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 14, 1976

The Hockey News May 14, 1976

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY LTDArnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U S and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY LTDArnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U S and CanadaDAYTON&mdash;The Dayton Gems completed an International Hockey League championship double when they swept past the Port Huron Flags to capture the Turner Cqp.The Gems, who won the IHL&rsquo;s regular season points title and the Huber Trophy, were the class of the league this season piling-up a record 104 points to lead all IHL clubs and when it came to putting it on the line the Gems were again superior in the league playoffs.The Gems overpowered the Flags 7-2, 8-4, 5-3 and 5-2 to sweep their best-of-seven cup final and the unexpected outcome had to be disappointing to both the Flags and the IHL. The entire four-game series attracted an average of only 3,200 fans per game. On the other hand, the Flags were expected to provide tough competition for the Gems in the championship series off their excellent league and playoff record. Luck ran out on the Flags, who had been beating the odds all season long.A surprising second-place finish in the highly competitive North Division won Bobby McCammon coach of the year honors in the nine-team circuit. A year ago the Flags finished fourth in the North and were bounced in the opening round of the post-season activitty by Muskegon in five quick games. Port Huron wasn&rsquo;t figured to make much of a run at league honors this time out either. But McCammon developed a well-knit unit and as the season progressed, it was obvious the Flags had no intentions of falling short of their ultimate goal - until they ran into the Gems.On the other hand, Dayton broke from the starting gate with a rush and never looked back. The Gems even survived a mid-season coaching change without missing a shift. Tommy McVie was called up to take over the stumbling Washington Caps of the National Hockey League at the All Star break and Ivan Prediger, at one time the leading penalty tenant in the IHL, moved in and kept the Gems on course. Dayton ended its regular season with an unbeaten string of 14. They won 12 out of 15 playoff games.Dayton&rsquo;s near-perfect play continued through the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Gems eliminated Kalamazoo in the quarter-finals, four games to two, winning the decisive game on the road. The momentum increased in a semi-final romp of Fort Wayne. The Gems whipped the Komets in five games, scoring no less than 34 goals in the execution. A sensational rally by the Komets to win game No. 4 prevented a four-game sweep. Fort Wayne scored four goals in the final two minutes and 30 some seconds to extend the series into a fifth game. The last two Komet goals in the 8-5 victory were scored in an empty net. Dayton used a four goal second period to bury the Komets in the deciding fifth game, 9-4. Steve Self was the trigger-man, scoring the three-goal hat trick. It was the Flags&rsquo; second hat of the series. Brian Kinsella had pulled off the same trick in the third game.The road to the finals for Port Huron wasn&rsquo;t quite as easy. Not by a long shot. After whipping Flint in four straight in the quarter-finals, the Flags had to fight for their lives against Saginaw &mdash; winner of the North Division title &mdash; in the semi-finals. The series went the distance and three of Port Huron&rsquo;s victories were scored in Saginaw. The Flags lost two of three at home where they are normally invincible.Three minutes into the seventh game, the Flags were at half staff &mdash; or maybe even worse. Len Fontaine, the sparkplug of the Flags all season and the IHL&rsquo;s most valuable player, was bounced for being the third man in a fight. In addition, Bill Watt was also chased for arguing the decision on Fontaine. This stripped the Flags&rsquo; top line of two-thirds of its firepower. But Saginaw could not take advantage of the situation and Port Huron won in a skate, 4-1. The Flags built a 4-0 lead before Saginaw finally scored in the final period.Neither the Gems nor Flags were strangers to Turner Cup competition. The Flags played in the finals for the sixth time. Dayton made its fourth appearance in the championship series.In the five previous exposures, Port Huron took it three times &mdash; in 1966, 1971 and 1972. The Flags&rsquo; victims in &lsquo;66 was Dayton &mdash; in five games. Port Huron was last in the championship round in 1973&mdash;Ted Garvin&rsquo;s final year as coach before leaving for a short-lived term as coach of the Detroit Red Wings. The Komets blanked the Flags &mdash; then the Wings &mdash; in four straight.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01229/3715715-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="553" height="1432"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE SELF &hellip;Fired Hal Trick</figcaption></div>Dayton also made it to the finals in 1969 and 70. The Gems were successful both times. Dayton beat Muskegon for its first Turner Cup championship in three straight and got even with Port Huron in 1970, winning four games to three. &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Dayton Sweeps Past Port Huron To Complete Championship Double

<div class="byline">BY BILL HILTS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-256/3716329-1-eng-US/f0039-252.jpg" title="f0039-25" width="342" height="415"></div><h2>New York-Penn League</h2>The &ldquo;Cinderella&rdquo; team of the New York - Penn Jr. Hockey league has won the coveted Empire Cup, denoting them as 1975-76 playoff champs. The Niagara Falls Mangs Sharks finished fourth in the regular season and drew the powerful Amherst Knights as their first-round semi-final opponents. The Knights had the Sharks on the ropes, down three games to one, when the young skaters from the Honeymoon City put on a performance which will be long remembered.Just prior to the schedule break to allow the Knights and Rochester Monarchs to compete in the National Jr. &ldquo;B&rdquo; Tournament, the Sharks dumped Amherst 5-4 to put the series at 3-2. Then Amherst, who easily walked awav with the NY-P regular season league title, then went on to win the New York Regional crown and ended up as finalists in the National Tourney, only to lose to the Springfield Olympics.When they returned to the Empire Cup series, the following week, the anxious Sharks proceeded to embarrass the proud Amherst juniors by 12-4 and 9-1 scores to take the series in seven games.That feat put the upstart Sharks&rsquo;in the final set against the highly respected Rochester Monarchs, the defending Empire Cup Champs who had eliminated the second place Southtown Cougars in four straight games in their semi-final series.As we noted in last weeks writing, the Niagara Falls team won the opener on Rochester ice, which was a really big win and probably lit the fire that could not be doused by the Monarchs. In the initial encounter, with the score tied at 3-3, Lou Rosetti dented the mesh with just 30 seconds remaining in regulation time to give the Sharks the win.Game No. 2 moved to the Hyde Park Ice Pavillion in Niagara Falls and the Mangs Sharks pulled out another one tripping the Monarchs 2-1.Then back to Andy Laing&rsquo;s Lakeshore Rink for game No. 3 and at the end of the first period, the scoreboard read 0-0. But in the middle stanza, the Sharks managed to beat goalie Jeff Beck twice on goals by Jim Rickard, assisted by Tom Simon; and Mike Brigante, assisted by Rosetti and Dave Raham. In the third period, Rosetti netted another Shark goal with just 1:59 gone in the period, assisted by Simon and Mike Andrejcak. Clint Campbell finally got Rochester on the board with a powerplay goal Trom Jerry Shorthouse and Bob Weickgenannt at the 11:12 mark. But just threeminutes later Vic Talarico shot a beauty past Beck, which was set up by Rickard and Raham. Robbin Hill made it 5-1 at 15:43 on a neatpass from and that&rsquo;s how the match ended. Sharks All Star netminder Mike Bagocus was sensational in nets stopping 44 Monarch drives, while Jeff Beck handled 36 on the other end.Back to Hyde Park for game No. 4 and the determined Sharks carved out another 4-2 win to take the coveted Empire Cup in four straight games from the powerful Monarchs who had won their Division title with a perfect 3-0 mark in the National Jr. &ldquo;B&rdquo; Tourney, only to lose in the semi-finals to Amherst by a 4-3 score. The Shark&rsquo;s hard-working center Lou Rosetti opened the scoring with a first period marker on passes from Rick Connette and Mike Brigante. Then Bob Weickgenannt got the Monarchs back in the game with second period goal which was set up by Clint Campbell. But, Tom Simon took a pass from Brigante to put Ray Mang&rsquo;s team ahead again. In the final period Jim Rickard potted an unassisted goal, which was matched by Dave Bagley&rsquo;s marker assisted by Pete Dawes and Tom Olney. The Sharks Robbin Hill shot an insurance marker at 14:22 of the final stanza on a pass from Connette and Simon to give the elated Sharks the 4-2 win and the Empire Cup. The jubilant juniors had done what all the hockey experts had called the &ldquo;impossible&rdquo;, by beating the best &mdash; Amherst and Rochester!<h2>Manitoba League</h2>Ken Krentz of Selkirk won the Manitobw Jr. Hockey league regular season scoring title with 109 points on 45 goals and 64 assists. Runner-up was Jim Misener of Dauphin with 40 goals and 58 assists for 98 points. Other top scorers in order of finish were as follows: Anthony Gumiak of West Kildonan - 36-55 for 91 points; Brett Vincent of Brandon - 30-57 for 87 points; Ray Creasy of Portage - 3946 for 85 points; Tom Legge of St. James - 40-44 for 84 points; Rick Peters of West Kildonan - 42-41 for 83 points; Eugene O&rsquo;Sullivan of Monarchs - 40-34 for 74 points; Dale Maksymyk of Selkirk - 42-30 tor 72 points; Jim Malazdrewicz of Saints - 35-35 for 71 points, Gilles Begin of kenora - 32-39 for 71 points; Darryl Eiinarson of Selkirk - 29-42 for 71 points; Rob Martens of Selkirk - 33-37 for 70 points; Bill Malazdrewicz of Saints - 23-47 for 70 points.<h2>Great Lakes Leagues</h2>Paddock Pools left-winger Jack McKinch put on quite a show in the semi-finals vs. Detroit. McKinch scored in every game, accumulating 15 points in the five game series. Linemates Bob Peterson and Tom Nicholson had nine points apiece. Tom Michalek, the regular season scoring champ, also piled up the most points in the playoffs with 18, on eight goals and 10 assists. Caesars goalie Greg Kwiatkowski, who posted a glossy 2.00 GA average in three full playoff games, broke his leg and was not able to participate in the National Tournament. Caesars used Saints Frank Van Biesbrouck as their backup puckstopper. The Jr. Wings premiere scorer, Darryl DiPace collected 66 minutes in penalties in eight playoff games, almost equalling his entire regular season total of 70 minutes. Dennis Austin, who finished the season with the Saints, after playing most of the year for Berkley in the Jr. &ldquo;B&rdquo; circuit, played exceptionally well in the semi-final round vs. the Jr. Wings. He accumulated eight points in the five game set and deserves consideration from the Pools for next season. Little Caesars captain Tom McCubbin missed both rounds of the playoffs with a severe case of the flu. McCubbin was dressed for the last game of the finals and took one short shift in the closing minutes, before parading around the rink with the Championship Trophy.Final statistics for the Great Lakes Jr. &ldquo;B&rdquo; League show that Matt Kesler of the Highlanders easily won the individual scoring crown with 102 points on 43 goals and 59 assists. His closest runnerup was Steve Clancy of the Lakers with 74 points on 33 goals and 41 assists. Other top scorers in their order of finish were as follows: Dan Byrge of the Highlanders &mdash; 31-43 for 74 points; Brad Strohm of the Lakers &mdash; 42-28 for 70 points; Steve Morris of the Americans &mdash; 29-39 for 68 points; George Mimikos of the Bruins &mdash; 37-30 for 67 points; Bob Voakes of the Highlanders &mdash; 27-38 for 65 points; Dennis Austin of the Bruins &mdash; 23-39 for 62 points; Bob McGinlay of the Americans &mdash; 22-35 for 57 points; Ron Shiner of the Americans &mdash; 2629 for 55 points; Mike Lasky of the Lakers &mdash; 26-28 for 54 points; Tony Bastarache of the Lakers &mdash; 17-37 for 54 points; Robert Racz of the Bruins &mdash; 30-23 for 53 points; and Andrew Gamalski of the Bruins &mdash; 21-29 for 50 points.Brad Mitseff of the Americans was the leading goaltender with a 3.08 GA average. He was followed by his teammate Steve Falcone with a 3.45 GA average. Gary Chiesa of the Lakors was third with a 4.84 GA average and Steve Gittleman of the Bruins had a 5.11 GA average.<h2>AHAUS Highlights</h2>Harold Trumbull, Executive Director of AHAUS sends word that the 1976 AHAUS Annual Meeting will be held June 24-26 at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Anyone wishing to attend should contact the hotel direct for reservations.Hal notes that compliments have been received from all parts of the country for the recent AHAUS publication &ldquo;Coaching Youth Ice Hockey&rdquo;. It has proved to be extremely useful to the beginning coach who has not had a great deal of previous experience in the sport of ice hockey. At the same time, those with experience have found it to contain many interesting features that have given them some additional insight on the fundamentals of the game.Trumble says the two people most responsible for developing the material were Ken Johannson, AHAUS Chief Instructor and Gail Anderson, Editor &mdash;both from Rochester, Minnesota. Both of these individuals put many hours of work into perfecting the material and information for the manual.Trumble also says thanks must be extended to Dave Peterson, Hockey Coach at Minneapolis Southwest High School, for his contribution in goaltending; Pieter Killen, Colorado Springs, Colorado, on the fundamentals of skating, Joseph N. Janes, M.C., Rochester Minnesota and Gerald A. Engh, M.D., medical advisors; and Bob Bluth, editor and photographer forthe Athletic Institute. &#9632;

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JUNIOR JOTTINGS

<h2>WORLD TOURNAMENT</h2>(Final Standings)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04149/3715038-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="583" height="231"></div> &#9632;

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HOW THEY STAND

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03147/3715573-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg"></div>Most Valuable Player &mdash; Ian McKegney, Dallas.Rookie of the Year &mdash; Brad Gassoff, Tulsa. &#9632;

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CHL All Star Teams

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01920/3713574-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Winnipeg Jets have won the Canadian Division of the WHA and one of their big scoring stars in the series win over Calgary was Anders Hedberg, who will be playing with Sweden this fall in the World Cup. For details see pages 25-26.</figcaption></div><h2>HOWES TO TOROS?</h2>TORONTO &mdash;Wouldn&rsquo;t the Howe family look good in the uniforms of the Toronto Toros? You&rsquo;d better believe it and don&rsquo;t think it can&rsquo;t or won&rsquo;t happen.Apparently the romance between the Houston Aeros and the Howes &mdash; Gordie, sons Mark and Marty, and mother Colleen &mdash; has been strained and the Toros are ready to make father Gordie the club GM as well as give him a piece of the action. The Howes have considerable financial investment in the Toronto area and the move isn&rsquo;t out of the question. Gordie, who is 48, says his wife has had a falling out with the Aeros and doesn&rsquo;t work for them any longer. Gordie won&rsquo;t deny or confirm the report right now. All he said is &ldquo;anything can happen in this business.&rdquo;<h2>COACH POSTS BOND</h2>SASKATOON &mdash;Ernie (Punch) McLean had some of the sock taken out of his bank savings when he was compelled to post a $5,000 personal performance bond for an altercation with a linesman in a WCHL playoff game.WCHL president Ed Chynoweth said McLean, who was chosen Coach of the Year in the league this season, had become upset with the officiating and reached over the boards and pulled a toupee off the head of a linesman. McLean promptly threw it on the ice where the embarrassed linesman retrieved it and placed it back on his head. Chynoweth said the WCHL could not condone the kind of conduct displayed by McLean and ordered him to post a bond.<h2>POILE QUITS WHA</h2>TORONTO &mdash;Bud Poile, theman credited with bringing some semblance of order and respectability to the WHA this past season, has resigned from his post as executive vice-president. Poile&rsquo;s resignation was demanded by the Quebec Nordiques after the Aprill 11 playoff game in which Calgary&rsquo;s Rick Jodzio viciously attacked Marc Tardif of the Nordiques and put him out of action for the season with a concussion.Poile said he was leaving the WHA for the best interests of the league in as much as he didn&rsquo;t have the backing of all the clubs. Ben Hatskin said the WHA has set up a special committee to look into league violence. He said one proposal was to enclose all player and penalty benches for next season.<h2>NHL MAY AID HAVE NOTS</h2>MONTREAL &mdash;The Washington Caps and Kansas City Scouts may get some unexpected help from the NHL during the forthcoming summer hockey meetings. There is a report the league will conduct a special internal draft as a means of giving the two &lsquo;have not&rsquo; clubs some much needed player help.Both teams have been campaigning for the draft and have also demanded that the NHL reduce the number of protected players each club is allowed from 18 down to 14. Max McNab of Washington said the draft is a must if the two clubs are to survive and hope to become competitive with the rest of the league. &#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/f0002-03636/3713633-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="488" height="668"></div><h2>WHA TEAMS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04434/3713626-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="476" height="336"></div><h2>OTHER LEAGUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05309/3713619-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="472" height="332"></div><h2>COLUMNISTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-06213/3713612-1-eng-US/f0002-062.jpg" title="f0002-06" width="476" height="208"></div><h2>OTHER FEATURES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-07129/3713605-1-eng-US/f0002-072.jpg" title="f0002-07" width="468" height="126"></div> &#9632;

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WHERE YOU’LL FIND IT ALL

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div>NEW YORK&mdash;Ever since John Bowie Ferguson took over the New York Rangers in January he has been looking for that one person who can convert the Rangers from a team of cream puffs to one which is respected by the opposition.Ferguson mentioned people such as Nick Fotiu, an American-born roustabout performing with the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association.&ldquo;Nick would be a natural,&rdquo; said Fergy. &ldquo;He comes from Staten Island and from what I hear would hit his mother if she was wearing an enemy uniform.&rdquo;The only trouble is that Fotiu ran into an injury in midseason which makes his value as an enforcer questionable. His hand was skated over and he suffered tendon damage. He has returned to action (in March) and done fairly well, but doubt remains.Another candidate is defenseman Rick Chartraw of the Montreal Canadiens via Nova Scotia Voyageurs. Chartraw, an American raised in Erie, Pa. was born in Caracas, Venezuela.&ldquo;Chartraw hits with abandon,&rdquo; Jerry Delise, one of the Montreal hierarchy, stated. &ldquo;He wants to play badly &mdash; and has smoothed out his game quite a bit since he first joined us in 1974-75.&rdquo;Rick was drafted from the Kitchener Rangers of the OHA Jr. A &mdash; an organization with strong Ranger ties, from whom New York selected Dave Maloney when Dave was a mere 17.Montreal, afflicted with the same problem that they had when Ferguson first joined them in 196364, a failure to win the Stanley Cup despite superior craftsmanship, wanted to beef up their team with tough guys. Bob Gainey was another recent draftee, cut in the same mold.Chartraw, only 23, is a large type at 6-2 and 205, has learned when to play the man and when to play the puck. His apprenticeship under Al MacNeil has been rewarding.When MacNeil first came up to the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs he was raw and crude. Later, when he helped Chicago become a Stanley Cup contender he and Wayne Hillman paired together pretty smoothly, despite neither man having an overabundance of talent.Ferguson has seemingly limited his talks to his former environment in Montreal, so that means he will have to deal with general manager Sam Pollock. That can be an experience. However, Pollock has more excess talent available than any team in hockey - which could be a plus if Fergy can corrall some of it.The Toronto Maple Leafs were improved by thirty three percent this season by the simple acqusition of goalie Wayne Thomas, an inhabitant of the Montreal press box in 1974-75.Whether Pollock would loose the strings on such talent as defenseman Bill Nyrop, a former All American collegian, later with Nova Scotia, or tough hitting forward Sean Shanahan, is a moot point.Seemingly Ferguson must deal &mdash; and his first thought is to get the tough guy or guys who will make the Rangers a feared opponent.Fire still lights his eyes when he talks about teams coming into Madison Square Garden and not respecting the Rangers.&ldquo;What the Rangers need most is team character,&rdquo; says John. &ldquo;Even when they had their good team they got pushed around. We have to change that.&rdquo;Ferguson will go to camp with John Davidson and Gilles Gratton pencilled in as his goaltenders. His defense lists Carol Vadnais, but after that it has to be anyone&rsquo;s guess.Ken Hodge of the Bruins thinks that Phil Esposito is the key to the Rangers revival.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02841/3713543-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="568" height="1296"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK CHARTRAW &hellip; Eyed By Rangers</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t play as much as I did, but we are winning,&rdquo; said Hodge, during the series against the Philadelphia Flyers. &ldquo;I have adjusted. When I get a chance I have to make the most of it. Esposito had to adjust in New York under tough circumstances. The team was going poorly. I think he will bounce back with a great season, just like he did after he got hurt in the playoffs in 1973.&rdquo;Jean Ratelle, the Bruins&rsquo; on-ice spark, thinks the Rangers will regroup successfully.&ldquo;I thanked Harry Sinden for trading for me,&rdquo; said Ratty. &ldquo;But that doesn&rsquo;t mean New York wasn&rsquo;t good to me. They have talent in New York and given time Ferguson will bring the Rangers back.&rdquo;Sinden noted, &ldquo;Ratty thanked me for bringing him to Boston. I should be thanking him for saving my job and Don Cherry&rsquo;s.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Rangers Put Chartraw At Top Of List; Esposito Comeback Key For Turnabout

<div class="byline">BY HARRY KLAFF</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01925/3713671-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="822" height="1132"></div>&bull; Won The Stanley Cup 16 Times&bull; Played In & Won Most Games&bull; Champs 6 Times In Last 11 Years&bull; Have Been In Playoffs 45 Years&bull; And Cup Is 83 Years YoungMONTREAL&mdash;When you get around to talking about the Stanley Cup there isn&rsquo;t much doubt the Montreal Canadiens are a legend in the showcase of professional hockey.The Canadiens haven&rsquo;t been in the NHL&rsquo;s throne room for the last two years but their unparalleled cup record has always made them the harbingers of the post-season classic. The Philadelphia Flyers have been the darlings of the cup show through the last two seasons but before the emergence of the Broad Street Bullies, the Canadiens were the ones who bullied the opposition when Lord Stanley&rsquo;s time-honored pewterwas on the line.The NHL playoff record book is a tribute to the tenacity and success of the Canadiens down through the years. You name it and they lead in it, it&rsquo;s as simple as that.They&rsquo;ve been in the playoffs the most years, 45; won the most series, 74: played the most games, 354; won the most times, 207; scored the most playoff goals, 1,063; and most significantly they&rsquo;ve won the Stanley Cup more than any other pro team in the NHL.The Canadiens have recorded 16 cup winning years dating back to the &lsquo;new&rsquo; NHL which originated in 1927. Prior to that they won the cup twice more in the &lsquo;old&rsquo; NHL.Their modern-day record is unmatched by NHL rivals. They&rsquo;ve been Stanley Cup champions six times in the last 11 years and 11 times in the past 20. No one is even close. Their very presence in the Stanley Cup playoffs has created some nostalgic moments and we would like to take you back a few years for a look into the history of the renowned cup.It all started in 1893.That&rsquo;s when Lord Stanley of Preston, the Earl of Darby, donated a squat punch bowl valued at 10 pound (or $48.67, to be exact) to be presented to the best amateur hockey team in Canada. Little did he know that over the years, his shiny trophy would give rise to perhaps the greatest tradition in all of sports.In the early years, the Cup was strictly for the amateurs, but the pros took over beginningin 1910 when it was battled for by clubs representing the old National Hockey Association, the forerunner of the modern NHL. Between 1914 and 1926, an annual series was played between the Pacific Coast Hockey Association champion and the NHA.The traditional series continued after 1917 when the NHL was born. But when the Pacific Coast loop folded after the 1925 campaign, the Cup became the sole property of the NHL, which had added the New York Rangers, Chicago Black Hawks, and Detroit Cougars in &lsquo;26.Since 1913, the engraving on the Cup has cost some $9,000, and alterations of the mug itself have added an additional $6,000. But realistically, the Cup doesn&rsquo;t have a specific value; in other words, it&rsquo;s priceless.Interestingly enough, Lord Stanley never did get to see a Stanley Cup game. He was called back to England, and was on the Continent when the Ottawa Generals and the Montreal A.A.A. met for the first battle. When Stanley left Canada, he designated two Ottawa sportsmen, Sheriff Sweetland and P. D. Ross, as trustees of the Cup. They would award the trophy and sift through the scores of challenges for the most legitimate ones. There were no &ldquo;playoffs;&rdquo; any team had the right to challenge the current Cup-holder.The first dynasty was the Ottawa Silver Seven, who held the Cup from 1903 through 1906. The club held the trophy against nine different challengers, but none could surpass the attempts of the Dawson City seven in 1905. Dawson City, it seems, just happens to be a snowball&rsquo;s throw from Alaska.As the story goes, Colonel Joe Boyle, a Dawson City prospector who had struck it rich, bankrolled the 23-day odyssey of the team to Ottawa. Unfortunately though, the days of hockey teams travelling by air were years away.The only feasible means of transportation available to Boyle&rsquo;s squad was dog sled. A good part of their journey was accomplished in this manner until they could make a proper rail connection to the East. As night be expected though, the Dawson City Klondikers were not as skilled or polished as the Ottawans. They lost the first game 9-2, and were demolished in the second, 23-3. Frank McGee scored an incredible 14 goals in that game, including eight goals in eight minutes and twenty seconds.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02791/3713664-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1110" height="1171"><figcaption class="caption-body">Maurice Richard poured champagne from the cup as one of its most electrifying performers. He once scored all five goals in a 5-0 playoff victory for Canadiens.</figcaption></div>And his nickname was OneEyed McGee. For obvious reasons.Down through the years, the Stanley Cup itself has experienced an adventure or two. It&rsquo;s been stolen a number of times, been booted into a canal, used as a flower pot, and of course, has served as the most magnificent champagne glass in the whole wide world.One night after the Silver Seven had clinched yet another Cup crown, the jubilant players went out on the town for an evening of celebration. On their way home, one of them bet the others that he could successfully drop-kick the Cup into the Rideau Canal.He did just that, and the trophy sank into the muddy waters of the canal, possibly lost forever. But fortunately the waterway froze that night, and the Cup was retrieved safe and sound the following morning after everyone had sobered up.Another time the Cup was feared lost, and then turned up as a lovely flower pot in the home of a player&rsquo;s mother. It seems that the silver heirloom had been inadvertantly left there, and the old woman thought it would make an excellent showcase for her daisies.In 1962, a Montreal Canadien fan fearing his club would be beaten stole the Cup from Chicago Stadium during a crucial championship game in which the Hawks had taken a commanding lead.&ldquo;The Cup belongs in Montreal, so I simply took it home,&rdquo; explained the thief later. And hemeant it.Only once was no decision reached in a Cup challenge. That was in 1919 when the Montreal Canadiens and the Seattle Metropolitans battled it out for the title.A flu epidemic had spread throughout the West Coast, and by the third game, many players on both teams were affected by the disease. After the malady claimed the life of Montreal&rsquo;s star defenseman, &ldquo;Bad&rdquo; Joe Hall, the authorities decided to bring the series to a halt.The Stanley Cup playoffs have produced countless heroes. many of whom burst into the limelight for a brief instance and then vanished into obscurity forever.Mel Hill was a competent NHL performer for many years, but he never duplicated his feat of 1939 when he scored three overtime goals to defeat the Rangers. Ironically, Hill had been rejected by the Broadway Blues some years before. As a result of his play in this series against his old team, he earned the nickname, &ldquo;Sudden Death&rdquo; Hill.In 1950, Pete Babando scored an overtime goal in the seventh and final championship game to enable the Red Wings to defeat the Rangers in one of the most thrilling Cup series ever. Babando was rewarded for his efforts by being traded shortly thereafter. In 1952, he wound up skating for the Rangers in almost total obscurity.The following year, 1951, defenseman Bill Barilko of the Toronto Maple Leafs fired the Cup-winning goal while in midair. That was the year that every game in the finals between Toronto and Montreal went overtime. But Barilkonevergot the chance to bask in his glory. A few months later he was killed in an airplane crash.One of the gutsiest moments in Cup history came in 1964. Toronto defenseman Bob Baun broke his ankle in the sixth game of the playoff against Detroit. He was carried off the ice, and was feared lost for the duration.But he was shot up with painkillers, and returned to the ice in time to score the game-winner in overtime. He played in the seventh game before finally submitting to X-rays, which clearly revealed the break.But unquestionably, the greatest Cup performer of them all was Maurice Richard, the incomparable Rocket of the Montreal Canadiens. The legendary leader oft he Habitants has the figures &mdash; 82 Cup goals, six overtime goals, and 44 assists in 133 contests.Mere figures don&rsquo;t describe the impact Richard had on Stanley Cup hockey. Even when Montreal was the underdog in certain years to the powerful seven straight regular season champion Detroit Red Wings of Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay, it was Richard whom everyone was watching.In 1951, Rocket scored two overtime goals to down the Detroit Red Wings at a time when his center, Elmer Lach, was getting old and the Canadiens had not reached the peak of their five straight Cups of 1955-1960. One of these games was the third-longest in history, and pointed up the tremendous stamina of Richard.On March 27, 1951 in a game that went into the fourth overtime, Richard was being hawked all night by checker Marty Pavelich. And defenseman Leo Reise constantly baited the Rocket into taking foolish penalties.But in the end, Richard prevailed. And to give it just the right touch, he went around Reise for the game winner.Perhaps Richard&rsquo;s greatest effort was a goal scored while only semi-conscious. It got the Canadiens into the finals in 1952, defeating the Boston Bruins in seven games.Richard was knocked cold in the first period of the final contest at the Forum when he was sandwiched by Leo Labine and Bill Quackenbush. His head hit Labine&rsquo;s knee, inflicting a wound requiring six stitches. But the Rocket was still groggy when he returned to the Canadiens bench with the scored knotted 1-1 late in the third period.Richard nodded to coach Dick Irvin that he was ready, and stepped onto the ice. Both teams were playing a man short with just a couple of minutes left in the game.Montreal defenseman Butch Bouchard passed to Richard near the red line, lifting the puck over Woody Dumart&rsquo;s stick. At the Boston line, both Quackenbush and Bob Armstrong waited for the oncoming Rocket.Richard cut to the right, and held off Quackenbush until he was all the way to the goal line &mdash; apparently too far out to angle a shot at Boston&rsquo;s Sugar Jim Henry in the net. Instead of shooting. Richard deked Quackenbush at the goal line, and headed straight towards the Bruin net from the sideboards.Armstrong came back, but it was too late; Richard was in front of Henry. One deke, and the puck was in the far upper corner of the net.Later, in the dressing room, the sobbing Rocket collapsed and went into convulsions, to be quieted only by a sedative administered by a hypodermic needle. He was only half conssious when he scored his winninggoal.Memories; legends; anecdotes, These are some of the ingredients of Stanley Cup competition. And after 83 years, the best is yet to come. &#9632;

f0003-01

MONTREAL CANADIENS: THEY’VE LEFT THEIR MARK IN STANLEY CUP HISTORY

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-01977/3713723-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="442" height="452"></div>&bull; PHILADELPHIA FLYERS checked their guns at the door and as a result played their finest game of the playoffs in downing Boston, 5-2, in the third game of their semi-final round against the Bruins. Coach Fred Shero called the game &ldquo;the best I&rsquo;ve seen since I came to Philadelphia&rdquo;&hellip;The Flyers picked up a mere four minor penalties&hellip;Flyers&rsquo; Reg Leach, who now has nine playoff goals to go with his 61 scored during the season, said: &ldquo;This takes all the embarrassment out of losing the first game in Philly&rdquo;&hellip;The Bruins have played extremely well in this year&rsquo;s playoffs and can&rsquo;t be counted out yet although they wilted badly in the third period as the Fivers took a 2-1 lead in games. The Flyers used six defensemen throughout the game against four for the Bruins and this tactic paid off&hellip; Montreal Canadiens appear to have too much depth and power for the N.Y. Islanders in the other semi-finals. The Islanders play well but the Canadiens wear them down as the game progresses&hellip; Islanders are in the same boat as the New York Rangers and seldom get to practice on their home ice. Nassau County Coliseum is busy so much of the time that the Isles have to travel to a smaller facility for practices&hellip; Bill Torrey, Al Arbour and a number of Islander players are far from pleased with the work of referee Dave Newell and linesmen Matt Pavelich and Gerard Gauthier&hellip;Denis Potvin, All Star defenseman on the Islanders, says Newell is one guy who frustrates the players. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s why he loses control of a lot of games&rdquo;.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02933/3713716-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="258" height="446"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Stephenson</figcaption></div>&bull; BILL MacFARLAND is being considered as the next president of the World Hockey Association. He is presently serving as president of the Phoenix Roadrunners&hellip;Don Awrey will be traded by Canadiens at the end of this season. A year ago he was one of their best defenseman. This year he can&rsquo;t crack the lineup. The talent-laden Canadiens have such outstanding hockey players besides Awrey watching the playoffs from the pressbox as John Van Boxmeer, Rick Chartraw, Dave Elenbaas, Gilles Lupien, Glen Goldup, Ron Andruff and Sean Shanahan. The last five were members of the Calder Cup champion Nova Scotia Voyageurs&hellip; Owner George Sage of the Rhode Island Reds of the American League is looking for buyers for his team. &ldquo;I have no illusions about recouping my entire losses. I&rsquo;m not looking for anything out-landish but I definitely have to sell the club,&rdquo; stated the popular Sage&hellip;Dave Balon, former NHL forward who played with New York Rangers, Minnesota North Stars, Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks and also with the WHA Quebec Nordiques, has been named coach of the Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior League&hellip; Vince Leah, the very capable sportswriter of the Winnipeg Tribune, advises that Bert Janke passed away last month. Bert was a star member of the St. Boniface Seals Memorial Cup winners of 1938 and partnered Wally Stanowski on a 60-minute defense combo for one of junior hockey&rsquo;s most colorful aggregations. Janke had his major league career cut short when an errant stick cost him the sight of one eye&hellip;The sixth annual NHL Booster Club Convention will be held August 13,14,15 at Grand Island, N.Y., close to Buffalo. This promises to be the biggest meeting yet and anyone interested in further information should contact Art James, convention coordinator, 1283 French Rd., Depew, N.Y. 14043.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03828/3713709-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="264" height="412"><figcaption class="caption-body">Nels Pyatt</figcaption></div>&bull; GORDON JUCKES, executive secretary of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, sadly admits that tours by amateur clubs from Europe have become a losing proposition. The CAHA lost $20,000 on last year&rsquo;s junkets&hellip;Washington Caps are offering a 10 percent discount on season tickets paid before July 15&hellip;The Capitals under coach Tom McVie scored as many points in the last two months and 11 days of the season (21) as they did during the entire first year. Washington had three rookies among the top ten scoring rookies this past season. They were Nels Pyatt, Hartland Monahan and Tony White, which speaks well for the Caps future&hellip;Inge Hammarstrom of the Leafs will have the cast removed from his knee later this month. Then he&rsquo;ll head back to Sweden for the summer&hellip;Marcel Pelletier, player personnel director of the Philadelphia Flyers, will hold a school for goalies this July. One of his assistants will be Emile Francis, GM-coach of the St. Louis Blues&hellip; Rick MacLeish scored two hat tricks for the Flyers in last year&rsquo;s playoffs, and the Flyers would certainly like to have him for this year&rsquo;s finals&hellip; Jean Ratelie and Brad Park, the former Rangers, are both playing great hockey for the Bruins. In fact, Ratelle is playing his finest hockey in years and has been a standout in every Boston playoff game&hellip; Leo Boivin is being mentioned as the next coach of Chicago Black Hawks.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04726/3713702-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="266" height="446"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jean Ratelle</figcaption></div>The Hockey NewsOFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLYFounded October 1st, 1947Vol. 29 No. 31 MAY 14, 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. McKenziePresident, Publisher and Advertising DirectorDon WallAssociate PublisherCharlie HalpinEditorial DirectorKeith LawtonAdministrationManagerPat BealeAdvertising Co-OrdinatorUnited States Advertising RepresentativesNEW YORK: Bill Hitzig, National Sporta Publishing Corp., 150 East 58th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022. Teleohone (212) 593-2100. CHICAGO: Hooper Jones & Associatea, 3322 W. Peterson Ave., Chicago, III 60659. Telephone (312) 478-5544.ATLANTIC STATES (Including New York, Boston. Buffalo 4 Philadelphia: Bob Bassinette, Basal nette/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.5.A. and $14.00 in Foreign Countries. Sec ond 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;

f0004-01

PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05590/3713754-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg"></div><h2>Let Down By Pro Hockey</h2>After being an ardent hockey fan for so many years. I have had a terrible letdown after seeing all the violence on the ice and so little hockey being played.I congratulate Russ Jackson and Bobby Hull for speaking out the way they did. I hope that management and coaches will heed their remarks.Thank God for men like Attorney General Roy McMurtry. I hope that true sportsmen and true hockey players will get behind him and clean up hockey, as it has ceased to be a sport.Surely management can see that attendances have been falling off all across Canada.I also feel sorry for the referees, the most unsung heroes of the game. I just hope the Stanley Cup will go to a team that plays hockey this year.MARGARET GRAY, Edmonton, Alta.<h2>Comparison of Rangers and Islanders</h2>As a long time Ranger fan, I have quite naturally been disappointed with their performance over the last season and a half.Having two teams in the area, I have also had the opportunity to watch the Islanders make great strides forward during this same period of time.I can&rsquo;t help but compare the two teams. I feel that the Rangers have been equal to the Islanders, but the Islanders accomplish so much more and are a pleasure to watch.My evaluation is that in skating speed, goal scorers, centermen and defense you must rank this team as average. Yet, game after game they exhibit great desire, discipline and they never give up when they get in a hole. They will forecheck like crazy but at the same time the forwards come back and help out on defense.Another big plus is that they are a big team physically. Thev do not get intimidated and appear to wear their opponents down.I would like to see the Rangers acquire some of this spirit, but in the meantime I take my hat off to the Islanders and wish them well.TOM UNGER, Pelham, N.Y.<h2>Niekamp Being Overlooked</h2>Who makes the selections for both the All Star Games and the All Star Teams?For the past two years now, defenseman Jim Niekamp of Phoenix Roadrunners has not been selected for either. Granted he&rsquo;s not a high scorer and is low on assists, but he makes more stops than most goalies in the league.I think it&rsquo;s about time those making selections look a little farther than Quebec and Winnipeg.ERNIE ELDREDGE, Phoenix, Ariz.<h2>Detroit Needs Better Defensemen</h2>I would like to comment on Mr. J. Blotsky&rsquo;s letter about the Detroit Red Wings in the April 23 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS.Next year&rsquo;s Red Wing team may be a little more competitve than this year&rsquo;s but Mr. Blotsky better stop dreaming of great things because the Wings will continue to go nowhere as long as they continue to ice a team with less than NHL calibre defensemen.MARC BALZ AMO, Montreal, Que.<h2>Changes Mind About Philadelphia</h2>After watching Game five of the Philadelphia-Toronto series in the NHL quarter-finals, I must admit my opinion of the Flyers is changing. Once one of my favorite teams, I can see now why they have been called, to put it lightly, a dirty team.They rarely keep their sticks near the ice, but prefer to use them at headlevel. Its too bad that violence has to spread to all members of the team, and can&rsquo;t be confined to Schultz, Dupont, and company.The attitude of the Flyers carries over to the fans. This group showed what a classy bunch they are by booing the Canadian National Anthem before game five. I can&rsquo;t see what this was supposed to prove, since most of the players, even on the Flyers, are Canadian!If these fans were to be sent back to ancient Rome and visit the Coliseum, they would probably cheer for the lions.R.A.MATTHEWS, Wilson Beach, N.B.<h2>How Soon They Forget</h2>I have just finished reading an article which appeared in my local newspaper on April 17, 1976 entitled &ldquo;Police Charge Three Flyers&rdquo; concerning a playoff game in Maple Leaf Gardens April 15, between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Philadelphia Flyers.Having viewed the game, I must say that the whole incident was an outrage and some very strong conclusions must be drawn. The situation was that the Leafs were down 2-0 in games, had not beaten the Philadelphia Flyers in something like 17 consecutive games, and were facing elimination in four straight for the second year in a row. Any team worth their salt would come out hitting, and this is exactly what the Leafs players did much to their credit. Now for the conclusions of this game:1) Dave Newell is the most incompetent referee in the game today. He failed to control the game fairly and is 100 percent responsible for the actions on ice; 2) Mr. McMurtry must be the biggest publicity seeker this side of Hollywood. Could elections be in his future?; 3) Why were no Leafs charged? Didn&rsquo;t Walker, Garland and Turnbull receive game misconducts? It seems there is a lot of saliva, both on ice and in the stands at Maple Leaf Gardens; 4) Why is the Leaf organization so silent on all of this? Could it be they have found a new way of &ldquo;beating them in the alley?&rdquo;How soon they forget the great Leaf teams of the past. The shoe is on the other foot!!!.JEFF LANIGAN, Hamilton Square, N.J.<h2>Names Three Best Rookies</h2>The best rookie of this season has to be Bryan Trottier of the N.Y. Islanders. He has broken all the rookie scoring records. He has 83 points in 67 games. This is something else for a rookie.The second best rookie would have to be Dennis Maruk of the California Seals, He is playing with a rising team and he will rise to stardom with this team.The third rookie I will mention is Doug Jarvis of the Montreal Canadiens, He is a penalty killer and doesn&rsquo;t score many goals. He only has five but has had two empty net goals disallowed because he scored a second after the buzzer sounded. The fact that Jarvis doesn&rsquo;t score will hinder his chances for the Rookie of the Year award.COLLIN EACH Runnymede, Sask. &#9632;

f0004-05

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01864/3713785-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">CLAIRE ALEXANDER&hellip; Injury Ended Leafs&rsquo; Hopes</figcaption></div>TORONTO&mdash;The elimination of the Toronto Maple Leafs by the Philadelphia Flyers in the bitter, seven-game Stanley Cup quarter-final series was a rather hard pill for the Leafs to swallow&rsquo; a so-near, yet so-far situation.Granted, the Leafs were given little chance of upsetting the two-time Stanley Cup champions and, in fact, a win or two in the series would have been an achievement for the young Leafs.But as late as the end of the first period in game seven when they held a 2-1 lead, the Leafs were very much alive. Then a three-minute blitz by the Flyers wiped out the Leafs dream of one of the great Cup upsets. The Flyers pounced for four goals in that stretch on their way to a 7-3 victory.&ldquo;Nobody expected us to make much of a series against the Flyers but we sure did, didn&rsquo;t we?&rdquo; said Leaf coach Red Kelly, who brought a new wrinkle to hockey psychology, &ldquo;Pyramid Power.&rdquo;&ldquo;In the end. though, we just ran out of players, especially defensemen. The Flyer depth was a huge edge for them.&rdquo;The Leafs entered the playoffs minus two forwards, Inge Hammarstrom and Greg Hubick with knee and spleen injuries. Then Jim McKenny, an experienced defenseman who played on the wing much of the season, went out with a knee injury.Defenseman Brian Glennie, who had performed splendidly for Leafs in the second half of the season in partnership with Rod Seiling, missed three games of the Philly series with a viral infection. He returned for spot duty in game six but was struck in the face by slap-shot. Four hours of surgery was required to restore a severelv broken jaw as even his palate was busted by the blow.That reduced Leafs to four defensemen, Ian Turnbull and Borje Salming, Seiling and Claire Alexander, in game seven. The Leafs had that 2-1 lead early in the second period when Alexander crashed into the boards and broke his heel. The Leafs had a manpower shortage and a letdown after Alexander&rsquo;s injury and Flyers pounced for four quick goals and a semi-final berth against the Boston Bruins.&ldquo;We&rsquo;d been getting the puck out well against the Flyer forechecking and Alexander had been doing a big job for us,&rdquo; Kelly added. &ldquo;When he left, we had to use players (Dave Dunn, Bob Neely) who hadn&rsquo;t played much defense lately. Our system faltered and the Flyers took advantage of it. But, just the same, we came out of that series with our heads up because we pushed the champs to seven tough games.&rdquo;The Leafs feel their future is bright now, the result of a reconstruction program with young players. The Flyers agreed heartily with that assessment.&ldquo;In the series against us, the Leafs reminded me a great deal of our team in a 1973 series against the Montreal Canadiens,&rdquo; said Flyer veteran Joe Watson. &ldquo;We were given no chance but we pushed the Canadiens to the limit in five games. People started to realize that something really good was happening with our team, that we were on the edge of being a top contender.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s how the Leafs look to me. They have a great goalie (Wayne Thomas), a super-great defenseman (Borje Salming) and a fine leader in Darryl Sittier plus some very good young players. That Jack Valiquette kid is going to be a big pain in the behind to this league.&rdquo;Center Valiquette, who&rsquo;s just turned 20, was one of the Leafs&rsquo; most effective performers in the playoffs. Much of the time he worked against two brilliant centers, Pierre Larouche of Pittsburgh Penguins and Flyer captain Bobby Clarke, and more than held his own.The development of young players such as Lanny McDonald, Errol Thompson, Ian Turnbull and George Ferguson into front-line NHL workers, the strong play of veterans Seiling, Glennie and Alexander and the promising career starts by Valiquette, Tiger Williams, Pat Boutette and, in the playoffs, winger Scott Garland were Leaf bright spots.&ldquo;We feel that with a couple of additions, a front-line defenseman and a big winger we have the ingredients to be a contender,&rdquo; said Leaf general manager Jim Gregory. &#9632;

f0005-01

Leafs’ Playoff Dreams Fractured By Flyer Blitz

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011008/3713823-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="289" height="361"></div>THE SECOND SEASON is the real series. Playoff pressure pounds at the players, who are men, not machines. Here are some scenes from just one series, which we saw, Boston vs. Los Angeles:Johnny Bucyk is 40 years old a nd he has pl ayed professionally since 1953, before some of today&rsquo;s pros were born. His black-and-gold uniform lay in a soggy heap at his feet as the big guy gathered himself after an early victory.&ldquo;I get tired toward the end of the seasons now, but the playoffs always give me a lift. I get excited like a kid. I&rsquo;m old enough to be a father to some of the kids on our team and if any of them call me dad I&rsquo;ll lay it on them,&rdquo; he smiled.He said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been a Bruin 19 years. I&rsquo;m all Bruin by now. But so was Esposito. When they traded Philly it hurt. And when Bobby Orr got hurt, everyone wrote us off. But the new guys have done good. We&rsquo;ve been surprising people.&ldquo;You just go on,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I just goon. It&rsquo;s hard to quit.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02781/3713816-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="814" height="740"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jean Ratelle is 35 now but he says he doesn&rsquo;t feel he&rsquo;s finished. Of the trade, he says it hurt, but he&rsquo;s getting over it now.</figcaption></div>JEAN RATELLE and Brad Park came to Boston in the big deal.Tall, lean, graceful Ratelie, who would score seven goals in the series, said, &ldquo;I was with Rangers 15 years. It hurt to be traded, but I&rsquo;m a Bruin now. You put on a new uniform and you become something you weren&rsquo;t before. I&rsquo;m 35, but I don&rsquo;t feel I&rsquo;m finished. I want to prove I can still play&rdquo;Boyish-looking Brad Park said, &ldquo;The fans turned on us in New York. I&rsquo;ve forgotten New York. I want to win for Boston now.&rdquo;He was brilliant before he suffered another in a series of serious knee injuries.. Only six weeks after surgery, he surprised by returning to play in the playoffs. He said, &ldquo;Every time you get hurt, you worry it&rsquo;s the end, but Boston paid a high price for me and I figured I owed it to them to try to get back.&ldquo;I was workingout with Bobby Orr and when he gave up and went home I figured I had to give it a try. I&rsquo;m gambling, but the stakes are high,&rdquo; he sighed. So there he was, controlling play as the Bruins won three of the first five games.ANOTHER CONTROVERSIAL trade brought Marcel Dionne from Detroit to the Kings. He had a good year, but not a great one. and when he started slowly in the playoffs, Boston journalists slandered him as overpriced and his team as overmatched. He promptly pulled his side back into the series with spectacular plays and five goals in two games.Short, dark, agreeable, he grinned at the press that pressed in on him in his locker-room cubicle and admitted. &ldquo;The bad write-ups may have stirred me up.&rdquo; He shrugged and added. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy here. I feel the love of the fans. I felt hate in Detroit.&rdquo;Someone said, &ldquo;In the playoffs, if you get the goaltending you can win.&rdquo; Dionne shrugged and said, &ldquo;Noone man wins. Not me and not Vachon. Not in the playoffs or any other time.&rdquo;ROGIE VACHON of the Kings and Gerry Cheevers of the Bruins were the spotlighted goalers.Vachon, who looks like the littlest Pirate, said. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re a goaltender you accept the responsibility, but with help you win and without it you lose. I won&rsquo;t worry about it. It&rsquo;s tough enough without worrying about it.&rdquo;Big Gerry Cheevers, who jumped the Bruins several seasons back, then jumped back late this season, said, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a matter of money. You give what you&rsquo;ve got to the guy who pays you. But I never stopped feeling like this is my team. I&rsquo;m happy to be home.&rdquo;Both were brilliant at times, but so were their relievers &mdash; Gary Edwards who won one game and Gilles Gilbert who took two. Gilbert said, &ldquo;When they tell you to play, you play.&rdquo;MIKE CORRIGAN was buried on the bench last season, but came back to life when put on Dionne&rsquo;s line late this season. He endured depression and became a hero when his two late goals tied the sixth game. One came with a swipe of his stick while he lay on his stomach. In the delirium of the dressing room, he enthused, &ldquo;Even when everyone else gives up on you, you&rsquo;re not dead until you give up on yourself.&rdquo;Butch Goring, who was recovering from a serious eye injury, suffering double vision, and ineffective in last season&rsquo;s playoffs, said, after scoring the sixth-game winner in overtime, &ldquo;You just keep digging, no matter what life deals you.&rdquo;SHELDON KANNEGIESSER, who looks like a Golden Boy, did not play as well as he can, but he played. He felt he owed it to his team, and it got him and his wife away from the hospital where they watched helplessly while their infant son suffered from an internal disorder.Going into surgery, he was given only a 50-50 chance to survive. After playing in a loss in the third game that night, Shelly said, &ldquo;The surgery was successful, but he&rsquo;s being kept on the critical list because of fear of infection. I guess God is testing us. He&rsquo;s sure showing us what is really important in life.&rdquo;After playing in a loss in Boston, then a victory back home, which evened the series at three wins each, Shelly was beaming: &ldquo;The baby is much better. He&rsquo;ll need special care for a long time and another operation later, but it looks like the little guy&rsquo;s going to make it. I thank God for it.&rdquo;The other Kings were talking about how their hungry hockey fans had lifted them up by greeting them with an awesome ovation before the game and cheering them on with unusual intensity through the tense tilt, and how happy they were to have rewarded this support with a win. But Sheldon Kannegiesser was talking about his baby who lay in a quiet nursery and how happy he was the boy was breathing.WHEN DIONNE did in the Bruins, the Kings&rsquo; owner who dealt for him, Jack Kent Cooke, was ecstatic. He was all but walking on air before the third game, predicting a runaway. When the Kings rallied to take the lead. Cooke was all but dancing in his private box. disregarding his heart trouble.After a Dionne goal, a lady fan came out of the stands to hug and kiss him. After another goal, the owner, who used to be booed, went to sit with her and her friends in the commoners&rsquo; pews.When the Kings won the sixth game to square the series, coming from behind again in the most exciting game in their history, he was not at the game His 81-year-old mother. Nancy, had died of a heart attack the night before. She was a lively and lovely lady and really loved by the Forum family. &#9632;

f0006-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;While the trials and tribulations of Canucks captain Andre Boudrias were aired openly in Vancouver after the season came to a rather sudden conclusion, the problem of Tracy Pratt has yet to have been fully addressed by coach and general manager of the Canucks, Phil Maloney.While Boudrias. Paulin Bordeleau and Gary Smith were riding the bench for much of the latter half of the season, Pratt had quite a different problem. And while the differences between Pratt and Maloney seem to be on the level of a personality conflict for the most part, the whole situation hit the fan just after the season ended when Pratt asked to be traded.He pinned the blame for his so-so year partly on Maloney, and partly on the media and claimed on a radio show that he could well regain the All Star status that he earned in the first half of last season if he were playing in another city.The most&rsquo; recent flare-up from Pratt&rsquo;s point of view came in a crucial game in Vancouver against the New York Rangers, one which the Rangers won 7-3 as the Canucks were battling to overtake the Chicago Black Hawks for the Smythe Division title.Maloney said afterwards that the game developed such that it was &ldquo;the sixth goal that killed us.&rdquo;Unfortunately for the harmony between Maloney and Pratt, the latter was the man chiefly responsible for the goal as he coughed it up in his own zone.Pratt was furious with the coach&rsquo;s post-game analysis claiming that the sixth goal was no different from the previous five and the one that followed his blunder.The next game Pratt was mercilessly booed by the hometown fans and he said that Maloney&rsquo;s comments, which had been picked up by the Vancouver papers, were the reason the fans were down on him.&ldquo;The fans only think what they are told to think, don&rsquo;t they?&rdquo; said Pratt when the club was playing on the road. &ldquo;What difference did the sixth goal make so that it looked like the one that killed us against the Rangers?&rdquo;After the season. Pratt said he wanted to be traded and that the climate in Vancouver wasn&rsquo;t conducive to him playing his best hockey, a point which is probably quite accurate.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03551/3713854-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="554" height="988"><figcaption class="caption-body">TRACY PRATT &hellip;Welcomes Trade</figcaption></div>But Maloney claims that Pratt, when left behind on a road trip in the middleof the season, went and had an operation on his wrist for an injury that he had incurred seven years ago.&ldquo;What does he (Pratt) do when he was left behind for a road trip? He suddenly decided to have an operation on a seven-year wrist injury.&rdquo; said Maloney. &ldquo;He could have had it at the end of the season. How can you trade a guy with one wrist?&rdquo;The problem is complicated by an historical perspective that basically began when Maloney started his job and contract negotiations came up. Pratt represented himself, and the two had several disagreements before reaching a contract which still has one year to run.Thegreat pity is that Pratt is capable of playing the game extremely well, and that showed up when he was on the road playing with his regular partner Mike Robitaille.The result of the feud, if you wanted to call it that, is that Maloney has two or three players with time still to run on their contracts who are marketable and who are more than willing to depart the 72,000 travelling miles of Vancouver.Maloney&rsquo;s problem, like that of every other GM is that the word is out on who wants to leave and who he wants to get rid of and they ask a high tariff.On the most positive side of the ledger for Maloney is the way the Tulsa Oilers have played in the Central League this year. The Oilers. composed of players owned by the Atlanta Flames and the Canucks and coached by former Canuck and friend of all in Vancouver Orland Kurtenbach.The club has reached the Central League final against Dallas of course, and the Vancouver brass is certainly pleased with the way-some of the prospects have acquitted themselves, particularly Brad Gassoff.The big rookie left winger has been named the league&rsquo;s rookie of the year for the season and he most certainly would be a big help to the Canucks next year if his personality is anything like that of his brother. Gassoff would add a bit of meanness to the Vancouver lineup. something that was missing this past season and seems to be necessary in this age of Philadelphia Flyer-model hockey. &#9632;

f0006-03

Canucks’ Controversy Continues To Broil Between Pratt, GM

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01908/3713885-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">LARRY PATEY&hellip; They Expected Too Much</figcaption></div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;Before the season ended for the St. Louis Blues center Larry Patey managed to skate his way out of the fans&rsquo; doghouse.The St. Louis fans never disliked Patey for any personal reasons. But he came to the team from California in exchange for a very popular St. Louis player, Wayne Merrick.The fans could see no reason for trading Merrick, one of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s fine young centers who shows promise of being a super scorer. Merrick&rsquo;s success with the Seals made the situation in St. Louis worse.The trade was made in November, but general acceptance of it by St. Louis fans took several more months. In two Seals-Blues games in St. Louis Merrick was cheered loudly, and there were banners praising Merrick and condemning the trade.Patey obviously was at a disadvantage in adapting to his new surroundings. Compounding his problem was a nagging ankle injury which was at its worst just about the time Patey arrived in St. Louis.&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t have been the villain if I hadn&rsquo;t been injured,&rdquo; Patey said. &ldquo;Without the injury I could have walked in and played.&rdquo;But Patey didn&rsquo;t play much and, therefore, wasn&rsquo;t very productive for the Blues. Meanwhile, Merrick was getting a lot of attention as he lifted the Seals with his goal-scoring.As Patey&rsquo;s ankle began to heal, the Blues&rsquo; lines were becoming more stable without him. And the Blues were particularly strong at center. Derek Sanderson, also newly acquired, was centering one of the hottest lines in the league with Chuck Lefley and Claude Larose on his wings. Garry Unger was having his usual fine season, and Red Berenson, enjoying his first full season back in St. Louis, was playing with his old zest as in the days when he led the Blues to three straight appearances in the Stanley Cup finals.&ldquo;It was like a training camp for me,&rdquo; said Patey. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d go out for a shift, then sit down for six.&rdquo;Leo Boivin, who took over as coach in January, tried to work Patey into the lineup and eventually found regular duty for him as injuries began to take their toll in the final six weeks of the season.&ldquo;The only thing that was limiting me was that I wasn&rsquo;t getting enough ice time,&rdquo; said Patey. &ldquo;People were expecting me to do things for the team, but I couldn&rsquo;t. I felt a lot better about the whole situation after I started playing more. Things started going pretty well.&rdquo;&ldquo;It was just a matter of time,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;I thought that, if I could put it together by the playoffs, I&rsquo;d be okay.&rdquo;The Blues were eliminated by Buffalo in the first round of the playoffs, but Patey had enough time toward the end of the season to prove his worth to the team. He even received some warm acknowledgements of his worth from the St. Louis fans, most of whom no longer are carrying a grudge because of the trade.Patey certainly was helped by the deft handling of Boivin, who proved in a short time as coach he can motivate most players to a maximum effort. Boivin has been replaced as coach by Emile Francis, who appointed himself to the job after becoming general manager, vice president, director and part-owner of the team.Patey could be a stable part of the Blues in the future; he is younger than all three of the centers who played ahead of him. &#9632;

f0007-01

Wrath Of Merrick Trade Hung On Patey All Year

<div class="byline">BY HOWIE MEEKER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-01998/3713916-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="436" height="560"></div><h2>Still Batting 1.000&hellip;</h2>WHEW! I JUST MADE IT, but I&rsquo;m still batting 1.000. Picking eight for eight so far in the playoffs I&rsquo;ve had to sweat a few out in the quarter-finals where both Leafs and Kings extended their series to the full seven games. However, home ice advantage in the deciding game was all that Philadelphia and Boston needed. Really anybody who can add and subtract can do it. In fact you can pick nine out of 10 series winners by just betting on the team that has had the fewest goals scored against during the season.In the elimination round, Buffalo, New York Islanders and Toronto were sure winners over St. Louis, Vancouver and Pittsburgh. If you completely followed the formula you would have chosen Atlanta 237 goals against to defeat Los Angeles 265. However, three things influenced my thinking in picking the Kings to defeat the Flames. The figures lied a little bit. Bob Pulford&rsquo;s team opened the season in Montreal, the first of a five-game road trip. Seems to me they had about 45 goals against before they got home. Pulford and Los Angeles had all kinds of problems at that time. Give them two and a half goals against per game in those five games and they would be even with Atlanta. So in my mind, goals against in this instance, really don&rsquo;t tell the story. So why Los Angeles? Rogie Vachon in goal, Marcel Dionne and Pulford. As much as I respect the Atlanta system, conditioning, hard work and talent, I think Los Angeles had a slight edge in goal. The best offensive man in the series Dionne, and Pulford&rsquo;s experience under pressure, had to pav dividends.The next round of the playoffs was even easier. All four winners had the fewest goals scored against. Canadiens with 174 the best in the league, had 87 fewer goals scored on them than Chicago. The Islanders were 50 goals under Buffalo, Philadelphia 67 fewer than Toronto and Boston 28 less than Los Angeles.<h2>Sabre Offense Stifled&hellip;</h2>YOU CAN&rsquo;T READ anything into a team&rsquo;s offense. Good defense, hard checking and a good system in both ends wins nine games out of 10. Offensive talent doesn&rsquo;t mean a thing to a team, unless it is working as hard on defense as the opposition. If so. then the club with the most offensive talent has to come out ahead. When things get a little dicy, like the Islander - Buffalo series, the Sabres had fantastic offensive punch (339) goals, good enough for 103 points and home ice advantage in the final game. You have to go one step further. To score the 339 goals Imlach&rsquo;s team gave up 240. Subtract 240 from 339 and you get a plus 99. On the other side of the coin, New York just scored 297 but had a stingy 190 against. So they are plus 107. Now rightly or wrongly, I&rsquo;ve a feeling that the Islander goaltending duo of Glenn Resch and Billy Smith played better behind Al Arbour&rsquo;s system than Gerry Desjardins and Al Smith did for Buffalo. So what happened? The Islanders opened in Buffalo and were in the first contest until very late in the game, lost the second in overtime and then won four in a row. The Islanders limited Buffalo&rsquo;s great offense to just 17 shots in the final game. Can you imagine 50-goal scorer Danny Gare, Rick Martin with 49, Gilbert Perreault 44 and Rene Robert 35 (that&rsquo;s a package of 178 goals) being held to just 17 shots in 60 minutes of action?Defense stops offense almost every time.The Philly-Toronto series was interesting but had the Leafs not physically challenged the Stanley Cup champions at home, it would have been over in four straight. It&rsquo;s not good enough to stand up to them at home. To take their great edge away, you have to have it out with them in their own backyard. You have to go into the Spectrum, just snarling, ugly, looking for a fight, and carry the physical war to Fred Shero&rsquo;s troops. The Flyers in winning all four games at home played with extreme aggressiveness during the first period of every game and used just enough of their muscle act to thoroughly control the Toronto offense.The Leafs opened the first period of the seventh game on a goal by Jack Valiquette and closed it with another by Bob Neely, for a 2-1 edge. However, the Philadelphia club, with its great offensive checking, dominated 18 of the 20 minutes of play. Not a Leaf challenged a stick across the wrist, an elbow or glove in the face, a hook or spear from behind, a severe boarding or that last little departing shot that every Flyer player takes at the enemy when they tangle and then disengage.<h2>Flyers Win On Basics&hellip;</h2>THE FLYERS HAD established a physical superiority and it was just a case of time before they turned the score in their favor. There is absolutely no way a team can win in Philadelphia, unless Shero&rsquo;s shock troops are neutralized. As long as the opposition allows them to hand out punishment and to harass them every time they touch the puck, what little defense they did have will be reduced and finally disappear. If you give the Flyers the right to punish you, you&rsquo;re dead! Give them the corners and it&rsquo;s game over and if they own your goal area and keep you out of theirs they come up a winner.In the second period of the seventh game, Philadelphia scored four quick goals, they shot the puck in, made the Leafs cough it up, put two men in front of Wayne Thomas and shot it through a maze of players. Nothing fancy, just good sound basic hockey which has won them two consecutive Stanley Cups.Los Angeles on the strength of the system shouldn&rsquo;t even have been close to Boston. The Kings had the most goals against, 265 to 237, but remember, those figures are misleading. If I used the same argument as in the Los Angeles-Atlanta series, then they are approximately even in goals against. So let&rsquo;s go one step further, look at goals for versus goals against - Bruins are 237 against 313 for a plus 76. Los Angeles was 265 goals against 263 for a minus two. So how come the series went seven games? Same reason the Kings beat Atlanta: Vachon, Dionne and Pulford.When the team follows Pulford&rsquo;s system, and Vachon plays well, they can beat anyone. When Dionne turns on the after-burners, he can beat you, no matter how well you play. Sometimes the figures reflect a true picture. However, sometimes certain things happen to upset the applecart. So we are eight for eight. No way I can keep up the average, but here goes.It&rsquo;s the Canadiens over New York Islanders in seven games, and I think Boston if everybody is healthy, will upset the world champions in six games.Howie Meeker is a TV analyst on Hockey Night In Canada, teaches young hockey players the finer points of the game through his CBC &lsquo;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 VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>DETROIT&mdash;The Detroit Red Wings greeted April 21 with mixed emotions. It was a typical &ldquo;good news, bad news&rdquo; day,First, the good news.Bill Lochead, who underwent a spinal fusion the week after the season ended, was released from Ann Arbor&rsquo;s University Hospital yesterday. He is making satisfactory progress, although he must wear a neck brace for four months.The 21-year-old right winger, the Wings&rsquo; No. 1 amateur draft choice in 1974, was involved in an automobile accident on April 5, as he was returning home from the Wings&rsquo; final game of the season.Doctors are confident, however, that unless there are complications, Lochead will be able to resume his career next season.The bad news was that while Lochead was heading out through the revolving door, Michel Bergeron was headed in.Bergeron re-entered the hospital to have his injured right eye re-examined.Bergeron, another 21-year-old right winger, entered Detroit&rsquo;s Harper Hospital for what a club spokesman described as &ldquo;the second phase&rdquo; of treatment. However, there is no doubt that he will be able to play at top efficiency next season.Bergeron, the Wings&rsquo; leading scorer during the season with 32 goals, suffered the injury on March 24 in a game against Washington when the stick of the Capitals&rsquo; Ace Bailey hit Bergeron just above the right eye. The stick cut through the eyelid and struck the eye.Team doctors allowed Bergeron to take a Florida vacation after the season ended. But once he returned, he re-entered the hospital for observation.Bergeron is one of three Red Wing players who are not signed for next season. The others are center Walt McKechnie, the team&rsquo;s leading scorer with 82 points; Brian McCutcheon and defenseman Barry Salovaara.Salovaara underwent surgery at the end of the season to repair cartilage damage to the little finger on his right hand. He suffered the injury in his second game of the season with Detroit. &#9632;

Detroit Player Reports Varied

<div class="byline">BY HARRY KLAFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-01965/3713971-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Clark Gillies mobbed by teammates after scoring series-winning goal.</figcaption></div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;If there&rsquo;s one thing anv decent (sic) writer tries to do it&rsquo;s avoid cliches. The only problem is that the New York Islanders don&rsquo;t let you.Take the cliche, &ldquo;It was a team effort.&rdquo; That&rsquo;s a very handy saying. One way of using it is when nobody distinguishes himself enough to grab all the headlines, in other words, as an alibi.But when Al Arbour says, &ldquo;We got a team effort,&rdquo; you can&rsquo;t help but believe him. After all, you just saw the same game that the coach did.True, some Islanders deserved more ink than others after they banished the Buffalo Sabres in six games in their quarterfinal playoff&mdash; notably Billy Smith who was virtually flawless in goal; Denis Potvin, who registered at least one point in each game; and Eddie West fall, who somehow played his usual steady checking game despite a broken bone in his right foot.But the Islanders prevailed because they got a 100 percent effort from everybody. That&rsquo;s their style, and that&rsquo;s why they became the youngest team ever to crack the 100 point mark during the regular season.&ldquo;We won because we gave a second effort,&rdquo; said Jean Potvin after the 3-2 clincher at the Nassau Coliseum. &lsquo;&ldquo;Maybe that&rsquo;s what made us a little better. When things were looking down a bit, that&rsquo;s when we reached back for that something extra.&rdquo;Everyone had his chance to play the hero, even defenseman Bert Marshall, who normally is as taken for granted as the nightly parking lot on the Long Island Expressway. All Bert ever does is block shots and clear the puck away from the Islander goal mouth.That was before the crucial fifth game at Buffalo with the teams tied in games at two apiece. Then Bert became known as the hottest shot in the East.With thescoretied at 3-3, the Islanders won a face-off in the Buffalo end with less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation time. Andre St. Laurent spotted Marshall alone at the left point and Bert unloaded &mdash; fully aware that he had not scored a goal in over a year &mdash; and beat goaltender Gerry Desjardins with a 50-foot screen shot for the gamer.Afterward came the expected ribbing from his teammates, with gems such as:&ldquo;That shot was so slow that I could read the words, &lsquo;Converse Rubber Co.&rsquo; on the puck,&rdquo; or&ldquo;You know that buffalo on the puck? I swear I saw it jump out at me!&rdquo; or&ldquo;Hey Bert. You took that shot with 23 seconds left, and it went in with 19 seconds left.&rdquo;Etc., etc.At times, it almost seemed the Islanders could score a goal any time they wanted to. In the fifth game, for example, the Sabres jumped Out to a quick 20 lead early in the first period. But the Isles jumped right back with a goal by St. Laurent moments later, and tied the score mid-way through the stanza.Jim Lorentz put Buffalo back in front mid-way through the third period when his centering pass went in off Smith&rsquo;s skate, but the Islanders came roaring back again. Denis Potvin&rsquo;s bullet from the slot tied the game again with 4:28 remaining, setting the stage for Marshall&rsquo;s heroics.It was same story in the sixth game. Jude Drouin put the Isles in front with his second goal of the playoffs early in the first period, but Gil Perreault split the defense to score a beautiful goal which tied the game in the second.Then the Islanders put the pressure on again, with Westfall deflecting a Denis Potvin shot off his injured foot to regain the lead eight minutes later.Jerry Korab made it 2-2 with a 50-footer at 4:09 of the third period, but the crowd could sense the Islanders would get it right back, and they did only 1:49 later when Clark Gillies took a whack at a loose puck and slid it past Desjardins for the winning goal.ISLAND SOUNDS: Bryan Trottier failed to score against Buffalo, but he thrilled the crowd with a one-man exhibition of puck control in the closing seconds of the sixth game. Trottier&rsquo;s effort prevented the Sabres from pulling Desjardins in the final seconds&hellip;Trottier still hadn&rsquo;t registered his first playoff goal, but had at least one assist in six of the eight games he played against Vancouver and Buffalo&hellip;Billy Harris was the Isles&rsquo; top goal-getter against the Sabres with four&hellip;A computer failure rendered the penalty clocks useless in the final game of the quarter-finals. Penalty times were announced over the public address system. &#9632;

f0009-01

Islanders’ Series Win True ‘Team Effort’

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-01987/3714002-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="568" height="2066"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM SCHOENFELD&hellip;Had Broken Foot</figcaption></div>BUFFALO&mdash;The season ended quicker for the Buffalo Sabres than the fans expected, the management expected and the players expected.The Sabres, who were talking Stanley Cup in training camp last September, after going all the way to the finals of the 1975 playoffs, were finished this year after the quarter-finals.They lost to the New York Islanders in six games. When the Islanders won the sixth one, 3-2, in Nassau Coliseum to win the series, 4-2, it marked the first time this season the Sabres had lost four games in a row. They had, in fact, never lost more than two straight.When coach Floyd Smith&rsquo;s worthies won the first two games of the series at home, Buffalo fans were talking of a sweep.But the Sabres lost the next two in Nassau Coliseum. Punch Imlach, the crusty general manager, sounded off to his troops about playing golf and tennis in the summer weather on Long Island at the time when they should be thinking only hockey.Back home again, suitably chastised, the Sabres went out and took a quick lead on the Islanders, 2-0, saw the Islanders tie, went ahead again early in the final periold and then were tied again and lost on a goal by Bert Marshall with 19 seconds of play remaining.Bert Marshall? The Islanders defenseman hadn&rsquo;t scored a goal all season. He had only 15 in regular-season and playoff competition through 11 National Hockey League seasons. What a blow.The Sabres really were low after losing that one-. Their captain and defenseman enforcer, Jim Schoenfeld, had to leave the game in the first period because of a sprained right wrist. He had played through the playoffs with an injured left foot, suffered in the regular-season finale against Toronto. It later came out that he had a broken bone in the foot.It didn&rsquo;t look as if Schoeny could play in the next game in Nassau Coliseum. Imlach gave the Sabres an inspirational talk before the club left for that game but it wasn&rsquo;t enough. Playing without Schoenfeld, they lost, 3-2, after twice coming back to tie. The season was over.&ldquo;The Islanders wanted it more than we did,&rdquo; said Smith, when he looked back on the series the day after the Sabres returned to Buffalo.&ldquo;We had a few people who really lacked the enthusiasm that was needed to beat the Islanders. Everybody was waiting for something to happen this year whereas last season we made things happen.&ldquo;This year for some reason we didn&rsquo;t have the gung-ho attitude.&rdquo;Both Smith and Imlach characterized the season as &ldquo;a learning year.&rdquo;&ldquo;We learned quite a bit about the players we&rsquo;ve got,&rdquo; said Imlach. &ldquo;Adversity brings out the best in some and the worst in some. Let&rsquo;s hope that the players learned something, too.&ldquo;The message is there that there is no easy way to play winning hockey. This year we wanted to do things the easy way. You can&rsquo;t do that and get to the top.&ldquo;Maybe because they went too far so fast the players on this young club didn&rsquo;t realize how hard they have to work. Maybe they will realize it&rsquo;now.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of work to be done on this hockey club. We&rsquo;ll start right out doing it when training camp begins next September. We will see who is ready to play hockey right away. And the young kids will get a very good look. We have some good youngsters on our minor league clubs and they will get a good chance to move up.&rdquo;ICE CHIPS: Two of the youngsters, defenseman Ken Breitenbach and winger Gary McAdam, played in the final&rsquo;game against the Islanders. Another, center Derek Smith, played in one of the playoff games against St. Louis.The Sabres have two goaltenders, both first-year pros, who did well in the minors. Bob Sauve had an outstanding playoff record with Charlotte in the Southern League and Don Edwards goaled Hershey to a division title in the American League.Rick Martin, NHL All Star left winger, played through the Islanders series with an infected right elbow. He nevertheless led the Sabres in scoring in nine playoff games with four goals and seven assists for 11 points. Gil Perreault was next with 4-4&mdash;8. &#9632;

f0010-01

“We Wanted To Win The Easy Way”

<div class="byline">BY GEOFFREY FISHER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01951/3714033-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB STEWART&hellip;Stabilizes Young Seals</figcaption></div>OAKLAND&mdash;Last Dec. 3 Bob Stewart, hard-hitting defenseman of the California Golden Seals, checked into the dressing room of the Oakland Coliseum for oa game with the Los Angeles Kings. Seals&rsquo; coach Jack Evans took him aside and told him he wanted Stewart to assume the captaincy of the club, taking over those duties from veteran Jim Neilson who had suffered a serious leg injury three nights previous.&ldquo;All of a sudden there I was with the &ldquo;C&rdquo; on my shirt and a load of unexpected responsibility on my shoulders,&rdquo; said Stewart.In four seasons with the Seals the 6&rsquo;1&rdquo;, 205-pound Robert Harold (Bob) Stewart has been one of the major defensive weapons. He is quick with reflexes and hits like a jack hammer. Drafted No. 1 by Boston Bruins in 1969 from the Oshawa Generals of the OHA, Stewart quickly established a reputation as a brawler who could not be intimidated. He joined the Seals in a headlined trade that sent Reggie Leach, Rick Smith and himself to Oakland for Carol Vadnais and Don O&rsquo;Donoghue.Back in Oklahoma City of the CHL he had terrorized the circuit while piling up 270 minutes in penalty time. In his first full campaign with the Seals in 1972-73 Stewart cut his penalty time to 181 minutes, a total which led the club.&ldquo;The day of the cheap penalty for me is over,&rdquo; said Stewart. &ldquo;You learn over the years to play a smarter game if you expect lo make it in, the NHL. Now I try to play a thinking man&rsquo;s game. There&rsquo;s no sense taking a bad penalty that hurts your club.&rdquo;Despite finishing fourth in the Adams Division, the Seals this past season put together one of their most successful home and away campaigns since joining the NHL in the first expansion of 1967-68. Bob Stewart was a key factor in that success.With the Seals&rsquo; defensive corps hurt critically by the injury to Neilson in November and to the very effective Len Frig a bit later, Stewart carried an enormous load. Only Rick Hampton and Mike Christie joined him in full service for the season.When he was handed the captaincy, he admits that he was suddenly confronted with all sorts of new concerns.&ldquo;The added duties made me a better hockey player than I had been. I made a special effort to provide leadership, to play a steadier game and to try to keep my teammates calm when they were on the verge of getting into trouble and likely to get some cheap penalty. I did a lot more thinking about all the guys.&rdquo;Unquestionably an uncharacteristic role for Bob Stewart, the noted tough guy and brawler of the past.Stewart credits Neilson, a defensive standout for a dozen seasons with the New York Rangers before he joined the Seals, with helping him to play a smart and effective job on defense.&ldquo;Just watching Jim play-helped me a lot. He gets the job done easily without stirring things up and landing in the penalty coop.&rdquo;Loaded as they were with as many as eight rookies, and handicapped by lack of experience. the Seals responded with strong performances under the captaincy of Stewart. In the first game under his leadership they lost a squeaker to the Kings, 3-2. They then went forth to beat Detroit, tie Philadelphia and defeat St. Louis.Through it all Stewart feels he had his best season. Basically a defensive defenseman, he scored four goals and had 17 assists.What does he think of the chances of the Seals to get into the Stanley Cup playoffs next season?&ldquo;I think we will make it. This is a great bunch of young players who have matured very fast in their first year or two of NHL competition. They can skate fast and they can score a lot of goals. We could use a couple of hitters who can go out and knock some people around a bit. You have to do that to slow up some of the strong teams in the league.&rdquo;Does he feel the Seals were hurt by being physically in-timidated?&ldquo;There are always some players on the other club who try to intimidate your less physical players,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;But a lot of them are just talkers who think they can bully someof the rookies. I know about that be&rsquo; cause I do it myself now and then.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0011-01

Reformed Hitter Stewart Controls Seals’ Tempers

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01959/3714071-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"></div><h2>The Quotes Say It All</h2>THE QUARTER-FINAL STANLEY CUP playoff series between theToronto Maple Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers was one of the most controversial of all time. Four Flyer players were charged with criminal offenses in two games at Toronto and bad feelings involving players, owners and district attorneys added to the bitterness.A collection of quotes from the series and the surrounding confusion say a great deal about where hockey is at in the spring of 1976. Granted, a few of them can be viewed as out of context.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just part of the game. I can&rsquo;t explain it to you. You never played.&rdquo;: Flyer coach Fred Shero after Joe Watson swung his stick over the glass at Maple Leaf Gardens where another Flyer was involved in a melee with fans and police.&ldquo;After all, Toronto set the standard of conduct for the game bringing that Walker (Kurt) up.&rdquo;: National Hockey League president Clarence Campbell, referring to the big rookie Leafs promoted from the minors late in the season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02820/3714064-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="588" height="588"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tiger Williams</figcaption></div>&ldquo;What are we supposed to do? Allow the Flyers to work us over without having a player or two who can fight back?&rdquo;: Leaf coach Red Kelly.&ldquo;I grew up playing hockey in Sweden where fighting is discouraged. I knew what it would be like when I came over here three years ago. The Canadian boys, they fight all the time when they are 11 and 12 years old. To them. it&rsquo;s just pari of the game&hellip;I cannot fight: Ilook likea fool when I try. But against the Flyers&rsquo; Dave to stand up&rdquo;: Leaf defenseman Borje Salming, after the first fight of his hockey career.&ldquo;This looked like the damned Roller Derby with a fight every two or three minutes. I thought playoff hockey was supposed to represent the best of our game, not the worst it had to offer.&rdquo;: Leaf rookie Scott Garland.<h2>Views At Variance</h2>&ldquo;That Williams pulled my hair, butted me with his head and bit me on the cheek. I have the teeth marks to prove it.&rdquo;: Flyers, Dave Schultz after a fight with the Leafs&rsquo; Tiger Williams.&ldquo;Schultz tried to knee me in the groin and the stomach several times.&rdquo;: Williams after the same fight.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve said it time and again and I know there are many students of human behavior who disagree with me. But with my considerable experience I feel the safest and most satisfactory reaction to being fouled is by retaliating with a punch in the nose.&rdquo;: Campbell.&ldquo;The fans at Maple Leaf Gardens are vicious, mean and foulmouthed, behind our bench and towards our players in the penalty box. There were a lot of women in the crowd but that didn&rsquo;t stop them. If I were sitting in the seats with my wife. I&rsquo;d punch a fewguys in the mouth.&rdquo;: Fred Shero.&ldquo;The language the Flyer players used towards the fans behind the penalty box would make any normal human ill.&rdquo;: a lady fan who sits in the penalty box area at the Gardens.<h2>Tell &lsquo;Em, Conn</h2>&ldquo;What&rsquo;s all the fuss about? Hockey is a man&rsquo;s game and besides, nobody ever got hurt in a fight.&rdquo;: Conn Smythe, the man who built the Leafs and the Gardens.&ldquo;I like to fight with Tiger Williams. He stands and throws punches, no wrestling, no tussling, just swinging.&rdquo;: Flyer defenseman Jack Mcllhargey.&ldquo;Mclihargey doesn&rsquo;t fool around. I like fighting with him.&rdquo;: Tiger Williams.&ldquo;All that nonsense is making McMurtry very-popular. I guess that&rsquo;s what made Hitler popular, giving the people what they want.&rdquo;: Ed Snider.Sure is fun, up there in the big league-isn&rsquo;t it&rsquo;? &#9632;

f0012-01

FRANK ORR SAYS:

<div class="byline">BY RON WEBER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03640/3714102-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Goaler Bernie Wolfe, who enjoyed a remarkable rookie year with the Capitals, continued his steady netminding during the team&rsquo;s Japanese tour. Wolfe, shown here tussling with Kings&rsquo; Bob Berry in a regular season game, backstopped two of the Caps&rsquo; three victories in Japan.</figcaption></div>WASHINGTON&mdash;The Washington Capitals have discovered, at last, what they&rsquo;ve been doing wrong &mdash; playing on the wrong continent.They are now acknowledged to be the best hockey team to ply their trade in Japan. Now that may not sound like much in Montreal, Boston or Philadelphia, but Washington will take the honor, saying thank you, very much.For the uninformed (and the apathetic) let it be recorded here that the Capitals won a trophy from their hosts by beating the Kansas City Scouts in three of the four games between the two teams in Sapporo and Tokyo, Japan.The skirmishing began in Sapporo on April 14. With Bernie Wolfe in goal and Bob Sirois tallying twice, the Capitals took the opener 5-2. Sirois found the wider (by 15 feet) Japanese rink to his liking.The next day, also at the site of the 1972 Winter Olympics it was Gerry Meehan who plunked in two scores and Ron Low who held the Scouts to a brace, for a 6-2 Washington win.After a day of travel from the north island of Hokkaido down to Tokyo, the series resumed, right where it left off. K.C. got two goals (off Wolfe) and lost. This time the Caps double scorer was Mike Lampman. One of those was shorthanded, the first such by a Capital since November 26. Strangely, the Caps, while cutting their shorthanded goals against from 18 their first year (an NHL record) to just three their second year, could score only two such themselves. And both of those came in the same game, Thanksgiving eve versus Los Angeles.But back to Japan. That 6-2 triumph in the third game also featured two fights by Blair Stewart that seemed to be alternately ogled and admonished by the fans, plus what might have been the prettiest goal of the series. Tony White, the little left wing from Newfoundland, who struggled in the last third of the season, gave a deke here, a move there and slid the puck past Denis Herron in a superb effort. Skating and passing well, and keeping continuous pressure on the Scouts at both ends of the ice, the Capitals had played their best game in Asia. Bernie Wolfe was the winning goalie again.The next afternoon the inevitable letdown occurred, for two periods anyway. The aroused Scouts led Low and teammates by 4-1 after two periods. Then the Caps gave it their best shot in the final 20 minutes &mdash; probably their best stanza in Japan. But it netted only one goal and Kansas City prevailed 4-2. Lampman got that goal, giving him a team high four for the tour. White had three and two apiece were picked up by Sirois, Meehan, Rick Bragnalo (who also had several nifty assists.) and Jean Lemieux.So it was off to the sun. surf and sand of Hawaii for five days or so. They didn&rsquo;t win them all, what coach Tom McVie said it would take to make him happy. But the vibrations from half a world away seemed to indicate he was, at least, quite pleased with the effort expended by his charges and sent the players toward their North American homes and vacation villas in a positive frame of mind.ICE CAPS: Maybe the best harbinger of the future was the continued display of stick-handling skills and just plain doggedness by the 58, 160-pound Bragnalo. As teammate Nelson Pyatt said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy to see Brags do well. He&rsquo;s a heckuva hockey player. Besides, he&rsquo;s from the Bay.&rdquo; Offsetting the fact both are from Thunder Bay, Ontario would be the truism that Nellie, in effect lost his spot as a regular center to Rick&hellip;Another Capital who spent much of last season in the minors, and who helped his cause in Japan, was Lampman. Big Mike, with the Machavalian mustache, matched his NHL goal total of games prior to 1976. Lampman, half a foot taller than Bragnalo, had picked up four goals for Vancouver and St. Louis in 1973 and 1974. He got the last Washington goal of the regular season to give him seven in 27 Capitals games, then tallied in three of the four contests in the Land of the Rising Sun. Mike was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario but now is a confirmed Californian&mdash;and backpacker&hellip;The front office continues to ponder ways to improve the set-up for the media at the Capital Center. Basically a handy one with the writers and broadcasters at a good vantage point level, plus near nice things like the press room, locker rooms, concession stands and rest rooms there remains a problem of lacking barriers from the fans. This was graphically portrayed late in the season when a young punk leaned over and shouted an obscenity into the microphone of Detroit telecaster Bruce Martyn. &#9632;

f0012-03

Caps Show Japanese Fans, Scouts Their Best Shots

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01929/3714133-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROGIE VACHON&hellip; Superb Goaling In Series</figcaption></div>LOSANGELES&mdash;In 15 consecutive seasons of professional hockey &mdash; six with the minor league Blades and nine with the major league Kings &mdash; since its return to the sport, the Los Angeles area has not had a lot to holler about.Neither team won a championship. The Blades only made the playoffs twice and the finals once. The Kings have made the playoffs five times, but had made the second round only once and had not won a game in it until this season. They had drawn only one playoff sellout.They received a standing ovation from sellouts before each of the three home games they had in the second-round series with Boston this season.Despite being embarrassed 3-0 at home and 7-1 in Boston to fall behind in the series, three wins to two, the hollering reception accorded them when they took the ice for the sixth game at their suburban Forum lasted six minutes.I have heard many such welcomes in various arenas over many years, but none to match in noise level and intensity this one, which wound up with almost all chanting &ldquo;Go Kings Go,&rdquo; nor any to match the way it was sustained throughout the contest even in apparent defeat as the Kings fell behind with time running out.Helped on the first by a magnificent play by Marcel Dionne, making the second with a magnificent effort, lashing out at a loose puck while lying on his stomach, Mike Corrigan scored the two tying goals with less than 10 minutes left and less than three minutes left to put the building in bedlam and the game in overtime.Following several superior opportunities that were missed by various Kings, Butch Goring fired from 20 feet and banked the 4-3 winner in off the left goal-post after 17:48 of overtime and the starved fans fed on victory with roaring appreciation that went on and on until long after the players had left the ice.It was easily the most exciting hockey game in the history of southern California. Afterwards, the players spoke as much about the lift the fans gave them as about their own performances. Unhappy and put-down in Detroit, Marcel Dionne said, &ldquo;I think we all feel this was as much a victory for the fans and this city as for ourselves.&rdquo;They are a much smaller group than the Bruins. The Kings should have been exhausted as they hustled through 77 minutes of rough, fast play. But they managed to keep pace to the end and appeared refreshed by their happiness afterwards, while the Bruins were slowed down and, eventually depressed.The Kings were an inconsistent club, but a come-from-behind bunch all year so this stirring rally was not surprising, though in the pressure of playoff competition, facing elimination from the series, it was, as coach Bob Pulford, weary with relief, remarked later, &ldquo;a great show of the great character of this team.&rdquo;This sent the series into a seventh and decisive game back in Boston and though they lost it, 3-0, they have every right to hold their heads high. Their performances in the playoffs were the best in their history. They may have come of age and could be a contender for a long time to come.They have their weaknesses, which must be remedied, but we can go into them in other stories. This one is, in essence, a success story. They were excellent in the two games they swept in the first series with Atlanta and even better in most of the seven games of the second series in which they extended a better team, Boston.Their stars were Marcel Dionne, Butch Goring and Rogie Vachon. Jack Kent Cooke&rsquo;s deal for Dionne was more than justified by Marcel&rsquo;s five-goal outburst in games two and three against Boston in which he hoisted the Kings back into the series. The tireless Goring was struggling in the series, but came through in the clutch.It didn&rsquo;t seem possible that a goaler could be better than Vachon was against Atlanta, but he, himself, was better, as good as a goaler could be, in the seventh game against Boston, not with standing the final score. The Kings were overwhelmed in this one, outshot 38-15, but Vachon should take pride in an imcomparable performance that kept his side alive a long time.The Kings might have stolen this series had they taken a 3-1 lead in games won in the fourth game at home, but they wasted one opportunity after another and failed to score in seven minutes of power plays in the first period, then faded after the Bruins scored on their first power play.Conversely, the Bruins won the series in the seventh game when they broke a scoreless tie with two goals in seven minutes of power plays in the second period. Another in a season-long series of penalties for misuse of his stick by Dave Hutchison derailed a desperate effort by the Kings.The club was shorthanded already when Hutch joined a scrimmage in the corner and hit Wayne Cashman in the head with the butt of his stick, touching off a short stick fight. When both went into the box, the Kings went into a difficult 3-on-4 situation and surrendered the lead goal.Shortly thereafter, Bob Murdoch drew a five-minute &ldquo;high-sticking&rdquo; major when he hooked and floored a foe who came up bleeding and the Bruins opened it up to 2-0. The Kings considered it an undeserved major. This time they could not rally back into it. But they had done better than anyone expected against a more experienced, bigger, rougher and physically stronger foe.The Kings can take pride in their playoff performance. &#9632;

f0013-01

Ousted Kings Win Hearts Of Starved Fans

<div class="byline">Bill Fleischman&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02791/3714202-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="289" height="459"></div>SEVERAL TOPICS worth considering developed out of the Philadelphia-Toronto Stanley Cup quarter-final, which wasn&rsquo;t exactly your ordinary hockey playoff:&mdash;Roy McMurtry, Ontario&rsquo;s crusading attorney-general, makes good sense in many respects. Perhaps McMurtry&rsquo;s most important point is &ldquo;goonery&rdquo; is driving good young players out of the game. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s our view,&rdquo; says McMurtry, &ldquo;that in the last few years the word was out that somebody could make the big leagues by being a goon-type player.&rdquo;The people to blame for allowing the goons to suit up are the owners and league executives, from the NHL and WHA on down to the junior level. How many times, have you heard a coach say his team needs &ldquo;more muscle?&rdquo; The coach isn&rsquo;t referring to hardhitting type players such as Gary Dornhoefer, Jim Schoenfeld, Brian Glennie or Terry O&rsquo;Reilly. What the coach wants is someone who only has one alleged skill: how to rough up opponents.&mdash;Players have no business hitting fans. However, the cost of even a high-priced NHL ticket doesn&rsquo;t entitle a customer to spit or throw trash at players. Arenas must tighten security to prevent incidents like the one at Maple Leaf Gardens that resulted in assault charges against Joe Watson and Don Saleski of the Flyers.FOR THOSE who missed detailed accounts of the emotional, penalty-filled game, here&rsquo;s a summary:While he was seated in Toronto&rsquo;s unprotected penalty box. Saleski said he was used as a spittoon by fans. Turning to face his tormentors, Saleski gestured with his stick. He didn&rsquo;t wave the stick wildly: his retaliatory motion was more of a &ldquo;beware&rdquo; threat. Immediately a policeman grabbed Saleski&rsquo;s stick and the two began tugging. Seeing their teammate involved with police and fans, the Flyers rushed across the ice with Joe Watson waving his stick over the glass toward the trouble area.Later, the Flyers would insist the disorder would not have occurred had the security force moved the frothing fans. It has happened too often with the Flyers: enraged fans threaten them, but security people merely ignore the incidents. Arena police and ushers should perform their jobs. Many, however, prefer to watch the games. and not offend the hometown customers.&mdash; If the public outcry over the behavior at Maple Leaf Gardens and the near-tragic injury to Quebec&rsquo;s Marc Tardif doesn&rsquo;t convince the league owners that they must crack down on violence in hockey, than the movers and shakers of the sport are as thoughtless as many have suspected. Most hockey fans want to see good, solid body-checking. Whether a one-on-one fight, like the Mel Bridgman-Borje Salming bout, is as popular as Clarence Campbell believes isn&rsquo;t for one man to decide. It is safe to say that most fans don&rsquo;t care for an endless st ream of fouls.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03602/3714195-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="1147" height="1477"><figcaption class="caption-body">Leaf defenseman Borje Salming displayed tremendous courage in view of Flyers&rsquo; physical barrage against him but he later won their admiration as a great hockey player.</figcaption></div>AS CAMPBELL has said, the Maple Leafs are partially at fault for the fiasco that included 45 penalties (a playoff &mdash; record30against the Fivers). Kurt Walker, the 6-3, 200-pound prospect, and 6-foot. 210-pound Bob Neely weren&rsquo;t sent out as replacements for Lanny McDonald and Errol Thompson on Darryl Sittier&rsquo;s line early in the game to score goals. Moments later Walker instigated a fight with Dave Schultz.Showing compassion for his stalker, Schultz later said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re putting a lot of pressure on him. I&rsquo;m not sure he knows what he&rsquo;s supposed to do: make trouble or make sure I don&rsquo;t cause any.&rdquo;&mdash;Borje Salming displayed tremendous courage by refusing to wilt under the Flyers&rsquo; continual barrage of bodychecks and elbows. Salming was accused by several Flyers of also using his stick skillfully, but what did they expect? In European hockey, where the Swedish-born Salming was trained, fighting isn&rsquo;t permitted. He had to defend himself somehow.Fred Shero suggested the Flyers&rsquo; hostility toward Salming was largely camouflage. &ldquo;When the series is over, I&rsquo;m sure they&rsquo;ll give you the right answer: they&rsquo;ll say he&rsquo;s a great hockey player. Good athletes can take it, that&rsquo;s why I&rsquo;m not surprised at him.&rdquo;Flyers&rsquo; fans took a bad rap in the Toronto media. When &ldquo;O Canada&rdquo; was played prior to game five at the Spectrum, some fans booed. But they were chastised by other Philadelphia fans and at the conclusion of Canada&rsquo;s national anthem most fans applauded and cheered. Every arena has its share of cement heads, like those in Maple Leaf Gardens who chant obscenities. &#9632;

f0014-02

No Place For ‘Goonery’ In Big League Hockey

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01942/3714164-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="576" height="896"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOMMY IVAN&hellip; Retirement Premature</figcaption></div>CHICAGO&mdash;Whoa, there.Don&rsquo;t order that rocking chair yet for Tommy N. Ivan. News that he&rsquo;s about to dump his general manager&rsquo;s portfolio with the Chicago Black Hawks comes as news to him. Bad news. Why, when he read a story by a mild-mannered reporter in a great metropolitan newspaper, he became all disjointed.&ldquo;I got no way to come back at you because the pen is mightier than the sword,&rdquo; said Ivan, resurrecting an old saw indeed. &ldquo;I see that people are retiring me, and firing me, and this and that.&ldquo;I never said I was going to retire. That&rsquo;s a decision to be made between my employers and me. Not you. If you don&rsquo;t think I can still go pretty good, you&rsquo;re mistaken.&rdquo;In a cooler moment, Ivan may elect to admit that stories about his impending retirement have been fanned greatly by Tommy Ivan. For the past four seasons, he has broached the subject publicly in maybe-I-will, maybe-I-won&rsquo;t terms. Never has he said flatly, &ldquo;Heck, no I won&rsquo;t go.&rdquo; He didn&rsquo;t even say that the other day about that story which stuck in his craw, a story which by the way, was not a condemnation of his work, or a public hanging of him or any other Black Hawk employer, but merely a suggestion that the time has come for a change in the overall Chicago picture.The mention was also made of Ivan&rsquo;s trips to the Mayo Clinic for his health. He didn&rsquo;t like that either, but he mistook the context in which it was all used.Reread the story, Tommy.It will certainly make better reading than the Black Hawk plus-minus figures which, upon unofficial compilation, reflect why this club lost more games than it won (playoffs included) for the first time in a long time.Since the National Hockey League clutches the plus-minus numbers to its bosom fervently, the cherished barometer must be calculated by working stiffs such as newspapermen. But the figures herein are not far off. And they show, for the recently completed season, that only four Chicago regulars showed plus statistics &mdash; meaning that they were on the ice for more Black Hawk even-strength goals than opposition even-strength goals.Keith Magnuson, a hard-nosed defenseman whose courage is too seldom contagious, led the club with a plus 14. He did not play a full schedule, and missed much of the February-March maelstrom during which the Hawks couldn&rsquo;t get out of their own way. Then again, maybe his absence was part of the reason. He is, after all, one of only a handful of Hawks who realizes that small bruises are not fatal.Cliff Koroll, an honest workman who has checked and checked well ever since he came to the Black Hawks with Magnuson from Denver University, showed up with a plus six for the Chicagoans. And he played every game for the third straight season.Pit Martin, the leading Hawk point producer with 71, also checked in with a plus six, culminating a fine comeback year for him after a mediocre, injury-plagued 1974-75 season.The only other Hawk regular with a plus rating was defensemen Dick Redmond, with a mere plus one.After that, the list is no bargain: Ivan Boldirev minus 24, J.P. Bordeleau minus nine, Alain Daigle minus 18, Joey Johnston minus seven, Randy Holt minus 12, Dennis Hull minus 18, Chico Maki minus nine, John Marks minus three, Stan Mikita minus four, Grant Mulvey minus five, Bob Murray minus six, Darcy Rota minus eight, Phil Russell minus 20, Bobby Sheehan minus four. Dale Tallon minus 12, and Bill White minus 10.Is there any question why the summer comes earlier every year for the Chicago Black Hawks?PARTING SHOTS: For the final two playoff games against the Montreal Canadiens in Chicago, there were about 5,000 empty seats total&hellip;Tallon faced post-season surgery for repair of knee cartilege&hellip;Same for Koroll&hellip;White took a head-first tumble into the boards during game four of the quarter-finals against Montreal. He went to the hospital for x-rays, and came up with a bad bruise and spain in the cervic area. Doctors told him he&rsquo;d likely wind up in a bace for several weeks; they also tole a non-athletic type who took a similar tumble would have suffered a broken neck. &#9632;

f0014-01

Hawks’ Problem Just Too Many Minuses

<div class="byline">BY JACK MCCARTHY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01909/3714233-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Veteran Bruin winger Ken Hodge is the recipient of the annual Gallery Gods Award for his determination and good play this season. Making presentation to Hodge were gallery diehards, Dick Lambert and Frank Salemne.</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;With the Bruins in the midst of Stanley Cup playoffs, one cannot let the season glide by without a salute to a class player and class guy Jean Ratelle. and it&rsquo;s time. too.When the Rangers traded with Boston for Phil Esposito and Carol Vadnais, sending Ratelie, Brad Park and Joe Zanussi to the Hub of the universe, there was some question about Jean reporting. He wanted to be assured, before he moved his family to the Boston area, that he would be around for a while. He was assured, he moved, and he will be around fora while, no doubt.After playing 13 games with New York, he played 67 for Boston and wound up with 31 goals and 59 assists for a 90-point Boston total. His overall total, counting those 13 games in New-York, was 105 points.And he continued this type of play and scoring into the playoffs. coming on as the big man when the chips were down. He controlled much of the game when he was on the ice and he certainly could put the puck in the net.If we may discuss a moment, all of the players who came over from New York have contributed heavily to Boston&rsquo;s playthis year, with Park making a remarkable recovery (perhaps a record &mdash; setter in terms of time lost) after knee surgery, and anchoring the Boston defense. Zanussi played very good hockey-all year long, and into the playoffs, until he hurt a knee. It was feared at first he would have to undergo immediate surgery, but this was called off.Ratelle is a near-perfect center, a playmaker and forechecker and position man. who can also put the puck in the net as well as set up his wings. He can make the lead pass, the drop pass, and can control the puck in heavy traffic, especially in front of an opposing net.Going the other way, with the Bruins playing positional and tight-checking hockev this year, coach Don Cherry says, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s absolutely the perfect man to play my system.&rdquo;Teammate Gregg Sheppard notes, &ldquo;You very rarely see an opposition center score a goal from in front of the net when Jean is playing. While you can&rsquo;t miss seeing his skill with the puck, many people don&rsquo;t see what a great positional player he is.&rdquo;This opinion was re-enforced by Cherry after one game with the Kings when he said in praise of Jean, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know who scored the goals tonight, but I can tell you that Ratelle picked off at least three passes in front of our net&hellip;&rdquo;Although in Boston the gentleman player does not get high accolades for this type of i mage, Ratelie is a top candidate for the Lady Byng Trophy this season, also.One remembers, back in the old davs of Milt Schmidt and Fernie Flaman, how the late columnist John Gillooly of the Record-American, who covered hockey for many years, loved the hitters. When someone once wrote that a Bruin had a chance at the Lady Byng, Gillooly growled in print, &ldquo;You can have those Lady Byng guys. I want the guys who win the &lsquo;Lord Bang&rsquo;Trophy&hellip;&rdquo;But John would appreciate Ratelle, Byng or no Byng, having been brought up on guys like Bill Cowley - and wouldn&rsquo;t Ratelle have been something playing in the days before the red line?BOSTON BEANS: One Boston paper quoted Bruins&rsquo; GM Harry Sinden as saying that some other NHL teams around the league have been tampering with Bobby Orr. who is home in Parry Sound&hellip; &ldquo;I was at a meeting of general managers recently&rdquo; said Sinden, &ldquo;And I told them I believed that four, or as many as five teams have already tampered with Orr.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t get too much of an argument on that, either&hellip;&rdquo;According to NHL rules, no one can talk to Orr or his agent, until he becomes a free agent on June 1. providing he does not sign another contract with Boston&hellip;For tampering, a team can lose a high draft choice and faces a fine. also&hellip;Brian O&rsquo;Neill, executive director of the NHL, told the Herald-American&rsquo;s D.Leo Monahan that the Bruins must receive compensation if Orr should sign with another team&hellip; Said O&rsquo;Neill, &ldquo;Bobby Orr is covered by the five-year agreement reached by the NHL Players&rsquo; Association, just like everybody else. All this has been thoroughly researched. There is no way he could join another club without equalization to the Boston club&hellip;&rdquo; &#9632;

f0015-01

Bruins Salute Ratelle As ‘Perfect Hockey Player’

<h2>SERIES &lsquo;A&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05301/3714386-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="578" height="79"></div>(Buffalo wins best-of-three series 2-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thu. April 4Buffalo 2 at St. Louis 5Thu. April 8St. Louis 2 at Buffalo 3Fri. April 9St. Louis 1 at Buffalo 2<h2>SERIES &lsquo;B&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-06244/3714379-1-eng-US/f0016-062.jpg" title="f0016-06" width="579" height="76"></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 &lsquo;C&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-07221/3714372-1-eng-US/f0016-072.jpg" title="f0016-07" width="580" height="77"></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 1 at Atlanta 0<h2>SERIES &lsquo;D&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-08202/3714365-1-eng-US/f0016-082.jpg" title="f0016-08" width="580" height="74"></div>(Toronto wins best-of-three series 2-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. April 6Pittsburgh 1 ot Toronto 4Thu. April 8Toronto 0 at Pittsburgh 2Fri. April 9Pittsbc rgh 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/f0016-09180/3714358-1-eng-US/f0016-092.jpg" title="f0016-09" width="582" height="79"></div>(Montreal wins best-ef-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 ot Chicago 1<h2>SERIES &lsquo;F&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-10158/3714351-1-eng-US/f0016-102.jpg" title="f0016-10" width="579" height="79"></div>(Philadelphia 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 5Sat. 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/f0016-11144/3714344-1-eng-US/f0016-112.jpg" title="f0016-11" width="578" height="75"></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/f0016-12127/3714337-1-eng-US/f0016-122.jpg" title="f0016-12" width="579" height="73"></div>(Islanders wins 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 &lsquo;I&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-13115/3714330-1-eng-US/f0016-132.jpg" title="f0016-13" width="577" height="76"></div>(Montreal leads best-of-seven series 3-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. April 27Islanders 2 at Montreal 3Thu. April 29Islanders 3 at Montreal 4Sat. May 1Montreal 3 at Islanders 2GAMES TO COMETue May 4Montreal at IslandersThu May 6Islanders at MontrealSat. May 8Montreal at IslandersTue. May 11Islanders at Montreal<h2>SERIES &lsquo;J&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-14108/3714323-1-eng-US/f0016-142.jpg" title="f0016-14" width="579" height="80"></div>(Philadelphia leads best-of-seven series 2-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. April 27Boston 4 at Philadelphia 2Thu. April 29Boston 1 at Philadelphia 2Sun. May 2Philadelphia 5 at Boston 2GAMES TO COMETue. May 4Philadelphia at BostonThu. May 6Boston at PhiladelphiaSun. May 9Philadelphia at BostonTue. May 11Boston at Philadelphia<h3>PLAYOFF SCORING</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1598/3714316-1-eng-US/f0016-152.jpg" title="f0016-15" width="576" height="1143"></div> &#9632;

f0016-05

Stanley Cup Scoreboard

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02643/3714278-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="572" height="1282"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROSS LONSBERRY</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01749/3714285-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="184" height="340"></div>BOSTON&mdash;The Philadelphia Flyers don&rsquo;t take kindly to teams that come into the Spectrum and shock them. They normally turn on their tormentors with a vengeance as the Boston Bruins found out.The Flyers were upset 4-2 by the Bruins in the opening game of their best-of-seven Stanley Cup semi-final series with the defeat ending a 24-game unbeaten streak on their home ice for the defending cup champs.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03513/3714271-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="1166" height="1520"><figcaption class="caption-body">Goaler Chico Resch is spun around by a drive during Stanley Cup series with Montreal. Resch is Islanders&rsquo; big hope to pull them through against the Montreal Canadiens.</figcaption></div>With the Bruins nursing a 1-0 series lead, the Flyers were smarting when they took the ice for game two. It took them an extra period to turn the trick but they beat the Bruins 2-1 on Reg Leach&rsquo;s decidinggoal after 13:38 of overtime and when the series went to Boston the Flyers were still burning. They skated all over the Bruins 5-2 breaking the contest wide open with three third-period goals, including the game-winner by rookie Mel Bridgman. For the young Flyer it was his fifth playoff goal.The Flyers regained their composure and it now appears that it would take a superior effort on the part of the Bruins to put the Broad Street Bullies behind the eight ball again in the series.While the Flyers appear to have command of their series, the Montreal Canadiens jumped into a commanding 3-0 lead over the disappointing New York Islanders in the other best-of seven semi-final series and here again it seemed the Islanders were in need of some kind of a miracle to emerge the winner of their series.The Canadiens labored in their first two games of the series on Montreal ice winning 3-2 in game one and 4-3 in game two. both of which showed the Hubs&rsquo; rustiness after being idle for two out of three weeks because of playoff byes since the regular season closed.The teams went to New York for the next two games and the Islanders gave every indication they were on the comeback road. They jumped in front of the Canadiens 2-0. dominated the play, but again they underestimated the Montrealers&rsquo; staying power. The Canadiens blew them off the ice in the third period with three unanswered goals by Guy Lapointe, Jim Roberts and Yvon Lambert and went on to win 3-2 and move a big step closer to a berth in the cup finals &mdash; likely against the Philadelphis Flyers.The Flyers had battled back twice in game one of their series with Boston coming from behind 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to tie the game at 2-2 before the Bruins retaliated with two goals, one each by Dallas Smith and Gregg Sheppard, that shook goaler Bernie Parent. Gary Doak and Ken Hodge got the other goals. Orest Kindrachuk and Jim Watson scored for Philly.In the second game of the series. Leach bagged the game winner as the Flyers yanked Parent in favor of Wayne Stephenson and the goaling change seemed to pick the Flyers up. They went on top when Don Saleski scored on a 10-foot slapshot that caught Gerry Cheevers flat footed. John Bucyk banged in a rebound to tie the game in the third period and spoil Stephenson&rsquo;s sparkling goaling job. But the Flyers took the game to the Bruins in the overtime and Leach won it when he scooped up Jim Watson&rsquo;s rebound off the backboards and squeezed in between the Bruins defenders and Cheevers to score. Leach said he thought the puck struck defenseman Mike Milbury&rsquo;s leg and went into the net.The Flyers were more convincingin the third game as Bridgman, Leach and defenseman Tom Bladon connected for third-period goals against Gil Gilbert to provide Philadelphia with its margin of victory. Earlier Ross Lonsberry and Bill Barber had scored for the Flyers while Jean Ratelle, with his eighth playoff goal, and Wayne Cashman, sniped forthe Bruins.The Canadiens needed a late game surge to win their first game over the Islanders. Larry Robinson, Yvan Cournoyer and Steve Shutt were the scorers for the Habs. Ed Westfall and Billy MacMillan were the Islander scorers as the New Yorkers twice went ahead only to have the Canadiens knot the game before Cournoyer blasted the winner past Billy Smith in the Islander net.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04401/3714264-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="556" height="1320"><figcaption class="caption-body">MEL BRIDGMAN &hellip; Fired Game Winner</figcaption></div>The Canadiens reversed the pattern in game two jumping off a 4-1 lead before the underdog Islanders realized what was happening to them. Ralph Stewart and Jude Drouin scored late in the game to cut the margin to 4-3 but the Canadiens held firm although their performance was their poorest-of the playoffs.Serge Savard, Guy Lapointe, Bob Gainey and Steve Shutt were the Montreal scorers. Drouin collected two of the Islander goals.The Islanders pulled a goaling switch late in the second game when they inserted Chico Resch into Smith&rsquo;s spot. Smith had been hot all through the early playoff rounds and coach Al Arbour went with him against Montreal. But it was obvious he had lost his touch against the Canadiens and Arbour rushed Resch into the net.Resch was the starter in the third game in New York and the Islanders gave him a 2-0 first-period working margin as Garry Howatt and Bryan Trottier scored. It was Trottier&rsquo;s first of the playoffs. But the Canadiens were coming on stronger as the game wore on and they outshot the Islanders 26-23. Resch was powerless to stop the Canadiens. &#9632;

f0016-02

Flyers Recover From Opening-Game Shocker; Canadiens Near Final As Superiority Shows

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01644/3714480-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="764" height="976"></div>Warning Health and Welfare Canada advises that danger to health increases with amount smoked-avoid inhaling Av per cigarette. Fegular. 16mg &ldquo;tar&rdquo; 12mg. nicotine King 18mg &ldquo;tar&rdquo; 13mg, nicotine.<h2>SERIES&rdquo;I,</h2><h3>Tue. April 27</h3>ISLANDERS 2, MONTREAL 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02556/3714473-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="584" height="281"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03451/3714466-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="590" height="149"></div>(Montreal leads best-of-seven series 1-0)<h3>Thr. April 29</h3>ISLANDERS 3, MONTREAL 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04343/3714459-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="589" height="102"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05272/3714452-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg" title="f0017-05" width="590" height="359"></div>(Montreal leads best-of-seven series 2-0)<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-06227/3714445-1-eng-US/f0017-062.jpg" title="f0017-06" width="1828" height="2084"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gerry Cheevers rocks back on his heels after making point-blank stop in Stanley Cup playoff action against Philadelphia. Defense man Darryl Edestrand watches Cheevers&rsquo;reaction before moving on puck.</figcaption></div><h3>Sat. May 1</h3>MONTREAL 3, ISLANDERS 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-07196/3714438-1-eng-US/f0017-072.jpg" title="f0017-07" width="589" height="375"></div>(Montreal leads best-of-seven series 3-0)<h2>SERIES &lsquo;J&rsquo;</h2><h3>Tue. April 27</h3>BOSTON 4, PHILADELPHIA 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-08163/3714431-1-eng-US/f0017-082.jpg" title="f0017-08" width="592" height="492"></div>(Boston leads best-of-seven series 1-0).<h2>Thu. April 29</h2><h3>BOSTON 1, PHILADELPHIA 2</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-09146/3714424-1-eng-US/f0017-092.jpg" title="f0017-09" width="588" height="509"></div>(Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)<h3>Sun. May 2</h3>PHILADELPHIA 5, BOSTON 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-10134/3714417-1-eng-US/f0017-102.jpg" title="f0017-10" width="591" height="424"></div>(Philadelphia leads best-of-seven series 2-1). &#9632;

f0017-01

Stanley Cup Playoff Summaries

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY LTDArnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U S and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY LTDArnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U S and CanadaBLOOMINGTON&mdash;The 1975-76 season for 21-year-old rookie goalie Paul Harrison was not a complete wipeout. Almost, but not complete.The Minnesota North Stars called on the native of Timmins, Ont. to play their final game of the regular season against the Boston Bruins, and he came out with his first NHL point as a goalie after the teams played a 2-2 tie in the Boston Garden, where the North Stars have never won.&ldquo;It would have been nice to have gone home with the win,&rdquo; said the 6&rsquo;1&rdquo;, 175-pound netminder. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;ll take the tie.&rdquo;Harrison was not very happy about his rookie season &mdash; he spent most of the year on the bench.You really cannot blame the youngster. He appeared in only six games all season with the North Stars, finishing with a 5.47 goals-against average that included a 9-5 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in the second game of the season.From that point, he did not play another game until the second half of the season. In between, he was sent down to Fort Wayne of the International League but did not play, and then he was loaned out to Providence in the American League and drew only an occasional start until he was recalled in February while Cesare Maniago sat out a one-game suspension.&ldquo;You can always learn by watching, and I felt I did pick up a few things from watching goalies like Bernie Parent, Tony Esposito and Ken Dryden,&rdquo; said Harrison. &ldquo;But there is nothing like the real thing.&rdquo;Harrison does not sound discouraged about next season. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure the North Stars are going to give me a chance,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s all up to me to prove I can be a National League goalie. This past season is behind me now.&rdquo;While Harrison patiently waits for his chance, the North Stars patiently await the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs for trade negotiations and the amateur draft.One interesting development surfaced the last couple weeks. Walter Bush Jr., North Star president, said if Boston super star Bobby Orr failed to reach a contract agreement with the Bruins, he would like the opportunity to negotiate with Orr and agent Alan Eagleson.Another item on the agenda has been the &ldquo;debriefing&rdquo; of college scout John Mariucci and assistant coach Andre Beaulieu on their return from the World Ice Hockey Championship Championships in Poland.Mariucci and Beaulieu coached the U.S. team into the round robin finals of the tournament as the Americans assured themselves of a start in the Group A division next year. The finish is a rather surprising one, since Mariucci assembled his team practically on a moment&rsquo;s notice.Several North Star players played for the U.S. team, which is expected to be considerably stronger for the World Cup affair late this summer.One of Mariucci&rsquo;s duties was to scout the European teams for any prospective players for the coming season.The addition of two or three Europeans, coupled with some quality drafts could speed Minnesota&rsquo;s recovery from missing the playoffs for three seasons.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01657/3714511-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="560" height="910"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOBBY ORR &hellip; Minnesota Bound?</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0018-01

Harrison Hopes Year Spent On Bench Will Get Him Shot At Goaling Job

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01628/3714542-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">DON SALESKI&hellip; Continues Development</figcaption></div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Ian Turnbull&rsquo;s pass back toward the Philadelphia blueline went directly to the Flyers&rsquo; Don Saleski. As Saleski turned, Turnbull&rsquo;s point partner, Borje Salming, slipped and fell. Suddenly, Saleski had only Toronto goaltender Wayne Thomas blocking the route to a thunderous ovation.Saleski approached Thomas and, from about 15 feet, flipped the puck into the net over the goalie&rsquo;s glove. The short-handed goal gave the Flyers a 2-0 lead in game five of their bitter Stanley Cup quarter-final against the Maple Leafs. When Saleski scored again, tipping in a Bob Kelly pass, the two teams had set a Stanley Cup record for fastest four goals. The elapsed time was 1:33.Saleski wasn&rsquo;t finished. Early in the third period of Philadelphia&rsquo;s 7-1 victory, &ldquo;Big Bird&rdquo; converted an Orest Kindrachuk set-up into his third goal of the game. It was Saleski&rsquo;s first NHL hat trick and only the fifth by a Philadelphia player (Rick MacLeish has had three, Rosey Paiement one),.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the first hat trick I&rsquo;ve scored since junior,&rdquo; a subdued Saleski said later. &ldquo;I was playing for Regina against Moose Jaw.&rdquo;Considering developments just a few days earlier, this hat trick had to be more satisfying.Along with teammates Joe Watson and Mel Bridgman, Saleski had been arraigned three days before in Toronto on assault charges stemming from the now notorious playoff game in Maple Leaf Gardens. It had been an unnerving experience, but Saleski refused to relate the three goals to the court appearance.&ldquo;One has nothing to do with the other,&rdquo;said the 26-year-old right winger.Saleski, a Moose Jaw, Sask., native in his fourth NHL season, preferred to talk about how watching National Basketball Association playoffs on television inspired him.&ldquo;Those two games (Philadelphia-Buffalo, Detroit-Milwaukee) were two of the best basketball games I&rsquo;ve ever seen,&rdquo; said the off-season Villanova University student. &ldquo;Watching those games, I thought that&rsquo;s the kind of thing we need, to work for the team.&rsquo; I thought &lsquo;those guys are giving that much to their sport, diVing for loose balls and hustling all over the place, I should do the same thing.&rsquo;&rdquo;By spending what he called &ldquo;half the game&rdquo; in the Maple Leafs Gardens&rsquo; penalty box Saleski felt he had let the Flyers down. Despite what you read in publications like Sports Illustrated, which, in its &ldquo;Week of Disgrace on the Ice&rdquo; piece of April 26, called Saleski &ldquo;a right wing of modest ability but handy fist,&rdquo; the 6-3 handyman has polished his skills in remarkable fashion. The truth is, Saleski has more than modest ability and he is far from hockey&rsquo;s best fighter.His 21 goals the past season were his NHL high as were his 47 points. He is one of hockey&rsquo;s best cornermen. His defensive skills are such that coach Fred Shero switched Dave Schultz to right wing and put Saleski on the left side so he could check high-scoring Lanny McDonald.Saleski has also developed into a capable penalty killer, as his goal against Wayne Thomas indicates. Saleski had also scored a short-handed goal against Vancouver during the regular season.The keys to Saleski&rsquo;s improvement as a hockey player, are, he says, maturity and confidence. Although he had helped the Flyers win two Stanley Cups, he didn&rsquo;t feel he belonged until this season.Saleski&rsquo;s maturity was evident in part II of the Flyers-Toronto Theater of the Absurd. That was the sixth game of the series, an 8-5 Toronto victory that also included a playoff record 185 penalty minutes. After a whistle, Saleski was yapping at Leafs&rsquo; rookie Scott Garland when Garland suddenly lashed out, hitting Saleski in the face.Saleski made a move toward Garland, then restrained himself. Whether he was worried about Roy McMurtry, Ontario&rsquo;s attorney general, leaping on the ice with another summons, or just enticing Garland into a penalty isn&rsquo;t known. But it was a sign Saleski needs severe provocation to strike back. Garland&rsquo;s aggressiveness was also, the Flyers point out, another indication of how the McMurtry crusade favors the Maple Leafs at home. &#9632;

f0019-01

Saleski Contributes More, Guided By Self-Control

<div class="byline">BY BILL HEUFELDER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01477/3714587-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="510" height="470"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02353/3714580-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="468" height="462"></div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;One of five players to appear in every game for the Pittsburgh Penguins this year, Syl Apps brought a premature close to his campaign in the playoffs.The Penguins, of course bowed out prematurely, eliminated in the final game of the best-of-three opening round by the Toronto Maple Leafs, who went on to seriously threaten Philadelphia&rsquo;s bid for a third straight Stanley Cup.Apps, after one shift in game No. 3 against the Leafs, retired with a knee injury that forced the Penguins to shift left winger Lowell MacDonald to center for the remainder of the contest. Toronto went on to clinch the series with a 4-0 victory.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not really sure what happened,&rdquo; Apps said of the injury, later diagnosed as pulled ligaments. &ldquo;I got hit along the boards, but it wasn&rsquo;t in the knee. I must have twisted it.&ldquo;It was just one of those freaky things.&rdquo;His left leg was placed in a fulllength cast for four days while doctors pondered whether surgery would be necessary, but Apps is recovering without an operation.The injury is merely a nuisance now. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t play golf for awhile,&rdquo; he said.One of the club&rsquo;s most impressive performers down the stretch, Apps fell one point short of his first 100-point season in the National Hockey League, typifying the plight of the Penguins, who came within a single point of grabbing the home-ice advantage for the opening playoff round.In the midst of the campaign, however, the 28-year-old centerman suffered through the worst slump of his career. He went 22 games without a goal and accounted for only six assists during the stretch.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t an enjoyable season because of the slump,&rdquo; Apps mentioned. &ldquo;As a team, I thought we might have been able to play better than we did. I thought we should have had that second spot.&rdquo;Despite a sustained surge after Ken Schinkel replaced Marc Boileau as the Penguin coach, the team withered in the final week of the regular-season schedule after overtaking runnerup Los Angeles in the Norris Division race and finished third.There were memorable moments for Apps, the league&rsquo;s eighth leading scorer. He helped longtime linemate Jean Pronovost surpass 50 goals and his own goal with three seconds left in the final regular-season game allowed the Penguins to beat Detroit, 6-5, and finish with their second successive winning record (35-33-12).Apps had 32 goals, 67 assists and for the second time centered a line for MacDonald and Pronovost that accounted for more than 100 goals. Overall, the Penguins delivered 339 goals to finish in a second-place tie with Buffalo behind Philadelphia in team scoring.In the playoffs against Toronto, the Leafs employed a disciplined checking style that allowed them to command the play in their two home games.The Penguins came up empty-handed in the playoffs, scoring only three times in the three games to hasten their demise. The Apps line did little to enhance the situation. After being blanked in game one, MacDonald connected for the winning goal in a 2-0 game two victory with the help of Apps. But without Apps in game three, the line was totally ineffective and the Leafs blanked them and the Pens 4-0 to finished Pittsburgh&rsquo;s season.PENGUIN-NOTES: MacDonald has undergone minor shoulder surgery&hellip;Vic Hadfield (knee) and Dennis Owchar (hand) also are scheduled for operations&hellip;Rick Kehoe fell one goal short of the 30-goal mark which would have given the Penguins six players at that level and tied a league record set by the 1974-75 Buffalo Sabres&hellip;Penguins averaged 11,452 fans, a club record.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03292/3714573-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="1172" height="1070"><figcaption class="caption-body">SYL APPS&hellip; Injured Knee In Playoffs</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0020-01

Apps Like Most Penguins Recovering From Hurt Pride

<div class="byline">BY RICH PASSAN</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY LTDArnold Street Wallaceburg OntarioSold in U S and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY LTDArnold Street Wallaceburg OntarioSold in U S and CanadaINDIANAPOLIS&mdash;It was billed as a defensive series that would feature good goaltending, crisp checking and good skating. And it was not a letdown even though the deciding game wound up 6-0.The New England Whalers bested the Indianapolis Racers in the seventh game of their best-of-seven East Division final series with rookie goaltender Cap Raeder turning in his second shutout of the series.Of the seven games, four were decided by shutouts, two apiece by Raeder and Indy&rsquo;s Jim Park, who is also a rookie.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01347/3714625-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="568" height="1417"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAP RAEDER &hellip; Winning Form</figcaption></div>The Whalers&rsquo; victory assured them of a berth in the U.S. finals against the winner of the West Division series&mdash;either Houston Aeros or San Diego Mariners.The Whaler-Racer series had been a purist&rsquo;s delight. It was playoff hockey at its best.Unlike the notorious Calgary-Quebec abomination, the series had been relatively free of fights. Tempers had surfaced, but cooler heads, for the most part prevailed.The series generally was low-scoring as expected. In the first five games alone, the Racers scored only 10 goals and the Whalers just nine. The Racers upped the count to 15-12 when they won the sixth game 5-3 to stay alive in the series before the Whalers regained their momentum in the deciding seventh and won 6-0 to finish ahead of Indianapolis on the scoresheet 18-15.The Whalers, who dropped a pair of early 4-0 decisions to the Racers, went through the series without the services of their top two goaltenders, Christer Abrahamsson and Bruce Landon, both of whom were injured. But the way Raeder performed neither was missed.Abrahamsson had severe neck problems and Landon has torn ankle ligaments. In their place was. raw rookie Raeder, the former University of New Hampshire netminder and the youngster posted four victories, two of them shutouts.The Racers, meanwhile, played switchies with their two young cage cops, Michel Dion and Park. The latter posted the two shutouts for the Racers and started in New England&rsquo;s 3-0 victory in game three. He was also in goal for game six and seven.In New England&rsquo;s 2-1 triumph in game four in Hartford, the Whalers beat the Racers at their own game. Defense.The Racers like to score early, go into a shell and wait for the opposition to make a mistake. In game three, erstwhile defenseman Alan Hangsleben beat Park at 13:45 of the first periodGarry Swain added a second goal at 13:11 of the second period and Hangsleben, who scored twice all season, pumped home his second goal of the game on a power play at 8:53 of the third period. Raeder, meanwhile, stopped the Racers cold on 22 shots.&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t play a bad game,&rdquo; said Racers&rsquo; coach Jacques Demers. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just that New England played an almost perfect game. But if they think we&rsquo;re out of it, they better think again.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been down before this season and have always bounced back. All we have to do is win one here (Hartford) and the home ice advantage swings back in our favor.&rdquo;That wasn&rsquo;t to be the case, however. The second game in Hartford saw the Whalers eke out a 2-1 victory for the Whalers&rsquo; third straight playoff success on home ice.In that one, Larry Pleau broke a scoreless game at 8:14 of the second period and Raeder made it stand up until Hugh Harris scored at 3:01 of the third period.It looked as though the two clubs would go to overtime for the first time in the series when New England&rsquo;s Fred O&rsquo;Donnell dug the puck out of the corner to center iceman Mike Rogers, standing just to the left of Dion.The little pivot gathered in the puck and lifted it over Dion&rsquo;s left shoulder from in close. It came with just 57 seconds left in regulation.&ldquo;When I saw that puck go in,&rdquo; said Rogers, obtained from Edmonton in a mid-season trade for Wayne Carleton, &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t contain myself. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before.&ldquo;But you have to give a lot of credit to Freddie (O&rsquo;Donnell),&rdquo; said Rogers, who has four playoff goals in eight games. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the one who got the puck out of the corner.&rdquo;In game five, Park throttled the Whalers on 30 shots while his mates solved Raeder four times in 34 attempts. Three of them-by Reg Thomas in the first period, Mike Parizeau in the second period and Dave Keon in the third period &mdash; came on power plays. Parizeau added an even-strength tally late in the middle session.The Racers, who lost to the Whalers only twice during the regular season, had a seemingly impossible task of overcoming a 31 deficit. They began with the fifth-game victory here, and won&rsquo; again in game six to force the series to the limit. But they had come off the canvas all season.&ldquo;This series is far from over,&rdquo; said New England coach Harry Neale after game five. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen them come off the floor before and we&rsquo;re not taking them lightly. I said at the beginning this would be a long, hard series and I&rsquo;m sticking to my prediction.&rdquo; As it turned out Neale was right on.CINCINNATI: The Stingers dropped the axe on four of their performers in the 1975-76 season with an eye toward the upcoming amateur draft. Gone are right wingers Mike Byers and Murray Myers, veteran defenseman Terry Ball and minor league left winger Lorne Rombough. Also let go was trainer Glenn Eramo.Byers, signed as a free agent late in February when the Stingers had injury problems, scored three goals and had three assists in 20 games with Cincinnati. Ball, obtained from the Cleveland Crusaders in late January, scored three goals and set up 14 others in 36 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02264/3714618-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="559" height="721"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM PARK &hellip; Brilliant Loser</figcaption></div>Myers, who started out the campaign in the minors, was a 14-goal scorer in 56 games with the Stingers. &ldquo;When we acquired Myers from Calgary last summer,&rdquo; explained Stingers&rsquo; official Bill DeWitt, &ldquo;part of the arrangement was that we could return him at the end of the season, which we are doing.&rdquo;Continued DeWitt, &ldquo;Since the beginning, we have felt that obtaining high draft choices from the junior ranks is the way to build a championship team. With the voids these moves have created, we expect to fill them with young juniors we hope to sign in the draft.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0022-01

Raeder Outduels Park As Whalers Advance

<div class="byline">BY DOUG McCONNELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01327/3714656-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">AL ROLLINS&hellip; May be Next Coach or GM</figcaption></div>PHOENIX&mdash;A reorganization to cut costs could see coach Sandy Hucul and president Bill MacFarland leaving the Roadrunners.&ldquo;No one has talked to me,&rdquo; said the Roadrunners&rsquo; coach. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know who would, Karl Eller, I guess.&rdquo;Eller, one of the principal owners of the World Hockey Association team, said he will be taking &ldquo;a more positive role&rdquo;.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re re-evaluating Sandy,&rdquo; said Eller of the WHA and HOCKEY NEWS coach-of-the-year for 1974-75 and the Arizona coach of-the-year for 1974.Eller said that a move into the league office is possible for MacFarland &ldquo;and we won&rsquo;t stand in his way.&rdquo;Many of the WHA owners have been pressuring MacFarland to take the president&rsquo;s post since Dennis Murphy resigned a year ago.MacFarland has rejected such overtures but is not so adamant now. One of his objections in the past was to the WHA&rsquo;s office being located in Toronto. He grew up there but has lived in the West for 20 years.His family does not want to leave the West. They are still landscaping a home they built in the rich Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s it,&rdquo; said MacFarland. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s where I live. When I&rsquo;m 65, you can find me there in my rocking chair. &ldquo;Why not propose the league office be moved from Toronto to Phoenix?&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a proposal I&rsquo;d make if it came to that,&rdquo; said MacFarland.&ldquo;A guy could be worried,&rdquo; said Hucul, &ldquo;but the Lord&rsquo;s looking after things and He&rsquo;s capable. I think I can get a job, but I&rsquo;d like to stay here. I think I&rsquo;ve done a good job.When the Roadrunners entered the WHA two years ago, Hucul who had coached the team to two successive Western League titles, was signed to a three-year contract.He asked last summer that the contract be torn up and a one-year deal written.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want Bill (MacFarland) to feel hemmed in,&rdquo; explained Hucul recently. &ldquo;We had our differences, everybody knew that. I wanted him to have the freedom to let me off if he didn&rsquo;t feel I was doing the job.&rdquo;Eller conceded he is in favor of a more open and colorful style than Hucul&rsquo;s defense-oriented &ldquo;system&rdquo; and said, &ldquo;I think we have the talent to do it.&rdquo;Jim Wells, vice-president of operations and winner of the HOCKEY NEWS minor league executive-of-the-year award three year ago, is the first to move in the reorganizing. He is now the director of the Coliseum Club, the restaurant and lounge operated by the Roadrunners in the Memorial Coliseum.Al Rollins, director of player personnel, will remain with the club, said Eller, &ldquo;but with a new title. I don&rsquo;t know what yet,&rdquo; said Eller.Rollins could replace either Hucul or MacFarland.Of Dave Weiser, public relations director, Eller said, &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s going to be with us. We have to go get him more exposure.&rdquo;Coincidentally, KTAR Radio, a part of the Combined Communications conglomerate of which Eller is president, no longer has the Arizona State University packaged, clearing the way for Roadrunner broadcasts on a major station.Eller would also like to move the club&rsquo;s offices from 17th floor of the downtown Valley Center &ldquo;for more exposure and to get out of the high rent district.&rdquo;Brian O&rsquo;Neill, a vice-president of Combined Communications, is overseeing the reorganization.Porter McKinnon remains as sales director, but most of his staff will be on straight commission and Eller added many of the players will be utilized in the ticket sales campaign which has reached almost 3,500 of a desired 7,000.Players under contract will be reduced from more than 30 to about 24 and the Roadrunners will take a smaller role in the operation of the Tucson entry in the Central League.A couple more Finnish imports, screened during Roadrunners&rsquo; training camp this fall in Finland, are possible additions.The overseas expedition is in line with the team&rsquo;s new costcutting policy. The Finnish government is picking up the tab. &#9632;

f0023-01

MacFarland, Hucul May Go In Management Shakeup

<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/f0024-01335/3714820-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="589" height="379"></div>(New England leads 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/f0024-02263/3714813-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="583" height="386"></div>(Best-of-seven series tied 1-1).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03185/3714806-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="570" height="1492"><figcaption class="caption-body">LARSSJOBERG &hellip; Helped Oust Cowboys</figcaption></div><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/f0024-04140/3714799-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="586" height="350"></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/f0024-05108/3714792-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="586" height="393"></div>(New England 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/f0024-0693/3714785-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="589" height="403"></div>(New England leods best-of-seven series 3-2).<h3>Tue. April 27</h3>INDIANAPOLIS 5, NEW ENGLAND 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0779/3714778-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="584" height="500"></div>(Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)<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/f0024-0874/3714771-1-eng-US/f0024-082.jpg" title="f0024-08" width="583" height="478"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0968/3714764-1-eng-US/f0024-092.jpg" title="f0024-09" width="584" height="146"></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/f0024-1061/3714757-1-eng-US/f0024-102.jpg" title="f0024-10" width="587" height="401"></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/f0024-1159/3714750-1-eng-US/f0024-112.jpg" title="f0024-11" width="592" height="529"></div>(Houston leads best-of-seven series 3-0).<h3>Tue. April 27</h3>HOUSTON 2, SAN DIEGO 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1252/3714743-1-eng-US/f0024-122.jpg" title="f0024-12" width="585" height="449"></div>(Houston leads best-of-seven series 3-1)<h3>Wed. April 28</h3>SAN DIEGO 3, HOUSTON 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1342/3714736-1-eng-US/f0024-132.jpg" title="f0024-13" width="585" height="376"></div>(Houston leods best-of-seven series 3-2)<h3>Fri. April 30</h3>HOUSTON 3, SAN DIEGO 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1434/3714729-1-eng-US/f0024-142.jpg" title="f0024-14" width="586" height="330"></div>(Houston wins best-of-seven series 4-2)<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/f0024-1530/3714722-1-eng-US/f0024-152.jpg" title="f0024-15" width="583" height="423"></div>(Winnipeg leads best-of-seven series 10)<h3>Sun. April 25</h3>CALGARY 2, WINNIPEG 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1628/3714715-1-eng-US/f0024-162.jpg" title="f0024-16" width="588" height="246"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1725/3714708-1-eng-US/f0024-172.jpg" title="f0024-17" width="583" height="150"></div>(Winnipeg leads best-of-seven series2-0).<h3>Wed. April 28</h3>WINNIPEG 6, CALGARY 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1824/3714701-1-eng-US/f0024-182.jpg" title="f0024-18" width="580" height="380"></div>(Winnipeg leads best-of-sevenseries 3-0)<h3>Fri. April 30</h3>WINNIPEG 3, CALGARY 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1924/3714694-1-eng-US/f0024-192.jpg" title="f0024-19" width="579" height="503"></div>(Winnipeg leods best-of-seven series 3-1)<h3>Sun. May 2</h3>CALGARY 0, WINNIPEG 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-2023/3714687-1-eng-US/f0024-202.jpg" title="f0024-20" width="579" height="454"></div>(Winnipeg wins best-of-seven senes 4-1). &#9632;

f0024-01

World Hockey Association Playoff Summaries

<h2>SERIES&lsquo;A&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02206/3714938-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="586" height="80"></div><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 2<h2>SERIES&lsquo;B&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03141/3714931-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="583" height="78"></div>(Calgary wins best-of-seven serias 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/f0025-04108/3714924-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="586" height="75"></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/f0025-0590/3714917-1-eng-US/f0025-052.jpg" title="f0025-05" width="584" height="76"></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 Son Diego 5Sat. April 17San 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/f0025-0673/3714910-1-eng-US/f0025-062.jpg" title="f0025-06" width="589" height="77"></div>(New England wins best-of-seven series 4-3)<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 4Tue. April 27Indianapolis 5 at New England 3Thu. April 29New England 6 at Indianapolis 0<h2>SERIES&lsquo;F&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0769/3714903-1-eng-US/f0025-072.jpg" title="f0025-07" width="588" height="79"></div>(Houston wins best-of-sovon series 4-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 21San Diego 6 at Houston 8Fri. April 23San Diego 1 at Houston 3Sun. April 25Houston 8 at San Diego 5Tue. April 27Houston 2 at San Diego 3Wed. April 28San Diego 3 at Houston 2Fri. April 30Houston 3 at San Diego 2<h2>SERIES&lsquo;G&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0861/3714896-1-eng-US/f0025-082.jpg" title="f0025-08" width="589" height="78"></div>(Winnipeg wins best-of-seven series 4-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 23Calgary 1 at Winnipeg 6Sun. April 25Calgary 2 at Winnipeg 3Wed. April 28Winnipeg 6 at Calgary 3Fri. April 30Winnipeg 3 at Calgary 7Sun. May 2Calgary 0 at Winnipeg 4<h2>SERIES&lsquo;H&rsquo;</h2>NEW ENGLAND vs HOUSTON(Best-of-seven series)Wed. May 5New England at HoustonFri. May 7New England at HoustonSun. May 9Houston at New EnglandTue. May 11Houston at New EnglandThu. May 13New England at HoustonSat. May 15Houston at New EnglandSun. May 16New England at Houston<h2>PLAYOFF SCORING</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0954/3714889-1-eng-US/f0025-092.jpg" title="f0025-09" width="591" height="482"></div> &#9632;

f0025-02

Avco Scoreboard

SAN DIEGO&mdash;The San Diego Mariners came back aqainst the Houston Aeros but unfortunately not far enough.The Aeros jumped to a 3-0 lead over the Mariners in their best-of-seven West Division final series before San Diego sparked by center Andre Lacroix, started a comeback that narrowed the gap to 3-2 in games. The Mariners won 3-2 in San Diego and 3-2 in Houston to bring the series back to their home ice. It was a natural to force the series to the limit. All the Mariners had to do was win the sixth game. They didn&rsquo;t.Houston wrapped up the series in the sixth game with a 3-2 victory on San Diego ice to advance to the U.S. final round in the World Hockey Association playoffs against the New England Whalers, who won the East Division title in a seven game playoff with Indianapolis.The Aeros, who had been idle for 15 days through a playoff bye, surprised the Mariners when the two teams took the ice to open the best-of-seven round. They defeated San Diego 8-6 though hanging on for the victory. The Mariners had just come off a tough series with Phoenix in the opening round of the Avco World Trophy playoffs and they felt they had the edge going against Houston.The Aeros were not rusty at all, scoring six times in the first period of the opening game.They won the second game by 31 and when the series shifted to San Diego, they took a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Division final with an 8-4 victory.Rich Preston scored three goals for Houston in the first 21 minutes of the first game but was not happy with his team&rsquo;s play.&ldquo;Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy,&rdquo; said Preston. &ldquo;I think we were a little nervous before the game but after we got that big lead, maybe everybody started forgetting that San Diego could score goals too.&rdquo;By the third game, the Aeros had everything in order, running their playoff victory streak to 13 games, a major league record.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re playing as well now as we have all year long,&rdquo; Dineen said after the third victory.Mariner coach Ron Ingram agreed. &ldquo;Everything was going for them and not for us. Houston didn&rsquo;t make any mistakes out there.&rdquo;Don Larway, who scored a hat trick in that game, added: &ldquo;We made the best of our chances and we also took advantage of some of San Diego&rsquo;s mistakes. We&rsquo;ve got some guys on our team who can really dothat.&rdquo;Dineen said he hopes his players don&rsquo;t think about their victory streak.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to keep our streak going&rdquo;, he said, &ldquo;but we can&rsquo;t just, think about it. We&rsquo;re not thinking about a sweepof theseries.&rdquo;The Aeros held a 7-5 regular season advantage over the Mariners and won 4-0 in last year&rsquo;s playoffs.Ron Grahame, who had four shutouts in the Aeros&rsquo; march last season to a championship, almost had another in the second game of the series with San Diego. Lacroix spoiled his bid with 2:29 left in the game. &#9632;

Houston Ousts Mariners To Face Whalers In U.S. Final

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-10" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1037/3714851-1-eng-US/f0025-102.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOBBY HULL&hellip; Leads Jets To finals</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01282/3714858-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="124" height="346"></div>WINNIPEG&mdash;The one-line concept is generally frowned on by professional hockey coaches. It&rsquo;s like putting all your eggs in one basket and teams don&rsquo;t want to run the risk of having their only source of offensive power locked in by the opposition.However, when a team has a combination that comprises Bobby Hull, Ulf Nilsson-Hedberg, it can qamble on the one-line attack and in the case of the Winnipeg Jets, generally come out a winner.The Hull-Nilsson-Kedberg line provided all the firepower the Jets needed to win the Canadian Division championship and advance into the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s Avco World Trophy finals against the U.S. winner&mdash;either Houston Aeros or New England Whalers.The Jets overpowered the Calgary Cowboys on their way to the division title taking the best-of-seven series 4-1 in games as they outscored them 21-13. The Jets won the series with a 4-0 fifth game win in which Hedberg scored twice&mdash;his sixth and seventh of the playoffs&mdash;as goaier Joe Daley hung the shutout on the Cowboys. The Jets blasted Don McLeod of Calgary for 31 shots and didn&rsquo;t get on the scoreboard until midway in the second period.A crowd of 8,700 watched the Jets shunt the Cowboys to the sideline on the strength of Hedberg&rsquo;s scoring and Daley&rsquo;s goaling antics. Willy Lindstrom and Duke Asmundson scored the other Jets&rsquo; goals.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>The Cowboys had staved off elimination in the fourth game when they rallied for a 7-3 victory with Bob Leiter scoring twice. The Cowboys grabbed a big 3-1 first-period lead and the Jets never seemed to recover. Again Hedberg and Nilsson scored with defenseman Tommy Bergman, also a Swede, getting the other goal. McLeod turned in a sparkling performance in the game to keep the Calgarians&rsquo; hopes alive.The Jets had won the first two games at home 6-1 and 3-2 with Hull, Nilsson and Hedberg again spearheading the offense. In game three back in Calgary, the Jets had to come from behind a 3-1 deficit to win and they blasted the Cowboys out of the rink in the final period with four unanswered goals. Hull started the game scoring and when Lynn Powis, Ron Chipperfield and Peter Driscott scored to send the Cowboys ahead 3-1, the Jets went to work. Hedberg made the score 3-2 and when the teams came out for the third period, the Cowboys looked like a team that had forgotten their skates. The Jets outshot them 13-9 and Hedberg, Mike Ford, Veli Ketola and Bill Lesuk all banged in goals without a reply to bring Winnipeg up to its 6-3 victory.The Jets will enjoy at least a one-week sabbatical until the Houston-New England series is decided. Coach Bobby Kromm of Winnipeg said he didn&rsquo;t think the layoff would affect his club and also thought that some players, notably Hull, who hasn&rsquo;t missed a game, will welcome the rest before setting out on the trail of the Avco World Trophy. &#9632;

f0025-10

Winnipeg Canadian Division Champs Handling Calgary With Ease In Final

<div class="byline">BY GORAN STUBB</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01286/3715007-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">OLDRICH MACHAC&hellip; Hard-Hitting Czech</figcaption></div>HELSINKI&mdash;The European hockey season is over.The World Championship tournament, held in Katowice, Poland, provided the last highlight of the year, especially with the dramatic confrontations between the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia, which ended in victory for the Czechs as they ended Russia&rsquo;s long domination of the European hockey scene.Perhaps the biggest surprise, though, belonged to the host Poles, who stunned the world with an opening night 6-4 victory over the Soviets after being drubbed just a few months before in the Olympics.It seems that Soviet coach Boris Kulagin sorely missed both Anatoli Gusev and Vladimir Petrov - players who had been dropped from the team just prior to the tournament.Kulagin explained the roster changes this way: &ldquo;Petrov because he doesn&rsquo;t show the right interest to hockey; Gusev - because he isn&rsquo;t good enough.&rdquo;This year has been full of surprises for the Soviets. The CCCP stars not only lost to Poland, but to Finland and Sweden as well. And the biggest surprise of all was that neither ZSKA (Army) nor Krylja Sovetov (Wings), were able to win the Russian national championship this year. That honor went to Spartak, with players such as Vladimir Shadrin, Juri Liapkin and Alexander Yakushev as the big stars. The previous season they had finished third.Among the Soviets who showed well in Poland were Boris Mikhailov, Alexander Maltsev, Valeri Kharlamov and Vladimir Tretiak, players who will probably play an important role for Team Soviet in the Canadian World Cup Tournament in September.Interest for this tournament is quite high in Europe. Compared with the Canadian tournament, the World Championships are a second class competition, according to many hockey people in Europe. Right now, the four European teams to be involved in the competition are preparing for September.Czech coaches Karel Gut and Jan Starsi are keeping some experienced veterans with the national team because they believe that experience will be worth more than youth in the tournament.For example, they&rsquo;ll have goalkeeper Vlado Dzurilla, 34, team captain Frantisec Pospisil, and of course, Jiri Holik, the great Dukla Jihlava star who has played almost 300 games for Czechoslovakia. He recently played in his 12th World Championships in Poland, which he believes will be his last, but he definitely will be in Canada in September.Other experienced Czechs include top goalie Jiri Holecek &mdash; considered by some as better than Tretiak &mdash; defenseman Oldric Machac, and forwards Vladimir Martinec and Ivan Hlinka.The Czechoslovakia champions this year were SONP Kladno, the club with Pospisil, Frantisek Kaberle, Milan Nowy and Eduard Novak.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02231/3715000-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="1165" height="1600"><figcaption class="caption-body">TIMO NUMMELIN&hellip; Big Hope For Finland</figcaption></div>Coaches Gut and Starsi will bring the National team back together for training camp at the beginning of August and the team will finish their preparations with two games against Finland in Prague in late August before departing for Toronto.In Sweden, Brynas IF from Gavle, the former club of Inge Hammarstrom and Borje Salming of Toronto Maple Leafs, are back on top. A year ago they were edged in the playoffs by a sudden death goal by Leksand (the Abrahamsson brothers played there).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03193/3714993-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="559" height="979"><figcaption class="caption-body">TIMO SAARI &hellip; Flying Finn</figcaption></div>During the past season, coach Tommy Sandlin took his Brynas into first place at an early point in the season. Then they outplayed Skelleftea in the semi-finals while Farjestad was surprising Leksand. In the finals, the Brynas wrapped up the championship with two consecutive wins.Sweden&rsquo;s National team will be dominated by players from Brynas and Leksand, although the team as a whole has been hurt in the World championships by the loss of so many players to the professional ranks.But for the World Cup Tourney, they&rsquo;ll have most of the pros back with the exception of Tommy and Christer Abrahammson. With 35 players invited to camp, many of the spots will be filled by pros, but there might also be names like William Lofqvist, Goran Hogosta (goalers), Stig Ostling, Mat Waltin, Stig Salming (Borje&rsquo;s brother), Bjorn Johansson, Mats Ahlberg, Dan Soderstrom, Dart Laabrathen, Hans Jax, Jan-Olov Svensson, Lars-Erik Esbjorns, Lars-Gunnar Lundberg, Lars-Erik Eriksson, and Thomas Gradin.A tournament such as the World Cup in Canada will give Sweden and Finland a chance to compete with the top countries once again.&ldquo;It is impossible for the Swedes and the Finns to compete with the Soviets and the Czechs in the World Championships because they have so many players in the North American pro leagues,&rdquo; explained Soviet hockey professor Anatoli Tarasov.TPS from Turku was the champion in Finland this past season, the first time in 20 years that they had won the title. The triumph was the result of two strong Turku teams getting together to form one even stronger club. TPS has stars like goalkeeper Urpo Ylonen, defenseman Seppo Lindstrom, forwards Kari Johansson and Reijo Leppanen from Tuto.The finals saw TPS defeat the former champions, Tappara in two straight games, with Seppo Repo scoring the winning goal in the last minute of play. Third place went to Assat from Pori, while IFK Helsinki slipped to fourth and lost a medal for the first time since Carl Brewer acted as playing coach in the 1968-69 season.Brewer, a man highly respected here, has been asked to help the National team during the September tournament as a technical advisor.He is to stay in Finland for the August training camp, and also travel with the team when they play Sweden and Czechoslovakia before leaving for Canada.Finland will hope to have five professionals in the tournament, Veli-Pekka Ketola and Hexi Riihiranta from the Winnipeg Jets, Pekka Rautakallio and Lauri Mononen from Phoenix Roadrunners and Juhani Tamminen from Cleveland Crusaders.They also carried 30 players for the Olympics on the National team and have others such as Seppo Repo, Harri Linnonmaa, Juhani Bostrom, Pekka Marjamaki, Hannu Haapalainen, Reijo Laksola and Perti Koivulahti. &#9632;

f0026-01

Russian Monopoly Shattered In World Tourney

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01253/3715107-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="521" height="1018"></div> &#9632;

f0028-01

Calder Cup Champions

<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/f0028-03135/3715180-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="580" height="477"></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/f0028-04107/3715173-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="577" height="284"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0592/3715166-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="579" height="196"></div>(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/f0028-0676/3715159-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="577" height="418"></div>(Nova Scotia leads best-of-seven series 2-1).<h2>Mon. April 26</h2>NOVA SCOTIA 4, HERSHEY 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0766/3715152-1-eng-US/f0028-072.jpg" title="f0028-07" width="574" height="130"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0861/3715145-1-eng-US/f0028-082.jpg" title="f0028-08" width="576" height="299"></div>(Novo Scotio leads best-of-seven series 3-1)<h2>Wed. April 28</h2>HERSHEY 4, NOVA SCOTIA 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0957/3715138-1-eng-US/f0028-092.jpg" title="f0028-09" width="576" height="547"></div>(Nova Scotia wins best-of-seven series 4-1) &#9632;

f0028-03

How Voyageurs Won The Cup

<div class="byline">BY AL FISCHER</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY LTDArnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U S and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY LTDArnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U S and CanadaHALIFAX&mdash;For the second time in five years the Nova Scotia Voyageurs are wearing a championship look and if you asked coach Al MacNeil what he though about it, he&rsquo;d reply: &ldquo;This one was the sweetest victory of them all.&rdquo;MacNeil, who this season was selected minor league Coach of the Year by THE HOCKEY NEWS, piloted the Voyageurs to the Calder Cup and they did it in convincing manner.The Vees, exuding power on offense and supported by a rockribbed defense, put it all together to defeat the Hershey Bears four games to one in their best-of-seven AHL playoff final after disposing of the Rochester Americans in a four-game sweep in the semi-finals. It all added up to eight playoff wins in nine games, a near flawless performance for MacNeil and his powerful Voyageurs.The Vees put the frosting on the cake in game five of the cup finals when they won 5-4 in suddendeath overtime on rookie Paul Woods&rsquo; goal after Mike Polich did the spade work by digging the puck out of the corner and fighting off three Hershey players to get the puck to Woods. The end came after only 2.20 of extra time and victimized goaler Don Edwards of Hershey.The Voyageurs last won the Calder Cup in 1971-72 again with MacNeil at the helm. Hershey had been bidding to win it for the second time in three years. They were the champs in 1973-74.The series finished quickly for the Bears this time after they failed to win the fourth game on their home ice. The Voyageurs prevailed 4-2 when Richie Lemieux and Ron Andruff shot late third-period goals to snap a 2-2 tie. That sent Nova Scotia into a commanding 3-1 series lead and when the teams returned to Halifax for game five the result was inevitable.In the opening at home in the Halifax Forum, the Voyageurs registered a 6-3 decision, and the score was really not indicative of the play in the series opener.The Voyageurs had to come from behind a 3-1 first period deficit as Hershey took command early in the game. Two of the Bear goals were by defensemen Ken Breitenbach and Mario Faubert as Hershey stormed goaltender Ed Walsh in the early going.Gary MacAdam also notched a score and the Bears were hot and the Voyageurs ready to be had.But coach MacNeil was to have none of it and a short talk at intermission was all that was needed to bring the Voyageurs to life.Don Howse and Jim Cahoon helped to touch off a four-goal scoring spree in the second period and that was enough. Cahoon tallied two goals,Chouinard, the league&rsquo;s leading goal-scorer during the regular season campaign was the big man for the Voyageurs in the second game as Nova Scotia thrashed the Bears, 8-2.The young forward registered five points in the triumph, including the hat trick against the out-maneuvered Bears, who fell behind early in the contest and were never able to mount any real cohesive offense.A short-handed goal by Andruff in the first period, broke the back of the Bears, who were trailing just 2-1 at the time. With the man advantage on their side, the Bears had the momentum but Andruff took it away and from then on the Voyageurs controlled the game.Chouinard&rsquo;s linemates Sean Shanahan and Lemieux were also quite active offensively, each adding a goal and three assists in the one-sided decision.The Bears tried to stay close as Derek Smith and Jacques Cossette scored to make it 4-2 Voyageurs after two periods. But the roof fell in during the final stanza as Chouinard led a four-goal blitz that settled the issue for good.Gord McTavish and Goldup also lit the lamp for the high-flying Nova Scotia club, which seemed intent on ending the series in the shortest amount of time: four straight.The Bears could have tucked it in right there and called it a day and get ready for next season, but Chuck Hamilton and his Hershey club did not quite.They showed that when they got back home and 6,000 fans turned out at the Hershey arena, expecting the best, but anticipating the worst.But the Bears ended Nova Scotia&rsquo;s playoff domination after the Voyageurs had won six straight.Goalie Edwards was the hero for Hershey, blanking the Voyageurs for 55 minutes before Goldup beat him from in close.Meanwhile, Edwards&rsquo; teammates had obliged him with a 3-0 lead in the first two periods.Nelson Debenedet and McAdam tallied four minutes apart in the first period, while Cossette, who scored twice, made it 30 early in the second session.A tough Hershey defense and a tight forechecking game limited the Voyageurs to just 15 shots on goal in the first two periods. Edwards was equal to the task, getting his first start since the opening game of the Richmond series.With a 3-1 deficit starring him squarely in the face. MacNeil lifted goalie Dave Elenbaas for an extra forward in the final minute and the move quickly backfired as first Cossette scored unassisted and then Yves Bergeron added the final insult with just 28 seconds left, scoring into the empty net.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02182/3715076-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="557" height="1352"><figcaption class="caption-body">SEAN SHANAHAN &hellip; Sparked Offense</figcaption></div>The Hershey victory was in sharp contrast to the first two games played in Halifax.Whether it was the home crowd that stirred them or not, the Bears were a tenacious crew from the opening faceoff. They had not been nearly as tough in the double defeat in Nova Scotia.<h2>Hershey&rsquo;s Big Guns Silenced In Cup Final</h2>Back in Hershey, the Bears body checked with abandon but also with well-timed and clean checks. The Voyageurs, in an attempt to retaliate, were caught several times with penalties and one of the Bear goals came on a power play.Edwards, who was over-looked after losing the playoff opener to Richmond in the semi-finals was the catalyst for the Bears in the &ldquo;must&rdquo; game and with the fourth game also scheduled in Hershey, the Bears were confident of deadlocking the series and returning to Nova Scotia for what then would amount to a best-of three series.It never happened.Chouinard registed 15 points in his playoff efforts thus far, three more than team-mate Lemieux, who shared the goal-scoring lead with Goldup, each with seven.Cossette was Hershey&rsquo;s chief offensive weapon with six goals as the Voyageurs bottled up JeanGuy Gratton, the league&rsquo;s leading point producer during the regular season.Gratton&rsquo;s playoff output had been a distinct disappointment to Hamilton and Hershey fans.In their four-game sweep of the Rochester club, the Voyageurs were quite content to concentrate defensive efforts against Dave Hynes, the top point man for the Amerks during the season.Hynes wound up with just three points in the sweep, while Barry Smith, Paul O&rsquo;Neil and Amerk team captain Barry Merrell took up the slack. However, it wasn&rsquo;t enough as Walsh completely stifled the Amerk big guns with a slim 2.25 goal allowance. The Voyageurs on the other hand peppered both Ross Brooks and Ken Broderick in the Nova Scotia blitz.Chouinard&rsquo;s hat trick in the second game of the final series was the second of the playoffs, Hershey&rsquo;s Cossette having done the similar job against Richmond in the semifinals.Wayne Schaab and Larry Fullan shared playoff scoring honors for Richmond, each with eight points, with Schaab the goal leader with five and Fullan leading the way in assists with six.Smith and O&rsquo;Neil each had four goals for the Amerks in their sweep of Providence and the loss to Nova Scotia, while despite some outstanding goaltending, no team had scored a shutout thus far.Nova Scotia&rsquo;s 8-2 second-game triumph against Hershey was the largest margin of victory in any playoff series, and the Voyageurs had outscored the opposition 37-19 in post-season activity.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01218/3715069-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="580" height="850"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON ANDRUFF &hellip;Foiled The Bears</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0028-02

Voyageurs Complete AHL Domination Winning Calder Cup From Hershey

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2><h3>(Final Standings)</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02180/3715456-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="593" height="328"></div><h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03123/3715449-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="590" height="76"></div>(Nova Scotia wins beit-ef-seven series 4-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 21Hershey 3 at Nova Scotia 6Fri. April 23Hershey 2 at Nova Scotia 8Sat. April 24Nova Scotia 1 at Hershey 5Mon. April 26Novo Scotia 4 at Hershey 2Wed. April 28Hershey 4 at Nova Scotia 5<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0493/3715442-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="594" height="78"></div>(Nova 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 16Nova Scotia 5 at Rochester 1Sun. April 18Nova Scotia 6 at Rochester 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0584/3715435-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="590" height="77"></div>(Hershey wins best-of-seven series 4-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 10Richmond 4 at Heeshey 2Sun. April 11Hershey 4 atRichmond 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/f0029-0665/3715428-1-eng-US/f0029-062.jpg" title="f0029-06" width="586" height="79"></div>(Rochester wins best-of-five series 3-0)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0752/3715421-1-eng-US/f0029-072.jpg" title="f0029-07" width="585" height="78"></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/f0029-0845/3715414-1-eng-US/f0029-082.jpg" title="f0029-08" width="590" height="180"></div><h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0940/3715407-1-eng-US/f0029-092.jpg" title="f0029-09" width="589" height="76"></div>(Tulsa wina best-of-seven series 4-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 16Dollas 2 at Tulsa 4Sat. April 17Dollas 4 at Tulsa 3Tue. April 20Tuba 3 at Dallas 2Thu April 22Tulsa 2 at Dallas 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/f0029-1034/3715400-1-eng-US/f0029-102.jpg" title="f0029-10" width="582" height="76"></div>(Tulsa wins bost-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 Oklahoma City 0Wed. April 14Tulsa 4 at Oklahoma City 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1130/3715393-1-eng-US/f0029-112.jpg" title="f0029-11" width="587" height="79"></div>Dallas wins best-of-seven series 4-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 7Salt 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/f0029-1226/3715386-1-eng-US/f0029-122.jpg" title="f0029-12" width="591" height="350"></div><h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1320/3715379-1-eng-US/f0029-132.jpg" title="f0029-13" width="586" height="76"></div>(Dayton wins best-of-seven series 4-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. April 25Port Huron 2 at Dayton 7Tue. April 27Port Huron 4 at Dayton 8Fri. April 30Dayton 5 at Port Huron 3Sat. May 1Dayton 5 at Port Huron 2<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1419/3715372-1-eng-US/f0029-142.jpg" title="f0029-14" width="581" height="79"></div>(Port Huron wins best-of-seven series 4-3)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 10Port Huron 3 at Saginaw 2Sun. April 11Port Huron 3 at Soginaw 1Wed. April 14Saginaw 4 at Port Hu ran 3Sat. April 17Saginaw 3 at Port Huron 2Sun. April 18Saginaw 3 at Port Huron 4Tue. April 20Port Huron 1 at Saginaw 3Fri. April 23Port Huron 4 at Saginaw 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1515/3715365-1-eng-US/f0029-152.jpg" title="f0029-15" width="586" height="80"></div>(Dayton wins best-of-seven sories 4-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 10Fort Wayne 2 atDoyton 5Wed. April 14Dayton 5 at Fort Wayne 2Fri. April 16Fort Wayne 4 at Dayton 10Sat. April 17Dayton 5at Fort Wayne 8Wed. April 21Fort Wayne 4 at Dayton 9<h3>Quarter-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1613/3715358-1-eng-US/f0029-162.jpg" title="f0029-16" width="582" height="79"></div>(Saginaw wins best-of-seven series 4-1).<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. March 30Saginaw 3 at Muskegpn 4Fri. April 2Muskegon 3 at Soginaw 7Sat. April 3Soginaw Iktmuskegon 0Sun. April 4Muskegon 1 at Saginaw 5Wed. April 7Muskegon 3 at Soginaw 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1712/3715351-1-eng-US/f0029-172.jpg" title="f0029-17" width="582" height="78"></div>(Dayton wins best-of-seven series 4-2).<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. March 30Kalamazoo 2 at Dayton 3Fri.April 2Dayton 4 at Kalomazoo 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/f0029-1812/3715344-1-eng-US/f0029-182.jpg" title="f0029-18" width="587" height="76"></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/f0029-197/3715337-1-eng-US/f0029-192.jpg" title="f0029-19" width="580" height="78"></div>(Fort Wayne wins best-of-seven series 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/f0029-206/3715330-1-eng-US/f0029-202.jpg" title="f0029-20" width="589" height="355"></div><h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><h3>Quarter-finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-216/3715323-1-eng-US/f0029-212.jpg" title="f0029-21" width="587" height="76"></div>(Beauce wins best-of-five series 3-1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-226/3715316-1-eng-US/f0029-222.jpg" title="f0029-22" width="586" height="78"></div>(Syracuse wins best-of-five series 3-1)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-236/3715309-1-eng-US/f0029-232.jpg" title="f0029-23" width="586" height="76"></div>(Johnstown wins best-of-five series 3-2)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-246/3715302-1-eng-US/f0029-242.jpg" title="f0029-24" width="586" height="78"></div>(Philadelphia wins best-of-five series 3-2)<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-256/3715295-1-eng-US/f0029-252.jpg" title="f0029-25" width="590" height="75"></div>(Beauce wins best-of-seven series 4-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. March 26Syracuse 4 at Beauce 5.Sun. March 28Syracuse 7 at Beouce 10.Tue. March 30Aeauce 6 at Syracuse 4Thu. April 1Beauce 6 at Syracuse<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-265/3715288-1-eng-US/f0029-262.jpg" title="f0029-26" width="588" height="76"></div>(Philadelphia wins best-of-seven series 4-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. March 28Johnstown 4 atPhiladelphia 5Mon. 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<h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-275/3715281-1-eng-US/f0029-272.jpg" title="f0029-27" width="585" height="77"></div>(Philadelphia wins best-of-seven series 4-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. April 6Philadelphia 7 at Beauce 5Wed. April 7Philadelphia 4 at Beauce 7Fri. 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/f0029-285/3715274-1-eng-US/f0029-282.jpg" title="f0029-28" width="593" height="174"></div><h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-295/3715267-1-eng-US/f0029-292.jpg" title="f0029-29" width="585" height="76"></div>(Charlotte wins best-of-seven series 4-1)<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-305/3715260-1-eng-US/f0029-302.jpg" title="f0029-30" width="592" height="76"></div>(Charlotte wins best-of-seven series 4-2)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-314/3715253-1-eng-US/f0029-312.jpg" title="f0029-31" width="592" height="84"></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/f0029-324/3715246-1-eng-US/f0029-322.jpg" title="f0029-32" width="586" height="298"></div><h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-334/3715239-1-eng-US/f0029-332.jpg" title="f0029-33" width="588" height="78"></div>(Groen Bay wins best-of-five series 3-2)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-344/3715232-1-eng-US/f0029-342.jpg" title="f0029-34" width="585" height="79"></div>(Milwaukee wins best-of-thrre series 2-0)<h3>Quarter-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-354/3715225-1-eng-US/f0029-352.jpg" title="f0029-35" width="586" height="82"></div>(Milwaukee wins best-ef-three series 2-0)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-363/3715218-1-eng-US/f0029-362.jpg" title="f0029-36" width="588" height="73"></div>(Traverse Qty wins best-of-three sories 2-0)<h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-373/3715211-1-eng-US/f0029-372.jpg" title="f0029-37" width="589" height="82"></div>(Milwaukee wins best-of-five series 3-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Milwaukee 7, Green Bay 0Milwaukee 5, Groen 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;N.Y. Rangers. 5&mdash;Chicago. 6&mdash;Toronto. 7&mdash;Los Angeles. 8&mdash;Pittsburgh. 9&mdash;California. 10&mdash;Philadelphia. 11&mdash;Minnesota. 12&mdash;St. Louis 13&mdash;Vancouver. 14&mdash;Buffolo. 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;Indianapolis. 26&mdash;Minnesota. 27&mdash;New England. 28&mdash;Phoenix. 29&mdash;Quebec. 30&mdash;Son Diego. 31&mdash;Toronto. 32&mdash;Winnipeg. Inter-League: 33&mdash;N.Y Rangers. (NHL) & St Louis (NHL). 34&mdash;Montreal (NHL) & Atlanto&rsquo;(NHl,) 36&mdash;Pittsburgh (NHL) & Buffalo (NHL). 37&mdash;New England (WHA) & Washington (NHL). 38 Detroit(NHL) & Minnesota (NHL). 39&mdash;Atlanta (NHL) & Vancouver (NHL). 40&mdash;Phoenix, Houston & San Diego (WHA) 41&mdash;Los Angeles (NHL) & N.Y. Islanders (NHL). 43&mdash;Kansas City (NHL) & N.Y Rangers (NHL). 44&mdash;Boston (NHL) & Washington NHL). 45&mdash;Minnesota (NHL) & Vancouver (NHL). 46&mdash;Calgary (WHA), Kansas City (NHL) & Minnesota (WHA). 47&mdash;Philodephta (NHL) & Washington (NHL). 50&mdash;Bostons (NHL) San Diego (WHA). 51&mdash;Buffalo (NHL) & Toronto (WHA). 52&mdash;Montreol (NHL) & Toronto (WHA). 55 &mdash;Buffalo (NHL) & Calgary (WHA). 56&mdash;Buffolo (NHl) & Cleveland (WHA). 57&mdash;N.Y. Rongers(NHL) & St Louis (NHL). 58&mdash;Detroit (NHL) & Edmonton (WHA). &#9632;

Minor League Affiliations

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY LTDArnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U S and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY LTDArnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U S and CanadaTULSA&mdash;The Central Hockey League doesn&rsquo;t have an award for the most valuable player in the playoffs (such as the National League&rsquo;s Conn Smythe Trophy). If such an award did exist in the CHL, the leading candidate Would have to be the Tulsa Oilers&rsquo; diminutive goaltender Bruce Bullock.The 26-year-old Bullock, who came into the pro ranks out of Clarkson College, won all six of his playoff starts, posting a torrid average yield of 1.67, as the Oilers wrapped up the Adams Cup by trimming the Dallas Black Hawks, four games to one, in the finals, after sweeping four straight games from the Oklahoma City Blazers in the semi-finals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01250/3715518-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="550" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body">IAN McKEGNEY &hellip; Wins MVP Award</figcaption></div>The first four games of the finals were nail-bitingly close. Tulsa won the opener at home, 4-2, with two goals in the last minute (one into an empty net). Dallas erased the Oilers&rsquo; home ice advantage by winning Game Two after 2:55 of overtime action, 4-3.So the scene shifted to Dallas&rsquo; Coliseum Ice Arena, Apr. 20 and 22, with the Hawks facing the pleasant prospect of playing three of the last five games of the series at home.Thanks to Bullock, the series never got that far. Although outshot decisively in the two games at Dallas (34-20 and 44-36), the Oilers cashed in on the superior goaltending to post 3-2 and 2-1 verdicts.Back in the Tulsa Assembly Center for Game Five, Apr. 23 the Oilers scored their first rout of the series, clinching the Adams Cup with a 7-3 offensive display that delighted 5,476 fans.Mike Veisor, in the Dallas nets for all five games in the finals, lost his sharpness in the finale. For that matter, Bullock wasn&rsquo;t up to his usual standards. But, having carried his mates through two perilous nights in Dallas, Brucie may have figured it was time for the Oiler offense to take over.It did in no uncertain terms, with seven dtfferent Tulsans finding the net for the victory that climaxed the most successful season in Oiler history.As the champagne was poured, squirted and splashed in the wild dressing room celebration, Oiler coach Orland Kurtenbach was trying to find words toexpress his elation:&ldquo;What can I say? Naturally, I&rsquo;ve never been in this position before.&rdquo; (The Adams Cup triumph came in only his second year of coaching. Last year his injury-plagued Seattle Totems finished fourth in the CHL&rsquo;s four-team Northern Division.)&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just tremendously proud of the whole team,&rdquo; Kurt continued. &ldquo;Every one of them worked hard. This is such a great city, and Vancouver and Atlanta (the parent clubs) sent me such a great bunch of players. This is fantastic.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02193/3715511-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="559" height="1198"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRAD GASSOFF &hellip; Rookie Of Year</figcaption></div>Kurt&rsquo;s eyes were moist, not with tears, but because his players kept squirting him with champagne. Some were pouring it over his head, no mean feat when the coach stands 6-4. Postgame interviews ended sbruptly when the players carried their grinning coach, fully-clad, into the showers.Ironically Bullock, the hero of the playoffs (and the last eight weeks of the regular schedule) was the &ldquo;forgotten man&rdquo; when the Oilers opened the 1975-76 season.Bruce divided time in the nets with Dan Brady under Kurtenbach in Seattle in 1974-75. Bullock saw more action (the equivalent of 43 full games in the 78-game schedule), but Brady had the better average, 3.56 to 3.91.When the Vancouver Canucks and Atlanta Flames decided to operate the Tulsa farm jointly this season, it was agreed each parent club would provide one Oiler goalie. Atlanta bought Curt Ridley from the New York Rangers system for the Oiler duty. Vancouver announced training camp performances would decide between Bullock and Brady, with the other one to be placed with another pro club.As the Canucks wound up training camp in Victoria, it was announced Brady had won the Tulsa job. Bullock was to go home, awaiting reassignment. But then the parent clubs wanted to keep Ridley and Brady for exhibition duty. Bullock was sent to Tulsa for some exhibitions the Oilers had booked.Bruce was impressive in exhibition play, but both Ridley and Brady were on hand for the seasonopener, Oct. 10. Bullock spent the next five weeks working out with the Oilers, but never getting into uniform for a game. He didn&rsquo;t even make the road trips.It was Nov. 8 before the Canucks found a job for Brucie, with the Beauce Jaros in the North American League.&ldquo;That gave me confidence,&rdquo; he said later. &ldquo;Playing regularly, I got my timing back. We had a very good team, I had a really good record, and a couple of shutouts.&rdquo;In late January the Canucks surprisingly purchased Ridley from the Flames, but he stayed at Tulsa. Curt was the CHL&rsquo;s leading goalie with a 2.66 average and a 1510-5 record for the second-place Oilers.On Feb. 9, after Canuck goalie Gary Smith disappeared, Vancouver summoned Ridley, and he eventually worked his way into the No. 1 job there.Bullock was back from Beauce. No one expected him to match Ridley&rsquo;s performance, but he bettered it! In the closing weeks of the season, Bruce boasted a 2.44 average yield and a 13-3 record. When the Oilers closed the schedule with a 10-game winning streak, Bullock worked the first eight of those, including the Apr. 2 victory over Oklahoma City that clinched first place. In that eight-game span his goals-against average was 2.50.Brady posted the last two victories of the regular season. Kurtenbach alternated the two goalies in the four-game semifinal sweep of Oklahoma City, and for the two home games of the finals, then went with Bullock for the two games in Dallas, and the Cup clincher at home.Owner-general manager Bobby Gilbert was excited about the triumphal close to the season, but especially happy it was wrapped up in front of the home folks. Tulsa&rsquo;s only previous Adams Cup triumph was accomplished in Fort Worth, on Apr. 27,1968.Both games in Dallas saw the Hawks score the first goal. Defenseman Ian McKegney, just announced as the winner of the Tommy Ivan Award as the CHL&rsquo;s most valuable player, tallied late in the first period, Apr. 20.But Oiler Danny Gloor tied it on a power play before that period ended, then scored again four and a half minutes into the second frame. Leon (Cheesy) Rochefort got what proved to be the winning goal midway of the period.Dallas had eight power play chances to Tulsa&rsquo;s one, but the Oiler penalty-killing was superb. The Hawks couldn&rsquo;t cash in on their manpower advantage until the start of the last period. Dan Hinton scored with Tulsa two men short, the second straight game in which the Oiler penalty-killing was superb. The Hawks couldn&rsquo;t cash in on their manpower advantage until the start of the last period. Dan Hinton scored with Tulsa two men short, the second straight game in which Dan had cashed in on a two-man advantage.The Oilers had to kill off two more penalties after that, but the Hawks couldn&rsquo;t catch up, in spite of lifting Veisor for the last 51 seconds.The Apr. 22 game was even more of a defensive gem. The first 20 minutes were scoreless, then all three goals came in a span of 1:12 in the second.Hawk newcomer Kirk Bowman started it off with a power play goal at 7:05, deflecting a long shot by rookie defenseman Mike O&rsquo;Connell. But Cam Botting and Andy Spruce tallied for the Oilers 23 seconds apart, and the rest of the game was strictly a goaltending duel between Bullock and Veisor. Once again Veisor was lifted, this time with 42 seconds to play, but the strategy accomplished nothing. &#9632;

f0030-01

Goaler Key Figure In Tulsa’s Adams Cup Win

DALLAS&mdash;The second-place Dallas Black Hawks dominated the Central Hockey League awards for the 1975-76 campaign. Captain-defenseman Ian McKegney was voted the league&rsquo;s Most Valuable, Player, as well as Outstanding Defenseman. Mike Veisor won the leading Goalkeeper Award, and Hawks took four of the six places on the league&rsquo;s first All Star team.Left wing Brad Gassoff of the first-place Tulsa Oilers, locked in a tense final series against the Hawks for the Adams Cup playoff championship, was named Rookie of the Year, and Orland Kurtenbach of the Oilers was voted Coach of the Year. The selections were made by the six CHL coaches, who were not allowed to vote for members of their own team.McKegney received the Tommy Ivan Award, the first Black Hawk to claim the trophy named for the Chicago executive who has long been a key figure in the Central League, as general manager of both the Chicago and Dallas Hawks. (Actually, the MVP trophy was named for Ivan only last season, but there had been no previous Dallas winners in the club&rsquo;s nine-year history.)Hawks joining McKegney on the first All Star team were Veisor in goal, Randy Holt on defense, and Michel Archambault on left wing. Other first team berths went to Jim Wiley, Tulsa center, and Warren Williams, Salt Lake right wing.Second team selections were goalie Pierre Hamel. Oklahoma City; defensemen Larry McIntyre, Tulsa, and Brent Meeke, Salt Lake: center Bob Bourne, Fort Worth; left wing Gassoff, Tulsa, and right wing Frank Spring, SaltLake.McKegney edged Wiley, 26 points to 20, in the Ivan Trophy balloting, with Veisor getting 16. In the rookie voting Gassoff received 38 points, with Dave Salvian, Fort Worth, and Mike O&rsquo;Connell, Dallas, tied with 30. Rick Bowness of Tulsa had 14, and BillPlett, also of Tulsa, four.McKegney had a runaway in the voting for Most Valuable Defenseman, getting 46 points to 18 for Meeke. Others mentioned in the voting were: Randy Holt, 14; McIntyre, 12; Neil Nicholson, Fort Worth, eight; Pat Ribble, Tulsa, six, and O&rsquo;Connell, six.McKegney and Veisor were the only unanimous choices (25 votes) in the All Star voting. The closest competitions were for the second defensive post, with Holt edging McIntyre. 17-15, and at right wing, where Williams had 15 points. &#9632;

Dallas Hawks Dominate CHL All Stars, Awards

<div class="byline">BY JACK GATECLIFF</div>HAMILTON&mdash;The Hamilton Fincups finished with 28 points less than the Sudbury Wolves this season, but you would never know it the way the Fincups conducted themselves in winning the Ontario Hockey Association Major Hockey League championship.Champions of the Emms Division, the Fincups rolled over the Leyden Division titleholders in five games winning the league crown and the right to represent the OHA in the Memorial Cup showdown series with the winners of the Western Canada Hockey League and the Quebec Major Hockey League champions in a three-team round-robin series commencing May 9 in Montreal.The Fincups had little trouble disposing of the Wolves as they outscored them 28-21 and won four of the five games. They put the finishing touches to the series on Sudbury ice as they won 5-4 on Ed Smith&rsquo;s third-period goal to take the eight-point final series 8-2.In game four, Hamilton won 4-2 at home with captain Dale McCourt scoring twice, for the fourth consecutive playoff game, to lead the Fincups to victory. Rookie goaltender Mark Locken was one of the big reasons the Fincups handled the Wolves so well. He continually came up with the big games despite the fact Sudbury scored 21 times in the five games.Despite the one-sidedness of the series, the team battled tooth and nail particularly in game three when battling was the order of the night. The game requied three hours and 35 minutes to complete and officials called 139 minutes in penalties, 137 of them in the first two periods.Hamilton won the first two games of the series 8-3 in Sudbury and 5-4 at home before Sudbury captured the brawling third game 7-5.What had been whispered about for more than a year was shouted out a month after the end of the Ontario Hockey Association Major Junior A schedule when St. Catharines Black Hawk managercoach Paul Emms announced the team would be moved to Niagara Falls for the 1976-77 season.It&rsquo;s a retracing of steps for Paul and his dad owner Leighton A. (Hap) Emms who left the Falls four years ago following the purchase of the St. Catharines franchise.This in turn was the result of the sale of the Niagara Falls Flyers to Sudbury interests for $237,000 &mdash; the exact amount the Emms family paid to Fred Muller, then Black Hawk owner.This is the third move for the Emms.Hap started his first junior A team in Barrie in 1948 then, after falling crowds, shifted to Niagara Falls in 1960.He had excellent success there for eight or nine years but when attendance dropped again he came into St. Catharines leaving Niagara Falls without a Major Junior A club.Russ Masterson placed a Tier Two team in the Falls but it never caught on, drawing an average of less than 300 spectators a game this season.Although he still had Niagara Falls territorial rights he gave them up to Emms in exchange for a letter in which Hap stated he &ldquo;would not bppose Masterson obtaining a Major A franchise in St. Catharines&rdquo;.If that isn&rsquo;t confusing enough, Masterson can&rsquo;t come into St. Catharines without permission of the Junior B Falcons who now own territorial rights here since the Hawks moved out.Masterson couldn&rsquo;t place a Major Junior A club at Garden City Arena for at least a year anyway because the application deadline was last Jan. 1.However he had considered moving in with a Tier Two team.The Falcons have already served notice through their president Bob Bates and manager Ted Fauteux they will oppose a, Tier Two team.As far as Major Junior A is concerned there would be no opposition from the Falcons but they would probably prefer a local resident as the four years the Emms had the Black Hawks in St. Catharines proved to be a disaster.Attendance, as in Barrie and their first time around in Niagara Falls, started slipping almost immediately and didn&rsquo;t average 2,000 even when they won the Ontario championship in 1974.This year the crowds hit an all time low of under 950 a game and there was just no way they could continue suffering such substantial losses.The question is how Niagara Falls hockey followers will accept Hap and Paul Emms who have already left them once.And so ends top flight hockey in the city with the longest continuous franchise in the Ontario Hockey Association Major Junior A League.The first St. Catharines team was formed in 1943 by Rudy Pilous, Jay MacDonald and a group of St. Catharines businessmen and the franchise fee at that time was $10.It has since risen to about $75,000.The Falcons as they were called then, promptly won their division but were eliminated that first season by the eventual Memorial Cup champion Oshawa Generals.The club name changed to Teepees in 1947 when it was taken over by George Stauffer and Thompson Products, a local manufacturer of automobile parts.The Teepees finished in first place six times in the 1950s, won the Memorial Cup in 1954 and 1960 and became one of the most famous junior teams in the country.They became Black Hawks in 1963 after Chicago had taken over full sponsorship. The NHL Hawks obtained numerous outstanding players from St. Catharines including Bobby and Dennis Hull, Stan Mikita, Doug Jarrett, Chico Maki. Elmer Vasko, Pierre Pilote, Denis DeJordy and Phil Esposito.St. Catharines grads won the NHL points-scoring championship 12 times in 16 years between, 1960 and 1976 (Mikita, Hull, Esposito) and the more than 100 from this city who have played in the NHL account for probably the second largest number of any individual team.As far as is known Toronto Marlboros rank No. 1.St. Catharines players have also been on every NHL All Star team since 1960, sometimes placing as many as four in one season. &#9632;

Hamilton Set For Memorial Cup Shot After Winning Title Over Sudbury

<h2>Finals</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01229/3715684-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="583" height="78"></div>(Hamilton wins eight-point sariot 8-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Hamilton 8, Sudbury 3Hamilton 6, Sudbury 5Sudbury 7, Hamilton 5Hamilton 4, Sudbury 2Hamilton 5, Sudbury 4<h2>Semi-Finals</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02183/3715677-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="581" height="79"></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/f0031-03154/3715670-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="581" height="78"></div>(Sudbury wins Right-point series 8-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Ottawa 7, Sudbury 4Sudbury 7, Ottawa 3Sudbury 5, Ottawa 3Sudbury 6, Ottawa 3Sudbury 6, Ottawa 1<h2>Quartar-Finals</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-04122/3715663-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="579" height="80"></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/f0031-05108/3715656-1-eng-US/f0031-052.jpg" title="f0031-05" width="580" height="78"></div>(Sudbury wins eight-point series 9-5)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sudbury 7, Sault Ste. Marie 3Sault Ste Marie 3, Sudbury 2Sudbury 11, Sault Ste. Marie 2Sudbury Marie 4, Sudbury 2Sudbury 8, Sault Ste. Marie 0Sudbury 4, Sault Ste. Marie 4Sudbury 5, Sault Ste. Marie 2<h2>Preliminary Round</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0684/3715649-1-eng-US/f0031-062.jpg" title="f0031-06" width="579" height="78"></div>(Kitchener wins six-point series, 6-2)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0771/3715642-1-eng-US/f0031-072.jpg" title="f0031-07" width="582" height="77"></div>(Sault wins six-point series 6-4)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0864/3715635-1-eng-US/f0031-082.jpg" title="f0031-08" width="579" height="80"></div>(Toronto wins eight-point series 8-2)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-0952/3715628-1-eng-US/f0031-092.jpg" title="f0031-09" width="578" height="76"></div>(Ottawa wins eight-point series 9-4) &#9632;

f0031-01

<div class="byline">BY BRUCE PENTON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01205/3715746-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="554" height="582"><figcaption class="caption-body">CLAYTON PACHAL &hellip;brings coach smiles</figcaption></div>SASKATOON&mdash;It was almost four years ago that Ed Chynoweth accepted the post of president of the Western Canada Hockey League.When he took the job, the league office moved to Saskatoon. It could have gone to Calgary, but Chynoweth opted for Saskatoon, which has been his home for almost 20 years.About a month ago, the league announced it was moving the league office to Calgary. Chynoweth will move with the office.&ldquo;It was no great surprise to me,&rdquo; said Chynoweth. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve known about the possibility for a couple of weeks.&ldquo;I look at the move with mixed feelings. Saskatoon has been my home for a long time. I won&rsquo;t know about Calgary itself as a location until it has been tried, and hopefully, we&rsquo;ll see the benefits of moving there,&rdquo; Chynoweth said.One of the main reasons the league has jumped provinces is the inaccessibility of Saskatoon via air routes. League meetings almost required more travel time than the get-togethers themselves. Calgary, on the other hand, is a central locale, with direct flights to and from more league centres.&ldquo;Calgary offers more possibilities of marketing for the league,&rdquo; Chynoweth said. &ldquo;There is more potential in Calgary, especially when it comes to business offices.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry to see Saskatoon lose the office.&rdquo;Not only is Saskatoon losing the office, but a good man in Chynoweth, who has given much to the city over the years.Saskatoon Star-Phoenix hockey writer, John Cherneski, reported that Chynoweth has been involved in minor hockey, fastball and service clubs over the years.With the move to Calgary, Chynoweth&rsquo;s long-awaited assistant will become fact instead of promise and conjecture.There are 12 applications for the position and Chynoweth said he&rsquo;d like to announce a name before the hockey season ends.One name being bandied about is that of Bob Strumm, former Saskatoon sportswriter and a HOCKEY NEWS contributor before he left Saskatoon last fall. His newspaper experience, something Chynoweth has said the successful candidate should have, plus his knowledge of hockey in general and the WCHL in particular stand him in good stead.Meanwhile, on the ice, Saskatoon Blades fell behind the eightball early in the opening game of their eight-point league final series against New Westminster Bruins.Playing at home, the Bruins came up with a 7-0 victory, posting their 10th win in 11 playoff games so far this season. Their post-season record is tarnished by just one tie&mdash;that in the fourth game of the semi-final in Victoria.Steve Clippingdale led the Bruins in the first game with three goals, but it was the checking &mdash; and scoring &mdash; work of Stan Smyl, Allen Fleck and Clayton Pachal which brought the biggest smile to the face of Bruin coach Ernie (Punch) McLean.The Smyl-Fleck-Pachal line was faced with the dubious task of holding the Blades&rsquo; feared trio of Bernie Federko-Blair Chapman-Neil Hawryliw and the first game&rsquo;s final score aptly describes the job they did.And to boot, Smyl scored two goals and Pachal added a single.The game was not without its sour moment for New Westminster, however.Starting goalie Blaine Peterson suffered a broken collarbone and although there was no immediate word on how long the 19-year-old would be sidelined, it was thought he would be through for the campaign.A shattering blow for the Manitoba native who blossomed as a Bruin after being traded by Brandon in December, where he was the backup to first-team All Star Glen Hanlon.Should they get past the Blades and into their second consecutive Memorial Cup playoff, though, the Bruins&rsquo; goaltending corps will be solid just the same. Carey Walker will be No. 1 and his credentials are top-flight: he led the WCHL in average this season. Along as insurance will be Hanlon, who the Bruins, as all league champions are entitled, picked up from the Wheat Kings. Hanlon was picked up early to keep him hockey sharp. Brandon was eliminated about five weeks before the scheduled start of the Memorial Cup.In semi-final action, the Bruins romped to victory over Victoria, scoring a 9-1 points&rsquo; win in the eight-point affair. The favorites for the WCHL title won the final game 9-4 as Mark Lofthouse and defenseman Miles Zaharko scored two goals each.The Blades, meanwhile, got off their roller coaster and sidelined Kamloops Chiefs in six games.After losing 7-2 and winning 124 in Kamloops in the series&rsquo; third and fourth games, the Blades went home and won 4-2 to close to with in one victory of advancing.Back in Kamloops, Saskatoon jumped into a 4-0 first-period lead, watched as the fired-up Chiefs roared back to lead 5-4 at one stage in the third period, then won it 6-5 on a goal by Fred Williams at 19:51 of the final frame. Big Wes George was a giant in the final game for Saskatoon, getting two goals and two assists. &#9632;

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Move To Calgary By WCHL, Chynoweth Increases Possibilities For Marketing

<h2>WESTERN CANADA LEAGUE</h2><h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02155/3715847-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="571" height="84"></div>(New Westminster leads eight-point series 6-4)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>New Westminster 7, Saskatoon 0New Westminster 6, Saskatoon 3Saskatoon 10, New Westminster 3Saskatoon 9, New Westminster 3New Westminster 7, Saskatoon 5<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03115/3715840-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="570" height="81"></div>(New Westminster leads 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/f0033-0495/3715833-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="575" height="76"></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/f0033-0575/3715826-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="575" height="75"></div>(New Westminster leads eight-paint 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/f0033-0660/3715819-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="572" height="76"></div>(Kamloops leads eight-point series 4-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Kamloops 5, Saskatoon 3Saskatoon 6, Kamloops 2Kamloops 7, Saskatoon 2<h3>Quarter-finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0751/3715812-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="577" height="71"></div>(Victoria wins six-point series 71)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Victoria 3, Medicine Hat 2Victoria 2, Medicine Hat 2Victoria 5, Medicine Hat 4Victoria 5, Medicine Hat 4<h2>Preliminary Round</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0844/3715805-1-eng-US/f0033-082.jpg" title="f0033-08" width="572" height="73"></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/f0033-0936/3715798-1-eng-US/f0033-092.jpg" title="f0033-09" width="572" height="79"></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/f0033-1032/3715791-1-eng-US/f0033-102.jpg" title="f0033-10" width="570" height="75"></div>(Kamloops wins eight-point series 8-4)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Kamloops 4, Winnipeg 2Kamloops 5, Winnipeg 2Winnipeg 8, Kamloops 5Kamloops 3, Winnipeg 3Kamloops 2, Winnipeg 2Kamloops 6, Winnipeg 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1131/3715784-1-eng-US/f0033-112.jpg" title="f0033-11" width="571" height="74"></div>(Victoria wins eight-point series 9-3)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Victoria 3, Regina 1Regina 6, Victorio 4Victorio 9, Regina 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1230/3715777-1-eng-US/f0033-122.jpg" title="f0033-12" width="571" height="77"></div>(Medicine Hat won eight-point series 8-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Victoria 3, Medicine Hat 2Victorio 2, Medicine Hat 2 &#9632;

f0033-02

<div class="byline">BY GARY CLARK</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY LTDArnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U S and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY LTDArnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U S and CanadaBUFFALO&mdash;The Johnstown Jets didn&rsquo;t win the North American Hockey League championship this season but they made the biggest impact in the awards department.Jim Cardiff, the Jets&rsquo; player-coach, was chosen the outstanding defenseman of the NAHL season and Johnstown&rsquo;s Henry Taylor was picked as the Rookie of the Year giving the Jets two of the top four major league awards.Another player-coach, Joe Hardy, was the recipient of the most valuable player award for his superb scoring season with Beauce Jaros and Luc Simard, Hardy&rsquo;s Beauce linemate, was the winner of the Leonard Gagnon Trophy as the player who best combined performance and sportsmanship. The award was named in honor of the NAHL&rsquo;s late referee-in-chief, who was killed in an auto accident.The 30-year-old Hardy was unquestionably the NAHL&rsquo;s No. 1 player this season. The MVP award was a tribute to Hardy&rsquo;s showing on the ice where he became the first pro hockey player ever to-finish with 200 scoring points. The list of honors accorded Hardy this season reflected his value to the Jaros and when the NAHL coaches sat down to pick the league&rsquo;s MVP they had little difficulty putting Hardy&rsquo;s name on a ballot.He of course led the NAHL in scoring, setting League and professional records for both assists and total points. He was named NAHL first team All Star center in an earlier vote of the coaches. THE HOCKEY NEWS named him its minor league player of the year, breaking a tradition of honoring only American and Central League players.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01223/3715899-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="566" height="582"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOE HARDY &hellip;Named MVP</figcaption></div>Cardiff was a consummate leader for Johnstown, the regular season champs in the Western Division. He ably filled a myriad of roles.Jim came to the NAHL with a 10year professional background as a &ldquo;defensive&rdquo; blueliner and an &ldquo;enforcer&rdquo; (for eight consecutive years he totalled over 100 penalty minutes). In his first NAHL season, he substantiated his reputation as both. No NAHL rearguard was craftier in his own zone; he was superb when the Jets were shorthanded. And despite being only 5&rsquo;9&rdquo; and 165 pounds, Cardiff stood firm in the rugged NAHL; only two Jets had more penalty minutes or more major penalties.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02170/3715892-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="564" height="610"><figcaption class="caption-body">HENRY TAYLOR &hellip;Rookie of Year</figcaption></div>As if those qualities were not enough, Cardiff also proved a strong puckhandler. He was the ninth leading scoring defenseman in the league. Only two others had more than Jim&rsquo;s 52 assists.Young Taylor set NAHL records for a first year player with 50 goals, which shattered the previous high of 32, and 93 points which also broke by five the standard set in 1974-75 by teammate Steve Carlson. Taylor scored seven shorthanded goals, a figure topped only by Richard Grenier and Hardy.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03129/3715885-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="570" height="596"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM CARDIFF &hellip;Best Defenseman</figcaption></div>Significantly, both Taylor and his top rival for rookie Laurels Richie Hansen, who Taylor edged by one vote in the balloting, are Americans. Taylor was born in Oakland, California and played minor junior hockey for teams in the Berkeley area. He migrated North, played one season of Tier One Junior in the WCHL, and last season competed for the St. Paul Vulcans of the MWJHL, an American circuit with a growing reputation in pro circles.Simard&rsquo;s season statistics describe his credentials for the Gagnon Trophy perfectly: 73 goals, 76 assists, 149 points, and only eight penalty minutes.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0486/3715878-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="564" height="592"><figcaption class="caption-body">LUC SIMARD &hellip;Most Sportsmanlike</figcaption></div>Simard was shifted at midseason to left wing from his more familiar right wing spot, but he adjusted instantly. He ranked third in the league in both goals and total points. He was one of three Jaros who scored over 70 goals and who bested the previous goal scoring record held by Simard himself.Simard was acquired by Beauce from Cape Codders in a cash transaction 10 games into the 1975-76 season. He justified general manager Andre Veilleux&rsquo;s deal by being named second team All Star, behind teammate Grenier. &#9632;

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Hardy, Cardiff, Simard Capture NAHL Awards

SHERBROOKE&mdash;With one move - the reuniting of the Halle trio-coach Ghislain Delage of the Sherbrooke Beavers has sounded the warning that the best-of-seven finals in the Quebec Junior Hockey League will probably be a drawn-out affair that will possibly carry through to the maximum playoff length.Down two games to none, and facing the pressure of winning at home, Delage got a great deal of help from 6,237 roaring partisan fans, and an even bigger assist from the forward line of Peter Marsh, Robert Simpson and Denis Halle, as the line accounted for five goals in Sherbrooke&rsquo;s 8-3 triumph here in game three.The Beavers got off to a rough start in the final series, losing at home, 3-2, and then by a 7-2 count at Quebec City. And the highest scoring unit of the Beavers, paced by league MVP Marsh, started in an even more abominable fashion.After the opening game loss, Marsh was suspended by Delage, Simpson was fined $25 for lackadaisical play, and Halle hadn&rsquo;t even dressed for the game.Needless to say, when the Beavers were bombed in the second contest, Delage quickly decided to get some fire-power into the next matchup. And with the big line clicking, Sherbrooke finally reported for the series.&ldquo;Tonight we played like the real Beavers,&rdquo; said Delage, &ldquo;we forced the game and it was Quebec&rsquo;s turn to make mistakes.&rdquo;After a scoreless first period where Sherbrooke held a sizable edge in the play but couldn&rsquo;t find the range, the Beavers swept the Remparts out of the rink in the second stanza. Five straight goals by the Beavers put the game out of reach as their top line exploded.Three of the goals came off the stick of Simpson, while Marsh, who assisted on all three, and Halle who assisted on two, also scored a goal apiece. Ray Roy, Mario Claude and Alain Belanger were the other Beaver marksmen, while Jean Savard scored the first Quebec goal, followed by Jean Chouinard and Pierre Legace in the final frame.Sherbrooke goaltender Benoit Perreault, formerly of the Montreal Red, White and Blue, turned in a fine game in nets for Delage, looking especially sharp in the first period when Quebec managed a couple of dangerous forays.Perreault had seen less than one full game of service since the start of the playoffs, but Delage apparently went with a complete shake-up in an effort to turn the series around. In effect, he did just that.Rempart coach Ron Racette did not seem overly worried about his team&rsquo;s first loss in the finals, commenting: &ldquo;That second period was the first really bad period we&rsquo;ve had in about 12 games, so I can&rsquo;t complain.&rdquo;Then he added, &ldquo;They&rsquo;ll still have to win a game in Quebec to win the series.&rdquo; And should the series go seven games, as both coaches hinted it might, that seventh game would be in Quebec.ICE CHIPS: Simpson&rsquo;s three-goal game tied him for the top spot in playoffscoring with Richard Dalpe of Trois Rivieres (whom Sherbrooke eliminated in the semi-finals), and with Denis Turcotte of the Remparts. All three players have totalled 22 points. Another threesome is right behind with 21 playoff points, led by Daniel Chicoine of Sherbrooke, who has the most goals, 12, and Daniel Desjardins and Richard David, both of Trois Rivieres. &#9632;

Long Final Seen Likely To Determine Quebec’s Champion For Memorial Cup

<h2>QUEBEC MAJOR LEAGUE</h2><h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01213/3715996-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="584" height="76"></div>(Quebec leads best-of-seven seris 3-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Quebec 7, Sherbrooke 2Sherbrooke 8, Quebec 3Quebec 4, Sherbrooke 2Sherbrooke 6, Quebec 3<h2>Semi-Finals</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02177/3715989-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="583" height="74"></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/f0035-03131/3715982-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="583" height="75"></div>(Quebec wins best-of-seven series 4-0)<h2>Quarter-Finals</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04105/3715975-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="579" height="75"></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/f0035-0582/3715968-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="534" height="80"></div>(Cornwall wins best-of-seven series 4-2)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0665/3715961-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="535" height="78"></div>(Trois-Rivieres wins best-of-seven series 4-1)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0756/3715954-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="533" height="79"></div>(Quebec wins best-of-seven series 4-1) &#9632;

f0035-01

<div class="byline">BY DOUG DOUGHTY</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY LTDArnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U S and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY LTDArnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U S and CanadaNORFOLK&mdash;The world will soon forget the job John Hanna did coaching the Tidewater Sharks this season. As a general rule, record books do not devote much space to fifth-place hockey clubs.Hanna should be different, however. Taking a group of hockey players that numbered three on the first day of training camp, Hanna brought the Sharks within an eyelash of making the Southern Hockey League playoffs, an achievement for which he duly received the Coach of the Yearhonors.And, now, the SHL&rsquo;s newest franchise is without the only coach it has ever had.Hanna&rsquo;s recent decision to leave Tidewater did not come unexpectedly. There had been frequent differences of opinion with the management, particularly with general manager Kevin Johnson, and the 41-year-old Hanna did not take to the idea of a pay cut very kindly.A last-minute offer from Sharks&rsquo; owner Jack Kasdin failed to dissuade Hanna, as the decision to move on had apparently come over a long period of time.&ldquo;In the first place, the Sharks are cutting back on their budget,&rdquo; he explained, &ldquo;and they couldn&rsquo;t afford to pay me what I was making last season.&ldquo;Also, adverse conditions, such as lack of practice time, played a big part in my decision.&rdquo;What Hanna failed to mention was an unfortunate scene that took place midway through last season. After the Sharks had taken a 4-0 lead against Greensboro in the first period, the Generals came back to win going away, 5-4.Furious, Johnson burst into the locker room and announced a fine of $100 per man. After Hanna and Johnson nearly came to blows, the fines were rescinded, but at the risk of healthful relations between the coach and GM.Ultimately, the biggest factor influencing Hanna&rsquo;s decision was the absence of a good working agreement with a major league club. No more than two of the Sharks&rsquo; players came from the same organization last year and many had been cut by other clubs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01191/3716027-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="562" height="830"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN HANNA &hellip;Balked At Pay Cut</figcaption></div>One of those players, winger Billy Steele, eventually led the club with 33 goals and 62 points, earning a three-game tryout with the Cincinnati Stingers. Steele scored two goals and will doubtless get a longer look next fall.&ldquo;I have now coached three independent clubs (Jacksonville and Syracuse of the American Hockey League and Tidewater). I always had to start from scratch with players,&rdquo; Hanna elaborated. &ldquo;Now, I&rsquo;d like to work with a hockey club that says, &lsquo;Here&rsquo;s 30-40 players to start. See what you can do.&rsquo; That would be a most pleasant situation.&rdquo;Ironically, in the aftermath of Hanna&rsquo;s decision, Johnson announced that the Sharks will be getting some aid from a WHA club next season. A working agreement has been set up with the Calgary Cowboys.&ldquo;This will mean as many as 12 players to us,&rdquo; including both rookies and veterans,&rdquo; said Johnson. &ldquo;We will accompany the Cowboys to the Toronto draft and they will draft with us specifically in mind.&ldquo;Of course,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;they&rsquo;ll be thinking about themselves as well.&rdquo;Johnson feels that the success of the Cowboys, Philadelphia Flyers, and, on a minor league level, the Toledo Goaldiggers, has been inextricably linked to one source &mdash; muscle.&ldquo;Do I feel we lacked muscle?&rdquo; Johnson asked. &ldquo;Absolutely. We lacked that and we lacked aggressiveness and we lacked discipline.Although veteran Hampton Gulls center Art Stratton is under consideration for the coaching position for the second year in a row, it now seems likely that the Sharks&rsquo; new leader will come from within the Calgary organization.&ldquo;We expect to make an announcement within the next two weeks,&rdquo; said Johnson. &ldquo;lean say it will be somebody who has been affiliated with the Cowboys.&rdquo;Since Tidewater still owns the contracts of eight players from last year, it seems as if the Sharks are on a sound footing &mdash; something that cannot be said for the league at this point.&ldquo;We have commitments on 400 of our 550 season tickets from last year,&rdquo; Johnson noted, &ldquo;but, it&rsquo;s really hard to do anything until we know what&rsquo;s going to happen in Charlotte or Roanoke. A lot of people are telling us &lsquo;I don&rsquo;t know&rsquo; but &lsquo;Maybe&rsquo;.&rdquo;Due to return for the Sharks next season are Butch Barber, Derek Harker, Tom Dahlheim, Frank Werner, Steve Dolloff, Roy Carmichael, Morley Johnson and Ron Ashton. Steele, too, is expected to be back if he fails with the Stingers.Johnson and club officials feel they might have the nucleus of a championship &mdash; or at least playoff &mdash; contender if only the deal with Calgary works out. Johnson, for one, feels the Sharks might have the best working agreement in the Sourthern League.&ldquo;The difference between us and Hampton (which has an ironclad agreement with the Stingers) is that we can get exactly what we want,&rdquo; said Johnson. &ldquo;Hampton won&rsquo;t be going with Cincinnati to the draft, but we will be accompanying Calgary. Hopefully, we&rsquo;ll have some say in who they draft.&rdquo;Any team with a better working agreement than Hampton is a force to be reckoned with in the SHL. The Gulls have reached the championship finals each of the last two years, only to place second in each instance to the Charlotte Checkers. &#9632;

f0036-01

Tidewater To Get New Coach, WHA Working Agreement

<div class="byline">BY JOHN ARNOLD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02143/3716058-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="910" height="1214"></div>SOLUTION IN MAY 21 ISSUE<h2>Across</h2>1. Recently came out of retirement to help Milwaukee win USHL title.5. An NHL captain, (init)6. Former NHL forward now a golf pro.10. Lafleur finished here.11. First name of 1962-63 top rookie.12. Former Montreal and Chicago coach, (init)13. A U.S. State, (abbr.)14. Islanders&rsquo; captain answers to this.15. Goaltenders protect this.16. First name of 1 across.18. Former NHL forward Nesterenko. (init)19. Initials of a Houston forward.21. Pictured player.24. Pronoun.26. One of the San Diego Mariners.28. An NHL general manager, (init)29. Preposition.30. One of the Blues.<h2>Down</h2>1. Former high scoring Western Hockey League forward.2. Broken bones do this.3. First name of one of the Wings.4. An Islanders defenseman. (init).5. An NHL general manager.7. Former Philly defenseman.8. 9th and 1st letters of the alphabet.9. A Vancouver goaltender answers to this.17. Former California coach.20. Selby answers to this.22. Former Leaf right winger, (init)23. A Buffalo forward, (init)25. Former NHL defenseman.26. An injured one will keep a player on the sidelines.27. Distress signal.<h2>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S ANSWERS</h2><h3>Across</h3>1. HOWE.3. R.A.6. DOREY.8. ROSS.11. STAN.12. TOTEMS.13. G.G.14. O.L.15. A.A.16. DEA.19. EEL.21. ORR.22. A.S.23. DRAW.24. VI.25. SLY.26. TKACZUK.29. SELKE.30. ICE.<h3>Down</h3>1. HART.2. WESTFALL.3. ROSS.4. ART.5. BYNG.7. EAGLE.9. OO.10. S.E.14. ODROWSKI.17. AWREY.18. HEARTS.20. E.S.23. DICK.24. VAL.27. R.E.28. Z.E. &#9632;

f0036-02

HOCKEY CROSSWORD

<div class="byline">BY HOWIE STALWICK</div>SPOKANE&mdash;For the second straight week, Spokane&rsquo;s Flyers must prepare for a crucial playoff series against team of unknowns on an unknown team.And you know what? The way the new Patton Cup champions from the Western International League are playing right now, they couldn&rsquo;t care less.The Flyers gained entry to the prestigious Allan Cup finals by defeating sadly outclassed St. Boniface (Man.j Mohawks three games to none in a short but sweet best-of-five Patton Cup series played entirely in Spokane on three consecutive nights.The victory was the Flyers&rsquo; (formerly Jets) third such triumph in four tries over the past seven years against the Mohawks, and so again they will represent the West this spring opposite the Barrie Flyers, the Ontario and Eastern Canada champions in a best-of-seven championship round to be played in Spokane.The only United States team ever to win the Allan Cup (in 1970 and 1972), the Flyers earned another shot at the prized old mug when they clobbered St. Boniface 12-3,6-2, and 8-3.Coach Gary Kwasnitza&rsquo;s Mohawks were a mere shadow of the team they used to be, after the classy St. Boniface organization put most of their players up for grabs in a common draft among other Manitoba Senior League clubs at the start of the season.And although the Hawks picked up just two of the eight league players the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association had proposed to allow them to (grabbing forward Tom Smallman from Brandon and Brian Dick from the Winnipeg Blades), there seemingly was no way for the club to cope with Spokane &mdash; and Kwasnitza knew it.&ldquo;Deep down,&rdquo; he admitted, &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think we could beat them. They have three great lines, good balance, and lots of experience. That was the big thing &mdash; we had a lot of younger guys this year.Indeed the younger Mohawks appeared particularly shaky in the opening 12-3 loss before nearly 4,800 fans in the Spokane Coliseum.Although several of Flyer netminder Frank Turnbull&rsquo;s 38 stops were excellent ones, Spokane simply overpowered St. Boniface and starting goaltender Jim Foubister all night long, scoring nine consecutive markers after the losers opened the scoring.Derek Spring paced the Spokane attack with three goals and five points, and Nels Venerus, Bob Trembecky and Steve McKnight all added a pair. Trembecky also wound up with five points, and linemate McKnight topped everybody with six.Obviously more at ease with the Coliseum surroundings and the crowd of 5,107 the second night, Foubister&rsquo;s 35 saves helped the Hawks hold the Flyers to the 6-2 difference that night.St. Boniface even enjoyed a brief 2-1 lead late in the first stanza before Ernie Gare hit for the first of his two goals. Gary Vaughn also struck for a pair for the home squad, and Spring joined Gare with three points.The Flyers capped off their mastery of the Manitoba club with an 8-3 final decision which again included clusters of individual scoring for a throng of 4,482. Defenseman Murray Kennett, Jim Montgomery and Spring all recorded two goals, and Kennett and Bob Trembecky finished up with three points.Montgomery&rsquo;s second tally came midway through the second period on a penalty shot. Young Robert Mills, a late Junior addition to the St. Boniface club who did not play in the opening two games, scored two first-period goals for the Mohawks.So thorough was the Flyers&rsquo; utter and complete domination of the series that only two opposing players, National Hockey League veteran Dave Richardson and Wayne Chernicki, were able to count as many as three points.Spring, meanwhile, paced all with five goals and 11 points, and matched Trembecky and McKnight in assists with six.Other top marksmen included Trembecky (nine points), McKnight (eight), Gare (seven), and Montgomery (six). Kennett, who was superb throughout the three games, totalled five points and was matched by lightscoring blueliner George Talotti&rsquo;s five assists. &#9632;

Spokane To Have Home Ice Edge For Allan Cup Final With Barrie

ALBUQUERQUE&mdash;The wait for this city&rsquo;s Chaparrals is over, and it turned out to be a short one. After scrambling to a four-games-to-three semi-final conquest of the Billings Blazers to gain a spot in the Southwest Hockey League playoff finals, the Chaparrals sat back while regular-season champions Amarillo Wranglers disposed of the upstart Minot Raiders in four consecutive games.Now the SWHL&rsquo;s two top franchises will battle it out in a best-of-seven final which began in Albuquerque on April 30. Game Two of the series followed on May 1, before the series moved to Amarillo on May 7.The site of the fourth game of the final series is still undetermined, although it appears that it will be played in Albuquerque on May 8.If a fifth and sixth games are necessary, they will be held May 9 and 11 at Amarillo. Site for a seventh game (if necessary) has not yet been announced.While the Chaparrals had to claw and scratch their way into the finals, after finishing second during the regular season, by topping the stubborn Billings Blazers 5-4 on Billings&rsquo; home ice in the seventh game of their series, the Wranglers had a cakewalk against Minot Raiders.The Raiders rode into Amarillo fresh from an upset victory over Butte in the first round of the playoffs, but found they had too much to handle with the first-place Wranglers.In games at Amarillo, the Wranglers tied the Raiders in knots, drubbing them 9-1, 8-0 and finally 7-4 before game four went back to Minot.Things didn&rsquo;t go much better there, as the Wranglers wrapped up the series with an 8-3 victory to move into the finals against Chaparrals.During the regular season, the Chaparrals and the Wranglers waged a see-saw battle for the top spot in the SWHL. Amarillo eventually won out by three points, 82 to 79, but with the league&rsquo;s top two teams in action, the finals should prove interesting.A report out of Butte, the first team eliminated from this year&rsquo;s playoffs, is that a group of businessmen are conducting a series of negotiations to keep the franchise in that city for the 1976-77 season. Talks have been progressing satisfactorily and Ralph Engelstad, owner of the Southwest Hockey League, is optimistic that a franchise will continue in Butte next season. &#9632;

Albuquerque, Amarillo Gain Southwest Finals

<h2>SOUTHWEST LEAGUE</h2><h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01186/3716298-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="586" height="83"></div>(Amarillo wins bost-of-seven sorios 4-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Amarillo 9, Minot 1Amarillo 8, Minot 0Amarillo 7, Minot 4Amarillo 8, Minot 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02137/3716291-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="588" height="87"></div>(Albuquorqua wins best-of-seven series 4-3)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Albuquerque 7, Billings 4Billings 9, Albuquerque 3Albuquerque 8, Billings 3Billings 5, AlbuOuerque 3Albuquerque 5, Billings 1Billings 7, Albuquerque 4Albuquerque 5, Billings 4<h2>NEW ENGLAND LEAGUE</h2><h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03107/3716284-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="581" height="81"></div>(Springfield wins best-of-five series 3-2)<h3>GAMES COMPUTED</h3>Springfield 11. Berlin 3Berlin 4, Springfield 3Springfield 3. Berlin 2Berlin 7, Springfield 4Springfield 10, Berlin 1<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0490/3716277-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="579" 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/f0039-0571/3716270-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="576" height="83"></div>(Berlin wins best-of-three series 2-0)<h2>MIDWEST JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2><h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0658/3716263-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="580" height="79"></div>(St. Paul wins best-of-five series 3-1)<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0749/3716256-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="576" height="58"></div>(St. Paul wins best-of-seven series 4-2)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0843/3716249-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="577" height="79"></div>(Hennepin wins best-of-seven series 4-1)<h2>ALLAN CUP</h2><h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0936/3716242-1-eng-US/f0039-092.jpg" title="f0039-09" width="581" height="79"></div>(Spokane loads best-of-seven series 2-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Spokane 9, Barrie 4Spokane 4, Barrie 1<h3>Eastern Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1032/3716235-1-eng-US/f0039-102.jpg" title="f0039-10" width="582" height="81"></div>(Barrie wins best-of-five series 3-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Barrie 11, Gatineau 7Borne 6, Gatineau 3Gatineau 5, Barrie 3Barrie 6, Gatineau 3Barrie 4, Gatineau 3<h3>Western Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1130/3716228-1-eng-US/f0039-112.jpg" title="f0039-11" width="579" height="83"></div>(Spokane wins best-of-five series 3-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Spokane 8, St. Boniface 3<h3>Eastern Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1227/3716221-1-eng-US/f0039-122.jpg" title="f0039-12" width="581" height="76"></div>(Barrie wins best-of-five series 3-0)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1323/3716214-1-eng-US/f0039-132.jpg" title="f0039-13" width="578" height="75"></div>(Gatineau wins best-of-fives series 3-0)<h2>WESTERN INTERNATIONAL</h2><h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1420/3716207-1-eng-US/f0039-142.jpg" title="f0039-14" width="579" height="74"></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/f0039-1519/3716200-1-eng-US/f0039-152.jpg" title="f0039-15" width="592" height="82"></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/f0039-1617/3716193-1-eng-US/f0039-162.jpg" title="f0039-16" width="586" height="79"></div>(Spokane wins best-of-seven series 4-1).<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Spokane 4, Trail 6Trail 4, Spokane 7Sookane 7, Trail 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1715/3716186-1-eng-US/f0039-172.jpg" title="f0039-17" width="587" height="200"></div><h2>CENTENNIAL CUP</h2><h3>Eastern finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1812/3716179-1-eng-US/f0039-182.jpg" title="f0039-18" width="587" height="77"></div>(Rockland wine best-of-seven series 4-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Rockland 7, Charlottetown 4Rockland 5, Charlottetown 4Rockland 3, Charlottetgwn 2<h3>Western Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1910/3716172-1-eng-US/f0039-192.jpg" title="f0039-19" width="586" height="77"></div>(Spruce Greve wins best-of-seven series 4-0)<h3>Eastern Semi-finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-209/3716165-1-eng-US/f0039-202.jpg" title="f0039-20" width="588" height="78"></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/f0039-219/3716158-1-eng-US/f0039-212.jpg" title="f0039-21" width="589" height="77"></div>(Prince George leads 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/f0039-227/3716151-1-eng-US/f0039-222.jpg" title="f0039-22" width="589" height="79"></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/f0039-237/3716144-1-eng-US/f0039-232.jpg" title="f0039-23" width="587" height="78"></div>(Frinco 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/f0039-246/3716137-1-eng-US/f0039-242.jpg" title="f0039-24" width="587" height="81"></div>(Nanaimo lands 10-point series 9-3) &#9632;

f0039-01

<div class="byline">BY JACK GATECLIFF</div>HAMILTON&mdash;From breadline to headline&mdash;from chumps to champs&mdash;all in two years.That&rsquo;s the story of Major Junior A hockey in Hamilton this season as the city, which has been traditionally football-crazy and rather apathetic to hockey, celebrated its first provincial junior A title since 1962. (Two of their top stars in 1962 were Paul Henderson and Pit Martin.)When Nick Durbano took over the Hamilton franchise after the death of former businessman Ken Sobel, the fortunates of the Hamilton Red Wings, as they were known then, reached an all time low.Although popular among most hockey people, Durbano, father of National Hockey League defenseman Steve Durbano, just couldn&rsquo;t get through to the general public in Hamilton.Whether it was the fact he was an outsider (from Toronto) or went through an uncommon number of coaches in a very short time&mdash;he just couldn&rsquo;t put people in the ancient Forum.Average attendance in 1974-75 was below 600 and not one crowd reached the 1,000 mark.No only that but the Wings were pathetic on the ice.They made the playoffs only once in five years, usually finished last and that&rsquo;s not a way to attract fans.Durbano made several tentative attempts to move his team to Brantford and Niagara Falls but finally sold out the club and Forum to Hamilton businessmen.The change of fortunates was immediate and dramatic.In 1974-75, playing under the name of Fincups (a combination of names of twosportsmen FINochio and CUPido), the club averaged over 2,000 a game and qualified for the playoffs.They were third in the one-division standing and advanced to the finals before being eliminated in seven games by Toronto Marlboros.Bert Templeton, a stern disciplinarian and a man who teaches tough although not necessarily rough hockey, was named coach-of-the-year the first season of the Fincups after moving up from a similar position with a Burlington junior B club.This past season has been one of the best ever enjoyed by a Hamilton junior Ateam.For the first time in their history they won a junior A pennant, placing on top of the Emms Division although well behind Sudbury Wolves in total points.The Wolves won the Leyden Division with 102, Hamilton was No. 1 in the Emms with 74.In fact had the Fincups been in the Leyden they would have been fourth as Sudbury, Ottawa and Kingston all had more points.However this didn&rsquo;t tarnish the golden image they had created of coming up from everybody&rsquo;s whipping boy into a place of respect.Led by their great captain and center Dale McCourt, the Fincups provided crowd-pleasing hockey and the total attendance jumped to 76,830, a modest 3,000 increase during the regular schedule but during the playoffs they often attracted more than 4,000.McCourt, in his fourth season of junior A after starting his career with Sudbury, is rated by many professional coaches as the outstanding junior in Canada.However he&rsquo;s an untouchable again this spring as he has one more year of eligibility left.This is one reason why a large section of the folk in hockey believe there should be some escape hatch for a player of extraordinary ability rather than keeping him in junior too long.Bobby Orr and Bobby Hull for example both moved into the National Hockey League two years before completing their junior careers and both became instant stars.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01139/3716367-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="562" height="592"><figcaption class="caption-body">RIC SEILING &hellip;Provided Balance</figcaption></div>To keep a player with McCourt&rsquo;s ability in amateur just because he happens to be a year too young is not fair to the boy, if nothing else.However be that as it may the Fincups have restored hockey interest in Hamilton despite playing in an arena which should have been condemned 30 years ago.The Finochio-Cupido group plus the most capable arena and team manager Dave Draper have done their best to update the building but it&rsquo;s the old story that you can&rsquo;t make chicken soup out of chicken feathers.The building is at least clean although the playing area is tiny by today&rsquo;s standards and the seats uncomfortable.It&rsquo;s the same rink the Hamilton professional team played in before it was sold to New York and became the Americans of the National Hockey League in 1925.There had been some hope recently &mdash; as indeed there has been for a great many years &mdash; that a new rink befitting a city of close to 400,000 would be built soon.However the latest plan collapsed and with Mayor Vic Copps still seriously ill after collapsing in a marathon race, there seems little chance ot a rink within the next years which will replace the Forum.Copps had been the driving force behind the city helping provide aid to private enterprise to erect the rink. (Copps is a hockey fan from a long way back and at one time was sports announcer at radio station CKGB, Timmins).It is the credit of the quiet but firm Draper, the more fiery Templeton and the Fincup owners that they still managed to carry on and win a championship under such adverse conditions.Of course when you have a winning hockey club it helps people forget their surroundings.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0288/3716360-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="570" height="828"><figcaption class="caption-body">ARCHIE KING</figcaption></div>The Fincups play not unlike the old Hamilton Tiger-Cats when they were winning Grey Cup championships.Nothing spectacular, a good deal of emphasis on defense, few individual stars, but sound in basics.And that&rsquo;s exactly how they eliminated Kitchener in four straight games, Toronto Marlboros in five and incredibly, Sudbury Wolves in five.The Wolves, because they ended with more points, had the extra home game advantage in the best-of-seven final but they blew it first timeout, suffering a devastating 8-3 loss to the Fincups before a capacity crowd in their own rink.Hamilton then proceeded to take two of the next three and wound it up right in Sudbury with 5-4 victory on a goal by Ed Smith at 14:23 of the third period.The Fincups won the series four games to one or eight points to two depending on how you look at it and will now represent Ontario in the Memorial Cup playoffs against Quebec and Western Canada champions.The round robin starts at the Montreal Forum May 9.The goal by Smith was an indication of how well the Fincups have been handled on and off the ice.He was acquired from Sault Ste. Marie in October in exchange for Joe Horvath, a defenseman who the Hamilton management felt drew more penalties than was necessary.However the Fincups will be as rugged as any club in the round robin especially with players such as Joe Kowal, a 6&rsquo;3&rdquo; forward who is not unlike Pete Mahovlich when he was developing &mdash;awkward but willing to learn.Oddly enough Mahovlich also played his junior hockey in Hamilton.On defense Hamilton has Mike Fedorko, over-age junior Sean Sullivan, Ted Long, Ron Roscoe and Willy Huber.Their well-balance forward lines include McCourt, Mark Perras, Cal Herd, Kowal, Contini, small but robust Archie Kings, Steve Hazlett, Smith, Mike Keating, Rob Street, Ric Seiling and alternates Bill Reilly, Rob Mierkalns, Alan Secord and Dennis Houle.A welcome addition has been the return of Danny Shearer, out for months with a leg injury. Shearer came back at the end of the Sudbury series and played extremely well. &#9632;

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May 14, 1976

Dayton Sweeps Past Port Huron To Complete Championship Double

JUNIOR JOTTINGS

HOW THEY STAND

CHL All Star Teams