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 15, 1977

The Hockey News April 15, 1977

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01678/3919307-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0019-01

IN THIS ISSUE

Final NHL Goaling

<div class="byline">JOHN ARNOLD&#x2019;S</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04124/3920542-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg"></div><h2>ACROSS</h2>1. Pictured player.8. Initials of a Los Angeles forward.9. New York is located here.10. First name of one of the Kings.12. Nickname of former Ranger power pley specialist.13. Former NHL goaltender, (init)14. One of the Leafs. (Init)15. Atlanta&rsquo;s 1st choice in 1973 amateur draft.17.1975-76 Vezina Trophy winner. (Init)19. Usually required for a leg injury.20. A Minnesota center.22.15th and 12th letters of the alphabet.24. One of the North Stars, (init)26. This former Leaf is considering a comeback with Team Canada, (init)27. A high-scoring Flyer, (init)28. An NHL general manager.30. Former L.A. forward.32. A Winnipeg defenseman.<h2>DOWN</h2>1. A Los Angeles center.2. Skating requisite.3. An NHL coach.4. Each, (abbr)5. An NHL captain, (init)6. A Washington winger.7. One of the Hawks.11. Minor pro league, (init)14. Number of the playoff goals scored by Marcel Dionne lest year.16. 11th and 1st letters of the alphabet.18. A Penguin devensemen, (init)21. One of the Kings.23. A Vancouver forward.24. A Minnesota forward answers to this.25. Same as 13 across.29. Avenue, (abbr)31. A Fort Worth defenseman. (init)SOLUTION IN APRIL 22 ISSUE<h2>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S ANSWERS</h2><h2>ACROSS</h2>1. MONAHAN.8. YOUNG.9. L.D.10. B.E.11. DET.12. L.R.13. E.R.14. R.A.16. ESPO.18. CROTEAU.21. HAMEL.22. NET.25. L.A.27. D.O.28. I.H.L.30. SELBY.32. SNOBS.<h2>DOWN</h2>1. MURDOCH.2. NYSTROM.3. A.O.4. HULL.5. ANDREA.6. N.G.7. SHERO.10. BEP.15. ATE.17. SUN.19. R.A.20. ELLIS.23. ED.24. TONY.26. AHERN.29. L.L.31. BOB. &#9632;

f0030-04

HOCKEY CROSSWORD

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Irregardless of their playoff performance. it was a disappointing campaign for the Kings. Their regular-season record declined for the second straight season. They went into the final few games needing to win most of them merely to finish at .500. knowing they had a chance to wind up losing more games than they won.There were some bright spots. There was not a better goaltender in the league than Rogie Vachon, and may not have been a better forward than Marcel Dionne, although it is almost certain voters will overlook them on the All Star ballots. Appropriately, Southern California hockey writers decided to share King Most Valuable Player honors between them.Having co-winners always is dissatisfying. but these two contributed so much to the team so consistently throughout the season that it was difficult to pick between them. This was Vachon&rsquo;s fourth team MVP award since he won the laurel three straight times before Dionne arrived to take it last season.This, as usual, leaves Butch Goring neglected. Though he has to have been the King MVP over its first 10 seasons, he never in any season has won this award. He has been a contender for, but never has won the league&rsquo;s Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship and performance. He is a contender again, but Dionne likely will win it, which he won in 1975 while with Detroit. However, Goring has been one of this season&rsquo;s standouts once again.Another has been Gary Sargent, the top prospect on the team, who started the season erratically, but has steadied down during his first full season as a regular. Repeatedly it has been written that the 23-year-old defenseman has become the best on this club&rsquo;s back line. This stems partly from his rugged defensive style, but maybe mostly from his daring offensive style.Sargent surpassed team records for defensemen set by Bob Murdoch with 13 goals in 1975 and Gilles Marotte with 39 assists and 45 points in 1973. Marotte is long gone, while Murdoch moved into the shadows. But Bob has become an unsung star for the team. Laughing a little, he says, &ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t mind Gary getting all the good publicity. He&rsquo;s getting to be very good and he&rsquo;s going to be better. He&rsquo;s a great talent.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011060/3918380-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="553" height="775"><figcaption class="caption-body">BUTCH GORING</figcaption></div>Mature at 30, with seven pro seasons, five in the majors, behind him, Murdoch says, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t need a lot of attention to be happy, though everyone likes to be recognized for the good work they do.&rdquo; When it was suggested he might be playing a better all-around game than when he attracted attention with his scoring two seasons back. Bob seemed pleased, and admitted, &ldquo;I think I may be playing better, though I&rsquo;m not sure.&rdquo;Although defensemen are supposed to play defense, he agreed that today they often are rated by their offense. While Sargent has been coming on as a scorer. Murdoch slipped from 13 to six goals last season and had only one in the first 64 games this season, before he went on a tear that produced six goals in 11 games, including two that beat the Black Hawks in Chicago in the season&rsquo;s 75th game.Murdoch says, &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t been scoring as much because I haven&rsquo;t been putting myself in the places I can score from. Everyone was playing defense two seasons back and a defenseman could carry the puck up ice and know others would cover up for him. He could penetrate into the offensive zone without worrying the goaler would be unprotected. But I&rsquo;m not really a great shooter. I got 13 goals, but I got so many good chances I should have had 25.&lsquo;The last couple of seasons our overall defensive play has been spotty and I didn&rsquo;t feel I could gamble and go. I&rsquo;ve been more conservative, holding back because I thought it would be better for the team. The last half of this season, the team defense has come together again and I&rsquo;ve become more aggressive.&ldquo;The result,&rdquo; he laughed, &ldquo;is I&rsquo;m getting goals and I&rsquo;m getting interviewed by guys like you again.&rdquo;An articulate graduate of the University of Waterloo with a degree in math and physical education, Murdoch combines athletic and intellectual interests. He and his wife, Doris, have two children, Scott and Stacey, with a third due momentarily. a home he is improving in his home town of Kirkland Lake, Ontario, and a log cabin he built with buddies in the wooded area around Seattle.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02817/3918373-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="1148" height="1057"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB MURDOCH&hellip; Moves Into Shadows</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0006-01

Vachon, Dionne Co-Winners in Kings’ MVP Award Voting

<div class="byline">BY BILL HEUFELDER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01157/3921346-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">DENNIS OWCHAR&hellip; Vital To Playoff Hopes (Photo by Stovo Bablneou)</figcaption></div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;With some issues still unsettled, the Pittsburgh Penguins pushed toward the playoffs, their primary aim to obtain that elusive home-ice advantage.Beset with injuries and erratic play, they were unable to put substantial distance between themselves and the Atlanta Flames in what developed into a dogfight for the final position to open at home in the playoff setup.Pittsburgh had moved ahead by as many as six points, but the gap melted to two with less than two weeks of the campaign remaining.A year ago. the Penguins seemed to be in command of their own destiny with a closing game at home against the Washington Caps, but lost, 6-5, and with the defeat went the opportunity to start the first-round playoffs at the Civic Arena.Toronto, given the edge because of the Caps&rsquo; triumph, knocked out the Penguins with a home victory in the decisive third game of the brief series.One of the contributing factors to the loss against Washington may have been the intent on the part of the Penguins to set up Pierre Larouche for his 50th goal. He eventually registered a pair of goals and finished with 51, joining Jean Pronovost as 50-goal scorers.The emphasis on scoring sprees at the expense of defense has diminished significantly this season, thanks in no small measure to the marked improvement of the goaltending with Denis Herron and Dune Wilson.The two netminders lowered the team&rsquo;s goals against average to 3.17 with a handful of games left, after the freewheeling Penguins of last season finished at 3.79.Pittsburgh, which tied Buffalo for second in team scoring last year, became the first National Hockey League club to exceed the 300-mark in both goals for and against.Achieving home-ice advantage likely would bring the Penguins other desired results, such as a second-place finish ahead of fast-closing Los Angeles in the Norris Division, and their third successive campaign above .500.The overall health of the club was not expected to be determined until the playoffs begin. The most critical question is whether Dennis Owchar, out since the end of January with torn knee ligaments, will be sufficiently recovered to rejoin the club.Coach Ken Schinkel has stated that the young defenseman, who showed considerable development this season before the injury, is vital to the Penguins&rsquo; playoff plans.There is less doubt surrounding the condition of rookie center Greg Malone, who is recovering from damaged ribs. His improvement indicated he would be ready before the season ended after sitting out a total of nine games.Owchar&rsquo;s return would ease the pressure on an overworked defense that has been sticking basically to four men during the past several weeks, with young Tom Price, an acquisition during Cleveland&rsquo;s economical cutback, in reserve.There&rsquo;s a remote possibility that Lowell MacDonald will be available. The left winger on the team&rsquo;s top line with Syl Apps and Pronovost, MacDonald has been out all season with knee problems, but has been skating with the Penguins in practice the last couple of weeks.PENGUIN NOTES: Wayne Bianchin went on a goal-scoring tear that brought him eight in nine games and raised his season total to 25&hellip;He was named the NHL player of the week recently and is a strong contender to win the league&rsquo;s *Masterton trophy for perseverance and dedication to the sport. &#9632;

f0040-01

Penguins Main Objective Is Home Advantage In Playoffs

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01971/3918062-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jean Ratelie of the Boston Bruins reached another milestone in his NHL career this past week as he scored his 400th goal Just before the curtain came down on the 1976-77 schedule.</figcaption></div><h2>RATELLE SCORES 400th</h2>BOSTON&mdash;Veteran center Jean Ratelie of the Bruins produced his 400th career goal in the second to last night of the 1976-77 NHL schedule as he banged in the winner to defeat the N.Y. Islanders 5-3.It was Ratelie&rsquo;s 33rd of the season and moved him past three hockey greats, Bernie Geoffrion, Dean Prentioe and Ted Lindsay on the NHL&rsquo;s alltime scoring list. Ratelie now stands 13th and became the third NHLer to reach the 400-goal mark this season. Rod Gilbert and Yvan Cournoyer were the others.<h2>OWNER SOUNDS WARNING</h2>PHOENIX&mdash;The Phoenix Roadrunners have folded their tents in the WHA but team owner Car Eller predicted &ldquo;there&rsquo;s going to be a great falling out in the hockey business in the next three to six months.&rdquo;Eller, who has sustained financial losses totalling more than $6 million in the last three years operating the Runners in the WHA, added, &ldquo;there&rsquo;s going to be a lot of players on the market and the players are finally going to find out, once and for all, that their demands are going to have to be a heck of a lot less than they&rsquo;ve been.&rdquo; Eller said he simply could not afford the tremendous cash flow needed to keep the Roadrunners in business. The Runners, who made the playoffs the last two years, missed them this season. Attendance was averaging 6,938, about 1,000 below what was needed to break even.<h2>KELLY&rsquo;S JOB ON LINE?</h2>TORONTO&mdash;Toronto coach Red Kelly has heard it before but there was renewed rumblings that his NHL job was actually on the line in the current Stanley Cup playdowns against Pittsburgh Penguins. The word was that if the Leafs did not survive the preliminary round against the Pens, neither would Kelly as Leafs&rsquo; coach.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t really think about the pressure,&rdquo; said Kelly. &ldquo;All these years I&rsquo;ve signed a contract then didn&rsquo;t worry about it until it was time to sign the next one. Of course the playoffs are crucial to me. Just because someone writes something you still have to do a job,&rdquo; added Kelly. In recent weeks there has been some criticism that the Leafs did not improve on their 1975-76 record sufficiently. Leafs went into the playoffs with four of their regulars out of action with injuries for the rest of the year.<h2>HOWES RAP LINDSAY</h2>DETROIT&mdash;It would seem that there is a definite split developing between the Detroit Red Wings and the Howe family. So much so that it is highly unlikely that they would consent to come back to Detroit under any circumstances.A serious breach between the two has developed as the result of what Coleen Howe considers shabby treatment from new GM Ted Lindsay. &ldquo;Mr. Lindsay took a few cheap shots about things he doesn&rsquo;t even know about. He says there&rsquo;s not room for anyone on his team who takes checks when others are not paid.&rdquo; Lindsay said he would not trade the Wings&rsquo; top amateur draft pick to Boston Bruins for the rights to Mark Howe. &ldquo;Since those are his feelings, then, I don&rsquo;t know about signing with Detroit,&rdquo; said Mrs. Howe. &ldquo;I guess we&rsquo;ll remove that possibility, that is to go to the Red Wings, unless we hear something from Mr. Norris.&rdquo; Speculation was the Howes would move on to the New England Whalers next season. They will become free agents on June 1. &#9632;

f0002-01

DEADLINE STOPPERS

TORONTO&mdash;There was a distinct possibility that some members of the first round eliminated teams in the 1977 Stanley Cup playoffs would be welcome on Team Canada for the World Cup championships in Vienna.At least that&rsquo;s the word from Alan Eagleson, the executive director of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association. &ldquo;We have promised the International Ice Hockey Federation that Canada would ice the best team possible. Therefore we must look a long and hard look at players who are eliminated from the first round of the NHL and WHA playoffs,&rdquo; said EaglesonIt would appear that a player airlift will be instituted to strengthen Team Canada before it steps out on the ice April 21 for the start of the Vienna championships against the best world hockey powersCanada is slated to open cup play April 21 against the United States before meeting Sweden April 22 and the Soviet Union April 24.With the first round of the NHL playoffs due to wrap up on April 9. Team Canada could possibly solicit players from the vanquished clubs, which if the teams follow the form chart, could turn out to be Chicago, Minnesota, Atlanta and Toronto. If the Leafs were to falter against Pittsburgh, players like Darryl Sittier, Lanny McDonald and Ian Turnbull, would be available not to mention Pierre Larouche, Jean Pronovost, Tom Lysiak, Willi Plett, Eric Vail. Phil Russell, Tony Esposito, Dick Redmond, and so.Eagleson said that Team Canada will leave for a series of exhibition games in Europe against teams from Sweden, Czechoslovakia, Finland and West Germany before beginning cup play in Vienna.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02882/3918100-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="547" height="483"><figcaption class="caption-body">DALLAS SMITH&hellip;</figcaption></div>Johnny Wilson of the Colorado Rockies I was named coach of Team Canada and I Eagleson said he would have a nucleus of I 23 players to work with until the first I round of the Stanley Cup playoffs are I concluded.Eagleson announced that three I members of the Vancouver Canucks. I defenseman Dennis Kearns, right winger I Dennis Ververgaert and left winger Don Lever have been added to the original list of 20The first Team Canada nominees ineluded goaler Gilles Meloche, defensemen Rick Hampton, Greg Smith and Bob Stewart, and forwards Ralph Klassen, Dennis Maruk, Wayne Merrick, Al Mac Adam and Bob Murdoch, all of Cleveland Barons; Goaler John Davidson. defensemen Carol Vadnais and Dave Maloney and forwards Phil Esposito and Rod Gilbert from the Rangers; Goaler Jim Rutherford and forward Walt McKechnie from Detroit Red Wings forward Wilf Paiement from Colorado Rockies, forward Guy Charron from Washington and retired NHLers Ron Ellis, formerly of the Toronto Leafs, and defenseman Dallas Smith of Boston Bruins.Eagleson said that a proposed airlift of players to Vienna would likely include several top WHA players. Mark Napier of Birmingham Bulls will meet the Canadian team in Dusseldorf April 11 and he could be accompanied by as many as 10 new faces from both the NHL and WHA.Team manager Derek Holmes will assist Wilson and Esposito will also serve as assistant coach and team captain for the Vienna championships.Esposito said if the players were thinking of treating the 1977 World Cup tournament as an all-expense trip to see Europe, they could forget it. Espo said he, Wilson and Holmes were planning rigid training sessions to get the Canadian team on a physical par with the Europeans.Wilson said there would be no easy pickings making team Canada.Eagleson and his cohorts are being realistic about the tournament and appear to be willing to settle for a third place finish against the powerful Soviets, Czechs and Swedes.It was not known what players would be available to the American team, which will be coached by Johnny Mariucci. It was reported the U.S. squad was hard pressed to ice enough top players.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03659/3918093-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="555" height="785"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARK NAPIER &hellip; To Be Airlifted</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0002-02

Eliminated Playoff Players To Get Look For Team Canada

<h2>NHL TEAMS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04454/3918159-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="479" height="737"></div><h2>WHA TEAMS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05326/3918152-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="479" height="461"></div><h2>OTHER LEAGUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-06230/3918145-1-eng-US/f0002-062.jpg" title="f0002-06" width="473" height="281"></div><h2>COLUMNISTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-07142/3918138-1-eng-US/f0002-072.jpg" title="f0002-07" width="481" height="159"></div><h2>OTHER FEATURES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-0875/3918131-1-eng-US/f0002-082.jpg" title="f0002-08" width="487" height="147"></div> &#9632;

f0002-04

WHERE YOU’LL FIND IT ALL

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01977/3918204-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">CUP GREATS: Henri Richard of the Canadiens, left, scored the tieing and winning goals both in the same playoff game in the 1970-71 final. Bobby Orr, right, counted the series-winning goal twice in Stanley cup finals when he was a member of the Boston Bruins.</figcaption></div>NEW YORK&mdash;If the Stanley Cup playoffs are truly hockey&rsquo;s &ldquo;second season&rdquo; why does Scotty Bowman say, &ldquo;The playoffs are the only season that counts. You can finish first with the most points in the NHL and lose in the playoffs and the season is a failure. It&rsquo;s the playoffs that separate the men from the boys.&rdquo;NHL history is rife with stories of big goal heroes in the more loosely played regular season who had trouble once the money was on the line. Last season Bryan Trottier, the Islanders&rsquo; Calder Memorial Trophy winner as rookie of the year, found the closer checking in the playoffs hard to adjust to&mdash;and did poorly.Still, some players time and again rise to the occasion&mdash;and excel when the going gets toughest.Was the best-ever Stanley Cup performer Rocket Richard, the burning torch of Les Canadiens who totaled 82 playoff goals and six sudden-death scores? Most fans over 40 will fight hard for Maurice, the one-time Babe Ruth of the ice game.&ldquo;His eyes looked like beacons when he bore in on the net.&rdquo; remembers Don Simmons, who once surrendered four goals to an aging 36-year-old Richard in a Boston-Montreal final game. Simmons, now a rink owner in upstate New York, notes, &ldquo;No one has electrified the crowd in the same way since Richard.&rdquo;Emile Francis, the former Rangers&rsquo; general manager-coach who now holds the same position with the St. Louis Blues, feels, &ldquo;Richard was really great, but for my money playoff after playoff it has to be Jean Beliveau, who as a center made more plays than did the Rocket. Beliveau rose to the occasion time after time in the playoffs even when he had had poor seasons.&rdquo;Beliveau&rsquo;s playoff record shows 79 goals and 97 assists for 176 points in 162 games, mostly in the era of the old six-team league.&ldquo;In playoff action in the old six-team NHL. you needed to get a half nelson out there on the defense in order to score.&rdquo; recalls Bill Beagan, a former NHL referee, and now the successful president of the International Hockey League.Fred Shero, the current coach of the Philadelphia Flyers and former defenseman on the Rangers when they went to the Stanley Cup finals in 1950, losing in overtime in the seventh game to Detroit, notes. &ldquo;I think some of the oldtime records in the early days of hockey don&rsquo;t really measure up. What was the competition in the days when Frank McGee got 14 goals in a single game?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02842/3918197-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="567" height="1047"></div>&ldquo;My man Reggie Leach had the greatest single cup season ever last year when he got 19 goals in the playoffs. But maybe, we should wait on Reggie. After all greatness is not a one-time thing.&rdquo;In the matter of scoring winning goals in the playoffs. Richard had 18. Gordie Howe and Boomer Geoffrion had 14 each, with Howe never scoring an overtime sudden-death tally until he reached the WHA with the Houston Aeros. Geoffrion, a great clutch player with Montreal, also never scored a suddendeath goal.&ldquo;They always give the puck to the Rocket in overtime,&rdquo; quipped Boomer, half seriously, half in jest. The two played together on the great five-time champion Montreal teams circa 1955-60, but Richard was always number one.&ldquo;How about Rick MacLeish as a truly clutch playoff performer?&rdquo; chimes in Shero. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not so sure we wouldn&rsquo;t have done a lot better last year if we had MacLeish. who was out with knee surgery. He led the playoffs two years in a row in total points and led in goals one year. He was the difference with great work in front of the net. And I expect more of the same this year. Maybe Leach and MacLeish can get hot at the same time.&rdquo;Rocket Richard, who only watches hockey from afar, with occasional visits to the Forum in Montreal and via television, had a different opinion. &ldquo;Bobby Clarke is the best playoff player today.&rdquo; claims the Rocket. &ldquo;He makes the plays for those other guys in Philadelphia. Neither of them would do nearly as well without Clarke, either on the power play or in Leach&rsquo;s case on a regular line. It&rsquo;s Clarke that makes Philadelphia.&rdquo; said the Rocket.Clarke doesn&rsquo;t have a history of scoring cup-winning goals and things like that. Three Montreal players, Toe Blake. Beliveau and Henri Richard, have each scored two cup-winning goals, with Bobby Orr of Boston also having two goals that meant the Cup.&ldquo;You have to have the opportunity.&rdquo; notes Beliveau. &ldquo;Montreal players have an advantage in that. &ldquo;Rocket scored one cup-winner and so did Gordie Howe, as I remember. Toe Blake was the main man on the Canadiens of the thirties and forties. It isn&rsquo;t a coincidence that most of the cup-winning goals come from bigname players. They do it when the money is on the table.&rdquo;As far as greatest single series is concerned the honor goes to Mel &ldquo;Sudden Death&rdquo; Hill, a little known member of the Boston Bruins who had been waived by the New York Rangers earlier in the 1938-39 season. Playing against his former teammates, on a line with center Bill Cowley. Hill scored three overtime goals including the final winner in the seventh game to beat the Rangers four games to three. Cowley assisted on all three goals.&lsquo;Lester Patrick let Hill go in November because he wouldn&rsquo;t dig in the corners. He always hung around in front of the goal. With Boston Cowley got the puck to him in front three times and Hill put it in. The last time I had just come out of the penalty box when they took the puck from us and won the game,&rdquo; remembers Muzz Patrick, the Rangers former general manager, who was a defenseman on the defeated New York team in that series.Ted Kennedy of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the late forties who won three Stanley Cups in a row, playing a Flyer style game, was also a super clutch player.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03566/3918190-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="562" height="1177"><figcaption class="caption-body">Maurice Richard sips from the Stanley Cup, an experience that happened eight times for the famed &lsquo;Rocket&rsquo;.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;He couldn&rsquo;t skate that well, or stickhandle that well, but he worked his butt off, just like Clarke does today and that was why he always seemed to be around when an important goal was needed. More often he just got the assist, but Teeder Kennedy was the Bobby Clarke of his day.&rdquo;Playoff history is replete with those who didn&rsquo;t do as well as expected in the games for Lord Stanley&rsquo;s pewterware. Phil Esposito had a couple of failures against Montreal in 1968-69 and 1970-71 and also was kept off the scoreboard entirely in the 1971-72 finals when the Bruins (and Orr) beat the Rangers.In comparison. Orr, who was in the same two final series with Espo. scored the cup-winner both times. That&rsquo;s a 1,000 batting average, better than anyone could expect.&ldquo;No one ever played hockey like Bobby Orr,&rdquo; admits Esposito, who still marvels at his former teammate.Henri Richard, benched in the 1970-71 final by coach Al MacNeill. blew his top and when reinstated in the seventh game of the finals against Chicago, backed his mounth with action&mdash;the game-tying and winning goals in a 3-2 scrap.&ldquo;Henri was over the hill for the last five years he played, but like Kennedy he forced his body to do things it shouldn&rsquo;t do,&rdquo; observed Blake, now a Montreal ice-president. &ldquo;He won that cup for us on guts, alone.&rdquo;Blake also notes. &ldquo;Elmer Lach, who was the Rocket&rsquo;s center and mine on the Punch Line, was every bit as important we were to our success. He got a cup-winner against Boston in overtime in 1953. That means our line got four cup-winners, and I think that&rsquo;s the most for any one line.&rdquo;THE HOCKEY NEWS vote, after a poll of hockey people, goes to Maurice &ldquo;Rocket&rdquo; Richard as the Stanley Cup&rsquo;s greatest performer.&ldquo;No one player ever dominated a series between top teams as did the Rocket in the 1951 semi-finals with Detroit. Against a much better team, before the Canadiens were really good, he got two overtime goals and carried Montreal to a four games to two win. Then, in a final series, in which all five games went into overtime, the Rocket scored the winner in the only game Montreal won against Toronto. My money is on the Rocket.&rdquo; agreed Bill Chadwick, the Hall of Fame referee who is now the Rangers&rsquo; color analyst. &#9632;

f0003-01

Stanley Cup Time Never Fails To Reveal That ‘Rocket’ Richard Was The Greatest

<div class="byline">By Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011028/3918256-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="433" height="455"></div>&bull; HENRY KISSINGER as the next president of the National Hockey League! How about that?&hellip;There are several very influential NHL owners who are deadly serious right now about going all out to persuade the former United States Secretary of State to take the job. Kissinger would be paid a salary on a par with that received by Bowie Kuhn, Pete Rozelle and Larry O&rsquo;Brien, the other major league sports czars. He would also be allowed the opportunity to continue with some of his outside activities. &ldquo;We must bring a strong personality from outside the sport to lead us,&rdquo; one successful NHL owner told us.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02984/3918249-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="297" height="501"><figcaption class="caption-body">Henry Kittinger</figcaption></div>&ldquo;We should look for someone who has stature and strength, someone who has made outstanding achievements away from sport. This way he would bring prestige to the post,&rdquo; continued our informant. &ldquo;The most important challenge facing the next NHL head is negotiating with European hockey powers as everyone knows international hockey competition has to be what the future holds for the game. The other thing he must be able to do is negotiate a national television contract in the United States with one of the three major television networks,&rdquo; he added&hellip;There&rsquo;s no doubt the NHL is falling behind the other major sports in the United States in attracting new fans, and they appear to have failed miserably in exciting any interest on behalf of the big TV networks&hellip;Look at the tremendous job that Larry O&rsquo;Brien, former United States Postmaster General, has done for the National Basketball Association&hellip;It&rsquo;s not enough anymore to have someone seek the job from within the ranks. The NHL owners must seek the strong leader they need, now more than at any time in the league&rsquo;s history from outside. At least that is the feeling of some of the key NHL nabobs&hellip;Kissinger is a keen hockey fan and attends games whenever he can.&bull; THE QUEBEC MAJOR Junior Hockey League showed an increase of 19,925 in overall attendance this season over last. Cornwall showed the biggest ini crease&hellip; Philadelphia Flyers played to 203 consecutive sellouts when they romped past the New York Rangers in their final home game of the regular season. The Flyers are the most successful franchise in hockey. Besides playing to sellouts every game at home they are also the only pro hockey club that owns its radio and TV rights. Director of the radio and television operations for the Flyers is Harlan Singer, rated one of the finest sports producers on the scene today&hellip; New York Rangers tried to get Dallas Smith, retired Boston defenseman, to finish the season with them. Smith, however, decided to remain retired&hellip; Larry Wilson, coach of the Detroit Red Wings, thinks Danny Grant, his star forward, is a little on the timid side&hellip; Canadiens had eight players with 20 or more goals this season&hellip; Larry Robinson, Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; great all-around defenseman, rates a plus 114 for the season. If Robinson fails to win the Norris Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s best defenseman, it will be sheer robbery&hellip; Bill Wirtz, owner of the Chicago Black Hawks, says Bobby Orr is just like a son to him&hellip; Lloyd Pettit, who was the announcer for the Black Hawks during their glory days, is now the owner of the Milwaukee Admirals of the United States Hockey League&hellip;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03879/3918242-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="303" height="497"><figcaption class="caption-body">Larry Robinson</figcaption></div>&bull; LOOKS LIKE the Howes, Gordie, Marty and Mark, will play next season with New England Whalers of the WHA&hellip; Washington Caps are seeking a new TV outlet since WTOP, Channel 9 is not planning any hockey coverage next winter&hellip;Ron Weber, voice of the Capitals, has been hired to do a daily net work sportscast over CBS Radio&hellip;Ted Lindsay has told several people that only a few players on the current Red Wings deserve to be on the team. The Wings, with the worst record in the NHL, provied he&rsquo;s right. Lindsay plans some wholesale changes before next season commences&hellip; Andre Dupont was named the third annual winner of the Barry Ashbee Award which goes to the Flyers&rsquo; best defenseman as determined by a media panel&hellip;Unheralded University of New Hampshire made many friends and gave a great account of themselves in the recent NCAA tourney which was won by Bob Johnson&rsquo;s University of Wisconsin Badgers. Wisconsin won their final two games in overtime. They downed New Hampshire in the first minute of overtime and needed only 25 seconds to defeat University of Michigan Wolverines, 6-5, in the final&hellip;Wisconsin was the class of American college hockey this season and worthy winners of this year&rsquo;s NCAA tournament.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04777/3918235-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="301" height="493"><figcaption class="caption-body">Andre Dupont</figcaption></div>The Hockey NewsOFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLYFounded October 1st. 1947Vol. 30NO. 28APRIL 15, 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. 10022.Kenneth 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.Telephone: (416) 492-9191U.S. Advertising Representatives:NEW YORK: Tom Lomberson, Notional Soles Director, 150 tost 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 ond doss postage paid at Neo York, N.Y. 10001 and at additional moiling offices SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO 1434 ST. CATHERINE STREET WEST, SUITE 217, MONTREAL, CANADA H3G 1R7. Second Class mail Registration No 1327 All inquiries pertaining to subscriptions should be addressed to Subscription Dept, The Hockey News, 1434 St. Catherine St. W. Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7. Printed in Canada. &#9632;

f0004-01

PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05638/3918287-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg"></div><h2>Change Rule Regarding Sticks</h2>This letter is in disagreement with Frank Orr&rsquo;s column in the March 25 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS on the curved stick rule.Sticks score goals and goals win games, so they must be restricted. He states that curves make no difference and says a player could use a stick curved in a complete circle if he wanted to.If this was so. a player could cup the puck so tightly with the blade that even Frank Orr himself could appear to be stickhandling like a Guy Lafleur or a Gil Perreault.There is only one solution to the unnecessary stick measuring and game holdups. These would be cut in half if the accusing team had to serve a two-minute minor instead of paying a $200 fine if the stick was found illegal.Most teams, I&rsquo;m sure, would rather fork out $200 than play short-handed for two minutes.JIM BEALE, Franklin, Va.<h2>Hockey Broadcaster Doing A Good Job</h2>I must take exception with David Kujawas review of the broadcasting ability of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s Game of the Week play-by-play man. Marv Albert (THE HOCKEY NEWS, March 25).It has been the pleasure of the New York Rangers&rsquo; fans to have Albert as their play-by-play man since the mid-1960s. He also does basketball and the National Football League Giants. Since the mid-60s, he has won almost every major sportscaster&rsquo;s award in the United States and New York StateMarve Albert&rsquo;s accomplishments are true indications of his ability. They are far more accurate than Mr. Kujawa&rsquo;s erroneous suggestion that Albert attempts to impersonate the intonations of old Bogie.ALAN SCHLEIDER, Brooklyn, N.Y.<h2>Trade With Flyers Helped Canucks</h2>In the March 18 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS. Bob Verdi made a statement that Philadelphia general manager Keith Allen as much as robbed the Vancouver Canucks in acquiring defenseman Bob Dailey for Larry Goodenough and Jack Mcllhargey.All I can say is that the Flyers were consistent winners and in first place before the trade and they still are.However, the Canucks were in 17th place over-all and last in their own division before the trade. Today, they are tied for second in their division and in 12th place over-all.Perhaps it is Phil Maloney who should put his mask back on.J.E. WILLSON, New Westminster, B.C.<h2>Horvath&rsquo;s NHL Record Appreciated Much More</h2>When I witnessed the new consecutive game scoring record being established by Montreal&rsquo;s Guy Lafleur in the game against St. Louis, it just made me admire and appreciate Boston&rsquo;s Bronco Horvaths 22-game record all the more.The reason for the appreciation is that Horvath&rsquo;s feat was accomplished back in the old, tough, six-team National Hockey League (where all the defensemen, goalies and forwards were good) and not in the &ldquo;great big minor league of today&rdquo; called the NHL.What is even more amazing is that it took so long for anyone to break the record in the substandard conditions that exist in the NHL today.The game itself is perhaps the greatest and can be the most exciting game there is.Let&rsquo;s hope it comes back for our children to have the opportunity to see it played the way it once was.REMBERT LaBEAUME, St. Louis, Mo.<h2>All NHL Goalies Are Great Players</h2>How do you rate a goaltender in the National Hockey League? Who is the best in pro hockey? These questions are heard every night in NHL rinks across the country.I&rsquo;m the only one who probably knows the answer and is willing to admit it.Due to the different styles of each goaltender, it is next to impossible to rate them. Some people look at the goals-against averages but this is not a fair methodFor example, let&rsquo;s put Ken Dryden with the Detroit Red Wings and Ed Giacomin in Montreal. The result? I would be willing to bet Eddie&rsquo;s goals-against average would be one goal lower than Dryden&rsquo;s.I&rsquo;m not taking anything away from Kenny or the loyal Red Wing fans, but let&rsquo;s face it. An 82-year-old grandmother could do a respectable job behind the Canadiens&rsquo; defense.Also, I would like to say that playing behind the Detroit defense is like trying to put out a fire with wood.There is no way to rate an NHL goaltender and still be fair. But, I do have the answer. All NHL goaltenders are super and if they couldn&rsquo;t come up with the big save, they wouldn&rsquo;t be in the NHL.So, treat your NHL goaltender with respect, try to understand the situation he is in and if you still don&rsquo;t understand, go out to the rink and put on a pair of pads.PETE KINNEY, Vestal, N.Y.<h2>Plett No Shoo-in For Rookie Award</h2>I don&rsquo;t understand why the people assume that Don Murdoch has been eliminated from the race for the Calder Trophy, but are ready to hand the award to Willi Plett.After all, Plett will not have played a full season either. The same people in Atlanta who are now touting Plett as the rookie of the year didn&rsquo;t think he was good enough to make the team at the beginning of the year.Since joining the Flames, Plett has not scored at a faster pace than Murdoch. In fact, Plett has played in a few more games and has yet to pass Murdoch&rsquo;s point total. This in spite of fact that he plays on a line with Tom Lysiak and Eric Vail, the two leading scorers on the Flames.If a Calder Trophy selector feels that Murdoch has not played in enough games to qualify for the award, he would do well to vote for Glen Sharpley.Sharpley has been a good two-way player all year long for a team that is not as strong as the Flames or the Rangers.And Sharpley, like Murdoch, accomplished the difficult feat of moving right from junior hockey to the NHL without spending any time in the minors. Both young players have proved themselves worthy of their high selection in last year&rsquo;s amateur draft.MARIE KNOX, Stony Brook, N.Y. &#9632;

f0004-05

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY HARRY KLAFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01896/3918318-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GERRY HART&hellip; Scores A Key Goal (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;With every point being worth its weight in gold in the battle for playoff berths and standings, the Islanders found themselves in an unexplicable trance as they trailed the desperate Chicago Black &lsquo;Hawks. 2-0 late in the third period on March 19.But suddenly someone lit a fire under the reluctant Island skaters, and Gerry Hart and Bob Nystrom scored in the closing moments to squeeze out a 2-2 tie. The players were happy, most of the fans were happy, and coach Al Arbour was happy&mdash;with his players at least.Post-game news conferences with Arbour are generally traditional affairs, where the coach fields questions from reporters, and rarely strays from the topic at hand. However following this game. Arbour surprised the scribes by starting off, &ldquo;First, I have something to say,&ldquo;It would be nice if our fans would be behind us all the way,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;In the first two periods, we were having our problems, and all they did was boo and boo.&ldquo;Then in the third period they gave us a lift, and we came through. If they&rsquo;re going to stick with us when we re ahead, it would be nice if they went with us all the way.&rdquo;Arbour has coached the Islanders since the second year of existence, and few people have ever heard him utter an unfavorable word about anyone. So when Al goes out of his way to knock, you know he&rsquo;s really upset.Some of Arbour&rsquo;s players concurred with the coach&rsquo;s opinion. &ldquo;The fans can have a positive effect and a negative effect,&rdquo; commented Gerry Hart when informed of Arbour blast. &ldquo;Sometimes at home we dwell more on our mistakes because we continue to hear about them. That&rsquo;s when the negative reaction tends to slow us down.&ldquo;But I&rsquo;m sure they (the fans) don&rsquo;t realize what they&rsquo;re doing. I&rsquo;m not condemning them by any means. It&rsquo;s just that I don&rsquo;t think they understood what was happening.&rdquo;&ldquo;The booing certainly doesn&rsquo;t help.&rdquo; added Lome Henning. &ldquo;You hear the boos and you start pressing. Maybe they&rsquo;re expecting too much from us.&rdquo;There is no question that Islander fans have been difficult to motivate this season, especially against some of the weaker teams. This, of course, is a sharp contrast to the situation in Philadelphia where the same 17,077 start screaming themselves hoarse at the drop of the puck. And it doesn&rsquo;t matter if the Flyers are playing Canadiens or the Hoboken Zephyrs.The Flyers&mdash;as usual&mdash;have one of the best home records in the league. The Isles, on the other hand, have more losses on Coliseum ice than they&rsquo;d care to count. And that, folks, is the difference between first place and second place.The Coliseum is filled&mdash;15,317&mdash;every time the Islanders face off. And the place is absolutely rocking when Montreal. Philly. Buffalo, Boston, or the Rangers come for a visit. But the other nights? Art galleries are noisier; except for the boos if the Islanders dare to fall behind.Why are Islander fans so discriminating? There are a couple of theories, and both dwell on the hypothesis that the average Islander fan might be a little spoiled.And this theory seems to apply to &ldquo;both kinds&rdquo; of Islander fans. The first type of Islander rooter consists of the 5,000 or so &ldquo;stalwarts&rdquo; that have backed the new club ever since its debut in 1972. The rest of the Islander throng consists of the Ranger converts who came over either when they got tired of waiting for Madison Square Garden to send them a season ticket application, or tired of waiting for a Cup champion. The latter group was buoyed by the mutiny of old Ranger diehards after J.P Parise knocked them out in overtime a couple of years agoThe first type of fan has been spoiled by the relative ease in which the Islanders became a winner They made the playoffs in their third year, and have improved steadily since. Although the players have constantly denied it, there was tremendous feeling among the spectators early in the year that the Isles would run away and hide from the Flyers in the Patrick Division.This, of course, didn&rsquo;t happen.And what about the Ranger converts? Remember, these are fans who rooted for the Blueshirts from the mid-sixties (in some cases, earlier), through the goal by Parise.That means that these fans have been used to 11 years of excellence, nine with the Rangers and two with the Islanders. The only problem is that this also translates as 11 years of waiting for the Stanley Cup and or a first-place finish. And the only way you spell that is B-O-O.With 15,317 sets of vocal chords, the Islanders have a most formidable secret weapon. Now if they could only keep it from turning against themselves. &#9632;

f0005-01

Arbour, Players Want Fans To Give More Support

Following are the final player movements in hockey for the 1976-77 season:<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>CLEVELAND &mdash; Bjorn Johansson, defenseman, Vern Stenlund and Angie Moretto, forwards, recalled from Salt Lake of CHL.COLORADO &mdash; Sean Shanahan, forward, sent to Dallas of CHL. Bill Oleschuk, goaler, sent to Oklahoma City of CHL on loan.N.Y. ISLANDERS &mdash; Billy MacMillan, forward, recalled from Fort Worth of CHL.BUFFALO &mdash; Ken Breiten bach, defenseman, recalled from Hershey of AHL. Danny Gare, forward, placed on disabled list with back trouble for rest of season and playoffs.ST. LOUIS &mdash; Barclay Plager, playing-coach from Kansas City of CHL, recalled by Blues under emergency conditions. Plager will be on Blues&rsquo; playoff roster.WASHINGTON &mdash; Tom Rowe, forward, recalled from Rhode Island of AHL.PHILADELPHIA &mdash; Mark Suzor, defenseman, recalled from Springfield of AHL.<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>FORT WORTH &mdash; Dave Taylor, forward, signed to 10-game pro trial from Clarkson College. Garth MacGuigan, forward, recalled from Muskegon of IHL on 10-game pro trial. Mike Hordy, forward, recalled from Muskegon.KANSAS CITY &mdash; Ken Gassoff, forward, signed to 10-game pro trial. &#9632;

Hockey Players On The Move

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div>NEW YORK&mdash;Gus Connery is the co-ordinator of the Washington Capitals youth hockey program&mdash;and as such rates as a good guy. However, his work as a goal judge in the March 25 game between New York and the Capitals would hardly rate huzzahs on Broadway. By failing to push the red light button when Ranger captain Phil Esposito &ldquo;scored&rdquo; at 3:19 of the second period, halving the Washington margin to 2-1, Connery helped the Caps drive home the final nail in the Rangers&rsquo; 1976-77 coffin.&ldquo;There is no doubt it was a goal.&rdquo; said NHL supervisor of referees Dan McLeod, who was a press box observer.Bob Kilger, the referee, was out of position, and caught going in the wrong direction when Ken Hodge shot, Roger Crozier stopped the puck and kicked it out to his right. Esposito retrieved it, skated in front, forced Crozier to go down, and lifted a shot which hit Roger above the eyes and rendered him woozy.The puck continued over Crozier into the net, bulging the twine near the upper back semicircular crossbar, then bounced back and out. Kilger signalled goal with his arm, then reversed himself when Connery wouldn&rsquo;t put the red light on.Information was relayed to Dave Maloney on the ice that McLeod thought it was a goal and that the instant replay showed it was a goal, but Kilger refused to award the obvious score.&ldquo;It was a goal,&rdquo; growled Ferguson, &ldquo;but what can I do about it?&rdquo;With the score still 2-0, the desperate Rangers turned frantic and opened up, chasing goals. They surrendered numerous two on ones and three on ones, leaving goalie John Davidson at the mercy of the Caps.&ldquo;They kept hitting the corners,&rdquo; growled J.D., later. &ldquo;We were alright in the first period, but very bad in the second after the non-goal.&rdquo;Washington finally won 7-2, and a subsequent 5-2 loss to Chicago the next night ended New York&rsquo;s playoff hopes.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01947/3918418-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="544" height="862"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN FERGUSON &hellip; Planning Changes</figcaption></div>Esposito, the man who scored the non-goal, insisted, &ldquo;it was a goal The refereeing was incompetent. Use that. I hope they fine me, so I can appeal and do something about this.&rdquo;What really has to have something done about it. is the Rangers defense, which had surrendered 298 goals, the most in the NHL. A solid leader is needed for next year, plus a first-class goalkeeper to work with Davidson.Carol Vadnais, often playing over 30 minutes a game, eschewed the role this year, but wound up the target of Garden boo birds.&ldquo;I have to get a veteran defenseman. We came close to getting Dallas Smith right at the trade deadline&hellip; but he preferred to retire for the rest of this year.&rdquo;&mdash; JOHN FERGUSON&ldquo;I hear them,&rdquo; acknowledged Vad. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t really like it, but they can&rsquo;t boo the kids, can they? They pick on me. It&rsquo;s logical, I guess.&rdquo;In the Washington debacle, Vadnais was on for two goals, with Mike McEwen getting burned for three and Dave Maloney two. Dave Farrish, the Rangers&rsquo; hippest blue-liner, was on for three, also.&ldquo;The kids make rookie mistakes,&rdquo; acknowledges Ferguson, who eambled early in the season when he decided to go with the kids.Farrish, learning steadily, lends excitement with his Bill Moe style hip checks, which have decimated opponents all year. McEwen, a point shot expert, scores with the better offensive rearguards in the NHL and Maloney is a future superstar.The Rangers must get the goals, against down as we said at midseason. They played with youth and verve this season, but the non-playoft result is still hard to take.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02780/3918411-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="541" height="865"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAROL VADNAIS &hellip; Target Of Boos</figcaption></div>Nick Fotiu, the Staten Island native, feels that more youth is the answer and says, &ldquo;This club will win the Stanley Cup in a couple of years.&rdquo;Nick lent muscle and respectability and no one pushed the Rangers around in 1976-77, but the results on the scoreboard were often the same as last year.Fergie admitted there would be changes, but not in the direction of youth, saying. &ldquo;I have to get a veteran defenseman. We came close to getting Dallas Smith right at the trade deadline. We had the wire open to the NHL&rsquo;s Central Registry and I had Boston GM Harry Sinden on one line and Smith on the other.&ldquo;I hear them. I don&rsquo;t really like it, but they can&rsquo;t boo the kids, can they? They pick on me. It&rsquo;s logical, I guess.&rdquo;&mdash;CAROL VADNAIS&ldquo;But he preferred to retire at least for the rest of this year. And we need another goalie, perhaps a veteran to take to camp. In the Washington game, I told my kid defensemen to stay back, but they got caught anyway. They can stickhandle and handle the puck, but they played it too wide open.&rdquo;Maloney was the surprise winner of the Rangers MVP award as voted by the New York chapter of the Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association. Esposito, who seems to always be on the ice, was this writer&rsquo;s choice, with Maloney second. Espo was hurt by his poor plus-minus figure which is the second worst on the team.Maloney&rsquo;s leadership and intense desire played a part in the balloting. Unsung heroes were steady Walt Tkaczuk, third on my ballot, and Ron Greschner, the third-year defenseman who had his best season. &#9632;

f0007-01

No-Goal Verdict Ends Rangers Playoff Bid

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02944/3918456-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="396" height="454"></div><h2>The Work Ethic</h2>WAITING OUTSIDE the shower room in a Boston Bruin dressing room to speak to Gregg Sheppard earlier this season, I felt an arm around my shoulder. It belonged to Brad Park, who said, &ldquo;A guy you ought to do a column on is Gregg Sheppard. He is the heart and soul of this team. He gives us our guts. He does everything for us. We wouldn&rsquo;t win without him. But he doesn&rsquo;t get the publicity he deserves.&rdquo;Park has been one of the most publicized players in this sport. Over recent seasons, Park and Jean Ratelle, Phil Esposito and Ken Hodge. John Bucyk and Gerry Cheevers, and Bobby Orr, of course, have been much publicized players who overshadowed other Bruins, including Gregg Sheppard. Park knows when a player has been neglected. In his first full season in a Boston uniform he already had seen how much Sheppard means to the Bruins.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011050/3918449-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="793" height="1504"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gregg Sheppard has had to work hard to prove himself. He makes up for his lack of size by working harder than most. The work has paid off because the Bruins realize how much he means to the team. (Photo By Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div>Park&rsquo;s was a gesture in passing, but one made out of admiration, unselfishly, and rare of its kind.Torn apart and rebuilt with traumatic trades, the Bruins pulled themselves together to enjoy a surprisingly successful season last year and Sheppard earned recognition over more prominent teammates as the team&rsquo;s &ldquo;Indispensible Player.&rdquo; Judging by team performances, he was the one missed most when out of action. This season has proceeded less eventfully to another record of excellence, and Sheppard again has contributed, often intangibly in countless critical ways. And as the club progressed into the playoffs, he again was a key man.Coach Don Cherry says, &ldquo;Every year, his statistics are good, if not great. But you don&rsquo;t measure a performer like this by statistics. He is small, but you don&rsquo;t measure him by size. He is strong, and he knows how to use his strength. He is smart, and he knows how to use his intelligence. No one in hockey works harder, and he uses every bit of ability he has. He is a gutty little guy who has a lot of heart and plays a lot of hockey for us. I don&rsquo;t know any player who means more to us.&rdquo;Drying off, Sheppard at five-foot-eight and 170 pounds, seemed frail. He wouldn&rsquo;t have looked his age of 28 without the mustache he wears. He said, &ldquo;There was a time when the Bruins seemed only interested in big guys. I had three good seasons in the minors at Oklahoma City in the Central League. The last season I led the league with 41 goals and was selected Most Valuable Player in the league. Yet I was surprised when the Bruins called me up in 1972.&ldquo;I&rsquo;VE HAD TO WORK hard to prove myself, but I like to work hard. It&rsquo;s a weakness of mine,&rdquo; he said, smiling. &ldquo;I try to make up for my lack of size with hard work. I am strong. I lift weights to keep my strength up. I don&rsquo;t have the size to knock people around, but I&rsquo;m too strong to be knocked around. I enjoy hitting. I&rsquo;m naturally aggressive. I go all out every minute I&rsquo;m on the ice. I want to feel tired after a game. I want to feel I gave my team everything I&rsquo;ve got.&rdquo; He had, and seemed spent.He was born in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, one of seven children. Their father worked 25 years for the railroad before retiring to work in farming. Their mother worked part-time. The kids worked. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t have anything extra, but we got by. We learned early it took hard work to get by when you&rsquo;re not born into an easy life. For a lot of us, life isn&rsquo;t easy. I have a cattle ranch in nearby Unity now and I&rsquo;ll be there within a week after my last game, working hard. The cattle market has been bad, and it&rsquo;s not easy to build the business these days, but I like the work. I have a partner, Herb Howple, who takes care of the place, and he needs my help as soon as I can get there to get to work,&rdquo; Gregg observes.HE HAS A WIFE, Linda, and two children, Jami and Brent. His wife and daughter are allergic to hay, so they live at their lakeside cottage in Canada&rsquo;s playland while he commutes back and forth between there and the ranch a half-hour away. In-season they have a handsome home in a Boston suburb. Sheppard syas, &ldquo;The only reason I&rsquo;d like a little more publicity is it might make me a little more money. Being considered a star might mean something when I talk contract. But I&rsquo;m not the sort of fellow who needs a lot of attention. And I&rsquo;m making good money now, though not enough to insure my family&rsquo;s future. We live good, but we don&rsquo;t take a lot of vacation trips. I want to take care of myself. I always want to come to camp in shape for the season.&rdquo;He entered his fifth major league season with more than 100 goals and finished it with a shot at his third straight 30-goal season, but the left-handed little center&rsquo;s value lay equally in his playmaking and penalty-killing, his checking and defense, his hustle and leadership. Dressing as his strength, sapped by his night&rsquo;s work, returned, he observed, &ldquo;More players have talent than desire these days. Many have fat, long-term contracts, and coast. But the difference between the good player and the great one often is the willingness to work. And the difference for me between being in the minors and making it in the majors has been wanting it and being willing to work at it.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0008-02

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY LARRY BORTSTEIN</div>DENVER&mdash;On their last Eastern swing of the 197677 season, the Colorado Rockies dropped back-to-back games to the Islanders. 9-2. and the Rangers, 5-3, to extend their streak of winless efforts to 15, a high for any National Hockey League club this year. The scores seemed an accurate reflection of the distance this team has to cover before it reaches competitiveness with its stronger confreres in the league.&ldquo;We played pretty well against the Rangers,&rdquo; commented Ray Miron, who made the trip with the club, &ldquo;and we got beat badly by the Islanders. That&rsquo;s about right. The Islanders are better than the Rangers, so they should beat us by a bigger score. I don&rsquo;t think the long losing streak was very good, but I think it was a pretty good reflection of the talent on our club. We know we&rsquo;ve got along way to go&rdquo;Though scoring punch was not expecially abundant in Rocky games this season, the lack of same became even more noticeable during the last bitter six weeks when the defense and goaltending faltered.&ldquo;Our defense just came apart in the strefth,&rdquo; Miron observed, &ldquo;and our goaltending, which was better than average most of the season, became just average. So even if we scored enough goals to win some games, we just gave up too many.&rdquo;The Rockies ranked a few notches from the bottom in goals-against average most of the campaign, but as the last few pucks of the year were dropping they were battling Washington, Detroit, Minnesota, and the Rangers for the dubious distinction of most goals allowed. And scoring also went way down, to the tune of a 1.6-goal-per-game mark over one 15-game span.Very much in the minds of all the Rockies, of course, was the 44-game stretch the Kansas City Scouts suffered through the last half of the 1975-76 season. The Scouts were an embarrassing 1-35-8 during that period, including 0-21-6 over the last 27 games&mdash;the most awful skein of setbacks any team ever has endured in any major league pro sport.The Rockies won their 19th game of the &lsquo;77 season of Feb. 20, a 3-2 decision over Minnesota at McNichols Sports Arena. The victory gave Colorado a 19-3110 mark for 48 points at the exact three-quarter point of the season. It also gave the Rockies a five-point lead over Minnesota and an eight-point lead over Vancouver for the third and last playoff spot in the Smythe Division.The Rockies seemed a cinch for the playoffs, and some players and front office people were acting like the team was legitimately respectable. They all knew better, of course, but the success of the season to that point still seemed assured.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03797/3918487-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="565" height="1021"><figcaption class="caption-body">RAY MIRON &hellip; Gave Up Too Many</figcaption></div>Then the roof caved in and the bottom dropped out. Colorado picked up only three points during the next month of play, and if there was a turning point, it probably was a game in Bloomington on March 5. The North Stars blasted the Rockies, 6-3, that Saturday night, and looked far the superior team.&ldquo;It could have been the game to put us over the top as far as the playoffs and the stretch drive were concerned,&rdquo; recalls Colorado club president Munson Campbell. &ldquo;Instead, the defense had a bad game and Michel Plasse looked dead in goal, and we lost badly. After that, nothing seemed to go right. The spirit seemed to go out of the guys somewhere. We still got some good efforts, but overall the level of play just dropped.&rdquo;Colorado came up with a strong game at home on March 16, when they played the Maple Leafs to a 4-4 tie, and actually led Toronto, 4-2, in the third period.Although it extended their winless streak to 16 games, including four ties, the Rockies gave one of their better efforts of the season on March 25, this one a 2-2 deadlock with the powerful Sabres, who had come into Denver with a streak of having scored at least one power play goal in nine straight games.Buffalo extended that impressive streak to 10 games when Jim Lorentz gave the visitors their first goal, a deflection of a Rene Robert slap shot at 5:51 of the second period.Doug Favell played a brilliant game in goal, weathering a 52-shot barrage while the Rockies managed only 23 shots against Sabre goaler Don Edwards.&ldquo;It was Doug&rsquo;s best game of the season.&rdquo; said Johnny Wilson after the standoff, &ldquo;with the possible exception of the game he had against Toronto the first game of the season&rdquo; (a 4-2 Colorado victory).The Sabres pressured Favell right to the final horn. Danny Gare had a pointblank shot at the Rockies&rsquo; cage with a couple seconds to play, but Favell flicked at it with his glove just in time to send it over the top of the net.The tie wasn&rsquo;t enough to end Colorado&rsquo;s painful winless streak, but at that stage of the year little things like one-point games against powerful clubs like Buffalo did mean a lot.ICE PEBBLES: The Rockies will conduct a three-week summer hockey school in August, the first two weeks at their regular training and practice site, the South Suburban Arena in Littleton, and the third at the North Jeffco Ice Arena in Arvada. Dave Hudson and Jim McElmury of the Rockies will be the chief instructors, and Monte Miron (son of VP-GM Ray Miron) who played pro hockey before taking an administrative post with Colorado, also will work with the youngsters. &#9632;

f0008-03

Lengthy Slump Brings Rockies Back To Reality

<div class="byline">BY NEIL MILBERT</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011015/3918518-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN MARKS&hellip; Winger, Defenseman And Banker (Photo by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div>CHICAGO&mdash;&ldquo;It must have been Friday&rsquo;s practice,&rdquo; Black Hawk coach Bill White confided with a chuckle. &ldquo;It was the worst practice I&rsquo;ve ever seen.But the next two nights the Black Hawks were playing for keeps and they did a pirouette worthy of a figure-skating gold medalist to give White one of the most satisfying weekends of his brief coaching career.Making a resolute move toward the National Hockey League playoffs, the Black Hawks mashed the Minnesota North Stars 7-2 in Chicago Stadium on Saturday night to regain second place in the Smythe Division.Then, they caught an early-morning flight to New York and thumped the Rangers 5-3 in Madison Square Garden that night, thereby eliminating John Ferguson&rsquo;s skaters from Patrick Division playoff contention.The victory over the Rangers was the third in their last four games for the Chicagoans who began March behaving like lambs but suddenly shed the sheep&rsquo;s clothing.What happened?John Marks, all-purpose hockey player and part-time banker, put everything into perspective following the funky Friday practice session.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re talking about money,&rdquo; reflected Marks, who is winding up the season as a defenseman after beginning it as a left wing.&ldquo;We make money if we get into the playoffs and if we win this one (the Minnesota game) we should make it. It&rsquo;s too late to think about catching St. Louis and finishing first. Sure, we&rsquo;d like second. But the main thing is making the playoffs and to do that we&rsquo;ve got to beat Minnesota. Then, we ll worry about the rest of the season.&rdquo;Only five games remained in the regular season when the Black Hawks faced-off against Minnesota. The resurgent North Stars went into the contest in fourth place but only a point behind the Hawks, who were skating third, and just two back of runnerup Vancouver.&ldquo;I knew before the game we were up,&rdquo; said Chicago left wing Darcy Rota. &ldquo;We knew if we couldn&rsquo;t beat Minnesota we didn&rsquo;t deserve to be in the playoffs.&rdquo;&ldquo;This one was do-or-die,&rdquo; said defenseman Dick Redmond, echoing Rota&rsquo;s sentiments.The Hawks did it&hellip;and they did it with gusto!All Star defenseman Phil Russell&mdash;who came to play and went home with an accumulation of 32 penalty minutes&mdash;shot White&rsquo;s knights in front with a foray into the Minnesota zone at 1:55 and they never looked back.Rota supplied more than a little derring-do on offense with the second hat-trick of his NHL career and center Ivan Boldirev was an extremely able accomplice with four assists.Meanwhile, Tony Esposito guarded the goal as though it were a vault containing the $2,200 he stood to lose if the Hawks found themselves out of the playoffs.The North Stars had 11 powerplay opportunities and commanded a 46-30 shots-on-goal advantage, but as Minnesota coach Ted Harris said: &ldquo;We couldn&rsquo;t get the puck past Esposito when we had to.&rdquo;&ldquo;When you come out and play the way we did tonight it usually carries over,&rdquo; predicted Rota, looking ahead to Sunday in New York.And sure enough it did&hellip;.even though White gave Esposito one of his rare rests and Russell was suspended by the league for his flare-up late in the Minnesota game. (Penalized for cross-checking, Russell exploded and also received unsportsmanlike conduct, misconduct, and game misconduct penalties from referee Bob Myers.) It was his third game misconduct of the season bringing the automatic suspension.Into the void created by the absence of Esposito and Russell skated a pair of unlikely heroes, 24-year-old goalie Mike Veisor and 22-year-old defenseman Bob Murray.With the score tied 1-1 going into the second period, Murray turned into a holy terror. His blast from the blue line on the right side snapped the deadlock at the 18-second mark and 17 seconds later he hit on another long shot and, for all practical purposes, the Rangers were swept away.Recalled less than a month earlier from Dallas, Veisor prevented New York from launching a serious counterattack&mdash;despite the fact that the Rangers finished with a 46-30 shots-on-goal bulge. (Ironically, the statistics were identical to those of the preceding night.)Though Redmond didn&rsquo;t score against the Rangers, he got two assists in Murray&rsquo;s book.&ldquo;One day I was talking about how futile my scoring attempts had been this season.&rdquo; recalled Murray. &ldquo;I used to be able to score some goals (he had 14 in his only minor league season in Dallas) but I wasn&rsquo;t having any luck in the NHL.&ldquo;Dick heard me and said he had a few suggestions. He pointed out that our shots are essentially the same. He said he thought the reason I wasn&rsquo;t on goal very often was because I had too much curve on my stick.&ldquo;So I gave him my stick and he curved it just like his. And right after that I started scoring goal.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0009-01

Hawks Shed Sheep Clothing In Drive To Playoff Berth

<div class="byline">&#x2014; BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011037/3918549-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="301" height="460"></div><h2>Canada Not Second Rate</h2>When discussing Team Canada&rsquo;77. it&rsquo;s probably a good idea to agr with William Watters First of all, he makes sense. And besides, he&rsquo;s bigger than most of us.&ldquo;Second rate? No way we re second rate,&rdquo; quoth Bill, assistant general manager for a club that will wear the Maple Leaf to the World Tournament in Vienna this month.&ldquo;Is Phil Esposito second rate? Is Wilf Paiement second rate? Is Gilles Meloche second rate? Just because these players have been on clubs that didn&rsquo;t make the playoffs doesn&rsquo;t mean they&rsquo;re second rate.&ldquo;Mind you, I&rsquo;m not saying that we re going to go over there and take everything But the team we re bringing to Europe will be very competitive.&rdquo;So, of course, will other countries. The Soviet Union will be every bit as good as the aggregations sent here on previous missions. Czechoslovakia? Did not its hockey program&rsquo;s reputation grow immensely after Canada Cup &lsquo;76? Sweden? Finland On any given night&hellip;&ldquo;Realistically, we could finish third,&rdquo; said Watters. &ldquo;Idealistically better, but realistically, third. I think that would be a step in the right direction.&rdquo;<h2>Step In Right Direction</h2>Whatever happens, it seems a step in the right direction that Canada, cradle of hockey, is returning to the World Tournament. Father Bauer and his schoolboys were last to try in 1969, and since then, all you know-what has occured in international hockey. Most of it, under the auspices of R. Alan Eaglesom, has been eminently palatable for the devotee who realizes that the world does not begin and end with the Colorado Pet Rocks.The Soviets, of course, like to tell us daily and twice on Sunday that the World Tournament and the Olympics is what this game is all about. that events such as the Canada Cup are merely scrimmages for bigger and better things, Bolshoi.That chant will be echoed even louder should the USSR plunder Team Canada in Vienna. We beat your best, they will say, knowing full well that they saw the best of Canada back in September.But, as Watters was saying with fingers crossed, maybe we should all reject the idea that Team Canada 77 is a bunch of rejects destined for ignominy overseas.Consider the obstacles. Watters and general manager Derek Holmes i could not negotiate with any coach(es) or players until their teams were mathematically eliminated from National Hockey League or World Hockey Association playoffs. In the Smythe Division, do you know what kind of a wait that can be?Then and only then did the shape of Team Canada &lsquo;77 take place. And then, there was to be another gestation period anticipating athletes from clubs who might not survive the opening round of the playoffs. Tony Esposito, Marcel Dionne, Tom Lysiak, where are you?<h2>Room For Winners Only</h2>Not knowing the components, Watters and Holmes had to consider chemistry. Winners only would be admitted, which is why Bobby Orr was quickly considered for a spot on the coaching staff. He demurred because of imminent treatment for that left knee, but you get the idea. If it&rsquo;s Vienna, it isn&rsquo;t a holiday.&ldquo;We wanted people who wanted to work, people who had character,&rdquo; said Watters. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s always a chance that after playing an 80-game season, that a guy won&rsquo;t want to put out in Vienna. If that was the case, we didn&rsquo;t want that guy.&ldquo;Another thing we have to consider is our behavior over there. We have a reputation for being rough, tough and almost barbarian. We can&rsquo;t go over to Vienna and spend time in the penalty box.&ldquo;We have to stick to our game plan of playing sound hockey. In the end, that&rsquo;s the way to win. That&rsquo;s how we&rsquo;ve done it in the past, and if we can discipline ourselves to do it again, we won&rsquo;t be overwhelmed. We&rsquo;ll be in every game.&ldquo;There are other things going for us. We&rsquo;ll have nine exhibitions to get acclimated, and our players will be in terrific shape to start with, Like greyhounds. That hasn&rsquo;t always been the case.&ldquo;Plus, there&rsquo;s pride. For many of these players who haven&rsquo;t been on a winner all winter or for several winters, this might represent the first chance to be on one. You don&rsquo;t think that will mean something?&rdquo; Hopefully. &#9632;

f0010-01

HOCKEY TALK

<div class="byline">BY JACK McCARTHY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02840/3918580-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE MILBURY&hellip; He&rsquo;s Had A Good Season</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;Regardless of how the Bruins make out in the Stanley Cup playoffs, they have accomplished something this season that may have been overlooked in all the talk of positional hockey and of the race with Buffalo down to the wire in the Adams Division.In his position as general manager of Boston, Harry Sinden, although he can get pretty immediate sometimes, has taken the long view. He never can forget that there is a next year, and that Sammy Pollock sits in Montreal dreaming of 1990. never mind 1977.Says Sinden, &ldquo;It is perhaps the most satisfying part of the season for me that we have been able to break in five rookies and still have been able to stay in the race for the division title.&rdquo;The rooks, who have all made substantial contributions to Boston&rsquo;s good season, are forwards Stan Jonathan, Matti Hagman and John Wensink, and defensemen Doug Halward and Mike Milbury.Says Sinden, &ldquo;Milbury has had a good season. He is tough and he has improved his puck-handling. Jonathan came out of the International League and has been a big asset because of his work in the corners and his defensive ability.&ldquo;Hagman is only 20. but he&rsquo;s an excellent athlete. He plays both centei and left wing. When Wayne Cashman and Bobby Schmautz were out with injuries, he got his chance.&rdquo;Hagman, of course, was the outstanding player for the Finnish National team in last year&rsquo;s Canada Cup. He came to Boston supposedly with the stipulation that he remain with the big club and not be sent to the minors. He had some problems because of a lack of work, but he came on strong at the end of the season and after he got two goals in a frantic, 7-5 victory over Toronto in Maple Leaf Gardens, coach Don Cherry had high marks for him.The other rook is Wensink, who is a muscle man. and will get bigger. Cherry brought him up from Rochester when Boston had tough-guy Wayne Cashman and bruiser Johnny Bucyk (solid bodychecker) out with injuries. Wensink, who must improve handling the puck, did what he was asked to do&mdash;bang people&mdash;so all in all, the Bruins got some very helpful work out of this crewAnd it should show up to good advantage next season, when they will be more confident, and know the NHL much better.There is no question, but that Jean Ratelle and Brad Park have meant a great deal to this team&mdash;a great deal. But the defense got a big lift from Gary Doak, playing his best season, and Ricky Smith, rescued by Sinden from the minors.Says Sinden, &ldquo;Doak was a player who just needed a lot of work and responsibility to produce. He just never seemed to get it until the past two seasons.&rdquo; It has certainly been a great year for Doak, a rough customer on the ice, but well; liked off it.BOSTON BEANS: Ratelle continued to pick up awards in Boston, being voted the Elizabeth C. Dufresne Trophy as MVP in home games by the writers; sharing the Eddie Shore Trophy with Doak as voted by those top fans, &ldquo;The Gallery Gods&rdquo;, and the WBZ year-long Three-Stars a ward&hellip; Park and Peter McNab were runners-up for the latter&hellip; Bruins defeated Penguins in Boston Garden in Pittsburgh&rsquo;s last appearance of the season there, and it made the Pittsburgh record in Boston 1-23-2 over a 10-year period&hellip;Penguins last defeated Bruins in Boston on Jan. 28, 1968.Bobby Schmautz came back early from knee injury to play against Leafs in Toronto after missing 11 games, and then played right back again the next night in the Pittsburgh game in Boston&hellip;Took a hard shot on the knee, but shook it off&hellip;Wayne Cashman, wearing the captain&rsquo;s &ldquo;C&rdquo; with Bucyk on the sidelines, has been a major factor in the Bruins&rsquo; season, playing without back pain for the first time in many years&hellip; &#9632;

f0010-02

Bruins Season Gratifying Breakina In Five Rookies

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01993/3918618-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">REG LEACH&hellip; Moving In Deeper (Photo by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;To most hockey players, a 30-goal season is sufficient reason for contract renegotiation.To Reggie Leach, this 30-goal season is barely salvation for a disappointing encore to last year&rsquo;s 61-goal, Conn Smythe Trophy-winning effort.The good news is, Leach was emerging from his season-long struggle as the Flyers headed into the Stanley Cup playoffs. How Leach was emerging!&mdash;at Vancouver: Leach salvages a 4-4 tie for the Flyers with a goal in the last 18 seconds. It was hi; 11th shot-on-goal of the game.&mdash;at Boston: Reggie &ldquo;the Revived&rdquo; flips a wrist shot past Gerry Cheevers just 2:14 into the game. Leach scores later on a power play as the Flyers romp, 6-2. Shot total: five.&mdash;at Philadelphia: Leach stuns Cesare Maniago and the Canucks with an unassisted goal just 13 seconds after the opening face-off. Leach has two more shots on Maniago in the first minute, finishes with 11 shots and another goal to raise his season total to 32.Naturally, the most-asked question around the Flyers was: where has the Reggie of 80-goal (a record 19 in the playoffs) been all season?After speculation that Leach was (1) lacking motivation (2) overweight and/or (3) burdened by unresolved contract renegotiation, Fred Shero offered the most sensible reason for Leach&rsquo;s improvement.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s not shooting the big bomb from outside the circle as much,&rdquo; said the Flyers&rsquo; coach. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been after him to carry the puck in deeper. He should be trying to lay the puck on the net to give us a chance for the rebound.&ldquo;Remember when Flett was here? He&rsquo;d blast the puck from just inside the blue line. The fans would love it, but half the time the puck would wind up back in our end.&rdquo;After a carrer-high 43-goal season. Bill Flett dipped to 17 in 1973-74 including none in the playoffs when the Flyers won their first Stanley Cup Flett wound up in Toronto, then Atlanta and eventually Edmonton of the WHA.Leach is Flett&rsquo;s successor as the right wing on Bobby Clarke&rsquo;s line. The Flyers are hoping what happened to Flett won&rsquo;t happen to Leach, but there are indications GM Keith Allen won&rsquo;t be overly patient with Leach if he doesn&rsquo;t display more consistency.The big reason agreement on a new contract for Leach has stalled is concern by the Flyers&rsquo; front office over their highest scoring right winger&rsquo;s frequent slumps.Those slumps included only five goals in the first 23 games. During one stretch he misfired on 19 consecutive shots. Just before his five-goals-in-three games streak, Leach went point-less in four games and managed only five shots. When the Flyers staged an incredible four-goal final period to win, 5-3, in Los Angeles, Leach had zero shots for the game.Perhaps the most alarming figure is Leach&rsquo;s record in the 15 losses in which he played: only one goal and one assist.However, if he is close to last season&rsquo;s 80-goal form, the Flyers&rsquo; confidence in their challenge to Montreal will be rising like a Leach slapshot. With Leach operating on Clarke&rsquo;s line and Rick MacLeish a similar threat on another line, even Montreal will have a difficult time checking the Flyers.Through his roller-coaster winter. Leach has remained generally even-tempered. It&rsquo;s not his nature to show much self-satisfaction when he&rsquo;s hot or much depression when he&rsquo;s low. After one critical newspaper story about him, he did grumble a bit and insist &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what I&rsquo;m doing different.&rdquo;But minutes later, he was saying, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not giving the puck away like I used to. I&rsquo;m getting in closer.&rdquo;When Leach skates within 30 feet of the net. it&rsquo;s time for opposing goalkeepers to get depressedFLYERS FOLLOWERS: Bill Barber returned to the lineup after missing five games. Knee surgery was considered, but evidently the All Star left winger will be healthy enough for the playoffs&hellip; Both Bob Dailey and Rick LaPointe have almost erased the &ldquo;minus&rdquo; statistics of 16 and 17 they brought with them from Vancouver and Detroit&hellip; Bobby Clarke&rsquo;s 26th was his 700th NHL point&hellip;Rick MacLeish also reached a milestone, the 400-point level.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-02842/3918611-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="550" height="661"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILL BARBER &hellip; Back In Action</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0011-01

Leach Emerging From Dismal Season To Boost Flyers Hopes In Cup Playoffs

<div class="byline">By Bill Fleischman&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011011/3918649-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="253" height="437"></div><h2>Ferguson&rsquo;s Different View</h2>JOHN FERGUSON OFTEN views things differently than his hockey colleagues.Example: While most people in hockey were agonizing over damage done to the sport by the television film &ldquo;The Deadliest Season&rdquo; and Paul Newman&rsquo;s &ldquo;Slap Shot,&rdquo; Ferguson sat in his New York office and said, &ldquo;At least somebody is interested in making movies about hockey. That&rsquo;s $3 million worth of publicity.&rdquo;Example: While Rangers&rsquo; fans were grumbling over the club missing the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second consecutive season, Ferguson was sketching an optimistic picture above the Manhattan skyline.&ldquo;I really believe that if we&rsquo;d had John Davidson and Don Murdoch all season, we&rsquo;d have made the playoffs. We&rsquo;re just in the wrong division. We&rsquo;d be in second place in the Smythe Division.&ldquo;The picture here is a lot brighter. We&rsquo;re building up our farm system. My scouts know what kind of players I want. They&rsquo;ve got to be players who are willing to work hard.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been criticized for going with so many kids on defense. Well, we weren&rsquo;t winning with the older guys. And I know there&rsquo;s a future for (Dave) Farrish, (Dave) Maloney and (Mike) McEwen in this league. Maloney can be an All Star in two years.&rdquo;The six-foot-one, 195-pound Maloney is Fergy&rsquo;s kind of player: eager, aggressive, anxious to help the team. Maloney, who at 20 is already in his third pro season, was attracting Calder Trophy support when he was sidelined with a frightening skate cut that severed ten-dons in his left arm. The Kitchener, Ont., native&rsquo;s return injected a late-season spark in the Rangers.&ldquo;Maloney&rsquo;s been my best hockey player,&rdquo; said Ferguson. &ldquo;He was taking charge. He&rsquo;s a kid that wants to come to the rink and play every day. That&rsquo;s the kind of player I want.&rdquo;<h2>Changes Team&rsquo;s Appearance</h2>FERGUSON, WHO&rsquo;S ONLY 38 but will be going on 58 if the Rangers don&rsquo;t qualify for next season&rsquo;s playoffs, has changed his team&rsquo;s appearance and outlook. New uniforms, a redecorated dressing room and more strenuous conditioning are part of Fergy innovations, He also succeeded in clearing the hangers-on out of the club&rsquo;s dressing room.&ldquo;When I came here, there was too much complacency,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There was a let&rsquo;s-get-the-game-over-with attitude. The players here have been spoiled. They&rsquo;ve had too much of everything. That&rsquo;s going to change.&rdquo;His reaction when veterans grumble is typical of the former Montreal enforcer.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t pay any attention to them,&rdquo; he said.Talking tough is one thing; backing up your rhetoric with wins in another. Many other &ldquo;name&rdquo; players&mdash;Alex Delvecchio is the latest&mdash;have failed as general managers.Although Fergy&rsquo;s first amateur draft was successful (Murdoch, Farrish, McEwen), his trades that brought Ken Hodge and Bill I Goldsworthy to Broadway have been disappointments. Carol Vadnais, the only veteran on defense, has had a disappointing year. Irritated by condemnation from fans and press, Vadnais has been involved in several stick-swinging incidents.Surely some familiar faces to Rangers&rsquo; fans will be moving on&mdash;Pete Stemkowski, perhaps Walt Tkaczuk and Steve Vickers. Since his 41-goal, second-team All Star selection two years ago, Vickers appears to be playing aimlessly.Ferguson admits he has some player juggling in mind. But, he adds, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not going to tear the team apart. I&rsquo;m happy with our young players.&rdquo;Rebuilding the Rangers will be a struggle. But the suspicion persists that if anyone can do it, that man is John Bowie Ferguson.<h2>Canadiens Have Everything</h2>WITH HIS RANGERS on the sidelines and Montreal, his old team, a unanimous choice for another Stanley Cup, Ferguson was asked if the Canadiens have any flaws.&ldquo;Their biggest flaw will be missing Yvan Cournoyer. In a tight playoff I&rsquo;d rather have Cournoyer out there than somebody else. But Montreal has everything else: scoring, checkers, goaltending, and they&rsquo;re tough.&rdquo;Any serious challengers for the Cup. Fergy?&ldquo;Philadelphia is one, with (Rick) MacLeish and (Bernie) Parent back. And you&rsquo;ve got to respect the Islanders. (Clark) Gillies could be a 50-goal scorer and he&rsquo;s mean&mdash;he commands a lot of respect. They&rsquo;ve got good goaltending. (Denis) Potvin is a great hockey player and the rest are hard workers.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0012-01

HOCKEY WORLD

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02855/3918680-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GARY McADAM&hellip; Good Utility Player</figcaption></div>Shot Under ControlBUFFALO&mdash;Don Edwards has been the Buffalo Sabres rookie getting all the attention but the 21-year-old goaltender is by no means the only newcomer doing a job for coach Floyd Smith&rsquo;s skaters.Terry Martin took the place of a better-known Martin, Rick, on the erstwhile French Connection&mdash;as the left winger with Gil Perreault and Rene Robert&mdash;for the latter part of the season.Gary McAdam, while not an official rookie, played regularly late in the season for the first time since he turned pro before 1975 training camp For a while he was the right winger with Perreault and Terry Martin but he finished the regular campaign with Andre Savard and Rick Martin.Ken Breitenbach started the season with the Sabres, was sent down to Hershey in the American League, then was called up when Lee Fogolin suffered a shoulder dislocation in mid-March and was knocked out of the lineup.Fogolin was hurt in the second period of a game against the Boston Bruins. At the time, Jerry Korab was serving a three-game suspension. That meant Breitenbach had to take a regular turn for the last period of the game as he was one of only four available backliners.The next game, Korab still was out, so Breitenbach played the entire game as one of four Buffalo defensemen rotated by coach Smith.He&rsquo;s a good size, six-foot-one and 190, and plays a physical game. He doesn&rsquo;t get caught out of position very often.McAdam was with the Sabres for 31 games last season. He rarely got on the ice for more than one or two shifts and he scored only one goal. He was shipped out to Hershey for the rest of the campaign.The Sabres liked the speed of the youngster from the St. Catharines Junior Black Hawks and they gave him a good look in the 1976 training camp.He stuck with the club and filled in on about every forward line. Because of his speed and aggressiveness. Gary got lots of scoring chances but he had trouble putting the puck in the net in the early part of the season.Then, he began to get his shot under control. He scored a goal against Los Angeles four seconds after he jumped over the boards in a fill-in role. He scored one against Pittsburgh just after he came on the ice.He got one during his first shift as the Sabres built a 4-0 lead over Montreal in a 4-1 win over the Canadiens. Against Washington, McAdam and Don Luce scored eight seconds apart to set a record for the two fastest goals ever scored against the Capitals.That was Gary&rsquo;s first game on the line 4 with Savard and Rick Martin. The next game, a 6-3 win over Atlanta, Rick and Gary each got two goals and an assist and Savard had four assists.Terry Martin is another speedstar. He was with the Sabres briefly in 1975-76 but he did most of his playing for Charlotte in the Southern League. It was quite a jump to the NHL but he stuck with the Sabres after training camp.Terry didn&rsquo;t play much at first. Then he might play regularly in a game&mdash;teamed with Perreault and Robert or Perreault and Rick Martin when Rick shifted to the right side&mdash;and then he would watch the entire next game from the bench.Terry&rsquo;s goals have come mostly on the road. Eight of his first ten were scored away from home. He scored his first NHL goal in Madison Square Garden, a good place for any rook to trigger the light for the first time in the league.He got two in a big victory over the Bruins in Boston Garden and got an important one in a win over the New York Islanders in Nassau Coliseum.&ldquo;The thing is, with McAdam and Terry Martin,&rdquo; coach Smith said one day at mid-season, &ldquo;they can sit out an entire game and then come back the next game and contribute.&ldquo;They both give you one dimension you have to have these days&mdash;speed. They can pick up the tempo of the game when they are on the ice.&rdquo;There&rsquo;s one more rookie who is expected to contribute in the future&mdash;goalie Bob Sauve. With Edwards doing so well, Sauve got little chance to show what he can do. He did start a game against Atlanta, however, and the Sabres won it, 6-3, to increase their lead over the Bruins. &#9632;

f0012-02

McAdam’s Aggressiveness Increases Sabres’ Scoring

<h2>Special To The Hockey News</h2>CLEVELAND&mdash;The National Hockey League season almost came to an end a couple of months ago for the Cleveland Barons. It certainly did come to an end on April 3 when the regular season wound up and the Barons had been eliminated from the playoffs.But, about only 50 per cent of the players were given an early sprin vacation.That&rsquo;s because the guiding forces behind Team Canada &lsquo;77 selected nine members of the Barons to help make up the team that will compete in the World hockey championships in Vienna at the end of the month.The players selected included goaltender Gilles Meloche. plus Dennis Maruk. Al MacAdam. Bob Murdoch, Wayne Merrick. Bob Stewart. Greg Smith, Ralph Klassen, and Rick Hampton.The players left two days after the final NHL game for a series of pre-tournament exhibition games in various parts of Europe.Maruk finished the regular season as Cleveland&rsquo;s top goal-scorer and point-getter. He had 28 goals and 50 assists while playing the entire 80-game schedule for the Barons.Second to Maruk in team scoring was MacAdam with 22 goals and 41 assists for 63 points.Despite the fact that he played in only 46 games for the Barons this season, Mike Fidler topped the team in power-play goals with seven. The next best player in that category was MacAdam with six.Len Frig was the team&rsquo;s &ldquo;bad boy&rdquo; with 218 minutes in penalties&mdash;more than double his nearest rival, Bob Stewart, who had 102.While attendance was the club&rsquo;s sore point all season long, Cleveland fans turned out 10,794 strong for a game against the New York Islanders.That was the fifth largest crowd of the season and pushed Cleveland attendance to 53,793 for the season.The Barons also drew well for a game against the Philadelphia Flyers. It was Team Picture Night and the first 8,000 fans into the Richfield Coliseum were given a full-color team photograph&hellip;The Barons called up two players from their Salt Lake affiliate in the Central Hockey League for the final four games of the regular schedule.Defenseman Bjorn Johansson and center Vem Stenlund were the two players picked up for the final week of action.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01972/3918711-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="489" height="637"><figcaption class="caption-body">WAYNE MERRICK</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0013-01

Nine Barons Keep Playing

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div>TORONTO&mdash;At a time when the Toronto Maple Leafs had a view that their farm system was extremely shallow in talent, three kids from the Dallas Black Hawks of the Central League arrived on the Leaf scene during an injury emergency and gave the club a big boost.Center Bruce Boudreau and wingers Bob Warner and Paul Evans played six games as a unit at a time when the Leafs had six players on the sidelines with an assortment of injuries. The Leafs won three and tied two of those six matches, an important stretch because the Leafs want a sixth-place overall finish.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02808/3918749-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="548" height="556"><figcaption class="caption-body">PAUL EVANS &hellip;Rules Forced Return</figcaption></div>The three youngsters didn&rsquo;t set the world on fire but they performed as competent big leaguers, especially in their defensive play. Each scored a goal and had a plus-four in their six matches as a unit.&ldquo;When you call in youngsters in an emergency situation, you hope that they can break even.&rdquo; said Leaf coach Red Kelly. &ldquo;Well, those lads did much more than that. They checked strongly and played aggressively.&rdquo;When wingers Scott Garland (bruised back) and Bob Neely (bruised ribs) were healthy again, Warner and Evans had to be sent back to Dallas under the emergency recall rules. Boudreau was granted an extension of time with the Leafs when center Stan Weir, who was ready to return to active duty following a severely broken nose, sustained a bruised foot when struck by a shot in a workout.However, the youngsters&rsquo; good work could earn them additional NHL employment if the so-called first stringers don&rsquo;t do the job.&ldquo;We found out what the rookies can do and if the need arises, we&rsquo;ll call them back,&rdquo; Kelly said.Of the three, only Boudreau brought large credentials to the pros from junior hockey. He was a big shooter with the Toronto Marlboros&rsquo; 1973 and &lsquo;75 Memorial Cup championship teams but his size (five-foot-nine, 165 pounds) pushed him well down in the draft, a second-round selection by the Leafs.He signed with the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the WHA and spent much of last season with the Johnstown team in the North American League. He returned to the Leaf organization this season and was second top scorer in the Central League when he got the call to Toronto.Evans was an eighth-round choice, the 149th player picked in the 1975 amateur draft, from Peterborough juniors. He had seven goals at Oklahoma City in his first pro season.Warner played one season of junior hockey with the Ottawa 67s. then played college hockey at St. Mary&rsquo;s University in Halifax where he acquired a bachelor degree in English. He was set to work on a master&rsquo;s in education when the Leafs invited him to their 1975 training camp.All three players credit Roger Neilson, the Dallas coach, with their good development this season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d always been an offensive player and, in fact, I never worried much about checking,&rdquo; Boudreau said. &ldquo;Neilson runs a very disciplined team and insists on good defensive play. He helped me a great deal in working when 1 don&rsquo;t have the puck.&rdquo;&ldquo;I played my junior hockey for Roger in Peterborough and he&rsquo;s just a great teacher,&rdquo; Evans said. &ldquo;His practises are always interesting and he stresses a defensive system. Last season. I was only a spot player at Oke City but Roger has used me as a regular.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03704/3918742-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="529" height="721"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRUCE BOUDREAU &hellip; Earns Extension</figcaption></div>NOTES: With eight games remaining in the schedule, Leaf winger Lanny McDonald, with 42 goals, had a chance to beat the club record of 48 goals, set in 1960-61 by Frank Mahovlich&hellip;The Leafs could be the first NHL team to have two defensemen with 80-plus point totals in one season as Borje Salming and Ian Turnbull were close to that figure. &#9632;

f0013-02

Leafs’ Rookie Threesome Perform As Big Leaguers

<div class="byline">BY GARY McCARTHY</div>MONTREAL&mdash;It certainly looks as though the Montreal Canadiens have lost all of the games they are going to lose for the 1976-77 National Hockey League season.The Canadiens had lost only eight games during the regular season with two games to go on the schedule before the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The reason for such high optimism is that they close out the 1976-77 campaign with back-to-back games against the Washington Capitals.The eight losses over the 80-game haul certainly constitutes an NHL record to add to the many other achievements the Habs have managed this season.When you discuss highs during this past season, the Canadiens have to figure in every category. Most points by a club in the standings in one season, least number of losses, a Vezina Trophy, the Prince of Wales Trophy, the Art Ross Trophy for the scoring championship and on and on. It&rsquo;s a never-ending list.The Canadiens stretched their record consecutive home ice undefeated streak to 33 games with a 3-3 tie against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second-to-last home game of the regular season.The single point in the standings gave Montreal a league record 128 points. Steve Shutt scored one of the three Montreal goals, giving him 57 for the season and a new all-time Montreal goal high, breaking the old mark of 56 established by linemate Guy Lafleur.Shutt needs only one goal in his remaining two games to equal the goal high for left wingers in a single season. That mark was set by Bobby Hull, when he was with the Chicago Black Hawks during the 1968-69 season.Lafleur, who has waltzed to the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s scoring champion, earned an assist on the goal to stretch his record streak to 26 games in which he has earned at least one point.The netminding team of Ken Dryden and Michel (Bunny) Larocque had a 16-goal lead over the New York Islanders with two games remaining for both clubs in the race for the Vezina Trophy.Only a total collapse against the Capitals in the two remaining games of the regular season would prevent the Canadiens from winning the netminding award.In addition, Dryden and Larocque have combined for 13 shutouts this season, including back-to-back shutouts against Detroit in a recent weekend series.The 13 shutouts represent a team high that goes all the way back to the late 1920s when George Hainsworth had 22 shutouts in a 44-game schedule. Prior to that, Jacques Plante and Gerry McNeil in the early 1950s. had the previous high when they combined for 11.One individual streak was stopped in the tie against the Maple Leafs. Defenseman Larry Robinson, prime candidate for the Norris Trophy who outpolled Toronto&rsquo;s Borje Salming in THE HOCKEY NEWS All Star balloting, saw his consecutive point streak come to an end.Robinson&rsquo;s run at Bobby Orr&rsquo;s mark of having scored at least one point in each game for 18 games came to an end two games shy of the mark.The game against the Maple Leafs was an odd game as each team scored once in every period The Leafs came into the Forum with their old style of dumping the puck into the Habs&rsquo; zone, lining up at the blue line, frequently icing the puck and appearing more than happy to escape with a point.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad they played that way because we&rsquo;ll be seeing a lot of that style in the playoffs,&rdquo; said coach Scotty Bowman, whose defending Stanley Cup champions will enjoy home ice advantage in every round of this year&rsquo;s playoffs.&ldquo;We may as well get used to it,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;We were in a holding pattern tonight, but next time, we ll be more aggressive.&rdquo;HABS NOTES: In the game against Toronto, Larry Robinson played the entire four minutes of a shorthanded play caused by a double minor to another defenseman, Rick Chartraw. The Canadiens finished the game with only three defenseman and a converted forward back on the blue line&mdash;Robinson, Bill Nyrop, Pierre Bouchard and forward-defenseman Jim Roberts&hellip;Serge Savard had to leave the game after being involved in an altercation with Pat Boutette and Ian Turnbull of the Leafs. Boutette hit Savard in the head with his stick and a fight followed. Turnbull leaped on Savard and held the Montreal defenseman while Boutette punched away. Chartraw leaped over the bench and that earned him a game misconduct&hellip;The Canadiens have scored on 25 percent of their power play chances this season&hellip;Doug Risebrough, the rugged little center, earned his first NHL hat trick in Montreal&rsquo;s 6-0 Sunday afternoon win against Detroit&hellip;The previous night in Montreal, the Wings and the Canadiens battled through two and-a-half periods of scoreless action before Guy Lapointe scored to start the Habs en route to a 4-0 triumph&hellip; Lapointe didn&rsquo;t play against the Maple Leafs. He was given the night off while his young son underwent surgery for tonsilitis&hellip;Playoff tickets, or whatever was left over, went on sale in blocks of four games and were immediately bought up. Season ticket subscribers had to pick up their tickets for the maximum 12 games by March 7&hellip;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04438/3918780-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="529" height="1062"><figcaption class="caption-body">MICHEL LAROCQUE &hellip; Shares Vezina Award</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0014-04

Habs Enjoy All The Highs This Year

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01992/3918825-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="400" height="625"></div>Or any other famous star, for that matter. But your personal appearance is as important to you as professional athlete&rsquo;s is to him.We feature Bobby in our advertisements because he faced the same hair problems you do. He was getting bald and didn&rsquo;xt like it. He was very unhappy about looking old, before he was old.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02828/3918818-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="274" height="259"></div>So, he came to Plus Hair Centers, the best and most experienced company in the hair replacement business. You&rsquo;ve seen the difference in his looks on TV. It can happen to you. In just a couple of hours. So see the professionals at Plus Hair Centers for a free, private consultation. You&rsquo;ll be glad you did.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03627/3918811-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="549" height="127"></div> &#9632;

f0014-01

So you’re not Bobby Hull!

<h2>SOVIET LEAGUE</h2><h3>(Final Standings)</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01956/3918905-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="583" height="301"></div><h2>CZECHOSLOVAKIAN LEAGUE</h2><h3>(Final Standings)</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02782/3918898-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="574" height="348"></div><h2>SWEDISH LEAGUE</h2><h3>(Final Standings)</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03615/3918891-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="577" height="299"></div><h2>PLAYOFF GAMES SWEDISH LEAGUE</h2><h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-04472/3918884-1-eng-US/f0015-042.jpg" title="f0015-04" width="574" height="81"></div>(Brynas wins best-of-three series 2-0)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-05352/3918877-1-eng-US/f0015-052.jpg" title="f0015-05" width="585" height="85"></div>(Beet-of-three series tied 1-1)<h2>FINNISH LEAGUE</h2><h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-06294/3918870-1-eng-US/f0015-062.jpg" title="f0015-06" width="574" height="85"></div>(Tappara leads best-of-five series 1-0)<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-07258/3918863-1-eng-US/f0015-072.jpg" title="f0015-07" width="576" height="88"></div>(TPS wins best-of-five series 3-2)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-08233/3918856-1-eng-US/f0015-082.jpg" title="f0015-08" width="579" height="77"></div>(Tappara wina best-of-flve series 3-0) &#9632;

f0015-01

HOW THEY STAND

<div class="byline">BY GORAN STUBB</div>HELSINKI&mdash;The top European nations are cruising toward the end of their regular hockey seasons and now most of the National teams &mdash; the Soviet Union,Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Finland and West Germany&mdash;are starting their training camps in preparation for the world hockey championships.After several rather dull world hockey championships, the interest for this year&rsquo;s event, scheduled for Vienna later this month, has picked up considerably.The reason for the sudden sharp increase in world hockey interest is very simple&mdash;Canada will be competing in the tournament for the first time since 1969.This will make the fight for the top four spots in the standings extremely tough. All eight countries will meet each other once in a round-robin series.When all the teams have played a total of seven games each, the top four clubs will go into a playoff to battle for the gold, silver and bronze medals. The last four teams will fight it out for relegation to the B pool. One of these four teams will be demoted.Last year&rsquo;s top four clubs were the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Sweden and the United States. Canada should be in good shape to win one of the top four spots, but it won&rsquo;t be easy. Finland has made a vast number of changes from the team that competed in last fall&rsquo;s Canada Cup series and they could be a solid challenger.Sweden&rsquo;s young general managercoach Hans Lindberg has selected 22 players for his training camp. The total includes two professionals currently playing in North America&mdash;Borje Salming of the Toronto Maple Leafs and rookie sensation Roland Eriksson of the Minnesota North Stars.Teams will only be permitted to carry 20 players in the world championships and if Salming and Eriksson can make it into the Swedish lineup. Lindberg will have to chop two other players.Lindberg will go with Goran Hogosta and Hardy Astrom in goal. Among the defensemen chosen for the training camp were Jan-Erik Silvferberg, Ulf Weinstock, Salming, Stig Salming, Mats Waltin. Stefan Person, Lars Zetterstrom and Lars Lindgren.The forwards chosen by Lindberg are Martin Karlson. Stefan Canderyd, Eriksson. Lars-Erik Erikson, Rolf Edberg. Mats Ahlberg. Bengt Lundholm. Lars Gunnar Lundberg, Nils Olov Olsson. Per Olov Brasar, Kent Erik Anderson and Hans Jax.&ldquo;This is not a physically strong team, but then we are not interested in fights,&rdquo; says Lindberg.&ldquo;This is a team with a lot of good skaters and with a lot of technique,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;We would like to play a nice-looking technical hockey with lots of speed.&rdquo;The Swedish coach added that he hopes his national squad can finish among the top four&mdash;along with the Soviet Union. Czechoslovakia and Canada.The Soviet Union&rsquo;s Central Army squad captured the Soviet league championship this season&mdash;primarily because of such star names as Boris Mikhailov, Vladimir Petrov and Valeri Kharlamov.Dynamo Moscow, coached by Vladimir Yursinov and featuring Alexander Maltsev, finished in the runner-up position with Tractor taking third place. Last year&rsquo;s league champs, Moscow Spartak, wound up a disappointing sixth. A couple of the Spartak stars, Alexander Yakushev and Vladimir Shadrin, were plagued by injuries all season long.The Czechoslovakian League still has seven rounds remaining, but no playoffs are scheduled for this year. Dukla Jihlava and Kladno are battling it out for the top spot and it appears as though Sparta Prag will have to settle for third place. Gottwaldow will be relegated to a lower league for next season.In Finland, the second attempt featuring a best-of-five final playoff has proven to be a success.The semi-final series between TPS and IFK Helsinki was a thriller with the Turku team taking the series three games to two.Tappara had it much easier, sweeping its series against KooVee of Tampere.Manager Raimo Vasama and coaches Lasse Heikkila and Alpo Suhonen have chosen the players they want to take to camp in preparation for the world tour nament.The goaltenders in camp will be Urpo Ylonen, Marcus Mattson and Hannu Kamppuri. The defense includes Seppo Suoraniemi, Seppo Lindstrom, Hannu Haapalainen, Risto Siltanen, Timo Nummelin, Tapio Flinck, Pekka Marjamaki, Pekka Rautakallio, Timo Saari.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-09216/3918936-1-eng-US/f0015-092.jpg" title="f0015-09" width="544" height="577"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARTTI JARKKO</figcaption></div>The forwards include Esa Peltonen, Perth Koivulahti, Jukka Porvari, Jukka Alkula, Martti Jarkko, Seppo Ahokainen, Antero Lehtonen, Timo Sutinen, Matti Rautiainen, Kari Makkonen, Veli-Matti Ruisma, Seppo Repo and Tommy Salmelainen. &#9632;

f0015-09

Canadian Entry Helps Peak Interest For World Hockey Tournament Action

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-11157/3919121-1-eng-US/f0016-112.jpg" title="f0016-11" width="335" height="771"></div><h2>ATLANTA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01798/3919114-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="725" height="624"></div><h2>BOSTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02684/3919107-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="724" height="756"></div><h2>BUFFALO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03547/3919100-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="724" height="728"></div><h2>CHICAGO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04430/3919093-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="723" height="861"></div><h2>CLEVELAND</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05324/3919086-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="725" height="329"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-06262/3919079-1-eng-US/f0016-062.jpg" title="f0016-06" width="721" height="541"></div><h2>COLORADO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-07236/3919072-1-eng-US/f0016-072.jpg" title="f0016-07" width="727" height="835"></div><h2>DETROIT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-08216/3919065-1-eng-US/f0016-082.jpg" title="f0016-08" width="729" height="945"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-09193/3919058-1-eng-US/f0016-092.jpg" title="f0016-09" width="727" height="463"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-10171/3919051-1-eng-US/f0016-102.jpg" title="f0016-10" width="715" height="253"></div><h2>MINNESOTA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-12140/3919044-1-eng-US/f0016-122.jpg" title="f0016-12" width="733" height="727"></div><h2>MONTREAL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-13126/3919037-1-eng-US/f0016-132.jpg" title="f0016-13" width="725" height="593"></div><h2>ISLANDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-14119/3919030-1-eng-US/f0016-142.jpg" title="f0016-14" width="727" height="645"></div><h2>RANGERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-15109/3919023-1-eng-US/f0016-152.jpg" title="f0016-15" width="723" height="495"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-16105/3919016-1-eng-US/f0016-162.jpg" title="f0016-16" width="721" height="305"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1797/3919009-1-eng-US/f0016-172.jpg" title="f0016-17" width="733" height="765"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1890/3919002-1-eng-US/f0016-182.jpg" title="f0016-18" width="733" height="783"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1983/3918995-1-eng-US/f0016-192.jpg" title="f0016-19" width="735" height="813"></div><h2>TORONTO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2067/3918988-1-eng-US/f0016-202.jpg" title="f0016-20" width="731" height="729"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02211/3918981-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="725" height="66"></div><h2>VANCOUVER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03141/3918974-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="737" height="811"></div><h2>WASHINGTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04105/3918967-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="733" height="933"></div> &#9632;

f0016-11

NHL FINAL SCORING STATISTICS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02568/3919183-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="589" height="928"></div> &#9632;

f0018-02

Final NHL Team Penalties

<h2>Final Scoring Leaders</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03426/3919214-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="589" height="916"></div> &#9632;

f0018-03

NHL Leaders

Some players may have scored more goals and piled up more points than Guy Lafleur of the Canadiens last week in the NHL but none had the distinction of ending the season the way the swiftmoving Montreal right winger did.Lafleur climaxed his most successful year of his NHL career as he won the individual scoring championship and established three new records in the process. He scored 136 points, which was a new mark for wingers, collected 80 assists, another record for wingmen and set the longest consecutive point-scoring streak of 28 games.The prolific Canadiens&rsquo; star also became the first Montreal player to win back-to-back scoring titles in 18 years and he also put his name alongside Phil Esposito and Bobby Hull as the only NHL players to attain three straight 50-goal seasons in their careers. His 56 goals for the season also made him the No. 2 sniper behind leader Steve Shutt, who finished with 60.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04309/3919245-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="490" height="396"><figcaption class="caption-body">GUY LAFLEUR &hellip;Montreal Canadiens</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0018-04

NHL’S… Player of the Week

LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada byHILLERICH & BRAOSBY. 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 CanadaMONTREAL&mdash;The Montreal Canadiens concluded a fabulous record-breaking season during which they dominated the National Hockey League&rsquo;s 1976-77 schedule almost from the start.The Canadiens won the Prince of Wales Trophy, captured the individual Vezina and Ross trophies, set 10 new NHL records and tied an 11th as they ended up as the overall champion over the regular 80-game schedule, making them the big favorites to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01707/3919152-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="556" height="1365"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE SHUTT&hellip; Broke Hull&rsquo;s NHL Record</figcaption></div>It is only the 10th time in NHL history that a team has won the three major trophies in the same season and Canadiens have done it six times. Guy Lafleur won the scoring championship, becoming only the second Montreal player to do so in two successive seasons. Dickie Moore won the Art Ross Trophy in 1957-58 and 1958-59. This is the 15th time a Canadien has won the scoring title and while doing it, Lafleur established NHL records for points by a winger (136), assists by a winger (80) and longest consecutive point-scoring streak (28 games in which he scored 19 goals and 42 assists for 61 points).Lafleur&rsquo;s goal-total of 56 equalled his total of last season and means he is only the second player to reach the 50-goal mark three straight seasons. Phil Esposito with Boston had five consecutive 50-or-more-goal seasons He is also only the third player to have three 50-goal seasons.Lafleur finished 14 points ahead of runner-up Marcel Dionne of Los Angeles, whose 122 points included 53 goals. It was the second time Dionne had passed the 100-point mark, having 121 with Detroit in 1974-75. The only other player to score at least 50 goals was the goal-scoring champion this season, left winger Steve Shutt of Canadiens, whose 60 goals is a record for left wingers. Shutt finished third in the scoring race with 105 points, eight more than fourth-place Rick MacLeish of Philadelphia, who had 49 goals.Lafleur receives $2,000 from the NHL&mdash;$1,000 as overall points leader plus $500 for each half of the season as points leader. Dionne is awarded $500 as overall runner-up plus $250 as runnerup to Lafleur in the second half. Lafleur scored 72 points in the second half and Dionne 67. Shutt was runnerup to Lafleur in the first half and wins $250.It is the first time since 1973-74 that only three players reached the 100-point plateau and the three 50-goal performances were the fewest since 1972-73 when there were also three 50-goal individual totals.Ken Dryden and Michel Larocque combined to give Canadiens their second straight Vezina Trophy title and 21st in the 51-year history of the award for goaltenders. Larocque had the best personal average&mdash;2.09&mdash;and Dryden, whose average was 2.14, led the NHL in shutouts with 10, the most by a Montreal net-minder since Gerry McNeil had that total in 1952-53. The 14 shutouts by both Dryden and Larocque was the most by Montreal since 1928-29 when George Hainsworth set the NHL record of 22 in a 44-game schedule.The Montreal goaltenders share $2.000&mdash;$1,500 as Vezina Trophy winners plus $250 for each half in which they led. Glenn Resch and Billy Smith of New York Islanders share $750 as over-all runners-up. They combined for 193 goals against&mdash;22 more than Canadiens&mdash;for a 2.41 average. Canadiens&rsquo; combined average was 2.14, the team&rsquo;s lowest average in the last 11 times it has won the award. Jacques Plante, who played all 70 games for Montreal in 1955-56 and won the Vezina Trophy, had a 1.87 average that season.In winning the Prince of Wales Trophy for the 18th time, Canadiens set records for most points (132), most wins (60), fewest losses in a minimum 70-game schedule (8), most road wins (27). and fewest home losses in a minimum 70-game schedule (1&mdash;to Boston, 4-3, Oct. 30). In addition they had a record 34-game undefeated home streak (28 wins, six ties). The record Canadiens tied was having two 50-goal scorers, the fifth time a team had done it.Canadiens receive 21 units of $5,000 each; $2,500 as Prince of Wales Champions and $2,500 for winning the Norris Division. They finished with 132 points, 20 more than any other team and 49 more than runner-up Los Angeles in the Norris Division.Philadelphia Flyers were Clarence Campbell Conference champions for a fourth straight season and fifth time in the team&rsquo;s 10-year history. And, of course, they won the Patrick Division title, too, giving them 21 units of $5,000.Boston Bruins edged Buffalo by two points to win the Adams Division title and 21 units of $2,500 each while St. Louis Blues were the Smythe Division winners and also receive 21 units of $2,500.Second-place finishers in the final standings (Los Angeles, Buffalo, New York Islanders and Minnesota North Stars) each receive 21 units of $1,300 while the four teams finishing third (Pittsburgh, Toronto, Atlanta and Chicago) receive 21 units each of $700.Second and third-place teams now play in the best-of-three preliminary playoff rounds. The eight teams are ranked in order of points and the team with the most points (Islanders, 106) plays that with the fewest (Chicago. 63). Buffalo, with 104 points, plays Minnesota, 64; Los Angeles, 83 points, opposes Atlanta, 80 points; and Pittsburgh, 81, plays Toronto, also 81 Pittsburgh gets the home-ice advantage, however, because it won 34 games compared to Toronto&rsquo;s 33.The four winners then advance to the quarter-final round in which the first-place teams of each division also take part. Those eight teams are ranked in order of points over the regular season and, like the preliminary rounds, the team with the most points, which will be Montreal Canadiens, will oppose the one with the fewest. Philadelphia will play the team with the second-fewest points and Boston will oppose the team with the third-fewest points. Rankings for the other five teams cannot be made until after the preliminary rounds.The first and second games of the quarter-final rounds will be Monday, April 11, and Wednesday, April 13. Third games will be Friday, April 15, and fourth games, Sunday, April 17. &#9632;

f0018-01

Canadiens Part Of 11 Records; NHL Teams Launch Playoff Round

<h2>Series &lsquo;A&rsquo;</h2>CHICAGO vs ISLANDERSTue. Apr. 5 at Long IslandThu. Apr. 7 at ChicagoSat. Apr. 9 at Long Island<h2>Series &lsquo;B&rsquo;</h2>MINNESOTA vs BUFFALOTue. Apr. 5 at BuffaloThu. Apr. 7 at MinnesotaSat. Apr. 9 at Buffalo<h2>Series &lsquo;C&rsquo;</h2>ATLANTA vs LOS ANGELESTue. Apr. 5 at Los AngelesThu. Apr. 7 at AtlantaSat. Apr. 9 at Los Angeles<h2>Series &lsquo;D&rsquo;</h2>TORONTO vs PITTSBURGHTue. Apr. 5 at PittsburghThu. Apr. 7 at TorontoSat. Apr. 9 at Pittsburgh(All series best-of-three)<h2>FINAL PLAYOFF STANDINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03433/3919338-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="601" height="572"></div>(*Get first-round byes) &#9632;

f0019-03

Stanley Cup Dates

<div class="byline">BY ALAN TRUEX</div>ATLANTA&mdash;Some athletes claim booing doesn&rsquo;t disturb them, that they tune their minds to the game rather than to the fans. Most athletes, however, are not protected by this type of immunity.The pressure clearly was crushing John Gould, a right winger who was unnoticed while scoring 66 goals in two seasons.Then when the corners of the nets started eluding him, he suddenly caught the eye&mdash;and throats&mdash;of the public.But lately Gould is giving the Atlanta Flames fans little to boo about. After scoring three goals in 40 games, he regained his aim and scored four goals and nine points in a six-game stretch.&ldquo;Johnny&rsquo;s been chipping in consistently.&rdquo; coach Fred Creighton observed. &ldquo;And the goals couldn&rsquo;t be coming at a better time.&rdquo;Indeed, they were coming right as the Flames were trying to avoid a collapse in the stretch run. Atlanta had a nine-point lead over the New York Rangers, with eight games left.&ldquo;That puts the last nail in the Rangers&rsquo; coffin.&rdquo; Flames defenseman Dave Shand proclaimed at that time.But for the next three games, the Rangers did not lose and the Flames did not win or tie, and the nine-point lead was reduced to three.When the Flames did break the three-game losing streak, it was Gould who scored two goals in a 3-1 victory over the staggering Detroit Red Wings.Gould was named first star in the game, and a grateful Omni crowd of 14.900 cheered resoundingly.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02554/3919276-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="553" height="616"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN GOULD &hellip;Scoring At Right Time</figcaption></div>&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve instilled a little confidence in me,&rdquo; Gould said, &ldquo;by helping out with a few cheers.&rdquo;It had not always been that way.Gould came to the Flames in early December in a trade that looked like a steal. Then it began to look more like a giveaway, the sort of closeout bargain where a company says we don&rsquo;t want this merchandise around anymore.The unexpected change of environments, from Vancouver to Atlanta, breathing problems and perhaps a conditioning deficiency all contributed to Gould&rsquo;s protracted slump.In Atlanta, he went through a long period of adjustment. He had bought a house in Vancouver, and he owned a successful trotting horse there, Freds Breed. He was not eager to leave it all for Atlanta, Ga.And he soon wore out his welcome, by not scoring a goal for the Flames until he had been with them for 20 games.&ldquo;Some people were really hollering,&rdquo; Gould said. &ldquo;I got a lot of do this and do that and start scoring, and get off the ice. I was trying not to let it get to me, but some people were helping me along.&rdquo;Hilliard Graves and Larry Carriere, who were traded for Gould, have not exactly been leading Vancouver to dizzying heights, but that was scant consolation to The Omni patrons who were expecting 30 goals from Gould.In fairness to Gould, he has been much better this season than his statistics. He is one of many players victimized by the National Hockey League&rsquo;s peculiar insistence upon hiding plus-minus figures from the fans.For while Gould was not scoring goals, he was not giving up many. During his time with the Flames, he says he has been a &ldquo;plus&rdquo; hockey player.But he adds. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m the first to admit I&rsquo;m not a flashy hockey player. I may not be as flashy as Hilly Graves. They expect me to be somebody like Tommy (Lysiak), but I can&rsquo;t pick up the puck and go the length of the rink and score.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0019-02

Gould’s Outbreak Silences Atlanta Critics

<h2>FINAL LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1135/3919673-1-eng-US/f0020-112.jpg" title="f0020-11" width="593" height="813"></div> &#9632;

f0020-11

NHL Rookies

(Final Standings)NORRIS DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-225/3919725-1-eng-US/f0020-222.jpg" title="f0020-22" width="540" height="167"></div>ADAMS DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-234/3919718-1-eng-US/f0020-232.jpg" title="f0020-23" width="531" height="133"></div>PATRICK DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-243/3919711-1-eng-US/f0020-242.jpg" title="f0020-24" width="533" height="130"></div>SMYTHE DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-252/3919704-1-eng-US/f0020-252.jpg" title="f0020-25" width="535" height="163"></div>(* Won last playoff spot because of more victories).<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Mon. March 28St. Louis 4 at Minnesota 5Tue. March 29N.Y. Islanders 1 at Philadelphia 3Detroit 1 at Washington 6Los Angeles 3 at Vancouver 3Cleveland 2 at Minnesota 4Wed. March 30Atlanta 3 at N.Y. Rangers 4Philadelphia 3 at Cleveland 3Toronto 3 at Montreal 3Washington 4 at Pittsburgh 3Chicago 1 at St Louis 4Boston 4 at Buffalo 3Thu. March 31Minneaota 3 at Detroit 1Colorado 5 at Los Angeles 7Fri. April 1Chicago 4 at Atlanta 6Colorado 6 at Vancouver 3Sat. April 2N.Y. Rangers 1 at Philadelphia 4Boston 5 at N.Y. Islanders 3Washington 0 at Montreal 11Pittsburgh 4 at Detroit 3Minnesota 2 at Los Angeles 7Cleveland 2 at St. Louis 9Buffalo 1 at Toronto 1Sun. April 3N.Y. Islanders 5 at N.Y. Rangers 2Philadelphia 3 at Atlanta 3Montreal 2 at Washington 1Detroit 2 at Pittsburgh 4Los Angeles 6 at Colorado 4Minnesota 3 at Vancouver 6Cleveland 4 at Chicago 2St. Louis 3 at Buffalo 7Toronto 4 at Boston 7 &#9632;

f0020-22

The NHL Scoreboard

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01523/3919642-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"></div>Warning: Health and Welfare Canada advises that danger to health increases with amount smoked &mdash; avoid inhaling. Av. per cigarette: Regular: 16mg. &ldquo;tar&rdquo; 1.2mg. nicotine. King: 18mg. &ldquo;tar&rdquo; 1.4mg. nicotine.<h2>Mon. March 28</h2>ST. LOUIS 4, MINNESOTA 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02381/3919635-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="591" height="588"></div><h2>Tue. March 29</h2>ISLANDERS 1, PHILADELPHIA 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03307/3919628-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="593" height="483"></div>DETROIT 1, WASHINGTON 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04211/3919621-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="600" height="480"></div>LOS ANGELES 3, VANCOUVER 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-05121/3919614-1-eng-US/f0020-052.jpg" title="f0020-05" width="585" height="486"></div>CLEVELAND 2, MINNESOTA 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0694/3919607-1-eng-US/f0020-062.jpg" title="f0020-06" width="590" height="116"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0786/3919600-1-eng-US/f0020-072.jpg" title="f0020-07" width="584" height="326"></div><h2>Wed. March 30</h2>ATLANTA 3, RANGERS 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0877/3919593-1-eng-US/f0020-082.jpg" title="f0020-08" width="589" height="534"></div>PHILADELPHIA 3, CLEVELAND 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0957/3919586-1-eng-US/f0020-092.jpg" title="f0020-09" width="580" height="511"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1047/3919579-1-eng-US/f0020-102.jpg" title="f0020-10" width="585" height="71"></div>TORONTO 3, MONTREAL 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1231/3919572-1-eng-US/f0020-122.jpg" title="f0020-12" width="587" height="477"></div>WASHINGTON 4, PITTSBURGH 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1321/3919565-1-eng-US/f0020-132.jpg" title="f0020-13" width="586" height="560"></div>CHICAGO 1, ST. LOUIS 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1420/3919558-1-eng-US/f0020-142.jpg" title="f0020-14" width="586" height="371"></div>BOSTON 4, BUFFALO 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1519/3919551-1-eng-US/f0020-152.jpg" title="f0020-15" width="590" height="480"></div><h2>Thu. March 31</h2>MINNESOTA 3, DETROIT 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1615/3919544-1-eng-US/f0020-162.jpg" title="f0020-16" width="591" height="296"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1711/3919537-1-eng-US/f0020-172.jpg" title="f0020-17" width="601" height="173"></div>COLORADO 5, LOS ANGELES 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1810/3919530-1-eng-US/f0020-182.jpg" title="f0020-18" width="603" height="587"></div><h2>Fri. April 1</h2>CHICAGO 4, ATLANTA 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-196/3919523-1-eng-US/f0020-192.jpg" title="f0020-19" width="583" height="514"></div>COLORADO 6, VANCOUVER 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-206/3919516-1-eng-US/f0020-202.jpg" title="f0020-20" width="588" height="584"></div><h2>Sat. April 2</h2>RANGERS 1, PHILADELPHIA 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-215/3919509-1-eng-US/f0020-212.jpg" title="f0020-21" width="592" height="405"></div>BOSTON 5, ISLANDERS 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-262/3919502-1-eng-US/f0020-262.jpg" title="f0020-26" width="585" height="438"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01363/3919495-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="589" height="119"></div>WASHINGTON 0, MONTREAL 11<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02240/3919488-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="593" height="537"></div>PITTSBURGH 4, DETROIT 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03158/3919481-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="587" height="580"></div>MINNESOTA 2, LOS ANGELES 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04123/3919474-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="592" height="586"></div>CLEVELAND 2, ST. LOUIS 9<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-05104/3919467-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="588" height="510"></div>BUFFALO 1, TORONTO 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0689/3919460-1-eng-US/f0021-062.jpg" title="f0021-06" width="573" height="109"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0776/3919453-1-eng-US/f0021-072.jpg" title="f0021-07" width="574" height="326"></div><h2>Sun. April 3</h2>ISLANDERS 5, RANGERS 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0871/3919446-1-eng-US/f0021-082.jpg" title="f0021-08" width="586" height="534"></div>PHILADELPHIA 3, ATLANTA 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0958/3919439-1-eng-US/f0021-092.jpg" title="f0021-09" width="575" height="109"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1048/3919432-1-eng-US/f0021-102.jpg" title="f0021-10" width="587" height="326"></div>MONTREAL 2, WASHINGTON 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1137/3919425-1-eng-US/f0021-112.jpg" title="f0021-11" width="587" height="398"></div>DETROIT 2, PITTSBURGH 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1227/3919418-1-eng-US/f0021-122.jpg" title="f0021-12" width="582" height="269"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1325/3919411-1-eng-US/f0021-132.jpg" title="f0021-13" width="573" height="226"></div>MINNESOTA 3, VANCOUVER 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1421/3919404-1-eng-US/f0021-142.jpg" title="f0021-14" width="587" height="613"></div>CLEVELAND 4, CHICAGO 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1518/3919397-1-eng-US/f0021-152.jpg" title="f0021-15" width="577" height="105"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01242/3919390-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="595" height="377"></div>ST. LOUIS 3, BUFFALO 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02190/3919383-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="593" height="585"></div>TORONTO 4, BOSTON 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03142/3919376-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="595" height="565"></div>LOS ANGELES 6, COLORADO 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0498/3919369-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="595" height="583"></div> &#9632;

f0020-01

National League Summaries

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div>TWIN CITIES&mdash;The North Stars took a great delight in ribbing one of their rookies, Steve Jensen, in his description of the many breakaway goals he scored this season.An interviewer, in noting exciting plays which Jensen has made breaking across the blue line at left wing with a Roland Eriksson pass, posed the question: Would you compare these plays with the home run in baseball?Jensen&rsquo;s response drew him a new nickname among peers.&ldquo;More like a bomb in football,&rdquo; answered Jensen. &ldquo;Roland is the quarterback and he has been unloading a lot of bombs lately.&rdquo;The North Stars soon began calling the six-foot-two, 190-pound blond winger, &ldquo;Bomber,&rdquo; and he appropriately was finding his target with regularity as the season wound down to a conclusion.After a very slow start, Jensen finally got untracked when coach Ted Harris formed the line or Eriksson at center with Jensen on the left side and Alex Pirus on the right.During one stretch of 16 games in February and March, the 21-year-old Jensen scored 14 goals. With a half-dozen games left in the regular season, the native of Plymouth (Minn.) had scored 22 goals and 20 assists.Those are representative totals for a rookie, especially considering that slow start when he went eight straight games without a point during one span early in the season and then was scoring only occasionally until February.Most everyone expected Jensen to pick up where he left off in the 19 games he played with the North Stars last season after signing off the U.S. Olympic team. Not so. He hardly resembled the youngster who scored seven goals and six assists in those six games.Jensen put the blame on hockey fatigue.&ldquo;The last three seasons I&rsquo;d played something like 200 games for five different teams.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was hockeyed-out. I was coming off an emotional high after the Olympics last season. It wasn&rsquo;t the same when this season began because I had played too much hockey.&rdquo;Jensen played collegiate hockey at Michigan Tech, where he helped win a NCAA championship, and then joined the Olympic team in 1975-76. From there, he joined the North Stars last season for the final month and a half.he wasn&rsquo;t through with hockey last spring when the North Stars missed the playoffs again. Jensen was married and took his honeymoon in Poland, where it so happened that the world championships were being held and where he played on the U.S. team.And, of course, Jensen was an early choice to play for Team U.S.A, in last summer&rsquo;s Canada Cup. A lot of travel and a lot of hockey.&ldquo;I forced myself to relax more,&rdquo; Jensen said. &ldquo;But I still worked very hard to regain my confidence. It just seemea like the shots started going in for me. I&rsquo;m taking the attitude that every shot I take might be the only chance I get&mdash;I want to make sure it&rsquo;s going.&rdquo;Bombs away, he might say.STAR DUST: The North Stars began bombing out themselves in the Smythe Division race when defenseman Nick Beverley went down with a pulled groin muscle in a March 9 game against the Rangers&hellip;The Stars were leading 3-2 at the time and wound up losing. 6-4.With Beverley out, the North Stars proceeded to win only once in the next seven games while their playoff hopes sagged going into the final week of the season&hellip;Pierre Jarry finally returned to action from knee November surgery with six games remaining to play and Tom Reid rejoined the defense the same night after his latest of many injuries this year, a bum ankle&hellip;The Stars are second-guessing themselves on their league-leading 18 ties this season as far as playoff hopes went&hellip;In 11 of those games, the opposition came from behind to tie&hellip;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1617/3919756-1-eng-US/f0021-162.jpg" title="f0021-16" width="544" height="1186"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE JENSEN &hellip; Bombing In Goals</figcaption></div>Dean Talafous went 11 games without scoring a goal until he scored one against Pittsburgh March 22. &#9632;

f0021-16

‘Bomber’ Jensen Sparkles Following Early Doldrums

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;One of the very bright spots in the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; lineup this season has been Bruce Affleck, the heads-up young defenseman who steadily has improved his play in the National Hockey League.The 22-year-old Affleck, finishing his second full season in the NHL, quickly is developing the savvy that marks the league&rsquo;s top defensemen. His worth to the Blues is far greater than his experience in major-league hockey.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve still got a lot to prove,&rdquo; said Affleck. &ldquo;A player can get away with a few things his first year in the league; now I&rsquo;ve tried to get past the sophomore jinx.&rdquo;Indeed, Affleck is a very steady performer and he&rsquo;s proving to be most durable. He&rsquo;s not a board-bashing defenseman but he&rsquo;s strong. Frequently when he rides an opponent off the puck, he makes the task seem ridiculously easy.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01397/3919787-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="545" height="1117"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRUCE AFFLECK&hellip; Almost Indestructible</figcaption></div>Affleck plays in every game and will be getting a reputation for indestructibility.In a season that has included a number of changes on the St. Louis defensive corps, Affleck has earned a steady job under coach and general manager Emile Francis.&ldquo;The Cat has showed a lot of confidence in me and kept playing me,&rdquo; said Affleck. &ldquo;There was a period this season when I wasn&rsquo;t going so well, and some guys in a situation like that have played themselves right out of jobs. But I realized the coach was putting a lot of faith in me.&rdquo;Francis&rsquo; faith is well placed on the husky shoulders of Affleck, who came to the Blues from the old California Seals&rsquo; organization, where he never got a chance to play in the NHL. He was drafted by the Seals out of Denver University in 1974.Affleck has been a regular partner this season with Bob Plager, and the youngster appreciates the value of lessons that can be learned from the 34-year-old veteran.&ldquo;He helps me with things like knowing when to hold a guy and knowing when the referee might see it,&rdquo; said Affleck. &ldquo;Bob has played great lately. Playing with him has really helped.&rdquo;Affleck, a quiet man on and off the ice, is the perfect low-key straight man for the antics of Plager. Affleck chuckles at Plager&rsquo;s madcap heroics.&ldquo;He hip checks a guy, and the crowd goes wild,&rdquo; said Affleck with a grin. &ldquo;He certainly keeps things stirred up.&rdquo;As a steady performer, Affleck is troubled by the Blues&rsquo; unsteady season.&ldquo;The season was up and down,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was very inconsistent.&rdquo;Indeed Affleck is correct. The Blues&rsquo; goaltending was hot or cold with four goalies sharing the nets throughout the season. The defense, as mentioned, underwent a number of changes in personnel with only Affleck, Bob Gassoff and Rod Seiling playing regularly all season. The personnel on the forward lines did not change much, but scoring came in spurts, and some players did not meet expectations.As a defenseman Affleck is concerned the Blues are among the handful of lowest-scoring teams in the NHL. The lack of scoring makes his job harder, although Affleck is not a complainer. He enjoys his job and isn&rsquo;t discouraged by hard times.In March the Blues limped into the playoffs with a poor record. In the last 10 days of the month they tied Vancouver, 4-4, lost to the New York Rangers, 5-3, beat Los Angeles, 4-2, lost to Montreal, 6-1, and lost to the New York Islanders, 5-2.Better times will come for the Blues, and Affleck can be expected to be part of them. His steady improvement over the last two seasons shows great promise for the future. His advanced development as a defenseman at a young age shows great hope for Affleck&rsquo;s personal career and for the Blues&rsquo; fortunes in the NHL. &#9632;

f0022-01

Affleck Becoming Top Defenseman

<div class="byline">BY RON WEBER</div>WASHINGTON&mdash;A shutout by the Washington Capitals is rare by itself. But one accomplished with two goalies is truly the &ldquo;piece de resistance.&rdquo;Ron Low combined with Roger Crozier to hold the Rockies from changing the scoreboard in mid-March. It upped the Capitals whitewash average to one a season.Two years ago (Feb. 16, 1975) Low turned aside 32 shots to blank the franchise then in Kansas City. Then, on this past Jan. 10 his partner, Bernie Wolfe, handled 26 drives in Detroit, ending a 143-game string in which the Caps had permitted one score or more.Just 31 games later the zero hour came again. In his first action in 15 months. Crozier had played two periods in Detroit five days earlier&mdash;leaving Wolfe to handle the job in the third period. Bernie got official credit for the tie when both the Wings and Caps settled for a goal a period. Obviously, Low didn&rsquo;t dress for that one, his fifth miss in 231 Washington games.But on Friday, March 18 (with green beer selling a day late) Low had the number one jersey on again&mdash;watching Roger Crozier keep his finger in the Denver dike for 40 minutes.As had happened in his first start, Crozier admitted weariness to coach Tommy McVie and the third period fell to the mustachioed farmer from Manitoba. This time, unlike the previous Sunday, Roger&rsquo;s relief wasn&rsquo;t entering a tie game. The special pressure was of a different sort&mdash;the Rockies hadn&rsquo;t scored yet, down 2-0.Another goal for D.C. pretty well iced it with 17 minutes left. The big thing was the shutout (20 saves by Roger, nine by Ron) although Low downplayed that aspect.&ldquo;The big thing is the win,&rdquo; says Ronny, &ldquo;Thats the main thing all the time.&rdquo; Low should know. Incredibly, there have been only five shared-shutouts in the NHL in the last five years&mdash;and he has been in four of them.The last one previous to the Caps&rsquo; feat was by Chicago against Atlanta on Feb. 23, 1975, more than two years ago. In that one Hawk netminder Tony Esposito needed some minor equipment repair. The league had just instituted a rule against goalies slowing down the game for things like that so Michel Dumas came in, played less than half a minute between whistles. Back came Tony O, completed the quenching of the Flames, but it went in the books as a shared shutout.The two before that came just over a month apart, near Thanksgiving and Christmas of 1972. Both involved the Toronto pair of goalers, the celebrated Jacques Plante&mdash;and a rookie stand-up type whose style belied his name, Mr. Low.On Nov. 25 the Leafs hit double figures in crushing the visiting Seals. Low struggles to remember, &ldquo;I think I played the third period. Plante was tired and it was seven to nothin&rsquo;. So I got to play.&rdquo;The following Dec. 29 was a different ball of wax altogether. For one thing Ron started. For another he played 59 minutes and 50 seconds in the win at Pittsburgh. Low explains his brief disappearance.&ldquo;With about 10 seconds to go in the second period I got knocked out. It was on a shot between somebody&rsquo;s legs. I was looking through a screen when Syl Apps&rsquo; shot hit me in the forehead.&rdquo; After Plante finished the final seconds before intermission, the revived rookie played the third period&hellip;and now must be the only goaler in NHL history with more shared shutouts (three) than solo ones (two). Unfortunately, only the latter kind count officially.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02305/3919818-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="547" height="820"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON LOW&hellip; Shares Four Shutouts</figcaption></div>But then they&rsquo;re all wins and like Ronny says, &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the main thing all the time.&rdquo;ICE CAPS: The dynamic duo from Ottawa rode into Capitals-town the other day. Drs. Hal Hansen and Al Reed applied chapter three of their stressstrength-stamina tests to the hockey club and found the players&rsquo; conditioning had held up through all areas but one. That was upper body strength. Result: Caps practices will probably be extended yet another half-hour next season while the players work on molding and keeping a mighty torso and arms. The experts had tested some players last June and even more when training camp began in the fall. &#9632;

f0022-02

Capitals’ Low An Expert At Sharing NHL Shutouts

<h2>Special To The Hockey News</h2>DETROIT&mdash;The Detroit Red Wings are on the move. Not in the standings, because the 1976-77 National Hockey League season ended long ago for the team with the worst record in the league this season.However, the Red Wings, obviously trying to build a new image that will once again attract the fans that used to pack the Olympia, will move to a new stadium for the 1978-79 season.Rumors have been flying for the last couple of seasons that the Red Wings would move from the old Olympia, their home since Nov. 22, 1927, to a new location away from the decaying, inner-city area they now call home.However, the club, while looking into a few possibilities, had always turned down offers or denied that they were moving.But last week, club owner and president Bruce Norris said an agreement in principle had been reached with the Pontiac Township and Opdyke Investment Corp., to build Olympia II about 30 miles north of Detroit.The announcement follows on the heels of the appointment of one-time Detroit star Ted Lindsay as general manager of the Red Wings.Not only will the Red Wings have a new home for next season, but they will also have a new look as Lindsay has promised to make the changes that will be necessary to transform the Wings from the dismal team they were this past season to something that would make the club respectable.The current Olympia is located in the ghetto region of Detroit and seats 14,200 for hockey. However, the Wings have rarely drawn that many over the last couple of years and the location of the stadium was said to be the reason for the sparse attendance figures.However, this didn&rsquo;t appear to be the reason during a recent ice show which starred former world figure skating champion Dorothy Hamill. The Olympia was jam-packed for the ice show.There have been reports of at least one murder having taken place in the Olympia parking lot and a couple of players, no longer with the team, complained of cars having been stolen from the parking lot adjacent to the Olympia.Others feel that the primary reason the Red Wings have not been attracting large crowds is because of the team itself.The Wings finished the 1976-77 season last in the standings with only 16 wins and nine ties over the 80-game schedule. In terms of percentage, the Wings played .256 hockey this past season.Even the disbanded Minnesota Fighting Saints had a better record when the club suspended operations in the World Hockey Association back in January. The Saints had won 19, lost 18 and tied five in 42 games.The new home of the Red Wings will cost $15 million and will seat 18,000 for hockey, making it almost as large as the Richfield Coliseum. Olympia II will be located across the street from the two-year-old Pontiac Silverdome.The Silverdome is an 80,000-seat domed structure that houses the National Football League Detroit Lions. Prior to its opening in 1975, the Lions played at Tiger Stadium in downtown Detroit.The move by the Red Wings had been the source of speculation for many months. The city of Detroit recently made a bid to get the team to agree to play in a proposed new $22.5 million municipal downtown arena, but the move was rejected by Red Wing management.Groundbreaking for the proposed downtown riverfront arena, on a site near the location of Cobo Arena, must take place by next week in order to qualify for a $5 million federal grant offered to the city However, the project has been stalled by a lawsuit.Financing of the new site will be assisted by the issuance of tax-exempt bonds by Pontiac Township, said Norris. Arena officials will be responsible for debt service.The arrangement apparently was designed to avoid a hassle over state subsidies similar to the one that has surrounded operations of the Silverdome. The state has allocated $800,000 a year of taxpayer money to the stadium.MOTOR CITY SHORTS: The Red Wings held a &lsquo;Guaranteed Win Night&rsquo; recently in an attempt to attract more fans to the Olympia. The game was against the Minnesota North Stars and fans were guaranteed free admission to the following game if the Red Wings lost. They did, bowing 3-1 to the North Stars&hellip;Walt McKechnie was the top goal scorer and point-getter for the Wings this season. He had 25 goals and 34 assists for 59 points&hellip;Ed Giacomin was the only one of the three Detroit netminders whose season average was below the team mark. Eddie had a 3.58 goals-against average. The team goals-against mark was 3.84.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02287/3919849-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="492" height="858"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRUCE NORRIS&hellip; Changes Mind</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0023-02

Wings Moving To Pontiac In 1978

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;Should it turn out the Vancouver Canucks miss the playoffs, or indeed miss second place in the Smythe Division by a single point, there will be loud, long lamentations about the point lost to the Philadelphia Flyers in the second last week of the season.Normally a 4-4 tie against the Patrick Division favorites would be cause for a week&rsquo;s feasting in Vancouver, but such was not the case with the rejuvenated Canucks, who are thinking win nowadays.The focus of the wailing from the Canucks point of view is on referee Alf Lejeune, who, whether right or wrong, had a determining effect on the outcome of a game that would have put the Canucks into sole possession of second place and allowed the New York Islanders to creep within two points of the Flyers.The Canucks, as it turns out, are not really whining about one call alone, although that one was enough to change the complexion of the game, but also the incredibly poor lineswork and a number of other non-calls which allowed the Flyers to clutch, grab, hook, hold and spear their way to another point when Reggie Leach tied the score with 18 seconds left.The bone of contention lies with a play in the second period in which a Dennis Kearns&rsquo; point shot was deflected by Hilliard Graves into the net for what would have given Vancouver a 3-1 lead.Not so, for Lejeune ruled that Graves&rsquo; stick was above his shoulder and disallowed the goal. The ruling so enraged Kearns that he charged across the ice and bumped the referee and was prompity given a minor and match penalty for his efforts.Kearns was particularly miffed because the goal would have given him a point and kept alive his streak of points in consecutive games, which was stopped at 11 when he took his early exit.Not surprisingly, the Flyers then tied the score when Brad Gassoff was serving Kearns&rsquo; minor penalty, so instead of being ahead two goals the Canucks found themselves even. What rangled Vancouver even more was the fact that the replay showed Graves had his stick just slightly above his waist, nowhere near over his shoulder, and the fact that Lajeune&rsquo;s call was prompted more by the protest of Flyers goalie Bernie Parent rather than by sound judgement.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01372/3919880-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="547" height="750"><figcaption class="caption-body">DENNIS KEARNS&hellip; Costly Controversy</figcaption></div>Later, Don Lever nearly lost his head when Bob Dailey elbowed him in the third period, and Lejeune, who had since adopted the policy of calling nothing, ignored it. Sounds like a cry of the homer but the play had to be seen to be believed, and Lejeune didn&rsquo;t see it. even with over 16,000 fans pointing it out to him.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what he thought had happened,&rdquo; said Graves about the nongoal after the game. &ldquo;I know it was a snap call, but he must have thought I was five-foot-one or something. I know I&rsquo;m short, but that&rsquo;s ridiculous.&rdquo;Don Lever probably best expressed the Canucks feeling on the game saying: &ldquo;He simply gave them the game.&rdquo;But the orgy of crying over spilled milk that ensued the following day is probably a healthy sign for the Canucks, who maintained their club record unbeaten streak of eight games with the tie.Usually, teams would come into the Coliseum and win, with the Canucks not caring enough to whine about anything.The new attitude, brought or created by Jack Mcllhargey and Larry Goodenough and nurtured by Derek Sanderson, has the club completely dedicated to making the playoffs and maybe winning a round or so in post-season play.&ldquo;The most unfortunate part of the game (against Philly) was that with only one point, we&rsquo;re still tied with Minnesota. If we&rsquo;d won, we&rsquo;d have been in second place.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0023-01

Lejeune’s Call Has Canucks Up In A Rage

<h2>TOP 14 SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04162/3919956-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="587" height="527"></div> &#9632;

f0024-04

WHA Rookies

For a player who started out playing defense in pro hockey, Joe Noris has done all right as a forward with the San Diego Mariners. In fact, having Noris around for double ice duty is a bonus any hockey team would welcome.Noris is currently the No. 2 point scorer on the San Diego roster and this past week he literally exploded collecting a whopping 13 scoring points in the Mariners&rsquo; four games, three of which they won. Noris came up with seven goals and six assists to increase his season output to 91 points. The Denver, Colo., native, one of a growing number of Americans in big league hockey, scored his 34th goal last week to eclipse his career high of 28, set last year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-05127/3919987-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="453" height="473"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOE NORIS&hellip;San Diego Mariners</figcaption></div>Noris, who was chosen on Team U.S.A, last fall for the Canada Cup series, enjoyed the most productive week of any WHA performer this season with his 13-point week. &#9632;

f0024-05

WHA’S… Player of the Week

<div class="byline">BY GREG NOBLE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01385/3919925-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="533" height="685"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROBBE FTOREK&hellip; Big Catch</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02302/3919918-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="553" height="753"><figcaption class="caption-body">CLAY HEBENTON &hellip; Promising Goaler</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03215/3919911-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="545" height="492"><figcaption class="caption-body">DEL HALL&hellip; Steady Winger</figcaption></div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaCINCINNATI&mdash;The Cincinnati Stingers, obviously building up for next season, took a major step in that direction with the disclosure that they have acquired the leading scorer&mdash;Robbie Ftorek&mdash;and two other top performers from the Phoenix Roadrunners in a stunning deal in which the Stingers will compensate the financially-troubled Runners with cold hard cash.The trade of Ftorek, goaler Clay Hebenton and winger Del Hall to Cincinnati by the Roadrunners was seen as the termination of the Phoenix operation in the World Hockey Association.Phoenix team president Brian O&rsquo;Neill confirmed that Roadrunner owner Karl Eller had indeed authorized the sale of the three top Phoenix stars to Cincinnati for delivery next season as a step to recover some of the team&rsquo;s financial losses, which are reportedly well over the two million dollar mark.The trade, which had been rumored for many weeks, was the result of the Roadrunners deciding that they will not be back in the WHA next year. The Runners were the only club refusing to commit themselves to another season of play at a recent league meeting. The Runners have been a big loser both on and off the ice. They will finish last in the six-team Western Division and out of the playoffs.The acquisition of Ftorek, a 112-point scorer with lowly Phoenix this season, promising young goaler Hebenton and steady left winger Hall, give the Stingers a tremendous nucleus for the 1977-78 WHA season.Meanwhile, the Stingers were finishing up the current season in good style after beating Birmingham 4-2 and tieing Indianapolis 5-5.Both Rich Leduc and Blaine Stoughton had surpassed the 50-goal plateau making Cincinnati the only WHA team with two such scorers this season.But the club had just snapped back to form in time after losing four of five games and much of their early lead over third-place Indianapolis, which had become a source of irritation to coach Terry Slater of the Stingers.&ldquo;If I had a farm team,&rdquo; Slater said after a 3-1 loss to the Racers, &ldquo;I&rsquo;d bring up some guys and really shake up this team. Some of them are thinking, &lsquo;Well, we&rsquo;ve made the playoffs, and they&rsquo;re satisfied with that, Well, I&rsquo;m not.&rdquo;The Stingers blamed the officials for a 6-4 loss to Quebec and officially protested the game to league president Bill MacFarland. After the game, Slater charged angrily across the ice after referee Bob Kolari.&ldquo;I told him he had the wrong uniform on,&rdquo; snapped Slater. &ldquo;They (the Nordiques) were out there congratulating their goaltender. Well, Kolari should have been in there patting the Quebec players on the back. He should&rsquo;ve had a Quebec shirt on.&rdquo;Kolari apparently miscalculated when he timed penalties after a wild melee late in the third period. He handed out penalties to seven players, and the way they were meted out the Stingers should have had two minutes of one-man advantage. Instead. Quebec got a power play and Serge Bernier scored to break a 4-4 tie. And Bernier was far offside on the play.After that the Stingers lost in overtime 4-3 to Edmonton, making their record in extra-period games 0-7-3. At the start of a six-game road trip, the Stingers beat the Nordiques 6-4 and lost 4-0.INDIANAPOLIS: A couple of trades they made during the season paid big dividends for the Indianapolis Racers in the last few games of the year.Paul Hoganson, Rosaire Paiement and Gene Peacosh, all players that did not start the season with Indianapolis, keyed three straight victories that moved the Racers back in contention for second place in the Eastern Division.For their part, the Cincinnati Stingers might not have traded Hoganson to the Racers if they could have foreseen the consequeneces. Playing against his former teammates, Hoganson turned back 31 shots to give the Racers a crucial 3-1 victory.&ldquo;If we had lost that one,&rdquo; Racers coach Jacques Demers said, &ldquo;second place would be gone.&rdquo; But instead of possibly being eight points behind the Stingers with two weeks left, the Racers were just four points out of second place. And later they cut the Stingers&rsquo; lead to two.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really happy to beat Cincinnati. I think that goes without saying,&rdquo; Hoganson said. The Stingers had traded him to the Racers early in March, and this was his second victory in three starts&ldquo;I knew for about a week that I&rsquo;d be playing this game. I&rsquo;ve been psyching myself up for it. Only I was a little worried this afternoon,&rdquo; Hoganson said. &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t sleep. I thought I was going to throw up. I should be beyond that by now.&rdquo;&ldquo;We had a lot of guys put out a helluva effort,&rdquo; said Demers. Just the day before, he had berated his players after they lost two straight home games.&ldquo;We had a good talk from Jacques and we had something to prove,&rdquo; said Paiement, the team captain. &ldquo;And we did prove something.&rdquo;Next up for the Racers was Quebec, and this time Paiement was the star. The veteran center, obtained early in the season from New England, scored a first-period goal to give the Racers the early lead. Quebec eventually took a 3-2 lead in the final period, but Brian McDonald tied the score for the Racers with seven minutes left. With 19 seconds left; Paiement knocked in the winning goal.Peacosh, acquired from Edmonton, scored two goals to spark a 4-2 victory over New England.BIRMINGHAM: Members of the media ought to give serious consideration to John Garrett when they make their All Star selections. Garrett&rsquo;s outstanding play in goal is what kept the Bulls so long in the playoff race.Late in the season, the 25-year-old goaltender had a 23-31-3 record, normally not All Star credentials. But playing for a last-place team, he compiled a remarkable 3.35 goals against average in an iron man&rsquo;s role. And he owned four shutouts.Garrett picked up his fourth shutout in the Bull&rsquo;s seventh last game. He kicked out 43 shots to beat Phoenix 4-0. Dave Gorman and Mark Napier supplied the offense as the Bulls won three out of four games. &#9632;

f0024-01

Trading Ftorek, Hall, Hebenton To Cincy Signals Demise Of Phoenix Roadrunners

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE HALPIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01326/3920060-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="556" height="655"><figcaption class="caption-body">WAYNE RUTLEDGE &hellip; Goaler</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03166/3920053-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="547" height="655"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARK HOWE&hellip; Defense</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-04125/3920046-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="516" height="643"><figcaption class="caption-body">DARRYL MAGGS &hellip;Defense</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-05106/3920039-1-eng-US/f0025-052.jpg" title="f0025-05" width="541" height="646"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARC TARDIF&hellip; Left Wing</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0686/3920032-1-eng-US/f0025-062.jpg" title="f0025-06" width="508" height="655"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROBBIE FTOREK&hellip; Center</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02240/3920025-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="520" height="544"><figcaption class="caption-body">REAL CLOUTIER &hellip; Double Honors</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;There&rsquo;s a natural inclination among All Stars voters to go with the best teams in making their yearly selections.This appears to be the case in the fifth annual poll of fans by THE HOCKEY NEWS in announcing its 1976-77 World Hockey Association All Star teams. The Quebec Nordiques and Houston Aeros, the two teams that clinched their respective division titles this past week, also dominated the WHA&rsquo;s annual All Star polling among the fans.The Nordiques placed two players on the first team and came away with the most valuable player award as well with Real Cloutier, the youthful scoring whiz of the Nordiques. winning double honors in the fans&rsquo; balloting.The Houston Aeros also put two players on the first team and one on the second as they combined with the Nordiques to dominate the All Star selections.Goaler Wayne Rutledge and defenseman Mark Howe were the Houston picks on the first team while Poul Popiel, also of Houston, was chosen to the second team defense.Here&rsquo;s how the two teams looked after the fans&rsquo; polling was conducted by THE HOCKEY NEWS. On the first team, Rutledge was in goal with Mark Howe and Darryl Maggs of Indianapolis on defense. Robbie Ftorek of Phoenix was chosen as the center with Cloutier at right wing and Marc Tardif of Quebec on the left side.On the second team, goaler Don McLeod of Calgary was given the nod with Popiel and Ron Plumb of Cincinnati on defense. UIf Nilsson was one of two Winnipeg players picked on the second team. Nilsson, a center, was accompanied by Anders Hedberg at right wing. Rick Dudley of Cincinnati was named the left wing on the second team.While Cloutier won MVP honors in a close vote with Hedberg. George Lyle of New England Whalers, the former All American from Michigan Tech, was selected as the rookie of the year in the WHA beating out Cincinnati&rsquo;s Peter Marsh.The emergence of Cloutier as the most valuable player in the annual fans&rsquo; poll may have provoked some surprise since Hedberg was recently chosen as THE HOCKEY NEWS player of the year in the WHA. But fans are fickle and they tended to recognize Cloutier&rsquo;s tremendous scoring year in which he tallied more than 65 goals and was well on his way to becoming the league&rsquo;s individual scoring champion with over 130 points.Cloutier, whose NHL rights are owned by the Chicago Black Hawks, has been a prolific scorer in his third WHA season. Last year in the fans&rsquo; poll he yielded the first team spot to Hedberg but this season he won his just recognition for a truly outstanding scoring year.The selection of young Mark Howe to one of the first-team defense berths was unusual but justified. Howe had moved back to the defense just after the current season got underway and he has performed brilliantly behind the blueline for Houston through the last 50 games where he showed his great offensive flare to end up as the league&rsquo;s highest-scoring rearguard. Maggs and Ftorek were first team picks because of their immense value to their teams. Maggs has been the backbone of the Indianapolis Racers all season and Ftorek has amazed by closing out a dismal season for the last-place Phoenix Roadrunners by placing in the top three WHA scorers with more than 115 points.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0780/3920018-1-eng-US/f0025-072.jpg" title="f0025-07" width="496" height="580"><figcaption class="caption-body">GEORGE LYLE &hellip; WHA&rsquo;s Rookie Of Year</figcaption></div>Tardif proved to be the only returning first team All Star from last year. The productive left winger of the Nordiques, who completed a remarkable recovery from a serious head injury suffered in last spring&rsquo;s WHA playoffs, has again been the top-scoring portsider in the league and was a big favorite in the fans&rsquo; voting.A split vote among goaltenders probably cost Ron Grahame of Houston a berth on the second team. Many selectors cast their votes for Rutledge and others chose Grahame, allowing McLeod of Calgary to slip in between to gain the second team Rutledge and Grahame shared the Houston goaling fairly evenly this season. Grahame played in 36 games and Rutledge in 39. Both were under 3.00 in goaling average. McLeod was probably the WHA&rsquo;s most durable goaler having appeared in 61 games while posting a 3.32 goals-against average. The Cowboys, who were staging a home stretch dogfight with Edmonton for the final playoff berth in the West, were the third best team defensively in the WHA and much of it was the result of McLeod&rsquo;s solid goalkeeping.The selection of Lyle as the WHA&rsquo;s outstanding rookie was also the result of the fans giving the young Whaler star the bulk of the rookie votes. Lyle has been a pleasant surprise to New England in his first professional season and is winding down on the kind of year rookies often dream about but rarely achieve. Lyle had 37 goals and over 70 points in his first season with the Whalers. &#9632;

f0025-01

Aeros, Nordiques Dominate WHA All Stars

<h2>BIRMINGHAM</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01336/3920175-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="739" height="627"></div><h2>CALGARY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02276/3920168-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="747" height="651"></div><h2>CINCINNATI</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03235/3920161-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="743" height="543"></div><h2>EDMONTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04182/3920154-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="747" height="617"></div><h2>HOUSTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05147/3920147-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="743" height="591"></div><h2>INDIANAPOLIS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-06117/3920140-1-eng-US/f0026-062.jpg" title="f0026-06" width="745" height="727"></div><h2>NEW ENGLAND</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-07105/3920133-1-eng-US/f0026-072.jpg" title="f0026-07" width="739" height="591"></div><h2>WHA Leaders</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0895/3920126-1-eng-US/f0026-082.jpg" title="f0026-08" width="745" height="671"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0989/3920119-1-eng-US/f0026-092.jpg" title="f0026-09" width="923" height="783"></div><h2>PHOENIX</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1084/3920112-1-eng-US/f0026-102.jpg" title="f0026-10" width="747" height="547"></div><h2>QUEBEC</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1180/3920105-1-eng-US/f0026-112.jpg" title="f0026-11" width="741" height="647"></div><h2>SAN DIEGO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1272/3920098-1-eng-US/f0026-122.jpg" title="f0026-12" width="741" height="675"></div><h2>WINNIPEG</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1371/3920091-1-eng-US/f0026-132.jpg" title="f0026-13" width="739" height="619"></div> &#9632;

f0026-01

HARTFORD&mdash;The Quebec Nordiques, like the Houston Aeros in the West, clinched to Eastern Division title in the next-to-last-week of the 1976-77 World Hockey Association schedule.While the Nordiques put the division lead out of reach of the Cincinnati Stingers, the New England Whalers came on strong in the East to win three in a row, the first such streak Harry Neale&rsquo;s skaters have been able to put together in some time.Richard Brodeur made 21 saves to shut out the Cincinnati Stingers 4-0 at Quebec City to give the Nordiques their second division title in three years. For Brodeur it was his second shutout of the season.Scoring three goals for the 17th time in his WHA career, Bobby Hull led the Winnipeg Jets past Houston Aeros, in Houston, to stop the Aeros win streak at 21 games on Summit ice.Since returning on March 5 and being reunited with linemates Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson on March 8, Hull&rsquo;s Jets have won nine of 10 games. The line has scored 27 goals and had 38 assists for 65 points.Houston won the West Division title for the fourth consecutive year. The Aeros goaltending continues to be the class of the WHA as Wayne Rutledge and Ron Grahame have a combined goals-against average of 2.86. The second best team average in the league is 3.42 by San Diego.Lest you get the idea that Houston is strictly a defensive team, the Aeros lead the WHA with nine 20-or-more goal scorers.Real Cloutier had opened up an 18-point lead in the scoring derby with 136 points in 72 games, a record for right wingers. Anders Hedberg, whose 66 goals is a record for right wingers as well, was second with 118 points.After a 14-game winless streak, the San Diego Mariners won their last four games to assure themselves of a playoff berth. Indianapolis also assured itself of a playoff berth this week. That leaves only one spot in each division for the remaining teams.The Whalers wrapped up the fourth and final playoff spot in the East and they did it the hard way &mdash; playing on the road. But Neale&rsquo;s Whalers were equal to the challenge and came away with three wins. They beat San Diego 5-4, Phoenix 62 and Indianapolis 3-2 in overtime on Mike Rogers&rsquo; winning goal, his 25th of the year. Defenseman Gord Roberts had scored with just two seconds of play remaining to force the game into overtime for the Whalers.In the romp over Phoenix, George Lyle and Mike Antonovich both bagged their 39th goals of the year. Antonovich also got his 40th later in the same game.The triple win assured the Whalers of fourth spot and eliminated Birmingham Bulls from the post-season playoffs.ODDS &lsquo;N ENDS: J.C. Tremblay became only the second full career defenseman to reach 700 points&hellip; Wayne Rivers of San Diego set a new league record for the fastest answering goal in WHA history scoring just four seconds after Ron Ward had scored for Calgary in the third period of a game in San Diego Saturday night. The previous record was five seconds&hellip; currently five WHA players have scored 50 goals, Cloutier and Hedberg have 64 and 66 respectively, Mark Napier of Birmingham has 58 and Rich Leduc and Blaine Stoughton both passed the 50-goal mark. &#9632;

Nordiques Win East, Whalers Streaking

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01316/3920230-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="516" height="1703"><figcaption class="caption-body">DARRYL MAGGS&hellip; Racers&rsquo; Threa</figcaption></div>INDIANAPOLIS&mdash;&ldquo;With the type of club he&rsquo;s playing on and with the job he&rsquo;s done, I definitely think Darryl Maggs should be in line for defenseman of the year.&rdquo;Author of those words is no less an authority on defensive play than Patrick Stapleton, one of the game&rsquo;s premier blue-line specialists, who, over the past two seasons, has been the cornerstone of the Indianapolis Racers.To be sure, Stapleton, himself, is a candidate. He always is. But in his unvarnished view, along with that of coach Jacques Demers, it has been the 28-year-old Maggs who has kept the Racers respectable this season in the face of mounting injuries.&ldquo;Sure, Stapleton has had another big year,&rdquo; says Demers. &ldquo;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. and anyone 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 this year without him.&rdquo;With him, certainly, the Racers &mdash; through 71 games&mdash;were still a major threat to overhaul the heavily carbonated Cincinnati Stingers for second place in the WHA East. And Maggs, with 15 goals and 48 assists, was the WHA&rsquo;s leading point-producer among defensemen and the club leader with 63 points.It wouldn&rsquo;t especially surprise the six-foot-one, 195-pound Maggs, of course, if he didn&rsquo;t get a tumble from WHA writers for MVP and/or defensemen of the year.To start with, he&rsquo;s not acoustically self evident. He&rsquo;d rather be seen (on the ice) than heard, and it&rsquo;s a matter of record that he was completely overlooked in mid-season All Star balloting.Maggs, it has been said, borders on self-deprecation. Advised of Stapleton&rsquo;s views that he was deserving of defenseman of the year honors, Maggs almost apologized. &ldquo;Oh, I don&rsquo;t know. I think there might be other people who deserve it more.&ldquo;One good year doesn&rsquo;t mean anything. Really, you have to put together a couple of good years. I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;m playing any better than last year. I&rsquo;m just getting an opportunity to play on the power play more. I thought I played better defensively last year.&rdquo;Whatever Maggs, who formerly toiled for Chicago and California of the National League, thinks is so much horseradish in the judgement of Stapleton.&ldquo;In any game I&rsquo;ve seen this season nobody has dominated offensively and defensively the way Darryl has,&rdquo; Stapleton told Dick Denny of the Indianapolis News. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing on a team that has been struggling with injuries and internal problems, and he&rsquo;s maintained a peak. That&rsquo;s a plus.&ldquo;Maggs has matured in the last two or three years and that&rsquo;s helped him. If there is one part of his game I think he would need to improve, it&rsquo;s between the blue lines&mdash;the sending away of forwards. He has done it on occasions, but he needs improvement in the making of the play between the blue lines.&ldquo;But he continues to play his 40-45 minutes a game. There is a difference playing an awful lot and playing an awful lot well. Darryl has done the latter.&rdquo;Another strong supporter of Maggs is teammate Hugh Harris, out since Jan. 25 with torn knee ligaments. &ldquo;He helps the offense in many ways,&rdquo; offered Harris, who, like a lot of other players, couldn&rsquo;t understand why Maggs wasn&rsquo;t voted a mid-season All Star. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s deceptive in his long stride and has a lot of mobility. He poke-checks extremely well, and has really developed a shot from the point. But more importantly, I think he&rsquo;s playing with more confidence now than at any time in his career.&rdquo;And with that confidence has come better anticipation, which Maggs attributes to Stapleton. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t play with guys like him without learning something,&rdquo; said Maggs. &ldquo;And when it comes to anticipating moves by the opposition there is no one better at it than Stapleton.&rdquo;Demers is not about to disagree: &ldquo;Stapleton, it seems, has always had that knack. This year Darryl has been doing the same thing. He&rsquo;s been generating the offense with his defensive plays.&rdquo;Maggs, of course, acknowledges that in the Racer system your first job is defense, that you can&rsquo;t afford to get caught in the offensive zone.Maggs, whose previous high production year was 33 points with the defunct Chicago Cougars in &lsquo;74-75, is concerned that so much stress is put on a defensemen&rsquo;s point totals. &ldquo;Defense is defense,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It really shouldn&rsquo;t be judged on points. On a western road trip late this season I didn&rsquo;t play too well, but I got a couple of second stars simply because I got some points. Often a defenseman will play extrememly well defensively, but the guy who gets the winning goal is the star of the game. Some nights it just doesn&rsquo;t add up. But players are used to it.&rdquo;It is of little concern to Maggs, or for that matter the rest of the Racers, that they are not considered one of the glamor teams of the WHA.&ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t bother us that we don&rsquo;t get that much recognition around the league,&rdquo; said Maggs. &ldquo;What&rsquo;s important is that our fans recognize us&mdash;and the last time I looked we had more than any other club in the league.&ldquo;Personally, I like wide-open hockey&hellip;it&rsquo;s entertaining. But we don&rsquo;t have the personnel for that system. With us it&rsquo;s the close-checking game. Better to win with that system than to be entertaining and lose.&rdquo;RACER NOTES: Heading into the final 10 games of the season, Indianapolis held a seven-point lead on fourth-place New England and were a mere four back of second-place Cincinnati. Of their 32 victories, 21 were at the expense of fellow Eastern Division teams. And in suddendeath play, they were a stupendous 7-1-7. &ldquo;We&rsquo;d like to finish second,&rdquo; said Demers, &ldquo;if only to get that extra home ice edge in the playoffs against Cincinnati.&rdquo; Former Racer captain Kenny Block, out since Jan. 30 with a compressed fracture in the lower back, is expected back for the last two or three games of the season, while another former captain, Hugh Harris, is hopeful he&rsquo;ll be ready to go by playoff time. Harris, the acknowledged team leader, went out Jan. 25 in Quebec with torn knee ligaments. Another former captain. Dick Proceviat (injured Feb. 27 in Calgary) is also a hopeful playoff starter. All told, the Racers this season have lost in excess of 250 mangames through injury. In contrast, Cincinnati has lost virtually none. &#9632;

f0027-01

Racers Throw Support Behind Maggs As WHA’s Leading Defenseman, MVP

Tus. March 29PHOENIX 5, CALGARY 9<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01300/3920380-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="595" height="641"></div>CINCINNATI 4, BIRMINGHAM 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02221/3920373-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="595" height="411"></div>NEW ENGLAND 5, SAN DIEGO 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03166/3920366-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="599" height="217"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04132/3920359-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="593" height="335"></div>HOUSTON 5, WINNIPEG 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-05113/3920352-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="587" height="459"></div>Wed. March 30HOUSTON 0, EDMONTON 8<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0696/3920345-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="581" height="483"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0786/3920338-1-eng-US/f0028-072.jpg" title="f0028-07" width="591" height="727"></div>Thu. March 31NEW ENGLAND 6, PHOENIX 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0878/3920331-1-eng-US/f0028-082.jpg" title="f0028-08" width="591" height="457"></div>WINNIPEG 3, SAN DIEGO 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0972/3920324-1-eng-US/f0028-092.jpg" title="f0028-09" width="585" height="427"></div>Fri. April 1CINCINNATI 4, HOUSTON 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1069/3920317-1-eng-US/f0028-102.jpg" title="f0028-10" width="597" height="485"></div>CALGARY 3, EDMONTON 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1161/3920310-1-eng-US/f0028-112.jpg" title="f0028-11" width="585" height="217"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1257/3920303-1-eng-US/f0028-122.jpg" title="f0028-12" width="591" height="221"></div>Sat. April 2EDMONTON 4, CALGARY 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1351/3920296-1-eng-US/f0028-132.jpg" title="f0028-13" width="587" height="607"></div>NEW ENGLAND 3, INDIANAPOLIS 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1444/3920289-1-eng-US/f0028-142.jpg" title="f0028-14" width="589" height="639"></div>CINCINNATI 3, SAN DIEGO 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1544/3920282-1-eng-US/f0028-152.jpg" title="f0028-15" width="589" height="459"></div>WINNIPEG 8, BIRMINGHAM 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1637/3920275-1-eng-US/f0028-162.jpg" title="f0028-16" width="587" height="291"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1731/3920268-1-eng-US/f0028-172.jpg" title="f0028-17" width="593" height="227"></div>Sat. April 2 QUEBEC6, PHOENIX 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1928/3920261-1-eng-US/f0028-192.jpg" title="f0028-19" width="587" height="613"></div> &#9632;

f0028-01

World Hockey Association Summaries

(Standings on Mon. April 4)<h2>EASTERN DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1830/3920411-1-eng-US/f0028-182.jpg" title="f0028-18" width="527" height="431"></div>(*-suspended operations).<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Tue. March 29Houston 5 at Winnipeg 2New England 5 at San Diego 4Phoenix 5 at Calgary 9Cincinnati 4 at Birmingham 2Wed. March 30Houston 0 at Edmonton 8Cincinnati 5 at Indianapolis 5Thu. March 31New England 6 at Phoenix 2Winnipeg 3 at San Diego 4Fri. April 1Cincinnati 4 at Houston 5Calgary 3 at Edmonton 1Sat. April 2Edmonton 4 at Calgary 4New England 3 at Indianapolis 2Quebec 6 at Phoenix 5Cincinnati 3 at San Diego 6Winnipeg 6 at Birmingham 5Sun. April 3Indianapolis 7 at Houston 3Calgary 4 at Winnipeg 6Quebec 0 at San Diego 7 &#9632;

f0028-18

The WHA Scoreboard

<div class="byline">BY GEORGE BILYCH</div>CALGARY&mdash;The Calgary Cowboys have just come off a 10-game losing streak. They&rsquo;ve won only four of 39 games on the road. Yet, almost unbelievably, they&rsquo;re still in position to claim a playoff berth in the Western Division.Even coach Joe Crozier admits to the situation being a bit ridiculous.&ldquo;With what we&rsquo;ve done on the road I find it hard to believe we&rsquo;re still in the playoff race,&rdquo; commented Crozier after watching his club take its lumps for the 10th straight time in San Diego. &ldquo;But we re going home now and there&rsquo;s still time. Wouldn&rsquo;t that be something?&rdquo;Just as if somebody had turned on the faucet, the Cowboys took all night flying home and then faced the Phoenix Roadrunners that evening. With 27 seconds remaining in regulation time Lynn Powis fired the winning goal in a 54 Calgary victory. It was like old times.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what it is with this team.&rdquo; said an obviously relieved Crozier following the club&rsquo;s first victory in 18 days. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t seem to do anything right on the road&hellip;at home we seldom do anything wrong. It&rsquo;s not easy on the nerves.&rdquo;Crozier cautioned, however, that the Cowboys are faced with the prospects of having to win a game in Edmonton if they&rsquo;re to partake in the post-season activity. And that may be asking a lot.The victory over Phoenix moved Calgary within two points of the Oilers and they still owned a game in hand. The two clubs meet in a home and home series on the season&rsquo;s final weekend at which time it may all be decided.Not only did the Cowboys fail to win a single game on their extended road trip but at no stage did they even have a lead. Even against Phoenix they were never in front until Powis delivered the game winner with scant seconds remaining.&ldquo;I just hope that was a sign we&rsquo;ve finally turned the corner,&rdquo; said Crozier. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve proven we&rsquo;re not much at coming from behind.&rdquo;There were several low spots during the lengthy road grind. They were outscored 55-16 in 10 games, including 8-0 and 9-0 routs in Quebec and New England respectively. They wound up the season without a single victory in an Eastern Division rink. Smokie McLeod, the bellweather of the netminding corps, has failed to win a single game on the road all year. He has a string of 20 consecutive road defeats, breaking the former WHA record held by Paul Hoganson.The Cowboys were hurting some, too, as they prepared for the stretch drive. Forward Don Tannahill, a defensive specialist, suffered a separated shoulder in New England but it was expected he&rsquo;d be back in time for the crucial series with the Oilers.Before they headed out for that one, however, the Cowboys were to play another game against Phoenix. The Roadrunners have proven to be the Cowboys&rsquo; patsies this year, losing six and tying another in seven starts. Without the &ldquo;Runners, the Cowboys would be in deep trouble indeed.EDMONTON: The Oilers were to open a crucial home and home series with the Cowboys on April Fool&rsquo;s Day. Now, there&rsquo;s a bad joke.This twosome have been conducting a non-race of sorts for the Western Division&rsquo;s final playoff spot the past three months. Now that it heads into the final critical weekend, all bets are off.The Oilers might be feeling a little better about it since returning home from the final road trip of the season. They won two of four, the first time in their five-year history they&rsquo;ve ever managed so much as a split in travels to the league&rsquo;s Eastern sector.Despite this, the Oilers still are very much in and outers. They&rsquo;ve beaten the Winnipeg Jets three times this year at the Coliseum. In Winnipeg, they have trouble staying within six goals.&ldquo;I just can&rsquo;t explain the difference between our club in games here and at the Coliseum,&rdquo; said coach Glen Sather after a particularly disturbing 8-3 loss in Winnipeg. &ldquo;We can beat them at home&hellip;here, it&rsquo;s an ambush. Maybe they just psyche us out or something. All I know is, losing comes awfully easy.&rdquo;Sather could draw reassurance from the fact the Oilers must face Winnipeg only once more this season. And that one is slated for Edmonton.Since the Oilers have suddenly come alive under Sather&rsquo;s coaching, there&rsquo;s been considerable speculation hereabouts as to the future of general manager Bep Guidolin.Oilers&rsquo; executive vice-president Gord Robson indicated recently that decision has not yet been reached. He said there have been inquiries from several well-known GMs about the Edmonton post for next season.&ldquo;Tremendous people are becoming available,&rdquo; said Robson. Bep Guidolin has already told me he&rsquo;d be willing to be an assistant general manager or player personnel director to a couple of these men which have been mentioned: They&rsquo;re impressive. Whatever, we&rsquo;ll hire the best man available for next year. That could be Bep Guidolin or it could be somebody else.&rdquo;WINNIPEG: It&rsquo;s time to start taking the Winnipeg Jets seriously again. And it couldn&rsquo;t have come at a better time insofar as Winnipeggers are concerned.The Jets will have to be content with a runner-up finish to the Houston Aeros in the Western Division pennant chase but you can forget about counting them out come playoff time.There was evidence of this March 27 at the Houston Summit.The Aeros had been coasting along with a 21-game home winning streak, longest in major league hockey history. The Winnipeg Jets could have been No. 22 and if that had been fact, the Aeros could have assured themselves of a first-place finish.But the record is no more and the Aeros were kept waiting. Backed by Bobby Hull&rsquo;s three power play goals, the Jets stopped the Houston powerhouse 53.Besides Hull&rsquo;s heroics, there was the work of his linemates. Ulf Nilsson had four assists. Anders Hedberg a goal and two assists. That should tell you something. When the Hot Line is going the Jets are something to reckon with.This was not an isolated case. Some three days earlier Hedberg scored twice, linemates Hull and Nilsson once each in an 8-3 romp over the Oilers.After that one coach Bobby Kromm suggested, &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the best I&rsquo;ve seen the line play all season. How often do you see one line get all three stars?&rdquo;Kromm probably had to make a reassessment of the line&rsquo;s performance in Houston. With the injuries to Hedberg and Hull a thing of the past, they&rsquo;re starting to put those performances back to back. That can only mean trouble for the rest of the WHA.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01259/3920442-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="547" height="703"><figcaption class="caption-body">GLEN SATHER &hellip; Wakes Up Oilers</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

Cowboys Are Tough On The Nerves

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCCONNELL</div>SAN DIEGO&mdash;Buoyed by the promise of team owner Ray Kroc that he&rsquo;d stick around another season if the fans want the game, the San Diego Mariners went from a 14-game injury-riddled winless streak into a winning streak.Kroc had said a month ago that his first season as owner of a World Hockey Association franchise would be his last but revised that, saying now &ldquo;it&rsquo;s 50-50.&rdquo;&ldquo;I can deliver the hockey team if they can deliver the patrons.&rdquo; said Kroc, founder of the McDonalds fast food chain.Kroc&rsquo;s son-in-law, Ballard Smith, the vice-president and general manager of the Mariners, has initiated a season ticket campaign with 5,000 as a goal.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s my desire to keep San Diego as a vibrant sports town,&rdquo; said Kroc. who also owns the San Diego Padres baseball team. &ldquo;But in this case, I have to have some encouragement.&ldquo;The idea was never to make money with the hockey team. Why, if I could get away losing $25,000 or $50,000, I&rsquo;d feel I was making money. But when your losses get to be well over $1 million, well, that ceases to be funny.&ldquo;If I wanted to donate that much, I&rsquo;d rather contribute it to crippled children than sports fans.&rdquo;Andre Lacroix, the team scoring leader, was jubilant after a 6-2 victory over Birmingham. San Diego&rsquo;s second straight triumph.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01296/3920473-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="521" height="687"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRAD RHINESS &hellip; Two-Goal Blast</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Mr. Kroc came into the dressing room and joked with all the guys,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Nobody knew he was coming, not even Ballard Smith.&rdquo;Kroc has said that baseball is his game, that he doesn&rsquo;t even enjoy hockey.&ldquo;Mr. Kroc told Ballard to go ahead for next season,&rdquo; continued Lacroix. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s getting all the guys to take salary cuts and they&rsquo;re pushing to sell 5,000 season tickets.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re telling the people in San Diego, &lsquo;Okay, if you want hockey and will support it, we&rsquo;ll give it to you.&rsquo; &ldquo;Lacroix scored a goal and three assists as the Mariners whipped the Phoenix Roadrunners 6-1 for their first victory in 15 games Their last had been over the Roadrunners (5-2, Feb. 13).&ldquo;It has been hard to get up for the next game when this keeps happening.&rdquo; said Lacroix, noting that many of the San Diego defeats were by one or two goals.The Mariners blew their opponents out in putting together a three-game winning streak, Ernie Wakely&rsquo;s shutout attempt against Phoenix being spoiled when a defenseman lost the puck in front of the San Diego net at 11:43 of the third period.Rookie center Brad Rhiness scored a pair of goals in a 6-2 win over Birmingham and when Rhiness, who is suffering from late-season fatigue and has trouble keeping his weight up, was given the night off, seven different players cashed in to dump Phoenix 7-3.The victory at Phoenix gave San Diego an 8-3-2 record over their Southwest rivals this season and provided Lacroix with his 29th goal, and 12 have come against the Roadrunners.The Houston Aeros&rsquo; 4-2 victory over the Calgary Cowboys gave them a major league hockey record of 21 consecutive home-ice victories.Ron Grahame kicked aside 30 Calgary shots for his 13th consecutive victory, breaking the former record by two.Grahame had set the previous record of 11 in the 1974-75 season.Grahame had posted No. 12 against Indianapolis, 6-3, as Gordie Howe and Rich Preston led a six-goal, third-period comeback. &lsquo;In between, the Aeros became mere mortals again, falling 6-2 to the Quebec Nordiques and a four-point performance (two goals and two assists) by Real Cloutier before a standing room only crowd of 10,190 at Quebec City. &#9632;

f0030-01

Mariners Could Be Back; Runners Fade From Race

<h2>TOP GOALERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02234/3920511-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="571" height="303"></div><h2>COMPLETE GOALING RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03176/3920504-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="575" height="1225"></div> &#9632;

f0030-02

Looking At WHA Goalers

LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaSPRINGFIELD&mdash;The media and players in each of the six American Hockey League cities have begun the responsible task of selecting All Star teams, first and second, and the recipients of the Eddie Shore Plaque (outstanding defenseman award). Les Cunningham Plaque (most valuable player award) and the Dudley (Red) Garrett Trophy for rookie of the year.Each city is allowed to submit one composite ballot representing the choice of the players and another representing the picks of the newspaper, radio and TV people. Both ballots are treated equally in the accounting.Although the balloting has begun and several have been received at the AHL executive headquarters here, the official All Star teams and other awards will not be announced until the Calder Cup playoffs are complete sometime around the end of the month or early in May.The other league awards, James C. Hendy Award (executive of the year), James H. Ellery Award (media award) and the Louis A R. Pieri Award (coach of the year) are voted by the AHL board of governors at their annual meeting which is scheduled for late June in Bermuda.The remaining two awards for the leading scorer (John B. Sollenberger Award) and the goaltenders award, Harry (Hap) Holmes Trophy, obviously are selected on the basis of statistics.At this writing with only four games remaining in the regular season, three players, Eddie Johnstone of New Haven, Doug Gibson of Rochester and Andre Peloffy of Springfield, were engaged in a three-way battle for the scoring honors.Johnstone, who alternated with Gibson in the latter part of the season as the league&rsquo;s leading scorer, had a two-point edge over Gibson and the fast-charging Peloffy. Johnstone had a total of 98 points while Gibson and Peloffy each had 96.The only other player with an outside shot at the award was New Haven&rsquo;s Blake Dunlop with 93 points. Tom Colley of New Haven had 92. At one time it appeared that New Haven might end the season with three players with 100 or more points.Back to the voting Each ballot allows the players or media to select three players at each position or for each award in order of their preference.In computing the votes a player being selected first gets five points, second three points and third one point. The voters are not allowed to vote for anyone on its team or from its city.In the goaltender race, Nova Scotia&rsquo;s talented duo of Dave Elenbaas and Eddie Walsh will capture their third consecutive Holmes Trophy as the Voyageurs held a 50-goal edge over their nearest rival in the goals-against accounting going into the remaining four games.New Haven&rsquo;s Jim Harrison and Rochester&rsquo;s Jim Pettie should also get some attention from the voters. Don Edwards. who performed so well for Hershey, is not eligible for any award as he was recalled by Buffalo before the March deadline.Selecting the defensemen for the All Star teams is always the heaviest section and most complicated for the accountant. Among the leading candidates are Brian Engblom of Nova Scotia, Chuck Luksa also of Nova Scotia, Gary Geldart and John Bednarski of New Haven, Jean Lemieux of Springfield and Gilles Lupien of the Vees.Mark Suzor, the hard-shooting rookie from Springfield, Greg Fox of Nova Scotia, Al Sims of Rochester and Bob Bilodeau of Hershey already have been recognized in the early voting.Pierre Mondou of Nova Scotia, Doug Gibson of Rochester and Andre Peloffy appear to be the leading candidates for the selection at center ice but you can&rsquo;t count out Blake Dunlop and Tom Colley. The voting here should be very close as all five are among the top 10 scorers.Rochester&rsquo;s Gordie Clark, Eddie Johnstone of New Haven, Pat Hughes of Nova Soctia and Jacques Cossette have already received some votes for the right wing spot afid the voting here is also expected to be very tight.Nova Scotia rookies Rod Schutt and Peter Lee are the leading candidates at left wing along with Ron Garwasiuk of Rochester, Alex Tidey another rookie and Jerry Byers of New Haven.As for the MVP, defenseman and rookie awards, the past history of these awards will tell you that the winner is usually a selection on the first team of the All Stars and the voting will be close as usual.AHL NOTES: The players selected to the All Star teams each receive a gold (first team) or a silver (second team) pendant. There are trophies and plaques awarded to the winners of the other awards&hellip;The Players&rsquo; Association voted to abolish any monetary award to the individuals selected and instead the league contributes the cash directly to the association so that all the players receive the benefit&hellip;In order for a player to be eligible for selection to either of the All Star teams or the individual awards, he must have played in at least 48 games with an AHL team and his name must be included on the clear day listing submitted in March. For goalies, they must have played in 1920 minutes of the regular season. The only other special qualification is in the requirements for the rookie award where the player must be a first-year professional and not have played in 30 or more games in the NHL this season&hellip; At last count there were 17 players with 100 or more minutes in penalties in the AHL with Nova Scotia&rsquo;s Gilles Lupien the leader with 215. The record in one season is currently held by Dave Schultz at 392 which he collected in 76 games&hellip;Nova Scotia player Hal Phillipoff and Rochester&rsquo;s Rich Hart were each suspended by the league for their part in a bench-clearing incident late in the third period of their game on Sunday. March 27 in Rochester. Phillipoff was forced out of action for the Vees&rsquo; two remaining games. Hart, an amateur filling in due to some injuries in Rochester, was forced out of the Amerks&rsquo; last regular-season game which was in New Haven. The Vees won that penalty-filled contest (207 total), 4-2. and killed off the Amerks&rsquo; hopes of finishing second as the Nighthawks were beating Rhode Island, 2-0. the same night. Both players will be eligible for the playoffs&hellip;Hershey is bound for first place in the attendance race once again this year. Rochester will most likely finish second while New Haven, enjoying its best season at the gate, will be third. Springfield will show the greatest increase at the gate.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01271/3920580-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="549" height="681"><figcaption class="caption-body">DOUG GIBSON &hellip;Potential All Star</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02215/3920573-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="561" height="677"><figcaption class="caption-body">ED WALSH &hellip; Solid In Goal</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0031-01

Post-Season Awards Up For Grabs; Voyageur Goaling Duo Best In AHL

Seml-Finals(Best-of-seven aeries)<h2>FORT WORTH vs KANSAS CITY</h2>Fri. Apr. 8 at Fort WorthSat. Apr. 9 at Fort WorthTue. Apr. 12 at Kansas CityFri-Sat. Apr. 15-16 at Kanaaa CitySun. Apr. 17 at Kansas CityTue. Apr. 19 at Fort WorthThu. Apr. 21 at Kanaaa City<h3>TULSA vs DALLAS</h3>Fri. Apr. 8 at DallasSat. Apr. 9 at DallasWed. Apr. 13 at TulaaFri. Apr. 15 at TulaaSat. Apr. 16 at DallasTue. Apr. 19 at TulaaWed. Apr. 20 at Dallaa &#9632;

CHL Playoff Cup Dates

<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01276/3920673-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="579" height="441"></div><h2>GOALING RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02209/3920666-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="579" height="431"></div> &#9632;

f0032-01

CHL Leaders

<div class="byline">BY BILL ADLER</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaKANSAS CITY&mdash;After five frustrating years in the Central Hockey League, followed by two more disastrous seasons in the National Hockey League, the fans in Kansas City finally have just cause to celebrate. The Blues have completed their successful return to the Central Hockey League by capturing the Emory Jones Cup (symbolic of the regular-season champion) following a sweep of a pair of games in Salt Lake City on March 25-26.At the same time, the Blues tied one CHL mark with their 45th victory over Fort Worth on March 27. The record had been held by the 1970-71 Omaha Knights so that Kansas City needed only one win in its remaining three games to establish a new CHL mark for most wins in a single season and with the way in which Barclay Plager and his charges have been playing all season there seems little doubt that that record will be broken. The Blues also needed only four points in their remaining three games to top the 101 points set by that same Omaha team.At the other end of the spectrum, the Fort Worth Texans won four straight clutch games down the stretch to move into fourth place and a playoff position for the first time in three years. Some outstanding goaltending by rookie Don Cutts and some clutch scoring by rookies Richie Hansen and Mike Kaszycki provided the impetus for the Texans stretch drive.However, it would appear as if the Texans drive for third would fall short as they trailed Tulsa by five points with only four games remaining for both clubs. Such a burst would allow the Texans the opportunity to do battle with their archenemy Dallas, which has clinched the second spot.Perhaps it is just as well for coach John Choyce and the Texans for when Fort Worth defeated the Hawks 4-1 to clinch their playoff berth it marked their first victory over the Hawks in the last 11 meetings between the two clubs this season.Fort Worth will gain one distinct advantage despite finishing in fourth for the first two games of the opening round against first-place Kansas City will be played in Fort Worth since the Blues do not have their building available during the first week of the playoffs. After opening with a pair in Fort Worth, both teams will return to Kemper Arena for the middle three games of the series.The other opening round pairing would probably match the second-place Dallas Black Hawks and the defending Adams Cup champions the Tulsa Oilers. These two teams battled on even terms through their regular season play with both enjoying good success on their home ice so that the Hawks will carry a slight edge into the series thanks to their second-place finish.This would look to be a very tight checking series which could very easily be determined by the &ldquo;hot&rdquo; hand of one of the two goalies. The Hawks will rely on their number one netminder Cord McRae while Oiler coach Andy Hebenton will seek his goaltending strength in the diminutive Bruce Bullock, who sparkled in the playoffs last year as the Oilers drove to their first CHL championship in eight years.KANSAS CITY: With first place wrapped up, coach Plager now prepares for a full squad for the arduous playoffs. The Blues had cause to worry in Salt Lake City on March 25 when top goalie Yves Belanger was struck with a puck during a game with the Golden Eagles and had to be removed from the contest. However, the Montreal native is alive and well and ready for the playoffs.Detroit still holds two players who could see action for the Blues. Defenseman Jim Nahrgang and Mike Bloom were both in Detroit following emergency recalls but with the Red Wings eliminated from the NHL playoffs, both of these players could find their way back to Kansas City in time for the opening round of the Adams Cup playoffs.Injuries could slow two Blues through the early stages of the playoffs as foot injuries have hampered the play of John Smrke and Mike Korney in recent weeks but both should play when the playoffs start.FORT WORTH: Despite the victorious mood in Fort Worth with the capturing of a playoff berth, the Texans have fallen victim to some serious injuries at a very bad time of the season. Forward Russ Walker suffered a shoulder separation during a recent victory over Oklahoma City and will be sidelined for the playoffs. Veteran defenseman Ab DeMarco injured his toe when he was struck with a puck and the veteran is walking with a noticeable limp that has prevented him from skating.To fill the void the Los Angeles Kings signed Dave Taylor from Clarkson College to a amateur tryout which will allow coach Choyce to use the high-scoring leftwinger in some of the playoff games. Taylor scored his first professional goal while playing in his third game in Kansas City on March 27.Choyce has also used a couple of amateurs acquired from Muskegon during the balance of the regular season but with the playoffs in the International Hockey League set to commence it is highly doubtful if he will be able to get their services during the CHL playoffs.DALLAS: With the start of the playoffs, coach Roger Neilson still saw four of his veterans remaining with the parent clubs as center Bruce Boudreau stayed in Toronto with the Leafs for their NHL playoffs while Chicago kept Dan Hinton, Randy Holt and goalie Mike Veisor.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03147/3920611-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="529" height="673"><figcaption class="caption-body">BARCLAY PLAGER&hellip; First Year Winner</figcaption></div>Dallas has loaned Bob Volpe from Flint to back up starter Gord McRae for the balance of the year. The veteran McRae saw his 17-game unbeaten string snapped in Tulsa on March 25 when the Oilers downed the Hawks 4-3 despite a late Hawk rally. McRae holds the slimmest of leads over Kansas City goalie Yves Belanger (2.71-2.73) in the battle for the best individual goals-against average in the CHL.TULSA: A team that has averaged 4.11 goals per game should be in solid shape with the playoffs just around the corner. However, this same team has allowed 3.85 goals per game leaving very little room for error in the Tulsa situation. Coach Andy Hebenton is set to call upon vereran Bruce Bullock as the Oilers&rsquo; winless in their first six visits to Dallas this season, will have to win in Dallas if they are to regain the home-ice advantage that the Hawks have earned with their second place finish.Dan Gloor and Syd Veysey rank third and fourth respectively among all CHL scorers while both Jim Wiley and Andy Spruce have been averaging a point a game since their return from Vancouver five weeks ago. Wiley produced his first &ldquo;hat trick&rdquo; of the season in the Oilers&rsquo; easy 9-1 win over Oklahoma City on March 26.SALT LAKE CITY: Almost fitting for the end of the season for the troubled Golden Eagles but goalie Larry Hendrick best typifies the year&rsquo;s experience in Salt Lake City.Hendrick, an outstanding second year goaltending prospect, separated his shoulder during the exhibition season forcing him him to the sideline for eight weeks. After returning to action Hendrick was the hottest goalie in the league at one stage but then fell into a slump that saw him winless in eleven starts. Finally in a game against Kansas City on March 26th Hendrick fell hard to the ice in the opening minutes of the game and tom some ligaments in his knee which finally ended the frustrating year.OKLAHOMA CITY: If nothing else the last three games of the season should provide a great deal of excitement in Oklahoma City as the Blazers were approaching a couple of team records and center Steve West took dead aim on becoming the CHL&rsquo;s second highest single season point producer.With three games remaining the Blazers needed to allow only one goal to top the mark of 396 goals-against in a single season. &#9632;

f0032-03

Blues End K.C. Frustrations By Winning Title

<h2>ONTARIO MAJOR LEAGUE</h2>(Final Standings)<h3>EMMS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01246/3920816-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="589" height="377"></div><h2>PLAYOFF GAMES</h2>Quarter-Fianls<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02190/3920809-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="585" height="89"></div>(Windsor wins six-point sorios 6-0)<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Windsor, 6, Kitchener 3Windsor 5, Kitchsnsr 4Windsor 8, Kitchsnsr 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03144/3920802-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="585" height="83"></div>(Sault wins six-point ssriss 6-2)<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Sault Sts. Mario 6, Peterborough 1Sault Sts. Maris 8, Peterborough 5Peterborough 4, Sault Sts. Maris 2Sault Sts. Marie 7, Peterborough 5<h2>PLAYOFF GAMES</h2>Saml-Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04117/3920795-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="577" height="83"></div>(London wins sight-point sorios 9-3)<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>London 3, Toronto 2London 5, Toronto 4London 2, Toronto 2London 5, Toronto 3London 3, Toronto 0<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0593/3920788-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="573" height="85"></div>(Kingston wins sight-point series 9-3)<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Kingston 6, Sudbury 4Kingston 8, Sudbury 4Kingston 5, Sudbury 3Sudbury 1, Kingston 1Sudbury 4, Kingston 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0674/3920781-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="567" height="85"></div>(Ottawa wins sight-point sorios 9-1)<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Ottawa 7, Sault Sts. Maris 3Ottawa 4, Sault Sts. Marie 4Ottawa 5, Sault Sts. Marie 1Ottawa 8, Sault Sts. Mario 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0765/3920774-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="579" height="89"></div>(St Catharines loads sight-point serios 6-4)<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>St. Catharines 5, Windsor 1Windsor 8, St. Catharines 6St. Catharines 6, Windsor 2Windsor 5, St. Catharines 4<h2>WESTERN CANADA LEAGUE</h2>(Final Standings)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0856/3920767-1-eng-US/f0033-082.jpg" title="f0033-08" width="583" height="511"></div><h3>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0947/3920760-1-eng-US/f0033-092.jpg" title="f0033-09" width="573" height="301"></div><h3>TOP TEN GOALERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1043/3920753-1-eng-US/f0033-102.jpg" title="f0033-10" width="595" height="295"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Mon. March 21Victoria 2 at Kamloops 4Tue. March 22Now Westminster 5 at Portland 3Lethbridge 3 at Medicine Hat 5Winnipeg 0 at Kamloops 1Wed. March 23Regina 1 at Lethbridge 5Medicine Hat 1 at Calgary 8Flin Flon 1 at Brandon 9Victoria 4 at Now Westminster 8Thu., March 24Flin Flon 2 at Winnipeg 9Fri., March 25Regina 10 at Calgary 11Flin Flon 4 at Brandon 8Victoria 1 at Kamloops 9<h2>QUEBEC MAJOR LEAGUE</h2>(Revised Final Standings)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1141/3920746-1-eng-US/f0033-112.jpg" title="f0033-11" width="581" height="439"></div><h2>PLAYOFF GAMES</h2>Quarter-Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1240/3920739-1-eng-US/f0033-122.jpg" title="f0033-12" width="573" height="87"></div>(Quebec wins eight-point series 8-0)<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Quebec 6, Hull 4Quebec 4, Hull 3Quebec 8, Hull 3Quebec 3, Hull 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1329/3920732-1-eng-US/f0033-132.jpg" title="f0033-13" width="579" height="87"></div>(Montreal loads eight-point sorios 7-1)<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Montreal 4, Chicoutimi 4Montreal 6, Chicoutimi 2Montreal 5, Chicoutimi 3Montreal 10, Chicoutimi 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1426/3920725-1-eng-US/f0033-142.jpg" title="f0033-14" width="569" height="91"></div>(Eight-point series tied 6-6)<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Sherbrooke 10, Laval 1Sherbrooke 4, Laval 2<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Laval 4, Sherbrooke 3Laval 7, Sherbrooke 4Sherbrooke 5, Laval 0Laval 3, Sherbrooke 0<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1522/3920718-1-eng-US/f0033-152.jpg" title="f0033-15" width="565" height="85"></div>(Cornwall wins eight-point series 8-4)<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Trois-Rivieres 6. Cornwall 1Cornwall 6, Trois-Rivieres 2Trois-Rivieres 5, Cornwall 3Cornwall 3, Trois-Rivieres 2Cornwall 5, Trois-Rivieres 4Cornwall 5, Trois-Rivieres 3<h2>WESTERN INTERNATIONAL</h2>Semi-Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1617/3920711-1-eng-US/f0033-162.jpg" title="f0033-16" width="573" height="89"></div>(Kimberley wins best-of-seven series 4-2)<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Kimberley 7, Nelson 6Kimberley 5, Nelson 2Nelson 6, Kimberley 1Nelson 7, Kimberley 4Kimberley 9, Nelson 2Kimberley 5, Nelson 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1717/3920704-1-eng-US/f0033-172.jpg" title="f0033-17" width="581" height="83"></div>(Spokane wins best-of-seven series 4-3)<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Spokane 9, Canbrook 6Spokane 5, Canbrook 4Cranbrook 4, Spokane 3Spokane 4, Cranbrook 2Spokane 5, Cranbrook 1 &#9632;

f0033-01

Looking At The Races

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>(Final Standings)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1815/3920966-1-eng-US/f0033-182.jpg" title="f0033-18" width="561" height="197"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. March 29Nova Scotia 5 at Rhode Island 3Wed. March 30Rochester 4 at New Haven 3Hershey 3 at Nova Scotia 4Rhode Island 2 at Springfield 4<h3>PLAYOFF GAMES</h3>Semi-Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1913/3920959-1-eng-US/f0033-192.jpg" title="f0033-19" width="565" height="83"></div>(Nova Scotia loads best-of-seven series 1-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. April 3Hershey 4 at Nova Scotia 7<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tue. April 5Hershey at Nova ScotiaWed. April 6Nova Scotia at HersheySat. April 9Nova Scotia at HersheySun. April 10Hershey at Nova ScotiaTue. April 12Nova Scotia at HersheyThu. April 14Hershey at Nova Scotia<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-2013/3920952-1-eng-US/f0033-202.jpg" title="f0033-20" width="561" height="81"></div>(Now Haven loads best-of-seven sorios 2-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 2Rochester 1 at Now Haven 2Sun. April 3Now Haven at Rochester 1<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Wed. April 6Rochester at Now HavenFri. April 8Now Haven at RochesterSat. April 9Rochester at Now HavenSun. April 10New Haven at RochesterWed. April 13Rochester at New Haven<h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>(Final Standings)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-2112/3920945-1-eng-US/f0033-212.jpg" title="f0033-21" width="577" height="369"></div><h3>PLAYOFF GAMES</h3>Quarter-Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-2210/3920938-1-eng-US/f0033-222.jpg" title="f0033-22" width="525" height="93"></div>(Muskegon loads bost-of-sevon series 2-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 1Muskegon 1 at Saginaw 3Sat. April 2Saginaw 2 at Muskegon 5Sun. April 3Muskegon 3 at Saginaw 2<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Wed. April 6Saginaw at MuskegonFri. April 8Muskegon at SaginawSat. April 9Saginaw at MuskegonWed. April 13Muskegon at Saginaw<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-236/3920931-1-eng-US/f0033-232.jpg" title="f0033-23" width="527" height="87"></div>(Columbus loads best-of-seven series 1-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. March 29Columbus 2 at Toledo 1<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Tue. April 5Columbus at ToledoWed. April 6Columbus at ToledoFri. April 8Toledo at ColumbusSat. April 9Columbus at ToledoSun. April 10Toledo at ColumbusTue. April 12Columbus at Toledo<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-246/3920924-1-eng-US/f0033-242.jpg" title="f0033-24" width="525" height="83"></div>(Kalamazoo leads best-of-seven series 3-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 1Flint 5 at Kalamazoo 8Sat. April 2Kalamazoo 3 at Flint 2Sun. April 3Flint 3 at Kalamazoo 10<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Wed. April 6Kalamazoo at FlintFri. April 8Flint at KalamazooSat. April 9Kalamazoo at FlintTue. April 12Flint at Kalamazoo<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-256/3920917-1-eng-US/f0033-252.jpg" title="f0033-25" width="535" height="92"></div>(Fort Wayne leads best-of-seven series 2-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 2Fort Wayne 5 at Dayton 3Sun. April 3Dayton 1 at Fort Wayne 7<h3>GAMES TO COME</h3>Wed. April 6Fort Wayne at DaytonSat. April 9Dayton at Fort WayneSun. April 10Fort Wayne at DaytonMon. April 11Dayton at Fort WayneWed. April 13Fort Wayne at Dayton<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>(Final Standings)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-265/3920910-1-eng-US/f0033-262.jpg" title="f0033-26" width="588" height="190"></div>Mon. March 28Tulsa 4 at Salt Lake 0Wed. March 30Oklahoma City 1 at Fort Worth 9Dallas 3 at Kansas City 3Tulsa 3 at Salt Lake 3Fri. April 1Kansas City 4 at Oklahoma City 1Dallas 2 at Salt Lake 3Fort Worth 4 at Tulsa 4Sat. April 2Tulsa 7 at Dallas 5Kansas City 2 at Fort Worth 5Sale Lake 7 at Oklahoma City 2Sun. April 3Forth Worth 5 at Dallas 5<h2>NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>(Final Standings)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-275/3920903-1-eng-US/f0033-272.jpg" title="f0033-27" width="577" height="239"></div>(&lsquo;Suspended Operations)<h3>PLAYOFF GAMES</h3>Quarter-Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-284/3920896-1-eng-US/f0033-282.jpg" title="f0033-28" width="577" height="87"></div>(Maine wina beat-of-five series 3-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. March 20Johnstown 3 at Maine 7Fri. March 18Johnstown 1 at Maine 6Sun. March 20Johnstown 3 at Maine 7Tue. March 22Maine 6 at Johnstown 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-294/3920889-1-eng-US/f0033-292.jpg" title="f0033-29" width="581" height="79"></div>(Binghamton wins best-of-five series 3-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. March 19Mohawk Valley 3 at Binghamton 6Sun. March 20Binghamton 2 at Mohawk Valley 4Tue. March 22Mohawk Valley 1 at Binghamton 5Thu. March 24Binghamton 4 at Mohawk Valley 6Fri. March 25Mohawk Valley 2 at Binghamton 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-304/3920882-1-eng-US/f0033-302.jpg" title="f0033-30" width="583" height="87"></div>(Erie wins best-of-five series 3-1)GAMES COMPLETEDTue. March 22Erie 6 at Philadelphia 5Wed. March 23Philadelphia 1 at Erie 4Sat. March 19Erie 3 at Philadelphia 4Sun. March 20Philadelphia 4 at Erie 5FinalsSYRACUSE vs MAINETue. April 5Maine at SyracuseThu. April 7Maine at SyracuseSat. April 9Syracuse at MaineSun. April 10Syracuse at MaineTue. April 12Maine at SyracuseThu. April 14Syracuse at MaineSat. April 16Maine at Syracuse<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-314/3920875-1-eng-US/f0033-312.jpg" title="f0033-31" width="519" height="83"></div>(Syracuse wins best-of-seven series 4-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. March 26Erie 3 at Syracuse 8Sun. March 27Erie 4 at Syracuse 6Tue. March 29Syracuse 1 at Erie 6Fri. April 1Syracuse 5 at Erie 4Sat. April 2Erie 2 at Syracuse 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-324/3920868-1-eng-US/f0033-322.jpg" title="f0033-32" width="531" height="83"></div>(Maine wins best-of-seven series 4-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. March 27Binghamton 2 at Maine 4Mon. March 28Binghamton 0 at Maine 5Wed. March 30Maine 5 at Binghamton 2Thu. March 31Maine 4 at Binghamton 9Sat. April 2Binghamton 6 at Maine 8<h2>UNITED STATES LEAGUE</h2>Final Standings<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-334/3920861-1-eng-US/f0033-332.jpg" title="f0033-33" width="577" height="267"></div><h3>PLAYOFF GAMES</h3>Semi-Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-344/3920854-1-eng-US/f0033-342.jpg" title="f0033-34" width="525" height="87"></div>(Grand Rapids wine best-of-five series 3-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. March 18Sioux City 4 at Grand Rapids 8Sat. March 19Grand Rapids 2 at Sioux Ci*y 5Sun. March 20Grand Rapids 3 at Sioux City 7Fri. March 25Sioux City 2 at Grand Rapids 10 Sat. March 26Sioux City 1 at Grand Rapids 9<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-354/3920847-1-eng-US/f0033-352.jpg" title="f0033-35" width="521" height="89"></div>(Milwaukee wins best-of-five series 2-0 with two ties)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. March 19Green Bay 2 at Milwaukee 4Wed. March 23Green Bay 2 at Milwaukee 8Fri. March 25Milwaukee 3 at Green Bay 3Sat. March 26Milwaukee 2 at Green Bay 2<h2>Who They&rsquo;re Affiliated With&hellip;</h2><h3>NHL TEAMS</h3>1&mdash;Montreal2&mdash;Detroit3&mdash;Boston4&mdash; Rangers5&mdash;Chicago6&mdash;Toronto7&mdash;LOS Angeles8&mdash;Pittsburgh9&mdash;Cleveland10&mdash;Philadelphia11&mdash;Minnesota12&mdash;St Louis13&mdash;Vancouver14&mdash;Buffalo15&mdash;islanders16&mdash;Atlanta17&mdash;Colorado18&mdash;Washington<h3>WHA TEAMS</h3>19&mdash;Cincinnati21&mdash;Birmingham22&mdash;Quebec23&mdash;Edmonton24&mdash;Houston25&mdash;Indianapolis27&mdash;New England28&mdash;Phoenix29&mdash;Winnipeg30&mdash;San Diego &#9632;

f0033-18

Minor League Scoreboard

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaDENNIS DESROSIERS &hellip; Gears&rsquo; Top SniperPORT HURON&mdash;The lineup is set&mdash;but not the batting order As the International Hockey League approached its final three-game weekend of the regular season, the overall season championship was still a three-team race and the only certainty about the post-season playoffs was Muskegon would finish fourth in the North Division and Port Huron would be the only team in the nine-member league which did not get an invitation to the playoffs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01268/3920997-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="550" height="682"><figcaption class="caption-body">DENNIS DESROSIERS&hellip; Gears&rsquo; Top Sniper</figcaption></div>The Flags will bow out of the 1976-77 picture when they close the regular season at Dayton. The Flags tumbled from playoff contention during a five-game losing streak. The most painful loss was an 8-6 setback in Saginaw, a game which saw the Flags hold a 5-2 lead at one time.Subsequently, the Flags dropped two straight home games and really hit the skids on a two-game road trip to Flint and Toledo. Flint blanked the Flags, 11-0, and Toledo administered a second straight whitewashing, 8-0.The losing string made it mathematically impossible for the Flags to catch Fort Wayne, currently skating fourth in the South but with the potential to climb higher before the regular season comes to a halt on March 27.While the Flags bowed out, competition for playoff positions in both divisions remained tight with the final standings quite likely to hinge on the final games of the season.Saginaw appears to have the inside track for the North Devision championship. The Gears headed into the final weekend with a two-point lead over second-place Kalamazoo. And the Gears have the more favorable schedule. Of the final three. Saginaw plays two at home The home dates are with Columbus and Flint. The final road test is at Flint.On a team basis, the Gears have tied a league record with nine 20-goal scorers. Dennis Desrosiers leads with 45, followed by Paul Evans, 44, Dave Westner, 32, Rick Chinnick, 25, Wayne Zuk, 24. D&rsquo;Arcy Ryan. 24, Marcel Comeau, 23, Stu Irving and Mike Ruest, 22 each.Kalamazoo, which is 3-0-1 over its last four games, has all three of its final games on the road. The K-Wings are at Flint. Muskegon and Toledo.While Flint can&rsquo;t catch Saginaw, the Generals could tie Kalamazoo for second by sweeping their final three games, two of which are at home. But the three games are tough&mdash;two with Saginaw and one with Kalamazoo. Should the Generals manage to tie Kalamazoo, the Generals have an edge in goals scored, 333-310 at this point in time.Muskegon has qualified for the Turner Cup playoffs for the 13th time in its 17year history. The Mohawks are solidly entrenched in fourth position and will stay there. The only doubt about their post-season activity is which team the Mohawks will open against. The playoff format will match the first and fourthplace teams; and the second and third in each division.Muskegon still has some individual goals within reach, however Three of the Mohawk rookies are leading candidates for the IHL&rsquo;s rookie of the year award. Should one of the three win the prize, it would be the first Muskegon rookie to win the honor since Glenn Resch was so honored after the 1971-72 seasonThe three hot rookies are center Garth MacGuigan, who is second in the league in goals scored with 51; right wing Yvon Vautour, who has 42 goals; and defenseman Mike Hordy.Toledo has iced the South Division title&mdash;first regular season championship ever for manager-coach Ted Garvin and the first for Toledo in 13 years. But the Goaldiggers would like to add the overall league title&mdash;and the accompanying Huber Trophy&mdash;to the list of season accomplishments.The Diggers head into the final weekend three points behind overall leader Saginaw. Both of the Diggers&rsquo; final games are at home Fort Wayne provides the opposition in one and Kalamazoo&mdash;one of the rivals for the over-all title&mdash;closes the season in Toledo.Dave Johnson continues to lead Toledo&mdash;and the league&mdash;in goals with 59. He is virtually assured of becoming the first Toledo player in the team&rsquo;s 28year history to win the goal-scoring championship.As a team, Toledo also has set a goalscoring record. Toledo now has 299 goals. The old record was 297.While Toledo has clinched the No. 1 spot in the South, second, third and fourth are still up for grabs. Any of the other three clubs&mdash;Fort Wayne, Columbus or Dayton&mdash;could still finish second.The Gems look like the best bet. Going into the final weekend, the Gems hold a three-point lead over both Fort Wayne and Columbus, currently sharing third. The Gems have two games left, one at home and one on the road. The road test is at Fort Wayne and a victory here would knock out the Komets as a challenger for the runner-up spot. Dayton ends its season with Port Huron, a team which has been outscored 19-0 in its last two outings.Columbus appears in the most danger of falling to the bottom which would mean opening against Toledo The Owls have three games on the final weekend, all on the road. Columbus plays at Saginaw, Port Huron finishes in Fort Wayne in a game which just might decide the final resting place for each Of the three teams vying for the runner-up spot in the South, Fort Wayne is the only team which still has absolute control of its own destiny. Should the Komets sweep their final three games, they would finish with 86 points, more than either Dayton or Columbus would accumulate with such an ending.Winning the final three won&rsquo;t be easy. &#9632;

f0034-01

Battle For Playoff Positions Tight; Five-Game Losing Streak Ousts Flags

FINAL SCORING LEADERS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02212/3921112-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="591" height="511"></div>SCORING BY TEAMS<h2>COLUMBUS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03160/3921105-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="587" height="461"></div><h2>DAYTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04105/3921098-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="585" height="457"></div><h2>FLINT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0567/3921091-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="585" height="515"></div><h2>FORT WAYNE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0644/3921084-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="583" height="139"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0738/3921077-1-eng-US/f0034-072.jpg" title="f0034-07" width="595" height="323"></div><h2>KALAMAZOO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0833/3921070-1-eng-US/f0034-082.jpg" title="f0034-08" width="591" height="485"></div><h2>MUSKEGON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0923/3921063-1-eng-US/f0034-092.jpg" title="f0034-09" width="587" height="459"></div><h2>PORT HURON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1021/3921056-1-eng-US/f0034-102.jpg" title="f0034-10" width="589" height="457"></div><h2>SAGINAW</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1118/3921049-1-eng-US/f0034-112.jpg" title="f0034-11" width="589" height="407"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1217/3921042-1-eng-US/f0034-122.jpg" title="f0034-12" width="595" height="65"></div><h2>TOLEDO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1312/3921035-1-eng-US/f0034-132.jpg" title="f0034-13" width="595" height="463"></div><h2>FINAL GOALING RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-149/3921028-1-eng-US/f0034-142.jpg" title="f0034-14" width="579" height="541"></div> &#9632;

f0034-02

Final IHL Scoring

<div class="byline">BY MIKE LYNCH</div>KIMBERLEY&mdash;With the end of the first round of the British Columbia playoffs in sight, hockey experts in the Pacific Northwest were picking Spokane and Kimberley to play in the finals for the Savage Cup.In the four-team action involving Western International League clubs champion Kimberley took on fourthplace Nelson while second-place Cranbrook was opposed by Spokane the third-place club during the regular seasonAfter five games Kimberley held a 3-2 lead over the Maple Leafs as each team won on its own ice. Apparently a &ldquo;homer&rdquo; series, this one figured to go seven games with the Dynamiters emerging with the victory.The series was obviously loosely played. In the opener on home ice, for example, the Dynamiters blew a 6-1 lead and had to surge for a 7-6 win. Nelson&rsquo;s wins have been by 6-1 and 74 while Kimberley won the fifth game by 9-2.The playoffs began with free-scoring in both series, but emphatically so in the Kimberley Nelson set with 48 total goals counted in the first five games.The set between Spokane and Cranbrook started out the same way with Spokane winning the opener in Cranbrook by 9-6. Ernie Gare, Spokane&rsquo;s leading goal-scorer in the regular season, scored a hat trick in that one. Derek Spring earned a pair oof goals.(Ernie Gare&rsquo;s brother Danny is the Buffalo star in the NHL, while Derek&rsquo;s brothers played in the WHA with Edmonton (Dan) and in the NHL with Cleveland (Frank). The Gares are from Nelson, the Springs from Cranbrook. also the home of the Murdoch brothers.)However, after the wild opener in which Spokane broke Cranbrook&rsquo;s home ice advantage, the series became somewhat more like playoff hockey with more careful checking and tighter scoring.Spokane won the second game 5-4 as Don Borgeson scored the gamewinner with the Flyers penaltyskating midway in the seconf period. Cranbrook won at home by coming back from a 3-2 deficit in the third period en route to a 4-3 overtime win on Joe Mutch&rsquo;s goal.In the key fourth game, with Cranbrook struggling with a 2-2 series tie in mind, Spokane dominated almost from the outset as Cranbrook&rsquo;s league All Star goalie Leo Karchie starred.Spokane&rsquo;s Gare scored on a rebound just 23 seconds into the game but that&rsquo;s the way the first period ended. 1-0, as Karchie made 20 saves. He eventually blocked 55 shots as Spokane won 4-2. Nels Venerus scored twice in that one. &#9632;

The WIHL Scene

<div class="byline">BY BRUCE PENTON</div>Western Canada Hockey LeagueFLIN FLON&mdash;Coach and general manager Mickey Keating of Flin Flon Bombers talks about &ldquo;next year&rdquo; in hopeful terms.For all he knows right now. the Bombers might not be part of the Western Canada Hockey League structure when the 1977-78 season gets under way this October.&ldquo;I hope they give us one more reprieve,&rdquo; said Keating as the 1976-77 season was drawing to a close. &ldquo;We&rsquo;11 have a legitimate team next year.&rdquo;Keating isn&rsquo;t stupid. Nor is he deaf. He has heard the rumors most of this season, one which started with the Bombers securely locked in a playoff spot, but ended with Flin Flon out due to legislation which restructured the playoff format.&ldquo;That playoff thing is water under the bridge,&rdquo; Keating said. &ldquo;But as for kicking us out of the league, I hope they reconsider. I know they want to, but Flin Flon has always paid its bills.&ldquo;In this day and age where hockey teams are losing money at every turn, and can&rsquo;t meet payments, here we are&mdash;we haven&rsquo;t stiffed anyone for a legitimate bill&mdash;and they&rsquo;re wanting to kick us out of the league.&rdquo;Unofficial reasons given by league officials (everything is hearsay regarding the Bomber situation. WCHL executives are tight-lipped when they speak &lsquo;on the record&rsquo;) is that Flin Flon is geographically ill-suited to the other league centres. They say it costs too much money to make the trek to the northern Manitoba community. Another excuse is that the Bomber on-ice product has deteriorated in recent years and that while Bomber teams of bygone eras were great road attractions (people loved to hate the likes of Bobby Clarke. Patty Ginnell, Reg Leach, Gene Carr, Jack Mcllhargey, (etc.), they no longer draw great crowds in visiting rinks.&ldquo;Legally, they can&rsquo;t kick us out,&rdquo; said Keating. &ldquo;But people in Flin Flon know very well about the infamous Clear Lake Massacre of 1964.&rdquo;Keating says that the Bombers were booted out of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League during a summer league meeting in Clear Lake, Man., back in &lsquo;64.&ldquo;What they did was disband the league and then invited every one else&mdash;except Flin Flon&mdash;to form a new league.&ldquo;They could do it again.&rdquo;Meanwhile, Keating says he will attend all WCHL meetings in the near future and stand &ldquo;with my back to the wall.&rdquo;&ldquo;I got knifed once, with the playoff thing. I don&rsquo;t want it to happen again.&rdquo;WINNIPEG: The Monarchs returned from a semi-successful Western swing to batter Flin Flon 9-2 and establish a team record for points in one season (67). Superstar defenseman Kevin McCarthy added two assists to give him 97, as he threatened to hit the 100 mark, which would be a never-before-attained level for a WCHL defenseman. Out west, Bombers got a pair of ties with New Westminster. Winnipeg is the only team not to lose a game all season to the Western powers. A 16-4 shellacking in Portland was the low point of the trip, and a 1-0 trip-ending defeat in Kamloops was the most disheartening. Winger Tom Roulston went over the 100-point mark and broke the Winnipeg team record of 50 goals, jointly held by Kelly Greenbank and Wayne Chernecki. Roulston now has 53.BRANDON: It was record week in Brandon. The Wheat Kings beat Flin Flon 9-1 and 8-4 to run their unbeaten streak to 16 games and break the one-season point record of 112. set last year by New Westminster. With one game left. Brandon has 114 points. As well, 18-year-old center Bill Derlago scored his 90th, 91st and 92nd goals of the year to break the existing league mark of 90, set by former Wheat King Ron Chipperfield.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01258/3921167-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="567" height="1143"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOM ROULSTON &hellip; Breaks Goal Record</figcaption></div>REGINA: The Pats went from goalfamine to goal-feast in consecutive road games, but lost them both, 5-1 in Lethbridge and 11-10 in Calgary. Gerry Minor had four goals against Calgary, giving him 21 for the year. The Pats, who now have guaranteed that they will be the least-winning team in WCHL history, also lost twice in Flin Flon, 8-4 and 7-3,despite rookie Dirk Graham&rsquo;s 35th goal in the latter game.SASKATOON: The Blades lost a crucial home-and-home doubleheader to Medicine Hat, ensuring the Tigers homeice advantage should they meet (which is likely) in the second round of playoffs. Both games finished 6-3. &ldquo;If we don&rsquo;t do something (to improve), it&rsquo;s going to be a short season.&rdquo; said coach Jackie McLeod, who has experimented with newcomer Dave King as an assistant coach in recent games.MEDICINE HAT: General manager Jack Shupe was quoted as saying new coach Jim McCrimmon, who replaced Shupe as Tiger bench boss Feb. 27 in a move which caught Shupe unawares, was not &ldquo;panning out too well,&rdquo; and hinted a change might be forthcoming. In any event, McCrimmon guided the Tigers to a pair of 6-3 wins over Saskatoon and a 5-3 victory over Lethbridge which clinched the Central Division pennant. Later. Tigers were whipped 8-1 by Calgary in a game which ensured that Medicine Hat would play Calgary in the playoff&rsquo;s first round.CALGARY: The Centennials clinched a playoff berth by battering Medicine Hat 8-1 at the Corral in Calgary. Gary Rissling and Mike Toal led the way with two goals apiece and Doug Buchanan, the team&rsquo;s assist leader since Christmas, set up three goals.LETHBRIDGE: Without high-scoring Steve Tambellini, out with a broken jaw but expected back for the playoffs, goals were at a premium for coach Howie Yanosik and the Broncos. Finishing off a Western swing, Broncos tied Victoria 3-3 and were blanked 7-0 in Portland.PORTLAND: The Winter Hawks pounded Winnipeg 16-4. as Wayne Babych fired four goals and rookie George Buat got three, his first talliessince Jan. 23. Dave Hoyda also fired a hat trick. But they should have saved some of the excess offense for three nights later, when New West came in and walked off with a 5-3 (empty-net goal) victory.KAMLOOPS: The Chiefs, gearing for the tight hockey coach Harvey Roy demands for the playoffs, gave up just three goals in as many games and won all three. The closest was a 1-0 win over Winnipeg, as Ryan Walter&rsquo;s 39th goal of the year, scored short-handed, decided the issue. Brian Henderson recorded the shutout. The other two wins were over last-place Victoria, 4-2 and 9-1, as 11 players shared the goals.NEW WESTMINSTER: The Bruins were unbeaten in 16 games heading into the final week of the regular season. Bruce Andres&rsquo; 20th goal helped in a 2-2 tie with Winnipeg, and Stan Smyl&rsquo;s goal into an empty net locked up a 5-3 win over arch-rival Portland. Later. Ray Creasy&rsquo;s 30th goal helped the Bruins dump Victoria 8-4.VICTORIA: A six-game winless streak locked up last place for the Cougars, as the other three Western Division teams were all over 500 on the year. Paul Enquist scored his 40th goal of the year in a 4-2 loss at Kamloops, but the Cougars were completely out-classed in a rematch, this time losing 9-1. Flashy rookie Geordie Robertson and veteran Curt Fraser sparked a 3-3 tie with Lethbridge by each getting a goal and an assist. &#9632;

f0035-01

Bombers Future In WCHL Uncertain; Brandon Breaks Season Point Mark

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE JAWORSKI</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;As the North American Hockey League heads into its final weeks of the season, it&rsquo;s time to look at more than the battle for the Lockhart Cup.Last month&rsquo;s announcement of the All Star teams was only chapter one of players being rewarded for their hard work throughout the season.Chapter two will occur at the annual league meeting in May. and that means selection of a most valuable player, outstanding defenseman, Len Gagnon Memorial Trophy winner (the player who best combines ability with sportsmanlike conduct) and the general manager of the year. That last award is the only one which carries any monetary reward The recipient receives $500.It&rsquo;s not known why the NAHL waits until after the playoffs to make these awards, but it&rsquo;s clear that in a close battle, post-season performances could have a tremendous bearing. And the longer a team lasts, the better off a player is.The last two seasons, two current Binghamton Dusters have been named MVP, Joe Hardy and Rod Bloomfield. Both were on Lockhart Cup losers, so that shoots down thoughts that this year&rsquo;s pick has to come from the league champion.Indeed, the likeliest candidates come from underdogs in the playoffs if you agree that league-champion Syracuse is the team to beat.Duster captain Bloomfield certainly has the inside track on winning his second MVP award. He was the runaway league scoring champion with 173 points. 46 more than his closest pursuer. It is hard to fathom another forward in the league getting the MVP award, unless Syracuse&rsquo;s Bernie Johnston. Jim Cowell or Tom Milani have an absolutely tremendous playoff&mdash;which Bloomfield isn&rsquo;t having so far.Bloomfield hurt his right elbow during the first game of the Mohawk Valley quarter-final series. You knew he was hurt because he went goal-less and had three assists in five games.His chief competition will most likely come from Erie goalie Lynn Zimmerman His chances of winning league MVP would escalate if the Blades could upset Syracuse in the semis.The 34-year-old veteran appeared in an incredible 60 games for Erie, setting new league records for games played, minutes played and games won, 32. If there were two players whose team&rsquo;s fortunes truly rose and fell on their performances, it would be Bloomfield and Zimmerman.Both were named to the first All Star team, but in the past that didn&rsquo;t have any bearing when Bloomfield won the award in 1975. He led all playoff scoring, and though he finished tied with Philadelphia&rsquo;s Bob Collyard for the second All Star team, he was given the MVP nod.Outstanding defenseman should be a real battle as was the voting for the All Star team where Gerry Methe of the Dusters and Jim Marsh of the Blazers won out. You&rsquo;d again expect these players to be highly rated, along with Blazer blueliner Gary Sittier, who scored the winning goal in the second playoff game against the Blacks, a 6-4 win for a 2-0 series edge.But. again reflecting on past habits, Jim Cardiff of Johnstown won the award last season, and Methe, while playing for Cape Cod, got it the year before&mdash;and neither team made it to the finals.You look at the lack of penalty minutes when you look at the Len Gagnon Memorial Trophy candidates, and two prime prospects are Syracuse&rsquo;s Milani&mdash;the league&rsquo;s rookie of the year as well as first team All Star right winger. Another is also a right wing. Duster Pierre Laganiere who missed All Star recognition though he finished third in league scoring with 126 points. Each had only one fighting major during the regular season. Milani accumulating only 15 penalty minutes and Laganiere, a former AHL All Star, 21. In the series with Mohawk Valley, Laganiere led all scorers with seven goals and four assists.Of course, there are others to be considered: Syracuse&rsquo;s leading scorer Johnston didn&rsquo;t make either All Star team though he had 124 points. His 42 PIMs may be a little too high, though. Philadelphia right winger Gord Brooks had 37 PIMs, 65 goals and 123 points to lead the team. John Cunniff led Maine with 29 goals and 64 assists and only had 23 minutes, and could leave a lasting imprint on the voters&rsquo; minds should the Nordiques win the Lockhart Cup. The highest scorer with the fewest penalties, nine minutes, was Mohawk Valley&rsquo;s Frank Hamill with 37 goals and 49 assists.That brings us to the final category. GM of the year where there&rsquo;s a three-way race.Syracuse&rsquo;s manager-coach Dan Belisle has to be considered, though for the second straight season, he was selected coach of the year. But has Belisle proven he can find the talent or develop it?Therefore, it would appear the battle would be between Maine&rsquo;s Maurice Ducharme whose team wound up second and the Binghamton Dusters. Just because the Dusters, who finished a point back of Maine, don&rsquo;t have a GM se, don&rsquo;t think they wouldn&rsquo;t accept the honor. Coach Larry Kish and business manager Paul Brown handle the affairs of the Dusters.Both the Dusters and Ducharme are deserving, as both finished in last place in their respective divisions last season and came on this year to end up third and second respectively.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think the playoffs have anything to do with it,&rdquo; said NAHL commissioner Jack Timmins of the voting of these post-playoff awards. And indeed, for the last two seasons, not one player from the Lockhart Cup champs has been given one of the above-discussed awards.It could change, and it should if there&rsquo;s good reason.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01234/3921198-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="536" height="752"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOM MILANI &hellip; Possible Winner</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0036-01

Bloomfield, Zimmerman Locked In MVP Battle

<div class="byline">BY GARY McCarthy</div>MONTREAL&mdash;Two quarter-final series have already been decided, another is one point away from deciding a winner and the fourth series is going down to the wire in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01208/3921229-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="553" height="600"><figcaption class="caption-body">MICHEL BOSSY &hellip; Helps Ice Win</figcaption></div>The Quebec Remparts, over-all winners of the regular-season championship this year after the Sherbrooke Beavers were demoted in the standings for using an ineligible player, eliminated the Hull Olympics in four straight games to claim their quarter-final series.The Remparts captured the series with a 3-2 victory against the Olympics in Hull last Friday night.Eddy Godin, who came on strong in the individual scoring race in the second half of the regular season, was the scoring star for the Remparts in the series.In the four games, Godin scored four goals and had an equal number of assists.The Cornwall Royals, who battled the Beavers for first place in their own division most of the season, disposed of the Trois-Rivieres Draveurs eight points to four in the eight-point series between the two clubs.The Royals won the series with a convincing 5-3 home-ice victory last Friday night. Charles MacGregor was the top scorer for the Royals in the series with five goals and four assists. Jim Conroy had three goals and five assists.Perhaps the biggest surprise in the league playoffs were the two remaining series&mdash;Montreal against Chicoutimi and Sherbrooke against Laval.The Montreal Juniors, who finished 28 points behind the second-place Chicoutimi Sagueneens in the standings during the regular season, were one point away from ousting the Sagueneens from further playoff competition.The Juniors, playing before a hometown crowd of 8,986, walloped the Sagueneens 10-1 Sunday night to take a 71 lead in points in the eight-point series.Francois Bouchard scored three goals to lead the Montreal rout and give the Juniors a commanding lead in the series.&ldquo;I think everybody will have to take us seriously now,&rdquo; Bouchard said after the game.Normand Dupont, the star left winger of the Juniors, also scored three goals while Richard Suwek had two and Kevin Reeves and Pierre Daigneault added one apiece.The Chicoutimi goal came late in the third period from the stick of Daniel Poulin&ldquo;It&rsquo;s too bad that Robbie Holland lost his shutout,&rdquo; said Dupont. &ldquo;He really held us in the game in the first period.&rdquo;Montreal outshot the Sagueneens 41-21 in the game. Thirty of the 41 shots came in the final two periods.The Sagueneens had to play with backup goaltender Sam St. Laurent in the nets against Montreal in that game.All Star netminder Jean Belisle was injured in the pre-game warm-up when he was struck in the throat by a shot from teammate Guy Charbonneau.Belisle was taken to hospital for treatment and observation. It was not known whether he would be able to return for the crucial game the following night in Chicoutimi.&ldquo;Before every practice, I tell the players to be careful not to injure the goaltenders,&rdquo; said Chicoutimi coach Yvan Gingras.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve repeated that all season long. When will they learn?&rdquo; the coach added.Should the Juniors win what could be the deciding game in the series, they will face the Remparts in the semi-final series.The Beavers, who had their regularseason championship taken away from them by the league when it was discovered that, albeit unknown to Sherbrooke, the cjub had dressed an ineligible player toward the end of the regular season, were having their problems against the Lavel Nationals.The Nationals, faced with what many considered an uphill struggle against the two-time champion Beavers, blanked Sherbrooke 3-0 Sunday at the Laval Sports Center to tie the eight-point series at six points apiece.The Beavers had gone ahead 6-4 in points the previous Friday night when they bombarded Laval netminder Richard Sirois with 57 shots en route to a 5-0 triumph.But the Nationals, urged on by a capacity crowd of 3,771, roared back two nights later for the 3-0 triumph and were on the verge of pulling just as big an upset as Montreal.Patrick Daley gave Sirois all the offense he needed when he scored the first goal of the game at 10:21 of the first period. Goals by Michel Bossy and Robert Renaud in the second period put the icing on the cake.The Nationals just hung on in the third period, which was punctuated by three separate fighting incidents.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not always the best teams that win in the playoffs,&rdquo; said Sirois. &ldquo;You have to be a realist, but I think we have a 50 per cent chance of beating the Beavers in Sherbrooke in the next game.&rdquo;&ldquo;We worked hard but that goal by Bossy in the second period killed us,&rdquo; said Sherbrooke coach Ghislain Delage.In league news, it has been confirmed that the financially-troubled Sorel Black Hawks will move to Verdun for the 1977-78 season.Negotiations between a group of Verdun businessmen and Sorel owner Rodrigue Lemoyne were completed last week.The Black Hawks had the worst record in the league during the regular season and fan interest dropped off as the season wore on.There were rumors that Lemoyne planned to move the team midway through the season because of the lack of fan support and about 100 die-hard fans asked the provincial government to step in to block such a move.When the rumors flared up again a couple of weeks later, civic authorities stepped in and gave the club some tax relief to carry the club through for the remainder of the season.After the regular season ended, negotiations for the movihg of the club resumed once again and the deal was announced last week that the Black Hawks would move to Verdun, a Montreal suburb which has not had Junior A hockey for about five years. &#9632;

f0037-01

Quebec, Cornwall Easy Series’ Winners; Montreal Proving Surprise Of Playoffs

GRAND RAPIDS&mdash;The Grand Rapids Blades came back with a vengeance to eliminate the Sioux City Musketeers and go on to a final berth in the United States Hockey League championship series against Milwaukee Admirals.The Blades, who were stunned by Sioux City at the start of the best-of-five semi-final playoff series as the Musketeers won two of the first three games on their home ice, stiffened when the series swung back to Grand Rapids. The Blades literally blew the Musketeers off the ice winning by such resounding scores as 10-2 and 9-1 to take the series in five games.Sparked by Dave White, Rick Kramp, player-coach Nelson Leclair, Ernie Moser, Gary Ford and Rick Loe, the Blades exploded for 32 goals in the series. White had six, Leclair and Moser five each, Kramp four and others three apiece. Sam Clegg backstopped all three playoff wins for Grand Rapids. Mike Ballanger and Sean Coghlan, with four playoff goals each, were the pick of the losing Musketeers.The Blades&rsquo; victory moved them into the USHL championship round against Milwaukee after the Admirals polished off the Green Bay Bobcats in four games. The Admirals won the first two games of the best-of-five series 4-2 and 8-2 but managed only 33 and 2-2 ties in the last two giving them the series in points 6-2.If the Blades are to add the playoff title to their league championship, they may have to do it the hard way. The first and third games of the best-of-five final are slated for Grand Rapids ice but should the series go beyond three games, Milwaukee would get the home ice for games four, five and six, if necessary.Craig Crawford, Jean Trottier and Daniel Lecours led the Admirals&rsquo; playoff scoring with Crawford and Trottier scoring three times each. Jean-Marie Pominville and Daniel Pepin split the goaltending duties in the Green Bay series with each posting a win and a tie. &#9632;

Around’ The USHL

<div class="byline">BY RALPH BRIDGLAND</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY LTD Arnold Street Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY LTD Arnold Street Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLONDON&mdash;If St. Catharines Fincups thought it was going to be a breeze getting by Windsor Spitfires, they soon found out that was going to be far from the case.The Fincups opened their Ontario Hockey Association Major Junior &ldquo;A&rdquo; Emms Division eight-point semi-final against the Spitfires with a convincing 5-1 victory in St. Catharines.Mike Keating scored twice for the Fincups while Rob Mierkalns. Dale McCourt and Al Secord scored a goal each.George Kotsopoulos scored Windsor&rsquo;s only goal.St. Catharines outshot the Spitfires 5016 in taking the first game of the series.Game two, however, turned out to be a different story.The line of Charlie Skjodt, Brad Smith and Kotsopoulos combined for 11 points in leading the Spitfires to an 8-6 win over the defending Memorial Cup champions in Windsor.Smith had two goals and two assists. Skjodt a goal and four assists and Kotsopoulos two assists.Gerry Leroux chipped in with two goals and defenseman Joel Quenneville had a goal and three assists. Bo Schryer and Brian Gordon also scored for Windsor.The line of Tim Coulis, Dennis Houle and McCourt had nine points for St. Catharines. Coulis had two goals and one assist, Houle one goal and two assists and McCourt three assists. Secord, Keating and Mike Boyd also scored for the Fincups.St. Catharines received 53 of the 100 minutes in penalties, which included game misconducts to Willy Huber of the Fincups and Terry Porter of the Spitfires for a second-period fight.Meanwhile, in the other Emms Division semi-final, London Knights were one point away from locking up the series with Toronto Marlboros.Following a 2-2 tie in London and the Knights&rsquo; 5-3 win at Maple Leaf Gardens, the Marlies trail 7-1 in the eight-point series.Neil Labatte scored early in the third period to give the Marlboros the 2-2 tie.Steve Harrison had given the Marlies a 1-0 lead midway through the first period but Tom Trevail tied the score just 11 seconds later.Jim Hamilton scored London&rsquo;s other goal early in the second period.The Knights led 3-0 after the first period and 5-1 after the second en route to their 5-3 win in Toronto.Trevail, Dave Hilborn, Brad Marsh, Dan Eastman and Dino Ciccarelli scored for London.Labatte, John Anderson and Brian Crichton replied for the Marlboros.In Leyden Division playoff action, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds eliminated Peterborough Petes 3-1 in their best-of-five quarter-final.Paul Mancini and Kevin Howe scored two goals apiece in 7-5 home-ice win which clinched the series.Dave Mancuso, Gord Lorimer and Brian Anderson scored the other Sault Ste. Marie goals.Mark Kirton scored twice for the Petes with singles going to Gary McMonagle, Brian Drumm and Greg Theberge.The Greyhounds then moved in against Ottawa 67&rsquo;s in the eight-point division semi-final.After losing the opening game in the nation&rsquo;s capital 7-3, the Greyhounds battled the 67&rsquo;s to a 4-4 tie in Sault Ste. Marie.Trailing 3-0 early in the third period, the Greyhounds scored four consecutive goals to take a 4-3 lead late in the game.Ottawa&rsquo;s Dave MacQueen scored a power-play goal with 19 seconds remaining to tie the game and leave the 67&rsquo;s with a 3-1 lead in the series.Tom McDonell, Bob Smith and Warren Holmes scored the other Ottawa goals.Tony Cuomo, Lorimer. Mancuso and Brian Gustafson scored for the Greyhounds.In the other eight-point Leyden Division semi-final. Sudbury Wolves were hanging on by the skin of their teeth after falling behind 6-0 to Kingston Canadians.The Canadians defeated the Wolves 5-3 in Sudbury to take the 6-0 lead.Tony McKegney and Rob Plumb scored twice for Kingston while Mike Simurda got the other.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0570/3921284-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="589" height="696"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOEL QUENNEVILLE &hellip; Four-Point Game</figcaption></div>Bob Lekun, Mike Foligno and Wes Jarvis replied for the Wolves.The Wolves kept their hopes alive with a 1-1 tie in Kingston.Ron Duguay scored for Sudbury in the first period and McKegney tied the score in the middle frame.The Wolves then posted their first win of the series, 4-3 in Sudbury, to reduce Kingston&rsquo;s edge in the series to 7-3.Randy Pierce scored twice for the Wolves with singles going to Jarvis and Dave Hunter.McKegney led the Canadians with two goals while Mike Crombeen scored the other. &#9632;

Search for your favorite player or team

April 15, 1977

Final NHL Goaling

HOCKEY CROSSWORD

Vachon, Dionne Co-Winners in Kings’ MVP Award Voting

Penguins Main Objective Is Home Advantage In Playoffs