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 8, 1977

The Hockey News April 8, 1977

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02727/3913473-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="525" height="677"><figcaption class="caption-body">WILLI PLETT &hellip; Atlanta Flames</figcaption></div><h2>TOP 20 SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03515/3913466-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="597" height="741"></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

NHL Rookies

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE JAWORSK</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 CanadaBINGHAMTON&mdash;Year Four of the North American Hockey League playoffs moved past the first round in three cities and there wasn&rsquo;t anything that could be classed as an upset as the Binghamton Dusters. Erie Blades and Maine Nordiques advanced without incident.The favored Maine Nordiques chose the short way to the NAHL semi-final round when they disposed of the lowly Johnstown Jets in three straight games Binghamton took a step in the right direction by knocking off the pesky Mohawk Valley Comets in a five-game quarterfinal series that went the limit Erie Blades, the sentimental playoff choice of many, took only four games to dispose of Gregg Pilling&rsquo;s Philadelphia Firebirds.The first round results set up a four-team semi-final with Erie engaging the league champion Syracuse Blazers in one best-of-seven series while Maine and Binghamton went at it in the other semifinals as the result of finishing in first place.The Dusters struggled past Mohawk Valley with their ace scorer and league scoring champion. Rod Bloomfield, operating below par.The runaway league scoring champion (49 goals and 124 assists) has a badly bruised inner forearm, a souvenir from a 6-3 fight-filled opening game of the Mohawk Valley series. Consequently, he was virtually no factor in the loss in itica before only 1.814 fans.The 29-year-old Duster captain did not take a regular shift for the first two periods and didn&rsquo;t even take the ice for the third session when the game was already decided.The Comets struck for three goals in the middle period, John Sheridan scoring his second of the game, defenseman Billy Horton getting the game winner and Ron Morgan deflecting in the insurance goal.The opening game of the series was marked by 114 penalty minutes, but the second game saw a comparatively-mild 58 minutes called.Sheridan was playing in only his fifth game back since serious ear surgery cut his season short at 41 games. The 22-year-old American-born Sheridan has been playing left wing instead of center because he said he still is suffering from post-operative double vision.Bloomfield came back to play in Game Three in Binghamton and center Joe Hardy also suited up for the first time in more than two weeks. Last season&rsquo;s minor league player of the year selected by THE HOCKEY NEWS. Hardy had been out with a groin pull. Duster coach Larry Kish said Bloomfield wouldn&rsquo;t be 100 percent until Game Four when the series switched to the Clinton Arena because of an upstate home show invading the Utica Memorial Auditorium.It was quite a surprise for the sixthplace Comets to take the scoringconscious third-place Dusters to the five-game limit. However the other two playoff series hardly gave off many shock waves.Erie-Philadelphia was all square after the first two games, and the so-called experts had this one going right down to the fifth game But the Blades rallied and cleaned it up in four.Both teams won their own building openers by a goal, though the defending Lockhart Cup champion Firebirds&mdash;who eliminated Erie in five games last season&mdash;had an easier time. 4-3.Michel Plante, a 22-goal scorer during the regular season, scored the last three goals for the Firebirds, who led 4-2 before Greg Neeld scored with five seconds left and iron man Lynn Zimmerman was yanked for a sixth skater.However, it took the Blades overtime to win at home. Rick Jodzio doing the damage only 59 seconds into the extra session Howie Heggedal had given the Birds the breath of life by scoring the tying goal with 21 seconds left in regulation and goalie Rejean Lemelin pulled for a sixth skater.Blades&rsquo; masked man Zimmerman finished the regular season by playing in 60 games. He won his duel with Syracuse goalie Norm Tesluck for the league&rsquo;s outstanding goalie award based on goals-against average in addition to being voted the loop&rsquo;s first-team All Star netminderZimmerman, who broke his own league record of 30 wins by winning 32 between the pipes, finished with a 3.38 average compared with Tesluek&rsquo;s 3.42. They went head-to-head against each other in the meaningless final regular-season game, won by Erie in Syracuse. 5-4.The league-champion Blazers still finished with the best regular-season home-ice record at 32-5 The Dusters were runner-up in that category at 31-5-1.The other series also went as expected. Maine winning both games at home in taking the upper hand on Johnstown, which finished in last place during the regular season. The Nordiques finished it off in the straight games.On the other hand, the Nordiques won their last four games, including two straight against the Dusters to capture second place. Binghamton suffered its worst home-ice loss in more than a year, losing 6-2, to Maine and finished the regular season by losing seven of 10 games.The impressive Nordiques dumped Johnstown 6-1, 7-3 and 6-3. Richard Grenier scored two goals in the series opener. Balanced scoring also highlighted the Nordiques second-game win, John Cunniff getting a pair as Maine let a 5-0 lead slip to 5-3 before Paul Larose and Cunniff connected in the third period.The Nordiques briefly lost goalie Mario Vien to Quebec&mdash;as Richard Brodeur was sent down, but they re-traced paths, though Jim Cors did the net work for both of Maine&rsquo;s wins. The only source of concern for general manager Maurice Ducharme is getting back defenseman Larry Johnston from the Colorado Rockies, as the Nordiques aded easily into the semi-finals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02174/3916213-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="563" height="595"><figcaption class="caption-body">LYNN ZIMMERMAN &hellip; Hot Goaler</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Maine, Binghamton, Erie Advance As NAHL Heads Into Semi-Finals

<h2>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01233/3916244-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="587" height="569"></div> &#9632;

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NAHL Leaders

<div class="byline">BY GREG NOBLE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03256/3914908-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON PLUMB&hellip; Giving Stingers Leadership</figcaption></div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HIILERICH & 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 CanadaCINCINNATI&mdash;As the Cincinnati Stingers and the Indianapolis Racers battled down the stretch for second place in the Eastern Division, another kind of competition was going on between the two clubs.The Stingers and Racers were both campaigning for favorite sons for the Dennis Murphy Trophy. The award goes to the league&rsquo;s best defenseman as selected by the media.In Cincinnati, the favorite choice was Ron Plumb. out in Indianapolis, people considered Darryl Maggs most deserving.Certainly, both would be leading candidates for the honor As the season wound down they were battling Houston&rsquo;s Mark Howe and Poul Popiel for top scoring honors among defensemen. And Plumb and Maggs each made other significant contributions to their teams&rsquo; success this season, anchoring the defense and providing leadership.The Racers&rsquo; Pat Stapleton, himself defenseman of the year three seasons ago, say. &ldquo;With the type of club he&rsquo;s playing on and the job he&rsquo;s done. I definitely think Darryl should be in line for defenseman of the year.&rdquo;On a team that was wracked by injuries, Maggs was the leading scorer with 14 goals and 48 assists after 69 games. And coach Jacques Demers credits Maggs especially for keeping the Racers in the race.&ldquo;Sure, Stapleton has had another big year, but it has been Maggs who has carried us. playing 40-45 minutes a night when we were down to four defensemen. He&rsquo;s the best in the league,&rdquo; Demers says, &ldquo;and anybody who argues that he&rsquo;s not an MVP candidate too just doesn&rsquo;t know his hockey. I hate to think where we&rsquo;d be without him this year.&rdquo;&ldquo;In any game I&rsquo;ve seen this season.&rdquo; Stapleton told Dick Denny of The Indianapolis News, &ldquo;nobody has dominated offensively and defensively the way Darryl has.&rdquo;Plumb, the Stingers&rsquo; choice for the Murphy Trophy, was not only among the top-scoring defensemen with nine goals and 50 assists after 66 games, but he also was the top plus-minus player in the league with a plus-60 rating. And he received more votes than any other defenseman in balloting for the midseason All Star game.&ldquo;The guy does everything well,&rdquo; coach Terry Slater says. &ldquo;With some defensemen, you can say he doesn&rsquo;t skate or he doesn&rsquo;t shoot or he doesn&rsquo;t pass the puck, but Plumb does everything.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s not just a good offensive defenseman, he&rsquo;s a good defensive defensemen too. I&rsquo;m not surprised he&rsquo;s among the leading scorers among defensemen. His sixth sense of when to pursue the play into the other team&rsquo;s corner and when not to is uncanny,&rdquo; Slater adds. &ldquo;And I don&rsquo;t think that Ron has been caught more than three times this year, which speaks for itself.&rdquo;CINCINNATI: Along with Richie Leduc, Blaine Stoughton was a threat to score 50 goals for the Stingers. Stoughton scored seven in a nine-game stretch to give him 44 with 10 games left. Leduc had 46. In all. the Stingers had seven players with 20 or more goals, tops in the league.Stoughton scored twice as the Stingers pounded first-place Quebec 7-3. After Real Cloutier scored his third goal early in the second period to give the Nordi-ques a 3-1 lead, the Stingers exploded for six unanswered goals.INDIANAPOLIS: The Racers&rsquo; hopes of finishing in second place dimmed after they suffered consecutive losses to Winnipeg and Houston at Market Square Arena. Despite Brian McDonald&rsquo;s hat trick, the Racers dropped a 7-5 decision to the Jets. Then after taking a 3-2 lead into the third period against the Aeros, Houston scored six times in the last 20 minutes for an 8-3 victory.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04201/3914901-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="533" height="701"><figcaption class="caption-body">DARRYL MAGGS&hellip;Keeping Racers Together</figcaption></div>What&rsquo;s this? More injuries? Al Karlander and Michel Parizeau were hurt in the loss to Winnipeg and joined Hugh Harris, Ken Block and Dick Proceviat on the sidelines. By the last two weeks of the season, the Racers had lost approximately 250 man-hours because of injuries.On the plus side, Paul Hoganson stopped 25 shots to lead the Racers to a 31 victory over Calgary and Frankie Rochon scored two goals in a 5-2 win at Birmingham. In addition, Blair MacDonald scored his 100th major league goal.BIRMINGHAM: What the Bulls needed to make the playoffs was a miracle. After John Garrett shined in a 4-2 victory over Cincinnati the Bulls dropped their first two home games since the start of 1977, and the losses couldn&rsquo;t have come at a worse time.Garrett kept their fading playoff hopes alive by stopping 46 shots against the Stingers. &ldquo;It was the best goaltending I&rsquo;ve ever seen,&rdquo; said coach Pat Kelly. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ll never see a better performance in net.&rdquo; In addition, Mark Napier scored his 51st and 52nd goals. &#9632;

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Plumb, Maggs Eyeing Defense Award; Two Stingers Chase 50-Goal Plateau

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01970/3913103-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Veteran center Phil Esposito seems to be trying to explain why the Rangers didn&rsquo;t make the playoffs for the second year in a row. Rangers joined four other NHL teams as also rans in the final week of the season. (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div><h2>RANGERS MISS PLAYOFFS</h2>NEW YORK&mdash;Time ran out on the New York Rangers and John Ferguson and it&rsquo;s a case of wait &lsquo;till next year for the second season in a row. Rangers joined four other teams who will be looking at the upcoming Stanley Cup playoffs in a spectator role.Cleveland, Colorado, Detroit and Washington have all been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs and the Rangers simply ran out of gas coming down the home stretch as they yielded the fourth and final playoff spot in the Patrick Division to the Atlanta Flames. The writing was on the wall for the Rangers as they entered the second to last week. The end probably came in a Friday night encounter when they were lambasted 7-2 by Washington. Chicago Black Hawks cuffed them 5-3 in the MSG to finish their playoff hopes.<h2>WINGS SAY NO TO BRUINS</h2>DETROIT&mdash;Detroit&rsquo;s newly-appointed GM, Ted Lindsay, said he would like to have Mark Howe for his Red Wings next season but not at the asking price the Boston Bruins have laid out for his NHL rights, which the Bruins own.Lindsay reportedly told Boston GM Harry Sinden there was no way the Wings would give up their No. 1 amateur draft pick for 1977 in return for Mark Howe&rsquo;s services. Detroit already owns NHL rights to Marty Howe. The Howes will be back in the NHL next season since their contract runs out with Houston in the WHA and they are not anxious to renew their pacts with the WHA. Lindsay has also hinted that father Gordie Howe would probably be welcome in an executive role with the Wings but not as a player. Lindsay wants Detroit fans to remember the elder Howe as he was in his NHL heydey.<h2>NHL SUSPENDS DUO</h2>MONTREAL&hellip;NHL president Clarence Campbell has come down hard on two more hockey combatants. Defensemen Len Frig of Cleveland and Bob Gassoff of St. Louis have been suspended as the result of separate incidents. Frig is out for three games and Gassoff for two.Campbell said Gassoff was assesed a match penalty for deliberately trying to injure defenseman Carol Vadnais of the Rangers. Gassoff swung his stick at Vadnais&rsquo; head and was thrown out of the game. The stick did not make contact with Vadnais. Frig was given game and gross misconduct penalties against Cleveland. The Barons were fined $1,000 by the league as well. Frig has already been suspended for one game earlier this season and now has five game or gross misconduct penalties charged against him this season. Their was a report after the weekend games that the NHL has also suspended Chicago defenseman Phil Russell indefinitely for incurring a double major and game misconduct against Minnesota.<h2>HOCKEY MILESTONES</h2>HARTFORD&mdash;Tom Webster of the New England Whalers has reached another milestone in his WHA career as he scored his 400th point with a pair of goals against Edmonton in a 5-2 win.While Webster was reaching his scoring plateau, Cincinnati&rsquo;s Rich Leduc scored his 50th goal, the most of his pro career, as the Cincinnati Stingers beat the Quebec Nordiques 6-4. Leduc scored his 49th and 50th in the same game. And speaking of milestones, Montreal&rsquo;s Guy Lafleur set a consecutive game scoring record of 23 straight, established a new mark for assists by a winger, 76, and broke his own league record with 130 scoring points. Lafleur&rsquo;s 56-goal club mark set last year with the Canadiens was equalled this past week by Lafleur&rsquo;s linemate Steve Shutt. Shutt has three games to establish a new record. &#9632;

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DEADLINE STOPPERS

<div class="byline">BY NEIL MILBERT</div>CHICAGO&mdash;Take it from Bobby Orr&rsquo;s good buddy: the one-man convoy isn&rsquo;t about to say &ldquo;ten-four&rdquo; to his hockey career.According to Black Hawk center Jim Harrison. Orr is convinced that he can keep truckin&rsquo; and has every intention of rejoining the team next season.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s probably going to make three or four more comebacks before he hangs it up,&rdquo; suggested Harrison, who racked up his right thumb on March 8 to join his wounded-knee pal on Chicago&rsquo;s elongated injury list.Bobby now knows his limitations. This season he simply tried to do too much too soon. He was playing full shifts almost every night during the Canada Cup and practicing every day.&ldquo;Then, he came here and worked his tail off in exhibition games.&ldquo;He can still play a great game of hockey and he loves the game too much not to come back. But when he does, you&rsquo;ll see him pacing himself and not trying to do as much as he did this season.&rdquo;Orr&rsquo;s 1976-77 contributions go far beyond the four goals and 19 assists he recorded in 20 games with the Hawks. Figuratively speaking, he had a hand in 41 other goals&mdash;the points alongside Harrison&rsquo;s name in the Chicago scoring summary.It was Bobby who persuaded Jim to look kindly on the Hawks when they were wooing him back from the World Hockey Association before the season.The courts subsequently granted a divorce for the WHA and the Hawks obtained Harrison from Toronto (which held his NHL rights) by giving up a future draft choice.When Gordie Howe of the Houston Aeros was in the Windy City for the Auto Show, the all-time great tipped his hat to the rough and ready 29-year-old center.&ldquo;When the Hawks got Harrison, they got a hockey player,&rdquo; said Howe, who played against Jim for three seasons in the WHA. &ldquo;He isn&rsquo;t the flashy type, but he gets you those tough points. When he digs in by the goal, you&rsquo;re not going to intimidate him out of there.&rdquo;Last season, with the WHA&rsquo;s defunct Cleveland Crusaders. Harrison had 34 goals and 38 assists in 59 games. The return to the NHL has seen his productivity decline to 18 goals and 23 assists in 60 contests.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad to be back in the NHL and I like Chicago, but I wish both myself and the team were having a better year,&rdquo; said Harrison. &ldquo;I think we will all do a lot better next year.&rdquo;While Jim is a hard-nosed hockey player and is no stranger to the penaltybox, he isn&rsquo;t a cheap-shot specialist or a guy who looks for fights. On the other hand, when a rumble starts, he won&rsquo;t turn the other cheek.The broken thumb came in retaliation for a slashing attack by Gene Carr of the Los Angeles Kings.&ldquo;The doctor tells me I should be out for the season, but I think I&rsquo;ll be able to get back before the playoffs,&rdquo; insisted Harrison in the press-box, the night the Hawks snapped their nine-game winless streak by edging Pittsburgh 3-2. &ldquo;The pain is going away and I think I&rsquo;ll be okay if they put a playing cast on it.&rdquo;HAWK TALK: Grant Mulvey, the 20-year-old right wing, scored the winning goal against the Penguins with 12:56 left in the Chicago Stadium contest&hellip;Had the Hawks lost, they would have fallen from second to fourth place behind St. Louis, Minnesota, and Vancouver in the Smythe Division&hellip;Instead, they clung to second-place and a point lead over both the North Stars and Canucks.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04453/3913134-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="586" height="1210"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOBBY ORR&hellip;New Approach</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Hawks’ Mate Says Don’t Write Orr Off, He’s Coming Back

<h2>PLAYOFF CONTENDERS</h2>(On Mon. March 28)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02881/3913172-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="581" height="380"></div>(*-assured playoff berths)<h3>OUT OF PLAYOFFS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03658/3913165-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="586" height="169"></div> &#9632;

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How NHLs Races Look

<h2>NHL TEAMS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05325/3913231-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="485" height="741"></div><h2>WHA TEAMS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-06229/3913224-1-eng-US/f0002-062.jpg" title="f0002-06" width="489" height="459"></div><h2>OTHER LEAGUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-07141/3913217-1-eng-US/f0002-072.jpg" title="f0002-07" width="489" height="331"></div><h2>COLUMNISTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-0874/3913210-1-eng-US/f0002-082.jpg" title="f0002-08" width="487" height="129"></div><h2>OTHER FEATURES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-0945/3913203-1-eng-US/f0002-092.jpg" title="f0002-09" width="483" height="147"></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/f0003-01976/3913297-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GUY LAFLEUR&hellip;Also Named MVP By Fans</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;The Montreal Canadiens have been the success story of the 1976-77 National Hockey League season and it was inevitable that they would come out the big winners in THE HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; 30th annual fans&rsquo; All Star poll.Led by the dynamic Guy Lafleur, who was chosen both All Star right winger and the NHL&rsquo;s most valuable player by a near unanimous vote, the Canadiens dominated the fans&rsquo; All Star picks placing four players on the first team and one on the second.Lafleur&rsquo;s double selection provided little or no surprise since it has been the Canadiens&rsquo; right winger&rsquo;s big year. He has been the outstanding performer almost from the start of the season last fall and has gone on to shatter a number of NHL records.Lafleur holds a commanding 19-point lead in the individual scoring race and only last week set a new NHL mark for scoring in the most consecutive games when he registered points in 23 straight games to topple Bronco Horvath&rsquo;s 17-year-old mark set with the old Boston Bruins. The flashy Montreal winger also broke his own point record of 125 when he entered the final week with a total of 130 scoring points.And on and on it goes with Lafleur and the Canadiens as they knock over league records on their way to probably their greatest NHL season ever.The fans voted heavily for Lafleur giving him the big chunk of the All Star balloting. Also named to the first team were goaler Ken Dryden, left wing Steve Shutt and defenseman Larry Robinson, all members of the Canadiens.Defenseman Borje Salming of Toronto Maple Leafs was the other first team All Star choice and little. Marcel Dionne of Los Angeles, who is closing in on a 50-goal season, was picked by the fans as their All Star center.On the second HOCKEY NEWS team, Rogie Vachon of Los Angeles was chosen for goal while Denis Potvin of the New York Islanders and Montreal&rsquo;s Guy Lapointe were selected for defense. Buffalo&rsquo;s Gilbert Perreault, who has been coming on strong in the waning weeks of the NHL schedule, was named second team center flanked by Lanny McDonald of Toronto on the right side and Perreault&rsquo;s Buffalo teammate, Rick Martin, on the left wing.Lafleur was selected by the fans as the MVP recipient but the voting wasn&rsquo;t even close. New York Rangers&rsquo; hard-luck right wing sensation, Don Murdoch, was the fans&rsquo; choice for rookie of the year honors in close balloting with Atlanta&rsquo;s Willi Plett and Toronto goaler Mike Palmateer.It marked the second straight year on THE HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; first team for Dryden and Lafleur and it was also the first time in many years that a member of the Philadelphia Flyers hadn&rsquo;t succeeded in landing an All Star berth. Last season the Flyers put two players on the first team&mdash;Bobby Clarke and Bill Barber&mdash;one on the second in Reg Leach, and Clarke skated off with the fans&rsquo; MVP award as well. But this hasn&rsquo;t been the Flyers&rsquo; year and it was reflected in the popular vote.The selection of Dionne to the All Star center position over the likes of Perreault, Clarke, Toronto&rsquo;s Darryl Sittier and Jean Ratelle of Boston, is certain to provoke controversy since Dionne has performed through most of the present season as a right winger with the Kings. But fans seem to still remember Dionne as a center best, which accounted for his easy selection to the first teamIt is ironic that the L.A. Kings recently declared Dionne a center for the purpose of the official NHL All Star voting in a communique to league headquarters last week. The Kings seem to think Dionne has a better chance to win the center spot than right wing where Lafleur is a lockup for first team All Star honors.Murdoch, the young man who came out of the Canadian West to fashion 32 goals in his first 58 games with the Rangers this season, appeared to leave a lasting impression on the fans. They selected him over Atlanta&rsquo;s hard-nosed Plett despite the fact he went out of the Ranger lineup to undergo knee surgery nearly eight weeks ago.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02841/3913290-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="491" height="431"><figcaption class="caption-body">KEN DRYDEN&hellip;Goaler</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03565/3913283-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="475" height="419"><figcaption class="caption-body">LARRY ROBINSON&hellip;Defense</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04338/3913276-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="501" height="447"><figcaption class="caption-body">BORJE SALMING&hellip;Defense</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-05192/3913269-1-eng-US/f0003-052.jpg" title="f0003-05" width="499" height="465"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARCEL DIONNE&hellip;Center</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-06129/3913262-1-eng-US/f0003-062.jpg" title="f0003-06" width="495" height="407"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE SHUTT&hellip;Left Wing</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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LAFLEUR LEADS CANADIENS’ DOMINATION AS FANS SELECT NHL ALL STAR TEAMS

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011027/3913349-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="436" height="451"></div>&bull; MAKE NO mistake about it. The World Hockey Association will still be in business next season. There will be fewer teams than this season but they&rsquo;ll still be around&hellip;At least eight of the 18 NHL owners favor some sort of a merger or accommodation, but it can&rsquo;t be worked out that easily. Three of the original six, Bruce Norris of Detroit, Bill Wirtz of Chicago and Harold Ballard of Toronto, are the most strongly opposed to any get-together with the WHA&hellip;A1 Savill, owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins, says there is no chance his team will move to Indianapolis next season. He said the Pens have launched a massive publicity campaign and are staying in Pittsburgh&hellip;Clarence Campbell had quite an answer for Punch Imlach after the Buffalo general manager was critical of Campbell following his three-game suspension to defenseman Jerry Korab of the Sabres&hellip;Imlach said: &ldquo;Clarence Campbell is incapable of proper decisions. He is getting too old for the job and it&rsquo;s time he quit. This is the worst decision I&rsquo;ve seen in his reign.&rdquo; To which Campbell countered: &ldquo;If Imlach had allowed me to view Buffalo videotapes of the game, in which the incident occurred, I would have acted sooner. He&rsquo;s never liked anything I&rsquo;ve done. He wants to run my office along with his own. Nothing is correct with him unless it&rsquo;s done the way he wants it&rdquo;&hellip;Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Wayne Bianchin, the club&rsquo;s Masterton Trophy candidate after coming back from a broken neck to return to the NHL, raised his goal total to 25 with five goals in three recent games. He is enjoying a great season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02983/3913342-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="313" height="485"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Bianchin</figcaption></div>&bull; AS IF MEL SWIG didn&rsquo;t have enough trouble, now Bill McCreary, former general manager of the Cleveland Barons, is suing the owners of the club for $3.1 million claiming in his suit that principal owner Swig accused him of taking money from the Barons&hellip; Cesare Maniago, Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; veteran goalie, played nine straight games with the same goal stick. A goalkeeper seldom plays more than two games with the same stick&hellip;Gilles Villemure, No. 2 goalie of Chicago, has a 7.60 goals-against average, which has to be one of the poorest records in hockey&hellip;This has been a disastrous season for Chuck Lefley of St. Louis. Chuck has scored 10 goals this season while a year ago he scored 43&hellip;John Bassett Jr., owner of the Birmingham Bulls, recently underwent his third operation in the cancer wing of the Toronto General Hospital&hellip;Tommy Ivan, general manager of the Chicago Black Hawks, has purchased a home in Boca Raton. Florida&hellip;Jean Ratelie, one of hockey&rsquo;s finest ambassadors, was honored in Boston the other evening on the occasion of his 1,000th NHL game&hellip;Reports are that a new arena is to be built in Calgary as a home for the WHA Cowboys among other things&hellip;Montreal Canadiens are charging $17.50 a ticket for their top seats for the playoffs. Wow!&hellip;Alex Delvecchio, fired general manager of Detroit Red Wings but a long-time star forward, captain and coach of the Red Wings, will be inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame next month&hellip;When Washington Capitals failed to beat Cleveland at Capital Centre March 15, it marked the fourth straight time the team failed to win on &ldquo;Guaranteed Win Night&rdquo; and 7,374 fans (the attendance that night) were given free tickets for the next Capitals home game&hellip; Tim Young, star center of the Minnesota North Stars, is one of the most unheralded NHL players and yet he&rsquo;s been among the top five scorers all season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03878/3913335-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="317" height="457"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tim Young</figcaption></div>&bull; TEN PLAYERS on the Montreal Canadiens are playing the final year of their contracts. Players whose contracts expire at the end of June are Larry Robinson, Ken Dryden, Peter Mahovlich, Doug Risebrough, Jim Roberts, Pierre Bouchard, Bill Nyrop, Yvon Lambert, Mario Tremblay and Rick Chartraw. General manager Sam Pollock doesn&rsquo;t foresee any trouble in signing the players Canadiens want to keep. &ldquo;Canadiens have until August 10 to make offers to these players,&rdquo; said Pollock. &ldquo;If a player refuses the offer he can play out his option to become a free agent the following season. The club also has the right to notify a player of termination of his contract and thereby instigate the option year of the contract itself.&rdquo; &hellip;Lefty McFadden, former HOCKEY NEWS Minor League Executive of the Year, has been hired by Cincinnati Stingers as a vice-president in charge of putting people into the building. Lefty is one of hockey&rsquo;s better promoters and should do a standout job for the Stingers&hellip;While most players are wearing helmets, Bob Bourne of the New York Islanders recently took his off and he popped in a goal in his first game without it.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04776/3913328-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="302" height="479"></div>The Hockey NewsOFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLYFounded October 1st, 1947VOL. 30NO. 27APRIL 8, 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. 150 E. 58th Street. New York. N.Y. 10022Kenneth W. McKenzie President, PublisherDon Wall Associate PublisherCharlie Halpin Editorial DirectorKeith Lawton Administration Mgr,Anne Nelson Advertising Co-OrdinatorCanadian Advertising Director: Graham Campbell, 11 Lotus Court, Toronto, ont. M2H 1J6. 73:181 Telephone: (416) 492-9191U.S. Advertising Representatives:NEW YORK: Tom Lomberson, Notionol Sales Director, 150 East 58th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022. Telephone (212) 593-2100. CHICAGO: Hooper Jones & Associates, 3322 W. Peterson Ave., Chicago, III. 60659. Telephone (312) 478-5544.NEW ENGLAND: Steve Ganak 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. 10001 and at additional mailing offices SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO 1434 ST. CATHERINE STREET WEST, SUITE 217, MONTREAL, CANADA H3G 1R7. Second Class mail Registration No 1327 All inquiries pertaining to subscriptions should be addressed to Subscription Dept, The Hockey News, 1434 St. Catherine St. W. Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7. Printed in Canada. &#9632;

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PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05637/3913380-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg"></div><h2>Flyers Will Always Find A Tough Guy</h2>I am writing in reference to a March 7 game in Toronto&rsquo;s 4-2 victory in Philadelphia.That Philly team has again got the National Hockey League&rsquo;s first-class tough&mdash;Paul Holmgren.It is obvious he was sent out to attack the stars of the Toronto Maple Leafs. First, Borje Salming and then his unbelievable tactics against Mike Palmateer.But, when he came in to get Darryl Sittier with the head-butting nonsense, I couldn&rsquo;t believe it.But then I guess poor Bobby Clarke can always start fights but not be able to stand up for himself so the goon squad takes over.Darryl Sittler, though no fighter, at least fights his own battles. This hockey fan says hail to Sittier and the Toronto Maple Leafs and down with the Philly toughs.JAN EDGEWORTH, Burnaby, B.C.<h2>Success Of Sports Lies With Scheduling</h2>Success of many professional sport teams, as far as fan support, lies directly with the scheduling of the team&rsquo;s home dates.I feel that this is one of the Cleveland Barons&rsquo; major problems, along with inadequate management and lack of promotion.Taking home dates from the NHL schedule for 1976-77 and final statistics for 1975-76, the Barons&rsquo; major home date was Wednesday nights, with 16 games, then Friday with 11 games.Knowing the weekend is prime time, Cleveland had only four dates on Saturdays and three on Sundays.Looking at a successful team, Montreal or Toronto, one will find these teams played 45 games on the weekends. Toronto had 22 and Montreal had 23. Cleveland had 18. But, the majority of these games were on Saturday night, the best night and Cleveland had only four games.True, winning and losing influence fan support. But, given strong opposing teams, a Saturday night and these factors could make the difference between a crowd of 6,000 and 10,000.What I am trying to get across is that when scheduling, new or low-attendance teams should get prime time, which is the weekend. The established teams will not have any problems filling their home dates on any night.JERRY WHITE, Ashland, Ohio<h2>An Incorrect Impression On Future Of Howes</h2>In your most recent issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS, March 18, 1977, your article on the Howes, written by Doug McConnell, I take exception to a particular comment by Mr. McConnell.Although basic fact is true, the Howes will most likely be leaving Houston, Texas for the next season, I do believe Mr. McConnell might be leaving an incorrect impression in his paraphrasing a comment by Mrs. Howe. In his article, Mr. McConnell states, in fact mother Colleen, who handles all the family affairs, has insisted that the two boys must play together no matter where they go next season.If Mr. McConnell was trying to quote Mrs. Howe, then why did he not put this sentence in quotation marks? If he was merely paraphrasing Mrs. Howe, then I might suggest he paraphrase correctly.I have been living in this city for the entire period the Howe family has been living and skating here. My profession is that of the news business and in this area, I pride myself on being factual.It is true that Mrs. Howe has said &ldquo;we would prefer the Howes to go as a package, wherever we go.&rdquo; This certainly does not imply that the two boys must play together no matter where they go next season.If in fact the Howes are able to arrange a satisfactory contract with whatever team, then let us hope in the future, the Howes are given the common courtesy of being quoted or paraphrased in the proper context.THOMAS N.D. De MITOR, Houston, Texas<h2>Lower Teams Should Retain Draft Picks</h2>What would make a great National Hockey League? Better balance and the only way to achieve this is for the lower teams (looking for instant success) not to trade away their draft picks to Montreal.Look at Montreal&rsquo;s 1974 draft. The fifth over-all pick, Cam Connor, a good cop with the Houston Aeros. That one got away.The seventh pick was Doug Risebrough, the 10th choice was Rick Chartraw, the 12th pick was Mario Tremblay and then they had their own selection, which was 15th. None of them made the club right away.That&rsquo;s a lot of talent for &ldquo;unwanted&rdquo; players. The solution is that it would take four or five years but it would be worth it.Montreal would have all this talent with nowhere to put the players except in the press box or down on the farm in Nova Scotia.Therefore, these players would go somewhere by themselves via the free agent rule.KEVIN CUSHMAN, Newington, Conn.<h2>Fans Asking For More TV Coverage</h2>Why did the CTV network drop Wednesday night hockey? Many residents of my town used to watch these hockey games.They were very entertaining and helpful to the game of hockey. Why doesn&rsquo;t CTV carry more sports on their network like CBC does?JOHN STOFFEL, Edwards, N.Y. &#9632;

f0004-05

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01895/3913411-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="598" height="1102"><figcaption class="caption-body">PETE LoPRESTI &hellip; Challenging Shooters</figcaption></div>TWIN CITIES&mdash;Coach Ted Harris was discussing a narrow victory by his young charges on the Minnesota North Stars, using the term &ldquo;team effort.&rdquo;But as Harris took his explanation a step further, he could not help but mention the contribution of his 22-year-old goalie, Pete LoPresti, and his typical 30-plus save night.&ldquo;Peter made some great saves,&rdquo; evoked Harris. &ldquo;Million dollar saves.LoPresti&rsquo;s play down the stretch of a Smythe Division playoff spot could leave the North Stars feeling heavenly this time of year for their first playoffs since 197273.While they won&rsquo;t be talking about millions, the Stars could well be cashing their first division-finish checks ($1,300 for second or $700 for third) for the first time in four years. Of course, a late collapse would be, ah, very hellish.LoPresti could be considered a key player in the North Stars&rsquo; involvement in the stretch drive after taking turns, off and on, with veteran Gary Smith.Harris started going with LoPresti, who is nearing completion of his third season, on a full-time basis in late February after the former Denver U. goaltender beat Boston. 2-1. He followed that up by blanking Vancouver, 3-0, for his first whitewash and over a 10-game span in which the North Stars took 12 points, LoPresti posted a 2.91 average on a team with the worst average in the league.Harris explained his decision to use LoPresti game after game as &ldquo;going with the hot hand.&rdquo;&ldquo;Peter has played strongly all year,&rdquo; the coach added. &ldquo;The last few weeks he&rsquo;s been even better, and he&rsquo;s challenging the shooters more with great success.&rdquo;The playoff race with Chicago, Vancouver and Colorado caused considerable suspense the final two weeks of the regular season, but there was considerable interest, as well, in the race for rookie of the year honors.While Atlanta, for Willi Plett, and the Rangers, for injured Don Murdoch, were lobbying for votes, the North Stars administration took a neutral view, for diplomatic reasons.&ldquo;We do not think it would be fair to either Roland Eriksson or Glen Sharpley if we promoted one and not the other,&rdquo; said team president Gordy Ritz. &ldquo;We are taking the tact that we have the best group of rookies in the National Hockey League.&rdquo;But after Eriksson&rsquo;s line, with fellow rookies Steve Jensen and Alex Pirus, scored all five goals in a 5-5 tie with the New York Islanders, the ranking veterans on the team started a campaign to get the 23-year-old Swede elected to the Calder Trophy.Entering the last two weeks Eriksson led all NHL rookies in scoring with 22 goals and 40 assists.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s quite an accomplishment when you consider he has two rookies as his wingers,&rdquo; said Lou Nanne. &ldquo;Roland does some unbelievable things with the puck. I honestly feel, along with Gump Worsley, that the Swede is the best player I&rsquo;ve had as a teammate in my 10 years with the North Stars.&rdquo;Reid agreed with the assessment, and gave an account of a recent practice session when he was trying to break up a rush by Eriksson.&ldquo;I thought that I&rsquo;d outsmarted the Swede this time,&rdquo; said Reid. &ldquo;He left a drop pass behind and I went to pounce on it. Roland kicks a leg back, pushes the puck around me, picks it back up and goes in to score. How many rookies do you see make that play? How many veterans?&rdquo;Minnesota, as Ritz said, is proud of the play of their eight rookies.When Sharpley and Eriksson passed the 20-goal level, the North Stars became the first team in NHL history to have two first-year players pass that plateau. Then it became three when Jensen, who scored nine goals in a 10-game span, scored two in that tie against the Islanders. And Pirus could make it four rookies with 20-plus goals. He needed four in the final nine games.STAR DUST: Reid remains the hard luck Star of the year, what with a rash condition, a fractured cheekbone and the latest, a sprained ankle&hellip;He joined Nick Beverley, another defenseman down with a pulled groin muscle, on the injured list&hellip;Just when this duo went out, defensemen Dennis O&rsquo;Brien and Fred Barrett returned from pulled muscles&hellip;Tim Young still had nine games to become Minnesota&rsquo;s first 100-point scorer, but he needed to get very hot to pick up 14 points the last two weeks&hellip;Young already owns the Minnesota scoring record this year&hellip; &#9632;

f0005-01

Hot LoPresti Convinces Harris He’s His GoaLer Down Stretch

Following are the latest player movements in hockey:<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>CLEVELAND &mdash; Len Frig, defenseman, placed on suspended list through March 30. Angie Moretto, forward, and Ken Kuzyk, defenseman, recalled from Salt Lake of CHL.DETROIT &mdash; Terry Richardson, goaler, returned to Kalamazoo of IHL after subbing for Ed Giacomin under emergency oonditions. Giacomin returned to active roster from injury list. Terry Harper, defenseman, placed on disabled list for rest of season to undergo knee surgery for torn ligaments.PHILADELPHIA &mdash; Al Hill, forward, recalled from Springfield of AHL.LOS ANGELES &mdash; Sheldon Kannegiesser, defenseman, recalled from Fort Worth of CHL as emergency replacement for Neil Komadoski, defenseman, who is out with a groin injury.PITTSBUEGH &mdash; Eddie Gilbert, forward, returned to Hershey after subbing for Greg Malone, forward, under emergency conditions. Malone returned to active roster from injury list.BOSTON &mdash; Darryl Edestrand, defenseman, recalled from Rochester of AHL.CHICAGO &mdash; Greg Vaydik, forward, returned to Dallas of CHL.COLORADO &mdash; Larry Skinner, forward, recalled from Rhode Island of AHL.<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>DALLAS &mdash; Bob Volpe, goaler, recalled from Flint of IHL under emergency conditions. &#9632;

Hockey Players On The Move

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>DETROIT&mdash;Ted Lindsay left very little doubt about who would be the boss.Terrible Ted, whose skillful, mean, hell-for-leather brand of hockey endeared him to Detroit hockey fans, returned to the National Hockey League on March 16 as general manager of the Detroit Red Wings.It ended years of negotiations between Lindsay and owner Bruce Norris, who until now never were able to get together. Lindsay always demanded that he be given complete authority in running the club but Norris had been reluctant under those terms. But now, with his club near collapse, Norris had no alternative. Lindsay is one man who can restore some confidence in the organization.Alex Delvecchio was fired as general manager to make room for Lindsay, and Alex said the shock of being fired &ldquo;was tough.&rdquo;&ldquo;Everything went haywire, and I wasn&rsquo;t supposed to let that happen,&rdquo; Delvecchio said.Lindsay is best remembered for his fierce competitiveness, outspoken criticism of the hockey establishment and often stormy playing career. But the man loves the game, there&rsquo;s no denying that.&ldquo;I love hockey more than anything,&rdquo; Lindsay said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy to be with this organization. I still think it&rsquo;s the best hockey franchise in the league. The people of Detroit love hockey.&ldquo;A lot of guys are stealing money by not putting out,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;I realize it&rsquo;s a different era from when I played but you still don&rsquo;t cheat the people. You&rsquo;re going to see a lot of players coming and going here until we find out who wants to play and who doesn&rsquo;t.&ldquo;It embarasses me when I come in here (to Olympia) nights and see the exhibition the Red Wings put on.&rdquo;One of Lindsay&rsquo;s first official actions was to announce that Larry Wilson, the interim coach, will be back next season.&ldquo;I told Mr. Norris I&rsquo;d like to keep Larry,&rdquo; Lindsay said. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s done a good job with the talent he has.&rdquo;As expected, Lindsay promised sweeping changes and new faces.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got some ideas of who I want,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I want people who have been a part of the organization in the past, who are winners, who are proud to be associated with the Red Wings. All I want are people who are loyal.&ldquo;You can assume that scouting is one area that there will be changes. You can see for yourself that we&rsquo;ve come up short in that area over the years.&rdquo;The Red Wings were on the West Coast when the announcement was made and Lindsay didn&rsquo;t get a chance to talk to his team until five days later. He had this message for the players, through Wilson: &ldquo;Tell the players there won&rsquo;t be a revolution, and that all I want from them is to show a real effort with an eye toward next season.&rdquo;But he made it clear that there will be changes in the lineup next season.&ldquo;I think our goaltending is as good as anybody&rsquo;s in the league,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Our defense is very pathetic. Out of forwards, I&rsquo;d say we have maybe four or five who can play in the NHL.&ldquo;We need two defensemen and two centers, and I hope to get at least one of those centers with our No. 1 draft choice. But I&rsquo;m not going to eliminate any of the players. They will eliminate themselves.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always been a believer of hard work,&rdquo; Lindsay said. &ldquo;As far as my credentials, that&rsquo;s what they are&mdash;I&rsquo;ll work hard at it.&ldquo;The most important thing is there&rsquo;s going to be one set of rules around here. There&rsquo;s only going to be one way things are going to be done. My way.&rdquo;Lindsay said the Red Wings have let a &ldquo;lot of good coaches get away in recent years&rdquo; and he didn&rsquo;t want that to happen again with Wilson.&ldquo;Larry and I have not had a chance to sit down and talk yet,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Larry&rsquo;s got some good theories, a lot of them blend in with mine. I&rsquo;m not going to dictate to Larry how to run his club, but I know there are certain things that he believes as I do, as far as backchecking. positional play. Backchecking, that is something that has been lacking quite a bit.&ldquo;I can understand a player being caught out of position once in a while, but I can&rsquo;t understand a professional team getting four men caught maybe five or six times a game. It shouldn&rsquo;t happen, not if you&rsquo;re thinking, not if you&rsquo;re playing your position, not if you&rsquo;re doing your job.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve come down to Olympia many nights when the goaltender, no matter which one is in there, he not only makes one save, he makes two and three, but they might score on the fourth rebound. This is unforgiveable in minor hockey, let alone the pros.&rdquo;Lindsay&rsquo;s priorities are to do a great deal of scouting, both in the amateur and pro ranks, and look for some players for next season.&ldquo;Everybody says Dale McCourt is the best, so he must be.&rdquo; Lindsay said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not just one guy, or one team saying so. Everybody agrees on him. Besides, he&rsquo;s a center. But I&rsquo;d like to see him myself.&ldquo;When it comes to the draft, you know who the top 20 (prospects) are, no problem at all. But who&rsquo;s the 80th guy, who maybe in a year or two can do something,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to hit every junior game and playoff game that I possibly can. Certainly I&rsquo;ve got to depend on some of the scouting reports and from what I see myself I have to evaluate it.&rdquo;Lindsay also will scout the minor leagues looking for talent.&ldquo;This is another theory that I have,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When you have a guy in the minor leagues, and they say he&rsquo;s no good, I think you have to give a guy a chance. I&rsquo;ve seen so many times where fellows who have been nothing in the minor leagues and then when you bring them up all of a sudden they blossom.&ldquo;A lot of times a guy is good in the minors, but when he comes up he does nothing.&rdquo;As far as Detroit&rsquo;s now-famous &ldquo;mystery coach&rdquo; for next season, Lindsay said: &ldquo;I will talk to the mystery man. I&rsquo;m looking forward to meeting him. I can&rsquo;t name any names, or anything, because of legalities. I understand he&rsquo;s a very competent, personable person, and quite a hockey person who can be a great contributor. If he&rsquo;s that good, we may still find a spot for him in the organization. Definitely.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011059/3913504-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="569" height="1255"><figcaption class="caption-body">LARRY WILSON &hellip; He&rsquo;ll Stay On</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0006-01

Lindsay Plans Gigantic Changes To Make Wings Respectable Team

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01946/3913535-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GILBERT PERREAULT&hellip; Enjoying Best Season</figcaption></div>BUFFALO&mdash;The Buffalo Sabres lost sole leadership of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s Adams Division on their last regular season visit to Boston Garden but the wonder was that the club was challenging at all for a division title after all the misfortunes it had suffered since the season&rsquo;s start.The Bruins tied the Sabres for first place in the Adams Division by beating the Buffalo club, 4-2, in a rough, old-fashioned game in Boston. The Sabres finished the game with only three regular defensemen&mdash;Jim Schoenfeld. Bill Hajt, and Jocelyn Guevremont&mdash;plus a rookie hastily called up from Hershey of the American League, Ken Breitenbach.Lee Fogolin suffered a separated left shoulder in the second period of the game and was taken to a Boston hospital. His injury was the latest in a long series of misfortunes that hit the Sabres this season. He is out for the rest of the campaign.Here are some of the season happenings:1&mdash;Danny Gare, a 50-goal scorer last season, suffered a back injury before he even reported. Gare&rsquo;s back was hurt at the Team Canada training camp. He has been in and out of the lineup all year, never really regaining top form.2&mdash;Schoenfeld, the team captain and anchor of the defense corps, came down with viral pneumonia early in the campaign and missed 15 games.3&mdash;Rick Martin, the Sabres&rsquo; top goal scorer of all time and a 49-goal man in 1975-76, suffered a separated shoulder and missed 13 games.The injury came just as Rick was beginning to score in high gear. He went from Feb. 1 to March 13 without scoring a goal.4&mdash;Gerry Desjardins, who was doing practically all the Sabres&rsquo; goaltending&mdash;he started 39 straight games at one stretch&mdash;suffered an injury to his right eye when hit by a puck in a game against, ironically, Boston, and probably is lost for the season.5&mdash;Al Smith, Desjardins&rsquo; backup, quit the club with a dramatic flourish when rookie Don Edwards was brought up from Hershey and started ahead of him.In the first game after Desjardins was hospitalized, Smith waited until the puck was about to be dropped for the opening faceoff, then left the team bench, skated in front of club owner Seymour Knox III, saluted, skated to the end of the rink and departed, never to return.6&mdash;Jerry Korab, Schoenfeld&rsquo;s defense partner, was suspended for three games because of a stickswinging incident with Detroit&rsquo;s Dennis Hextail. Korab and the club learned of the suspension when they arrived by bus in Richfield. O., at noon of the day of a game against the Cleveland Barons. The next night came the pivotal game in Boston, the second game of Korab&rsquo;s suspension.There were, of course, a good many things on the plus side to keep the Sabres in the Championship fight.Edwards, for one. The 21-year-old netminder started every game from the time he was called up from the minors through that Boston game. 18 straight. He won 13 of them and had two shutouts.Gil Perreault, second-team All Star NHL center in 1975-76, was having probably his best year since turning pro in 1970.Perreault, as he admitted, had a couple of slumps but he was skating brilliantly most of the time and inspiring the Sabres to do the same.Going into the Boston game, Gil had scored 11 goals and assisted on nine more&mdash;20 points&mdash;in his last 12 games. The Sabres had won nine of them,Rene Robert, after a slow start, as playing in the style of 1974-75 when he became Buffalo&rsquo;s first 100-point player. He got one of the Sabres&rsquo; goals against the Bruins in the 4-2 loss to give him 13 points in his last nine games. That goal also gave him 30 for the season.Don Luce and Craig Ramsay, who played with a variety of right wingers because of Gare&rsquo;s ailment, had trouble scoring early in the season but did heir usual fine defensive and penaltykilling job. Late in the campaign they began to hit. Luce picked up 21 points in 18 games, Ramsay 20 in 16, including eight goals.With Allan Stanley, former Toronto great, taking over as defensive coordinator on Feb. 1, the Sabres defense corps tightened up and was doing one of the best jobs in the league. &#9632;

f0007-01

Sabres Still Contender Despite Bad Luck Streak

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011049/3913573-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="414" height="466"></div><h2>Gambling On Good Life</h2>TO JERRY KORAB, life is a gamble. You play your best hand and hope for the best. You live for today because there may not be a tomorrow. He says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m in the prime of my life and want the best life I can lead. The road may run out tomorrow for all 1 know. I like the good life. My wife likes the good life. We&rsquo;re willing to roll the dice for it.&rdquo;Life is fun for the big Buffalo defenseman, on and off the ice. As his Sabres entered the playoffs, he was serious about his sport because it was time to pay attention to business. He is good at his business. He has become one of the best defensemen in the business and if Buffalo does well it probably will be partly because he does well.However it goes, he and his wife. Mary Ann, will be on their way when it ends because that is their way. He is a husky, handsome guy with a fat moustache and a sparkling smile, while she is a beautiful, slender lady with blonde hair and a captivating personality. He is a hockey hero, while she has been a model. And they go in the fanciest of duds. And they go to the best places, from Toronto to Las Vegas.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02943/3913566-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="826" height="954"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jerry Korab, Buffalo&rsquo;s rugged defenseman, says he and his wife enjoy the good life and that they&rsquo;re willing to roll the dice for it.</figcaption></div>He is hooked on classy clothes. At one and the same time they have had closets full of clothes in his home town of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., her home town of Chicago, and their current home town of Buffalo, having had houses here, there, and everywhere. But his favorite tailor was in Vancouver. He says. &ldquo;I pick up clothes wherever I go, but I have to go to a good tailor because of my size. I&rsquo;m six-three and weigh close to 220.1 have a 35-inch waist and take a 37-inch trouser length If I get trousers that long, the waist will be 44. Even so, my thighs won&rsquo;t fit in them. I have a 40-inch chest and take a 37-inch sleeve, so my jackets have to be altered, too.&ldquo;I HAVE 20 TO 25 suits, bright, but not gaudy. I have almost as many sports jackets as slacks. When I shop, I ll buy three or four of everything at a time. It saves time. But I have suits and coats and slacks I&rsquo;ve never worn. I haven&rsquo;t gotten to them yet. Or I liked them more when I got them than when I got to them later. I have 20 to 25 sweaters, which I wear as vests. I used to buy a tie in every town I went to. Travelling with a hockey team, I go to a lot of towns. Some clothes have gone out of style. I&rsquo;ve replaced a lot. I vas a shoe freak. I had more than I could count. I&rsquo;d buy eight or 10 pairs at a time. I bought so many, I got tired of them. I&rsquo;ve got a dozen I&rsquo;ve never worn.&rdquo;He sees your smile and shrugs and says. You&rsquo;ve got to spend your money on something, don&rsquo;t you? I don&rsquo;t spend it on booze or broads. I have a super wife and we both like to wear super clothes. She&rsquo;s beautiful and she wears beautiful clothes. She has good taste and I like the way she dresses. I have to dress well, too, to keep up. She likes to see me well-dressed. But she thinks I spend too much money on my clothes. She&rsquo;s more thrifty than I am. But she&rsquo;s not tight. She&rsquo;ll bet a buck. She&rsquo;s a lot better gambler than I am. And we both love to gamble.&rdquo;One summer they arrived in Vegas at noontime Monday. Within an hour, he was at a poker table and she was at a blackjack table. He was betting five bucks a hand, while she was risking fifty. He won $500, went without a winnr three hours, went $500 in the hole, kept going, and got even again. By the time he got to his wife, she had won $1,200. By the time they left the tables and went to bed they had been at it more than 30 hours and it was eight at night Tuesday. &ldquo;We slept until the next day.&rdquo; he laughs. &ldquo;Then we went back to it. I&rsquo;m a super poker player. A lucky player. But she&rsquo;s better. After about a week we wound up $2,500 ahead. We went to visit her folks. What did we do with them? We played cards,&rdquo; he said grinning.ONE OF THE PLACES they like to go is Lake Tahoe. He says, &ldquo;We water ski, swim. fish. I never gamble before 11 a m. The tables don&rsquo;t even open in Puerto Rico until 6 p.m. We usually pick a place to vacaction where we can play. Once in a while I&rsquo;ll take a trip to the wilderness, but my wife won&rsquo;t go because she won&rsquo;t rough it. It&rsquo;s not in her nature. But I can only breathe so much smoke and dirt before I have to get where the air is clear for awhile.&rdquo; He has had trouble breathing since his nose was broken in five places by a puck a year ago February, requiring surgery. Now he tries to avoid colds so he won&rsquo;t sneeze.He makes his living in a rugged game. He is a rugged guy, nicknamed &ldquo;King Kong,&rdquo; but he hates it. He is no gorilla. He has disappointed people at times because he does not beat up and break up opponents all the time. Chicago kept him in the minors a few years, then only kept him a few years before moving him to Vancouver. In less than a year Vancouver moved him to Buffalo. But at Buffalo he has become one of the best, a stand-up checker on the backline, a graceful skater, a skillful puck-handler and a strong shooter. He has set Sabre records for offense by a defenseman, while proving himself as a good defensive defenseman. Tried as a forward at times early in his career, he now has, at 29, established himself as a solid defenseman in his seventh season in the big leagues.Although he was involved in a dangerous fighting incident with Bryan Hextall this season, Jerry says, &ldquo;I let my temper get the best of me at times, but I don&rsquo;t want to be a dirty player. People always expect big guys like me to tear people apart, but I&rsquo;d rather play the game the way it was meant to be played, and outplay my opponents.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not in my nature to fight. I&rsquo;ve proven myself a good fighter so I&rsquo;m not challenged much any more. I figure it should be fun out there. We&rsquo;re paid well to play well, but if you play the right way, it&rsquo;s fun to play. And when the game is over, you look for fun in your life. When the season is over you take your pay and play different games. If you can&rsquo;t live the good life, what good is life?&rdquo; he asks. &#9632;

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Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03796/3913604-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GARY DORNHOEFER&hellip; Always Cooperative</figcaption></div>PHILADELPHIA-The player who was introduced as &ldquo;Cary Corndoefer&rdquo; on the Flyers&rsquo; first visit to Atlanta&rsquo;s omni is receiving some recognition he deserves.A salute from the Philadelphia chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association hardly compares with the Hart Trophy or an All Star honor. However, the &ldquo;Class Guy&rdquo; award won by Gary Dornhoefer is significant because the writers who work with Dornhoefer on a daily basis know him better than anyone next to family, teammates and coaches.And what the writers know is that Dornhoefer is always a cooperative, candid gentleman. The scribes also know that on the ice, Dornhoefer, Philadelphia&rsquo;s Masterton trophy nominee, is the type of player every successful team needs.His statistics will never match those of a Guy Lafleur, Marcel Dionne or Lanny McDonald. But Dornhoefer&rsquo;s willingness to risk bodily damage by barging into the corners or propping himself in the opposing goaltender&rsquo;s lap has helped the Flyers win two Stanley Cups.Listen to Rangers&rsquo; GM-coach John Ferguson: &ldquo;I really admire Dornhoefer. He works every game, taking it and giving it back. He even played that way in the All Star game. He made that game.&rdquo;The Philadelphia hockey writers task of singling out one player for their first Class Guy Award wasn&rsquo;t easy. Everywhere you walk in the Flyers&rsquo; dressing room, there are players who are willing to talk-win or lose. The Dornhoefers, Bobby Clarkes. Ross Lonsberrys, Orest Kindrachuks, Watson brothers, Tom Bladons and Andre Duponts don&rsquo;t always smile and volunteer their opinions. But when they&rsquo;re asked &ldquo;tough&rdquo; questions, they don&rsquo;t sidestep direct answers, rely upon rink-worn cliches, or flee to the trainer&rsquo;s room.In short, the writers realize it is generally a pleasure working with the Flyers&rsquo; players and coaches. The Class Guy Award, which will be presented annually &ldquo;to the Flyers&rsquo; player who has distinguished himself as a gentleman in his relationship with the press and thereby reflected a respected image for his team and himself,&rdquo; is the writers&rsquo; way of showing appreciation.Dornhoefer, 34, accepted the award at a luncheon that drew more than 130 people, Including the Flyers&rsquo; team and staff, to the Spectrum&rsquo;s Ovations restaurant. Tickets sold at $7 apiece. Typically, Dornhoefer mixed humor with straight-from-the-heart comments.Talking about his career, he said he had hoped to become the highest scoring right wing in NHL history.&ldquo;But when I got to 200 (this season). I figured out it would take me 28 more years at 25 goals a year to equal Gordie Howe&rsquo;s 900 goals. I&rsquo;ll be 62 then so, Keith, I&rsquo;m looking for a long-term contract.&rdquo;Dornhoefer&rsquo;s remark about his contract wish was subtle, but as direct as one of his bodychecks. The original Flyer has only the option year remaining on his current contract. GM Keith Allen says if Dorny wants another contract, there won&rsquo;t be any problems, but Allen hasn&rsquo;t met with Dornhoefer&rsquo;s agent.&ldquo;I know I can play two more years and be competitive,&rdquo; Dornhoefer said.The Class Guy luncheon was held the day after Mrs. Julius Erving&rsquo;s published criticism of Dr. J&rsquo;s 76ers&rsquo; teammates, coach, and fans. Opening his remarks. Dornhoefer said. &ldquo;I brought my lovely wife, Cheryl. She 11 be available for interviews later.&rdquo;Writers aren&rsquo;t always right, but no one was criticizing their selection of Dornhoefer as a class guy.No one criticized the casting of the Rev. John Casey, a Flyers season ticketholder and look-alike for Fred Shero, to portray the Flyers&rsquo; coach in a laugh-filled skit at the luncheon. Father Casey stopped the show which gave the audience an &ldquo;inside&rdquo; look at a typical Keith Allen staff meeting.FLYERS FOLLOWERS: Bill Barber and his aching right knee didn&rsquo;t accompany the club on its&rsquo;final West Coast trip. Barber was undergoing tests on the knee, which he injured in a mid-season game against the Rangers&hellip;Mel Bridgman (Charley horse) was sidelined for three games. &#9632;

f0008-03

Dornhoefer Wins New Flyers’ Award

<div class="byline">BY GARY McCARTHY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011014/3913635-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GUY LAFLEUR&hellip;Dominates 1976-77 Campaign</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;Spring has sprung, the grass has ris&rsquo;, I wonder where The Flower is?There is no doubt where &lsquo;The Flower&rsquo;, Guy Lafleur of the Montreal Canadiens, is rigit now. He is setting the National Hockey League on fire with his record-breaking performances.The Flower, which is the nickname given to Lafleur by his teammates, has been in full bloom all season long and has experienced growth at an alarming rate.Lafleur, certain to be a unanimous choice for the first team All Star berth as well as drawing such other attention as the NHL scoring champion, has been one of the most dominant forces in the league this season.His second successive Art Ross Trophy as the league&rsquo;s scoring champion has produced two records and has tied another as he helped the Canadiens capture the Prince of Wales Conference Trophy and also the over-all title in the NHL standings.His 50 goals this season mark the third year in a row that he has achieved the feat, tying the NHL mark established by Phil Esposito during his heydays with the Boston Bruins.Lafleur also set a record for the NHL consecutive point streak and also produced a record for most points by a right winger in a single season, breaking the mark he set only last season.Lafleur scored a goal in a 5-1 Montreal romp over the Boston Bruins in the Massachusetts city to tie the record established by former Bruin Bronco Horvath back in 195960. The goal gave Lafleur a streak of having scored at least one point per game in 22 successive contests.He broke that record a few nights later on home ice against the St. Louis Blues. By breaking the record against the Blues, it also pushed this year&rsquo;s over all point total over the 125 mark. Last year, Lafleur set the NHL record for most points by a right winger when he won the scoring title with 125 points.&ldquo;What records?&rdquo; Lafleur asked reporters after the game against the Bruins, one in which the Canadiens completely dominated from start to finish.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s really excited about it,&rdquo; said Steve Shutt, Lafleur&rsquo;s linemate who has had a tremendous season himself as the 1976-77 NHL season winds down to its last few days.The play of Lafleur and Shutt, plus the Canadiens&rsquo; defense, overshadowed what should have been a glorious night for Boston veteran Jean Ratelie, who was playing in his 1,000th NHL game.Defensively, the Canadiens were outstanding in the victory against the Bruins, who had beaten the Habs in the first three meetings of the season between the two clubs&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the best I&rsquo;ve seen our team play defensively,&rdquo; said goalie Michel Larocque. &ldquo;Normally, when we play strictly defensively, we re not that good. But we controlled it in the third period.&rdquo;The Canadiens were well rested going into the game against the Bruins. They had a four-day layoff from the schedule before facing Boston.HABS NOTES: Following the game against the Blues on home ice, the Canadiens had only five games remaining. Detroit, Toronto and Washington were scheduled to play the Habs on Forum ice and Montreal&rsquo;s remaining road games were in Detroit and Washington&hellip; With five games left on the regular-season schedule, the Canadiens had scored just a shade over two goals for every one goal they had allowed. They had 355 goals for and had given up 166&hellip;The Canadiens jumped off to a quick 3-0 lead in the win against Boston. The other goalgetters, apart from Lafleur, were Larry Robinson, Guy Lapointe, Mario Tremblay and Doug Risebrough. &#9632;

f0009-01

‘Flower’ Keeps Blossoming En Route To Scoring Marks

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011036/3913673-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"></div><h2>A Dangerous Weapon</h2>PAUL HOLMGREN is a large (six-foot-three, 215 pounds), young (21) man who&rsquo;s attempting to make the grade as a National Hockey League winger with the Philadelphia Flyers. He&rsquo;s a college kid from Minnesota who spent some time in the World Hockey Association, then joined the Flyers late last season.His NHL career almost ended very early when he sustained a serious eye injury This season. Holmgren has been playing more-or-less regularly with the Flyers, wearing a plastic face guard attached to his helmet to Drotect the eye.Holmgren is an aggressive kid who uses his size in the corners, and he has the Flyer trademark of being prepared to take a hit to make a play. He&rsquo;s also quite willing to fight (136 penalty minutes in 48 games this season) and some opponents are complaining about his engaging in fisticuffs while wearing the facial protection. With his eye problems, it would be rather foolhardy for him to fight without it.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02839/3913666-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="460" height="550"><figcaption class="caption-body">Paul Holmgren</figcaption></div>Some opposition coaches claim that if Holmgren&rsquo;s aggressiveness is going to lead him into fights, then the NHL is going to need legislation ot some sort to cover the fact that he scraps with a face mask.When ex-Flyer enforcer Dave Schultz made his return to Philly with his new team, the Los Angeles Kings, he fought Holmgren and the Flyers charged the Schultz hollered at Holmgren to take off the mask and even tried to remove it.Holmgren and Bob Gassoff of the St. Louis Blues had a scrap and the Flyers claimed that Gassoff tried to insert his hand under Holmgren&rsquo;s mask to claw his face. Really nice stuff in the game of hockey, isn&rsquo;t it?Blues&rsquo; manager-coach Emile Francis made some strong statements about players who wear masks participating in fights. To punch a heavy Plexiglas facemask is the same as hitting a brick wall.<h2>It Was Even, Anyway</h2>WHEN THE TORONTO Maple Leafs won their first game at the Philadelphia Spectrum in six years. Holmgren was involved in two scraps which led to the same complaints from the Leafs as Francis and the Blues had made.First. Holmgren and the Leafs&rsquo; rookie goalie Mike Palmateer engaged in battle, which was an even-mask scrap since Palmateer was wearing his facial protector.Later in the game, when it appeared that Leafs&rsquo; Darryl Sittier had plans to engage Flyers&rsquo; Bobby Clarke in battle. Holmgren jumped into the fray and fought Sittler. The Leaf player was at a disadvantage because the areas on Holmgren&rsquo;s body which he wanted to hit&mdash;mouth, jaw and nose&mdash;were well guarded.&ldquo;He was punching at my face and after I hit the mask with one swing, I didn&rsquo;t have much to swing at,&rdquo; Sittier said. &ldquo;When the mask tilted back. I was able to hit him on the jaw.&rdquo;Holmgren received a match penalty when he butted Sittier on the head with his mask.<h2>Some Rule Changes Needed</h2>LEAF COACH RED KELLY feels some rules are needed to cover the situation.&ldquo;I admire Holmgren because he&rsquo;s an agressive kid trying to make it in this league and he did come back from a very serious injury.&rdquo; Kelly said.&ldquo;But when he starts fights while wearing that face mask, it&rsquo;s not a very good thing. He can swing at unprotected players but if they swing at him. they hit a wall. I don&rsquo;t know what the answer is but something has to be done.&ldquo;The NHL passed rules a few years ago that any player fighting with his hands protected by tape received a heavy penalty. Well, in my way of thinking, a player fighting with a face mask is more dangerous.&rdquo;A rule to cover the matter was voted down last year. Undoubtedly it will be revived this year. &#9632;

f0010-01

FRANK ORR SAYS

<div class="byline">BY ALAN TRUEX</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-03634/3913704-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">PHIL MYRE&hellip; Left Cooling His Heels</figcaption></div>ATLANTA&mdash;For awhile. Phil Myre was beginning to feel like a forgotten man. The quiet goaltender of the Atlanta Flames did not play in three straight games, while the not-so-quiet Flames goaltender. Dan Bouchard, got ail the action.Bouchard&rsquo;s &ldquo;play me or trade me&rdquo; demand turned out to be magic words. For after he uttered them, he appeared in four of the next five games while Myre sat out.It was then Myra&rsquo;s turn to protest. But true to character, the soft-spoken Myre said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to get involved in any war to play games&rdquo;Yet he was puzzled by coach Fred Creighton&rsquo;s apparent preference for Bouchard, who had a a goals-against average of 3.40, compared with Myra&rsquo;s 3.15.In the critical two-game series with the New York Rangers. Creighton opened with Bouchard in goal, even though in the past, Myre usually has played the Manhattan team.When the Flames won 6-3 in front of Bouchard. Creighton decided to go back with Bouchard the next night in New York. Again Atlanta won, and Creighton played Bouchard in the next game, against Pittsburgh, and the Flames won again.Creighton insisted his decision to go with Bouchard &ldquo;was no reflection on Phil&rsquo;s play. When Phil gets back in there, if he wins. Mr. Bouchard may have to sit out two or three.&rdquo;Creighton admitted, &ldquo;I know Phil wasn&rsquo;t very happy about it.&rdquo;Myre said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t really know what the situation is now. I don&rsquo;t know how he&rsquo;s going to work it. Since that article appeared, things have changed.I was a little upset,&rdquo; he continued, &ldquo;because of the fact that the article seemed to change things.&rdquo;Myre was referring to some comments Bouchard had made two weeks earlier, in which he had said a goaltender could not be at his sharpest unless he was playing 55 games a year.Bouchard went on to say he wanted to be traded&mdash;or he wanted Myre to be traded. He added, &ldquo;Phil feels the same way I do,&rdquo; meaning that Myre also wanted to play more than half-time.Myre said. He never consulted me on that. We can both play here and have a good rotation. The way Danny puts it, he wants the whole thing.&ldquo;We would all like to play more, but do you want to play more and go to Cleveland or Washington or Minnesota or some place like that?&rdquo;After thinking it over, Bouchard appeared to have second thoughts himself.General manager Cliff Fletcher met with the temperamental goalie and reported later. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s singing an entirely different tune now.&rdquo;Meanwhile. Myre was trying not to get drawn into a confrontation. But he disapproved of the way Bouchard had spoken out at the peak of the playoff race and just two days before the trading deadline.&ldquo;I thought the timing was very poor,&rdquo; Myre said, adding that Bouchard should have made his comments when the season ends Or a month ago.&rdquo;Myre continued. I&rsquo;m just going to go along with whatever they think I&rsquo;m not against one guy playing two or three games in a row, as long as the idle period is not too long. There are times when a guy should go two or three games if he&rsquo;s doing well.&ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t want to get involved in any personal war with anybody,&rdquo; he said.When Myre finally did return to the nets, he played possibly his best game of the season, stopping 28 of 29 shots by the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flames, who had lost seven straight games in The Spectrum, won 4-1.&ldquo;This puts the nail in the Rangers&rsquo; coffin&rdquo;, announced rookie defenseman Dave Shand in the post-game jubilation. The Flames&rsquo; victory, their fourth straight following a prolonged slump, put them nine points ahead of the Rangers in the battle for the Patrick Division&rsquo;s final playoff berth. At the time, only eight games remained to be played.In the next game, in Toronto, Bouchard was back in goal. &#9632;

f0010-03

Creighton Leans To Bouchard In Jumbled Goaling Picture

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div>TORONTO&mdash;When the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired defenseman Tracy Pratt from the Colorado Rockies 20 minutes before the National Hockey League trading deadline, they could have no doubts about the man they&rsquo;d added Pratt told them precisely.I&rsquo;m not very fancy; in fact, offensively, I stink,&rdquo; Pratt said. &ldquo;But I think I can do a pretty fair job defensively, clearing traffic in front of the net and I&rsquo;m not afraid to put my nose into the action.&rdquo;Injuries, which took five players out of the Leaf line-up for an extended period, had reduced their defense to four players&mdash;Borje Salming, Ian Turnbull. Brian Glennie and rookie Randy Carlyle, who was recalled following a two-month sojourn with Dallas Black Hawks in the Central League.The Leafs desparately needed an experienced backliner&mdash;and Pratt filled the bill. He made his Leaf debut in a 2-2 tie against Montreal Canadiens and did a solid job. He assisted on the winning goal in a 6-0 triumph over the Detroit Red Wings.Pratt is the son of Babe Pratt, a great Leaf defenseman in the 1940s who won the Hart Trophy as the NHLs most valuable player while in Toronto. Tracy laughs when the inevitable father-son thing is mentioned.&ldquo;I can just hear my old man (Babe is now a public relations assistant with Vancouver Canucks and a television analyst),&rdquo; Tracy said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s probably saying: &ldquo;I set scoring standards in Toronto and now that brat of mine is going to lower them.&rdquo;Pratt arrived in Toronto with nc bitterness at Rockies&rsquo; trading him and nc idea how long his stay in Toronto mighl be. The Leafs are his sixth NHL team. He saw duty with California Seals. Pitt sburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres, Van couver Canucks and Colorado.&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re my age (34), you have to accept that trades are always possible,&rdquo; Pratt said. &ldquo;There are no big problems in the move. There are 13 games remaining in the season It would be nice to play another 13 games in the playoffs and beyond that, who knows?&ldquo;If they have five defensemen. then 1 just hope to carry one-fifth of the load. I&rsquo;d like to play a little longer but I just don&rsquo;t know how much longer it will last for me. It doesn&rsquo;t really make all that much difference because I have a few things going outside of hockey.&rdquo;Pratt had been signed by the Rockies as a free agent.&ldquo;I was almost in a teaching capacity with the Rockies because they have a very young team.&rdquo; Pratt said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re on the right track because they&rsquo;re going with the youngest possible team to build for the future. I suppose the chance to get a draft choice (second or third round) made me expendable.I&rsquo;m looking forward to playing for the Leafs because the team is a little older I&rsquo;ve never been on one of the established (pre-expansion) teams and theres nothing quite like playing for one of the Canadian teams. It was a little thrill putting on a Leaf sweater.&ldquo;My pa played well enough in Toronto to win the Hart Trophy I just hope 1 play well enough to win one heart. &ldquo;NOTES: Leafs&rsquo; 4-2 win at Philadelphia was their first victory at the Spectrum since 1971&hellip;The Leafs&rsquo; rookie line ol Bruce Boudreau. Bob Warner and Pau) Evans, summoned from Dallas during the injury emergency, played well.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01992/3913735-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="574" height="682"><figcaption class="caption-body">TRACY PRATT&hellip; Defense His Game</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0011-01

Pratt Tells Leafs He Goes One Way

<div class="byline">BY LARRY BORTSTEIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011010/3913766-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="595" height="1128"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHNNY WILSON &hellip; Not Disappointed</figcaption></div>DENVER&mdash;While their long slump in March left the Colorado Rockies in a sorrier frame of mind at the end of the month than they were in at the beginning, there still was plenty to cheer about for Denver&rsquo;s National Hockey League entry in its first season.&ldquo;We feel we made a lot of progress here,&rdquo; Johnny Wilson was saying recently between puffs on his ever-present cigar. &ldquo;Naturally, we didn&rsquo;t do as well as some people might have liked, but overall, we can&rsquo;t say we&rsquo;re disappointed.&rdquo;In truth, Wilson probably should have attracted more consideration for NHL Coach of the Year than he received. This is a team which didn&rsquo;t have a name, an identity, or anything concrete until last August 24, when the deal to move the former Kansas City Scouts here finally was consummated.Wilson took the remnants of what had been an abjectly horrid team, blended in some capable veterans with some promising newcomers, made some judicious acquisitions as the season wore on, and came up with a club which at least bordered on the brink of respectability.Now, they must move on from there.Despite severe financial losses this first season in Denver, losses far in excess of what had been expected, the Rockies are preparing for the summer draft and for next season General manager Ray Miron and player personnel director Aldo Guidolin have been traveling extensively on scouting missions to view junior talent and also young pros in the minor leagues.Naturally, the Rockies have plenty of room for improvement.&ldquo;We know where we need help, there is no question about that,&rdquo; Miron says. &ldquo;We need more speed and more stickhandling from the defense, and we need some more centers who can make plays. Knowing we need these things and doing something about them, of course, are two different things. But we re working hard to get the best possible players in here.&rdquo;The Rockies&rsquo; front office executives are firmly convinced of the benefits ot building through the draft. Except for a possible deal or two of relatively minor proportions, it would seem unlikely that Colorado would make any significant player trades during the off season. Many clubs could use a Wilf Paiement, for example. and the Rockies likely could improve themselves at a couple of positions by dealing someone with Wilfie&rsquo;s assets.But that&rsquo;s not the way the Rockies plan to go, &ldquo;Montreal is the perfect example of what the draft can do for you.&rdquo; Wilson says. &ldquo;They kept getting more and more draft choices from other teams, and they used them intelligently. If we wanted to get some older veteran players, we could trade away our draft choices to get them But that&rsquo;s not what we plan to do.&ldquo;In three or four years, I want to be able to stand behind the bench in Denver,&rdquo; Wilson adds, &ldquo;and look over at our guys and see lots of good, young, talented hockey players that come to us in the draft. Maybe we&rsquo;ll be as successful as Montreal, and have the same amount of quality people they have to harass everybody they play.&rdquo;Most of this year&rsquo;s Rockies are on contracts which extend at least another year. Among those whose contracts are up for renewal are several men who played only briefly with the Rockies this season, or stayed in the minors most of the year.ICE PEBBLES: Gary Croteau&rsquo;s goal against Toronto on March 16, his 21st of the season, was the 100th of his NHL career&hellip;The Rockies had four men who scored 20 or more goals this season&mdash;Wilf Paiement, Paul Gardner, Croteau, and Nellie Pyatt. &#9632;

f0012-01

Rockies Agree First Year Produced Progress

<div class="byline">BY BILL HEUFELDER</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;A Jekyll-Hyde team all season, the Pittsburgh Penguins absorbed a pair of losses that were discouragingly one-sided. But coach Ken Schinkel saw more hope than the hometown fans as the club headed into the playoffs.&ldquo;When you take everything apart, we re in good shape after what we&rsquo;ve been through.&rdquo; he insisted after the Penguins rebounded from a shutout defeat in Philadelphia and a 7-3 thumping in Atlanta with a 7-3 pounding of St. Louis on home ice.&ldquo;When it comes to games lost because of injuries, we re way out in front by miles in the league.&rdquo;One wave of opinion is that the Penguins have been giving less than a wholehearted effort through the long campaign, a viewpoint that Schinkel challenges.&ldquo;For the last month, we&rsquo;ve been going basically with three lines and four defensemen,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s always been a guy in and out of the lineup, usually a center or defensemen. When you have a center who isn&rsquo;t right, it throws your wingers off.&rdquo;Several players have been critical of the spirit on the club, a reaction that Schinkel traced to the rash of injuries that have dogged the Penguins since training camp.&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve been taxed to the limit,&rdquo; he mentioned. &ldquo;They get frustrated and they speak out.&rdquo;In a fight that probably will go down to the wire, so that the Penguins won&rsquo;t be able to afford the luxury of a respite, the battle continued for home-ice advantage to oopen the playoffs and the continuing challenge to protect second place in the Norris Division from the Los Angeles Kings.With that in mind, Schinkel looked to Dennis Owchar and Greg Malone to come off the injury list and bolster the club in the post-season battle for the Stanley Cup.&ldquo;We can use fresh bodies,&rdquo; the coach said. &ldquo;The one player we have to get back is Owchar.&rdquo;A hard-hitting defenseman who was coming into his own before a knee injury sidelined him the end of January, Owchar wore a cast for six weeks in an attempt to heal damaged ligaments without surgery. The cast was removed with two weeks of the campaign left. If the knee remained tight, doctors were optimistic he would be ready for playoff competition.Malone, a rookie center whose spirited playing style had been an important ingredient for the Penguins, sustained a rib injury and collapsed lung that kept him hospitalized for a few days after taking a check in game at St. Louis in early March.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02854/3913797-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="517" height="606"><figcaption class="caption-body">GREG MALONE &hellip; Back For Playoffs</figcaption></div>If he recovered without complications, Malone was being counted on to return to the lineup in time for the opening playoff round Schinkel admitted that he toughened practices last December after Jean Pronvost spoke of a &ldquo;country club atmosphere&rdquo; within the organization. But the coach emphasized that strenuous workouts could prove fatal to the Penguins down the stretch &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think extra ice time is going to help now,&rdquo; he said. &#9632;

f0012-02

Schinkel Challenges View Penguins Not Putting Out

<div class="byline">BY RICH PASSAN</div>CLEVELAND&mdash;It really makes no difference where Rick Hampton plays his hockey so long as he plays it somewhere.That somewhere could be on defense or at left wing, depending on the needs of Cleveland Barons&rsquo; coach Jack Evans.Hampton, in his third National Hockey League campaign at the tender age of just 20, started off this season on defense with Mike Christie and played behind the blue line for 25 games.Then injuries hit the Barons and Hampton, who played center ice as a junior with St. Catharines in the Ontario Hockey Association, was moved up to the left wing with a couple of heavyweight performers.He joined the portside of the Dennis Haruk-Al MacAdam line and the goals started coming in bunches. In fact, he scored 11 goals in 32 games as a forward before being sidelined recently with a badly bruised wrist.Hampton said it would be difficult to choose his favorite position. &ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t know where I play the best,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I had a good year last year in Oakland. I brought myself down from a minus 30 to a minus 14.&rdquo;On the wings, however, Hampton has the chance to use his great skating ability. Many a time he has badly beaten a defenseman with a variety of blurring moves.Hampton is not your prototype defenseman. He does not stand in front of the net during an attack and clear the crease. He&rsquo;ll nudge a man away every now and then, but he leaves the bullying tactics to such Cleveland defensemen as Len Frig, Bob Stewart and Christie.When the Seals drafted him as an underage Junior back in 1974, it was with the idea of making him an offensive minded defenseman. &ldquo;The main thing they wanted me for was to carry the puck out of my own end,&rdquo; the Toronto native recalled.One drawback of playing up front is lack of ice time. As a defenseman, Hampton was on the ice nearly half the game. As a forward, he gets on once every three shifts.One distinct advantage of playing up front is you know there is always somebody backing you up. &ldquo;If you play defense and a guy beats you.&rdquo; said Hampton, &ldquo;that&rsquo;s it.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a lot easier skating with a guy than skating backwards against someone coming at you. As a forward, if you miss your man, you know the defense is always backing you up.&rdquo;Hampton, probably the strongest skater on the good-skating Cleveland club, has scored a total of 16 goals this season, a career high Had he not missed 15 games earlier this season with a hand injury and stomach muscle problems, he undoubtedly would have been a candidate for 25.&ldquo;Now I know what every guy is thinking on the ice,&rdquo; said Hampton, one of several fully-bearded members of the Barons. &ldquo;When I&rsquo;m playing forward. 1 know where the guy is back there and where I should be.&rdquo;The Barons have a few other versatile members. Bob Girard, a hard-skating Frenchman who can play either wing, started out as a defenseman Brent Meeke and Greg Smith, who started this season as backliners, saw plenty of duty on a forward line when injuries struck toward the tailend of this season.BARONS&rsquo; BITS: Attendance at Barons&rsquo; home games improved dramatically when the club came off a highly successful 4-4 trip, one that included a record-tying three straight victories on foreign ice&hellip;In their first three appearances at the Richfield Coliseum against Buffalo. Minnesota and Atlanta, the Barons drew 31,183 fans. And the final three home games could very well outdraw those three by plenty&hellip; All of this is due to some heavy promoting by the club (finally) and a lot of papering But at least the people are coming out and there was some concern they wouldn&rsquo;t even if given free tickets. The Barons are last in the NHL in short-handed goals with one. that by Ralph Klassen whose second-half performance has been outstanding.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02807/3913828-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="586" height="709"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK HAMPTON &hellip; Has No Preference</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0013-02

Hampton Likes Double Ice Role

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01971/3913859-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="613" height="904"></div> &#9632;

f0013-01

NHL Leaders

<div class="byline">BY JACK MCCARTHY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01991/3913890-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">JEAN RATELLE&hellip; Has Very Few Enemies</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;On Monday night, March 21. Jean Ratelle played in his 1,000th National Hockey League game against Montreal Canadiens in Boston Garden, and by the reception the modest Jean received, one would have thought he had played all of those games for his current team, the Bruins.Unfortunately for Boston he played his first 862 games for his only other NHL club, the New York Rangers. And Boston GM Harry Sinden put it right when he said. The only regret I have about Jean Ratelle is that he didn&rsquo;t play all of his 1,000 games in Boston.&rdquo;Upset at first at the trade which brought him and Brad Park to Boston for Phil Esposito and Carol Vadnais. Ratelle soon shook it off and went on to become the star and leader he was expected to be. He and Park both became big favorites inBoston.An overworked word in sports is &ldquo;class.&rdquo; and it is very hard to define. But whatever it is. Ratelle has it, and with it the respect of his teammates, and the league.And. he can play the game With eight games left in this regular season. Ratelie needed three goals to hit the 400-goal plateau. This puts him in the top echelon of all-time scorers.But Ratelle has brought more to the game than an ability to score. He is the classic center, who can move the puck and set up his wingers. Says veteran Boston goalkeeper Gerry Cheevers.He&rsquo;s the best play-making center I&rsquo;ve ever seen As a goalkeeper. 1 appreciate the things he does in the pivot in our own end. Nobody&rsquo;s better there. &ldquo;Over and above his ability on the ice is his style off it&mdash;modest, unassuming, yet approachable, direct and to the point. It is hard to find someone who does not like Jean Ratelle.Perhaps he is best described in the wording of the awards he won in the NHL. In 1970-71 he won the Masterton Memorial Trophy, which is given for &ldquo;perserverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.&rdquo; He also won the Lester B. Pearson Award that year.In 1971-72 season, he won the Lady Byng Trophy and was named to the All Star team. The Byng goes for &ldquo;Sportsmanship. gentlemanly conduct and a high standard of playing abiltiy. He won the Byng twice, once in New York and once in Boston.So. in his 15th NHL season, the classy player was honored by his team, the Bruins, and by Canadiens. who were the opponents in that 1,000th game Joining Jean in accepting the gifts were his wife. Nancy, and three daughters. Catherine, 12, Carolyn. 11. and Christine. 4.BOSTON BEANS: Boston is going all out over the final games in an attempt to wrest first place in the division from the Buffalo Sabres&hellip;The idea, of course, is not to finish second and be forced into a two-of-three playoff in which you can be gone before you catch your breath. First place also means home ice and a rest while the others battle it out&hellip;John Bucyk had missed over 23 games with his bad back and Bobby Schmautz had missed at least nine, with a bad knee &hellip;The playoffs look to be the goal for both of these players&hellip;Bucyk spent much time in traction at Massachusetts General Hospital, and is playing it carefully, hoping to be a factor in the Stanley Cup action&hellip;Schmuatz had begun skating with a brace, but he will not be rushed back into action, either&hellip;Rick Smith, meanwhile, continues to play good hockey for Boston since Sinden picked him up from St. Louis in a swap for Joe Zannussi. Says Don Cherry. &ldquo;Steady. Very steady. Rick is dependable. and he can play both sides and that&rsquo;s a big plus. He is very strong, and he plays it tough, but gets the job done without too much fuss&hellip; &ldquo;Of the final eight games. Boston had four at home&mdash;against Canadiens. Flyers. Penguins and Toronto (last game of season), and four away&mdash;against Detroit. Toronto. Buffalo and N.Y. Islanders&hellip; &#9632;

f0014-01

Boston Favorite Ratelle Man Of High Standards

<div class="byline">BY RON WEBER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01955/3913921-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOMMY McVIE&hellip; Scouting, Drafting Vital</figcaption></div>WASHINGTON&mdash;Again exhibiting a single mindedness of purpose that has characterized his year and a half in Washington. Capital pilot Tom McVie removed himself from consideration as a Team Canada coach.In a well-worded statement to the press just before a recent hosting of Cleveland. McVie wrote: I wish to clarify my position with regard to the Team Canada entry in the upcoming World tournament to be held in Vienna in April.It is a fact that 1 was approached and asked to give consideration to acsing as a coach for Team Canada. As much as I would like to accept the challenge and be of assistance to Team Canada. I feel that I have obligations to the Washington Capitals that must be given first consideration.&ldquo;These obligations include scouting of potential amateur draftees and assisting in the assessment of both minor and major league players on those teams involved in post-season playoffs. It is my feeling that all my time and energy must be focused in that direction.&ldquo;Accordingly I have asked Mr. Bill Watters. Team Canada representative. not to consider me for a position with the team. End of statement.Those wanting an example of McVie&rsquo;s total commitment found one if they were trying to locate him the next evening He had gone to Hershey., and not to buy chocolate bars. A not unusual move for either Tommy or general manager Max McNab, especially with two &ldquo;off days&rdquo; between Capitals games.When the &ldquo;Me&rdquo; pair found themselves with two such days between games on a recent road trip, they split up and saw contests in such divergent places as San Diego and Toledo. McVie cannot remember his last day off and McNab can only because the Capitals management ordered him to Florida for a four-day breather in February.When club prexy Peter O&rsquo;Malley went looking for two new men to run his hockey club around Thanksgiving of 1975. it is an unprovable point that he got the best, but it can hardly be argued that he failed to get the top level in dedication.Actually, he selected only the one, McNab. However, he authorized McVie&rsquo;s selection by Max. Perhaps it should have been expected as McVie had put in an appearance at the Caps training camp a couple of months earlier.Tommy had run the players through calisthenics as only he knows how&mdash;and looked over likely prospects for the Cap&rsquo;s contingent in Dayton. He had also shaken his head over the state of their conditioning in that September of 1975.McVie has the utmost respect for McNab&mdash;a big reason of course why they are a productive team&mdash;but he might have made it to the Caps without Max. It would have just taken longer.The night he was fired&mdash;and went out with class&mdash;GM Milt Schmidt confided that his long-range plans for the Capitals had Tommy McVie moving in as coach. Schmidt evidently thought revealing that then would bring about a response of incredulous &ldquo;sure, sures &ldquo;Calling the Max and Tommy act successful might bring denials from the men themselves. They would point to the standings where the Caps remain in the league&rsquo;s bottom third. But Pete O&rsquo;Malley and a lot of hockey observers in and out of Washington know better. They were brought in to get the franchise on the right track and moving upward as quickly as possible.That, the &ldquo;Mc-men&rdquo; have succeeded in doing.ICE CAPS: Despite the improvement shown in year three the Caps were the second team eliminated from the playoffs. Detroit went first&hellip;The Barons could be excused from asking &ldquo;Where&rsquo;s the improvement?&rdquo; of the third-year Capitals. Cleveland won all five games. The Caps evidently missed playing in Oakland where they went 2-2-1 in their first two seasons. Gerry Meehan continued his superb play. His feed set up the only Washington goal in the Ides of March loss to the Barons A much bigger surprise was his fight with Ralph Klassen, bringing about the third major penalty in Meehan&rsquo;s eight-year NHL career. He didn&rsquo;t lose the fight, either&hellip;Good to see where Schmidt&rsquo;s old sidekick with the Caps. Lefty McFadden, jumped back into hockey with the WHA Cincinnati Stingers. He should do well as V-P in charge of marketing and promotions. &#9632;

f0015-01

Caps Come First Says McVie, Nixing Team Canada Role

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;Some members of the Vancouver Canucks have actually been heard to utter the word momentum lately. It&rsquo;s true they first had to find the meaning of the word in the dictionary, but they are now using it in the proper context.Having gone six games without a loss is something the NHL club has not been able to do all year, and the new feeling has got the Canucks believing they can not only make the playoffs but maybe even do something significant after that.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s great now with Turk (Derek Sanderson) and Jack (Mcllhargey) giving us such a lift,&rdquo; said defenseman Harold Snepsts after the team&rsquo;s most recent win. a 7-1 decision over the hapless Detroit Red Wings. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just so different. The way we practice has changed, the guys are more together and doing things off the ice together more. Before a guy would say &lsquo;Oh, I&rsquo;ve got to go here and this and that, and we weren&rsquo;t together. Now. everyone is feeling this new attitude.Snepsts was the man probably in the best position to judge the change, as so often during the first part of the season it would be he alone trying to do all the work&mdash;rushing around trying to check everybody. But he wasn&rsquo;t getting any help.Now, as defenseman Larry Goodenough points out. it&rsquo;s 18 guys working all the time.&ldquo;When I came here from Philadelphia, the big difference was that Philly was in first place and Vancouver was in last, and it showed in the attitude of the club. Jack and I have found that the big thing that changed was the attitude of the club. Before, they only had maybe 15 guys working on a given night, and you can&rsquo;t do that to win. You&rsquo;ve got to have a disciplined hockey club that puts out consistently. and that&rsquo;s what Kurt is trying to build here.&rdquo;Goodenough has been one of the reasons the Canucks have been going well, along with Sanderson and the rest of the forwards who have suddenly starting scoring goals. In the game against Detroit, the Canucks scored on four consecutive shots on goal. Pucks were hitting arms, legs and every other part of the anatomy and going in. much to the disgust of Wings goalie Jim Rutherford.&ldquo;We should have had a lot more too.&rdquo; said Bobby Lalonde, who has been skating miles in the past two months. &ldquo;He made some great saves, otherwise it would have been double figures.&rdquo;General manager Phil Maloney, who got sufficient abuse when things weren&rsquo;t going well, certainly deserves some of the credit for making the deals that turned the club into a playoff contender.&ldquo;I just want to stay in the background,&rdquo; he said after the Detroit win. &ldquo;I find it hard to sit upstairs and watch the games as an uninterested spectator. There are times I want to yell and scream, but there is nobody to listen to me. When I was coach. I could always take out my frustrations on something.&rdquo;Whether or not he has been taking out his frustrations or not. Maloney has indeed shown what a clever horse-trader he can be when it comes to making a deal He&rsquo;s made one or two bad ones, but many, particularly this last one with Philadelphia that brought Mcllhargey and Goodenough, has been beneficial to both teams. Philly is happy with Dailey, and the Canucks are happy with their two players, mainly because they were able to change the attitude of the team and bring in some of the winning ways.&ldquo;We would have started to come sooner, but we had a string of things happen to us. Mcllhargey was giving the club a real lift when he got hit with the 10-game suspension. Derek Sanderson pulled his groin after just two games and was out for five. Donnie Lever was just making token appearances because of that shoulder injury. And Dennis Kearns has just started to play hockey the way he can. I think his nose was a bit out of joint because of a contract dispute, but that&rsquo;s all behind him now.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02781/3913952-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="583" height="694"><figcaption class="caption-body">LARRY GOODENOUGH &hellip; Everyone Working</figcaption></div>Kearns, in fact, has a streak of nine straight games in which he has earned points, and although it is far from the mark being set by Guy Lafleur. it is a club record and has Kearns quite happy.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry to say that it is something that has crossed my mind. It&rsquo;s a bit selfish on my part, but it is something that I think everyone is aware of in some small way. much as they might be about a shutout. But it is not something I have to worry about. Lately the way we have been going, all I have to do is pass the puck ahead and I&rsquo;ve got a good chance to get points.&rdquo;The question is will they get enough points to make the playoffs. It will soothe some ruffled feathers if they do. &#9632;

f0015-02

New Attitude Has Canucks Thinking Ahead With Hope

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1982/3914235-1-eng-US/f0016-192.jpg" title="f0016-19" width="345" height="772"></div><h2>ATLANTA</h2>FLAMES<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01797/3914228-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="217" height="191"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02683/3914221-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="715" height="564"></div><h2>BOSTON</h2>BRUINS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03546/3914214-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="204" height="197"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04429/3914207-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="714" height="589"></div><h2>BUFFALO</h2>SABRES<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05323/3914200-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="217" height="216"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-06261/3914193-1-eng-US/f0016-062.jpg" title="f0016-06" width="708" height="534"></div><h2>CHICAGO</h2>HAWKS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-07235/3914186-1-eng-US/f0016-072.jpg" title="f0016-07" width="252" height="223"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-08215/3914179-1-eng-US/f0016-082.jpg" title="f0016-08" width="713" height="588"></div><h2>CLEVELAND</h2>BARONS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-09192/3914172-1-eng-US/f0016-092.jpg" title="f0016-09" width="209" height="198"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-10170/3914165-1-eng-US/f0016-102.jpg" title="f0016-10" width="712" height="564"></div><h2>COLORADO</h2>ROCKIES<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-11156/3914158-1-eng-US/f0016-112.jpg" title="f0016-11" width="180" height="176"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-12139/3914151-1-eng-US/f0016-122.jpg" title="f0016-12" width="714" height="590"></div><h2>DETROIT</h2>RED WINGS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-13125/3914144-1-eng-US/f0016-132.jpg" title="f0016-13" width="250" height="129"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-14118/3914137-1-eng-US/f0016-142.jpg" title="f0016-14" width="715" height="614"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES</h2>KINGS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-15108/3914130-1-eng-US/f0016-152.jpg" title="f0016-15" width="157" height="161"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-16104/3914123-1-eng-US/f0016-162.jpg" title="f0016-16" width="710" height="563"></div><h2>MINNESOTA</h2>STARS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1796/3914116-1-eng-US/f0016-172.jpg" title="f0016-17" width="238" height="206"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1889/3914109-1-eng-US/f0016-182.jpg" title="f0016-18" width="713" height="613"></div><h2>MONTREAL</h2>CANADIENS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2066/3914102-1-eng-US/f0016-202.jpg" title="f0016-20" width="234" height="179"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2162/3914095-1-eng-US/f0016-212.jpg" title="f0016-21" width="715" height="594"></div><h2>NEW YORK</h2>ISLANDERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2260/3914088-1-eng-US/f0016-222.jpg" title="f0016-22" width="211" height="193"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2358/3914081-1-eng-US/f0016-232.jpg" title="f0016-23" width="718" height="536"></div><h2>NEW YORK</h2>RANGERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2456/3914074-1-eng-US/f0016-242.jpg" title="f0016-24" width="174" height="177"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2551/3914067-1-eng-US/f0016-252.jpg" title="f0016-25" width="713" height="507"></div>PHILADELPHIAFLYERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2648/3914060-1-eng-US/f0016-262.jpg" title="f0016-26" width="243" height="165"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2740/3914053-1-eng-US/f0016-272.jpg" title="f0016-27" width="713" height="588"></div>PITTSBURGHPENGUINS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2838/3914046-1-eng-US/f0016-282.jpg" title="f0016-28" width="227" height="211"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2931/3914039-1-eng-US/f0016-292.jpg" title="f0016-29" width="710" height="645"></div><h2>ST.LOUIS</h2>BLUES<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3031/3914032-1-eng-US/f0016-302.jpg" title="f0016-30" width="157" height="132"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3131/3914025-1-eng-US/f0016-312.jpg" title="f0016-31" width="715" height="536"></div><h2>TORONTO</h2>LEAFS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3227/3914018-1-eng-US/f0016-322.jpg" title="f0016-32" width="198" height="199"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3327/3914011-1-eng-US/f0016-332.jpg" title="f0016-33" width="718" height="615"></div><h2>VANCOUVER</h2>CANUCKS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3423/3914004-1-eng-US/f0016-342.jpg" title="f0016-34" width="180" height="120"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-359/3913997-1-eng-US/f0016-352.jpg" title="f0016-35" width="715" height="590"></div><h2>WASHINGTON</h2>CAPS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-368/3913990-1-eng-US/f0016-362.jpg" title="f0016-36" width="172" height="93"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-378/3913983-1-eng-US/f0016-372.jpg" title="f0016-37" width="718" height="539"></div> &#9632;

f0016-19

SCORING AND PENALTY STATISTICS

MONTREAL&mdash;There is only one week left in the 1976-77 National Hockey League&rsquo;s regular schedule and just four teams among the 13 still in contention for playoff berths know where they will finish.Montreal Canadiens have claimed the Prince of Wales Conference and Norris Division titles and the 21 units of $5,000 each for that accomplishment. St. Louis Blues have earned 21 units of $2,500 each as Smythe Division champions. Toronto Maple Leafs will finish third in the Adams Division and collect 21 units of $700 as will Atlanta Flames, third-place finishers in the Patrick DivisionStill to be decided are the Adams and Patrick Division titlists and the Clarence Campbell Conference champions. Buffalo leads Boston by one point in the Adams Division and each has three games left. Philadelphia is first in the Patrick Division, two points ahead of New York Islanders but the Flyers have one game in hand. The team finishing first in that division will also win the Campbell Conference championship.Three teams are in the running for the two playoff berths to be decided in the Smythe Division. Chicago is second with 63 points, two more than Vancouver and five more than Minnesota (excluding Monday&rsquo;s game between St. Louis and the North Stars at Minnesota). The North Stars, however, had played two games fewer than the other two teams after Sunday&rsquo;s action.Just to review the playoff formula, the first three clubs in the final standings in each division will participate in post-season play. The four divisional leaders will receive a bye into the quarter-finals 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). the team with the most points meeting the one with the fewest, the team with second-most versus the one with second-fewest and so on. All subsequent series pairings are based on this system. Also, in every playoff matchup. the team with the most points will receive home-iee advantage.The four preliminary round winners then go against the four divisional leaders (those which earned the bye) in the best-of-seven quarter-final series. The four quarterfinal victors will then play off in the semi-finals with the two winners of that series meeting in the Stanley Cup final. Both the semi-final and final series, of course, are best-of-seven.It would appear the two individual awards, based on the season&rsquo;s statistics, will remain in Montreal. Right winger Guy Lafleur of the Canadiens is well ahead in the individual scoring race while the Canadiens&rsquo; goaltending duo of Ken Dryden and Michel Larocque leads runners-up Glenn Resch and Billy Smith of New York Islanders by 16 goals in the Vezina Trophy battle.Lafleur, who won the Art Ross Trophy last season, has 130 points, including 76 assists, the most ever by any winger in the NHL. &#9632;

NHL WEEK

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01689/3914290-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE SCHULTZ&hellip; Still Playing Policeman Role</figcaption></div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Having played with two playoff winners. Dave Schultz observes, You have to have the talent to win the Stanley Cup, but I&rsquo;m not sure the Flyers had more talent than the Canadiens the two seasons we won.You have to have everyone playing well, and together. I don&rsquo;t think any of the Flyers thought we would win. but we gained confidence as we won one game at a time in 1974. and we were determined to prove it was not a fluke in 1975&ldquo;Last season Montreal had too much for the Flyers and I suspect they have too much for the other teams to handle this season, too,&rdquo; he admits.As his current club, the Kings, struggled to top .500 before entering the playoffs, there was little thought they could capture the Cup this season, but there was hope thay had begun to play well and so would do well. We have some top players and can build a Cup club in the future.&rdquo; he concludes.Schultz, who was an irregular with the Flyers, used as an Intimidator, has become a regular with the Kings, an intimidator more from past reputation than current performances. The big bully who has set records in the minors and majors for penalty minutes with as many as 472 in one season, will not lead the league for the second straight season and may not top 272 this season.Nicknamed &ldquo;The Hammer&rdquo; after he broke the jaw of a foe in a fight, most of his penalty minutes have come from fights, but he fights infrequently now. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t really like to fight, though I like to win,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;As a boy, I was shy and never had a street fight. When someone wanted to fight me. 1 was scared, ducked, and closed my eyes.&rdquo;As has been dramatized lately, a lot of fighting is launched in amateur ranks and low minors as a pitch to pull in fans. Schultz says, &ldquo;I was a poor skater and made up for it by playing aggressively. I got into a fight my first game in the Eastern League and from that time on have found I had a reputation to live up to.&ldquo;When I got to Philadelphia. Fred Shero felt I fit into his plan to win with intimidation. I banged the body and when the other guys naturally would retaliate I&rsquo;d find myself in a fight. We forced fights, but didn&rsquo;t actually start many. Anyway, it worked.&ldquo;Here in Los Angeles, Bob Pulford feels the way to win is with checking, not fighting and wasting time in the penalty box I still play the body, but because of my reputation as a fighter, few start up with me. Actually. I&rsquo;m far from a great fighter, but I&rsquo;m a willing one.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll protect a teammate who is being pushed around Every team needs a policeman and I should play that role here.&rdquo;Asked about the excellent teleplay. &ldquo;The Deadliest Season.&rdquo; which depicted a typical incident in which a player uses a stick dangerously. Dave agrees it should serve as a warning to his sport.It&rsquo;s only luck no player has been killed in such an incident and any player who uses his stick as a weapon should be barred from this sport.&ldquo;I fight, but with my fists, not my stick. I&rsquo;d be afraid of hurting anyone. I&rsquo;m not afraid of being hurt, but of losing. I know the players, the press, and the public expect me to win. I know they&rsquo;ve been disappointed 1 haven&rsquo;t been fighting more, but I want to be more of a player.I guess I&rsquo;ve been playing well enough because Pully has been playing me regularly, but I feel I haven&rsquo;t played real well, and I don&rsquo;t know why. People don&rsquo;t realize I&rsquo;ve been a good goal-scorer in the past, but the goals haven&rsquo;t been going in for me this season.&rdquo;Shero traded Dave because stronger rules against fighters seemed likely to limit his effectiveness. The deal surprised Pulford but he has been relieved to receive an adequate performance from the player.A slow and awkward skater who has not scored well. Schultz has worked his wing, dug for the puck in corners, and defended foes well enough so he hasn&rsquo;t hurt his team and has begun to help it, though the fans feel let down that he has not been busting up the opposition.Off the ice, he is far from a goon. Soft spoken and thoughtful, he was shaped in part by a strict early upbringing in the Memonite community of Waldheim, Saskatchewan, where smoking, dancing, and drinking were prohibited, but his father, first a farmer then an automobile mechanic, finally manager of a curling rink, moved his family to Rosetown where life for the lad was less restrictive. He used to pass summers at bible camp, but today seldom goes to church, though he holds on to basic Christian beliefs. Today, he&rsquo;ll smoke a cigar and drink a beer.He says. I&rsquo;m a human being, not an animal His wife says. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a pussycat.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0017-01

Kings’ Schultz Playing—Not Fighting

<div class="byline">BY HARRY KLAFF</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01706/3914321-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="580" height="787"><figcaption class="caption-body">CHICO RESCH &hellip; Back On The Ball</figcaption></div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;There was bad news filtering around the Shooters Union Hall a few weeks ago when word got around that the Islanders&rsquo; Chico Resch was back on the beam.Not that it was very noticeable when he wasn&rsquo;t in top form, however. Yet despite the fact Glenn&rsquo;s goals-aginst average never went higher than the mid-2.30&rsquo;s, the popular netminder was the first to admit he wasn&rsquo;t at the top of his game.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something that happens to me every year,&rdquo; said Chico, &ldquo;even when I was in the minors. I always start off strong, then tail off a bit in the middle of the season, and then pick up at the end.&rdquo;Resch&rsquo;s &ldquo;problems&rdquo; seemed to peak in December and January, when he went through a sizable stretch in which he failed to hold the opposition under two goals. It wasn&rsquo;t that he was playing poorly, but then again he wasn&rsquo;t exceptional either. Maybe &ldquo;eh&rdquo; was more like it.Things started to look up early in February, when he stopped Los Angeles 4-1. He then started the next four going 41-0 over the stretch, including a nifty 2-1 victory over the Flyers. After Bill Smith got back in the act for a couple of weeks. Chico went back in the nets midway through the Isles&rsquo; 5-4 loss to Montreal and proceeded to start the next six, giving him the longest stretch granted to a goaltender by Al Arbour this year.The Islanders won four of them, losing 2-1 to St. Louis and 3-1 to Minnesota, and his shutout over the Colorado Rockies temporarily moved him ahead of Ken Dryden in the battle for the lowest individual goals-against record.&ldquo;I think now it&rsquo;s also a matter of getting some of the breaks along the line,&rdquo; continued Resch. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t be in position for every single shot, but most either miss the net or are stopped by a defenseman. And of course, sometimes they go in. That&rsquo;s where the breaks can change the game.&ldquo;Also, it was important that were fighting Philadelphia for first place. We&rsquo;re not expecting it at this stage, just playing it one at a time, but the pressure is still there. I think most goaltenders would agree that they play better under pressure. It makes you more jumpy, and your reflexes depend on how jumpy you are.&rdquo;Although the Islanders are on their way to breaking their club record of 101 points set a year ago, the figure has been held down in recent months by a general slump on the part of the goal-scorers. A case in point is the forementioned losses to the Blues and the North Stars.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the most frustrating thing in the world, standing in front of your net and watching your teammates pepper the other goalie and nothing goes in. It&rsquo;s especially frustrating because you know that that end of it is completely out of your hands.&ldquo;Take that Minnesota game, for instance. We put the pressure on all night, but (Pete) LoPresti was magnificent. The North Stars got off only 18 shots all night, but they got three goals and it was enough to win. It seemed that we&rsquo;d put on the pressure, put on the pressure, they&rsquo;d come down once and bang, it&rsquo;s in the net.&rdquo;Always a perfectionist, Resch is rarely satisfied with his own performance, no matter what the final outcome may be. &ldquo;Some games you feel you played well, and a couple of shots get tipped and you lose; others you catch a few breaks and you win, even though you weren&rsquo;t brilliant,&rdquo; added Resch. &ldquo;The whole thing is positioning. When I know that I&rsquo;ve been in position all night, that&rsquo;s what makes me feel good.&ldquo;Sometimes you watch a guy go in on a goaltender one-on-one, and he misses the net. People might say, lucky&rsquo; But in a goaltender&rsquo;s case, it was his own positioning that caused the shooter to miss.&rdquo;With the playoffs getting under way the Islanders know that they will have to count on stingy goaltending to be successful. In fact, they even have to go so far as to expect it.Playoff pressure doesn&rsquo;t bother Glenn Resch. And when the chips are down, he and Smith will be the Isles&rsquo; meal ticket on the road to the Cup. As they go, so will the Islanders.ISLAND SOUNDS: Clark Gillies has been downright devastating of late. His 30th goal tied Minnesota. 5-5 on March 14th, and he has been hitting harder than ever .. Jude Drouin exploded out of a season-long slump with five goals in three games. Jude&rsquo;s a money player who could emerge as the club&rsquo;s top star in the playoffs. &#9632;

f0018-01

Bad News For Shooters As Resch Powers Islanders’ Spring Drive

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02567/3914352-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="598" height="2145"></div> &#9632;

f0018-02

Looking At NHL Goalers

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03425/3914383-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="585" height="667"></div> &#9632;

f0018-03

Team Penalties

The New York Islanders are heading into the NHLs playoff season with a full head of steam and much of their spark has been provided Jiy the team&rsquo;s old stand bys&mdash;Jude Drouin, Jean-Paul Parise and Denis Potvin.Potvin came on strong last week to record an eight-point performance, which isn&rsquo;t bad for a defenseman. Potvin posted his 25th goal of the year and raised his season totals to 77 points, by far the best among the Islanders. Potvin also leads all NHL defensemen in the matter of goal scoring and while he&rsquo;s well off the league standard of 46 goals scored by BobbyOrr for one season, he is certain to finish up close to his personal season high of 31 set last vear.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04308/3914414-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="525" height="471"><figcaption class="caption-body">DENIS POTVIN&hellip;N.Y. Islanders</figcaption></div>With one week remaining on the NHL schedule Potvin is certainly finishing up with a flourish and so are the Islanders, who won three and tied one in four games last week. &#9632;

f0018-04

NHLS… Player of the Week

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div>NEW YORK&mdash;The Impossible Dream has become a nightmare for the Rangers who trie to hang on in their desparate run at the playoffs. Also refusing to die were reports that Ranger coach John Bowie Ferguson would coach Team Canada in the Vienna World Tournament set for April 21 through May 9.Ferguson, who was assistant coach under Harry Sinden in the original 1972 Team Canada confrontation with Russia, would like to take the job. but feels that his resposibilities to the Rangers come first.&ldquo;Unlike other coaches I am the Rangers&rsquo; general manager and I must properly handle my other management responsibilities. There is the amateur draft and the general managers meetings in May, &ldquo;said Ferguson &ldquo;That doesn&rsquo;t mean I won&rsquo;t go to Vienna for the tournament. or part of it. in order to look at European talent.&rdquo;The volatile Ferguson would make a natural for the Team Canada assignment. Team Canada manager Derek Holmes indicated that he is not empowered to talk to NHL personnel until their teams are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. That includes the opening round best-of-three eliminations, after which seven or eight players from beaten teams will augment the original 17 or 18 who will play the early portions of the eight game pre-tournament schedule set for Sweden and Finland.Ferguson didn&rsquo;t want to talk about Vienna while the Rangers, who won back-to-back games against Pittsburgh and St. Louis March 19 and 20. still had a shot at the final Patrick playoff spot.&ldquo;My kids wanted it bad.&rdquo; said John &ldquo;Look at what those two kid defensemen did against St. Louis. Ron Greschner goes the length of the ice for the game winner and Mike McEwen gets his 14th goal.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t mind the defensemen carrying the puck so often tonight. The Blues wingers were peeling off on our wingers so it left a big hole up the middle. This was the time to take advantage of young defensemen who can carry the puck.&rdquo; continued John.&ldquo;Sometimes our rushes work,&rdquo; laughed Greschner. who is having his best season. &ldquo;Sometimes it doesn&rsquo;t When it works you look good, when it doesn&rsquo;t you look very bad.&rdquo;Greschner. the third-year defenseman who came up with the tag of good offense, no defense, has learned to pick his spots this season He was rated, along with Carol Vadnais, as only one of two Ranger Olympic class athletes last year when Fergy first set up his exhaustive physical and mental tests.Like Atlanta&rsquo;s Tom Lysiak. Greschner has lost about $135,000 in dealings with his player agent, but he hasn&rsquo;t let it affect his work this year.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t even want to think about that.&rdquo; says Ron. &ldquo;Just getting into the playoffs.&rdquo;Thirteen-year veteran Doug Jarrett, who has remained up as the extra defenseman. after his early March recall from New Haven, rates Greschner as a coming star.He can skate and move the puck, and he is learning real quick now on defense. He will be an All Star in a couple more seasons.&rdquo; said Doug, who partnered with Greschner last year.Even though Rangers missed out. Ferguson has turned around a bad situation in just over a year. The feud between Emile &ldquo;The Cat&rdquo; Francis. Fergusons predecessor, and now the St. Louis Blues general manager-coach flared again when the Cat proclaimed. All but three players on this year&rsquo;s Rangers are the products of my organizations advance work. Those three are Ken Hodge. Gilles Gratton and Bill Goldsworthy, Im the one who put Nick Fotiu on the Rangers negotiations list&mdash;and that second first-round draft pick they have this year is the result of the Gene Carr trade a few years back with Los Angeles. You can tell Alan Cohen (MSG chairman of the board; that I&rsquo;ll be in the playoffs for the 10th straight year That&rsquo;s in the books, you can look it up. Even Mike McEwen and Don Murdoch were scouted by the staff I moved to St. Louis with me.&rdquo;&ldquo;We got 68 points. St. Louis has 67. In the Smythe Division we would be in first place. And we would beat St. Louis if we played them,&rdquo; snapped Ferguson. &ldquo;Just as we did tonight &ldquo;Ferguson has always maintained that Murdoch, in particular, was a decision made by the new people entrusted with running the Rangers after Francis left on Jan. 6. 1976. Insiders also feel that under the Cat. who prefers veterans, the kids wouldn&rsquo;t have gotten the chance given them by Ferguson.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01677/3914445-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="574" height="954"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON GRESCHNER &hellip;Sometimes it Works</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0019-01

Kids Kept Impossible Dream Alive

<h2>MARCH</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1134/3914787-1-eng-US/f0020-112.jpg" title="f0020-11" width="541" height="373"></div><h2>APRIL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1230/3914780-1-eng-US/f0020-122.jpg" title="f0020-12" width="549" height="517"></div>(* Denotes afternoon games.) &#9632;

f0020-11

Where NHL Teams Play

(Standings on Mon. March 28)<h2>NORRIS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-242/3914839-1-eng-US/f0020-242.jpg" title="f0020-24" width="533" height="163"></div><h2>ADAMS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-25/3914832-1-eng-US/f0020-252.jpg" title="f0020-25" width="532" height="133"></div><h2>PATRICK DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-26/3914825-1-eng-US/f0020-262.jpg" title="f0020-26" width="527" height="135"></div><h2>SMYTHE DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-27/3914818-1-eng-US/f0020-272.jpg" title="f0020-27" width="529" height="163"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. March 21Montreal 5 at Boston 1Cleveland 7 at Toronto 2Tue. March 22Colorado 2 at N.Y. Islanders 9Philadelphia 4 at Vancouver 4Buffalo 6 at Atlanta 3Pittsburgh 4 st Minnesota 2Los Angeles 2 at St. Louis 4Wed. March 23Colorado 3 at N.Y. Rangers 5N.Y. Islanders 1 at Toronto 1Boston 6 at Detroit 0Loe Angeles 3 at Chicago 1Cleveland 2 at Buffalo 4Thu. March 24Philadelphia 6 at Boston 2Detroit 1 at Atlanta 3St. Louis 1 at Montreal 6Fri. March 25N.Y. Rangers 2 at Washington 7Vancouver 4 at Cleveland 4Buffalo 2 at Colorado 2Sat. March 26St. Louis 2 at N.Y. islanders 5Vancouver 3 at Philadelphia 9Detroit 0 at Montreal 4Buffalo 4 at Loe Angeles 6Minnesota 2 at Chicago 7Boston 5 at Toronto 7Atlanta 2 at Colorado 1Sun. March 27Chicago 5 at N.Y. Rangers 3N.Y. Islanders 6 at Cleveland 3Toronto 4 at Washington 7Pittsburgh 0 at Boston 3Montreal 6 at Detroit 0 &#9632;

f0020-24

The NHL Scoreboard

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01522/3914749-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"></div>Warning: Health and Welfare Canada advises that danger to health increases with amount smoked avoid inhaling. Av. per cigarette: Regular: !6mg. &ldquo;tar&rdquo; 1.2mg. nicotine. King: 18mg. tar 1.4mg. nicotine.<h2>Mon. March 21</h2>MONTREAL 5, BOSTON 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02380/3914742-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="597" height="483"></div>CLEVELAND 7, TORONTO 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03306/3914735-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="599" height="487"></div><h2>Tue. March 22</h2>COLORADO 2, ISLANDERS 9<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04210/3914728-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="595" height="613"></div>PHILADELPHIA 4, VANCOUVER 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-05120/3914721-1-eng-US/f0020-052.jpg" title="f0020-05" width="595" height="533"></div>BUFFALO 6, ATLANTA 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0693/3914714-1-eng-US/f0020-062.jpg" title="f0020-06" width="577" height="113"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0785/3914707-1-eng-US/f0020-072.jpg" title="f0020-07" width="599" height="407"></div>PITTSBURGH 4, MINNESOTA 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0876/3914700-1-eng-US/f0020-082.jpg" title="f0020-08" width="589" height="429"></div>LOS ANGELES 2, ST. LOUIS 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0956/3914693-1-eng-US/f0020-092.jpg" title="f0020-09" width="585" height="273"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1046/3914686-1-eng-US/f0020-102.jpg" title="f0020-10" width="591" height="199"></div><h2>Wed. March 23</h2>COLORADO 3, RANGERS 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1320/3914679-1-eng-US/f0020-132.jpg" title="f0020-13" width="592" height="533"></div>ISLANDERS 1, TORONTO 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1419/3914672-1-eng-US/f0020-142.jpg" title="f0020-14" width="580" height="346"></div>BOSTON 6, DETROIT 0<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1518/3914665-1-eng-US/f0020-152.jpg" title="f0020-15" width="588" height="500"></div>LOS ANGELES 3, CHICAGO 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1614/3914658-1-eng-US/f0020-162.jpg" title="f0020-16" width="590" height="397"></div>CLEVELAND 2. BUFFALO 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1710/3914651-1-eng-US/f0020-172.jpg" title="f0020-17" width="580" height="267"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-189/3914644-1-eng-US/f0020-182.jpg" title="f0020-18" width="585" height="192"></div><h2>Thu. March 24</h2>PHILADELPHIA 6, BOSTON 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-195/3914637-1-eng-US/f0020-192.jpg" title="f0020-19" width="596" height="612"></div>DETROIT 1, ATLANTA 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-205/3914630-1-eng-US/f0020-202.jpg" title="f0020-20" width="588" height="428"></div>ST. LOUIS 1, MONTREAL 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-214/3914623-1-eng-US/f0020-212.jpg" title="f0020-21" width="592" height="529"></div><h2>Fri. March 25</h2>RANGERS 2, WASHINGTON 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-224/3914616-1-eng-US/f0020-222.jpg" title="f0020-22" width="586" height="476"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-233/3914609-1-eng-US/f0020-232.jpg" title="f0020-23" width="551" height="84"></div>VANCOUVER 4, CLEVELAND 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-28/3914602-1-eng-US/f0020-282.jpg" title="f0020-28" width="587" height="347"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01362/3914595-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="593" height="270"></div>BUFFALO 2, COLORADO 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02239/3914588-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="593" height="404"></div><h2>Sat. March 26</h2>ST. LOUIS 2, ISLANDERS 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03157/3914581-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="598" height="427"></div>VANCOUVER 3, PHILADELPHIA 9<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04122/3914574-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="594" height="610"></div>DETROIT 0, MONTREAL 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-05103/3914567-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="594" height="475"></div>BUFFALO 4, LOS ANGELES 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0688/3914560-1-eng-US/f0021-062.jpg" title="f0021-06" width="589" height="213"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0775/3914553-1-eng-US/f0021-072.jpg" title="f0021-07" width="592" height="326"></div>MINNESOTA 2, CHICAGO 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0870/3914546-1-eng-US/f0021-082.jpg" title="f0021-08" width="592" height="584"></div>BOSTON 7, TORONTO 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0957/3914539-1-eng-US/f0021-092.jpg" title="f0021-09" width="592" height="271"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1047/3914532-1-eng-US/f0021-102.jpg" title="f0021-10" width="593" height="345"></div>ATLANTA 2, COLORADO 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1136/3914525-1-eng-US/f0021-112.jpg" title="f0021-11" width="591" height="373"></div><h2>Sun. March 27</h2>CHICAGO 5, RANGERS 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1226/3914518-1-eng-US/f0021-122.jpg" title="f0021-12" width="592" height="393"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1324/3914511-1-eng-US/f0021-132.jpg" title="f0021-13" width="556" height="85"></div>ISLANDERS 6. CLEVELAND 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1420/3914504-1-eng-US/f0021-142.jpg" title="f0021-14" width="590" height="479"></div>TORONTO 4, WASHINGTON 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1517/3914497-1-eng-US/f0021-152.jpg" title="f0021-15" width="594" height="510"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1616/3914490-1-eng-US/f0021-162.jpg" title="f0021-16" width="593" height="166"></div>PITTSBURGH 0, BOSTON 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1714/3914483-1-eng-US/f0021-172.jpg" title="f0021-17" width="590" height="370"></div>MONTREAL 6, DETROIT 0<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1812/3914476-1-eng-US/f0021-182.jpg" title="f0021-18" width="595" height="507"></div> &#9632;

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National League Summaries

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div>ST LOUIS&mdash;Bob Plager. the resilient veteran, had an up-and-down season. It started low and ended high.The St. Louis Blues started the season with a surplus of defensemen. and Plager was among the surplus, not the regulars. Emile Francis, the new coach and general manager, was molding the team to his liking, and Plager appeared to be out of the picture.Eventually Francis sent Plager to the Blues&rsquo; farm club at Kansas City. Plager says he asked to go.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s nothing wrong with going down to the minors,&rdquo; Plager said. &ldquo;I played in Kansas City to get into shape. I noticed that team had four games in six nights so I asked to be sent down. When I got back, I was ready to go.&rdquo;Indeed, Plager played some very solid hockey for the Blues in the second half of the season. When Francis went with four defensemen down the stretch. Plager teamed with Bruce Affleck and Rod Seiling with Bob Gassoff.&ldquo;As far as I&rsquo;m concerned I&rsquo;ve had a great year,&rdquo; said Plager. &ldquo;It just started a little later than usual. Maybe that&rsquo;s the secret of handling me&mdash;sit me out the first two months, then turn me loose.&rdquo;Plager has been a fixture with the Blues since their first game in October 1967. Throughout that time he has been a favorite of the fans at the St. Louis Arena. A devastating bodycheck by Plager is sure to get a ripple of reaction from the crowd.One of those bodychecks went awry in the last month of the season, and Plager missed a game with strained back muscles. In a game against Pittsburgh. Plager had tried to slam Wayne Bianchin into the boards with his back. Bianchin landed on top of him on the ice.The 34-year-old defenseman was helped to the dressing room but a short time later he skated back on to the ice to a thunderous ovation.&ldquo;It took me two months to get into the lineup this year,&rdquo; he said &ldquo;They&rsquo;re not going to get me out of it.&rdquo;Plager was ready to play, but Francis used the opportunity to give a chance for ice time to rookie Jamie Masters. Plager missed the next game against Detroit before returning to the lineup.Bob Plager was the first Plager in a St. Louis uniform and he&rsquo;s the last remaining. Barclay Plager joined the Blues in a trade with the New York Rangers about six weeks after the Blues started playing in 1967. Steady Bare later was the Blues&rsquo; captain and now is coach at Kansas City. Another brother, Billy, also a defenseman. played several seasons with the Blues between stints with the Minnesota North Stars.All three Plagers were given National Hockey League careers under expansion, although Bob and Bare, maturing as defensemen more slowly under the old six-team league, would have enjoyed careers in a six-team NHL.Bob Plager holds the Blues&rsquo; record for most assists in a season by a defenseman. He had 31 in the 1972-73 season.The only player who has played more games than Bob in a St. Louis uniform is Bare Plager. who avoided injury more successfully than his brother over the nine seasons they played tog-ther. With an extra season, albeit partial. Bob Plager is about 20 games behind his older brother, who played 612 games for the Blues before retiring to the coaching job. job.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1911/3914870-1-eng-US/f0021-192.jpg" title="f0021-19" width="577" height="1113"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB PLAGER&hellip;Ready To Play</figcaption></div>With Bare in Kansas City, Bob Plager becomes the only player to have been with the Blues for all 73 of their playoff games.As the first-place Blues eased into this year&rsquo;s playoffs, their game was suffering from lack of pressure. Two discouraging defeats were 4-1 to Toronto and 7-3 to Pittsburgh. &#9632;

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Plager Says Stay In Minors Helped Him Come Back Strong

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01396/3914946-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="532" height="595"><figcaption class="caption-body">GEORGE LYLE</figcaption></div><h2>TOP 14 SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02304/3914939-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="586" height="520"></div> &#9632;

f0022-01

WHA Rookies

When the Edmonton Oilers reached out for disgruntled Bill Flett, they were thinking in terms of more offense. The team was badly in need of goal scorers and Flett&rsquo;s scoring background made him a natural to fill the bill.Well Flett was slow getting around to fulfilling the role the Oilers intended for him but in recent weeks he has begun to produce making the move by the WHA club in luring him away from Atlanta as a pretty sound one.Flett reached the 30-goal mark this past week but the amazing thing about the bearded right winger is that he&rsquo;s played in only 43 games and has 30 goals and 47 scoring points. Many feel if Flett had been around from the start he&rsquo;d been in the league&rsquo;s top 10 scorers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-05164/3914977-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="523" height="469"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILL FLETT&hellip;Edmonton Oilers</figcaption></div>Flett banged in five goals last week, including a hat trick in one game. It marked the second time in recent weeks that Flett had scored five times in a seven-day span for the Oilers. &#9632;

f0022-05

WHA’S…Player of the Week

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCCONNELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01371/3915008-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROBBIE FTOREK&hellip;They Call Him The Franchise&rsquo;</figcaption></div>PHOENIX&mdash;&ldquo;If Robbie Ftorek doesn&rsquo;t win the most valuable player award, they haven&rsquo;t yet defined most valuable player.&rdquo;I didn&rsquo;t say that, but I wish had.The person who did is an employee of the World Hockey Association and is not allowed to make such statements.So he said I could say I said it.Roadrunner coach Al Rollins can say it. And does.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s any doubt about it.&rdquo; Rollins said &ldquo;The only guy who is close is Don McLeod, the goaltender in Calgary. They get outshot 21 every game and he keeps them in there.&ldquo;If Calgary lost McLeod or we lost Ftorek. instead of fighting for a playoff spot, we might be lucky to win five games each.&rdquo;Rollins, who calls Robbie &ldquo;our franchise,&rdquo; drives his point home.&ldquo;No other club would be hurt as much by the loss of one player.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The other teams have good players who have been out of the lineup but they kept on winning.&ldquo;Almost every game we&rsquo;ve won, he&rsquo;s played an important part in it.&rdquo;Ftorek has been held scoreless 18 times and the Roadrunners have won only three of those. One of the three was a 5-3 victory at Quebec, but Ftorek was named the game&rsquo;s first star by the knowledgable Quebec writers, anyway, for his all-around Play With about a dozen games remaining. Ftorek had been on the ice for 49 percent of the Roadrunners&rsquo; goals.The team was minus 69 in even strength goals, yet Ftorek was plus 24, a swing of 93.Robbie, the WHA&rsquo;s smallest performer at 149 pounds, was voted the most valuable player for Team U.S.A, in the Canada Cup tournament last fall but it was at training camp in preparation for that international series that he dislocated his shoulder.The injury still hampers him. He can&rsquo;t lift weights over his head and he has in the past relied on a weight training program to keep his weight (as little as it is) and his strength up.He started the season not being able to lean into his forehand shot. Those early season goals came mostly off his backhand and were described as a push, a shove or a hook.Yet, he passed the century mark in points in his 65th game. The only player to beat him to the 100-point plateau this season was Quebec&rsquo;s Real Cloutier.Last season, Robbie became the first U.S born player to score 100 points in a major league season and testifying to his tenacity and not his lack of size, the Boston native also became the first player in the history of the WHA to top 100 in both points and penalty minutes.In mid-March, he was tied with Cloutier in important points with 87. The category includes first goals, game winning goals, proximity goals (pulling a team within one goal), tying goals, clinching goals (putting a team ahead by two), game winning assists, game tying assists, power play goals and shorthanded goals.He has scored 10 games-tying goals, five game winners, 10 power play goals, seven game-winning assists, six insurance goals, three first goals and two game-tying assists (both on sixth attacker goals).He had five clean first assists in one game, including the set-up on Frank Hughes&rsquo; overtime winner.Hughes set a league record with his third overtime goal of the season and Ftorek has assisted on all three of them.The 25-year-old native of Boston also assisted on all four of Hughes&rsquo; team record four goals in one recent game.Hughes, after a horrendous start with three goals through 35 games (26 for Houston) and Phoenix, has 21 goals in his last 27 games.The time period corresponds with Frankie&rsquo;s move to Ftorek&rsquo;s line, and Hughes doesn&rsquo;t hesitate to let the world know.&ldquo;We were getting bombed in Winnipeg one night,&rdquo; recalled Frank, &ldquo;and Rollins switched the lines around, putting me with Fitzie and WHADel Hall. The first time out, Fitzie scored a goal. Things just seemed to click. &ldquo;Fitzie could play with a rubber duckie and make it look good. He does more for a team than anybody I&rsquo;ve played with.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s played with so many guys this year (on his right wing). John Gray, Lauri Mononen and myself. If he played between two guys like Marc Tardif and Cloutier, there&rsquo;s no telling what he&rsquo;d do.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s easy to play with a team that has the horses but we seem to be coming from behind all the time and it doesn&rsquo;t seem to matter he just never stops.&rdquo;The Roadrunners have been bombed 9-2 three times. 9-3 once, 8-3 twice and 7-2 and 7-3, yet Ftorek is a plus-two for those games and was never worse than minus-one in any.Harry Neale, the intuitive coach of the New England Whalers, has no secrets about his strategy against Phoenix&ldquo;I tell my team the same thing before every game with Phoenix,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Stop Ftorek. That&rsquo;s all you have to do.&rdquo;&ldquo;If there&rsquo;s one guy in the whole league I could have, I&rsquo;d take Ftorek and that covers an awful lot of hockey players.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0023-01

Runners Couldn’t Function Without Ftorek Says Rollins

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1636/3915200-1-eng-US/f0024-162.jpg" title="f0024-16" width="945" height="793"></div><h2>BIRMINGHAM BULLS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01384/3915193-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="157" height="159"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02301/3915186-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="737" height="595"></div><h2>CALGARY COWBOYS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03214/3915179-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="201" height="186"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04161/3915172-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="735" height="615"></div><h2>CINCINNATI STINGERS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-05126/3915165-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="124" height="147"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-06109/3915158-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="737" height="503"></div><h2>EDMONTON OILERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0793/3915151-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="194" height="182"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0888/3915144-1-eng-US/f0024-082.jpg" title="f0024-08" width="738" height="609"></div><h2>HOUSTON AEROS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0981/3915137-1-eng-US/f0024-092.jpg" title="f0024-09" width="261" height="113"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1074/3915130-1-eng-US/f0024-102.jpg" title="f0024-10" width="743" height="535"></div><h2>INDIANAPOLIS RACERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1172/3915123-1-eng-US/f0024-112.jpg" title="f0024-11" width="202" height="149"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1264/3915116-1-eng-US/f0024-122.jpg" title="f0024-12" width="741" height="663"></div><h2>NEW ENGLAND WHALERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1353/3915109-1-eng-US/f0024-132.jpg" title="f0024-13" width="215" height="216"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1444/3915102-1-eng-US/f0024-142.jpg" title="f0024-14" width="735" height="535"></div><h2>WHA Leaders</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1539/3915095-1-eng-US/f0024-152.jpg" title="f0024-15" width="744" height="667"></div><h2>PHOENIX ROADRUNNERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1733/3915088-1-eng-US/f0024-172.jpg" title="f0024-17" width="203" height="203"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1831/3915081-1-eng-US/f0024-182.jpg" title="f0024-18" width="745" height="505"></div><h2>QUEBEC NORDIQUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1931/3915074-1-eng-US/f0024-192.jpg" title="f0024-19" width="193" height="185"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-2030/3915067-1-eng-US/f0024-202.jpg" title="f0024-20" width="741" height="583"></div><h2>SAN DIEGO MARINERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-2127/3915060-1-eng-US/f0024-212.jpg" title="f0024-21" width="195" height="207"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-2225/3915053-1-eng-US/f0024-222.jpg" title="f0024-22" width="745" height="647"></div><h2>WINNIPEG JETS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-2325/3915046-1-eng-US/f0024-232.jpg" title="f0024-23" width="209" height="201"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-2422/3915039-1-eng-US/f0024-242.jpg" title="f0024-24" width="737" height="555"></div> &#9632;

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SAN DIEGO&mdash;The San Diego Mariners broke three streaks against the Phoenix Roadrunners.Two of them weren&rsquo;t good.When Frank Hughes scored in overtime for the Roadrunners, it was the first time the Mariners had lost in the extra period this season and it was the first time they had lost to Phoenix in eight games.The Mariners ended a seven-game losing streak with a 4-4 comeback tie with Phoenix three nights later, but remained winless in 13 consecutive games.San Diego has won three and tied three of seven overtime games.John French, back from a long convalescence with a shoulder separation, provided both goals to bring the Mariners back from a 4-2 deficit to earn the tie.French first put away a power play rebound with 10 minutes left, then scored again with 3:39 remaining on a shot which Phoenix goaltender Gary Kurt would like to forget.Kurt raced French to a loose puck, which had preceded French into the Phoenix zone, but the goaltender couldn&rsquo;t control it and French whacked at it. It tipped off Kurt&rsquo;s stick and fluttered slowly over his head and into the net.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s my basketball shot,&rdquo; quipped French. &ldquo;Actually some of the guys say that&rsquo;s as hard as I can shoot it anyway.&rdquo;The Mariners intend to be around next season, if they can gain enough public acceptance.They&rsquo;ve started a season ticket campaign and set a goal of 5,000 season tickets.With that season ticket base and players&rsquo; salaries, which Mariner general manager Ballard Smith says have to come down, he figures his father-in-law and club owner Ray Kroc will change his mind about not continuing to operate the club.Kroc&rsquo;s losses, for one season of operation, have been well over $1 million and he says he doesn&rsquo;t even like hockey.Baseball is his game. He owns the San Diego Padres.The Mariners held an &lsquo;Oldtimers&rsquo; Night&rdquo; recently and members of the old San Diego Gulls hockey team of the defunct Western Hockey League who still live in the area were guests.The list included: Willie O&rsquo;Ree, Bob Champoux, Gord Sinclair. Irv Spencer, Earl Heiskala. Sandy Fitzpatrick, Jim Shires. Warren Hynes. Bob Courcy and Jim Schraefe<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-2517/3915231-1-eng-US/f0024-252.jpg" title="f0024-25" width="567" height="749"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN FRENCH Bounces Back</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Mariners Put End To Three Streaks

<h2>TOP GOALERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01325/3915300-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="583" height="328"></div><h2>COMPLETE GOALING RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02239/3915293-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="595" height="1171"></div> &#9632;

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Looking At WHA Goalers

<div class="byline">BY GEORGE BILYCH</div>CALGARY&mdash;The Crash of &lsquo;29 is something the Calgary Cowboys are familiar with only through the reading of history books. It, really, is of little meaning to them. More concerned they are about a situation that has all the earmarks of putting them in the title role of The Crash of 77.Through most of the WHA season, the Cowboys have been involved with the Edmonton Oilers and Phoenix Roadrunners in a dogfight for the fourth playoff spot in the Western Division. With 17 games remaining in their schedule they appeared finally to have gained command of the situation, opening a five-point lead on the Oilers with three games in hand.At that point they headed out on a 10-game road trip It s proved disastrous. There&rsquo;s now some question whether they can recover.Through the first seven games of that fateful trek the Cowboys failed to glean so much as a point from their efforts. What&rsquo;s more, they&rsquo;ve been bombarded, losing 9-2 in Cincinnati and then back-to-back shutouts, 8-0 in Quebec and 9-0 in New England. In that span they&rsquo;ve had 18 straight goals scored against them Making it more painful is that their rivals have been picking up ground. The lead over their rivals has shrunk to virtually nothing. Edmonton has drawn even on points though they&rsquo;ve played one game more The Roadrunners are only three points back.What&rsquo;s more, injuries have complicated the Calgary situation. Butch Deadmarsh missed six games with a broken toe. Don Tannahill suffered a shoulder injury during Game Five in New England and was sent home to recuperate. It left the Cowboys scrambling to ice a full line-up.The only bright spot on the horizon was the arrival or Ron Ward to buoy up the faltering offensive troops.Ward came in via the Winnipeg Jets in an llth-hour move as a replacement for Hexi Riihiranta, thus completing the trade that took Danny Lawson and Mike Ford to Winnipeg. The Cowboys were to get Veli-Pekka Ketola and Riihiranta but the Finnish defenseman decided not to report, pointing to a no-trade clause in his contract.At first. Ward refused the move as well. Instead of joining the Cowboys he went home to Cleveland while issuing threats of retirement. Five days later he reconsidered.That decision came after the Cowboys had dropped their seventh straight. It was the lone bit of good news coach Joe Crozier had had in a couple of weeks.He&rsquo;ll give us the experience we&rsquo;ve been sadly lacking up front&rsquo; said Crozier hopefully. He represents offense and that&rsquo;s one area where we&rsquo;ve completely fizzled the last little while.&rdquo;Though normally a center, Crozier expected to employ Ward at right wing on a line with Ketola and George Morrison Ward played as a right winger last season in Cleveland.The move was precipitated by the fact the Cowboys already have eight centers in camp and previous attempts at conversion. principally Ron Chipperfield to right wing, had ended in failure.The Cowboys have had a dismal road record this year, winning only four. They drew a complete blank in Eastern Division rinks, losing 15 and tying two with only one game in Birmingham remaining. Smokie McLeod is winless in his last 18 road decisions, only one short of the WHA record held by goalie Paul Hoganson when he performed with Los Angeles. Michigan and Baltimore.WINNIPEG: The Jets have taken a stranglehold on second place in the West but their chances of catching the pacesetting Houston Aeros with nine games remaining were virtually non-existant.After posting two lop-sided victories at home over the Oilers, they were surprised 4-3 in Edmonton while starting a three-game road trip. But it all ended on a pleasing note when they came on for victories in Indianapolis and Birmingham.The victory over the Bulls showed the Jets still had the magic that had made them pre-season favorites. Down 3-2 in the final minute, they pulled goalie Joe Daley for a sixth attacker.Birmingham&rsquo;s Mark Napier appeared to have the victory on ice for the Bulls when he was about to pull the trigger on the insurance goal into the open net. But Mike Ford made a spectacular play to save the goal and shortly thereafter, with only 19 seconds remaining in regulation time, he blasted the tying goal past John Garrett. Only 35 seconds had elapsed in the overtime when Ulf Nilsson fired an unassisted goal for the victory.The loss was a critical one for the Bulls in what appears to be a losing battle for a playoff spot in the East. But it mattered little to coach Bobby Kromm&ldquo;It was a tough loss for them,&rdquo; said Kromm, &ldquo;but we re going to make every club work to earn a playoff spot.&rdquo;That should have served as fair warning to both the Oilers and Cowboys. The Jets have a home-and-home series remaining with each of the Alberta teams. The final game of the season. April 7. has the Jets in Calgary.EDMONTON: Glen Sather may yet turn out to be the savior of this hockey season for the Edmonton Oilers.Istalled as head coach in early March at a time when the Edmonton ship appeared to be faltering, he appears to beturning the Oilers around Those close to the scene insist the team is performing for Sather like they seldom did for Bep GuidolinDuring the course of a six-game road trip they blew a three-goal second-period lead in Houston but rebounded to claim a victory in Indianapolis and a tie in Quebec. Then they returned home for one game, a victory over Winnipeg that enabled them to pull into a fourth-place tie with the Cowboys.While the Oilers were preparing to embark on another four-game swing that included games in Winnipeg. Cincinnati and two in New England, most people were predicting that fourth place might not be determined until Calgary and Edmonton play a home and home series April 1 and 2.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03165/3915262-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="579" height="743"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE FORD&hellip;Two Key Plays</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Cowboys Reminiscent Of 1929 Crash

<h2>MARCH</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0894/3915544-1-eng-US/f0026-082.jpg" title="f0026-08" width="483" height="211"></div><h2>APRIL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0988/3915537-1-eng-US/f0026-092.jpg" title="f0026-09" width="479" height="513"></div> &#9632;

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Where WHA Teams Play

(Standings on Tue. March 29)<h2>EASTERN DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1939/3915582-1-eng-US/f0026-192.jpg" title="f0026-19" width="531" height="169"></div><h2>WESTERN DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-2035/3915575-1-eng-US/f0026-202.jpg" title="f0026-20" width="531" height="193"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. March 22Calgary 4 at Birmingham 7Edmonton 3 at Winnipeg 8Houston 2 at Quebec 6Cincinnati 1 at Indianapolis 3Wed. March 23Birmingham 4 at Phoenix 0Quebec 6 at Cincinnati 4Thu. March 24Quebec 3 at Indianapolis 4Birmingham 2 at San Diego 6Edmonton 5 at New England 4Fri. March 25Calgary 2 at Houston 4Edmonton 4 at Cincinnati 3San Diego 7 at Phoenix 3Sat. March 26Indianapolis 4 at New England 2Cincinnati 6 at Quebec 4Calgary 2 at San Diego 4Sun. March 27Edmonton 2 at New England 5Indianapolis 3 at Birmingham 7Winnipeg 5 at Houston 3Phoenix 4 at Calgary 5Cincinnati 0 at Quebec 4 &#9632;

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The WHA Scoreboard

<h2>Sun. March 20</h2>CALGARY 0. NEW ENGLAND 9<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01335/3915506-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="599" height="555"></div>PHOENIX 1, SAN DIEGO 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02275/3915499-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="599" height="509"></div>WINNIPEG 4, BIRMINGHAM 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03234/3915492-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="597" height="589"></div><h2>Tue. March 22</h2>HOUSTON 2, QUEBEC 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04181/3915485-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="595" height="537"></div>CALGARY 4. BIRMINGHAM 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05146/3915478-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="603" height="591"></div>EDMONTON 3, WINNIPEG 8<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-06116/3915471-1-eng-US/f0026-062.jpg" title="f0026-06" width="605" height="585"></div>CINCINNATI 1, INDIANAPOLIS 3FIRST PERIODNo scoring<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-07104/3915464-1-eng-US/f0026-072.jpg" title="f0026-07" width="601" height="377"></div><h2>Wed. March 23</h2>BIRMINGHAM 4, PHOENIX 0<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1083/3915457-1-eng-US/f0026-102.jpg" title="f0026-10" width="593" height="373"></div>QUEBEC 6, CINCINNATI 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1179/3915450-1-eng-US/f0026-112.jpg" title="f0026-11" width="593" height="639"></div><h2>Thu. March 24</h2>QUEBEC 3, INDIANAPOLIS 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1271/3915443-1-eng-US/f0026-122.jpg" title="f0026-12" width="593" height="531"></div>BIRMINGHAM 2, SAN DIEGO 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1370/3915436-1-eng-US/f0026-132.jpg" title="f0026-13" width="591" height="293"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1463/3915429-1-eng-US/f0026-142.jpg" title="f0026-14" width="591" height="183"></div>EDMONTON 5, NEW ENGLAND 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1557/3915422-1-eng-US/f0026-152.jpg" title="f0026-15" width="597" height="531"></div><h2>Fri. March 25</h2>CALGARY 2, HOUSTON 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1649/3915415-1-eng-US/f0026-162.jpg" title="f0026-16" width="603" height="425"></div>EDMONTON 4, CINCINNATI 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1745/3915408-1-eng-US/f0026-172.jpg" title="f0026-17" width="597" height="611"></div>SAN DIEGO 7, PHOENIX 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1843/3915401-1-eng-US/f0026-182.jpg" title="f0026-18" width="603" height="585"></div><h2>Sat. March 26</h2>CINCINNATI 6, QUEBEC 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-2129/3915394-1-eng-US/f0026-212.jpg" title="f0026-21" width="589" height="557"></div>INDIANAPOLIS 4, NEW ENGLAND 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-2225/3915387-1-eng-US/f0026-222.jpg" title="f0026-22" width="585" height="219"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01223/3915380-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="583" height="295"></div>CALGARY 2, SAN DIEGO 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02166/3915373-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="593" height="451"></div><h2>Sun. March 27</h2>CINCINNATI 0, QUEBEC 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03127/3915366-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="594" height="480"></div>EDMONTON 2, NEW ENGLAND 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04107/3915359-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="587" height="525"></div>INDIANAPOLIS 3, BIRMINGHAM 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0584/3915352-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="592" height="584"></div>WINNIPEG 5, HOUSTON 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0668/3915345-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="581" height="108"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0758/3915338-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="592" height="526"></div>PHOENIX 4, CALGARY 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0852/3915331-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="598" height="561"></div> &#9632;

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World Hockey Association Summaries

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01315/3915627-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE ROGERS&hellip;Happy With Progres</figcaption></div>HARTFORD&mdash;His teammates call him &ldquo;Porky&rdquo; and the fans know him as &ldquo;Mighty Mike.&rdquo; But to New England Whalers&rsquo; coach Harry Neale, the name that really fits is &ldquo;Mr. Consistency.&rdquo;Mike Rogers, the Whalers&rsquo; freewheeling center, is the only member of the team to have played in 73 of the Whalers&rsquo; 74 games through March 21. In fact, he&rsquo;s only missed a half-dozen or so games in his three-year World Hockey Association career.Playing on a line with rookie sensation George Lyle on left wing and veteran Tom Webster on the right, Rogers has racked up some impressive scoring statistics this season. In his last 55 games, Rogers has at least one point in 45 of them.&ldquo;Considering the way I started this season, I&rsquo;m very happy with the way things have progressed,&rdquo; said Mike. &ldquo;I went through the first seven games with hardly more than a sniff of a point. I was really down on myself at that stage of the season.&rdquo;It wasn&rsquo;t until the eighth game of the season, Oct. 30 against Birmingham at the Hartford Civic Center, that Rogers finally broke into the scoring column with a goal and two assists and it&rsquo;s been all uphill ever since.&ldquo;I give Harry Neale a lot of credit for sticking with me in the early going,&rdquo; said Rogers. &ldquo;He never lost confidence in me. He put me out there on the odd shift and on the power play and that gave me a big boost. And when he teamed me with Lyle and Webster, things really started going well.&rdquo;The Lyle-Rogers-Webster combination carried the Whalers for the first half of the season and at one stage accounted for almost hah of the team&rsquo;s goals. Right now, the threesome has 90 goals and 128 assists for 218 points, far and away the most productive line on the team.The Whalers&rsquo; second line consists of Dave Keon at center, Mike Antonovich at left wing and John McKenzie on the right, but most of the 201 points (88 goals, 113 assists) they&rsquo;ve accumulated came when they were members of the Minnesota Fighting Saints.Rogers began his major league career in a blaze of glory with the Edmonton Oilers in 1974-75. He was named the WHA&rsquo;s most gentlemanly player that year and rang up some impressive offensive statistics with 35 goals and 48 assists for 83 points.He came to the Whalers in January of 1976 in a trade that sent Wayne Carleton to the Oilers and in 36 games for New England last season, Rogers had 18 goals and 14 assists for 32 points. Always considered an offensive threat. Mike has worked hard to improve his whole game.&ldquo;I had a real good first season scoringwise,&rdquo; said Mike, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;m more satisified with my all-around performance this season. I&rsquo;m really concentrating on being a team player and playing better defense.&ldquo;If a guy wants to play for a coach like Harry Neale, he must learn to check. My plus-minus figures of the last two seasons haven&rsquo;t been that good, but I think I&rsquo;ve changed that this year.&rdquo;Through March 21, Rogers was the third leading scorer on the team with 75 points on 21 goals and 54 assists. His plusminus figure has hovered around plus-10 all season.&ldquo;I feel I have the role of playmaker teaming with Lyle and Webster,&rdquo; said Mike. &ldquo;George is just a super guy to give the puck to because you know he&rsquo;s going to do something with it and Webby&rsquo; is one of the finest players I&rsquo;ve known.&ldquo;I feel just as good assisting on a goal that they score as I do about scoring one myself. Webster has been a big help to me, also, because if I make a mistake, he&rsquo;ll tell me about it. He&rsquo;s a real team guy and wants to win very badly.&rdquo;With the Lyle-Rogers-Webster line clicking on all cylinders and the newly-acquired Antonovich-Keon-McKenzie line providing able support, Rogers hopes the Whalers have finally turned it around as they head into the home stretch of the WHA regular season and the upcoming playoffs.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re working as hard as we can in every game,&rdquo; says Mike, &ldquo;and if we keep it up, it will pay off in the end.&rdquo;Meanwhile, the Quebec Nordiques have clinched the Eastern Division championship and will have the home ice advantage for all inter-divisional playoffs. The Nords posted their 44th win in 76 starts and have a commanding 11-point edge over the runner-up Cincinnati Stingers.With five games remaining on the WHA schedule, the Nordiques could now concentrate on individual performances and it appeared Real Buddy&rsquo; Cloutier, their hot young scoring leader, was on his way to another super season. Cloutier had registered his 64th goal of the year and counted 136 scoring points. Both marks were below the existing WHA records of 148 points set by Marc Tardif and 77 goals, held by Bobby Hull, but there was no doubt that Cloutier was nearing the end of his personal best season as a pro. Last year he scored 60 times and had 115 points.While Cloutier was romping along towards the league individual scroing championship with an 18-point bulge over Winnipeg&rsquo;s Anders Hedberg. his Quebec teammates were making big strides in the scoring department. Serge Bernier, who shot a hat trick last week and had another two-goal game this past week, has passed the 40-goal mark. Paulin Bordeleau, the Nordiques&rsquo; NHL pickup this season from the Vancouver Canucks, continued to add to his scoring totals. Bordeleau had 39 goals, adding two more this past week as the Nordiques rolled up a 22-goal offense.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02247/3915620-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="538" height="808"><figcaption class="caption-body">SERGE BERNIER&hellip;Hits 40-Goal Mark</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03178/3915613-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="574" height="844"><figcaption class="caption-body">PAULIN BORDELEA&hellip;Nordique Surprise</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0027-01

Rogers Whalers’‘Mr. Consistency’

<div class="byline">By doug McConnell</div>HOUSTON&mdash;The Houston Aeros extended&hellip;well, all kinds of things.They ran their World Hockey Association home-ice victory string to 20 straight games.The Aeros held the old record of 15. set in 1975. They also hold the longest homeice winning streak, including playoffs, of 22. also set in 1975.Gordie Howe netted his 19th goal in a5-0 victory over Cincinnati, his 20th in a 50 shutout of Indianapolis and his 21st in a 6-3 win over Phoenix.Howe has scored 20 or more goals in 26 consecutive seasons.Ron Grahame turned aside 31 shots to blank the Stingers for his fourth shutout of the season.Wayne Rutledge came up with 34 shots the following night for his third shutout this season and the seventh for the Aeros, another new league record. Guess which team, situated in Texas, held the former record of six, set in 1974-75.Morris Lukowich scored the tying and winning goals in a 4-3 comeback victory over Quebec, the Aeros&rsquo; 19th consecutive home-ice win. The fleet rookie has 21 for the season despite missing 19 games with a broken ankle.It didn&rsquo;t appear back in December that this would be a record setting year for the Aeros.&ldquo;For awhile there it looked like we were going to have a tough time just staying in the race,&rdquo; said coach Bill Dineen.I should have known it wouldn&rsquo;t stay that way. Our guys have too much pride and talent to stay down for long.&rdquo;The Aeros had a 14-13-4 record Dec. 19 and were 10 points out of first place in the Western Division race. Since then, they have gone 30-7-2 and are 12 points ahead of second-place Winnipeg.Houston has a 30-1-4 record on home ice and already shares the WHA home-ice victory record off 33 with Quebec (both clubs hitting that figure last season).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01299/3915665-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="562" height="766"><figcaption class="caption-body">GORDIE HOWE &hellip; Another Milestone</figcaption></div>&ldquo;One of the reasons we have turned things around in the second half is our record at home,&rdquo; said Dineen. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t explain why we play so well here (The Summit). Most clubs just play better at home and I guess we re no exception.&rdquo; said Dineen.Houston also holds the WHA record for most road victories. 25, set in 1974-75. The Aeros are 14-19-2 on the road this season with five remaining.The Phoenix Roadrunners have won three overtime games in 11 tries (with five losses and three ties) this season and Frank Hughes has provided the game winner in each.His last, which completed a hat trick and provided the Roadrunners with a 7-6 victory over the San Diego Mariners, set a league record. Robbie Ftorek assisted on all three of Hughes&rsquo; overtime goals and all three of his hat trick scores in the Runners&rsquo; first victory over San Diego in eight games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02220/3915658-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="581" height="757"><figcaption class="caption-body">MORRIS LUKOWICH&hellip;Sparkling Rookie</figcaption></div>Hughes counted a goal in a 4-4 tie with the Mariners three nights later to raise his total to 21 in his last 28 games after scoring three in 26 games with Houston, where he saw little action, and going scoreless his first nine with Phoenix.The 175-pound shooter had averaged more than 40 goals for each of the last three seasons with Houston.The Roadrunners saw a 4-2 lead fade into a 4-4 tie in a game in which referee Bob Kolari came under fire from both coachesSan Diego had seven power play chances to two for Phoenix.&ldquo;It was disgraceful,&rdquo; said Rollins. &ldquo;There were two good hockey teams out there playing a good game, an important game. And then to have a dingbat like that in charge.&rdquo;&ldquo;It seemed like we were playing shorthanded half the night. And he throws Jerry (Rollins&rsquo; defenseman son) out of the game for pulling hair but he doesn&rsquo;t do anything about (Paul) Shmyr butting him.&ldquo;The owners are selling all my hockey players and those guys are still going out there and working their butts off to make the playoffs. And then to have something like this happen. It&rsquo;s just a shame &ldquo;San Diego coach Ron Ingram also had harsh words for Kolari&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to believe these guys can do work like that when they know that there are league officials here watching them.&rdquo; said Ingram, noting chief-of-officials Bob Frampton&rsquo;s presence.Back in Phoenix, Kolari never called a penalty as the Quebec Nordiques got an early 2-0 first period jump by outshooting the Runners 15-3 and staved off a Phoenix rally with Normand Dube&rsquo;s second goal of the night and eighth since joining the Nordiques after the demise of the Beauce Jaros in the North American LeagueOddly. Real Cloutier who had scored 11 times as Quebec won three of the previous four meetings, was shut out of the scoring. He had also been shut out in the only Roadrunner victory in the series.The trouble was. Roadrunner Robbie Ftorek was kept out of the scoring column by Quebec and the next night at Houston where the Roadrunners went down 6-3.Ftorek has been held scoreless 20 times and the Runners have won only three of those.It was a four-goal second period which did them in at Houston.&ldquo;I thought we played fairly well most of the game,&rdquo; said Rollins, &ldquo;but as soon as they started leaning on us a little, we faded away&rdquo; &#9632;

f0028-01

Extend Streak On Home Ice, Howe Gets 26th 20-Goal Year

<div class="byline">JOHN ARNOLD&#x2019;S</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03165/3915696-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg"></div><h2>ACROSS</h2>1. Picture Washington player.8. One of the North Stars.9. Former NHL forward Davis. (I-nit)10. Ex-NHL Forward Ezinickl. (Init)11. 18 across once played 10 games for this NHL team, (abbr.)12. One of the Habs. (inlt)13. Former Detroit center, (init)14. Initials of a Colorado forward.16. 1973-74 Hart Trophy winner.18. One of the Rockies.21. A Red Wing defenseman.22. 24 down protects this.25. An NHL city.27. One of the Penguins, (init)28. Minor pro league, (abbr)30. 1965-66 Calder Trophy winner.32. Not usually liked by others.<h2>DOWN</h2>1. Injured Ranger rookie.2. This Islander hails from Sweden.3. 1st and 15th letters of the alphabet.4. 1965-66 Byng Trophy winner.5. Former Penguin forward.6. One of the Maine Nordiques. (i-nit)7. An NHL coach.10. A WHA coach answers to this. 15. Eaten.17. Nickname of former Jacksonville Team in EHL. (S)19. Same as 14 across.20. Former Leaf right winger.23. An NHL captain answers to this.24. One of the Hawks answers to this.26. Member of Barons.29. Former NHL forward Labine. (I-nit)31. First name of a St. Louis defenseman.<h3>SOLUTION IN APRIL 15 ISSUE</h3>ANSWERS FROM MARCH 18 ISSUE<h2>ACROSS</h2>1. GIACOMIN.8. ROTA.9. AVCO.11. L.R.12. R.A.13. NEAR.14. U.N.15. NICK.16. D.A.17. ETE.18. NON.20. A.R.21. LUND.22. O.L.24. E.B.26. RED.28. BARRY.30. E.C.31. E.E.32. SHMYR.<h2>DOWN</h2>1. GRANT.2. 10.3. ATLANTA.4. CARRIERE5. MARUK.6. IVAN.7. N.C.10. ORLAND.16. DON.18. N.U.19. FORBES.23. LEACH.25. BOYER.27. D.R.29. REY. &#9632;

f0028-03

HOCKEY CROSSWORD

LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH& BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKMade in Canada by HILLERICH& BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaSPRINGFIELD&mdash;The Calder Cup playoffs will get underway on Friday, April 1 in at least one and possibly two American Hockey League cities.Series B, which pits the second place and third place teams in one of the two semi-final rounds, will open on Friday, April 1 in Rochester or Saturday, April 2 in New Haven depending on which team finishes second. At this writing the Nighthawks held a three-point edge over the Americans in the race for second place. The Hawks had four games remaining while the Amerks had only three. Considering the game-in-hand advantage plus the fact that all four games for the Hawks were to be played on their home ice at the Veteran Memorial Coliseum, it would appear that New Haven had the edge for a second place thus giving them the home ice advantage in the first and final games.The series, providing the Hawks do in fact finish second, would open on Saturday, April 2 at New Haven, move to Rochester the following night Sunday, April 2, return to New Haven on Wednesday, April 6 and back to Rochester for Friday, April 8. If necessary games will also be in New Haven on Saturday, April 9, in Rochester on Sunday, April 10 with the final game slated in New Haven on Wednesday, April 13.If the Americans can overcome the odds and pick off a second-place finish the series dates and sites will be as follows: Friday. April 1 at Rochester, Saturday. April 2 at New Haven, Wednesday, April 6 at Rochester, Friday, April 8 at New Haven. Sunday. April 10 at Rochester, Wednesday. April 13 at New Haven and Friday, April 15 at Rochester.The dates for Series A, which brings together the defending Calder Cup champion and this year&rsquo;s regular season champion, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs. and fourth-place Hershey Bears, were not finalized at this writing, but it appeared the playoff would open Friday. April 1 and continue on Sunday, April 3 in Halifax with the second two games scheduled in Hershey during the following week.This will be a rematch of last year&rsquo;s finals won by the Vees in five games.The Vees, although never a runaway winner during the regular season, are the odds-on favorite to repeat as Calder Cup champion. The Nighthawks, possibly one of the most powerful teams ever assem bled in AHL history, are rated as second best followed by Rochester and Hershey.Each of the three series, semi-finals and finals, will be played as best-of-seven sets and will be scheduled on an alternating basis except when Nova Scotia is involved due to the expense of air travel necessary to play games in Nova Scotia.This year&rsquo;s playoff plan calls for finishing money pro-rated from first to fourth so it&rsquo;s not only the home ice advantage concerning New Haven and Rochester.The AHL will distribute a playoff pool of $122,500. Here&rsquo;s how it will be divided: a first-place finisher collects $13,475, the second-place team $$11,025, third $8,575 and the fourth $6,125. The series &rsquo; and &lsquo;B&rsquo; winning teams each are awarded $14.700. the losers $9,800. As for series C&rsquo;&mdash;the Calder Cup final&mdash;the winner gets $19,600 and the losing team $14.700If a first place team wins the cup the players&rsquo; take is $47,775. If the second-place team wins it gets $45,325. the third $42,875 and the fourth $40,425. The playoff break-down works out to $2,388.75 per man if the first-place team takes the cup. $2,266.25 for a second-place team. $2,143.75 for third and if the fourth-place club goes all the way each player gers $2,021.25.The race for the John Sollenberger Trophy (scoring champion) appeared to be going down to the wire with at least five players still in the running.Rochester&rsquo;s Doug Gibson, winner of the Sollenberger Trophy in 1974-75 and leader for most of the season, was tied with Eddie Johnstone of New Haven following Rochester&rsquo;s game in Halifax on March 21. Both players had an equal 94 points. Gibson&rsquo;s points included 40 goals and 54 assists while Johnstone had 39 goals and 55 assists.Also in the running for the title are Johnstone&rsquo;s teammates Blake Dunlop with 90 points and Tom Colley with 89. Andre Peloffy of Springfield had 88 points and can&rsquo;t be counted out.Concerning the Harry (Hap) Holmes Trophy (goaltender award) it can be ordered and for the fifth consecutive season be shipped to Halifax.The Vees first won the goaltenders&rsquo; trophy (least goals scored against in the regular season) in 1972-73. The goalies were Michel Deguise and Michel Bunny&rdquo; La-rocque. The following year the names were changed but the team was the same.Dave Elenbaas and Jim Shaw appeared on the plate. In 1974-75 Eddie Walsh and Elenbaas combined to win the trophy and this will mark the third straight season these two goalies have won the trophy. Only Gil Mayer of Pittsburgh has ever won the trophy more times. &#9632;

Hawks, Americans Going To Wire For ‘Second’

<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01258/3915758-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="581" height="841"></div><h2>LEADING GOALERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02210/3915751-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="569" height="343"></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

AHL Leaders

Quarter-Final,Both beat-ol-aavan<h2>NOVA SCOTIA va HERSHEY</h2>Sun. April 3 at HalllaxThe. April 5 at HalllaxWed. April 6 at HeraheySat. April 9 at HeraheySun. April 10 at HalllaxTue. April 12 at HeraheyThu. April 14 at Halifax<h2>NEW HAVEN vs ROCHESTER</h2>Sat. April 2 at New HevenSun. April 3 at RochesterWed. April 6 at New HavenFri. April 8 at RochesterSal. April 9 at New HavenSun. April 10 at RocheaterWed. April 13 at New Haven &#9632;

AHLs Calder Cup Playoffs

HALIFAX&mdash;American Hockey League president Jack Butterfield has suspended Rochester player-coach Duane Rupp for the remainder of the regular season as the result of the Americans leaving the ice and forfeiting a game against Nova Scotia here on Sunday, March 20.The incident occurred in the third period of the game with Nova Scotia leading 5-0. Following a stoppage in play during which there were several fights and after both benches had emptied onto the ice, the Rochester players left the ice and returned to their dressing room and failed to return to commence play when requested to do so by referee Bill Payne. At this time Payne awarded the game to the Vees. The score was officially recorded as 5-0 and all the statistics of the game up to the point of forfeit, which was 4:54 of the third period, would be counted in the official records.Butterfield held a hearing in Halifax the following day and issued the following statement at the conclusion of the hearing:&ldquo;After a thorough investigation of all the circumstances involving interrogation of the game officials, minor officials and coaches of both teams, there are some differences of opinion as to exactly what transpired in every instance. However, in evaluating the coach of Rochester&rsquo;s position leading up to the forfeiture of the game, there was no evidence of him ordering his players to the dressing room. However. for his failure to exercise proper control of his players in permitting what happened to occur, it has been determined that a matter as serious as this should not go unpunished. Therefore, player-coach Duane Rupp has been suspended for the balance of the regular season and in addition will be assessed a substantial fine.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03140/3915813-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="533" height="739"><figcaption class="caption-body">DUANE RUPP &hellip; Didn&rsquo;t Control Players</figcaption></div>The Rochester management filed an official appeal of Butterfield&rsquo;s decision but requested the league to withdraw it. &#9632;

f0029-03

AHL Suspends Rupp For Rest Of Season

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01295/3915875-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">CUP HIGH: Boston University&rsquo;s Rick Meagher, left, and Mike Eruzione make the victory lap around the Boston Garden with ECAC Trophy after Terriers won it all for fourth straight year. It also marked last Boston appearance for perennial BU stars Meagher and Eruzione. (Photo by Eugene Del Bianco)</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;Any students majoring in English Literature who happened to attend the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division One finals on March 12 should have seized upon the theme for their dissertations at around midnight.The Boston University Terriers had just defeated the University of New Hampshire Wildcats 8-6 to cop their fourth straight ECAC title. The individual and team trophies had been presented, and now a couple of squat, barrel-chested forwards were whirling about the rink of steamy Boston Garden.Arm in arm, championship grail held high, co-captains Rick Meagher and Mike Eruzione projected more symbolism to BU followers&mdash;nay, to college hockey enthusiasts&mdash;than any Longfellow sonnet or Shakespearean drama could have provided to men of letters.Their memorable victory lap was the swan song, the final exclamation point to parallel careers of unparalleled brilliance. Oh, sure, the NCAA&rsquo;s were still to come, but win or lose, the Hub City faithful wouldn&rsquo;t see Rick and Mike&rsquo;s last games in BU uniforms. No matter. The Terriers, Eastern kingpins every single year these two have been in harness, were such consistent winners only because they were fortunate enough to posses players like Eruzione and Meagher&mdash;winners. They were BU hockey personified.Praise can flow like the victors champagne, and talk is indeed cheap. While accolades are certainly deserved, let us look at a few statistics. We needn&rsquo;t festoon them with ifs. ands. and buts. a recognized journalistic device of us typists in society&rsquo;s toy department, the sports sections. Speak, facts In 1974, Boston University defeated Harvard 4-2 to wrest the Division One title from Cornell. The goal scorers? Freshman defenseman John McClellan, freshman center Rick Meagher, and freshman winger Mike Eruzione twice.The dark, smiling Eruzione from Winthrop, just three miles from Causeway Street and the Boston Garden, was the linemate of Meagher who came to BU via the southern Ontario town of Belleville. They would remain so through their sophomore campaign alongside Bill Buckton, a fine puckster whose name will long be remembered for his courtroom victories as well.Come sophomore year, and second seeded BU hosted seventh-place Brown in the ECAC quarterfinals. The Bruin goalie. Kevin McCabe, was unreal that night, and after three periods it was 4-4. Buckton, Meagher and Eruzione had three of the BU scores. At 1:42 of overtime, Rickie converted a Vic Stanfield pass to usher BU past Brown into the Garden. Once they made Causeway Street, the Terriers had an easy time of it with wins of 7-3 over Vermont and Harvard. The sophomores of whom we sing contributed five of their team&rsquo;s Garden goals.Come junior year, and the top-ranked Terriers hosted Commonwealth Avenuerival Boston College, a team that had already beaten them in the Beanpot Finals&rsquo;. Twas a typical classic clash, 2-1 BU entering the third period. In the wild finish, the lead changed hands four times. Two of the BU scores were by Eruzione. who also assisted on the winner by Rick&rsquo;s brother Terry Meagher with 53 seconds to play. Again the finals were a breeze for the Terriers after the quarterfinal scare on home ice. and Rick and Mike became faces in a crowd of contributors.How time has flown. A rebuilding year for BU was 1976-77. With just five seniors on the roster, the Terriers lost their first five games. Undaunted, they pulled slowly together and won seven of their last nine league tilts. Coupled with five wins and a tie in six overtime games while things were jelling earlier, the stretch was enough to ease BU into fourth spot, the last home-ice seed and a notch ahead of arch-foe BC. who visited Walter Brown Arena for the quarterfinals once again.For a while, things looked easy as a three-goal burst in a span of 3:22 in theo second frame powered the Terriers to a 6-3 lead as of Meagher&rsquo;s goal at 5:15 of the final frame. The Eagles, like the emotional foes they&rsquo;ve always been, roared back to tie it at 6-6. With four minutes left. Meagher banged home a slap shot to make it 7-6. Not enough, said BC captain Bob Ferriter. returning the compliment. 7-7. But after the ensuing faceoff. Meagher did it again, and this time the lead stood up. 8-7. Eruzione also was in on the act with a goal of his own. earlier in the game.Back to the Garden they went to face first-seed Clarkson, a methodical juggernaut which purposefully stepped out to a 3-0 lead. Meagher made it 3-1 in the second period. BU stayed close but looked dead at 16:03 when Bill Blackwood&rsquo;s drive from the point past BU goalie Jim Craig put the Knights up. 6-4 with 3:57 to go. Many in the crowd of 14,597 began filing out.What&rsquo;s this? Eruzione tipping home a power play goal at 16:55? John Bethel ramming a loose puck under AllAmerican Brian Shields, tying it up with 1:01 to go? BU smelled victory, and Parker inserted Eruzione onto left wing with Meagher and rookie sensation Dave Silk for the final minute of play.You guessed it. A three-on-two rush, Meagher&rsquo;s drop pass to Silk, a whistling slap shot, and BU was in the finals again with their hardest-earned semifinal win ever.And the final? Somewhat of a denouement, really, but tied at six after two periods. Eruzione emerged again to deflect home a shot from the point, this time at 4:09. to lift BU yet again It was his second goal of the night, and when Matt Marden added the insurance tally with 10 minutes to go, BU became only the second team to win the Easterns from fourth seed in the standings.It&rsquo;s unfortunate that we only have room in a tabloid like this to touch upon the playoff highlights of the remarkable careers of Mike Eruzione and Rick Meagher. But it was in such games that they shone brightest, and the memory of these contests will be forever green as long as college hockey is played and loved in Boston.For the record, though, these two will end their careers as BU&rsquo;s all-time leading scorers. Heading to Detroit and the NCAA&rsquo;s. Eruzione had logged 92 goals and 112 assists for 204 career points. Meagher could account for 86-117-203. For senior year, &ldquo;Ritz&rdquo; had played mostly with inexperienced linemates and checked in with &ldquo;only&rdquo; 23-37-60. Meagher fortunate enough to be playing alongside sharpshooting Silk all year, tallied 30-4373. He also was named All-America for a record third time.Fans of BU&rsquo;s opponents find it hard to believe that these two hadn&rsquo;t been playing together all year long. Coach Jack Parker would always pair them on penalty killing, or whenever a four-on-four situation arose. Occasionally he would lift left winger Marden from the Silk-Meagher line and insert Eruzione. when things really became critical as in the Clarkson game. More often than not, it paid off.The 21-10-1 year was a tribute to Parker, the man behind the bench. In his third full year. Jack found the right combinations of skill, player handling, psychology and luck to bring BU all the goodies after the 0-5 start. He admits to rubbing his St. Jude medal raw on occasion-Clarkson All-America Dave Taylor&rsquo;s missing an open net in the third period of the semifinal. UNH&rsquo;s four shots off the post in the final&rsquo;s second period, the six OT tilts without a loss. Indeed, the Patron Saint of the Impossible was smiling in 1977. But on balance, his team&rsquo;s performance and character, coupled with his low-keyed yet intense handling, should make Jack Parker Coach the Year. &#9632;

f0030-01

BU Stars Meagher, Eruzione Finish Up In Blaze Of Glory

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</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 CanadaDETROIT&mdash;The classy University of Wisconsin Badgers captured the National CollegiateAthletic Association hockey crown with a pair of stirring overtime victories that left everybody&mdash;including the more than 25.000 fans who watched the three-day tournament at Olympia Stadium&mdash;buzzing.The winning goal by Steve Alley just 23 seconds into overtime gave the Badgers a 6-5 victory over the University of Michigan Wolverines in the championship game Just 24 hours earlier. Wisconsin had beaten New Hampshire 43 in the first minute of overtime on a goal by Mike Eaves.Coach Bob Johnsons Badgers, the class of American college hockey during the regular season, finished with a 37-7-1 record. Michigan, which reached the NCAA tournament for the first time since winning it in 1964, closed with a school record 28 victories.Wisconsin and Michigan, advancing to the final game with a 6-5 victory in the semis over the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference power Boston University, were destined to meet in the finals. They were season-long adversaries in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, with the Badgers clearly gaining the upper hand with five straight victories over the Wolverines following the season-opening loss to Michigan in Madison.When both teams qualified for the NCAA finals, coach Johnson remained unconcerned about needing still another victory to prove that his Badgers were best.&ldquo;When you get to the championship game it doesn&rsquo;t matter whom you play.&rdquo; Johnson said.For a while it looked like the Badgers were headed for a rout, twice building three-goal leads of 3-0 and 5-2. But the Wolverines bounced back with three third period goals by Mark Miller, AllAmerican center Dave Debol and defenseman John Waymann. Waymann&rsquo;s goal, only his third of the season but second in the NCAA finals, tied the score with 5:38 left.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02233/3915844-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="574" height="616"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB JOHNSON&hellip;His Team Best</figcaption></div>That goal forced the overtime, only the second time in the 29-year history of the tournament that an extra session has been necessary for the championship game.All three games were corwd-pleasers and after a disappointing opening night crowd of 4,735 for the Michigan-Boston game the attendance picked up sharply to a standing room only crowd of 14,437, the second-largent in NCAA playoff history and the largest hockey crowd of the season in the home of the NHL Detroit Red Wings.Olympia officials were so impressed by the affair that they immediately made a pitch for next season&rsquo;s tournament.Eaves, the son of the University of Windsor&rsquo;s hockey coach. Cecil Eaves, scored the winning goal against New Hampshire right from a face-off, flicking a quick shot into the nets. Wisconsin rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win that game.Alley, of Anoka. Minn., a member of Wisconsin&rsquo;s 1973 NCAA champions and last winter&rsquo;s United States&rsquo; Olympic team, gave the Badgers a title with his overtime goal against Michigan. The Badgers&rsquo; superb power play clicked twice, first when All-American defenseman Craig Norwich&rsquo;s blueline slapshot deflected in off Alley, and then when Norwich set up Dave Herbst for a goal Freshman Mark Johnson, son of the Wisconsin coach, scored on a poer play for a 3-0 leadGoals by Kip Mauier, his 38th in 45 games and Debol, his 42nd. cut into the Wisconsin lead before the Badgers went on to claim the National Championship.Three Wisconsin players were picked to the All-Tournament team&mdash;All Americans Julian Baretta in goal, and defensemen Norwich and John Taft. &#9632;

f0030-02

Wisconsin Edges Past Michigan To Win NCAA In All West Final

<h2>DIVISION ONE EAST</h2>Goal: Brian Shields, ClarksonDefense: Bill Blackwood, ClarksonTim Burke, New HampshireForward: Rick Meagher, Boston UniversityBob Miller, New HampshireDave Taylor, Clarkson<h2>ECAC ALL STARS</h2><h3>DIVISION ONE FIRST TEAM</h3>Goal: Brian Shields, ClarksonDefense: Tim Burke, UNHBill Blackwood, ClarksonForward: Rick Meagher, BUBob Miller, UNHDave Taylor, Clarkson<h3>DIVISION ONE SECOND TEAM</h3>Goal: Paul Skidmore, Boston CollegeDefense: Jack Hughes, HarvardTim Bothwell, BrownRon Wilson, ProvidenceForward: Bob Ferriter, Boston CollegeLance Nethery, CornellMike Eruzione, BU<h3>DIVISION TWO EAST</h3>Goal: Gerry Gagnon, Salem StateDefense: Paul Dunn, MerrimackJack Rankin, UnionForward: Tom Mullen, A.I.C.Tim Morrill, Boston StateDave Rost, Army<h2>WCHA ALL STARS*</h2><h3>FIRST TEAM</h3>Goal: Julian Baretta, WisconsinDefense: Jack Brownschidle, Notre DameCraig Norwich, WisconsinForward: Brian Walsh, Notre DameDave Debol, MichiganKris Manery, Michigan<h3>SECOND TEAM</h3>Goaf: John Peterson, Notre DameDefense: John Taft, WisconsinGreg Woods, DenverForward: Mike Eaves, WisconsinRoger Lamoureux, North DakotaDan Lempe, Minnesota-Duluth(*WCHA Team Compiled by Denver Poet &#9632;

CCM All American Teams

<div class="byline">BY BILL ADLER</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 CanadaFORT WORTH&mdash;For the first time in three years the Fort Worth Texans appear headed toward a post-season playoff spot. The Texans hold a solid six-point lead over Salt Lake City with only seven games remaining on their schedule.Fort Worth&rsquo;s last playoff appearance was in 1973-74 when they were eliminated in the opening round by the Oklahoma City Blazers. Now completing their 10th season of competition in the CHL, the Texans are one of the two active franchises that have never won the coveted Adams Cup. Their best effort came during the first year of CHL action (1967-68) when they advanced to the final round of the playoffs only to lose four straight games to a powerful Tulsa team.Ironically, the other team in the CHL still without a championship will be the first-round opponent. The Kansas City Blues, who played five seasons in the Central Hockey League prior to their brief appearance in the National Hockey League, will tangle with the Texans in the first round of the playoffs. The Blues have only one semi-final appearance to show for their five previous efforts.Fort Worth had to earn its playoff position and coach John Choyce is looking forward to his first playoff series with great anticipation. No longer than five weeks ago, Fort Worth trailed the Golden Eagles by seven points. Since that time the Texans have a 8-3-2 record while the troubled Golden Eagles have slumped to only two wins and one tie in their last 14 games.OKLAHOMA CITY: General managercoach Murray Davison received some consolation for the rough season that he has experienced after a six-year absence from the game. Davison scored his first goal in many, many moons and for &ldquo;Muzz&rdquo; the goal couldn&rsquo;t have been more enjoyable as the bearded defenseman socred the goal in Tulsa in front of 4,800 &ldquo;unfriendly&rdquo; partisans.One week earlier, Davison was involved in an altercation with Oiler Rick Bowness who suggested publicly that the old man should restrict his activities to the front office.&rdquo;In this season filled with much disappointment for the likeable and popular Davison the goal provides some solace for the long summer months ahead as the Blazer general manager prepares to reestablish a strong franchise in Oklahoma City for next season. One other reason for a smile is that the goal opened the scoring for the Blazers in a 5-2 win over their arch-antagonists, the Oilers.DALLAS: Like &ldquo;ole man river&rdquo; the Hawks keep rolling along, looking more and more like the team to beat in the playoffs. Coach Roger Neilson doesn&rsquo;t like to think that way in light of his team&rsquo;s second-place finish but they have made up a great deal of ground on frontrunning Kansas City and with some more time could possibly overtake the Blues.The Hawks entered the final two weeks of the season with a 10-game unbeaten string (longest in the CHL this season) while goalie Gord McRae carried a 16-game personal unbeaten streak. McRae is one of the leading candidates for the new Terry Sawchuk Award presented to the top individual goalie in the CHL. Yves Belanger, Kansas City, rates as the other prime candidate for the award.TULSA: With the Oilers, it will be a question of getting some organization into their front lines if they are to repeat as CHL champions. Since the start of the season there has been a great deal of schuffling of players in and out of Tulsa and this changeover has continued since the recent arrival of new coach Andy Hebenton, However, in recent games the Oilers seem to be putting things together much to the satisfaction of their rookie coach.Hebenton. the former NHL Iron Man, has done a most creditable job in handling the situation in Tulsa. He has made several adjustments to his personnel that have worked well for the defending champions.KANSAS CITY: After having dropped their last two decisions in Dallas, the Blues may have a rougher time than originally anticipated in their battle for the Adams Cup.Kansas City gained the top spot on Thanksgiving Night with a third-period rally to defeat the Hawks. Since that time the Blues have gradually built that lead to as many as 14 points. At one time the Blues held a 17-point lead over the Hawks, which has been reduced to nine points in recent weeks. However, the Hawks seem to have run out of time in the chase for the Emory Jones Cup (symbolic of the team with the most points during the regular season) but the performance of the Hawks has drawn much concern from player-coach Barclay Plager.Despite the surge of the Hawks the Blues have continued to play sound hockey and now have moved to within five wins (eight games remaining) of setting a CHL mark of most victories in a single season which is 45 currently held by the 1970-71 Omaha Knights.There has been a change of offensive heroes in Kansas City since the departure of Bernie Federko, Rick Bourbonnais and Brian Sutter. Now the offense has been sparked by former Red Wing performers Don Martinueau and Mike Bloom. Plager is still hopeful of seeing the return of Doug Palazzari for the playoffs.In goal the Blues are ready with the veteran Yves Belanger playing some of the finest hockey of his professional career.SALT LAKE CITY: Coach Marv Edwards is a man certainly worthy of better times this season for it has been a rough final two months for the former goaltender now in his second year of coaching. The financial crisis with the parent Cleveland Barons has left its mark on Edwards and his team both physically and psychologically.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0914/3915930-1-eng-US/f0032-092.jpg" title="f0032-09" width="563" height="795"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM WILEY &hellip; Scoring Threat</figcaption></div>Yet despite the hard times the team has struggled to stay close to the fourth place and they entered a five-game homestand with an outside shot at the fourth spot. &#9632;

f0032-09

Texans Heading For Playoff Berth; Blues’ Road Could Become Rougher

<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01275/3916010-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="587" height="324"></div><h2>DALLAS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02208/3916003-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="577" height="564"></div><h2>KANSAS CITY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03146/3915996-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="573" height="510"></div><h2>SALT LAKE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0491/3915989-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="575" height="273"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0555/3915982-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="576" height="321"></div><h2>FORT WORTH</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0637/3915975-1-eng-US/f0032-062.jpg" title="f0032-06" width="582" height="565"></div><h2>OKLAHOMA CITY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0726/3915968-1-eng-US/f0032-072.jpg" title="f0032-07" width="578" height="459"></div><h2>TULSA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0823/3915961-1-eng-US/f0032-082.jpg" title="f0032-08" width="581" height="518"></div> &#9632;

f0032-01

CHL Team Scoring

<div class="byline">BY GARY McCARTHY</div>SHERBROOKE&mdash;The unknowing use of an ineligible player has cost the Sherbrooke Beavers their third consecutive Quebec Major Junior Hockey League championship.The Beavers had clinched the title on the strength of more goals-for after finishing the 72-game schedule dead-even with the Quebec Remparts.Both the Beavers and the Remparts had won 41 games, lost 21 and tied 10. However. Sherbrooke was given the nod because of a 12-goal advantage over the Remparts&mdash;392 to 380.However, league directors showed no sympathy for the Beavers&rsquo; unknowing use of the ineligible player during two games in mid-March. The league ruled that Sherbrooke had to forfeit the three points it earned in the two games and as a result, they were dropped to third place from first in the over-all league standings.The Beavers argued that Bill Dummer acted on his own when he falsified his birth certificate in the United States in 1976 and that the team should not be held responsible.Because of the ruling. Chicoutimi was awarded one point and the last-place Sorel Black Hawks picked up the other two&mdash;thus giving Quebec the league title.Georges Guilbault, co-owner and general manager of the Beavers, said in a statement that Dummer was recruited in the U.S. He played as of early January in Lae Megantic, which is Sherbrooke&rsquo;s Junior A farm team.He came up through our system and was put on our reserve list,&rdquo; Guilbault said. He was called up for a tryout March 11 and March 13 and we only found out about it after the game in Sorel on the 13th.I found out from one of our U.S scouts, Leo Agnew, that the kid was possibly over-age. After a long interrogation after the game in Sorel, he admitted falsifying his birth certificate. &ldquo;Guilbault said that he and coach Ghislain Delage then approached Paul Dumont, the league&rsquo;s executive director and told him that, through no fault of the Sherbrooke club, &ldquo;we may have had a kid who was over-age.&rdquo;&ldquo;The thing is that he never skated in either game,&rdquo; said Guilbault &ldquo;He was in the lineup, but he didn&rsquo;t get on the ice for a second in either game.&rdquo;Guilbault and the Beavers took out an injunction in an attempt to maintain the points the club had picked up in the two games.&ldquo;We went to the league with our attorney and the injunction but with the injunction. the playoffs would have been held up,&rdquo; Guilbault said. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t want that. All the injunction was meant to do was prove that we were not at fault.&rdquo;However, the Beavers accepted the league ruling and lost out in what appeared to be a successful bid for their third successive championshipDropping Sherbrooke into third place changes the playoff structure somewhat. The Remparts now face the team with the eight-best record among the playoff eligibles&mdash;Hull. &#9632;

Ineligible Player Costs Beavers Third Consecutive Championship

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01245/3916065-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="511" height="493"><figcaption class="caption-body">GRAEME NICHOLSON &hellip; On First Team</figcaption></div>QUEBEC&mdash;Three players were unanimous choices for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League&rsquo;s first All Star team, announced last week here at league headquarters.Surprisingly. Quebec&rsquo;s Jean Savard, who won the league scoring championship with 84 goals (tops in the league) and 96 assists for 180 points, was not among the three unanimous selections.Goaltender Tim Bernhardt of the Cornwall Royals and teammate defenseman Graeme Nicholson and Montreal defenseman Robert Picard were the only players who received the maximum 45 points in the voting conducted by the league&rsquo;s coaches.Savard was selected to the first team at center, but received 41 of a possible 45 points. Sherbrooke captain Jere Gillis was voted to the first team at left wing.also with 41 points, and Lucien Deblois of the last-place Sorel Black Hawks won the first-team right wing spot witn 27 points.Coach of the first All Star team is Chicoutimi&rsquo;s Yvan Gingras.The second All Star team has Chicoutimi&rsquo;s Jean Belisle in goal, Alain Myette of Shawinigan and Mario Marois of Quebec on defense. Chicoutimi&rsquo;s Sylvain Locas at center, Normand Dupont of Montreal at left wing and Michel Bossy of Laval at right wing.A third dream team has Yves Guillemette of Shawinigan as the net-minder, Mario Claude and Floyd Lahach of Sherbrooke on defense. Richard Dalpe of Trois-Rivieres at center, teammate Benoit Gosselin at left wing and Quebec&rsquo;s Eddy Godin at right wing.Second-team coach is Michel Bergeron of Trois-Rivieres and Ron Racette was voted third-team coach.As expected. Sherbrooke&rsquo;s Rick Vaive was voted rookie of the year in the QMJHL. Vaive, only 17 and scouted out of Prince Edward Island, polled 33 points.The most valuable player award went to Deblois, who picked up 20 points in the voting. Bossy was awarded 24 points to top the balloting for the most gentlemanly player and Picard was voted the outstanding defenseman in the league. &#9632;

f0033-01

Three Players Are Unanimous Star Choices

Thu. April 21Germany vs Soviet UnionFinland vs CzechoslovakiaRomania vs SwedenCanada vs United StatesFri. April 22Soviet Union vs FinlandSweden vs CanadaUnited States vs RomaniaCzechoslovakia vs GermanySun. April 24Germany vs United StatesFinland vs SwedenRomania vs CzechoslovakiaCanada vs Soviet UnionMon. April 25Swden vs GermanyUnited States vs RomaniaTue. April 26Czechoslovakia vs CanadaUnited States vs FinlandWed. April 27Romania vs GermanyCanada vs FinlandThu. April 28Czechoslovakia vs Soviet UnionSweden vs United StatesFri. April 29Germany vs CanadaFinland vs RomaniaSat. April 30Soviet Union vs United StatesSweden vs CzechoslovakiaSun. May 1Finland vs GermanyMon. May 2Sweden vs Soviet UnionTue. May 3Playoff 7 vs 6Wed. May 4Playoff 3 vs 2Thu. May 5Playoff 6 vs 8Fri. May 6Playoff 1 vs 3Sat. May 7Playoff 6 vs 5Sun. May 8Playoff 4 vs 3 &#9632;

World Cup Ice Dates

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</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/f0034-01267/3916127-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="577" height="790"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE JOHNSON &hellip; Gets S8th Goal</figcaption></div>TOLEDO&mdash;Ted Garvin has always treated the long, gruelling regular season schedule as a necessary evil. You can&rsquo;t have a postseason until you have a season But the reward, the brass ring for the volatile Garvin, has always been the playoffs. In the International Hockey League it&rsquo;s spelled Turner Cup. And Garvin has drunk from the cup before.But this year&mdash;as the 1976-77 IHL season grinds to a halt&mdash;Garvin wants the thrill of winning a division championship. More than that, actually. Garvin wants a Huber Trophy&mdash;emblematic of the IHL season championship&mdash;as a companion piece for the Turner Cup he won in Port Huron (1971) and in Toledo (1975).And the way Garvin&rsquo;s Goaldiggers are playing in the stretch run, he&rsquo;ll get his wish. The Diggers are streaking and have no intentions, apparently, of losing another game. The Diggers look like they can accomplish such a feat.Take the Diggers&rsquo; last four outings for instance. They went 4-0. Two of the victories were on the road and in places where visitors normally are second-class citizens Toledo invaded Muskegon and accomplished one of the rarest of all feats&mdash;keeping the puck out of their own net. The Diggers didn&rsquo;t exactly overpower the Mohawks. They squeaked by, 1-0.The lone goal came, appropriately enough, off the stick of Dave Johnson, the highest-scoring player in Toledo history and the IHL&rsquo;s top goal producer this season. The goal at Muskegon was Johnson&rsquo;s 58th. Johnson scored with 18:44 gone in the first period and after that it was up to goalie Tony Piroski. who got considerable help from veteran Lome Weighill who blocks more shots than most goalies.The other road conquest in the four-game string was at Kalamazoo, home of the season-long North Division leaders. The Diggers handled the K-Wings like long-lost cousins, skating off with a 5-1 triumph And they left their mark in other areas as well. Toledo not only won the game, it gave Kalamazoo a lesson in the physical aspects of the game as well.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02211/3916120-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="574" height="793"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE CLARKE</figcaption></div>The K-Wings, who lead the IHL in penalty minutes, tried to outmuscle the Diggers. But Toledo gave as much as it received. Maybe more. At any rate, Toledo certainly wasn&rsquo;t intimidated.Prior to the wins at Muskegon and Kalamazoo, Toledo took a pair of home games&mdash;one from chief South Division rival Dayton. The Diggers&rsquo; late surge for the IHL season championship is making sweet music at the box office as well. For the home games with Dayton and Flint, the total attendance was 10,214.DAYTON: The Gems, who were challenging Toledo for first place just a few games back, had to withstand challenges from both Columbus and Fort Wayne for the runner-up spot in the South. An unfavorable schedule, which saw the Gems play just two of their final six at home, put the Gems&rsquo; second-place hopes in considerable jeopardy coming down to the finish line.A 4-4 tie with Fort Wayne at home didn&rsquo;t enhance Dayton&rsquo;s chances. The tie at home was followed by road losses at Toledo and Saginaw. In addition, the front office picture is still unresolved. Ken Wilson was fired several weeks ago as general manager with the hope that former GM Lefty McFadden could be lured back into the saddle. McFadden did not take the bait, however, and the Gems are still looking for a replacement for Wilson. In the meantime, Larry Mickey is filling the void while trying to keep the Gems afloat on the ice as well.COLUMBUS: The Owls were also in a precarious playoff position in the final week because of the Rate-season schedule. The Owls had only two of their final seven games at home.The Owls helped their cause somewhat with a 3-3 tie at Flint. But a quirk in the schedule, which kept the Owls off the ice more than on. had reduced the potential considerably.FORT WAYNE: The Komets&rsquo; hopes of rising higher in the south got a severe blow with an injury to veteran goalie Robbie Irons. Irons suffered a leg injury in the early minutes of a game at Saginaw and will be out for the balance of the regular season. It&rsquo;s hoped Irons will be ready for some playoff action.With Irons on the shelf, the goaltending chores will rest on young Brian Holderness. The Komets struggled to a 44 tie at Dayton and lost twice on the road before bouncing back with an impressive, 8-1 win over Muskegon at home. The schedule appears to be the Komets&rsquo; best ally in the stretch run. Of the final eight games, six are at home.SAGINAW: A season-long chase of elusive Kalamazoo finally ended in success for the Gears who used a four-game winning streak to grab the top spot in the tight North Division race. The Gears assured the first-place lease&mdash;at least temporarily&mdash;with a key. 6-4 win in Kalamazoo. The streak also included home victories over Muskegon, Fort Wayne and Dayton.The skate down the stretch is a most difficult one for the Gears. They invaded enemy rinks five times. They played only twice at home.KALAMAZOO: The K-Wings season-long lease on first place was cancelled during a luckless run of three games, all of which resulted in losses. Two of the setbacks were at home, the 6-4 reverse to Saginaw and a 5-1 trimming by South Division leader Toledo.FLINT: The Generals, who earlier in the season were almost unbeatable at home, found it tougher to win in the friendly confines of the IMA Arena&mdash;and just when it meant the most.A pair of 3-3 ties (to Columbus and Port Huron) prevented the Genera&rsquo;s from improving their third-plase position. In each game, the Generals had 3-1 leads.Key to the recent slump is a slowdown in the General offense. Flint leads the IHL in goals with 310 but in recent games have been firing mostly blanks. Case in point: Mike Clarke, the IHL leader with 100 points and 41 goals, scored just once over the last 10 games. Steve Koleff, runner-up to Clarke, had one goal in the last 13 games.MUSKEGON: A demanding schedule put the breaks on a strong challenge by the Mohawks for a loftier position in the North. Playing seven games in nine nights, the Mohawks managed just three victories while losing four. In addition, Muskegon lost the services of left wing Mike Usitaio (knee injury).Also, the Mohawks lost the services of Carlo Torresan for two games&mdash;on suspension. Torresan received the suspension after tying a league record for penalty minutes in one game. In the second period of a game in Kalamazoo, Torresan picked up 42 minutes before being bounced. He shares the record with a former Mohawk. Lynn MargaritPORT HURON: The Flags hung on to their fading playoff hopes. Such hopes were the most with a 5-0 blanking of Fort Wayne at home, but it wasn&rsquo;t to be for the Flags.The 5-0 win over Fort Wayne was followed by a critical 3-2 loss to Flint at home. The Flags bounced back, however, and salvaged a 3-3 tie in Flint. &#9632;

f0034-01

Garvin Eyes Cup Again For Diggers; Dayton Withstands Stretch Challenge

All quarter-final series best-of-seven affairs:<h2>COLUMBUS vs TOLEDO</h2>Tue. March 29 at ToledoTue. April 5 at ToledoWed. April 6 at ToledoFri. April 8 at ColumbusSat. April 9 at ToledoSun. April 10 at ColumbusTue. April 12 at Toledo<h2>KALAMAZOO vs FLINT</h2>Playoff dates undecided<h2>SAGINAW vs MUSKEGON</h2>Fri. April 1 at SaginawSat. April 2 at MuskegonSun. April 3 at SaginawWed. April 6 at MuskegonFri. April 8 at SaginawSat. April 9 at MuskegonWed. April 13 at Saginaw<h2>DAYTON vs FORT WAYNE</h2>Playoff dates undecided &#9632;

IHL Playoff Dates

<div class="byline">BY BRUCE PENTON</div>CALGARY&mdash;On the ice, Calgary Centennials are nothing better than a lOth-place hockey club in the 12-team Western Canada Hockey League.Off the ice&hellip;they&rsquo;re probably the most interesting group of youngsters in Canada. Someone could develop a daily soap opera around the melodramatic events which have dotted the Centennials&rsquo; lives since the start of this season.First, their star player, a future superstar most experts say. gets traded. A new star arrives in the deal. The coach gets fired. The players rebel at the firing of the coach, stomp into the league president&rsquo;s office and get things straightened out. The new star player is charged with assault. The day before his trial, he quits hockey.Calgary Centennials, once one of the most solid franchises in the league, on the ice. at the gate and in the public eye, have floundered this season like never before.Let&rsquo;s go back. Seventeen-year-old Perry Turnbull, dubbed an up-and-comer of gigantic proporations, is traded to Portland Winter Hawks earlier in the season for a pair of malcontents&mdash;defenseman Dave Morrow, 19, and superstar center Doug Lecuyer, 18.Late in February, coach Fred Hilts is suspended for one game by WCHL president Ed Chynoweth for his part in a bench-clearing brawl in Lethbridge. When his suspension is over, he finds his job is over, too. Wes Phillips has replaced him.The Centennial players don&rsquo;t like it. They go as a group to see Chynoweth. seeking support to their demand for Hilts&rsquo; reinstatement.Chynoweth talks them out of their protest and the players accept it. &ldquo;We re going to play our best and give our best to whoever coaches the club.&rdquo; a players&rsquo; spokesman said.Virtually guaranteed a spot in the playoffs by the WCHL&rsquo;s change in format for post-season play (over-all standings, with the 10 top teams advancing), the Centennials finally appeared to be stabilizing.Then, one day before Lecuyer, the team&rsquo;s leading scorer with 46 goals, was scheduled to appear in a Lethbridge court on an assault charge (incurred in the same Lethbridge bench-clearing brawl for which Hilts was suspended) he announces he is quitting for this season.The decision came after a meeting with Chynoweth and Cents&rsquo; owner Dick Koentges.&ldquo;I know one thing. If I got in one more incident, the league would suspend me for the rest of the season.&rdquo; said Lecuyer. &ldquo;And I think they were waiting for that to happen I&rsquo;m not blaming anyone but myself&hellip;&rdquo;Lecuyer said playing four years in the WCHL (he started as a 15-year-old with Edmonton Oil Kings) was too long.He will turn back to a summer of golf. And what an athlete! He was twice Alberta junior champion, finishing second in the Canadian junior last summer, and captured the Alberta men&rsquo;s amateur title in 1975&hellip;when he was 17.Without Lecuyer, the Centennials will be a calmer outfit The team which has picked up the second-highest total of penalty minutes in the league will be calmer, for sure, but they won the as competitive.The most tumultuous season in the Cents&rsquo; history will probably come to a whimpering end&hellip; likely in the first round of playoffs.MEDICINE HAT: Brian Hill, who got off to a hot start but slowed somewhat after Christmas, revved up his engines again and hit the 50-goal mark with four goals and one assist in Tigers&rsquo; 8-5 win over Calgary. Tommy Bast, a 19-year-old speedster, had a goal and five assists in the same game, bringing his goal tally to 30. In another win over the Cents. 7-1, rookie Merlin Malinowski got his 20th goal.LETHBRIDGE: Coach Howie Yanosik got the Broncos playing inspired hockey again, on a road trip. Broncos beat Regina 5-3 as rookie Rocky Saganiuk hit the 100-point mark with two assists and they tied the hometown New Westminster Bruins 5-5, with Rod Guimont scoring twice. The team&rsquo;s only loss was a 3-2 squeaker in Kamloops as Broncos moved closer to second-place Winnipeg in the Central Division. Team owner Bill Burton responded to criticism about a recent brawl at the Sportsplex with a blistering rebuttal in the Lethbridge Herald.WINNIPEG: Owner-coach Gerry Brisson got New West&rsquo;s Ernie McLean hot by suggesting the Monarchs would wear face-masks to prevent injury when Winnipeg was in Queen&rsquo;s Park Arena. The Monarchs didn&rsquo;t don the masks, though, and earned a 4-4 tie with three third-period goals in a cleanly-played game. Rookie Dave Morrison got his 20th goal of the year in that contest. Elsewhere on their western swing. Monarchs split in Victoria, losing 7-5 after blowing a 4-0 first-period lead, and winning 3-1. Later, Winnipeg lost 7-2 in Portland, despite Tom Roullston&rsquo;s 50th goal of the year.BRANDON: The Wheat Kings finished their road schedule by beating Medicine Hat 4-1 and being Saskatoon 3-3, as veteran Gord Kaluzniak scored twice in each game. Brandon finished with an amazing 23-7-6 road record this year. Later. Bill Derlago scored twice at home in a 5-2 win over Regina, moving to within one goal of Ron Chipperfield&rsquo;s league record of 90 in one season. Glen Hanlon continued his fine goaltending during the week, lowering his leagueleading average to 3.11.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01257/3916182-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="567" height="907"><figcaption class="caption-body">DOUG LECUYER &hellip; Played Too Long</figcaption></div>REGINA: The Pats, who will move into the magnificent new Agridome next year, closed out the aging Exhibition Stadium with an exciting 8-6 win over Saskatoon Blades, the team&rsquo;s eighth win in this, their worst season ever. The rookie line of Dirk Graham, Gerry Galloway, and Clark Bacala led the way with 14 points. In other games, Galloways two goals weren&rsquo;t enough in a 5-3 loss to Lethbridge, and rookie Ron Parent&rsquo;s 20th goal went for naught in a 52 defeat in Brandon.SASKATOON: Heartening news for coach Jackie McLeod was the return of 16-year-old flash Brent Ashton, who came off the injured list (shoulder problems) with his 25th goal of the year in a 6-1 win over Regina. Rookie Darryl Erickson had three goals and two assists in the week, which also included a 3-3 tie with Brandon and an 8-6 loss to the Pats. Brian McGregor, playing forward full time now after starting his career as a defenseman, connected for his 20th goal in the game with Brandon.FLIN FLON: The good news for the Bombers was that they had the week off following their gruelling 13-game journey to the western precincts of the league. The bad news was that one more loss, or one Calgary victory, would officially eliminate the Bombers from playoff contention. Kim Davis will use the final seven games to show the scouts that his 104 points to this stage of the season haven&rsquo;t been flukes.KAMLOOPS: Left-winger Reg Kerr, a possible first-round draft choice this summer, did it all against Lethbridge. He scored the winning goal, his 45th tally of the season, in a 3-2 win over Lethbridge, after earlier setting up Jamie Gallimore with Chiefs&rsquo; first two goals. Ephram Steinke, who recently gained 90 percent control of the Chiefs and 65 percent control of their Tier II farm team, Kamloops Braves, said one of the two teams would move from Kamloops this summer, but he didn&rsquo;t elaborate.NEW WESTMINSTER: Big defenseman Barry Beck, in all probability the No. 1 draft choice from the WCHL this summer, will sit out two weeks of action because doctors say he was &ldquo;completely run down.&rdquo; First reports said Beck had a touch of pneumonia. He will, however, be recovered in time for the playoffs. Without him, the Bruins stumbled, tying twice at home&mdash;4-4 to Winnipeg after leading 4-1 early in the third, and 5-5 with Lethbridge, as Bruin defenseman Miles Zaharko scored with 18 seconds remaining.VICTORIA: Cougars had a 1-1-1 week, splitting with Winnipeg at home and getting an encouraging 3-3 tie in Portland. Rookie Gary Lupul went over the 35-goal mark with two in the 7-5 come back win over the Monarchs. Gregg Anderson, who scored his 45th goal, and Leroy Heck, who picked up four assists, also shone. Cougars, though, remained last in the West, and a first-round playoff date with the powerful Bruins seems to be inevitable.PORTLAND: Nineteen-year-old Tony (Shotgun) Currie has been the league&rsquo;s hottest sniper, with 16 in his last seven games. He now has 66 goals and 112 points, good for fifth spot in the scoring race. Currie scored twice in a 3-3 tie with Victoria, a game coach Ken Hodge called typical playoff action, and then added three more in a 7-2 triumph over Winnipeg. Dale Yakiwchuk, on the line with Currie and Dave Hatheway, had four assists against Winnipeg. &#9632;

f0035-01

Calgary’s Sudden Nosedive Attributed To Bizarre Chain Of Year Long Events

<h2>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01207/3916306-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="587" height="715"></div><h2>LEADING GOALERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02158/3916299-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="573" height="184"></div> &#9632;

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April 8, 1977

NHL Rookies

Maine, Binghamton, Erie Advance As NAHL Heads Into Semi-Finals

NAHL Leaders

Plumb, Maggs Eyeing Defense Award; Two Stingers Chase 50-Goal Plateau