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.

January 14, 1977

The Hockey News January 14, 1977

<div class="byline">BY LARRY BORTSTEIN</div>DENVER-Reminded that he resembles stand-up comic Rodney Dangerfield, Ray Miron quips, &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to have his money.&rdquo; But while Dangerfield wins laughs with his constant complaint, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t get no respect, no respect at all,&rdquo; the general manager of the Colorado Rockies is genuinely one of the most respected men in hockey.The 53-year-old Miron came to the Rockies last summer only one month after accepting the position as Central League president and moving to CHL headquarters in Dallas.&ldquo;For a while there, I was in the real estate business,&rdquo; laughs Miron, recalling that before he moved to Dallas he had put his former home in Oklahoma City on the market, then barely four weeks later he had to do the same in Dallas. In Oklahoma City, Ray was manager-coach of the Blazers the past two years, rounding out a dozen years as boss of Toronto&rsquo;s Central League affiliates, the first 10 of those years in Tulsa.Miron was well satisfied with the presidency of the CHL. &ldquo;But Munson Campbell (Rockies&rsquo; president) had talked to me a couple times about coming in here as GM,&rdquo; Ray recalls. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t tell my wife Rowena about it until I officially got the job. When I broke it to her that we had to move again, she laughed for five minutes, then cried for five minutes. But she knew I always wanted a job in the NHL, so everything was okay with her. Luckily, we sold our house in Dallas only five days after we put it up for sale. We didn&rsquo;t sell the house in Oklahoma City until early December.&rdquo;As newly-named Rockies&rsquo; GM, Miron faced the task of putting a respectable team on the ice in the shortest possible time. &ldquo;It was tough,&rdquo; he admits. &ldquo;I wanted to get a good mixture of physical players and goal-scorers. My philosophy is if you don&rsquo;t score, you&rsquo;d better be physical, and if you&rsquo;re not physical, you&rsquo;d better score.&rdquo;Miron&rsquo;s first two moves as general manager were to hire Johnny Wilson as coach and to obtain Doug Favell from Toronto. &ldquo;Johnny was my first choice as coach,&rdquo; Ray says. &ldquo;I knew what he could do with a young team. And Favell played a few games for me at Oklahoma City last year, and I knew he could still play well. So I went after him. We think with Doug and Michel Plasse, we have as good a goaltending pair as there is in the league.&rdquo;Miron, whose coaching experience began when he was 23 with a senior team in his native Cornwall, Ontario, is the son of the late Gurdy Miron, a long-time hockey figure in the area and later a member of the board of directors of the Cornwall Arena. On the way up the hockey ladder, Ray managed the building before moving, in 1959, to a position as general manager with Washington in the old Eastern League. He later guided teams in that circuit in New Jersey and Knoxville.In 1965 Ray signed on with the Leafs&rsquo; organization as GM in Tulsa. A look at the Toronto roster of the past few years is the same as a look at the names of the players who have come under Miron&rsquo;s hand, either as manager, or coach, or both.The list includes Gord McRare, Mike Palmateer, Jack Valiquette, Pat Boutette, Dave Williams. Brian Glennie, Jim McKenny, Bob Neely, and so on.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011026/4150605-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="632" height="765"><figcaption class="caption-body">RAY MIRON &hellip; Jumped At Chance.</figcaption></div>Continuing his family tradition in hockey Miron recently hired his son, Monte, to come work for him in an all-around capacity for the Rockies. Monte, who was a fine college defenseman at Clarkson, also played pro for Baltimore and did a tour in Sweden.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s big and tough,&rdquo; says Ray of his son, &ldquo;but injury-prone. But he wants to get into the business end, and I plan to use him in a variety of ways. I wasn&rsquo;t a good enough skater when I played, and that&rsquo;s what started me in the coaching and administrative end of it, too.&rdquo;One pressing matter Miron hopes to delve deeply into before this season runs its course is the scheduling question. He is less than pleased with the schedule the Rockies were dealt this season.&ldquo;Of course, we got into the league late, so that was part of the problem,&rdquo; he points out. &ldquo;But we had a lot of Wednesday and Friday dates in the first few weeks of the season, and that was too many games played back-to-back in our building. The fans were just getting to know who we are and what the NHL is all about, and it was hard with so many games to keep our attendance where we&rsquo;d like it.&ldquo;Also, we had too many Sunday night dates, in my opinion. It takes tradition to make Sunday night a good one&mdash;like in New York and Montreal and other places. The feeling here originally was that people would come back from a weekend of skiing on Sunday night and come to our games. But that&rsquo;s unrealistic. Then, since we come second to the basketball team (the Nuggets of the National Basketball Association), we lose out on some good dates there, too.&rdquo;Miron says he misses coaching. &ldquo;I was on the ice with the players every day for two years in Oklahoma City,&rdquo; he recalls, &ldquo;and that was my exercise.&rdquo; Patting his expanding waistline, he adds, &ldquo;Now it&rsquo;s tougher to watch my weight.&rdquo;Wrestling with the problems of a first-year general manager of a first-year franchise probably will prove strenuous enough exercise before the year&rsquo;s out. &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Miron Realizes Life-Long Dream Working In NHL

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0039-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01274/4151836-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg"></div><h2>Meeting a Check</h2>The puck carrier (in white) is about to be body checked. And about to be knocked loose from his boots. He&rsquo;s watching the puck, not his check.The forward should begin to crouch over the puck as he comes up to what he knows will be body contact &mdash; a contact he couldn&rsquo;t avoid. Too, he should plan to hit the defenceman with his back leg well braced and thrusting. He wants to be low and pushing forward, hoping to get under the check&rsquo;s chest area. &#9632;

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Minor Hockey Tips

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011085/4150181-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="484" height="494"></div>&bull; FEW PEOPLE IN HOCKEY realize that Frank Spring, currently with the Cleveland Barons, was once a part of hockey&rsquo;s elite. He was Boston&rsquo;s first choice in the 1969 amateur draft and was picked among such select company as" Rejean Houle and Marc Tardif by the Canadiens. That was also the same year the Philadelphia Flyers reached out and grabbed Bobby Clarke&hellip;One-time Norris Trophy winner. Jacques Laperriere. says he still has not changed his mind about returning to hockey in some capacity. Laperriere recently quit as coach of the Montreal Juniors of the Quebec Major Junior League. Only four teams have won the Stanley Cup in the last is years. Montreal has won it seven times. Toronto picked up the coveted trophy four times and Boston and Philadelphia have won it twice each. The Soviet Union, with such stars as Vladislav Tretiak. Aleksandr Maltsev and Aleksandr Yakushev in the lineup, took that thumping from the New England Whalers to the delight of 10,507 fans in Hartford&hellip;Incidentally, Hartford will be the site for this year&rsquo;s World Hockey Association All Star game. It&rsquo;s set for Jan. 18&hellip;It looks as though Marcel Dionne of the Kings is going to give Montreal&rsquo;s Guy Lafleur a run for the NHL scoring championship. Dionne recently recorded his ninth career hat trick and moved to within three points of the Montreal right winger.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021040/4150174-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="324" height="523"><figcaption class="caption-body">Marcel Dionne</figcaption></div>&bull; ALTHOUGH HE HAS been playing hurt for much of the season, Craig Ramsay continues to be Buffalo&rsquo;s iron man. Despite a bruised shoulder and other ailments, the quiet left winger extended his consecutive game recorad beyond 270 in December.. After getting off to a blazing start that had him scoring at the rate of a goal a game. Canadiens&rsquo; Steve Shutt cooled off just before Christmas and went five games without a goal&hellip;Matti Hagman of the Boston Bruins has a sister who is a champion athlete. Riitta Hagman, who is 26. was the 1974 European 400-metre champion and she finished seventh in the women&rsquo;s 400-metre event at the Montreal Olympics last summer&hellip;Wayne Stephenson&rsquo;s return to the Philadelphia Flyers after a three-week &ldquo;retirement&rdquo; because of a contract hassle with management, coula jolt the hopes of Gary Inness getting in some playing time. Flyers&rsquo; management gives the impression that as soon as Stephenson gets into playing shape, he&rsquo;ll be used ahead of Inness&hellip;Joe Vargo, the well-traveled publicist who has had previous tours of duty with the Detroit Red Wings. Indianapolis Racers and Cleveland Crusaders, is doing his customary professional job as public relations director for the Colorado Rockies&hellip;The 1976-77 Western Canada Hockey League guide, just off the press, is a masterpiece. League executive assistant Bob Strumm did most of the research and it&rsquo;s obvious the hours of preparation were long.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03935/4150167-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="321" height="550"><figcaption class="caption-body">Craig Ramsay</figcaption></div>&bull; GIVE DR. MARVIN CLEIN a large share of the credit for goalie Doug Favell&rsquo;s return to action with the Colorado Rockies this season. Dr. Clein is the chairman of the physical education department at the University of Denver. The Rockies sent Favell to him shortly after the goalie tore a cartilage in his right knee in October&hellip;William Dod sends along word that the Bishop Guertin High School athletes will sponsor its third annual New England sports collectors convention March 12. There will be about 75 collectors from throughout the East renting tables to display their collections of autographs, yearbooks. press guides, programs and equipment&hellip; Islander goaltender Glenn (Chico) Resch was impressed with New York Ranger rookie Don Murdoch. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not that he has a blasting shot like a Rick Martin, it&rsquo;s that he&rsquo;s so accurate. He&rsquo;s deadly,&rdquo; says Resch&hellip;The few hundred new seats that were promised at the Nassau County Coliseum on Long Island are finally in place. They were quickly sold out on a season basis&hellip;CBS is planning a made-for-television movie on hockey. It will star Michael Moriarty, who gained attention in the fine baseball film &ldquo;Bang The Drum Slowly.&rdquo; The hockey movie will deal with two friends, one of whom becomes a super star. The other, played by Moriarty, has to work his way up through the minors as a tough guy&hellip;The WHA won a lot of support from the hockey crowd with their series victory over the touring Czechoslovakians. The New England Whalers&rsquo; victory over the Soviet Union gave the WHA a good start in their eight-game set with the Soviets. And that idea conjured up by Ben Hatskin to include the Soviet Union in the home schedule of each of the WHA teams next season, is certain to win the league more praise.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04833/4150160-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="327" height="568"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ben Hatskin</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011034/4150129-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"></div><h2>Special To The Hockey News</h2>HARTFORD&mdash;Thommy and Christer Abrahamsson, the Swedish hockey twins of the New England Whalers, hope to be spending as much time together on the ice this season as they spend in each other&rsquo;s company off the ice.Defenseman Thommy and goaltender Christer, presently in the early stages of their third season with the World Hockey Association club, have yet to compete together for an entire season primarily because of a series of injuries that have dogged Christer over his two-year career.Christer, Thommy s senior by a scant four hours, had appeared in only 57 games over his first two seasons with the Whalers, 16 in the 1974-75 season and 41 last year. He was going great last season until a neck injury put him out after the All-Star game.&ldquo;I really feel good so far this season,&rdquo; Christer said after a recent Whalers&rsquo; workout. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very hopeful about playing the entire season. All the problems I had had with my head and neck are gone and I&rsquo;m ready to play.&rdquo;Despite a 3-5-2 record in his first 10 games, Christer has performed well. He has reduced his goals-against average to a respectable 3.57 figure after it hovered around 5.00 after the first four games of the season.In fact, with a little luck he could have been 5-4-1. On the Whalers&rsquo; early-season six-game road trip, Christer dropped a 5-4 overtime game to Winnipeg when Ulf Nilsson scored in the last minute of the extra session and he had to settle for a 3-3 tie in Minnesota when Mike Antonovich knocked home the tying tally on a power play with just 15 seconds left.&ldquo;I had never really seen Christer play to any degree before our camp this season,&rdquo; said Whalers&rsquo; coach Harry Neale. &ldquo;But from what I have seen this year, this man possesses exceptional goaltending talents. I would like nothing more than to see him play a full year to find out who the real Christer Abrahamsson really is.&rdquo;Thommy has been the more durable of the twins since they were signed by the Whalers from the Swedish National Team in May of 1974. One of the smoothest skaters in professional hockey, he played in 76 games during the 1974-75 season and 63 games last year.A combination of lightning speed and ballet-like grace on skates, Thommy is superb with the puck. He owns a fancy now-you-see-me, now-you-don&rsquo;t move at center ice that leaves many forecheckers in his wake. He can easily make the shift to forward if the situation warrants it.Going into this season, Thommy had accumulated 22 goals and 44 assists for 66 points. This year he has appeared in all but three games for the Whalers and appears headed for a banner season with two goals and 11 assists to enhance the point production of New England defensemen.Off the ice, the Abrahamssons are almost always together. They both reside in Leksand, Sweden, during the off-season and live in the same apartment complex during the season in New Hartford, Conn.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02889/4150122-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1304" height="1409"><figcaption class="caption-body">Christer, top left, is the goaler in the Abrahamsson family and Thommy below is the solid-hitting defenseman who has proved the more durable of the Swedish twins. Both are hoping for an injury-free 1976-77 season to help put the Whalers in title contention. (Photos by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div>Both are dedicated athletes, well-schooled in Swedish culture, in terms of physical culture. They work hard in practice, get 10-12 hours of sleep and save most of their beer bottles for the off-season. They are kind, courteous and helpful with quick wits and sharp minds.The Swedes, unaccustomed to any political flak, spent an interesting summer dodging reporters as a result of the Canada Cup controversy in which the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation banned them from playing in the competition.Anders Hedberg, Borje Salming, Ulf Nilsson, Lars-Erik Sjoberg and the other Swedes decided they would stay at home if Thommy and Christer were not allowed to participate.&ldquo;It was a nasty problem for sure,&rdquo; said Christer &ldquo;But Thommy and I decided to tell the other fellows not to boycott on our account, to go ahead with the competition. It meant too much for the entire country.&rdquo; &#9632;

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JINXED BY INJURIES

<div class="byline">&#x2014; BILL LIBBY</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Jack Kent Cooke says he plans to keep his Kings, Lakers, and Forum, barring unexpected developments.He has said in the past that it always is possible an offer could come along which he would not refuse.However, he says now that no such offer has come along and he is not seeking one.He has helf himself out of reach since settling in Las Vegas, but by telephone he told this reporter:&ldquo;I am as enthusiastic as ever about my sports holdings. I am away now, but not out of touch with the men operating my affairs.&ldquo;I am managing my teams by telephone. My telephone bills are bigger than ever; astronomical. Buy A,T & T,&rdquo; he chuckled.He had a difficult year with deaths to his mother, his best friend, and his personal aide, as well as his impending divorce, but says he expects the new year to be a good one.Eternally enthusiastic, the optimistic Cooke commented, &ldquo;I am as hale, as hearty, as hopeful as ever. I am not letting up on a bloody thing. Reports of my massing,&rdquo; he announced, &ldquo;are premature.&rdquo; &#9632;

Optimistic Cooke Keeps Pro Empire

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011027/4150036-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chicago owner Bill Wirtz, left, makes plans with his new coach Bill White after White replaced Billy Reay at the helm of the Black Hawks. White is an interim coach and will have his role reviewed by Wirtz at the end of the current season.</figcaption></div><h2>MAGNUSON NEW CAPTAIN</h2>CHICAGO&mdash;One of the first official acts of new Chicago coach Bill White was to appoint defenseman Keith Magnuson captain of the Black Hawks. And how did Magnuson respond to the offer? &ldquo;I went out to have a bite with Keith after a game and that's when I mentioned it to him,&rdquo; said White. &ldquo;He was so surprised that he picked up the check.&rdquo;The appointment of Magnuson was somewhat of a surprise since the Hawks already have a captain in Stan Mikita. No mention was made of why White changed from Mikita to Magnuson, but it was believed the latter's outspokeness made him an ideal choice to lead the team on the ice. The Hawks have lacked drive and White is hoping the naming of Magnuson will light a fire under the Chicago team. White recently replaced Billy Reay as coach ending Reay's 13year tenure with the club.<h2>KROMM 'LEAVES' JETS</h2>WINNIPEG&mdash;It isn't very often a coach takes himself out of the lineup when things are going bad but Bobby Kromm of the Winnipeg Jets did and it changed the team's luck.Kromm, dissatisfied with the play of the Jets since their return from the Izvestia Cup tournament in Moscow, decided a change was as good as a rest for the WHA team and did not appear behind the bench when the Jets took the ice for a game against the Houston Aeros. Injured defenseman Lars-Erik Sjoberg did the honors in Kromm's place and the Jets emerged with a 5-2 win to snap a four-game losing streak. Kromm said he felt a one-game absence might snap the team out of its slump. It did. The Jets said Kromm would be back behind the bench the next day at practice.<h2>WHA SAINTS STAY ALIVE</h2>ST. PAUL&mdash;The Minnesota Fighting Saints are still alive and kicking even though the pessimists had them buried. It seems the Saints were running a little dry at the bank and payrolls were reportedly falling behind.However, the Saints came up with the money to meet their next payroll and will continue to operate in the WHA on a regular basis. The club's director of marketing and public relations, Lee Meade, said &ldquo;There never has been any plan to fold. We are current on our payroll and bills and we haven't had to borrow any money from local banks, so we don't have any indebtedness hanging over us.&rdquo; It was good news to WHA officials, who have been showing some apprehension over the Minnesota and Phoenix franchises in recent weeks.<h2>NHL SETS TV GAMES</h2>NEW YORK&mdash;The NHL has launched its new Monday night Game of the Week program for the second half of the 1976-77 season. The Philadelphia at Montreal game Jan. 3 was the kick off to the league's planned 13-game schedule that will carry right through to the playoffs.The league also announced that Gene Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers and veteran St. Louis Blues' braodcaster Dan Kelly will be among the guest announcers for the Game of the Week show. Hart assisted anchorman Marv Albert Jan. 3 and Jan. 10 and Kelly will do the Jan. 17 show with Albert from Boston. Games scheduled are Jan. 3 Philly at Montreal; Jan. 10 Philly at the Islanders; Jan. 17 Montreal at Boston; Jan. 25 All Star game at Vancouver; Jan. 31 Toronto at Atlanta; Feb. 7 Toronto at Buffalo; Feb. 14 St. Louis at Philly; Feb. 21 Atlanta at Montreal; and Feb. 28 Cleveland at St. Louis. &#9632;

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DEADLINE STOPPERS

<div class="byline">BY ALAN TRUEX</div>ATLANTA-When the Atlanta Flames needed financial aid, they got it from an unexpected source&mdash;the players themselves.On their own initiative, the Flames&rsquo; players voted unanimously recently to buy $25,000 worth of tickets to their games. Each player donated 1.5 percent of his salary to make the purchase.The tickets were presented to Georgia Gov. George Bus bee, who has led efforts to encourage Atlanta businessmen to support the city&rsquo;s only winning professional team.Bus bee earlier had called a meeting of 40 Atlanta businessmen, and the governor asked the representatives of each firm to buy $25,000 worth of Flames tickets.The players then decided they would match the sum each business was giving.Bus bee lavished praise on the Flames for their unselfishness, something rarely found today among professional athletes.&ldquo;For these individual players to dig into their own pockets and buy tickets,&rdquo; the governor said, &ldquo;is all the evidence I need to know for certain that the Flames wish to be part of Atlanta.&rdquo;Bus bee distributed many of the tickets to state employees.One of the players said, &ldquo;We want to do all we can to keep the team in Atlanta. All of us like the city, and a lot of us have houses here. We have a good team, and we don&rsquo;t want to see it disbanded.&rdquo;The players hoped that by giving free tickets to people unfamiliar with the sport, they could expand their base of fan support.Attendance has been increasing lately, with the Flames playing some of the most exciting hockey in the league. But even though crowds were averaging 11,000&mdash;up some 1,000 from the first month of the season&mdash;the Flames were still far short of the 13,000figure needed to break even financially.However, as Flames general manager Cliff Fletcher pointed out, &ldquo;In all our four seasons, attendance has increased 1,500 per game after Jan. 1, with the football season over.&rdquo;Flames owners have said that if the club cannot draw an average of 13,000 per game, its long-term future in Atlanta was suspect. The club is not well-backed financially and cannot afford continued losses.The franchise did get some help recently from the rest of the NHL, which agreed to reduce Atlanta&rsquo;s debt to the league from $4 million to $1.2 million.The $4 million figure is what the Flames owed 14 NHL teams for the original franchise rights. The payment was suspended last spring, but those 14 teams still held the notes for the unpaid balance.However, Fletcher said, &ldquo;The overwhelming majority of the teams have advised Atlanta and Washington (Capitals) that they would be willing to sell the notes back on a discounted basis. This will reduce what we owe by at least $2.5 million.&rdquo;The Flames are being asked to pay the remaining $1.2 million within a year, and the club was frantically trying to raise the money. Response from Atlanta&rsquo;s business community, as well as from the players, has been encouraging so far.FLAMES NOTES: Right winger Willi Plett continued his high scoring and hard hitting in his rookie season. Called up after the first month of the season, Plett has scored 11 goals and 21 points in his first 19 games in the NHL.<h2>WHERE YOU&rsquo;LL FIND IT ALL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02931/4150067-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="642" height="2712"></div> &#9632;

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Atlanta Players Help Out, Purchase *25,000 In Tickets

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05694/4150212-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg"></div><h2>NHL Should Have Just Two Divisions</h2>I agree with Bill Libby&rsquo;s story which appeared in THE HOCKEY NEWS Dec. 17.1 do have one exception about this story on re-alignment of the National Hockey League.I think the alignment should be a Western Division with nine teams and an Eastern Division with nine teams.How long do the club owners think they can deceive the fans with their four divisions, or for that matter three divisions, as proposed by Libby?Let&rsquo;s have two divisions and let the chips fall where they may.Better still, kick the poor-drawing cities out and consolidate to about 12 or 14 clubs instead of the watered-down hockey we have now.After the Canada Cup series, the NHL looks like old Senior &ldquo;A&rdquo; hockey.BILL DION, Ferndale, Mich.<h2>Islanders&rsquo; Fans Have No Beefs</h2>In reading one fan&rsquo;s complaints about WOR-TV Channel 9 in New York, I can only express my utter disbelief.The Islanders have been in New York for a relatively short time. The Rangers have been here for 51 years. The Mets have been in New York since 1960 and the Knicks even longer.May I also remind him that people on Long Island have the opportunity to buy cable television, with which they can see most of the Islanders&rsquo; home games.This is not available to those of us Ranger and Knick fans who live in Brooklyn, East New York and Queens. The only time we can see our teams is when they are on the road.Also, when was the last time the Islanders won a Stanley Cup? The Mets won the championship two years in a row and the Knicks won it in 1970. The Mets were the champs in 1969.I suggest to this fan that instead of complaining, he should be glad that Channel 9 is willing to show their games.PATRICIA HERVEY, Brooklyn, N.Y.<h2>Fan Takes Exception To Magnuson&rsquo;s Remarks</h2>I feel that the back-jumping by Bryan Watson on Keith Magnuson is deplorable, but I take exception to the remarks made by Magnuson. He says he doesn&rsquo;t take cheap shots. Vancouver fans know different and so does Chris Oddleifson.Was it just coincidence that Chris is the leader of a team that was fighting for first place with Chicago when Magnuson broke his jaw by punching him with a cast on his hand? All Magnuson got was a two-game suspension.True, he did not use his stick. What he did do was rub Oddleifson up against the boards, drop his gloves and start punching before Oddleifson could react.Magnuson gets no tears from me. Live by the cheap shot, die by the blind side. I think the shoe fits him.JACK GOODE, Medicine Hat, Alta.<h2>NHL Needs Rivalries To Boost Attendance</h2>I am writing to you about you recent articles regarding changing the current divisional lineups in the National Hockey League.I agree with you in the fact that the NHL needs something to boost its sagging attendance. Rivalries is one answer, but putting the Flyers, Bruins, Canadiens and the Islanders into one division is not the answer.In a division, you play your teams in the section six times and the other teams four times. This would be unfair to the teams in the top division.I think that the NHL should have teams make the playoffs only based on the number of points they have. I also think that the first-round bye should be eliminated.If the season was to end today, the New York Rangers would not make the playoffs and if they were in the Smythe Division, they would get a first-round bye.This does seem to be a little bit unjust, don&rsquo;t you think? I think to be fair to every team in the NHL, the playoffs should be determined by the number of points only. This includes byes.Playing teams in your division more than the others is inevitable, but the rest of the system is ridiculous.WILLIAM SAYRE, Wynnewood, Pa.<h2>Mediocrity Won&rsquo;t Be Tolerated Forever</h2>Must we the hockey fans wait every four years for a Canada Cup series to see good hockey? The National Hockey League should realize that decisions about its future must be made soon or else fan support will continue to dwindle.Mediocrity won&rsquo;t be tolerated forever. International hockey need not be the only good hockey. The essence of the sport rests with its competitiveness.Mr. Hughes, owner of the Vancouver Canucks, recently suggested that a tiered divisional system, similar to that of British Football, would enhance the sport.That&rsquo;s a great idea only if the NHL merges with the World Hockey Association and a separate Canadian division were created. The extentions of such a system could revolutionize the game. There would be more fans, more franchises and more revenue.It is unlikely that such a radical move would ever be implemented, but isn&rsquo;t it time radical moves were made?ROGER McGUIRE, London, Ont. &#9632;

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FAN FORUM

Following are the latest player movements in hockey:NATIONAL LEAGUECHICAGO - Dave Logan, defenseman, and Duane Wylie, forward, returned to Dallas of CHL. Michel Dumas, goaler, placed on disabled list indefinitely with eye injury.DETROIT &mdash; Kevin Shamehorn, forward, called up from Kalamazoo of IHL on 10-game pro trial. Dan Maloney, forward, placed on disabled list with shoulder injury. Terry Harper, defenseman, returned to active roster from injury list.TORONTO &mdash; Gord McRae, goaler, assigned to Dallas of CHL Errol Thompson and George Ferguson, forwards, returned to active roster from injury list. Thompson has been out since October.WASHINGTON - Mike Marson, forward, recalled from Springfield of AHL. Tom Rowe, forward, returned to Springfield as replacement. Bill Riley, forward, recalled from Dayton of IHL. Paul Nicholson, forward, returned to Dayton as replacement.MONTREAL &mdash; Dave Elenbaas, goaler, recalled from Nova Scotia of AHL as backup netminder. Michel Larocque, goaler, placed on injury list.WORLD HOCKEY ASSN.EDMONTON &mdash; Wayne Connelly and Claude St. Sauveur, forwards, purchased from Calgary in straight cash deal. Peter Morris, forward, assigned to Springfield of AHL on 24hour recall to play himself into condition. Morris is recovering from fractured skull.CALGARY - Eddie Mio, goaler. Tom Serviss, Jim Mayer and Doug Lindskog, forwards, recalled from Tidewater of SHL. Lindskog later returned to Tidewater.WINNIPEG &mdash; Hexi Riihiranta and Peter Sullivan, forwards, placed on disabled list indefinitely. Riihiranta is suffering from pulled back muscles. Sullivan received severely cut eye. &#9632;

Hockey Players On The Move…

<div class="byline">BY BILL HEUFELDER</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;A New York sports writer was among a handful of persons sitting idly in the press room of the Nassaum Coliseum recently, awaiting the start of the Pittsburgh-New York Islanders game.&ldquo;What&rsquo;s your title now,&rdquo; he asked of Baz Bastien.Smiling easily, Bastien said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m doing what I&rsquo;ve been doing for the last 20 years.&rdquo;&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; the writer persisted, &ldquo;but what&rsquo;s your title?&rdquo;&ldquo;Same as it was at the start of the season,&rdquo; Bastien countered.The writer scrambled for a Penguin press guide, saw that Bastien was listed as the club&rsquo;s assistant general manager, and calmly withdrew from the questioning.None of the titles changed within the Penguins&rsquo; front office, only the responsibilities. Bastien clearly is at the helm of the ship, but a strong indication remains that Al Savill, one of the triumverate which bailed the Penguins out of bankruptcy more than a year ago. has a hand on his shoulder.So where does that leave Wren Blair, whose dual title of president-general manager has not been altered, at least officially?Whatever personal feelings involved in the maneuvering regarding Savill and Blair remain a secret, but there is no question that a change in the day-to-day management of the front office was in order.One version is that Blair was nudged aside, the other version being that he decided he had fulfilled his original intention of putting the franchise in order before phasing himself out to concentrate on a myriad of other business interests.A one-man conglomerate, Blair obviously would not be the type of executive to be considered the likely choice for the challenges that Savill foresees, such as wiping out last season&rsquo;s marginal dip in season ticket sales. Savill, who along with fellow financier Otto Frenzel, poured 80 percent of the capital into the franchise, is openly disturbed about the loss of those season ticket holders, however few are involved.He also insists the Penguins should be more aggressive in their marketing approach, perhaps hoping to steal a few extra customers despite the excitement generated by two local football powers. No. One ranked Pitt and the Steelers, who lost their bid for an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl title.The attendance average fell to less than 9,000 in mid-December as the Penguins were hurt by losses at un fortunate times in the schedule. For instance, after scoring a rare victory in Buffalo&rsquo;s Memorial Auditorium, they ended a brief road trip with a 53 loss to the New York Islanders, who zipped home four second-period goals to turn the game into a rout.The performance against the Islanders, televised back to Pittsburgh, did little to raise enthusiasm for the Penguins&rsquo; return to home ice the next night against St. Louis when less than 8,000 fans were on hand.Whatever momentum the Penguins gather seems to quickly fade, due in a large part to a wave of injuries that left five regulars sidelined.The return of Pierre Larouche, who had been out with a broken thumb, paid immediate dividends as he capped teammate Jean Pronovost two goals&mdash;two assists performance against the Cleveland Barons by producing the winning goal in a 5-4 victory.All the wins are vital as the Penguins continue their scramble to leave Los Angeles behind in a race for second place in the Norris Division. Larouche continued to be productive, but not the team. Pittsburgh followed its triumph over Cleveland by bowing to last-place Washington at the Civic Arena and letting Boston get away on its home ice after playing the Bruins even through two periods.PENGUIN NOTES: Pronovost went on a tear with 10 goals in as many games&hellip;Larouche connected three times in three games after returning to lineup&hellip; Lowell MacDonald had bone chips removed from left knee and may rejoin club in March&hellip;Vic Hadfield, however, is out for season after knee surgery to repair ligaments.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02858/4150281-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="629" height="948"><figcaption class="caption-body">BAZ BASTIEN &hellip; No Title Change.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03578/4150274-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="625" height="980"><figcaption class="caption-body">WREN BLAIR &hellip; Phased Out?</figcaption></div><h2>NHL Leaders</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011116/4150267-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="639" height="1050"></div> &#9632;

f0006-02

Only Responsibilites Changed For Bastien In Penguin Shuffle

<div class="byline">BY GARY MCCARTHY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01995/4150312-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK CHARTRAW&hellip; Eyed By Several Clubs.</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;Rick Chartraw has to be the most sought-after, but least used player in the National Hockey League. There are at least three teams who would be more than willing to part with a draft choice or two in order to land the defenseman-forward. And, the only exposure he has had since coming into the NHL is 45 games, including 17 this year.When the Canadiens selected Chartraw on the third round and 10th over-all in the 1974 amateur draft, there were groans from other NHL clubs that went up in the hotel room where the draft was being held.One Montreal writer once wrote that Chartraw was such a bright prospect that he was the only player in the entire Canadiens&rsquo; organization who could show up at 9:30 in the morning to keep a nine o&rsquo;clock appointment with general manager Sam Pollock.Last year, during the Stanley Cup playoffs, Chartraw came out of the press box and played a major role in two games that helped carry the Canadiens to their Cup triumph.At that point, he thought his future with the Canadiens may be brighter than it had been during the regular season when he split the year between Montreal and Halifax, where he played for the American Hockey League Voyageurs.He knew he would have trouble breaking into the defensive lineup because of such stalwarts as Guy Lapointe, Serge Savard, Larry Robinson, and Pierre Bouchard, plus another newcomer, Bill Nyrop. The Canadiens also had John Van Boxmeer and Don Awrey on defense at that time.However, Chartraw had seen some duty at right wing and he figured he may have a chance at winning a spot on the team at that position. But, the Canadiens had Guy Lafleur, Yvan Cournoyer, Mario Tremblay and Jimmy Roberts at that position&mdash;making it tough for him to win a spot there.Trying to overcome these obstacles in his bid to land a regular job with the Canadiens has not made the 1976-77 campaign one of optimism for the Venezuelan-born player.He has seen periodical action this year and primarily on defense. Then, he got into Scotty Bowman&rsquo;s doghouse during a recent road trip&mdash;at a time when the Canadiens needed his services.The Canadiens had planned to use Chartraw in place of the injured Larry Robinson against the Rockies in Colorado. However, Chartraw showed up at the practice arena three minutes before he was due on the ice. Bowman gave him the day off, saying his patience with the rearguard was wearing thin.Last week, after the Canadiens had enjoyed a week off, Chartraw was forced to the sidelines when he phoned the team a few hours before a game against Cleveland, complaining of a migraine headache.&ldquo;He had to take pills all day, trying to get rid of the headache, and it made him groggy,&rdquo; said assistant coach Claude Ruel. It came at an unfortunate time, because the Canadiens would have surely used him while Robinson spent a few more days on the sidelines, recuperating from his back injury.With Chartraw unable to play against the Barons, Bowman decided to put Robinson back in the lineup and the giant defenseman gave a better-than-good account of himself, which means that Chartraw will be forced back to the press box until another opportunity for him to play comes along.Despite his limited duty and brief appearances with the Canadiens, Chartraw is definitely the envy of the Cleveland Barons. John Ferguson of the New York Rangers and Alex Delvecchio of the Detroit Red Wings would also like to have a chance at getting Chartraw.There are reports that the Barons would immediately part with two first-round draft choices in order to put their hands on him. Ferguson, the coach and general manager of the Rangers, has also expressed more than casual interest in him.However, the Canadiens aren&rsquo;t likely to be willing to relinquish him just yet. They surely would like to know exactly what his value is before dealing him off for a draft pick.In the meantime, the 22-year-old defenseman-right winger is spending his time on the practice rink and in the press box, waiting to either land a regular job with the Habs or some other team in the NHL. &#9632;

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Chartraw Is Least Used But Most Sought After

<div class="byline">&#x2014; BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011107/4150350-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="459" height="518"></div><h2>All About Toughness</h2>HOCKEY IS A TOUGH sport and tough men play it. None is tougher than Wayne Cashman, a man of considerable courage. The big guy goes where the going is tough. Although he usually scores from 20 to 30 goals in a season, he is not primarily a shooter. He is a digger who digs the puck out of the corners and the clutches of foes and feeds it to his shooters. He helped make Phil Esposito what he was. Phil will tell you that. Cash also is a checker, at both ends of the ice. He helped make the Boston Bruins what they have been. His coaches will tell you that.Current coach Don Cherry says, &ldquo;Cash is a player. He is the kind of player every coach wants. He is a worker, a hitter, and absolutely unselfish. He is a team man. He sacrifices himself for his teammates and his team. He plays hurt when he has to. He plays in pain. He suffers serious injuries and battles back. He is an amazing man.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02996/4150343-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="915" height="1458"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Cashman, the Boston Bruins&rsquo; veteran winger, never gives up. He even plays while suffering from an injury if he has to. Not a quitter, Cashman prefers to take life as it comes.</figcaption></div>Amazing Wayne Cashman stands by his cubicle in the dressing room after another night&rsquo;s work. A good-looking blond, he strips his soggy uniform from his sweaty skin. Wearily, he sits down and smiles. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know about amazing, &ldquo;he says. &ldquo;I do not have great talent. I can&rsquo;t skate or handle the puck like a Bobby Orr, or shoot like a Phil Esposito. I can&rsquo;t even shoot like a Johnny Bucyk or a Ken Hodge. So I&rsquo;m a worker. I guess every team needs some. Chief and I have been Boston workers for a long time. Espy and Hodge are gone now. Sure we helped Phil. He helped us. We set records as a line. I miss &rsquo;em a lot. The game goes on. I go on.&rdquo;HE CRASHED INTO A goal-post and cracked his back two seasons back. &ldquo;I chipped a bone, ruptured a disc. There was a spur. It didn&rsquo;t show up in the X-Rays so I kept playing,&rdquo; he recalls. &ldquo;It hurt even when I lay flat. I couldn&rsquo;t sleep. I couldn&rsquo;t walk. But I could skate. I played four, five weeks. I had to. The team was in trouble and I couldn&rsquo;t quit on it. But no one knew it was as bad as it was. I played too long. I did some damage to the spinal nerves and I lost feeling in my legs. Finally, they found it and I had to have surgery to correct it. &ldquo;He suffered on the sidelines the last half of that season but came back to play every game last season. Then in the playoffs he damaged a cartilage in his left knee. &ldquo;It was stretched and only partially torn. It didn&rsquo;t require an operation. I laid off to let it heal, then worked hard this summer to rebuild it. I did a lot of swimming and special exercises. It feels fine now,&rsquo;&rsquo; he says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been lucky, really.&rdquo;Lucky? Stripped, scars show on both shoulders. &ldquo;Well the way I play I get hurt, but also accidents happen,&rdquo; he shrugs. &ldquo;One time I hurt my shoulder when a bench door opened out on the ice and I ran right into it. A bad bruise developed calcium deposits in my other shoulder another time. I&rsquo;ve had to have operations on both my shoulders. I also broke my wrist when I first came up. Playing for Team Canada, I lost my front teeth to Team Sweden,&rdquo; he says smiling, showing wide open spaces in his mouth.HE CAN LAUGH it off. A fun-loving fellow, he once broke a leg jumping from one hotel balcony to another. He&rsquo;s lucky he didn&rsquo;t break his head. That was when he was with Oklahoma City in the late 60s before he made the Boston team for good. This is his 11th season as a professional and eighth full season in the big time and there have been few better all-around players in his time. Yet the right-handed left-winger never has made a first All Star team and only once, in 1974, a second star unit.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to be rated just ahead of Howe and Hull as the super player of all time, but I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;m that,&rdquo; he says, smiling. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just a guy who does a job I&rsquo;m paid well to do. I&rsquo;m not flashy and I don&rsquo;t attract attention unless I hit someone too hard or someone takes a poke at me. I don&rsquo;t expect to get trophies, so I don&rsquo;t mind when I don&rsquo;t. There&rsquo;s too much else in life to worry about that sort of thing.&rdquo; he shrugs.Cash, who comes from Kingston. Ontario, takes life as it comes. He had a home in the suburb of Lynfield. When it was robbed, he called the cops. It turned out to be kids, who burned it to the ground for revenge. He lost a lot, but bought another in North Reading. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have time to hate,&rdquo; he says. He and his wife, Lyn, have a son, Scott. 10, and a daughter, Becky, 6. While he and his son play rough, his wife and daughter ride show horses. Settled down, he asks, &ldquo;With a family like mine, who wouldn&rsquo;t be happy with his life?&rdquo;At 31. he says he still loves his sport. &ldquo;The injuries slow you down, but they don&rsquo;t stop you,&rdquo; he says. &#9632;

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Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03844/4150381-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">WAYNE THOMAS&hellip; Regained Valuable Form. (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>TORONTO-The problems which the Toronto Maple Leafs have faced during the 1976-77 National Hockey League season in an effort to over-haul the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres in the Adams Division are woes which the majority of NHL teams must handle these days&mdash;a lack of depth in talent.When all hands are healthy, the Leafs aren&rsquo;t in bad shape. But remove three players with injuries, a situation the Leafs have faced during most of the season, and they don&rsquo;t have the depth to compensate.In many games to date this season, the Leafs have dressed fewer than the NHL player limit. Several times they&rsquo;ve been one player below the maximum 17 skaters and, in a December stretch, they had only 15 skaters in uniform. Often the Leafs played only a basic four defensemen, nine forward unit.In a relaxed schedule, the team could survive. But they faced a six-games-in-nine-days pre-Christmas grind, which took its toll on a reduced roster.Winger Errol Thompson. Leafs&rsquo; top sniper last season with 43 goals, broke his wrist in the third game of the season and a long program of therapy should be completed for him to return in early January. Center George Ferguson (knee injury) has missed a month and will return about the same time as Thompson.Big winger Kurt Walker will need a little more time to recover from a knee injury which has sidelined him since early November.The Leafs didn&rsquo;t summon any bodies from the Dallas Black Hawks, the Central League farm team they share with Chicago. Instead, they went along with the players they had on hand.The Leafs gave a heavy workload to the defense pairs of Borje Salming and Ian Turnbull. Brian Glennie and Jim McKenny. Coach Red Kelly used Claire Alexander and rookie Randy Carlyle only in spot duty.Because the team was in a tight fit in most games, Kelly was unable to give Carlyle much work. When the youngster did play, he appeared tight and jittery, qualities which can be eliminated only by ice time.Carlyle was dispatched to Dallas for a pair of games and because that team had injury problems, too and he had a heavy workload for the first time this season.One hurt the Leafs were able to overcome without much damage was the eye injury to rookie goalie Mike Palmateer, the man who helped the team turn its season around. Thrust into regular duty for the first time since early in the season, Wayne Thomas regained the form which made him such a valuable addition to the team in 1975-76.Thomas was rusty in losing his first full game in a month, 7-4, to the Flyers at Philadelphia but in the next three games, he allowed only six goals although the St. Louis Blues (a 4-2 win by Leafs), Washington Capitals (a 3-2 loss) and Colorado Rockies (a 4-2 win) had a total of 137 shots at him.&ldquo;I needed a heavy workload to regain the edge which I didn&rsquo;t have earlier in the season.&rdquo; Thomas said. &ldquo;But I need to put together a string of 10 or 12 good games before I can get excited about it. What a goalie does over the long haul is what counts, not in a few games.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0008-03

Leafs’ Biggest Woe Is A Lack Of Depth

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011068/4150412-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB HESS&hellip; May Be Dealt Away. (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;The St. Louis Blues broke out of their 10-game winless streak and started winning about the time Emile Francis staged his first shakeup as the team&rsquo;s head man.Francis demoted defenseman Bob Hess to Kansas City and traded Rick Smith to Boston for defenseman Joe Zanussi. Francis also called top draft choice Bernie Federko and right wing Rick Bourbonnais from Kansas City and sent rookie left wing Brian Sutter to the farm club.The winless streak quickly reached 10 with four losses in seven nights, 5-3 to Pittsburgh, 41 to Toronto, 5-2 to Boston and 20 to Philadelphia. The next night the Blues met a team with even worse losing ways, the Chicago Black Hawks, and the Blues won, 6-4, while the Hawks&rsquo; winless streak reached 10 shortly before Billy Reay&rsquo;s dismissal from the Chicago coaching job.At that point Francis made the changes he had been planning and believed necessary.The series of maneuvers stunned Hess, who never before had&rsquo; played in the minor leagues. He was the Blues&rsquo; top draft choice in 1974 and had been a regular on the Blues&rsquo; defensive corps. Francis had given Hess substantial bench-warming duty before sending him down to Kansas City.The soft-spoken Hess was shocked and disappointed because of his demotion. Although he would like to return to the parent team as quickly as possible, Hess is pessimistic about his chances of staying in the St. Louis organization. He thinks the demotion to Kansas City is a prelude to a trade as it was for the veteran Smith.In the second half of last season the Blues were eager to get Smith&rsquo;s name on a contract. After playing for Boston and California he had jumped to the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the World Hockey Association. The Blues looked to him as an experienced anchor on the young St. Louis defense.But this season Francis acquired two former New York Rangers, Rod Seiling and Gilles Marotte, and Smith was relegated to the bench. He was sent to Kansas City about two weeks before being traded back to the Bruins.Francis said of Zanussi, &ldquo;I like the guy. He&rsquo;s full of zip and hustle and gives you an all-out effort. He also moves the puck well.&rsquo;&rsquo;Zanussi was the least known of the traded players in last season&rsquo;s deal which sent Jean Ratelle and Brad Park to the Bruins and Phil Esposito and Carol Vadnais to the Rangers.Sutter was sent back to Kansas City after a two-week trial with the parent club, and Francis called him &ldquo;money in the bank for us.&rdquo; Bourbonnais has been trying to break into the Blues&rsquo; lineup for two seasons and is being given another chance.The promotion of Federko, a center, was based on the rookie&rsquo;s scoring ability. He was leading the Central Hockey League in scoring, and a lack of scoring had been the Blues&rsquo; problem during the long winless streak.The Blues are strong at center, but that highly-paid strength has not been paying dividends recently.Derek Sanderson, hampered by injuries this season, has not been at full strength. Garry Unger, also playing while hurt, had a good start this season, but then his scoring production tapered. Red Berenson had been centering a regular line, killing penalties and playing the point on the power play. He was ticketed for more rest with the arrival of Federko and the very impressive play of fourth-string center Larry Patey, who must have the highest scoring production per minutes played of any player in the National Hockey League.Francis installed Federko on a line with his Kansas City mate, Bourbonnais, and Chuck Lefley, whose regular line included Sanderson and Claude Larose.Sanderson missed a two-game trip out west as the Blues beat Colorado, 2-1, and Vancouver, 42, for a three-game winning streak at the end of the 10-game winless streak.The winning goals in the Colorado and Vancouver games were Bob Gassoff&rsquo;s first and second goals of the season. &#9632;

f0009-01

Hess Feels Trade Coming As Francis Shakes Blues

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011094/4150450-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"></div><h2>Whee For McVie</h2>A SMALL CHEER IS inorder for Tommy McVie, the dapper little man who coaches the Washington Capitals, a job which many people would view as something similar to being a parade marshall in Dublin or a traffic cop in the Miekong Delta.And add a small holler for Max McNab, the Caps' general manager. They took over the Caps partway through the 1975-76 National Hockey League season and inherited a team which had about as much future as Liz Taylor's latest husband.Or at least that's how it appeared at the time. But heading for Christmas Eve in the '76-77 campaign, the Caps were making noises which sounded strangely like a playoff team. In their first two seasons, the Cans recorded 19 wins. 15 ties and 126 losses. In the first 32 games of this season, they had 10 wins and four ties.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02883/4150443-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="443" height="557"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOM McVIE</figcaption></div>Now by Montreal Canadien standards that might not be much. But by Caps standards, it was a bloody miracle. There's a strong suspicion that the Washington franchise could become a good one&mdash;if the team is competitive.The Capitals' attendance has increased by almost 1,500 fans per game this season and if the team continues to play well, McNab is confident that number will go even higher.When McNab took over the Caps' GM job, his first move was to hire Tommy Who as coach. McVie was handling the International League team at Dayton. His hiring by McNab was viewed with surprise because the hockey world expected the Caps to go for a &ldquo;name'' coach.&ldquo;When I was running the San Diego team in the Western League, I sent a few players to Dayton and after they spent some time with McVie, they came back as better hockey players,&rdquo; McNab said. &ldquo;And when he told me that a couple of players didn't have a future in the game, he was right on.&ldquo;I'd been involved in minor pro hockey for quite a few years and I knew the calibre of some men involved in coaching at the so-called lower levels. McVie was a man with some new ideas, a guy who made believers out of players. He was the calibre of man I wanted.&rdquo;<h2>He Uses No Magic</h2>McVIE CLAIMS HE'S no magician. He is a man of enormous drive considerable wit and great patience.&ldquo;There's no miracle involved in hockey it's all hard work,&rdquo; McVie said, a fitting statement for a man who had a 14-year career in the old Western League.The Cap players quickly discovered that when McVie talked about hard work, he wasn't having them on. He's a believer in training of a rigor which few NHL teams can match.&ldquo;When Max and I took over the team, we spent countless hours talking about what we could do because we weren't blessed with the world's greatest talent,&rdquo; McVie said. &ldquo;It didn't take an geniuses to figure out that there were few roads open to us.&ldquo;We saw that there were only two avenues we could take&mdash;conditioning and self improvement&mdash;to upgrade the team. We had to convince&mdash;or make&mdash;the players to go with us by convincing them there were no alternatives for us.&rdquo;<h2>The Coach Is In Shape, Too</h2>DURING THE SUMMER OF 1976, all the Cap players, and McVie, too, travelled to Ottawa for extensive physical testing by two doctors at the University of Ottawa. From those tests, individual conditioning programs were worked out for all players&mdash;and the coach.&ldquo;I felt it would help the cause if I went through the tests and had a s program, too,&rdquo; McVie added. &ldquo;I've become a bit of a physical fitness nut because I know the value of it.&ldquo;Each player has his own master program of conditioning, which he guards the way a football player guards his playbook. Much of the program, on and off the ice, is designed to increase stamina and endurance.&ldquo;When I took over the team, we'd be in front in the late stages of games but simply run out of energy and lose. When a player is tired, he's not only unable to play to any physical potential but he makes mental mistakes, too.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0010-01

FRANK ORR SAYS

<div class="byline">BY JACK MCCARTHY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-03645/4150481-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHNNY BUCYK&hellip; &ldquo;It Was A Good Goal."</figcaption></div>BOSTON-It was just a day too late to be strictly called a Christmas present, but nobody was going to argue much, as the Bruins&rsquo; hardy perennial. captain John Bucyk, scored the 545th goal of his starry major league career against the Colorado Rockies at Boston Garden on Dec. 27th to move into fourth place on the all-time NHL goal-scoring list.&ldquo;The Chief", who is playing in his 22nd season in the big time, thus vaulted ahead of the immortal Maurice &ldquo;Rocket &ldquo;Richard into fourth place on the list. Gordie Howe at 786 is No. One; Bobby Hull had 604 in the NHL, and Phil Esposito had 578 with 16 this season at the same time Bucyk reached 545.The Rocket had 544 in 18 seasons; Howe played 25; Hull 15. and Espo is in his 13th. Bucyk played at Detroit for two seasons and then came to Boston, where he had played 1,438 for a grand total of 1,474 when he went into fourth place on the big list.John is a remarkable player and a great guy, who has more friends around Boston than he can count. Salute. Chief.Bucyk&rsquo;s goal helped the Bruins win a game they needed to win, because Buffalo, which had moved past them into the lead of the Adams Division, was also winning, and the Bruins wanted to keep them in sight. Boston was moving out for a long road trip while the Ice Capades were in Boston Garden.Said Bucyk, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to be in fourth place, but the big thing is that we won the game. We&rsquo;ve been struggling and we can use every point. It was a good goal, though, not a tip-in&hellip;&rdquo;Lest we forget, Bucyk is 41 years old; still strong as a bull, and one of the keystones of the Boston power play from the left corner.The game was the fourth straight in the nets for Gerry Cheevers, who had taken over as the No. One Boston goalkeeper after an early-season try at alternating goaltenders between Cheevers and Gilles Gilbert by coach Don Cherry.Cherry, however, said, &ldquo;I will go back to Gilbert in the opening game of the road trip against Vancouver. I wanted to wait until we were away from home to take some of the pressure off him.&rdquo;The Bruins, meanwhile, were hoping for. and getting, steady play on defense for an old favorite returned to Boston Garden, Ricky Smith. He was acquired Dec. 21, from the St. Louis Blues for another defenseman, Joe Zanussi.Rick had been playing for the Blues&rsquo; Kansas City club of the Central League. He had been signed in February of 1976 by the Blues.Smith is 28, and he had been a popular Bruin for four seasons before being traded in 1972 in a swap that was much bemoaned by the younger element among the Boston fans. Smith went to the Oakland Seals with Reg Leach and Bob Stewart for Carol Vadnais and Don O&rsquo;Donoghue. Vadnais, of course, was the man Boston had sought for a long time. He now plays with the Rangers.Smith was a regular defenseman on the 1969-70 Bruins&rsquo; Stanley Cup championship team, and also played regularly for the 1970-71 team which set a record for games won and scoring.He played with the Seals for a season and a half and then jumped to the World Hockey Association, where he played for the Minnesota Fighting Saints for two and one half years.Said GM Harry Sinden, &ldquo;It is our feeling that Rick can and will return to the form he displayed when he was with us a few years ago.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0010-03

Bucyk’s Milestone Marker Provides Much-Needed Win

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011047/4150512-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rod Gilbert, perhaps the greatest player in New York Ranger history, is presented with a silver tray by captain Phil Espocito, left, during ceremonies marking Gilbert&rsquo;s 1,000th game in the NHL. Gilbert then assisted on three goals to lead the Rangers to a victory over Montreal. An official Rod Gilbert Night is planned for March. (Photo Courtesy N.Y. Rangers)</figcaption></div>NEW YORK&mdash;Gilles Gratton is one of the more talented individuals drawing pay checks in the National Hockey League. At the tender age of 24, he is an accomplished natural musician, a racquet ball bug and is totally fascinated by the occult. With John Davidson having undergone corrective knee surgery, Gratton is now the Rangers number one goalie&mdash;and on his shoulders rests the New Yorkers playoff chances.On a personal level, music is perhaps the most important thing to the LaBelle, Quebec native, who plays the piano and guitar in a Montreal-based band.&ldquo;I can pick up a tune pretty quickly.&rdquo; reveals Gratton, who came to the Rangers this season after a checkered career with the Toronto Toros of the WHA and two months with the 1975-76 St. Louis Blues.&ldquo;I dig music and I understand it. I understand what I have to do for the team with J.D. (Davidson) out. I did pretty well when John got hurt that night against Montreal, and I haven&rsquo;t played in almost a month. I&rsquo;m ready.&rdquo;Gratton came off the bench Dec. 12, with the score tied 2-2, against Montreal, and led the Rangers to a 52 win. Since that night, he has beaten Cleveland, lost to Buffalo and the Islanders and tied the Islanders, Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston.Gilles favors the birdcage goalie mask as used in Europe. He claims you can see the puck better through the holes in the mask, as opposed to the tightly fitted North American face molds.&ldquo;The best part of one&rsquo;s life is physical exercise. Playing goal is tough on the nerves. Music relaxes me and gets me looking forward to the next game,&rdquo; says Gratton.With Davidson out indefinitely, after posting an 8-5-6 record, as compared to Gratton&rsquo;s 6-9-4, Doug Soetaert, up from New Haven, is the current backup. Whether general manager-coach John Ferguson goes to the market for another netminder will probably be decided in Gratton&rsquo;s first half dozen games.After Jan. 9, Rangers go on the road as the annual visit of the Ice Capades invades the Garden and gives New York road contests in Atlanta, Buffalo. Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles and Vancouver before returning Jan. 27. against Pittsburgh.&ldquo;That road trip doesn&rsquo;t scare me,&rdquo; grinned the bearded Gratton, as he slipped into an ensemble that could have come straight from the Philarmonic. A velvet vest topped it off, &rsquo;&rsquo;We play better on the road, anyway.&rdquo;The record says that&rsquo;s so. At press time, New York was 7-9-3 at home and 7-5-7 on the road. But they were 5-1-3 in their last nine at home.Key to Gratton&rsquo;s efforts will be the work of the defense corps. Phil Esposito, being booed by the Garden razz ma tazz, and his pride showing, challenged certain members of the New York media. &ldquo;Have you guys ever talked to Dave Maloney? What a job he is doing lately. My friend Carol Vadnais is holding the defense together, and you can see Mike McEwen and Ron Greschner mature. You don&rsquo;t have to talk to me.&rdquo;Captain Esposito was making sure that some of the more underpublicized Rangers were getting their due. And he has a point. The Rangers have given up 130 goals in their first 38 games, the most in the tough Patrick Division, but a vast improvement over last year.Maloney was paired with Vadnais, and Greschner with either Dave Farrish or McEwen. It will be their work and Gratton&rsquo;s, which may decide the death struggle for a playoff spot in the NHL&rsquo;s toughest division Their won-lost mark would have them first in the Smythe ahead of the St. Louis Blues. They would be second in the Norris Division, behind Montreal, but with the playoffs assured. They would be scrambling with Toronto for third in the Adams Division.Ferguson has accomplished much in less than a year. His innovations include Dr. Ed Enos of Montreal, and Dr. Earl Hoerner, the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States committee chairman on safety and protective equipment as physical conditioning consultants.Recently. Mike Smith, a PHD from Syracuse University, has been running the conditioning phases of practice sessions, and then charting both the Rangers and opposition once the game starts. Shades of Dennis Ball, former assistant to Emile Francis.BLUE CHIPS: Joe Watson, the Flyers gutsy defenseman and a 10year veteran in the NHL, amazed at Garden fans booing Phil Esposito. Watson wonders why, and asks. &ldquo;What does Espo have to do to stop it?&rdquo; After one booing chorus versus Cleveland Dec. 19. Phil scored on the next shift&mdash;and the boos turned to cheers&hellip;Ranger Fan Club holds annual dinner dance Jan. 28. at the Statler Hilton Hotel. &#9632;

f0011-01

Davidson Injury Places Rangers In Touchy Spot

<div class="byline">BY RICH PASSAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011068/4150543-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">FRANK SPRING&hellip; Helps Boost Offense.</figcaption></div>CLEVELAND&mdash;Coach Jack Evans and general manager Bill McCreary must wonder when it&rsquo;s all going to end.Ever since the beginning of training camp, the Barons have been beset with enough problems to cover two teams.First, there was the slow recovery from off-season knee surgery by veteran defenseman Jim Neilson. Since then, it has snow-balled.The week of Dec. 13-19 is a perfect example.On Monday of that week, it was discovered that the slow-healing hamstring pull of defenseman Mike Christie began hemorrhaging and his services were doubtful at best for a couple of weeks.Then right winger Jim Pappin decided to call it a career Tuesday, citing his loss of zest for the game as one of the reasons. The 13-year veteran, who came to the club 18 months ago in a trade with Chicago, also believed his contributions were not commensurate with his large salary.Tuesday night, defenseman Bob Stewart was admitted to Akron General Hospital with what was thought to be appendicitis. It turned out to be an infected appendix and he was released two days later, but missed two games.Saturday night, another defenseman bit the dust. Rick Hampton, while soundly whipping Dave Forbes of the Boston Bruins in one of his rare fights, was cut by a skate during the fracas and took 11 stitches to close up a gaping wound between his fore-finger and middle finger. Out for at least two weeks.Add to that nagging knee miseries to Gary Sabourin, a broken arm to Fred Ahern and ankle problems to Mike Christie and you see why Evans and McCreary are frustrated. The right side was virtually wiped out with the injuries toSabourin and Ahern and the retirement of Pappin and the defense was a shambles following the injuries to Christie, Stewart. Hampton and Frig.Fortunately, the Barons have some quality personnel down on the farm at Salt Lake City of the Central Hockey League.Right wingers Frank Spring and Ken Kuzyk were recalled and each contributed in a 7-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. So did defenseman Brent Meeke. called up when Stewart went to the sidelines. With Hampton out. he most likely will stay.Meeke set up three goals in his first two games and Spring popped home four goals in his first three as the Barons&rsquo; offense, which had been dormant for so long, began to get untracked.Big first periods proved the key as the Clevelanders, after snapping an 11-game winless streak, won four of their next five and first-period onslaughts paved the way in all four.They scored five goals in the opening 20 minutes to beat Washington. 7-1; three in the first to beat the Capitals again, 4-2; five more in the opening session to whip Detroit, 7-3, and four more against Boston in a 6-4 victory.The only time they failed to score in the first period in this stretch was in Pittsburgh and the Barons went on to drop a 5-4 decision after catching up to the Penguins four times.If there is one thing this Baron team has shown this season, it is character&hellip;and plenty of it.Many times, bad bounces of the puck and injuries could have caused severe depression to set in. But they stuck with it. due mainly to the coaching genius of Evans, and hung in there.All along, Evans said it was a matter of time before the Barons snapped out of it. And when they did. the distance between them and third-place Toronto in the Adartis Division was not as large as was feared. &#9632;

f0012-01

Barons’ Offense Gets Moving Despite Injuries

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02906/4150574-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ORLAND KURTENBACH&hellip; No Particular Philosophy.</figcaption></div>VANCOUVER&mdash;Orland Kurtenbach had been coach of the Vancouver Canucks three days before he got in a practice with the team he was supposed to lead out of the darkness.The team&rsquo;s schedule is so tight around Christmas, it looked as though general manager Phil Maloney may have hung on another week as coach just because there was not a convenient time to change. As it was, Kurtenbach&rsquo;s family of seven spent their Christmas somewhere between Vancouver and Tulsa, and the club&rsquo;s present to their coach of two games was a 4-2 loss at home to the St. Louis Blues.Sure, they rewarded Kurt with a victory in his first game when they recovered from a 2-0 deficit and beat the Kings 3-2 in L.A., but what they&rsquo;ve got to do is start winning some games at home. It helps.Kurtenbach&rsquo;s diagnosis of the loss at home was that the club was working too hard.I thought the guys worked very hard.&rdquo; said Kurtenbach. &ldquo;What happens is that we&rsquo;re playing at home and the guys are pressing. They&rsquo;re all up tight. They were all breezing back into our zone and trying to do the other guys job. The way we played, is a tough way to play hockey&hellip;you work twice as hard and get half the results.&rdquo;It hasn&rsquo;t been that way all year, as the club hasn&rsquo;t really been working that hard. But for Kurtenbach, they seem to be wanting to put out but not yet in an organized, well directed way.Of late, at home, the Canucks have been a ball of frustration and they can&rsquo;t seem to wait to get out on the road where they have been playing .500 hockey over their last eight.Kurtenbach, meanwhile, the fifth coach of the team since they moved into the NHL in 1970&mdash;is going to have to take some time to get his act together and get the team organized.He says himself he has no particular philosophy for the job, and it would appear that he&rsquo;s going to need something as effective as transcendental meditation to relax after some of the things that will undoubtedly happen in a town that is just ridden with losers.&ldquo;I have no particular philosophy, I just want to take it as it comes,&rdquo; said Kurtenbach, whose pragmatism is forced to some extent by the lack of time with the team. &ldquo;A year ago I used to have a set way of doing things and at the time I thought I had a philosophy, but now I like to take things as they come.&rdquo;As coach of the year in the Central League last year, he earned the reputation of a fairly hard task master who has a short fuse when it comes to players who don&rsquo;t put out.It&rsquo;s going to take that kind of attitude and supervision to get the Canucks out of their ludicrous tailspin. Everyone in Vancouver knows they don&rsquo;t have all that much talent, but surely more than some of their opposition in the Sweathog Division.The bowing out of Maloney, was anything but speedy. In fact, he held on longer than General Franco when both were facing certain extinction. He made the decision in his mind as GM to fire the coach three games before it actually took place.In fact, he had an inkling that he might fire himself back on Nov. 22, but told club president Bill Hughes that he would give himself 12 games to pull the club out of the dive.I set myself a private target of 16 points in those games, and we fell short by six and I felt that wasn&rsquo;t enough. I have only one regret, that I didn&rsquo;t go out as a winner. I feel I took this club from a hopeless position in the dressing room and the front office and built a solid base.&rsquo;Maloney, whose record was 95-10532 in his two years as coach of the club, said he was looking forward to concentrating full time to general manager.&ldquo;Kurt will have 100 percent backing from me and our entire organization. Starting today, it&rsquo;s a whole new ball game. We have been grooming Kurt for this job. He was a natural. He lives in Vancouver and he is respected here as a player by the fans and media.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0012-02

Kurtenbach Will Need Time To Get Canucks Organized

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div>CHICAGO-Tommy Ivan, general manager for Les Black Hawks, do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?&ldquo;I do.&rdquo;Your struggling hockey team has lost a lot of games this season, has lost a lot of fans, and probably lost a little respect, too. How do you feel about this terrible snit?&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very concerned very disappointed in our club. This is the worst things have been in a long time. Not as bad as when I first got here (in 1954). But worse than they&rsquo;ve been since the 1960s.&rdquo;Could you elaborate?&ldquo;I&rsquo;m afraid we have some players who aren&rsquo;t giving it their best effort. One thing that browns me off is that against a team like Montreal, we play despite several of our best players here a couple weeks ago and we put on a pretty goddamn good show. We lost 4-3, but if we played that hard against everybody, we wouldn&rsquo;t be where we are now.&rdquo;Why isn&rsquo;t everybody playing that hard all the time?&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know. I wish I knew. I&rsquo;d say I&rsquo;m happy with about 40 percent of our team. I&rsquo;m not mentioning names of the others. They know who they are. Some people put out some nights, and don&rsquo;t other nights. Others are more chronic offenders. It should seem the horses are there, but&hellip;&rdquo;What can you, as general manager, do to correct the problems?&ldquo;Well, I&rsquo;m anxious to make a deal. Very anxious. More anxious than I&rsquo;ve ever been. In the last two weeks, I&rsquo;d say I&rsquo;ve talked with five clubs at length about trades.&rdquo;Why haven&rsquo;t any materialized?&ldquo;They all want too much. I&rsquo;m not going to make a change just to make a change. That, in my opinion, means you&rsquo;re dealing from panic. And I won&rsquo;t do that. But we have an idea what we want, and all I can say is that clubs see that we&rsquo;re struggling, and they try to take advantage of us. I know. I&rsquo;ve been on both sides of the fence. When you deal like that, you&rsquo;re not dealing from strength.&rdquo;Yes, but two weeks ago. Vancouver GM Phil Maloney came to town panting to make a deal. Names were mentioned, and apparently you were reasonably close. The Canucks came here with the league&rsquo;s worst record and Maloney was worried about his job. That&rsquo;s not dealing from strength is it?&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t comment on which clubs we&rsquo;ve talked to. I&rsquo;ll just say that the majority of them are doing better than us in the standings at this time.&rdquo;What is the likelihood that you&rsquo;ll consummate a major deal before long?&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t say about those things. Sometimes you think you have a deal, and it falls through. Another time, something happens all of a sudden, and you have a deal. You just don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo;What about all the injuries your club has suffered?&ldquo;That&rsquo;s been one of the big causes for our breakdown. Injuries. You can&rsquo;t get away from it. But I don&rsquo;t like to keep going back to that as an excuse eigher. We&rsquo;ve had a lot of injuries in the last few years. I&rsquo;ve considered the fact that maybe we&rsquo;ve gotten them because our players aren&rsquo;t physically or mentally as right as they should be. But I&rsquo;ve got no proof of that. I&rsquo;m not a doctor I&rsquo;ve considered a lot of things, but I don&rsquo;t care to comment on them all.&rdquo;How much longer can this dry spell continue?&ldquo;I wish I knew. I imagine before long, we&rsquo;ll have a meeting.&rdquo;President Bill Wirtz recently said that Billy Reay will become Black Hawk general manager next season and that you will move up to a vice-presidency. How would you feel about retiring after a down year?&ldquo;Well, I may have no choice. Whatever my people want, will happen. I don&rsquo;t think he intends that I get out of the hockey operation all together, do you? But I won&rsquo;t feel very good if things don&rsquo;t get better.&rdquo; &#9632;

Ivan Said Anxious To Swing Trade If It Will Help

<div class="byline">BY HARRY KLAFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011049/4150660-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">CLARK GILLIES&hellip; Seven Goals In Six Games (Photo By Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;It all started officially on the warm evening of Sept. 27, 1972. That&rsquo;s the night that 11,053 fans paid their way into the brand-new Nassau Coliseum to see the New York Rangers play a pre-season game against the home team, the expansionist New York Islanders.Although the young skaters from Nassau wore the white jerseys of the host club, the crowd was clearly behind the established Rangers, and every one of their six goals that evening further conceded this point. The Islanders did hear some cheers following their four tallies, but most of it could have been branded, &ldquo;polite.&rdquo;Things were very different that first time around. The Ranger lineup was dotted with heroes of the not-too-distant past&mdash;Rolfe, Rousseau, Seiling. The Islanders went with Brian Marchinko, Tony Featherstone, and Brian Lavender, along with, of course, Eddie Westfall, Billy Harris, Gerry Hart, Lorne Henning and Bill Smith (who didn&rsquo;t see any action as Gerry Desjardins played the entire 60 minutes).Although the media played up the &ldquo;new rivalry.&rdquo; it was evident that it was such in name only. To the players on both sides it was just another hockey game, and to most of the customers, it was just another Ranger game.As the first season progressed, the new Islanders made some friends, and by year two, the Coliseum throng was divided 50-50. But things changed drastically on Long Island last year, especially after J.P. Parise&rsquo;s overtime goal had sunk the Broadway Blues in the opening round of the playoffs the preceding spring.When the Islanders and Rangers met for the first time this season on Dec. 14, it was evident from the start that this was not an ordinary game. Fans&mdash;and players&mdash;had been looking forward to it for weeks.&ldquo;You know this had to be a big game,&rdquo; Pete Stemkowski told a reporter. &ldquo;About seven people called up asking if I could get them tickets.&rdquo;The end result of the match was a 4-4 tie, and 14,865 cases of laryngitis. The roar commenced with the drop of the puck, and didn&rsquo;t let up until the final buzzer.Unlike the first meeting of the two clubs back in &rsquo;72 this time the Coliseum belonged to the Islanders. But the Ranger backers were vocal,. and a few thousand of them made more noise on Blueshirt goals than the entire Islander contingent on any normal sellout evening.But then again, the 10,000 or so Islander diehards sounded like 100,000.&ldquo;This sort of thing was really great,&rdquo; said Ranger rookie sensation Don Murdoch, who scored two goals. &ldquo;The crowd was everything. Just like the playoffs.&rdquo;The most important thing to be proven by the game and its conditions is that the fans play an important contributing role in the excitement of hockey. Objectively, the game was a poorly played one. There were numerous errors by both teams, and most of the eight goals were scored as a result of one kind of blunder or another. Had the same game been played on an &ldquo;ordinary night&rdquo; against some other opponent, the fans might have left the rink booing.This was something special, though. The relative quality of the product that evening didn&rsquo;t matter; the excitement and involvement did. They could have put a couple of junior teams from the local Met League into the NHL uniforms and it wouldn&rsquo;t have mattered in the least. The people who attended the game did so for the reason that fans throughout the world attend any sporting event&mdash;namely, to be entertained.And they certainly got their money&rsquo;s worth, whether they paid $7, $10, or $40 from a scalper.Although it is not evident at either the Coliseum or Madison Square Garden, NHL attendance has been slipping. Yet the lesson taught by the Islanders and Rangers is incredibly simple. When the paying fans become part of the show, as they did on Dec. 14, nobody goes home disappointed.That&rsquo;s entertainment.ISLAND SOUNDS: Clark Gillies was the hottest Islander in mid-December. He upped his season output to 16 goals by scoring seven in six games&hellip;The Isles turned their November losing streak into a December winning streak by going undefeated in six straight as they defeated Atlanta for the second time on Dec. 17&hellip;The extra few hundred seats that were promised at the Coliseum in October are finally in place. &#9632;

f0014-01

Islanders - Rangers Rivalry No Longer Laughing Matter

<div class="byline">BY RON WEBER</div>WASHINGTON&mdash;About six years ago Tom McVie, knowing he was coming to the twilight of his hockey playing career, decided he was going to report to training camp in super shape. He started running and exercising&hellip;and watching what he ate&mdash;and drank. Two months of it made him feel so good he&rsquo;s pretty well stuck to that regime to this day. Quite the life of the party before he converted to something of a self-admitted &ldquo;health nut.&rsquo;&rsquo; And as he changed his intake and his output, so too changed his life style and even his acquaintences.&ldquo;People who knew me back in the sixties.&rdquo; says Tommy, &ldquo;would hardly recognize me now.&rdquo; A lot of adjectives could be employed here but the one that fits best might be simple: dedicated. Make that more dedicated. For McVie is more dedicated than most of us. And while he always played with a zeal as a long-time Western Hockey League star winger, he is more dedicated now.Dedicated to making the Washington Capitals a winning hockey team. Dedicated enough to follow up a 10:30 p.m. practice in Minneapolis by personally picking up all the pucks afterward; dedicated enough to work 16-hour days, dedicated enough to lead his team through calisthenics before a skating workout, then jog around the empty stands after it.Maybe it&rsquo;s appropriate, since while he came up the hard way in a time when it was much more difficult to make the NHL than it is now, he just might have lost whatever chance he had to play in the big time because he gave the appearance of being more interested in enjoying life than in playing with the best.But even in the days of riding the WHL high road he was playing hard&hellip;and learning from his coaches: Keith Allen, who earned near-universal respect; Hal Laycoe, the disciplinarian; Alfie Pike, the screamer who really knew his hockey; Fernie Flaman, a toughie who instilled the winning urge; and Bill MacFarland, an easy going guy who got results.While admitting &ldquo;players win hockey games&mdash;coaches just help,&rdquo; Tom feels he is as well grounded as anybody could be to enter the NHL pilots association. &ldquo;The best coaches bounced around in the minors,&rdquo; says McVie. &ldquo;Fred Shero, Emile Francis, Floyd Smith, Harry Sinden. I don&rsquo;t believe you can go right into NHL coaching. First ride 100,000 miles on a (minor league) bus.&rdquo; McVie has seen it all down there. He has been a player-coach, and coach-general manager, even acted as trainer and public relations man.Back there in 1970 when he knew that fitness aside, his playing days were slipping away from him. McVie stayed visible by playing in Fort Wayne and letting it be known he&rsquo;d consider a coaching position. His first opportunity turned out to be in Johnstown of the old Eastern League. An unhappy session with the owner (who wanted to coach a little, too) aborted that job, but it was a start.Dayton then beckoned. So McVie went back to the International League and worked with Lefty McFadden. The successful relationship had the Gems in first place more often than not. Two and a half years there saw Tom hang up his competitive skates for good, add managing to coaching and finally get a nice 1975 Christmas present: an NHL coaching spot.One thing soured it a bit. Tommy was replacing a man he worshiped, Milt Schmidt. &ldquo;I idolize the man. When I was younger I used to fantasize that I was Milt Schmidt, scoring all those NHL goals. I just had to tell myself if it wasn&rsquo;t me, it was going to be somebody else.&rdquo;That respect didn&rsquo;t keep McVie from changing things. Lots of things. The players were given five new rules a day for 15 days&mdash;The hardest working 15 days of my life,&rdquo; says McVie. &ldquo;But there was a definite change in the team&rsquo;s discipline, conditioning and personality.&rdquo; &#9632;

McVie Dedicated To Making Capitals A Winner

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011007/4150715-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">MEL BRIDGMAN&hellip; Slick With The Puck (Photo by Bernie Moser)</figcaption></div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;He was immortalized, for better or worse, as Canada&rsquo;s best amateur hockey player in 1975.Although he failed to achieve the immediate impact of previous No. One choices such as Bryan Trottier. Guy Lafleur, Gil Perreault and Denis Potvin, the Philadelphia Flyers think having Mel Bridgman will be for the better&mdash;for a long time.Through the Flyers&rsquo; unbeaten streak that extended into the holiday season, Bridgman was one of the club&rsquo;s leading scorers&mdash;behind only Bobby Clarke (who else?). That Bridgman was one of the more productive Flyers during the charge into a share of the NHL Patrick Division lead surprised some observers because the Victoria, B.C., product isn&rsquo;t as noticeable on the ice as Clarke or game-breaker Rick MacLeish.Bridgman, 21, is at his best controlling the puck in the corners or setting up teammates anywhere else on the ice. He was trained as a center, but has played almost the entire season at left wing on Orest Kindrachuk&rsquo;s line.&ldquo;Probably the toughest thing for a center to adjust to on the wing,&rdquo; said Bridgman, &ldquo;is concentrating on picking up your man. The guys have told me little things, like knocking your man off stride a little.&ldquo;At first you think so defensively that your offense suffers. But once you get the defense down, you start to think more offensively.&rdquo;Bridgman started thinking more offensively last season following MacLeish&rsquo;s serious knee injury. People who kept badgering coach Fred Shero about playing Bridgman more got their wish. In his first game as the regular playmaker for Ross Lonsberry and Gary Dornhoefer, Bridgman scored a goal and added three assists in an 8-2 rout of St. Louis.Bridgman finished with a 23-27-50 scoring ledger, admittedly frail figures when compared to Trottier&rsquo;s record-setting 32-63-95 for a rookie. But Bridgman&rsquo;s point total was sixth highest on the Flyers.Few complaints were heard about Bridgman&rsquo;s first season. Shero and his assistants purposely treated Bridgman like a delicate, complex model ship, preparing him slowly for his mission. When MacLeish was injured, the rugged lad with the bushy John L. Lewis eyebrows was ready. Bridgman wasn&rsquo;t comparable to MacLeish as a scoring threat, a fact that was evident during the Stanley Cup finals wipeout by Montreal. But the experience of skating a regular shift under pressure was invaluable.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad they brought me along slow,&rdquo; Bridgman said. &ldquo;Everybody wants to play and when I was on the bench at first I felt the same way. Of course, at training camp I didn&rsquo;t even expect to make the team. Not many rookies work their way into the lineup of a Stanley Cup champion.&rdquo;As his season as the Western Canada League&rsquo;s top scorer concluded, Bridgman never expected to wind up in the same dressing room as Clarke, MacLeish and the other then-champion Flyers. Washington, Oakland or some other dreary, losing site was a likely destination.However, the mind of Keith (the Thief) Allen was whirring as usual. Realizing that a team doesn&rsquo;t stay on top by continally drafting last, the Flyers&rsquo; GM sent reliable Bill Clement, defenseman Don McLean (Philadelphia&rsquo;s top 1974 draft pick) and their first &rsquo;75 draft choice down Interstate 95 for Washington&rsquo;s first overall selection in the 1975 player auction. &#9632;

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Bridgman’s NHL Rise Slow For Top Draft But Flyers Look Ahead

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01854/4150746-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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NHL SCORING and PENALTY STATISTICS

<h2>Special To The Hockey News</h2>BUFFALO&mdash;There&rsquo;s just no two ways about it. Richard Martin can score goals. And, because of his goal-scoring ability, the Buffalo Sabres are winning and moving further ahead in the National Hockey League&rsquo;s Adams Division.The Sabres, who passed the Bruins for the division lead during the Christmas-New Year&rsquo;s holidays, moved three points up on the Bruins recently by earning a 3-3 deadlock with the ever-tough New York Islanders.And, Martin was the man who provided the Sabres with the all-important point in the standings. He scored twice to earn the sawoff.The goals were the 24th and 25th of the season for the starry left winger. They also gave him the individual team lead in points ahead of Gilbert Perreault and certainly gave him another excellent chance of reaching the 50-goal mark for the third time in his career.Meanwhile, the leading 25point scorers in the NHL, and this includes Martin, have accounted for one-fifth of the goals scored in the league as it enters the second half of the 1976-77 schedule.There have been 2,301 goals in the 348 games played through Jan. 2 and the top 25 players in the individual scoring parade accounted for 465 of those, or 20.2 per cent. The same players earned 1,125 of the 6,078 scoring points, or 18.5 per cent of the total points.The leading scorers have also scored more than a quarter of the total power-play goals recorded by all 18 teams. Led by rookie Don Murdoch of New York Rangers, who has 10 power-play goals and a league leading 25 power-play points, the top 25 players have 124 of the 469 powerplay goals&mdash;26.4 per cent&mdash;and 342 of the 1,315 power-play points, 26.0 per cent.Twelve of the 25 players have scored at least 20 goals, led by two Montreal Canadiens&mdash;Steve Shutt with 31 and Guy Lafleur. the points leader, with 30 goals. Lafleur has 62 points, seven more than runner-up Marcel Dionne of Los Angeles. Two other teams have two 20-goal men: Buffalo Sabres with Rick Martin. 25, and Perreault. 20; and Los Angeles Kings with Tom Williams, 22, and Dionne, 21. Other 20-goal men are Murdoch. 28; Lanny McDonald, Toronto, 27; Peter McNab. Boston, 24; Guy Charron. Washington, and Rick MacLeish. Philadelphia, 22 each; and Jean Pronovost, Pittsburgh. 20.Only two of the top 25 scorers do not have at least 10 power play points. Pronovost, 19th over-all with 41 points, has eight power play points, including three goals, and MacLeish. 23rd with 38 points, has nine power play points, including five goalsNext to Murdo., h in power play points in teammate Rod Gilbert, who has picked up 22 of his 52 points while Rangers were enjoying a manpower advantage. Gilbert, who has 18 power play assists, the most by any player, is fifth in the scoring race, one point behind Shutt and Darryl Sittier of Toronto, who are tied for third. &#9632;

Rick Martin Hot For Sabres

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>DETROIT-For the third time in four seasons, Alex Delvecchio has moved behind the Detroit Red Wing bench.The Red Wing general manager-coach vacated his spot in the press box on Dec. 17 to again take over the coaching duties and immediately promised a &ldquo;get tough&rdquo; approach where the players are concerned.Actually, Delvecchio had no quarrel with his view of the hockey games. He could spot his team&rsquo;s flaws from high atop the rinks around the National Hockey League. The problem was, by the time he delivered the message to his troops it was far too late.So, Delvecchio reassigned assistant coach Billy Dea, who was handling the bench duties, and called his own number just hours before a game against the Vancouver Canucks at Olympia. The Wings went on to score an easy 7-3 victory.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sure they were giving 100 per cent all the time for Billy,&rdquo; Delvecchio said. &ldquo;But they&rsquo;d better give it for me or they won&rsquo;t be playing. I don&rsquo;t want any alibis; I want hockey.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s about time they started producing for the fans here and when they start doing it consistently, they&rsquo;ll get the fans back in the building. &ldquo;Delvecchio is convinced his club is as good as Pittsburgh or Los Angeles, the teams the Red Wings are chasing for a playoff spot in the Norris Division.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a better hockey club than what we&rsquo;ve showed,&rdquo; Alex said. &ldquo;How can you play games like we&rsquo;ve played, decisive wins over the Islanders. Buffalo and Boston and then turn around and play the way we did Wednesday in Cleveland?&ldquo;It&rsquo;s inexcuseable to come up so flat for a game you know you must win,&rdquo; Delvecchio said of a disastrous 7-3 loss to Cleveland. That defeat wiped out the euphoria of a victory in Boston.Against the Bruins, Delvecchio made his first appearance behind the bench in almost a year as a substitute for Dea, who was ailing. On Dec. 31,1975, Dea moved behind the bench and remained until the Boston game. The Wings responded to Delvecchio to whip the Bruins and after the costly loss to Cleveland, with Dea behind the bench, the change was inevitable.Delvecchio first went behind the bench early in the 1973-74 season when he retired as a player to take over for the fired Ted Garvin. Delvecchio handled the team all of 1974-75 and then turned it over to Doug Barkley at the beginning of last season. But Barkley lasted just into November and Delvecchio once again took over before handing the reins to Dea on New Year&rsquo;s Eve.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think they had a bad attitude,&rdquo; said Dea, who communicated with Delvecchio via a walkie-talkie set-up during his coaching tenure. &ldquo;No one was more upset over that game (Cleveland) than the players.&ldquo;But we&rsquo;ve got the kind of team where all 18 players have to be going for us to win. Ten players can&rsquo;t carry the team.&rdquo;The Wings posted a second straight victory under Delvecchio, a 6-3 decision over Atlanta in Detroit, with Dennis Hextall notching his second career hat trick.MOTOR CITY SHORTS: Dennis Polonich snapped a 14-game scoring drought against Cleveland and also scored the next game against Vancouver&hellip;Goalie Eddie Giacomin suffered a slight concussion and needed six stitches to close a cut behind his right ear when he was hit by a rising shot by Bobby Sheehan in practice.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01746/4150801-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="632" height="990"><figcaption class="caption-body">ALEX DELVECCHIO &hellip; Demands Action</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Delvecchio Back As Coach, Wants 100 Per Cent Effort

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01763/4150846-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="627" height="1084"><figcaption class="caption-body">PETE LOPRESTI &hellip; Loves The Game</figcaption></div>TWIN CITIES&mdash;Fill-in, mop-up, back-up.Those have been the roles in which the North Stars placed 22-year-old goalie Pete LoPresti in his first two National Hockey League seasons and a good portion of the current campaign.The North Stars, even when they hit one of their reccurring slumps, went to their farm team at New Haven to summon Paul Harrison for a two-game trial in early December.Minnesota lost both games, and LoPresti was installed as the team&rsquo;s No. One goalie for the first time of his career after a variety of roles from understudy to Cesare Maniago to reserve for Gary Smith this season.The North Stars did not exactly set the league afire after LoPresti took over the regular net duties, but he played exceptionally well. In a six-game span in which he started all six games, the native of Eveleth (Minn.) posted a 2.83 goals-against average. Problem was the North Stars scored at a rate of 2.33 as their winless streak was extended to 11 straight games with five ties.Through most of his trials and tribulations with the North Stars, LoPresti has never outwardly complained about his assigned duties nor about Harrison&rsquo;s brief recall.&ldquo;With the record Paul had at New Haven (11-2-2), he deserved to get a chance,&rdquo; said LoPresti. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll take things as they come.&rdquo;Harris sounded surprised that LoPresti had not become upset.&ldquo;A lot of goalies would have been,&rdquo; said the coach. &ldquo;I might have been, if I was the goalie. I think the big thing is that Pete enjoys the game. Some guys may play it just for the money nowadays, but Pete plays it because he enjoys it. I can look back at goalies like Gump Worsley when he started or Charlie Hodge. Pete&rsquo;s attitude is a lot like theirs.&rdquo;The North Stars signed LoPresti, son of former Chicago Black Hawk goalie Sam LoPresti, off the Denver University campus after drafting him on the third round three years ago. The six-foot-one, 195-pound goalie turned pro with two years of eligibility remaining at Denver.In the two and a half seasons in the NHL, LoPresti has taken, as he said before, &rsquo;&rsquo;things as they come.&rdquo;&ldquo;That first year was the toughest.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was getting my feet on the ground, as they say. And I was truly awed by all the big guns. Last year was a big disappointment for personal reasons and because we didn&rsquo;t make the playoffs.&ldquo;This year we have a lot of new faces and I&rsquo;ve lost that &rsquo;in-awe&rsquo; feeling. It was a big help to play on Team USA in the Canada Cup this summer. Things are different in other ways this year. No team in our division is 20 or 30 points better than we are and we think we can still make the playoffs.&rdquo;To do so. however, the North Stars have to score better than a 2.33 pace.&ldquo;This is my third season,&rdquo; said LoPresti, &ldquo;and a lot of the players on the team are younger than I am. I&rsquo;m doing my best to try to pick them up.&rdquo;That is the job of a No. One goalie.STAR DUST: Bill Fairbairn has returned from the injured ranks after recovering from a pulled thigh muscle&hellip; Dean Talafous improves with every game at the right wing spot&mdash;at the holiday break he had 14 goals in 34 games while getting 18 all of last year&hellip;Tom Reid is back from another visit to a dermatology clinic to clear up a skin rash&hellip;Only player on the injured list now is Pierre Jarry. who is back home in Montreal recovering from knee surgery and will not be returning until late January&hellip;The North Stars remain the NHL&rsquo;s worst road team with a 111-4 record, a big reason why they ranked in last place in the Smythe Division.<h2>Looking At NHL Goalers</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02614/4150839-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="671" height="2423"></div><h2>Team Penalties</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03455/4150832-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="649" height="943"></div> &#9632;

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Stars’ Goalie LoPresti Stays Calm Despite Constant Role As Back-Up

The Montreal Canadiens played only four times last week but Guy Lafleur still managed to collect seven scoring points and register four goals in another incredible performance by the swift-skating right winger.Lafleur continued to hold sway over the NHL&rsquo;s individual scoring race with a seven-point week that enabled him to lengthen his lead to seven points over Marcel Dionne of Los Angeles, who had been challenging Lafleur up to this week.Lafleur raised his season count to 30 goals and his point total to 62. One of his goals this past week was the clincher against Cleveland and another stood as the winner until Minnesota tied the game in the final minute of play.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04322/4150877-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="577" height="556"><figcaption class="caption-body">GUY LAFLEUR &hellip; Montreal Canadiens</figcaption></div>The league&rsquo;s premier right winger has scored 14 important goals for the Canadiens including eight power play markers, four game winners and two game-tieing goals. &#9632;

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NHL’S… Player of the Week

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;There are fans and there are fans. Some see their sport objectively and some do not. Some root for the home team, some against it. There are those who must be so frustrated by failures in their lives that they live for the nights when they can call others failures.Some fans are abusive beyond reason, spoiling games for all around them. At Kings&rsquo; games there is one who delights in calling players &ldquo;dogs". &ldquo;Take him to the pound,&rdquo; he hollers. &ldquo;He should do an Alpo commercial.&rdquo; There are many at all arenas, but he is one I hear.<blockquote class="pullQuote">"I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s wrong. I have always been a slow starter, but it&rsquo;s never been this bad." &mdash;WIDING</blockquote>He uses the same unimaginative lines on Juha Widing, Bob Berry, and one or two others. They are the ones who have been hearing the boos. Among the top players in the history of this team, it is as if they have worn out their welcome and are bound to be blamed when the team goes bad, even if they do not go bad.In Widing&rsquo;s case, fans never went wild over him because he is not a hitter, and now they are down on him because he no longer seems to be a scorer, but he otherwise has played well this season even if the cheap-shot shouters do not notice it.Widing came to the team from the Rangers in February in 1970 in exchange for Real Lemieux and Ted Irvine.He has heard the cheers. MVP of the club in 1971, he led it in goals in &rsquo;72, assists in &rsquo;71 and &rsquo;73, and scoring points three straight seasons, &rsquo;71 through &rsquo;73.He averaged 25 goals a season five seasons, but fell off to seven last season when he was sick at the start of the season and never regained a regular role.He was restored to regular duty this season, but did not score his first goal until the 28th game, then added another in the 32nd.However, he has been using his excellent skating ability well and has been checking and working. He has been setting up scoring opportunities. but missing them.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s wrong,&rdquo; he sighs. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m always a slow starter, but it&rsquo;s never been this bad. I&rsquo;m giving it everything I&rsquo;ve got. Last year I wasn&rsquo;t playing. I got out of shape. This year I&rsquo;m in shape and playing but it&rsquo;s not paying off.&rdquo;Management has in the past gotten down on him because he was not considered to be in the best of condition, but there have been no complaints about his shape or effort this season. However, he is still available for trade. His future is uncertain.At 29, he has been with the team in continous service longer than any other King. In his eighth year here he and Butch Goring are the top two all-time in the club&rsquo;s scoring departments.<blockquote class="pullQuote">"This is my tenth year as a pro and I feel I&rsquo;ve got a lot left in me, but I know I&rsquo;ve got to show it. It&rsquo;s not easy out there&hellip;" &mdash;WIDING</blockquote>Although nicknamed &ldquo;Whitey Why-ding&rdquo; when he joined the Kings, &ldquo;Yoo-ha Vee-ding&rdquo; was born in Finland and apprenticed in Sweden. He returned to his homeland to join Team Sweden for this fall&rsquo;s Canada Cup competition, he played well when the club reached Canada, and it got him in good shape.&ldquo;It was a marvellous experience,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It felt strange at first, a homecoming, but the players made me feel comfortable. I have not forgotten the language,&rdquo; he laughs.&ldquo;I wish we had done better, but there were tremendous teams in the tournament and the games were great. It was really something,&rdquo; he says.&ldquo;The only bad part of it was being away from my family for six weeks, but it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing and it was worth it. Normally I spend the summer playing golf and tennis, swimming and simply being with my family at our cottage on Clear Lake in Canada.&rdquo;Juha and his wife Susan have three sons&mdash;Jimmy, 9 Matthew, 4, and Jon, 1. They have a home in southern California. They are happy here, but hockey has been hard for the big guy for a couple of years now.He says he doesn&rsquo;t pay any attention to the gallery gods. He says, &ldquo;I just wish it was working for me the way it once was. This is my 10th year as a pro and I feel I&rsquo;ve got a lot left in me, but I know I&rsquo;ve got to show it.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not easy out there, you know,&rdquo; he concluded.Some know it and some don&rsquo;t.KINGS THINGS: Following their winless string of 13 straight games, the Kings went 3-3-1 in the next seven but it still left them with only three wins in 20 starts. They played one of their best games before bowing to Montreal, 2-0, and one of their worst in losing to Vancouver, 3-2, dropping them two games below .500 at home.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01731/4150908-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="623" height="1284"><figcaption class="caption-body">JUHA WIDING &hellip; Can&rsquo;t Explain Slump.</figcaption></div>They complain about their rough road schedule, but they were better away from home than at home, at least until their crucial seven-game trip through the first half of January to start the second half of the season. &#9632;

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Widing Tries To Ignore Unhappy Kings’ Fans

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01565/4150946-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01414/4150939-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="3480" height="3329"></div> &#9632;

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National League Summaries

<h2>Special To The Hockey News</h2>LONDON-A program to develop the standard of hockey coaching in Canada is in progress and the results will insure that Canadian hockey youngsters will be better trained in the future.The extensive program is a joint project of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and Labatt Breweries of Canada, both of whom are collaborating in the attempt to upgrade Canadian coaching standards.Don Johnson, president of the CAHA, and Labatt president Don McDougall announced earlier in the year that their two organizations were anxious to put their heads together on the certified coaching program that will encompass over 50,000 coaches at six different proficiency levels in 12 regional branches across Canada.Labatt&rsquo;s has committed both financial resources and their marketing experience to the CAHA, at the national and regional level for a minimum period of three years. Financially the company will contribute $100,000 annually in the form of regional assistance grants, national coaching seminar assistance, and improved promotional and instructional tools including the latest in instructional films.&ldquo;The national certification program is the largest single program of the CAHA,&rdquo; said Johnson. &ldquo;We are pleased that Labatt&rsquo;s has taken this interest in amateur hockey and we look forward to working with their people now and in the future.&rdquo;McDougall said the CAHA involvement represents Labatt&rsquo;s keen interest in being involved with associations at the &ldquo;grass roots&rdquo; level. He said Labatt&rsquo;s personnel would be cooperating with local CAHA people across Canada to ensure the program&rsquo;s success.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02273/4150977-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="641" height="1171"></div>While the certification clinics will continue to be structured around the six levels of proficiency, the calibre of instruction will be enhanced considerably by the program. Locations and dates for clinics are made available through public announcements and the CAHA branches in the various communities. &#9632;

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CAHA, Labatt Join In Canada-Wide Coaching Program

The Minnesota Fighting Saints are coming on strong in the WHA&rsquo;s Eastern Division race and much of the credit belongs to the Saints&rsquo; top scoring front line of Mike Antonovich, Dave Keon and John McKenzie.The three are one of the league&rsquo;s most productive lines and this past week Antonovich, the former Minnesota college star, showed his hand as a scorer when he banged in five pucks for the Saints and helped set up another for a six-point week to move into 13th spot in the league&rsquo;s individual point race.Antonovich fired a hat trick in Minnesota&rsquo;s 5-4 win against New England and all three goals came in the first period. He has 25 goals for the year and 45 scoring points. He is also the fifth highest goal getter and the Saints are on the move with their big line counting a total of 54 goals between them and right now Antonovich is the club&rsquo;s hottest commodity.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03287/4151046-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="576" height="487"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE ANTONOVICH &hellip; Minnesota Saints</figcaption></div><h2>WHA Leaders</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02352/4151039-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="647" height="1088"></div> &#9632;

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WHA’S… Player of the Week

<div class="byline">BY GEORGE BILYCH</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01450/4151008-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOP GOALER: Winnipeg netminder Joe Daley received a rude homecoming from the Quebec Nordiques when they bombed him for seven first-period goals but Daley had just returned from Moscow with the touring Jets where he was named the best goaler in the Izvestia Cup tournament with a fourth-place team.</figcaption></div>WINNIPEG&mdash;The Winnipeg Jets failed to conquer Moscow, and what&rsquo;s more, by the time they returned home they were reclining in third place in the WHA&rsquo;s Western Division.But hold it kiddies, that may not even rate as the bad news. That happened in their home environs Boxing Day in the club&rsquo;s first start upon its return home.The largest crowd to gather in the Winnipeg Arena in a couple of seasons&mdash;10,335&mdash;crammed its way into every nook and cranny to welcome the Jets home against the Eastern Division leading Quebec Nordiques. By the midway point of the second period several hundreds had fled the scene to partake in the more joyous aspects of the Christmas season.The Nordiques really unloaded against the Jets, powering their way to a 7-1 lead in the opening period. They eventually won it 12-3 but there weren&rsquo;t that many around to honor the three-star selections. What a night to have a turkey.As one Winnipeg pundit put it, it was a Winnipeg team effort. Joe Daley, a WHA All Star last spring, was victimized for the seven-goal onslaught but even coach Bobby Kromm felt it was no time to subject Daley to further ridicule by lifting him at the start of the second period.Most agreed it wasn&rsquo;t Daley&rsquo;s fault. Five of the first eight Quebec goals were scored from within 10 feet by unguarded Nordiques and another two came on breakaways. Quebec was allowed to roam at will without worry of being hit and they took full advantage after stealing pucks from the disorganized Jets.Though there might have been any number of excuses, Kromm wasn&rsquo;t reaching for any. Considering the extremity of the debacle, it might have been a waste of energy.The injury bug continued to plague the Winnipeggers, the most recent victims being Hexi Riihiranta and Peter Sullivan. Hexi pulled back muscles prior to the club&rsquo;s departue for Moscow and played only in the opening shift against the Czechs. With every bit of physical contact being a painful exercise, Hexi&rsquo;s return to the lineup has been termed indefinite.&rsquo;Sullivan suffered a severe cut around the right eye when hit by a puck in a game against Finland in the Izvestia Cup. It took 30 stitches to close&mdash;some of them on the eyelid&mdash;and he&rsquo;s also not expected back for a couple of weeks.While they finished fourth in the Izvestia Cup, the Jets were not outstanding by their European rivals. They lost 6-4 to the Russians and 3-2 to the Czechs while tying Sweden 44. In each game, however, they were scrambling, trying to come back from behind.Kromm actually felt the club did right well considering the physical status of his team and the fact the WHA refused to provide any player help. He pointed out the Jets were up against stacked teams and the environment (bigger ice surface, strange hotels and customs) did not work in the Jets&rsquo; favor.While losing, the Winnipeggers apparently were good ambassadors. They were cheered at every stage by the Russian fans and at the conclusion the WHA was offered an invitation to send another club to the Izvestia next year.Kromm, certainly no stranger to international competition, has some thoughts about that. He feels the league should look favorably upon the proposal but, if accepted, it should make certain the best possible team be sent abroad. And that can be done through proper league scheduling whereby the best would be available to go.CALGARY: The Cowboys this year are the masters of the split personality&mdash;totally inept on the road but virtually unbeatable at home.Through 16 road games heading into the new year they&rsquo;ve managed but one victory. At home, however, they&rsquo;ve won 13 of 17.It&rsquo;s been solely on the strength of this home productivity that they&rsquo;ve managed to stay in the Western Division playoff race. They hold down fifth place but aren&rsquo;t all that far removed from the fourth-place Edmonton Oilers.&ldquo;This is the most ridiculous situation I&rsquo;ve ever encountered,&rdquo; admits coach Joe Crozier. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re pretty much in every game on the road but we don&rsquo;t score. If we don&rsquo;t turn it around soon, we&rsquo;ll be out of it in a month or so.&rdquo;EDMONTON: Bep Guidolin would second the motion if he felt there was any chance his Edmonton Oilers could obtain a transfer to the Eastern Division. Geographically it might not make sense but as Bep contends, his Oilers spend much more time on aircraft than they do on the ice these days anyways.The reason for Bep&rsquo;s involvement with the East is the fact the Oilers have feasted on that opposition this year. While they&rsquo;ve been able to win only five of 21 games against Western Division opponents, they&rsquo;ve murdered the East with 11 wins in 15 games.The Oilers took a full week off during the Christmas season and that probably explains why there were no player movements in the interval. Guidolin has averaged at least one change a week since the start of the season and the results have been astounding. The Oilers not only have claimed fourth place, but had moved within four points of Winnipeg while most people were carving their Christinas turkey.With it came an upsurge of local interest. Tickets for their game against the Soviets Jan. 5 were sold out the first day and crowds for regular scheduled events are improving steadily. &#9632;

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Jets Crumble As 10.335 Fans Look On In Horror

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCCONNELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01426/4151077-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Robbie Ftorek, star forward of the Phoenix Roadrunners, poses with two-year-old son, Sam, while taking a moment out from the role he played in raising 45,000 toys for needy youngsters at Christmas. (Phoenix Gazette Photo)</figcaption></div>PHOENIX-Despite dropping 11 of 12 games, the Roadrunners did bring some Christmas cheer to Phoenix.Robbie Ftorek, named along with Roadrunner teammate Del Hall to the West&rsquo;s second team for the World Hockey Association All Star game in Hartford, Jan. 18, was asked to be honorary chairman of the Toys for Tots campaign in Phoenix, sponsored by the U.S. Marine Reserves.When the Marines picked on Ftorek. they got more than they bargained for. And not one complaint was heard when Ftorek switched the &ldquo;honorary&rdquo; to &ldquo;active&rdquo; with his title.&ldquo;When they first asked me if I&rsquo;d do it, I asked them what it would involve and they said posing for a few publicity pictures.&rdquo; said Ftorek. &ldquo;Well. I went and did that but when I got home, I said to my wife, Wendy, there must be something more than this we can do. She thought so, too.&rdquo;There began an endless round of radio and television interviews and commercials asking all hockey fans to bring a new or usable toys along to drop off at the last Roadrunner game before Christmas.As an inducement, Robbie offered an action photo of himself to everyone who donated a toy and promised to stay on the ice following the game for as long as it takes to autograph all or any of the photos.He planned to foot the photo bill himself, but the Phoenix hockey club stepped in and underwrote the photo giveaway.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have anything to do after the game, anyway,&rdquo; he said, and. reminded he might carry his arm home in a basket after such an unlimited autograph session, said: &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have another game for six days. I&rsquo;ll survive.&rdquo;Still. Robbie and Wendy didn&rsquo;t feel that-was enough. So, they donated $100 worth of toys to get the pile started and a Phoenix department store, Diamond s at Thomas Mall, inflated it greatly, said Robbie, by &ldquo;selling them to us at cost and throwing in quite a few extras.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s more Christmasy this way,&rdquo; said Wendy, whose husband may be a WHA superstar&mdash;third in scoring with 24 goals, 30 assists for 54 points after 35 games&mdash;but does not have a superstar salary.&ldquo;I just hope we can gather a few toys for these kids to help them have a better Christmas,&rdquo; he said.Robbie got his Christmas wish, in triplicate.The Marine Reserves had collected 15,000 toys for the needy last year.This year, on the one night at the Memorial Coliseum, they took in 20,000 toys and as a result of the Ftorek publicity push, took in 25,000 more at other collection points, for a total of 45,000&mdash;three times last year&rsquo;s total. &#9632;

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Ftorek Plays Major Role In Making Tots Happier

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01440/4151115-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02348/4151108-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="2613" height="3342"></div> &#9632;

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WHA SCORING AND PENALTY STATISTICS

ST. PAUL&mdash;It&rsquo;s either a feast or a famine with the Minnesota Fighting Saints.Last week the Saints were bogged down in their bid to climb higher in the Eastern Division race as they lost three straight games. This week they turned it completely around and won all three to get back on the heels of the leading Quebec Nordiques and the runner-up Indianapolis Racers.The Saints stuck it to the Birmingham Bulls twice 4-2 and 3-1 and tossed in a 5-4 decision over New England Whalers giving them three important victories&mdash;all against their own division rivals.Sparked by the line of Mike Antonovich, Dave Keon and John McKenzie, the Fighting Saints raised their season record to 17-17-4 to pull into a third-place tie with the Whalers, each with 38 points. While the team&rsquo;s board of directors battled for the club&rsquo;s survival behind the scenes, the Saints were the hottest team on the ice in their division.In their 5-4 win over the Whalers, Antonovich turned in a hat trick in the first period of the game and added two more goals during the week to pick up a five-goal performance, the best individual showing of any WHA player this past week.While the Fighting Saints were moving upwards, the Whalers posted two wins in three starts picking on the slumping Cincinnati Stingers twice as they won 6-4 and 3-2. Their only loss was to Minnesota.Quebec Nordiques clung to their Eastern lead as they played only once and came away with a 3-2 victory over Edmonton Oilers to stay five points ahead of Indianapolis. Real Cloutier of the Nords scored one goal to maintain his individual points lead with 65, two up on Winnipeg&rsquo;s Anders Hedberg.But in the WHA, the San Diego Mariners were the real story.Eight wins in their last nine starts have vaulted the San Diego Mariners to the top of the Western Division with the best record in the WHA after the 12th week. The Mariners have 23 wins, one more than the Quebec Nordiques.The Mariners have accomplished this lofty position by having the most proficient power play in the league, as well as the most efficient penalty killing unit. The Mariners have scored on 26.9 percent of their opportunities (28 of 104) while allowing goals on only 13.1 percent of their shorthanded situations (13 of 99).San Diego has only one loss in 16 home games, losing their first home game of the season to New England 5-3. Their home record is second only to Houston who have one loss in 17 home games.After missing five games with an injured right knee, right winger Cloutier became the top scorer even though he played in only one game last week. He scored seven points in a Quebec 12-3 thumping of the Jets at Winnipeg. &#9632;

Fighting Saints Back On Track

<h2>Special To The Hockey News</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01377/4151191-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="629" height="1324"><figcaption class="caption-body">GEORGE LYLE &hellip;Two-Goal Blast</figcaption></div>HARTFORDWorld Hockey Association teams confronting the powerful Soviet Union would do well to take a few tips from the New England Whalers. After the first four games of their WHA tour, the Soviets had three wins and the only game they lost was to the Whalers.New England coach Harry Neale credited a team effort and the knowledge he gained acting as assistant to coach Bob Pulford with Team U.S.A, during the recent Canada Cup series, as factors in upsetting the Russian team.No other WHA team has been successful in stopping the Soviets since the Whalers turned the trick 52 in the opening game of the eight-game tour of WHA cities. The Whalers gave the league a tremendous lift winning that one but since then it has been somewhat downhill for the WHA losing three in succession.The Whalers&rsquo; coach said he and Pulford kicked around a lot of things in the Canada Cup series and he decided to try some of them on the Soviets when they came to Hartford to open their tour. Neale admitted that the things&rsquo; he referred to didn&rsquo;t work quite as well against the Soviets in the Canada Cup tournament.Rookie George Lyle took the fight out of the Soviets with two third-period goals after the visitors had closed the gap to 3-2. Goaler Cap Raeder played a solid game turning back 33 shots while the Whalers hit Vladislav Tretiak with 38. Gary Swain, Tom Earl and Ralph Backstrom scored the other New England goals. Aleksander Maltsev and Aleksander Yakushev scored the Soviet goals.Soviet coach Konstantin Loktev blamed the long plane ride from Moscow for the ineptness of his team against the Whalers. Loktev also reminded the media that he did not use the line of Vladimir Petrov, Boris Mikhailov and Valeri Kharlamov in the game because of injuries to two of the players.If the Soviets were off their game in the opener they quickly picked it up when they moved into Cincinnati the next night against the pesky Stingers. The outcome wasn&rsquo;t decided, however, until the late in the final period when the Soviets broke out from a 5-5 tie and scored twice in three minutes to put the game away 7-5.Terry Slater&rsquo;s Stingers hung in well against the Soviets even though they were outshot 43-31. Goaler Paul Hoganson came up with some key saves and the Stinger offense matched the Soviets goal for two and a half periods.Rich Leduc scored twice for Cincinnati with singles going to Rick Dudley, Blaine Stoughton and Claude Larose. But the big noise was Petrov who missed the Whaler game with an injury. He scored three times against the Stingers.Soviet coach Boris Kulagin and Slater hurled charges and counter charges at one another after the game ended. Kulagin said the Stingers played &rsquo;bandit style&rsquo; hockey and blasted the WHA officiating. Slater said the Soviets had their sticks up just as high as his players. Slater retorted that if the officiating had been honest, his Stingers would have taken the decision. He said every time his team came back to tie the score (they did it three times), the officials would penalize his team and hurt their chances. &ldquo;They took the momentum away from us,&rdquo; snapped Slater.If the WHA was expecting the Soviets to wilt after their tough struggle with the Stingers, it wasn&rsquo;t forthcoming when they travailed to Houston and Indianapolis for games three and four. The Houston game was a shambles with the Aeros outclassed 10-1. In Indianapolis, the Racers stayed with the Soviets for two periods but faded in the final period and lost 5-2 with Maltsev, Kharlamov and Helmut Balderis scoring in this one.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03191/4151184-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="631" height="1292"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-04137/4151177-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="633" height="1315"><figcaption class="caption-body">Goalie Cap Raeder, left, and Gary Swain, both of whom had a stint in the minor leagues this season with Rhode Island, were two of the stars of the New England Whalers&rsquo; 5-2 upset of the touring Soviet Union. Raeder went all the way in goal while Swain scored once and helped set up another in the Whalers&rsquo; conquest.</figcaption></div>With a record Houston crowd of 15,302 on hand to see the Soviets, the Aeros fell completely apart in the second period of the game as they gave up seven goals on 11 shots with the Soviets blowing them right off the ice. It was the worst defeat ever suffered by a Houston team since they came into the WHA.The Soviets spread their scoring around in the Houston game with Petrov again showing the way with two.The Indy Racers gave a good account of themselves against the Soviets as they got second-period goals from Hugh Harris and Ken Block to force the Soviets to open up in the final period with the score 3-2. Michel Pion and Jim Park split the Indy goaling, handling a total of 40 shots.If the games weren&rsquo;t proving successful on the ice for the WHA at least they were a smash at the box office. The opening game at Hartford attracted 10,507. Another 10,320 saw the game in Cincinnati and 12,051 streamed into the Indianapolis game. All told the four games attracted 48,180 fans.The Soviets had four more dates on their WHA itinerary playing in San Diego, Edmonton, Winnipeg and winding up in Quebec City before heading home.<h2>How WHA Teams Did</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02275/4151170-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="649" height="1606"></div> &#9632;

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Touring Soviets Show Strength In Beating Stingers, Aeros, Racers

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01390/4151222-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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World Hockey Association Summaries

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCCONNELL</div>PHOENIX-The Houston Aeros continued their domination of the Phoenix Roadrunners and the Roadrunners continued their downhill tumble.The Aeros withstood a three-goal third period Phoenix comeback and added Gordie Howe&rsquo;s second goal of the night into an empty net for a 6-4 victory.It was the Aeros&rsquo; 13th in succession over the Roadrunners, breaking the World Hockey Association record for dominance by one team over another. The former record, 12, was held by Houston over Vancouver.The Edmonton Oilers started the Runners on their current three-game losing streak with Ken Broderick&rsquo;s third shutout in six games, 1-0, and the red-hot San Diego Mariners administered the Roadrunners&rsquo; 11th loss in 12 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01369/4151267-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="635" height="982"><figcaption class="caption-body">SERGE BEAUDOIN &hellip; Did His Job</figcaption></div>Coach Al Rollins was heartened by the Runners&rsquo; comeback against the Aeros with third-period goals by Seppo Repo, Michel Cormier and Ron Huston.&ldquo;If Houston had rattled in six or eight in the third period, I might have been concerned,&rdquo; said Rollins, &ldquo;but coming back like that, they showed what they&rsquo;re made of.&rdquo;It was only the second of their last 25 periods the Runners had outscored the opposition.The loss to Edmonton included a mystery goal and a missed penalty shot.Bill Flett, playing his third game for the Oilers since joining the WHA team from the Atlanta Flames of the National League, scored the goal and referee Ron Fournier ruled it was unassisted, that Phoenix defenseman Serge Beaudoin had kicked it into his own net.Flett disagreed and attempted to gain assists for two of his new teammates, Glen Sather and Bryan Campbell.&ldquo;My shot had trickled over the goal line by an inch before their guy kicked it,&rdquo; insisted Flett.Fournier awarded a penalty shot to Robbie Ftorek, one of the WHA&rsquo;s leading scorers, when an Edmonton defenseman grabbed the puck in the Oiler goal crease.Broderick made the stop.&ldquo;I just went with him,&rdquo; said Broderick, recalling Ftorek skated in close and cut left. &ldquo;He was moving slow enough that I could do that.&rdquo;It was only the third penalty shot in the WHA this season and the goaltenders remain unbeaten in the one-on-one competition.Birmingham&rsquo;s Wayne Wood stopped Minnesota&rsquo;s Danny Gruen and Winnipeg&rsquo;s Curt Larsson thwarted Calgary&rsquo;s Danny Lawson.The shutout was the first against the Roadrunners on their home ice since they were beaten 4-0 by Winnipeg&rsquo;s Joe Daley, Oct. 12, 1975.In losing 5-4 to San Diego, the Roadrunners extended their winless overtime streak to six games (three ties).They&rsquo;ve worked out this great finish, but it won&rsquo;t do them any good until they can perfect an encore.The Runners went through their first two and a quarter seasons in the WHA without once scoring on one of the game&rsquo;s most exciting plays&mdash;the six-attacker gamble for the tying goal in the final minute.Serge Beaudoin, the Runners&rsquo; most immovable object at six-foot-two and 215, was sent to park on the front of the San Diego crease and with 20 seconds remaining on regulation, Andre Hinse and Mike Hobin worked the puck to him for the tying goal.It was the third time they&rsquo;d been successful with the maneuver in less than a month.The trouble was, they were still filled with jubilation and didn&rsquo;t notice the Mariners assembling a three-on-one break with Norm Ferguson triggering the winning goal 21 seconds into overtime.&ldquo;I thought we outplayed them (Phoenix had a 36-27 margin in shots on goal) by a wide margin,&rdquo; said Rollins. &ldquo;If our guys keep playing like that, they will not be denied.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03192/4151260-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="629" height="958"><figcaption class="caption-body">SEPPO REPO &hellip; Helped Comeback</figcaption></div>Rollins was looking to six days off and had plans for a team which had not had more than two full practices in more than six weeks, traveling one day and playing the next.<h2>WHA-Soviet Summaries</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02278/4151253-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="1340" height="1783"></div> &#9632;

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Aeros, Oilers Put Runners On Skids; Ftorek Even Foiled On Penalty Shot Try

<div class="byline">BY GREG NOBLE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01356/4151298-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="629" height="836"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN GARRETT &hellip; Steady In Goal.</figcaption></div>BIRMINGHAM&mdash;You can forget any notion you may have had that opposing the Birmingham Bulls means an automatic two points. Playing with newly discovered confidence, the Bulls put together a three-game winning streak, their longest of the season.&ldquo;These guys are starting to believe in themselves,&rdquo; said coach Pat Kelly, who only a few weeks earlier inherited the team with the worst record in the World Hockey Association. He seemed to have turned them around.&ldquo;They believe in the system.&rdquo; Kelly said, meaning he got the Bulls playing defense instead of just mimicking it.&ldquo;This team is coming of age.&rdquo; said defenseman Jean-Guy Lagace. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re getting used to each other&rsquo;s play. We have the same system we had, but all the players are playing together now.&rdquo;&ldquo;We can make the playoffs. There&rsquo;s no way we&rsquo;re giving up,&rdquo; Kelly stated.The Bulls were playing good positional hockey and John Garrett was outstanding in goal. He allowed just six goals in the three victories. Garrett, in fact, was named a second-team Eastern Division All Star, along with teammate Mark Napier. Napier scored on a penalty shot in a 6-2 victory over Houston.Lagace, better known for hip checking than scoring, notched the game-winning goal in a 3-2 victory over Quebec. It was his first goal of the season. Dale Hoganson, one of the top scoring defensemen in the league with 22 assists, also picked up his first goal in a 6-2 win against Cincinnati. Both Lagace and Hoganson were playing steady defense.Tim Sheehy, recently acquired from Edmonton, had five goals and eight assists after 10 games with the Bulls.INDIANAPOLIS: &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have any stars on this team.&rdquo; coach Jacques Demers has said to encourage a team effort. But the news media could not deny Hugh Harris and Pat Stapleton spots on the second Eastern All Star squad.Earlier, Demers was named coach of the All Star team. &ldquo;This is a proud day for me,&rdquo; he said. I&rsquo;m grateful. especially to my players. A coach is only as good as his players, and these guys have been making me look awfully good. Such an honor at my age (32) doesn&rsquo;t happen very often. I just hope I can justify their choice.&rdquo;While the Une of Harris, Michel Parizeau and Blair MacDonald continued to lead the club in scoring, the trio of Rosaire Paiement, Gene Peacosh and Bob Sicinski was showing off their scoring power too. Paiement, the imposing center who was doing a fine two-way job on the ice, scored two goals in a 3-2 victory over the touring Czech national team. Darryl Maggs was one of the top scoring defensemen in the WHA with four goals and 19 assists.The Racers had won nine of 10 games decided by one goal. &ldquo;One goal wins are the mark of a solid hockey club. It&rsquo;s the ability to win the close ones, particularly in our division, that has us flirting with first place,&rdquo; said Demers. The Racers won six straight road games before losing at San Diego 2-1.A pulled leg muscle sidelined center Renald Leclerc for at least four games. Mark Lomenda filled in on the line with Reg Thomas and Al Karlander.CINCINNATI: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re at the bottom of our game.&rdquo; team captain Rick Dudley admitted after the Stingers&rsquo; fifth straight loss. They barely clung to third place in the Eastern Division.Dudley and coach Terry Slater both blamed scheduling in part for the team&rsquo;s demise. &ldquo;I thought we generally worked hard. We just had a let down from all the traveling we&rsquo;ve been doing,&rdquo; Dudley said after a 6-2 home loss to Birmingham. The day before, the Stingers were 15 hours en route from Edmonton to Cincinnati after a two-game road trip.The Stingers had to leave Cincinnati on Christmas morning to fly to Calgary for a night game the next day. After a 6-3 defeat, Slater called the scheduling &ldquo;ridiculous&rdquo; and the players blasted Calgary coach Joe Crozier for not giving them practice time on Christmas day.The Stingers suffered a heart-breaking 6-5 overtime loss at Houston after rallying from a 4-1 deficit and taking a 5-4 lead. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to give our guys a lot of credit for the way they came back. I sure can&rsquo;t find fault with their effort,&rdquo; Slater said.Defenseman Ron Plumb was a first-team selection on the Eastern All Star team and center Richie Leduc was a second-team pick. Plumb, the leading defenseman scorer in the league, received more votes than any other blueliner in the division in balloting by the news media. Leduc was the Stingers&rsquo; top scorer. &#9632;

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Kelly Has Team Moving In Right Direction

<div class="byline">JOHN ARNOLD&#x2019;S</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02260/4151329-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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HOCKEY CROSSWORD

HOUSTON-Rich Preston&rsquo;s 13th goal of the season and second of the game came at 1:04 of overtime to give the Houston Aeros an important 6-5 victory over the reeling Cincinnati Stingers.The third win in a row for Houston and fourth straight loss for Cincinnati moved the Aeros back into second place in the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s Western Division.The win streak came after a 4-3 setback at San Diego and a 4-3 upset to the Birmingham Bulls in Houston.The loss to the Bulls, on Mark Napier&rsquo;s second goal of the game in the final two minutes, was the Aeros&rsquo; first in 15 home games this season.The Aeros picked on an old patsy to get going again, winning their 13th in succession over the Phoenix Roadrunners, but going right to the wire to do it. Gordie Howe&rsquo;s empty-net goal, on a two-goal, one-assist night, put the wrapping on a 6-4 victory over the Roadrunners.Cam Connor, who was acquired from the Runners for his aggressive tactics, scored a pair of third-period goals to back Ron Grahame&rsquo;s shutout goaltending in a 4-0 win over New England. Connor&rsquo;s goals were his 15th and 16th of the season and leave him the Aeros&rsquo; goal-scoring leader. He is pressing center Terry Ruskowski for the points in leadership.Grahame blocked just 18 shots for his second shutout of the season and the 10th of his WHA career.Meanwhile, the Aeros announced the club will wind up in the red again this season.George Bolin, chairman of the board, said the team lost $400,000 last season, needs 11,000 average attendance to break even and is averaging less than 6,000.Bolin said the team payroll is $1.6 million and that it &ldquo;isn&rsquo;t the highest in the league, but it isn&rsquo;t the lowest, either.&rdquo;The team recently hired a marketing firm to study the situation and suggest some promotions.&ldquo;Evidently, we haven&rsquo;t been doing something right because we&rsquo;ve got a winning team and the number of fans we want aren&rsquo;t coming to see us.&rdquo; Bolin said.Bolin is highly in favor of a merger or an accommodation of some sort with the National Hockev League.&ldquo;We feel if there is some kind of agreement with the National Hockey League, then we could bring in more people because of more publicity, new teams and new players.&rdquo; said Bolin. &ldquo;However, we can&rsquo;t sit around and wait on the NHL because that might be somewhere on down the road.&rdquo;SAN DIEGO: The San Diego Mariners encountered what they are regarding as a temporary lull when they dropped a 5-3 victory to the New England Whalers.The loss was their first on home ice in 14 games this season and ended a six-game victory streak on anybody&rsquo;s ice.Despite the setback, the Mariners remained in front in the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s Western Division standings, six points ahead of the Houston Aeros, who replaced Winnipeg in second.Larry Pleau&rsquo;s goal with 7:07 left in the final period broke a 3-3 tie and Tom Webster added the clincher into an empty net.San Diego&rsquo;s Andre Lacroix, the WHA&rsquo;s all-time scoring leader, picked up two assists to increase his league lead in that category. He has 36.The Mariners had to go to overtime the night before in Phoenix and get 32-save goaltending from Ken Lockett for a 5-4 victory.The Roadrunners managed to tie the game with 20 seconds remaining, parking big defenseman Serge Beaudoin on the edge of the San Diego crease with a six-attacker assault, to bang in the goal.While the Runners were still celebrating, the Mariners broke down the ice in a three-on-one rush and Norm Ferguson triggered the winning goal at 21 seconds of overtime.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01312/4151360-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="635" height="1270"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICH PRESTON &hellip; Overtime Winner</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Aeros Move Up In Race With Win Streak

<h2>Special To The Hockey News</h2>SPRINGFIELD&mdash;George Leary, president of the Springfield Indians, announced that Gary Dineen, a well-known hockey figure in the American Hockey League and the Springfield area, will assume the coaching duties of the Indians effective immediately. Dineen replaces John Hanna who will remain with the Indians&rsquo; organization.Dineen is no stranger to the AHL as he served as general manager and coach of the Springfield Kings during the 1971-72 season after playing with that club the previous two seasons. The Kings finished third in the Northern Division and were ousted by the eventual Calder Cup champions, Nova Scotia. .Gary&rsquo;s playing career as a professional started in the 1968-69 season with the Minnesota North Stars and ended on a successful note as he played a key role in the Kings&rsquo; Calder Cup season in 1970-71.Following a dispute with Los Angeles owner. Jack Kent Cooke, Gary left the AHL but not the Springfield area as he turned his attention to youth hockey and opened a very successful hockey school in West Springfield.In the fall of 1973 he was named general manager-coach of the Springfield Olympics in the New England Junior Amateur Hockey League. The following year the Olympics finished second in the final standings and went on to capture the Wallace Cup, in the post-season playoffs. In 1974-75 his team took it all winning the regular season and playoffs.At the national level the Olympics, under Dineen&rsquo;s direction, finished second in the National Junior B tournament held in West Springfield in 1973-74. The following year Gary took the Olympics to Rochester and walked away with the national honors defeating teams from Detroit, Los Angeles. Fort Wayne and Rochester.Gary&rsquo;s appointment as coach comes only three days following his 33rd birthday. He was born in Montreal and currently resides in West SpringfieldThe major problem facing Dineen and his players is a simple one&mdash;get out of the cellar and get back into the race. The Indians. who haven&rsquo;t been able to put together a solid winning streak over the first three months of the season, are currently residing in the cellar with a 1224-0 record. Their 24 points places them only seven points behind Hershey and Rhode Island so all is not hopeless by any means.Defense has been the Indians&rsquo; biggest problem. In 36 games the Indians have given up 175 goals which is an average of almost five goals per game. Grant Cole and Jerry Mrazek, although not completely at fault, have been experiencing nightmares counting pucks instead of sheep. In the past few weeks the Springfield management has made some player changes to correct the defensive problems.Mike McMahon and Bart Crashley, two experienced backliners. were brought in and their experience showed quickly. Working with another experienced backliner in Jean Lemieux the Indians now have a solid defense.On offense the Indians have fared well in comparison. In 36 games the Indians have scored 139 goals which ties them for second with Rochester behind New Haven at 149.Andre Peloffy has been one of the top scorers in the league this season and has often led the league in goals scoredWith Peloffy as his mainstay, Dineen has one of the best attack forces in the league as the goals scored indicate, so his major problem will be to reduce the goals-against and the goals-for should produce more victories and put the Indians back into the thick of the race.HERSHEY: The Bears managed to stay well ahead of the Indians and remain tied with the Reds over the last week which saw only five games played due to the Christmas holiday and a couple of postponed games. The Bears, however, were active, playing three games and winning two including a 5-4 overtime win against New Haven.The return of Joe Kowal from Buffalo has provided the Bears with some extra scoring power. Last week Kowal picked up three goals and an assist including a game-winning tally. Alex Tidey has also been hot of late with three goals and two assists last week.NOVA SCOTIA: The Vees, due to two postponed games with Rochester, had the entire week off. Coach Al McNeil s charges, however, will have a busy week starting Tuesday as the Vees will host the New Haven Nighthawks in two home contests. Springfield visits Halifax on Sunday.ROCHESTER: The Amerks. like the Vees, had the week off and now are heading for a week-long road trip which will take them to Springfield, Hershey and Providence. Doug Gibson, despite being inactive for the week maintained his lead in the scoring race. Gibson has 20 goals and 28 assists for a league-leading 48 points.Oddly enough Gibson does not lead in either goal scoring or assists yet. The goal scoring lead is shared by SpringfieldsAndre Peloffy, Jerry Byers of New Haven and teammate Gordie Clark. All three have 22 goals.The assist leader is Blake Dunlop of New Haven with 29. Clark is second overall with 46 points and Peloffy and Dunlop share third with 44 points apiece.RHODE ISLAND: Injuries continue to plague the Reds, but in spite of it all they have managed to remain in the race, currently tied for fourth place with the Hershey Bears as each have 31 points, seven away from the Amerks in third place.Dave Hynes and Bruce Landon are back on the active roster, leaving only Ken Murray on the injured list, but several players are playing hurt including Michel Deziel, Wayne Muloin and Danny Seguin.Walt Ledingham remains the Reds&rsquo; leading scorer with 33 points but his lead is being challenged by Dave Kelly who has hiked his point total to 31. Kelly has been the hottest scorer in Providence and the league as well.NEW HAVEN: The Hawks, fresh from a 10-2 trouncing of Hershey in New Haven on Sunday invade Nova Scotia for a big two-game series. The Hawks are only two points behind the Vees and obviously have a big opportunity to move up and take over first place, a spot the Hawks have never held in the AHL.New Haven is the leading scoring team in the AHL with 149 goals in 34 games and are second in goals-against. Five of the top 10 scorers are from New Haven so the Vees will have their work cut out if they want to remain the number one team.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03207/4151405-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="619" height="1203"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOE KOWAL &hellip; Gave Bears Lift</figcaption></div><h2>Where AHL Teams Play</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01349/4151398-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="631" height="878"></div><h2>AHL Leaders</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02276/4151391-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="641" height="858"></div> &#9632;

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Dineen Takes Over Lowly Indians; Bears Continue Battle With Reds

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0031-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01324/4151436-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRIAN WALSH&hellip; Irish Co-Captain Comes Home</figcaption></div>CAMBRIDGE-He was standing in the corridor of Dillon Field House, his blue and gold togs awash with hockey&rsquo;s honest sweat Brian &ldquo;Dukie &ldquo;Walsh, the brash youngster from the projects just a few miles away, had played his final college game in his hometown. It was a 4-3 Notre Dame loss to Harvard, but the Duke was cordial and smiling to all who approached him.Walsh, you see, is one of those rare birds who goes west&mdash;nine hundred miles or more&mdash;to play college hockey after rising to prominence in the fast Boston schoolboy circles. He&rsquo;d returned twice, on swings of back-to-back games against regular foes Boston College and Harvard. This was the closest ND had ever come to taking home two victories, topping BC 7-4 the first night before bowing the next.But this wasn&rsquo;t the cocky Matignon High defenseman who was voted the Boston schoolboy player of the year in 1972. It was a polished young man, cocaptain of his team, glad to be back for an occasional game in front of friends.&ldquo;This is good because I can play in front of my family here at home,&rdquo; said Walsh.&ldquo;But I think that the best thing I ever did was go away to play hockey. At Notre Dame, I&rsquo;ve had to live my own life, make my own decisions. It&rsquo;s shown me that there&rsquo;s a lot in the world besides Boston.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a housing project kid, and I guess I&rsquo;ll always be one,&rdquo; he went on. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;ve seen a lot more of the world and I&rsquo;m glad I did it the way I have.&rdquo;Walsh went on to assess his academic progress&mdash;a 3.0 average in Economics. &ldquo;It gets easier every year. I&rsquo;m studying a lot of things in Economics that really interest me. Right now, hockey is the most important thing in my life. But with my degree. I have something else to fall back on.&rdquo;A familiar story? Perhaps. Maturation, realization of full potential, and healthy perspective on the world and one&rsquo;s place in it are really all one can reasonably expect of a college education. Talking with a Brian Walsh gives one the feeling that, for this young man at least, no better path existed.&ldquo;You know, even last night someone said that going west was the worst thing I could have done,&rdquo; remarked Walsh. &ldquo;But what if I&rsquo;d gone to some place like BU? I&rsquo;d have been with my buddies from home every night; it just wouldn&rsquo;t have been any different.&rdquo;For Walsh, junior goaltender Len Moher of Wellesley, Mass., and sophomore wing Brian Burke of Newton, Mass., a change of scenery has been one reason for following coach Lefty Smith to South Bend. Smith cherishes his intersectional series built up over the years against Harvard and Boston College. Despite his league&rsquo;s limitations on non-WCHA games&mdash;only four are allowed&mdash;these teams have built a spirited rivalry since the revival of hockey at South Bend a decade ago. ND currently leads the series with BC 6-4, and is even with Harvard at two wins each.Smith also knows that regular showcasing of his teams against these popular Beantown clubs will serve to attract the occasional high school prospects who prefer not to remain local. Smith&rsquo;s assistant, Ric Schafer, scouts the area and talks with aspiring youngsters through the season, but there&rsquo;s nothing like seeing the Irish in action to whet the appetite.On the other hand, any players who don&rsquo;t revel in the rough going might tend to shy away from a WCHA school, if that squad comes east and gets a dose of tight-vested eastern officiating. The physical West vs the finess-minded East is a trite comparison by now. But the Irish showed that they could have used a bit of adjustment ot eastern officiating during their Boston trip. Eight minors were called on the Irish versus two for Harvard in the 4-3 Crimson decision. At BC, 10 of 17 were whistled on the visitors. While there wasn&rsquo;t any finger pointing by Notre Dame players or officials, Walsh obliquely addressed the point.&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to have some consistency or it&rsquo;s no good. Everyone knows that the East wants a finesse game while the West wants to hit. Maybe the NCAA could sit down and figure a way to have one interpretation of the rules instead of two,&rdquo; he suggested. &#9632;

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Boston Product Walsh Makes It With Notre Dame

<div class="byline">BY BILL BROPHY</div>HOUGHTON-You can&rsquo;t blame John Maclnnes, Michigan Tech&rsquo;s hockey coach, if he was seen talking to himself lately.As is well known around Western Collegiate Hockey Association circles. Maclnnes&rsquo; teams are usually mentioned in the same breath with league titleholders and national championship teams.But this year the Huskies have taken their lumps in the early going. They stood 5-8-1 in league play and 8-8-1 over-all prior to play in the Great Lakes tournament in Detroit over the Chirstmas holidays.And the main reason for the slow start has been Tech&rsquo;s failure to convert good scoring chances. In their last five games prior to the Christmas break, the Huskies fired 53, 58, 59, 61 and 73 shots at opponent goalies, but they stood only 3-1-1 after those games.Even so, that record is an improvement over the early going where the usually physical Huskies had turned pussycats. &ldquo;We weren&rsquo;t hitting enough,&rdquo; said Maclnnes. &ldquo;And we weren&rsquo;t getting production from some of the people we were counting on.&rdquo;But after a win and a tie against UM-Duluth, it appears the defending league champs may be on their way again to a traditional post-New Year&rsquo;s rush.Machines switched defenseman Ed Dempsey up to a wing with high scoring Stu Younger and Stu Ostland and that unit has clicked. Younger is the team&rsquo;s leading goal-scorer with nine and is tied with Dempsey and linemates Dave Joelson and Warren Young with 19 points each.Defensively, the Huskies are strong with freshmen Nick Schwartz shoring up the corps of veteran blueliners like Paul Jensen, Steve Letzgus and Jeff Wilcox.Bruce Horsch has emerged as the Huskies&rsquo; top goaltender after winning the job from John Rockwell. Horsch, a junior from Hastings. Minn., has a goals-against of 3.88 in nine games and came up with big saves in the UMD series.Traditionally, the always aptly-named Huskies take longer to get in shape than their smaller foes. That always aids their late-season charge which has become as commonplace as Guy Lombardo on New Year&rsquo;s Eve.This year, the Huskies will be aided by a favorable home schedule. They played eight of their first 12 games on the road so the folks in Copper Country will get a firsthand look to see if Maclnnes can work his magic again and lift his team from their current seventh place spot to the heights currently held by Wisconsin.WCHA NOTES: North Dakota University has declared freshman winger Dave Colborne ineligible for the remainder of the season. The ruling stems from Colborne&rsquo;s play with the Calgary Continentals of the Western Canadian Tier I League.The executive committee of the league has recommended to the general membership that all Tier I players should be declared ineligible after this season. The league will vote on that proposal at a general meeting Jan. 9 in Miami. &#9632;

Revived Tech Huskies May Be On Their Way

<div class="byline">&#x2014; BURKE</div>PROVIDENCEIn the East, college action was light during the week before Christmas, except for the new Brown Invitational tournament. The three-night round-robin proved to be correctly arranged as the final game with host Brown against Vermont decided the champion. The Catamounts edged Brown 3-2 with a pair of goals in the final period providing the margin after Brown took a 2-1 lead into the second intermission.Sophomore Jim Duffy wore the herd&rsquo;s crown for UVM, scoring the first and last goals of the rubber match. The winner came with 2:07 to play at Meehan Auditorium. Tom McNamara stopped 27 Bruin shots to 21 for Kevin McCabe.The opening night of the event saw UVM whip RPI 6-0 behind Tom Colby&rsquo;s two goals, thus avenging an 11-7 defeat by the Engineers earlier in the year at Gutterson Field House. Brown came from a 2-0 deficit to best WCHA visitor Colorado College 4-3 in the other first round game. Tim Bothwell&rsquo;s tally at 0:38 of the third period was the decider.The second evening was just as much fun as Vermont nipped CC 5-3 while Brown slugged out a 9-7 decision over RPI to set up the showdown. In the third night&rsquo;s early game, RPI and CC tied 8-8. giving the Engineers third place in the field by virtue of scoring 15 goals to CC&rsquo;s 14 in the tournament.The two ECAC Division One wins for Vermont vaulted them from eighth place to fourth with a 6-3 record. The performance allayed any fears of a repeat of last year&rsquo;s slow start which precluded any playoff berth for the Catamounts. Brown, the pre-season favorite in the East, remained at the .500 mark with a 4-4 record while RPI slipped to 1-5 and 15th place in the league. CC&rsquo;s record overall dropped to 5-11-2. &#9632;

Vermont Spoils Brown’s Invitational Title Hopes

<div class="byline">BY BILL ADLER</div>DALLAS&mdash;It is often said that it is best never to look back, only think ahead but in the case of a statistical comparison of the current season with that of the 1975-76 campaign we shall take exception.Through the first 90 Central Hockey League games this season compared to a similar number of games for the 7576 campaign, several interesting developments can be seen.This season&rsquo;s crop of talented young players have taken fewer shots on net but have produced more goals. There have been 5,495 shots on net this year (61.1 shots per game for both teams) while last season CHL skaters had fired 5,628 shots at this same time (62.5 per game). Thus, the league is averaging about 1.5 shots less per game this year. However, through these 90 games, there have been 701 goals scored compared to only 644 during this same stretch in 75-76. All this leads to the ultimate conclusion that the players are shooting with greater accuracy this season. In fact, there is approximately a nine percent increase over last year (12.8 shooting accuracy this season compared to 11.4 percent last year).Penalty minutes have taken a slight decline this season which should certainly be pleasant news to all coaches. Through the first 90 games there have been 3,206 penalty minutes assessed compared to 3.321 minutes during the same period in 75-76 (decline of 115 minutes or 1.3 minutes less per game). The biggest decrease has been in the major penalties, dropping from 155 to 128 this season. The category showing the greatest increase in penalties assessed is game misconducts. During this 90-game period in 75-76 there were 25 game misconducts while this season there have been 37 such penalties assessed. This difference can be closely associated to the new rule changes that allows the referee to assess a game misconduct penalty to the &rsquo;aggressor &rsquo;in a fight.Along with this decrease in the number of penalty minutes comes the decrease in power-play opportunities. In the first 90 games, CHL teams have had 74 fewer power-play opportunities than last year (765 this season compared to 839 in 7576). However, the decline in the number of power-play goals scored is only seven (177-170). Thus, we can conclude that CHL teams are proving themselves to be more proficient on the power-play this season, averaging 22.3 percent conversion rate this year, one percent better than the 75-76 season at this same point in time.TULSA: After a great deal of speculation the change in Vancouver finally took place as general manager Phil Maloney of the Canucks stepped down from the dual role as coach and general manager and named Orland Kurtenbach to succeed him behind the bench in Vancouver. Kurt, who was acclaimed as the CHL coach of the year for guiding the Oilers to the Adams Cup last season finally accepted the position after some delay.Without a coach, director of player personnel for the Oilers David Poile took his turn behind the bench in Tulsa but Poile did not believe that he would continue at this position for the balance of the season.The Oilers continued their sound play, rallying for four goals to gain a 6-6 tie in Oklahoma City in the annual Christmas night battle with the Blazers. Then, returning home the following evening the Oilers treated over 4,500 fans to a thrilling 6-4 win over the Dallas Black Hawks.FORT WORTH: The Texans experienced a most unusual week&mdash;two games, two shutouts. One for the Texans and one for the opposition.Texan goalie Bill Hughes handed the Kansas City Blues their first whitewash of the season when the veteran goaltender turned aside 29 shots in stopping the Blues 2-0 on Dec. 26 in Fort Wroth. Rookie defenseman Bob Lorimer broke up the goaltending duel between Hughes and Doug Grant with a goal late in the second period. Dave Salvian supplied some insurance with a marker midway in the final 20 minutes.Earlier in the week, the Texans fell victim to the goose eggs, dropping a 2-0 decision to Salt Lake City. The Golden Eagles defense throttled the Texans all evening, allowing Fort Worth only 15 shots on goalie Ray Martyniuk.Both Lome Stamler and Dave Miglia are expected to return to the Texan lineup within the next 10 days.KANSAS CITY: The Blues are hurting, hard to believe for a team with such an outstanding record as Kansas City but such is the case. St. Louis recalled the league&rsquo;s leading scorer Bernie Federko and the chances are slim that the outstanding young center will ever return to Kansas City. Joining Federko in St. Louis is another outstanding young prospect. Rick Bourbonnais. At the same time. St. Louis traded Rick Smith to Boston (NHL) so coach Barclay Plager lost one of his more experienced defensemen.St. Louis, however, returned Brian Sutter, another of their bright young prospects and defenseman Bob Hess However, Hess hurt his back in his first appearance in a Kansas City uniform and returned to St. Louis for treatment. Injuries are also plaguing defenseman Gordon Buynak. Thus, the Blues roster has been depleted somewhat.OKLAHOMA CITY: Frustration still seems to be the secret word in Oklahoma City. The Blazers enjoyed their best two periods of hockey Christmas night as they streaked to a 6-2 lead over &ldquo;coachless&rdquo; Tulsa. However, the Blazer defense failed again and they allowed the Oilers to score the final four goals of the game and had to settle for a 6-6 tie.Second-year pro Neil Lyseng, who only one week earlier had been traded to Houston (WHA) by Phoenix (WHA), had his best night of his young career. This right winger registered his first professional hat trick with all three of his goals coming off the power play. Mike Sleep, another outstanding young second-year prospect, scored twice while Gary Donaldson scored the other Blazer goal.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02251/4151522-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="624" height="657"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVID POILE &hellip; Interim Coach</figcaption></div>SALT LAKE CITY: With the defense beginning to find itself a little suspect. coach Marv Edwards responded with his forwards helping keep the opponents off the puck. The results were immediate and successful as the Golden Eagles held Fort Worth to only 15 shots in a 2-0 win over the Texans.Goalie Ray Martyniuk was the recipient of the strong Eagle checking game as Marty registered his first shutout of the season and the 11th of his career. Lyle Bradley remains the team&rsquo;s leading scorer with 33 points which ranks him sixth in the league.DALLAS: In the midst of a nine-game-in-10 road swing, the Black Hawks still seek that offensive magic that will enable them to make a strong run at a playoff berth.The Hawks are the second-best defensive team in the CHL (Kansas City ranks first) but the Hawks rank last in offense, scoring only slightly over three goals per game.<h2>CHL Leaders</h2><h2>Where CHL Teams Play</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01329/4151515-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="649" height="1332"></div> &#9632;

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CHL Players Shoot Less — Score More; Tulsa Still Hunting Permanent Coach

<h2>Special To The Hockey News</h2>PRAGUE-The St. Catharines Fincups of the Ontario Hockey Association Major Junior circuit gave Canada a second-place finish in the first official world junior hockey championships, that wound up here last weekend at nearby Banska Bystrica.The Fincups. defending Memorial Cup champions, were beaten 6-4 by the Soviet Union in the final game of the tournament&mdash;the only loss the Canadians suffered in the eight-nation event.St. Catharines won five, lost one and tied one in the round-robin tournament and needed a victory against the Soviets in order to carry off the title. The Soviets were unbeaten in seven games.However, the Fincups found the final game all uphill after the first period when the Soviets banged in six goals to take a commanding lead.After a scoreless second period, the Fincups began a comeback that fell short when minor penalties to Al Secord and Trevor Johansson late in the game took the pressure off the Soviet team.Secord. John Anderson, Steve Hazlett and Ric Seiling scored for the Fincups during their third-period surge before a crowd of 4,500.The Canadians were trailing 6-3 with seven minutes to go in the championship game but failed to take advantage of a golden opportunity to narrow the score.The Soviets were hit with minor penalties that left them playing two men short and it wasn&rsquo;t until the Soviet penalties had expired that Seiling scored Canada&rsquo;s fourth goal.The Soviet team was led by two goals by Gimayev. The other goal-getters were Frolikov, Zhulutkov, Shostak and Romashin.Only the outstanding netminding of Tyzhnykh kept the Canadians off the scoresheet in the second period when the Fincups began to demonstrate the power that had carried them along undefeated to that point in the tournament.Tyzhnykh was selected the outstanding netminder in the tournament. Gimayev was chosen as the outstanding Soviet player in the deciding game. Willy Huber of the Fincups was voted Canada&rsquo;s outstanding player in the final game.The day before the championship game. Canada defeated the United States 8-2 and the Soviet Union bombed Finland 11-2 to set up the showdown for the championship.The Fincups moved out in front 3-2 after the first period against the American squad. St. Catharines then added two more goals in the second period and put the game out of reach with another three goals in the final 20 minutes of action.Anderson led the Canadian junior team with three goals while Hazlett had two and Dale McCourt, Seiling and Dave Hunter added one each.Fincups netminder Al Jensen was voted the top Canadian player in the game.The Fincups were selected as the team to represent Canada in the initial official world tournament because they had the most points among OHA teams after the first 10 games of the regular season.The Fincups. who had to play without center Danny Shearer because he was out with a neck injury, were not disgraced at any time during the tournament.Their performance was something that Canada could be proud of and also showed that Canada has a place in world amateur hockey play.In other games that were anti-climatic on the final day of play, Czechoslovakia shaded Sweden 4-2 and West Germany swamped Poland 9-2.The Czechs finished third behind Canada, winning four, losing two games and tying one. Finland was fourth, followed by Sweden, West Germany, the United States and Poland.The best Poland could do in the sevengame round-robin tournament was a tie. Poland scored only 12 goals while giving up 58.The Fincups demonstrated a lot of offensive power, scoring 50 goals and giving up 20<h2>HOW THEY STAND</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01296/4151567-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="645" height="1811"></div><h2>HOW THEY STAND</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02221/4151560-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="639" height="1258"></div><h2>HOW THEY STAND</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03167/4151553-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="639" height="1233"></div> &#9632;

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Fincups Finish Creditable Second As Soviets Win World Championship

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div>FLINT-AU Star games in the International Hockey League, for the most part, have been All Star flops at the box office. In fact, the host city often has felt more like it was fulfilling an obligation. It was a penalty not a prize. But things figure to be different in Flint this season when the 13th IHL All Star game unfolds.This will be Flint&rsquo;s first crack at presenting what has been an AU Star classic on the ice in the past&mdash;if not reflected as such from previous attendance. Why hasn&rsquo;t Flint, now in its eighth season in the IHL, been involved in the A11 Star game before&mdash;being passed over by Kalamazoo two years ago?&ldquo;To be quite honest,&rdquo; says Carl Robertson, director of communication for the Generals, &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve never asked for it before. The previous owners apparently didn&rsquo;t want it.&rdquo;But Flint asked for the 1977 game&mdash;to be played on Jan. 18. And Robertson and his staff say it will be a &ldquo;day to remember.&rdquo;Proceeds from the four previous All Star games have gone to charity. Last year in Muskegon the proceeds (some $3,000) went to the Kidney Foundation of Michigan. Two years ago the All Star game in Kalamazoo raised $8,190 for the Burn Center at the Bronson HospitalThe charity in Flint is the American Lung Association of Genesee Valley and Robertson expects the charity to realize from $25,000 to $30,000.&ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t know what we will raise. But our goal is not less than $25,000 and we could hit $30,000&mdash;or more.&rdquo; At any rate, the 1977 All Star game is assured of being a financial success-greater by far than any previous production.The success story is a community affair. Robertson points out. &ldquo;We are getting tremendous co-operation from the business community. Howard Johnson&rsquo;s Motel has donated the rooms for the players as well as the hospitality room. This was a considerable saving.&rdquo; said Carl.He continued. &ldquo;The people who print our program (Spencer Printing) have donated the printing costs for the All Star program. And we&rsquo;ve already sold $9,000 in advertising. &ldquo;The Flint organization is doing all of the promotion. &ldquo;Were operating right out of our box office.&rdquo; says Robertson. And the Flint organization came up with some gimmicks which have worked.One was to include a ticket for the All Star game in the season ticket books. If the season ticket holder didn&rsquo;t want a ticket, it was pulled. &ldquo;But most of them bought it. That gave us about 1,500 to start with,&rdquo; Robertson pointed out.Another promotion which has worked well is the goal sponsors. &ldquo;Fans may buy one of the All Stars for $100. The price includes two tickets to the game, two to the All-Star banquet and a player is assigned to sit at the buyer&rsquo;s table. We&rsquo;ve got only about 11 more of those to sell,&rdquo; Robertson reports. There will be 36 players on the All-Star squad. 18 from each of the South and North Divisions.Another promotion which is working well is the lungathon. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a stationary (exercise) bicycle race. We started by registering all the high school teams in &rsquo;Flint (26). Also included are members of the Greater Flint Hockey Association (some 1.200 kids) and the senior and slow puck leagues. We are holding qualifications now to pick teams and it requires a minimum pledge of $15 for each contestant.&ldquo;We will pick four-man teams with one alternate for the team competition. There will be competition in four age divisions. Each rider will ride 15 minutes&mdash;or an hour to a race. Two teams from each division will qualify from these races for a race between periods of the All Star game. The finals will be five-minute races,&rdquo; Robertson announced.The Flint arena (IMA Arena) has seats for 4,021 fans. With standing room, the capacity is 4,400. &ldquo;Well sell it out, Robertson predicts.TOLEDO: The Sports Arena, not always a happy home for Toledo hockey teams, has become a haven for Ted Garvin&rsquo;s Goaldiggers this season. At least to late. Toledo used a lengthy home stand to move into first place in the South Division.&ldquo;I was worried about this home stand,&rdquo; said Garvin right after Toledo had stretched its unbeaten string at home to five with a 5-2 victory over the Columbus Owls. &ldquo;But right now we&rsquo;re playing our ice surface better than we ever have since I&rsquo;ve been here. It&rsquo;s just a matter of adjusting.&rdquo;DAYTON: The Gems had their 11game home winning streak snapped by Saginaw, 4-2. And the Gems proceeded to lose two of the next three to slip out of the South Division lead. The victory was an 8-5 win over North Division leader Kalamazoo but the K-Wings got even the next time out&mdash;in Kalamazoo&mdash;with a 6-1 romp.COLUMBUS: Coach Ron Ullyot is still frustrated over the Owls&rsquo; inability to be consistent at home. The last home game resulted in a 4-3 loss to Port Huron&mdash;and the Owls had a 3-1 lead in the final period. The loss followed an impressive, 6-2 victory over Dayton&mdash;one of the top home-ice showings of the season. Ullyot cited the defense for the victory. &ldquo;That was the best we&rsquo;ve played defensively all year. We&rsquo;ve been talking about playing a tighter checking game and that&rsquo;s exactly the way we went out there and did it,&rdquo; Ron said.FORT WAYNE: Coach Ralph Keller&rsquo;s problems continue to mount. The Komets, who have the poorest road record (just one victory and two ties) in the league, have suddenly lost their magic on home ice as well. The end result has been a tailspin which has seen the K&rsquo;s drop deeper in the South Division basement.&ldquo;Our goaltending has been sour,&rdquo; Keller said after the club dropped a 6-2 decision at home to Port Huron which boosted the current losing streak to six straight.KALAMAZOO: The K-Wings went 2-10 during the week to assure a Merry Christmas&mdash;first place in the North. The key victory was a 6-1 romp over Dayton despite the fact the Wings were forced to kill 10 Dayton power plays.&ldquo;The game was won on penalty killing,&rdquo; said Coach Bob Lemieux. &ldquo;We are confident now in killing penalties. On the power play there is great pressure because you are expected to score.&rdquo;FLINT: You can expect coach Doug Carpenter to have Bob Hoffmeyer on the ice in the final minute of every period for the Generals the balance of the season. Hoffmeyer s goal in the final 10 seconds saved a 4-4 tie for Flint in Fort Wayne and it marked the fifth time this season Hoffmeyer has scored in the final minute of a period.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02259/4151612-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="625" height="644"><figcaption class="caption-body">DOUG HORBUL &hellip; Could Spark Komets</figcaption></div>Hoffmeyer&rsquo;s goal climaxed an unbelievable comeback in the final 32 seconds. The Komets had a 4-2 lead when Carpenter pulled goalie Bob Volpe&mdash;giving the Generals a two-man advantage as the Komets had a man in the penalty box. The strategy paid off when Jeff McDill scored with 32 seconds remaining on the stop watches&mdash;the Memorial Coliseum scoreboard went out with eight minutes to play.SAGINAW: The Gears survived fairly well from a rugged, four-game road trip. The trip resulted in one victory, two losses and a tie. The victory was encouraging as it featured the goaltending of Mario Lessard, just reassigned to the Gears by the Los Angeles Kings. Lessard stopped 29 shots.PORT HURON: The Flags continue to be the hottest club in the league and have put together four straight victories, including two on the road. The surge has carried the Flags into third place and cut the gap from first to just five points.MUSKEGON: An 8-2 romp over Fort Wayne was the only bright spot in the Mohawks&rsquo; week. The Hawks scored enough goals to win two games at Toledo (seven) but gave up 11. And a 2-2 tie with Saginaw at home completed the week. With Port Huron on a blitz, Muskegon dropped into last place in the North. Muskegon is still only seven points out of first as the North Division race continues to reflect great balance.<h2>IHL Leaders</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01324/4151605-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="638" height="645"></div><h2>Where IHL Teams Play</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03189/4151598-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="627" height="1020"></div> &#9632;

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Bonanza Predicted For All star Game; Toledo Pulls Into First On Home Ice

<div class="byline">BY MIKE LYNCH</div>CRANBROOK-Approaching the Christmas holidays, the Cranbrook Royals moved within striking distance of the Western International Hockey League lead with an impressive unbeaten streak.The Royals, defending champions, put together four straight wins to get within four points of league-leading and struggling Kimberley. In that stretch Cranbrook outscored opponents 23-7 as goaltender Leo Karchie recorded his second and third shutouts.While Cranbrook was racking up nine wins and a tie in the unbeaten stretch going back to mid-November, Kimberley was finding December difficult. The Dynamiters reeled off 13 straight wins early but they have not won two straight since that streak ended and they struggled to a 3-6-1 December mark just before the holidays.Kimberley&rsquo;s third win gave them an extra two points for a much-needed buffer against Cranbrook and that was a heart-breaker for Spokane, the defending Allan Cup champion. The Flyers slumped again in four straight defeats despite improved play under Ted McAneeley. the strong defenseman-playing coach.The Flyers, dropping six of eight in December, were outscored only 31-22 in that stretch, not bad. particularly in view of their earlier problems. Now. after worry earlier about the defense, the club is not getting the offensive breaks.Nelson, out of the playoffs last season but enjoying new success and improved spirit under coach Marsh Severyn, has taken advantage of Spokane&rsquo;s problems to move into third place. The Maple Leafs lost a four-game win string to one of Karchie&rsquo;s shutouts, but had won seven of the previous eight games.Trail, winless since Thanksgiving, enjoyed an early Christmas present by snapping a seven-game losing streak with a 3-1 win in Spokane Goaltender Ty Langton earned that one, mostly, as Spokane fired 49 shots on goal for just one goal. Forechecking furiously to generate opportunities, the Flyers were unable to beat Langton&mdash;they outshot Trail 18-2 in the first periodWith the 58-game schedule nearly at the mid-way point, Kimberley had an 18-8-1 record. Cranbrook pressed at 16-9-1 and Nelson played virtually .500 hockey at 13-13-1. Spokane struggled at 11-17 while Trail lagged at 8-19-1. The top four teams will play for the Savage Cup in the British Columbia playoffs in March.While Kimberley and Spokane are not playing well now, boosters expect their coaches to have the teams rolling as the season wears on.&ldquo;I think we have the best coach in the league,&rdquo; said Kimberley manager Gerry Bond of defenseman Murray Flegel. &ldquo;The club is sound in fundemental hockey.&rdquo; &#9632;

The WIHL Scene

<div class="byline">BY BRUCE PENTON</div>KAMLOOPS&mdash;Kamloops Chiefs of the Western Canada Hockey League will (choose one, or more):a) stay in the B.C. interior for the rest of the season.b) move to Edmonton at Christmas;c) move to Seattle at Christmas;d) move to Edmonton after the season;e) move to Seattle after the season;f) be purchased by Edmonton investors and kept in Kamloops;g) be purchased by Edmonton investors and moved to Edmonton;h) be purchased by Seattle people and kept in Kamloops;i)be purchased by Seattle people and moved to Seattle;j) go bankrupt and suspend operation;k) turn into a pumpkin;The WCHL governors have had more meetings about the solution to the Chiefs&rsquo; problems than Bobby Orr has had questions about his knee, and still, everything is unresolved.At first, an Edmonton group headed by businessman Bob Iwabuchi appeared to have the inside track on buying the financially-strapped franchise. But that fell by the wayside, partly because Edmonton would have hired Doug Messier as coach and Mr. Messier is reportedly on the outs with the WCHL.Then. Seattle became part of the picture. Ernie Rempel, at present the majority owner of the Chiefs, said he had talked to a &ldquo;chap who would like to move the franchise to Seattle at the end of the season.&rdquo;A former owner of the Chiefs, Ephram Steinke, also was reported interested in repurchasing the hockey club and if he was successful, would finish the season in Kamloops and move the team to Seattle at season&rsquo;s end.Another wild rumor had Steinke buying the team and moving it to Edmonton.It is expected that some sort of final decision will come during the two-week Christmas holiday, during which the WCHL schedule is suspended due to the International tournament in Alberta.The schedule, which ended Dec. 21. will resume Jan. 3.WCHL president Ed Chyoweth has said the league would welcome a return to Edmonton, saying &ldquo;there should be a team in Edmonton&hellip;we would certainly like to have a team there,&rdquo; but didn&rsquo;t elaborate.Edmonton Oil Kings were an original member of the WCHL, but dwindling attendance, blamed on the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; presence in the city, forced a shift to Portland, where the team is known as the Winter Hawks.VICTORIA: The Cougars played to three consecutive road ties, remaining in a second-place tie with Kamloops in the West. Keith Hertz&rsquo;s first goal since being acquired from Regina gave Victoria a 5-5 tie in Medicine Hat, a marker 71 seconds from the end of the third period. Cougars also tied Lethbridge 5-5. and drew with Kamloops 2-2, blowing a 2-0 lead in the third period.NEW WESTMINSTER: Rookie Ray Creasy was released earlier this year by both Flin Flon and Winnipeg, so he returned to his Tier II team, Portage la Prairie (Man.) Terriers. But a Manitoba bird-dog for Ernie (Punch) McLean got Creasy a try-out with the Bruins, and the results have been staggering. Creasy was in on five of the Bruins nine goals as they won twice, 4-2 over Kamloops and 5-2 over Portland, both at New West&rsquo;s Queen&rsquo;s Park Arena. Bruins haven&rsquo;t lost since Nov. 14, a period covering 13 games, as they increased their Western Division lead to eight points.KAMLOOPS: Rookie Len Dies scored a fluke goal with less than five minutes to go as the Chiefs salvaged a 2-2 tie with Victoria. In its other start, three players got two points each, but Kamloops lost 42 to the Bruins.PORTLAND: The Winter Hawks lost twice to fall further back in the Western cellar, falling 5-1 to New West as newcomer Dave Hatheway, recently acquired from Lethbridge, scored on his first shift. and 6-3 to Calgary, a game that was all but over (5-1 for the Cents) after two periods.CALGARY: The Centennials split two games to stay two points ahead of Winnipeg Monarchs, who are last in the Central Division. Garry Rissling and defenseman Kevin Willison produced three-point efforts in a 6-3 Calgary win over Portland, but the Cents dropped a 62 decision on home-ice to red-hot Medicine Hat. Doug Lecuyer won a $25 bet from coach Fred Hilts by scoring a goal while changing hands on his stick. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s strong, very strong.&rdquo; said Hilts admiringly.MEDICINE HAT: Ron Areshenkoff&rsquo;s injury report turned out to be a false alarm, and the 19-year-old centerman propelled the Tigers to a win and tie. scoring four goals and setting up two others. Areshenkoff scored three in a 5-5 tie with Victoria in a game the Tigers blew 3-0 and 4-1 leads, then scored once and assisted on two in a 6-2 road victory over Calgary. Right winger Brian Hill maintained his teams scoring lead with a goal and five assists in the two games. Rookie Darrel Switzer socred twice against Calgary. Twenty-goal man Dave Ross cracked a bone in his knee and is out until the end of January.LETHBRIDGE: Rocky Saganiuk&rsquo;s two goals, which give him 30 in 33 games, lifted the home-town Broncos into a 5-5 tie with Victoria. The one point kept the Broncos in a first-place Central Division tie with Medicine Hat. The struggle for the Central pennant should be exciting The Tigers and Broncos have eight games left with each other this season, five of them in Broncoville.REGINA: The Pats&rsquo; winless streak grew to a record 29 straight games, as Regina was hammered 9-2 by visiting Brandon. Bob Turner is rumored to be replaced as coach after Christmas. The Pats are one of only two teams (Flin Flon is the other) without a representative on the WCHL All Star team. which is involved in the four-team Labatt s Cup international tournament in Alberta.SASKATOON: After a loss and tie in Flin Flon, coach Jackie McLeod of the Blades must be looking over his shoulder to see how much space the Bombers have made up in what could turn into a torrid fight for second place in the East. Rookie Rob McFarlane had two goals in a 3-3 tie in Flin Flon. and veteran Bruce Hamilton&rsquo;s goal and assist were in vain as Blades lost 4-3 in the final of the doubleheader. Bombers are now 11 points back of the Blades, and have their next 18 games at home.FLIN FLON: A third Davis boy, rookie Terry, has joined the Bombers and scored two goals in three games. Kim Davis, the high-scoring forward, and Kelly Davis, a stalwart defenseman, are the others with Flin Flon.WINNIPEG: The Monarchs got their first point in seven games with Brandon, earning a 3-3 tie at Wheat Kings&rsquo; Keystone Center. Tom Roulston got the tying goal in the third period as defenseman Kevin McCarthy and goalie Tim Steele starred. McCarthy played 18 minutes in the third period, including the final 12. With four games in hand over Calgary, coach Gerry Brisson is confident his Monarchs can pull up their socks and pass the Cents.BRANDON: Bill Derlago. Ray Allison and Brian Propp, the highest-scoring line in the WCHL. stood first, second and fifth in the individual scoring race after a 9-2 win over Regina and 3-3 tie with Winnipeg. Propp had five points against Regina, Derlago and Allison four each. Rookie defenseman Brad McCrimmon, the only 17-year-old on the WCHL All Star tournament team, also had a four-point game. &#9632;

Kamloops Future Still Up In Air

<h2>Special To The Hockey News</h2>SIOUX CITY&mdash;With the United States Hockey League race nearing the halfway mark, interest around the USHL has centered on the forthcoming league All Star game Jan. 24 at Sioux City, Iowa.USHL commissioner Morley Howe said everything is in readiness for the game with the final selection of the Southern and Northern Division All Star teams expected soon.The North is smarting over three straight losses at the hands of the Southern teams and will be attempting to upset the streak when the teams clash at Sioux City.Howe said officials expect a sellout crowd for the game. He also announced that a league meeting will be held prior to the All Star game to discuss expansion and playoff plans.Here&rsquo;s how the All Star voting looks before the final selections are announced with the following players leading:<h2>NORTHERN DIVISION</h2>Goal, Yvon Pouliot, Grand Rapids (35); Bob Anderson, Green Bay (12).Defense, Levy Byrd, Green Bay (33) Terry Fyck, Green Bay (32), Ray Tessier, Grand Rapids (30), Jim Stebe, Traverse City (22).Forwards, Gary Ford, Grand Rapids (40), John Preville, Green Bay (39), Nels Leclair, Grand Rapids (34), Tom O&rsquo;Brien. Green Bay (31). Rick Kramp, Grand Rapids (31), Ray Tonelli, Traverse City (29), Darryl Rice, Grand Rapids (27), Bob Purpur, Green Bay (23). Reese Dobrick. Traverse City (19), Ron Pulak, Green Bay (18). Morris Sylvester. Grand Rapid (18).<h2>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h2>Goal. J.M. Pominville. Milwaukee (34). Ralph Kloiber. Sioux City (12).Defense. Jim Peck. Sioux City (39). Pierre Allard, Milwaukee (31). Mitch Brandt, Sioux City (28), Tom Machowski, Waterloo (23). Dave Mathewson, Waterloo (23).Forwards, Steve Colp, Sioux City (40), Jean Trottier, Milwaukee (381, Dave Davies. Sioux City (34), Dan Lecours. Milwaukee (30). City (26). Yves St. Denis, Milwaukee (25), Wayne Caufield. Milwaukee (21). Stan Blom, Waterloo (20), Barry Head. Sioux City (20).Owner Gary Lipschutz of Sioux City Musketeers has been fined $200 by commissioner Howe for an altercation with referee Art Jarrett following game at Grand Rapids on Dec. 19.A similar fine is expected to be levelled this week on Traverse City. &#9632;

Around The USHL

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE JAWORSKI</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;The Philadelphia Firebirds have finished second in the league standings the last two seasons, and if they&rsquo;re going to relieve themselves of that bridesmaid role by finishing first this time around, they&rsquo;re going to have to do it with some prowess on the road.Prior to Christmas, the Firebirds had won five of their last six games. They were much-needed wins, to say the least For, before Christmas, Philadelphia had crept to within one point of second place before embarking on a brutal road swing&mdash;15 of their next 18 away from the Civic Center ice where attendance is up about 8,000 from last season.As a reward for their loyal supporters, the Firebirds had turned in a 15-1 home-ice record. But the season will most likely be made or mauled in a 44-day span which sees the Firebirds play in all seven NAHL cities at least once.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not upset, we&rsquo;re not thrilled about it,&rdquo; said colorful coach Gregg Pilling. &ldquo;We set our goals at .500 on the road and I&rsquo;ve done it only once in four years of coaching.&rdquo;Pilling coached Roanoke Valley to two league titles in the EHL, then took over the Philadelphia job when the Firebirds were an NAHL expansion team. He won coach of the year honors for finishing second, and, of course, also finished second last season before winning the third edition of the Lockhart Cup by beating the mighty Beauce Jaros.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got 15 road games, we want 15 points,&rdquo; continued Pilling, who says his club is playing similar to last season&rsquo;s at a comparable time.The Firebirds hit the road just prior to Christmas for nine straight games, returned home to play three of their next four, then again hit the road for five straight. It is a brutal stretch.And during the ice show which takes over the 8,115-seat Civic Center, the Firebirds will be &ldquo;physically&rdquo; on the road for nine days, traveling to Utica, Beauce, Maine, Beauce and Syracuse.If the Birds can get through it, they then can relax and enjoy playing 17 of their final 26 games at home. If they&rsquo;re still in the running for the league championship. watch out.&ldquo;Most clubs home record is better this year because we&rsquo;re playing the same number of league games in a week less. And the schedule is more balanced this year. Instead of playing three games in Beauce and Maine, we&rsquo;re playing five times there (because the NAHL has ditched the divisional alignment in favor of one eight-team league and Philadelphia plays each 10 times except designated rival Binghamton which it plays 14 times).&ldquo;There&rsquo;s more travel in a shorter period of time and I think the clubs are coming into rinks tired.&rdquo;SYRACUSE: The Blazers have jumped solidly in front of the league, surprisingly so with their top scorer, John Stewart, still in Birmingham on WHA tryout. Stewart is playing well and may not return to the Salt City. The Bulls also took a look at defenseman Jim Marsh, but returned him to Syracuse in time for a 6-3 win over the Binghamton Dusters in a battle for first place.Marsh got the first goal in that game, the Dusters losing all three in a two-week span in Syracuse. Team-leading scorer Tom Milani, with 26 goals, scored twice in a 3-3 tie at Maine, including the gametying goals with 2:29 left. A balanced attack then routed Beauce in its own building. 8-2.ERIE: The Blades wouldn&rsquo;t mind if the Mohawk Valley Comets were elimated from their schedule. In their first six meetings of the season, the boys from Utica have won five of six, including 10-4 and 5-3 losses in the Erie County Fieldhouse. Defenseman Gregg Neeld climbed into a be for the team scoring lead with 38 points, but Steve Atkinson missed three games because of the flu. In that interim. Blaine Rydman, normally a blueliner, moved up to left wing and played solidly up front, earning four assists.Goaler Cam Newton has joined the team, but iron man Lynn Zimmerman has started all of the first 31 games. If he continues, he&rsquo;ll most likely break Ron Docken&rsquo;s league record of 3210:16 minutes played in a season. Zimmerman has seven assists and is more than halfway towards last season&rsquo;s total of 13.MAINE: Nords lured John Danby out of retirement with the loss of versatile Billy Prentice who&rsquo;s been shelved for at least two weeks with a disc problem in his back. In 26 games, Prentice had five goals and two assists. Danby was acquired in the off-season from the Binghamton Dusters along with the rights to Jerry Zyrmiak for left winger Dave Staff en and cash. In a split season with the Dusters and the defunct Cape Codders, Danby had 18 goals and 42 assists.Florent Fortier, after back-to-back knee injuries has finally returned to action.BINGHAMTON: League-leading scorer Rod Bloomfield helped send a near-sellout of 4,741 fans home extremely happy with a league-record seven-assist performance. &ldquo;Embarrassed,&rdquo; was Bloomfield&rsquo;s comment in the locker room when asked how he felt about the standing ovation he received.Pierre Laganiere had three goals and Dave Staffen&rsquo;s four-bagger upped his count to 28 in the 12-3 win over Mohawk Valley which saw a host of team records set including most goals ever in one game.With no games scheduled the week of Christmas, however, coach Larry Kish&rsquo;s crew had plenty to think over&mdash;losers in three of their last four games and four of their last six. Not only were the Dusters losing ground to first-place Syracuse, but third-place Philadelphia had closed to one point.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03162/4151729-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="622" height="1096"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOM MILANI &hellip; Sparks Deadlock</figcaption></div>MOHAWK VALLEY: Veteran goaler Bob Whidden, playing for the first time since off-season back surgery, made his debut in a 5-0 loss at Johnstown, but he only played quarter-periods before giving way to the back. The next night in Erie, he played all but the last minute before getting winded.Bad news came in big doses for playercoach Bob Woytowich. Forward Rich Pumple was lost for six weeks with a broken ankle after sliding into the boards and defenseman Bob O&rsquo;Reilly was returned to the injured list after trying to come back from a shoulder injury too quickly.Goalie Steve Eckerson, shellshocked for all 12 goals against the Dusters, was also put on the injured list with a bad groin. In 27 games, Pumple had 17 goals and 14 assists.<h2>NAHL Leaders</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02218/4151722-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="637" height="853"></div><h2>Where NAHL Teams Play</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01285/4151715-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="646" height="870"></div> &#9632;

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Firebirds Face Gruelling Road Trip; Dusters’ Bloomfield Sets NAHL Mark

<h2>Special To The Hockey News</h2>EDMONTON&mdash;The Western Canada Hockey League All Stars captured the first Labatt Cup international major junior hockey tournament here by beating the Quebec All Stars 4-2 on the next to last day of the four-team event.It was the fifth victory in a row for the WCHL stars and put them well out of reach in the chase for the Labatt Cup Quebec was the only team with a chance to catch the Western squad before bowing in their all-important match-up.The championship victory by the WCHL wasn&rsquo;t as much of a surprise as the showing put up by a Soviet All Star squad, which had not won a game in the tournament. The West whomped the lethargic Soviets 11-1 in the windup game to finish with a perfect 6-0 record.However, it was obvious that this was not the best junior hockey team the Soviets could assemble. The cream of the crop was winning the world junior championship in Prague.The aggressive WCHL unit came out hitting in the first period and that put the Quebec team, noted more for its smooth skating and passing, off stride.The Western team controlled play through most of the first 40 minutes and moved into a 3-0 lead. Quebec did manage a few scoring threats through the first two periods but ran up against the fine goaltending of Glen Hanlon, the top netminder in the WCHL this season.Tim Bernhardt, the Quebec goalie who had not allowed a goal in his previous eight periods of netminding. faced 46 shots from the Western stars and was a major factor in keeping the score as low as it was.Bernhardt, who plays for the Cornwall Royals of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, was selected as Quebec&rsquo;s outstanding player in the tournament.The Quebec team clinched second place the following day by swamping Ontario 8-2 in Calgary. Ontario was represented by the Kingston Canadians of the Ontario Hockey Association Major Junior A circuit.Brad Maxwell, Barry Beck, Ryan Walter and Paul Mulvey scored for the WCHL All Stars in their title-clunching game. Lucien Deblois and Jere Gillis were the Quebec goal-getters.Earlier last week, the Ontario team ran into trouble in the dressing room before being shutout 4-0 by Bernhardt.The Canadians were stuck in their dressing room because of a broken lock and the door had to be broken down in order to get them out. That forced a 10minute delay in the start of the game.Richard David led Quebec with two goals in the game in which they beat Ontario 8-2 to clinch second place behind the WCHL.Gillis, Rick Patterson, Michel Bossy, Deblois, Gary Platt and Benoit Gosselin scored the other goals for the Quebecers.<h2>HOW THEY STAND</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01248/4151760-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="669" height="2726"></div> &#9632;

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WCHL All Stars Capture Labatt Cup Play

<h2>Special To The Hockey News</h2>HAMPTON&mdash;There is an age-old cliche that all good things must come to an end at one time or another. There is another cliche that eventually, the law of averages will catch up with you.These cliches and a few others can be applied to the Hampton Gulls in the wake of a surprise 5-3 loss to Winston-Salem the day after the arrival of 1977.The victory by the Polar Twins on home ice snapped the Gulls&rsquo; undefeated streak at 14, a record for a Southern Hockey League club.The Gulls, after tying Roanoke&rsquo;s record of 12 games without a loss, broke the record Dec. 28 with an 8-1 victory against the same Polar Twins.Then, on New Year&rsquo;s eve, the Gulls went out and defeated Charlotte 5-2 to stretch the magic streak to 14. But. the bubble burst Jan. 2 when the Gulls went back to Winston-Salem and lost 5-3.The Gulls used the undefeated streak to stay close to Tidewater in the league standings. Had the Gulls defeated the Polar Twins Jan. 2, they would have been just two points behind in the standings.But while the Gulls were going down to Winston-Salem, Tidewater won 4-3 against Charlotte in overtime for its 25th win of the season.The Tidewater victory, coupled with Hampton&rsquo;s surprising setback, enabled the Sharks to move out in front by four points&mdash;52 to 48.Hampton&rsquo;s Jamie Hislop continues to share the league lead in game-winning goals with five. He is tied for the lead in that department with Larry Israelson of Tidewater and Lorne Rombough of Richmond.TIDEWATER: The Sharks split three games last week. They defeated Baltimore 7-4 Dec. 28, lost 5-3 to the Clippers on New Year&rsquo;s eve and then won in overtime against Greensboro. Goalie Yves Archambault continues to lead the league&rsquo;s puck stoppers. In 23 games this season, Archambault has posted a 2.70 goals-against average&mdash;considered outstanding in the minor leagues. Sharks&rsquo; Tom Serviss is tied for second place with Greensbord&rsquo;s Howie Heggedal in the individual scoring race. Both have 46 points.HAMPTON: The Gulls will have rugged Dave Hanson back in the lineup for their next game. He has completed a two-game suspension under the SHL&rsquo;s new rules aimed at curbing unsportsmanlike conduct on the part of the players. Hanson was hit with the automatic two-game suspension after picking up his fourth misconduct penalty of the season. In the SHL, players receiving any combination of three gross misconduct, game misconduct or misconduct penalties are given an automatic one-game suspension. The suspensions escalate every time a player gets an additional misconduct penalty. The rule has been in effect since Nov. 15. Rick Szabo continues as the Gulls&rsquo; top netminder with a 2.73 goals-against average but young Bob Mears has become quite a sensation. In 10 games this season, Mears has posted a 2.24 goals-against average. Claude Chartre continues as the club&rsquo;s leading pointgetter with 36 on 14 goals and 22 assists.RICHMOND: Rookie Claude Periaro is the man doing it all for the Robins, who now are being operated by the players themselves. Periard is the league&rsquo;s leading goal scorer with an even 30. He also leads the league in power play goals with eight and shorthanded goals with three. The Robins will have tough Bill Goldthorpe back in action for their next game. Goldthorpe was set down by league commissioner Jack Riley for abusing a game official. Goldthorpe allegedly bit the official. Goldthorpe and Charlotte&rsquo;s Gilles Bilodeau have been waging a battle for the dubious honor of the league&rsquo;s penalty leader. However. Goldthorpe is running a distant second in the race with 169 penalty minutes served so far this season.BALTIMORE: Clipper fans and league officials were anxiously awaiting Spartak of Moscow, set to play an exhibition game against Baltimore in early January. It was the SHL&rsquo;s first venture in international competition. Don Grierson has opened up a commanding 10-point lead in the individual scoring race. Grierson has 24 goals and 32 assists for 56 points, 10 more than Tom Serviss and Howie Heggedal. The Clippers had a 1-2 week in league action sandwiching a 5-3 win over Tidewater between losses to the Sharks and the Robins. The Sharks won 7-4 before losing three nights later and then the Robins moved into the Civic Center and won 5-3 the day after New Year&rsquo;s.CHARLOTTE: Gilles Bilodeau has completed a two-game suspension after being handed his fourth misconduct penalty of the season. Bilodeau is the league&rsquo;s &ldquo;bad man&rsquo;&rsquo; this season with 223 minutes in penalties. Jack Surbey is the club&rsquo;s leading point-getter with 35 on 12 goals and 23 assists. He also has 103 minutes in penalties. Dave Tataryn has proven to be one of the league&rsquo;s top goalies. He has played in 27 games and has a goals-against average of 2.99&mdash;third best in the league.GREENSBORO: The Generals saw left winger Jeff Carlson set down by Riley for eight games for abusing a game official. He has served only two of those eight games. Greensboro came up with a split in its two games last week, beating Winston-Salem 3-1 on New Year&rsquo;s eve and then losing 4-3 in overtime to Tidewater. Howie Heggedal has started making his move toward the top of the individual scoring race and now has 12 goals and 34 assists to tie him with Tom Serviss for second place.WINSTON-SALEM: The Polar Twins have won only 11 games so far this season, but they certainly won a big game Jan. 2 when they ended Hampton&rsquo;s record undefeated streak at 14. Prior to that game, the Polar Twins were dumped 8-1 by the Gulls and then lost 3-1 to Greensboro. Ken Gassoff has slipped to fourth place in the individual scoring race with 45 points on 15 goals and 30 assists.<h2>SHL Leaders</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02232/4151805-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="646" height="1161"></div><h2>Where SHL Teams Play</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01295/4151798-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="637" height="927"></div><h2>Minor League Scoreboard</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03174/4151791-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="1971" height="2498"></div> &#9632;

f0038-02

Hampton’s Record Streak Snapped At 14, Richmond Rookie Proving A Hot Scorer

<div class="byline">&#x2014; By Bill Hilts</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02203/4151867-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="371" height="457"></div><h2>Midwest League</h2>Seven Midwest Jr. Hockey League players played on the U.S. National Jr. team which represented the U.S. in the World Jr. Hockey tournament held in Czechoslovakia. Representatives of the Bloomington Jr. Stars were defenseman Bob Bergloff and the forward line of Jim Penningroth, Terry Houck and Dave Wilkens. Bergloff is the top scoring defenseman in the MJHL with 17 points in 18 games played. Wilkens, leading the league in individual scoring with 37 points (16-21) in 17 games, and Penninggroth, number two man in the MJHL scoring race with 32 points, are centered by Houck, the Stars&rsquo; top goal producer with 19 goals in 18 games and a total of 28 points. Austin Mavericks coach Lou Vairo assisted Marshall Johnston of Denver University in coaching the National team. Several Austin players played on the team&mdash;blueliner Keith Hanson and forward Bobby Crawford, the Mavericks&rsquo; leading scorer with 27 points (15-11) in 17 games, is also the MJHL&rsquo;s youngest player at 16. Austin captain John Kyle, defenseman from Waterloo, Iowa, was also invited to play, but broke his hand in a game in St. Paul. In the same game, Hanson scored a goal and got five assists to help the Mavs to a 7-3 victory over the Vulcans. Lynn McAllister coached the Mavericks during Vairo&rsquo;s absence.<h2>West Coast League</h2>The N.W. Americans beat the Chilliwack Jr. Jets 4-1 in a West Coast Jr. League game. Brent Chomos, Pete Silva, Jim Bissett and Joe Malecki scored for the Seattle club. The Amerks then hosted Surrey-Newton Rangers and buried their guests under an avalanche of 16 goals to the Rangers single tally. Marc Springer had six goals and two assists while Bissett, the league&rsquo;s leading scorer (18-47-65) had just one goal, but collected eight assists. Then the Richmond Rebels came to town and whipped the Americans 5-1. Bob Reid had two goals for the winners; however, much of the credit for the win must go to Rebel goaltender Mike Desjardins who came up with 36 saves.<h2>N.Y. Metro League</h2>With the top spot in the league standings being shared by the N.Y. Americans and Suffolk Royals, the Bergen-Rockland Rangers moved into third place, eight points behind the leaders, with a win over the Jersey Rockets and a Rockets loss to the N.Y. Westsiders. The Rangers, however, who came within a hair&rsquo;s breadth of last season&rsquo;s N.Y. Metropolitan Jr. League finals, are doubly motivated, because no team other than the N.Y. Westsiders, formerly the Greenleafs, or an entry from the Greater N.Y. Ice Hockey League, has ever won a Met League title. Bergen-Rockland played like champs, downing the Rockets 5-4. The Rangers, led by goaltender Igor Stepankowski, came from behind four times to tie the Rockets at 4-4 before Gary L&rsquo;Heureux fired home the winning goal past Rockets&rsquo; netminder Gil Peters with less than six minutes remaining in the game. Ranger coach Paul Gillis, noting his team&rsquo;s fine performance, advises that one-half season remains and the Rangers will be in it right to the end&hellip;The N.Y. Westsiders helped the Ranger cause by topping the Rockets 3-2. The Tom Horvath-coached Westsiders overcame a 2-1 deficit at the end of two periods for the victory. Leading scorers Dan May and Luke Bearfield posted the two Rocket goals while George Corbiere, Joe Paprota and Gene Senk got the N.Y. tallies.<h2>Saskatchewan League</h2>Moose Jaw Canucks took a pair of games from Yorkton Terriers 18-4 in Moose Jaw and 9-5 in Yorkton. Doug Smail got six goals in the 18-4 game and one goal in the 9-5 game. Notching two goals each were Ken Keryluk, Dennis Cote and Tim Nickel, while singletons were fired by Larry Gaucher, Kurt Steffe, Cyrill Andreas, George Paterson, Steve Donley and Dave Clark; Trent Currie and Rick Symenuk each had four assists in the first runaway. In the second game Cote had two goals, Symenuk, Nickel, Kevin Tendler, Keryluk, Gaucher and Steve Donley added singles. For Yorkton. Barry Marianchuk had three goals, Allen Brand one and two more in the second game&hellip;Prince Albert Raiders lead the North Division with 48 points on a 24-5-0 record, followed by Swift Current Broncos with 40 points. Weyburn Red Wings lead South Division with 21-4-0 for 42 points, followed by Moose Jaw with 40 points. Moose Jaw players. Smail, Nickel and Andreas lead the scoring in the Saskatchewan Amateur Jr. League with 72, 55 and 55 points respectively.<h2>British Columbia League</h2>Nanaimo Clippers lead Coastal Div. of British Columbia Jr. A League with a 21-10-0 mark for 42 points. Bellingham Blazers and Langley Lords tied for second with 32 points each. Interior Div. leader is Penticton Vees with 24-8-2 mark for 50 points, but the Kelowna Buckaroos are right behind with 49 points on a 24-9-1 record. Vernon Vikings have 33 points&hellip;Kevin Maxwell of Penticton continues to lead scorers with 76 points (32-44), followed by Rick Benningshof of Kelowna-67 points, Gord McKay of Penticton-65 points, Scott McLeod of Kelowna-65 points, John Oliver of Kelowna-62 points. Rod Danchuk of Kelowna-59 points and Jan Lindgren of Bellingham-57 points. McKay is the top goal scorer with 44&hellip;Jim Scammell of Penticton continues to lead goalies with a 3.40 GA average, John McKerrow of Kelowna-3.65 GA average, Keith Ferner of Vernon-4.12 GA average, Randy Struch of Kelowna-4.23 GA average and Steve Hanna of Nanaimo-4.33 GA average.<h2>N.Y.-Penn League</h2>At mid-December the amazing Syracuse Stars have slipped back into the lead of the NY-Penn Jr. League with an 11-6-3 record and 25 points, just one point over the Rochester Monarchs. The last-place team in the seven-team loop is just 10 points behind so the race for the Gannett Cup continues to be a horserace&hellip;Stars captain Rob Hameline continues to pace the Syracuse and league scoring. The 19-year-old center has 35 points on 15 goals and 20 assists. To get more scoring punch, coach Guy DeNoncourt has moved the Stars number two and three scorers, Andy Zechman l and Jim MacCollum, as Hameline&rsquo;s wingers&hellip; Defending champion Amherst Knights are having trouble winning consistently and are sitting in fifth place with 16 points. They dumped the Monarchs in Rochester, then tied them in Amherst. But then they were beaten by the Niagara Falls Mangs Sharks 8-6, with Sharks&rsquo; captain Sam Crogan triggering a hat trick&mdash;the third goal a shorthanded effort. Dan Nolan chipped in with a pair for the Sharks while Chuck Restivo had two for Amherst and Mark Keller had one goal and two assists&hellip;two nights later the Buffalo Blades dumped the Knights 6-4 with Dave Greune and Don Osborn leading the winners, each with a pair of goals.<h2>New England League</h2>Coach Bob Dupuis&rsquo; Tyngsboro Huskies wrested sole possession of third place from the South Shore Braves by nipping the Braves 5-4 and romping past the Tri-Valley Squires 8-1 to highlight New England Jr. Hockey League action. Chip Bettencourt scored a pair of goals and assisted on two others and Jim Browder blocked 34 shots as the Huskies bested the Braves in their showdown. Bill McLaughlin then scored two goals and Bettencourt netted his 25th goal to pace the Huskies past Tri-Valley&hellip;The Springfield Olympics ran their unbeaten streak to six games by trimming the Great Bay Vikings 7-3 and routing Tri-Valley 12-1 to remain one point ahead of Tyngsboro in second place. Tony Trase scored two goals against Great Bay. Bob Sullivan had a goal and an assist for the Vikes. Wayne Cristina and Dan Shepard each tallied three goals to power the Pics past the Squires&hellip; The Fitchburg Wallopers continued to roll, hammering Great Bay 13-1 and cashing in with three shorthanded goals to trip South Shore 8-3 and run their unbeaten streak through nine games. Tom O&rsquo;Neil, who took over the NEJHL scoring lead from teammate Mickey Rego, reached the 30-goal plateau with three goals against the Vikings and also added two assists. Rego, Steve Hakala and defenseman Dave Anderson each tallied twice for the Wallopers. The victory was also the 14th straight on home ice for the Wallopers to tie an NEJHL record. Fran Boucher then netted his 20th, 21st and 22nd goals for Fitchburg in topping South Shore. Jack Lapointe contributed two goals&hellip;In an exhibition contest the Braves grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first 11 minutes but then had to hold on for a 4-3 win over the Cape Cod Cubs, who will enter the NEJHL next season. Frank Silva had two goals and an assist for the Braves.<h2>Great Lakes League</h2>&ldquo;A&rdquo; Division: At mid-December, the Fraser Highlanders continue to lead the pack with a 16-4-2 record and 34 points. Wayne Chiefs have 31 points and Cleveland Jr. Barons 15 points&hellip;Dave Gandini of Wings leads the scoring with 62 points and he is also high goal scorer with 33. He&rsquo;s followed by Paul Gottwald of the Saints with 55 points, Keith Zoldack of Wings-53 points, Jack McKinch of Saints-50 points, Doug Hauser of Barons-48 points, Jon Ankenbrandt of Saints-46 points, Dave Ross of Saints-42 points, Greg Coyle of Barons-40 points, Bob Daniels of Highlanders-39 points and George Mimikos of Highlanders-38 points. Rudy Vavari of Chiefs leads netminders with a 2.78 GA average. Next are Brad Mitseff of Highlanders-3.47 GA average, Frank Van Biesbrouck of Saints-3.52 GA average, Dave Tardich of Saints-3.66 GA average, Jeff Mielnicki of Wings-3.67 GA average and Steve Falcone of Highlanders-4.36 GA average. &#9632;

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January 14, 1977

Miron Realizes Life-Long Dream Working In NHL

Minor Hockey Tips

PASSING THE PUCK

JINXED BY INJURIES