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 7, 1976

The Hockey News May 7, 1976

<h2>Wed. April 21</h2>HERSHEY 3, NOVA SCOTIA 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01252/3711107-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="589" height="469"></div>(Novo Scotia leads best-of-seven series 1-0)<h2>Fri. April 23</h2>HERSHEY 2, NOVA SCOTIA 8<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02181/3711100-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="589" height="451"></div>Attendance: 4,162.(Nova Scotia leads best-of-seven series 2-0)<h2>Sat. April 24</h2>NOVA SCOTIA 1, HERSHEY 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03134/3711093-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="582" height="420"></div>(Nova Scotia leads best-of-seven series 2-0).<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04106/3711086-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="586" height="448"></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Calder Cup Summaries

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-01976/3709656-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="452" height="453"></div>&bull; ATTORNEY GENERAL Roy McMurtry of Ontario said that Philadelphia district attorney Emmett Fitzpatrick &ldquo;sounds like a damn fool when he says criminal charges should not be filed against hockey players. It&rsquo;s ludicrous that anyone in Philadelphia would presume to offer advice to use in Ontario about law enforcement,&rdquo; McMurtry stated&hellip;Defensemen Larry Hillman and Gerry Odrowski of the Winnipeg Jets have between them toiled for 33 different pro teams. Hillman, 39, and Odrowski, 37, both started their pro careers with Detroit Red Wings. Winnipeg is Hillman&rsquo;s 18th team and he holds the record for playing for more teams than anyone. The Jets are Odrowski&rsquo;s 17th team in 15years. Hillman has been in pro ranks 22 years&hellip; Al Arbour claims Bert Marshall is the real glue in the Islanders&rsquo; defense Marshall is one of the better tennis players among NHL players&hellip; The Flyers&rsquo; media panel voted Jimmy Watson the Barry Ashbee Trophy as the best Philadelphia defenseman. Ashbee received a warm ovation when he presented the award on Spectrum ice. It was wont last year by Joe Watson, which prompted Ashbee to remark: &ldquo;Maybe now we&rsquo;ll have to change the name to the Watson Tropy&rdquo;&hellip; Wayne Stephenson was voted the Tastykake Sportsmanship Trophy. Previous winners were Bobby Clarke (four times), Bruce Gamble and Terry Crisp.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02932/3709649-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="259" height="423"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Shutt</figcaption></div>&bull; BRIAN DERKSEN must have set some kind of record early in April when he played three playoffgames, with three different teams, and in three different leagues, all within the space of five days. Derksen, an amateur defenseman who played for Muskegon in the IHL this season, played his final playoff game for Muskegon on April 7. He was then called up to Providence and played for them against Rochester on April 9 in the AHL playoffs. Providence was eliminated that evening, and Derksen was then summoned to Oklahoma City where he played against Tulsa in the CHL playoffs on April 11&hellip;Derksen, incidentally, was a first team All Star in the International League this season&hellip; Don&rsquo;t believe those stories about NHL and WHA types sitting down and talking merger The WHA would love to have it happen but the NHL is dead against it happening&hellip;Philadelphia Flyers were very concerned about rookie Paul Holmgren&rsquo;s vision after he underwent eye surgery at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. After visiting Holmgren in Boston a few days later. Barry Ashbee and Bobby Clarke reported doctors were fairly certain Holmgren will be okay to play again next season. Holmgrem, who played just one game for the Flyers before the surgery, suffered a scratched cornea in a fight while playing with Richmond Robins. Doctors in several AHL cities gave him the green light to play, but the eye continued to bother him &hellip; Again this season, as he did last year. Al Arbour of the New York Islanders is showing what a first-rate coach he is, and there is no coach in the NHL who has done a better job with the material he&rsquo;s had to work with. Best move the Islanders ever made was appointing Arbour as coach. Second best move the team made was naming Bill Torrey general manager&hellip;Rejean Houle isclose tosigning a long-term pact with Quebec Nordiques&hellip;Rogie Vachon&rsquo;s idol as a youngster growing up in Quebec was the late Terry Sawchuk, when he starred with Detroit&hellip; Steve Shutt had a plus 73 for Canadiens this season. Pete Mahovlich and Guy Lafleur were plus 70 and 69 respectively&hellip; Brian McFarlane is doing an outstanding job as a color man on the Hockey Night in Canada telecasts during the Stanley Cup playoffs. He&rsquo;s major league in every way.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03827/3709642-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="258" height="424"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brian McFarlane</figcaption></div>&bull; HOME ICE has been the big thing in this year&rsquo;s Stanley Cup play. So far in this year&rsquo;s playoffs the home team has won 27 games out of 32 played for an 84.5 percentage. Last season the home club won 19 of 32 playoff games for a 62.7 percentage. The season before that the home team won 26 of 38 games played for a 68.4 percentage. Only victories by visiting teams this year were Montreal&rsquo;s pair of wins in Chicago, Boston and L.A. one each and the Islanders in Buffalo&hellip; Calgary pulled off a major upset in the World Hockey Association playoffs in ousting the favored Quebec Nordiques, four games to one&hellip; Joe Crozier is receiving plenty of praise for the fine coaching job he&rsquo;s done with the Cowboys&hellip; Houston Aeros will be heavy favorites to win their third straight Avco World Trophy. Ted Cumming, executive vice-president of Avco Financial Services, donors of the Avco World Trophy, hopes that this year&rsquo;s finals are as thrilling as during the last two years&hellip; The final game of the exhibition series played in Japan between Washington Caps and Kansas City Scouts was televised to a nationwide audience. A crowd of close to 10,000 clapped and cheered the teams from Tokyo&rsquo;s Olympic stadium rink&hellip; There are approximately 350 high school, college amateur and semi-pro teams playing hockey in Japan at the present time Fred Shero, the scholarly Philadelphia coach, had some scathing remarks to make about the Toronto fans. &ldquo;I was spit on, had things thrown at me and I was called every name in the book. In fact, some guys were challeging me to a fight and ladies were swearing at me,&rdquo; Shero reported.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04725/3709635-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="258" height="410"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jimmy Watson</figcaption></div>The Hockey NewsOFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLYFounded October 1st, 1947Vol. 29 No. 30 MAY 7, 1976Published 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 DirectorDon Wall Associate PublisherCharlie Halpin Editorial DirectorKeith Lawton Administration ManagerPat Beale Advertising Co-OrdinatorUnited States Advertising RepresentativesNEW YORK: Bill Hitzig, National Sports Publishing Corp., 150 East 58th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022. Telephone (212) 593-2100.CHICAGO: Hooper Jones & Associates, 3322 W. Peterson Ave., Chicago, III 60659. Telephone (312) 478-5544.ATLANTIC STATES (including New York. Boston. Buffalo A Philadelphia: Bob Bassinette, Basslnette/White. 50 East 42nd St., New York.N.Y. 10017. Telephone (212) 986-6210.YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $9.50 in Canada $10.50 in the U.S.A. and $14.00 in Foreign Countries. Second class postage paid at New York, N.Y., 10001 and at additional mailing offices SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO 1434 ST. CATHERINE STREET WEST, SUITE. 217, MONTREAL, CANADA H3G 1R7. Second Class mail Registration No. 1327 All inquiries pertaining to subscriptions should be addressed to Subscription Dept, The Hockey News, 1434 St. Catherine St. W. Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7, Printed in Canada. &#9632;

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PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="byline">By Bill Libby</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011007/3709763-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="278" height="348"></div><h2>Unsung Stars&hellip;</h2>FOR A COACH, Fred Shero commands considerable publicity. He deserves it because he is innovative, interesting and outspoken, and because he has revolutionized his sport and taken his team to two consecutive Stanley Cup championships. Among his Philadelphia players, Bobby Clarke commands considerable publicity, too, also deserving because he is a great young man and a great all-around player who may well win the most valuable player prize for the third time in four years. As Vezina Trophy goaler last season, Bernie Parent pulled down a lot of press.This does not leave much for the rest, as Rick MacLeish discovered when he scored 50 goals a few years back and was all but forgotten. This year not many have noticed that Bill Barber scored 50 goals and Reggie Leach 61, which is more than anyone other than Phil Esposito ever has scored in the National Hockey League. Clearly, the Flyers are deep in talent, so deep that they could lose MacLeish with an injury and still put together their best-ever record. As they proceed in quest of another playoff title, we devote this piece to those two unsung stars of this season. Barber and Leach.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02780/3709756-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="396" height="880"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill Barber, left, and Reg Leach produced 111 goals between them this season for Flyers.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03550/3709749-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="390" height="886"></div>No one ever thought of Barber as a 50-goal scorer, not even Bill Barber. He never scored 50 as an amateur, though he twice topped 40 for the Kitchener Juniors. And after being drafted first by the Flyers in the summer of 1973, he scored 30, 34 and 34 his first three professional seasons and was regarded as a complete player, rather than an explosive one. However, for a good all-around player to top 30 each of his first three years in the majors is remarkable, so it should not be surprising that he exploded for 50 this season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not giving the goals back,&rdquo; he grins, &ldquo;but 1 don&rsquo;t think of myself as mainly a goal-scorer, and if I thought I had sacrified the rest of my game to get a lot of goals I would not think much of myself. It doesn&rsquo;t bother me that I haven&rsquo;t attracted a lot of attention. Maybe it would if we weren&rsquo;t winners, but we are and we&rsquo;ve built our success on a team effort. We have only a couple of stars&mdash;Bobby and Bernie&mdash;and they don&rsquo;t play like stars. They put out like the rest of us.&ldquo;Maybe if I was the greatest player in the game it would mean a lot tome, but I can&rsquo;t imagine anything meaning more to me than being part of a team that wins the Stanley Cup. Fred Shero has taught us a system which works and we&rsquo;re good at it. The players play unselfishly. We help one another. I got a lot of help in getting my goals and I hope I helped others. It pays off, too, you know. We pocketed about forty grand each in bonuses the last two sessons and are looking forward to a lot more this season. That helps feed a family.&rdquo;Bill, long-haired and only 23 years old, out of Callander, Ont., and his wife, Jennifer, have a year-old daughter, Keri Ann. They have a home in Somerdale outside of Philadelphia and he spends his summers there. He says, &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t imagine living like the Russians with hockey 12 months a year. I guess most people work at their jobs most of the year, but hockey is a hard grind, hard on family, and I want to get away from the game and give them me during the off-year. Through the playoffs I put most of myself into my game.&rdquo;SHERO SAYS, &ldquo;Barber may be the best leftwinger in hockey, no matter what the All-Star selectors say. He could be one of the best centers, which he proves when I put him between a couple of players I want to give a lift or on an opposing center I want stopped Most of the time he helps me most on left wing: With Reggie Leach at right wing and Bobby Clarke at center they make the best line in the league.&rdquo;Leach says, &ldquo;Any winger who can&rsquo;t score on Bobby Clarke&rsquo;s line doesn&rsquo;t belong in the league. Clarke dominates play when he&rsquo;s on the ice. He draws defenders to him, which frees his wingers. He digs the puck out of the corners for his wingers One way or another he always seems to have it. And he always gets it to us.&rsquo;Barber and I are well aware that Bobby butters our bread.&rdquo;Everyone thought Leach would be a 50-goal scorer although it took him awhile to make it in the majors. He scored 188 goals in 138 games his last three seasons as an amateur, including seasons in which he scored 65 and 87 goals. But he was mediocre in the majors two seasons with Boston and three with Oakland before shifting to Philadelphia last season in one of the best trades manager Keith Allen ever made.Allen says, &ldquo;I felt he had ability that had been wasted.&rdquo; Clarke, who centered him in amateur ranks, says, &ldquo;His play had gone to pot and it took awhile to get it together.&rdquo; He scored just four goals in his first 20 games with the Flyers before he found the range, finishing with 45. This season he soared to 61, a record for right-wingers in this league.Shero says, &ldquo;He just needed a shove.&rdquo; Leach says, &ldquo;We have the best coaches in hockey. 1 needed coaching. I didn&rsquo;t play defense as an amateur. Few did, It was easy to score. But in Boston they had so many scorers they didn&rsquo;t have a place to play me regularly. In Oakland, no one played defense. No one played their position. Everyone was all over the place. Everyone played for points, for himself. We had no system so we didn&rsquo;t win many games. We got so tired of losing it got to be a chore just to go to games there. It was no fun. It&rsquo;s fun even going to practice here. It&rsquo;s fun to win.&rdquo;&ldquo;IT DID TAKE ME a while to fit into Freddie&rsquo;s system. Everybody plays his position. Everybody checks and has a responsibility on defense. I was worried and has a responsibility on defense. I was worried it would kill me on offense but I found out Freddie was right when he said it would give me a new lease on life. When you play your position, you&rsquo;re always in position to take your shots. And I can shoot. I always could shoot. I began to get goals again. I also went from a minus 67 in Oakland to a plus 53 in Philly. Of course, Clarke is partly responsible for that, too.&rdquo;Also long-haired, the 26-year-old out of Riverton, Manitoba, and his wife of seven years, Isabel, have two children&mdash;Jamie, 6, and Brandie, 3. They have a home in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. One of many players who have lake homes in Canada, he goes back to pass the summers with his family, working part-time teaching hockey school students. He will be a big hero to them this year.&ldquo;I like recognition,&rdquo; he admits. &ldquo;It always was my ambition to be an All-Star in the big leagues. I guess it means more to some of us than to others. But I think being part of this team is the same to all of us. When you&rsquo;re with a winner like this one you&rsquo;re inspired to put the team first. I feel part of a fine family here and I think that&rsquo;s one reason we win. I wasn&rsquo;t with them their first Stanley Cup, so I was really thrilled by the one last season and I really look forward to another one this season.&rdquo;Clearly, this is a motivated team which is not inclined to rest on its laurels. &#9632;

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Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05589/3709687-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg"></div><h2>Ratelie Should Win Hart Trophy</h2>I would like to endorse Jean Ratelle of the Boston Bruins as the most valuable player in the NHL for the 1975-76 season.As far as the ability to unite a team and inspire a winning attitude, Ratelle takes precedence over everyone This can be proven by Boston&rsquo;s incredible winning percentage since the lopsided trade between the Bruins and the Rangers (Ratelle, Brad Park and Joe Zanussi for Phil Esposito and Carol Vadnais).Ratelle&rsquo;s ever-present playmaking and scoring ability are the definite keys to the injury-riddled Bruins skyrocketing to the Adams Division championship and Stanley Cup contention.Ratelle not only terminated the season with 105 points (seventh in the league) and light-years ahead of Esposito, but his uncanny ability to center a line with any two wingers, and proceed to establish a successful line, stands unmatched by any other centers in the league.As for the skeptics of Ratelle&rsquo;s defensive play (basically frustrated Rangers fans), there are few who play both ends of the ice as well as JeanHe is not only a great hockey player but a class person as well I hope he finally receives the recognition that he deserves when the Hart Trophy voting time comes aroundMARK ROSHKIND, Yonkers. N.Y.<h2>Don&rsquo;t Forget Ahern For U.S. Cup Squad</h2>In the April 9th issue under &ldquo;World Cup Preview.&rdquo; you failed to mention Fred Ahern, a right winger with California Seals, in your list of possible Team U.S.A, players.Freddie came up from Salt Lake in mid-season to replace the ailing Jim Pappin, and in only 44 games had 16 goals and seven assists, including four game-winning goals. He is a consistent two-way performer who plays his position well.We feel he should be considered for the U.S. World Cup team.SUSAN O&rsquo;SULLIVAN, RANDI TYLER, El Cerito, Ca.<h2>Goalies Judged on Percentage of Saves</h2>Many times I hear hockey fans complain that the best goaltending awards should go to the goalie who stops the most shots. I decided to figure who would be the best goalie based on what percentage of shots the goalie blocked.The top several teams are basically the same as those of the best based on goals against average. All statistics are calculated since February 3 of this year.Montreal leads the group with a 91.79% average of shots saved as 8.21% of the opponents shots slipped in. Philadelphia placed second with a 91.42%, NY Islanders followed closely at 91.29%, and Atlanta was fourth at 89.75. The big surprise was with the Kansas City club. They placed at 88.77% but the reason for the team&rsquo;s poor showing is that the KC goalers faced an average of 39 shots per game &mdash; most in the NHL.In this category, the leader was Buffalo, whose goaltenders faced a mere 27 shots per game over a period of 31 games.The rest of the teams in order from sixth to 18th are: 6th-Boston; seventhBuffalo; eighth-Pittsburgh; ninth-Toronto; 10th-Los Angeles; 11th-Vancouver; 12th-Washington; 13th-NY Rangers; 14th-Detroit; 15th-Minnasota: 6th-St. Louis; 17th-California; 18th-Chicago.This just proves that a goalie does not need superb defensemen in order to allow less goals in. As for the Kansas City club, goaltender. Denis Herron with Bill MacKenzie as backup could combine to form a strong one-two punch and lift this club into playoff contention within a few years.Willie Postma, Chatham, Ont.<h2>Black Hawks Now Second Rate</h2>&ldquo;Thank you&rdquo; for printing the real facts about the Chicago Black Hawks in your April 16 issue. It&rsquo;s indeed pitiful what has happened to the Hawks.The fault for the decline of the Chicago Black Hawks must lie squarely on the shoulders of management, who have taken unfair advantage of the fans by capitalizing on a hockey monopoly. The hockey we&rsquo;ve seen since the departure of the WHA. Cougars is comparable to being at an insomniacs&rsquo; convention.Certainly the Hawks have one of the greatest collections of players hyped beyond their ability in the history of the league. The propaganda put out by the front office would make you believe that this team is still the great team it once was. The mere title of &ldquo;Smythe Division Champions&rdquo; is supposed to cover up the fact that they would finish in fourth place in the Adams Division.The &ldquo;rock hard&rdquo; defense, once the best around, has fallen to seventh in the league. One reason may be that the defensemen are too busy trying to hold the sticks of the forwards rocketing past then to notice that the little round black thing is bouncing around in the crease.All we&rsquo;ve gotten from the management is excuses, the most popular being &ldquo;injuries are always hurting us&rdquo;. A truly great hockey team has enough bench strength to compensate for losses. Chicago never has time to develop a good bench crew. They&rsquo;re far too busy trading them away for has-beens.I can honestly say that we saw more action here in Chicago with the Cougars in losing efforts than we&rsquo;ve seen in the Hawks&rsquo; &ldquo;wins&rdquo;. I suggest Mr. Ivan had better make some changes fast before the Hawks become a third rate NHL power.KEITH PODHRADSKY Westmont, III.<h2>Stephenson Not Given Just Reward</h2>On behalf of many Flyers&rsquo; fans in Philadelphia, I would like to publicly state my displeasure over the fact that the Flyers management has decided not to give Wayne Stephenson a start in the playoffs!I think its a disgrace to hockey, and just goes to show the lack of justice and a lack of compassion for a player! Stephenson has done a great job in goal for the Flyers this year and as far as I&rsquo;m concerned did a job no one had the right to expect he&rsquo;d do.There was only one goalie who had more wins than Steph (Dryden), and no one in the entire NHL has contributed more points to his team while in goal than Steph (93).So the Flyers show their appreciation of a job well done by simply ignoring him in the playoffs. I must assume that the decision was strictly &ldquo;politics&rdquo; in the Flyers organization.You&rsquo;d have to agree with me that if the Flyers were to win the cup without Parent in goal, Parent&rsquo;s charisma would be lost forever!I have been a Flyers&rsquo; fan for a great many years; now, I am simply rooting against them, whomever they play!ANTHONY BRANCO Philadelphia, Penn &#9632;

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FAN FORUM

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01919/3709476-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">There&rsquo;s jubilation on the faces of the Islanders after their playoff victory over Buffalo. Left to right, Jean Potvin, Clark Gillies, Denis Potvin and Bryan Trottier. For details see page 16.</figcaption></div><h2>CZECHS WORLD CHAMPS</h2>KATOWICE&mdash;The Czechs are the new world hockey champs and they did it without a blemish on their records as they swept to nine wins and a tie in 10 World Hockey Tournament starts. They wound up the international series by tieing the Russians 3-3 after beating them in an earlier game.The Russians finished second behind the Czechs with a 6-3-1 record and Sweden ended third with a 6-4 log. The disappointing U.S. team, stocked with five members of the NHL Minnesota North Stars, finished a poor fourth winning only three times and tieing a fourth in 10 starts. The Swedes got into third place ahead of the Yanks by blasting them 7-3 in their final game.<h2>HULL MAY QUIT HOCKEY</h2>WINNIPEG&mdash;Bobby Hull is a bitter man about the state of hockey today. So much so that he recently told the Chicago Daily News in an interview that he was seriously considering retiring from hockey because of the surge of violence that has gripped the game. How soon would Hull quit? Right after the current WHA playoffs are completed.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always said I&rsquo;d quit when the game was no longer fun for me. Well, it&rsquo;s not. It&rsquo;s becoming a disaster.&rdquo; Hull said there is a lot of things about hockey today that makes him sick to his stomach. Hull&rsquo;s scathing indictment was directed at everyone associated with hockey at all levels. &ldquo;The idiot owners, the incompetent coaches, the inept players are dragging the game into the mid,&rdquo; Hull added. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re destroying it with their senseless violence. The game is no pleasure anymore. It&rsquo;s an ordeal.&rdquo;<h2>TARDIF PLANS PROGRAM</h2>QUEBEC CITY&mdash;Injured Quebec Nordique scoring star Marc Tardif said he&rsquo;ll be back in the game next season but he wants to spend the off season doing something about the violence in the WHA. Tardif, who suffered a serious concussion in the recent Calgary-Quebec playoff when attacked by Rick Jodzio, is recovering from his head injuries.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m feeling much better. Maybe it&rsquo;s a good thing this happened, not for me, but it woke up a lot of people in hockey. I&rsquo;ve thought about it a lot and I hope this summer I can do something about curbing the violence. I want to try and organize something to ensure no one else gets hurt.&rdquo; Tardif, who signed a 10-year multi-million dollar contract with the Nordiques, said that three Calgary players &mdash; Peter Driscoll, Ron Chipperfield and Francois Lacombe&mdash;drove out to his suburban Quebec home while he was recuperating and appologized for what happened.<h1>CROZIER REINSTATED</h1>CALGARY&mdash;WHA executive director Ben Hatskin has lifted the suspension imposed on Calgary Cowboys&rsquo; coach Joe Crozier in order that Crozier could direct his team against Winnipeg in the Canadian Division final playoff series.Crozier was banned along with Rick Jodzio for the balance of the playoffs for the unwarranted attacks on Quebec&rsquo;s Marc Tardif. Crozier was set down because the WHA felt he lost control of his players. Calgary president Bill Hay made a request to the league for Crozier&rsquo;s reinstatement and it Was approved by the-WHA governors. &#9632;

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Deadline Stoppers

<h2>NHL TEAMS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03635/3709535-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="477" height="706"></div><h2>WHA TEAMS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04433/3709528-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="475" height="385"></div><h2>OTHER LEAGUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05308/3709521-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="469" height="340"></div><h2>COLUMNISTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-06212/3709514-1-eng-US/f0002-062.jpg" title="f0002-06" width="469" height="208"></div><h2>OTHER FEATURES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-07128/3709507-1-eng-US/f0002-072.jpg" title="f0002-07" width="470" height="126"></div> &#9632;

f0002-03

WHERE YOU’LL FIND IT ALL

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;The Flyers were carrying an extra burden as they pursued Stanley Cup III; the disturbing prospect of facing trial loomed over the heads of Joe Watson, Don Saleski and Mel Bridgman.Following a brawl game at Maple Leaf Gardens that missed the Stanley Cup record of 174 penalty minutes by just 60 seconds, the &ldquo;three Flyers were arraigned and ordered to return to Toronto June 10 when a trial date will be set.Watson and Saleski were charged with assaulting a policeman and carrying an offensive weapon (hockey stick). Bridgman was charged with causing bodily harm to Toronto&rsquo;s brilliant defenseman, Borje Salming.The latest move against hockey players in McMurtry country resuited from an ugly scene in the Maple Leaf Gardens penalty, box area.As Saleski prepared to settle down in the penalty box midway in the heated, chaotic game, he said fans spat at him. When Saleski gestured at the fans with his stick, a policeman grabbed the stick. Saleski tried to pull the stick free of the policeman&rsquo;s grasp.When teammates saw Saleski&rsquo;s struggle, they rushed across the ice with Watson swinging his stick over the glass toward the police.According to players and police, no one was injured in the melee. Later, Bridgman outpunched Salming in what most observers agreed was a one-sided but fair fight. It was the Swedish-born Salming&rsquo;s first fight in three NHL seasons.Flyers&rsquo; reaction to the charges was disbelief and outrage. They admitted their taking an endless amount of needless penalties wasn&rsquo;t conduct becoming a Stanley Cup champion. But they felt referee Dave Newell should share the blame for calling the game too closely and awarding the Maple Leafs an incredible 16-3 edge in power plays. The Leafs won, 5-4, with all their goals scored on power plays.Most outrage was triggered from Bridgman&rsquo;s charges.&ldquo;I guess if you win a fight there now you go to jail,&rdquo; said one Philadelphia player.&ldquo;Maybe I should sue Salming for high sticking me between the eyes.&rdquo; said Gary Dornhoefer, who took five stitches for a cut over his nose.Bridgman said he tangled with Salming because the All Star blueliner had tried spear him.Flyers&rsquo; attorney Gil Stein was as puzzled as everyone else over Bridgman&rsquo;s charges.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s my recollection that Mr. McMurtry&rsquo;s ground rules that were sent to every NHL team before the season said a fist fight between two people isn&rsquo;t what he&rsquo;s talking about.&rdquo;Earlier, Roy McMurtry, Ontario&rsquo;s attorney general, said his office is primarily interested in &ldquo;the odd (hockey) incidents of viciousness and brutality that violate the criminal code.&rdquo; McMurtry said the Flyers appeared dedicated to maiming Salming.Like other Flyers&rsquo; officials, Stein said he finds it curious that no Maple Leafs&rsquo; players have been arrested this season.Both Saleski and Watson, neither of whom are temperamental types, were convinced quicker police action toward the frothing fans would have prevented trouble.&ldquo;We lost our cool,&rdquo; said Saleski, &ldquo;but the police should have been looking in the stands.&rdquo; Had the fans been moved, the Flyers felt no problems would have occurred.In defending his players, Fred Shero cited continual abuse from fans in Toronto and other NHL cities.&ldquo;No hockey player should have to take what we take,&rdquo; said Shero. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d rather be punched in the mouth than spit on. Last year on Long Island some fan kept running down and screaming things at me you couldn&rsquo;t print. Even the New york fans around our bench were horrified, but the police did nothing.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02840/3709445-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="565" height="1342"><figcaption class="caption-body">DON SALESKI &hellip; He Was Spat On</figcaption></div>As usual, the Flyers found humor in a grim situation. At least they were joking before their three teammates appeared at Toronto&rsquo;s 52nd Police Division.&ldquo;Place your license plate orders with Joe now,&rdquo; said Ross Lonsberry.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll send you a card from my boat this summer,&rdquo; Bernie Parent told Watson. &ldquo;It&rsquo;ll say &lsquo;wish you were here&rdquo;.Pointing to a newspaper photo showing the Flyers assembled near the penalty box, spare goaltender Gary Inness, who was standing in the runway, said, &ldquo;Look, I made the team picture.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0002-02

Flyers Claim Quicker Police Action Could Have Headed Off Garden Hassle

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01924/3709566-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"></div>NEW YORK&mdash;Alan Eagleson, the president of the NHL Players Association has called for dramatic action by the governors of the National Hockey League in order to curb the ever prevalent violencein the ice past-time.&ldquo;If the governors don&rsquo;t do something about changing the playing code, we (meaning the NHL Players Association) will have to. The matter has been placed on our agenda for our annual meeting in Bermuda. What happened in Toronto wasn&rsquo;t as bad as the WHA thing, but both of them give hockey a bad name. The whole matter of violence and the-local authorities stepping in has to be gone into,&rdquo; said The Eagle.Ed Snider, the president of the Philadelphia Flyers, who could be less than objective, felt the crime was being committed against Joe Watson. Don Saleski and Mel Bridgman, not by them.&ldquo;We have the fate of three young men on our hands here. If crown prosecutor William McMurty has a cause, fine, but let him dispel justice in equal doses to all concerned, not just the Flyers because of our reputation or because that gets the most publicity.&ldquo;Joe Watson isn&rsquo;t even a fighter. He just grazed the policeman with his blow, if he hit him. That&rsquo;s what the films show. A fan grabbed Saleski&rsquo;s stick and he grabbed it back. And Bridgman isn&rsquo;t even rated as being one of our tough guys. And these three young men have three to five years hanging over them? That&rsquo;s the crime.&rdquo;The WHA blowup in which Calgary Cowboy enforcer Rick Jodzio went after the Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; Marc Tardif, a 71-goal scorer in the regular season, was monstrous. Tardif wound up in the hospital with a severe concussion. Jodzio and his coach Joe Crozier were suspended by the WHA &mdash; and criminal charges pressed against Jodzio.Other lesser penalties were meteoout to the participants in the 45 minute bench clearing brawl. While Tardif was being carried out on a stretcher, players of both teams continued to swing away. Jodzio came off the bench, skated 80 feet across the iceand pummelled Tardif, continuing the attack while he was semi-conscious.Quebec enforcer Gordie Gallant was suspended for the balance of the playoffs.Clarence Campbell, the NHL president has taken no action against Watson. Bridgman or Saleski and is openly critical of the action taken by McMurtry.&ldquo;The crown prosecutor has first shot in this case. Anything I would do would prejudice the situation. But in the end you have to stand and be counted for what you believe in. I don&rsquo;t believe any action will be taken by the NHL against the Flyers&rsquo; players.&ldquo;Hockey today is patsy compared to what it was in the days of the six team NHL. The increased coverage via TV and the expansion throughout the United States has placed it more in the spotlight. I still believe it is up to the NHL to police its own game. I wonder why only visiting players get charged in these situations, said Campbell.Nonetheless, hockey in general, has received a black eye from which it may have some trouble recovering. In certain areas in the United States, the game is sold on a violence basis.This appeals to blue collar types and makes for gate appeal in certain minor league cities and even some NHL areas.Bench clearing brawls were effectively curbed, although not completely stopped, by the third man in rule, adopted after the 1970-71 season. The matter of civil authorities stepping in, is hard to judge. Obviously, they have the right to do so. The Jodzio attack on the WHA&rsquo;s leading scorer certainly had the earmarks of premeditation. This isn&rsquo;t hockey.Connie Smythe used to say. &ldquo;You have to beat them in the alley before you can beat them on the ice.&rdquo;That is certainly still true. The Flyers have been likened to a later day Toronto Maple Leaf machine. Similar to the Leafs post war three time winners, which featured Ted Kennedy in the role of Bobby Clarke and hitters of the genre of Wild Bill Ezinicki, Bill Juzda. Bill Barilko and Vic Lynn.But times change and public acceptance changes. What may go over in Philadelphia will not sell in Toronto or Montreal. The fire wagon approach to hockey, as epitomized by Les Habitants, is still the most entertaining.Fred Shero. commenting to a female member of the Toronto press, said. &ldquo;You never played hockey. You don&rsquo;t understand.&rdquo;But hockey is being played under the laws of the United States and Canada and unless it can police its own situations, civil authorities will continue to have a field day &mdash; much to the disgust of the average man in the street, who won&rsquo;t understand the machissmo nuances that Ferocious Freddie is talking about.Watson, the older of the two Watson brothers, admitted. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t sleep for two days thinking about the whole thing. The two to five years worried me. Now. I&rsquo;m all right when I get in the flow of the game, but I&rsquo;m still a bit worried.&rdquo;Saleski, happy to have answered his critics with a hat trick against the Maple Leafs in Philadelphia after the arrest in Toronto, said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m concerned I&rsquo;m glad I got the hat trick. I was worried until I got into the game. Then I forgot it.&rdquo;NHL moguls had better not forget it much longer. Something must be done to bring the basic on ice code and the laws of hoth countries closer together.&ldquo;We received a warning with the Dave Forbes thing last year in Minnesota.&rdquo; recalled Eagleson. &ldquo;Then came the Dan Maloney incident earlier this vear in Toronto. Now the WHA mess and this thing with the Flyers. Hockey cannot wait much longer.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0003-01

PLAYERS WANT END TO HOCKEY VIOLENCE

<h2>By Jim Proudfoot As Seen In The Toronto Star</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02790/3709604-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="530" height="314"></div>IT&rsquo;S MORE than five months now since the National Hockey League was given fair warning: Hockey players no longer would be permitted to break the laws of Ontario just because the crimes happened to occur in arenas and in front of spectators.Ontario Attorney-General Roy McMurtry seemed to have made it clear that, in this province at least, the hockey rink was not a sanctuary where people could escape punishment for breaking laws the man in the street must obey.The message to the NHL ought to have been plain enough: Police your spectacle, make it respectable, or somebody will have to do the job for you.McMurtry must have used too many big words because the hockey crowd didn&rsquo;t catch on.Within a week, Maple Leaf Gardens was the scene of a violent incident where theTeferee failed to impose any meaningful penalty. The NHL had put McMurtry on the spot or, if you prefer, had given him the opening he wanted. He was compelled to act or lose all credibility. So a Detroit player was charged. His trial comes up soon.Still, the NHL didn&rsquo;t tumble to the obvious. The Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers collaborated in Maple Leaf Gardens to turn a Stanley Cup playoff match into an ugly brawl. The results could have been foreseen. McMurtry got involved, as he had to, and now there are charges against three Philly players. Even a normal and fair (for hockey) man-to-man fight is being examined. The rest of the series was played under the smothering threat of further intervention. Worst of all, league hockey finds itself portrayed officially as a disreputable enterprise, incapable of functioning under the common rules of decent human behavior. And, in one of its cities, it has lost control of its own destiny.It&rsquo;s a humiliating mess the NHL could have avoided by taking a firm stand a long time ago.The orders would have gone something like this: &ldquo;Lawlessness and violence are accepted now in U.S. cities. In fact, our American fans demand it; they get bored with anything less. But they ve clamped down on us in Toronto. So kindly behave yourselves at the Gardens.&rdquo;But that would have been too sensible; nobody thought of it.Many hockey folks insist outbreaks like the one in game three are unavoidable, just part of the action. Boys will be boys, you understand.Al Eagleson.for one, says that is claptrap and he speaks for the NHL Plavers&rsquo; Association.&ldquo;Everybody knows where the trouble comes from &mdash; certain players on every team. Any fan can name them,&rdquo; he argues. &ldquo;If management were to tell those guys that a condition of their further.employment is bringing an end to all this nonsense, then it would stop. And the way to make management do that is to make this stuff so costly no coach could put up wit hit.In other words, this sort of thing goes on because the NHL tolerates it. Almost all players would welcome a total ban on fighting if imposed from above. They won&rsquo;t stop it voluntarily because courage - there very manhood - is on the line.<h2>As entertainment, it stank</h2>THE NHL SELLS entertainment and from that standpoint, the Gardens&rsquo; shambles was a flop. The game, with all the interruptions, dragged on until 11:20, an hour later than usual. Nobody objects when a good show runs overtime but this was an objectionable bore. Fans, who&rsquo;d paid as much as $15 a seat to watch hockey. saw hardly any. The event was televised, too, and more&rsquo;s the pity. This show was not for family consumption. Seeing grown, supposedly rational men carry on this way was like a journey into the dark ages.There is some justice, mind you, in Flyers&rsquo; claim that Toronto initiated the mayhem and also that the hometown rooters baited the Philly players with some pretty crude conduct.Flyers didn&rsquo;t hesitate to pick up the cue Leafs provided, of course. You knew what was coming when Leafs sent Kurt Walker into the fray after only three minutes had elapsed.Walker had been advertised openly as Leafs&rsquo; fearless enforcer so there wasn&rsquo;t a person in the rink who didn&rsquo;t know why he&rsquo;d been activated. He was going to battle with Dave Schultz, the ringleader of the Broad St. Bullies, and by doing so, would reverse the physical domination Flyers had established while winning the first two games of the quarter-final round. He was to prove Leafs were no longer afraid.Lovely, eh&rdquo; This is what hockey&rsquo;s come to.Schultz eagerly obliged and things continued from then on in a similar veins except that they got steadily worse.By the time it was all over, six players had been disqualified, there had been four major scraps and countless minor ones, blood had been shed, referee Dave Newell have been abused both physically and verbally (in plain view of everybody), dozens of rinkside customers had been insulted with gutter language, a stick had been swung at a police officer and the sport of hockey had been pulled down several more notches.If there was one unforgettable sight, it was the Flyers&rsquo; ceaseless campaign to eliminate Toronto&rsquo;s key player. Borje Salming. The inventive Philly coach. Fred Shero. claims he knows a tactical method of disarming Salming. But his men disdain strategy: their plan seems to be either to maim aiming or frighten him.Freddie the Fog claims to be a disciple of the great Soviet teacher-coach. Anatoli Tarasov, which is a joke. Shero&rsquo;s team would make Tarasov.<h2>They punish the opposition</h2>THERE ARE a few things that need to be understood about the Flyers and the way they saparate.First of all, they can play marvelous positional hockey, and, as the months go by, add Steadily to their repertoire of systems and patterns. In these scientific areas, no NHL team even approaches them. It &lsquo;s routine now for Shero, behind the Philly bench, to out-manoeuvre the opposing coach consistently. Moreover. Flyers play with unmatched zest. No NHL club puts out as much.But they insist on throwing in extra touches, just to stack the deck.Their checking is designed to punish and intimidate their opponents. not just stop them. At the same time, they refuse to accept similar checks from anybody else. So their pugilistic ability is important: They&rsquo;re ready for combat any time the enemy retaliates or when somebody has the temerity to throw one of them so much as a host tie glance.For these purpose, Flyers have introduced two innovations to the NHL; The designated brawler, and fisticuffs as a part of their overall strategy.A crucial assumption they make is that there&rsquo;s a limit of number of penalties a referee will call against them. Letv&rsquo;s peg it at 20; anything over that would be free of charge.It&rsquo;s also understood, in the NHL. that an official will shoot for some balance between the penalties imposed on the two sides in any given game. In other words, if Flyers draw 20 minors, then the referee will attempt to find 20 Leafs infractions worthy of penalties.Referee Newell violated both these unwritten rules in the third game and came down with extra severity on the Flyers.Naturally, they&rsquo;re complaining.What they have to realize is that, since McMurtry&rsquo;s edict, the No. 1 unwritten rule in Toronto is that hockey decorum must be observed. You can makea fool of yourself in 17 other cities but here you play if straight.The irony is that Flyers are one club that could afford to conform.But let&rsquo;s not lose sight of this: Leafs, convinced there was no other wav to succeed against Philly, initiated the Gardens&rsquo; hostilities, which got so far out of hand. They deserve a fair share of the criticism now being heaped on the visitors from the City of Brotherly Love, the cradle of U.S. Independence.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01285/3709597-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="577" height="1936"></div> &#9632;

f0003-02

NHL IS IN HOT WATER — ALL OF ITS OWN MAKING

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01863/3709718-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">DANNY GARE&hellip; After Rocket&rsquo;s Record</figcaption></div>BUFFALO&mdash;If any National Hockey League team has a better record in overtime playoff games than the Buffalo Sabres it has a mighty fine record indeed.After the third game of their Stanley Cup quarter-finals against the New York Islanders this year, the Sabres had won seven of eight overtime games in their three playoff appearances.Three of them came this year, within a week.Danny Gare, the second-year right winger who scored 50 goals during the regular season, scored two of the winners in overtime, Don Luce, Gare&rsquo;s center, scored the other and sent Gare the pass that produced one of Danny&rsquo;s.The first two really were pressure games. After the St. Louis Blues won the opener ot their preliminary best-of-five series against the Sabres, Buffalo had to win two straight to stay alive.They won them both in overtime, 3-2 and 2-1. Gare scored the goal that won the first and Luce scored the goal that won the second.Then the Sabres went into the quarter-finals against the Islanders and, with a best-of-seven series ahead, the pressure lessened considerably.Although they had played two overtime games on two nights, the second ending less than 48 hours before the Islanders series began, the Sabres came out flying. They scored a goal in the first six minutes, had a 2-0 lead by the end of the first period and led, 3-0, before Billy Harris scored for the Islanders. With the French Connection scoring four of the goals, the Sabres won, 5-3.The second game, however, was a different story. But it was the same old story for the usual capacity crowd of 16,433 in Buffalo&rsquo;s Memorial Auditorium. Their third overtime game in six nights. They couldn&rsquo;t believe that their club would do it again.But do it the Sabres did. They won in overtime, 3-2, with Danny Gare scoring the winning goal on a pass from Don Luce. It was Gare&rsquo;s third overtime game in his two years with the Sabres and tied him with Rene Robert, who had two overtime scores last season and one in 1973. Maurice Richard of the Montreal Canadiens is the alltime NHL overtime goal scoring leader with six.The third game of the series with the Islanders, however, ended the Sabres&rsquo; string of success. The series shifted to the Islanders&rsquo; rink, Nassau Coliseum, and for the first time ever in that arena, the Sabres lost. The score was 5-3, with the home team scoring twice in 35 seconds after the Sabres had overcome 0-2 and 1-3 deficits to tie at 3-all midway through the third period on a goal by Rick Martin.Ice Chips: The publicized French Connection &mdash; Gil Perreault, Martin and Robert &mdash; divided scoring honors with the line that usually is regarded as Buffalo&rsquo;s checking line &mdash; Luce, Craig Ramsay and Gare &mdash; in the first six games of the playoffs. Each line had eight goals. Luce scored one in each of the last four games.Gerry Desjardins, who tended goal for the Islanders before spending a year in the World Hockey Association, was in goal for all six of the Buffalo playoff games, except for part of the third period in the openering the first six playoff games, he played a regular shift in all of them.Robert, Gare, Martin and de-fenseman Lee Fogolin all had nagging minor injuries at some time during the early playoffs but none of them missed any playing time. &#9632;

f0005-01

Sabres Capture Seven Of Eight Playoff Tilts

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div>ST. LOUIS &mdash;Emile Francis has swept into control of the St. Louis Blues.Francis is coach, general manager, vice president, a member of the board of directors and partowner of the Blues.In short, the Salomon family, which has controlling interest in the club, has skated its future on the slim but sturdy shoulders of Cat Francis, respected for many years throughout the National Hockey League.Sid Salomon III, president of the Blues, who had maintained firm day-to-day control of the club, is recuperating from serious chest surgery and doesn&rsquo;t plan to resume daily guidance of the team. Rather, Salomon intends to devote his future efforts to turning the deficit-ridden St. Louis Arena into a profitable building.The way then was clear for someone to take full command of the Blues&rsquo; operation. Francis, longtime general manager of the New York Rangers, is one of hockey&rsquo;s experienced executives who probably can succeed in such an assignment.Francis confirmed the Blues had talked to him about a job several times over the last three to four years. On each occasion the timing for Francis&rsquo; leaving New York was not right.But this time there was little to hold Francis in New York. He was removed from his job as Ranger general manager in January and pushed aside to a minor assignment.The Blues&rsquo; offer to Francis apparently was to fill the role of general manager. Francis negotiated until he was able to obtain a share of the franchise in exchange for some of his own money and as partial remuneration for his services.Then, when Francis had negotiated a secure position for himself, his first task as head man was to appoint himself as coach.He explained his decision to coach by saying, &ldquo;Being a shareholder, I&rsquo;m fooling around not only with someone else&rsquo;s money but also my own.&rdquo;Francis was reminded that, when he was with the Rangers, he had said he never would coach again.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s not quite true,&rdquo; he answered. &ldquo;I said I never would coach the New York Rangers again. But I enjoy coaching and I&rsquo;ll be happy to be doing it again.&rdquo;As St. Louis coach, Francis re-places Leo Boivin, who led the Blues for one-half the season and had been successful in developing a good rapport with his players. Boivin, who returns to his job as a fulltime scout for the Blues, had taken the coaching job reluctantly but then learned to like it and relinquished it somewhat reluctantly.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-04376/3709794-1-eng-US/f0006-042.jpg" title="f0006-04" width="556" height="1014"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK BOURBONNAIS &hellip; To Get Hard Look</figcaption></div>Francis has put the burden of pressure squarely on himself. If the Blues falter in any respect, he would be to blame. As Francis said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve hired myself as coach a few times but I&rsquo;ve never fired myself.&rdquo;Having been installed officially in his new multi-titled job, Francis said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m open for business.&rdquo; Asked whether he planned to make any trades before the beginning of next season, Francis quipped, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ve ever gone that long without making a trade.&rdquo;Then, seriously he added, &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t build a championship club through trades. You have to develop your own programs.&rdquo;The Blues and Rangers shared Providence as a top farm club this past season, so Francis has a head start on knowing some of the Blues&rsquo; minor-league personnel. He mentioned Jamie Masters, Rick Bourbonnais, Yves Belanger and Mitch Babin as farmhands with chances of playing with the Blues next season. Bourbonnais was up and down several times with the Blues and should get a long, hard look from Francis next year. &#9632;

f0006-04

St. Louis Can Expect To Play More Defense In Francis’ Takeover

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01907/3709825-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">MICKEY REDMOND&hellip; Continuing Therapy</figcaption></div>DETROIT&mdash;The Red Wings&rsquo; injury problems during the season just ended could best be described as &ldquo;unreal.&rdquo;The long string of injuries started early, in training camp with young defenseman Jean Hamel missing the first three regular season games, and continued to pile up endlessly.Now, with the season over, you might think, the Wings&rsquo; director of public relations Budd Lynch and director of publicity Al Coates, could discontinue their daily &ldquo;medical reports&rdquo; emanating from the various hospitals around the metropolitan Detroit area.Not so.The reports continue and the only consolation is that the news is good.Young Bill Lochead, who was involved in a serious car accident on his way home after the final game of the season, underwent a spinal fusion. The operation was termed a success and although the 21-year-old right winger will be in a neck brace for four months, doctors said there is no reason he won&rsquo;t be able to continue with his careernext season.Rookie defenseman Al Cameron was in the car with Lochead at the time but escaped injury.Michel Bergeron&rsquo;s injured right eye is being examined regularly by doctors and although there was some damage, it will not hamper his play. In fact, Bergeron and his pal, Dennis Polonich, took off for Florida soon after the season ended to get in some golf and sun.Mickey Redmond is continuing his therapy program on his injured back and all reports are encouraging. Mickey visited his teammates on the final day of the season and has a set of exercises designed for strengthening his back and right leg.Also injured late in the season was center J. P. LeBlanc, who suffered a broken hand and missed the final weeks of the season. And although J.P. hasn&rsquo;t taken the golf clubs out yet, the hand is healing.Danny Grant&rsquo;s return to the lineup and play in the final games was a source of encouragement for the Wings.Returning to action after a three-month absence. Grant regained the scoring touch which enabled him to score 50 goals the season before. He scored six goals in the last two weeks and that&rsquo;ll help make his summer a little more pleasant.Defenseman Barry Salovaara was also among the injured. He played most of the season with an injured hand but once it ended, surgery was necessary.MOTOR CITY SHORTS: The city&rsquo;s publicity machine is giving another &ldquo;sports complex&rdquo; proposal for downtown Detroit the big buildup, but for the umpteenth time it&rsquo;s more fiction than fact.City officials are talking about a $60 million riverfront complex, with a baseball stadium and a matching hockeybasketball facility (with the hockey setup having a capacity in the range of 20,000 seats). The Wings are interested in such a proposal but only under a stringent set of conditions. And while the city promotion said there was a great deal of enthusiam from the teams, that isn&rsquo;t the case at all.Said Red Wing owner Bruce Norris: &ldquo;I talked to the mayor (Coleman Young) about it some time ago. It was nothing more than a preliminary conversation. The city was going to make some studies. We haven&rsquo;t gotten any thing from them yet.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to discourage the city. I don&rsquo;t want to create a snafu before they even get started. But we have always been skeptical about multi-purpose designs. We simply indicated to them our interest in being part of a new sports complex.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0007-01

Wings’ Injury Jinx Carries Into Off-Season

<div class="byline">BY HOWIE MEEKER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-01997/3709856-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="442" height="566"></div><h2>Philly Can Be Had&hellip;.</h2>THERE WERE SOME startling surprises after four games in the first round of the NHL playoffs. Everybody but Canadiens and Chicago were tied at two wins each. The Habs as expected eliminated the Hawks in four straight. But how about those Toronto Maple Leafs? After rolling over and playing dead in the first two games in Philadelphia, they returned home and eaked out a 5-4 victory in a marathon game, marred by fights and chippy play by the Flyers and then evened the series with a 4-3 squeeker in which Bernie Parent fanned on two and Borje Salming was for the second night in a row the best man on the ice by a country mile.Make no mistake, Philadelphia can be had and be had easy. Ask coach Al Arbour whose N.Y. Islander team has won seven out of the last 10 games against the Flyers. They thrashed them four out of the six times during the season and were the only team in the league to out-score the Stanley Cup Champions (23-15). The Islanders over six games held the Philly attack to 2 1/2 goals per contest, while they scored four per outing.O.K. How did they do it? Well, the best power play in the league helped but the big bad Flyers haven&rsquo;t been able to reduce the efficiency of Arbour&rsquo;s machine with their gangland warfare. Games are won and lost in the corners and the area directly in front of the net. I&rsquo;ve seen Philly equalled but never out muscled in the corners, but I&rsquo;ve yet to see a team (haven&rsquo;t been lucky enough to watch an Islander-Flyer game) control play in front of both nets as well as Shero&rsquo;s troops. Dupont, Goodenough and the Watsons, just&rsquo; dare anyone to stand in front of Parent, either before or after the shot, and up at the other end Kelly, Clarke, Dornhoefer, Saleski, Schultz and Barber own the opponents&rsquo; goaltending crease.<h2>No One Challenges Them&hellip;</h2>IN ORDER TO establish respect in those areas, teams have to have a few games like the donnybrook in Toronto, then follow it up with another tough physical display. Even though Philadelphia receives a great many penalties, they get away with murder &mdash; hooking or call it semi-spearing. That over the shoulder jab or under the arm shot in the ribs on every stride. They add to their moment um everytime they take someone into the fence and have their glove in the face of every opponent as a greeting or a departing jab on almost every check.There are many other little things that fall into their plan of complete physical domination of the opposition that generally goes uncalled by the referee &mdash; (who are so busy calling the obvious). To beat them or even stand a chance against this talented crew, the individual and the team have to take away their intimidation. The officials can&rsquo;t do it. The opposition has to establish that respect &mdash; an eye for an eye &mdash; a tooth for a tooth &mdash; a spear for a spear &mdash; a cross check for a cross check. A savage chop over the ankles by the goaltender or the tip of the big goalstick high between the legs to any opposition player who lingers too long in front of the net will soon establish who is in control of the crease area. Those who valued their love life never lingered too long in front of some of the fellows who played goal in the NHL a few years ago.Hey, the only reason they are the big bad bullies is that not too many clubs have challenged them. Toronto didn&rsquo;t back off &mdash; stood up for their rights. Philly took 15 stupid penalties and it cost them both games. They also lost their composure and discipline and other cracks appeared in their armor, as well. Oh, how they miss Ed Van Impe and Rick MacLeish.<h2>Press Provoked Dionne&hellip;</h2>WHAT HURT me more than anything else, was to hear their management literally cry to their fans back home about the poor officiating and they were right. With very strict refereeing they would have had at least another 10 penalties. It was a tough game to handle. The referee did the best he could. However, the Flyers still got away with murder and they had the gall to cry foul play. They know that their tantrums are going to cost them the odd game, but for everyone they lose through it, they will win five. But to complain when their actions finally catch up with them isn&rsquo;t the mark of a Stanley Cupteam.The Bruins press got Marcel Dionne mad and he scored five goals in two games to lead L.A. into a two-game-to-one lead. However, Don Cherry tightened things up in the fourth game and the Bean-towners evened the series with a 3-0 shutout right in L.A. Bruins have to win if they play the Kings at their own game, but if they challenge them to a free wheeling wide open contest, that Dionne will break their hearts. He is some hockey player, when you give him the opportunity and space to use this wheels.The Islanders stayed close to the Sabres in the first two games in Buffalo. I kinda thought they might split in Imlach country, but Danny Gare notched one in overtime to give Perreault and Company a two-game lead going into N.Y. I still think a defensive system and good goaltending give the Islanders an edge in the series. Whether it&rsquo;s enough to overcome that final game edge Buffalo has, only time will tell. The French Connection and Gare give the Sabres a big advantage offensively. Arbour&rsquo;s defensive system, anchored by Resch and Smith, usually held the opposition to a pair of goals per game. It&rsquo;s now a two-out-three series which I wouldn&rsquo;t bet a nickle on.Howie Meeker is a TV analyst on Hockey Night In Canada, teaches young hockey players the finer points of the game through his CBC &rsquo;Howie Meeker Hockey School, television show and operates two summer hockey schools located at Trinity College School and Stanstead College. He is a former NHL rookie of the year winner and player on four Stanley Cup winners with Toronto Maple Leafs before retiring. &#9632;

f0008-01

HOW IT IS

<div class="byline">BY BILL HEUFELDER</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;When Wren Blair looks into the future, he sees a few new faces for the next edition of the Pittsburgh Penguins.The last edition made an early exit from the Stanley Cup playoffs, bowing to Toronto in three games.Beginning with the amateur draft, Blair, who owns a piece of the club and manages all of it, figures the Penguins will receive a sure-fire National Hockey League player with their first choice, which they obtained from Kansas City in the Steve Durbano trade.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m counting heavily on that player,&rdquo; said Blair, the player being the second pick on the basis of the Scouts&rsquo; record, which was worse than all but Washington&rsquo;s. &ldquo;I should think he&rsquo;ll make our club.&rdquo;The Penguins also will receive Washington&rsquo;s second-round choice, giving them three picks among the first 19 players chosen.So much for the draft. Blair is leaning heavily towards the Penguin youngsters, some of them who spent most of the season in Hershey. Dennis Owchar, a 23-year-old defenseman who is much traveled between Pittsburgh and Hershey but spent most of the campaign here, figures to set up a permanent residence with the big club next fall.&ldquo;I think Owchar is good enough to play regularly for us,&rdquo; Blair said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s as good a bodychecker as there is in the business. He&rsquo;s a good skater and a helluva puckhandler. A guy beats him sometimes when he misses a check, but it&rsquo;s better than not taking a chance at all.&ldquo;Owchar has always played under pressure, with the idea that he might be sent down again. I don&rsquo;t think a kid is going to level off unless he&rsquo;s given a chance.&rdquo;Blair figures the Penguins will take a long look at Russ Anderson, the 6-3, 210-pound defenseman signed from the University of Minnesota at the tail end of the season. A noted hitter in collegiate hockey, Anderson set a school record for penalty minutes while helping the Gophers win this season&rsquo;s NCAA championship.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re delighted to get him,&rdquo; observed Blair, who figured he&rsquo;d lost last year&rsquo;s No. 2 Penguin pick to the World Hockey Association. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s a great prospect.&rdquo;Mario Faubert will receive strong consideration for a berth with the Penguins, that is, if he can get stronger himself. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to put him on a body-building program for the summer,&rdquo; Blair noted. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s great with the puck and he plays his position well.&rdquo;One of the veteran defensemen sure to return is Dave Burrows. The 27-year-old All Star agreed to a multi-year contract after the season. However, another veteran, Ron Stackhouse, has indicated he&rsquo;s not interested in rejoining the Penguins. His contract expires this year.Stackhouse holds the Penguin records for most goals, assists and points by a defenseman. Blair said he is hopeful of persuading Stackhouse to sign another Pittsburgh contract.As their staggering number of goals (339) attest, the Penguins had a plentiful amount of high scoring forwards, including Pierre Larouche and Jean Pronovost, who both became 50-goal men.What Blair wants is balance, meaning that either some of the present forwards, or the first-round draft choice from the Scouts will be used to improve the club&rsquo;s defensive capabilities.&ldquo;The best picks in the amateur draft,&rdquo; Blair indicated, &ldquo;are forwards. It&rsquo;s possible we&rsquo;ll make a trade.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s certain Blair will deal and likely he&rsquo;ll come up with a goaltender to go with Michel Plasse and highly-regarded Gordie Laxton who played impressively with Hershey in his first pro season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not totally sure we have major-league goaltending.&rdquo; Blair said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think Pittsburgh&rsquo;s ever been at that level in goal.&rdquo; &#9632;

New Faces On Horizon In Remake Of Penguins

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-01964/3709911-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">BORJE SALMING&hellip; The Garden Rafters Rang</figcaption></div>TORONTO&mdash;No matter what happened in the concluding games of the series, the fact that the Toronto Maple Leafs divided the first four games of the Stanley Cup quarter-final against the Philadelphia Flyers demonstrated the big improvement in the club this season.You see, the Flyers have been the Leafs&rsquo; chief nemesis during the past few seasons. In fact, the Leafs were winless in 17 regular season and playoff games since they last defeated the Flyers in March, 1973. The Flyers extended that string to 19 games with 4-1 and 3-1 wins at the Spectrum before the Leafs rebounded to tie the set, 2-2, with 5-4 and 4-3 wins in Toronto.The series was laden with controversy. The opening two games were quite tame, then all hell broke loose in game three at Maple Leaf Gardens. The Flyers drew a record 28 penalties in a 3 1/2-hour brawl-filled marathon and the Leafs produced five power-play goals for the win.As a result of incidents in that game, three Flyers, Joe Watson, Mel Bridgman and Don Saleski, were charged with criminal offences under the campaign of Ontario Attorney-General Roy McMurtry to combat violence in hockey.Watson and Saleski were charged with assault and possession of a dangerous weapon (a hockey stick) for an incident in the penalty box involving players, spectators and police. Bridgman was charged with assault causing bodily harm following a fight with Leaf defenseman Borje Salming.The fourth game was a dandy, swift and clean, and the Leafs won, 4-3 to extend the Flyers much farther than even their most devoted fans anticipated when the series opened.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know why everyone is so surprised because the Leafs gave us a big battle all season,&rdquo; said Flyer coach Fred Shero. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re a much improved team this season. They have good young players and what appears to be a good team spirit.&rdquo;The Leafs felt that the key to their strong showing was the maturing of their young players and the increased aggressiveness the team has this season.&ldquo;I think we established during the season in our games with the Flyers that we weren&rsquo;t going to run away and hide just because they flexed their muscles at us,&rdquo; said Leaf coach Red Kelly. &ldquo;We have a gang of young players who just won&rsquo;t be pushed around any longer.&ldquo;The Flyers checked us well in the first two games at Philadelphia but we played strongly on our own ice. They really turned on the roughhouse stuff in the third game. Our power-play has been spotty in its work this season but in that game, it worked rather well.&rdquo;The Leafs and the fans were incensed at what they believed were the Flyers&rsquo; deliberate intimidation efforts against the magnificent Salming, who was by far the outstanding player on either team in the first four games of the series.&ldquo;They really worked on Salming, a lot of cheap-shot baloney,&rdquo; Kelly said. &ldquo;But he has too much courage to be frightened by such tactics.&rdquo;Flyers did achieve one milestone. The fight with Bridgman was the first fistic battle of Salming&rsquo;s hockey career.In the following game, Salming delivered a memorable performance to sink the Flyers. He scored a goal of dazzling rush which earned him a three-minute standing ovation from the usually reserved Gardens&rsquo; fans, had an assist and played a superb defensive game. &#9632;

f0009-01

Leafs’ Playoff Showing Not Surprising To Flyers

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-01986/3709942-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="557" height="2468"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE JENSEN &hellip; Skates Like The Devil</figcaption></div>TWIN CITIES&mdash;The Minnesota North Stars, although eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs for the third straight season, did have a few things to shout about in 1975-76.One was the goaltending of Cesare Maniago, the 37-year-old veteran who posted a 3.35 goals-against average with a team that lost 53 games.Another was the play of rookie center Tim Young, who scored 18 goals and 33 assists in 63 games after his recall from New Haven in the American League and shared the team point lead with Bill Hogaboam.But the player the North Stars are shouting about most as they look to the new season is 20-year-old left winger Steve Jensen, who signed with them in February and appeared in 19 games.His seven goals and six assists will not earn him many votes for the Calder Trophy which goes to the NHL rookie of the year.However, things could be different for the blond youngster in 1976-77. He did not appear in 25 games with the North Stars this season and will be still regarded a first-year performer come next October.And the North Stars already are touting him as an early candidate for the 1976-77 Calder honors.&ldquo;Any young player who is 6-2, 190 pounds, can skate like the devil and has a fine shot has a good chance to be rookie of the year.&rdquo; said coach Ted Harris.Jensen joined the North Stars fresh off the U.S. Olympic team and became an instant hit with Minnesota hockey fans. He grew up in the Twin Cities suburb of Plymouth and played two seasons of college hockey at Michigan Tech. The North Stars drafted him during the fourth round last spring, but Jensen opted to play in the Olympics.&ldquo;This year I played in more games than I did the last three seasons combined,&rdquo; said Jensen. &ldquo;Toward the end of the season, it was tough getting up for a game. Physically, I did not have any problems. The more you skate, the better shape you stay in.&rdquo;But Jensen&rsquo;s season really didn&rsquo;t end even after the North Stars bowed out in early April. He returned to Minnesota to get married and left for a honeymoon in Poland.It so happened the Group &ldquo;A&rdquo; World Tournament was being staged there, and Jensen joined North Star team mates Pete LoPresti, Mike Antonovich and Lou Nanne. Tom Younghans, a University of Minnesota player signed by the North Stars, also was playing on the U.S. team&rsquo;.Among other &ldquo;rookie&rdquo; performers on the North Stars this past season besides him, Young andJensen were goalie Paul Harrison, who had a 5.47 goals-against average in six appearances and forward Dave Cressman, who excelled as a penalty killer and wound up with four goals and eight assists.With the No. 3 choice in the first round of this June&rsquo;s amateur draft and another fourth place finish in the Smythe Division, it looks like Jensen will not be the only rookie on next vear&rsquo;s club.STAR DUST: The North Stars took a close look at Swedish and Finnish talent during the World Tournament in Poland in hopes of improving their team in that method&hellip; North Star assistant Andre Beaulieu and college scout John Mariucci handled that assignment as coaches of the U.S. entry&hellip; Walter Bush Jr., team president, is on the committee which will organize the U.S. team for next September&rsquo;s World Cup tournament&hellip; The North Stars finished 17th out of 18 in scoring with 195 goals. &#9632;

f0010-01

Future Bright For Stars’ Jensen

<div class="byline">BY HARRY KLAFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01950/3709973-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILLY HARRIS&hellip; Credited As Two-Way Player</figcaption></div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;It seems hard to believe, but the New York Islanders are putting the finishing touches on their fourth N.H.L. season. Time flies, especially when you&rsquo;re having fun, but it doesn&rsquo;t seem possible that it was the summer of&rsquo;72 that the fledgling club introduced its first real, live hockey player &mdash; a slick skating right-winger by the name of Billy Harris.From that moment, Harris was expected to be &ldquo;Mr. Islander,&rdquo; everything from a Calder winner to a fifty-goalscorer.He hasn&rsquo;t hit the 50 mark yet, nor the 40 for that matter, but in four N.H.L. seasons he has lit the lamp a total of 108 times. He enjoyed his best year in&rsquo; &lsquo;75-&rsquo;76 as he totalled 32 goals and 38 assists for 70 points.Despite his year-by-year development, there are still a few supporters who feel that he should be doing more. These raps are unfair, but Harris&rsquo; performance in the Stanley Cup playoffs against Vancouver and Buffalo this year should silence the most vociferous critic.Through the third game of the quarter finals, Harris had four goals to his credit, including a pair in the Isles&rsquo; 5-3 victory over the Sabres to cut their deficit in games to 2-1. And against the Sabres, his line with Bryan Trottier and Clark Gillies is actually the &ldquo;checking line,&rdquo; ordered to stop the French Connection of Perreault, Martin, and Robert.&ldquo;I usually don&rsquo;t set goals for myself, but I said to myself before the season that I would be very disappointed if I didn&rsquo;t get 30 at the very least,&rdquo; said Harris. &ldquo;I had scored 28 in my rookie year, but had never been able to top that figure. This season I was looking to score more goals.&rdquo;&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a fine, two-way hockey player,&rdquo; offered coach Al Arbour earlier this season. &ldquo;If he played on a club which emphasized offense more, there&rsquo;s no telling how many goals he would score. But that&rsquo;s not the Islander style. We emphasize defense here, and Billy has excelled in that department.&rdquo;When Eddie Westfall left game two of the Buffalo series with a broken bone in his foot, Harris was forced to take on additional duties. &ldquo;I had killed penalties ever since my rookie year, but didn&rsquo;t get much of a chance lately because of the job that Eddie and Lome (Henning) have done. But when Eddie got hurt, that changed things. It&rsquo;s a challenge to kill penalties, especially in the playoffs when there&rsquo;s so much at stake,&rdquo; added the 24-year-old Toronto native.The Islanders went into game three at the Coliseum in a &ldquo;must win&rdquo; situation, something that they were more than used to after last year&rsquo;s experience. They were horrible in losing the opener 5-3 at Buffalo, and were only a little better in dropping the second game 3-2 in sudden death. The Isles were down 2-0 late in the third period when they clicked twice to knot the score, only to lose in overtime.This time the Isles came out flying in front of the usual 14,865 customers in Uniondale. And they didn&rsquo;t have long to wait, as after only 3:23, Harris took a passout from Trottier and rammed it through Gerry Desjardins for the first goal of the game.A power play goal by Rick Martin eventually knotted the score at 3-3 mid-way through the final period, but the Isles refused to give in. First Bill MacMillan &mdash; filling in so capably for the injured Westfall and other tired hands &mdash; poked a Trottier rebound past Desjardins for what proved to be the game-winner.What made this goal rather unusual was not only that it took place on a line change, but at the time MacMillan was spelling Bob Nystrom, who was back in the dressing room finding a new skate. Earlier in the period he had actually lost the blade off his right boot.Then came the clincher. Harris knocked down a waist-high pass from Clark Gillies at center ice, and swooped in on Buffalo defenseman, Jim Schoenfeld. He got around Schoeny, and cut in right to left on Desjardins.Being a left-handed shot helped him in this case, as he deked past the goaltender, pushing the puck to his forehand. With Desjardins down and out, all that was left was to slide the biscuit into the cage.ISLAND SOUNDS: Ralph Stewart finally got on the ice in the third game against the Sabres after missing more than a month with an ankle injury&hellip; Jude Drouin was knocked unconscious in game two at Buffalo, suffering a mild concussion. He was fitted with a helmet and returned late in the game, much against doctor&rsquo;s orders. He showed that he was suffuring no ill effects when he soloed a length-of-the-ice dash to score the Islanders&rsquo; second goal of the game&hellip; Bill Smith, who replaced Glenn Resch in the series opener, performed extremely well in games two and three. &#9632;

f0011-01

Islanders’ Harris Finds Knack Of Playoff Scoring

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01958/3710004-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"></div><h2>To The Courts Again</h2>THE REACTION FROM hockey people, of course, was the predictable to the latest round of degrading happenings which has the game of ice hockey heading for the courts.First came the incident in Quebec in the World Hockey Association in which players were injured, suspended and charged with criminal offenses. Then three members of the Philadelphia Flyers faced criminal charges in Toronto following incidents in a Stanley Cup playoff game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.When will they ever learn? What will it take to convince the men who run hockey that something is very wrong in their game, something sick and nasty which threatens to destroy it unless they do something about it?Ontario Attorney-General Roy McMurtry is one man who wants to do something about it. Last fall, he sounded a warning to hockey teams: Don&rsquo;t try any garbage in the province of Ontario or you&rsquo;ll have to pay the price.What McMurtry said was that hockey people would have to clean up its act or outsiders would step in and do it for them.The reaction of hockey people was simply astounding to any thinking person. To listen to them, one would think that hockey in general and the National Hockey League in particular was some special, blessed little domain, which was produced by Divine orders to exist entirely on its own outside the boundaries of the real world.Some of the rhetoric from hockey men has been unbelievable.&ldquo;From as far back as the days of ancient Rome, sport always has set its own rules and policed its own operation,&rdquo; said one NHL coach. &ldquo;Why are these outsiders sticking their noses into the game now?&rdquo;&ldquo;Hockey does an excellent job of policing itself, especially the NHL,&rdquo; said an NHL general manager. &ldquo;We need no help from anyone.&rdquo;Well, Roy McMurtry is an attorney-general who feels the game does need help. He doesn&rsquo;t want to be involved because he has much more important duties to which he can devote his time. There&rsquo;s one certain way that hockey can get him out of its affairs. That&rsquo;s to clean up its act.<h2>A Violent Game</h2>IF, AS HOCKEY MEN INSIST, the game is an entity alone, apart from the real world, then can&rsquo;t other fields of endeavor make the same claims? Take the medical profession as an example. Should doctors be exempt from criminal charges and should only doctors set the rules for the entire profession outside of the criminal code? Or lawyers, taxi drivers or rag-pickers?If the notion hockey has that it can only be policed by hockey people were carried to an extreme in other areas, then couldn&rsquo;t bank robbers decree that only bank-robbers could discipline bankrobbers?The stand taken by hockey men and the reaction to Me Murtrv from within the sport supplies testimony to his claims that the game&rsquo;s administrators &ldquo;take a Neanderthal approach&rdquo; to the game&rsquo;s problems.&ldquo;I am not on a witch hunt against hockey and I&rsquo;d much prefer to Stay out of it,&rdquo; McMurtry said. &ldquo;But if the people who run the leagues can&rsquo;t clean up the violence, then, as attorney-general, I have no choice but to order police and the courts to become involved.&ldquo;The emulation factor in which youngsters copy what the big leaguers do is so strong in Canada that the pros must conduct the game under high standards. What happens in the NHL is reflected in what happens in minor hockey.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had countless letters and calls from parents backing my stand. They&rsquo;ve taken their sons out of hockey because of the way the game is played these days.&rdquo;<h2>Solution Is Easy</h2>THE SAD PART OF IT ALL is that the problem could be solved very easily. All that is needed is for the NHL owners to pass legislation under which fighters are ejected from a game and suspended.Of course, the hockey men counter with that tired, old crap about the &ldquo;safety-valve.&rdquo; They claim that if fighting is eliminated, then the players will vent their anger by even less desirable tactics such as spearing and kicking.In their infinite wisdom, no hockey man has ever explained satisfactorily why either alternative is necessay. If the players have so little control over their emotions, they shouldn&rsquo;t be in the game.Many players will admit that they don&rsquo;t like the violence which has crept into the game in recent years. But they&rsquo;ll only do it privately and not for publication.For a player to admit publicly that he was concerned about the ridiculous cheap-shots and rough play in the game would stamp him as a chicken.After all, hockey people insist that it&rsquo;s a &ldquo;man&rsquo;s game&rdquo;, whatever that means. &#9632;

f0012-01

FRANK ORR SAYS:

<div class="byline">BY GEOFFREY FISHER</div>OAKLAND&mdash;When you are a 22-year-old right wing in the NHL who has scored only 15 goals in 91 games, when you have never scored the first goal of a game, the tying goal or the winning goal, you could scarcely be blamed for fearing that you would be hanging your skates in the dressing room of some remote minor league town next season.nor league town next season.James George (Jim) Moxey fits that description exactly, but the people who sign his paycheck in the offices of the California Golden Seals will tell you that his skates will be in the dressing room of the Seals next September, and so will Moxey.As a rookie with the Seals in the 1974-75 campaign, Moxey got into 47 games, had five goals and four assists before being sidelined by a shoulder separation. This season he connected for 10 goals in 44 games with the Seals after being called up from the Salt Lake City farm where he had 11 goals.Then what makes Moxey, the 61, 185 pound Toronto native a fixture in the elaborate rebuilding scenario of the Seals?Says Seals&rsquo; coach Jack Evans: &ldquo;Jim fits very nicely into our plans. Playing on a line with Fred Ahern and Dave Gardner they formed a platoon as good as any we had.&rdquo;Evans says that if Moxey had a problem in his rookie year it was due to the fact he was overweight &ldquo;and a tendency to be a bit lazy.&rdquo;Evans took the husky youngster aside one day and gave it to him straight. Lose 10 pounds or else, was the way the ultimatum went.&ldquo;He lost the weight and became a changed player,&rdquo; says Evans, &ldquo;one of the most consistent on the club. I was very happy with his performance this season. He plays the body very well, has good moves and is a fine stickhandler. He was one of our most effective players when we were two men short.&rdquo;Along with rookie sensation Dennis Maruk and Al MacAdam, the duo of Moxey and Bob Girard were the premier penalty killers for a Seals team that showed vast improvement in that department this past campaign. The Seals finished the season in the top half of the NHL in penalty killing as represented by fewest power play goals against them.Moxey is quick to agree that checking and penalty killing are the strongest part of his game and he claims that the coaching he has received from Evans has made the big difference in his development.&ldquo;We have a very young and inexperienced bunch of players and when the pressure gets heavy we have a tendency to start running around and get rattled,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Evans is the kind of coach that will take you off in a corner and explain what you are doing wrong and how to correct it. He&rsquo;ll never criticize you with the other players around.&rdquo;The Seals this season won 11 games away from home, just one short of their all-time record set in 1968-69. They picked up 28 points on the road and 37 at home an indication that enemy rinks held no special spell over them.Moxey credits the club&rsquo;s road success to the coaching of Evans.&ldquo;Jack will tell us to pick up our wing, cover him tight, and slow things down while waiting for the right break to get that first goal of the game. He tells us to play as if it was a no score game and that we should wait for the spot to go on the offensive.&rdquo;Seals&rsquo; management was well aware that the club lacked muscle the past season and there will be a search for a &ldquo;policeman or two&rdquo;, according to both Evans and Billy McCreary, the general manager.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02819/3710035-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="558" height="604"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM MOXEY</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0012-02

Moxey Lauds Coach Evans For California Improvement

<div class="byline">Bill Fleischman&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02790/3710104-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="289" height="451"></div>SEEING THE Atlanta Flames lose to Los Angeles in two straight low scoring playoff games wasn&rsquo;t a shock, although some observers thought the opening-round series would go three games. Some experts also thought the Flames would beat the Kings.The biggest shock was seeing only 10,450 attend the game at Atlanta Omni. By reaching the Stanley Cup playoffs in only their second NHL season, the Flames had won the hearts of many Southerners much faster than expected. The Flames lost to Philadelphia in four straight, but the Fivers were on their way to Stanley Cup that season so few could quibble over the Flames fast exit.As Atlanta&rsquo;s recent season closed with the Flames sort of floating away on a gentle Georgia breeze, a man asked Cliff Fletcher about the disappointing playoff crowd. It was Fletcher who once said he wished the Flames and Flyers could meet every year &mdash; in a &ldquo;21-game playoff.&rdquo; Other NHL managers have said the same as they surveyed a full arena when the Flyers were visiting.&ldquo;I think our fans are in a holding pattern,&rdquo; said the Flames&rsquo; GM. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s an acute case of frustration here in Atlanta in all sports. They&rsquo;ve had so little success in any professional sport.&rdquo;FLETCHER IS convinced his club &ldquo;can rekindle interest.&rdquo; The Flames have a solid foundation with players such as Tom Lysiak. Curt Bennett, Eric Vail. Bill Clement, Randy Manery. Barry Gibbs and goalkeepers Dan Bouchard and Phil Myre. Help from the farm is expected from wingers Rick Bowness and Bill Plett, center Guy Chouinard and defenseman Richard Mulhern.&ldquo;We have some fine young prospects.&rdquo; said Fletcher. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re as good as anyone&rsquo;s, better than most. Our future will be decided by those four plus our two first-round draft choices.Atlanta&rsquo;s biggest need, as playoff losses of 2-1 and 1-0 clearly indicate, is someone to help Lysiak and Bennett with the scoring.&ldquo;We need an established winger, someone who can put the puck in the net regularly,&rdquo; said Fletcher. &ldquo;Right wing is our weakest side, but we just need a forward, period. In our second game with L.A., I thought we outplayed them by a substantial margin. They had very few scoring chances, but we couldn&rsquo;t put it in.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03601/3710097-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="1185" height="1624"><figcaption class="caption-body">Flames&rsquo; fan idol Tom Lysiak finished strong encouraging outlook for next season when he could become real leader.</figcaption></div>One quality player the Flames could offer in trade is Myre. His 3.47 average suggests a below-par year, but Fletcher says Myre&rsquo;s figures are deceiving.&ldquo;Phil played more games on the road than Bouchard. He still had a .500 record, which isn&rsquo;t that bad especially when we were only two games over .500. In our four years Bouchard has had the edge two years and Myre had the edge the other two.&rdquo;SINCE CURT Ridley was swapped to Vancouver for the Canucks first-round amateur draft choice. Fletcher said any deal involving Myre would have to include a back-up goalie.One player Fletcher isn&rsquo;t worried about is Lysiak. The talented center who is all-business on the ice and all-laughs off the ice started slowly, but finished the season strong. His 82 points (31 goals. 51 assists) secured a spot among the NHis top 25 scorers and broke his club record of 77 points.&ldquo;Over the last half of the season Tommy really showed signs of leadership,&rdquo; said Fletcher. &ldquo;He came up for us in games we had to win. We&rsquo;re really encouraged by his play and leadership.&rdquo;Atlanta hardly had a bad season. Its record equalled Pittsburgh&rsquo;s, was only one point behind Toronto, and was better than Smythe Division-winner Chicago (Flames and Black Hawks had 82 points apiece, but the Flames won three more games). However, Fletcher admits Atlanta&rsquo;s coentry into the NHL, the Islanders, have progressed faster than the Flames.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve paid the price of achieving moderate success the first couple years,&rdquo; said Fletcher. &ldquo;The Islanders had those choice drafts, players like Billy Harris. Denis Potvin, and Clark Gillies. Sometimes. I&rsquo;ve thought if you&rsquo;re not going to have a great year it&rsquo;s almost better to have a real bad year so you&rsquo;ll get those top draft picks.&rdquo;Bernie Geoffrion won&rsquo;t help in the amateur draft or on the ice any more, but the Flames believe their popular first coach will assist in filling the Omni.&ldquo;Boomer is going to work in marketing, selling tickets,&rdquo; said Fletcher. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll he our image in the community.&rdquo;Even though they&rsquo;ve slipped behind the Islanders, the Flames&rsquo; image is much more respectable than many NHL teams who have been in business much longer. &#9632;

f0014-02

HOCKEY WORLD

<div class="byline">BY RON WEBER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01941/3710066-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="559" height="796"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOMMY McVIE &hellip; Hardened Caps</figcaption></div>WASHINGTON&mdash;&ldquo;You know me. I&rsquo;m not satisfied. We did make some headway, but I&rsquo;m surely not happy.&rdquo;Those are quotes from Washington Capitals&rsquo; mentor Tom McVie, interrupted while practicing his &ldquo;sayonaras&rdquo; prior to the team&rsquo;s tour of Japan, when asked if he was satisfied with the Caps&rsquo; progress.McVie became the fourth Capitals&rsquo; coach in time to direct a New Year&rsquo;s eve game in Detroit. Jim Rutherford and the Red Wings horse-collared him 4-0. The Caps were blanked in three of his first five games, as many times as they had been shut out in the 36 played under the ousted coach Milt Schmidt. McVie went to the NHL well 12 times looking for that first victory.But the turnaround had already started. The Capitals&rsquo; muscles were hardening along with their determination as &ldquo;Simon&rdquo; McVie&rsquo;s regimen of two-a-day workouts and game-day practices left the team, collectively, some 100 pounds lighter. Guffaws of the other clubs turned to astonishment and even to occasional glances of admiration. Where he had openly laughed at the Caps ineptitude at mid-season, Montreal center Peter Mahovlich was &mdash; on the last day of the schedule &mdash; too busy trying to prevent Canadien defeat to admire, much less than smirk. The Caps pulled the goalie with a minute and a half to go, and while whey didn&rsquo;t get the goal that would have forged a 4-4 tie, the Canadiens didn&rsquo;t even get in a position to score as McVie&rsquo;s Marauders swarmed on hockey&rsquo;s winningest club to the very last second.Effort, Even McVie was satisfied with that. &ldquo;By all means. That last game showed it. We didn&rsquo;t roll over and die. Other than three or four times we weren&rsquo;t outworked. In 40-some games maybe that&rsquo;s gonna happen, though I&rsquo;m the type that doesn&rsquo;t ever really accept being outhustled,&rdquo; says the 40-year-old boss.Did the players accept Tom, his system, his philosophy? &ldquo;Very much so.. They finally got some pride. Everybody from fans to the receptionist to the bus driver noticed the difference.&rdquo;Victory-wise the difference was three-over the first year, least prosperous in league annals. In 44 contests under McVie the Capitals won eight and tied five. After those 11 straight defeats came a record of 8-20-5. And no shutouts against in their last 18 games.But offense was never the biggest problem. In their two seasons the Caps have permitted 446 and 394 goals, the two highest figures ever. The first thought is to blame the goaltending, but close observers know the fallacy there. McVie opines, &ldquo;The only place that satisfied me was in the net. Both Ron Low and Bernie Wolfe played awfully well. I don&rsquo;t think in any other area we were up to standards defensively. Both our forwards and our defensemen were lacking there.&rdquo;&ldquo;Offensively we scored the goals. But at the other end&hellip;.&rdquo; McVie left unsaid what didn&rsquo;t need to be voiced, then alluded to a continuing Capital deficit, &ldquo;right wingers. We don&rsquo;t have any natural right wingers other than Hartland (Monahan). Maybe in training camp we can get a look at Harvey Bennett at left wing and center and Bob Sirois at left wing.&rdquo; McVie hopes GM Max McNab comes up with some natural rightsiders through the draft or a trade.Speaking of training camp, McVie warns, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking forward to starting it with my methods. From the day-1 came I took down their weights. The players are going to get letters about weight and other things. Now, I expect them to take a moderate period of relaxation and I hope they do stay away from hockey rinks. Putting on the equipment maybe 250 times a season gets awfully old.&rdquo;&ldquo;But I work out every day. I intend on getting ready. They better not lay around like blimps all summer. Training camp is gonna be tough.&rdquo;ICE CAPS: It hasn&rsquo;t been decided where camp will be located this September. The Capitals may return to London, Ont. but farm club sites of Dayton and Richmond are also under consideration&hellip; McVie was the first casualty in Japan. He damaged a false tooth on a Japanese delicacy&hellip; Tommy expected to skip the Honolulu stop on the way back and instead do some observing of the WCHL junior playoffs, and post-season action in the IHL and CHL. &#9632;

f0014-01

McVie Not Satisfied Yet With Caps

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01908/3710142-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bobby Lalonde of the Canucks receives check for $1,000 from Roy Adams, district sales manager for Molson&rsquo;s in British Columbia after Lalonde won the Vancouver segment of the Molson Cup Lalonde wasn&rsquo;t the Canucks&rsquo; top scorer but his hustle and popularity made him&rsquo; the first star of many games.</figcaption></div>VANCOUVER&mdash;The flak following the departure of the Vancouver Canucks from Stanley Cup playoff competition was so heavy, the club owners felt compelled to express a vote of confidence in coach and general manager Phil Maloney.And while certainly nobody in the media in Vancouver felt Maloney&rsquo;s job was in any way threatened because of the way the Canucks finished against the New York Islanders, spokesmen for Western Broadcasting, owners of the Canucks, came out with the full vote of confidence for Maloney.The worst thing about that from Maloney&rsquo;s point of view has to be the fact that votes of confidence have been known to lead to something else entirely. That was why most hockey observers were so stunned when the Canucks brass came out with the inane vote of faith in Maloney when in fact it wasn&rsquo;t necessary at all.The cause of the statement from the club was what had transpired after the season ended. Captain Andre Boudrias, who had spent most of the season warming the bench along with Paulin Bordeleau, blasted Maloney for the way he handled the club going down the stretch and almost pinned the blame on Maloney for the club not finishing first in the Smythe Division.&ldquo;Maybe if he&rsquo;d played the right people down the stretch, we&rsquo;d have finished first and not have had to play in the opening round,&rdquo; said Boudrias after the Canucks bowed out two straight to the Islanders, the last game being one in which Boudrias was named one of the stars. And in fact Boudrias had been called off the bench to replace Bobby Lalonde who had suffered knee ligament damage in the first game in Uniondale, N.Y.Boudrias was obviously referring to himself and goaltender Gary Smith, neither of whom played in the last two weeks of the regular schedule. Smith of course was all everything to the club last year but this season had his problems, was suspended at mid-season and was eventually replaced as number one by the very competent Curt Ridley.Smith, who is almost certain to be with another club when next season begins, ended the season on a graceful note, eating some humble pie and accepting some of the blame himself.&ldquo;I hurt the club and I feel badly about it,&rdquo; said Smith after the final game. &ldquo;My performance over the last six months wasn&rsquo;t what I would have liked it to be and I&rsquo;m not proud of it. I had a lot of things on my mind that bothered me and they were mostly my own fault. I was unhappy early in the season, but after my previous season, who am I to be unhappy? I asked to be traded around Christmas, but in the end, no, I don&rsquo;t think I deserved a chance to play again. Not the way Curt (Ridley) was playing.&rdquo;Maloney was certainly not without a defense to the charges of Boudrias, or to the charges of those who felt he should have gone with the more experienced goaltending of Smith in the playoffs and down the stretch.&ldquo;I know how to improve this team, And I could have if anybody had wanted them,&rdquo; said Maloney, referring to his numerous attempts to deal away Boudrias, Smith and Bordeleau during the season. &ldquo;Everyone in B.C. knows he wants to be traded&rdquo;, Maloney said of Smith. &ldquo;I admire him and like him. I only wish he liked his job well enough to play for us.&rdquo;Maloney is alleged to have been on the verge of a one-for-one deal with the California Seals for Smith, a deal that would have brought Gilles Meloche to the Canucks.But the deal never came through because apparently the Seals backed out at the last minute. Smith was mentioned in numerous other similar deals, ones which had him going to Pittsburgh, New York Rangers, etc but none of them came off, probably because the Canucks were asking too much.Bordeleau, who spent much of the season in the Central League with the Tulsa Oilers, says he is at a complete loss about his future.&ldquo;I get the feeling I&rsquo;m not wanted here,&rdquo; said Bordeleau, whose contract expired this season. &ldquo;But nobody has said anything to me about it.&rdquo;Bordeleau, a small forward who has limitless talent, is obviously a victim of the league&rsquo;s stronger emphasis on big, rough players, something he isn&rsquo;t. Where he goes from here is anybody&rsquo;s guess.Maloney has also said&rsquo;that one or two of his seven defensemen don&rsquo;t fit into next year&rsquo;s plans, and in that category fall a number of players with Tracy Pratt as the leading candidate.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02759/3710135-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="556" height="559"><figcaption class="caption-body">PHIL MALONEY &hellip;Player Troubles</figcaption></div>But it&rsquo;s all to be sorted out over the long summer, when other general managers and coaches are facing similar situations and thinking in terms of trades that could help both clubs. Certainly Smith and Boudrias, both of whom have one year left on their contracts, may be able to fit in somewhere else, the only problem being they both make extremely high salaries.But for Maloney, the headaches will eventually clear up only to mushroom into other problems. After all, he hasn&rsquo;t had a visit from friendly Alan Eagleson regarding the contract of Mike Walton for the past little while. Undoubtedly Eagleson will want a three-of four-year deal and Maloney is likely to favor a two-year pact. It&rsquo;s problems like the aforementioned that can give a guy like Maloney the nickname &ldquo;Silver Fox&rdquo;. &#9632;

f0015-01

Owners Least of Maloney’s Problems

MONTREAL&mdash;The New York Islanders headed for their showdown with the favorite Montreal Canadiens and if they play the Habs with the same coolness and determination as they showed the Buffalo Sabres, the result could prove interesting.The Islanders defeated the lacklustre Sabres 4-2 in games in their best-of-seven quarter-final series to win the right to oppose the Canadiens in the semi-final round and the New Yorkers know they&rsquo;ve got their hands full with the Montreal team, which has enjoved two weeks rest since the playoffs began wrapped around an easy four-game sweep of the Chicago Black Hawks.The Islanders haven&rsquo;t been quite as fortunate as the Canadiens. They had to take the Vancouver Canucks out in two games before encoutering the Sabres, who had been expected to do much better then they showed in the series with the Islanders.The New York team, playing its usual disciplined defensive style of hockey behind a hot goaltender, won 4-3 in Buffalo in game five to put the heat on the Sabres when the teams returned to Uniondale, N.Y. for the sixth game. The Isles emerged with the victory 3-2 and the series as Clark Gillies banged in the winning goal and netminder Billy Smith came up with another sterling goaling performance to stymie the Sabres and their highly-touted French Connection Line.Islander coach Al Arbour figured the sixth game against Buffalo was his team&rsquo;s toughest of the playoffs and the most difficult for his team in a long, long time. Arbour credited Smith for a fine game and Smith in turn passed the accolades along to his defense pairs. Denis Potvin plaved a sparing series for the Isles and had 12 playoff points in in this first eight games. &#9632;

Islanders Bounce Sabres With Habs Next Hurdle

<h2>SERIES&rsquo;A&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04400/3710298-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="584" height="85"></div>(Buffalo wins best-of-three senes 2-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thu. April 6Buffalo 2 at St. Louis 5Thu. April 5St. Louis 2 at Buffalo 3Fri. April 9St. Louis 1 at Buffalo 2<h2>SERIES&rsquo;B&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05300/3710291-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="583" height="79"></div>(Islanders wins best-of-three series 2-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. April 6Vancouver 3 at N.Y. Islanders 5Thu. April 8N.Y. Islanders 3 at Vancouver 1<h2>SERIES&rsquo;C&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-06243/3710284-1-eng-US/f0016-062.jpg" title="f0016-06" width="583" height="74"></div>(Los Angeles wins best-of-three series 2-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. April 6Atlanta 1 at Los Angeles 2Thu April 8Los Angeles Vat Atlanta 0<h2>SERIES &lsquo;D&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-07220/3710277-1-eng-US/f0016-072.jpg" title="f0016-07" width="583" height="78"></div>(Toronto wins best-of-three series 2-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. April 6Pittsburgh 1 at Toronto 4Thu. April 8Toronto 0 at Pittsburgh 2Fri. April 9Pittsbcrgh 0 at Toronto 4<h2>SERIES &lsquo;E&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-08201/3710270-1-eng-US/f0016-082.jpg" title="f0016-08" width="586" height="80"></div>(Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. April 11Chicago 0 at Montreal 4Tue. April 13Chicago 1 at Montreal 3Thu. April 15Montreal 2 at Chicago 1Sun. April 18Montreal 4 at Chicago 1<h2>SERIES &lsquo;F&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-09179/3710263-1-eng-US/f0016-092.jpg" title="f0016-09" width="581" height="79"></div>(Philodelphia wins best-of-seven series 4-3)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. April 12Toronto 1 at Philadelphia 4Tue. April 13Toronto 1 at Philadelphia 3Thu. April 15Philadelphia 4 at Toronto 5Sot. April 17Philadelphia 3 at Toronto 4Tue. April 20Toronto 1 at Philadelphia 7Thu. April 22Philadelphia 5 at Toronto 8Sun. April 25Toronto 3 at Philadelphia 7<h2>SERIES &lsquo;G&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-10157/3710256-1-eng-US/f0016-102.jpg" title="f0016-10" width="585" height="80"></div>(Boston wins best-of-seven series 4-3)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. April 11Los Angeles 0 at Boston 4Tue. April 13Los Angeles 3 at Boston 2Thu. April 15Boston 4 at Los Angeles 6Sat. April 17Boston 3 at Los Angeles 0Tue. April 20Los Angeles 1 at Boston 7Thu. April 22Boston 3 at Los Angeles 4Sun. April 25Los Angeles 0 at Boston 3<h2>SERIES &lsquo;H&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-11143/3710249-1-eng-US/f0016-112.jpg" title="f0016-11" width="588" height="74"></div>(Islanders win best-of-seven series 4-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. April 11Islanders 3 at Buffalo 5Tue. April 13Islanders 2 at Buffalo 3Thu. April 15Buffalo 3 at Islanders 5Sat. April 17Buffalo 2 at Islanders 4Tue. April 20Islanders 4 at Buffalo 3Thu. April 22Buffalo 2 at Islanders 3<h2>SERIES&rsquo;I&rsquo;</h2>ISLANDERS vs MONTREAL(Best-of-seven series)Tue. April 27Islanders at MontrealThu. April 29Islanders at MontrealSat. May 1Montreal at IslandersTue. May 4Montreal at IslandersThu. May 6Islanders at MontrealSat. May 8Montreal at IslandersTue. May 11Islanders at Montreal<h2>SERIES &lsquo;J&rsquo;</h2>BOSTON vs PHILADELPHIA(Best-of-seven series)Tue. April 27Boston at PhiladelphiaThu. April 29Boston at PhiladelphiaSun. May 2Philadelphia at BostonTue. May 4Philadelphia at BostonThu. May 6Boston at PhiladelphiaSun. May 9Philadelphia at BostonTue. May 11Boston at Philadelphia<h2>PLAYOFF SCORING</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-12126/3710242-1-eng-US/f0016-122.jpg" title="f0016-12" width="587" height="984"></div> &#9632;

f0016-04

Stanley Cup Scoreboard

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02642/3710180-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">JEAN RATELLE&hellip; Finished Off The Kings</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01748/3710187-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="194" height="348"></div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Tranquility embraced the Stanley Cup quarter-final round after one of the wildest, most penalty-filled series reached its climax as the Philadelphia Flyers finished off the pesky Toronto Maple Leafs in the seventh and deciding game of their bruising best-of-seven playoffs.The Flyers won a berth in the semi-finals when they beat the Leafs 7-3 in the seventh game at the Spectrum in a game that was like a Sunday school picnic compared to the earlier contests staged in Toronto&rsquo;s Maple Leaf Gardens.The Leafs brought the Flyers to their knees when they came back from the brink of elimination to outmuscle and outhustle them 8-5 in game six of the series, an evening renowed for many things:&bull; Leafs&rsquo; center and captain Darryl Sittier popped in five goals to tie Maurice Richard&rsquo;s long-standing record for most playoff goals.&bull; The teams totalled 185 penalty minutes, 94 to the Leafs and 91 to the Flyers. Referee Wally Harris handed out 25 minors, 11 majors, three 10-minute misconducts, four game misconducts and a gross misconduct.&bull; Flyers were involved in another penalty box incident with spectators and police in which Flyers&rsquo; Bob Kelly threw his glove in anger and struck a rink usherette in the face. On his way to the dressing room Dave Schultz was jostled by a fan.&bull; Schultz accused Leafs&rsquo; Tiger Williams of biting him on the face during a third-period fight and displayed teeth marks that were inspected by NHL president Clarence Campbell.There were other happenings in the mayhem-filled game. Leafs&rsquo;s defenseman Brian Glennie accidentally suffered a broken jaw from a shot and was out of the playoffs. In the end coach Red Kelly credited the Leafs&rsquo; victory to &ldquo;pyramid power&rdquo; but conceded a good performance on the ice produced another miracle for the Leafs.The miracles and pyramids came to an abrupt end when the Flyers went home to Philly to wrap up the series with a convincing final game victory in which they exploded for five second-period goals, four of them in a space of four minutes, and the Leafs were out of it. Rookie Mel Bridgman scored twice to spark the upsurge that brought elimination to Toronto.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03512/3710173-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="1176" height="1174"><figcaption class="caption-body">DARRYLSITTLER&hellip; Tied Richard&rsquo;s Record</figcaption></div>The victory was again achieved in the Spectrum where the Flyers exhorted tremendous pressure on the opposition to turn the game and series around in quick time.The Leafs moved out and the Boston Bruins came in as the next round of the Stanley Cup playoffs matched the Bruins and Flyers in a best-of-seven series that will see the Flyers have the home ice advantage once more meaning if the round went all the way four games would be played in Philly where they rarely if ever lose a game.The Bruins made it to the semifinals by nullifying the Los Angeles&rsquo; defense with an overpowering offense to take the best-of-seven series in seven games. The Kings made it extremely difficult for the Bruins by winning one game on Boston ice. Boston won the final game 3-0 as goaler Gil Gilbert posted the shutout that eliminated the Kings.With Marcel Dionne leading their offense, the Kings extended the series to the limit as Butch Goring scored in overtime to win the sixth game 4-3 in L. A. after the Bruins had gone ahead in the series with a 7-1 romp in the fifth game at Boston.Jean Ratelle with seven playoff goals was the hero for the Bruins. He scored twice in the windup game. &#9632;

f0016-02

Pesky Leafs Take Flyers To Limit; Bruins Oust Kings In 7-Game Set

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01643/3710518-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="762" height="988"></div>Warning: Health and Welfare Canada advises that danger to health increases with amount smoked - avoid inhaling. Av per cigarette: Regular: !6mg &lsquo;tar&rdquo; 1.2mg. nicotine King: 18mg &ldquo;tar&rdquo; 1.3mg nicofine<h2>SERIES &lsquo;F&rsquo;</h2><h3>Mon. April 12</h3>TORONTO 1, PHILADELPHIA 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02555/3710511-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="592" height="431"></div>(Philadelphia leads best-of-seven series 1-0)<h3>Tue. April 13</h3>TORONTO 1, PHILADELPHIA 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03450/3710504-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="593" height="425"></div>(Philadelphia leads best-of-seven series 2-0)<h3>Thu. April 15</h3>PHILADELPHIA 4, TORONTO 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04342/3710497-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="591" height="725"></div>(Philadelphia leads best-of-seven series 2-1)<h3>Sat. April 17</h3>PHILADELPHIA 3, TORONTO 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05271/3710490-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg" title="f0017-05" width="581" height="452"></div>(Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)<h3>Tue. April 20</h3>TORONTO 1, PHILADELPHIA 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-06226/3710483-1-eng-US/f0017-062.jpg" title="f0017-06" width="592" height="496"></div>(Philadelphia leads best-of-seven series 3-2)<h3>Thu. April 22</h3>PHILADELPHIA 5, TORONTO 8<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-07195/3710476-1-eng-US/f0017-072.jpg" title="f0017-07" width="586" height="158"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-08162/3710469-1-eng-US/f0017-082.jpg" title="f0017-08" width="587" height="597"></div>(Best-of-seven series tied 3-3).<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-09145/3710462-1-eng-US/f0017-092.jpg" title="f0017-09" width="2412" height="1666"><figcaption class="caption-body">Islander defenseman Bert Marshall tussles with Sabres&rsquo; Jim Lorentx for puck during New York-Buffalo series. Marshall scored a game-winning goal in series, which Islanders won 4-2 in games.</figcaption></div><h3>Sun. April 2S</h3>TORONTO 3, PHILADELPHIA 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-10133/3710455-1-eng-US/f0017-102.jpg" title="f0017-10" width="592" height="150"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-11116/3710448-1-eng-US/f0017-112.jpg" title="f0017-11" width="585" height="350"></div>(Philadelphia wins best-of-seven senes 4-3).<h2>SERIES &lsquo;G&rsquo;</h2><h3>Sun. April 11</h3>LOS ANGELES 0, BOSTON 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-12105/3710441-1-eng-US/f0017-122.jpg" title="f0017-12" width="584" height="359"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1386/3710434-1-eng-US/f0017-132.jpg" title="f0017-13" width="585" height="103"></div>(Boston leads best-of-seven series 1-0).<h3>Tue. April 13</h3>LOS ANGELES 3, BOSTON 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1475/3710427-1-eng-US/f0017-142.jpg" title="f0017-14" width="585" height="432"></div>(Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)<h3>Thu. April 15</h3>BOSTON 4, LOS ANGELES 6Boston, 1&mdash;Sheppard (Cashman, Smith) 5.02, 2&mdash;Bos<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01268/3710420-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="582" height="428"></div>(Lot Angeles leads best-of-seven series 2-1)<h3>Sat. April 17</h3>BOSTON 3, LOS ANGELES 0<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02213/3710413-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="581" height="348"></div>(Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)<h3>Tue. April 20</h3>LOS ANGELES 1, BOSTON 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03156/3710406-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="598" height="542"></div>(Boston leads best-of-seven series 3-2)<h3>Thu. April 22</h3>BOSTON 3, LOS ANGELES 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-04123/3710399-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="577" height="196"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0596/3710392-1-eng-US/f0027-052.jpg" title="f0027-05" width="580" height="271"></div>(Best-of-seven series tied 3-3).<h3>Sun. April 25</h3>LOS ANGELES 0, BOSTON 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0677/3710385-1-eng-US/f0027-062.jpg" title="f0027-06" width="582" height="449"></div>(Boston wins best of seven series 4-3)<h2>SERIES &lsquo;H&rsquo;</h2><h3>Sun. April 11</h3>ISLANDERS 3, BUFFALO 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0767/3710378-1-eng-US/f0027-072.jpg" title="f0027-07" width="582" height="453"></div>Buffalo leads best-of-seven series 1-0).<h3>Tue. April 13</h3>ISLANDERS 2, BUFFALO 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0863/3710371-1-eng-US/f0027-082.jpg" title="f0027-08" width="582" height="355"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0962/3710364-1-eng-US/f0027-092.jpg" title="f0027-09" width="580" height="103"></div>(Buffalo leods best-of-seven series 2-0)<h3>Thu. April 15</h3>BUFFALO 3, ISLANDERS 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1058/3710357-1-eng-US/f0027-102.jpg" title="f0027-10" width="580" height="498"></div>(Buffalo leads best-of-seven series 2-1)<h3>Sat. April 17</h3>BUFFALO 2, ISLANDERS 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1149/3710350-1-eng-US/f0027-112.jpg" title="f0027-11" width="582" height="403"></div>Attendance:14,865(Best-of seven sei ies tied 2-2).<h3>Tue. April 20</h3>ISLANDERS 4, BUFFALO 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1242/3710343-1-eng-US/f0027-122.jpg" title="f0027-12" width="532" height="469"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1337/3710336-1-eng-US/f0027-132.jpg" title="f0027-13" width="565" height="72"></div>(Islanders lead best-of-seven series 3-2).<h3>Thu. April 22</h3>BUFFALO 2, ISLANDERS 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1433/3710329-1-eng-US/f0027-142.jpg" title="f0027-14" width="583" height="392"></div> &#9632;

f0017-01

Stanley Cup Playoff Summaries

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY&rsquo; LTD Arnold Street. WaHaceburg Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY&rsquo; LTD Arnold Street. WaHaceburg Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01656/3710549-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="556" height="1633"><figcaption class="caption-body">PIT MARTIN &hellip; We Need A Change</figcaption></div>CHICAGO&mdash;There&rsquo;ll be some changes made in the Black Hawks next season. You can bet your sweet bippy on it.The alterations, mind you, will not be promulgated through panic. The Wirtz family which owns the Chicago franchise is pretty good at pressing buttons, but the panic button is not one of them.By the same token, the Wirtzes are good businessmen. And when there were some 3,000 unoccupied seats for the Hawks&rsquo; first home game of the Stanley Cup quarter final series against the Montreal Canadiens, well, that&rsquo;s not good business.Feel free to assume, then, that the Black Hawks will undergo a facial. It could involve general manager Tommy Ivan. It could involve coach Billy Reay. It could involve several players. It could involve all of them.For many years, there have been rumors, of course, that Ivan would curtail his duties as Chicago GM. He is 65, he is not in the best of health, and those trips he must take to the Mayo Clinic are not his favorite subject.Neither is public discussion of his future.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t say what is going to happen, and I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s proper for me to talk it over in the newspapers before I talk it over with my employers,&rdquo; said Ivan. &ldquo;Sometimes you feel that you&rsquo;ve had enough, and other times you feel that you&rsquo;d like to go on. But we have a meeting &mdash; all of us &mdash; at the end of every season. There, we plan what we&rsquo;ll do for the next season. This year will be no different.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s quite likely that Ivan will assume an advisory role within the organization (vice president of hockey?) while Reay moves up to the GM portfolio after 13 years pacingthe Hawk bench.This logical progression seemed logical a few years ago, but Reay, quite naturally, always has insisted on naming his own coach were he to be promoted to general manager.The Hawks seemingly had an heir apparent in Bobby Kromm, who won year after year with the Dallas Black Hawks of the Central League. Every year he was going to move up to Chicago, and every year he didn&rsquo;t. There is only one available deduction: Reay didn&rsquo;t want Kromm, who now works for Winnipeg, as does Bobby Hull.If Reay moves up, there is a chance, of course, that he would coach for a year, too, in addition to his GM chores. If not, who would be the new Black Hawk coach? Well, Al MacNeil might be available. He coached the Montreal Canadiens to a Stanley Cup over Chicago in 1971 before moving to the Nova Scotia Voyageurs. He once played in Chicago, and, by the way, what was he doing in town a few weeks ago?If not MacNeil, might a candidate be Brian Shaw? He has tutored a couple Black Hawks such as Phil Russell and Darcy Rota in the junior ranks, he coached the Edmonton club in the WHA for a jyief spell, and he has often been seen dining with Reay. And by the way, what was he doing in town a few weeks ago?Now, about the product. Empty seats appeared in Chicago this year as they seldom have before. TV ratings dipped to 3s and 4s on the new Hawk channel &mdash; (when Hull was around, ratings were 14s and 15s). And the radio station which handles Hawk games is not perspiring over signing a new contract for next year.After an excellent first half, during which they led the division rivals by as many as 14 points, the Black Hawks fell all over themselves in the homestretch and had to wait until the last night of the regular season to beat St. Louis for a one-point Conn Smythe Division title over Vancouver.The Black Hawks&rsquo; prize for all these heroics was a first round bye and a second bye bye against the Montreal Canadiens, who were expected to dispose of the Hawks in four easy pieces and didn&rsquo;t have much problem.&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t go on like this,&rdquo; said Pit Martin. &ldquo;We have to make some changes and get a goal scorer on this club next year. Last season, we had attitude problems. This year, our spirit has been good, but we just need some scoring punch. Give us the 40 goals we lost when Jimmy Pappin was traded, and we&rsquo;ll be OK.&ldquo;That would mean an extra 15 points in the standings to us, I&rsquo;ll bet. I still think we can do it defensively. People say this club lost it defensively, but the fact is that we played in so many games trailing 1-0 and 2-1 entering the third period that it put a lot of pressure on us defensively.&rdquo;There is probably only one person on earth who could score 40 goals and still help the Hawks defensively and still put people back in the seats of Chicago stadium and do a lot of other things that other Black Hawks haven&rsquo;t been doing lately.His initials are Bobby Orr. &#9632;

f0018-01

Hawks Need Facelift To Refill Seats

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div>NEW YORK&mdash;Do the Rangers care about the success of the New York Islanders? Are they unhappy with their status as number two in New York?&ldquo;You can bet we are,&rdquo; said Rod Gilbert, the Blueshirts&rsquo; leading scorer and MVP in the recently concluded season. &ldquo;This has been an unbelievably bad year.&rdquo;Gilbert, who sometimes shows his emotions vividly, has been personally hurt by the Rangers&rsquo; plunge to the depths. He is the only Ranger who lives in Manhattan, either permanently or during the season, except for recently acquired players who may batch it in a hotel for a short period of time, until they can get settled. As such, he is &ldquo;Mr. New York Ranger.&rdquo;His performance this year was solid, 36 goals, 50 assists, 86 points and 15 go ahead goals, plus four game winners.He was emotionally hurt when Emile Francis, then the general manager, gave the captaincy to Phil Esposito at the time of &lsquo;The Trade&rsquo; in November.&ldquo;I spoke up about Jean Ratelle and it cost me the captaincy,&rdquo; said Rod. &ldquo;I feel I have earned it.&rdquo;Gilbert smoldered when Esposito was made captain. Frustrations of the year and of the many years without winning the cup had finally worn down the genteel nature of the man they call &ldquo;Rocky.&rdquo;Withouta doubt, Rod, now 35, is the most popular Ranger with the fans who buy tickets in Madison Square Garden. He appreciates the feelings of the fans more so than many of his teammates &mdash; and he sympathizes with the problems of new general managercoach John Ferguson.&ldquo;Ferguson came into a very tough situation. We showed progress at the end, except for that bad game against the Islanders (a 10-2 loss April 3). And we beat the Islanders once and also Philadelphia. We went out with our fans cheering on the last day against Philadelphia.&rdquo;That, alone was progress. From mid-February on Ranger fans were once more acting like normal home town hockey fans and pulling for their team to make the playoffs. The Blueshirts were backed with some vociferous rooting against California February 26, and against the Atlanta Flames March 7, in the crucial encounter with the Dixie team. In the final half year of the Francis regime, grumbling and discontent amongst the paying guests were evident. Cries of &ldquo;Refund, Refund&rdquo; and the famous night when Eddie Giacomin made his debut with the Detroit Red Wings &mdash; and the Rangers became the visiting team as far as emotions were concerned, seemed to be in the past.Still, most Ranger fans want and expect changes on their last place team. Who are most likely to go? Number one on the list is seldom used goalie Dune Wilson. Almost sure to retire is defenseman Ron Harris, who was unable to fully recover from his latest knee surgery &mdash; and who got into only three games in 1975-76. Dave Lewis, an early season protege of Ron Stewart, won&rsquo;t be back.Others in danger include right wing Billy Fairbairn, who managed a mere 13-15-28. Billy, who normally plays with center Walter Tkaczuk, was adversely affected by Walter&rsquo;s massive slump. Right wing Billy Collins would seem to be in danger. So might defenseman Doug Jarrett, who had knee problems. One thing in Jarrett&rsquo;s favor is his experience and the fact he is a legitimate hitter.Gilles Marotte, who always tries harder, still falls short as a defenseman when the money is on the line. He might be tradable. John Bednarski has the heart of a lion, but is short of talent. That&rsquo;s seven potential spots on Ferguson&rsquo;s training camp list.What about Tkaczuk? Walter might stay a Ranger. He has two years to go on a contract which is at least $150,000 per season. Would the Vancouver Canucks, who have expressed some interest in Walter, be willing to pick up that tab? Maybe so, but maybe no. He got only eight goals and 28 assists for 36 points, but still might survive.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01627/3710580-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="582" height="624"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROD GILBERT</figcaption></div>If he does, Peter Stemkowski&rsquo;s days could once more be numbered. This column traded Peter all last summer, and was glad when he didn&rsquo;t go, but the Tkaczuk situation may have a bearing on Stemmer&rsquo;s final port of call.Rumors about Phil Esposito&rsquo;s departure realistically should boil down to only two teams, Chicago and Los Angeles. Remember, these are rumors. Esposito is the logical man to lead the Rangers back. Ferguson believes this more than most. But Chicago could bolster its sagging gate with Espo, and unite him with his brother Tony. The Kings, backed by Jack Kent Cooke&rsquo;s moolah are building, star by star. Marcel Dionne one year, Espo the next. It sounds good, but most likely it&rsquo;s just talk. &#9632;

f0019-01

Rangers Unhappy Over No. 2 Status

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01476/3710625-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="510" height="468"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02352/3710618-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="465" height="463"></div>LOS ANGELES-Some observers believed the Bruins would start a sweep of its quarter-final playoff series with the Kings by sweeping the opening pair of contests in Boston. After a 4-0 conquest of the Los Angeles team in the opener, Boston newsmen arrogantly labelled Marcel Dionne a &ldquo;$l.5 million clinker&rdquo; and termed his team the worst to play in Boston this season and unworthy of a playoff role.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03291/3710611-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="566" height="1560"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARCEL DIONNE Proving His Worth</figcaption></div>This despite the fact that the Kings had been the last team to defeat the Bruins in Boston back on Dec. 23 when backup goaler Gary Edwards and Dionne led them to a 4-3 upset. Some 17 victories, four ties and no defeats later, the Bruins again tasted defeat at home as Edwards, Dionne and the Kings, perhaps inspired by the newspaper nonsense, won the second game of the series, 3-2.Kings&rsquo; owner Jack Kent Cooke had heard and read all season that the deal that sent Danny Maloney and Terry Harper to Detroit for Dionne was responsible for his team&rsquo;s disappointing performances. After Dionne, who tallied three times in the earlier win in Boston, tallied twice to bring them from 0-1 and 1-2 deficits in this one, Cooke was ecstatic.As the scene shifted to Los Angeles for the third and fourth games. Cooke enthused confidence. When the Kings fell behind, 0-2, in the third game, his countenance darkened. But when Dionne drove home three straight goals to cap a rally that thrust the Kings in front, 4-3, the owner was on his feet and doing a victory dance in his private box high up in the north end of the suburban Forum, taxing his troubled heart.After that last goal, the club&rsquo;s second sellout in its playoff history went wild and a lady leaped from the stands into Cooke&rsquo;s box to hug and kiss the surprised, but pleased owner. When a little later, Donnie Kozak added another goal to touch off another celebration, the multi-millionnaire owner deserted NHL president Clarence Campbell to democratically sit with the lady and her friends in their section for awhile.To my memory, this is the first time Jack has so surprised his paying customers with a personal visit and at this time this much-maligned man&rsquo;s popularity with the public never has been higher.We were among those who thought the Dionne deal a bad one, not because Dionne was bad, but because he might be bad for this conservative club. And it has taken time to adjust to him and this has hurt at times. However, now it appears better times are ahead because a better team than before can be built around his brilliance.Only a few players in the NHL are capable of scoring two or three of the five goals the agile and quick Dionne counted in his clutch spree. Several players on both sides called one of them as good a goal as they ever have seen scored.He got the puck chest high, darted around two defensemen as it was falling, and bouncing, leaped over the goaltender&rsquo;s and skate as he was falling, and stick popped the puck into the net. Contrary to the belief that long arms and a long stick help in hockey, King goaler Rogie Vachon observed that &ldquo;only a player with short arms and a short stick such as Marcel has could have made that play from in so close.&rdquo;So, we were wrong. Maloney still is missed, as he was in the rough fourth-game defeat, and he&rsquo;d be a perfect partner to Marcel, but you can&rsquo;t go wrong with a player as dynamic as Dionne. He does not always, but when he plays with the passion he displayed in the third and fourth games of this series, he is that rare talent that can lift a team all by himself.After sweeping Atlanta in the first series, the Kings copped out of their defeat in the first game of this second series in Boston by saying they were &ldquo;flat&rdquo;. One L.A. newspaper account of this defeat used &ldquo;flat,&rdquo; &ldquo;letdown&rdquo;, or words to that effect 10 times. These are words the Kings used after 20 of their 33 defeats this season. They are not acceptable as alibis to Cooke.Anyone can have a bad day. The Kings had some bad nights. Presumably they were trying in them. They are not unbeatable and don&rsquo;t have to find an excuse every time they are beaten. But if they aren&rsquo;t &ldquo;up&rdquo; for a playoff game, they don&rsquo;t belong in the playoffs.Perhaps the unfair press inspired Dionne and his mates after that when they proved they belonged. Dionne is one who never alibis a bad game, but he admitted he was upset by ridicule dealt him.After his team&rsquo;s slow start he put them back into the second game and they won it 27 seconds into overtime on the continuation of a power play when Mike Murphy&rsquo;s shot deflected off Butch Goring into the Bruin net.The Kings did not have a shot on goal for the first nine minutes of the first game and 15 of the second game.The turning points of the first and third games came on officiating.When Neil Komadoski protested a tripping call, it cost him a double minor and the Bruins scored on both power-plays to surge toward victory in the opening game. The Kings contended Komadoski&rsquo;s check was clean. TV replays showed it was, but referee John McCauley didn&rsquo;t have the benefit of TV replaysHowever, in the third game, the Kings did not protest a major penalty called by Lloyd Gilmour on Wayne Cashman for cutting King Vic Venasky when it was King Don Kozak whose stick did the damage. The Kings scored on this one to get back into a game they wound up winning, 6-4. Only one newsman used the truth in his story and he buried it in his notes.Blaming officials can be a copout, too.When the Bruins roared out roughly for the fourth game, the ref called penalties on them until he seemed to tire of it, but the Kings failed to take advantage of 7 1/2 minutes of power plays. When the Bruins took advantage of their first power play to take a 1-0 lead before the first period was finished, the Kings let down and were on their way to a 3-0 loss that sent the teams back to Boston all even.The second straight sellout crowd was disappointed, but the million-dollar marvel Marcel Dionne had proven the Kings did not need excuses and belonged in a playoff that turned out a lot tougher than had been expected in Boston. &#9632;

f0020-01

Dionne Deal Pays Off In Playoffs

<div class="byline">BY JACK McCARTHY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01319/3710656-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GIL GILBERT&hellip; Playoff Shutout</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;The Kings played kitty-bar-the-door hockey in Boston to get a split in then first two games of their Stanley Cup round against the Bruins and everyone said they stunk the building out.No one knows why they stopped but they did and it cost them the series. The Bruins opened up the play in game five and won in a romp 7-1 and when the two clubs had to come back here to decide the series in a seventh game, the Bruins prevailed again 3-0 with Gil Gilbert hanging a shutout on the Kings.Oldtime Boston fans remember the defensive strategy of past playoff years well but was it more than playoff hockey as practiced for a decade in the old NHL and especially by Toronto teams, one of whose members was the Kings&rsquo; coach, Bob Pulford?At any rate the Kings pursued their objective so well in the first two games in the Garden that they went almost the whole first period (15:03) in the second game before they got a shot on net. That was playing it a little fine. Even the Toronto teams that practiced clutch-and-grab for so many years didn&rsquo;t wait that long.It was, however, what the Kings figured they had to do against the Bruins, who were heavily favored to bomb them. And L.A. did keep themselves very much in the series with their tactics.One of the reasons they fared so well in the early going was that they were able to blunt the Boston power-play, and wound up winning the second game with a power job in overtime themselves. And the play of two veterans, one young, one old, was the difference. Said Pulford, &ldquo;Butch Goring and Bob Nevin stopped their power play, and the goaltending of Gary Edwards got us out alive&hellip;&rdquo;Said a Bruin, &ldquo;They had us so that eventually we began to throw passes away and take bad shots. We were getting frustrated. After that, it sort of became our style of play and we got in a rut&hellip;&rdquo;Although it may have been that the Kings didn&rsquo;t figure to give Boston a good run, the building in Boston was not sold out for the first game, and after everyone got through lambasting a dull game, it wasn&rsquo;t sold out for the second game either. Which either tells you something about the style of play, or the economy, or both.Something is wrong when you can&rsquo;t sell out a quarter-final of a cup series in a town like Boston. Perhaps the absence of Bobby Orr might have accounted for those unsold seats.One recalls, however, that even the way the Leafs played, not only in the regular season, but especially in the playoffs, it was always tough to get a ticket when they met Boston in Cup games. Guys like Gus Mortson, Joe Klukay and Harry Watson used to tie the Bruins in knots, if memory serves. But there was always a raucous crowd on hand to boil them to the rafters and screech at referees like King Clancy and George Gravel.The trap, of course, with this style of play, especially in playoff hockey, is that the team which is being defensed gets a little angry and starts taking the bad penalties, which can lead to a quick exit.BEANTOWN BANTER: Goring, who got the winning goal in overtime in the second game in Boston, figures that Massachusetts must be his lucky state&hellip;He said, &ldquo;In Springfield a few seasons back, I scored against Quebec in the final regular-season game to put us into the playoffs.&rdquo;&hellip;The team then went on to win the Calder Cup, during which action, Goring was a standout.Brad Park, whose knee stood up over the first three games in his return from surgery, would have helped the Boston power play more if he had been able to go all out. But both Dr. Earle Wilkins and Park were happy with the way the knee responded after such a long layoff from game competition&hellip;One cannot help but wonder what would have happened if the Bruins had Orr and Park at the points on the power play, but that is water over the dam&hellip;Park noted that the Kings had adjusted after their rough first period in the second game. &ldquo;They played well after that. They adjusted a little and had their defensemen playing tight in our end, moving up to the faceoff circles and pinching our forwards in. You have to give them credit&hellip; &#9632;

f0021-01

Kings’ Defensive Hockey Fails To Deter Bruins

<div class="byline">BY RICH PASSAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01346/3710687-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Defenseman Brad Selwood is back in the Whaler lineup after a long absence with an injury. Selwood&rsquo;s return could be a big factor in a playoff win over Indianapolis.</figcaption></div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD.Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD.Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaThe New England Whalers went into Indianapolis with the express purpose of gaining a split with the Racers in their best-of-seven East Division final playoff series.And they got exactly what they were after. What they didn&rsquo;t figure on was departing the Indiana city with one less goaltender.Bruce Landon, who had filled in well for Christer Abrahamsson after the latter suffered a bad neck injury in Phoenix, suffered torn ligaments and tendons in his right ankle in the first period of the 4-1 opening-game victory.Landon, who backstopped the Whalers to a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Crusaders in the opening round, was trying to change directions when his skate caught in a rut.Cap Raeder, the former University of New Hampshire netminder who had logged just 100 minutes between the pipes for the Whalers this season, came in and throttled the Racers, who looked sluggish after a 12-day layoff.&ldquo;We were missing passes by two feet,&rdquo; said Indy coach Jacques Demers. &ldquo;The long layoff did not help us.&rdquo;Raeder, with fine help from his defense, turned back all 16 shots thrown at him in the final two periods while his teammates beat Michel Dion and Jim Park three times in the final 40 minutes.After Larry Pleau and Mike Parizeau traded first-period goals, Rosie Paiement put the Harpoonists shead to stay in the second period and Doug Roberts and Ralph Backstrom added insurance tallies in the final period.The second game saw the Racers regain their skating legs in a 4-0 victory. But Park wore the hero&rsquo;s mantel in this one, stopping the Whalers cold 29 times. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t play that badly in the second game,&rdquo; said New England coach Harry Neale. &ldquo;Park was just unbeatable.&rdquo;Due to the injuries to Abrahamsson and Landon, the Whalers were forced to call in Boston University goaltender Pat Devlin as a backup for the second game.The New Englanders then received permission to summon netminder Gaye Cooley from Charlotte of the Southern Hockey League, but with one main stipulation. He was to play only if Raeder got hurt or was unable to play.Originally, the only goalkeeper the Whalers could have activated was Ron Docket, who played with Johnstown of the North American League. But the youngster was tied into a movie contract &mdash; the film &ldquo;Slapshot&rdquo; is being made in Johnstown &mdash; and had to turn down the Whalers.The third and fourth games of the series were played on New England ice at the Civic Center here. That&rsquo;s almost like playing at home for the Racers this year.In seven regular-season meetings, the Indianapolis skaters won four and tied two, including a couple of clutch victories down the stretch when they fooled everybody and wound up first in the East Division.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to have to change that to win,&rdquo; said Neale, who took over the bench chores from Don Blackburn a month before the end of the season.&ldquo;They play a little better on the road because of their style of play,&rdquo; analyzed Neale, who started out the season behind the bench of the now-defunct Minnesota Fighting Saints.&ldquo;That means we have to take the game to them and force them to open up by scoring first. We have to make sure we get some tempo in the game and keep it moving. They protect a lead as well as any team in the league.&rdquo;Neale calls this a series between &ldquo;two evenly matched teams. The team that works the hardest, gets the breaks and good goaltending will be the winner. On paper, that puts us at a disadvantage because of our goaltender. But you never know. Our guy might be as good as any one of their goaltenders. Some stars are born under such circumstances.&rdquo;CINCINNATI: The Stingers may not have won a World Trophy playoff spot this season, but they covered themselves with glory at various times during the 1975-76 campaign.Their 26-14 record at the Riverfront Coliseum was one of the best home marks in the WHA. But they had a little extra going for them when &lsquo;America The Beautiful&rsquo; was played before a game.When the Star Spangled Banner was played, the Stingers were just 5-7, as opposed to a 21-7 logging with ATB.The Bees, who bounced in and out of first place in the East Division most of the season, proved a good draw in their first year. Final attendance figures show them luring 307,972 fans to Riverfront, an average of 7,682.Statistically, Rick Dudley led the club in goals (43), points (81) and power play goals (13); Soupy Campbell had the most assists (51), and John Hughes led in penalty minutes(201).CLEVELAND: The Crusaders put on one final rally before submitting to the relentless New England Whalers in their best-of-five quarter-final round playoff series.The C&rsquo;s, blown off the ice in the first two games of the series, stormed out to a 2-0 lead in the third game before the Whalers made their comeback in a 3-2 victory.The two playoff games in Cleveland drew a total of less than 8,000 people in the cavernous Coliseum in Richfield. Owner Jay Moore faces a massive rebuilding job for next season. The town is in love with the basketball Cavaliers and few people know hockey exists. &#9632;

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Whalers Lose Landon In Costly Road Split

<div class="byline">BY DOUG McCONNELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01326/3710718-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg"></div>SAN DIEGO&mdash;The San Diego Mariners approach their World Hockey Association Western Division best-of-seven final with the defending Avco World Trophy champion Houston Aeros with more confidence than they did their semi final series with the Phoenix Roadrunners.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a better chance against Houston than we had against Phoenix,&rdquo; declared the Mariner captain Norm Ferguson, who snared the season&rsquo;s team goal scoring leadership with Gene Peacosh (37) and whose second goal of the playoffs was the winner in the Mariners&rsquo; 2-1 victory in the deciding game of the series.The Mariners won five of 12 in regular season against Houston, but only three of 12 against Phoenix.Besides, since a success motivation lecture by hypnotist Dr. Michael Dean when they were behind 2-1 in the series, the Mariners believe they can win.&ldquo;Dr. Dean didn&rsquo;t put us under hypnosis,&rdquo; said Ferguson, &ldquo;just talked to us. You&rsquo;ve read Dr. Norman Vincent Peale&rsquo;s Power of Positive Thinking? Well, it was something like that. He got us to believing in ourselves. We had reached the point where we just felt we&rsquo;d lose when we played Phoenix.&rdquo;The Mariners exhibited more experience than the youth-laden Roadrunners but they had further motivation. Hunger.They are on a mission to pick up some playoff money to pay some bills and buy some groceries. They haven&rsquo;t been paid in over a month, since Joseph Schwartz forfeited the franchise and the Mariners became wards of the league.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re supposed to get a cut of the gate receipts,&rdquo; said Ferguson, &ldquo;but the crowds have been so small that doesn&rsquo;t amount to much.&ldquo;If the sale of the club goes through, we&rsquo;ll get all our back pay, though. That&rsquo;s one of the conditions of the sale.&rdquo;The Mariners had to be thinking there was no way they could beat the Roadrunners when they blew a 4-1 lead into a 6-4 loss to fall behind 2-1 in the series.&ldquo;They just blew it,&rdquo; said a disgusted Mariner coach, Ron Ingram, after that one. &ldquo;They didn&rsquo;t have the consciousness to ice the puck and slow things down.&rdquo;After Del Hall gave the Road - runners the first goal, San Diego stormed into the lead with goals by Brent Hughes, Gene Peacosh, Ray Adduono and John French before the first period ended.Jim Boyd opened the Roadrunners&rsquo; four-goal second period flurry and Robbie Ftorek, Gary Veneruzzo and Ron Huston completed it. Lauri Mononen fired the clincher in the third period.After their success motivation session, the Mariners swamped the Roadrunners 5-1 in San Diego. Kevin Devine, Brian Morenz and Andre Lacroix scored before Cam Connor deflected a Garry Lariviere shot for the only Phoenix goal and Alex Tidey and Bob Wall scored after it.Tidey, the sixth round draft choice whose biggest problem in his rookie season is getting arena announcers to pronounce his name correctly, scored the first goal in the final game.After John Gray poked a rebound in to tie the score, Ferguson took just 65 seconds to put the Mariners ahead with the final margin.The goal make up for the one kicked into his own net in over-time by defenseman Hughes in the opening game of the series.&ldquo;My shot went between (Jack) Norris&rsquo; legs,&rdquo; said Ferguson. &ldquo;He knew he didn&rsquo;t have it, turned around and in his anxiety to find it, knocked it in.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Power Of Positive Thinking Made Believers Of Mariners

<h2>SERIES &lsquo;C&rsquo;</h2><h3>Fri. April 9</h3>CLEVELAND 3, NEW ENGLAND 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01334/3710882-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="590" height="481"></div>(New England leads best-of-five series 1-0)<h3>Sat. April 10</h3>NEW ENGLAND 6, CLEVELAND 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02262/3710875-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="586" height="512"></div>(New England leads best-of-five series 2-0)<h3>Sun. April 11</h3>NEW ENGLAND 3, CLEVELAND 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03184/3710868-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="586" height="485"></div>(New England leads best-of-seven series 3-0).<h2>SERIES &lsquo;D&rsquo;</h2><h3>Sat. April 10</h3>PHOENIX 2, SAN DIEGO 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04139/3710861-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="586" height="471"></div>(Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)<h3>Tue. April 13</h3>SAN DIEGO 4, PHOENIX 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-05107/3710854-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="581" height="129"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0692/3710847-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="588" height="359"></div>(Phoenix leads best-of-seven series 2-1)<h3>Sat April 17</h3>SAN DIEGO 2, PHOENIX 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0778/3710840-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="582" height="334"></div>(San Diego wins best-of-five series 3-2).<h2>SERIES E</h2><h3>Fri. April 16</h3>NEW ENGLAND 4, INDNANAPOLIS 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0873/3710833-1-eng-US/f0024-082.jpg" title="f0024-08" width="586" height="231"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0967/3710826-1-eng-US/f0024-092.jpg" title="f0024-09" width="589" height="180"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1060/3710819-1-eng-US/f0024-102.jpg" title="f0024-10" width="590" height="448"></div>(New England leods best-of-seven series 1-0)<h3>Sat. April 17</h3>NEW ENGLAND 0, INDIANAPOLIS 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1158/3710812-1-eng-US/f0024-112.jpg" title="f0024-11" width="586" height="348"></div>(Best-of-seven senes tied 1-1).<h3>Wed. April 21</h3>INDIANAPOLIS 0, NEW ENGLAND 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1251/3710805-1-eng-US/f0024-122.jpg" title="f0024-12" width="594" height="400"></div>(New England leads best-of-seven series 2-1)<h3>Fri. April 23</h3>INDIANAPOLIS 1, NEW ENGLAND 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1341/3710798-1-eng-US/f0024-132.jpg" title="f0024-13" width="594" height="404"></div>(New Englond leads best-of-seven series 3-1)<h3>Sat. April 24</h3>NEW ENGLAND 0, INDIANAPOLIS 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1433/3710791-1-eng-US/f0024-142.jpg" title="f0024-14" width="591" height="182"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1529/3710784-1-eng-US/f0024-152.jpg" title="f0024-15" width="595" height="448"></div>(New England leads best-of-seven series 3-2).<h2>SERIES &lsquo;F&rsquo;</h2><h3>Wed. April 21</h3>SAN DIEGO 6, Houston 8<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1627/3710777-1-eng-US/f0024-162.jpg" title="f0024-16" width="593" height="402"></div>(Houston leads best-of-seven series 1-0)<h3>Fri. April 23</h3>SAN DIEGO 1, HOUSTON 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1724/3710770-1-eng-US/f0024-172.jpg" title="f0024-17" width="594" height="531"></div>(Houston leads best-of-seven series 2-0)<h3>Sun. April 25</h3>HOUSTON 8, SAN DIEGO 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1823/3710763-1-eng-US/f0024-182.jpg" title="f0024-18" width="585" height="427"></div>(Houston leads best-of-seven series 3-0).<h2>SERIES &lsquo;G&rsquo;</h2><h3>Fri. April 23</h3>CALGARY 1, WINNIPEG 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1923/3710756-1-eng-US/f0024-192.jpg" title="f0024-19" width="585" height="416"></div>(Winnibeg leads best-of-seven senes 1-0)<h3>Sun. April 25</h3>CALGARY 2, WINNIPEG 3<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-2022/3710749-1-eng-US/f0024-202.jpg" title="f0024-20" width="1804" height="1232"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rick Preston of Houston took some of the scoring spotlight away from the big named Aero players when he registered a hat trick in playoff win over San Diego Mariners.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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World Hockey Association Playoff Summaries

<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01281/3710913-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="142" height="342"></div>WINNIPEG&mdash;If you stop Bobby Hull you have a chance of beating the Winnipeg Jets but most World Hockey Association teams have found out the hard way that harnessing the Golden Jet isn&rsquo;t quite that easy.Hull, hockey&rsquo;s second all time greatest goal scorer behind Houston&rsquo;s Gordie Howe, showed the Calgary Cowboys some of his sharpshooting talents when he drilled two the Cowboys in the second game of their best-of-seven Canadian Division final series.The Jets won 3-2 to move ahead 2-0 in games in their series and as he had done throughout the regular season and the playoffs, Hull was the difference. His two goals were his seventh and eighth of the playoffs and set the stage for his linemate, Anders Hedberg, to poke in the winning goal and break a 2-2 tie. As is customary, Hull and Ulf Nilsson were there to help Hedberg score the goal and win the game.The Cowboys head home to the friendly confines of the Corral and their first line of business will be to whip up a defense to stop the Jets&rsquo; big line. Coach Joe Crozier, who was reinstated by the WHA after being suspended in the Calgary &mdash; Quebec series, must devise some way of stopping Hull or the Cowboys are in for a short series.The two games in Winnipeg attracted 19,725.In the other WHA playoffs, the Houston Aeros and New England Whalers appeared to be steaming towards a U.S. final series as both clubs went well ahead in their respective division finals.The Aeros were on top of the San Diego Mariners 3-0 in their best-of-seven West Division final and the Whalers had the Indianapolis Racer on the ropes 3-2 in their best-of-seven East Division final series.Houston won the first two games at home 8-6 and 3-1. Rich Preston scored a hat trick in the series opener and Terry Ruskowski and Gord Labossiere added two each to spark the Aeros&rsquo; win. In game two, John Tenelli, Frank Hughes and Gordie Howe were the marksmen before the teams moved to San Diego for the next two games.In the third game, the Aeros were at their offensive best as they hammered away at the Mariners for an 8-4 victory after the teams had battled through a period and a half on even terms. Don Larway notched three goals for Houston and Tonelli two to break the contest wide open.In the Indianapolis-New England series, goaling was proving a big factor. The Whalers won the third game 3-0 at home with rookie Cap Raeder turning in his first professional shutout and in the fourth game, Raeder again came up big as he outduelled Michel Dion in the Whalers&rsquo; 2-1 decision. It was a goaler&rsquo;s battle all the way. Larry Pleau and Mike Rogers were the New England scorers while - Hugh Harris sniped for the Racers.The Racers staved off elimination in game five as Jim Park came off the Indy bench to blank the Whalers 4-0 with Michel Parizeau scoring twice and Dave Keon and Reg Thomas once each to keep the Racers&rsquo; playoff hopes alive. The victory delighted a crowd of 11,811, who gave the Racers a standing ovation after the game. &#9632;</div>

f0025-01

Hull’s Scoring Too Much For Cowboys Aeros, Whalers Nearing U.S. Finals

PHOENIX&mdash;The Phoenix Roadrunners will remain in Phoenix at least through the 1976-77 season.The announcement by the club&rsquo;s ownership was read over the public address system by team captain Al McLeod before one of the games in the World Hockev Association Western Division semi-final series, which the Roadrunners lost to San Diego.The drive, launched eight weeks before, to sell 7,000 season tickets by April 15, had reached only 3,000 but the announcement stated that many businesses contacted adopted &ldquo;a wait-and-see attitude&hellip; if the team stays, you can count on us for our support.&rdquo;The club&rsquo;s sales efforts to reach or surpass the 7,000 season tickets &ldquo;will be redoubled&rdquo; with &ldquo;imaginative and exciting promotions&rdquo; McLeod read from the statement handed him by one of the principal owners, Karl Eller.The ownership expressed its confidence &ldquo;Phoenix can and will support the Phoenix Roadrunners next season.&rdquo;The team&rsquo;s slogan, when the ticket campaign was launched was, &ldquo;Our choice is Phoenix, what&rsquo;s yours?&rdquo;That has been replaced by: &ldquo;We had a choice, fold the club or fight. We&rsquo;d rather fight.&rdquo; &#9632;

Phoenix Hopeful Of Fans’ Support

<h2>SERIES &lsquo;A&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02205/3711017-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="573" height="79"></div>(Winnipeg wins best-of-seven series 4-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 9Edmonton 3 at Winnipeg 7Sun. April 11Edmonton 4 at Winnipeg 5Wed. April 14Winnipeg 3 at Edmonto 2Fri. April 16Winnipeg 7 at Edmonton 7<h2>SERIES &lsquo;B&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03140/3711010-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="574" height="76"></div>(Calgary wins best-of-seven series 4-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 10Calgary 3 at Quebec 1Sun. April 11Calgary 8 at Quebec 4Wed. April 14Quebec 2 at Calgary 3Fri. April 16Quebec 4 at Calgary 3Sun. April 18Calgary 6 at Quebec 4<h2>SERIES &lsquo;C&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-04107/3711003-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="575" height="73"></div>(New England wins best-of-five series 3-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 9Cleveland 3 at New England 5Sat. April 10New England 6 at Cleveland 1Sun. April 11New England 3 at Cleveland 2<h2>SERIES &lsquo;D&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0589/3710996-1-eng-US/f0025-052.jpg" title="f0025-05" width="576" height="72"></div>(San Diego wins best-of-five series 3-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 9San Diego 2 at Phoenix 3Sat. April 10Phoenix 2 at San Diego 4Tue. April 13San Diego 4 at Phoenix 6Thu. April 15Phoenix 1 at San Diego 5Sat. April 1 7Son Diego 2 at Phoenix 1<h2>SERIES &lsquo;E&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0672/3710989-1-eng-US/f0025-062.jpg" title="f0025-06" width="573" height="72"></div>(New England leads best-of-seven series 3-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 16New England 4 at Indianapolis 1Sat. April 17New England 0 at Indianapolis 4Wed. April 21Indianapolis 0 at New England 3Fri. April 23Indianapolis 1 at New England 2Sat. April 24New England 0 at Indianapolis 4<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tue. April 27Indianapolis at New EnglandThu. April 29New England at Indianapolis<h2>SERIES &lsquo;F&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0768/3710982-1-eng-US/f0025-072.jpg" title="f0025-07" width="574" height="74"></div>(Houston leads best-of-seven series 3-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 21Son Diego 6 at Houston 8Fri. April 23San Diego 1 at Houston 3Sun. April 25Houston 8 at San Diego 5<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tue. April 27Houston at San DiegoWed. April 28Son Diego at HoustonFri. April 30Houston at San DiegoSat. May 1San Diego at Houston<h2>SERIES &lsquo;G&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0860/3710975-1-eng-US/f0025-082.jpg" title="f0025-08" width="576" height="82"></div>(Winnipeg leads best of seven series 2-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 23Calgary 1 at Winnipeg 6Sun. April 25Calgary 2 at Winnipeg 3<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Wed. April 28Winnipeg at CalgaryFri. April 30Winnipeg at CalgarySun. May 2Calgary at WinnipegTue. May 4Winnipeg at CalgaryWed. May 5Calgary at Winnipeg<h3>PLAYOFF SCORING</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0953/3710968-1-eng-US/f0025-092.jpg" title="f0025-09" width="578" height="591"></div> &#9632;

f0025-02

Avco Scoreboard

HERSHEY&mdash;Hershey Bears are secure in the knowledge that further playolf participation is guaranteed to produce the team&rsquo;s second highest total attendance mark in club history.The Bears appear to be at their peak now and Nova Scotia, despite its power-paced lineup from the goal on down the line, can ill afford the slightest mistake in the Calder Cup finale.With the exception of the wide-open 7-5 contest, the Bears&rsquo; defense has proved extremely tough in the playoffs and a continuing effort by laxton in goal could be enough to derail the powerful Voyageur express.Hershey is apparently already set up for next year, with word that the XHL working agreements with Buffalo and Pittsburgh will continue.Richmond, which got past the first round tor the first time in lour tries, is uncertain of its status. Reports ot a move naturally have everyone wondering and working agreements, such as the ones the Robins enjoyed with Philadelphia and Washington this season, will remain in abeyance until all issuesare resolved.It was an exciting season for Robin fans, especially in the tinal month when Richmond rose from the Southern Division cellar to a second place finish and a first round wipeout of New Haven. &#9632;

Bears Secure Agreements With NHL For Next Year

<div class="byline">BY AL FISCHER</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD.Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD.Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaHERSHEY&mdash;For only the third time in the 40-year history of the American Hockey League, respective division champions will clash for the coveted Calder Cup playoff title.This was assured when Nova Scotia, the Northern Division kingpin steamrollered over Rochester in four straight games and Hershey&rsquo;s Southern Division titlists swept past Richmond 4-1.The only other occasions that two division champions battled for the playoff crown came in 1972-73 when Cincinnati defeated Nova Scotia and in 1936-37, the league&rsquo;s initial campaign, when Syracuse conquered Philadelphia.It is the classic confrontation. Nova Scotia&rsquo;s high-powered offense that produced 22 goals in the four-game sweep of Rochester, against a patient Hershey defense that allowed but 14 scores in the semi-final decision over Richmond.This will be Hershey&rsquo;s 14th trip to the final round, while Nova Scotia is making its third appearance. Hershey has won the cup five times, while the Voyageurs boast one title. Hershey&rsquo;s most recent victory came in the 1973-74 campaign and Nova Scotia&rsquo;s in the 1971-72 finals.Hershey wrapped up its berth in the finals with a 2-1 decision over Richmond on April 17, and Nova Scotia emulated that verdict Eas ter Sunday in a 6-3 win over Rochester.The four-game Nova Scotia sweep was something of a surprise, since the Amerks had held the Voyageurs close to even during regular season campaigning.However, Rich Lemieux got hot in the post-season festivities and coach Al MacNeil&rsquo;s decision to go with goalie Ed Walsh, instead of Dave Elenbaas, paid dividends. Lemieux scored six goals in the Rochester series.In all but the fourth game, the Voyageurs jumped on top early, forcing the Amerks into a catchup game in which they failed to respond to the challenge.Sean Shanahan paced the first game 6-2 Voyageur triumph with a pair of goals. Nova Scotia ran up a 6-0 lead before the Amerks responded with two late third period scores.A three-goal flurry in just 61 seconds featured the Voyageur openingwin.Guy Chouinard, Lemieux and Ron Andruff each collected a goal and an assist to spark a second game 5-3 Voyageur triumph.Glen Goldup&rsquo;s score just 59 seconds after the opening faceoff got the Voyageurs off winging and the Amerks never caught up. Andruff made it 2-0 before Barry Merrell brought the Amerks close at 2-1. Chouinard and Al Sims traded goals in the second period and Lemieux and Mike Polich scored for a 5-2 Voyageur lead before Jim Jones&rsquo; meaningless score for Rochester late in the final period.The third game belonged completely to the Voyageurs in a 5-1 decision. Chouinard and Lemieux combined efforts for three goals and a like number of assists to pace the victory, the easiest of the series.&lsquo;Walsh was tested only 19 times in the contest and Dave Hynes was the only one to beat him.The series clincher actualy proved to be Rochester&rsquo;s best effort, but it just wasn&rsquo;t enough.Hynes gave the Amerks an early lead, the first and only time Rochester led during the series. But Goldup and Brian Engblom registered for a 2-1 Voyageur advantage.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0591/3711055-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="564" height="1372"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICH LEMIEUX &hellip; Hot In Playoffs</figcaption></div><h2>Hershey In Cup Final For 14th Time</h2>Doug Halward and Lemieux then exchanged scores and it was 3-2 Nova Scotia after the first period. Ron Garwasiuk tied the count early in the second period, but that was to be Rochester&rsquo;s last gasp.Andruff scored on a power play at 7.49 of the final period and Chouinard and Goldup added late goals, the latter into an empty net, to leave no doubt as to Voyageur superiority before a disappointing Rochester crowd of 3,398.The four-game sweep extended Nova Scotia&rsquo;s mastery of the Amerks to 10 straight, including the last six during regular season campaigning. Quite a turnaround after the Amerks won four and tied two in the season&rsquo;s early going.The Amerks failed to win in eight starts at the Halifax Forum.The exclusion of Elenbaas during the series was quite a surprise. The young Voyageur goalie led the AHL with a 2.38 goals allowed average and boasted five shutouts.However, MacNeil could hardly be faulted with his choice of Walsh, who was the backbone of the Voyageur defense in the playoff series.The championship best-of-seven series was to open in Nova Scotia on April 21, with the first two games scheduled in Halifax before moving on to Hershey for a pair. If necessary, the teams will alternate the last three games, with Nova Scotia enjoying the advantage of home ice if the series goes the seven-game route.Stunned by a 4-2 reversal on their home ice in the opening game of the series, the Bears turned things completely around to sweep the next four contests and send Richmond home empty-handed for the fourth consecutive year.It was the second straight season that the Bears proved to be the unwelcome harbingers of spring for coach Larry Wilson&rsquo;s team, which played valiantly, but in the end could not match up with the strong Hershey club.If there was a turning point in the series, it came in the fourth game in Richmond.After a tough 3-1 loss in Hershey that left Richmond trailing in the series, 2-1, the Robins came out with a vengeance before the home crowd of only 3,605.They carried the play early, but Bear goalie Gordon Laxton proved impregnable in the first period, while the Bears&rsquo; Jacques Cossette found time to beat Robin netminder Jerome Mrazek twice.Gary McAdam increased the Bear lead to 3-0 early in the second period, before Andre Peloffy interrupted the Hershey assault with a Richmond power play score and the Robins appeared to be gaining momentum.But Yves Bergeron slowed down the Robins just 18 seconds after Peloffy&rsquo;s goal, before simultaneous penalties to Bear defensemen Mario Faubert and Ken Breitenbach, gave Richmond a power play opportunity which they gratefully seized with Terry Murray beating Laxton from the point and it was 4-2.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01217/3711048-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="544" height="844"><figcaption class="caption-body">JACQUES COSSETTE &hellip; Led Playoff Sniper</figcaption></div>The came a wild third period and a session that Richmond fans would just as soon forget.The Robins brought the home folk to their feet, cheering wildly, es Wayne Schaab and Dave Kelly scored in the first three minutes to forge a 4-4 deadlock, but Cossette notched his third goal of the game to complete his hat trick and Faubert gave the Bears some breathing room with a goal for a 6-4 lead with less than four minutes left.Richard Nantais gave Robin fans a glimmer of hope when he made it 6-5, but Nelson Debenedet put the issue out of reach at 17.50 and Laxton maintained the advantage.The Bears wrapped it all up the next night in Hershey, but it was a dogfight all the way.Wilson, who normally starts Mrazek on the road and Mike Belhumeur at home, switched tactics in the last two games of the series, and Belhumeur, the much-traveled veteran, was brilliant before a Hershey crowd of nearly 6,000 fans.But Laxton was just as brilliant on a night reserved for goaltenders.The Robins, with their backs to the wall, scored the initial goal of the game, and as it turned out, that was to be Richmond&rsquo;s last goal of the season.Jim Hrycuik, a former Bear, opened the festivities with a goal at 17.14 of the first period, a period in which the Bears outshot the Robins, 15-5.Despite their superiority in shots, the Bears were unable to dent Belhumeur&rsquo;s armor until midway of the second period, when Morris Titanic deadlocked the score-with a power play goal from the top of the slot.Ironically it was the last penalty of the game for Richmond, but came at a very inopportune time, with Serge Lajeunesse going off to set the stage for Titanic&rsquo;s game-tying score.Eight minutes later, the beginning of the end came for the Robins when Yves Bergeron lofted the game-winning shot over Belhumeur&rsquo;s shoulder.The third period belonged to the goalies, with Belhumeur stopping 18 shots, while Laxton turned back 15 Robin sortees.An early penalty to Hershey&rsquo;s Derek Smith in the final period gave the Robins a power play chance, but Laxton and a tough Bear defense rode out the penalty, stopping the Robins almost cold with only one shot on goal during their manpower advantage.Cossette, an 18-goal scorer during the regular season, led the Bear goal scorers against the Robins with four, while Bergeron and Pete Laframboise each had a pair.For Hershey it marked the 14th time in its 38-year-old history as a member of the AHL that the team from the small Pennsylvania city has made it to the finals. They will be seeking their sixth Cup and second in three years.Hrycuik, Schaab, Peloffy and Nantais all had two goals for the Robins. &#9632;

f0028-05

Voyageurs-Bears’ Final Only 3rd Time Division Champs Rivals In 40 Years

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2><h3>(Final Standings)</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02179/3711407-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="580" height="331"></div><h3>PLAYOFFS</h3>Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03122/3711400-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="580" height="82"></div>(Navo Seelie leads best-of-seven series 2-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 21Hershey 3 at Nova Scotia 6Fri. April 23Hershey 2 at Nova Scotia 8Sat April 24Novo Scotia 1 at Hershey 5<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Mon. April 26Nova Scotia at HersheyWed. April 28Hershey at Nova ScotiaSat. May 1Novo Scotia at HersheyMon. May 3Hershey at Nova Scotia<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0492/3711393-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="577" height="80"></div>(Novo Scotia wins best-of-seven series 4-0).<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. April 12Rochester 2 at Nova Scotia 6Wed. April 14Rochester 3 at Nova Scotia 5Fri. April 16Novo Scotia 5 at Rochester 1Sun. April 18Novo Scotia 6 at Rochester 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0583/3711386-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="577" height="77"></div>(Hershey wins best-of-seven series 4-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 10Richmond 4 at Hershey 2Sun. April 11Hershey 4 at Richmond 3Tue. April 13Richmond 1 at Hershey 3Fri. April 16Hershey 7 at Richmond 5Sat. April 17Richmond 1 at Hershey 2<h3>Quarter-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0664/3711379-1-eng-US/f0029-062.jpg" title="f0029-06" width="579" height="75"></div>(Rochester wins best-of-five series 3-0)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0751/3711372-1-eng-US/f0029-072.jpg" title="f0029-07" width="578" height="76"></div>(Richmond wins best-of-five series 3-0)<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2><h3>(Final Standings)</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0844/3711365-1-eng-US/f0029-082.jpg" title="f0029-08" width="586" height="183"></div>(*&mdash;Awarded fourth place for playoffs because of more wins)<h3>PLAYOFFS</h3>Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0939/3711358-1-eng-US/f0029-092.jpg" title="f0029-09" width="577" height="78"></div>(Tulsa wins bost-oA seven series 4-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 16Dallas 2 at Tulsa 4Sat. April 17Dallas 4 at Tulsa 3Tue. April 20Tulsa 3 at Dallas 2Thu. April 22Tulsa 2 at Delias 1Fri. April 23Dallas 3 at Tulsa 7<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1033/3711351-1-eng-US/f0029-102.jpg" title="f0029-10" width="579" height="76"></div>(Tulsa wins best-of-seven series 4-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 7Oklahoma City 2 at Tulsa 5Fri. April 9Oklahoma City 3 at Tulsa 5Sat. April 10Tulsa 3 at Oklohoma City 0Wed. April 14Tulsa 4 at Oklahoma City 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1129/3711344-1-eng-US/f0029-112.jpg" title="f0029-11" width="577" height="79"></div>(Dallas wins best-af-soven series 4-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 7Sat Lake 1 at Dalles 3Fri. April 9Salt Lake 1 at Dolles 4Sat. April 10Dallas 6 at Salt Lake 7Mon. April 12Dallas 4 at Salt Lake 2Wed. April 14Salt Lake 0 at Dallas 5<h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2><h3>(Final Standings)</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1225/3711337-1-eng-US/f0029-122.jpg" title="f0029-12" width="585" height="354"></div><h3>PLAYOFFS</h3>Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1319/3711330-1-eng-US/f0029-132.jpg" title="f0029-13" width="578" height="78"></div>(Dayton foods best-of-seven series 1-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. April 25Port Huron 2 at Dayton 7<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tue. April 27Port Huron at DaytonFri. April 30Dayton at Port HuronSat. May 1Dayton at Port HuronTue. May 4Port Huron at DaytonThu. May 6Dayton at Port HuronSun. May 7Port Huron at Dayton<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1418/3711323-1-eng-US/f0029-142.jpg" title="f0029-14" width="588" height="78"></div>(Port Huron wins best-ef-seven series 4-3)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 10Port Huron 3 at Saginaw 2Sun. April 11Port Huron 3 at Saginaw 1Wed. April 14Saginaw 4 at Port Hu ron 3Sat. April 17Saginaw 3 at Port Huron 2Sun. April 18Saginaw 3 at Port Huron 4Two. April 20Port Huron 1 at Soginaw 3Fri. April 23Port Huron 4 at Saginaw 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1514/3711316-1-eng-US/f0029-152.jpg" title="f0029-15" width="580" height="78"></div>(Dayton wins best-of-seven series 4-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 10Fort Wayne 2 at Dayton 5Wed. April 14Dayton 5 at Fort Woyne 2Fri. April 16Fort Woyne 4 at Dayton 10Sat. April 17Dayton 5 at Fort Wayne 8Wed. April 21Fort Wayne 4 at Doyton 9<h3>Quarter-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1612/3711309-1-eng-US/f0029-162.jpg" title="f0029-16" width="577" height="82"></div>(Saginaw wins best-of-seven series 4-1).<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. March 30Saginaw 3 at Muikegon 4Fri. April 2Muskegon 3 at Saginaw 7Sat. April 3Saginaw 4 at Muikegon 0Sun. April 4Mudtepon 1 at Saginaw 5Wed. April 7Muskegon 3 at Saginaw 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1711/3711302-1-eng-US/f0029-172.jpg" title="f0029-17" width="579" height="75"></div>(Dayton wins best-of-seven series 4-2).<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. March 30Kalamazoo 2 at Dayton 3Fri. April 2Dayton 4 at Kalamazoo 6Sat April 3Kalamazoo 0 at Dayton 4Tue. April 6Dayton 3 at Kalamazoo 2Wed April 7Kalamazoo 3 at Dayton 0Thu. April 8Dayton 4 at Kalamazoo 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1811/3711295-1-eng-US/f0029-182.jpg" title="f0029-18" width="577" height="77"></div>(Port Huron wins best-of-seven series 4-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. March 31Flint 2 at Port Huron 5Fri. April 2Port Huron 6 at Flint 3Sat. April 3Flint 1 at Port Huron 3Sun April 4Port Huron 6 at Flint 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-196/3711288-1-eng-US/f0029-192.jpg" title="f0029-19" width="577" height="77"></div>(Fort Woyne wins best-af-seven seriei 4-0)<h2>NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2><h3>(Final Standings)</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-205/3711281-1-eng-US/f0029-202.jpg" title="f0029-20" width="583" height="355"></div>(* &mdash; Suspended operations.)PLAYOFFS<h3>Quarter-finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-215/3711274-1-eng-US/f0029-212.jpg" title="f0029-21" width="577" height="78"></div>(Beauce wins best-of-five series 3-1)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-225/3711267-1-eng-US/f0029-222.jpg" title="f0029-22" width="572" height="82"></div>(Syracuse wins best-of-five series 3-1)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-235/3711260-1-eng-US/f0029-232.jpg" title="f0029-23" width="579" height="78"></div>(Johnstown wins best-of-five senes 3-2)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-245/3711253-1-eng-US/f0029-242.jpg" title="f0029-24" width="579" height="78"></div>(Philadelphia wins best-of-five senes 3-2)<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-255/3711246-1-eng-US/f0029-252.jpg" title="f0029-25" width="579" height="79"></div>(Beauce wins best-of-seven senes 4-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. March 26Syracuse 4 at Beauce 5.Sun. March 28Syracuse 7at Beauce 10.Tue. March 30Beauce 6 at Syracuse 4.Thu. April 1Beauce 6 at Syracuse 4.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-264/3711239-1-eng-US/f0029-262.jpg" title="f0029-26" width="574" height="82"></div>(Philadelphia wins best-of-seven series 4-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. March 28Johnstown 4 at Philadelphia 5.Mon. March 29Philadelphia 3 at Johnstown 6.Tue. March 30Johnstown 5 at Philadelphia 7.Thu. April 1Philadelphia 4 at Johnstown 3.Fri. April 2Johnstown 10 at Philadelphia 14<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-274/3711232-1-eng-US/f0029-272.jpg" title="f0029-27" width="576" height="83"></div>(Philadelphia wins best-of-seven series 4-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. April 6Philadelphia 7 at Beauce 5Wed. April 7Philadelphia 4 at BeauceFri. April 9Beauce 1 at Philadelphia 6Sat. April 10Beauce 7 at Philadelphia 6Mon. April 12Philadelphia 6 at Beauce 4Wed. April 14Beauce 2 at Philadelphia 5<h2>SOUTHERN LEAGUE</h2><h3>(Final Standings)</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-284/3711225-1-eng-US/f0029-282.jpg" title="f0029-28" width="582" height="177"></div><h3>PlAYOFFS</h3>Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-294/3711218-1-eng-US/f0029-292.jpg" title="f0029-29" width="572" height="82"></div>(Charlotte wins best-of-seven sones 4-1)<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-304/3711211-1-eng-US/f0029-302.jpg" title="f0029-30" width="576" height="79"></div>(Charlotte wins best-of-seven series 4-2)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-313/3711204-1-eng-US/f0029-312.jpg" title="f0029-31" width="578" height="85"></div>(Hampton wins best-of-seven series 4-0)<h2>UNITED STATES LEAGUE</h2><h3>(Final Standings)</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-323/3711197-1-eng-US/f0029-322.jpg" title="f0029-32" width="580" height="293"></div><h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-333/3711190-1-eng-US/f0029-332.jpg" title="f0029-33" width="576" height="85"></div>(Green Bay wins best-of-five series 3-2)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-343/3711183-1-eng-US/f0029-342.jpg" title="f0029-34" width="574" height="82"></div>(Milwaukee wins best-of-three series 2-0)<h3>Quarter-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-353/3711176-1-eng-US/f0029-352.jpg" title="f0029-35" width="580" height="82"></div>(Milwaukee wins best-of-three series 2-0)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-362/3711169-1-eng-US/f0029-362.jpg" title="f0029-36" width="576" height="77"></div>(Traverse City wins best-of-three series 2-0)<h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-372/3711162-1-eng-US/f0029-372.jpg" title="f0029-37" width="583" height="87"></div>(Milwaukee wins best-of-five serial 3-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Milwaukee 7, Green Bay 0Milwaukee 5, Green Bay 4Milwaukee 6, Green Bay 4 &#9632;

f0029-02

LOOKING AT THE MINOR LEAGUE SCOREBOARD

NHL: 1&mdash;Montreal 2&mdash;Detroit 3&mdash;Boston 4&mdash;NY 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;Calgary. 20&mdash;Cincinnati. 21&mdash;Cleveland 22&mdash;Denver 23&mdash;Edmonton 24&mdash;Houston 25&mdash;Indionapolis 26&mdash;Minnesota 27&mdash;New England 28&mdash;Phoenix 29&mdash;Quebec 30&mdash;San Diego 31&mdash;Toronto 32&mdash;Winnipeg Inter-League: 33&mdash;N.Y Rangers (NHL) & St louis (NHL) 34&mdash;Montreal NHL, & Atlanta(NHL) 36&mdash;Pittsburgh (NHL) & Buffalo 1 NHL), 37 &mdash; New England (WHA) & Washington (NHL) 38&mdash;Detroit (NHL & Minnesota (NHL) 39&mdash; Allanlo NHL) & Vancouver (NHl) 40&mdash;Phoenix. Houston & San Diego (WHA 41&mdash;Los Angeles NHL) B.N.Y Islanders (NHLi 43&mdash;Kansas City (NHL) & N.Y Rangers (NHl). 44&mdash;Boston (NHL & Washington NHL) 45-Minnesota (NHL) & Vancouver (NHL) 46&mdash;Calgary (WHA), Kansas City (NHL), Minnesota (WHA) 47&mdash;Philo dephia NHL, & Washington (NHL) 50&mdash;Bostons (NHL) Son Diego (WHA) 51&mdash; Buffalo (NHL) & Toronto (WHA) 52&mdash;Montreal NHL) & Toronto (WHA) 55&mdash;Buffalo (NHL) & Calgary (WHA) 56&mdash;Buffalo (NHL) & Clevelond (WHA) 57&mdash;N.Y Rangers (NHL) & St. Louis (NHL) 58&mdash;Detroit (NHL) & Edmonton(WAH). &#9632;

Minor League Affiliations

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD.Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD.Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaTULSA&mdash;The Central Hockey League season has ended in a blaze of glory for the Tulsa Oilers. They won the regular league championship, captured the Adams Cup playoff series from Dallas and Orland Kurtenbach, their bench boss, was named the CHL&rsquo;s Coach of the Year for his masterful handling of the Oilers.It all peaked for the Oilers after they bested the Black Hawks 4-1 in a best-of-seven final series, which stood deadlocked at 1-1 before the Oilers broke away to sweep the next three games, two of which were won on Dallas ice.Tulsa&rsquo;s march to the Adams Cup, won last year by Salt Lake, was highlighted by a string of victories that reached 15 in a row prior to the Hawks&rsquo; second game win in the series, the only blemish on Tulsa&rsquo;s closing 19 games of the season. It was a fantastic windup for Kurtenbach&rsquo;s skaters, who won their last 10 league starts, swept Oklahoma City out in four straight and won the first game of the finals from Dallas to push their win streak to 15 in a line. The Oilers mowed down the Hawks in Dallas 3-2 and 2-1 in games three and four and finished the Hawks off at Tulsa 7-3 to take the championship - winning 18 of their final 19 games in the 1975-76 campaign.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01249/3711490-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="574" height="646"><figcaption class="caption-body">ORLAND KURTENBACH &hellip; Coach Of Year</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02192/3711483-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="568" height="604"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRUCE BULLOCK &hellip; Goaled Big Wins</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03146/3711476-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="568" height="628"><figcaption class="caption-body">RANDY HOLT &hellip; Given Suspension</figcaption></div>Kurtenbach&rsquo;s Oilers put together their string of 15 straight victories, including a 4-2 triumph over Dallas in the opener of the cup finals. But the string unraveled after less than three minutes of a sudden-death overtime period in their own Assembly Center, Apr. 17.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t reasonable to expect we could keep on winning forever,&rdquo; said Kurt.&ldquo;It had to end sometime. Dallas has a fine hockey club, and it&rsquo;s no disgrace to lose. These two close games were indicative of how close this series was going to be. But it&rsquo;s tough to lose on an illegal goal, and that guy was 15 feet into the crease when he deflected the puck.&rdquo; (That could have been an exaggeration, since the goal crease measures only 4x6.)Tulsa goalie Dan Brady was even more vehement, banging his stick disgustedly on the boards after losing his argument with referee Denis Morel. &ldquo;Koleff was practically in the net with me,&rdquo; said Dan. &ldquo;It was pretty obvious. And nobody pushed him into the crease. Nobody made contact with him.&rdquo;Brady had been in the nets when the Oilers completed their semi-final sweep by winning in Oklahoma City, 4-1. That put them into the final for the fifth time in 12 seasons, but they had one Adams Cup victory to show for it&mdash;winning in 1968.The four-game semi-final sweep was only the second in CHL history&mdash;Dallas did it against Fort Worth in 1971. But the Oilers&rsquo; five-game playoff winning streak fell one short of the league record. In a different format, with the league in two divisions, Dallas won six straight in sweeping a three-game quarter-final set from Houston, and a three-game semifinal from Omaha in 1969. After losing the first game of the finals to Oklahoma City, the Hawks then won four straight to clinch the Adams Cup.After a scoreless first period in the fourth game of the semi-finals at OC, Bill Plett put the Oilers in charge with a goal in the second and another early in the third. The Blazers&rsquo; new defenseman, Brian Derksen, brought up from Muskegon in the International League, spoiled Brady&rsquo;s shutout bid on a screen shot at 2:51 of the third, but Danny Gloor and Leon Rochefort completed the Oiler triumph. Rochefort&rsquo;s goal was the first shorthanded tally of this season&rsquo;s playoffs. He later connected for the winning goal in overtime in the fourth game of the playoffs.Brad Gassoff had two goals, one into an empty net, as the Oilers turned back Dallas to open the finals at home. Cam Botting had opened the scoring.But the big one was when Jim Wiley &ldquo;threaded the needle&rdquo;, putting the puck through the smallest possible opening, between goalie Mike Veisor&rsquo;s pad and the right goalpost, with 1:02 left in the game.&ldquo;I was lucky,&rdquo; said Wiley. &ldquo;There wasn&rsquo;t much room, but the goalie was keeping an eye on Cheesy (right win Rochefort) on the left side, and he leaned just a tiny bit in that direction, giving me an opening.&rdquo;Bruce Bullock was the Oiler goalie in that Victory, his third straight in the playoffs and his 11th in the Oilers&rsquo; month-long skein between a Mar. 13 regularseason loss in Dallas and the Apr. 17 playoff loss to Dallas in overtime at home.It was Tulsa which had to keep rallying in that game. Power play goals by Rick Bowness and Plett brought a 2-1 lead in the first period, and Glen Richardson scored early in the third for a 3-3 tie that forced the overtime.It was the Oilers&rsquo; sixth straight overtime loss in a span dating back to 1969, after they won their first five overtime games in the CHL playoffs.Gassoff, with four goals and five assists, was the playoff scoring leader, followed by Wiley, with four and four.Meanwhile, center-left wing Kirk Bowman, brought up from the International League for the playoffs, had shown himself to be one of the brightest prospects in the Chicago Black Hawks&rsquo; farm system.The 24-year-old Leamington, Ont., skater, given regular duty with the injury-plagued Dallas Black Hawks, set up two goals with his accurate passes as the Hawks won a 4-3 game in overtime in Tulsa, April 17, to square the Adams Cup best-of-seven playoff finals at a game apiece.It was Bowman&rsquo;s long pass from the left boards which Jim Koleff tipped into the net after 2:55 of overtime play in Tulsa&rsquo;s Assembly Center for the victory.The Oilers had taken the series opener, 4-2, the previous night, but the score doesn&rsquo;t indicate how close the game was. The two clubs were tied, 2-2, until Wiley scored forTulsa with 1:02 left in the third period. Gassoff added an empty-net goal with 18 seconds to play.Bowman and right wing Ted Bulley, two of the last cuts made by Dallas in training camp last September, rejoined the Hawks when their IHL season ended at Flint. With Gary Donaldson nursing a bruised rib cage, both newcomers were quickly getting plenty of ice time. After seven playoff games Bowman had two goals and six assists to share the Hawk scoring lead with defenseman Mike O&rsquo;Connell.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0576/3711469-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="563" height="1142"><figcaption class="caption-body">LEON ROCHEFORT &hellip; Fired Game Winner</figcaption></div>A strong skater with a good shot, Bowman impressed Hawk coach Gordon Fashoway with his quickness, as well as his attitude.The Hawks made it to the Adams Cup finals for the sixth straight year (their seventh time in nine seasons) by eliminating the Salt Lake Golden Eagles on Mike Veisor&rsquo;s 5-0 shutout in Dallas, Apr. 14. Veisor had to turn away 30 Eagle shots, while the Hawks were getting but 20 against Salt Lake goalie Larry Hendrick.Koleff and Bowman had power play goals in the first period to give Veisor all the offensive support he needed. Moe L&rsquo;Abbe scored in the second period, Rob Palmer and Donaldson in the third. Donaldson, playing his first game in two weeks, scored on a late power attack.Hawk defenseman Randy Holt, angered at a major penalty call by referee Bob Kilger, threw his stick at the referee. The result was a two-game suspension, and he missed the first two games of the finals.&ldquo;I said to myself, &lsquo;What is wrong with you? How stupid can you get?&rdquo;&lsquo; Holt confessed later. &ldquo;I was luckey to get off with a two-game suspension. Fashoway agreed, &ldquo;He got a lucky break. They could have put him down for the entire series.&rdquo; The suspension was handed down by NHL executive director Brian O&rsquo;Neill.Opening the finals in Tulsa, Michel Archambault and Dan Hinton scored in the second period to gain 1-1 and 2-2 ties, but the Hawks had no answer for Wiley&rsquo;s late tally. Veisor was lifted with 45 seconds left, and Gassoff found the open net with a blast from the left.Penalties played a key role in game two of the finals. Hinton scored the first goal of the game, while the Oilers were two men short, but Tulsa took a 2-1 lead in the first period. The Hawks argued in vain that the go-ahead goal a trickier by Plett, had not crossed the goal line before Veisor grabbed it. The goal judge did not turn on the light, but referee Morel said it was a goal.The Hawks dominated the second period, and took the lead on goals by Palmer and Duane Wylie, but the Oilers tied it up in the third and forced the game into sudden-death overtime.Dallas had lost its last four overtime playoffs games, all in Salt Lake (three in last year&rsquo;s finals, one in this year&rsquo;s semi-finals). But the two newcomers played a big role in reversing that trend.Bulley, inserted into the lineup because Donaldson had reinjured himself, gave a drop pass to Bowman on the left boards, and Bowman&rsquo;s pass was right on the money for Koleffs tip-in, ending the game at 2:55 of the extra period.The Oilers protested Koleff was in the crease, rendering the goal illegal. &ldquo;I may have had one foot over the line,&rdquo; said Jim, &ldquo;but if I did, it was because Brad Gassoff pushed me.&rdquo; Referee Morel wouldn&rsquo;t listen to the Tulsa arguments.The Salt Lake Eagles&rsquo; season ended with a 5-0 shutout loss in Dallas. It ended a game earlier for left wing Gary Holt. He was suspended for invading the Dallas bench to take on Hawk defenseman Dave Logan in a battle during the Hawks&rsquo; 4-2 victory in Salt Lake, Apr. 12.Even if the Eagles had won game five in Dallas, the rest of the series would have been played in the Hawks&rsquo; rink, as the Salt Palace was tied up with an ice show.But for the only two playoff games in the Palace, the Eagles drew 14,917 patrons, running their season total to 230,286 or an average of 5,755 per game.As the ice melted in Oklahoma City&rsquo;s State Fair Arena, after the Blazers lost their fourth straight game to red-hot Tulsa, it was announced that center Don Ashby and defenseman Bob Warner had rejoined the parent Toronto Maple leafs for the rest of the Stanley Cup playoffs.The Blazers announced their office would remain open in the Myriad throughout the summer, which couldn&rsquo;t be said for some other CHL clubs.<h2>Playoff Scoring</h2><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04112/3711462-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="587" height="279"></div> &#9632;

f0030-01

Tulsa Overpowers Dallas Hawks In Final Winning 18 Of 19 Closing CHL Games

<div class="byline">BY JACK GATECLIFF</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01228/3711521-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="566" height="590"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM BEDARD&hellip;Key To Title</figcaption></div>ST. CATHARINES&mdash;One of hockey&rsquo;s most renowned names &mdash; St. Catharines Black Hawks &mdash; will disappear from the Ontario Major Hockey Association scene next year when the Hawks become the Niagara Falls Flyers.After four disappointing years of operation in St. Catharines, the Emms family has decided to take their hockey franchise back to Niagara Falls for the 1976-77 season.The move of the Hawks will leave the city of St. Catharines without major junior hockey for the first time in 34 years.Paul Emms, the manager-coach of the Hawks, announced the return of the team to Niagara Falls because of failing attendance.Emms said he and his father, owner Hap Emms, had no choice but to pull out of St. Catharines. &ldquo;Because of the lack of interest and declining gate receipts, we have no choice but to move back to Niagara Falls, &ldquo;said Paul Emms, who admitted they had planned to move the team from St-Catharines followingthe 1974-75 season but yielded to a request from the city council to remain one more year.The older Emms sold his Niagara franchise to Sudbury interests four years ago and then purchased the St. Catharines team from Fred Muller, who left to become interested in the Binghamton Dusters of the NAHL.Paul Emms said the OHA had approved the transfer and the team will again be known as the Fivers and will wear the original club colors.Meanwhile, back on the ice the surprising thing about the OHA Major League playoffs so far is that there have been no real surprises&hellip;so far.Mind you there were a couple of minor form reversals but nothing which would rank as an upset.In the Emms Division third place Toronto Marlboros eliminated second place London Knights 4-1 in games but the Marlies have always had good success against the Knights.In the Leyden Division fifth place Sault St. Marie sidelined fourth place Oshawa Generals three games to two in the preliminary round but there were only three points difference between the clubs during the 66-game schedule.Everything else, as the finals started between Sudbury Wolves and Hamilton Fincups, went according to the way the teams had performed during the schedule.Sudbury won the Leyden Division pennant and had the most points over-all (102), then carried their success through to the finals by knocking off their arch-rivals in Northern Ontario, the Sault Greyhounds, in seven games and Ottawa in five.Hamilton claimed the Emms pennant with 74 points (they would have been second in the Leyden as Ottawa had 77 points) and never lost a game in their own section playoffs.The Fincups swept Kitchener out in four straight, then dethroned the defending Memorial Cup champion Toronto Marlboros with four wins and a tie for a 9-1 margin in the eight-point set.Now it&rsquo;s a head-to-head confrontation between the two division champions and according to all signs it should be a classic.Both teams are blessed with talented players and even though Hamilton finished 32 points below Sudbury over-all, they are extremely difficult to defeat in their own, tight little Forum.Sudbury on the other hand has also had a splendid record at home and have the advantage of the extra game in front of their own fans if the finals go the limit.The Wolves rule as slight favorites if for no other reason than they have proven to be stronger in goal &mdash; perhaps the most important position in playoff hockey.Jim Bedard was named to the first All Star team and was the prime factor in giving the Wolves the best goals-against record (224) in either division.Sudbury also scored more goals (384) than any other team but Hamilton was a close second in both categories.The Fincups scored 379 goals and gave up 232 but coach Bert Templeton still hasn&rsquo;t settled on one first-string goaltender.Top scorer for Hamilton was four-year man Dale McCourt with 55 goals and 84 assists, fourth highest in the league; Rod Schutt was No. 1 for Sudburv with 7263&mdash;135.The latest in a long list of charges involving players and fans in Ontario junior A this season was one filed against Fern Duguay, father of Sudbury&rsquo;s center Ron Duguay.Duguay, Sr. has been charged with common assault following an incident in a playoff game with Sault Ste. Marie.In the third period of the game which the Wolves won 11-2 a fight broke out between Ron Duguay and Tony Horvath of the Greyhounds which resulted in five-minute penalties to both players.While Horvath was in the penalty box, a spectator allegedly punched him and Horvath then turned and pursued the fan.Horvath complained to a policeman in the arena at the end of the game and the case was assigned to the criminal investigation department. &#9632;

f0031-01

St. Catharines Shifted To Niagara; OHA Playoffs Provide No Surprises

<h2>ONTARIO MAJOR LEAGUE</h2><h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02182/3711608-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="583" height="81"></div>(Homilton in loads eight-point series 4-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Hamilton 8, Sudbury 3Hamilton 6 Sudbury 5Sudbury 7 Hamilton 5<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03153/3711601-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="587" height="86"></div>(Hamilton wins eight-point series 9-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Hamilton 9, Toronto 4Hamilton 7, Toronto 5Hamilton 5, Toronto 5Hamilton 3, Toronto 0Hamilton 4, Toronto 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-04121/3711594-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="586" height="80"></div>(Sudbury wins eight-point series 8-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Ottawa 7, Sudbury 4Sudbury 7, Ottawa 3Sudbury 5, Ottawa 3Sudbury 6, Ottawa 3Sudbury 6, Ottawa 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-05107/3711587-1-eng-US/f0031-052.jpg" title="f0031-05" width="580" height="85"></div>(Hamilton wins eight-point series 8-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Hamilton 12, Kitchener 4Hamilton 7, Kitchener 1Hamilton 7, Kitchener 3Hamilton 4, Kitchener 0<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0683/3711580-1-eng-US/f0031-062.jpg" title="f0031-06" width="584" height="82"></div>(Sudbury wins eight-point series 9-5)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sudbury 7, Sault Ste. Morie 3Sault Ste Mane 3, Sudbury 2Sudbury 11, Sault Ste Marie 2Sault Ste Marie 4, Sudbury 2Sudbury 8, Sault Ste. Marie0Sudbury 4, Sault Ste. Marie 4Sudbury 5, Sault Ste. Marie 2Preliminary Round<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0770/3711573-1-eng-US/f0031-072.jpg" title="f0031-07" width="588" height="81"></div>(Kitchener wins six-points series, 6-2)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0863/3711566-1-eng-US/f0031-082.jpg" title="f0031-08" width="585" height="85"></div>(Sault wins six-point series 6-4)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0951/3711559-1-eng-US/f0031-092.jpg" title="f0031-09" width="583" height="85"></div>(Toronto wins eight-point series 8-2)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1042/3711552-1-eng-US/f0031-102.jpg" title="f0031-10" width="586" height="80"></div>(Ottawa wins eight-point series 9-4) &#9632;

f0031-02

HOW THEY STAND

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD.Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD.Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaSAGINAW&mdash;For Saginaw manager-coach Don Perry and the Saginaw Gears, the 1976 International Hockey League playoffs were a run. Or, to be more specific, another nightmare.The Gears, who were trying for a third straight year to finish at the head of the class in the annual post-season prom, had their troubles winning on home ice and it cost them a berth in the Turner Cup finals. A similar plague bounced the Gears out of the trophy room a year ago. Toledo defeated Saginaw in the championshipseries, four games, to three including the deciding seventh game. Two of the three Saginaw wins were accomplished on the road.This season the Turner Cup playoffs were no different for the Gears. They took Port Huron to a seventh and deciding game in their best-of-seven semi-finals and lost 4-1&mdash;on Saginaw ice. The pesky Flags won the first two games in Saginaw and after taking only one of the next three games in Port Huron, returned to Saginaw for the remainder of the series and won it after the Gears captured the sixth game 3-1 to push the round to the seven game limit.The Port Huron victory set the stage for the final cup series between the Flags and Dayton Gems, who took the Fort Wayne Komets out in five games in their best of seven semi-final series.Port Huron&rsquo;s opening game victory snapped a 20-game undefeated streak for the Gears on home ice. Key to the first-game victory was a penalty shot which was not successful. The IHL&rsquo;s most valuable player, Port Huron&rsquo;s Len Fontaine, was awarded the penalty shot early in the second period with Saginaw nursing a 1-0 lead. Mario Lessard stopped Fontaine but instead of the play giving the Gears a lift, it fired up the Flags.Less than four minutes later. Fontaine scored to tie the score. Steve Stone broke the tie at 14:06 of the period and Bud Stefanski put the game out of reach with a short-handed goal.The Flags dominated the second game, building a 3-0 lead before Wayne Zuk scored Saginaw&rsquo;s only goal early in the final period.Zuk was the hero of Saginaw&rsquo;s first victory as the series switched to Port Huron. He scored with 2:19 gone in sudden death overtime to give the Gears a 4-3 victory. Saginaw rallied from a two-goal deficit to send the game into overtime on Dave Westner&rsquo;s goal with 8:20 gone in the final period.Saginaw repeated its one-goal victory in the fourth game, 3-2, to assure a return trip to Saginaw. But the Flags grabbed a 3-2 edge in games by winning the fifth game, 4-3 before the Gears won the sixth and the Flags won it all in the seventh.Meanwhile, Dayton moved methodically towards a showdown with Port Huron for the championship. The Gems grabbed a 3-0 lead over Fort Wayne in theother semifinal series and it took a fantastic rally by the Komets in game four to extend the series to a fifth game. In the fifth game in Dayton, where the Komets lost 10 straight this season, the Gems extended their superiority by winning 9-4 to wrap up the round.Fort Wayne escaped from a four-game sweep at the hands of the Gems by scoring four goals in the final two minutes and eight seconds of game four&mdash;played in Fort Wayne, Down, 4-1, Dayton rallied to take a 5-4 lead with less than three minutes to play and it appeared the Komet season was over.Rookie Sid Veysey pumped new-life into the Komets when he drove a rebound through Jim Pettie at the 17:52 mark of the final period. Robbie Laird then stunned the Gems when his long shot from just inside the blueline bounced over Pettie and into the net for a 6-5 Komet lead with 18:10 gone in the period. Laird following with two open net goals&mdash;giving him the hat trick in just one minute and 32 seconds &mdash; for an 8-5 ending.The Gems completely overpowered the Komets in taking the first three games. They opened with a 5-2 win at Dayton, followed with another 5-2 triumph in Fort Wayne and took a 3-0 lead with a 10-4 romp in the third game.Of the two finalists. Port Huron won successive championship in 1971 and 1972 while Dayton last was a winner in 1970.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01228/3711646-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="557" height="884"><figcaption class="caption-body">DON PERRY&hellip;Another Nightmare</figcaption></div><h2>Playoff Scoring</h2><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03114/3711639-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="585" height="299"></div> &#9632;

f0032-01

Port Huron, Dayton Set For Cup Showdown

MUSKEGON&mdash;Muskegon general manager Moose Lallo has announced that assistant coach Bryan McLay has been named as the new coach of the Mohawks. Lallo&rsquo;s announcement came in conjunction with his decision to retain only his role of general manager with the International Hockey League club for the 1976-77 season. Lallo has coached Muskegon for 15 of the last 16 years.McLay, 38, has served as assistant coach of the team for the past two seasons. He was pleased with the announcement.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking forward to coaching Muskegon,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I feel I&rsquo;m ready to do the job. I&rsquo;ve more or less been groomed for this position, so the time I spent working for Moose as his assistant should help.&rdquo;Lallo, who won more Huber Trophies (symbolic of the league championship) and more IHL All Star coaching berths than any other coach in IHL history, said the choice of McLay as coach was pleasing to him because of his long time association with Bryan. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been together fora longtime, so I think I know Brvan well enough to believe he can do the job. When I decided to step down as coach, he was the logical choice to take over behind the beach.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02169/3711677-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="526" height="602"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRYAN McLAY&hellip;Stepping Up</figcaption></div>McLay&rsquo;s career as a player spanned 14 IHL seasons. He ranks as the number two goal scorer and also ranks second in games played and third in assists. He once scored six goals in a game at Fort Wayne.McLay became an American citizen last year and has lived year-around in Muskegon for the last 14 years. He and his wife, Peg, have three children. &#9632;

f0032-02

Lallo Turns Coaching Of Hawks Over To McLay

<div class="byline">BY BRUCE PENTON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01204/3711708-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="566" height="638"><figcaption class="caption-body">BLAIR CHAPMAN &hellip; Nears Scoring Mark</figcaption></div>MEDICINE HAT&mdash;The thinking around the Western Canada Hockey League during the regular season was simple: to stop the Medicine Hat Tigers, you stop the big line of Don Murdoch, Greg Carroll and Morris LukowichUnfortunately for many of the Tigers&rsquo; foes, that task was easier said than done. The spectacular offensive thrusts the big line put forth during the 72-game schedule provided Tigers with the fourthbest record in the 12-team league, was responsible for an amazing 213 goals and 474 points, and earned first-team all-star berths for Murdoch and Lukowich. Carroll was relegated to the second team center position only because of the fabulous season enjoyed by Saskatoon Blades&rsquo; record-setting Bernie Federko.But along came the playoffsand an old adage rang true for Medicine Hat: a one-line hockey club does not a great team make.Victoria Cougars played a tight-checking brand of hockey against Murdoch&rsquo;s line, allowed the Tigers just one tie in four games, and advanced to the league&rsquo;s semi-finals with a 7-1 win in a six-point series.Earlier in the season. Tiger coach Jack Shupe was asked about the possibility of his team being an easy mark for a playoff upset.The veteran coach admitted that his team depended heavily on Murdoch and Co., but that in order for a team to effectively put a stop to that line&rsquo;s offensive bursts, it would have to employ illegal tactics.&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve got to hook, trip, slash&hellip; anything,&rdquo; said Shupe, &ldquo;but I don&rsquo;t think anybody can stop Murdoch&rsquo;s line from scoring without taking a lot of penalties.&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;And when those guys are out on the power-play, they&rsquo;re tough to stop.&rdquo;Patty Ginnell, though, is no simpleton when it comes to hockey strategy. He knew if he could get the proper effort from three &lsquo;checkers&rsquo;, he could stop the Tigers&rsquo; scoring machine.And. he got it.Dennis Fenske. Al Hill and Gregg Anderson were handed the job of shadowing Murdoch, Carroll and Lukowich and the series was over before Cougars could say &ldquo;bringon New Westminster.&rdquo;The high-scoring Tiger trio, averaging three goals per game on the season, could muster just five in the four games against Victoria and in the end. it proved to be their demise.The Tigers, though, weren&rsquo;t in the best shape heading into the series, following a physical five-game set-to with Edmonton Oil Kings in the preliminary round of playoffs.Medicine Hat was missing rookie forwards Ron Areshenkoff and Gary Gilchrist, and hardnosed veteran defenceman John Hilworth. who was slapped with a five-game suspension for being the first player to leave his bench during a bench-clearing brawl against Edmonton in that series&rsquo; last game.Still, Tigers season boiled down to the fact that the weight of the Mad Hatters got to be too much for Murdoch, Carroll and Lukowich to carry on their shoulders.Besides right-winger Murdoch and left-winger Lukowich on the WCHL&rsquo;s first All-Star team, others selected were: goal&mdash; Glen Hanlon, Brandon Wheat Kings; defense &mdash; Barry Beck, New Westminster Bruins, Kevin McCarthy, Winnipeg Clubs; and center&mdash;Bernie Federko. Saskatoon Blades.Making up the second team were: goal&mdash;Dave Parro. Saskatoon; defense&mdash;Brad Maxwell, New Westminster. Tim Williams, Victoria Cougars; center&mdash;Greg Carroll, Medicine Hat; right wing&mdash;Blair Chapman. Saskatoon; left wing&mdash;Steve Clippingdale, New Westminster.As well, the league announced the winners of the its individual awards.To the surprise of no one, Ernie (Punch) McLean was named Coach of the Year, for leading his New Westminster Bruins to a record-breaking first-place season.Other awards were: most valuable player &mdash; Bernie Federko, Saskatoon; rookie of the year &mdash; Steve Tambellini, Lethbridge Broncos; outstanding defenseman &mdash; Kevin McCarthy. Winnipeg; most gentlemanly player &mdash; Blair Chapman, Saskatoon; best goaltending average &mdash; Carey Walker. New Westminster.Here&rsquo;s a quick look at how the league&rsquo;s semi-finals are progressing. In capsule form. New Westminster appears to be a shoo-in over Victoria, while Kamloops and Saskatoon are battling.New Westminster Bruins, after winning five straight over Brandon in the first round, finally had a blemish put on their record when they tied the Victoria Cougars 2-2 in the bird game of the series.But after four games. New West had a 7-1 lead in points, needing just one more tie to advance to the league final.The series has produced four low-scoring games, with a 4-1 Bruin win in the second game being the highest-scoring. The other three games have caused the red light to blink only four times each.In the opener at home. Bruins got a two-goal performance from Steve Clippingdale en route to a 31 win. Mark Loft house got two goals in the second game for the 41 victory in Victoria. Game three was nearly a Victoria win. Cougars led 2-0 after the second. but a fluke goal by Barry Beck, on a shot from near centre ice. gave New West their tie. Beck had set up Clay Pachai for Bruins&rsquo; first goal. Beck continued to shine in the fourth game, setting up two goals tor a 3-1 New West minster victory.Kamloops &mdash; Chiefs jumped into a quick 2-0 points lead with an upset 5-3 win in Saskatoon as Darrell Ferner scored twice. But the Blades rebounded for a 6-2 victory in the second game as Chapman kept up his hot stick with two goals and two assists. Chapman, with 18goals so far is within two of the playoff record, held by Dan Spring, formerly with Edmonton Oil Kings.The series moved to Kamloops for games three and four, and the Chiefs appeared to be in the driver&rsquo;s seat with a convincing 7-2 win in the third game. But Bernie Federko rewrote another section of the league record book in the fourth game, leading Blades to a 12-4 humiliation oft he Chiefs. &#9632;

f0033-01

Cougars Shut Down Tigers’ Big Line But Bruins Steamroll Toward Final

<h2>WESTERN CANADA LEAGUE</h2><h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02154/3711809-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="592" height="81"></div>(Now Westminster leads eight-point senes 2-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>New Westminster 7 Saskatoon 0<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03114/3711802-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="589" height="82"></div>(New Westminster wins eight-point series 9-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>New Westminster 9 Victoria 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0494/3711795-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="590" height="80"></div>(Saskatoon wins eight-point series 8-4)<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0574/3711788-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="587" height="79"></div>(New Westminster loads eight-point series 5-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>New Westminster 2, Victoria 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0659/3711781-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="589" height="81"></div>(Kamloops leads eight-point series 4-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Kamloops 5, Saskatoon 3Saskatoon 6, Kamloops 2Kamloops 7, Saskatoon 2<h2>QUARTER-FINALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0750/3711774-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="588" height="77"></div>(Victoria wins six-point series 7-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Victoria 3, Medicine Hat 2Victoria 2, Medicine Hat 2Victoria 5, Medicine Hat 4Victoria 5, Medicine Hat 4<h3>Preliminary Round</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0843/3711767-1-eng-US/f0033-082.jpg" title="f0033-08" width="589" height="76"></div>(News Westminster wins 10-points series 10-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>New Westminster 3, Brandon 2New Westminster 9, Brandon 2New Westminster 5, Brandon 3New Westminster 9, Brandon 4New Westminster 7, Brandon 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0935/3711760-1-eng-US/f0033-092.jpg" title="f0033-09" width="592" height="77"></div>(Saskatoon wins eight-point series 8-6)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Saskatoon 9, Lethbridge 4Saskatoon 3, Lethbridge 3Lethbridge 5, Saskatoon 4Lethbridge 4, Saskatoon 2Saskatoon 7, Lethbridge 2Saskatoon 6, Lethbridge 6Saskatoon 6 Lethbridge 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1031/3711753-1-eng-US/f0033-102.jpg" title="f0033-10" width="587" height="75"></div>(Kamloops wins eight-point series 8-4)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Kamloops 4, Winnipeg 2Komaloops 5, Winnipeg 2Winnipeg 8, Kamloops 5Kamloops 3, Winnipeg 3Kamloops 2, Winnipeg 2Komloops6, Winnipeg 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1130/3711746-1-eng-US/f0033-112.jpg" title="f0033-11" width="588" height="81"></div>(Victoria wins eight-point series 9-3)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Victoria 3, Regina 1Regina 6, Victorio 4Victoria 9, Regina 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1229/3711739-1-eng-US/f0033-122.jpg" title="f0033-12" width="589" height="76"></div>(Medicine Hat won eight-Doint series 8-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Victoria 3, Medicine Hat 2Victoria 2, Medicine Hat 2 &#9632;

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<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0033-13" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1320/3711840-1-eng-US/f0033-132.jpg"></div>Most valuable player &mdash; Bernie Federko, SaskatoonRookie of the Year &mdash; Steve Tambellini, Lethbridge. &#9632;

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WCHL All Star Teams

<div class="byline">BY GARY CLARK</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBV LTDArnold Streel Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBV LTDArnold Streel Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaPHILADELPHIA&mdash;The Philadelphia Firebirds have trundled off with the 1976 Lockhart Cup, perhaps anticipating happily the Disney World Vacation promised them by owner Ed Piszek as an added bonus for their victory.Elsewhere attention has already shifted to 1976-77, which will be the fourth season for the North American Hockey League. Accordingly, the league is set to hold its annual meeting at historic Cooperstown, New York, May 14-16. The session should be anything but uneventful.Cooperstown, of course, is renowned as the birthplace of baseball and is the home of the Sport&rsquo;s Hall of Fame. The obvious incongruity won&rsquo;t bother the owners and management of the NAHL teams, who have a tradition of creating a lore all their own at their annual get-togethers.In past years the NAHL meetings have been both stormy and productive. In each of the last two years the league entered its meetings with franchises on the ropes but exited with all old franchises intact and expansion franchises added. Making premeeting guesses as to the results has been something like predicting the Kentucky Derby winner years in advance.Entering the 1974 meeting in Montreal, Johnstown and Mohawk Valley appeared ready to collapse, and Syracuse was uncertain what to do in the face of an invasion by the American Hockey League. Result? Johnstown and Mohawk Valley came back to be among the strongest franchises in the league, the Blazers girded themselves for what was to be a successful defense of their territory, and Philadelphia was enticed to enter the fray.Before the 1975 meeting in Cape Cod, rumors were swirling that the host Codders were planning to move to Springfield, that there would be an expansion franchise granted to Springfield, that in Syracuse the Eagles were going to buy out the Blazers, that the Blazers were going to buy out the Eagles, that Binghamton was moving to the American League, that Rochester was moving to the North American League, and so on. Need more be said In the end Buffalo and Beauce joined and Long Island moved to Erie.Such is the state of minor league hockey these days that this year&rsquo;s jigsaw puzzle less no less complicated. For those who enjoy speculation there are plenty of juicy rumors making the rounds.The wildest and most pervasive has the Philadelphia Flyers moving their AHL Richmond Operation to Philadelphia while the Robins go to the Southern League. Or the Flyers staying in Richmond and the Firebirds jumping directly to the AHL. Begin to have a familiar ring?A Philadelphia source reports that the chances of any change in the status quo at this point are very slim. &ldquo;The Firebirds have already sold about 225 new season ticket plans for 1976-77 and are committed to the same ticket prices as they had last season. That means they would have to average about 6,500 fans per game to break even in the AHL as opposed to 3,500 in the NAHL,&rdquo; says the source. And that is not counting the quarter of a million dollar franchise fee to enter the AHL.In other quarters, Syracuse was a distinct box office disappointment. A year of relative sanity did not negate the chaos caused when the Blazers and Eagles shared the city. The Blazers ownership is reported to be in the midst of refinancing to insure operation in 1976-77.The Buffalo Norsemen had the lowest attendance in the league, but management is negotiating with the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium for perhaps 15 to 20 dates for next season. The team switched two of their 1975-76 home games to the &ldquo;Aud&rdquo; from the Tonawanda Sports Center and enjoyed hearty crowds. The two games drew a total of 10,000 customers. A partial schedule in the major league building next season should solve the Norsemen&rsquo;s attendance woes.Expansion is always a possibility, and there are rumors in that direction as well. The hottest had the league moving back to Long Island, vacated last year by the Erie Blades. The rumor mill now says that a group of investors has formed but that they have been unable to negotiate a suitable lease with the Long Island Arena.Commissioner JackTimmins has received serious inquiries from such diverse places as New London, Connecticut, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Portland, Main. Asked about expansion possibilities, the commissioner smiled enigmatically and said, &ldquo;we are always looking.&rdquo; Perhaps he knows the history of these things in the NAHL.The Beauce Jaros were so often reported to be moving over the last half of the season, that the reports acquired a legitimacy all of their own, as if the sheer number of them could make them true. The Jaros were alternately going to Quebec City, or Sherbrooke, or Ottawa, or Verdun, or Boston, or Scranton, or Syracuse, or New Haven. Recently owner-general manager Andre Veilleux has been negotiating for a new lease of the municipally owned palais des sports. Don&rsquo;t bet against the Eastern Division champion Jaros starting right in Beauce.Adding spice to the situation are the continuing rumors that one American League city or another is casting its eyes on the more reasonably budgeted North American League. One hears names like Rochester, Springfield, or New Haven tossed around. If nothing else they provide a harmonious counterpoint to the Philly-to-AHL rumors.As Ted Mack used to say,&rsquo; &ldquo;around and around she goes&hellip;&rdquo; we will all know in another month. &#9632;

NAHL Unlikely To Change Overall Picture

SHERBROOKE &mdash;As the first game of the final Quebec Major Hockey League series between Sherbrooke Beavers and the Quebec Remparts approached, Sherbrooke mentor Ghislain Delage knew that he would have to pump up his players for a brand new challenge.The Beavers had romped through their semi-final series with Trois Rivieres Dravers scoring 40 goals in five games, as wave after wave of offensive assaults proceeded into the Draveurs&rsquo; zone.But in the final-round matchups, the Beavers are up against a powerful defensive club in the Quebec Remparts, who allowed only nine goals in their four-game sweep of Cornwall in the semi-finals.The series, promised to be the classic high-powered offense versus the impregnable defense &mdash; a proposition that leaves Delage somewhat worried.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure my defense can and will play much better against Quebec,&rdquo; said Delage, in reference to the fact that the Beavers gave up 24 goals in the five-game series, &ldquo;&hellip; when so many goals are being scored it&rsquo;s difficult to concentrate on defense.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something we&rsquo;ll have to think about against Quebec,&rdquo; he added.The Remparts, while noted for their defensive strength, have averaged better than four goals a game in their nine post-season encounters this year, a figure which becomes more impressive when it is noted that they have allowed only 3.14 goals per game, while winning eight of nine matches.Sherbrooke took a couple of days off to rest some of their injuries as Delage predicted that his club would have to get 100 percent from everyone to beat the Remparts.Commented Delage, &ldquo;This final series should be one of the best in the history of the league.&rdquo;One player, in particular that Sherbrooke would like to see return to health is Peter Marsh, the second leading scoring in the QMHL and the loop&rsquo;s most valuable player. Marsh, who has been far from form with 11 points in 11 playoff contests has been suffering from a fractured jaw and a broken nose. He&rsquo;s lost five pounds and has found a great deal of difficulty in breathing limiting his effectiveness.&ldquo;Peter should be ready to go all out in the final,&rdquo; said Delage, &ldquo;he&rsquo;s a valuable member of our club and we&rsquo;ll certainly need him tostop Quebec.&rdquo;The Remparts, for their part, are looking forward to the playoffs as a chance for revenge after a dismal showing against Sherbrooke during the regular season.In eight games with the Beavers, the best that the Remparts could manage was one tie. &ldquo;They lulled us to sleep in every regular season this year,&rdquo; mentioned Quebec coach Ron Racette, &ldquo;but it won&rsquo;t happen during the playoffs and I think Sherbrooke realizes that.&rdquo;Then he added, &ldquo;If they try to push us around, they won&rsquo;t get away with it.&rdquo; &#9632;

Delage Expects Tough Final Series As Beavers, Remparts Square Off

<h2>QUEBEC MAJOR LEAGUE Finals</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01212/3711961-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="582" height="85"></div>(Quebec leads best-of-seven series 1-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Quebec 3 Sherbrooke 2<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02176/3711954-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="582" height="78"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sherbrooke 10, Trois-Rivieres 5Sherbrooke 8, Trois-Rivieres 6Sherbrooke 7, Trois-Rivieres 4Trois-Rivieres 7, Sherbrooke 6Sherbrooke 9, Trois-Rivieres 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03130/3711947-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="582" height="79"></div>(Quebec wins best-of-seven series 4-0)<h3>Quarter-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04104/3711940-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="577" height="82"></div>(Sherbrooke wins best-of-seven series 4-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sherbrooke 4, Hull 3Hull 7, Sherbrooke 5Sherbrooke 5. Hull 3Hull 6, Sherbrooke 4Sherbrooke 7, Hull 2Sherbrooke 4. Hull 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0581/3711933-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="532" height="78"></div>(Cornwall wins best-of-seven series 4-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thu. March 25Montreal 4 at Cornwall 2Sun. March 28Cornwdl 1 at Montreal 7Tue. March 30Montreal 2 at Cornwall 4Thu. April 1Cornwall 6 at Montreal 4Fri. Apr. 2Montreal 3 at Cornwall 5Sun. April 4Cornwall 5 at Montrel 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0664/3711926-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="535" height="73"></div>(Quebec wins best-of-seven series 4-1)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0755/3711919-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="529" height="79"></div>(Trois-Rivieres wins best-of-seven series 4-1) &#9632;

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MONTREAL &mdash;Five dates for the 1976 Memorial Cup have been announced for this year&rsquo;s Canadian Junior Hockey championships to be held at the Montreal Forum.The playoffs will open on Sunday, May 9 when the Quebec champion plays the Ontario champion, while the final game will be held on Sunday, May 16.Other games will pit the Quebec representative against the Western team on Monday. May 10, followed by Ontario versus the West on Wednesday, May 18.Memorial Cup semi-finals will be played on Friday, May 14, leading to the deciding game on Sunday.Toronto Marlboros, last year&rsquo;s defending champions will not have a chance to add another crown to their laurels. They were eminated by Hamilton, in five games in a semi-finals Ontario Hockey Association playoff. Hamilton is currently battling Sudbury for the OHA title.In Western Canada, the record-smashing New Westminster Bruins are highly favored to represent the Western Canada Hockey League. They&rsquo;re trying to get past Victoria whom they upset a year ago to reach the Memorial Cup finals. The winner goes against the survivor of the Kamloops-Saskatoon semi-final matchup.Meanwhile, in Quebec, no one is sure who will reign as this province&rsquo;s champion as the final series between Quebec City and Sherbrooke got underway. Both are considered solid teams, but would most likely he the underdogs to both the Western and Ontario champions. &#9632;

Montreal Awaits Memorial Cup, Quebec Seen As Underdogs

<div class="byline">BY STEVE DOUGHTY</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY LTDArnold Street Wallaceburg Ontano Sold rn U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY LTDArnold Street Wallaceburg Ontano Sold rn U.S. and CanadaCHARLOTTE&mdash;The credentials are impressive. Back-to-back Southern Hockey League championships. Five titles in nine years. Keen tactician. Impassioned motivator.It can be said that Charlotte Checkers&rsquo; coach Pat Kelly has everything going for him.Everything, that is. except a job.Before people get the wrong impression. Kelly has not been fired. However. the Charlotte franchise, hub of southern hockey for the past 20 years, has dissolved and the Checkers&rsquo; highly successful coach is now looking elsewhere for employment.&ldquo;First of all, I&rsquo;m a little disappointed&rsquo; for Charlotte,&rdquo; said Kelly, who directed the team to the regular-season&rsquo; championship before the Checkers breezed through playoff series with Roanoke Valley and Hampton. &ldquo;I think the town needs hockey&hellip; from a social standpoint, if nothing else.&rdquo;After losing $100,000 this season, a group of stockholders headed by jeweler Al Manch voted that it could no longer continue operations.&ldquo;There are a couple of people who might come forward. Maybe they&rsquo;ve been waiting for the old group to disband,&rdquo; said Kelly, not sounding too hopeful.For his part. Kelly will remain in Charlotte until his children get out of school, hoping that somehow ohe franchise will get back on its feet. He plans to assist in the effort, but if things don&rsquo;t work out, he&rsquo;ll be looking around.Obviously, there must be a demand for coaches with his kind of record, but the 40-year-old coach isn&rsquo;t so sure.&ldquo;You never know,&rdquo; moaned Kelly. &ldquo;The hockey picture is really changing right now. There are a lot of players out of jobs and there are fewer and fewer teams each year. Also, computerized scouting means that when an organization loses a scout, it won&rsquo;t bother to replace him.&rdquo;After taking the Checkers to the first of two consecutive championships in 1974, Kelly was in the running for several jobs. Invariably, he was a second choice, the man who was going to be hired if&hellip;.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01190/3712016-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="568" height="892"><figcaption class="caption-body">PAT KELLY &hellip; Still Hoping</figcaption></div>Once again, there have been nibbles, but no one has swallowed the bait vet. &ldquo;As of now, I&rsquo;m definitely available,&rdquo; said the red-haired coach. &ldquo;That doesn&rsquo;t mean I wouldn&rsquo;t come back to Charlotte if the city had a team. But, right now, things don&rsquo;t look good.&rdquo;As always, rumors persist that golfer Arnold Palmer will bail out the franchise, but little has been said since Palmer stopped by the Charlotte Coliseum to watch the Checkers play over a month ago.For years, Charlotte ran one of the soundest operations in minor league hockey. While other southern cities gradually fell by the wayside, Charlotte was drawing crowds of 7.000 and 8.000 and winning championships.Since Kelly joined the Checkers in 1973, but not as a result of his signing, the franchise has fallen on hard times. This year&rsquo;s attendance was just a shade under 3,000 while the largest crowd for anv of the playoff dates was 3,600 for a Saturday night game with Hampton.Kelly doesn&rsquo;t have to search far for the reasons. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t have a Friday night in the whole playoffs and that was normally our biggest draw.&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;Also, I feel that if Greensboro had had a contender (the Generals failed to make the playoffs in &lsquo;74 and &lsquo;75) it would have helped. We used To have a great rivalry, but they only beat us once in our building in three years.&rdquo;There has been mention of the fact that the Checkers were under promoted and Kelly agrees whole heartedly. Kevin Johnson was hired early in the year to do public relations, but the job was not filled when Johnson resigned to become general manager of the Tidewater Sharks.&ldquo;Today, I don&rsquo;t care what you&rsquo;re selling. You&rsquo;ve got to get out and knock on doors,&rdquo; said Kelly, who was general manager as well as coach. &ldquo;We had a good hockey team, but I think the owners realize now they should have promoted it.&rdquo;Kelly also feels the absence of fighting may have affected the crowds. While almost all of hockey has taken some kind of position against fighting, the SHL is one of the few leagues that has been successful in curtailing the violence.Too successful, in fact.&ldquo;The SHL teams are not like the teams in the North American League, where sometimes they start fighting in warmups. I remember the old Eastern League (he was a coach for the Clinton Comets). The teams that won were not necessarily the best teams, but they were the toughest.&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t had the fights here, I&rsquo;ve seen our guys drop their gloves and the other teams just skate away. I think percentage of the fans in Charlott wanted to see a good scrap now anc then.&rdquo;Kelly&rsquo;s teams weren&rsquo;t known for their fighting, but they were more than able to take care of themselves. &ldquo;We were just a well-balanced hockey club,&rdquo; explained the coach. &ldquo;We had a congenial bunch. They got along well and had some fun. But, when they had to win a hockey game, they went out and did it.&ldquo;And, don&rsquo;t forget we had some good people to work with.. I&rsquo;ll always be grateful to the Buffalo Sabres for providing us with players.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Kelly Job Hunting As Charlotte Dissolves Checkers

<div class="byline">BY JOHN ARNOLD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02142/3712047-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="954" height="1244"></div>SOLUTION IN MAY 14 ISSUE<h2>ACROSS</h2>1. Wears No. 9 for Houston.3. NHL statitician. (init)6. A Toros&rsquo; defenseman.8. Orr won this trophy in 1974-75.11. First name of an NHL captain.12. Nickname of former Seattle team in WHL.13. Initials of Goldup of Nova Scotia.14. 15th and 12th lettersof the alphabet.15. An NHLcoach, (init)16. Former Red Wing forward.19. Nickname of former NHL forward Henry.21. One of the Bruins.22. A Bruin center, (init)23. This can&rsquo;t happen in the playoffs.24. Denotes number worn by Bert Marshall. (Rom. Numb)25. Former NHLdefensman.26. Pictured player.29. Former Montreal general manager.30. Skating requisite.<h2>DOWN</h2>1. Bobby Clarke won this trophy last year.2. An NHLcaptain.3. Guy Lafleur recently won this trophy.4. Former NHL referee Skov answers to this.5. Marcel Dionne won this trophy last year.7. Salt Lake City Golden (p)9. Penotes scoreless tie.10. Compass point.14. Former WHA defenseman.17. One of the Habs.18. Card game sometimes played by players on road trips.20. Former NHL forward nicknamed the entertainer. (init)23. First nameof oneof the Hawks.24. Former NHL forward Fonteyne answers to this.27. Initials of a former Leaf right winger.28. 26th and 5th letters of the alphabet.<h2>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S ANSWERS</h2><h3>Across</h3>1. PLANTE7. A.S.9. ARBOUR10. L.M.11. E.N.12. ICE14. LEACH16. 1118. NOR.20. EEL.22. VAL.23. N.H.A24. E.S.25. ROBERTS.30. VADNAIS.31. O.C.32. EA.33. NINETEEN.<h3>Down</h3>1. PAPPIN.2. L.R.3. ABEL.4. NONE.5. T.U.6. ERIC.7. ALE.8. S.M.13. CHEEVERS.15. HULL.17. 10.19. REARDON.21. EAST.23. NEVIN.26. ONCE.27. B.A.28. E.I.29. SEA.32. E.N. &#9632;

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HOCKEY CROSSWORD

MINOT&mdash;Minot Raiders, who finished last in the five-team Southwest Hockey League, have upset the third-place Butte Copper Kings in their best-of-seven series to advance to the semi-finals against the pennant-winning Amarillo Wranglers.The first three games of that series are being played in Amarillo before the teams switch back to Minot where the Raiders scored three consecutive victories to eliminate the Copper Kings.After winning just once in three starts at Butte, (5-2 in game two, while losing 7-4 and 7-6), the Raiders put it all together to handle the Copper Kings by counts of 6-2, 4-1 and 6-4,Amarillo, as league champs, had earned a first-round bye and were given ample opportunity to scout the upstart Raiders.Meanwhile, in the other best-of-seven series, Albuquerque Chaparrals and Billings Blazers were all even after the first four matches. The series opened in Albuquerque with three games where the Chaparrals managed two victories by scores of 7-4 and 8-3.However. Billings erupted for a 9-3 conquest in the second game and then evened the series as they returned home to post a 5-3 triumph.The winner of the Albuquerque-Billings series moves to the Southwest League finals against the victor of the Amarillo-Minot confrontation. &#9632;

SOUTH WEST LEAGUE ROUNDUP

<div class="byline">BY HOWIE STALWICK</div>SPOKANE&mdash;When the going gets tough&hellip; the Spokane Flyers get going.Powered by one of the most dramatic comebacks in the Lilac City&rsquo;s 25-year history in the Western International Hockey League, the Flyers defeated Cranbrook 6-5 in the seventh and deciding game of the Savage Cup playoffs to qualify for the Allan Cup semi-finals.The only American team ever to capture Canada&rsquo;s senior amateur championship (in 1970 and &lsquo;721 the Flyers (nee Jets) next host either Brandon or St. Boniface from the Manitoba Senior League in a best-of-five Patton Cup series to be played entirely in Spokane.The winner will then meet the Eastern Canada representatives in the best-of-seven Allan Cup finals, with all games taking place in the Western city.Only the importance of bringing the Allan Cup back to the Inland Empire can make the Flyers&rsquo; upcoming trials anything more than anti-climactic to their amazing third-period comeback in Cranbrook in the final WIHL stanza of the year.Down 4-2 and 5-3 as late as the midway point of the year&rsquo;s last 20 minutes, the visiting Spokanites erupted for three unanswered goals by Nels Venerus, Bob Stoyko and Jim Montgomery in the closing nine minutes to defeat Cranbrook in game No. 7 of the finals a second straight year.&ldquo;We just didn&rsquo;t quit. We kept trying and not panicking like most clubs would have, kept plugging away,&rdquo; gushed Flyer coach and general manager Tom Hodges.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01204/3712102-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="530" height="858"><figcaption class="caption-body">NELS VENERUS &hellip; Flyer Standout</figcaption></div>&lsquo;We re two goals down with five minutes to go out of town and we come back &mdash; we gotta be doing something right.&rdquo;Indeed they have been since posting a mediocre 26-22. third-place showing in the regular season, and Spokane began the deciding match in fine style when rookie right winger Steve McKnight scored after just 44 seconds of play.But the regular season champions from Cranbrook roared back with two tallies in the first period by Jim Miller and Gerry Goyer, and after Montgomery tied things at 2-all, Billy Martin moved the home club ahead 3-2 with the only marker of the middle stanzaThen Marv Ferg hit for a breakaway goal and a 4-2 Royal lead just 35 seconds into the final period, and it looked very much like the Royals had wrapped up their second Savage Cup title ever before a fourth consecutive sellout crown of 538 in the little British Columbia community.Ah, but the Spokane boys had different ideas, and after McKnight and Felix Lavallee traded goals early in the third stanza, the Flyers caught fire towin their seventh WIHL championship in nine seasons before a suddenly hushed Cranbrook crowd.Montgomery was truly the Spokane hero this night, adding the finishing touches to a shocking triumph by capping his four-point night with the winning goal just 38 seconds from the end.Staunch goaltending from Spokane netminders Frank Turnbull and Henry Durkin and Royal ironman Leo Karchie highlighted the entire series. The Flyers also benefited greatly from clutch penaltykilling efforts by the likes of Stoyko, Venerus, Bob Trembecky and McKnight.The veteran Goyer was a standout throughout the series for Cranbrook. leading all WIHL playoff scorers with six goals and 22 points in 12 games.Spokane rounded out the top five with Venerus (8-11-19), Trembecky (10-8-18). defenseman Murray Kennett (4-14-18). and Ken Gustafson (1-17-18). Montgomery topped all in goals, with 11. Gustafson paced the pack in assists, and Karchie led regular goaltenders with a 3.57 average. &#9632;

f0038-01

Spokane Topples Cranbrook As Comeback Brings Title

<h2>WESTERN INTERNATIONAL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01185/3712266-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="580" height="76"></div>(Spokane wins best-of-seven series 4-3)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Spokane 1, Cranbrook 3Spokane 5, Cranbrook 4Cranbrook 6. Spokane 7Cranbrook 4, Spokane 3Spokane 0. Cranbrook 4cranbrook 4, Spokane 8Spokane 6, Cranbrook 5<h3>SEMI-FINALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02136/3712259-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="580" height="79"></div>(Cranbrook wins best-of-seven series 4-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Cranbrook 7, Kimberley 3Kimberley 1, Cranbrook 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03106/3712252-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="576" height="76"></div>(Spokane wins best-of-seven series 4-1).<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Spokone 4, Troil 6Trail 4, Spokane 7Sookane 7, Troil 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0489/3712245-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="582" height="253"></div><h2>ALLAN CUP</h2><h3>Eastern Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0570/3712238-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="582" height="83"></div>(Barrie leads best-of-five series 2-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Barrie 11, Gatineau 7Barr ie 6, Gatineau 3Gatineau 5, Barrie 3<h3>Western Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0657/3712231-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="583" height="80"></div>(Spokane wins best-of-five series 3-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Spokone 8, St. Boniface 3Eastern Semi-Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0748/3712224-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="578" height="82"></div>(Barrio wins best-of-five series 3-0)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0842/3712217-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="586" height="78"></div>(Gatineau wins best-of-five series 3-0)<h2>CENTENNIAL CUP</h2><h3>Eastern Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0935/3712210-1-eng-US/f0039-092.jpg" title="f0039-09" width="585" height="88"></div>(Rockland leadsbest-of-seven series 1-0)<h3>Western Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1031/3712203-1-eng-US/f0039-102.jpg" title="f0039-10" width="582" height="82"></div>(Spruce Grove leads best-of-seven series 2-0)<h3>Eastern Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1129/3712196-1-eng-US/f0039-112.jpg" title="f0039-11" width="580" height="85"></div>(Rockland wins best-of-seven series 4-3)<h2>HARDY CUP</h2><h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1226/3712189-1-eng-US/f0039-122.jpg" title="f0039-12" width="585" height="87"></div>(Prince George loads best-of-five series 1-0)<h3>Eastern Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1322/3712182-1-eng-US/f0039-132.jpg" title="f0039-13" width="578" height="83"></div>(Embrun wins best-of-five series 3-0)<h3>Wester Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1419/3712175-1-eng-US/f0039-142.jpg" title="f0039-14" width="582" height="88"></div>(Prince George wins best-of-five series 3-1)<h2>B.C. JUNIOR</h2><h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1518/3712168-1-eng-US/f0039-152.jpg" title="f0039-15" width="583" height="81"></div>(Nanaimo loads 10-point series 9-3)<h2>MIDWEST JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2><h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1616/3712161-1-eng-US/f0039-162.jpg" title="f0039-16" width="584" height="79"></div>(St. Paul winsbest-of-five series3-1)Semi-Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1714/3712154-1-eng-US/f0039-172.jpg" title="f0039-17" width="573" height="62"></div>(St. Paul wlnsbost-of-seven series 4-2)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1811/3712147-1-eng-US/f0039-182.jpg" title="f0039-18" width="577" height="73"></div>(Hennepin wins best-of-seven series 4-1)<h2>NEW ENGLAND LEAGUE</h2><h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-199/3712140-1-eng-US/f0039-192.jpg" title="f0039-19" width="577" height="83"></div>(Springfield wins best-of-three series 2-0)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-208/3712133-1-eng-US/f0039-202.jpg" title="f0039-20" width="585" height="79"></div>(Berlin wins best-of-three series 2-0) &#9632;

f0039-01

<div class="byline">BY BILL HILTS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-218/3712297-1-eng-US/f0039-212.jpg" title="f0039-21" width="326" height="414"></div><h2>Manitoba League</h2>For the third consecutive season, the tinals leatured Selkirk Steelers (North Division), and West Kildonan North Stars (South Division) And. lor the third year in a row. Selkirk triumphed, winning the Ollie Turnbull Memorial TrophySetkirk&rsquo;s Erwin Martens, a 19 year-old, led playoff scoring with 38 points. He plays on the left side of a line, with center Ken Krentz, who won the season scoring title and finished second in the playoffs with 33 points The right-winger on that line. Dale Maksymyk was fourth with 23. Selkirk captain Darryl Einarson, a defenseman and the league MVP, was third with 30.Einarson was presented with the Evan Jones Memorial Trophy as the MVP in a ceremony preceding the final game. The trophy is put up by the referees section of the Manitoba Amateur Hockey Assn and selection is made by the referees.The Terry Sawchuk Memorial Trophy went to Bruce Friesen, goaltender with Saints, Krentz won the Dr. Norquay Memorial Trophy for win ning the scoring crown.Steelers and Prince Albert Raiders. Saskatchewan Jr. League champs will compete in the Western Centennial Cup semi-final series. Steelers and Raiders met in 1973-74, the year Selkirk won the Centennial Cup, and the series went six games. Only Martens remains from that championship team.<h2>New York&mdash;Penn League</h2>Commissioner Fred Rossi is still beaming with pride over the tact that two of the teams from his league, the Amherst Knights and Rochester Monarchs went so far in the National Jr &ldquo;B&rdquo; Championships held in Rochester. N.Y The host Monarchs, third-place finishers in regular season play, won their division in the National Tourney, while Amherst took second spot in the other division This pitted the Monarchs and Knights in the semi-final round. The Amherst juniors prevailed, scoring with less than a minute left to take a 4-3 win, which carried them into the finals against the Springfield Olympics. As we reported last week, the Olympics, playing solid hockey, won it all. But still, Rossi says that the performances by the two teams from the three-year-old NY-Penn League were quite convincing to hockey bulls from around the nation.In the Empire Cup playoffs, the fourth place Niagara Falls Mangs Sharks have taken on the &ldquo;Cinderella&rdquo; role. They eliminated the powerful Amherst Knights, extending the semi-final series to the full seven games. Prior to the series break for the National Tourney. Amherst led the Sharks 3-2 in games. Then following the Rochester meet, the Knights seemed to lose their punch and the Sharks buried them in game six by a 12-5 count. Shark goals were scored by Harry Roberts who notched a hat trick. Tom Simon with two, and singles by Lou Rosetti, Vic Talarico, Rich Connette, Mike Brigante, Bill Hilts, Jim Rickard and John Donaldson. Amherst was led by Pat Barton with two, and singles by Jeff Browns-chidle, Derek Embody and Tom Wilde.In the rubber game, the Sharks again prevailed 9-1. Talarico and Rosetti each scored a pair for the Mang Juniors, with singletons by Dave Raham, Sam Crogan, Roberts, Brigante and Mike Andrejcak. The Knights only goal came on a power play by BrownschidleIn the opening game of the Empire Cup final series, the Sharks took on the Rochester Monarchs who had eliminated the second-place Southtown Cougars in four straight games. A most exciting game it proved to be Brigante scored on a power play at 12:05 of the opening period on a pass from Rosetti and Connette That marker held up until 3:58 of the third period when Bob Weickgenannt took a pass from Dave Trevor and Tim Hervey to tie the score. Then at 5:33 Donaldson dented the mesh for the Sharks with Robbin Hili and Andrejcak assisting. At 13:09 Brigante fired his second marker of the night with Connette and Hilts assisting. But, just 38 seconds later. Ron Weathers took a pass from Trevor and Tom Olney to bring the Monarchs back within reach Then at 17:57 Weickgenannt notched his second goal of the evening on a neat play set up by Gary Moss. It looked like certain overtime But, the Sharks hard-working center, Rosetti stunned the big Rochester crowd when he netted an unassisted goal at 19:30 of the final stanza. The Sharks went home 4-3 winnersIn game two played in Niagara Falls, it was a much tighter contest Sharks&rsquo; All Star goalie Mike Bagocus was exceptionally sharp, as was his rival in the opposite nets, Jeff Beck. The Monarchs opened the scoring early at 2:26 ot the opening period with Dave Trevor beating Bagocus, on a pass from Pete Dawes and Moss. But the Sharks goalie slammed the door for the remainder of the match. It wasn&rsquo;t until 13:03 ot the middle period that the Sharks scored when captain Dave Raham lit the red light on a power play goal which was set up by Mike Brigante. Then at 8:06 ot the third period. Tom Simon took a pass trom Hilts and Connette to net the winning goal. The game ended &mdash; Sharks 2 and Monarchs 1. That&rsquo;s where the best of seven series stands as of this writing, with Niagara Falls leading 2 games to 0.<h2>New York Metro League</h2>The first two regular-season linishers, Suffolk Royals and the New York Americans, battled it out to crown a new M.JHA champion. The Amerks insured that a new champ would be crowned by eliminating the defending Keegan Cup holders, the New York Westsiders in three straight games, 7-3, 5-4 and 4-3. Vinnie Regina broke a 4-4 tie midway through the final period to give the Amerks their second win, while Steve Bussardo&rsquo;s second goal proved the margin of victory in the clineher.After dropping their opener to Bergen Rockland, the Suffolk icers bounced back with three straight wins, 6-0, 4-3 and 5-2 in the finale Sul tolk goalie Tom Hasenzahl, regular season leader in both average and save percentage, is this week&rsquo;s plater of the week for his 41 save effort in the 6-0 shutout, and 37 saves in the 5-2 wrapup.<h2>Great Lakes Leagues</h2>The Detroit Jr Wings overcame a 3-1 first period deficit and exploded lor seven goals in the final two frames to deteat the Paddock Pools Saints 8-5. The victory enabled Detroit to advance to the &lsquo;A&rsquo; division finals against Little Caesars, who swept their semi-final series over Oakland. The Saints jumped off to an early lead on two Bob Peterson goals and one by Tom Nicholson. The Wings&rsquo; lone first frame tally was by John Enmark. Darryl DiPace got the Wings started in the middle stanza with a goal 19 seconds into the period. The Pools made it 4-2 on Jack McKinch&rsquo;s goal, but Dave Guertin and DiPace scored two late goals to tie the contest after forty minutes, the Wings then pulled it out with four goals in the final frame by Dave Humphreys, Guertin&rsquo;s second, DiPace&rsquo;s third and Dave Feamster&rsquo;sempty netterIn Game No. 1 of the final series. Little Caesars posted a 4-0 first period advantage and never looked back, dumping the Jr Wings 8-4. Caesars&rsquo; big line of Tom Michalek, Tom Manning and Dean Turner paced the victory Michalek had three goals and an assist. Manning two goals and two assists and Turner three assists. Dave Ross, Manning and Tom Becker also hit the nets for Caesars, while Jim Nista was beaten for lour goals. DiPace paced the Jr. Wings with a pair of markers, with Bryan Cammett and Dave Gandini getting one each.Again in Game No. 2. Caesars took the early lead and cruised to a 5-2 decision over the Wings. The winners took a 3-1 first period edge on goals by Tim Gitary, Don Waddell and Michalek and later added markers by Mike Hitch and Turner to top Detroit. Caesars goalie Greg Kwiatkowski faced only 24 shots, while Wing netminder Larry Suarez was deluged with 59 shots, blocking 54. Bob Bishop and Brad Strohm were Detroit&rsquo;s marksmen, with Bishop&rsquo;s tally coming in a short-handed situation in the first period.Little Caesars won the Jr. &ldquo;A&rdquo; Championship with a 9-0 whitewashing of the Wings. Nista kicked out all 39 shots he faced as his teammates gave him plenty of offensive support. Turner and Dave Kobylarz each had two goals, while Michalek. Tim Gitary, John Draheim, Ross and Waddell each added one. Suarez was outstanding in Detroit&rsquo;s goal, facing 58 shots Suarez held Caesars to only three goals through the first two periods, until he was swamped in the third frame. Little Caesar&rsquo;s last tour goals came in the final six minutes of the contest.In defense of the Jr. Wings, and taking nothing from Little Caesars&rsquo;fine performance, the Wings played the entire final round without the services of four key performers &mdash; Defenseman Ted Huesing, Dave Feamster and Mito Idunate, three of the league&rsquo;s best blueliners, plus forward Dave Guertin were all out with various injuries.In Game No. 1 of the &lsquo;B&rsquo; division final playoff series, the Wayne Americans extended a 3-2 first period lead with four second period goals to defeat Berkley 7-3. Bob McGinlay, Steve Morris and Ron Shiner each scored twice for Wayne, with Russ Baltazar adding single count. Norm Kawaelde was credited with three assists, as goalie Brad Mitseff faced only 24 shots for Wayne. Berkley&rsquo;s goals were scored by Andy Gamalski, who had two and George Mimikos.The Bruins tied the final series at one game apiece with a 6-2 triumph. The Americans took an early first period lead on Baltazar&rsquo;s goal with only two minutes elapsed in the game. Wayne held that lead until 1:47 of the second period when Mimikos scored to tie the game. The Bruins went ahead eight minutes later when Bob Racz scored to put Berkley on top to stay. The second period ended 2-1 for Berkley and the Bruins went on to score tour more &mdash; Mark Roos twice and singles by Kurt Bruebner and Gamalski.The Bruins who beat Wayne only once in ten regular season meetings, took a 2-1 advantage in the finals with a 7-6 decision in Game No 3. The lead changed hands five times until Roos got the game winner at 9:10 of the third period for Berkley Jeff Price led Bruin goal-getters with two tallies with Tom Lott, Mimikos, Gruebner, Gamalski and Ross adding one each Brian Betterly led the Amerks with a hat trick. Marty Kositz, Lindsay Watts and Ron Shiner had single goals and Kositz with 3 assists.The series was evened as Wayne posted a 7-4 win over Berkley in Game No. 4. Morris pumped in four goals to pace Wayne&rsquo;s winning effort. Berkley overcame a 3-0 first period deficit with three second period goals to tie the game. The Bruins scored first in the final stanza, but Wayne countered with four goals, three by Morris Ed Ross, Gary Winemaster and Shiner also scored for the Amerks, with McGinlay collecting 3 assists. Berkley&rsquo;s goals were shot by Mimikos, Lott, Mike Brown, Racz and Mimikos adding three assistsMorris scored a hat trick to lead the Americans to a 4-2 win over Berkley as the Amerks won the league and State championships and earned the right to compete in the U.S. National Jr. &ldquo;B&rdquo; Tournament. Morri&rsquo;s three goals in the finale gave him a total of 12 in the six playoff games in which he competed. Shiner was Wayne&rsquo;s other goal scorer, while netminder Steve Falcone allowed only two shots past him in the Americans goal. Berkleys two goals were by Mimikos and Jeff Wise with Bryan Baetens playing another st rong game in nets for the Bruins.<h2>New England League</h2>In the final round of the New England Junior Hockey League&rsquo;s Wallace Cup playoffs the defending champion Springfield Olymples hosted the Berlin Maroons Both the Olympics, who won the regular season crown with a 30-12-6 record and the Maroons, who finished in a tie for second with a 29-17-2 mark, swept thourgh the playoff semi-finals in two straight games. The final round will be best three-out-of-five.Coach Gary Dineen&rsquo;s Springfield skaters downed the Tyngsboro Huskies 4-3 in overtime ahd 5-3 in a tough series, while coach Husky Poirier&rsquo;s Berlin sextet outlasted the Fitchburg Wallopers 12-10 and 11-10 in a pair of high scoring affairs. The final round promises to be most interesting. The Olympics and the Maroons split their season&rsquo;s series, each winning four games, two on each other&rsquo;s home ice. The match up will pit the Maroons explosive offense against the stingy defense of the Olympics. Berlin led the NEJHL in goals scored, while Springfield allowed the fewest goals. &#9632;

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JUNIOR JOTTINGS

PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Flyers&rsquo; Bob Kelly, not usually noted as a goal-scorer, will have a chance to put his name in the Stanley Cup record book if he can score the cup winning goal as he did last year.Only four players, Canadiens&rsquo; Toe Blake, Jean Beliveau and Henri Richard, as well as Boston&rsquo;s Bobby Orr, have scored the Stanley Cup clinching goal in two separate years. If Kelly could repeat his heroics from last year, he would become the first player ever to score the cup winner two years in succession.Kelly, along with Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; Yvan Cournoyer are the only-players appearing in the 1976 playons who have ever scored a Stanley-Cup winning goal.Other players who have accomplished the feat and are still active in professional hockev include Jim Pappin, J.C. Tremblay, Orr 2nd Philadelphia&rsquo;s Rick MacLeish, both irtfilried. &#9632;

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May 7, 1976

Calder Cup Summaries

PASSING THE PUCK

Hockey Ad Lib

FAN FORUM