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 29, 1977

The Hockey News April 29, 1977

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCcONNELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01352/4077283-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROBBIE FTOREK&hellip; Cleans Up On Awards</figcaption></div>PHOENIX&mdash;There were few dry eyes in the Memorial Coliseum as Ginny Redfield led a crowd of 8.218 in singing Auld Lang Syne as their Roadrunners skated off the ice for the last time.What the Roadrunners did to the Indianapolis Racers in their farewell performance was enough to make them cry, too.&ldquo;We won our first game in the WHA and we won our last,&rdquo; pointed out Al Rollins, in his office off the Roadrunner locker room.The prideful performance wiped out the Racers, 7-3, and broke off a sevengame losing streak by the injury-thin Roadrunners.Phoenix, led by Robbie Ftorek&rsquo;s hat trick, broke into the WHA Oct. 16, 1974, with a stunning 8-2 victory over San Diego.Rollins had been too choked with emotion during post-game awards ceremonies to say much.Called on by Ftorek, the team scoring and emotional leader, Rollins could only say:&ldquo;I just want to thank a great bunch of guys for a great job. They are worthy of your praise.&rsquo;Afterward, away from the crowd, the man who broke into major league hockey 25 years ago as a goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs, sighed:&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a long season. The longest.&rdquo;He knew, as well as the players, for most of the season that only a miracle could save the franchise.More than $6 million had been lost on the club&rsquo;s operation and Karl Eller announced that he and the only other partner still active, Dr. Harbert (Tim) Louis, were calling it quits.The Racers finished third in the Eastern Division and begin playoffs Saturday at Cincinnati, but needed the victory for their first .500 season. They finished 36-37-8.Lauri Mononen scored a hat trick for Phoenix and Ftorek added one assist to raise his season&rsquo;s total to 117, a new record for U.S.born players. He set the old record last season with 113.The little blond center from Boston was the winner of a special award for being named most often in the game&rsquo;s three-star selection.Ftorek, a few days later at the Roadrunner Booster Club&rsquo;s farewell awards dinner, was named the most popular player by club member ballot and his teammates voted him the most valuable forward, most valuable player and winner of the Hustle award.Goalie Clay Hebenton was named rookie-of-the-year and most improved player, Serge Beaudoin the most valuable defenseman and Gary Kurt the winner of the &ldquo;Blah Award&rdquo; for providing the most inspiration in the locker room.Hockey will continue in Phoenix, but at the Central League level, pending approval of CHL owners.Mike Leonard, a Phoenix sporting goods store owner and former color man on Roadrunner broadcasts, heads a group of young Phoenix businessmen who bought the assets of the Phoenix Roadrunners Hockey Club, Inc., if their membership is approved by the CHL and if a workable agreement can be reached with the Memorial Coliseum.Leonard said tickets would be scaled at $2.50 or $3 up to $5 or $5.50 compared to $8.50 for WHA tickets. He said Phoenix Professional Hockey Inc., could break even with crowds of 4,500-5,000 but that some 6,000-7,000 are anticipated.Two newspaper polls of fans at the final WHA game resulted in unanimous support of a CHL team.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02269/4077276-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="565" height="690"><figcaption class="caption-body">LAURI MONONEN &hellip; Windup Hat Trick</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Runners Capture Emotional Farewell As Owners Decide To Throw In Towel

<h2>SOVIET LEAGUE</h2>(Final Standings)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01837/4076358-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="589" height="309"></div> &#9632;

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HOW THEY STAND

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;The Vancouver Canucks were eliminated from the National Hockey League playoffs in their second last game of the season&mdash;without honor.The dishonorable discharge came as a result of a humiliating 6-3 loss at home to the Colorado Rockies, a team that hadn&rsquo;t won a game in its last 18 starts and had already been eliminated from postseason play.Not only did they lose, but the way they did it more or less crowned a dismal season for the club, which has been plagued with the same problems all year.Leading 3-1 going into the final period, the Canucks proceeded to give up a loose goal to Gary Croteau in their own end, and then lost Derek Sanderson on what became the most questioned referee decision of the year in Vancouver.With the score 3-2, Sanderson was backchecking on young Paul Gardner and tried to lunge for the puck from behind the Rockie. He reached the puck, but in the process tripped the Colorado player with his body and Bruce Hood proceeded to call a penalty.The enraged Sanderson leaped to his feet and began to discuss the matter with considerable urgency with Mr. Hood, who then gave Sanderson another two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. That was followed by a misconduct and then a game misconduct as things progressed.Of course it needn&rsquo;tbe mentioned that with the club&rsquo;s best penalty killer sitting out, the Rockies tied the game in the fourth minute of their man advantage situation. The Canucks, who needed a win, began pressing and soon Danny Gruen had his second goal of the game and the Canucks of 1976-77 faded into oblivion.Hood choked.&rdquo; said Sanderson afterwards. &ldquo;There is no way he should have called the penalty in the first place, I was going for the puck. Then he gave me that unsportsmanlike penalty so fast, and then he started laughing after he did. I felt like punching him. I should have punched him.&rdquo;All great stuff But the man, or men, who it affected most were coach Orland Kurtenbach and general manager Phil Maloney, whose jobs come into considerable question since the club failed to make the second season, otherwise known as the playoffs.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s like the whole world has come crashing down on your head,&rdquo; said Kurtenbach after the game. &ldquo;I just don&rsquo;t know what to say really. I don&rsquo;t have any excuses. What happened to us was something that we spent all of January and February trying to put a stop to. We basically just fell apart in the third period.&rdquo;Veteran defenseman Dennis Kearns probably expressed the team&rsquo;s sentiments best when he said: &ldquo;I sure wish we could play that third period over again. We went out and played kitty-bar-the-door style and it cost us. We should have gone out there and played like we were a goal down and come at them right away. But I think up until that period, it had been too easy. They weren&rsquo;t getting any good scoring chances and we had the most of the play and then we got lulled to sleep.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02337/4076937-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="537" height="808"><figcaption class="caption-body">DEREK SANDERSON &hellip; Should Have Punched Him</figcaption></div>And then, in sort of a masochistic turnaround, the Canucks went out and beat the Minnesota North Stars 6-3 on the last day of the year in a game that was supposed to decide that last playoff spot. Instead, it meant nothing.The headline in a Vancouver paper after the Minnesota game probably said it best: &ldquo;Even when Canucks win, they lose.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Sanderson - Hood Flareup Ends Vancouver Misery

<h2>EASTERN DIVISION</h2>Semi-Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1646/4077464-1-eng-US/f0028-162.jpg" title="f0028-16" width="580" height="85"></div>(Quebec leads best-of-seven serin 3-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 9New England 2 at Quebec 5Tue. April 12New England 3 at Quebec 7Thu. April 14Quebec 4 at New England 3Sat. April 18Quebec 4 at New England 8GAMES TO COMETue. April 19New England at QuebecFri. April 22Quebec at New EnglandSat. APril 23New England at Quebec<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1737/4077457-1-eng-US/f0028-172.jpg" title="f0028-17" width="589" height="83"></div>(Indianapolis wins best-of-seven series 4-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 9Indianapolis 4 at Cincinnati 3Tue. April 12Indianapolis 7 at Cincinnati 2Thu. April 14Cincinnati 3 at Indianapolis 5Sat. April 18Cincinnati 1 at Indianapolis 3<h2>WESTERN DIVISION</h2>Semi-Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1835/4077450-1-eng-US/f0028-182.jpg" title="f0028-18" width="578" height="86"></div>(Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. April 10San Diego 1 at Winnipeg 5Tue. April 12San Diego 1 at Winnipeg 4Sat. April 18Winnipeg 4 at San Diego 5Sun. April 17Winnipeg 4 at San Diego 6GAMES TO COMEWed. April 20San Diego at WinnipegFri. April 22Winnipeg at San DiegoSun. April 24San Diego at Winnipe<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1932/4077443-1-eng-US/f0028-192.jpg" title="f0028-19" width="581" height="89"></div>(Houston leads best-of-sovon series 2-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. April 13Edmonton 3 at Houston 4Fri. April 15Edmonton 2 at Houston 6Sun. April 17Houston 2 at Edmonton 7GAMES To COMEWed. April 20Houston at EdmontonFri. April 22Edmonton at HoustonSun. April 24Houston at EdmontonTus. April 26Edmonton at Houston &#9632;

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Avco Trophy Scoreboard

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011009/4075533-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Blues&rsquo; veteran goaler Eddie Johnston flopped and dove at pucks to try and bring the St. Louis Blues through against Montreal, but it was all in vain. For details see page 19. (Photo by Rich Pilling)</figcaption></div><h2>LEAF SETS RECORD</h2>TORONTO&mdash;The Toronto Maple Leafs have been getting some big individual scoring performances in the current Stanley Cup playoffs and the triggerman has primarily been Lanny McDonald.The sharp-shooting Leafs&rsquo; right winger, who shot 46 goals during the course of the regular season, turned in his second four-goal game of the 1977 playoffs when he counted four times against Philadelphia. The outburst enabled McDonald to become the first Maple Leaf in modern times to score three or more goals twice in a game in one playoff year. Despite McDonald&rsquo;s four tallies, the Leafs lost to the Flyers 6-5 in overtime.<h2>SLATER ON WAY OUT?</h2>CINCINNATI&mdash;When you lose you have to take the consequences but in Cincinnati the club hierarchy was livid after the Stingers were eliminated in a stunning four-game sweep by the Indianapolis Racers. So much so that general manager-coach Terry Slater could walk the plank for the Stingers&rsquo; apathy.The Stingers&rsquo; front office remained non-committal on the future of Slater. &ldquo;I am optimistic my contract will be renewed,&rdquo; said Slater after his Stingers had dropped their fourth straight in the best-of-seven WHA playoffs. Club president Brian Heeking said a decision might be expected soon. Heeking didn&rsquo;t try to hide his disappointment at being eliminated. &ldquo;Everyone expected us to get to the second round,&rdquo; he added.<h2>ORR FACING KNIFE AGAIN</h2>TORONTO&mdash;Bobby Orr is going back for a sixth knee operation he hopes will give him more mobility in his ailing left knee and permit him to return to his big league career next season.Orr. who played in only 22 games the last two seasons because of knee problems, said his doctor will render a decision on how early the surgery can be performed. Orr said that an imbalance in his knee has developed because only a part of a damaged cartilage was removed. He said it should have all been taken out. Orr said he recently visited the Mayo Clinic and doctors expressed hope that a new &lsquo;balancing&rsquo; technique to be performed on Orr&rsquo;s knee might get the celebrated Chicago super star back on skates. However, Orr said he definitely will not be ready for the start of the 1977-78 season.<h2>NAPIER EYEING NHL</h2>TORONTO&mdash;WHA hotshot scorer Mark Napier says he is anxiously anticipating the day he will be able to perform in the NHL. It is only a matter of time before the Birmingham Bulls&rsquo; scoring star will be a free agent and he said he will be open to NHL negotiations.Napier, who scored 60 goals this past season, was selected to strengthen Team Canada for the 1977 World Cup championships in Vienna. Oddly, Napier will be eligible for the NHL draft this year. He jumped to the WHA from the Toronto Marlboros with two years of junior hockey still remaining. &#9632;

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DEADLINE STOPPERS

VIENNA&mdash;When they were good, they were very, very good. When they were bad, they were horrid. But there were better things ahead.That appeared to be the story in a nutshell for Team Canada as it prepared for the world hockey championships in Vienna. The Canadians looked like bona fide contenders in swamping West Germany 8-1 in a tuneup but were unimpressive in a 7-2 trouncing suffered at the hands of the defending champion Czechs in another exhibition match three days later.Nevertheless, Team Canada was optimistic for the championship tournament in which the Czechs and Soviet Union figure to be co-favorites.&ldquo;It was by no means a 7-2 hockey game,&rdquo; said Vadnais of the Czech debacle. Vadnais was referring to the fact that Team Canada trailed 3-2 early in the third period on a goal by Pierre Larouche only to have the Czechs bounce right back when Jiri Novak&rsquo;s passout caromed into the Team Canada net off the skate of defenceman Greg Smith.&ldquo;That deflated us,&rdquo; said Vadnais, who was victimized for two of the Czech goals. &ldquo;We were gaining momentum and forcing the play when all of a sudden we&rsquo;re back in a hole. Don&rsquo;t count us out for the tournament.&rdquo;Mark Napier echoed Vadnais&rsquo; words. &ldquo;We will be alright,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s difficult to put in a system and work well with lineups you&rsquo;re unfamiliar with. I see some good signs, though. When we get down to the tournament it won&rsquo;t be a waltz but a couple of teams are going to have their hands full. Anyway, how many points did they (the Czechs) get for that 72 win?&rdquo;&ldquo;We were caught a number of times and they jumped on us,&rdquo; said veteran defenseman Dallas Smith. &ldquo;They don&rsquo;t delay. They are a first-rate hockey team that takes advantage of your slightest mistake. They were capitalizing all night.&rdquo;Team Canada coach Johnny Wilson lamented interference tactics used by the Czechs which saw them hold the arm or stick of a player in the slot.&ldquo;Our players have been retaliating to this interference with elbows and slashes and as a result we re taking a lot of unnecessary penalties. I&rsquo;ve told them to cool it. We will begin implementing a lot of the same interference into our system. Why not, if you get away with it?&rdquo;&ldquo;We were awed just by being in the same rink as them,&rdquo; said Walt McKechnie. &ldquo;Before we realized we could play the game with them, we were down 2-0 and it was difficult getting back.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad we lost,&rdquo; said Larouche who set up linemate Eric Vail with the other Team Canada goal. &ldquo;I think that may be to our advantage. They didn&rsquo;t have an easy time of it. They had to work very hard and that gives us confidence. It&rsquo;s just a matter of us getting it together.&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t forget that a lot of us are not sure of making this team.&rdquo; Larouche continued. &ldquo;You should see some of the guys in here before the game. Their hands are shaking, they&rsquo;re so nervous. I think that&rsquo;s why they got off to that quick 2-0 lead. We had them on the ropes when it was 3-2.&rdquo;In the romp over West Germany, Larouche and Phil Esposito notched two goals apiece while singles went to Vail, Wilf Paiement, Al MacAdam and Dennis Ververgaert. Guenter Kaczmarek scored the lone West German goal against John Garrett.Tony Esposito was nicked for three goals against the Czechs, two by Marian Stastny and one by Jaroslav Pouzar. Novak, Bohuslav Ebermann, Milan Chalupa and Jiri Bubla found the range against Jim Rutherford.Team USA, meanwhile, was having its problems in warmup games against the same Czechs and West Germans. The Czechs blasted the U.S. 7-1 sparked by Ivan Hlinka&rsquo;s two-goal effort. Josef Machac, Jaroslav Holik, Frantisek Kabrle, Marian Stastny and Pouzar were the other snipers against Mike Curran and Dave Reece who shared netminding duties. Butch Williams connected for Team USA.The next U.S. outing was a little more encouraging, but it resulted in a 7-4 loss to West Germany.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02914/4075564-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="556" height="865"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAROL VADNAIS&hellip;Don&rsquo;t Count Us Out</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Team Canada Gaining Strength For Start Of World Cup Play

<h2>NHL TEAMS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03686/4075623-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="486" height="751"></div><h2>WHA TEAMS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04473/4075616-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="484" height="459"></div><h2>OTHER LEAGUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05343/4075609-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="482" height="331"></div><h2>COLUMNISTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-06246/4075602-1-eng-US/f0002-062.jpg" title="f0002-06" width="500" height="167"></div><h2>OTHER FEATURES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-07155/4075595-1-eng-US/f0002-072.jpg" title="f0002-07" width="492" height="143"></div> &#9632;

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WHERE YOU’LL FIND IT ALL

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div>TORONTO&mdash;If anyone had even suggested that the Toronto Maple Leafs would emerge as the early surprise of the 1977 Stanley Cup playoffs, they would have had some tall explaining to do.After all, when a team like the Leafs, who struggled through the 1976-77 NHL stretch run. grabs a two-game playoff series lead at the expense of the favorite Philadelphia Flyers, you have to wonder. Only recently a post-season evaluation of the club&rsquo;s past season performance didn&rsquo;t exactly send the Leafs&rsquo; brass into great raptures<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011016/4075675-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="553" height="1855"><figcaption class="caption-body">LANNY McDONALD&hellip;Blossomed As Scorer</figcaption></div>In fact, as the past campaign clattered to a close, the facts of life were front and center for the Maple Leafs to see.Instead of gaining ground on what Leaf owner Harold Ballard, general manager Jim Gregory and coach Red Kelly felt would be a climb up into the NHL&rsquo;s echelon at the top, the Leafs lost ground.In the 1975-76 season, the Leafs finished in seventh place overall with 83 points; this time, the team tied the Pittsburgh Penguins for seventh place with 81 points but were dropped back to eighth spot because the Penguins had one more victory.The Leafs eliminated the Penguins in the 1977 Stanley Cup playoff preliminary round which was a repeat of their 1976 performance.Injuries were one reason for the Leafs&rsquo; failure to upgrade their performance. The players missed a total of 225 games with an assortment of hurts and illness.The Leafs employed a total of 28 players during the season. By comparison, first-place Montreal Canadiens used only 21 players, did not summon a single player for even one game from their farm system and injuries cost them only 120 missed games.&ldquo;On a club such as ours, which doesn&rsquo;t have overwhelming talent or all that much experience, injuries are very costly because they destroy any continuity we might have developed.&rdquo; said Kelly.&ldquo;For instance, back in September we looked to the Darryl Sittler-Lanny McDonald-Errol Thompson forward line as the solid base of our attack. Then in the third game of the season. Thompson broke his arm and missed almost 40 games. That meant a patching job right from the start.When the injuries continued, we had to shuffle the line-up for just about every game. We just didn&rsquo;t have the continuity a team needs.&rdquo;There were some bright spots in the Leaf stuck-in-the-mud campaign.&bull; Lanny McDonald&rsquo;s continued maturing into one of the NHL&rsquo;s very best wingers, a 46-goal. 90-point producer with a shot feared by goalies, a hard-hitting, aggressive performer.&bull; The arrival of rookie goalie Mike Palmateer and his strong work, especially in turning around a slumping club early in the season. Palmateer finished with a 3.21 goals against average in 50 games and a 23-18-8 won-lost-tied record.&bull; The emergence of Borje Salming and Ian Turnbull as one of the league&rsquo;s premier defense pairs, especially on the attack. Turnbull finished the season with a 22-57-79 point total and a plus-52; Saiming was 12-66-78 and plus-51.&bull; The development of Don Ashby into a competent NHL center in his second pro season. A strong skater, Ashby had a 19-23-42 point total and needs only to improve his defensive work to become a dandy.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02873/4075668-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1144" height="1664"><figcaption class="caption-body">BACKBONE OF LEAFS: Goaler Mike Palmateer was a rookie with the Leafs this season but he played like a seasoned pro in goal for Toronto. Defenseman Ian Turnbull, upper right, and Borje Salming, bottom right, this season became one of the NHL&rsquo;s best defense pairings. Offensively they were No. 1 and without them the Leafs would never have made it to the NHL playoffs. (Photo by Robert Shaver)</figcaption></div>&bull; Randy Carlyle&rsquo;s strong finish. The rookie defenseman spent the first half of the season as a hesitant spot player, then was assigned to the Dallas Black Hawks of the Central League for two months. When he was recalled for the concluding 15 games of the schedule. Carlyle played strongly.LEAF NOTES: Salming was the Leafs&rsquo; Molson Cup winner with 93 points, based on three-star selection for all Leaf games Palmateer was second with 79 and Sittier third with 69&hellip;Salming will require surgery on his sinuses following the season to correct a breathing problem&hellip;Defenseman Tracy Pratt sustained a severely broken nose when struck by deflected shot during the warm-up to the Leafs&rsquo; final game of the season and missed the opening playoff round.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03586/4075661-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="553" height="1088"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04351/4075654-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="553" height="1480"></div> &#9632;

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PAST YEAR NOT WHAT TORONTO HAD HOPED FOR

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011067/4075727-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="409" height="463"></div>&bull; TWO OF the four quarter-final series in the NHL ended in sweeps, and the biggest upset was New York Islanders&rsquo; four straight over Buffalo The Sabres were a big disappointment in the playoffs as they were picked by many to topple the Islanders&hellip;A team with the most points during the regular schedule usually goes on to win the Stanley Cup. In the last nine years this has happened seven times. Back in 1971 Montreal Canadiens won the cup after finishing 24 points back of the top Boston Bruins. Then in 1974 when Philadelphia Flyers downed Boston Bruins in the finals after Bruins finished the regular schedule in first place with 113 points&hellip;Lanny McDonald&rsquo;s goal scoring efforts for Toronto in the playoffs have been sensational. He scored four goals in one game, three goals in another game and had a total of eight goals in seven games&hellip;A civic-minded Ottawa group is going all out to land a WHA franchise for next season. Bill MacFarland, WHA president, spoke to the group last week&hellip;Jean-Guy Talbot is expected to take over as coach of the New York Rangers next season&hellip;Pittsburgh Penguins may not rehire Baz Bastien, general manager, or Ken Schinkel, coach, for next season&hellip;Chicago Black Hawks will also have some important announcements to make shortly about their front office plans for 1977-78&hellip;Scotty Bowman and Rick Chartraw had words again following a Montreal practice. Canadiens will unload him after the season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021022/4075720-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="307" height="463"><figcaption class="caption-body">Reg Leach</figcaption></div>&bull; GOALIE BILL SMITH of the New York Islanders has allowed but 13 goals in six playoff games this year and the Islanders have won all of these games. He has now won his last 15 games in a row. Smith plays his best hockey in the playoffs, and incidentally, don&rsquo;t call him Billy. He answers to Bill only&hellip; Everyone associated with the Philadelphia Flyers and hockey fans everywhere saddened to hear that Barry Ashbee, assistant coach and former star defenseman, has been hospitalized with &ldquo;a form of leukemia&rdquo;. Dr. Edward Viner, a team physician termed Ashbee&rsquo;s condition &ldquo;by no means hopeless&rdquo; and said he was &ldquo;optimistic of achieving a remission&rdquo; with treatment. The 36-year-old Ashbee had his career cut short when he lost the sight of his right eye when struck by a puck shot by Rangers&rsquo; Dale Rolfe&hellip;Bobby Clarke and Bernie Parent, keys to the Flyers&rsquo; success, are not having particulary impressive playoffs. In fact, Parent was booed by Philadelphia fans during this year&rsquo;s playoffs&hellip;Bob Nystrom, Clark Gillies and Garry Howatt have all been super so far for the Islanders in this season&rsquo;s playdowns&hellip; Washington Caps scored three less goals this year than they did a year ago. This was the only area where they retrogressed. The man-advantage goals dropped from 53 to 39&hellip;Lome Henning was voted most popular Islander by the New York Catholic Youth Organization and received his trophy prior to the start of the final regular season game&hellip;Sports headquarters in Toronto is now the Hotel Toronto. Almost all of the visiting football, baseball and hockey teams now stop at Hotel Toronto when playing in Canada&rsquo;s Queen City. Bob McCauley, affable general manager, caters to the many whims of the visiting athletes.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03917/4075713-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="301" height="460"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill Smith</figcaption></div>&bull; ROLAND ERIKSSON of the Minnesota North Stars is the first European-born player to finish as the leading scorer among NHL rookies. Eriksson had 69 points this season and will be a leading choice to win the NHL rookie award&hellip;Play of the Toronto Maple Leafs has been the major surprise of the NHL playoffs to date&hellip;Philadelphia Flyers, after a nine-year association with WCAU radio, will switch to WIP radio next season. The new Flyers&rsquo; station isn&rsquo;t as powerful as WCAU and many fans around the U.S. and Canada won&rsquo;t be able to follow the Flyers as easily&hellip;Stan Smrke. an American Hockey League star for nine years, died of cancer at the age of 48. He had his best season in 1959-60 with Rochester Americans&hellip;Games on May 2 and May 7 as well as games in the Cup finals will be carried on the NHL-TV network&hellip;Two NHL publicists have been let go since the end of the regular schedule&hellip;Ted Lindsay is seeking two new centers and two solid defensemen for Detroit Red Wings&hellip;Three members of Minnesota North Stars, Lou Nanne, Steve Jensen and Tom Younghans, are with the United States World team.. HOCKEY PICTORIAL-WORLD has excellent playoff issue for May. Reg Leach of Philadelphia is featured on the cover in a great action picture.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04815/4075706-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="288" height="435"><figcaption class="caption-body">Barry Ashbee</figcaption></div>THE HOCKEY NEWSOFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLYFounded October 1st. 1947Vol. 30 NO. 30 APRIL 29, 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. McKenziePresident, PublisherDon WallAssociate PublisherCharlie HalpinEditorial DiractorKeith LawtonAdministration Mgr.Anne NelsonAdvertising Co-OrdinatorCanadian Advertising Director: Graham Campbell, 11 Lotus Court, Toronto, Ont. M2H 1J6.U.S. Advertising Representatives.Telephone: (416) 492-9191NEW YORK: Tom Lamberson, National Soles Director, 150 East 58th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022. Telephone (212) 593-2100CHICAGO: Hooper Jones & Associates, 3322 W. Peterson Ave., Chicago, III. 60659. Telephone (312) 478-5544.NEW ENGLAND: Steve Ganak Ad Reps, Statler OHice Bldg., Boston, Mass. 021160. Telephone (617) 542-6913.YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $11.95 in Canada $12.95 in the U.S.A. and $17.25 in Foreign Countries. Sec. and class postage paid at New York, N.Y. 10001 and at additional mailing offices SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO 1434 ST. CATHERINE STREET WEST, SUITE 217, MONTREAL, CANADA H3G 1R7. Second Class mad 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/f0004-05676/4075758-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg"></div><h2>Rangers Deserved To Make Playoffs</h2>Even though I am not a New York Ranger fan it seems ridiculous that the team was eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs with 72 points. Teams in the Smythe Division, such as Chicago and Minnesota, made the playoffs with less points. When the NHL board of governors meets, it should revise the teams into three divisions for next season.SEYMOUR HEINFLING, Houston, Tex.<h2>Canadiens&rsquo; Lemaire Masterton Candidate</h2>In my opinion the top three candidates for the Masterton Trophy are Butch Goring of L.A. Kings, Gary Domhoefer of Philadelphia Flyers and Jacques Lemaire of Montreal Canadiens, the latter being the most deserving.Jacques has scored at least 20 goals in each of the past 10 seasons and has never been on an All Star team or received any major award from the NHL, other than having his name on the Stanley Cup a few times. He is a complete player, goes hard both ways and is deadly in front of the net.NILES PILAT, Baltimore. Md.<h2>Recognition Due Unsung All Stars</h2>There should be a new award created, called the unsung All Star team. Many fine but underrated players would be eligible, such as Rick MacLeish, Tim Young, Jean Ratelie, Guy Charron, Peter McNab and Wilf Paiement.JOSEPH CLESI, Philadelphia, Pa.<h2>Doak Ranks With Top Defensive Defensemen</h2>I feel that Gary Doak of Boston Bruins is the best defensive defenseman in the NHL and one of the most underrated defensemen in the league. The plusminus stats show that Doak had been on the ice for fewer goals against than any other rearguard in the league (plus 25).He is a hard-hitting defenseman who plays the body to take the man out of the play, and does it well. This year Doak has improved so much that the fans in Boston voted him for the Seventh Player Award for the Bruin player performing above and beyond one&rsquo;s normal capacity. He also had his best year offensively, with 16 points. Still, he is paid to stop goals, not score them, and this he does very well.Doak is not afraid to go down to block a shot. I have seen him get hit in the face with the puck, go out to get stitched, come back and go down to block another shot. Fearless? Crazy? Whatever, he deserves recognition.RON COTE, Auburn, Me.<h2>Davidson Not Worthy Team Canada Goalie</h2>I would like to comment on the goaltending selections for Team Canada &lsquo;77. I agree with the selection of Gilles Meloche and Jim Rutherford, but certainly not John Davidson.Meloche and Rutherford rely on superlative reflexes and agility, while Davidson is strictly a guessing goaltender who flops and sprawls with little success. For a third selection I would have chosen either Ron Low or Michel Plasse.Low is a stand-up goaltender who is difficult to beat one-on-one. Plasse is at his best against the best. He would be a great asset in a short tournament such as this.WENDY LOW, Ottawa, Ont.<h2>Choice Of Murdoch Not Justified One</h2>I was greatly saddened to read of the fans&rsquo; selection of Rangers&rsquo; Don Murdoch as rookie-of-the-year. I was even more distressed to read that he barely beat out Atlanta&rsquo;s Willi Plett and Toronto&rsquo;s Mike Palmateer.The above-mentioned trio are indeed fine examples of first-year NHLers and should not go unrewarded. However, I find it deplorable and unbelievable that the fans totally overlooked Roland Eriksson of the Minnesota North Stars.Since Eriksson, with 25 goals and 44 assists, was the NHL&rsquo;s most proficient first-year player, his name must head the list of prospective winners. Consider that he was (a) living in a new country which creates a culture shock obstacle, (b) adapting from the European style of hockey (not to mention difference in rink size and rule changes), and (c) paired on a forward line with two other rookies, Steve Jensen and Alex Pirus.FRED STEPNIAK, Minneapolis, Minn.<h2>Young Deserves More Attention</h2>I am a Tim Young fan and I think he is the most underrated player in the NHL. For almost half a year he was in fourth place in the scoring race, higher than bigname players such as Gilbert Perreault, Darryl Sittier and Bobby Clarke. He should not be overlooked.JOE BASTIAN, Kitchener, Ont.<h2>Caps&rsquo; McVie Merits Coaching Award</h2>Your selection of Scotty Bowman as coach-of-the-year is a bunch of hogwash. Bowman needs to utter only one word behind the Montreal bench: &ldquo;change&rdquo;. McVie, though, has his team&rsquo;s point production up from 32 last year to 62.The brain behind Montreal&rsquo;s success is Sam Pollock, not the man THE HOCKEY NEWS named coach-of-the-year. McVie is the one who truly deserves the honor.KEVIN KEDDY, New Glasgow, N.S.<h2>Leafs A Bully Team? It&rsquo;s A Bum Rap</h2>This is in response to the letter by Mary Smealbowski in the April 1 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS, regarding the Toronto Maple Leafs ruining hockey.When I read your letter, it was the best laugh I had all year. I don&rsquo;t think you were watching the same game as everyone else. Toronto a bully team! What do you expect them to do, stand there and take all that garbage Philly dishes out? In the first period of that Monday night game, it became obvious that Philly was purposely going after Borje Salming. They know he&rsquo;s good and, that he doesn&rsquo;t like to fight. (He doesn&rsquo;t need to.) Then in the second period they were going after Toronto&rsquo;s rookie line.I thought that game was sickening, but not because of Toronto. I&rsquo;m glad they stood up to the Flyers. Toronto proved that if you skate and den&rsquo;t let them intimidate you&mdash;you&rsquo;ll win.SALLY DeMARTI, Depew, N.Y. &#9632;

f0004-05

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01925/4075789-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROLAND ERIKSSON&hellip; Led All NHL Rookies</figcaption></div>TWIN CITIES&mdash;Al Shaver, the play-by-play voice who has seen more Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; games than any other being, made a startling off-the-air comment to a friend back in December.&ldquo;This is going to be a very good hockey team in another two months,&rdquo; he said, with foresight.Shaver did not make the pronouncement on the air. No one would have believed him.In their first 30 games, the North Stars won only six and sat smack at the bottom of the Conn Smythe Division. The playoffs were something other teams went to in April while the North Stars cleaned out their dressing room and plotted how to use their draft choices.Something happened on the way to the cleaners.Two days before the end of the regular season, after the North Stars had won three straight games, they clinched their entry into the playoffs for the first time since the 1972-73 season, thanks to Colorado upseting Vancouver.Then, and it is hard to believe looking back at December, when Cleveland defeated Chicago on the final day of the regular season, the Stars took second place honors in the Smythe. By a matter of one point, the Stars made the playoffs and took $1,300 apiece for runnerup money.Just what happened to this team which went 6-20-4 in its first 30 games and then finished up with a respectable 17-19-14 the remaining 50?Primarily, the team finished the regular season with eight rookies who needed experience and confidence. Then there were stretches of strong goaltending from both Gary Smith and Pete LoPresti, and the acquisitions of defenseman Nick Beverley and winger Bill Fairbairn from the Rangers in the Bill Goldsworthy trade.Second-year center Tim Young had a fantastic offensive year with 95 points, and other veterans were swept up in the success which the North Stars began to achieve after winning only one (only 0-N-E) game in December with five of their leagueleading 18 ties.When the Stars closed out the 1976 portion of their schedule with a 5-5 tie in Montreal, people began taking notice.Swedish center Roland Eriksson led the rookie brigade with 25 goals and 44 assists. Glen Sharpley. Steve Jensen and Alex Pirus also surpassed the 20-goal mark to give the team a NHL record of having four rookies pass that figure.Ernie Hicke topped the team in goals, with a career high of 30, on Young&rsquo;s left wing, and the team&rsquo;s unspectacular defense played steadier than it had in years.Passersby must have thought the Stars were a rowdy gang of youngsters in their L.A. hotel when word reached them that they had made the playoffs&mdash;shouts filled the lobby and rang through the corridors.&ldquo;What a great feeling,&rdquo; said Young. &ldquo;We worked our butts off to make the playoffs and deserved to be in them &ldquo;Coach Ted Harris remarked, &ldquo;We were lucky the other teams didn&rsquo;t get away from us early. But the boys never quit believing in themselves and never quit working. Give them the credit.&rdquo;Lou Nanne, the ranking veteran of the team and one of only eight players on the roster with playoff experience, added: &ldquo;The money we win for our finish doesn&rsquo;t matter as much as the pride this team established and the sense of accomplishment. We made the playoffs when no one else thought we were going to&mdash;it&rsquo;s got to be a great confidence builder for next year.&rdquo;The North Stars quickly succembed to the Buffalo Sabres in the preliminary round but for the rookies it was an experience they&rsquo;ll never forget.STAR DUST: The Stars closed out their first decade with 64 points, their fifth best point total, and the second-place finish was the best since the old West Division runnerup of 1971-72 when Harris was team captain. &#9632;

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Reaching Playoffs Helped Make Year For North Stars

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02844/4075865-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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Hockey News’ Awards Winners

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE HALPIN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011098/4075834-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">BARCLAY PLAGER&hellip;Led Blues To CHL Title (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;The name Rod Bloomfield isn&rsquo;t likely to become a household word but around Binghamton, N.Y., you&rsquo;d get a pretty good argument if you thought the North American Hockey League scoring champion was anything else but the town hockey hero.Bloomfield is to Binghamton what Gordie Howe is to Houston or Bobby Hull to Winnipeg or even Guy Lafleur to Montreal. The 29-year-old center is the franchise. Binghamton&rsquo;s hopes for a NAHL championship quickly went out the window when Bloomfield came up hurt in the post-season playoffs.But the stocky little Binghamton center was closing out a personally spectacular season in the NAHL winning the league scoring title with 173 points, the most scored in all of professional hockey during 1976-77.Bloomfield&rsquo;s presence on the ice made the Dusters a force in the NAHL this season and without him they probably wouldn&rsquo;t have been a contender all year, a factor that won him the selection as the player of the year in THE HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; 10th annual minor league awards.Along with Bloomfield. THE HOCKEY NEWS named Barclay Plager of Kansas City as the minor league coach of the year for his brilliant manipulating in leading the Blues to the Central Hockey League championship in his very first year as a pro coach, and also picked Parker MacDonald, the general-manager and coach of the New Haven Nighthawks of the American League, as the minor league executive of the year.Bloomfield&rsquo;s selection as player of the year marked the second year in succession the NAHL has won the award. Joe Hardy, playing for Maine Nordiques last season, was the 1976 winner. Bloomfield, who stands an excellent chance of winning the NAHLs MVP award, is the real ice leader of the Binghamton team. He is the team captain and when you look athis personal statistics&mdash;five-foot-eight and 160 pounds&mdash;you have to figure he&rsquo;s got something else going for him.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03576/4075827-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="565" height="684"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROD BLOOMFIELD&hellip;Scoring Champ</figcaption></div>Bloomfield&rsquo;s Binghamton coach. Larry Kish, called the Duster captain the &ldquo;best player I ever coached&rdquo; during an interview this season. A native of Parry Sound, Ont&mdash;the same town that gave pro hockey Bobby Orr&mdash;Bloomfield has been playing four straight years with Binghamton. He is the current league leader in career goals with 187 and is only three points short of the 500-point mark, which he will achieve in the 1977-78 season.A determined player, Bloomfield has some outstanding hockey moves. He was a popular choice to perform the heavy skating and action roles for screen actor Paul Newman during the filming of the movie Slap Shot&rsquo; and his efforts were roundly applauded by hockey people who worked with the movie directors.The San Diego Mariners of the WHA showed an interest in Bloomfield but the gritty little center chose to stay in Binghamton, where he&rsquo;s become a year-round citizen. Binghamton hockey fans are glad he didn&rsquo;t opt out for the WHA.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-04382/4075820-1-eng-US/f0006-042.jpg" title="f0006-04" width="541" height="672"><figcaption class="caption-body">PARKER MacDONALD&hellip;Overcame Big Odds</figcaption></div>The selection of Plager as the coach who turned in the best coaching job in minor league hockey this season was highly justified. Plager moulded a young team into a Central Hockey League powerhouse in his freshman year as a coach and he had to do it the hard way&mdash;while playing regularly himself. In fact many hockey people thought so highly of Plager&rsquo;s performance as a player this year they voted him the CHL&rsquo;s most valuable player award as well.The hard-nosed 36-year-old Plager directed the Kansas City Blues to first place finishing with a commanding 15-point lead over Dallas. His CHL Blues were the No. 1 offensive team scoring over 300 goals while winning 46 of their 76 scheduled games. His feat in guiding the Blues to the title ended seven years of championship frustrations for the hockey fans of Kansas City.Entrusted with the top amateur picks of the NHL&rsquo;s St. Louis Blues, Plager did a masterful job bringing the youngsters along and when the parent Blues pulled up his best scoring line of Bernie Federko, Brian Sutter and Rick Bourbonnais, Plager improvised and brought the Blues home in front as league champions.The choice of MacDonald, a former NHL player and coach, as THE HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; executive of the year, was based on the fact that the New Haven GM-coach had to do some extensive shuffling to keep the Nighthawks in the thick of the AHL race. In spite of the many recalls by their parent NHL teams, the Nighthawks came on strong and in the final month of the season were the AHL&rsquo;s hottest team finishing eight points in back of the powerful Nova Scotia Voyageurs while producing the highest scoring offense in the league.MacDonald, who played 11 years in the NHL with teams like Toronto, Boston, Rangers, Detroit and Minnesota, had to provide player assistance for two NHL teams, a situation that threatened to undermine the Hawks&rsquo; chances in the AHL for better than half the season. But New Haven finished strong and did manage to knock the leading Voyageurs off the top spot for a brief period in the stretch run. &#9632;

f0006-01

Duster Ace Bloomfield Selected Best Player; Plager Coach Of Year

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01980/4075896-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM LORENTZ&hellip;First Playoff &lsquo;Hat&rsquo;</figcaption></div>BUFFALO&mdash;The Buffalo Sabres, through the preliminary round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with two straight wins over the Minnesota North Stars, looked forward to a rematch with the New York Islanders.The Islanders last year knocked the Sabres out of the playoffs in the quarter-finals, with four straight victories after losing the first two games.The Sabres were a battered bunch in that series, however, and this year they are almost in top shape after a season of crippling injuries and illnesses.Only Danny Gare and goalie Gerry Desjardins weren&rsquo;t physically fit as the Islander series opened and Gare, bothered by back miseries all season, expected to play at least part time after sitting out the Minnesota series.Desjardins, who still hadn&rsquo;t regained full vision in his right eye after being hit by a shot in a game against Boston Feb. 10, was practicing with the club but wasn&rsquo;t expected to do any playing. Young Don Edwards, called up from Hershey to replace the 32-year-old netminder. did so well down the stretch and in the preliminary round of the playoffs, that he was accepted as a capable goaltender.&ldquo;out. Rene Robert I certainly don&rsquo;t consider Edwards a question mark,&rdquo; said coach Floyd Smith. &ldquo;He has proved himself.&rdquo;Smitty felt the key to the Sabres&rsquo; playoff chances was the Andre Savard-Rick Martin-Gary McAdam line. Martin was coming off a foot injury that sidelined him briefly, then kept him below par in season-ending games and the first round of the playoffs.The hard-working, hard-shooting left winger scored a goal in the second game against Minnesota, a 7-1 Buffalo win, and was skating much better. The goal was his first in eight games. Martin finished the season with 36 goals after scoring 49, 52 and 52 the previous three seasons. He also missed several games because of a left shoulder injury.Savard, who had his best season in four National Hockey League years&mdash;25 goals and 35 assists&mdash;nevertheless fell into a slump in the latter part of the campaign. He did not score in 26 games through the Minnesota series.He, too, looked as though he was beginning to work himself out of it and was playing better in the series against the North Stars.The Gil Perreault-Jim Lorentz Terry Martin line was outstanding in that series. Lorentz scored four goals, three of them coming in the 7-1 win that knocked out the North Stars. It was his first hat trick in any playoffs, professional or amateur.With Gare out, Rene Robert moved to right wing on a line with Don Luce and Craig Ramsay and that combination proved sensational down the homestretch of the season.Robert scored five goals in the last game of the regular season and the first playoff game. He finished the campaign with 33 after scoring only 10 by Christmas. Luce scored in seven of the last eight games and Ramsay was picking up assists at a rapid rate.The defensemen were scoring, too. in the late season and playoff games. Jerry Korab got one in the first Minnesota contest and Jocelyn Guevremont got two in the second. They were getting the puck more at the points and doing more shooting.Last year the Sabres went into the Islander series with Rick Martin. Gare, Ramsay and Jim Schoenfeld hurt and with Korab coming off a bad injury to his nose.This year they were in better physical shape and, according to Smith, had a couple of other plusses.&ldquo;Terry Martin and McAdam have added speed to our club,&rdquo; the coach pointed out. &ldquo;They can go with anybody in the league. Our game is skating and they help us in that department.&ldquo;Besides that, we are stronger at defense. Lee Fogolin is back (he had been sidelined by a shoulder injury) and that gives us five regulars to rotate. And I won&rsquo;t hesitate to use Ken Breitenbach if he is needed.&rdquo;Breitenbach was brought up from Hershey of the American League when Fogolin was hurt and did a capable job. &#9632;

f0007-01

Sabres Faced Islanders With Healthy Squad

<div class="byline">-BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02980/4075934-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="392" height="465"></div><h2>The Call Of The Wild</h2>GLEN SATHER STARTED as a junior in Edmonton about 15 years ago After a couple of years in the minors in Memphis and Oklahoma City, he played 10 years in the majors in Boston. Pittsburgh. New York. St Louis. Montreal, and Minnesota before he drifted out of the National Hockey League and into the World Hockey Association, back where he began in Edmonton, where he wound up this season as player-coach of the Oilers.Sather married his wife. Ann. the summer before he moved into the majors with Boston and she has been with him through all the moves since. &ldquo;She&rsquo;s a good girl and she understands what it is to be a hockey wife.&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;She never once said. Oh. no. not again.&rsquo; but every time I was traded it had to be tough on her Me&rsquo; Heck. I just rode with the punches I&rsquo;m just a journeyman hockey player 1 know what that means. It means I make a lot of journeys.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011089/4075927-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="801" height="1344"><figcaption class="caption-body">More of a defensive player than a scorer, Glen Sather has bounced around in pro hockey. He has played with six NHL teams but says he has no complaints about the game. It&rsquo;s been his whole life.</figcaption></div>At 33, he has been what they call in the trade &ldquo;an honest hockey player.&rdquo; That means he plays hard at both ends of the ice and does more checking than scoring. It also means that the bosses keep telling him how important he is to his team and keep trading him to other teams. Well, in 10 years in the NHL he didn&rsquo;t score 100 goals. He admits, &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t complain that I was treated badly. I&rsquo;ve been bounced around, but better players than me have moved from team to team. I&rsquo;ve been happy just to be playing hockey in the big leagues. There&rsquo;s not many things I like to do more.&rdquo;He confesses that some funny things have happened to him on his travels. One time when he was traded from St. Louis to Montreal the family furniture went from his hometown of Banff to Montreal and back to Banff and on to St. Louis, and he and Ann sat on boxes for awhile before the furniture was found. He had been smart enough not to buy a house until he got to St. Louis. But he had two kids who were growing up so he bought a house in St. Louis. &ldquo;The owner. Sid Salamon, assured me I&rsquo;d be there two or three years at least,&rdquo; Glen laughs. I wasn&rsquo;t there a year before I was on my way again.&rdquo;HIS OLDEST CHILD, Shannon, is school age now, so Glen and Ann decided it was time to settle down. When his contract expired at the end of last season in Minnesota, he asked for a two-year contract. They offered only one. So he looked around until he landed in Edmonton. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s sort of like going home.&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not far from Banff and I figure I can last here a few years. I figure I can play hockey for a few years yet. I&rsquo;d like to play the string out. When it runs out, it runs out.&rdquo;He became captain, then assistant coach, then coach when Bep Guidolin decided to concentrate on managing. &ldquo;I like coaching, but I don&rsquo;t know if I like it enough to stick to it if I begin to get bounced around, and coaches get bounced around almost as bad as players.&rdquo; Sather says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been an interesting year in the WHA. I&rsquo;ve gotten a couple of overtime goals to win games, which I never got the chance for in the NHL, Except for playoffs.&ldquo;I played in seven playoffs in the NHL. But I never played on a winner. I got a goal for Montreal in one playoff game. But the season I was with the Canadiens was one they didn&rsquo;t win the playoffs. I never gained my goal of playing on a Stanley Cup champion, but I treasure the friendships I made through playing with six teams. And even for me, the money wasn&rsquo;t bad. Anyone in the majors the last few years had to make good money. And I&rsquo;ve used mine to protect my family&rsquo;s future&rdquo;HE OWNS A HOTEL and other real estate and has a hockey school in Banff: &ldquo;Storm Mountain Lodge was 50 or 60 years old. just a group of log cabins, but we&rsquo;ve restored it into a resort. It&rsquo;s 7,000 feet high and in a beautiful location. We fill it in mid-summer and I work my tail off. I even cook&mdash;four to ten, every second night. It says in our brochure we have a chef de cuisine and offer steak and lobster, but when I&rsquo;m it we have Rocky Mountain Stew and Yukon McDonald&rsquo;s.&rdquo;He laughs and says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a fine place for families. I take my kids horseback riding and hiking, fishing and swimming, and I&rsquo;m teaching them to water ski. I taught Eddie Shack. He skied he played hockey. Clear the track, here comes Shack. He wore a white dress shirt on the water.&rdquo;Every year he takes a group of 10 to 20 hockey players on a 40-mile horseback ride over rugged terrain to a campsite at Red Deer Lake high up on Mt. Assiniboine, &ldquo;the Canadian Matterhorn.&rdquo; Garry Unger went last year and said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen the Swiss and Italian Alps, but nowhere as beautiful as Banff.&rdquo;Sather says, &ldquo;We pass 19 lakes in six hours. The trail is good. We get a guide and carry a cook. It&rsquo;s not really rugged, but some guys see it that way. Shack and Rod Gilbert flew in by helicopter. Lou Nanne and Bob Lurtsema didn&rsquo;t like sleeping on the ground. We awoke to clear skies one morning and by noon we had six inches of snow. They flew out by helicopter. They wouldn&rsquo;t stay overnight in tents.&ldquo;My wife and six or seven of the other wives stayed in tents in the mountains one night. Not with us. I have a rule&mdash;no wives or girlfriends on our trips. So they took their own trip. A grizzly bear tore down one of their tents one time when they were out of it. Now for some reason they say they won&rsquo;t take any more trips,&rdquo; he laughed. &#9632;

f0008-02

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY BILL HEUFELDER</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;Owner Al Savill wanted the Pittsburgh Penguins to use the deciding game of the opening series with Toronto as a springboard into a big season-ticket drive, as well as the second round of the Stanley Cup chase.The outcome was not what he had anticipated. a 5-2 loss to the Leafs that concluded a weird three-game set in which neither team won on its home ice.&ldquo;We could have gotten rid of the &lsquo;Oh geez, we lost in the first round again&rsquo; syndrome,&rdquo; the spirited owner said.Savill, very much involved since he phased out former partner Wren Blair earlier in the season, sat behind the Pittsburgh bench in the crucial second game at Maple Leaf Gardens, prodding his club to a tense 6-4 triumph after the Penguins had allowed a comfortable 3-0 cushion to disappear.The Penguins played to a disappointing crowd of barely 10,000 in the opening game when the Leafs grabbed a 4-2 victory in front of Wayne Thomas, who had stopped Pittsburgh a year ago in the same playoff matchup.But the win in Toronto gave the city hope that the Penguins&rsquo; home-ice advantage would mean a clinching victory. The Penguins were lustily backed by 15,934, the largest Pittsburgh gathering ever to see a playoff game.The Penguins fell victims to Lanny McDonald&rsquo;s hat trick, the final goal winging into an empty net in the final seconds. Linemate Darryl Sittier added three assists to finish with six in the short series and Tiger Williams assisted on two of McDonald&rsquo;s goals.&ldquo;Too much of one line,&rdquo; Penguin coach Ken Schinkel later lamented.Toronto coach Red Kelly opted for rookie Mike Palmateer in the third game, but Denis Herron continued in the Pittsburgh net as goaltending partner Dune Wilson remained sidelined with a knee injury.Herron gave an heroic effort throughout the series, going so far as to take on Williams in a first-period bout that cost the Penguins the services of skillful Syl Apps late in the opening period of the final game.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03830/4075965-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="553" height="653"><figcaption class="caption-body">DENIS HERRON&hellip;Heroic Effort Fails</figcaption></div>The 153-pound netminder claimed Williams was in the crease when Ian Turnbull fired a 30-foot shot that sent the Leafs in front. 2-0. Frustrated with Williams&rsquo; prolonged presence in front of him during the series. Herron fought him.Apps immediately came to his teammate&rsquo;s aid, only to be banished as the third man in a fight.Herron protested that the goal should have been disallowed because of Williams stationing himself in the crease. The goaltender said that Bruce Hood, the senior referee in the National Hockey League, told him later, &ldquo;I know he was in the crease, but what can I do?&rdquo;With the off-season ticket drive begun earlier than he wanted. Savill said one projection is to sell 8,000, or about twice as many as the Penguins sold a year ago.The challenge, he admitted, would have been easier if the Penguins could have advanced to the second round of the playoffs. &#9632;

f0008-03

Penguins Victims Of First-Round Hex

<div class="byline">BY HARRY KLAFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011051/4075996-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">AL ARBOUR&hellip;Breathes Sigh Of Relief</figcaption></div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;Future editions of the Stanley Cup record book will show for all time that the New York Islanders defeated the Chicago Black Hawks, two games to none, in the 1977 preliminary round. But it will never show what a difficult task it actually was.On paper, the Isles should have had no trouble with the Black Hawks in that they topped their first rdUnd rivals by 43 points in the standings. And in reality, they enjoyed an overwhelming territorial advantage, outshooting the Hawks 74-35 for the two games.Unfortunately, shots on goal are not necessarily in direct correlation with shots in goal, especially when Tony Esposito is guarding the net at the other end or the rink.Esposito was brilliant, if that can be the best superlative here, in the two games. In the third period of game two, he put on one of the greatest exhibitions of clutch goaltending in recent memory. Such was his performance that he got a standing ovation from the Coliseum crowd with two minutes remaining, with the final outcome of the 2-1 score still very much in doubt. Remember, this is a crowd that boos Islanders; imagine what they generally do to the opposition.As great as he was, Esposito couldn&rsquo;t score goals, and the Islanders proceeded to the center ice ceremony as the handshakers, the Black Hawks headshakers. The victory made the Islanders 3-0 lifetime in preliminary series, having eliminated the Rangers and Vancouver in previous years.&ldquo;We played our game, and it was a typical team effort on our part,&rdquo; said a relieved Al Arbour after the series. &ldquo;In both games we started off a little hesitantly, and then got stronger and stronger as the game went on.&ldquo;But I thought for a while we wouldn&rsquo;t be able to put anything past Esposito. That was some job of goaltending. He kept on coming up with the big one, the big one. I&rsquo;ve seen a lot of goaltending exhibitions over the years, and that third period tonight was something.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen Esposito like that before,&rdquo; added Lome Henning. &ldquo;The more you shoot at him, the better he gets.&rdquo;The Isles won the first game, 5-2, although it was certainly not the fault of the veteran goaltender. The Hawks held a 2-1 lead after two periods, but the Islanders exploded for four goals (including an empty-netter) in the finale to ice the game.The winning goal was a bit of the flukey variety, and was credited to Bill MacMillan, who hadn&rsquo;t seen a red light since Jan. 22. Mac&mdash;who spent recent weeks in Fort Worth for &ldquo;conditioning purposes&rdquo;&mdash;was standing outside the crease when Garry Ho watt unloaded from the left side. Esposito did the split, but the hard rebound struck MacMillan&rsquo;s skate, and trickled into the cage.Bob Bourne&mdash;left alone in front&mdash;put in an easy rebound a few minutes later, and J.P. Parise&mdash;who missed game two with a knee injury-notched his second goal of the evening into the empty net for the clincher.Game two was destined to be a bizarre affair even before the series opened up. The middle game in the set was scheduled for Chicago Stadium, but a rock concert caused a pre-emption. After several rounds of negotiations between Tommy Ivan and Bill Torrey, the game was shifted to the Nassau Coliseum, where the Hawks would officially be the &ldquo;home team,&rdquo; and a Bugs Bunny show would be kicked out in the process.Consequently, the scoreboard headings read &ldquo;ISLANDERS&rdquo; and &ldquo;HOME&rdquo; for Chicago, the Isles wore their new blue road uniforms, theHawks enjoyed the privilege of the last line change, and so on. So even though the game was played at the Coliseum, it was in every respect treated as a road game. No, the Islanders didn&rsquo;t get meal money.The winning goal came on a beautiful play as Billy Harris carried into the Chicago end, and dropped a neat pass to Clark Gillies, whose blazer took part of Esposito&rsquo;s arm into the net with the puck. &#9632;

f0009-01

Islanders Found Esposito Tough Riddle To Solve

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011076/4076027-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="313" height="473"></div><h2>Ftorek In Demand</h2>YOU ARE ROBBIE FTOREK, and suddenly you are not so small anymore.You have scored more points than any other American-born player in professional hockey in one season, you are as valuable or more valuable than any player in the World Hockey Association, and you are coveted by any number of teams in both leagues now that your team, the Phoenix Roadrunners, has died of fiscal exhaustion.You are Robbie Ftorek, and you are all of these things, and you are getting a lot of telephone calls, and what do you do?&ldquo;You go fishing,&rdquo; said the little man, his prominent jaw all dressed up with a smile. And why not? He&rsquo;s about to reel in his prize catch of the year&mdash;a summer vacation.&ldquo;It has been a long season,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;And I need to spend some time with my family. It started in August with Team USA, then it was right into the season with Phoenix, and that was very disappointing.&ldquo;Now they tell me that I&rsquo;ve been sold to the Cincinnati Stingers for next season, I&rsquo;m excited about it, but meanwhile my representative in Boston is getting phone calls from some other people expressing interest. A lot has happened.&rdquo;A lot indeed, but feel free to consider this a winter during which Ftorek proved, no questions asked, that he belongs on an everdwindling list of players who can make it anywhere&mdash;no matter what label the league wears&mdash;because of honest perspiration.<h2>Can Play Anywhere</h2>&ldquo;NHL OR WHA, doesn&rsquo;t matter,&rdquo; said Pat Stapleton, an Indianapolis Racer vet who has graced ponds in both circuits. &ldquo;Ftorek is always working. He can play with anybody.&rdquo;And to think that Ftorek, once upon a mistake ago, wasn&rsquo;t deemed worthy of the Detroit Red Wings, a comical franchise which led the world in losses circa 1976-77.&ldquo;It was basically a difference of philosophies there,&rdquo; said Ftorek. &ldquo;Ted Garvin started the season, but didn&rsquo;t last long. Alex Delvecchio took over and the day he did, I went home to my wife, and said let&rsquo;s start packing. I knew I was gone. She thought I was nuts, until the next day. When I was gone.&rdquo;Gone to the minors because he and Delvecchio couldn&rsquo;t jive on the virtues of a center man trying to make the great play at the blue line vis a vis dumping it in for a pernicious forechecking game. Yes, Robbie Ftorek, there is a Virginia.&ldquo;At the end of the season there, the WHA was starting up and I had to make a choice,&rdquo; Ftorek recalled. &ldquo;Either I take a chance on being stuck in the minors with the Detroit organization or go do something right away&mdash;on a promise&mdash;that I&rsquo;d always wanted to do. Play in the big leagues.&rdquo;Ftorek opted for Phoenix, where he carved a reputation as a playmaker supreme, pest extraordinaire, skater forever and scorer consistent. All for $62,000 last season, one of the most modest salaries in a game which is killing itself with immodesty. Roadrunners, R.I.P.&ldquo;They had a hard core of fans in Phoenix, but just not enough, I guess,&rdquo; said Ftorek. &ldquo;Then some of them got turned off this year when, right at the start of the season, we sold good players to other teams for nothing.<h2>Raps Management</h2>&ldquo;IT&rsquo;S NOT MY position to criticize management, because they were first class to the players here&mdash;never missed a paycheck. But it really upset me when they just sold guys like Cam Connor to other clubs and got nothing in return.&ldquo;I can see trading a good player if you get something back, but just selling good players? Even if it was an economy move, I believe that if you go into something, you have to go into it fully or don&rsquo;t go in at all. I can&rsquo;t blame the fans for becoming angry. They were pretty good fans here.&rdquo;And fans in Cincinnati can await the spectre of this blond bumblebee, buzzing in the other team&rsquo;s end, a chip off Bobby Clarke&rsquo;s block.&ldquo;I have one year to go on my WHA contract, and after that, I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; said Ftorek. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believe that I have to go to the NHL to prove myself, even though there are a lot of areas I feel I need improvement.&ldquo;If Cincinnati offered me a chance for security, I&rsquo;d have to listen. I just hope that whatever is good for hockey finally happens. If it means the two leagues getting together and playing in the best cities with the best teams possible, then that&rsquo;s what it should be. That would be great.&rdquo;Until then, sheer exhilaration for Ftorek will be the memory of playing the Canada Cup last September. &#9632;

f0010-01

HOCKEY TALK

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Regardless of their playoff performance, the Kings&rsquo; milestone 10th season had to be considered disappointing. Their regular-season record sagged for the second straight season, from 42-14-21 to 38-33-9 to 34-31-15. Most of the season they had lost more games than they had won and it took a terrific finish to wind up above 500.However, theirs was the sixth best record among the 18 teams in the NHL. And in losing only four of their last 22 games, they did have their finest finish ever. They followed quarters of 8-6-6, 911-0, and 9-10-1 with one of 12-4-4, matching the best quarter they ever have had.They followed a 13-17-10 first half with a 21-14-5 second half, but it was in the final fourth that they were really rolling. The fans came on at the finish, too, to set team records with a total of 497,424 and an average of 12,435.The Kings won their last three games and five of their last six to recapture second place in their division from Pittsburgh and gain the home-ice advantage in the opening playoff series. This was their goal and they showed a lot of guts in getting it. The other team scored first in four of those five victories. Colorado led by two goals three times at 2-0,3-1, and 42, in the last of those victories and was at home, but the Kings came back to win.Scrambling in desperation, discarding coach Bob Pulford&rsquo;s conservative tactics, the Kings won two of their final games by 6-4, one by 7-5, and one by 7-2. Yet their rally was as much a tribute to his coaching as to their character.He probably will be back next season, but whichever club he coaches, the Kings or one of the others, will have one of the three or four finest coaches in the business. He is patient, his players respect him, and he gets a lot out of them.There were a couple of superstars and five or six top players on this team. The rest were ordinary, but they played extraordinary hockey at times for the coach and never stopped working.The defense was superb through the stretch, but sagged the last week or two with injuries. Rogie Vachon was pressed hard, but held up. He surpassed his own team records with 4,059 minutes in 68 games, 33 victories, and eight shutouts.His 33-23-12 won-and-lost record and 2.75 goals-against average were not the best&rsquo; in the league, but he probably was the best in the league. The team cut its goals against by 24 to 241, sixth best in the league.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02872/4076058-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="553" height="1032"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOM WILLIAMS&hellip;35-Goal Man</figcaption></div>The team scored an all-time high 271 goals, eighth best in the league. The leader, of course, was Marcel Dionne, who surpassed his own team records with 53 goals, 69 assists, and 122 points. He scored seven goals in the last three games to pass 50 for the first time in his career.Dionne&rsquo;s hat trick put Minnesota to rout in the next-to-last game, then he added two more to help clip Colorado in the climactic contest. But it was Butch Goring&rsquo;s hat trick in this one that they thought they had to win that turned the tide.Although playing well, Butch got only one goal in 17 games and none in 10 games just prior to his big game in whichhe came through in the clutch. He concluded his best season with 30 goals, 55 assists, and 85 points.Tommy Williams had 35 goals, 39 assists, and 74 points. Mike Murphy had 25 goals, 35 assists, and 60 points. The Goring-Williams-Murphy trio set a team mark for one line with 90 goals.They played up front on the power-play and led the league with 67 goals in 250 opportunities, a 26 per cent payoff. Williams had 15 power-play goals, Dionne and Goring 13 each.Dionne carried the rest of the offense. He and Sargent played the power-play points. Except for Sargent, scoring fell off sharply from the four top forwards.Don Kozak and Gene Carr had 15 goals each, Vic Venasky 14, Bob Berry 13, and Dave Schultz 10. Rookie Glenn Goldup did show promise with seven goals in the 28 games he played.And the Venasky-Schultz-Kozak line performed well down the stretch.Sargent set team records for defensemen with 14 goals, 40 assists, and 54 points. He was the muscle on defense, too. Bob Murdoch scored seven goals in the final fourth to finish with nine goals and 23 assists for 32 points. He played intelligently and well.Dave Hutchison surprised with six goals and at times played better than ever before. Neil Komadoski showed improvement. And Larry Brown played defense best of all the defenseman and deserved a lot of credit he did not get.Goring and Murphy killed penalties effectively.The team finished with a disappointing 20-13-7 record at home, but balanced this with a surprising 14-18-8 record on the road. The scorers came through on the road. Dionne scored 26 of his 53 goals on the road, Williams 17 of his 35, Goring 16 of his 30. Sargent seven of his 14. Murphy was nine of 25.The regular-season curtain came down to cheers. &#9632;

f0010-02

Kings’ Year Disappointing Despite Whirlwind Finish

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011030/4076089-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="505" height="473"><figcaption class="caption-body">BARCLAY PLAGER&hellip;Banner Year</figcaption></div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;Barclay Plager admitted he was nervous when he skated out on to the ice at the St. Louis Arena in his familiar No. 8 sweater.The game was the 613th in a St. Louis uniform for Plager, so he shouldn&rsquo;t have been nervous. But the extenuating circumstance was that nearly a full year had passed since the 612th.Plager, a fixture on the Blues&rsquo; defense since the 1967-68 season, had spent virtually the entire 1976-77 season as player-coach of the Blues&rsquo; Kansas City farm club, but coach Emile Francis called on Plager for the Blues&rsquo; last two games of the regular season in preparation for the Stanley Cup playoffs.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think I would be nervous,&rdquo; said Plager, &ldquo;but I was.&rdquo;When Plager came into the ice for his first shift when the game was two minutes old. the crowd at the Arena gave him a lengthy and lusty standing ovation, one of the warmest spontaneous salutes ever accorded a St. Louis player.&ldquo;The St. Louis crowd always has class.&rdquo; said an appreciative Plager after the game.Plager is the Blues&rsquo; all-time leader in games played and also the team&rsquo;s all-time penalty leader. Characteristically he was in his first National Hockey League game of the season for only 33 seconds when referee Dave Newell sent him to the penalty box for holding Cleveland&rsquo;s Vern Stenlund, who was 10 years old when Plager drew his first NHL penalty.While Plager was playing in St. Louis, his Kansas City Blues were playing their last regular-season game with player Larry Giroux serving as coach. Although Plager enjoyed the adulation and the emotional high in St. Louis, he apparently was reluctant to leave his charges in Kansas City.&ldquo;Kansas City is my team.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We had a pretty good year in Kansas City, and I&rsquo;ve enjoyed it. I was lucky that I had good players.&rdquo;Plager pushed the minor-league Blues to a first-place finish in the Central Hockey League and a league record of 46 victories. He helped the Blues develop their high-scoring Kid Line of Bernie Federko. Brian Sutter and Rick Bourbonnais. In short. Plager was an excellent coach in his first chance at that demanding job.Federko, the most spectacular graduate of the Plager finishing school of hockey, calls Plager &ldquo;a natural leader&rdquo; and says, &ldquo;He has the knack. He motivated us.&rdquo;Sutter said. &ldquo;You just couldn&rsquo;t ask for a better coach. When we didn&rsquo;t do something, he would get on us. But he kept everything so loose that we had fun playing.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0011-01

NHL Return Gave Vet ‘Jittery’ Feeling

<div class="byline">BY RICH PASSAN</div>CLEVELAND&mdash;The Cleveland Barons wound up the 1976-77 National Hockey League season with 63 points in the standings.Good enough to gain a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs had they been members of the NHL&rsquo;s Smythe Division. Only trouble is the Barons resided in the tough Adams Division and finished several miles behind third-place Toronto.It has been a year of turmoil for the Cleveland icers and the fact they were able to compile their 63 points is a testimonial to the great courage they showed in the face of adversity.The club was on the verge of collapse on several different occasions due to financial instability. And the more trouble the team got into, the better the players performed.Coach Jack Evans couldn&rsquo;t have been prouder of his men and hopes there will be a next season for the Cleveland Barons.He can&rsquo;t wait to see how his team operates with strong financial backing and fewer injuries. The Barons lost over 250 games through injuries, including a wipeout of the entire right side in a three-week period.Evans asks for nothing more than health and three new bodies for his team so he can show the rest of the NHL the Barons can be more than just respectable.The Cleveland bench boss is hopeful of landing a high-scoring winger, preferrably one who pulls the trigger from the right side, in the amateur draft in a couple of months.The Barons are well set at center ice and could deal from that position to strengthen another weak area such as right wing. Left wing has definite possibilities with Al MacAdam, rookie whiz Mike Fidler and erstwhile defenseman Rick Hampton.What the Barons need badly is the big basher or bashers, the guys who will keep the opponent honest. What position he plays makes no difference.Top candidates for the Barons&rsquo; first pick in the draft&mdash;they pick fifth overall&mdash;are right winger Mike Crombeen from Kingston of the Ontario Hockey Association and Robert Picard, who did his bashing for Montreal in the Quebec Junior League.The Barons wound up their turbulent season with 25 victories and 13 ties in 80 games. The leading offensive performer was center iceman Dennis Maruk.The little pest, as several coaches fondly and respectfully call Maruk, led the club in all offensive categories. His 28 goals were six better than runner-up MacAdam and his 50 assists were nine better than MacAdam&rsquo;s total.Maruk, MacAdam, Wayne Merrick and Ralph Klassen were the only Barons to play in all 80 games with defenseman Mike Christie missing just one.The Cleveland power play, which was spotty at the beginning of the season, eventually came around and produced the fifth-highest number of manpoweradvantage goals with 59.The penalty killing was either very good or very bad. There was no middle ground with a teammate in the penalty box. What hurt more than anything here was the inability to score short-handed.The Barons struck for just two short handed tallies to lead the NHL in that dubious department. And they permitted 12 goals to be scored on their power play to rank third in the league.BARONS&rsquo; BITS: No news yet on the possible sale of the Barons by majority owner Mel Swig to Coliseum owner Sandy Greenberg. Negotiations are still going on and the sale, if there is to be one, will not be effected until the beginning of May. according to Swig&hellip;Public relations director Ron McGrath was released following the final game of the season. Marketing director Tom Cochran was pink-slipped several weeks earlier&hellip; Swig was sued by the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum for non-payment of back rent.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-02863/4076120-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="559" height="966"><figcaption class="caption-body">DENNIS MARUK&hellip;The Little Pest</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0011-02

Barons Coach Evans Hopes There’ll Be A Next Season

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011050/4076151-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="233" height="433"></div><h2>Lindsay Facing Challenge</h2>SIGNING ON as general manager of the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; sinking ship wouldn&rsquo;t appear to be the smartest move ever made by Ted Lindsay.The Red Wings finished their latest dismal season with the worst record in the NHL, 16-55-9. By not winning in their last 19 games, the Red Wings guaranteed themselves spectator status for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the seventh consecutive year.The question then is: Why would someone with Lindsay&rsquo;s proud hockey record, someone who has been successful in business and as a TV commentator, risk his reputation by volunteering for such a rescue mission? The answer is pure Ted Lindsay.&ldquo;Nothing is hopeless,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s been a negativism here. We&rsquo;ve got to turn it to positive and I believe I can do it quickly&mdash;as soon as next year.&rdquo;&ldquo;Terrible Ted&rdquo; obviously plans to operate as GM just like he played&mdash;wham, bam, right to the point. The problem for Lindsay is finding quality hockey players. The current Red Wings&rsquo; crop has dwindled to a few such as Jim Rutherford. Ed Giacomin, Terry Harper, Nick Libett, Dan Maloney and Walt McKechnie. Dennis Hextall is 34, apparently can still play, but the years of losing in Minnesota have squelched his enthusiasm. Injuries have made Danny Grant&rsquo;s usefulness a question mark.&ldquo;Talent comes in different ways,&rdquo; said Lindsay. &ldquo;What good is talent if a guy doesn&rsquo;t want to work? I want guys who will work. They&rsquo;ll know who is boss and what&rsquo;s expected of them. If they don&rsquo;t want to do what we want, they will not be here.&rdquo;Talent decisions by previous Detroit administrations have been criticized by Lindsay.<h2>Vote For Little Guy</h2>&ldquo;THERE ARE FELLOWS who should have been signed, like college players,&rdquo; said the Hockey Hali of Famer. &ldquo;Either they were too small or Americans or something&mdash;it was just stupidity. The guys who led the league in scoring (Guy Lafleur, Marcel Dionne) aren&rsquo;t six-foot-two or six-foot-three, are they? I fooled them for many years. The little guys are usually quicker or smarter.&rdquo;Besides dropping in on junior playoff games himself, Lindsay plans to ask former teammates for help in scouting.&ldquo;They might see some suspects&mdash;free agents, guys like that, who have a chance. Philadelphia signed a guy like Orest Kindrachuk&mdash;I&rsquo;d love to get a couple like that.&rdquo;Unlike most observers including Clarence Campbell, Lindsay wasn&rsquo;t appalled at the trade that sent Rick Lapointe. Detroit&rsquo;s No. 1 draft choice in 1975, to Philadelphia for Terry Murray and three minorleague prospects.&ldquo;Rick has great potential, but he wasn&rsquo;t doing much in Detroit,&rdquo; said Lindsay. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t too involved before so I don&rsquo;t know what the problem was. Maybe it wasn&rsquo;t all his fault. I&rsquo;d like to sit down with him and find out if he was getting any direction here.&rdquo;Detroit&rsquo;s direction has been one way&mdash;down&mdash;but Lindsay thinks at least two of the former Flyers&mdash;Bob Ritchie and Steve Coates&mdash;can help the Wings.&ldquo;Ritchie can be a good hockey player,&rdquo; Lindsay said of the Flyers&rsquo; No. 2 draft pick in 1975 who scored six goals in 17 games for Detroit.Referring to the enthusiasm and Bob Kelly-type recklessness of the ex-Michigan Tech player, Lindsay said, &ldquo;Coates can be a good asset.&rdquo;<h2>Howe Courting Over</h2>GORDIE HOWE AND BOBBY HULL were assets wherever they&rsquo;ve played, but Lindsay has sprayed Hull and the Howe family with criticism.&ldquo;As far as I&rsquo;m concerned it&rsquo;s out,&rdquo; Lindsay said about the possibility of his ex-teammate Gordie and sons Mark and Marty Howe joining the Detroit organization. &ldquo;She (Mrs. Howe) has said there&rsquo;s no way the Howes will play in Detroit. Boston wants a first-round draft choice for Mark and I&rsquo;m not giving that up. Montreal gets a second-round pick for Marty next year. These are the kinds of problems I inherited, but I will survive.&rdquo;Lindsay blames Hull for the WHA&rsquo;s survival and the talent drain caused by its existence.&ldquo;Our problems in hockey are here because he (Hull) went to the WHA and they were able to survive. He gave it credibility. If he hadn&rsquo;t gone, it would have folded.&rdquo;Some cynics think the Red Wings should be one of the NHL clubs that fold to help create a merger with the WHA&rsquo;s best teams. Unless you want a blood-chilling glare, don&rsquo;t suggest such an action around Ted Lindsay. &#9632;

f0012-01

HOCKEY WORLD

<div class="byline">BY ALAN TRUEX</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02889/4076182-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOBBY SIMPSON&hellip; An Aggressive Performer</figcaption></div>ATLANTA&mdash;lt is a matter of public record that the Atlanta Flames are the biggest team in the National Hockey League But it is a matter of public debate whether they make good use of their size and strength &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t use our bodies enough. Flames captain Pat Quinn admitted &ldquo;We seem to think we re fancy-dan hockey players.&rdquo;The Flames are not a fast and fancy team. When they win. it is usually because they outhit their opponents, rather than outskate them.Trouble is. the Flames do not always hit. &ldquo;They seem to in their building.&rdquo; Philadelphia coach Fred Shero said, &ldquo;but maybe they need to do it on the road.&rdquo;Los Angeles Kings winger Dave Schultz was far more blunt about it &ldquo;They&rsquo;re brave at home.&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but in our building they&rsquo;re a bunch of pansies. They did the same thing when I was with Philly.&rdquo;Butch Goring, the Kings&rsquo; five-foot-nine. 170-pound center, skates freely through holes in the Flame defense, and Goring says he can do it because &ldquo;the Flames are not a team that bounces you around a lot.&rdquo;Atalnta was beaten out in three games by Los Angeles in the Stanley Cup preliminary round. The Flames lost the opener 5-2 on the Coast, where they played non-physically.But in the second game, in Atlanta, the Flames played one of their roughest games of the year. They rocked the Kings with at least a dozen clean bodychecks&mdash;and a few dirty ones&mdash;and ended up beating them 3-2. On the deciding game in L.A., the Flames were beaten 4-2 principally because Goring scored three goals in the game.The home ice win bore out the promise that when the Flames hit, they are a much more effective team than when they try to get by on skating speed and finesse.This makes sense, when you examine the roster. The Flames have 13 players who are six-foot-one or taller. They have four&mdash;Ed Kea, Curt Bennett, Pat Quinn and Willi Plett&mdash;who are six-foot-three. The biggest Flame, rookie defenseman Pat Ribble, is six-foot-four and weighs 210.In skating speed, the Flames are probably below average by NHL standards. Bill Clement, Tom Lysiak, Eric Vail, Randy Manery and Dave Shand are rarely outskated, but most of the other Flames are fairly easy to elude.General manager Cliff Fletcher will spend much of the off-season looking for more speed, particularly for the wings, where the six-foot-two, 210-pound Vail is the only breakaway threat.Fletcher does feel, however, that rookie left wing Bobby Simpson, one of the team&rsquo;s most aggressive players, is fast enough and will score consistently once he learns the finer points of the game. &#9632;

f0012-02

Fancy-Dan Flames’ Skaters Just Not Physical Enough

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011009/4076220-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GUY LAFLEUR&hellip;Tied Playoff Mark</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;There seems to be no end to the achievements of the dynamic Guy Lafleur. They keep piling up and the incredible part of it all is the brilliant right winger of the Montreal Canadiens is capable of even bigger and better things.Canadiens&rsquo; general manager Sam Pollock doesn&rsquo;t think Lafleur has even reached his peak. Pollock says he believes Lafleur will get better with time and expects he&rsquo;ll play another 15 or more years. This is Lafleurs sixth NHL season and already he&rsquo;s being lumped with the game&rsquo;s greats like Maurice Richard. Jean Beliveau. Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr.Lafleur is performing in his sixth playoff season and if there&rsquo;s one avenue of success the speedy Montreal winger might like to improve his lot. it&rsquo;s in the post-season round.Up until the last two seasons. Lafleur was never considered a playoff threat as a scorer, In 1974-75 he counted 12 goals and 19 points, his career high. Last season he was 7-10-17 playing in more games. In his first three playoff years. Lafleur managed only four goals in 29 games but he is progressively getting better when they put Lord Stanley&rsquo;s famed pewter on the line.This season Lafleur would cerplaying in more games. In his first tainly break his personal high in both goals and points at his present pace. He got off to a flying start in the Habs&rsquo; first semi-final playoff game against St. Louis when he scored three times and helped set up three others. It was a six-point night that tied a Stanley Cup record for most points in a single game. Ironically, it was another Montreal player. Dickie Moore, who set it originally back in 1954; it was tied by Phil Esposito in 1969 when Espo scored four times and assisted on two other goals in a 10-0 Boston rout of Toronto.Last season Darryl Sittier came along to post a six-point game against Philadelphia in the playoffs, scoring five times, to add his name to the record. Thus Lafleur became the fourth man in cup history to achieve a six-point game.Lafleur. who had eight scoring points in his first three games of the 1977 playoffs, has been on a record-breaking binge since mid-season. He establishedNHL records for most 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 had 42 assists for 61 points).He also became only the second NHL player to reach the 50-goal mark for three straight seasons and also only the third player in league history to score 50 goals in a season three times.As NHL scoring champion for the second consecutive year. Lafleur won the Art Ross Trophy. He also captured the Molson Cup as the leading three star performer and was recently chosen winner of the Lester Pearson Award for the second straight year by the NHL Professional Writers Association as the player who contributed most to hockey during the season.Earlier Lafleur was chosen by THE HOCKEY NEWS as their 1976-77 player of the year and he was picked by the fans as All Star right winger and the NHL&rsquo;s MVP performer in the annual HOCKEY NEWS poll.There are still three more awards awaiting Lafleur and he could conceivably return as the winner of all three. He is the NHL&rsquo;s prime candidate for the Hart Trophy as MVP, has a good chance to take the Lady Byng Trophy as well and if the Canadiens were to go all the way as the experts figure they will and Lafleur keeps up his present pace, then he could emerge as the Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP.It&rsquo;s all speculation at the moment but the signs are there and since this is the Year of the Flower&rsquo; as the press pundits call the sensational Canadiens&rsquo; star, don&rsquo;t bet against Lafleur achieving this latest milestone.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02823/4076213-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="571" height="430"><figcaption class="caption-body">PIERRE BOUCHARD&hellip;Out Of Playoffs</figcaption></div>HABS NOTES: The news wasn&rsquo;t all good for the Canadiens as they rolled over the St. Louis Blues. Defenseman Pierre Bouchard is gone for the season with a shoulder separation&hellip;Insiders say Jim Roberts is playing his last with the Canadiens and will retire at the conclusion of the playoffs to be replaced next year by rookie Pierre Mondou, who is winning raves down on the farm with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs&hellip;Canadiens&rsquo; sweep of the Blues stretched their two-year playoff streak to nine straight wins. They&rsquo;ve also won 16 of their last 17 playoff starts&hellip;Emile Francis of the Blues said there&rsquo;s no doubt about this year&rsquo;s edition of the Canadiens. They&rsquo;re the best ever&hellip;Claude Larose called Lafleur the &lsquo;Bionic Winger&rsquo;. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s supposed to be a right winger,&rdquo; claimed Larose, &ldquo;but he&rsquo;s all over the ice playing right wing, left wing, center&rdquo;&hellip;Goaler Ken Dryden has now suited up for the Canadiens&rsquo; last 28 playoff games without interruption since coming back from his one-year sabbatical from pro hockey in 1973-74. &#9632;

f0013-01

Habs Say Lafleur Not Yet At Peak

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Bernie Parent and Wayne Stephenson were seated on a hotel lobby couch before the Flyers&rsquo; regular-season finale in Atlanta when a mischievous eavesdropper leaned over and said:&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s see what kind of controversy we can stir up today between you two.&rdquo;&ldquo;Ah, no, no, none of that,&rdquo; replied Parent. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want any of that stuff. We get along fine.&rdquo;Just so sensationalists understand&mdash;the two Flyers&rsquo; goaltenders do get along. They aren&rsquo;t inseparable pals, but how many goalies are?On this afternoon, the two were comparing notes about boats. Parent, of course, is the proud possessor of a huge vessel which he takes deep-sea fishing out of Wildwood, N.J., in the summers. The temptation was to think &ldquo;Admiral&rdquo; Parent&rsquo;s mind was already drifting toward lazy summer days.Maybe Parent was day-dreaming a bit, but to think he wasn&rsquo;t looking forward to the Stanley Cup playoffs would be a serious mistake. Never before has Parent shown as much determination about a playoff.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011031/4076258-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="537" height="1009"><figcaption class="caption-body">WAYNE STEPHENSON&hellip;Friendly Rivalry</figcaption></div>In 1974 the Flyers really didn&rsquo;t know how good they were until they beat Boston. Parents masterful work in Philadelphia&rsquo;s 1-0 Cup-clinching victory over the Bruins secured his spot as one of hockey&rsquo;s great goalies.A year later the Flyers were the favorites when they beat Buffalo in the finals. Last year, Parent made an amazing recovery from early season neck surgery, but after the chaotic seven-game quarter-final series with Toronto, the two-time Conn Smythe Trophy winner&rsquo;s confidence was shaken and Stephenson carried the Flyers through the semi-finals against Boston and into the four-straight knockout by Montreal.Starting fresh last September, Parent was relatively unnoticed all season. The NHL goalies who attracted the most attention were the talented twosomes with Montreal and Long Island. Gerry Desjardins and later Don Edwards in Buffalo. Rogie Vachon in Los Angeles, and Mike Palmateer in Toronto.Meanwhile, Parent was playing in 61 games, a total topped only by Tony Esposito&rsquo;s 69 and Vachon&rsquo;s 68. Parent&rsquo;s 2.71 average was the fifth best among goalies appearing in more than 35 games. His five shutouts tied him with Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Dune Wilson behind Ken Dryden&rsquo;s 10 and Vachon&rsquo;s eight. Most important to the Flyers was Parent&rsquo;s 35 victories, runnerup only to Dryden&rsquo;s 41.On the injury front. Parent&rsquo;s most serious ailment was a sprained left knee that sidelined him for five games early in March. He returned to play seven of eight games in Philadelphia&rsquo;s critical homestretch drive that wrapped up another Patrick Division title.Should the Flyers do as well as expected in the playoffs, which means at least reaching the finals again. Parent will look back on the last six minutes in the season&rsquo;s final game as a significant launching point.With Atlanta desperately trying to break a 3-3 tie and gain home-ice advantage in their opening-round series, the Flames outshot the Flyers 9-0 in the last minutes. However, despite two power plays, they couldn&rsquo;t slip the puck past Parent.&ldquo;You always look back to a game like that when you&rsquo;re starting something as important as a playoff,&rdquo; Parent said.&ldquo;You remember what you did well and it helps you in your next game. That was a good way to finish the season.&rdquo;Like his teammates. Parent enjoyed a couple of days off before resuming practice for the quarter-finals. All the Flyers appeared eager to play again, but none was more enthusiastic than Parent. He was model-slim at 176 pounds, his beard and mustache were gone, and he had skipped the usual post-game brew for six weeks.For Parent, the boat trips can wait. His Admiral&rsquo;s cap is on the shelf until, he hopes, late May.FLYERS FOLLOWERS: Mel Bridgman&rsquo;s Charley horse, which benched him for the last eight regular-season games, was responding slowly to treatment. If the Flyers&rsquo; No. 4 scorer remains sidelined, Harvey Bennett will continue at left wing on Orest Kindrachuk&rsquo;s line.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02854/4076251-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="1153" height="1113"><figcaption class="caption-body">BERNIE PARENT&hellip; Determination Personified</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0014-01

Unobtrusive Parent Attempts To Recapture Past Ice Glory

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>DETROIT&mdash;The Detroit Red Wings will be a hustling, digging hockey club next season, general manager Ted Lindsay promised on the eve of the season&rsquo;s final game.The Wings finished their worst season ever with a 16-55-9 record, including 19 straight games at the end of the season (almost six weeks) without a victory.When the 1977-78 season rolls around, there&rsquo;ll be plenty of new faces skating on Olympia ice and, Lindsay said, &ldquo;we&rsquo;ll be respectable.&rdquo;Lindsay and coach Larry Wilson, who will be retained under the new administration. have mapped a strenuous year-long conditioning program for their players. It&rsquo;s a total physical fitness program, aimed at building stamina,, endurance, and strength. As much as anything else, it is an attempt by Lindsay and Wilson to identify &ldquo;their kind of hockey players,&rdquo; the most popular phrase in Wilson&rsquo;s vocabulary.The physical fitness program is compulsory, and it is certain to draw fire from the NHL Players Association.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not looking for a confrontation with anybody,&rdquo; Lindsay said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a franchise in trouble here. We have to do this, or we won&rsquo;t be here. We&rsquo;re looking for guys who want to play, who want to pay the price for success.&ldquo;Each player has been given a per sonalized conditioning program, based on his needs, whether its gaining strength, losing weight, adding stamina, or whatever. We&rsquo;ll bring them intoHamilton (Ontario) in the middle of August to test them. We ll be able to tell who has been working. Then, a few days before training camp opens in September, we&rsquo;ll bring them back again, and by that time we&rsquo;ll know for sure who&rsquo;s been working. Those who don&rsquo;t (work on the fitness program) won&rsquo;t be here when the season opens.&ldquo;Everything we do will be aimed at improving the hockey club. I certainly hope the players are adult enough to realize that. The conditioning is discipline, and discipline, that&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;re looking for on the ice. If they can discipline themselves to do the physical fitness, that same discipline is going to make the game easier for them and make them better hockey players.&rdquo;Lindsay said nothing happened in his three weeks as general manager to change his impressions about the club.&ldquo;You could say my impressions were confirmed,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;My evaluation of the talent here, and the problems, are the same as before.&rdquo;Wilson refused to comment on which players would be gone in September.&ldquo;I won&rsquo;t comment on the players,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;But I like to see effort, and not all the players are giving an effort. Some are working hard, but not all.&ldquo;We have analyzed the team, and we know what our needs are. We need help down the middle (at center) and we ll try to acquire another draft choice. We re looking at a long, hard summer.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to work hard to turn this club around.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01991/4076289-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="529" height="649"><figcaption class="caption-body">LARRY WILSON&hellip;Long, Hard Summer</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0015-01

Lindsay Promises Fans Respectability

<div class="byline">BY GORAN STUBB</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02707/4076327-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIRI NOVAK&hellip;Packs Czech Punch</figcaption></div>VIENNA&mdash;The Soviet Union will be aiming to recapture lost ice glory at the upcoming world hockey championships in Vienna.Judging from pre-tournament reports, it will take a Herculean effort to thwart the Soviets from winning back the title they lost to Czechoslovakia in Poland. This is doubly true when it is taken into account that the Soviets lost face by finishing third in the Canada Cup tournament last September and are anxious to redeem themselves in the eyes of world hockey observers.Soviet coaches Boris Kulagin, Konstantin Loktex and Vladimir Jurzinov have reason for optimism. For one thing, the alleged &ldquo;strongest line in amateur hockey&rdquo;&mdash;conspicuous by its absence in the Canada Cup&mdash;will be reunited. Of course, the trio of Boris Mikhailov. Valeri Kharlamov and Vladimir Petrov needs no introduction to hockey connoisseurs.This is the unit that sparkled in previous encounters with Team Canada. With Kharlamov completedly recovered from two broken legs suffered in an auto accident last year, the line excelled in recent exhibition encounters in Finland and Sweden.The cry has once again sprung up that if you stop this trio, you stop the Soviets. However, it&rsquo;s easier said than done.Two other reasons why the Soviets should be favored in this tourney are goaltender Vladislav Tretiak and winger Helmut Balderis. Tretiak, of course, needs no introduction to the international hockey scene. He has been the backbone of the Soviet national team since the initial confrontation with Team Canada &lsquo;72. He is considered in many quarters simply as the best netminder in the world today.Balderis made Soviet hockey history recently by becoming the first player outside Moscow to win the league&rsquo;s scoring championship. He collected 40 goals and 23 assists to outdistance Petrov and Alexander Maltsev. And in case anyone suspects Maltsev has lost his touch, consider this: He helped form the highest-scoring line in the Soviet Union this season, combining with Alexander Golikov and Viktor Prirodin to total 78 goals for Moscow Dynamo.In addition to all this, interest in the sport is again booming in the Soviet Union. Soviet hockey builder Anatoly Tarasov says that over three million boys are playing hockey in that country with more rinks being constructed each year.To ensure continuing development within their ranks, the Soviets are opening the doors for younger players to go abroad. A team of 13-year-old boys recently visited Helsinki and participated in a junior tournament there.The Soviet roster for the Vienna championships contains few surprises. The complete lineup follows:Goal: Alexander Sidelnikov, Vladislav Tretiak.Defense: Aleksandr Gusev, Vladimir Lutchenko, Sergei Babinov, Zinetul Bial-jaletdinov, Valeri Vasilyev, Gennady Tsigankov, Vasily Pervukin.Forwards: Sergei Kapustin. Victor Shalimov, Alexander Maltsev, Boris Mikhailov, Alexander Yakushev, Vladimir Petrov, Valeri Kharlamov, Vladimir Shadrin, Vladimir Kovin, Victor Zhlukotov, Alexander Golikov, Helmut Balderis.Czechoslovakia, in what promises to be a difficult task to successfully defend its crown, has nominated 19 of last year&rsquo;s championship squad for the trip to Vienna. Of last year&rsquo;s jubilant crew, only Frantisek Czemik failed to make the grade this time around.One of the oldtime veterans of the Czech squad, captain Josef Cerny of Zetor Brno, reached a coveted milestone recently when he notched his 400th goal in a game against Slovan Bratislava. The 38-year-old Cerny broke into the Czech league back in 1957.Top scorers in the Czech circuit this campaign are Milan Novy, Vincent Lukac, Eduard Novak, Bohuslav Ebermann, Ivan Hlinka, Josef Klapac, Vladimir Martinec, Marian Stastny, Jiri Novak and Peter Stastny.The two top defenseman in Czechoslovakia are National team captain Frantisek Pospisil and Jiri Bubla. Pospisil, in particular, is enjoying his most productive season ever. He, Novy and Novak form the nucleus of the first-place Kladno aggregation.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03565/4076320-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="547" height="1302"><figcaption class="caption-body">ALEKSANDR GUSEV&hellip;Defensive Bulwark</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0016-02

Soviets Seek To Regain Supremacy At World Hockey Championships

Thu. April 21West Germany vs Soviet UnionFlnlsnd vs CsechoslovaklaRomsnls vs SwsdenCansds vs United StelesFri. April 22Soviet Union vs FlnlsndSweden vs CsnadsUnited Steles vs RomsnlsCzechoslsvskls vs West GermsnySun. April 24West Germsny vs United StstesFlnlsnd vs SwedenRomsnls vs CzschoslovsklsCsnsda vs Soviet UnionMon. April 25Sweden vs Wsst GermsnyUnited Ststes vs RomsnlsTus. April 26Czechoslsvekls vs CsnsdsUnited Slstss vs FlnlsndWsd. April 27Romsnls vs Wsst GermsnyCsneds vs FlnlsndThu. April 28Czschoslovskls vs Soviet UnionSweden vs United StatesFri. April 29Soviet Union vs United StatesSweden vs CzschoslovaklsSun. May 1Canada vs RomsnlsFinland vs GermanyMon. May 2Sweden vs Soviet UnionUnited States vs CzschoslovaklaThu. Msy 3Plsyotts 7 vs 6,8 vs 5Wed. Msy 4Playoffs 3 vs 2,4 vs 1Thu. Msy 5Plsyoffs 5 vs 7,6 vs 8Fri. Msy 6Plsyoffs 1 vs 3,2 vs 4Sat. May 7Playoffs 8 vs 7, 8 vs 5Sun. May 8Playoffs 4 vs 3,2 vs 1 &#9632;

Dates For World Cup Tournament

<h2>CENTERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01728/4076441-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="544" height="388"></div><h2>RIGHT WINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02617/4076434-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="535" height="388"></div><h2>LEFT WINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03488/4076427-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="538" height="448"></div><h2>DEFENSEMEN</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04374/4076420-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="538" height="396"></div><h2>GOALERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05293/4076413-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg" title="f0017-05" width="541" height="379"></div> &#9632;

f0017-01

NHL’s Top Position Players

<div class="byline">BY NEIL MILBERT</div>CHICAGO&mdash;First came the torrent of pucks&hellip;and then an outpouring of praise for Tony Esposito, Chicago&rsquo;s gallant man in goal.&ldquo;Playing a best-of-three series like this is like playing Russian roulette,&rdquo; said coach Al Arbour after his New York Islanders had eliminated the Black Hawks in their Stanley Cup playoff preliminary.&ldquo;You get a hot goalie and he can beat you singlehandedly&mdash;the way that Esposito almost did.&rdquo;Chico Resch, the Islanders&rsquo; alternate goalie who had a regular-season average of 2.28, was a spectator during the two-game series with Chicago and he watched with admiration.&ldquo;I only hope I can play like that some day,&rdquo; he confided after the Islanders defeated the Hawks by scores of 5-2 and 2-1 respectively.Because of a scheduling snafu on the part of the Black Hawks, both games were played in Nassau Coliseum.Game two had to be the most bizarre home game in the 51-year history of the Chicago franchise. Technically, the Hawks were the home team and the visitors were the Islanders&mdash;who in their five years of existence, had played 198 regular season, 14 playoff, and 13 exhibition games in Nassau Coliseum.Overconfidence on the part of Hawk owner Bill Wirtz produced the scheduling problem. Thinking that his team would win the championship of the weak Smythe Division and therefore get a preliminary-round bye. Wirtz booked the Led Zeppelin rock group into the Stadium for a series of concerts.Hence, when the Hawks came in third in the Smythe Division, they found themselves without a home for the second game. Islander GM Bill Torrey rejected a suggestion by his Chicago counterpart, Tommy Ivan, that the gamebe played in the Windy City as a matinee. &ldquo;I felt it necessary to make the game available to our fans and not at some ridiculous hour like 1 O&rsquo;clock on a Friday afternoon,&rdquo; scoffed Torrey.So, the Islanders bought out the Thursday night Bugs Bunny Easter Show scheduled for the Nassau Coliseum and the game was moved there.New York paid the rent and costs of maintaining the building and gave a portion of the gate to Chicago. The Hawks&rsquo; share was estimated at $60,000, but $38.500 went for officiating and awards.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-06245/4076493-1-eng-US/f0017-062.jpg" title="f0017-06" width="858" height="1212"><figcaption class="caption-body">REACTING TO DEFEAT: Veteran Stan Mikita, and Grant Mulvey of the Black Hawks took defeat differently when the Islanders knocked off Chicago. While Mulvey disconsolately put his head in his hands to show his displeasure at losing Mikita stuck his tongue out at the media photographers who snapped him walking to the dressing room.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-07214/4076486-1-eng-US/f0017-072.jpg" title="f0017-07" width="553" height="589"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-08180/4076479-1-eng-US/f0017-082.jpg" title="f0017-08" width="889" height="1206"><figcaption class="caption-body">TONY ESPOSITO&hellip;Couldn&rsquo;t Do It All</figcaption></div>Thus it was that, while led Zeppelin was turning Chicago Stadium into a dinbin. a one-man band named Tony Esposito was making his own kind of music in Nassau Coliseum.The performance was symphonic but this was the finished symphony. Exquisite goaltending by Esposito was insufficient. Though Tony thwarted 33 shots-on-goal, two got through and the Hawks were through for the season.The winning goal was scored by Clark Gillies with 5:42 left in the second period.&ldquo;Somebody got in front of me.&rdquo; said Esposito &ldquo;I caught a glimpse of the puck and I got a piece of it. But that wasn&rsquo;t enough. All you do is the best you can and hope it works out. This time it didn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;Until then Esposito was tremendous; thereafter, he was stupendous.As the clock wound down, the Hawks found themselves with only one alternative-open it up.But in so doing, Esposito was left unprotected and the steady stream of pucks turned into a deluge. Nevertheless, the Islanders were unable to break down the invisible shield, and Chicago stayed in striking distance to the very end &ldquo;That&rsquo;s not important,&rdquo; Esposito said, shaking his head, when New York writers asked if he considered being selected the game&rsquo;s No. 1 star a personal victory. &ldquo;Winning or losing is what&rsquo;s important. A goaltender&rsquo;s job is to keep his team in the game. We had to open up because we were behind. We had to change our style and get careless.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen goaltenders play as well in one game, but never in back-to-back games.&rdquo; raved Denis Potvin, who was voted the NHL&rsquo;s premier defenseman last season.&ldquo;That goal came on the best shot I ever threw at Tony,&rdquo; said Jude Drouin, recalling his game-tying blast in the opening period. &ldquo;I respect that man so much it&rsquo;s unreal.&rdquo;&ldquo;The sad part is Tony has played like that all year.&rdquo; said Ivan Boldirev, Chicago&rsquo;s leading scorer during the regular season. &ldquo;Tonight in that last period he stopped three breakaways in a row and then two point-blank blasts. If he isn&rsquo;t the best, then who is?&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen a lot of goaltenders,&rdquo; said Hawk forward Pit Martin, who has been tossing poison darts at the masked men since the early 1960s. &ldquo;Maybe you can compare guys like Glenn Hall and Terry Sawchuk with Tony Esposito. I don&rsquo;t know of anybody else.&rdquo;&ldquo;When Tony wasn&rsquo;t selected on the All Star team I said it was an injustice because he was the best goaltender in hockey,&rdquo; added Phil Russell, the Hawks&rsquo; All Star defenseman. &ldquo;I think he proved it in this series.&rdquo;.The Hawks are expected to undergo a massive shakeup during the off-season, but Esposito appears to be one of the untouchables. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m told I&rsquo;ll be around, but you never know.&rdquo; he reflected.&ldquo;I want to stay. We&rsquo;ve had our bad luck but Tommy Ivan is no fool. He&rsquo;ll build this franchise back up.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1138/4076472-1-eng-US/f0021-112.jpg" title="f0021-11" width="1126" height="819"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bruins&rsquo; Goaler Gerry Cheevers stopped Kings three times.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0017-06

Black Hawks Lose Series Despite A Hot Esposito

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01745/4076524-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOP RANGER: Defenseman Dave Maloney, who is being touted as one of the Rangers&rsquo; big stars of the future, holds MVP award after being named the outstanding player on the club for the 1976-77 season by the New York media.</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 CanadaNEW YORK&mdash;Phil Esposito was bitterly disappointed when the 1976-77 season ended with the lew York Rangers and Philippe on the idelines, out of the playoffs for the second year in a row.An even more bitter disappointment lad to be the selection of Dave Maloney, he youthful rookie defenseman as the Rangers MVP. That isn&rsquo;t to say that Espo isn&rsquo;t a Maloney booster, he is Often he would suggest that some of the assembled media in front of his dressing room tool, walk across the room and talk to rlaloney. &ldquo;who is a future superstar.&rdquo;The vote electing Maloney. 20 was really a no vote on Esposito, who logged 14 goals. 46 assists and 80 points. Phil had rouble with various members of the nedia throughout the year, but at times, vas affable and friendly. His frustrations limply showed through in a very human way. At 35, he still is a star, but not a great superstar. The days of the 50-goal seasons automatically rolling off his stick are over.&ldquo;I feel I have unfinished business in Yew York.&rdquo; stated Phil, as the season closed. However, in Boston and Montreal tie has privately indicated that he wasn&rsquo;t completely satisfied with Gotham&mdash;and the attitude of both the fans and the media.&ldquo;No way is it like Boston. &ldquo;says Phil. But I still want to stay with this team until we win the Stanley Cup.&rdquo;There have been recurring rumors that the Chicago Black Hawks, desperate for both fans, and new blood, would reunite Phil with brother Tony.&ldquo;Tony is one of the best goalies in the NHL.&rdquo; says Phil. &ldquo;He beat us singlehanded in Chicago one night this year and he still has quite a few years left.&rdquo;There are several flies in this ointment, however. Tony&rsquo;s contract has expired, so that if Chicago got Phil, they still have to sign Tony. Another main problem is who can Chicago give for Esposito.&ldquo;No one is untouchable for the right deal,&rdquo; said Rangers&rsquo; general manager John Ferguson. &ldquo;But for Esposito it would have to be a real good deal. Phil played very well the second half of the season and I am satisfied with him.&rdquo;Despite his detractors and the fact that his plus-minus was the worst on the club, with minus 25, Esposito played more time than any other Ranger usually averaging about 35 minutes per game.&ldquo;I would like to play still more, I like to kill penalties, work the power play and take my regular shift. I play better with more ice time,&rdquo; insists Phil.A truthful analysis of Espositos linemates would indicate that right wing Ken Hodge, imported from Boston for Rick Middleton, is very close to the end of the line. He was being booed by Garden fans in the second half of the year, and his apparent lack of interest was part of the reason. Bill Goldsworthy was imported from Minnesota, at the cost of winger Bill Fairbairn and righthanded defenseman Nick Beverley, and produced only 12 goals and 15 assists. He played poorly, when asked to play the wrong side on the Esposito line, and while slightly improved when moved to his normal right wing. Goldy is certainly a question mark.In the final month and a half, young Dan Newman won the left wing job and helped Esposito, but still Phil didn&rsquo;t have players of the caliber of early Boston where Hodge and digging cornerman Wayne Cashman were his linemates.Any analysis of the Rangers leaves goalie John Davidson, who would be excellent pairing with a top caliber net minder, but is injury prone and cannot carry the full load himself, as a key player. Also in this category is defenseman Carol Vadnais, a minus 22, but the only veteran amongst the blueliners.Vadnais&rsquo; story was that the kids were his downfall and created rookie mistakes and situations which led to goals against. Not all Ranger fans buy this, with many thinking Vad&rsquo;s offensive forays might have trapped his partners more oftenthan not. Maloney was Vadnais&rsquo; partner most of the year, and he developed into a good defensive rearguard. Maloney is a no trade, and so is Dave Farrish, the best young hit man in the NHL. So, too, is Mike McEwen, who moves the puck with great skill and fired 14 goals, but makes numerous mistakes which cost on the scoreboard.If Ferguson comes up with a veteran defenseman and doesn&rsquo;t trade Vadnais, one of those young men will lose their job as many people think that Ron Greschner, the third year blueliner, who had his best year with 11-36-47, was every bit as important in the Ranger scheme as Maloney.&ldquo;I still think I might get Dallas Smith to come out of retirement for next season,&rdquo; commented Ferguson when New York had just been eliminated.Up front, untouchables include Esposito, except for a whopping big deal;Rod Gilbert, still a good player at age 36, who was second to Phil in scoring with 27-48-75; rookie scoring whiz Don Murdoch, checking center Walter Tkaczuk, who had the best plus on the team, minuteman Pat Hickey and possibly Dan Newman.The Rangers must trade for a high caliber goalie and a defenseman in order to have any hope of making the playoffs in 1977-78. Youth and fire, without savvy and design, won&rsquo;t do the job. Whether they have enough bodies to elicit interest is a moot point. The most in demand are forwards Steve Vickers, Ray Polis and Pete Stemkowski.Goalie Gilles Gratton is almost surely gone. Hodge and Goldsworthy disappointed, and have large salaries which makes them tough to move. Ferguson must deal and draft with skill, or next year could be tougher than this. He faces a crucial summer. &#9632;

f0018-01

What Is Esposito’s Future With Rangers?

Injuries out into the effectiveness of Boston Bruins&rsquo; sharpshooter Bobby Schmautz during much of the NHL regular season.But Schmautz managed to shake the injury jinx once the Stanley Cup playoffs got under way and his awesome offensive show was the major reason why the Bruins led their quarter-final series 3-1 over Los Angeles Kings.Schmautz, regaining his shooting eye, blasted eight goals in four games to baffle the Kings. And he did it against Canada Cup net-minding star Rogatien Vachon.Schmautz scored a hat-trick in the opener as the Bruins captured an 8-3 runaway. He came right back with two more in the second game as the Bruins won 6-2 and added another pair in game three as Boston shaded L.A. 7-6.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02599/4076555-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="529" height="609"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOBBY SCHMAUTZ&hellip;Boston Bruins</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0018-02

NHL’S… Player of the Week

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02579/4076617-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">CLARK GILLIES&hellip;Three Game Winning Goals</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;The Montreal Canadiens and New York Islanders were due for a long rest before discovering whether they would meet each other or some other opponent in the Stanley Cup playoff semi-finals.Both the Habs and the Isles romped through the quarter-finals in four straight games, with St. Louis Blues and Buffalo Sabres their respective victims. Meanwhile, Boston Bruins&rsquo; hopes of a sweep over Los Angeles Kings were squelched when the weary Kings bounced back for a 7-4 triumph to stave off elimination.The Canadiens and Islanders will clash in the semis providing Boston and Philadelphia both win their individual rounds over L.A. and Toronto. If the Leafs score a series upset, it will be Montreal vs. Toronto and Islanders vs. Boston in semi-final action.The Boston-L.A. series was a weird one. While everybody was predicting a low-scoring series largely due to the presence of Canada Cup star Rogatien Vachon in the Kings&rsquo; nets, just the opposite transpired.The Bruins blitzed Vachon for 25 goals in four games. Bobby Schmautz proved Vachon&rsquo;s nemesis as he blasted home seven markers in the three Bruins&rsquo; victories, which came by scores of 8-3, 6-2 and 7-6.The 7-6 comeback on L.A. ice was a thriller of the first order. The Bruins trailed by two goals on two separate occasions, but battled back both times. With less than three minutes remaining, Boston finally broke on top 6-5 on a goal by Don Marcotte but Marcel Dionne equalized for the Kings with 1:55 left.As the spectre of overtime approached. Bruins rookie Stan Jonathan put the Kings out of their misery with 13 seconds of regulation time showing on the clock.However, the somewhat disheartened Kings refused to roll over and die in game four. They shocked the Bruins when Don Kozak scored after six seconds of play to break the playoff record for the fastest goal established in 1954 by Gordie Howe and matched in 1967 by Ken Wharram. The old mark was nine seconds.The goal also equalled the standard for the fastest goal in league play set by Henry Boucha in 1973 and duplicated by Jean Pronovost last year.So it was back to Boston for game five, where few connoisseurs gave the Kings much chance of surviving long enough to force a sixth game.The Canadiens&rsquo; sweep over St. Louis was routine since nobody expected a powerhouse that lost only eight of 80 regular-season games to fold its tent against a team that couldn&rsquo;t even play 500 hockey.Guy Lafleur, as per usual, proved the life&rsquo;s blood of the Canadiens as he sparked their offense with five goals and seven assists in the four playoff games. The Habs took the first two meetings 7-2 and 3-0 on home ice before winding up in St. Louis with 5-1 and 4-1 verdicts.Serge Savard, perhaps the league&rsquo;s best defensive defenseman, turned on his offensive jets in game three and got the Canadiens off to a fast start with two first-period markers. To illustrate the Habs&rsquo; defensive depth, even Rick Chartraw and Bill Nyrop&mdash;the team&rsquo;s fifth and sixth rearguards&mdash;scored goals during the series after Chartraw resolved the latest in a long series of conflicts with coach Scotty Bowman.The Islanders&rsquo; sweep over the high-scoring Sabres was somewhat unanticipated. An old bugaboo shaky goaltending came back to haunt Buffalo as rookie Don Edwards appeared jittery in the face of unaccustomed playoff pressure. Gerry Desjardins, recovered from an eye injury, returned to the Sabres nets for the finale but the result was the same &mdash; a 4-3 Islanders victory. It was Desjardins&rsquo; first appearance since Feb. 10.&ldquo;I felt well, I felt confident, but I&rsquo;m rusty,&rdquo; said Desjardins. &ldquo;I made mistakes and I dropped the puck a couple of times. I missed shots a couple of times because of my eye. But the rest of the time there was a lot of commotion in front of the net and you couldn&rsquo;t see much.&rdquo;&ldquo;We have no preference as to whom we play in the semi-finals,&rdquo; said Islanders coach Al Arbour. &ldquo;Physically and mentally, we&rsquo;re ripe. We&rsquo;re a working hockey club. We played our system well against the Sabres. We capitalized on their mistakes.&rdquo;In each of the last three games, the Sabres scored first but faded in the wake of an Islander comeback. Buffalo outshot the Islanders in all four games but the difference was the brilliant goaltending of Billy Smith who extended his personal unbeaten streak to 15 games over-all and 10 consecutive wins over the Sabres. &#9632;

f0019-02

Canadiens, Islanders Sweep Series To Advance In Stanley Cup Playoffs

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01713/4076586-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="544" height="1031"></div>TORONTO&mdash;Nobody can accuse the Philadelphia Flyers and Toronto Maple Leafs of being homers.After the Leafs took the first two games of their best-of-seven quarterfinal series on Philadelphia ice, few observers thought they would do worse than a split in the friendly confines of Maple Leaf Gardens.But the Flyers had other ideas. Trailing game three 3-2 with less than a minute to play, coach Fred Shero pulled goalie Wayne Stephenson and the strategy paid off when Rick MacLeish scored with 38 seconds of regulation time remaining. MacLeish then potted the game-winner at 2:55 of the extra session.Instead of being deflated by letting this one slip through their fingers, the Leafs came roaring out for game four and vaulted into a seemingly insurmountable 5-2 lead with six minutes left. Then the roof fell in.Referee Bruce Hood had unintentionally fired up the Flyers by calling simultaneous minor penalties against Gary Dornhoefer and Ross Lonsberry. While they were off. Lanny McDonald fired home his fourth goal of the night to apparently salt away the verdict. Dornhoefer and Lonsberry were so incensed, they joined teammate Andre Dupont in the Flyers&rsquo; dressing room with game misconducts for uncomplimentary remarks aimed at Hood. Dupont earlier had been given the gate for leaving the penalty box to join in a fracas on the ice.Thus enraged, and short of manpower. the Flyers came to life. Goals by Mel Bridgman, Tom Bladon and captain Bobby Clarke in the final 5:49 knotted the count and set the stage for an overtime goal by Reggie Leach at J9:10 to climax a 6-5 uphill battle.As a result, the Leafs saw the extension of the Maple Leaf Gardens jinx, a building where the home team has been unable to win in over a month. The Leafs&rsquo; last victory in Toronto was March 19 against Atlanta Flames.McDonald&rsquo;s four goals made him the first Leaf in modem times to score three or more goals twice in a game in one playoff year. The red-hot right winger had totalled eight goals in seven playoff games to top all comers in that department.McDonald&rsquo;s linemate, Darryl Sittier, also broke a team playoff scoring record with three assists to give him 18 points in seven games. Tim Horton held the previous mark with 16 points in 1962As the series headed back to Philly for game five, the Flyers still smouldered over the officiating of Hood.&ldquo;They say Hood is the number one referee in the league?&rdquo; asked Dornhoefer. &ldquo;Well, I say they should send him down for a turn in the minors. He was horrible in this game. He was standing right beside me when Palmateer (Leafs goalie Mike) hit me with his stick in front of the net. That&rsquo;s not the first time Palmateer has done that to me, either. Maybe I should file a court action against him (Palmateer). McMurtry (Ontario district attorney Roy) would like that, wouldn&rsquo;t he?&rdquo; &#9632;

f0019-01

Flyers Flourish On Cup Overtime

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01552/4076781-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"></div>Warning: Health and Welfare Canada advises that danger to health increases with amount smoked-avoid inhaling. Av. per cigarette: Regular: 16mg. &ldquo;tar&rdquo; 1.2mg. nicotine. King: 18mg. &ldquo;tar&rdquo; 1.4mg. nicotine.<h2>SERIES &lsquo;E&rsquo;</h2><h3>Mon. April 11</h3>ST. LOUIS 2, MONTREAL 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02396/4076774-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="604" height="533"></div>(Montreal leads best-of-seven series 1-0)<h3>Wed. April 13</h3>ST. LOUIS 0, MONTREAL 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03315/4076767-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="600" height="397"></div>(Montreal leads best-of-seven series 1-2)<h3>Sat. April 16</h3>MONTREAL 5, ST. LOUIS 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04217/4076760-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="598" height="483"></div>(Montreal leads best-of-seven series 1-3)<h3>Sun. April 17</h3>MONTREAL 4, ST. LOUIS 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-05127/4076753-1-eng-US/f0020-052.jpg" title="f0020-05" width="596" height="511"></div>(Montreal leads best-of-seven series 1-4)<h2>SERIES &lsquo;F&rsquo;</h2><h3>Mon. April 11</h3>TORONTO 3, PHILADELPHIA 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-06100/4076746-1-eng-US/f0020-062.jpg" title="f0020-06" width="602" height="515"></div>(Toronto leads best-of-seven series 1-0)<h3>Wed. April 13</h3>TORONTO 4, PHILADELPHIA 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0791/4076739-1-eng-US/f0020-072.jpg" title="f0020-07" width="602" height="425"></div>(Toronto leads best-of-seven series 2-0)<h3>Fri. April 15</h3>PHILADELPHIA 4, TORONTO 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0882/4076732-1-eng-US/f0020-082.jpg" title="f0020-08" width="608" height="565"></div>(Toronto leads best-of-seven series 2-1)<h3>Sun. April 17</h3>PHILADELPHIA 6, TORONTO 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0962/4076725-1-eng-US/f0020-092.jpg" title="f0020-09" width="604" height="569"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1052/4076718-1-eng-US/f0020-102.jpg" title="f0020-10" width="596" height="217"></div>(Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)<h2>SERIES &lsquo;G&rsquo;</h2><h3>Mon. April 11</h3>BUFFALO 2, ISLANDERS 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1140/4076711-1-eng-US/f0020-112.jpg" title="f0020-11" width="598" height="427"></div>(Islanders lead best-of-seven series 1-0)<h3>Wed. April 13</h3>BUFFALO 2, ISLANDERS 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1236/4076704-1-eng-US/f0020-122.jpg" title="f0020-12" width="600" height="481"></div>(Islanders lead best-of-seven series 2-0)<h3>Frl. April 15</h3>ISLANDERS 4, BUFFALO 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1326/4076697-1-eng-US/f0020-132.jpg" title="f0020-13" width="604" height="507"></div>(Islanders lead best-of-seven series 3-0)<h3>Sun. April 17</h3>ISLANDERS 4, BUFFALO 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1425/4076690-1-eng-US/f0020-142.jpg" title="f0020-14" width="604" height="353"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1524/4076683-1-eng-US/f0020-152.jpg" title="f0020-15" width="594" height="237"></div>(Islanders win best-of-seven series 4-0)<h2>SERIES &lsquo;H&rsquo;</h2><h3>Mon. April 11</h3>LOS ANGELES 3, BOSTON 8<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1619/4076676-1-eng-US/f0020-162.jpg" title="f0020-16" width="604" height="593"></div>(Boston leads best-of-seven series 1-0)<h3>Wed. April 13</h3>LOS ANGELES 2, BOSTON 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1715/4076669-1-eng-US/f0020-172.jpg" title="f0020-17" width="612" height="559"></div>(Boston leads best-of-seven series 2-0).<h3>Fri. April 15</h3>LOS ANGELES 8, BOSTON 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1813/4076662-1-eng-US/f0020-182.jpg" title="f0020-18" width="612" height="699"></div>(Boston leads best-of-seven series 3-0).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-199/4076655-1-eng-US/f0020-192.jpg" title="f0020-19" width="578" height="1487"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICKMacLEISH&hellip;Fired Game Winner</figcaption></div><h3>Sun. April 17</h3>BOSTON 4, LOS ANGELES 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-209/4076648-1-eng-US/f0020-202.jpg" title="f0020-20" width="594" height="761"></div>(Boston leads best-of-seven series 3-1). &#9632;

f0020-01

Stanley Cup Playoff Summaries

Preliminary Round<h2>SERIES&lsquo;A&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01396/4076875-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="582" height="97"></div>(Islanders win best-of-three series 2-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. April 5Chicago 2 at Islanders 5Thu. April 7Chicago 1 at Islanders 2<h2>SERIES &lsquo;B&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02263/4076868-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="586" height="82"></div>(Buffalo wins best-of-three series 2-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. April 5Minnesota 2 at Buffalo 4Thu. April 7Buffalo 7 at Minnesota 1<h2>SERIES &lsquo;C&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03169/4076861-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="585" height="77"></div>(Los Angeles wins best-of-three series 2-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. April 5Atlanta 2 at Los Angeles 5Thu. April 7Los Angeles 2 at Atlanta 3Sat. April 9Atlanta 2 at Los Angeles 4<h2>SERIES &lsquo;D&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04129/4076854-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="583" height="83"></div>(Toronto wins best-of-three series 2-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. April 5Toronto 4 at Pittsburgh 2Thu. April 7Pittsburgh 6 at Toronto 4Sat. April 9Toronto 5 at Pittsburgh 2Quarter-Finals<h2>SERIES &lsquo;E&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-05110/4076847-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="585" height="91"></div>(Montreal wins beet-of-seven series 4-0).<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. April 11St. Louis 2 at Montreal 7Wed. April 13St. Louis 0 at Montreal 3Sat. April 16Montreal 5 at St.Louls 1Sun. April 17Montreal 4 st St Louis 1<h2>SERIES &lsquo;F&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0693/4076840-1-eng-US/f0021-062.jpg" title="f0021-06" width="582" height="89"></div>(Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. April 11Toronto 3 at Philadelphia 2Wed. April 13Toronto 4 at Philadelphia 1Fri. April 15Philadelphia 4 at Toronto 3Sun. April 17Philadelphia 8 at Toronto 5GAMES TO COMETue. April 19Toronto at PhiladelphiaThu. April 21Philadelphia at TorontoSat. April 23Toronto at Philadelphia<h2>SERIES &lsquo;G&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0779/4076833-1-eng-US/f0021-072.jpg" title="f0021-07" width="593" height="92"></div>(Islanders win best-of-seven series 4-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. April 11Buffalo 2 at Islanders 4Wed. April 13Buffalo 2 at Islanders 4Fri. April 15Islanders 4 at Buffalo 3Sun. April 17Islanders 4 at Buffalo 3<h2>SERIES &lsquo;H&rsquo;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0873/4076826-1-eng-US/f0021-082.jpg" title="f0021-08" width="588" height="81"></div>(Boston leads best-of-seven series 3-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. April 11Los Angeles 3 at Boston 8Wed. April 13Los Angeles 2 at Boston 6Fri. April 15Boston 7 at Los Angelos 6Sun. April 17Boston 4 at Los Angelos 7GAMES TO COMETue. April 19Los Angeles at BostonThu. April 21Boston at Los AngelesSat. April 23Los Angeles at Boston<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0959/4076819-1-eng-US/f0021-092.jpg" title="f0021-09" width="568" height="184"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-1049/4076812-1-eng-US/f0021-102.jpg" title="f0021-10" width="565" height="1194"></div> &#9632;

f0021-01

Stanley Cup Scoreboard

<div class="byline">BY JACK MCcARTHY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01434/4076906-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">STAN JONATHAN&hellip; Came On Strong At Finish</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;if there&rsquo;s a silver lining to every dark cloud, then 21-year-old left winger Stan Jonathan certainly fits that role for the Bruins.It was just a third into the season and the Bruins found themselves without two of their best left wings, John Bucyk and Wayne Cashman, both shelved with injuries. Jonathan got the call from coach Don Cherry, and has since emerged as one of the promising wingers in the league.Even Jonathan was surprised by his progress.&ldquo;I remember back at training camp in September,&rdquo; he recalled. &ldquo;I looked at the roster and saw five left wingers ahead of me. I&rsquo;ll give it my best shot, I figured, and wind up in Rochester.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t sure of anything. I thought maybe I&rsquo;d fit into Cherry&rsquo;s system, but there were all those left wingers&hellip;&rdquo;Jonathan made the team but saw little action, and when he finally did get a chance, he was injured around Christmas and sent back to Rochester for three games to play himself into condition.He returned, Bucyk and Cashman were hurt, the team had hit the skids, so suddenly he found himself with a job.&ldquo;I might not have had the opportunity if it wasn&rsquo;t for the injuries,&rdquo; he said. But I figured I might as well make the most of it. Just the fact that the coach didn&rsquo;t call up a left winger from Rochester seemed to be a vote of confidence.&ldquo;Then he put me at left wing with Jean Ratelle, and Ratelie really helped my confidence.&rdquo;And Cherry hasn&rsquo;t regretted the move one bit.&ldquo;The first thing that attracted me to him was the way he took the body, his aggressiveness,&rdquo; said Cherry. &ldquo;But it took time to get him in there. He had a month at left wing with Ratelie, and that helped him. He was playing a cautious game. But that&rsquo;s not his game, and it&rsquo;s not mine.&rdquo;&ldquo;I was hanging back too much,&rdquo; said Jonathan. &ldquo;The more I played, the more I learned offensively. To take the body effectively, you don&rsquo;t have to knock the man down. Just get in his way and obstruct him.&rdquo;Jonathan&rsquo;s second and third lessons were taught by his present linemates, Terry O&rsquo;Reilly and Gregg Sheppard.&ldquo;Terry hits somebody and right away it gets all the guys into the game,&rdquo; said Jonathan. &ldquo;He and Gregg are two of the best checkers in the league, and they work so hard to get the puck to you.&ldquo;I just put it in the net for them. They do all the work.&rdquo;Cherry is aware that Jonathan is still far from his potential.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s still pretty green,&rdquo; said the coach. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s certainly come along much faster than we expected, and I&rsquo;m not reluctant to put him out there against anyone. He can take care of himself.&rdquo;Jonathan, too, realizes his shortcomings.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m short and I could use a few extra pounds,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know I&rsquo;ve made mistakes, and I know what I have to learn.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0022-01

Benched At Start, Jonathan’s Ability Surprise To Bruins

<div class="byline">BY LARRY BORTSTEIN</div>DENVER&mdash;Even last-place teams have player awards, and the Colorado Rockies announced theirs between the first and second periods of their 1976-77 finale, against Los Angeles at McNichols Sports Arena, April 3.Three men dominated the Rockies during their 20-46-14 schedule&mdash;including their season-ending 6-4 loss to L.A., so it was hardly surprising that Wilf Paiement, Michel Plasse, and Paul Gardner dominated the award-winning.Plasse, who was in goal in 54 games for Colorado, winning 12, tying 10, and losing 29, was named Player of the Year on the basis of having accumulated the most points in three-star nominations during the season.Michel, who personally kept many games respectable with his brilliant work in the nets, also could have been a worthy Most Valuable Player for the Rockies, but that honor, as voted by the players themselves, went to right winger Paiement. And there really couldn&rsquo;t be much of an argument about that, as Wilfie managed to reach his 40-goal ambition, finishing with 41 goals and 40 assists. Paiemenls 81 points tied him with Atlanta&rsquo;s Tom Lysiak for 15th in league scoring More impressive was the fact that only five other National Hockey League players scored more than the 41 goals Paiement popped in 1976-77&mdash;Steve Shutt, Guy Lafleur, Marcel Dionne. Rick MacLeish, and Lanny McDonald. Wilf proved he belonged in this compeny, and at age 21 with three NHL campaigns already under his belt, this powerful youngster has a brilliant future ahead of him.Gardner, who scored twice in the final game against Los Angeles to lift his rookie goal total to 30, also represents Colorado&rsquo;s pro hockey future. A fine playmaker as well as sniper. Gardner was the clear-cut choice of the local Blueliners Booster Club as the Rockies&rsquo; rookie of the year.However, Mike Kitchen, who came up to the Rockies with Gardner from Providence last November, also enjoyed a good fresh season, and may have been the club&rsquo;s best defenseman over the last month of the season.The local media voted Tom Edur the Rockies&rsquo; best defenseman. The ballot count wasn&rsquo;t announced, but this correspondent cast his vote for Jim McElmury.Edur may have been more consistent throughout, and was the only Rocky to play all 80 games, but McElmury was the better stickhandler and was more productive. With a goal and an assist in the last game of the year. Jim finished with seven goals and 23 assists in 55 games. Edur, playing his fourth pro season at age 22, also had seven goals, and added 25 feeds.ICE PEBBLES: Everything you might not have cared to know about the Rockies, but which we&rsquo;ll tell you anyway: Paiemenls 41 goals represented a fine achievement on a last-place club, but Bobby Hull led the league with a then-record 58 goals for the 1968-69 Chicago Black Hawks, who finished sixth and last in the East Division&hellip;Gardner&rsquo;s two goals in the last game still fell one point short of enabling the rookie center to average a point a game in his rookie campaign. He closed with 30 goals and 29 assists in 60 games&hellip;The Rockies&rsquo; stretch of 18 winless games which knocked them out of the playoff picture was the longest in the league until Detroit completed its season without a victory in its final 19 starts. The Red Wings, who finished the season with Larry Wilson, brother of Colorado&rsquo;s Johnny Wilson, as coach, were the only team to post a poorer record than the Rockies, compiling only 41 points&hellip;Colorado swept its four meetings with Detroit, but was swept in five games against both Philadelphia and the Islanders. A 3-3 tie against Montreal and a 6-4 victory over Boston, both on the road, represented two of the Rockies&rsquo; best efforts of their initial season&hellip; The Rockies were 12-20-8 at home, but were a very respectable 12-13-5 at McNichols Sports Arena before their late-season side which included an 0-7-3 mark in their last 10 home contests&hellip;On the road, the Colorado icemen were 8-26-6, but had a 0-10-2 streak going before they bopped Vancouver, 6-3, in their last game away from home on April 1. The win was Colorado&rsquo;s 20th, and knocked the Canucks out of the playoffs&hellip;This franchise, which spent its first two years as the Kansas City Scouts, has not had a shutout posted by any of its goaltenders in three years&hellip;Colorado had 13 home crowds of better than 10,000&mdash;including a gathering of 13,296 for the finale&mdash;but were 0-10-3 in front of big audiences.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01408/4076975-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="545" height="801"><figcaption class="caption-body">MICHEL PLASSE&hellip;Kept Games Respectable</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02308/4076968-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="553" height="776"><figcaption class="caption-body">PAUL GARDNER&hellip;Rookie Of Year</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0023-01

Plasse Rockies’ Player Of The Year

WASHINGTON&mdash;The Washington Capitals season ended on a high note. Another loss.Check that. It definitely wasn&rsquo;t just another loss.For one thing the Caps played better than they did in most, if not all. of their 24 wins and 14 ties. They were beaten only because their opponent was probably the best sports team in North America the Canadiens and because Bunny Larocque was unbeatable.The final score was 2-1 for Montreal with the last 41 minutes scoreless. In those final two periods the Capitals out-played the Canadiens. ending up with a shot advantage of 25-19. The visitors were impressed to the point where, after the final horn interrupted a last Capital surge. they lined up for handshakes all around.Questioning by the Washington reporters failed to disclose another in-stance where this sort of thing was done prior to the playoffs. Les Canadiens said it was a spontaneous thing, and Ron Low and the rest of the Capitals appreciated the salute to their good effort.There was an even more tangible aspect of the closing loss. Had two of Bill Riley&rsquo;s teammates joined him in solving Larocque the Caps would have ended with 64 points, leapfrogging over the Barons, Canucks, Black Hawks and North Stars in composite ratings. As it was, Washington finished ahead of only the Rockies and Red Wings and so will draft third, not seventh.The high tone of the evening was set as the Capitals skated out on the ice to the announcement by public address man Marv Brooks when the fans rose and applauded. What&rsquo;s the big deal about a standing ovation at home?Well, just that this extended greeting came less than 24 hours after meeting the same Canadiens in Montreal&hellip;and losing 11-0.ICE CAPS: The club listed its total attendance as 437,252, an average of 10-961 per game this season. The average was up 1,026 per contest over the previous year. Over 15,000 saw that final fray with Montreal&hellip;One more win would have exactly doubled their points over those of last year, as they went from 32 to 62. In wins and points they passed their combined totals of the first two seasons&hellip;After failing to win consecutive games in their first two years they had a four-game win streak, and twice took three in a row&hellip; They won the season series from five teams and tied three others&hellip;The Caps were outshot during the season by an even 500. It was 1,004 the year before&hellip;That plus the decrease in goals against by 87 resulted in knocking 17 off the defeat total from &rsquo;76 to &rsquo;77&hellip;Five awards were presented at the final game. Guy Charron took two. for leading the club in scoring (36-46-82) and in the three-stars selections for each home game. Gerry Meehan was tabbed by management as the most valuable player. The media chose Yvon Labre as the top defenseman. Bill Riley was picked by his teammates as Caps Rookie of the Year&hellip;Two days later, at the Capitals Fan Club&rsquo;s third annual banquet, rookie blueliner Rick Green got the nod as most promising; defender Gordie Smith was properly cited as the &ldquo;unsung hero&rdquo; Labre again won the &lsquo;most popular&rsquo; ac-colade and the player of the year honor went to Charron&hellip;Denyse Charron accepted the latter, with her husband already departed for the European wars of Team Canada&hellip;Labre, who has won the most popular&rsquo; selection all three years said, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s my first hat trick. I really believe this is the team of the future and I just hope I can be here in that future.&rdquo; Hit thoughts were echoed by defensive partner Jack Lynch&hellip;Perhaps both were thinking of coach Tom McVie&rsquo;s desire for &ldquo;four pillars of strength on defense&rdquo;, calling that his most fervent wish for the future&hellip;Canadien coach Scotty Bowman spoke of the future as the Capital curtain went down, stating, &ldquo;We are proud of our record, and Washington ought to be just as proud of theirs. They have made a tremendous improvement. It will not be long now until you see the Capitals as a playoff team&rdquo; &hellip;He and McVie seem to be the leading candidates for Coach-of-the-Year. &#9632;

Capitals Impress Canadians In Season’s Final Meeting

Indianapolis Racers stunned the hockey world with its ridiculously easy four-game sweep of the highly-touted Cincinnati Stingers, and the principal reason for this was the yeoman performance of winger Brian McDonald.McDonald erupted for three goals and four assists in the abbreviated quarter-final Avco Cup playoff series, and included in his production were two game-winning goals.McDonald&rsquo;s short-handed tally spurred the Racers to a 5-3 victory in game three after Indianapolis had already taken the first two games of the series by 4-3 and 7-2 counts. He also netted the winning goal in the series windup, a 3-1 Indy triumph.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03236/4077068-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="541" height="786"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRIAN MCDONALD&hellip;Indy Racers</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0024-03

WHA’S…Player of the Week

<div class="byline">BY GREG NOBLE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01422/4077037-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARK LOMENDA&hellip; Three Big Goals In Series</figcaption></div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH& BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH& BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaCINCINNATI&mdash;The Cincinnati Stingers exuded confidence before the start of their first-round playoff series with the Indianapolis Racers, but now that it&rsquo;s all over&mdash;a shocking four-game sweep by the Racers&mdash;did the young Stingers possibly kill their own chances with their overconfidence?Stingers&rsquo; center Dennis Sobchuk, one of the top performers on the Cincinnati club this season, boldly predicted his team would beat the Racers in five games. Usually such predictions come back to haunt a person and it certainly proved detrimental to the Stingers and Sobchuk both.After the second game, Indy coach Jacques Demers said his club was incited by the Stingers&rsquo; predictions that they would beat the Racers in five games.&ldquo;We have a lot of pride on this team,&rdquo; he said. That was an insult to us and I think it backfired.&rdquo; commented Demers.The Racers won the first two games in Cincinnati 4-3 and 7-2 and went home to Indianapolis to complete their four-game sweep 5-3 and 3-1.Indy outscored the Stingers 19-9 in the series and that pretty well told the story as Brian McDonald. Blair MacDonald, Reg Thomas and Mark Lomenda took the offensive spotlight away from the powerscoring Stingers. MacDonald really rubbed it into the young Stingers scoring three times in game two at Riverfront Coliseum to stun the young Stingers and Cincinnati&rsquo;s loyal fans.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not afraid of those young legs,&rdquo; roared Indianapolis&rsquo; Brian McDonald after the Racers outlasted the Stingers 4-3 in the marathon first game. The two teams played over 48 minutes of overtime before Gene Peacosh fired in a rebound for the winning goal. It was the longest game in WHA history.In the second game, goaltender Michel Dion made some key saves early in the first period and the Racers scored three goals in the first six minutes en route to a 7-2 victory.In the first two games the Racers benefited from strong defense and good goaltending while the Stingers suffered from crucial mistakes and missed opportunities.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the tight checking game I told you about,&rdquo; Racers coach Demers said after the first game. &ldquo;We played it almost to perfection tonight.&rdquo;The Stingers had expected to win the first two games on home ice but they ran into trouble in the first game even before the opening faceoff. During a warmup veteran goaltender Jacques Caron was hit, in the chest by a slapshot and suffered a bruised lung. He was coughing up blood and had to sit out. And Sobchuk, one of the team&rsquo;s key players, had a bruised hip and pulled stomach muscles that kept him on the bench most of the first two games.Cincinnati goals by Richie Leduc and Dennis Abgrall and two Indianapolis goals by Lomenda made the score 2-2 after two periods.With three minutes left in the game. Claude Larose deflected Pierre Roy&rsquo;s shot from the blueline past Racers&rsquo; goaltender Paul Hoganson and the Stingers seemingly had the game won.But with just over one minute left, Roy took a misguided shot from the blueline. Indianapolis&rsquo; Blair MacDonald blocked it and started a three-on-one and Reg Thomas fired the tying goal between goalie Norm Lapointe&rsquo;s legs.In the second overtime. Hoganson. who was traded to the Racers by the Stingers in March, made a spectacular save on Larose&rsquo;s shot from point-blank range. Finally in the third overtime Lomenda fired a shot from the left side off the boards behind the net. The puck landed on Peacosh&rsquo;s stick and he easily flipped it in.Afterwards Slater bemoaned the fact that the Stingers blew the lead with only one minute left in the third period. &ldquo;Roy made a big mistake,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;ve got the lead that late in the game you&rsquo;ve got to protect it. You don&rsquo;t shoot it when a guy&rsquo;s coming toward you. You put it in the corner. That was the biggest mistake of the game.&rdquo;&ldquo;The thing that impressed me,&rdquo; Demers said, &ldquo;was the fact that our players were capable of skating with them through the entire game. They have younger players but they seemed to be more tired than we were.&rdquo;The first game was an epic drama that lasted over five hours and carried on until 1:16 the next morning. &ldquo;That was one of the greatest games I&rsquo;ve seen in the WHA,&rdquo; said Demers. &ldquo;That was one game neither team should have to lose.&rdquo;The second game was considerably less dramatic, although the Stingers surprised everyone by starting Caron in nets. But the ploy backfired when the Racers took a 3-0 lead in the first six minutes.After the first game the club said Caron would probably be out for 10 days. But he practiced on the two days between games and he assured Slater before the second game that he could play. Once the game started, however, the injury caused him pain and greatly limited his mobility.&ldquo;I would not play a goaltender if he said he couldn&rsquo;t play. He felt he was ready,&rdquo; Slater said. &ldquo;He played well at practice. He looked sharper than Normie did. This was a key game and I wanted to go with a veteran goaltender.&rdquo;&ldquo;It was up to me. I can&rsquo;t blame anyone else,&rdquo; Caron said. &ldquo;I felt really good this morning but it got really hot and I couldn&rsquo;t breathe. My reactions were slow. I thought I&rsquo;d let everybody down if I said I couldn&rsquo;t play. I thought I could play one period and let Normie take over but it didn&rsquo;t work out.&rdquo;While the Racers played another strong defensive game, the Stingers played ridiculously. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t believe a team with our ability would totally disgrace our selves like that,&rdquo; said John Hughes.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02332/4077030-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="561" height="824"><figcaption class="caption-body">BLAIR MacDONALD &hellip; Shot Hat Trick</figcaption></div>&ldquo;This is the playoffs. The adrenalin should be pumping,&rdquo; Slater said. &ldquo;But what happens? We get a total effort from about two guys, (Rick) Dudley and (Ron) Plumb.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t explain it. You have to give Indy credit. They played well,&rdquo; Slater said. &ldquo;But what did we do? Our defense wasn&rsquo;t in the game. We weren&rsquo;t hitting anybody. They (the Racers) were up and down their wings and we were standing still.&rdquo;Thomas scored two more goals for In-dianapolis, Lomenda also scored his third of the series and Renald Leclerc, Nick Harbaruk, Michel Parizeau and MacDonald fired in goals. Abgrall and Plumb scored for Cincinnati. &#9632;

f0024-01

Did Overconfidence Kill Stingers? Racers’ Sweep Surprise Of Playoffs

<div class="byline">BY GEORGE BILYCH</div>CALGARY&mdash;The Calgary Cowboys wound up the season out of the playoffs. By May 31 they may be right out of the WHA.A couple of hours before the Cowboys closed out their season on a losing note against Winnipeg Jets, owner Jim Pattison delivered an ultimatum that if 4.400 season tickets were not sold by the end of May he would exercise any of a number of options open to him. Presumably, that would mean folding the Calgary operation and merging the team with another WHA entry.President Billy Hay. in making the announcement, said it was the true test as to whether Calgarians wanted major professional hockey. He suggested there was more at stake than the immediate future of the Cowboys, rather a question of whether Calgarians wanted to be included in proposals that are expected to lead to WHA merger with the National League in the next year.&ldquo;I firmly believe this hockey team is important to this city now,&rdquo; said Hay. &ldquo;If we lose it I expect that the federal government will suggest that one major league franchise be granted to Alberta and that it will go to Edmonton.&rdquo;Pattison&rsquo;s decision came after a lengthy meeting with the Calgary-based directorate. The directors unanimously felt the decision arrived at was fair, seeing it as a commitment from Pattison to operate the team in Calgary providing the fans showed they wanted it. The Cowboys had 2,300 season ticket subscribers this year, down 20 per cent from their initial season.&ldquo;Some might think the May 31 deadline is too short but my feelings are that extending it would just be prolonging the agony,&rdquo; added Hay.&rdquo; We have to be fair with our owners and 1 believe this to be a sound business decision. The club will still lose money at 4,400 seats but 1 believe it shows that Mr. Pattison really wants to keep the team in Calgary In all my dealings with him I&rsquo;ve always found him to be a man of great integrity. Not once has he backed down on his word. We should feel fortunate to have an owner like him&mdash;there isn&rsquo;t an unpaid bill anywhere involving this organization.&rdquo;Hay was optimistic the campaign would be successful.&ldquo;The real question to be answered is how important is this team to the city,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m confident we eventually will see a new building in Calgary. Also. I feel there will be important decisions made on merger in the near future. We know we need some talent and (coach) Joe Crozier will leave immediately on a two-week scouting trip. He has the authority to sign any athletes he feels are capable of helping us.&rdquo;The Cowboys restructured their ticket prices, offering for the first time some 1,000 seats at $5. Previously, the cheapest seat in the house was Sb Crozier viewed the announcement as finally having something definite to go on.&rsquo;We&rsquo;ll need seven or eight new players to be successful next year. If we get the season-ticket base then I know I can get the type of player to make this an exciting and entertaining team.Goalie Smokie McLeod, defenseman Chris Evans and right winger Warren Miller each were double winners at the club&rsquo;s awards presentations. Smokie was both the most valuable and most popular player, Evans was chosen the top defenseman and led the club in plus ratings while Miller was selected the top rookie in addition to winning the points race in the three-star selections.Miller and rookie defenseman Joe Micheletti both were selected to play for the U.S. national team in the world championships in Vienna.EDMONTON: It took a Cowboy to do in the Cowboys. Bill (Cowboy) Flett was the key man for the Edmonton Oilers as they outdistanced Calgary Cowboys for the fourth playoff spot in the Western Division.Flett scored three times, all in the third period, as the Oilers nipped Birmingham Bulls 6-4 in the final scheduled game of the season for both clubs. The Bulls led 43 after two periods and had they been able to hang on for the victory they would have left the door open for the Cowboys to claim fourth place.The goals were the 32nd, 33rd and 34th of the season for Flett, all in only 47 games. He has been playing despite painful bone spurs on both elbows.The Oilers were given their opening when Birmingham center Peter Marrin drew a major penalty in the opening seconds of the third period for drawing blood on Edmonton winger Brett Callighen. The Bulls had successfully killed off more than four minutes of the penalty before Flett scored the tying goal by deflecting Bryan Campbell&rsquo;s pass past a brilliant John Garrett.&ldquo;I was worried about that penalty,&rdquo; said Edmonton coach Glen Sather later. &ldquo;1 figured we&rsquo;d be all right if we scored but if we didn&rsquo;t we might lose because we&rsquo;d be deflated.&rdquo;Flett was selected Edmonton&rsquo;s top player in the season-long balloting for the three-star selections. Goalie Ken Broderick was named the team&rsquo;s most valuable player, defenseman Dave Langevin the top rookie and center Bob Russell the most popular player.The Oilers met pennant-winning Houston in the Western Division semifinals.WINNIPEG: The Jets opened defense of their Avco Cup championship on a solid note, clipping San Diego Mariners 51 in the opening game of the best-of-seven semi-finals. And they did it in a fashion that indicated they are anticipating little trouble in the opening round.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01359/4077099-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="521" height="1049"><figcaption class="caption-body">CHRIS EVANS&hellip; Top Defenseman</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0025-01

Ticket Sale To Decide Future

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1097/4077245-1-eng-US/f0026-102.jpg" title="f0026-10" width="937" height="790"></div><h2>BIRMINGHAM</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02298/4077238-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="730" height="634"></div><h2>CALGARY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03255/4077231-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="715" height="654"></div><h2>CINCINNATI</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04200/4077224-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="721" height="550"></div><h2>EDMONTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05163/4077217-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="733" height="619"></div><h2>HOUSTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-06131/4077210-1-eng-US/f0026-062.jpg" title="f0026-06" width="724" height="599"></div><h2>INDIANAPOLIS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-07119/4077203-1-eng-US/f0026-072.jpg" title="f0026-07" width="726" height="731"></div><h2>NEW ENGLAND</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-08108/4077196-1-eng-US/f0026-082.jpg" title="f0026-08" width="726" height="597"></div><h2>WHA Leaders</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-09102/4077189-1-eng-US/f0026-092.jpg" title="f0026-09" width="672" height="543"></div><h2>PHOENIX</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1193/4077182-1-eng-US/f0026-112.jpg" title="f0026-11" width="719" height="536"></div><h2>QUEBEC</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1285/4077175-1-eng-US/f0026-122.jpg" title="f0026-12" width="724" height="646"></div><h2>SAN DIEGO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1384/4077168-1-eng-US/f0026-132.jpg" title="f0026-13" width="725" height="684"></div><h2>WINNIPEG</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1476/4077161-1-eng-US/f0026-142.jpg" title="f0026-14" width="720" height="626"></div> &#9632;

f0026-10

FINAL SCORING STATISTICS

QUEBEC&mdash;Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; coach Marc Boileau does not believe history can repeat itself.Two years ago, when Boileau was coaching Pittsburgh Penguins, his charges raced off to a 3-0 series lead over New York Islanders only to crumble in the stretch and blow the quarter-final round 4-3. It was only the second time in NHL history that a comeback of such proportion had taken place.Now, with Boileau at the helm of the Nordiques, he is in the precarious position of having the same thing happen Except that it&rsquo;s not very probable and Boileau doesn&rsquo;t give the possibility a second thought.&ldquo;I never think about games that are in the past,&rdquo; said Boileau after the Nordiques saw their hopes of a four-game sweep over New England Whalers snapped by a 6-4 Whalers&rsquo; victory in game four. The Nordiques had won the first three series outings by scores of 5-2, 7-3 and 4-3.&ldquo;If a team doesn&rsquo;t play its game, a 3-0 lead is no guarantee that it will win a series,&rdquo; Boileau said. &ldquo;It sounds corny but in hockey you really do have to play them one game at a time. We gave away four goals (in game four) and you can&rsquo;t play that way in the playoffs and figure on winning.&rdquo;Six different players shared in the New England scoring, namely rookie George Lyle, who got the game-winner; Mike Antonovich, with the insurance tally; Mike Rogers, Larry Pleau, Jack Carlson and Dave Keon. Real Cloutier notched a pair for Quebec.Cloutier and Serge Bernier were mainly responsible for the Nordiques&rsquo; 3-1 series advantage. Bernier was the leading scorer in the Avco Trophy playoffs with three goals and seven assists for 10 points, while Cloutier &mdash; the regularseason scoring champ &mdash; was right behind with five goals and four assists.In other quarter-final action, San Diego Mariners and Houston Aeros had 2-1 series leads over Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers respectively.The Mariners knocked off the Jets 5-4 and 6-4 at home after dropping their opener 4-1 in Winnipeg.The Oilers came back strong with a 7-2 home-ice victory over Houston after the Aeros had posted 4-3 and 6-2 decisions earlier.San Diego broke a 4-4 tie with Winnipeg in game three when Norm Ferguson and Rick Sentes netted back-to-back goals for a 6-4 win. It was Sentes&rsquo; second goal of the game.The Mariners had squared the series with a 5-4 squeaker the previous night as Andre Lacroix conllbuted a goal and three assists. The Mariners fell behind 3-0 in the first 13 minutes but pulled it out with a three-goal explosion in the final period. Don Burgess, Wayne Rivers and Sentes were the architects of the whirlwind finish, although Sentes&rsquo; goal was purely unintentional.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01372/4077130-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="529" height="547"><figcaption class="caption-body">REAL CLOUTIER</figcaption></div>Sentes got credit for the winner when a shot by Lacroix hit him in the chest and caromed into the net past Winnipeg goalkeeper Joe Daley.The Jets had taken the series opener on strength of a two-goal performance by Bobby Hull.Bryan Campbell and Brett Callighen both tallied twice as Edmonton came to life against Houston. Dave Langevin, Gavin Kirk and Randy Rota also connected for the Oilers in a 7-2 win.The Aeros had eked past Edmonton in the first game on an overtime goal by Morris Lukowich. Game two was more of a rout as the Aeros riddled Oilers net-minder Lou Levasseur for six goals on 29 shots. As a result Oilers coach Glen Sather decided a change was in order and inserted veteran goaltender Ken Broderick into the fray.Broderick responded by kicking out 25 of 27 drives aimed his way.The winner of the Nordiques-Whalers series will meet Indianapolis Racers in the Eastern Division final. Similarly, the Edmonton-Houston victor meets the San Diego-Winnipeg winner for the Western Division championship. The two survivors then knock heads for the Avco tropy. &#9632;

f0026-01

Nordiques Lose Bid For Sweep Of Series

<h2>EASTERN</h2>Semi-Finals<h3>Tue. April 12</h3>NEW ENGLAND 3, QUEBEC 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01338/4077412-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="593" height="586"></div>(Quebec leads best-of-seven series 2-0).<h3>Thu. April 14</h3>QUEBEC 4. NEW ENGLAND 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02246/4077405-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="588" height="616"></div>(Quebec leads best-of-seven series 3-0)<h3>Sat. April 16</h3>QUEBEC 4, NEW ENGLAND 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03187/4077398-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="592" height="585"></div>(Quebec leads best-of-seyen series 3-1).<h3>Tue. April 12</h3>INDIANAPOLIS 7, CINCINNATI 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04147/4077391-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="585" height="85"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-05127/4077384-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="596" height="431"></div>(Indianapolis leads best-of-seven series 2-0).<h3>Thu. April 14</h3>CINCINNATI 3, INDIANAPOLIS 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-06109/4077377-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="591" height="590"></div>(Indianapolis leads best-of-seven series 3-0)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0799/4077370-1-eng-US/f0028-072.jpg" title="f0028-07" width="574" height="1202"><figcaption class="caption-body">GEORGE LYLE</figcaption></div><h3>Sat. April 16</h3>CINCINNATI 1, INDIANAPOLIS 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0890/4077363-1-eng-US/f0028-082.jpg" title="f0028-08" width="592" height="455"></div>(Indianapolis wins best-of-seven series 4-0).<h2>WESTERN</h2>Semi-Finals<h3>Tua. April 12</h3>SAN DIEGO 1, WINNIPEG 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0984/4077356-1-eng-US/f0028-092.jpg" title="f0028-09" width="598" height="431"></div>(Winnipeg leads best-of-seven series 2-0).<h3>Sat. April 16</h3>WINNIPEG 4, SAN DIEGO 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1081/4077349-1-eng-US/f0028-102.jpg" title="f0028-10" width="600" height="533"></div>(Winnipeg leads best-of-seven series 2-1).<h3>Sun. April 17</h3>WINNIPEG 4, SAN DIEGO 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1173/4077342-1-eng-US/f0028-112.jpg" title="f0028-11" width="600" height="433"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1269/4077335-1-eng-US/f0028-122.jpg" title="f0028-12" width="591" height="142"></div>(Best-of-seven series tied 2-2).<h3>Wed. April 13</h3>EDMONTON 3, HOUSTON 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1363/4077328-1-eng-US/f0028-132.jpg" title="f0028-13" width="595" height="613"></div>(Best-of-seven series tied 2-2).<h3>Fri. April 15</h3>EDMONTON 2, HOUSTON 6<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1456/4077321-1-eng-US/f0028-142.jpg" title="f0028-14" width="594" height="566"></div>(Houston leads best-of-seven series 1-0).<h3>Sun. April 17</h3>HOUSTON 2. EDMONTON 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1555/4077314-1-eng-US/f0028-152.jpg" title="f0028-15" width="595" height="646"></div>(Houston leads best-of-seven series 2-1) &#9632;

f0028-01

WHA Playoff Summaries

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02235/4077495-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="598" height="534"></div> &#9632;

f0029-02

Top Scorers In Playoffs

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01295/4077533-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="547" height="1092"></div>INDIANAPOLIS&mdash;The Indianapolis Racers, indeed, were an unmistakable smash.And a powerful feeling exists around the World Hockey Association today that the men from Indy Town will not be dismissed lightly in the run for the Avco World Trophy.The Racers, with astonishing ease, polished off the heavily-carbonated Cincinnati Stingers four straight to advance to the WHA semi-finals, probably against the Quebec Nordiques barring a stupendous comeback by the New England Whalers, who were down 3-1 to the Nordiques following the Racers&rsquo; dismissal of Cincinnati.&ldquo;Sometimes it&rsquo;s best when you&rsquo;re the underdog,&rdquo; admitted a not too surprised coach Jacques Demers of the Indianapolis sweep, culminated before a delirious turnaway crowd of 16,040 in Market Square Arena as the Racers closed out the series, 3-1.Indianapolis heroes were many, but it narrowed down to those playoff essentials&mdash;goaltending and defense, and the Racers had it in abundance.On the eve of the series opener, the boys in River City&mdash;who finished a mere three points above the Racers in the battle for second place in the WHA-East&mdash;were predicting victory in five games, but as the Racers&rsquo; young and brash Kim Clackson was to say: &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t play the games in the papers, we play them on the ice.&rdquo;It is rare, indeed, when a best-of-seven is determined in the first game. But that may well have been the story in the Racers first playoff series triumph.The Racers came from behind three times before a Cincinnati turnout of 12,429 to send the game into the longest major league hockey overtime in 10 years.And while it will be documented that Gene Peacosh emerged the hero at 1:17 a m. with his goal 8:40 into the third overtime for a 4-3 victory, the hockey scientists will tell you that Cincinnati died when the stylish Reggie Thomas tied it at three with 1:04 left on the clock.From that goal onward, the poised Racers seemingly had the bewildered Stingers by the jugular vein. Thereafter, playoff experience and discipline, not to mention goaltending, became the keys.Paul Hoganson. a Cincinnati castoff after working 17 games for them this season, qualified as a larcenist in the triple third overtime encounter and again in the third game 5-3 decision.And the same could be said for 23-year-old Michel Dion, who stopped them cold in game two (7-2) and again in the finale (3-1).&ldquo;We were forechecking with one man and my wings were staying four or five steps in front of their men,&rdquo;said Demers when it was over. &ldquo;Cincinnati kept trying to dump the puck in and go after it. They were just giving the puck to us. With those extra steps, we were getting to the puck first 90 per cent of the time.&rdquo;The overall Racer standout in the series proved to be the much-traveled and unheralded Brian McDonald, whose shorthanded goal won game three. He also had the winning goal in the fourth game, but more importantly, it was his penalty-killing paired with the veteran Nick Harbaruk and on-ice leadership that earned him series MVP honors.And then there was Blair MacDonald (four goals and four assists) and Thomas (four goals and five assists).<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03152/4077526-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="1153" height="1469"><figcaption class="caption-body">REG THOMAS&hellip; Four Goals In Series</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

Hot Indy Racers Stun Cincinnati With Four-Game Sweep In Playoffs

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCCONNELL</div>HOUSTON&mdash;The Howes would like to return to Detroit where Gordie starred for 25 years with the Red Wings in the National Hockey League, but the family&rsquo;s business manager, Mrs. Colleen Howe, said the family won&rsquo;t wait until August.&ldquo;Were sitting around waiting for Detroit to make up its mind,&rdquo; said Gordie&rsquo;s wife.Mrs. Howe said Wings&rsquo; vice-president John Ziegler wrote the Howes a letter asking them to consider returning to Detroit and, she claimed, he later told her to draw up a contract proposal.The day before she and Gordie were to present their proposal to Ziegler, Ted Lindsay was hired and given full rein over the club &ldquo;I had an appointment set,&rdquo; she was quoted by the Detroit Free Press. &ldquo;An absolute appointment with John Ziegler and 24 hours before that, they hire Ted&hellip;they changed the rules in the middle of the game. Suddenly Ted was in control. It was their ball game now. We were supposed to bring them a proposal and we did.&rdquo;Mrs. Howe recently expressed dissatisfaction with the manner in which Lindsay has spoken of her role as family business manager, but said she was willing to bury the hatchet.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re getting too much pressure,&rdquo; said Mrs. Howe. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve agreed on a first draft of a nuts and bolts contract with a WHA club (New England) and another from an NHL club (Boston).&ldquo;Detroit has offered us zero, nothing. Other clubs have detailed offers that are so good. I&rsquo;ve got to be crazy to make them wait. I can&rsquo;t hold these people off any more.&rdquo;Meanwhile, Gordie&rsquo;s sons Mark and Marty aren&rsquo;t bringing the family&rsquo;s stock down.Marty fired a 40-footer for the winner and Mark added an insurance goal into an empty net as the Houston Aeros closed out their regular season with a 5-3 win over San Diego.The Aeros closed out their home season the night before as Ron Grahame came within 1:03 of his fifth shutout of the season and extended his home-ice victory streak to 16 in a 3-1 win over Houston. Morris Lukowich supplied a pair of goals, his 26th and 27th and Cam Connor his 35th.It helped erase the memory of the Indianapolis Racers&rsquo; firing five third period goals for a 7-3 come-from-behind victory in the second last home game of the season.Meanwhile Ken Lockett had to block only 16 Quebec shots to register his first shutout of the season and Joe Noris scored his third consecutive two-goal game as the San Diego Mariners thumped the Eastern Division champions 7-0.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02264/4077564-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="529" height="823"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON GRAHAME&hellip; Home Ice Streak</figcaption></div>The Mariners closed out the regular season with a pair of losses to Houston, 3-1 in Houston and 5-3 at home.The Mariners opened the playoffs at Winnipeg and Bobby Hull scored twice in a 5-1 Jets&rsquo; victory which cost them the services of Ulf Nilsson to a knee injury. &#9632;

f0030-02

Howes Ponder Other Offers

<div class="byline">OHN ARNOLD&#x2019;S</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01333/4077595-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">SOLUTION IN MAY 6 ISSUE</figcaption></div><h2>ACROSS</h2>1. Pictured Washington player.5. Minor pro league, (init)6. A Cleveland forward.8. One of the North Stars.10. Lafleur did this.11. Negative reply.12. Plays goal for Dallas.15. Former Red Wing Reibel. (init)16. Number of goals scored by Awrey this year.17. Former Washington forward.20. New Testament, (init)21. Cowboys use this.22. Initials of one of the Wings.23. Usually shows up on a rink after a period of hockey.25. Preposition.27. Played game for Boston last season.<h2>DOWN</h2>1. Harper used to play for this team.2. Minor pro league.3. An NHL goaltender.4. One of the Birmingham Bulls.5. Adjective.7. One of the Sabres, (init)9. Injured Buffalo forward.13. Gordie Howe has one on his line.14. Native province of pictured player.18. One of the Maine Nordiques.19. Initials of former NHL forward Shack.24. Same as 16 across.26. NHL scoring champ, (init)<h3>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S ANSWER</h3><h2>ACROSS</h2>1. STARS.4. M.W.5. YOUNG.7. HOULE.10. RANGER.14. D.S.15. OHIO.16. E.B.18. LEN.19. LEACH.21. FRED.23. SON.24. E.N.25. AGES.27. AVE.28. PAIEMENT.<h2>DOWN</h2>1.SMYTHE.2. TWO.3. RON.6. GRESCHNER.8. OREE.9. L.D.10. ROLFE.11. AHERN12. NINE.13. G.O.17. BASSON.20. C.O.22. DAVE.26. GEM.27. A.I.11. AHERN &#9632;

f0030-01

HOCKEY CROSSWORD

LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaROCHESTER&mdash;The Nova Scotia Voyageurs and Rochester Americans are meeting in what may prove the most exciting Calder Cup final series in the American Hockey League&rsquo;s 41-year history.The defending champion Vees survived a determined bunch of Hershey Bears winning the semi-final series four games to two while the Amerks re-grouped after losing the first two games and went on to oust the New Haven Nighthawks by the same count.The final series opened in Halifax on Apr. 18 and continued there on the 20th before moving to Rochester for the third and fourth games on Friday the 22nd and Sunday the 24th. The if necessary games are scheduled in Halifax on Wednesday the 27th, in Rochester on Saturday the 30th and back in Halifax on Monday, May 2.The Vees, seeking their second straight Calder Cup title and third overall, did not have an easy time in their best-of-seven semi-final series with the Hershey Bears. What with the Vees finishing with 110 points in a runaway for the regular season championship and the Bears ending up in fourth place with only 78 points, most observers felt the Vees would sweep through the undermanned Bears in four straight games. Well, somebody forgot to tell the Bears as they pushed the powerful Vees to six games winning the second game in Halifax and the second game in Hershey.For the Vees it was the shutout goaltending of Eddie Walsh and the scoring of Pierre Mondou and rookie sensation Rod Schutt and defenseman Brian Engblom that finally prevailed. In six games Mondou, who finished sixth in the overall scoring race during the regular season, compiled a league leading 13 points with four goals and nine assists. Schutt, the leading candidate for rookie honors along with teammate Peter Lee. had five goals and an equal amount of assists for 10 points. Only Rochester&rsquo;s Gordie Clark in the same number of games has more points. 11 with four goals and seven assists. Engblom, a leading candidate for the Shore Award, showed some of his offensive prowess scoring two goals while assisting on seven others.Jerome Mrazek, had some big shoes to fill in Hershey when Philadelphia recalled him from loan to Springfield and loaned him to the Bears late in the regular season.Most of the Bears&rsquo; regular season success was due to the fact that Don Edwards was having a simply super year in the nets. But, the Buffalo Sabres ran into trouble and were forced to recall Edwards with more than a month to go in the regular season. Edwards performed well for the Sabres in the NHL and Bears managed to hold on to fourth place and a spot in the playoffs, but most people felt the Bears didn&rsquo;t have a chance without Edwards.Enter Mrazek, who came to the Bears with anything but rave notices, after compiling a 5.38 average and a 7-22-1 record with the then last-place Springfield Indians. But, Mrazek. who had seen some service in the NHL with Philly and in the AHL with Richmond, proved himself worthy of Hershey&rsquo;s faith in him by standing the Vees on their ears in two wins and keeping the high-scoring regular season champions off the scoreboard and preventing them from running away with it all.In the first game Mrazek fell victim to the Vees second and third period barrage giving up seven goals. He then went to work and limited them to a total of 14 goals in the next five games finishing the playoffs with a 3.52 average. Scoring wise the Bears got super performances from rookie Alex Tidey and Derek Smith. Rookie Claude Noel also contributed some key goals.While everyone expected the Vees to roll over the Bears the same people thought that the Rochester-New Haven series would go the limit and although it nearly did there was a lot of scratching of heads when the Nighthawks took the first two games and it looked like it was over for the Amerks. This semi-final series was conducted on an alternating basis with the Hawks getting the first and extra game due to their second-place finish. It was these same Amerks the Hawks had to beat out for that runner-up position. The Hawks took advantage of the home-ice but, not until the overtime when Jerry Byers&rsquo; goal finally subdued the Amerks. The second game in as many nights saw the Hawks post a 5-3 win in Rochester and everyone was thinking of a sweep.Everyone that is except the Amerks who regrouped and waltzed through four straight wins including two in New Haven to put the Hawks away.Gordie Clark and Rick Adduono with two game winning goals apiece and Doug Gibson proved the big scorers along with rookie Clayton Pachal. Jim Pettie drew the goaltending assignment in all six games and came away with a 3.14 average. Pettie was put under additional pressure when Mike Curran, the Amerks&rsquo; other goaltender, jumped the club to join Team U.S.A, for the World Tournament in Vienna.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01307/4077626-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="565" height="736"><figcaption class="caption-body">GORDIE CLARK&hellip;Two Game Winners</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0031-01

AHL Expects Amerks-Voyageur Final To Be Highlight Of Calder Cup Play

<div class="byline">BY BILL ADLER</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY TICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaDALLAS&mdash;Post-season awards and playoff contests are the major happenings in the Central Hockey League at the present time. Some of the news is surprising, especially in the playoffs with Fort Worth Texans getting the early jump on the record-setting first place Kansas City Blues in their best-of-seven series. In the other opening round match, Dallas Black Hawks and Tulsa Oilers have battled to an even split through their first two games as these two teams are maybe as evenly matched as any two playoff teams have ever been.In the award department the league office has released the Most Valuable Defenseman and the Rookie of the Year winners with mild surprises in each category.Second-year professional Mike O&rsquo;Connell of Dallas was voted by the CHL coaches as the most valuable defenseman in the Central Hockey League, edging Barclay Plager of the Kansas City Blues by a 30-24 vote. O&rsquo;Connell was the top scoring defenseman in the CHL this season with 68 points on 15 goals and 53 assists. His point total enabled him to rank ninth among all CHL scorers, a rather remarkable feat for a defenseman while O&rsquo;Connell&rsquo;s assist total placed him third in that category.An interesting note is that O&rsquo;Connell is a native of Boston, and as such becomes the first American-born player to win a major award in the 14-year history of the league.Plager, who had been considered the backbone of the Blues defensive alignment that finished with the best team goals against average in the league, was a close second to the good-looking O&rsquo;Connell. Fort Worth defenseman and the &ldquo;heart&rdquo; of the team Neil Nicholson was a close third to both Plager and O&rsquo;Connell in the voting.The Rookie of the Year selection surprised some people but not others as Kansas City rookie sensation Bernie Federko received the honor in a close race with Fort Worth&rsquo;s Mike Kaszycki.Federko tallied 30 goals and 39 assists for 69 points while playing in only 42 Central League games before his recall by St. Louis Blues in early February. In St. Louis Federko continued his prolific scoring pace which he began during his junior days with Saskatoon Blades (WCHL) where he set the mark for most points in a single season (187) during his I final year two seasons ago.Since Federko&rsquo;s departure to the National Hockey League young Kaszycki had become the talk of the league with his outstanding skating and puckhandling along with his scoring proficiency. The New York Islanders&rsquo; second round draft selection from Sault Ste. Marie finished as the second leading scorer in his first professional season with 32 goals and 55 assists for 87 points, nine points behind scoring leader Steve West of Oklahoma City.However, the coaches were obviously impressed with the outstanding performance of young Federko and voted him, the CHL&rsquo;s Rookie of the Year even though he played the final two months of the season in the NHL.The rookie balloting was most interesting this season in light of the outstanding crop of first-year players this season. Five of the nine leading scorers were rookies. Besides Federko (ninth) and Kasyzcki (second) other rookies to make the scoring elite were Syd Veysey, Tulsa (third), Richie Hansen, Fort Worth (fourth) and Rick Shinske, Salt Lake City (eighth). Other top first-year prospects include Ken Kuzyk and defenseman Darcy Regier of Salt Lake City, Rob Flockhart and defenseman Bob Manno of Tulsa.In the opening round of the playoffs both series had completed the first two games with the Fort Worth emerging as the surprise team of the playoffs.FORT WORTH-KANSAS CITY: Even before this series began there were two happenings that could weigh heavily in the final outcome. First, the Blues were unable to open in Kemper Arena because the building had been booked for the Ice Capades during the first week of the playoffs. Thus, despite finishing in first place with a new CHL mark of 46 victories the Blues were forced to play the first two games in Fort Worth where they managed only one win in seven regular season contests with the Texans.The second happening concerned the status of player-coach and team leader Barclay Plager who had been recalled to St. Louis prior to the Blues&rsquo; final regular season game. After playing two games for St. Louis Plager returned to Kansas City for the opening of the semi-final series.Plager played his usual brillliant game during the first contest in Fort Worth but the following evening he did not touch the ice during the course of the 60 minutes of action even though he dressed for the game. Plager denied any serious injury that had kept him on the sideline despite hand miseries that prevented him from gripping a stick properly.The first game of the series was one of the toughest physical contests seen in the season as both teams began to exert physical pressure from the opening faceoff. A total of 62 minutes in penalties was assessed (21 minors and four majors) by referee Alf LeJeune and both teams squandered several power-play opportunities.Don Martineau opened the scoring for the Blues with a power-play tally midway in the first period before defenseman Neil Nicholson fired a shot from outside the blueline that dipped and bounced past surprised Kansas City goalie Bill McKenzie. McKenzie had been forced into playoff duty when number one net-minder Yves Belanger had not recovered from his groin injury to begin duty in the playoffs. The loss of Belanger was a serious blow to the Blues chances for winning the Adams Cup.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01311/4077657-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="569" height="561"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE O&rsquo;CONNELL&hellip;Most Valuable Rearguard</figcaption></div>The score remained tied 1-1 until midway in the final period when Texan Lome Stamler fired a bullet from the point past McKenzie on the power play. Stamler, off a beautiful feed from rookie Richie Hansen, iced the 3-1 Texan victory with less than five minutes left in the game.The following evening the teams continued their physical game and once again the Blues took the early lead on a first-period goal by Brian Ogilvie. After a shorthanded tally by Kaszycki had tied the score, Ken Gassoff regained the lead for the Blues at the end of the first 20 minutes of play.Defenseman Steve Short, who recorded only five goals in 48 regular season games for the Texans, tallied the only goal of the middle period. For the second straight night the two teams entered the final period deadlocked.Kaszycki and Gassoff exchanged early third-period goals before Stamler provided the game-winning tally for the second consecutive evening and the Texans who looked out of a playoff berth in late February were suddenly only two victories away from advancing to the final round of the Adams Cup playoffs.The big difference in the first two games was the goaltending. McKenzie subbing for Belanger had not been exceptionally sharp and when the series returned to Kansas City there was a good chance that Belanger would attempt a return to the nets. On the other side Fort Worth coach John Choyce received superb goaltending from veteran Bill Hughes in the first two contests. Hughes allowed only four goals in the first two games while making 67 saves, including several point-blank shots.DALLAS-TULSA: The former best-of-seven series with the home ice advantage to the Black Hawks has turned into a best-of-five series with the home ice advantage going to the defending champion Oilers after Tulsa managed a split in the first two games played in Dallas April 8-9.Game one appeared headed for overtime until Black Hawk rightwinger Bob Warner scored on a pass from center Greg Vaydik with only 29 seconds left in the game. The Hawks had tied the score earlier in the final period on a power-play goal by center Duane Wylie. Dan Gloor and rookie Rob Flockhart had scored for the Oilers to enable Tulsa to overcome an early 1-0 Hawk lead on the strength of a goal by Sean Shanahan.Game two was all Tulsa as the Oilers came out checking and checking which virtually shut off the Hawk offense in a 41 win. Alain Langlais opened the scoring for the Oilers at the nine-minute mark of the first period before Andy Spruce talked the eventual game-winner late in the second period. Wylie put the Hawks on the board in the opening seconds of the final period before Gloor regained the two-goal lead seven minutes later. Cam Botting then closed out the scoring into the open Hawk net in the final 14 seconds.Goalies Bruce Bullock, Tulsa, and Gord McRae played both contests for their respective teams with both performing well despite the limited number of shots on goal.In the opening contest Oiler forward Rick Bowness jammed his hand in a fight with Hawk defenseman Dave Logan who had just recently rejoined the team from Chicago. Bowness sat out the second game but Oiler coach Andy Hebenton was hopeful of having the rugged rightwinger back in the lineup when the series shifted to Tulsa for games three and four.For the Hawks, Logan, Dan Hinton and Mike Veisor returned from Chicago after the Black Hawks were eliminated in the opening round series with the New York Islanders. However, the Toronto Maple Leafs recalled Alain Belanger and veteran defenseman Mike Pelyk to join another Hawk, Bruce Boudreau, in Toronto as the Maple Leafs prepared for their series with Philadelphia Flyers. Without Boudreau the Hawk offense has been almost non-existent. &#9632;

f0032-01

Fort Worth Gets Early Playoff Jump On Regular Season Champion Blues

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>PLAYOFF GAMESSemi-Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01279/4077814-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="522" height="83"></div>(Nova Scotia wins best-of-seven series 4-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. April 3Hershey 4 at Nova Scotia 7Tus. April 5Hershey 6 at Nova Scotia 2Wed. April 6Nova Scotia 1 at Herahey 0Sat. April 9Nova Scotia 4 at Herahey 5Sun. April 10Herahey 0 at Nova Scotia 5Tue. April 12Nova Scotia 2 at Herahey 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02211/4077807-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="522" height="78"></div>(Rocheater wina best-of-seven series 4-2)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 2Rocheater 1 at New Haven 2Sun. April 3New Haven at Rocheater 1Wed. April 6Rocheater 5 at New Haven 2Fri. April 8New Haven 3 at Rocheater 6Sat. April 9Rocheater 6 at New Haven 4Sun. April 10New Haven 4 at Rocheater 5FinalsROCHESTER vs NOVA SCOTIAMon. April 1Rocheater va Nova ScotiaWed. April 20Rocheater va Nova ScotiaFri. April 22Nova Scotia va RocheaterSun. April 24Nova Scotia va RocheaterWed. April 27Rocheater va Nova ScotiaSat. April 30Nova Scotia va RochesterMon. May 2Rocheater va Nova Scotia<h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>PLAYOFF GAMESQuarter-Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03158/4077800-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="524" height="77"></div>(Saginaw wins best-of-seven series 4-3)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 1Muskegon 1 at Saginaw 3Sat. April 2Saginaw 2 at Muakegon 5Sun. April 3Muskegon 3 at Saginaw 2Wed. April 8Saginaw 5 at Muakegon 3Fri. April 8Muakegon 3 at Saginaw 4Sat. April 9Saginaw 1 at Muakegon 3Wed. April 13Muakegon 4 at Saginaw 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04125/4077793-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="522" height="80"></div>(Saginaw wins best-of-seven series 4-3)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. March 29Columbus 2 at Toledo 1Tue. April 5Columbus 1 at Toledo 4Wed. April 6Columbus 7 at Toledo 6Fri. April 8Toledo 1 at Columbus 2Sat. April 9Columbus 3 at Toledo 6Sun. April 10Toledo 8 at Columbus 2Tue. April 12Columbus 2 at Toledo 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-05101/4077786-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="521" height="79"></div>(Kalamazoo wins best-of-seven series 4-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 1Flint 5 at Kalamazoo 8Sat. April 2Kalamazoo 3 at Flint 2Sun. April 3Flint 3 at Kalamazoo 10Wed. April 6Kalamazoo 2 at Flint 3Fri. April 8Flint 2 at Kalamazoo 7<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0681/4077779-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="520" height="81"></div>Fort Wayne wins best-of-seven series 4-0)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0771/4077772-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="528" height="80"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 2Fort Wayno 5 at Dayton 3Sun. April 3Dayton 1 at Fort Wayne 7Wed. April 6Fort Wayne 4 at Dayton 1Sat. April 9Dayton 2 at Fort Wayne 7Semi-Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0861/4077765-1-eng-US/f0033-082.jpg" title="f0033-08" width="529" height="82"></div>(Best-of-seven series tied 1-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 16Saginaw 2 at Kalamazoo 1Sun. April 17Kalamazoo 8 at Saginaw 4GAMES TO COMETue. April 19Kalamazoo at SaginawSat. April 23Saginaw at KalamazooSun. April 24Kalamazoo at SaginawMon. April 25Saginaw at KalamazooWed. April 27Kamalazoo at Saginaw<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0952/4077758-1-eng-US/f0033-092.jpg" title="f0033-09" width="579" height="80"></div>(Toledo leads best-of-seven series 1-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. April 16Fort Wayne 3 at Toledo 6GAMES TO COMEMon. April 18Toledo at Fort WayneWed. April 20Fort Wayne at ToledoThu. April 21Toledo at Fort WayneSat. APril 23Fort Wayne at ToledoSun. APril 24Toledo at Fort WayneWed. April 27Fort Wayne at Toledo<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>PLAYOFF GAMESSemi-Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1047/4077751-1-eng-US/f0033-102.jpg" title="f0033-10" width="577" height="74"></div>(Kansas City leads best-of-seven series 3-2).<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 8Kansas City 1 at Fort Worth 3Sat. April 9Kansas City 3 at Fort Worth 4Tue. April 12Fort Worth 3 at Kansas City 4Fri. April 15Fort Worth 0 at Kansas City 3Sat. April 16Fort Worth 2 at Kansas City 4GAMES TO COMETue. April 19Kansas City at Fort WorthThu. April 21Fort Worth at Kansas City<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1145/4077744-1-eng-US/f0033-112.jpg" title="f0033-11" width="573" height="79"></div>(Tulsa wins best-of-seven series 4-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. April 8Tulsa 2 at Dallas 3Sat. April 9Tulsa 4 at Dallas 1Wed. April 13Dallas 1 at Tulsa 3Fri. April 15Dallas 2 st Tulsa 5Sat. April 16Tulsa 4 at Dallas 3GAMES TO COMETue. April 19Dallas at TulsaWed. April 20Tulsa at Dallas<h2>NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>PLAYOFF GAMESQuarter-Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1244/4077737-1-eng-US/f0033-122.jpg" title="f0033-12" width="578" height="77"></div>(Maine wins best-of-five series 3-0)<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>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/f0033-1333/4077730-1-eng-US/f0033-132.jpg" title="f0033-13" width="580" height="80"></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/f0033-1430/4077723-1-eng-US/f0033-142.jpg" title="f0033-14" width="528" height="81"></div>Erie wins best-of-five series 3-1)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. March 22Erie 6 at Philadelphia 5Wed. March 23Philadelphia 1 at Erie 4Sat. March 19Erie 3 at Philadelphia 4Sun. March 20Philadelphia 4 at ErieSemi-Finals(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 Erle 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/f0033-1525/4077716-1-eng-US/f0033-152.jpg" title="f0033-15" width="527" height="80"></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 8Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1620/4077709-1-eng-US/f0033-162.jpg" title="f0033-16" width="528" height="79"></div>(Syracuse wins best-of-seven series 4-0)<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. April 5Maine 2 at Syracuse 8Thu. April 7Maine 2 at Syracuse 4Sat. April 9Syracuse 6 at Maine 3Sun. April 10Syracuse 5 at Maine 1<h2>UNITED STATES LEAGUE</h2>PLAYOFF GAMESFINALS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1720/4077702-1-eng-US/f0033-172.jpg" title="f0033-17" width="565" height="81"></div>(BMt-of-Hva aariaa tied 5-5).<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Sat. April 2Milwaukee 5 at Grand Rapida 6Sun. April 3Grand Rapids 3 at Milwaukee 8Fri. April 8Milwaukee 4 at Grand Rapids 4Sat. April 9Grand Rapids 4 at Milwaukee 4Wed. April 13Grand Rapids 6 at Milwaukee 6Semi-Finals<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1817/4077695-1-eng-US/f0033-182.jpg" title="f0033-18" width="529" height="81"></div>(Grand Rapids wins best-of-five series 3-2)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1915/4077688-1-eng-US/f0033-192.jpg" title="f0033-19" width="527" height="83"></div>(Milwaukee wins best-of-flvo series2-0 with two ties)Who They&rsquo;re Affiliated With&hellip;NHL TEAMS1&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 &#9632;

f0033-01

Minor League Scoreboard

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaFORT WAYNE&mdash;The International Hockey League&rsquo;s &ldquo;second season&rdquo; has a key feature of the first season plus a few surprises.The annual Turner Cup playoffs are under way and competition, like the race for the regular season championship, has been most competitive. Three overtime games have been played in the quarterfinal matches thus far. The surprises? The expected &ldquo;losers&rdquo; have become winners.Most surprising club thus far has been the Fort Wayne Komets, who escaped last place in the South Division on the final day of the season. The Komets swept to a four-straight win over defending Turner Cup champion Dayton, winning two of the three on the road. The four-game romp against the Gems gave the Komets the longest winning streak of the eight survivors&mdash;six. The Komets won eight of their last nine and the third-game. 4-1 win in Dayton gave Fort Wayne four victories and a tie in the last five trips to Dayton.The other big surprise has been Columbus. The Owls, faced with what loomed as an almost impossible schedule&mdash;three straight games on the road and five of seven should the series with South Division Toledo go the limit&mdash;pushed the Goaldiggers to the seventh game before losing the series 4-3. Two of the Columbus wins came in overtime&mdash;the first in three bonus sessions. The third game victory came early in the second suddendeath period after Toledo had built a four-goal lead in the first two periods. The Owls had gone on top 3-1 in the series and appeared to be on their way to an upset. But Toledo won the next three games and took the series.Muskegon, fourth-place finisher in the North, surprised North Division winner Saginaw by taking the third and fifth games (both in Saginaw) and had the Gears all even at three games apiece.Kalamazoo swept past Flint by winning four straight, the key being the second game which also went into the third overtime before a decision could be reached.Playoffs at a glance: Fort Wayne vs. Dayton&mdash;Rookies Ron Zanussi and Rob Tudor triggered an explosive offense which outscored Dayton 16-5 in three games. Tudor scored six goals and Zanussi five, including a hat-trick in the Komets&rsquo; 7-1 romp in the second game.Defensively, Brian Holderness was a standout in goal. Coach Ralph Keller was forced to go with Holderness exclusively because of a leg injury to veteran Robbie Irons. But in the wake of Holderness&rsquo; performance thus far, Keller said, &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t replace Holderness with Jacques Plante right now. &ldquo;The Komets set the pattern for the series with a four-goal explosion in the first period of the opening game in Dayton. The Komets hung on for a 5-3 victory. In the second game in Fort Wayne the Komets broke open a tight defensive struggle with another four-goal explosion, this time in the second period. They skated to a 7-1 triumph. The third game, back in Dayton, was close until midway in the final period when Tudor and Dave Norris scored late to give the Komets a 4-1 victory.Columbus vs. Toledo: Al Hillier&rsquo;s goal at 2:42 of the third overtime gave the Owls a 1-0 jump with a 2-1 victory in a game which probably felt like an entire season to both clubs. The two teams battled on even terms for 92 minutes and 42 seconds. Toledo nursed a 1-0 lead from 11:02 of the first period until Daryl Drader scored on a back-hander with 1:47 left in regulation time. From then until Hillier&rsquo;s back-hand centering pass led to the winning goal the two teams played intensely but with no results.Toledo&rsquo;s tough defenseman Tom Mellor wound up the &ldquo;goat&rdquo;, by his own admission. The puck hit his skate and delected past Pierre Chagnon for the winning goal.The Diggers got even in the second game, 4-1, before the two teams were forced to work overtime again in the third. Toledo appeared headed for an easy victory building a 6-2 lead. Then Drader took over, scoring three of the four Columbus goals in the final period totie the score, the last with just 12 seconds remaining. Toledo twice missed the open net in the final minute as the Owls tried desperately for the tying goal&mdash;which finally came.Saginaw vs. Muskegon: Saginaw got a one-game jump with a 3-1 victory in the opening game which featured strong goaltending by Mario Lessard of the Gears and Ted Tucker of the Mohawks. The two teams started the final period tied 1-1. Marcel Comeau broke the tie 2:23 into the final period and Rick Chinnick added an insurance goal midway through the second period.Muskegon got even in the second game&mdash;played in Muskegon. The Mohawks took advantage of Saginaw penalties, scoring three power-play goals, while skating to a 5-2 victory. Underdog Muskegon took a 2-1 lead in games by squeezing out a 3-2 decision in the third game in Saginaw. The ability to kill penalties was a big factor. Saginaw failed to score on three power-play situations.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02246/4077845-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="553" height="756"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON ZANUSSI&hellip;Triggers Comet Offense</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0034-02

Fort Wavne Sweep Of Gems IHL Playoff Surprise

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01306/4077876-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="589" height="472"></div> &#9632;

f0034-01

Playoff Scoring

<div class="byline">BY BRUCE PENTON</div>WINNIPEG&mdash;There is a school of thought in some precincts of the Western Canada Hockey League that there is no player of greater value to a particular team than Winnipeg Monarchs&rsquo; defenseman Kevin McCarthy.Winding up a brilliant four-year career with the Monarchs, the 19-year-old Winnipeg native owns or shares six WCHL records, as well as countless team standards.And it was fitting that the day before the Kevin McCarthy appreciation night at the Winnipeg Arena, put on by Monarch boss Gerry Brisson. McCarthy was named the WCHLs standa CCM Canadian major junior hockey player-of-the-year award.There are many tales about McCarthy&rsquo;s value to the Monarchs. One good story concerns the night the Monarchs were in a nip-and-tuck battle and McCarthy was on the ice for the first 18 minutes of the final period, save for a 30-second breather around the 10-minute mark Winnipeg, rallied by its captain pulled away late in the game, so Brisson brought McCarthy to the bench, where he stayed for the final 90 seconds.Later, Brisson confided to a reporter that he feared McCarthy was mad at him.The straight-man reporter asked why he might be angry.&lsquo;Well, I only gave him two shifts in the third period,&rdquo; Brisson replied.Brought up as a 16-year-old straight out of midget hockey, McCarthy has set offensive records for a defenseman which may never be broken:Most assists in one season, 105; most points in a season, 127; most career points. 356.As well, McCarthy has tied single-game records by any player&mdash;forward or defenseman&mdash;with his six assists in one game (6) and most assists in one period (5). He also holds a league career record for most assists by anyone (276).Perhaps his most spectacular offensive show came in a game last season, when he got the six assists in a 10-7 win at home over Calgary Centennials. Early in the second period, Winnipeg trailed 5-0. By the 14-minute mark, they had tied it 5-5 and McCarthy had five assists. He finished the night with seven points, one goal and six assists.&ldquo;As an offensive defenseman, 1 haven&rsquo;t seen anyone like him since Orr (Bobby) or Potvin (Denis).&rdquo; raves Brisson, who has benched McCarthy but once in his career. That was for eating french fries on the day of a game, in McCarthy&rsquo;s rookie season.Modesty comes as naturally to McCarthy as passing the puck, which he does better than anyone in the WCHL. The Night&rsquo; for him at the Winnipeg Arena overwhelmed him. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a real honor,&rdquo; he said after being presented with a wide array of gifts. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s especially nice when it&rsquo;s for something I&rsquo;ve enjoyed doing for four years.&rdquo;A cinch as a first-round draft choice, McCarthy has been wooed by San Diego Mariners of the World Hockey Association since Christmas, but he says he hasn&rsquo;t committed himself.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll weigh the offers and then make my decision,&rdquo; he said, adding that money, the city, solidity of the franchise and other intangible factors will affect his final decision.WINNIPEG: McCarthy&rsquo;s Monarchs did in four games what they failed to accomplish in 12 tries during the regular season&mdash;beat Brandon Wheat Kings twice. Winnipeg posted 5-3 and 5-2 wins (home and away respectively) in the first and fourth games of their best-of-nine quarter-final. Jim Malazdrewicz has been the team&rsquo;s top point-getter with seven, while Tom Roulston&rsquo;s three goals lead the team in that category. Monarchs&rsquo; individual awards for the season went to McCarthy (MVP), Roulston (Most improved), Malazdrewicz (top rookie) and Dave Morrison (most popular).BRANDON: The Wheat Kings, who lost just one in 12 games against Winnipeg during the season en route to the WCHL pennant, dropped two of the first four to the Monarchs in the playoffs. Eight players, including goalie Glen Hanlon, were ejected in the opener, won 5-3 by the Monarchs, and high-scoring winger Ray Allison was given a match penalty early in the second game (which resulted in a two-game suspension). The Wheaties&rsquo; victories were 7-4 at home and 8-5 in Winnipeg and coach Dune McCallum said his team was &ldquo;looking ahead to the final&rdquo; instead of being concerned with beating the Monarchs Brian Propp, Bill Derlago and Dan Bonar, the top three goal-scorers in the season, again led the point-getters in the playoffs. Brandon has averaged 80 minutes in penalties in the four playoff games, 55 more per game than in the regular season.LETHBRIDGE: Since moving to Lethbridge from Swift Current, the Broncos had never won a game in Saskatoon. So, when they had to, they did it, taking a 4-2 victory in the fifth game of their best-of-seven series against the Blades. That gave Lethbridge a 3-2 lead in the series, and a 10-5 win at home the next night, behind the three-goal performance of Mike Fynn and the five points of Willie Desjardins, advanced the Broncos into the quarter-final. Blades held 60-goal man Rocky Saganiuk, playing between rookies Darryl and Duane Sutter, to just two assists in the six-game series. Dean Solheim, Steve Tambellini, Desjardins and Fynn have paced the team&rsquo;s pointgetters. The return to form of Fynn and ambellini, who were injured for most of the final six weeks of the season, is especially gratifying to coach Howie Yanosik.SASKATOON: Until the final game, when they were ousted by Lethbridge by virtue of a 10-5 loss, goalie Dave Parro and veteran Wes George were the Blades&rsquo; two shining lights. Parro had a 2.60 average for the first five games, and big George, who missed the first half of his draft year due to an injury, led the pointgetters with four goals and five assists. The first round defeat was only the second for coach Jackie McLeod in the last five years. It has been rumored that this is McLeod&rsquo;s final year as Blade bench boss.CALGARY: The amazing Centennials didn&rsquo;t stop after winning the first two games of their preliminary round best-of-seven series with the Tigers in Medicine Hat. Coach Wes Phillips&rsquo; big underdogs went home and made it a four-game sweep, taking 7-6 (overtime) and 4-3 victories to advance to the quarter-finals against Lethbridge. Craig Topollnsky&rsquo;s goal at 1:36 of overtime, his second goal of the game, decided the series&rsquo; third game, and a three-point effort by Roy Sommer helped Cents take the final game. Now that the World Hockey Association Cowboys are finished for the year. Centennial owner Dick Koentges hopes for nearly-packed crowds for the series with Lethbridge.MEDICINE HAT: Most people in Tiger Town blame the executive upheaval just prior to the playoffs as the main ingredient in Tigers&rsquo; stunning four-straight playoff loss to Calgary. Coach Jack Shupe was re-instated the day before the series began, with deposed 23-year-old Jim McCrimmon staying on as assistant and president Rod Carry being odd-man-out in an owners&rsquo; power struggle. An injured Ron Areshenkoff, who played in spots despite his wrist troubles, also didn&rsquo;t help the Tigers&rsquo; cause against Calgary. Areshenkoff was a 53-goal man during the regular season.PORTLAND: The Winter Hawks made surprisingly-quick work of Kamloops in the quarter-final series in the Rockies, winning in five games, including twice on Kamloops ice. Goalie Randy Ireland was sensational, giving up just 11 goals in the five games (2.20) and posting the first shutout of the &lsquo;76-&rsquo;77 playoffs with a 7-0 decision in the fourth game. Dale Yakiwchuk&rsquo;s two-goal, two-assist performance propelled the Hawks to win in the 5-1 series&mdash;clinching win while unheralded Blake Wesley garnered four assists in the 7-0 triumph. Dave Harheway&rsquo;s two goals led Portland to a 5-4 win in the first game in Portland, after the teams had split two games in Kamloops to open the series.KAMLOOPS: The long season for Harvey Roy and the Chiefs came to an abrupt end, when they fell in five games to Portland in quarter-final play. The only victory the Chiefs could muster was a 4-3 home-ice decision in the second game, when over-age Al Young, who attended St. Louis Blues&rsquo; camp last fall, rifled in three goals. The future of the Kamloops&rsquo; franchise remained muddy, but indications clearly hinted the team would be skating elsewhere next year, probably in a United States city.NEW WESTMINSTER: The Bruins quickly disposed of Victoria in quarterfinal play, taking 3-2, 6-4 and 4-1 victories to go with the opening 10-2 win and sweeping the best-of-seven set. Goalies Carey Walker and Blaine Peterson performed well, as the scores would indicate, and right-winger Mark Lofthouse accounted for nine points in the four games, as did starry defenseman Brad Maxwell. The Bruins now tangle with Portland Winter Hawks in the next round, with the winner advancing to the final. Those two teams represent the physically-biggest clubs in the league.VICTORIA: Patty Ginnells farewell to Victoria will not go down as a great moment in sport. His Cougars didn&rsquo;t win once against New Westminster, coming closest in the second game, but losing to a Lofthouse overtime goal, 3-2. Ginnell, after two-and-a-half seasons in Victoria after moving from Flin Flon, has sold his interests in the Cougars and is presently on the lookout for a new hockey town, and team. &#9632;

Voted WCHL’s Player Of Year, McCarthy To Weigh Pro Offers

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE JAWORSKI</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S and CanadaSYRACUSE&mdash;It didn&rsquo;t take long for Syracuse Blazers to win the Lockhart Cup, and consequently it didn&rsquo;t take long for captain Gary Sittier to assess why the team had such a successful season.&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t have any one superstar,&rdquo; said Sittler. &ldquo;We had balanced scoring throughout the season, It was a combination of experience and hustling youth.&rdquo;It only took one over the minimum of playoff games for the Blazers to win their second Lockhart Cup. They whipped the Erie Blades in five games, then swept the Maine Nordiques&mdash;something that has become common in the North American Hockey League&rsquo;s championship series.In three of the four best-of-seven championship finals since the inception of the NAHL, the final series has been swept four games to none. The Blazer&rsquo;s only other Lockhart Cup was a 4-0 sweep over the Long Island Cougars in the first year of the league.Two seasons ago, the Johnstown Jets swept the Broome Dusters, while last season was the only one in which the title series went beyond the minimum, as Philadelphia whipped the now-defunct Beauce Jaros in six games.It was Sittier&rsquo;s second Cup win in the Salt City where he&rsquo;s played three of the last four years.&ldquo;The first year,&rdquo; Sittier said comparing the three Blazer teams, &ldquo;we bulled our way through the league.&rdquo; That was 1973-74 when Syracuse similarly won the Governor&rsquo;s Cup as regular season champion, then added the Lockhart Cup.&ldquo;We had a lot of high-priced players from the WHA,&rdquo; said Sittier of the 1974-75 Blazers. That team also won the league championship, but after drawing a bye in the quarter-finals, they were upset by Johnstown in seven games. &ldquo;We had the talent, but didn&rsquo;t apply ourselves.&rdquo;Last season, coach Dan Belisle came to Syracuse, and Sittler went to training camp with Toronto Maple Leafs. Sittler said the Leafs asked him to go to Saginaw Gears, and there he led the International League in penalty minutes.The 24-year-old brother of Toronto Maple Leaf star Darryl Sittler came back to the Blazers, and the team made a shambles of the league race in the stretch run before breezing through the playoffs.&ldquo;It looked easy, but it was hard work for 60 minutes,&rdquo; said Sittler. &ldquo;It looked easy but it really wasn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;Syracuse won the first two games of the final series in its own building. 8-2 and 4-2, then went to Lewiston. Me., and won 6-3 and 5-1.Perhaps with something to prove to those who snubbed him in the All Star voting, Blazer left wing Jim Cowell led all playoff scorers with seven goals and 14 assists. Blazer Terry West tied with Maine&rsquo;s Richard Grenier with 18 points, but Grenier led all playoff goal-scorers with 12 and teammate John Cunniff had 10.The first two games of the finals drew 2,284 and 2,889 in the Onondaga County War Memorial, and Syracuse gave the hometown fans a big treat. Darryl Knowles had two goals in the 8-2 romp as the Blazers scored two goals in the second period for a 4-1 lead then tallied four unanswered goals in the final 20 minutes.The second game was scoreless after the first period, but goals by Tom Milani, Pat Russell and Tim Sanche threatened to make it a rout too.But John Danby scored for Maine in the third period and Cunniff with 57 seconds to go. With goalie Jim Corsi pulled for a sixth attacker. Cowell found the empty net for the 4-2 win.&ldquo;The third game was the game we broke their back,&rdquo; said coach Dan Belisle, the last two seasons Coach of the Year in the NAHL. &ldquo;Our guys just didn&rsquo;t want to be denied.&ldquo;While that has turned into quite a cliche in the sporting world, it is quite true of the Blazers who never stop coming. Several players throughout the league will testify that no lead is safe against Syracuse at home or on the road.Syracuse went into the Central Maine Youth Center, where they were 0-4-1 during the regular season, and fired 22 shots at Corsi in the first period of Game three.&ldquo;It could have been 5-0,&rdquo; said Belisle, &ldquo;if it weren&rsquo;t for Corsi. And when it wasn&rsquo;t Corsi, we shot wide. We get a lot of chances, and we work for every one of them. But we need all those chances. We&rsquo;re not like Maine where in only one or two chances we could turn a game around.&rdquo;The Blazers led 2-1 after that 22-shot barrage, then when the Nords tied it in the second period, Jim Cowell and Terry West went to work for a 4-2 lead in the third period.But Maine defenseman Michel Dubois got his third goal of the game at 18:54 of the third period with Corsi pulled for a sixth attacker. Corsi was still out when Russell scored an empty-netter and West finished off the Nordiques with Corsi back in for a 6-3 final score.No team has ever come from a 3-0 deficit in the NAHL&mdash;and it&rsquo;s only happened twice in the long history of the NHL&mdash;and Pete Mara and West scored on breakaways and Bernie Johnston&rsquo;s first goal of the playoffs gave the Blazers a 3-0 lead at 6:51 of the second period of Game four. Sittler and Cowell rounded out the scoring for the season, defenseman Sittler finishing with four goals and seven assists. Attendance for Game four was 2,618 compared to 3,115 in Game three.Mara had five goals and nine assists and Rookie of the Year Tom Milani six goals and seven assists to round out the top Blazer scorers.Goalie Rick Szabo, an SHL refugee, was 4-6 with a 3.25 goals-against average, and Norm Tesluck was 4-1 with a 2.80 mark.In seven of the nine playoff games, the peppery, pint-sized and pesty line of Allie Sutherland, Mara and Milani scored the first goal.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03153/4077931-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="565" height="738"><figcaption class="caption-body">GARY SITTLER &hellip;Second Championship</figcaption></div>West, Russell and Cowell made up another Blazer line while Sanche and Knowles were on rookie Johnston&rsquo;s wings. Sittier and steady but not showy Jim Marsh were two key blueliners, Reg Krezanski and Mike Haworth blueliners who joined the team in mid-stream. Kevin MacDonald was relegated to fifth defenseman duties while Gord Cole damaged knee ligaments in the first game against Erie.In fairness to Maine, Guido Tenese was lost in the first game with a bad knee, Danby had the flu for Game two then injured a leg in Game three, Rene Villemure reinjured a shoulder in the first game and both Al Globensky and Bobby Leduc were playing below par with injuries.&ldquo;We really played physically hurt,&rdquo; said Maine general manager Maurice Ducharme. &ldquo;But Syracuse has one helluva team. They came to play, both here and there. They&rsquo;re a very well-balanced team.&rdquo;Belisle calls his team &ldquo;hard working,&rdquo; and the 1976-77 Syracuse Blazers, not deep in talent, are a perfect example of the benefits to be reaped by pure hard work. &#9632;

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Sittier Sees Balanced Club Offense Key To Blazer’s Lockhart Cup Romp

<h2>PLAYOFF SCORING LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01269/4077969-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="583" height="298"></div><h2>LEADING GOALERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02206/4077962-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="590" height="167"></div> &#9632;

f0036-01

NAHL Leaders

MONTREAL&mdash;As predicted by the hockey experts, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League championship boils down to a two-team affair between perennial finalists Sherbrooke Beavers and Quebec Remparts.The Beavers sent Cornwall Royals packing for an early summer vacation, winning their eight-point semi-final series 9-3. The Remparts were even more convincing as they humiliated Montreal Juniors 9-1 in points.The Remparts not only eliminated Montreal, but made the hapless Tricolor the butts of their jokes while sweeping the last four games of their series by scores of 5-3, 9-1, 8-0 and 6-0&ldquo;The closest Montreal came to us was in the comers,&rdquo; beamed Remparts&rsquo; coach Ron Racette.&ldquo;Montreal put on some pressure and scored a goal&hellip;too bad it was on their own goalie,&rdquo; chuckled Quebec sharpshooter Jean Savard whom Montreal had dumped two years ago.Cornwall showed some signs of wanting to extend its series with Sherbrooke when the Royals nursed a 4-3 lead with two minutes to play in the final game. But the Beavers rallied for goals by Ron Carter and Floyd Lahache in the dying seconds to spell finis to the Cornwall bid.Carter and Savard appeared ready to wage a two-man battle for the playoff scoring title. Heading into the finals Carter led the individual points parade with 21 composed of eight goals and 13 assists. Savard, the regular-season scoring champ, was the Remparts&rsquo; top playoff marksman with eight goals and nine assists for 17 points.Sandwiched in between were Kevin Reeves and Normie Dupont of Montreal, with 20 and 19 points respectively; and Jamie Conroy of Cornwall, 19 points. Jere Gillis of Sherbrooke was tied with Savard at 17.A four-way tie for seventh spot existed between Carey Haworth and Denis Turcotte of Quebec; Rick Paterson of Cornwall and Mario Claude of Sherbrooke. All had 15 points, but Haworth&mdash;son of one-time New York Rangers&rsquo; forward Gordie Haworth&mdash;set the playoff pace in goals with 10.When Montreal got drubbed 8-0 on home ice in the next-to-last game of their series, the trip to Quebec for game six was a mere formality.&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t been in this series since it started,&rdquo; moaned Montreal goaltender Bob Holland. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re finished now. No one seems to be playing. No one seems to want to play. Everything fell apart for us. We have no chance now.&rdquo;Montreal coach Roger Bedard, asked for his assessment of the series declined comment. &ldquo;I have nothing to say,&rdquo; he muttered.When the final siren rang down the curtain on the Montreal season, Bedard left the Quebec Coliseum without congratulating rival coach Racette.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not about to shake the hand of someone who tried to take the bread off my table,&rdquo; Bedard explained later. &ldquo;No, coaches from the old school never acted kindly towards each other either.&rdquo;Bedard&rsquo;s captain, Robert Picard, however, saved face for his coach when he skated over to the Remparts bench to shake not only the hand of Racette but also of suspended Quebec players Vai James and Nelson Burton. Picard received a standing ovation for this impromptu gesture.&ldquo;I have nothing against the Remparts and the people of Quebec City,&rdquo; explained Picard. &ldquo;Personally, when the series is over, I forget the past. Perhaps some day I&rsquo;ll play for Quebec Nordiques, who knows?&rdquo; In other words, why burn your bridges?Racette emphasized that Picard is a gentleman and a real professional. &ldquo;He deserves all the publicity he has received,&rdquo; said Racette. &ldquo;I wish him the best of luck in his new career which is a promising one, to be sure.&rdquo;Picard has often been touted as one of the top three choices in the upcoming amateur draft.Bedard later consented to discuss the series but could not restrain himself for taking a pot-shot at the Remparts.&ldquo;If the Remparts beat Sherbrooke and happen to represent our league in the Memorial Cup, I hope they will not play scared as they did against New Westminster Bruins last year,&rdquo; he said. &#9632;

Sherbrooke, Quebec Romp In Semis To Set Up QMHL Title Showdown

<div class="byline">BY MIKE LYNCH</div>SPOKANE&mdash;For the first time an outstanding player will be selected for the British Columbia playoffs, and Spokane has a candidate for the honor in mind.The Flyers, after finishing third in the regular season Western International League race, eliminated Cranbrook in a semi-final round before taking a 3-0 lead over Kimberley in the final.Steve McKnight, the converted forward, has been a key performer for Spokane, shoring up its limited defense. The &ldquo;Three Mac&rdquo; group on the blueline has been busy. That&rsquo;s McKnight, Ken McLash and playing coach Ted McAneeley.After winning All Star honors in the Western Intercollegiate League for the University of Alberta&rsquo;s national championship team, the six-foot McKnight came to Spokane a year ago.Steve, assigned at that time by Edmonton of the World Association, played right wing as he had during most of his hockey career. And he continued during most of this WIHL season, in strong fashion.However, when injuries and defections cut the Spokane defensive roster, coach McAneeley began to experiment and one of the moves was to try McKnight on defense. It could not have worked out better.&ldquo;He was our standout defenseman down the stretch,&rdquo; said Tom Hodges, the Spokane general manager and the league&rsquo;s top defenseman almost annually during his playing.When George Talotti sustained a broken bone in his ankle, further limiting the Spokane defense just as the league season ended, McKnight was on defense for good.&ldquo;I played defense a little bit as a kid, but never as a regular thing. Ted-die (McAneeley) says I&rsquo;ve been playing the wrong position,&rdquo; said McKnight during Spokane&rsquo;s 4-3 semifinal win over favored Cranbrook.It&rsquo;s not just that McKnight fills a defensive position, but that he excels. The 185-pounder can rush the puck in high-speed fashion, he does not make the first mistake in his own zone and he took only two minor penalties in Spokane&rsquo;s first 10 playoff games.The Flyers, displaying a form reversal, surprised WIHL and British Columbia fans by taking the 3-0 lead over Kimberley in the Savage Cup series, dominating a team that won the season series 10-4. &#9632;

The WIHL Scene

<div class="byline">BY RALPH BRIDGLANO</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH& BRADSBY LTD Arnold Street Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKsMade in Canada by HILLERICH& BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01278/4078055-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="569" height="764"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE CROMBEEN</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02217/4078048-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="557" height="713"><figcaption class="caption-body">DOUG WILSON</figcaption></div>ST. CATHARINES&mdash;Dale McCourt, captain of the defending Memorial Cup champion St. Catharines Fincups, has won two Ontario Hockey Association Major Junior &ldquo;A&rdquo; League awards.The five-foot-10, 170 pound center won the Red Tilson Trophy as the league&rsquo;s outstanding player and the Bill Hanley Trophy as the most gentlemanly player.McCourt finished second in league scoring during the regular season with 60 goals and 79 assists for 139 points. Kitchener Rangers&rsquo; Dwight Foster finished four points in front of McCourt.Craig Hartsburg of Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds was named the winner of the Max Kaminsky Memorial Trophy as the league&rsquo;s top defenseman.The six-foot-one. 190 pounder scored 29 goals and added 64 assists for the Greyhounds during the regular schedule. The 93-point total tied John Baby of Sudbury Wolves as the top output for a defenseman in the league.Denis Potvin, formerly with Ottawa &lsquo;67s and now with New York Islanders of the National Hockey League, was the last defenseman to win the award twice. With two years of junior eligibility remaining. Hartsburg could conceivably win it three times.Toronto Marlboros were the only team to place two players on the league&rsquo;s first All Star team.Right defenseman Trevor Johansen and right winger John Anderson were the Marlies selected to the premier squad.Others on the first team are left defenseman Doug Wilson of Ottawa &lsquo;67s, McCourt at center, Tony McKegney of Kingston Canadians at left wing and goaltender Pat Riggin of London Knights.Two Kingston players made the second All Star team. Ken Linseman at center and Mike Crombeen at right wing.Other members of the second team are goaltender Al Jensen of St. Catharines. Baby at right defense. Hartsburg at left defense and Bob Smith of Ottawa at left wing.Brad Marsh and Rob Ramage of London made up the third team defense pairing. Others on the third team are goaltender Jim Lockhurst of Kingston, right winger Ric Seiling and left winger Mike Keating of St. Catharines and Foster at center.McCourt was chosen as the best in the league in seven categories. He was judged to have the best shot, best stickhandler, best penalty killer, best on face-offs, most dangerous in the goal area, smartest player and best playmaker.Meanwhile, Kingston and St. Catharines took leads in the Leyden and Emms division final respectively.The Canadians, who lost the first game of the series in Ottawa, came back to take five of the next six points for a 5-3 lead in the eight-point final.The Canadians evened the series 2-2 with a 5-2 home ice win over the &lsquo;67s.Linseman picked up a goal and three assists and McKegney scored twice and added an assist to lead the Canadians.Mike Simurda and Brian Crombeen scored the other Kingston goals.Warren Holmes and Dave MacQueen scored for Ottawa.The Canadians then took the home-ice advantage away from the &lsquo;67s with a 4-4 tie in Ottawa.Crombeen, Simurda, Moe Robinson and Jay Wells scored for Kingston while Tim Higgins, Tom McDonel?, Steve Marengere and Buddy Clouthier replied for the &lsquo;67s.The game was marred by a fight between Ottawa&rsquo;s Jeff Geiger and Linseman of the Canadians.Both players received minor, major game misconduct and match penalties and both are indefinitely suspended.The Canadians then took the lead i the series with a 6-4 home-ice victory.McKegney scored the first three goals of the game for the Canadians while Rob Plumb, Simurda and Lowell Loveday added singles.Smith, Ed Hospodar. MacQueen and Larry Elson scored for Ottawa.Kingston received a blow when right winger Crombeen suffered damaged ligaments to his right knee early in the game.The Emms Division final is turning into a homer series with St. Catharinesholding a 4-2 edge on London in the eightpoint series.The Fincups opened with a 5-3 homeice victory Al Secord, Geoff Shaw. Steve Hazlett. Tim Coulis and Seiling scored for the Fin-cups while Dino Ciccarelli, Dan Eastman and Marsh replied for the Knights.The Knights, led by the superb goaltending of Riggin. came back to even the series with a 5-0 win in London.Riggin blocked 49 shots in recording his second playoff shutout.Ciccarelli and Jim MacRae scored two goals apiece for the Knights while Eastman had the other. &#9632;

f0038-01

Fincup Captain McCourt Cleans Up As Winner Of Two Major Awards

<h2>Semi-Finals</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03162/4078135-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="588" height="91"></div>(London lead* eight-points series 7-5).<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>St. Catharines 5, London 3London 5, SL Catharines 0St. Catharines 6, London 2London 3, St. Catharines 3London 5, St Catharines 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04113/4078128-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="586" height="83"></div>(Kingston leads eight-point series 7-5).<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Ottawa 4, Kingston 2Kingston 5, Ottawa 2Ottawa 4, Kingston 4Kingston 6, Ottawa 4Kingston 5, Ottawa 3<h2>Quarter-Finals</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0585/4078121-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="596" height="85"></div>(Windsor wins six-point series 6-0)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0665/4078114-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="578" height="81"></div>(Sauli wins six-point series 6-2)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0758/4078107-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="574" height="83"></div>(London wins eight-point series 9-3)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0843/4078100-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="578" height="89"></div>(Kingston wins eight-point series 9-3)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0937/4078093-1-eng-US/f0038-092.jpg" title="f0038-09" width="588" height="101"></div>(Ottawa wins eight-point series 9-1)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1034/4078086-1-eng-US/f0038-102.jpg" title="f0038-10" width="586" height="81"></div>(St. Catharines wins eight-point series 8-4) St. Catharines 5, Windsor 4 &#9632;

f0038-03

OHA Playoff Picture

<h2>WESTERN CANADA LEAGUE</h2>PLAYOFF GAMES<h3>Quarter-Final</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01260/4078278-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="584" height="81"></div>(Lethbridge wine beet-of-seven series 4-2)GAMES COMPLETEDSaskatoon 6, Lethbridge 1Saskatoon 3, Lethbridge 1Lethbridge 4, Saskatoon 2Lethbridge 3, Saskatoon 2Lethbridge 10, Saskatoon 5<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02191/4078271-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="578" height="78"></div>(Portland wine beet-of-eeven eeriee 4-1)GAMES COMPLETEDPortland 5, Kamloope 4Portland 7, Kamloope 0Portland 5, Kamloope 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03147/4078264-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="577" height="77"></div>(Calgary wins beet-of-eeven eeriee 4-0)GAMES COMPLETEDCalgary 2, Medicine Hat 1Calgary 8, Medicine Hat 3Calgary 4, Medicine Hat 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04122/4078257-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="592" height="82"></div>(New Weetminotor wine boet-of-oeven eorioe 4-1)GAMES COMPLETEDNow Weetminotor 10, Victoria 2New Weetminotor 4, Victoria 1<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0595/4078250-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="579" height="80"></div>(Brandon leads eight-point series 6-4).GAMES COMPLETEDWinnipeg 5, Brandon 3Brandon 8, Winnipeg 5Winnipeg 5, Brandon 2Brandon 7, Winnipeg 4Brandon 6, Winnipeg 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0678/4078243-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="575" height="78"></div>(New Westminster leads eight-point series 2-1,3-1).GAMES COMPLETEDNew Westminster 2, Portland 2New Westmlnator 3, Portland 2<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0766/4078236-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="578" height="79"></div>(Eight-point series tied 2-2).GAMES COMPLETEDCalgary 8, Lethbridge 3<h2>QUEBEC MAJOR LEAGUE</h2>PLAYOFF GAMES<h3>Semi-Final</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0859/4078229-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="575" height="80"></div>(Sherbrooke wins eight-point series 9-3).GAMES COMPLETEDSherbrooke 4, Cornwall 3Sherbrooke 4, Cornwall 4Sherbrooke 4, Cornwall 4Sherbrooke 7, Cornwall 6Sherbrooke 2, Cornwall 2Sherbrooke 5, Cornwall 4<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0951/4078222-1-eng-US/f0039-092.jpg" title="f0039-09" width="578" height="79"></div>(Quebec wins eight-point series 9-1)GAMES COMPLETEDMontreal 3, Quebec 3Quebec 5, Montreal 3Quebec 9, Montreal 1Quebec 8, Montreal 0Quebec 6, Montreal 0<h2>Quarter-Finals</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1046/4078215-1-eng-US/f0039-102.jpg" title="f0039-10" width="581" height="86"></div>Quebec wins eight-point series 8-0)GAMES COMPLETEDQuebec 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/f0039-1140/4078208-1-eng-US/f0039-112.jpg" title="f0039-11" width="581" height="78"></div>(Cornwell wins eight-point series 8-4)GAMES COMPLETEDTrois-Rivieres 6, Cornwall 1Cornwall 6. Troia-Rivieres 2Trois-Rivieres 5, Cornwall 3Cornwall 3, Trois-Rivieres 2Cornwall 5, Trois-Rivleres 4Cornwall 5, Troia-Rivieres 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1237/4078201-1-eng-US/f0039-122.jpg" title="f0039-12" width="582" height="82"></div>Montreal wins eight-point series 9-7)GAMES COMPLETEDMontreal 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/f0039-1333/4078194-1-eng-US/f0039-132.jpg" title="f0039-13" width="576" height="79"></div>(Sherbrooke wins eight-point series 8-6)GAMES COMPLETEDSherbrooke 10, Laval 1Sherbrooke 4, Laval 2Laval 4, Sherbrooke 3Laval 7, Sherbrooke 4Sherbrooke 5, Laval 0Laval 3, Sherbrooke 0<h2>WESTERN INTERNATIONAL</h2><h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1429/4078187-1-eng-US/f0039-142.jpg" title="f0039-14" width="577" height="80"></div>(Spokane leads best-of-seven series 3-1).Spokane 7, Kimberley 4Kimberley 6, Spokane 3<h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1526/4078180-1-eng-US/f0039-152.jpg" title="f0039-15" width="575" height="80"></div>(Kimberley wins best-of-seven series 4-2)GAMES COMPLETEDKimberley 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/f0039-1624/4078173-1-eng-US/f0039-162.jpg" title="f0039-16" width="571" height="81"></div>(Spokane wins best-of-seven series 4-3)GAMES COMPLETEDSpokane 9, Cranbrook 6Spokane 5, Cranbrook 4Cranbrook 4, Spokane 3Spokane 4, Cranbrook 2Spokane 5, Cranbrook 1<h2>ONTARIO SENIOR</h2><h3>Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1720/4078166-1-eng-US/f0039-172.jpg" title="f0039-17" width="581" height="82"></div>(Brantford wlna beat-of-aavon eeriee 4-3). &#9632;

f0039-01

Looking At The Races

<div class="byline">&#x2014;By Bill Hilts</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1815/4078309-1-eng-US/f0039-182.jpg" title="f0039-18" width="352" height="415"></div><h2>U.S. Tourney</h2>For the second year in a row, the modem and well-equipped Lakeshore Rinks in Rochester, N.Y. hosted the prestigious AHAUS National Junior &ldquo;B&rdquo; hockey tournament and it drew AHAUS regional champion teams from all across the United States. The Minnesota region was represented by St. Paul; Mid-America region by the New Jersey Rockets; Michigan region by the Berkley Bruins; Pacific region by the Los Angeles Jr. Kings; Central region (filling in for the New England region which had no representation) the Brentwood (St. Louis, Mo.) Blazers, Central region by the Chicago Jets, the host team Rochester Monarchs and New York region champs, Suffolk Royals.Fred Seedbouse was again tournament chairman and he did his usual outstanding job. There were hardly any hitches in the entire program which started at Thursday noon and continued until Sunday&rsquo;s championship match. Al Freestone was also tops with his speciality of handling the statistics and Dan Guynn must also be commended as referee-in-chief and the fine caliber of officiating he arranged for the tourney. Fred&rsquo;s entire staff must receive a lusty tip of the hockey helmet for a job well done.The AHAUS Committee overseeing the meet were tournament director Robert Allen, assisted by Peter Rush, AHAUS director for district two and William Croft, AHAUS New York registar.The only team to go through the entire tournament with a clean record was the eventual winner, the classy and well-conditioned Los Angeles Jr. Kings. They ended divisional play with a 3-0-0 mark, won their semi-final contest and waltzed through the final and claimed the national title.L.A. led the National Division with six points, Minnesota ended up second with a 1-1-1 mark. New Jersey was 0-1-2 and Michigan had a 0-2-1 record. In the American Division, Rochester and Chicago had identical records 2-1-0 for four points each, St. Louis had a 1-1-1 mark and Suffolk 0-2-1.In the opening semi-final match, the host Rochester Monarchs of the NY-Penn Jr. League faced the freewheeling LA Jr. Kings of the Los Angeles Jr. League. Early in the tourney it was quite evident that L.A. coach Ludi Graf, asst, coach Guy LePage and general manager Alex Elder had done a superb job with the youngsters, many of whom skated in last year&rsquo;s semi-finals only to lose to the Springfield Olympics, who ended up as National champs. Andy Laing&rsquo;s tough Monarchs found themselves down 4-1 at the end of the first period on a pair of goals by Shaun Elder, and singles by Brian Loftus and Kevin Sloan. Jerry Shorthouse was the only Monarch to beat L.A. goalie Jim Bjelajac who had a super series. The middle period saw the Kings pump three more markers to Rochester&rsquo;s two. Sloan got his second with singles by Dick Sherer and Robbie Graf. Pete Dawes and John Case fired Rochester&rsquo;s only goals. In the final frame the hosts came up with two more scores by Clint Campbell and Ron Weathers, and for the Kings Elder completed his hat trick with the final count showing L.A. the winner by an 8-5 total.In the other semi-final match, Chicago Jets of the Chicago-Northern Illinois Jr. League, were picked easy winners, because the Minnesota entry, of the Minnesota Jr.B League, was hobbled by injuries and down to a dozen skaters. St. Paul had different ideas however and the plucky youngsters led by coach Mike Wold, Larry Wilhelmy and trainer Mark Ramsey put on a super effort to keep the score close at all times. The Jets&rsquo; Bob Kimball, John LaBahn and Joe Positano fired first period goals and St. Paul came up with a pair by Jim Nelson and Mike Ehnstrom to keep it close. In the second period St. Paul notched three more goals as did Chicago. St. Paul&rsquo;s John Ricci fired two in a row, followed by Dennis Alm. Then Chicago punched in three in a row by LaBahn, Vic Korosic and Vic Sekmakas. The final period saw Mike Schwartz of St. Paul tie it up at the 2:52 mark but LaBahn&rsquo;s third goal at 14:07. a shorthanded effort, proved to be the winner and gave the Jets a 7-6 win. Despite being greatly undermanned, the gutsy Minnesota players outshot the Jets 51-34.<h2>Chicago In Final</h2>The stage was set for Sunday&rsquo;s final match between L.A. and Chicago and the Jr. Kings took a 1-1 lead at 11:32 of the opening period when Elder scored a power-play goal. In the second stanza. Elder fired his second at the 1:20 mark on a neat backhand shot from the slot. Then L.A.&rsquo;s Kevin Sloan fired another from the slot at 8:16. Chicago finally got on the board at 11:53 when Sekmakas popped one. followed two minutes later when Norm Houston got another Jet marker with a sizzling slap shot from the top of the circle. L.A.&rsquo;s Steve Cameron got that one back just 38 seconds later. Then at 17:50. Chicago&rsquo;s Terry Kiley closed out the scoring. In the final period, the Jr. Kings blew the game open scoring five more goals to put the game out of reach for Chicago, who could come up with only a single score. Cameron stole the puck while the Jets were working a powerplay and scored at 5:09. Then at 9:01 Tom Durkin fired another for L.A., but two minutes later the Jets got their lone goal of the period when LaBahn scored on a power-play. At 16:07 Cameron completed his hat trick, followed by goals by Tom Bowen at 18:27 and Mike Horne at 19:28. The Jr. Kings outshot the Jets 53 to 33-26-6 in the first period alone. Elder, the classy, hard-working and very quick forward for the Kings was selected MVP for the tournament. He played a solid two-way game when he was on the ice, besides piling up 10 goals and five assists for 15 points.For tourney action, in Game No. 1. L.A. beat St. Paul 9-4. Horne had a pair for the winners as did Tom Bowen. L.A. singles were shot by Robbie Graf, Chet Cameron, Dick Scherer, Kevin Sloan and Tom Durkin. St. Paul goals were scored by Dennis Alm, John Ricci, Dave Farrell and Schwartz&hellip;Game No. 2 saw Michigan and New Jersey play to a 5-5 tie. Kurt Dade led the New Jersey scoring with a pair of goals with singles by Dom May, Bill Grum and Kevin Williams. Rogger Holliday had a pair for Michigan which were the final two goals of the game, which gave Berkley the tie. Also scoring were Lyle Reece, Kevin Hooks and Bill Hunt&hellip;St. Louis&rsquo; Brentwood Blazers were tied by the Suffolk (NY) Royals 3-3. The Blazer goals were scored by Dave Apted, Tom Woodcock and Jack Dunn. The Royals goals came off the sticks of Dave Drew, Mike Labianca and the tieing goal at 19:22 of the final period by Rick DeStasio. Game four saw Chicago burying host Rochester under a barrage of goals 11 to 5. Each team scored a pair in the opening stanza with Bob Kimball scoring his first of three and John Fuit hitting for the Jets, following by scores for Rochester by Rick Kozlowski and Jim Brown. The Jets fired six unanswered goals in the middle period by Mike Boudreau, Kimball (2). Vic Korosic (2) and Joe Positano Each team scored three in the third period, Rochester coming up with two shorthanded goals in a little over a minute by Jay Dietz and Jerry Shorthouse. Clint Campbell had the odd goal. The three Chicago goals were fired by Don Niestrom (two) and Boudreau.<h2>Elder Sparkled</h2>Game five was another tie with St. Paul knotting New Jersey 5-5. Down 5-1 in the third period, Minnesota fired four unanswered goals to earn the tie. John Ricci had a pair for St. Paul, with singles by Schwartz, Mike Ehnstrom and the game-knotter by Jim Nelson at 14:32 of the third. Kurt Dade led New Jersey with a pair, with singles by Paul Denning, Steve Taylor and Bill Grum. In game six, L.A. edged Berkley 7-5. Michigan took a 3-1 lead in the first on a pair of goals by Roger Holliday and a single by Lyle Reece. Elder scored the lone L.A. goal. In the second, L.A. fired four unanswered goals by Kevin Sloan (2), Durkin and Elder&rsquo;s second of three. In the final period Elder finished off his hat trick and Darryl Carlbom got another. Michigan goals were scored by Phil Klebba and Lyle Reece&hellip;St. Louis edged the Jets 5-4 in Game seven. St. Louis had a pair of two-goal scorers in Dan Pupillo and Bill Selman, as did Chicago in John Fuit and Vic Korosic. Don Apted got the winner for Brentwood at 3:30 of the third period&hellip;Game eight saw Rochester upend N.Y. State Champion Suffolk Royals 9-7. Sparkplug for the Monarchs was Rick Kozlowski who fired a natural hat trick in the first period scoring three uninterrupted goals at 11:30, 11:51 and 16:56 of the opener. Other Monarch scorers were Pete Dawes, Jay Dietz, Clint Campbell (2), Jim Brown and Mark Burgholzer. The Royals were led by a pair of two-goal scorers&mdash;Lee Rudnitsky and Rich DeStasio. Singles were notched by Vic Silvestri, Tom Ray and Jim Pavese. &#9632;

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JUNIOR JOTTINGS

MONTREAL&mdash;Great things were envisioned for 1971 Memorial Cup rivals Guy Lafleur (Quebec Remparts) and Marcel Dionne (St. Catharines Black Hawks). To say that both have exceeded all expectations would not be an exaggeration.Now, six years later, Lafleur and Dionne have emerged as the top two offensive performers in their craft. Lafleur. now with Montreal Canadiens, and Dionne, now a Los Angeles King, ranked one-two in the NHL in points (136-122) and assists (80-69).They were two-three in goals (56-53) behind league leader Steve Shutt of Montreal (60). Lafleur and Dionne finish ed in a dead heat with 14 power play goals apiece, a mark bettered by only three other players. &#9632;

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April 29, 1977

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