ropes With San Diego

SPRINGFIELD&mdash;His hockey club hadn&rsquo;t beaten the Providence Reds in 10 meetings this season, yet Springfield coach Ron Stewart was hoping to meet the Reds in the first round of the American Hockey League playoffs.Sounds like a man who had something planned for mid-April and didn&rsquo;t want hockey to interfere with it.But Stewart, who voiced his thoughts with about three weeks remaining in the regular season, was proven right as his Springfield Indians ousted the Northern Division champion Reds in six Calder Cup playoff games.&ldquo;This may sound funny,&rdquo; Stewart had said in a HOCKEY NEWS interview, &ldquo;but if there&rsquo;s any team we want to meet first in the playoffs, it&rsquo;s Providence. I honestly feel we could beat them. I think we have the ability to beat them.&rdquo;Quite a statement for a coach whose team had lost seven times and tied three against the club he&rsquo;s talking about.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02172/3596733-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="229" height="441"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tim Jacobs</figcaption></div>But Springfield won the final two games in the regular season and then four of six playoff games to advance to the semifinals.&ldquo;I know it may have sounded silly when I told you about wanting to play Providence, but I knew we&rsquo;d had no trouble scoring against them and I knew we were tightening up defensively,&rdquo; a happy Stewart said after eliminating the Reds.&ldquo;I figured the team that got the good goaltending would win the series, and we not only got good goaltending from Rick Charron, we got excellent goaltending.&rdquo;Equally as important as his two shutouts in the first four games were a pair of saves he made in game six of the series. The Reds had stayed alive after being down 3-1 in games when they won an overtime decision on the Providence College ice.The sixth game was in Springfield and the seventh, if needed, would have been back in Providence, so the Reds knew they&rsquo;d have an excellent chance of winning the series if they could collect a victory in Springfield.Providence jumped to a 2-0 lead halfway through the game and probably could have put it away when Gerry Teeple and Hartland Monahan both shook loose for clearcut breakaways.But Charron stopped both of them, and that seemed to bring the Indians to life. Phil Hoene scored a pair of goals to tie the score and the game moved into sudden-death overtime.It was just that for the Reds as Jim Nichols, who started the season with Providence but was dropped, tipped in a shot by Tim Jacobs after only a minute and 41 seconds.Stewart was reminded that not too long ago he was actively searching for a goalie, although he had both Charron and Steve Rexe.&ldquo;I was looking for more consistency,&rdquo; Stewart said. &ldquo;I never lacked confidence in either one, it was just that they&rsquo;d play one or two good games, then suddenly not play well. I was always undecided almost until game time which one I&rsquo;d use.&ldquo;But I made up my mind in this series to go with one until he had a complete collapse. Now I don&rsquo;t feel there will be one. He&rsquo;s confident in himself, and that means a lot.&rdquo;Jacobs, a defenseman. led the club in scoring in the series with a goal and nine assists, and Stewart credits Jacobs&rsquo; defense partner. Paul Shakes, with at least part of it.&ldquo;When Barry Cummins was having his troubles earlier in the year, I put him with Shakes and he (Shakes) settled him down. Now I put Jacobs with him and Tim, who is good at carrying the puck, seems to be playing with more confidence, too,&rdquo; Stewart said.Providence coach John Muckier finally got nearly a full defense back for the final game against Springfield, but it was too late. Even John Badnarski returned from the New York Rangers, and Joe Zanussi was off the injured list, but neither was in top shape. Bednarski was on the ice for all three Springfield goals in the 3-2 overtime decision that knocked the Reds out of the playoffs. &#9632;

f0030-02

Indians’ Upset Win Over Favored Reds ‘Called’ By Stewart

NEW HAVEN&mdash;The first fifth-place team in the history of the American Hockey League to win the Calder Cup playoffs. That&rsquo;s the aim of coach Dean Prentice&rsquo;s New Haven Nighthawks as they battle in the semi finals. The Nighthawks wouldn&rsquo;t even have had a shot at the $4,000 a player that goes with winning the Calder Cup had it not been for the folding of the Baltimore Clippers.But when the Clippers folded in January, it left the Southern Division with only four teams and AHL officials felt it wouldn&rsquo;t be fair to automatically put the four remaining teams in the playoffs. So because New Haven, fifth in the North, had a better record than Syracuse, fourth in the South, a one-game playoff in New Haven was used to determine the fourth-place team in the Southern Division portion of the playoffs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03128/3596764-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="273" height="416"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave Cressman</figcaption></div>The Nighthawks seized the opportunity and blasted Syracuse, 8-3, to win the right to face the Southern Division champion Virginia Red Wings in the first round.They crushed Virginia in five games, winning two of three in Norfolk.&ldquo;I think it comes down do the point that these guys are hungry,&rdquo; said Prentice. &ldquo;They cut down on the mistakes they had been making earlier in the season and they matured at the right time.&ldquo;Scoring nine goals in our final regular season game helped us a lot. Beating a good team like Rochester with that many goals put us into the right frame of mind for the playoffs.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to give our penalty killers and our defense a lot of the credit, but really the story against Virginia was that we had all 18 guys going.&ldquo;The defense played better than it did all season. It was kind of up and down during the season, and against Virginia it was all up. We were afraid we were going to lose Billy Plager when he took 20 stitches behind an ear when cut by a skate, but he came back in the last two games. You know the kind of guy he is.&rdquo;Dave Cressman. Scott MacPhail and Alain Langlais shared goal honors for the Nighthawks with five each in the games against Syracuse and Virginia. Cressman&rsquo;s scoring came as a bit of a surprise since he had only 11 goals while seeing limited duty during the regular season.&ldquo;He played well when he went up to Minnesota for a few games, and he&rsquo;s played well since he came back,&rdquo; Prentice said. &ldquo;Tom Millergot hurt and that gave Dave a chance to play regularly for us and he came through.&rdquo;Nighthawk defenseman Chris Ahrens was hit with a total of $300 in fines for his actions in the April 10 game against Virginia. AHL president Jack Butterfield added a $225 fine to his automatic of $25 for a 10-minute misconduct and $50 for a game misconduct when he shoved referee Dave Shewchyk following a hooking penalty. &#9632;

f0030-03

New Haven Aims To Become Cinderella Cup Champions

<div class="byline">BY JERRY LINDQUIST</div>HERSHEY&mdash;Say what you want about impetuous youth. Chuck Hamilton is the American Hockey League&rsquo;s youngest&mdash;and most unflappable&mdash;coach.Nothing, it seems, riles the 36-year-old former minor-league defenseman Frank Mathers selected to succeed Frank Mathers behind the Hershey Bears&rsquo; bench last year. &ldquo;People tell me it makes them sick how calm I am.&rdquo; Hamilton says, smilling a sort of wry smile that also is a trademark.Hamilton must be wearing a wide grin after gaining a berth in the Calder Cup semi-finals as his Bears downed Richmond 4-3 in the seventh and deciding game of their quarter-final series.In direct contrast to, say, Robins&rsquo; coach Larry Wilson who wears his feelings on his sleeve, Hamilton is so casual, so outwardly restrained that sometimes he appears oblivious. To some he is aloof which, if a mid-afternoon conversation prior to a Calder Cup playoff game with Richmond is any criterion, is a bum rap. The native of Kirkland Lake, didn&rsquo;t come across that way at all.Hamilton was in Denver, preparing for the day he no longer would go skating for a living when&mdash;on a whim&mdash;he checked out a rumor that the venerable Mathers had a notion to pack it in after umpteen years directing the Bears&rsquo; fortunes.&ldquo;I was in my office one morning in mid-Agust, and I had received a letter the day before from a friend in Hershey saying Frank was considering retirement. I called my wife and said, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m going to call Frank,&rsquo; and I did. &lsquo;What&rsquo;s this about you retiring?&rsquo;&ldquo;He said, &lsquo;yeh, are you interested?&rdquo;&lsquo;Within the week arrangements had been made, salary determined, permission granted. by the Pittsburgh Penguins, who at the time were the only National Hockey League team supplying Hershey with players, and Hamilton was on his way back to Chocolate Town, U.S.A.&ldquo;I was only 34,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and I had a few good years left as a player, but I always felt I&rsquo;d like the coaching business. I had a lot to offer.&ldquo;At the time I didn&rsquo;t know all the headaches that went with it. Every day new problems but it keeps you on your toes. There are so many problems, especially this year. It&rsquo;s still a great job.&rdquo; Whatever obstacles Hamilton had to overcome last year, they weren&rsquo;t readily apparent to Joe Fan. Hamilton, in fact, was spoiled.The Bears swept to the Calder Cup. He had nowhere to go but down.For an encore. Hamilton inherited only three of the 18 players who made his coaching baptism such a success. Hershey entered into a working agreement with Pittsburgh and Buffalo, and more often than not it proved a frustrating arrangement.Like Richmond found with Philadelphia and Washington calling the shots, the Bears needed a revolving door on their dressing room, too. Players were coming and going regularly. It was difficult&mdash;if downright impossible&mdash;to establish continuity.Even so, Hamilton refuses to alibi. No excuses for him.&ldquo;I went through most of the season with perhaps the youngest pro team that ever played. Our average age was under 22. That alone created problems,&rdquo; he said.The Bears and Robins were the first to tie up with two NHL teams, and Hamilton envisions it becoming a workable association. Eventually.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re doing what they can for us. They haven&rsquo;t short changed us. We&rsquo;re here to develop players for them,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;This also is the initial year of the dual operations. There are so many problems that arise but I think the first year has got to be the worst one.&rdquo;Despite the daily crises that must eat away at his insides, Hamilton insists he&rsquo;s never going on a milk diet. No ulcers for him.He&rsquo;ll keep his cool. What anxieties develop he&rsquo;ll keep to himself or spell them out to Mathers, now Bears&rsquo; president and general manager, behind closed doors. He played eight years in Hershey for Mathers.Hamilton doesn&rsquo;t believe in hanging out dirty laundry for the public to see. He refuses to criticize referees or linesmen even to local writers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01206/3596795-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="557" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body">CHUCK HAMILTON&hellip;Sometimes Oblivious</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0031-01

Hamilton AHL’s Youngest, Most Unflappable Coach

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>(Final Standings)<h3>NORTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02163/3597022-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="595" height="209"></div><h3>SOUTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03137/3597015-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="593" height="248"></div><h2>PLAYOFFS</h2>Preliminary RoundTue. April 2Syracuse 3 at New Haven 8,(Sudden-death to decide last playoff spot.)<h3>Quarter-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-04110/3597008-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="595" height="153"></div><h3>GAME COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 2Springfield 4 at Providence 5.Thu. April 3Springfield 5 at Providence 0.Sat April 5Providence 2 at Springfield 5Sun. April 6Providence 0 at Springfield 5Fri. April 11Springfield 4 at Providence 4Sat. April 12Providence 1 at Springfield 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0596/3597001-1-eng-US/f0031-052.jpg" title="f0031-05" width="597" height="125"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 2Nova Scotia 3 at Rochester 2Fri. April 4Nova Scotia at Rochester (postponed)Sun. April 6Nova Scotia 4 at Rochester 5Wed. April 9Rochester 2 at Nova Scotia 1Fri. April 11Rochester 2 at Nova Scotia 1Sun. April 13Nova Scotia 6 at Rochester 3Tue. April 15Rochester 5 at Nova Scotia 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0673/3596994-1-eng-US/f0031-062.jpg" title="f0031-06" width="591" height="129"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 4New Haven 8 at Virginia 4Sun. April 6New Haven 2 at Virginia 5Tue. April 8Virginia 0 at New Haven 4Thu. April 10Virginia 2 at New Haven 6Sat. April 12New Haven 3 at Virginia 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0761/3596987-1-eng-US/f0031-072.jpg" title="f0031-07" width="593" height="124"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thu. April 3Hershey 3 at Richmond 5Sat. April 5Richmond 3 at Hershey 6Sun. April 6Hershey 5 at Richmond 2Wed. April 9Richmond 3 at Hershey 6Fri. April 11Hershey 4 at Richmond 5Sat April 12Richmond 2 at Hershey 1Tue. April 15Hershey 4 at Richmond 3<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0854/3596980-1-eng-US/f0031-082.jpg" title="f0031-08" width="597" height="146"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 18Springfield 2 at Rochester 5Sun. April 20Springfield 5 at Rochester 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0942/3596973-1-eng-US/f0031-092.jpg" title="f0031-09" width="586" height="124"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 19New Haven 3 at Hershey 4Sun. April 20New Haven 4 at Hershey 0<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>(Final Standings)<h3>NORTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1034/3596966-1-eng-US/f0031-102.jpg" title="f0031-10" width="612" height="173"></div><h3>SOUTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1130/3596959-1-eng-US/f0031-112.jpg" title="f0031-11" width="616" height="181"></div><h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><h3>Quarter-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1215/3596952-1-eng-US/f0031-122.jpg" title="f0031-12" width="589" height="161"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 4Omaha 5 at Denver 3Sat. April 5Denver 3 at Omaha 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1312/3596945-1-eng-US/f0031-132.jpg" title="f0031-13" width="588" height="124"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 4Oklahoma City 3 at Tulsa 1Sat. April 5Tulsa 1 at Oklahoma City 5<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1410/3596938-1-eng-US/f0031-142.jpg" title="f0031-14" width="591" height="149"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 9Oklahoma City 3 at Dallas 5Sat. April 12Oklahoma City 0 at Dallas 4Wed. April 16Dallas 10 at Oklahoma City 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1510/3596931-1-eng-US/f0031-152.jpg" title="f0031-15" width="591" height="149"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thu. April 10Omaha 0 at Salt Lake 8Sat. April 12Omaha 4 at Salt Lake 5Fri. April 18Salt Lake 2 at Omaha 5Sat. April 19Salt Lake 4 at Omaha 3<h3>Finals</h3>DALLAS vs SALT LAKE(Best-of-seven series)Wed. Apr. 23Dallas at Salt LakeFri. April 25Dallas at Salt LakeSat. April 26Salt Lake at DallasSun. April 27Salt Lake at DallasTue. April 29Dallas at Salt LakeThu. May 1Salt Lake at DallasSat. May 3Dallas at Salt Lake<h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>(Final Standings)<h3>NORTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-168/3596924-1-eng-US/f0031-162.jpg" title="f0031-16" width="590" height="244"></div><h3>SOUTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-177/3596917-1-eng-US/f0031-172.jpg" title="f0031-17" width="583" height="277"></div><h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><h3>Quarter-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-186/3596910-1-eng-US/f0031-182.jpg" title="f0031-18" width="588" height="152"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED Wed. March 26</h3>Thu. March 27Muskegon 3 at Port Huron 5Sat. March 29Port Huron 5 at Muskegon 7Sun. March 30Muskegon 3 at Port Huron 1Wed. April 2Muskegon 7 at Port Huron 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-195/3596903-1-eng-US/f0031-192.jpg" title="f0031-19" width="590" height="129"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. March 25Des Moines 6 at Dayton 5Wed. March 26Des Moines 1 at Dayton 3Fri. March 28Dayton 4 at Des Moines 2Sat. March 29Dayton 3 at Des Moines 5Tue. April 1Des Moines 2 at Dayton 3Thu. April 3Dayton 1 at Des Moines 5Fri. April 4Des Moines 1 at Dayton 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-205/3596896-1-eng-US/f0031-202.jpg" title="f0031-20" width="590" height="129"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. March 26Saginaw 5 at Flint 4Fri. March 28Flint 4 at Saginaw 8Sat. March 29Saginaw 1 at Flint 2Tue. April 1Flint 0 at Saginaw 4Wed. April 2Saginaw 4 at Flint 0<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-213/3596889-1-eng-US/f0031-212.jpg" title="f0031-21" width="590" height="129"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. March 26loledo 3 at Columbus 1Thu. March 27Columbus 0 at Toledo 7Sat. March 29Toledo 0 at Columbus 7Sun. March 30Columbus 1 at Toledo 4Tue. April 1Toledo 3 at Columbus 2<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-223/3596882-1-eng-US/f0031-222.jpg" title="f0031-22" width="586" height="151"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 5Saginaw 4 at Muskegon 7Sun. April 6Muskegon 3 at Saginaw 5Tue. April 8Muskegon 4 at Saginaw 3Fri. April 11Saginaw 2 at Muskegon 5Sat. April 12Saginaw 8 at Muskegon 6Tue. April 15Muskegon 3 at Saginaw 5Fri. April 18Saginaw 8 at Muskegon 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-233/3596875-1-eng-US/f0031-232.jpg" title="f0031-23" width="593" height="131"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 9Toledo 3 at Dayton 4Fri. April 11Toledo 5 at Dayton 3Sat. April 12Dayton 4 at Toledo 6Sun. April 13Dayton 6 at Toledo 4Wed. April 16Toledo 0 at Dayton 5Fri. April 18Dayton 3 at Toledo 7Sat. April 19Toledo 6 at Dayton 2<h2>NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>(Final Standings)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-242/3596868-1-eng-US/f0031-242.jpg" title="f0031-24" width="593" height="301"></div><h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><h3>Quarter-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-252/3596861-1-eng-US/f0031-252.jpg" title="f0031-25" width="594" height="421"></div><h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-262/3596854-1-eng-US/f0031-262.jpg" title="f0031-26" width="586" height="166"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. April 6Binghamton 1 at Long Island 2Mon. April 7Long Island 1 at Binghamton 2Tue. April 8Long Island 6 at Binghamton 4Wed. April 9Binghamton 3 at Long Island 4Fri. April 11Long Island 1 at Binghamton 3Sat. April 12Binghamton 4 at Long Island 3Sun. April 13Long Island 5 at Binghamton 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-272/3596847-1-eng-US/f0031-272.jpg" title="f0031-27" width="592" height="119"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 12Johnstown 3 at Syracuse 4Thu. April 3Syracuse 2 at Johnstown 3Sat. April 5Syracuse 3 at Johnstown 5Wed. April 9Johnstown 0 at Syracuse 4Fri. April 11Johnstown 4 at Syracuse 6Sat. April 12Syracuse 3 at Johnstown 6Mon. April 14Johnstown 5 at Syracuse 4<h2>SOUTHERN LEAGUE</h2>(Final Standings)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-282/3596840-1-eng-US/f0031-282.jpg" title="f0031-28" width="589" height="212"></div><h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-292/3596833-1-eng-US/f0031-292.jpg" title="f0031-29" width="600" height="289"></div><h3>FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-302/3596826-1-eng-US/f0031-302.jpg" title="f0031-30" width="592" height="148"></div> &#9632;

f0031-02

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;Washington.WHA: 19&mdash;Cleveland. 20&mdash;San Dieao. 21&mdash;Vancouver 22&mdash;Baltimore. 23&mdash;Toronto. 24&mdash;Qu&eacute;bec. 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 (NHL(. 37&mdash;Minnesota (NHL) & N.Y. Islanders (NHL). 39&mdash;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). 48&mdash;N. Y. Rangers (NHL)&mdash;Kansas City (NHL). 49&mdash;Chicago (NHL)&mdash;Edmonton (WHA). 50&mdash;Vancouver (NHL). Philadelphia (NHL)&mdash;Atlanta (NHL). 51&mdash;Indianapolis (WHA)&mdash;St. Louis (NHL). 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;Baltimore (WHA). Quebec (WHA)&mdash;N. Y. Islanders (NHL). 58&mdash;Edmonton (WHA) & N.Y. Rangers (NHL). 59&mdash;Minnesota (WHA) & Pittsburgh (NHL). &#9632;

Minor League Affiliations

OMAHA&mdash;Guy Chouinard, 19-year-old Omaha center from the Quebec Remparts, was voted rookie of the year by the Central League coaches. Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Jack Valiquette was runnerup and Denver&rsquo;s Mitch Babin third in the voting. Chouinard had 28 goals. 68 points in 70 CHL games, missing a couple of weeks when he was called up by the parent Atlanta Flames.The Knights had their backs to the wall in the playoff semis, but coach Aldo Guidolin praised their comeback from the 8-0 opening defeat. &ldquo;It takes a gutty bunch to bounce back like that.&rdquo; he observed. &ldquo;We weren&rsquo;t beaten until the last seconds of the second game.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0397/3597115-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="280" height="451"><figcaption class="caption-body">Guy Chouinard</figcaption></div>Penalties hurt the Knights in both games, as they picked up 72 minutes to Salt Lake&rsquo;s 20 in the two contests. A power-play goal by Gary Holt gave the Eagles a 2-0 first-period lead in Game Two.But Omaha&rsquo;s power play was working, too, in that game. After Bob Law and Jerry Byers closed the gap to 2-1 in the second period, Alan Young deflected a Byers shot for the tying goal, while the Eagles were two men short. Del Hall put the Eagles ahead at 4:30 of the third, but Mike Conroy tied it on an Omaha power play at 16:57, only to see Brent Meeke win it for Salt Lake at 19:19.Goalie John Voss, who was stung for six goals in 41 minutes two nights earlier, made 42 saves to keep Omaha in the second game all the way. &#9632;

f0032-03

Omaha’s Chouinard Named Rookie Of Year In CHL

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U. S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD. Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U. S. and CanadaSALT LAKE&mdash;Jack Evans was announced as Central Hockey League Coach of the Year, and his Northern Division champions made it to the Adams Cup playoff finals against Dallas.Ray Martyniuk posted an 8-0 shutout of the Omaha Knights in the Salt Palace to open the best-of-five semi-finals. Two nights later, it was an entirely different script, but the Eagles prevailed, 5-4, on Brent Meeke&rsquo;s goal with 41 seconds left.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01205/3597084-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="283" height="439"><figcaption class="caption-body">Morris Mott</figcaption></div>That moved the series to Omaha&rsquo;s Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum, where the Eagles had hopes of wrapping up the semifinals with their third straight victory. They had the best road record of any CHL club in the regular season (15-177) and no other team was less than 10 games below the.500 mark).Evans was honored by a vote of his fellow coaches after the Eagles won the Northern half of the league, and posted the best record in the circuit, in his first year of CHL coaching. Before coming to Salt Lake last fall. Jack had coached two years at San Diego in the Western League, and for six seasons before that he was a playing assistant to general manager-coach Max McNab at San Diego.Max is now president of the CHL, but he wasn&rsquo;t allowed to vote in the coach-of-the-year selection.John Healey had two goals in the 8-0 romp over the Knights, and Del Hall chipped in two in the 5-4 squeaker. Martyniuk had to make only 20 stops to get his fourth shutout of the season, but four Omaha shots in the first period were labelled &ldquo;sure goals&rdquo; until Ray turned magician. In addition Alan Young of the Knights hit a goal post in the early flurry.During the regular season Marty blanked Oklahoma City twice, 3-0 at home, Nov. 20. and 4-0 in OC, Jan. 11, as well as chalking up a 5-0 whitewash in Seattle. Nov. 23.The series opener Thursday was anybody&rsquo;s game for 16 minutes, but Glenn Patrick put the Eagles ahead to stay at 6:45 of the first period. Three goals in the middle period&mdash;by Morris Mott, Gary Holt and Healey&mdash;settled the issue&mdash;but Salt Lake added four more in the third, as Terry Murray, Bob Murdoch, Healey and Fred Ahern lit the red lamp. Murray and Murdoch scored in the first minute of the period&mdash;only 30 seconds apart&mdash;and signalled the departure of Omaha goalie John Voss.The Saturday victory wasn&rsquo;t that easy although Hall and Holt gave Salt Lake a 2-0 edge in the first. Omaha got three goals to tie it up in the second period, while Ahern was scoring for the Eagles. Hall had an early goal in the third, only to see Mike Conroy tie it for Omaha with 2:03 left.A perfect pass from Mott in the corner set up defenseman Meeke for the winning goal at 19:19, when the fans were figuring on overtime action. Assists by Mott and Healey on the Saturday winning goal were repeats of the Thursday action, when those two assisted on Patrick&rsquo;s opening goal, which proved to be the winning marker.Denis Meloche, the Eagles&rsquo; 36-goal scorer who was slowed by a broken thumb the last nine games of the regular schedule, was sidelined by a groin injury suffered in practice two days before the series opened. He tried to play Thursday, but had to leave midway in the middle period.The two playoff games in the Sall Palace drew 16,886 fans&mdash;7,183 for the Thursday opener and 9,703 Saturday.DALLAS: Three goals in 30 seconds provided a furious finish to the semi-final playoff series opener in Dallas&rsquo; State Fair Coliseum. Two of those lamplighters were by the Dallas Black Hawks and they added up to a 5-3 victory over the Oklahoma City Blazers.Three nights later it was an entirely different story, as Hawk goalie Mike Veisor authored a 4-0 shutout to put the Southern Division champs two up in the best-of-five series, which then moved to Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Myriad. The Hawks wrapped up the series in three straight as they won the third game 4-2.Jim Koleff, Gary Donaldson and Duane Wylie had given the Hawks a 3-1 lead in the first period of the opener. It was cut to 3-2 in the second, and stayed that way for 19 minutes of the third.Blazer coach Ray Miron pulled his goalie, Mike Palmateer, with 50 seconds left, and the Hawks got an empty-net goal by Bill Orban at 19:29. But Palmateer didn&rsquo;t have time to leave his net in the remaining seconds. Following the face-off in center ice, Blazer defense man Mike Ruest scored on a long slapshot at 19:44 to narrow the margin to 4-3.Dallas won the next face-off, and Donaldson collected his second goal of the night at 19:59.Wylie gave Veisor all the cushion he needed on a power play at 1:09 of the first period Saturday night. Duane scored again early in the second, followed by goals from Donaldson and Dan Hinton, and the rest was up to the sterling goalkeeper. It was Mike&rsquo;s first shutout since he rejoined Dallas from Chicago in time for the last 16 games of the CHL schedule. He had four shutouts in 1972-73 when he was rookie-of-the-year for Dallas.Ian McKegney, classy third-year Hawk from Sarnia, Ont., was voted the CHL&rsquo;s outstanding defenseman by the league&rsquo;s coaches.An overflow crowd of 425 fans at the Holiday Inn Central honored Hawk coach Bobby Kromm at an appreciation dinner, Apr. 3, as he neared completion of his eighth season in Dallas. Bobby and wife Geri, according to the club&rsquo;s publicity mailer, were presented &ldquo;many gifts, including a four-day expense-filled trip to Las Vegas!&rdquo;. It turns out. that should read &lsquo;&ldquo;expense-paid&rdquo; trip.Meanwhile Kromm was sticking to his basic system of four Dallas forward lines, and demanding &ldquo;150 per cent effort from every man&rdquo;, and obviously getting it.OKLAHOMA CITY: Smarting from two straight setbacks, general manager-coach Ray Miron insisted his Blazers were &ldquo;still in it&rdquo;.Miron pointed out. &ldquo;If we&rsquo;re going to win this series, we just have to win the two games at home, and win one in Dallas, it doesn&rsquo;t matter whether it&rsquo;s the first, second or fifth game.&rdquo; As it turned out, the Blazers didn&rsquo;t make it.Miron was unhappy with the playoff officiating. &ldquo;The referees are calling penalties on our reputation.&rdquo; he commented. &ldquo;Just because we had 1,936 penalty minutes for the regular season, they think they have to call something on us no matter what happens.&rdquo;He was particular incensed with Steve Dowling&rsquo;s high-sticking call against veteran left wing Lyle Moffat after just 51 seconds of the 4-0 Saturday loss. &ldquo;Two guys run into each other going for the puck in the corner, they fall down, and he gives Moffat a penalty,&rdquo; Ray said. Moffat also fumed over the call, and received a misconduct. Dallas scored on the resulting power play.Moffat, Brian Bowles and Mike Ruest were the Blazer scorers in the 5-3 series-opening loss. Since Bowles and Ruest are blueliners, that meant the Blazer defense had outscored the forwards, 2-1, in the first two semi-final games. However, the OC forwards scored seven goals to the defense&rsquo;s one (by (Ruest) in the two-game quarter-final sweep over Tulsa.Defenseman Wally Olds was brought up to complete his pro trial, after finishing the season with Hampton in the Southern League. The Saturday game was his sixth, and he could play two more without turning professional.After two playoff games the Blazers were still without a victory in Dallas this season. They lost five and tied one there during the regular schedule. However, they had a 4-2 advantage over the Hawks in the Myriad.John Brooks, the &ldquo;voice of the Blazers&rdquo; for all nine seasons they have been in the CHL, announced he would not broadcast the OC games next season. Brooks will devote more time to this firm, Sportscast Productions.SEATTLE: Totems president Vincent H.D. Abbey was continuing his efforts to buy the National League Pittsburgh Penguins, and Seattle fans weren&rsquo;t sure whether they would have a CHL team, an NHL team, or none at all next fall.Meanwhile the parent Vancouver Canucks called up goalie Bruce Bullock. defenseman Jim Mair and center Dan Seguin for standby duty in the NHL playoffs.TULSA: The Oilers had hit 3.388 in their &ldquo;6,000 Plan&rdquo; of selling all season tickets for one low price (costing $1.50 per game). Owner Bobby Gilbert was anxious to sell 4.000 before the end of April.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02150/3597077-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="568" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body">IAN McKEGNEY</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Salt Lake-Dallas Final Set As Knights, Blazers Bow Out

<div class="byline">BY MORLEY HOWE</div>THUNDER BAY&mdash;The high-scoring Thunder Bay Twins captured their fourth consecutive United States Hockey League title by taking 9-3 and 4-1 victories over Waterloo Black Hawks.The double weekend win at Thunder Bay gave the powerful Northern Division club the best-in-five finals three games to one. Both teams had split the opening two games of the series at Waterloo.Prior to the league finals, the Black Hawks, after finishing first in the Southern Division, edged Sioux City Musketeers while Thunder Bay side-tracked Green Bay Bobcats in semi-finals play.Veteran center Jack Byerley, coming off a 77-point season in just 36 regular schedule games, paced the winners, scoring a hat trick in Twins 9-3 win and dented the winning goal the following evening in 4-1 finale.Several players established new USHL playoff scoring records during this year&rsquo;s post-season contest. Waterloo&rsquo;s Mike Randolph. John Lesyshen and Jim Gospodar collected 14 scoring points each for a new high, while Twins&rsquo; forward Russ Elliott tallied seven goals to set a new record. Elliott, joining Thunder Bay from the IHL at mid-season, scored in all five Twins playoff wins.Following Saturday&rsquo;s title-winning game, league commissioner Robert Kasubeck presented Twins&rsquo; team captain Barry Hogan with the Commissioners Trophy, emblematic of league surpemacy.Other presentations included the top goaltenders award, captured by George McPhee of Waterloo Black Hawks. McPhee won by posting a season average of 3.00.Thunder Buy now advances into Allan Cup competition, meeting the St. Boniface Mohawks in the Canadian semi-finals.<h2>PLAYOFF GAMES</h2><h3>FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01185/3597153-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="513" height="152"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 5Thunder Bay 4 at Waterloo 2Sun. April 6Thunder Bay 2 at Waterloo 7Sat. April 12Waterloo 3 at Thunder Bay 9Sun. April 13Waterloo 1 at Thunder Bay 5<h3>SEMI-FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02140/3597146-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="514" height="318"></div> &#9632;

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Thunder Bay Keeps USHL Title Honors

KENOSHA&mdash;The Kenosha Flyers took an early one-game lead in the best-of-seven final series, for the Continental Hockey League&rsquo;s Walmar Cup. defeating the Peoria Blades by a score of 6-5.Flyers&rsquo; Dick Masiuk&rsquo;s third goal of the evening, with only five seconds remaining in the game, was the margin of victory. Flyers&rsquo; goaltender Paul Kelley set a new league record when he assisted on three goals, including Masiuk&rsquo;s winner. The Flyers entered the finals after dumping the Chicago Wildcats in the fourth game of their best-of-five semi-final series, 6-5 in overtime, winning the series three games to one.Peoria, who ousted the Madison Blues in the other semi-final in sudden death overtime, came right back the following afternoon and tied the series, dumping Kenosha 7-5. Peoria&rsquo;s Vince Santa Rosa and Randy Salahub each had a pair of goals in the contest. The series continues in Peoria Saturday April 19 and Sunday April 20. The fifth, sixth, and seventh games of the series if neccesary will be played in Kenosha. April 25, 26, and 27.Here are the All Star selections for the 1974-75 season:<h2>First Team</h2>Goal:PAUL KELLEY, KenoshaDefense:RIC OLSON, PeoriaDefense:*DAN OSBORN, Madison*GENE STONEY, KenoshaL. Wing:*REGGIE FLEMING, Kenosha*JIM McCLELLAN, KenoshaCenter:DENNIS STEN, PeoriaR. Wing:*BILL SHAW, Madison*PAUL BUCK, Kenosha(*-tied in voting)<h2>Second Team</h2>Goal:MARTIN MOORE, PeoriaDefense:MIKE BODNARIK, KenoshaDefense:HAROLD HERLICH, PeoriaL. Wing:GREG CAMPBELL, MadisonCenter:*BOB SHAUGHNESSY, Madison*MIKE OLSON, PeoriaR. Wing:*PHIL CARUSO, Madison*BILLY REAY, Madison &#9632;

Kenosha, Peoria Clash For CHL Championship

<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 to THE HOCKEY NEWSMUSKEGON&mdash;Its there no longer sanctity to the home-ice advantage in the Internati-onal Hockey League?Hard on the heels of the best regular-season success in six seasons by the visiting teams, the Turner Cup playoffs are continuing the pattern. On the first 31 games, the visitors won 11 for a &ldquo;batting average&rdquo; of.355. During the regular season, visitors had 144 victories and 22 ties in 398 games for an average of.389. That&rsquo;s an increase of more than IO percent since 1971 when the visitors averaged only.286.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01200/3597215-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="294" height="433"><figcaption class="caption-body">Murray Flegel</figcaption></div>The original eight-team playoff field has been reduced to Muskegon vs. Saginaw in the North Division and Toledo vs. Dayton in the South. To borrow the theme of a popular television sports program, all have known the thrill of victory on enemy ice and experienced the agony of defeat at home.In the quarter-finals. Saginaw ousted the Flint Generals in five games by winning twice on the road. Muskegon eliminated Port Huron in five games by winning once on the road. Dayton ousted Des Moines in seven games, each team taking one road triumph. Toledo sidelined Columbus in five games by winning twice in the Owls&rsquo; arena.The semi-finals continued the pattern.Muskegon, which had an 0-11-1 record for its last 12 visits to Saginaw, ended a two-year victory drought by taking a 4-3 decision in overtime. But the Gears retaliated three nights later, ending Muskegon&rsquo;s 22-game undefeated string at L.C. Walker Arena with an 8-6 victory which hardly resembled playoff hockey.That sent the series to a sixth game in Saginaw where the third-year Gears tried desperately to stay alive and perhaps reach the finals for a second straight year.Toledo and Dayton. long-time antagonists, were having similar problems in the South. Because of the Gems&rsquo; rental problems at Hara Arena, they hosted the first two games. However. Toledo, which had lost all six regular-season contests there, bagged a 5-3 decision in the second game to &ldquo;ruin&rdquo; the Gems&rsquo; home-ice advantage.But coach Tommy McVie&rsquo;s club retaliated two games later, taking a 6-4 decision in Toledo to square the series at 2-2 and regain the home-ice advantage. However, &ldquo;home&rdquo; for the Gems will be at Hobart Arena in Troy. Ohio, because Hara had been taken over by a circus.The way things had been going for the home teams it probably didn&rsquo;t matter that much, anyway.The survivors of the semi-finals will play a best-of-seven final for the crown surrendered by Des Moines, which turned back Saginaw in six games last April.Meanwhile. Gary Ford, high-scoring center of the Muskegon Mohawks, has been reaffirmed as the No. 1 player in the International Hockey League.The 28-year-old Ford has been voted the James Gatschene Memorial Trophy as the most valuable player who also exhibits outstanding playing ability and sportsmanlike conduct.He also won the Gatschene Trophy in 1972-73 before sitting out most of last season while resolving a pro contract dispute with the Minnesota North Stars.Ford, who has played eight seasons in the IHL, missed his fourth individual scoring championship because he was injured and sat out the final eight games of the regular season. He totaled 108 points, five behind Dayton&rsquo;s Rick Bragnalo. who was voted rookie-of-the-year.Bragnalo was second to Ford in the MVP balloting. Muskegon goalie Dave Hainsworth was third and Flint&rsquo;s rookie goaltender. Bob Volpe, ranked No. 4. Volpe and Hainsworth finished 1-2, respectively, in goals-against averages.Muskegon took another individual award when Murray Flegel was chosen for the Governor&rsquo;s Trophy, becoming the third Mohawk to take the best defenseman honor. Flegel was the IHL&rsquo;s top-scoring blueliner with 77 points, sharing 15th place in the individual point derby.The 27-year-oId Flegel played for Muskegon in 1972-73 and spent the 1973-74 campaign with Omaha in the Central Hockey League.SAGINAW: Dennis Desrosiers leading IHL playoff scorers with 15 goals, needed four to equal all-time record&hellip; Gears packed four goals into 2:45 en route to 8-6 triumph at Muskegon&hellip; Ernie Moser&rsquo;s overtime goal ended Gears&rsquo; undefeated record (0-11-1) for last 12 games against Muskegon&hellip; Line of Desrosiers, Stu Irving and Jim Johnston totaled seven goals in first two semifinal games&hellip; Johnston&rsquo;s first playoff goal helped 5-3 victory&hellip; Reggie Fleming. ex-NHLer, a knitting influence in playoffs, scored five goals and six assists&hellip; Gears drew 19,777 for first four home playoff tilts.TOLEDO: Don Westbrooke scored two goals and two assists in 6-4 triumph in Game 3 of semi-finals against Dayton before 5,261&hellip; Captain Juri Kudrasovs, Goaldiggers&rsquo; top scorer during season, limited to one goal in first nine playoff games&hellip; Moe Brunel scored two goals as Diggers took 5-3 triumph at Dayton, first in seven tries this season&hellip; Jerry Badiuk, Kent Douglas slowed by injuries but Badiuk&rsquo;s injury, first feared as broken foot, wasn&rsquo;t that bad.FLINT: Kirk Bowman voted most valuable player by teammates, scored assists in first two games during trial with Dallas (CHL)&hellip; Murray Hanson voted most improved player. Bob Volpe top rookie and Mike St. Cyr shared top defenseman award with Brian McBratney&hellip; Doug Manchak voted most popular, Clyde Simon unsung hero&hellip; General manager Frank Gallagher promised to hire coach Doug Carpenter for 197576; coach got early start on scouting mission in Quebec and Ontario.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02148/3597208-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="547" height="630"><figcaption class="caption-body">GARY FORD&hellip;No. 1 In IHL</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Home Ice Means Little In IHL Playoffs; Mohawks’ Ford Named Player Of Year

TOLEDO&mdash;Is Ted Garvin moving on or is the colorful general managercoach playing both ends against the middle with the Toledo Goaldiggers&rsquo; management?Garvin was still involved in the Turner Cup semi-final series against Dayton when he hinted he might be elsewhere in 1975-76.He apparently wants to keep his dual role as GM-coach and probably will be deaf to at least one proposal from the World Hockey Association.However, he hinted he might be interested in a feeler from interests in Louisville. Ky., who might put an expansion team into the International Hockey League. Along with running the front office and bossing behind the bench, he would be a part owner.Garvin has taken Toledo by storm in one season, moving an expansion club into the playoff semi-finals and drawing almost 158,000 fans for the regular season. The 4,150 average is almost double the 2,300 draw of 1973-74 which forced owner Paul Bright to cease operations in Toledo and switch his franchise to Lansing. Mich.Toledo will show a substantial profit for the first time since the early 1950&rsquo;s.Garvin also hinted he might stay in Toledo if the owners grant him part ownership. Now 55 years of age. he said he plans to coach only two more seasons before concentrating on the GM job.NOTICE!In our current brochures, the Kenosha Ice Arena lists Mr. Keith Mitchell as our Director of Ice Instruction. We regret to announce that, due to a prior commitment, Mr. Mitchell will no longer be able to join the fine staff at the Kenosha Ice Arena&rsquo;s Summer Hockey School. However, we think our staff ranks among the finest ever assembled, and we look forward to a great summer of hockey! &#9632;

Toledo’s GM-Coach Garvin Wants To Retain Dual Role

<div class="byline">BY JACK GATECLIFF</div>KINGSTON&mdash;Nineteen-year-old Mike O&rsquo;Connell of the Kingston Canadians has been named winner of the Max Kaminsky Memorial Trophy as the oustanding defenseman in the Ontario Hockey Association Major Junior A League.O&rsquo;Connell had been selected first team All Star defenseman 48 hours earlier and just couldn&rsquo;t hide his excitement. &ldquo;When I missed 20 games with a knee injury 1 didn&rsquo;t think I had a chance at any trophy, &ldquo;he said. &ldquo;But first the All Star team, then the Kaminsky Trophy, have to rank as my greatest thrills, so far. in sport.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01189/3597277-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="301" height="429"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Tonelli</figcaption></div>He succeeds Jim Turkiewicz of Peterborough. who moved up as an under-age junior with Toronto Toros of the World Hockey Association this season and has played exceptionally well.The trophy was donated to the OHA by a group of St. Catharines fans in memory of Max Kaminsky, who coached St. Catharines Teepees to the Memorial Cup in I960 and died of cancer a year later.It was originally for the most gentlemanly player but was later changed as the terms of reference conflicted with the Red Tilson Trophy which went, this year, to Dennis Maruk of London Knights.Despite missing so many games O&rsquo;Connell scored 18 goals and 54 assists for 72 points, fourth best among Kingston scorers.He earned 41 of a possible 50 points by the 11 OHA coaches, well above runner-up Pete Scamurra of Peterborough who had 28. Third went to Mike Kitchen of Toronto Marlboros with six points.Oddly enough both O&rsquo;Connell &lsquo;and Scamurra are natives of the United States and come from sports-minded families.O&rsquo;Connell&rsquo;s dad Tom was an out-standing quarterback with Cleveland Browns of the National Football League and now lives in Hingham. Mass.Scamurra&rsquo;s parents are both well-known tennis players from Buffalo.As far as is known this is the first time a major juniior A individual trophy has been won by an American citizen&mdash;proof of how much improved the United States boys are becoming in hockey.O&rsquo;Connell&rsquo;s coach and general-manager Punch Scherer said he was surprised O&rsquo;Connell wasn&rsquo;t taken last season in the under-age draft but felt the extra year in junior helped him.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m certain he&rsquo;ll go high in this year&rsquo;s selections,&rdquo; said Scherer. &ldquo;At no time does he put himself ahead of the team and has a great attitude.&rdquo;Other defensemen-winners of the Kaminsky Trophy were Turkiewicz, Denis Potvin of Ottawa who took it in 1971-72 and 1972-73, Jocelyn Guevre-mont of Montreal Canadiens in 1969-70 and Ron Plumb of Peterborough in 1969-70.When it was for the most gentlemanly player the winners were Bruce Draper of Toronto St. Michael&rsquo;s; Lowell MacDonald. Paul Henderson and Jim Peters of Hamilton Red Wings. Fred Stanfield of St. Catharines Black Hawks; Andre Lacroix and Mickey Redmond of Peterborough Petes; Tom Webster of Niagara Falls Flyers; Rejean Houle of Montreal Canadiens.Meanwhile in the legal department. Joe Kane, lawyer-adviser to the Ontario Major Junior A League, says that if contracts signed by players under 18 years of age are found to be not enforceable. he will suggest the league limit its rosters to players between the ages of 18 and 20 years.At least two 18-year-old players with Toronto Marlboros, Mark Napier and John Tonelli, have signed professional contracts with World Hockey Association clubs&mdash;Napier with Toronto loros and Tonelli with Houston Aeros.&ldquo;We will have to give a great deal of thought to stop bringing up players 16 and 17 years old and developing them until they get so good the pros want them.&rdquo; Kane said.He added that the OH A is not attempting to hold players back, but the series must get some return for the money it spends developing a player.&ldquo;It is these players who are box-office attractions, the players people come to watch, and it does not seem right that when they reach this stage in their development they should be taken immediately by the pros.&rdquo; Kane said.The lawyer said he is sure the OHA contract will soon be tested in the courts and he felt sure they would be upheld.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll have to test one soon,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Otherwise it will appear we are giving the green light to the pros to sign players.&rdquo;Kane had no sooner spoken on behalf of the OHA than Bud Poile, WHA vice-president, announced in Quebec that his group would not draft under-age juniors this year.However he admitted he did not know how this would affect the case of Napier&mdash;or Tonelli if he has agreed to terms with Houston as reported.Poile declared that the Napier affair was now &ldquo;an internal matter between the Toros and the player.&rdquo; and that if the Toros decide to go ahead and employ Napier they will be in conflict with WHA rules.He explained that a WHA team may not acquire a player until he has gone through the draft and that the league must formally approve all player contracts, something it has not done in the Napier case.However Basset&rsquo; has not yet given up and says he sees a way around the WHA decision not to draft 18-year-olds.Bassett claimed the WHA decision referred only to drafting and not signing under-agers.He also felt that if the contract was nullified. Napier could launch &ldquo;one of the biggest lawsuits in the history of Canadian jurisprudence. And he would win.&rdquo;Back on the ice. Toronto Marlboros, who just managed to eliminate Kingston in the eighth game of a best-of-seven series (9-7 in the final game) looked more like themselves in the opener of the semi-finals when they blasted Sudbury Wolves 8-1.The Marlies finished in first place, the Wolves were fifth and had previously sidelined Ottawa 67s.The Marlboros led 4-1 in the first two periods, then added four more in the third.Napier continued his torrid pace with his 13th goal to open the game.He had 12 goals and 12 asists in the eight games against Kingston.In the second start in Sudbury, the Wolves, who had played well all season against the Marlboros, defeated them 6-4 to square the round. Paul Crowley, Ron Duguay and Randy Carlyle scored goals to erase a 3-2 Toronto lead which had carried into the third period.Hamilton Fincups, who swept the defending champion St. Catharines Black Hawks aside in four straight, stepped into Peterborough and beat the Petes 5-2 in their semi-final opener.It was a shock for the Petes, who seldom lose on home ice. However they were outplayed in every department as Ted Long scored twice, Archie King, Greg Hickey and Dave Norris once.Gary McMonagle and John Pollock replied for the Petes, who were outshot 28-22.In Hamilton in the second game it was strictly no contest as the Fincups blasted the Petes 9-0. Defenseman Ted Long led the way with three goals and one assist while former Peterborough guardian Greg Redquest had the shutout.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02155/3597270-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="553" height="495"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE O&rsquo;CONNELL&hellip;Receives Trophy</figcaption></div>OHA MAJOR HOCKEY LEAGUE &#9632;

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Canadians O’Connell Best Defenseman; Junior Contract Dispute Still Smoking

<div class="byline">BY JOHN ARNOLD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03115/3597308-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="813" height="1071"></div><h2>SOLUTION IN MAY 9 ISSUE</h2><h3>ACROSS</h3>1&mdash;A Montreal forward.9&mdash;An NHL goaltender.10&mdash;Member of the deer family.11&mdash;Phoenix uses one on their crest.12&mdash;MacLeish registered one in Philly&rsquo;s first playoff game against Toronto.14&mdash;To make mistakes.16&mdash;Neither.17&mdash;Initials of an NHL referee.18&mdash;Preposition.19&mdash;One of the Rangers, (init)21&mdash;Wears No. 29 for Montreal.24&mdash;One of the Capitals, (init)26&mdash;Former pro Fonteyne answers to this.27&mdash;Traded by Montreal to St. Louis in mid season.29&mdash;A Kansas City defenseman. (init)31&mdash;Henry Boucha injured one this season.32&mdash;One of the Minnesota Saints.<h3>DOWN</h3>1&mdash;Pictured player.2&mdash;Former goaltender Rollins, (init)3&mdash;Former WHA forward.4&mdash;15th and 26th letters of the alphabet.5&mdash;One of the Penguins answers to this.6&mdash;The. (fr.)7&mdash;Wears No. 27 for New York Rangers.8&mdash;A Toronto Toros forward.13&mdash;1st and 15th letters of the alphabet.15-1971-72 Lady Byng Trophy winner.20&mdash;Former pro now a scout with the Islanders.22&mdash;Former AHL forward Locas answers to this.23&mdash;One of the Canadiens. (init)25&mdash;Verb.27&mdash;Same as 6 down.28&mdash;Every goaltender aims for one. (abbr.)30&mdash;Former Leaf now coaching Toronto in Junior OHA. (init)<h2>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S ANSWERS</h2><h3>ACROSS</h3>1&mdash;WILLIAMS.6&mdash;BILL.3&mdash;SLOAN.11&mdash;TONY.12&mdash;ANDY.13&mdash;APR.14&mdash;ONE.16&mdash;L.S.18&mdash;TO.19&mdash;MARSHALL.25&mdash;MIKITA.26&mdash;E.E.27&mdash;O.T.28&mdash;E.T.A.29&mdash;EHMAN.<h3>DOWN</h3>1&mdash;WESTFALL.2&mdash;LEONARD.3&mdash;A.B.4&mdash;MINNESOTA.5&mdash;S.L.7&mdash;LAYCOE.9&mdash;L.O.10&mdash;A. Y.15&mdash;NOLET.17&mdash;SMITH.20&mdash;A.K.21&mdash;R.l.22&mdash;STAN.23&mdash;H.A.24&mdash;LEAF.25&mdash;MOE.28&mdash;E.S. &#9632;

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HOCKEY CROSSWORD

<div class="byline">BY DEREK KNIGHT</div>Follow All The Action Every Week By Subscribing Today To THE HOCKEY NEWSSuperb Hockey Reading Each Month HOCKEY WORLD & HOCKEY PICTORIALALBANY&mdash;First place teams are not supposed to lose in the semi-final round, but in the North American Hockey League, both the regular season champions and the runnersup will not make it to the finals except as spectators. Syracuse was eliminated by Johnstown 4 games to 3. What also hurt was that the Blazers dropped game number 7 on home ice as Steve Carlson notched the game winner. Second place Philadelphia never even made it to the semi-finals as they were downed by Long Island 3 games to 1 in the quarter-final series.That&rsquo;s been the pattern all season long in the second-year NAHL. Commissioner Bob Dextraze spoke of parity during the off season and it turned out to be more than just talk. In this year&rsquo;s NAHL the home ice did not mean a guaranteed victory for the home club. At the end of the season some crucial games were won by the visiting team.Next year could present a similar situation with many more talented players due to skate in this league. Buffalo has already been accepted as the ninth member amidst talk of Erie, Pennsylvania becoming team number 10. A couple of other cities could also join the NAHL in time for the 1975-76 season.As for this year, it&rsquo;s now the Binghamton Dusters and the Johns-town Jets who will battle for the Lockhart Cup, symbolic of NAHL supremacy. These clubs (third and fourth place respectively) should present an exciting series.Analyzing it a bit you&rsquo;ll find that both clubs were strong on home ice but tough on the road. The goaltending tandem of the Jets&rsquo; Ron Docken and Lou Levasseur kept the Jets consistent while Rick Lemay and Roger Kosar performed well for the Dusters. The two teams were close in the standings at season&rsquo;s end with Binghamton finishing just one point higher than Johnstown. Statistically, the clubs were very close also. Binghamton&rsquo;s offense came up with 19 more goals than Johnstown but the Jet defense allowed 30 less goals than the Dusters&rsquo; defense. As a matter of fact, with the exception of the front running Blazers, the Jets had the lowest goals-against figure in the league.For the Jets to win the final series, they will have to pay close attention to Duster star Rod Bloomfield who can do it all. Mustling Ron Boehm comes up with the puck in the comers more often than not and his experience to is a key. The veteran center Ted McCaskill is coming off a strong series versus Long Island, and his overall value to the Dusters cannot be measured. In Binghamton, he&rsquo;s so popular that the politicians are happy that Ted has not declared his candidacy. Rick Lemay, the hot goaltender in the Long Island series could pose a problem for the Jet shooters especially if the defense can clear the puck. They&rsquo;ll have to do a good job of it because the Jets play strong positional hockey and bad passes of any kind near the Dusters zone could be disastrous. Paul Brown had a successful series versus Long Island in the hitting department. He&rsquo;ll be counted upon to slow down some of the faster Jets.On Johnstown&rsquo;s side we&rsquo;ve already told you about the goaltending but the Jets&rsquo; strength does not end here. The defense is big and strong with Pat Westrum, Bob Boyd, and Guido Tenisi protecting the goaltender. Fran&ccedil;ois Ouimet is a smooth puck carrier and often-times he&rsquo;ll start up the Jet offense. Up front, the Carlson brothers have been the talk of Johnstown all year. Galen Head. Reg Bechtold, Jean Tetrault and Mike Chernoff will all make the Dusters&rsquo; goaltender work for his money. Both teams are coached well and finished higher than the experts predicted. As stated here, it should be an exciting series although it&rsquo;s hard to top the semifinal action which was almost unbelievable as both series went the full seven games.In other developments, the league office announced plans for a Len Gagnon Memorial Award to be given to the player who best exemplifies sportsmanlike conduct. The award, named after the late referee-in-chief who passed away in a tragic automobile accident, will be presented beginning this year and will become an annual honor. The award is a fine gesture and is named after a man who will be missed in hockey circles.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01168/3597339-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="562" height="586"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON BOEHM&hellip;Experience Key</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Champion Blazers Eliminated By Johnstown

<div class="byline">BY BOB STRUMM</div>SASKATOON&mdash;Jack McLeod isn&rsquo;t doing an advertisement for the Western Canada Lottery when he says, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s my turn.&rdquo;McLeod is speaking of winning the Western Canada Hockey League championship. In his five years of coaching the Saskatoon Blades, McLeod has been in the playoffs five times&hellip; But never won the coveted WCHL playoff crown.There is nothing wrong with McLeod&rsquo;s winning percentage. During the last three years of regular-season play, he has accumulated the best winning percentage of any Tier One coach in the West.Yet, a black cloud hovers over McLeod&rsquo;s head, like Joe Blitzfg on a sunny day. Some people say his clubs can&rsquo;t win the big games, and McLeod merely retorts, &ldquo;Hogwash.&rdquo;The rumor started two seasons ago when McLeod had a collection of junior talent which defied envy. As a matter of fact, seven players from that Blades vintage played in the Big Apple this year. Yet, the Blades were upset by Medicine Hat Tigers in the league final.During the other three years in McLeod&rsquo;s playoff diary, his teams have lost in the first round. His hair became a lighter shade of grey on each occasion.Now McLeod is beating on the championship door again. Blades swept through their quarter-final series with Brandon Wheat Kings in five games, and promptly took a two-games-to-one lead over defending Memorial Cup champion Regina Pats in the WCHL&rsquo;s Eastern Division final.This year is the year as far as McLeod is concerned. But he does touch wood when he says it, just for safety&rsquo;s sake.&ldquo;This team has something special inside,&rdquo; offers McLeod in a moment of reflection. &ldquo;Some of them still remember that defeat two years ago. Some of them remember how much it hurt to lose.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not as big physically as that club, but I think these guys have more guts when it comes right down to it,&rdquo; added McLeod. &ldquo;And that&rsquo;s what counts most in the playoffs. You have to want to win it more than the other guys. It&rsquo;s up to the players.&rdquo;McLeod&rsquo;s Blades do have a royal combination of scoring power, defense and goaltending. It&rsquo;s called balance, even if they are a little on the small side.&ldquo;If our guys play disciplined hockey the way they can play, we can win it,&rdquo; offered McLeod. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re stronger down the middle, in my estimation, than anyone in the league.&rdquo;It appeared Blades were going to walk away with the Eastern Division final after they beat Regina 4-2 in Saskatoon and then dumped the Pats 5-2 right in Regina. But as is the case in junior hockey, the unpredictability of it all caught up with the Blades in game three.Facing the prospect of a new playoff record of seven consecutive victories, Blades blew a 3-1 third-period lead at home and lost 5-4 to the Pats. Two goals by John Hammond and singles by Drew Callander and Jim Minor constructed Regina&rsquo;s four-goal third period, as the visitors out shot the Blades 17-5 in the final 20 minutes.Wes Peters of Saskatoon set a new playoff record in the first period when he scored two goals within eight seconds, breaking the old record of two goals within 15 seconds fired by former Blade Lawrence Sacharuk during the 1972 playoffs.Ron Valade scored twice for Saskatoon during game two in Regina. Neil Hawryliw, Glen Leggott and Rick Smith (with his first playoff goal) scored the others. Les Grauer and Drew Callander replied for Regina.Valade and Callander have been the two playoff surprises in the Eastern Division. They scored only 17 goals apiece during the regular season but have led their respective clubs in scoring during the playoffs.Valade had seven in eight games for the Blades, tied with regular-season point leader Bernie Federko in the playoff goal-scoring department. Callander has scored eight times in nine playoff games to this point, tops on the Pat club.Out in the Western Division, New Westminster Bruins are continuing to throw a scare into the Victoria Cougars. Bruins lead the best-of-seven final 3-2 with game six scheduled for New Westminster&rsquo;s Queen&rsquo;s Park Arena.Bruins jumped into a 2-0 series lead with a 3-1 win in Victoria and a 6-2 trimpuh at home. New West scored three unanswered goals in the third period, including two from Fred Berry, to sew up victory number two.In game three, Cougars bounced back with a 5-2 win in Victoria. Jim Gustafson and Al Hill scored twice each for Victoria while Curt Fraser added the other. Mark Lofthouse and Brad Maxwell replied for the Bruins.Back in New Westminster. Bruins won game four 7-5 in a strange exchange of goals. New West scored five unanswered goals in the first period. Victoria came back with four consecutive goals in the second period, and then Bruins applied the victory cap in the third.Barry Smith and Harold Phillipoff contributed two goals apiece for the Bruins with Rick Shinske, Steve Clippingdale and Berry scoring singles. Mel Bridgman with two. Pete Morris, Don Cairns and Fraser replied for Victoria.Facing elimination in game five, the Cougars popped the lid off this series. They defeated Bruins 7-4 as the teams compiled 268 minutes in penalties.Hill had two goals for the Cougars. Rick Martin. Gustafson. Gord Roberts, Rick Peter and Cairns added the others. Clay Pachal, Brian Shmyr, Shinske and Smith scored for New West.Bridgman, the WCHL scoring champion during the regular season, has remained true to form during the playoffs with 10 goals in 11 games, tops in that department. The surprise has been New West&rsquo;s Fred Berry, however.Berry, a 75-point man during the regular schedule, leads all playoff scorers with 18 points in 11 games. Obviously, the Bruins have come to &lsquo;Berry&rsquo; the Cougars, not to praise them.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01154/3597370-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="557" height="703"><figcaption class="caption-body">JACK McLEOD&hellip;Could Be His Year</figcaption></div>Western Canada Hockey League &#9632;

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McLeod Eyeing WCHL Championship; Bruins Throwing Scare Into Cougars

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02118/3597422-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="281" height="362"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bryan Trottier</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0387/3597415-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="277" height="359"><figcaption class="caption-body">Danny Arndt</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0471/3597408-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="276" height="364"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rick Lapointe</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0555/3597401-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="273" height="363"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mel Bridgman</figcaption></div>SASKATOON&mdash;Victoria Cougars received more All Star berths and awards than any other club in the Western Canada Hockey League but another young man may have stolen the spotlight.Very seldom in any sport does a freshman competitor qualify for the first All Star team.A performer who did just that is Don Murdoch of the Medicine Hat Tigers.Right winger Murdoch joined teammate and left winger Barry Dean on the first All Star squad and also walked away with rookie of the year honors.How they picked the All Stars and award winners:<h2>All Stars</h2>Goal&mdash;ED STANIOWSKI, Regina PatsDefense&mdash;RICK LAPOINTE, Victoria CougarsROBIN SADLER, Edmonton Oil KingsCenter&mdash;MEL BRIDGMAN, Victoria Cougars*BRYAN TROTTIER, Lethbridge Broncos*Right Wing&mdash;DON MURDOCH, Medicine Hat TigersLeft Wing&mdash;BARRY DEAN, Medicine Hat Tigers (*-tied)<h2>Individual Awards</h2>Coach of the year&mdash;PATTY GINNELL, Victoria CougarsMost valuable player&mdash;BRYAN TROTTIER, Lethbridge BroncosOustanding defenseman&mdash;RICK LAPOINTE, Victoria CougarsTop goaltender (lowest average)&mdash;BILL OLESCHUK, Saskatoon BladesMost gentlemanly player&mdash;DANNY ARNDT, Saskatoon BladesRookie of the year&mdash;DON MURDOCH, Medicine Hat Tigers &#9632;

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Cougars Dominate WCHL All Stars And Awards

<div class="byline">BY BILL BRILL</div>THE HOCKEY NEWS EVERY WEEK for the price of a ticket to a SINGLE GAME!Superb Hockey Reading Each Month HOCKEY WORLD & HOCKEY PICTORIALROANOKE&mdash;The Southern Hockey League finished its second year intact, if not in good shape. But the future of the league. says president Gene Hawthorne, lies with further expansion.The SHL has not yet decided what it plans to do for next year, but it did decide at its annual meeting that it would not operate again with only five teams.The Southern was an offspring of the former Eastern League. Two yearsago, after facing constantly rising travel costs and a lack of interest in the northern clubs, the Southern Division teams of the EHL decided to go their own way.Those four cities included Roanoke, Greensboro. Charlotte and St. Petersburg. Fla. They quickly added Macon. Ga. (remember the Macon Whoopees) and Winston-Salem, N.C.St. Pete, always an outsider in the EHL. folded early in the first SHL campaign. Macon struggled along until near the end. but also called it quits. The SHL wound up the year with just four teams, all of which qualified for the playoffs.This year Fayetteville. N.C., was supposed to become the expansion city. At the last minute. Fayetteville couldn&rsquo;t operate and the franchise wound up in Hampton. That proved to be the bright light to an otherwise troubled year in the SHL.Hampton averaged better than 3.200 fans during the regular season and nearly 5.000 for seven playoff games, including 6,112 for the last game of the season, a 6-3 Charlotte victory in the sixth contest of the championship series.But all five present SHL teams agree that further clubs are needed for the future. &ldquo;It was the general consensus that we will not operate with five teams next year.&rdquo; Hawthorne said. We would like to have at least six teams, preferably seven or eight.&ldquo;I certainly feel that Roanoke cannot continue in a five-team league next year.&rdquo; Hawthorne said. &ldquo;The fans simply see the same teams too many times.&rdquo;Just exactly where the Southern could expand to is not clear. Norfolk and Richmond, currently in the American League, are the cities the SHL covets most. There has been little indication that Richmond would come into the league, however, unless it had no place else to go.There are recurring rumors that the parent Detroit Red Wings are going to pull out of Tidewater. But latest talk is that local Norfolk investors will purchase the team from the Wings and operate it again in the AHL.Hawthorne admitted that the success of Hampton this year was the SHL&rsquo;s best hope for getting either Norfolk or Richmond, which draw big crowds only when they meet each other.&ldquo;We think that the success of Hampton might prompt those teams to think about joining the league,&rdquo; Hawthorne said. &ldquo;Hampton obviously would be a natural rival for both of them.&rdquo;Whatever happens in the Southern, it will not be determined until after the June meetings of the NHL and the WHA. But Hawthorne said there was no pessimism among the present five franchises.&ldquo;No one talked pessimistically at the meeting.&rdquo; said Hawthorne. &ldquo;Right now everyone has plans for next year.&rdquo;Greensboro and Winston-Salem, the big losers at the gate this year, already have started season-ticket sales with excellent results. Greensboro has sold 417 season tickets, of which 200 were new orders. Last year the Generals had only 450 season sales. Winston-Salem got 270 quick season orders.There is one thing that Hawthorne is certain about. &ldquo;I can guarantee you that the league will have a commissioner next year,&rdquo; he said. The Southern has operated without a commissioner for its two seasons, and this year Hawthorne, who also is president of Roanoke Valley, ended up also serving as the league statistician.Hawthorne said the SHL would solicit candidates for commissioner after the big league meetings, &ldquo;when we see who is available to us&rdquo;.The Southern League, Hawthorne concedes, &ldquo;is right at the crossroads now&rdquo;. It probably will be mid-summer before further plans are made known, if indeed the league can get past the current survival crisis.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01182/3597453-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="561" height="1089"><figcaption class="caption-body">GENE HAWTHORNE&hellip;Need More Teams</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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SHL Sees Expansion Necessary For Continued Operation Of League

<div class="byline">BY RALPH BRIDGLAND</div>MONTREAL&mdash;If you want something bad enough you&rsquo;ll got out and get it no matter what it takes.Laval Nationals are proof that what you may lack in talent can be made up for with hard work.Considered as underdogs in their quarter-final series with Trois-Rivieres the Nationals came through to oust the Draveurs in six games.Given little chance of surviving the semi-final round with Montreal the Nationals again pulled of an upset by dumping the Montreal crew in five games.While Laval has upset two favorites, their next opponent will be their toughest test, the Sherbrooke Beavers.The finals of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League pits the first place club in the West Division during the regular season, Sherbrooke with 109 points, against the last place team in the same section, Laval, who finished 50 points behind the Beavers.Whether Laval wins a single contest against the powerhouse Beavers is really an inconsequential thing. The Nationals&rsquo; story is worthy of telling and retelling no matter the outcome.A club that showed little promise during the season, with only four or five players who looked like they belonged in Major Junior A hockey, the Nationals have become a group of young men who should give inspiration to all coaches and teams who think because they don&rsquo;t have the talent they&rsquo;re not going anywhere.After dropping the initial semi-final contest 3-1 at the Montreal Forum Laval came back to win the next three outings, 5-4 (in overtime), 9-7 and 6-4, to set the stage for the fifth and what proved to be deciding game.Of the 8,000-plus fans at the Forum at least half of them were from Laval and while things looked glum for their side at times, the windup had such a fairy tale ressemblance that no one would have been surprised to see a prince come out of the stands and place a glass slipper on Laval coach Jacques St. Jean&rsquo;s foot.The Nationals took a 2-0 bulge away from the first period and retained that margin with a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes.Montreal closed the gap to one just past the mid-way mark of the third frame and set the stage for one of the wildest finishes in hockey this season.A pair of bench clearing &lsquo;mauls&rsquo; highlighted the final minute of play. With only 40 seconds remaining, and their goaler pulled for an extra attacker, Pierre Mondou tied the contest at three and the Montreal bench exploded as they flocked onto the ice to congratulate their teammate.Sudden-death overtime looked imminent.But at 19:45 the Nationals&rsquo; bench emptied as captain Jean Trottier was mobbed by his compatriots after putting Laval back on top to sew up the victory and the series.What the difference in the two clubs boiled down to was that the Nationals wanted to win more than Montreal and they had a young man in their net by the name of Robert Sauve.Sauve frustrated the Montrealers with his unbelievable saves not just once in a while but rush after rush.In all five contests the Nationals were outshot with the final count standing at 201-125 in favor of Montreal.&ldquo;We worked very hard,&rdquo; said coach St. Jean after the concluding contest. &ldquo;Montreal appeared nervous and tired.&rdquo;Opined Yvon Vautour, a 6&rsquo;, 196 pound winger, who still has a year of junior eligibility remaining. &ldquo;Every-body&rsquo;s working. Few were working during the regular season.&ldquo;I thought they (Montreal) would play more physical and press us more. We&rsquo;re not backing down like we did in the regular season.&rdquo;Michel Bossy, who led the Nationals in goal scoring during the regular schedule but has been overshadowed in the playoffs by the great all-round team play said, &ldquo;Everybody put into their heads to work. We surprised Montreal. They came not expecting the team they faced.&rdquo;On the upcoming Sherbrooke final series, Bossy prophesied. &ldquo;Everybody will say that after two games we won&rsquo;t want to play any more but if we work just as hard as we have been, we&rsquo;ll do alright. I won&rsquo;t be disappointed as long as we give a good showing.&ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s got playoff spirit,&rdquo; continued the star right winger. &ldquo;After a day&rsquo;s rest the tiredness will be gone.&ldquo;We won&rsquo;t change our style against Sherbrooke. Our secret is work. It&rsquo;s worked so far so why change?&rdquo;St. Jean, who said he found the quarter-final series with Trois-Rivieres tougher than the semi-final victory over Montreal, said, &lsquo;&lsquo;I&rsquo;m sure against Sherbrooke we will work hard.&ldquo;They have a big team, fast skaters and good scorers, the same type of team as Montreal only more offensive. We will play the same type of game as we did against Montreal.&rdquo;Concluded St. Jean, &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got the momentum now although we&rsquo;re very tired.&rdquo;Sherbrooke reached the finals by sweeping their series with Chicoutimi in four straight games, outscoring the Saguenees 33-6.So it&rsquo;s the Nationals and Beavers fighting for the right to represent Quebec in the Memorial Cup playdowns in Kitchener, Ontario, in May.It&rsquo;s either going to be a team loaded with talent or a club that thrives on work and determination.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01165/3597484-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="550" height="652"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROBERT SAUVE&hellip;Frustrated Montreal</figcaption></div>Quebec Major Hockey League &#9632;

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Nationals Show What Hard Work Can Do, Face Sherbrooke in QMJHL Cup Finals

<h2>ONTARIO MAJOR LEAGUE</h2><h3>Quarter-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02119/3597648-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="595" height="483"></div><h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0392/3597641-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="594" height="161"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Toronto 8, Sudbury 1Toronto 4, Sudbury 4Sudbury 6, Toronto 4Sudbury 5, Toronto 3Toronto 8, Sudbury 6Sudbury 5, Toronto 1Toronto 3, Sudbury 2Toronto 5, Sudbury 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0475/3597634-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="590" height="126"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Hamilton 5, Peterborough 2Hamilton 9, Peterborough 0Peterborough 5, Hamilton 0Hamilton 5, Peterborough 2Peterborough 4. Hamilton 2Hamilton 4, Peterborough 1<h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0559/3597627-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="591" height="153"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Toronto 6. Hamilton 5<h2>WESTERN CANADA LEAGUE</h2><h3>Quarter-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0649/3597620-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="587" height="153"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Kamloops 6, Victoria 4Victoria 3, Kamloops 4Kamloops 2, Victoria 7Victoria 5, Kamloops 3Kamloops 2, Victoria 3Victoria 3, Kamloops 0<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0743/3597613-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="584" height="148"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>New Westminster 5. Medicine Hat 6New Westminster 6. Medicine Hat 3New Westminster 3. Medicine Hat 2Medicine Hat 6. New Westminster 8Medicine Hat 4. New Westminster 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0837/3597606-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="587" height="130"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Saskatoon 1, Brandon 4Brandon 3, Saskatoon 13Brandon 4, Saskatoon 6Brandon 4,Saskatoon 6Saskatoon 6, Brandon 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0931/3597599-1-eng-US/f0039-092.jpg" title="f0039-09" width="587" height="119"></div><h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1027/3597592-1-eng-US/f0039-102.jpg" title="f0039-10" width="589" height="187"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>New Westminster 3, Victoria 1New Westminster 6, Victoria 2Victoria 5, New Westminster 2New Westminster 7, Victoria 5Victoria 7, New Westminster 4New Westminster 8 Viotoria 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1125/3597585-1-eng-US/f0039-112.jpg" title="f0039-11" width="592" height="118"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Saskatoon 4, Regina 2Saskatoon 5, Regina 2Regina 5. Saskatoon 4Saskatoon 4, Regina 0<h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1222/3597578-1-eng-US/f0039-122.jpg" title="f0039-12" width="594" height="157"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Saskatoon 5. New Westminster 3<h2>QUEBEC MAJOR LEAGUE</h2><h3>Quarter-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1318/3597571-1-eng-US/f0039-132.jpg" title="f0039-13" width="597" height="502"></div><h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1415/3597564-1-eng-US/f0039-142.jpg" title="f0039-14" width="586" height="305"></div><h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1514/3597557-1-eng-US/f0039-152.jpg" title="f0039-15" width="584" height="181"></div><h2>ALLAN CUP</h2><h3>Eastern Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1613/3597550-1-eng-US/f0039-162.jpg" title="f0039-16" width="589" height="184"></div><h3>Western Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1711/3597543-1-eng-US/f0039-172.jpg" title="f0039-17" width="588" height="184"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thunder Bay 6. St. Boniface 3St. Boniface 5, Thunder Bay 3Yhunder Bay 5, St. Boniface 3Thunder Bay 5. St. Boniface 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-188/3597536-1-eng-US/f0039-182.jpg" title="f0039-18" width="589" height="133"></div><h2>CENTENNIAL CUP</h2><h3>Eastern Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-196/3597529-1-eng-US/f0039-192.jpg" title="f0039-19" width="587" height="181"></div><h3>Western Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-206/3597522-1-eng-US/f0039-202.jpg" title="f0039-20" width="586" height="181"></div><h2>HARDY CUP</h2><h3>Western Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-216/3597515-1-eng-US/f0039-212.jpg" title="f0039-21" width="585" height="175"></div> &#9632;

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Looking At The Races

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div>WINNIPEG&mdash;&ldquo;If 77 is more than 76 then I have surpassed my friend Phil Esposito&rsquo;s goal scoring record,&rdquo; said Bobby Hull, the Winnipeg Jets playing coach who finished with 77 goals in 78 World Hockey Association games.&ldquo;Rocket Richard&rsquo;s record of 50 goals in 50 games was an outstanding accomplishment. Esposito&rsquo;s 76 was marvelous, but that doesn&rsquo;t detract from whatever total I make this year. Scoring that many goals in any league is a tremendous accomplishment,&rdquo; said the 36-year-old former Chicago Black Hawk.His assistant coach and former boss with the Stanley Cup winning Chicago team of 1960-61, Rudy Pilous, emphasized, &ldquo;Richard got his 50 goals against wartime opposition. No one ever heard of him the first half of the year. He had 25 of them before anyone put a check on Rocket. Hull is still bothered and guarded constantly.&rdquo;A year ago, Bobby was suffering both physically, with an ulcer and mentally as the Jets missed the WHA playoffs, The infusion of new blood in the form of Swedish linemates Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg gave Bobby a new lease on life. Nilsson, the center and Hedberg, the right wing lug the puck for Hull, who doesn&rsquo;t have to do all the work himself as he did in his first two years with Winnipeg and in some of his seasons with Chicago. Hull finished second to Andre Lacroix in the WHA scoring race with 77-65-142. Nillson was fourth with 26-94-120, and Hedberg seventh at 53-47-100. Hedberg missed 13 games with injuries. The Jets, of course missed the WHA playoffs but it certainly wasn&rsquo;t the fault of Hull, Nilsson and Hedberg.&ldquo;In our first workouts last August in camp, I sensed that Nilsson and Hedberg had magic. They had great speed and could move the puck. And they had imagination. When one of us vacated a spot the other switched and the flow of the line continued. 1 didn&rsquo;t have to do all the work myself and we worked together naturally. Most of the time they don&rsquo;t look for me, except that night when we went for the 50 goals in 50 games. I have never seen anyone as fast as Hedberg. When he is in top flight he is poetry,&rdquo; analyzed the veteran, who scored 604 NHL goals in 15 seasons, before joining the WHA.Asked to compare the NHL and WHA. Hull said, &ldquo;there are four of five teams in the NHL that the rest of the league can&rsquo;t handle. Except for a few teams on the bottom of the WHA, our teams can play with the rest of the NHL. The Jets have matured this season and feel the only way the WHA can go is up.&rdquo;Bobby indicated he thought the public was still being shortchanged by the overall caliber of competition in both leagues and that some sort of agreement between the circuits would bring back &ldquo;needed competition for jobs on all pro teams&mdash;and keep things moving for the fans.&rdquo;Meanwhile the WHA claims the all time major league scoring record.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01131/3597686-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="557" height="1047"><figcaption class="caption-body">PHIL ESPOSITO&hellip;Record Broken</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0284/3597679-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="553" height="1144"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOBBY HULL&hellip;Amazing Feats</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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May 2, 1975

CARTOON CORNER

Seals’ Hampton Overcoming Obstacles

Hockey News’ Awards Winners

Rochester Outs Voyageurs By Winning Three In Halifax