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.

October 14, 1977

The Hockey News October 14, 1977

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;The 41 players rostered as the Kings started pre-season training at their suburban home Inglewood Forum and Culver City practice rink represent by far the best talent the team has had. Whether the result will be the best season the team has had is another matter.Balance has been lacking and on defense at least it appears only one newcomer will crack the lineup.Both old coach Bob Pulford and new coach Ron Stewart believe defense to be the base on which winners are built. The Kings were giving up more than 300 goals a season until Pully&rsquo;s system took it down to 185 three years ago, but after Terry Harper and Dan Maloney were traded it went to 265 and 241 the last two seasons. The 241 was sixth best in the league last season, but not good enough.Now, Stewart will try his tactics.He starts with the greatest goaltender in hockey, Rogie Vachon, which NHL players realize even if the writers don&rsquo;t. He likes to play most of the games so unless he is hurt the second goaler is of less importance than on some teams. Gary Edwards was a consistent reserve who gave the club a lift many times, but he is gone now.Gary Simmons is not as consistent and whether he will be as effective a backup remains to be seen. On his best nights he is as good as the best, but he has his bad nights. However, he is an excellent team man. more satisfied to sit than Edwards was, and more supportive of Vachon.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01703/4032346-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="551" height="1472"><figcaption class="caption-body">LARRY BROWN</figcaption></div>There is little likelihood that Mario Lessard or Brian Petrovek, who were recently sent to the minors will play with the Kings this season, barring an injury to the top two. An injury to Vachon would cripple this club as he is its key man.Of the 12 defensemen in camp, eight are left-handed Of the six major leaguers, four are left-handed. One or two left handers have had to play the offside the past two seasons, so the addition of right-handed Randy Manery from the Flames is important, and virtually guarantees him a position.At 28, Manery has played pro eight years. After failing to make Detroit, he played with Atlanta the last five seasons. He is not a hitter, but he is a good skater and stick-handler. He can carry the puck out of danger, pass it well, and shoot it fairly well.His greatest value may be in freeing the return to the left side of Gary Sargent, the burly, rough, sharpshooting 23-year-old, who not only set team records for defensemen on offense last season, but was the hardest hitter on the club.At 31, Bob Murdoch was the most consistent back-liner last season and as another right-hander has a lock on a regular role.Originally. Stewart said he wanted to carry five defensemen instead of six and alternate two duos regularly instead of three. Barring a deal, this would leave Dave Hutchison. Neil Komadoski and Larry Brown to fight for the fourth and fifth spots.Now. Stewart says he may carry six a few weeks into the season, anyway, before making a final cut. As it stands, it would be a difficult cut.While Hutchison and Komadoski at 25 can no longer be considered kids, they have not realized their potentialyet. it has become a question of whether they will. Both are big. brave, and loaded with desire, but still make mistakes on account of over-aggressiveness.Pully liked them, but Stewart will be looking at them from fresh eyes.At 30, Larry Brown might be considered the most expendable, but he was outstanding the last half of last season He is not as savage, but steadier and might make a better No. 5 than the other two, if not a regular.Candidates Steve Short. Jim Witherspoon, and Dave Miglia from the CHL, Rob Palmer from the IHL Lindsay Thomson from college ranks, and Per Karlsson from Sweden are strictly longshots.Like all coaches. Stewart will try to get the forwards to backcheck and help out on defense more. Presumably, Butch Goring and Mike Murphy will continue as a top penalty-killing pair, but Marcel Dionne may be used more here and newcomer Pete Stemkowski may be used.KINGS THINGS: I can&rsquo;t explain it, but I identified Stewart&rsquo;s wife as Jan in a recent story. She is Linda&hellip;Speaking of the ladies, the Los Angeles Times, largest newspaper in the west, has assigned Sheila Moran to the Kings, first woman to cover a major league team for a major newspaper here.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02571/4032339-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="545" height="1472"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE HUTCHISON &hellip; Hasn&rsquo;t Shown Potential (Photo by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Tough Cut Looms On Kings’Defense

WASHINGTON&mdash;Yes, Virginia, the Washington Capitals are alive and much better, thank you, and they will be playing in the state named after you (in Hampton, Va.) with a pretty fair chance of winning the game.How fair? Well, let&rsquo;s say a lot better than a couple of weeks ago when it appeared that they had lost number one pick Robert Picard to the Quebec Nordiques. and top center Guy Charron to the injured list for a good portion of the season with a damaged knee.But prodigal son Picard joined the club in Hershey after the World Hockey Association refused to ratify his contract and played a key role in the Caps&rsquo; first win of the exhibition season, while the report on Charron is that his knee is not nearly as damaged as it was believed. These encouraging signs have helped the Washington club get set for their Oct. 6 encounter in Hampton against the Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA with a great deal of confidence and a two-game unbeaten streak.At their lowest point, the Caps had opened the pre-season wars with three straight losses, albeit all by one goal, falling to the N.Y. Rangers. 3-2. the Pittsburgh Penguins. 2-1, and to the WHA&rsquo;s New England Whalers 5-4.However, with Picard in the line-up for his first exhibition game, the Caps broke open a 2-2 tie and when on to blast the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-2.Leading the offensive outburst was centerman Ron Lalonde with a pair of goals, while singles went to American-born Craig Patrick, Mike Marson, Hank Nowak, who came over from the Boston Bruins, and Gerry Meehan.Also impressive were Walt McKechnie. who is being counted on by coach Tom McVie and the Caps to be one of the offensive mainstays with the club. McKechnie, grabbed from the Detroit Red Wings, as compensation for goaltender Ron Low, who signed with Detroit after becoming a free agent, was instrumental in organizing several Washington scoring chances, controlling the play in the Leafs&rsquo; zone.McVie was especially pleased with the efforts of Picard, who, with just a few practices under his belt, looked right at home on the blueline, paired with veteran Bryan &ldquo;Bugsy&rdquo; Watson.Said McVie: &ldquo;You could feel the charisma surrounding Picard right away. He&rsquo;s going to be some player in this league and he&rsquo;s the type that is going to be a leader for many years to come.&rdquo;The Caps improved their record to 1-31 with a 3-3 tie their last start against the Detroit Red Wings, as Walt McKechnie tallied twice including the tieing marker, while Harland Monahan added the other Cap score.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02833/4031780-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="567" height="656"><figcaption class="caption-body">DOUG GIBSON</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03573/4031773-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="1189" height="1537"><figcaption class="caption-body">GARY SMITH&hellip;He&rsquo;s On The Spot</figcaption></div>After the Cincinnati game, the Caps will face the Pittsburgh Penguins. Oct. 8 and finish off the exhibition schedule with the Hershey Bears in Hershey on Oct. 11. Their regular season opener is slated for Oct. 14 when they will host the Penguins.Two former Bruins, center Doug Gibson and left winger Hank Nowak should help the Caps and for different reasons. Gibson, a top gun in the American Hockey League the last few years, became a starter for Boston two years ago before going down with a knee injury just before the playoffs. Last season, he couldn&rsquo;t crack the strong Bruins&rsquo; lineup which featured Jean Ratelle, Gregg Sheppard, Peter McNab and Matti Hagman from Finland down the middle, so he decided to seek employment elsewhere.With the Caps, Gibson will also be in talented company in the center ranks with McKechnie, Meehan, Lalonde and Charron, when the latter recovers from his pre-season injury.Nowak, known more as an enforcer, but who&rsquo;s been dying for the chance to prove he can play with an NHL team, will get his chance with the Caps. He&rsquo;s a hard worker who will fit in well with McVie&rsquo;s work-ethic on the club, and offers to the Caps&rsquo; left side which features Tony White, Ace Bailey, and Mike Marson.Washington&rsquo;s goaltending situation figured to be a two-man battle as it has in the past with Gary (Suitcase) Smith taking over as No. 1 or 1A from Low, along with the developing Bernie Wolfe. Thus far in camp, Wolfe has been the steadier of the two, lending suspicion to the theory that Smith, although able to provide periods of exceptional play, will not be the answer to the Caps&rsquo; backstopping needs. That will remain to be seen and a large part of the answer will hinge upon Smith&rsquo;s attitude with Washington and his acceptance of the role patterned for him by the demanding McVie. &#9632;

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Caps’ Fortunes Improve Near Training Camp End

BUFFALO&mdash;Floyd Smith, whose contract as Buffalo coach was not renewed by the Sabres when it ran out May 31, was rehired in a front office capacity. Smitty is handling some of the duties of assistant general manager Fred Hunt, who is recuperating from a heart attack.The Sabres will have a new ice surface this season and a much-enlarged press box in Memorial Auditorium. &#9632;

Smith In Sabres’ Front Office

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011065/4031925-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"></div>Write to: FAN FORUM, The Hockey News, 1434 St. Catherine St., W., Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7<h2>NHL Owners Making Big Mistake</h2>I believe the NHL is making a great mistake in letting six short-sighted owners determine what is best for the game of hockey by denying entry to the NHL for six WHA teams. Are they really concerned for what is best for hockey or is it greed or fear?Take Ballard for example. When one of his member teams (Cleveland) was in danger of folding, he was one of the first vultures to hover over the body waiting to devour part of the corpse along with some of the other so-called elite among the NHL. You call this big league?The problem with hockey is not the number of teams, it is the type of people running or should I say ruining the sport. A merger could do nothing but help. The teams from the WHA would be both competitive and exciting. Both leagues would benefit. For the NHL cities the opportunity of seeing two of the three superstars in hockey again, Hull and Howe. Some of the great young players in the WHA such as Cloutier, the Howe boys, Sobchuk, Ftorek, etc&hellip;and the great foreign players Nedomansky, Nilsson, Hedberg, Sjoberg and so on.For the WHA cities a chance to see the play the great Montreal Canadiens and to muscle it with the Philadelphia Flyers. They would also have the opportunity to play for the Stanley Cup and again make the cup truly the standard for the greatest pro hockey team in the world.I hope the other 12 owners of the NHL will be more realistic and far sighted and pressure the simple six into changing their minds before it is to late for hockey.JOE POCH, Mentor, Ohio<h2>Defense For Bobby Hull, Jets</h2>I&rsquo;m writing in &ldquo;defense&rdquo; of Bobby Hull and the Winnipeg Jets. The NHL lost some pretty fancy skaters when they opposed a merger with the WHA. The Jets could outskate probably 75 percent of the teams in the NHL.So the NHL better get set for a showdown in the near future. The Jets just might skate them right out of their rink.GROVER PRINCE, Fort St. James, B.C.<h2>Thank Goodness For Harold Ballard</h2>Thank goodness for men like Harold Ballard. We in Birmingham owe him a debt of thanks for allowing us the opportunity to watch and enjoy ice hockey for another season.For reasons unknown to us, Birmingham was constantly excluded in any merger talks, and we were heartsick. Birmingham has tried for years to lure professional sports into this market. We watched helplessly as the World Football League folded out from under us after leading the league in attendance. The fact that a southern city (known for its support of winners) supported a loser in an unknown sport such as ice hockey and set a single game attendance record for the WHA was obviously forgotten!One of the most beautiful sights occurred at the last game of the season when the Bulls were mathematically out of the playoffs. After watching the Bulls loose again, all 16,300 fans in attendance gave the team a standing ovation, not because they went out winners, but because they were here and they were ours.Believe me, you will hear from Birmingham again. Just ask the New England Whalers.Thank you, Harold Ballard. Ya&rsquo;ll come see us real soon, ya hear!!!JIM DANIEL, Birmingham, Ala.<h2>Is NHL Playing Robin Hood?</h2>The National Hockey League&rsquo;s plan to take talent from the rich teams and give it to the poor via an interleague draft is, at best, bewildering.The league is virtually punishing the teams with good general managers and rewarding those with incompetent ones with this proposed Robin Hood policy.TOM DeMARCO, Windsor, Ont.<h2>On Behalf Of The Canadiens</h2>I would like to say something on behalf of the Montreal Canadiens. Many people are saying that something should be done to stop the Canadiens. They say it is unfair that they should have so many good players in Nova Scotia. Could it be that these people are jealous?I&rsquo;m sure that if their favorite teams developed a fantastic farm team and had the best team on the ice in the NHL, that they wouldn&rsquo;t complain at all.Through hard work, Sam Pollock has built up a super team. Maybe if the other general managers got to work, they could do the same.DERRON LASKEY, Montreal, Que.<h2>Waiver Draft Has A Hole</h2>The upcoming intra-league draft has a flaw in it.Considering goaltenders especially, suppose a team has two regulars and another player almost ready to break into the majors. If one regular is a veteran with just a few years left in his career, he will probably not be protected and then lost in the draft, leaving the team insecure in goal.And what&rsquo;s to prevent him from being moved again next season? There should be consideration for the 10-15 year veteran. He should have the right to veto his relocation. This would also cause teams to think about keeping their veterans, because loyalties are part of the game too.PEKKA ISOKANGAS, New York, N.Y.<h2>Hopes Owners Will See Light</h2>As a hockey fanatic and reader of THE HOCKEY NEWS and all hockey magazines since back in the mid 1960s, I have finally decided to voice one of my own opinions in THE HOCKEY NEWS Fan Forum.Ever since the initial NHL expansion in 1967, the vast Montreal Canadien dynasty has been built and operated well by Sam Pollock, who has manoeuvered the expansion clubs into a one way street, that way being down and not up.Since the league expanded to give more players big league jobs and increase the revenue or profit of the league, it has done nothing of the sort, and is not likely to as long as the robbery of the expansion tycoons goes on.Until 1970, Montreal had the top two choices of juniors playing in Quebec in their graduation year and took them before the rest of the league could start selecting their choices in reverse order of team finish in the standings that season.In 1969, the last year this advantage was allowed Montreal, their top two amateur draft choices were Rejean Houle and Marc Tardiff both from Montreal juniors and designated as Montreal Special.Its a good thing that this advantage was discontinued starting with the 1970 amateur draft, or they would have un-doubtably selected and still have today Gilbert Perrault. They have tried talking to Punch Imlaeh, Perrault&rsquo;s boss in reference to acquiring him but Punch has told them &ldquo;No Way&rdquo;.In past years, Montreal has been able to manipulate and convince other teams to trade them their first amateur draft choices for the present and future amateur drafts in return for some has been players, cash and that little item known as future considerations.Over the years the Montreal take has been tremendous, with such players as Chuck Lefley, Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, Steve Shutt, Dave Gardner, Michel Larocque, Bob Gainey, Glenn Goldup, Doug Risebrough, Mario Tremblay, Rod Schutt and Peter Lee being included in the booty.I believe that for the betterment of the league and the improvement in the calibre of play of the weaker teams, a ruling should be brought in, disallowing the trading of first round future amateur draft choices. This ruling was attempted years ago. but many teams like Montreal and Boston voted against it.This ruling is as I see it, the only real way to achieve parity in the league. A drastic step such as this will have to be taken and the sooner the better, or the league&rsquo;s weak sisters will break the league.For the betterment of the league, I hope the owners will soon see the light.JAMES BOGIE, Mississauga, Ont.<h2>Possible Fall For Sabres</h2>Recently, Jim Schoenfeld of the Buffalo Sabres said that the team is about to trade him away. Personally I don&rsquo;t know what to believe but as a Sabres&rsquo; fan, I hope the story is false.It seems the problem started when Punch Imlach asked Jimmy to resign as captain, presumably because the new coach should be allowed to choose his own captain.I would hate to see this start a lot of trouble for everybody. I also hope Punch and Jimmy can. come together again so we the fans and the players and management can be one big happy family.If not. I hope that Punch doesn&rsquo;t start trading, just for the sake of trading. This is one Sabres team that can possibly go all the way and win a championship and we&rsquo;d hate to see it traded away as our other teams have done over the years.If any team in this city is going to win anything, it&rsquo;s going to be the Sabres.GARY AROMOLA, Buffalo, N.Y.<h2>Comical Side Of Hockey Revealed</h2>The September issue, of THE HOCKEY NEWS prompted me to write this letter. I am referring to Hockey Ad-Lib by Bill Libby. Mr. Libby&rsquo;s article on Gilles Gratton had to be enjoyed by every hockey fan, as it was both amusing and entertaining.I, for one, would enjoy reading more articles such as this one in THE HOCKEY NEWS. I think Bill Libby did a wonderful job by bringing out the comical side of hockey.I am looking forward to the new hockey season and I want to thank THE HOCKEY NEWS for its fine coverage of the sport. Your continuing effort to provide up-to-date information is appreciated by all hockey fans.CONNIE CHICOINE, Auburn, Me.<h2>LETTER OF THE WEEK</h2><h3>Merger Breakdown Blessing In Disguise</h3>As a Cincinnati Stingers fan, I was disappointed that the NHL-WHA merger fell through. However, I now think it may be a blessing in disguise, as the past record of pro sports mergers will bear out.The NHL-AFL merger was a success for all involved. In its first six years, the AFL went about its business without thinking about merger, concentrating on making its teams as strong as possible, competitively and financially. Then when it came time to talk merger, the NFL couldn&rsquo;t turn them down.The NBA-ABA merger was different and almost fatal to the four ABA survivors. It seems the ABA had merger in mind right from the start. They were buying time and waiting for the NBA to take them in.The WHA ought to forget about merger for two to three years and strengthen itself in all areas. That way the NHL won&rsquo;t be able to turn them down and they wouldn&rsquo;t have to sell &ldquo;their souls&rdquo; to the NHL like they probably would have had to do this year.Another benefit from the merger is the continuation of the intense Stingers-Indianapolis rivaly which is becoming like the Leafs-Canadiens, Bruins-Rangers rivalries.CHARLEY HALL, Dayton, Ohio &#9632;

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FAN FORUM

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01998/4031383-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="542" height="444"><figcaption class="caption-body">DEREK SANDERSON His Career May Be Over</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02904/4031376-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="546" height="417"></div><h2>THE NHL&hellip;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03677/4031369-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="551" height="708"></div><h2>THE WHA&hellip;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04467/4031362-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="549" height="326"></div><h2>OTHER LEAGUES&hellip;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05338/4031355-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="553" height="238"></div><h2>COLUMNISTS&hellip;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-06241/4031348-1-eng-US/f0002-062.jpg" title="f0002-06" width="553" height="205"></div><h2>OTHER FEATURES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-07150/4031341-1-eng-US/f0002-072.jpg" title="f0002-07" width="549" height="212"></div><h2>1977 SCHEDULES&hellip;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-0880/4031334-1-eng-US/f0002-082.jpg" title="f0002-08" width="557" height="165"></div> &#9632;

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WHERE YOU’LL FIND IT ALL INSIDE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-10" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-1029/4031445-1-eng-US/f0002-102.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Former Leaf Ron Ellis is going to make a comeback.</figcaption></div><h2>Berenson Appointed Captain Third Time</h2>ST.LOUIS &mdash;You&rsquo;ve heard of a guy being team captain once, maybe even twice but never three times.Veterian Red Berenson has been named the 1977-78 captain of the Blues by new coach Leo Boivin, marking the third time the redhead has worn the coveted C on his jersey.Berenson replaces Garry Unger as team ice leader. Unger was removed as captain near the end of last season. Berenson was first appointed St.Louis captain in 1970-71 and again in 1975-76 after returning to the Blues in a trade from Detroit.<h2>Bulls Defy WHA, Play Underage Star</h2>BIRMINGHAM&mdash;The Birmingham Bulls have defied the WHA and have played underage junior Ken Linseman in two exhibition games. The WHA declared it would not allow underage juniors to perform in the league this season.But Birmingham owner John Bassett said he refused to adhere to the WHA directive and fully Intended to put Linseman in a Bulls&rsquo; sweater.Bassett made good his threat as the Bulls played Atlanta and again when they opposed Quebec Nordiques. Bassett plucked ace scorer Mark Napier from under the noses of the NHL two seasons ago when he signed him at age 18.<h2>Ellis To Rejoin Maple Leafs</h2>TORONTO&mdash;After an absence of two years, right winger Ron Ellis is coming back to the Toronto Maple Leafs.Ellis, spurred by his comeback performance with Team Canada at Vienna last spring, will be paid slightly more than the $125,000 a year he was getting when he quit at the end of the 1974-75 season. At age 32, Ellis feels he can still help the Leafs plug their right wing trouble spot behind Lanny McDonald and owner Harold Ballard concurred. Ellis said it will be up to new coach Roger Neilson where to play him. When he retired he was playing with Darryl Sittier and Tiger Williams on a line.<h2>Canada Wants Team Back In Olympics</h2>OTTAWA&mdash;The Canadian Olympic Association wants Canada to get back into Olympic hockey competition. The country last participated in the games in 1968 at Grenoble. Canada won its last Olympic hockey gold medal at the 1952 Olympics in Oslo, Norway.COA officials called participation in the Olympics &ldquo;a worthwile incentive for players who do not wish to join the ranks of professional hockey.&rdquo; Olympic rules ban pro players, but the COA says young men who want to compete In the Olympics should not be penalized by Canada remaining in a spectator role. The COA says Canada should send the best possible players to World tournaments and non-Olympic events, however.<h2>CAHA To Divide Memorial Cup Sites</h2>WINNIPEG&mdash;The CAHA said it will get away from the one city concept for the 1978 Memorial Cup playoff tournament and stage the major junior classic In two cities.The CAHA said it will experiment by splitting the Memorial Cap games between Sault Ste.Marie and Sudbury in the three-league round&mdash;robin affair that brings together the champions of Canada&rsquo;s three major hockey circuits. They said it was becoming increasingly difficult to sell seven games In seven days in one city, particuarly when the home city is not represented. CAHA directors also approved a number of tours for international teams, such as the Moscow Selects, Prague Spartaks, the Yugoslavia national team and a Soviet midget team. &#9632;

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DEADLINE STOPPERS

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div>NEW YORK&mdash;In a traumatic situation in which both sides may be in the wrong, the confrontation between Rod Gilbert and the New York Rangers front office is worsening, although the lines of communication are still open.Gilbert is adamant about being traded and has refused to return to the Rangers training camp. The hard feelings between Gilbert and general manager John Ferguson are obvious and open, with both sides mouthing off to the press. The shock waves elsewhere in the National Hockey League show that most players feel the 36-year-old right wing is right.Bernie Parent, the Philadelphia Flyers goalie, said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care what they say. When you have a guy who has done what he has done for 16 years, they just can&rsquo;t give him crap like this. I have no respect for the Ranger organization. I can&rsquo;t believe they can dump on him this way.&rdquo;Gilbert walked out of the Rangers&rsquo; camp Sept. 23. asking that his contract be extended to include the two option years beyond this season He has a pact in the safe which called for $200,000 for 1977-78. Ferguson refused, and Gilbert asked to be traded.Emotionally, Gilbert complained, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;m being treated properly. I&rsquo;ve scheduled meetings with Ferguson since last March and nothing happens. Fergy and I were in the same hotel in Vienna during the World Cup and he never talked to me. I have been forced out&rdquo;Jean Ratelle, the Boston Bruins&rsquo; center and Gilbert&rsquo;s long time friend and linemate with the Rangers during the Emile Francis regime, said, &ldquo;When you talk about Gilbert you don&rsquo;t talk about an average employee at Madison Square Garden. He just wants to have a team that wants him like the Bruins wanted me. When the Rangers didn&rsquo;t want me anymore. I was sent to a team which wanted me a great deal. Rod&rsquo;s been a great salesman of hockey both on and off the ice and has earned respect.&rdquo;Ratelie was traded to Boston from New York, along with defenseman Brad Park in November of 1975. with the Rangers getting center Phil Esposito and defenseman Carol Vadnais in return.While Ratelle might be considered to be less than objective because of his long association with Gilbert, Philadelphia defenseman Joe Watson had an interesting observation:&ldquo;There are two sides to everything and then there is the truth.&rdquo; said Watson.Gary Dornhoefer. an original Flyer, and a veteran who can see the time when his career might come to an end. growled. &ldquo;Something like this would never happen in Philadelphia. Never!&rdquo;Lou Powell, Gilbert&rsquo;s lawyer and Larry Rauch, his agent, asked Bill Jennings, the Rangers president, for his release. Ferguson and Jennings refused.There&rsquo;s no way I&rsquo;ll release him without getting compensation,&rdquo; insisted Ferguson.Obviously Ferguson isn&rsquo;t trying real hard to accomodate Gilbert when he demands younger top flight players such as Tom Lysiak of Atlanta or Garry Unger of St. Louis in return.Former Ranger center Pete Stemkowski, now with the Los Angeles Kings, said flatly. &ldquo;Ferguson wants to get rid of every association with the past. He gave me the cold shoulder last season.&rdquo;Park, now the best player on the Bruins, is in Gilbert&rsquo;s corner.I&rsquo;ve come to the conclusion that whoever is running the team. Ferguson or the higher ups. are turning the club into a hellish place to play. I think the Rangers are the only one of the six original teams that don&rsquo;t have a sweater retired.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-0950/4031414-1-eng-US/f0002-092.jpg" title="f0002-09" width="574" height="1229"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROD GILBERT&hellip;Quits Rangers</figcaption></div>They don&rsquo;t seem to want to build tradition. In New York they tear it down.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to worry about tradition,&rdquo; said Ferguson. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m trying to build a hockey club.&rdquo;The new rookies on the Rangers no doubt are watching the Gilbert situation and wonder about the future.Steve Vickers, the left wing, was outspoken in condemnation of the lack of public relations help the players receive from the New York front office.&ldquo;Gilbert made himself without any help from the Rangers,&rdquo; said Vickers.Although there wasn&rsquo;t a groundswell of fan support for Gilbert, an advertisement appeared in the Sept. 29 issue of The New York Post, which read:<h2>RANGER FANS UNITE!</h2>Keep Rod Gilbert a Ranger Pick up your telephone & send a telegram of protest to: William Jennings or Michael Burke, c/o Madison Sq.Garden, saying &ldquo;Keep Rod Gilbert in N.Y.C.&rdquo; The cost is nominal compared to what he meant to the Rangers & N.Y.C. for the post 16 years.The Rangers are obviously guilty of a mass public relations blunder.Vickers put his finger on the situation when he said.Why don&rsquo;t they guarantee him $200,000 at 40 per year for five years in a public relations capacity after he&rsquo;s finished playing, whenever that might turn out to be. He&rsquo;s always wanted to stay in New York.The team could make use of Gilbert as the color man on their television network in future years, but so far no one has committed to this.In the past. Gilbert, an articulate person with a charismatic accent, has indicated interest in such an assignment.&ldquo;I would love to do television commentary&mdash;and I think I could lend something different to it.&rdquo; said Gilbert.The other side of the coin shows that Gilbert has been getting the big money since he signed a multi-year pact in 1972-73 for $175,000. a huge jump from about $40,000. This occurred when Ratelle, Vic Hadfield and Gilbert all threatened to jump on masse to the newly formed Cleveland Crusaders of the WHA.Two years back, Gilbert threatened to go to the New England Whalers and was technically a free agent for a period of time in the summer. Finally, reluctantly. Jennings agreed to a $200,000 contract for three seasons. That contract is now in its final year&mdash;and Gilbert had wanted the option years picked up.Emile Francis, now the president of the St. Louis Blues, and the former Ranger general manager, often noted. &ldquo;Once they get the big money the attitude towards carrying someone changes. They have to produce if they want the big bucks&rdquo;Last year Gilbert played very well until December, then tailed off to 27-48-75. Ferguson and the Rangers&rsquo; management question how much value on the ice, a 37 or 38-year-old like Gilbert will provide in the future. &#9632;

f0002-09

Gilbert Affair Causing Shock Waves

<h2>NORRIS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011005/4031535-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="574" height="237"></div><h2>SMYTH DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02862/4031528-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="591" height="238"></div><h2>PATRICK DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03579/4031521-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="570" height="215"></div><h2>ADAMS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04348/4031514-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="586" height="204"></div> &#9632;

f0003-01

How Races Will End

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE HALPIN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-05197/4031483-1-eng-US/f0003-052.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Flyers will need superior gosling effort from Bernie Parent, left, shown talking things over at training camp with goaling caoch Jacques Plante, to become title contender. Flyers hope Parent rediscovers his old goaling form.</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;The hockey selectors are adamant that three of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s four division races will be won quite conclusively.The powerful Montreal Canadiens, for the second straight year, were accorded a unanimous 18 votes to finish on top of the Norris Division and who can argue with their impeccable record The Boston Bruiris were easily the choice to top the Adams Division and the surprising New York-Islanders narrowly missed being another unanimous choice to win the Patrick Division.While the Canadiens. Bruins and Islanders made the biggest impact on the experts among 18 hockey writers and broadcasters polled by THE HOCKEY NEWS, selectors had some reservations about the unpredictable Smythe Division race.The majority favored the Chicago Black Hawks but the Hawks&rsquo; margin of superiority in the Smythe race didn&rsquo;t amount to a whole lot. Minnesota and St. Louis polled almost as many votes as Chicago as the men who do the prognosticating each year in the NHL narrowly chose the Hawks to finish first, with Minnesota a close second and St. Louis equally close in third place.The Canadiens. with two consecutive Stanley Cups under their belts, were again the most imposing team in the yearly poll. Boasting the NHL&rsquo;s best defense and most overpowering offense, the Canadiens are again depicted as the team everyone else will have to reckon with this season. The fact the Montrealers skated through their NHL opposition the past two years losing a minimum of 19 games in 160 league starts and only three out of 27 playoff games, makes it pretty certain the Canadiens will do it all over again this season with ease.If there had to be a surprise in the new season poll, it lay with the selection of the constantly-improving New York Islanders to dominate the Patrick Division race.Most everyone figures the well disciplined Islanders will come on strong this season and if the Isles get the kind of goaling they&rsquo;re expecting from newcomer Goran Hogasta. Billy Smith and Chico Resch, the hockey experts visualize Al Arbour&rsquo;s skaters leaving the aging Philadelphia Flyers behind in the Patrick race. The Islanders received 15 of 18 votes to finish first. Only Montreal polled more.The Bruins picked up 13 first-place votes out of 18 to head up the Adams Division primarily because of the club&rsquo;s great all-round depth and their surprising performance in last year&rsquo;s playoffs when they went to the finals against the Canadiens. The Buffalo Sabres, in the opinion of the experts, have too many question marks to seriously challenge the Bruins.While the hockey pollsters see the Canadiens running away and hiding on the other Norris Division teams, and the fact the Patrick and Adams Division races will be two-horse affairs, there is speculation that the Smythe Division will become a real dogfight throughout the season. Chicago. Minnesota and St. Louis have been selected in that order, but don&rsquo;t count the Vancouver Canucks out of it. Only the Colorado Rockies don&rsquo;t figure and if it&rsquo;s any consolation to new coach Pat Kelly, his Rockies weren&rsquo;t the worst team in the annual HOCKEY NEWS poll. This dubious distinction belonged to the Cleveland Barons, who were the unanimous pick of the 18 experts to finish last behind Boston, Buffalo and Toronto.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-06131/4031476-1-eng-US/f0003-062.jpg" title="f0003-06" width="518" height="1150"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE SHUTT &hellip;Big Gun For Habs</figcaption></div>In an overall look at the other division finishes, Canadiens are away and alone at the head of the Norris race. Pittsburgh should stave off the challenge of the L.A. Kings but not by much according to the selectors. Washington isn&rsquo;t picked for any higher than fourth and the rebuilding Detroit Red Wings have again been consigned to the cellar.In the Adams Division, the Bruins are heralded for first place with the Sabres fairly close for second and the struggling Toronto Maple Leafs slated for third spot despite new coach Roger Neilson and the likes of Borje Salming, Ian Turnbull, Lanny McDonald and Darryl Sittler. The Clevelanders are along in last place in this division.Islanders are expected to manifest themselves this season and 15 of the 18 selectors pencilled them in for first place leaving the Philly Flyers for second with Atlanta expected to outdistance New York&rsquo;s youth&mdash;conscious Rangers for third spot.That&rsquo;s how the hockey experts see the 1977-78 NHL races and only time will prove them right or wrong. &#9632;

f0003-05

Canadiens Best Pick To Keep Cup; Islanders, Bruins, Hawks Get Nod

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011056/4031594-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="475" height="475"></div>&bull; GILLES GRATTON, the goalie-pianist, has been sent to the New Haven Nighthawks by John Ferguson of the New York Rangers. Gratton&rsquo;s agent contacted Johnny Bassett, owner of the Birmingham Bulls of the WHA, to see if he was interested in talking to Gilles about possible employment this season. Bassett&rsquo;s reply was: &ldquo;I&rsquo;d be pleased to have Gilles drop around any time to play the piano but I don&rsquo;t want him around the hockey club&rdquo;&hellip;Howard Baldwin, who doubles in brass as managing partner of the New England Whalers and president of the World Hockey Association, says the main objective of his league right now is to have all eight teams finish the season, not miss any paydays and sell their product on the ice. Such logic. As Milt Dunnell of the Toronto Star wonders: &ldquo;Is professional hockey ready for it?&rdquo; Red Storey, the former top NHL referee, is still in demand as a public speaker. Red figures he must have made 2,500 speeches since his retirement as an official. He&rsquo;s spoken to groups from coast to coast in Canada&hellip;Senior hockey is on the upsurge in Canada and many feel that we&rsquo;ll be back to the good old Allan Cup days in a few years&hellip;Close to 150 major league calibre players are now in the free agent category and looking for jobs in professional hockey&hellip;Such household hockey names as Norm Ullman and Ralph Backstrom will not be on the active playing list this season&hellip;Gary Smith hasn&rsquo;t looked too good in Washington practices to date. The veteran goalkeeper who was with Minnesota last season doesn&rsquo;t give the Caps the strength they need at that key position.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021011/4031587-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="271" height="452"><figcaption class="caption-body">Red Storey</figcaption></div>&bull; JOHN ZIEGLER, the new National Hockey League president, plans to spend one-third of his time in the NHL Montreal headquarters, one-third at the league&rsquo;s New York office and the other third visiting the various league cities&hellip;Doug Wilson, brother of Montreal&rsquo;s Murray Wilson, is making a very favorable impression at the Chicago Black Hawks&rsquo; training camp&hellip;Boston Bruins statisticians, who evidently have little to do now with the Orr-Esposito scoring machine dismantled, figure that the Bruins will score their 10,000th goal since 1924 either October 22 in Los Angeles or October 23 in Vancouver. They presently have 9,981 and need 19 more&hellip;Larry Gordon, executive vice-president of the World Hockey Association is over in Moscow right now signing contracts regarding the exchange of exhibition games between WHA clubs and teams from the Soviet Union&hellip;The Goaltenders Club of St. Louis will be honoring the Blues at their annual banquet on Oct. 17 at the Khorassan Room of the Chase Hotel. This year&rsquo;s banquet has adopted the Blues&rsquo; theme for the 1977-78 season as &ldquo;The Rebirth of the Blues&rdquo;&hellip;Bill Knott, who refereed the 1950 Stanley Cup playoffs and was referee-in-chief of the Western Hockey League when Scotty Morrison and Lloyd Gilmour were rookie officials, passed away recently at his home near Seattle. Known as Knot Head throughout his lengthy officiating career, Bill had many friends in hockey. He was 72&hellip;Kevin O&rsquo;Brien is the new public relations director of the Colorado Rockies. He is 24 and worked the last four years for the Kalamazoo Wings of the Interantional Hockey League.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03906/4031580-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="295" height="446"><figcaption class="caption-body">Larry Gordon</figcaption></div>&bull; HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA staged its most successful golf tournament yet the other day at Montreal&rsquo;s Beaconsfield Golf Club. Clarence Campbell, the retiring NHL president was the honored guest at the dinner following the tourney. He was the recipient of some lovely gifts from the people who think so much of him and appreciate what a great friend he&rsquo;s been to hockey over the last 31 years&hellip; Campbell&rsquo;s speech, in which he summarized his tenure in office since 1946. was one of the finest he ever made. Personally we think it was the finest. It was a very moving evening&hellip;Phil Esposito has had five seasons of 50 or more goals in his career. On three occasions he scored the 50th goal on his birthday, the 20th of February&hellip;Ron Weber will be starting his fourth season as the &ldquo;Voice&rdquo; of the Washington Capitals. Virtually all of the Caps home and away games will be aired over WTOP. the 50.000-watt radio station in Washington. Weber, incidentally, holds the unique record of having seen every game played by the Capitals since they came into the NHL. No one else shares this record&hellip;Danny Gallivan. play-by-play announcer extradordinaire. will be starting his 26th year as the English voice of the Montreal Canadiens&hellip;New York papers have been after John Ferguson. Rangers&rsquo; general manager, for his treatment of Rod Gilbert&hellip;Only four players remain on the Rangers from the time Emile Francis was GM&hellip;The United States Hockey Hall of Fame is not attracting enough visitors to break even in its operations. Located in Eveleth. Minnesota, an average of 18,500 people have visited the hall annually since it opened four years ago. Officials say it will take between 25,000 to 30,000 visitors at the $1.50 admission charge for the building to break even. There are nine NHL teams with new coaches this season. This is another record for the league which will be celebrating its 60th anniversary this season&hellip;Dick Irvin, color man on the Montreal Canadiens radio and television network, won THE HOCKEY NEWS trophy at the top golfer at the Hockey Night in Canada tournament.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04804/4031573-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="289" height="440"><figcaption class="caption-body">Clarence Campbell</figcaption></div>&bull; RON ELLIS should have an easier time than most in his attempted return to professional hockey since the Lindsay, Ont. native has always kept himself in excellent shape&hellip;Speaking of being in shape, Cliff Koroll checked out as the fittest Black Hawks when the team was tested recently. Chicago coach Bob Pulford has been introducing heavy doses of physical training to the Hawks&rsquo; camp&hellip; Too bad that Robin Sadler found he wasn&rsquo;t cut out for pro hockey. He left Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; camp after a brief trial with the club. Two years ago, he did the same thing with the Montreal Canadiens&hellip; It will be interesting to see what the Boston Bruins do with their goaltending situation. They have Gerry Cheevers. Gilles Gilbert and Ron Grahame from the WHA, and one of them, likely Gilbert, might be traded for defensive help&hellip;Cincinnati Stingers had to get into shape in a hurry when they faced Czechoslovakian and Soviet National teams after one week of training. Next time says coach Jacques Demers, they&rsquo;ll start training much earlier before facing such tough opponents&hellip;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05665/4031566-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="298" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gilles Gilbert</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0004-01

PASSING THE PUCK

DETROIT&mdash;Ted Lindsay had contact with N.Y. Ranger GM John Ferguson and veteran right winger Rod Gilbert about a possible deal. The Red Wings would be interested but at the moment Fergusons asking too much.&ldquo;The deal is at a standstill.&rdquo; Lindsay said. &ldquo;Gilbert would like to come here but Ferguson wants too much I&rsquo;m not going to pursue it further It&rsquo;s up to them now.&rdquo;Gilbert doesn&rsquo;t fit in with Fergy&rsquo;s youth movement but he could give the Detroit offense, and especially the power play a boost.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really happy with our situation tin right wing now.&rdquo; GM Lindsay said. With Michel Bergeron. Dennis Polonich and Al McDonough we have three people who if they come through will give us a group of right wingers as good as any in the league And we&rsquo;ve got a couple of others who give us good depth there.&rdquo; &#9632;

Red Wings Interested In Gilbert

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>DETROIT&mdash;Bobby Kromm doesn&rsquo;t pretend to be a messiah but he&rsquo;s confident the Detroit Red Wings are going to be a better hockey club this season than most people expect.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think we re going to be all that bad, &ldquo; Kromm said in the early stages of the Wings&rsquo; training camp.I&rsquo;m not thinking that I&rsquo;m a messiah. All I know is that we re going to change the attitude and go out and play as a team. We re going to work damn hard. If you don&rsquo;t want to work you&rsquo;re not going to play for Bobby Kromm. Just as simple as that.&rdquo;Kromm described himself as a perfectionist and said he took the Detroit job because of the challenge.&ldquo;I got belittled by every newspaperman in Canada for taking this job,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s all right. I kept my mouth shut. I haven&rsquo;t said anything.&ldquo;I took it because I want to do a job here in Detroit, and I&rsquo;m going to work hard at it. If it doesn&rsquo;t work out. I did my best, eh?&rdquo;The Wings have had a mind-boggling procession of coaches in the last decade. Kromm is the 11th to stand behind the Red Wing bench since the 1969-70 season.Kromm liked the spirit early in the Wings&rsquo; camp and. obviously, was trying hard to see that it continued through the regular season.The most notable summer acquisition&mdash;besides No. 1 draft choice Dale McCourt, of course&mdash;is goalie Ron Low. The Wings expect Low. 27. to give them more depth and talent at the position. Low played the last three seasons for the Washington Capitals, where he often was the only defense against enemy bombardmentIt made me a better goalie.&rdquo; Low said. It helped me improve I learned a lot because I was in every situation possible. I&rsquo;d like to continue learning ere; things like handling the puck etter.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-06395/4031625-1-eng-US/f0004-062.jpg" title="f0004-06" width="567" height="736"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON LOW</figcaption></div>Low was signed as a free agent by Detroit. He did not come cheap as the rings had to compensate Washington by ending their leading scorer of the last wo seasons, Walt McKechnie, and a pair of amateur draft choices to the Capitals. evertheless, Red Wing officials are condent they have a very special palie&mdash;and Low is just as happy to be pre.&ldquo;This is a team of the future,&rdquo; Low kid. &ldquo;With guys like Ted Lindsay reneral manager) and Bobby Kromm pre, I can&rsquo;t see this team being too far out of the playoffs this season, if not in. There are some good hockey players here.&rdquo;Low said he would have gone back to Washington, except that the Capitals didn&rsquo;t make a genuine offer.&ldquo;They weren&rsquo;t offering a raise,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I talked to Max McNab and he said they&rsquo;d sign me. I married a girl from Washington and I don&rsquo;t think there was any way they thought I&rsquo;d leave. I&rsquo;m very happy With the Detroit offer and I&rsquo;m glad to be here.&rdquo;Low is big&mdash;six-foot-one, 205-pounds&mdash;and his size and approach to the game are his greatest assets. He is an intense competitor and an extremely hard worker&mdash;a combination which appeals to the Wings who are trying to find players with those attributes.The Hockey NewsOFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY FOUNDED 1947VOLUME 31 NUMBER 2 OCTOBER 14, 1977Kenneth W. McKenzie&nbsp;President and PublisherTom Murray&nbsp;Assistant to PublisherCharlie Halpin&nbsp;Editorial DirectorPat Beale&nbsp;Advertising CoordinatorAdvertising Representatives:Toronto:Graham Campbell11 Lotus Court Toronto. Ont M2H 1J6 (416) 492-9191Montreal1434 St. Catherine Street West. Suite 217 Montreal. Can &bull; H3G 1R7 (514) 866-4841New York:Tom Murray150 East 58th StreetNew York. N.Y. 10022 &bull; (212) 593-2100Chicago:Hooper & Jones Associates 3322 W. Peterson AvenueChicago. III. 60659 &bull; (312) 478-5544Published weekly except monthly June through September by W.C-C. Publishing Ltd . 1434 St Catherine Street West. Montreal. Canada H3G 1R7 &bull; (514) 866-4841. U.S c/o W. C. C. Publishing Corp 150 E. 58th Street. New York, N.Y. 10022. (212) 593-2100.YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $11.95 In Canada, $12.95 In the U.S.A, and $17.25 in Foreign Countries. Second 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 mail Registration No. 1327. All inquiries pertaining to subscriptions should be addressed to Subscription Dept., The Hockey News, 1434 St. Catherine St. West, Montreal. Canada H3G 1R7. Printed In Canada. &#9632;

f0004-06

Kromm Say Wings Will Be Improved With New Attitude

Following are the latest player movements in hockey:<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>ATLANTA&mdash;Michel Belhumeur, G, Rick Hodgson, D, and Cam Betting, C, assigned to Tulsa of CHL. Bernard Harbec, C, and Bill Hamilton, C, assigned to Muskegon of IHL. Dallas Ellerby D, assigned to Kalamazoo of IHL. Peter Brown, D, sent to Toledo Of IHL. Bill Moen, G, released.VANCOUVER&mdash;Murray Bannerman, G, Rob Tudor, C, Ralph Stewart, C, Ray Creasey, C, Steve Hazlett, LW, Brian Drumm, LW and Glen Richardson, LW, all assigned to Tulsa of CHL.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Bob Paradise, D, secured from Washington in exchange for NHL rights to Don Awrey, D, Stan Gilbertson, C, placed on injury list indefinitely after being severely injured in a car accident.N.Y. RANGERS&mdash;Don Awrey, D, signed as free agent after release by Pittsburgh.BOSTON&mdash;Sean Shanahan, RW, signed as free agent after release by Colorado.N.Y. ISLANDERS&mdash;Joey Girardin, D, Brad Anderson, LW, Walt Ledingham, LW, and Neil Hawryliw, RW, assigned to Fort Worth of CHL.ST. LOUIS&mdash;Bob Plager, D, announced retirement from hockey.MONTREAL&mdash;Ed Walsh, and Dave Elenbaas, goalers. Chuck Luksa, D, Gordon McIntosh, C, Bruce Baker, RW, Paul Woods, C, Peter Lee, RW, Rod Schutt, LW, Mike Polich, RW, and Tom McDonell, C, assigned to Nova Scotia of AHL.COLORADO&mdash;Rick Jodzio, RW, signed as free agent from Calgary of WHA.MINNESOTA&mdash;Greg Tebbutt, D, released.TORONTO&mdash;Ron Ellis, RW, rejoined Maple Leafs after two-year retirement.LOS ANGELES&mdash;Mario Lessard, G, Brian Petrovek, G, Lindsay Thomson, D, Dave Miglia, D, Jim Witherspoon, D, Paul Evans, RW, Warren Holmes, C, Dan Bonar, C, Tom Goddard, C, Mike Flynn, RW, and Randy Rudnyk, RW, assigned to Fort Worth of CHL.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Jerome Mrazek, G, Rick St. Croix, G, and Peter Peeters, G, Mike Korney, D, Guy Delparte, D, Dave Robinson, D, and Peter Mackenzie, D, Al Hill, C, Drew Callander, RW, Bernie Johnston, LW, Tom Gorence, LW, and Dave Hoyda, LW, assigned to Maine of AHL.<h2>WORLD HOCKEY ASSN.</h2>INDIANAPOLIS&mdash;Peter McDuffe, G, signed as free agent from Detroit of NHL. Michel Dion, G, released as free agent.EDMONTONS&mdash;Juha Widing, C, signed as free agent from Cleveland. Jerry Holland, LW, signed as free agent from Rangers. Gary MacGregor, C, signed as free agent. Don Tannahill, RW, and Peter Donnelly, G, secured from Quebec. Lou Nistico, RW, and Jeff Jacques, LW, secured from Birmingham in exchange for Pete Laframboise, C, Danny Arndt, RW, and rights to Chris Evans. D. &#9632;

Hockey Players On The Move

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;His record is as distinguished as almost any young player in hockey: three 30-goal seasons followed by a 50-goal year, All Star status and a major influence in winning two consecutive Stanley Cups.Last season, however, that record suffered its first chip in a previously solid veneer. Bill Barber&rsquo;s production slipped to only 20 goals and 35 assists. To a less demanding player on a team with lower standards, a 55-point season is sufficient reason to request contract renegotiation But for Barber, his season, combined with the way the Flyers flopped against Boston in the Stanley Cup semi-finals, was cause for serious concern.As the old hockey axion goes, &ldquo;You&rsquo;re only as good as your last shift.&rdquo; In Barber&rsquo;s case, management evidently thinks you&rsquo;re only as good as last season.Barber is just one of the Flyers&rsquo; neonlight question marks. Comebacks are needed by Bernie Parent and Reg Leach, among others, for the Flyers to do more than talk about dethroning Montreal. But Barber&rsquo;s comeback is unique in that despite his 50-goal output and All Star selection, he never attracted excessive attention until he strayed off the path of excellence.The ink had barely dried on the Flyers&rsquo; playoff checks when the rumor mill churned out a Flyers&mdash;Buffalo trade that included Barber and the Sabres&rsquo; Richard Martin. Few knowledgeable observers took the trade talk seriously, but the speculation persisted all summer.People around Philadelphia kept talking trade. Even along the Jersey coast, where many Flyers vacationed, the whispers continued. Attempting to file away the rumors under &ldquo;G&rdquo; (for garbage), Keith Allen would say, &ldquo;Those rumors haven&rsquo;t reached Long Beach Island,&rdquo; where he has a summer home. Still, Barber heard the talk. Finally, he handled the predicament with maturity not often found in a 25-year-old man.&ldquo;I told my wife, &lsquo;Look, we&rsquo;re young, we&rsquo;re having a good time. We enjoy the game, but if we have to go somewhere else, okay.&rsquo; I said &lsquo;Let&rsquo;s enjoy the summer&mdash;life&rsquo;s too short to worry about something like that.&rdquo;Barber admitted management&rsquo;s lack of faith in him was disturbing.&ldquo;I thought if they were basing this on one bad year it was unfair. If it (trade) had been true, I would have been very disappointed, I think every player goes through what I did last year.&rdquo;What Barber went through was apprehension and anxiety of playing on a knee that hurt. Barber&rsquo;s 12-game scoring streak was interrupted in mid-season when he suffered torn knee ligaments against the New York Rangers. The Kitchener product missed seven games before the season ended.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01915/4031711-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="561" height="789"><figcaption class="caption-body">REG LEACH</figcaption></div>Further examination concluded that surgery wouldn&rsquo;t be necessary. When Barber was advised to rest and then exercise the knee, some skeptics hinted that the knee wasn&rsquo;t entirely responsible for his slide, that perhaps he simply wasn&rsquo;t working hard enough. The implication was that Barber had caught fat-catitis. an affliction that often strikes athletes on successful teams.What the skeptics were overlooking was the sub-par performance of Barber&rsquo;s linemates. Leach and Bobby Clarke, and the inconsistency of all the Flyers.Now it&rsquo;s a fresh start for everyone and Barber&rsquo;s determination resembles the feeling that not long ago helped carry the Flyers to hockey&rsquo;s heights.&ldquo;We learned we can&rsquo;t turn it on and off,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Everybody was embarrassed about the way last season turned out. Most of us worked out before camp opened. I think if we work hard, we&rsquo;ll get back to where we were.&rdquo;Barber knows Keith Allen has rarely been impatient about players&rsquo; progress&mdash;the versatile left winger just hopes Allen doesn&rsquo;t change.&ldquo;I know what I&rsquo;m capable of doing. I can skate, turn and stop fine. I just hope they give me time.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02729/4031704-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="1194" height="1284"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILL BARBER&hellip; Embarrassed by Flyers&rsquo; performance. (Photo By Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0005-01

Barber Ready For Comeback After Disturbing Trade Talk

<div class="byline">&#x2014; BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011087/4031742-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="342" height="468"></div><h2>Verdi&rsquo;s Fearless Predictions</h2>The Montreal Canadiens still are a very good team, THE HOCKEY NEWS has learned They will not win another Stanley Cup until May only because the schedule won&rsquo;t let them But from now till then, the National Hockey League will operate thusly:<h2>Norris Division</h2>1. MONTREAL: Good Neighbor Sam has another machine in his shop this year. No deeper team in sports, and never a lack of incentive with this organization. Should lose at least five games.2. PITTSBURGH: John Wilson, new Penguins coach, will help stabilize an erratic situation. Pierre Larouche says he&rsquo;s happy, at least Light year away from Montreal, but good for second.3. LOS ANGELES: Ron Stewart has to fill Bob Pulfords shoes, a toughie. Kings have limitations which have been camouflaged in the past by discipline beyond the call of duty, or by Marcel Dionne.4. WASHINGTON: Playoff possibility. Gary Smith can play goal when he wants to. Walt McKechnie joins from Detroit, but more importantly, this team works, works, works for Tom McVie.5. DETROIT: Aggressive hockey is back in Red Wing country, according to GM Ted Lindsay. He&rsquo;ll be colorful and so will coach Bobby Kromm. Unfortunately, they&rsquo;ll be more colorful than the team.<h2>Adams Division</h2>1. BOSTON: The Bruins never look good on paper, always look good on ice. Don Cherry is doing a lot of things right An unselfish, sinewy team which added a worthwhile goalie, Ron Grahame.2. TORONTO: The Maple Leafs look better on paper than they do on ice. Coach Roger Neilson, a rah. rah, sis, boom, bah. type, is a defensive guru. That&rsquo;s just what the Leafs need.3 BUFFALO: The Sabres disappoint more often than they should This club appeared to need a bit of shock treatment, but received only a new coach, Marcel Pronovost. Talent is here, but&hellip;4. CLEVELAND: Club almost died of fiscal exhaustion last season, which may be one reason why it seemed to underachieve. Skating team with good goalie, Gilles Meloche, and one direction to go.<h2>Patrick Division</h2>1. N.Y. ISLANDERS: This may be the season that the Islanders pass Philadelphia. Here&rsquo;s one club which believes that the straightest distance between two points is to take the body.2. PHILADELPHIA: Poor playoffs shouldn&rsquo;t erase the fact that the Flyers have won many, many games the last two years. Good blend of vets and youngsters, but Bernie Parent must be right.3. ATLANTA: It appeared that the Flames would deal one of their goalies for a sniper, or a blue chip defenseman. but it never happened. The Flames&rsquo; ceiling is third; fourth a possibility.4. N.Y. RANGERS: The Rangers have made significant strides toward youth, speed, toughness. How his off-season problem will affect rookie star Don Murdoch, no one knows. But he&rsquo;s important.<h2>Smythe Division</h2>1. CHICAGO: Black Hawks have worn leisure suits for the last few seasons, but Pulford will remedy that. J. Bob Kelly, Pierre Plante, add muscle. After a disastrous year, Hawks should rebound to .500.2. ST. LOUIS: Leo Boivin takes over for the second time. Club has stabilized under Emile Francis, but the Blues seem a little thin defensively. Dick Redmond is the big new addition.3. MINNESOTA: Skaters extradordinaire. the North Stars are back to respectability after a brief retirement. Swedes abound here. But a second goalie and another defenseman wouldn&rsquo;t hurt.4. VANCOUVER: General manager Jake Milford brought his weeder from Los Angeles, and he is seeking bigger, better players. Meanwhile, he needs a lot from Sanderson, Walton, Maniago&mdash;all keys.5. COLORADO: The Pet Rocks almost didn&rsquo;t make it this season. Breathing heavily in high altitude and high debt, they have Wilf Paiement to admire&mdash;which is more than they may have next year.<h2>World Hockey Association</h2>Having killed merger possibilities by showing the NHL its financial statements, the WHA will operate this season, and if as many teams finish as started, then Ripley will roll over in his museum. The Quebec Nordiques, who are loaded in more ways than one, will win it all.(Clip column and save until May. Got a match?) &#9632;

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HOCKEY TALK

<div class="byline">-BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011078/4031818-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="415" height="464"></div><h2>The Lonely Leaf&hellip;</h2>THE SEASON BEFORE, Wayne Thomas was brought in to fill a big gap in goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs and did so well he was regarded as a hero. The new star felt all was well with his world. In the post-season playoffs, however, it was Gord McRae who moved in to star in the nets, it looked like Leafs had a new hero, and he was happy.Last season, when Wayne and Gord got off to bad starts, Mike Palmateer was brought up from the minors to take over and he did so well the others were relegated to reserve status. A rookie and a colorful character, Mike was the sort fans and reporters take to their hearts and he became an instant star. However, he was smart. &ldquo;You can be a hero one night and a bum the next,&rdquo; he observed with wisdom beyond his 22 years. In the nets, he hums and whistles to keep his spirits up. &ldquo;It can be lonely out there,&rdquo; he confessed.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02969/4031811-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="813" height="1053"><figcaption class="caption-body">Young Mike Palmateer says you never get away from the pressure when you&rsquo;re a big league goaler. He says you have to keep producing to stay around. (Photo by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div>Mike had lost only three of his first 13 games and had been brilliant at times against the best. He had given the Leafs a lift when they badly needed it after a disappointing start, but he knew enough to know there is security in the big time only as long as you do the job. He said, &ldquo;When they brought me up from the minors, they said I&rsquo;d make it in the majors if I played well. They&rsquo;ve told me now if I keep playing well I&rsquo;ll stay. There&rsquo;s a lot of pressure. When will it end? I don&rsquo;t think it ever will. You have to keep producing.&ldquo;It would bother me if I thought about it. I don&rsquo;t thing about it,&rdquo; he grinned.HE WAS BORN IN TORONTO in January of 1954 so he&rsquo;s a hometown lad. He was developed on Toronto-area amateur teams. He was a star for the Markham Waxers, 1972 Ontario Junior B championship team. And for the Toronto Marlies, 1973 Memorial Cup Junior A champs.He didn&rsquo;t go in the early rounds of the pro draft of graduating amateurs in the summer of 1973 because he is small. He is listed at five-foot-nine, but looks five-foot-seven. He, also is listed at 155 pounds, but looks 165. He has a bit of a belly. But he is quick. Leafs took him in the fifth round.He was sent to Saginaw, Michigan, in the International League, and did well enough to be moved up to Oklahoma City of the Central League at midseason of his first pro season. His goals against average was in the high twos, but he was sent back the following season. His average shot up to the high threes and his future looked dim.Fate takes flip-flops in this sport, however. Back in the Central League, but at Dallas, last season, he got off to a good start and when the Toronto regulars got off to a bad start, he got orders to report to the big team. This was late the first month of the season and the limber little guy got off to a great start.He took it in stride. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s not much difference between the Central League and the National League,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;In the Central League, you&rsquo;ve got guys going up to the National League and guys dropping down from it. Every team has players who played in the National League. The Central is a good league, no soft touch.&ldquo;You face better shooters in the National League, but you&rsquo;ve got better defenders in front of you, too. All this time I was in the Central League. I knew I could play in the National League. I didn&rsquo;t think the Leafs knew it,&rdquo; he laughed. &ldquo;Now I have to prove it. It&rsquo;s tough because I&rsquo;m attracting a lot of attention. I&rsquo;m doing a lot of interviews that distract me.&ldquo;I guess that&rsquo;s the price you pay for fame,&rdquo; he grinned.HE HAS CURLY RED HAIR, bright green eyes, great good humor, and an appealing personality. He has a baby face. It is said he looks like a soda-jerk at the corner ice-cream parlor. One who samples instead of sells. It is said he is 23 and looks 13. He is no baby. He has a wife, Debi, and knows where he&rsquo;s at. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m on the spot,&rdquo; he admitted. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s the sport. When you&rsquo;re going good, it looks easy, but it&rsquo;s never easy, and you&rsquo;re bound to have bad days and a tough time at times.&rdquo;He slowed down and finished with a 23-18-8 record and an average above three. He ran hot and cold in the playoffs. He had his ups and downs all season. Now he is in the pre-season and trying to keep the job the others are trying to take back. It is tough. Especially in a town that has been disappointed by its team season after season lately and on a team that has an outspoken owner, has moved in a new coach, and always seems to be in turmoil. Guys like Thomas and McRae can tell him how tough it can be. Palmateer shrugs and says, &ldquo;I expected it to be tough.&rdquo;Anyway, along the way last season, he shut out Montreal. How many guys have blanked Canadiens over the years? Not many. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had some thrills,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Enough to last a lifetime? I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; he admits. Time will tell. &#9632;

f0008-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY DAN DONOVAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03819/4031856-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">RUSS ANDERSON&hellip; Has Two New Shoulders (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;Russ Anderson had two prescriptions filled this past summer, and both could help him progress in his drive to be a complete defenseman.Anderson, the eager, hard-hitter from Minnesota, had two serious faults last season. One, he was short on experience, especially in stopping the better-skating National Hockey League forwards. Two, he had one shoulder that would pop out on him about every 10 days and another that had ligament damage.Anderson picked up a bottle of experience first, competing for Team USA in the World Cup Tournament. Anderson got the ice time he needed, and it came against some of the fleetest skaters Europe and Canada could muster.&ldquo;I think it helped me a lot,&rdquo; Anderson said. &ldquo;They have those big rinks over there and you have to do a lot of skating&rdquo;The doctor handled the other problem, operating not only on Anderson&rsquo;s recurring shoulder separation, but also repairing the damage to his other shoulder.So with two new shoulders and some needed experience, Anderson came to training camp with high hopes of a progressive, injury-free season.Last season Anderson demonstrated talent in a raw form. He is big (six-foot-two, 210-pounds), strong, and loves to hit. He likes to play an aggressive game and isn&rsquo;t afraid to fight.He could be the other strong hitter the Penguins need to complement Dennis Owchar. Unfortunately, Anderson is known mostly for his girlfriend, the recently retired Miss America, Dorothy Benham.&ldquo;We are still dating,&rdquo; Anderson said, &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s not serious or anything.&rdquo;Anderson is serious about winning a steady job in the NHL, and looked strong as the Penguins won their first two exhibition games.Also looking strong was left wing Brian &ldquo;Spinner&rdquo; Spencer, whom the Penguins obtained from Buffalo for their former captain, Ron Schock. Spencer scored a goal and picked up 24 penalty minutes in the Penguins 2-1 win over Washington and 6-3 win over Detroit.Most of the other news was bad, however, as left wing Wayne Bianchin (back) and Lowell MacDonald (knee) suffered early training camp injuries. Vic Hadfield wasn&rsquo;t expected to start the season as the knee he had operated on last season buckled right before training camp. Pierre Larouche&rsquo;s ankle, operated on last August, also came around slowly and he missed much of training camp.Wilson liked the young players in camp, especially center Tom Cassidy and left wing Jim Hamilton. A surprise in camp was another strong college player, left wing Stu Younger, who was a rival of Anderson&rsquo;s at Michigan Tech.Younger, six-foot-one, 195-pounds, is similar to Anderson at this stage last year. He is strong, eager, but needs game experience. But he has two strong shoulders.PENGUIN NOTES: In an attempt to slow the annual early season attendance woes, the Penguin sales office hit group sales hard and expect a couple of early season sellouts&hellip;Syl Apps was hampered by a groin pull left over from last year early in camp&hellip;The Penguins got good play from goaltender Gordon Laxton, who is attempting to rebound from a bad, frustrating season last year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04458/4031849-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg" title="f0008-04" width="562" height="928"><figcaption class="caption-body">SYL APPS</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0008-03

Camp Outlook Gloomy But ‘New’ Anderson Gives Penguins Hope

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div>BOSTON&mdash;Whatever it was they were serving at the Detroit Red Wings training camp in the fall of 1954 they should have bottled some of it for the rest of us.Attending that camp 23 years ago were Gordie Howe. Alex Delvecchio. Glenn Hall and a 19-year-old rookie named Johnny Bucyk.Delvecchio played his last NHL game in 1973 at the age of 42. Hall finally hung up his pads in 1971 at the age of 40. Howe is still playing with his sons at 49.And John Bucyk, a svelte 42, is returning after a back injury, shooting for his 23rd NHL season, his 21st with the Boston Bruins.Those who have seen Bucyk at the Bruins&rsquo; training camp in the George R. Wallace Civic Center swear that he is in the best shape of his life.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011041/4031894-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="517" height="1077"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN BUCYK &hellip;Completely Healed</figcaption></div>&ldquo;When I first came here three or four years ago he looked like a sumo wrestler,&rdquo; said coach Don Cherry. &ldquo;But you see him now he&rsquo;s right down.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll bet he&rsquo;s lost 20 pounds since a couple of years ago. He&rsquo;s skating now as good or better than any time since I&rsquo;ve been here.&rdquo;Bucyk himself concedes that he has taken off some 14 pounds since he labored on the ice at about half speed in last spring&rsquo;s playoffs. He&rsquo;s down to around 200 pounds. More important, he says his back and right leg feel fine.I had muscle spasms and a partial disc problem in my back.&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;When I went into traction I was on my back for six weeks all told and I lost two inches of muscle in one leg. When I went to skate I just didn&rsquo;t have any strength or power in my right leg.&ldquo;My back was pretty well healed during the playoffs and my leg started to come back but I had pinched a nerve and. of course, nerves don&rsquo;t grow very fast and my muscle didn&rsquo;t.&ldquo;This summer I just worked it and exercised it and it&rsquo;s almost right back to normal so I don&rsquo;t feel any pain or anything right now.&ldquo;The right leg is still about a quarter of an inch to a half and inch smaller than the other leg but it feels just as strong so I feel I&rsquo;m pretty well completely healed.&rdquo;Bucyk spent the summer back home in the mountains of British Columbia, fishing and relaxing and lifting weights to strengthen his leg. After 20 years, he is faced with the task of earning a job with the Bruins in competition with five other left wings, one of them (Stan Jonathan) 20 years his junior.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking forward to playing a full year,&rdquo; said Bucyk. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if I&rsquo;ll be playing regular shifts, all shifts. But I want to play. If I feel I can help the club. I&rsquo;ll stay and play. If I can&rsquo;t then I&rsquo;ll retire.&ldquo;Last year was a short year for me. If I hadn&rsquo;t got hurt I would have scored 30 or 35 goals because I had 20 goals halfway through the season. I could have finished off strong. Id like to have a real big year this year.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-02889/4031887-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="1706" height="1341"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOSTON NEWCOMERS: Goaltender Rod Grahame from Houston of the WHA, and right winger Dwight Foster, the club&rsquo;s number one draft choice are both expected to be on the Bruins&rsquo; roster when the team takes to the ice in defense of its Adams Division crown. (Photo By Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div>For the record. Bucyk&rsquo;s statistics read like this: With the Bruins, 1,383 games. 540 goals, 781 assists and 1,321 points. Overall. 1.487 games. 551 goals. 800 assists. 1.351 points.He scored 51 goals in the 1970-71 season when he was 35-years-old and he won the Lady Byng twice, once in 1970-71 and again in 1973-74.BRUINS BITS: Two surprise walkons at the Bruins camp were Sean Shanahan, the ex-Canadien centerman who was cut loose by the Colorado Rockies, and Don Awrey, once a Bruin, later with St. Louis, Montreal and Pittsburgh.Awrey still has ties to the Penguins, who offered him a two-way (majorminor pay scales) contract the day before he was to become a completely free agent.He turned down the Pittsburgh offer,&rdquo; said Bruins GM Harry Sinden. &ldquo;We can use him through the preseason in any way we want. But if we sign him to a regular contract then we have to make compensation to Pittsburgh.&rdquo;Author George Plimpton, who once quarterbacked the Detroit Lions and played an exhibition game with the Boston Celtics, all for the fun of it, is scheduled to play goal for the Bruins in an extra period Oct. 6 against the Philadelphia Flyers.Cherry is impressed with the play of University of New Hampshire products Bob Miller and Joe Rando, tabbing them as tough competitors. &#9632;

f0009-01

Bucyk Pares Weight For Return To Lineup

<div class="byline">BY HARRY KLAFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02864/4031956-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">EDDIE WESTFALL&hellip; Admits End May Be Near (Photo by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;&ldquo;Age hath privilege,&rdquo; or so goes the old saying. Everywhere, of course, but on the ice.It&rsquo;s hard to imagine the N.Y. Islanders as anything but young, even after five full seasons in the NHL, the last three of which have been spent among the upper echelons. However time stands still for no man. and those Islanders who were old enough to remember the six team league discovered added meaning at this year&rsquo;s training camp.Although the Isles have stood pat over the last couple of years, there was increasing evidence that this would not prevail for another semester. The two Swedish imports&mdash;goaltender Goran Hogosta, and defenseman Stefan Persson&mdash;are top candidates to win jobs, along with a half dozen kids who have been outstanding in Central League play.In pro hockey, as in other sports, the eye is always on the future. The present can only be enjoyed by the Stanley Cup champion all others continue the never-ending battle to build and re-build. Consequently, when a decision must be made regarding the deletion of talent, it is the old-pro who is finding himself with the prospect of standing on the outside looking in.Training camp was far from fun and games for many Islander vets, notably Bill MacMillan, Bert Marshall, and Eddie Westfall.Actually of the three, camp was most enjoyable for MacMillan. He knew from the very beginning that he was not in contention for a spot on Islanders, a status he had enjoyed since coming over from the Atlanta Flames in May of 1973.&ldquo;Yakky&rdquo; had earlier been appointed the player-coach of the Fort Worth Texans, the Isles&rsquo; Central League farm. He had been a seven-year NHL veteran, a career which followed a five-year stint with Canada&rsquo;s National and Olympic teams.Statistically, MacMillan had never been more than a utility man, scoring 22 goals as a rookie with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1970-71, but never coming close to that figure again. But Bill had always been recognized as a good hockey man, and above that, a gentleman. He deserves every chance at a career behind the bench.For the 35-year-old Marshall, things were not quite as critical, but for the first time in more than a decade, he reported to training camp not knowing whether his status was that of a full-timer or a part-timer. He spent a good part of last season among the walking wounded, and missed the Islanders&rsquo; first six playoff games.Despite the injuries. Bert remained a highly capable defenseman. Goaltender Bill Smith had reiterated many times during the playoffs that he felt good as long as Bert was out there. But age and a troublesome left knee make him questionable as a long-term asset.The biggest problem facing Marshall&rsquo;s return to the starting lineup is incredible depth the Islanders have on the blue line. Denis Potvin and Dave Lewis are approaching their prime; Gerry Hart is at his; Pat Price is still only 22; and Jean Potvin is valuable because he can play right wing and the point on power plays.To add to the dogfight, Persson is considered capable of stepping right in, and the Isles are equally high on Bob Lorimer, who was regarded as the top defenseman in the farm system last year.Westfall knows that his best days are behind him. but the 37-year-old right winger would like to keep going as long as there&rsquo;s some life in the of legs. Eddie gave up the team&rsquo;s captaincy to Clark Gillies mid-way through last season, creating speculation that he might not even be around for the bell this time around.He&rsquo;ll play for the Isles this year, but by his own admission, this could be it. Even if he can&rsquo;t take a regular line shift, he&rsquo;s still invaluable as a penalty killer (he&rsquo;s still one of the best in recent NHL history) and as a face-off specialist.This is the time of year that brash rookies go all out to make an impression and gain a spot on the team. And it&rsquo;s hard for the vets that they&rsquo;re trying to replace to blame them. It seems only a short time ago that the roles were reversed.ISLAND SOUNDS: Rookie Mike Bossy was the only freshman to practice with the &ldquo;regulars&rdquo; in daily drills. The hot prospect had to slow things down a bit when he suffered a bruised shoulder early in camp&hellip;Although three&rsquo;s a crowd. GM Bill Torrey has not dismissed the idea of going with a trio of netminders&mdash;Hogosta, Smith, and Glenn Resch&hellip;Bobby Nystrom has put last year&rsquo;s financial troubles behind him and is concentrating solely on hockey. Nystrom was going great guns last year until he learned that his former agent had milked him of almost $150,000. That&rsquo;s when he went into a tailspin. &#9632;

f0010-02

Veterans Caught Up In Islander Swing To Youth Movement

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div>NEW YORK&mdash;&ldquo;We had a good rookie camp,&rdquo; said John Ferguson. &ldquo;Especially Ron Duguay. He is going to be hard to keep off our team.&rdquo;The New York Rangers . general manager was happy over a 5-1-1 rookie exhibition season including a 6-3 win over the Islanders rookies, following a 4-4 tie.&ldquo;Duguay,&rdquo; mused Fergy, &ldquo;is a faster skater than we thought. He&rsquo;s six-foot-two and 210-pounds and can really barrel.&rdquo;If the Rangers were happy with Duguay, they were cautious in their appraisal of Hardy Aastrom, the 26-year-old Swedish import, who has been pencilled in as one of the team&rsquo;s two regular goalies.&ldquo;I am a standup goalie, but I haven&rsquo;t been standing up,&rdquo; said Hardy. I&rsquo;m on my knees too much, swimming. It&rsquo;s like I was trying to swim back to Sweden.&rdquo;A technical analysis might say that the six-foot, 170-pound native of Skelleftea, Sweden, was having trouble with rebounds off the back boards. In Europe the boards are further behind the net than in North America. Aastrom&rsquo;s inexperience at planting his foot next to the near post, when a puck is shot off the back boards has led to a couple of goals against him.&ldquo;The backboard thing is the biggest problem. Hardy has to learn to react automatically when the puck is shot against the boards,&rdquo; said Ferguson.Phil Esposito, the Rangers captain predicts flatly that New York doesn&rsquo;t have a goalie problem.&ldquo;John Davidson will be an All Star by mid-season,&rdquo; said Espo. &ldquo;He was on his way last year when he got hurt.&rdquo;Davidson is completely recovered from a summertime softball accident which broke three small bones in his foot. This is a make or break season for the likeable six-foot-three, 205-pound goalie. It will be his fifth season in the NHL, after being the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; number one draft in 1973.Jean Guy Talbot has worked the Blueshirts in two hour drills every day. Although nothing is definite he staged a white versus blue scrimmage with the following lines. Esposito-Dan Newman-Lucien DeBlois; Bud Stefanski-Greg Polis-Rod Gilbert and Wayne Dillon-Benoit Gosselin-Bill Goldsworthy were in white. Wearing the blue were Greg Holst-Nick Fotiu-Eddie Johnstone; Walter Tkaczuk-Steve Vickers and Don Murdoch with Duguay-Pat Hickey and Ken Hodge.Gilbert surprised one and all with a helmet, courtesy of his experience in the Vienna World championship last May. And Tkaczuk showed up with hair bleached almost blonde from the sun.Despite the Rangers obvious strengths up front, their goaling situation still calls for careful scrutiny. If Aastrom needs experience, the Rangers can&rsquo;t go the same route-they travelled last season when Ferguson went with Gilles Gratton all year even after it was obvious he wasn&rsquo;t the answer.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011019/4031994-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="569" height="575"><figcaption class="caption-body">PHIL ESPOSITO</figcaption></div>Gratton, incidentally, accepted his fate with real cool when it was announced he was being sent to New Haven.&ldquo;I expected to be sent to New Haven,&rdquo; he informed one and all.Ferguson is doing something about his goaling, hiring Les Binkley, the former Pittsburgh Penguin netminder as goalie coach.&ldquo;Aastrom says &lsquo;Ja&rsquo; but I&rsquo;m not sure he understands me,&rdquo; says Binkley.Ferguson and Binkley were pleased with Lynn Middlebrook and Tom McNamara, both collegians. Middlebrook may get to play in one of the Rangers&rsquo; pre-season games. But essentially, these players are futures.A dark horse on the roster is Jim Troy, a six-foot-two, 205-pound Boston native. Troy can fight with anyone in hockey, the question is whether he can play the game well enough to earn his keep in the NHL. New Haven is more likely, but Troy&rsquo;s presence shows Ferguson is looking everywhere. Jim played with the New England Whalers and Binghamton Dusters last year.BLUE CHIPS: Rangers are using a charter air service to fly to their preseason games&hellip;Ed Smith, a Long Beach native became the first Islander to play for the Rangers when he scored the first goal in the Rangers&rsquo; rookies win over the Islander rookies Sept. 20&hellip;A total of 29 Ranger games will be carried over WOR TV Channel 9, with the 11 other away contests being carried on either radio station WNEW or WMCA&hellip; Parker MacDonald, the general manager-coach of the Rangers&rsquo; farm at New Haven is in camp and working with Ferguson and Talbot&hellip;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-02855/4031987-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="574" height="691"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN DAVIDSON &hellip;Make Or Break Season</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0011-01

Rangers’ Goaling Remains Shaky

<h2>New Tune For Bobby</h2>DURING THE PAST FOUR seasons, Bobby Kromm coached one of hockey&rsquo;s most pacifist&mdash;and best&mdash;clubs, the Winnipeg Jets.The Jets imported a large group of European players, seven Swedes and two Finns, integrated them with some good Canadian-breds and climbed to the top of the World Hockey Association ladder. Few teams in the game worked with the skill that the Jets displayed&mdash;superb skating and perhaps the best passing game in hockey.They also adopted a non-violent approach because the Europeans simply don&rsquo;t regard the intimidation garbage that litters North American hockey as a part of the game.The style which the Jets employed didn&rsquo;t hurt them on the ice or at the box office. They won the WHA title in &lsquo;76 and lost a seven-game final with Quebec Nordiques in 77.Kromm frequently delivered scathing monologues about the tactics opposition teams used against the Jets, the hacking and scrapping tries to intimidate the Swedes.This season, Kromm is coaching a team, Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League, which is the antithesis of the Jets. The Wings have been down so long that anything looks like up, and Kromm and new general manager Ted Lindsay are trying to turn the club around.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011039/4032025-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="527" height="637"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOBBY KROMM</figcaption></div>The Red Wings have been an aggressive team for the past two seasons and it probably was a tough decision for the Detroit management to decide if training camp should be on the ice or a set of monkey-bars. Most of the players Lindsay was able to round up were the choppers, hackers and hard-to-handles which other teams didn&rsquo;t want.Thus, Kromm, who was a disciple of the slick, pacifist hockey delivered by the Jets, now finds himself in charge of a team of the type which, last season, drew his scorn.But that juxtaposition doesn&rsquo;t bother him.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s an old race-track saying &lsquo;horses for courses&rsquo;,&rdquo; Kromm said. &ldquo;This season, it&rsquo;s a different horse on a different course for me.&rdquo;<h2>Discipline His Approach</h2>KROMM READILY CONCEDES that he would have liked to have Anders Hedberg, Ulf Nilsson, Lars-Erik Sjoberg and Dan Laabraten accompany him to Detroit from Winnipeg.&ldquo;It was a great pleasure to coach those players who had such great skill,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The Jets&rsquo; Europeans took a terrible hammering but they just kept on playing hockey. They were men of great courage and supreme self-control. Some of them learned and started to hit back, which got the hackers off their backs.&rdquo;Kromm claims that it&rsquo;s merely a question of a coach handling the players he has available to him in the best possible way.&ldquo;When you have players like I had in Winnipeg, the approach you take is one thing,&rdquo; Kromm continued. &ldquo;But with the Wings, where we&rsquo;re launching a long rebuilding program, I have a different type of player so I have to take an approach that utilizes their talents to the best advantage.&ldquo;One thing is common in both styles: I want discipline, good conditioning and full effort.&rdquo;<h2>No Problems With Ted</h2>KROMM WAS THE &ldquo;mystery coach&rdquo; hired by then&mdash;Wing manager Alex Delvecchio in the summer of 1976. When Lindsay assumed command of the organization last spring, he leaned towards Larry Wilson as his coach. But Kromm had a deal, Lindsay fulfilled it and Wilson was assigned to the farm team in Kansas City.There have been predictions of trouble between Kromm and Lindsay, both of whom are strong personalities. But Kromm shoots down any such notions.&ldquo;Ted and I have one goal and that&rsquo;s to get this team turned around on its way back to&rsquo;respectability,&rdquo; Kromm said. &ldquo;And we agree on the approach we have to take through discipline and dedication by every man in the organization.&ldquo;Sure, the Wings will play an aggressive brand of hockey and, by that, I don&rsquo;t mean a lot of brawls. It&rsquo;s hard-checking, take-the-man-out hockey we&rsquo;re looking for.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Can Kromm Sweet Talk Downtrodden Red Wings ?

<div class="byline">BY LARRY BORTSTEIN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02878/4032056-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">WILF PAIEMENT&hellip; Wants 50-Goal Season (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>DENVER&mdash;Wilf Paiement is tired of the controversies that swirled around him all during the off-season, and he wants to get on with his playing career and his role as new captain of the Rockies.The outstanding young right winger of the Colorado Rockies was criticized both for comments he made about some teammates and for what many thought overly rough play at the world championship tournament in Vienna.Paiement would like to put both matters to rest.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really sorry about what I said about those guys,&rdquo; Wilf said before donning his equipment and skating out on the ice at the Rockies&rsquo; training base, the South Suburban Arena in suburban Littleton, Colo.Paiement had leveled criticism at the Montreal Canadiens for the deals in which they sent Ron Andruff, Sean Shanahan, and John Van Boxmeer to the Rockies last season and critized the players themselves. None of the three lived up to expectations, although Van Boxmeer missed a lot of playing time because of injury. Shanahan is no longer with the team, having gone to the Boston Bruins.&ldquo;I originally said what I said when we were losing all those games at the end of last season.&rdquo; Paiement recalled. &ldquo;I guess I was frustrated. We had a playoff shot by just winning a few, but we didn&rsquo;t do it.&rdquo;Colorado compiled a winless streak of 18 games, including an entirely winless March, which left them buried in the Smythe Division cellar at season&rsquo;s end.Paiement is less apologetic for his actions in Vienna, though he again pointed to &ldquo;frustration&rdquo; as contributing to his fray with a Russian player.&ldquo;We were losing 8-0,&rdquo; Paiement recalled, &ldquo;and this guy was kicking me in the ankle. The ankle hurt for two weeks after that. In international rules, you&rsquo;re thrown out automatically for fighting. In the NHL, you just drop the gloves and fight if a guy keeps doing that to you. But I couldn&rsquo;t do it there, and the officials weren&rsquo;t being very fair. Johnny Wilson, who was our coach, said the same thing.&ldquo;Anyway, I brought the stick up a little and got the guy in the face. I got a &lsquo;five&rsquo; for drawing blood. He got nothing, and he couldn&rsquo;t have been too hurt, because he came out on the next shift. The same guy got involved with Eric Vail. Vail got kicked down to the ice, and as he fell his stick came up. They kicked him out of the game. Hell, what did they want us to do, let the Russians do anything they want? They&rsquo;re very sneaky players. They ended up winning that game 11-1, and it was pretty embarrassing, I&rsquo;ll tell you. But you have to do something to keep your respect.&rdquo;Respect is something which Wilf can count on, and his reputation around the rinks of the NHL already is considerable, especially for one so young. Though he already has logged three big league campaigns, Paiement will mark only his 22nd birthday on Oct. 16, two days after the Rockies open their 1977-78 regular season. He will take over as the league&rsquo;s youngest captain replacing Simon Nolet who has retired.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s very mature,&rdquo; is the way Paiement is described by Colorado vice president-general manager Ray Miron. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a quiet kind of inspirational player. The guys look up to him. His potential is unlimited. He&rsquo;s already a superstar. I would say he&rsquo;s already the third best right winger in the league, behind only Guy Lafleur and Lanny McDonald.&rdquo;Wilf moved into the rarefied scoring atmosphere of top NHL players last season. His 81 points tied him for 15th in the league with Atlanta&rsquo;s Tom Lysiak, but his 41 goals&mdash;for a club which recorded only 226&mdash;ranked sixth, behind such esteemed names as Steve Shutt, Lafleur, Marcel Dionne. Rick MacLeish, and McDonald. He now has 88 goals in the NHL.Paiement&rsquo;s ambition for this season is tied in. possibly unhappily for the Rockies, with the fact that he has not signed a contract with the Colorado club. The original three-year pact he signed with the Kansas City Scouts in 1974-75 ran out last season, and Wilf is playing out his option.&ldquo;I think I can score close to 50 goals this season,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the kind of player I want to become. I want to prove my value as a player before I think about another contract. I&rsquo;ve got no deadline as far as sitting down with the Rockies. I want to produce. I&rsquo;m not the kind of guy that sits out in the crease and says, Hey, give me the puck.&rsquo; I play a team game, and I want to do everything I can to show what kind of a leader I can be.Obviously, Colorado hopes Paiement has a great season&mdash;and many more&mdash;in the Rockies&rsquo; uniform. But in the business of sports, it has been shown, an attractive, talented player can find a way to move elsewhere if unsatisfied with where he is. The Rockies dearly hope this doesn&rsquo;t happen with their young superstar.ICE PEBBLES: Mike Dwyer, the Rockies&rsquo; fifth-round pick in last summer&rsquo;s amateur draft, and Joe Contini, the eighth-round selection, came to Colorado&rsquo;s training camp with letter os intent,&rdquo; meaning the amount of money for which they&rsquo;ll eventually sign will depend on what league they end up in. Dwyer is a left winger from Niagara Falls, and Contini is a center from St. Catharines&hellip; Michel Plasse wasn&rsquo;t in camp for the Monday, Sept. 19 opening, and the Rockies said they were having some difficulty with goaltenders agent But Plasse, the workhorse in the Rockies&rsquo; nets last season, came in on Wednesday, Sept. 21. looking ready to go&hellip;Barry Elson, who has been serving the Rockies since June as a special consultant in the sales and marketing areas, has been instrumental in the launching of the club&rsquo;s concerted season ticket drives. He previously served both the Islanders and basketball Nets in similar capacities at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. &#9632;

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Tired Of Controversies, Paiement Laments Past

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;The bell has gone for round four in the bout between colitis and Derek Sanderson.This time, the 30-year-old native of Niagara Falls. Ont., may be down and out.It all came about as Sanderson was reporting to the Vancouver Canucks training camp in Vancouver. He said when he arrived that he had experienced&rsquo;the &ldquo;worst summer of my life&rdquo; and that he had had nothing but pain and aggravation both emotionally and financially. As it turned out. the stress endured by Sanderson during his engagement to New York model Jill Duis and his problems with having too many investments to suit his generous income, have had a severe effect on his health, and he reported to camp 14 pounds overweight.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01998/4032094-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="518" height="1459"><figcaption class="caption-body">DON LEVER &hellip; May Go To Center</figcaption></div>Colitis, which is a severe inflammation of the intestines, is generally brought on by nerves and can be aggravated by a poor diet. For Sanderson, it is his fourth go with a disease that one never really gets over without radical surgery Twice in his seemingly long history in the NHL he has been hospitalized for three and 10 day sessions. As Sanderson himself diagnosed before the internal medicine specialist, he may have to go in for another hospital bout at best, and at worst quit hockey altogether.&ldquo;It gets worse every time I have another go with it,&rdquo; Sanderson said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m overweight and it&rsquo;s all here in my stomach.Canucks general manager Jake Milford immediately shipped Sanderson off to a specialist, and the results were expected to take two or three days before a course of action could be determined.In the meantime, the center position at the Canucks camp is beginning to look pretty thin.I guess that&rsquo;s why the Bruins gave up on me so early,&rdquo; said Sanderson. &ldquo;They knew this thing wasn&rsquo;t going to get any better. I wish I had taken better care of myself, I&rsquo;ll tell you the thought of losing my colon at the age of 30 doesn&rsquo;t do much for me. If I have to quit hockey, there is always something else I can do. Write a book, make movies.&rdquo;If indeed it is the end of the hockey road for Sanderson, it would be a severe loss to the game, even though Emile Francis may not agree. He was one of hockey&rsquo;s very best forecheckers and his ability to communicate with the press was a welcome relief compared to many of the mundane interviews dispensed by hockey players.With Sanderson&rsquo;s future in doubt, the Canucks immediately had to consider a replacement. The first reaction on the part of Orland Kurtenbach is probably to move newly appointed captain Don Lever over from left wing into the middle, which would open up a spot where the Canucks have an abundance of players.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02819/4032087-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="1724" height="1630"><figcaption class="caption-body">Derek Sanderson reported to training camp overweight and despondent.</figcaption></div>But Lever, although one of the team&rsquo;s two best club players along with Jack Mcllhargey, would prefer to stay on left wing, where he generally gets many more chances to score and tends to play more offensively.One of the brightest prospects in training camp has been a big fellow named Rob Tudor, who had over 100 points with Fort Wayne last season. He has impressed at center even though he has spent much of his career as a winger. Similarly there is Sid Veysey, who was supposed to be too small to play in the NHL but now over 180 pounds and moving extremely well.One of these two may be worked in with the other three centers Mike Walton, Chris Oddleifson and Ralph Stewart for the training camp, and if they or one of the three holdovers can&rsquo;t hack it, a trade would most certainly be in the offing.Lever tends to be an excellent defensive center, but his one possible weakness, handling the puck, gives him problems on offense. And the whole issue of Sanderson and the center spot are giving Kurtenbach headaches.&ldquo;We would certainly not be suffering by moving Donnie over to center, as it would open up left wing. But we&rsquo;ll just-have to wait and see how these young players work out. They may be able to help us.&rdquo;The left wingers fighting for positions include Ron Sedlbauer, Brad Gassoff, Jere Gillis, Garry Monahan, Glen Richardson while Rob Flockhart could move over from the right side if necessary. &#9632;

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Sanderson’s Hockey Career May Be Ended

<div class="byline">BY ALAN TRUEX</div>ATLANTA&mdash;Last year Greg Fox was an anonymous face in the Atlanta Flames&rsquo; training camp, a last-round draft choice with no professional contract and little chance of acquiring one.But this year he reported for the opening of the Flames&rsquo; camp as their most highly-valued rookie and a good bet to play on the Atlanta defense this season.&ldquo;The big difference,&rdquo; Fox said, &ldquo;is that I got a contract coming in this year. The way it ended up last year, I didn&rsquo;t get signed until the end of November.&rdquo;After the Flames refused to sign him in last year&rsquo;s camp. Fox went to Tulsa, the Atlanta farm club in the Central Hockey League.Again, no offer.While most players might have given up then. Fox remained undaunted. &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t like I was struggling,&rdquo; he recalled. &ldquo;I thought I had a pretty good camp last year. And in that 10-game tryout at Tulsa. I had eight points and a decent plusminus.&ldquo;It was just a matter that Atlanta wasn&rsquo;t in the financial position to sign me. And it wasn&rsquo;t as though I was asking for an outrageous contract.&rdquo;After leaving Tulsa, Fox had minorleague tryouts in Greensboro, N.C. and Kalamazoo, Mich.It was in Kalamazoo that his luck turned around. There was little else it could do.He was there just two days before the Flames called on him again. This time they brought along a checkbook.&ldquo;Atlanta made that trade in November with Vancouver.&rdquo; Fox explained. &ldquo;They traded Larry Carriere, and that might have opened up a little money.&rdquo;The departure of Carriere also opened up a defenseman&rsquo;s position in the organization.So the Flames signed Fox and sent him to Halifax to be taught defense by Al MacNeil, who is also the minor-league coach for the Montreal Canadiens.&ldquo;I gotta give Al MacNeil a lot of credit,&rdquo; Fox said. &ldquo;He just showed me an awful lot about playing defense.&rdquo;Fox is not the first Flame to benefit from MacNeil&rsquo;s tutelage.Dave Shand played hesitant, confused hockey in exhibition games last year, so he was assigned to MacNeil. When Shand rejoined the Flames a month later, he looked like an experienced pro defenseman. In his first 12 games in the NHL. he was on ice for no goals against.So perhaps it figures that by the time MacNeil had Fox for most of one season, the Flames had a prospect whom a lot of teams wanted. Atlanta general manager Cliff Fletcher claims the only minorleaguer he&rsquo;s had who attracted as much trade interest was Willi Plett&mdash;last year&rsquo;s rookie of the year.In Fox, the Flames know they have a bargain, although probably not of the Plett magnitude. Fox was Atlanta&rsquo;s 11th and final draft choice in 1973, when he had three years remaining at the University of Michigan.Flames&rsquo; scout Ian McKenzie, said, &ldquo;If you could see what he was when we drafted him, and if you could see him today, there&rsquo;s no comparison.&rdquo;Fox understates the matter when he says, &ldquo;1 consider myself a late developer.&rdquo; Born in Vancouver, he played two years of second-level junior hockey before starting a four-year scholarship to Michigan.Besides Fox&rsquo; size (six-foot-one, 192-pounds), the thing the Flames like most about him is his continually improving skating speed.&ldquo;There used to be a train of thought,&rdquo; McKenzie said, &ldquo;that a guy was either a good skater or a bad one and you can&rsquo;t do anything about it. But I think it can be improved 100 percent.&ldquo;While the other guys went on a holiday all summer, Greg went right home and started working. He never left the ice.&rdquo;Indeed, that is almost the case. Fox spent July taking power-skating lessons from Laura Stramm, who gives the same course to the New York Islanders. In August. Fox skated at his own hockey school in British Columbia. After that, he worked out for two weeks &ldquo;in full&rsquo; equipment&rdquo; with a junior hockey team.Thus Fox came to camp well-conditioned and supremely confident. He seemed to have forgotten all the past disappointments when he said. &ldquo;The step from college to here wasn&rsquo;t all that great.&rdquo;FLAME NOTES: The Flames reported to camp generally in excellent shape. The most notable exception was John Gould, who is five-foot-11 and is supposed to weigh 185-pounds. He checked in at 204&hellip;Flames president Bob Kent revealed that the team&rsquo;s attendance figures last year &ldquo;were not realistic.&rdquo; He said that although the club reported attendance of almost 13,000 per game, only 11,500 were actually paid.One of the Flames&rsquo; most improved players is left winger Harold Phillipoff. A first-round draft choice last year, the six-foot-three, 220-pound left winger was something of a flop. But in the off-season he improved his skating speed and his shooting skills, and the Flames are confident he will play in the NHL&mdash;if not this year then next.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011020/4032125-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="563" height="656"><figcaption class="caption-body">GREG FOX &hellip;Credits MacNeil</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Flames Glowing Over Fox’s Rise

<div class="byline">BY MIKE DENNIS</div>MONTREAL&mdash;You&rsquo;re the Montreal Canadiens and you&rsquo;re into the fifth game of the season and you haven&rsquo;t won a game yet! Worried? No, not if it&rsquo;s the exhibition season as it is and not if you&rsquo;re Serge Savard.Savard, who donned the &ldquo;C&rdquo; as interim captain for the Habs last year when Yvan Cournoyer was forced out of the lineup with back problems, and who still wears his captain&rsquo;s jersey at practices, explained that even with the Canadiens&rsquo; great tradition of winning that there was no extra pressure to win the exhibition games.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re for the kids, to give the coaches a chance to see if these guys can play in this league,&rdquo; said Savard, &ldquo;and besides, we should have won a couple of those games, the one in Buffalo (4-3 loss where Montreal lost a 3-1 lead) and Chicago (a 3-3 tie). When we played all our starters you saw what happened, a 3-0 shutout against Toronto.&rdquo;It was the Canadiens&rsquo; first win of the 10-game exhibition slate after a pair of ties and a pair of losses but as Savard was to mention: &ldquo;We started off the same way last year, with two losses, and then we played quite well after that.&rdquo;Well enough, in fact to lose just 10 more games over the season which spanned eight more exhibition matches, the 80-game regular season and 10 playoff matches, ending with a four-game sweep of Boston for the Stanley Cup.Savard, nursing a cold brought on by Montreal&rsquo;s wet weather of late, said that he felt pretty good and that the club had been enjoying a very good training camp.&ldquo;With all of the players coming out of the draft and the decrease in the number of teams around, the competition is getting tougher in camp each year. Camp used to be about six weeks when I started but now it&rsquo;s much shorter and the guys are coming in in better shape, ready to go&rdquo;The Canadiens always look ready to go and with the camp down to a workable size of 25 or so with the departure of forwards Bruce Baker, Peter Lee, Rod Schutt and Paul Woods to the Nova Scotia farm club, the Habs are falling into the forward and defense units which will probably open the season.Savard, who has teamed with Larry Robinson for much of the past two years has been playing alongside Guy Lapointe more of late, but says it doesn&rsquo;t matter with whom or where he plays.&ldquo;It makes no difference to me,&rdquo; said the graceful blueliner, &ldquo;we&rsquo;re all left hand shots anyway and though I broke in playing the right side, I&rsquo;ll play the left, too.&rdquo;He added, &ldquo;There are some advantages to playing the right side when you&rsquo;re a left-hand shot. You get a good look at the net. The only disadvantage I can see is when you&rsquo;re at the point and the puck comes off the boards you have to stop it and turn around to get a shot on net.&rdquo;Turning, of course, is no problem for the graceful Savard, whose &ldquo;spinerama&rdquo; move is still leaving opposing players lerching awkwardly grasping at the air.&ldquo;I picked up the move from Doug Harvey when I was in junior,&rdquo; explained Savard about the sudden stop and change in direction which enables him to break out of his end and launch another Canadiens&rsquo; attack. &ldquo;I think Harvey was the best defensive player I&rsquo;ve ever seen, while Bobby Orr was the best all-around defenseman.&rdquo;When asked about the leaders on the Canadiens, Savard said that there were several players who emerged as leaders &ldquo;All of our veterans help the rookies and try to set an example for the younger players. They might come to me, or to Yvan (Cournoyer) or Guy (Lapointe) if they have a problem. We&rsquo;re a close team and the guys all get along well and try to help one another.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01982/4032163-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="529" height="708"><figcaption class="caption-body">YVAN COURNOYER</figcaption></div>Savard, agreeing with coach Scotty Bowman&rsquo;s philosophy, is forgetting about last year and the clubs record of only eight losses during the regular season Said Savard: &ldquo;I figure that this team is going to be as good as or maybe even better than last year, but we may lose more games. The other teams are getting better, too.&rdquo;So while the team gets the kinks out in the exhibition schedule trying rookies and warming its finely tuned engine, the players are psyching themselves for the grind of the 80-game schedule ahead. And when those games begin the only question is going to be: How can we stop the Canadiens?<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02791/4032156-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="1179" height="1037"><figcaption class="caption-body">SERGE SAVARD&hellip; Says Pre-Season Time For Kids</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Slow Exhibition Start Doesn’t Worry Canadiens

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01826/4032194-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">PIERRE JARRY&hellip; Wearing Brace After Knee Surgery</figcaption></div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;The nervousness boiled within left winger Pierre Jarry before the Minnesota North Stars took the ice for their first training camp scrimmage.Who could blame the 28-year-old Montreal-born hockey player? This would be the proving ground to see how much progress he made during a summer of therapy in trying to come back from knee surgery.&ldquo;I worked with a leg-strengthening device in Montreal all summer.&rdquo; Jarry explained, &ldquo;1 ran and I ran and I ran And I walked 27 holes of golf everyday. I&rsquo;m in excellent shape&hellip;but until you step out there and test yourself, there is some question in your own mind.&rdquo;Jarry was acquired by the North Stars from the Detroit farm system during the 1975-76 season and developed into a capable scoring left winger for Minnesota with 21 goals and 18 assists in 59 games.The five-foot-11. 182-pound forward was off to a fast start in 1976-77, scoring eight goals and 13 assists his first 20 games when the North Stars paid a visit to Toronto in November. Trying to absorb a check. Jarry felt something pop in his left knee.A few days later, he underwent the surgery to repair the cartilage and ligament trouble, and he was as good as finished for the remainder of last season&rsquo;s schedule. He did appear in one late season game, but obviously lacked the speed and agility shown before the injury.Pierre&rsquo;s desire to play convinced me to give him a chance,&rdquo; said coach Ted Harris. He had pestered me constantly for several weeks so I finally gave in. He just wasn&rsquo;t ready for a comeback at the time.&rdquo;The time would be in this September&rsquo;s training camp, and Jarry was more than ready for the opportunity. Strapping on a knee brace. Pierre took the ice and discovered that, yes, this was the same game he chose as a profession when the New York Rangers made him a No. 1 draft choice in 1969.On the second day of scrimmages, Jarry rediscovered another confidence builder. He could still put the puck in the net. During one session, he scored three goals and assisted on two others.Jarry was back. &ldquo;I feel great,&rdquo; said Pierre. &ldquo;The knee is giving me not problems at all. I&rsquo;m happy to be involved again. The past season was a painful experience that I never want to go through again&hellip;ever.&rdquo;&ldquo;Pierre has always had the ability to put the puck in the net,&rdquo; said Harris &ldquo;He looks pretty good out there, but it&rsquo;s still early. The next couple of weeks should tell for sure.&rdquo;The North Stars apparently were counting on Jarry&rsquo;s comeback, must have had it in mind when they elected not to offer left winger Ernie Hicke, the team&rsquo;s leading goal scorer last season, a contract. Hicke, who had 30 goals, signed with Los Angeles as a free agent.Jarry showed in early training camp workouts that a comeback is possible, but the crafty left winger still faces a fight for his job. In addition to returning left wingers Steve Jensen. Jim Roberts and Richard Nantais, the Stars added Swedish forward Per-Olov Brasar who has been very impressive.Comebacks are not new to Jarry. In his second pro season, he scored 46 goals and 46 assists for Omaha and led the Central League in scoring.Jarry scored three goals in 34 games for the New York Rangers in 1971-72 and was traded to Toronto, where he picked up three more and came back with 19 goals and 18 assists in 74 games in 1972-73. But the next season, he was traded again to Detroit and spent the next two years moving up and down.The Red Wings had no plans to recall him at all in 1975-76, when the North Stars rescued him off the bench of the New Haven team in the AHL with a high recommendation from Harris, who played briefly with the Wings near the end of his active career.So the determination is there, boiling within Pierre Jarry.STAR DUST: Determination was the theme of Minnesota&rsquo;s camp with so many spots up for the taking&hellip;The Stars played with eight rookies last season and Harris indicated that as many as five new faces could be in the opening night lineup in Montreal&hellip;Veteran right winger Bill Fairbairn signed a new contract just before training camp opened. Fairbairn and Jensen reported slightly overweight, but were rounding into prescribed poundage quickly&hellip;Jensen, who has been working with weights, feels he can play at 200 pounds without loss of speed from the prescribed 195&hellip;GM Jack Gordon does not expect a lot of movement in this years new waiver draft, but feels that it will become more beneficial to lower bracket teams in future years&hellip; &#9632;

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Comeback Trail Challenge For North Stars’ Wing Jarry

<div class="byline">BY RICH PASSAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01717/4032239-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="569" height="971"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB WHIDDEN&hellip;Media Director</figcaption></div>CLEVELAND&mdash;July 26, 1977 will always be a big daz for Bob Whidden. That&rsquo;s the day he joined the National Hockey League.But the likeable Whidden. who plied his trade behind 40 pounds of hockey equipment for many years, is doing something quite different now that he&rsquo;s in the bigs.The former goaltender for the defunct Cleveland Crusaders of the World Hockey Association is the new director of media and community relations for the Barons.And is he ever happy. I&rsquo;m going to have a lot of fun,&rdquo; said Whidden, now 31 but graying.The Sudbury native was always one of the most popular Crusaders with the fans and media and seems tailor-made for his new job.&ldquo;I always got along with people and now I&rsquo;ve got the chance to be in the NHL. &ldquo; said Whidden, who will double as the color commentator with radio play-by-play man Larry Hirsch. &ldquo;Hockey is my life.&rdquo;The stocky Whidden considers himself fortunate to start so high on the PR ladder so quickly. But it didn&rsquo;t come as a complete surprise to him since he had been seeking the post since last April.The decision to quit hockey was made easy by a sore back despite two operations.&ldquo;I played about 25 games with Mohawk Valley (in the North American League) and did not do too well,&rdquo; he recalled. &ldquo;I lived in a motel and that&rsquo;s not the right atmosphere to play hockey&hellip; at least not for me.&rdquo;Back in the western Cleveland suburb of North Olmsted, wife Irma and the three children were alone. Whidden was not happy with the situation.Since taking over his new job. Whidden and Eddie Coen, the Barons&rsquo; PR consultant, have made countless trips throughout northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania spreading the word about the Barons.&ldquo;Selling hockey and the Barons is the tool I use,&rdquo; Whidden explained. &ldquo;This is a growing organization and I&rsquo;m going to grow with it. I&rsquo;m going to take it one step at a time.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02610/4032232-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="1185" height="1213"><figcaption class="caption-body">HOT FLAME: The Atlanta Flames are expecting big things from center Guy Chouinard this season. Chouinard made an impressive start with the Flames in 1976-77 and Atlanta coach Fred Creighton feels this is the year he will come into his own. (Photo by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div>He is using his association with the Crusaders to help bring back some recalcitrant fans of that club who chose not to support the NHL.&ldquo;At the same time, we also have to get back the old time Barons&rsquo; fans,&rdquo; said Whidden, sounding more and more like a PR man.As far as donning the big pads again are concerned, forget it. Not even in training camp. Whidden has found himself a new home and he rather likes it.BARONS&rsquo; BITS: The Barons paid a little insurance on the future when they signed left winger Rick Hampton to a new three-year contract. The erstwhile ex-defenseman was entering the option year of his old contract&hellip;Also signed to a contract (for one year) was center Dave Gardner, originally allowed to become a free agent after his contract had expired&hellip;The Barons got a taste of regularseason scheduling in their first three exhibition games. They played three in three nights against three opponents (Detroit. St Louis and Pittsburgh) in three cities (Windsor, Ont., Port Huron, Mich., and the Barons&rsquo; training site at Kent State (0.) University) &hellip;Defenseman Jeff Allan and right winger Mike Boychuk were no-shows at camp&hellip;General manager Harry Howell, perhaps realizing a need on defense, is angling to sign a veteran free agent rearguard&hellip; Early standouts in camp have been rookie right wingers Mike Crombeen, Chico&rsquo; Chicoine and Guy Lash&hellip;Center Kris Manery, a stickout performer for the University of Michigan the last four years, signed a multi-year contract. He is the younger brother of defenseman Randy Manery of Los Angeles&hellip;The Barons&rsquo; front office is hopeful of a sellout for the home opener (Oct. 15) against the Washington Capitals.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03485/4032225-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="1181" height="980"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE GARDNER&hellip; Signed One-Year Contract</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Former Goaler ‘Hockey Salesman’

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01734/4032277-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">CLIFF KOROLL&hellip; Hawk With Highest Metabolic Rating</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 CanadaCHICAGO&mdash;Physical fitness.&ldquo;I could feel the difference in the first week of training camp,&rdquo; said Captain Keith Magnuson. &ldquo;I was able to get my second wind in situations where I used to be tired.&rdquo;Physical fitness.&ldquo;We practice longer than ever before,&rdquo; said Cliff Koroll. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s something different every day and it&rsquo;s so much fun that you don&rsquo;t realize you&rsquo;re working.&rdquo;Physical fitness.&ldquo;I look up at the clock now and an hour and a half of practice has gone by,&rdquo; said Phil Russell. &ldquo;I used to look up and only 10 minutes had gone by.&rdquo;Suffice it is to say&mdash;and it is early&mdash;that the Black Hawks are relaxing less and enjoying it more so far this young, very young, hockey season.Their new general manager-coach, Bob Pulford, has instituted all sorts of stratagems to put the Chicago franchise in a shape it has not been in for several seasons. Good shape.Step one was construction of a gymnasium beside the team&rsquo;s locker room. There, at a variety of machines designed to develop everything but your left ear lobe, the athletes visit each day for pit stops that will someday, sometime, some hope, provide the extra breath in the last minute of a meaningful game.&ldquo;There are five basic components of fitness: flexibility, agility, power, strength and endurance,&rdquo; explained Tom Sattler, a 37-year-old professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago Circle.&ldquo;What we are doing is insuring the body against injury. If these players do the calisthenics properly, and work at the mechanical devices as they should, when the season begins, all they&rsquo;ll need is a maintenance program two days a week.&ldquo;There are a few guys who will mumble about the value of the program. But we try to make it fun, by putting in things like the frustration (punching) bag. And after the season, we will write a PT (physical training) prescription for the summer.&rdquo;Sattler, an ex-jock himself, has helped a couple of other Chicago athletes succeed through extracurricular grunting and groaning&mdash;Steve Stone, a White Sox pitcher who had arm problems, and Bob Asher, a former Chicago Bear footballer who once upon a time had a pain in the back.Besides the gymnasium, Pulford had his employees submit to off-season stress tests that measured who had the most heavenly body. And the envelope please: Cliff Koroll, right wing.&ldquo;He has a metabolic level of 17,&rdquo; said Pulford. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s outstanding. I&rsquo;m impressed by the scores of all our players. They came to camp ready.&rdquo;And if they didn&rsquo;t, they learned soon.Hawk players submitted not only to the PT courses, but two-a-day practices, plus meetings, plus chalk talks, plus curfews. Nobody, but nobody, was allowed to go home&mdash;the team was ensconced at the downtown Bismarck Hotel, where they at least got good rates because the abode is owned by Arthur Wirtz.A school bus picked up the players in the morning, and it deposited them back at the hotel at night. What&rsquo;s more, there was no smoking allowed in either first class or coach.And if a player had a desire for a root beer come nightfall, he had to put away his straw at 11 p.m. That was lights out time, and Pulford made bed checks as only he can make them.&ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t even knock,&rdquo; remarked one athlete, laughing. He has a pass key. so he just walks right in, checks your name off his list, and says &lsquo;good night.&rdquo;And what do you say in return?Good night, sir.&rdquo; said the player, yawning.HAWK TALK: For the second straight season in the country&rsquo;s second largest market, it appears that the Black Hawks will not have a local TV outlet&hellip; Radio arrangements are pending&hellip;Former Black Hawk coach Billy Reay has left hockey. He&rsquo;s taken an executive position with Cameo Container Corp., of Chicago.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02588/4032270-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="573" height="1169"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB PULFORD&hellip;Checking Beds</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Hawks Impose Physical Fitness In Building Players’ Endurance

With the start of the regular season just around the corner, roster positions for inexperienced or borderline players will depend a great deal on the final few exhibition games. And if that&rsquo;s the case with the Pittsburgh Penguins then rookie Jim Hamilton will have probably earned himself a spot with the team.In the Penguins&rsquo; 9-4 triumph against the Cleveland Barons recently, Hamilton scored once in the second period and twice more in the final stanza to help the Penguins win going away.For the rookie right-winger, the Penguins&rsquo; first choice in the amateur draft who played his junior hockey with the London Knights, it was his second, third and fourth goals of the exhibition campaign.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03441/4032308-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="538" height="541"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM HAMILTON &hellip;Penguin Hattrick</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0018-03

NHL’S… Player of the Week

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div>BUFFALO&mdash;Punch Imlach, who had been talking Buffalo trade ever since the end of the 1976-77 season, finally got around to making one after the start of training camp for 1977-78.It didn&rsquo;t involve key players but it did cause something of a stir because it involved two players who were very popular with the fans of their respective cities.The general manager of the Sabres traded Brian Spencer, a 28-year-old left winger, to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Ron Schock, a 34-year-old center.Neither is a high scorer but Spencer certainly is a spectacular player. Schock, on the other hand, is a steady two-way performer.Schock had been captain of the Penguins for several years until he had been asked to resign the week before the deal because the Pittsburgh club has a new coach, Johnny Wilson, and the brass figured Wilson should be permitted to pick his own captain.Strangely enough, Imlach had done the same thing to his team&rsquo;s captain, Jim Schoenfeld, after Marcel Pronovost was named coach of the Sabres and it had caused quite an uproar.Schony, another of Buffalo&rsquo;s more popular hockey players stated he figured Imlach wasn&rsquo;t pleased with his play and losing his captaincy was a step toward being traded.Schoenfeld was still very much a member of the Sabres when training camp began but Spencer, who had attended Imlach&rsquo;s power-skating school for rookies the week before, had-his association with the Sabres terminated the second day of camp.Spencer scored only 14 goals for Buffalo last season and did not play regularly much of the year. His headlong, whirling dervish, forechecking style of play made him very popular with the fans during his three-and-a-half years with the Sabres.He had tough competition to retain a job at left wing this season, with the two Martins, Rick and Terry, Craig Ramsay, Joe Kowal, Morris Titanic, Michel Deziel and Jacques Richard all vying for jobs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03440/4032377-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="565" height="1317"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRIAN SPENCER &hellip; They Needed Me</figcaption></div>The timing of the trade was unfortunate for the Spencer family. Brian&rsquo;s wife, Janet, came home from the hospital the day the trade was announced, after giving birth to the family&rsquo;s second child, a boy.The Schock family had bought a new home in the Pittsburgh area only a year before and Ron didn&rsquo;t look forward to selling it, although he had lived just across the Niagara River from Buffalo, on Ontario&rsquo;s Niagara Peninsula, for many years and played his junior hockey for the Niagara Falls Flyers.Schock, who twice had been voted the Penguins&rsquo; most valuable player, said the trade was &ldquo;a little upsetting because we were settled for the winter. But I realize this has to happen in sports. And I think I&rsquo;ll enjoy it.&rdquo;Spencer said he was &ldquo;awfully surprised to be traded. I thought,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;I had the style of play the Sabres need desperately. They won&rsquo;t win the Stanley Cup without aggressive forwards, which they don&rsquo;t have. You have to have a balanced hockey team to win and the Sabres don&rsquo;t have one.&rdquo;Imlach said he acquired Schock &ldquo;because he can do more things than Spencer. He can kill penalties, for one thing, and he&rsquo;s an all-around player. Besides, we think Ron will be a tremendous steadying influence on our club.&rdquo;ICE CHIPS: Every member of the Sabres reported on time for the opening of training camp. Imlach said it was the first time he can remember that happening to a team he was associated with in his long time in hockey.Pronovost, the new coach, had both the rookies and regulars undergoing many tests on various aspects of hockey and he also sent them through off-ice tests.He had the French Connection&mdash;Gil Perreault, Rick Martin and Rene Robert&mdash;back together as a forward line. They were split up most of last season. &#9632;

f0019-03

Spencer Admits Surprise Sabres Would Trade Him

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01545/4032439-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="570" height="886"><figcaption class="caption-body">PIERRE HAMEL &hellip; Sharp In Camp Win</figcaption></div>TORONTO&mdash;Goal and right wing were the spots with the hottest competition for employment as the Toronto Maple Leafs went through their first National Hockey League training camp under new coach Roger Neilson.Four goalies were in the hunt for two jobs with the Leafs and nine players were contending for four jobs on right wing. Perhaps that should say eight players were trying for three jobs because Lanny McDonald&rsquo;s spot hardly was in jeopardy.When Neilson came to camp, he claimed that the goaltending job was wide-open and the two goalies who made the biggest pre-season impression would grab the jobs.Wayne Thomas and Mike Palmateer, who shared the job last season; Gord McRae, who was the top goalie in the Central League with the Dallas Black Hawks, a club coached by Neilson, and Pierre Hamel, who played with Oklahoma City in the CHL, all will receive a long look.A year ago, Thomas appeared to have a long-term lock on the No. 1 job. He had played strongly in &lsquo;75-76 after Leafs secured him from Montreal Canadiens. But when the team was slow starting last season. Palmateer was called up from Dallas and became the top man. He played 50 games; Thomas worked in 33.Thomas&rsquo; work in the early part of Leafs&rsquo; camp lacked sharpness. McRae and Hamel played strongly, and Palmateer was steady.Hamel was especially sharp in a preseason game against the Buffalo Sabres, which Leafs won, 2-1. He faced 25 shots in the second half of the game and surrendered only one score.Hamel, however, felt it would be an uphill climb for him to be a Leaf starter.&ldquo;The other three goalies all have NHL experience,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That has to give them an edge. But if I don&rsquo;t make it here, maybe some team will take me in the draft before the season opens. Or I could be the No. 3 goalie in the Leaf chain and get a shot before the season is over.&rdquo;McDonald, of course, is set in a right wing spot, and there&rsquo;s not much doubt that rugged little Pat Boutette will be on the club. But behind them a good battle shaped up for the right wing spots.Kurt Walker, Scott Garland and Jim McKenny were with Leafs last season. Bob Warner. Alain Belanger and Greg Hubick were in Dallas. John Anderson, Leafs&rsquo; No. 1 draft pick, and Rocky Saganiuk are rookies with a chance.Neilson has stated that he wants some big wingers who can move bodies in the corners and that could have an influence on which players earn the positions.NOTES: The surprise of Leaf camp was the strong showing of rookie defenseman Kevin Campbell, from St. Lawrence University. The rangy 22-year-old impressed with his poise and aggressiveness&hellip;The Leafs were impressed by new coach Neilson&rsquo;s well-organized training camp, although most admitted that it was the most strenous they had attended&hellip;Leafs won their first two pre season games, 6-4 over Detroit when Darryl Sittler scored three goals and 2-1 over Buffalo.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02391/4032432-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="559" height="922"><figcaption class="caption-body">DARRYL SITTLER</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Goalers, Right Wingers Hottest In Struggle To Grab Leafs’ Jobs

<h2>NHL</h2><h3>OCTOBER</h3>Wed. 12 Vancouver at N.Y. RangersMinnesota at MontrealSt. Louis at PittsburghCleveland at Los AngelesThu. 13 N.Y. Islanders at BuffaloChicago at PhiladelphiaAtlanta at BostonToronto at DetroitFri. 14 Pittsburgh at WashingtonVancouver at ColoradoSat. 15 N.Y. Rangers at MontrealBoston at N.Y. IslandersPhiladelphia at PittsburghSt. Louis at AtlantaWashington at ClevelandDetroit at Los AngelesVancouver at MinnesotaColorado at ChicagoBuffalo at TorontoSun. 16 N.Y. Islanders at N.Y. RangersSt. Louis at PhiladelphiaMontreal at BostonChicago at BuffaloTue. 18 Los Angeles at N.Y. IslandersDetroit at VancouverWed 19 Pittsburgh at N.Y. RangersMinnesota at AtlantaMontreal at WashingtonLos Angeles at ClevelandBuffalo at ChicagoBoston at St. LouisColorado at TorontoThu. 20 Pittsburgh at PhiladelphiaMontreal at DetroitCleveland at MinnesotaColorado at BuffaloFri. 21 N.Y. Islanders at AtlantaSat. 22 N.Y. Rangers at N.Y. IslandersPhiladelphia at TorontoAtlanta at PittsburghDetroit at MinnesotaBoston at Los AngelesChicago at ColoradoCleveland at St. LouisSun. 23 Montreal at N.Y. RangersToronto at PhiladelphiaPittsburgh at ClevelandBoston at VancouverSt. Louis at ChicagoMinnesota at BuffaloMon. 24 Washington at MontrealTue. 25 N.Y. Rangers at ClevelandAtlanta at St. LouisLos Angeles at VancouverBoston at ColoradoWed. 26 St. Louis at N.Y. RangersN.Y. Islanders at Los AngelesPhiladelphia at ChicagoWashington at AtlantaMontreal at TorontoDetroit at PittsburghBoston at MinnesotaThu. 27 N.Y. Islanders at VancouverMinnesota at DetroitFri. 28 Washington at ColoradoChicago at ClevelandSat. 29 N.Y. Rangers at AtlantaBuffalo at N.Y. IslandersPhiladelphia at St. LouisLos Angeles at MontrealWashington at MinnesotaBoston at PittsburghDetroit at TorontoColorado at VancouverSun. 30 Los Angeles at N.Y. RangersBuffalo at MontrealCleveland at Chicago<h2>WHA</h2><h3>OCTOBER</h3>Wed 12 New England at HoustonWinnipeg at EdmontonThu 13 Indianapolis at CincinnatiQuebec at WinnipegFri 14 Houston at BirminghamQuebec at EdmontonSat 15 Winnipeg at CincinnatiIndianapolis at HoustonEdmonton at QuebecBirmingham at New EnglandSun 16 Indianapolis at WinnipegNew England at CincinnatiTue 18 New England at IndianapolisCincinnati at QuebecWed 19 New England at EdmontonFri 21 Quebec at IndianapolisCincinnati at HoustonNew England at WinnipegSat 22 Birmingham at QuebecSun 23 Birmingham at WinnipegTue 25 Indianapolis. at BirminghamWed 26 Winnipeg at IndianapolisEdmonton at HoustonQuebec at New EnglandFri 28 Edmonton at BirminghamCincinnati at WinnipegSat 29 Birmingham at IndianapolisHouston at New EnglandSun. 20 Houston at QuebecEdmonton at Winnipeg<h2>CHL</h2><h3>OCTOBER</h3>Wed. 12 Ft. Worth at Kansas CityDallas at PhoenixTulsa at Salt LakeFri 14 Kansas City at Ft. WorthDallas at PhoenixTulsa at Salt LakeSat. 15 Dallas at Kansas CityFt Worth at TulsaSun. 16 Tulsa at Ft. WorthSalt Lake at PhoenixThu. 20 Salt Lake at Kansas CityFri 21 Phoenix at Ft. WorthDallas at TulsaSat. 22 Dallas at Ft. WorthSalt Lake at Kansas CityPhoenix at TulsaWed. 26 Phoenix at Kansas CityFri. 28 Phoenix at Kansas CityFt. Worth at Salt LakeDallas at TulsaSat. 29 Phoenix at DallasFt. Worth at Salt LakeKansas City at TulsaSun. 30 Tulsa at Kansas City &#9632;

Where The Pros Play

<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Thu. Sept. 22Toronto 6, Detroit 4Fri. Sept. 23Buffalo 3, Montreal 3Colorado 3, Vancouver 3Rangers 3, Washington 2Sat. Sept. 24Toronto 2, Buffalo 1Montreal 3, Chicago 3Philadelphia 3, Islanders 1St. Louis 10. Atlanta 3Pittsburgh 2, Washington 1Colorado 4, Vancouver 3Sun. Sept. 25Boston 4,Rangers 2Chicago 2, New England (WHA) 2Pittsburgh 6, Detroit 3Minnesota 3, Los Angeles 3Buffalo 4, Montreal 3Islanders 4, Philadelphia 3Mon. Sept. 26Philadelphia 4, Boston 4Tue. Sept. 27Chicago 6, Montreal 4Cleveland 5, Detroit 2Philadelphia 5, Rangers 2Vancouver 5, Islanders 1Wed. Sept. 28Boston 2, Buffalo 2St. Louis 7, Cleveland 6Los Angeles 6, Colorado 4Pittsburgh 6, Detroit 4Montreal 3, Toronto 0Minnesota 2, Winnipeg (WHA) 1Islanders 8. Vancouver 2(WHA) New England 5, Washington 4Thu. Sept. 29Cleveland 5, Pittsburgh 4Rangers 4, Philadelphia 2Washington 6, Toronto 2Frl. Sept. 30Boston 5, Buffalo 2Minnesota 8, Colorado 4Toronto 4, Detroit 4Loe Angeles 3, Vancouver 1(WHA) New England 7, Rangers 4Atlanta 3. Birmingham (WHA) 0Sat. Oct. 1Boston 5, New England (WHA) 0Buffalo 4, Islanders 4Toronto 5, Chicago 1Pittsburgh 9, Cleveland 4Washington 3, Detroit 3Los Angeles 7, Vancouver 4(WHA) Winnipeg 4, Minnesota 3St. Louis 4, Atlanta 2Sun. Oct. 2Boston 4, Chicago 1Buffalo 5, Islanders 0Minnesota 3, Detroit 3Montreal 2, Philadelphia 2GAMES TO COMEMon. Oct. 3Montreal at TorontoRangers vs Islanders (New Haven)St. Louis at Edmonton (WHA)Tue. Oct. 4Los Angeles vs Vancouver (Victoria)Rangers at Islanders(WHA) New England at AtlantaWed. Oct. 5Boston at RangersToronto at BuffaloDetroit vs Cleveland (Kent)Colorado at MinnesotaLos Angeles at VancouverPhiladelphia at MontrealAtlanta at Houston (WHA)St. Louis at Winnipeg (WHA)Thu. Oct. 6Boston at PhiladelphiaCincinnati (WHA) vs Washington (Hampton)Winnipeg (WHA) vs St. Louis (Brandon)Fri. Oct. 7Islanders vs Atlanta (Charlotte)Montreal at BostonLos Angeles at ColoradoDetroit vs Minnesota (Duluth)Pittsburgh at New England (WHA)St. Louis at Birmingham (WHA)Sat. Oct. 8Boston at MontrealBuffalo at PhiladelphiaChicago at St. LouisCleveland at Salt Lake (CHL)Vancouver vs Colorado (Phoenix)Detroit at Edmonton (WHA)Los Angeles at MinnesotaRangers at Quebec (WHA)Washington at PittsburghAtlanta at IslandersSun. Oct. 9Philadelphia at BuffaloToronto at ChicagoCleveland at Edmonton (WHA)Detroit at Winnipeg (WHA)Atlanta at New England (WHA)Mon. Oct. 19Rangers at New Haven (AHL)Tue. Oct. 11Washington at Hershey (AHL) &#9632;

Exhibition Scoreboard

MONTREAL&mdash;As the exhibition schedule winds down for the National Hockey League, two teams, one a surprise, the other a finalist in last year&rsquo;s Stanley Cup chase, have been dominating the pre-season play, while a couple of teams, each picked to win their divisional crowns, have gotten off to unusually slow starts. The four teams: Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, New York Islanders and the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Montreal Canadiens.The biggest surprise has been the quick start of the Penguins, who have won four of their first five contests, scoring 27 goals. Their lone loss was a 5-4 setback to the Cleveland Barons, while they have registered victories over Washington (21), Detroit (6-3 and 6-4) and 9-4 against Cleveland in their latest start. In that triumph, rookie Jim Hamilton, making a strong bid to join the Penguins&rsquo; lineup, notched three goals to send Pittsburgh on their way. Hamilton, a right-winger was the club&rsquo;s top draft choice last year from the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey Association.Boston, meanwhile is unbeaten in six games, and with 10 of a possible 12 points, have the highest point total in the NHL. Rookies and veterans alike have been scoring for the Bruins, who have ties with Philadelphia (4-4) and Buffalo (2-2) and wins over Buffalo (5-2), N.Y. Rangers (4-2), New England of the WHA (5-0) and Chicago (4-1) for a total of 24 goals for and just 11 against this exhibition season.Oldtimers such as John Bucyk (two goals) and Jean Ratelie (one) sparked the victory over Buffalo, while top draft choice Dwight Foster scored in the Buffalo victory and against the Black Hawks. In the game against New England rookie Bob Miller joined Brad Park. Stan Jonathan. Rick Middleton and Dave Forbes in the scoring parade.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01387/4032518-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="559" height="1410"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK MIDDLETON</figcaption></div>The Islanders, generally considered as the heir apparent to Philadelphia&rsquo;s number one position in the Smythe Division, have sported an unimpressive 23-1 mark through their first half-dozen warm-up games, including a lacklustre 50 thrashing in their last start to the Sabres.They&rsquo;ve been generally inconsistent through much of the pre-season schedule, splitting series with arch-rival Philadelphia, losing 3-1 before claiming a 4-3 win. and with Vancouver Canucks losing 5-1. before rebounding for an 8-2 decision. They also battled Buffalo to a 44 tie.Even more puzzling has been the failure of the Montreal Canadiens to win more than one contest in their first six exhibition starts. They&rsquo;ve had three ties against Buffalo. Chicago and Philadelphia, have lost 4-3 to Buffalo and 6-4 to the Hawks and have only a 3-0 shutout against the Maple Leafs to show for their six outings. Coach Scotty Bowman has been sprinkling his lineup liberally with rookies and goalie Ken Dryden has been used sparingly, so the real picture of what the defending champions are going to look like, will most likely emerge from their final three preseason games against Philadelphia and Boston (home-and-home).Two other NHL&rsquo; teams are still in the unbeaten ranks, although they have played less games that most of the other teams. This would include the Los Angeles Kings, who are 3-0-1. with consecutive victories over Colorado (6-4) and Vancouver twice (3-1 and 7-4). In the second Vancouver game. Marcel Dionne led the Kings&rsquo; offense with a goal and three assists.St. Louis also has a perfect record in its three games, and must be pleased with its early-season scoring output. The Blues have scored 21 times in the three victories, blasting Atlanta 10-3, edging Cleveland 7-6 and doubling Atlanta the second time around 4-2.For the most part the teams expected to battle for second in their divisions, such as the Flyers and Sabres, are 2-2-2 and 2-2-3. respectively, and the teams likely to be near the bottom of the loop, such as Detroit. Washington. Colorado and Vancouver, are running true to form. &#9632;

f0021-01

Unbeaten Bruins Dominate Action, Islanders, Canadiens Start Slowly

(Standings on Mon. Oct 3)<h2>NORRIS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02256/4032570-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="563" height="216"></div><h2>ADAMS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03167/4032563-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="565" height="179"></div><h2>PATRICK DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04128/4032556-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="557" height="173"></div><h2>SMYTHE DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-05109/4032549-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="552" height="207"></div> &#9632;

f0021-02

Exhibition Standings

When you think of scoring goals and the Howe family you think first of Gordie, Mark is a close second and then there&rsquo;s Marty&mdash;the defensive defenseman.The New England Whalers will be very happy if Marty helps them to lower their goals-against average, but they must have been ecstatic when the middle Howe scored an overtime goal at the 3:02 mark to give them a 5-4 victory over the stubborn Washington Capitals of the NHL.It was the first of two victories for the Whalers against NHL clubs (they also downed the New York Rangers 7-4 and tied Chicago Black Hawks 2-2) and the goal came on a New England powerplay, which looks forward to substantial help from the Howe clan.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03269/4032639-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="451" height="486"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARTY HOWE&hellip;Nets Winner</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0022-03

WHA’s… Player of the Week

<div class="byline">BY GREG NOBLE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01424/4032608-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN GARRETT&hellip;Will Be Receiving Defensive Help</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 CanadaBIRMINGHAM&mdash;The Birmingham Bulls, as new coach Glen Sonmor noted, have been a team of unfulfilled promise.&ldquo;People said that this didn&rsquo;t look like a last-place team, but somehow it always ended up there,&rdquo; said Sonmor. However, the new coach is prepared to change that this season.After last-place finishes the last two years, the Bulls look like a team that&rsquo;s ready to rise up and make a serious challenge for a playoff spot.The reason for optimism is the addition of players like Brent Hughes, Paul Terbenche and Joe Noris. For the first time the Bulls appear to have a solid lineup.&ldquo;As a coach I don&rsquo;t like to make predictions,&rdquo; said Sonmor &ldquo;but I think we have the makings of an outstanding hockey team.&rdquo;With forwards like Mark Napier. Vaclav Nedomansky and Tim Sheehy and a goaltender like John Garrett, the team&rsquo;s only weak link had been defense. But the addition of Hugues and Terbenche, gives the Bulls a solid corps of blueliners.Sonmor noting that defenseman JeanGuy Lagace would miss the first three weeks of the season with an injury, made a point that illustrated the team&rsquo;s improvement on defense.&ldquo;A year ago losing Lagace would have been a disastrous blow,&rdquo; said Sonmor &ldquo;But since this time last year this team has added five defensemen&mdash;Pat Westrum, Hughes. Terbenche, Evans and Langway. We think they&rsquo;re five good ones. Langway is the only untested one. and we think he&rsquo;s a nugget.&rdquo;Along with having a weak defense, the primary reason the Bulls finished in last place the last two seasons was poor team defense. As Sonmor pointed out, all the teams in the league will be improved this year, so even with their new players and a solid lineup the Bulls are not guaranteed success.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very plain what this team has to do,&rdquo; said Sonmor. &ldquo;We have to be more consistent and more dedicated on defense. We have to cut down drastically on goals against. That will be my No 1 job.&rdquo;CINCINNATI: Coach Jacques Demers said the Stingers made good progress on the first leg of their three-week European tour&mdash;in spite of the fact that they lost the first five games by lopsided scores.&ldquo;The scores certainly don&rsquo;t indicate this teams progress,&rdquo; Demers said after the Stingers dropped a 6-1 decision to the Turku. Finland club team.&ldquo;Our progress has been very good I feel the system coming in period by period.&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;Our problem has not been with the system&mdash;its just that we can&rsquo;t skate with these teams. We only worked out for a week before we came here and they&rsquo;ve been skating for months. It&rsquo;s humanly impossible for us to keep up.&rdquo;On their first stop at Prague.Czechoslovakia, the Stingers lost twice to the world champion Czech national team. 8-2 and 12-3, and twice to the Russians 11-4 and 5-2.&ldquo;If we had it to do over again, there&rsquo;s no way I&rsquo;d play these teams in the training period. It&rsquo;s too difficult,&rdquo; said Demers. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d want to train three weeks to a month before we played them. But we are learning a lot and we re getting into shape.&rdquo;The highlight of the trip was the performance of rookie goaltender Mike Liut. The 21-year-old from Bowling Green University was chosen the most valuable goaltender in the Prague tournament over Russia&rsquo;s Vladimir Tretiak and Czechoslovakia&rsquo;s Jiri Holocek. Facing the Russians in his first professional game. Liut gave an outstanding performance. making 47 saves. The Stingers lost 5-2. but Liut only allowed two goals in the first 46 minutes.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02328/4032601-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="561" height="888"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE LIUT&hellip;Sharp In Europe</figcaption></div>Through the first five games Dennis Abgrall and Jacques Locas each had three goals to account for half of the Stingers&rsquo; total.INDIANAPOLIS: Racers fans were not happy at losing Kim Clackson. but getting former All Star defenseman Kevin Morrison and forwards Bill Prentice and Bobby Russell for the young bad guy ought to soothe their feelings.Clackson, who was the darling of Racers fans, is gone for keeps to Winnipeg. Over the summer when it looked like there would not be a team in Indianapolis this season. Clackson had signed a three-year contract with the Jets. He had an escape clause in the contract that would have allowed him to return to the Racers, but he chose not to exercise it.The Racers took on a new look in the goaltending department, too. At his request. the team allowed Michel Dion to become a free agent, and they acquired veteran Peter McDuffe from the Detroit Red Wings. Dion, of course, was the WHA&rsquo;s top goaltender two years ago In all. the Racers had four goaltenders in camp&mdash;Gary Inness. Jim Park. McDuffe and former Kamloops junior Mark Earp.Pat Stapleton. Mark Lomenda and Frankie Rochon did not join the team for the start of training camp. &#9632;

f0022-01

Bulls’ Moves Bolster Defense, Sonmor Optmlstic About Team

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE WARRINER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01398/4032677-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Goaler Al Smith is back with the Whalers after a two-year sabbatical in the NHL. Veteran netminder has plenty of opposition for the starting job.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02303/4032670-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="1712" height="1192"><figcaption class="caption-body">It didn&rsquo;t take the Howes long to get together on the ice for a family portrait. Shown wearing their new Whaler jerseys for the first time are from the left, Marty, father Gordie and Mark. All are expected to play key roles in making Whalers title contender in WHA this season. (Photos by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div>HARTFORD&mdash;Beginning their sixth year the New England Whalers are experiencing their best training camp in history. The 1977-78 edition of the Whalers will reflect wholesale changes from last year&rsquo;s opening lineup.In addition lo counting on a full year from the high-powered line of Keon, McKenzie, and Antonovich who were acquired after the Minnesota franchise folded at midseason last year, the Whalers are still rejoicing over the acquisition of the Howe family.Mark Howe adds several dimensions to the New England club. He is expected to greatly enhance the team&rsquo;s potential in scoring, on the power play, and in killing penalties. Having spent most of his playing time last season with Houston as a defenseman, Mark is looking forward to returning to his familiar left wing position. He also likes the prospect of more ice time with the three-line offense that coach Harry Neale usually employs, rather than the-Aero&rsquo;s four-line system.When the Howe signings were announced brother Marty was heralded as a big addition to the defense corps. His being back on the blueline has lessened the subsequent loss of Thommy Abrahamsson who opted to join twin brother Christer in the operation of a sporting goods store in their native Leksand, Sweden. (Christer had gone home earlier when he was not offered a new contract with the Whalers). Although Thommy A. was very popular with the Civic Center clientele, Marty with his scoring average and more aggressive play, may make them forget the Swede.But the member of the Howe family the fans at training camp came to see was &lsquo;the old man&rdquo;. Most were surprised at what they saw. Gordie appears to be in excellent physical condition&mdash;ready to go. During camp he participated in all drills, took a regular shift in all intra-squad scrimmages, and was always around for after-practice shooting and skating. The only part of camp that Gordie seemed not too thrilled about was coach Neale&rsquo;s conditioning run over a prescribed 1.7 mile course. He admitted that he jog/walked it in 19 minutes one day.During the pre-exhibition game scrimmages Gordie worked at right wing but Neale is not sure if Number 9 will operate there or at center. A lot may depend on how newcomer Greg Carroll or Steve Carlson handle the third line center spot.If the elder Howe ends up on the wing, the three who&rsquo;ll be holding down the right side will be separated in age by decades. It seems unbelievable. but Gordie will be 50-years-old before the end of the upcoming season. Then comes Johnny &ldquo;Pie&rdquo; McKenzie who is a young 40. At 29, Tom Webster is the youngster of the crew unless you count probably fourth line right winger. 23-year-old Jack Carlson.What really puts the Whalers age range into perspective is the realization that the youngest player in camp, defenseman Gordie Roberts, is beginning his third year with the Whalers and yet he just turned 20 last week. By the time young Gord was bom. Gordie Howe was in his 12th season in the NHL!As training camp winds down, one of the important questions to many of the players is: &ldquo;Who will get the 19th and final spot on the playing roster?&rdquo; Last year&rsquo;s production line of Rogers. Webster, and Lyle will likely stay together. Coach Neale must decide whether to keep a 12th forward to fill out a fourth line or to go with six defensemen. Therein lies the cause of some anxiety among forwards Larry Pleau, Greg Carroll, Steve and Jack Carlson, and Danny Bolduc.Back on the blue line Rick Ley. Roberts, and Howe are assured of spots. Brad Selwood is in excellent shape after ankle surgery last year but seems a little concerned about the competition. Others battling for a spot are Bill Butters, Al Hangsleben. and Cincy transplant Bryan Maxwell (who reported at a solid 205 lbs). Young John Glynne, a University of Vermont grad&mdash;and Connecticut native&mdash;has impressed many too!There&rsquo;s also a battle for the netminder&rsquo;s job. Al Smith, returning from a two-year stint with Buffalo, claimed to be &ldquo;nervous&rdquo;, and appeared a bit rusty at the start but competition with Cap Raeder and Louie Levasseur has been keen.Twenty-year veteran Ralph Backstrom has apparently hung up his skates. After failing to reach agreement with Whalers management during the off-season Ralph moved to Denver and did not show up for training camp. At last report he was considering coaching on the college level&hellip;Doug Roberts whose contract was not renewed, is looking forward to playing hockey in Finland this season. According to brother Gord he intends to take his family abroad and travel extensively at the end of the 35-game season&hellip; &#9632;

f0023-01

Whalers Enjoy Best Training Camp Ever

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01412/4032715-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="565" height="1158"><figcaption class="caption-body">GARY BROMLEY&hellip;Lands With Jets</figcaption></div>EDMONTON&mdash;The second chapter in the Robin Sadler story, entitled Comeback Number Two,&rdquo; has met with a quick ending which has Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; officials scratching their heads.Sadler left the camp of the Oilers recently following a 90-minute discussion with coach Glen Sather and Edmonton co-owner Nelson Skalbania and returned home to Vancouver.Sather said that Sadler &ldquo;was not enjoying training camp &hellip;that the pressures were too much and that it was affecting the rookie&rsquo;s eating habits.&rdquo; The Oilers attempted to bring the talented defenseman along slowly, pairing him with veteran performer Paul Shmyr. but the 22-year-old Sadler, who was working with a two-year contract which called for more than $100,000. decided to pack it in.Two years ago. Sadler had been a first-round draft choice of the Montreal Canadiens and signed a three-year deal for $250,000. but turned his back on the contract when he walked out of the Montreal training camp after just a few days of practice. He returned to Vancouver. took a job with a delivery service (for about $250 per week) and played a bit of amateur hockey.Last year. Sadler played in Sweden and then signed with the Oilers in the offseason after he had been approached by Sather. When he left the Edmonton camp last week. Sather thought Sadler had given up the battle too soon and remarked: &ldquo;&hellip;it seems that he has had a history of quitting things, not just hockey&rdquo;The Oilers went about the business of preparing for the upcoming season with a pair of exhibition contests with teams from the western Minor Leagues. The first meeting was a 2-0 loss to Trail. B.C. which didn&rsquo;t put the Oilers in too good a mood. They took out their revenge on Spokane, routing them 7-0 to even their exhibition record.Three games against National Hockey League opponents are now slated for Edmonton, as they will face St. Louis Blues. Detroit Red Wings and the Cleveland Barons prior to opening at home on Oct. 12 against the Winnipeg Jets.WINNIPEG: The Jets returned from Europe to face the Minnesota North Stars in a pair of exhibition games. The first game was held in Bloomington where the Jets skated to a 4-3 win. The return match in Winnipeg went to the North Stars as they edged the Jets 2-1.Winnipeg will also play two other National Hockey League opponents in three games prior to the start of the WHA regular season campaign. They&rsquo;ll meet St. Louis Blues twice and finish out against the Detroit Red Wings.With their solid base of Swedish stars, and the incomparable Bobby Hull the Jets are expected to once again challenge for the WHA&rsquo;s prized bauble, the Avco Cup.Gary Bromley greatly strengthens the goaltending situation for the Jets as he joins Joe Daley who has been the Winnipeg workhorse for the past few years. Bromley, who was never given the opportunity to break into the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; lineup, should be able to spell Daley frequently. and if he can live up to the potential forecast for him. could seriously challenge for the number one goalkeeping position on the club.The Jets will once again rely on speed on offense with top-rated forwards such as Hull. Anders Hedberg. Danny Labraaten. Ulf Nilsson and Willy Lindstrom taking care of the scoring while the defense can call upon the experience of Ted Green and Larry Hornung. the size of Dave Dunn. Kim Clackson and Barry Long and the speed of Thommie Bergman and Lars-Erik Sjoberg.HOUSTON: Aeros are shaping up as a darkhorse contender for a playoff spot, but they haven&rsquo;t tipped their hand off to other clubs because they haven&rsquo;t been involved in any exhibition contests yet.The addition of all-time league leading scorer Andre Lacroix will help, but the Aeros will have to rely on the workers, the unsung and the diggers, if they are going to have a successful season. The hole created by the Howe clan transplant may be a little too much to fill in one season.Clay Hebenton. son of former NHL iron-man Andy, has thrust himself into the goaltending battle with Wayne Rutledge for the top spot on the club, but overall the position remains a question mark, as do many openings on the Aeros&rsquo; lineup.Youngsters such as Scott Campbell, whom the Aeros signed over the NHL and Don Larway. who was drafted by the Boston Bruins, could make a difference for this club as the season progresses.Dependables Andre Hinse, Frank Hughes and Larry Lund will have to shoulder much of the responsibility for getting the team untracked, but there are too many question marks to hope for more than modest success this time around.The Aeros will meet Atlanta Flames in their only exhibition contest against an NHL team, before opening the season entertaining the New England Whalers on Oct. 12.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04166/4032708-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="1174" height="731"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOBBY HULL&hellip;Back To Show Way</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0024-01

Sadler Walks Out On Oilers; Jets, NHL Stars Divide Games

Thu. Sept. 8Winnipeg 4, Sundsvall 1Fri. Sept. 9Winnipeg 7, Skelletta 2Fun. Sept. 11Winnipeg 6, Ornskoldsvik 2Thu. Sept. 15Winnipeg 6, Helsinki 6VOLKSWAGEN TOURNAMENTLeksand 3, Winnipeg 2Sodertalje 5, Winnipeg 2Winnipeg 9. Orebro 2AIK Stockholm 7, Winnipeg 5Winnipeg 6, Modo 2PRAGUE TOURNAMENTCzechoslovakia 8, Cincinnati 2Czechoslovakia 12, Cincinnati 3Soviet Union 11, Cincinnati 4Soviet Union 5, Cincinnati 2Sun. Sept. 25Chicago (NHL) 2, New England 2Turku, Finland 6, Cincinnati 1Tue. Sept. 27Cincinnati 8, Pori, Finland 2Wed. Sept. 28New England 5, Washington (NHL) 4Mennesota (NHL) 2, Winnipeg 1Trail (WCHL) 2, Edmonton 0Fri. Sept. 30New England 7, Rangers (NHL) 4Atlanta (NHL) 3, Birmingham 0Sat. Oct. 1Boston (NHL) 5, New England 0Winnipeg 4, Minnesota (NHL) 3Edmonton 7, Spokane (WIHL) 0Sun. Oct. 2Quebec 5, Birmingham 0 &#9632;

<h2>EASTERN DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02322/4032777-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="591" height="241"></div>*Disbanded in 1976-77 season.<h2>WESTERN DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03229/4032770-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="586" height="245"></div>(Quebec won Avco Trophy) &#9632;

f0024-02

How They Finished Last Year

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01350/4032815-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK DUDLEY&hellip;Offers Protection For Ftorek</figcaption></div>CINCINNATI&mdash;The Cincinnati Stingers were certainly happy to be back in the old U.S. of A after three weeks of training in Europe Coach Jacques Demers was glad to get back to his family, but he was also satisfied that the journey had produced positive results.&ldquo;The experience was good for everyone.&rdquo; Demers said only hours after the Stingers had completed a 30hour trip from Helsinki. Finland, to Cincinnati. &ldquo;The players got to know each other, got a lot closer to each other. That&rsquo;s a good sign.&rdquo;After suffering losses at the hands of the Soviet and Czechoslovakia national teams in Prague and a Finnish club squad, the Stingers put things together for 8-2 and 8-4 victories over Finnish major league and national teams.&ldquo;We played as a team in those last two games.&rdquo; Demers explained. &ldquo;We surprised those teams in Finland because we were really skating. The players knew more about my system by then and we played well against strong competition.&rdquo;Demers has worked almost exclusively on teaching his system of hockey. He pointed out that this has been a slow, difficult process because his system was entirely different from what most of the Stingers had been doing the past two years.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s much better than it was when we left for Europe, but there are more adjustments to be made.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We have several practices and a scrimmage with Hampton (Va.i this week and I think we&rsquo;ll look a lot better by the time we go to Hampton to play Washington.&rdquo;The Stingers, resting after their long trip, practiced at Northland Ice Center, and continued with two-a-day workouts at Golden Skates Arena Then they were to scrimmage their farm club, the American Hockey League Hampton Gulls, at Golden Skates, before departing for Virginia and an exhibition against the NHL Washington Capitals in Hampton.Demers said his system, which emphasizes defense and teamwork to contain the opposition, has been especially difficult for the forwards to pick up. In the past the Stinger forwards weren&rsquo;t really in the habit of coming back on defense and had a tendency to do a lot of free-wheeling on the ice.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a little easier for the defensemen because they look a little better under my system and work into it more normally,&rdquo; the coach explained. &ldquo;But this is a young team and they&rsquo;re learning.&ldquo;There are people on this team who scored a lot of goals last season, but they may not score that much under my system. I want to win games by thinking defense. I&rsquo;d rather win 3-1 than 9-7. I want to keep the goals-against average down.&rdquo;Demers said he expects to make the final decision soonas to whom will remain with the club and whom will be sent to Hampton for the start of the WHA season. He said he has not decided whetter Norm Lapointe or rookie Mike Liut will be the second goaltender working with veteran Ernie Wakely.He will carry six defenseman. three regular forward lines and two extra forwards. Along with two goalies, that&rsquo;s the 19-man roster permitted in the WHA.One line already set has Robbie Ftorek at center with Del Hall on the left wing and Rick Dudley on the right That line was especially impressive in the Finnish contests.&ldquo;Dudley is playing really well on the right wing,&rdquo; said Demers. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a veteran and can move to almost any position. Hall is a natural for the left wing because he and Ftorek have been so successful in the past (at Phoenix). And I want someone like Dudley on the line with Ftorek. If anyone goes after Ftorek, Dudley will be right there to stop it.&rdquo;Demers said he feels the key to a successful season is &ldquo;everyone playing the system. I know it will take time, but I think by the end of November it will be automatic and we should have a strong team by then. When a team plays together and follows a system, they are going to beat the teams who don&rsquo;t have a system.&ldquo;And when two teams that play a solid system meet, you&rsquo;re going to see a great game. All you have to do is look at teams like Montreal and the New York Islanders to see what a good system can do.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02254/4032808-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="1018" height="1182"><figcaption class="caption-body">JACQUES DEMERS&hellip; System Emphasizes Defense</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0025-01

Demers Began System On European Tour

<h2>BIRMINGHAM</h2>GoalersGARRETT, JohnLEMELIN, RejeanMIO, EdWOOD, WayneDefenseBALL, TerryEVANS, ChrisHOGANSON, DaleHUGHES, BrentJACOBS, TimLAGACE, Jean-GuyLANGWAY, RodTERBENCHE, PaulTURKIEWWICZ, JimWESTRUM, PatForwardsALLEY, SteveARNDT, DannyBILODEAU, GillesCASSOLATO, TonyFARELLI, CaryFORTUNATO, JoeGALLANT, GordGORMAN, DaveHENDERSON, PaulLAFRAMBOISE, PeterLINSEMAN, KenMACGREGOR&rsquo; RandyMAHOVLICH, FrankMARRIN, PeterNAPIER, karkNEDOMANSKY, VaclavNORIS, JoeO&rsquo;NEIL, PaulSHEEHY, TimSTEPHENSON, BobSTEWART, J.C.<h2>CINCINNATI</h2>GoalersLAPOINTE, NormLIUT, MikeWAKELY, ErnieDefenseBEAUDOIN, SergeLAHACHE, FloydLEGGE, BarryMAROTTE, GillesMELROSE, BarryNORWICH, CraigPLUMB, RonForwardsABGRALL, DennisDUDLEY, RickFTOREK, RobbieGILLIGAN, BillHALL, DelHISLOP, JamieLAROSE, ClaudeLEDUC, RichLOCAS, JacquesMARSH, PeterSOBCHUK, DennisSOBCHUK, GeneSTOUGHTON, Blaine<h2>EDMONTON</h2>GoalersBRODERICK, KenDONNELLY, PeterDRYDEN, DaveLEFEBVRE, RonTURNBULL, FrankDefenseBODDY, GreggBUSNIUK, RonHAMILTON, AlINKPEN, DaveLANGEVIN, DaveSHMYR, PaulForwardsANDERSON, BoydBAIRD, KenCALLIGHEN, BrettCAMPBELL, BryanCHIPPERFIELD, RonDEADMARSH, ButchFERGUSON, NormFLETT, BillHOLLAND, JerryJACQUES, JeffKIRK, GavinMacDONALD, BlairMacGREGOR, GaryMORGAN, GarthMORRIS, PeterMORRIS, RickNISTICO, LouPRIMEAU, KevinROTA, RandySTURGEON, PeterTANNAHILL, DonWIDING, JuhaZUKE, Mike<h2>HOUSTON</h2>GoalersHEBENTON, ClayRUTLEDGE, WayneZIMMERMAN, LynnDefenseCAMPBELL, ScottCHICOYNE, JimHALE, LarryHUGHES, JohnIRWIN, GlenMCLEOD, AlPOPIEL, PoulSCHELLA, JohnForwardsCAMPBELL, ChadCHAPEL, DonCONNOR, CamDONNELLY, FrankGRAY, JohnHANSIS, RonHINSE, AndreHUGHES, FrankLACROIX, AndreLARWAY, DonLUKOWICH, MorrisLUND, LarryLYSENG, NeilPRESTON, RichRUSKOWSKI, TerryTAYLOR, TedTONELLI. JohnWEST, Steve<h2>INDIANAPOLIS</h2>GoalersINNESS, GaryPARK, JimDefenseBALTIMORE, BryonBLOCK, KenFORTIER, DaveMAGGS, DarrylMORRISON, KevinO&rsquo;REILLY, BobPRENTICE, BillWILKINS, BarryForwardsBURGESS, DonDEVINE, KevinEARP, MarkFRENCH, JohnHARRIS, HughLECLERC, ReneLIDDINGTON, BobPAIEMENT, RosairePARIZEAU, MichelPATENAUDE, RustyPOWIS, LynnRHINESS, BradRUSSELL, BobST. SAUVEUR, ClaudeSHEEHAN, BobbySHERIDAN, JohnSMEDSMO, DaleSPRING, FrankTHOMAS, Reg<h2>NEW ENGLAND</h2>GoalersLEVASSEUR, LouRAEDER, CapSMITH, AlSULLIVAN, BrianDefenseBUTTERS, BillGLYNNE, JohnHANGSLEBEN, AlanHOWE, MartyLEY, RickMAXWELL, BryanMcNAMEE, PeterROBERTS, GordieSELWOOD, BradForwardsANTONOVICH, MikeBOLDUC, DannyCARLSON, JackCARLSON. SteveCARROLL, GregHOWE, GordieHOWE. MarkKEON, DaveLYLE, GeorgeMAYER, Jimmckenzie, JohnO&rsquo;CONNELL, TimPELOFFY, AndrePLEAU, LarryROGERS, MikeSWAIN, GarryWEBSTER, Tom<h2>QUEBEC</h2>GoalersBRODEUR, RichardMcLEOD, DonSEVIGNY, RichardDefenseBAXTER, PaulBERNIER, JeanDOREY, JimGAGNON, JeanJOHNSTON, LarryLACOMBE, FrancoisLARIVIERE, GarryTREMBLAY, J.C.WEIR, WallyForwardsBERNIER, SergeBORDELEAU, ChristianBORDELEAU, PaulinBOUDRIAS, AndreBRACKENBURY, CurtCLOUTIER, RealCLOUTIER, RolandCONSTANTIN, CharlesCOTE, AlainDRISCOLL, PeterDUBE, NormFITCHNER, BobGUITE, PierreLAGACE, PierreSUTHERLAND, SteveTARDIF, MarcTITCOMB, Gord<h2>WINNIPEG</h2>GoalersBROMLEY, GaryDALEY, JoeMATTSSON, MarkusDefenseBERGMAN, ThommieCLACKSON, KimDUNN, DaveGREEN, TedHORNUNG, LarryLONG, BarryMICHELETTI, JoeSJOBERG, Lars-ErikForwardsDAVIS, BillGUINDON, BobbyHEDBERG, AndersHUCK, FranHULL, BobbyLABRAATEN, DannyLESUK, BillLINDSTROM, WillyMAKKONEN, KariMOFFAT, LyleNILSSON, KentNILSSON, UlfflUHNKE, KentSULLIVAN, Peter<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01362/4032853-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="929" height="1494"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02288/4032846-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="873" height="1493"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Quebec Nordiques are counting heavily on their two big scoring aces, Serge Bernier, left, and WHA titleholder Real Cloutier to help them repeat as league champions. Nordiques won their first pre-season game 5-0 over Birmingham Bulls.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0026-01

WHA Moves Training Camps Into High Gear

<h2>FRANK ORR</h2>Toronto Star<h3>Norris</h3>1. Montreal2. Pittsburgh3. Los Angeles4. Washington5. Detroit<h3>Patrick</h3>1. Islanders2. Philadelphia3. Atlanta4. Rangers<h3>Adams</h3>1. Boston2. Buffalo3. Toronto4. Cleveland<h3>Smythe</h3>1. Chicago2. Minnesota3. St. Louis4. Vancouver5. Colorado<h2>LARRY FREDERICKS</h2>UPI Montreal<h3>Norris</h3>1. Montreal2. Los Angeles3. Pittsburgh4. Washington5. Detroit<h3>Patrick</h3>1. Islanders2. Philadelphia3. Rangers4. Atlanta<h3>Adams</h3>1. Boston2. Buffalo3. Toronto4. Cleveland<h3>Smythe</h3>1. Chicago2. St-Louis3. Vancouver4. Minnesota5. Colorado<h2>MIKE DENNIS</h2>Hockey News-Montreal<h3>Norris</h3>1. Montreal2. Los Angeles3. Pittsburgh4. Washington5. Detroit<h3>Patrick</h3>1. Islanders2. Philadelphia3. Atlanta4. Rangers<h3>Adams</h3>1. Boston2. Buffalo3. Toronto4. Cleveland<h3>Smythe</h3>1. Minnesota2. Chicago3. St. Louis4. Vancouver5. Colorado<h2>ALAN TRUEX</h2>Atlanta Journal<h3>Norris</h3>1. Montreal2. Pittsburgh3. Los Angeles4. Washington5. Detroit<h3>Patrick</h3>1. Islanders2. Philadelphia3. Atlanta4. Rangers<h3>Adams</h3>1. Toronto2. Buffalo3. Boston4. Cleveland<h3>Smythe</h3>1. Minnesota2. St. Louis3. Chicago4. Colorado5. Vancouver<h2>BILL LIBBY</h2>Hockey News - Los Angeles<h3>Norris</h3>1. Montreal2. Los Angeles3. Pittsburgh4. Washington5. Detroit<h3>Patrick</h3>1. Islanders2. Philadelphia3. Atlanta4. Rangers<h3>Adams</h3>1. Boston2. Buffalo3. Toronto4. Cleveland<h3>Smythe</h3>1. Chicago2. Minnesota3. St. Louis4. Vancouver5. Colorado<h2>DAN DONOVAN</h2>Pittsburgh Press<h3>Norris</h3>1. Montreal2. Pittsburgh3. Los Angeles4. Washington5. Detroit<h3>Patrick</h3>1. Philadelphia2. Islanders3. Atlanta4. Rangers<h3>Adams</h3>1. Buffalo2. Toronto3. Boston4. Cleveland<h3>Smythe</h3>1. Minnesota2. Chicago2. St. Louis4. Vancouver5. Colorado<h2>BOB VERDI</h2>Chicago Tribune<h3>Norris</h3>1. Montreal2. Pittsburgh3. Los Angeles4. Washington5. Detroit<h3>Patrick</h3>1. Islanders2. Philadelphia3. Atlanta4. Rangers<h3>Adams</h3>1. Boston2. Toronto3. Buffalo4. Cleveland<h3>Smythe</h3>1. Chicago2. St. Louis3. Minnesota4. Vancouver5. Colorado<h2>TOM HENSHAW</h2>Hockey Nowe - Boaton<h3>Norris</h3>1. Montreal2. Pittsburgh3. Los Angeles4 Washington5. Detroit<h3>Patrick</h3>1. Islanders2. Philadelphia3. Atlanta4. Rangers<h3>Adams</h3>1. Boston2. Toronto3. Buffalo4. Cleveland<h3>Smythe</h3>1. Chicago2. Minnesota3. St. Louis4. Colorado5. Vancouver<h2>NORM LacLEAN</h2>Hockey News - New York<h3>Norris</h3>1. Montreal2. Pittsburgh3. Washington4 Los Angeles5 Detroit<h3>Patrick</h3>1. Islanders2. Philadelphia3 Atlanta4 Rangers<h3>Adams</h3>1. Buffalo2. Boston3. Toronto4. Cleveland<h3>Smythe</h3>1. St. Louis2. Chicago3. Minnesota4. Vancouver5. Colorado<h2>DICK JOHNSTON</h2>Buffalo Evening News<h3>Norris</h3>1. Montreal2 Pittsburgh3. Los Angeles4. Washington5. Detroit<h3>Patrick</h3>1. Islanders2. Philadelphia3. Atlanta4. Rangers<h3>Adams</h3>1. Boston2. Buffalo3. Toronto4. Cleveland<h3>Smythe</h3>1. St. Louis2. Chicago3. Minnesota4. Vancouver5. Colorado<h2>HARRY KLAFF</h2>Hockey News - Long Island<h3>Norris</h3>1. Montreal2. Los Angeles3. Washington4. Pittsburgh5. Detroit<h3>Patrick</h3>1. Islanders2. Philadelphia3. Rangers4. Atlanta<h3>Adams</h3>1. Boston2. Buffalo3. Toronto4. Cleveland<h3>Smythe</h3>1. Minnesota2. St. Louis3. Chicago4. Vancouver5. Colorado<h2>DONALD BERNS</h2>St. Louis Post Dispatch<h3>Norris</h3>1. Montreal2. Los Angeles3. Detroit4. Pittsburgh5 Washington<h3>Patrick</h3>1. Philadelphia2. Islanders3. Rangers4. Atlanta<h3>Adams</h3>1. Boston2. Toronto3. Buffalo4. Cleveland<h3>Smythe</h3>1. St. Louis2. Chicago3. Minnesota4. Vancouver5. Colorado<h2>LARRY BORTSTEIN</h2>Rocky Mountain News<h3>Norris</h3>1. Montreal2. Pittsburgh3. Los Angeles4. Washington5. Detroit<h3>Patrick</h3>1. Islanders2. Philadelphia3. Rangers4. Atlanta<h3>Adams</h3>1. Buffalo2. Boston3. Toronto4. Cleveland<h3>Smythe</h3>1. Chicago2. Minnesota3. St. Louis4. Vancouver5. Colorado<h2>PAT THOMPSON</h2>St. Paul Dispatch<h3>Norris</h3>1. Montreal2. Los Angeles3. Pittsburgh4. Detroit5. Washington<h3>Patrick</h3>1. Islanders2 Philadelphia3. Rangers4. Atlanta<h3>Adams</h3>1. Boston2. Toronto3. Buffalo4. Cleveland<h3>Smythe</h3>1. Chicago2. Minnesota3. St. Louis4. Vancouver5. Colorado<h2>BILL FLEISCHMAN</h2>Philadelphia Dally News<h3>Norris</h3>1. Montreal2. Pittsburgh3. Los Angeles4. Detroit5. Washington<h3>Patrick</h3>1. Philadelphia2. Islanders3. Atlanta4. Rangers<h3>Adams</h3>1. Boston2. Toronto2. Buffalo4. Cleveland<h3>Smythe</h3>1. Minnesota2. Chicago3. Vancouver4. St. Louis5. Colorado<h2>RICH PASSAN</h2>Cleveland Plain-Dealer<h3>Norris</h3>1. Montreal2. Los Angeles3. Pittsburgh4. Washington5. Detroit<h3>Patrick</h3>1. Islanders2. Philadelphia3. Rangers4. Atlanta<h3>Adams</h3>1. Boston2. Toronto3. Buffalo4. Cleveland<h3>Smythe</h3>1. St. Louis2. Minnesota3. Chicago4. Vancouver5. Colorado<h2>VARTAN KUPELIAN</h2>Detroit Dally News<h3>Norris</h3>1. Montreal2. Pittsburgh3. Los Angeles4. Detroit5. Washington<h3>Patrick</h3>1. Islanders2. Philadelphia3. Atlanta4. Rangers<h3>Adams</h3>1. Boston2. Buffalo3. Toronto4. Cleveland<h3>Smythe</h3>1. Chicago2. Minnesota3. St. Louis4. Vancouver5. Colorado<h2>TONY GALLAGHER</h2>Vancouver Province<h3>Norris</h3>1. Montreal2. Los Angeles3. Pittsburgh4. Washington5. Detroit<h3>Patrick</h3>1. Islanders2. Philadelphia3. Rangers4. Atlanta<h3>Adams</h3>1. Buffalo2. Boston3. Toronto4. Cleveland<h3>Smythe</h3>1. Vancouver2. Chicago3. Minnesota4. St. Louis5. Colorado &#9632;

How Hockey News Selectors Picked Them

<h2>ADAMS DIVISION</h2>1. Boston2. Buffalo3. Toronto4. Cleveland<h2>NORRIS DIVISION</h2>1. Montreal2. Pittsburgh3. Los Angeles4. Washington5. Detroit<h2>PATRICK DIVISION</h2>1. Islanders2. Philadelphia3. Atlanta4. Rangers<h2>SMYTHE DIVISION</h2>1. Chicago2. Minnesota3. St. Louis4. Vancouver5. Colorado &#9632;

How NHL Will End

<div class="byline">BY JIM LEAHY</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGER HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaBINGHAMTON&mdash;The American Hockey League has moved one franchise and accepted another to increase the 1977-78 team complement to nine for the new season.The AHL board of governors voted to approve the sale of the Rhode Island Reds to a Binghamton, N.Y.. group headed by James Matthews and followed up by accepting the Philadelphia Firebirds from the defunct North American Hockey League into the AHL as the ninth team.AHL president Jack Butterfield said the approval of the Rhode Island franchise sale meant the end of professional hockey in Providence after 53 years. The Reds will be shifted to Binghamton and will be known as the Binghamton Dusters.Butterfield said the Reds were sold by co-owners Thomas O&rsquo;Halloran and Robert Thiernan to Matthews and his coowner Andre Vielleux of Quebec City.Matthews, a prominent car dealer in Binghamton, said he was extremely pleased the AHL allowed the Reds to be sold to his group He said the team will operate out of Binghamton, will be known as the Dusters and will continue the working agreement with the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL. The Penguins were to work with the Rhode Island team this season.The decision to shift the Reds from Providence to Binghamton put the club&rsquo;s manager-coach Ross Brooks out of a job. The Dusters will retain Larry Kish as their coach Kish coached the Dusters last season in the NAHL.Reds&rsquo; owners O&rsquo;Halloran and Tiernan said that declining attendance and a lack of pro hockey interest in Providence were the major factors in disposing of the team. The Reds averaged less than 3,000 fans a game in recent years.The acceptance of the Philadelphia Firebirds, another refugee team from the recently-disbanded NAHL. created a nine-team lineup for the AHL The league&rsquo;s vice-president, Gordon Anziano. said that he has been forced to scrap the recently published AHL schedule and hopes to draft a revised schedule before the AHL&rsquo;s opening weekend of play. Oct. 13.14,15 and 16.The new owner of the Philly Firebirds is George Piszek. who heads a prosperous frozen food chain in the U.S. Piszek said Danny Belisle will be the Firebirds coach and Paul Brown will be the club&rsquo;s general manager.No mention was made of which team the New Firebirds will be affiliated with but it is possible they will announce a single team agreement in a few days.It also appears some AHL clubs are discouraging dual team affiliations with NHL clubs.For the past few seasons, several AHL teams have been stocked with players from two different major league organizations. In an attempt to minimize skyrocketing expenses, the two each provided players to one AHL club. The plan may have saved money, however, it gave more than one AHL coach big headaches.Problem number one was quite obvious to the coach. Which organization was he supposed to be loyal to? Furthermore. who does he take orders from? On paper, the coach was free to come up with his own lineup each night. In practice. it didn&rsquo;t always work out that way.It&rsquo;s a safe bet that the AHL coach was told to give certain high-priced rookies plenty of ice time even if the rookie didn&rsquo;t deserve it. Players on the bench began to grumble. In some cases, good amateurs could not turn professional because AHL clubs had an excess of players due to the large number of men that the parent teams had under contract.With some AHL clubs struggling to survive. the last thing that the fans needed was a demoralized team playing in their home town. With the advent of long term contracts, below par hockey players were paid big money to play in the AHL. Since the major league club was paying the salaries of these men. they had every right to expect that they would get plenty of ice time.More often than not. a dual-sponsored AHL team had a few unhappy players who were merely playing out their contracts. Fortunately, most of them are long gone and multi-year contracts are few and far between. As a matter of fact, a tremendous number of free agents are available now.Last year only Nova Scotia (Montreal) and Rochester (Boston) were sponsored by one NHL organization. Both clubs had a great season and met one another tor the AHL title. Nova Scotia emerged victorious.This season New Haven (Rangers). Maine (Philadelphia) and Binghamton (Pittsburgh) will join Rochester and Nova Scotia as development clubs for NHL teams.Springfield (Los Angeles-New England). Hershey (Washington-Buffalo) and Hampton (Cincinnati-Quebec-Birmingham) plan to go with two or more sponsors. Which approach will be more successful? All of us will find out next spring when Nova Scotia romps to another AHL championship.SPRINGFIELD: Indians&rsquo; publicity director, Jim Slattery, has all kinds of freebies for season ticket holders. Special VIP parking. Tribe jackets and a discount plan should enable the Tribe to enjoy a tremendous increase at the gate this season. Owner George Leary is particularly happy about his new association with the Los Angeles Kings. He recently stated that &ldquo;It is a very good and fair agreement for any minor league club and the terms reflect the good faith of Kings&rsquo; general manager George Maguire&rdquo;. Springfield will have an early chance to test that new agreement when they open at home against the always tough Rochester Americans.MAINE: The parent Flyers have really helped the Mariners in this, their maiden season in the AHL. Coach Bob McCammon should have a winning club in Portland and the new 6.600 seat Civic Center may see quite a few capacity crowds this year. After the Mariners break training camp in Philadelphia, they open at home the weekend of Oct. 14.NOVA SCOTIA: The Voyageurs play eight of their first 10 games on the road which should be a real test for the defending AHL champions. Since travelling to Halifax is costly for the other league clubs, most of them play back-to-back games in Nova Scotia. Since the Vees are almost unbeatable on home ice, they must be stopped on the road if their Northern Division rivals have any chance of wrestling the AHL flag from Nova Scotia. The club had four of their top stars of last season. Bruce Baker. Peter Lee, Rod Schutt and Paul Woods returned by Montreal.NEW HAVEN: After the Nighthawks finish their pre-season game on October 10 at the Coliseum against the parent N.Y. Rangers, they open the regular AHL campaign at home on Sunday Oct. 16. New Haven goes into this season with two excellent, veteran free agents under contract. Center Tom Colley and defenseman Ken Murray are expected to form the nucleus upon which Parker MacDonald hopes to build a contending team.ROCHESTER: Duane Rupp is looking forward to receiving some late cuts from the Bruins&rsquo; training camp in Fitchburg, Mass. The Amerks will probably add some free agents just before the season opener at home.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01328/4032939-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="568" height="794"><figcaption class="caption-body">DANNY BELISLE &hellip;Firebirds&rsquo; Coach</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02236/4032932-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="558" height="916"><figcaption class="caption-body">RODSCHUTT</figcaption></div>The Gulls are starting their first AHL season Sunday night Oct. 16. when the defending champion Nova Scotia Voyageurs come to town Coach John Brophy likes to have a physical team, which he may need against the powerful Vees. The expansionist Gulls at least promise to be a colorful team when playing in Hampton. Their home uniforms will gold, trimmed in black and white.HERSHEY: The Bears open the season for Hershey fans at the Arena on Saturday, Oct. 15. Prior to that, coach Chuck Hamilton will have completed his roster with players assigned to him from Washington and Buffalo. &#9632;

f0028-01

AHL Shifts Reds To Binghamton; Philadelphia Joins As 9th Entry

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BY MARGARET SCOTT</div><h2>All About Errol Thompson</h2>STATISTICS:Errol is actually Thompson&rsquo;s second name while Loran is his first name. It was his mother, an enthusiastic fan of the late movie star, Errol Flynn, who bestowed that on him.He was bom in Summerside, P.E.I. May 28, 1950, and is a chunky five-foot-nine, 180-pound left winger. Thompson played his minor hockey in the Maritimes and was a senior with the Charlottetown Royals. In 1970 he was Toronto&rsquo;s second draft choice, 22nd overall in the amateur draft. He turned professional with the Maple Leafs in 1970, playing two seasons in Tulsa of the CHL, before becoming a Leaf regular in 1972-73.His wife is the former Jean Elizabeth &ldquo;Betty&rdquo; Ford, a hockey fan who was raised only two miles from Thompson&rsquo;s home town. The two met in December, 1969, and were married July 24, 1971. Their daughter, Lisa, was born September 23,1973.SUPERSTITION&mdash;IF ANY:Yes, I&rsquo;m superstituous and I think most people have their own little quirks in that area. When I&rsquo;m getting ready for a game I always dress my right side first Then I say a little prayer in the dressing room and a short prayer on the ice just before the game starts. I&rsquo;m also cautious about being the third person to light a cigarette from one match. But I know the reason for that. About 15 years ago I took that third light. When I went home I was told that my dog had been run over by a car. I suppose it was sheer coincidence, but I have never repeated that third light procedure.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01286/4032970-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="499" height="539"><figcaption class="caption-body">ERROL THOMPSON &hellip;A TV Fanatic</figcaption></div>FAVORITE FOOD BEFORE A GAME:Times certainly have changed from those steak eating days. Apparently some experts have declared that steak has little to offer athletes until 24 hours before a game. When I&rsquo;m playing at home I usually eat a macaroni and cheese dinner around 12:30 or 1 o&rsquo;clock. I&rsquo;m a fish eater when we&rsquo;re on the road and I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s because I&rsquo;m a Maritimer. I&rsquo;d say half a dozen players on our club eat fish on game days.FAVORITE FOOD ANYTIME:I&rsquo;m basically very easy to please as far as food is concerned. I guess I&rsquo;m a meat and potatoes guy. Nothing fancy. Just something good, clean and solid.FAVORITE PLACE TO LIVE:A couple of years ago I got into a little trouble when people misunderstood an article in a paper. Apparently some people thought I said I disliked Toronto which is not true. I think it&rsquo;s one of the greatest cities in the world. But I wouldn&rsquo;t want to stay here in the summer. I like returning to Summerside in the off-season. It&rsquo;s home. When I retire I think I&rsquo;ll live there permanently.FAVORITE PLACE TO VISIT:I cannot provide a direct answer, because I don&rsquo;t have a favorite vacation spot. My wife and I spent three weeks in Trinidad last spring and had a fantastic time. That&rsquo;s as close as I can come to a reply.FAVORITE READING MATERIAL:I used to read a great deal, but I don&rsquo;t spend much time reading now. I prefer a small, soft covered novel, maybe only 300 pages in length. I must have read six books when I was in Trinidad, because I cannot stretch out in the sun and do nothing for several hours. The books took my mind off the heat of the sun.DO YOU LIKE TELEVISION?I&rsquo;m a TV fanatic. Believe it or not, I relax by watching television seven or eight hours per day. When I go home after practice I switch on the TV set and turn it off at midnight. I certainly get my six dollars per month from the cable fee. I saw Washington: Behind Closed Doors, but I missed the final episode because that was the day I left Summerside to drive back to Toronto. I thought the cast was unbelievably superb. Just a fine array of actors and actresses to portray all the characters.DO YOU HAVE FAVORITE TV PROGRAMS OR PERSONALITIES?Yes, I like Robert Blake as Baretta. Paul Michael Glaser and DavidSoul in Starsky and Hutch are, in my opinion, very good. I get a kick out of the way they act. I also like Angie Dickenson in Police Woman.<h2>ARE YOU A MOVIE FAN AND DO YOU SEE MANY FILMS?</h2>I enjoy movies, but we don&rsquo;t go to see very many. Picking up the baby sitter and driving her home, plus all the commotion of getting ready to go out, hardly seems worth it for a two hour movie. I guess my wife and I are just content to stay home.<h2>DOES MUSIC INTEREST YOU AND DO YOU HAVE FAVORITE SONGS AND SINGERS?</h2>I prefer music that&rsquo;s easy to listen to. I&rsquo;m not keen on singing groups and I doubt if I could name half a dozen of them. I think Abba is simply tremendous and I like the Eagles.<h2>IN THE SUMMER:</h2>I live in Summerside, play a little golf and ball and for the past three years I&rsquo;ve gone on a fishing trip to Newfoundland. I even fished in Trinidad. I think I do have to prepare for a future without hockey and I&rsquo;m presently in the midst of making a few connections. But I don&rsquo;t have off-season employment. My wife is not the outdoors type and I&rsquo;m sort of glad about that. She&rsquo;s a very efficient home-maker. Sometimes the other wives tease her because she&rsquo;s always dusting and cleaning. Lisa, our daughter, is now beginning to copy her.<h2>AS A YOUNGSTER WHO WAS YOUR FAVORITE HOCKEY STAR:</h2>Bobby Hull.<h2>GREATEST THRILL IN HOCKEY:</h2>Scoring my first NHL goal. I don&rsquo;t remember the date, but it was in the Detroit Olympia and I kept the puck.<h2>DID YOU EVER WANT TO EMULATE GORDIE DRILLON WHO PUT MONCTON, N.B. ON THE MAP HOCKEYWISE?</h2>No, I never thought about it that way. I don&rsquo;t like comparing myself to anyone in respect to ability or success. I just want to prove to myself that I can make it in hockey and also be successful in life after my career is over.But when I was about nine years old and playing minor hockey we had a banquet. At that time Gordie Drillon was a real Maritime hero and he, of course, was invited to attend. I had the privilege of sitting on his knee and having my picture taken with him. I still have the photograph at home and we&rsquo;ve talked about it, because I usually see Gordie at least once during the winter. They showed the picture on TV about two years ago when Drillon brought it to Toronto and I was interviewed. &#9632;

f0029-01

INSIDE STUFF

NEW YORK&mdash;When you watch an NHL referee or linesman in action, don&rsquo;t think he sat around all summer just waiting for the 1977-78 season to begin. He was hard at work keeping in condition and following an individual conditioning program prepared for him by the National Hockey Lesgue&rsquo;s officiating staff. Then it was on to the NHL&rsquo;s annual pre-season camp for officials.Since 1967, the NHL has conducted a camp for its officials much like those run by individual teams. Earlier this month, 17 rookies and 33 veteran officials participated in a week-long training camp in Toronto under the supervision of Referee-in-Chief Scotty Morrison.The Camp included exercises, drills, medical lectures, game scrimmages, and rules explanations. The officials&rsquo; morning began at 6 A.M., and continued until early evening. Every minute of their day was planned. There was no idle time.From the moment they took their opening day physical, until they ended their camp with an annual golf tournament. these men talked and studied officiating.John Ziegler, the newly elected president of the National Hockey League called it &ldquo;one of the most impressive camps I have ever seen in pro sports.&rdquo;Years ago, the average referee or linesman would try to stay in shape during the summer. But there was no formal program, no pre-season camp. &ldquo;You were on your own,&rdquo; recalls Morrison.&ldquo;But times have changed. Today, with an 18-team league and 720 games, officials have to be in top shape, and alert to all facets of the game.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02229/4033001-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="543" height="523"><figcaption class="caption-body">SCOTTY MORRISON &hellip;Proud Of Officials</figcaption></div>Scotty, who grades the officials two times a year (mid and post-season), points out that a baseball or football official is just reaching his peak at 40 years old. But that&rsquo;s not the case in hockey. At 40, hockey officials are looking toward retirement.&ldquo;Our officials never stop,&rdquo; said Scotty. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re involved in a very fast, physical game. That&rsquo;s why our officials start in the NHL at a younger age and retire at an earlier age than officials in other sports.&rdquo;The first day of camp, all NHL officials took physicals in the grand ballroom of their training camp hotel. In addition, each official went through an agility and endurance test. Then they went through more tests to measure their speed and reflexes, the capacity of their lungs, the strength of their grip. etc.The results were studied, filed, and are checked again when the officials go through a similar test at mid-season.Dan McLeod, a supervisor of officials, says the rookies are checked very closely during the training camp. Are they in shape? Do they have the mental capacity to handle tough game situations? How do they react to pressure?But, first, Morrison and his staff look for basic qualities.&ldquo;The first thing you look for is somebody who&rsquo;s just a good athlete,&rdquo; says McLeod. You can tell by the way he moves. Also, a good official must have speed. He has to be able to get from one end of the ice to the other. But most of all he&rsquo;s got to have the look of authority. He&rsquo;s got to look like he is in command.&rdquo;During training camp. Morrison and his staff were constantly on the ice with their officials. They lectured, observed and corrected.No detail was too small to discuss or explain McLeod, who runs six to seven miles every morning, seemed to be everywhere, encouraging the rookies, assisting the veteran officials.Morrison, who was especially interested in the 17 rookies, from amateur and minor league teams, finally signed four to NHL contracts. They were referee John McCutcheon, of Owen Sound, Ontario&rsquo;, linesmen Kevin Collins of Springfield. Mass., and Don Koharski of Dartmouth. Nova Scotia and referee - linesman Mike Foy of Willingboro. New Jersey. Most of their work this season will come in the Central or American Hockey Leagues, but they will await anxiously their first regular season NHL game.&ldquo;In many ways our officials are a team,&rdquo; says Morrison. &ldquo;They have the same goals, the same pride and the same commitment to excellence. Our people have just as much pride putting on a shirt with the NHL crest as anyone of our players have putting on their own team jerseys.&rdquo;Morrison pointed out that league referees and linesman are not only dedicated to the game of hockey, but also reflect well upon the NHL. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t hear them talk about it, but a lot of our officials are close to various charities,&rdquo; says Scotty. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ll find a lot of them visiting children&rsquo;s hospitals in various NHL cities, or officiating soccer or baseball game for charity. They also have their own softball team that plays in various charity events.&rdquo;In short, Scotty Morrison is rather proud of his &ldquo;team&rdquo;. &#9632;

f0029-02

NHL Signs Four Officials AfterTough Training Camp

<div class="byline">BY DOUG MCCONNELL</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 CanadaDALLAS&mdash;Three mainstays of last season&rsquo;s Dallas Black Hawks are gone but some outstanding young talent is anticipated from the parent Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Black Hawks.Roger Neilson, who made his debut in the pro ranks with Dallas last season after building an enviable reputation in the junior ranks, has been promoted to the Leafs&rsquo; bench and Gerry McNamara moves in from his &ldquo;super scout&rdquo; post with Toronto to boss the young Hawks.Michel Archambault, the team&rsquo;s leading scorer and the Central Hockey League&rsquo;s first team All Star left wing the past two seasons, was dropped after his contract expired.Ian McKegney, the CHL&rsquo;s outstanding defenseman in 1974-75 and 1975-76, was granted relief of his contract so he could play in Austria.The Leafs have signed their top four draft choices, two from each of the first two rounds, and the Black Hawks got the names of their first and second round picks on contracts.Selected by the Leafs in the first round were right wing John Anderson and defenseman Trevor Johansen, both from the Toronto Marlboros. second round choices were defenseman Bob Gladney from Oshawa and right wing Rocky Saganiuk from Lethbridge.The Leafs also signed two-time college All American defenseman Ron Wilson from Providence College. The son of Kansas City coach Larry Wilson played four games with Dallas last season, but at center ice.Chicago&rsquo;s first round pick is defenseman Doug Wilson from Ottawa and center Jean Savard, who scored 84 goals for Quebec City last season.Mike Veisor, who played in Dallas last season, was expected to share the Chicago goaltending with Tony Esposito. Gilles Villemure has retired and Michel Dumas is expected to sit out the season with an eye injury.If Chicago&rsquo;s fourth round choice, goaltender Randy Ireland, shows enough, he will probably wind up in Dallas. Otherwise, Toronto will supply two goaltenders.The Leafs have Mike Palmateer and Wayne Thomas who shared Toronto&rsquo;s goaltending last season. Gord McRae, who tied with Kansas City&rsquo;s Yves Belanger for first team All Star status while posting a 2.71 goals against average, the league&rsquo;s best, for Dallas, and Pierre Hamel, a second team All Star two years ago, who was loaned to Oklahoma City last season.Among Toronto farmhands expected to return to Dallas is defenseman Blair Mackasey. who underwent spinal fusion surgery.Mike O&rsquo;Connell, the CHL&rsquo;s outstanding and top scoring defenseman (15-53-68) last season, will be back in Dallas unless he catches on with the parent Chicago club.The Dallas camp opens at Toronto one week after the Leaf camp begins and McNamara will direct his charges through a series of seven pre-season games with senior teams in Ontario.That&rsquo;s heavier pre-season competition than most of the other CHL clubs will enjoy, but five less games than last season.PHOENIX: &ldquo;Some people might have wondered at us being enthusiastic over having Cleveland and Colorado as our parent teams,&rdquo; said Phoenix Roadrunner president Mike Leonard.&ldquo;They haven&rsquo;t exactly been Stanley Cup threats, but I believe they have as much young talent in their organization as any team we could have got.&rdquo;Names were scarce as the Roadrunners put on the final season ticket push which they expected to take them over 2,500 with a chance at 3,000.&ldquo;Phoenix will have a young, skating team with good goaltending,&rdquo; said Cleveland general manager Harry Howell. &ldquo;Our whole system is built around skating and with Sandy&rsquo;s (coach Sandy Hucul) help and direction, it will be a strong defensive club.The Barons are to be the major supplier, said Leonard, sending 11-12 players and Colorado completing the 18-man lineup. The Rockies had no outright farm affiliation last season.&ldquo;We had players in Providence. Baltimore. Oklahoma City, Flint, Mich., all over the place.&rdquo; said Colorado general manager Ray Miron. &ldquo;We got started so late.&rdquo;TULSA: The Tulsa Oilers have won the Clarence Campbell Trophy for the second consecutive year.The trophy, which honors the president of the National Hockey League for 31 years, is presented annually to the Central Hockey League team which accomplishes the most to enhance the image of professional hockey as well as the image of the CHL.CHL president Bub Poile plans to present the trophy to Oilers&rsquo; president Bobby Gilbert in a pre-game ceremony Oct. 21 when the Oilers host the Fort Worth Texans.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01323/4033039-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="550" height="587"><figcaption class="caption-body">MICHEL ARCHAMBAULT &hellip;Contract Not Renewed</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02255/4033032-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="538" height="586"><figcaption class="caption-body">BLAIR MACKASEY &hellip;Dallas Bound?</figcaption></div>The CHL governors vote on the award with input from Poile.&ldquo;It was between Tulsa and Dallas,&rdquo; said Poile. &ldquo;It was very close.&ldquo;Tulsa&rsquo;s attendance was up and they reached the finals for the second year in a row. They have a real class organization.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0030-01

Dallas Eyeing NHL Draft Picks; Phoenix To Ice Top Skating Club

Phoenix&mdash;Opening date for the 1977-78 Central Hockey League season has been moved back one day from Wednesday, Oct. 12 to Thursday, Oct. 13.The three games originally scheduled, Ft. Worth at Kansas City, Dallas at Phoenix and Tulsa at Salt Lake, have all been rescheduled for the following evening. This change in the schedule was made in order to avoid an opening night conflict with the scheduled second game of the baseball World Series which will be played on Wednesday night, Oct. 12. &#9632;

CHL Moves Openers Back

<div class="byline">BY MARY KAY DAVIS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0031-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01299/4033094-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg"></div><h2>Convention In New York</h2>Only one ingredient missing from this year&rsquo;s NHL booster clubs convention in Bloomington. Minnesota&mdash;the presence of our own &ldquo;Mighty Mouse,&rsquo; Yvonne Foss&hellip;Resplendent in an ankle-to-waist cast. Yvonne is taking therapy after 11 weeks in traction and writes to say how deeply touched she was by the notes sent to her by her hockey-loving friends&hellip;Yvonne wants you to know she&rsquo;s launching plans to welcome you to New York City for the 78 Convention&hellip;&rdquo;Next convention,&rdquo; she writes, &ldquo;will see &lsquo;Mighty Mouse&rsquo; roaring again!!&rdquo;It&rsquo;s true! The booster clubs convention does get better every year!!&hellip;As many booster clubbers who have visited Minneapolis are well aware, the MINNESOTA STARGAZERS are among the most gracious hosts and hostesses in hockeydom. They certainly lived up to their reputation at the seventh annual NHL booster clubs convention in Bloomington, Minnesota Aug. 11-13&hellip;All our thanks go not only to club president Lori Gille and convention chairpeople Jan Ryan, Patrick Brown and Harold Bergstrom, but to every single member of the STARGAZERS&hellip;They all went out of their way not only to arrange and carry off a super weekend, but also to ferry us around town whenever we felt the urge to wander off and sightsee, shop, etc.We started arriving on Tuesday and by Wednesday, when Dennis and Carolann Modlin had all the &ldquo;early birds&rdquo; out to their home for a deck party, they were rewarded with a sunny day and the sunny smiles of about 50 happy hockey nuts&hellip;That evening about 40 of the hardiest souls (wonder who the 10 were who chickened out?) were escorted to an &ldquo;exotic&rdquo; show in St. Paul which is reportedly about to be closed down&hellip;and that&rsquo;s the last I ever saw of Guy Pal from Philly! (But seriously folks&hellip;)On Thursday evening it was Gordy and Mary Elscott&rsquo;s turn, as they entertained about 150 of us in their sparipus. comly. bug-free backyard, complete with strolling musician&hellip;Fran Cherro was one of many Stargazers who went out of their way to drive us wherever we wanted to go&hellip;On Thursday, Fran took Florence Hackett (Chicago), Al Fix, Betty Rudolph, Anabel McVeen (Buffalo) and yours truly to see authentic Fort Sneling overlooking the Mississippi. Fran, incidentally, is now the NHL Booster clubs liaison from the Stargazers.Must tell you about the great entertainment at the Friday night hospitality party&hellip;There was something for everybody, including disco dancing featuring a Bump Contest, won handily by Minnesota&rsquo;s Gregg Saffell and Sue Larson. Meanwhile, in the Fun and Games Dept., there were six large posters of assorted NHL referees just begging to be bean-bagged, and I managed to knock Alf LeJeune in the nose so hard he fell right off the wall, to a standing ovation and cries of, &ldquo;Now do it to Wally Harris!!&rdquo;It was just last year at the Buffalo Convention that New York Rangers fan Bob Garner spotted pretty Patty Ann Aluise of Washington, and there&rsquo;ll be a merger on November 5 at St. Joseph&rsquo;s Catholic Church in Landover, Maryland, we were advised by beaming Regina and Frank Garner.When &ldquo;Lonely Seal&rdquo; Howard Cochran got up at the Saturday morning general meeting and announced his forthcoming marriage to June Brandt of San Francisco, everybody&rsquo;s favorite Seal was astounded by the standing ovation that rivalled Bobby Hull&rsquo;s 51st goal! Howie will have to find a new designation&mdash;he isn&rsquo;t &ldquo;Lonely&rdquo; any longer!&hellip;He said he wasn&rsquo;t sure he&rsquo;d get to next year&rsquo;s convention because June doesn&rsquo;t care for planes, but NEW YORK RANGERS FAN CLUB prexy Sammy Pitkowsky rose to the occasion with the promise, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll send a taxi for you, Howie!&rdquo;<h2>Real Business Began</h2>Saturday afternoon is when the real &ldquo;business&rsquo; of the convention takes place, as two delegates from each member fan club meet and bash heads&hellip;All the other luckies take off to leave them in peace&hellip;A whole boatload of luckies chugged down the mighty Mississippi on the paddlewheel boat, &ldquo;Josiah Snelling,&rdquo; enjoying a change of pace in the frantic weekend&hellip;That Jacuzzi at the Marriott worked wonders, because the Jack Brew I saw recuperating there on Friday morning was not the revitalized Jack Brew I heard about from the other delegates!What a pleasure meeting the Cleveland group for their first convention&hellip;Doug Archibald, Jeanne Popovitz, Nina Stevens, Pat Harrington and new president Kathy Rafferty&hellip;I hope Doug didn&rsquo;t take it personally when I dozed off while he, Nina, and Philly fans Al and Rick Cincotta were chatting with me on the cruise&hellip;It was the dramamine. Doug!Northstar owner Gordon Ritz and Mrs. Ritz know a good party when they see one&hellip;They joined us for cocktails, were talked into staying for the dinner-dance, and the last I saw of them was about 2 a m. in one of the hospitality suites, when &ldquo;Fun Person&rdquo; Mrs. Ritz was pinning a hockey button on a slightly bemused security guard&hellip;Speakers were Johnny Mariucci, Ted Harris, and Al &ldquo;Close&rdquo; Shaver, voice of the Northstars&hellip;Yours truly was thrilled silly with the plaques received from Art James of the BUFFALO SABRES BOOSTER CLUB and Mary Todd of the LOS ANGELES KINGS COURT, on behalf of all the booster clubs, for my efforts in this column&hellip; Of course, equally deserving of recognition are all the folks in your own clubs who relay news to me the year round, including Dianne Lobart, Lois Thomson, Mary Todd. Sharon Pierce, T.J. Lombardo, Joann Rathbun. Gregg Saffeli, Phyllis Schlemmer, Linda Rawley. Sue Mercurio, Ernie Vickers. Penny Langman, Anne Slade, Donna Gauthier, Howie Cochran, Bill Woodruff and Michael P. Sweeney.John Szczepaniak of the Rangers fan club, better known as &ldquo;nineteen,&rdquo; rented a gorgeous wine-colored tuxedo with a frilly blue shirt for the dinner dance, but he fell asleep and didn&rsquo;t wake up &lsquo;til after dinner. So he wore it to the hospitality rooms after dinner and nobody recognized him without his football helmet&hellip;! finally got to meet two real live Manitoba Mooses&mdash;Chuck Belmont and Terry Nearv from Pittsburgh&hellip;So, there really is a difference between Fenton Rawley and Finton Rawley of St. Louis&hellip;They are father and son Speaking of St. Louis. I couldn&rsquo;t believe that Joe and Ralph Legendre were the only two Legendre&rsquo;s attending the convention, when they are supposed to have so many relatives&hellip; I was hoping they would bring along the whole family, and the rest of the conventioneers could have played softball against them!It was a first convention for Ruth Morrill, Dick Devine, and Sylvia and Bill Bauler and Jackie Hartline from Chicago, and like many first-timers they seemed somewhat stunned at first but it didn&rsquo;t take long to get the hang of it. Black Hawk standby Angie Miraglio combined conventioneering with a visit to sister Laura, who lives in the Twin Cities&hellip;Two faces &ldquo;new&rdquo; to the convention but &ldquo;old&rdquo; to me were those of Bob Richards and Dave Winslow of Colorado, whom I had met when they came to Chicago last season with a group of Colorado fans. They brought Ed Burke and Brenda Strawford to the convention&hellip;More old faces (figuratively speaking) were those of Sharon Ryan and Dorothy Conti of Kansas City, who brought along Halina Hendzlik and John and Hilda McCreadie to share in the fun.<h2>The Cleanest Conventioneer</h2>Ernie Vickers has to be the cleanest conventioneer ever, if he showers every time he dons a new and different hockey T-shirt&hellip;Same goes for Barry Bekoff of Long Island, who collects university sweatshirts&hellip;Ernie was accompanied by Laurie Ellis and Denise Sowchuck&hellip;The trio drove all the way from Vancouver and were our first Canadian representatives&hellip;Minnesota&rsquo;s Sara Rehbein is just the nicest person&hellip;She kept going back to the store to pick up necklaces for conventioneers&hellip;and with those naughty sayings on them, too&hellip;I wore mine all the way down the Colorado River, and ended up giving it to the guide, because it was my most treasured possession (not counting what fell out of the raft).I promised Murray Sherow of Philly that if I won the Flyers Fan Club raffle, which offered a trip for two traveling with the Flyers, that he could have my winning ticket&hellip;I must be nuts&hellip; Bernie Davis and mom Miriam Levin had a long drive from oPhilly to Minneapolis but enjoyed the sights along the way&hellip; Miriam was a finalist in the Bump Contest and the Marriott may never be the same&hellip;Can I be blamed for getting Jack Schott of Philly and Al Walter of Buffalo mixed up? Their matching Fu Manchu mustaches and similar heights and builds along with my decayed condition that weekend are my excuse&hellip;Jack and Joan Schott&rsquo;s son, Kenny, won the puck-shooting contest Friday evening, and his prize was a smoke detector.It won&rsquo;t be long now before a brand-new list of Booster Club Official Addresses will be available through this columnist, so drop me a line if you need one. Two happy people were Barb and Sammy Pitkowsky of the NEW YORK RANGERS FAN CLUB, who will be our hosts at the 1978 Convention&hellip;Bob and Judy Maddox of the ATLANTA FLAMES FAN CLUB were just as happy, since their club was selected for 79. Last I heard, transportation chief Scott Williams had not lost a single conventioneer, and all survived to make their reservations for next year in New York City!Anyone having NHL team Fan Club notes on happenings should send to: Editor, &ldquo;The Wigwam&rdquo;, 1530 East Northwest Highway, Arlington Heights, Illinois 60004. &#9632;

f0031-01

NHL BOOSTER CLUB NEWS

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01301/4033132-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">COMING BACK ?: Veteran IHL performer Moe Benoit is reportedly coming out of retirement to coach the new Dayton Owls this season. Benoit played 10 years in the IHL and scored 115 goals.</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 CanadaMILWAUKEE&mdash;The Milwaukee Admirals may be new to the International Hockey League but Chick Balon isn&rsquo;t. And Chick just might decide to play one more year to complete an even dozen years of competition in the IHL.Balon, who saw service with three IHL clubs during his career, ended a brief retirement last season to help the Admirals in the United States League. Balon clicked for 28 goals in a schedule which is half what the IHL plays. As the 1977-78 season approaches, Balon is still not sure if he&rsquo;ll play again. But odds are he will.And if Chick does extend his playing career, the Admirals can look to a good omen in the veteran right winger who speaks quietly but carries a big stick. Balon has been on three Turner Cup champions&mdash;and that&rsquo;s a record worth noting. Balon helped Toledo win the IHL&rsquo;s most prized award in 1967, was with Dayton when the Gems won in 1970 and was a key cog in the Fort Wayne Komets&rsquo; sweep of the championship series with Port Huron in 1973.During his 11 seasons in the IHL, Balon appeared in 703 games and scored a total of 266 goals. He was in no less than 57 playoff games and added 25 more goals in the post-season competition. His most productive season was 1967-68 when he pumped home 41 goals.Interest in the Admirals continues at a high level, according to Phil Wittliff of the Admiral staff. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve sold over 1,700 season tickets already. We are on the go from 7 a.m. until dark. It really has been fantastic,&rdquo; he reports.Whittliff also announced the Admirals have signed an agreement with Buffalo of the National Hockey League. Coach Gene Ubriaco went to the Buffalo camp in the hopes of getting an early look at some talent which might filter his way. The Admirals have also negotiated with Atlanta and Ubriaco also plans to visit the Montreal camp although there will be no working agreement with the Canadiens. Ubriaco is hopeful he just might pick up some pretty good talent from the Montreal cuts.While Milwaukee is excited about its third tour with the IHL (Milwaukee was also represented by the Chiefs in the early 1950s and the Falcons for 17 games during the 1960-61 season), the other eight IHL clubs are in the process also of screening talent from their NHL affiliates. All will be hoping to find another Garth MacGuigan (Muskegon) or Ron Zanussi (Fort Wayne) who shared rookie of the year honors last season. Fort Wayne also had another strong candidate for rookie of the year honors last season in Rob Tudor, who has been looking good in the Vancouver camp. In a recent scrimmage session, Tudor led the Blues to victory over the Whites with a pair of goals.Toledo, which lost to Saginaw in the finals last season, got some bad news recently. Brian McKenzie, named early in the summer as player and assistant coach to head man Ted Garvin, has decided to retire from hockey for business reasons. McKenzie, who came to Toledo midway through the 1975-76 season, became a stalwart figure for the Goaldiggers during the year and a half he spent with the organization. McKenzie led Toledo in scoring last season with 90 points on 32 goals and 58 assists.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02231/4033125-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="576" height="894"><figcaption class="caption-body">CHICK BALON &hellip; May Play Again</figcaption></div>It&rsquo;s not official yet, but rumors have another IHL veteran coming out of retirement to coach the Dayton Owls. Moe Benoit, who had an outstanding career in the IHL as a player and coach at stops like Omaha. Toledo and Dayton, played 10 seasons in the IHL as a defenseman primarily and scored 115 goals. &#9632;

f0032-01

Milwaukee Fans Respond To New IHL Entry

<h2>OCTOBER</h2>Fri 14 Austin at St. PaulSat. 15 Bloomington at Sioux CitySt Paul at Green BaySun. 16 Bloomington at AustinWed 19 St. Paul at BloomingtonFri. 21 Waterloo at St. PaulSat. 22 Austin at Sioux CityBloomington at Green BaySt. Paul at WaterlooSun. 23 Sioux City at St. PaulWed. 26 St. Paul at AustinFri. 28 Austin at Green BayBloomington at St. PaulSat. 29 Austin at Green BaySt. Paul at Sioux CityBloomington at Waterloo<h2>NOVEMBER</h2>Wed. 2 St. Paul at BloomingtonFri. 4 Green Bay at BloomingtonSioux City at St. PaulSat. 5 St. Paul at WaterlooSioux City at BloomingtonGreen Bay at AustinSun. 6 Green Bay at WaterlooSioux City at AustinBloomington at St. PaulWed 9 Green Bay at BloomingtonFri. 11 Waterloo at St. PaulSat. 12 Waterloo at Green BaySt. Paul at Sioux CityAustin at BloomingtonSun. 13 St. Paul at Sioux CityWed. 16 Waterloo at AustinFri. 18 Waterloo at Sioux CityGreen Bay at St. PaulSat. 19 Bloomington at Green BaySioux City at WaterlooSun. 20 Austin at WaterlooSioux City at Green BayWed. 23 Bloomington at Sioux CitySt. Paul at AustinThu. 24 Green Bay at WaterlooSt. Paul at BloomingtonFri. 25 Austin at BloomingtonSat. 26 Waterloo at Green BaySt Paul at Sioux CitySun. 27 Waterloo at BloomingtonSioux City at Austin<h2>DECEMBER</h2>Thu. 1 Waterloo at Green BaySat 3 Green Bay at Sioux CitySun 4 Green Bay at BloomingtonWed 7 Waterloo at AustinFri 9 Waterloo at St. PaulSat 10 Austin at Green BaySt. Paul at Sioux CitySun 11 Sioux City at WaterlooSt. Paul at BloomingtonWed 14 Austin at BloomingtonFri 16 Sioux City at Green BayBloomington at St. PaulWaterloo at AustinSat. 17 Sioux City at Green BaySt Paul at WaterlooBloomington at AustinSun 18 Austin at WaterlooBloomington at Sioux CityGreen Bay at St. PaulWed 21 Austin at BloomingtonFri 23 Waterloo at Sioux CitySt. Paul at AustinFrt 30 Austin at Sioux CityBloomington at WaterlooSt. Paul at Green BaySat. 31 St. Paul at Green Bay<h2>JANUARY</h2>Wed 4 St. Paul at AustinFri 6 Waterloo at Sioux CityGreen Bay at St. PaulSat. 7 Bloomington at Green BaySioux City at WaterlooSun 8 Bloomington at Green BaySioux City at St. PaulAustin at WaterlooWed 11 Austin at BloomingtonFri 13 Green Bay at Sioux CityAustin at WaterlooBloomington at St. PaulSat. 14 Green Bay at Sioux CityBloomington at AustinSun 15 Waterloo at BloomingtonGreen Bay at AustinWed 18 Sioux City at BloomingtonWaterloo at AustinSat. 21 Waterloo at Green BaySun 22 Waterloo at Green BayAustin at Sioux CitySt. Paul at BloomingtonWed 25 Allstar Game at AustinFri. 27 Sioux City at Green BayAustin at St. PaulSat 28 Sioux City at WaterlooGreen Bay at AustinBloomington at St. PaulSun 29 Bloomington at Green BaySioux City at Waterloo<h2>FEBRUARY</h2>Wed 1 Bloomington at AustinSat 4 Austin at Green BayWaterloo at Sioux CitySun 5 Austin at Green BayBloomington at Sioux CitySt. Paul at WaterlooWed. 8 St Paul at BloomingtonFri 10 Green Bay at Sioux CityWaterloo at BloomingtonSat. 11 Green Bay at Sioux CityBloomington at WaterlooAustin at St. PaulSun. 12 Austin at WaterlooGreen Bay at St. PaulWed 15 St Paul at AustinFri 17 Sioux City at Green BayBloomington at St. PaulSat. 18 Green Bay at WaterlooSioux City at AustinSun. 19 Waterloo at Green BaySioux City at BloomingtonAustin at St. PaulWed 22 Bloomington at AustinFri 24 Green Bay at Sioux CitySat. 25 Waterloo at Sioux CityGreen Bay at AustinSun 26 Green Bay at WaterlooAustin at St. PaulSioux City at Bloomington<h2>MARCH</h2>Wed. 1 St. Paul at AustinThu. 2 Waterloo at St. PaulSat. 4 St. Paul at Green BayAustin at Sioux CityBloomington at WaterlooSun 5 St. Paul at Green BayAustin at Sioux CityBloomington at WaterlooWed 8 Austin at BloomingtonSioux City at St. PaulFri 10 Sioux City at WaterlooSal. 11 St Paul at WaterlooSioux City at AustinSun 12 Sioux City at Green BayAustin at St. PaulWaterloo at BloomingtonWed 15 Bloomington at AustinFri 17 Green Bay at WaterlooSat 18 Bloomington at Sioux CityGreen Bay at WaterlooSun. 19 Waterloo at Sioux CityGreen Bay at Bloomington &#9632;

United States League 1977-78 SCHEDULE

GREEN BAY&mdash;When the United States Hockey League completed the playoffs of its 29th season last April before 8,000 fans with the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Blades winning out over Milwaukee Admirals, it was thought that the 30th year of operation for the league would be full of promise and excitement.Instead, last year&rsquo;s two finalists are no longer a part of the league, and when a third team. Traverse City Bays decided not to field a team this year, it left the future of the USHL on very shaky grounds. Two emergency meetings in Minneapolis followed and the league was saved when three teams from the Midwest Jr. Hockey League, Austin Mavericks, Bloomington Jr. Stars and St. Paul Vulcans agreed to join the three remaining franchises, Sioux City Musketeers, Waterloo Black Hawks, and Green Bay Bobcats in an interlocking 51-game schedule.According to USHL league president Gary Lipshutz, defending champion Grand Rapids was ousted from the league when the club failed to post a $15,000 bond on the date set by league directors and were subsequently voted out of the loop.Milwaukee Admirals, last year&rsquo;s otherfinalists and one of the most colorful franchises in the league, also threw the USHL a curve by deciding to withdraw and join the International League.Meanwhile the Traverse City Bays, owned by Dr. Arnold Sarja and coached by former NHL player Dean Prentice, were placed in escrow for a year and will not operate.There were other changes as well with the Green Bay Bobcats, the league&rsquo;s oldest franchise, changing ownership from the hands of Jim Van Essen to a group in Milwaukee. The team is expected, however, to play out of Green Bay.Several house rules have been adopted by the league with the three U.S. conference clubs allowed to carry five junior aged players, who are under the age of 21 and graduates of United States minor hockey programs.One of the new junior entries, St. Paul will play out of three arenas during the season including Aldrich Arena. St. Paul Auditorium and the St. Paul Civic Center.Commissioner Morley Howe is back for another term with former Midwest Jr. League president Bob Currie named as referee-in-chief and Gigi Pilhofer handling publicity and the registrar&rsquo;s position. &#9632;

Struggling USHL Plays Interlocking With Midwest Loop

<div class="byline">BY MIKE GAMBLE</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 CanadaSAULT STE MARIE&mdash;Shades of Mike Kaszycki and John Tavella. That&rsquo;s the fond hope of Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds coach Muzz MacPherson when he considers this season and the acquisition of Wayne Gretsky and Dan Lucas.Two seasons ago. Tavella and Kaszycki packed them in at Memorial Gardens as Greyhounds averaged 3.400 a game&mdash;tops in the league. The players responded as Kaszyski set an Ontario Hockey Association scoring record of 170 points while Tavella had 67 goals.Last year, MacPherson went with 11 rookies and only Oshawa Generals&rsquo; disastrous season gave the Greyhounds a playoff berth. &ldquo;We were getting beat 9-2 and 10-2 but the fans were luckier than I was. They could leave the rink.&rdquo; MacPherson said.Many Sault hockey fans didn&rsquo;t even find their way to the rink as attendance slipped drastically.All that appears to have changed, and the reason is Gretsky and Lucas.More than 3.300 were at the Gardens for Greyhounds&rsquo; season opener, a 6-l victory over Oshawa. Gretsky. a precocious 16-year-old who was the third player drafted last spring as a minor midget, scored three of the goals and assisted on the other three. Lucas, a refugee from the Western Canada Hockey League, had two goals and two assists.Gretsky is a centerman while Lucas plays right wing although he shoots left The third member of the line is Paul Mancini who had 20 goals for the Greyhounds last year.&ldquo;You watch the three of them play and you&rsquo;d think they&rsquo;d been together three years instead of three weeks.&rdquo; MacPherson said.The third year Greyhounds coach had never seen Gretsky play prior to this season.&ldquo;The night before the draft. I called my two scouts into my room and said are you sure&rdquo;? I&rsquo;ve seen 16-year-olds before and I always have doubts. But they told me to sit back and relax.&rdquo;Now that MacPherson&rsquo;s seen Gretsky play seven exhibition games and one league game, he&rsquo;s relaxed.&ldquo;Gretsky can do it all. He amazes you with every part of his job. The one weakness he has is winning face-offs but he&rsquo;s working on that.&rdquo;In exhibition games. Gretsky scored nine goals and 22 assists&mdash;an average of better than four points a game.Almost forgotten in the hoopla surrounding Gretsky is Lucas who was adroitly acquired by MacPherson after the winger played last year with University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.For the record, MacPherson says only that Lucas came to Sault Ste Marie for education. He is studying drafting and architecture at Sault College.After spending one season with Victoria Cougars of the WCHL. Lucas, a six-foot-one. 192-pounder opted for UBC last year and became a free agent in Feb. He is in his final year of eligibility.Greyhounds GM Angelo Bumbacco has compensated Victoria for Lucas&rsquo; rights and the figure is thought to be in excess of $2,000.The play of the line has helped MacPherson and the fans get over the loss of defenseman Craig Hartsburg who is out with stretched knee ligaments until November. Last year. Hartsburg was the Greyhounds&rsquo; franchise leading the team in scoring with 29 goals and 64 assists. He has two years of eligibility left.With Hartsburg out. Hounds are unsettled at defense where they have two rookies &mdash; Dwayne Sprague from Burlington and Ken Hurska from Port Colborne.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not a Memorial Cup contender at the moment. I&rsquo;d like to pick up an experienced forward and an experienced defenseman in a trade.&rdquo; MacPherson said.One thing for certain, with Gretsky. Lucas and Mancini up front, a healthy Hartsburg and Dave Mancuso on defense and Mark Locken in goal. MacPherson won&rsquo;t be embarrassed too often at Memorial Gardens this winter.OTTAWA: One Memorial Cup contender off to an atrocious start are last season&rsquo;s OHA champions. Ottawa 67s. Ottawa lost two of their first three games giving up 28 goals in the process. London and Kitchener crushed 67s by scores of 10-1 and 8-2 respectively, while Ottawa&rsquo;s lone win was an 11-10 victory over Windsor Spitfires.&ldquo;Our forwards are all standing around waiting to score goals and I&rsquo;ve only got one defenseman (Buddy Clouthier) with any experience.&rdquo; said 67s coach and general manager Brian Kilrea.Ottawa has three rookies on defense&mdash;Rory Cava. Bill Kitchen and Doug Crossman&mdash;plus Larry Elson, the team&rsquo;s extra defenseman last season.If things don&rsquo;t improve. Kilrea may be forced to put Steve Marengere and Ed Hospodar on defense although he doesn&rsquo;t want to.Up front, Bob Smith has converted from left wing to center and that is taking some adjustment.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always felt Smitty is a natural centerman because he shifts both ways.The only problem he has is puck movement. Sometimes, he tries to beat evervone himself.&rdquo; Kilrea said.Despite the 28 goals against, Kilrea is satisfied with Jay O&rsquo;Connor in goal &ldquo;It&rsquo;s on the second and third shots that the other teams are scoring and that&rsquo;s the fault of the defense plus the forwards not coming back to help out. &ldquo;Kilrea said.However, help may be on the way in the persons of forward Sean Simpson and defenseman John Campbell&mdash;two high draft picks. Simpson, a second round pick from North York Rangers, left camp because he had a school problem. But. according to Kilrea. Simpson could return to Ottawa shortly. Campbell, selected in the fourth round after starring for Don Mills Flyers. Canada&rsquo;s national midget champions last year, refused to report to 67s. hoping to be traded to either Oshawa or Toronto. When that trade didn&rsquo;t materialize. Campbell reported.&ldquo;My only advice to other teams is that if they&rsquo;re going to get us. they better do it in the first half of the season.&rdquo; Kilrea said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01296/4033218-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="578" height="593"><figcaption class="caption-body">BUDCLOUTHIER&hellip;Blueline Veteran</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02237/4033211-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="574" height="588"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE MARENGERE&hellip;May Play Defense</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0034-01

Greyhound Duo Packs Potential; 67s Off To Floundering Ice Start

CAN-AM&mdash;CAN/AM Hockey Group, in cooperation with the Leamington Flyers Hockey Club and Sherwood Hockey Sticks, have announced that the 1st Annual CAN/AM Invitational Jr. &ldquo;C&rdquo; Tournament will be held Dec. 26-30 in Leamington. Ont.The CAN/AM Invitational will include the best Jr. &ldquo;C&rdquo; Hockey Clubs from Ontario and a select group of teams from other provinces and the United States, and is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association.For further information contact: Bob Johnston 154 Erie Street North. Leamington, Ontario. &#9632;

Can/Am Host For Junior Tournament

<h2>ONTARIO MAJOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Sat. Oct. 1)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03178/4033318-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="587" height="468"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Thu. Sept. 22Toronto 4 at Peterborough 6Ottawa 11 ag Windsor 10Fri. Sept. 23Oshawa 1 at Sudbury 4Hamilton 3 at London 5Peterborough 5 at Kingston 10Windsor 4 at Niagara Falls 3Ottawa 2 at Kitchener 8Sat. Sept. 24Oshawa 1 at Sault Ste. Marie 6Sun. Sept. 25Ottawa 1 at London 10Niagara Falls 2 at Kitchener 5Tue. Sept. 27Toronto 7 at Hamilton 4Sudbury 7 at Sault Ste. Marie 5Thu. Sept. 29London 3 at Peterborough 5Sault Ste. Marie 2 at Windsor 8Toronto 4 at Oshawa 5Fri. Sept. 30Peterborough 3 at Ottawa 7Sudbury 2 at Kitchener 2Sault Ste. Marie 8 at London 9Kingston 4 at Niagara Falls 8<h2>QUEBEC MAJOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Oct. 3)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04115/4033311-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="581" height="160"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0577/4033304-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="579" height="166"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Sept. 20Shawinigan 1 at Hull 10Cornwall 2 at Trois-Rlviires 5Thu. Sept. 22Verdun 3 at Cornwall 10Fri. Sept. 23Laval 5 at Chicoutimi 4Cornwall 1 at Shawinigan 3Montreal 7 at Sherbrooke 3Hull 1 at Verdun 9Sun. Sept. 25Montreal 1 at Cornwall 3Chicoutimi 2 at Hull 12Trois-Riviires 6 at Laval 8Sherbrooke 11 at Shawinigan 4Quebec 5 at Verdun 4Mon. Sept. 26Chicoutimi 5 at Laval 4Tue. Sept. 27Hull 0 at Trois Rivieres 9Wed. Sept. 28Sherbrooke 4 at Quebec 3Shawinigan 4 at Verdun 8Thu. Sept. 29Laval 7 at Cornwall 9Fri. Sept. 30Trois Rivieres 5 at Chicoutimi 1Montreal 5 at Quebec 5Hull 6 at Shawinigan 5Verdun 4 at Sherbrooke 7Sun. Oct. 2Montreal 8 at Chicoutimi 3Shawinigan 3 at Cornwall 7Hull 7 at Laval 8Quebec 2 at Trois Rivieres 4Sherbrooke 4 at Verdun 7<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0654/4033297-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="564" height="317"></div> &#9632;

f0034-03

Looking At The Races

PHILADELPHIA&mdash;A memorial to Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; player-coach Barry Ashbee is now being organized by members of the Flyers Fan Club in cooperation with the National Hockey League team.Planned are raffles for three trips, two involving the Flyers, as well as a golf tournament and a softball game featuring Philadelphia players in Veterans Stadium.Proceeds from all of the activities will be placed in a memorial fund to Ashbee which will 1) set up a trust fund to pay for the education of Barry&rsquo;s children Heather and Danny. 2) supply a college grant to a selected high school senior hockey player who exemplifies what Barry Ashbee stood for. 3) provide money for lukemia research at Hahneman Hospital in Philadelphia where Barry passed away, and 41 help support the National Lukemia Association.The three trips are for two pelple each with $100 in expense money and will be taken before the end of the 1978-79 season. The first is a regular season trip with the Flyers&rsquo; team donated by the Flyers&rsquo; management, the second is a four-day trip to Disney World compliments of Town and Country Travel of Philadelphia and the third is a trip to Montreal for a weekend with the Flyers Fan Club.Winners of the trips will be announced at the golf tournament to be held on July 19 (1978) at Medford Village Country Club. Medford, N.J. Flyers players, assorted NHL figures and invited guests from the sports world will participate.The third segment of the memorial will be a softball game scheduled for August 30 in Philadelphia&rsquo;s Veterans Stadium matching the Flyers against another NHL team, high-lighting a gala show and tribute to the memory of Ashbee.Chances of the trips may be obtained from Lou Damia. president of the Philadelphia Flyers Fan Club, c/o The Flyers, The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pa. 19148Donations to the memorial fund should be made payable to Flyers Fan Club - Barry Fund at the same address. &#9632;

Flyers’ Fan Club Members Honor Ashbee

<h2>SEPTEMBER</h2>Thu 22 Ottawa at WindsorToronto at PeterboroughFri 23 Osnawa at SudburyHamilton at LondonPeterborough at KingstonWindsor at Niagara FallsOttawa at KitchenerSat 24 Oshawa at Sault Ste. MarieSun 25 Ottawa at LondonNiagara Falls at KitchenerTue. 27 Toronto at HamiltonSault Ste Marie at SudburyThu 29 London at PeterboroughSault Ste. Marie at WindsorToronto at OshawaFri 30 Peterborough at OttawaSudbury at KitchenerSault Ste. Marie at LondonKingston at Niagara Falls<h2>OCTOBER</h2>Sat. 1 Sudbury at WindsorSun 2 Niagara Falls at OttawaSault Ste. Marie at OshawaKingston at HamiltonSudbury at LondonTue 4 Niagara Falls at HamiltonThu 6 Kitchener at PeterboroughHamilton at WindsorLondon at OshawaFri 7 Toronto at Sault Ste. MarieOttawa at SudburyKitchener at LondonWindsor at KingstonHamilton at Niagara FallsSat. 8 Windsor at PeterboroughSun 9 Toronto at SudburyOttawa at Sault Ste. MarieWindsor at OshawaHamilton at KingstonKitchener at Niagara FallsTue 11 London at HamiltonThu 13 Kitchener at Sault Ste. MarieOshawa at WindsorOttawa at PeterboroughFri 14 Kitchener at SudburyOshawa at LondonHamilton at OttawaToronto at KingstonPeterborough at Niagara FallsSun 16 London at Sault Ste. MarieNiagara Falls at OshawaKingston at PeterboroughKitchener at OttawaWindsor at HamiltonMon 17 London at SudburyTue 18 Oshawa at HamiltonThu. 20 Hamilton at Sault Ste.MarieLondon at WindsorKingston at OshawaNiagara Falls at PeterboroughFri. 21 Hamilton at SudburyWindsor at KitchenerSault Ste. Marie at OttawaPeterborough at LondonOshawa at KingstonNiagara Falls at TorontoSat 22 Sault Ste. Marie at PeterboroughKingston at TorontoSun 23 Ottawa at OshawaWindsor at Niagara FallsLondon at KitchenerSudbury at HamiltonTue 25 Kitchener at HamiltonOttawa at KingstonThu 27 Kingston at Sault Ste. MarieNiagara Falls at WindsorOshawa at PeterboroughFri 28 Kingston at SudburyToronto at OttawaHamilton at KitchenerWindsor at LondonSault Ste. Marie at Niagara FallsSat 29 Sudbury at PeterboroughSun 30 Toronto at WindsorPeterborough at Oshawa SaultSte. Marie at Kingston Sudbury at Ottawa<h2>NOVEMBER</h2>Tue. 1 Peterborough at HamiltonThu 3 Toronto at Sault Ste. MarieKitchener at WindsorHamilton at PeterboroughNiagara Falls at OshawaFri 4 Toronto at SudburyPeterborough at OttawaOshawa at KitchenerHamilton at KingstonNiagara Falls at LondonSat 5 Sudbury at Niagara FallsSun 6 Windsor at Sault Ste MarieLondon at KingstonToronto at OttawaSudbury at KitchenerHamilton at OshawaMon 7 Windsor at SudburyTue 8 Toronto at HamiltonLondon at Niagara FallsThu 10 Kitchener at OshawaKingston at WindsorLondon at PeterboroughFri 11 Peterborough at SudburyNiagara Fal.s at Sault Ste. MarieOshawa at OttawaKingston at KitchenerToronto at LondonSun 13 Peterborough at Sault Ste. MarieNiagara Falls at SudburyKitchener at OttawaWindsor at HamiltonToronto at OshawaKingston at LondonTue 15 Ottawa at HamiltonKingston at OshawaLondon at TorontoWed 16 Sudbury at Sault Ste. MarieThu 17 Toronto at PeterboroughLondon at WindsorFri 18 Toronto at KitchenerWindsor at OttawaHamilton at LondonSudbury at KingstonSault Ste Marie at Niagara FallsSat 19 Windsor at PeterboroughSault Ste. Marie at TorontoSun 20 Sudbury at OshawaSault Ste Marie at KitchenerWindsor at KingstonToronto at Niagara FallsTue. 22 Niagara Falls at HamiltonThu 24 Ottawa at Sault Ste. MarieKitchener at PeterboroughHamilton at WindsorFri. 25 Ottawa at SudburyOshawa at KitchenerPeterborough at LondonToronto at KingstonHamilton at Niagara FallsSat 26 Sudbury at TorontoSault Ste. Marie at OshawaSun 27 Peterborough at WindsorSault Ste Marie at KingstonSudbury at Niagara FallsTue 29 Kingston at HamiltonKitchener at LondonSault Ste. Marie at SudburyWed 30 Oshawa at Toronto<h2>DECEMBER</h2>Thu 1 Kingston at PeterboroughSault Ste. Marie at WindsorFri 2 Hamilton at KitchenerSudbury at OttawaSault Ste. Marie at LondonWindsor at KingstonOshawa at Niagara FallsPeterborough at TorontoSun 4 Kingston at OttawaSudbury at KitchenerWindsor at OshawaLondon at Niagara FallsHamilton at TorontoTue 6 Oshawa at HamiltonToronto at LondonThu 8 Oshawa at SudburyKitchener at WindsorOttawa at PeterboroughFri 9 Oshawa at Sault Ste. MariePeterborough at KingstonNiagara Falls at KitchenerHamilton at OttawaWindsor at LondonSudbury at TorontoSat. 10 Kingston at Niagara FallsSun 11 Niagara Falls at SudburyWindsor at KitchenerPeterborough at OshawaKingston at TorontoLondon at OttawaMon. 12 Niagara Falls at Sault Ste. MarieTue 13 London at HamiltonPeterborough at TorontoThu. 15 Sault Ste. Marie at PeterboroughSudbury at WindsorKitchener at OshawaFri 16 Peterborough at KitchenerSault Ste. Marie at OttawaWindsor at TorontoSudbury at LondonHamilton at Niagara FallsOshawa at KingstonSun. 18 Hamilton at OshawaNiagara Falls at LondonKitchener at TorontoPeterborough at WindsorOttawa at KingstonSudbury at Sault Ste. MarieTue 20 Sault Ste Marie at TorontoKingston at OttawaSudbury at HamiltonWed 21 Sault Ste Marie at OshawaThu. 22 Toronto at WindsorSudbury at Peterboroughhi 23 London at KitchenerPeterborough at OttawaOshawa at Niagara FallsSudbury at KingstonThu 29 Kingston at SudburyOshawa at PeterboroughOttawa at WindsorFri 30 Kingston at Sault Ste. MarieToronto at KitchenerPeterborough at Niagara FallsOttawa at London<h2>JANUARY</h2>Sun 1 London at PeterboroughWindsor at Niagara FallsMon 2 Ottawa at TorontoNiagara Falls at SudburyTue 3 Windsor at HamiltonNiagara Falls at Sault Ste. MarieKitchener at OttawaThu 5 Oshawa at Sault Ste. MarieHamilton at PeterboroughLondon at WindsorFri 6 Oshawa at SudburyNiagara Falls at KingstonSault Ste. Marie at OttawaWindsor at KitchenerPeterborough at LondonHamilton at TorontoSat 7 Sault Ste Marie at PeterboroughOttawa at Niagara FallsSun. 8 Kitchener at KingstonOshawa at TorontoOttawa at WindsorSault Ste. Marie at HamiltonTue 10 Kitchener at HamiltonKingston at OttawaLondon at TorontoThu 12 London at OshawaNiagara Falls at WindsorFri 13 Hamilton at SudburyPeterborough at Sautt Ste. MarieWindsor at OttawaOshawa at LondonKingston at TorontoNiagara Falls at KitchenerSun 15 Hamilton at Sault Ste. MariePeterborough at SudburyWindsor at OshawaNiagara Falls at KingstonLondon at OttawaKitchener at TorontoTue 17 Sudbury at HamiltonKitchener at LondonThu 19 Kingston at PeterboroughOshawa at WindsorSudbury at Sault Ste. MarieFri 20 Hamilton at OttawaWindsor at LondonToronto at KitchenerPeterborough at Niagara FallsSault Ste Marie at SudburySun. 22 Toronto at Sault Ste. MarieNiagara Falls at OttawaKitchener at HamiltonLondon at WindsorPeterborough at KingstonSudbury at OshawaMon 23 Toronto at SudburyTue 24 Ottawa at HamiltonLondon at Niagara FallsThu 26 Sudbury at WindsorNiagara Falls at PeterboroughKingston at OshawaFri 27 Windsor at Sault Ste. MarieOshawa at OttawaSudbury at LondonPeterborough at KitchenerHamilton at KingstonToronto at Niagara FallsSat 28 Sault Ste. Marie at KitchenerOttawa at PeterboroughSun 29 Windsor at SudburyPeterborough at OshawaKingston at OttawaSault Ste. Marie at HamiltonToronto at LondonKitchener at Niagara FallsTue. 31 Ottawa at TorontoPeterborough at HamiltonNiagara Falls at London<h2>FEBRUARY</h2>Thu. 2 Kitchener at PeterboroughSudbury at OshawaSault Ste. Marie at WindsorFri. 3 Oshawa at KitchenerSudbury at OttawaSault Ste. Marie at LondonHamilton at Niagara FallsToronto at KingstonSun. 5 Peterborough at Sault Ste. MarieOttawa at Niagara FallsLondon at KitchenerWindsor at TorontoSudbury at KingstonMon 6 Peterborough at SudburyWed 8 All Star Game at WindsorThu. 9 Hamilton at Sault Ste. MarieOshawa at PeterboroughKingston at WindsorFri 10 Hamilton at SudburyKingston at LondonToronto at KitchenerWindsor at OttawaOshawa at Niagara FallsSat. 11 Niagara Falls at TorontoSun 12 London at Sault Ste. MarieKingston at KitchenerWindsor at PeterboroughOttawa at OshawaMon. 13 London at SudburyTue. 14 Kingston at HamiltonOshawa at TorontoLondon at OttawaThu 16 Kitchener at Sault Ste. MarieToronto at WindsorNiagara Falls at PeterboroughLondon at OshawaFri 17 Kitchener at SudburyNiagara Falls at OttawaHamilton at LondonPeterborough at TorontoOshawa at KingstonSun 19 Ottawa at Sault Ste. MariePeterborough at WindsorKitchener at TorontoLondon at KingstonHamilton at OshawaMon. 20 Ottawa at SudburyTue 21 London at HamiltonKitchener at KingstonToronto at Niagara FallsThu 23 Toronto at OshawaHamilton at PeterboroughNiagara Falls at WindsorFri 24 Ottawa at KitchenerSudbury at TorontoWindsor at LondonKingston at Niagara FallsSat. 25 Sault Ste. Marie at KitchenerSun 26 Sault Ste. Marie at HamiltonOttawa at TorontoNiagara Falls at KingstonPeterborough at OshawaTues 28 Niagara Falls at HamiltonOttawa at KingstonKitchener at Toronto<h2>MARCH</h2>Thu. 2 Oshawa at WindsorSudbury at PeterboroughFri. 3 Sudbury at Niagara FallsSault Ste. Marie at KingstonOttawa at KitchenerHamilton at TorontoOshawa at LondonSat 4 Kingston at WindsorSault Ste. Marie at Niagara FallsSun. 5 Sault Ste. Marie at TorontoKingston at KitchenerPeterborough at HamiltonOttawa at LondonNiagara Falls at OshawaTue. 7 Ottawa at HamiltonNiagara Falls at TorontoKitchener at KingstonSault Ste. Marie at SudburyThu. 9 Hamilton at WindsorToronto at PeterboroughKitchener at OshawaFri 10 Windsor at Sault Ste. MarieKitchener at SudburyOttawa at Niagara FallsKingston at LondonSal. 11 Ottawa at OshawaSun 12 Windsor at SudburyKitchener at Sault Ste. MarieLondon at TorontoOttawa at KingstonOshawa at HamiltonTue. 14 Toronto at HamiltonLondon at KingstonKitchener at Niagara FallsSudbury at Sault Ste. MarieThu. 16 Kitchener at WindsorOshawa at PeterboroughFri. 17 Kingston at Sault Ste. MarieLondon at SudburyHamilton at KitchenerWindsor at TorontoOshawa at OttawaSun. 19 London at Sault Ste. MarieKingston at SudburyNiagara Falls at HamiltonPeterborough at KitchenerToronto at Ottawa &#9632;

ONTARIO MAJOR LEAGUE 1977-78 SCHEDULE

<div class="byline">BY BRUCE PENTON</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 CanadaPORTLAND&mdash;One of the most interesting stories which will unfold during the 1977-78 Western Canada Hockey League season is the Doug Lecuyer saga.The question has yet to be answered: Will he make it?Will he make the National Hockey League? Will he make it through the WCHL season?If the answers rested on pure talent. Lecuyer back with Portland Winter Hawks this year, would be a hit. Instead, the answer will depend on Lecuyer&rsquo;s ability to impose self-discipline, because &ldquo;one incident and it&rsquo;s over,&rdquo; he told Edmonton Journal columnist Terry Jones.Undoubtedly, Doug Lecuyer is one of the most talented players in the league He&rsquo;s 19. entering his fifth year in his third WCHL city. He has 134 goals and 139 assists to his four-year credit, but he also has 975 penalty minutes. And it&rsquo;s that last statistic which makes this year perhaps Lecuyer&rsquo;s key year as a human being.If he makes it through with glorious goals and assists stats, and calms down like he has promised to calm down, then the scouts will rate him no lower than fifth or sixth in the country. He&rsquo;s that good.But if he doesn&rsquo;t calm down&mdash;if he keeps up the infernal brawling, headhunting and cheap-shotting which has marked his stormy career as a Tier I junior&mdash;than the scouts will likely mark an asterisk beside his name. The (*) will stand for &ldquo;risky&rdquo;.Also, WCHL president Ed Chynoweth has told Lecuyer his first &ldquo;incident&rdquo; this year will be his last chance.After more warnings and suspensions than Chynoweth could stand, he started last season by drawing a four-game suspension for an exhibition-game incident. After a trade to Calgary from Portland Winter Hawks, he was involved in a brawl in Lethbridge which resulted in an assault charge against him. Eventually convicted and given an absolute discharge, Lecuyer sat out the final three weeks of the season on the suggestion of Chynoweth.But now he says he has changed.&ldquo;This season means a lot to me.&rdquo; he told Jones. &ldquo;I guess I&rsquo;m waking up and realizing it&rsquo;s just not another year but my last year of five. I know I have to watch myself and I&rsquo;m just going to have to realize it every second I&rsquo;m on the ice. I still have the ambition to be a professional hockey player.&ldquo;&hellip;I think I have matured&hellip;&rdquo;he said.Although his talent as a hockey player is unquestioned, Lecuyer can also claim to be one of Canada&rsquo;s top amateur golfers.A three-time Alberta junior champ, an Alberta men&rsquo;s amateur winner and low qualifier for the province&rsquo;s Willingdon Cup team this year, Lecuyer finished in a sixth-place tie in the national amateur in Hamilton. The showing was almost unprecedented for a 19-year-old.&ldquo;In golf, he has time to settle down before a shot,&rdquo; says Portland coach Ken Hodge. &ldquo;I wish I&rsquo;d had a big hook,&rdquo; says Hodge of coaching Lecuyer in past seasons. &ldquo;If I could have just fished him over to the bench for a couple of seconds to settle him down.&rdquo;Portland general-manager Brian Shaw says &ldquo;he&rsquo;s the new Doug Lecuyer.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01261/4033394-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="565" height="887"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRIAN HENDERSON&hellip;No. 1 In Brandon</figcaption></div>VICTORIA: The Cougars had fine exhibition success, winning seven straight games at one point, but then opened the season at home with a 6-5 loss to archrival New Westminster Bruins. Three of the Cougar goals came while the team was killing penalties. Bob Jansch. who had just six goals last year, scored twice in the opener.NEW WESTMINSTER: The Bruins opened defense of their league title with a 6-5 win in Victoria, a decision most people considered an upset. During the exhibition campaign, New West struggled, even losing a game to a Tier II opponent. Penticton. Randy Irving, a rookie, was the hero in Bruins&rsquo; season-opener, snapping a 5-5 tie with a goal less than four minutes from the end.SEATTLE: Breakers&rsquo; coach Les Calder handed the No. 1 goaltending job to second-year man&rsquo; Gary Nakrayko, 19, three days before the team&rsquo;s seasonopener. Brian Henderson, who had been battling with Nakrayko for the No. 1 job, was sent to Brandon Wheat Kings &ldquo;for future considerations.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02199/4033387-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="552" height="896"><figcaption class="caption-body">DOUG LECUYER &hellip;Must Control Temper</figcaption></div>LETHBRIDGE: Favored to win the Central Division, the Broncos stumbled on opening night, getting outscored 4-1 in the final period to drop a 6-4 decision to the Tigers in Medicine Hat. As is customary whenever the teams tangle, there were oodles of penalties&mdash;49 in this game, including 14 majors and two misconducts.MEDICINE HAT: The Wranglers regular season hasn&rsquo;t yet started, but coach Gerry Brisson, who has hired Doug Barkley as his general-manager, has paid his first fine. Brisson was tagged with a $200 crunch for pulling his team from the ice 12 seconds before the end of an exhibition game in Flin Flon. The Wranglers split doubleheader exhibitions with Saskatoon and Flin Flon and tied Brandon in their only other pre-season test.BILLINGS: The Bighorns were wheeling and dealing prior to the start of the season, acquiring Mike McCann and Dean Tidball, a pair of defenseman. from Regina Pats. In their final exhibition game, the Bighorns blew a 6-4 second-period lead to fall 8-7 at the hands of Portland. Harvey Pocza&rsquo;s two goals, and McCann&rsquo;s three assists were the top individual performances for Billings, which is the second-last team to open the regular schedule. Del Chapman, a three-year vet with Saskatoon, will be Billings&rsquo; over-age player this season.REGINA: The Pats, gunning for a playoff spot after their miserable 1976-77 season, went undefeated in three exhibition games, beating Saskatoon twice and getting a late goal from rookie Paul Hogan to tie Medicine Hat 2-2. Scott Kolewaski and a top rookie prospect who played midget hockey in Saskatchewan last year, Chris Kilchur, were acquired from Billings, just prior to the start of the season. Kolewaski had 12 goals as a freshman last year.SASKATOON: The Blades needed help on the blueline, said coach Jackie McLeod, and he was listening to all trade offers. Blaine Fennell. Mel Hewitt and possibly Bryan Baron (an over-age, were the only defensemen with experience.Three straight pre-season losses itwo to Regina and one to Calgaryl. following a win over the Wranglers, didn&rsquo;t help McLeod&rsquo;s humor.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03149/4033380-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="571" height="890"><figcaption class="caption-body">MERLIN MALINOWSKI&hellip;Scores Pair</figcaption></div>FLIN FLON: Just prior to the start of his second full season as coach. Mickey Keating also had defensive worries He has plenty of firepower (Ray Markham. Jordy Douglas. Glenn Hicks, et al), but the club which allowed 411 goals last year, the second worst total in the league. has not improved all that much on the blueline.BRANDON: Coach Dune McCallum was bubbling with the acquisition of goalie Brian Henderson from Seattle McCallum said in the estimation of a National Hockey League scout. Henderson. is the best returning goalie in the league. The former Kamloops Chiefs net-minder asked for the trade, because he didn&rsquo;t want to split dutirs with, or be second fiddle to. Gary Nakrayko in Seattle.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0493/4033373-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="567" height="894"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE McCANN&hellip;Sparks Billings</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0036-01

Lecuyer Facing Last Chance With Portland

<h2>WEST DIVISION</h2>1. Portland2. Seattle3. Victoria4. New Westminster CENTRAL DIVISION1. Lethbridge2. Billings3. Calgary4. Medicine Hat EAST DIVISION1. Brandon2. Saskatoon3. Regina4. Flin Flon &#9632;

How They’ll Finish WCHL ‘77-78 Races

<h2>SEPTEMBER</h2>Sat. 24 Lethbridge at Med. HatN. Westminster at VictoriaSun. 25 Seattle at N. WestminsterMed. Hat at LethbridgeRegina at BrandonTue. 27 Flin Flon at SaskatoonMed Hat at CalgarySeattle at VictoriaWed. 28 Fltn Flon at LethbridgeThu. 29 Regina at BillingsFlin Flon at Med. HatFri. 30 Flin Flon at CalgaryPortland at SeattleBrandon at SaskatoonVictoria at N. Westminster<h2>OCTOBER</h2>Sat. 1 Portland at VictoriaCalgary at Med. HatLethbridge at BillipgsSun. 2 Med Hat at CalgaryFlin Flon at N. WestminsterVictoria at PortlandSaskatoon at ReginaMon. 3 Flin Flon at VictoriaTue. 4 Calgary at BillingsLethbridge at SaskatoonWed. 5 Calgary at BillingsThu. 6 Flin Flon at PortlandFri. 7 Regina at SaskatoonCalgary at LethbridgeSat 8 Lethbridge at Med. HatN. Westminster at VictoriaFlin Flon at BillingsSun. 9 Saskatoon at ReginaFlin Flon at BillingsVictoria at N. WestminsterLethbridge at CalgarySeattle at PortlandMon. 10 Saskatoon at BrandonTue. 11 Victoria at Med. HatLethbridge at BillingsWed. 12 Victoria at ReginaThu. 13 Victoria at BrandonN. Westminster at SeattleFri. 14 Brandon at ReginaBillings at CalgarySat. 15 Saskatoon at Med. HatN. Westminster at PortlandVictoria at Flin FlonSun 16 Portland at N. WestminsterVictoria at Flin FlonBillings at LethbridgeSaskatoon at CalgaryRegina at BrandonTue. 18 Victoria at BrandonBillings at Med. HatWed. 19 Victoria at LethbridgeRegina at Flin FlonThu. 20 Billings at Seattle,Regina at Flin FlonN. Westminster at PortlandFri. 21 Billings at N. WestminsterCalgary at LethbridgeMed Hat at SaskatoonSat. 22 Billings at VictoriaRegina at Med. HatSaskatoon at Flin FlonSun. 23 Billings at PortlandRegina at LethbridgeSeattle at N. WestminsterSaskatoon at Flin FlonTue. 25 Seattle at VictoriaWed. 26 Seattle at PortlandCalgary at ReginaThu. 27 N. Westminster at SeattleFlin Flon at BrandonFri. 28 Med Hat at LethbridgeFlin Flon at ReginaCalgary at SaskatoonSat. 29 N. Westminster at PortlandBrandon at BillingsSun 30 Calgary at Med. HatBrandon at BillingsVictoria at N. WestminsterFlin Flon at Saskatoon<h2>NOVEMBER</h2>Tue. 1 Billings at CalgaryWed. 2 Brandon at PortlandBillings at LethbridgeThu. 3 Brandon at SeattleBillings at Med. HatFri. 4 Lethbridge at ReginaBillings at SaskatoonSat. 5 Brandon at VictoriaCalgary at Med. HatLethbridge at Flin FlonSun. 6 Brandon at N. WestminsterMed. Hat at CalgaryLethbridge at Flin FlonBillings at ReginaTue. 8 Brandon at Med. HatSeattle at VictoriaBillings at CalgaryFlin Flon at SaskatoonWed. 9 Brandon at LethbridgeSeattle at PortlandFlin Flon at ReginaFri. 11 Med Hat at BrandonSaskatoon at BillingsN. Westminster at PortlandFlin Flon at ReginaSat. 2 Lethbridge at VictoriaMed. Hat at Flin FlonSun 13 Victoria at PortlandLethbridge at N. WestminsterMed. Hat at Flin FlonSaskatoon at BillingsRegina at BrandonTue. 15 Lethbridge at SeattlePortland at VictoriaCalgary at SaskatoonWed. 16 Calgary at ReginaLethbridge at PortlandMed. Hat at BillingsThu. 17 Calgary at BrandonFri. 18 Med. Hat at SeattleSaskatoon at ReginaL. Portland at N. WestminsterSat. 19 Calgary at Flin FlonMed. Hat at VictoriaSun. 20 Calgary at Flin FlonLethbridge at BillingsMed. Hat at N. WestminsterBrandon at ReginaTue. 22 Calgary at BrandonPortland at SeattleFlin Flon at SaskatoonWed. 23 Calgary at LethbridgeRegina at N. WestminsterTue. 24 Regina at PortlandFlin Flon at BrandonVictoria at SeattleFri. 25 Regina at N. WestminsterLethbridge at CalgaryFlin Flon at SaskatoonSat. 26 Regina at SeattleN. Westminster at VictoriaLethbridge at Med. HatSun. 27 Regina at PortlandVictoria at N. WestminsterMed. Hat at LethbridgeFlin Flon at BrandonBillings at CalgaryTue. 29 Regina at VictoriaCalgary at BillingsBrandon at SaskatoonWed. 30 N. Westminster at LethbridgeCalgary at BillingsRegina at Victoria<h2>DECEMBER</h2>Thu. 1 N. Westminster at Med. matRegina at SeattleFri. 2 N. Westminster at BrandonBillings at CalgarySaskatoon at LethbridgeSat 3 Seattle at PortlandN. Westminster at Flin FlonMed Hat at BillingsSun. 4 N. Westminster at Flin FlonRegina at BrandonMed Hat at BillingsSeattle at VictoriaLethbridge at CalgaryTue 6 N. Westminster at SaskatoonPortland at BrandonWed 7 N. Westminster at ReginaPortland at Flin FlonThu 8 Lethbridge at BillingsPortland at Flin FlonFri 9 N. Westminster at CalgaryPortland at SaskatoonLethbridgp at BillingsMed Hat at ReginaSat 10 Brandon at Flin FlonVictoria at SeattleSun 11 Portland at LethbridgeVictoria at N. WestminsterBrandon at Flin FlonCalgary at Med. HatRegina at SaskatoonTue 13 Billings at Med. HatBrandon at SaskatoonLethbridge at CalgaryPortland at VictoriaWed 14 Saskatoon at LethbridgeSeattle at PortlandThu. 15 N. Westminster at SeattleSaskatoon at PortlandMed. Hat at CalgaryFlin Flon at ReginaSat. 17 N. Westminster at SeattleLethbridge at Med. HatSun. 18 Seattle at N. WestminsterSaskatoon at PortlandCalgary at LethbridgeFlin Flon at ReginaMon 19 Flin Flon at BrandonTue. 20 Saskatoon at VictoriaRegina at Flin Flon.Wed 21 Regina at Flin FlonThu 22 Victoria at SeattleMon 26 Med. Hat at LethbridgeSaskatoon at BrandonWed 28 Brandon at ReginaThu 29 Billings at Med. HatVictoria at SeattleFri 30 Saskatoon at ReginaBillings at LethbridgeJANUARYSun. 1 Billings at CalgarySeattle at VictoriaMon 2 Portland at N. WestminsterRegina at BrandonLethbridge at Med. HatTue 3 N. Westminster at VictoriaPortland at SeattleBillings at SaskatoonWed 4 Brandon at Flin FlonLethbridge at PortlandThu. 5 Brandon at Flin FlonBillings at Med. HatFri 6 Billings at ReginaBrandon at SaskatoonVictoria at PortlandLethbridge at SeattleSat 7 Lethbridge at VictoriaSeattle at N. WestminsterSun. 8 Med. Hat at CalgaryLethbridge at N. WestminsterRegina at BillingsBrandon at SaskatoonTue 10 Victoria at SeattleMed. Hat at BillingsRegina at SaskatoonWed 11 Calgary at LethbridgeSaskatoon at Flin FlonSeattle at PortlandBrandon at ReginaMed. Hat at BillingsThu 12 Portland at SeattleSaskatoon at Ain FlonFri. 13 Med. Hat at ReginaSaskatoon at BrandonBillings at CalgarySat. 14 Regina at Flin FlonLethbridge at Med. HatSun. 15 Med.Hat at LethbridgeCalgary at BillingsSaskatoon at BrandonPortland at N. WestminsterRegina at Flin FlonWed 18 All Star GameThu 19 Calgary at SeattleFri 20 Portland at Regin.Calgary at N. WestminsterLethbridge at BillingsSat 21 Portland at Med. HatCalgary at VictoriaSun 22 Billings at LethbridgePortland at SaskatoonBrandon at ReginaCalgary at SeattleVictoria at N. WestminsterTue 24 Seattle at BrandonPortland at CalgaryN. Westminster at VictoriaWed 25 Portland at Med. HatSeattle at Flin Flon.Thu 26 Lethbridge at BrandonSeattle at Flin FlonFri. 27 Victoria at CalgaryLethbridge at ReginaSeattle at SaskatoonN. Westminster at PortlandSat 28 Victoria at Med. HatBrandon at Flin FlonSun. 29 Seattle at ReginaVictoria at CalgaryPortland at N. WestminsterBillings at LethbridgeBrandon at Flin FlonTue 31 Seattle at BrandonVictoria at SaskatoonCalgary at Med. Hat<h2>FEBRUARY</h2>Wed. 1 Victoria at LethbridgeSeattle at ReginaBillings at PortlandFri 3 Brandon at CalgaryVictoria at ReginaSeattle at SaskatoonSat. 4 Seattle at Med. HatSun. 5 Seattle at LethbridgeVictoria at SaskatoonBrandon at CalgaryN. Westminster at PortlandTue 7 Brandon at Med. HatVictoria at BillingsRegina at SaskatoonSeattle at CalgaryWed. 8 Brandon at LethbridgeVictoria at BillingsFlin Flon at ReginaFri 10 Med. Hat at CalgaryBrandon at N. WestminsterFlin Flon at ReginaSat. 11 Calgary at Med. HatBrandon at VictoriaSun 12 Brandon at SeattleBillings at N. WestminsterSaskatoon at ReginaFlin Flon at LethbridgeMon 13 Brandon at PortlandN. Westminster at SeattleBillings at VictoriaTue. 14 Billings at SeattleFlin Flon at CalgaryPortland at VictoriaMed Hat at SaskatoonWe.d 15 Flin Flon at Med. HatSaskatoon at ReginaSeattle at N. WestminsterFri 17 Med. Hat at BrandonFlin Flon at PortlandSaskatoon at CalgarySat 18 Seattle at VictoriaFlin Flon at N. WestminsterSun. 19 Flin Flon at SeattlePortland at BillingsMed Hat at LethbridgeRegina at BrandonSaskatoon at N. WestminsterMon 20 Portland at BillingsTue 21 Lethbridge at CalgaryPortland at ReginaSaskatoon at VictoriaFlin Flon at SeattleWed 22 Portland at BrandonRegina at LethbridgeSaskatoon at SeattleBillings at Med. HatThu 23 Flin Flon at VictoriaSaskatoon at SeattleFri 24 Saskatoon at N. WestminsterPortland at LethbridgeRegina at CalgarySun 26 Portland at CalgaryN. Westminster at LethbridgeFlin Flon at BrandonSaskatoon at Med. HatTue 28 Calgary at BillingsPortland at VictoriaN. Westminster at BrandonSeattle at Med. HatRegina at Saskatoon<h2>MARCH</h2>Wed. 1 N. Westminster at ReginaBillings at BrandonVictoria at PortlandSeattle at LethbridgeThu. 2 Victoria at PortlandSeattle at CalgaryFri. 3 Billings at Flin FlonN. Westminster at SaskatoonCalgary at LethbridgeSat 4 Billings at Flin FlonSeattle at PortlandSun. 5 N. Westminster at CalgaryBillings at BrandonPortland at SeattleMed. Hat at LethbridgeRegina at SaskatoonTue. 7 N. Westminster at BillingsRegina at BrandonPortland at VictoriaSaskatoon at Flin FlonMed. Hat at LethbridgeWed 8 N. Westminster at BillingsPortland at SeattleSaskatoon at Flin FlonThu 9 N. Westminster at Med. HatVictoria at SeattleLethbridge at BrandonFri 14 Brandon at ReginaLethbridge at SaskatoonSat. 11 Calgary at N. WestminsterSeattle at VictoriaLethbridge at Med. HatSun 12 Med Hat at BillingsSeattle at N. WestminsterCalgary at PortlandSaskatoon at BrandonMon. 13 Calgary at PortlandTue 14 N. Westminster at SeattleBillings at Med. HatSaskatoon at BrandonCalgary at VictoriaWed 15 Saskatoon at ReginaVictoria at PortlandThu 16 Seattle at BillingsRegina at Med. HatBrandon at Flin FlonFri. 17 Portland at N. WestminsterRegina at CalgaryBrandon at SaskatoonSat. 18 Seattle at BillingsN. Westminster at VictoriaSun. 19 Victoria at N. WestminsterBrandon at SaskatoonMed. Hat at PortlandLethbridge at CalgaryMon. 20 Med. Hat at PortlandTue. 21 Calgary at BillingsN. Westminster at VictoriaMed Hat at SeattleFlin Flon at SaskatoonWed. 22 Lethbridge at BillingsFlin Flon at BrandonThu. 23 Portland at SeattleMed. Hat at N. WestminsterFri 24 Regina at SaskatoonBillings at LethbridgeFlin Flon at BrandonVictoria at SeattleSat 25 Med. Hat at VictoriaSun 26 Portland at N. WestminsterSaskatoon at Flin FlonCalgary at LethbridgeMon. 27 N. Westminster at Portland &#9632;

WESTERN CANADA LEAGUE 1977-78 SCHEDULE

<h2>SEPTEMBER</h2>Sun 18 Quebec at ChicoutimiCornwall at HullShawinigan at SherbrookeLavai at Trois-RivieresMontreal at VerdunMon. 19 Sherbrooke at LavalTue. 20 Shawinigan at HullCornwall at Trois-RivieresThu 22 Verdun at CornwallFri. 23 Laval at ChicoutimiCornwall at ShawiniganMontreal at SherbrookeHull at VerdunSun 25 Montreal at CornwallChicoutimi at HullTrots-Rivieres at LavalSherbrooke at SnawiniqanQuebec at VerdunMon 26 Chicoutimi at LavalTue. 27 Hull at Irots-RivieresWed 28 Sherbrooke at QuebecShawinigan at VerdunThu. 29 Laval at CornwallFri. 30 Trois-Rivieres at ChicoutimiMontreal at QuebecHull at ShawiniganVerdun at Sherbrooke<h2>OCTOBER</h2>Sun. 2 Montreal at ChicoutimiShawinigan at CornwallHull at LavalQuebec at Trois-RivieresSherbrooke at VerdunMon 3 Cornwall at LavalTue. 4 Sherbrooke at HullChicoutimi at Trois-RivieresWed 5 Verdun at QuebecThu 6 Hull at ChicoutimiFri. 7 Cornwall at MontrealHull at QuebecVerdun at ShawiniganTrois-Rivieres at SherbrookeSun 9 Trois-Rivieres at HullQuebec at MontrealChicoutimi at ShawiniganLaval at SherbrookeCornwall at VerdunMon 10 Quebec at LavalTue 11 Shawinigan at ChicoutimiVerdun at HullMontreal at Trois-RivieresWed. 12 Trois-Rivieres at QuebecThu 13 Sherbrooke at CornwallFri 14 Verdun at ChicoutimiLaval at MontrealShawinigan at QuebecCornwall at SherbrookeSun 16 Sherbrooke at ChicoutimiQuebec at CornwallHull at MontrealLaval at ShawiniganTrois-Rivieres at VerdunMon, 17 Shawinigan at LavalTue. 18 Montreal at HullVerdun at Trois-RivieresWed. 19 Chicoutimi at QuebecThu 20 Trois-Rivieres at CornwallFri 21 Cornwall at QuebecMontreal at ShawiniganHull at SherbrookeChicoutimi at VerdunSun 23 Cornwall at ChicoutimiLaval at HullVerdun at MontrealQuebec at SherbrookeShawinigan at Trois-RivieresMon 24 Montreal at LavalTue 25 Quebec at HullSherbrooke at Trois-RivieresWed 26 Shawinigan at VerdunThu 27 Chicoutimi at CornwallFri 28 Chicoutimi at MontrealLaval at QuebecTrois-Rivieres at ShawiniganSun 30 Cornwall at HullTrois-Rivieres at MontrealQuebec at ShawiniganChicoutimi at SherbrookeLaval at VerdunMon 31 Sherbrooke at Laval<h2>NOVEMBER</h2>Tue. 1 Sherbrooke at HullCornwall at Trois-RivieresWed 2 Verdun at LavalThu 3 Verdun at CornwallShawinigan at MontrealFri 4 Laval at ChicoutimiMontreal at QuebecHull at ShawiniganTrois-Rivieres at SherbrookeSun. 6 Shawinigan at ChicoutimiCornwall at HullSherbrooke at MontrealLaval at Trois-RivieresQuebec at VerdunMon. 7 Quebec at LavalVerdun at SherbrookeTue 8 Shawinigan at HullChicoutimi at Trois-RiveresWed 9 Verdun at ShawiniganThu. 10 Hull at ChicoutimiMontreal at CornwallSherbrooke at VerdunFri. 11 Trois-Rivieres at MontrealHull at QuebecChicoutimi at ShawiniganSun 13 Hull at CornwallTrois-Rivieres at LavalQuebec at ShawiniganMontreal at SherbrookeChicoutimi at VerdunMon 14 Chicoutimi at LavalTue 15 Verdun at HullQuebec at Trois-RivieresWed 16 Trois-Rivieres at QuebecMontreal at VerdunThu 17 Sherbrooke at ChicoutimiHull at CornwallFri 18 Cornwall at MontrealLaval at QuebecShawinigan at SherbrookeSun 20 Trois-Riveres at ChicoutimiLaval at CornwallQuebec at MontrealSherbrooke at ShawiniganHull at VerdunMon 21 Cornwal! at LavalTue. 22 Chicoutimi at HullVerdun at Trois-RivieresWed 23 Chicoutimi at MontrealSherbrooke at QuebecThu 24 Shawinigan at CornwallTrois-Rivieres at HullFri. 26 Cornwall at QuebecMontreal at ShawiniganChicoutimi at SherbrookeLaval at VerdunSun 27 Cornwall at ChicoutimiLaval at HullVerdun at MontrealTrois-Riveres at ShawiniganQuebec at SherbrookeMon. 28 Shawinigan at LavalTue 29 Sherbrooke at CornwallHull at Trois-RiveresWed 30 Montreal at Laval<h2>DECEMBER</h2>Thu 1 Quebec at CornwallFri 2 Verdun at ChicoutimiLaval at QuebecCornwall at ShawiniganHull at SherbrookeMontreal at Trois-RiveresSun 4 Quebec at ChicoutimiShawinigan at CornwallHull at MontrealLaval at SherbrookeTrois-Riveres at VerdunMon 5 Sherbrooke at LavalTue. 6 Shawinigan at HullChicoutimi at Trois-RiveresWed 7 Sherbrooke at VerdunThu 8 Shawinigan at ChicoutimiMontreal at CornwallFri. 9 Trois-Riveres at MontrealChicoutimi at QuebecVerdun at ShawiniganCornwall at SherbrookeSun. 11 Chicoutimi at CornwallMontreal at HullVerdun at LavalShawinigan at QuebecSherbrooke at Trois-RiveresMon 12 Hull at LavalChicoutimi at ShawiniganMontreal at SherbrookeTue 13 Shawinigan at Trois-RiveresWed. 14 Laval at MontrealVerdun at QuebecThu, 15 Trois-Rivivres at CornwallFri. 16 Laval at ChicoutimiSherbrooke at MontrealHull at ShawiniganQuebec at VerdunSun. 18 Montreal at ChicoutimiQuebec at HullLaval at ShawiniganTrois-Rivieres at SherbrookeCornwall at Verdun<h2>JANUARY</h2>Thu. 5 Hull at ChicoutimiCornwall at MontrealFri. 6 Hull at QuebecTrois-Rivieres at ShawiniganLaval at SherbrookeMontreal at VerdunSun. 8 Laval at CornwallSherbrooke at HullShawinigan at MontrealQuebec at Trois-RivieresChicoutimi at VerdunMon 9 Verdun at LavalChicoutimi at SherbrookeTue. 10 Quebec at HullCornwall at Trois-RivieresWed 11 Sherbrooke at QuebecTrois-Rivieres at VerdunThu. 12 Shawinigan at CornwallLaval at MontrealFri. 13 Montreal at Chicoutimifrois-Rivieres at QuebecSherbrooke at ShawiniganHull at VerdunSun. 15 Trois-Rivieres at ChicoutimiLaval at HullMontreal at ShawiniganQuebec at SherbrookeCornwall at VerdunMon. 16 Chicoutimi at LavalTue 17 Quebec at CornwallVerdun at HullSherbrooke at Trois-RivieresWed. 18 Montreal at QuebecShawinigan at VerdunThu 19 Cornwall at ChicoutimiTrois-Rivieres at LavalFri 20 Chicoutimi at MontrealCornwall at QuebecLaval at at ShawiniganHull at SherbrookeSun. 22 Sherbrooke at ChicoutimiVerdun at CornwallTrois-Rivieres at HullMontreal at LavalQuebec at ShawiniganMon. 23 Shawinigan at LavalTue 24 Hull at Trois-RivieresWed. 25 Verdun at MontrealShawinigan at QuebecTrois-Rivieres at SherbrookeThu. 26 Sherbrooke at CornwallFri. 27 Hull at MontrealChicoutimi at QuebecCornwall at ShawiniganVerdun at SherbrookeSun 29 Verdun at ChicoutimiQuebec at MontrealShawinigan at SherbrookeLaval at Trois-RivieresMon. 30 Hull at CornwallQuebec at LavalTue. 31 Chicoutimi at HullMontreal at Trois-Rivieres<h2>FEBRUARY</h2>Wed 1 Chicoutimi at CornwallSherbrooke at QuebecLaval at VerdunThu. 2 Shawinigan at HullFri 3 Trois-Riveres at ChicoutimiCornwall at MontrealVerdun at QuebecSherbrooke at ShawiniganSun 5 Trois-Rivieres at CornwallMontreal at HullSherbrooke at LavalChicoutimi at ShawiniganQuebec at VerdunMon. 6 Verdun at LavalTue 7 Hull at ChicoutimiSherbrooke at Trois-RivieresWed. 8 Trois-Rivieres at LavalHull at QuebecVerdun at ShawiniganThu 9 Montreal at CornwallFri. 10 Quebec at ChicoutimiShawinigan at MontrealCornwall at SherbrookeVendun at Trois-RiveresSun 12 Laval at MontrealQuebec at SherbrookeChicoutimi at Trois-RivieresHull at VerdunMon. 13 Verdun at HullCornwall at LavalTue 14 Montreal at ChicoutimiShawinigan at Trois-RivieresWed, 15 Quebec at HullThu. 16 Quebec at CornwallFri 17 Shawinigan at ChicoutimiVerdun at MontrealSun. 19 Laval at ChicoutimiCornwall at HullSherbrooke at MontrealQuebec at Trois-RivieresShawinigan at VerdunMon 20 Hull at LavalMontreal at SherbrookeTue. 21 Cornwall at Trois-RivieresWed. 22 Montreal at QuebecSherbrooke at VerdunThu. 23 Laval at CornwallChicoutimi at HullFri. 24 Chicoutimi at MontrealTrois-Riveres at QuebecCornwall at ShawiniganLaval at SherbrookeSun. 26 Trois-Rivieres at MontrealLaval at QuebecHull at ShawiniganChicoutimi at SherbrookeCornwall at VerdunMon. 27 Montreal at LavalTue 28 Verdun at CornwallHull at Trois-Rivieres<h2>MARCH</h2>Wed 1 Quebec at LavalTrois-Riveres at ShawiniganThu 2 Cornwall at ChicoutimiFri. 3 Shawinigan at MontrealCornwall at QuebecVerdun at SherbrookeLaval at Trois-RivieresSun 5 Sherbrooke at ChicoutimiHull at CornwallQuebec at MontrealLaval at VerdunMon 6 Cornwall at LavalTue 7 Sherbrooke at HullMontreal at Trois-RivieresWed 8 Shawinigan at LavalVerdun at QuebecThu. 9 Chicoutimi at CornwallTrois-Rivieres at HullFri. 10 Montreal at ShawiniganHull at SherbrookeChicoutimi at VerdunSun 12 Quebec at ChicoutimiSherbrooke at CornwallHull at MontrealLaval at ShawiniganTrois-Rivieres at VerdunMon 13 Chicoutimi at LavalShawinigan at SherbrookeTue 14 Montreal at HullVerdun at Trois-RivieresWed 15 Hull at LavalShawinigan at QuebecThu 16 Trois-Rivieres at CornwallFri 17 Verdun at ChicoutimiSherbrooke at MontrealQuebec at ShawiniganSun 19 Laval at HullChicoutimi at QuebecCornwall at SherbrookeShawinigan at Trois-RivieresMontreal at Verdun &#9632;

Quebec Major League 1977-78 SCHEDULE

<div class="byline">BY DANNY YOUNG</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01269/4033473-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="571" height="924"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK PATERSON &hellip;Four-goal Game</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;Bobby Lalonde; Eran Huck; Move over! Make room for 18-year-old Bruce Montgomery.With the exception of a select few. hockey&rsquo;s physical grind weeds out smaller players as they try to make the climb to professional stardom However, don&rsquo;t be surprised if within the next five years the five-foot-eight. 160-pound frame of the Laval National&rsquo;s Bruce Montgomery is in an NHL or WHA uniform.Should this young man&rsquo;s history be a fair indicator, a history filled with titles, trophies and compliments. Laval mentor Jacques St. Jean will find his job a whole lot easier.Through wheeling and dealing with the Hull Olympics. St. Jean has obtained the kind of guy championships revolve around.Montgomery is a quiet, yet supremely confident young man whose play never detracts from a team effort Bruce&rsquo;s junior experience has been brief He has played one junior &ldquo;B&rdquo; season but his fine play was overshadowed by the principle attraction of the league, violence.Last year as a member of the Lachine Rapides, &lsquo;Monty&rdquo; kept the scorekeepers busy as he tallied 69 goals, 79 assists, for a remarkable 148 points in just 44 games as he walked away with the Montreal scoring title.Remarkable, but believable because the talented centerman is up to his old tricks again in the few games he has played in the Quebec Major Junior League.As Laval&rsquo;s youngest center, Montgomery is seeing only bits and pieces of the ice time he was accustomed to as a workhorse for Lachine.But he has still been able to come up with four goals and one assist in just five games, much to the delight of Laval supporters.&ldquo;When the coach taps me, I know every shift means alot. I&rsquo;ve been sent out as a checker or to kill penalties. I&rsquo;m not griping though because I know I&rsquo;m a rookie. Besides, playing defensively is just as important as offense if you want to make it to the pros. I&rsquo;m really happy to be playing with Laval.&rdquo;Making the transition from junior &ldquo;B&rdquo; to junior &ldquo;A&rdquo;. Bruce is still being exposed to an abundance of goonery. blatantly obvious during the opening of the QMJHL seasonThe fighting is the same; guys out there just to intimidate, I know mine will be coming once I&rsquo;m known a bit But I&rsquo;ll still do my business.&ldquo;The coaching comes out more at this level. Last year, you&rsquo;d get patted on the back for scoring three times. But here, if you get a hat trick, for instance, but you were on the ice for a couple against, the coach talks about your defense. That&rsquo;s why I enjoy a checking role.&rdquo;Bruce, whose older brother Jim toils in the International League, spurned offers from several universities to give the Quebec League a shot with dreams of playing pro hockey when his junior days are done.Montgomery, like other 18-year-old juniors, is paid a salary of $40 per week for room and board.&ldquo;You get a bit more money as you get older but this doesn&rsquo;t really bother me. A shot in this league is all I want, I can do it Just get my job done. Gain the experience. It&rsquo;s enough.&rdquo;Unlike many guys of his age and calibre, the diminutive center has not developed a fat head. In fact, he&rsquo;s very quick to dish out compliments to others.&ldquo;Our club is going to do a lot of damage this year. Our captain Louis Lavoie has been our leader. Lavoie has been outstanding. Daley (Pat) and Currie (Glenn) have that touch around the net. And don&rsquo;t count out our goaltending. Yves, (Deschamps) has held us in there lots of times already. We re now about ready to help him. This team can only get better.&rdquo;CORNWALL: Coming off an impressive performance during the playoffs last spring, The Royals have opened the season looking strong. They defeated Verdun 10-3. outshooting them by a 51-34 count. Rick Paterson scored four times for the Royals. In their next meeting, the Royals came from behind to defeat Montreal 3-1 supported by strong goaltending from Tim Bernhardt who played for the Canadian Jr. selects last year. They also stopped Laval 9-7, and edged Hull 8-7.LAVAL: The Nationals have become an exciting club. Their offense is explosive. demonstrated by their five goal outburst in the third period to defeat Trois Rivieres 8 to 6 Sunday night. Laval suffered a tough loss to Chicoutimi when captain Louis Lavoie lost the puck allowing Louis Sleigher to score a shorthanded-goal making the score 5-4 for Chicoutimi.HULL: After troucing Chicoutimi 12-2, the Olympics took a 9-0 beating from Trois Rivieres. Dan Metivier picked up a hat trick to lead the 12-2 rout, but could not score in the penalty filled game against Trois Rivieres. Two Hull players, Claude Larochelle and Jean Latourelle were arrested for armed robbery.MONTREAL: The Juniors will not enjoy home ice until Oct. 7 when they play Cornwall. Under the circumstances they have done quite well. The Juniors came up with a very impressive performance by upsetting Sherbrooke, 7-3, in Sherbrooke. Their only loss was a heartbreaker to Cornwall, 3-1. The Juniors held a 1-0 lead going into the third period. The club&rsquo;s goals-against average is 3.66 thanks to smart goaltending from Marco Baron. They also smashed Chicoutimi 8-3 in their latest start.VERDUN: Except for a 10-3 thrashing from Cornwall, the Black Hawks have not looked like a last place team. They lost a heartbreaker when Yvon Beauchamp scored with less than a minute left to give Quebec a 5-4 win. Norman Aubin leads the team&rsquo;s scoring with 10 goals and eight assists, including five points (three goals, two assists) in a 7-5 verdict over Shawinigan.TROIS RIVIERES: Goalie Jacques Cloutier stopped 30 Hull shots as the Draveurs crushed Hull 9-0. Play was interrupted by an eight player brawl, something that Michel Bergeron and his team have often been involved in during the early season. In an 8-6 loss to Laval. 218 minutes in penalties were handed out. Claude Lepine was exceptional for the Draveurs against Hull with two goals and four assists.SHERBROOKE: The league champions got off to a slow start and lost to Montreal 7-4. Next time out, however, they showed what they were capable of by destroying Shawinigan 11-4. Last year&rsquo;s rookie of the year, Rick Vaive, scored four goals. The Beavers sent Dennis Halle and Mark Semertgakis to Quebec for Yvan Boudreau. Coach Ghislain Delage explained that the move was made to allow more ice time for Ricky Secco and Luc Locas. Boudreau should give the Beavers some muscle.CHICOUTIMI: The Sagueneens bounced back from a 12-2 loss to Hull and edged Laval 5-4. Louis Sleigher scored twice, one of which was the winning goal coming with five minutes left in the third period. Coach Yvan Gingras is hoping for big scoring from veteran Sylvain Locas to spark the Sagueneens.QUEBEC: Ron Racette acquired Dennis Halle from Sherbrooke in a three player deal. In 49 games last year. Halle scored 21 goals and 37 assists and should help the Remparts. Quebec was outshot by Verdun 38-26 but managed to edge the Hawks 5-4 on a last minute goal. Quebec lost a lot of players last year and has a much younger team.SHAWINIGAN: The Dynamos have yet to win. In an effort to improve their situation, they made a seven player trade with Trois Rivieres. The Dynamos sent, center Jean Marc Bonami and left winger Jean Gaston to Trois Rivieres for right winger Yves Therrien, center Claude Lepine, defensemen Gilles Provost and Richard Gardner and goalie Louis Grenier. Only time will tell whether the Dynamos picked up anybody who can help their club. &#9632;

f0038-01

Laval Rookie Montgomery Aims High; Cornwall Early Season Powerhouse

<div class="byline">&#x2014; By Bill Hilts</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01252/4033528-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="351" height="409"></div><h2>American League</h2>Gordon Anziano is commissioner of the recently organized American Junior Hockey League. Based in Springfield. Mass., Anziano is also vice-president and secretary of the professional American Hockey League. The veteran executive has been connected with hockey, in varying capacities, for almost 20 years. He has served as a sportswriter with the Springfield Union and Sunday Republican through his tenure with the AHL. He is starting his 10th year with the pro league. Anziano notes that in helping to making the infant AJHL a success, &ldquo;I will draw heavily on my experience not only as a sportswriter, but from the wealth of knowledge I have gained through working with AHL president Jack Butterfield for the past nine years &ldquo;&hellip;The new junior league will open action in midOctober with six teams from Assabet Valley. Beverly, Framingham, Mass-Conn, Western Mass and Worcester.<h2>N.Y. - Penn League</h2>New York&mdash;Pen Major Jr. League commissioner Fred Rossi is most pleased over the face that following the 197576 season, four players from the league were granted hockey scholarships to Division I college hockey teams, while 15 received scholarships from Division II teams. Following the 1976-77 season, the total took a big jump up with 10 players being granted college hockey scholarships to Division I schools. 18 for Division II schools and one player drafted by the professional leagues. Ray Mang a prominent businessman in Niagara Falls. N.Y.. is once again sponsoring the local Sharks entry in the NY-P League. This marks more than half-a-century of hockey team sponsorship by Mr. Mang and pre-season indications are that coach Chet Kaifas has another title contender. He has 14 returning veterans from last year&rsquo;s squad which was runnerup in regular season play for the Gannett Trophy and the playoff Empire Cup as well&mdash;both times to the champion Rochester Monarchs. The Sharks defense is much stronger with the return of former captain Dave Raham who played at Elmira College last season. Goaltending is still suspect, with veteran Bill Vogt still needing a solid back-up netminder for the rugged 52-game schedule. Heading up the Shark returnees are: Sam Crogan, Joe Barrick. Dan Nolan, Jon Universal, Robin Hill, George Bartha, Rick Wilts, Tom Scherer, Mike Andrejcak. Owen Gidlow, Dennis Gruarin and Paul Henderson. John lgo, picked up from the defunct Buffalo Blades will help steady the blueline corps&hellip;All are Anxiously awaiting the unveiling of the Buffalo Jr. Sabres, now being put together by retired pro Larry Mickey&hellip;Commissioner Rossi says the league should be mighty tough this season and all entries are expected to field solid teams&mdash;Rochester Monarchs. Syracuse Stars and Binghamton Barons. The two Philadelphia teams should also be competitive&mdash;the Quakers and Wintersports.<h2>New Brunswick League</h2>Howie MacKenzie sends word that the New Brunswick Jr. League will operate with just four teams this season The University of Moncton Jayvees were granted a one year leave of absence. Fredericton Red Wings walked off with all of the hardware last season by winning the regular season championship; top goal-getter award to Keith Allaby; top goalie award to Dave Bradley and the Gordon Drillon Trophy to Charlie Bird, for combining ability with good sportsmanship. This is the first time one team has achieved such a feat&hellip;Moncton Beavers have a new coowner. Roger Brun who purchased shares from Jean-Marie Johnson to join Francis Belliveau&hellip; Raymond Bourque, well known sportswriter with L&rsquo;Evangeline. the local French newspaper, was named director of promotion and advertising.<h2>New England League</h2>In the New England Jr. League last season the top performers for each of the teams were as follows: Fitchburg Wallopers: Mickey Rego&mdash;64-67-131, Tom O&rsquo;Neil&mdash;53-51-104. Fran Boucher&mdash;47-54-101. Jack Lapointe&mdash;28-44-72. and Bob Marquis&mdash;16-42-58&hellip;.Springfield Olympics: Bob Hess&mdash;36-35-71. Wayne Cristina&mdash;28-35-63. Dean Lombardi&mdash;21-38-59, Tom Gentile&mdash;19-36-55 and Steve Palazzi&mdash;22-23-45&hellip;South Shore Braves: Frank Silva&mdash;55-42-97. Dick Hammell&mdash;44-37-81, Charlie Ryan&mdash;35-42-77. Mike O&rsquo;Melia&mdash;24-24-48. Brian Bertoni&mdash;19-22-41&hellip;Tyngsboro Huskies: Chip Bettencourt&mdash;53-55-108. Jimmy Donovan&mdash;40-62-102. Bill McLaughlin-23-23-46. Jerry Fortier&mdash;18-25-43 and Sean Moran&mdash;6-37-43.. Tri-Valley Squires: Tom Marchand&mdash;16-23-39. Dennis Sholes&mdash;26-1137. Jim Flynn&mdash;11-26-37. Buddy Santella&mdash;13-11-24. and Dick Breault&mdash;14-7-21&hellip;Great Bay Vikings: Jon Clark&mdash;1518-33, Bob Sullivan&mdash;14-18-32, John Brennan&mdash;7-15-22. Carl Anania&mdash;13-6-19, Tim Sullivan&mdash;11-8-19.<h2>West Coast League</h2>North Shore Junior Canadians won the West Division of the West Coast Jr. League with a 32-6-4 mark and 68 points. In the East Division. Richmond Rebels also won with 68 points, posting a 33-7-2 mark. Kim Kilburn of the Rebels won the scoring title with 110 points and the goal-getting crown as well with 54 markers&hellip; Teammates Gary Kent and Randy Davies tied for runnerup in the scoring race with 97 points each and they also tied for the assist crown, each posting 60 helpers&hellip;Hugh Cameron of Jr Canadians was next with 39-47-86. followed by Marc Springer of the Northwest Americans&mdash;48-37-85. Barry Gruntman of the Canadians&mdash;40-42-82. Joe Malecki of the Amerks&mdash;29-52-81. Lorne Mackie of the Rebels&mdash;31-42-73. Gary Seigo of the Mission Pilots&mdash;41-29-70 and John McEown of the Canadians&mdash;25-45-70 &#9632;

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JUNIOR JOTTINGS

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01162/4033559-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ex-Hab Jimmy Roberts wants to end career in St. Louis. (Photo By Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;Jimmy Roberts, the original draft choice of the St. Louis Blues, has returned to the team.Roberts, who broke into the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens in 1964, was the first player chosen by the Blues in the expansion draft of 1967. He spent four full seasons and part of a fifth with St. Louis until being traded to the Canadiens for Phil Roberto in December 1971.Roberts was a natural leader of the Blues and became captain after Red Berenson was traded to Detroit. While he was with the Blues, as throughout his career, Roberts was both defenseman and forward. The shifting from one position to another without complaint was significant of the dedication Roberts has for his team and his sport.Now Roberts has returned. The talent-rich Canadiens always have too many players, and at age 37, Roberts no longer could be protected by Montreal. Because of his eight years of service to the Canadiens and because of the respect he has earned in the game, Montreal general manager Sam Pollock, looking toward a trade, asked Roberts whether he had a preference of another team.The choice wasn&rsquo;t difficult. During his time in St. Louis Roberts developed an affection for the town and its people. His wife. Judy, is a native of St. Louis, and his off-season job with a savings and loan association is in St. Louis. Roberts asked Pollock to make the deal with the Blues, and St. Louis general manager Emile Francis and coach Leo Boivin were quite happy. The Blues did not pay Montreal any money or players but owe the Canadiens some future considerations.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to be a steady employee,&rdquo; Roberts said. &ldquo;My true value is to switch around to whatever is needed, so where I&rsquo;ll play with the Blues depends on whether the situation calls for six defensemen or four lines.&rdquo;Roberts is an unspectacular player who always seems to do the right thing on the ice. His enthusiasm for the game is genuine and contagious. Coaches want players like Roberts because the coaches don&rsquo;t have to worry about slumps in performance or interest&ldquo;I could probably still have played with Montreal this year,&rdquo; Roberts said, &ldquo;but they were ready to bring young fellows along. They were very courteous tome.&rdquo;Roberts&rsquo; previous tenure with the Blues includes some seasons with other veterans on defense, such as Al Arbour, Jean Guy Talbot, Barclay Plager, Doug Harvey and Noel Picard. With the current Blues, Roberts joins a much younger defensive corps with only Rod Seiling falling within five years of Roberts&rsquo; age.Roberts, Boivin and Francis have all been in the NHL for many years, but Roberts previously hadn&rsquo;t been associated with either his new coach or general manager. Boivin, the former defenseman and former on-ice foe, undoubtedly will enjoy those evenings when he can send Roberts, the tough old pro, over the boards to handle a tough situation in a game. Francis, who demands and rewards loyalty, also will have an appreciation for Roberts now that they are on the same team.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t had much personal contact with Emile over the years,&rdquo; Roberts said, &ldquo;but I respect what he&rsquo;s done with his teams.&rdquo;Francis knows Roberts well enough from the opposing bench to say. &ldquo;He will be a great example to our younger players.&rdquo; &#9632;

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October 14, 1977

Tough Cut Looms On Kings’Defense

Caps’ Fortunes Improve Near Training Camp End

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FAN FORUM