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.

August 19, 1976

The Hockey News August, 1976

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE HALPIN</div>MONTREAL&mdash;Transferring franchises is something the National Hockey League has managed to resist for 42 years. It had become a tradition with the NHL not to move a team from a city once it had been granted entry to the league.Now the NHL finds itself in the embarrassing position of having to shift two member teams to maintain the present alignment of 18 clubs for trie 1976-77 season.For the first time since 1934 when the NHL shunted the Ottawa team to St. Louis, the league has given its approval to transfer two franchises in one swoop. The California Seals have vanished from the NHL scene in favor of the city of Cleveland and the NHL is about to put the finishing touches to the maligned Kansas City franchise by allowing a Denver group to purchase the Scouts and locate the team in the city of Denver.NHL executive director Brian O&rsquo;Neill said former sports broadcaster Bud Palmer had made a formidable presentation to the league during the recent Board of Governors meeting in Chicago and the chances ot Palmer and his group getting the Kansas City franchise were excellent.Palmer was more outspoken than O&rsquo;Neill about it. &ldquo;Our deal is 98 percent complete and should be final within a few days,&rdquo; said Palmer confidently as he addressed a Denver news conference.Palmer said two major obstacles&mdash;one with the NHL and the other with the city of Denver&mdash;have been resolved clearing the way for Denver to join the NHL in place of the bankrupt Kansas City Scouts.Palmer said his group still had to work out details for leasing of McNichols Arena. The one-time pro basketball star and later top TV sports announcer disclosed that he would move into the NHL with two working members, Jack Vickers, a Denver oilman and Munson Campbell, former president of the defunct Californca Seals, who resigned for the Seals over owner Mel Swig&rsquo;s handling of the Californca franchise shift to Cleveland. Palmer said he and his partners would pay between $5.8 million and $6 million for the purchase of the NHL franchise from present K.C. owner Edwin Thompson.O&rsquo;Neil said Palmer&rsquo;s group was the only one left with a chance to get into the NHL. Two other possible owners, including one from Kansas City and another from New Orleans that was alleged to contain the name trumpeter Al Hirt, have fallen out of the bidding leaving the door open to Palmer.Palmer apparently satisfied the NHL&rsquo;s finance committee during the Chicago meetings and NHL president Clarence Campbell said both sides had made considerable progress toward getting Denver into the NHL.The transfer of the Seals to Cleveland was officially approved by the league allowing owner Mel Swig to move from Californca, Swig, chairman of the board for the Seals, will remain as one of the major owners in Cleveland. Also involved in the new franchise will be George Gund III, who was a one-third owner of the Seals.The new Cleveland team would enter the NHL&rsquo;s Adams Division along with Buffalo, Boston and Toronto. Denver would locate in the Smythe Division with Vancouver, Minnesota, Chicago and St. Louis.Cleveland will play in the new Coliseum, located in Richfield between Cleveland and Dayton. The rink has a seating capacity of 18,000 for hockey&mdash;which would make it one of the largest in theSanford Greenberg, a Washington entrepreneur, recently purchased the Cleveland Coliseum for approximately $25 million from Ohio Sports Center Inc., and former owner Nick Mileti with the idea of leasing it to the new Cleveland entry in the NHL. Greenberg said he hoped to stimulate attendance in the Coliseum by promoting the NHL club in all areas around Cleveland notably in Northeastern Ohio.Final approval of the Denver application was expected momentarily from the NHL. O&rsquo;Neill said the NHL&rsquo;s finance committee had to be satisfied that the new owners are solvent enough to handle the operation. O&rsquo;Neill said the league wanted to be sure it wasn&rsquo;t getting itself into another situation comparable to Kansas City, where lack of financing led to the sudden demise of the Scouts after two years in the league.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02814/3570128-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="550" height="892"><figcaption class="caption-body">MUNSON CAMPBELL&hellip;Headed For Denver</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0002-02

IN THIS ISSUE

NHL Moves Franchises To Cleveland, Denver

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0033-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02136/3572027-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg"></div>(* Signed contracts with NHL club.)<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03102/3572020-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="1102" height="256"></div>(* &mdash; Signed with WHA dub.) &#9632;

f0033-02

How The NHL, WHA Selected Amateurs

<div class="byline">BY HARRY KLAFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01844/3570353-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Moviestar Paul Newman, who has the lead role in the upcoming hockey motion picture, &ldquo;Slap Shot&rdquo;, is a staunch hockey fan. Here he takes time off the set at Johnstown, Pa., to read his favorite hockey publication, THE HOCKEY NEWS. Newman, who plays the top role in the movie, spent muchof his time in the hockey environment while shooting the film for Universal Studios of Hollywood. Newman stars as the veteran hockey player who performs with the &lsquo;Charlestown Chiefs&rsquo;, a band of rough, tough hockey players who are fighting to survive in the mi nor leagues.</figcaption></div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;Just 12 short months ago, the N.Y. Islanders were still being talked about as the &ldquo;Cinderella&rdquo; Islanders, fresh off of their playoff run that carried them to within one game of the Stanley Cup finals.And it was at about this time last summer that we wondered, &ldquo;what can the Islanders do for an encoure?&rdquo; Very sjmply, it appeared it would take an incredible effort to match the &lsquo;74-75 campaign for success and excitement.But the Isles did just that. During the regular season they posted the fifth-best record in the entire league as they wound up with 101 points, and made it again to the semi-finals once playoff time rolled around. After banishing Vancouver and the high-scoring Buffalo Sabres, they were ultimately ousted by the champion Canadiens in five games.And now we get back to that little stickler again. What can the Islanders do in&rsquo;76-&rsquo;77 that can surpass what they achieved this past year?The answers themselves are relatively simple; achieving them is a horse of a different color.Last season the Islanders finished a solid second in the Lester Patrick Division, 17 points behind the Flyers. It&rsquo;s an extremely tall order for the still-fledgling Islanders to oust the former Cup champs from their prestigious perch, even though the Isles did well against Philly last term.Even if the Flyers do slip a bit, say eight points over the course of the entire season, the Isles would still have to pick up almost an equivalent amount to finish first. And to do that, the Islanders would have to make the jump from being a &ldquo;very good team&rdquo; to a &ldquo;superteam.&rdquo;After reaching the semi-finals two years in a row, it would be considered disappointing if the Islanders didn&rsquo;t get to the final foursome next year. A trip to the finals would, of course, put them further on the road to the Cup, but anything can happen in the playoffs.One area where the Islanders could move to the top is in the race for the Vezina Trophy. The Canadiens with Ken Dryden took it last year with 174 goals against, with the Isles second with 190. You can&rsquo;t say that Al Arbour&rsquo;s club would be favored to take the hardware next year, but their style of play, coupled with strong goaltending and defense, makes it a possibility.But can the Islanders finish first in the Patrick Division or indeed, win the Stanley Cup with the material they have on hand right now?The answer, quite bluntly, is probably not, save for a 100 percent effort by everyone concerned. Arbour&rsquo;s success over the past couple of years has come from milking about 97 percent from his charges.This is something like the proud schoolboy who brings home his exam paper with a mark of 97, only to have his father ask, &ldquo;What happened to the other three points?&rdquo; It&rsquo;s those last three points that are always the hardest.As discussed here in earlier issues, the Islanders still need a big scorer&mdash;someone who can cruise around the net and fill it with rubber. Such an addition could bring the Stanley Cup to Long Island, but no deals were made at the annual June meetings in Montreal. The alternative, of course, is hope that young forwards like Billy Harris, Clark Gillies, Bryan Trottier, and Bob Nystrom move from the 30 goal plateau to the 40.But what happens if the Islanders can&rsquo;t manage another storybook finish next year? Will the fans get on them as they got on the Rangers during their decade of near misses.Basically, New York hockey fans are just that&mdash;hockey fans. Granted, there are a number of diehard Ranger fans and diehard Islander fans, but the large group irr the middle can go either way. When the Isles began working their magic in the 1975 playoffs (especially after they had eliminated the Rangers), many fans who had been Blueshirts all their lives, suddenly &ldquo;adopted&rdquo; the new kids from the Island. &#9632;

f0005-01

Can Islanders Climb Still Higher In NHL?

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-01941/3570291-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="439" height="448"></div>&bull; TEAM CANADA&rsquo;S four hockey coaches will operate this way. Two will be behind the bench, one making the line changes while the other will be in constant contact with a colleague sitting high above the ice surface transmitting information. The fourth coach will be on the road scouting future opponents&hellip; London Kings of the Continental Senior Hockey League are happy to land Ted Power as coach for next season. Ross Imrie, president of the Kings, has big plans for both his team and the ambitious Continental League&hellip; John Hanna, veteran defenseman with several NHL and AHL clubs, will coach Springfield Indians of the American League this season. Eddie Shore has sold all of his interest in the Springfield team, and it will now be owned by nine local businessmen&hellip; Keith Allen, general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers who played a good many years with Springfield, has just completed arrangements to make Springfield a Flyer farm club, replacing Richmond which folded&hellip; Philadelphia is the only American city to hostgames in the upcoming Canada Cup series. The games at the Spectrum see the U.S. vs. Czechoslovakia on September 7 and the U.S. vs Russia on September 9. Tickets are priced at $7.50, 8.50, 9.50, 10.50 and $12.50 and all checks should be made payable to World Championship Hockey. Ticket requests should be mailed to P.O. Box 2429, Philadelphia. Pa. 19148&hellip; Washington Capitals will also work with Springfield along with Philadelphia this season. Both clubs formerly worked with Richmond Robins<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02897/3570284-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="254" height="426"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill While</figcaption></div>&bull; DETROIT RED WINGS will increase the number of games televised this season to 25&hellip; New York Rangers are estatic about landing Nick Fotiu to their roster. The 6-2, 200-pounder who is a former heavyweight amateur boxer, is expected to add the backbone to the Rangers&rsquo; defense that has been missing for years&hellip; Another big plus for the Rangers is that Fotiu is a New York lad who learned all of his hockey right in that area and started out by playing roller hockey. He performed with New England Whalers of the WHA during the past two seasons&hellip; Very little interesting news emanated from the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s annual meeting in Toronto&hellip; Houston Aeros coach Bill Dineen says things won&rsquo;t De quite the same for the Western Division champions next season, but there won&rsquo;t be any major changes. The Aeros have used the four-line system the last three years, winning two championships and reaching the WHA finals in the other. Now with the reduction in forwards and defensemen from l8to 16the Aeros will revert to threeat-tacking units instead of the custonary four&hellip; Ken Hodge of the Rangers is rated one of the toughest men in hockey to get the puck away from in the corner&hellip; Cleveland&rsquo;s new NHL franchise definitely will not be known as the Barons. A new name is required by the owners&hellip; Goalie Doug Favell who won&rsquo;t be back with Toronto Leafs next season can&rsquo;t believe his career is finished at 31. He hopes to have an opportunity to train with some other NHL team to see if he can be of service to them&hellip; Tim Sittier, kid brother of Leafs&rsquo; Darryl Sittier, will play junior hockey in Hamilton this season&hellip; New York Rangers refused Phil Esposito&rsquo;s request that he be able to wear sweater No. 77&hellip; Roger Neilson, outstanding junior coach with Peterborough Juniors for years, will succeed Billy Reay as coach of Chicago Black Hawks following a year in the minors with Dallas. Neilson is credited by most players who&rsquo;ve been under him as one of the finest fundamental coaches in the sport&hellip; It&rsquo;s a shame the late Jim Hendy isn&rsquo;t alive to see Cleveland finally getting NHL hockey. Jim did his utmost to bring NHL hockey to Cleveland back in 1952&hellip; Bill White. Chicago&rsquo;s reliable defenseman, reports that the shoulder injury which bothered him so much last season hasn&rsquo;t cleared up yet.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03792/3570277-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="251" height="414"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill Dineen</figcaption></div>&bull; MUNSON CAMPBELL, former president of the California Seals and now associated with Bud Palmer&rsquo;s group in running the Denver club in the NHL, should prove a most valuable addition to the former Kansas City club. Campbell has a very extensive hockey background&hellip;Palmer was the first announcer to do play-by-play of NHL hockey over a major United States television network. It was back in 1957 that Bud introduced hockey over the CBS sports network&hellip;Former Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker was among those who wrote to Johnny Bower to congratulate him on his election to the Hockey Hall of fame&hellip;Vaclav Nedomansky of the toronto Toros (now the Birmingham Bulls) says he wants to be traded to a team in Canada. Owner Johnny Bassett says &ldquo;Nuts&rdquo;. There is nothing in his contract that says he has to continue to play in Canada&hellip;Bill Flett of the Atlanta Flames broke his arm at a hockey school this summer.,.Jiggs McDonald, popular &ldquo;Voice of the Flames&rdquo; will also be Flames Director of Media Relations and will devote his full time to the Flames operations. McDonald has been the Atlanta hockey announcer since the team&rsquo;s inception&hellip;Ebbie Goodfellow and Herbie Lewis, teammates on Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; Stanley Cup champions in the mid 1930&rsquo;s, do a lot offishing together in Florida where both are now retired.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04690/3570270-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="248" height="324"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Bower</figcaption></div>The Hockey NewsOFFCIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLYFounded October 1st, 1947Vol. 29 No. 36 AUGUST, 1976Published weekly except monthly June through September by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd., 1434 St. Catherine Street West, Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7. U.S. c/o W.C.C. Publishing. 150 E. 58th Street. New York, N.Y. 10022.Kenneth W. McKenzie President, Publisher and Advertising DirectorDon Wall Associate PublisherCharlie Halpin Editorial DirectorKeith lawton Administration ManagerPat Beale Advertising Co-OrdinatorUnited States Advertising RepresentativesCHICAGO: Hooper JonesS Associates. 3322 W Peterson Ave.. Chicago, III 60659. Telephone (312) 478-5544 NEW YORK: Tom Lamberson, National Sales Director. 150 East 58th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022. Telephone (212) 593 2100YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $9.50 in Canada $10.50 in the U.S.A, and $14.00 in Foreign Countries. Second class postage paid at New York, N.Y., 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="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01885/3570097-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mark Howe and his brother, Marty, have decided they won&rsquo;t be with Team U.S.A, for the September Canada Cup series after all.</figcaption></div><h2>HOWES QUIT U.S. TEAM</h2>TORONTO&mdash;Scratch Mark and Marty Howe from the Team U.S.A, roster for the September Canada Cup showdown. Both have opted out of the six-nation series for different reasons.Mark said his doctor has told him not to participate because of a stomach and knee injury. The 21-year-old Howe has spent time in a Michigan hospital having his knee treated and he has been advised to sit out the series. Marty on the other hand said he doesn&rsquo;t feel he&rsquo;ll be mentally ready for the series because of his experience against the Russians two years ago when the WHA faced the Soviets. Marty says the officiating was terrible and he said he didn&rsquo;t want to go through the trauma again. The loss of the two Howes is certain to be a bitter blow to the Americans&rsquo; chances. They also lost goaler Ernie Wakely, defenseman Paul Holmgren and forward Tim Sheehy, all of whom said they would not be available for the series.<h2>SWEDES CALL OFF BOYCOTT</h2>STOCKHOLM&mdash;Peace came to the Swedish hockey scene as the eight pro members of Sweden&rsquo;s Canada Cup team decided not to boycott the series. The pros said they would not perform because the Swedish Federation barred two other pros &mdash; brothers Crister and Thommy Abrahamsson of the New England Whalers &mdash; from playing with the Swedish team for past aggression against the federation.The eight &mdash; Borje Salming, Inge Hammarstrom, Juha Widing, Thommie Bergman, Lars-Erik Sjoberg, Anders Hedberg, Ulf Nilsson and Willy Lindstrom &mdash; accepted a compromise from the Swedish federation. The twins are still banned from the team but the eight Swedish players will be exempt from returning to their previous Swedish dubs when they terminate their North American pro careers, which had been the casein the past.<h2>NHL PLANS TV PACT</h2>NEW YORK&mdash;NHL vice-president Don Ruck has revealed that the league is attempting to put together a package for the NHL&rsquo;s TV network which will include a Monday night Game of the Week commencing in January, 1977.Ruck said the format would be maintained through to the conclusion of the regular season with the NHL network again covering the Stanley Cup playoffs as it did this past season. Ruck said the response to last spring&rsquo;s TV coverage was encouraging. He said the NHL is working with sponsors to put this new package together.<h2>LEAFS GET BALKY</h2>TORONTO&mdash;There&rsquo;s open warfare developing between owner Harold Ballard and the members of the Toronto Maple Leafs over contracts for next season. Ballard insists as many as three players could be leaving the Leafs as the result of the disagreements.Ballard said defensemen Rod Seiling and Dave Dunn and forward Blaine Stoughton have balked at salary offers. Dunn and Stoughton may be on their way to other NHL clubs in trades but &lsquo;he grapevine says Ballard will relent in Seiling&rsquo;s case. Seiling carried a $IWMHHl contract when Ballard picked him up for $30,000 two years ago. Ballard has offered Seiling between $90,000 and $100,000. The 31-year-old Seiling said he won&rsquo;t accept it. &#9632;

f0002-01

DEADLINE STOPPERS

<h2>NHLTEAMS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03625/3570187-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="488" height="748"></div><h2>WHA TEAMS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04426/3570180-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="488" height="500"></div><h2>OTHER LEAGUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05301/3570173-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="484" height="294"></div><h2>COLUMNISTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-06205/3570166-1-eng-US/f0002-062.jpg" title="f0002-06" width="486" height="166"></div><h2>OTHER FEATURES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-07124/3570159-1-eng-US/f0002-072.jpg" title="f0002-07" width="482" height="124"></div> &#9632;

f0002-03

WHERE YOU’LL FIND IT ALL

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE HALPIN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01890/3570239-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">PETE MAHOVLICH&hellip; Fifth Ranked Player</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02758/3570232-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1132" height="1396"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOBBY CLARKE&hellip; NHL&rsquo;s Top Plus Performer</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;Success breeds efficiency in anything&mdash;even in big league hockey. The National Hockey League&rsquo;s plus and minus statistics verify that the best players on the best teams are the leading plus players. Those who toil in frustration with the low teams are invariably the minus players.For the second successive year, THE HOCKEY NEWS, has had access to the NHL&rsquo;s &lsquo;restricted&rsquo; plus-minus ratings, which reveal what most everyone in hockey already knows&mdash;the top teams Montreal and Philadelphia have the most plus players and the worst teams Washington and Kansas City have the most minus performers.The Canadiens and Flyers dominated the 1975-76 hockey campaign and the plus-minus figures show why. The Flyers&rsquo; explosive production line of Bobby Clarke, Bill Barber and Reg Leach finished one, two, three at the top of the plus figures. Steve Shutt. Pete Mahovlich and Guy Lafleur, the line that helped propel. Montreal to the Stanley Cup, followed in that order giving the Habs and Fivers the top six placings. In fact, the two teams held down the first 11 places to virtually make a shambles of the statistics.Clarke, the indefatigable captain of the Flyers and the 1976 Hart Trophy winner, was the leading plus player in the NHL with an 83, followed by Barber with a 74, Leach and Schutt with 73&rsquo;s, Mahovlich with a 71 and Lafleur with a 68. The figures are in reality a tribute to the NHL&rsquo;s two most productive lines, who obviously found time to concentrate on their defensive game while prospering as the NHL&rsquo;s best scorers.Complete Plus-Minus Ratings On Page 29On the minus side, the gloom of losing repeatedly for members of the Caps and Scouts, is reflected in the revealing NHL yearly statistics.For players like Larry Johnston, Nelson Pyatt, Blair Stewart, Jack Lynch, Gary Bergman and others, it was a year of futility. Their efforts on the ice returned nothing but high minus figures. Johnston, the defenseman Kansas City refused to demote for ineffectual play that led to the removal of coach Bep Guidolin, had the dubious distinction of leading the NHL witha minus6l.Guidolin contended Johnston wasn&rsquo;t doing the job and wanted him sent down. The Scouts refused and the issue boiled over into a club controversy. Guidolin saw the move as a lack of confidence in his judgment and promptly quit the KC coaching job. Johnston and the Scouts maintained their losing ways to the end of the season. The Scouts, like the Caps, made up the bulk of the NHL&rsquo;s top minus players. Pyatt, Washington&rsquo;s leading scorer, was also its No. 1 minus player with a 58 followed by two of his teammates, Stewart with a 53 and Lynch with a 52. Bergman,the NHL&rsquo;s 18-year veteran who went from Detroit to Minnesota to KC in two hockey seasons, finished with a minus 52. Rangers&rsquo; new defense hope of the future, Ron Greschner, was bracketed with Guy Charron of the Scouts each with a minus 52.Plus-minus figures are determined by teams playing at equal strength only and are not in force for power plays or penalty killing. Goals scored are a plus for all players on the ice. Goals against are a minus for each member of the defending team on the ice at the time the opposition scores a goal.While the offense grabbed off the first plus positions, the hard-line corp of NHL defensemen tended to monopolize the statistics. Backliners like Jim Watson, a plus 65 player, Guy Lapointe, 64, Joe Watson, 56, Serge Savard, 52, Larry Robinson 50 and Josh Guevremont, a plus 47, comprised the cream of the defensive players. Among the top 24 plus players, defensemen held down 15 places indicating the men who brace the bluelines are hockey&rsquo;s most reliable defenders.If there were any surprises among the NHL&rsquo;s, plus-minus ratings, the fact that Phil Esposito finished with a minus 39 with the ill-fated New Yorkers, probably raised some concern. Espo, although he never ranked highly as a plus player, has always been a respectable defensive performer in his formidable years with the Bruins while holding forth as the NHL&rsquo;s four-time scoring champion. Things changed drastically for Esposito in his first year with the Rangers.Five NHL teams, Boston, Buffalo, Montreal, Philadelphia and the Islanders, had the distinction of finishing the season with a complete lineup of plus players among their regulars. The Flyers boasted the highest plus figure for the 18 NHL teams. The former cup champs had a plus 139 compared to 132 for the Canadiens. In contrast, Washington ended with a horrendous minus 159 and Kansas City with a team minus of 127.<h2>PLUS Players&hellip;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03510/3570225-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="544" height="1830"></div><h2>MINUS Players&hellip;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04301/3570218-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="540" height="1566"></div> &#9632;

f0003-01

CLARKE, FLYER LINEMATES HEAD NHL’S VITAL PLUS-MINUS RATINGS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05560/3570322-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg"></div><h2>Hawks Need To Help Orr</h2>Thank you for getting the Chicago hockey fans a true star and a great gentleman in one Bobby Orr. But, please Black Hawks management. don&rsquo;t stop there.One great player on a very questionable knee does not make a more competitive team. The Hawks have far too many mediocre, players to be considered a true&rsquo;challenger for the Stanley Cup &mdash; even with Orr.So Hawks, let&rsquo;s dig down deep and make some trades to help Bobby Orr do the job that we all know he can do. Help bring Chicago back to hockev prominence.BOB KING, Wildwood, Ill.<h2>Give Trade Chance Urges Ranger Fan</h2>Ranger fans have criticized the Jean Ratelle-Brad Park for Phil Esposito-Carol Vadnais trade of Nov. 7, 1975. Well, the Rangers had to make a change.They did not win any cups with Park or mild-mannered Rafelle. Big Jean was a great hockey player for the Broadway Blues. But, a change was inevitable.Phil Esposito, finally given a wing who digs in former Bruin Ken Hodge, will again be among the league-leading scorers. So Ranger fans, give it a chance.RANDALL BOWMAN, Newark, N.J.<h2>Team Canada Using The Right Format</h2>Without a doubt, Canada is doing the right thing in using the All Star format for this September&rsquo;s Canada Cup series. All we have to do is look at the results of the 19 games played between the Stanley Cup champions and the All Star teams before expansion.Remember that the Stanley Cup champions had numerous advantages. They weren&rsquo;t watered down by expansion, they had a team sense of purpose, the All Stars had only one or two days of practice to get to know one another. The All Stars were without some of the best players in the league which was anybody who played for the Stanley Cup champions, and most important of all, the games were always played on the Stanley Cup champions&rsquo; home ice, an extremely difficult place to win. Despite all this, the All Stars came out on top with nine wins, seven losses and three ties.I will not wish good luck to Team Canada &lsquo;76 because they will not need luck. This year&rsquo;s team is a greater offensive threat than was Team Canada &lsquo;72, and being much better prepared, will re-establish all Canadian&rsquo;s pride in the one sport we still dominate.RONCOLLENS, Hamilton, Ont.<h2>Lowly Capitals-On The Upswing</h2>After following the Washington Capitals since their inception two years ago. I believe the Caps are on a definite upswing (with possible playoff aspirations in two or three vears) for the following reasons:The Caps have three of the top 10 rookie high-scorers on their roster, a feat which speaks well of their future.Coach Tom McVie has won as many games with the club as has his three predecessors combined.The Caps&rsquo; goal output improved markedly over their maiden season as did their goals-against. which slipped under 400 (down from a disastrous 440 &mdash; an improvement of almost 50 goals) despite an 11-2 shellacking by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 78th game of the season.The Caps organization has made some good trades for the most part. Witness the Mike Bloom. Nelson Pyatt and Blair Stewart trade. The Capitals received Pyatt, who is perhaps the fastest skater on the team (a commodity sorely needed) and the leading scorer along with Stewart, who is a scrappy fighter and has also shown an ability to put the puck in the net.And lastly, one must view the Caps attendance record as a possrtive aspect of the team. How many cities would support an all-time loser and support it with close to 10,000 fans a game?It&rsquo;s too bad Washington didn&rsquo;t have a Gil Perreault, Denis Potvin or Bobby Clarke to pull in the fans the first few seasons. But. Capitals&rsquo; fans will always support the team&mdash;win or lose. We can&rsquo;t be fair-weather friends.FREDERICK TRASWH, Washington, D.C.<h2>A Possible Solution To Curb Violence</h2>Many letters have been written and many people have spoken out on curbing violence, but no real solutions have been settled. Clarence Campbell listen, but he doesn&rsquo;t do anything. I think any infractions involving sticks i.e. slashing, butt-ending, spearing and stick swinging) should be dealt with stiff suspensions. Instead of giving a penalty involving minutes, it should be days or games.As for fighting, I feel it is part of the high-flying action which makes hockey exciting. When bodies bump in fierce, two-way skating, blowups are inevitable. However, I feel that the &ldquo;goons&rdquo; can be filtered out of hockey by giving a player a limit of 150 or 200 penalty minutes. Guys like Dave Schultz, Bob Gassoff, Steve Durbano, Dave Williams et al will calm down knowing that if they surpass their limit, they will be suspended for the rest of the season.The clowns who top the penalty minutes list each year will have to cut down early in the year with the cheap shots, or they won&rsquo;t be around late in the season&mdash;including the playoffs. No play, no pay. And, no silver mugs with their names on it.When Mr. Schultz is past 100 penalty minutes after six or eight weeks in to the season, he will be aware of every move he makes on theicein futuregames.It may be hard at first, but it would be great for hockev if it worked.JOHN ROCHE, Newton, Mass. &#9632;

f0004-05

FAN FORUM

MONTREAL &mdash;The National Hockey League&rsquo;s list of free agent players has been reduced to 76 from last month&rsquo;s figure of 85, but the pace has slowed considerably.Nine players have either signed with the teams they were with last year or took opportunities to perform elsewhere for the 1976-77 season, indicating NHL clubs are not in a hurry to sign players.The Boston Bruins, with nine free agents after the end of the end of the 1975-76 season, still have seven holdouts.Johnny Bucyk has signed with the team for his 20th season in Bostonand22ndintheNHL. He&rsquo;ll also handle some coaching duties. And, of course, the Bruins lost Bobby Orr to the Chicago Black Hawks.Of the seven players still unsigned who were with Boston last season, threeof them may not even be offered contracts by the club&rsquo;s, managing director Harry Sinden.The speculation is that right winger Earl Anderson, center Steve Langdon and defenseman Darryl Edestrand may be let go byBoston.Gary Bromley used his free agent status to leave the Buffalo Sabres and join Calgary of the World Hockey Association. Rene Robert signed with the Sabres, leaving three players still as free agents.The Toronto Maple Leafs were busy signing players whose contracts expired June 1. Right winger George Ferguson, center Scott Garland, defenseman Brian Glennie and defenseman Gregg Hubick all came to terms with general manager Jim Gregory.However, the Leafs still have&rsquo;t hree players unsigned and among them is veteran defenseman Rod Seiling.The Los Angeles Kings have signed one of their three free agents&mdash;defenseman Larry Brown and defenseman Dwight Bialowas is the only member of last year&rsquo;s Minnesota team to come to terms with the North Stars for the next season.Only two teams, the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Islanders, have no worries about signing players whose contracts expired at the end of the&rsquo;75-&rsquo;76 campaign.The North Stars still have 11 players unsigned. Among these is veteran forward Glen Sather, who may not even be offered another contract by the team.The Kansas City Scouts, who will shift to Denver for the coming season, still have six players from last year&rsquo;s team unsigned. The Washington Capitals also have six unsigned players.The Vancouver Canucks have not yet come to terms with four players, the Cleveland team (formerly California) have four players unsigned and so do the Pittsburgh Penguins.Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and St. Louis have only one player each who are still considered free agents. Dale Tallon is the unsigned Chicago player, Detroit&rsquo;s player is goalie Terry Richardson, Terry Crisp is the lone Philadelphia player and the St. Louis player is center Doug Palazzari.The Atlanta Flames have yet to reach agreement with center Rey Comeau, left winger Dave Kryskow and defenseman Noel Price. &#9632;

Free Agent List Reduced But Player Signings Slow

<div class="byline">BY GARY McCARTHY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03540/3570446-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">REJEAN HOULE&hellip; A Canadien Once Again</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;The Montreal Canadiens were just as active after the draft of junior players as they were during the National Hockey League&rsquo;s annual meetings, which were held there in June.A few days after the meetings ended, the Canadiens shocked a lot of hockey observers by announcing that Rejean Houle would be returning to the club after spending a couple of seasons with the Quebec Nordiques of the World Hockey Association.And, to show that it wasn&rsquo;t just speculation, Houle showed up at the Canadiens annual golf tournament just a couple of days later.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad to be back and I&rsquo;m looking forward to training camp,&rdquo; said Houle, who signed a reported three-year contract with the Canadiens.He said he made the move back to the team he had left for the financial glories of the WHA because he wanted security, something he felt was lacking with the Nordiques.Houle was not noted as a tremendous scoring threat during his early professional years with the Canadiens. He was more of a shadow.His primary job was to stop such people as Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull and many other great stars in the NHL from scoring goals. He did his job admirably.Houle became more than that in the WHA, however.In his three seasons with the Nordiques, he scored 118 goals. Last season, he played in 81 games. He had an outstanding record of 51 goals and 52 assists for 103 points.Playing on a line with Marc Tardif and Paulin Bordeleau, Houle wound up a plus 20 on the season. He also demonstrated some aggressiveness by taking 61 minutes in penalties.Houle was one of four Montreal Canadiens players who defected to the Nordiques. The others were defensemen Dale Hoganson and Jean-Claude Tremblay and left winger Marc Tardif.Tardif, who was beaten to a pulp in his run-in with Calgary&rsquo;s Rick Jodzio during the WHA playoffs, was enraged when he learned that his &ldquo;great and good friend&rdquo; Houle had jumped back to the Canadiens.Tardif, who is bound to the Nordiques by a 10-year contract, was upset that the Nordiques allowed Houle to get away.He asked himself such questions as how can the WHA figure to be on a solid footing when teams can permit a player like Houle, who had developed so well, to move somewhere else without anyone trying to prevent it.After acquiring Houle, the Canadiens made a deal with the Los Angeles Kings. The Canadiens gave up sturdy right winger Glenn Goldup for that most sought-after commodity&mdash;a future draft choice.Goldup appeared in less than 20 games since the 1973-74 season with the Stanley Cup champions. His totals showed only one assist.However, Goldup was a standout with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs of the American Hockey League, Montreal&rsquo;s top farm team.His friends gave him a going away party shortly after the trade was announced.The Canadiens, also settled their only contract problem during the summer months.It wasn&rsquo;t really a problem as neither side foresaw any trouble. The Canadiens gave solid defenseman Serge Savard a three-year extension of his current contract with an increase in salary.Savard was the only player that general manager Sam Pollock had to do business with. All the other players on the team were already under contract.HAB NOTES: Seven members of the Canadiens, plus the rest of the NHL and WHA players who will compete for Team Canada in the Canada Cup series were introduced to the media during a reception in Montreal. Among them were Ken Dryden, Steve Shutt, Pete Mahovich, Guy Lafleur, Serge Savard, Guy Lapointe and Larry Robinson&hellip;Mahovlich is the new Canadiens&rsquo; golf champion. He shot a five-over par 77 and took the title away from Rick Chartraw&hellip;Coach Scotty Bowman was presented with a special plaque during the reception following the club&rsquo;s tournament. Team officials gave Bowman a plaque and on it was the puck used to score Montreal&rsquo;s final goal in the Stanley Cup victory against the Philadelphia Flyers&hellip; &#9632;

f0006-03

Houle Sought Security In Returning To Habs

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BY BILL LIBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-01973/3570415-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="416" height="464"></div><h2>Echoes Of Violence</h2>DAN MALONEY is as pleasant a young man as you&rsquo;d want to meet. He is shy and soft-spoken, but pleasant and personable. Tall and good-looking in a rugged sort of way, he has studied accounting by correspondence and is serious and bright.He has a lively, lovely wife, Susanne, and an adorable little daughter, Shelley. Dan was born in Barrie, Ontario. He played junior in London, where he went to high school with Susanne. They married after his first season as a professional player.Wherever they lived, they went back every summer to be with family.Dan is Irish, through and through. Both his parents were born on the old sod. They had nine children&mdash;seven boys and two girls. Danny&rsquo;s eldest brother was killed in a lumbering accident the year he left home to play hockey.Susanne told me once, &ldquo;Danny carries that around with him all the time. He can&rsquo;t forget it and still feels bad about it.&rdquo;When Danny was with Los Angeles in the playoffs in 1975, his father died. Deeply depressed, he recognized the needs of his team and continued to play, but he was not able toplay with his usual enthusiasm.He told me, &ldquo;He was a wonderful father and I can&rsquo;t believe he&rsquo;s gone and I can&rsquo;t be with him any more.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02760/3570408-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="818" height="1080"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rough, tough Dan Maloney was recently cleared in an Ontario court of assaulting Leafs&rsquo; Brian Glennie in a Garden game. Maloney said he personally felt relieved it&rsquo;s over. (Photo by Steve Bobtneau)</figcaption></div>Maloney was not a gifted player. He had good size, but had to work hard and play aggressively to make the most of his abilities.Like all hockey players, he grew up in an at mosphere of violence.Traditionally, hockey players have fights on the ice. Players with sticks in their hands, moving fast, expected to body-check foes collide with one another, elbow one another, slash and jab with sticks at one another, provoking anger.It is the only sport, aside from boxing itself, in which fights are accepted Kids grow up in the game knowing it is expected of them. For some, who do not have great talent, it may be a way to the majors. Hockey men return from scouting tours, saying so and so can&rsquo;t play too well, but he&rsquo;s fearless, tough andean really fight. A coach&rsquo;s eyes open wide. Fred Shero&rsquo;s Philadelphia wflyers proved violence was a way to win.For the record, hockey officials frown on fights. But having to sit in the penalty box for two minutes, or even five, is mild as punishment goes. Most hockey men contend you need &ldquo;cops&rdquo; to police rival&rsquo; All admit fans adore rough stuff. The owners know violence brings in business.* * *MALONEY HAS the size and build of a heavyweight boxer. He stands 6-2 in height and carries 190 pounds in weight. He has the sloping shoulders, long arms, and big hands boxing managers like in fighters. And he has a punching power that is rare in the sport. He fights like a professional fighter. He hits foes, and hurts them when he hits them.He was disappointed when he was traded from Chicago to Los Angeles. It was a team that needed toughness and he determined his best bet for a future in the majors was to provide it. He checked rivals toughly and won those fights that resulted. He became an important part of the team and a favorite of the fans. He was the best fighter I&rsquo;ve seen in this sport. Writing this, I played a part in popularizing him and his image.Let&rsquo;s face it, if fights hurt attendance the owners would eliminate them. Baseball, basketball and football fighters are ejected, so fights are all but eliminated. I used to thrill to hockey fights more than I do now. I&rsquo;m more a purist now, who sees hockey has much more to offer. But Maloney&rsquo;s ability as a fighter awed all.It got so that no one wanted to fight Maloney. That was all right with Danny. He wanted to prove himself as a pure player, anyway, and he did during the 1974-75 season, developing into a close-checking, good-scoring winger. However, partly because he did not appear as aggressive, he was traded to Detroit at season&rsquo;s end.Early last season, last November, Maloney hit Brian Glennie from behind, knocked him down, leaned over him and lifted and dropped him a couple of times. This was in Toronto, where legal officials had determined they would act against violence in hockey as long as the league did not. They charged Maloney with assault.It is interesting that in Toronto only opponents of the Leafs have been so charged.MALONEY CONTENDED he was angry about an illegal check he felt Glennie had dealt a teammate, that he went to fight Glennie, but that Glennie turned his back on him just as he got to him. He said that he did not think Brian was hurt. When it turned out Brian had suffered a slight concussion, Maloney expressed regret.Watching films of the incident I thought Maloney lost his temper and went too far, but not nearly to the extent of having criminal charges brought against him. 1 could not help recalling a pre-season incident in 1974 when an amateur referee made a call Maloney did not like in a mere intra-squad game and in a fit of temper Dan rushed him and hit him with both hands extended. Clearly, he has a temper, but later he was so embarrassed by the incident he would not discussit.He suffered throughout last season waiting for the trial to come at season&rsquo;s end. On a visit to Los Angeles, he sighed and said, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all anyone wants to talk about. It&rsquo;s just terrible. I&rsquo;m playing well, but noone notices.&rdquo; Asked about his daughter, he brightened and spoke enthusiastically about her growth and goodness.This summer he was found not guilty of the charges by a jury of eight women and four men after nine hours of deliberation. He said. &ldquo;I am very, very relieved. I&rsquo;m glad to get it over with. I just want to get back to playing hockey as I have always played it.&rdquo; And he went back to his wife and daughter.HE WAS THE player cleared in public court of similar charges. Wayne Maki was acquitted in Ottawa after hurting Ted Green in a stick-fight, while charges were dropped against Dave Forbes in Minnesota over an incident in which he hurt Henry Boucha with a stick.Of the three, I knew Maloney best. I liked him. and did not think he would hurt anyone deliberated. I approve his acquittal. I disapprove public courts trying to figure out what is and is not legal in hockey action. However, this is something we may have to learn to live with.Hockey has to clean house. By enforcing its &ldquo;third-man-in&rdquo; rule it has eliminated most mass brawls, but by not enforcing its rules against the use of sticks and by not ejecting fighters, from the amateur ranks on up, it is creating a situation in which wholesome young men like Dan Maloney are drawn into something deadly. &#9632;

f0006-01

Hockey Ad Lib

Following are the latest player movements in hockey:<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>N.Y. RANGERS &mdash; Nick Fotiu, forward, signed to NHL contract after jumping from New England Whalers of WHA.DETROIT &mdash; Fred Williams, forward, first draft pick, signed to NHL contract. Rick Wilson, defenseman, purchased from St. Louis.MINNESOTA &mdash; Roland Erickson, forward, signed from Swedish National team. Dwight Bialowas, defenseman, signed to new contract after being declared a free agent.BUFFALO &mdash; Rene Robert, forward, signed to new contract after being declared a free agent.ST. LOUIS &mdash; Bernie Federko, forward, first draft pick, Brian Sutter, forward, second draft pick, and John Smrke, forward, third draft pick, signed to NHL contracts.TORONTO &mdash; George Ferguson, and Scott Garland, forwards, Greg Hubick and Brian Glennie, defensemen, signed to new contracts after being declared free agents.BOSTON &mdash; John Bucyk, forward, signed new contract after being declared free agent. Bucyk also named assistant team coach.ATLANTA &mdash; Bill Clement, forward, signed to new contract after being declared a free agent.<h2>WORLD HOCKEY ASSN.</h2>CALGARY &mdash; Gary Bromley, goalkeeper, signed WHA contract after jumping from Buffalo of NHL.PHOENIX &mdash; Juhanni Tamminen, forward, secured from Florida for future considerations.CINCINNATI &mdash; Brian Campbell, forward, traded to Indianapolis for player to be named later. Gene Sobchuk, forward, traded to Florida in exchange for Brian Maxwell, defenseman.FLORIDA &mdash; Wayne Connelly, forward, traded to New England in return for Fred O&rsquo;Donnell and Bob McManama.<h2>WHA INTERNAL DRAFT</h2>TORONTO &mdash; Bill Butters, defenseman, selected from Houston.EDMONTON &mdash; Larry Hornung, defenseman, picked from Winnipeg. Don Borgeson, forward, drafted from Calgary.FLORIDA &mdash; Steve Carlson, forward, claimed from New England. Jeff Carlson, forward, picked from Edmonton. Pat Westrum, defenseman. drafted from Calgary.CALGARY &mdash; Jack Carlson, forward, drafted from Edmonton. Michel Deguise, goalkeeper, and Tom Serviss, forward, drafted from Quebec.QUEBEC &mdash; Gord Labossi&egrave;re, forward, drafted from Houston. Jerry Zrymiak, forward, drafted from Birmingham.<h2>COACHING CHANCES</h2>SPRINGFIELD &mdash; John Hanna named coach of AHL Indians, succeeding Jim Anderson.DAYTON &mdash; Larry Mickey named coach of IHL Gems, succeeding Ivan Prediger.TIDEWATER &mdash; Hal Schooley named coach of SHL Sharks, succeeding John Hanna.DALLAS &mdash; Roger Neilson named coach of CHL Hawks succeeding Gordon Fashoway.PETERBOROUGH &mdash; Garry Young named coach of OHA Petes succeeding Roger Neilson.CALGARY &mdash; Fred Hilts named coach of WCHL Centennials succeeding Bert Olmstead.OSHAWA &mdash; Sherwood Bassin named coach of OHA Generals succeeding Gus Bodnar, who remains as general manager. &#9632;

Hockey Players On The Move…

<div class="byline">BY JACK MCCARTHY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01884/3570501-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN BUCYK&hellip; Chief Starts 22nd NHL Season (Photo by Peter Woolley)</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;Bobby Orr bade a tearful farewell to Boston, and shortly thereafter the Bruins raised ticket prices, and it was the fans turn to weep all over again.In between, Johnny Bucyk, Jean Ratelie and Joe Zanussi signed contracts, with the great &ldquo;Chief&rsquo; returing for his 20th year as a Bruin and his 22nd as an NHL player. He&rsquo;ll also do some assistant coaching this year under Don Cherry.Orr, the greatest, came back to Boston after a theatrical signing with the Black Hawks in Chicago, and hosted a party of his own for friends, including the press, in the Carver 57 restaurant. He was so choked up that he could barely talk when he stood before the microphones. (These, incidentally, along with the TV, were not his idea.) &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t mean for this to be a media thing,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;Just wanted to see all the friends who have been good to me and say goodbye.&rdquo;Among the friends were veteran hockey writers and a bunch of Bruins, present and past.His eyes brimming with tears, and swallowing often and turning away from the mike time after time, Orr said,&rdquo; I had a very happv day yesterday. But today is a very sad day. I didn&rsquo;t get a chance to say goodbye before I left in April.&ldquo;Playing was much easier than doing this. I spent 10 marvelous years here in Boston - the greatest years of my life. The press, all my friends, all these guys (Don Awrey, Phil Esposito, Eddie Johnston, Johnny Bucyk, Wayne Cashman, Ace Bailey, Dave Forbes, Bob Gryp, Ross Brooks, and trainer Dan Canney and John Forristal) and the fans, I thank you.&ldquo;It was a very, very difficult decision I had to make. I&rsquo;ll never, ever, forget Boston and all you people. It has just been beautiful.&rdquo;Later, asked about his greatest memories of Beantown, he said,&rdquo; &ldquo;Well, that goal that won the first Cup, (a leaping goal that beat Glenn Hall of St. Louis Blues in Boston Garden after a give-and-go play with Derek Sanderson), and then that parade down Washington Street. I&rsquo;ll never forget that parade, never&hellip;&rdquo;Later, he added, &ldquo;It will feel very strange playing against Bruins. I felt some of that when &lsquo;Espo&rsquo; went to the Rangers, even though we actually didn&rsquo;t get a chance to play against one another.&rdquo; (First Esposito, then Orr was injured; Bobby for almost the entireseason.)Regarding his left knee, which doctors said would not require further surgery, he said,&rdquo; I&rsquo;m feeling better mentally since they said they would not operate again. It was on my mind. I&rsquo;ll work out all this summer at my camp in Orillia, Ont. and then see if I can play in the Canada Cup in September. He said his weight was down to 182, much lighter than in recent years, and, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m bicycling every day and I have a weight room at the camp.&rdquo;So long, Robert, and all the best.Meanwhile, back at the Jacobs Brothers ranch in Boston Garden it became known that Bruinsticket prices would be increased, citing payroll; (third highest in NHL behind New York and Philly); a &ldquo;horrible&rdquo; tax situation; electric rates increase; equipment and travel cost. Top price of $9 jumped to $11 for 1976-77, with less increases for all classes of seats. Cheapest ticket will be $4.50 in the second balcony.With the house now scaled to $105,226 per game, there will surely be some loud screeching, especially from those Boston standbys, &ldquo;The Gallery Gods&rdquo;, who will be displaced in their long-time second balcony lair by new luxury boxes. These boxes, at $15,500, that&rsquo;s right, $15,500 per year, are a Garden innovation, not just the Bruins.There are 12 seats in each box; they will be reached by elevator; and the holders may attend all Bruins&rsquo; and Celtic&rsquo;s game, ice show, the circus, and everything else except wrestling, boxing and rock shows.Prices were increased in the first two rows of the balcony ends from $6.50 to $9, with management saying that the seats had been underpriced for some time.There has been no announcement yet for any remuneration to Boston from the Black Hawks for the Boston loss of Orr.Although early indications from Bruins season ticket-holders showed some resistance to the increases - there has been a waiting list of 2,000 for season tickets - so that should balance out.One remembers when there were 2,000 people outside the Garden waiting for Bobby&rsquo;s and Derek&rsquo;s Sanderson autographs. &#9632;

f0007-01

Bucyk To Try Hand At Coaching; Bruin Payroll Forces Price Hike

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-01962/3570532-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">NICK FOTIU&hellip; Realizes His Hockey Dream</figcaption></div>NEW YORK&mdash;When Nick Fotiu was growing up on Staten Island he had the dream many young Americans have. He wanted to star in the big leagues. Fotiu tried soccer, football and basketball. He became the New York City heavyweight champion of the Police Athletic League, but the one thing he wanted was to play for the New York Rangers.Staten Island didn&rsquo;t even have an artificial ice rink&mdash;and still doesn&rsquo;t, although that is being worked on right now. Fotiu didn&rsquo;t start skating until he was 15 and one half years old. The Sunnyside Arena in Queens, where he won the boxing title, doesn&rsquo;t have ice.&ldquo;When you want something bad enough you work until you get it,&rdquo; said the joyously happy 24 year old, after it was announced that the Rangers had signed him to a two year contract.John Ferguson, the Rangers&rsquo; general manager-coach observed, &ldquo;Nick is very excited about this opportunity. He is the first native New Yorker ever to sign a Ranger contract.&rdquo;Fotiu worked on his skating, once he started, by skating 12 months a year. He eventually wound up playing under coach Red Macklin of the New Hyde Park Arrows of the Metropolitan Junior Hockey Association. The rough, tough young man, was crude around the edges. He was listed as a defenseman, but Macklin, a New York City policeman, saw something in Nick.&ldquo;I knew Nick wasn&rsquo;t as polished as a lot of guys, but he wanted it so badly&mdash;and he paid the price,&rdquo; said Macklin. &ldquo;I suggested he play up front, as well as on the blueline. He roamed a lot and I thought center might be his spot.&rdquo;Fotiu played in the New York Met League in 1971-72, which was a very good year. The Rangers eliminated Montreal, Chicago and went to the finals against the Boston Bruins. Fotiu played 32 games with New Hyde Park, scoring six goals and adding 17 assists. He was tough&mdash;and drew one three game suspension.He played summer hockey, missed most of 1972-73 with an injury, but never gave up. When the North American Hockey League was organized in 1973-74, supplanting the old Eastern Hockey League, Fotiu made the Cape Cod Cubs. He played 72 games, many of them at center, some on defense and some on the wing, scoring 12 goals and 24 assists. In the wild NAHL, Fotiu&rsquo;s rough play and willingness to take the man out served him in good stead.&ldquo;My two coaches with Cape Cod were Bronco Horvath and Nick Polano,&rdquo; recalled Nick. &ldquo;Polano helped me an awful lot. He and Macklin really worked with me.&rdquo;Nick&rsquo;s aggressiveness caught the eye of Jack&rsquo; Kelley, the coach and general manager of the New England Whalers. He was signed to a contract by the Whalers and got into 61 games with the 1974-75 New England World Hockey Association team. Mostly Nick sat, but when he played left wing he stirred things up, so much so that banners proclaiming, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re for Fotiu&rdquo; and &ldquo;Fotiu&rsquo; followers&rdquo; soon festooned the Hartford Civic Center.Last season the 6-2, 200 pounder played in only 49 regular season games, getting three goals and two assists. In the main he played on a line with center Garry Swain and right winger Tom Earl.&ldquo;In the sixth game of the WHA semi-finals I got the winning goal against Houston that tied the series and forced a seventh game back in Houston. Gordie Howe kidded me later saying &lsquo;Now you are a scorer, Nick.&rsquo;It was nice knowing I had done my job.&rdquo;Fotiu was voted the most popular Whaler last season, and leaves the New England team with only good feelings.&ldquo;They treated me very well in New England,&rdquo; said Nick. &ldquo;I wish them well. The Whalers, Winnipeg Jets and Houston can make the playoffs in the NHL and do quite well.&rdquo;Fotiu&rsquo;s Ranger hopes and even his career were threatened in mid-season when his left hand was skated over, tearing two tendons and requiring complicated surgery. But he returned to the lineup and demonstrated to one and all that the injury would not hamper his willingness to mix it or come to the aid of a teammate.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m Ferguson&rsquo;s type of player,&rdquo; said Nick. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve played his type of game ever since I was a little kid. I&rsquo;m going to play the game of hockey the way it&rsquo;s supposed to be played. If there&rsquo;s trouble I&rsquo;m going to be there to help out. John Bednarski is another one like that. We&rsquo;ll do alright.&rdquo;It can be recalled by Ranger fans that Ferguson has been irate at the lack of character the team has had, in particular when rookie defenseman Dave Maloney was beaten up by Atlanta&rsquo;s Cut Bennett in a game in March.The new Ranger is married for over a year now, to a charming girl named Leslie, who hails from Cape Cod. The Fotiu&rsquo;s live on the Cape where &ldquo;I do some clamming, and lobster fishing,&rdquo; revealed Nick.Ranger fans hope that clamming turns to slamming in the fall.BLUE CHIPS: The other Met League graduate to reach the NHL, Chris Ahrens who played defense with Minnesota, also played for New Hyde Park. The Arrows have never won an MJHA Title, with the New York Americans winning last season, ending the almost perennial reign of coach Tommy Horvath&rsquo;s Westsiders. &#9632;

f0008-01

Rangers Get Muscle In New Yorker Fotiu

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-01932/3570577-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">CESARE MANIAGO&hellip; Coming Bock To Play Out Option? (Photo by Peter Woolley)</figcaption></div>TWIN CITIES &mdash;There were few dog days of summer for Minnesota&rsquo;s boys of winter.The North Stars, striving to rebuild from almost the bottom up, continued to have one of their busiest off-season periods since they joined the National Hockey League for the 1967-68.The ledger midway through summer shows them with a new president, signings of several players including their No. 1 draft choice and their first international connection.First things first. The North Stars stunned their hockey community one June afternoon with the announcement that Walter Bush Jr. was stepping up (or down?) to the chairman of the board after serving as the team&rsquo;s only president.Gordon H. Ritz, a director, was named as president. The official news release stated Bush made the decision after his recent re-election as vice-chairman of the NHL board of governors &ldquo;and the expansion of NHL hockey on international fronts would mean that more time would have to be spent on league matters.&rdquo;Bush admitted it was an emotional decision. &ldquo;Gordy is going to step in on a day-to-day basis. I will continue to work with the club on league matters and in other areas. Some people may think this is a demotion&mdash;you can&rsquo;t look at it that way,&rdquo; said Bush. &ldquo;We need all the resources we can get at this time to get the job done. I&rsquo;m sure you&rsquo;re going to see every bit as much of me, if not more, than you did before.&rdquo;Soon after, word was leaked that the North Stars had agreed to terms with Roland Erickson, a 6-foot-3 Swedish center who caught the eye of North Stars&rsquo; scouts at the World Tournament last spring and was one of its leading scorers. The North Stars hoped to have him in the fold officially sometime this month.The North Stars also took pride in announcing the signing of 5-foot-11, 190-pound center Glen Sharpley, who was Minnesota&rsquo;s No. 1 choice and the third player taken during the May 27 NHL amateur draft.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been my life ambition to play pro hockey&hellip;to play in the National Hockey League,&rdquo; said Sharpley, who scored 60 goals and 74 assists for the Hull Festivals in the Quebec Junior League. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m confident come fall that I can break into the lineup with a lot of hard work and be a help to the North Stars.&rdquo;As Bill Waters, who works out of Alan Eagleson&rsquo;s Toronto law firm, said after negotiating the contract for the 20-year-old center: &ldquo;The North Stars have themselves a ringer.&rdquo;There is one more major coup that general manager Jack Gordon would like to pull off before the start of the September training camp: Sign a young gentleman by the name of Bryan Maxwell to a contract.Maxwell was Minnesota&rsquo;s No. 1 draft choice in 1975, but opted for more bonus money with the Cleveland Crusaders of the WHA. Reports are out that defenseman Maxwell and his agent are trying to get waivers out of the WHA on grounds his contract was breached last season.That might take some doing now since Cleveland was moved to Florida, and Maxwell&rsquo;s WHA rights were traded to Cincinnati.Gordon also announced the signing of veteran defenseman Dwight Bialowas (five goals, 18 assists) to a new contract.That left center Blake Dunlop, injured much of last year, and center Ernie Hicke, who enjoyed his finest season with 23 goals and 19 assists, as the only unsigned vets Gordon wants back.STAR DUST: Glen Sather, nine goals and 10 assists, will not be offered a contract for next season&hellip;Goalie Cesare Maniago has not made a formal declaration of returning for his 10th year with the North Stars, but sounds like he will be back to play on his option year&hellip;The North Stars have four players, who will be among the 32 expected for the Team USA training camp in September: defenseman Lou Nanne, right winger Dean Talafous, left winger Steve Jensen and goalie Pete LoPresti&hellip;Harry Neale, former WHA Fighting Saints coach before their bankruptcy last season, is one of the USA coaches. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to do a lot better than a lot of the so-called experts think we will,&rdquo; said Neale, who resides in St. Paul.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-02826/3570570-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="560" height="878"><figcaption class="caption-body">GORDON RITZ&hellip;New President</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-03625/3570563-1-eng-US/f0009-032.jpg" title="f0009-03" width="558" height="828"><figcaption class="caption-body">WALTER BUSH&hellip; Removes Himself</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0009-01

Swedish Ace, No. 1 Draft In Fold, North Stars Make Changes At Top

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-03616/3570622-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Club president Bill Wirtz and Bobby Orr&rsquo;s legal adviser Alan Eagleson, right, help the new Black Hawks&rsquo; acquisition show off his familar No. 4 Jersey at press conference.</figcaption></div>CHICAGO&mdash;There were as many ovations as there were speeches, as many speeches as there were finger sandwiches, as many finger sandwiches as there were big cheezes.Indeed, the first Bobby Orr Show in Chicago was good theater. Held in a theater, in fact, on June 24 when the former Boston Bruin prodigy became the Black Hawks&rsquo; $3 million man.Some 3.000 spectators overflowed the Bismarck Theater, a 2,600-seat downtown Wirtz-owned structure which beams GP movies, or is it PG?It was a public press conference, and they came armed with autograph pads in their hands, stars in their eyes, and wise cracks in their repertoire.&ldquo;Arthur Wirtz probably will let us in free, all right,&rdquo; predicted one chap. &ldquo;But he&rsquo;ll charge us $7 to leave, or $8.50 if we were in the first 10 rows.&rdquo;Orr, who looks like a million dollars (if you&rsquo;ll pardon the expression) was greeted at a hotel by his admiring new teammates &mdash; Tony Esposito, Stan Mikita, Ivan Boldirev, Cliff Koroll and Keith Magnuson-plus the two trainers who will survey hockey&rsquo;s most valuable knee, Skip Thayer and Lou Varga.Recalling a Magnuson-Orr altercation of yore, one fan yelled: &ldquo;Duke it out with him, Maggie.&rdquo; If Maggie wins, the series will only be even.When coach Billy Reay requested of Orr at least a 120-point season, a fan screamed toward the stage: &ldquo;Where&rsquo;s your hat, charming Billy?&rdquo;There were boos for Reay, but when Black Hawk president Bill Wirtz mentioned the name of Bobby Hull, there was a yearning ovation for still beloved No. 9. It lasted longer than the brass would have liked.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-01952/3570615-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="1117" height="1486"><figcaption class="caption-body">Super star Bobby Orr posed in his new Black Hawk finery for press and public alike and they all liked what they saw.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I feel badly about that,&rdquo; Wirtz was to mention later, &ldquo;only because it might have diminished Bobby Orr&rsquo;s day here.&rdquo;And when Wirtz completed his sentence on stage, noting how GM Tommy Ivan had signed first Gordie Howe, then Hull, now Orr, another unpaying customer suggested, &ldquo;Why don&rsquo;t you sign Hull again?&rdquo;After Chicago Mayor Richard Daley made Orr an honorary citizen of &ldquo;Chicagah,&rdquo; somebody wondered aloud how much Stadium ticket prices would increase in Orr&rsquo;s honor.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02792/3570608-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="1108" height="1480"><figcaption class="caption-body">Diehard Chicagoians lined up in the rain to get into Bismark theatre where 3,000 welcomed Orr to the Hawks.</figcaption></div>And when Orr prepared to sign the document that would bind him to the Black Hawks, a fellow asked from the rear of the theater to &ldquo;please save some money for Artis Gilmore,&rdquo; a reference to a basketball player the Wirtzes are trying to lure for their Chicago Bulls.Lastly, when the $3 million man in the three-piece tan suit dotted the i&rsquo;s and crossed the t&rsquo;s, yet another visitor spoketh from afar, &ldquo;Are you going to buy lunch, Bobby?&rdquo;Good clean fun. And now The Man.Orr made a typically bashful but sincere speech&mdash;his biz is not show biz and then the crowd scattered. If those 3,000 folks appear come October to view the Cleveland Golden Seals, then the Madison Street Mint may shed its recent sounds of silence.Upstairs in a more private setting, Orr posed for pictures with his new No. 4 Hawk jersey, then arranged to meet teammates later for a root beer, perhaps without the root.&ldquo;If you go out on the town tonight, Bobby&rdquo; giggled Reay, &ldquo;will you need any money?&rdquo;Orr consented to numerous interviews, encountering only one annoyance. A Boston TV station had sent a man here to ask why this was happening. Orr told him politely that he&rsquo;d explain in due time, which was the next day in Boston for another media beehive, this one to say goodbye.Two press conferences in two days is two too many for Orr, but there&rsquo;s more toil ahead for this natural resource quite accurately described by chairman of the board Arthur Wirtz as &ldquo;the best player in the history of the sport.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be back here in a couple weeks to look for a house,&rdquo; said No. 4 &ldquo;(Wife) Peggy will be with me then and so will the little guy (Darren). He already knows we&rsquo;re moving. I say to him &lsquo;where&rsquo;s daddy playing for now?&rsquo; and he says &lsquo;daddy going to&rsquo;cago&hellip;&rsquo;cago.&ldquo;Sometime in August, we&rsquo;ll announce a business tie-up that I&rsquo;ll have here. Can&rsquo;t say what it is now. But I&rsquo;ll have something to lean back on when I&rsquo;m finished playing which, I hope, won&rsquo;t be for a while. The knee feels good.&ldquo;This was difficult for me, leaving Boston. But I know I made the right decision. I wish the season could start tomorrow. I&rsquo;m glad it&rsquo;s over. You realize, I didn&rsquo;t have a job for a while!&rdquo;Orr can have a job here from now to eternity, with the Wirtz hockey team or with their vast maxi-million dollar business interests. But please, no more press conferences. Indeed, Orr seemed happiest this day when a pint-sized tyke muscled up and asked, &ldquo;Bobby may I speak with you privately?&rdquo;Orr, whose knees are weakest with kids around, scooped up the boy and went to the only quiet place. A telephone booth.Well, they always said Bobby Orr was Superman. &#9632;

f0010-03

Orr Comes To Chicago—And Goes Public

<div class="byline">BY RICH PASSAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01920/3570660-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Team captain Bob Stewart and coach Jack Evans will begin anew with the transfer of the California franchise to Cleveland. Evans will be starting his second year with the club. (Photo by Bill Fox)</figcaption></div>CLEVELAND&mdash;It isn&rsquo;t very often Charles O. Finley can be thanked for doing something. Right. Bowie Kuhn?The hockey fans of Cleveland can be thankful that Charlie O, closed his fist around his wallet several years ago and permitted the fledgling World Hockey Association to decimate his California Golden Seals of the National Hockey League.The Seals plunged to the bottom and the Bay area fans, who had not been turning out in record numbers to begin with, stayed away and Mel Swig met heavy opposition when he tried to build a new and larger arena.He found the solution to his problems when he moved the club to Cleveland, a city that had been trying for nearly 25 years to gain membership in the NHL.The NHL Board of Governors granted Swig conditional approval to move the Seals to Cleveland in a meeting June 30 in Chicago. The move was finalized July 14 in Chicago by the NHL after Swig secured a lease at the Coliseum and obtained approximately $1.7 million worth from local investors.Swig and former Clevlander George Gund III, a one-third owner of the Seals, expected no problems in gaining local participation. Gund. whose late father was the president and chairman of the board of Cleveland Trust Co., has numerous contacts in the Greater Cleveland area.&ldquo;We&rsquo;d both like to see local ownership,&rdquo; said Swig, speaking for Gund. &ldquo;We want to make sure the team is viable and has a good financial picture. We don&rsquo;t want Cleveland to get something that isn&rsquo;t right.&rdquo;Swig indicated that almost the entire front office of the Seals would make the move east. President Munson Campbell, assigned to run the club for the league after the Finley fiasco, will be reassigned by the NHL. And assistant public relations man Len Shapiro will remain in San Francisco.Bill McCreary comes here as the club&rsquo;s general manager and Jack Evans will begin his second season as coach at the club&rsquo;s training camp at Kent State University in mid-September. The scouting staff and trainers all return.The one area that hasn&rsquo;t been resolved is the team&rsquo;s new nickname. Many local hockey fans yearn for the return of the Barons, a name that belonged for many years to the old American Hockey League team.But Swig, saying he wants to start fresh, wants to avoid Barons if possible.Swig is banking on the frustrations of the last 25 years of trying to land an NHL franchise to manifest itself in a gate bonanza at the 18,600-seat Coliseum in Richfield Township, located midway between Akron and Cleveland.&ldquo;Cleveland could be one of the great hockey cities in the country,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re talking about a population of five million people within a 50-mile radius of that building.&ldquo;You&rsquo;re talking about a natural history of hockey there. And most of those years have been successful, even in the minor leagues. The major difference today is that this is the National Hockey League and you&rsquo;re getting a first-class product.&rdquo;The initial reaction by the Cleveland fans and community was great elation. The switchboard at the Coliseum was lighted constantly with questions about season ticket sales.Swig, who has scaled the Coliseum at $10, $9, $7, and $5, is hopeful of a season ticket sale of about 7,500. That would be about three times more season seats than the old Crusaders sold last season.The C&rsquo;s, who spent four crisis-filled and controversial years here, were officially moved to Hollywood, Fla., the day before the NHL governors acted on the Seals&rsquo; move.The transfer of the Seals was the first franchise move by the NHL since the Ottawa Senators moved to St. Louis in 1934, only to die a year later.Barry von Gerbig, the original owner of the Seals back in 1966, tried to move the club elsewhere after disappointing attendance in the first season. The league flatly turned him down and he eventually sold the club.The Seals, with the exception of a couple of seasons early in their 10-year history, have not had a distinguished record in the NHL.But last season, under the quiet guidance of Evans and the astute trading of McCreary, the Seals came alive and shed their weaks sister role. They began knocking off some of the toughies.This season, they are expected to do better. However, they play in one of the toughest divisions in the NHL and a playoff spot will be difficult to attain.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-02814/3570653-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="556" height="889"><figcaption class="caption-body">MEL SWIG &hellip; New Start</figcaption></div>Several hockey men have noted that the move to Cleveland will add any-where from 10 to 20 points &mdash; depending on who does the guessing &mdash; because the strenuous travel will be drastically reduced. &#9632;

f0011-01

Cleveland Ends 25-Year ‘Wait’ As NHL Approves Shift Of Seals

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01923/3570698-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"></div><h2>Look At &ldquo;Eaglefest 76&rdquo;</h2>CANADA CUP&rsquo;76, the six-nation tournament which finally brings together the world hockey powers in a large-scale confrontation, promises to be just about the biggest thing to hit hockey since the invention of the puck. It&rsquo;s the brain child of Alan Eagleson, the Toronto lawver with the far-reaching powers. A few folks even have nicknamed the tournament, which opens Sept. 2, &ldquo;the Eaglefest.&rdquo;There&rsquo;s a tendency to view the event as a two-horse race between Team Canada and the Soviet Union. But it&rsquo;s a little more complicated than that. Czechoslovakia and Sweden will have strong teams; the United Statesand Finland lack the paper credentials of the big four but will be no pushovers.Here&rsquo;s a look at the six entrants with a few notes on what to expect.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02797/3570691-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="566" height="598"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brad Park</figcaption></div>CANADA: Sam Pollock, the chief of Team Canada, surprised a few people with his super star laden selections on the 32-man roster. Another shock was the appointment of four coaches (Bobby Kromm, Scotty Bowman, Don Cherry, Al MacNeil)..Expectations had been that Pollock would use the basic roster of his Montreal Canadiens and add some carefully selected players. Instead, Sam picked the three top NHL lines and an assortment of shooters. If the roster lacks anything, it&rsquo;s foot soldiers, the lesser players who were so valuable in previous series against the USSR.Several big names can&rsquo;t be there &mdash; Brad Park, Marc Tardif Jim Schoenfeld, Bernie Parent and almost certainly Bobby Orr. They&rsquo;re needed but the team has awesome scoring power, a much more-than adequate defense and solid goaltending.The four-coach system will work, too, because any big decisions will be made by Pollock.SWEDEN: There have been few brighter stars in big league pro hockey over the past two seasons than Borje Salming, Ulf Nilsson, Anders Hedberg and Lars-Erik Sjoberg. Add another five men with pro experience and the swift Swedes will be no pushovers. Perhaps they lack the depth of top talent as that of the USSR and Team Canada and there have been wrangles between players and the team administration. But the Swedes will be a contender.<h2>Watch The Czechs</h2>CZECHOSLOVAKIA: The Czechs won the world tournament and only a bad referee&rsquo;s call cost them the Olympic gold medal in a game against the Soviets. The Czechs play a more pro-oriented style than the systemized Soviets&mdash;up-and-down positional work and strong individual performances. Their goaltending is excellent, the defense clears well and they have an assortment of big, fast wingers.They rate as the dark-horse entry in the tournament, a solid team wit h a good blend of youth and experience.SOVIET UNION: The comrades were unimpressive in the Olympics and ordinary at the world tournament. Perhaps they&rsquo;ve become bored by whipping the same old opponents year after year. Another strong possibility is that administrational upheavals and power struggles in the hierarchy are hurting the cause.They&rsquo;ll likely be minus Valerv Kharlamov, who broke both ankles in a car accident and rumbles from the steps have Valdimir Petrov and Aleksandr Gusev off the team for mis-behavior.But such names as Tretiak, Vasiliev, Yakushev. Shadrin, Mikhailov, Lutchenko. Alexandrov, Kapustin etc. make them a top contender. Also this tournament gives them the opportunity to establish the USSR as THE world hockey power, something the Soviets don&rsquo;t take lightly.<h2>The Yanks Are Young</h2>UNITED STATES: Bob Pulford and his assistant coach Harry Neale don&rsquo;t have and super star names among the collection of NHL and WHA players who were born in the U.S. The lineup is young and will need a supreme effort to make much noise.However, Pulford didn&rsquo;t have overwhel ning talent with his Los Angeles Kings and the team has made considerable noise with a disciplined approach. That&rsquo;s what the U.S. club must do play tight, defensive hockey.FINLAND: The Finns will have five players with pro experience led by Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; Veli-Pekka Ketola and Hexi Riihiranta. Finland&rsquo;s hockey has made big strides forward in recent years. One problem is the lack of really strong domestic competition to upgrade the playing calibre.Of course, the Canadian and U.S. tea.ms will face the usual problems of short training periods and lack of tough game competition to prepare the teams. The Europeans will be in top condition, an important factor in hot rinks in September. &#9632;

f0012-01

FRANK ORR SAYS

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03624/3570736-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK MacLEISH &hellip; Encountering Problems (Photo by Bernie Moser)</figcaption></div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;One way to turn the tanned necks of Flyers&rsquo; front-office people red was to casually mention the lack of summer personnel shufflingA sample heckle: &ldquo;For a team that struggled past Toronto and was wiped out in four straight by Montreal in the finals, you guys aren&rsquo;t making many changes.&rdquo;Quick, pass the earmuffs to muffle the collective howls of Ed Snider. Keith Allen, Marcel Pelletier and friends. &ldquo;May your nose get stuck in your typewriter keys,&rdquo; is the tone of their reply.The Flyers&rsquo; staff points out that reaching the Stanley Cup finals three consecutive seasons isn&rsquo;t exactly a shabby record. They also note that they spent the &lsquo;76 playoffs without Rick MacLeish, the leading scorer during the previous two Stanley Cup tournaments. And they add that Bernie Parent wasn&rsquo;t close to the two-time Conn Smythe Trophy-winning Parent. Throw in Bobby Clarke&rsquo;s nagging knee injury and the Flyers&rsquo; case rests. For the summer, anyway.Of course, the former NHL champions (ah, there&rsquo;s a phrase they&rsquo;ll get tired of) do make a point for maintaining the status quo if Parent, and MacLeish and Clarke return to familiar form. Both Parent and Clarke were reporting that the summer sun, rest and exercise programs convinced them they&rsquo;d be in top shape.Reports on MacLeish weren&rsquo;t as encouraging. MacLeish still wasn&rsquo;t skating smoothly on the left knee which suffered torn ligament and cartilage damage in an early February game against Vancouver. There&rsquo;s a long way to go before the Flyers&rsquo; October opener, but if MacLeish&rsquo;s career is in jeopardy so is the Flyers&rsquo; hope of regaining the Stanley Cup.Rookie Mel Bridgman proved a capable fill-in for MacLeish, but it was clear in the playoffs that Bridgman isn&rsquo;t yet able to duplicate MacLeish&rsquo;s devastating scoring punch.Should the Flyers be required to start the season without a healthy MacLeish, coach Fred Shero could switch All Star left winger Bill Barber to center. Shero and assistant Mike Nykoluk have often mentioned that Barber will eventually play center for the Flyers. At the annual NHL meetings in Montreal where he was honored with the league&rsquo;s other award winners, Barber said he suspects he will be playing center next season.In case you were wondering how the Flyers spent their summer vactions, here&rsquo;s a rundown. Or, as A. Moose Dupont might say, a runover:Fred Shero, back from Sweden, he was busy with his Valley Forge hockey school. Shero said he kept wondering about a student named G. Washington. &ldquo;The kid was always writing military reports to the Continental Congress and searching in the woods for cherry trees.&rdquo; Shero was scheduled for a late summer hockey school appearance in Smithers, B.C., hometown of Joe and Jim Watson. Said a smiling Joe, &ldquo;Freddy will be glad to hear the they&rsquo;re resurfacing the airport runway.&rdquo;Keith Allen was commuting be tween Montreal and Team Canada GM duties and his New Jersey seashore summer home. Keith is the silver-haired gentleman propped up in a beach chair read ing &ldquo;Sam Pollock&rsquo;s Guide to Collecting Draft Choices.&rdquo;Reg Leach was honored with a special &ldquo;day&rdquo; in his hometown of Riverton, Man. According to last season&rsquo;s 80-goal scorer, nothing tob exciting happened.Don Saleski signed on as a sales Trainee for a corrugated container company. Now, when Saleski does his usual job of checking can we say &ldquo;boxed in&rdquo; his opponent?Many Flyers were due at Veterans Stadium for their annual charity softball game which draws over 20,000. Plans to play th Montreal Canadiens in home-and-home softball benefits fell through. Someone said Sam Pollock was to blame: he was demanding the draft rights to Bobby Clarke&rsquo;s son.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02157/3570729-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="566" height="1038"><figcaption class="caption-body">DON SALESKI</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0012-03

Flyers May Be Forced To Substitute Barber

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01897/3570767-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROD SEILING&hellip; Caught Up In Contract Hassle</figcaption></div>TORONTO&mdash;Unless they swing some major deals before the opening of the 1976-77 National Hockey&rsquo; League season, the Toronto Maple Leafs will present almost the same faces as in &lsquo;75-76.Leaf general manager Jim Gregory admitted to hitting closed doors in the trade market-place.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough making deals until the teams have all their players signed and sometimes that doesn&rsquo;t happen until training camp,&rdquo; Gregory said.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d suspect that if we do make any trades it will happen early in the season when teams have had a chance to have a good look at their situations.&rdquo;Another Leaf problem is that few opponents want to help improve the club. The Toronto side launched a rebuilding program in &lsquo;75-76, jumped from a 13th place finish the previous year to seventh overall and then extended the Philadelphia Flyers to seven games in the quarter-final playoff series.&ldquo;I feel&mdash;and so do other NHL executives&mdash;that the Leafs are set to break into the top ranks in the NHL with the players they have,&rdquo; said one NHL general manager. &ldquo;When a team is in that position, they usually find it tough to make good deals.&rdquo;Leaf personnel changes could arise from failure to reach agreement with some of their free-agents, players whose contracts expired June 1. The Leafs had eight men in that category. Defense man Claire Alexander was the only one who had signed a new pact at the time this was written.However, defenseman Brian Glennie and forwards Scott Garland, George Ferguson and Greg Hubick had agreed to new deals.Defenseman Dave Dunn and winger Blaine Stoughton were offered new deals by the Leafs but apparently, the numbers are so slender that they&rsquo;ll likely be playing hockey in new suits in &lsquo;76-77.The Leafs&rsquo; biggest contract hassle involves veteran defender Rod Seiling, who delivered a solid &lsquo;75-76 season as the steadying influence on a young backline.When the Leafs acquired Seiling early in the &lsquo;74-75 campaign from the New York Rangers via Washington Capitals, they picked up his hefty contract, reportedly in the $160,000 per season range. Now, Seiling&rsquo;s attorney Alan Eagleson reports that his client has been asked to take &ldquo;a ridiculous cut&rdquo; in salary.Undoubtedly, there&rsquo;s a lengthy summer of sparring ahead before Seiling agrees to terms or moves to another team. Although playing in Toronto allows Seiling to reside at his farm near Waterloo, Ont., Eagleson claims he&rsquo;s willing to shift to another club.However, the denouncement of the hassle probably will be a new Leaf pact for Seiling. The Leafs need his steady, reliable work at least for another season until some of their kids gain experience.The only new faces likely to crack the Leaf line-up are winger Garland, who played strongly in the playoffs, and rookie defenseman Randy Carlyle.Cincinnati Stingers of the World Hockey Association, however, have signified their intention of contesting the Leafs&rsquo; rights to Carlyle in court. They claim he signed a &ldquo;letter of intent&rdquo; with them before he signed a Leaf contract.LEAF NOTES: The Leafs are drawing big crowds this summer&mdash;on the softball fields of Ontario. Leaf players form the nucleus of Molson&rsquo;s Prostars, a softball team which plays exhibition games for charity. Because of the pitching ability of George Ferguson, the team is no pushover. Pit Martin, Dale Tallon, Denis Dupere, Tim Ecclestone and Garry Monahan are other NHL players who participate&hellip;Chicago&rsquo;s Martin and Leafs&rsquo; Pat Boutette, both off-season residents of Windsor, travel in style to the games in the Toronto area. They fly in Martin&rsquo;s plane. &#9632;

f0013-01

Leafs’ Revival Scaring Off Player Trades

<div class="byline">Bill Fleischman&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01906/3570805-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="282" height="446"></div>SOME MID-SUMMER thoughts on hockey, or, it&rsquo;s hard to concentrate when it&rsquo;s 85 degrees and these bikini-clad ladies keep strolling past. But I&rsquo;ll try&hellip;The two Canada Cup games scheduled at the Spectrum haven&rsquo;t turned on Philadelphia fans yet, but they surely will. Some knowledgeable observers are forecasting routs by the Soviets and Czechs over Team USA, but the chance to see Mark and Marty Howe combined with the patriotic Bicentennial fervor in Philadelphia is expected to draw big crowds.Not seeing Team Canada in person will be a big disappointment to Flyers&rsquo; fans. Four Flyers &mdash; Bobby Clarke, Reggie Leach, Bill Barber and Jimmy Watson &mdash; will be key members of Team Canada. Ed Snider, the Flyers&rsquo; board chairman, had said he wouldn&rsquo;t schedule Canada Cup games at the Spectrum if Team Canada weren&rsquo;t included. Alan Eagleson, the world tournament&rsquo;s organizer, evidently soothed Snider by giving the Spectrum the highly rated Czechs and Soviets.Not seeing a Team Canada - USA matchup at the Spectrum will also be a setback for amateur psychologists. One wonders if Philadelphia fans would have cheered for their Flyers or the US team. Maybe they would have supported the Flyers enthusiastically given lukewarm backing to Team Canada, and urged on Team USA. If the fans had been torn in such emotional pieces, irreparable harm would have resulted. Some fans in the nearest padded cell could be heard mumbling, &ldquo;Curse you, Alan Eagleson.&rdquo;Predictably, Fred Shero offers a fascinating insight into selection of Team Canada&rsquo;s coaching supervisory board. Shero says that despite earlier statements that summer commitments would prevent him from accepting the Team Canada post, he was still in the running as of mid-June.The Flyers coach was attending a sports symposium in Sweden when the following events occurred:&ldquo;I&rsquo;m in the lobby of our hotel in Stockholm when this guy comes up and says &lsquo;Where have you been? We&rsquo;ve been looking all over the world for you.&rsquo; He said Alan Eagleson was trying to find me to see if I&rsquo;d coach Team Canada. I said &lsquo;Why not?&rsquo; They get Eagleson on the phone and he says Scotty Bowman can&rsquo;t do it. He asks if I&rsquo;d be interested. I said I&rsquo;d be happy to, if I can get out of some commitments.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02770/3570798-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="1168" height="1582"><figcaption class="caption-body">Flyer goaler Bernie Parent has decided to split with his longtime agent, adviser and confidant &mdash; Howard Casper. Disagreements between the two have been pilling up. (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;The next thing I know Eagleson is on the phone again asking me about a story out of Stockholm that says I&rsquo;ve accepted the Team Canda job. I tell Eagleson I can&rsquo;t help it if this Swedish reporter can&rsquo;t understand English. Eagleson says Scotty is going crazy over the story. Tthought you said Scotty wasn&rsquo;t involved?&rsquo; I asked.&rdquo;Shero says the situation got so confusing (more confusing?) that he lost track of developments. But he does remember insisting on picking Team Canada: &ldquo;The coach will take all the heat so he sould have the right to pick the players he wants.&rdquo; Shero recalls that Eagleson approved selecting Mike Nykoluk, the Flyers senior assistant coach. &ldquo;But when I asked about picking another coach, he (Eagleson) said &lsquo;No, no;&rsquo; But they wind up with four coaches. Maybe it&rsquo;s just as well I didn&rsquo;t get involved.&rdquo;This hasn&rsquo;t been a good summer for some agents of coaches and players. Many people believe Eagleson tarnished his image, and that of client Robert Orr,, in his handling of Orr&rsquo;s negotiations with Chicago. Admittedly, by the time the deal was completed Eagleson hadn&rsquo;t slept much in three days. But seeing a man of the Eagle&rsquo;s stature threatening to punch a reporter was sad.People close to the Philadelphia hockey scene believe that the adamant stand taken by Mark Stewart, Shero&rsquo;s agent, cost Shero the Team Canada coaching assignment. And then there is the Bernie Parent case. Parent was planning to split with Howard Casper, his long-time agent-financial confidant. An accumulation of problems was responsible for the parting.A parting memo to Clarence Campbell: the proposed switch of the California Golden Seals from Oakland to Cleveland is distressing. From a purely selfish standpoint, the hockey writers must protest. The thought of no more visits to San Francisco almost turns the summer&rsquo;s blue skies to gray. Please, someone, save the Seals. The hockey writers are willing to contribute. Let&rsquo;s see, will $6.98 help? &#9632;

f0014-01

HOCKEY WORLD

<div class="byline">BY RON WEBER</div>WASHINGTON&mdash;Its the dead of summer and the only hockey headlines seem to dwell on a Seal waddling toward Cleveland (of all places), a Scout up the creek in Kansas City, or an Orr paddling westward under the watchful eye of an eagle.But there are some scraps around Washington&rsquo;s table so lets examine them.The Capitals are doing some moving of their own&mdash;farm club. Their highest minor league affiliate, Richmond, dropped out of the American Hockey League, so the Caps and their co-provider, the Philadelphia Flyers, transferred their allegiance (and warm, optioned bodies) to Springfield.This should make the fledgling major leaguer try harder. A cut no longer means the plushy stadium in downtown Richmond but rather that dinosaur in West Springfield, the Eastern States Coliseum. Even with Eddie Shore out of the picture, its a long way from paradise.For their part the Capitals will send nine or 10 players to Springfield (where their Murray Anderson and Don Seiling toiled last season.) The Indians are now owned by Shore&rsquo;s attorney, George Leary, and the veteran John Hanna will coach.Washington general manager Max McNab took time out from contract negotiations to applaud the choice of Hanna. Max seemed about to get the signature of Bernie Wolfe, stalwart young goaltender, on the dotted line. Ditto, forwards Gerry Meehan and Blair Stewart. Another center&rsquo;s signing, that of Nelson Pyatt, appeared to be a little further down the pike, while that of Greg &lsquo;Buzz&rsquo; Carroll was clear around a bend. Carroll accumulated 169 points (60 on goals) as a pivot for Medicine Hat. He also picked up an agent who didn&rsquo;t jump at McNab&rsquo;s first overtures. Carroll was the Caps&rsquo; second selection right behind Rick Green, London defenseman, who quickly inked a pact.Of the Capitals nine draftees Carroll was the only center, and no left wings were chosen. The three right wings were Tom Rowe, London, Doug Patey, Sault St. Marie (younger brother of the Blues&rsquo; Larry Patey) and Al Dumba, Regina. The three defensemen were Green. Al Glendinning of Calgary and Don Wilson from St. Catharines. That leaves two goalies: Jim Bedard of Sudbury and Dale Rideout from Flin Flon.If they accept the invitations to the Capital camp they get to spend the last half of September in Ohio. Dayton, to be exact. I understand it&rsquo;s beautiful there that time of year&mdash;if you&rsquo;re not a hockey player. CoachTom (Simon) McVie has been making ominous sounds that it won&rsquo;t be no picnic. Tommy pushed for the Dayton site, citing there&rsquo;s a lot of nice orchards near the rink to jog through. And, oh yes, one of the two ice surfaces at Hara Arena is oversized (210 x 100 feet), the better for sprint and gassers. One gets the feeling that, by Sept. 25, the players summer Utopias, ranging from Banff and Honolulu to McCracken&rsquo;s landing, will be only dim memories, interrupted by panting. &#9632;

Capitals Change Farm Hands

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01879/3570066-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="565" height="937"><figcaption class="caption-body">LARRY BROWN &hellip;New 3-Year Pact</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02743/3570059-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="571" height="931"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE CORRIGAN &hellip;May Be Moving</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03597/3570052-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="577" height="943"><figcaption class="caption-body">VIC VENASKY &hellip;Likely To Sign</figcaption></div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Barring an unexpected trade, no major changes are planned in Los Angeles this coming season.Owner Jack Kent Cooke feels the Kings have a combination that can win now.There are spots coach Bob Pulford would like strengthened and players manager Jake Milford is willing to part with, but so far the deals that have developed have not been satisfactory to management.Three players haye been listed by the league as having completed their contracts&mdash;veteran defenseman Larry Brown, veteran winger Mike Corrigan, and young center Vic Venasky.However, Brown has signed a three-year contract now and Venasky is expected to sign one shortly. Corrigan rejected a two-year pact and it is felt he may not be back.Corrigan re-emerged from parttime status to enjoy a successful season last season, and is only 30 but he never has been solid with management.And the team which signs him would have to compensate the Kings.Bob Nevin is a veteran who had an old-type contract. He has completed it, is now a free-agent, and a team which signed him would not have to compensate the Kings.However, at 38 Nevin would not be offered big money else where and might hope to accept what the Kings might offer him to remain with his old friend Pulford.There is a feeling that some veterans should be removed to make room for younger prospects.Glenn Goldup, 23, a good-sized left-handed winger acquired from Montreal, moves up from the American League champion Nova Scotia team, was a second All Star in the minors, and should make it.Lome Stamler. 25, another good-sized left-handed winger, had his second successful season on Kings&rsquo; farms and is their only minor-leaguer who is expected to move up to the big team.Both have signed three-year contracts.Steve Clippingdale, a tall, well-built left wing from New Westminster&rsquo;s Memorial Cup runnerups last season, is given a good chance of making the club if he signs, but he has not yet.He was the Kings&rsquo; first amateur pick, 21st in the draft.The Kings failed to sign their No. 1 last season, Tim Young and he went to Minnesota.This season the Kings also drafted a husky southpaw center from Kamloops, Don Moores; a husky right defenseman from the University of Michigan, Rob Palmer, a little goaler from Kingston. Bob Mears, and a big one from Windsor, Larry McCrae.Because chief scout George Maguire has an excellent record of finding players who can play in the big league from the leftovers, there is some hope one or more of these may in time move up, but they were not rated blue-chippers and are not expected to be ready.So, few new faces are expected in Forum Purple.KINGS THINGS: Ed Parr really is missed around the Forum. Mr. Cooke&rsquo;s personal aide from Canada, he died at 58 of the last of several heart attacks&hellip;Cooke shattered his right wrist in a fall so was not in shape to sign contracts, but the only player not yet mentioned who has to be signed is Gene Carr, who is headed into his option year&hellip;The Kings open pre-season camp at the San Diego Arena Sept. 15-21 and may return for an exhibition with the Islanders on the 23rd. They move into the Forum Sept. 22 and play the Islanders that night, the Canucks the 25th, and mavbe the Seals the 29th&hellip;The Kings&rsquo; almost moved their minor-league operation to Omaha of the Central League, but are returning to Fort Worth of that circuit after all. They have working agreements with Saginaw and Musksgon of the International League. &#9632;

f0015-01

Few New Faces Likely To Alter Look Of Kings

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div>BUFFALO&mdash;The first thing Punch Imlach did after the expansion draft in the year Buffalo entered the National Hockey League was get himself a good, experienced goaltender.That goaltender was Roger Crozier, acquired by the Sabres from the Detroit Red Wings immediately after Imlach took Tom Webster as the club&rsquo;s first choice in the 1970 expansion draft. Webster went to the Red Wings in that deal.The acrobatic Crozier did an outstanding job for the expansion club its first season hut Roger the Dodger had this internal problem, pancreatitis, and it sometimes put him in the hospital when it flared up.He finally decided to hang up the pads last season after being in and out of hospitals and being counted out of the Sabre picture two or three previous times.So, now, the goaltending competition at the Sabres&rsquo; training camp coming up should be interesting. Gary Bromley, the forgotten man of the Buffalo club last season, a free agent when his contract ran out June 1, has signed with the Calgary Cowboys of the World Hockey Association.He is, incidentally, the third Sabre netminder to go into the WHA. The others were Dave Dryden and Joe Daley, who divided the duties with Crozier that first NHL year. Daley was the WHA All Star goalie this year with the champion Winnipeg Jets.And, oddly enough, two of the goaltenders on the current Sabre roster, Gerry Desjardins and Al Smith, came back to the NHL from the WHA.Bromley had bitter words for the Buffalo management when he departed the club. In 1974-75 the slender athlete known as &lsquo;Bonesy&rsquo; was the Sabres&rsquo; top netminder when they won the Adams Division. Crozier, ailing much of the time, played only 23 games.Then Desjardins jumped back from the WHA shortly before the playoffs. He took over and Bromley sat out, watching Desjardins and then Crozier, who filled in for a few games when Gerry was hurt during the playoffs.Crozier made an unexpected comeback in the 1975 training camp and Bromley was left out again. Roger had a fine camp; Gary did not.When the season began, coach Floyd Smith had Desjardins and Crozier as his two goaltenders, with Bromley again watching from the stands.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01713/3570867-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="562" height="1180"><figcaption class="caption-body">GARY BROMLEY &hellip; Frustration Over</figcaption></div>When Crozier became ill again, and eventually faded out of the picture (hestill hasn&rsquo;t retired, officially), Imlach signed Smith, who had been idle since leaving the New England Whalers at the end of the 1974-75 season.Smith played 14 games, winning nine and tying two while losing three and posting a 3.07 goals-against average.Desjardins appears set for one of the Sabre goaltending jobs&mdash;he had a 2.94 average and a 29-15-11 won-lost-tied record&mdash;which means Smith will be competing with two youngsters, both second-yearpros, for the alternate job.Bob Sauve, the Sabres&rsquo; No. 1 draft choice in 1975, stayed with the NHL club during the first couple of months of the 1975-76 season and Buffalo fans were wondering why, because he did not play. When he was sent to Charlotte of the Southern League, it came out that the youngster from Ste. Genevieve, Que., had a stipulation in his contract that he couldn&rsquo;t be sent to the minors without his OK.Sauve finally decided he was rusting on the bench and would improve more by playing in the minors than watching in the NHL.He played 17 games in the Southern League, ending up with a league-leading 2.21 average, and 14 for Providence in the American League, where he had a 3.11 average. The young French Canadian was with Charlotte in the playoffs and posted a sensational 1.43 average and two shutouts in seven games as the Checkers won the championship.Don Edwards, the Sabres&rsquo; sixth draft choice, went to training camp without a contract but he was impressive enough to be signed and sent to Hershey in the AHL.He divided the goaltending chores there with Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Gord Laxton and, with a 3.41 average and three shutouts, ended up on the league&rsquo;s second All Star team.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02616/3570860-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="1169" height="2088"><figcaption class="caption-body">RENE ROBERT&hellip; Hopeful For French Connection (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>ICE CHIPS: When Rene Robert signed a multi-year contract early in July, it left only two free agents still unsigned&mdash;wingers Jim Lorentz and Brian Spencer.The Sabres had five on June 1. Bromley went to the WHA and Pete McNab was traded to the Boston Bruins for Andre Savard.Robert, when he signed, said he hopes Gil Perreault and Rick Martin will sign again when their contracts run out in 1977 and the French Connection will be together for many, many years. &#9632;

f0016-01

Sabres’ Goaling Race Still Open Struggle

BUFFULO&mdash;Last spring when Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; general manager Punch Impach said there would be no easy games on this year&rsquo;s pre-season schedule, he meant it.The Sabres will face the top four teams in the National Hockey League&mdash;the Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Boston Bruins, and the New York Islanders. They will open their 1976 home pre-season schedule against the rival Toronto Maple Leafs on September 19. For the first time all of Buffalo&rsquo;s home pre-season games will be played in Memorial Auditorium.The Montreal Canadiens come into the Aud Wednesday, Sept. 22 followed by the Islanders Sunday, Sept. 26. The Boston Bruins will be in Wednesday Sept. 29 and the final home game will be against Philadelphia Sunday, Oct. 3.&ldquo;Area hockey fans have supported the Sabres avidly in the past and nearly 100 percent of our season ticketholders have renewed their tickets for the 1967-77 season,&rdquo; said Imlach.&ldquo;Sabre fans are the best in the NHL and I feel they deserve the best. I am very pleased to bring hockey&rsquo;s top attractions into Memorial Auditorium this fall for the Sabres&rsquo; seventh pre-season schedule. These games will give us a better idea of what we have in our rookies who will be sprinkled in the lineup, and it will give our fans an extra opportunity to watch the best hockey the NHL has to offer.&ldquo;We hope to improve on our efforts of last year, but hope is too loose a term to use. Must would be more appropriate. And, I might add, I can&rsquo;t wait to get started. &ldquo;Imlach said he expects the Sabres&rsquo; complete pre-season schedule will include road games against each of the five teams mentioned above. &#9632;

Sabres Will Play Five Pre-Season Home Games

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04334/3570995-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0017-04

Where They’ll Play Canada Cup Games

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE HALPIN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01612/3570964-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Philadelphia Flyers will be well represented on Team Canada. Flyer GM Keith Allen, who will serve the same role with the Canadian team in the six-country tournament, is shown with his high-scoring line of Reg Leach, left, Bill Barber, and Bobby Clarke, right. All three were chosen to play for Canada. (Photos by Peter Woolley)</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;There will be no repetition of the 1972 Team Canada morale breakdown that almost cost the National Hockey League its memorable International hockey series with the Russians.Members of Team Canada &lsquo;76 have clearly spelled it our for their hockey brothers. They&rsquo;ve been told to quit now if they aren&rsquo;t willing to put out 100 percent in the forthcoming Canada Cup Series starting Sept. 2.To head off any recurrence of the 1972 series when dissension swept the team and caused a split among players, several members of the Team Canada &lsquo;76 took advantage of a recent team meeting to inform the players they didn&rsquo;t want any trouble. The feeling was unanimous at the meeting when players like Phil Esposito, Bobby Clarke and Gerry Cheevers addressed the team. Everyone was told pointedly that if they didn&rsquo;t like the setup to get out now, not later.It may be recalled that in 1972 four players&mdash;Richard Martin, Gilbert Perreault, Jocelyn Guevremont and Vic Hadfield &mdash; all quit the Canadian team in a huff claiminq they weren&rsquo;t getting enough ice time.Esposito, who will be one of the 27 players at training camp Aug. 9, said that it was essential to unite in a common cause to win the series. He said he was fully prepared to accept being cut if it comes during the training camp period and added he hoped the rest of the team would feel the same way. Espo was one of the stars of the 1972 Team Canada victory over the Soviets.The big question surrounding the Canadian team could very well be how many healthy bodies will be available for the six-country series? Originally, 32 players were named. 29 from the NHL and three from the WHA. But four have already been scratched and a fifth&mdash;Bobby Orr&mdash;is a definite question mark.Goaler Bernie Parent, defensemen Brad Park and Jim Schoenfeld and left winger Marc Tardif, have all indicated they will not be available for Team Canada because of injuries. Orr, who is recuperating from knee surqery, said he would make a decision prior to the start of training camp if he&rsquo;ll be able to play. Observers say he has only a 50-50 chance of making it.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02530/3570957-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="559" height="1300"><figcaption class="caption-body">Two old time NHL rivals will be teammates for the 1976 Canada Cup series. Bobby Hull, left, and Phil Esposito, were both picked for Team Canada.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03434/3570950-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="553" height="1306"></div>Meanwhile, Sam Pollock of the Canadiens will be the man at the controls of Team Canada &lsquo;76. He has been named managing director of the operation and will be assisted by four coaches&mdash;Scotty Bowman of Canadiens, Boston&rsquo;s Don Cherrv. Al MacNeil of the Nova Scotia Voyageurs and Bobby Kromm of the Winnipeg Jets. Sam has surrounded himself with winners. Bowman won the Stanley Cup. Kromm the Avco Trophy in the WHA and MacNeil the Calder Cup in the AHL.Pollock will also be ably assisted by Keith Allen the general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers, who will serve as GM of Team Canada. Former great Canadiens&rsquo; coach Toe Blake will be assistant to Pollock and three sterling hockey names &mdash; Gordie Howe, Jean Beliveau and Syl Apps&mdash;will act as special Team Canada advisers for the tournament.Pollock will call the shots through the Canada Cup series and will have his four-man coaching staff working simultaneously with the players. Their job will be to shave the present 28-man roster to 25 for the tournament. Teams will be able to dress 20 for each game, 18 skaters and two goaltenders.In choosing his players for the tournament, Pollock selected seven members of his cup winning Canadiens. Goaler Ken Dryden, defensemen Guy Lapointe, Serge Savard and Larry Robinson, plus forwards Steve Shutt, Pete Mahovlich and Guy Lafleur. Pollock picked three complete lines for the team including his own Shutt-Mahovlich-Lafleur combination.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01200/3570943-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="2360" height="1444"><figcaption class="caption-body">The combined efforts of four coaches will go into the moulding of Team Canada for the September classic. Selected to guide the Canadian squad are from the left, Bobby Kromm, Winnipeg Jets, Scotty Bowman, Montreal Canadiens, Al MacNeil, Nova Scotia Voyageurs and Boston&rsquo;s Don Cherry. (Photo by Peter Woolley)</figcaption></div>Two other lines that will be at training camp in their entirety include Philadelphia&rsquo;s Bobby Clarke, Reg Leach and Bill Barber unit as well the French Connection from Buffalo, Perreault, Martin and Rene Robert.Pollock chose five players from the Flyers. Besides Parent and the team&rsquo;s high scoring front line, defenseman Jim Watson was picked as well. The Sabres contributed five including Schoenfeld, the French Connection and forward Danny Gare.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01177/3570936-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="1126" height="1195"><figcaption class="caption-body">Richard Martin of Buffalo Sabres was named to Team Canada along with his two French Connection teammates.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02131/3570929-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="1120" height="1240"><figcaption class="caption-body">Goaler Gerry Cheevers of Boston and Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Jean Pronovost were also selected on the Canadian cup team for the September series. Cheevers has already been the route before against the Russians.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0396/3570922-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="556" height="1246"></div>Others named to the team included goalers Gerry Cheevers, Boston, and Glenn Resch of the Islanders and Rogie Vachon of L.A. Other defensemen were Denis Botvin of the Islanders. Carol Vadnais of the Rangers and Paul Shmyr of Cleveland, now the Hollywood. Fla., team. Other forwards were Esposito. Marcel Dionne of L.A., Bubby Hull of Winnipeg. Lannv McDonald and Darryl Sittier of the Leafs, and Jean Pronovost of Pittsburgh.Pollock has not indicated if the four injured players chosen for Team Canada will be replaced before training camp, which commences Aug. 9 in the Montreal Forum.Sites for the 15 tournament games were also finalized by Alan Eagleson, who is chairman of the cup series. Eagleson said five games will be played in Toronto&rsquo;s Maple Leaf Gardens, six in Montreal, one in Ottawa, the opener between Canada and Finland Sept. 2, one in Winnipeg and one in Quebec and two in Philadelphia&rsquo;s Spectrum, which will feature the U.S. team against the Czechs and Russians. Team Canada will not perform in Ph illy.The two leading teams at the end of the round-robin competition will enter a best-of-three championship series, with the winning team taking home the $150,000 jackpot.Eagleson said eight of the 15 games, plus the championship finals, will be televised. All will emenate from Canadian cities. The Ottawa opener will be on the tube along with four of the six Montreal games and two from Toronto and one from Quebec City.Eagleson said Team Canada would play four pre-tournament exhibition games, including outings against the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia. Tentative exhibition dates are Aug. 28 against Russian and Aug. 30 with the Czechs. Both games will be held at the Montreal Forum.More On The SeriesCanada, United States Name Tourney Players &mdash; Page 19Frank Orr Evaluates Canada Cup Entrants &mdash; Page 12 &#9632;

f0017-01

Team Canada Players Demanding 100 Per Cent

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY. LTD. Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaNATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUELOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY. LTD. Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaDETROIT-The Detroit Red Wings solved one lingering problem but general manager Alex Delvecchio continued to work on another as the National Hockey League training season drew nearer.The Wings signed No. 1 amateur draft choice, center Fred Williams of the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Canada Hockey League, in Detroit on July 7. The 20-year-old Williams, a 5-foot-11, 185 pounder, inked a two year pact.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01622/3571026-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="553" height="727"><figcaption class="caption-body">GEORGE ARMSTRONG &hellip; In The Running</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Fred&rsquo;s an unselfish hockey player, the kind who takes pleasure in passing the puck and setting up goals,&rdquo; said Delvecchio, who was that same type of player. &ldquo;We think he can help us immediately. He&rsquo;ll have every opportunity to make the club and it&rsquo;ll be entirely up to him to prove he belongs.&rdquo;Williams admitted at being a bit stunned by all the attention. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t quite believe it all,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was surprised, but very pleased, to be drafted so high (fourth on the first round). I&rsquo;m very happy to be with the Red Wings. I don&rsquo;t have any goals, except to make the club.&rdquo;Williams is confident he can do it, too.&ldquo;Hockey is hockey,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen a lot of guys come out of junior and do real well, guys I played against for a couple of seasons. And I wasn&rsquo;t surprised when they did well. Bryan Trottier was the greatest junior I&rsquo;ve ever seen and look what he did.&rdquo; Trottier, the New York Islander sensation, captured the NHL&rsquo;s Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m anxious to get going. I wish the season was about to start right away,&rdquo; Williams said.Williams&rsquo; signing was delayed by circumstances.&ldquo;I was back home just waiting,&rdquo; Williams said. &ldquo;There was no problem, we just didn&rsquo;t have time to get together before this. My agent, Alan Eagleson, was busy with the Bobby Orr thing, and the Wings were busy with the Dan Maloney trial.&rdquo;Red Wing officials, incidentally, were quite pleased at the Maloney non-guilty verdict.&ldquo;The hardest part (of the trial) was the waiting for the jury,&rdquo; said Delvecchio, who was at every session. &ldquo;When it got to be five, six, seven and then eight and nine hours that they were out &mdash; well, the waiting was the toughest thing. We&rsquo;re all relieved.&rdquo;Delvecchio was back at his Olympia Stadium office the next day and renewed his search for a coach. Right now, that&rsquo;s the first priority and Alex hinted that he&rsquo;d have a man in tow by the end of July.&ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t going to be a hasty decision,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I want somebody who&rsquo;s going to be dedicated and hard-working. I want a guy who will teach as well as coach. I&rsquo;m looking for somebody who&rsquo;ll want to stay around. This isn&rsquo;t just a one-year deal.&ldquo;Most of the good coaches already have a job. The others, for one reason or another, are out of jobs. You have to evaluate the reasons why. If a guy has had trouble some place else, he&rsquo;s likely to have trouble here.&ldquo;Still, there are some good people out there and we&rsquo;re screening them.&rdquo; Delvecchio realizes the urgency of making a decision.&ldquo;Whatever we&rsquo;re going to do in the way of trades, other changes and preparation for the season,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;the new coach should be in on them so we&rsquo;ll have to get one soon.&rdquo;Delvecchio has a list of candidates and on it are assistant coach Billy Dea, who handled the team much of last season, former NHL coaches Bep Guidolin, Al MacNeil, Larry Wilson and Larry Regan and former NHL star George Armstrong, among others. &#9632;

f0018-01

Wings Pick Off First Draft Pick While Screening Coaching Hopefuls

<div class="byline">BY BILL HEUFELDER</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;The return of Baz Bastien to Pittsburgh began quite informally, in one of those countless, idle conversations between hockey men that occur throughout the season.When Wren Blair, president of the Pittsburgh Penguins, encountered Bastien, who was holding down the job of assistant general manager of the Kansas City Scouts, the conversation took on a certain heavy tone.Since Blair and two Midwestern bankers began the financial recontruction of the bankrupt Pittsburgh franchise late last summer, there hadn&rsquo;t been enough hours in the day to keep pace with the demanding workload. Blair, as the chief operating officer of the group, was constantly behind.So Bastien, who married a Pittsburgh area girl, the former Mary Mitchell. 28 years ago, and became perhaps the most popular hockey name in the city&rsquo;s history, made it known that he would be happy to return to Pittsburgh.&ldquo;After the season. Wren called me to see if I was serious about coming back here.&rdquo; Bastien said. &ldquo;There were a few phone calls. Wren got permission to talk to me from Mr. Thompson (Edwin, KC president) and we got the ball rolling.&rdquo;Shortly before the June meetings in Montreal, the Penguins announced that Bastien had been named the club&rsquo;s assistant general manager.Says Baz. &ldquo;I really never thought I&rsquo;d get back here.&rdquo;But now, as the summer shortens, Bastien is just settling into a condominium adjoining his favorite golf course in Pittsburgh and spending his working hours in the Civic Arena. It&rsquo;s as if he never left.Bastien first arrived on the Pittsburgh scene in the 1940s, as a battling goaltender for the old Pittsburgh Hornets. The loss of an eye in a training-camp accident shortened what had been a promising career, but Baz soon emerged as a capable executive.With the exception of a five-year stay in Hershey while the city of Pittsburgh replaced its creaking Duquesne Gardens with the shimmering Arena, Bastien was a part of the city&rsquo;s hockey operations until forced out with the abandoning of the Hornets to make way for the Penguins in 1967.Despite a limited background in coaching, Bastien retained fine rapport with the players and in the Hornets final season, he guided the American Hockey League team to the Calder Cup championship.Bastien wound up in Kansas City when the Scouts opened for business with a longtime friend, Sid Abel, as the general manager. Among his myriad duties, Bastien helped in the development of Denis Herron, ironically a goaltender acquired from the Penguins.Baz will be assuming similar responsibilities with the Penguins, staying on the road with the club, overseeing player development and probably working with the goalies in training camp.From his experience with the faltering franchise in Kansas City, Bastien believes the National Hockey League made its biggest mistake by offering the Scouts, as well as the Washington Caps who came into the league at the same time, too few quality players.&ldquo;With the other clubs protecting 15 players and the two new clubs being too close to the last expansion. there was just nothing left,&rdquo; Bastien noted.The Penguins, staggered by poor ownership since their inception, continue their long bid to get on solid ground. Bastien is impressed with what the Blair group has accomplished.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really amazed by what&rsquo;s happened here,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Wren done a heckuva job. He&rsquo;s really an organizer.&rdquo;And it&rsquo;s unanimous in Pittsburgh that one of Blair&rsquo;s best moves was to bring Baz Bastien home. &#9632;

Bastien Contends NHL Erred Tossing Caps, Scouts Scraps

<h2>TEAM CANADA</h2><h3>GOLATENDERS</h3>GERRY CHEEVERS, BostonKEN DRYDEN, MontreatBERNIE PARENT, PhiladelphiaGLENN RESCH, N.Y. Wanders<h3>ROGATIEN VACHON, Los Angeles</h3>DEFENSEMENGUY LAPOINTE, Montreal.LARRY ROBINSON, MontrealSERGE SAVARD, MontrealBRAD PARK. BostonCAROL VADNAIS, N.Y. RangersDENIS POTVIN, N.Y. MandersJIM SCHOENFELD, BuffaloJIM WATSON, PhiladelphiaPAUL SHMYR, ClevelandBOBBY ORR, Chicago<h3>CENTERS</h3>BOBBY CLARKE, PhiladelphiaMARCEL DIONNE, Los AngelesPHIL ESPOSITO, N.Y. RangersPETE MAHOVUCH, MontrealGILBERT PERREAULT, BuffaloDARRYL SITTLER, Toronto<h3>LEFT WING</h3>BILL BARBER, PhiladelphiaBOBBY HULL, WinnipegRICHARD MARTIN, BuffaloSTEVE SHUTT, MontrealMARC TARDIF, Quebec<h3>RIGHT WING</h3>DANNY GARE, BuffaloGUY LAFLEUR, MontrealREGGIE LEACH, PhiladelphiaLANNY MCDONALD, TorontoJEAN PRONOVOST, PittsburghRENE ROBERT, Buffalo<h2>TEAM U.S.A.</h2><h3>GOALTENDERS</h3>PETE LOPRESTI, MinnesotaCAP RAEDER, New EnglandERNIE WAKELY, San DiegoMIKE CURRAN. U.S. Nationals<h3>DEFENSEMEN</h3>RICK CHARTRAW, MontrealMIKE CHRISTIE, CaliforniaLEE FOGOLIN, BuffaloMIKEMILBURY, BostonLOU NANNE, MinnesotaBILLNYROP, MontrealGARY SARGENT, Los AngelesJIM NIEKAMP, PhoenixMARTY HOWE, HoustonGORD ROBERTS, New England<h3>CENTERS</h3>CURT BENNETT, AtlantaHARVEY BENNETT, WashingtonBOBBY SHEEHAN, ChicagoDOUG PALAZZARI, St. LouisROBBIE FTOREK, PhoenixLARRY PLEAU, New England<h3>LEFT WINGERS</h3>STAN GILBERTSON, PittsburghSTEVE JENSEN, MinnesotaGERRY O&rsquo;FLAHERTY, VancouverMIKE POLICH, MontrealMARK HOWE, HoustonALAN IIANGSLEBEN. New England<h3>RIGHT WINGERS</h3>FRED AHERN, CaliforniaCRAIG PATRICK, Kansas CityDEAN TALAFOUS, MinnesotaWARREN WILLIAMS, CaliforniaTIM SHEEHY, EdmontonDAN BOLDUC, New England &#9632;

Canadians, U.S. Name Ice Squads

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01597/3571105-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">CURT BENNETT&hellip; Will Be Team Leader (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>NEW YORK&mdash;A total of 32 players have been selected to participate at the Team USA training camp in early August at Brown University in Providence, R.I.The 32 players were selected by co-managers of Team USA Tommy Ivan of the Chicago Black Hawks and Bill MacFarland of the Phoenix Roadrunners of the World Hockey Association.Team USA will compete in the Canada Cup international hockey series in September with teams from Canada, the Soviet Union, Sweden, Finland and Czechoslovakia.All players were scheduled to show up at Brown University Aug. 9 for medicals and begin practise sessions the following day.Ivan, the veteran general manager of the Black Hawks, said the players invited to training camp have shown &ldquo;great enthusiasm in competing.&rdquo;&ldquo;You can be sure our players will give more than one hundred percent,&rdquo; said Ivan, who is bubbling these days following Chicago&rsquo;s acquisition of super star defenseman Bobby Orr.&ldquo;They&rsquo;ll be giving it 125 percent,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a chance for them to play for their country and they&rsquo;ll give a good account of themselves.&ldquo;I think pride will figure very highly in whatever success we have in this tournament.&rdquo;Included among those selected to compete for Team USA were 20 players from the National Hockey League and 12 from the rival World Hockey Association.An additional eight players were expected to be added at the last moment by Ivan.In order to be eligible to play for Team USA, the player must have been born in the United States or else be a naturalized citizen.The team will be coached by Bob Pulford of the Los Angeles Kings and his assistant coach will be Harry Neale of the New England Whalers.Included in the 32 players invited to training camp were five from the New England team, four from the Minnesota North Stars and three from the Stanley Cup champion Montreal Chandiens. Broken down, Pulford and Neale will have four netminders in camp. There will be 10 defensemen, five centers, six left wingers and six right wingers.Mark and Marty Howe of the Houston Aeros, both sons of legendary hockey great Gordie Howe, were included in the American players attending camp although theirstatus remains doubtful.Gordie won&rsquo;t be competing for Team Canada. He turned down the idea when he realized that at some point, he would have to play against his sons. However, the elder Howe has been hired as an adviser for Team Canada.Topping the netminding list is Pete LoPresti of the Minnesota North Stars. He played in several games for the North Stars last season and figures highly in their futureplans.Rick Chartraw of the Canadiens, who came out of the press box where he spent most of the season to star for Montreal in the Stanley Cup final against the Philadelphia Flyers, is among the 10 defensemen.The centers will be curt Bennett of Atlanta and Harvey Bennett of Washington, plus Bobby Sheehan of Chicago &mdash; all of the NHL along with Larry Pleau of New England and Robbie Ftorek of Phoenix. Bennett is expected to play a leader role for the Americans, who will be counting heavily on the versatile Atlanta veteran.Team USA will play its first game against Sweden at Toronto Sept. 2. Two days later, the Americans will play Canada at the Forum in Montreal.The third game on the schedule for the American squad is against Czechoslovakia at the Spectrum in Philadelphia Sept. 7 and that will be followed by a big game for the U.S. Sept. 9 when they face the Soviet Union, also at the Spectrum. Their final game in the round-robin portion of the tournament is set for Sept. 11 against Finland at Montreal. &#9632;

f0019-01

Ivan Expecting Pride, Dedication To Motivate U.S. Canada Cuppers

<div class="byline">BY ALAN TRUEX</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01443/3571136-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILL CLEMENT &hellip; Contract Standoff Solved (Photo by Bruce Bennet)</figcaption></div>ATLANTA&mdash;Atlanta, general manager Cliff Fletcher has managed to iron our some of his contractural problems with the signing of ace center Bill Clement, who was threatening to leave the club over a contract dispute.Fletcher turned loose two centers, 24-goal scorer Claude St. Sauveur and reserve Richie Lemieux. Fletcher&rsquo;s feeling was that with Tom Lysiak, Clement, Rey Comeau and 19-year-old whiz Guy Chouinard, he still had plentiful talent at center ice.Then&hellip;Comeau, the only Flames free agent offered a contract, balked at Fletcher&rsquo;s salary offer and was taking his time about signing.That was considered only a minor problem, since Comeau was being viewed as the team&rsquo;s No. 4 center.The real trouble became evident when Clement, the team&rsquo;s finest defensive forward and perhaps the best penalty killer in the National Hockey League, claimed he. too, was a free agent. He scored 23 goals and 54 points last season.Clement and the Flames had been involved in a contractual standoff since April. Clement&rsquo;s agent, Mark Stewart, filed action in Philadelphia to have the player&rsquo;s contract voided on grounds that the Flames had not fulfilled the terms of the agreement.The disagreement arose over a clause in a four-year contract which Clement signed with the Philadelphia Flyers prior to the 1975-76 season.Clement and other Flyers had clauses in their contracts specifying that if the player is traded, lie is to receive a designated salary increase. That provision was made to compensate the athlete for the playoff money he might be missing because of being traded from the high-finishing Flyers.Although the amount of money involved in the Clement dispute has not been revealed, it is probably in the $10,000-$20,000 range, for each of three years remaining, plus half of last year.When Clement was traded to Washington, before last season, he received the raise designated in his contract.Then, in mid-season, he was traded to the Flames. Stewart maintains that Clement was supposed to receive a raise each time he was traded during this four-year contract, regardless of how many times he might be traded in one season.The Flames, on the other hand, argued that one raise per season is all Clement should be allowed.Fletcher said there is also a &ldquo;clause 18&rdquo; in Clement&rsquo;s contract which stipulates that in event of disagreement over terms, the contract would be decided by arbitration.&ldquo;We would have been happy to place the matter in binding arbitration,&rdquo; Fletcher said at the time.The Flames&rsquo; GM had remained outwardly confident that he would not lose the services of Clement in a manner similar to the way the Oakland A&rsquo;s lost pitcher Catfish Hunter. In that celebrated case, the courts ruled that the A&rsquo;s had not followed the terms of Hunter&rsquo;s contract, and that the pitcher therefore was a free agent without compensation required.Clement&rsquo;s ultimate signing took him out of Hunter&rsquo;s classifacation and the Flames breathed a sigh of relief.FLAME NOTES: Atlanta signed its two first round draft choices, defenseman Dave Shand and left winger Harold Phillipoff and second-round choice Robert Simpson. A Mohawk Indian, Simpson was strongly considering signing with the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s Indianapolis team, but the Flames won the bidding.Simpson, a left winger, was regarded as first-round material by the Flames, who say he was available in the mid-second round only because of the WHA offer&hellip;Flames left winger Curt Bennett, named to Team USA for the Canada Cup series, spent two weeks at an athletic college in Moscow, learning Russian training methods&hellip;Bill Flett, whose 23 goals last season were the most ever scored by a Flames right winger, dislocated his left wrist falling during a hockey school session in Atlanta.But within a couple of weeks, he was out playing golf&mdash;and keeping his weight down. Flett came to training camp last year about 15 pounds heavy. &#9632;

f0020-01

‘Free Agent’ Clement, Flames Ink Peace Pact

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01287/3571181-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="518" height="464"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02205/3571174-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="492" height="480"></div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;Two second-round draft choices of the St. Louis Blues might have better chances of making the team than the Blues&rsquo; No. 1 pick, Bernie Federko, who was the leading scorer among Canada&rsquo;s juniors last season. Federko, who played for Saskatoon, is an excellent choice for the Blues but he is a center and will have a tough time in breaking into the Blues&rsquo; strong contingent of centers. But the two second-round choices, Brian Sutter of Lethbridge and John Smrke of Toronto, are left wings and will have less formidable opposition in the St. Louis training camp.Federko, the seventh player selected in this year&rsquo;s draft, scored 72 goals and 115 assists in 72 games, and the 187 points set a new Western Canada Hockey League record. The old record was held by Bobby Clarke.When Federko arrives in training camp, he will meet Garry Unger, Derek Sanderson, Red Berenson and Larry Patey, enough fine centers to staff Emile Francis&rsquo; four lines. Unless Francis decides to ship one of those four away in a trade or change someone&rsquo;s position, Federko might have to wait for the future to wear a St. Louis uniform.Francis is saying he&rsquo;s not inclined to thin the field by making a trade.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going into camp with what we have, and it&rsquo;s going to be a tough camp with as many exhibition games as we&rsquo;re allowed to play,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Every player on the roster is going to get his chance to show what he can do. I just figure they&rsquo;ll eliminate themselves. At least I don&rsquo;t like to make up my mind before I go into camp. It&rsquo;s strictly going to be competitive.&rdquo;In the crucible of competition Federko is likely to lose. But Sutter and Smrke might find the situation more promising.Chuck Lefley is the Blues&rsquo; top left wing, and Floyd Thomson and Dave Hrechkosy are St. Louis left wingers in good standing. But the position is not as crowded as center, and either Sutter or Smrke stands a chance of making the team on the basis of a good camp.The Blues had two second-round choices because of a previous deal with Kansas City. Sutter was the 20th player chosen, and Smrke the 25th.Sutter had 36 goals, including 12 on the power play, and 56 assists for 92 points. He had 233 minutes in the penalty box. Smrke had 39 goals and 46 assists for 85 points and led the Marlboros in the playoffs with seven goals and six assists in 10 games.Francis is delighted with all three of the top picks who have signed contracts with the team.&ldquo;They really impressed me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;All three are goodsized kids. They&rsquo;ll get a good chance to make the club, and I hope they create some stiff competition.&rdquo;Francis reported all three players had their sights set on the National Hockey League. And Francis added that all three received a bonus for signing &ldquo;but it wasn&rsquo;t as high as those in recent years. We are becoming more realistic about these things; we have to.&rdquo;When Francis gives in to a player&rsquo;s salary or bonus demands these days, he&rsquo;s releasing some of his own money. When he came to the Blues this spring, he acquired part of the franchise.The Blues have raised ticket prices for this coming season and with cuts in expenditures, including salaries of employees, will try to come closer to balancing the books. The heaviest expenses are for the 47-year-old St. Louis Arena, which is remodeled and beautiful but expensive to operate. Although attendance declined a bit last season, the Blues hope to reverse that unfamiliar trend in 1976-77, their 10th in the NHL.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03143/3571167-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="556" height="916"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN SMRKE &hellip; Impressed Cat</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0021-01

Blues High On Draft Picks

<div class="byline">BY HARRY KLAFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01313/3571212-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Capitals were most improved team over last two years.</figcaption></div>NEW YORK&mdash;As Islanders&rsquo; correspondent for THE HOCKEY NEWS since the club&rsquo;s inception in 1972, there were many times when I found myself sitting down at the typewriter with very little to write about, especially back then. There were just so many ways that you could say that the team destined to break all records for futility was &ldquo;trying.&rdquo;No matter how hard they tried though, they did manage to rewrite the NHL Guide for just about everything negative imaginable. But then came the second year, and things started looking up. That is, if you consider winning 19 games instead of 12 looking up.But the point was, they were better. Noticably better, but nothing that would show significantly in the win column. They weren&rsquo;t winning that much more, but they weren&rsquo;t getting killed as often either. Instead of losing 9-1 as they did with frequency in year one, they were losing 3-2.True, a loss is a loss is a loss, but which would a coach (or a paying customer for that matter) rather see? A cliffhanger or a bombardment that&rsquo;s over in the first period?It was to show the Islanders&rsquo; improvement in the second year that I came up with the idea of the &ldquo;PGI&rdquo;, or Percent of Games &ldquo;In.&rdquo; Not that this sort of thing ranks up there with goals against averages or power play statistics, but it is mildly significant nonetheless.First of all, let&rsquo;s define our terms. For our purposes, a team is &ldquo;in&rdquo; the game (or competitive, if you will) if it wins, ties, or loses by two goals or less. A team losing by two goals was still in the game, as one goal could have turned the whole thing around. Suppose a team is trailing by two with a couple of minutes left, then pumps one into cut the deficit to one. Anything can happen with the goaltender lifted for an extra attacker.Granted, sometimes a team losing by two will pull its goalkeeper and lose by three. But that&rsquo;s our definition, and we&rsquo;ll stick to it with no exceptions.The PGI is calculated by dividing the number of games the team was &ldquo;in&rdquo; (win, tie, one goal loss,) by the 80 game schedule. For instance, the Canadiens were beaten by more than two goals only twice all year, a truly remarkable feat. That means they were &ldquo;in&rdquo; 78. &#9632;

f0022-01

Champion Canadiens Were Ranked No. 1 In Consistency, Too

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03210/3571243-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">STAN MIKITA&hellip; Helping Kids To Smile</figcaption></div>I CHICAGO&mdash;Unless you&rsquo;ve been vacationing in Borneo, you know all the talk about the Black Hawks.There&rsquo;ll be wholesale changes, nobody&rsquo;s job is safe, and nobody knows where he&rsquo;s going this summer.Well, that&rsquo;s not entirely true. While most mortals will be worrying about me, myself and I this summer, Stan Mikita will be worrying about this guy, that guy, and that other guy over there.Stan Mikita, who always knows where he&rsquo;s going, is conducting another meaningful session of his hockey school for hearing impaired youngsters. It&rsquo;s just outside Chicago, it started June 14, and it&rsquo;s what Mikita is all about.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll have about 60 kids in,&rdquo; said the Uncheckable Czech. &ldquo;Some of them can barely hear, others can&rsquo;t hear at all. The one thing they have in common, though, is that they all love to play hockey.&rdquo;Another denominator would be that they all need to be needed, which is where Mikita comes in.&ldquo;You know, I left my home when I was just eight years old,&rdquo; he recalled. &ldquo;I went from my parents in Czechoslovakia to my aunt and uncle in Canada. I didn&rsquo;t speak the language, and when I saw other people talking and moving their mouths, it was just as though I was deaf. I saw their mouths moving, but I didn&rsquo;t know what they were saying.&ldquo;A lot of it was about me, of course. A lot of people laughed at me and about me, because I was sort of an outcast. So I feel for these deaf kids. They&rsquo;re brushed aside by society, too.&ldquo;But that can change, you know. A lot of these kids will go back to school in the fall and the teachers will ask them what they did over the summer.&ldquo;Some kids who don&rsquo;t have the handicap will brag about how they took a trip or did this or did that. There used to be nothing for the deal kids to brag about: But now they say, &lsquo;we&rsquo;well, played hockey with Tony Esposito and Keith Magnuson and Dennis Hull at a school. You see what I mean?&rdquo;Most often the kids have to rely on seeing to believe. Their eyes are their ears, and hockey isn&rsquo;t really all that difficult. Instruction can be given with the hands, and when the scrimmages start, there are all sorts of ways to get the message across.&ldquo;I first became interested in these kids when I came to Chicago and met a man named Irv Tiahnybik.&rdquo; said Mikita. &ldquo;Turned out his son had a hearing impairment, and as a result, Les was kind of withdrawn.&ldquo;He took an interest in hockey, though, and it really drew him out of his shell. He&rsquo;s a goalie now and he&rsquo;s a good one. He&rsquo;s been through at few tough experiences. There was one time when he took a shot high and it shattered his hearing mechanism.&ldquo;But he came back and kept playing. Once the guys get into a game you can wave &lsquo;em down to stop play. Or some of the kids who can hear a little bit can let the ones that can&rsquo;t hear at all know what&rsquo;s going on. We&rsquo;ve even tried a system that has all the kids wearing something that will transmit sort of a sensory impulse to them. It&rsquo;s really no problem.&ldquo;The only problem is making them feel accepted. And when we get other players out showing that they care&mdash;even if they only spend a couple hours&mdash;it really means something to these kids.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s all added something to my life&mdash;this school and the work I do for the Special Olympics for the retarded kids,&rdquo; said Mikita. &ldquo;Playing with the Black Hawks gives me a certain amount of satisfaction, but there are other rewards you can get in life.&ldquo;I have two or three scrapbooks, full of letters from these boys. Whenever I feel down, or whenever I feel like I&rsquo;ve got problems, all I have to do is think and read and I feel a lot better.&ldquo;You know, some of these kids have never smiled before because they never had a reason to. But you can teach them some little thing at a camp session and they break right into a big grin. Isn&rsquo;t that what it&rsquo;s all about?&rdquo; &#9632;

f0022-03

Mikita’s Hockey School Aids Impaired Youngsters

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01294/3571288-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hockey analyist Howie Meeker has entered into a hockey equipment manufacturing program with Woolco Department Stores of Canada to merchandise an exclusive line of sports equipment designed and approved by Meeker for kids from seven through to 14 years of age. It is a lifetime dream of Meeker&rsquo;s and it was culminated with the announcement in Toronto by Woolco. Shown at press conference with Meeker, are F.R. Greenwood, left, senior vice-president F.W. Woolworth and general manager of Woolco Department Stores, and G.T. Clark, right, president of F.W. Woolworth Co. (Canada Ltd). Meeker, who also writes a hockey column for THE HOCKEY NEWS during the regular season, has been striving for many years to perfect safety features in kids&rsquo; hockey equipment and his alliance with Woolco will enable him to put his ideas into national production.</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;National Hockey League teams continued to make more headway than their rivals, the World Hockey Association, in the important signing of amateur draft picks.The NHL had increased its first - round signinqs from nine after the amateur draft to 12 with Detroit inking Fred Williams of Saskatoon and St. Louis Blues getting the signature of Bernie Federko. also with Saskatoon, on a major league contract.While the NHL teams rolled along with 12 of their first 18 picks in the fold, the WHA continued to lag with only one&mdash;Cincinnati&rsquo;s Peter Marsh&mdash;under contract.First-round selections already signed by NHL teams included Rick Green bv Washington. Blair Chapman by Pittsburgh. Glen Sharpley by Minnesota, Don Mur doch by Rangers, Dave Shand and Harold Phillipoff by Atlanta, Clay Pachal by Boston, Rod Schutt and Bruce Baker by the Montreal Canadiens and Mark Suzor by Philadelphia.The St. Louis Blues got into the amateur player signing act by putting their top three drafts under NHL contracts. Bernie Federko of Saskatoon, Brian Sutter of Leth-bridge and John Smrke of Toronto Marlboros, all agreed to terms with the Blues.In a team-by-team breakdown, Atlanta had its top three picks in the fold and were not expected to announce anymore until training camp. Boston&rsquo;s top choice, Clay Pachal, was signed by the Bruins, who were going slow on the rest of their drafts.Buffalo drafted only four players but none were signed by the end of July.California drafted seven players but with the Seals shifted to Cleveland, announcements regarding signed amateurs was being held in abeyance. Their first choice, defenseman Bjorn Johansson, was still unsigned but he turned down the Toronto Toros, who also-picked him No. 1 in the WHA draft.Chicago was too busy manipulating the Bobby Orr deal to concentrate on junior signings and had none inked by late July.Detroit&rsquo;s first pick was in the fold in Fred Williams but the Wings had made no headway with their other seven choices.Kansas City took four in the draft and it appeared that it would be up to Denver, which is replacing the Scouts in the NHL. to sign the kid stars. All four were unsigned.Los Angeles was trying to get first pick Steve Clippingdale&rsquo;s name on an NHL contract but hadn&rsquo;t succeeded by late July.Minnesota signed No. 1 pick Glen Sharpley hut made no decision on the other seven picks.Montreal Canadiens had their No. 2 and 3 picks signed but still had not inked top choice Peter Lee. They drafted 15 all together.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02232/3571281-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="533" height="948"><figcaption class="caption-body">RODSCHUTT &hellip; Inked By Habs</figcaption></div>The Islanders had not signed any of their six picks but were negotiating with top choice Alex McKendry.Rangers signed both their two top selections, Don Murdoch and DaveFarrish, and were apparently not going to offer any NHL contracts to the rest of their amateurs until training camp.Philadelphia had the most players signed. The Flyers grabbed off their first four and were letting the rest come to training camp.Pittsburgh had its top two picks&rsquo; already under contact but lost their third in Marsh to Cincinnati, and were negotiating with a fewmore by late July.St. Louis, which drafted the most players, 16, had their ficst three in the fold and were negotiating with a few more.Toronto signed their top pick Randy Carlyle but were not offering pacts to the rest until training camp.Vancouver was without a signed amateur at late July and were hoping to cut into their seven draft picks before training camp opens.Washington signed their No. 1 pick and the first man chosen in the NHL draft, defenseman Rick Green of London, but had not announced any others at late July.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02239/3571274-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="1117" height="638"></div> &#9632;

f0023-01

NHL Signs 12 Of 18 Picks

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03181/3571319-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="562" height="1030"><figcaption class="caption-body">KURT WALKER &hellip;Will He React?</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;The National Hockey League made five rules changes during the summer pro sessions and all were aimed at one thing: removing the goon element from big league hockey.The NHL rules committee approved regulations aimed at getting rid of &ldquo;goons&rdquo; and making hockev more enjoyable for the fans while cracking down on excessive violence and speeding up the game.Here are the five basic rule changes:1. Major and game misconduct - or a major penalty - on any player who starts a fight - whether instigator or aggressor and his intentions are deemed either intimidating or punitive.2. Game misconduct for any player who physically interferes with spectators.3. Double minor for first player to leave team or penalty bench during altercation, plus a game misconduct. In addition, player&rsquo;s club to be fined $1.000 for first such incident, $3,000 lor second. $5,000 for third and subsequent.4. President of league, at his discretion, can review any incident during or in aftermath of game and assess&rsquo; additional fines or suspensions.5. $50 fine for a boarding check which causes injury to player&rsquo;s face or head.The NHL Players&rsquo; Association had gone even farther and bid to have fighting eliminated completely from hockey but was over ruled and settled on a compromise. The players wanted immediate game expulsion of both players involved in fisticuffs no matter if they had thrown only one punch. But the owners decided it was too radical a change for the game and defeated the NHLPA proposal 13-4 with one abstention.The NHL owners backed the rules committee&rsquo;s proposals for stricter rules involving player-fan altercations that landed four Philadelphia Flyers in court after last spring&rsquo;s Stanley Cup playoffs.It was unanimously approved that all penalty bench areas be partitioned off from spectators. It was also urged that player benches be closed to eliminate fan interference and stick swinging. Two such NHL rinks to be affected are Toronto&rsquo;s Maple Leaf Gardens and the Montreal Forum, where players and fans are in close proximity. Both teams agreed it will present a problem carrying out the changes but agreed they were needed.The NHL also said no to game misconduct penalties for stick swing as proposed by the player&rsquo;s association.Also passed was a ruling calling for fines and suspensions imposed by the president for incidents involving players behind the backs of officials.Because a game official can only call a penalty if he sees the infraction, the president would have the right to impose a penalty if an unfavorable report is filed on the incident. &ldquo;This is a major step,&rdquo; said reteree-in-chief Scotty Morrison. &ldquo;50 percent of our games are now supervised and reports filed.&rdquo;New faceoff rulings were also passed as a means of speeding up the game. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to speed it up. We don&rsquo;t want any more time consumed jockeying for faceoffs. We&rsquo;ll be implementing new markings and officials will be calling faceoff infractions more closely,&rdquo; Morrison added. &#9632;

f0023-03

NHL Rules Designed To Reduce Violence, Speed Game

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01300/3571364-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">WAYNE CONNELLY&hellip; Traded To Whalers</figcaption></div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY. LTD. Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY. LTD. Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaTORONTO&mdash;The World Hockey Association is going through another franchise facelift with the shifting of two teams to new cities and the possibility a third will bite the dust before the 1976-77 campaign opens.The new shape of the WHA involves the moving of the Toronto Toros to Birmingham, Alabama, and the transfer of the Cleveland Crusaders to Hollywood, Florida. A third team, San Diego Mariners, are hanging by their nails in an effort to stay alive in California with chances of their survival growing slimmer.In allowing the Toros and Crusaders to move, the WHA approved a realignment of the teams into two divisions&mdash;East and West. The Bulls will play in the revamped East Division along with Quebec Nordiques, Cincinnati Stingers, Indianapolis Racers, New England Whalers and the Florida entry. The West division will comprise Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Cowboys, Edmonton Oilers, Phoenix Roadrunners, Houston Aeros and San Diego, if the Mariners survive their present ownershipcrisis.In the event the Mariners die, the WHA said it will negotiate for a 12th team to provide a balanced two-division six team system and enable the league to proceed with its 1976-77 schedule.The Mariners have been without an owner since last March when Baltimore businessman Joe Schwartz missed a payroll and defaulted the franchise. Vancouver-born millionaire Peter Graham has been attempting to negotiate the purchase of the club but admitted he was running up against a blank wall in his dealing with interested San Diego businessmen.WHA executive director Ben Hatskin said the league would go ahead and draft an 11-team schedule and if a 12th entry comes along or San Diego makes it, the schedule will be altered accordingly. Hatskin said he hadn&rsquo;t completely ruled out the possibility of St. Paul, Minn., or Seattle ownership entering the league to take over the San Diego club.The move by Toronto owner John Bassett to Birmingham is a gamble but the former Toros&rsquo; president believes the Bulls will become a factor in the community and expects a brisk pre-season ticket sale to get the club on its way. The Bulls will be Alabama&rsquo;s first professional hockey team ever.The Crusaders have been cleared out of Cleveland and will relocate in Hollywood where Florida Pro Sports Inc., headed by promoter Bill Putnam, have been given the option to buy the team. John Wilson has been rehired as team coach and Glen Sonmor will be the club&rsquo;s new general manager. Sonmor was GM of the defunct Minnesota Fighting Saints in the WHA.One of Sonmor&rsquo;s first moves was to trade Wayne Connelly to the New England Whalers in exchange for Fred O&rsquo;Donnell and Bob McManama. Sonmor figures the two-for-one deal will benefit the Florida team defensively with the addition of McManama, the former Pittsburgh Penguin, who jumped the NHL for the WHA late last season.In other WHA developments, the league voted to stage its 197677 All Star game in Hartford, home of the Whalers, Jan. 18 pitting East against West in a divisional battle. The WHA also announced it has reduced player rosters from 20 to 18. Hatskin said the reduction in players will eliminate the less talented performer while increasing competition for jobs. &ldquo;The fans, players and the game will be the winners,&rdquo; said Hatskin.Hatskin said the move will also cut down on expenses and likely on the violence in the league. Heavy travel will be eliminated and with two less players on the rosters, every team will be rid of two salaries. Whaler GM Ron Ryan saw the change as a move to keep &lsquo;goon&rsquo; players off the rosters. &ldquo;With 16 skaters and two goalers, it means that clubs will not be able to afford to keep &lsquo;goon&rsquo; players on their payroll,&rdquo; said Ryan.Did the Whalers take the iniative in the new move by releasing tough guy Nick Fotiu, a former amateur boxer in his younger days around New York? &ldquo;It will also mean considerable cost cutting,&rdquo; added Ryan.The WHA staged its annual internal draft in which each team was allowed to protect 14 players but only 11 players changed hands. Five teams participated in the draft.Toronto Toros selected Bill Butters from Houston. Edmonton took Larrv Hornung from Winnipeg and Don Borgeson from Calgary. Florida claimed Steve Carlson from New England, his brother, Jeff, from Edmonton and Pat Westrum from Calgary. The Cowboys grabbed the third Carlson brother, Jack, from Edmonton, and goaler Michel Deguise and forward Tom Serviss from Quebec Nordiques. The Nords drafted Gord Labossiere, a Houston Aero original, and Jerry Zrymiak from Birmingham (formerly the Toros).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02232/3571357-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="541" height="1028"><figcaption class="caption-body">GLEN SONMOR &hellip; New Florida GM</figcaption></div>In a separate trade, Cincinnati swapped Gene Sobchuk to Florida and received defenseman Bryan Maxwell in return. The Stingers also traded Bryan (Soupy) Campbell to Indianapolis for a player to be named later.In a final league development, the WHA also disclosed it has adopted the international third-period rule whereby teams will change ends at the 10-minute mark thus eliminating the advantage a team might have by defending one qoal.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03161/3571350-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="1168" height="1447"><figcaption class="caption-body">FRED O&rsquo;DONNELL&hellip; Bound For Florida</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0024-01

WHA Moves Cleveland To Florida; Toros Become Birmingham Bulls

SAN DIEGO&mdash;Thefutureof hockey in this city remains unchanged. Uncertain. Just hours before he was to board a plane for the World Hockey Association annual meetings in Toronto. Peter Graham, the Canadian millionaire who operates the San Diego International Sports Arena, said he had dropped his efforts to buy the franchise.The franchise had been defaulted last March by Baltimore businessman Joseph Schwartz. As the WHA season ended last spring Graham promised the Mariners would be back and reaffirmed that June 7.The WHA trustees elected to grant an extension to round up backers. Meanwhile, a schedule was being drawn up for an 11-team league.Former WHA president Dennis Murphy and Bill MacFarland, a candidate for the league presidency, were attempting to round up backers in San Diego and negotiate a more favorable lease with Graham for the Sports Arena.&ldquo;As a group.&rdquo; said WHA chief executive Ben Hatskin, &ldquo;the directors of the WHA just don&rsquo;t feel this thing is dead.&rdquo; &#9632;

San Diego’s Status Remains Up In Air

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCCONNELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01248/3571419-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">JUHANI TAMMINEN&hellip; Joining Old Friends</figcaption></div>PHOENIX&mdash;The Roadrunners have almost completed their all-Finnish line with the acquisition of 5-11, 185-pound left wing Juhani Tamminen, who played last season for the Cleveland Crusaders.The Roadrunners have Lauri Mononen, returning on the right side and a quality center lined up to skate with them.Seppo Repo has agreed to a two-year contract but it can&rsquo;t be signed until the 28-year-old center&rsquo;s rights have been purchased from the Finnish Ice Hockey League.Two years ago, Repo, Tamminen and Mononen claimed three of the top four spots in the Finnish Major League. Repo and Tamminen had 53 points in 36 games and Mononen 51.All three played together on the Finnish National team with Roadrunner defenseman Pekka Rautakallio. Tamminen, 26, is a veteran of 140 games in international tournament competition.Neither Tamminen nor Mononen had outstanding seasons in the World Hockey Association, Tamminen with 714&mdash;21 totals and Mononen with 15-21-36.But, their European style of play, which made Mononen a Phoenix crowd favorite when he got on the ice, did not fit the style coached by Sandy Hucul in Phoenix nor Johnny Wilson in Cleveland. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll put the three of them together, let them go and see if they can do their thing,&rdquo; said Al Rollins, officially the Roadrunners&rsquo; director of player personnel and unofficially (for now) the general manager and coach.Rollins has been attempting to land Tamminen since midwinter and when he did, it was in exchange for that old campaigner, &ldquo;Future Considerations.&rdquo; &ldquo;Johnny Wilson was high on him,&rdquo; said Rollins, &ldquo;and they had intended to put together their own all-Finnish line but all that changed when the team moved to Florida and Glen Sonmor became the general manager. Sonmor has his own guys he likes.&rdquo;Sonmor was the general manager of the Minnesota Fighting Saints who were disbanded during last season and he is re-assembling many of them in Florida.The Roadrunners also announced final plans for their training camp in Tampere, Finland, with expenses being paid by Finn Air and the Finnish Ice Hockey League.The Sept. 10-Oct. 1 camp will be held in the Ice Hall, the site of the 1965 world tournament. Rollins said he plans a squad of about 28, including three or four Finnish draft choices, and eight pre-season games in Finland and one in Memphis, Tenn., Oct. 2 against the Birmingham Bulls.One hole Rollins will have to fill is in goal. Jack Norris, who shared the duties last season with Gary Kurt, has retired.The summer has been a period of R and R for the RR team, rest and repair.Rautakallio had surgery for a chronic shoulder ailment while veteran defenseman Jim Niekamp and left wing Michel Cormier had torn cartilage removed from knees.Cormier missed most of the last half of last season after surgery to repair torn ligaments. The cartilage tear occurred while he was doing jumping exercises and running at home in Trois-Rivieres, Que.Niekamp&rsquo;s injury was an old one which he aggravated in summer softball game. &#9632;

f0025-01

Runners Near Reality By Securing Tamminen

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCCONNELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01252/3571457-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="561" height="1220"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM NIEKAMP &hellip; Community Minded</figcaption></div>PHOENIX&mdash;&ldquo;Players aren&rsquo;t supposed to care,&rdquo; said Phoenix Roadrunner team captain Al McLeod. &ldquo;Well, our guys care.&rdquo;They showed how much with the purchase of 528 season tickets at a cost of $110,000 to be shared equally by all members of the team.It&rsquo;s believed to be the largest and possibly the only such gesture by a team in pro sports.The move pushed the season ticket sale well over the 4.000 mark. Last season&rsquo;s ticket sale was under 3,000. A target of 7,000 was set for next season but Roadrunner officials are looking at 5-6,000.&ldquo;We came up with the idea at a team meeting back in February or March when we first realized the team was really having trouble.&ldquo;No one wanted to take a salary cut. We&rsquo;ve got the third lowest payroll in the league, so that wasn&rsquo;t the problem.&rdquo;Jim Niekamp, another Roadrunner defenseman, said the greatest motivation was a desire to be part of the community.&ldquo;The city and the people have been so good to us,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We just want to be part of the city. It&rsquo;s not as if we just play here and leave at the end of the season.&ldquo;When you get older and start raising a family, you can really appreciate a place like this. We just want to do something to make hockey go here.&rdquo;McLeod echoed Niekamp&rsquo;s sentiments.&ldquo;If I was still in Detroit, I doubt I&rsquo;d do it. I felt no attachment to that place.&rdquo;McLeod and Niekamp could understand their own feelings but were amazed at the response by the vounger players.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think the community means that much to them,&rdquo; he said, then reflecting on the fact that the players were 100 percent in favor of the ticket purchase, he added, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m proud of the team I&rsquo;m on. I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s been a team anywhere do something like this.&rdquo;Community involvement?Well, for starters, 10 players (Kiekamp, McLeod. Serge Beaudoin. John Gray, Robbie Ftorek, J.C. Migneault, Gary Kurt, Jim Boyd, Michel Cormier and Garry Lariviere-plus trainers Jack Curran and Ken Fleger, coach-to-be Al Rollins and former president (in limbo) Bill MacFarland) have all bought homes in Phoenix.Charities, church groups, schools, youth groups, etc., have found willingness among the Roadrunners to make public appearances.They&rsquo;ve given quietly and heavily to charities. They ponied up a good chunk of cash for the Easter Telethon and challenged the Roadrunner organization to match it, which it did.They kicked in $20 per man to show their own appreciation on the Ginny Redfield (the team&rsquo;s organist) Appreciation Night. They&rsquo;ve dug down often.As for the tickets, many have been distributed to charities. Some are being sold at discounted rates (based on what the buyer can afford) to individuals and groups.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re inviting people to call us and make their pitch,&rdquo; said Niekamp.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want to cut into the club&rsquo;s season ticket sale,&rdquo; said McLeod. &ldquo;That would be defeating our purpose.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve met a lot of people who went to a Friday night game, but just couldn&rsquo;t afford to go Saturday. We&rsquo;re trying to help them out and maybe get a little bit of money back for our guys, but our main objective is to get exposure to new fans.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02203/3571450-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="565" height="736"><figcaption class="caption-body">AL McLEOD &hellip; Attached To City</figcaption></div>&ldquo;We figure if we can get people out to see a game, it&rsquo;s such a great game, it will sell itself.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0026-01

Phoenix Players Spend $110,000 To Ensure Box Office’s Success

PHOENIX&mdash;Al Rollins, director of player personnel and heir apparent to the coaching job with the Roadrunners, has completed arrangements for training camp in Finland.During his six-day whirlwind tour of Finland. Rollins also reached agreement on a two-year contract with Seppo Repo, 28-year-old center-ice star of the Finnish Ice Hockey League.The Roadrunners had two Finns on the club last season, defenseman Pekka Rautakallioand right wing Lauri Mononen.The Roadrunners will hold training camp, Sept. 10-Oct. 1, at Tampere, about two hours by bus from Helsinki. Rollins also arranged an eight-game pre-season schedule against Finnish teams.Proceeds from the games go to the Finnish Ice Hockey League, which together with Finn-Air. is underwriting the Roadrunners&rsquo; training camp expenses. &#9632;

Roadrunners Plan Games, Training Camp In Finland

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03167/3571536-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GORD LABOSSIERE&hellip; Grabbed By Nordiques</figcaption></div>HOUSTON&mdash;The Houston Aeros lost one of the original Aeros, Gord Labossiere, and defenseman Bill Butters in the World Hockey Associations intra-league draft. Labossiere was claimed by Quebec and Butters was the first player drafted, by Birmingham.&ldquo;I feel bad about losing Labby since he&rsquo;s been with the team from the start and has done so much to contribute to our success,&rdquo; said Houston coach and general manager Bill Dineen. &ldquo;I hated to leave him unprotected, but there were so many young players we had to protect.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s good, though, that if he had to go any place, it would be Quebec. That&rsquo;s his summer home.&rdquo;In four seasons, Labossiere had 102 goals and 162 assists for the Aeros. He scored 24 goals and 32 assists last season.Butters was acquired in a late season trade with Toronto after refusing to report to the Toros, who gained his rights in the draft of players from the disbanded Minnesota franchise. He was subsequently dealt to Florida (formerly Cleveland) for the rights to Vladimir Martinek, a member of the Czech National team.Meanwhile, at the annual WHA meeting and draft, Houston&rsquo;s player-president Gordie Howe announced he had been placed on the league&rsquo;s voluntary retired list, but hedged on actual retirement.&ldquo;I think I had a pretty good year,&rdquo; said Howe. &ldquo;Now I have to decide whether I can be of more help in the front office or on the ice. Right now there are still factors that have to be considered.&ldquo;I want to make absolutely certain before I say anything this time.&rdquo;There was some grumbling that Howe move allowed the Aeros to protect another player in the intraleague draft. &#9632;

f0026-03

Aero ‘Original’ Labossiere Victim Of Youth Movement

QUEBEC CITY&mdash;Marc Tardif&rsquo;s hockey future remains in doubt three months after his tragic ice mishap.The blows suffered by Tardif in a World Hockey Association playoff game April 11 could prevent Tardif from playing hockey next season and could end the left winger&rsquo;s career, a neurologist has revealed.Dr. Michel Copty was testifying at a preliminary hearing for Rick Jodzio of Calgary Cowboys, who is charged with assault causing bodily harm in connection with the incident against the Quebec Nordiques&rsquo;left winger:Copty said he could not say for certain that Tardif would have permanent brain damage but &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t guarantee anything for the next six months.&rdquo;He added that Tardif could be incapable of playing hockey in the same manner as he has done in the past because of a loss of reflexes which are crucial for hockey players.The preliminary hearing was adjourned until Aug. 30 after testimony delivered by Steve Dowling, who refereed the Nordiques-Cow-boys game at the Coliseum.Contradicting earlier witnesses who said Jodzio charged at Tardif with his stick above his shoulder and hit Tardif in the face with the stick. Dowling said Jodzio hit Tardif in the chest above the Calgary player&rsquo;s shoulder at the time.Dowling assessed a match penalty to Jodzio after the incident but told the hearing it was for charging and was given after consultation with his two linesmen.Several times during the hearing, defence lawyers tried to get witnesses to testify about the treatment Jodzio received in earlier Quebec-Calgary games from Quebec players, notably Gordie Gallant and Bill Prentice. Mr. Justice Cyrille Potvin, who is presiding over the hearing, reminded the lawyers that the hearing was to hear testimony of the Jodzio-Tardif incident. &#9632;

Injury Perils Tardif Career

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01236/3571567-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg"></div>TORONTO&mdash;The World Hockey Association had a slight increase in attendance last year.The WHA announced that home attendance for the 14 teams last year totalled 4,123,121. That was an increase of 27,210 over the 1974-75 season.The average home attendance for the 14 teams was 7,750 compared with a 7,502 average the previous season.However, the WHA played to only 57.2 per cent of capacity. The total attendance of 4,123,121 was slightly more than 3,000,000 below capacity.Here is a team-by-team breakdown of the WHA&rsquo;s home attendance by clubs: &#9632;

f0027-01

WHA Showed Increase In Home Attendance

QUEBEC&mdash;The Quebec Nordiques will begin their 1976-77 season in the World Hockey Association with their fifth coach in as many years.The Nordiques, who were eliminated by the Calgary Cowboys in the WHA&rsquo;s Canadian Division playoffs last season, have hired former National Hockey League player and coach Marc Boileau.Boileau has signed a one-year contract to coach the Nordiques and shortly after the announcement was made, he promised strict discipline within the club.&ldquo;All the players, including the stars, are going to toe the line,&rdquo; said Boileau, who was let out as coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins mid-way through the 1975-76 season.&ldquo;I demand a lot of work from everyone,&rdquo; Boileau said. &ldquo;I start a regular day in the season with 15 minutes of hard skating followed by 50 pushups before the practice begins.&ldquo;If I can do it, the rest of the team had better do it also.&rdquo;Boileau replaces Jean-Guy Gendron, who accepted a cash settlement in lieu of finishing the second year on his two-year contract with the Nordiques.Before Gendron, the Nordiques had Maurice Filion, Maurice (Rocket) Richard and Jacques Plante as coaches of the team. Filion is the club&rsquo;s current general manager.Boileau may not have as much talent on hand this year as the Nordiques had last season.He may have to start the season without left winger Marc Tardif, who was the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s leading point-getter last year.Tardif has been relaxing in Monteal during the summer months and was a frequent visitor to home games of the Montreal Expos of baseball&rsquo;s National League.However, Tardifs participation appears to be out of the question. He may not even be ready to start the regular season with the Nordiques.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02187/3571605-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="562" height="872"><figcaption class="caption-body">DALE HOGANSON &hellip; Left Nordiques</figcaption></div>He was selected by Sam Pollock, general manager of the Montreal Canadiens, to participate in the Team Canada training camp in mid-August.When Boileau looks up and down the Nordiques bench this year, he won&rsquo;t find a couple of other players who were standouts with the Quebec team last year.Rejean Houle, who played on a line with Tardif, has decided to return to his original professional organization.Houle jumped back to the Canadiens from the Nordiques after three seasons in a Quebec uniform. He has signed a multi-year contract with Montreal, where he starred in junior hockey. He then turned professional and played with the Montreal Voyageurs of the American Hockey League before making it with the Canadiens.Also gone is rugged defenseman Dale Hoganson. He was recently traded to the Toronto Toros, now the Birmingham Bulls.That appears to give Boileau enough of a headache to start with. Should he have to start the season without Tardif, that means the only member of the high-scoring line he&rsquo;ll have in training camp is Chris Bordeleau.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03137/3571598-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="562" height="674"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARC BOILEAU &hellip; Replaces Gendron</figcaption></div>And, with Hoganson gone, he&rsquo;ll have to start switching defensemen around in order to come up with the right blueline combinations. &#9632;

f0027-02

New Nordiques’ Coach Promises Tough Camp

<div class="byline">BY AL FISCHER</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY. LTD. Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaHOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY. LTD. Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaSPRINGFIELD&mdash;Contrary to rumors, the report of the American Hockey League League&rsquo;s demise was premature.At the League&rsquo;s annual June Meetings, AHL president Jack Butterfield announced to one and all that &ldquo;The American Hockey League will be in business this fall.&rdquo;Thus, Butterfield dispelled the disquieting stories that hockey&rsquo;s oldest minor league would not continue. The AHL is preparing for its 41st campaign.&ldquo;A lot of people thought we wouldn&rsquo;t make it,&rdquo; remarked league vice president Gordon Anziano, &ldquo;But we have five definite assurances of cities continuing and if Baltimore and Providence can&rsquo;t make it, we may add another city.&rdquo;That &ldquo;other&rdquo; city could possibly be Portland. Maine, or Moncton, N.B. The addition of Moncton would go a long way in alleviating the travel problems that always crop up when US-based clubs make the long trek to Halifax completing a 3-4 day stay for a two-game series with Nova Scotia.Ready for another year of competition well be Nova Scotia&rsquo;s defending Calder Cup champions, Hershey Bears. Rochester Americans, New Haven Nighthawks under new NHL agreements, and Springfield Indians, also with new owners and new NHL affiliations.Baltimore and Providence indicated their willingness to remain in the AHL, but Baltimore needed a working agreement with either an NHL or WHA team before the Clipper management would give any assurances of continuing as a league member. Providence owner George Sage, who announced that his franchise was up for sale, stated he would allow someone else to run the Rhode Island team for $1 with an option to purchase the franchise during the season.General manager John Muckier is heading a group to do just that, and Muckier is seeking player help, but not a total working agreement.Nova Scotia remains tightly united with Montreal and Atlanta; Hershey, will continue its very amiable agreements with Buffalo and Pittsburgh; Rochester will still receive aid from Boston, and Minnesota will continue to aid New Haven. The Nighthawks however, have dropped Detroit as a working affiliate and have acquired a new partner in the New York Rangers, who in turn severed their affiliation with Providence when Sage made his &ldquo;for sale&rdquo; announcement.Springfield won&rsquo;t seem the same without Eddie Shore. The controversial owner recently sold his franchise to a group headed by George Leary, a long-time friend of Shore&rsquo;s, and at one time his personal attorney.The Indians, who went from Calder Cup champs to last place in just one season, are determined to make fans forget the horrendous 1975-76 campaign when they were affiliated with Kansas City.Leary quickly gathered forces and signed multiple working agreements with Washington and Philadelphia. The Indians replace Richmond as the top farm club for both the Flyers and the Caps. Richmond, citing huge financial losses over a four-year period as members of the AHL, decided to terminate its franchise early last month.Leary and his organization quickly announced the appointment of John Hanna as coach, a move enthusiastically greeted by Washington general manager Max McNab, who commented. &ldquo;John Hanna has proven to be an experienced. hard working coach. I&rsquo;m sure any players we assign to Springfield will receive top notch coaching.&rdquo;The Indians will abandon the new downtown civic arena and return to the old Eastern States Coliseum for the new season.Baltimore could have been in Stjringfield&rsquo;s position as a viable league member had Clipper officials not demanded too much money. Washington and Philadelphia both would have welcomed the chance to work with Baltimore, but a reported asking price of $65,000 from each was considered too exorbitant.The current Baltimore owners are satisfied with general manager Terry Reardon, and he acted as spokesman for the Clippers when they made their offer to the WHA for player help. New England is Baltimore&rsquo;s chief sponsor among WHA clubs, and Providence is a lot closer to the Whalers&rsquo; Hartford, Conn., home than Baltimore.Baltimore&rsquo;s plight is nothing new. Ever since the ill-fated voyage of a WHA team in the Monumental City two years ago; Baltimore hockey fans have been promised tough, exciting teams. They have failed to materialize and Baltimore fans are getting fed up with false promises.Local owners, most of them completely inexperienced in the ways of hockey, are content to let things remain at its status quo in regard to front office management, but if Baltimore is to remain a member of the AHL, then perhaps, that ownership should take a new outlook.Baltimore has attempted to remain an independent entity, devoid of close alliances with either the NHL or WHA. This system worked effectively for two years, but with the rest of the AHL currently enjoying the working agreements with NHL clubs, the talent necessary to produce a winner in the AHL has not been available to Reardon and the Baltimore club. The Clippers were a distant last in the AHL&rsquo;s Southern Division last year and concluded the campaign with a 13-game winless streak.James Watson, one of the Baltimore owners, has suggested, that in the event efforts to secure a working agreement with the WHA fail. Baltimore may be inclined to seek a berth in the Southern League, which is looking for a new member, now that the Charlotte franchise has folded.Baltimore and Providence had been given a July 13 deadline in order to come up with a suitable solution to their problems, so that the AHL could proceed with schedule making.Should both cities remain as AHL members and another city is added to the league, division setups would remain in vogue. If either Baltimore or Providence drops out and another city is added, an unwieldy league of seven teams would probably result in a one division setup, although this is also uncertain.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01224/3571636-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="550" height="1117"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHNMUCKLER &hellip; Heads Buyers</figcaption></div>The only certainty is that the American Hockey League will continue to operate and this in itself can be considered a plus to many players who have become free agents and are having difficulty finding employment.In addition&rsquo; to the Springfield change of ownership and the likely change in Providence, there is also expected to be a change in Rochester, where Don Clark is attempting to peddle the franchise to a group of local businessmen, headed by Dick Altier. Negotiations were still in progress when the AHL meetings were being conducted. &#9632;

f0028-01

AHL Undecided About Team Makeup But Assurances Keep League Alive

PROVIDENCE&mdash;Hockey is not dead in Rhode Island. An 11th hour effort by fnas appears to have saved the Reds from pulling out of the American Hockey League.&ldquo;When the initial news was announced that there would not be hockey in Rhode Island after 50 years of operation, the fan reaction was so strong to keep the Reds that we felt hockey still had a place within the community,&rdquo; said Robert O. Tiernan, a former United States Congressman.Tiernan and F. Thomas O&rsquo;Halloran, East Providence attorney, head a local group fighting to keep hockey in Providence.&ldquo;It is our belief that local hockey fans can and will support a competitive team within the framework of the American Hockey League,&rdquo; Tiernan said.Tiernan said his group has made an agreement with Reds&rsquo; president George M. Sage to lease the club for the 1976-77 season withan option to buy the franchise July 1. 1977.Both Tiernan and O&rsquo;Halloran also announced that John Muckier will remain as coach of the Reds for the coming season.He has a record of 115 victories. 81 losses and 32 ties in three seasons as coach of the Reds. &#9632;

Providence Fan Reaction Revives Reds

RICHMOND&mdash;A steady decline in attendance, despite several marketing approaches and advertising campaigns, has led to the folding of the Richmond Robins&rsquo; franchise in the American Hockey League.Richmond Sports International, which operated the franchise, said in a statement that the results of the various campaigns have produced the same insignificant results: &ldquo;Promise of support, pats on the back and decreasing attendance.&rdquo;The Robins under president E. Clairborne Robins Jr., have proven to be an important developer of National Hockey League talent to the Philadelphia Flyers. Players such as Bill Barber. Don Saleski, Dave Schultz, Bill Clement, and Orest Kindrachuk are just a few of the Richmond players who graduated to the two-time Stanley Cup champion Fivers.&ldquo;Our most recent effort to sell tickets, the lifeblood of any professional team, fell short of its goal.&rdquo; the firm said in a statement.The RSI organization announced on April 30 that 3,000 season tickets and/or bonus books had to be sold in order for the Robins to operate in 1976-77.Seven weeks after the campaign got under way, RSI announced that less than 1,000 season tickets had been purchased by less 500 individuals or companies.&ldquo;From these facts, RSI can only conclude that professional ice hockey is not a marketbale commodity in Richmond at this time.&rdquo; the statement said.&ldquo;A business must produce a profit, or at least break even, if it is to remain in operation. The Richmond Robins are on the minus side financially and without any sign of reversing, are forced to cease operation.&rdquo; &#9632;

Lack Of Fan Support Forced Richmond Out

<h2>ATLANTA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01190/3571834-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="718" height="808"></div><h2>BOSTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02154/3571827-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="716" height="873"></div><h2>BUFFALO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03107/3571820-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="718" height="619"></div><h2>CALIFORNIA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0480/3571813-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="717" height="765"></div><h2>CHICAGO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0573/3571806-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="722" height="647"></div><h2>DETROIT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0656/3571799-1-eng-US/f0029-062.jpg" title="f0029-06" width="719" height="646"></div><h2>KANSAS CITY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0744/3571792-1-eng-US/f0029-072.jpg" title="f0029-07" width="718" height="797"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0837/3571785-1-eng-US/f0029-082.jpg" title="f0029-08" width="715" height="525"></div><h2>MINNESOTA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0933/3571778-1-eng-US/f0029-092.jpg" title="f0029-09" width="718" height="728"></div><h2>MONTREAL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1029/3571771-1-eng-US/f0029-102.jpg" title="f0029-10" width="717" height="682"></div><h2>ISLANDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1125/3571764-1-eng-US/f0029-112.jpg" title="f0029-11" width="727" height="605"></div><h2>RANGERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1221/3571757-1-eng-US/f0029-122.jpg" title="f0029-12" width="718" height="768"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1315/3571750-1-eng-US/f0029-132.jpg" title="f0029-13" width="719" height="624"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1414/3571743-1-eng-US/f0029-142.jpg" title="f0029-14" width="716" height="721"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1510/3571736-1-eng-US/f0029-152.jpg" title="f0029-15" width="720" height="722"></div><h2>TORONTO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-168/3571729-1-eng-US/f0029-162.jpg" title="f0029-16" width="718" height="595"></div><h2>VANCOUVER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-177/3571722-1-eng-US/f0029-172.jpg" title="f0029-17" width="715" height="692"></div><h2>WASHINGTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-187/3571715-1-eng-US/f0029-182.jpg" title="f0029-18" width="718" height="894"></div><h2>Key To Statistics</h2>TGF&mdash;Total goals for.PGF&mdash;Power goals for.NET&mdash;Net Total.TGA&mdash;Total goals againstPGA&mdash;Power goals against. &#9632;

f0029-01

NHL’s Plus-Minus Figures For 1975-76

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY. LTD. Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY. LTD. Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaDALLAS&mdash;Roger Neilson, 42-year-old general manager-coach of the Peterborough Petes in the Ontario Hockey Association&rsquo;s Major Junior League for the past four years, was announced as the new manager-coach of the Dallas Black Hawks for their first season as a joint farm operation of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Hawks. Neilson had coached the Petes for five and a half years before adding the responsibilities of general manager.The parent club general managers, Tommy Ivan in Chicago and Jim Gregory in Toronto, issued a joint statement: &ldquo;We are delighted to get a person of Roger&rsquo;s calibre to head our co-operative club in Dallas. He is the man we wanted for the job.&ldquo;Roger has proved to be an outstanding coach, and an innovative one. We believe he has the potential to be a National League coach someday.&rdquo;Neilson succeeds both Gordon Fashoway, who took over the reins at Dallas last season, and Ray Miron, manager-coach of Toronto&rsquo;s farm club in Oklahoma City for two seasons after spending 10 years with the Tulsa Oilers.Miron is expected to be named the new CHL president, filling the vacancy left when Max McNab resigned last January to become general manager of the NHL Washington Capitals.Earlier in July Eric Nadel, OC Broadcaster and public relations director the past season, had moved to Dallas to assume the same duties for the new HawkLeaf joint venture. Frank Filesi who had held those positions for Dallas, resigned in May to enter private business there.Neilson, a Toronto native, was graduated from McMaster University in Hamilton with a degree in physical eduction, and spent 14 years as teacher, until he added the GM role to his coaching duties. He was Ontario scout for the Montreal Canadiens for three years before moving to Peterborough in 1966-67.Meanwhile, it appeared a league record was on the brink of being broken. For the first time in 14 years it seemed likely the CHL member cities for the 1976-77 campaign would be exactly the same as for 1975-76.The biggest snag appeared to be in Oklahoma City, where the franchise seemed to be all set a month earlier. A syndicate of 10 OC businessmen had assumed ownership of the Blazers and announced a working agreement with the St. Louis Blues.The &ldquo;handshake agreement&rdquo; was to have been formalized with contract signing at the NHL&rsquo;s June meeting in Montreal. But the contract reportedly contained some clauses which had not been discussed previously, and the signing was put off pending further talks between Blues&rsquo; general manager Emile Francis and Bill Levins, spokesman for the new ownership. That&rsquo;s the way the matter still stood in early July.The New York Islanders and Los Angeles Kings, apparently unable to come to terms with Omaha, abandoned their efforts to move to the Nebraska city. They were almost ready to announce they would keep their joint farm club in Fort Worth, working out an agreement with local owners.In Tucson, also, it was believed matters were about to come to a head, with the parent Phoenix Roadrunners of the World Hockey Association ready to affiliate with new management-ownership of theCHL Mavericks.Lester Patrick, owner of the professional volleyball Tucson Turquoise, was to be a key figure in the new setup, and probably general manager, with the hockey club sharing the offices of the volleyball club, according to reports. Lester is the son of Lynn Patrick, St. Louis Blues&rsquo; executive.Roy Jackson, last season&rsquo;s Maverick owner and president of the Pacific Coast Baseball League, reportedly was scheduled to retain a percentage interest, but talks were continuing on a number of unpaid bills, some of which could involve litigation.In Phoenix, Al Rollins, the Roadrunners&rsquo; player personnel director, was optimistic a new agreement would be reached. &ldquo;I believe we will furnish six players to Tucson, and they will find the rest of the squad on their own,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We would prefer to continue in Tucson, but if an agreement can&rsquo;t be reached, we can send our players to Baltimore in the American League.&rdquo;Pointing up the need for a speedy decision, the Tucson City Council set a deadline of July 15 for holding the Mavs&rsquo; dates at the Community Center Arena.Apparently set for the new season are the defending champion Tulsa Oilers, backed by the NHL Atlanta Flames and Vancouver Canucks, and the Salt Lake Golden Eagles, operated by he California (or Cleveland?) Golden Seals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01220/3571865-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="547" height="748"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROGER NEILSON &hellip; Takes Over Hawks</figcaption></div>Neilson became the CHL&rsquo;s first announced coach for 1976-77, although Orland Kurtenbach said he was expecting to return at Tulsa. Kurt was waiting word from his employers in Vancouver.No announcements had been made by the parent clubs on the fate of Marv Edwards at Salt Lake or Ed Chadwick at Fort Worth. &#9632;

f0030-01

CHL Likely To Have Same Starters As Islanders, Kings Abandon Omaha

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div>MONTREAL&mdash;The same people who tell one and all that Sammy Pollock is a genius happily insist that Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; coach Scotty Bowman is just the opposite. Yet, Pollock stuck with Bowman when the heat was intense in the Quebec metropolis&mdash;and came out a winner.&ldquo;Scotty has changed a bit,&rdquo; notes Claude Ruel, the Canadiens assistant coach. &ldquo;There was a lot of pressure this season. We developed the idea of hyping the defense and it paid off.&rdquo;Bowman, whose moods can change like a chamelon, convinced the Canadiens that playing defense first would pay off. The goal in the regular season was the Vezina Trophy. In the playoffs it was the Stanley Cup.&ldquo;We told the guys they would have to work harder all year. When they were tempted to let up we asked them to dig down and come back harder. It paid off,&rdquo; said Scotty. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you can win the Stanley Cup playing completely wide open fire wagon hockey like we used to.&rdquo;Bowman, now 43, has been in five finals and won the last two. He took the Canadiens to the cup in 1972-73, after losing three straight finals as head man of the original St. Louis Blues, circa 1968-70.&ldquo;Scotty wasn&rsquo;t as abrasive this season,&rdquo; noted an unnamed, but prominent Canadien. &ldquo;He seemed to want everyone&rsquo;s good will. He didn&rsquo;t dispel tender loving care, but he was more human and understandable.&rdquo;His adroit juggling of lines and combinations in the NHL playoffs made even master strategist Fred Shero seemed outgunned. In truth, Bowman had more and fresher bodies than Shero, but he never let up. In the final game Scotty employed 31 different line combinations&mdash;and in both games in the Philadelphia Spectrum he judiciously beefed up his front wall with defensemen Rick Chartraw, Pierre Bouchard and Larry Robinson.n Bowmanrarely smiles, but he was seen breaking into a wide grin after the final buzzer. And he rates the Stanley Cup as the top prize in hockey.Scotty can be very human. Earlier this season when one of the Montreal dailies failed to send its regular staffer to the West Coast, employing a stringer in Oakland, Scotty crossed up the local and talked only in French in the postgame interviews. The members of the Montreal French language newspapers had no trouble, but the stringer blew his assignment.One of Bowman&rsquo;s biggest moves still goes unheralded. It was the deal Bowman requested, which brought back utility forward defenseman Jim Roberts from the St. Louis Blues. Roberts plays well everywhere, and got loose for two key goalsen route to the cup.&ldquo;Scotty made some key moves this year. This team is more or less the same team as last year,&rdquo; noted Ken Dryden.&rdquo;He brought Guy Lafleur out of the shadows, and developed Robinson. And his use of four centers in the playoffs kept everyone at peak efficiency at all times. Doug Jarvis played well under Scotty.&rdquo;One of Bowman&rsquo;s smooth con jobs was performed on captain Yvan Cournoyer, who remained interested and a vital force, even though he lost considerable playing time on the power play with the emergence of Lafleur, like Yvan, also a right wing.The tremendous pressure from the press probably prolonged Henri Richard&rsquo;s career at least a year. But Bowman judged that Richard&rsquo;s usefullness was done and slowly moved him out.Dryden reveals, &ldquo;I never was angry at Bowman, even when I didn&rsquo;t play that season. Scotty kept telling them he had to have me to win, but Pollock didn&rsquo;t want to pay the price.&rdquo;Bowman was the general manager-coach of the Blues from November of 1967-68 through the 1970-71 seasons when he had a celebrated falling out with Sid Solomon III. He had started in the Canadiens system in 1951-52, when a head injury cut short his playing career. Although he was supposed to be calling the shots in St. Louis and wouldn&rsquo;t allow the person, who was more or less the owner, to interfere, he defers to Pollock with simple grace.&ldquo;I am happy with the Canadiens,&rdquo; says Scotty. &ldquo;There is extra pressure here in Montreal, but it&rsquo;s the only place in hockey to work. And I have been with Sam Pollock in some form or other, all my days in hockey, except when I was in St. Louis.&rdquo;Bowman&rsquo;s celebrated temper and abrasiveness was under better control this year. Most of the press box Canadiens aren&rsquo;t enamored of Scotty, but that&rsquo;s normal.In this day of the system, the Canadiens&rsquo; coach had the flexibility to change the long time Montreal system to fit present day needs. He may have gone the Flyers one better by checking and hitting even more than they did&mdash;still retaining enough of the end to end concept.When Buffalo knocked out the Canadiens in the 1974-75 semifinals, Bowman sadly commented, &ldquo;It may be the end of fire wagon hockey. We have to take a different approach.&rdquo;With largely the same personnel Scotty took a different approach&mdash;and is now being hailed as the coach of the new Canadiens&rsquo; dynasty. Of course, Pollock gets most of the credit, but he sums it up succintly.&ldquo;Our coaching job was a revolving door after Toe Blake quit, until Scotty Bowman returned to us,&rdquo; said Pollock. &#9632;

Bowman Mellowed In Leading Habs To Cup

LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canadd by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY LTD Arnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U.S and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canadd by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY LTD Arnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U.S and CanadaDAYTON&mdash;The International Hockey League moved through its summer hockey sessions without incident and certainly little changes.The loop will again go with the same nine clubs it finished the 1975-76 campaign with meaning that the troubled Columbus Owls will remain at their present site after efforts to move the team elsewhere failed to materialize.The league will open play likely Oct. 15 with each team playing 78 games. 39 away, and 39 at home. The five-pro limit per club will again be in effect thanks to a recent NHL-IHL player agreement signed by the two circuits.On the matter of changes, the champion Dayton Gems surprised by announcing that the club had hired both a new general manager and bench coach. Ken Wilson, who was GM at Flint last season, has moved over to take the Dayton job while former NHLer Larry Mickey has been retained as the Gems&rsquo;new coach.Both appointments were a surprise. Tommy McVie held down the dual job as manager-coach at Dayton before he left the Gems midway in the last season to accept the Washington Caps&rsquo; coaching position. The Gems, desperate for a successor, brought in oldtime IHL &lsquo;bad man&rsquo; Ivan Prediger as interim coach. Prediger guided the Gems to the Turner and it seemed he would be back at the helm of the club. But the Gems decided to bring in Mickey, who had been an active-member of the Buffalo Sabres up until last season when a leg injury forced him into inactivity.Wilson replaces Ed Ralph, who was assistant to McVie and later moved into the GM&rsquo;s chair when McVie departed Dayton. No reason was given for the change by the Gems.The Kalamazoo Wings are working feverishly towards improving their box office outlook for the next season and early indications are they were going to succeed. The Wings announced that the season ticket sale had gone over the 1,300 mark, only 366 less than last year&rsquo;s total number of subscribers. Managercoach Bob Lemieux has set a goal of 2,000 season tickets for 1976-77 and is confident the club will reach or surpass it.Lemieux has been busy in the off-season scouring the country for player prospects for next year. He has visited Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, New York, Washington and Philadelphia in Montreal and reported that the Wings can expect considerable player help from the parent Detroit Red Wings. The NHL club grabbed off such top amateurs as Fred Williams, Reed Larson, Fred Berry, Kevin Shamehorn, Dwight Schofield, Tony Horvath. Fernand Leblanc and Claude Legris, a Quebec Major League goaler. Lemieux said he expects some of these top draft picks to find their way to Kulamazoo for the new season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01202/3571920-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="535" height="865"><figcaption class="caption-body">LARRY MICKEY &hellip; New Dayton Pilot</figcaption></div>Meanwhile, the IHL conducted the reinstated pro draft and the junior draft of unclaimed players in Montreal. The K-WINGS selected Andre Deschamps, a talented but aggressive left winger from the Buffalo Sabres in the 1st round. Yvon Dupuis&rsquo; linemate Neil Korzack was selected in the 3rd round. Yvon Dupuis was selected in the 2nd, round from the Charlotte Checkers of the SHL. K-Wing head scout Frank Wilbur ranks Korzack as the best right winger in the SHL last year.Both Dupuis and Korzack spurred the Charlotte Checkers to back-to-back league championships the past 2 years in the SHL. Deschamps was the innocent recipient of a gunshot blast in the knee at a Quebec restaurant a few weeks ago. Andre is expected to recover fully. The K-Wings are only allowed one reinstated pro on the club. Also in the junior drafts, the K-Wings picked three American boys. Jim Cunningham and Jeff Brubake were selected from the St. Paul Vulcans and rough Dave Feamster from the Detroit Junior Wings. All are expected to play college hockey, but are counted on as future K-Wings.The International Hockey League has announced the completion of its sixth annual agreement with the National Hockey League. Under provisions of the agreement, the refinements of which will be ratified in August, NHL teams place players with IHL clubs for development.The IHL&rsquo;s policy ofa player ballot to determine the All Star game teams was approved for the 197677 season. Next season&rsquo;s game will be played on Jan 18, 1977 at the IMA Arena in Flint.In order to prevent involvement of fans in altercations with players, a growing concern in all of hockey&rsquo;s leagues, commissioner Beagan asked that all arena managers install protective railings and glass or screens at the playing and penalty benches. &#9632;

f0032-01

Champion Gems Get New GM, Coach

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02147/3571958-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">MORRIS SNIDER&hellip; He Saw Them Come And Go</figcaption></div>PORT HURON&mdash;The man recently named the &ldquo;executive of the year&rdquo; in the-International Hockey League is boss in the league&rsquo;s smallest city&mdash;or for that matter, one of the smallest minor league cities in North America.The names Morris Snider and Port Huron, Michigan have been linked for nearly a decade. But, in that time, the genial general manager of the Port Huron Flags has seen many of the NHL&rsquo;s big rfames go from his city to &ldquo;the big apple.&rdquo;If you have a map that is finely-detailed, you might find Port Huron as a small dot about half-an-inch above Detroit. It&rsquo;s barely in Michigan and almost in Ontario. Some residents of this resort community of 35,000 like to refer to their city as &ldquo;the Green Bay of hockey&rdquo; since the two communities are similar in size and in success in their respective levels of sport.What names are linked with Port Huron&rsquo;s International Hockey League entry besides Snider&rsquo;s? Try Yvon Lambert of the Montreal Canadiens, Jerry Korab of the Buffalo Sabres, &ldquo;Battleship&rdquo; Bob Kelly of the Pittsburgh Penguins, or Frank St. Marseille of the Los Angeles Kings for openers. Not to mention the number of players who have advanced to lengthy careers in the American and Central Leagues and the old Western League. Over 50 have signed pro contracts after having worn the red and white crossed-flags emblazoned on the jersey of Port Huron&rsquo;s teams.Snider, who managed arenas in North Bay and Pembroke. Ontario before coming to Port Huron in 1967, holds the distinction of being one of the continent&rsquo;s few arena managers who doubles as general manager of the hockey club in residence&mdash;taking the additional responsibility at not one penny more in salary.In 1970, the Flags were transferred from private ownership to the city as a gift by the team&rsquo;s founder, broadcasting magnate John F. Wismer. When Wismer completed the transfer, he asked that Snider be named the team&rsquo;s general manager.&ldquo;I told John that I would do the best I could,&rdquo; Snider recalled. &ldquo;I had been around hockey most of my life, but had never been involved in a league like the IHL where players are acquired and developed through sheer hustle. I hate to think what my phone billl was that first year.&rdquo;In Snider&rsquo;s first year as GM (1970-71), the fans were glad the phone bill was high. The hustle filtered from his office under the south stands at the McMorran Place Arena onto the 185-foot ice surface. Port Huron won the Turner Cup. The following year&mdash;Port Huron won the Turner Cup. And, the year after that, they went to the finals before losing a chance to make it three-in-a-row!<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0394/3571951-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="526" height="887"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB McCAMMON &hellip;Headed For NHL?</figcaption></div>Despite past successes, what gives Snider the greatest pleasure is motoring some 60 miles down Interstate 94 to Olympia&rsquo; Stadium in Detroit to watch some of his former players skate for National Hockey League teams. Looking down to the ice at Detroit&rsquo;s famed &ldquo;brick building&rdquo;, Snider reflected on some of the players who came to the little port city just out of junior hockey a few seasons ago.&ldquo;You know,&rdquo; Snider mused, &ldquo;Yvon Lambert played only sparingly during the first part of his only season with us. He had trouble skating and stickhandling. But, that lad had a good attitude. He knew he had some skills to develop&hellip;but he also knew he could plav in the NHL.&rdquo;It was through sheer determination and laborious drilling that Lambert blossomed. &ldquo;He was a regular by Janaury.&rdquo; Snider recalled. &ldquo;And, by playoff time in April, he had reached his peak. By the time we had skated around the ice with the Turner Cup, it was apparent to me that we wouldn&rsquo;t have him the followingseason.&rdquo;&ldquo;Battleship&rdquo; Bob Kelly was one of the toughest fighters to ever enter combat in the IHL. But, unlike today, he had little else to display while in Port Huron (1967-68). &ldquo;Oh, he was a fighter,&rdquo; Snider stated. &ldquo;Like Lambert, he had trouble handling the puck. But, while he was on the team because of his toughness, he was becoming a capable winger. Perhaps that&rsquo;s because no one from the opposition would go near him. Today, you won&rsquo;t see too many go near him. But, today, he can skate with that puck and make the plays. I&rsquo;m sure even Bob laughs when he remembers his coach of ten years ago taping the stick to his gloves during practice! &ldquo;Korab was a feared competitor who played in the IHL for just one season (1968-69). &ldquo;Jerry had all the tools,&rdquo; Snider remembers, &ldquo;but the big question was how much time would be required for him to use them consistently. He had the hardest shot in our league from the point. And, don&rsquo;t forget, this was the day of the two-inch curve in the blade. So you can imagine what the goalies were thinking. But, his big problem was that he was too offensively oriented!&rdquo;A year in Port Huron combined with a tour of the Western League with Portland and he was ready for the NHL.&ldquo;Remember that game between the Sabres and the Russians?&rdquo; asked Snider. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure the Soviets would have preferred that he have been offensively-oriented still!&rdquo; Korab bent some of the boards and glass at Buffalo&rsquo;s Memorial Auditorium with a few of the speedier Soviets.The story Snider seems to enjoy telling the most is the one about St. Marseille, a Flags&rsquo; skater for four seasons (1964-67) who reached the NHL at the unlikely age of 28.&ldquo;Actually, Frank was as good as some of the NHLers of the time,&rdquo; Snider remarked. &ldquo;But, he hadn&rsquo;t played junior hockey. And. if you remember hockey at that period of time, you just about had to have a junior background to be scouted. So, here he was in the IHL, a consistent scorer. But, then, boom! Expansion. And, off he went to the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; training camp. When he headed for their training camp, we were confident and proud in the knowledge that the only time we would see him in Michigan was when St. Louis came right here to Olympia! We were right.&rdquo;Perhaps the secret of Snider&rsquo;s success, besides his persistent scouring of hockeydom for players, is his wisdom in selecting his coaches.The Flags&rsquo; present coach Bob McCammon. 34, skated for 11 seasons with the Flags, was a member of all three playoff championship clubs, and was a team leader during the Flags&rsquo; two successive cup ciinchings (1971 and 1972).&ldquo;This man has the knack of understanding and teaching,&rdquo; Snider said in appraising his young coach. &ldquo;This season he had a team on which only one player (former NHler Len Fontaine) was selected to the All Star team. But, he finished second in the division and scrapped to the finals of the Turner Cup playoffs.&rdquo;&ldquo;And, don&rsquo;t forget,&rdquo; Snider added, &ldquo;the other coaches in the league named him &lsquo;coach of the year.&rsquo;&rdquo;Again, referring to the NHL. Snider stated: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure that our present NHL affiliates have seen significant improvement in the players they have left under Bobby&rsquo;s care. And, he&rsquo;s only been in coaching for three seasons.&rdquo;Glancing again toward the Olympia ice and pointing his finger toward the benches from the press box, Snider focused his gaze on the future. &ldquo;My greatest satisfaction,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;will be to come here some night and watch Bobby behind the bench.&rdquo;&ldquo;And you mark my words,&rdquo; he added quickly, &ldquo;he&rsquo;ll be down there.&rdquo;Some 50 players will attest that when Snider points and predicts, things happen&mdash;even though most fans would have trouble remembering the name of the little town near the mouth of Lake Huron to which he would return that night. &#9632;

f0032-02

Snider Steered Stars To Top From Little Port Huron

<div class="byline">BY JACK GATECLIFF</div>ST. CATHARINES&mdash;Barring a last minute change there will be only one big difference in the Ontario Major Junior A League next season as compared to 1975-76.The one shift of course is the move of the St. Catharines Black Hawk franchise from the city which had the longest continuous team in Ontario Major Junior A (34 years) to Niagara Falls.Even this was not totally unexpected.Failing attendance at the Garden City Arena had virtually forced owner Hap Emms to return to the Falls from whence he came four years ago.Emms had great success in the Falls &mdash; which is only eight miles from downtown St. Catharines &mdash; for the first decade after moving therefrom Barrie in 1960.However crowds started to go down and in 1972 he sold his Flyers to Sudbury and bought the Hawks from St. Catharines owner Fred Muller.Even when they won the Ontario title in 1973-74 the fans failed to warm up to the team and Emms is hoping he&rsquo;ll bring the sellout crowds back to the Falls.Unfortunately this has to be termed a building year for the Flyers, as they will be called again, as only a half dozen regulars are still eligible.The Flyers&rsquo; chief hope is that some trades will workout and their draft choices prove to be of Major Junior A calibre.As far as is known there will be only two new coaches among the 12 teams.Gus Bodnar has given up the dual role of coach and general manager in Oshawa and turned the coaching duties over to 36-year old Sherwood Bassin, a native of Semans, Sask.Considered one of the most astute coaches in junior A, Roger Neilson has left Peterborough to take over the manager-coaching job with Dallas of the Central Hockey League.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01179/3571989-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="565" height="1180"><figcaption class="caption-body">GARRY YOUNG &hellip; Takes Over Petes</figcaption></div>Neilson&rsquo;s team missed the playoffs last season for the first time in his eight years but there&rsquo;s no panic as attendance kept up remarkably well and the team played some fine hockey towards the end of the schedule (winning five of six) even though mathematically eliminated. Replacing Neilson as GM-coach will be Garry Young, who has been associated with pro hockey for the last 20 years. Young formerly coached the California Seals and St. Louis Blues in the NHL.Bassin has his masters degree in hospital administration and a law degree from the University of North Dakota so he&rsquo;ll be one of the best-educated junior coaches in the country, if nothing else.He has had experience behind the bench too, handling Pickering in junior B for three years and Wexford in 1971-72 when they won the All-Ontario midget championship.Bert Templeton, coach-of-the-yearin 1974-75, has no intention of moving out of Hamilton after bringing that city the Ontario and Canadian championships last season.He admits he would take a pro job if the right deal was offered but is more than content in Hamilton under the Finocchio-Cupido setup with the Fincups.Jim Morrison, the former outstanding professional defensemen, is still under contract to Kingston Canadians and will be starting his second full season there after handling Kit chener towards the end of 1974-75.In Kitchener, Mac MacLean, who replaced Morrison following a stint in Sudbury, is also all set to return while Bill Long will continue as coach and general manager with London Knights.Long has been around longer than any current coach in junior, going back to his years in Niagara Falls with Hap Emms, then to Ottawa and for the past four years in London.Brian Kilrea, one of the members of the famed hockey Kilreas of Ottawa, is also assured his position and says he enjoys coaching junior after a dozen years as a professional player.Muzz MacPherson, the popular Sault Ste. Marie coach who admits he likes his teams to play robust hockey, helped give the Greyhounds the best attendance record in the league last season and also led them to their first-ever playoff position in four years of junior A.So there seems to be no doubt MacPherson and Angelo Bum-bacco, the general-manager, will be working as a team again for sometime to come.George Armstrong has become just as much a fixture in Toronto as Marlboros&rsquo; coach as he was while captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs for 12 years.All he did, really, was change dressing rooms and go behind the benchinstead of on theice.In all probability he&rsquo;ll move into pro as a coach some day but claims he&rsquo;s in no hurry.He enjoys working with teenagers and the feeling is mutual as he is one of the best-liked coaches in Ontario junior A.Windsor Spitfires finished last in the Emms Division last year, as expected.After all they were a first-year team and that&rsquo;s the usual fate.But no one is blaming the coaching and Wayne Maxner signed a new contract before leaving for his home in Halifax.Their general manager, Doug Imrie, was well-satisfied with the way the team played under the one-time Niagara Falls Flyer and it would be presumed the job is his as long as he wants it.Paul Emms is all set to resume his coaching in Niagara Falls.The son of owner Hap Emms handled the Falls Flyers the last two or three years they were there and also coached three of the four seasons the family owned the St. Catharines club.He is likely to take a more active part in the management of the team than in the past.Oddly enough the only coach who hasn&rsquo;t said definitely he&rsquo;ll be back is Sudbury&rsquo;s Jerry Toppazzini, named coach of the year I his past season after leading the Wolves to first place in the Leyden Division as well as first over-all.(Hamilton won the Emms Division with fewer points.)After talking with Jerry, though, we got the idea he had enjoyed his first year as a junior coach and will be at the controls when training camp opens.It will be a real surprise if anyone else is there.So the only minor switch is in Oshawa and the only big one the movement of St. Catharines Black Hawks to Niagara Falls where their name will be the Flyers.St. Catharines, incidentally, hopes to be back in junior A next season. &#9632;

f0033-01

Niagara Falls Faces Rebuilding Year; Two Coaching Changes Confront OHA

<div class="byline">BY JOHN ARNOLD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0484/3572058-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="904" height="1202"></div>SOLUTION IN SEPTEMBER ISSUE<h2>ACROSS</h2>1. Former NHL goaltender.5. Ecclestone answers to this.7. Former Leaf captain.10. An Atlanta defenseman. (init)11. First name of a North Star defenseman.13. Infraction.14. Every team needs these. (s)15. One of the Flames, (init)16. Number worn by Pierre Larouche.17. Denotes number worn by Tom Bladon (Rom. Numb)19. Number worn by Bernie Parent.20. Initials of former leaf Ellis.21. One of the North Stars, (init)22. An ex-NHlgoalkeeper.26. A Sabre forward.27. Initials of an NHLteam.28. A U.S. State, (init)30. Pictured player.<h2>DOWN</h2>1. Former Atlanta coach.2. A WHA forward.3. Former NHL forward Labine answers to this.4. Past Norris Trophy winner.6. 1959-60 Lady byng winner.9. A U.S. State (init)12.18th and 1 st letters of the alphabet.16. Initials of a former Buffalo defenseman.18. Former AHL defenseman.20. Nickname ofan AHL team.22. Same as 10 across.23. 21 st and 8th letters of the alpha bet.24. One of the Hawks.25. A Flame forward, (init)29. Initials of 6 down.<h2>Answers for July issue</h2><h3>ACROSS</h3>1. PROVOST.9. RATELLE10 ONT.11.O.L.12. ATTWELL.13. VIA.14. INN.16. SID.17. S.L.19. IN.20. TOM.22. JOE.23. WATSON.27. R.E.29. MACDONALD.<h3>DOWN</h3>1. PRONOVOST2. RAN.3. OTTAWA.4. V.E.5. O.L.6. SLOW.7. TELEVISION.8. OAKLAND.15. NINE18. LOW.21. MARC.22. JOHN.24. TED25. ROD.26. A M.28. M.L. &#9632;

f0033-04

HOCKEY CROSSWORD

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02144/3572089-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Three returning manager-coaches to the NAHL this season include Nick Polano, left, of Erie, Gregg Pilling of Philadelphia, in center, and Mohawk Valley&rsquo;s Brian Conacher. Conacher will be back as Komets&rsquo; GM but is expected to announce a coach before the team goes to training camp. Pilling was the NAHL&rsquo;s coach of the year last season and led his Firebirds to the playoff championship. (Photo by Peter Woolle)</figcaption></div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLE RICH & BR ADSBY LTD Arnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLE RICH & BR ADSBY LTD Arnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaPHILADELPHIA&mdash;The North American Hockey League will start the 1976-77 season with two balanced divisions of four teams each. That&rsquo;s what the league governors decided at the conclusion of its annual meetings herein mid-July.The reason for the cut-down in teams was the application of the Buffalo Norsemen to suspend operations for the coming season.Buffalo had not settled its rink problems by the time the annual meetings opened in Philadelphia, hometown of the 1976 Lockhart Cup champion Firebirds.The Norsemen were attempting to get out of their small, suburban arena and into the bigger, more comfortable Memorial Auditorium, which houses the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League and the Buffalo Braves of the National Basketball Association.Under the NAHL constitution, a member may suspend operations by notifying the league in writing of its intentions before the annual meeting and by paying anon-refundable fee of $2,500. The Norsemen were apparently unable to settle their home ice problems and therefore went through with the intentions of sitting out this season.Should the Norsemen continue the abeyance of the franchise in subsequent years, they may do so by paying an additional fee of $2,500.The Norsemen had said at an earlier meeting of the league in Cooperstown that they intended to be an active participant during the coming season.But, the uncertainty of the NBA Braves made it almost impossible for the Norsemen to secure the required Auditorium dates.The Norsemen drew well in three games at the spacious Auditorium last season. They played two regular season games and also one in the playoffs.Buffalo joined the NAHL as an expansion team last year. They finished fourth in the Western Division with a record of 30 wins and 44 losses.They bowed out of the playoffs after losing in the first round to the Johnstown Jets.The meeting in Cooperstown drew up a tentative schedule for the 1976-77 season for eight teams&mdash;Beauce, Syracuse, Mohawk Valley and Maine in the East Division and Johnstown, Philadelphia, Erie and Binghamton in the West Division.The regular schedule is set to open Friday, Oct. 22 and wind up on Thursday, March 17, next year.The planned format is exactly the same as was ussd two years ago when the NAHL was an eightteam league.Each team is scheduled against six opponents 10 times apiece. Natural rivals are scheduled against each other 14 times. The pairings for natural rivalries are Erie-Johnstown; Binghamton-Philadelphia; Mohawk Valley-Syracuse and Beauce-Maine. &#9632;

f0034-02

Buffalo Quits Failing To Solve Rink Problem

BEAUCE&mdash;The career of right winger Alain (Boom Boom) Caron has come to an end.The second-team North American Hockey League All Star suffered a heart attack in late May.He is currently in a recuperation period and it is unlikely that he will be able to continue his career.Andre Veilleux, the ownergeneral manager of the Beauce Jaros, said Caron was a popular figure in the Beauce area and added that the club would like to keep Boomer in their organization in a promotional capacity.Caron, who is 38 years old, set a professional record during the 1975-76 season by scoring 78 during the regular season. Nineteen of his goals were scored during power plays.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01195/3572120-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="514" height="922"><figcaption class="caption-body">ALAIN CARON</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0034-01

Heart Attack Ends Caron’s Ice Career

<div class="byline">BY BRUCE PENTON</div>CALGARY&mdash;Things have been anything but smooth since Ed Chynoweth and his assistant, Bob Strumm, picked up their pucks, papers and other assorted paraphernalia and moved the league office to this Alberta city from Saskatoon, Sask.The league twice postponed its annual meeting due to the uncertainty of the Winnipeg Clubs&rsquo; future, had one its players convicted of an assault charge and realigned the 12 teams into three divisions &mdash; a first for the Western Canada Hockey League.Last month in this space, it was reported that both Edmonton Oil Kings and the Clubs bad picked up and gone to the United States&mdash;Edmonton to Portland, where they have become the Winter Hawks, and Winnipeg to Spokane, where they would have become the Americans.The latter report was somewhat premature; in fact, it was untrue. Everyone was in favor of Winnipeg&rsquo;s move to Spokane except the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, which voted down Gerry Brisson&rsquo;s proposal.At the time of last month&rsquo;s writing, only the CAHA approval had to come before the franchise shift was officially sealed and league president Chynoweth was so optimistic of the CAHA&rsquo;s good blessing that he gave the okay to this writer to act as if the vote had been successful.Then, things started to go badly. The CAHA looked at the whole situation, that of the Clubs entering territory of the senior Spokane Flyers, and decided the Flyers&rsquo; franchise might go under should the Clubs bring their act to town. The Flyers&rsquo; failing would probably undermine a whole league&mdash;the Western International Hockey League&mdash;and the CAHA therefore decided it wasn&rsquo;t worth the gamble.The final word of the vote came too late for the story to be changed. This, therefore, is the qualification.Brisson, undaunted by the CAHA&rsquo;s disapproval, went about preparing for the 1976-77 campaign just the same. He announced he was renaming the team the Monarchs, would stay in Winnipeg and hopefully put together an exciting team to draw crowds large enough to pay the bills.He&rsquo;s up against a tough act, though. His cross-town rivals just happen to be the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s Winnipeg Jets, that league&rsquo;s champions. The Jets are the very reason Brisson decided to skip town in the first place.At approximately the same time that Brisson was getting the bad news from the CAHA, the WCHL was hit with another high, hard decision.A judge in Kamloops, B.C. found Victoria Cougar forward Archie Henderson guilty of assaulting Chiefs&rsquo; Larry Lestander in a game last Jan. 25.The judge, Pat Dohm, said Henderson could not play in a WCHL game until Nov. 1 of the coming season, and then conditionally discharge him, meaning Henderson will not be stuck with a criminal record.Mr. Dohm said any other players involved in similar court cases may not be dealt with so lightly.&ldquo;However, the next person who passes through my court will not be treated in this fashion,&rdquo; Judge Dohm said.Henderson, who scored nine goals in 52 games and led the Cougars with 315 penalty minutes, reacted with outrage when the judge announced the guilty verdict.Henderson said he was being made a scapegoat for the rest of hockey.He banged his fist down on the docket after the guilty verdict was announced, and again after the sentence was passed.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s really me on trial, &ldquo;said Henderson. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hockey as a whole and I think I&rsquo;m being used as a guinea pig.&ldquo;If I had as much money and influence as the people who charged me, I wouldn&rsquo;t be up here. The Western Canada Hockey League should be up here.&rdquo;The charge was laid after Henderson punched Lestander in the face while skating towards the penalty box after a fight with another Kamloops&rsquo; player, Dave Robinson.Lestander was knocked unconscious by the blow and sustained a concussion.Judge Dohm said that while an athlete assumes some risk of injury merely by participating in a sport, he deserves protection from anything that is outside the bounds of fair play.He said the evidence showed that Lestander had not expected the blow, hadn&rsquo;t seen it coming and had done nothing to provoke it.He also pointed out that Henderson is six feet, six inches tall and weighs 215 pounds, while Lestander is five feet 10 inches and weighs 175 pounds.Ironically, Henderson was convicted the same day that Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; Dan Maloney was acquitted of assault causing bodily harm after his clash with Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; Brian Glennie.Chynoweth said he was disappointed in Judge Dohm&rsquo;s decision, but added he thought it was fair. He also reacted to Henderson&rsquo;s statements, saying the WCHL provides the opportunity for youngsters like Henderson to play major junior hockey, but that the league isn&rsquo;t responsible for a player&rsquo;s actions in certain situation.Judge Dohm&rsquo;s decision may have more powerful repercussions that at first appear. Now that one judge has by-passed a league predent in suspending a player, what will stop other judges in other hockey towns across North America from suspending certain players for one week, one month, one season?Now that the negative aspect of WCHL happenings are out of the way, a look at the brighter side.The WCHL has tentatively agreed to split into three divisions, but what teams will go where is still up in the air. Somewhere around the stratosphere. It will hopefully be clarified at the next board of governors&rsquo; meeting, set for early August in Calgary.One division is a natural: the four western teams&mdash;Victoria, New Westminster, Kamloops and Portland&mdash;will almost certainly be one combination.The two far-east clubs, Brandon and Winnipeg, will have to be in one division, plus the two Saskatchewan arch-rivals, Regina and Saskatoon, will have to be aligned together. That leaves Flin Flon Bombers on the outside looking in for the present time. It&rsquo;s strictly speculation, but the Bombers could wind up in a division with the three Alberta teams, Medicine Hat, Calgary and Lethbridge.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02151/3572151-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="556" height="715"><figcaption class="caption-body">GERRY BRISSON &hellip; Starting Over</figcaption></div>That would make almost as much sense as having California in the same division as Boston, Toronto and Buffalo in the National Hockey League, but it could happen.More speculation going around is that the divisions will not be geographically named, i.e., East, West, Central. Instead, the governors are looking at the possibility of honoring long-time WCHL governors by naming divisions after them. Two in mind have got to be the late Scotty Munro, who made his marks at Estevan and Calgary, and Jim Piggot of Saskatoon, who after a 20-year involvement, recently sold the Blades to three men, Blades&rsquo; coach and general manager Jackie McLeod and two Saskatoon businessmen, Nathan Brodsky and Joe Reich.There are a host of other possibilities, including Chynoweth himself, who has made the WCHL the top junior league in the country with his ever-clear guidance. &#9632;

f0035-02

WCHL Keeps Winnipeg Franchise; Victoria Player Guilty Of Assault

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01183/3572182-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="490" height="1120"><figcaption class="caption-body">FRED HILTS &hellip; New Challenge</figcaption></div>CALGARY&mdash;Fred Hilts has been named tpo to coach Calgary Centennials, replacing Bert Olmstead, who decided not to return to the club for next season. Hilts coached Calgary&rsquo;s Alberta Junior Hockey League affiliate, The Pass Red Devils, last season&hellip;Ed Chynoweth says it&rsquo;s feasible that a WCHL franchise will operate out of Edmonton for the 1977-78 campaign. One group is actively campaigning to get an Edmont Franchise, headed by a produce company executive, Bob Iwabuchi. Others in his tent are Edmonton businessmen Doug Johnson, Brian Nord, Don McFarland, Ken Broadfoot, Jack Reed and a couple of unnamed lawyers. The fronting hockey man, reports the Journal&rsquo;s Terry Jones, is former Oil King coach, Doug Messier.Brandon Wheat Kings acquired 19-year-old forward Kelly FerneFemer from Kamloops in exchange for 19-year-old defenseman Gary Soetaert in a summer trade. Ferner scored 27 goals as a fourth-line player last year while Soetaert had two goals and almost 300 minutes in penalties with the Wheat Kings&hellip;Thre Saskatoon Blades, all first-round selections in the National Hockey League&rsquo;s amateur draft, have come to terms with their pro parents. Blair Champman went to Pittsburgh, Fred Williams to Detroit and Bernie Federko to St. Louis. Other WCHL first-round signees include Don Murdoch of Medicine Hat (with New York Rangers), Harold Phillipoff and Clayton Pachal of New Westminster (with Atlanta Flames and Boston Bruins respectively.) &#9632;

f0035-01

Hilts Named Calgary Coach

LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY. LTD. Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY. LTD. Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaROANOKE &mdash;The Southern Hockey League is alive and prospering with six teams and could possibly go to the staring line Oct. 15 with as many as eight clubs.The upward swing in SHL fortunes came about with the entry of Richmond as the league&rsquo;s sixth confirmed franchise for the 197677 season.Basically, Richmond entered as a replacement for the Roanoke Valley Rebels, who are struggling for their hockey lives as they attempt to put together a new package that will ensure their financial obligations as a member of the SHL for next season.If the Rebels are successful, they could remain in the SHL as the seventh team and possibly be joined by Baltimore, which is mulling over returning to the American Hockey League or opting out for the lower budgeted Southern League.SHL commissioner oJack Riley said his league was elated to accept Richmond, which will enhance the geographical rivalry of the SHL. Richmond is within miles of Tidewater and Hampton and will create a great three-way box office attraction for the Southern Loop. Should Baltimore decide on the SHL, it will be another plus for the league again because of its proximity to the West Virginia teams.The new Richmond entry will be headed by a local group and will have no connection whatever with the Robins, who dropped out of the AHL during the off season after attendance dipped and the club&rsquo;s financial defecit mounted.The Charlotte Checkers will be back in business with a new group headed by Gar Laux handling the operation. Laux is associated with the Arnold Palmer Cadillac Agency in Charlotte. Laux said Pat Kelly will return as the manager-coach of the Checkers, who won the Southern League championship last season lor the second straight year, and almost went out of business when it was over.Charlotte owner Al Manch has sold out his interests in the Charlotte club and the SHL announced that he had been replaced as chairman of the board by Charlie Wornom.In other SHL developments, the Calgary Cowboys of the WHA announced they have entered into a working agreement with the Tidewater Sharks and have appointed one of their top scouts, Hal Schooley, as coach of the SHL Sharks for next season.The Buffalo Sabres will return to Charlotte as the club&rsquo;s main supplier of players and John Brophy will be back at the helm of the Hampton Gulls, who have a solid working arrangement with Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA to stock the Gulls with players.The other SHL clubs, Winston-Salem. Greensboro and Richmond have not announced new coaches but are expected to do so before the next league meeting. Former SHL and minor league netminder. John Voss, will be the general manager of the Greensboro Generals. He is studying candidates for the Generals coaching position and will probably make an announcement on his decision in the near future.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0388/3572220-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="553" height="787"><figcaption class="caption-body">PAT KELLY</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0457/3572213-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="568" height="712"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN BROPHY</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0036-03

Richmond Becomes Sixth Starter As Roanoke Fights To Stay Alive

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0536/3572251-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg"></div>The University of Minnesota did it again in American college hockey this past season winning their second NCAA title in three years. The Gophers won their WCHA playoffs and went on to the nationals where they defeated Boston University and Michigan Tech to win it all Here are the 1976 champions, front row, from the left, JEFF TSCHERNE, RUSS ANDERSON, JOE MICHELETTI, TOM VANELLI, PAT PHIPPEN, WARREN MILLER, TOM YOUGHANS, BRYAN FREDRICKSON, BRAD MORROW and TOM MOHR. Middle row, STEVE JANASZAK, DON MADSON, Dr. V.G. NAGOBADS, team physician, Dr. N.O. HOLTE, team dentist, BRAD BUETOW, asst, coach HERB BROOKS, head coach, PAUL GIEL, athletic director, QARY SMITH, trainer, JIM DAVIDSON, manager, ADAM WHITE, asst manager REED LARSON, TIM RA NEY and MARK LAMBERT.Back row, KEN YACKEL, BOB FISH, TOM GORENCE, ROB LARSON, PHIL VERCHOTA, JOE BAKER, JIM BOO, TONY DORN, BILL BAKER, DAN BONK, MARK CONWAY and BRUCE LIND. &#9632;

f0036-05

NCAA Champs — Minnesota Gophers

<div class="byline">BY MIKE LYNCH</div>SPOKANE&mdash;It has not been what you could call a quiet summer around the Western International Hockey League.In fact, it&rsquo;s been almost hectic for some members of the senior league.Certainly, followers of Spokane&rsquo;s Flyers have found plenty to absorb during what is normally the slow season.To start, shortly after the Fivers had won their third Allan Cup since 1970, the club ownership was changed with majority owner Gus J. Bouten. a local contractor, selling out.Tom Hodges, formerly coachgeneral manager, is the new principal owner and club president. Among others involved in the reformed corporation is Seth Martin of Trail. B.C.. the former international goaltending star.Bouten&rsquo;s departure was cordial, but he was not pleased with the reaction to his suggested rule changes at a spring league business meeting.Just as the Flyers began front office activities aimed at season ticket sales, it was announced by the Western Canada League that one of their Junior teams, the Winnipeg Clubs, would be moving to Spokane.This project was not greeted with joy in the WIHL and the British Columbia Amateur Hockey Association and certainly not by knowledgeable hockey people in the Spokane area.The Winnipeg group sought dates in the mult-purpose Spokane Coliseum, a two-team proposal for the building that had met with failure in the past.Despite the Negative reaction of the Coliseum Advisory Board and that of a recent Washington State Supreme Court decision, the Winnipeg group obtained tentative dates in the building, based on presentation ofa bond.The entire matter became academic when the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association rejected the Spokane proposal by the Winnipeg group.The decision was based largely on the fact that Spokane has two hockey clubs, one in the 10-team Kootenay Junior International League that operates largely in British Columbia and that Spokane provides the keystone to the WIHL.Elsewhere in the league there has been activity. A recent dinner in Trail honored Bobby Kromm, coach of the WHA champions Winnipeg Jets who coached Trail in 1961 when the Smoke Eaters won the World Cup.A benefit game featuring Bobby Hull ofthe Winnipeg Jetsand Danny Gare of the Buffalo Sabres was played in Trail early in July.Nelson boosters held the first half of a home-and-home summer game with Spokane early in July with the second game scheduled on July 31 in the Washington city. In Spokane the game was for the benefit of Multiple Sclerosis.The MS program is athletically identified &mdash; Bobby Orr is the national chairman for hockey. Hodges is regional chairman in Spokane. &ldquo;We plan to sell out the building,&rdquo; Hodges said early in July.A later follow-up to the league&rsquo;s spring business meeting was held in Creston. B.C.. and it was decided that the league schedule will be expanded from 48 to 56 games.In Spokane it was announced that the Flyers will be playing exhibition games against professional clubs and touring international teams as well. &#9632;

The WIHL Scene

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0037-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01150/3572306-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg"></div>When the Spokane Flyers brought the Allan Cup back to the West this past season it marked the third time the American city had won Canada&rsquo;s premier senior hockey award in the last seven years. The 1975-76 Flyers outclassed the Barrie Flyers in the finals to climax a highly successful season during which the team actually finished third in their league and came on strong in the playoffs. Here are the Allan Cup champs, iron row, from the Allan Cup champs, fron row, from the left, FRANK TURNBULL, BOB TREMBECKY, NELS VENERUS, GUS BOUTEN, president, KEN GUSTAFSON, TOM HODGES, coach, BOB STOYKO, GAIL HOLDEN and HENRY DURKIN. Middle row, CARIL CIRULLO, trainer, VINCE COLLINS, GEORGE TALOTTI, DEREK SPRING, DON DIRK, STEVE McKNIGHT, GARY VAUGHAN, LARRY HAM, therapist, and VIC REGIS, asst, trainer. Back row, GARY CIRULLO, stick boy, LARRY PALANIO, JIM MONTGOMERY, MURRAY KENNETT, KEN McLASH MICK McGEOUGH, ERNIE GARE and DAVID GRIFFITHS, stick boy. &#9632;

f0037-01

Allan Cup Champs — Spokane Flyers

SIOUX CITY&mdash;The United States Hockey League has a new commissioner, and two fewer teams, but faces the prospect of expanding for the 1976-66 season.At the league&rsquo;s annual meeting here in July, Morley Howe was moved up from executive director to full-time commissioner of the league.A new slate of officers was also elected for the coming season. Gary Lipschultz of Sioux City was named president and Dr. Sarya of Traverse City vicepresident. The treasurer&rsquo;s post went to Jim Van Essen of Green Bay and secretary of the league is Jack Barzee of Waterloo.The Marquette Iron Rangers and the Central Wisconsin Flyers put their franchises in escrow for one year at the meeting.However, Howe says the league is studying franchise applications from Grand Rapids, Mich., Des Moines, Iowa; and Omaha, Neb.The applications from the three centers and the drafting of a schedule for the 1976-77 season were to be finalized at another league meeting in Grand Rapids in early August.The League did say that the Calumet Copper Country Chiefs, the Green Bay Bobcats, the defending champion Milwaukee Admirals, the Sioux City Musketeers, the Traverse City Bays and the Waterlo Black Hawks would return to action next season. &#9632;

Around The USHL

<h2>Final Standings</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0463/3572473-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="595" height="293"></div><h2>Playoffs</h2>Semi-Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0545/3572466-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="584" height="77"></div>(Green Bay wins best-of-five series 3-2)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0636/3572459-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="582" height="78"></div>(Milwaukee wins best-of-three series 2-0)Quarter-Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0731/3572452-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="583" height="73"></div>(Milwaukee wins best-of-three series 2-0)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0820/3572445-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="584" height="75"></div>(TraverseCity wins best-of-three series 2-0)Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0917/3572438-1-eng-US/f0038-092.jpg" title="f0038-09" width="583" height="77"></div>(Milwaukee wins best-of-five series 3-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Milwaukee 7, Green Boy 0Milwaukee 5, Green Bay 4Milwaukee 6, Green Bay 4<h2>Top Playoff Scorers</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1015/3572431-1-eng-US/f0038-102.jpg" title="f0038-10" width="585" height="329"></div><h2>Top League Scorers</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1113/3572424-1-eng-US/f0038-112.jpg" title="f0038-11" width="589" height="398"></div><h2>Final Scoring By Teams</h2><h3>GREENBAY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1212/3572417-1-eng-US/f0038-122.jpg" title="f0038-12" width="586" height="252"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-139/3572410-1-eng-US/f0038-132.jpg" title="f0038-13" width="586" height="302"></div><h3>TRAVERSE CITY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-147/3572403-1-eng-US/f0038-142.jpg" title="f0038-14" width="588" height="549"></div><h3>MARQUETTE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-156/3572396-1-eng-US/f0038-152.jpg" title="f0038-15" width="588" height="622"></div><h3>SIOUX CITY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-165/3572389-1-eng-US/f0038-162.jpg" title="f0038-16" width="588" height="498"></div><h3>MILWAUKEE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-174/3572382-1-eng-US/f0038-172.jpg" title="f0038-17" width="584" height="577"></div><h3>WATERLOO</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-183/3572375-1-eng-US/f0038-182.jpg" title="f0038-18" width="586" height="530"></div><h3>CENTRAL WISCONSIN</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-193/3572368-1-eng-US/f0038-192.jpg" title="f0038-19" width="580" height="549"></div>Final Goalinq Records<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-203/3572361-1-eng-US/f0038-202.jpg" title="f0038-20" width="581" height="385"></div> &#9632;

f0038-04

Final USHL Statistics

<h2>FINAL STANDINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01160/3572630-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="587" height="251"></div>(*Suspended Operations.)<h2>CUP PLAYOFFS</h2>Series A<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02115/3572623-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="581" height="79"></div>(Americans win series 5 points to 1)Series B<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0388/3572616-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="582" height="78"></div>(Suffolk wins series 4 points to 0)Series C<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0471/3572609-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="583" height="75"></div>(Bergen-Rockland wins series 5 points to 3)Series D<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0555/3572602-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="578" height="79"></div>(Westsiders win series 5 points to 1)Series E<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0645/3572595-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="581" height="76"></div>(Americans win series 6 points to 0)Series F<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0740/3572588-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="579" height="78"></div>(Suffolk wins series 6 points to 2)Series G<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0835/3572581-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="584" height="74"></div>(Americans win series and Keegan Cup 6 points to 4)<h2>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0929/3572574-1-eng-US/f0039-092.jpg" title="f0039-09" width="584" height="456"></div><h3>N.Y. AMERICANS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1025/3572567-1-eng-US/f0039-102.jpg" title="f0039-10" width="589" height="806"></div><h3>SUFFOLK</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1123/3572560-1-eng-US/f0039-112.jpg" title="f0039-11" width="586" height="632"></div><h3>BERG-ROCKLAND</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1220/3572553-1-eng-US/f0039-122.jpg" title="f0039-12" width="585" height="527"></div><h3>N.Y. WESTSIDERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1316/3572546-1-eng-US/f0039-132.jpg" title="f0039-13" width="585" height="576"></div><h3>NEW HYDE PARK</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1413/3572539-1-eng-US/f0039-142.jpg" title="f0039-14" width="581" height="674"></div><h3>OYSTER BAY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1512/3572532-1-eng-US/f0039-152.jpg" title="f0039-15" width="586" height="898"></div><h3>LONG ISLAND</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1611/3572525-1-eng-US/f0039-162.jpg" title="f0039-16" width="584" height="603"></div><h3>ESSEX</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-179/3572518-1-eng-US/f0039-172.jpg" title="f0039-17" width="587" height="722"></div><h3>WESTCHESTER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01163/3572511-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="588" height="401"></div><h3>FINAL GOAUNG RECORDS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02119/3572504-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="592" height="941"></div> &#9632;

f0039-01

Final N.Y. Met Statistics

<div class="byline">By Bill Hilts</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-186/3572661-1-eng-US/f0039-182.jpg" title="f0039-18" width="334" height="412"></div><h2>AHAUS Changes</h2>Several major rule changes were implemented at the annual American Hockey Association&rsquo;s convention during mid-June in Colorado Springs, Colorado. According to Bob Johnston, president of the Niagara Falls Mangs Sharks and secretary of the New York-Penn. Jr. League, the following major rule changes were adopted by the conference.The protective equipment section now reads: &ldquo;All players, exclusive of goalkeepers, in the peewee age classification and below are required to wear a mouthguard.&ldquo;All players, exclusive of goalkeepers in the bantam through junior age classification are required to wear an internal mouthguard.&rdquo;An entire new paragraph reads: &ldquo;All players in all classifications, junior and below, are required to wear either a full face guard or an eye shield with an external mouthguard. In all classifications Bantam through Junior where the eye shield and external mouthguard are worn, an internal mouthguard shall also be required to be worn.&rdquo;It is our understanding that the only exceptions to the faceguard and eyeguard rule will be junior A and B paid gate teams.Regarding cross-checking and butt-ending, the AHAUS officials really lowered the boom on the cheap-shot artists. The new rule change reads: &ldquo;A minor, or major penalty, at the discretion of the Referee shall be imposed on a player who crosschecks&rsquo; an opponent. A major penalty shall be imposed on any player who &lsquo;butt-ends&rsquo; or attempts to&rsquo;butt-end&rsquo; an opponent.&rdquo;Also, &ldquo;When a major penalty is imposed for &lsquo;butt-ending&rsquo;, the offending player shall also receive an automatic misconduct penalty.&rdquo;Regarding fisticuffs, the rule change says that&mdash;&ldquo;A major penalty shall be imposed on any player whostarts fisticuffs.&rdquo;Under the holding section, a new paragraph states &mdash; &ldquo;A major penalty, plus a misconduct penalty shall be imposed on a player who grabs or holds the face mask of an opponent with his hand.&rdquo;Under the &ldquo;spearing&rdquo;.section. It now reads &mdash; &ldquo;A major, plus misconduct penalty at the discretion of the referee, shall be imposed on a player who spears or attempts to spear an opponentTo mention just a few &mdash; but the major change is the face mask, or eye shield requirement for the coming season. The hockey equipment vendors are certainly going to be busy between now and the opening of the seasons.<h2>Manitoba League</h2>Greg Drinnan tells us that the Western Centennial Cup rounds saw Prince Albert Raiders ousting the Selkirk Steelers in five games and Spruce Grove Mets dumping NorWes Caps, from the Pacific Coast Jr. League. Then, in the finals, Spruce-Grove took Prince Albert in five.In the finals it was the Rockland Nationals, out of the Central Ontario Junior League vs. Spruce Grove. The Nationals have only been in operation for three years and they won it all, finishing Spruce Grove off in five. This was a bitterly contested series, says Greg, with two pre-game brawls in consecutive games and protests by Spruce Grove coach Doug Messier over officiating.<h2>N.Y.-Penn League</h2>A note from Herb Hammond, the popular hockey coach at Oswego (N.Y.) State University informs that two former NY-Penn League players will be toiling for his squad this fall. They are high-scoring forward Jim Head of the Rochester Monarchs and veteran defenseman Bill Hilts from the Niagara Falls Mangs Sharks.Herb also noted that he plans on taking his Oswego skaters on a Scandanavian tour this coming winter. Tenative plans call for them to head for Helsinki, Finland on New Year&rsquo;s Eve where they will play a pair of games. Then a ferry trip to Stockholm, Sweden for two more contests before returning to the U.S.NY-Penn Commissioner Fred Rossi notes that his league will probably expand to a seven team circuit this coming season with the addition of Binghamton to the roster. A final decision will be made at a mid-July meeting. At present it looks like the six teams that competed last season are set for the 1976-77 outing &mdash; Syracuse Stars. Rochester Monarchs, Buffalo Blades, Amherst Knights, Southtown Cougars and Niagara Falls Mangs Sharks.<h2>N.Y. State AHA</h2>Al Thomas, secretary-treasurer&rsquo;of the N.Y. State Amateur Hockey Assn, sends word that the annual meeting of that group will be held the weekend of Sept. 17-19 at the Niagara Hilton Hotel in Niagara Falls, N.Y. Al, along with association tournjment director Harold Johnson, are acting as co-chairmen of the big event.President Bob Allen of Lake Placid has scheduled a directors&rsquo; meeting on Sept.17. The Association meeting will begin with registration on Saturday morning at 9 am Then from 10 am to 4 pm, simultaneous clinics will be held for coaches and administrators. Sunday will begin with 9 am Registration, Four sectional meetings will be held.<h2>N.Y. Met League</h2>The New York Metropolitan Jr. Hockey Assn, will operate with nine teams next season according to John Kreiser. The Westchester Wings are returning to the fold after a one season hiatus. In other developments the New York Islanders will ice a junior sextet, although the number of teams will not increase. The Isles will operate the franchise owned by Tom Thornton, a part-owner of the NHL team, who previously operated the Long Island AC Flyers in the MJHA.&ldquo;This is the fifth season in a row that we have had a player drafted by an NHL team,&rdquo; informed Norm MacLean, who was returned as MJHA president. &ldquo;The St. Louis Blues picked goalie Paul Skidmore on the sixth round. Skidmore, playing for Boston College, was the MVP in the Beanpot Tournament last winter. He learned his hockey in the MJHA with the Suffolk Royals.&rdquo; The Royals, under former Eastern League star Norman Ryder finished second, just two points behind the regular season winner, the N.Y. Americans. The Amerks then repeated their championship in the playoffs capturing the Art Keegan Cup, by edging Suffolk in the final round six points tofour.John Jaskul of the New Hyde Park Arrows won the Thornton Trophy as the point champion during the regular season, garnering 134 points on 66 goals and 68 assists. Runner-up was Bob Mancini of LIAC with 60-49-109. Dave Drew of Suffolk also registered 109points with 58-51-109.MJHA Awards went to Jaskul and Mike LaBianca, both centers. La Biance of Suffolk, and Jaskul were voted the MVP for 1975-76. The best goalie was Tom Hasenzahl of Suffolk, with the best defenseman being Andy Mitchell of the NY Americans.It is most interestingto note the MJHA has 189 players in collegiate ranks, plus coach Lou Vairo in Junior &ldquo;A&rdquo;. Vairo moved up from the MJHA to the &ldquo;A&rdquo; rated Mid-West Jr. League and captured the National Junior title this season with his Austin Mavericks. &#9632;

f0039-18

JUNIOR JOTTINGS

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01126/3572692-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GERRY O&rsquo;FLAHERTY&hellip; Selected For Team U.S.A. (Photo by Robert Shaver)</figcaption></div>VANCOUVER&mdash;The Vancouver Canucks are one of the three Canadian teams in the National Hockey League, but nobody was selected from the club to represent the country in the Canada Cup Series.That&rsquo;s alright. Nobody really expected to be named to the team with the exception possibly of Dennis Ververgaert, who was the club&rsquo;s most consistent scorer and maybe just as deserving of selection as another right winger of similar talents&mdash;Lanny MacDonald of the Toronto Maple Leafs.The big surprise is that while the Canucks play in Canada their only player named to compete in the competition in September is Gerry O&rsquo;Flaherty, who was selected to compete with the U.S. team.O&rsquo;Flaherty, who has been used by Vancouver coach and general manager Phil Maloney in almost every capacity since he joined the club, was born in Pittsburgh, and he along with Tracy Pratt were eligible to play for the U.S. team.While Bob Pulford, the coach of the Americans ignored the veteran left side defenseman, he wanted to have a look at O&rsquo;Flaherty, doubt less in the role of penalty killer, utility forward.The Canucks, meanwhile, were not really miffed at the fact that Ververgaert was overlooked by Sam Pollock and his selection committee, as Toronto is to be the site of three of the games.Obviously, it is in the best interests of the series to have a Toronto player picked, particularly in light of the fact that McDonald plays on the same line as Darryl Sittier.Meanwhile the big news in the Canucks&rsquo; camp is the fact that there is so little.Bobby Lalonde, the club&rsquo;s most popular player and left side defenseman Dennis Kearns, the steadiest member of the rearguard on the club, are still unsigned as is forward Paulin Bordeleau, and goalie Ken Lockett.&ldquo;My top Priorities were to sign (Don) Lever and Ververgaert and from there it will be to look after the others and then think about signing some of the amateur picks,&rdquo; said Maloney.None of the amateur picks from the draft have been signed by the club and it is expected that only Bob Manno, the 26th pick in the draft but the Canucks&rsquo; first, will be offered a contract before training camp begins Sept .15.And also on the topic of unsigned players, Mike Walton&rsquo;s situation is unclear as he and his super agent Al Eagleson would undoubtedly like to negotiate a long term contract. But it would appear that Maloney and Eagleson did not discuss the situation during the NHL meetings in June.Walton is apparently committed to the Canucks for next season at least, as the contract he signed with 18 games remaining in 1975-76 automatically contained an option year. But Walton has made it quite clear he would like to negotiate at least a three-year deal.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to move my family out here or sell my house or anything until we sit down and find, out what&rsquo;s going to happen next season,&rdquo; said Walton. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to get settled here&rdquo;.One of Maloney&rsquo;s priorities must also be to start trading some of the malcontents, but apparently there haven&rsquo;t been any general managers in their offices to either phone Maloney or to answer his calls. Pratt, Bordeleau, goalie Gary Smith, former captain Andre Boudrias and Gregg Boddy are among those Maloney is trying to make a deal for, but nobody is getting over-anxious.Meanwhile the club seems certain to improve it&rsquo;s revenue position for the second consecutive year as they will sign a 14-game television package with the Canadian Television Network to do games Wednesday nights.The deal will mean that seven home and seven away games will be shown in the Vancouver area and it represents the first time that the Canucks have had revenue from the local market save their share in the Hockey Night in Canada show.It also appears that Tulsa Oilers coach Orland Kurtenbach will return to the Central League club for another year in the Canucks organization. Kurtenbach has been getting feelers from some NHL clubs, but having only one year of experience behind him he may feel he needs a little more seasoning. &#9632;

Search for your favorite player or team

August 19, 1976

NHL Moves Franchises To Cleveland, Denver

How The NHL, WHA Selected Amateurs

Can Islanders Climb Still Higher In NHL?

PASSING THE PUCK