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 21, 1977

The Hockey News October 21, 1977

PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Author George Plimpton, the man who has become famous for acting out his sporting dreams, was in goal for the Boston Bruins on Oct. 7 at the Spectrum for the opening of the preseason game with the Philadelphia Flyers.Plimpton, 50, who will write about his experiences in goal for Sports Illustrated, has quarterbacked the Detroit Lions, batted against the New York Yankees, played basketball for the Boston Celtics, sparred with Archie Moore, played on the professional golf tour and driven at Watkins Glen, among other pursuits.He faced the Flyers in a five-minute controlled scrimmage stopping a penalty shot, making three other saves and allowing just one goal.Plimpton trained with the Bruins for two weeks before donning the pads to challenge the Flyers. &#9632;

IN THIS ISSUE

Author Plimpton Bruins’ Goalie

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02258/4044993-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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IHL Starting Times

After a not-so-inspiring record of 4-3-3 in exhibition play, the Philadelphia Flyers have at least one thing to make them happy going into regular season play, the return to form of Reggie Leach.Leach, who suffered through a miserable 1976-77 season, has looked like his old self again in pre-season play netting a total of five goals. And three of those markers came in the Flyers&rsquo; 6-2 victory against the Boston Bruins in the Spectrum, a game delayed by over 40 minutes due to brawling between the two clubs.Leach preferred to do his damage on the ice, though, as he once again tormented the Bruins whose line-up he was unable to crack several years ago.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02699/4044248-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="526" height="595"><figcaption class="caption-body">REGGIE LEACH&hellip;Philadelphia Flyers</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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NHL’S… Player of the Week

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01547/4044510-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEFAN PERSSON&hellip;lslander&rsquo; Defender (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>The New York Islanders are hoping for the same success with their rookie defenseman Stefan Persson as the Toronto Maple Leafs achieved with Borje Salming. The Islanders signed two of Sweden&rsquo;s top performers this season&mdash;Persson and goaler Goran Hogasta&mdash;and they expect the sturdy blueliner to step right in and win a regular berth with the NHL club. The Isles had to outbid several NHL teams to land Persson and Hogasta, two of the leading figures in Sweden&rsquo;s successful showing in last year&rsquo;s World Cup championship tournament in Vienna. &#9632;

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Islanders Hoping Persson Will Be ‘Swedish Delight’

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011001/4043396-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="559" height="634"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROD GILBERT Back With Rangers</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02906/4043389-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="597" height="434"></div><h2>THE NHL&hellip;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03679/4043382-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="584" height="705"></div><h2>THE WHA&hellip;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04469/4043375-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="580" height="318"></div><h2>OTHER LEAGUES&hellip;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05340/4043368-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="586" height="243"></div><h2>COLUMNISTS&hellip;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-06243/4043361-1-eng-US/f0002-062.jpg" title="f0002-06" width="589" height="168"></div><h2>OTHER FEATURES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-07152/4043354-1-eng-US/f0002-072.jpg" title="f0002-07" width="589" height="164"></div><h2>1977 SCHEDULES&hellip;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-0882/4043347-1-eng-US/f0002-082.jpg" title="f0002-08" width="583" height="94"></div> &#9632;

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WHERE YOU’LL FIND IT ALL INSIDE

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE HALPIN</div>MONTREAL&mdash;It was all over almost before it got started, was the way one National Hockey League spokesman described the revived 1977 waiver draft.To-put it mildly, the outcome hardly matched the fanfare and suspense that had been built up for weeks ahead as the teams approached the Oct. 10 deadline for drafting. All 18 NHL teams filed their protected lists of 18 skaters, two goaltenders and three &lsquo;special&rsquo; minor leaguers with less than two years of professional service. In effect, the protected lists provided more excitement than the actual draft with only three players being claimed.The Detroit Red Wings picked off center Paul Woods from the Montreal Canadiens for a reported $50,000 as the first pick. The Washington Capitals chose left winger Dave Forbes from the Boston Bruins for $12,500 and the New York Rangers hoped to solve their constant goaling problems by selecting Wayne Thomas, who as the third man out in the Toronto netminding picture this season. The Rangers shelled out $12,500 to get Thomas, who only last season was the Leafs&rsquo; No. 1 goaler until a rookie by the name of Mike Palmateer came along and unseated him.The results of the first NHL intra-league draft since 1973, were pretty much as expected by hockey men. Few players had been expected to change hands even though there were some well-known hockey names available. The Montreal Canadiens. who were expected to lose three players, gave up only Woods, who has spent his three-year pro career toiling with Nova Scotia in the AHL.The Habs attempted to unload&rsquo; either of their two unprotected goalers. Dave Elenbaas and Ed Walsh, both of whom are back with Nova Scotia. The Canadiens lowered the asking price on the pair to $30,000 each from a high of $65,000 that was established for the drafting of goalers. But there were no takers and the Canadiens escapted unscathed in the goaling market.The status of Boston goaler Ron Grahame was still not clarified publicly at draft time. The Bruins claimed the former Houston netminder, who jumped the Aeros for the Bruins this year, was not eligible for the draft. Buffalo&rsquo;s Punch Imalch said he was and he declared that he fully intended to grab him in the draft if the Bruins left him open. The Boston club protected Gerry Cheevers and Gilles Gilbert but Grahame&rsquo;s name was not on the draftable list and the reason why it wasn&rsquo;t was not offered by an NHL spokesman.Grahame&rsquo;s name wasn&rsquo;t the only surprise not to appear on the NHL&rsquo;s filed protected lists. In all some 65 players were left unprotected by the teams when the lists were deposited with the league office.Many of the names were well known around the NHL and most are in the twilight of their big league careers. Pit Martin, Dennis Hull, Terry Harper, Ed Johnston, Derek Sanderson, Bob Berry, Sheldon Kannegiesser, Vic Hadfield. Ernie Hicke, Mike Pelyk, Bill Hogaboam, Forbes and Thomas were some of the more prominent NHLers who were left open for the draft.Here&rsquo;s a team-by-team breakdown of the unprotected players: Atlanta, Michel Belhumeurand Ab Demarco; Boston, Darryl Edestrand, Earl Anderson, Forbes and Sean Shanahan; Buffalo, Paul McIntosh, Billy Inglis and Morris Titanic; Chicago, Hull, Martin and Bobby Orr ; Cleveland, Juha Widing, Frank Spring and Brent Meeke, all of whom have jumped to the WHA; Colorado, Bill McKenzie Detroit, Giacomin, Harper, Rick Wilson, Terry Murray and Buster Harvey; Los Angeles, Berry, Kannegiesser, Hicke and Jim Moxey Minnesota, Chris Ahrens, Dwight Bialowas, Blake Dunlop. Pierre Jarry, Richard Nantais and Hogaboam; Montreal, Walsh, Elenbaas, Chuck Luksa, Gordon McTavish. Mike Folich and Woods; Rangers, Doug Jarrett; Islanders. Neil Nicholson and Walt Ledingham, Philadelphia, Harvey Bennett; Pittsburgh, Mario Faubert, Lew Morrison, Stan Gilbertson, Eddie Gilbert and Hadfield; St. Louis, Bob Plager Floyd Thomson, Joe Zanussi, Doug Palazzari, Dave Hrechkosy Johnston and Grant; Toronto, Claire Alexander, Mike Pelyk Stan Weir, Scott Graland, Greg Hubick and Thomas; Vancouver, Mike Robitaille, Ralph Stewart and Sanderson; Washington, Jean Lemieux, Tony White, Bill Mikkelson, Bernie Wolfe, Mike Lampman, and Blair Stewart.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-0952/4043434-1-eng-US/f0002-092.jpg" title="f0002-09" width="570" height="570"><figcaption class="caption-body">WAYNE THOMAS&hellip;Drafted By Rangers</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-1030/4043427-1-eng-US/f0002-102.jpg" title="f0002-10" width="553" height="650"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE FORBES&hellip;Goes To Washington</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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NHL Waiver Draft Quiet Affair As Only Three Players Get Call

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-11" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-1122/4043465-1-eng-US/f0002-112.jpg"></div><h2>Red Wings Appeal Hextall Suspension</h2>DETROIT&mdash;Detroit Red Wing coach Bobby Kromm calling the two-game suspension on Detroit player Dennis Hextall &ldquo;ridiculous&rdquo; said the team will appeal the ruling handed down by the National Hockey League.Hextall was suspended for the Oct. 13 games against the Maple Leafs in Toronto and for the Oct. 15 match against the Kings in Los Angeles for spearing Mike Marson of the Washington Capitals during an exhibition match played Oct. 1. Hextail was fined $200 for receiving a match penalty and $100 for a gross misconduct when he broke the blade of his stick on Marson. Marson&rsquo;s fines totalled $200 for game misconduct and gross misconduct penalties.Kromm said that a player has to protect himself and that &ldquo;Marson was clearly the aggressor in the incident.&rdquo;<h2>AHL Second Choice For Suit By Neeld</h2>SPRINGFIELD&mdash;After failing to win his lawsuit against the National Hockey League, Greg Neeld, the player blinded in one eye during his junior hockey career, is now attempting a similar suit with the American Hockey League.Neeld has charged in a federal suit that an AHL bylaw banning one-eyed players deprives him without due process of his constitutional right to property and liberty.Last season Neeld played as a forward with Erie, Pa. of the North American Hockey League.<h2>Trouble Follows Bruins&rsquo; Cashman</h2>BOSTON&mdash;It was the kind of week veteran left winger Wayne Cashman would rather forget. No matter what he did, he found himself in hot water.Cashman&rsquo;s troubles started when he had a run in with a security guard at the Hartford Civic Center after an exhibition game against the WHA Whalers. The Bruins&rsquo; captain was arrested and charged with trespassing and criminal mischief. The charges were later dropped but it was only the prelude of things to come. When he skated out against Philadelphia, bedlam soon broke loose and before the game was over 18 players were thrown out of the game including Cashman and Flyers&rsquo; Paul Holmgren. Both face an NHL inquiry into their spearing and stick-swinging antics that followed a record 311 penalty minutes. The players later fought off the ice and have been called on the carpet by the NHL.<h2>Bulls&rsquo; Linseman Will Sit It Out</h2>BIRMINGHAM&mdash;Nineteen-year-old Ken Linseman, signed by the Birmingham Bulls despite a warning from the World Hockey Association, has said he will not dress for any more games, and will await the outcome of the court case to decide his immediate hockey future.The junior player, who may be returned to the Kingston Canadians, has appeared in two games with the Bulls after being signed by John Bassett, owner of the club. However, his signing as an under-age player is before the courts and may serve as the model for future signings.<h2>Ziegler Influences NHL-WCHL Player Pact</h2>CALGARY&mdash;Western Canada Hockey League president Ed Chynoweth termed National Hockey League president John Ziegler &ldquo;like a breath of fresh air&rdquo; and a major influence in getting an agreement signed between the junior league and the NHL concerning development funds for graduating juniors.Chynoweth said Ziegler approached the discussions in a positive manner and with an open mind. The one-year pact calls for an NHL team to pay $1,000 when a player is drafted, $4,000 when that player signs an NHL contract, and another $5,000 for each 40 NHL games for the player, to a maximum of 120 games in the first three years. &#9632;

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DEADLINE STOPPERS

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011008/4043510-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB MILLER&hellip;Can&rsquo;t Be Denied</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;The most noticable thing about the Boston Bruins 1977 training camp was a depth of talent missing since expansion and the advent of the WHA.And if you fail to notice it, coach Don Cherry is more than happy to point it out to you.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had a hell of a time cutting guys,&rdquo; said Cherry, who conducted the camp in two morning and two afternoon sessions with the aid of Rochester coach Duane Rupp.&ldquo;It used to be we&rsquo;d have the big camp and then it would trail off into nothing. Now I watch the other practice and I can&rsquo;t tell the difference.&rdquo;For instance:The Bruins&rsquo; centermen last season were Jean Ratelle, Gregg Sheppard. Peter McNab and, occasionally. Matti Hagman, the rookie from Finland.Now there&rsquo;s also Dwight Foster, the Bruins&rsquo; most impressive first round draft choice in years.And there&rsquo;s a surprise addition in Bob Miller, whose wide ranging amateur career has taken him to the University of New Hampshire, the U.S. Olympic team and the Ottawa 67s in the OHA.&ldquo;What attracted us was the way he started to take the body,&rdquo; said Cherry, who views playing the man as some view a religious rite. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s unusual in a college kid. Maybe the time he spent with Ottawa helped him to get ready.&rdquo;Miller came to camp as an amateur but was quickly pinned down to pro terms with the understanding that he would be assigned to Rochester. As opening day neared, however, he was still with the big club.&ldquo;How can you send him away?&rdquo; asked Cherry. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been the biggest surprise of the training camp. He&rsquo;s got to get every chance to make the club.&rdquo;The Bruins&rsquo; search for a fifth defenseman may extend no farther than last year&rsquo;s farm roster on Rochester.Doug Halward, the third-year man who has been rapped for an inability to push people around, showed up weighing a robust 204 pounds, all muscle and most of it concentrated in his upper body.&ldquo;I was always around 180 pounds,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I guess I wasn&rsquo;t really big enough for a defenseman in the NHL. Don Cherry suggested to me that I put on some weight during the summer.&ldquo;I worked out with the weights almost every day during July and August at Bobby Orr&rsquo;s hockey school and I ate the proper meals. I put on about 20 or 25 pounds. It&rsquo;s all good weight, too.&rdquo;&ldquo;I told him at the end of last season,&rdquo; said Cherry, &ldquo;go put on 15 or 20 pounds and you 11 have a good chance of making the Bruins.&rdquo; He put on 25 pounds!&ldquo;As Gerry Cheevers said, he&rsquo;s glad he didn&rsquo;t kick sand in his face last summer.&rdquo;The camp also uncovered a couple of prospective gems who should undergo a season or two of polishing at Rochester.One of them is Joe Rando, a defenseman out of the University of New Hampshire, who, like Miller, has impressed the Bruins brass with his willingness to mix it up. He collected three sticthes over his left eye in fisticuffs with Rangers&rsquo; enforcer Nick Fotiu in the opening exhibition game in Providence.&ldquo;I assume that&rsquo;s his first fight in hockey,&rdquo; said Cherry. &ldquo;They don&rsquo;t do much fighting in college. He picked on some guy to start with. He showed me a lot there.&rdquo;Rando has taken to pro-style hockey with the enthusiasm of a prospector locating the mother lode.&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t have to hold back,&rdquo; he chortled after his first pro game &ldquo;You can really let &lsquo;em have it. No half this and half that.&rdquo;Dave Parro, the goalie who was taken from Saskatoon in the second round last spring, opened a few eyes in the exhibition games, tooHe faced down Phil Esposito in Providence as the 596-goal scorer got loose with the puck at the edge of the crease. He was disappointed when Espo passed off.&ldquo;I said to myself. Here he comes, just like on TV,&rsquo;&rdquo; said the cocky Parro. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great star. I wanted to stop him. There&rsquo;s nothing greater than stopping a great goal-scorer.&rdquo;Parro was off to Rochester, looking forward to the experience.&ldquo;I have a lot to learn.&rdquo; he said &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been able to get by on my reflexes so far in junior hockey. But up here, every time you make a mistake the red light goes on. The game is faster, the shots are harder and more accurate and you don&rsquo;t get any time to think, just react.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02865/4043503-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="567" height="948"><figcaption class="caption-body">DWIGHT FOSTER&hellip;Draft Choice Impressed</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03581/4043496-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="1180" height="1626"><figcaption class="caption-body">DOUG HALWARD&hellip;Bids For 5th Defense Spot (Photos by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Cherry Lauds New Found Depth As Bruins’ Rookies Show Class

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011059/4043569-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="478" height="493"></div>&bull; GILLES VILLEMURE, who played a number of seasons in goal for the New York Rangers had finished his career with Chicago Black Hawks last year, is all through with hockey. He is now training and driving harness horses at New York area tracks&hellip;Emory Jones died recently at the age of 80. Emory was a hockey pioneer in the United States. He ran the old St. Louis Flyers of the American League for years and at one time was president of the Central Hockey League. He also managed real estate properties for Arthur Wirtz. He was a real Southern gentleman and a grand fellow&hellip;Toronto Maple Leafs will televise more Wednesday games this season than they did last year. People in the Toronto area can also see the regular Saturday night telecasts plus the Buffalo Sabres games and the NHL Monday night Game of the Week when that starts&hellip;George Armstrong, coach of the Toronto Marlboros, insists on participating in his team&rsquo;s scrimmages during practice. The other day a rebounding puck split his forehead&hellip;Toronto Maple Leafs will be listed in the next Guiness Book of Records, and not for winning the most Stanley Cups, either. It was an attendance figure that caught the eye of the Guiness people. The Leafs have sold out Maple Leaf Gardens for every regular season game since 1946. The building was enlarged a number of years ago and now seats 16,307&hellip;The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association is feuding with Hockey Canada people. It may not be long before these two organizations are divorced entirely&hellip;Gordie Howe is still going strong at the age of 49. while super star Bobby Orr will likely never play again at age 29&hellip;They say old man Howe has looked as good as anyone at the New England Whalers&rsquo; training camp&hellip;Pittsburgh Penguins, perhaps the most out-of-shape team in the NHL last year, may be the best conditioned one this year, thanks to the gruelling camp conducted by coach Johnny Wilson. Wilson emphasized skating, skating and more skating. &lsquo;We are in better shape and feel better,&rdquo; said Greg Malone. &ldquo;We can see the results of the hard workouts and we like it&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021014/4043562-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="289" height="496"><figcaption class="caption-body">Greg Malone</figcaption></div>&bull; JOE KADLEC has been promoted to director of public relations for the Philadelphia Flyers. Joe will also continue his role as travelling secretary of the club. He succeeds John Brogan who was recently made director of all scouting for the Flyers. Kadlec has been with the Flyers since the club&rsquo;s inception in 1967 and has done an outstanding job in every post he&rsquo;s held with the Flyers&hellip;American Hockey League governors are elated at the transfer of the Providence Reds franchise to Binghampton, N.Y&hellip;Last season Binghampton was in the North American Hockey League which recently folded. Their average attendance was about 6,000 in the NAHL and it is expected they will do equally as well or better in the upgraded AHL&hellip;Bobby Orr and Mike Walton do not plan to operate the Orr-Walton Hockey School next summer. Walton now resides in Vancouver and Orr will be too busy learning the executive side of hockey with the Chicago Black Hawks&hellip;Al MacNeil of the Nova Scotia Voyageurs says money was not the issue in turning down Punch Imlach&rsquo;s offer to coach the Buffalo Sabres. &ldquo;We never got around to talking numbers MacNeil claims.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03909/4043555-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="297" height="442"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Kadlec</figcaption></div>&bull; BOB BOURNE was the sensation of the New York Islanders&rsquo; training camp. The speedy forward put on 20 pounds since last season, and all of it muscle. Bourne has electrified everyone for three years with his blinding speed. but always seemed to run out of gas&hellip;Rick Jodzio, who became the object of several lawsuits stemming from high-sticking incident with Quebec&rsquo;s Marc Tardif in the WHA playoffs two springs ago, is trying to make the grade as a right winger with the Colorado Rockies now that his obligations to the WHA have ended. Rugged Rick, who played for the Calgary Cowboys, is trying to put all the past unpleasantness behind him. and brings another solid muscleman to a lineup which sorely lacked it last season&hellip;Ontario&rsquo;s new consumer and commercial relations minister, Larry Grossman, says he&rsquo;s prepared to make face protectors mandatory for youngsters playing organized hockey if minor leagues don&rsquo;t do it on their own. He added that he didn&rsquo;t think legislation would be necessary. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s inconceivable that the league won&rsquo;t take that action on their own&rdquo;, he said&hellip;Although he was known as Michel Bossy when he played for Laval in the Quebec Junior Hockey League, the Islanders&rsquo; top draft pick insists the correct moniker is Mike. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not French,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;but I guess they adopted me&rdquo;&hellip;Hockey fans sorry to learn of the death of Fred Hunt, assistant general manager of the Buffalo Sabres. Fred played in the NHL with the old New York Americans and was associated with the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League for many years. He suffered a severe heart attack last summer and had been in intensive care ever since. He will be missed by his many friends and hockey associates&hellip;Guy Lafleur received the Lester B. Pearson Trophy awarded annually to the league&rsquo;s most valuable player as selected by members of the players&rsquo; association. Bobby Clarke, captain of the Philadelphia Flyers and the previous winner, made the presentation to the Montreal star prior to a recent exhibition game.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04807/4043548-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="295" height="456"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob Bourne</figcaption></div>&bull; FLYERS&rsquo; ASSISTANT coach Pat Quinn quoted about Fred Shero: &ldquo;That man has done more thinking about coaching hockey than any man I&rsquo;ve ever seen.&rdquo;&hellip;Canadiens&rsquo; coach Scotty Bowman explained the origin of his twins&rsquo; names. Robert Gordon and Nancy Elizabeth: &ldquo;It had to be Robert because we had Bobby Orr, Bobby Hull, Bobby Clarke and Bob Gainey on the Team Canada &lsquo;76 roster, plus coach Bobby Kromm. And Gordie was for close friend Gordie Hollingworth. Our daughter was named for an aunt. Elizabeth, and my wife liked Nancy&hellip;When Alan Eagleson heard about the names he sent Bowman a note: Thanks for naming the twins after my wife (Nancy Elizabeth) and my favorite client (Robert Gordon Orr).&rsquo;&hellip;Philadelphia defenseman Tom Bladon was very lucky he wasn&rsquo;t seriously injured when he was cut for six stitches between the thumb and index finger by a skate during a fight with Boston&rsquo;s Terry O&rsquo;Reilly. Bladon will only miss a few games&hellip;Some pretty big names among goaltenders are rumored to be on the trade list. Chances are Billy Smith (Islanders). Phil Myre (Atlanta) and Dave Elenbaas (Canadiens&rsquo; Nova Scotia farm team) will be residing at new addresses soon.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05668/4043541-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="291" height="492"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tom Bladon</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0004-01

PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="byline">BY HARRY KLAFF</div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;It was a beautiful, sunny day in the Minnesota lake region last June, just the type of day a vacationing NHL goaltender would enjoy to go fishing, swimming, or whatever it is goaltenders like to do during the off-season.And that&rsquo;s exactly what the Islanders&rsquo; Glenn Resch was set to do with his family up at their vacation cottage. Only a telephone call from a friend ruined his whole day, not to mention the rest of the summer.The date was June 16. and the caller informed Chico that the Isles had signed goaltender Goran Hogosta. the man who had just steered his native Sweden to a surprising showing at the Vienna World Cup Tournament. General manager Bill Torrey had felt that the young European was ready to do his magic in the National Hockey League, and had anted up $40,000 to the Swedish Hockey Federation&mdash;plus what he was paying his new player&mdash;to back his bet.What startled Resch is the knowledge that when it comes to goaltenders, two&rsquo;s company, but three&rsquo;s a crowd With he, Hogosta, and Bill Smith around, the crease loomed to be a very crowded place come October.&ldquo;Well, a trade sure is a possibility isn&rsquo;t it,&rdquo; chuckled Chico at the time. He was doing a poor job of disguising his emotions, though. &ldquo;You know that Bill(Torrey) isn&rsquo;t going to bring him across the ocean to look at him. say Fine.&rsquo; and then send him right out to the minors. He&rsquo;s got to be looking long range.&rdquo;By the time training camp opened and Resch had a chance to scout the new competition, he had a chance to reflect on the significance of Hogosta. The startling news in June might have ruined Chico&rsquo;s day. but certainly not the rest of his vacation.&ldquo;I guess my comments then were a little premature,&rdquo; said Resch after exhibiting a creditable performance in the Isles&rsquo; first exhibition contest against the Flyers. He lost 3-1, but played the entire 60 minutes and made many flashy stops.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen Hogosta now. and he&rsquo;s as good as I expected. &ldquo;I know I said that it didn&rsquo;t matter what Billy (Smith) or I did in training camp, but I don&rsquo;t believe that anymore. If anything, the kid&rsquo;s presence might have a beneficial effect. Mentally. I think I&rsquo;m ready a little bit earlier than had he not been here &lsquo;Even though the likable Resch seems to have put Hogosta out of his mind for the present, he still realizes the possibilities. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s an awful lot to expect a kid like that to step right in After all, here he is in a whole new environment; he&rsquo;s a couple of thousand miles away from home and people are expecting him to step right in and become a top NHL goalie.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good guy, and I like him It&rsquo;s just a matter of time for him to be ready. It may be this year, it may not be.&rdquo;There are two reasons why Resch is more worried than Smith with the prospects of donning a new uniform. One. Chico is older&mdash;29 to Billy&rsquo;s 26. And two. it was Smitty who carried the Islanders most of the way in the playoffs, not Resch as it had been the previous two seasons.More than any other player. Resch has been the happy little spirit of the Islanders personified It was his clutch goaltending&mdash;not to mention his war dance and sloppy kisses planted on cooperative goalposts&mdash;that made the legend of the Miracle Islanders of &lsquo;74-&lsquo;75 and &lsquo;75-&lsquo;76.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-06398/4043600-1-eng-US/f0004-062.jpg" title="f0004-06" width="577" height="745"><figcaption class="caption-body">CHICO RESCH &hellip; Loves Long Island</figcaption></div>1975-76 was technically Glenn&rsquo;s rookie season, and had it not been for teammate Bryan Trottier, he would have won the Calder Trophy despite pleas that it would have embarrassed him. His goals-against average that year was 2.17, second behind only Ken Dryden, and his nine shutouts were by far and away a club record.Last season was fabulous in anybody&rsquo;s book, but not quite as spectacular as the previous year. His 2.22 goals-against average for 45 games was outstanding (Smith&rsquo;s was 2.51), but there were times at mid-season that he appeared to slump Mind you. &ldquo;slump&rdquo; as far as Resch and the Islanders were concerned, was three goals in a game.He appeared to be back on the beam in the final month of the season, and appeared to be number one as the club readies itself for the playoffs. But a bad game against Boston on the next-to-last day of the season moved him to the bench in favor of Smith, who was absolutely incredible against Chicago. Buffalo. and Montreal before the Habs finally solved his riddle.Chico loves everything about the Islanders&mdash;the town, the players, the fans. Just how would he react if he were, indeed, traded? &ldquo;Id cry,&rdquo; he said.You&rsquo;d see a grown man cry.&rdquo; And he wasn&rsquo;t smiling when he said it.ISLAND SOUNDS: The Isles have been especially impressed with-rookie center Mike Kaszycki, who finished second in the Central League scoring race while at Fort Worth last year. He&rsquo;s small (five-foot-nine). but plays a solid all-around game&hellip;Top round draft pick Mike Bossy was tried everywhere during camp, especially at the right point on the power play&hellip;Look for captain Clark Gillies to be more aggressive this year. His fists earned an easy decision over the Flyers&rsquo; Harvey Bennett in the exhibition opener.The Hockey NewsOFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY FOUNDED 1947VOLUME 31 NUMBER 2 OCTOBER 14, 1977Kenneth W. McKenziePresident and PublisherTom MurrayAssistant to PublisherCharlie HalpinEditorial DirectorPat BealeAdvertising CoordinatorAdvertising Representatives:Toronto:Graham Campbell11 Lotus Court Toronto. Ont M2H 1J6 (416) 492-9191MontrealPat Beale1434 St. Catherine Street West. Suite 217 Montreal. Can. &bull; H3G 1R7 (514) 866-4841New York:Tom Murray150 East 58th Street New York. N.Y. 10022 &bull; (212) 593-2100Chicago:Hooper & Jones Associates 3322 W. Peterson Avenue Chicago. III. 60659 &bull; (312) 478-5544Published weekly except monthly June through September by W. C&bull; C. Publishing Ltd, 1434 St. Catherine Street West. Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7 &bull; (514) 8664841 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. Catharine St. W., Montreal. Canada H3G 1R7. Printed in Canada. &#9632;

f0004-06

Isles’ Resch Sees Hogasta’s Presence As Benefiting Club

Following are the latest player movements in hockey:<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>ATLANTA &mdash; Brian Hill, Red Laurence and Miles Zaharko, forwards, assigned to Tulsa of CHL. Ab DeMarco, defenseman, released as free agent.BOSTON &mdash; Gary Carr, Jim Pettie and Dave Parro, goalers, Joe Rando, Keith Johnson and Mike Forbes, defensemen. Rich Adduono, Clayton Pachal, Barry Smith, Gordie Clark, Steve Langdon and Brian McGregor, forwards, sent to Rochester of AHL.BUFFALO &mdash; Ken Holland, Jim Weaver and Richard Sirois, goalers, Richard Dunn, Don Lemieux, Paul McIntosh, Wayne Ramsay, Ron Roscoe and Bill Stewart defensemen. Ron Areshenkoff, Paul Crowley, Michel Deziel, Billy Inglis, Claude Noel and Morris Titanic, forwards, assigned to Hershey of AHL.CLEVELAND &mdash; Larry Hendrick and Jim Warden, goalers, Owen Lloyd, Dave Syvret, Darcy Regier, Mark Toffolo, Tom Anderson, and Jeff Allan, defenseman. Ken Kuzyk, Guy Lash, Vern Stenlund, Rich Shinske, forwards, assigned to Phoenix of CHL.CHICAGO &mdash; Randy Ireland, goaler, Bob Hoffmeyer, Gary Platt, Stephen Ough, defensemen. Kirk Bowman, Ted Bulley, Pierre Groulx, Dan Hinton, Jeff McDill, Greg Vaydik, Duane Wylie, forwards, assigned to Dallas of CHL.DETROIT &mdash; Terry Richardson, goaler, Jerry Rollins, John Tait, Rick Vasko, Rick Wilson, defensemen. Steve Coates, Clark Hamilton, Fred Harvey, Bob Krieger, Don Martineau, Brian McCutcheon, Fred Williams and Mike Wong, forwards, assigned to Kansas City of CHL. Jim Baxter, goaler, Dwight Schofield, defenseman, Fred Berry, Fernand Leblanc, Ray Roy, Kevin Schamehorn and Tom Milani, forwards, sent to Kalamazoo of 1HLCOLORADO &mdash; Bill Oleschuk, goaler, Mike Breen and Eric Christiansen, defensemen, Randy Pierce, Mike Dwyer, Rick Doyle, Don Cairns, Joe Contini, forwards, assigned to Phoenix of CHL.LOS ANGELES &mdash; Bob Berry, Charlie Simmer, Russ Walker, and Steve Clippingdale, forwards, assigned to Springfield of AHL Per Karlsson, defenseman. released.MONTREAL &mdash; Gordon McTavish, defenseman, and Pat Hughes, forward, assigned to Nova Scotia of AHL. Maurice Barrette, goaler, recalled from Nova Scotia to act as stand by goaler.MINNESOTA &mdash; Chris Ahrens, Dwight Bialowas, defensemen. Blake Dunlop, Bill Hogaboam, Richard Nantais and Doug Rombough, forwards, and Bill Hughes, goaler, assigned to Fort Worth of CHL. Jean-Pierre Sanvido, goaler, assigned to Muskegon of IHL.N.Y. ISLANDERS &mdash; Andre Lepage and Don Cutts, goalers, Neil Nicholson, Mike Hordy and Bob Lorimer, defensemen. Richie Hansen, Bruce Andres, Alex McKendry, Hector Marini, Garth MacGuigan and Yvan Vautour, forwards, sent to Fort Worth of CHL.N.Y RANGERS &mdash; Doug Soetart, goaler, John Bednarski, defenseman, Benoit Gosselin, Bud Stefanski and Jim Troy, forwards, sent to New Haven of AHL.PHILADELPHIA &mdash; Yves Guillemette, goaler, Norm Barnes, Franke Bathe, Mike Busniuk, defensemen. Barry Duench, Denis Meloche, Brian Burke, Drew Callander, John Paddock, Wayne Schaab, and Randy Osburn, forwards, assigned to Maine of AHL.ST. LOUIS &mdash; Doug Grant and Rocky Menard, goalers, Brent Meeke, Neil Labatte, Larry Huras, Joe Zanussi and Gordon Buynak, defensemen. Brian Ogilvie, Tony Currie, Tom Sundberg, TomRoulston, Gary Holt, Lyle Bradley, Doug Palazzari, Ken Richardson, Floyd Thomson, forwards, assigned to Salt Lake of CHL Reid Bailey. Peter McMonagie, Jim Gustafson, Bruce Hamilton and Ken Gassoff, forwards, sent to Port Huron of IHLTORONTO &mdash; Pierre Hamel, goaler, Blair Mackasey, Ron Wilson and Bob Warner, defensemen. Alain Belanger, Greg Hubick, Rocky Saganiuk, Gary MacFayden, Kevin Campbell, Bruce Boudreau, Paul Evans and John Anderson, forwards, assigned to Dallas of CHL.VANCOUVER &mdash; Glen Hanlon, goaler, Jeff Bandura, defenseman, Derek Sanderson, and Dave Morrow, forwards, sent to Tulsa of CHL.<h2>WORLD HOCKEY ASSN.</h2>EDMONTON &mdash; Lou Nistico, Don Tannahill and Jerry Holland, forwards, sent to Salt Lake of CHL. &#9632;

Hockey Players On The Move

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01918/4043655-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON DUGUAY&hellip; New Face With Rangers (Photo By Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;The National Hockey League embarks on its 60th consecutive season of play with the commencement of the 1977-78 campaign and there will be approximately 88 player changes.The reorganizing New York Rangers appear to have the biggest turnover as general manager John Ferguson continues his swing to younger players in order to make the Rangers a contender in the NHL. Looking at the New York roster. Fergy has been burning the midnight oil making player changes.Rangers will lead the way for &lsquo;77-78 and could begin the season with as many as 10 new players in the New York lineup. The Detroit Red Wings and Cleveland Barons are not far behind with the Red Wings showing eight new men and Cleveland icing seven new Barons.The Philadelphia Flyers are standing pat and have the distinction of having the least new faces, two, in their lineup&mdash;defenseman Kevin McCarthy and forward Barry Dean, who toiled in the WHA and with Colorado Rockies. McCarthy was the Flyers&rsquo; first round draft pick.In order of higher number of changes here&rsquo;s a look at the other 17 NHL clubs:Rangers have two new goalers. Hardy Aastrom and Lindsay Middlebrook, veteran defenseman Don Awrey, whom they signed as a free agent, and roughly four draft picks, Mario Marois, Lucien Deblois, Ron Duguay and Mike Keating. Not all of them will stick although Duguay has been impressive and could stay up as a regular Greg Holst. Ed Johnstone and Dan Newman are products of the farm system. Newman did get into 41 games after starting the year in New Haven.Among Detroit&rsquo;s new faces are goaler Ron Low, defensemen Steve Durbano. Dave Hanson, Reed Larson and Perry Miller and forwards Dale McCourt, Rick Bowness and Al McDonough. McCourt was the Wings&rsquo; top draft pick. Low and Bowness were picked up in trades and McDonough is returning from the WHA along with Miller. Durbano is a free agent pick up from Colorado. Hanson was signed out of the minors and Larson quit college to join the Wings in the closing weeks of last year&rsquo;s schedule.The Cleveland Barons are going with seven newcomers including defenseman John Baby, forwards Daniel Chicoine. Mike Crombeen and Reg Kerr, all 1977 draft picks. Kris Manery, a collegiate product, and Jim McCabe and Paul Tantardini, both up from the Barons&rsquo; farm system.Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Washington have six new faces each. The Sabres have rookie goaler Robert Sauve around, forwards Joe Kowal. Jacques Richard, who is returning after a year in Hershey, Ron Schock, who came over in the trade for Brian Spencer to Pittsburgh, Derek Smith and Alex Tidey, Kowal, Smith and Tidey are up from the farm.Pittsburgh has goaler Gord Laxton up along with Tom Cassidy while Jim Hamilton is a draft pick. Spencer is new in the Schock trade, defenseman Bob Paradise was purchased from Colorado and Colin Campbell is back from the Rockies as well.Washington has two new goalers, rookie Dale Rideout and veteran Garry Smith from Minnesota, top draft Robert Picard on defense, and Doug Gibson. Nelson Burton and Mark Lofthouse, all forwards. Gibson was bought from Boston, the other two are draft choices.Chicago. St. Louis and the New York Islanders have five new players each. The Hawks have Dave Logan, Mike O&rsquo;Connell and Doug Wilson, all defensemen, forwards Bob Kelly and Pierre Plante, both of whom came in trades with other NHL teams. Logan and O&rsquo;Connell are Dallas products and Wilson is Chicago&rsquo;s first draft pick.St. Louis has two draft picks, defenseman Jack Brownschilde from Notre Dame and John Smrke, and three pros who came in trades&mdash;Len Frig, Dick Redmond and Jim Roberts. The Islanders have two new Swedes, goaler Goran Hogasta and defenseman Stefan Persson, top draft Mike Bossy and two Fort Worth graduates, if they stick, Mike Kaszycki and Dave SalvianBoston, Colorado, Minnesota and Toronto have four newcomers each. The Bruins signed goaler Ron Grahame from Houston, brought Doug Halward up from Rochester and have two draft choices, Dwight Foster and Bob Miller, both of whom will start the year in the NHL. The Rockies have top draft choice Barry Beck, Mark Suzor, who was acquired from Philadelphia, Andy Spruce, a free agent from Vancouver and Rick Jodzio, who was signed as a free agent after his multi-WHA troubles. Minnesota has goaler Paul Harrison, defenseman Brad Maxwell and two Swedish forwards, Kent-Erik Andersson and Per-Olav Brasar. Maxwell is their No. 1 draft while Harrison is up from the minors.Toronto Leafs have brought in Bruce Boudreau and Jimmy Jones from the high minors, high draft pick Trevor Johansen and reactivated Ron Ellis after cleaning out their roster.Atlanta has three new faces, defenseman Greg Fox from Nova Scotia, free agent Bobby Lalonde from Vancouver and Harold Phillipoff, also up from the Voyageurs. Los Angeles traded to get defenseman Randy Manery from Atlanta, signed draft choice Dave Taylor and free agent Ernie Hicke. Nothing was new on the status of free agent Pete Stemkowski, whom the Kings picked up from the Rangers.Montreal Canadiens were to introduce three of their top minor league farmhands, defensemen Gilles Lupien and Brian Engblom and center Pierre Mondou, to the NHL And Vancouver, Canucks had minor league grad Bob Manno up along with Brad Gassoff. also from Tulsa of the CHL. and top draft choice Jere Gillis. &#9632;

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Rangers May Ice 10 New Faces; Detroit, Cleveland Turnover Big

<div class="byline">&#x2014; BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011090/4043686-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="334" height="463"></div><h2>Bowman&rsquo;s Herculean Task</h2>IT&rsquo;S NOT SO MUCH A CASE of trying to convince a great team that its status has veered from quo.It&rsquo;s rather a case of reminding one and all that the bigger you are, the harder you can fall; that everybody in this game skates on thin ice; that, at least on opening night in October, all teams are created equal.Such is the task, Herculean in nature, faced by William Scott Bowman, a serious fellow who coaches the Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens and is expected to win merely every game.Last winter, he failed to do so only eight (8) times, which means that when you meet him in the hotel lobby now, you ask two things: how&rsquo;s the family and what do you do for an encore?&ldquo;Hey, what happened last season is history&hellip;it was enjoyable but it was a super abnormal year, and there is no way you can start this season thinking about what you accomplished last year,&rdquo; Bowman was saying just before the 1978 claxon sounded.&ldquo;We all had summer to savor what was accomplished last year, so now we have to start from zero. You can&rsquo;t reasonably expect to do what we did last year again. We lost three games to Boston, two to Buffalo.&ldquo;You realize what that means? That only three other teams in the whole league beat us all season&mdash;Toronto, Rangers, and St. Louis. Well, that&rsquo;s remarkable. This year, it will be more difficult to do something like that. Let me tell you why.<h2>Face More Challenges</h2>&ldquo;FIRST OF ALL, everybody will be trying to beat us more than ever. We won two Stanley Cups, we lost 19 games the last two years, they know this.&ldquo;Plus, there is a group of good clubs&mdash;Islanders. Boston, Buffalo. Philadelphia. Toronto&mdash;which don&rsquo;t stand much chance of slipping, and figure to get better. They will create a greater challenge to us.&ldquo;Then, there are the teams like Minnesota and Washington and Cleveland which are getting better and better. You can&rsquo;t walk into their rinks and expect two points like that. Not that we did last year.&ldquo;Even when we had things clinched last season, we worked. We went down to the wire for the Vezina Trophy, and we worked for that, That&rsquo;s what you can&rsquo;t take away from this club, and that&rsquo;s the effort we have to have again, or else.&ldquo;We have eight potential All Stars&mdash;our goalies. Kenny Dryden and Michel Larocque&mdash;plus Guy Lafleur, Jacques Lemaire. Steve Shutt and our three defenseman, Larry Robinson, Serge Savard and Guy Lapointe.<h2>Foot Soldiers Needed</h2>&ldquo;BUT WE HAVE TO GET IT from the other guys. I forget who said it, but it struck me when I heard it. Toronto has a good club, but they don&rsquo;t have the foot soldiers that Canadiens have. We have to get it from them.&ldquo;There were a couple of situations which struck me during the exhibition games. We&rsquo;re in Buffalo winning 3-1, and we get into a situation where they put Gil Perreault and Rene Robert and Richard Martin on there.&ldquo;Well, normally, I&rsquo;m going to go to Bob Gainey and Doug Jarvis and people like that, But this time I don&rsquo;t, and a few things happen and before you know it, the game finishes 3-3. So, what I&rsquo;m saying is that, talent or no, we still have to have the right people in the right spot and everybody doing their job.&rsquo;And if Les Canadiens don&rsquo;t do their jobs. Bowman has a coercion committee of millions backing him.&ldquo;The people of Montreal.&rdquo; he mused, &ldquo;the people of Montreal. You know how they feel about their hockey team. There is always pressure to win. It is hard in one way. But in another way, you know you must be at the top of your game or else. If these players don&rsquo;t play well, the fans, they&rsquo;ll make itmiserable for them. Miserable.&rdquo;Sounds like another miserable year. For the rest of the NHL. &#9632;

f0006-01

HOCKEY TALK

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02836/4043717-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">PETE LOPRESTI&hellip; Will Handle Starter&rsquo;s Job</figcaption></div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;This appears to be the season in which 22-year-old goalie Paul Harrison of Timmins. Ont., can stand up and be counted.Just two games into the exhibition schedule of the Minnesota North Stars, coach Ted Harris was impressed enough to just about hand Harrison the job as the team&rsquo;s second goalie alongside Pete LoPresti.I think,&rdquo; said Harris, &ldquo;that Paul is ready to help us.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s good news to Paul, who, for a standup goalie, has taken a big swallow of frustration sitting down during his brief pro career.Harrison is beginning his third season as a pro and he&rsquo;s led the typical life of a goalie in one aspect&mdash;up and down, up and down. Only, a lot of it has been down.That probably was the reason the six-foot-one. 180-pound Harrison refused to accept his job on paper before the 1977 training camp opened for the North Stars at Metropolitan Sports Center.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d say Pete is pretty well assured of one job.&rdquo; admitted Harrison. &ldquo;But when training camp opened I considered myself just one of the five other goalies in camp looking for a job. I knew I had to look sharp to win a spot.&rdquo;Harrison, really, cannot be faulted if such a statement does not ring with confidence. He knows better from his first season with the North Stars. He played a total of six games in the NHL, and not much anywhere else, in the 1975-76 season.For those six games, Harrison gave up 28 goals with an average of 5.47. Supposedly, a rookie is sent to the minor leagues to gain needed experience. Well, Harrison was dispatched to minor league points, but played only a total of three games.&ldquo;I was sent down to Fort Wayne and didn&rsquo;t play,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was moved to Providence and played in only three games. I went back to Fort Wayne and didn&rsquo;t play. The year was a complete waste. I can&rsquo;t even think of it as a holiday. You can learn only so much from watching&hellip; I didn&rsquo;t do much and I really didn&rsquo;t learn much.&rdquo;The North Stars acquired veteran Gary Smith for last season and Harrison, who came out of the Canadian junior ranks from Oshawa, was ordered to New Haven, where he played 63 games and logged a 3.14 goals-against average. He was called up for two games in December by the North Stars, gave up 11 goals and headed back to the AHL.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be the first to admit I was a little shook up.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I really didn&rsquo;t know what was expected of me. But I shrugged it off. I&rsquo;d never sat on the bench much before and that first year hurt my ego. And I was disappointed about being sent down last season. I realize now it was the best thing that could have happened.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m plenty loose now and playing all those games proved very profitable as far as gaining learning experience.&rdquo;Harrison received his big opportunity to stick with the Stars for this season when Smith, unhappy most of last year, left Minnesota via the free agent route and chose to sign with the Washington Caps.It did not take Paul long to show he was the right man to join LoPresti in front of the pipes. In his first two exhibition outings. Harrison shut out Los Angeles for one period on nine shots and came back the next time to blank Winnipeg for a period and half, muzzling the WHA Jets on all 17 shots in the first, period.The North Stars brought a total of six goalies to camp&mdash;LoPresti, Harrison, Brian Holderness, draft choice Jean-Pierre Sanvido. David Legree and Bill Hughes, who was acquired from the New York Islanders&rsquo; system in the off-season.Gump Worsley, standout goalie during his playing career and now a scout for the Stars, watched closely during the training period. While not wanting to slight any individual, the Gumper was willing to talk a little about each.About Harrison, Worsley quickly offered. &ldquo;The thing that immediately impressed me was his quickness. That is going to be his biggest assest and, at his age, he should have a very bright future. That one year of inactivity shouldn&rsquo;t have any effect on him because he is a youngster.&rdquo;Now that is something that Paul Harrison will take standing up, as a goalie should.STAR DUST: Stars started strongly in exhibitions, scoring with 67 seconds left (rookie Kent-Erik Andersson) to tie LA. 3-3. and downing Winnipeg. 2-1, in overtime (Roland Eriksson breaking things up 4:57 into sudden death&hellip;Rookie defenseman Greg Tebbutt left the team and will play as an over-age junior in Canada&hellip;Stars went through the first two weeks of training and exhibitions without major injury&hellip;For the first time in years, the Stars will have some depth to call on from their Fort Worth farm after Harris makes his regular season roster cut&hellip; Assistant coach Andre Beaulieu has written a hockey textbook to be published soon&hellip;Former player&mdash;playing coache asst. GM Charlie Burns has signed on as coach and manager of the Stoux City. Iowa team in the newly aligned U.S. Hockey League. &#9632;

f0006-02

Stars’ Goalie Harrison Hopes For Back-Up Role

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;The violins usually don&rsquo;t sound the injury tune until sometime after the season starts and the losses mount up quicker than excuses.But the Vancouver Canucks are already singing the blues when it comes to bodies of the same color. The club is so battered and bruised, coach Orland Kurtenbach is having trouble assessing his veterans let alone the rookies he has in training camp.First there was the curious appearance of Derek Sanderson&rsquo;s 14-pound pot belly, caused by his colitis to some degree and also to his off-season inactivity. On the other end of the scale, Garry Monahan came in with a severe case of the flu. and he lost six pounds, to the point where he was looking a little rakish. Harold Snepsts, a notoriously poor bachelor, came down with pneumonia and landed in the hospital, probably the best place for him all things considered.The Canucks would love to see him marry anyone who can cook a hot meal. He has twice given himself food poisoning with his cooking, and it will likely happen again.Larry Carriere hurt his left shoulder throwing a left lead at Ron Delorme in the club&rsquo;s second exhibition game. Rookie Jere Gillis hurt his shoulder in one of the first scrimmages and it bothered him for a couple of days. He played in the same exhibition game as Carriere, and hurt it again to the point where he had to sit out for a while.Larry Goodenough was working around his house when he stepped in some glass and cut his foot badly. He&rsquo;s limping around as badly as Dennis Kearns, who stopped a puck with his foot X-rays showed no broken bones, but the shot put him out long enough to worry the coaching staff about gaining some cohesion on defense.With all of these hurts, it&rsquo;s not hard to imagine the New York islanders coming in and bouncing the club 8-2 in the second game of a back-to-back series. The Islanders showed no mercy, partially because they had been beaten 5-1 the previous night when the Canucks put together a rather impressive offensive effort against New York&rsquo;s highly touted Swedish goaltender Goran Hogosta.The positive aspect of all the injuries is that Kurtenbach is getting his rookies a lot of ice time, and for the most part they are responding extremely well.Bob Manno, the team&rsquo;s first pick (26thl in the draft of 1976. seems ready to make the jump up from the Tulsa Oilers, and two others&mdash;Jeff Bandura and converted center Dave Morrow look like excellent prospects.Further, Rob Flockhart, who has been shifted from left to right wing and back again, appears to be ready to step into a Vancouver uniform on either side Kurtenbach has even used him in a penalty-killing role with the absence of Sanderson and Monahan and while the Canucks don&rsquo;t appear ready to be the best penalty killing team in the league, Flockhart was more than adequate.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01973/4043755-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="565" height="688"><figcaption class="caption-body">DENNIS VERVERGAERT</figcaption></div>The goaltending has Kurtenbach a little concerned as Curt Ridley, the man being counted upon to back-up Cesare Maniago, has been inconsistent. He had one good outing against Colorado, but the Islanders stoned him, and on two of the goals he looked faulty. Maniago, of course, is like a fine wine, getting better with age. He is as under-rated as Ken Dryden is over-rated.Ron Sedlbauer and Mike Walton appear ready to have excellent seasons as does Dennis Ververgaert, whom the Canucks would like to see get 38 goals again. But there are some worry spots. Chris Oddleifson, the man being heavily counted upon to get some passes to the wingers, is off to a slow start and replacing Sanderson, at least temporarily, may be quite difficult. Right now, it would appear that the job will go to Sid Veysey, but a trade cannot be ruled out.The club meanwhile, has sent seven players to the Tulsa Oilers training camp where they will vie for spots there. They are Ray Creasy, Steve Hazlett, Brian Drumm, Glen Richardson, Rob Tudor, Ralph Stewart and goaltender Murray Bannerman.If everyone gets healthy soon, there will be a few more pink slips handed out.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02784/4043748-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="571" height="703"><figcaption class="caption-body">LARRY CARRIERE&hellip;Hurt Throwing Punch</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0007-01

Canucks’ Injured List Growing

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011081/4043793-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="406" height="469"></div><h2>Artist On Skates&hellip;</h2>AS A NEW NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE season begins, Guy Damien Lafleur typifies what is best about this sport. He is an artist on skates, creating scoring plays the way a painter puts a vivid scene on canvas with a brush. His start is explosively quick and in stride he is swifter than the others. He has the vision and intelligence to assess accurately the situation developing in front of him. He sees where his teammates and opponents are and anticipates where they will be. He can shift directions sharply and smoothly and makes marvellous moves that confuse foes and carry him through thick traffic. He carries a puck on his stick as if it was stuck there, but with a flick of his wrist can put a perfect pass on a teammate&rsquo;s stick or rifle a sure shot into any opening given him by the goaler before his opponents can react. He is a spectacular athlete in a spectacular sport and it is wonderful watching him at work.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02972/4043786-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="811" height="1158"><figcaption class="caption-body">It took Guy Lafleur three seasons in the NHL to gain his confidence, but once he did he fulfilled the prophecy predicted of him by becoming the league&rsquo;s best player.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Superfleur&rdquo; is lightning and the fabled Forum in Montreal thunders when he takes the ice as it has not since Rocket Richard&rsquo;s heydey. He came up compared to Jean Beliveau, but Lafleur is more like the Rocket. No one could shoot like the Rocket, but Guy is a superior play-maker. Beliveau may have been a better play-maker, but Lafleur is a superior shooter. Beliveau was big, graceful. He was subtle and much of what he did you did not notice. Like the Rocket, Lafleur is explosive and you see what he does as though he has scorched the ice as he went. The Rocket was chunky, combative, terrible-tempered, the most exciting player I ever saw. Lafleur is slender, calm, cool, maybe the most exciting player today. Most experts believe him to be the best today.There are one or two who can do what he does, but they do not get the help he does. There are many great players on the mighty Montreal team, but he is the greatest. A loner off the ice, tie is the leader on the ice. He controls the play when he is on the ice. He always seems to have the puck. It is difficult to take it from him. He is hard to hit, but handles the checks he gets. He has stamina as well as speed and can go all out all game. He steers clear of the rough stuff and fights, which are the worst things about this sport. He uses his stick on his foes a little too much, but sticks are used on him much more. He doesn&rsquo;t complain. He carries on. He has carried the Canadiens to two straight record-setting regularseason performances and Stanley Cup championships with finals sweeps. He was voted Most Valuable Player in the league the last two seasons and top player in the playoffs last season as well.A HANDSOME LAD, &ldquo;Le Demon Blond&rdquo; was born in Thurso, Quebec. He learned to play with pucks on frozen ponds winters and tennis balls on city streets summers. He recalls. &ldquo;When I was a kid all we saw on TV was the Canadiens and all I wanted to be was Beliveau. We had one bleu, blanc and rouge Canadiens sweater and I fought the others for the right to wear it. I dreaded to be drafted by any team but Canadiens and when they took me I was so happy. If any other team had taken me I would have signed with the Quebec team in the other league. An owner was only my father-in-law and I was offered more money. But Canadiens had the greatest tradition in hockey and it was my dream to play for them.&rdquo; Montreal manager Sam Pollock made sure of getting him by trading players to the last place teams of that time, the Seals and Kings, for the first draft choice the year he graduated. The Seals wound up last, which made Montreal first.Lafleur scored more than 100 goals each of his last two amateur seasons and came to Canadiens with the kind of publicity that produced enough pressure to cave in the skull of a lesser lad. When he scored less than 30 goals his first three seasons, he was considered disappointing. Now that he has scored more than 50 his last three, he is considered dazzling. He says, &ldquo;I think it was always there, and it was maybe a matter of bringing it out. It was harder than I thought it would be and I had to try harder. I had lost, but regained my confidence, maybe the most important thing. I have learned a lot. It is never easy. But it is easier. I have learned to relax. I know what I can do now and I do it.&rdquo;HE CAME UP A KID, He was afraid to fly, so took flying lessons to ease that fear. He could not speak English, so he worked at it so he could deal with the world beyond Quebec. He is shy and hates the spotlight so he learned to slip through shadows. He was lonely until he married and now he and his wife have a son and a handsome home in Vercheres, near the St. Lawrence River, far from crowds. He says, in his soft voice, &ldquo;I try to treat everyone nice, but the people want a lot. I prefer family life at home. I have a boat I like to run on the river. I love playing games, but I like getting away from games, too. I do not have the big ego and I do not have to hear about my playing. I just like doing it.&rdquo;He has scored more than 100 points three straight seasons and led the league in points two straight. He enters this season with a record run of 28 regularseason games in which he has scored at least a point. This season at 26 he will be halfway through a ten-year contract he signed so he wouldn&rsquo;t worry about money and could concentrate on his sport, in which he is the brightest star. &#9632;

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Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY ALAN TRUEX</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03822/4043831-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILL CLEMENTS&hellip; Figures Linemate Future Scoring Threat (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>ATLANTA&mdash;If there was any question about Harold Phillipoff&rsquo;s combativeness (and there probably wasn&rsquo;t), it was dispelled in training camp when the rookie left winger picked a fight with a teammate. Willi Plett.Plett, one of the NHL&rsquo;s most-accomplished boxers (he knocked down Dan Maloney last season), could manage only a slight advantage against Phillipoff. The two Atlanta Flames, both six-foot-three and over 210 pounds, slugged it out during a scrimmage.The altercation began, Plett said, when &ldquo;he elbowed me after I was holding him.&rdquo;Phillipoff had essentially the same version. &ldquo;Willi has a way of hanging onto you.&rdquo; he smiled. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t let me go. He was holding me and I was carrying him around for awhile, and I finally decided it was time to end it.&ldquo;I swung my arm around&mdash;gave him a elbow&mdash;and he came back with the stick.&rdquo;And the fight&mdash;a good one&mdash;ensued.&ldquo;Any time you have two guys that aggressive and big playing against each other,&rdquo; one Flame observed, &ldquo;something like this can happen They&rsquo;ll probably be the best of friends now that they got it over with.&rdquo;Even before he took on the NHL rookie of the year. Phillipoff had been attracting considerable notice in training camp. Not just for his physical manner of play, but also for his much improved skating and shooting skills.A first-round draft choice in 1976, he looked like something of a flop last year.He was slow and unsteady in training camp, and he was farmed out to Nova Scotia. He was there only a couple of weeks before separating a shoulder. He did not play for a month. Then he played sparingly for two weeks. Then he played poorly the rest of the year. The huge left winger scored just six goals and 22 points.By then, some important persons in the Flames&rsquo; organization were muttering, &ldquo;We may have blown it with that draft choice.&rdquo;That is no longer the feeling.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s improved, there&rsquo;s no question about it,&rdquo; Flames coach Fred Creighton observed after Phillipoff scored three points in the team&rsquo;s pre-season opener.&ldquo;He seems to be handling the puck better carrying it out of his end. His skating has improved a lot, and he seems to be getting his shots away quicker. He shot the puck hard last year, but he&#8210;Bill Clement, who has been playing on the same line as Phillipoff, said. &ldquo;I was impressed with him in camp last year. If there&rsquo;s any difference, he&rsquo;s controlling the puck better in the corners. He&rsquo;s very strong in the corners, very impressive along the boards.&ldquo;As soon as he learns to get his shot away quicker, he&rsquo;s going to be a really good scoring threat.&rdquo; Clement predicted.Phillipoff cites several factors in his apparent development in the off-season.&ldquo;For one thing, I&rsquo;m a year older. And I did take a course in skating school this year.&rdquo; He was taught by Laura Stramm, who has given skating lessons to the New York Islanders and also to another Flames rookie, Greg Fox.Phillipoff says he is in better condition this year because of a comprehensive summer conditioning program. It included racketball, weightlifting, a two-and-a-half-mile daily run and numerous sprints.Phillipoff likes to play at 220 pounds, but he says his weight fluctuates considerably. &ldquo;Sometimes, I&rsquo;ll got to a movie and eat a lot of popcorn&mdash;I like popcorn&mdash;and that will make me thirsty so I&rsquo;ll end up drinking a lot of water or beer, and the next day I&rsquo;ll be eight pounds heavier.&ldquo;But I can take it off in a hurry,&rdquo; he insists. &ldquo;I lost 12 pounds in 36 hours, once.&rdquo;Although Phillipoff was the most pleasant surprise of the Flames&rsquo; training camp, general manager Cliff Fletcher was not guaranteeing that he would play in the NHL this season. However, Flethcer has seen enough to be convinced that before long a place will have to be made for Phillipoff. who played his junior hockey for New Westminster.In his amateur days, Phillipoff said he often &ldquo;couldn&rsquo;t find people who wanted to fight.&rdquo;But with the Flames, he was finding no such problem.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04459/4043824-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg" title="f0008-04" width="574" height="700"><figcaption class="caption-body">Harold Phillopoff&hellip;Rookie Impresses</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Slugger Phillipoff Battles Teammates To Stay With Flames

<div class="byline">BY RICH PASSAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011044/4043869-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GOLF CHAMP: TV commentator Dick Irvin, left, accepts the Ken McKenzie Hockey News Trophy from publisher Ken McKenzie after Irvin shot a low gross 80 to win first place honors in the annual Hockey Night In Canada golf tournament at Montreal&rsquo;s Beaconsfield Golf Club. Irvin and other golfers will be featured in the November issue of Hockey Pictorial magazine. Look for it on your newsstands.</figcaption></div>CLEVELAND-Dave Gardner has been around hockey long enough to know the score.And the score for him this season is to produce or it will be bye-bye to professional hockey and the end of what was supposed to be a very successful career in the National Hockey League.The blond center iceman broke into pro hockey in 1972 after a brilliant career with the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey Association. He and linemates Steve Shutt and Billy Harris went early in the first round of the amateur draft.Gardner, unfortunately, was selected by the talent-laden Montreal Canadiens. Instant anonymity.Next came tours with the St. Louis Blues and California Seals with a modicum, quite literally, of success. Nothing spectacular.So when Gardner.s long-term contract with the Cleveland Barons (nee Seals) terminated, no great rush was made by general manager Harry Howell to ask the Toronto native back.Howell was banking on rookies Angie Moretto and Rick Shinske to step in and provide some depth at center ice behind Dennis Maruk and Wayne Merrick.Meanwhile, Gardner was offered around the NHL. No one apparently was interested. Maybe the asking price was too high. Maybe Dave&rsquo;s stock had sunk too low.Whatever, Howell surprised a few people a week before training camp at Kent State University by announcing he had obtained Gardner&rsquo;s signature on a one-year contract.Howell explained the Barons, indeed, needed some experience at center ice and at the right point on the power play and Gardner was the man to handle both jobs.It was hardly a ringing vote of confidence for Gardner, surprised at the turn of events. It more or less is serving notice to the pivot that he had better not squander the opportunity this time because there is no next year.And his play, at least in training camp, has shown considerable improvement. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing with some earnestness now,&rdquo; said coach Jack Evans. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing the way we expect him to.&ldquo;He realizes he&rsquo;s got to be at his best to make this team. He&rsquo;s playing with more authority, driving for the holes and making things happen.&rdquo;Gardner, meanwhile, has confidence in what he can do. It&rsquo;s the lack of confidence in the Cleveland brass that bothers him. &ldquo;I figure I did more for them than they thought I did,&rdquo; he said.The six-foot. 185-pounder has displayed a new aggressive style of play with linemates Fred Ahem and rookie Reg Kerr. He&rsquo;s using the body much more than he has in the past.Dave is not looking back over his shoulder. He knows what he has to do and is dedicated and smart enough to go out and do it.His success or failure could be a factor in how far the Barons go this season. The center position is one of the most critical on a hockey team and Cleveland needs one more good pivot.Thus far, the Gardner line has been the steadiest offensively and defensively for the Cleveland icers. Evans and Howell are holding their breath it will stay that way.BARONS&rsquo; BITS: The Barons displayed plenty of offense in their first three exhibition games, scoring 16 goals. The defense, however, relinquished 13, causing Evans some concern&hellip; Early surprises at camp were defensemen Owen Lloyd and Butch Baby and Reg Kerr, a red-haired left winger. Lloyd supplied much-needed body checking, while Baby unveiled a devastating shot from the right point. Kerr registered a hat trick (on three shots) in a 7-6 loss to St. Louis&hellip;Season ticket sales are &ldquo;a little over 2,000&rdquo; according to Barons&rsquo; president Peter Larsen.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-02892/4043862-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="571" height="988"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE GARDNER&hellip;Signs One-year Pact</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Gardner Getting ‘Last Chance’ At Cracking Cleveland Lineup

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011068/4043900-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"></div>Write to:FAN FORUM, The Hockey News, 1434 St. Catherine St., W., Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7<h2>Rangers, Red Wings Developing Them Properly</h2>The demise of the minor leagues of hockey has caused me great concern. Rising costs have caused the Western, Eastern and Southern leagues to fold and all of the others have seen their sizes shrink. Many of the major league teams have gone to sharing development clubs. Gone are the days of career minor leaguers like Bill Sweeney, Willie Marshall, Guyle Fielder and Fred Glover.The lack of minor league development clubs means that many junior players are stepping right into the major leagues and the lack of training results in scrambling undisciplines hockey at times.It is encouraging to see that the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings have decided to re-establish full farm systems. This will enable those clubs to have adequate player resources and will also allow them to develop a winning tradition (something the Montreal Canadiens have successfully done for years). I predict that both the Rangers and Red Wings will be playoff contenders within two years and Stanley Cup contenders within four years.LA. RUDDY, Brampton, Ont.<h2>Greg Neeld Acted Like Pro</h2>In 1975 a hockey player was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League was not allowed to play because he had only one eye. The player&mdash;Greg Neeld.I believe he should play because he is a very good hockey player. Last year when he played for the Erie Blades, he scored 21 goals and 43 assists&mdash;not bad for a player with one eye.I know because I was the stick boy for the Blades. Because of Greg&rsquo;s love and dedication to hockey he taught me that even handicapped Greg could play and act like the pro he is.CHRIS SEMENTELLI, Erie, Pa.<h2>Big Business Ignoring Paying Fans</h2>Once again big business ignores its obligations to the fan who made it successful.Since a contract could not be reached between Home Box Office Cable TV and Madison Square Garden Inc., thousands of Rangers and Knick fans will not be afforded the opportunity of viewing home games.Although another Cable TV company obtained the telecasting rights, these games will not be telecast in several areas which formerly did receive them.I hope all those fans affected by this &ldquo;fans be dammed&rdquo; attitude will make their feelings known to the Home Box Office and Madison Square Garden Inc.STEPHEN MCCLUSKEY, Hopewell Junction, N.Y.<h2>NHL Should Abolish Tie Games</h2>As a season ticket holder at Boston Garden, it costs us about $50 per game (tickets, parking, eating, etc.) to go 65 miles one way to see the Bruins play and at least one dozen of the games end in a T-I-E!!Why can&rsquo;t the National Hockey League adapt the rule to have sudden-death and get rid of those ridiculous no-count tie games. Maybe they should have three points for a win, no points for a loss and one point for a game which ends in a sickening tie.When I attend a game and pay good money I would like to see a winner!ALBERT PINSONNAULT, Fall River, Mass.<h2>Knows Why Rangers Haven&rsquo;t Won</h2>It is not difficult to see why the New York Rangers have not won a Stanley Cup for more than thirty-five years and probably will never again.I have suffered the fate of being a Ranger fan for the past twenty-seven years and am amazed at the coldness and inhumanity they show to their stars in their waning years. Now Rod Gilbert gets the same treatment dished out to such former stars as Ed Giacomin, Harry Howell and Andy Bathgate.Don&rsquo;t these men deserve a better fate than to find their name missing from a starting lineup or reading in the newspaper that they have been traded. You don&rsquo;t see class organizations like Montreal treating people like this.Rob Gilbert holds or shares 20 or more club records and they have no place for him in the organization&mdash;shame on the whole organization!!PHIL FOREMAN, Fredericton, N.B.<h2>Serge Savard Deserves More Credit</h2>I hope that this season will be the one in which Serge Savard finally receives the credit and recognition he deserves. This will be his 11th year with the Canadiens and he has been a standout since day one.He has never made the All Star team nor was he ever high in the balloting for the Norris Trophy. Sad to say he probably never will be selected because the so-called &ldquo;experts&rdquo; base their voting on how many goals and how many points a defenseman has. Defensive play is overlooked. Savard is not noticed as much as a Lapointe, Robinson or Potvin&mdash;in fact, he is almost completely ignored!True, his style isn&rsquo;t flamboyant, he doesn&rsquo;t make rink-length dashes up and down the ice. But he always does his job. quietly, inconspicuously. And in those tight situations when the pressure is on. Scotty Bowman wants his bit guy. Serge out there. If Canadiens have the best defense in the league. Serge Savard makes it so. He is the best of their &ldquo;Big Three.&rdquo;I would just like to thank this super hockey player (and super guy) for all the great memories he has given me over the years, especially last spring, the greatest thrill of all, right here in Boston. When he skated around the Garden ice with the Cup, it was not only his greatest moment in hockey but mine, too. I think I speak for all of his fans when I say we are truly proud of him. No matter what, he is an All Star to us.JEAN CARDILLO, Somerville, Mass.<h2>Islanders Newcomers Could Make Difference</h2>The New York Islanders had what must be considered as one of the best drafts in the NHL.Their first choice was Mike Bossy, who will fill the team&rsquo;s need for a high-scoring winger having averaged over 75 goals a year for four years with Laval of the Quebec Major Junior League where he challenged Guy Lafleur&rsquo;s goal-scoring record. He would have eclipsed it if not for injuries which caused him to miss several games.Their second selection, John Tonelli, has established himself in the WHA with Houston Aeros and should be free to sign with the Islanders because the Aeros missed some contract payments.The rest of the Islanders choices were designed primarily for the future, but were good picks nonetheless. Combined with the signing of world-class players Goran Hogasta and Stefan Persson from Sweden, this new influx of players could very well bring the Isles up to Montreal&rsquo;s level and bring the Stanley Cup to Long Island.GROVER DUCKWORTH JR., Uniondale, N.Y.<h2>Save Percentage Not Foolproof Idea</h2>Figuring the save percentage of a goaltender would be a better way to figure out the identity of the NHL&rsquo;s best goalie. However, this system would not be foolproof either, because there is such a wide variety of shots.One goalie could have 20 hard shots and another goalie could have 20 easy shots; yet they would still have the same save percentage. The only way such a system would be close to foolproof would be to set up a system of judging how hard or easy each shot is for a goalkeeper to handle. But I seriously doubt if an effective system of gauging each shot could be devised. Therefore the NHL should have no choice but to stick with its present system.CHARLIE PENFOLD, Richmond Hill, Ont.<h2>LETTER OF THE WEEK</h2><h3>Hockey Needs &lsquo;This Week&rsquo; Show</h3>I just watched a baseball game on television, followed by &ldquo;Joe Garrgiola&rsquo;s Baseball World&rdquo; and then Mel Allen&rsquo;s &ldquo;This Week in Baseball.&rdquo; As we watched these sbows, a remark was made that why doesn&rsquo;t hockey and the National Hockey League promote the same in their sport.This would be a good promotion scheme, especially in cities having attendance problems. For example have a show: &ldquo;This Week In Hockey,&rdquo; showing highlights of the past games, former stars, key plays, Stanley Cup action, films about the Hall of Fame, bringing the sport to many people who might never have a chance to see the above in person.Make it a regular feature after TV hockey games and it will surely not drive people away from attending the games.Why not have skits where rules would be explained for the people new to the sport, which would add to the viewers&rsquo; enjoyment.I also think that THE HOCKEY NEWS is one of the best sporting papers on newsstands today. Keep up the good work.ALLEN C. CAMPBELL, Peterborough, Ont. &#9632;

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FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02867/4043931-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB BERRY&hellip;Facing Difficult Decision</figcaption></div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Bob Berry has lost his battle to remain a member of the Los Angeles Kings. A veteran with the club for six full years before he spent part of last season in the minors. Berry reported to camp with the hopes of once more regaining his status as a regular in the Kings&rsquo; left side forward alignment.It was not to be. Berry was among the recent cuts of the Kings and must now decide whether to go back to the minors and try to work his way back up to the parent club or if his career as a hockey professional is over.Berry is 33. He got a late start in the big time and he doesn&rsquo;t want it to come to an early end. He played college hockey so he could get an education and then toured with the Canadian national team so he could see Europe. He didn&rsquo;t sign a contract to play professionally until he was 25. A Montreal boy, he didn&rsquo;t make the Montreal team and played two seasons in the minors until sold to L.A.He made the majors with the Kings in the fall of 1970 and became one of their more reliable players. In his first six&rsquo; seasons with them he missed only two games and scored 20 or more goals all but one season. He scored 36 goals five seasons back, but was beaten out for the team record at the time when Mike Corrigan scored 37. Berry, Corrigan, and Juha Widing as a line set a team record at the time with 89 goals. All finally fell into disfavor Corrigan was sent to Pittsburgh. Widing to Cleveland last season. Released, Widing recently signed with Edmonton of the WHA.Only Berry remained as preparations for the new season started. A clever shot-maker and opportunistic scorer, the rangy leftwinger never was a good skater and he has slowed, though he can still play.&ldquo;I feel I still can, hopefully here, but if not here, somewhere,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I know I&rsquo;m a fringe player now, but I&rsquo;ve skated and ran and worked very hard all summer to be in shape to give it a good shot. All I asked for was a chance and I was disappointed when I didn&rsquo;t play in the first couple of exhibition games.&rdquo; Now Berry is gone too.He did not play regularly last season, missed 11 games, and scored only 13 times. The crowd had begun to boo him and some were hollering uncomplimentary curses at him He admits, &ldquo;You hear them and you hate it, but since I&rsquo;ve been sitting high in the stands sometimes now I know that from that distance it doesn&rsquo;t always look like you are trying as hard as you can try. I do try and I resent insults in front of my family, who may be watching me, rooting for me.&rdquo;Berry is a fine family man He married the former Lynn Mirach in October of 1973 and they have a home in suburban southern California. She was married before with two daughters, Jina 14, and Cori, almost 10. Berry wanted to have a child, too, maybe a son, and they were shaken when she miscarried about two years ago. They worried throughout another pregnancy and were shaken again when she had to deliver by Caesarean section five weeks prematurely early last April.It was a difficult delivery and the baby, a boy, weighed less than four pounds. It was a couple of weeks before the mother felt all right and four or five weeks before the son was seen to be safe They went through hell for awhile and dad played in the playoffs under distracting personal pressures. Now, Bradley James Berry is thriving, his sisters adore him, and dad pulls his sons&rsquo;s picture proudly from his wallet.So it is back to hockey for Berry. As a catcher, he was offered a tryout in baseball&rsquo;s big leagues. As a receiver, he played a season in football&rsquo;s minor leagues. But he chose hockey for his future. He earned a degree in Liberal Arts and Psychology at Sir George Williams University, is well-read, and has toured the world. His wife has a real estate license and this summer he got one. But he says when he can&rsquo;t play anymore, he&rsquo;d still like to stay in his sport, possibly as a coach.He is an exceptionally personable, bright individual with considerable class. He has been a hero and now he has been made a villain. He has heard the cheers and now he has heard the boos. He has been happy in hockey, but he has been hurt in it, too. He knows there is more to life than hockey, but now he is hanging on, hoping for the best, wondering what will happen &ldquo;It is a hard way to live, but it happens sooner or later to most of us,&rdquo; he sighs.KINGS THINGS: Other forwards trying to make the team helped themselves when Lorne Stanler scored in a 3-3 tie with Minnesota in the first exhibition game and Steve Clippingdale and Jim Moxey scored three times each&mdash;the first such &ldquo;double&rdquo; in King history&mdash;in a 6-4 defeat of Colorado in the second. The first cruel cut sent forwards Paul Evans, Warren Holmes, Dan Bonar, Tom Goddard. Mike Flynn, and Randy Rudnyk; defensemen Lindsay Thomson, Dave Miglia and Jim Witherspoon, and goalers Mario Lessard and Brian Petrovek to Springfield. Mass., to try to make the AHL team there. &#9632;

f0010-02

Lost Roster Berth Puts Kings’ Berry In Real Quandary

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>DETROIT&mdash;Dale McCourt ruined the Red Wings&rsquo; strategy but coach Bobby Kromm wasn&rsquo;t too upset at the unrookie-like behavior.The Wings, you see. had planned this campaign to soft-sell their No. 1 amateur draft pick.&ldquo;Understand that McCourt will not be the salvation of this club.&rdquo; general manager Ted Lindsay said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s just one guy on the team.&rdquo;The campaign was junked early, however, after McCourt displayed his vast talents in the early exhibition games and left little doubt that he wasn&rsquo;t just another of the Wings&rsquo; first round draft flops&ldquo;We had hoped not to faze the kid.&rdquo; Kromm said. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t want to put any pressure on him. We wanted him to get his feet wet, learn his way around.&ldquo;But what the heck. He scored in each of the first three games and he&rsquo;s improved in every game. With every game he&rsquo;s doing things more naturally. I like him.&rdquo;In 1971, when the Wings drafted Marcel Dionne, the drum-beating started before he ever saw Detroit. The magazine articles&mdash;and there were many of them&mdash;hailed him as the &ldquo;next Gordie Howe&rdquo;. Things like that. Stories chronicled the young man&rsquo;s accomplishments almost from birth. The burden of such publicity was the last thing the Wings wanted McCourt to face.There is little doubt that McCourt is the Wings&rsquo; best young player since Dionne. McCourt&rsquo;s credentials are endless but those are in the past and the Wings, and McCourt, are only concerned with the future.&ldquo;So far I feel fine,&rdquo; McCourt said. &ldquo;That first game (an exhibition against Toronto) 1 felt a little uncomfortable but not anymore.&ldquo;Things are quicker here. The guys play their positions better and the goalies they play the angles really well Here, on a 2-on-1, the defenseman will take one guy and the goalie takes the shooter and really cuts down the angle. The faceoffs are quicker, too, and the guys are all stronger.&ldquo;With a couple of years experience. I hope to be able to play my game and do the things I&rsquo;d like to. I think experience is the biggest thing. You have to know what the defense is going to do and what your wingers are going to do.&rdquo;The Wings assigned McCourt sweater No. 10, although it had been retired in 1974 when Hall of Famer Alex Delvecchio hung up the skates after 23 seasons with the club.McCourt&rsquo;s attachment to the number began a long time ago when his uncle, George Armstrong, the former Toronto Maple Leaf star, wore it.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always tried to get it,&rdquo; McCourt said. &ldquo;I guess it started because of him (Armstrong). There was one year in midget hockey when I didn&rsquo;t get it&mdash;my brother had it.&ldquo;When I came to Detroit for his contract signing in the summer. I hadn&rsquo;t even thought about it. It wasn&rsquo;t until my brothers asked me that I began to wonder.&rdquo;Delvecchio has never really put much stock in things like retired numbers and the Wings had his blessing to give the no. 10 to the talented McCourt.MOTOR CITY SHORTS: The Wings had a tough start in the exhibition season but Kromm promised things were going to get better. Several of the Red Wing youngsters, like centers Rob Plumb and Roland Cloutier, both drafted very late, were quite impressive and threatened to earn regular jobs. Big defenseman John Hilworth, a fourth-round pick from Medicine Hat, almost had a spot with the big club clinched&hellip;Veteran defenseman Terry Harper was kept out of the early exhibitions so that the kids could get ample playing time&hellip;Reed Larson, out of the University of Minnesota, was the club&rsquo;s best defenseman in training camp and played well in the pre-season games &hellip;An exhibition at Olympia raised nearly $17,000 for amateur hockey in the Detroit area as the Wings turned half the gate receipts over.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011022/4043962-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="556" height="694"><figcaption class="caption-body">DALE McCOURT &hellip; Improving Every Game</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0011-01

McCourt Bringing Wings Pleasure

<div class="byline">Bill Fleischman&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011042/4043993-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="280" height="448"></div><h2>Rangers Rocked Early</h2>THE NEW YORK RANGERS were off to a typically distracting start.Here is a team that has squirmed through more than its share of turmoil the last few years, a team that finished last season hearing one of New York&rsquo;s finest fans snarl &ldquo;I hope you die, you bum&rdquo; at dazed goaltender John Davidson. Now the Rangers were being split apart by Rod Gilbert&rsquo;s dispute with management. And this was only pre-season. As the song says, life in the city can make you crazy.Gilbert wanted the Rangers to sign him for the remaining two option years of his contract. Shifting through all the angry charges and counter-charges, one quote jolted me like a Gilbert slapshot would.&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve screwed me enough already,&rdquo; the angry veteran told the New York Post.No one can argue that Gilbert has added class to the Rangers during his distinguished career. He is one of New York&rsquo;s most popular athletes and he deserves to be treated with respect. However, here is a man who has earned an estimated $200,000 per season since the Rangers&rsquo; cracked under the original WHA threat and opened the vault to players such as Gilbert, Brad Park, Vic Hadfield and Jean Ratelie. The money Gilbert has earned can buy a lot of life&rsquo;s necessities and luxuries, even in New York.Gilbert is now 36. He could slip from excellence to just another aging player overnight. It has happened to thousands of athletes Gilbert&rsquo;s age, and it will happen to thousands more.If you were in GM John Ferguson&rsquo;s position, managing Gulf and Western&rsquo;s hockey budget, would you agree to Gilbert&rsquo;s demand at this time? I know I&rsquo;d hesitate, as Ferguson did.We all know what has transpired since. Gilbert and Ferguson agreed to meet and talk it all over. The two came out of a meeting and Fergy announced Gilbert would be back with club. He didn&rsquo;t elaborate.<h2>Knows The Feeling</h2>ONE COLLEAGUE WHO KNOWS how Gilbert feels is Philadelphia&rsquo;s Gary Dornhoefer. Like Gilbert, Dornhoefer, also a right winger, has taken countless bruises and assorted broken bones for the Flyers for 10 years. With only the option year on his contract remaining, Dornhoefer spent last season worrying as his agent negotiated with Flyers&rsquo; GM Keith Allen. Dornhoefer&rsquo;s 25-34-59 statistics were far from Guy Lafleur&rsquo;s penthouse level, but &ldquo;Dorny&rdquo; finished as Philadelphia&rsquo;s No. 3 scorer. In other words, he kept producing while negotiations continued.Those talks continued into late summer before Dornhoefer finally signed a one-year deal with no option clause. He is also upset that his loyalty wasn&rsquo;t rewarded with more security, but he figures the aggravation wasn&rsquo;t worth extensive haggling.The Gilbert issue was the last thing Ferguson and coach Jean-Guy Talbot wanted as they attempt to instill the rebuilding Rangers with pride and harmony. With Gilbert threatening never to return to the Rangers, teammates were regretting the loss of a leader. Even though his selection as the 1976 Masterton Trophy winner was criticized by some, it&rsquo;s clear young Rangers like Don Murdoch respect Gilbert.<h2>Respect For Ferguson?</h2>HOW MUCH THE YOUNGER players respect Ferguson is questionable after Gilbert said others also have problems with the former enforcer, but they don&rsquo;t dare speak as freely as Gilbert has.What brought the Gilbert dispute into focus for some of us was the heart-warming performance of walk-on goalie Lindsay Middlebrook. That&rsquo;s right, the goalie with the Gump Worsley build and librarian&rsquo;s name had shut out the Flyers for more than 57 minutes at the Spectrum. He finally yielded two goals, but the Rangers won. 4-2, and afterward Ferguson was saying, &ldquo;He and (Ron) Duguay had been the highlights of our camp. I&rsquo;ll sign him (Middlebrook) right now&mdash;he doesn&rsquo;t have an agent.&rdquo;.Middlebrook would have gladly signed for 10 percent of Gilbert&rsquo;s wages. Meanwhile, Gilbert&rsquo;s teammates and other friends were happy Rod found satisfaction. Arguing over a contract was no way for one of New York&rsquo;s favorites to start his 17th season. &#9632;

f0012-01

HOCKEY WORLD

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02881/4044024-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">J. BOB KELLY&hellip; Will Protect Forwards</figcaption></div>CHICAGO&mdash;In areas where angels fear to tread, there may have been worse teams than the Chicago Black Hawks last season Maybe. But not many.The slot. The corners. The boards. Behind the net. Skaters from Chicago tended to skip those addresses for places with cooler climates.Little wonder that Bob Pulford, who believes that aggression is the better part of valor, made one of his first acts as general manager coach the acquisition of J. Bob (Battleship) Kelly, a free agent who decided that Pittsburgh isn&rsquo;t a bad place to visit, but you wouldn&rsquo;t want to play hockey there.&ldquo;Didn&rsquo;t like the situation with the Penguins.&rdquo; Kelly said, meaning that neither general manager Baz Bastien nor coach Ken Schinkel saw eye to eye with him.One can recall a game last season in Pittsburgh when the Black Hawks were getting their arrows bent handily, and the crowd was pleased about everything except the absence of Kelly. He was on the bench, at the very end. and no amount of exhortations by the crowd could convince Schinkel that he should exercise equal opportunity employment principles.Kelly, who had collected 25 and 27 goals in the two previous seasons as a Penguin, amassed only 10 last winter in parts of 74 games. Some very small parts.Kelly&rsquo;s attorney, R. Alan Eagleson, then commenced to beat the bushes for a new situation&mdash;much as Eagleson did for another prized client named Pulford It was too logical to pass up.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t wait to start the season under him,&rdquo; said Kelly, who will not only knock over a few people but will patrol a left wing where the Hawks are semi-thin.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t played under a coach like Pulford since the minors, when I was with Don Cherry in Rochester. Pulford has a system. You know what you&rsquo;re going to do, you know you&rsquo;ll have to work hard, and you go do it.&rdquo;Kelly, 31, appears to be an antidote to a glaring Hawks ill of past winters Here is a team with some shifty, if not sinewy forwards&mdash;i.e. Stan Mikita, Pit Martin. Put three of those types on one line, or even two, and what you have is a target for abuseAdd one part of Kelly to the mixture, and the chemistry of a line changes Perhaps if other clubs once thought that an well-timed elbow would derail a Mikita. they will now be braced for an elbow or three from Kelly. It&rsquo;s really elementary one-upmanship, a give-and-take so sadly lacking in Chicago these past winters.&ldquo;They have some tough people.&rdquo; an opposing player noted. &ldquo;But after a while, a tough guy looks in the mirror and says, If I&rsquo;m the only guy getting stitches, why should I keep it up?&rsquo; The more people you have willing to stand up. the better The less chance you have of being intimidated.&rdquo;And that is Kelly. He&rsquo;s not pretty. But he&rsquo;s pretty effective.HAWK TALK: Hawks were forced to demote hard-working Kirk Bowman, a young center who came from nowhere last season to score 10 goals in a part-time role Black Hawk Standbys Fan Club to hold their annual dinner-dance. Now. 10. The Hawks&rsquo; experiment with Swede Jan Asplund was brief and ineffective. He was sent back home after a week in training camp&hellip;Hawks appear destined for a new radio outlet. WCFL. It&rsquo;s a boomer, but not quite like the former station. WMAQ. which has a signal into 38 states and Canada. &#9632;

f0012-02

Return To System Hockey Pleases New Hawk Kelly

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Athletes rarely admit fear. It&rsquo;s not macho.Maybe that wasn&rsquo;t fear in Bernie Parent&rsquo;s blue eyes or in his expression as he sat watching an early Flyers&rsquo; exhibition outing, but it was at least genuine can-I-come-back&rsquo; concern.Parent only had practiced on training camp&rsquo;s opening day. The next day, he was visiting the team&rsquo;s physician for treatment of&mdash;are you ready?&mdash;gout. Not long ago, gout was thought to be a wealthy man&rsquo;s disease&mdash;too many rich foods and too much good living.With his lucrative Flyers&rsquo; contract, Parent can qualify as a rich man, but the truth is, any working man can wind up with gout. It&rsquo;s an arthritic-type condition that in Parent&rsquo;s case settled in his foot and leg. Fortunately, he only missed two days and was back practicing.However, the way Parent looked in scrimmages&mdash;tentative, slow reacting&mdash;was enough to put fear in the eyes of coach Fred Shero and GM Keith Allen. Even rookie goalies like Medicine Hat&rsquo;s Peter Peeters looked better than hockey&rsquo;s one-time premier goalie.Wayne Stephenson and rapidly improving Rick St. Croix played in the first exhibitions. Finally, as the Flyers prepared to move on from Portland, Me., to New York for another pre-season stop. Shero announced Parent would face the Rangers.&ldquo;Enough of this bull&mdash;he&rsquo;s got to get playing,&rdquo; Shero said.That sigh of relief you heard was from Allen, Shero, Ed Snider and everyone who is rooting for Parent to re-discover the magic of the Flyers&rsquo; Stanley Cup years. Parent and the Flyers beat the Rangers. Two nights later, the summer time &ldquo;Admiral&rdquo; played half a game and allowed only one goal. He was especially brilliant during a five-minute shorthanded predicament.Is Bernie back? We won&rsquo;t know until the December-January snows are upon us, but the outlook is favorable. One reason, of course, is Jacques Plante&rsquo;s presence. Parent has complete trust in the all-time great goalie&rsquo;s judgement. Another reason is contact lenses.Parent insists vision wasn&rsquo;t one of his problems last season as he struggled to return from neck surgery.&ldquo;I only noticed during our workouts before camp that I was having trouble seeing the long shots,&rdquo; the 32-year-old goaltender said.Wearing the soft lenses for the first time against the Rangers, Parent stopped 37 of 39 shots, including a perfect 18-for-18 in the first period.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t here when they were winning the Cups,&rdquo; said an admiring Paul Holmgren, &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s hard to believe Bernie could have been much better.&rdquo;&ldquo;It was just like three years ago,&rdquo; said defenseman Joe Watson who was around to watch Parent&rsquo;s marvelous goaltending.Perhaps the biggest criticism of Parent during the pre-season was a tendency to react like a mechanical man. You could almost see him clicking off the reminders he has received from his tutor&mdash;good balance, cover the angles, stay up, control the rebounds&hellip;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011001/4044069-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="559" height="586"><figcaption class="caption-body">WAYNE STEPHENSON</figcaption></div>Plante&rsquo;s emphasis is on a good start for his protege.&ldquo;Training camp is where the season is at,&rdquo; said Plante. &ldquo;If you start the season well, things will go smoothly.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02820/4044062-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="1171" height="1512"><figcaption class="caption-body">BERNIE PARENT&hellip; Correcting Little Problems</figcaption></div>Echoing Plante, Parent added. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s nothing major wrong&mdash;it&rsquo;s all little things. But if you start with a lot of bad little habits, they only get worse.&rdquo;Parent&rsquo;s nosedive in the playoffs&mdash;consecutive series-opening losses to Toronto at the Spectrum, then the confidence-shattering overtime goal by Boston&rsquo;s Rick Middleton&mdash;have clouded an otherwise solid, if inconsistent, season. He and Wayne Stephenson (2.31, 12-3-2 record) combined to give the Flyers the NHL&rsquo;s third best defense (2.66 average) Parent compiled a 2.71 mark and 35-13-12 record. Most goalies would sell their masks to the devil for such a season.Parent&rsquo;s problem&mdash;and the Flyers&rsquo;&mdash;is Philadelphia fans are spoiled. They&rsquo;re accustomed now to winning. After two seasons without the Cup. the customers could turn nasty if the trend continues.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03706/4044055-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="558" height="709"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOE WATSON&hellip;Says Bernie&rsquo;s Back</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0013-01

Parent Flashes Old Form In Warm-Up Games

<div class="byline">BY LARRY BORTSTEIN</div>DENVER&mdash;Michel Plasse, who remembers the constant bombardments he faced in the Colorado Rockies&rsquo; nets last season, looked over at two of the new Rockies and smiled. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s good to have the size back there,&rdquo; Plasse said.If anything, the veteran goalkeeper perhaps understates the case. The objects of his affection are Barry Beck, six-foot-three and 216-pounds, and Mark Suzor. six-foot-one, 212, the two most noteworthy additions to the Colorado defense this year.Only a couple pre-season exhibition games were needed to see the impact the two blueline rookies should have on the Rockies&rsquo; fortunes in their second National Hockey League season. Both big men can move, can skate, can handle the puck, and can dish out bruising checks. Alter one intrasquad scrimmage, Plasse said. &ldquo;They can take the forwards out a lot better with their size, and that&rsquo;s what we didn&rsquo;t have last year.&rdquo;With Tom Edur nursing strained knee ligaments and missing most of the early pre-season action, Beck was being teamed with John Van Boxmeer, who seemed fully recovered from his injuries of a year ago, and Suzor was working with second-year pro Mike Kitchen, to form two combinations of offensive and defensive strength.Van Boxmeer was controlling his powerful shot better than in the past, keeping it low instead of spraying it wildly, as has been his custom. And with Beck playing back to cover, John was able to move up ice to play the offensive style he favors.Kitchen is the defensive half of the Kitchen-Suzor combination. Suzor owns one of the most powerful shots in the business, and pumped home 24 goals for Springfield last year. But his size makes up for Kitchen&rsquo;s smallish stature, even though neither man shies away from contact. In fact. pound-for-pound. Kitchen, &lsquo;he Rockies&rsquo; third-round draft choice in 1976-77, is the most combative of Colorado&rsquo;s rearguards.There&rsquo;s no question that the Rockies are banking heavily on Beck and Suzor to make a major difference.Beck, of course, faces the pressure of living up to his press notices. As the key man in New Westminster&rsquo;s run to the Memorial Cup last spring, he emerged as the most outstanding defenseman in junior hockey and one of the prizes in the amateur draft. The experts of HOCKEY PICTORIAL think Barry will be the outstanding freshman player in the NHL this season.Suzor was deemed expendable by the Flyers, who made him their first round draft choice in the summer of 1976, when Kevin McCarthy was brought in from Winnipeg this year. The Rockies dealt off Barry Dean, who never lived up to expectations, for Mark, and he won&rsquo;t face the same difficulties in cracking Colorado&rsquo;s lineup that he faced back East.Although both rookies figure to make significant contributions, in particular Beck is being regarded as something of a savior. Except the big youngster, who looks and acts older than his 20-years. prefers not to look at it that way.&ldquo;No, I don&rsquo;t want to have people think I can make a difference all by myself.&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just a rookie, and it&rsquo;s the other guys on this club who&rsquo;ll help this team improve more than I will. We have a lot of young guys who&rsquo;ve been in the league a while, and as they get better, the team will get better.&rdquo;Beck says that his first exposure to the NHL proved &ldquo;Pretty much as I expected. I knew it would be hard work, and I came prepared for that. Up here you have to move the puck a lot faster than in juniors. You don&rsquo;t have the time to wait here. I have to work on my timing.&rdquo;After a couple days of light-headedness cuased by Denver&rsquo;s mile-high altitude. Barry says he felt he was making real headway. He and his defensemate. Van Boxmeer. were becoming close comrades off the ice. and Beck took an apartment in the same complex where &ldquo;Boxy&rdquo; lives.Pat Kelly, the new Rockies&rsquo; coach, while not ready to concede Beck the Calder Trophy or his club a spot in the playoffs, admitted he was &ldquo;pleased&rdquo; with the way his team prepared for the regular season. &ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ve come along pretty well,&rdquo; he said &ldquo;We&rsquo;re ready to go out and play hockey, and we don&rsquo;t think we ll be embarrassed.&rdquo;A couple of big, young defensemen will have a lot to say about that.ICE PEBBLES: It was ironic that Edur should suffer the first injury of the Rockies&rsquo; pre-season. Tom was the only Rockies&rsquo; player to appear in all 80 games on the schedule last season&hellip; Joe Contini, who like Dale McCourt. Detroit&rsquo;s first pick in the NHL draft, was a center at St. Catharines last season, was impressive as a scorer and checker in the Rockies&rsquo; camp. He was the eighth-round pick by Colorado in the draft, and 126th player chosen overall.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011023/4044124-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="553" height="1015"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARKSUZOR &hellip;Traded From Philly</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0014-01

Rookies Give Blueline Size

<div class="byline">BY DAN DONOVAN</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;Although Jacques Cossette says, &ldquo;I better not talk about last year,&rdquo; the steam in his eyes tells you it pained him.Cossette reported out of shape to last year&rsquo;s Penguin training camp, and was hurriedly shipped off to the American Hockey League three days later. He suffered the ignominy of being the only farmhand the injury-plagued Penguins didn&rsquo;t recall last season.Cossette admits he came into camp overweight, but doesn&rsquo;t think the Penguins should have dismissed him so quickly.&ldquo;In a week, I lose 10 pounds,&rdquo; he says.Cossette took his wrath out on the AHL, where he scored 38 goals and was the All Star right-winger.&ldquo;I was sick for three weeks.&rdquo; Cossette says. &ldquo;If I don&rsquo;t get sick, I think I score 50 goals.&rdquo;Determined not to let physical shape decide his fate this training camp. Cossette ran and rode the stationary bicycle all summer. He reported at the weight prescribed and started strong with five goals in the first four exhibition games.Two of Cossette&rsquo;s goals were flukey&mdash;one was a pass from behind the net that hit the goaltender and went in, and another a dump-in backhander that a goaltender misjudged. But Penguin coach Johnny Wilson liked the way Cossette was working.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02847/4044155-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="573" height="528"><figcaption class="caption-body">JACQUES COSSETTE&hellip;Will He Make It?</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Cossette works hard at getting himself into scoring position.&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s why he&rsquo;s getting his goals.&rdquo;Cossette is not a fluid goal-scorer, and knows with goal-scorers like Jean Pronovost and Rick Kehoe on the right side, the Penguins aren&rsquo;t primarily interested in his point production.&ldquo;I have to play like I did in junior hockey,&rdquo; Cossette said. &ldquo;Not fighting, but playing rough, that&rsquo;s my style.&rdquo;The whole Penguin team looked rougher in training camp this year, standing up to tough challenges from Detroit, Washington and Cleveland. Last season, the Penguins picked up only 110 minutes in penalties through 10 exhibition games and had no fighting majors. This year they had eight majors and 180 minutes through their first four games.The Penguins were, just as importantly. 3-1 after those four games.PENGUIN NOTES: Penguin defenseman Mario Faubert was having an excellent camp until sidelined for about eight weeks with knee surgery. Doctors also operated on left wing Wayne Bianchin to correct a disc problem in his lower back. Bianchin is also expected to be out six weeks.When the Penguins lost their affiliate in Rhode Island of the AHL. they quickly moved to add another one in Binghamton.The Penguins sent three promising young players to Dayton of the International Hockey League, center Al Hillier, center Kim Davis and left wing Stu Younger.Penguin fans were initially pleased with the enthusiastic play of left wing Brian Spencer, obtained from Buffalo for former captain Ron Schock. &#9632;

f0014-02

Penguins’ Cossette Rated Good Chance To Crack Lineup

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div>TORONTO&mdash;Two years ago, Ron Ellis felt that the pressures of being a major league hockey player were too much for him to handleAt 29 years of age. he walked away from a $125,000 per season contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, took a job as manager of a golf course and recreation complex for a Toronto builder and assumed a normal lifestyle.Late this September, Ellis returned to Maple Leafs, an important boost for the Leafs and their new coach Roger Neilson. Ellis will add two-way strength on right wing, a spot where talent wasn&rsquo;t exactly falling off the Toronto team&rsquo;s bench.It&rsquo;s an important break for us. &ldquo; said Leaf captain Darryl Sittier. Ellis is a solid player and a top-notch individual. His defensive ability alone makes him a big asset in what Neilson is trying to accomplish. But he also can score a few goals (276 in 11 seasons).&rdquo;The first indication of an Ellis comeback came when he joined Team Canada 77 for the world tournament in Vienna in April. Ellis worked on his own to gain conditioning and was one of the best players for the Canadian team.&ldquo;At the time, I was interested only in playing some International hockey because it was confined to a short period of time.&rdquo; Ellis said.&ldquo;I left hockey because of the pressures, the outside pressures of being a Maple Leaf which I found difficult to handle. I quit for my sake and my family&rsquo;s. I just wanted to spend more time with them.&ldquo;But after Vienna, when I felt I had played well, I re-assessed my position. I&rsquo;ve always loved the game and I took a new look at things. &ldquo;I felt that if I could straighten out a few things with my employers, and Jim Gregory (Leaf general manager) made a few concessions in that area. I would try a comeback.&rdquo;But Ellis, who thought a long time about getting out. thought a long time about getting back in. He had several meetings with Gregory during the summer and, when Leafs were in the second week of their training camp, he made his decision.&ldquo;I feel I can be ready for the season&rsquo;s opener,&rdquo; Ellis said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to rush things and get hurt.&rdquo;&ldquo;We realize that to be a contender we have to tighten things up defensively,&rdquo; Neilson said. &ldquo;A player with Ellis&rsquo; defensive capabilities is welcome to any team.&rdquo;NOTES: Two rookie defensemen&mdash;Trevor Johanson from Toronto Marlboros and Kevin Campbell from St. Lawrence University&mdash;appeared certain to open the season with the Leafs&hellip;Mike Palmateer appeared to have the edge to the No. 1 goaltending job. He surrendered only one goal in his first 90 minutes of pre-season play&hellip;Jimmy Jones, who played at Rochester last season, was making a determined bid for a Leaf berth as a penalty-killer.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01984/4044186-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="541" height="688"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON ELLIS&hellip;Noted For Defensive Abilities</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0015-01

Ellis Decides He’s Ready To Return

<div class="byline">BY MIKE DENNIS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01829/4044217-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">REJEAN HOULE&hellip; Ready To Play Anywhere (Photo by Stove Babineau)</figcaption></div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTDArnold Street. Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTDArnold Street. Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaMONTREAL&mdash;Let it never be said that Scotty Bowman of the Montreal Canadiens stood still with a pat hand. He&rsquo;s always out to get the best out of every member of the Canadiens squad from the starting line-up through to the fellows who man the press box at various times during the season.So in spite of the fact that the Canadiens are defending Stanley Cup champions for the second year in a row, it is not unusual to see Bowman employ numerous assortment of forward and defense combinations, even at the tail end of the exhibition season when teams are &ldquo;supposed&rdquo; to be worrying about getting their lineups set.Of course Bowman has the luxury of icing the most talented crew in the National Hockey League, and he has the added advantage of calling upon an array of players, many of whom are skilled at more than one position.The Canadiens lost Jimmy Roberts, a player versatile enough to start at either right wing or defense, but he&rsquo;s replaced by Rick Chartraw, who shows signs of having the same adaptability. Need a penalty killed? Why not move Serge Savard up to a forward spot to check the opposition. Want some size on the wings? Take defensemen Larry Robinson or Pierre Bouchard and drop them into the forward line.Or how about interchangeable forwards? Jacques Lemaire can play center or wing as can Peter Mahovlich, Guy Lafleur and Rejean Houle.In fact, it was Houle, who wound up at center for Canadiens&rsquo; pre-season meeting at the Forum against the Philadelphia Flyers, a game won easily by the Habs, 62.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care where I play,&rdquo; said Houle who returned to Montreal last year after three years with Quebec Nordiques in the World Hockey Association where he averaged nearly 40 goals a season, &ldquo;as long as he (Bowman) has the confidence to use me. I just want to be on the ice.&rdquo;Houle came out for his first shift in the Philly game centering for Murray Wilson and captain Yvan Cournoyer, the third of four lines used by Bowman throughout the night.&ldquo;In practice I&rsquo;ve been playing the right side as well as my usual left wing spot, too.&rdquo; explained Houle, &ldquo;now I&rsquo;m a center.&rdquo;&ldquo;The line was formed this morning,&rdquo; said Wilson who scored a goal when sent away on a long lead pass by new linemate Cournoyer, &ldquo;it will take awhile to play together, but it looks like a good line.&rdquo;Bowman conceded that he was satisfied with the performance of the new Wilson-Houle-Cournoyer formation and did admit that there was a good possibility that the unit would open the season.&ldquo;But it&rsquo;s a long schedule&mdash;80 games to go&mdash;and there will be a lot of changes,&rdquo; Bowman promised. He added, &ldquo;I also want to take a look at (Pierre) Mondou and Mahovlich at center before the season starts.&rdquo;Getting back to the Houle line, the newly designated center, after whom the line is named, showed that defense is still a priority for him when he talked about the new forward grouping.&ldquo;Sure we&rsquo;re all fast, you have to be,&rdquo; Rejean remarked, &ldquo;but you have to skate in control out there. You just can&rsquo;t go rushing up the ice looking for goals or we&rsquo;ll all get caught. We have to get used to each other.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d say that 30 goals is my goal for this year, same as last,&rdquo; Houle said. &ldquo;Last year I got to 22 and then got hurt (separated shoulder) so I&rsquo;ll have my fingers crossed for this time around.&rdquo;So will some of the players trying to break into the Canadiens line-up. such as Mahovlich and Mondou. Mahovlich, of course, recently signed a multi-year contract, but after a pretty fast start in training camp, big Peter has not impressed Bowman of late.Mondou, the top center with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs last year will remain with the club even if he doesn&rsquo;t play regularly because he, along with defensemen Gilles Lupien and Brian Engblom will be the team&rsquo;s three protected players for the intra-league draft. Pat Hughes, a right winger was Montreal&rsquo;s latest cut to Nova Scotia, but he can&rsquo;t be drafted since he has less than two years of pro experience.FORUM REBOUNDS: Guy Lafleur who had just two goals in Montreal&rsquo;s first seven pre-season games, netted a pair against the Flyers&rsquo; Bernie Parent, both of them beauties&hellip;Goalie Michel Larocque went all the way against the Flyers allowing two goals, one on a screened shot by Barry Dean&hellip;Lafleur was honored before the game with the presentation of the Lester B. Pearson Trophy voted on by the NHL players. Former winner Bobby Clarke of the Flyers presented the award&hellip;Canadiens finished the game with their Punch-Out line featuring Gilles Lupien (six-foot-six), Yvon Lambert (six-foot-two), and Rick Chartraw (six-foot-two) at forwards, backed up by Bill Nyrop (six-foot-two) and Pierre Bouchard (six-foot-two). &ldquo;I wanted to give them ice time,&rdquo; said coach Bowman. &#9632;

f0016-01

Bowman Still Juggling Canadiens On Ice

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01720/4044279-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="221" height="210"></div><h2>ATLANTA FLAMES</h2>Goal, Dan Bouchard, Phil Myre.Defense, Greg Fox, Barry Gibbs, Ed Kea, Richard Mulhern, Pat Ribble, Dave Shand.Forwards, Curt Bennett, Guy Chouinard, Bill Clement, Rey Comeau, Tim Ecclestone, John Gould, Ken Houston, Tom Lvsiak, Harold Phillipoff, Willi Plett, Bob Simpson, Eric Vail, Bobby Lalonde.<h2>BOSTON BRUINS</h2>Goal, Gerry Cheevers, Gilles Gilbert, Ron Grahame.Defense, Gary Doak, Darryl Edestrand, Doug Halward, Ray Maluta, Mike Milbury, Brad Park, Al Sims, Rick Smith.Forwards, Earl Anderson, John Bucyk, Wayne Cashman, Dave Forbes, Dwight Foster, Matti Hagman, Stan Jonathan, Don Marcotte, Peter McNab, Rick Middleton, Bob Miller, Terry O&rsquo;Reilly, Jean Ratelle, Bobby Schmautz, Gregg Sheppard, John Wensink.<h2>BUFFALO SABRES</h2>Goal, Gerry Desjardins, Don Edwards, Robert Sauve.Defense, Ken Breitenbach, Lee Fogolin, Jocelyn Guevremont, Bill Hajt, Jerry Korab, Jim Schoenfeld.Forwards, Danny Gare, Joe Kowal, Jim Lorentz, Don Luce, Gary McAdam, Richard Martin, Terry Martin, Gilbert Perreault, Craig Ramsay, Jacques Richard, Rene Robert, Andre Savard, Ron Schock, Ric Seiling, Derek Smith, Fred Stanfield, Alex Tidey.<h2>CHICAGO BLACK HAWKS</h2>Goal, Tony Esposito, Mike Veisor.Defense, Randy Holt, Dave Logan, Keith Magnuson, Bob Murray, Mike O&rsquo;Connell, Phil Russell, Dale Tallon, Doug Wilson.Forwards, Ivan Boldirev, J.P. Bordeleau, Alain Daigle, Jim Harrison, Dennis Hull, Bob Kelly, Cliff Koroll, John Marks, Pit Martin, Stan Mikita, Grant Mulvey, Pierre Plante, Darcy Rota.<h2>CLEVELAND BARONS</h2>Goal, Gary Edwards, Gilles Meloche.Defense, John Baby, Mike Christie, Bjorn Johansson, Jim Neilson, Greg Smith, Bob Stewart.Forwards, Fred Ahern, Daniel Chicoine, Mike Crombeen, Mike Fidler, Bob Girard, Rick Hampton, Reg Kerr, Ralph Klassen, Al MacAdam, Kris Manery, Dennis Maruk, Jim McCabe, Wayne Merrick, Bob Murdoch, Gary Sabourin, Paul Tantardini.<h2>COLORADO ROCKIES</h2>Goal, Doug Favell, Bill McKenzie, Michel Plasse.Defense, Barry Beck, Tom Edur, Mike Kitchen, Bryan Lefley, Roger Lemelin, Jim McElmury, John Van Boxmeer, Mark Suzor.Forwards, Ron Andruff, Chuck Arnason, Gary Croteau, Ron Delorme, Denis Dupere, Paul Gardner, Dave Hudson, Rick Jodzio, Wilf Paiement, Nelson Pyatt, Larry Skinner, Andy Spruce.<h2>DETROIT RED WINGS</h2>Goal, Ed Giacomin, Ron Low, Jim Rutherford.Defense, Al Cameron, Steve Durbano, Larry Giroux, Jean Hamel, Dave Hanson, Terry Harper, Greg Joly, Reed Larson, Perry Miller, Jim Nahrgang.Forwards, Michel Bergeron, Mike Bloom, Rick Bowness, Danny Grant, Danny Gruen, Dennis Hextail, Dave Kelly, J.P. Leblanc, Nick Libett, Bill Lochead, Dan Maloney, Dale McCourt, Al McDonough, Dennis Poionich, Bob Ritchie.<h2>LOS ANGELES KINGS</h2>Goal, Garry Simmons, Rogie Vachon.Defense, Larry Brown, Dave Hutchison, Sheldon Kannegiesser, Neil Komadoski, Randy Manery, Bob Murdoch, Gary Sargent.Forwards, Gene Carr, Marcel Dionne, Glenn Goldup, Ernie Hicke, Butch Goring, Don Kozak, Jim Moxey, Mike Murphy, Dave Schultz, Lorne Stamler, Dave Tavlor, Vic Venasky, Russ Walker, Tom Williams, Rick Wilson.<h2>MINNESOTA NORTH STARS</h2>Goal, Paul Harrison, Peter LoPresti.Defense, Fred Barrett, Nick Beverley, Jerry Engele, Doug Hicks, Brad Maxwell, Lou Nanne, Dennis O&rsquo;Brien, Tom Reid.Forwards, Kent-Erik Andersson, Per-Olov Brasar, Roland Eriksson, Bill Fairbairn, Bill Hogaboam, Pierre Jarry, Steve Jensen, Alex Pirus, Jim Roberts, Glen Sharpley, Dean Talafous, Tom Youghans, Tim Young.<h2>MONTREAL CANADIENS</h2>Goal, Ken Dryden, Michel Larocque.Defense, Pierre Bouchard, Rick Chartraw, Brian Engblom, Guy Lapointe, Gilles Lupien, Bill Nyrop, Larry Robinson, Serge Savard.Forwards, Yvan Cournoyer, Bob Gainey, Rejean Houle, Doug Jarvis, Guy Lafleur, Yvon Lambert, Jacques Lemaire, Pete Mahovlich, Pierre Mondou, Doug Risebrough, Steve Shutt, Mario Tremblay, Murray Wilson.<h2>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</h2>Goal, Goran Hogasta, Chico Resch, Billy Smith.Defense, Gerry Hart, Dave Lewis, Bert Marshall, Stefan Persson, Denis Potvin, Jean Potvin, Pat Price.Forwards, Mike Bossy, Bob Bourne, Jude Drouin, Clark Gillies, Lome Henning, Garry Howatt, Mike Kaszycki, Bob Nystrom, J.P. Parise, Dave Salvian, Andre St. Laurent, Bryan Trottier, Ed Westfall.<h2>NEW YORK RANGERS</h2>Goal, Hardy Aastrom, John Davidson, Lindsay Middlebrook.Defense, Don Awrey, Dave Farrish, Ron Greschner, Dave Maloney, Mario Marois, Mike McEwen, Larry Sacharuk, Carol Vadnais.Forwards, Lucien Deblois, Wayne Dillon, Ron Duguay, Phil Esposito, Nick Fotiu, Rod Gilbert, Bill Goldsworthy, Pat Hickey, Ken Hodge, Greg Holst, Ed Johnstone, Mike Keating, Don Murdoch, Dan Newman, Greg Polis, Walt Tkaczuk, Steve Vickers.<h2>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</h2>Goal, Bernie Parent, Wayne Stephenson.Defense, Tom Bladon, Bob Dailey, Andre Dupont, Rick Lapointe, Kevin McCarthy, Jim Watson, Joe Watson.Forwards, Bill Barber, Harvey Bennett, Mel Bridgman, Bobby Clarke, Barry Dean, Gary Dornhoefer, Paul Holmgren, Bob Kelly, Orest Kindrachuk, Reg Leach, Ross Lonsberry, Rick MacLeish, Don Saleski.<h2>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</h2>Goal, Denis Herron, Gordon Laxton, Dune Wilson.Defense, Russ Anderson, Dave Burrows, Colin Campbell, Mario Faubert, Dennis Owchar, Bob Paradise, Tom Price, Ron Stackhouse.Forwards, Syl Apps, Wayne Bianchin, Tom Cassidy, Blair Chapman, Mike Corrigan, Jacques Cossette, Jim Hamilton, Rick Kehoe, Pierre Larouche, Lowell MacDonald, Greg Malone, Jean Pronovost, Brian Spencer.<h2>ST. LOUIS BLUES</h2>Goal, Yves Belanger, Ed &lsquo;Johnston, Ed Staniowski.Defense, Bruce Affleck, Jack Brownschilde, Len Frig, Bob Hess, Jamie Masters, Dick Redmond, Jim Roberts, Rod Seiling.Forwards, Red Berenson, Rick Bourbonnais, Jerry Butler, Bernie Federko, Claude Larose, Bob MacMillan, Larry Patey, John Smrke, Brian Sutter, Garry Unger.<h2>TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</h2>Goal, Gord McRae, Mike Palmateer, Wayne Thomas.Defense, Randy Carlyle, Brian Glennie, Trevor Johansen, Jim McKenny, Bob Neely, Borje Salming, Ian Turnbull.Forwards, Don Ashby, Bruce Boudreau, Pat Boutette, Ron Ellis, George Ferguson, Inge Hammarstrom, Jimmy Jones, Lanny McDonald, Darryl Sittier, Errol Thompson, Jack Valiquette, Kurt Walker, Dave Williams.<h2>VANCOUVER CANUCKS</h2>Goal, Cesare Maniago, Curt Ridley.Defense, Larry Carriere, Larry Goodenough, John Grisdale, Dennis Kearns, Bob Manno, Jack Mcllhargey, Harold Snepsts.Forwards, Rick Blight, Brad Gassoff, Jere Gillis, Hilliard Graves, Don Lever, Garry Monahan, Chris Oddleifson, Gerry O&rsquo;Flaherty, Ron Sedlbauer, Dennis Ververgaert, Mike Walton.<h2>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</h2>Goal, Dale Rideout, Garry Smith, Bernie Wolfe.Defense, Rick Green, Yvon Labre, Jack Lynch, Robert Picard, Pete Scamurra, Gord Smith, Bryan Watson.Forwards, Garnet Bailey, Rick Bragnaio, Nelson Burton, Guy Charron, Bill Collins, Doug Gibson, Ron Lalonde, Mark Lofthouse, Mike Marson, Walt McKechnie, Gerry Meehan, Hartland Monahan, Craig Patrick, Bill Riley, Bob Sirois, Blair Stewart, Tony White. &#9632;

f0017-01

National League’s Starting Team Rosters

<h2>OCTOBER</h2>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 Vancouver &#9632;

Where NHL Teams 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 2Fri. Sept. 30Boston 5, Buffalo 2Minnesota 8, Colorado 4Toronto 4, Detroit 4Los 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 2Mont. Oct. 3Montreal 4, Toronto 2Islanders 5, Rangers 1Edmonton (WHA) 3, St. Louis 2Tue. Oct. 4Los Angeles 2, Vancouver 2Rangers 6, Islanders 3New England (WHA) 5, Atlanta 4Wed. Oct. 5Boston 5, Rangers 1Buffalo 3, Toronto 1Detroit 5, Cleveland 2Minnesota 3, Colorado 1Los Angeles 5, Vancouver 5Montreal 6, Philadelphia 2Atlanta 5. Houston (WHA) 3Winnipeg (WHA) 6, St. Louis 2Thu. Oct. 6Philadelphia 6, Boston 2Cincinnati (WHA) 4, Washington 2Winnipeg (WHA) 3, St. Louis 0Toronto 4, Nova Scotia (AHL) 2Fri. Oct. 7Islanders 3, Atlanta 3Montreal 2, Boston 2Los Angeles 5, Colorado 3Minnesota 5, Detroit 4New England (WHA) 9, Pittsburgh 0St. Louis 4, Birmingham (WHA) 0Sat. Oct. 8Boston 3, Montreal 3Philadelphia 6, Buffalo 3St. Louis 7, Chicago 5Cleveland 5. Salt Lake (CHL) 3Vancouver 6, Colorado 4Edmonton (WHA) 5, Detroit 4Los Angeles 4, Minnesota 2Rangers 5, Quebec (WHA) 5Washington 4, Pittsburgh 2Atlanta 1, Islanders 1Sun. Oct. 9Philadelphia 1, Buffalo 1Toronto 4, Chicago 4Winnipeg (WHA) 1, Detroit 0New England (WHA) 4, Atlanta 3<h2>GAMES TO COME</h2>Mon. Oct. 10Rangers at New Haven (AHL)Tue. Oct. 11Washington at Hershey (AHL) &#9632;

Exhibition Scoreboard

(Standings on Mon. Oct. 10)<h2>NORRIS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02591/4044410-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="535" height="210"></div><h2>ADAMS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03444/4044403-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="531" height="178"></div><h2>PATRICK DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04318/4044396-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="533" height="176"></div><h2>SMYTHE DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05235/4044389-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="535" height="212"></div> &#9632;

f0018-02

Exhibition Standings

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01737/4044358-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK MacLEISH&hellip; Two-Goal Game For Flyers</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;Boston Bruins were the exhibitionseason champions with 14 points, while the Los Angeles Kings were the only unbeaten team in the league as the National Hockey League concluded a 90-game preseason schedule, the most ever by the league.The Bruins closed out their exhibition campaign with one win and two ties in the final four games to finish the preseason with a mark of five wins, one loss and four ties. Two of the ties came in the final tune-up matches, 2-2 in Boston and 3-3 in Montreal against the defending Stanley Cup champion Canadiens.Their fifth win came against the Rangers, 5-1 as Jean Ratelle led the way for the Bruins with two goals, with singles by Johnny Bucyk, Terry O&rsquo;Reilly and Gregg Sheppard. The Bruins&rsquo; only setback on the campaign came in a fight-filled contest in Philadelphia where the Flyers, paced by a Reggie Leach hat trick, downed Boston 6-2. Former WHA goaler Ron Grahame turned in a great job for Boston in holding the Canadiens to a 2-2 tie in Boston, while late goals by Don Marcotte and Rick Middleton enabled the Bruins to salvage a 3-3 tie in the Montreal Forum.Los Angeles finished with a record of 50-3 for the pre-season period with a pair of ties against Vancouver Canucks, 2-2 and 5-5, and a 5-3 victory over Colorado Rockies and a 4-2 decision against Minnesota North Stars.In the second tie with Vancouver, Marcel Dionne and Butch Goring each counted twice for the Kings, while Goring opened the scoring against the North Stars while Dave Schultz, rookie Lorne Stamler and Larry Brown also found the range.Montreal ended the pre-season schedule unbeaten in its last six games, including 4-2 and 6-2 wins over Toronto Maple Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers last week. Guy Lafleur netted two goals in the Canadiens&rsquo; home-ice triumph over Philadelphia to tie for the club goal scoring lead with Jacques Lemair at four. Lafleur also picked up seven assists.Pittsburgh tumbled from its lofty 4-1 position with a pair of losses last week, 90 at the hands of the New England Whalers, and 4-2 to the Washington Capitals as Ace Bailey and Gerry Meehan each produced a goal and an assist to pace the Caps.In the Smythe Division, St. Louis Blues and Minnesota North Stars tied for top honors with 10 points each in eight games. The Blues won their final two starts, 4-0 against Birmingham of the WHA and 7-5 over the Chicago Black Hawks. The shutout win against Birmingham ended a three-game losing streak for the Blues against WHA opposition as Edmonton and Winnipeg (twice) had defeated them.Three goals by Bob MacMillan and a pair by Claude Larose were instrumental in helping the Blues to their win against Chicago, which left the club with a 5-3 record. Minnesota, meanwhile, received a three-goal effort by Tim Young in a 3-1 win against Colorado Rockies and also edged Detroit 5-4 before dropping their final game 4-2 to Minnesota to finish at 42-2.Another close division finish was in the Patrick Division where the Flyers captured 11 points in 10 starts with a 4-3-3 mark, while the New York Islanders were second at 3-4-3 for nine points, followed by the Rangers at 3-5-1 and Atlanta at 2-4-2.Rick MacLeish scored twice and added two assists for the Flyers as they downed Buffalo Sabres, 6-3. Gary Dornhoefer also had a pair in that game, while the same two clubs closed out their exhibition seasons with a 1-1 tie.The Islanders finished with two ties with Atlanta, 3-3 and 1-1, following a split with cross-town rivals Rangers which saw the Isles win the first game 5-1 before bowing 6-3 in the return match. Phil Esposito had a pair of goals for the Rangers, while a goal by Greg Holst snapped a 3-3 tie. Bud Stefanski. Ron Duguay and Pat Hickey had the other Rangers&rsquo; goals, with Jude Drouin. Denis Potvin and Bill Harris replying for the Islanders. Espo and Ken Hodge also scored third-period markers to give the Rangers a 5-5 tie with Quebec Nordiques. their only other point in four games last week.Vancouver Canucks were the only other team to conclude their final week of play without a loss as they gained two ties and a win in the last three starts Don Lever, the Canucks&rsquo; newly-named captain. was the key performer for the club with one goal in the two ties against Los Angeles Kings and a third-period goal in the Canucks&rsquo; 6-4 triumph over the Colorado Rockies Gary Monahan and Brad Gassoff also contributed to the Vancouver third-period attack with goals. &#9632;

f0018-01

Bruins NHL Exhibition Champs

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01706/4044448-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROD GILBERT&hellip; Doesn&rsquo;t Care About Fines</figcaption></div>NEW YORK&mdash;A clash of personalities, an affair which seemed on the verge of getting vicious, has been subdued as 16-year National Hockey League veteran Rod Gilbert has returned to the Rangers after a 16-day walkout and will attempt a reconciliation with general manager John Ferguson.Gilbert, not satisfied with his status with the club for the coming season after 16 years of service, walked out on the team&rsquo;s Long Beach, Long Island training camp when he learned that he would not be dressed for an exhibition game.&ldquo;I was in shape, ready to play. &ldquo; explained Gilbert at the time, &ldquo;but if they don&rsquo;t want to use me &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll go play for a team that will.&rdquo;Ferguson said that the incident stemmed from the club&rsquo;s refusal to extend Gilbert&rsquo;s contract for two years beyond the present season. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s now 36. He is signed for the season but he wants me to pick up his contract for two more years. I want him to earn it on the ice.&rdquo; said Ferguson. Then he added &ldquo;I think the real problem is that we have six right wingers.&rdquo;That unwieldy number of starboard forwards put Gilbert in such a position where his spot on the roster was more or less assured while the Rangers wanted to get a good look at the newcomers.Slighted but not being named to the starting line-up, Gilbert asked Ferguson to extend his contract for two more years and when the GM refused, Gilbert left camp.&ldquo;I wanted to be part of this team finally winning a Stanley Cup, but I can&rsquo;t play in a situation like this,&rdquo; said Gilbert.At the worst point all communications between the two were closed. Gilbert had gone home saying he would play for someone else and the Rangers were firm in their resolution that the player was the one at fault.Trade rumors abounded, disparaties between the personalities of the hard-driving Ferguson, the former enforcer for several Montreal Stanley Cup teams, and Gilbert, the man-about-town Mr. Nice Guy were brought up. and several players went to the aid of Gilbert, including Bernie Parent of the Flyers who called the Rangers an organization without class.Detroit Red Wings called to say they were interested in the right winger, while clubs such as St. Louis, Atlanta and Montreal were mentioned as possible destinations for Gilbert. One-for-one swaps were formulated with the Blues said willing to part with 30-year-old Garry Unger, and Atlanta reportedly considering offering Tom Lysiak.Former teammate and close friend Jean Ratelle of the Boston Bruins remarked. &ldquo;I have two years left on my contract. I don&rsquo;t see why Rod can&rsquo;t get something worked out on his. He would help the Bruins if he came here.&rdquo;But all the speculation was for nought when Ferguson and Gilbert finally got together for a two-hour meeting at Madison Square Garden.&ldquo;The air is now clear,&rdquo; said Gilbert. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been fined heavily, ($250 per day) but I don&rsquo;t care about that. I&rsquo;ll start skating right away and the coach (JeanGuy Talbot) will tell me when to play.&ldquo;I told John I&rsquo;m not sorry, because it&rsquo;s too late for that, but I guess we&rsquo;ve both been hard on each other,&rdquo; Gilbert stated.Ferguson replied that he&rsquo;d probably have done something worse if he had been in Gilbert&rsquo;s position.With all the furor over the Gilbert situation, the Rangers goaltending problems were never more evident than in their opening pre-season game at Madison Square Garden when the Flyers beat them 5-2. John Davidson fanned on an 85 footer from center ice by Mike Korney, and Hardy Aastrom didn&rsquo;t protect the post and allowed a Ross Lonsberry shot to squeeze by him as a result. Once more New York outshot an opponent and lost. The tally on shots was 39-28, with Bernie Parent easily decisioning his two opponents.BLUE CHIPS: Don Murdoch got seven shots in the Flyers game at MSG, scored a goal and seemed fit as far as his ankle is concerned Ron Greschner took one turn at center in the Philly contest, but played his regular shift on the blue line otherwise&hellip; Gilbert did well until he played his 1.000 NHL game last year in December, then tailed off to finish with 27-48-75.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02573/4044441-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="1177" height="1240"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN FERGUSON&hellip; Will Not Renegotiate Contract</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0019-01

Gilbert Ends 10-Day Walkout, Rejoins Rangers

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02392/4044479-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">RED BERENSON&hellip;WIII Carry &ldquo;C&rdquo; For Third Time</figcaption></div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;It is a time of mixed loyalties in the camp of the St. Louis Blues, what with Red Berenson being named captain for the third time, with the departure of a few familiar faces to the minors and with the retirement of a team jersey, number 3 worn by the late Bob Gassoff.Gordon &ldquo;Red&rdquo; Berenson assumed his accustomed role as team captain midway through the Blues&rsquo; training camp, taking over from Garry Unger, under the direct command of Leo Boivin, himself a repeat performer at the coaching post.Berenson first became Blues&rsquo; captain in the 1970-71 season but he held the title less than a year as he was traded to Detroit. He returned in 1974-75 and the following year was named captain again before giving way to Unger for the 197677 season. Now he&rsquo;s been reinstated.The Blues are just about down to their starting unit to open the regular season with goalies Ed Staniowski, Yves Belanger and their tutor Eddie Johnston set to go.Extensive dealings have formed a new defense corps for the Blues headed by veterans Jimmy Roberts, Rod Seiling, Dick Redmond and Len Frig. They&rsquo;ll be joining Bob Hess and Bruce Affleck from last year, while Jamie Masters and Jack Brownschidle battle to remain with the club.On the forward lines youngsters John Smrke, Brian Sutter, Bernie Federko and Rick Bourbonnais appear to be in the most precarious positions as they try to crack an experienced line-up headed by Berenson, Unger, Claude Larose and Jerry Butler, to make a few.Among the surprises was left winger Floyd Thomson&rsquo;s shipment to the Salt Lake City farm club, along with defenseman Joe Zanussi who came over from Detroit late last year and goaltender Doug Grant, who has been up and down with the Blues the past few years. Thomson had spent the last five years with St. Louis.Forward Dave Hrechkosy was recently released from a Winnipeg hospital and will be assigned later as will Mitch Babin, who is undergoing medical examination in this city.Then, just before the Blues broke camp, the team was stunned by the announcement by Chuck Lefley that he was retiring from hockey. The 27-year-old center said he was tired of the NHL grind and wanted to work on his farm near Winnipeg, insteadThe retirement of Gassoff&rsquo;s jersey, now on display in the lobby of the St. Louis Arena lobby, was a precedent for the St. Louis organization.Gassoff was killed in a traffic accident last May, less than six weeks after his 24th birthday and just as his career was blossoming in the National Hockey League.The ceremony in which his sweater number was retired was a moving tribute to the tough defenseman. The ceremony was before the first Bob Gassoff Memorial Game, an exhibition contest with the Atlanta Flames. Proceeds from the game went to St. Louis Children&rsquo;s Hospital, which Gassof often visited. On the ice for the ceremony, in addition to the Blues and Flames, were several hundred young amateur hockey players.Gassoff loved children and at the time of his death eagerly was awaiting the birth of his own first child. Robert Gassoff Jr. was born about three months after his father&rsquo;s death.Gassoff&rsquo;s wife, Diane, and little Bob Jr. accepted several gifts during the pregame ceremony and received a warm reception from the St. Louis fans.The fans, coming in large numbers to honor Gassoff, had their first look at the arena improvements being made under new ownership.Ralston Purina Co., the newest owner in the NHL, is plunging into its venture with great corporate enthusiasm.The company said in July it intended to buy the Blues as a way of keeping the team in St. Louis after the previous owner, the Salomon family, no longer was interested in having the team. Under the arrangement announced by Ralston in July the arena would have been owned by Cousins Corp, of Atlanta, which held a $5.4 million mortgage on the building with the old owners.However, by the time the sale of the team was closed on the last day of September, Ralston had decided also to buy the arena, which it has renamed the Checkerdome in honor of the company&rsquo;s checkerboard trademark.R. Hal Dean, board chairman of the company, said, &ldquo;As we moved further into this matter, we thought it was to the advantage of everyone to guarantee a long-term home for the Blues. We are committed to keeping the Blues in St. Louis beyond a five-year lease.&rdquo;Dean said his company, which is the world&rsquo;s largest feed producer, does not have expertise in running an arena and, therefore, would lease the building to a new firm called Dome Associates Inc., formed by Sportsystems Inc, of Buffalo and Food Service Management Inc., of St. Louis. The Blues will lease 40 nights for hockey from Dome Associates, which will try to keep the building busy the other nights.Ray Rozanski, vice president of corporate development of Sportsystems, said about 110 nights are booked for events in addition to the Blues&rsquo; games over the next year.The price for the team and the building was $8.8 million, and another $500,000 is being spent for building improvements. About $200,000 is for repairs and painting, and about $300,000 is for extensive improvements in the sound system and acoustics. The most noticeable change is the installation of draped acoustical material to cover the huge wooden vaulted ceiling. The Arena was considered an engineering marvel when it was built in 1929 without posts to support the ceiling.Estimates are being solicited for airconditioning the building, which generally is closed during the summer. Rozanski said the air-conditioning appears to be contingent on use of the building about 50 nights during the summer to make the off-season operation profitable. Rozanski said one possible combination would be 20 dates for a professional tennis team and 30 nights occupied by musical groups or other entertainment. &#9632;

f0020-02

Berenson To Again Captain Reorganized Blues

<div class="byline">BY RUSS WHITE</div>WASHINGTON&mdash;Mike Marson has been reborn as a Washington Capital, taking a cut in pay in order to relieve much of the pressure he carried when signed as a $105,000-a-year bonus baby four years ago.At 22, Marson doesn&rsquo;t draw the same pay but is eager to earn each new dollar on his performance in 1977-78.An excellent training camp at Hershey. Pa., enabled Marson to move up to the National Hockey League level as a leftwinger with the Capitals.&ldquo;Id like to forget what happened before.&rdquo; Marson said as he prepared for the new season. &ldquo;I made mistakes that I&rsquo;ve paid for and I&rsquo;m not going to make them again.&rdquo;A visit to London, Ont., where the Capitals trained four years ago certainly made Marson think back to how his life began with the Capitals.&ldquo;We went back to play a pre-season game at the London Gardens.&rdquo; Marson said, &ldquo;and we checked into the same motel where the team stayed my rookie year. It&rsquo;s funny what I saw there at the motel. It seemed as though the number 222 was written all over the place.&rdquo;That number, 222, was what did Marson in before.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t my room number.&rdquo; he said, remembering back to his debut, &ldquo;it was my weight. I was nothing but a balloon. I had lived a little too well the summer I signed my big contract and it all showed at training camp.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t blame the Capitals one bit for being as put out at me as they were then.&rdquo; he said.To prove that he was now willing to sacrifice, Marson not only agreed to a cut in salary this year but he reported to training camp at 195 pounds. He&rsquo;s stayed right there, losing pounds at times, as he skates his way back into a major league job.A couple of years floundering in the minor leagues helped Marson regain his values and start thinking the way coach Tom McVie demands each of his players to think the Capitals system.I&rsquo;m trying to do what they want, not what I want,&rdquo; Marson said. &ldquo;Instead of rushing end to end without much idea of what the other guys were doing. I&rsquo;m playing McVie&rsquo;s system.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s important that I pick up my man and play him and worry about what happens next later.&rdquo;The Caps like Marson&rsquo;s courage and willingness to go into a corner to get the puck.&ldquo;The guy isn&rsquo;t afraid of anybody,&rdquo; said general manager Max McNab, &ldquo;he&rsquo;s got courage, which is something you can&rsquo;t teach a player. A player either has it or he doesn&rsquo;t.&ldquo;We feel that Mike can acquire the other skills that a player must have to stay in the NHL,&rdquo; McNab said. &ldquo;He has shown us that he wants to be with the team.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01390/4044548-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="562" height="718"><figcaption class="caption-body">MAX McNAB&hellip;Likes His Courage</figcaption></div>Marson doesn&rsquo;t feel that his being black had anything to do with the earlier difficulties he had at adjusting to NHL life. &ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t think that had anything to do with what I did,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;The big drawbacks,&rdquo; Marson said, &ldquo;were my age&mdash;remember I was only 18, an under-age player who probably should have stayed one more year in juniors. And, the big salary. The other guys resented what I was making, thinking I had to prove myself before pulling in that much loot.&ldquo;Some of it was wrong, jealousy from fringe players trying to hold on to their jobs but some of it was to be expected. I think that&rsquo;s all behind me now.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s amazing what happened in just four years,&rdquo; Marson said. &ldquo;I believe I&rsquo;ve matured, that I&rsquo;ve learned from it all. I&rsquo;m starting all over this year but I&rsquo;ve got something out of the hard knocks, too.&rdquo;NOTES: Center Guy Charron, last year&rsquo;s leading scorer for the Capitals, has recovered from a left knee injury, and is skating with the team again&hellip;After the tug-of-war with the Quebec Nordiques and the World Hockey Association, the Caps have first draft pick Robert Picard and love everything he has done&hellip;Early talk is that Picard is going to be rookie of the year in the NHL this season. His first game as a Capital was against Gordie Howe and the WHA&rsquo;s New England Whalers&hellip;New Cap Walter McKechnie had two goals against his old team, the Red Wings, on pre-season test.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02258/4044541-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="559" height="682"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE MARSON&hellip;Thinks He&rsquo;s Matured</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0021-01

Marson Intent On Making Caps

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE WARRINER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01427/4044586-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE KEON&hellip; Experienced Whaler Forward (Photo by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTDArnold Street. Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTDArnold Street. Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaHARTFORD&mdash;Something new has been added to the New England Whalers. In their first few pre-season exhibition games the Whalers have displayed a heretofore uncharacteristic. well-rounded offensive attackAlthough only scoring five goals in their first two pre-season outings (2-2 tie with Chicago, and 3-2 victory over Washington Caps) the scoring was distributed among 13 players. In the third game, an overwhelming 7-4 triumph over the New York Rangers, the goal scoring was shared by seven different Whalers while 15 players garnered at least a point. Needless to say. Civic Center fans are delighted with the 1977-78 edition of their favorites and they&rsquo;re especially pleased with their success against NHL opposition.Things have gone from famine to feast with the power-play potential. Last year coach Harry Neale had considerable difficulty putting together a fivesome that would be consistent in that department. So far this year he&rsquo;s used several combinations that have been able to move the puck well&mdash;and end up with a goal, too.One power play had five forwards on the ice. At the points were Gordie Howe and son. Mark. Neale was obviously relying on Mark&rsquo;s experience as a defenseman last year with Houston to bail out the Whalers if things went awry. Another combination had 70 years of experience on the forward line along&mdash;Dave Keon, John McKenzie, and Gordie Howe. Indeed the potential is there and for a change. Neal has the luxury of being able to take his time before settling on his most effective combination in the manadvantage situation.The Keon-Mike Antonovich-McKenzie line is intact and has been working well. Greg Carrol, the 20-year-old who came over from Cincy during the off-season, has looked good between Mark and Gordie Howe. He no doubt learns a great deal from hockey&rsquo;s elder statesman as they sit together on the bench between shifts.Last year&rsquo;s big scoring line of Mike Rogers. George Lyle and Tom Webster has been split up&mdash;at least temporarily&mdash;with big Jack Carlson taking Webster&rsquo;s place on the right side. Tom is working with Larry Pleau at left wing and either Steve Carlson or Andre Peloffy (last year&rsquo;s AHL scoring leader) at center. The shift hasn&rsquo;t affected Webster too much since he leads the scoring parade in the early going. With all four lines moving the puck well, Neale&rsquo;s plans to operate basically with three lines may have to be altered.Back at the blueline it appears that Rick Ley, Gord Roberts, Marty Howe, and Brad Selwood have a lock on the first four spots with a scramble on between Bill Butters and Alan Hangsleben for the fifth spot. Bryan Maxwell, who reported to camp 25 pounds lighter than he was at mid-season last year with Cincinnati, apparently has to lose a few more pounds. He was sent down to Springfield (AHL) because he was &ldquo;several pounds overweight and out of shape.&rdquo; Also sent down were rookie defenseman John Glynne and forward Danny Bolduc.General manager Jack Kelley acknowledged recently that the Whalers miss Thommy Abrahamsson, who elected to stay in Sweden this season. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s under contract and we invited him to camp but there&rsquo;s not much more we can do now,&rdquo; said Kelley. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s up to him. If I thought he wanted to come back I&rsquo;d jump on a plane and go over to see him. Actually, the kind of skater he is, he could take three of four turns around the rink and be ready to go,&rdquo; Kelley theorized. There&rsquo;s not much doubt the Swede is in shape. He&rsquo;s been playing for the Leksand team for several weeks&mdash;long before his former mates began training camp.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02331/4044579-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="499" height="733"><figcaption class="caption-body">GREG CARROLL&hellip;On Howe Line</figcaption></div>In the goaltending department the battle among Cap Raeder, Al Smith, and Louie Levasseur goes on, with no one yet ready to declare which two will stick. Neale has tried to give each an equal amount of ice time so far in pre-season games. At this point the only clue seems to be Springfield coach Gary Dineen&rsquo;s expectation that Raeder will be playing for his club at the start.Jim Mayer, young right winger picked up from Calgary during the off-season was impressive in his pre-season debut against the Capitals&hellip;Notoriously a slow starter, Rogers was pleased with his first pre-season goal in his pro career&mdash;a power play effort versus Washington&hellip;After his team&rsquo;s early success against NHLers Chicago, Washington, and Rangers, Neale said &ldquo;It looks like it&rsquo;ll be an enjoyable season&rdquo;&hellip;QUEBEC: The Nordiques four-game exhibition season found them entertaining the Bulls from Birmingham in three consecutive games, followed by an encounter with the NHL New York Rangers at the Colisee. The home folks got a chance to see only one of the Birmingham games though as the games of Oct. 2 and Oct. 6 were played in Sherbrooke and Cornwall respectively.The defending Avco Trophy champions open the 1977-78 season rather abruptly. They are scheduled to play on three successive nights&mdash;Oct. 13. 14 and 15. Travelling to Winnipeg for the Jets&rsquo; home opener, the Nords hop over to Edmonton the next night. Then they bring the Oilers back for the Saturday night home opener at the Colisee.There were to be two new faces among defense corps candidates at training camp this year. Rookie Robert Picard has since found his way back to the NHL&rsquo;s Washington Capitals. Larry Johnston, erstwhile player coach of the Maine Nordiques of the now defunct North American Hockey League, decided to take a shot at making it in &ldquo;the Bigs&rdquo; again. It doesn&rsquo;t seem likely he&rsquo;ll be able to break into the lineup.The Nordiques blueline crew had the fourth best goals against average in the WHA last season. The question is&mdash;&ldquo;Can the Nordiques&rsquo; tremendous offensive talent once again offset some of the limitations the defense corps may have?Jim Dorey, sometimes maligned for his offensive forays and lack of attention to defensive responsibilities, still managed to lead all defensemen in the plus-minus stats. As a matter of fact, aside from Real Cloutier, Dorey was among the team leaders in that department.In Paul Baxter and Wally Weir there is plenty of aggressiveness to confront invading forwards. (Baxter and Weir each had over 200 minutes in penalties last year.) Francois Lacombe and Jean Bernier are steady and. of course, veteran J.C. Tremblay is hoping to come back as strong as ever.Perhaps the key to improvement lies in the youngster who came over from Phoenix near the end of last season. Only 22-years of age. Gary Lariviere showed some promise last year. Maybe he ll take someone&rsquo;s job away.The best solution to any goals-against problem may be provided by newly acquired netminder Don &ldquo;Smokey&rdquo; McLeod. If not, that curved stick of his will make the offense even more potent, anyway. Those quick lead passes to the Speedy Nordique forwards should be worth a few goals for the Quebecers. &#9632;

f0022-01

Whalers Get Offensive Boost, Neale Delighted By Power Play

If it&rsquo;s one thing that the New England Whalers need the most, it&rsquo;s probably speedy forwards. So when Mike Antonovich came to the club last year, New England made sure they found a spot for him in their line-up.Antonovich helped key a pair of Whaler victories late in the exhibition season recently as he scored in two shutout triumphs by New England. He found the range in an 8-0 verdict against the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League, and then scored two goals as the Whalers blasted Pittsburgh of the NHL, 9-0.The goals were part of a six-goal first period outburst by the Whalers that buried the Penguins before they ever got started.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03272/4044617-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="520" height="624"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE ANTONOVICH&hellip;New England Whalers</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0022-03

WHA’S… Player of the Week

<div class="byline">BY GREG NOBLE</div>CINCINNATI&mdash;New Stingers coach Jacques Demers thinks he can succeed where his predecessor, Terry Slater, did not.Demers, whose Indianapolis Racers teams were successful by playing his defensive-minded style of hockey, is confident that he can convince the offensive-minded. free-wheeling Stingers to play his system.Based on whether he can&rsquo;t or can, the Stingers could finish anywhere from fifth place this year to, well, first.&ldquo;This team has as much individual talent as any in the league,&rdquo; says Demers. &ldquo;The key will be-in playing the system and playing together as a team.&rdquo;The Stingers are an explosive scoring team with the likes of Richie Leduc (52 goals last season), Blaine Stoughton (52), Robbie Ftorek (46), Dennis Sobchuk (44), Rick Dudley (41), Del Hall (38) and Claude Larose (30).For the first-time the tean has a toprate goaltender in Ernie Wakely. But the defense is young and vulnerable.Demers&rsquo; problem will be to cut down on the goals-against. The Stingers allowed 303 goals last year, not many less than they scored. In order to accomplish that, the players will have to be more disciplined and more aware of their responsibilities on defense. That&rsquo;s what Demers&rsquo; system is all about.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a simple system,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;You play your position in the zone and no matter where ou are on the ice you always think defensively. I always say if you clear up your own zone, the rest will take care ofTeaching the system in training camp was a slow process. But the players seemed to be responding well to the new style of play.&ldquo;Playing the new system was maybe hard at first, but now we&rsquo;re getting it together,&rdquo; Leduc said toward the end of the Stingers&rsquo; European tour. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re sticking in our own end until we get complete control of the puck and we re coming out together. We&rsquo;re finding we still have plenty of chances to score.&rdquo;Demers credited the players&rsquo; progress in learning the system for the Stingers&rsquo; victories in their final two games overseas. &ldquo;The system really started to come through in those last two games,&rdquo; he said.BIRMINGHAM: Veteran star Frank Mahovlich, trying to bounce back from knee surgery last winter, had to be held out of contact work early in training camp but coach Glen Sonmor was hopeful that he&rsquo;d be in the lineup for the opening game.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s skating and working very hard. We&rsquo;re very pleased,&rdquo; Sonmor said. &ldquo;Unfortunately, he had a setback during the summer. We&rsquo;d hoped he&rsquo;d be 100 percent for training camp. Our target now is the opening game, but we&rsquo;re not nailed down to that. He&rsquo;s too valuable a commodity to be rushing things. We&rsquo;re just looking forward to having him&rdquo;Mahovlich was injured after only 17 games last year and missed the rest of the season.The Bulls, playing a busy exhibition schedule, split their first four games. After being shut out by Atlanta 3-0 and Quebec 5-0, the Bulls defeated Quebec 3-1 and Indianapolis 4-2. Newcomer Tony Cassolato had two goals. Wayne Wood stopped the Nordiques on one goal. The game against Atlanta at Birmingham drew almost 12,000 fans.The Bulls sent goaltender Eddie Mio and forward Danny Arndt to Hampton in the American League.INDIANAPOLIS: As is his custom. Pat Stapleton missed the first two weeks of training camp. A Racers official said the club had made him a final contract offer two weeks earlier and hadn&rsquo;t heard from him. But one indication that the veteran defenseman would return for another season was the fact that his children were attending school in Indianapolis. Stapleton was thought to be at his farm in Sudbury, Ont., harvesting the crops.Coach Ron Ingram, not a believer in playing exhibition games in training camp, scheduled only one. His club lost to Birmingham, 4-2. Dale Smedsmo and Dave Fortier scored the Racers&rsquo; goals.The Racers released veteran forward Bob Liddington and assigned forward Bill Prentice to the American League club at Hampton.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01401/4044648-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="562" height="964"><figcaption class="caption-body">FRANK MAHOVLICH &hellip; Making Slow Return</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0023-01

Cincy Concerned With Defense, Players Enjoy Positional Game

Thu. Sept. 8Winnipeg 4, Sundsvall 1Fri. Sept. 9Winnipeg 7, Skellefta 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) 4Minnestoa (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 0Mon. Oct. 3Edmonton 3, St. Louis (NHL) 2Birmingham 3, Quebec 1Tue. Oct. 4New England 5, Atlanta (NHL) 4Birmingham 4, Indianapolis 2Wed. Oct. 5Atlanta (NHL) 5, Houston 3Winnipeg 6, St. Louis (NHL) 2Birmingham 5, Quebec 4Thu. Oct. 8New England 8, Springfield (AHL) 0Cincinnati 4, Winnipeg 3Fri. Oct. 7New England 9, Pittsburgh (NHL) 0St. Louis (NHL) 4, Birmingham 0Chicoutimi (QMHL) 9, Quebec 8Sat. Oct. 8Rangers (NHL) 5, Quebec 5Edmonton 5, Detroit (NHL) 4Sun. Oct. 9New England 4, Atlanta (NHL) 3Winnipeg 1, Detroit (NHL) 0<h2>EXHIBITION STANDINGS</h2><h3>Against NHL Teams</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01415/4044686-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="532" height="241"></div><h3>OVERALL RECORD</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02325/4044679-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="534" height="238"></div> &#9632;

f0024-01

<h2>OCTOBER</h2>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 &#9632;

Where WHA Teams Play

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03231/4044741-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ANDERS HEDBERG&hellip; Helped Jets Beat Blues</figcaption></div>HARTFORD&mdash;Thoughts that the World Hockey Association would not have been able to hold its own with the National Hockey League had there been a merger between the two leagues looked a little premature if the results of the interlocking exhibition games between the two hold any water.Nineteen games were contested by WHA clubs abainst the NHL and the younger league came through on top, posting 12 wins, against five losses, while two games ended in ties.The most successful clubs, New England Whalers and Winnipeg Jets, were the ones that scheduled the highest number of games. New England went up against NHL clubs on seven occasions, coming back with five victories, one loss and a tie. while Winnipeg enjoyed a mark of four victories against one defeat in its five meetings with the established league.Other clubs participating in interleague play were Edmonton Oilers and Birmingham Bulls, who each played two games, and Cincinnati Stingers, Quebec Nordiques and Houston Aeros who played one NHL opponent.New England scored victories against the Atlanta Flames (two), the New York Rangers, Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins, the latter a 9-0 blitz. They also tied Chicago, 2-2, in their first game against the NHL. and suffered their only loss to the Boston Bruins, 5-0. The Whalers scored 32 goals against the NHL while allowing just 22, a difference of 10 which was reflected in the final standings between the two leagues, with the WHA outscoring their opponents. 67-57.Marty Howe scored in overtime to give the Whalers their first victory over the NHL with Washington as the victims, while Greg Carroll paced the New Englanders in a 5-4 victory over Atlanta with two goals. Singles were added by Mark Howe. Tom Webster and Alan Hangsleben, before the Flames made it close with two late scores.Winnipeg split its home-and-home series with the Minnesota North Stars, losing 2-1 in Winnipeg before upending the North Stars in Bloomington, 4-3. Next they blasted St. Louis Blues, 6-2 as Bobby Hull, Anders Hedberg, Kim Clackson, Ulf Nilsson, Kent Nilsson and Dan Labraaten all found the range, with Red Berenson and Jamie Masters scoring for the Blues.A rematch against the Blues found the Jets on the winning end of a 3-0 score and the final exhibition match had Winnipeg slipping past Detroit 1-0. In compiling their 4-1 mark, the Jets outscored their NHL adversaries by 15-10.Another club with a winning mark against the NHL was Edmonton Oilers, who nipped St. Louis 3-2 and got by Detroit 5-4 on the strength of four power play goals. The latter game was played before 10,902 at the Edmonton Coliseum.Cincinnati Stingers were also winners in their only game against a National Hockey League club. They defeated Washington Capitals 4-2.Quebec Nordiques settled for a 5-5 tie with the Rangers in their only match-up, while Indianapolis, which has only played one exhibition game all pre-season was the sole WHA squad not scheduled to play against the NHL.The only club to have trouble with the NHL was the Birmingham Bulls, who strangely enough, shut out the Avco-Cup defenders Quebec Nordiques recently 30. The Bulls, however, did not fare well at all against the NHL, failing to score in two games. Atlanta (3-0) and St. Louis (40) each handled the Bulls.One other inter-league match saw Houston beaten by the Atlanta Flames, 53.Boston Bruins were the only NHL team to have a winning record against the WHA as they won their only start. Minnesota (1-1) and Atlanta (2-2) were .500 as was Chicago (0-0-1) who tied the Whalers. Washington and Detroit each finished at 0-2, while St. Louis suffered the most losses, three, while winning just one game.In games between two WHA opponents, the Birmingham Bulls won a pair to improve their prospects for the 1977-78 season. The Bulls, were one of the first teams eliminated last year from a playoff spot, but they promise to provide much more of a challenge this time around.They doubled Indianapolis Racers 4-2 as John Garrett supplied the Bulls with goaltending heroics and Vaclav Nedomansky. Joe Noris. Tim Sheehy and Tony Cassolata scored for Birmingham. It was Cassolata&rsquo;s goal which broke a 202 tie as Dale Smedso and Dave Fortier notched the Racer goals.An overtime goal by Paul Terbenche after just 23 seconds of the extra period gave the Bulls a 5-4 decision over Quebec, their second triumph in three starts against the Nordiques. Terbenche was acquired to give the Bulls&rsquo; blueline a boost, which he already has, while Paul Henderson added two goals and singles went to Sheehy and Dave Gorman. For Quebec, Curt Brackenbury, Pierre Guite, Andre Boudrias, and Garry Lariviere scored. &#9632;

f0024-03

Whalers, Jets Show Superiority As NHL Loses 12 Of 19 Exhibitions

WINNIPEG&mdash;Winnipeg Jets seem to thrive against &ldquo;foreign&rdquo; opposition. After spending much of the month of September in Sweden and other parts of Europe getting ready for the 1977-78 season, the Jets have returned to North America, but not to play against their own.Instead, it&rsquo;s the rival National Hockey League that has been making the Winnipeg crew look good, as the Jets have captured four victories in five starts against the established league.While winning three games against Swedish opposition such as Sundsvall (4-1), Skellefta (7-2), and Omskoldsvik (6-2) and getting a tie (6-6) with Helsinki, Finland is one thing, knocking off the NHL clubs with such apparent ease is not what was supposed to happen in the first full-scale WHA-NHL confrontation.After splitting its opening games with the Minnesota North Stars, losing 2-1 before winning 4-3, the Jets faced off against the St. Louis Blues. By the time the dust had settled, the fleet Winnipeg forwards had given the club a 6-2 victory.Naturally, Bobby Hull netted one of the goals and he was joined in the scoring column by former Swedes Anders Hedberg. Ulf Nilsson, rookie Kent Nilsson and Dan Labraaten. For good measure, defenseman Kim Clackson had the other Jet goal.To close out their exhibition season the Jets met St. Louis in a return match although the results were not much different as Winnipeg cruised to a 3-0 whitewash, and then played Detroit Red Wings with the contest going to the Jets by a score of 1-0.EDMONTON: The Oilers were also successful against the National Hockey League as they captured victories in both of their starts. The first game was against the St. Louis Blues and the Oilers came through with a 3-2 triumph.The second game was played at the Edmonton Coliseum before 10,920 fans and once more the Oilers snuck by with a one-goal decision. The Oilers revved up their powerplay and banged home four goals with a manpower advantage en route to a 5-4 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.Hoping to close out the exhibition schedule with a perfect three-for-three against the NHL, the Oilers tangled with Cleveland Barons on the final weekend before the regular season was to open.Latest cuts among the Edmonton camp saw three forwards sent down to the Central Hockey League. Left wingers Lou Nistico and Jerry Holland and centerman Don Tannhill were assigned to the Oilers&rsquo; Salt Lake City team.HOUSTON: Keeping a low profile is what the Aeros are up to these days. They declined to schedule very many exhibition contests against either WHA or NHL adversaries, although they did play one match recently, a 5-3 loss to the Atlanta Flames.In that game, the man the Aeros look to as their scoring leader, Andre Lacroix, had a goal, as did youngsters Morris Lukowich and Terry Ruskowski.The Aeros have a number of relatively unknown players on the club, including several forwards who may well blossom at some point in the current campaign. At the moment, it seems a matter of whether the management will be allowed the opportunity to stick by these players until the club has a chance to right itself and begin its rebuilding program.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01353/4044779-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="529" height="655"><figcaption class="caption-body">ANDRE LACROIX&hellip;Scored Aeros&rsquo; Goal</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02256/4044772-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="526" height="613"><figcaption class="caption-body">MORRIS LUKOWICH&hellip;Sniped For Houston</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0025-01

Jets, Oilers Turn Back NHL Teams, Aeros Keep Low Pre-Season Profile

<div class="byline">BY JIM LEAHY</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTDArnold Street. Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTDArnold Street. Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaPORTLAND&mdash;The fledgling Maine Mariners are assured of a capacity house for their inaugural game Saturday. Oct. 15 when they make their long awaited debut in the American Hockey League.Mariners&rsquo; president Gil Stein said everything is in readiness for the opener against the new Binghamton-Broome Dusters with all of the 6.570 seats in the new Civic Center soldStein revealed that only 1.100 seats remained on sale 10 days prior to the first home game and they were quickly gobbled up by Portland fans.&ldquo;We are extremely pleased with the response of our fans to the Mariners both during training camp and in our two area pre-season games.&rdquo; said Stein &ldquo;The interest in hockey that we felt in our community this past summer, and saw demonstrated once camp opened is making us even more anxious to show people what we have on opening night.&rdquo;The Mariners, who began their fall training camp at North Yarmouth Academy (Yarmough. Me.) have provided area hockey fans, with some excitement already. Playing before crowds at Biddeford and Lewiston Bob McCammon&rsquo;s crew surprised the defending Calder Cup champion Nova Scotia Voyageurs. winning by scores of 5-3 and 4-3 before moving to Campbellton. New Brunswick, where the Nova Scotians prevailed. 6-2&ldquo;We went into this series with the Voyageurs for the learning experience.&rdquo; said Stein. &ldquo;We weren&rsquo;t going to get too high when we won nor would we be too discouraged if we were to lose. We have gained a lot from playing the Voyageurs. I think the fans will notice this on opening night.&rdquo;McCammon has been sifting through training camp cuts of the Philadelphia Flyers this past week and should come up with a team that will be a definite contender. Here&rsquo;s how the Mariners will look for their opener:In goal, the club has Rick St. Croix and Jerome Mrazek. St. Croix is playing his first year in the AHL after a successful run in the IHL. Mrazek is returning to the AHL where he performed last season On defense, the Mariners have potential blueliners like Norm Barnes, Mike Korney, Dennis Patterson, Frank Bathe, Mike Busniuk. rookie Danny Clark and Guy Delparte Among the forwards will be John Paddock. Drew Callandar. Dave Hoyda. Tom Gorence. Randy Osburn. Denis Meloche, Wayne Schaab. Dan Kennedy. Bernie Johnston. Brian Burke. Barry Duench. Al Hill and Dave Hynek. Gorence was the Flyers No. 2 draft pick this year and Hoyda was No. 3.The Mariners roared into Portland in grand style a few weeks ago. Their coaching staff and players sailed into Portland harbor aboard the &ldquo;Santa Maria&rdquo;, a replica of Christopher Columbus&rsquo; flagship. The Biddeford High School band and Ronald McDonald were on hand to greet the ship<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01365/4044831-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="569" height="594"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK ST. CROIX&hellip;Makes AHL Debut</figcaption></div>Now that the NAHL is history, the Mariners will literally have the State of Maine all to themselves. The rival Maine Nordiques were only a few miles away in Lewiston and could have drawn fans from the Mariners. Most observers have always believed that Maine would be a great area for an AHL franchise and the Mariners should be in for an outstanding year at the gate.Meanwhile, after 53 years as a member of the AHL. the Rhode Island Reds have been sold and subsequently moved to Binghamton. N.Y. Marketing director Harvey Greene indicated that his Reds were the only remaining charter member of the AHL as well as the oldest continually operating team in minor league hockey. All of that has come to an end nowNew owners Andre Veilleux and Jim Mathews purchased the team and it&rsquo;s AHL franchise on Sept. 27 and were immediately given permission by the AHL Board of Governors to move to Binghamton. Since the North American Hockey League had folded a day earlier, the NAHL&rsquo;s best franchise, the Broome Dusters, finally got a chance to join the American Hockey League.The new club will still be known as the Broome Dusters and play in the 4.855 Broome County Civic Center. With the addition of Broome (Binghamton), the AHL will now have two of the most successful franchises in all of minor league hockey. Hershey has been the AHL box office champion for quite a few years however, the Dusters could give them a run for their money in the attendance race.AHL president Jack Butterfield said that &ldquo;the NAHL Dusters played to 98 percent capacity last year. They have already sold 4,200 season tickets and the owners won&rsquo;t sell any more in order to give as many people as possible a chance to see their team in action.&rdquo; Butterfield has also been assured by the Dusters that the Civic Center could be expanded if necessary. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a beautiful new building and will be a real asset to the league&rdquo; said Butterfield.The Dusters will play the same road schedule originally drawn up for the Reds. Some schedule changes will have to be made for home games since the Civic Center is not available the same dates that the Reds were to play at home. In addition to the same road schedule, the Dusters will continue the NHL affiliation with Pittsburgh that the Reds negotiated this season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02291/4044824-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="567" height="592"><figcaption class="caption-body">JEROME MRAZEK&hellip;Returns To AHL</figcaption></div>In another development, the Philadelphia Firebirds, also of the now defunct NAHL, were voted in as the ninth member of the American Hockey League. The Firebirds will continue to play in the Philadelphia Civic Center where they drew crowds in excess of 9,000 for NAHL playoff games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03249/4044817-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="563" height="598"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN PADDOCK&hellip;Solid Up Front</figcaption></div>The Firebirds will probably go with free agents on their roster plus some players who will be assigned to them by NHL organizations. In today&rsquo;s market, the Firebirds should be able to find plenty of unaffiliated hockey players who would jump at a chance to play in the AHL.The Firebirds will play in the Southern Division, while the Dusters will take Rhode Island&rsquo;s place in the Northern Division.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04194/4044810-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="567" height="596"><figcaption class="caption-body">DREW CALLANDAR&hellip;Threat For Offense</figcaption></div>NOVA SCOTIA: The Voyageurs have added player-coach Frank St. Marseille. He&rsquo;s a former NHL player who may have a difficult time filling the shoes of Al MacNeil who has been promoted to general manager. MacNeil developed the Voyageurs into one of the all-time AHL powerhouses.And the Voyaguers look like they&rsquo;ll have another formidable club. Returned by Montreal were goalers Dave Elenbaas and Ed Walsh, defenseman Chuck Luksa, forwards Cliff Cox, Gord McTavish, Bruce Baker, Peter Lee, Rod Schutt, Mike Polich and Bill Wells. New faces include goalers Maurice Barrette. Barry Borrett and Robert Holland, defensemen Danie Poulin and Moe Robinson, forwards Mike Hobin, Tom O&rsquo;Donell, Rick Meagher, and Normand Dupont.SPRINGFIELD: The Indians will be the number one development club of the Los Angeles Kings this year and as a result of that new agreement. Tribe officials are looking forward to a winning season. The New England Whalers will also provide players to the Indians which presents a strange twist of fate. Just a few years ago, the Whalers played their home games at the Big E and tried to run the Springfield team out of town. Today they are helping one another. The Whalers dropped goaler Cap Raeder, defensemen Bryan Maxwell and John Glynne and forwards Danny Bolduc, Andre Peloffy and Steve Carlson down to the Indians for seasoning. Peloffy won the AHL scoring championship last season.NEW HAVEN: Some players already sent to the Nighthawks from the parent Rangers include, goalies Gilles Gratton and Doug Soetaert, defensemen Doug Janett, Paul Stewart and John Bednarski, forwards Mark Heaslip, Claude Periard. Greg Hickey, Bud Stefanski, Dale Lewis, Barry Scully, Jim Troy, Jerry Byers and Benoit Gosselin.HERSHEY: Season ticket sales are about even with last year in Hershey. Since the Bears normally have a tremendous season at the box office, hockey fans in the area are ready to see what their. Bears will look like when the season begins. Players who could be with the Bears this year include: goalies Grant Cole and Bob Sauve, defensemen Bill Stewart, Wayne Ramsey, Jean Lemieux, Al Glendenning and Gordie Lane; forwards Brian Kinsella, Tom Rowe, Derek Smith and Claude Noel.HAMPTON: PR director Eli Gold announced that the Gulls will not operate a farm team in Syracuse now that the NAHL no longer exists. The new AHL club has invited 23 free agents to camp however, at this writing, none of them were signed yet. The WHA Birmingham Bulls have already assigned Cary Farelli and Paul O&rsquo;Neil to Hampton. &#9632;

f0026-01

New Mariners Sell Out AHL Opener

<h2>OCTOBER</h2>Fri. 14 New Haven at BinghamtonMaine at PhiladelphiaNova Scotia at RochesterSat. 15 Nova Scotia at HersheyBinghamton at MaineRochester at SpringfieldSun. 16 Nova Scotia at HamptonRochester at New HavenBinghamton at PhiladelphiaWed. 19 Springfield at BinghamtonNova Scotia at HamptonRochester at MaineNew Haven at PhiladelphiaFri. 21 Binghamton at HamptonMaine at New HavenRochester at Nova ScotiaHershey at SpringfieldSat. 22 Binghamton at HersheyNew Haven at MaineHampton at SpringfieldSun. 23 Hershey at HamptonPhiladelphia at MaineBinghamton at New HavenRochester at Nova ScotiaWed. 26 Nova Scotia at BinghamtonSpringfield at HamptonNew Haven at PhiladelphiaFri. 28 Springfield at PhiladelphiaNova Scotia at RochesterSat. 29 New Haven at HamptonMaine at PhiladelphiaNova Scotia at SpringfieldSun. 30 Maine at BinghamtonNova Scotia at New HavenHershey at Rochester<h2>NOVEMBER</h2>Wed. 2 Springfield at BinghamtonHershey at Nova ScotiaThu. 3 Rochester at HamptonFri. 4 Hershey at New HavenBinghamton at RochesterSat. 5 Philadelphia at SpringfieldSun. 6 Hershey at HamptonBinghamton at Nova ScotiaPhiladelphia at RochesterTue. 8 Springfield at HamptonBinghamton at Nova ScotiaWed. 9 Springfield at HersheyNew Haven at MaineThu. 10 Hampton at BinghamtonFri. 11 Springfield at New HavenNova Scotia at PhiladelphiaMaine at RochesterSat. 12 New Haven at HersheyRochester at MaineNova Scotia at PhiladelphiaHampton at SpringfieldSun. 13 Hershey at New HavenPhiladelphia at Nova ScotiaHampton at RochesterWed. 16 Philadelphia at HersheyBinghamton at MaineThu. 17 Maine at HamptonRochester at PhiladelphiaFri. 18 Springfield at New HavenHershey at PhiladelphiaNova Scotia at RochesterSat. 19 Philadelphia at HamptonMaine at HersheyNova Scotia at SpringfieldSun. 20 Hershey at BinghamtonPhiladelphia at New HavenMaine at RochesterTue. 22 Nova Scotia at PhiladelphiaWed. 23 New Haven at HersheyNova Scotia at MainePhiladelphia at RochesterBinghamton at SpringfieldThu. 24 Rochester at BinghamtonFri. 25 Binghamton at HamptonMaine at New HavenHershey at PhiladelphiaNova Scotia at RochesterSat. 26 Binghamton at HersheyNew Haven at MaineHampton at PhiladelphiaNova Scotia at SpringfieldSun. 27 Springfield at HamptonNova Scotia at New HavenBinghamton at RochesterWed. 30 Philadelphia at HamptonSpringfield at HersheyNew Haven at MaineBinghamton at Nova Scotia<h2>DECEMBER</h2>Fri. 2 Hampton at New HavenBinghamton at PhiladelphiaMaine at RochesterSat. 3 Binghamton at HamptonRochester at HersheyNova Scotia at MaineNew Haven at SpringfieldSun. 4 Springfield at BinghamtonHampton at MaineNew Haven at Nova ScotiaPhiladelphia at RochesterTue. 6 Philadelphia at BinghamtonWed. 7 Philadelphia at HamptonNova Scotia at HersheySpringfield at MaineFri. 9 Nova Scotia at New HavenHampton at PhiladelphiaBinghamton at RochesterMaine at SpringfieldSat. 10 Rochester at HamptonNew Haven at HersheyNova Scotia at MaineBinghamton at SpringfieldSun. 11 Springfield at BinghamtonNova Scotia at PhiladelphiaNew Haven at RochesterWed. 14 Binghamton at HamptonNew Haven at MaineRochester at Nova ScotiaHershey at PhiladelphiaFri. 16 Hampton at MaineHershey at New HavenBinghamton at RochesterPhiladelphia at SpringfieldSat. 17 New Haven oat HamptonPhiladelphia at HersheyBinghamton at MaineNova Scotia at SpringfieldSun. 18 Maine at BinghamtonHampton at New HavenSpringfield at PhiladelphiaNova Scotia at RochesterWed. 21 New Haven at BinghamtonHershey at HamptonNova Scotia at MaineRochester at SpringfieldFri. 23 Springfield at MainePhiladelphia at New HavenSun. 25 Springfield at New HavenHershey at RochesterMon. 26 Philadelphia at BinghamtonHershey at Nova ScotiaWed. 28 Hampton at BinghamtonRochester at HersheyMaine at New HavenPhiladelphia at Nova ScotiaSat. 31 Rochester at BinghamtonSpringfield at Hershey<h2>JANUARY</h2>Sun. 1 Hampton at RochesterTue. 3 Nova Scotia at HamptonWed. 4 Nova Scotia at HersheyBinghamton at New HavenThu. 5 Nova Scotia at BinghamtonMaine at HamptonFri. 6 Springfield at New HavenMaine at RochesterSat. 7 New Haven at HamptonRochester at HersheyPhiladelphia at MaineBinghamton at SpringfieldSun. 8 Hershey at Nova ScotiaSpringfield at RochesterWed. 11 Rochester at BinghamtonSpringfield at HamptonNew Haven at PhiladelphiaFri. 13 Philadelphia at New HavenMaine at Nova ScotiaHampton at RochesterSat. 14 Hampton at HersheyBinghamton at MaineRochester at PhiladelphiaNew Haven at SpringfieldSun. 15 Hershey at BinghamtonSpringfield at Nova ScotiaHampton at PhiladelphiaTue. 17 Springfield at Nova ScotiaWed. 18 Binghamton at HersheyHampton at MaineRochester at New HavenFri. 20 Binghamton at New HavenHampton at Nova ScotiaSpringfield at PhiladelphiaMaine at RochesterSat. 21 Philadelphia at HersheyBinghamton at MaineRochester at SpringfieldSun. 22 New Haven at BinghamtonHershey at MaineHampton at Nova ScotiaSpringfield at RochesterTue. 24 Nova Scotia at BinghamtonWed. 25 Hampton at HersheyRochester at MaineThu. 26 Nova Scotia at BinghamtonFri. 27 Rochester at New HavenMaine at SpringfieldSat. 28 Maine at HersheyNew Haven at RochesterHampton at SpringfieldSun. 29 Springfield at MaineHershey at New HavenPhiladelphia at Nova ScotiaHampton at RochesterTue. 31 Rochester at BinghamtonPhiladelphia at Nova Scotia<h2>FEBRUARY</h2>Wed. 1 Rochester at HamptonBinghamton at HersheyFri.3 Philadelphia at New HavenMaine at Nova ScotiaHershey at SpringfieldSat. 4 Philadelphia at HersheyNew Haven at SpringfieldSun. 5 Philadelphia at HamptonMaine at Nova ScotiaSpringfield at RochesterWed. 8 Springfield at HersheyPhiladelphia at MaineFri. 10 Maine at BinghamtonSpringfield at HamptonNew Haven at Nova ScotiaPhiladelphia at RochesterSat. 11 Philadelphia at HersheyHampton at MaineBinghamton at SpringfieldSun. 12 Hershey at BinghamtonRochester at HamptonNew Haven at Nova ScotiaPhiladelphia at SpringfieldTue. 14 Hampton at MaineWed 15 Nova Scotia at MaineRochester at New HavenThu. 16 Hershey at PhiladelphiaFri. 17 Nova Scotia at BinghamtonPhiladelphia at HamptonMaine at New HavenRochester at SpringfieldSat. 18 Hershey at MaineNew Haven at PhiladelphiaNova Scotia at SpringfieldSun. 19 Springfield at BinghamtonRochester at HamptonMaine at New HavenHershey at Nova ScotiaTue 21 Hershey at Nova ScotiaWed. 22 Hampton at New HavenSpringfield at PhiladelphiaFri. 24 Hershey at BinghamtonHampton at Nova ScotiaNew Haven at RochesterMaine at SpringfieldSat. 25 New Haven at HersheyBinghamton at PhiladelphiaRochester at SpringfieldSun. 26 New Haven at BinghamtonMaine at HersheyHampton at Nova ScotiaSpringfield at RochesterTue. 28 Nova Scotia at Hampton<h2>MARCH</h2>Wed. 1 Nova Scotia at HersheyRochester at MaineBinghamton at New HavenSpringfield at PhiladelphiaFri. 3 Hampton at BinghamtonRochester at New HavenMaine at Nova ScotiaHershey at SpringfieldSat. 4 New Haven at HamptonRochester at HersheyBinghamton at PhiladelphiaMaine at SpringfieldSun. 5 Philadelphia at BinghamtonHampton at New HavenSpringfield at Nova ScotiaHershey at RochesterTue. 7 Hershey at HamptonPhiladelphia at Nova ScotiaWed. 8 Rochester at BinghamtonSpringfield at HersheyHampton at MaineNova Scotia at PhiladelphiaFri. 10 Maine at BinghamtonNova Scotia at New HavenHershey at PhiladelphiaHampton at SpringfieldSat. 11 Maine at HersheyRochester at PhiladelphiaHampton at SpringfieldSun. 12 Springfield at MainePhiladelphia at New HavenBinghamton at Nova ScotiaHershey at RochesterTue. 14 Binghamton at Nova ScotiaWed. 15 Maine at HamptonBinghamton at PhiladelphiaNew Haven at RochesterFri. 17 Hershey at BinghamtonMaine at HamptonRochester at Nova ScotiaNew Haven at SpringfieldSat. 18 Maine at PhiladelphiaHershey at SpringfieldSun. 19 New Haven at BinghamtonHampton at HersheyRochester at Nova ScotiaTue. 21 Hampton at PhiladelphiaWed. 22 Nova Scotia at HersheyPhiladelphia at MaineBinghamton at New HavenHampton at RochesterFri. 24 Philadelphia at BinghamtonHershey at New HavenMaine at SpringfieldSat. 25. Nova Scotia at HamptonNew Haven at HersheyRochester at MaineNova Scotia at New HavenPhiladelphia at SpringfieldSun. 26 Hampton at BinghamtonHershey at MaineNova Scotia at New HavenSpringfield at RochesterTue. 28 Hershey at HamptonNew Haven at Nova ScotiaWed. 29 Binghamton at HersheySpringfield at MaineRochester at PhiladelphiaFri. 31 New Haven at Nova ScotiaMaine at PhiladelphiaBinghamton at RochesterHershey at Springfield<h2>APRIL</h2>Sat. 1 Binghamton at HamptonMaine at HersheyRochester at PhiladelphiaNew Haven at SpringfieldSun. 2 Hampton at BinghamtonHershey at MaineSpringfield at Nova ScotiaPhiladelphia at RochesterTue. 4 Maine at HamptonSpringfield at Nova ScotiaWed. 5 Maine at BinghamtonHampton at HersheyNew Haven at PhiladelphiaFri. 7 Springfield at New HavenHampton at Nova ScotiaMaine at PhiladelphiaHershey at RochesterSat. 8 New Haven at HamptonRochester at HersheyPhiladelphia at MaineSun. 9 Philadelphia at BinghamtonHampton at Hershey Maine at Nova ScotiaNew Haven at Rochester &#9632;

AHL’s Revised 1977-78 Schedule

<div class="byline">BY DOUG McCONNELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01331/4044893-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">FLOYD THOMSON&hellip; Lands In Salt Lake (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTDArnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTDArnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaPHOENIX&mdash;Mike Leonard, president of the Phoenix Roadrunners, went into shock at Sky Harbor International Airport.He was waiting at an arrival gate at the mid-city airport for four players assigned to Phoenix by the Cleveland Barons.&ldquo;The only group that got off the plane,&rdquo; said Leonard, &ldquo;were four 130-pounders with long hair and one of them was on crutches. I called Harry Howell (Cleveland general manager) right from the airport and asked, &lsquo;What are you doing to me?&rsquo;&ldquo;Howell said he knew there was something he forgot to do.&rdquo;What Howell forgot was to advice Leonard of a change in travel plans.The long-haired lightweights turned out to be a rock group and the four players had been given Howell&rsquo;s approval to take different routes.The four were among the first nine assigned by Cleveland to the new Central Hockey League team in Phoenix. The nine are defensemen Owen Lloyd, Darcy Regier and Dave Syvret, goaltender Jim Warden, right wings Ken Kuzyk and Guy Lash and centers Vern Stenlund. Angie Moratto and Rick Shinske.Kuzyk was a second team All Star last season, scoring 33 goals for Salt Lake, and Shinske was the Golden Eagles&rsquo; points leader with 70.Early arrivals in Phoenix were left wings Don Cairns and Terry McDonald, assigned by the Colorado Rockies, but who did not attend the Rockies&rsquo; camp.Sandy Hucul was impressed by Bill Oleschuk in his brief glimpse into the Colorado training camp and was delighted when the six-foot-three goaltender who Rockies&rsquo; general manager Ray Miron calls &ldquo;our goaltender of the future&rdquo; was also assigned to Phoenix.The remainders of the Colorado contribution to the Roadrunners was to be left off when the Rockies visited Phoenix for a pre-season data with the Vancouver Canucks.The game was the first NHL contest played in Phoenix although the Toronto Maple Leafs had twice played exhibitions with the Roadrunners of the Western Hockey League.FORT WORTH: Cliff Overcash Jr., the new young president of the Fort Worth Texans, arrived home from the New York Islanders&rsquo; training camp to find a wire service report that his club had been assigned forwards Brad Anderson, Walt Ledingham and Neil Hawryliw and defenseman Joey Girardin.He termed the report erroneous, saying Anderson and Ledingham were being sent to the Boston Bruins&rsquo; affiliate at Rochester in the American Hockey League and Hawryliw and Girardin to the Islanders&rsquo; International Hockey League affiliate in Muskegon.A few days later, the Islanders announced the assignment of 11 players to the Texans, including former Fort Worth team captain Neil Nicholson. 27Defenseman Bob Lorimer, 24, and Mike Hordy, 21, goaltenders Don Cutts, 24, and Andre Lepage, 22, left wings Hector Marinix, 20, Alex McKendry, 21, Dave Salvian, 22, and right wings Garth McGuigan, 20, Yvon Vautour, 21 and Dave Salvian, 21.Meanwhile, Overcash reported season ticket sales at 960 with 1,000 expected, easily exceeding the 850 total of last season. The program was sent to press with almost triple the revenue of last year, taking in $28,000.TULSA: Veteran Derek Sanderson and three rookies were sent to the Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League by the Vancouver Canucks.Sanderson, a 31-year-old center, was sent to Tulsa for conditioning purposes, according to a Canucks&rsquo; spokesman. He has been sidelined since Sept. 21 with a stomach ailment, which has bothered Sanderson twice during his 10-year pro career.Examined for possible colonitis, Sanderson was given a clean bill of health by Canuck team doctors.Sanderson had reported to training camp some 15 pounds over his normal playing weight of 175.Goaltender Glen Hanlon, defenseman Jeff Bandura and Dave Morrow, all draft choices this year, were the other players sent to Tulsa.KANSAS CITY: Dick Carlson, who was the radio voice for the Kansas City Scouts, will do the play-by-play of all 76 Kansas City Red Wings&rsquo; games over KAYQ Radio.The Red Wings announced that opening night. Oct. 13 with the Fort Worth Texans, will also be merchant&rsquo;s night, one of 20 promotional nights scheduled this season in an effort to build attendance and a following.DALLAS: The assignment of four right wings by the Toronto Maple Leafs brings to 10 the number of forwards who have played in Dallas before.Returned by the Leafs are Alain &ldquo;Bam Bam&rdquo; Belanger, whose play was limited to 30 games last season by a knee injury but who was voted the Black Hawks&rsquo; most popular player, anyway: Bob Warner, who also plays left wing and defense. Greg Hubick. strong checker and penalty killer; and Rocky Saganiuk. the Maple Leafs&rsquo; second round draft choice who has been a standout in training camp.Rockie coach Gerry McNamara had already greeted Chicago Black Hawks&rsquo; assignees Duane Wylie, Greg Vaydik. Kirk Bowman. Dan Hinton and Pierre Giroux along with Gary McFayden. from Toronto.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02239/4044886-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="575" height="880"><figcaption class="caption-body">DEREK SANDERSON &hellip; Joins Oilers</figcaption></div>The Hawks were unbeaten through their first six pre-season games, posting four victories and two ties against amateur teams in Ontario.SALT LAKE: The axe fell in St. Louis on the Blues&rsquo; overstocked roster and it meant dispersal of some 16 players along with player-coach Barcley Plager to the Golden Eagles.Among the St Louis arrivals were goaler Doug Grant, defenseman Joe Zanussi and forward Floyd Thomson, all of whom served with the Blues in some capacity last season. Thomson&rsquo;s return to the minors was the first for the six-foot. 190-pound right winger since 1972 except for 17 games with Denver in the old Western Hockey League. Others who were paired from the training camp roster included goaler Rocky Menard, defensemen Brent Meeke. Neil Labatte. Larry Huras and Gordon Buynak and forwards Brian Ogilvie. Tony Currie. Tom Sundberg. Tom Roulston. Gary Holt. Lyle Bradley. Doug Palazzari and Ken Richardson. &#9632;

f0028-01

Barons ‘Arrivals’ Please Leonard; Sanderson Among Cuts With Tulsa

<h2>OCTOBER</h2>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 Sall LakeKansas City at TulsaSun 30 Tulsa at Kansas City<h2>NOVEMBER</h2>Thu 1 Ft. Worth at Kansas CityThu. 3 Dallas at Kansas CityPhoenix at Salt LakeFri a Kansas City at DallasFt Worth at TulsaSat 5 Ft. Worth at DallasPhoenix at Salt LakeKansas City at Tulsa &#9632;

Where CHL Teams Play

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTDArnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTDArnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaSAGINAW&mdash;Coach and general manager Don Perry has been greatly impressed with the draft choices of the Toronto Maple Leafs, one of two National Hockey League clubs with whom the Gears have a working agreement.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the best crop of rookies I&rsquo;ve seen in a long, long time. They really drafted well,&rdquo; Perry said following a look-see at the Maple Leaf camp.Perry&rsquo;s optimism is understandable. It appears as if he will face quite a rebuilding job as the Gears try to defend their IHL championship. Players whom Perry expects to lose include talented goalie Mario Lessard and high-scoring Paul Evans. And there could be more.Perry does have a pretty sound nucleus around which to build. Signed for this season are Dennis Desrosiers, Marcel Comeau, veteran defenseman John Gravel, Rick Chinnick and Gary Sittler.KALAMAZOO: Coach and general manager Bob Lemieux faced a similar problem with the K-Wings. Detroit sent Len Ircandia. Kevin Schamehorn. Fred Berry, Dwight Schofield and Fernand Leblanc back to Lemieux for another season but the K-Wings&rsquo; manager-coach has to still convince them to play in Kalamazoo. Goaler Terry Richardson, who was thought to be headed to the K-Wings, was diverted to Kansas City of the CHL.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01326/4044962-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="567" height="588"><figcaption class="caption-body">MOE BARTOLI &hellip; Wears Two Hats</figcaption></div>Lemieux also has Tom Milani, the high scoring right winger with Syracuse of the NAHL last year. Ray Roy, a center and two goalers, Jim Baxter of Union College, who was assigned by Detroit, and Blaine Peterson, who came from the Vancouver camp.Also, Lemieux will have to replace veteran Greg Steel, who has retired to take a front office job with the club. Steel was one of the original K-Wings. leaving Al Genovy, Ron Wilson and Mike Wanchuk as the only charter members still around. Wanchuk, Genovy, Wilson and Al White are the only returnees who have signed for the next season thus far.MUSKEGON: General manager Moose Lallo is looking for a &ldquo;lot of new faces&rdquo; on the Mohawk roster again. &ldquo;We are going to lose quite a few players from last season&mdash;both MacGuigans (Garth and Bob) for sure and maybe Vautour (Yvon), Hordy (Mike). Girardin (Joey) to mention quite a few.&rdquo; Moose said.On the-brighter side. Lallo has completed negotiations to work with the Atlanta Flames. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been working only with the New York Islanders. Now we have two NHL clubs. Everybody else in the league (with the exception of Kalamazoo) has two. I&rsquo;m real happy to be working with the Flames.&rdquo;Lallo said Garth MacGuigan has been very impressive in the Islander camp. As have Drader, and Hordy. Also, goalie Andre Lepage. Bob MacGuigan has retired.The only returnees so far are veteran Bob Tombari. Bob Sunderland and Mike Usitalo.FLINT: Doug Carpenter has invited all of the players who were on the Generals roster at the close of last season back again. But you can look for a number of new faces anyway. Carpenter is looking for some good, tough defensemen primarily. The Generals have suffered through the years for a lack of aggressiveness and Carpener is convinced it takes an aggressive team to be successful in the IHL. Kirk Bowman was returned to the Generals by Chicago.PORT HURON: There will be a new look at Port Huron, too. Ron Ullyot, a veteran player for Fort Wayne and a rookie coach last season at Columbus, has replaced Bobby McCammon as the new coach. Ullyot has been in Hershey for two weeks learning the Capitol system under an old teammate at Fort Wayne, Washington coach Tommy McVie.DAYTON: Moe Bartoli will wear two hats again in Dayton. Bartoli, who has served as coach and general manager in the past at Columbus, will perform the same duties for the transplanted Owls this season. The Owls apparently failed to lure Moe Benoit, out of retirement to become the Owls coach.Bartoli could lose some of the key players from last season&rsquo;s Owl roster. Included are Tom Cassidy, Steve Lyon, Mike Thompson and Al Hillier, who were still with the parent Pittsburgh club and Daryl Vautour, Gary Carr and Bill Bennett, who are in the Boston training camp.FORT WAYNE: New Komet coach Gregg Pilling returned from 10 days in both the Vancouver and Minnesota training camps feeling &ldquo;quite optimistic&rdquo; about his first Komet squad. Pilling, who joined the Komets in July following a short but highly successful career in the Southern and North American leagues, has supplemented his existing Komet roster with some players from his former Philadelphia club&mdash;namely goalie Lome Molleken, versatile Mike Penasse and center Michel Plante. In addition. Pilling can look at IHL veterans like D&rsquo;Arcy Keating. Terry Pembroke, goalie Robbie Irons. Terry McDougall and little Robbie Laird as a sound foundation upon which to build.MILWAUKEE: The Admirals recently negotiated an agreement with Philadelphia as a source of talent. Earlier, the newest IHL member signed an agreement with Buffalo. Former Chicago Black Hawk player Gene Ubuaco is the team&rsquo;s manager and coach.TOLEDO: The Toledo roster is somewhat uncertain at this juncture also. The Goaldiggers are working with Cleveland and the New York Rangers and general manager Ted Garvin is waiting until he opens his training camp before making any comments about what kind of club he expects to put on the ice. But it figures to be a good one.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03193/4044955-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="569" height="678"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE PENASSE &hellip; Follows Coach</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04134/4044948-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="569" height="588"><figcaption class="caption-body">MICHEL PLANTE &hellip; Joined Komets</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0030-01

K-Wings Set With Detroit Farmhands Back

<h2>OCTOBER</h2>Fri. 21 Ft. Wayne at MuskegonFlint at MilwaukeePt. Huron at SaginawDayton at ToledoSat. 22 Kalamazoo at Ft. WayneSaginaw at MuskegonMilwaukee at Pt. HuronToledo at DaytonSun. 23 Pt. Huron at FlintFt. Wayne at SaginawMilwaukee at KalamazooMuskegon at ToledoWed. 26 Muskegon at Ft. WayneFlint at DaytonPt. Huron at MilwaukeeFri. 28 Toledo at MuskegonFt. Wayne at FlintDayton at SaginawKalamazoo at Milwaukee.Sat. 29 Saginaw at Ft. WayneFlint at MuskegonDayton at Pt. HuronKalamazoo at MilwaukeeSun. 30 Muskegon at Pt. HuronFt. Wayne at DaytonSaginaw at KalamazooToledo at Flint<h2>NOVEMBER</h2>Wed. 2 Pt. Huron at Ft. WayneMuskegon at MilwaukeeFri. 4 Pt. Huron at MuskegonDayton at FlintKalamazoo at SaginawFt. Wayne at ToledoSat. 5 Dayton at Ft. WayneKalamazoo at MuskegonFlint at Pt. HuronToledo at MilwaukeeSun. 6 Saginaw at FlintMuskegon at DaytonFt. Wayne at KalamazooToledo at MilwaukeeWed. 9 Pt. Huron at DaytonSaginaw at KalamazooFlint at ToledoFt. Wayne at MilwaukeeFri. 11 Milwaukee at Ft. WayneMuskegon at SaginawPt. Huron at ToledoSat. 12 Toledo at Ft. WayneMuskegon at Pt. HuronMilwaukee at DaytonFlint at KalamazooSun. 13 Ft. Wayne at Pt. HuronFlint at SaginawDayton at KalamazooMilwaukee at ToledoWed. 16 Muskegon at DaytonKalamazoo at ToledoFri. 18 Dayton at MuskegonKalamazoo at FlintSaginaw at ToledoSat. 19 Milwaukee at MuskegonToledo at Pt. HuronFlint at DaytonFt. Wayne at SaginawSun. 20 Muskegon at FlintMilwaukee at SaginawPt. Huron at KalamazooDayton at ToledoWed. 23 Pt. Huron at DaytonFlint at SaginawMuskegon at KalamazooFt. Wayne at ToledoThu. 24 Dayton at Ft. WayneSaginaw at MuskegonMilwaukee at Pt. HuronFri. 25 Kalamazoo at FlintSat. 26 Flint at Ft. WayneKalamazoo at MuskegonSaginaw at Pt. HuronToledo at DaytonSun. 27 Pt. Huron at FlintMuskegon at SaginawKalamazoo at ToledoDayton at MilwaukeeWed. 30 Toledo at Ft. WayneSaginaw at Dayton<h2>DECEMBER</h2>Thu. 1 Kalamazoo at MilwaukeeFri. 2 Ft. Wayne at MuskegonDayton at FlintPt Huron at SaginawToledo at KalamazooSat. 3 Saginaw at Ft. WayneToledo at MuskegonKalamazoo at Pt. HuronMilwaukee at DaytonSun. 4 Ft. Wayne at FlintDayton at SaginawMuskegon at Pt. HuronMilwaukee at ToledoTue. 5 Saginaw at MilwaukeeWed. 7 Saginaw at MilwaukeeMuskegon at Ft, WayneFri. 9 Muskegon at FlintSaginaw at KalamazooPt. Huron at ToledoFt. Wayne at MilwaukeeSat. 10 Toledo at Ft. WayneFlint at MuskegonDayton at Pt. HuronKalamazoo at SaginawSun. 11 Saginaw at FlintFt. Wayne at KalamazooDayton at ToledoMuskegon at MilwaukeeWed. 14 Flint at DaytonPt. Huron at MilwaukeeThu. 15 Pt. Huron at MilwaukeeFri. 16 Dayton at MuskegonToledo at SaginawFt. Wayne at FlintSat 17 Muskegon at Ft. WayneFlint at Pt. HuronKalamazoo at DaytonMilwaukee at SaginawSun. 18 Ft. Wayne at DaytonMilwaukee at FlintPt. Huron at KalamazooMuskegon at ToledoTue. 20 Ft. Wayne at MilwaukeeWed 21 Kalamazoo at ToledoSaginaw at DaytonFri. 23 Muskegon at SaginawDayton at KalamazooFlint at ToledoSun. 25 Milwaukee at Ft. WayneKalamazoo at MuskegonToledo at DaytonFlint at SaginawMon. 26 Milwaukee at Pt. HuronKalamazoo at FlintWed. 28 Flint at Ft. WayneSaginaw at ToledoPt. Huron at KalamazooDayton at MilwaukeeFri. 30 Toledo at FlintDayton at SaginawPt. Huron at MilwaukeeSat. 31 Kalamazoo at Ft. WayneFlint at MuskegonSaginaw at Pt. HuronMilwaukee at Toledo<h2>JANUARY</h2>Sun. 1 Milwaukee at DaytonPt. Huron at SaginawTue. 3 Saginaw at KalamazooWed 4 Flint at ToledoMuskegon at MilwaukeeFt. Wayne at DaytonFri. 6 Pt. Huron at MuskegonMilwaukee at FlintFt. Wayne at KalamazooSaginaw at ToledoSat. 7 Milwaukee at MuskegonDayton at Pt. HuronToledo at SaginawFlint at KalamazooSun. 8 Kalamazoo at Pt. HuronDayton at FlintFt. Wayne at SaginawMuskegon at ToledoMon. 9 Dayton at MilwaukeeWed 11 Muskegon at Ft. WayneToledo at MilwaukeeThu. 12 Flint at MilwaukeeFri. 13 Saginaw at MuskegonToledo at Pt. HuronFt. Wayne at FlintDayton at KalamazooSat. 14 Pt. Huron at Ft. WayneToledo at MuskegonSaginaw at DaytonMilwaukee at KalamazooSun. 15 Kalamazoo at DaytonMuskegon at Pt. HuronToledo at FlintMon. 16 Saginaw at MilwaukeeFri. 20 Ft. Wayne at MuskegonPt Huron at SaginawFlint at KalamazooDayton at MilwaukeeSat. 21 Saginaw at Ft. WayneMilwaukee at MuskegonKalamazoo at Pt. HuronFlint at DaytonSun. 22 Ft. Wayne at Pt. HuronMuskegon at FlintDayton at SaginawToledo at KalamazooMon 23 Toledo at MilwaukeeWed. 25 Kalamazoo at Ft. WayneMuskegon at DaytonFri. 27 Dayton at MuskegonSaginaw at FlintPt. Huron at KalamazooFt. Wayne at ToledoSat. 28 Flint at Ft. WaynePt. Huron at MuskegonToledo at SaginawMilwaukee at KalamazooSun. 29 Pt. Huron at FlintFt Wayne at DaytonKalamazoo at SaginawMilwaukee at ToledoTue. 31 All Star game at Toledo<h2>FEBRUARY</h2>Wed. 1 Milwaukee at Ft. WayneSaginaw at ToledoPt. Huron at DaytonFri 3 Dayton at FlintMilwaukee at SaginawFt. Wayne at KalamazooPt. Huron at ToledoSat 4 Ft. Wayne at Pt. HuronMilwaukee at DaytonMuskegon at SaginawKalamazoo at ToledoSun. 5 Saginaw at Pt HuronMilwaukee at FlintToledo at DaytonMuskegon at KalamazooTue 7 Toledo at KalamazooWed 8 Flint at ToledoThu. 9 Muskegon at MilwaukeeFri 10 Dayton at MuskegonKalamazoo at Pt. HuronToledo at FlintFt Wayne at SaginawSat. 11 Ft. Wayne at MuskegonToledo at Pt. HuronSaginaw at DaytonMilwaukee at KalamazooSun. 12 Ft. Wayne at DaytonPt. Huron at SaginawToledo at KalamazooFlint at MilwaukeeMon. 13 Flint at MilwaukeeWed. 15 Dayton at Ft. WaynePt. Huron at ToledoFri 17 Flint at MuskegonSaginaw at Pt. HuronMilwaukee at KalamazooFt. Wayne at ToledoSat. 18 Toledo at Ft. WayneKalamazoo at MuskegonDayton at Pt. HuronFlint at SaginawSun. 19 Pt. Huron at Ft. WayneMilwaukee at SaginawFhnt at KalamazooMuskegon at ToledoWed. 22 Kalamazoo at Ft. WayneFlint at DaytonFri. 24 Toledo at MuskegonMilwaukee at Pt. HuronSaginaw at FlintFt Wayne at KalamazooSat. 25 Milwaukee at Ft. WaynePt. Huron at MuskegonKalamazoo at DaytonFlint at SaginawSun. 26 Dayton at Ft. WayneToledo at Pt. HuronKalamazoo at FlintMuskegon at SaginawTue 28 Muskegon at Kalamazoo<h2>MARCH</h2>Wed 1 Pt. Huron at DaytonFri. 3 Milwaukee at Pt. HuronMuskegon at FlintSat. 4 Milwaukee at MuskegonFlint at Pt. HuronSun 5 Saginaw at Ft. WaynePt. Huron at FlintMuskegon at DavtonKalamazoo at ToledoWed 8 Flint at Ft. WayneKalamazoo at DaytonMuskegon at ToledoThu 9 Pt. Huron at MilwaukeeFri 10 Ft Wayne at MuskegonMilwaukee at FlintDayton at SaginawPt Huron at ToledoSat 11 Dayton at MuskegonFt Wayne at Pt. HuronToledo at SaginawFlint at KalamazooSun. 12 Muskegon at Ft. WayneToledo at FlintSaginaw at DaytonKalamazoo at MilwaukeeMon 13 Kalamazoo at MilwaukeeWed 15 Pt Huron at Ft. WayneKalamazoo at SaginawDayton at ToledoFri 17 Kalamazoo at MuskegonDayton at FlintFt Wayne at ToledoSaginaw at MilwaukeeSat 18 Toledo at MuskegonFlint at Pt. HuronDayton at KalamazooSaginaw at MilwaukeeSun 19 Saginaw at Ft. WayneKalamazoo at Pt. HuronMuskegon at FlintToledo at DaytonTue. 21 Muskegon at KalamazooWed. 22 Pt Huron at DaytonToledo at MilwaukeeThu 23 Toledo at KalamazooFri. 24 Flint at MuskegonDayton at Pt. HuronFt. Wayne at SaginawMilwaukee at ToledoSat 25 Kalamazoo at Ft. WayneSaginaw at MuskegonPt. Huron at FlintMilwaukee at DaytonSun 26 Milwaukee at Ft. WayneSaginaw at Pt. HuronFlint at ToledoTue 28 Ft. Wayne at MilwaukeeSaginaw at KalamazooWed 29 Ft. Wayne at MilwaukeeFri 31 Ft Wayne at FlintPt Huron at KalamazooSaginaw at ToledoMuskegon at Milwaukee<h2>APRIL</h2>Sat 1 Flint at Ft. WayneMilwaukee at MuskegonToledo at Pt. HuronKalamazoo at SaginawSun. 2 Ft. Wayne at Pt. HuronSaginaw at FlintMuskegon at KalamazooDayton at ToledoMon. 3 Dayton at MilwaukeeWed. 5 Muskegon at DaytonPt. Huron at Ft. WayneFlint at MilwaukeeFri 7 Pt Huron at MuskegonMilwaukee at FlintToledo at SaginawDayton at KalamazooSat 8 Toledo at Ft. WayneSaginaw at MuskegonFlint at Pt. HuronKalamazoo at DaytonSun. 9 Dayton at Ft. WayneMuskegon at Pt. HuronKalamazoo at FlintMilwaukee at Saginaw &#9632;

INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE 1977-78 SCHEDULE

<div class="byline">BY MIKE GAMBLE</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTDArnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTDArnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01304/4045055-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="556" height="586"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOEL QUENNEVILLE &hellip; Seven-Point Night</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02233/4045048-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="562" height="933"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE HODGINS &hellip; Joins Spitfires</figcaption></div>OSHAWA&mdash;Tom McCarthy, the number one draft pick in Ontario last spring, took a little heat off himself and Generals&rsquo; management last week.Many fans in Oshawa were wondering aloud what had possessed general manager Sherry Bassin and company to take McCarthy instead of minor-midget sensation Wayne Gretzky. The decibel range went up significantly after Gretzky&rsquo;s three goals and three assists in Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 6-1 home opener victory against Oshawa.Last week was McCarthy&rsquo;s turn and he made the most of it.With 24 seconds remaining in Oshawa&rsquo;s home opener against Toronto Marlboros, McCarthy jammed the puck underneath goaltender Terry Wright for a 5-4 winThree days later, in a head-to-head confrontation against Gretzky, McCarthy outscored the Greyhounds&rsquo; center 3-1 as the teams battled to a 4-4 tie. The two were the dominant players on the ice.McCarthy, six-foot-one, and 194-pounds. conceded that all the talk in Oshawa about Gretzky was upsetting since it appeared to manifest itself in dislike towards the Generals&rsquo; left-winger.Even at school some people would talk. You know they are only joking but underneath they&rsquo;re wondering too.&rdquo; McCarthy said after his winning marker against Marlies.Skating out for that game, McCarthy was booed by many of the more than 1,500 in attendance&mdash;even though most had never seen him play. Such is the intensity of feelings in the motor city after Generals&rsquo; dismal performance last year when the team set a league record for futility winning five and tying four in 66 games.The three points moved Oshawa into a third place tie with Sault in the Leyden Division, one point ahead of Kingston Canadians.McCarthy played with North York Rangers of the provincial Junior &ldquo;A&rdquo; last season and both he and his coach Bill White moved to Oshawa this season.Besides, if Generals&rsquo; had taken Gretzky, they wouldn&rsquo;t have allowed to choose a second minor midget&mdash;defenseman Rick Lanz. The former Burlington Junior &ldquo;B&rdquo; player has been extremely impressive to date.WINDSOR: Another team out of the gate fast is Windsor Spitfires. With an average goal production in excess of eight. Spitfires jumped into a 3-1 record Coach and general manager Wayne Maxner said he felt his club had good balance, and was working hard.Spitfires&rsquo; captain defenseman Joel Quenneville had four goals and three assists as Windsor crushed Sudbury Wolves 13-2.Maxner said he was also pleased with his veteran forward line of George Kotsopoulos, Ron Friest and Brad Smith.In goal, Windsor has veteran Bob Parent and rookie Roland Melonson from Moncton. N.B. Melonson was voted the most valuable player in the 1977 Wrigley national midget tournament and his acquisition enabled Windsor to trade George Gagnon to Oshawa in exchange for forward Glen Knight.In a separate trade, Windsor sent Randy Sexton to Cornwall Royals in exchange for ex-Ottawa 67 forward Mike Hodgins.London Knights are in first place in the Emms Division two points ahead of Windsor with a 4-1 record.KITCHENER: Although they&rsquo;ve played only three games, Kitchener Rangers are the league&rsquo;s only undefeated team with a record of two wins and one tie. Rangers have given up a total of just six goals&mdash;two each game.TORONTO: Marlies won their first game of the season, scoring the first six goals and defeating Hamilton Fincups 74. Fincups were winless after two starts without coach Bert Templeton who was suspended for the first two league games after an exhibition game incident.Toronto is relying heavily on the line of Gary Dillon. Mark Murphy and rookie Brian Paton. Of the teams&rsquo; first 15 goals, Dillon scored seven of them.American-born Stuart Birenbaum was impressive also in his first junior &ldquo;A&rdquo; league game against Hamilton. Toronto was tipped off about Birenbaum&rsquo;s talents by St. Louis Blues scouts. Birenbaum&rsquo;s father. Aaron, is a team physician for the Blues.HAMILTON: Fincups appear to have made wise draft selections in Doug Shedden and Paul Marshall. Both players scored against Toronto. Fincups&rsquo; veteran defense corps of Willie Huber, Mark Plantery and Brian Ostroski will prove formidable in the cozy confines of Hamilton&rsquo;s Mountain Arena.OTTAWA: In the Leyden Division, Ottawa appears to have righted itself and are on top, one point ahead of the Wolves. Peterborough is again proving tough at home with victories over Toronto and London. However, the Petes are still looking for their first point on the road, losing in Ottawa and Kingston.The Ontario Major Junior Hockey League has hired it&rsquo;s first public relations director. He&rsquo;s 39-year-old Ross Brewitt who worked in a similar capacity with Buffalo Sabres of the NHL and has had plenty of experience in the production of sports magazines. &#9632;

f0032-01

McCarthy Answers Early Critics, Rangers Only Club Without Loss

<h2>ONTARIO MAJOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Sun. Oct. 9)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03161/4045093-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="580" height="445"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. Oct. 1Sudbury 3 at Windsor 13Sun. Oct. 2Niagara Falls 2 at Ottawa 10Sault Ste.Marie 4 at Oshawa 4Sudbury 3 at London 6Tue. Oct. 4Niagara Falls 2 at Hamilton 9Thu. Oct. 6Hamilton 2 at Windsor 5Kitchener 3 at Peterborough 8London 2 at Oshawa 4Fri. Oct. 7Toronto 8 at Sault Ste.Marie 5Ottawa 5 at Sudbury 3Kitchener 6 at London 9Windsor 1 at Kingston 5Hamilton 5 at Niagara Falls 3Sat. Oct. 8Windsor 3 at Peterborough 4<h2>ONTARIO SENIOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings On Sun. Oct. 9)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0498/4045086-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="581" height="221"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sun. Oct. 2Whitby 11, Brantford 4Thunder Bay 5, Barrie 3Fri. Oct. 7Barrie 7, Whitby 5Brantford 5, Mississauga 0Sat. Oct. 8Orillia 5, Thunder Bay 5Cambridge 3, Brantford 2 &#9632;

f0032-03

HOW THEY STAND

(Standings on Mon. Oct. 10)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01272/4045162-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="580" height="364"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Mon. Oct 3Cornwall 8 at Laval 4Tue. Oct. 4Sherbrooke 6 at Hull 8Chicoutimi 4 at Trois-Riviires 7Wed. Oct. 5Verdun 5 at Quebec 7Thu. Oct 6Hull 1 at Chicoutimi 8Fri. Oct. 7Cornwall 9 at Montreal 2Hull 5 at Quebec 9Verdun 16 at Shawinigan 4Trois-Rivitree 6 at Sherbrooke 9Sun. Oct. 9Trois-Rivieres 4 at Hull 3Quebec 4 at Montreal 3Chicoutimi 9 at Shawinigan 6Laval 8 at Sherbrooke 11Cornwall 2 at Verdun 4<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02206/4045155-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="577" height="300"></div> &#9632;

f0033-01

QUEBEC MAJOR HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY DANNY YOUNG</div>CORNWALL&mdash;The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League teams have a new power to contend with this season. The Cornwall Royals have risen to the top of the Lebel division and established themselves as a strong force in the league.After losing their first two games. Rick Paterson lit the Royal&rsquo;s fuse by scoring four goals and leading his team to a 10-3 murder over Verdun.Then Bob Crawford picked up a hat trick and assisted on three other goals to guide the Royals to a 9-7 victory over Laval.Next Dan Geoffrion, who had four points in the 9-7 game, scored three times as Cornwall crushed Laval 8-4.These three Royals have been scoring relentlessly. 32 goals between them, sparking their team to the six-game winning streak and first place.Nobody is more happy about their performance than coach Orval Tessier.I&rsquo;m very satisfied with our team&rsquo;s play. We had a good training camp and after the first two losses we got things together. The line of Paterson. Crawford, and MacGregor has been great. Dan Geoffrion has been super this year on our second line.Super is almost an understatement in evaluating the play of Dan Geoffrion. The son of Boom Boom&rsquo; has really gotten things together this year with 10 goals and nine assists in just eight games.&ldquo;The coach has given me a lot of confidence this year. He told me that he was going to play me on the second line with two rookies and he expected me to come through. He&rsquo;s even using me to kill penalties. Rick (Paterson has helped me a lot, too. I guess my improvement is 75 percent confidence and 25 percent maturity.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03154/4045124-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="567" height="894"><figcaption class="caption-body">DANNY GEOFFRION &hellip; He&rsquo;s Confident</figcaption></div>The line of MacGregor, Paterson and Crawford has been overwhelming.Laval coach Jean St. Jean had nothing but praise for the Cornwall trio.It is certainly the best line in the league. They are as difficult to stop as the line of Lafleur, Shutt and Lemaire.&rdquo;Bob Crawford is leading the league in scoring with 10 goals, 15 assists for 25 points. At 18-years-old. Bob has become one of the league&rsquo;s top scorers.&ldquo;When I first came to Cornwall, I wasn&rsquo;t used to the physical game having come from midget hockey. I only scored one or two goals at the beginning but the coach and my teammates helped me a lot. Now things are going right.&rdquo;Rick Paterson has been an important influence to teammates like Geoffrion and Crawford. The Cornwall veteran has been having a spectacular year himself.With 18 points in the last six games, Rick is now third in league scoring and leads the league in goals scored with 12.&ldquo;Our line has been great. Cam (MacGregor) and Bob (Crawford) have been doing their job. I feel I got a lot out of training with Team Canada We worked hard and did a lot of calisthenics.&rdquo;Coach Tessier is quick to point out that there are others who have been instrumental in the club&rsquo;s success One such player is defenseman Graeme Nicholson. A two time member of Team Canada, Graeme is a great two-way defenseman. He praises the help he&rsquo;s been getting from Cornwall forwards.&ldquo;Our wingers have been coming back a lot and really helping our defense.&rdquo;Cornwall&rsquo;s goals-against average has dropped to under four. They have outscored opponents 54-31.If guys like Geoffrion, Crawford, and Paterson continue to do their thing, the Royals should be tough all year. Playing in the brand new Municipal Center in Cornwall, the Royals are enthusiastic and ready to take on the league.SHERBROOKE: With a disappointing four-and-four record, the Beavers traded five players to Chicoutimi for star center Sylvain Locas. The five-foot-nine, 165 pound All Star was second in the league in scoring last year with 59 goals and 98 assists. In his first game with Sherbrooke. Locas scored once in a losing cause as the Beavers lost to Hull, 8-6.TROIS RIVIERES: The Draveurs have the league&rsquo;s best record. They have scored 41 goals while only giving up 21. Their goals-against average of three is the league&rsquo;s best and a big turnaround from last year. Jean Marc Bonamie, acquired from Shawinigan last week, had three assists against Quebec and followed with two goals as the Draveurs beat Chicoutimi 7-4.CHICOUTIMI: The Sagueneens traded their top scorer to Sherbrooke for five players. The principles they picked up were Burton Martin, a 18-year-old robust style player. Michel Brisebois. a solid skating winger, and Larry Mensour, a young player with potential. Francois Gravel and Michel Champigny were also in on the deal. Coach Gingras feels it was a good trade. &ldquo;We have obtained three players 17-years-old or less. The trade will help us now and for the next three years.&rdquo;Quebec: was ahead of Montreal by two goals midway through the third but had to settle for a 5-5 tie. The Nordiques gave a tough battle to strong Trois Rivieres but lost 4-2. The Nordiques defeated Verdun 7-5 to move into third place.SHAWINIGAN: The hapless Dynamos have yet to win a game. They put up a good fight against Hull, but lost 6-5. Then they looked strong against Cornwall for two periods trailing by only 4-3 but then the Dynamos fell apart giving up three third period goals while scoring none.HULL: Claude Larochelle and Jean Latourelle. arrested last week, were back in the lineup for Hull. They each scored once as Hull beat Shawinigan 6-5 and Larochelle had two goals and two assists as Hull defeated Sherbrooke, 8-6. There was 4,075 Hull fans that came to see that game as the Olympiques outshot Sherbrooke 47-29.LAVAL: After losing a hard fought battle to Cornwall. Hull exploded with four goals within seven minutes 16 seconds of the third period to edge second place Hull, 8-7. Patrick Daley scored five goals for Laval, the last one at 16:01 of the third which proved to be the game winner.MONTREAL: The Juniors have played all their games on the road and done suprisingly well. They scored two goals within eight seconds midway through the third to tie Quebec 5-5. Richard SuWek had three goals and two assists as Montreal clobbered Chicoutimi 8-3.VERDUN: The Black Hawks looked impressive as they defeated Sherbrooke 7-5. Two nights earlier Sherbrooke had beaten them 7-4. Yves Fontaine had a hat trick in the losing cause. Norman Aubin has taken Lucien Deblois&rsquo; place as the club&rsquo;s big scorer. He scored two goals and two assists in the 7-5 victory to give him a total of 10 goals and eight assists in eight games. &#9632;

f0033-03

Royals’ Trio Making Club Sizzle; Sherbrooke Trades Five For Locas

<h2>WESTERN CANADA LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Thu. Oct. 6)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03180/4045245-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="532" height="435"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Sat. Sept. 24Lethbridge 4 at Medicine Hat 6New Westminster 6 at Victoria 5Sun. Sept. 25Seattle 3 at New Westminster 5Medicine Hat 0 at Lethbridge 6Regina 2 at Brandon 8Tue. Sept. 27Flin Flon 6 at Saskatoon 4Medicine Hat 5 at Calgary 4Seattle 4 at Victoria 5Wed. Sept. 28Flin Flon 4 at Lethbridge 7Thu. Sept. 29Regina 6 at Billings 3Flin Flon 3 at Medicine Hat 2Fri. Sept. 30Flin Flon 5 at Calgary 5Portland 4 at Seattle 2Brandon 3 at Saskatoon 8Victoria 3 at New Westminster 4Sat. Oct. 1Portland 1 at Victoria 3Calgary 6 at Medicine Hat 6Lethbridge 4 at Billings 6Sun. Oct. 2Medicine Hat 8 at Calgary 5Flln Flon 1 at New Westminster 7Victoria 4 at Portland 10Saskatoon 4 at Regina 8Mon. Oct. 3Flin Flon 7 at Victoria 6Tue. Oct. 4Calgary 6 at Billings 0Lethbridge 5 at Saskatoon 8Wed. Oct. 5Calgary 3 at Billings 11<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04116/4045238-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="580" height="755"></div><h3>LEADING GOALERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0578/4045231-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="582" height="295"></div> &#9632;

f0034-03

Looking At WCHL Race

<div class="byline">BY BRUCE PENTON</div>LOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTDArnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE SLUGGERHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTDArnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaNEW WESTMINSTER&mdash;Ernie McLean and his New Westminster Bruins are in a rebuilding year, they said They&rsquo;ll be lucky to finish third in their division this year, they said. They&rsquo;ll get knocked out of the playoffs, early, they said. Even if the Bruins make the playoffs, they said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01299/4045200-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="559" height="685"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE TAMBELLINI &hellip; Fired Hat Trick</figcaption></div>Early in the 1977-78 Western Canada Hockey League season, while McLean is winging it without the likes of starry defenders Barry Beck. Brad Maxwell and Miles Zaharko plus a host of other full-fledged members of the &lsquo;star&rsquo; class up front, the Bruins are the class of the Western Division. So much for the experts&rsquo; earlier views.It&rsquo;s people like rookies Terry Kirkham. Randy Irving and sensational sophomoric play from John Ogrodnick. John Paul Kelly, Doug Derkson and goaltender Larry Lozinski. who got his feet wet with a few games last year, who are carrying the early load.It can probably safely be said that there is never a &ldquo;rebuilding &ldquo; season at Queen&rsquo;s Park Arena, home of the Bruins. The good young kids just keep on popping up from Bellingham, or Langley, or Estevan, or even Winnipeg, where McLean has a super scout who culls the area for some willing youngsters.McLean&rsquo;s WCHL rivals, who winced for three years as the Bruins dominated league championships, had a field day during this season&rsquo;s exhibition campaign. The Bruins went something like nine straight without a win. even losing once to a Tier II team from B.C.But when the season began, the Bruins began to play for real. And after three games. xMcLean boasted a 3-0 record, the best in the league.For openers, rookies Kirkham and Irving had a goal and three assists each in a 6-5 victory at Victoria over the Cougars.The next night, back in New West, Kirkham&rsquo;s three-point performance propelled the Bruins to a 5-3 win over Seattle Breakers, formerly Kamloops Chiefs.The hat trick of victories came five days later, when the Cougars made a return visit and fell 4-3, despite a late comeback which ended one goal short. Irving. Kirkham and Ogrodnick each had a goal and an assist in that game to lead the way.McLean has picked up defenseman Steve Zanatta from Kamloops and has veteran Brian Young, the lone experienced full-time defenseman on his team, to stabilize the blueline corps.In New Westminster, the theme might be different, but the end result seems to be always the same it&rsquo;s a three-letter word: W-I-N.PORTLAND: The Winter Hawks, favored by most observers to represent the WCHL in next spring&rsquo;s Memorial Cup playoffs, opened their season with a road victory, getting a goal from rookie defenseman Keith Brown early in the third period to snap a 2-2 tie and going on for a 4-2 win over the Breakers. Brown, only 16, was the rookie-of-the-year and defenseman-of-the-year in the Alberta Junior Hockey League last year and some people are saying he&rsquo;s Canada&rsquo;s best defensive prospect since Bobby Orr.SEATTLE: The Breakers didn&rsquo;t make much of an impression on the ice losing their first three games, but they were a big hit at the gate when they opened the home half of their schedule. Playing in front of 3,979 people in the Washington city, the Breakers fell 4-2 to Portland, a team they meet 14 times this season, Elsewhere. George Buat&rsquo;s three-point effort and Ryan Walter&rsquo;s first goal of the year wasn&rsquo;t enough to pull the Breakers past Victoria, which won 5-4.VICTORIA: Rookie Mickey Willgress&rsquo; first WCHL goal was a big one, coming in the third period and snapping a 4-4 tie against Seattle, giving Cougars their first win of the year, 5-4. Paul Enquist, Kim Spencer and Curt Fraser each had three points in that game. Willgress and Dennis Fenske scored late goals in the Cougars&rsquo; next game, but the rally fell short as Victoria lost 4-3 to the Bruins in New Westminster.CALGARY: The Wranglers&rsquo; play had coach Gerry Brisson scratching his head. After blowing a 3-0 lead to Medicine Hat and eventually losing 5-4 at home, the Wranglers went out in their next game and jumped into a 4-1 first-period lead against Flin Flon, also at home. Alas, it happened again. The Bombers roared back to go ahead and it took a late goal by Calgary rookie Tommy Cyr to salvage a 55 tie. Veteran Eugene O&rsquo;Sullivan had three goals in the two games.MEDICINE HAT: Dave Ross should get full-time duty on the Tigers&rsquo; penalty killing team after what happened in Calgary last week. Trailing 3-0. Tigers&rsquo; Ross scored a short-handed goal to make it 3-1, then scored again during an identical situation later in the period to make it 3-2. The shorthanded scoring propelled the Tigers to a 5-4 win, as Ross and Merlin Malinowski wound up with four points each. Malinowski had nine points after three games. Other than the win over Calgary, it was a bad week for the Tigers, who lost at home 3-2 to Flin Flon and on the road, 6-0 to Lethbridge.LETHBRIDGE: Sophomore Dean Solheim got the Helpers&rsquo; Award in the Broncos&rsquo; game against Flin Flon, scoring once and setting up the other six Lethbridge goals in a 7-4 victory. Bombers led 4-2 after one period, but couldn&rsquo;t get anything else past goalie Gord Garbutt, who replaced a rookie net-minder after the first period, and extended his shutout string to five periods plus. He earlier made 30 saves in a 6-0 victory over Medicine Hat. Steve Tambellini also had a good game against the Bombers, rifling in three and setting up three more.BILLINGS: General-manager Bob Strumm made his second major trade with Portland Winter Hawks, sending third-year goalie Jerry Price to Oregon for goaltender Tim Thomlison and some players off Portland&rsquo;s list. During the summer, high-scoring Doug Lecuyer was sent to Portland for seven or eight lesser-known players. The Bighorns&rsquo; WCHL debut was unimpressive &hellip;they lost 6-3 to visiting Regina.REGINA: Sixteen-year-old Doug Wickenheiser&rsquo;s two goals helped the Pats to their 6-3 win in Billings, snapping a 37-game road winless steak the Pats had begun last season. Regina&rsquo;s seasonopener had shades of last year written all over it, an 8-2 loss in Brandon. Gerry Minor, a veteran who centers Pats&rsquo; top line, had both goals against the Wheat Kings.SASKATOON: After losing their opener at home to Flin Flon 6-4, the Blades rebounded to cut up Brandon 8-6, thanks mainly to a 5-1 bulge after the first period. Wes George snapped a slump (one point in six previous games) with three goals against the Wheat Kings. Sophomore Brent Ashton also tallied three times while rookie Lindsay Carson, who had three points in the opener against Flin Flon. picked up four assists against Brandon to take the early rookie scoring lead in the WCHL.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02239/4045193-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="553" height="868"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE ROSS &hellip; Ace Penalty Killer</figcaption></div>FLIN FLON: Mickey Keating said his Bombers would be improved and early returns show the coach wasn&rsquo;t kidding. They opened with four road games and had a 2-1-1 record, highly impressive in in the home-dominated WCHL. Two goals by vets Mel Biluk and Jordy Douglas paved the way to a 6-4 win over Saskatoon; rookie Steve Blue&rsquo;s goal was the winner in a 3-2 triumph at Medicine Hat; two goals by Glenn Hicks and Douglas helped in a 5-5 tie against Calgary; and a three-goal outing by Hicks was in vain as Bombers dropped a 7-4 decision in Lethbridge, after Bombers had led 4-2 after 20 minutes.BRANDON: Defending WCHL scoring champ Bill Derlago got off to a hot start with six goals and three assists in his first two games, but the Wheat Kings could only get a split&mdash;an 8-2 home win over Regina and an 8-6 road loss to Saskatoon. Brian Propp, the 55-goal rookie-of-the-year last season, had a hat trick against Saskatoon. Rookie Dave Stewart helped in the win over Regina with a goal and two assists. Over-age winger Dave Semenko, negotiating with both Minnesota (NHL) and Edmonton (WHA). was still in the Wheaties&rsquo; lineup and played a major role on the powerplay. &#9632;

f0034-01

Rebuilding Bruins Early Surprise; Seattle Hot At Gate, Cool On Ice

<div class="byline">&#x2014; By Bill Hilts</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01288/4045276-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="349" height="412"></div><h2>New England League</h2>According to Jon Wetterlow, the New England Junior Hockey League opened its fifth season of play the end of September. There will be seven teams in the league this year and each will play a 48 game regular schedule, plus playoffs and exhibition games. The teams include five returning franchises from last year&mdash;defending Wallace Cup playoff champion South Shore (Rockland, Mass.) Braves, the Springfield Olympics, the Fitchburg (Wallace) Wallopers, the Skate 3 (Tyngsboro, Mass.) Huskies and the Tri-Valley (Millis, Mass.) Squires; one new franchise in the Cape Cod Junior Cubs; and a franchise that returns to the New England Junior Hockey League after a year&rsquo;s absence, the Berlin (New Hampshire) Maroons. The Junior Cubs, who will play their home games in the Cape Cod Coliseum in South Yarmouth, Mass., played an exhibition schedule on a club basis a year ago.The New England Junior Hockey League, says commissioner Jerry Pass, is the only junior league in the region recognized by the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States and is beginning its second year at junior &ldquo;A&rdquo; status. The NEJHL achieved that status in 1976.The New England Junior Hockey League will once again provide the area&rsquo;s fans with top-rate amateur hockey, says Pass. Games are 60 minutes in length and are played under professional rules. Many of the players in the NEJHL aspire to continue their hockey careers at the college or professional level and are afforded increased ice and playing time through the league.Several team marks were established in the NEJHL last season including: Most victories&mdash;37 by Fitchburg; Fewest victories by Great Bay with just four; Fewest losses&mdash;six by Fitchburg; Most points&mdash;81 by Fitchburg; Fewest victories home&mdash;one by Great Bay; Most losses home&mdash;21 by Tri-Valley; Most consecutive losses home&mdash;Great Bay with 13; Longest winless streak home&mdash;Great Bay with 19; Most ties home&mdash;Springfield with six; Most victories road&mdash;18 by Fitchburg; Longest unbeaten streak road&mdash;Fitchburg with nine; Fewest losses road&mdash;three by Fitchburg. Fewest goals&mdash;123 by Great Bay; Fewest goals allowed&mdash;141 by Fitchburg; Most powerplay goals&mdash;82 by Tyngsboro.<h2>Great Lakes League</h2>The Great Lakes Junior Hockey League opened their 1977-78 season the first of October with five teams in the &ldquo;A&rdquo; division and a like number in the B&rdquo; division. The &ldquo;A&rdquo; division will consist of team from Detroit Junior Wings led by Tom Wilson, Fraser Hylanders under Don Larson and Mike Desler; Cleveland Junior Barons under Hugh Coyle and Bernard Fritchee; Wayne Chiefs, under Pat Behen, Lome McKay and Albert Mickalich; and Allen Park Paddock Pool Saints led by Chuck Robertson, Harry Miller and Bill Hasler.The &ldquo;B&rdquo; division will include U.S.A. Bruins under Sol Segal, Al Gittleman and Frank DiCristofaro; Waterford Lakers under Hugh Melvin, Harold Richardson and Jim Pettit; Lansing Dukes under Walter Waldron, John Foster and Tom Clark; Flint Icelanders led by Gale Cronk and Keith Miller; and St. Clair Shores under Shannon McCarver and Mike Manzella.President of the Great Lakes Junior Hockey League this season is Don Randle of St. Clair Shores. Mich., and he is assisted by junior &ldquo;A &ldquo; commissioner Jack Urquhart of Grosse Point Shores. Mich; junior B&rdquo; commissioner Gale Cronk of Fenton, Mich., treasurer Jack Broesamce of Royal Oak. Mich., secretary Keith Miller of Grand Blanc. Mich., and referee-in-chief Ron Smith of Harper Wood. Mich.<h2>N.Y. - Penn League</h2>Amateur Hockey circles all across New York State are deeply saddened over the sudden death of Fred Rossi, commissioner of the New York&mdash;Pennsylvania Junior League ever since its inception. Fred died the last week in September. He was a great leader and must receive most of the credit for bringing the fledgling NY-P League to the major status it holds today. He always ruled the league with a firm, but fair hand. He was well liked and highly respected by all who knew him. Hockey has lost one of its finest executives and this writer has lost a good friend. We all shall miss him. Our deepest sympathy goes out to his fine family.The NY-P League is pointing toward its mid-October opener and pre-season play has affored some surprises. The Buffalo Jr. Sabres and Rochester Monarchs battled to a 6-6 tie and Mike Farrell of the Jr. Sabres led his team scoring with a pair of goals&hellip;The Niagara Falls Mang Sharks gave notice to arch-rival Rochester that they are going to be a team to be reckoned with this season when they dumped the defending champs 8-2 on Monarch ice. Joe Barrick led the winners with a hat trick. The Sharks also got a pair of goals from Dan &ldquo;Bear&rdquo; Nolan and singletons by Bill Alexander, Owen Gidlow and Dave Raham. For the Monarchs. Bob Hagan netted both markers. The Niagara Falls icers outshot Andy Laing&rsquo;s squad by a hefty 53-24 count&hellip;All is not roses in Chet Kaifas&rsquo; Shark camp however, for a week later they took on the St. Catharine&rsquo;s Falcons of the Ontario Hockey Association&rsquo;s Golden Horseshoe Junior League and the score remained respectable for the first period which ended at 3-1. The roof fell in during the final two periods however and the Falcons piled up 10 more goals. &#9632;

f0035-01

JUNIOR JOTTINGS

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01262/4045314-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">DANNY GARE&hellip;Ignited Exhibition Donnybrook</figcaption></div>BUFFALO&mdash;Last season, the hockey fans of Buffalo complained that their Sabres weren&rsquo;t aggressive enough.That&rsquo;s why the Sabres finished second to the Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League&rsquo;s Adams Division, said the fans, and that&rsquo;s why they went out in four games to the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup quarter-finals.And that early exit and second-place finish is why the Sabres had a new coach this season. Marcel Pronovost, who played 20 rough and ready seasons at defense in the NHL.It&rsquo;s much too early to start pinning medals on Pronovost for the job he is doing with the Sabres. Next May is time enough for that.But the fans of Buffalo, even the most bloodthirsty, had to admit that there was plenty of action in the Sabres&rsquo; early exhibition games. And their team did appear more aggressive.Pronovost didn&rsquo;t have an easy test in his first exhibition game as Buffalo coach Opponent&mdash;the Montreal Canadiens, Stanley Cup champions. In the Forum, which, of course, is sort of Pronovost&rsquo;s home territory. He was born in Quebec.Not too promising, at first, either. The Canadiens took a 3-1 lead into the final period. But the Sabres scored twice in the final five minutes to tie. 3-3.And two of their biggest stalwarts. Jim Schoenfeld and Jerry Korab, got into knockdown fights in a game that saw 78 minutes in penalties doled out.The Sabres&rsquo; general manager. Punch Imlach, who subscribes to the old Toronto Maple Leafs dictum, If you can&rsquo;t beat them in the alley, you can&rsquo;t beat them on the ice.&rdquo; appeared quite pleased after the game. Said he, The fights turned it around. We wouldn&rsquo;t have tied without them.&rdquo;Pronovost merely commented, &ldquo;If you get aggressive and hit, you get goals.&rdquo;Before the game, the new coach had said that he favors aggressive play but he doesn&rsquo;t expect his charges to go out and knock people through the boards. &ldquo;What we have to do,&rdquo; said the former Detroit and Toronto star, &ldquo;is finish out checks; take the man out of the play, then get back into the play before the man we checked gets back.&rdquo;It looked in the opener, as if the Sabres were getting the idea. They continued to play well the next night but lost in Toronto to the Maple Leafs, 2-1, while outshooting the home club, 37-21.Then, the following night in Buffalo, a rematch with the Canadiens and again the Sabres fell to a 1-3 deficit. This time, however, they came back to score three straight goals and win, 4-3. No fights but some solid hitting.In the next start, also at home, a wildly cheering crowd of 13,222 saw the Sabres again come from behind to tie the team that beat them out for the Adams Division title, the Boston Bruins.The score was 2-2 and the 100 penalty minutes also were equal, 50 apiece. A bench-clearing fracas was touched off when Danny Gare. in the penalty box for fighting Boston&rsquo;s Mike Milbury. jumped out to go to the rescue of Buffalo&rsquo;s No. 1 draft choice. Ric Seiling.Bill Hajt of the Sabres and Wayne Cashman of the Bruins got the brawl underway by trading punches in the corner. Seiling and Boston&rsquo;s John Wensink were grappling when, as things quieted down. Wensink started punching the rookie around.Gare. explaining his dramatic entrance into the fray, said, &ldquo;The ref (Wally Harris) told them (Seiling and Wensink) to let go. I saw him motion them and I saw Seiling do as he was requested. But the other guy started socking him. I just didn&rsquo;t like to see the kid in his first pro game get beat up by a jerk like that.&rdquo;Milbury followed Gare out of the penalty box and players from both teams left their respective benches and surged onto the ice.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02200/4045307-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="1186" height="2235"><figcaption class="caption-body">Aggressive play by the Sabres&rsquo; big blueliners, Including Jerry Korab, could put the club in a position to overtake Boston as the leaders of the Adams Division. (Photo by Robert Shaver)</figcaption></div>Seiling had started the play on Buffalo&rsquo;s first goal and he continued to play well after the fight. Pronovost was impressed by the way the rookie went into the corners after the puck and stood his ground in front of the net.&ldquo;He showed some class,&rdquo; said Pronovost. &#9632;

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October 21, 1977

Author Plimpton Bruins’ Goalie

IHL Starting Times

NHL’S… Player of the Week

Islanders Hoping Persson Will Be ‘Swedish Delight’