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.

April 1, 1977

The Hockey News April 1, 1977

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;This will be in a way the first Stanley Cup playoffs for Gary Sargent, the gifted defense prodigy of the Kings. He was on the team, but not on the ice as the club beat Atlanta and carried Boston to seven full games before bowing out in last season&rsquo;s second round. Coach Bob Pulford has brought along the American-born, full-blooded Cree Indian from Bemidji. Minnesota, so slowly as to frustrate his fans.He demonstrated enough raw talent to play for the Kings as a rookie pro in 1974. despite limited experience in low-level high school and amateur ranks, but was sent to the minors. After breaking his leg the second month of the season there, most of his season was wasted.He was permitted to play for the Kings last season, but played less as the season went along. He flashed splendid skills on offense, scoring eight goals and assisting on twice that many, but made mistakes on defense. Rushing the puck, he was caught out of position at times, and was benched by the coach.The youngster admits. &ldquo;I got discouraged and lost a lot of confidence.&rdquo;He was smart enough to see that if he was going to play for Pulford, he was going to have to play Pulford&rsquo;s way. He responded with restraint when he played for Team USA in last falls Canada Cup He was the team&rsquo;s top player. Pulford coached that team and was pleased by his player.Pulford moved Sargent into the regular lineup this season and he has remained there. The powerfully built five-foot-10 210-pounder plays a rugged, fearless game, and foes seem to sense he is no one to mess with. For a while, he was trying to poke-check the puck in an effort to steal it instead of playing the body, and foes were going around him. but he has begun to correct that and concentrate on defense in his zone.Actually, he says he wasn&rsquo;t aware he was doing this and doesn&rsquo;t believe he was being burned too often, but admits he has been digging in on defense more and more A naturally exuberant type of player who skates and carries the puck skillfully, he admits he is playing under restraint: We all are. because coach wants us to. We play his system or we don&rsquo;t play.&rdquo;Nevertheless, with 11 games to go as this was written, and despite 20 games in a row recently without a goal, he was close to a sweep of team records for scoring by defensemen. With two two-goal games in two weeks he had tied Bob Murdoch&rsquo;s 1975 mark of 13 goals, was within five of Gilles Marotte&rsquo;s mark that year of 45 points. This is primarily because Sargent now plays a point on the power play.It was clear last year that only Marcel Dionne was a superior point man. but Sargent was used irregularly and different combinations were used as the club continued to have one of the worst power plays in the league. This season, using a set unit with Dionne and Sargent on the points, and Butch Goring&rsquo;s line up front, the King power play has become the best in the league, better even than Montreal&rsquo;s.Dionne is the quarterback, but Sargent is skilled at keeping the puck in the offensive zone and has a hard shot.&ldquo;I like the power play because if gives me a chance to play offense. Gary grins &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t get discouraged when I wasn&rsquo;t getting goals, because the team was getting goals and I was getting points&rdquo;Previously. Pulford alternated three duos on defense, but since mid-season he has stuck to two&mdash;young Sargent with veteran Larry Brown every other shift and kiliing penalties, and either young Neil Komadoski or Dave Hutchison with veteran Bob Murdoch on the other shift. Lately. all have played well, with Komadoski and Hutchison playing their best ever.However, the best has been Sargent. When I first saw him I said he had the ability to be the best defenseman on this team and he has become that even sooner than expected. In fact, his best is yet to come. He has just started developing There is not a team on the tour that would not welcome him and he may be no more than a year or two away from All Star status.Killing penalties as well as playing power-plays and every other shift, he is playing more than any other member of the team He says. I love the ice time I&rsquo;m improving faster because of it. I&rsquo;ve always had confidence in myself and I&rsquo;ve gotten back what I lost laying out last season&rdquo;&ldquo;You lose your sharpness and really learn little looking on from the bench. You have to make your own mistakes to profit from them. But I do think I got a feel for playoff hockey as a spectator last season and will be able to handle playoff pressure as a player this season. I&rsquo;II play my game. Or at least Pully&rsquo;s game&rdquo; he grinned.KINGS THINGS: Dionne drilled a dramatic goal with seven seconds left to tie Pittsburgh. 3-3. The Kings then routed Chicago and Washington by 7-1 and 6-0 to return to the .500 level in their 69th game after playing below for 45 games. The shutout gave Vachon the league lead with eight and was his fifth in 11 games&hellip;Tom Williams had two two-goal games in five games. &#9632;

IN THIS ISSUE

Sargent Considered Key To Kings’ Playoff Chances

<h2>MARCH</h2>Mon. 21 Rochester at Nova ScotiaWed 23 Rhode Island at HersheySpringfield at New HavenFri 25 Nova Scotia at New HavenRhode Island at RochesterHershey at SpringfieldSat 26 Nova Scotia at SpringfieldSun. 27 Springfield at HersheyRhode Island at New HavenNova Scotia at RochesterWed 30 Rochester at New HavenHershey at Nova ScotiaRhode Island at Springfield &#9632;

Where AHL Teams Play

<h2>SOVIET LEAGUE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02774/3851368-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="574" height="293"></div><h2>SWEDISH LEAGUE</h2>FINAL STANDINGS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03613/3851361-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="577" height="294"></div><h2>CZECHOSLOVAKIAN LEAGUE</h2>FINAL STANDINGS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-04471/3851354-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="575" height="349"></div><h2>FINNISH LEAGUE</h2>FINAL STANDINGS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-05351/3851347-1-eng-US/f0015-052.jpg" title="f0015-05" width="578" height="293"></div><h2>SWISS LEAGUE</h2>FINAL STANDINGS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-06293/3851340-1-eng-US/f0015-062.jpg" title="f0015-06" width="573" height="245"></div> &#9632;

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HOW THEY STAND

<h2>QUEBEC MAJOR LEAGUE</h2><h3>(Final Standings)</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01195/3853698-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="578" height="393"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. March 14Quebec 8, Sorel 2Sherbrooke 10, Shawinigan 3Laval 8, Chicoutimi 3Tue. March 15Sherbrooke 11, Shawinigan 6Montreal 11, Chicoutimi 2Hull 6, Troia-Rivierea 3Thu. March 17Hull 6, Shawinigan 1Laval 5, Troia-Rivierea 3Cornwall 7, Sorel 1Fri. March 18Sorel 10, Montreal 4Sherbrooke 5, Hull 1Chicoutimi 4, Quebec 3Sun. March 20Montreal 5, Laval 1Quebec 7, Chicoutimi 4Cornwall 5, Sherbrooke 1Troia-Rivierea 16, Sorel 8Hull 5, Shawinigan 2<h2>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02152/3853691-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="581" height="342"></div> &#9632;

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Quebec Major Hockey League

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01955/3850492-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Veteran forward Orest Kindrachuk says Philadelphia has to return to a more disciplined brand of hockey if they want to become the Flyers of old. For details see page 9. (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div><h2>FERGIE COACHING CHOICE</h2>TORONTO&mdash;John Ferguson has said that his prime concern at the moment is to get the Rangers into the NHL playoffs. But the question arises, if the New Yorkers don&rsquo;t make it, would Fergie be available as coach for Team Canada &lsquo;77 during the World championships at Vienna starting April 21?Ferguson said he would consider accepting the position if all conditions are right and only after his Rangers have given the NHL playoff race its best shot. Team Canada managers Derek Holmes and Bill Watters feel Ferguson would be ideal to become the No. 1 coach with three assistants to be named later. Fergie has already been through the World hockey mill with Team Canada&rsquo; 72. Others under consideration as well as Fergie include Tommy McVie of Washington, New England&rsquo;s Harry Neale and University of Toronto coach Tom Watt. McVie would be added only as one of the &lsquo;assistant&rsquo; coaches, said Holmes.<h2>IMLACH RAPS CAMPBELL</h2>MONTREAL&mdash;George (Punch) Imlach is never lost for words and this past week when one of his star defensemen was handed a three-game suspension, Punch had a mouth full to say about NHL president Clarence Campbell.&ldquo;Clarence Campbell is incapable of proper decisions. He is getting too old and it&rsquo;s bloody well time he should quit,&rdquo; says Imlach following suspension of rearguard Jerry Korab of Buffalo for three games. &ldquo;This is the worst decision I&rsquo;ve seen in Mr. Campbell&rsquo;s reign,&rdquo; Imlach said in assailing the 72-year-old NHL president after he put down Korab and also Detroit&rsquo;s Dennis Hextali for two games for high-sticking one another. Campbell&rsquo;s rebuttal was that Korab precipitated the incident and set off the flareup. Each player was fined $200.<h2>INDECISION HURTING WHA</h2>WINNIPEG&mdash;Bobby Hull claims indecision is hurting the WHA more than anything else. The Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; left winger says six WHA teams are being considered for a merger with the NHL but that the WHA can&rsquo;t decide on which six teams it wants to recommend.Hull, the man who brought credibility to the WHA five years ago, said the league&rsquo;s indecision is hurting merger discussions. Hull said Edmonton, Quebec, New England and Cincinnati are the best bets to get in on any NHL-WHA merger. He added Winnipeg. Houston and Indianapolis are also being considered. He said Winnipeg would have to build a new rink to make it while the other two cities have new and larger buildings but are considered too weak at the management level for the NHL.<h2>NHL TEAMS IN RED</h2>NEW YORK&mdash;NHL Players&rsquo; Association director Alan Eagleson has informed his player clients that NHL teams will lose between $15 and $18 million this season in their operation. Eagleson said Chicago owner Bill Wirtz had told a joint governors-players&rsquo; group meeting that the picture is bleak for the next few years as far as getting hockey financing is concerned.Eagleson said the NHL is discussing further involvement with teams from the Soviet Union. One proporal was for a 12-game exhibition series in December and January of the 1977-78 season with no NHL team playing the Soviets more than once. Another suggestion was that the Stanley Cup winner may oppose the Soviet club champion early in September prior to the training camp period. &#9632;

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DEADLINE STOPPERS

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>DETROIT&mdash;The Detroit Red Wings, an ill-fated hockey club that has managed to miss the National Hockey League playoffs for seven consecutive seasons, are hoping to regain their respectability with a new general manager.Ted Lindsay isn&rsquo;t exactly new to the Detroit hockey scene but he is the latest to be entrusted with the major task of putting the once-powerful Red Wings back into NHL contention after being named general manager replacing Alex Delvecchio.The Wings decided it was time to fire Delvecchio and they replaced him with Lindsay, a former Detroit hockey great, who has been given a five-year mandate to get the Wings out of the NHL doldrums.Detroit owner Bruce Norris, in a prepared statement, said. &ldquo;I asked Ted. Can you bring us a winner?&rsquo; Without hesitation, he said yes. I told him to get on with it immediately.&rdquo;The 51-year-old Lindsay, who scored a career 379 goals during 17 years in the NHL, 14 with Detroit and three with Chicago, said he was given full authority to run the club and a five-year contract to assure him of getting the job done.Lindsay, who said he had been offered the Detroit GM job 10 years ago but turned it down because he couldn&rsquo;t get the control he wanted, emphasized that one of the conditions he took the Detroit job on was that he have full power to run the team and that it meant full severance of Delvecchio from the Red Wing organization. Delvecchio and Lindsay were for were former Detroit teammates.Lindsay said he would retain Larry Wilson as coach because he believes Wilson has done a good job with the talent he had at his disposal.The Wings, who missed the playoffs again with a dismal 16-44-9 record, are obviously in for a major overhaul with the Lindsay takeover.Lindsay said he intends to trade heavily and would continue to bring players in and out until he got the people he wanted to make Detroit a title threat again.Wilson said he was confident that Lindsay will get him the kind of players he needs to put the Wings back on a winning track. The new GM said Wilson has attempted to install a system with the Wings but because of a lack of talent the system has broken down in the closing period of Detroit games.Lindsay said the quest for the Gordie Howe family would be continued and there is speculation that Lindsay and Howe, long-time teammates, would be reunited in Detroit.The addition of the younger Howes. Mark and Marty, would be the strength Wilson has been looking for to give Detroit back its one-explosive offense. The current Red Wings went without scoring a power play goal in 39 chances and this has infuriated Wilson no end.In fact, over a five-week span, the Wings scored just one power play goal in 51 chances&mdash;and that goal provided the winning margin in one of the club&rsquo;s rare victories.When the Wings hit the skids (six straight losses, one victory in 15 games) in March, the lack of power play goals was the biggest shortcoming In one game, a 4-2 loss to St. Louis at Olympia, the Wings failed to score with a two-man advantage for 58 seconds.&ldquo;You have to score every time with a two-man advantage.&rdquo; Wilson said &ldquo;Every time. There&rsquo;s no reason, or excuse, for not scoring.&rdquo;While the Wings continued to stumble as the season neared its end. Wilson remained remarkably cool. He was planning for next season, and made a couple of scouting trips into Ontario. He took a look at center Dale McCourt, the outstanding prospect from St. Catharines, who very well could be Detroit&rsquo;s No. 1 pick, the first player overall in the entire amateur draft.&ldquo;What were doing now is trying to evaluate the talent on this club, seeing who can play in the National Hockey League and who can&rsquo;t. &ldquo;Wilson said. &ldquo;We have to find out for next season &ldquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02869/3850523-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="554" height="1178"><figcaption class="caption-body">TED LINDSAY&hellip;Wings&rsquo; New GM</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Delvecchio Fired As Detroit Hands Lindsay Big Task Of Righting Club

Coming Next WeekThe 30th annual HOCKEY NEWS National Hockey League All Star teams as selected by our readers will be published in the April 8 issue. Watch for them next week. &#9632;

FANS’ NHL ALL STAR TEAMS

<h2>NHL TEAMS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03647/3850606-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="488" height="742"></div><h2>WHA TEAMS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04442/3850599-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="484" height="460"></div><h2>OTHER LEAGUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05316/3850592-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="486" height="338"></div><h2>COLUMNISTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-06220/3850585-1-eng-US/f0002-062.jpg" title="f0002-06" width="488" height="158"></div><h2>OTHER FEATURES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-07134/3850578-1-eng-US/f0002-072.jpg" title="f0002-07" width="480" height="146"></div> &#9632;

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WHERE YOU’LL FIND IT ALL

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE HALPIN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01961/3850651-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ANDERS HEDBERG&hellip;Super Scoring Season (Photo by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;The flow of European hockey players into the North American professional hockey system has produced many top performers. It now appears to be a toss up as to who is the best of them all Anders Hedberg of the Winnipeg Jets or Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; Borje Salming.Both players appear to be immensely qualified for the honor It is a tribute to Hedberg and Salming to be singled out as the best and it is one of the reasons why Hedberg. the first 50-goal scoring human in under 50 games, has been chosen by the editors of THE HOCKEY NEWS as the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s Player of the Year.The 25-year-old right winger, who has been appropriately called The Swedish Express&rsquo;, has been rolling at a fantastic scoring clip this season He became the first to score 51 goals in 47 games, eclipsing the mark held jointly by such hockey luminaries as Maurice Rocket&rsquo; Richard and Bobby Hull, and is now on his way towards becoming the WHA&rsquo;s first 70-goal scorer in less than 69 games.Most hockey observers have wondered just how good the high-scoring Swede can be He has shown he&rsquo;s the best right winger in the WHA and he has also excelled in the Canada Cup series with the Swedish National team. But many people would like to see him tested under fire in the NHL.Hedberg is rapidly making his mark as one of pro hockey&rsquo;s all-time outstanding goal scorers. He has scored four goals in a game three times this season and he has turned in many three-goal performances as well This past week he scored another hat trick and totalled five goals, giving him a season high of 63 with still time to hit the select 70-goal plateau.Hedberg scored his 50th goal in 47 games, shot his 60th in his 57th game and could get No. 70 in under 69 games, which would lower the existing WHA mark of 70 goals in 69 games set by Hull in 1974-75.Hedberg has been waging a tense scoring battle all season long with Quebec&rsquo;s sensational Real Cloutier and only a leg injury that forced him out of nine Winnipeg games has kept the Jets&rsquo; ace from rushing past Cloutier in the race for the individual scoring championship. Cloutier, despite missing five games himself, has piled up 125 scoring points and has notched 60 goals for an equally remarkable scoring year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03552/3850644-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="562" height="600"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILL DINEEN&hellip;Brought Aeros Along</figcaption></div>The selection of Hedberg by THE HOCKEY NEWS as the WHA&rsquo;s best player was one of three selections in its fourth annual awards&rsquo; poll. Bill Dineen of the Houston Aeros, the guiding force behind the fantastic success story of the Aeros, has been chosen as the coach of the year and Howard Baldwin, the managing director of the New England Whalers, has been selected as the outstanding executive of the WHA season.Dineen&rsquo;s handling of the Houston Aeros has been a classic example of a successful system paying off. Rarely do the Aeros change their lineup and with the Howe family, Gordie. Mark and Marty. as the nucleus, Dineen has been able to keep the Aeros in the forefront of the Western Division race.Dineen has moulded youth with experience in rebuilding the Aeros and has managed to introduce many young players to the Houston lineup in the past two years. He is a coach who demands much discipline from his players and with the elder Howe as the guiding force, has been able to combine the fourth best offense in the WHA with the best defense to register 44 wins and six ties in 70 league starts.Many coaches have also done the job in the WHA this season, notably Terry Slater in Cincinnati. Jacques Demers in Indianapolis. Ron Ingram in San Diego and Marc Boileau in Quebec, but Dineen has excelled in his handling of the Aeros this season, a year in which the Houston team was supposed to be feeling its way because of an influx of youth. Instead Dineen has the Aeros running No. 1 in the WHA&rsquo;s Western race.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04329/3850637-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="534" height="580"><figcaption class="caption-body">HOWARD BALDWIN&hellip;A WHA Pioneer</figcaption></div>Baldwin&rsquo;s choice as the leading executive of the year in the WHA, is again a tribute to a man who has unselfishly labored for both the New England Whalers and the WHA in its five year existence. Baldwin has been the driving force behind the Whalers and his player trades have made the New Englanders one of the favorites of the Eastern Division in recent years.Baldwin&rsquo;s teams have won three Eastern titles and captured the first Avco Cup ever when the WHA came into being in 1972-73. In addition, the managing general partner and trustee of the Whalers is also a member of the league&rsquo;s executive committee.Baldwin staged the WHA&rsquo;s 1976-77 All Star game in Hartford and the event turned out to be an overwhelming success both on and off the ice. The 34-year-old Whaler executive chief was the founder and first president of the Whalers and today he is the man who carries the ball for the WHA in its negotiations with the rival NHL He is one of the youngest executives in all of major pro sports. &#9632;

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JETS’ PHENOM HEDBERG TOP PLAYER

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02826/3850682-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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NEWS’ AWARDS WINNERS

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011013/3850734-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="439" height="463"></div>&bull; TED LINDSAY may be the one person who can revive the spiritless Detroit Red Wings but he certainly has his work cut out for him and it will be the greatest challenge of his competitive life. Lindsay as player battled with nearly everyone including players, coaches. managers, owners et al. In fact, it was only a year ago that he wrote members of the NHL flayers&rsquo; Association advising them that he could do a better job as executive-director than Alan Eagleson His ill-timed letter got him nowhere and it will be very interesting to see what happens when he confronts Eagleson to negotiate a contract for some draft picks that Eagle-son represents&hellip;Toronto&rsquo;s Lanny McDonald has a good chance to become the highest-scoring Maple Leaf player in a single season. The record is 48 goals and is held by Frank Mahovlich. Lanny now has 42 goals Frank set the mark during the 1960-61 season McDonald is often referred to as &ldquo;the perfect team player&rdquo; by coaches&hellip;The NHL playoff format will be changed in 1978&hellip;The World Hockey Association will move its headquarters from Toronto to Hartford this June. Most of the leagues front of fice staff will make the transition&hellip;In the last 10 years the Detroit Red Wings have made the playoffs once. During that time they&rsquo;ve had four general managers and nine different coaches&hellip;Colorado Rockies expect to lose $2 million during their first year of operation. The Rockies estimate they gave out around 100.000 free tickets this season in an attempt to gain fan support.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02969/3850727-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="295" height="496"><figcaption class="caption-body">Lanny McDonald</figcaption></div>&bull; THE FINNISH ICE Hockey Association advises us that all fees for Juhani Tamminen of the Phoenix Roadrunners (formerly with Cleveland Crusaders) have not been paid. There is a contract between the WHA and the Finnish Association. If the remaining $10,000 is not paid very shortly, the Finns will bring the matter before the International Ice Hockey Federation in Vienna and suggest that all IIHF nations stop all contacts with the WHA until all promises are fulfilled&hellip;Robbie Ftorek. one of the smallest players in the WHA. has picked up over 100 points for the second season in a row While Ftorek has been on the ice this season the Roadrunners scored 30 more goals than heir opponents, and while he was off. opponents outscored them by more than 100 goals&hellip;It&rsquo;s no secret that Ben Hatskin, chairman of the board of the WHA, and Bill MacFarland, president of the WHA. are not the closest of friends. Serge Savard is the only member of Canadiens&rsquo; vaunted defense corps to play every game this season After a request by players on Washington Caps, the beautiful Capital Centre has been made cooler climate-wise for hockey games&hellip;New York Rangers may miss the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second successive year&hellip;Don&rsquo;t try and tell the Philadelphia Flyers there is an attendance problem in hockey. The Flyers play to a 17.007 sellout every time they skate on the Spectrum ice&hellip;Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; injury jinx even includes Al Savill. chairman of the board Savill recently broke an ankle when he slipped on the ice&hellip;There is more talk about Pittsburgh moving its franchise to Indianapolis if things can be worked out. The WHA Indianapolis Racers are leading the WHA in attendance and have one of the best publicists in hockey working for them in the person of the veteran Walt Marlow.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03864/3850720-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="292" height="511"><figcaption class="caption-body">Robbie Ftorek</figcaption></div>&bull; LARRY GORDON, executive vice-president of the World Hockey Association, leaves this week for Japan where he will iron out details in connection with a round-robin tournament this September between a Soviet Union team and two WHA teams (one from Canada and one from the United States). The WHA is on very friendly terms with the Japanese Ice Hockey Federation. A total of nine games would be played in three Japanese cities. Tokyo, Sapporo and Osaka&hellip;Bob Pulford won&rsquo;t be back as coach of Los Angeles Kings next season&hellip;Injured Don Murdoch. Rangers&rsquo; excellent rookie. visited his folks in his home-town of Cranbrook. B.C recently&hellip;Gary Dornhoefer was the first winner of the &rsquo; Class Guy Award&rsquo; presented by the Philadelphia chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association It will be an annual award to a Flyers&rsquo; player combining outstanding play with gentlemanly conduct in dealing with the press&hellip;University of North Dakota, long a power-house in U.S. college circles, will honor all former Sioux hockey lettermen and coaches on April 22-23 in a hockey spectacular. Fifteen UND Fighting Sioux players were named hockey All-Americans over the years and such NHLers as Dennis Hextail. Rick Wilson. Earl Anderson. Dave Hudson and John Marks won letters at UND.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04762/3850713-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="292" height="487"><figcaption class="caption-body">Don Murdoch</figcaption></div>THE HOCKEY NEWSOFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLYFounded October 1st. 1947VOL. 30 NO. 26 APRIL 1, 1977Published weekly except monthly June through September by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd., 1434 St. Catherine Street West.Montreal. Canada H3G 1R7 U.S c/o W.C.C Publishing. 1506 58th Street. New York. NY 10022Kenneth W. McKenziePresident, PublisherDon WallAssociate PublisherCharlie HalpinEditorial DirectorKeith LawtonAdministration Mgr.Anne NelsonAdvertising Co-OrdinatorCanadian Advertising Director: Graham Campbell, 11 Lotus Court, Toronto, Ont. M2H 1J6.U.S. Advertising Representatives:Telephone: (416) 492-9191NEW YORK: Tom Lamberton, National Soles Director, 150 East 58th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022. Telephone (212) 593-2100.CHICAGO: Hooper Jones & Associates, 3322W Peterson Ave., Chicago, III. 60659. Telephone (312) 478-5544.NEW ENGLAND: Steve Gonak Ad Reps, Statler Office Bldg., Boston, Mass. 021160. Telephone (617) 542-6913.YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $11.95 in Canada $12.95 in the U.S.A, and $17.25 in Foreign Countries. Sec and doss postage paid at New York. N.Y 1000 I and at additional mailing offices SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO 1434 ST. CATHERINE STREET WEST, SUITE 217, MONTREAL, CANADA H3G 1R7. Second Class ma.l Registration No 1327 All inquiries pertaining to subscriptions should be addressed to Subscription Dept, The Hockey News, 1434 St. Catherine St. W. Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7. Printed in Canada. &#9632;

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PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05624/3850765-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg"></div><h2>Maple Leafs Should Be Fined Heavily</h2>Red Kelly and the Maple Leafs should be fined heavily for the latest trouble they have caused with Philadelphia Flyers.Philadelphia planned on playing hockey and once again. Toronto started the nonsense. Toronto has proven to be a bully team.The Leafs are afraid to fight in Canada, so they come here and pick on the other teams.It&rsquo;s time something is done about Toronto before hockey is ruined.MARY ANN SMEALBOWSKI, Philadelphia<h2>Islanders&rsquo; Situation Getting Much Worse</h2>I have written to you earlier in the year to complain to you about the unfair treatment that the fans give the New York Islanders.Unfortunately, now the situation has become much worse Now, the newspapers and radio stations have joined in. It&rsquo;s really getting out of hand.How can a team with the third-best record in hockey be treated this way 9 Am I the only one who appreciates the continued improvement of the team 9It&rsquo;s about time the fans, the newspapers and radio announcers woke up.ROBERT GOLDMAN, Jackson Heights. N.Y.<h2>Salming Rates Ahead Of Habs&rsquo; Robinson</h2>I am writing in response to the March 18 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS. That issue said that Larry Robinson of the Montreal Canadiens is the top defenseman in the National Hockey League. I thoroughly disagree.Robinson is a Canadian-born player and Borje Salming is not. I think that may be the reason why people are afraid to admit that Salming is the best.But. look at Salming&rsquo;s magnificent poke checks, his accurate passing and his unbelievable skating ability. Robinson has just one good point about his defensive talent and that is his hard hitting.Hard hitting is just not Salming&rsquo;s style. Robinson&rsquo;s style is to get the puck up the ice and to score. But, that&rsquo;s not his job. That&rsquo;s the offensive players&rsquo; job.Montreal could play a whole game without one defenseman and still win on offense alone. With all the offensive puck control and scoring ability, Montreal rarely needs a great defenseman.On the other hand, the Leafs play a defensive game of hockey. And. that&rsquo;s all on the part of Borje Salming. With all ot this in consideration. Salming should win the Norris Trophy.GORD KELLER, Niagara Falls. Ont.<h2>Thank The Lord For Monday Hockey</h2>Thank the Lord that finally, Monday night hockey got started. No more Howard Cosell telling you what kind of ice cream O.J Simpson likes It was the same old thing week after week.So now starts the NHL Monday Night Game of the Week. And, once again as when NBC had the contract, each week we sat around the tube and watched the Flyers or the Canadiens.It&rsquo;s true that these two teams have been the best over the last five years, but I get sick of the same old thing week after week.I believe this is one reason why NBC couldn&rsquo;t make it work.Of course there is talent on these teams, but there is talent in the entire National Hockey League. In the future, it would be nice to see the Kings, Penguins, Islanders. Black Hawks. Sabres or whatever.To the officials who make up the TV schedule, think about what the people may want and not what you want.FRANK TRAPUZZANO, Washington, Pa.<h2>Norris Trophy Race Between Salming, Robinson</h2>When it comes down to the final voting for the Norris Trophy this year, Borje Salming should win it easily with Larry Robinson also in the running.It would be a disgrace if Denis Potvin was to win it again just because he won it last year.Although Salming won&rsquo;t win the Hart Trophy, he should also be considered a contender.VANCE PETERS, Montreal<h2>Dispute Bowman&rsquo;s Status As First-Rate Coach</h2>In reply to a letter from Mr. Tavroges, I do not dispute Scotty Bowmans storehouse of knowledge, but I must still dispute his &ldquo;first-rate&rdquo; status (donated by Frank Orr, Jan. 28) as an NHL coach, no matter his minor league record.Again, I&rsquo;m not saying Bowman is first-rate or l0th-rate, only that in the NHL, there is no way to compare.Now, if Mr. Bowman could use his knowledge to bring Chicago, Detroit, Vancouver and Minnesota to the level of the Habs. Islanders, Flyers or the earlier Blues in a three-year period, then Mr. Tavroges. we would know for sure. If then he&rsquo;s the winner you say he is. I would be the first to agree with you.W.R. BUTLER, Burlington, Vt.<h2>An Optimistic Look At The Black Hawks</h2>There have been some bright spots this season for the Chicago Black Hawks, although it takes a pure optimist to find them.The play of second-year man Bob Murray and rookie Dave Logan has bolstered an otherwise veteran defensive corps.And then there&rsquo;s been Tony Esposito. A look at the goals-against averages compiled at the end of the season will show Tony had only an average year.What the statistics won&rsquo;t show is how miserable a record the Hawks would have had without Esposito&rsquo;s consistency in goal.For example, in a recent game against the New York Rangers, Esposito made 50 saves as the Hawks won 2-1 It seems to me, a goaltender&rsquo;s real worth would be better determined by figuring his save percentage.That kind of statistic might show how valuable Tony Esposito is to Chicago. Who knows? With a good defensive team, Esposito may even lead the league in goals-against average.GENE MUNDT, Manhattan, Ill. &#9632;

f0004-05

FAN FORUM

Following are the latest player movements in hockey:<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>CHICAGO&mdash;Jeff McDill. forward, returned to Flint of IHL Michel Archambault, forward, returned to Dallas of CHI.N.Y. RANGERS&mdash;Dave Tataryn. goaler. returned to New Haven of AHLPHILADELPHIA&mdash;Mark Suzor, defenseman. returned to Springtield of AHL.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Eddie Gilbert, forward, recalled from Hershev of AHL.DETROIT&mdash;Jim Nahrgang. defenseman. recalled from Kansas City of CHI.TORONTO&mdash;Bob Warner, defenseman. and Paul Evans, forward, returned to Dallas of CHL with Bob Neely and Scott Garland, forwards, back on Leafs&rsquo; roster from injury list.<h2>WORLD HOCKEY ASSN.</h2>CALGARY&mdash;Joe Micheletti, defenseman. signed from University of Minnesota. Brian Walsh, forward, sighed from Notre Dame University Jim Mayer, forward, recalled from Erie of NAHI.INDIANAPOLIS&mdash;Jim Park, goaler. recalled from Oklahoma City of CHL.WINNIPEG Ron Ward, forward, traded to Calgary lor future considerations.SAN DIEGO&mdash;Tim O&rsquo;Connell, forward. recalled from Oklahoma City of CHI.<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>DALLAS&mdash;Harry Shaw, defense man. secured from Rochester of AHI. on loan.SALT LAKE-Dave Ford. forward, signed front University of Utah to 10-game pro trial. &#9632;

Hockey Players On The Move

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01882/3850820-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="590" height="912"></div> &#9632;

f0005-01

NHL Leaders

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02719/3850851-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GLEN SHARPLEY&hellip;Surpasses 20-Goal Plateau</figcaption></div>TWIN CITIES&mdash;When a team goes into the stretch with eight rookies suited up and scores successes, some of them must be pretty good prospects for the future. The future, in this instance, is now.The North Stars definitely think so, and are laying claim to a National Hockey League record: Team with most rookies scoring 20 or more goals in one seasonWith a dozen games to play, rookie-of-the-year candidates Roland Eriksson and Glen Sharpley had surpassed the 20-goal plateau and Steve Jensen was one shy and certain to crack that figure on basis of his play in the second half of the seasonEriksson appears headed to the rookie scoring championship in the league on the strength of his puck-handling which set up 37 goals heading into the last 12 games. He had also scored 21. Sharpley. without benefit of much time on the power play, could notch 30 goals.The above trio has turned in the most sparkling statistics of the North Stars freshman crop, but some of the others have made big contributions, too.Alex Pirus has impressed with his heavy hitting on right wing. Jim Roberts is showing rapid improvement at left wing and Jerry Engele. a defenseman called up from New Haven in early February. helped fill gaps along the blue line when the North Stars suffered a series of disabling injuries.Utility forward Tom Younghans has scored three short-handed goals and left wing Richard Nantais has contributed in spot duty.All in all. the learning process of the first five months of the season finally began to show its rewards in March when the North Stars, behind their rookies and the goaltending of third-year veteran Pete LoPresti. won four of five games to take over third place in the Smythe Division and put some pressure on Chicago in secondCoach Ted Harris kept repeating it would take time for his young team to jell, but promised it would be much better by season&rsquo;s end. The North Stars have proven him correct.&ldquo;The guys have realized what it takes to win,&rdquo; stated the coach. &ldquo;They were like a bunch of ragamuffins thrown together and called a hockey team at the start of the season. They&rsquo;ve come a long way.&rdquo;LoPresti. who had two one-goal games and one shutout during the Stars&rsquo; rise, took note of the number of eight rookies in uniform. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s just hope they never hear of the sophomore jinx,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The rookies are coming on now that we&rsquo;ve put a few good games together. it&rsquo;s confidence. Most of our rookies are getting a lot of playing time and you can&rsquo;t help but learn by playing everyday.&rdquo;Tom Reid, a veteran defenseman. agreed with LoPresti&rsquo;s assessment. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve talked all year that it would take some time for these kids to get the needed experience,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But we also anticipated that we would come together late in the season It&rsquo;s a combination of that and team morale the way the guys have come together in picking up the slack with all the key injuries we&rsquo;ve had.&rdquo;By the time the playoffs roll around, and if the North Stars are in them for the first time in four seasons, all these rookies will be veterans. They&rsquo;re playing like vets as it is.STAR DUST: Who gets the puck? Ernie Hicke retrieved the puck from the Islander net in a 3-1 victory for the Stars for his trophy case to mark his career high 25th goal&hellip;But on the play, Tim Young assisted and broke the Minnesota single season scoring record&hellip;That gave Young 83 points and he should become the team&rsquo;s first 90-point scorer&hellip;The team staged its first Old Timers&rsquo; game and it was a sparkling success with the largest crowd of the year, almost 14.000, watching ex-Stars defeat U.S. Sen. Wendell Anderson&rsquo;s all stars. 3-0. on goalie Gump Worsley&rsquo;s show-stealing network. (He stopped Anderson on a penalty shot, one of 12 saves).The injury situation reached a crisis point when Nick Beverley became the fourth defenseman put out of action in February or March&hellip;Still on the mend were Dennis O&rsquo;Brien and Fred Barrett, with Reid not yet at full strength from a fractured cheekbone. &#9632;

f0005-02

Future Becomes Now For Rookies As North Stars Eye Playoff Berth

<div class="byline">BY HARRY KLAFF</div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;Statistically, this has been a topsy-turvy season for the New York Islanders. Although the club is closer to first place at this stage of the season than they&rsquo;ve ever been, the semester has not been without its disappointments.The current campaign was supposed to witness the emergence of the Bryan Trottier-Clark Gillies-Billy Harris line as perhaps the best in the NHL. But this didn&rsquo;t happen as Gillies and Trottier were slowed by injuries and illness, and Harris simply couldn&rsquo;t find the net.The &lsquo;76-77 season was also supposed to see Jean Potvin continue his development as the defenseman who could put the puck in the net with regularity, and quarterback the potent power play from the right point. With the calendar ticking toward March, it appeared that his season was a disappointment, too.However, hockey is a game of ups and downs, and both Harris and the elder Potvin have finally experienced some greener pastures in recent weeks And as far as coach Al Arbour and GM Bill Torrey are concerned, the pair couldn&rsquo;t have picked a better time to get back on the beam.With the playoffs now clearly on the horizon, the Islanders realize they are going to have to regain the overall scoring touch they enjoyed last season. And that means that the Lightning Company (alias Harris, et al), and the power play, will have to come alive.In many respects, Harris&rsquo; ability to put the puck in the net is still a mystery. When Billy was chosen as the number one pick in the 1972 amateur draft, he was selected primarily for his scoring prowess. In his five seasons in the NHL, there have been stretches where he has looked like a potential scoring champ. But each year he has been plagued by extended slumps during which time he couldn&rsquo;t buy a goal at any price.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always been a streaky player, ana I still can&rsquo;t explain it.&rdquo; said Billy recently. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t seem that I&rsquo;m playing any differently when the puck goes in than when it doesn&rsquo;t. Some nights I get the chances and score; other nights nothing happens at all.&rdquo;Although Harris never became the big scorer that he was expected to become, he has developed into a fine two-way player. Few people recognized his checking ability as a junior or in his first couple of seasons with the Islanders. And if the goals haven&rsquo;t been coming in great bunches, he has done an excellent job in keeping the opposition off the scoreboard.Last month, though, Harris went on one of his patented scoring tears. After failing to dent the net for 14 straight games. Billy burst through for a modest two goals in three games in early February. By the first week in March he was really winging, with four in three outings, including his 20th of the year in a losing cause against Minnesota on March 8.It was just about the time that Harris started to fill the scoring column that Jean Potvin burst into prominence once again. With seven points in six games &mdash; including three goals&mdash;it marked his totals in cameo appearances as the right wing on the fourth line and at the point on the power play.Part of the reason that it has taken Jean so long to get untracked this year is that he has been shuttled between right wing and defense since training camp. At first he welcomed the idea of becoming a forward, but he began to have doubts when the experiment didn&rsquo;t pan out as quickly as hoped.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no question that being shuttled back and forth hurt a little.&rdquo; said Jean. &ldquo;It seemed that every time I would settle into one spot, I would be shifted again. As for now, I really like playing right wing, and getting my old spot back on the power play.&rdquo;Jean&rsquo;s booming shot from the blue line was a prime reason why the Islanders had the best power play percentage in the league last year. But when the goals weren&rsquo;t coming as frequently this season, Potvin was replaced at the point by Pat Price. It wasn&rsquo;t until March that he was returned to the special unit, and almost at once, the power play domination of last season appeared to rebound.Defense can carry a team to the playoffs, but once you get to the later rounds, it&rsquo;s the most balanced team that invariably comes out ahead. If the Isles are to have a chance at Lord Stanleys mug. they&rsquo;ll have to score with greater regularity than they had earlier in the year.At least two men are moving the club in the right direction.ISLAND SOUNDS: Billy Smith missed a three-game road trip in early March because of the passing of his father Minor leaguers Andre LePage and Don Cutts served as the backups for Glenn Resch Eddie Westfall has returned to full-time duty as the right winger for Jude Drouin and J.P. Parise. Drouin picked up his first goal in 21 games at Detroit on March 3.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011044/3850882-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="559" height="793"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILLY HARRIS&hellip;Found The Net</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0006-01

Jean Potvin, Harris Revive Offense

<div class="byline">by jack McCarthy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01932/3850913-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">PETER McNAB&hellip;Makes Bruins&rsquo; Middle Solid</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;Don&rsquo;t look now. but it just could be that the Bruins are pulling it all together tightly as they come down the stretch to the Stanley Cup playoffs.While they have had Johhny Bucyk hurt for a long stretch and Bobby Schmautz likewise, they have still managed to play good hockey right along, getting the good goalkeeping and avoiding losing streaks.When they beat Philadelphia in Philadelphia. 3-1. on March 13, and came back into Boston Garden to tie the Kings the next night, they had an unbeaten stretch of 10 games (8-0-2) and had outscored the enemy. 46-19.Gilles Gilbert was 6-1-1 in his last eight starts during this stretch, and Gerry Cheevers. who beat the Flyers in their rink, ran his record to 24-9-5. and is getting tougher as the games get tighter, which is his style.The Bruins have benefitted from stabilized lines, obviously, and also the return of a tough pro like Wayne Cashman after injury. And they also are getting a fantastic, professional season out of veteran defenseman Gary Doak.After a tight-checking win over the Flyers, in which Cashman scored the winner. Brad Park said. &ldquo;It was the tightest checking game we&rsquo;ve played all season We are hitting our peak at just the right time.&rdquo; Cashman. noted more for his muscle in the corners than his scoring, came back the next night for a goal against L.AThe set lines, however, have been the main thing in the late Boston surge. The Boston forwards, in turn, like the way they are set up now. and they have become more effective as they get more familiar with each other&rsquo;s moves. The forechecking also become better as each man knows what to do with one or two men in deep.Says coach Don Cherry. &ldquo;Back on our last long road trip to the Coast and Minnesota, we put those lines together, and although we lost two games in a row. I told them Just keep playing the way you are playing.&rsquo; They must have thought I&rsquo;d gone nuts. Here we have just lost two games and I tell them they are playing real well&hellip;&rdquo;But he has stuck with the new lines and it has paid off Center Jean Hatelie is with Stan Jonathon and Rick Middleton; Pete McNab is with Cashman and Earl Anderson, and Gregg Sheppard has Terry O&rsquo;Reilly and Don Marcotte.McNab is a slot-shooting center; Ratelle the nifty playmaker, and Sheppard is the hustling worker. It was said at the beginning of the year that Boston had the strength down the middle, and it has certainly proved out. And, it has produced scoring from each line, also, due in no little measure to their forechecking.BOSTON BEANS: Bruins&rsquo; Matti Hagman. the Finn who opted for a contract which called for a full year with the big club&mdash;no minor leagues, has been hampered by lack of ice time as he is getting his feet wet. so to speak, in the NHL&hellip;Of course, he&rsquo;s competing against the three centers mentioned above, so that although he has played in 62 games, the ice time has not been that great&hellip;Still the 21-year-old has impressed with seven goals &hellip;He says, &ldquo;The biggest adjustment was to the size of the rinks, here The rinks in Europe are much larger&rsquo;&hellip;He is on a two-year contract, has stood up to NHL checking well, also&hellip;Boston candidates for rookie of the year are Mike Milbury and Stan Jonathan, along with Hagman. &#9632;

f0007-01

Bruins Put It Together With Cup Playoffs Near

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011034/3850951-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="406" height="457"></div><h2>A Good Fit&hellip;</h2>&ldquo;GEHRIG&rdquo; GARDELLA, who may hold the Ranger record for consecutive games seen, is playing a longshot in picking New York&rsquo;s Islanders to capture the Stanley Cup. Personally. I can&rsquo;t see any team staying with the mighty Montreal Canadiens. but the durable Bronxite is one of many fascinated by Al Arbours system who feel it fits the playoffs perfectly and will pay off one of these seasons. &ldquo;They don&rsquo;t have a lot of great players, but they have a lot of good players like Bob Nystrom who play good hockey consistently,&rdquo; he comments.It was not so long ago that Nystrom was one of the worst-looking lads in the league. Big. but awkward. Bob ploughed into players, tripping over his own feet, and when he fired the puck, he slapped it into the cheap pews. Only his dedication, desire and drive, his hard work and willingness to take punishment, and his ability to fight with his fists kept this reckless lad in the league. &ldquo;I had a lot to learn.&rdquo; he admits. He has learned a lot and today he is one of the most improved players and one of the best right-wingers on the tour.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02929/3850944-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="801" height="979"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob Nystrom of the New York Islanders chats with a youngster at the Nassau Coliseum in March of Dimes ceremonies prior to a game. Nystrom is chairman of the March of Dimes Walk-A-Thon this year. (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>Thore Robert Nystrom was born in October of 1952 in Stockholm, Sweden. He was four years old when his family moved to Hamilton. Alberta, and 15 when it moved on to Kamloops, British Columbia. He scored 27 goals in his final season as an amateur with the Calgary Centennials, but that is not a lot for the wide-open Western Canada League. The Islanders made him the 66th selection in the summer. 1972, draft strictly on his size and possibilities.HE SPENT MOST of his pro rookie season in the minors, then made the majors with 21 goals two seasons back and 27 last season. However, the Islanders thought of trading him. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t think of anything worse than leaving Long Island. I was so worried I decided to do something about it.&rdquo; he admits. He spent part of last summer taking skating lessons from Barbara Williams, who has helped players.&ldquo;I thought I was a pretty good skater, but the Islanders didn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; he says. She says. &ldquo;He was terrible. &ldquo;Arbour says, &ldquo;She helped him. He&rsquo;s more in control now. He also helped himself. Instead of slapping the puck, he&rsquo;s snapping it. He&rsquo;s got strong wrists and a quick release.&rdquo; Nystrom says, &ldquo;I worked on my shooting as well as my skating.&rdquo; Manager Bill Torrey says, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s willing to work. I never wanted to trade him. He does too much for a team to let him go just because he has a lot to learn.&rdquo;Nystrom wanted to hit 30 goals this season and with 11 early and 22 at mid-season he seemed a cinch, and all the writers were writing about how his new skating and shooting style had worked wonders, but he slumped down to his old level and will be lucky to hit 30 in the season&rsquo;s waning nights. Well, he does still seem to be skating and shooting sharper and. anyway, he&rsquo;s not the kind of player you measure in goals.At six-foot-one and 195 pounds, the blond bomber has good size and awesome strength. He digs the puck out of the corners for his linemates, throwing people around, forechecks and backchecks ferociously, and is a feared fighter He has beaten some of the best in the business, helping keep the opposition honest. He is an honest hockey player.&ldquo;I&rsquo;M NOT FIGHTING as much be cause peopledon&rsquo;t challenge me as much as they did my first year or two up top. I guess I&rsquo;ve proven myself as a fighter. It&rsquo;s just as well because I can&rsquo;t help my team sitting in the penalty box.&rdquo; Bob says. &ldquo;For a while I was scoring so much I was seeing myself as another Rocket Richard. Now I haven&rsquo;t gotten a goal in about ten years, but maybe it&rsquo;s just as well because I help my team most playing the whole game, not looking for goals.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m gaining confidence. I can play this game,&rdquo; he adds. Which is important to a player who was dogged by doubts. He admits, &ldquo;I used to worry about everything every game. My skates had to be just right, my sticks, my uniform. I was aware I didn&rsquo;t have natural ability and I was afraid of failure. I still worry. There&rsquo;s a lot to worry about in the world. But I&rsquo;m not afraid any more. I know I have limited talent, but I know now if I play to my limits I can play. I&rsquo;m so sure I&rsquo;ve made a place for myself on this team. I&rsquo;m ready to buy a house in this town.&rdquo;He and his wife of almost two years, Michelle, have an apartment in East Meadow now. They have learned to love life in Big Town and have enjoyed especially Broadway shows such as &ldquo;Grease,&rdquo; &ldquo;Wiz,&rdquo; and &ldquo;Chorus Line.&rdquo; Summers, they delight in Long Island beaches. He has not been back to Sweden since he was 13 and is thinking about going again, but spent a lot of last summer driving cross-country to see the USA, including the wonderful western parks and Disneyland. &ldquo;I liked the Haunted House the best,&rdquo; he grins. He wants to take another trip like it this summer, but hopes it doesn&rsquo;t start until maybe May. &ldquo;After I drink champagne from the Cup,&rdquo; cracks the sweet Swede.One of these seasons, maybe. &#9632;

f0008-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY RICH PASSAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03782/3850982-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK HAMPTON&hellip;Started Beard Trend (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>CLEVELAND&mdash;The 1976-77 National Hockey League season has been hairy for the Cleveland Barons in more ways than one.Up until a few weeks ago. for instance, they did not know whether they would finish the campaign.Then there was the period in which the entire right side was wiped out by injuries and a retirement.Throw in a couple of missed payrolls, a lot of disappointing losses and equally disappointing crowds at the Richfield Coliseum and you have one hairy season.But that isn&rsquo;t all. It was hairy in another way.It all began when the Barons, shortly after being rescued by a $1.3 million cash infusion, took off on a 19-day trip that saw them stop in eight cities.Five of the Cleveland icers&mdash;Dennis Maruk, Rick Hampton, Bob Stewart. Len Frig and Mike Christie&mdash;decided not to shave. Coach Jack Evans gave his sanction to the move.It wasn&rsquo;t long after that Wayne Merrick, Bob Girard, Brent Meeke and Ken Kuzyk disdained their razors for the grubby look. Even injured right winger Fred Ahern joined in the fun.Several tried but found hair wouldn&rsquo;t grow on all parts of their faces. And a few others simply couldn&rsquo;t grow anything.Cracked Hampton, &ldquo;Hair doesn&rsquo;t grow on steel.&rdquo;Perhaps it was coincidence, but the Barons started winning shortly after taking on the hirsute look. It started after the trip&rsquo;s opening-game loss in Montreal.What followed were victories in St. Louis (on national television), Toronto and Atlanta. The grubbier they got, the better they got.That is until they got to Madison Square Garden, in New York. The streak ended there, but the beards kept growing.The beards then really lost their magic touch in a 7-2 whipping in Philadelphia and an 8-3 thrashing in Uniondale against the Islanders.But they stayed on.Trig said the beards bore no significance. although some believed it was a show of solidarity by a team that has shown remarkable character through some very tough times this season.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a matter of being ourselves,&rdquo; said Frig, who admitted the beards were his idea. &ldquo;Were playing for personal pride now.&ldquo;Before, we weren&rsquo;t playing that well. We were uptight. Now we re playing loose.&rdquo;One of the Barons proved a stubborn nonconformist. Second-year right winger Bob Murdoch, who has grown and shaved off a mustache three times this season, refused to grow a beard.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a follower,&rdquo; Murdoch declared. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a leader.&rdquo;Evans is no stranger to beards. He grew one last summer while fishing, but cut it off before training camp.Why? &ldquo;It came out gray,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A gray beard doesn&rsquo;t go too well with brown hair.&rdquo;Evans also thought it was about time his men started growing the facial hair. The two writers covering the team for Cleveland&rsquo;s two daily newspapers sport beards.&ldquo;If sportswriters can wear them why can&rsquo;t hockey players?&rdquo; Evans argues. &#9632;

f0008-03

Barons Get Better With ‘Grubby’ Look

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;The Flyers were motoring along smoothly toward the runnerup position in total points. Behind Montreal.Their closest pursuers, the Islanders, kept doing peculiar things such as losing to Minnesota and St. Louis.Then the &ldquo;bizarre bug&rdquo; struck Philadelphia. The Flyers lost two of three home games. Last season, they had dropped only two games at the Spectrum. When they bowed to Boston. 3-1, the loss total this season had reached five.Accepting defeat by the Bruins in the Spectrum was tough, but not unbearable. The Bruins&rsquo; 17-6-2 lifetime Spectrum record is the best by an NHL visitor.Pondering the 4-2 setback to Toronto was enough to make Fred Shero punch out his fil-lum machine. The Maple Leafs hadn&rsquo;t won at the Spectrum in six years. Following a second-period-ending brawl, they had only 13 skaters. And four of them had spent most of the season with Dallas.Combining with goalie Mike Palmateer, a strong Calder Trophy candidate, Toronto-Dallas shut down the Flyers in the third period. Against Boston, the Flyers began the third period tied 1-1. Wayne Cashman&rsquo;s goal just 28 seconds into the period put the Bruins in front to stay. To make the defeat even harder to digest, the Flyers managed only three shots in the final period.What&rsquo;s going on here. Fred? A curious time for a slump, right?If I thought we were coasting, getting ready for the playoffs. I&rsquo;d send them all home.&rdquo; the Flyers coach said.Suggestions by several players made the most sense.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to tighten up a little.&rdquo; said defenseman Tom Bladon. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to start disciplining ourselves.&rdquo; said Orest Kindrachuk after a 7-2 victory over Cleveland&rsquo;s aimless Barons. &ldquo;When we get two goals up. it&rsquo;s not like before when we knew we would win. We have to bust our tails to get that third goal. We&rsquo;ve still got some bad habits to break before the playoffs.&rdquo;One bad habit which the Flyers have no control over is an injury hex. The Patrick Division leaders weren&rsquo;t offering injuries to Bernie Parent (sprained knee ligament), Joe Watson (wrenched neck) or Mel Bridgman (charley horse) as alibis. Every NHL team has had its share of ailments, but when the medical room is suddenly crowded just before the Stanley Cup playoffs, polishing a clubs skills is difficult.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not an excuse.&rdquo; said Andre (Moose) Dupont, the Flyers&rsquo; most consistent defenseman this season, &ldquo;but all of a sudden we&rsquo;ve got guys getting hurt and others, like myself, coming back from sickness. Ah, but we&rsquo;ve got to forget that stuff. We&rsquo;ve been through this before. We ll be ready.&rdquo;The Flyers were hoping Parent and Watson would be ready for the playoffs. Parent&rsquo;s injury was diagnosed as a slightly sprained left-knee ligament. The former award-winning goaltender resumed working out. but was on day-to-day comeback status.Watson, the club&rsquo;s second-most effective defenseman. suffered a wrenched neck against Toronto. It was thought he might be suffering from a disintegrating disc, but a few days later the veteran rearguard said he felt better and was hoping surgery wouldn&rsquo;t be necessary.FLYERS FOLLOWERS: With Watson out and Bob Dailey hospitalized for one game with a blood infection, the Flyers recalled Mark Suzor from Springfield. Suzor, the Club&rsquo;s muscular No. 1 draft choice, looked at home in his appearances against Cleveland. Boston and Pittsburgh. Suzor still needs work on his defense&hellip; Defenseman Norm Barnes, the Flyers&rsquo; ninth-round draft pick out of Michigan State in 1973. was called up from the NAHL Firebirds for weekend games against Boston. Barnes took only occasional shifts at left wing, replacing Mel Bridgman.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-01999/3851013-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="565" height="1147"><figcaption class="caption-body">OREST KINDRACHUK&hellip;Bad Habits Must Go</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0009-01

‘Bizarre Bug’ Moves On To Philly

<div class="byline">BY RON WEBER</div>WASHINGTON&mdash;As the Washington Capitals embarked for their last long-distance road trip (Vancouver. Los Angeles and Detroit), they carried with them the knowledge that progress had been slow in winning on the harder half of the schedule.The away half.Since the days of Sprague Cleghorn and the original Newsy Lalonde (maybe since Indian shinny on a frozen pond) it has always been easier to win if you do the inviting.Hockey has not had a patent on home team supremacy, to be sure. Historically, though, the ice hosts have been more inhospitable than these in the other major team sports on this continent.Just this year the National Basketball Association has been spotlighted&mdash;and in some cases damned&mdash;for the highest home court advantage in several decades. But. the NHL has been up around that figure right along.In this average year of home success, the odds are better than three-to-two that the guys in the light jerseys will win. (This is ignoring tie games for purposes of simplicity.)So. in light of all this, it isn&rsquo;t surprising that the Capitals have learned how to win at home first. And that they have done this year: 13 times with seven hostings left to play.Even with narrow March defeats by L.A and Atlanta, the home folks had to endure only four losses in the last 16 games at the Capital Centre. The other two were a one-goal loss to Boston and a shutout by mighty Montreal.As for the Caps&rsquo; road work, that was a uniform of a different color: six victories through 35 games, outscored by 76&mdash;whereas the home goals-for were exactly equal to the goals-against.So. in the friendly confines, while not dominating, the Caps are formidable. The opposition has a less than even chance (it was exactly one in three before the Flames did it March 6) of leaving with two points.But out there in the great beyond&mdash;that is. beyond Landover&mdash;the world is still cruel, and a Capital victory remains an upset. While coach Tom McVie would like to show the adversaries a sneak preview in the last month, the real thrust at winning on the road (and escalating from respectability to real contention) will have to wait for next season.ICE CAPS: The Flames came to town having won only one game in seven, despite outshooting all their opponents. So the Capitals let them have the most shots (34-191. It didn&rsquo;t work, the Flames winning 4-2 with Tim Ecclestone becoming the first player to claim two emptynet goals against Washington. Ecclestone, who was a Capital for a few minutes in a long-ago trade involving Willy Brossart and Rod Seiling, had one last season. In three years, the Caps have permitted 12 empty-netters while scoring seven&hellip;D.C. matched its season high in goals in a 7-4 romp over Chicago, enabling the team to claim a victory over the Hawks in each season. &#9632;

Capitals Discover it’s Much Tougher In Foreign Rinks

<div class="byline">&#x2014; BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011021/3851068-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="338" height="474"></div><h2>Hull&rsquo;s Possible Return</h2>HARVEY WINEBERG, respected Chicago financial representative for Bobby Hull, do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?&ldquo;I do.&rdquo;Five Februarys ago, Bobby began talking seriously about leaving the Balck Hawks for the World Hockey Association Winnipeg Jets&mdash;an historic move he made that June. Might Chicago fans be excited now about the possibility of his returning there next season?&ldquo;Yes, they can get excited about the possibility. I repeat, the possibility.&rdquo;Would it be feasible legally?&ldquo;I believe it would be. Bobby signed a contract to play five years in Winnipeg. At the end of this season, he will have fulfilled that obligation. Therefore, I believe he will be a free agent June 1. What he choses to do with that freedom, we haven&rsquo;t decided.&rdquo;As Bobby&rsquo;s closest confidant, and the man who choreographed his landmark Winnipeg contract, can you tell which way he is leaning?&ldquo;Really and truly, I don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;ll decide until the end of this season. I do know that he has never forgotten the Chicago fans and how well they treated him. Never.&rdquo;Black Hawk president Bill Wirtz said as early as last season that he would pursue Hull as soon as convinced that Hull&rsquo;s committments in Winnipeg had been satisfied.&ldquo;That, combined with things you hear indirectly, make me think the Black Hawks really want him back. Naturally, that would be a positive factor in our negotiations.&rdquo;Have you talked directly with the Black Hawks already?&ldquo;No.&rdquo;OK, what are the chances of Hull returning to the NHL in 1977?&ldquo;I&rsquo;d say 50-50, which is an easv way of saying I don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo;<h2>Could Advance Merger</h2>SEVERAL WHA OFFICIALS have said that if Bobby&rsquo;s going to Chicago could facilitate a merger between leagues, that they&rsquo;d be for it.&ldquo;Well, on the basis of what you read, talks about some sort of an agreement&mdash;you said merger, I didn&rsquo;t&mdash;between the NHL and WHA is more possible than 1 once thought. 1 think owners in both leagues realize that something has to be done for the best interests of the game.&rdquo;Such as what?&ldquo;I myself could see one league of 24 teams, six teams in each of four divisions. Meanwhile, what if, for example, seven WHA teams join&mdash;Quebec, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Houston, New England. Edmonton and San Diego?&rdquo;No Winnipeg?&ldquo;Well, that&rsquo;s what I mean about Bobby. If Winnipeg did not accept an offer to join an agreement, then Bobby&rsquo;s rights are still owned by Chicago, and his chances of returning would be excellent. That doesn&rsquo;t mean he wouldn&rsquo;t come to Chicago even if Winnipeg were included in an expanded league. And it doesn&rsquo;t necessarily mean that he would come to Chicago if Winnipeg weren&rsquo;t. He&rsquo;ll do whatever is best for the game, because he really cares.&rdquo;Would Bobby bring anyone else to Chicago?&ldquo;Well, he&rsquo;s now skating with the best line in hockey. His center in Winnipeg, Ulf Nilsson, is another Stan Mikita. His right wing, Anders Hedberg, is another Bobby Hull. Plus, there&rsquo;s a Swedish defenseman in Winnipeg who&rsquo;s terrific&mdash;Lars-Erik Sjoberg. If everything could be worked out, the Swedes would like to go wherever he goes. They love him, but a lot of things have to happen first.&rdquo;<h2>Money Not A Factor</h2>BUT IF THE LEAGUES don&rsquo;t get together, and Bobby still decides he wants to rejoin the Black Hawks next season, will money be a factor as it was five years ago?&ldquo;No. We would ask for a good contract, and I&rsquo;m sure we would get it.&rdquo;Why, at 38 and after two injuries this season, would Bobby want the hassle of returning to the Black Hawks, trying to fill seats, helping a team on the decline?&ldquo;Bobby&rsquo;s father asked him that when he left Chicago. Why leave a secure thing for the pressure of Winnipeg? Now the situation is sort of reversed. It might be easier for Bobby to stay in Winnipeg. But don&rsquo;t forget that Bobby thrives on pressure.&ldquo;He might consider it a great emotional experience to go back to Chicago. And despite the injuries, he can still play. Everybody knows that. He is an amazing, amazing specimen.&rdquo;OK, Harvey Wineberg, if it had to happen tomorrow, what would you say Bobby Hull&rsquo;s decision would be on where to play?&ldquo;I&rsquo;d say there are a lot of factors to weigh&hellip;call me tomorrow.&rdquo; Oh. &#9632;

f0010-01

Hockey talk

<div class="byline">BY GARY McCarthy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02826/3851099-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">LARRY ROBINSON&hellip;Breaks Team Record</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;Stocks in silverware polish could rise sharply within the next couple of months in the Montreal area. The reason is simple The powerful Canadiens could win as many as eight of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s trophies for their outstanding performances this season. That&rsquo;s how powerful this club is.There is a lot more beyond Guy Lafleur and Steve Shutt to this team as they rush head-long toward another shot at the Stanley Cup, which is what the training camp, exhibition games. 80-game schedule and playoffs are all about.Lafleur is, without a doubt, among the premier players in the NHL. He should win his second successive Art Ross Trophy as the league&rsquo;s individual scoring champion.With eight games remaining in the regular-season schedule. Lafleur had 51 goals and a league-leading 71 assists for 122 points as he continued to pull away from his closest rival. Marcel Dionne of the Los Angeles Kings.As a matter of fact, the Canadiens held Dionne and the rest of the Kings off the scoreboard with a 3-0 victory at the Montreal Forum March 14. Lafleur fired in his 51st goal and added an assist That put Dionne 16 points behind the Montreal right winger.The assist gave Lafleur 11 in his last four games. He continued his domination of the game as only he can. He gave six Chicago farmhands a sample of his magic when he assisted on the first four Montreal goals in a 5-1 Canadiens&rsquo; victory just two nights before the game against the Kings.The goal and the assist allowed Lafleur to head toward an NHL record for the longest consecutive point streak.The two points against the Kings gave him a streak of having earned at least one point per game in his last 20 games&mdash;just two games shy of equalling the mark established by Bronco Horvath when he was with the Boston Bruins back in 1959-60.Lafleur also should break his own record for most points by a right winger in a single season. He set that record last season when he won the scoring championship with 125 points.Lafleur could conceivably win two other individual awards as well. The man who was selected as player of the vear for 1976-77 by THE HOCKEY NEWS is a definite candidate for the Hart Memorial Trophy as the leagues most valuable player and. with only 20 minutes in penalties so far this season, he could be considered a candidate for the Lady Byng Trophy as the most gentlemanly player.However, Dionne, with only 10 penalty minutes so far this season, would have to be considered the prime candidate But Lafleur could syphon off some votes there.Don&rsquo;t overlook Steve Shutt when it comes time to dish out the prizes. The left winger who leads the league in goals with 54, is a prime candidate for the MVP award.Despite the drum-beating in favor of Toronto&rsquo;s Borje Salming. defenseman Larry Robinson has to be rated as the prime choice for the Norris Trophy as the league&rsquo;s top rearguard.Robinson has been outstanding all season long. If there have been any better defensemen in the league this year, they are his teammates&mdash;Guy Lapointe and always steady Serge Savard, who has drawn a lot of local support lately.Robinson is almost plus-90 in the plusminus figures this season and he earned an assist against the Kings, giving him 76 points for the season. That was good enough to break the previous club mark of 75 points in a single season by a defenseman set by Guy Lapointe during the 1974-75 season.The fact that Robinson was voted as the top defenseman in the All Star balloting for this year&rsquo;s annual classic certainly indicates that he is the chief candidate for the Norris Trophy.The Canadiens&rsquo; netminding twosome of Ken Dryden and Michel Larocque should win the Vezina Trophy as well. The Canadiens held a 10-goal advantage over the New York Islanders with eight games to go. The Islanders had nine games remaining to complete their regular season.Dryden was in nets the night the Canadiens blanked the Kings. The shutout was his eighth of the season, equalling the league high held by the Kings&rsquo; hot little netminder. Rogie Vachon. Larocque has posted three shutouts this season.The Canadiens have a worthy candidate for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy in Jacques Lemaire, the man who centers the Canadiens big line of Shutt and Lafleur.Lemaire has potted 34 goals this season. He scored the 300th goal of his NHL career this past season, giving him an average of better than 30 goals a season since he joined the Canadiens 10 seasons ago.When you talk about unsung players. Lemaire fits into the category. Despite the fact that he has averaged 30 goals a season, he has never been voted to an NHL All Star team.The Canadiens have already captured one of the league&rsquo;s awards. They are the official winners of the Prince of Wales Conference Trophy.And. of course, the one award every player in the NHL sets his sights on is the Stanley Cup. With the power the Canadiens have this season, it is not unreasonable to think that they&rsquo;ll win the coveted award lor the second successive year. &#9632;

f0010-02

Powerful Canadiens Eye NHL’s Silverware Vault

<div class="byline">BY NEIL MILBERT</div>CHICAGO&mdash;If the National Hockey League offered an injury depletion allowance, the Black Hawks would be the first to apply.The battered Chicago band staggered home straggling in mid-March from a six game road trip that saw the already awesome injury list rise to skyscraper proportions.And, adding insult to injury, the Black Hawks found themselves in the throes of a seven-game losing streak&mdash;their longest of the season&mdash;after being mauled in Montreal on March 12.Phil Russell. Jim Harrison, Dale Tallon, Gilles Villemure. Dennis Hull, and Grant Mulvey all returned to the Windy City ahead of schedule because of injuries suffered during the disastrous expedition.Defenseman Russell, the only Black Hawk to play in the All Star game, was the first casualty. He suffered two separations of the left collar-bone when he was remmed into the boards by Terry O&rsquo;Reilly in Boston on March 6.Then came the cross-country flight to Los Angeles for the March 8 game with the Kings&mdash;a 7-1 slaughter that cost Chicago the services of Harrison. Tallon. and Villemure. all of whom may be out for the rest of the season.Center Harrison, Chicago&rsquo;s fifth leading scorer with 41 points, suffered a fractured right thumb in a fight with Gene Carr, a bout precipitated by slashing on the part of the straggly-haired L.A. forward.Tallon, recently used at left wing in addition to defense by coach Bill White in an attempt to bring him out of a slump, incurred a badly pulled hamstring in his right leg.Villemure replaced shot-shocked goalie Tony Esposito in the third period of the L.A. massacre and came away with a bloodied left index finger after reaching for a shot&mdash;subsequent X-rays revealed a compound fracture.Two nights later in Vancouver, left wing Hull and right wing Mulvey received injuries that sent them back to Chicago.In the midst of one of the most unproductive seasons of his distinguished 13year Chicago career. Dennis suffered a severely bruised hip when he crashed into his own net.Mulvey, meanwhile, came away from the 5-0 rout with a fractured bone in his foot.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think things could get worse, but they are, &ldquo;lamented coach Bill White. &lsquo;What can you say?&rdquo;White, ironically, can say that he was the first casualty of the season. The stellar defenseman hasn&rsquo;t played a single game because of a nerve affliction, a vestige of a 1975-76 injury that has sapped the strength in his hands. White admits he may never again be able to play.Then, there&rsquo;s the incomparable Bobby Orr. The magnificent man with the mangled left knee has played in just 20 games and those 20 games may be the last of his career.Another Hawk whose hockey career is in doubt is 27-year-old backup goalie. Michel Dumas. On Dec. 26, while Dumas was practicing, a shot skipped off his glove and into the right slit of his mask, causing severe damage to the retina and impairing his vision.In mid-January, captain Keith Magnuson suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in a dressing-room mishap, sidelining him for the season. For Magnuson, it was the second calamity of the campaign&mdash;he played for almost a month with his jaw wired shut after it was broken by Bryan Watson (then with Detroit) on Oct. 30.An 11th Hawk (counting White) on the injury list when the Hawks concluded their harrowing road-trip was right wing J.P. Bordeleau, out for almost a month with torn ligaments in his left hand.General manager Tommy Ivan sent an SOS to the farm-system in the aftermath of horror shows in Boston. Los Angeles and Vancouver.Summoned from Dallas were defenseman Randy Holt, goalie Mike Veisor. and forwards Greg Vaydik, Michel Archambault, and Dan Hinton and recalled from Flint was Jeff McDill.Up for the third time with the Hawks, the 25-year-old Holt is peeved because his promotion was prompted only by the casualty crisis.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s sort of a joke, the routine Chicago has with players in Dallas,&rdquo; Holt griped. &ldquo;Chicago has been losing for the last few years, Dallas has been winning, and yet they have brought up only one player to stay in four years&mdash;Bob Murray.&ldquo;There are four guys in Dallas who could have stepped in this season and helped Chicago, but the only time they call players up is when they have injuries, like now. You can&rsquo;t do that and expect a young player to develop. You have to give him a whole year and let him develop his confidence.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01979/3851130-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="556" height="685"><figcaption class="caption-body">DENNIS HULL&hellip;Nightmarish Season</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0011-01

Injuries Reach Skyscraper Level

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01995/3851161-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="277" height="454"></div><h2>Dishing Out The Awards</h2>IT&rsquo;S AWARD TIME. Try not to get too excited. It&rsquo;s certain the recipients won&rsquo;t be trembling with joy.Hickok has its belt. Lord Stanley has his cup. All the Eearless Fleischman awards have are the paper they&rsquo;re written on. but in any honor it&rsquo;s the thought that counts, right?We could be witnessing the start of another hockey tradition, comparable to losing coaches complaining about referees. Anyway, (drum roll, please) here they are:The &lsquo;Be Paid Now. Fold Later&rdquo; Bookkeeping Award: to Alan Eagleson and all those who helped the Cleveland Barons finish the season. Everyone is happy the players will receive their salaries, but to ask paying customers to endure lackluster efforts like the Barons offered in their 7-2 loss in Philadelphia is outrageous. The Barons were floating through their final games hoping to avoid injury and attract attention from future employers.Frank Sinatra Dramatic Exit Award: to goalie Al Smith, for his farewell to Buffalo. Smith plans to study film arts. Too bad he couldn&rsquo;t have filmed his own retirement.Player with Best Ice-Cream Flavored Name: Atlanta&rsquo;s Pat (Raspberry) Ribble.Comebacks of the Year: Rick MacLeish, from injury: Dune Wilson, from oblivion.<h2>MacLeish Deserves Votes</h2>MOST OVERLOOKED TALENT: MacLeish Odds are the gifted Philadelphia center won&rsquo;t receive an All Star vote. If he would play as well at left wing as he does at center, he&rsquo;d be challenging Steve Shutt.Best Coach: Scotty Bowman (with a talented team). Washington&rsquo;s Tommy McVie and Colorado&rsquo;s Johnny Wilson tie for the best work with average teams.Felix Frankfurter Award: to Montreal&rsquo;s Mario Tremblay. Rival players resent his &ldquo;hot dog&rdquo; behavior on home ice.Roto-Rooter Pest of the Year: Detroit&rsquo;s Dennis Polonich. He could be an asset in the Red Wings&rsquo; rebuilding plans, but his stick work and harassment of quality players like Bobby Clarke damages his reputation. As Fred Shero says. &ldquo;That club needs him&mdash;he&rsquo;s a pretty good hockey player Who&rsquo;s he going to hurt with a bodycheck?&rdquo;King Clancy Optimism Award: to Dick Dillman, Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; super publicist, for his positive approach to the NHL&rsquo;s Sorry, er. Smythe Division. Dillman began a news release with. &ldquo;You can make at least one uncontested statement about the NHL&rsquo;s Conn Smythe Division. That is. no team is secure in its position&hellip;&rdquo;Earl Butz Bad Timing Award: to Ron McGrath, the well-meaning publicist, for this news release lead: &ldquo;It will be fun and games for their fans this week as the Cleveland Barons launch a five-game home stand&hellip; but you won&rsquo;t be able to tell the players with a program&hellip;&rdquo; McGrath was referring to the club&rsquo;s lengthy injury list, but a few days later several players were dropped in an economy move. Fun and games for the Barons? Not this season.<h2>One Point For Davidson</h2>BULL&rsquo;S EYE AWARD: to Rangers&rsquo; goalie John Davidson. Accepting the New York hockey writers annual &ldquo;Good Guy&rdquo; tribute. Davidson said. &ldquo;Phil Esposito would be here, but he forgot his tuxedo and shirt&rdquo; Esposito had skipped the formal All Star dinner in Vancouver.Leaning Tower of Long Island Award: to Hawley Chester, the Islanders&rsquo; publicist, who can always be found before games keeping a trash can company near the Nassau Coliseum press room.Charlie Brown Award: to Keith Magnuson Chicago&rsquo;s spirited captain has had enough injuries to fulfil a teams quota. If Magnuson had been healthier, it&rsquo;s safe to say the Black Hawks&rsquo; wouldn&rsquo;t have crumbled. even without Bobby Orr.Get Out of Town Award: to the guy who dreamed up these &ldquo;honors.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0012-01

HOCKEY WORLD

<div class="byline">BY ALAN TRUEX</div>ATLANTA&mdash;Sooner or later, it had to happen. An Atlanta Flames goaltender would decide he no longer liked the idea of playing just 40 games a season.And it&rsquo;s not too surprising, in view of the quiet nature of Phil Myre and the talkative nature of Dan Bouchard, that it was Bouchard who finally spoke up and said what he has been thinking for years.Still. Bouchard created a few shock waves when he recently announced he wanted to play 55 games a season, and if he couldn&rsquo;t do it in Atlanta, he wanted to go elsewhere. &ldquo;Play me or trade me.&rdquo; Bouchard said, &ldquo;or trade Phil.&rdquo;&ldquo;It hurts your preparation. he said, &ldquo;when you only play once a week. You can&rsquo;t stay sharp. Having two goaltenders playing 40 games doesn&rsquo;t create competition. it creates animosity.&rdquo;The 26-year-old Bouchard said he did not care where he was traded, but he feels it is important to his career to be more than a half-time player.&ldquo;It would help the team to trade me.&rdquo; he added: &ldquo;They could get a defenseman and a first-round draft choice.&rdquo;But Flames general manager Cliff Fletcher was not so sure a goaltender would bring so much. Bouchards value has dropped considerably this season, as his goals-against average has soared to the 3.40 mark.Bouchard believes part of his problem is that he hasn&rsquo;t played as often as he did last year, when his goals-against average. 2.54. was third-best in the National Hockey League.This year, coach Fred Creighton has been playing Bouchard and Myre exactly evenly, just as he did two years ago. when both goalies produced almost identical averages, in the 2.80 area. For five years. Myre and Bouchard have shared Atlanta&rsquo;s goaltending.Fletcher insists that although Bouchard is having an off-year, &ldquo;he&rsquo;s still one of the better goaltenders in the league. And his best years are ahead of him.&rdquo;Actually, neither Bouchard nor Myre has played as well as in previous seasons. The unexpected goaltending decline is one reason why the Flames record fell off to three games under .500 in midMarch.To be sure, there were other reasons. Tom Lysiak. Curt Bennett and Bill Clement. the Flames&rsquo; top three scorers last season, have all been underproducing this year.However. Clement showed signs of recovery by scoring a hat trick and generally dominating the skating in a biggame 6-3 win over the New York Rangers March 12. That game put the Flames again in control of the contest for the Patrick Division&rsquo;s third playoff berth.Before that crucial victory, the Flames had lost 12 of 15 games, scoring more than two goals in only four of those games.Lysiak, who scored only three goals in a 23-game stretch, was shifted temporarily from center to left wing. &ldquo;Tommy is our best player,&rdquo; Fletcher said. &ldquo;And when your best players aren&rsquo;t going well, it makes it difficult&rdquo;But Fletcher was counting on the Rangers&rsquo; game to send the Flames back upward. &ldquo;A victory over this club, our playoff rivals, could turn it all around and give us momentum to carry through the balance of the season.&rdquo; he said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02839/3851192-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="553" height="804"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAN BOUCHARD&hellip;Wants More Ice Time</figcaption></div>NOTES: Dave Shand and Barry Gibbs continued to recover slowly from mononucleosis. Creighton has been playing them sparingly, and he said rookie defenseman Pat Ribble, brought up as a replacement, &ldquo;is here to stay.&rdquo;Flames have been getting good play from centers Rey Comeau and Guy Chouinard, even while their linemates were slumping. &#9632;

f0012-02

Bouchard Stirs Up Waves By Giving Club Ultimatum

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div>TORONTO&mdash;Among revival meetings, it didn&rsquo;t rate too highly but the little conflab staged by the Toronto Maple Leaf players, under the chairmanship of team captain Darryl Sittier, at least indicated that the workers were alarmed at the way things were going for them in the National Hockey League.The Leafs hit the late February-early March doldrums and their injury-riddled roster floundered badly. In a ten-game stretch, the Leafs won only twice and earned three ties while being out-scored. 52-40.In the middle of that bad stretch. Sittier convened a team meeting to discuss the club&rsquo;s problems. The Leafs responded by losing to the Cleveland Barons, who not too long ago were having team meetings to decide if they&rsquo;d even play, and blowing a three-goal lead in a tie with the Vancouver Canucks.&ldquo;We just had a little chat to try and iron out a few things,&rdquo; Sittier said. &ldquo;It was nothing big. just the chance for the guys to speak up.&ldquo;We know we have to get back to disciplined defensive hockey and that&rsquo;s what we talked about We&rsquo;ve been scoring plenty of goals but we&rsquo;ve been giving up far too many.&rdquo;The way things are going for the Leafs lately they&rsquo;ll need another team meeting&mdash;to get acquainted. The team&rsquo;s injury problems continued to plague coach Red Kelly.In early March, the Leaf list of maimed read like this: Through for the season&mdash;defenseman Claire Alexander (broken armi. winger Kurt Walker (knee injury) and center Jack Valiquette (stretched knee ligaments); sidelined temporarily&mdash;winger Scott Garland (bruised tailbone) and defenseman winger Bob Neely (bruised ribs).The Leafs did get onq body back in harness when center Stan Weir returned from a four-game absence wearing a brace to protect his damaged knee.The Leafs summoned defenseman Randy Carlyle from their Central League farm team, the Dallas Black Hawks, on a permanent basis.Up from Dallas as part-time fill-ins were defenseman Mike Pelyk. forwards Paul Evans, Bruce Boudreau and Bob Warner.Leaf owner Harold Ballard stated emphatically that the team was on the hunt for some strengthening, especially a defenseman, before the NHL trading deadline. However, it appeared unlikely that the Leafs would be able to swing any major trades.Their problem is one that most teams have: To get a player who will help them, the Leafs must give up someone who&rsquo;s already helping them.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve talked to every team in the league about a deal to the point that the phone bill would finance a club. &ldquo;said Leaf general manager Jim Gregory. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s very difficult to make trades these days because you have to consider so many factors such as the length and sum of a player&rsquo;s contract.&rdquo;One trade rumor which had received wide publicity in New York, had the Leafs trading winger Errol Thompson to the Rangers for defenseman Carol Vadnais. A joke!Gregory did swing a small trade 20 minutes before the deadline when he acquired defenseman Tracy Pratt from the Colorado Rockies for future considerations. a future draft choice.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01958/3851223-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="561" height="693"><figcaption class="caption-body">DARRYL SITTLER&hellip;Calls Meeting</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0013-01

Leafs Admit They Have Problems

<div class="byline">BY BILL HEUFELDER</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;Just when the Pittsburgh Penguins were sure things couldn&rsquo;t get worse, they did.Having survived a brutal succession of injuries that depleted their left wing before the season began, the Penguins managed to cling to a narrow lead over third-place Los Angeles in the Norris Division and continue their bid for home-ice advantage in the rapidly approaching playoffs.They kept going, despite losing two more players in as many games. Greg Malone, whose determined manner at center and resulting productiveness since becoming a regular have been pleasant surprises for the Penguins, was lost to the club in the opening minute of a 2-1 victory at St. Louis.A Penguin nemesis, veteran defenseman Bob Plager. took the rookie into the boards and the result for Malone was a broken rib. another one cracked and a punctured lung that forced him into a hospital stay.After 63 games, Malone had registered 17 goals and as many assists, but the Penguins learned that he would be lost for at least two weeks, a stretch that would carry them nearly to the playoffs.The Penguins came home to rap Colorado, 3-0. but Bob (Battleshipl Kelly took the worst rap. sliding into the boards after being tripped on a dash toward the Rockies&rsquo; net. He sustained a mild concussion and a pulled back muscle.Of the 28 players belonging to Pittsburgh. only Jacques Cossette, a right winger and former teammate of Pierre Larouche in junior hockey, and injured Lowell MacDonald have failed to make at least one appearance with the parent dub.Among the wounded, defenseman Dennis Owchar is expected to have the cast removed from his knee shortly with the hope that his torn ligaments have healed and he will be ready for playoff action. Owchar has been out since the end of January. His absence is one reason the Penguins have been forced to stay with a pair of rookies. Russ Anderson and Mario Eaubert. in recent weeks, as well as adding Tom Price from the Cleveland organization.Pittsburgh remains afloat because of its sparkling goaltending Both Dune Wilson (2.82) and Denis Herron (2.92) have given consistently strong performances.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01977/3851254-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="508" height="955"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB KELLY&hellip;Crippled Battleship</figcaption></div>Wilson, with five shutouts, and Herron, who backstopped the Penguins to their blanking of the Rockies, have a combined total of six shutouts, one short of the club record set in the Penguins&rsquo; first year of operation.Herron remained unbeaten on Civic Arena ice with an 8-0-3 record.Their handiwork has enabled the Penguins to remain about even with last year&rsquo;s pace which led to a 35-33-12 mark. If their depleted ranks can hold up, they&rsquo;ll finish above 500 for the third consecutive season, but the sweetest achievement will be holding second place after two straight years of trailing Montreal and L.A. in the division race.PENGUIN NOTES: Club announced that Al Savill and partner Nick Erenzel have bought out Wren Blair, completing full takeover of hockey operations by Baz Bastien, although he&rsquo;s still listed as assistant GM&hellip;Bastien revealed that Ed Van Impe has been suspended since mid-February for supposedly re-injuring shoulder while shoveling snow&hellip;Van Impe is not expected to play the rest of the season with the Penguins. &#9632;

f0014-01

From Sublime To Ridiculous For Penguins

<div class="byline">BY GORAN STUBB</div>HELSINKI&mdash;Martti Jarkko. a star for Tappara and also the Finnish Nationals, broke a scoring record in league play recently.The 23-year-old Jarkko needed two points in his final game of the regular season to break the old mark of most points in a season. Just to make sure, he picked up three points in his final game.Jarkko scored one goal and added two assists, giving him 73 points in 36 games. The old record of 71 points was set in 1972-73 by Timo Sutinen.Jarkko and his Tappara team, runner up in the playoffs last season, are favored to capture the title this year. Tappara meets the other Tampere club. Koo-Vee. in the semi-finals.Koo-Vee is a young club, but surprised many this year and coach Kaj Matalamaki was named coach of the year in the Finnish League. In the other semi-final series, last years championship team. TPS, takes on IFK Helsinki in a best-of-five series.IFK. who lost several stars such as Hexi Riihiranta, Juhani Tamminen and Matti Hagman to the National Hockey League and World Hockey Association, did a fine job toward the end of the season and a final-game, 5-2 victory against Assat put the Helsinki club in the playoffs.Goalkeeper Stig Wetzell and National team winger Esa Peltonen were the stars of the final game of the regular schedule.The Canadian amabassador&rsquo;s trophy for the rookie of the year went to young Risto Siltanen of Ilves. Siltanen was voted the best defenseman in the junior world championships in Czechoslovakia and the 18-year-old rearguard was also named to the Finnish Nationals.Runner-up to Jarkko in the individual scoring race was Jukka Alkula. who also plays for Tappara. He had 35 goals and 28 assists for 63 points. A distant third was Jouni Rinne of Lukko with 26 goals and 23 assists for 49 points.Bern captured the Swiss hockey title once again. Bern, generally regarded as the leading hockey organization in Switzerland. finished two points ahead of Lagnau in the title chase.There were several foreign players playing in Switzerland this past season. Among them was Canadian Fran Huck, who played with Zurich. Huck has since joined the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association.There are no playoffs in Czechoslovakia this season. The clubs played 44 games each and the regular-season winner was declared the champion.Dukla Jihlava and last year&rsquo;s championship team. Kladno, were the two clubs fighting it out for the title. Sparta Prag; with excellent goaltending from Jiri Holocek. was in third place.Pardubice, with such stars as Frantisek Martinec and Marion Stastsny. are fourth with no chance to win the league title.Only one Czech team will drop out of the first division at the end of the current schedule Gottwaldov will compete in the second division next season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01941/3851309-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="562" height="806"><figcaption class="caption-body">VALERI KHARLAMOV&hellip;Back With Champs</figcaption></div>Zetor Brno, once the best team in Czechoslovakia and perhaps in Europe, struggled more of this season. Zetor Brno, which features goalkeeper Vladimir Dzurilla. made a coaching change toward the end of the season The new coach is Gustav BubnikIn Holland, the title was won by von Feenstra Heerenveen after a final 6-3 victory over AmsterdamIn Sweden, teams there are using the same league and playoff system as theFinns After 36 league games, the top four clubs go on to the playoffsLast year&rsquo;s champs. Brynas. won the league title with Farkestad second and Leksand thirdBrynas. on the strength of its league title. is favored to win the playoff title as well With players like Tord Lunstrom (former Detroit Red Wing playeri. Lars Goran Nilsson. Stig Salming. Willie Lofqvist. Stig Ostling. Stefan Karlson. it won&rsquo;t be too difficult in the playoffs.Mats Alilberg of Leksand should have no trouble winning the individual scoring championship He has an insurmountable lead.In the Soviet Union. Central Army (ZSKA) captured the regular-season championship. They are 12 points ahead of Dynamo Moscow. Last year&rsquo;s championship team. Spartak, finished a disappointing sixth this seasonIn scoring Vladimir Petrov, the Central Army center, has moved ahead of Alexander Maltsev in the scoring race. Petrov has 22 goals and 30 assists for 52 points, one more than Maltsev.Boris Mikhailov is in third place with 42 points and youngster Helmut Balderis of Dynamo Riga Jias 25 goals and 11 assists for 36 points.It has been reported that the Soviet Union&rsquo;s big line of Valeri Kharlamov. Vladimir Petrov and Boris Mikhailov will be with the country&rsquo;s National team tor the world championships, which get under way in Vienna later this month &#9632;

f0015-01

Finns’ Jarkko Snaps Scoring Mark; Brynas Favored For Swedish Title

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01784/3851651-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="342" height="772"></div><h2>ATLANTA FLAMES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02673/3851644-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="223" height="193"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03537/3851637-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="712" height="580"></div><h2>BOSTON BRUINS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04420/3851630-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="211" height="203"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05316/3851623-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="712" height="588"></div><h2>BUFFALO SABRES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-06255/3851616-1-eng-US/f0016-062.jpg" title="f0016-06" width="223" height="220"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-07229/3851609-1-eng-US/f0016-072.jpg" title="f0016-07" width="709" height="515"></div><h2>CHICAGO HAWKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-08209/3851602-1-eng-US/f0016-082.jpg" title="f0016-08" width="248" height="227"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-09187/3851595-1-eng-US/f0016-092.jpg" title="f0016-09" width="706" height="561"></div><h2>CLEVELAND BARONS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-10165/3851588-1-eng-US/f0016-102.jpg" title="f0016-10" width="211" height="205"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-11151/3851581-1-eng-US/f0016-112.jpg" title="f0016-11" width="713" height="586"></div><h2>COLORADO ROCKIES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-12134/3851574-1-eng-US/f0016-122.jpg" title="f0016-12" width="191" height="182"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-13122/3851567-1-eng-US/f0016-132.jpg" title="f0016-13" width="705" height="560"></div><h2>DETROIT RED WINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-14115/3851560-1-eng-US/f0016-142.jpg" title="f0016-14" width="242" height="133"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-15105/3851553-1-eng-US/f0016-152.jpg" title="f0016-15" width="708" height="611"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES KINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-16101/3851546-1-eng-US/f0016-162.jpg" title="f0016-16" width="162" height="171"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1793/3851539-1-eng-US/f0016-172.jpg" title="f0016-17" width="706" height="533"></div><h2>MINNESOTA STARS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1886/3851532-1-eng-US/f0016-182.jpg" title="f0016-18" width="245" height="212"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1979/3851525-1-eng-US/f0016-192.jpg" title="f0016-19" width="709" height="589"></div><h2>MONTREAL CANADIENS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2063/3851518-1-eng-US/f0016-202.jpg" title="f0016-20" width="235" height="187"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2160/3851511-1-eng-US/f0016-212.jpg" title="f0016-21" width="700" height="562"></div><h2>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2258/3851504-1-eng-US/f0016-222.jpg" title="f0016-22" width="218" height="199"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2356/3851497-1-eng-US/f0016-232.jpg" title="f0016-23" width="706" height="529"></div><h2>NEW YORK RANGERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2454/3851490-1-eng-US/f0016-242.jpg" title="f0016-24" width="182" height="178"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2549/3851483-1-eng-US/f0016-252.jpg" title="f0016-25" width="705" height="507"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2646/3851476-1-eng-US/f0016-262.jpg" title="f0016-26" width="242" height="173"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2738/3851469-1-eng-US/f0016-272.jpg" title="f0016-27" width="706" height="556"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2836/3851462-1-eng-US/f0016-282.jpg" title="f0016-28" width="238" height="216"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2929/3851455-1-eng-US/f0016-292.jpg" title="f0016-29" width="709" height="618"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS BLUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3029/3851448-1-eng-US/f0016-302.jpg" title="f0016-30" width="166" height="140"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3129/3851441-1-eng-US/f0016-312.jpg" title="f0016-31" width="710" height="533"></div><h2>TORONTO LEAFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3225/3851434-1-eng-US/f0016-322.jpg" title="f0016-32" width="204" height="203"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3325/3851427-1-eng-US/f0016-332.jpg" title="f0016-33" width="709" height="644"></div><h2>VANCOUVER CANUCKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3421/3851420-1-eng-US/f0016-342.jpg" title="f0016-34" width="175" height="127"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-357/3851413-1-eng-US/f0016-352.jpg" title="f0016-35" width="705" height="581"></div><h2>WASHINGTON CAPS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-366/3851406-1-eng-US/f0016-362.jpg" title="f0016-36" width="173" height="98"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-376/3851399-1-eng-US/f0016-372.jpg" title="f0016-37" width="706" height="533"></div> &#9632;

f0016-01

NHL SCORING and PENALTY STATISTICS

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01675/3851682-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="569" height="837"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB MacMILLAN &hellip; Bonus For Blues</figcaption></div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;Bob MacMillan has had a good season for the St. Louis Blues and with a little luck he can finish as the team&rsquo;s leading scorer.MacMillan has been the Blues&rsquo; leading scorer all season, but in the final days the gap was narrowing between MacMillan and Garry Unger.o&rsquo;I&rsquo;m happy with what I have.&rdquo; said MacMillan. &ldquo;I had 52 points last season and I should finish with more than that this year.&ldquo;I had a couple of low spots this season,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;But I got off to a great start in October and I should have even more points than I do I tell myself that no one can be consistent week in and week out. but that&rsquo;s just an excuse.&rdquo;MacMillan and Unger and virtually all of the Blues&rsquo; forwards have been hurt individually by coach Emile Francis&rsquo; four-line system the Blues have been using the final one-third of the season. The system has not been popular among the St. Louis players, but the team as a whole generally has prospered with it. Francis began using four lines when he called up from Kansas City the entire line of Bernie Federko. Brian Sutter and Rick Bourbonnais.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been playing with Larry Patey and Claude Larose.&rdquo; said MacMillan, &ldquo;and they also kill penalties. So sometimes I miss 12 minutes of ice time. But we re winning a few hockey games, so you can&rsquo;t argue with the coach. I respect the man.&rdquo;Unger, who probably will finish with about 30 goals and 55 points, is at about two-thirds of his scoring production last year. Unger is a fellow who thrives on a lot of ice time, so the four-line system has cut his personal production by more than 25 percent&mdash;the difference in ice time between three and four lines.his tough with four lines to get any sustained attack.&rdquo; said Unger It wouldn&rsquo;t be so bad with four lines if you could keep throwing them out there, but with power plays and penalties a guy sits out a lot. He loses his sweat and gets cold.&rdquo;The Blues. Of course, are assured of a spot in the playoffs. They&rsquo;ve been in first place Virtually all season, and in the final weeks their lead was lengthening over the Chicago Black Hawks.&rsquo;I&rsquo;ve never been on a first-place team.&rdquo; said MacMillan Three-fourths of the guys on this team haven&rsquo;t. It might be a weak division, but we get as much money for finishing first as the Montreal Canadiens.&rdquo;The Blues ran into some good goaltending by Dune Wilson and lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins. 2-1, then went on the road and beat the Red Wings in Detroit. 4-2. Back at the St. Louis Arena the Blues had a 3-1 lead over the Minnesota North Stars but settled for a 33 tie on goals in the final period by Alex Pirus and Tim Young. &#9632;

f0017-01

MacMillan Could Steal Team Scoring Title

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div>BUFFALO&mdash;Rick Martin and Danny Gare returned to action and the Buffalo Sabres appeared ready for the run for the Adams Division title and the Stanley Cup playoffs.Only goaltender Gerry Desjardins was missing and the outlook for his injured right eye. hit by a shot in a game against Boston Feb. 10, was optimistic.Desi was skating during the team practices, trying to regain top condition if and when he returns to action this season.In the meantime, young Don Edwards was handling the goaltender chores as though he had been in the National Hockey League for years and the reunited Don Luce-Craig Ramsay-Gare line was popping goals as they did in 1975-76. The trio totaled 93 goals last season, not as good as the French Connection, but not bad at all. And they did a fine defensive job, as well.This year, Danny hurt his back in Team Canada training camp and has been in and out of the lineup. When he was in, he wasn&rsquo;t up to par. He finally returned to action Feb. 1, for good, he hoped.Danny was playing right wing on Gil Perreault&rsquo;s line, with various players on the left side. Then Rene Robert. Gil&rsquo;s French Connection winger, returned to the Perreault line and in a game against Chicago early in March, coach Floyd Smith sent Gare out with Luce and Ramsay.It was midway through the game, with the score tied. 2-2, and a faceoff in the Chicago end. Luce won the draw and sent the puck back to Gare at the top of the circle. Zing, went one of Danny&rsquo;s patented wrist shots and the Sabres were ahead to stay.The next game, against Los Angeles, Gare had a goal and an assist and so did Ramsay. Luce had two assists as the Sabres won. 7-2, avenging a 5-1 defeat of four days before.The Sabres then went to Boston, hoping to widen their lead in the Adams Division to seven points. They didn&rsquo;t. The Bruins broke a 1-F&rdquo;tie with two goals within a minute by Stan Jonathan and the game ended up Boston 3. Buffalo 1. and the Sabres led by only three points.Ramsay scored the Buffalo goal. however, on a pass from Luce.Things didn&rsquo;t look very promising the next night for the Montreal Canadiens were in town.Before the end of the first period, however, the Sabres had a 4-0 lead. They held on to win. 4-1. Perreault was the big scorer with two goals. Ramsay and Luce each got an assist.Then came a game against Detroit and the Luce-Ramsay-Gare line really lit up the scoreboard. Ramsay had two goals and an assist. Gare a goal and three assists, Luce three assists.With the score 2-1 late in the first period. Ramsay figured in two quick goals to break the game open.Rammer&rsquo;s perfect pass put Perreault into the clear for a breakaway goal, then 30 seconds later he scored himself, batting in the rebound of a shot by Gare.That gave the Luce line eight goals and 23 points in the five games they had played since being reunited. What made them even prouder, according to Gare, was that they had only one goal scored against the line in that time.ICE CHIPS: Perreault who went through a spell of 18 games with only five goals, scored four in his next two. He had seven goals and seven assists in nine games.With Gare back on his old line, the French Connection was two-thirds connected again. Robert played with Perreault but with another Martin, Terry, on left wing. Rick Martin played on the left side with Andre Savard and Jim Lorentz after recovering from a separated left shoulder.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02582/3851713-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="573" height="836"><figcaption class="caption-body">DANNY GARE &hellip; Finding Range</figcaption></div>The Sabres finished their season series with the Canadiens with an even break. &#9632;

f0017-02

Gare’s Return Timely For Sabres

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01692/3851744-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="562" height="811"><figcaption class="caption-body">PAT HICKEY &hellip;Helps Restrain Teammate</figcaption></div>NEW YORK &mdash;The scene in the Boston Garden was right out of Slap Shot. It could have been the Johnstown Jets and the Syracuse Blazers getting together in the last days of the Eastern Hockey League Mad John Ferguson wound up and threw a water bottle 50 feet across the ice and hit linesman Swede Knox in the head He got a bench minor for his trouble and Boston scored on the power play, making it 2-0.The enraged Ranger coach, the veins standing out in his neck, screamed repeatedly at referee Bob Myers and drew another bench minor. The Bruins scored again. Not long after Ferguson charged Myers, boomed, &ldquo;You ruin a good game. Myers.&rdquo;Bob had had it. He threw Fergy out of the game and endured the Ranger coach&rsquo;s pent up wrath as Fergy gave Bob the choke sign with his hands on his throat.Ferguson was later fined $500 by NHL president Clarence Campbell for his actions.The Ranger leader was incensed when Myers gave Dave Maloney a five-minute sentence and Boston&rsquo;s Wayne Cashman only two. in an early altercation Maloney&rsquo;s stick cut Cashman&rsquo;s face.The Rangers lost to Boston 10-3, only a night after Rod Gilbert&rsquo;s big night had given them euphoria and a 6-4 win over Minnesota. Semi-pro goalie Dave Tataryn played goal in the North Stars game, and despite nerves, won his NHL debut.&ldquo;Greg Hickey. Pat&rsquo;s brother, recommended Tataryn to us. He had played with him in the Southern Hockey League. Dave did the job. He came out straight and callenged the shooters.&rdquo; observed Ferguson.Tataryn. smallish and happy to get a shot, noted. &ldquo;The guys worked extra hard for me. I think I should have had one of the goals, but that&rsquo;s all I was thinking about, not giving a rebound, and the shot went between my legs.&rdquo;Dave must have figured he was back in Greensboro or Charlotte in the Southern Hockey League, when he got to the Boston Garden. He started, but when things got out of hand. Gilles Gratton came in and finished up. as did Jean-Guy Talbot behind the bench for Ferguson.The Ranger frustrations came full force when they blew the big double weekend series to Atlanta March 12-13. They lost 6-3 in Georgia, and 5-3 in New York John Davidson started in Atlanta, &ldquo;but was hobbling on the way to the airplane with his bad ankle.The Count said he was ready to play, so I used Gratton.&rdquo; revealed Ferguson &ldquo;My guys tried, that&rsquo;s all I can ask.&rdquo;That may have not been enough as the pent-up. season-long frustrations boiled over in the Ranger locker rook after the March 13 Madison Square Garden game Full details are not available, as the dressing room door was locked for eight minutes. but Nick Fotiu had to be cooled down by Phil Esposito and Hickey Physical violence of some sort took place and Fotiu was led to the trainers quarters by Espo. Hickey and a stick bov Maloney was reported to be part of a shouting match.&ldquo;Nothing happened.&rdquo; said captain Esposito. later. &ldquo;Nothing that doesn&rsquo;t happen in all losing dressing rooms after a big loss like this. We still have a good chance. Atlanta has to play eight games on the road and they have lost big on the road before. We have to do good, and they have to lose big. and we have to beat them here March 30.&rdquo;&ldquo;As long as the candle is still lit. we have a shot.&rdquo; insisted Ferguson, softly alter the March 13 game.Maloney, the young leader, took the losses to Atlanta very hard.&ldquo;Life goes on. I guess.&rdquo; said Dave. &ldquo;But this hurts big We have to keep trying until it&rsquo;s over.&rdquo;Although Ferguson and his young men really won&rsquo;t buy it. the season has been a success. Desire has been substituted for lackadasical fat cat smugness. Even though late season power play failures hurt, the Rangers proved they can score. A solid veteran type defenseman is needed to hold the youngsters together, and another top goaler to go with gutsy John Davidson.&ldquo;Getting in means a lot to the young guys and the veterans. &ldquo;said E&rsquo;erguson. &ldquo;Once the Islanders got in they got better. That&rsquo;s what we wanted.BLUE CHIPS: Gulf & Western Industries Incorporated has made an offer to Madison Square Garden to pay $10 a share Tor the 2 9 million MSG shares it doesn&rsquo;t own at present Right now Gulf & Western owns about 29 percent of Garden stock Present value of MSG stock is $5 a share. The Rod Gilbert Foundation, established March 9. will benefit New York area youth Harry Howell. Camille Henry. Jean Ratelle. Vic Hadfield (on crutches) and Brad Park ail were at MSG on Gilberts big night. Emile Francis was invited, but failed to show. &#9632;

f0018-01

Frustrations Boil Over For Rangers

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02554/3851775-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="586" height="2119"></div> &#9632;

f0018-02

Looking At NHL Goalers

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03415/3851806-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="590" height="684"></div> &#9632;

f0018-03

Team Penalties

Tom Lysiak is running behind his production of last season with the Atlanta Flames but the rangy center has started to come on strong in recent weeks and he couldn&rsquo;t have picked a better time.With the Flames battling to stave oil the Rangers for the third and final playoff berth in the Patrick Division, Lysiak could help turn it around for the Flames. This past week he put together the most productive performance of any NHL player as he racked up nine scoring points on three goals and six assists. His 25th goal enabled him to draw closer to his career high of 31 set last year and with two weeks to play in the schedule he may still make it.Playing alongside John Gould, Lysiak and his linemate collected 15 scoring points between them as the Flames charge down the stretch hot in pursuit of a playoff berth.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04304/3851837-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="516" height="808"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOM LYSIAK &hellip;Atlanta Flames</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0018-04

NHLS… Player of the Week

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01663/3851868-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">CESARE MANIAGO&hellip; Holding Canucks Together (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>VANCOUVER&mdash;When a hockey club has gone as badly as the Vancouver Canucks this season, one is not easily convinced that things have changed and problems are on their way to becoming solved.But an overwhelming sense of optimism. a sense of confidence and ability seems to have overcome the Vancouver Canucks in their last 10 hockey games which has them trying to catch a playoff spot. It won&rsquo;t be easy, but the recent success of the team has all the players brimming with excitement, and that&rsquo;s pretty hard to believe when one considers the usual attitude of hardened professional athletes.With 11 games remaining, the Canucks trail the Minnesota North Stars by three points and Chicago Black Hawks by five. It is still a way to go. but red-hot goaltender Cesare Maniago probably put it best when he said after his first shutout of the season: &ldquo;With the way we re playing and the schedule we have remaining. 1 expect we can win three-quarters of the games we have left, and if we don&rsquo;t get a playoff spot I. for one. will be really disappointed.&rdquo;If the Canucks don&rsquo;t get into the playoffs, it would certainly be no fault of the 38-year-old Trail B.C. native because he has been fabulous, playing the last 10 games for the club in brilliant fashion.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s doing what Gary Smith did for us two years ago when we won the division.&rdquo; said veteran defenseman Dennis Kearns. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s lifting the whole attitude of this club.&rdquo;Maniago of course is ever so humble, saying that he has regained his confidence in his teammates and that he himself is feeling in his best physical condition of the year.&ldquo;1 always try to prepare myself menatally before a game. I&rsquo;ve done that all year, even when we were not playing as well. But now. I simply feel so strong, I feel fine playing in every game, it&rsquo;s just great that Curt Ridley understands the situation, even though it is definitely difficult for him to be inactive for such a long while&rdquo;While Kearns and Maniago have been the club veterans playing the best along with Don Lever and Dennis Ververgaert, newcomers Jack Mcllhargey and Derek Sanderson have added a new dimensionsomething that had been lacking right from the outset of the season&mdash;leadership.Mcllhargey has become that type of leader that gains his powers not so much from talent and example, nor by being all that rah. rah. but rather by desire.It is obvious to anybody who watches him that he really wants to win. and although the good Lord did not bless him with the greatest gifts as a hockey player, he certainly gave him a healthy competitive instinct.Sanderson, meanwhile, with his ability to handle the media combined with his success in everything he&rsquo;s done, so far has taken over the town In the five games he has played with the club, (he sat out three with torn groin muscles) the Canucks have won three, tied one and lost one&mdash;in Philadelphia.It has not been so much the total of points he has&mdash;two goals and six assists&mdash;but the way he had managed them.One goal against the Washington Capitals is still being talked about in Vancouver, where there hasn&rsquo;t been much to discuss other than the lack of snow on local mountains.Kearns spotted Sanderson around tne red line and hit him with a long pass, sending the Turk in cold turkey on Ron Low. But Sanderson didn&rsquo;t race in and shoot, but rather waited for Lever to catch up with him and go in together. At the last minute. Sanderson backhanded a pass to Lever who just happened to get his 20th of the year. It brought the house down because of the way Sanderson was so willing to give the puck up on a breakaway.&ldquo;Why do you think I skated the length of the rink,&rdquo; said Lever afterwards. &ldquo;I knew he would do that because I saw him looking out of the corner of his eye. waiting for me to catch up.&rdquo;Sanderson, on the other hand, was giving out the credit to Kearns.&ldquo;Dennis was the guy who made the smart play making the pass up to me.&rdquo; said Sanderson. &ldquo;Besides. Lever has a better shot than me so it&rsquo;s better if he does the shooting.&rdquo;The team&rsquo;s next two games&mdash;a home-and-home series with the Colorado Rockies&mdash;could well spell the outcome in the race for the playoffs in the Sweathog Division, but Sanderson certainly believes his new club will be there.&ldquo;Confidence is contageous. as contageous as a lack of confidence. And right now. we re getting it.&rdquo;Sanderson has been on a few winners in his time. He should know what it takes. &#9632;

f0019-01

Maniago’s Hot Netminding Momentum For Playoff Bid

<h2>MARCH</h2>Mon 21 Montreal at BostonCleveland at TorontoTue 22 Colorado at N.Y. IslandersPhiladelphia at VancouverBuffalo at AtlantaPittsburgh at MinnesotaLos Angeles at St LouisWed 23 Colorado at N.Y. RangersN.Y. Islanders at TorontoBoston at DetroitLos Angeles at ChicagoCleveland at BuffaloThu 24 Philadelphia at BostonDetroit at AtlantaSt. Louis at MontrealFri 25 N.Y. Rangers at WashingtonVancouver at ClevelandBuffalo at ColoradoSat 26 St. Louis at N.Y. IslandersVancouver at Philadelph.aDetroit at MontrealBuffalo at Los AngelesMinnesota at ChicagoBoston at TorontoSun. 27 Chicago at N.Y. RangersN.Y. Islanders at Cleveland*Atlanta at ColoradoToronto at WashingtonPittsburgh at BostonMontreal at DetroitMon 28 st Louis at MinnesotaTue 29 N.Y Islanders at PhiladelphiaDetroit at WashingtonLos Angeles at VancouverCleveland at MinnesotaWed. 30 Atlanta at N.Y. RangersPhiladelphia at ClevelandToronto at MontrealWashington at PittsburghChicago at St. LouisBoston at BuffaloThu 31 Minnesota at DetroitColorado at Los Angeles<h2>APRIL</h2>Fri 1 Chicago at AtlantaColorado at Vancouve &#9632;

Where NHL Teams Play

(Standings On Mon. March 21)<h2>NORRIS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-213/3852192-1-eng-US/f0020-212.jpg" title="f0020-21" width="525" height="161"></div><h2>ADAMS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-223/3852185-1-eng-US/f0020-222.jpg" title="f0020-22" width="520" height="139"></div><h2>PATRICK DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-232/3852178-1-eng-US/f0020-232.jpg" title="f0020-23" width="528" height="133"></div><h2>SMYTHE DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-24/3852171-1-eng-US/f0020-242.jpg" title="f0020-24" width="523" height="160"></div>(*Clinched league title.)<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Mon. March 14Los Angeles 0 at Montreal 3Tue. March 15Pittsburgh 3 at Atlanta 7Cleveland 5 at Washington 1Detroit 1 at Vancouver 7Toronto 4 at St. Louis 1Wed. March 16Philadelphia 4 at N.Y. Rangers 4N.Y. Islanders 5 at Chicago 0Montreal 5 at Minnesota 2St. Louis 3 at Pittsburgh 7Toronto 4 at Colorado 4Buffalo 6 at Cleveland 2Thu. March 17Atlanta 4 at Philadelphia 1Detroit 2 at Los Angeles 3Buffalo 2 at Boston 4Fri. March 18Colorado 0 at Washington 5Minnesota 2 at Cleveland 2Sat. March 19N.Y. Rangers 5 at Pittsburgh 2Chicago 2 at N.Y. Islanders 2Philadelphia 5 at Los Angeles 3Atlanta 4 at Toronto 5Vancouver 4 at St. Louis 4Sun. March 20St. Louis 3 at N.Y. Rangers 5Atlanta 4 at Cleveland 5Buffalo 6 at Washington 2Pittsburgh 2 at Chicago 3Detroit 1 at Minnesota 2Vancouver 4 at Colorado 1 &#9632;

f0020-21

The NHL Scoreboard

<h2>Mon. March 14</h2>LOS ANGELES 0, MONTREAL 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01510/3852116-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="582" height="427"></div><h2>Tue. March 15</h2>PITTSBURGH 3, ATLANTA 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02371/3852109-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="580" height="502"></div>CLEVELAND 5, WASHINGTON 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03300/3852102-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="579" height="481"></div>DETROIT 1, VANCOUVER 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04208/3852095-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="581" height="503"></div>TORONTO 4, ST. LOUIS 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-05118/3852088-1-eng-US/f0020-052.jpg" title="f0020-05" width="575" height="244"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0691/3852081-1-eng-US/f0020-062.jpg" title="f0020-06" width="577" height="244"></div><h2>Wed. March 16</h2>PHILADELPHIA 4, RANGERS 4FIRST PERIODHangers. 1&mdash;Newman (Esposito. Greschner) 8 00.Penalties Kelly 0:36. Holmgren. Fotiu (minors majors) 17:04. Kindrachuk 17:47.SECOND PERIODHangers, 2&mdash;Hickey (Stemkowski, Maloney) 3:10 Philadelphia. 3&mdash;Kindrachuk (Joe Watson) 4 47. Hangers. 4&mdash;Vadnais (Farrish. Hodge) 9:21; Philadelphia. 5&mdash;MacLeish 15:54. 6&mdash;Lonsberry (Dalley. MacLeish) 18:38.Penalties: Lapointe. Newman (minors, majors) 2.53. Philadelphia bench (served by Kelly) 10:37, Gilbert 11:36THIRD PERIODPhiladelphia. 7&mdash;MacLeish (Joe Watson, Lonsberry) 5 18; Rangers. 8&mdash;Esposito (Greschner. Newman) 5:57.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0873/3852074-1-eng-US/f0020-082.jpg" title="f0020-08" width="578" height="116"></div>ISLANDERS 5, CHICAGO 0<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0954/3852067-1-eng-US/f0020-092.jpg" title="f0020-09" width="583" height="452"></div>MONTREAL 5, MINNESOTA 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1044/3852060-1-eng-US/f0020-102.jpg" title="f0020-10" width="578" height="423"></div>ST. LOUIS 3, PITTSBURGH 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1133/3852053-1-eng-US/f0020-112.jpg" title="f0020-11" width="576" height="529"></div>TORONTO 4, COLORADO 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1229/3852046-1-eng-US/f0020-122.jpg" title="f0020-12" width="574" height="501"></div>BUFFALO 6, CLEVELAND 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1319/3852039-1-eng-US/f0020-132.jpg" title="f0020-13" width="569" height="164"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1418/3852032-1-eng-US/f0020-142.jpg" title="f0020-14" width="583" height="343"></div><h2>Thu. March 17</h2>ATLANTA 4, PHILADELPHIA 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1517/3852025-1-eng-US/f0020-152.jpg" title="f0020-15" width="588" height="506"></div>DETROIT 2, LOS ANGELES 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1613/3852018-1-eng-US/f0020-162.jpg" title="f0020-16" width="574" height="509"></div>BUFFALO 2, BOSTON 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-179/3852011-1-eng-US/f0020-172.jpg" title="f0020-17" width="577" height="483"></div><h2>Fri. March 18</h2>COLORADO 0, WASHINGTON 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-188/3852004-1-eng-US/f0020-182.jpg" title="f0020-18" width="579" height="400"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-194/3851997-1-eng-US/f0020-192.jpg" title="f0020-19" width="575" height="58"></div>MINNESOTA 2, CLEVELAND 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-204/3851990-1-eng-US/f0020-202.jpg" title="f0020-20" width="582" height="373"></div><h2>Sat. March 19</h2>RANGERS 5, PITTSBURGH 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01350/3851983-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="592" height="478"></div>CHICAGO 2, ISLANDERS 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02234/3851976-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="585" height="425"></div>PHILADELPHIA 5, LOS ANGELES 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03152/3851969-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="585" height="505"></div>ATLANTA 4, TORONTO 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04118/3851962-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="586" height="479"></div>VANCOUVER 4, ST. LOUIS 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0599/3851955-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="583" height="529"></div><h2>Sun. March 20</h2>ST. LOUIS 3, RANGERS 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0685/3851948-1-eng-US/f0021-062.jpg" title="f0021-06" width="585" height="523"></div>ATLANTA 4, CLEVELAND 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0772/3851941-1-eng-US/f0021-072.jpg" title="f0021-07" width="587" height="533"></div>BUFFALO 6, WASHINGTON 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0868/3851934-1-eng-US/f0021-082.jpg" title="f0021-08" width="586" height="395"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0580/3851927-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="587" height="217"></div>PITTSBURGH 2, CHICAGO 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0664/3851920-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="586" height="346"></div>DETROIT 1, MINNESOTA 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0754/3851913-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="580" height="262"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0848/3851906-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="585" height="83"></div>VANCOUVER 4, COLORADO 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0940/3851899-1-eng-US/f0039-092.jpg" title="f0039-09" width="586" height="535"></div> &#9632;

f0020-01

National League Summaries

MONTREAL&mdash;The National Hockey League&rsquo;s playoff schedule maker has headed for the aspirin cabinet and rightly so.With only two weeks remaining in the 1976-77 regular season schedule to be played. 15 of the 18 teams were still in the running for playoff berths and only one&mdash;the overall league champion Montreal Canadiens&mdash;is assured of the home ice advantage for the Stanley Cup playdowns.Here&rsquo;s an example of the congestion facing the NHL after the March 21 weekend:&bull; Philadelphia still hadn&rsquo;t wrapped up first place in the Patrick Division. The Islanders were four back with a 101-97 point spread In the same division the desperate Rangers were still alive and kicking for the third and final playoff rung. The point difference here was 73-68 in Atlanta&rsquo;s favor with six games each to go.&bull; Pittsburgh wasn&rsquo;t yet assured of second place in the Norris Division with the pursuing Los Angeles Kings still hot on their tails with a 75-72 point spread The Kings have two games in hand on the Penguins.&bull; Buffalo and Boston looked as though they would go down to the final weekend. Sunday. April 3. before deciding who&rsquo;ll finish on top of the Adams Division. A March 30 clash between the two clubs in Buffalo could decide it all. The Sabres lead the Bruins 96-94 in points. Buffalo has seven left, the Bruins eight games.&bull; Things are even more hectic in the Smythe Division where four of the five clubs can still finish in first place. St. Louis Blues have an eight-point cushion (67 points to 59) over second-place Chicago Black Hawks but Minnesota and Vancouver are each only a single point behind Hawks. The closeness of this race has been produced by the facts that Canucks have lost only one and the North Stars two of each club&rsquo;s last 11 games. Although Colorado Rockies are last with 51 points, they still have seven games in which to muster a final playoff drive. St. Louis and Minnesota have seven remaining games each while Chicago and Vancouver have six.Just to review the playoff formula, the first three clubs in the final standings in each division will participate in postseason play. The four divisional leaders will receive a bye into the quarter-final while the remaining eight teams (second and third place in each division) will be ranked in order of points in the standings, without regard to division. These teams will participate in the preliminary round (best-of-three). &#9632;

Final Playoff Sites Still Up In Air As NHL Races Nearing An End

<h2>PLAYOFF CONTENDERS</h2>(On Mon. March 21)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0956/3852254-1-eng-US/f0021-092.jpg" title="f0021-09" width="580" height="425"></div><h3>OUT OF PLAVOFFS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1046/3852247-1-eng-US/f0021-102.jpg" title="f0021-10" width="577" height="105"></div>(*-assured playoff berths) &#9632;

f0021-09

How NHL’s Races Look

Speedy Real Cloutier of the Quebec Nordiques appears intent on finishing the WHA season as the individual scoring champion despite the efforts of the Winnipeg&rsquo;s Anders Hedberg to overtake him.Cloutier continued his sizzling scoring pace this past week as he scored five times to become the league&rsquo;s second 60-goal scorer while adding a few more points to his league lead over Hedberg.The Nords&rsquo; hot right winger has 125 scoring points in 67 games and leads Hedberg by 13. Hedberg, who has played seven less games than Cloutier, is the WHA&rsquo;s No. 1 goal scorer with 63 but the way Cloutier has been popping them, he may relinquish his lead to the Quebecer in the remaining two weeks of the schedule.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02291/3852316-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="500" height="468"><figcaption class="caption-body">REAL CLOUTIER &hellip;Quebec Nordiques</figcaption></div>Cloutier had a hat trick, scored two single goals and helped set up four other Quebec goals for another spectacular scoring week. &#9632;

f0022-02

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/f0022-01382/3852285-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">HEXI RIIHIRANTA&hellip; Balks At Trade (Photo by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaWINNIPEG&mdash;As the clock ticked down the final minutes leading to the trade deadline at midnight of March 9, the Winnipeg Jets and the Calgary Cowboys finally consummated the biggest trade of the WHA season. It was one that was more than three months in the making.The Jets divorced themselves from their two Finnish performers, center Veil-Pekka Ketola and defenseman Hexi Riihiranta, sending them to the Cowboys for right winger Danny Lawson and defenseman Mike Ford. Thus ended many weeks if speculation that Lawson and Ketola would exchange sweaters.But many days after the trade was completed there was still reason to suspect that repercussions might alter the eventual outcome. Riihiranta refused to report to Calgary, pointing to the notrade clause in his Winnipeg contract, and while the Cowboys headed for the Eastern Division for a crucial 10-game road trip he stayed put in his temporary Winnipeg home.Initially, it was suggested that Ketola, too, would object to the trade. But his hesitation was only temporary and as soon as the shock of the news wore off he promptly trooped into the Calgary dressing room.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a traveller so I&rsquo;m going to go, &ldquo;reported Velo to the Winnipeg press. Hexi, on the other hand, kept insisting &ldquo;I started in Winnipeg and I&rsquo;m going to end in Winnipeg.&rdquo;While there had been some suggestion that Hexi might change his mind, the general feeling was that he would stick by his guns. It&rsquo;s understood he&rsquo;s already agreed to a contract that would take him back to Finland next season, hence his trip to Calgary would have been only for a matter of weeks.To be seen at this writing was what part WHA president Bill MacFarland would play in this drama. There have been suggestions that the Jets owe Calgary a player for Ford, maybe Mike Ford himself.Ford, of course, started the season on the Winnipeg blue line after playing regularly with the Avco Cup champs last season. He was traded to the Cowboys after eight games when the Jets acquired Barry Long from Edmonton.Hours before the trade was completed the Jets signed center Fran Huck, a veteran of many major league seasons who last year performed with the Minnesota Fighting. Saints He had spent the current season in Switzerland but his return to Winnipeg was delayed until the Jets could get him off New England&rsquo;s list. His arrival finally opened the door for Ketola&rsquo;s departure.Coach Bobby Kromm felt the trade would prove beneficial to the Jets, possibly coming too late to catch Houston in the Western Division pennant chase but he said they were now equipped to meet them in the playoffs.&ldquo;With Huck and Lawson we now have three strong lines,&rdquo; suggested Kromm.&ldquo;Now we&rsquo;ve got to hope we don&rsquo;t get any more injuries.&rdquo;Although Kromm admitted he liked Ketola, he had criticized him publicly early in the season, saying he appeared to be on a vacation.&ldquo;Both Velo and Hexi had an opportunity to assume control of the team when we were riddled by injuries this season,&rdquo; added Kromm. &ldquo;They didn&rsquo;t, so we made a deal.&rdquo;For his part, Ketola refused to take any parting shots at the Jets.&ldquo;I feel he (Kromm) had to point his finger at somebody when we weren&rsquo;t playing well so he pointed it at me. I&rsquo;ll admit I haven&rsquo;t played my best hockey this year,&rdquo; said Ketola.Ketola had scored 25 goals for the Jets, one more than Lawson did for the Cowboys.Ironically, the two clubs met each other in Winnipeg two days after the trade was made. The Jets won 4-1 but none of the central figures were involved in the scoring.CALGARY: For his part, Cowboy coach Joe Crozier was ecstatic about the prospects of the trade. He admitted his love affair with Ketola actually went back three years when Velo was still a virtual unknown in North America. He said he had placed Ketola&rsquo;s name on the negotiation list of the then Vancouver Blazers but had mis-spelled it and when the Jets got around to putting him on their list the league awarded him to Winnipeg.His pursuit of Ketola began again in earnest last October after Jim Harrison was declared a free agent and in turn signed with the Chicago Black Hawks.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always wanted a big center and Ketola fits that bill perfectly,&rdquo; said The Crow. &ldquo;I fully recognize his potential but I doubt that he even knows what he can be here. He can do it all. If he decides he wants to, he could be the big man in the franchise.&rdquo;On the last year of his contract. Velo has kept his future plans to himself. But in his first two games as a Cowboy he&rsquo;s performed like a man out to prove a point. He&rsquo;s killed penalties, worked the power play and taken a regular turn, all of them effectively. He scored only once as the Cowboys lost both games on the road.Lawson&rsquo;s departure snapped the club&rsquo;s last link with the original Philadelphia Blazers&rsquo; franchise. A former captain, he is one of only a handful of players never to have missed a regular season WHA game. Also, he is one of only five to have scored more than 200 goalsIt was in a blaze of glory, too, that he bid the Cowboys adieu. Little more than an hour before the trade was made it was his goal late in the third period that proved to be the winner in a 4-3 victory over San Diego. That goal extended the Cowboys&rsquo; winning streak to five games.I hated to see him go.&rdquo; said Crozier &ldquo;I had him in Buffalo and Vancouver and he&rsquo;s played extremely well for me. But we wanted the big centerman in Ketola and the Jets would talk only in terms of Lawson. It&rsquo;s the old story of having to give up something if you want something.&rdquo;Ketola&rsquo;s arrival with 54 points (25 goals, 29 assists) instantly made him the club&rsquo;s scoring leader, six more than runner-up Lynn Powis. It also keeps him from firing pucks at Calgary goaltenders. He had eight goals against the Cowboys last year, a number unsurpassed by anybody in the league.The Cowboys, meanwhile, appear to be following the same trend they&rsquo;ve established all season. They closed out a lengthy home stand with five consecutive wins and then lost the first two upon embarking on a 10-game road trip. They&rsquo;ve won only four games on the road this season, none in the Eastern Division.Joining the Cowboys in Cincinnati for a tryout was Brian Walsh, a center form Cambridge, Mass., whose collegiate hockey career at Notre Dame was terminated earlier in the week when the Fighting Irish lost to Minnesota in the playoffs.EDMONTON: The Oilers struggled back into the Western Division playoff picture by winning one and tying another in five starts on the road under new coach Glen Sather. The three points enabled them to move within two points of the fourth-place Cowboys.They did it on the strength of some spectacular goaltending by Louis Levasseur. In their lone win, a 4-3 triumph in Indianapolis, they were outshot 42-22 by the Racers.The Oilers blew an excellent opportunity to hand the Houston Aeros their second defeat on home ice this season when after opening a 3-0 lead in the second period they gave up five consecutive goals. They haven&rsquo;t beaten the Aeros in a couple of seasons but have one game remaining on Edmonton ice.While the Oilers have 11 games remaining in which to make up ground on the Cowboys, Calgary does own four games in hand All of these, however, are on the road. &#9632;

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Huck, Lawson Give Winnipeg Three Solid Forward Lines; Crozier Glad To Get Ketola

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCCONNELL</div>PHOENIX&mdash;Amid denials that a liquidation of the World Hockey Association franchise is on. the Phoenix Roadrunners sold premiere defenseman Garry Lariviere to the Quebec Nordiques.Lariviere balked for almost a week, until deferred salary payments were made, before reporting to the Nordiques.Roadrunner team president Brian O&rsquo;Neill said chances of the Roadrunners surviving beyond this season &ldquo;are not great&rdquo; but said liquidation of the franchise has not begun.Lariviere&rsquo;s sale &ldquo;represented a lot of dollars.&rdquo; said O&rsquo;Neill, &ldquo;and we&rsquo;re doing everything we can to finish this season.&rdquo;O&rsquo;Neill called Lariviere&rsquo;s refusal to report the result &ldquo;of a lot of bad advice he&rsquo;s getting from his agent and it&rsquo;s costing him a lot of money.&rdquo;Lariviere remained in Phoenix several days, flew to St. Catharines. Ont., to meet his agent. Frank Milne, and later reported to the Nordiques, after receiving the monies due him.All the Roadrunner players agreed last November to accept salary deferments, personally guaranteed by club owner Karl Eller.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sitting right here until it&rsquo;s straightened out,&rdquo; declared the 22-year-old defenseman when the deal was announced. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re not pulling the same deal on me they did on Cam Connor.&rdquo;Milne includes Connor, who was traded to the Houston Aeros before the current season opened, and Barry Dean, who was dispatched to the Colorado Rockies of the National League at the same time, among his clients.Milne met recently with O&rsquo;Neill and Houston&rsquo;s vice-president, general manager and coach. Bill Dineen, over $50,000 in deferred salary owed Connor from last season.O&rsquo;Neill claims the Aeros assumed the obligation to Connor when they made the trade for him in October.In addition, said Milne. Dean is still owed $65,000 in deferred payments.Roadrunner coach Al Rollins announced as the sale was disclosed before a game, that the sale &ldquo;came as a shock to me and to the players.&rdquo;&ldquo;I thought when I had talked them out of selling Garry to the (New York) Islanders until the season was over, that they could get 20 times more. I thought that was it. I thought they&rsquo;d respect my judgment as a hockey man, but I guess not.&rdquo;The deal with Quebec also came as a surprise to Milne and to Lariviere, who said, &ldquo;I definitely would rather go to the Islanders.&rdquo;&ldquo;O&rsquo;Neill told us when we met with him that they would like to move Garry now but they couldn&rsquo;t. It would kill them at the gate. The next I heard was yesterday when O&rsquo;Neill called and said it was Quebec&rsquo;s problem now.&rdquo;WHA regulations require that before a player can be sold to a National League team, he be offered at the same price to the member WHA teams.Milne charged the Quebec team had not been told the full amount of the monies owed Lariviere, the highest paid player on the Roadrunner roster, thus the delay in reporting.O&rsquo;Neill said the Nordiques agreed to pick up Lariviere&rsquo;s deferred salary payments (believed to be about $50,000) besides paying a sum of cash (estimated at $20,0001).O&rsquo;Neill said that counting the deferments. Lariviere&rsquo;s remaining pay checks plus the purchase price from Quebec, Lariviere &ldquo;would have been the most expensive hockey player in the history of hockey for the last month.&rdquo;Milne&rsquo;s accusations were termed &ldquo;completely false&rdquo; by O&rsquo;Neill, who said WHA president Bill MacFarland &ldquo;was in on the deal every step of the way.&rdquo;Nordiques general manager Maurice Filion said. &ldquo;We got the same figures from the WHA office, from Bill MacFarland, as we got from O&rsquo;Neill, so I had to believe them.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the same old deal, Milne charged. &ldquo;They say you go there and we&rsquo;ll straighten it out later. Well, he&rsquo;s not moving until he&rsquo;s paid in full what&rsquo;s coming to him.&ldquo;The Islanders agreed to pay the full shot, quite a bit more than the figure Quebec has been told, and I thought we had a deal.&rdquo;Lariviere said he was also disturbed for the coach.&ldquo;The guy I feel sorry for is Rollins.&rdquo; said Lariviere. &ldquo;The players would have packed it in 10 different times this season if it wasn&rsquo;t for him.&ldquo;He even offered to put up out of his own money how much they thought they could get for me and then sell me at the end of the season, getting his money back and keeping what was left over, but they wouldn&rsquo;t even agree to that.&rdquo;Club owner Karl Eller said the only means of survival for the Roadrunners beyond this season is someone else buying the club or at least a substantial share.Eller added his continued involvement in the team, which has dropped almost $4 million in operations in three years, &ldquo;depends on the deal and if there is a merger with the National League and if the terms of the merger are lenient.&rdquo;He added he has no doubts major league hockey can be successful in three-to-five years from now &ldquo;but I don&rsquo;t see any way any one person can hang on that long&ldquo;Players in a year or two from now will be playing for half what they are now.&rdquo; he said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01359/3852347-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="577" height="784"><figcaption class="caption-body">GARRY LARIVIERE &hellip; Held Out For Money</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Roadrunners’ Quick Sale Of Lariviere Desperation Move To Keep Club Alive

<h2>Special To The Hockey News</h2>HOUSTON&mdash;The prospect of deferred paychecks doesn&rsquo;t seem to be bothering any of the Aeros except the Howes and the Howes are getting their paychecks on time, anyway.The Aeros are winging merrily along, having increased their Western Division lead to 12 points over the Winnipeg Jets.The Aeros jumped in front of the Stingers 3-0 in the first period in Cincinnati and Stingers&rsquo; coach Terry Slater placed the blame for the eventual 7-3 whipping on a goaltender who didn&rsquo;t play.The Stingers had played 16 hours before and when the Aeros increased their lead to 5-2, he intended to replace the tired veteran, Jacques Caron, in goal.&ldquo;I put the hook out for Caron.&rdquo; Slater said, &ldquo;but I look down the bench and Normy (LaPointe) doesn&rsquo;t even have his equipment on. That&rsquo;s how bad our bench is.&ldquo;Normy was sitting, watching the game. He could have gotten a hot dog and a drink and watched the game.&rdquo; Slater said. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t play a team sport as an individual. You&rsquo;ve got to be ready.&rdquo;Following the game, Houston coach Bill Dineen confirmed that two pay checks had been deferred, saying it was a guaranteed deferral to next year&rsquo;s salary. The checks were for Feb. 15 and March 15.Although the Aeros fell behind the Edmonton Oilers who scored three times in 53 seconds, they came back with five consecutive goals for a 5-3 victory. Reflecting Houston&rsquo;s marvelous balance, five different players scored the goals&mdash;John Gray, Rich Preston, Terry Ruskowski, Gordie Howe and Larry Lund. &#9632;

Aeros Not Easing Up In Spite Of Troubles

<h2>SCORING AND PENALTY STATISTICS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01370/3852563-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="931" height="790"></div><h2>BIRMINGHAM BULLS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02291/3852556-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="158" height="169"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03206/3852549-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="734" height="616"></div><h2>CALGARY COWBOYS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04157/3852542-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="209" height="190"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-05123/3852535-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="729" height="616"></div><h2>CINCINNATI STINGERS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-06107/3852528-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="132" height="160"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0792/3852521-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="727" height="535"></div><h2>EDMONTON OILERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0887/3852514-1-eng-US/f0024-082.jpg" title="f0024-08" width="200" height="196"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0980/3852507-1-eng-US/f0024-092.jpg" title="f0024-09" width="730" height="617"></div><h2>HOUSTON AEROS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1073/3852500-1-eng-US/f0024-102.jpg" title="f0024-10" width="261" height="114"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1171/3852493-1-eng-US/f0024-112.jpg" title="f0024-11" width="727" height="538"></div><h2>INDIANAPOLIS RACERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1263/3852486-1-eng-US/f0024-122.jpg" title="f0024-12" width="214" height="157"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1352/3852479-1-eng-US/f0024-132.jpg" title="f0024-13" width="733" height="642"></div><h2>NEW ENGLAND WHALERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1443/3852472-1-eng-US/f0024-142.jpg" title="f0024-14" width="220" height="224"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1538/3852465-1-eng-US/f0024-152.jpg" title="f0024-15" width="728" height="564"></div><h2>WHA Leaders</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1635/3852458-1-eng-US/f0024-162.jpg" title="f0024-16" width="729" height="672"></div><h2>PHOENIX ROADRUNNERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1732/3852451-1-eng-US/f0024-172.jpg" title="f0024-17" width="208" height="206"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1830/3852444-1-eng-US/f0024-182.jpg" title="f0024-18" width="730" height="536"></div><h2>QUEBEC NORDIQUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1930/3852437-1-eng-US/f0024-192.jpg" title="f0024-19" width="189" height="187"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-2029/3852430-1-eng-US/f0024-202.jpg" title="f0024-20" width="733" height="538"></div><h2>SAN DIEGO MARINERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-2126/3852423-1-eng-US/f0024-212.jpg" title="f0024-21" width="199" height="214"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-2224/3852416-1-eng-US/f0024-222.jpg" title="f0024-22" width="725" height="616"></div><h2>WINNIPEG JETS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-2324/3852409-1-eng-US/f0024-232.jpg" title="f0024-23" width="207" height="205"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-2421/3852402-1-eng-US/f0024-242.jpg" title="f0024-24" width="732" height="589"></div> &#9632;

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HARTFORD&mdash;Both the Quebec Nordiques and New England Whalers are rapidly closing in on a common goal &mdash; they hope to clinch a World Hockey Association playoff berth in the next week or 10 days.The Whalers came up big winners last week in the WHA as they lambasted Calgary Cowboys 9-0 and 3-1 in a pair of Hartford games that may have dealt a death blow to the westerners&rsquo; playoff hopes.The double victory stretched the Whalers&rsquo; fourth-place edge to nine points over the lowly Birmingham Bulls, who are finding that time is rapidly running out on them for a chance at the fourth and last playoff berth in the East.New England holds a 68-59 point edge over the Bulls, who have a game in hand on the Whalers with eight left to play on the schedule. The Whalers haven&rsquo;t given up the idea of overtaking the inconsistent Indianapolis Racers either They trail the Racers by three points and could make it to a third-place finish with a good spurt down the stretch. The Racers, who began the week with two wins, ended it with two losses and have all but lost their chance to catch Cincinnati Stingers.The Eastern Division leading Nordiques are enjoying a nine-point bulge over Cincinnati and don&rsquo;t appear to be in any serious danger of being dislodged. The only thing the Nordiques appear to be losing ground on is in the overall WHA championship race. The Houston Aeros have moved 10 points ahead of the Quebecers and appear to be in as regular season champs. The Nordiques expect to clinch first place in another week.The Nordiques split four games last week beating Phoenix and Calgary but losing to Cincinnati and Houston. Real Cloutier came up with a nine-point week including his 60th goal of the year and stretched his individual league scoring lead over Winnipeg&rsquo;s Anders Hedberg as well. Another Quebecer, Serge Bernier, shot a hat trick during the week to raise his season total to 37.Little Dave Keon continued to be the Whalers&rsquo; ice leader with 84 scoring points. Keon pumped in his 25th goal of the year and also came up with a five-point week.Cap Raeder picked up his second WHA shutout of the season as he slammed the door on the Calgary Cowboys. He also lowered his goals-against average to 3.09. fourth best in the league Raeder has a 99-1 record in 22 starts for the Whalers and appears to have taken over as the No. 1 netminder on the club.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-2516/3852594-1-eng-US/f0024-252.jpg" title="f0024-25" width="558" height="836"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAP RAEDER &hellip;Gets 2nd Shutout</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0024-25

Whalers, Quebec Nearing Clincher

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCCONNELL</div>SAN DIEGO&mdash;The Phoenix Koadrunners could be good for what&rsquo;s ailing the San Diego Mariners.At least part of what&rsquo;s ailing the Mariners.Only medical help can aid the incredible rash of injuries suffered by the Mariners. Rjck Sentes. out with sore ribs, and Brent Hughes, who has a broken toe, are the latest.The Runners could help the sevengame San Diego losing streak and the 11-game winless streak.The last Mariner victory was 5-2 over Phoenix in San Diego. The last unbeaten Mariner game was a 3-3 tie with Phoenix in San Diego.In fact, after dropping the opening game of the season to Phoenix, the Mariners won the next six and tied the seventh against their southwest rivals.And the Mariners&rsquo; next four games are against the Roadrunners. who have been depleted by budget cutting with many of their stars traded off or sold.The Quebec Nordiques started the Mariner losing streak with a 4-2 setback, breaking a five-game Mariner victory streak, and it was only the fifth San Diego loss on home ice. They&rsquo;ve now lost seven on home ice and lost every one of a six-game road trip.&ldquo;I have never gone through a stretch like this but then I&rsquo;ve never had a team that had this many disabling injuries, either.&rdquo; said coach Hon Ingram.&ldquo;I was really pleased about how all tne guys responded to all this. At least 80 percent of them gave me 100 percent.&rdquo;&ldquo;On this (most recent) trip, where we&rsquo;ve lost all six, we should have had at least six points,&rdquo; added Ingram.The Mariners were shut out three times in the six-game road trip, 2-0 at Indianapolis. 6-0 at Quebec and 5-0 at Winnipeg.The last loss of the road trip came at Calgary on a breakaway goal by Danny Lawson (his farewell performance before trading a Cowboy uniform for a Winnipeg Jet suit) at 14:32 of the third period on a pass from the WHA&rsquo;s highest scoring goaltender. Don McLeod.The assist was the sixth this season by McLeod who set a WHA record with 13 in 1975-76.San Diego&rsquo;s shutout at Winnipeg also marked the reunion of the Jets&rsquo; Hot Line&rdquo; for the first time since Jan. 21 and Bobby Hull. Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson celebrated with a goal apiece.That followed another loss at Calgary. 4-2, when the Cowboys broke open a tie game with second period goals by rookie defenseman Wayne Morin (his first) and George Morrison.PHOENIX:Roadrunners returned to harsh reality in Quebec City where they lost their three biggest defensemen and absorbed a 9-2 lacing.Garry Lariviere. 198. had been sold a few days earlier to the Nordiques but was balking at reporting until money matters had been clarified. Jerry Hollins, 202, collided with a teammate during the pregame warmup and suffered a concussion and Serge Beaudoin, 215, troubled by the flu, had to leave at the end of the first period.The Roadrunners had dropped a 3-2 decision at Indianapolis on a goal at 8:44 of overtime by the league&rsquo;s highest scoring defenseman. Darryl Maggs. It was his 14th of the season and was screened from goaltender Clay Hebenton&rsquo;s vision.Hebenton kept his eye on the puck for 34 saves the night before in Phoenix as the Koadrunners continued their strange mastery of the Winnipeg Jets, 4-1Kobbie Ftorek scored two goals and assisted on another in the Runners&rsquo; sixth victory in the closeout of the eight-game series.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01314/3852625-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="545" height="577"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON INGRAM &hellip; Injuries Hurting</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0025-01

Mariners Continue To Nose Dive

<h2>Tue. March 15</h2>QUEBEC 3, HOUSTON 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01321/3852789-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="586" height="454"></div>CALGARY 1, INDIANAPOLIS 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02263/3852782-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="574" height="398"></div>CINCINNATI 2, BIRMINGHAM 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03223/3852775-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="578" height="481"></div>PHOENIX 4, SAN DIEGO 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04171/3852768-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="587" height="698"></div>EDMONTON 0, WINNIPEG 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05136/3852761-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="582" height="220"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-06106/3852754-1-eng-US/f0026-062.jpg" title="f0026-06" width="590" height="405"></div><h2>Wed. March 16</h2>CALGARY 3, CINCINNATI 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0795/3852747-1-eng-US/f0026-072.jpg" title="f0026-07" width="588" height="508"></div><h2>Thu. March 17</h2>QUEBEC 4, PHOENIX 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0885/3852740-1-eng-US/f0026-082.jpg" title="f0026-08" width="575" height="105"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0979/3852733-1-eng-US/f0026-092.jpg" title="f0026-09" width="581" height="326"></div>INDIANAPOLIS 5, BIRMINGHAM 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1075/3852726-1-eng-US/f0026-102.jpg" title="f0026-10" width="581" height="476"></div>WINNIPEG 3, EDMONTON 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1171/3852719-1-eng-US/f0026-112.jpg" title="f0026-11" width="584" height="503"></div><h2>Fri. March 18</h2>QUEBEC 3, CINCINNATI 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1265/3852712-1-eng-US/f0026-122.jpg" title="f0026-12" width="581" height="585"></div>PHOENIX 3, HOUSTON 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1364/3852705-1-eng-US/f0026-132.jpg" title="f0026-13" width="584" height="379"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1458/3852698-1-eng-US/f0026-142.jpg" title="f0026-14" width="585" height="222"></div>WINNIPEG 7, INDIANAPOLIS 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1552/3852691-1-eng-US/f0026-152.jpg" title="f0026-15" width="583" height="582"></div>CALGARY 1, NEW ENGLAND 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1644/3852684-1-eng-US/f0026-162.jpg" title="f0026-16" width="582" height="533"></div><h2>Sat. March 19</h2>CALGARY 0, QUEBEC 8<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1740/3852677-1-eng-US/f0026-172.jpg" title="f0026-17" width="583" height="487"></div>SAN DIEGO 5, PHOENIX 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1839/3852670-1-eng-US/f0026-182.jpg" title="f0026-18" width="577" height="482"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1936/3852663-1-eng-US/f0026-192.jpg" title="f0026-19" width="576" height="104"></div><h2>Sun. March 20</h2>HOUSTON 8, INDIANAPOLIS 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-2032/3852656-1-eng-US/f0026-202.jpg" title="f0026-20" width="581" height="636"></div> &#9632;

f0026-01

World Hockey Association Summaries

<h2>MARCH</h2>Sat 26 Indianapolis at New EnglandCincinnati at QuebecCalgary at San DiegoSun 27 Winnipeg at HoustonCincinnati at QuebecEdmonton at New EnglandIndianapolis at BirminghamPhoenix at CalgaryTues 29 Houston at WinnipegNew England at San DiegoPhoenix at CalgaryCincinnati at BirminghamWed 30 Houston at EdmontonCincinnati at IndianapolisThu 3l New England at PhoenixWinnipeg at San Diego<h2>APRIL</h2>Fri 1 Cincinnati at HoustonCalgary at Edmonton &#9632;

Where WHA Teams Play

(Standings on Tue. March 22)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-2127/3852844-1-eng-US/f0026-212.jpg" title="f0026-21" width="546" height="489"></div>(*-suspended operations)Tue. March 15Quebec 3 at Houston 7Edmonton 0 at Winnipeg 7Calgary 1 at Indianapolis 3Cincinnati 2 at Birmingham 4Phoenix 4 at San Diego 4Wed. March 16Calgary 3 at Cincinnati 4Thu. March 17Quebec 4 at Phoenix 3Indianapolis 5 at Birmingham 2Winnipeg 3 at Edmonton 4Fri. March 18Phoenix 3 at Houston 6Quebec 3 at Cincinnati 7Calgary 1 at New England 3Winnipeg 7 at Indianapolis 5Sat. March 19San Diego 5 at Phoenix 7Calgary 0 at Quebec 8Sun. March 20Houston 8 at Indianapolis 3Calgary 0 at New England 9Phoenix 1 at San Diego 6Winnipeg 4 at Birmingham 3 &#9632;

f0026-21

The WHA Scoreboard

<div class="byline">BY GREG NOBLE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01301/3852882-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">DENNIS SOBCHUK&hellip; Milestone Lacks Flair</figcaption></div>CINCINNATI&mdash;Dennis Sobchuk wanted to score his 100th major league goal with flair. Maybe by skating through two defensemen and picking the top corner. Or by stealing the puck and breaking down the ice for a shorthanded goal.&ldquo;I wanted it to be special.&rdquo; the young Stingers&rsquo; star said, making a frown and feigning disappointment As it happened. Sobchuk did not score his 100th goal in dramatic fashion, but rather by sticking out his foot.Ron Plumb took a shot from the point and the puck bounced off Sobchuk&rsquo;s skate into the net. &ldquo;Here,&rdquo; he told player personnel director Jerry Rafter, holding up his skate, &ldquo;if you want something to mark my 100th goal, you ought to take this.&rdquo;&ldquo;The puck hit me right here.&rdquo; he said, laughing and pointing to his instep &ldquo;If we had lost. I&rsquo;d be hurt.&rdquo; But thanks mostly to Sobchuk and his rookie linemates. Peter Marsh and Jamie Hislop, the Stingers notched a 5-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.Sobchuk had a hand in all five Stingers goals, scoring two and making three assists. Marsh scored a goal with five minutes left in the game to break a 3-3 tie and he also had three assists. And Hislop chipped in a goal.&ldquo;Sobbys line was great.&rdquo; said coach Terry Slater. &ldquo;They skated and checked and that&rsquo;s the name of the game. Anytime they were on the ice. Edmonton was lucky if they ever got the puck out of their end.&rdquo;&ldquo;All of us try to work very hard.&rdquo; said Sobchuk, the third-year pro who has earned accolades as the most complete player in the WHA. &ldquo;A lot of times these guys make it easy for me.&rdquo;All told, the Stingers won three out of four games early in March to strengthen their hold on second place in the Eastern Division.After Houston&rsquo;s Ron Grahame handed the Stingers only their second shutout of the season 5-0. the high-powered Cincinnati offense came back to rout Calgary 9-2 and Birmingham 7-4.Richie Leduc and his linemates. Rick Dudley and Dennis Abgrall, woke up out of a brief scoring slump to spark the last two victories Leduc scored two goals and two assists in each game to give him 45 goals for the season Dudley notched three goals and two assists in the two games and Abgrall had one goal and three assists.After scoring No 100, the 23-year-old Sobchuk kidded about aiming for the ultimate hockey milestone. &ldquo;That was a big thrill What&rsquo;s Gordie got? Only 900&rdquo; he said, referring to Gordie Howe, the game&rsquo;s all-time leading goal scorer.Sobchuk laughed He&rsquo;ll probably lose some sleep thinking about me. Gordie will.&rdquo;BIRMINGHAM: Sensational Mark Napier scored his 50th goal and the Bulls, struggling to overtake fourth-place New England, won two pivotal games against the Whalers. But coach Pat Kelly&rsquo;s club couldn&rsquo;t sustain the momentum on the road and dropped two important Eastern Division games to Indianapolis and Cincinnati.Jeff Jacques&rsquo; overtime goal lifted the Bulls to a 4-3 victory over the Whalers. Vaclav Nedomansky. John C. Stewart and.Tim Sheehy also scored Birmingham goals. The victory was the first for the Bulls in overtime this season and gave them a 1-8-3 record in extra-period games.With a crowd of over 15.000 on hand two nights later at the Jefferson County Civic Center, the Bulls whipped the Whalers again 6-3. Sheehy scored two goals and hometown favorite Lou Nistico dazzled the fans with a spectacular goal He carried the puck in from center ice and was tripped by Ricky Ley. While sliding along the ice on his belly. Nistico still managed to flip the puck past goalie Bruce LandonINDIANAPOLIS: The Racers got a boost when Jim Park recovered from a groin injury and rejoined the club from Oklahoma City. That at least gave them two healthy goaltenders down the stretch.Although they fell six points behind second-place Cincinnati, the Racers felt they might still overtake the Stingers. Coach Jacques Demers club was looking forward to two late-season games against the Stingers before the hometown fans at Market Square Arena. The Racers were leading the league attendance derby with an average of 9.271 per game.Early in the month, the Racers clobbered Birmingham 7-2 but they ran into some hot goaltending and lost to Houston and Edmonton. Pat Stapleton. Blair MacDonald and Reg Thomas starred in the victory over the Bulls. Seven players scored goals for the Racers.But the Racers couldn&rsquo;t get any breaks around the net against the Aeros or the Oilers. They outshot the Aeros 34-23 and still lost 5-0 at The Summit. And the Oilers beat them 4-3 although the Racers had a 40-24 edge in shots. Michel Parizeau did score his 20th goal against the Oilers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02238/3852875-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="562" height="582"><figcaption class="caption-body">MICHEL PARIZEAU &hellip; Notches 20th Goal</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0027-01

Sobchuk’s Foot Scores 100th Goal; Racers Hopeful With Park’s Return

<div class="byline">BY MARY KAY DAVIS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01287/3852913-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg"></div><h2>Top Entertainment</h2>TOM JONES, PAUL ANKA, Yankees vs. Red Sox. Mets vs Reds. World Team Tennis, and a night at Yonkers Raceway are planned by Vinny Seiortino for the summer enjoyment of the New York Rangers Fan Club (whew!)&hellip; Parties with the Chicago. Pittsburgh, and Washington fan clubs were enjoyed by members on recent trips. Bill Chadwick, an admitted Ranger rooter, guested at the February meeting. teaming up with John Halligan&hellip; Cindy Boyce won two tickets and a beer mug in the recent raffle&hellip;Also among the winners were Alt Faranda, Chris Oleartchick, Mike Hy-gardy, and Jean Peterson&hellip; A very special expression of sympathy to club members on the loss of their friend and long-time member John Gericitano, Sr., who died recently of cancer.Two &ldquo;Banner Nights&rdquo; in Pittsburgh were sponsored by the Pittsburgh Penguins Booster Club&hellip;Winning pennants were designed by Carol Onderko, John Spotti Jr., and Michael McNamara Jr&hellip; It was the clubs way of telling the players they&rsquo;re behind them in their drive for the Cup The sale of Bob Kelly, Pierre Larouche and Dave Burrows pins will be succeeded by buttons acclaiming Dune Wilson, Jean Pronovost, Syl Apps, and Greg Malone&hellip; Chairpeople Pat Snyder and Muriel Gavran also promise a special surprise for Stackhouse fans&hellip; Peggy & Audree Bannon are collecting paperbacks for donation by the club to Veterans Hospital.Starting a new tradition are Atlanta Flames Fan Club members&hellip;they re wearing and waving red to cheer on the team&hellip; Lucky Linda Weinstein and Susan Daniel got to collect recipes from Flames bachelors for La Bonne Cuisine, the new cookbook compiled featuring recipes from all the Flames wives, management, and single players. Proceeds go to a charity in the name of the Flames wives and to a special club project.Sheila Lindell of the Detroit Red Wing For&rsquo;em Club diligently recruited stick-passer-outers at the Olympia&rsquo;s recent &ldquo;free stick day &ldquo;&hellip;responding with enthusiasm were Gail Szalony, Nancy & Rick Russell, Joanne Kolcz, and Debbie Szatkowski&hellip; The Laikon Cafe&rsquo;s Tom Giornas wasn&rsquo;t half happy the club chose his place to meet&mdash;he mounted a special plaque commemorating their monthly visits. Warren & Jackie Meyer visited St. Clair Shores, where two of the amateur teams sponsored by the fan club are located, to take in the Red Wing Old Timers&rsquo; game&hellip;If it&rsquo;s hockey related, fanatic Terry Linn subscribes to it&hellip;Poor Bryce Borriusco missed part of the Christmas Party (the part where Santa was present)&hellip; Jim & Phyllis Farris moved to Florida and are suffering withdrawal symptoms (never fear, expansion is here)&hellip;Larry Zub deserves to go into print for even just considering consuming chocolate chip pancakes after sausages and eggs (urp) !Chicago Black Hawk Standby gals and Hawk wives got it together on March 19 for fun and games&hellip;Back by popular demand is the Shot And A Goal Cookbook featuring recipes from the wives and club members&hellip;Sid Wain of Coquitlam. British Columbia is a brand-new long-distance Stand-by&hellip;Gail Genovese Smith moves to Boston and will root from that end of the continent&hellip;Dyed-in-the-wool Chicago-land theater booster Dick Eisenhardt is now editing Theater &lsquo;77&hellip;Russ Gleason, a Colorado Rockies Blueliner, just transferred to Great Lakes Naval Base and has joined the ! Standbys&hellip;Other Colorado fans who joined at the recent Standby/Rockies party are Len Wrysinski, Dave Winslow, and Barbara Earl&hellip; Illinois Go Linda Lee with a trip to Springfield for the Inaugural Ball.Members of the Buffalo Sabres Booster Club spent much time welcoming to their fair white land the intrepid trave! lers from other fan clubs who shoveled off to Buffalo It was Midnight Skating in March and it&rsquo;ll be Midnight Bowling in late April (YAWN!)&hellip;Ingrid Sapona really did her homework for an excellent article on hockey history in a recent issue of Sabre Points&hellip;That&rsquo;s Joe Rathbun&rsquo;s banner at the Auditorium that reads. &ldquo;Love is&hellip;Being a Buffalo Sabre Fan!&rdquo;&hellip; Linda Russo is taking applications from fans under 21 for the Junior Booster Club, which recently hosted a spaghetti dinner at the Penalty Shot Restaurant.<h2>Capitals&rsquo; Club Busy</h2>HEADS ARE SPINNING in the Washington Capitals Fan Club with all the activities planned&hellip;Two bus trips to Pittsburgh and one to Long Island were topped off by parties hosted by those cities&rsquo; fan clubs&hellip;Members then hosted Islander and Ranger fans when they came to Washington. Tony White and Rick Bragnalo were guests at the February meeting&hellip;Raffle prizes included two Sky Suite seats to a game&hellip;Caps wives were feted at a luncheon and fashion show&hellip; A bake sale the next weekend featureds mouth-watering goodies made by Caps wives and club members The annual player-fan banquet is waiting til after playoffs, at managements request&hellip;A get-together with the Philly club is planned for summer a-la the famed three-way picnic of Pittsburgh/Detroit/Buffalo&hellip;Steve Ousley, club photographer, must be run ragged by now.Donating $700 to the Missouri Amateur Ice Hockey Association was the St. Louis Blueliner booster club. The cash helped defray costs of the associations fourth Annual International Bantam Tournament&hellip;In addition, the club gave $500 to the St. Louis Metro Junior B Hockey League&rsquo;s tournament. according to committee members John Torigian and Marge Rawley. Part of the money was raised at the annual Blueliner team banquet, sponsored by the fan club. with all team members plus Emile Francis in attendance&hellip;More funds were raised at the club&rsquo;s annual auction. put together by Sandi and Walt Gorin, Mary Schmedeke, Gary Venturella and their hard-working committee.Minnesota Stargazers are none too happy that no local TV station has picked up &ldquo;Monday Night Hockey&rdquo;&hellip;North Star wives were entertained by club members at a Chinese American restaurant&hellip;Sara Rehbein is another Stargazer furiously working on the August convention. Al Murphy, stationed at Scott AFB. has joined the club Tim Young, Gary Smith, Jim Roberts and Bill Fairbairn guested at recent meetings&hellip; Super hospitality from the Philadelphia Flyers Fan Club was enjoyed by Stargazers on their recent trip there&hellip;The pop machine at the motel in Philly charged 37 and a-half cents a can&hellip;Charlie Vesel has North Star jackets and jerseys at a special price for members.Great publicity, with pictures snapped by booster club members, in a recent issue of HOCKEY PICTORIALWORLD on &ldquo;Skate With the Kings.&rdquo; held in December at the Culver City Ice Arena&hellip;Though the article didn&rsquo;t mention this, &ldquo;Skate&rdquo; is the brainchild of the Los Angeles Kings Court Booster Club and has proven successful for several years&hellip;The event is open to all Kings fans, not just members&hellip;prizes are solicited and arrangements made by club members, and the event has the full approval of Kings management&hellip;The booster club is doing a great PR job for their team. The go-ahead from management for the annual player-fan banquet is being anxiously awaited by president Mary Todd and her great group.<h2>Beating The Elements</h2>Mike Sweeny of the Philadelphia Flyers Fan Club sends word on the &ldquo;Right Guard Special,&rdquo; their rousingly successful Pittsburgh-Washington doubleheader trip Despite subzero temperatures, a blizzard, and a bus change, the trip was enjoyed by all&hellip;It was capped by a party hosted by the Pittsburgh Penguins Booster Club&hellip; Helping pres Lou Damia run the club are Guy Pal, Kathy Hyk, Carol Dydo, Peg Hamons, Cheryl Adams, and Jack Schott&hellip;Jack enjoyed the Pittsburgh party so much he joined the Penguins Boosters&hellip; Flyers physiotheratpist Matt DiPaolo guested at the November meeting&hellip;serio/humorous stories were related by Steve Flynn, Tom Coyle, and Frank Rabena, Spectrum security men. at the December meeting. Bill Hannigan is the raffle champ, selling 300 chances to aid youth hockey.Bill Tolan represented the DU Pioneers Youth Hockey Association at recent meeting of the Colorado Rockies Blueliner Booster Club with tickets available to the game, which featured local news media and another recent guest was Rockies&rsquo; physician &ldquo;Doc&rdquo; Fisher. Doc&rsquo;s humorous stories delighted members, who promptly voted him an honorary member.&hellip; Bob Richards is new vice-president, while Dave Maxwell is a director&hellip;Paul Gardner was January Rocky of the Month, and Rob Lopez&rsquo; name was drawn from those who voted for Paul, so Rob also copped a prize&hellip;A great trip to Chicago was enjoyed in February, including a party by the Black Hawk Standbys. One-hundreth member to sign up this season was Rockies ticket man Larry McVey.Warmly welcomed at the Vancouver Canucks Booster Club&rsquo;s All Star game party were coach Orland Kurtenbach, several players, and their ladies. Lee Haudin points out that it was a foggy night and their friendly gesture was particularly appreciated. That puck which sent Bruce Hood up for stitches also ricocheted and caught booster clubber Don Campbell on the right temple&hellip;there must be an easier way of getting your name into this column Bev & Richard Strangeway are the artists who deserve much of the credit for the great signs around the Coliseum The fatiguing job of Nominating Committee is shouldered by Stan Watkins, Ken Hendry, and Mary Hordes.Thanks to Jeff fusing for putting us in touch with the Boston Bruins Fan Club&hellip;Ingrid Maack is deeply involved in astrology and has predicted the Stanley Cup winners correctly for the past three seasons. This season she picks Boston&hellip; Darcy Knoll of Edmonton writes regularly to Clarence Campbell, although they&rsquo;re.usually on opposite sides of the fence. Jeannette Posum&rsquo;s nephew thinks the world of Johnny Bucyk, and The Chief&rsquo;s recent letter urging him to do his best in school has worked wonders.Anyone having NHL team Fan Club notes on happenings should send to: Editor, &ldquo;The Wigwam&rdquo;, 1530 East Northwest Highway, Arlington Heights, Illinois 60004 &#9632;

f0028-01

NHL BOOSTER CLUB NEWS

<div class="byline">BY LARRY BORTSTEIN</div>DENVER&mdash;Talk about the ides of March! Julius Caesar never had it as bad as the Rockies did once the calendar rolled around to the third month of the year.Only a 2-2 tie they really didn&rsquo;t deserve against St. Louis kept them from going through almost the first two weeks of March without a point as the Rockies, seemingly playoff-bound, threatened to fall out of the bottom of the Smythe Division.The deadlock with the Blues at McNichols Sports Arena was one of the most boring games of this or any other season, as both clubs repeated mistakes and seemed asleep After that, the Rockies were handed two consecutive shutout defeats. 5-0 by the Islanders here and 3-0 at Pittsburgh. Up to that time, the Rockies had been blanked three times in their first 65 games this year.Going into their fifth and last meeting of the campaign against the Isles. Colorado had been outscored by Arbours sextet. 19-4. in four games, including 5-r. 7-1 and 5-0 losses to the Isles in Denver.It was beginning to look very much like the Rockies weren&rsquo;t going to be a playoff team their first time around, which might not be such a tragedy after all. As one club spokesman said. &ldquo;If we make the playoffs with this team, people will think it&rsquo;s easy and we might be inhibited in making moves to improve ourselves. This way, if we miss the playoffs, we can look back at a respectable first season and go on from there, and the fans will see that it takes a while to build a winner.&rdquo;Meanwhile, amid the ruin that overtook the Rockies, one guy who had been in the doldrums almost constantly since the first lew weeks ol the campaign was beginning to come out of it.Doug Eavell had been Colorado&rsquo;s No. 1 goalie at the start of the year, but had gone on the shelf with cartilage damage for 11 weeks After his comeback he was ineffective, posting just one win in almost two months. and that in a wild 8-6 game against the North Stars.&ldquo;I know I was favoring the knee.&rdquo; recalls the likeable netminder. who turns 32 on April 5. &ldquo;Mentally. I knew it, but I wasn&rsquo;t doing anything about it Ray tgenera? manager Mironi and Johnny (coach Wilson) worked with me and told me I wasn&rsquo;t going to the ice like I always do. doing my butterfly move. It was really getting to me. This is the second year in a row I&rsquo;ve missed a lot of lime because of injuries, but I still think I can play. The knee feels strong.&rdquo;The Rockies still look at Doug as a key figure if they make the playoffs this or any year in the next few He looks at it that way. too. That&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s hurt him to be virtually forgotten while Michel Plasse has seen so much work over the past few months.&ldquo;Of course.&rdquo; Eavel? admits. &ldquo;Mike was doing such a great job you could hardly expect them to sit him down.&rdquo;Racing 40 or more shots every night out. Plasse was in the nets for the ninth straight game when the Rockies were crushed by the Islanders. 5-0. but came out after two periods in favor of Favell Doug fielded 10 shots with no trouble in the final session, including a blast by Clark Gillies which temporarily handcuffed him.Then he worked all the way. kicking out 27 of 30 shots, during the Penguins&rsquo; 30 victory over the ragged Rockies three days later. &#9632;

Rockies Hit Slump At Critical Stage

LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY, LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY, LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada<h2>Special To The Hockey News</h2>SPRINGFIELD&mdash;The old saying, &ldquo;Let George Do It.&rdquo; certainly applies to Springfield Indians owner George Leary. The outspoken owner in his rookie season on the Board of Governors of the AHL has made no bones about the fact that he is very unsatisfied with the National Hockey League in general and in particular with his arrangement with the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers.During a news conference held recently in Springfield, Leary, speaking on behalf of his two partners, announced that he intends to launch a junior hockey program which hopefully will supply his professional team with one or two local prospects in the near future.He backed his contention that Springfield-area talent can play in the AHL by signing former high school and junior star Tommy Smith to an amateur try-out. Smith starred for West Springfield at the high school level and went on to make his mark in the junior hockey ranks as a member of the Springfield Olympics, which won the national Junior B title in Rochester. That team was owned and operated by Stuart Duncan and coached by Gary Dineen.Dineen now has his hands full of Indians but is a strong supporter of Leary&rsquo;s ideas. Duncan will also be in the picture concerning the new Junior team most likely to be named the Springfield Braves. Leary also plans to involve several other hockey people already working with junior hockey teams in the area.Leary is not so naive as to think that this will be the whole answer to his player personel problems, but it certainly is a step in the right direction.Leary&rsquo;s plan includes the signing of 10 or 12 players to AHL contracts while securing the services of 10 or 12 other player personnel problems.but itcertainly This way most of the players will remain in Springfield for the entire AHL season and that should boost fan interest.At the present time the Springfield Braves have no league to play in and Leary intends to do something about that during the off-season. He is hoping to interest several other professional organizations and some private parties in his idea of forming a league around New England that will be competitive and on the same level as the top junior leagues in Canada.The cities that Leary mentioned in his news conference included New Haven and Hartford. Conn.. Worcester. Boston and Fitchburg. Mass.. Providence. R.I.. Portland. Me., and he hopes to kindle some interest in Vermont and New Hampshire as well as New York State and maybe even Pennsylvania.This league, of course, would not be sanctioned by any recognized athletic organization but Leary doesn&rsquo;t mind that as he feels there are a lot of boys interested in pursuing a career in professional hockey that have no interest in furthering their education beyond the high school level.The success of Leary&rsquo;s formula will have to be proved on the ice. but one must admit that even if it fails no one will ever say George Leary is a do-nothing guy.The Indians moved to within tour points of the Reds going into the next to last full week of the season in their efforts to pull out of the AHL cellar. A big win on Providence ice helped their cause. Smith has performed well in the Indians lineup and Andre Peloffy moved up to the number five spot in scoring last week.NOVA SCOTIA: The Vees managed to keep their distance on the Nighthawks thanks mostly to the efforts of goalie Dave Elenbaas. who registered three shutouts in a four-game span last week The veteran goalie stopped the Nighthawks in two straight games in Nova Scotia, beat Springfield 4-2. blanked Hershey 2-0 and then lost a heartbreaker in Rochester, 10. All this left the Vees eight points ahead of the Nighthawks with only nine games left to play.Scoring-wise Pierre Mondou starred over the past week collecting two game winners in hiking his point total to 77. sixth in the league.The Vees have three games remaining with Rochester and three with Rhode Island and one each with New Haven and Hershey.NEW HAVEN: The Nighthawks, besides chasing the Vees for first place, will be watching the scoring race as they strive to become only the second team in AHL history to place three players over the 100-point mark.Nova Scotia accomplished this feat in the 1972-73 season when Yvon Lambert (104), Tony Featherstone (103) and Morris Stefaniw (101) each collected more than 100 points.A sidelight to this is the fact that Rochester&rsquo;s Doug Gibson, the current scoring leader, will also most likely go over the 100-point mark and it will be the first time in AHL history that four players have reached that plateau.Going into the next to last week of play Eddie Johnstone had an even 90 points, followed by Tom Colley and Blake Dunlop with 87.The Hawks had seven games left to play at this writing so it is conceivable that all three could reach the 100-point mark before March 30.ROCHESTER: The Amerks haven&rsquo;t given up on second place and were sitting right on the Nighthawks&rsquo; tail, three points away from the home ice advantage against the Hawks when the playoffs open in April.The Amerks are also anxiously awaiting the return of Ron Garwasiuk who has been on the injured list for a month. Ron is still among the top 10 scorers despite the fact that he has not added to his 72 points for a month.Jim Pettie was the hero last Sunday as he blanked the Vees. 1-0, in a game seen by 6,749 fans in Rochester It was the second shutout for the rookie and a most satisfying one at that. Steve Langdon produced the game&rsquo;s lone goal.HERSHEY: The Bears, although not completely out. must resign themselves to finishing fourth as at this writing the Amerks needed only two more points to clinch at least a tie for third place. The Bears had eight games to go and were 14 points behind the Amerks. This most likely means the Bears will face the Vees in the first round of the playoffs and that will be a rematch of last year&rsquo;s final.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02201/3852968-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="552" height="874"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE ELENBAAS &hellip; Sparkling Week</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0029-02

Tribe Boss Plans Junior Program; Elenbaas Keeps Vees Well In Front

<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01246/3852999-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="571" height="243"></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

AHL Leaders

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLE RICH & BRADSBY LTD Arnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U.S and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLE RICH & BRADSBY LTD Arnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U.S and CanadaBOSTON&mdash;Every year, it gets better.The Boston University Terriers emerged victorious from the sixteenth annual ECAC Division One Tournament. It was BU&rsquo;s fourth straight Eastern crown and their fifth in the last six years, coming via an 8-6 win over the University of New Hampshire before 14.597 at Boston Garden.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01282/3853061-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="547" height="1378"><figcaption class="caption-body">BU goaler Jim Craig was shelled for 19 goals in three ECAC playoff games but Terriers still won title by scoring 23 times (Photo by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div>The Terriers victory capped a three-night. eight-game binge of superlative hockey that saw five games decided by a single goal, two more by two goals, and just one tilt, the top seed against the bottom. with a four-goal difference at the finish.BU slipped into the final by upsetting powerful Clarkson 7-6. as they scored three times in the game&rsquo;s final 3:05 to topple the number one-rated Golden Knights from championship contention. That game was also played before a Garden sellout, the first time that the old Causeway Street playground has banged out the semi-final round The powerful Knights even failed to win the consolation game losing 5-4 to Cornell.Spectators at BU&rsquo;s semi-final win were already limp from the pulsating lid lifter of the Friday evening event. New Hampshire and Cornell had battled through a seesaw, ragged, glorious double overtime classic with UNH prevailing 10-9. It was well after 1:00 a m. when the final spectator staggered out onto Causeway, wondering what could possibly happen for an encore.In a sense, the crackling intensity of Friday was missing since both BU and UNH were assured of getting the Eastern bids for NCAA Tournament representation in Detroit two weeks hence. But the Terriers showed why they&rsquo;re heading West year after year by coming from behind three times to nip the scrappy Wildcats. The game featured four-point performances by the co-captains. Rick Meagher and Mike Eruzione. giving Boston viewers their last glimpse of the brilliant careers of BU&rsquo;s top all-time scorers.Bob Gould, hero of the first night for UNH, started things off at 0:28 of the first to put UNH on top but power play scores by point men Gary Fay and Bill O&rsquo;Neill erased one deficit. O&rsquo;Neill was subbing for stellar Dick Lamby. who&rsquo;d hurt his leg the previous night.Then it was UNH&rsquo;s turn for three quickies as Ralph Cox hit at 11:30 on a power play, followed by Frank Roy and Barry Edgar. Sharp-shooting Dave Silk narrowed the gap to one before the period ended, converting from in close.The second period was the key to the game, as BU scored three times to UNH&rsquo;s two. creating a 6-6 deadlock for the second intermission. But the Wildcats outshot BU 21-7. not including four shots that rang off the posts to either side of Jim Craig. BU took over in the third period and UNH was unable to recapture that offensive pressure for a long enough time to win.The second period BU tallies were by Matt Marden (2) and Eruzione. while Cox hit for his second of the night and 39th of the year, after defenseman Joe Rando blasted home a drive from the point.Eruzione was cruising in front of UNH goalie Mark Evans during the third period&rsquo;s only power play when O&rsquo;Neill let fly from the center of the blue line. The senior winger screened Evans and deflected the disc by him for the game winner, and John Melanson added the insurance tally at 9:50. Several good chances and another &ldquo;post toastie&rdquo; weren&rsquo;t enough to bring back UNH. a valiant Eastern team which will be getting a long-deserved shot at the national title.That the Wildcats had anything left for BU amazed all onlookers but. the devotees from Durham, who hadn&rsquo;t walked the Garden paths in five years. The score also read 8-6. the enemy leading, in the third period of the semifinal game, but this time the Cats pulled it out. Bob Gould sneaked in behind the Cornell defense to make it 8-7 at 10:39, but things looked black at 12:19 when George Corneil&rsquo;s third tally put the Red up by two again.Enter sophomore Bruce Crowder, steaming down right wing for a slap shot that bounced off goalie Steve Napier&rsquo;s arm and into the cords at 14:50. Then Cox tipped home defenseman Paul Powers&rsquo; wrister from the right boards to send it into overtime at 15:40.No one expected the overtime to be a long one. and when Cornell&rsquo;s Dave Ambrosia went off for hooking at 7:02. Durhamites were thinking of plane schedules to Motown. Surprise&mdash;a breakaway by penalty killer John Stornik Surprise&mdash;save by goalie Dan Magnarelli and a sigh of relief. They finally cleaned the ice and it took only 19 seconds for Could to rifle a high slapper from the right side past Napier, triggering pandemonium.BU and Clarkson took to the ice an hour late and found themselves in a much more tightly officiated game than the one they&rsquo;d just waited interminably to end. The Techers looked awesome, going up 30 on two power play tallies by Kevin Zappia and a floater play solo by Marty McNally early in the second BU turned to Rick Meagher for the ice breaker at 5:09 on a man advantage, and 59 seconds later Marc Hetnik&rsquo;s slap eluded Brian Shields for a 3-2 count. Yet another power play goal, this one by McNally, made it 4-2 before Mickey Mullen poked home a loose disc for BU to make it 4-3 after two.The teams traded goals early in the third period, and when Clarkson defenseman Bill Blackwood powered home a slapshot at 16:03 with John Bethel in the can the 6-4 Tech advantage looked mighty good. Succeeding events happened so fast, all was a blur. First a penalty to Sid Tanchak of Clarkson at 16:22. Eruzione tipping home a Lamby drive at 16:55 to make things interesting. Then Bethel pushing a trickling puck under Shields to tie it up with 1:01 to go. Another overtime loomed.But BU didn&rsquo;t want to play their seventh OT this year, and Sild gave them the out. On a three and two rush with Meagher and Eruzione. he took a drop pass near the top of the right faceoff circle and let fly. beating Shields for the biggest goal of his brilliant freshman season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02223/3853054-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="529" height="805"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE ERUZIONE &hellip; Fired Game-Winner</figcaption></div>Quarter-final action proved to be just as exciting BU and UNH the eventual finalists nearly didn&rsquo;t even make it to the Garden, as arch-foe Boston College pressed the home ice Terriers to the limit before dropping a one-goal decision, and UNH needed a score by Dave Lumley in overtime before ending their quarterfinal jinx.Things looked safe for BU at 5:15 of the third when Rick Meagher&rsquo;s conversion made it 6-3. But the Eagles stormed back to tie on scores by Joe Augustine and Joe Mullen (2). Meagher gave BU the lead again at 16:00. but Bob Ferriter&rsquo;s slap off Jim Craig&rsquo;s chest tied the count at 7-7 with 2:39 left. After the ensuing faceoff. Meagher did it again, rushing into the offensive zone to beat BC goalie Paul Skidmore.At Durham. Brown caught up with UNH three different times even though the Wildcats outshot them 35-21 The winner came when Bob Miller passed out to Lumley in front from the corner. Lumley fired and the disc caromed off a defenseman&rsquo;s skate past goalie Kevin McCabe.Clarkson started fast, behind Sid Tanchak&rsquo;s two first period goals, and ran up a 5-0 lead over eighth place Providence in Potsdam before Randy Wilson got PC onto the board. &#9632;

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Boston University Topples UNH To Capture Title In EC AC Again

NORTH ANDOVER&mdash;Top-seeded Merrimack College kept up its front-running performance all the way to the wire and copped its first ECAC Division Two hockey championship since 1968. ousting Union College 6-4 in the final game.The Warriors, finishing the season with a 23-11-1 record, started fast before the packed house at Volpe Center in this picturesque Massachusetts town. Two goals by Greg Walker and one by Pat LeBeau paced Merrimack to a 3-0 lead over the Dutchmen, fourth seeds for the tourney. Union closed to within one at 5-4 in the third period on Grant Judd&rsquo;s third tally coming at 1:05 But JacK O&rsquo;Neil&rsquo;s drive from the point at 15:28 put it away for Merrimack. The score came on a two-man advantage for the home team.Union wound up 22-3-1 on the year, making it to the finals by bumping Army 11-5 at West Point. Five goals in the last period after Army had edged up to trail by 6-4 proved the difference Army had been seeded second in the tournament and made it past the quarterfinals by tipping AIC 7-6 in overtime.Merrimack&rsquo;s semifinal encounter was a 6-2 defeat of upstart Lowell, the tourney&rsquo;s sixth seed which made it halfway by upsetting third place Bowdoin 4-2 in Brunswick. In the semifinal. Merrimack grabbed a 4-0 lead and coasted.Other quarterfinal games included Union over Salem State 12-6 and Merrimack over Elmira 5-1. &#9632;

Top-Ranked Merrimack Division Two Winner

<h2>ECAC CONFERENCE</h2><h3>DIVISION I</h3>Quarter-FinalsClarkson 6, Providence 2New Hampshire 4, Brown 3Cornell 7, RPI 5Boston University 8, Boston College 7Semi-FinalsNew Hampshire 10, Cornell 9Boston University 7, Clarkson 6ConsolationCornell 5, Clarkson 4Championship FinalBoston University 8, New Hampshire 6<h3>DIVISION II</h3>Quarter-FinalsMerrimack 5, Elmira 1Army 7, AIC 6Lowell 4, Bowdoin 2Union 12, Salem State 6Semi-FinalsMerrimack 6, Lowell 2Union 11, Army 4Championship FinalMerrimack 6, Union 4 &#9632;

College Playoffs

<div class="byline">BY DON ETLING</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0031-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01259/3853147-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">HOT BIRD: All American gosling candidate Mike Luit of Bowling Green shows off the form that helped spark the Falcons to the CCHA championship by upsetting St. Louis. Here&rsquo;s Luit kicking out shot from Billikens&rsquo; Grant Goegan (9) as BG&rsquo;s Jack Laine (4) checks him from behind. Falcons won two-game final 5-4 on Luit&rsquo;s hot goaling.</figcaption></div>ST LOUIS&mdash;Like two heavyweight boxers fighting for a shot at the crown, Bowling Green State and St. Louis University slugged it out for six inconsistent periods at the St. Louis Arena March If and 13.And after the final buzzer had sounded it was the ferocious checking. AllAmerican goaltending from Mike Luit and a Friday offensive clout that rendered the Bowling Green Falcons a 5-4. two-game total-goals split decision over the Billikens in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association championship final.Bowling Green physically intimidated St. Louis Friday night in the series opener, destroying the Billikens&rsquo; usual highflying tempo, en route to a stunning 4-0 whitewash over the regular season league champs. Stunning because St. Louis had beaten the Falcons four consecutive times in regular season play and had not suffered a shutout in 197 games. &ldquo;We played here tonight a little more like we&rsquo;re accustomed to playing at home.&rdquo; said BG coach Ron Mason. Mason&rsquo;s key? &ldquo;Good positional hockey.&rdquo;And how! In the first period the Ice House Gang held St Louis U. to only one shot on net. On the few occasions the Billikens were able to set up the Bowling Green end. their sticks were hammered to the ice by B.G. defensemen Ken Morrow. John Mavity. Tom Thomas and Mike Cotter.The first half period was a toe-to-toe affair with both teams looking for a chink in their opponent&rsquo;s seemingly impenetrable armor.Ironically, the first BG tally came on a power play belonging to St. Louis. Byron Shutt intercepted a loose pass at center ice and fed Dave Easton flying down the right side. Easton&rsquo;s 25-foot slap shot beat SLU goalie Brian O&rsquo;Connell to give Bowling Green a lead it never relinquished through six periods of hockey. For Easton, it was the third consecutive game he had opened the scoring in CCHA play for the Falcons.The Falcon scoring lead jumped to three in the second period on goals by defenseman John Mavity and center Mark Wells as BG continued its strong forechecking effort to offset the Billikens advantage in speed. The Billikens held the Falcons to only six shots on net for the period but could only muster five of their own.&ldquo;They played 60 minutes the way they wanted. We didn&rsquo;t play 60 minutes the way were capable,&rdquo; lamentea Bills&rsquo; coach Bill Selman after the shutout.&ldquo;To get a shutout you have to get the breaks. We did. too.&rdquo; countered Ron Mason. &ldquo;The thing is we got four&rdquo;But a total-goals series is a curious psychological phenomenon. With a four-goal advantage Mason was faced with the decision to either stick to his game plan or lay back, play tight checking defense and hold on for the conference crown&ldquo;We came down here to play six periods of hockey and we&rsquo;re only entering the fourth as far as I&rsquo;m concerned.&rdquo; Mason said after Friday night&rsquo;s victory.The fatal blow&mdash;as far as the Billikens were concerned&mdash;took place at 2.33 of the final period when Jack Laine intercepted a pass in the Billikens end. flipped the puck to Paul Titanic who found Mark Wells unchecked in the circle left of Billiken goaler Carl Bloomberg.Wells let go with a wrist shot that Bloomberg partially deflected oil his skate The puck trickled into the nets and Bowling Green owned a two-goal advantage once again.Wells&rsquo; 23rd goal of the season was the back breaker for the Bills whose Sunday punch was just not enough to overcome the Friday deficit.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02207/3853140-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="562" height="715"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARK WELLS &hellip; Broke Bills&rsquo; Backs</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0031-01

Goaler Luit Bowling Green Hero As Falcons Upset St. Louis For Title

<h2>Special To The Hockey News</h2>MADISON&mdash;The Western Collegiate Hockey Conference followed the form chart to the letter as Wisconsin and Michigan emerged as the west&rsquo;s representative for the 1977 National Collegiate Athletic Association championships in DetroitWisconsin, the top ranked team in both the WCHA and the country, came through as expected to win the league championship after finishing first during the regular schedule. The Badgers cleaned up on Michigan in their two-game total-goals WCHA final winning 4-0 and 54 to take the series 9-4 The defeat forced the Wolverines to play off with the Central Collegiate Hockey Association winner. Bowling Green Falcons, in a sudden-death game to determine which team would accompany Wisconsin to Detroit for the NCAA&rsquo;s as the Western representatives.Michigan prevailed in the one-game playoff winning 7-5 ending Bowling Green&rsquo;s bid to become the &lsquo;Cinderella&rsquo; team of Western collegiate hockey. One week previous, the Falcons pulled the upset of the year as they knocked off St. Louis University Billikens 5-4 in a two-game series for the CCHA championshipIn the NCAA matchups at Detroit. Michigan opposed Boston University in one semi-final playoff while Wisconsin went against University of New Hampshire in the other semi-final.Both Wisconsin and Michigan had a relativel easy time of it reaching the WCHA showdown series. The Badgers whipped Colorado College 6-2 in a two-game preliminary series before skating roughshod over Minnesota 17-8 in another two-game set. Michigan trounced Michigan Tech 11-7 in a two-game series prior to whomping Denver 17-8 in a two-game series. &#9632;

Wisconsin Grabs WCHA; Bowling Green Loses Bid

Quarter-FinalsWisconsin 3, Colorado College 1Wisconsin 3, Colorado College 1(Wisconsin wins two-game total-goals series 6-2)Notre Dame 5, Minnesota 1Minnesota 9, Notre Dame 2(Minnesota wins two-game total-goals series 10-7)Michigan 6, Michigan Tech 5Michigan 5, Michigan Tech 2(Michigan wins two-game total-goals series 11-7)Denver 8. North Dakota 3Denver 5, North Dakota 2(Denver wins two-game total-goals series 13-5)Semi-FinalsWisconsin 9, Minnesota 5Wisconsin 8. Minnesota 3(Wisconsin wins two-game total-goals series 17-8)Michigan 6, Denver 4Michigan 11, Denver 4(Michigan wins two-game total-goals series 17-8)Championship Final Wisconsin 4,Michigan 0 Wisconsin 5, Michigan 4(Wisconsin wins two-game total-goals series 9-4)<h2>WCHA PLAYOFF</h2>Michigan 7, Bowling Green 5(Sudden-death game)<h2>CCHA CONFERENCE</h2>Semi-FinalsBowling Green 5, Ohio State 2Bowling Green 4, Ohio State 1(Bowling Green wins two-game total-goals series 9-3)St. Louis 3, Western Michigan 2St. Louis 11, Western Michigan 4(St. Louis wins two-game total-goals series 15-6)Championship FinalBowling Green 4, St. Louis 0St. Louis 4, Bowling Green 1(Bowling Green wins two-game total-goals series 5-4) &#9632;

WCHA CONFERENCE

<div class="byline">BY BILL ADLER</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLE RICH & BRADSBY LTD Arnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U.S and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLE RICH & BRADSBY LTD Arnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U.S and CanadaTULSA&mdash;With the 1976-77 Central Hockey League regular season winding down very rapidly all eyes are turning toward the playoffs and the post season awards. At the present time Kansas City. Dallas and Tulsa have gained post season berths while Salt Lake and Fort Worth are waging a fierce battle for that fourth and final playoff spot.The format for the playoffs will be the same as last season with the first and fourth place finishers meeting and the second and third place teams will also tangle in the opening round. Then these two winners will collide for the Adams Cup championship. All series will be best-of-seven.In the award department, the CHL coaches will once again select the first and second team All Star players. Individual awards include the Tommy Ivan Trophy presented to the most valuable player in the league, the rookie-of-the-year award and the most valuable defenseman. These awards will also be made through a poll of the coaches.There will be two new awards in the CHL this season. The 1976-77 campaign will initiate the presentation of the Terry Sawchuk Memorial Award. This trophy, donated by the Detroit Red Wing organization, will be awarded to the outstanding individual goaltender in the league each season. The CHL board of governors have extended this honor to the late goaltender. Sawchuk who performed his skills for 20 years in the National Hockey League, compiling a most respectable 2.64 goals against average during that period along with a NHL record 103 shutouts during regular season play.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03138/3853233-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="553" height="592"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE BLOOM &hellip; Four-Goal Game</figcaption></div>Another new and innovative award beginning this season in the CHL is the Iron Man Award. This plaque is designed to honor the player who performs in all his team&rsquo;s games along with demonstrating strong character and leadership qualities both on and off the ice.TULSA: The goaltending still looks like the major question mark for the Oilers in their quest to repeat as Adams Cup champions. Coach Andy Hebenton has taken a look at all three Oiler goalies. Bruce Bullock. Michel Belhumeur and Dan Brady in recent weeks but none has demonstrated the necessary consistency needed in the playoffs However, Bullock displayed his potential in last year&rsquo;s playoffs and can be counted upon for another strong playoff performance.Offensively, the Oilers are strong, especially with the return to form of center Jim Wiley. The CHL&rsquo;s All Star center and leading scoring last year joined the Oilers two months ago after spending most of the season in Vancouver After a slow start Wiley has begun to average a point a game and he provides the team with one of the best penalty-killers in the league.Rookie Syd Veysey and veteran center Dan Gloor are waging a battle for the team scoring leadership. As a result of a three-goal game in Oklahoma City. Veysey has regained the lead by a single point. The scoring effort by the rookie enabled the Oilers to rally from an early 4-0 deficit to defeat the Blazers 6-5 with the winning goal by Veysey coming with less than four minutes left in the gameKANSAS CITY: With first place looking more and more secure each day coach Barclay Plager is now looking forward to his first playoff season as a coach Plager will also head the strong Blues&rsquo; defense which has allowed less than three goals a game during the regular season.Joining Plager on the defense are veterans Joe Zanussi. Gilles Marotte. Larry Giroux and Jim Nahrgang who recently rejoined the team from Detroit. Teaming with the outstanding goaltending work of Yves Belanger, the Blues have to be considered serious contenders for their first professional hockey championshipSt. Louis recalled goalie Ed Staniowski just before the player movement deadline so the Blues acquired the services of Bill McKenzie from the Colorado Rockies as the backup goaltender for the balance of the season and the playoffs.Offensively. Mike Bloom looks like the key man in the charge of the Blues. In seven games the former Red Wing has tallied seven goals and seven assists, including a season high of four goals in a single game. Mitch Babin and Don Martinueau are two other forwards having outstanding seasons and should be counted upon for carrying the offensive punch through the playoffs.One man that Plager would like to see back in the lineup as soon as possible is center Doug Palazzari. The American-born center ripped open his face in a freak accident six weeks ago and has been sidelined since following plastic surgery to repair all the damage. However, the possibility still remains that this tough little man will wear a Blues&rsquo; uniform when the first puck of the playoffs is dropped.DALLAS: If you think that that is concern written on the face of coach Roger Neilson, then you are correct. A sudden rash of injuries in Chicago and Toronto saw the Dallas team lose eight players on an emergency basis with no date of return for any set. Something that would make any coach worry. Moving to Chicago were Mike Veisor, Greg Vaydik. Dan Hinton. Michel Archambault and Randy Holt while Toronto summoned Bob Warner. Paul Evans and Hawk scoring leader Bruce Boudreau. If the Hawks are to be serious challengers in the playoffs most of these veterans will have to return.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0485/3853226-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="561" height="580"><figcaption class="caption-body">SYD VEYSEY &hellip; Fired Hat Trick</figcaption></div>Despite the absence of key players the Hawks continue as the hottest team in the league, running their current unbeaten string to eight games and their record to 17-2-2 in their last 21 starts. The secret of the success, a solid team effort and some great directing by the rookie coach from Peterborough who is beginning to look more and more like a prime candidate for a major league coaching position.Neilson recruited from the college ranks in the absence of his veteran players and the Hawks swept a pair of games from Tulsa and Fort Worth. Brad Pirie. Kevin Campbell. Ron Wilson and Bobby Wasson all played for the Hawks with Wasson amazing everyone with his quickness on the ice. In the 6-3 win over Fort Worth, Wasson scored his first two professional goals, including a brilliant move splitting the Texan defense late in the second period that snapped a 3-3 tie.With many of the veterans due to return to the Hawk roster before the playoffs, coach Neilson and his band of attackers seem like the team to beat in the battle for the coveted Adams Cup.FORT WORTH: The Texans have their roster intact, now the question becomes whether or not they will edge Salt Lake for that final playoff berth The goaltending has been handled by veteran Bill Hughes who has started the last 10 games for the Texans, winning six and tieing another.Defensively, the veteran Neil Nicholson heads an experienced unit that includes Ab DeMarco. Sheldon Kannegiesser. Steve Short and Dave Miglia. Some good news was heard by coach John Choyce. Rookie defenseman Bob Lorimer, who has been sidelined twice this season with kidney ailments, has begun skating again and could be in the lineup for the playoffs. Lorimer adds some much needed toughness to the Texan blueline corps. &#9632;

f0032-03

Salt Eagles Battling Texans For Last Playoff Spot

<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01262/3853271-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="572" height="293"></div><h2>GOALING RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02197/3853264-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="579" height="403"></div> &#9632;

f0032-01

CHL Leaders

<h2>MARCH</h2>Tue. 22 Tulsa at DallasKansas City at Okla CityWed. 23 Tulsa at Fort WorthSalt Lake at Kansas City.Fri. 25 Fort Worth at Okla CityKansas City at Salt LakeDallas at TulsaSat. 26 Dallas at Fort WorthKansas City at Salt LakeOkla City al TulsaSun. 27 Okla City at DallasFort Worth at Kansas CityMon. 28 Tulsa at Salt LakeWed. 30 Okla City at Fort WorthDallas at Kansas CityTulsa at Salt Lake<h2>APRIL</h2>Fri. 1 Kansas City at Okla CityDallas at Salt LakeFort Worth at Tulsa &#9632;

Where CHL Teams Play

<div class="byline">BY RALPH BRIDGLAND</div>OSHAWA &mdash;The Oshawa Generals closed out the 1976-77 Ontario Hockey Association Major Junior League season in much the same manner they operated throughout the entire schedule&mdash;in utter confusion.The Generals promptly informed coach Sherri Bassin he was no longer the coach of the Generals. Bassin was fired 15 minutes after a 4-2 loss to Ottawa in Oshawa which concluded the club&rsquo;s season mired in last place.Upon first glance it wouldn&rsquo;t appear surprising that Bassin should be fired. But what is surprising is that Gus Bodnar tendered his resignation as the team&rsquo;s general manager a week later and the Generals turned around and named Bassin his successor.Bodnar said he was initially shocked by the appointment of Bassin. but then he later declared. &ldquo;I guess I shouldn&rsquo;t be. After I resigned as coach last year they (the club directorate) hired Bassin without telling me and I was the general manager.&rdquo;The Generals asked Bodnar to step up and accept a position on the team&rsquo;s directorate. But Bodnar declined the offer and resigned saying he would not get involved with the pros but would seek out a job with another junior organizationThe return of Bassin to the Generals as general manager has to boggle the mind. Now Bassin must find a man to do the coaching job he wasn&rsquo;t able to do.Bassin guided this season&rsquo;s edition of the Generals to the league record for apathy&mdash;57 losses in a 66-game schedule. It indicated there was something wrong somewhere.And. as usually happens, the coach was at the head of the firing lineHowever, when the facts are taken into consideration. Bassin did a heck of a job in guiding the team to five wins and four ties.The odds were stacked against him right from the outset of the season when he took over the coaching duties from Bodnar.Only two players from the 1975-76 team were in training camp last fall and the club&rsquo;s midget draft picks made one wonder what the team scouts were scouting It quickly became evident that it wasn&rsquo;t hockey players.The Generals were destined to finish last right from the start and Bassin was selected to be the scapegoat for the shortcomings of the team&rsquo;s management.It would be nice to say things improved as the season wore on but as the numbers rose in the loss column so did Bassin&rsquo;s problems.Oshawa General Hospital quickly became Oshawa Generals&rsquo; Hospital.The situation was so desperate that on many occasions Bassin had to dress players that had no chance of playing in order to meet the minimum number required.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01233/3853333-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="559" height="676"><figcaption class="caption-body">GUS BODNAR &hellip; Not Surprised</figcaption></div>&ldquo;We played 50 of our games with less than the required number of players. &ldquo;Bassin said the day after his dismissal.&ldquo;We even dressed one guy without skates on. It wasn&rsquo;t the exception, it was the rule. &ldquo;So, strangely right after their last season game, the team&rsquo;s majority owner, John Humphreys, informed Bassin that his services were no longer needed.&ldquo;That was the end of the season and we felt it was in the best interest of the coach and the team to do it as soon as possible,&rdquo; Humphreys said. He said the executive &ldquo;felt it was in the best interest of the team&rdquo; to sack Bassin.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02178/3853326-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="568" height="634"><figcaption class="caption-body">SHERRI BASSIN &hellip; Bounced Back</figcaption></div>&ldquo;The coach, in part at least, has to take responsibility for the team&rsquo;s record.&rdquo; Humphreys added, in some strange doubletalk.I&rsquo;m upset and I&rsquo;m bitter.&rdquo; Bassin said. I was really into it because I thought we could build something. 1 feel like I&rsquo;ve been had.&rdquo; said Bassin But the best was still to come.&ldquo;They (the Generals&rsquo; brass) better hope 1 don&rsquo;t get back in the league because when we go into the arena we re going to blow them out,&rdquo; Bassin blurted to the press. Oh, well! &#9632;

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Generals Fire Coach Bassin, Then Rehire Him As GM With Bodnar Out

MILWAUKEE&mdash;The United States Hockey League regular season schedule ended its 1976-77 season as expected. The hec tic battle for ail-important playofl berths went to the wire.Milwaukee Admirals, last season&rsquo;s playoff champions, captured the Southern Division crown by coming from dead last to score 10 victories and one tie in their last 12 games un der new coach Gene Ubriaco.The Admirals, led by Dan Lecours and Jean Trottier scored an exciting 9-6 win over Northern Division cham pion Grand Rapids Blades before 7, 102 fans, and then edged the visiting Traverse City Bays 3-2. Lecours. 22-year-old winger, set a new USHL record by collecting scoring points in 43 league games. He also paced al goal scorers with 47 markers Linemate Trottier, also a Montrea native, led all pointgetters during the second half of the season with 5! points.Grand Rapids won the Northern title, finishing 11 points in front of se cond place Green Bay Bobcats. The Blades became the highest scoring team in modern USHL history afte posting 10-8 and 8-3 road victories a Waterloo and Green Bay. &#9632;

Around The USHL

<h2>ONTARIO MAJOR LEAGUE</h2><h3>(Final Standings)</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03133/3853388-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="577" height="409"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. March 8London 7, St. Catharines 3Ottawa 5, Kingston 5Kitchener 3, Toronto 3Niagara Falls 4, Windsor 3Wed. March 9St. Catharines 7, Niagara Falls 6Thu. March 10Sudbury 10, Oshawa 3Kingston 4, Windsor 4Toronto 6, Peterborough 4Fri. March 11Sault Ste. Marie 3, Oshawa 1Ottawa 9, Niagara Falls 4London 6, Kitchener 2St. Catharines 4, Kingston 0Sat. March 12Sudbury 6, Peterborough 4OKawa 5, Kitchener 2Sun. March 13Sault Ste. Marie 6, Peterborough 2Sudbury 9, Toronto 5Ottawa 4, Oshawa 2St. Catharines 6, Windsor 4Kingston 5. London 2 &#9632;

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OHA MAJOR HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLE RICH & BRADSBY LTD Arnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U.S and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLE RICH & BRADSBY LTD Arnold Street Wallaceburg Ontario Sold in U.S and CanadaMUSKEGON &mdash;The Muskegon Mohawks, who have been moving slowly up the North Division ladder, have a prime candidate for rookie of the year honors.Giving the Mohawks most of their offensive punch this season is center Garth MacGuigan. one of five outstanding rookies Moose Lallo has on his roster. MacGuigan is the cream of the crop, however.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01254/3853419-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="558" height="602"><figcaption class="caption-body">GARTH MacGUIGAN &hellip; Provides Scoring Punch</figcaption></div>As the IHL season enters its final stages. MacGuigan is leading the Muskegon scoring with 86 points on 48 goals and 38 assists. He has been on a scoring rampage over the last 18 games, pumping in 17 goals during that span. In a recent two-game sweep of Saginaw and Dayton. MacGuigan had.two goals in each victory. The Mohawks are now solidly entrenched in fourth position in the North and within striking distance of the other three levels Thrid place is just five points away, second six and first 10Lallo trimed his roster to the IHL maximum of 16 by releasing Bob Sunderland and Geoff Green.KALAMAZOO: The K-Wings snapped a 17-game losing streak at McMorran Arena in Port Huron to highlight a very successful week which saw them continue on top of the North Division for the 21st consecutive Monday.The 8-5 verdict in Port Huron was set up by Emile DeMoissac&rsquo;s goal at 18:20 of the final period to break a 5-5 tie The goal also snapped an 18-game scoring famine for DeMoissac. Prior to the victory, the K-Wings record in McMorran since the teams inception was a lopsided 0-13-6.The game was a wild affair as referee Sam Sisco called a total of 140 penalty minutes. The victory also clinched the season series lor the K-Wings. 7-3-2.Mike Wanchuk has been on a scoring spree of late which has enhanced his chances for a second straight 50 goal season. Over the last eight games. Wanchuck has pumped in eight goals and has been credited for four assists for 12 points. He is just eight shy of the 50-goal plateau.SAGINAW: The Gears are in position to make a strong run at front-skating Kalamazoo as four of the next five games are at home. Over the last 12 games in the Civic Center. Saginaw has lost just once.During the recent three-game road trip, the Gears won one and lost two. The victory was a 6-4 win at Dayton. The losses were 5-3 at Muskegon and 5-4 at Flint. The game in Flint was a rarity as no penalties were called.Paul Evans continues to lead the Gear scoring with 91 points on 39 goals and 52 assists. He is just eight points shy of tying Dennis Desrosiers&rsquo; club record for total points in one season. Desrosiers has scored at least one point over the last 15 games also a club record.FLINT: The Generals are playing their best road hockey of the season but a 3-1 loss at home to South Division leader Toledo cost Flint a chance to improve their third-place position The Generals are just a point behind second-place Saginaw but have also to face a strong challenge from the rear by rapidly-improving Muskegon. The Mohawks are now within five points of the Generals.The road triumph was at Columbus. 54. the ninth road success of the season The win at Columbus was followed by a &ldquo;four-point&rdquo; squeaker over Saginaw. 5-4.Mike Clarke and Jim Koleff are still running one-two in the IHL scoring race with Clarke just a point away from becoming the third General in history to log 100 points. Koleff appears certain to hit the century mark also, as he has 94 pointsPORT HURON: Bobby McCammon will probably be glad when this season is history. Injuries have plagued the Flags all season long and has put a severe handicap on the team&rsquo;s chances of making the playoffs.Most recent injury was to Mike Boland, who is out for the balance of the season with a broken bone in his foot. The Flags were three players short when they dropped a key 5-1 decision at Fort Wayne. The loss dropped the Flags a point behind the Komets in the fight for the final playoff spot.TOLEDO: Ted Garvin is quite confident he will be celebrating his first divisional title when the IHL regular season ends shortly. And. while divisional titles have never meant that much to Garvin before (&ldquo;The Turner Cup is all that matters&rdquo;) this year it&rsquo;s different.The divisional title will give us the home ice advantage in the playoffs and with the league so well balanced this year, I think this is more important than it has ever been,&rdquo; Garvin said.The Goaldiggers have a five-point spread over second-place Dayton and will play seven of their final 11 games at home.DAYTON: Dayton coach Larry Mickey, who recently has been saddled with the general managers chores as well, isn&rsquo;t ready to concede the South Division title to Toledo just yet. The Gems took a 3-2 struggle from the Diggers on Toledo&rsquo;s last visit to Dayton which prompted Mickey to comment.We&rsquo;ve got a good chance now to win the division title 1 think we have a better team than Toledo.&rdquo; The 3-2 win completed a six-game sweep for the Gems over Toledo in Dayton and the Gems also lead the season series. 7-3-1.COLUMBUS: The schedule continues to be the Owls&rsquo; biggest obstacle as they struggle to outlast Fort Wayne for fourth place in the South. The Owls have but a four-point lead on the Komets and of their final 10 games, only three are at home.In a penalty-filled. 4-2 victory over Toledo, center Al Hiller marked a personal high with one assist to raise his season total to 78. John Flesch sat out the game on suspension.FORT WAYNE: Ron Zanussi featured the Komet week by setting a new goalscoring record for rookies. The high-scoring youngster pumped in a pair of goals in a 4-4 tie with Dayton to raise his total for the season to 41. The previous record for a Komet rookie was 40.Coach Ralph Keller is confident about the Komets&rsquo; making a strong run for a good playoff berth. &#9632;

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MacGuigan Cream Of Muskegon Rookie Crop

<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02200/3853457-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="579" height="429"></div><h2>GOALING RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03153/3853450-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="586" height="511"></div> &#9632;

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IHL Leaders

<h2>MARCH</h2>Mon 21 Columbus at Fort WayneTue. 22 Muskegon at KalamazooPt. Huron at ToledoSaginaw at ColumbusWed 23 Toledo at Ft. WayneFlint at DaytonFri,25 Pt. Huron at MuskegonKalamazoo at FlintColumbus at SaginawFt Wayne at ToledoSat. 26 Dayton at Ft. WayneKalamazoo at MuskegonColumbus at Pt. HuronSaginaw at FlintSun 27 Columbus at Ft. WaynePt. Huron at DaytonFlint at Saginawkalamazoo at Toledo &#9632;

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April 1, 1977

Sargent Considered Key To Kings’ Playoff Chances

Where AHL Teams Play

HOW THEY STAND

Quebec Major Hockey League