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.

February 24, 1978

The Hockey News February 24, 1978

<div class="byline">BY TOM MURRAY</div>(Assistant Publisher of THE HOCKEY NEWS)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011092/4051435-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="515" height="553"><figcaption class="caption-body">JEAN-GUY TALBOT &hellip;Not Getting Through</figcaption></div>A FUNNY THING HAPPENED at Madison Square Garden the other night: The New York Rangers won a hockey game. In defeating the Colorado Rockies, 6-3, on Feb. 5, the Rangers recorded their first victory&mdash;after six consecutive losses and one tie&mdash;since Jan. 18, when they defeated the L.A. Kings in Los Angeles. For the Rangers&rsquo; fans, it was the first home victory they had witnessed in 1978&mdash;the last time the Rangers had won at the Garden was on Dec. 23, 1977 against the Cleveland Barons&mdash;and the win came against a team which, at this writing, has won only one game on the road this year.With 28 games remaining on their 80-game schedule, a won-lost-tied record of 17-25-10 and a total of 44 points, the Rangers are once again struggling to make the Stanley Cup playoffs&mdash;which they have missed each of the last two years. Since the Rangers started their &ldquo;Nosedive of &lsquo;75&rdquo;, their fans have been told to be patient and been constantly reminded that their team is young, that &ldquo;Rome wasn&rsquo;t built in a day,&rdquo; and that it takes time to become a contending team. The fans understood that, and they kept pouring into the Garden, usually filling it to its capacity (17,500) regardless of whether the opponent was the Montreal Canadiens or the Washington Capitals.The Rangers were dreadful, but they always tried. They skated and backchecked and forechecked and always looked like they were making an effort. No matter how inept they were, they hustled, hit and worked, and for this they were appreciated.<h2>Lack Of Aggressiveness</h2>NOW, IN THE MIDST of their third rebuilding year, the Rangers seem to be in worse shape than they were when the words &ldquo;Rangers&rdquo; and &ldquo;Rebuilding&rdquo; were just starting to become synonymous. Most of the time this year&rsquo;s team looks confused, unsure and tentative, like a group of pee-wees playing in their first scrimmage. The only difference is in the hitting: Pee-wees hit more and are much more aggressive than this Ranger team.Oh, sure, there are some exceptions, some bright spots on what is an otherwise pretty dismal team: Nick Fotiu, the Rangers&rsquo; &ldquo;designated hitter, skates and hits Uke crazy whenever he&rsquo;s given the opportunity by coach Guy Talbot&mdash;but Nick rarely gets the ice time he deserves. Pat Hickey backchecks and forechecks relentlessly, is the team&rsquo;s leading goal scorer, and has emerged as the best all-round player on the Rangers. Defenseman Dave Farrish unleashes a hip check which connects every once in a while, and several other players make occasional contact with the opposition&hellip;but overall there is an absolute paucity of hitting on the team. And when a team is losing so badly that it is in danger of missing the playoffs for the third year in a row and still doesn&rsquo;t hit, it suggests that they just don&rsquo;t give a damn.While it may well be presumptuous and even irresponsible to say that no one on the Rangers cares, it is certainly not unreasonable to say that this team simply isn&rsquo;t getting the guidance and direction it so desperately needs. Right now, this team needs guidance and direction more than any of the priorities which have been mentioned in the last few weeks: Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson of the WHA are rumored to be coming to the Rangers for a sum exceeding $2 million; Sonny Werblin, the new Garden czar, has been talking about signing up some of the Soviet players for next year, and a newspaper columnist recently wrote that the Rangers should import Anatoly Tarasov, the famous Russian coach who developed so many of the outstanding Russian players.<h2>Bring Over Soviet coach</h2>THIS LAST SUGGESTION, although highly unlikely, is what the Rangers need more than Hedberg, Nilsson or the best Russian players in the world. More than anything else, the Rangers need a system and, more importantly, a coach who can successfully articulate his system to the players.No group of players, no matter how talented, is going to win anything unless there is a set system for each player to follow religiously. It is this total lack of a system which seems to be the problem with the Rangers. The players have been grumbling lately that Guy Talbot has nothing to say to them in the locker room between periods, and it shows on the ice. It is very obvious that there just doesn&rsquo;t seem to be any communication between Talbot, general manager John Ferguson, and the team.For two years New Yorkers have been hearing Ranger management make the same excuses: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re rebuilding;&rdquo; &ldquo;The playoff set-up is unfair;&rdquo; &ldquo;We got some bad injuries at the wrong time&hellip;&rdquo; The list of explanations for the Rangers&rsquo; horrendous play for the last several years could go on forever. But the fans aren&rsquo;t going to go on forever, and they&rsquo;re not going to tolerate statements like the one Ferguson made shortly after the Colorado victory: &ldquo;This is just the beginning,&rdquo; he said with a smile, referring to the beginning of the Rangers&rsquo; latest surge into the playoffs.If a win over an awful team like the Rockies inspires playoff talk from the Rangers&rsquo; GM, then things are getting really, really bad. Ferguson has got to face up to the facts: He and Talbot have simply been unable to get the gist of their system across to their players. As a result, after two years under the Ferguson-Talbot regime, the Rangers really don&rsquo;t have a system.<h2>System Would Help</h2>THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM? Bring in someone who has some experience as a winner, who knows how to get the most out of his players, who knows how to get his message across so that it&rsquo;ll be understood beyond a shadow of a doubt. God only knows the Rangers have let enough of these kinds of men escape from their organization in the past (The Flyers&rsquo; Fred Shero is one). The time has come to go out and look for a coach and/or GM, a good one. It&rsquo;d be well worth it to spend some of the money set aside for Hedbert and Nilsson on someone who can get some results.For perfect examples of system coaches, look at the four best teams in the NHL right now&mdash;the Islanders, the Bruins, the Canadiens and the Flyers. All four are coached by strategists&mdash;Al Arbour, Don Cherry, Scotty Bowman and Fred Shero, respectively&mdash;who have definite jobs for their players to perform and patterns for their lines to follow every second they&rsquo;re on the ice. Surely it doesn&rsquo;t hurt to have a Bobby Clarke. Guy Lafleur or Bryan Trottier around, but most of the players on these four teams are your basic &ldquo;blue collar&rdquo; types who adhere to the systematic style drummed into their heads by their coaches.While it&rsquo;s very pleasant to fantasize about a well-coached, winning team in New York, chances are the present administration will finish out the current season&mdash;despite a hot rumor that Ferguson&rsquo;s house is up for sale. But by next season something has to be done if the Rangers expect to continue flourishing in New York. The incredibly loyal fans&mdash;many of whom are paying as much as $12.00 per seat for the privilege of watching the Rangers&mdash;aren&rsquo;t going to come and fill the Garden forever. And Gulf and Western, the corporation which owns the Rangers, will definitely run out of patience before they run out of money.And here&rsquo;s one other gem the Rangers&rsquo; brass had better be thinking about. Any day now some people out in New Jersey are supposed to be breaking ground for a new sports complex, a complex which will easily accomodate a major league hockey team. The word is that 51 percent of the Rangers&rsquo; season ticket holders have New Jersey addresses. If that&rsquo;s true, and if it&rsquo;s also true that the complex is going to take no more than three years to construct&hellip;the Rangers don&rsquo;t have a helluva lot of time to get their act together. And if it&rsquo;s taken them three &ldquo;rebuilding&rdquo; years to achieve their present state of mediocrity, who in his right mind is willing to bet that under the present administration they&rsquo;ll be contenders three years from now?Your move, Sonny Werblin. &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Tailspinning Rangers Need ‘Ice Direction’ Before It’s Too Late

<h2>Where IHL Teams Play</h2><h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01302/4053252-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="570" height="842"></div> &#9632;

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OTHER LEAGUES

INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY JIMMY BRYAN</div>INDIANAPOLIS&mdash;The World Hockey Association came after the Birmingham Bulls with handcuffs, leg irons and league treasurer following their latest adventures in the combat zone&mdash;a two-night rumble with the Indianapolis Racers.The Bulls and Racers went at each other Saturday night in Birmingham and Sunday night in Indianapolis. They split on the scoreboard, Bulls winning 52 at home, Indy winning 6-1 at Market Square Arena.Saturday night&rsquo;s game in Birmingham resulted in suspensions to Bulls&rsquo; coach Glen Sonmor (three games), winger Frank Beaton (three games) and center Kenny Linseman (one game). Sonmor was assessed $2,500 for waving goalie Wayne Wood to the other end when Racer goalie Gary Inness made the sides uneven in a brawl. Beaton was taxed $1,000 and Linseman $500.The Racers drew no fines or suspensions from the World Hockey Association, which made the moves without benefit of game films. Referee Peter Moffat passed out 103 minutes in penalties, 63 to the Bulls and 40 to Indy. Racer Bill Prentice received a gross misconduct and teammates Kevin Devine, Barry Wilkins, and Innesss game misconducts. Beaton, Steve Durbano and Gilles Bilodeau caught game misconducts for the Bulls.The two major altercations came in the game&rsquo;s dying seconds, at 19:27 and 19:39.Saturday night was only a preliminary. Sunday night in Indianapolis was war. Referee Ron Harris passed out 165 minutes, 105 to the Bulls and 60 to Indy. Durbano and Phil Roberto got the hook at 3:04 of the first period, and Dave Hanson followed them at 16:57 of the second. With Linseman and Beaton out already, Birmingham&rsquo;s remaining lines were putting in overtime shifts and the pace told later in the game.The Bulls, Racers and Cincinnati Stingers continue to battle in the sixth, seventh and eighth spots. Generally, it&rsquo;s Birmingham sixth, Cincy seventh and Indy last.Birmingham had recent leads of six points over the Stingers in seventh but coach Jacques Demers&rsquo; team came up with a five-out-of-six streak to draw even with the Bulls at one stage. Indianapolis moved up a bit with Friday and Sunday wins sandwiched around Saturday night&rsquo;s loss. The Racers beat Quebec 5-4 in overtime at Indianapolis.Birmingham owner John Bassett, who replaced suspended Sonmor back of the bench in Indy Sunday, said he would protest the loss because of a rules breach which allowed two Racers to leave the penalty box illegally. Peter Driscoll was in for a five minute slashing infraction against Pat Westrum at 3:39 and Bill Goldsworthy went off with Bulls&rsquo; Serge Beaudoin at 4:18 on coincidental minors. However, when Mark Napier scored a power play goal, the game&rsquo;s first, at 4:38, the offending players were released. Birmingham was supposed to keep its four-on-three for another 1:40 and a five-on-four for 4:01.Instead, when Peter Marrin drew a two-minute hooking penalty at 5:16, the Racers tied it on a power play of their own.&ldquo;It was an obvious misinterpretation of the rules,&rdquo; Bassett said. &ldquo;I tried to tell them about it, but they wouldn&rsquo;t listen. We&rsquo;ll protest the game, but I doubt it&rsquo;ll do any good because of who we are. It won&rsquo;t matter. They got what they wanted, and that was to beat us.&ldquo;We found out about the suspensions to Sonmor, Linseman and Beaton at three o&rsquo;clock in the afternoon. There was no way we could get players in to replace them at that time. Inness started the whole thing in Birmingham with stick work around the goal. He&rsquo;s out there playing, and Linseman is out for spearing. He&rsquo;s (Linseman) the first player in the league to be suspended for spearing.&rdquo;Sonmor, who watched the game from the stands, was more incensed than Bassett. &ldquo;Three Racers officials, including owner Nelson Skalbania and coach Ron Ingram, were in the officials dressing room after the Saturday night game and that&rsquo;s against the rules. But they weren&rsquo;t penalized for that.&ldquo;And the officials were so worried about what we were doing Sunday night they screw up the rules and probably cost us the game. We score another goal or two during the five-minute penalty and it&rsquo;s a different game.&ldquo;They tell us about the suspensions when there&rsquo;s no time to replace anybody, and they make those decisions without looking at a game film or getting our side of it. The video tape clearly shows Inness whacking our guys around the goal. It&rsquo;s a conspiracy and it&rsquo;s ridiculous. I hope they accomplished what they set out to do.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s some kind of justice they&rsquo;re dispensing. They condemn us before we do a thing. Everybody liked us when we were in last place and losing every night, but now that we&rsquo;ve become competitive and aggressive it&rsquo;s a different matter.&ldquo;I am personally conferring with my attorney about legal action against the league,&rdquo; Sonmor said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been maligned in the press and held up to public ridicule by their actions, without benefit of a hearing. I was challenged by at least six fans in the stands Sunday night, and it&rsquo;s not my nature to walk away when I&rsquo;m being called the foulest names imaginable by these fans.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not going to change our aggressive type of play,&rdquo; Sonmor said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not out to start fights every night, but we&rsquo;re sure not backing away from any. We&rsquo;ll skate hard and check hard, because that&rsquo;s the type team we have and that&rsquo;s the only way we can win.&ldquo;Birmingham has the best franchise in the league right now. We had crowds of 12,824, 11,139, 9,175 and 11,454 during four of our six games at home. That&rsquo;s better than anybody in the league is doing. It appears they&rsquo;re trying to run us out of the league, but I can&rsquo;t understand why. Indianapolis is drawing 5,000 and we&rsquo;re drawing 11,000. Which franchise would you rather have?&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01417/4052976-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="566" height="1085"><figcaption class="caption-body">GILLES BILODEAU&hellip;Draws Game Misconduct</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Battling Bulls’ Pocketbooks Lighter After Two-Night Rumble With Racers

<div class="byline">BY RICHARD PROCTOR</div>WINDSOR&mdash;The Ontario Major Junior League took it&rsquo;s midwinter break last week with the second annual All Star game between the Emms Division, representing the six Western Ontario teams and the Leyden Division.The Emms team, coached by Windsor&rsquo;s Wayne Maxner squandered a 3-0 first period lead but won the game in the final 15 minutes on goals by Windsor defenseman Joel Quenneville and Niagara Falls&rsquo; winger Mike Gartner.The National Hockey League scouts, who were here in abundance for the game, might not have been overly impressed with the talent that is eligible for this spring&rsquo;s draft. But the long term looks good. Gartner, who impressed everyone with his play for Team Canada at the junior world cup, has another year of junior eligibility and he was everyone&rsquo;s choice as the outstanding Emms player. In addition to scoring the insurance goal, Gartner combined with Windsor&rsquo;s Gerry Leroux to score a short-handed goal against Kingston&rsquo;s Jim Lockhurst that gave his team an early 2-0 lead.If Gartner had any competition for Emms player of the game, it was from another younger player&mdash;Pat Riggin of London. Riggin was the only goalie to record a shutout in the period he worked. He blocked 10 shots overall for the Emms team but many of those came in the opening five minutes of the well-played match when Leyden players coached by Brian Kilrea of Ottawa had perhaps their best scoring chances.Wayne Gretzky of the Sault Greyhounds, who still has three years of junior days ahead, received the nod as top player for the Leyden Division with a goal and assist. However, many coaches and general managers felt Gretzky was not the dominant player for his team, pointing out that he was on the ice for four of the six Emms goals. They felt Ottawa&rsquo;s Steve Marengere, Kingston&rsquo;s Tony McKegney and Brian Crombeen or Sudbury&rsquo;s Dave Hunter would have been a better selection.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s getting so that Gretzky just has to lace up his skates and he&rsquo;s automatically the star of every game,&rdquo; grumbled one Leyden division general manager. A defensive-minded coach suggested that if Gretzky was playing for his team, he&rsquo;d probably have about 100 points fewer than he has now.Gretzky and Ottawa&rsquo;s Bob Smith are tied for the league&rsquo;s scoring race with 141 points.To be fair to draft-eligible players, several of the top ones were unable to play because of sickness and injury. Smith, Tim Higgins and Shane Pearsall from Ottawa 67s and Dan Lucas from the Sault were all picked to the All Star team but didn&rsquo;t play for the Leyden squad.Also out of that lineup was Greyhounds&rsquo; Craig Hartsburg with a knee injury. Hartsburg has one more year remaining.Toronto&rsquo;s Mark Murphy didn&rsquo;t play either after injuring his hand in a fight against Windsor&rsquo;s Brian Gustafson five days before the game.Hamilton&rsquo;s Jay Johnston scored the opening goal of the game after Niagara Falls&rsquo; center Stan Adams won the faceoff and slid the puck to Johnston at the left point.After Gartner made it 2-0 on his shorthanded goal, the London Knights gave the Emms team a three goal cushion. Dino Ciccarelli knocked Rob Ramage&rsquo;s rebound past Lockhurst. Jim MacRae picked up an assist as well on this power play score.Peterborough&rsquo;s Keith Acton put the Leyden team on the scoreboard early in the second period after a good set-up from Hunter. But Leroux tapped in a goal-mouth pass from Toronto&rsquo;s Gary Dillon midway through the second period to restore the three goal difference.Late in the period, Ottawa&rsquo;s Jim Fox scored from a power play marker from close range with assists to McKegney and Gretzky. Then Oshawa&rsquo;s Mike Pidgeon reduced the lead to 4-3 sweeping a backhand past Niagara Falls&rsquo; Bob Froese who replaced Riggin. Ottawa&rsquo;s Bjorn Skaare had Crombeen assisted on the goal.After Gretzky tied the game with a slap shot from the blueline, many observers thought they would have overtime again. Last year St. Catharines&rsquo; Dale McCourt, now with Detroit Red Wings, ended the All Star affair in sudden-death overtime with his third goal of the game.But Quenneville and Gartner, on a perfect pass-out from Dillon, sent the 4,200 fans home on schedule.Despite a second period lapse, Emms outshot Leyden 41-33. Referee Jim Lever called only four minor penalties, three to the winners.In a day of internal meetings prior to the game, the league&rsquo;s board of governors voted 9-3 to stick by its earlier decision not to allow Doug Sheddon to play for Kitchener Rangers this season.Sheddon, Hamilton&rsquo;s first round draft pick and a minor midget last year, was &ldquo;loaned&rdquo; to Kitchener in December for the balance of this season. Under the league&rsquo;s constitution, teams are not allowed to trade either first round picks or minor midgets in their first year of play. The loan was designed to circumvent the rules and it was obvious to everyone that Sheddon was the &ldquo;player to be named later&rdquo; in the simultaneous trade that sent Jody Shaw to the Rangers in exchange for Gaston Gingras.However, Sheddon and the Rangers are upset at the league&rsquo;s ruling and the situation will probably end up in the Ontario Supreme Court. Sheddon, who has been assigned to Guelph Holiday Platers of the provincial junior circuit has 12 goals in his last nine games and the struggling Rangers feel he could help in their search for a playoff berth.The Sheddon case did reach that court briefly two weeks ago but was dismissed pending the second vote by the league&rsquo;s governors. It has not yet been heard on its merits.What has most governors upset about the matter is that the Kitchener club has a transcription of a conference call in January on the Sheddon affair which will be used as evidence in any court appearance. Kingston Canadians&rsquo; governor Walter &ldquo;Punch&rdquo; Scherer was the only other governor to vote with Kitchener and Hamilton.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01301/4053588-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="509" height="587"><figcaption class="caption-body">PAT RIGGIN&hellip;Shutout All Stars</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Pro Scouts Eye Youth At All Star Tilt; Sheddon Hearing To Supreme Court?

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01666/4053986-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

Cover-01

The Hockey News

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02908/4051252-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg"></div><h2>Stingers Deal Three To Racers, Whalers</h2>CINCINNATI&mdash;The Cincinnati Stingers, battling desperately to win a playoff berth in the WHA, indulged in some hasty trading they hoped would help shake the team from its season-long lethargy.With a record of 22-30-2 and holding down sixth place in the eight-team WHA, the Stingers swapped their No. 2 scorer, Rich Leduc and Claude Larose to Indianapolis in exchange for Reg Thomas and Darryl Maggs. Later the Stingers sent defenseman Ron Plumb, the club&rsquo;s third leading scorer and the WHA&rsquo;s best rearguard last season, to New England for Greg Carroll.<h2>Hull Advises Swedes To Grab NHL Offer</h2>TORONTO&mdash;Bubby Hull of the Winnipeg Jets thinks his esteemed linemates, Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson, have fulfilled their obligation to the Jets and the WHA and if he were giving them any advice, he&rsquo;d tell them to accept the $1,600,000 offer the New York Rangers are making to the Swedes to get them into the NHL next season.Hull said he would not hesitate to recommend that Hedberg and Nilsson accept the Rangers&rsquo; offer because as far as he&rsquo;s concerned the two are worth every cent they can get. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t agree with the claim that the Rangers&rsquo; offer to the Swedes is so far out of line. They know they are two of the better players in hockey today. I&rsquo;m confident they can play anywhere. Some of the Winnipeg fans may feel let down, but I also say they have discharged whatever obligation they had.&rdquo;<h2>Nanne Takes Over North Stars</h2>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;The Minnesota North Stars, struggling with the NHL&rsquo;s second worst record, have cleaned house at the top as they installed veteran defenseman Lou Nanne as both general manager and coach.Nanne, who is 36, replaces Jackie Gordon as GM and Andre Beaulieu as coach. He also becomes the North Stars&rsquo; third coach of the current season. Beaulieu inherited the job from Ted Harris but achieved little success at the helm of the NHL club. The Stars were 11-35-5 when Nanne took over and promptly won one game and tied another in his NHL coaching debut. Team president Gordon Ritz said a change had to be made. He added the North Stars view Nanne as &ldquo;one of the brightest and most able men in hockey today.&rdquo;<h2>Injuries Catch Up With Leading Islanders</h2>LONG ISLAND&mdash;It had to happen and just when the Islanders were showing some of that potential to become a cup contender everyone knows they have this season.The injury bug bit into the Islanders last week sending both center Wayne Merrick and Mike Bossy, the hot scoring rookie right winger, to the sidelines. Merrick, obtained in a recent trade to give the team depth down the middle, was the most seriously injured of the two. He was hospitalized for observation after he rammed his midsection with his own stick after apparently tripping over his own goaler&rsquo;s stick (Billy Smith). He then fell, hitting his head on the goalpost.Bossy, who is striving to become the-NHL&rsquo;s first 50-goal rookie scorer, will miss at least two games with a bruised shoulder. He has scored 40 goals<h2>Team Canada Coach Facing Season Ban</h2>NEW WESTMINSTER&mdash;Ernie (Punch) McLean, the man who coached the unsuccessful World Cup Team Canada junior squad this season, faces a suspension for the rest of the season after allegedly punching out a WCHL referee.It is charged McLean, who guides the New Westminster Bruins in the Western Canada Major Hockey League, punched referee John Fitzgerald as the official skated past the Bruins&rsquo; players bench in a game at Portland, Ore. League president Ed Chynoweth returned to his Calgary office to deal with the situation but the possibility exists McLean could be out for the rest of the year, including the WCHL playoffs as well. &#9632;

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DEADLINE STOPPERS

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011003/4051221-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GARY DORNHOEFER&hellip;More Concerned About Team Crisis</figcaption></div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Add another memorable moment to the Flyers&rsquo; history in the Spectrum.This time it wasn&rsquo;t a goal by Bobby Clarke or Rick MacLeish or spectacular goaltending by Bernie Parent.This time it was a standing ovation. If you&rsquo;ve watched many Flyers&rsquo; games over the years at the Spectrum, you know that ovations, as prompted by &ldquo;suggestions&rdquo; from the message board, frequently border on absurd. No one has ever been given a standing salute for renewing his season tickets, but don&rsquo;t bet against it.The cynics kept quiet, however, the night Flyers&rsquo; fans saluted Gary Dornhoefer. That&rsquo;s right, Gary Dornhoefer, the 35-year-old winger with the educated elbows who had been suffering during a miserable self-declared final NHL season. Injuries, which have followed Dorhoefer throughout his hockey career, combined with the emergence of Paul Holmgren as a worthy successor had kept Dornhoefer virtually idle.On this special night Dornhoefer hadn&rsquo;t even scored a goal&mdash;yet. What triggered an emotional response from the nightly 17,077 was news that Dornhoefer was playing in his 700th game with the Flyers.The fans stood and cheered, realizing just how important Dornhoefer has been to the Flyers&rsquo; success. The fans like the Philadelphia coaching staff, also realized how valuable Dornhoefer can still be to the Flyers&rsquo; mission this season.Dornhoefer is an emotional person, as he showed the night Ed Snider tossed a formal dinner in tribute to Bobby Clarke&rsquo;s first Hart Trophy. Dornhoefer&rsquo;s voice quivered as he talked about how proud he was to play on the same team with Clarke.Had he known what the cheering was for the night he played his 700th game, he might have needed a towel to wipe away the tears.&ldquo;I really didn&rsquo;t know what they were clapping about,&rdquo; he said after Parent and the Flyers had blanked Colorado, 3-0. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want, to look at the scoreboard because we were ready to face off. But then somebody told me, and I really appreciated it, especially the way things have been going.&rdquo;Things hadn&rsquo;t been going according to plan for the Flyers, as they slipped into second place behind the Islanders in the Patrick Division. Several players were suspected of loafing, and no longer caring about the team&rsquo;s welfare. Too many Flyers were inconsistent.Dornhoefer wasn&rsquo;t one of the accused. First, he hadn&rsquo;t been playing as the Flyers careened close to their first losing month (4-4-5) since the 5-7-2 record of February 1975. A knee-ligament injury had sidelined him for eight games. When he did return, he scored his first goal of the season in Denver.After sitting out two games, he scored again against the Rockies on the night Philadelphia cheered him.&rsquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03681/4051214-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="553" height="680"><figcaption class="caption-body">GERRY CHEEVERS Designated No. 1 Goaler</figcaption></div>All indications were that the Flyers would make good use of Dornhoefer during the season&rsquo;s critical homestretch.&ldquo;Maybe sometimes you&rsquo;re searching for something and all the time you had it right in front of you,&rdquo; said assistant coach Terry Crisp. &ldquo;Maybe, in trying to prepare for the future, we forgot. Maybe you don&rsquo;t have to look that far ahead.&rdquo;Referring to Dornhoefer&rsquo;s Spectrum goal against the Rockies, an admiring Crisp said, &ldquo;Where else do you see that? He fought his way out of the comer, skated in front, took a shot from that man-mountain (Barry Beck) and tipped in the puck.&rdquo;Dornhoefer&rsquo;s concern for the Flyers&rsquo; crisis situation was apparent a few days earlier when he talked about a meeting he had with Clarke and Joe Watson.&ldquo;We just decided we needed to alleviate some of the load from Clarkie,&rdquo; said Dornhoefer. &ldquo;Joe and I thought we could talk to some of the guys. We have a tradition of winning in Philadelphia. With younger guys coming in all the time, it&rsquo;s the responsibility of the older guys to get them in the right frame of mind. If the attitude of some is &lsquo;If I can&rsquo;t play here I&rsquo;ll go somewhere else,&rsquo; we&rsquo;U remind them they won&rsquo;t find any better place to play than Philadelphia.&rdquo;When people talk about the &ldquo;heart&rdquo; of the Flyers, Clarke&rsquo;s name is deservedly mentioned first. But players such as Dornhoefer, Watson and the late Barry Ashbee held a large piece of that heart.The Flyers&rsquo; biggest task isn&rsquo;t winning another Stanley Cup this season. Their task is to find capable replacements for the Dornhoefers and Watsons. If their search is successful, the Stanley Cups will follow. &#9632;

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THE NHL

Injury-Plagued Dornhoefer Returns To Standing Ovation In 700th Game

<div class="byline">BY MIKE DENNIS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011010/4051290-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">If they&rsquo;re going to pay Hedberg and Nilsson $475,000 a year, then Guy Lafleur should get a million a year.</blockquote>&mdash;Yvan Cournoyer Montreal CaptainMONTREAL&mdash;He was once the best junior player in Canada. Then the best skater in the National Hockey League. Then the best right winger. Then the best player in the league.Now he&rsquo;s called the best in the world and the only thing left for Guy Lafleur is to be called the best of all time. He may make it&mdash;he enjoys hockey that much, and he&rsquo;s willing to work and work at being the best and he&rsquo;ll accept nothing less.Lafleur is held in awe by just about everyone who is witness to his breathtaking finesse on ice. It begins the moment Canadiens&rsquo; coach Scotty Bowman taps him on the shoulder and he heads over the boards into play. The audience, especially in Montreal&rsquo;s Forum pays strict attention.Not unlike Bobby Orr during his hey-days in Boston Garden or Gilbert Perreault in Buffalo&rsquo;s Auditorium, when Lafleur circles his net to begin an assault on the opposite end of the rink, a rising crescendo engulfs the arena as the crowd&rsquo;s anticipation grows. Like Orr, like Perreault, even when Lafleur&rsquo;s sorties are aborted, he is apt to regain the puck like there was a string attached to it and renew his goalward thrust.Lafleur will keep trying to split the defense, send a teammate into the clear or control the puck in the opposition&rsquo;s zone long enough for someone to get free. Though he appears more frail than many of his robust partners with his blond mane swept back from an almost angelic face, Lafleur has been tested out to have the most stamina of anyone on the team, a team which has to rank first or second in the league in overall conditioning.His seemingly effortless skating and ability to shift in either direction at top speed make it an adventure for the NHL defensemen who must see him bearing down on them in their nightmares.A few weeks ago Bowman placed Lafleur on right wing alongside Pierre Larouche who was coming back from a knee injury. &ldquo;I want to get Larouche going and Lafleur&rsquo;s going to help any line he&rsquo;s on,&rdquo; said Bowman.On another of the rare occasions when Bowman broke up the celebrated Lafleur-Jacques Lemaire-Steve Shutt combination, rookie Pierre Mondou, who has a startling array of &ldquo;moves&rdquo; much like Lafleur, found himself with the puck along the boards and Lafleur in the slot. Mondou passed, Lafleur scored. Later Mondou said; &ldquo;A pass is a pass, but a pass to Lafleur is a goal.&rdquo;On Feb. 9 the Canadiens tied a club record of 21 games without a loss for the third time, gaining a hard-fought 3-3 tie at home against a similarly-streaking Chicago Black Hawk team (seven consecutive wins, one loss in 14 games).Following the game Lafleur had a few observations about the game in particular and the Canadiens and hockey in general.After being shutout through two periods, the Canadiens fell behind 3-1 with just 6:52 left to play. They scored twice within 12 seconds to gain the tie. Asked if he felt or could tell when the Canadiens wouldn&rsquo;t be able to win a game, Lafleur said, &ldquo;No, you can&rsquo;t give up, you just keep working to get your chances. Sometimes all it takes is one goal to get us going so we never stop trying.&rdquo;About the new-look Hawks and the calibre of the play in the NHL this year, Lafleur remarked: &ldquo;You can really see the difference in some of these clubs the way they are working. 1 think because there are three or four players fighting for one job on almost every club, that the entire league is working harder.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02867/4051283-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1097" height="1078"><figcaption class="caption-body">One of those rare occasions when someone catches up to Guy Lafleur happened In Nassau Coliseum when Islander&rsquo;s Denis Potvin levelled Lafleur (left) with this bone-Jarring hit. Somehow, Lafleur wasn&rsquo;t hurt. Most of the time, it&rsquo;s Lafleur that does the hurting to NHL opponents with great skating and scoring ability.</figcaption></div>With 37 goals in his first 51 games this year, Lafleur-did admit that he was shooting more. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s my game&mdash;to skate and shoot. Jacques (Lemaire) gives me the passes and Steve (Shutt) goes for the rebounds. I just try to make sure my shots are on net. If they don&rsquo;t go in then Steve will have a chance for the rebound.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very happy with the year I&rsquo;m having. We&rsquo;re winning and that&rsquo;s the big thing and the line is going well,&rdquo; Lafleur said. &ldquo;Even though it&rsquo;s getting harder and harder to score. The other teams try to stop us and not let us open up the game. I find that there&rsquo;s always somebody beside us. We just have to work to get free.&rdquo;The constant attention paid to the Lafleur-Lemaire-Shutt trio has also brought Lafleur in for more than his usual share of crunching bodychecks.Of course, to hit Lafleur you first have to catch him, a pursuit rarely accomplished by even the finest skaters in the NHL, but among others he&rsquo;s had close encounters of the upsetting kind (as in balance) with Boston&rsquo;s Stan Jonathan and the Islanders&rsquo; Denis Potvin.&ldquo;I saw Jonathan coming,&rdquo; explained Lafleur about a check which sent him reeling at the Forum earlier this year, &ldquo;but with Potvin, it was only at the very last second and I couldn&rsquo;t do a thing about it.&ldquo;Sometimes a hard check is good for you,&rdquo; Lafleur smiled, &ldquo;it wakes you up, gets you in the game. &ldquo;Which, in most cases the opposition feels they would rather not do in Lafleur&rsquo;s case.&ldquo;I guess what I like best about playing for Canadiens is that everybody is conscious of a championship feeling surrounding this team. There&rsquo;s pride, good spirit. That&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s so nice about playing. Nobody lets down, everybody works.&rdquo;Former Canadiens&rsquo; coach Toe Blake walked into the weight room where Lafleur was getting dressed following the Hawks&rsquo; game. Said Blake: &ldquo;You played your best game in quite awhile and what happens, not a point.&rdquo;&ldquo;Oh, but we got a point in the standings,&rdquo; Lafleur corrected, &ldquo;and we had plenty of chances to score.&rdquo;On Canadiens&rsquo; record-tying night, Lafleur did not cash in on his chances, but his ability to do so makes him the world&rsquo;s most exciting player and a sight unparalleled. He wouldn&rsquo;t have-it any other way. &#9632;

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Lafleur Striving To Be All-Time Best

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011061/4051349-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="482" height="483"></div>&#9679;IF YOU compare the number of tie games per team in the WHA with those of the NHL the obvious difference is the 10-minute overtime period that the WHA uses. It not only settles a lot of tie games but it also makes the last half of the third period in a tie game much more interesting for the fans&hellip;Roy Storey, former NHL broadcaster, has turned up as the home-and-away voice of the new Pacific Coast League&rsquo;s San Francisco Shamrocks. Several teams in this new loop have set up home-and-away radio coverage&hellip;The Chicago Black Hawks finished 20 points behind the Los Angeles Kings last season, but ex-King coach Bob Pulford has the Hawks about even with the Kings this year&hellip;Pulford has done one of the outstanding coaching jobs in the NHL this season&hellip;NHL clubs seem to be returning to the one-goalie system. Backup netminders rarely get into games in Buffalo, Toronto, Minnesota, Colorado, Chicago, Atlanta, St. Louis and Los Angeles lately&hellip;Colorado Rockies continue to fare well at home. The Rockies are maintaining a better than .500 pace at McNichols Arena&hellip;John Ziegler has been president of the National Hockey League six months now and appears to be making a fine impression everywhere. Ziegler is the fourth NHL president and the first to be born in the United States and a resident of that country. He is also the first to be both chairman of the board and president at the same time&hellip; Nice to see Tom Fitzgerald, recently retired hockey writer of the Boston Globe and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee, is a recipient of the 1978 Lester Patrick awards for outstanding service to hockey in the United States. Tom covered the Bruins longer than any Boston hockey writer. Fine article in the February issue of HOCKEY PICTORIAL titled: &ldquo;Why No National TV Network Wants Hockey.&rdquo; The sensational Bryan Trottier of the New York Islanders in on the cover.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021016/4051342-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="292" height="448"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Ziegler</figcaption></div>&#9679;CINCINNATI STINGERS&rsquo; officials revealed recently that rookie forward Paul Stewart received a death threat. Considered the &ldquo;muscleman&rdquo; of the team, Stewart said he received a telephone call while making a promotional appearance at a Cincinnati shoe store. &ldquo;The man said that if I played against Houston I wouldn&rsquo;t leave the arena alive,&rdquo; Stewart said. Nothing happened and the Stingers went on to win the game, 1-0&hellip;L.A. Kings tried rotating four lines this season to keep players fresh in the winter warmth of-southern California&rsquo;s Forum, but recently reverted to three and are trying to reduce their roster. Star regulars prefer a three-line system feeling it gives them a couple more shifts a period, keeps them sharper and provides them more scoring chances&hellip;Mike McEwen, New York Ranger defenseman, is a fair baseball pitcher last summer in Toronto, Mike helped his team pick up the Ontario senior championship&hellip; Mike plans to enter a conditioning program that will enable him to add 15 pounds during this coming summer&hellip;Starting March 2 and running through the last week in March, the Spectrum Fine Art Gallery in New York City will feature a &ldquo;Blades On Ice&rdquo; exhibit. According to Bill Goff, director of the gallery, 45 to 50 works of art, sculpture and photography, many of them devoted to hockey, will be on view. For further information, write (30 W. 57 St., NYC, N.Y. 10019) at 212-246-2525.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03911/4051335-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="309" height="465"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike McEwen</figcaption></div>&#9679;SEVERAL NHL clubs complaining about the poor schedule this year. It is felt some teams receive preferential treatment. It&rsquo;s a tough job trying to please everyone but there seems to be more scheduling complaints heard this season than ever before&hellip;Tom McVie, coach of the Washington Capitals, named his two youngest sons Denver and Dallas. In the recent Super Bowl game, Denver cheered for Dallas and Dallas rooted for Denver&hellip;Greg Polis of the Rangers is sidelined for the remainder of this season&hellip;This is the 11th straight year that Canadiens&rsquo; Jacques Lemaire has scored 20 or more goals per season&hellip;Hockey lost one of its keenest fans and the world one of its finest gentlemen in the recent death of Joe MacDonald of Montreal. Joe seldom missed a Canadiens&rsquo; home game and his seats were alongside the team&rsquo;s bench. His face was very familiar to fans watching the games on television. Joe died after an automobile accident in California. Sympathy goes out to his family and legion of friends&hellip; It&rsquo;Si almost certain Gordie Howe will play another season for New England Whalers. He will be 50 next month and a grandfather in a few more months&hellip;The Boston Bruin Gallery Gods will hold their annual dinnerdance on Monday, March 13 at the American Legion Post 388, Somerville, Mass., with tickets now on sale. Monies collected will go to the local Heart Fund which is chaired by Bruin Johnny Bucyk&hellip; Contact Roger Naples, president of the Gallery Gods&hellip;Notre Dame University hockey team which has been playing excellent hockey after a slow start, received a tough break recently when its leading scorer, Don Fairholm, was lost for the season with a leg injury&hellip;He&rsquo;s a Montrealer who was a perennial star in the Loyola High School Tournament which always has an impressive array of top-notch high schools from across Canada.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04809/4051328-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="286" height="463"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jacques Lemaire</figcaption></div>&#9679;THE WORLD HOCKEY Association&rsquo;s attendance is running about six percent ahead of last year&rsquo;s figures with the most attractive portion of the schedule yet to come. WHA president Howard Baldwin said: &ldquo;We have some franchises not drawing as well as others, for sure, but look at the marked correlation between each team&rsquo;s ranking in the standings and its place on the attendance ladder. To me, that&rsquo;s a positive sign, an indication that the league is maturing&rdquo;&hellip;There will be a San Diego GullsPortland Buckaroos Oldtimers game at the San Diego Sports Arena on March 12&hellip;Familiar names slated to play include Art Jones, Jim McLeod, Jim (Red Eye) Hay, Willie O&rsquo;Ree, Gord Sinclair and Ed Ehrenverth. Proceeds will go to area youth hockey&hellip;Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Gene Carr has already topped his best year with 40 points in his first 49 games and with 12 goals is closing in on his personal best of 15&hellip;Off the ice, following an audit of the Penguin operation, owner Edward De Bartolo was expected to put his own man in charge of the business end of the organization&hellip;Of the 382 players listed on NHL rosters as of Feb. 1, the average player is five-foot-11 and three-quarter inches tall, weighs 187.7 pounds and is 26.3 years of age&hellip;Smallest player is Atlanta&rsquo;s Bobby Lalonde at five-foot-five with Montreal&rsquo;s rookie Gilles Lupien the tallest at six-foot-six. Both Lalonde and Toronto goalie Mike Palmateer are the lightest players at 155 pounds.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05670/4051321-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="299" height="458"><figcaption class="caption-body">Willie O&rsquo;Ree</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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COLUMNISTS

PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-06400/4051380-1-eng-US/f0004-062.jpg" title="f0004-06" width="562" height="792"><figcaption class="caption-body">BARRY GIBBS&hellip;Time To Believe</figcaption></div>Barry Gibbs, a quiet man on and off the ice, is frustrated by the decline of his new team, the St. Louis Blues.Gibbs, traded from Atlanta to St. Louis about two months ago, has been a dependable performer on defense for the Blues. But his fine play has not been translated into an improved record for the team.&ldquo;As a team we&rsquo;ve lost confidence in ourselves,&rdquo; Gibbs said. &ldquo;Everybody tells us We&rsquo;re a bad team, so we&rsquo;re starting to believe it. We&rsquo;re not that bad; we have a lot of individuals with talent and we have to start believing in ourselves or we&rsquo;re going to run out of games.&ldquo;We have to catch Vancouver to make the playoffs,&rdquo; Gibbs said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not going to be the wild-card team. We have to finish in second place.&rdquo;Gibbs came to the Blues along with Curt Bennett and Phil Myre for Bob MacMillan, Dick Redmond, Yves Belanger and the Blues&rsquo; second-round draft choice next year. A few weeks after the trade the Blues enjoyed a golden era that lasted about two weeks. They had a 4-2-2 record in the eight games beginning with their inspiring 3-2 win over Philadelphia New Year&rsquo;s Eve.&ldquo;We were forcing the play in the other team&rsquo;s end,&rdquo; Gibbs said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;re not doing that now, and we&rsquo;ve started to slide back.&rdquo;The Blues lost to Buffalo, 3-1, at home, went on the road for defeats by Los Angeles, 5-1, and Vancouver, 8-3, then were home again to lose to Boston, 5-3, and run their winless streak to eight games with a 2-2 tie against the New York Rangers.&ldquo;As a defenseman I&rsquo;ve got no time to do anything with the puck,&rdquo; Gibbs said. &ldquo;At the other end I see guys standing behind their nets with plenty of time. I see good teams play in the other guy&rsquo;s end.&rdquo;Gibbs would be the first player on a team to notice a lack of team play because he is a team player. He is a defensive defenseman who worries about his contributions in making the puck go the other way.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t mind taking a hit to make the play, but sometimes I have nobody to give the puck to,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I have some bad games myself, and it&rsquo;s hard to play well in all 80 games, but it&rsquo;s frustrating. Everybody has the ability to play, but confidence is 90 percent of the game.&rdquo;Despite the Blues&rsquo; problems on the ice, Gibbs is happy to be with the team&mdash;for two reasons.&ldquo;I like to play and I&rsquo;ve got all the ice time I want,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;For three years in Atlanta we used six defensemen. With that system you get only three shifts a period.&rdquo;The other reason is the city and the hockey organization.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a super city, and everybody around the league knows that and wants to play in St, Louis,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You want to win for the fans here, and you get tight.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m on the ground floor of something in St. Louis, and I hope we don&rsquo;t wait too long to get things together,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When I was in Minnesota, we went 30 games without a win one season and still finished in second place.&rdquo;Before Atlanta and Minnesota, Gibbs also played with Boston. He&rsquo;s in his ninth full season in the NHL and will be 30 during next season&rsquo;s training camp.When Gibbs was with Minnesota, one of his colleagues on the defensive corps was his present coach, Leo Boivin. With the North Stars, Gibbs also was paired with defenseman Ted Harris, and Gibbs credits both Boivin and Harris with helping to develop his talents. &#9632;

f0004-06

Gibbs Frustrated By Blues’ Slide From Confidence

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02838/4051466-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE HUTCHISON&hellip;Consistently Good For Kings (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Dave Hutchison is a big, strong guy. He is a rugged defenseman and a fearless fighter. He hits hard and intimidates foes. He is a poor shooter, only a fair stick-handler, but a good skater. Only 25, he is in his sixth pro season and getting better every season. Sounds good, right? But he is the most controversial King.He is strictly a defensive defenseman. He scored six goals somehow last season, but went four WHA and NHL seasons and 216 games before he got his first, and had none at mid-season this season. He no longer makes a lot of little mistakes on defense, but makes some big ones and in three seasons set the 10-year-old Kings&rsquo; all-time record with 534 minutes in penalties. He sat out 220 minutes last season.There are those who think he helps the club and those who think he hurts it. I, frankly, have been among the latter a lot of the time. Partly because he has taken a lot of foolish penalties at a lot of bad times. And also because he has used his stick as a weapon a lot of times, which is the worst thing in this sport.Many agree with me, including a few teammates, who, naturally, do not want to be identified. One says, &ldquo;He gets carried away with himself. He hurts people for no real reason, and if someone hurts him he has to get back at them even if it hurts the team.&rdquo; Another admits, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s impossible to admire someone who uses his stick the way he does. He&rsquo;s a bit of a bully.&rdquo;However, most teammates do not agree. One says, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got guts and gives us the toughness we need.&rdquo; Another says, &ldquo;You need aggressive players like him, even if he&rsquo;s sometimes over-agressive.&rdquo; Still another says, &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t use his stick any more than players on every other team in the league.&rdquo; &ldquo;He, himself, has always denied he did. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m an enforcer, rather than a goon,&rdquo; he recently told Bob Keisser of the L.A. Herald-Examiner.And the fact is, the six-foot-two, 210-pounder seldom uses his stick in a dangerous way these days, though he&rsquo;s pretty free with his elbows, sometimes right in front of officials in the last minutes of close contests. I&rsquo;ve been on the verge of writing stories about how well he was playing several times when he&rsquo;d pull a foolish penalty and I&rsquo;d put it off. So have a couple of other writers. But he has been playing a strong game most games.However, since Dan Maloney and Terry Harper were traded the Kings have had no one else who intimidated opponents. Maloney fought so well few will fight with him these days. Hutch admires Maloney so much he won&rsquo;t fight with him, and Hutch, himself, fights so well, few will fight him. Harper didn&rsquo;t fight,, but he didn&rsquo;t let foes stand at the goalmouth either. Hutch could be better, here.Dave Schultz was brought in to help Hutch, but he&rsquo;d reformed and didn&rsquo;t help. Hutch has said, &ldquo;I have a job to do. I have to keep peace. I have to keep other players honest and when they pick on my teammates I have to play them back. If I wasn&rsquo;t here, people on other teams would push us around. My team needs me.&rdquo;The Kings agree. Former coach Bob Pulford liked Hutch and said, &ldquo;He polices the ice for us and does a big job for us.&rdquo; Pully played Hutch when others wouldn&rsquo;t have. New coach Ron Stewart plays Hutch regularly. Ron says, &ldquo;Every team needs an enforcer and he&rsquo;s ours. He gives us respect even just being on the bench. And he doesn&rsquo;t take any more foolish penalties than a lot of our players.&rdquo;Hutch has missed 18 games tms season, first with a cut hand, then a bruised thigh. The record, 8-6-4, without him is about the same as it is, 13-12-5, with him. However, the players seem to miss him when he is out and they look forward to his return. Recently, he bravely returned before trainers Pete Demers and John Holmes had his sore thigh in complete control. Welcoming him, Marcel Dionne said, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re simply a lot tougher with him out there.&rdquo;Captain Mike Murphy says, &ldquo;Actually, Dave is the physical leader of this team. We don&rsquo;t have a lot of tough guys and without him we&rsquo;re in trouble. He&rsquo;s matured, he&rsquo;s playing well, and he doesn&rsquo;t get too many bad penalties any more. And he&rsquo;s a holler-guy who gives our guys a lot of encouragement on the ice, on the bench, and in the dressing room.&rdquo;Veteran Butch Goring says, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s changed, developed a lot. He&rsquo;s always worked hard, he always hustles, and with experience he&rsquo;s become a consistently good player. He&rsquo;s one of the few good defensive defensemen around, doesn&rsquo;t get in too much trouble these days, and is a very important player to our team. Other teams respect him and us because of him.&rdquo;A high-spirited, caustic-tongued-character, Hutch has been a hell-raiser, but his marriage last August to his girl friend from his home town of London, Ontario, Alanna Fox, may settle down this good-looking, long-time bachelor. His groupies groaned in unison. Many fans cheer him, but some boo him, which bothers him.He told Dan McLean of the South Bay Daily Breeze that he expects to be booed for doing a dirty job on the road, but not at home, and feels it is unfair and the fans don&rsquo;t really understand his role. In two seasons in the WHA and four in the NHL he feels he has steadily improved and is playing well, which he is.He suggests that if the Kings wanted to trade him, they&rsquo;d find plenty of takers, which is so. Almost everyone wants him, which is why the Kings have kept him and risked him in the regular lineup. He has many more good games than bad games now, so it appears to be paying off. It seems to be that the bad guy is turning into a good player.CORRECTION: In a recent story on Sheila Moran, I said she had given her opinions on the rights of women sports reporters in deposition form to lawyers representing a lady who is suing Major League Baseball, but she reports that she did so only informally.KINGS THINGS: Ms. Moran, first lady to cover a major league team in southern California, has been reassigned to desk duty at the L.A. Times. Don Merry, who covered the Dodgers last season, has been promoted to the Kings. Ted Green goes from the Lakers to the Dodgers. &#9632;

f0006-02

Hutchison Slowly Blossoms While Kings Wait Patiently

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01975/4051497-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GERRY CHEEVERS&hellip;Winning Bottom Line For Him (Photo by Stovo Babineau)</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;It is a nice problem to have. But it is a problem nevertheless. And every now and then it keeps popping up to harass the Boston Bruins.We speak of the three top-flight goaltenders that the Bruins have managed to squirrel away on their roster. The problem is they can only dress two, play one.Coach Don Cherry tried to solve the problem at the start of the season by splitting periods among Gerry Cheevers, Gilles Gilbert and Ron Grahame but it lasted only four games.Then injuries relieved the situation when Cheevers missed seven weeks with strained ligaments in his right knee and, when he returned, Grahame was out three weeks with a damaged finger on his catching hand.Now, with all three healthy, the problem popped up again and this time Cherry solved it as everyone expected he would by nominating Cheevers to play most of tne games in the stretch run toward the Adams Division title.On paper, it was a strange choice. Cheevers has the poorest record of the three, an average of 2.62 goals per game compared to 2.32 for Gilbert and 2.44 for Grahame.But there is a sign that hangs in Boston Garden which says, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re Believers in Gerry Cheevers,&rdquo; and there is a suspicion that Cherry was instrumental in having it hung from the balcony.Last season, when the Bruins overtook Buffalo in the final week of the season, it was Cheevers who played in six of the last seven games, winning five of them including crucial victories over the Sabres and the Islanders.This year, Cherry is starting the stretch run early, that&rsquo;s all.&ldquo;Cheevers will be playing most of the games from here in,&rdquo; Cherry announced almost casually after the Bruins had demolished the Pittsburgh Penguins, 8-2, with Cheevers in the nets, to run their division lead over Buffalo to six points.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll work the other guys in but Cheevers will play most of the games. We&rsquo;ve gotta get somebody hot going down the stretch. I talked to the other two guys and they fully understand. We&rsquo;re very, very fortunate to have two super guys like that.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty tough to go up and tell Gillie Gilbert, who has the third best average in the league, that he&rsquo;s not going to play very much. But not a quibble out of him and the same thing with the other guy (Grahame).&rdquo;Gilbert greeted the news with the rather wan smile with which he has greeted most front office pronouncements this season. It is to be expected from a goalie with a 2.32 average who has been traded at least once a week since last August.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m part of a team,&rdquo; he shrugged. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s tough when you have to prove something in every game. I just want to win and play well. But if I have a bad game the coach may not come back with me. It&rsquo;s tough on Ronnie, too.&ldquo;But I&rsquo;m just going to sit tight. I&rsquo;ve stopped worrying about being traded. If they want to trade me, go ahead. I&rsquo;d rather play in Boston but I&rsquo;m 29-years-old now and I&rsquo;ve been going through this for five years. I don&rsquo;t know if I&rsquo;ll be around when the season ends. I&rsquo;m under a lot of pressure.&rdquo;&ldquo;Sure, it&rsquo;s tough on the guys who don&rsquo;t play,&rdquo; said Cheevers. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s tough too if you don&rsquo;t know who&rsquo;s going to be playing. It&rsquo;s not an ideal situation but it&rsquo;s better to have three goalies than one. As far as I&rsquo;m concerned we&rsquo;re all in the same shoes.&ldquo;There is such a fine line between the three of us that you really can&rsquo;t compare one with the other two. Goals against doesn&rsquo;t mean anything. All that matters is who wins and we&rsquo;re in first place.&rdquo;Trade rumors have subsided lately in Boston and the suspicion is growing that the Bruins are afraid that the 37-year-old Cheevers, a wealthy race horse impresario off the ice, could be contemplating retirement.Behind the Big Three are Jim Pettie, who has played one NHL game, and Dave Parro, the second round draft choice whom some regard as the real heir apparent in the Bruins&rsquo; goal but who will not be ready for two or three years.BRUINS BITS: Linesman Bob Hodges suffered a severed tendon in his left hand when he was cut by a skate while breaking up a fight between Bob Miller of the Bruins and Colin Campbell of Pittsburgh&hellip; Penguins have not beaten the Bruins in Boston since Jan. 28, 1968, when Les Binckley played the game of his life in the Pittsburgh goal for a 1-0 victory&hellip;Gary Doak was suspended for one game for leaving the bench to join in a fight in Buffalo&hellip;Doak explained that he thought the whole Boston bench was going over the boards and he was surprised to find himself alone. &#9632;

f0007-01

Bruins Have Nice Problem With Depth In Goaltending

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011083/4051535-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="412" height="467"></div><h2>The Hockey Fan&hellip;</h2>SITTING BEHIND THEM, we got to know Paul and Lefty at the Giants&rsquo; football games at the old Polo Grounds and later at Yankee Stadium and we started to go downtown with them afterwards to see the Ranger games in the old Garden on Saturday nights. We were not yet torn by the despair of too many defeats. We were young then and our hopes were yet youthful. The memories are marvellous, of course. So often yesterday seems better than today.They stood in the lobby before every game, their backs to one wall, as though holding up the place. They knew almost everyone, including coaches and players, old and new, and the faithful fans, of course, who came by. They sat right behind the old press box and made enduring friendships with writers like Stan Fischler and Dave Anderson. In the years since, they often have been asked to give the typical fan view for the newspapers. They&rsquo;re not typical, but they sure have been fans.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02974/4051528-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="813" height="884"><figcaption class="caption-body">Super Ranger fans Paul and Lefty agreed that Andy Bathgate was the greatest Ranger player they&rsquo;ve seen in more than 25 years of continuous watching. Lefty called Bathgate &ldquo;a Bob Cousy&rdquo; on skates.</figcaption></div>I have written about them before, but I am writing about them again, especially about Paul, because on Feb. 27, he will watch his 1,000th consecutive Ranger home game, pre-season, regular-season, and postseason, a streak stretching more than 25 years. I wrote about them for &ldquo;Goal Magazine&rdquo; late last season but it didn&rsquo;t appear until early this season so a line that he would reach the milestone &ldquo;next season&rdquo; should have been changed to &ldquo;this season.&rdquo; Also, his last name, Gardella, was misspelled, which was my fault. He wasn&rsquo;t surprised. A cynical sort, he comments caustically that he has given better than he has gotten from the game and has never received from the Rangers so much as a single pass, nor even a nod.BOTH PAUL GARDELLA and Seymour &ldquo;Sy&rdquo; Adelson, who is &ldquo;Lefty,&rdquo; grew up in The Bronx and have known each other most of their lives. Both began to go to games on student discount tickets while in high school in the early 1940s so they actually have seen more than 1,250 games. But Paul&rsquo;s attendance was stopped when he was called into service during the Korean conflict and his streak dates back only to the first game of 1953. &ldquo;I celebrated my 25th anniversary as a regular last month. Appropriately, I watched the Rangers lose,&rdquo; Paul points out. A lame leg from a childhood illness kept Lefty out of service, but he has missed one or two games most seasons, maybe 50 iri all. Illness, death in the family, other such duties have kept him away, but such never seems to have stopped Paul. &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t let it happen,&rdquo; he laughs.We all agree Andy Bathgate was the greatest Ranger we ever saw. &ldquo;A Bob Cousy on skates,&rdquo; Lefty terms him. Paul also liked Edgar Laprade, another graceful lad, a lot. I wasn&rsquo;t there then, but Paul and Lefty both remember as their most exciting time and deepest disappointment the closest the Rangers came to the Stanley Cup in their time, the seventh and final game of the final series in 1950 when Pete Babando beat them in the 28th minute of overtime.&ldquo;A Ranger hit the goalpost with what would have been the winning goal in that game,&rdquo; Paul recalls. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know which Ranger because it was in Detroit and I was listening on the radio and the announcer wasn&rsquo;t sure. Every Ranger who was in the game has it since,&rdquo; he sighs. &ldquo;The only other team which had a chance was the 1972 team which lost the final to Boston in six games, but that team would have had to have had every break in the book to beat the Bruins. Most of the time since 1950, the Rangers have been a bad team.&rdquo;IN FACT, A FOURTH, fifth, or sixth-place team 26 times in the 35 years he has been going to games. Seeing 1,000 straight home games may not be as tough as playing in them, but it may be tougher. Paul is paying, not being paid to show up, and then, anyway, no one has played in that many in a row. And it has been a bad, discouraging team to follow. Both were rewarded better for following the football Giants or baseball Giants, at least until they left town. Lefty and his Sophie live on Long Island now and are closer to the Jets and Islanders. Paul and his Anna and their son Mike and daughter Daria still live in the Bronx, and going to Giant games, either team, is a bit too tough now. He says, &ldquo;I had about 15 straight seasons without missing a game in football, too, and the football Giants gave me a championship season in 1956. The baseball Giants gave me one in 1954. These rank with Bobby Thomson&rsquo;s pennantwinning home-run in 1951 as my greatest thrills. I wish the hockey club had contributed one. It won&rsquo;t be the same, but for the second straight season I&rsquo;m picking the Islanders to win the cup and that would be exciting.&rdquo;Gardella has gone to Ranger games after having had lye thrown in his face and being stabbed in the knee &ldquo;by a demented dwarf.&rdquo; He broke his ankle playing softball one summer and was disappointed when the cast came off before he could be wheelchaired dramatically to the opening game in the Garden. I have suspected the streak was more important to him than the games, but he says this isn&rsquo;t so and he&rsquo;d have swapped it all for one game in which the club captured the Cup. And he says now, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll end the streak after this season. Not sooner because I&rsquo;ve paid for my season tickets already and I don&rsquo;t want to be cheated out of a dime by this team.&rdquo; I asked him if he was ending it to ease the pressure of it. He said, &ldquo;No, because the team is the worst yet. It hasn&rsquo;t been any fun for a long time. I&rsquo;m depressed. I&rsquo;ve lost all hope. Even the wartime teams were better because they tried harder. Even in the 50&rsquo;s, players risked themselves to make plays. Few do today. I have friends who don&rsquo;t even know I go to games. I hide stories about me from them. I&rsquo;m ashamed,&rdquo; he said.It&rsquo;s sad. &#9632;

f0008-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03824/4051566-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">TERRY HARPER&hellip; No. 4 In Plus-Minus Statistics</figcaption></div>DETROIT&mdash;Ted Lindsay has always been a favorite of Detroit hockey fans, and the feeling is mutual. Lindsay calls Detroit fans &ldquo;the best&rdquo; and says they were justified in their harsh treatment of the Red Wings in recent seasons.The new Wings&mdash;Lindsay&rsquo;s version&mdash;have given the fans plenty to cheer about. Their progress has been more rapid than anybody had a right to expect. The fans seldom boo the home team these days. But they do boo on occasion. Most of those occasions are when Terry Harper is on the ice.And that, friends, makes Lindsay fighting mad. And who wants to fight with Terrible Ted?&ldquo;When I took over this job. I said how knowledgeable the fans here were,&rdquo; Lindsay said. &ldquo;But I can&rsquo;t understand why Terry Harper gets booed. It can only be that the fans don&rsquo;t realize the role this man is playing for us.&ldquo;He is not the smoothest defenseman, but he is the stabilizer back there for us, to our young defensemen. He&rsquo;s the only man on the team who knows the fundamentals of playing defense. He&rsquo;s been schooled with the best in Montreal. As slow as he looks out there, he is doing the job that Bobby (Kromm) and I want him to do.&ldquo;Terry might be upset at the fact that I&rsquo;m expressing this opinion, but when a man is a pro like he is and does the job like we want him to do, and does it well, it bothers me too hear him booed. He doesn&rsquo;t complain about it, but that&rsquo;s the kind of class he has.&ldquo;Terry Harper is a student of the game. He&rsquo;s a st dent of everything he does. He is a pro.&ldquo;A lot of people never saw him play when he was younger and they think he has slowed down a lot and can&rsquo;t shoot the puck anymore. But he could never shoot the puck. It&rsquo;s amazing that he could play for those great Montreal teams without having a very important fundamental, a strong shot. That tells you how effective he was in other phases of the game.&rdquo;The day after Lindsay&rsquo;s comments, the NHL released its plus-minus figures after 40 games and there, ranked No. 4 in the entire league, was Terry Harper, 38, a veteran of 16 NHL seasons, the last three with Detroit.&ldquo;I try to ignore it (the booing).&rdquo; Harper said. &ldquo;I have a lot of thoughts on it. When I played in Montreal, I saw everybody get booed, even the superstars like Jean Beliveau and Jacques Plante. Here, I think it&rsquo;s got something to do with my comments when I was traded here. I said I didn&rsquo;t want to come to Detroit, because it was a bad organization. I said the organization was screwed up, and it was. I had nothing against the city. Heck. I didn&rsquo;t know anything about it.&ldquo;It was the same thing Marcel Dionne was saying when he left. The fans still boo him when he comes back. He left because he didn&rsquo;t like the organization, either.&ldquo;In Montreal they got on me the year after they were on Beliveau. One night, in the playoffs, I made an end-to-end rush and scored. The fans gave me a standing ovation. Someone said it was the longest and loudest ovation they had given a player in years. The next day, one of the writers said in the paper that the silent majority, which is seldom heard, finally spoke up.&rdquo;Lindsay tried hard to make a deal for a right winger but admitted he&rsquo;s not close to anything and it would take a surprise development to secure one.The Wings have been searching for help at the position since last summer and thought they had found some people to give them help there but, so far, they haven&rsquo;t; turned out. And that left the Wings in trouble.The problem became acute in a pair of tough losses, including a 5-3 setback at home against Pittsburgh in a &ldquo;showdown&rdquo; for third place in the Norris Division. The Wings bombarded the Penguins with 51 shots but goalie Denis Herron was as imposing as the Great Wall of China. Still, the Wings had their chances and couldn&rsquo;t capitalize.The Wings have been getting great scoring balance, six players were in double figures, and a host of others crowded around the seven-eight goal mark. Of the right wingers, however, only Bill Lochead had more than 10 goals. The others were having their troubles. Dennis Polonich was getting the best chances among the rest but moaned, &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t buy a goal, It just won&rsquo;t go in.&rdquo;The Wings weren&rsquo;t getting any offense out of Vaclav Nedomansky and Dennis Hull and it was worrying coach Bobby Kromm. He had counted on the two veterans to provide offense. When they didn&rsquo;t, their value to the team was negligible.Tim Sheehy, who came over from the WHA with Nedomansky, didn&rsquo;t have a point in 16 games with the Wings and was demoted to Kansas City, where his slump continued. He showed some signs of finally breaking it, however, and management held its breath hoping he was beginning to find the range. Sheehy is a right winger. The best line at KC had Sheehy with first-year pro Rob Plumb and Bob Ritchie on the left side.Also playing well down in the minors was veteran defenseman Jean Hamel, who got the call after a 2-0 loss in Cleveland. This time, Gilles Meloche stoned the Wings. &#9632;

f0008-03

‘Old Pro’ Harper Steadying Wings

Following are the latest player movements in hockey:<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>BOSTON&mdash;Darryl Edestrand, D, recalled from Rochester of AHL.BUFFALO&mdash;Wayne Ramsey, D, and Joe Kowal, LW, returned to Hershey of AHL. Richard Martin, LW, placed on disabled list for 14 days with head injury.CLEVELAND&mdash;Ken Kuzyk, D, returned to Binghamton of AHL.COLORADO&mdash;Barry Beck, D, placed on disabled list with pulled leg muscle. Mike Christie, D, placed on disabled with eye injury sustained in fight.DETROIT&mdash;Al Cameron, D, assigned to Kansas City of CHL.LOS ANGELES&mdash;Tommy Williams, LW, Don Kozak, RW, recalled from Springfield of AHL.MINNESOTA&mdash;Lou Nanne, D, placed on voluntary retired list after being named general manager and coach of North Stars. Nanne replaced Andre Beaulieu as coach and Jackie Gordon as GM. Chris Ahrens, D, returned to Fort Worth of CHL. Kevin McCloskey, D. returned to Fort Wayne of IHL. Tom Reid, D, placed on disabled list with skin rash problem. Nick Beverley, D, returned to lineup from injury list.MONTREAL&mdash;Bob Gainey, LW, placed on disabled list with shoulder separation.N.Y. RANGERS&mdash;Jerry Byers, LW, returned to New Haven of AHL. Don Murdoch, RW, returned to lineup from injury list.N.Y. ISLANDERS&mdash;Mike Bossy, RW, placed on disabled list with shoulder injury. Wayne Merrick, C, placed on disabled list after being hospitalized when he rammed into goal post.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Al Hill, C, Drew Callander, C, and Blake Dunlop, LW, all returned to Maine of AHL. Brian Holmgren, LW, placed on disabled list for 3 to 6 weeks with shoulder injury.ST. LOUIS&mdash;Claude Larose, RW, returned to lineup from injury list. Brian Ogilvie, C, placed on disabled list with separated shoulder. Len Frig. D, assigned to Salt Lake of CHL.VANCOUVER&mdash;Cesare Maniago, G, returned to lineup from injury list, Murray Bannerman, G, returned to Fort Wayne of IHL. Bob Manno, D, recalled from Tulsa of CHL as replacement for John Grisdale, D, who is on disabled list with muscle spasms in his lower back. Ron Sedlbauer, LW, returned to disabled list with concussion.WASHINGTON&mdash;Jean Lemieux, D, returned to Hershey of AHL.<h2>WORLD HOCKEY ASSN.</h2>CINCINNATI&mdash;Rich Leduc, C, and Claude Larose, LW, traded to Indianapolis in return for Reg Thomas, LW, and Darryl Maggs, D, Ron Plumb, D, traded to New England in return for Greg Carroll, C.INDIANAPOLIS&mdash;Eddie Mio, G, recalled from Hampton of AHL. Peter McDuffe, G, handed outright release. Gary Inness, G, placed on suspended list for two games. Bill Goldsworthy, C, named player-coach replacing Ron Ingram, who remains as GM. Rosaire Paiement, RW, currently on disabled list with eye injury, named assistant coach.<h2>NHL Leaders</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011046/4051597-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="589" height="626"></div> &#9632;

f0009-01

Hockey Players On The Move

<div class="byline">BY HARRY KLAFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-02893/4051628-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">CHICO RESCH&hellip;Reacted Positively To Pressure (Photo by Bruce Bonnett)</figcaption></div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;It was a strange feeling for Chico Resch. After watching the last two All Star games from the goal crease, he had to be content watching this year&rsquo;s matchup from the comfort of his living room.And he saw teammate Bill Smith&mdash;who generally had played second fiddle to Resch over the past two&mdash;play brilliantly and collect the car as the game&rsquo;s Most Valuable Player. Not that he minded, of course; he was thrilled for his best friend.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s difficult to explain the relationship between Smitty and myself,&rdquo; said Resch recently. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a teammate; he&rsquo;s a good friend; but we both play a position where only one can play at a time. There&rsquo;s no way that we both can be out there together at the same time.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to use the word, &lsquo;competition,&rsquo; he continued. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not like we&rsquo;re &lsquo;competing&rsquo; for the job, but sometimes it comes out that way. I like to look at it as &lsquo;sharing.&rsquo;&ldquo;Did you ever hear that song, Dueling Banjos?&rsquo; First one banjo has his shot, then the other one. They go back and forth, and finally in the end they&rsquo;re making beautiful music together. That&rsquo;s what Smitty and I are&mdash;a duet.&rdquo;Since Glenn first rose to prominence during the Islanders &ldquo;miracle&rdquo; playoff of 1975, he was considered the darling of the Nassau Coliseum crowd and was generally accepted as &ldquo;number one&rdquo; by the paying folk despite coach Al Arbour&rsquo;s pleas that, &ldquo;I have two number one goaltenders.&rdquo;Chico was spectacular in 1975-76, and was voted to the second NHL All Star team behind Ken Dryden. Last year he lost that honor to Rogatien Vachon, but still played fine hockey, posting a 2.28 goals-against average. However when he lost a pair of games to Philadelphia and Boston in the final week of the regular season, Smith opened the playoffs and continued in the same superlative fashion he has all this season.Now it was a case of Chico on the outside looking in.Arbour began the current season by alternating his goaltenders a game at a time, or two at a time. But it quickly emerged that Smitty was sharp and Glenn wasn&rsquo;t. Not that never having your average go above 2.50 is something to hide in the closet about.For Chico, it was disappointing. He would look brilliant in spots, only fair in others. Sometimes he would display a reversal in form within the same game.&ldquo;I guess I don&rsquo;t have my head screwed on right,&rdquo; was about all the popular net-minder could offer for an explanation.Most fortunes in the hockey world do go in circles, and Resch is happy to report that he&rsquo;s back in form. And he&rsquo;s not the only one to let you know.&ldquo;Chico&rsquo;s been playing fine, fine hockey for us recently,&rdquo; said Arbour after he had stopped the Rangers in late January for his third consecutive victory. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s attacking the puck better and he&rsquo;s challenging the shooters. He&rsquo;s got his confidence back.&rdquo;Resch has another explantion for his better play of late. He feels that all athletes perform better under pressure, and the fact that Smith has played well has added to it.&ldquo;No question about it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;In order to be a professional, you have to be able to do your best when the heat is on. In some ways I have more pressure on me this year because I know that if I don&rsquo;t play well, I could find myself on the bench for a couple of weeks before I get another crack at it. Then it&rsquo;s downhill from there.&ldquo;But you have to react positively to the pressure. Sure, there are plenty of times you say to yourself, &lsquo;Who needs all this?&rsquo; Then you go out and play your best and you&rsquo;re quite pleased afterward.&rdquo;This year Glenn has been following the rapid rubber through the European &ldquo;Bird Cage&rdquo; mask, something that Smith has also added to his repertoire.&ldquo;It has its advantages,&rdquo; commented Resch. &ldquo;First of all, there&rsquo;s more cooling air to get to your face, and second, it allows you to see the puck better at your feet. In a game in Philadelphia earlier in the year, I made a save, but the puck bounced down. Before I could find the darn thing, Billy Barber put it in.&rdquo;Whatever the reason though, Resch is back in form, something which greatly boosts the Islanders&rsquo; Patrick Division and ultimately Stanley Cup hopes. When the pair of puck-stoppers are at the height of their collective games, the Islanders are virtually unbeatable.Even if they both can&rsquo;t play at the same time.ISLAND SOUNDS: When Mike Bossy scored his 33rd goal of the season against the Rangers on Jan. 28, he broke Bryan Trottier&rsquo;s goal mark for an Islander rookie, two nights later he added a pair of goals to surpass the team mark of 34 held by Clark Gillies. The Isles won that night 6-2, for their sixth consecutive victory, also a new team record&hellip;Eddie Westfall was hospitalized in late January for treatment of an intestinal ailment&hellip;Bob Nystrom is once again Nassau County chairman for the annual March of Dimes Walk-a-thon&hellip;Denis Potvin continues to fly. He&rsquo;s playing the best hockey of his career and should be the man to beat at Norris Trophy time. &#9632;

f0009-02

Resch Gets View From Other Side Sharing Isles’ Netminding Chores

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011070/4051659-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"></div>DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION ON HOCKEY?Write to:FAN FORUM,The Hockey News,1434 St. Catherine St., W., Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7<h2>An Unsung Hero Habs&rsquo; Jacques Lemaire</h2>After viewing the 1978 All Star game 1 have finally decided to voice my opinion on one of hockey&rsquo;s unsung heroes, Jacques Lemaire.I use the word unsung because he is probably best known for his goal on Tony Esposito which led to Montreal&rsquo;s victory in the 1970-71 Stanley Cup finals. However, not many people know he had 44 goals in a single season (72-73) and a lifetime total of 323 goals at the All Star break. This after only 10 years in the NHL. Since joining the Habs he has always had 20 or more goals per season.When he broke into the NHL it was said that he looked out for himself by staying out of the comers and avoiding the rougher aspects of the game. However, in the last three years, he is playing more aggressively and venturing into the corners regularly.When the players were picked for the All Star game he was overlooked by the sportswriters even though he is in the top 10 in scoring. And when coach Bowman filled out the roster he was again overlooked.All I want is to see him get his due recognition and with the inception of the Frank J. Selke Trophy he will have this chance. Also there&rsquo;s the Lady Byng Trophy to be won. Right now, he is sixth in scoring and deserves to be recognized as one of the best.Let&rsquo;s see him in the 78-79 All Star game for the sake of good hockey fans.ROBERT PERRY, Renfrew, Ont.<h2>Islanders&rsquo; Smith Is Very Underrated</h2>I feel Billy Smith of the New York Islanders is one of the most underrated players in hockey. Whenever you happen to pick up a hockey periodical you are bound to see the picture of Ken Dryden splattered all over the front page. On the inside, you will most likely come across some print on Rogie Vachon or Glenn Resch. I think it&rsquo;s about time Mr. Smith received some recognition.Smith was easily the choice for this year&rsquo;s Clarence Campbell All Star squad. Smitty has one of the best goals-against average in the league, and could easily have had four shutouts. He has recorded one against Chicago, and in a 9-0 rout against Atlanta he gave way to Goran Hogosta with less than 10 minutes left. Twice against Boston he lost a shutout with less than 30 seconds to go due to some sloppy stickwork by his teammates.More importantly though, Billy carried the Islanders through last years playoffs with solid performance against Chicago, Buffalo, and Montreal. He has been a stallwart performer in goal since the team&rsquo;s inception.JOE MURRAY, Fairview, New Jersey<h2>Disagrees With Credit Given IHL Management</h2>After reading the letter by Glenn Lechner in the Dec. 30 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS congratulating Bill Beagan of the IHL for enforcing high moral standards, I feel compelled to write. I really can&rsquo;t believe Mr. Lechner has any close knowledge of what the IHL has been like in past seasons, and even in this current season.One only needs to look at PIM records, especially for teams such as Toledo and Kalamazoo, to see that the IHL has more than it&rsquo;s &ldquo;share&rdquo; of goons!! For the past three seasons, at least, it has seemed like any game involving a Kalamazoo or Toledo team has been like a replay of the movie &ldquo;Slapshot&rdquo;, even playoff games. Not exciting, developmental hockey, just pure &ldquo;goon-ish&rdquo; style of play.I was never more pleased, or surprised, than when Willie Trognitz was banned from the IHL, and the ban upheld. This player should have been banned season&rsquo;s ago, along with several other players some of whom have retired, some have moved on, and some are still playing in our league. If Mr. Beagan is to deserve the plaudits he is now getting, he will let this &ldquo;Trognitz incident&rdquo; be only the first in a long line of disciplines to be enforced in a professional &ldquo;unbiased&rdquo; manner.Another step toward getting the violence under control&mdash;and not only the IHL should be interested&mdash;is a better brand of official. Perhaps even using former players, as one IHL official stated, and having all officials undergo more rigorous training. As it is now, officials losing control (?) of a game by trying to mete our fair penalties (which is usually five minutes team A, five minutes team B) have allowed innumerable instances of brawling.Let me say I&rsquo;m not coming down on the IHL, I am an ardent follower of the Flint Generals, but I want to go to a hockey game and at least see some actual hockey played.SHARI SINCLAIR, Burton, Mich.<h2>Another Side Of Willie Trognitz Incident</h2>I am writing concerning a letter in the Dec. 16 issue from Brooklyn, N.Y. In this letter &ldquo;Credit&rdquo; was given to the &ldquo;tough management&rdquo; of the International Hockey League in the Willie Trognitz incident.So many people have voiced agreement with the lifetime suspension I can&rsquo;t believe they know the whole situation. I don&rsquo;t know what really happened, I was not there. However, I have seen Willie Trognitz play on several occasions in the past three seasons and have seen him fight, too, always fair.Then there&rsquo;s Archie Henderson. He had 502 minutes in penalties last season. He also had five fights during training camp this year.I do not believe Willie got a fair shake from the commissioner, the board of governors or misinformed fans. Violence is getting out of hand in this game. There should be something done, but done to the goons.SHELLY LANGENDERFER, Erie, Mich.<h2>Can&rsquo;t See Canadiens Chosen Before Turnbull</h2>I would like to know why Ian Turnbull was not selected to the All Star team. His statistics show that he&rsquo;s just as good as Guy Lapointe and he&rsquo;s definitely better than Serge Savard.The only good defensemen in Toronto are Salming and Turnbull. The Leafs are contenders because of these two, not just Salming. Against Montreal, the Leafs have done well. Perhaps they could do better in playoffs. But I would like to know why Bowman would pick Savard over Turnbull. I can understand with Lapointe out of the lineup but yet he chose Gainey and Lemaire to replace Lapointe.I&rsquo;ve always thought All Star meant the best players available. But now I figure it&rsquo;s just a way of giving one of his own a non-deserving allowance.B.A. CAMPEAU, Cornwall, Ont.EDITOR&rsquo;S NOTE: Montreal coach Scotty Bowman intended to add Lemaire to the Ail Star game roster but Lemaire was injured a few days before the game and had to sit out to be ready for the next regular season game.<h2>Upset L.A.&rsquo;s Goring Not Named All Star</h2>This year marks the seventh year that Butch Goring has been a regular player for the Los Angeles Kings. During that time, plus 78 games in. two years as a semi-regular, Butch Goring scored 182 goals and 249 assists for 431 points. This year, he reached the most sought after milestone in hockey, 200 career goals.He has scored 21 or more goals in each of those seven years as a regular, and has 25 this year with nearly 30 games to play.However, when the Prince of Wales All Star team was chosen besides Rogie Vachon, who was voted onto the team, only Marcel Dionne was selected from the Kings. I cannot believe that.Marcel and Rogie are terrific. They deserve the selection. But what about Butch Goring? He is a steady, two-way player who never stops hustling. The Forum Fans here in L.A. love him Most Popular player in 1973, 75, 76. He has never been selected to play in the All Star game, despite 279 points in the last four years. He is a super player.I am certain that I speak for many Los Angeles Kings faps and Butch Goring fans in saying that I am appalled by the fact that Goring was not chosen.MEL POWELL, Los Angeles, Calif.<h2>In Answer to Suggestion To Find Another Sport</h2>In answer to Jim Neimer telling me to &ldquo;&hellip;get interested in another sport.&rdquo; (Dec. (16). As far as I am concerned, hockey is the only sport and many people down here in south Florida know about me and hockey. There have been no less than three articles about me and my love of this sport in the past two years.Throughout his career, Ron Harris (Seals, Red Wings, Flames and Rangers), was my favorite hockey player&mdash;try to tell me he wasn&rsquo;t a hard hitter. I played many years of hockey and have the stitches to prove it.The hard hitting and fast action are what make me fly and drive to games whenever I can. I also watch over 90 games a year on television. Football, basketball, tennis, etc., they are all cute, but hockey is the sport.I will never be as interested in another sport. You picked on the wrong guy.Debbi Zappi, (Dec. 23), please give me some credit, I know that Schultz was an L.A. King at the time I wrote my letter and has since been traded to Pittsburgh but the way my letter was edited it came out like I was talking about the Flyers and their fans. I too am a Flyer fan but I don&rsquo;t go for the dirty stuff.GARY E. GOLD, Ft. Lauderdale. Fla.<h2>One Of Many Upset By North Stars</h2>I&rsquo;m just one of the many Minnesotans that are upset with the North Stars.&lsquo;They&rsquo;re in professional hockey and don&rsquo;t play like it. If Minnesota&rsquo;s high school champion played them it would be quite a game. The Stars have great individual talents but won&rsquo;t put them all together. During exhibition play last fall they were doing great but during regular season play they fell apart.The team should set individual goals and also team goals. The best teams and players in the NHL and WHA do it. If they didn&rsquo;t they wouldn&rsquo;t be giving so much effort and great playing.When the North Stars beat Montreal those two games they showed their talents and that they have what it takes to be a good team. What gets the fans mad is when they beat Montreal and lose to Colorado or Vancouver.LISA THEILER Bloomington, Minn.<h2>LETTER OF THE WEEK</h2><h3>Sabres Will Be First In Adams Division</h3>I am a 17-year-old Finnish schoolboy and have been a subscriber to THE HOCKEY NEWS for one year. I am a Buffalo Sabre fan and I&rsquo;m writing in order to get some facts cleared up.I&rsquo;ve found out that Buffalo is not appreciated enough as a hockey city. First of all, in the NHL there are not so many cities that can boast of having bigger attendance than the Sabres have in every home game. Maybe they have to win the Stanley Cup before they will be appreciated like e.g. Montreal, Philadelphia and Boston. Secondly, what makes THE HOCKEY NEWS selectors think that the Bruins are a better team than the Sabres (Oct. 14 issue). I believe the Sabres can win the Adams Division as well as the Bruins.The competition will be severe but I know the Sabres will make it. The French Connection can score more goals than many other lines in this league, and also the second line, the checking line, is doing a very good job preventing other team&rsquo;s scorers from scoring. These lines are something Boston hasn&rsquo;t got. And what&rsquo;s more the new coach of the Sa bres Marcel Pronovost has done a great job in making the defense work. Even a good team is a bad team if it only has got a bad goalie, but the Sabres can trust in rookie goalie Don Edwards.In the Oct. 14 issue, Mr. Bob Verdi wrote about the Sabres: &ldquo;Talent is here, I but&hellip;&rdquo; 1 like his columns very much but he ought to have left the word &ldquo;but&rdquo; away, because the Buffalo Sabres are coming to the top.As a whole I think your paper, is just superb because that&rsquo;s the only way for me to follow really great hockey. And in the end I&rsquo;d like to give special thanks to Mr. Bob Verdi for his columns about Bobby Orr and Derek Sanderson.ARTO NATKYNMAKI, Loimaa, Finland &#9632;

f0010-01

OTHER FEATURES

FAN FORUM

1. Which player lead the National Hockey League In major penalties during the 1976-77 season?Dave Maloney&#9633; Dave Williams&#9633; Dave Schultz&#9633;2. Which NHL player led In misconduct penalties with 10?Dave Schultz&#9633; Keith Magnuson&#9633; Len Frig&#9633;3. Who wears Derek Sanderson&rsquo;s former #16 jersey for the Boston Bruins?Stan Jonathan&#9633; Bobby Schmautz&#9633; Rick Middleton?4. Next to Phil Esposito&rsquo;s 77, who wears the highest number in the National Hockey League? What&rsquo;s the number?Doug Halward&#9633; Lucien DeBlois&#9633; Al Hill&#9633;5. True or false, no player in the World Hockey Association has made the league&rsquo;s official first or second All Star team every year the league has been In existence?6. Who holds the WHA one season mark for most points by a defenseman, 89?J.C. Tremblay&#9633; Al Hamilton&#9633; Darryl Maggs&#9633;7. Who is the NHL&rsquo;s shortest goaltender?Jim Rutherford&#9633; Mike Palmateer&#9633; Rogie Vachon&#9633;8. Which Minnesota North Star scored three power play goals In one period In a 1976-77 game?Tim Young&#9633; Roland Eriksson&#9633; Steve Jensen&#9633;9. Which WHA team scored the fastest two goals In a single period? Winnipeg&#9633; New England&#9633; Houston&#9633;10. Which NHL team had the most power play goals and the best percentage In the 1976-77 season?Los Angeles&#9633; New York Rangers&#9633; Pittsburgh&#9633;<h2>QUICK QUIZ ANSWERS</h2>1. Williams. 2. Frig. 3. Middleton. 4. Hill, #39. 5. True. 6. Tremblay. 7. Rogie Vachon, 5-7. 8. Eriksson. 9. New England, two in four seconds. 10. Los Angeles. &#9632;

Fans’ Quick Hockey Quiz

<div class="byline">BY BOB WHITLEY</div>(As Seen In The Pittsburgh Poet Gazette)PITTSBURGH&mdash;Two weeks ago last night, the Civic Arena lights were switched on for more than 11,000 people who had turned out to see the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals in a game that must have ranked one of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s weaker attractions of that week or any other.The Capitals arrived bearing the NHL&rsquo;s poorest record. The Penguins were not much better off, resting somewhere near the bottom of the league with a decidely losing posture.Halfway through the season the Penguins were averaging nearly a thousand fans per game more than at the same point a year ago, although the club&rsquo;s record isn&rsquo;t nearly up to the same standards.They pulled nearly 14,000 fans, barely 2,000 short of capacity, for a game against Los Angeles Saturday night and attendance undoubtedly would have been better last night if weather had been better.Yet Edward J. DeBartolo Sr., the Youngstown, Ohio, millionaire and part owner of the Penguins, said earlier this week he and partners Al Savill and Nick Frenzel can no longer afford to subsidize those Pittsburgh hockey fans who don&rsquo;t show up at the Arena.In his first statement to the press since assuming a more active role in the daily operation of Pittsburgh hockey, DeBartolo succeeded in putting his foot in his mouth a la owners before him.It was the habit of previous hockey entrepreneurs in Pittsburgh to blame the sports&rsquo; unceasing problems here on everything but the real root of the trouble&mdash;the product.So DeBartolo, who never has seen the Penguins play, determined in the same arbitrary way as countless executives before him that the fans are at fault. The team hasn&rsquo;t been marketed properly, he said.As a matter of fact, the Penguins have lost 2,000 season ticket subscribers over the last two years because people who had the money and were willing to give the Pens a chance grew tired of unfulfilled promise and don&rsquo;t renew their season tickets.In spite of that, the club&rsquo;s season ticket roles have swelled, including 1,800 new subscribers this season alone.DeBartolo&rsquo;s naivete runs deeper still. In his haste to make the product appear better than it is, he took exception to Penguin Dave Schultz&rsquo;s courageous comments after a 3-3 tie with Los Angeles.Where Schultz should have been commended for finding no satisfaction in something other than victory, DeBartolo said only there would be no more of &ldquo;that bull&rdquo; if he takes over.At last Pittsburgh has a few hockey players who won&rsquo;t be satisfied with ties and moral victories and DeBartolo proposes to muzzle or get rid of them.If the Penguin owners&rsquo; credit they have negotiated better terms of their loan with Equibank so that Pittsburgh might have hockey at least one more season.Pittsburgh hockey would be better served, however, if better care were taken of precious draft choices and the club&rsquo;s non-existent farm system beefed up.DeBartolo seems to be confused as to who is subsidizing what. Frankly, it is amazing that Pittsburgh hockey fans have turned out nearly 10,000 strong every game, in support of a mediocre product.Obviously local fans are optimistic about this Penguin team&rsquo;s potential. It&rsquo;s too bad the club&rsquo;s owners don&rsquo;t share the same enthusiasm for the Pittsburgh sports fan. &#9632;

Penguin Hockey Fans Deserve Bow, Not Boos

<div class="byline">BY DAN DONOVAN</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;Rick Kehoe&rsquo;s &ldquo;move&rdquo; is as intricate as the first move in checkers. He comes from behind the net with the puck, and when no one hits him, turns and shoots the puck past the goaltender.Apparently everyone on the ice freezes, expecting Kehoe to pass the puck. And while the opposing coach pulls out his hair and viewers laugh at the TV replay. Kehoe scores an easy goal.&ldquo;I guess I&rsquo;ve been kind of lucky,&rdquo; Kehoe said. &ldquo;Some defensemen must think I&rsquo;m going to pass. It&rsquo;s only a bad play if they start coming at you.&rdquo;Kehoe scored a goal that way in three straight games, and was confident defensemen would immediately start coming at him.&ldquo;This won&rsquo;t last long,&rdquo; Kehoe said. &ldquo;People will get wise and I&rsquo;ll get killed.&rdquo;It was Kehoe who killed the Minnesota North Stars with two goals and three assists in a 6-1 win in Pittsburgh. The game capped a hot streak where Kehoe scored five goals in four games.Kehoe had 20 goals through the first 50 Penguin games, but anyone who saw Kehoe through training camp knows that was a disappointment. Kehoe is still on schedule for one of his steady 30-goal seasons, but in training camp Kehoe was spectacular.Everyone thinks the 26-year-old right wing will someday have a 45-50 goal season, and this looked like the one until Kehoe broke his elbow right before the season began:Kehoe missed three weeks, hurried himself back into the lineup, but still wasn&rsquo;t as effective as he was in exhibition play. The right elbow continued to bother him, and he had trouble taking the puck off the boards.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-02858/4051745-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="558" height="1447"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK KEHOE&hellip;Patented &lsquo;Move&rsquo;</figcaption></div>He had a scare when he bumped the elbow and it swelled up again, but credited quick action by trainer Steve Thomas for controlling the injury.Kehoe never really hit training camp form until January, but if he can stay injury-free the rest of the way, could have a strong season.The Penguins were incensed when referee Alf Lejeune invoked the &ldquo;third man in an altercation&rdquo; rule against left wing Dave Schultz. Lejeune called a slashing penalty on Penguin Greg Malone after he was charged by Minnesota&rsquo;s Glen Sharpley.The Penguins believed that because he never called a roughing or fighting penalty, Lejeune couldn&rsquo;t throw Schultz out.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t a fight,&rdquo; Schultz said. &ldquo;It was slashing and charging. He knocked Malone to the ice, so I grabbed Sharpley. I thought he was fighting me.&rdquo;It was the third game misconduct for Schultz, costing him a one-game suspension and the team a $1,000 fine. The Penguins scored four power play goals in the Minnesota game, raising their season total to a league-leading 43 power play goals.While pointmen Gene Carr and Tom Edur were getting most of the credit, Edur said they weren&rsquo;t the only factor.&ldquo;The forwards are the key,&rdquo; Edur said. &ldquo;They control the play in their end. We just have to keep our shots low. We mainly have to make sure we get the puck to our shooters.&rdquo;And shooters, like Kehoe, put on the moves.PENGUIN NOTES: The Penguins were contemplating signing left wing John Flesch to a pro contract after a five-game tryout.<h2>Penalty Minutes</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011024/4051738-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="584" height="663"></div> &#9632;

f0011-02

Kehoe Regaining Pre-Season Form

<div class="byline">Bill Fleischman&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011044/4051776-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="289" height="465"></div><h2>Looking At Lindsay</h2>SHORTLY AFTER THE current NHL season began I put Ted Lindsay in the same category with Farah Fawcett-Majors. No, no, not &ldquo;best looking personalities of 1977.&rsquo;&rsquo; The category was &ldquo;people I&rsquo;m tired of reading and hearing about.&rdquo;Lindsay had brought aggressive hockey back to Detroit and the revived Red Wings were respectable again. But newspapers and magazines were wearing Lindsay out&mdash;for me, at least. I decided to wait until mid-season, then peek and see if the Red Wings were still respectable. They are.Detroit may even make the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since Gordie Howe&rsquo;s sons were toddlers. Anyone who can turn the careless Red Wings of recent years into a playoff possibility deserves some attention, even if it&rsquo;s only from this humble correspondent.Spend some time with Lindsay in his Olympia office and it&rsquo;s clear why the man was successful as a Hall of Fame player and later in business: he is decisive and works hard.One example of Lindsay&rsquo;s hard work is Paul Woods, the swift left winger who was drafted out of Montreal&rsquo;s organization. Many hockey executives scoffed when Detroit made Woods one of only three players chosen in the NHL&rsquo;s help-the-needy pre-season draft.&ldquo;Paul Woods must be a lot better than most people think,&rdquo; said one disbelieving NHL general manager.All Woods has done is skate a regular shift for Detroit, adding speed and aggressiveness and showing signs of offensive potential.<h2>Can Be Satisfied</h2>&ldquo;I FOUND HIM in Campbellsford, New Brunswick, where Montreal&rsquo;s Nova Scotia farm team was playing an exhibition,&rdquo; said the smiling Lindsay. &ldquo;Sam (Pollock) was trying to hide him. I saw him play one more time and knew he could help us.&rdquo;.As the season headed into its homestretch, Lindsay could lean back in his office chair&mdash;when he wasn&rsquo;t leaning back in a plane&rsquo;s chair, and be reasonably satisfied with the team that he and coach Bobby Kromm are building.&ldquo;We have our good and bad days, but generally I&rsquo;m pleased with the effort of the guys,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve made great strides. We&rsquo;ve got a nucleus of young talent, but there are still a few slow leaks. We could use another defenseman and a couple of right wingers.&rdquo;Lindsay isn&rsquo;t the only GM with such needs, but he is one of the few who speak so candidly. Some managers I know are suspicious of reporters when they ask if the sun has risen today. One sample of Lindsay&rsquo;s outspoken nature is his opinion of the New York Rangers&rsquo; bankroll-waving pursuit of Winnipeg&rsquo;s Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson.&ldquo;Everybody calls New York the &lsquo;Big Apple&rsquo;,&rdquo; the former NHL penalty king said. &ldquo;Well, I call it the &ldquo;Dried Prune.&rsquo; The Rangers did this before and wound up with a lousy hockey club. Our product is getting better, then they do this.&ldquo;Hedberg and Nilsson are fine hockey players and they&rsquo;d be stupid not to take that kind of money. No, I don&rsquo;t think what the Rangers are doing will escalate salaries again. But I do think it will destroy that club and it could destroy the World Hockey.<h2>Against Merger Talk</h2>LINDSAY HAS LITTLE SYMPATHY for the WHA&mdash;he thinks it (and Alan Eagleson) is largely responsible for major league hockey&rsquo;s troubles. If merger whispers start spreading again, Lindsay will be among the first to object.&ldquo;The sooner that league folds, the better,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Then, if some of the so-called weak teams in our league folded, we could take in teams like Quebec, Edmonton and Winnipeg and have a solid league.&rdquo;Lindsay wouldn&rsquo;t object if Eagleson decided to volunteer for Canada&rsquo;s outer space program&mdash;riding a one-way rocket. Discussing his wish for a return to NHL-sponsored junior teams to build loyalty, Lindsay said, &ldquo;I could care less what Mr. Eagleson thinks. I think hockey players are realizing Eagleson has made things bad enough. If a player is good enough, he&rsquo;ll get a decent contract.&rdquo;Responding to Lindsay&rsquo;s criticism, Eagleson has said, &ldquo;He has decided that the 1930s and 40s are back and the only way to operate is the way they did back then&mdash;with no concern for civil or players&rsquo; rights.&rdquo;Maybe in blue-collar Detroit the hardwork concept is the only way to go. Lindsay is convinced that if fans know the Red Wings are working exhaustively, they will support the team even if it loses.Before reaching for the nearest airline schedule and another talent hunting trip, Lindsay had one more point. He opposes the way i American youngsters are encouraged to cheer for the team that just defeated them.&ldquo;Sportsmanship is for tennis players,&rdquo; scowled Old Scarface. &#9632;

f0012-01

HOCKEY WORLD

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02883/4051807-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">DON LEVER &hellip;Couldn&rsquo;t Be Kept From Lineup (Photo by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div>VANCOUVER&mdash;It&rsquo;s hard to keep an iron man down.Don Lever had been struck in the face with a shot which shattered his cheekbone and his iron-man streak at 437 consecutive games. Fair enough. He was supposed to be out at least three weeks according to the doctors, and more probably four or five. The bone had to be wired, the operation requiring careful restructuring of his features on the right side of his face.But just 10 days after the injury, Lever was pestering the doctors, saying that he had a protective mask that fully shielded his face from further abuse and that he wanted very much to play.&ldquo;The specialist said I should have waited at least three or four more days,&rdquo; said Lever, &ldquo;but I showed the other doctors the mask and they said they thought it would be all right. Two out of three isn&rsquo;t bad:&rdquo;Indeed Lever completely surprised Orland Kurtenbach with his return to the lineup, as suddenly the coach found himself having to sit out an extra forward. But it was a pleasure as Lever helped springboard Canucks to their best win at home this year, an 8-3 bombing of the St. Louis Blues.The game of course was not without incident.In the second period, Brian Ogilvy, a fellow who played some of his junior hockey in the Pacific Coliseum, decided he didn&rsquo;t like the way Lever was crossing the blueline.He slashed Lever across the stick, with the resulting force jamming Ogilvy&rsquo;s stick between Lever&rsquo;s face and the mask. The Canuck captain immediately grabbed his face, flipped off his mask and left the ice.&ldquo;It was like stubbing a toe, it was so painful,&rdquo; said Lever. I left the ice right away because I was afraid that I might have done some more damage. I&rsquo;m sure it was unintentional on his part. But the doctors examined it and said there was no more damage. It&rsquo;s just that it is a little tender there now.&rdquo;Everyone expected Lever to take the rest of the night off. After all, he had taken a stick in a place that was just operated on. But no, when the third period started, there was Lever taking his regular shift, and even doing a little penalty killing.The point is not so much to illuminate his glowing heroism. It is 1978 now, and heroes are getting harder to come by.But rather what the man means to the Vancouver hockey club and what he has meant to them ever since he came out of the Ontario Hockey Association.He has been the leader by example. He&rsquo;s sort of a quiet guy for the most part, but never afraid to speak his mind. He gets frustrated easily, and that is part of the reason he came back to the lineup so soon.&ldquo;Watching from upstairs I could see the guys getting frustrated and pressing a lot, and I just wanted to get down here and see if I could help,&rdquo; said Lever. &ldquo;We made a conscious effort to get ourselves out of this. We&rsquo;ve just got to stop dragging our chins the way we have been. We&rsquo;re the only ones that can get ourselves out of this.&rdquo;Lever did help a great deal, as he scored a spectacular goal and was present as Claire Alexander made a spectacular debut as a Vancouver Canuck, scoring two goals, gaining two assists and being on the ice for seven of Vancouver&rsquo;s eight goals.&ldquo;This is the only place to play if you want to learn anything,&rdquo; said Alexander afterwards. &ldquo;I was just lucky the way things went. It was my kind of hockey game I guess. It&rsquo;s not every game you get that many shots from the point.&rdquo;But Lever was pleased with what he saw from the 32-year-old Orillia milkman.&ldquo;He can certainly help this club the way he shoots from that right point and comes out of his own end,&rdquo; said Lever. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t expect him to do that every game, but he can help us and when we get everyone back we can get going again.&rdquo;Canucks have just now returned to full strengh as Ron Sedlbauer&rsquo;s pulled thigh muscle and Sheldon Kannegiesser&rsquo;s bursitis in his left shoulder have all cleared and they have come back.The return forced Kurtenbach to send forwards Ralph Stewart, Garry Monahan and Gerry O&rsquo;Flaherty to Tulsa along with defenseman Bob Manno and recall forward Rob Flockhart for another look. &#9632;

f0012-02

Lever’s Unexpected Return Provides Lift For Canucks

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011003/4051838-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">DON EDWARDS &hellip;Most Durable Goaler</figcaption></div>BUFFALO&mdash;&ldquo;How long can he keep it up?&rdquo;That&rsquo;s the question nearly all followers of the Buffalo Sabres continue to ask about the club&rsquo;s young goaltender, Don Edwards.The answer, according to the 22-year-old netminder, is until the end of the season.That&rsquo;s what he said after playing in 47 of Buffalo&rsquo;s first 49 games this season. The Sabres just had tied the Toronto Maple Leafs with a goal in the final 10 seconds by Craig Ramsay. The Leafs might have won the game by a wide margin, had it not been for Edwards, who blocked 38 shots.As usual, Edwards was asked by the press if he wasn&rsquo;t getting tired. He had started in 31 of the Sabres&rsquo; last 32 games and led all National Hockey League goaltenders in minutes played.&ldquo;No,&rdquo; replied the slender net-minder with the wispy blond mustache. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not tired. I still think I could play all 80 games. I sort of like playing all the time. Last year, between Buffalo and Hershey, playoffs and exhibitions, I played more than 80.&ldquo;I relax between games.&rdquo;The following night, Edwards was in the nets again when the Sabres beat the team they are challenging for the Adams Division title, the Boston Bruins. 3-1.For the third game in four nights, Edwards received the first star award. In those three games, against three of the league&rsquo;s Big Six&mdash;the New York Islanders, Toronto and Boston&mdash;his club had won two and tied one and Edwards had been spectacular.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t say enough about Donnie,&rdquo; remarked one of the Sabre defensemen, Jerry Korab. &ldquo;Everybody expects him to get tired and he is playing better and better the more he plays.&rdquo;Edwards played in 48 of the Sabres&rsquo; first 50 games, logging 2,822 minutes and winning a league-leading 26 against nine defeats and 13 ties.In the game against the Islanders in Buffalo he received the top star over another leading contender for the Calder Memorial Trophy, Mike Bossy.Bossy, probably the leading candidate for the rookie of the year award, scored two goals, his 34th and 35th of the campaign, but the Islanders lost, 3-2, mainly because of Edwards&rsquo; work in the Buffalo nets.Edwards was getting some help from unexpected quarters as the Sabres returned to stiff competition after struggling through January against lower-ranking teams.Andre Savard, for instance, scored twice in a 3-3 tie with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Savard had gone eight games without a goal and, counting the 30 games he was blanked at the end of last season, he had scored only seven goals in 75 games.The very next game, however, against the Islanders, Savard started the Sabres on their way to victory by scoring the first goal.The winning goal came from another unexpected source, Korab. Korab has been quite a scorer for a backliner; he holds all the club scoring records for a defenseman, including most goals in a season, 14.But this winning goal against the Islanders was only his third score of the season.King Kong had gone 20 games without a goal. &ldquo;I just haven&rsquo;t been shooting the puck well,&rdquo; said Korab. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been putting my shots all over the place. But tonight I went back to a heavier, stiffer stick, like I used last year. Maybe things will change.&rdquo;It would help the Sabres&rsquo; offense if they would get some better shooting from the defensemen. The club missed Jocelyn Guevremont, who was sidelined for 14 games by a knee injury.Last season Guevremont had nine goals and 29 assists; Korab had 14 goals and 33 assists. After 50 games this season, Guevremont had two goals and 15 assists, Korab three and 20.In the Boston game, Jim Lorentz came up with what proved to be the winning goal. It was only his third goal of the campaign but his second game-winner.Lee Fogolin suffered a hip injury in that game, which meant the Sabres were short two regular defensemen again. Jim Schoenfeld was sidelined for the second time by a foot injury. &#9632;

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Sabres’ Edwards Not Weakening Despite Duress

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;His Minnesota teammates call him &ldquo;Harry-O&rdquo;. Good name for a goalie. The more zeroes the better.But over the span of the last three National Hockey League seasons, Paul Harrison must have been wondering if the Harry-0 was zero as in big league victories.The 22-year-old product of Timmins. Ont., failed to post a victory in six appearances in 1975-76 after his selection as a third round choice in the amateur draft. Harrison was zero-for-two in games in 1976-77, and went his first seven contests this season without a victory in front of the North Star pipes.Harry-0 was zero for his career. Pet? LoPresti was getting most of the work for the Stars this season, going through several long stretches without getting a rest. The latest string was a 17-game stretch that finally came to an end Jan. 22, against Atlanta.Harrison, making his first start since Dec. 7, when he lost 6-3 in Toronto, came close to his first NHL victory when the Stars built a 3-1 lead but the Flames came back to win, 4-3, to extend Minnesota&rsquo;s winless streak to 10 games.At least Harry-0 got a start, but the best was yet to come in the next week.&ldquo;Peter was playing well and I&rsquo;m not the one to ask any questions,&rdquo; Harrison said of his long layoff. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been waiting for the chance. I know I can win&mdash;I won consistently in the American League last season. It&rsquo;s just a matter of this club putting a few good games together. Who knows? Maybe I&rsquo;m the savior. We&rsquo;ll get one soon.&rdquo;Harrison&rsquo;s (and Minnesota&rsquo;s) fortunes turned the very next night against the powerful Buffalo Sabres, in Buffalo yet. The North Stars presented Harrison with his long-awaited victory, a 2-1 masterpiece over the Sabres, which included 34 saves.&ldquo;I have to admit that it was getting to me about not winning,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;ve always kept my confidence. I feel good for myself and good for the team because we needed a victory so badly. It is an unbelievable feeling to finally contribute.&rdquo;Harrison was back in goal two nights later in Minnesota, but dropped a 2-1 decision to Cleveland with the North Stars claiming they deserved at least a tie on a shot by Kent-Erik Andersson that shredded the netting then plopped out the back. However, the goal judge said it appeared to him that the puck hit the top of the net.Still ready for more action, Harry-0 started his fourth straight game the next night in Landover, Md., and posted his first NHL shutout. The North Stars won, 4-0, with Harrison making 30 saves.For his effort of allowing only three goals in three games, Harrison was named the NHL&rsquo;s player of the week. The effort also reduced his goals-against average from better than 5.20 to 3.83.More importantly, the North Stars regained some hope of making a belated bid to get back into the playoff running, although it would probably take better than .500 hockey to be serious contenders in the Smythe Division or for one of the wild card positions.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always felt I could play in the NHL, if I got the chance,&rdquo; said Harrison. &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t the easiest thing sitting on the bench most of the year until I got the opportunity. I tried to stay in a positive frame of mind and worked hard in practice to stay sharp.&rdquo;When the opportunity came, Harry-0 started living up to his nickname.STAR DUST: Minnesota&rsquo;s Swedish trio of Per-Olov Brasar, Roland Eriksson and Kent-Erik Andersson continued to play sensationally&hellip;The line got both goals against Buffalo and one against Washington&hellip;Although kept off the scoreboard against Cleveland, they were stopped 16 times by Barons&rsquo; goalie Gilles Meloche&hellip;Tom Reid&rsquo;s return to defense remained indefinite after his release from a Marshfield, Wis., clinic where he was treated for a severe skin rash&hellip;Recently recalled Jim Roberts missed a start with a bruised shoulder.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02849/4051876-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="597" height="699"><figcaption class="caption-body">PAUL HARRISON&hellip;Hit Victory Column</figcaption></div><h2>Looking At NHL Goalers</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011025/4051869-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="621" height="2070"></div> &#9632;

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North Stars’ Playoff Hopes Alive As Harry-0 Lives Up To Nickname

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div>NEW YORK&mdash;Mark Heaslip, Danny Newman and Phil Esposito hardly figure to lead the New York Rangers to the oasis of a National Hockey League playoff spot, but that&rsquo;s what seems to be happening. General manager John Ferguson, once more reacting to adversity, brought up the American born Heaslip, 26, from New Haven&mdash;and told coach Guy Talbot to play him.Talbot put Mark to work with Esposito and Newman, and the Rangers suddenly had two straight victories. True, they were over Colorado and Minnesota, but Heaslip provided a spark that had been missing.&ldquo;We used him as our human battering ram,&rdquo; said Ferguson.If Heaslip set a fire under the Rangers, he was unhappy about a fire which all but destroyed his home in Minnesota. When he called his father to tell him about his promotion from New Haven, the elder Heaslip informed Mark of his house&rsquo;s demise.&ldquo;You could say the day had a high and a low,&rdquo; said the five-foot-10,190-pounder. &ldquo;Fergy promised me when he sent me down that if I worked I would get another shot.&rdquo;Newman, who scored his first goal in 31 games against the North Stars exulted, saying, &ldquo;It felt so good to score. I haven&rsquo;t scored since the first game of the season. I&rsquo;m just getting back my confidence because I haven&rsquo;t played much. I was in New Haven for a month, then I sprained my ankle, and a lot of the games I dressed with the Rangers I didn&rsquo;t play much.&rdquo;Heaslip banged North Stars defenseman Fred Barrett into the boards, dug out the puck and fed Newman in front for Danny&rsquo;s big goal.Esposito, bouncing back from a mild reduction in ice time, scored his 20th goal of the season in the Minnesota game. Newman and goalie Wayne Thomas assisted. Jerry Byers, another New Haven player, got the other goal in New York&rsquo;s 3-0 win. For Thomas, perhaps the Rangers MVP, it was his fourth shutout.Ferguson has returned Doug Soetaert to New Haven where he will split the job with Hardy Aastrom. John Davidson is number two behind Thomas, who has played nine of the last 11, including a superb but losing effort at Buffalo, 2-0 on Feb. 9.Thomas, honest and upright in his dealings with the media even when things aren&rsquo;t going well, noted, &ldquo;I think we are playing better. Dave Farrish has his game together now and his hitting is helping on defense.Farrish knocked over Buffalo&rsquo;s Rick Martin in the Buffalo loss, and Martin wound up swallowing his tongue. Dave bumped him near the Ranger net and Rick fell, out of control, after catching his skate in the netting. He hit his head and neck first on the ice&mdash;and had to be taken to the hospital for observation.&ldquo;It was damn scary,&rdquo; said Farrish.From a Ranger viewpoint, it meant that an honest effort was being made to clear the area in front of their own goal and give the hard working Thomas a decent chance.Farrish was teamed with Don Awrey, Ron Greschner with Carol Vadnais as Talbot benched Dallas Smith and went with four forward lines.&ldquo;That seems to be the best way in order to have fresh legs,&rdquo; said Guy.Dave Maloney attempted to return from his knee injury on Feb. 8&mdash;and suffered a recurrence which has once more sidelined him indefinitely. There is the feeling that the desperate Rangers rushed Maloney, the leader of their defense, back too soon from his injury.BLUE CHIPS: Pat Hickey&rsquo;s 27th goal of the year gave New York a 4-4 tie with St. Louis Feb. 4&hellip;Hickey could get 40 with a hot streak. Pat must receive some of the credit for linemate Walter Tkaczuk&rsquo;s great comeback this season. Tkaczuk reached the 20-goal plateau before Esposito&hellip;Thomas&rsquo; hot goalkeeping had restricted the opposition to seven goals in previous four games&mdash;and ended all thoughts of a three goalie system&hellip;The line of Tkaczuk, Hickey and Steve Vickers is the most stable Ranger line&hellip;Right wing Don Murdoch hopes to return to action by the time this hits the newstands&hellip;Mark Heaslip scored one goal in 19 Ranger games in 1976-77.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01986/4051907-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="564" height="979"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARK HEASLIP&hellip;Battering Ram</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Heaslip Brings Rangers New Life

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div>TORONTO&mdash;The goal was one which will require some embellishment before it becomes part of Stan Weir&rsquo;s folklore about his major league hockey career&mdash;a passout from the comer which struck the stick of Brad Park and entered the Boston Bruins&rsquo; net.&ldquo;But it was a goal I really wanted&mdash;and needed&mdash;the first one of the season,&rdquo; Weir said. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re in the situation I&rsquo;ve been in, you want to do something to help the team. Well, that goal, as cheap as it was, helped us get a tie with the Bruins.&rdquo;Weir was retailed by the Toronto Maple Leafs early in February for what coach Roger Neilson referred to as &ldquo;a look.&rdquo; The five-season National Hockey League veteran, three with California Seals and two with the Leafs, never had played a game of minor pro league hockey until this season when the Leafs assigned him to Tulsa Oilers of the Central League.Weir was a victim of the Leaf overpopulation at center, where Darryl Sittler, George Ferguson, Jack Valiquette, and penalty-killing specialist Jimmy Jones grabbed the jobs to open the season, sending Weir and young Bruce Boudreau to the minors.Boudreau received his summons to the Leafs from Dallas of the CHL in late November. The club had planned to recall Weir earlier but injuries got in the way.&ldquo;First, I had a badly sprained wrist that required a cast,&rdquo; Weir said. &ldquo;Then just after Christmas, I got hit in the face by a puck and it broke my nose, a small bone beside my eye and gave me 38 stitches. I had to play with a bird-cage mask for several weeks to protect it.&rdquo;Despite the injury problems, Weir was leading the CHL in scoring with a 23-32-55 points total when the Leafs gave him the call. They dispatched Valiquette, a big disappointment this season, to Tulsa as a replacement.Weir admits that the demotion was a bit of a downer for him but he decided that there was only one course of action: To play well enough to earn a trip back to the NHL, either with the Leafs or another team.&ldquo;There was no thinking on my part that I&rsquo;d never get another shot at the NHL or that it might be over,&rdquo; Weir said. &ldquo;It was just a case of working hard in the Central League and showing them what I could do.&ldquo;I thought the call might come a little sooner than it did and I suppose it probably would have if I hadn&rsquo;t had the injuries.&rdquo;The Leafs also dispatched veteran defensemen Claire Alexander and Mike Pelyk to Tulsa with Weir. Both are back in the NHL now, Pelyk with Leafs and Alexander with the Vancouver Canucks, a team which purchased his services from the Leafs.&ldquo;I was happy, too, when both Alexander and Pelyk made it back to the NHL because they&rsquo;d both worked very hard,&rdquo; Weir said. &ldquo;Alexander was among the leading scorers in the league and he&rsquo;s started well with the Canucks.&rdquo;Weir is not the fastest skater in hockey but he&rsquo;s a smart puckhandler and playmaker.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d always been the playmaker before, trying to set up my wingers and maybe passing up chances to shoot at the net to give the puck to somebody else,&rdquo; Weir said.&ldquo;At Tulsa, I started shooting much more and driving for the net a little more frequently. The goals started going in for me and I hope I can play a little of that style in the NHL.&rdquo;The Leaf hope is that Weir can become the No. 2 center they need behind Sittler. &#9632;

Patience Pays Off As Veteran Weir Gets Leafs’Recall

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01831/4052214-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="363" height="757"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02701/4052207-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="145" height="130"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>ATLANTA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03560/4052200-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="717" height="594"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04439/4052193-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="125" height="128"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>BOSTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05333/4052186-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="720" height="701"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-06271/4052179-1-eng-US/f0016-062.jpg" title="f0016-06" width="118" height="119"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>BUFFALO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-07245/4052172-1-eng-US/f0016-072.jpg" title="f0016-07" width="720" height="624"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-08225/4052165-1-eng-US/f0016-082.jpg" title="f0016-08" width="163" height="154"></div><h2>CHICAGO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-09202/4052158-1-eng-US/f0016-092.jpg" title="f0016-09" width="728" height="597"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-10180/4052151-1-eng-US/f0016-102.jpg" title="f0016-10" width="139" height="143"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>CLEVELAND</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-11166/4052144-1-eng-US/f0016-112.jpg" title="f0016-11" width="713" height="594"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-12149/4052137-1-eng-US/f0016-122.jpg" title="f0016-12" width="125" height="124"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>COLORADO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-13135/4052130-1-eng-US/f0016-132.jpg" title="f0016-13" width="724" height="668"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-14128/4052123-1-eng-US/f0016-142.jpg" title="f0016-14" width="156" height="90"></div><h2>DETROIT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-15118/4052116-1-eng-US/f0016-152.jpg" title="f0016-15" width="720" height="600"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-16114/4052109-1-eng-US/f0016-162.jpg" title="f0016-16" width="194" height="124"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-17106/4052102-1-eng-US/f0016-172.jpg" title="f0016-17" width="722" height="546"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1899/4052095-1-eng-US/f0016-182.jpg" title="f0016-18" width="154" height="135"></div><h2>MINNESOTA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-1992/4052088-1-eng-US/f0016-192.jpg" title="f0016-19" width="724" height="631"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2073/4052081-1-eng-US/f0016-202.jpg" title="f0016-20" width="143" height="114"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>MONTREAL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2168/4052074-1-eng-US/f0016-212.jpg" title="f0016-21" width="720" height="649"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2266/4052067-1-eng-US/f0016-222.jpg" title="f0016-22" width="138" height="131"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>ISLANDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2364/4052060-1-eng-US/f0016-232.jpg" title="f0016-23" width="721" height="615"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2462/4052053-1-eng-US/f0016-242.jpg" title="f0016-24" width="141" height="137"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>RANGERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2557/4052046-1-eng-US/f0016-252.jpg" title="f0016-25" width="720" height="671"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2654/4052039-1-eng-US/f0016-262.jpg" title="f0016-26" width="161" height="111"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2745/4052032-1-eng-US/f0016-272.jpg" title="f0016-27" width="724" height="540"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2843/4052025-1-eng-US/f0016-282.jpg" title="f0016-28" width="146" height="140"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2936/4052018-1-eng-US/f0016-292.jpg" title="f0016-29" width="728" height="698"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3036/4052011-1-eng-US/f0016-302.jpg" title="f0016-30" width="108" height="96"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>ST-LOUIS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3136/4052004-1-eng-US/f0016-312.jpg" title="f0016-31" width="718" height="644"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3231/4051997-1-eng-US/f0016-322.jpg" title="f0016-32" width="127" height="131"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>TORONTO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3331/4051990-1-eng-US/f0016-332.jpg" title="f0016-33" width="723" height="543"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3427/4051983-1-eng-US/f0016-342.jpg" title="f0016-34" width="117" height="84"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>VANCOUVER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3513/4051976-1-eng-US/f0016-352.jpg" title="f0016-35" width="719" height="572"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3612/4051969-1-eng-US/f0016-362.jpg" title="f0016-36" width="177" height="98"></div><h2>WASHINGTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3712/4051962-1-eng-US/f0016-372.jpg" title="f0016-37" width="719" height="699"></div> &#9632;

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NHL SCORING AND PENALTY STATIATICS

MONTREAL&mdash;More than one-quarter of the goals and points recorded by the leading 25 pointmen in the National Hockey League were gained from power-play scoring.The 25 players&mdash;all those with 49 or more points so far&mdash;scored a total 626 goals and 1,478 points through games of Feb. 12. Of those totals, 173 goals and 434 points were off the powerplay, meaning the players in question scored 27.6 percent of their goals and 29.4 percent of their points when their respective teams had a manpower advantage.Defenseman Denis Potvin of New York Islanders leads the NHL in power-play points with 26, including 21 assists, also a league high. The leading power-play goal-scorer is the Islanders&rsquo; sizzling rookie, Mike Bossy, whose 17 such goals is one more than that recorded by last season&rsquo;s over-all leader, Lanny McDonald of Toronto. The record for most power-play goals in a season belongs to Phil Esposito of the New York Rangers who scored 28 while with Boston in 1971-72. Bossy leads the NHL in goals with 40.Right winger Guy Lafleur of Montreal, who is second in the scoring race with 82 points and 38 goals, is also second in power-play points with 24, 13 of which were assists. Bryan Trottier of the Islanders leads the NHL in points with 90 and 21 of those were of the power-play variety, including nine goals. That ranks him 12th in power-play points.Behind Potvin&mdash;who has 63 points and 19 goals for eighth place in the list of leading scorers&mdash;and Lafleur in power-play points are Esposito 24 points and 11 goals; Bossy, Paul Gardner of Colorado. Darryl Sittler and Borje Salming of Toronto; and Gene Carr of Pittsburgh, each with 23 power-play points.The Islanders, who had only 12 power-play goals in their first 27 games, have scored 31 in their last 27 games and lead all teams in powerplay scoring percentage with 28.9, based on 43 goals and 149 chances. Montreal Canadiens are second with 45 goals, 162 opportunities and 27.8 percent.In the entire league, there have been 3.128 goals scored and 20.8 percent of those&mdash;652&mdash;were power-play goals. Of the 8,372 points collected by all players, 1,837 or 21.9 percent, were with teams having a man advantage. &#9632;

Power Play Sniping Aids NHL’s Top Goal Scorers

CHICAGO&mdash;The red hot Chicago Black Hawks continue to roll along unmolested as they stretched their undefeated streak to nine games and lengthened their already runaway lead in the National Hockey League&rsquo;s one-sided Smythe Division race.The Hawks capped an unbeaten week by tieing Atlanta 2-2, their 14th stalemate of the NHL season, which is a league high.The Tribe also pushed its first-place margin over the faltering Vancouver Canucks to a commanding 17 points as they continued to turn the Smythe race into a cake walk.Tieing NHL teams is like kissing your sister as the expression goes but Bob Pulford&rsquo;s Hawks will take the points anyway they can get them. They held the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-3 tie in a midweek showdown of the NHL&rsquo;s current two hot teams and they tripped the powerful New York Islanders 5-4 in their other outing.Individually, center Ivan Boldirev showed the way with three goals during the three-game week, his 21st, 22nd and 23rd of the campaign. Stan Mikita also shared scoring honors with Boldirev with three, raising his season count to nine and his all-time NHL career mark to 511 goals.Even team captain Keith Magnuson got in on the act scoring his second goal of the season. It was a remarkable feat for Magnuson, who scored only once in each of the last two years. &#9632;

Streaking Hawks Reach Nine In Stretching Unbeaten Run

<div class="byline">BY RUSS WHITE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01722/4052293-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GUY CHARRON&hellip;Playing, Scoring Despite Injuries (Photo by Stove Babineau)</figcaption></div>WASHINGTON&mdash;A guy named Guy (it rhymes with ski not sky) kept poking in goals as the Washington Capitals struggled into February still shy of a 10th victory in the 1977-78 hockey season.The scores always seemed to be 6-1 or 4-1 against the Caps and the lone goal by Washington was by center Guy Charron, usually with an assist from his spunky linemate Bob Sirois.Charron&rsquo;s 22 goals and 18 by Sirois were all that kept the Caps from a series of shutout defeats.Year four of hockey in Washington had promised so much but general manager Max McNab and coach Tom McVie were dumbfounded that they couldn&rsquo;t come up with anyone to help Charron and Sirois score goals.&ldquo;We need help,&rdquo; McNab admitted, &ldquo;these two guys can&rsquo;t do it by themselves.&rdquo;A 6-1 loss to the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum was a momumental defeat for the Capitals, their 200th setback in four years, which means they really do know 50 ways to lose hockey games per season. A 4-1 loss the next evening at Buffalo gave the Caps a dismal 52-201-40 record lifetime.It would be a struggle now for the Caps to avoid a 50-loss season this year as they limped around at 9-33-11, far short of what was expected after McVie coaxed his undermanned team to a 24-42-14 finish a year ago.The Capitals may have to play 50 years to come even close to a .500 lifetime record after their dismal entry into the National Hockey League.Their first year was, of course, almost a total wipeout. The final record was 8-675. The Caps won only seven home games and lost 28 at home that year. The road record was 1-39 and it was 0-37 before a grand upset at Oakland. That was the night some of the Caps hoisted a trash can over their heads to celebrate in the clubhouse.The Caps were 11-59-10 their second year, gaining some respectability when McVie took over on Jan. 1.McVie was runner-up to Montreal&rsquo;s Scotty Bowman as Coach of the Year last year, thanks to Guy Charron&rsquo;s 82 point scoring and a big effort from everyone.Talk of a Stanley Cup playoff spot was heard at Capital Center over the summer but nothing did more to cool such hopes than an injury to Charron on the tennis court a week before training camp opened.Charron had hurt his right knee in the World Cup competition in Vienna but was coming along fine until slipping on a tennis court while playing doubles with three of his hockey teammates, who were all trying to be in the best of shape for training camp soon to open at Hershey, Pa.Charron missed the first two weeks of training camp because of torn cartilege in his right knee. He avoided surgery, however, and slowly worked his way into playing condition.When opening night arrived, Charron was ready.It is amazing that Charron has been able to play as well as he has for the Caps, not missing a single game. His nose was broken by Buffalo&rsquo;s Jerry Korab in a game at Washington but Charron played on wearing a special helmet and mask.And, he kept on scoring goals.In his first 133 games as a Capital, Charron picked up 125 points to tie Gerry Meehan for the club&rsquo;s all-time lead. Meehan, also a center, arrived a year earlier than Charron, who came to the Caps last year from the Colorado Rockies.&ldquo;Guy Charron not me should have been the All Star from Washington,&rdquo; said Bob Sirois. &ldquo;He has done so much for the Capitals in two years.&rdquo;Sirois was a good selection even though he thought the honor belonged to Charron. Sirois has 18 goals and 23 assists, just two points less than Charron and had given the Caps their go on offense. Sirois, in fact, had the best on ice percentage of goals of any NHL player by mid-season in the new form of the plusminus stats.The Capitals kept losing but didn&rsquo;t cry over the injuries which continued to haunt their efforts. Blair Stewart, who missed the first 50 games, finally skated and wasn&rsquo;t on the ice for five seconds when Gord Smith scored just off a faceoff in a game at Vancouver.Once one of the most popular Caps for his feisty play, Stewart had been kayoed by knee surgery after a collision with rookie Archie Henderson in training camp.The Caps were waiting for ex-captain Yvon Labre, who also had knee surgery, to return to the team. Labre recently began skating again and playing for the Caps farm team at Hershey.Meanwhile, Guy Charron kept scoring goals without much help from anyone except linemate Sirois.Obviously, the Caps must come up with some goal scorers in this year&rsquo;s amateur draft or lose the support of the Washington fans, who continue to support a 50-game loser. The Caps actually had upped their average attendance to over the 11,000 mark this year. &#9632;

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Most Consistent Capital Charron Bright Light In Dismal Campaign

<div class="byline">BY AL SMITH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01739/4052593-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="558" height="1124"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOM LYSIAK &hellip; Under Pressure</figcaption></div>ATLANTA&mdash;Atlanta Flames general manager Cliff Fletcher says his team is three years behind&mdash;due to the team&rsquo;s early successes.Fletcher and other Flames officials wanted the team to be competitive and respectable right away&mdash;they were.The Flames, who were the toast of Atlanta for their first three seasons, compiled-a respectable 25-38-15 record in 1972-73 their first year in the National Hockey League.The next season&mdash;only their second of existence&mdash;they made the NHL playoffs. But now says Fletcher they are paying for early respectability.&ldquo;We wanted to be competitive right away,&rdquo; Fletcher said. &ldquo;But it cost us some time. After three years we had too many older players.&rdquo;So, little by little, the Flames phased out Noel Price, Bobby Leiter, Doug Mohns, Keith McCreary, Pat Quinn, etc. In their place, Fletcher drafted or traded until now he has the youngest team in the NHL. According to figures released recently by the league the Flames have an average age of 24.4 years.&ldquo;I believe we&rsquo;re headed in the right direction,&rdquo; Fletcher said.&ldquo;But I realize that Atlanta fans are frustrated. I get frustrated myself at times.&rdquo;The frustration has come from the fact the Flames have stayed right at the .500 mark for the past three seasons and 197778 promises the same.They have hovered at the .500 mark all season and have gone from the team with the seventh-best record to the team with the ninth-best record&mdash;and back.The biggest reason the Flames have stayed at .500 is the low-goal production of the Downtown Connector line of Eric Vail, Willi Plett and Tom Lysiak. The trio is far below their 76-77 output when they scored 95 goals.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t unrealistic to think these three would do as well as they did last season,&rdquo; Fletcher said. &ldquo;But all three are struggling, Eric and Willi more than Tommy.&ldquo;Eric and Willi have become so frustrated they have lost their confidence. But I think they can work things out.&rdquo;Fletcher also pointed out that he is disappointed with the play of his young defensemen: Rick Mulhern, David Shand and Pat Ribble.&lsquo;I thought they would develop faster than they have,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But I guess management always wants young players to develop faster than they do. I feel they can do the job for us someday.&rdquo;While on the subject of defensemen, Fletcher was quick to point out that he has been pleasantly surprised with the play of rookie Miles Zaharko.&ldquo;He has a good knowledge of the game,&rdquo; Fletcher said.Ed Kea and Dick Redmond have also been steady on defense for the Flames. But Redmond was injured for eight games and his strong shot from the point was sorely missed.Fletcher also cited the fine play of Bill Clement, Harold Phillipoff and John Gould. But Phillipoff is out of the lineup with an injured knee and may be lost for another three weeks.His slam, bang style of play will be missed. While he was digging the puck out of the comers and keeping defensemen busy along the boards, Clement and Gould were scoring goals and the line became the Flames best point producers.Then there is the steady play of veteran Rey Comeau, who gives 110 percent each shift on the ice. Comeau has never been a big goal scorer, but is very effective against the opponent&rsquo;s best lines.Guy Chouinard, Bobby Simpson and Ken Houston have been playing better of late, but were disappointments in the early going.But the most pleasant surprises for Fletcher has been the play of Bob MacMillan and Bobby Lalonde.MacMillan came to the Flames in a trade that sent Curt Bennett, Barry Gibbs and Phil Myre to St. Louis for Redmond, MacMillan and goalie Yves Belanger.Since coming to the Flames, MacMillan has been their best player and has surpassed his highest one-season goal total of 20 in only 50 games.&ldquo;We knew we were getting a good, all around hockey player,&rdquo; Fletcher said. &ldquo;But his goal scoring has been a big plus.Lalonde, signed as a free agent, has been more than adequate.Fletcher says he has been fairly happy with the Flames&rsquo; goaltending, except for a few games. He was speaking of the fact Dan Bouchard has been spotty at times and has been replaced in goal three times by Belanger. He has also had some fine games and Fletcher feels the goaltending is in good hands.But if Fletcher were to trade again or head into the amateur draft today, his number one priority would be a good center.Until the Flames get better production out of Vail, Plett and Lysiak or until Dan Bouchard settles down or they get the playmaking center they need they will stay at .500.If one or two of these things happen the Flames can become a more consistent hockey team.&ldquo;We play well in a certain number of games,&rdquo; Fletcher said. &ldquo;But we are not consistent. We need to mature. Consistency comes from maturity and experience. And the consistent clubs are the champions.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Flames Feeling Frustration Of Early Success

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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY LARRY BORTSTEIN</div>DENVER&mdash;Andy Spruce has his sights set on a possible 20-goal season for the Colorado Rockies. This is gratifying for both Spruce and the Rockies, because a few weeks ago the young left winger wasn&rsquo;t sure about his sight, period.Spruce, who has returned to the Rockies&rsquo; lineup with a flourish of late, wasn&rsquo;t sure when he was hospitalized in Toronto in early January that he still had a hockey career to conduct. He recalls the frightening events of Wednesday night, Jan. 4, this way:&ldquo;It was the first period and I was in front of the net. A few feet to the side Dennis Owchar and Ron Ellis were coming together. As I turned Owchar&rsquo;s stick came up and the tip end hit me in the right eye. I went right down, and our trainer Toby Wilson first thought it was a cut above the eye. But the doctor in attendance at the game said, &lsquo;No, he&rsquo;s been caught in the eyeball. He has to go to the hospital.&rsquo; Within 15 minutes they had me at Wellesley Hospital. I was bleeding behind the eyeball. I knew it hurt a lot, which would have been bad enough, but the bleeding made it pretty serious.&rdquo;Spruce was attended by Dr. Michael Easterbrook, one of Canada&rsquo;s leading eye specialists and surgeons, who is the Maple Leafs&rsquo; eye man, and who recently performed surgery on the eye of Guy Lapointe.&ldquo;I was pretty scared the first two or three days,&rdquo; Spruce recalls. &ldquo;I had patches over both my eyes. They cover both eyes because you can&rsquo;t move one eye without moving the other, and they didn&rsquo;t want my eyes moving at all. You try not to think of negative things, and it&rsquo;s hard. My parents live in London, and they came the 120-mile distance to see me in the hospital, and that made things a little better.&ldquo;The third day they took the patches off and took me down to the eye clinic. I wasn&rsquo;t seeing very well. The doctor asked me if I could see the wall, and I told him everything was blurry. That worried me, but it turned out that seeing everything blurry was just great. If things had really been bad. I wouldn&rsquo;t have been able to see at all. &lsquo;You&rsquo;ll be fine,&rsquo; the doctor said. &lsquo;You&rsquo;ll be out of here in a couple days and you should be able to play again about a week after that.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tell you, that was one of the best pieces of news I&rsquo;ve ever heard. You really start thinking about priorities when you&rsquo;re in a situation like that. I also thought about Greg Neeld, you know, the player who lost his eye in junior hockey. He was playing for the Marlies when I was playing junior for London. I thought what happened to him could happen to me. From now on hockey will be a little more fun for me. after going through all that and doing all the thinking I did.&rdquo;On Wednesday night, Jan. 18, exactly two weeks after he was hospitalized in Toronto, Spruce started on left wing for the Rockies against Detroit. Just past the one-minute mark of the opening period, he caught up with the puck to avoid an icing call and got it around the Red Wing cage to Wilf Paiement. The Rockies&rsquo; captain passed the disk to Owchar, who shot from the point. It came back out, but Spruce was in perfect position to knock the rebound past Jim Rutherford. Owchar, whose stick inadvertently had caused Spruce&rsquo;s injury in the first place, got credit for an assist on the goal, which was Andy&rsquo;s ninth of the season.Two nights later Spruce again opened the scoring for the Rockies against Los Angeles, and Colorado went on to an impressive 5-2 victory. At Cleveland the next night, Andy got the first two Rockies&rsquo; goals. Unfortunately, the Barons scored eight times between Spruce&rsquo;s first-period score and his second goal in the third stanza.&ldquo;I feel I&rsquo;m playing well,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I hope I can keep it up and that we can beat out Vancouver for the second playoff spot in our division.&rdquo;Andy particularly wants to beat out the Canucks because after being in their system for the last three years, he was released last summer before signing on with the Rockies. In 51 games with the Canucks in his rookie campaign in the National Hockey League last year, he scored nine goals in 51 games, and also spent 20 games at Tulsa.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what can be done to prevent eye injuries in hockey,&rdquo; says Spruce, who wears a helmet, &ldquo;unless you make everyone wear face masks, and that just might cause more sticking incidents because no one would want to drop his gloves on someone wearing a mask and risk getting his hands injured.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll say this,&rdquo; says Ray Miron, the Rockies&rsquo; vice president-general manager, &ldquo;this kid&rsquo;s got guts. A lot of other players couldn&rsquo;t have come back from an injury like that so fast, and some couldn&rsquo;t have made it back at all. They&rsquo;d never be able to get it out of their minds that they were cut in the eye. Andy&rsquo;s handling it very well.&rdquo;And with a dozen goals through January, even a 20-goal season was in view.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01392/4052624-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="555" height="647"><figcaption class="caption-body">ANDY SPRUCE &hellip;Remarkable Comeback</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0021-01

Rockies’ Spruce Takes New Outlook

<div class="byline">BY RICH PASSAN</div>CLEVELAND&mdash;Time, it is said, heals all wounds.For the Cleveland Barons, time and money heal all wounds.It was exactly one year ago this week that the Barons were on the verge of becoming extinct. And in the middle of the season, to boot.In one of the most amazing franchisesaving turnabouts in National Hockey League history, the Barons were kept in business by a party of three.The NHL Board of Governors, the NHL Players&rsquo; Association and Cleveland owner Mel Swig kicked in $1.3 million to bail out the struggling club for the remainder of the 1976-77 season.It was an unprecedented move on the part of the NHLPA, which kicked in $600,000 to keep the Barons afloat.It all began Jan. 24 at the league&rsquo;s All Star Game meetings in Vancouver. Swig hit the league for a $2 million loan.The NHL, up to here in debt with the franchise over the years, said no. Swig threatened to fold up shop.His missed the Jan. 31 payroll. His players rebelled. They threatened to stop playing unless they were paid.Swig met the Jan. 31 payroll&hellip;on Feb. 16. That was to be the beginning of one of the most incredible weeks in the league&rsquo;s history.On Feb. 17, defenseman Len Frig gave vent to his feelings in a loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Following a game misconduct, Frig skated to the Cleveland bench, ripped off his sweater and threw it to the ice.The no-pay, no-play edict from the players came the next day. It was to take effect two games later.That night, the Barons nearly refused to play Colorado in Cleveland. There was no guarantee if any of them was injured. Just 90 minutes before the game, they were assured they would be taken care of in the event of an injury.Left winger Mike Fidler broke his leg in that game.A strike vote was taken by the players a few days later. Of the 20 men on hand, 14 voted to go out. Six players, all clients of Alan Eagleson, were advised to dress no matter what.It was a surprising vote considering what Swig had done just a few days earlier. He instructed director of hockey operations Harry Howell to pare the active roster from 46 to 27 men. Feb. 16 made headlines all over the country. The fact there was not a player revolt of major proportions is amazing.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02260/4052655-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="555" height="617"><figcaption class="caption-body">GEORGE GUND &hellip;Barons&rsquo; Chairman</figcaption></div>All the while, Swig was attempting to unload the Barons to Coliseum owner Sandy Greenberg. On Feb. 14 in Chicago, the two parties appeared to have struck a deal.The next morning, everything was called off.Eight days later in New York, the Board of (governors convened, presumably to hold the last rites over the Barons. The gate-struggling club was about to go under for the last time.That&rsquo;s what everyone thought. Several general managers, in fact, had come with blank checks in anticipation of an auction. They were like vultures out for the booty.But lo and behold, Eagleson stepped in and did something nobody thought of. He reasoned the Barons should at least finish the season and the only solution was joint cooperations.Many governors did not like it&mdash;the New York Rangers abstained in the final voting&mdash;and neither did several-members of the NHLPA. But the Eagle pushed it through because it made sense.Today, the Cleveland Barons are alive and healthy, thanks to the Gund brothers.They are still struggling at the gate, but that figures to improve because the Barons should be contenders for a playoff spot.George and Gordon Gund have made a three-year commitment to this franchise and aim to see it through.That, more than anything, should put to rest any rumors that Cleveland&rsquo;s life in the NHL will be short-lived. &#9632;

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Gunds’ Backing For Next 3 Years Boost To Barons

INDIANAPOLIS&mdash;In an effort to save a franchise which executive vice-president Don LeRose termed &ldquo;extremely shakey,&rdquo; the Indianapolis Racers, in eighth place in the eight-team World Hockey Association, named player Bill Goldsworthy as player-coach replacing Ron Ingram, who will remain as the club&rsquo;s general manager.Another player, Rosaire Paiement, who is currently recuperating from an eye injury, was named assistant coach, while Ingram announced the &ldquo;immediate acquisition&rdquo; of some players who were expected to help the club.Goldsworthy, the former captain of the Minnesota North Stars in the National Hockey League, started the season with the New York Rangers, but signed with the Racers after being sent to the New Haven Nighthawks of the American League.The Racers have been plagued by injury and illness with attendance dropping to fewer than 6,900 per game, second lowest in the league. Owner Nelson Skalbania feels the franchise cannot survive unless 5,000 season tickets are sold by June 1 or a better rental agreement is negotiated with the management of Market Square Arena, which seats 16,000.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02327/4053007-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="525" height="615"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILL GOLDSWORTHY&hellip;Accepts Challenge</figcaption></div>According to LeRose, &ldquo;We have 3,600 season tickets now, so we need only 1,400 more. If we can&rsquo;t do it by June 1 we shouldn&rsquo;t be in this city.&rdquo;Ingram claimed the decision to step down was totally his, adding that he would have fought owner Skalbania if he had been fired. &ldquo;I want to help the franchise because I&rsquo;m a part of it,&rdquo; said Ingram.Goldsworthy said he is confident he will not settle for anything less than hustle and work. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got some great ideas and I think we&rsquo;re going to turn this thing around.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Goldsworthy Takes Over As Racers’ Player-Coach

f0024-03

WORLD HOCKEY ASSOCIATION

<div class="byline">BY JOHN McCLAIN</div>HOUSTON&mdash;When Ron Grahame departed Houston for the Boston Bruins during the offseason, a sizeable void was created in the Aeros&rsquo; goal. Grahame would be difficult to replace, Aero partisans reasoned, not only because he was an excellent player, but also because he was such an outstanding person.The Aeros might replace Grahame&rsquo;s ability, but there appeared little chance of acquiring someone of equal virtues. Exit Grahame, enter Ernie Wakely.&ldquo;Five years ago, I turned my life over to Christ,&rdquo; says Wakely, whom the Aeros obtained from the Cincinnati Stingers early in the season for future considerations. &ldquo;I used to smoke and drink. I used to let a lot of-things bother me, like giving up a bad goal or losing a game. I&rsquo;m still disappointed when we lose, but I don&rsquo;t show it. I know there are things in life other than hockey.&rdquo;After an 0-5 start with the Stingers, Wakely turned around his season with the Aeros, leading them to one recent surge of 10 victories in 12 games. In his first 30 games with Houston, Wakely was 17-10-3 with a 2.91 goals-against average.&ldquo;I never lost confidence in Cincinnati because of my faith in Christ,&rdquo; Wakely says. &ldquo;My wife Sharon, and my kids Todd, Scott and Tanya have accepted Christ, too. That&rsquo;s why when we got traded from Cincinnati to Houston right after purchasing a house we were able to accept it.&rdquo;Some players hide their religious convictions. They don&rsquo;t talk about religion because they are ignorant of it, or because it doesn&rsquo;t fit the macho image of the athlete. Wakely doesn&rsquo;t flaunt his beliefs, but when talking about them, it is evident he is at peace with himself. He doesn&rsquo;t thrust his values upon others. He doesn&rsquo;t preach. But he is a proud man.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d just spent three years with the St. Louis Blues, and the last year (1971-72) was a disaster.&rdquo; Wakely recalls. &ldquo;I started thinking there should be more to life than what hockey had to offer, something other than making a lot of money. There was a void in my life, and I wanted something more rewarding. I found it in Christ.&rdquo;Like Ron Grahame, whose nickname is &ldquo;Reverend,&rdquo; Wakely hardly fits the image of the goaltender, those suspicious and superstitious masked men who make their livings stopping pucks traveling more than 100 miles an hour. Also like Grahame, the WHA&rsquo;s best goalie last season, Wakely is doing his job exceptionally well.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02258/4053045-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="557" height="585"><figcaption class="caption-body">ERNIE WAKELY&hellip;Never Lost Confidence</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Ernie has this knack of making the big saves when we&rsquo;re having a letdown,&rdquo; says defenseman John Hughes. &ldquo;There might be a part of the game when the other team gets something going and the rest of us aren&rsquo;t playing well, but Ernie always comes up big to keep us in the game.&rdquo;&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t ever consider myself as being on a hot streak,&rdquo; Wakely says. &ldquo;I try to be consistent because I know there&rsquo;ll be high and low points.&rdquo;Wakely is 37 but looks 32. He is in excellent physical condition. He has to be because coach Bill Dineen gives him little rest.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel like I&rsquo;ve lost any of my ability that I had a few years ago,&rdquo; Wakely says. &ldquo;I still have my reflexes and timing. Like any goaltender, I like to get in a lot of work. The only thing that bothers me is all the travel we have to do.&rdquo;Wakely appears to have few weaknesses. He is what Dineen calls &ldquo;a complete goaltender.&rdquo;&ldquo;I learned when I was young to be a complete goalie,&rdquo; Wakely says. &ldquo;Some goalies are strong in some areas and weak in others. I try to use my stick as well as I use my glove. I don&rsquo;t favor one over the other because opponents know things like that. I like to be able to use my feet, too. That helps me move around to control the puck. I want my forwards and defensemen to know what to expect from me so they can react to whatever the situation calls for.&rdquo;Wakely allows few goals on rebounds because he directs the puck into the corners.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always been taught to play the corners,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no sense blocking a shot back into the traffic in the slot. All it takes is a slight turn of the wrist if the block is with the stick or a turn of my skate if it&rsquo;s with the leg pad. I work on that so much in practice it becomes instinct during games. Blocking to the comers also helps the forwards and defensemen.&rdquo;The Aeros have needed all the help they can get this season. You might say Wakely has faith in Christ, and the Aeros have faith in Wakely.AERO NOTES: The Aeros&rsquo; three largest crowds this season have been against New England, which isn&rsquo;t surprising because of the Howes. The largest crowd, 13,215, watched the Aeros edge the Whalers, 5-4, recently. Houston was averaging 7,547 fans after 52 home games&hellip;Coach Bill Dineen, who argued for the 20-roster limit for two years, isn&rsquo;t so sure he likes the decision to use 20 instead of 19. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m afraid too many teams are going to get a tough guy as the 20th player,&rdquo; says Dineen. &ldquo;When things get out of hand, they send him in to shake things up.&rdquo;EDMONTON: The Oilers recently won two of their most important road games ever momentarily, passed by Houston, which was on a winning streak, and still a point behind Quebec, which was on a losing streak, the Oilers defeated New England, 6-3, Quebec, 4-3, in overtime to keep pace with the Aeros.Blair McDonald scored four goals against the Whalers before a sellout crowd at Springfield, Mass., while the victory over the Nordiques was especially satisfying. Quebec had a 3-0 lead going into the third period, and a few teams overcome that kind of lead in Le Colisee.. Throughout the season, the Oilers have been a second-period team. Their success in the middle period equals their ranking in the middle of the standings on the power play and penalty killing&hellip;The Oilers do more traveling than any team in the WHA, averaging a distance of 1,715 miles from opposing cities.WINNIPEG: Defenseman Lars-Erik Sjoberg has been the best plus-minus player in the league throughout the season. Sjoberg has been in the plus 40s. Bobby Hull, also with a plus in the 40s, is the best among the forwards&hellip;The Jets have been the best penalty-killing team in the league but have ranked as low as seventh on the power play&hellip;Coach Larry Hillman gave a welcome sigh of relief when right wing Willy Lindstrom snapped out of a goal-scoring slump. After scoring 44 goals last season, Lindstrom had only 10 in 38 games this season. Lindstrom then scored five in a short span and began playing more consistently both ways&hellip;Hull celebrated his 39th birthday recently and the Soviets, who were playing at Winnipeg, presented him with a sterling silver teapot.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03178/4053038-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="1171" height="1275"><figcaption class="caption-body">BLAIR MacDONALD&hellip;Oiler Hot With 4-Goal Game</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0025-02

Wakely’s Solid Goaling Helps Turn Houston Around

HARTFORD&mdash;The World Hockey Association is in the process of establishing a new attendance standard by attracting the largest crowds of its six year history.Prompted by the attendance report, WHA president Howard Baldwin analyzed, &lsquo;Looking at these figures there can be only one possible conclusion: The WHA has never been stronger.&rdquo;Through games of Sunday, Jan. 29, with more than half of the 1977-78 schedule completed, the WHA has played before crowds averaging 8,238. In 1976-77, the average WHA crowd was 7,795.The league&rsquo;s current attendance pace is therefore running six percent ahead of last season&rsquo;s final figure, and the most attractive portion of the schedule is still to be played.Notes Baldwin, &ldquo;Attendance has always increased during the second half of the schedule.&ldquo;At this point, a full season leaguewide attendance of 8,500 per game would be a reasonable, conservative projection. We have every reason to hope that we can do even better than that.&rdquo;Baldwin sees the attendance picture as a sign of public approval of the new direction that his league has taken. &ldquo;Entering the current season, our primary goal was to create stability, a sense of order that the fans could relate to. The gate increase shows that our program was on target. But cutting back to a core of our best franchises, we improved our product. The fans are responding.&ldquo;For the last few years, hockey has neglected the desires of the fan. The fan wants competitive, exciting games. The fan wants to be able to follow all of the teams, to be familiar with all of the players, to identify with the game. This year the WHA has geared itself to those desires.&rdquo;Despite his optimism, Baldwin cautions, &ldquo;We have a right to be pleased, but not to be satisfied. The WHA, like the rest of professional hockey, is still short of being profitable. But it sure is encouraging to know that we are going in the right direction.&ldquo;We have some franchises not drawing as well as others, for sure. But look at the marked correlation between each team&rsquo;s ranking in the league standings and its place on the attendance ladder. To me, that&rsquo;s a positive sign, an indication that the league is maturing.&rdquo;To date, New England leads the WHA in per game attendance, followed in order by Edmonton, Winnipeg, Quebec, Birmingham, Houston. Indianapolis, and Cincinnati.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1941/4053076-1-eng-US/f0026-192.jpg" title="f0026-19" width="556" height="682"><figcaption class="caption-body">HOWARD BALDWIN&hellip;Gains Public Approval</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0026-19

Attendance Running Ahead In WHA Cities

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE WARRINER</div>HARTFORD&mdash;The New England Whalers took advantage of their newly revised schedule to take a mid-season break. When the rool on their home rink collapsed the Whalers were forced to squeeze their games into available dates at the Springfield Civic Center. With a week long tennis tournament scheduled for the building the Whalers were forced to move back several home games to an already crowded schedule in March.The postponements left them with a full week break in the schedule and prompted coach Neale and the Whalers management to prescribe a complete layoff for three days allowing each team member to spend the time as he wished. It was hoped the mini-vacation would help the team forget some of the bad habits that had been developing.While standing idle the Whalers were anxiously watching the Winnipeg Jets take advantage of games in hand to make an assault on the WHA&rsquo;s top spot&mdash;a position the Whalers had held since the beginning of the season. During the week prior to their schedule break the Whalers hosted Edmonton and split a pair of games. In the first encounter the Whalers took a 3-1 lead into the final period, but the Oilers tied it. Fortunatley, Gordie Howe&rsquo;s fine effort in the comer and behind the cage set up the winner for a 4-3 victory.Two nights later Whalers management found they could squeeze over 8,000 fans into the building which listed a capacity of 7,449&mdash;but the game did not please the full house. The Oilers&mdash;B.J. MacDonald in particular&mdash;feasted on some poor play by the home team. It was perhaps the worst total effort of the year by the New England team.Before the night was over the Oilers had scored three unassisted goals and taken advantage of many Whalers miscues. While on penalty killing missions, MacDonald played the role of opportunist and on two separate occasions picked off errant Whalers passes and converted them into shorthanded goals. In between he had banged in a power play goal, and then in the final period, he added a full-strength marker for a four-goal night to singlehandedly outscore the Whalers. In a mild assessment of the game coach Harry Neale commented. &ldquo;We were outplayed completely! We lost our poise!&rdquo;The inept performance served to emphasize a developing problem which some observers were attributing to a lack of concentration or intensity, especially in the first period of many games. The theory was enforced the next night when the Whalers flew into Houston and promptly found themselves down by three goals after the initial stanza. Although they scrambled back to tie the game early in the third, the Whalers came out on the short end of a 5-4 final score. On the flight home all hoped their &ldquo;three day pass&rsquo; would help them get their act back together.WHALER WAVES: Right wing Tom Webster underwent surgery for the removal of a bone spur from a previous spinal fusion operation. The club announced Feb. 10 that Webster would be out for the rest of the season.After a long bout&mdash;over a month&mdash;with a bad case of the flu, Larry Pleau was looking forward to getting back. Coach Neale was eager to get Pleau back in the lineup saying that he wanted to reunite him with Mike Rogers and Jack Carlson. But Carlson was sidelined with a pinched nerve in his back so the probability of a reunion was somewhat doubtful&hellip;Commenting on the play of Mark Howe of late, six goals and 10 assists in eight games, Neale remarked, he&rsquo;s inherited at least one of his father&rsquo;s talents&mdash;he always knows where everyone is on the ice.&rdquo;&hellip; After the Philadelphia Firebirds (AHL) returned Cap Raeder to the Whalers, the team was unsuccessful in finding another spot for the young goaltender so he continued to practice with the Whalers&hellip; When a lengthy dispute over his &lsquo;healthy&rsquo; contract was not resolved, defenseman Bryan Maxwell was passed through WHA waivers and released by the Whalers.QUEBEC: The Nordiques suffered a tough week recently as they lost three games in four outings, including two in the friendly confines of their own Colisee. After taking a shellacking from Winnipeg in front of the home folks, the Nordiques journeyed to Birmingham. In a big second period outburst against the Bulls, the Quebec crew got a pair of goals from Buddy Cloutier (his 30th and 31st), and one from rookie Pierre Lagace (his first major league goal). That was enough for their only win of the week.The next two contests ended in overtime losses for the Nordiques. At Indianapolis, the Racers countered Marc Tardif&rsquo;s go-ahead goal (his 40th of the season) with the tying goal only seconds later. Five minutes into overtime Quebec was sent packing as Claude St. Sauveur got one past Jim Corsi.Back in the Colisee the next night, the Nords jumped into a 3-0 lead with second period goals by Paul Baxter, Cloutier, and Bob Fitchner. But then the combination of a decimated roster and a schedule that had them playing their fourth game in five nights, caught up with them. The visiting Edmonton Oilers poured in three goals of their own in the final period forcing the Nords into their second overtime contest in two nights. Final score&mdash;Edmonton 4, Quebec 3.The won-loss column was not all the Nordiques had to be concerned with, however. Steady veteran J.C. Tremblay suffered a separated shoulder and was lost to the team for weeks&mdash;just another in a series of blows to the defense corps in particular.Newly acquired goalie Markus Mattsson must have gone into a state of shock after coming over from the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets were near the top of the WHA in team defense, while the Nordiques, with their injury-riddled corps of blueliners, brought up the rear. Mattsson, appearing in four games, had given up 19 goals and sported a 5.70 GAA for his new club&hellip;Ken Broderick and Jim Corsi also saw action as the Nordiques waited for Richard Brodeur to return from an injury suffered in early December.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02265/4053107-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="569" height="863"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARK HOWE&hellip;Praised By Coach</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0027-02

Heavy Closing Schedule May Be Factor In Whalers’ Stretch Battle With The Jets

<div class="byline">BY JIM LEAHY</div>HAMPTON&mdash;And then there were eight.The brief existence of the nine-team American Hockey League came to an end last weekend when the expansionist Hampton Gulls, unable to handle insoluble financial problems were forced to fold their franchise.Gulls&rsquo; general manager John Brophy disclosed that all attempts to keep the club alive had failed and that a prospective buyer for the franchise had reversed his decision following deeper examinations into the club&rsquo;s financial books. Debts not previously known to have been incurred by the Gulls under previous ownership were revealed at the time of Brophy&rsquo;s announcement.The club was in the midst of a brutal 17-day road trip as they tried to escape the Southern Division cellar. Last week, they dropped a 3-2 decision in Hershey, lost 7-5 in Springfield and then 4-2 in Rochester.League president Jack Butterfield flew to the Virginia franchise in a last-ditch effort to help solve the Gulls&rsquo; problems but left when his efforts failed. The league has now undertaken the task of reworking the schedule which is already disrupted by the delayed opening of the Halifax Metro Center.A record-setting third shutout this season by Nighthawk goaltender Hardy Aastrom, propelled the Nighthawks past Rochester into first place in the American Hockey League Southern Division. The &lsquo;Hawks had a great week, winning all three games to post a record of 11-1-1 in their last 13 contests. The Springfield Indians, with a wild 9-8 win over New Haven, were the only AHL club to beat the Nighthawks during January.Aastrom has been nothing less than sensational since being sent to the Nighthawks by the parent N.Y. Rangers. He beat Rochester 4-3 before a season high crowd of 5,298 in New Haven on Friday and shutout the Hershey Bears 7-0 on home ice two nights later. As a result of the whitewash of Hershey, Aastrom set a new record for Nighthawk goaltenders and lowered his goals-against average to an amazing 2.40.Following the win over Rochester on Friday, the Nighthawks traveled to Rochester the next night where backup netminder Lindsay Middlebrook posted a 4-3 victory on John Bednarski&rsquo;s goal with just 16 seconds to play. Coach Parker MacDonald&rsquo;s use of four lines is paying huge dividends as he is able to keep fresh skaters on the ice at all times.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01290/4053152-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="566" height="824"><figcaption class="caption-body">HARDYAASTROM&hellip;Best Average</figcaption></div>The game with Hershey featured a battle between two former goaltenders for the Swedish National Team, Goran Hogosta and Hardy Aastrom. Hogosta had been sent to Hershey by the N.Y. Islanders and Aastrom is property of the rival N.Y. Rangers. Despite the lopsided Nighthawk victory, Hogosta could not be faulted for most of the goals since his tired defense game him little support.The parent N.Y. Rangers have sent an SOS to New Haven which resulted in the rapid shuffling of Ken Hodge, Mike Keating, Jerry Byers and Benoit Gosselin back and forth between New Haven and New York. The Nighthawk-Rangers association is convenient for both clubs. A player could actually walk from the New Haven Coliseum to the train station and be inside Madison Sq. Garden in less than 90 minutes.MAINE: Three wins in four games last week gave the Mariners sole possession of first place in the Northern Division. The Mariners beat Rochester 6-3 and defeated second place Springfield twice. The only loss was a tough 5-3 decision in Hershey. The streaking Mariners are on top mainly because at this time they lead the AHL in wins, including seven in a row at the Civic Center.Injuries and a tough road schedule for the Philadelphia Flyers have forced the parent club to call up wingers Blake Dunlop, Al Hill, and Drew Callender for a few games. &ldquo;A lot of Mariners deserve a shot at the NHL,&rdquo; commented Flyers&rsquo; and Mariners&rsquo; general manager Keith Allen.On Sunday March 5, the Mariners will sponsor a day-long festival in conjunction with the March of Dimes. Among the activities planned are: A Dunk-the-Mariner contest, &ldquo;Beat the Goalie&rdquo;, a piethrowing contest and a Mariner kissing booth. The Mariners probably lead the league in zany promotions and civic activities, a fact that has a lot to do with their great year at the box office.HERSHEY: The parent Washington Capitals have assigned winger Craig Patrick to the Bears to go along with goaltender Goran Hogosta, but the inconsistent Bears still need help&mdash;especially on defense. The Bears only dressed four defenseman during the 7-0 loss at New Haven. Wayne Ramsey, Bob Bilodeau, Bill Stewart and Yvon Labre are trying to hold the fort but the going has been rough at times.Twin wins in three games last week gave Hershey fans something to think about. The Bears defeated Hampton 3-2 and edged the Maine Mariners 5-3 before, 5,792 fans at the Hersheypark Arena.ROCHESTER: Back-to-back losses to the New Haven Nighthawks dropped the Amerks into second place in the Southern Division race. Earlier in the week, a 6-3 loss to Maine gave New Haven a chance to edge closer to the slumping Amerks.A few days before the pivotal series with New Haven, Rochester coach Duane Rupp said that &ldquo;The Nighthawks have really improved and we&rsquo;re just going to have to be completely prepared. We&rsquo;ve got to be ready for the stretch run and this is a good time to get things together.&rdquo; Despite a fine performance by goaltender Jim &ldquo;Seaweed&rdquo; Pettie, the Amerks were victimized by the Nighthawks.SPRINGFIELD: The Indians dropped four points in back of the Mariners as a result of two key losses to the red-hot Maine club. The Tribe dropped a 5-2 contest at the Big E and a 6-3 contest in Portland. A 7-5 win over the Hampton Gulls kept Springfield seven points in front of third place Nova Scotia.Tommy Williams, Dan Kozak and Ernie Hicke have been assigned to Springfield by the parent Los Angeles Kings. All are expected to be back with the Kings soon, however, they could help the Indians tremendously during their stay in the AHL.BINGHAMTON: A big 2-1 win over third place Nova Scotia moved the improving Dusters to within six points of the Voyageurs. In January the Dusters had won six of their last seven on home ice and were scheduled to leave the friendly confines of the Broome County Arena only three times in February.The club replaced former AHL All Star goalie Ed Walsh with Larry Hendrick who is the property of the Cleveland Barons. Hendrick started the season with Phoenix of the CHL and has played with Salt Lake City of the CHL and Toledo of the IHL. Walsh has been sent to the Springfield Indians by the Montreal Canadiens.PHILADELPHIA: The Firebirds ended the week in third place, four points in back of the Rochester Americans. A 4-1 win at Nova Scotia was the only game scheduled for the Firebirds.NOVA SCOTIA: A weekend series with the front-running Maine Mariners had to be postponed because the new Halifax Metro Centre still is not ready. The opening date is now scheduled for Feb. 19, and the road-weary Voyageurs are undoubtedly anxious to play in their 10,300 seat building. The only games that the Vees were able to play resulted in a 2-1 loss to Binghamton and a 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Firebirds.The Vees still have a tremendous number of home games in hand and when their new building is open, they should begin to make their move in the Northern Division race.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02232/4053145-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="560" height="547"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB BILODEAU&hellip;Holding Bears&rsquo; Fort</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03150/4053138-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="564" height="561"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM PETTIE&hellip;Couldn&rsquo;t Stop &lsquo;Hawks&rsquo;</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

Hampton Disbands Cutting AHL To 8; Aastrom Sets Hawk Shutout Record

<h2>Where CHL Teams Play</h2><h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01328/4053190-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="551" height="464"></div><h3>MARCH</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02260/4053183-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="542" height="195"></div> &#9632;

f0030-01

CENTRAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div>SALT LAKE CITY&mdash;Little Doug (Pizza) Palazzari matched his sweater number, and the Golden Eagles finally moved into second place.Doug, the five-foot-five, 174-pound center from Eveleth, Minn., and Colorado College, wears No. 24 for the Eagles. And it was his goal after 24 seconds of overtime play in Dallas which brought a 5-4 Sunday night victory and lifted the Birds into the runnerup spot. They were nine points behind frontrunning Fort Worth, and only two ahead of Tulsa and Dallas. But the Eagles had two games in hand on Tulsa, three on Fort Worth and Dallas.The high-scoring week saw hat tricks by Tony Currie and Floyd Thomson, with Currie and Palazzari reaching the 20-goaI plateau, and the overtime tally was the 21st for &ldquo;Pizza&rdquo;.Palazzari had three goals and four assists for the week, climbing to fourth on the CHL scoring chart. With the two leaders, Stan Weir and Claire Alexander, both of Tulsa, recalled to the National League, Doug was aiming at the top spot. The No. 3 scorer, Richie Hansen of Fort Worth, was coming off a knee injury. At this stage, Palazzari had 50 points, Weir 57, Alexander 56, and Hansen 53.Currie&rsquo;s hat trick came in a Monday night 6-3 home game against Tulsa, as the Eagles avenged a 3-1 loss two nights earlier. Palazzari, Lyle Bradley and Thomson also scored, with Thomson getting a shorthanded goal into an empty net with 1:34 left. Currie opened the scoring, breaking a string of 10 straight games in which Eagle opponents had scored first.It was back to the old pattern when Fort Worth scored first in the Salt Palace Wednesday, but Jon Smrke, Jack Brownschidle and Palazzari scored for a rallying 3-1 triumph. Goalie Doug Grant got his first point of the season, assisting on Smrke&rsquo;s goal. Palazzari tipped in Bradley&rsquo;s shot, giving the veteran his 500th point for the Eagles (161 goals, 339 assists, in seven seasons). With 36 points, he was tied for 10th in the league scoring race.The Eagles lost a chance to gain undisputed second place when Fort Worth won the rematch on Friday, 4-2. After Currie scored his 20th goal on a power play in the first period, the Texans tallied four in a row, before Smrke found the net late in the third. They played before 6,492 fans&mdash;largest crowd of the season in the Palace.Another opportunity to take over the No. 2 spot was blown when the Birds fell in Dallas, 4-3, Saturday. Mike Korney had the first goal, with Currie and Dave Hrechkosy scoring in the middle period.But the Eagles weren&rsquo;t to be denied on Sunday, even though Dallas fought back from a 4-2 deficit to force the game into overtime. Thomson had one goal in the first period, two in the second, and Joe Zanussi also counted in the middle period. His goal on a power play gave the Eagles a franchise record of scoring power goals in nine straight games.Palazzari&rsquo;s overtime tally gave the Birds a record of 2-0-2 in overtime games, with one victory and two ties on the road.Doug Grant was expected to carry the full netminding load, with the departure of the &ldquo;Polish Prince&rdquo;, Ed Staniowski, to St. Louis. But Jim Warden was called in for a backup, coming into Salt Lake for a third season. He started with Phoenix in the CHL this season, and had been working out with Toledo in the International League, since the Roadrunners folded in December.KANSAS CITY: Two victories at home convinced the Red Wings and their fans the club could win in Kemper Arena, after all. Until then Larry Wilson&rsquo;s crew had been 1-4 at home for the new year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03194/4053221-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="563" height="635"><figcaption class="caption-body">TONY CURRIE&hellip;Eagle Hat Trick</figcaption></div>It was a 5-3 triumph over Dallas on Friday. Fern Leblanc scored twice, Bob Ritchie counted in the middle period, Rob Plumb got what proved to be the winner, and J.P. Leblanc added insurance in the third.But Wilson and the fans had to go through a bit of nail-biting on Saturday, as the Wings nearly blew a 5-1 lead, barely holding off Fort Worth, 6-5. Plumb had scored early in the first period, Fred Berry made it 2-1, then Tim Sheehy and Plumb both scored during a five-minute manpower advantage before the first period ended. Fern Leblanc made it 5-1 late in the second. The Texans scored four times in the third, but Steve Coates managed to break into the scoring pattern with what became the winning marker.Mike Bloom had 41 points to share sixth in the CHL scoring. Roland Cloutier was eighth with 36, and Fem Leblanc tied for 10th at 36.TULSA: Most of the Oiler news was made off the ice by the coming and going of players in wholesale numbers. The one game they played before an eight-day layoff was a 6-3 loss in Salt Lake. It was their eighth game in 11 nights, the last five on the road, and they finished that grind with a 4-4 record. Four of those games were played shorthanded, with only 12 skaters.Rookie Glen (Carrot) Hanlon, who had been doing most of the goaltending, suffered tom ankle ligaments, playing racquetball while the Oilers relaxed in Salt Lake after the long grind. Mike Belhumeur, back from a similar injury, was to take over the load, but Dale Rideout was secured from the Port Huron Flags of the IHL (on loan from the Washington Capitals) as a backup.The CHL&rsquo;s two top scorers were lost. Center Stan Weir (57 points and a leagueleading 24 goals) was recalled by Toronto. Defenseman Claire Alexander (56 points and a league-leading 42 assists) was sold by Toronto to Vancouver, and promptly called there.The Oilers borrowed right wing Terry Bucyk from the Los Angeles Kings. (He had been with Springfield in the American League). Then the Leafs sent down left wing Jack Valiquette. Vancouver recalled left wing Rob Flockhart, but shipped the Oilers center Ralph Stewart, left wing Garry Monahan, right wing Gerry O&rsquo;Flaherty and defenseman Bob Manno. Stewart returned just in time to reclaim his captaincy. He had relinquished it when he went to the Canucks, Dec. 28. Alexander had inherited the &ldquo;C&rdquo;.With the return of forwards Scott Garland and Rob Tudor, and defenseman Jeff Bandura, from the injury list, Oiler coach Johnny Choyce suddenly had 21 men on the roster, two more than he could dress. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s either a feast or a famine,&rdquo; he observed.DALLAS: Rookie right wing Rocky Saganiuk, with 16 goals and 29 points, was lost for the season with a cracked vertebrae, suffered when he was crosschecked into the boards, headfirst, by Salt Lake&rsquo;s Gordon Buynak in the Hawks&rsquo; 4-3 home victory. Referee Greg Madill assessed a major penalty for injury by cross-checking, but ruled it was not a deliberate attempt to injure.Right wing Alain (Bam-Bam) Belanger, the CHL&rsquo;s penalty leader with 188 minutes, was called up by Toronto. The Leafs sent down right wing Kurt Walker and defenseman Randy Carlyle, who both split time between Dallas and Toronto last winter. Walker set a club record by drawing 39 penalty-minutes in one game for Dallas last year.Despite going 18 games without a goal, defenseman-turned-right-wing Ron Wilson was still the club&rsquo;s scoring leader, with 41 points, tied for sixth in the league.At Kansas City, Bob Hoffmyer scored in the first period, Reggie Kerr and Dan Hinton in the second, but the Hawks suffered a 4-3 setback.Savard and Jim McKenny scored early in the Sunday rematch, then Belanger and Kerr scored third-period goals to tie it up, but the Hawks lost, 5-4, in overtime.FORT WORTH: Billy MacMillan&rsquo;s Texans, in the midst of a long road grind while a rodeo took over Will Rogers Coliseum, maintained a nine-point margin in first place, but it was against a new challenger. Salt Lake became the closest rival, after Tulsa and Dallas had been the closest pursuers for six weeks.The Texans broke even on an invasion of Salt Lake, losing 3-1 and winning 4-2, then dropped a 6-5 game in Kansas City. &#9632;

f0030-03

‘Pizza Power’ Lifts Eagles Into Second Place

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div>TOLEDO&mdash;Look for a North Division team to win the Turner Cup&mdash;playoff prize for the International Hockey League&mdash;this season. And the best choice would appear to be the defending champions Saginaw Gears.Don Perry, who guided the Gears to both the league and playoff crowns last season, found a silver lining in the cloud of the 7-3 defeat for his North Division IHL All Stars in the 14th annual midseason classic in Toledo&rsquo;s Sports Arena.&ldquo;The South won the All Star game (3-2 at Flint) last year but it was the North Division which won the Turner Cup,&rdquo; Perry said following the South&rsquo;s fourth victory since the two-division format has been in use. The North has managed but one victory (4-3 at Kalamazoo in 1975), and there have been two ties.&lsquo;Yes, I think it helped the South that they had so many Fort Wayne players (eight),&rdquo; Perry went on. &ldquo;That gave them a better team concept and I think teamwork was the difference in the game.&rdquo;South coach Gregg Pilling (Fort Wayne) agreed. &ldquo;Yes, I tried to put players together from the same team. That&rsquo;s about the only strategy you can use in All Star games,&rdquo; Pilling said.He added, &ldquo;All Star games are really hard&rsquo;to predict. Maybe if the game had been played in Saginaw the North would have won, 7-3&rdquo;Pilling took good advantage of the team concept. He had one complete line of Komets&mdash;rookie Dan Bonar, Al Dumba and Dave Norris. Another was two-thirds Fort Wayne, Terry McDougall and D&rsquo;Arcy Keating. Defensemen Terry Pembroke and Mike Boland were used as a pair also. And Robbie Irons filled the South net for half of the game, leaving a 3-2 lead.In addition, Pilling had three Toledo Goaldiggers as another offensive unit&mdash;Paul Tantardini, Len Fontaine and Ian MacPhee.Keating pumped in a pair of goals with McDougall and Norris getting one each as the Komets scored four of the seven South goals. They figured in a fifth as well, Pembroke picking up an assist on MacPhee&rsquo;s goal.Toledo also contributed the South&rsquo;s other goal&mdash;by defenseman Michel Laurendeau. Pilling used Laurendeau on left wing for &ldquo;about five shifts&rdquo; and it paid off on the scoreboard. Laurendeau was voted the South&rsquo;s most valuable player.The South broke a tight, 3-2 game wide open with three goals in the second period. The 6-2 lead grew to 7-2 before Dennis Desrosiers of Saginaw scored the North&rsquo;s final goal with just 31 seconds remaining.Port Huron&rsquo;s Larry Gould, who scored the North&rsquo;s first goal unassisted, was voted the North&rsquo;s most valuable player.Perry admitted he was surprised his high-scoring trio of Desrosiers, Marcel Comeau and Warren Holmes were not more of a factor in the game. The trio has combined for 77 Gear goals thus far this season.&ldquo;Yes, I was surprised they didn&rsquo;t produce more. I can&rsquo;t remember when Saginaw players have had less of an effect offertsively in an All Star game.&rdquo;The real winner, however, was the Northwest Ohio Lung Association&mdash;an affiliate of the American Lung Association. Despite the blizzard which ripped through the Midwest just a week prior to the game, a crowd of 3.206 was on hand. Proceeds to the charity figure to be around $17,000, according to Toledo&rsquo;s assistant general manager, Keith Sprunk. Last year in Flint the total was $22,000.Spawned in St. Paul in 1962, the IHL All Star game has become a real major league production. Toledo had a tough act to follow. The Flint production was perfect&mdash;and there was no blizzard to contend with a year ago. But Toledo did a superb job.The noon banquet was well attended and. well staged. Former Olympic figure skating champion Janet Lynn, a victim of exercise-induced asthma which ended her professional skating career with the Ice Follies, was the feature speaker.There is a good chance the mid-season classic will become a two-day affair in the near future&mdash;possibly next year when the game is scheduled for Saginaw.&ldquo;I think it would be better,&rdquo; said Komet general manager and part owner Ken Ullyot, who is also on the IHL Board of Governors. &ldquo;We could have the banquet the night before. It would make for a less-crowded day. It&rsquo;s not definite but sentiment is leaning in that direction,&rdquo; he added.The All Star game was about the only thing which survived the blizzard. The complete Friday and Saturday schedule was a victim of the blizzard, which hit Wednesday. Kalamazoo, which dropped a 6-5 decision to Fort Wayne in the Memorial Coliseum Wednesday night, fought the blizzard all the way back to Kalamazoo and won&mdash;six hours later. It is normally a two-hour trip.Muskegon and Grand Rapids skated to a 3-3 tie in the only other Wednesday night game.Two of the Sunday games were played. It would have been better for Flint and Kalamazoo had the games joined the Fort Wayne at Grand Rapids and Milwaukee at Toledo dates on the postponed list. Port Huron ripped the Generals at home, 7-4, and Kalamazoo took a 10-4 trimming in Saginaw.In other league action, Nellie Leclair, a former IHL All Star, was named as the new coach at Grand Rapids.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02231/4053290-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="564" height="591"><figcaption class="caption-body">LARRY GOULD&hellip;All Star MVP</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03181/4053283-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="543" height="540"><figcaption class="caption-body">NELLIE LECLAIR&hellip;Takes Over Owls</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0031-02

North Shows Championship Potential After Dominating South’s All Stars

<h2>College Races</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01274/4053342-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="594" height="308"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Wisconsin 5, Colorado Collage 4Wisconsin 4, Colorado College 3Minn-Duluth 5, North Dakota 4North Dakota 7, Minn-Duluth 2Minnesota 10, Michigan State 0Minnesota 5, Michigan Stato 3Denver 2, Michigan Toch 1Denver 3, Michigan Toch 0Notre Dame 7, Michigan 4Notre Dame 5, Michigan 1<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02207/4053335-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="599" height="1227"></div><h2>ECAC CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings On Mon. Jan. 30)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03155/4053328-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="618" height="487"></div><h2>CCHA CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Fri. Jan. 27)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04123/4053321-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="594" height="191"></div> &#9632;

f0033-01

COLLEGE HOCKEY

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01306/4053387-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Clarkson&rsquo;s Charlie Sharlow, left, wasted little time helping his Golden Knights&rsquo; team set an Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference record when he scored after 29 seconds of the first period in a 10-3 win over St. Lawrence University, making it 226 consecutive games in which Clarkson has scored. The last time they were shut out was in the 1970-71 season by Harvard. Sharlow&rsquo;s goal also helped coach Jerry York, right, record his 100th career victory.</figcaption></div>MADISON&mdash;Nothing beats winning the National Collegiate Athletic Association hockey championship, right?Well, Wisconsin head hockey coach Bob Johnson might argue with that despite leading the Badgers to the NCAA championship a year ago.Wisconsin wasn&rsquo;t the pick of Western Collegiate Hockey Association coaches to even repeat as league champions, let alone national champions.But the Badgers, missing six of the top nine scorers from a year ago, have rallied with a team concept of play that has the Badgers challenging Denver for the title.A key series in Madison, Wis., Feb. 1011 between Denver and Wisconsin should have had a major bearing on who will win the West. Denver carried a four-point lead over the Badgers going into the series.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been one of the most rewarding years since I&rsquo;ve been here,&rdquo; said Johnson, in his 11th year at Wisconsin. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not nearly the team we were last year but the players are working hard and making improvement,&rdquo; he said.Wisconsin has continued as a college power despite losing All American defenseman Craig Norwich to the pros a year ahead of schedule. On top of that, center Mike Meeker quit Wisconsin a couple of days after being named the WCHA&rsquo;s Player of the Week in the opening week of league play.&ldquo;Since then, we&rsquo;ve really become a team even though Mike Eaves and Mark Johnson are doing the bulk of the scoring. They&rsquo;re having unbelievable years.&rdquo;Indeed they are. The two Badger sharpshooters have been alternating as the top scorer in the WCHA and Johnson is the runaway leader in goals scored in the league.&ldquo;I know a lot of people have knocked our defense but I think our defense is much better than a lot of people think. Brad Mullens and Norm McIntosh are very solid and Bob Suter is an excellent defenseman. And our little freshman (five-foot-seven Theran Welsh) is having a heckuva year,&rdquo; Johnson said.Wisconsin has been able to win despite having every team point at it. &ldquo;The biggest adjustment we&rsquo;ve had to make since winning the nationals is that everyone is out for us. Let me tell you, they&rsquo;re really up when they play us. We haven&rsquo;t found anyone down yet. I&rsquo;m just very proud of this team,&rdquo; Johnson said.Meanwhile, Denver can do no wrong&mdash;almost.After Denver shocked powerful Michigan Tech 2-1 and 3-0 on Tech&rsquo;s home ice, the road trip to snowy Houghton seemed a breeze for the Pioneers.But the return trip wasn&rsquo;t. The Denver airport was fogbound, forcing the plane to turn back to Minneapolis and deposit the Pioneers there for a night.Denver coach Marshall Johnston spoke in superlatives about Denver&rsquo;s play against Tech, which had moved into position to challenge both Denver and Wisconsin for honors.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s as good a defense as I&rsquo;ve ever seen played by a team, not just in goal, but by the forwards and defensemen, too,&rdquo; Johnston said.Goalie Ernie Glanville was a major factor in limiting Tech to just one goal in 120 minutes. He stopped 33 shots in the 2-1 win Friday, then turned back all 17 at him before suffering a pulled hamstring in the third period the next night.But an indication of the kind of defense Denver is playing hese days is shown by the fact that Glanville&rsquo;s replacement, Jim Bales, had to make just three saves in 11 minutes to preserve Glanville&rsquo;s shutout.Even the Tech fans, fired up for the traditional winter Carnival weekend, appreciated Glanville. When he left the game after being hurt, he was given a standing ovation.Denver has won 20 of 24 games despite a string of ineligibilities and injuries. The Pioneers played at Tech without wing Perry Schnarr, one of the team&rsquo;s top snipers. Denver is down to 20 players now after recruiting a player off campus who has never played in a college game.&ldquo;It was such a great weekend of hockey that even if we had lost 2-1 and 3-0, I wouldn&rsquo;t have been disappointed. There was lots of hitting and no cheap play. You never run into cheap play when you face a John MacInnes-coached team,&rdquo; Johnston said.Elsewhere in the league, Michigan continues to rank as the most disappointing team in the league. Picked to win the WCHA by the coaches, floundering Michigan has now dropped 11 out of its last 12 and now is jeopardy of not even making the playoffs. The Wolverines, once 9-3 in the league, are now 10-14 and fading fast.Minnesota remains as an outside shot to catch Denver and Wisconsin for first or second.Steve Janaszak blanked Michigan State 10-0 in the opener while Paul Joswiak handled the nets in a 5-3 victory over State the second game. Tim Harrer* supplied the offense with five goals.North Dakota continues to have trouble winning at home. The Sioux split their sixth straight home series this year, bowing 5-4 to Duluth before rallying the next night 7-2. Bill Himmelright picked up five assists the second night to become the leading scorer in the league for defensemen.Only four weeks remain in the regular season. The top eight teams advance to the league playoffs to determine entries to the NCAA tourney. Denver, however, is on probation and is not eligible for the nationals.WCHA NOTES: Hockey writer Bill Brophy, who wrote for THE HOCKEY NEWS last year, has switched jobs. He&rsquo;s moved from the Duluth News-Tribune to the Madison State Journal, where he&rsquo;ll follow the Badgers&hellip;Denver coach Marshall Johnston hasn&rsquo;t ruled himself out as a candidate for the coaching job at North Dakota created by the resignation of Rube Bjorkman&hellip;Notre Dame lost leading scorer Don Fairholm for the year with a knee injury.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02235/4053380-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="578" height="591"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILL HIMMELRIGHT&hellip;Offensive Defenseman</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03163/4053373-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="504" height="584"><figcaption class="caption-body">DON FAIRHOLM&hellip;Out For Season</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0032-01

Badger Coach Rewarded By Teamwork; Denver Defense Helps Keep WCHA Lead

<div class="byline">BY RICHARD JABLONSKI</div>TORONTO&mdash;The York University Yeomen pulled the upset of the Canadian college hockey season when they defeated the previously unbeaten and top ranked Toronto Blues 5-3 on Wed. Feb. 8. The victory assumed added importance for the Yeomen in view of the tight three team race for playoff berths in the Eastern Division of the Ontario conference.York broke quickly on the Blues and never looked back. Glen Wagner and Bob Fukumoto netted goals in the opening minutes of play, catching the unsuspecting Blues somewhat by surprise. The first period ended with York leading 3-1 and playing some of the best hockey of what has been, to this point, a trying season for the Yeomen.Defenseman Dave Chalk got the gamewinner with only two seconds remaining in the second period. A careless play by the Blues&rsquo; defense allowed Chalk to walk in to the Toronto net unmolested, and the Yeoman blueliner made no mistake.&ldquo;That was the goal that really beat us,&rdquo; said Toronto coach Tom Watt of Chalk&rsquo;s effort. Actually, it was left to York forward Bob Schnurr to clinch the two points for the Yeomen with an empty net goal in the game&rsquo;s final minute.Elsewhere in Ontario, the Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks went a long way toward assuring themselves of a first place finish in the Western Division with three wins over divisional rivals. Guelph, Windsor, and Waterloo were on the short end of 7-4, 8-4, and 5-2 scores in matches with the Hawks.In the conference&rsquo;s Central Division, first place McMaster swept two games from second place Ryerson, 7-3 and 6-4. The twin victories put the Marauders seven points up on Ryerson in the race for the top spot in the division.On a somewhat different note, the Royal Military College Cadets, winless in 12 previous conference games and seriously considering discontinuing their hockey program, tasted sweet victory twice within two days. The Cadets won both ends of a weekend doubleheader at Trent, downing the home team 5-3 and 75.THE MARITIMES: The St. Mary&rsquo;s Huskies, following several weeks of inconsistent play, have clinched first place in the Atlantic Universities Athletic Association. The Huskies closed out the remainder of the league with a convincing 5-2 win over Dalhousie, thereby avenging an earlier 3-1 loss at the hands of the Tigers. Bruce Northrup, Tom McDonnell, Mac Davis, Tom Sinclair and Bruce Cochrane all fired singles for the Huskies, who aimed 40 shots at the beleaguered Dalhousie goaltender. Dan Cyr and Daniel Mongeon responded for the Tigers.The playoff aspirations of the Prince Edward Island Panthers took a decided downward turn this past week, when the Panthers lost league-leading scorer David Cameron for the remainder of the season. Cameron, who had accounted for 13 goals and 30 assists, suffered a broken ankle during his team&rsquo;s 5-4 loss to Moncton. Sitting in the fourth and final playoff spot only two points ahead of fifth place Dalhousie, UPEI will be forced to rely more heavily upon the talents of Louis Lortie, Cameron&rsquo;s linemate and the second leading scorer in the Maritimes.Two games this week, Dalhousie at St. Francis Xavier and Dalhousie at Moncton, will go a long way toward sorting out the somewhat scrambled playoff picture in the Atlantic provinces.QUEBEC: It was a rough week for the McGill Redmen, who dropped two out of three matches, and a pleasant week for the Concordia Stingers, who earned six points in two games. For the Trois Rivieres Patriotes, it was just another game and another win.The big game of the week pitted the Redmen against the Stingers on Concordia&rsquo;s home ice. With second place in the QUAA on the line, it was the Stingers who responded to the challenge, routing a listless McGill team 8-3. Six unanswered second period goals, three by little known forward Albert DiFazio, put the game on ice for Concordia. Dwayne Byers, Steve Gibson, Randy Borboly, Kim Elliott and Francois Bouchard also scored for the Stingers.Earlier in the week, Concordia picked up four points in one game, downing Chicoutimi 5-3. Because the Inuks were unable to honor their two game commitments on Stinger ice, the game was designated as a four-pointer by the league office.The vastly improved Bishop&rsquo;s Gaiters handed McGill its second defeat of the week, dumping the Redmen 5-3 before an enthusiastic Winter Carnival crowd in Lennoxville. Defenseman Jim Grady led the Gaiter attack with two goals.The scoring feat of the week was turned in by McGill&rsquo;s Mike Bradley. The native of Acton, Mass., ripped four goals past two Chicoutimi netminders as the Redmen topped the Inuks 7-2. Otherwise, the week was a total loss for McGill, which fell rather quickly from the CIAU top 10 on the basis of its two losses.CANADA WEST: The Alberta Golden Bears, the first place team in Canada West and the second ranked team in Canada, suffered another defeat this past week, this time at the hands of the third place Calgary Dinosaurs, 6-4 in overtime. With their victory, the Dinosaurs salvaged a split of a weekend series in Edmonton, having lost 6-3 the previous evening to the Golden Bears.Randy Joevenazzo and Bob Laycock, each with two goals, led the Dinosaurs to the return match upset. Each scored a goal in regulation as well as a goal in the overtime period. Doug Murray and John Bechtold also tallied for Calgary. Chris Helland, Ted Olson, John Devaney and Dave Breakwell netted singles for the Bears.Friday night&rsquo;s game was a different story. Devaney, Olson, Mike Bachynski,- Dave Hindmarch, Darrel Zaparniuk and Kevin Primeau combined to give Alberta the victory.With the win on Friday night, Alberta&rsquo;s magic number for clinching the Canada West regular season championship is down to two. Any combination of Alberta wins or British Columbia losses equalling two will wrap up the title for the Golden Bears. &#9632;

York Upsets No. 1 Ranked Toronto Blues

NEW YORK&mdash;A rare opportunity to visit the cultural center of Central Europe, historic London, and also watch all the action in the 1978 World Games at Prague are among the lures of a unique package tour being offered by THE HOCKEY NEWS.From May 8 through 15, Team Canada, and the national teams from the United States, the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Sweden and Finland, amongst others, will battle it out for the World Hockey title.The games will be played in Prague, Czechoslovakia, the hub of Central European athletics and culture since the 14th century. The ancient city abounds with fascinating landmarks of its history, seldom seen by North American visitors. Along with deluxe hotel accomodations for seven days, two meals daily, and attendance at a local festival, tours of many of the behind-the-iron-curtain sites will be included.Following the completion of the World Tournament, the tour will spend six days in a first-class hotel in London, one of the world&rsquo;s great cities. During its stay, the tour will take in a show at the famed London Palladium and also embark on sightseeing tours to such sights as Big Ben, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and Piccadily Circus.In Prague the World Tournament will have the gallant Czechs, trying to defend their two-time World title against the powerful Russians, the amazing swift skating Swedes and the physically tough Finlanders.The Soviet Union fired head coach Boris Kulagin after last May&rsquo;s World Tournament in Vienna. The Russian failure to oust the Czechs was the cause&mdash;and the pressure kept mounting in Moscow when, for the first time in nine seasons, the Soviets failed to win their own Izvestia Christmas tourney&mdash;again losing to the Czechoslovakian Nationals.Based upon these impressive wins over the Russians, the people of Prague take great pride in their city and consider it to be the capital of European hockey&mdash;a title they will not relinquish until their team is defeated.Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia, is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. There are strolling violinists to entertain diners, and a colorful (diversified) culture which is more sophisticated than most Western visitors expect.Jan Starsi and Karol Gut are the cocoaches of the Czech Nationals. Beating their team on its own territory will take some doing. When the first Canada-Russia summit meeting took place in 1972, it wasn&rsquo;t well known in North America, but the Czechs and not the Russians were the world champs. Going back a few years before then, the Czechs had beaten the Soviets 5-4, the only game the Russians lost on the way to the 1968 Olympic Gold medal. In the World championships of 1969 the Czechs beat Russia in both games, 2-0 and 4-3, although the Soviets won the title on goal averages.The feud in Europe is between the Soviets and the Czechs, who have held the upper hand since the Russians won the 1976 Olympic title with a disputed 4-3 victory at Innsbruck, Austria. With Milan Novy and Ivan Hlinka playing big roles, Team CSSR won the World championship in Poland in the spring of 1976, finished second to Team Canada in the 1976 Canada Cup, and defended their title last year in the World championships in Vienna.The Czechs boast the renowned fat man, goalie Vladimir Dzurilla, who shut out Team Canada 1-0 in the Montreal Forum in Canada Cup play.&ldquo;He is not our best goalie,&rdquo; Starsi insists. &ldquo;We feel Jiri Crha, and of course, Jiri Holocek, are at least as good.&rdquo;The talented cadre of Czech nationals behind Novy and Hlinka include defensemen Fran Pospisil and Jiri Bubla plus the three Stastnys. Peter and Marian are brothers, but Bohuslav is not related. Younger brother Anton Stastny was one of the better players on the Czech Junior team in recent world play. He may force his way onto the big team.The Soviet Union will have Vladislav Tretiak in goal, and the redoubtable Valeri Vasiliev on defense with the world&rsquo;s best line, Vladimir Petrov, Valeri Kharlamov and Boris Mikhailov up front. And the Soviets&rsquo; &ldquo;Kid Line&rdquo; of Victor Zhluktov, Helmut Balderis and Boris Alexandrov may be the edge the Soviets need.No one should count out Team Sweden, which last year beat the Russians 5-1 and 3-1 to knock them out of first place. The swift Swedes finished second&mdash;and the tournament proved a springboard for the New York Islanders&rsquo; signing of Goran Hogosta as their goalie of the future. With the later start (May 8 as compared to April 21 in 1977) the probability of more Swedish professional players having completed their seasons in North America is heightened.Last season, Roland Eriksson returned from play with the Minnesota North Stars to score a hat trick in the 3-1 win over the Soviets, which continued a jinx the Swedes have on the Soviets. The Swedish team hopes that Anders Hedberg, Ulf Nilsson and Dap Labraaten of Winnipeg and Borje Safming of Toronto are available. If not, they will be replaced by one or several of the horde of skilled juniors coming out of Stockholm.Finland is now a year further down the road in its switch over from a veteran team to a junior oriented squad, Risto Siltanen, 19 years old, is being hailed as the future Bobby Orr of Europe&mdash;and Nordiques&rsquo; goalie Markus Mattson is a future hope of the Finns.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0599/4053442-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="518" height="657"><figcaption class="caption-body">MILAN NOVY&hellip;He&rsquo;ll Be With Czechs</figcaption></div>Team Canada is determined to include as many playoff performers as time permits this spring. While the Stanley Cup finalists will most likely be excluded, the 16 other NHL teams should be able to provide a better than representative squad which would have a great chance to horn in on the squabble between the Russians, Czechs and Swedes for the title.&ldquo;We ran the Czechs out of the building in the final game,&rdquo; recalls Phil Esposito, Team Canada&rsquo;s 1977 assistant coach. &ldquo;And all four top teams were within a win or loss of each other.&rdquo;Most holidays have a let down when it comes time to go home, but this tour handles that portion of the 13-day outing just right. The final five days allow for a slow return to normalcy before returning home&mdash;via the delights of Western civilization once more&mdash;in London. You will get to see Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London and the Thames, and all throughout you will be treated like royalty. &#9632;

f0033-05

Cultural Rich Prague A waits Visitors Of Hockey News’ Tournament Tour

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02241/4053619-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="889" height="616"></div><h2>Tip for Goalies</h2>Like baseball pitchers do with hitters, goalies should keep a book on forwards on other teams in their league. You should start remembering each shot opposing forwards take on you. Write them down after the game, if you like, but try to remember every move each makes coming in.Does so-and-so favor the wrist shot or the slap shot: Does he like to come in from a wide or narrow angle? Does he stop before he shoots or does he do it in stride? When he&rsquo;s in close does he shoot more often than he passes to a teammate in better positions?One of the most important questions you have to ask yourself is whether he&rsquo;s able to deke you more often than you can make him commit himself first. If he can make you move first, he&rsquo;s a dangerous one. Start waiting for him to move first. Remember, he has to make a move to score; by waiting, you have the advantage. &#9632;

f0034-02

Hockey for Minors

Looking At The Minor League Scoreboard<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Feb. 14)<h3>NORTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01289/4053557-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="598" height="136"></div><h3>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02237/4053550-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="600" height="206"></div>(*&mdash;Disbanded operations.)<h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Wed. Feb. 8Springfield 0 at Hershey 6Philadelphia at Maine (ppd)Fri. Feb. 10Maine 3 at Binghamton 5New Haven 4 at Nova Scotia 3Philadelphia 3 at Rochester 3Sat. Feb. 11Philadelphia 4 at Hershey 4Rochester 6 at Maine 4Binghamton 2 at Springfield 4Sun. Feb. 12Hershey 1 at Binghamton 2Now Haven 4 at Nova Scotia 2Maine 6 at Springfield 5<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03173/4053543-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="601" height="560"></div><h2>GOALING ECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04141/4053536-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="609" height="616"></div><h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 13)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05108/4053529-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="592" height="164"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Tue. Feb. 7Salt Lake 5 at Kansas City 3Wed. Feb. 8Salt Lake at Dallas (Ppd.)Thu. Feb. 9Salt Lake 2 at Fort Worth 1Fri. Feb. 10Dallas 8 at Fort Worth 4Sait Lake 5 at Tulsa 8Sat. Feb. 11Fort Worth 2 at Dallas 4Tulsa 4 at Kansas City 8Sun. Feb. 12Kansas City 4 at Tulsa 3<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0689/4053522-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="591" height="247"></div><h2>GOALING RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0780/4053515-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="595" height="272"></div><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 13)<h3>NORTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0862/4053508-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="589" height="164"></div><h3>SOUTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0959/4053501-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="591" height="137"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Tue. Feb. 7Toledo 5 at Kalamazoo 3Port Huron 1 at Muskegon 3Wed. Feb 8Flint 5 at Toledo 2Kalamazoo 1 at Grand Rapids 4Thu. Feb. 9Muskegon 1 at Milwaukee 2Fri. Feb. 10Grand Rapids 1 at Muskegon 5Kalamazoo 5 at Port Huron 2Toledo 4 at Flint 18Fort Wayne 5 at Saginaw 3Sat Feb. 11Fort Wayne 3 at Muskegon 2Toledo 5 at Port Huron 5Saginaw 3 at Grand Rapids 9Milwsukse 3 at Kalamazoo 3Sun. Feb. 12Fort Wayne 5 at Grand Rapids 3Port Huron 5 at Saginaw 8Toledo 2 at Kalamozoo 5Flint 8 at Milwaukee 5<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1050/4053494-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="597" height="433"></div><h2>GOALING RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1145/4053487-1-eng-US/f0035-112.jpg" title="f0035-11" width="599" height="789"></div><h2>PACIFIC HOCKEY LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Thu. Feb. 9)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1236/4053480-1-eng-US/f0035-122.jpg" title="f0035-12" width="593" height="138"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Fri. Feb. 3San Francisco 0 at Long Beach 3Sat Feb. 4San Francisco 2 at San Diogo 1Long Beach 2 at Phoenix 7Sun. Feb. 5San Diogo 4 at Phoenix 5Tue. Feb. 7Long Beach 2 at Phoenix 8Wed. Feb. 8San Diego 5 at Long Beach 6San Francisco 6 at Phoenix 4<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1331/4053473-1-eng-US/f0035-132.jpg" title="f0035-13" width="603" height="301"></div><h2>Who They&rsquo;re Affiliated With&hellip;</h2><h3>NHL TEAMS</h3>1&mdash;Montreal2&mdash;Chicago3&mdash;Boston4&mdash;Rangers5&mdash;Detroit6&mdash;Toronto7&mdash;Philadelphia8&mdash;Los Angeles9&mdash;St. Louis10&mdash;Minnesota11&mdash;Pittsburgh12&mdash;Islanders13&mdash;Vancouver14&mdash;Buffalo15&mdash;Atlanta16&mdash;Cleveland17&mdash;Colorado18&mdash;Washingtor<h3>WHA TEAMS</h3>19&mdash;New England20&mdash;Quebec21&mdash;Winnipeg22&mdash;Houston23&mdash;Indianapolis24&mdash;Edmonton25&mdash;Cincinnati26&mdash;Birmingham<h3>INTER-LEAGUE</h3>27&mdash;Boston (NHL) & St. Louis (NHL)28&mdash;Montreal (NHL) & Atlanta (NHL)29&mdash;Pittsburgh (NHL) & Houston (WHA)30&mdash;-Washington (NHL) & Buffalo (NHL) *31&mdash;Independent33&mdash;Los Angeles (NHL) & New England (WHA)35&mdash;Chicago (NHL) & Toronto (NHL)36&mdash;Vancouver (NHL) & Atlanta (NHL)37&mdash;Islanders (NHL) & Minnesota (NHL)40&mdash;Detroit (NHL) & Atlanta (NHL)&rdquo;41&mdash;St. Louis (NHL) & Washington (NHL)42&mdash;Chicago (NHL) & Colorado (NHL)43&mdash;Vancouver (NHL) & Minnesota (NHL)44&mdash;Buffalo (NHL) & Philadelphia (NHL)45&mdash;Islanders (NHL) & Atlanta (NHL)46&mdash;Rangers (NHL) & Cleveland (NHL) &#9632;

f0035-01

ONTARIO MAJOR HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY BRUCE PENTON</div>BILLINGS&mdash;Senator Sidney Buckwold, a former mayor of Saskatoon, might today be proud of a native Saskatonian who is doing an outstanding job of combining major junior hockey in Canada with an academic career.Ironically, it is Mr. Buckwold who is in charge of a government study on school and hockey.And so far, most of the published opinions from the study indicate that a teenager interested in academics and hockey should attend a Canadian or United States college.Simply put, there are those in high places who say a major junior hockey player in Canada cannot get a decent education.Enter Dell Chapman. 20, an over-age player with Billings Bighorns of the Western Canada Hockey League.Chapman, a cousin to Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; sophomore Blair Chapman, had a fairly-decent three-year career with Saskatoon Blades before joining the Bighorns for his over-age campaign. In three years with the Blades. Chapman scored 60-goals and had 111 assists.This year, his offensive play has been superlative&mdash;and his marks have been even better.Chapman stands 10th in the league scoring race with 33 goals and 49 assists&mdash;leading the team in both categories&mdash;and he was at or near the top of his class at Eastern Montana College when he got back his final marks from the semester which ended in late January.The marks were straight A s&mdash;in economics, accounting and introductory business.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a pretty good example of the fact that hockey and school can mix,&rdquo; said Billings&rsquo; general manager Bob Strumm, who has instituted a policy in Billings of guaranteeing his players one free year of school for every season with the team, plus one year at school after they&rsquo;re finished with the club.On the ice, meanwhile, the Bighorns are making a bid for the lead in the Central Division after being overtaken recently by Lethbridge Broncos.Billings, sold on Feb. 6 to Red Deer businessman Sheldon Ferguson for around $300,000 still has four games in hand, though.Despite the sale, the Bighorns will stay in the Montana city for the rest of this season and possibly forever. A decision on whether to stay or move will be made at season&rsquo;s end.LETHBRIDGE: The Broncos won a crucial game at home over the Bighorns, 3-2, but then dropped a 7-4 decision at home to Victoria later in the week. Steve Tambellini led the week&rsquo;s point-getters with three, lifting his total to 110.CALGARY: Owner-coach Gerry Brisson stepped down and handed the bench duties to general manager Doug Barkley, the former Detroit Red Wing coach and player. This developed after the Wranglers dropped into the basement of the Central Division with a 5-2 loss at Medicine Hat. Tigers moved one point ahead of Calgary with the win. Earlier, Dave Morrison&rsquo;s two goals lifted the Wranglers into a 2-2 tie with Victoria.MEDICINE HAT: The week that the Tigers moved out of the Central Division was saddened when defenseman Lionel Williams underwent surgery for the removal of an eye. He had been injured during a Medicine Hat practice two weeks previous. On the ice, Dave Snopek scored once and set up another one to lead the Tigers past Calgary 5-2.SASKATOON: Another coaching change occurred in Saskatoon, as the Blades&rsquo; Jackie McLeod turned the reins over to former NHLer Gary Peters during his team&rsquo;s 13-game winless streak. Blades hadn&rsquo;t won between Dec. 20 and Feb. 2. The latest defeat was a 7-4 loss at home to Victoria, despite Billy MacNaught&rsquo;s two goals and a three-assist performance from center Brent Ashton.BRANDON: Scoring star Bill Derlago returned to the Wheat Kings&rsquo; lineup and scored two goals to give him 50 in just 28 games, but Brandon blew a 5-1 home-ice lead and lost 7-5 to Seattle. Laurie Boschman also scored twice in that game, giving him 21 for his rookie season. Earlier, Brandon had gained a split in Flin Flon, winning 5-4 and losing 6-5, but remained one point back of the division leading Bombers. Brandon announced the signing of free agent goalie Charlie Funk after 19-year-old Mark Earp quit the club. 18-year-old winger Eric Ponath also packed up and left the team.FLIN FLON: Jordy Douglas appears well on his way to the 60-goal season coach Mickey Keating predicted of his 19-year-old winger. Douglas scored twice in each game as the Bombers split with Brandon, giving him 46 for the year. Kelly Davis had five assists in the two games. Bombers&rsquo; one-point lead on Brandon was in jeopardy, as Flin Flon has just six home games to play, seven less than Brandon.REGINA: Dirk Graham and Gerry Galloway led the Pats to successive wins over touring Seattle, 4-2 and 7-4. Galloway scored twice in the first game and Graham added a single, his 35th, before the two combined in the second game to overcome the Breakers. Galloway scored three goals, all on Graham set-ups. But the Pats remained third in the East.PORTLAND: The Winter Hawks overcame a 3-0 lead to dump New Westminster, 7-6 in Queen&rsquo;s Park Arena. Joel Elliott&rsquo;s goal in the third period snapped a 6-6 tie. Dale Yakiwchuk netted two goals and Dave Ross, picked up earlier in the year from Medicine Hat, scored his 25th. The win enabled Portland to widen their Western Division lead.SEATTLE: The Breakers were down and out after losing 4-2 to Regina. They trailed Brandon 5-1 midway through the second period, but caught fire and won 75, Ryan Walter&rsquo;s goal on a deflection was the winner. Errol Rausse increased his point total to 91, good for fifth in the league scoring derby, by getting three goals and two assists. Later, Breakers lost another one in Regina, 7-4, putting their road-trip record at 3-4.VICTORIA: The Cougars won three and tied one in a four-game road stretch to vault them over New Westminster and into a tie for second in the West Division with Seattle. And all without the services of point-leader Geordie Robertson, out with an injury. Gary Lupul scored five goals in the four games, including two in a 7-4 win at Saskatoon. Singles by Lupul and rookie George Fritz, his 20th, gave Victoria a 2-2 tie in Calgary and two more goals by Fritz propelled the visitors over Lethbridge 7-4. Cougars started the swing by doubling Medicine Hat 4-2.NEW WESTMINSTER: The Bruins were in the unfamiliar position of last place in the Western Division, two points back of Seattle and Victoria, but held three games in hand over the Cougars. Bruins missed an excellent opportunity to create a three-way tie for second by losing 7-6 at home to Portland, after opening up a 3-0 first-period lead. Doug Derkson led the way for New West in that game with a goal and two assists.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01264/4053657-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="567" height="793"><figcaption class="caption-body">DELL CHAPMAN&hellip;Scholar-Scorer</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02202/4053650-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="573" height="790"><figcaption class="caption-body">GARYLUPUL&hellip;Leads Cougars</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Bighorns Mixing Hockey, Academics; Former NHLers Tackle Coach’s Jobs

PHOENIX&mdash;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01232/4053688-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="555" height="679"><figcaption class="caption-body">FRANK HUGHES&hellip;Among Top Scorers</figcaption></div>There&rsquo;s little question that the Phoenix Roadrunners are the team of distinction in the Pacific Hockey League.As the halfway point in the schedule neared, the Roadrunners of coach Sandy Hucul were leading the league in virtually every department, largely on the strength of owning the four leading scorers in the persons of Jim Montgomery, veteran Frank Hughes, Mike Will and Rick Newell.The unheralded 22-year-old Montgomery, a native of Toronto, was setting the pace for the Roadrunners with 13 goals and 22 assists for 35 points, while Hughes had 34, including 17 goals along with Will, who followed with 32 points. And defenseman Newell, with six goals, shared the lead in league assists with Montgomery at 22.Still, there was an inconsistency about the Roadrunners that had Hucul a trifle worried. After winning four in a row, they dropped a 6-4 decision to San Francisco at home that left them deadlocked with the Shamrocks for first place at 21 points.To be sure, Phoenix is a team that scores its&rsquo; goals in bunches. They have pounded Long Beach 10-4, 7-2 and 8-2, San Francisco 11-3 and 9-4, and then there was a 1-9 loss to San Diego that Hucul still can&rsquo;t figure out.Through eight home games, though, Phoenix was averaging 4,347, second in the league to San Francisco&rsquo;s 4,639 over nine games.SAN FRANCISCO: Veteran goaltender Paul Hoganson, after posting six wins for the Shamrocks, fled to Cincinnati to take up residence with the Stingers.Understandably, the Shamrocks were irritated&mdash;but not so much as to create a disturbance. They think they have a better goaltender in 23-year-old Tom O&rsquo;Toole, who, in nine starts, had a league best 3.47 goals-against average.After being blanked in consecutive games, the Shamrocks came back to win two in a row and keep pace with Phoenix. Randy Wyrozub and Steve Cardwell, both with 28 points, remained the main offensive threat.LONG BEACH: The Sharks, adversity to the contrary, continue to stay within shouting distance of the leaders&mdash;largely due to their ability to win at home, where they are 7-1-0.But injuries continue to plague coach Ted McCaskill&rsquo;s club. With two key players&mdash;Brian McSheffrey and Bob O&rsquo;Reilly out for virtually the season&mdash;McCaskill faced another crisis following a 6-5 win over San Diego on learning that Bob Liddington was back on the disabled list with pulled ligaments in the rib cage.And as if injuries weren&rsquo;t enough of a problem for McCaskill, many times overly aggressive Dale Smedsmo was spending more time in the penalty box than on the ice, leading the league with 93 minutes. Admittedly, 50 of the minutes were via the misconduct route&mdash;but McCaskill would much prefer that the hard skating and frequently exciting Smedsmo settle down and concentrate on scoring goals.Young Tom Songin, out of Boston College, remains a standout for the Sharks, having accumulated at least one point in 14 of 15 games. His totals read 10 goals and 12 assists, while Ken Gassoff was the club leader with 10 and 16.SAN DIEGO: The Mariners, after winning three of four, were winless in three&mdash;but no panic buttons are being pushed. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re a solid club, and we&rsquo;ll be there at the finish,&rdquo; says GM Bob Paine. Meanwhile, the Mariners are getting solid goaltending from Clay Hebenton, and Bob Sauve continues to sparkle offensively with his 12 goals and 15 assists. Next in line is the veteran Bob Sicinski, five goals and 16 assists. &#9632;

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Phoenix PHL’s Team To Beat As Runners Vault Into Lead

QUEBEC&mdash;Seventeen-year-old Quebec Remparts&rsquo; forward Daniel Richard, who collapsed at a practice and died on Feb. 6, suffered from a very rare congenital condition which was thought to have prompted the shrinking of an artery from his heart.According to team doctor Michel Dupont, death could have occurred at any time, &ldquo;even while sitting in a chair. " Remparts&rsquo; coach Ron Racette said it was like losing one of my children.Richard, in his first year with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey club, was well-liked and described as &ldquo;always laughing.&rdquo;On the request of the Richard family and the Remparts players, the game scheduled for the next night with the Hull Olympiques was not cancelled although ceremonies slated for the game pertaining to the Quebec winter Carnival were deleted.According to team management, Richard&rsquo;s No. 9 jersey will be retired for the rest of the season. &#9632;

Heart Attack Proves Fatal For 17-Year-Old Quebecer

<h2>Amateur Scoreboard</h2><h3>ONTARIO MAJOR LEAGUE</h3>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 13<h3>EMMS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01273/4053845-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="583" height="187"></div><h3>LEYDEN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02213/4053838-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="580" height="188"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Sun. Feb. 5Windsor 3 at Toronto 3Peterborough 5 at Sault Ste. Marie 5Ottawa 6 at Niagara Falls 2London 5 at Kitchener 1Sudbury 2 at Kingston 11Mon. Feb. 6Sudbury 1 at Peterborough 6Toronto 3 at Oshawa 8Thu. Feb. 9Hamilton 3 at Sault Ste. Mario 2Oshawa 1 at Peterborough 5Kingston 2 at Windsor 7Fri. Feb. 10Toronto 3 at Kitchener 8Hamilton 5 at Sudbury 5Kingston 2 at London 7Windsor 8 at Ottawa 8Oshawa 3 at Niagara Falls 3Sat. Feb. 11Niagara Falls 5 at Toronto 1Sun. Feb. 12London 4 at Sault Ste. Marie 4Kingston 3 at Kitchener 12Windsor 2 at Peterborough 6Ottawa 4 at Oshawa 6Toronto 5 at Sudbury 7<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03159/4053831-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="573" height="267"></div><h2>QUEBEC MAJOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 13)<h3>LEBEL DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04110/4053824-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="588" height="160"></div><h3>DILIO DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0582/4053817-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="577" height="167"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Mon. Feb. 6Verdun 5 at Laval 8Tue. Fob. 7 Sherbrooke at Trois-Rivieres (ppd)Hull 5 at Chicoutimi 4Wed. Feb. 8Montreal 2 at Cornwall 1Trois-Rlvioros 2 at Laval 5Hull 3 at Quebec 5Verdun 8 at Shawinigan 3Thu. Feb. 9Sherbrooke 6 at Trois-Rivieres 3Shawinigan 3 at Verdun 14Fri. Feb. 10Quebec 4 at Chicoutimi 6Shawinigan 1 at Montreal 8Cornwall 5 at Sherbrooke 2Verdun 3 at Trois-Rivieres 8Sun. Feb. 12Laval 6 at Montreal 5Quebec 4 at Sherbrooke 8Hull 5 at Verdun 5Chicoutimi 4 at Trois-Rivieres 8<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0662/4053810-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="581" height="289"></div><h2>WESTERN CANADA LEAGUE</h2>(Standings On Tue. Feb. 7)<h3>WEST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0755/4053803-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="590" height="135"></div><h3>CENTRAL DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0840/4053796-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="589" height="139"></div><h3>EAST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0934/4053789-1-eng-US/f0038-092.jpg" title="f0038-09" width="590" height="133"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Sat. Jan. 28Victoria 4 at MedicineHat 2 Brandon 5 at Flin Flon 6Sun. Jan. 29Victoria 2 at Calgary 2Brandon 5 at Flin Flon 4Billings 2 at Lethbridge 3Seattle 2 at Regina 4Portland 7 at Now Westminster 6Tue. Jan. 31Victoria 7 at Saskatoon 4Calgary 2 at Medicine Hat 5Seattle 7 at Brandon 5Wed. Feb. 1Victoria 7 at Lethbridge 4Billings 4 at Portland 3Seattle 4 at Regina 7Fri. Feb. 3Brandon 6 at Calgary 6Victoria 7 at Regina 5Seattle 5 at Saskatoon 6Sat. Feb. 4.Seattle 7 at Medicine Hat 6Sun. Feb. 5Seattle 6 at Lethbridge 2Victoria 3 at Saskatoon 6Brandon 8 at Calgary 5New Westminster 3 at Portland 5Medicine Hat at Regina, ppd.<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1031/4053782-1-eng-US/f0038-102.jpg" title="f0038-10" width="595" height="951"></div><h2>Looking At The Races</h2><h3>ONTARIO SENIOR LEAGUE</h3>(Standings on Fri. Feb. 10)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01256/4053775-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="586" height="231"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02188/4053768-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="591" height="689"></div><h2>GOALING RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03144/4053761-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="579" height="291"></div><h2>WESTERN INTERNATIONAL</h2>(Standings On Sun. Jan. 29)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04119/4053754-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="582" height="155"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Tue. Jan. 25Trail 10, Nelson 2Fri. Jan. 27Trail 13, Cranbrook 5Kimberley 5, Spokane 4Sat. Jan. 28Spokane 4, Trail 3Cranbrook 9, Nelson 4.<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0593/4053747-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="582" height="299"></div><h2>MANITOBA-ASSINIBOINE LEAGUE</h2>(Standings On Wed. Feb. 1)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0676/4053740-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="579" height="185"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0764/4053733-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="582" height="288"></div><h2>U.S-MIDWEST LEAGUE</h2>(Standings On Wed. Feb. 1)<h3>U.S. CONFERENCE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0857/4053726-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="580" height="110"></div><h3>MIDWEST CONFERENCE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0949/4053719-1-eng-US/f0039-092.jpg" title="f0039-09" width="577" height="115"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Waterloo 6, Austin 3Bloomington 5, Sioux City 2Waterloo 4, Green Bay 1Green Bay 4, Waterloo 3Sioux City 13, Austin 5Bloomington 8, St-Paul 4Green Bay 4, Sioux City 1St. Paul 5, Austin 2St. Paul 8, Bloomington 4Austin 4, Green Bay 0Waterloo 10, Sioux City 3Green Bay 6, Bloomington 2Waterloo 8, Sioux City 3<h2>ALL STAR GAME</h2>U.S. 7, Midwest 4 &#9632;

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QUEBEC MAJOR HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY DANNY YOUNG</div>SHAWINIGAN&mdash;While the Quebec sports scene was dominated by the Montreal Canadiens pursuit of a record 23 games without a defeat, the Shawinigan Dynamos were approaching a Quebec Major Junior League record of 27 games without a win.To the delight of Shawinigan supporters. the streak was stopped at 25 last week. The Dynamos defeated Chicoutimi by the score of 5-2 on home ice.Two quick goals within 14 seconds of play in the second period by Robert Dubuc and Dini Troini put Shawinigan on top 4-1. After Chicoutimi&rsquo;s Burton Martin scored his team&rsquo;s second goal, the Dynamos held off their opponents for the remaining 25 minutes of play.The win can not be determined a fluke in view of the fact that the Dynamos battled Sherbrooke to a 5-5 tie two nights earlier.Young Dubuc, obtained from Montreal in January, scored twice to lead all scorers. Shawinigan had a surprising 4539 shooting edge.The tie was particularly rewarding to the Dynamos who were humiliated by Sherbrooke 22-4 one week earlier.&ldquo;When we went to Sherbrooke, we were missing a couple of our better players,&rdquo; coach Joe Canale said. &ldquo;They have those four devasting scorers. We lost a key fight and with the big crowd there, it was all too much for us.&ldquo;We tied and won by keeping the goals down,&rdquo; Canale added. &ldquo;The first thing on our minds when we go into a game, besides winning of course. is to keep the opposition to five goals.&rdquo;Through trades and various changes, Canale now has 14 players, 17-years-old or less. The rookie coach is constantly searching Quebec&rsquo;s midget and junior ranks for young talent.Canale has spotted some fine midget players eligible to play in the QMJHL next year including Sylvain Boutet who is already Dynamo property.Boutet is the captain of the St. Foy Couillards, winners of the 1978 Wrigley midget tournament. Boutet is a speedy winger who occupies the crease Gary Dornhoefer style.Canale expects to add three to five new faces to the Shawinigan lineup next year. &ldquo;We have some good young players here now and we are going to do better next year. We won&rsquo;t move from 10th to third, but we&rsquo;ll improve.&rdquo;LAVAL: After a slow month of January, the Nationals are. playing superb hockey. At home, they battled Sherbrooke to a 4-4 deadlock. Richard Pepin scored a pair and added two goals to spark an impressive 5-2 win over league-leading Trois Rivieres. Laval, who may have played their best game of the year, got superb goaltending from Yves Deschenes.In other action, the Nationals knocked off Verdun 8-5. Glen Currie netted two goals as Laval blanked Verdun in the third period. The hot week put Laval seven games over .500 and just two points behind Montreal in the Lebel Division.TROIS RIVIERES: The Draveurs kept on top by winning a big game over Cornwall. Jean Gaston Douville clicked for two and the Draveurs won it 5-2. In other action, defenseman Pierre Lacrois scored late in the third to give Trois Rivieres a 5-4 win. The Draveurs only setback was a 5-2 loss to Laval.VERDUN: The Hawks had an active week with four games on the schedule. They picked up five points thanks to the hot scoring of Yves Richer. After tying Quebec on the road, the Hawks defeated the Remparts at home 9-5. Verdun fell behind 3-0 in the first but played a sensational second period, scoring five goals during the first 12 minutes, to pick up the win. Richer scored two goals and two assists in the 5-5 battle and had a hat trick to support the win.CORNWALL: All Star goalie Tim Bernhardt blanked the opposition for 175 minutes, 25 seconds, before he gave up a goal to Montreal. The score was not a significant one though. Cornwall won the game easily 11-3. Bob Crawford had a hat trick and the line of Brian Fontaine, Danny Geoffrion, and Dan Daoust had five goals.HULL: The Olympics won a thriller in Chicoutimi for new coach Richard Jamieson. Claude Larochelle scored with five seconds left, his third of the night, to give the Olympics a 5-4 win.CHICOUTIMI: The Sagueneens hurt their playoff chances by losing three games. Against Trois Rivieres, the Sags took a 2-0 lead but lost 5-4. Next, Chicoutimi lost to last place Shawinigan 5-2 The week finished for Chicoutimi by falling to Hull 5-4.MONTREAL: The Juniors rebounded from an 11-3 loss to Cornwall in Montreal and defeated the Royals in Cornwall, 2-1 Kevin Reeves and Jean Demers scored the goals but the key was the fine defense displayed by the Juniors as they held powerful Cornwall to seven third period shots. The win was the first of the season for Montreal against the division leaders.SHERBROOKE: The Sherbrooke heatwave cooled off, much to the relief of the league&rsquo;s nine other teams. The Beavers had to come from behind to tie Shawinigan 5-5 and it took a last minute goal by Mark Green to tie Laval 4-4.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1129/4053876-1-eng-US/f0038-112.jpg" title="f0038-11" width="571" height="636"><figcaption class="caption-body">TIM BERNHARDT&hellip;175-Minute Shutout</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Dynamos Prep For Future After Ending Streak

<div class="byline">BY MIKE LYNCH</div>TRAIL&mdash;The Trail Smoke Eaters, eager to insure a berth in the playoffs, simmered in the scoring department in Western International League competition as they completed their January assignments.The Smokies, looking at some pressure from fifth-place Nelson, dispatched the Maple Leafs 10-2 on Nelson&rsquo;s ice. The fourth-place Trail squad seems certain of making the four-team British Columbia provincial semi-finals.That situation was enhanced when the Smoke Eaters whipped second-place Cranbrook 13-5 in Trail&rsquo;s Cominco Arena. The Royals, who led the league much of the early going, were on the receiving of the second-highest goal outburst of the season.But Trail was too hot not to cool off, as the Smokies discovered in Spokane. After exploding for the two-game production of 23 goals, coach Norm Dennis&rsquo; team was beaten 4-3 in Spokane, with two power play goals making the final score close.Despite the victory, Spokane coach Ted McAneeley was not pleased. &ldquo;We did not score on our power play and that made it four games straight for that. We just have to work on the right combinations&rdquo;Kimberley turned in one of the best comebacks of the season in its only outing of the week. Ahead 2-0 in the first period, the Dynamiters trailed 42 after the second against Spokane. The Nitros finally won 5-4 in overtime on Jeff Ablett&rsquo;s third goal of the evening. &#9632;

The WIHL Scene

<div class="byline">&#x2014;By Bill Hilts</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1044/4053955-1-eng-US/f0039-102.jpg" title="f0039-10" width="340" height="409"></div><h2>Great Lakes League</h2>In Great Lakes Jr. League &ldquo;A&rdquo; Division play, Jeff Logan exploded for five points on hat trick and two assists as Paddock Pools Saints romped past Cleveland Jr. Barons 11-5. Logan scored twice in the third period as Saints buried Barons with five goals. Tom Byrne added a goal and three Assists for Saints who unleashed a 58 shot assault on Baron&rsquo;s goalie Dave Binnie. Doug Hauser led Cleveland with two goals and two assists&hellip;Bill Code&rsquo;s second goal of game with 1:19 remaining, enabled Wayne Chiefs to tie Paddock Pools Saints 6-6 in a seesaw battle. Chiefs, who had led 5-2 going into third period saw Saints score four straight times to take the lead before gaining the tie. Pat Behen added a goal and two assists for Wayne while Mark Kaufman paced Paddock Pools with two goals and two assists&hellip;Chris Guertin snapped out of a mild scoring slump with three goals and two assists as Detroit Jr. Wings bounced Fraser Highlanders 10-4. Rich Hutchison, Dan Collard and Steve Yoxheimer all added four points apiece and Don Dales and Frank Finn added three assists apiece to pace Detroit in scoring. Frank Maiorana notched his 28th goal of the year for Fraser&hellip;When the Paddock Pools Saints scored five times in the third period against Detroit Jan. 18, it continued their tremendous success in third period. Through 38 games, Saints have scored 137 out of 312 goals in the third period for a 42.2 percent total&hellip;Saints are also ahead of last years record scoring pace when they totalled 357 goals in 45 games&hellip;Chris Guertin&rsquo;s five points against Fraser Jan. 17 snapped a scoring slump in which Detroit forward scored three points in four previous games&hellip;Guertin&rsquo;s seventh game winning goal draws him to within one of Dave Ross&rsquo;s total of eight while a member of Paddock Pools Saints&hellip;Jim Gardiner&rsquo;s 21 goals make him the first 20 goal scorer for Wayne this year.<h2>New Brunswick League</h2>This 1977-78 season has seen a number of fine innovations. (A) Interlocking schedule New Brunswick Jr. A and Prince Edward Island Jr. A Leagues. Each of the four clubs in New Brunswick play a home-home schedule with the five P.E.I. clubs&hellip;(B) The four Jr. A Leagues in Atlantic Canada, two in Nova Scotia, one N.B. and one P.E.I. are playing for the Atlantic Cup. This trophy, donated by Mr. Doug Hatfield, owner of the Saint John 77&rsquo;s of the N.B. Jr. A Hockey League will go to the team which will represent this area on the Centennial Cup Playoffs&hellip;(C) An All Star game putting the best of the N.B. Jr. A League against the best of the Metro Valley Jr. A League&hellip;They played in Halifax with N.B. winning 7-5 before some 2,000 fans at the Halifax Forum. They then returned to Moncton Coliseum where N.S. won 7-5 before 1,500 fans&hellip;Presidents of both leagues, Mr. Ned Fowler of the N.B. Jr. A League and Ron Roberts of the M.V. Jr. A League dropped the first puck&hellip;Fredericton Red Wings lead the league with an 18-51 record and 37 points. Ten points off the pace are Moncton Beavers, followed by Cap Pele Fishermen with 22 points and St. John 77&rsquo;s with 14 points&hellip;Individual scoring race is led by Wayne Hallichan of the Red Wings with 23-29 mark for 52 points. He&rsquo;s also tops in good production as well as assists. Three more Wings are behind, Keith Allaby47, Charlie Bird-42 and Mark Rickard-39. A pair of Beavers are next, Raoul Boudreau-37 and Bob Leblanc-34. Then it&rsquo;s two 77&rsquo;s, Tom Johnston-34, Dave Munro-33, followed by John Dallairi of Beavers with 32 and George Parker of Wings with 31 points&hellip;J.J. McInnis of Wings leads in penalty minutes with 118&hellip;Top goalie is Dave Bradley of the Red Wings with a fine 3.08 GAA.<h2>Midwest League</h2>In Midwest League, U.S. Conference players dominate scoring over Midwest Conference. Sioux City leads U.S.C. with a 20-8-0 record good for 40 points. Green Bay is close with 36 and Waterloo has 34. In Midwest, St. Paul leads with 12-23-0 mark and 24 points. Bloomington is only a single point off the pace, with Austin posting 21 points&hellip;Walt Johnson of S.C. leads scoring race with 25 goals and 42 assists for 67 points. St. Paul&rsquo;s Jim Mroszak is next with 60 points. The next seven spots are USC players&mdash;John Preville of GB-55, Bob Ferguson of SC-55, Mike Thomas of SC-52, Dan Desjardins of GB-49, Bob Purpur of GB-49, Tom O&rsquo;Brien of GB-49, Cam McGregor of Waterloo-46, Jeff Pyle of Bloomington-45, Kevin Hartzell of St. Paul-43, Bart Larson of Bloomington-38 and Jim Smith of GB-38&hellip;In goaltending, J.P Pominville of GB leads with 4.16 GAA and 16-9 record. In Midwest Conference, Rand Eliason of Austin leads with a 4.98 GAA.<h2>N.Y. Metro League</h2>Despite suffering their first loss of the season to league leading Suffolk Royals in N.Y. Metropolitan League play, New Jersey Rockets closed to within seven points of leaders with two big wins. Suffolk, who had lost and tied Jersey in two previous meetings, beat Rockets 7-5. But the Rockets beat Westsiders 9-8 and Shamrocks 7-5 in road contests to up their record to 16-5-2&hellip;Rich McLaughlin&rsquo;s goal at 17:59 of the third period gave Jersey its win over Westsiders. Rockets blew a 7-3 lead as New York scored five straight goals in third period. But N.J. came back to pull it out&hellip;Westsiders, who beat Shamrocks 10-7 last week, are now third in the standings as Oyster Bay, which beat New Hyde Park 5-2 in only other game played over the weekend, pulled even with the Shamrocks but hold an edge for fourth place with two games in hand&hellip;John DaSilva leads scorers with 29-39-68&hellip;Tom Campbell of New Hyde Park closed the gap to 10 points with six-assist game last week. Westsiders&rsquo; Ryan Boyd now third with 55 points&hellip;Brian Mullen of Westsiders has catapulted into 10th place on league scoring list. He had 4-3-7 night. In the same game, Boyd registered 4-2-6 o(10-7 win over Shamrocks)&hellip;Oyster Bay&rsquo;s Billy Nichols became first player in league to hit for two game tying goals with knotter in 4-4 tie against Suffolk&hellip;<h2>B.C. Junior League</h2>In British Columbia Jr. A League action, Penticton Vees continue to close the gap on Merritt Centennials who lead the Interior Division with 31-9-1 record and 63 points. The Vees have 29-10-2 record and 60 points. Kelowna Buckaroos are next with 50 points, Kamloops Chiefs-32, Revelstoke Bruins-16, and Vernon Vikings-12 points&hellip;In Coastal Division, Nanaimo Clippers continue to lead with 26-15-1 mark good for 53 points. Bellingham Blazers are next with 48 and Abbotsford Flyers also with 48 Langley Lords-26&hellip;Penticton&rsquo;s Ron Vincent leads league scoring race, and he has a good chance at breaking two BCJHL records&mdash;most points in a season, 145, set during 1976-77, by Vee&rsquo;s Kevin Maxwell. Also most goals in a season, 79, set during 1976-77 by Bee&rsquo;s Gordie McKay. Vincent&rsquo;s record this season, with 25 games remaining, is at 50 goals and 75 assists for 125 points&hellip;<h2>Pacific League</h2>Richmond Sockeyes hold eight point lead in Pacific &ldquo;A&rdquo; Jr. League with a 29-4-2 record and 60 points. Kerrisdale Couriers are closest with 52 points. NorWest Caps have 49, Coquitlam Comets-31, Vancouver Jr. Canucks-27, Surrey Stampeders-24, and Chilliwack Bruins-three&hellip; Don Davis leads scorers with 41 goals and 41 assists for 82 points. Nearest rival is Courier Paul Prade with 71 points. Teammate Frank Nagy has 69, Bill Holowatt of Caps-67, Gregg Baydala of Richmond-62, Mark Withenshaw of Comets-62, Bruce Mathers of Richmond-62, Kerry Gladson of Canucks-60, Steve Mulholland of Couriers-60, and Jim Allison of Comets-59&hellip;A pair of Richmond goalies lead the pack of puck-stoppers&mdash;Scott Robinson with 3.01 GAA and Randy Kika-3.08 GAA.<h2>New England League</h2>In New England League play Fitchburg saw action in their 5-2 win over South Shore, Fitchburg&rsquo;s ninth straight win and 14th in in their last 15 games. Five different players scored and goaltender Jim Masterletz picked up his 11th win of the season. Mickey Rego had an assist; last year&rsquo;s leading scorer now has 35 points in 15 games since returning to Fitchburg&hellip;Steve Palazzi and Nigel Barton had a goal and an assist each in pacing Springfield to their come-from-behind win over Cape Cod, scoring four goals in third period. Bob Brawders and Dean Lombardi each had two assists, Lombardi stretching his league leading assist total to 55&hellip;Mike DiCenzo made his first appearance in a Cape Cod uniform since Nov. 21, in leading Cape Cod to win over Tyngsboro. DiCenzo had two goals and one assist, plus a goal in losing cause in Springfield&hellip;Eric Oman had two goals and one assist against Tyngsboro for Cape Cod. Dave Green had a hat trick for Tyngsboro in a losing cause on the Cape.<h2>American League</h2>MassConn and Framingham are tied for top spot in American Jr. League each with 31 points. Beverly is at 24 points, Maine-19, Western Mass-18, South Shore-17 and Assabet Valley-12&hellip;Dan Mathieu of Maine leads scoring with 37-19 record and 56 points. He also had most goals-37, most hat tricks-six, and most four-goal games-three. Teammate Steve Sabine is third in league scoring with 46 points, just two points behind runnerup Bob Hess of MC. &#9632;

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February 24, 1978

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