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.

March 10, 1978

The Hockey News March 10, 1978

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01341/4191293-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BOBBY HULL&hellip;Nearing Another Milestone</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photos by Steve Babinaeau)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><p>WINNIPEG&mdash;</p><p>Bobby Hull outside the hockey limelight? Not for long.</p><p>In recent weeks hockey interest in Winnipeg has been riveted on the Swedish super dub, Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson, as speculation runs rampant on the ultimate whereabouts of the pair&rsquo;s million dollar future.</p><p>Along the way the Jets have made a determined surge to first place in the World Hockey Association standings, but the surge has gone largely unappreciated by the media following the Swedes.</p><p>Well let it be known that one Robert Marvin Hull, still hockey&rsquo;s Golden Boy at the age of 39, is not going to be overshadowed.</p><p>Bobby has patiently answered question upon question concerning the enviable predicament of his linemates, but at the same time he has quietly moved within striking distance of his 1,000th career goal, a plateau reached previously only by the legendary Gordie Howe.</p><p>And in doing so, Hull has set up a dramatic challenge to overtake Gordie and so become major league hockey&rsquo;s all-time leading goal scorer.</p><p>With 36 goals in 1977-78, Bobby has now scored a total of 992 in his career: 291 in WHA regular season play, 35 in Avco Trophy playoffs, 604 in NHL regular season play, and 62 in Stanley Cup playoffs.</p><p>Thus Hull is just eight goals shy of a figure that no other player had attained until Dec. 7 of this season, when Howe netted his own number 1,000, in a game at Birmingham.</p><p>That Howe reached 1,000 at age 49, in his 30th big league season, makes Hull&rsquo;s impending accomplishment even more remarkable. 1977-78 is &ldquo;only&rdquo; Hull&rsquo;s 21st season, meaning that the Golden Jet has averaged nearly 50 regular season and playoff goals for every one of his years with the Black Hawks and Jets.</p><p>So the stage is set. Gordie now has a total of 1,015 goals, 23 more than Bobby. Will Bobby overtake Gordie and become the game&rsquo;s number one scorer this season? Ever?</p><p>It is like Henry Aaron chasing Babe Ruth&hellip;only this time Babe has a chance to chase back.</p><p>A 23 goal difference. Winnipeg and New England each with 26 regular season games remaining. Both teams certain to be playing, and perhaps meeting, in the playoffs.</p><p>Bobby has scored at a faster pace than Gordie so far this season. But not that much faster. The Jet would need a superhuman effort to overtake his rival this season. Then again, superhuman efforts have always been a part of the special drama created by Hull.</p><p>Add to the drama a myriad of uncertainties.</p><p>Will either of the veterans slow in the later stages of the season? Will the demands of a head-to-head pennant chase affect their outputs? How many playoff games will their teams qualify for will either team draw the bye in the semi-final round? And what of a continuation of their duel next season? Will Bobby retire? Will Gordie retire? Both? Neither?</p><p>For a quarter of a century Hull and Howe have been the greatest players in the game of hockey.</p><p>Now, in 1978, while the WHA proudly touts its young stars, Bobby Hull, an incomparable &ldquo;oldster,&rdquo; the man who many credit with being the start of it all, is about to provide the league with one of its most alluring dramas ever.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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IN THIS ISSUE

Hull Chasing 1,000th Goal, Challenging Howe For No. 1

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011106/4189816-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"></div><p><b>DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION ON HOCKEY?</b></p><p><b>Write to: FAN FORUM, The Hockey News, 1434 St. Catherine St., W., Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7</b></p><h2><b>Helmets, Masks Should Be Mandatory</b></h2><p>When the Russians first arrived in Canada in 1972, people laughed at the players helmets and the goalies wearing &ldquo;bird-cage&rdquo; masks. But six years later, try counting all the helmets on NHL and WHA benches.</p><p>Some of the league&rsquo;s best goaltenders, including the dynamic duo of Chico Resch and Billy Smith, Bunny Larocque and Michel Plasse wear these masks. John Ziegler may as well make helmets and cage masks mandatory.</p><p>If Bill Masterton had a helmet on when he slammed into the boards perhaps he&rsquo;d still be with the Minnesota North Stars and if Rick Martin had worn a helmet when he was upset by Dave Farrish he probably wouldn&rsquo;t have suffered a concussion.</p><p>As for the cage mask, maybe Gerry Desjardins would still be number one in Buffalo if he had been wearing a cagetype mask, instead of giving way to Don Edwards because of blurry vision.</p><p>How would you like to see injuries diminish 50 percent? I certainly would and I hope John Ziegler thinks so too.</p><p><b>MIKE COHEN,</b><br><b>Cote St. Luc, Que.</b></p><h2><b>Tough, Exciting Flyers Best Team In NHL</b></h2><p>I have received THE HOCKEY NEWS for four years. I really enjoy Fan Forum but I&rsquo;m sick and tired of the Flyers being put down. One fan will say something good about the Flyers and somebody will turn around and say that the Canadiens are the best. Maybe they are right now. After all they&rsquo;ve been around for more than 50 years.</p><p>Back when the Flyers were the Broad Street Bullies, no team was better. That&rsquo;s another thing. People put down the Flyers because they play so rough. Back when hockey started they were a lot rougher and the Flyers are exciting to watch. Besides if you&rsquo;re allowed to play this way why get mad. Usually when the Flyers play rough they get penalized, and it hurts the Flyers more than the people who are crying about how rough they are.</p><p>If these people can&rsquo;t take it they shouldn&rsquo;t play. That&rsquo;s what hockey is all about. I think the Flyers have the best coach, Fred Shero, the best center, Bobby Clarke and the best goaltender, Bernie Parent. I think the Flyers are the best in the NHL.</p><p><b>ROBBIE LEHMAN,</b><br><b>Essington, Pa.</b></p><h2><b>Montreal&rsquo;s Sam Pollock Works Hard For League</b></h2><p>I read the &ldquo;Letter of the Week&rdquo; in your Feb. 10 edition and perhaps Tim James of El Toro, Calif, (the writer) doesn&rsquo;t realize that Sam Pollock asked the NHL if they would excuse the Habs from playing three games in four nights.</p><p>I would like to refresh Mr. James&rsquo; memory about Pollock&rsquo;s work for the NHL. Apparently, Mr. Pollock was the main man in the talks about merger between the two leagues. Also he was the man to pick Team Canada &lsquo;76. Mr. Pollock could have turned down the Team Canada &lsquo;76 job and enjoyed the rest of his summer. Of course, the question of money and patriotism comes to mind, but why does the NHL ask Pollock all these favors? Because he&rsquo;s the number one man when it comes to hockey.</p><p>I&rsquo;m sure there are other things Pollock did to help the NHL. So why make a fuss over the act that the Habs were excused from playing Detroit, when I think the NHL owes a little something to Sam Pollock.</p><p><b>LEN DIGNARD,</b><br><b>Edmonton, Alta.</b></p><h2><b>WHA Exploding Myth Of NHL Superiority</b></h2><p>Hats off to the WHA, who obviously outhustled the NHL in the International hockey boardrooms the last two seasons. Sending Winnipeg and Quebec to Izvestia tournaments has proved to be rewarding for the WHA. This year&rsquo;s round of international play&mdash;Volkswagen Cup, Izvestia and Tokyo, clearly indicates a preference by European members of the IHF for the WHA. The fact that WHA teams are not winners in these competitions is not to be maligned. Remember, no individual NHL team has ever played a European national team. As a result the WHA now commands considerably more respect in international hockey circles than the NHL cares to admit.</p><p>One wonders if the NHL will do anything right this season. Upstaged by the WHA in pre-season exhibition play, and then &lsquo;Super Blunder &lsquo;78&rsquo;. The CBC, the supposedly public network seems content to perpetuate in the hockey fan, the naivete of the NHL.</p><p>Blame Al Eagleson? No way! Both the Eagle and John Ziegler are cognizant of the inevitability of a world wide hockey organization. It will take some doing to convince the dueling and dominantly American hockey barons to perceive of it.</p><p>Who benefits from the ihdecisiveness of North American hockey interests? The Swedes who use both leagues as a training ground and source of incentive and revenue? The Russians who tap our expertise in the less technical yet more innovative aspects of our style of play? Are they selecting and grooming the national team that will dominate the 1980&rsquo;s? The WHA who this year has been viewed on TV by 180,000,000 in Europe, Russia, and Japan? The question is who does not benefit? Obviously the NHL, their fans, the more importantly&mdash;the standard of Canadian hockey.</p><p>Do we really believe that the strength of individual NHL clubs is meaningful in the greater context of world wide hockey. The battle between the World Hockey Association and the sometime stagnant NHL will continue to take place in the hearts and minds of all hockey fans, only now from a more international point of view.</p><p>It is worth noting a few names of Soviet national team members who tour WHA cities&mdash;Kharlamov, Mikhailov, Maltsev, Petrov, Balderis, Anisin, Gusev, Kapustin, Tsygankov, Vasiljev, Lebedev and Tretiak. Impressive? I had the pleasure of witnessing the Winnipeg Jets beat this team 5-3 in a game in which the Jets never gave up the lead. My ticket cost me $4.25.</p><p>How many NHL fans can make the same claim?</p><p><b>R. CHESTER,</b><br><b>Winnipeg, Man.</b></p><h2><b>Too Much Salming, How About Turnbull</b></h2><p>It seems that I cannot pick up a hockey magazine without reading something about Toronto&rsquo;s defenseman Borje Salming. Granted, Salming is a gifted player, but what about Ian Turnbull, his defensive counterpart?</p><p>It has been said that Salming is better than the likes of such stars as Park, Potvin, and Robinson, yet I disagree.</p><p>In THE HOCKEY NEWS computer analysis for last season, Ian Turnbull and Borje Salming were tied with 18.5 points for their defensive and offensive abilities. Last year, Turnbull had one more point than Salming, 79 to 78.</p><p>I don&rsquo;t mean to disparge the ability of Salming, but I&rsquo;d like to see more stories written about Turnbull.</p><p><b>KEVIN ROONEY,</b><br><b>Bronx, N.Y.</b></p><h2><b>Compares Rockies To Youthful Islanders</b></h2><p>I remember a few years ago when the Islanders were the doormats of the league. Their fans must have wondered if they would ever get better. Today after a few excellent draft selections they have become a great team.</p><p>The reason I say this is because Colorado reminds me a lot of the Islanders the year after they drafted Denis Potvin. Only it&rsquo;s Barry Beck for the Rockies.</p><p>I think after two years time, after a couple of more drafts that Colorado will be one of the powers of the NHL. So stick with it Rockies&rsquo; fans because better things are ahead.</p><h2><b>Kansas City Deserves Major League Team</b></h2><p>I have been a hockey fan since St. Louis first placed a farm team in Kansas City in 1967-68 and I think that K.C. was not treated fairly by the NHL when we had the Scouts here.</p><p>The NHL made no effort 40 help the Scouts as they did the Seals, instead they sold the team to a group in Denver where they are losing more money than they were here.</p><p>I think K.C. deserves another major league team. The Red Wings are drawing record CHL crowds, actually outdrawing Cleveland, which says something about the fans in the two cities. Kansas City has a major league arena but a minor league team. I hope this will change in the near future.</p><p>I also would like to thank Ted Lindsay for the Red Wings, we in K.C. are very grateful.</p><p><b>TOM KREWSON,</b><br><b>Kansas City, Mo.</b></p><h2><b>Weak Teams Folding Would Cure NHL Woes</b></h2><p>Many people have offered their solutions for the NHL&rsquo;s woes, but I feel there is only one way to do it. Instead of aiding financially floundering clubs, the NHL should let them fold. This would create a league of financially sound and well supported teams.</p><p>The fans in Cleveland and Colorado don&rsquo;t care much about hockey, so they don&rsquo;t deserve teams. On the other hand, fans in Philadelphia, Toronto and Montreal deserve the best league possible.</p><p>As for the WHA, there are some excellent areas in that league and here is an alignment which would cure hockey&rsquo;s woes. East Division: Detroit, N.Y. Islanders, N.Y. Rangers, Philadelphia and Buffalo; Northeast Division: Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, New England and Boston. West: Vancouver, Edmonton, Chicago, Los Angeles and Winnipeg.</p><p><b>MARK WILLAND,</b><br><b>Worcester, Mass.</b></p><h2><b>LETTER OF THE WEEK</b></h2><h2><b>Ceiling On Salaries Needed By Hockey</b></h2><p>In reference to the Feb. 17 article in THE HOCKEY NEWS on Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg, I wish to comment on what I feel is an important issue&mdash;salaries of hockey players.</p><p>Nilsson&rsquo;s and Hedberg&rsquo;s records speak for themselves so no one may question their ability. However, the salaries proposed to these players by the New York Rangers are utterly outrageous. Not only do I feel that no sports figure is worthy of such an amount but this matter can only be demoralizing to established NHL players.</p><p>One can imagine how the great Guy Lafleur must feel (although a man of his class would probably never complain). He gives everything to the game at a salary far lower than the offer made to the Swedes. Can we afford to let this happen to hockey&rsquo;s premier player?</p><p>I would like to see the league establish a ceiling on salaries such as $200,000 a year. To give players an incentive, let each franchise develop a system of bonuses. And for franchises which at this point cannot afford bonuses let the league back them up. Eventually the overall league and game can only benefit. Another possibility is to offer the better players longer contracts.</p><p>I cannot fathom the reason why an organization can be allowed to offer exorbitant salaries to certain players, while struggling clubs can only sit by and watch. Let the Rangers build their club through shrewd dealings like Montreal, Philadelphia, Boston and the Islanders have done. Then all franchises have an equal chance to build.</p><p><b>KAREN DuPONA,</b><br><b>Norwalk, Ct.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY MIKE LYNCH</div><p>SPOKANE&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Spokane Flyers, out of the throne room for the past two seasons, moved closer and closer to a Western International League championship entering the final stages of the season.</p><p>The Flyers had won eight straight championships before finishing third the past Iwo seasons. Kimberley won last season and Cranbrook the year before. Both of those clubs will likely finish the league schedule battling for second place.</p><p>Cranbrook was within striking distance of Spokane less than two weeks back, but the Royals lost seven of 10 games into mid-February. The Royals dropped a pivotal game on their own ice to Spokane in that stretch. Meanwhile, Kimberley has moved up steadily since January with nine wins against four losses.</p><p>Not that the Dynamiters have moved that rapidly with the 9-4 record, but coach Jim McCrimmon&rsquo;s team has won its last six straight from Cranbrook Royals. Kimberley moved into a tie with Cranbrook, but the Dynamiters have played two less games.</p><p>In turn, the Royals have played three less games than Spokane but that seems to be small consolation right now. The Royals trail Spokane by 11 points. The Flyers won four of six in a nine-day stretch, two of the wins on the road including an important one at Cranbrook.</p><p>Winger Gary MacGregor, assigned for conditioning work with the Flyers by Edmonton of the WHA, got plenty of ice time and scored eight goals in six games before rejoining the Oilers.</p><p>Spokane&rsquo;s Ron Huston scored two goals and three assists against Nelson to break through the century mark in scoring. Kimberley&rsquo;s Len Hicks leads in goals with 35.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

The WIHL Scene

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01866/4190371-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="358" height="760"></div><h2><b>ATLANTA</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02725/4190364-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="145" height="130"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03579/4190357-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="714" height="612"></div><h2><b>BOSTON</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04455/4190350-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="125" height="128"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05349/4190343-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="711" height="646"></div><h2><b>BUFFALO</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-06286/4190336-1-eng-US/f0016-062.jpg" title="f0016-06" width="118" height="119"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-07260/4190329-1-eng-US/f0016-072.jpg" title="f0016-07" width="721" height="588"></div><h2><b>CHICAGO</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-08240/4190322-1-eng-US/f0016-082.jpg" title="f0016-08" width="163" height="154"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-09217/4190315-1-eng-US/f0016-092.jpg" title="f0016-09" width="713" height="637"></div><h2><b>CLEVELAND</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-10195/4190308-1-eng-US/f0016-102.jpg" title="f0016-10" width="140" height="137"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-11181/4190301-1-eng-US/f0016-112.jpg" title="f0016-11" width="716" height="582"></div><h2><b>COLORADO</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-12164/4190294-1-eng-US/f0016-122.jpg" title="f0016-12" width="125" height="124"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-13150/4190287-1-eng-US/f0016-132.jpg" title="f0016-13" width="710" height="584"></div><h2><b>DETROIT</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-14143/4190280-1-eng-US/f0016-142.jpg" title="f0016-14" width="156" height="90"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-15133/4190273-1-eng-US/f0016-152.jpg" title="f0016-15" width="708" height="578"></div><h2><b>LOS ANGELES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-16129/4190266-1-eng-US/f0016-162.jpg" title="f0016-16" width="194" height="124"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-17121/4190259-1-eng-US/f0016-172.jpg" title="f0016-17" width="710" height="591"></div><h2><b>MINNESOTA</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-18114/4190252-1-eng-US/f0016-182.jpg" title="f0016-18" width="154" height="135"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-19106/4190245-1-eng-US/f0016-192.jpg" title="f0016-19" width="719" height="693"></div><h2><b>MONTREAL</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2087/4190238-1-eng-US/f0016-202.jpg" title="f0016-20" width="143" height="114"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2181/4190231-1-eng-US/f0016-212.jpg" title="f0016-21" width="712" height="633"></div><h2><b>ISLANDERS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2279/4190224-1-eng-US/f0016-222.jpg" title="f0016-22" width="138" height="131"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2376/4190217-1-eng-US/f0016-232.jpg" title="f0016-23" width="716" height="604"></div><h2><b>RANGERS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2474/4190210-1-eng-US/f0016-242.jpg" title="f0016-24" width="141" height="137"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2569/4190203-1-eng-US/f0016-252.jpg" title="f0016-25" width="721" height="632"></div><h2><b>PHILADELPHIA</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2666/4190196-1-eng-US/f0016-262.jpg" title="f0016-26" width="161" height="111"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2757/4190189-1-eng-US/f0016-272.jpg" title="f0016-27" width="720" height="630"></div><h2><b>PITTSBURGH</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2855/4190182-1-eng-US/f0016-282.jpg" title="f0016-28" width="146" height="140"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2948/4190175-1-eng-US/f0016-292.jpg" title="f0016-29" width="718" height="646"></div><h2><b>ST-LOUIS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3048/4190168-1-eng-US/f0016-302.jpg" title="f0016-30" width="108" height="96"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3148/4190161-1-eng-US/f0016-312.jpg" title="f0016-31" width="721" height="592"></div><h2><b>TORONTO</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3242/4190154-1-eng-US/f0016-322.jpg" title="f0016-32" width="127" height="131"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3342/4190147-1-eng-US/f0016-332.jpg" title="f0016-33" width="718" height="625"></div><h2><b>VANCOUVER</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3438/4190140-1-eng-US/f0016-342.jpg" title="f0016-34" width="117" height="84"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3524/4190133-1-eng-US/f0016-352.jpg" title="f0016-35" width="720" height="594"></div><h2><b>WASHINGTON</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3621/4190126-1-eng-US/f0016-362.jpg" title="f0016-36" width="177" height="98"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3721/4190119-1-eng-US/f0016-372.jpg" title="f0016-37" width="720" height="657"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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NHL SCORING AND PENALTY STATISTICS

Cover-01

The Hockey News

<p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011039/4189364-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="561" height="1141"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ANDERS HEDBERG&hellip;NHL Offer Matched</b></figcaption></div><p>WINNIPEG&mdash;</p><p>The Winnipeg Jets are alive and kicking, infused by new hockey capital and a determination to get a franchise in the National Hockey League now that they have locked up Swedish stars Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson to long&rsquo; playing contracts.</p><p>Bobby Hull, the super star left winger of the Jets, led an eight-man group of businessmen who purchased the floundering World Hockey Association team with one primary aim &mdash; to get into the NHL.</p><p>The sale of the Jets to the new group was made in a startling announcement by Bob Graham, one of the new owners who didn&rsquo;t mince words when revealing future hockey plans for the Jets, Graham emphatically said his new partners were not interested in operating a WHA franchise but wanted to make immediate application for entry into the NHL.</p><p>&ldquo;These people know the size of the commitment necessary to get into the NHL and are willing to invest whatever it takes,&rdquo; declared Graham.</p><p>One of the first pieces of business the new owner group transacted was to match the lucrative offer made by the New York Rangers to Hedberg and Nilsson. The Jets had to come within $20,000 of the $1.6 million dollar offer to the Swedes.</p><p>Graham said the group had no alternative but to match the offer for Hedberg and Nilsson. &ldquo;We believed it necessary to protect the value of this team so the offer had to be matched,&rdquo; said Graham. &ldquo;The most attractive thing we have to offer is the calibre of the team on the ice and these two play a dominant role,&rdquo; added Graham.</p><p>The inclusion of Hull on the list of new owners surprised the hockey world. The Jets&rsquo; super scorer follows a trend set some years ago when members of the old Chicago Cougars, led by Pat Stapleton and Ralph Backstrom. invested money in the WHA team to keep it from going under.</p><p>In addition to Hull and Graham, the new Jets&rsquo; owners included Dr. Gerry Wilson. Harvey Secter, John Shanski, Barry and Marvin Shenkarow and Mike Gabouty.</p><p>The purchase of the publicly-owned Jets was contingent on five conditions, all of which were met.</p><p>One of the conditions is that Sport Centrepoint Enterprises Ltd., the public corporation that had owned the Jets, repurchase the club if entry into the NHL is not secured by Aug. 15.1978.</p><p>Graham said the purchase-back price would be the amount invested in the team by the new owners or $1 plus the right to dispose of up to three of the Jets&rsquo; contracts to recoup the investment.</p><p>Another commitment is that negotiations be successfully completed with the city for a 16,000-seat arena. The city has already commited itself to providing 16,000 seats by the fall of 1980.</p><p>The city has suggested it would prefer expansion of the existing 10,000-seat Winnipeg Arena but Gabouty said the new group favors a new arena.</p><p>No details were announced on the arrangement completed to pay back the $1.2 million debt to former Jets owners Ben Hatskin and Saul Simkin.</p><p>The Jets announced about 10 days ago that the club was financially broke and without a minimum of $400,000 in new investment, would not finish the season under public ownership.</p><p>The team had secured about $200,000 by last week and was faced with declaring bankruptcy before the new owners made their offer.</p><p>The group put up $600,000 to allow the club to finish the season in the WHA and if they are successful in obtaining an NHL franchise, will repay the city the $300,000 it invested when the Jets went public four years ago.</p><p>Hull said he had not yet considered what he will be doing next year, but he indicated enthusiasm at playing in the NHL with Hedberg and Nilsson, whom he described as &ldquo;the two best players I have ever played with.&rdquo; The feeling is Hull is not ready to retire.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03700/4189357-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="557" height="646"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BOBBY HULL After 1,000th Goal</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0002-01

Hull, 7 Others Buy Winnipeg Club, Keeping Hedberg, Nilsson In WHA

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02942/4189395-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Steve Shutt, right, fired a four-goal game and the outburst helped Guy Lafleur in his bid for a third straight NHL scoring title.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Bruco Bennett)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>NHL Holding Off On Prague Tourney</b></h2><p>ATLANTA&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he NHL continues to hedge on sending a representative team to the 1978 World tournament in Prague, Czechoslovakia, but they are going full steam ahead on plans to stage an All Star week next January with a three-game series against the Soviet Union.</p><p>Both John Ziegler, NHL president, and Alan Eagleson, executive director of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association, are engaged in negotiations with the Soviets for a three-game super series in New York in January, 1979. It appears the NHL is also discussing the possibility of replacing the WHA in the Soviets&rsquo; Christmas Izvestia Tournament after the Russians expressed disappointment at the opposition provided by the Quebec Nordiques last year.</p><h2><b>Bulls Get Brophy, Nordiques Dump Boileau</b></h2><p>BIRMINGHAM&mdash;</p><p>The Birmingham Bulls have added some coaching strength for their determined stretch drive to capture a WHA playoff position by hiring John Brophy as an assistant coach. Brophy, who became unemployed when the Hampton Gulls of the AHL went belly up a few weeks ago, will become assistant to Glen Sonmor of the Bulls.</p><p>The Birmingham club also announced that Eli Gold had joined the Birmingham organization as play-by-play announcer, also from the defunct Hampton Club.</p><p>While the Bulls picked up Brophy, the Quebec Nordiques dropped Marc Boileau as coach. GM Maurice Filion took over the floundering Nordiques after Quebec had won only one of its last 11 games. Boileau will remain with the team in some other capacity.</p><h2><b>Lafleur Hot After Scoring Title</b></h2><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p>Guy Lafleur continues his all out pursuit of Islanders&rsquo; Bryan Trottier in his bid to become the first member of the Montreal Canadiens to win three NHL scoring championships in succession.</p><p>Lafleur, who trailed Trottier by as much as 10 points at one time, has narrowed the gap and after last weekend only trailed by two. Lafleur enjoyed a sensational nine-point week scoring only his 43rd goal of the year but picking up eight assists, four of them coming on Steve Shutt&rsquo;s four-goal performance against Cleveland. Trottier has 100 points and Lafleur 98 as the NHL&rsquo;s one-two top scoring players.</p><h2><b>WHA Teams Line Up For NHL Franchises</b></h2><p>NEW YORK&mdash;</p><p>The line forms on the rifht for franchises in the NHL and already five WHA teams&mdash;Winnipeg, Edmonton, New England, Quebec and Cincinnati&mdash;are reportedly filing their applications in order not to be disappointed.</p><p>The Nordiques were apparently the first WHA tema to forward a request for entry in the NHL. Rod Mclnness, president of the brewing company that bankrolls the Nordiques, said his team is interested in the NHL. &ldquo;We were there last August and we&rsquo;ll be there again when the time comes,&rdquo; said Mclnness.</p><p>The New England Whalers and Edmonton Oilers both had indicated they want a chance at an NHL franchise. Cincinnati said, it too, would apply and Winnipeg Jets, now that they have signed Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson to contracts, are anxious to get into the NHL. In the meantime, the NHL has given no indication they are vaguely interested in any of the WHA applicants.</p><h2><b>NHL Planning More Divisional Action</b></h2><p>ATL MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p>The NHL will move towards more inter-divisional play in 1978-79. NHL governors spent much time their recent meeting in Atlanta discussing possible realignment for the future.</p><p>Each NHL club will play each of its 17 opponents four times &mdash; twice at home twice away &mdash; for a total of 68 games. The remaining 12 games will be against teams in their own respective-divisions.</p><p>Some NHL teams, notably the Cleveland Barons, were hoping for a geographical realignment of the divisions that would create more balance.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0002-02

DEADLINE STOPPERS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011046/4189426-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Robort Shaver)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p>Darryl Sittier is many things to many people, but to the Toronto Maple Leafs he&rsquo;s &lsquo;Mr. Everything.&rsquo;</p><p>The 27-year-old ice leader of the Leafs has achieved much in his eight years in the National Hockey League and he&rsquo;s still hoping that his once impossible dream of being on a Stanley Cup winner will become a reality for him and his teammates before he&rsquo;s through in the big time.</p><p>Already Sittier has tasted the sweet wine of success as a major leaguer. He is the Leafs&rsquo; first bona fide super star in more than a decade and the man Toronto hockey fans expect to lead them out of the hockey wilderness when the Leafs go marching into the throne room as NHL champions.</p><p>Sittier is presently striving to become one of the youngest modem day players to score 250 NHL goals in less than 600 games. Sittier has played eight seasons and is presently at 243. Gilbert Perreault of Buffalo reached 250 in eight years and in 540 games. Marcel Dionne of L.A. did it in seven seasons and in just over 500 games.</p><p>Sittier has never won a major NHL award but the day may not be too far off when he will. In his rookie year, 197071, Perreault walked off with the Calder Trophy but Darryl only suited up for 49 games with the Leafs after being drafted No. 1 by Toronto in the 1970 amateur draft from the London Knights.</p><p>The six-foot, 185-pound Sittier was made for the Leafs. He has become the big favorite at Maple Leaf Gardens and his escalating success in recent seasons justifies the faith the Leafs had in him when they named him team captain.</p><p>At his present pace, Sittier will experience his best season since coming to the Leafs in 1970. He is already within five goals of his career high of 41 and his team-leading 89 points is only 11 behind his top 100-point season in 1975-76.</p><p>The Leafs&rsquo; captain has already etched his name in the record books on several occasions and hockey fans will always remember his dramatic overtime goal in the 1976 Super Series that lifted Canada to the world tournament championship in one of the most unforgettable hockey events of all time.</p><p>Sittier has enjoyed a reputation for scoring goals in bunches. He has twice excited NHL crowds with his multiscoring exploits. In the 1976 Stanley Cup playoffs against Philadelphia, he scored five times in one game to put his name in the playoff record book alongside the great Maurice &lsquo;Rocket&rsquo; Richard and Philadelphia&rsquo;s Reg Leach for most goals in a single playoff encounter.</p><p>Just prior to his exhilarating playoff performance, Sittier had joined a select few NHL scorers who managed to score six times in one game. On the night of Feb. 7, 1976, the Leafs crawled all over the Boston Bruins 11-4 and the explosive Sittier scored six goals and assisted on four more for 10 points to set a new NHL individual record, surpassing the old mark of eight held jointly by &lsquo;The Rocket&rsquo; and Bert Olmstead.</p><p>Sittier&rsquo;s six-goal game allowed him to take his place in the record book behind such NHL luminaries as Newsy Lalonde, Joe Malone, Corb Denneny, Cy Denneny, Syd Howe and in more recent times, Red Berenson.</p><p>Leafs&rsquo; fans have come to expect the unexpected from Sittier and he hasn&rsquo;t disappointed them. He said recently that he would gladly exchange any of his scoring feats for a Stanley Cup. With the Leafs building up to the climactic day under new coach Roger Neilson&rsquo;s system, Sittier is a key man in the club&rsquo;s Operation Stanley Cup.</p><p>No one is more aware of Sittier&rsquo;s value to the Leafs than Neilson, who describes the Toronto captain as a &ldquo;great team leader.&rdquo;</p><p>Teamed with high shooter Lanny McDonald at right wing and the hard working Errol Thompson on the left side, Sittier forms the heart of the Leafs&rsquo; offense. He works the slot, the comer faceoffs, the power plays, is double shifted by Neilson at times and is also cast in a penalty killing role when the Leafs are looking for a scoring break.</p><p>Most of the Leafs hold Sittier in high regard. McDonald, who has blossomed into a prolific goal scorer in recent years, credits Sittier for much of his improvement. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the guy on this team who really helped me develop as a player. It is truly a pleasure to play on a Une with Darryl because he is such an unselfish individual,&rdquo; said McDonald. The moustachioed Leafs&rsquo; winger feels Sittier leads by example. &ldquo;When we see Darryl going all out on every shift, we feel we all have to do the same, said McDonald.</p><p>Sittier takes a personal dedication in his role as Leafs&rsquo; leader. He is the players&rsquo; representative with management and personally carries the pleas of his teammates to team owner Harold Ballard and GM Jim Gregory.</p><p>Leafs&rsquo; owner Ballard has declared publicly that he wants a winner and soon. He said he would go to any extreme to achieve his goal and wasn&rsquo;t adverse to trading off his players to attain his objective. But he didn&rsquo;t hesitate to add that all of the Leafs were expendable except Sittier, McDonald and defenseman Borje Salming. Beyond that trio, Ballard would swap any player if he thought it would bring the Stanley Cup back to Toronto.</p><p>Sittier has been striving to keep the Maple Leafs on a winning track this season and he hasn&rsquo;t been doing too bad a job at it.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0003-01

Darryl Sittler: He’s ‘Mr. Everything’ For The Maple Leafs

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div><p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>rian Glennie bagged his first goal of the National Hockey League season the other night, the 11th score of his nine seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs.</p><p>&ldquo;It really takes the pressure off me&mdash;on the banquet circuit,&rdquo; Glennie smiled.</p><p>&ldquo;It can be a little embarassing on the banquet circuit when some kid who&rsquo;s scored about 700 goals in pee wee hockey stands up and asks how many goals I have this year.&rsquo;</p><p>&ldquo;I try to explain that I&rsquo;m a defensive defenseman, whose job is keeping goals out, not shooting them in. But those kids want a total. It&rsquo;s tough to say that I don&rsquo;t have a goal. One sounds much more prolific.&rdquo;</p><p>The night he scored his first goal, Glennie absorbed considerable needling about his offensive output, much of it self-deprecating humor he delivered himself.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m the only player in hockey who gets money from the manufacturers to say that he doesn&rsquo;t use their sticks,&rdquo; Glennie said.</p><p>This season, as it has been in the past few terms of his career, Glennie, the expendable, became Glennie, the dependable. Back in September, it was no secret Glennie was on the trading block. By October, he was Leafs&rsquo; fifth defenseman. Before the season had progressed very far, he was a regular, working in partnership with Borje Salming.</p><p>Under the disciplined approach of new Leaf coach Roger Neilson, Glennie has prospered.</p><p>&ldquo;I had a brutal training camp but then I always do,&rdquo; Glennie said. &ldquo;Maybe after 10 camps, it&rsquo;s tough to get revved up for them and exhibition games. Sure, I realized the team probably was trying to move me out but you can&rsquo;t worry about it.&rdquo;</p><p>Often in the past, Glennie has conducted a wholesale bodychecking business, attempting to ram every forward who approached his territory. That led to his being out of position often when he missed and increased the chance of injuries. Surgery scars on both his shoulders make it appear that his arms are attached by zippers.</p><p>After a study of last season&rsquo;s films, Neilson had some recommendations for Glennie on his hitting technique.</p><p>&ldquo;Roger wanted me to try being more selective in my attempts to bodycheck and to stop trying to reef every opponent,&rdquo; Glennie said.</p><p>&ldquo;He told me that I&rsquo;d established myself as a hitter and the threat that I&rsquo;d hit was always there, which means the forwards have to keep an eye on me. He showed me some examples on film where I was out of position throwing a check. It was a case of picking my spots.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02900/4189457-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="536" height="713"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BRIAN GLENNIE &hellip; Changed His Style</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;But I still enjoy delivering a good stiff, clean bodycheck in open ice. But often it&rsquo;s just as effective to angle the attacker towards the boards and out of the play&mdash;and much easier on the body.</p><p>&ldquo;Outside of a pulled leg muscle, this has been the best season I&rsquo;ve ever had for avoiding injuries.&rdquo;</p><p>During the first half of the season, Glennie shared the job of Salming&rsquo;s partner with young Randy Carlyle, then gradually took control of the job. In late January, Carlyle was dispatched to Tulsa Oilers of the Central League to receive a heavy workload.</p><p>Glennie admits that playing with Salming is an advantage. He lists a strong role definition as a major reason. Salming is a splendid rusher and Glennie leaves the part of the partnership to the Swede.</p><p>&ldquo;For openers, the King (Salming) is just so great as a player,&rdquo; Glennie said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s always in the right place and he really expects, even demands, a great deal from his partner. I like that because we talk about a lot of things.</p><p>&ldquo;The King has the best whistle in hockey and when I hear it, I know he wants the puck because he&rsquo;s open and has room to move with it. I give it to him quickly.&rdquo;</p><p><b>LEAFS NOTES</b>: Forward Jack Valiquette spent two weeks in the Central League with Tulsa Oilers where he had a 7-5-12 point total in seven games, then rejoined the Leafs &hellip; It&rsquo;s been another disastrous injury season for winger Scott Garland, who missed the concluding third of the &lsquo;76-77 schedule with a broken wrist. Garland sustained a broken collarbone in training camp and when he recovered from that in January, he was assigned to Tulsa. The Leafs were set to recall him when he injured a knee and will be sidelined for at least two weeks.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0003-02

Glennie Helps Leafs With Controlled Play

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011097/4189516-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="473" height="485"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b><i>Ken McKenzie&rsquo;s</i></b></figcaption></div><p>&#9679; <b>MAINE MARINERS</b>, a first-year club in the American Hockey League, are one of the most successful minor pro teams active today. The Mariners attendance passed the 150,000 mark on March 1, and Al Hill, a free agent signed by Keith Allen, Philadelphia GM two years ago, and Blake Dunlop, the other half of Allen&rsquo;s Harvey Bennett trade with Minnesota, have both been setting sizzling scoring marks&hellip;Don Ruck&rsquo;s resignation as vice-president of the National Hockey League was no surprise to any one close to the scene. It was known months ago that he was all finished with the league. At one time he was considered as a possible successor to Clarence Campbell for the president&rsquo;s role&hellip;Wives of Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; players were a big hit in the second fight for lives carnival at the Spectrum. More than 7,000 fans were able to throw pies at Bob Kelly and Reggie Leach (for $10 a throw). Last year the carnival raised over $80,000 for the Cancer Research Institute at Philadelphia&rsquo;s Hahnemann Hospital&hellip;Fred Shero even shaved off his mustache when Vancouver broadcaster Al Davidson offered to double his earlier $100 donation&hellip;Atlanta Flames are currently the youngest team in the NHL with an average age of 24.4 years. General manager Cliff Fletcher and coach Fred Creighton are convinced the only way the Flames will improve is through youth&hellip;Barclay Plager, who became the 11th coach in 11 years, of the St. Louis Blues, has his work cut out for him. The Blues are presently one of the poorest teams in the loop&hellip;Gump Worsley is on the ice for every Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; practice. He works with Pete LoPresti, the Stars&rsquo; promising young goalie. Minnesota have taken back veteran netminder Gary Smith from the Washington Caps, who had bought him on approval.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021052/4189509-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="292" height="481"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Gump Worsley</b></figcaption></div><p>&#9679; <b>DON CHERRY</b> of the Boston Bruins and twotime winner of THE HOCKEY NEWS coach-of-the-year award rates as one of the nicest guys in the coaching ranks. When NHL linesman Bob Hodges suffered a serious cut to his hand while breaking up a fight in the Boston Garden, the first person to pay him a visit in hospital was Cherry. Wearing a guard over the injury, Hodges is back in action again&hellip;Montreal Canadiens fell a few games short of topping the longest undefeated streak in pro sports. It is held by the Los Angeles Lakers and was 33 straight basketball wins&hellip;There&rsquo;s a strong possibility that Scotty Bowman may yet move back to St. Louis as general manager-coach. The Blues were associated with winning during Bowman&rsquo;s days with the club and he would certainly be popular with the fans. His wife also hails from the area&hellip;Colorado Rockies can&rsquo;t expect to make the playoffs when they blow 3-0 leads with less than 10 minutes to go in the third period as they did recently in Minnesota. The Rockies have won but one road game this season&hellip;Lou Nanne is doing a fine job with the Minnesota North Stars in the short time he has taken over the club&hellip;Bernie Parent is not the sharp goalkeeper he was during Philadelphia&rsquo;s halcyon years&hellip;Steve Shutt had the first four-goal night of his NHL career against Cleveland. He did it on only five shots on goal&hellip;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03947/4189502-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="292" height="468"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Steve Shutt</b></figcaption></div><p>&#9679; <b>JOHN DAVIDSON</b>, Ranger goalie, is said to be involved in an upcoming deal that would send him from New York to Vancouver&hellip;Ron Greschner continues to be the Rangers most effective rushing defenseman. He credits his new found confidence with his improved play this year&hellip;King Clancy, an institution with the Toronto Maple Leafs, celebrated his 75th birthday the other day. The King has been one of hockey&rsquo;s greatest goodwill ambassadors over the years&hellip;Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers are both going to make applications to join the NHL&hellip;Edmonton is rated by many as a sure-fire NHL prospect. They have a building as good as any in hockey and most hockey followers feel Edmonton would be just as successful as Vancouver has been since joining the NHL as far as fan interest is concerned&hellip;Gilles Lupien, rookie defenseman with Montreal Canadiens, is the tallest players in the history of the NHL. He stands six-feet, six-inches. At that height he looks awkward, but he is proving very effective and is getting better with each game&hellip;Buffalo Sabres goalie Don Edwards came up with another effort in an important 4-0 shutout victory over Philadelphia. Not only did it keep Buffalo in contention in the Adams Division but it was a club record fifth shutout for Edwards and a record-tieing 31st victory of this season for the rookie&hellip;Cincinnati Stingers had one of their best crowds of the season when the Birmingham Bulls came to town Feb. 19. 13,068 fans cheered as the Stingers edged the Bulls 43 in overtime&hellip;Gordie Howe says he&rsquo;ll continue to play as long as he can score 20 goals a season. Though he turns 50 on March 31, old Gordie leads the New England Whalers in scoring with 24 goals and 43 assists in the club&rsquo;s first 58 games.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04845/4189495-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="280" height="469"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Kina Clancy</b></figcaption></div><p>&#9679; <b>CHICAGO BLACK HAWKS</b>&rsquo; president William W. Wirtz and William Thayer Tutt, president of the U.S. Amateur Hockey Association joined New York Rangers captain Phil Esposito and newspaper veteran Tom Fitzgerald as recipients of the 1978 Lester Patrick Trophies. They were honored at the New York&rsquo;s Annual Patrick Awards dinner on March 6&hellip;Jim Loria, a youngster from Springfield, Mass, who wrote to every Junior A team in Canada looking for a job, latched on with the Billings Bighorns of the Western Canada League and now sends out that league&rsquo;s most comprehensive newsletter and statistics&hellip;In Hartford, an architect and a contractor are being named for reconstruction, less than two months after the collapse of the Coliseum roof. Plans call for a capacity of 15,000 as compared to the building&rsquo;s former 10,507 capacity&hellip;Randy Mohns, a Concordia University graduate who has led the Toledo Goaldiggers of the International League in scoring for most of the season, will be out of the lineup for about four weeks with a broken ankle. Mohns had 57 points in 44 games&hellip;The National Hockey League went nearly a year between penalty-free games (from Feb. 19,1977 until Feb. 11, 1978) and then had a second penaltyless game just 10 days later. After Montreal and St. Louis played without a penalty in the Feb. 11 game, Boston and Colorado played their Feb. 21 contest with neither side drawing a penalty.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05706/4189488-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="282" height="470"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>William Wirtz</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0004-01

PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><p>BUFFALO&mdash;</p><p>Even Gil Perreault is wearing a helmet.</p><p>When Le Gros, the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; super center, wore a helmet for the first time since his junior hockey days in a game against Los Angeles Kings, it left only four members of the club playing with bare heads.</p><p>Perreault donned the helmet two games after his teammate from days stretching back to the Montreal Junior Canadiens in the late 1960s, Rick Martin, suffered a concussion in a game against the New York Rangers.</p><p>Martin was knocked down by Dave Farrish and his head struck the ice after both went for the puck behind the New York net. Video replays showed that Farrish&rsquo;s stick hooked Martin&rsquo;s neck and Martin&rsquo;s feet were knocked from under him.</p><p>The Buffalo All Star left winger went into convulsions on the ice. After he was taken to a hospital on a stretcher, however, X-rays proved negative. He was released from the hospital the next day but a week later he still was having headaches and had not put on his skates.</p><p>Perreault said, after the Los Angeles game&mdash;one week and the second Buffalo game after Martin was hurt&mdash;that Martin&rsquo;s injury had nothing to do with his decision to wear a helmet.</p><p>&ldquo;I just decided to wear one, that&rsquo;s all,&rdquo; he told reporters, who quizzed him after the game.</p><p>The man with a thousand moves had, however, become a father for the first time two days after Martin was hurt. Asked about his wife&rsquo;s influence on the helmet decision, Gil said, &ldquo;She&rsquo;s been telling me to wear one for five years. I just decided to try it. Yes, I&rsquo;ll wear it from now on.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-06418/4189547-1-eng-US/f0004-062.jpg" title="f0004-06" width="565" height="798"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GILBERT PERREAULT&hellip;Was It His Decision?</b></figcaption></div><p>Another Sabre, Jocelyn Guevremont, resumed wearing a helmet in this game. Guevremont had worn one last season but had played without one this year. He went through the first period of the Los Angeles game without one, then put one on for the rest of the game.</p><p>Jos said his wife had a lot to do with it. &ldquo;She gave me heat after what happened to Rico,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;I do have two kids to think of.&rdquo;</p><p>Only remaining Sabres playing bareheaded are Jim Schoenfeld, Lee Fogolin, Rene Robert (who has worn a helmet briefly) and Fred Stanfield.</p><p>The headgear didn&rsquo;t seem to bother Perreault. He scored his 37th goal of the season, his sixth in three games against the Kings this campaign, and assisted on another goal.</p><p>The goal was a beauty. After taking a pass from Gary McAdam, Gil raced down the left boards. He faked a shot, hesitated a moment as goalie Rogie Vachon committed himself, then drove the puck from an angle 20 feet into the net.</p><p>The injury to Martin came just after coach Marcel Pronovost had worked out a plan for rotating his forwards during the remainder of the battle for first place in the Adams Division.</p><p>Pronovost had Martin back with the French Connection&mdash;Perreault and Robert&mdash;at times and on the power play. Most of the time, however, Rico played with Andre Savard and Ric Seiling, as he had most of the season.</p><p>Gary McAdam and Jim Lorentz also were alternating at left wing with Perreault and Robert. &ldquo;I use them as the situation dictates,&rdquo; Pronovost pointed out. &ldquo;McAdam has the speed and Lorentz is good in the comers and in front of the net.&rdquo;</p><p>The Don Luce-Craig Ramsay-Danny Gare combine, one of the top two-way lines in the league, stayed together.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0004-06

Players’ Wives May Have Induced Sabres To Put On Helmets

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01949/4189609-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="351" height="478"></div><h2><b>Time To Realign</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>&rsquo;M SURE GLAD</b> the National Hockey League All Star game went into overtime, because it took that long to figure out which players were from which teams from which city from which division from which conference which got its name from which famous man.</p><p>Good game, mind you, but dammit the confusion persists. Saw Clarence Campbell in the lobby of the hotel afterward and I was stuck about whether to congratulate him or console him. Did his division win or lose, I wondered. Think I finally said something like Prince of Campbell, that was a fine show tonight, wasn&rsquo;t it?&rsquo; The old guy looked at me funny.</p><p>Only family I always console is the Smythe family. That division, being from Chicago, I know. Zzzzzzz</p><p>Anyway, all of this is going to change after this column appears. The Bored of Governors, which always seems to call a lunchbreak when it comes time to discuss realignment, can&rsquo;t help but read this modest proposal at least once before getting hungry again. Ready?</p><h2><b>Double Ring Ceremony</b></h2><p><b>NOTICE THE GEOGRAPHICAL</b> rivalries, so logical that even The Bored cannot find fault. Notice the simplicity of nomenclature: East, West and Canadian. Notice that, last but not least, the knotty problem of what to do with the whirled Hockey Association has been solved by a double-ring ceremony.</p><p>There shall be no more fiscal exhaustion in the new NHL. The Cin-1 cinnati Stingers and Indianapolis Racers, which have had their problems, will combine to form one (1) team that will perform in two (2) cities.</p><p>Correct. Two cities. Cincinnati and Indianapolis are close enough so: that the Stinging Racers may split the home schedule, get double the exposure, double the audience, and hopefully, double the income, Fans in those two cities who have been reluctant to pack the building for all dates will now be more inclined to turn out for half as many dates to watch twice as good a team. Right?</p><p>Similarly, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Cleveland Barons will merge&hellip;sorry, amalgamate&hellip;to produce one club that will play 20 games in Pittsburgh and 20 games in Cleveland. Sometimes customers of the Penguins and Barons now can pick their spots, though tickets may be hard to come by when the best athletes of these two teams; meld. Right?</p><h2><b>Outstanding Competition</b></h2><p><b>NEWSPAPERS IN BOTH CITIES</b> will treat the team as a home team, radio stations in both cities will beam back broadcasts, and outlying towns between the two main cities will be more inclined to join the fun. Won&rsquo;t work? Tell that to people in Milwaukee and Green Bay whenever the Packers kick off on Sunday afternoons.</p><p>As for the more healthy entities, they will thrive as never before. The East will feature the two New York franchises, two clubs from New England (the Whalers, roof permitting, and the Bruins) plus Buffalo, Philadelphia and Atlanta. Outstanding competition, and half of: the schedule will be within the division, including all games in the last month of the season.</p><p>Likewise in the West, where Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis and Minnesota join the two new teams with hyphens. As for the Canadian Division, the three existing NHL clubs will combine with the three WHA clubs in a setup that shall excite each and every hamlet of hockey&rsquo;s homeland.</p><p>Playoffs? How about top three teams in each division with three; wildcards? Prize is the Stanley Cup. Team that loses the finals gets the Avco Cup and a free dinner with Gary Davidson.</p><p>There are casualties&mdash;Birmingham, Denver, Houston&mdash;but the revised NHL is so sound business-wise that it can&rsquo;t help but be accepted as (legal by governments in Ottawa and Washington.</p><p>Geez&hellip;Washington. Completely forgot Washington. What about the Capitals? Hmmm. Wonder if they&rsquo;d like to take another tour of Japan?</p><h2><b>The New NHL Look</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02744/4189602-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="1129" height="295"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0005-01

HOCKEY TALK

<div class="byline">BY RUSS WHITE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03518/4189640-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BILL RILEY&hellip;Expected Rough Treatment In Minors</b></figcaption></div><p>WASHINGTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>U</span>ntil recently not much fuss has been made over the fact that Mike Marson and Bill Riley of the Washington Capitals are the only blacks playing in the National Hockey League.</p><p>It was the accepted fact that most NHL players are Canadian born and that Canada hasn&rsquo;t had that many blacks who. might have tried their hand at hockey.</p><p>Certainly no big deal has ever been made over the fact that only three blacks&mdash;Willie O&rsquo;Ree of the Boston Bruins was the first, Marson and Riley following&mdash;have managed to play in the NHL in its 61-year history.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not going through what Jackie Robinson did in baseball,&rdquo; Marson has said many times.</p><p>Marson received what he confessed was an embarrasing notoriety four years ago when he joined the Capitals to play his rookie season because he was black.</p><p>He was kept busy with interviews and telephone calls. It was annoying but not ugly by any means. If anything, Marson thrived on the constant attention and had a fairly decent rookie season, scoring 16 goals for the Capitals.</p><p>Perhaps all the attention to Marson, who appeared on countless radio and television interviews and whose picture was on the NHL&rsquo;s Goal Magazine covers wherever the Caps appeared, had something to do with Marson&rsquo;s woes after that rookie season.</p><p>All the fuss made had worn down a bright, decent kid who was only 19-years-old at the time.</p><p>&ldquo;Everyone knows that I&rsquo;m Mike Marson, the black hockey player,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but do they understand that I&rsquo;m also Mike Marson, 19-years-old and an underage hockey player on an expansion team?&rdquo;</p><p>Riley withstood the taunts and times of the tough International League before coming up to the Caps for a 10-game trial last year. At one of the International League rinks, fans threw watermelons on the ice.</p><p>&ldquo;That,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;was what you expect in the bush leagues. It was nothing really. No one has done anything like that in the NHL. Especially the players. They&rsquo;re real pros up here. And, we&rsquo;re mostly Canadians. We never did have much of a black and white thing in Canada.&rdquo;</p><p>Marson and Riley didn&rsquo;t make any fuss and neither has anyone in Washington over the fact they were black players in a white man&rsquo;s sport. They did their best to help the Caps in their struggle toward respectability.</p><p>Then, came the storm.</p><p>Because of the blizzard in Boston, the Bruins - Flyers game that was to be telecast a few Saturdays ago from Boston had to be called off and the NHL TV game staff decided to do the Friday night game in Richfield, Ohio, between the Barons and the Capitals.</p><p>Arriving in Richfield, the TV folks had to dream up some big-time entertainment for between intermissions and wouldn&rsquo;t you know it, someone thought it would be great to have Dan Kelly interview Mike Marson and Bill Riley.</p><p>Kelly is unquestionably one of the finest play-by-play men in hockey but his interview session with Marson and Riley made almost everyone uneasy.</p><p>&ldquo;Aren&rsquo;t you fellows the only blacks in the NHL?&rdquo; Kelly began.</p><p>Looks that way, Marson and Riley answered.</p><p>Isn&rsquo;t that something, fans.</p><p>Wow!</p><p>Well, the fans at the Philadelphia Spectrum, where the Capitals played two nights later, must have felt some mean vibes. They were quite crude, showering an unusual barrage of racial epithets on Marson and Riley.</p><p>It was noted by several of the Flyer players&mdash;notably Bob Kelly&mdash;who was offended by the behavior of the fans.</p><p>Kelly is a good pro, well-respected by the Capitals&rsquo; players for his game, who plays hockey without any malace toward his opponent whether he be black or white. If a guy wears another jersey, Kelly will deck him. That&rsquo;s where the color barrier ends.</p><p>The Philadelphia fans, of course, once booed Santa Claus.</p><p>Bob Fachet of the Washington Post noted that Marson and Riley weren&rsquo;t the only Caps to be shot down this particular cold Sunday night at the Spectrum.</p><p>A sign hanging from the balcony read: &ldquo;Avenge David Marston, Oust the Caps.&rdquo;</p><p>Marston, of course, is the district attorney who was outsted by President Jimmy Carter.</p><p><b>CAPS NOTES</b>: Caps are expected to reactivate defenseman Yvon Labre, the popular team captain who underwent knee surgery and has been playing himself into condition at Hershey in the American League&hellip;Guy Charron scored goals in four straight road games but was stopped in 4-2 homecoming loss to Canucks at Capital Centre. Caps are disappointing 5-15-5 at home this year after a fine 17-15-8 a year ago.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0005-03

Offensive Spectrum Fans Heap Abuse On Capitals

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><p>NEW YORK&mdash;</p><p>Hardy Aastrom has been pointed out as another of New York Rangers&rsquo; general manager John Ferguson&rsquo;s gaffes. Perhaps not another Gilles Gratton, but not the answer to the Rangers&rsquo; goaltending problem.</p><p>When coach Jean-Guy Talbot nominated Aastrom to start against the Montreal Canadiens at the Forum on Feb. 25, hardly anyone thought Hardy had a chance. After all, Montreal hadn&rsquo;t lost in 28 games (23-0-5), and the Rangers hadn&rsquo;t beaten the Habitants in Montreal since Feb. 22, 1972. And Aastrom had yet to play a minute in NHL competition.</p><p>Aastrom was 15-2-2 in his stint in New Haven, to which the Rangers had dispatched him in December after he rusted on the bench without playing a single minute in the NHL. His 2.76 GA was leading the AHL&mdash;and his presence had sparked a two month surge that brought the Nighthawks from third to first place. But the NHL&mdash;ah. that was different, especially for a Swedish goalie unfamiliar to the puck chasing style inherent in North American big league play.</p><p>The six-foot, 170-pound. 26-year-old native of Skelleftea. Sweden, arrived in New York last August all fired up after signing with the Rangers. He had a two year $50,000 contract in his bag, and an open road to the Ranger goaling job. Only John Davidson stood in his way, and big John had been hurt two years in a row&mdash;and was considered to be injury prone.</p><p>When training ended the Rangers acquired Wayne Thomas on waivers from Toronto, consigned Aastrom to the press box, except for two occasions when he dressed as the backup, but didn&rsquo;t play&mdash;and went with Thomas and Davidson.</p><p>In December, Davidson pulled a muscle&mdash;and Ferguson sent the rusty Aastrom to New Haven. Doug Soetaert was recalled and stayed for two months.</p><p>&ldquo;Aastrom had played well here (in Montreal) for Sweden in the Canada Cup. We wanted to try something different, so we decided to start Hardy. He did a fine job. I don&rsquo;t think Montreal played poorly. I feel we forced them to make mistakes. We played our best game in quite a while. We have been playing better, and were moving the puck much better against Chicago in that home-and-home series,&rdquo; said Talbot.</p><p>Against the Hawks in Chicago on Feb. 22, New York led 2-0 at the end of two periods, only to be bullied out of the game when Ted Bulley scored twice in the final period and Ivan Boldirev once. The next night, in New York, Talbot formed a new third line, inserting Nick Fotiu with Wayne Dillon and Pat Hickey. The Rangers romped 6-2.</p><p>Fotiu got his first goal of the season, bumped Grant Mulvey off the puck and with two goals from the double shifting Hickey, helped turn the game around. Davidson played both the games against Chicago&mdash;and did well.</p><p>&ldquo;Playing time was what I needed,&rdquo; said J.D. &ldquo;Now things seem natural again. It was nice to hear the crowd rooting for me again. And my confidence has returned with playing again.&rdquo;</p><p>Wayne Thomas had slight wrist injury, but could have played if he had to. all of which made the move to Aastrom seem somewhat of a gamble.</p><p>When the Montreal game ended, the Rangers poured off their bench to greet Hardy, something they had done at the end of the first period when he led 2-1 and the second when his margin had been upped to 4-1.</p><p>&ldquo;I knew when they brought me up I was going to play. I was aware they wanted me to play,&rdquo; said the blonde thatched young man. &ldquo;This is big to me. but not as important as playing for Sweden against Czechoslovakia. Every game is a big game&mdash;even when I played in New Haven. I learned a lot in New Haven. I still learn something every game.&rdquo;</p><p>The Rangers beat Montreal with Aastrom. Dillon, Fotiu, Dave Farrish, Eddie Johnston, Dan Newman and Mark Heaslip, all of whom had played at New Haven. Johnston got his eighth goal, a key score, coming when the Rangers were only ahead 2-1. He dug out a loose puck which was partly under Canadien goalie Ken Dryden, and flipped it up and over the Montreal netminder. It was his first in 29 games.</p><p>Steve Vickers, who had scored only once in 20 previous contests made it two for 21 with the first goal in the Montreal game. He beat Dryden from the slot.</p><p>Don Awrey, a former Canadien was named the number one star in the Canadien upset. Don noted, &ldquo;We kept right on them all night. I think we really did a job&mdash;and that&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s needed if we are to make the playoffs.&rdquo;</p><p>Dave Farrish continues to play very well on the New York back line. Most games Talbot goes with four lines, double shifting Pat Hickey, on both the fourth and his regular line with Ron Duguay and Li&rsquo;cien DeBlois.</p><p><b>BLUE CHIPS</b>: 300 members of the Rangers Fan Club made the trip to Montreal&mdash;and howled with joy over the unusual victory &hellip; Mark Heaslip is continuing to play well and has picked up three goals, one the courtesy of a Phil Esposito pass&hellip;Rangers have eight of their next 10 games in MSG, starting Feb. 27. They must make hay in this stretch if they are to make the 12th and final playoff spot&hellip;And they need a contribution from rookie Lucien DeBlois, zero for 14. And two for 20 &hellip; Ron Duguay&rsquo;s goal in Montreal, made his goal stats one in his last 11 games&hellip;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011128/4189678-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="569" height="840"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>HARDYAASTROM&hellip;Still Learning</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>NHL Leaders</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02864/4189671-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="594" height="561"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0006-01

Talbot Gamble Halts Habs’ Streak As Aastrom Shines In Ranger Debut

<div class="byline">BY HARRY KLAFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011006/4189709-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>WAYNE MERRICK&hellip;Experienced Close Call In Detroit</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Steve Babineau)</span></figcaption></div><p>LONG ISLAND&mdash;</p><p>Things couldn&rsquo;t have been rosier for the Islanders when they skated off the Nassau Coliseum ice early last month, victors over the Washington Capitals by a score of 6-1.</p><p>The Isles had won nine of 10 games including three in a row, and were at the top of their game. Not even the self-critical Islander players themselves could find much in the way of fault. And most importantly, the club was now four points ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers in the Patrick Division race, and they took dead aim at increasing it even more.</p><p>But then it happened. The heavens unleashed their powers, and it seemed that the Islanders had been singled out to bear the brunt. First it was the snowstorm&mdash;the infamous blizzard of &lsquo;78&mdash;that cancelled the Isles&rsquo; game with the Minnesota North Stars and kept them away from the practice rink for days on end.</p><p>As if that didn&rsquo;t sufficiently sidetrack Al Arbour&rsquo;s skaters, the second fist from above took the form of injuries&mdash;three critical ones which caused the coach to search high and low for enough adequate bodies to fill out the lineup sheet.</p><p>First the snowstorm. Unless one was in hibernation somewhere, you couldn&rsquo;t help but hear that the New York area was in for one of its biggest accumulations of white stuff in 30 years. But the Isles held their Monday practice as usual, and after all, young men from the heart of Canada are used to a little snow, aren&rsquo;t they?</p><p>Maybe they are, but Long Island&rsquo;s ace snow removal team wasn&rsquo;t. Roads quickly became slow, then impassable. Not even the players&rsquo; jeeps could sufficiently handle the mess. On their way northward along Route 110 toward where most of the players live in Huntington, the Isles stopped repeatedly to help out stranded motorists.</p><p>Most did make it home, but Clark Gillies, Mike Kaszycki, Bob Nystrom, and Pat Price could make it only as far as Billy Harris&rsquo; place. Harris didn&rsquo;t mind the company, although little did he know they would be there for two days. It seems that Chez Harris lacks only one thing&mdash;an adequate snow shovel.</p><p>The North Stars were slated to appear at the Nassau Coliseum the following night, but the three New York airports were closed tight, and there was no way the Stars could have made it in. Just as well, because most of the Islanders couldn&rsquo;t even get out of their own driveways, let alone get to the Coliseum.</p><p>The game has since been rescheduled for Sunday, March 26, with game time at 7:05 p.m.</p><p>The Islanders finally were able to dig out early Wednesday morning (an average of 5 a.m. to be exact), as the players made their way to a bus waiting for them at the Coliseum. They eventually got to LaGuardia where they hopped a flight for Syracuse, and then on to Chicago to meet the red hot Black Hawks that evening.</p><p>They arrived in the Windy City late in the afternoon, went straight to the Chicago Stadium, dressed, and were physically present for the playing of the national anthem. The spirit wasn&rsquo;t there though, and the Isles dropped a 5-4 decision to Tony Esposito and company.</p><p>Losing the game wasn&rsquo;t the worst thing though. During the course of the action both defenseman Dave Lewis and 40-goal scorer Mike Bossy went off with shoulder injuries. So in one swipe, the Isles lost one of their best goal-preventers, and the one man who has made them such an offensive threat this season.</p><p>Bad things always come in three&rsquo;s, and for the Islanders there was to be no exception. Their game with the Detroit Red Wings at the Coliseum that Saturday (Feb. 11) was less than three minutes when Wayne Merrick, who had looked so good lately, suddenly jabbed himself in the midsection with his stick, hit his head against the boards, and slumped to the ground in convulsions.</p><p>Wayne had almost swallowed his tongue, and according to trainer Ron Waske, had stopped breathing for a short spell. The crowd hushed as emergency oxygen was rushed onto the ice, and after a long delay, Merrick was wheeled off on a stretcher and headed for the hospital.</p><p>His injury was diagnosed as a concussion, but he spent the next couple of days under observation to assure that there was no internal bleeding. He was ultimately released with no further complications.</p><p>The Isles recovered from the shock to beat the Wings, 8-5 in a sloppy affair, but were still asleep the following afternoon when they tied Cleveland. Somehow everyone couldn&rsquo;t help but wish the season had ended the week before.</p><p><b>ISLAND SOUNDS</b>: Denis Potvin notched his second career hat trick in the Detroit game. He also added two assists &hellip; In light of the rash of injuries, Michel Bergeron finally got his chance, playing right wing with Billy Harris centering for him. Bergeron went right out and canned two goals in as many nights.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0007-01

Weather, Injuries Played Havoc With Islanders

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011119/4189747-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="413" height="464"></div><h2><b>&ldquo;I Can&rsquo;t Kick&hellip;&rdquo;</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>HE PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</b> were playing, but Stan Gilbertson was not. On crutches, he was hobbling up the stairs in the stands. Someone said they guessed getting around was a problem for him. He laughed and said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got no problem. I just can&rsquo;t walk very well.&rdquo; Awkwardly easing himself into a seat, he added, &ldquo;Actually, I can walk better without the crutches, but I&rsquo;m afraid of falling on the stairs. I guess it&rsquo;ll take time, but it won&rsquo;t be too long before I&rsquo;m walking everywhere without the crutches.&rdquo;</p><p>He was a hockey player until he lost a leg at the knee after a highway accident at training camp in Pennsylvania last fall. He recalled, &ldquo;I was driving a teammate&rsquo;s jeep. Coming around a sharp curve, I came on a car coming at me in my lane. Swerving to the right, I ran off the road, rolled over, and wound up upside down, half over a narrow railroad bridge, hanging half out of the car, head down. It was later measured at 13 feet to the ground and if the car had toppled down on top of me I would have been crushed.</p><p>&ldquo;I freed myself and fell to the ground, but I knew I was badly hurt. My leg hurt bad and was a bloody mess. But I don&rsquo;t think they knew how bad I was hurt. After they got to me, they took me to this little hospital. When I asked to be transferred to a bigger hospital in Pittsburgh, it took 45 minutes to take me there before they even put me on an operating table. They found the nerves in the leg were ruined and they had to amputate. As an anesthetic they chilled my body. It&rsquo;s called hypothermia. Hey, I know all the technical terms now. But my body heated up to 104 degrees during surgery and I darn near died. They tell me two out of three in that situation do.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021008/4189740-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="813" height="610"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>The hockey career of Pittsburgh Penguin Stan Gilbertson was ended abruptly In a training camp accident where Gilbertson swerved off the road to avoid a car.</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;<b>AT FIRST THEY</b> took off my leg below the knee, but the stump didn&rsquo;t heal right and they had to take off more at the knee. That was bad because an artificial leg works better with the use of the knee. But I was lucky to have any leg left at all. The accident was a bad break, but others have had it worse. I&rsquo;m lucky to be alive. There were two or three ways I could have died.&rdquo; He was just back from having an artificial leg fit on by a specialist in Seattle and he was speaking about his accident as if it had happened to someone else. A long-haired blonde who looks younger than his 33 years, he was smiling, laughing, relaxed. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ve lost my sex appeal,&rdquo; Stan smiled.</p><p>The crowd was roaring as the players skated swiftly around the ice. It is difficult to believe that he didn&rsquo;t become depressed and wonder why it happened to him, but he says he accepted it from the beginning. &ldquo;It was scary at first, but they doped me up so much I didn&rsquo;t feel much and didn&rsquo;t think much for awhile,&rdquo; he shrugged. &ldquo;The worst part was spending 10 weeks in the hospital. I kept telling myself not to get down, but I never did. My wife, Shirley, flew right in from our home in Danville, east of Oakland, and she wasn&rsquo;t down and she cheered me up. A former teammate, Joey Johnston, flew in to cheer me up. He told me he knew how I felt because his career ended with a leg injury. I told him to count his legs and stop at two. But he helped. Anyway, I&rsquo;ve got two legs, too. One&rsquo;s just a lot shorter than the other,&rdquo; he giggled.</p><p>&ldquo;An amputee who works for United Air Lines flew cross-country just to visit me for a few hours to tell me life goes on. I knew that, but it was nice of him. I was getting 50, 60 letters a day from friends and fans encouraging me and it was nice of them. I&rsquo;ve spoken more to my parents on the telephone lately then I have all my life and they&rsquo;ve handled it well. They couldn&rsquo;t get out to see me, but I&rsquo;m going to visit them soon. Family means a lot to-a fellow at a time like this. Shirley and our daughter Kristen have been the best. She&rsquo;s only four, but it doesn&rsquo;t bother her at all. Before jumping on my bed, she&rsquo;d ask me which is the &lsquo;little leg&rsquo; so she wouldn&rsquo;t hurt it. Since she found out she can&rsquo;t hurt it, she and her friend, Melissa, love to pound on it,&rdquo; he laughed.</p><p>&ldquo;<b>IRONICALLY, A FRIEND OF MINE</b>, a railroader, Muzz Lydiard, just lost a leg in a train accident. His wife called me and I talked to him and I know he can take it. I told him it&rsquo;s not what you lost, but what you have left. I have to go see him, too. The big thing, I think, is not to get down or let people pity you or get you down. Hell, life does go on. I wasn&rsquo;t going to go on much longer in hockey, anyway. Last year was my worst year. I figured I might last another year, but better players than me have been cut. I&rsquo;d taken my real estate test before training camp, anyway, so I&rsquo;ll just go right into it now, back in California. I was ready for it, anyway. A doctor told me he&rsquo;d have me back on skates in a year. I said, &lsquo;Like hell you will&rsquo;!&rdquo; Stan laughed. &ldquo;Hell, I was a lousy skater to begin with.&rdquo;</p><p>His was not a classic career. The winger from Duluth, Minnesota, was moved around to nine teams in 12 years as a pro. He played seven seasons in the minors before he even made the majors and averaged just around 15 goals a season in five campaigns with Oakland, St. Louis, Washington, and Pittsburgh on top. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy I made it and I&rsquo;m proud I was one of the first Americans, but I was never one of the best. But I was better on the ice than off it. I played with too many bad teams and popped off too much. I missed too many curfews. I won&rsquo;t miss playing too much, but I&rsquo;ll miss the guys and having a beer with them after games,&rdquo; he grinned.</p><p>&ldquo;Everyone&rsquo;s been great to me. Al Savill, the owner, and everyone in the Pittsburgh organization has been great. They didn&rsquo;t have to pay my salary for this season, but they&rsquo;re paying it. They may make up the $3,000 difference between what my player&rsquo;s insurance paid and the $15,000 medical costs. They offered me work in the organization, but I want to start a new life. I look forward to it. I always knew I was a little flaky,&rdquo; he grinned.</p><p>Don Rickles was to be interviewed on television between periods and Stan asked for his autograph. There were no wisecracks from the comic as he wished his fan well. As Stan hobbled off, he was the one making with the wisecracks. Someone asked Stan how it was going. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t kick,&rdquo; he laughed. &ldquo;Especially with this one leg.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY AL SMITH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03855/4189785-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="574" height="709"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DAVE SHAND &hellip; Accepted System</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04461/4189778-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg" title="f0008-04" width="570" height="716"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RICHARD MULHERN &hellip; Knows His Job</b></figcaption></div><p>ATLANTA&mdash;</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re doing less, but playing better,&rdquo; says Atlanta defenseman David Shand, speaking of himself and defensive teammate Rick Mulhern.</p><p>&ldquo;From the beginning, Rick and I fought Fred&rsquo;s (Atlanta coach Creighton) system. He&rsquo;s always taught let the puck do the work. But we fought it&mdash;we tried to do too much.&rdquo;</p><p>Shand and Mulhern came to Atlanta with great credentials. They were both first round draft picks&mdash;Mulhern in 1975, Shand in &lsquo;76. But Atlanta fans as well as the two young defensemen have found the National Hockey League is a tough place for youngsters to be thrown to the wolves.</p><p>They were expected to play right away. To take a regular turn and learn their trade with on the job training in the big time. Mulhern had 54 games in the Central Hockey League with Tulsa, Shand played only nine games in the American Hockey League with Nova Scotia.</p><p>They&rsquo;ve had their bad times and they are still prone to mistakes of inexperience, but things are getting better&mdash;much better. They are largely responsible for the recent success of the Flames.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve learned when to go with the puck and when not to go,&rdquo; Mulhern said. &ldquo;I feel I&rsquo;m stronger around the net and in the comers. Earlier in the season I was coughing the puck up a lot.</p><p>&ldquo;I had to keep telling myself I was good enough to be here and it took some help from some of the other guys on the team.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve talked to some of the other players and got some things worked out. It&rsquo;s not as easy as it sounds, but I did get some help.</p><p>&ldquo;There was a time I wasn&rsquo;t playing a regular shift and I really got down on myself. Now, I feel I&rsquo;ve got it together on the ice.&rdquo;</p><p>Shand and Mulhern are two reasons the Flames have probably the youngest defense corps in the NHL. Shand is 21, Mulhern will be 23 on March 1st. Add to this Pat Ribble at 23, Miles Zaharko 21 and that makes Ed Kea 30 and Dick Redmond 28 seem like old men.</p><p>They were two of six rookies the Flames played all last season and both performed well for first-year players. But, because of this people expected a great deal of them in their sophomore campaigns.</p><p>Even general manager Cliff Fletcher admits he hasn&rsquo;t been happy with the progress of the pair, but is quick to add, &ldquo;I guess management always expects&mdash;wants is a better word&mdash;players to develop faster than they do.</p><p>&ldquo;And defenseman always develop slower than others.&rdquo;</p><p>But Fletcher hasn&rsquo;t lost faith and neither has Creighton. This is exemplified by the fact that Shand and Mulhern take a regular turn on the ice and Creighton has had both playing with rookie Zaharko at times.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to bring a bunch of players together who are used to different systems and get things worked out,&rdquo; Shand said. &ldquo;Not just the defensemen, but the whole team.</p><p>&ldquo;At one time we had half the team doing one thing, the other half doing another. But I think everyone is giving Fred&rsquo;s system a chance now. And Fred has changed some, too.</p><p>&ldquo;At one time it didn&rsquo;t make any difference how we played, we still worked like hell in practice the next day. Now, if we&rsquo;re playing well he&rsquo;s a lot more reasonable.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s like reward and punishment. Now if we play badly we know we&rsquo;re going to work like hell. It&rsquo;s taken awhile for everyone to come together.&rdquo;</p><p>Mulhern agrees with Shand, but puts it a different way.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re playing like a team, now,&rdquo; Mulhern said. &ldquo;And that&rsquo;s important at this point. We got off to a rough start, but we&rsquo;re playing more consistently.</p><p>&ldquo;Everyone knows what their job is and they&rsquo;re doing it better. At one time we had guys who are hitters trying to be stickhandlers and screwing things up. Now there is no half-hearted effort from anyone&mdash;everyone is working hard.&rdquo;</p><p>And no one has ever faulted the effort of Mulhern and Shand. They are both workers. And though they still make mistakes of inexperience, goalie Dan Bouchard probably expresses the attitude of the rest of the team towards these two youngsters.</p><p>&ldquo;I want to be around in a year or two when these guys get some experience,&rdquo; Bouchard said. &ldquo;They are going to be something else.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-03

Flames’ Youngsters Learn Their Trade Under NHL Pressure

<p><b>1. Two rookies cracked the midseason ratings of NHL players as far as shooting percentage was concerned. One was Mike Bossy. Who was the other?</b><br><b>Dale McCourt&#9633; Barry Beck&#9633; Lucien DeBlois&#9633;</b></p><p><b>2. Which goalie had the best Individual goals against average in the NHL last season?</b><br><b>Glenn Resch&#9633; Michel Larocque&#9633; Wayne Stephenson&#9633;</b></p><p><b>3. Which was the first WHA club to record 20 victories either at home or on the road this season?</b><br><b>Winnipeg&#9633; New England&#9633; Edmonton&#9633;</b></p><p><b>4. Who holds the WHA mark of most goals by a rookie, 53?</b><br><b>Mark Howe&#9633; Robbie Ftorek&#9633; Anders Hedberg&#9633;</b></p><p><b>5. Who holds the NHL record for most goals In a season by a left winger? How many?</b><br><b>Bobby Hull&#9633; Rick Martin&#9633; Steve Shutt&#9633;</b></p><p><b>6. In the Smythe Division, next to the Chicago Black Hawks, which team had the best home record through the first three-quarters of the current season?</b><br><b>Vancouver&#9633; St. Louis&#9633; Colorado&#9633;</b></p><p><b>7. Which WHA player who leads his team in scoring, this season, also leads it in goal scoring percentage?</b><br><b>Robbie Ftorek&#9633; Gordie Howe&#9633; Ulf Nilsson&#9633;</b></p><p><b>8. Last year only two NHL teams allowed fewer than 200 goals. One was Montreal, who was the other?</b><br><b>Philadelphia&#9633; Islanders&#9633; Buffalo&#9633;</b></p><p><b>9. Which NHL teams has the best percentage in overtime games?</b><br><b>Buffalo&#9633; Chicago&#9633; Montreal&#9633;</b></p><p><b>10. What&rsquo;s the fewest shots on goal by a winning team in a WHA game?</b><br><b>13 &#9633; 16 &#9633; 17 &#9633;</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Fans’ Quick Hockey Quiz

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011058/4189871-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ROSS LONSBERRY&hellip; Offers Quiet Approach For Flyers</b></figcaption></div><p>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;</p><p>Those who were curious to see how the Flyers would play without Bobby Clarke were finding out during a critical stage of the season.</p><p>The Flyers&rsquo; invaluable captain suffered a double fracture of the left thumb during a 5-2 victory over Vancouver at the Spectrum. At first team physicians thought Clarke could be fitted with a playing cast, but when the double fracture was discovered Clarke was pointed, reluctantly, toward a press-box observation point.</p><p>The prescribed recuperation period was two-to-three weeks, which meant Clarke would be in civilian clothes as the Flyers embarked on a seasonmaking road trip with stops in such inhospitable places as Buffalo, Boston, Toronto and Montreal.</p><p>&ldquo;Maybe now we&rsquo;ll find out what we&rsquo;re made of,&rdquo; said coach Fred Shero. &ldquo;If we don&rsquo;t have the kind of reserve strength on the bench, or in our farm system, then how good are we?&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m hoping we have guys capable of leadership,&rdquo; said GM Keith Allen, who was delaying any major trade moves until after the Flyers met the division-leading Islanders. The Islanders won, 4-1.</p><p>&ldquo;Theye&rsquo;s Gary Dornhoefer, and Ross Lonsberry in his quiet way. Orest Kindrachuk and Jimmy Watson have emerged as leaders among the younger group,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>Clarke&rsquo;s injury, the result of what he called an inadvertent slash by Vancouver&rsquo;s Pit Martin, was viewed as perhaps the opportunity Mel Bridgman has been awaiting. Neither Bridgman nor anyone else of sane mind was suggesting that he could fill Clarke&rsquo;s skates over an extended period.</p><p>However, for almost three seasons, ever since the Flyers acquired the draft position from Washington to make Bridgman the No. 1 choice in the 1975 amateur draft, Bridgman has been hoping for the chance to play regularly at center. He did fill in capably for an injured Rick MacLeish halfway through his rookie season. But since then he has alternated between left wing and center on every line except the supermarket express line.</p><p>&ldquo;Sure, sometimes I&rsquo;ve been demoralized wondering whether I&rsquo;ll ever get the chance,&rdquo; the Victoria, B.C., product said. &ldquo;But Clarke, &lsquo;O&rsquo; (Orest Kindrachuk) and Hawk (MacLeish) are so good there isn&rsquo;t much I could say.&rdquo;</p><p>Clarke, meanwhile, was fitted for a cast that prevented him from gripping a hockey stick. If his enforced vacation lasted much longer, he would also be fitted for a straitjacket.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s really boring when you can skate (in practice), but can&rsquo;t handle a stick,&rdquo; the three-time Hart Trophy winner said. &ldquo;It must be like a doctor going through a patient&rsquo;s ward, but not being able to do anything.&rdquo;</p><p>To at least keep Clarke&rsquo;s active mind busy, it was proposed that while the Flyers were travelling, the NHL Players Association president would adjourn to Portland, Me., and advise the Flyers&rsquo; top farmhands.</p><p>&ldquo;That sounds like something I&rsquo;d like,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;I want to go on the trip with the boys, but I&rsquo;d also like something to do.&rdquo;</p><p>Paul Holmgren also wanted something to do, and he found it&mdash;play hockey. Moments after Clarke was slashed by Pit Martin, Holmgren crashed into the Spectrum boards attempting to check Martin. The rugged forward from Minnesota suffered a fractured vertebrae of the lumbar back region and was expected to be out three to six weeks.</p><p>Out nine days was more like it. Missing only two games, Holmgren returned to help lead the Flyers over Detroit, 4-2, in a game featuring 136 penalty minutes and almost a fight per minute.</p><p>&ldquo;The fracture is in the little wing off the veretebrae,&rdquo; explained Holmgren, who with his mounting list of injuries will soon qualify as a medical student. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t feel any pain.&rdquo;</p><p>Either Holmgren has amazing recuperative powers or Shero smuggled him over to the faith healer he discovered a few years ago to cure his aching back.</p><p><b>FLYERS FACTS:</b> Joe Watson celebrated his 800th NHL game by scoring the opening goal in the victory over Detroit&hellip;Goalie Rick St. Croix was the victim in a 4-2 loss to Minnesota, the North Stars&rsquo; first victory at the Spectrum since 1971, but no one was blaming him for the loss. St. Croix was called on when Wayne Stephenson returned to Winnipeg for his father&rsquo;s funeral&hellip;Orest Kindrachuk was on a 1-7-8 scoring spree in four games.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-01

Filling Leadership Role Pressing Philly Priority

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011080/4189902-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="285" height="459"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b><i>Bill Fleischman&rsquo;s</i></b></figcaption></div><h2><b>Nanne&rsquo;s New Enthusiasm</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>A</span>S REPORTERS FILED</b> into the noisy Minnesota North Stars dressing room following their first victory in Philadelphia in seven years, trainer Dick Rose smiled and said, &ldquo;Look at all these guys&mdash;the last time we were here nobody came in the room.&rdquo;</p><p>If Minnesota&rsquo;s Lou Nanne-led revival is more than just a change-of-coaches high, the North Stars will be having many media visitors.</p><p>Nanne has brought one vital ingredient&mdash;enthusiasm&mdash;back to what should be one of the NHL&rsquo;s strongest franchises. After the North Stars stunned the Flyers, the dressing room sounded more like one of the high school celebrations people in Minnesota are accustomed to enjoying.</p><p>&ldquo;You wonder why they waited so long to make this move, said one Minnesota player who must remain unidentified because, like nearly all the North Stars, he wants to continue wearing the green-and-white. &ldquo;Everyone knew Lou would at least be coach, maybe general manager. The players have confidence he can make this into a good team.&rdquo;</p><p>Last year it was written here that Jack Gordon and Ted Harris had the North Stars on the right track. The club qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 1973, losing expectedly to Buffalo in the preliminary round, but led by talented young players such as Roland Eriksson, Glen Sharpley and Tim Young, it appeared ready to challenge for the coveted Smythe Division pennant.</p><h2><b>Super Hockey Knowledge</b></h2><p><b>THIS SEASON THE ONLY TITLE</b> the North Stars have been in contention for is &ldquo;most disappointing team.&rdquo; First Harris was dismissed, then his successor, Andre Beaulieu, and Gordon were excused with Nanne taking over as GM and coach.</p><p>The 36-year-old Nanne, the last of the original North Stars and the most popular player the club has ever had, is expected to provide new leadership.</p><p>&ldquo;Louie&rsquo;s strongest point is he&rsquo;s a dynamic person,&rdquo; said Dick Dillman, the North Stars&rsquo; excellent publicist. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll be invigorating to the organization. He has a good mind, he&rsquo;s articulate and he knows the business, which is unusual for a player.&rdquo;</p><p>Nanne&rsquo;s knowledge of the hockey business is derived largely from his work with the NHL Players Association. The Sault Ste. Marie native who became a naturalized United States citizen after starring for the University of Minnesota, says he has attended more association meetings than anyone except executive director Alan Eagleson.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m familiar with the rules and regulations and know all the general managers quite well,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>Nanne, known as &ldquo;I Can Get It for You Wholesale&rdquo; as a player, is also shrewd enough to know that all those telephone calls from the league&rsquo;s GMs aren&rsquo;t strictly social.</p><p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re all offering me the best deal,&rdquo; he said smiling. &ldquo;The only two I hadn&rsquo;t heard from are Sam Pollock and Jake Milford. I just&rsquo;s found out Jake has been in Sweden so he probably doesn&rsquo;t know about 5 it yet. I expect a trans-Atlantic call the minute he finds out.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>Man With Sense Of Humor</b></h2><p><b>NANNE&rsquo;S SENSE OF HUMOR</b> is another plus. He solved the problem of having two defensemen named Maxwell by nicknaming? newcomer Bryan Maxwell &ldquo;Moose.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;Brad Maxwell is &ldquo;Maxie&rdquo; so I asked Bryan if he had a nickname. He said &lsquo;No.&rsquo; When I asked how he felt he said &lsquo;A little heavy,&rsquo; so I said &lsquo;You&rsquo;re Moose.&rdquo;</p><p>That Bryan Maxwell is finally wearing a Minnesota uniform is an example of Nanne&rsquo;s hustle. &ldquo;Moose&rdquo; was the North Stars&rsquo; top draft choice in 1975, but detoured to the WHA where he wasn&rsquo;t exactly the new Bobby Orr&mdash;or even the new Ron Plumb. When Nanne learned that Maxwell was involved in contract troubles with the New England Whalers, negotiations began to bring the former Medicine Hat hitter to Minnesota.</p><p>Two days after signing with the North. Stars Maxwell made his debut in Philadelphia. All he did was score a goal, assist on another and generally play like a man who hadn&rsquo;t been away from competition for almost one month. Jot down GM Nanne&rsquo;s first signing as successful.</p><p>How successful Nanne will be as a coach isn&rsquo;t certain. He insists he&rsquo;ll I turn the coaching over to someone else next season&mdash;the University of Minnesota&rsquo;s Herb Brooks is one possibility, Denver&rsquo;s Marshall is Johnston is another. For now, the confident Nanne doesn&rsquo;t believe the transition from player to coach of his former teammates should be a crisis.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s all up to the individual,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;In big corporations, salesmen move up to sales manager and don&rsquo;t have problems if they handle it right. It&rsquo;s just people managing.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-01

HOCKEY WORLD

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div><p>VANCOUVER&mdash;</p><p>Since the Canucks went into their most recent tailspin, things have really been hopping in Vancouver.</p><p>Captain Don Lever has come out and blasted some of his teammates, coach Orland Kurtenbach says his players don&rsquo;t seem to want to work and both have the statistics to prove it.</p><p>Canucks had lost five straight games, to Chicago and Atlanta at home and Philadelphia, Minnesota and Detroit on the road. They had not won a road game since beating Chicago 3-2 on New Year&rsquo;s day, and the Colorado Rockies have moved to within four points of the final playoff spot in the Smythe Division.</p><p>With all this bleakness around, Lever, the normally placid captain of the Canucks, decided to let out a little shaft on those on the club he felt deserved a shock. His comments, rather appropriate at the time, came after an embarrassing drubbing at the hands of the Red Wings 8-3.</p><p>&ldquo;There are 10 guys on this club so gutless it&rsquo;s ridiculous,&rdquo; said Lever. &ldquo;There are guys here that don&rsquo;t need to take a shower. I&rsquo;m not mentioning any names. It isn&rsquo;t necessary, you can tell by the guys who are sweating and the guys who aren&rsquo;t. I feel sorry for Kurt (Kurtenbach). He lays down a simple system and there are some guys on this team who can&rsquo;t or won&rsquo;t follow it.&rdquo;</p><p>Indeed, the players on the Canucks are costing Kurtenbach his job. He is only on a one-year contract having been hired at the beginning of the season by general manager Jake Milford. Kurtenbach himself has admitted that he is disappointed with the way the club has been going. He set out the goal of 80 points for the year, and to date, they have only 41 in 54 games.</p><p>In the throes of a seven game road trip in 10 days, Canucks most recent spin has been caused by giving up early goals and once having fallen behind, completely deserting defensive hockey.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know whether it&rsquo;s lack of leadership or what,&rdquo; says Lever. &ldquo;We need leadership from every one of the 19 guys on this club and so far we&rsquo;re not getting it.&rdquo;</p><p>Fifteen times this year Canucks have given up a goal in the first five minutes of play, and they have been trying to dig themselves out of holes all year.</p><p>Futhermore, some individuals have been in terrible slumps. Mike Walton had gone seven games without a goal and Chris Oddleifson had only one point in 12 games. The team has won only three out of their last 26, and were it not for the absurdity of the Conn Smythe Division, Canucks would really be struggling for a playoff spot in any other division.</p><p>But on the more positive side, a couple of Vancouver forwards, right winger Dennis Ververgaert and left winger Jere Gillis have pulled out of long slumps and are now playing well.</p><p>Ververgaert scored in four consecutive games, and with Lever at center and Brad Gassoff on the left, has become a part of the team&rsquo;s best line.</p><p>&ldquo;Things are starting to turn around a little bit and bouncing my way for a change,&rdquo; said Ververgaert, whose goal production had been lagging badly.</p><p>The rugged winger has had his best year as far as assists go though and he now has 13 goals and 28 assists.</p><p>Gillis went about 10 games without getting many scoring chances and he seemed to be rushing things and making too many moves instead of shooting. Now he&rsquo;s getting the chances and his 19 goals is only three behind club leader Mike Walton.</p><p>But the individual performances are not helping the club solve any of it&rsquo;s problems, and coach Kurtenbach is aware that he may be in trouble if things don&rsquo;t improve.</p><p>&ldquo;I know that if we continue in this tailspin there will have to be some changes made,&rdquo; said Kurtenbach. &ldquo;Right now, some of our problems are being compounded by the fact we&rsquo;re not winning any games. I don&rsquo;t feel there are any disciplinary problems on this club.&rdquo;</p><p>Canucks have been hampered by some injuries. Ron Sedlbauer hasn&rsquo;t really recovered fully from a concussion suffered in the recent 5-1 loss to Chicago and John Grisdale, hurt in the same game, has missed four games. There is still no sign of the team&rsquo;s most consistent defenseman returning to the lineup as he is still in pain from severe muscle spasms.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02917/4189933-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="563" height="1191"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DON LEVER&hellip;Raps Apathy</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0012-02

Lever Gives Canucks Blast For ‘Gutless’ Performance

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011036/4189964-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>STAN MIKITA&hellip;Prompted By Fear Of Playing Badly</b></figcaption></div><p>CHICAGO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>fter all those games, all those goals and only He knows how many faceoffs, Stan Mikita has seen everything in hockey at least once and some things once too often.</p><p>But that doesn&rsquo;t mean a 38-year-old millionaire, whose blades will look sharp in the Hall of Fame, can&rsquo;t appreciate traces of a new ice age in Chicago.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a rebirth of the Black Hawks,&rdquo; said Stan the Man. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a long way to go this season, but so far it&rsquo;s been like a rebirth. All of the crap of the last few years, the losing and the injuries, I thought a lot about retiring. It was becoming a chore.</p><p>&ldquo;But I&rsquo;m a proud person and I&rsquo;ve worn this jersey for a long time. It would have been hard to finish on a note like last year. Brutal. Guys just coming around to collect their paychecks, all of us to blame at one time or another. Fans staying away from the rink or coming to boo. And you couldn&rsquo;t blame them.</p><p>&ldquo;This year&rsquo;s different. I&rsquo;m really having fun again. It&rsquo;s like a new lease on life. You know, I&rsquo;m not much for the rah-rah business. In fact, I can&rsquo;t stand it. You don&rsquo;t need 20 guys standing up before the game saying do this and do that. Just go out and do it. But the attitude here is completely better.</p><p>&ldquo;Last few years, guys would all split up after a game or practice. Two would go here for lunch, three there for a beer, two someplace else. Now we have eight or nine going to the same place for a few laughs. Another thing. This year, you see our guys taking good honest bodychecks at each other in practice. In practice! We never used to do that even in games.</p><p>&ldquo;And another thing. You remember the game when we beat Philadelphia 3-1 and they scored in the last couple minutes to ruin the shutout? Well, after that game, I felt bad because I lost the draw, and Cliff Koroll said he could have prevented it, and our defenseman who screened&mdash;I forget who it was&mdash;was mad at himself, and Tony (Esposito) blamed himself for not stopping the puck. That&rsquo;s four guys blaming themselves. Used to be that four guys would be passing the buck.&rdquo;</p><p>There is a certain air of comfortability around Mikita now. Not that he&rsquo;s ever been one to suffer from an inferiority complex or feel pangs of insecurity; it&rsquo;s just that new brooms tend to evacuate old rooms, and there was always a question about how the current regime of Bob Pulford would operate.</p><p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t expect to be pushed out&hellip;and I still don&rsquo;t, though it could happen,&rdquo; Mikita mused. &ldquo;You know how it is. You are around the same people so long, and suddenly it changes. I saw Pit Martin and Dennis Hull leaving, and you wonder if you&rsquo;re going to be next.</p><p>&ldquo;I admit I had some doubts when Pulford took over this summer and (Bobby) Orr went into the front office. They&rsquo;re both Al Eagleson men, and you start to think that maybe the team is being run from Toronto, rather than Chicago. But it&rsquo;s worked out well so far, and once you get to know the guy, you see that Pully has some good ideas.</p><p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t expect to be named anything. I was assistant coach last year for half a season and it was a joke. You&rsquo;re a player one minute, then a coach the next minute. You tell players to do something, and they tell you to buzz off. Guys are afraid to talk around you or look at you.</p><p>&ldquo;Who needs it? I had a couple of incidents where I&rsquo;d try to help somebody and got lip. You can respect a guy without liking him,&rsquo; without asking him to your house for dinner, right? Orr&rsquo;s going through that now. I don&rsquo;t want it. Last year was so screwed up, anyway. Still don&rsquo;t understand why everything happened, but it&rsquo;s none of my business. I just work here.&rdquo;</p><p>How much longer Mikita works here is up to him, his family, his legs, his heart, and last but not least, management. For him to sign another contract he likes, first he must be offered one he likes. He&rsquo;s due for renewal next season, it&rsquo;s never easy when a monument approaches the twilight zone, especially a monument who has been more than a hockey player, but a natural resource such as Mikita.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be the one, though, who knows when it&rsquo;s me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;One thing that has kept me going since I&rsquo;ve started saying is my fear of playing badly. If I do something, I want to do it well. I don&rsquo;t want to be embarrassed. The night we played Philly, I knew I was going to go against Bobby Clarke. Well, I didn&rsquo;t sleep but three-four hours the night before.</p><p>&ldquo;So I feel like I&rsquo;m still hungry. And I guess they have a job for me still. Used to be that they&rsquo;d send somebody from the other team out to check me, ho, ho, now they send me out to check somebody from the other team. But I&rsquo;ll do whatever they want. Hockey fans in this town deserve more than the Black Hawks just going through the motions like the last couple years. Those days are over. I hope. Knock on wood&rdquo;.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0013-01

Mikita Enjoying Role With Reborn Hawks

<div class="byline">BY DAN DONOVAN</div><p>PITTSBURGH&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>V</span>ince Lascheid, the clever organist in Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Civic Arena, plays &ldquo;Gene, Gene the Dancing Machine&rdquo; whenever he wants to prompt a little attention for Penguin center Gene Carr. And the song is appropriate, for Carr is a dancer.</p><p>Quick and nimble with a strong burst of speed, Carr&rsquo;s forte is jumping into an open space and causing a sudden goal.</p><p>He did that twice in crucial situations as the Penguins opened up their throttle in what suddenly became an interesting race for the right to hold Montreal&rsquo;s coat in the Norris Division.</p><p>Carr scored the only Penguin goal in a 1-1 tie with the current holder of second place, the Los Angeles Kings, and then another in a 2-2 tie with the Chicago Black Hawks.</p><p>The goals gave him a total of 15 goals and 33 assists, the goal total tying his career mark set last year, and the assist mark passing his career high of 32 set in 1974-75 with the Kings.</p><p>Carr&rsquo;s 48 points after 52 games already surpassed his career high of 39 points. And it&rsquo;s a heady total for a player who has averaged 21 points a season over his first seven seasons in the National Hockey League.</p><p>Carr&rsquo;s answer for the phenomenal improvement is two words &ldquo;ice time.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;When I came to Pittsburgh, all I wanted was a chance to play,&rdquo; Carr said.</p><p>And play he has. The Penguins only have three centers on their roster&mdash;Carr, Peter Mahovlich and Greg Malone. Besides taking a steady shift, Carr has also played the left point on the power play.</p><p>The Penguins recently failed to trade for a fourth center, and having only three got especially scary when doctors put a cast on Mahovlich&rsquo;s hand after he sprained it in a fight with Chicago&rsquo;s Dave Logan.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011061/4189995-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="570" height="1257"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GENE CARR</b></figcaption></div><p>The Penguins were worried they would have to play with only two centers, but Mahovlich took the cast off and played against both Los Angeles and Chicago.</p><p>A fourth center may not cut too much into Carr&rsquo;s playing time, though, as he is part of the reason the Penguins are on one of the hottest streaks in their 11-year history.</p><p>Of course, it seems like there is always an &ldquo;Almost&rdquo; tied into any Penguin streak. They were 9-2-4 in 15 games, but perhaps should have won three of those ties.</p><p>A 3-3 tie with Buffalo included a Mahovlich goal the goal judge never saw, and the Penguins failed with open nets against both Los Angeles and Chicago.</p><p>Mahovlich, playing with his injured hand, had Kings&rsquo; goalie Rogie Vachon down and out in the last minute of the 1-1 tie, but shot into the goaltender&rsquo;s skate blade.</p><p>And in Chicago, the Penguins missed several good chances to get a second goal after Carr had burst in front of the net and sent a pass from Rick Kehoe into the goal.</p><p>If they had capitalized early, Dave Burrows&rsquo; third period goal would have been a game-winner.</p><p>The Penguins&rsquo; forte has become defense and goaltending.</p><p>&ldquo;Denis Herron has been super and our defense is playing well,&rdquo; said Penguin coach Johnny Wilson. &ldquo;If our forwards are coming back to help out, we are going to get our points.&rdquo;</p><p>Ron Stackhouse, the best Penguin defenseman before suffering a separated shoulder, was finally back in the lineup, forcing Wilson to use five defensemen.</p><p>Besides Stackhouse and Burrows, the Penguins were using Tom Edur, Bob Paradise and Russ Anderson and all were playing well.</p><p>Two little-used defensemen were Colin Campbell and Mario Faubert, prompting speculation the Penguins were trying to trade one of them for some backup help at center.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-01

Carr Admits Trade improved His Game

<div class="byline">BY LARRY BORTSTEIN</div><p>DENVER&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>fter having his left eye badly hurt in a fight with&rsquo; Atlanta&rsquo;s Tom Lysiak, it appeared that Mike Christie would be out of the Colorado Rockies&rsquo; lineup for a few days. But the veteran defenseman, who came to Denver from the Cleveland Barons in mid-January, was back in uniform for the Rockies just two days later to the wonderment of many.</p><p>&ldquo;They don&rsquo;t get rid of me so easily,&rdquo; laughs the 28-year-old Christie, still showing the effects of the Feb. 10 brawl with Lysiak near the end of a 3-2 Colorado home-ice victory.</p><p>Christie&rsquo;s toughness is one of the chief reasons the Rockies acquired him, and in his first few weeks with Colorado he was demonstrating that toughness along with his other qualities in abundance.</p><p>&ldquo;We wanted somebody with a little experience,&rdquo; says Ray Miron, the Rockies&rsquo; general manager. &ldquo;I remembered Mike from his days in the Central League with Dallas, and I like his overall play. He&rsquo;s a well-balanced player, handles the puck, takes his man, a good skater, and very steady. Mike very seldom plays a poor game. He&rsquo;s very consistent and he&rsquo;s really helped us back there.&rdquo;</p><p>Though it might appear that Christie was simply switching one last-place team for another when he came to Colorado from Cleveland, Mike feels the Rockies have a better future than the team he left.</p><p>&ldquo;The word on Cleveland was that if you hit their players, you&rsquo;d slow them down,&rdquo; Christie says. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re a good skating team, but people go at them and it takes away their concentration. But Colorado, this club can hit with anybody. Teams don&rsquo;t try to intimidate us like they did against Cleveland. We&rsquo;ve got lots of guys who&rsquo;ll hit&mdash;Bubba (Barry Beck), Dennis Owchar, Randy Pierce, Ron Delorme, Joe Contini, Wilf Paiement, Gary Croteau, me. In Cleveland it got to be a nightmare at times.&rdquo;</p><p>Christie also feels the Rockies have a sounder financial footing than the Barons. &ldquo;The arena in Cleveland,&rdquo; Mike shudders. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been said so many times that it&rsquo;s in a bad location, far out in the country. It&rsquo;s gonna be tough for them to make it. Here, the attendance keeps picking up, and I think this club will make it. Look, after playing in Oakland and Cleveland like I have, this has got to look great. I&rsquo;m not sure that they ever gave the California Seals a fair shake out there. I think the sport still will make it big in that area some day.&rdquo;</p><p>Returning to the Mile High City is a homecoming of sorts for Christie, who spent four years at the University of Denver, and was All American there as a junior in 1971.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know why,&rdquo; he smiles, &ldquo;but I didn&rsquo;t have as good a year when I was a senior as I had my junior year. But I liked playing college hockey here, and it&rsquo;s nice to be back. My wife Molly and I would like to buy a home and make this our permanent home. We&rsquo;ve moved four times in four years, and we had bought a home in Ohio for ourselves and our two kids, and now we&rsquo;ve got to sell it. It&rsquo;s pretty frustrating.&rdquo;</p><p>Mike graduated from DU in 1972 with a degree in business then began his pro hockey career, first in the Chicago organization in Dallas, where he spent two seasons. He was dealt to the California Golden Seals in 1974 and spent two years with that club before it moved to Cleveland last season.</p><p>Mike learned he was coming to the Rockies after one of Cleveland&rsquo;s better victories of the year, a 6-3 thumping of Buffalo. Cleveland sent him westward in exchange for Dennis O&rsquo;Brien, and that transaction completed a series of moves between the two teams during which Rick Jodzio, Chuck Arnason and Ralph Klassen, Fred Ahern also switched allegiances.</p><p>&ldquo;I heard I was coming to Denver,&rdquo; recalls Christie, &ldquo;about a week before the trade. In the middle of the season, it sort of devastated me. It&rsquo;s not so bad at the end of a year, but when it&rsquo;s during the season you have to find a place to stay right away.&rdquo;</p><p>Chrisite&rsquo;s biographical line is interesting and unusual. He was born in the small west Texas town of Big Spring, where his father worked for an oil company. When Mike was a young child, his father was transferred by the company to Calgary, and Christie grew up and began his hockey in that Alberta city.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always been an American citizen,&rdquo; Mike points out. &ldquo;So unlike a lot of the guys who need visas to go back and forth between Canada and the U.S., I can live in the U.S. all year round and don&rsquo;t need to go through all that paperwork.&rdquo;</p><p>Christie also has a younger brother, Dave, who lives in Denver, so he has several reasons for liking it here in the Rocky Mountain area. &ldquo;Yeah,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;I would like to make this my last stop in hockey. I&rsquo;m glad to be here.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ICE PEBBLES:</b> The Rockies lost their second minor league club of the season when the Hampton Gulls, citing heavy financial losses and a rash of injuries that were preventing the team from being competitive, withdrew from the American League on Feb. 10.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Rockies’ Rugged Christie Makes Quick Ice Return

<p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>L</span>ast week could be termed a record one for the National Hockey League. Probably never before in the 61-year history of the league had so much happened in the way of records and oddities in any seven-day span.</p><p>For example&hellip;Montreal Canadiens extending their record undefeated streak to 28 games before having it ended by New York Rangers&rsquo; first win in six years at the Montreal Forum and doing so with a rookie in goal&hellip;Buffalo Sabres becoming only the third team in NHL history to score 13 goals in a road game&hellip;Mike Bossy of New York Islanders setting a goal-scoring record for rookies&hellip;Barry Beck of Colorado Rockies breaking the record for goals by a rookie defenseman&hellip;Toronto captain Darryl Sittier moving to within one game of the modern-era mark for consecutive games with goals&hellip;Bossy and Sittler each extending their streaks of consecutive games with points to 13 but remaining one game behind the streak of Boston&rsquo;s injured Bobby Schmautz&hellip;Guy Lafleur of Canadiens gaining six points on Islanders&rsquo; Bryan Trottier to move to within two points of the individual scoring lead&hellip;</p><p>The Rangers, whose last victory in Montreal prior to Saturday was Feb. 22, 1972, when they whipped the Canadiens 7-3, started rookie Hardy Aastrom in the game at Montreal Saturday. The 26-year-old native of Skelleftea, Sweden, stopped 29 shots in his NHL debut as he led</p><p>Rangers to the victory which ended the longest undefeated streak in NHL history. It was the second time a Ranger team had snapped a record streak. Boston Bruins set the original mark of 23 games without a loss in 1940-41 with 15 wins and eight ties before Rangers, with goaltender Dave Kerr, ended the streak with a 2-0 victory at Boston. The mark stood alone until Philadelphia Flyers tied it in 1975-76 with 17 wins and six ties. Flyers&rsquo; streak ended when the Red Wings defeated them 4-2 at Detroit.</p><p>Canadiens&rsquo; streak included eight straight road wins between Dec. 18 and Jan. 18, tying the record for longest road winning streak, set by Boston in 1970-71 and equalled by Los Angeles Kings, in 1974-75. Overall, Montreal won 23 games, 13 on the road, and bed five, three on the road. Canadiens defeated 15 of the 16 teams they met at least once. Chicago was the only club which played Canadiens and didn&rsquo;t lose, battling to a 33 tie at Montreal. The only club which did not play Canadiens during the streak was Minnesota North Stars, who, along with Buffalo, are the only teams to defeat Canadiens twice this season.</p><p>Sabres&rsquo; 13-3 rout at Cleveland was the first time a team had scored as many goals in a road game since Boston defeated Rangers by the same score, Jan. 2,1944.</p><p>The only other time a team scored as many goals in a road game was when Canadiens defeated Quebec 16-3, March 3,1920. Those 16 goals are still the record for most goals by one team in any NHL game, home or away.</p><p>Mike Bossy scored three goals during the week to increase his league-leading total to 45, eclipsing the former record of 44 set by Richard Martin of Buffalo in 1971-72. The last time a rookie led the NHL in goal-scoring at the end of a season was in 1925-26, when Nels Stewart scored 34 goals for Montreal Maroons in a 36-game season. Bossy&rsquo;s string of seven straight games in which he scored at least one goal&mdash;10 goals total&mdash;was snapped Sunday in Canadiens&rsquo; 2-1 victory against the Islanders but Bossy assisted on Clark Gillies&rsquo; goal to run his consecutive-point streak to 13 games. He has 24 points, including 16 goals in the streak.</p><p>Darryl Sittler, who two seasons ago scored 10 points in one NHL game&mdash;an all-time record&mdash;will be trying to equal the mark of 10 straight games with at least one goal when Leafs face the Islanders at Long Island Feb. 28. He has 12 goals in the streak.</p><p>The modem-era record was set by Andy Bathgate of Rangers in 1962-63 and equalled by Bobby Hull of Chicago in 1968-69. The all-time record is 26 games, set by Harry (Punch) Broadbent of Ottawa Senators in 1921-22. The last player to go 11 games with at least one goal in each was Broadbent in that season. Babe Dye of Toronto St. Patricks also had an 11-game streak in 1921-22.</p><p>Sittler&rsquo;s 13-game point streak includes 24 points, 14 of which were goals. Bobby Schmautz, who suffered a fractured heel in a game against Colorado, Jan. 26 is still recuperating, gained an assist in that game, running his consecutive point streak to 14 games. He had 10 goals in the streak, which will continue if he gets a point in his first game after returning from the injury.</p><p>Guy Lafleur, hoping to become the first Canadiens to win three scoring championships, moved closer to that objective with nine points during last week. He now has 98 points, including 43 goals. Bryan Trottier was held to three points during the week and now has 100 points, including a league-leading 62 assists. Sittler gained seven points during the week and is third with 88 points, 12 more than fourth-place Gilbert Perreault of Buffalo.</p><p>Barry Beck scored two goals during the week, giving him 19 so far, the most ever by a rookie defenseman. Denis Potvin of Islanders set the mark of 17 in 1973-74.</p><p>Not to be outdone by the offensive players, there were some highlights recorded among goaltenders last week, too. Don Edwards of Buffalo, who is eligible for the rookie award, set a club mark with his fifth shutout of the season when Sabres defeated Philadelphia 4-0 last Thursday. Gord McRae of Toronto registered his first NHL shutout Saturday as Leafs defeated Washington 4-0.</p><p>The Vezina Trophy race tightened up with Montreal&rsquo;s duo of Ken Dryden and Michel Larocque losing some ground to Boston. Canadiens&rsquo; average of 2.33 is still the best. Bruins and Islanders are tied for second with a 2.48 average.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011019/4190057-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="501" height="774"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BARRY BECK&hellip;Breaks Potvin&rsquo;s Mark</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02803/4190050-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="557" height="764"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MIKE BOSSY&hellip;New Rookie Record</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0015-01

NHL Experiences Record Week As Beck, Bossy Set Goal Marks

<p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>H</span>ave you ever wondered what&rsquo;s behind those masks goalies have been wearing for the past 20 years? They&rsquo;re not there just to protect faces from pucks. What most of the goalies themselves don&rsquo;t realize is that they have created a new art form, and in the coming years museums, art galleries and wealthy collectors will be bidding for them as if they had come from King Tut&rsquo;s tomb.</p><p>Just to prove how far the art thing has advanced, there&rsquo;s a new book devoted exclusively to hockey masks, the men who wear them, the men who make them, and the men (and women) who decorate them. It&rsquo;s called Hockey Masks and the great goalies who wear them, and it consists of 21-full-page full-color paintings of masks worn by goalies from the NHL and WHA teams.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03624/4190088-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="562" height="660"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GERRY CHEEVERS&hellip;Started Trend</b></figcaption></div><p>It&rsquo;s published by Tundra Books, a Canadian-American publishing house more noted for its art, architecture and children&rsquo;s books than its sports books. In fact, this is Tundra&rsquo;s first sports book. The paintings were done by an 18-year-old art student, Michael M. Cutler, a Montrealer who&rsquo;s in third year at the College of the Visual Arts in Syracuse, New York. The text, provided by the goalies themselves, shows that most of them have thought a great deal about their masks.</p><p>Little did Jacques Plante realize that night back in 1959 that he had started a trend. He&rsquo;d just had his nose blasted off and stitched roughly back on. He told Toe Blake in no uncertain terms that he wasn&rsquo;t returning to the ice that night without the mask he&rsquo;d been using in practices. Toe Blake gave in, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll let you wear it until the nose heals, then you&rsquo;ll have to take it off.&rdquo; As Plante recalls, &ldquo;Toe believed that if I wasn&rsquo;t fighting for my life, I wouldn&rsquo;t play well.&rdquo; But Plante won that game, plust the next 11 straight games with the mask. And that spring, still wearing the mask, he defended the Canadien net through to the Stanley Cup in eight straight games. So the mask stayed. Photographs of all seven masks worn by Plante are in the book. They were all white fibreglass.</p><p>Then came decorators, for the white mask invited art the way a white wall invites graffiti. Credit for the first art on masks goes to Boston&rsquo;s Gerry Cheevers. It was the result of a joke. Goalies on the whole are a very serious bunch; Concentration&rsquo;is intense the day before a game; jokes are about as welcome in the dressing room as in church. But Cheevers is different. He doesn&rsquo;t take practices seriously and he&rsquo;ll try anything to get out of them. One day he pretended a puck, soft as sponge, had knocked him out. He was carried off the ice, and after a miraculous revival in the dressing room, trainer John Forristall went along with the joke, searched for the mark of the puck on the mask, and found it, or said he did. He marked where it was. That simple little mark was the writing on the mask as it were. Soon everybody, or nearly everybody, was getting decorated.</p><p>Which masks are the best art? Well, art has many schools. Cheevers&rsquo; stands as great folk art, a charming accident that changed the course of hockey history. Cheevers gets a new mask each year, Forristall still decorates them, and the old ones are already in museums as far away as Sweden. At the other extreme is the studied sophisticated bit of graphic art on Ken Dryden&rsquo;s. Dryden thought about it for a long time and had several designs drawn up before finally settling on the present one. &ldquo;A mask,&rdquo; he believes, &ldquo;should be simple and seen as vividly by the fan in the farthest seat as by the TV watcher on a close-up.&rdquo; His does just that. It&rsquo;s as simple as a flag, unique, and once seen never forgotten.</p><p>Then there&rsquo;s the dramatic stuff&mdash;super realism verging on the surreal. In that art school, Gilles Gratton has the honor of retiring from hockey with the most spectacular mask yet created&mdash;a roaring bon. It&rsquo;s a fabulous creation by Greg Harrison of Toronto, who has made some other pretty spectacular masks too&mdash;like Ron Low&rsquo;s beautiful Centennial mask, repainted alas into oblivion when Ron left the Washington Capitals, but preserved in this book in all its glory.</p><p>Even the white fibreglass mask&mdash;some goalies, like Pete LoPresti, insist their s will stay white forever&mdash;has the personality of the goalie. &ldquo;Minimal art&rdquo; &ldquo;White on white?&rdquo; &ldquo;Sculpture?&rdquo; Because it is molded to the individual face, it takes on the shape and oddly, even the personality of the goalie, rather like a sculptured bust.</p><p>Goalies like talking about their masks and their facial injuries. Denis Herron tell&rsquo;s the story of when he was five and caused the tooth fairy to go bankrupt&mdash;losing eight teeth to one puck shot by his father: Eddie Giacomin wanted to advertise spark pluts with his mask but the NHL wouldn&rsquo;t let him; Dan Bouchard, whose masks are elegant objets d&rsquo;art, uses the 13-year-old son of a neighbor as art consultant: &ldquo;If we both like the design, I feel it&rsquo;s a good one.&rdquo;</p><p>Hockey masks are certainly here to stay. But cage masks are replacing fibreglass on professional rinks as they have on most amateur rinks. Does that mean the marvelous art of the fibreglass masks will soon end? One thing is certain in any case. Whether or not the fibreglass masks remain on the rinks, they will stay in the museums.</p><p>So if you wonder what certain effete types are doing at hockey games these days, the answer is&mdash;scouting for masks for then art galleries.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-03

Goalers Hockey Masks Becoming New Form Of Art

<p>Following are the latest players movements in hockey:</p><h2><b>NATIONAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p>BOSTON&mdash;<b>Gerry Cheevers</b>, G, placed on disabled list with tom knee ligaments.</p><p>CHICAGO&mdash;<b>Jim Harrison</b>, C, placed on disabled list for rest of season after undergoing back surgery. <b>Bob Hoffmeyer</b>, D, returned to Dallas of CHL. <b>Mike O&rsquo;Connell</b>, D, recalled from Dallas.</p><p>CLEVELAND&mdash;<b>Mike Crombeen</b>, RW, sent to Salt Lake of CHL on loan.</p><p>COLORADO&mdash;<b>Bill McKenzie</b>, G, recalled from Philadelphia of AHL as replacement for <b>Michel Plasse</b>, G, who is on disabled list with knee injury. <b>Bill Oleschuk</b>, G. <b>Denis Dupere</b>, LW, and <b>Roger Lemelin</b>, D, assigned to Philadelphia.</p><p>DETROIT&mdash;<b>Jean Hamel</b>, D, returned to lineup from injury list. <b>John Hilworth</b>, LW, returned to Kansas City of CHL.</p><p>MINNESOTA&mdash;<b>Gary Smith</b>, G, assigned to Fort Worth of CHL. <b>Bill Hogaboam</b>, C, recalled from Fort Worth. <b>Bill Butters</b>, D, signed as free agent after release by New England of WHA.</p><p>N.Y. ISLANDERS&mdash;<b>Richie Hansen</b>, RW, and <b>Bob Lorimer</b>, D, returned to Fort Worth of CHL. <b>Wayne Merrick</b>, C, and <b>Mike Bossy</b>, RW, returned to lineup from injury list.</p><p>N.Y. RANGERS&mdash;<b>Hardy Aastrom</b>, G; recalled from New Haven of AHL.</p><p><b>PHILADELPHIA</b>&mdash;<b>Kevin McCarthy</b>, D, placed on disabled list with leg injury.</p><p>ST. LOUIS&mdash;<b>Doug Grant</b>, G, and <b>Tony Currie</b>, RW, recalled from Salt Lake of CHL. <b>Ed Staniowski</b>, G, returned to Salt Lake. <b>Brian Ogilvie</b>, RW, returned to lineup from injury list. y</p><p>TORONTO&mdash;<b>Alain Belanger</b>, D, returned to Dallas of CHL. <b>Kevin Campbell</b>, D, recalled from Dallas and reassigned to Tulsa of CHL.</p><p>VANCOUVER-<b>Ron Sedlbauer</b>, LW, assigned to Rulsa of CHL.</p><p>WASHINGTON&mdash;<b>Ron Lalonde</b>, RW, returned to lineup from injury list.</p><h2><b>WORLD HOCKEY ASSN.</b></h2><p>EDMONTON&mdash;<b>Bob Falkenberg</b>, D, signed as free agent.</p><p>INDIANAPOLIS&mdash;<b>Dave Inkpen</b>, D, purchased from Quebec for future considerations. <b>Glen Irwin</b>, D, purchased from Houston for future considerations.</p><p>NEW ENGLAND&mdash;<b>Steve Carlson</b>, LW, recalled from Springfield of AHL. <b>Jim Mayer</b>, RW, returned to Springfield.</p><h2><b>AMERICAN LEAGUE</b></h2><p>MAINE&mdash;<b>Pete Peeters</b>, G, recalled from Milwaukee of IHL.</p><p>SPRINGFIELD&mdash;<b>Dave Maglia</b>, D, and <b>Jacques Locas</b>, LW, released.</p><p>NEW HAVEN&mdash;<b>Lindsay Middlebrook</b>, G, assigned to Toledo of AHL.</p><h2><b>INTERNATIONA LEAGUE</b></h2><p>TOLEDO&mdash;<b>Randy Mohns</b>, RW, placed on disabled list for a month with broken ankle.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Hockey Players On The Move

<div class="byline">BY MIKE DENNIS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01758/4190426-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BUNNY LAROCQUE&hellip;Shows Determined Approach</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Steve Babineau)</span></figcaption></div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>C</span>oach Scotty Bowman&rsquo;s rendition of musical goaltenders en route to undefeated games No. 26 and 27 was an unqualified success, even if it may have ruffled the egos of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s top-ranked goaltending tandem, Ken Dryden and Michel Larocque.</p><p>While stretching their record unbeaten streak towards 30, the Canadiens started a six-game home stand with games against Colorado and Buffalo which produced a little drama when the starting goaltenders, first Dryden against the Rockies and then Larocque, versus the Sabres, were lifted.</p><p>Trailing the Rockies 3-2 entering the third period, Dryden was loosening up in the runway outside the dressing room when Bowman let him know that Larocque would be between the pipes for the final frame.</p><p>Dryden, who had never been lifted in his 326 previous NHL regular season starts, said that he was surprised but that he didn&rsquo;t blame Bowman for making a change. The Rockies had scored their three goals on only nine shots and Dryden had not appeared overly sharp on any of them.</p><p>For his part Bowman, said he made the change to give the team a lift and because he felt that Dryden may have been tired after playing a lot of games lately. When the Habs scored seven times in the final stanza and Larocque held the Rockies to a lone goal, it eliminated any chances for second-guessers.</p><p>Bowman continued to play the percentages two nights later when he started Larocque against the Sabres who had beaten the Canadiens twice in three tries with Dryden in goal.</p><p>The Habs opened up a 2-0 first period lead but by 8:28 of the second stanza the Sabres had tied the game on their first two shots of the period. Larocque couldn&rsquo;t contain a drive by Andre Savard which slipped under his arm and floated into the net and when Gary McAdam scored through Bunny&rsquo;s legs from a sharp angle, Dryden was sent on to mop up. He stilled the Sabres and the Canadiens scored once more in the second and once in the third for a 4-2 margin.</p><p>Unlike the analytical Dryden who will discuss the &ldquo;what happened&rdquo; aspects of nearly any aspect of a game, Bunny chose to retire to the mini-gym in the back of the dressing room dismissing inquiries with a &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to talk about it tonight&rdquo; answer.</p><p>On the day of the second practice following the Sabres game, Bunny was more willing to at least reveal his frame of mind.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just taking things one game at a time,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m working very hard to be in the best shape possible. It&rsquo;s very tough to be sharp When you don&rsquo;t play that often. A couple of goals get through and your average goes way up.&rdquo;</p><p>Actually Larocque&rsquo;s average has gone up this year to close to 2.70 goals per game, while last year he shared the Vezina Trophy with Dryden and had the best individual average in the league, a 2.09 mark in 26 games.</p><p>&ldquo;While I get a lot of work in the practices,&rdquo; he explained, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s not the same as the pressure you face in the games. If you miss a couple in practice, so what, but you can&rsquo;t afford any little misses in the games. You have to play in a lot of games to be ready for the pressure and speed of the plays.&rdquo;</p><p>It is Bowman&rsquo;s contention that Dryden, being a big man (six-foot-four, 210 pounds) needs a lot of work to stay sharp. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve tried to get him back to where he feels comfortable. You have to look at a lot of things, but it&rsquo;s tough to take Dryden out when he&rsquo;s got a goals-against average of 2.15. I feel you shouldn&rsquo;t take a goalie out unless you figure the team will be better off (for that particular game) without him.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been giving up close to three goals a game through the last 10-12 games,&rdquo; said Bowman, &ldquo;and I find that it&rsquo;s hard to increase goals for without giving up more goals as well. We&rsquo;ve been scoring more goals, more than five per game, and it just seems that we have a letdown and give Up more goals as well.</p><p>&ldquo;Right now we&rsquo;re into our toughest stretch of the season&mdash;nine games in 15 nights,&rdquo; Bowman related, &ldquo;so which goalie I use depends on how much work the goalies have to face and how sharp they are.&rdquo;</p><p>Ken Dryden has said in the past that &ldquo;he assumed he&rsquo;s playing until told otherwise.&rdquo; Bunny Larocque is taking things one game at a time, trying to keep his spirits up as he continues to see occasional duty. And as Bowman said prior to a visit from the Cleveland Barons, &ldquo;we have 22 players who are good enough to play. It means that three guys aren&rsquo;t going to be dressed, but it&rsquo;s not the same guys since we play certain guys against certain teams.&rdquo;</p><p>Bunny Larocque is working towards increasing his personal &ldquo;certain teams&rdquo; list.</p><p><b>FORUM REBOUNDS:</b> Rejean Houle scored six goals in three games and 12 in 14 contests to earn honors as THE HOCKEY NEWS and NHL (New York office) Player of the Week&hellip;Defensemen accounted for nine goals in eight-game stretch of Canadiens&rsquo; February games with Serge Savard netting three and Larry Robinson and Guy Lapointe two each&hellip;Rescheduled Forum match with Detroit on Feb. 28 gave the Habs a six-game home stand, their longest of the season&hellip; Canadiens face Philadelphia, Buffalo, Toronto and Los Angeles within eight days in March.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-01

Habs’ Mid-Game Netminder Changes Helped Prolong Undefeated Streak

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01775/4190495-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GARY DOAK&hellip;Making Most Of Chance To Play</b></figcaption></div><p>BOSTON&mdash;</p><p>Superstar defensemen have been shuffling in and out of Boston all season.</p><p>Remember when:</p><p>Phil Russell came from Chicago as compensation for (sob!) Bobby Orr?</p><p>Jim Schoenfeld arrived from Buffalo in exchange for Gilles Gilbert?</p><p>Ian Turnbull was dispatched by Toronto in trade for Gregg Sheppard?</p><p>(Fill in the blank) was obtained from (Fill in the blank) in exchange for (Fill in the blank)?</p><p>All on paper and in thin air, of course.</p><p>But, out on the ice where it counts, the old established firm of Gary Doak and Rick Smith, Ltd., journeymen defenders, seems destined to go on forever.</p><p>Especially Doak.</p><p>The 32-year-old veteran of 13 NHL campaigns, who has at last found a home in the Bruins family headed by Don Cherry, is probably playing the best hockey of his life.</p><p>&ldquo;Best defensive defenseman in the league last year,&rdquo; Cherry will tell you. &ldquo;On the ice for the fewest goals. Look it up.&rdquo;</p><p>Maybe so, and this year the defenseman&rsquo;s defenseman has added a few scoring tricks to his repertoire.</p><p>Through the first 57 games of the season, deducting eight games for injury and suspension, he has scored four goals. That equals his total NHL scoring output for the past five years. And two of the goals were game-winners.</p><p>But Doak is not on the Bruins to score goals. He&rsquo;s there to play defense. He does it with a recklessness that more often than not lands him in the infirmary.</p><p>&ldquo;Doakie plays such a rambunctious style that you never know if he&rsquo;s going to last through the game,&rdquo; says teammate Mike Milbury.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;ll throw himself headlong into pucks. He crunched Darryl Sittler with an incredible check the other night. It was so solid you could hear the smack. It had to hurt both of them.</p><p>&ldquo;He never lets up. Some guys will. When they&rsquo;re about to make contact they let up at the last second. Doakie follows through at about 150 miles an hour.&rdquo;</p><p>It follows then that the first thing a lot of Boston fans heard about him, after he was traded to the Bruins by Detroit for Leo Boivin in 1966, was that he had fallen down and broke his leg while roller skating in Goderich, Ont.</p><p>When Doak came to Boston for the first time, the Bruins had such defensemen as Bobby Orr, Ted Green, Don Awrey, Dallas Smith, Gilles Marotte and Joe Watson. He never had a chance.</p><p>When he came back for a second tour he was playing behind Orr, Awrey, Smith and Carol Vadnais. Again, not much chance.</p><p>It was not until Cherry took over as coach that Doak&rsquo;s career took a turn for the better. The Boston defense had thinned out by 1976 and, besides, Cherry has a soft spot for the underdog who tries. This is because Cherry was an underdog himself for 16 years in the minors. Doak has been a regular on the Boston blueline for the past two years and, to him, the secret of his long-delayed success is simple.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just a matter of getting more ice time,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re not playing much the things that should come easy come hard. You try so hard to avoid mistakes that you&rsquo;re more apt to make them.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;He needs to play,&rdquo; says Cherry. &ldquo;The skills are there. They just need to be honed. No one plays harder. No one gives more. But Doakie needs ice time.</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s why he&rsquo;s good. He knows the price that has to be paid to become a major leaguer. He&rsquo;s paid his dues. The benefits have finally come. He deserves them all.&rdquo;</p><p><b>BRUINS BITS:</b> Cherry seems to have taken the first step toward another intra-NHL feud, this time with the Toronto Maple Leafs.</p><p>&ldquo;Brutal, that&rsquo;s all I have to say about the kind of game they play,&rdquo; he snorted taking note of the Leafs&rsquo; dump-it-out style after a recent Bruins 4-2 victory in Toronto.</p><p>&ldquo;I went on national TV between periods and I had to say it. That&rsquo;s brutal hockey to make their fans watch. We couldn&rsquo;t get away with it in Boston.</p><p>&ldquo;Someday there will be two coaches in tins league who will line up their teams at either end of the rink and just ice the puck back and forth for 60 minutes.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-01

Bruins Getting Plenty Of Mileage From Doak

<h2><b>NHL&rsquo;S&hellip; <i>Player of the Week</i></b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>uffalo captain Danny Gare set a good example for his teammates in their battle with Boston for Adams Division supremacy by enjoying an eight-point week which included five goals, three in one game.</p><p>Gare sparked the 4-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers with a pair of goals and then exploded for three goals and a pair of assists in the Sabres&rsquo; 13-3 rout of Cleveland. The Sabres&rsquo; captain also earned an assist in a 4-4 tie with Pittsburgh.</p><p>The five goals raised his season&rsquo;s total to 34 and he now has 64 points which ties him for 11th in the league scoring. It looks as though Gare&rsquo;s return from back miseries has been a complete success.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02625/4190464-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="511" height="779"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DANNY GARE &hellip; Buffalo Sabres</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>Looking At NHL Goalers</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01576/4190457-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="1124" height="2350"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0018-02

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY RICH PASSAN</div><p>CLEVELAND&mdash;</p><p>A season without some front-office turmoil wouldn&rsquo;t be a normal season for the Cleveland Barons.</p><p>The National Hockey League club has had enough aggravation in its 11 years of existence to fill a lifetime of problems for the rest of the league.</p><p>The 1977-78 season was going too smoothly, at least off the ice, so something had to be done.</p><p>Without much warning. Peter Larsen was let go as president and John Karr was welcomed as his successor.</p><p>Larsen, a good-natured young man, came here from Toronto, where he was attractions manager for Maple Leafs Garden.</p><p>He was summoned to take over as president of Sandy Greenberg&rsquo;s Richfield Coliseum. His arrival date was Feb. 9, 1977, exactly one year to the day he was fired as Barons&rsquo; president.</p><p>Larsen, who held the dual role of prexy of the Coliseum and Barons for a few months last summer, relinquished his coliseum role last September.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02410/4190533-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="561" height="850"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>KEN DRYDEN&hellip;Best Gosling Average</b></figcaption></div><p>The Gund brothers, George III and Gordon, own the Barons and Larsen was not their man. A move, therefore, was inevitable.</p><p>One minute, Larsen was the president. The next, it was Karr, a man with no hockey background.</p><p>The reason Larsen resigned&mdash;at least that&rsquo;s what the release said&mdash;was his lack of a marketing and promotional background. Karr, vice-president of finance and administration of Cole National Corp., has a marketing background.</p><p>Karr, 48, was hired nine days after meeting Gordon Gund. &ldquo;His background fits in with what we&rsquo;re trying to do,&rdquo; said Gordon.</p><p>Karr indicated the Barons &ldquo;will be leaning in the direction of bigger, more visible promotions&rdquo; the rest of this season. &ldquo;We feel the opportunities this year should be taken care of,&rdquo; he added.</p><p>&ldquo;We want to develop more interest in watching the Barons play. Hopefully, we ll be successful. Obviously, it will be easier if the-team wins.&rdquo; Karr&rsquo;s first game as prexy, the Barons dropped a 4-1 decision to the Washington Capitals.</p><p>Karr said he accepted the job &ldquo;for the challenge and desire to see if I could do something to improve the situation. I&rsquo;m viewing this as a short-term assignment, however:&rdquo;</p><p>Gordon Gund said Karr would serve as interim president, but &ldquo;we left the door open as to longer employment with the Cleveland Barons. We hope to persuade him to stay.&rdquo;</p><p>Karr did leave the door open a tiny bit.</p><p>&ldquo;If I get caught up, I might want to stay,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That would depend on whether they (the Gunds) are satisfied and wanted me to stay.&rdquo;</p><p>One of Karr&rsquo;s chief responsibilities will be to draw up a marketing and promotional program for the 1978-79 season. The club went into the current season without a suitable program.</p><p>For the rest of this season, the Barons will implement a $100,000 media blitz to try and take advantage of the club&rsquo;s recent resurgence.</p><p>Karr, a native of Allouex, Mich., is a graduate of Wayne State (Mich.) University and holds a Master&rsquo;s degree in business administration from Indiana University.</p><p>He considers himself a good sports fan, but has attended just a few hockey games over the past couple of seasons. He admitted his knowledge of hockey operations &ldquo;is starting from zero.&rdquo;</p><p>Karr stressed he will stick to the business end of the Barons with general manager Harry Howell handling all the hockey affairs.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03326/4190526-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="549" height="794"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PETER LARSEN&hellip;One-Year President</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0020-02

Karr Becomes New Man At Top As Barons Eye Club’s Marketing

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01425/4190564-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Here are the Plagers, Barclay, left, and Bob, during their playing days as a defense combination for the Blues. Barclay is now the head coach of the team.</b></figcaption></div><p>ST. LOUIS&mdash;</p><p>The Plager brothers, associated with the St. Louis Blues since the team&rsquo;s first year of existence, changed jobs within the organization on the same day.</p><p>Barclay Plager, who had been coaching the Blues&rsquo; farm team at Salt Lake City, was promoted to coach of the Blues.</p><p>Bob Plager, who had been playing with the Blues after a brief retirement and assignment as a St. Louis scout earlier this season, was appointed to Bare&rsquo;s old job as coach at Salt Lake City.</p><p>The promotions of the Plagers followed the resignation of Leo Boivin as the Blues&rsquo; coach. The Blues&rsquo; winless streak had reached 12 games with three straight losses on the road to Philadelphia, 2-0, Toronto, 5-4, and Montreal. 7-3. and a loss at home to Montreal, 6-2.</p><p>Emile Francis, president and general manager, said: &ldquo;Leo felt he had gone as far as he could as coach. He was interested in getting the team moving, and he thought it was best for him to step inside.&rdquo;</p><p>Boivin said: &ldquo;I just thought maybe somebody else could get more out of the players than I was able to. They didn&rsquo;t seem to give it all they had all the time.&rdquo;</p><p>Boivin, who had been in his second stint as the Blues&rsquo; coach, returned to his job as a scout for the team. He is working out of his home in Prescott, Ont.</p><p>And so, the Plager brothers, always an important part of the St. Louis franchise, move into responsible positions as the top two coaches in the organization. Barclay left Bob with a team one point out of first place in the Central Hockey League and started his new job with the Blues 14 points out of a playoff spot in the Smythe Division of the NHL.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not too late to turn the season around,&rdquo; Bare Plager said. &ldquo;I think we have the team to make the playoffs. I think the problem with the team has been a lack of confidence.&rdquo;</p><p>Plager took over the team with 26 games remaining in the season, so the job of putting the Blues into the playoffs seemed awesome. Francis tried to take some of the pressure off Plager by saying the last 26 games also would be a test for the players.</p><p>&ldquo;Where some of these fellows are going to be next season depends on what they do in these last 26 games,&rdquo; Francis said.</p><p>Incidentally, Francis said he did not consider going behind the bench when Boivin resigned.</p><p>&ldquo;I think I would have spread myself pretty thin,&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;I want to be in a position to move around because I&rsquo;m looking under every rock I can find for potential talent.</p><p>&ldquo;Getting another player or two is not that simple because other teams always are ready to take a first draft choice off your hands.&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re dealing from the bottom, and other teams are dealing from the top. It&rsquo;s never good to be dealing from weakness.&rdquo;</p><p>While Francis is looking for talent outside the Blues organization, Plager may be more inclined to look for help from his old team. Doug Palazzari and Tony Currie have been big&rsquo;scorers for the Golden Eagles, who also have veteran Floyd Thomson, Plager&rsquo;s teammate on many playoff teams in St. Louis.</p><p>The parent team has several young players Plager helped last season when the farm team was in Kansas City. Bernie Federko, Brian Sutter and Bob Hess are among players helped by Plager.</p><p>Another St. Louis player likely to be used more frequently under Plager is goalie Ed Staniowski, who had been sitting on the bench behind the spectacular play of Phil Myre, who started 26 straight games for the Blues after being acquired in the seven-player trade with the Atlanta Flames.</p><p>Plager is the 11th coach of the Blues in 11 seasons and the fifth former St. Louis player to become the team&rsquo;s coach. The other four players who coached the team are Al Arbour, Bill McCreary, Jean Guy Talbot and Lou Angotti. The other six coaches are Francis, Boivin, Sid Abel, Scotty Bowman, Lynn Patrick and Garry Young.</p><p>The night before the two Plagers switched cities, Bob broke one of Bare&rsquo;s records. For years Barclay held the Blues&rsquo; record of most games by a St. Louis player, and the record stood at 614 when Bare turned to coaching at the beginning of the 1976-77 season. But the night Boivin resigned Bob played in his 615th St. Louis game to break his brother&rsquo;s record.</p><p>&ldquo;The record is safe,&rdquo; Bob said as he went to Salt Lake City the next day. &ldquo;Bare can&rsquo;t be a playing coach in the NHL.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;Aw, it took him two years to catch up with me and break my record,&rdquo; Bare said.</p><p>&ldquo;The only reason I was so far behind him was because of all those injuries and suspensions and time on the bench,&rdquo; Bob said. &ldquo;I never minded the injuries, but the suspensions and benchings were hard to take.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0021-01

Plager Brothers Man Blues’ Coaching Jobs

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><p>LOS ANGELES&mdash;</p><p>The old magazine story was headlined &ldquo;Clown Prince Of The NHL.&rdquo; Running across it, I showed it around. People guessed it might be about Eddie Shack. Or Pete Stemkowski. But it was about &ldquo;happy-go-lucky, fun-loving&rdquo; Ron Stewart. I showed it to Stewart and he laughed, but admitted, a dozen years after it was written, &ldquo;Life isn&rsquo;t so much fun any more.&rdquo;</p><p>After 21 years as an NHL player, he was in his second coaching job in the NHL. The first, with the Rangers, lasted less than a season. This one, with the Kings, might not last out its first season. Some say it will not and the pressure of rumors is pounding at him.</p><p>As this is written, late in February, Ron remains the coach. He has just started a two-week road-trip with the team. Bryant Gumbel of NBC announced on the air it would be his last and when the team returned to town, Bob Berry would be the coach. Bob Keisser of the L.A. Herald-Examiner, promptly joined the dissidents.</p><p>Demoted to the minors as a fading player, Berry is a bright gentleman who might make a marvellous coach. Another man mentioned as a replacement, Bob Nevin, who was Bob Pulford&rsquo;s assistant, is a knowing guy who could be a capable coach. Some seek another Pulford, but it is silly to make a god of Bob and keep comparing Ron to him.</p><p>The question is, does Stewart deserve to be dismissed? Personally, my answer is he does not. For one thing, it usually is unfair and creates more trouble when a coach is dismissed during a season. For another, if Stewart, the seventh King coach in 11 seasons, can get through these troubled times, he could become a solid coach for years to come.</p><p>There are those who resent Stewart because he is not Pulford. Gumbel says &ldquo;The players do not like Stewart.&rdquo; I asked the players and most said they did like him. One did say, &ldquo;About half our players are new this season. Most of these are for Ron. The other half, the old players, loved Pulford and regret he&rsquo;s gone. This has divided the team into two camps. The team isn&rsquo;t pulling together. Ron has not had a fair chance. It&rsquo;s a shame.&rdquo;</p><p>The Chicago Black Hawks finished 20 points behind Pulford&rsquo;s Kings last season. But Pulford&rsquo;s Hawks have passed the Kings in points at this point of this season. Thus. Pulford has put pressure on Stewart. But Pulford is a better coach with the Hawks this season than he was with the Kings last season. Resenting his lack of managerial power, Pulford had lost interest in the Kings.</p><p>Other numbers do not favor Pulford. At this point in his first season with the Kings, he was 21-26-7 and in his last season 19-24-11, while Stewart is 22-21-11. Supposedly, deals have brought better players to the Kings, but some have not lived up to their billing and it takes time to pull a new team together. Key players have been lost for long periods to injuries this season. Under the circumstances, Stewart&rsquo;s record is satisfactory.</p><p>Some players do have criticisms. One says, &ldquo;Pully stressed defense, and defense wins games. Stewart&rsquo;s practices are all offense.&rdquo; Another says, &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t motivate us. We&rsquo;re not giving enough.&rdquo; Another says, &ldquo;He makes too many changes on offense.&rdquo; A fourth says, &ldquo;He is outcoached in the clutch.&rdquo;</p><p>I think he does change his lines too often. I think he doesn&rsquo;t team up his top players and leave them on lines long enough to get comfortable. Countless scoring opportunities are wasted. But I also think there couldn&rsquo;t be a coach I wouldn&rsquo;t disagree with on some things, and I presume the coach knows more than I do.</p><p>Stewart says, &ldquo;I have too many good centers and not enough solid wingers. With this and with injuries I&rsquo;ve had to move people around more than I like. I prefer regular lines. I wanted to keep only enough players to play, but because of injuries we had to keep extras. When we cut three players, the rest were happy because they knew they&rsquo;d all play. I tried four lines to keep the players fresh, but I&rsquo;m going with three because the top players want the ice time.</p><p>.&ldquo;We have enough top players to be a top team. But we won&rsquo;t win as long as six or seven players play hard in a game and 10 or 12 don&rsquo;t. I&rsquo;m disappointed we haven&rsquo;t done better, but we&rsquo;re coming around, I&rsquo;m confident we&rsquo;ll make the playoffs and I&rsquo;m convinced we can be a tough team to beat in the playoffs.&rdquo;</p><p>One player says, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not right to say everyone isn&rsquo;t working. We&rsquo;re all working.&rdquo; The proof of it is the Kings have outskated and outshot their foes 38 times in 54 games. And if they haven&rsquo;t outscored them in much more than half the games, maybe that is because their super scorer, Marcel Dionne, is far off last year&rsquo;s pace because of a sore shoulder. And the best spot hasn&rsquo;t yet been found for talented Syl Apps.</p><p>As for defense, the fact is Stewart&rsquo;s Kings have given up less goals this season than Pulford&rsquo;s Kings did last season. &ldquo;We make too many minor league mistakes,&rdquo; Stewart mourns. Well, maybe there aren&rsquo;t enough major league defenders on the roster. The defensemen have been inconsistent and the forwards are not forechecking as they should. This is a good team, but not yet, as some want to believe, a great one.</p><p>One after another, most Kings say they really respect Stewart. He is, as they say, a coach who will listen to suggestions and is not afraid to try different things. Once he gets a system established with the players the team should do well.</p><p>&ldquo;One says, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s impossible not to like him.&rdquo; Another says, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a man you can talk to.&rdquo; Another says, &ldquo;Maybe he listens too much, but makes you feel a part of the team.&rdquo; One says, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not another Bob Pulford, but maybe he&rsquo;s better.&rdquo; Another says, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a stand-up guy.&rdquo; And yet another says, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s becoming a coach who can coach with anyone and we&rsquo;U win with him if he gets a fair chance.&rdquo;</p><p>Ron and his Linda have hardly had a chance to enjoy their suburban southern California home. During a recent slump, Stewart admitted he was having trouble sleeping. Then he was hospitalized with tonsilitis, but returned to the team before he was well, perhaps to protect his job. At this point, his team is winless in its had a 6-2 lead but almost blew the game.</p><p>The Gears earlier had dropped a 5-3 decision at home to Fort Wayne in a game which also cost them the services of Marcel Comeau. Comeau was struck on the ankle by a flying puck. X-rays revealed no break but Comeau has been out since.</p><p><b>FLINT</b>: A complete turnaround has revived dreams of a division championship in Flint. Following a three-game losing streak which had the mark of a death rattle, the Generals have rebounded with a five-game winningstreak&mdash;three of which came on the road.</p><p>The streak got unexpected impetus from Ted Garvin&rsquo;s Toledo Goaldiggers. After Flint exploded for an 8-0 lead, Garvin pulled his goalie and it was like shooting fish in a barrel from then on. The 16 goals set a new Flint club scoring record. Three players got the three-goal hat trick in the romp&mdash;Mike Clarke, Terry Smith and Dave Hatheway.</p><p>The victory over Toledo was followed by a pair of come-from-behind, one-goal wins at Milwaukee, both by the scores of 6-5.</p><p><b>PORT HURON</b>: A four-game winless streak has dropped the Flags five points behind second-place Flint in the North Division&mdash;and 11 behind leader Saginaw. The week produced just one point&mdash;in a 5-5 tie with Toledo at home. Kalamazoo took a 5-2 verdict from the Flags&mdash;also at home&mdash;and Saginaw choked a late rally just in time to nip the Flags, 6-5, on the road.</p><p><b>KALAMAZOO</b>: Pete Slater says the K-Wings skate better when &ldquo;we don&rsquo;t fight and do that other stuff.&rdquo; A five-point weekend is proof.</p><p>Following successive losses to Toledo (at home) and Grand Rapids (on the road) in games which featured more fights than hockey, the K-Wings settled down to take a rare victory on the road from Port Huron, 5-2, tie Milwaukee 3-3 and beat Toledo in a rematch, 5-2&mdash;both at home.</p><p>Rookie goalie Richard Sevigny was the star of the triumph over Toledo, kicking out 42 of 44 shots. He turned aside 18 without a miss in the second period.</p><p><b>MUSKEGON</b>: The Mohawks, who have been one of the hottest clubs in the league since Christmas (9-6-4) could manage only a split for the week. They won two of three home games while dropping another contest on the road&mdash;at Milwaukee, 2-1.</p><p>The victories came over Port Huron, 31, and Grand Rapids&mdash;a team the Hawks must catch in order to qualify for the IHL&rsquo;s post-season party&mdash;5-1.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01462/4190595-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="562" height="978"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RON STEWART&hellip;Compared With Pulford</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0022-01

Pressure Mounts Against Stewart In Bid To Remain As Kings’ Coach

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01438/4190654-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Training methods are becoming highly skillful at today&rsquo;s hockey schools. Youngsters learn puck control as shown above and new skating drills, below, are a popular part of the modern school. Most schools teach these methods.</b></figcaption></div><p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p>The sport of hockey is being confronted on all levels and has entered an age of great change. No longer are the traditional approaches to playing, coaching and officiating acceptable to the new athlete.</p><p>In order to survive in this changing atmosphere and be equipped to cope with the changes, the young hockey player has become much more selective in his hockey training methods. If a hockey school is to survive, it too, must be very conscious of the changes that are occurring in hockey and it must meet the ever increasing needs of the young hockey player.</p><p>Back in the early 70&rsquo;s, a lot of people thought a fast buck could be made by operating a hockey school and using a few professional hockey players&rsquo; names as attractions. Countless schools sprung up across North American using this concept. But, unfortunately, the quality of teaching was not always there to back up the advertisements.</p><p>A lot of boys and parents were turned off by many of the hockey schools in the early 70&rsquo;s. They felt they didn&rsquo;t get their money&rsquo;s worth and the image of hockey schools was tarnished.</p><p>However, there were good dedicated hockey schools operating and word soon got around as to which schools were highly recognized. Fortunately, over the past few years, the poorer quality schools have fallen by the wayside and no longer are operating.</p><p>The hockey schools that survived the mid 70&rsquo;s shakedown, survived because they offered a quality product, first class instruction and excellent facilities. These schools had professional management who were aware that changes and updating of their programs were necessary.</p><p>There are still some &ldquo;fast buck&rdquo; hockey schools in operation today. However, by studying the following few guidelines, you should be able to tell easily which schools are only a front and which schools are professional in all aspects of their operation.</p><p>&#9679; Take the time to write away for all the school&rsquo;s brochures (Most of them advertise weekly in THE HOCKEY NEWS). You will be able to tell a lot from just the way the brochure is presented. Is the brochure put together in a haphazard fashion or is it a quality presentation that is well laid out with lots of pictures and verbal description about the programs? Chances are an informative brochure means the school is also first rate.</p><p>&#9679; Check to see who is in charge of the school. Are they full time directors or just operating their school as a part-time operation. In all probability you will find most of the better schools have full time year round professional staff. You may think running a hockey school is just a summer job but it takes months of planning well in advance to insure a first class summer operation. Those people who run a hockey school full time have no other source income, so they have to make sure their school is good or they&rsquo;ll have low enrollment and therefore may loose their job. No so for the part-time operations.</p><p>&#9679; Are the schools making an honest effort to describe their programs or are the programs just briefly described without much detail?</p><p>&#9679; Are the schools making available to the students the kind of instruction that is relevant to the needs of today&rsquo;s young athletes. The following are a few areas that should be included in a good hockey instruction program:</p><p>(a) On-ice instruction with emphasis placed on skating development, fundamental skill development, team play and instructional scrimmages.</p><p>(b) Dryland training which should include some type of fitness testing, a conditioning program and off-ice training circuits.</p><p>(c) Instructional lectures which should include rules sessions, chalk talks, video tape replay instruction and information on nutrition.</p><p>&#9679; The physical facilities should be of high standards. Most of the better schools are now using college or prep school dormitories and dining rooms thus insuring a reasonably high level of living accommodation. Some schools go as far as providing complete linen (no sleeping bags) and air conditioning. Also check out the arena facility. Does it have sufficient plant to operate on hot summer days?</p><p>&#9679; The instructional staff should be a highly qualified dedicated group of teachers. Beware of the lure of big league name pros unless they have a good teaching background. Remember its one thing to play the game but its another thing to teach and coach it.</p><p>&#9679; The off-ice staff should be as equally qualified as the on-ice staff in their respective fields. Keep in mind that even the most intensive hockey program only lasts for six hours a day. What about the other 18 hours? Who looks after the boys then? Make sure that this group of staff members are professionals in their field also. Certainly you should be concerned about the instructor student ratio of students to off-ice staff also. A rule of thumb states that there should be at least twice as many off-ice staff as on-ice staff.</p><p>&#9679; How long has a school been in operation? If a school has been around for say five or more years, its a pretty good sign that there&rsquo;s something going for it. The older more established schools have a proven track record. Check them out first.</p><p>&#9679; Talk to former students about the school. The best salesmen for any hockey school are the students that attended before. If they are satisfied, there&rsquo;s a good chance you will be, too.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02332/4190647-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="517" height="648"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03246/4190640-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="545" height="658"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-04190/4190633-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="511" height="757"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-05163/4190626-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="550" height="747"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0023-01

CHANGING WITH TIMES KEY TO SURVIVAL

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01452/4190741-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg"></div><h2><b>SPECIAL PRESENTATION OF THE HOCKEY NEWS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02359/4190734-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="1999" height="2565"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>*Denotes Summer Address of School</b></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01388/4190727-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="523" height="466"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02282/4190720-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="514" height="488"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03195/4190713-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="521" height="447"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-04140/4190706-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="515" height="665"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-05118/4190699-1-eng-US/f0025-052.jpg" title="f0025-05" width="520" height="578"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0698/4190692-1-eng-US/f0025-062.jpg" title="f0025-06" width="525" height="541"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0791/4190685-1-eng-US/f0025-072.jpg" title="f0025-07" width="523" height="515"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0024-01

1978 SUMMER HOCKEY SCHOOLS DIRECTORY

<p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p>Many parents wonder which is the best hockey school to send their child to.</p><p>We believe the best way to answer that is to go to the five W&rsquo;s: WHO, WHAT. WHERE. WHEN and WHY.</p><h2><b>WHO</b></h2><p>First are the instructors. Are they qualified to teach hockey? Are the parents or boy only attracted by the name of a pro? Are they only volunteer coaches in minor hockey in the district where the school is held?</p><p>The instructor is most important. We have talked with many pros and they admit there is no way they could teach a kid hockey. The reason being, that most pros don&rsquo;t have the patience and tolerence to stay with a boy day after day, hour after hour, to teach him properly.</p><p>Some districts now run their own schools and use the same volunteer coaches that coach the boys during hockey season and are not qualified to teach. There are even pro coaches who admit they could not instruct at a hockey school because they are accustomed to taking a player as he is and then fitting him into a system to balance the team&mdash;like being a steady defensive player, good scorer, good cornerman, good back checker, offensive forward versus defensive forward, or a player who goes bothways.</p><p>With the introduction of the Frank Selke Trophy for best defensive forward, we may see more two-way players, which would be a big plus for our great sport.</p><p>But let&rsquo;s get back to instructors. A good hockey school sets up a system and method for all instructors to follow, which applies to all the boys at the school (not just a chosen few) from which a boy will learn the right way to power skate, turn left, or right, stickhandle properly with his head up, proper backward skating and shooting to make it count.</p><p>The instructor himself must take pleasure in teaching and should be hired by a school agreeing that regardless of how advanced or poorly the boy is, he still comes first. An instructor should also be proud of his accomplishment when he sees the final product he&rsquo;s developed. But most of all the instructor must be qualified to teach.</p><h2><b>WHAT</b></h2><p>A good school operation must keep in mind that every boy coming to a hockey school is different. As Henri Richard once said, &ldquo;I was in the NHL for 20 years and I&rsquo;ve never seen two hockey players play the game the same way.&rdquo; If that is true then each boy at a hockey school must be handled in a different way. What Henri means, we assume is attitude and mental approach to the game.</p><p>A good hockey school will apply psychology to each boy to find the hidden motivation. In some cases the boys are over enthusiastic and try too hard to learn.</p><p>Each boy should be scrutinized very carefully by the on-ice instructors who compare notes with their supervisors after every practice session. If special attention is needed it&rsquo;s done in such a way that the boy doesn&rsquo;t notice it. Another important factor is praising a boy for his efforts. He may sometimes get it wrong, but the fact that he&rsquo;s trying should be applauded. This will encourage him to try harder. We&rsquo;ve seen too many schools where the instructors scream at a boy who is not as gifted as others, which makes it even harder for the boy to learn as you can&rsquo;t learn anything when you&rsquo;re embarrassed or broken hearted.</p><p>We&rsquo;re not saying you shouldn&rsquo;t push the boy a little. There are some who need a push. Therefore a list of conditions outlining the discipline accompanying the rules, whether on or off ice, should be sent to parents and boys. As one hockey school puts it, &ldquo;if you&rsquo;re coming to a hockey school just to say you attended one, then your wasting our time, your time and your&rsquo; parents money.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>WHERE</b></h2><p>Sending your boy to the proper school is as important as why you send him. So don&rsquo;t send him where there is easy access to a town. The school should be at least five miles away. This discourages the boys from going into towns and distracting them from thinking hockey.</p><p>Make sure a school has it&rsquo;s own attractions, such as movies twice a week, restuarant, pro-shop, baseball, soccer, volleyball to name a few, swimming pool or lake. Night time activities, sing songs, B-B-Q&rsquo;s, library, TV room. There should also be curfews for lights out, 1st group-9:30 p.m. the second at 10:30 p.m. and the last at 11:30 p.m. according to age. Again they should be supervised so that the boys who want to sleep are not disturbed by practical jokers.</p><h2><b>WHEN</b></h2><p>Just when a boy attends a school, depends on the quality of the school, if he&rsquo;s not being taught properly, then all he&rsquo;s doing is getting in shape which he can lose two weeks later.</p><p>With a sound method and system, a boy can leave the school up to six weeks before he starts playing his regular season Three days after he&rsquo;s on skates, everything will come back, as if he&rsquo;s never been off them.</p><h2><b>WHY</b></h2><p>In determining why a boy should go to a qualified hockey school is simple to answer. It&rsquo;s the only place to learn properly. Example: most boys play in a house league, so lets say he gets 30 games in a season. In all cases, they play non-stop time, with a team roster of 15 players.</p><p>This means there&rsquo;s three line shifts, now deduct time for faceoffs, injuries, offsides, line changes and a boy plays about eight minutes per game. That&rsquo;s 240 minutes or eight hours of hockey per season. Nobody in any sport can excel with only eight hours of training per year.</p><p>Remember. Before you send your youngster to a hockey school make sure you ask yourself the five W&rsquo;s: WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and WHY.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Hockey School Test: Ask Yourself The 5 W’s

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01402/4190803-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"></div><p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p>Leaving home to attend a summer hockey school can become a trying experience for a very young child. For some it is the reality of being away from home, family and pets for the first time in their lives.</p><p>For this reason two important aspects of sending your boy to a hockey school are, first making sure he&rsquo;s in good hands and safe at all times and secondly, making certain he&rsquo;ll feel at home away from home.</p><p>One of the most overlooked aspects of a hockey school, in which a parent should be concerned, is that of the off-ice personnel. The counsellor staff, aside from the instructional staff, are a vital factor in making any hockey school&rsquo;s program a success. The staff is responsible for guiding the children through their daily activities and, as such, are constantly with the children. For this reason, they play an important role in the school.</p><p>Other important personnel should consist of Red Cross qualified lifeguards for all waterfront activities, as this is one of the most important areas in the school.</p><p>A medical staff must be on duty at all times for the welfare of all students, taking care of their daily medication and any accidents which may occur during activities.</p><p>A dietician plays an important role, seeing that the children receive a well-balanced nutritional menu, in order that they can partake in a full day of rigorous programs.</p><p>If a hockey school can offer a complete week of hockey basics, safety, and fun, then it has been a success in creating a good beginning for a youngster&rsquo;s first experience away from home.</p><p>One very important factor about hockey schools is the learning experience gained from living at the school. For many of the students this is their first time away from home, and the school offers them an excellent opportunity to meet other boys their same age. As well, the boys come from many different backgrounds which result in an amiable atmosphere in which the boys learn to play and live together.</p><p>School operators find it most rewarding to see young boys from different cultures being thrown together and becoming a team both on and off the ice.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02316/4190796-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="1821" height="1625"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Going to a hockey school for the first time is a thrill for any youngster but being associated with a bona fide professional like Canadiens&rsquo; Yvan Cournoyer, above, is something the kids will cherish all their hockey lives. Many hockey schools feature top NHL and WHA pros on their instructional staffs.</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0026-01

Going to School Moving Experience For Kids

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div><p>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;</p><p>Lou Nanne wasted little time in beginning to put his stamp on the Minnesota North Stars.</p><p>In the first few days that Nanne served as general manager and coach of the North Stars, he:</p><p>&mdash;Acquired a couple of tough defensemen from New England of the WHA, Bill Butters and Bryan (no relation to Brad) Maxwell.</p><p>&mdash;Named John Mariucci, college scout for the team, as assistant general manager.</p><p>&mdash;Recalled Gump Worsley from scouting duties in Canada to coach young goalies Pete LoPresti and Paul Harrison.</p><p>&mdash;Hoped to instill new spirit among the players by allowing mustaches, disco music in the warmups and turtlenecks on road trips.</p><p>Nanne was off to a flying start after replacing GM Jack Gordon and coach Andre Beaulieu.</p><p>The Stars, who had never won an opening night debut for seven previous coaches, presented Nanne with a 3-2 victory over Vancouver and a 3-3 tie against Colorado after trailing by 3-0.</p><p>He let the players know immediately that he wanted enthusiasm and aggressiveness, or they would be making flight reservations to Fort Worth or other destinations.</p><p>&ldquo;I can stand the pace,&rdquo; said the 36-year-old former defenseman. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if the players can&hellip;If they can&rsquo;t, they won&rsquo;t be around long.&rdquo;</p><p>Nanne, who broke into the NHL with two games in Minnesota&rsquo;s expansion season of 1967-68, said he would coach the remainder of this season and then appoint a permanent individual to stand behind the bench next year.</p><p>&ldquo;I have several candidates,&rdquo; said Nanne. &ldquo;I want someone who can handle our young players during the season and sell tickets in the summer.&rdquo;</p><p>Among the early candidates are Herb Brooks, University of Minnesota coach, and Harry Neale, currently coach of the New England Whalers.</p><p>Nanne took over his duties after the team returned from a road trip to New York and a 3-0 loss to the Rangers. Beaulieu will remain with the organization the rest of the year alongside Ted Harris, who was fired in November. Gordon, who has been with the team since 1970 and was its most successful coach before succeeding Wren Blair as GM in 1974, has a contract that runs through the 1978-79 season.</p><p>Nanne signed an agreement through 1979-80. &ldquo;Money was not a factor,&rdquo; said the native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t get any more or any less money than I was making as a player. My renumeration will be based on what the club does in the future.&rdquo;</p><p>He listed the acquisition of big, tough defensemen as his top priority.</p><p>Presto. In three days, Nanne learned that Bryan Maxwell, Minnesota&rsquo;s No. 1 draft choice in 1975, had not been paid by the New England team and signed him as a free agent. The Whalers, who had a surplus of defensemen, let Minnesota native Bill Butters go on waivers.</p><p>Maxwell had been used sparingly by the Whalers after reporting to training camp out of shape. Butters, though, was a regular. In four seasons in the WHA, he was assessed a total of 530 minutes in penalties in 215 games. &ldquo;No one is going to loiter in front of our net when he&rsquo;s on the ice,&rdquo; said Nanne.</p><p>The addition of the two defensemen came just when the Stars&rsquo; blueline corps had been thinned to four healthy players because of injuries, Tom Reid&rsquo;s rash and Nanne&rsquo;s decision to move into a new area of the sport.</p><p>&ldquo;I want my players to perform the way I did&mdash;I want them to love to play this game,&rdquo; said Nanne. &ldquo;There is one sad thing about my decision. I always dreaded the day when I would have to quit playing.&rdquo;</p><p>Nanne was a Western Collegiate Hockey Association scoring champion at the University of Minnesota, played on U.S. Olympic and national teams after he became a naturalized citizen and recently served as vice president of the NHL Players Association. He played in 634 NHL games with 68 goals and 157 assists, mostly at defense. But his best scoring year of 21 goals and 28 assists came at right wing in 1971-72.</p><p>&ldquo;We believe Lou Nanne is one of the brightest and most able young men in hockey,&rdquo; said Gordon Ritz, Stars&rsquo; president. &ldquo;He has worked hard for everything he has had in life, both on and off the ice.&rdquo;</p><p>STAR DUST: Beaulieu said he is job hunting and wants to remain in the coaching ranks&hellip;He will serve as an assistant to Mariucci as coaches of the U.S. team in the world tournament in Prague this spring&hellip;Beaulieu felt he might have done a better job as Stars&rsquo; coach if he could have sent certain players to the minors. &ldquo;It would have taught them a lesson and the others on the team would have learned from it,&rdquo; he said &hellip; Rookie defenseman Brad Maxwell picked up two more power play goals, giving him nine for the season (tops for NHL blueliners) and an overall goal total of 13&hellip;Per-Olav Brasar continues his sensational play, coming up with 13 points in 13 games.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02289/4190865-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="564" height="1435"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BILL BUTTERS&hellip;Can Clear Crease</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0027-02

Nanne Making Fast Changes Forging North Stars’ New Spirit

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01381/4190834-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="495" height="587"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DALE McCOURT&hellip;Doesn&rsquo;t Feel Pressure</b></figcaption></div><p>DETROIT&mdash;</p><p>&ldquo;What else,&rdquo; Dale McCourt asked, &ldquo;can you do with a puck?&rdquo; The Red Wings&rsquo; rookie sensation had just scored his second three-goal hat trick of the season and again ignored the souvenir puck. Just like he ignored the puck after his first National Hockey League goal, and first hat trick.</p><p>But when McCourt reached the Detroit dressing room after the 5-3 victory over Atlanta in Olympia&mdash;he scored the first three goals, Rick Bowness and Vaclav Nedomansky the others&mdash;there was the puck from one of his goals, right there where he dresses.</p><p>&ldquo;Honestly, I don&rsquo;t know which one it is or how it got there,&rdquo; McCourt said. &ldquo;Somebody put it there. I&rsquo;ll probably take it to practice with me and use it. What else can you do with a puck?&rdquo;</p><p>McCourt&rsquo;s first goal of the game, set up by Paul Woods, was his 20th of the season.</p><p>&ldquo;That one took the pressure off my mom, not me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t feel any pressure about scoring my 20th. But she did.&rdquo;</p><p>In fact, McCourt feels absolutely no pressure at all, about anything. He is a talented, confident young man with immense ability. He knows what he can do and he has proven it. He had scored 13 goals in the last 16 games and leads the Wings with 22 goals and 30 assists for 52 points after an ordinary start.</p><p>McCourt&rsquo;s second goal of the game gave Detroit a 2-0 lead and his third, a short-handed score&mdash;his third while killing penalties this year&mdash;gave Detroit a 3-2 lead after the lines had rallied to tie. He turned away from the net after his third goal, not botherin.&mdash;typically&mdash;to retrieve the puck. Eight hats were on the ice. He had his choice.</p><p>&ldquo;Go get one, get that leather one,&rdquo; teammate Perry Miller yelled to him. McCourt did.</p><p>After blowing the 2-0 lead, coach Bobby Kromm was concerned. &ldquo;We had been worried about a second-period letdown,&rdquo; Kromm said. &ldquo;It had happened with a big lead last week against Boston and we didn&rsquo;t want it to happen again.&rdquo;</p><p>McCourt&rsquo;s first three shots went for goals, one on a power play, the other shorthanded and the third at even strength. It seemed like he was always on the ice&mdash;regular shifts, working the point on the power plays and killing penalties.</p><p>&ldquo;McCourt had the kind of night we&rsquo;ve always expected he would have in a Detroit uniform,&rdquo; Kromm said. &ldquo;Not only because he scored three goals but his two-way play stood out, especially when I used him as a penalty killer with Paul Woods.</p><p>&ldquo;They worked so hard and hampered the Flames every time they were on the ice.&rdquo;</p><p>Obviously, McCourt is running behind the Islanders&rsquo; Mike Bossy in the rookie race in this bumper year for rookies.</p><p>&ldquo;Some people have mentioned it to me,&rdquo; McCourt said of the rookie of the year prospects. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of hard not to see what Bossy&rsquo;s doing. I&rsquo;ll just play my game and what happens, happens.&rdquo;</p><p>The Wings really have put the heat on Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and the New York Rangers with their fine play of late.</p><p>&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s going to be very close and go down to the wire,&rdquo; Kromm predicted of the race. &ldquo;For us, every game is all important.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re playing extremely well. We make mistakes here and there but that&rsquo;s what happens with a young team.</p><p>&ldquo;But I think we have the momentum to make it (the playoffs).</p><p>&ldquo;I believe now that it could end up with Los Angeles, Pittsburgh and ourselves battling for the second spot behind Montreal. When we went to Los Angeles earlier this month (Feb. 7) and came up with a victory (2-1) I felt we had something going at that time, and it has worked out that way because the spirit that we have now on the club is real good.</p><p>&ldquo;Maybe other clubs have more talent but we are working harder and getting our share of goals.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0027-01

Red Wings’ McCourt Unflappable

f0028-01

NATIONAL LEAGUE SUMMARIES

<h2><b>WHA Leaders</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01361/4191193-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="590" height="699"></div><h2><b>WHA&rsquo;S &hellip; Player of the Week</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04143/4191186-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="546" height="694"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>REAL CLOUTIER&hellip;Quebec Nordiques</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>D</span>efending scoring champion Real (Buddy) Cloutier of the Quebec Nordiques may not successfully retain his title this year, but the 21-year-old sharpshooter is not going down without a fight.</p><p>Last week he connected on six goals and added three assists to up his season&rsquo;s production to 92 points, fifth in the league and not entirely out of the scoring race which is led by teammate Marc Tardif.</p><p>He helped the Nordiques stop a long slide, which has seen them drop from third to fifth in the standings, with two goals and an assist in leading them to a 7-5 win over Indianapolis<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0030-01

WORLD HOCKEY ASSOCIATION

<div class="byline">BY JOHN McCLAIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02286/4191231-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="559" height="585"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JOE MICHELETTI &hellip; 13-Goal Defenseman</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03211/4191224-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="571" height="590"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>AL HAMILTON &hellip; Growing Confidence</b></figcaption></div><p>HOUSTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen World Hockey Association president Howard Baldwin waived the $2 million penalty and allowed WHA teams to independently apply for acceptance to the National Hockey League, he placed seven more clubs in the position which the Houston Aeros&rsquo; franchise had arranged for itself when its new owners took over operation of the club earlier this year.</p><p>Whether you believe that the Quebec Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, New England Whalers, Cincinnati Stingers, or the Aeros, which have all expressed interest in joining the NHL, will be first in line, it was the Aeros who actually first obtained bargaining position to make such a move possible.</p><p>When Aeros&rsquo; co-owner Kenneth Schnitzer headed a group that rescued the Aeros from extinction early in the season, a portion of the contract stipulated that if there was not a merger between the WHA and NHL by March 1, Houston would be free to make a separate deal.</p><p>The WHA didn&rsquo;t like the arrangement, but at the time, it was the only way Schnitzer&rsquo;s group would agree to keep the team from folding.</p><p>There have been rumors and reports the Aeros are negotiating to combine franchises with either Cleveland or Colorado, both struggling in the NHL.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s obvious there are three or four franchises in the NHL that, for one reason or another, lend themselves to a possibility of a merger (with Houston),&rdquo; Schnitzer says without naming the teams. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to do what we think gives our franchise the best opportunity&rdquo;</p><p>Schnitzer, a wealthy Houston developer who also runs the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association and owns stock in the Houston Hurricane of the North American Soccer League, prefers to stay in the background when it comes to sports. But since he provided the land and was instrumental in building The Summit, he has wanted an NHL team for his 15,256-seat building.</p><p>Schnitzer is handling the NHL negotiations and declines to reveal specifics. However, Schnitzer and almost everyone else associated with hockey in Houston are convinced that an NHL team would profit in The Summit.</p><p>&ldquo;I think we could sell about 7,000 season tickets and average about 11,000 fans our first year in the NHL,&rdquo; says Harrison Vickers, the Aeros&rsquo; president. &ldquo;We think we have several advantages. We have a major-league facility; Houston is the fifth-largest and fastest-growing city in the United States; and Houston would help to cover some of the Southwest, which would help the NHL get a major network contract.&rdquo;</p><p>The Aeros have two plans to get into the NHL. First, there is the merger with an NHL team, which would move to Houston. Second, the Aeros may apply as an expansion team.</p><p>The first choice appears to be the most likely. Cleveland and Colorado are two teams that will re-evaluate their positions at the end of the season.</p><p>&ldquo;For example, if we were to merge with an NHL team,&rdquo; says Schnitzer, &ldquo;and the NHL would not allow us to keep certain players, then maybe we&rsquo;re better off just asking them to recognize the Houston Aeros as an expansion team. We&rsquo;re going to have to look at it both ways.&rdquo;</p><p>During the talks between the leagues last summer, the NHL placed strict guidelines on the WHA in case a deal had been improved. One dealt with first-round draft choices of NHL teams who had signed with the WHA. The Aeros have three players drafted in the first round by the NHL&mdash;defenseman Scott Campbell (St. Louis), right wing Don Larway (Boston) and right wing Cam Connor (Montreal). Schnitzer hopes to avoid being penalized for those players if the Aeros can make a deal.</p><p>Schnitzer is one of the more respected businessmen in Houston. He is responsible for several major developments in the Gulf Coast area. He also has built numerous ties with NHL governors through his association with the NBA.</p><p>For the second time in less than a year, Houston fans have their hopes up about being in the NHL next season. Schnitzer, however, quickly put down any rumors or reports that appeared before March 1. He has made no public promises, preferring to do his business behind the scenes.</p><p>&ldquo;I saw where 1 was dealing with Cleveland three weeks before March 1,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Those reports were without foundation completely. Until March 1, we were contractually committed to support the WHA and any merger activities. I adhered to my contractual obligations and committments until that time.&rdquo;</p><p>No announcement of the success or failure of Schnitzer&rsquo;s bid for the NHL will be made until after the season, so the Aeros are going about their WHA business as usual.</p><p><b>WINNIPEG</b>: The Jets called up winger Kent Rhunke to replace left wing Dan Labraaten, who is out for the season because of a blood clot in his left leg. Labraaten had 18 goals and 34 points in 47 games&hellip;Defenseman Kim Clackson was penalized in 14 consecutive games before breaking the streak in a recent victory at Indianapolis&hellip;The Jets have put together their second lengthy winning streak. After winning 11 consecutive games midway through the season, they won 10 in a row three weeks later.</p><p><b>EDMONTON</b>: Noted for their defensive ability through most of the season, the Oilers have opened up their offense for some high-scoring games. They have 11 players with at least 10 or more goals, second only to Winnipeg&rsquo;s 12&hellip;The Oilers have been getting more offensive production from their defensemen than any other team. Joe Micheletti with 13 goals and Al Hamilton with 12 have, helped produce almost 40 goals from the defensemen, far more than any other team&hellip;No one will be surprised if the Oilers go a long way in the playoffs.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0030-02

Baldwin Frees Teams For Merger; Aeros Consider Two Alternatives

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE WARRINER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0031-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01334/4191262-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MIKE ANTONOVICH&hellip;New Threat As Penelty-Killer</b></figcaption></div><p>HARTFORD&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he New England Whalers were beginning to feel a little pressure after being shoved down into second place by the streaking Winnipeg Jets. Climbing back to the top would be a difficult task as the bulk of a five-game road swing stared them in the face.</p><p>After taking care of a slumping Nordiques team (5-1) the Whalers were unable to tighten the gap between themselves and the Jets. In a well-played game at the Springfield Civic Center, Willy Lindstrom took advantage of one of the few Whaler mistakes and netted the winner at 3:15 of overtime. Final score: Winnipeg two, New England one&mdash;and a four-point opportunity lost by the Whalers.</p><p>Two nights later the team got back on the winning track at Indy by beating the Racers, 4-1, to begin a five-game road trip on the right foot. Goalie Al Smith, once again showing the hot hand, had given up only four goals in three games and was expected to carry the load as the important trip continued in Quebec, followed by back-to-back contests in Winnipeg.</p><p>Newcomer Ron Plumb performed well for his new team pairing with captain Rick Ley to form an effective blueline duo. He racked up a goal and an assist in his first two games with the Whalers.</p><p>The arrival of Plumb precipitated the sale (after waivers) of defenseman Bill Butters to the NHL&rsquo;s Minnesota North Stars. That makes two former Whaler defensemen now playing with the North Stars, since Bryan Maxwell had been picked up by them just a day or two earlier.</p><p>With room on the roster, director of hockey operations Jack Kelley crossed over the NHL to pluck former Whaler Tim Sheehy out of the Detroit organization. Sheehy had been traded to Detroit by the Birmingham Bulls earlier in the season. In going for the experienced right winger, Kelley said &ldquo;Sheehy is a proven scorer and an excellent skater&hellip;and he can step right in and do the job.&rdquo; Some of those who remembered Sheehy&rsquo;s earlier two-year stint with the Whalers were in agreement, but they were hoping Tim would utilize his ability to the fullest this time around.</p><p><b>WHALER WAVES</b>: Sheehy&rsquo;s initial assignment put him on a line with Davey Keon and Mike Antonovich, and Tim responded with a goal&hellip;When Mark Howe missed a game with the flu recently coach Harry Neale unveiled a new penalty-killing duo. Mike Rogers and Mike Antonovich not only showed they could handle the job defensively but with their explosive speed they were a constant threat to score a shorthanded goal&hellip;With Greg Carroll traded to Cincy, Steve Carlson was brought up to center a fourth line with brother Jack on the right and Danny Bolduc at left wing&hellip;Jim Mayer was returned to Springfield to get more ice time. Jack Kelley felt the Michigan Tech grad &ldquo;had flattened out&rdquo; lately and regular work in the AHL would do him good.</p><p><b>QUEBEC</b>: The word from the Nordiques entourage of walking wounded was getting better and better every day. But it may have come too late. It appears that those who had so faithfully held the fort while the injury list lengthened were finally succumbing to the added pressure.</p><p>Three regulars who were thought to have been lost for the rest of the season. were back on skates. Indeed, Jim Dorey&mdash;playing only his second game of the season&mdash;garnered an assist as he returned to his famihar spot on defense.</p><p>Back in Quebec it was reported that defenseman Francois Lacombe and center Christian Bordeleau were on the mend and would be returning to the team before long. Right wing Curt Brackenbury was also expected back. It was time to rejoice in Quebec City &hellip; But alas! The Nordiques struggled home from a frustrating seven-game (in 11 days) road trip without picking up even a point. Seven losses in a row made it nine losses out of their last 10 games, and pushed the Nordiques well below the .500 mark. In the WHA standings the Nords found themselves in fifth place, nine points out of fourth. On the other hand the Nordiques were only two points from seventh&mdash;which would keep them out of the playoffs.</p><p>On the road trip the opposition averaged better than six goals against the Nordiques while Quebec sharpshooters were averaging less than three goals a game themselves. There seemed to be a breakdown at both ends of the ice.</p><p>Offensively, the well went dry for the likes of Marc Tardif, Matti Hagman, and (to a lesser extent) Buddy Cloutier. At 41 goals and holding, the WHA&rsquo;s leading scorer Marc Tardif was unable to dent the twine in six straight games. Hagman didn&rsquo;t pick up even a point over a five-game span, while Cloutier was below par with only a couple of goals.</p><p><b>NORD NOTES</b>: Paulin Bordeleau notched a hat trick against Indy for one of the few highlights of the road trip&hellip;Real Cloutier was the only forward with a plus (four), and Jean Bernier was the only defenseman (15)&hellip;In the goals-against department, the Nordiques were over 4.5 and would have to average 2.5 GAA in order to keep from breaking the club record for &lsquo;most goals-against&rsquo; (316 in 1975-76)&hellip;Dave Inkpen and Chris Evans weren&rsquo;t seeing much action on defense as coach Marc Boileau seemed to stick with a four-man rotation of Tremblay, Baxter, Lariviere, and Bernier. Marc Tardif was a late scratch in a game against New England when he pull ed a muscle in his back. It was the first game he had missed this year. The big left winger was back in action the next night in Indy, however.</p><p>There&rsquo;s really not much doubt that the Nordiques will make the playoffs. Many people around the WHA are saying the Quebec City crew is a definite threat for the Avco Cup if they get into the playoffs with their full complement of players.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0031-01

Whalers Unhappy With View From Second Place

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03181/4191422-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="721" height="619"></div><h2><b>BIRMINGHAM BULLS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02263/4191429-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="154" height="168"></div><h2><b>CINCINNATI STINGERS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04108/4191415-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="131" height="154"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0567/4191408-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="715" height="670"></div><h2><b>EDMONTON OILERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0647/4191401-1-eng-US/f0032-062.jpg" title="f0032-06" width="186" height="185"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0736/4191394-1-eng-US/f0032-072.jpg" title="f0032-07" width="717" height="670"></div><h2><b>HOUSTON AEROS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0830/4191387-1-eng-US/f0032-082.jpg" title="f0032-08" width="253" height="110"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0920/4191380-1-eng-US/f0032-092.jpg" title="f0032-09" width="715" height="596"></div><h2><b>INDIANAPOLIS RACERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1016/4191373-1-eng-US/f0032-102.jpg" title="f0032-10" width="202" height="157"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1111/4191366-1-eng-US/f0032-112.jpg" title="f0032-11" width="727" height="718"></div><h2><b>NEW ENGLAND WHALERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1210/4191359-1-eng-US/f0032-122.jpg" title="f0032-12" width="210" height="218"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-138/4191352-1-eng-US/f0032-132.jpg" title="f0032-13" width="724" height="650"></div><h2><b>QUEBEC NORDIQUES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-146/4191345-1-eng-US/f0032-142.jpg" title="f0032-14" width="182" height="187"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-155/4191338-1-eng-US/f0032-152.jpg" title="f0032-15" width="727" height="727"></div><h2><b>WINNIPEG JETS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-165/4191331-1-eng-US/f0032-162.jpg" title="f0032-16" width="195" height="204"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-175/4191324-1-eng-US/f0032-172.jpg" title="f0032-17" width="719" height="617"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0032-03

WHA’S SCORING AND PENALTY STATISTICS

<div class="byline">BY JIMMY BRYAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0033-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01306/4191481-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RICK DUDLEY&hellip;Brought Food To Beaton&rsquo;s Cell</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Steve Babineau)</span></figcaption></div><p>CINCINNATI&mdash;</p><p>It would have made an exciting episode of &ldquo;Mission Impossible&rdquo; or &ldquo;Barney Miller.&rdquo;</p><p>The arrest of Birmingham Bulls left winger Frank Beaton at Riverfront Coliseum Feb. 19 was at the same time high intrigue and high comedy.</p><p>Beaton was arrested on a two-year-old warrant charging him with assault in an altercation with a Cincinnati gasoline station attendant. Beaton allegedly broke the jaw of the attendant after the two became involved in an argument over gasoline spilling on Beaton&rsquo;s sports car.</p><p>Anyway, The Beater had dodged Cincinnati warrant-servers for almost two years while playing with Edmonton and Birmingham. He wasn&rsquo;t so fortunate this time. The Cincinnati police department was determined.</p><p>Following the first period of a Sunday game, Birmingham leading 1-0, a platoon of cops came for Beaton. Spotting them as the teams left the ice for intermission, Beaton sneaked off with Cincinnati rather than going with his teammates. He took refuge in the Stingers&rsquo; stick room.</p><p>Meanwhile, six policemen forced their way into Birmingham&rsquo;s dressing room with drawn billy clubs. Undoubtedly, the fuzz had heard of the Bulls&rsquo; brawling reputation and took no chances. Unable to locate Beaton, the cops checked the identification of each player.</p><p>A Cincinnati man who knows the Coliseum well, told Bulls&rsquo; coach Glen Sonmor, &ldquo;Coach, we&rsquo;ll get him out of here if you want us to.&rdquo; Sonmor thought better of it, and it was decided Beaton would surrender Whether he surrendered or the cops found him is a moot point. He was nailed. When the stick room door was opened, there was The Beater planing down a stick to suit him. &ldquo;Hi, fellows,&rdquo; he said innocently.</p><p>The police allowed Beaton to shower and change clothes, but six of &rsquo;em stood guard. Once, The Beater stuck his head from the shower and quipped, &ldquo;Hey guys, don&rsquo;t leave without me, now.&rdquo;</p><p>His hands manacled behind him, Beaton was led away to the slammer. A hearing is scheduled in March, when the Bulls next play here.</p><p>&ldquo;It turned out not to be very funny,&rdquo; Beaton said on his arrival back in Birmingham. &ldquo;They had me surrounded. I was treated well, though, and Rick Dudley (Stinger&rsquo;s captain) brought me some food Sunday night.</p><p>&ldquo;Then he and coach Jacques Demers came and posted my bond on Monday. I was kinda surprised they let him post it,&rdquo; Beaton said. &ldquo;I thought they might just keep me there until a hearing could be arranged. I appreciate what coach Demers and Dudley did. They were very nice.&rdquo;</p><p>Sonmor took exception to the police tactics.</p><p>&ldquo;They were in our room the entire intermission,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was a joke. Our guys were fuming. The police completely disrupted our concentration, and we wound up allowing three goals in the second period.&rdquo;</p><p>Cincinnati eventually won the game 4-3 with only 22 seconds remaining in sudden death overtime. On a goal by Darryl Maggs, assisted by Dudley, delighting a near capacity crowd of 13,068.</p><p>It was the Bulls&rsquo; fourth game in three-and-a-half days, the afternoon game following Thursday, Friday and Saturday night appearances.</p><p>It was mentioned by someone that Cincinnati might have arranged for the cops to nail Beaton at the game.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;d never stoop to a thing like that,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;In fact, I did everything I could to get the police to let him finish the game. They refused, saying he&rsquo;d slipped away from them before.</p><p>&ldquo;Sure I went over to help Monday morning. I thought Glen (Sonmor) would be there and I&rsquo;d just see if there was anything I could do. But he had left it in the hands of lawyers and returned to Birmingham. I found out a $200 cash bail was needed, and our office sent a check over.</p><p>&ldquo;I tell you, we&rsquo;re enemies on the ice, but when it comes to something like this we stick together. Hockey is like a family, once we take the sweaters off.&rdquo;</p><p>While Birmingham and Cincinnati stayed in a hot struggle for sixth place in the standings, Indianapolis dropped a bit futher back. However, the Racers picked up defenseman Dave Inkpen from Quebec and Glen Irwin from Houston to bolster their blueline corps, and, hopefully, make a run at the Bulls and Stingers.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02227/4191474-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="560" height="893"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>FRANK BEATON&hellip;Surrendered Peacefully</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>Looking At WHA Goalers</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03171/4191467-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="561" height="640"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GARY BROMLEY</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04135/4191460-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="591" height="944"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0033-01

Bulls Losers On And Off The Ice As Beaton Arrested In Cincinnati

<h2><b>Where WHA Teams Play</b></h2><h3><b>FEBRUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01336/4191617-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="480" height="44"></div><h3><b>MARCH</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02269/4191610-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="584" height="776"></div><h2><b>The WHA Scoreboard</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tue. Feb. 28)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03198/4191603-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="594" height="238"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tue. Feb. 21</b></p><p>New England 5 at Quebec 6</p><p><b>Wed. Feb. 22</b></p><p>Houston 6 at Edmonton 5</p><p>Now England 2 at Winnipeg 4</p><p><b>Thu. Feb. 23</b></p><p>Quebec 3 at Birmingham 7</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 24</b></p><p>Houston 4 at Edmonton 5</p><p>Now England 2 at Winnipeg 7</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 25</b></p><p>Indianapolis 5 at Quebec 7</p><p>Cincinnati 3 at Birmingham 7</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 26</b></p><p>Indianapolis 6 at Birmingham 3</p><p>Now England 6 at Edmonton 5</p><p>Houston 6 at Winnipeg 8</p><h2><b>WHA&rsquo;s Scorers &hellip; <i>This Week</i></b></h2><p><b>BIRMINGHAM</b>: Linseman 25,26,27,28, Henderson 26,27,28, Napier 26,27,28,29, Cassolato 16, Gorman 8, Marrin 23,24, Beaton 3, Noris 7.</p><p><b>CINCINNATI</b>: Deadmarsb 4, Norwich 5, Gilligan 3.</p><p><b>EDMONTON</b>: Semenko 4, MacDonald 23,24,25,26,27, Troy 2, Fled 30, Ferguson 21, Callighen 14, Shmyr 5, DeMarco 3, Zuke 19, Guite 13.</p><p><b>HOUSTON</b>: Lacroix 23,24,25, Gray 21,22,23,24,25, Connor 18,19, Larway 15, Taylor 10, Hansis 8,9, Popiel 5, Lukowich 31.</p><p><b>INDIANAPOLIS</b>: Driscoll 17,18,19, Larose 13,14, Leclerc 7, Stoughton 13, Morrison 12, Wilkins 1, Leduc 29, Parizeau 6.</p><p><b>NEW ENGLAND</b>: Hangsleben 8,9, McKenzie 17, Pleau 16, G. Howe 23,24,25,26, Keon 17, Rogen 18,19, Mark Howe 17, Antonovich 22,23, Sheehy 6.</p><p><b>QUEBEC</b>: Dube 14, Miller 12,13,14, Boudrias 7,8, Cloutier 35,36,37,38,39,40, Tremblay 5, P. Bordeleau 32, C. Bordeleau 1, Tardif 42.</p><p><b>WINNIPEG</b>: Hull 39,40,41, K. Nilsson 30,31,32, Lindstrom 23,24, Hedberg 51,52, U. Nilsson 27,28,29, Powis 11,12, Moffat 7, Kryskow 13, Lesuk 8, Green 4, Baird 11</p><h2><b>Sat. Fab. 18 NEW ENGLAND 4, INDIANAPOLIS 1</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Indianapolis, 1&mdash;Stoughton (Prentice, Morrison) 1:41, New England, 2&mdash;Marty Howe (McKenzie, Rogers) 12:29.</p><p>Penalties: J. Carlson. Driscoll (minors, majors) 3:13.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>New England, 3&mdash;G. Howe (Lyle, Marty Howe) 6:28</p><p>Penalties: Marty Howe 2:39, Plumb 12:48.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>New England, 4&mdash;Sheehy (Keon, Antonovich) 9.11.</p><p>Penalties: J. Carlson (major, misconduct), Hangsleben (double minor, game misconduct), Driscoll (major, misconduct) 15:54.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0585/4191596-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="589" height="104"></div><p>Attendance: 8,416.</p><h2><b>Sun. Feb. 19 BIRMINGHAM 3, CINCINNATI 4</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Birmingham, 1&mdash;Cassolato (Langway, Marrin) 6:56</p><p>Penalties: Carroll 5:17, Hanson, Legge (majors) 11:42, Westrum and Stewart 12:23, Hughes 12:46, Lmseman, Gilligan 16:19, Durbano 17:59.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Cincinnati, 2&mdash;Dudley (Stapleton) 7:29, 3&mdash;Grieg (Dudley, Stapleton) 8:22, Birmingham, 4&mdash;Marrin (Henderson, Roberto) 14:55, Cincinnati, 5&mdash;Ftorek (Dudley, Hislop) 19:14.</p><p>Penalties: Durbano, Dion 2:56, Stewart 8:59, Lmseman 9:27, Legge 12:25.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Birmingham, 6&mdash;Turkiewicz (Marrin, Henderson) 9:10.</p><p>Penalties: Norwich, Marrin (majors) 3:32, Bilodeau (major and misconduct), Stewart (major and misconduct) 8:42, Hanson (minor and major), Napier (major and misconduct) 10:40, Dudley 18 56.</p><h3><b>OVERTIME PERIOD</b></h3><p>Cincinnati, 7&mdash;Maggs (Dudley, Ftorek) 9:38.</p><p>Penalties, None.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0660/4191589-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="589" height="108"></div><p>Attendance: 13,068.</p><h2><b>QUEBEC 2, WINNIPEG 5</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Quebec, 1&mdash;Fitchner (J, Bernier) 0:22, Winnipeg, 2&mdash;Sullivan (Lindstrom) 2:50, 3&mdash;Lindstrom (Bergman, K. Nilsson) 14:52.</p><p>Penalties: Bordeleau 1:54, Sjoberg 4:30, Gumdon 6:48.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>No scoring.</p><p>Penalties: Boudrias 3:44, Clackson 7:12, Fitchner, U. Nilsson 10:37, Dorey 14:35.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Quebec, 4&mdash;Sutherland (S. Bernier, P. Bordeleau) 4:58, Winnipeg, 5&mdash;Sullivan (Long) 8:38. 6&mdash;Hedberg (U. Nilsson, Hull) 17:38, 7&mdash;Hull (Hedberg, U. Nilsson) 18:19.</p><p>Penalties: J. Bernier 17:42.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0752/4191582-1-eng-US/f0034-072.jpg" title="f0034-07" width="593" height="113"></div><p>Attendance, 10,379.</p><h2><b>INDIANAPOLIS 3, EDMONTON 4</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Indianapolis, 1&mdash;Prentice (St. Sauveur, Driscoll) 5:46, Edmonton, 2&mdash;Wlding (Ferguson, Busniuk) 9:27. Indianapolis, 3&mdash;Driscoll (Morrison, St. Sauveur) 16:34.</p><p>Penalty: Devine 13:32.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Indianapolis, 4&mdash;Morrison (Larose, Leduc) 8:53.</p><p>Penalties: None.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Edmonton, 5&mdash;Callighen (Ferguson, Widing) 4:25, 6&mdash;Guite (Zuke, MacDonald) 9:51.</p><p>Penalties: Driscoll 6:07, Shmyr 11:30.</p><h3><b>OVERTIME PERIOD</b></h3><p>Edmonton, 7&mdash;Zuke (Busniuk, Guite) 7:08.</p><p>Penalties: None.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0845/4191575-1-eng-US/f0034-082.jpg" title="f0034-08" width="588" height="116"></div><p>Attendance: 8,971.</p><h2><b>Tue. Feb. 21 NEW ENGLAND 5, QUEBEC 6</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Quebec, 1&mdash;Dube (Tremblay) 10:44, 2&mdash;Miller (Sutherland, Fitchner) 12:15, New England, 3&mdash;Hangsleben (Bolduc, Selv^ocd) 18:32.</p><p>Penalty: Lyle 10:04.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>New England, 4&mdash;McKenzie (Pleau, Marty Howe) 3:28, Quebec, 5&mdash;Boudrias (Cloutier, Tremblay) 7:50, New England, 0&mdash;Pleau (McKenzie, Ley) 9:05, 7&mdash;G. Howe (Roberts, Rogers) 18:09.</p><p>Penalties: Ley 5:51, Marty Howe 15:51, Tardif 17:23.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Quebec, 8&mdash;Cloutier (Dorey, Tardif) 6:30, New England, 9&mdash;Keon (Antonovich) 9:25, Quebec, 10&mdash;Cloutier (Tardif, P. Bordeleau) 14:27.</p><p>Penalty: Ley 14:06.</p><h3><b>OVERTIME PERIOD</b></h3><p>Quebec, 11&mdash;Tremblay (Cloutier, Tardif) 3:38.</p><p>Penalties, None.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0935/4191568-1-eng-US/f0034-092.jpg" title="f0034-09" width="586" height="107"></div><p>Attendance: 8,335.</p><h2><b>Wed. Feb. 22 HOUSTON 6, EDMONTON 5</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Edmonton, 1&mdash;Semenko (B. Campbell, Busniuk) 6:16 2&mdash;MacDonald (Guite, Langevin) 11 34. Houston, 3&mdash;Lacroix (Popiel, Larway) 13:37, 4&mdash;Gray (Lacroix) 18:17.</p><p>Penalties: Busniuk 12:47, Hamilton 14:45, S. Campbell 15:04, Troy, Houston (bench served by West) 19:58.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Edmonton, 5&mdash;Troy (Semenko, B. Campbell) 5:11, Houston, 0&mdash;Connor (Hughes) 5:28, Edmonton, 7&mdash;MacDonald (Rota, Zuke) 6:32, Houston, 8&mdash;Larway (Lacroix, Gray) 14:27.</p><p>Penalties: Hughes 7:43, Gray 11:04, Hamilton 12:01.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Houston, 8&mdash;Gray (Larway) 3:11, Edmonton, 10&mdash;Flett (Chipperfield, Callighen) 10:25, Houston, 11&mdash;Connor (Taylor, Tonelli) 13:52.</p><p>Penalties: Taylor 10:12, Ruskowskl. Troy (minors, majors) 11:04, Connor (minor, major), Shmyr (major). Flett (double minor, game misconduct). Busniuk, Chipperfield, MacGregor, Hughes, A. McLeod, Taylor (misconducts) 14:22, Lukowich 15:47, Schella 19:43.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1033/4191561-1-eng-US/f0034-102.jpg" title="f0034-10" width="590" height="106"></div><p>Attendance: 11,528.</p><h2><b>NEW ENGLAND 2, WINNIPEG 4</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Winnipeg, 1&mdash;Hull (U. Nilsson, Hedberg) 1:06, New England, 2&mdash;Rogers (Roberts, Pleau) 2:44.</p><p>Penalties: McKenzie, Lesuk 1:55, Clackson (double minor), Hangsleben 4:49, Seiwood 10:27, Clackson (minor, major), G. Howe 14:30.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>New Englans, 3&mdash;G. Howe (Keon) 0:28, Winnipeg, 4&mdash;K. Nilsson (Hedberg, Bergman) 4:50.</p><p>Penalty: McKenzie3:17.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Winnipeg, 5&mdash;Lindstrom (Bergmann, K. Nilsson) 12:08, 8&mdash;Lindstrom (Kryskow, Green) 12:36.</p><p>Penalties: None.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1129/4191554-1-eng-US/f0034-112.jpg" title="f0034-11" width="592" height="111"></div><p>Attendance: 9,857.</p><h2><b>Thu. Feb. 23 QUEBEC 3, BIRMINGHAM 7</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Birmingham, 1&mdash;Linseman (Gorman, Roberto) 4:21, Quebec, 2&mdash;Cloutier (Constantin, Boudrals) 12:09, 3&mdash;Cloutier (Hagman, Dube) 16:15, Birmingham, 4&mdash;Henderson (Marrin) 19:46.</p><p>Penalties: Beaudoin 1:02, Constantin 3:46, Durbano (misconduct), Hanson, Fitchner 15:49.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Birmingham, 5&mdash;Henderson (Linseman, Roberto) 7:53, 6&mdash;Napier (Marrin) 15:39, 7&mdash;Cassolato (Beaudoin, Hughes) 16:42.</p><p>Penalty: Beaton 18:59.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Birmingham, 8&mdash;Henderson (Langway, Beaudoin) 14:52, 8&mdash;Gorman 16:25, Quebec, 10&mdash;Miller (Boudrias) 19:03.</p><p>Penalties: Dorey 9:05, Quebec bench (served by C. Bordeleau) 13:45.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1227/4191547-1-eng-US/f0034-122.jpg" title="f0034-12" width="591" height="111"></div><p>Attendance: 6,179.</p><h2><b>Fri. Feb. 24 HOUSTON 4, EDMONTON 5</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Edmonton, 1&mdash;MacDonald (Shmyr, Rota) 16:43.</p><p>Penalties: Gray 1:26, Schella 10:42, Preston 11:15, Schella 6:10.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Edmonton, 2&mdash;Ferguson (Callighen, Langevin) 0:29, Houston, 3&mdash;Lacroix (Schella, Larway) 1:21, 4&mdash;Taylor (Tonelli, Hughes) 3:33, Edmonton, 5&mdash;MacDonald (Campbell) 12:20, Houston, 8&mdash;Lacroix (Ruskowski) 19:28.</p><p>Penalties: Taylor, Semenko, Campbell (misconducts). Busniuk, Connor (majors) 9:33, Shmyr 4:00, Hansis 13:34, DeMarco 18:05.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Houston, 7&mdash;Hansis (Tonelli) 13:38, Edmonton, 8&mdash;Callighen (Zuke, Widing) 18:38.</p><p>Penalties: Hughes 5:05, Lukowich, Callighen 10:00.</p><h3><b>OVERTIME PERIOD</b></h3><p>Edmonton, 9&mdash;MacDonald (Guite, Langevin) 1:50.</p><p>Penalties: None.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1321/4191540-1-eng-US/f0034-132.jpg" title="f0034-13" width="590" height="118"></div><p>Attendance: 13,691.</p><h2><b>NEW ENGLAND 2, WINNIPEG 7</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Winnipeg, 1&mdash;Hedberg (U. Nilsson, Hull) 4:57, 2&mdash;U. Nilsson (Hedberg, K. Nilsson) 8:18, 3&mdash;Hedberg (Sjoberg, Bergman) 11:31.</p><p>Penalties: Seiwood 8:10, Dunn 8:46, G. Howe, Green 10:06, Hangsleben 10:40, Lesuk 15:08, McKenzie 18:28.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>New England, 4&mdash;Mark Howe (Seiwood, G. Howe) 3:06, Winnipeg, 5&mdash;Powis (Hull, Long) 4:54, 8&mdash;Moffat (Powis) 13:24.</p><p>Penalties: Lindstrom, Roberts 1:31, Clackson 8:47, Lesuk 10:35, Seiwood 11:20.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>New England, 7&mdash;G. Howe (Sheehy, Mark Howe) 8:53, Winnipeg, 8&mdash;Kryskow (Sullivan) 17 48. 8&mdash;Powis (Hull, Baird) 18:54.</p><p>Penalty: Clackson 8:30.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1418/4191533-1-eng-US/f0034-142.jpg" title="f0034-14" width="589" height="108"></div><p>Attendance: 10.310.</p><h2><b>Sat. Feb. 25 INDIANAPOLIS 5, QUEBEC 7</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Quebec, 1&mdash;Cloutier (Tardif, Tremblay) 7:14, 2&mdash;P. Bordeleau (S. Bernier. J. Bernier) 12:24.</p><p>Penalties: Parizeau 5:29, Irwin, Dube (minors, malors)8:47, Devine 17:48.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Indianapolis, 3&mdash;Driscoll (Leduc, Wilkins) 3:30, Quebec, 4&mdash;C. Bordeleau (Dorey, Brodeur) 8:38, S&mdash;Cloutier (C. Bordeleau, Tremblay) 10:28, 8&mdash;Boudrias (Dube) 16:39.</p><p>Penalties: P. Bordeleau 2:28, Irwin, Lariviere (minors, majors) 12:14, Driscoll 18:04.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Quebec, 7&mdash;Tardif (Cloutier) 0:52, Indianapolis, 8&mdash;Larose (Stoughton, Marotte) 2:05, 9&mdash;Leclerc (Morrison, Driscoll) 9:18, 10&mdash;Stoughton (Larose, Morrison) 17:11, 1&mdash;Morrison (St. Sauveur, Larose) 18:25, Quebec, 12&mdash;Miller (Lariviere, Trembley) 19:58.</p><p>Penalties: Quebec bench (served by Baxter) 15:16, Sutherland (minor), Driscoll (Major), Baxter (major) 19:18.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1517/4191526-1-eng-US/f0034-152.jpg" title="f0034-15" width="589" height="107"></div><p>Attendance: 7,845.</p><h2><b>CINCINNATI 3, BIRMINGHAM 7</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Birmingham, 1&mdash;Marrin (Noris, Napier) 6:01, 2&mdash;Beaton (Gorman, Hughes) 6:44, 3&mdash;Linseman (Hanson, Roberto) 13:49, 4&mdash;Napier (Henderson, Marrin) 19:03.</p><p>Penalties: Linseman, Ftorek 0:28, Bilodeau, Trognitz (majors) 5:12, Handrahan 5:28, Hanson 6:25, Hughes, Ftorek 7:39, Linseman 9:33, Norwich 16:08, Baltimore 18:26.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Cincinnati, 5&mdash;Deadmarsh (Stapleton) 6:07, 8&mdash;Norwich 8:01, Birmingham, 7&mdash;Noris (Turkiewicz, Henderson) 13:08, 8&mdash;Linseman (Roberto, Gorman) 16:47.</p><p>Penalties: Dudley 0:19, Beaton 2:53, Cincinnati bench 3:52, Bilodeau, Stewart (majors) 4:21, Durbano, Handrahan (majors) 8:01, Melrose 11:35, Stapleton 16:08.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Birmingham, 8&mdash;Napier (Henderson, Hughes) 12:00, Cincinnati, 10&mdash;Gilligan (Norwich) 18:23.</p><p>Penalties: Harris 11:30, Bilodeau 13:33,</p><p>Westrum Wood, Marsh (minors, majors). Stewart, Beaton (majors) 17:41.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1617/4191519-1-eng-US/f0034-162.jpg" title="f0034-16" width="593" height="112"></div><p>Attendance: 11,416.</p><h2><b>WHA Team Rosters</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04124/4191512-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="2363" height="1022"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>*&mdash;Rookie</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0034-01

WORLD HOCKEY ASSN. SUMMARIES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0035-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01315/4191648-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg"></div><h2><b>AHL&rsquo;s Revised Schedule</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

f0035-01

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY JIM LEAHY</div><p>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Firebirds returned to the Civic Center after a month-long road trip that saw the team finish with a 3-1-3 record. A game with the Mariners in Portland was postponed because of the blizzard which paralyzed the East Coast. Last week the Firebirds played to a 3-3 tie in Rochester and a 4-4 tie in Hershey. Both Rochester and Hershey overcame two-goal deficits to gain the ties.</p><p>Three players had scoring streaks stopped in Hershey, but team leader Gordie Brooks pushed his scoring streak to five straight games with an assist. Gavin Kirk and Jim Nahrgang had six-game streaks stopped by the Bears, while Gary Coalter had his five-game skein ended.</p><p>Coach Dan Belisle welcomed three players from the Red Wings. Rugged defenseman Jerry Rollins, center Fred Williams and right wing Bob Kreiger joined the team recently.</p><p>Williams was Detroit&rsquo;s number one draft choice in 1976 and started this season with the CHL Kansas City Red Wings. Last year he split his time between the Detroit Red Wings and the AHL Rhode Island Reds.</p><p>Kreiger, who was born in Minneapolis, was Detroit&rsquo;s second choice in the 1972 selections. He saw limited action in Kansas City this year however, he played for the U.S. World Cup squad last season.</p><p>Rollins is a six-foot-three, 190 pound defenseman who will be a welcome addition to the Firebirds&rsquo; injury-riddled defense. He is a much-penalized player, setting the WCHL record with 910 career penalty minutes and a season-high total of 273 penalty minutes. In only 29 games this season with Toledo of the International Hockey League, Rollins had 199 penalty minutes.</p><p><b>ROCHESTER:</b> The Amerks are unbeaten in five of their last six games after picking up three of a possible four points last weekend. The Amerks came from behind twice to tie the Firebirds before 5,023 fans. Brad Anderson&rsquo;s third shorthanded goal of the season started the Rochester rally, and Steve Langdon knotted the score midway through the third period.</p><p>Langdon was one of several heroes the following night when the Amerks beat the Maine Mariners 6-4 in Portland. He scored his first professional hat trick, Brian McGregor got two goals, Rene Drolet the winner and Dave Parro came up with 33 saves.</p><p><b>NEW HAVEN:</b> The streaking Nighthawks continued their torrid pace over the weekend by taking two games from the Voyageurs on foreign ice. Friday the &lsquo;Hawks came back from a three goal deficit to stop the Vees 4-3 on Brad Becker&rsquo;s game winner. Sunday the Nighthawks were in control all the way and rolled to a 4-2 win before 3,819 fans in Moncton, N.B.</p><p>&ldquo;We have been playing all aspects of the game well as of late. Both Hardy (Aastrom) and Doug (Soetaert) have been superb in goal and all of our defenseman have been steady. Our forwards have been working hard and when you put it all together it&rsquo;s what it takes to win hockey games,&rdquo; exclaimed a happy coach Parker MacDonald after his Nighthawks flew in from Nova Scotia.</p><p>After only losing two of their last 19 games, the Nighthawks have zoomed to the top of the Southern Division and boast the best overall record in the AHL.</p><p><b>MAINE:</b> During the past week, severe weather forced the postponement of two Mariner games. Tuesday, the Mariners were unable to reach Rochester and on Wednesday the Firebirds could not get to Maine.</p><p>Blake Dunlop, Al Hill and Drew Callander have been returned by the parent Philadelphia Flyers but goaltender Rick St. Croix has been called up. Pete Peeters has been brought up from the IHL Milwaukee Admirals to fill in for St. Croix and he turned in a fine performance in beating the Springfield Indians 6-5 on the road.</p><p><b>BINGHAMTON:</b> With five wins in their last seven games the Dusters have started to roll. Last week they beat Maine 5-3 and Hershey 2-1 in contests played on home ice. A 4-2 loss in Springfield was the only setback.</p><p>The Duster defense has improved of late, a factor that has a great deal to do with the club&rsquo;s recent winning streak. Even though Binghamton still leads the AHL in goals scored against them, the statistics are somewhat misleading since the club has played more games than any other team in the league. If goal tenders Larry Hendricks and Ken Holland can keep the enemy shooters from scoring, the expansionist Dusters could stay out of the Northern Division cellar.</p><p><b>NOVA SCOTIA:</b> A five game losing streak has dropped the once-mighty Voyageurs into a tie for last place with Binghamton. The Vees lost twice to New Haven in contests played away from the Halifax Metro Centre, which finally opened on Feb. 19. A crowd of 3,012 in little Truro, N.S. saw the Vees drop a 4-3 decision.</p><p>At this writing, the Vees had 12 games left on the road and 22 at home. The 10-game home ice advantage would normally be enough to propel the Vees into the thick of the race however, the delay in opening the new building has forced the AHL to schedule the remaining home games in Nova Scotia in such a way as to have the Vees playing five games a week for much of the remainder of the season. Even with the 10-game home ice advantage, it will be difficult for the club to hold up.</p><p><b>HERSHEY:</b> The Philadelphia Firebirds and Hershey Bears have played two fine games during the last few weeks. On Saturday night in Hershey before 5,977 fans, the Bears came from behind to earn a 4-4 tie. The previous Saturday, 5,887 saw Reggie Lemelin of the Firebirds hand the Bears a 3-0 shutout.</p><p>The Bears whitewashed Springfield 6-0 behind Goran Hogosta and dropped a close 2-1 decision at Binghamton last week. With the loss of the Hampton Gulls, the Bears suddenly find themselves all alone in the basement of the Southern Division.</p><p><b>SPRINGFIELD:</b> The Tribe worked their way back into first place in the Northern Division with a tough 4-2 win over Binghamton on Saturday night at the Coliseum. The win gave Springfield a one point lead over Maine which was wiped out when the Mariners edged the Tribe 6-5 in overtime on Sunday.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02253/4191686-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="557" height="666"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>STEVE LANGDON &hellip; First Hat Trick</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03188/4191679-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="553" height="656"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JERRY ROLLINS &hellip; New To Indians</b></figcaption></div><p>As a result of the weekend split, Springfield is now in second place in the Northern Division, trailing Maine by a single point but 13 points ahead of Nova Scotia and Binghamton.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0035-02

Weary Firebirds Play Well On Road; New Haven, Rochester In High Gear

<p>HALIFAX&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Nova Scotia Voyageurs got their long awaited new rink into operation Feb. 19 against the Hershey Bears and the first response was encouraging.</p><p>A total of 8,433 fans turned up for the inaugural game in the new Halifax Metro Center as the Voyageurs edged the Bears 4-3 on a third-period goal by rookie Moe Robinson.</p><p>Winger Rod Schutt had the distinction of scoring the first goal in the new rink when he tallied at 10:28 of the first period.</p><p>The Vees received a helping hand from the Halifax Transit Commission, which transportated fans to the new center free of charge for the first game.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Voyageurs Draw 8,443 To Opener

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div><p>KANSAS CITY&mdash;</p><p>Larry Wilson&rsquo;s Red Wings didn&rsquo;t look like a last-place club as they polished off third-place Tulsa in a home-and-home series, 6-4 in Kemper Arena and 4-3 in the Oilers&rsquo; own Assembly Center.</p><p>The week didn&rsquo;t start that well, as the Wings lost a Tuesday night home encounter with Salt Lake&rsquo;s Golden Eagles, 5-3. It was their third straight loss in Kemper, where they had an unhappy 3-7 record for the new year.</p><p>&ldquo;Maybe the pressure was getting to them,&rdquo; Wilson observed. Ahead of the two-game set with Tulsa, he told his men, &ldquo;Just go out and have fun. Forget everything else.&rdquo;</p><p>The relaxed approach really worked. At home the Wings outshot the Oilers, 50-19, their most shots of the season and their widest shooting advantage.</p><p>Two different lines dominated each game. At home Saturday night it was the &ldquo;French Collection&rdquo;, with rookie center Roland Cloutier, a 20-year-old draftee from the Trois Rivieres, Que., Draveurs; rookie right wing Fernand Leblanc, 22-year-old draftee from the Sherbrooke, Que., Beavers, and on the left side 31-year-old veteran J.P. Leblanc, who has spent the last two years in Detroit.</p><p>Sunday night in Tulsa the dominant line had at center 25-year-old Mike Bloom who divided last season among Detroit, Kansas City and Providence; at left wing Danny Gruen. who was traded from Detroit to Colorado last spring and returned in August (and who has been sidelined most of this season with a leg injury) and at right wing 27-year-old Al McDonough, who has spent the last three years in the World Hockey Association (the Minnesota Fighting Saints were his last team).</p><p>Fern Leblanc had goals in the first and last period of the home victory. Steve Coates also scored in the first. Rick Vasko, Bob Ritchie and Bloom in the second.</p><p>&ldquo;For a change, we played the game around their net, instead of in front of ours,&rdquo; Wilson commented.</p><p>Although behind after 53 seconds of play in Tulsa, the Wings tied it up on Fred Berry&rsquo;s goal just 34 seconds later, and McDonough scored twice before the first period ended. Tulsa rallied, but Bloom&rsquo;s goal in the middle period proved to be the winner.</p><p>As a result, the 22-game season series was tied at eight apiece. The Kansas Blues moved to within three points of fourth-place Dallas, and were only five out of third place.</p><p>Bloom was sixth in the league scoring race with 47 points, and Cloutier climbed to a tie for ninth, with 43.</p><p>Ron Plumb and Fern Leblanc had given the Wings a quick 1-0 lead against Salt Lake earlier, but the Eagles came back with three goals in the second period. Fernie&rsquo;s second goal tied it up early in the third, but the Wings couldn&rsquo;t match Doug Palazzari&rsquo;s goal, and were stung for an empty-net tally after pulling goalie Terry Richardson.</p><p>Defenseman Al Cameron came down from the parent Detroit Red Wings. Defenseman John Hilworth was up for a game and returned. Wilson sent forwards Bob Kreiger and Fred Williams to the Philadelphia Firebirds of the American League.</p><p>Kansas City needed to make a big move in February, as the March schedule called for only four home games and 11 on the road.</p><p>The new overtime rule in the CHL was hurting the KC club. They had played 12 overtime games, more than any other league entry, and had a 4-7-1 record for the extra periods. League headquarters announced 20 games of 143 played had gone overtime, and 14 of those reached a decision. Surprisingly, the visiting teams won 11 of those.</p><p><b>TULSA:</b> The &ldquo;new look&rdquo; Oilers, with more than half the lineup changed, fell upon hard times. They blew an early 4-0 lead at home against Salt Lake, but came back to edge the Eagles, 6-5. Coach Johnny Choyce was incensed at the poor defensive play in that contest, but he really was mad after continued defensive mistakes resulted in a 6-4 loss at Kansas City and a 4-3 setback at home against the same club.</p><p>Defenseman Bob Manno was returned to the Vancouver Canucks on an emergency basis, and right wing Terry Bucyk, on loan from the Los Angeles Kings, was sent back to the Springfield Indians of the AHL.</p><p>Right wing Scott Garland, a talented and experienced newcomer, was lost for at least three weeks with a knee injury. And at the end of the week, left wing Jack Valiquette was summoned by the Toronto Maple Leafs.</p><p>Valiquette&rsquo;s loss really hurt. The 21-year-old forward had just tied the Oilers&rsquo; club record for consecutive game goal scoring, collecting seven in six games. The record was set by Mike (Shaky) Walton in 1964-65, and tied by Ed Joyal the following year and by Kenny Campbell in 1967-68.</p><p>Ralph Stewart, Gerry O&rsquo;Flaherty, Red Laurence and Valiquette scored for a 4-0 first-period lead against Salt Lake. After the Eagles tied it on Floyd Thomson&rsquo;s shorthanded goal in the third, Rob Tudor tipped in a long shot by Larry Goodenough. O&rsquo;Flaherty&rsquo;s second goal turned out to be the winner, as Salt Lake&rsquo;s Tony Currie scored with 21 seconds left.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01297/4191741-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="561" height="590"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MIKE BLOOM &hellip; Flowering In K.C.</b></figcaption></div><p>That gave the Oilers a three-game winning streak, and moved them to within two points of the second-place Eagles. But with two chances to close in while the Eagles were idle, the Oilers couldn&rsquo;t handle Kansas City.</p><p>Valiquette scored twice to tie the score in Kansas City, but the Oilers gave up goals faster than they could score them. Cam Botting and Sid Veysey also scored. The next night Stewart tallied in the opening minute, but KC was in charge the rest of the way. Valiquette and O&rsquo;Flaherty managed to narrow the deficit, but the Choycemen couldn&rsquo;t catch up, with KC goalie Terry Richardson holding them off in a scoreless final period. Rookie goalie Dale Rideout made his pro debut in KC, relieving Mike Belhumeur for the last period.</p><p><b>DALLAS:</b> The Black Hawks of Gerry McNamara won two games from their archrivals, the Fort Worth Texans, to take a 9-8 edge in the 22-game turnpike series. The scores were 6-4 in Fort Worth, spiced by an 18-minute, bench-clearing fight in the second period, and 4-2 in Dallas the next night. A home game against Salt Lake City was postponed by a mid-week snow, the first such postponement in the Hawks&rsquo; 11 years in CHL membership.</p><p>The Dallas power play was the key to both victories. Power goals by Jean Savard and Jim McKenny in the second period turned the game around in Fort Worth. Similar goals by John Anderson and Paul Evans in the first, Dan Hinton in the second, featured the home victory. That gave the Hawks eight power goals on 16 chances in their last four starts.</p><p>Fort Worth had an early 2-0 lead before Randy Carlyle scored in the first period on home ice. Ron Wilson, Savard and McKenny put the Hawks in charge in the second period, and Wilson and Savard each scored again in the third.</p><p>Dallas was leading, 4-3, at 11:08 of the middle period when the free-for-all erupted. Hawk Kurt Walker and Texan Richard Nantais, who had fought twice on the ice, had a bout in the penalty box, which emptied the benches. The two principals were ejected, along with Fort Worth&rsquo;s Doug Rombough, who led the charge off the bench.</p><p>Walker drew 37 penalty-minutes for the game, only two shy of his own club record, set Jan. 8,1977.</p><p>The power play scores by Anderson, Evans and Hinton at home the next night were followed by Duane Wylie&rsquo;s empty-netter with three seconds to play. The game drew 6,240 fans, bringing to 11,5-2 the total for the back-to-back contests. It broke a four-game home losing streak for the Hawks.</p><p><b>FORT WORTH:</b> Four straight losses (three at home) were worrying Texans coach Billy MacMillan. His league lead was cut to three points over Salt Lake, five over Tulsa. And leading scorer Richie Hansen was called up to the New York Islanders.</p><p>They had won four out of seven on a two-week road trip, but back at Will Rogers Coliseum trouble awaited. They dropped a 2-1 &ldquo;playoff&rdquo; game to Salt Lake, then fell to Dallas, 6-4, before traveling to the other end of the turnpike to bow, 4-2.</p><p>Don Cutts was the CHL&rsquo;s stingiest goalkeeper, boasting a 2.92 average, three points ahead of Kansas City&rsquo;s Terry Richardson. The departed Hansen was third in league scoring with 55 points, and Bill Hogaboam eighth with 44.</p><p><b>SALT LAKE:</b> The Golden Eagles ran their victory string to three (four straight on the road), as they won in Kansas City, 5-3, had a game snowed out in Dallas, and won in Fort Worth, 2-1. They came back from a four-goal disadvantage in Tulsa, but eventually succumbed, 6-5. Barclay Plager&rsquo;s Eagles faced three more road games before they next saw the Salt Palace. But by then, Barclay had been summoned to St. Louis to take over the Blues, while brother Bob came to the Eagles as player-coach.</p><p>Floyd Thomson had shorthanded goals in Kansas City and Tulsa, running the team&rsquo;s league-leading total to 14. Tony Currie had seven goals and an assist in a hot week. With 28 goals, he replaced Tulsa&rsquo;s Stan Weir as the CHL leader in that category. Weir had 24 before returning to Toronto.</p><p>And the league&rsquo;s new scoring leader was little Doug (Pizza) Palazzari, recording five points for a total of 58, one ahead of Weir. Currie was tied for ninth on the chart at 43. Thomson had a goal in five straight games before he was blanked in Fort Worth.</p><p>The &ldquo;rallyingest club in the CHL&rdquo; came back from a two-goal disadvantage at Kansas City. Thomson&rsquo;s shorthanded goal was followed by John Smrke and Currie in the second stanza. Palazzari scored in the final session, and Thomson scored again on an empty net with 32 seconds to play.</p><p>Currie tallied late in the first period and midway of the second in Fort Worth, as Doug Grant blanked the Texans for 38 minutes.</p><p>In Tulsa, Grant made his 10th straight start, matching a string he worked when the season opened. He was stung for four goals in the first period. But Palazzari got No. 24 early in the second, and Dave Hrechkosy further cut the deficit. Currie counted as the third period began, then Thomson tied the score with his second shorthanded score of the week. Currie notched No. 28 in the last minute of play, but the Oilers had regained the upper hand with two late goals.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0036-01

‘Loose’ Wings Freed For Rise In CHL Race

<h2><b>IHL Team Scoring</b></h2><h3><b>FLINT</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01257/4191828-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="597" height="496"></div><h3><b>FORT WAYNE</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02184/4191821-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="595" height="464"></div><h3><b>GRAND RAPIDS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03133/4191814-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="592" height="484"></div><h3><b>KALAMAZOO</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04107/4191807-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="592" height="462"></div><h3><b>MILWAUKEE</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0588/4191800-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="598" height="546"></div><h3><b>MUSKEGON</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0668/4191793-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="597" height="493"></div><h3><b>PORT HURON</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0752/4191786-1-eng-US/f0037-072.jpg" title="f0037-07" width="588" height="456"></div><h3><b>SAGINAW</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0846/4191779-1-eng-US/f0037-082.jpg" title="f0037-08" width="588" height="491"></div><h3><b>TOLEDO</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0937/4191772-1-eng-US/f0037-092.jpg" title="f0037-09" width="591" height="521"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0037-01

INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div><p>FORT WAYNE&mdash;</p><p>The fans in Fort Wayne are starting to make comparisons. And talking about another championship.</p><p>The comparisons, Between the current Komet squad and the 1972-73 powerhouse which gave Fort Wayne its last International Hockey League season and playoff championships.</p><p>The talk started as the Komets returned to the Memorial Coliseum following a five-game road trip in which they won the last four. It&rsquo;s a similar feat to the one accomplished by the 1973 champions. That team also launched its title drive with the sweep of a four-game road trip in February.</p><p>By winning at Port Huron, Saginaw, Muskegon and Grand Rapids the Komets improved their strong road record to 1311-6. They have picked up 32 of their 60 points on the road and head into the stretch drive with 18 of the final 30 games at home.</p><p>Strong goaltending by rookie Murray Bannerman and veteran Robbie Irons have triggered the latest Komet surge. Bannerman won three of the road games and Irons closed out the sweep with a victory in Grand Rapids.</p><p>Offensively, the Komets are balanced&mdash;another mark of the 1973 champions. Prior to the recent road trip, rookie Dan Bonar was the only Komet with more than 20 goals (he has 36). Mike Penasse went over the 20-goal plateau on the trip, getting the winning goal in the victory over Muskegon and pumping in four at Grand Rapids. Rookie defenseman Kevin McCloskey had two winning goals&mdash;raising his season total to five. All have come on the road.</p><p>The Komets now have a 12-point bulge over second-place Toledo in the South Division and have moved to within five points of Saginaw in the race for the overall championship. In addition, the Komets have four games in hand on the Gears.</p><p>New coach Gregg Pilling credits his rotation lineup with winning a couple of the road games. Pilling drove PA announcers and the media crazy with his line switches which included one front line comprised of all defensemen&mdash;veteran Terry Pembroke on left wing, Penasse at center and Mike Boland at right wing. He also used veteran Terry McDougall (a center by trade) at left wing.</p><p>&ldquo;I know I&rsquo;ve been criticized for the way I&rsquo;ve shuffled the guys around. I&rsquo;ve had guys ouf there at times I knew didn&rsquo;t belong. But you have to be prepared in the event of injuries. And it happened. I think it&rsquo;s paying off now,&rdquo; Pilling commented.</p><p><b>TOLEDO:</b> Ted Garvin, who has employed many unique ways in the past to make winners out of losers, has come up with another gimmick in an attempt to pump life into the Goaldiggers.</p><p>Citing a. &ldquo;lack of togetherness&rdquo; as the Diggers&rsquo; main problem, Garvin has formed a committee which he hopes will bring the togetherness.</p><p>Comprising the four-player committee are Len Fontaine and Ian MacPhee, who represent the oldtimers; and Mike Eruzione and Steve Baker, representing the young generation.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something the older players did by themselves in the past,&rdquo; Garvin said, &ldquo;and the younger players just went along. But now we have more younger players than older players and nothing had been done up to this point.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s more of a fun thing than anything else. We&rsquo;re not forming a nightclub act or anything like that. But before the playoffs we&rsquo;ve got to have the club pulling together in the right direction.&rdquo;</p><p>It hasn&rsquo;t been much fun for the Diggers on the ice. Over the last five games they managed just one victory while losing three and tying one. The shocker was a 16-4 pasting in Flint&mdash;a game which saw Garvin pull his goalie after the Generals had built an 8-0 lead. The Generals scored six goals into the empty net.</p><p>&ldquo;We were playing poorly and I thought maybe if they were embarassed it might wake them up. Besides. I wanted some goals,&rdquo; Garvin explained his move.</p><p><b>MILWAUKEE:</b> The Admirals stayed within striking distance of second-place Toledo in the South Division race with a 2-1 triumph over Muskegon at home and a rally from a two-goal deficit to tie Kalamazoo on the road, 3-3.</p><p>Subsequent one-goal losses at home to Flint prevented the Admirals from really moving up. The opening game of the two-game series was especially painful as Flint scored four goals in a minute and 48 seconds to come from behind to win.</p><p><b>GRAND RAPIDS:</b> The Owls haven&rsquo;t been settled in Grand Rapids very long but already they are in the IHL record book.</p><p>In crushing North Division leader Saginaw, the Owls set a new IHL record by scoring three goals in just 19 seconds. Defenseman Guido Tenesi, center Roy Sommer and winger Hank Taylor comprised the potent trio. The three-goal burst came in the opening period and helped stake the Owls to a 6-0 lead.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1032/4191859-1-eng-US/f0037-102.jpg" title="f0037-10" width="558" height="740"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>kevin McCloskey &hellip; Nets Game-Winners</b></figcaption></div><p>Grand Rapids is slowly responding to the Owls and the IHL brand of hockey, also. The game with Saginaw (a Saturday night) drew over 3,000 fans. On the following Sunday afternoon the Owls drew almost 2,500 fans for a game with red-hot Fort Wayne.</p><p><b>SAGINAW:</b> Unlike the immortal Satchel Paige, the Saginaw Gears are looking back and someone is gaining on them.</p><p>An apparent shoo-in for a second straight North Division title and the overall championship a short time ago, the Gears have seen their once comfortable lead over Fort Wayne slip to five points in the race for the Huber Trophy. Of more concern is the recent surge of Flint which has made the North Division a two-team race again.</p><p>The Gears could win but once in three times&mdash;and weren&rsquo;t very impressive in the lone victory at that. Saginaw nipped Port Huron, 6-5. At one time. Saginaw had a 6-2 lead but almost blew the game.</p><p>The Gears earlier had dropped a 5-3 decision at home to Fort Wayne in a game which also cost them the services of Marcel Comeau. Comeau was struck on the ankle by a flying puck. X-rays revealed no break but Comeau has been out since.</p><p><b>FLINT:</b> A complete turnaround has revived dreams of a division championship in Flint. Following a three-game losing streak which had the mark of a death rattle, the Generals have rebounded with a five-game winningstreak&mdash;three of which came on the road.</p><p>The streak got unexpected impetus from Ted Garvin&rsquo;s Toledo Goaldiggers. After Flint exploded for an 8-0 lead, Garvin pulled his goalie and it was like shooting fish in a barrel from then on. The 16 goals set a new Flint club scoring record. Three players got the three-goal hat trick in the romp&mdash;Mike Clarke, Terry Smith and Dave Hatheway.</p><p>The victory over Toledo was followed by a pair of come-from-behind, one-goal wins at Milwaukee, both by the scores of 6-5.</p><p><b>PORT HURON:</b> A four-game winless streak has dropped the Flags five points behind second-place Flint in the North Division&mdash;and 11 behind leader Saginaw. The week produced just one point&mdash;in a 5-5 tie with Toledo at home. Kalamazoo took a 5-2 verdict from the Flags&mdash;also at home&mdash;and Saginaw choked a late rally just in time to nip the Flags, 6-5, on the road.</p><p><b>KALAMAZOO:</b> Pete Slater says the K-Wings skate better when &ldquo;we don&rsquo;t fight and do that other stuff.&rdquo; A five-point weekend is proof.</p><p>Following successive losses to Toledo (at home) and Grand Rapids (on the road) in games which featured more fights than hockey, the K-Wings settled down to take a rare victory on the road from Port Huron, 5-2, tie Milwaukee 3-3 and beat Toledo in a rematch, 5-2&mdash;both at home.</p><p>Rookie goalie Richard Sevigny was the star of the triumph over Toledo, kicking out 42 of 44 shots. He turned aside 18 without a miss in the second period.</p><p><b>MUSKEGON:</b> The Mohawks, who have been one of the hottest clubs in the league since Christmas (9-6-4) could manage only a split for the week. They won two of three home games while dropping another contest on the road&mdash;at Milwaukee, 2-1.</p><p>The victories came over Port Huron, 31, and Grand Rapids&mdash;a team the Hawks must catch in order to qualify for the IHL&rsquo;s post-season party&mdash;5-1.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0037-10

Komets’ Strong Road Performances Reminding Fans Of Past Champions

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div><p>NEW HAVEN&mdash;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0676/4192047-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="568" height="696"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BILL SHERLOCK&hellip;Hat Trick For RPI</b></figcaption></div><p>With just five games separating them from an undefeated, untied regular season, the Boston University Terriers felt the sting of defeat in the belly of the Yale Whale.</p><p>The Elis rose up and smote BU, 7-5, in a regionally televised game that not only prevented BU from becoming the third Eastern team in modem history to go through a campaign unblemished, but lifted Yale into at least mathematical playoff contention and did wonders for Tim Taylor&rsquo;s rebuilding program.</p><p>As have nearly all BU contests this year, the game was decided in the third period. Deadlocked at 3-3 after two frames, the game first tipped in favor of BU with a Terrier goal in the second minute of play, making it 4-3. Since BU had outscored opponents 58-25 in third periods through the first 20 games, it only seemed a matter of time. Then came a Yale penalty, and the ax hovered.</p><p>But Don Blue beat Brian Durocher on a partial breakaway for a shorthanded tally, and as the game wound down, disbelief turned to hope for Yale. Then within seven seconds it was 6-4. Kirk Bransfield picked up a feed in the slot at 15:03 from Jim MacDonald and blasted it by Durocher. Then Bill Conway bolted down the right wing after the ensuing center ice faceoff, flipped a pass over to Dave Harrington who slipped behind the BU defense, and the senior poked it home.</p><p>Harrington&rsquo;s goal was the winner, but Anders Carlsson added insurance with 2:47 to play as he stickhandled across the blueline, wheeled to center and snapped a wrister from 10 feet inside the zone. Screened by his defense, Durocher could only get a piece of it with his glove, and the rampaging Elis were home free.</p><p>BU managed another goal, but it was too late. Yale had spoiled another unbeaten record&mdash;they last did it 11 seasons ago with a 4-3 overtime triumph over eventual NCAA champion Cornell in Ithaca. The Red finished that season 17-11. Cornell, by the way, now in second place, fell to Yale 3-2 in New Haven earlier in the year, as did fourth place Boston College, 10-7. Clarkson, currently third, is the only team of the top four to have beaten Yale at home, edging them 4-3. Clarkson and Cornell escaped for another year with the honor of being the only teams with unbeaten regular seasons. The Knights did it in 1955-56, Cornell in 1969-70.</p><p>The other goal scorers for Yale were Paul Castraberti, Doug Tingey, and Eddie Kilroy, all freshmen. Another rookie in addition to the nine frosh skaters was goalie Mark Rodrigues, who had played but five games to date but who sizzled with 36 saves.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0767/4192040-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="562" height="631"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>STEVE NAPIER&hellip;Best Goaling Average</b></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0852/4192033-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="1818" height="1220"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RPI freshman defenseman Jack Colucci carries the puck up the ice against a Vermont defender as he helps spark Engineers&rsquo; offense. RPI has been gaining momentum in the ECAC race. The Engineers are 14-8-1 on the season and 8-8 in conference play as they bid for a playoff spot.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by G.M. Dzaman)</span></figcaption></div><p>As prestigious as the win was, it only left Yale at 10-12-1, good enough for 11th spot in the league with two weeks to play. Yale faced the grim prospect of winning all three remaining games, at Providence and home-and-home with Harvard, for a shot at the playoffs. But even if they get nosed out, Yale has still had its best ECAC season in many years and will have plenty to remember over the long, hot summer.</p><p>Elsewhere, the schedulemakers were scrambling to readjust game dates in the wake of blizzard &lsquo;78. Results of major consequence were the playing of the Beanpot Tourney finals on March 1, nearly a month after the first round. RPI escaped playing a Feb. 10 match at BU, since the schools could not get together on a new date. New Hampshire at BC went to Sunday, March 5, just two days before the playoff quarter-finals, while Dartmouth at Providence, a key game in the battle for eighth spot, was moved to March 24. Clarkson at Northeastern wasn&rsquo;t rescheduled, and Harvard and Cornell ended up in a home-and-home set two days apart.</p><p>The ill wind thus blew the most good for RPI, which found itself with five home games to close out the schedule after they thumped St. Lawrence 8-4 in Troy to even their eighth place record at 8-8. It was toughest on the Beanpot squads, other than BU, since BC winds up its season with four league games in six days, Northeastern plays five in eight days, and Harvard, after its two with red hot Cornell, plays three in five days including one at Dartmouth followed the next night by the Beanpot final with BU.</p><p>So the playoff picture shapes up like this: BU, Cornell, and Clarkson are in, probably with home ice, BC, Brown, and New Hampshire are the fourth home ice berth candidates, and since UNH-Brown and UNH-BC are two of the important remaining matches, not all of them are going to lose their remaining four games and slide out of the top eight. RPI could get home ice by winning its remaining games.</p><p>That leaves seven teams to fight it out for two spots: Harvard (9-8, six games left); RPI (8-8, five to go); Dartmouth (910, four left); Providence (8-9-1, five left); Yale (10-12-1, three to go); Vermont (8-11, four left); and Northeastern (7-10-1, six left).</p><p>Vermont can only hope for a road game if they squeeze into the playoffs, and that will be just fine with the Catamounts. Their 8-6 loss to RPI, wherein Engineers Bill Sherlock had three goals and Larry Landon two, made UVM 1-7 in Gutterson Field House against league opponents. They were 7-2 in enemy rinks over the same span.</p><p>Cornell pushed its win skein to 11 with a 6-3 triumph over Brown in Ithaca. The Red&rsquo;s prize freshmen, Roy Kerling and Brock Tredway, are two reasons for the surge from 13th to second. Both have broken Lance Nethery&rsquo;s goal scoring record for frosh, and Tredway doubles as a midfielder on Cornell&rsquo;s fine soccer team. Goaltender Steve Napier is also playing well, with a 2.37 GAA through nine games for the ECAC lead.</p><p>New Hampshire has enjoyed a tighter defense during the second half of the season but was dealt a blow when rookie blueliner Frank Barth cracked a kneecap in practice the week after being named the East&rsquo;s outstanding freshman of the week. He&rsquo;ll be gone for the rest of the year. Jon Fontas is on a tear, with 15 goals in eight games, including a hat trick in an 8-6 loss at Providence and four tallies in a 10-7 defeat at the hands of Clarkson.</p><p>Pennsylvania edged Harvard 4-3 for their third straight win, taking a 3-0 lead and hanging on. Tom Cullity had two goals and goalie Bob Sutton stopped 30 shots. The next night, Dartmouth edged Penn 5-2 while Harvard, sharing the Ivy League road trip with Dartmouth, went over to Princeton and lost 6-3. Dartmouth had beaten the Tigers by the same 6-3 score on Friday.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0038-06

‘Spoiler’ Yale Ends Terrier Dream; Big Red Machine Continues To Roll

<h2><b>College Races</b></h2><h2><b>ECAC CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings On Mon. Feb. 20)</b></p><h2><b>DIVISION I</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01307/4192002-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="599" height="488"></div><h2><b>DIVISION II</b></h2><h2><b>EAST CONFERENCE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02243/4191995-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="594" height="452"></div><h2><b>WEST CONFERENCE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03183/4191988-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="592" height="399"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Cornall 3, RPI 0</b></p><p><b>Vermont 6. St. Lawrence 3</b></p><p><b>Clarkeon 9, Colgate 2</b></p><p><b>Providence 8, New Hampahlre 6</b></p><p><b>Boston University 10, Boston College 5</b></p><p><b>Brown 5, Northeastern 4</b></p><p><b>RPI 8, Vermont 6</b></p><p><b>Clarkson 10, New Hampshire 7</b></p><p><b>Pennsylvania 4, Harvard 3</b></p><p><b>Dartmouth 6, Princeton 3</b></p><p><b>New Hampshire 12, Colgate 4</b></p><p><b>Cornell 6, Brown 3</b></p><p><b>Northeastern 9, Merrimack 2</b></p><p><b>Dartmouth 5, Pennsylvania 2</b></p><p><b>Princeton 6, Harvard 3</b></p><p><b>RPI 8, St. Lawrence 4</b></p><p><b>Yale 7, Boston University 5</b></p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><h2><b>DIVISION I</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04128/4191981-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="593" height="296"></div><h2><b>DIVISION II</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0597/4191974-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="590" height="167"></div><h2><b>WCHA CONFERENCE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01286/4191967-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="590" height="301"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Denver 6, Michigan State 5</b></p><p><b>Denver 6, Michigan State 2</b></p><p><b>Minnesota 3, Wisconsin 2</b></p><p><b>Wisconsin 3, Minnesota 1</b></p><p><b>Michigan Toch 8, North Dakota 4</b></p><p><b>Michigan Toch 7, North Dakota 4</b></p><p><b>Notre Demo 7, Minn-Duluth 3</b></p><p><b>Minn-Duluth 5, Notre Dame 4</b></p><p><b>Michigan 4, Colorado College 3</b></p><p><b>Colorado College 5, Michigan 2</b></p><p><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02209/4191960-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="597" height="543"></div><h2><b>NEW YORK COLLEGES</b></h2><p><b>(Standings On Mon. Feb. 6)</b></p><h2><b>VARSITY CONFERENCE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03157/4191953-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="591" height="248"></div><h2><b>WESTERN CONFERENCE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04132/4191946-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="589" height="219"></div><h2><b>EASTERN CONFERENCE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05103/4191939-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="589" height="241"></div><h2><b>CANADIAN COLLEGES</b></h2><h2><b>CANADA WEST</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0686/4191932-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="580" height="134"></div><h2><b>GREAT PLAINS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0773/4191925-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="576" height="163"></div><h2><b>ONTARIO WEST</b></h2><h2><b>Final Standing</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0866/4191918-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="572" height="166"></div><h2><b>ONTARIO EAST</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0957/4191911-1-eng-US/f0039-092.jpg" title="f0039-09" width="578" height="161"></div><h2><b>ONTARIO CENTRAL</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1051/4191904-1-eng-US/f0039-102.jpg" title="f0039-10" width="576" height="165"></div><h2><b>QUEBEC CONFERENCE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1145/4191897-1-eng-US/f0039-112.jpg" title="f0039-11" width="576" height="161"></div><h2><b>ATLANTIC CONFERENCE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1242/4191890-1-eng-US/f0039-122.jpg" title="f0039-12" width="576" height="244"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0038-01

COLLEGE HOCKEY

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div><p>DENVER&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t wouldn&rsquo;t be that unfitting now if singer John Denver would rededicate his song &ldquo;Rocky Mountain High&rdquo; to Marshall Johnston&rsquo;s Denver University hockey team.</p><p>The Pioneers are the toast of the West after wrapping up the Western Collegiate Hockey Association title with four games to go.</p><p>Denver won the title by sweeping cellar-dwelling Michigan State 6-5 and 6-2 in Denver. The sweep gave Denver a 24-4 league mark with four games to go.</p><p>Should Denver win three of its last four, the Pioneers would finish with the best record ever in the WCHA since the league expanded to 10 teams.</p><p>Wisconsin set the record last year with its 26-5-1 record. But it&rsquo;s in danger now by the red-hot Pioneers, who have made a shambles out of what was expected to be a tight race.</p><p>Perry Schnarr and Mark Falcone each scored twice in the 6-2 win over State that clinched the title for Denver. It marked the ninth time that the Pioneers have won or shared the title but is Denver&rsquo;s first league title since 1973.</p><p>And it all was accomplished under the steadying hand of rookie coach Johnston, who took over this year after Murray Armstrong retired after 22 years at Denver.</p><p>Denver turned into a defensive titan down the stretch. In the last seven games, only Michigan State, the lowest scoring team in the WCHA, managed more than two goals on the Pioneers.</p><p>With the title in Denver&rsquo;s bag, the attention in the league can now be settled on the scramble for second, third and fourth between Wisconsin, Michigan Tech and Minnesota.</p><p>Only five points separate the three teams with four games to go. The top four teams get home-ice in the first round of the league playoffs starting March 10-11.</p><p>After the first round, the two top teams get home-ice for the second round, putting a premium on the scramble for the runnerup spot to Denver.</p><p>Five other teams are still locked in a heated battle to make the playoffs. Colorado College, Notre Dame, Michigan, Duluth and North Dakota all could finish anywhere from fifth to ninth.</p><p>Wisconsin, the champion a year ago, hung onto second by splitting with the Minnesota Gophers in Minneapolis, giving the Badgers three wins in four meetings with the Gophers.</p><p>Once again Mark Johnson was the big gun for Bob Johnson&rsquo;s Badgers.</p><p>The sophomore center, averaging better than a goal a game, scored twice and set up the third goal as Wisconsin beat the Gophers 3-1 in the second game to salvage a split of the series.</p><p>Minnesota had won the opener when defenseman Bill Baker scored off a faceoff 5:38 into overtime to give the Gophers a 3-2 victory.</p><p>Michigan Tech blitzed North Dakota with 15 goals in two games to handle the Sioux in Houghton, Mich. John Haddad and Al Michalich each scored twice in an 8-4 win in the opener with Chris Ferguson chipping in with four assists.</p><p>The second night, Michigan Tech rallied from a 3-1 first period deficit to whip the Sioux 7-4. Seven different players scored goals for the Huskies.</p><p>Notre Dame and Duluth split a series in South Bend, Ind. Greg Meredith and Tom Michalek scored goals 23 seconds apart in the first period to spark Notre Dame to a 7-3 win over Duluth in the opener.</p><p>But the next night, Dave Johnson scored at 4:34 of the third period to break a 4-4 deadlock and lift Duluth over the Irish. Mark Pavelich had two goals and set up the winner for Duluth.</p><p>Dave Debol continues to be about the only bright spot for Dan Ferrell&rsquo;s Michigan Wolverines. He scored two power play goals to tie Kris Manery as Michigan&rsquo;s all-time career goal scorer, but it wasn&rsquo;t enough to prevent a 5-2 loss to Colorado College.</p><p>The previous night, Dan Lerg was an overtime hero for Michigan. He scored 12 minutes into the sudden death session to enable Michigan to nudge Colorado College 4-3. Kip Mauer had two goals for Michigan.</p><p>Wisconsin teammate Johnson and Mike Eaves share the WCHA scoring lead with 58 points. Johnson leads the league in goals scored and Eaves is tops in assists.</p><p>Denver has two of the top three goalies in the WCHA. Injured Ernie Glanville maintained his 2.41 goals-against mark while Jim Bales improved to 3.80 with some sharp play. Wisconsin&rsquo;s Julian Baretta, the top goalie a year ago, has a 3.51 mark to rank second.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1337/4192085-1-eng-US/f0039-132.jpg" title="f0039-13" width="521" height="730"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PERRYSCHNARR</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1433/4192078-1-eng-US/f0039-142.jpg" title="f0039-14" width="518" height="735"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MARSHALL JOHNSTON</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0039-13

Denver Captures Title Sweeping Michigan State

<div class="byline">BY RICHARD JABLONSKI</div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>hree of Canada&rsquo;s five major collegiate athletic associations completed their regular seasons this past week, and have either began or are preparing to begin playoff competition. Regular season schedules have not yet been wrapped up in the Great Plains and Canada West conferences, although the playoff picture in both leagues is fairly well established.</p><p>On Quebec Conference play, simi-finals commenced where the first place Concordia Stingers faced Bishop&rsquo;s Gaiters and the runnerup Trois Rivieres Patnotes met the McGill Redmen in best-of-three series.</p><p>Paul Arsenault&rsquo;s Stingers continued their recent surge with a come-from-behind 8-5 victory over Bishop&rsquo;s at the Gaiters&rsquo; Lennoxville rink. Bishop&rsquo;s led 32 and 5-4 but succumbed to a four-goal third period burst in losing the series opener. The final two games, if necessary, were to be played on the Stingers&rsquo; home ice.</p><p>Kim Elliott, Albert DiFazio and Dwayne Byers scored two goals each to lead Concordia. Steve Gibson and Daniel Vinet added singles, as the Stingers barraged Bishop&rsquo;s All Star goaltender Andre Paradis with 45 shots. Dave Douesnard and Ken Knowles each notched a pair of goals for the Gaiters, who managed 31 shots of their own. Terry Perras rounded out the Bishop&rsquo;s scoring.</p><p>In Montreal, the eighth ranked Patriotes of Trois Rivieres received outstanding goaltending from Daniel Coutu in downing McGill 4-2. Coutu was particularly effective during a hectic third period, when the Redmen mounted a 14-shot assault.</p><p>Claude Huard, Normand Vanasse, Pierre Duval and Bernard Noreau did the scoring for Trois Rivieres. John Swan and Mike Bradley responded for McGill, which faced the nearly impossible task of taking the next two games on the Patriotes&rsquo; ice in order to qualify for the league finals.</p><p>In other news, the QUAA announced its All Star teams. Among those honored were goaltender Paradis and defenseman Knowles of Bishop&rsquo;s, forwards Elliott of Concordia, Bernard Chamberland and Daniel Dufresne of Chicoutimi, Huard and Pierre Gingras of Trois Rivieres, and forward Swan, defenseman Dave Mendelssohn and goaltender Al Smith of McGill. Ron Perowne of Bishop&rsquo;s was selected as coach of the year with Normand Meunier of Trois Rivieres as runnerup.</p><p>Pre-playoff exhibition action saw Concordia upset top ranked Toronto 4-2 on the Blues&rsquo; home ice. The victory means that Concordia has now defeated the top three teams in Canada, Toronto, Alberta and St. Mary&rsquo;s this season.</p><p>In the Ontario Conference, several races went right down to the final week of the season, but the eight playoff teams have now been determined. Two teams from the league&rsquo;s Central Division join three teams from both the Eastern and Western Divisions in comprising the OUAA&rsquo;s final eight.</p><p>Laurentian had to defeat Guelph in order to slip into third place in the Eastern Division. The Voyageurs prevailed 7-1, and thereby eliminated the Queen&rsquo;s Golden Gales from post-season consideration. Laurentian, powerful Toronto and York will represent their division in the playoffs. Toronto is led by the high-scoring duo of Doug Caines and Cary Farelli. Caines&rsquo; 30 goals was tops in the province.</p><p>Waterloo needed four points in two games in order to qualify for a playoff berth in the Western Division. The Warriors came up with a win and a tie (against the nationally ranked Western Mustangs) and so missed catching third place Windsor by a point. Laurier, Western and Windsor are the Western Division&rsquo;s three playoff bound teams.</p><p>McMaster and Ryerson, on the basis of their 1-2 finish in the Central Division, will also see post-season action.</p><p>The OUAA quarter-final matchups will be Laurentian at York, with the Yeomen a slight favorite, Ryerson at Toronto, a potential rout, McMaster at Laurier in another seeming mismatch, and Windsor at Western.</p><p><b>THE MARITIMES</b>: After a season full of upsets and a tight five team race, the Atlantic conference has finally been narrowfed down to four teams: St. Mary&rsquo;s, St. Francix Xavier, UPEI and Moncton. Two best of three semi-final series get under way this week, matching St. Mary&rsquo;s and Moncton and St. FX and UPEI.</p><p>The only game this week which was of any significance to the playoff scene took place at Charlottetown, P.E.I., where the host panthers knocked off the Moncton Aigles Bleu 6-2 in a battle for third place in the association. Shane Turner and Ken Burton led the UPEI attack with two goals apiece.</p><p>Elsewhere, the St. Mary&rsquo;s Huskies rounded into playoff form with a 9-0 rout of the Acadia Axemen. Goaltenders Tim Cuppedge and Steve Davies shared the shutout and ran their string of scoreless minutes to 195.</p><p>The playoff picture appears to be well-defined. St. Mary&rsquo;s rates as a solid favorite over Moncton, while St. FX should be able to handle UPEI, which is without the high-scoring Dave Cameron. Should Moncton somehow win the AUAA title, the second place team from the conference would then be designated as the host team at the CIAU championships. One way or another, the Aigles Bleu will be participants in the collegiate playoffs.</p><p><b>GREAT PLAINS</b>: The 10th-ranked Regina Cougars continue to lead the GPAC race, sporting a two-point, two-game edge over the Lakehead Norwesters.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Canadian College Races Near End

<h2><b><i>Ontario League Scoring</i></b></h2><h3><b>HAMILTON</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01167/4192217-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="588" height="504"></div><h3><b>KINGSTON</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02100/4192210-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="594" height="489"></div><h3><b>KITCHENER</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0361/4192203-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="592" height="413"></div><h3><b>LONDON</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0441/4192196-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="601" height="417"></div><h3><b>NIAGARA FALLS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0531/4192189-1-eng-US/f0040-052.jpg" title="f0040-05" width="594" height="409"></div><h3><b>OSHAWA</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0625/4192182-1-eng-US/f0040-062.jpg" title="f0040-06" width="586" height="381"></div><h3><b>OTTAWA</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0721/4192175-1-eng-US/f0040-072.jpg" title="f0040-07" width="587" height="412"></div><h3><b>PETERBOROUGH</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0817/4192168-1-eng-US/f0040-082.jpg" title="f0040-08" width="598" height="415"></div><h3><b>SAULT STE. MARIE</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0914/4192161-1-eng-US/f0040-092.jpg" title="f0040-09" width="596" height="348"></div><h3><b>SUDBURY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1014/4192154-1-eng-US/f0040-102.jpg" title="f0040-10" width="590" height="354"></div><h3><b>TORONTO</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1113/4192147-1-eng-US/f0040-112.jpg" title="f0040-11" width="589" height="328"></div><h3><b>WINDSOR</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1211/4192140-1-eng-US/f0040-122.jpg" title="f0040-12" width="593" height="408"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0040-01

ONTARIO MAJOR HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY RICHARD PROCTOR</div><p>SUDBURY&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>R</span>ing out the new and bring in the old was the theme adopted last week by Sudbury Wolves management. Owner Bud Burke decided to dismiss Bep Guidolin&mdash;a man he&rsquo;d hired only three months earlier. In Guidolin&rsquo;s place. Burke inserted Marcel Clements who used to coach the Wolves when they played in the Northern Ontario Hockey Association.</p><p>Clements becomes the third Wolves coach this season and the fourth in the past 12 months. Burke, who has announced he wants to sell the team and doesn&rsquo;t expect to be back next year, defended his latest manoeuvre.</p><p>&ldquo;The players just wouldn&rsquo;t put out for Bep He&rsquo;s a heckuva pro coach but they wouldn&rsquo;t skate or hit&rdquo; Guidolin said he expected the announcement, even though Burke told a board of directors meeting last month that the team&rsquo;s last place standing had nothing to do with the coaching.</p><p>&ldquo;They can&rsquo;t seem to accept the fact that they didn&rsquo;t draft well last year. We had a young goalie (Jim Sidwell) and a young defense and they couldn&rsquo;t carry us. The players would tell me that we lacked bench strength,&rdquo; Guidolin said.</p><p>Part of Burke&rsquo;s decision to bring in Clements appears to be a hunch which goes back to the NOHA days.</p><p>&ldquo;Our rivalry with Sault Greyhounds goes back many years and Marcel has a great lifetime record against the Sault.&rdquo; Sudbury has two games remaining against the Sault and Burke feels those games will be the key to the playoffs. Wolves trail the Hounds by four points with both teams having 11 games remaining.</p><p>Under Clements, Wolves responded with a 4-2 upset over the Ottawa 67s. But Guidolin won his first three and tied one when he replaced Noel Price on Nov. 16.</p><p>Greyhounds still haven&rsquo;t decided who will replace Muzz MacPherson. Angelo</p><p>Bumbacco continues to act as coach in addition to his GM duties. Last week the Greyhounds defeated Kitchener 7-5 before Ottawa scored five in the third to rout them 9-2.</p><p>Doug Shedden won his court case allowing him to play for the Kitchener Rangers. In his decision to grant an injunction, Mr. Justice R.F. Reid said: &ldquo;The dispute here is really between the members of the league&rsquo;s board of governors and between them and their commissioner &hellip; the player (Sheddeni is a third party to it he is merely the bone over which his masters contend.&rdquo;</p><p>Despite the decision, Shedden didn&rsquo;t play in two games because Rangers management was trying to obtain a letter of permission from Guelph of the Tier II circuit. But Shedden was in the lineup Feb. 21 against Kingston, still without any formal permission from Guelph. After being traded to Kitchener from Hamilton in Dec., the board of governors decided not to allow Shedden to play major junior this year because he was a first-round draft pick and the league&rsquo;s bylaws prohibit trading first round selections.</p><p><b>OTTAWA:</b> Elsewhere in the Leyden Division, Ottawa began an extensive road stand in fine fashion with their big win against the Greyhounds. Steve Payne scored five goals&mdash;the second time he&rsquo;s accomplished that this season. Bob Smith had one goal and five assists to open up a 10-point lead over Wayne Gretzky atop the scoring race. Before leaving on a road trip that keeps them out of the Civic Centre for one month, Ottawa tied London and edged Niagara Falls 7-5. Ottawa&rsquo;s 4-2 defeat by Sudbury keeps Peterborough within shouting distance of the 67s. Ottawa leads the Petes by six points with two games in hand.</p><p><b>PETERBOROUGH:</b> With a home-ice tie against the Flyers and impressive road wins in Windsor and Toronto, the Petes are undefeated in their last eight games.</p><p>That has been accomplished despite the absence of defenseman Paul MacKinnon, a first-team All Star who has been sidelined with a leg injury. Petes scored three goals in both the first and third period to bomb the Marlies, 8-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens. Typical of the Pets play, they had goals from seven different scorers. Chris Halyk, who started the season with Brantford Junior Bs, was the only Petes player to score twice.</p><p>In Windsor, Petes snapped the Spitfires six-game home ice streak with an 8-4 win. Keith Acton led the way with three goals and Halyk added another pair.</p><p><b>OSHAWA:</b> The Generals kept pace with an undefeated week and five of six points. Both their home ice-victories were impressive wins&mdash;5-2 over London and 5-4 over Hamilton, ending Fincups 10-game undefeated streak. Generals had goals from John Liprando, Diego Odino, Mike Pidgeon. Jim Jackson and Stelio Zupancich against Hamilton Tom McCarthy, the first player drafted last year, had an assist and has managed at least one point in each of his last 32 games.</p><p>Generals remain solidly in third place in the division and, with their tenacity at home, will be difficult to get by in the playoffs.</p><p><b>KINGSTON:</b> Jim Morrison got his Canadians back on the right track and they emerged with four points in eight games. After being blown out of three consecutive games in the first period, Canadians battled Hamilton to a 2-2 tie, not an easy feat in the Mount Hamilton arena. They tied Oshawa 8-8 at home before splitting home-ice appearances with a 5-4 loss to London and a 3-2 win over Kitchener.</p><p>Morrison said the improvement resulted from a return to basics.&ldquo;We just never got into three games, but against Hamilton, the team played well and more our style. Mike Gillis, who has played less than half the season because of injuries, returned but as a defenseman in place of Brian Crombeen who is injured.</p><p>Gillis and Tony McKegney scored for Kingston in Hamilton. Against Kitchener, Canadians got goals from Gary McMonagle, Barry McQuaid and Pete Cooney to nip the Rangers.</p><p>With its improved play, Canadians should have no trouble finishing in fourth place and would meet either Sudbury or the Sault in the opening round of the playoffs.</p><p>The Emms Division is emerging as a dog fight with Windsor, Hamilton and London all capable of finishing first. Spitfires continue to lead by a single point over London. But the Fincups are only five points behind with five games in hand.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-139/4192248-1-eng-US/f0040-132.jpg" title="f0040-13" width="565" height="697"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BEP GUIDOLIN &hellip; Players Didn&rsquo;t Respond</b></figcaption></div><p><b>WINDSOR:</b> Last week the Spitfires split games, defeating Toronto 5-2 at home but losing to Peterborough 8-4.</p><p>Wes Jarvis was the sparkplug against the Marlies with two goals and two assists. John Kibyuk, Joey Gallant and Gerry Leroux added singles.</p><p><b>LONDON:</b> The Knights had a tough week and emerged in good shape sliding past the Fincups into second spot, the two teams traded ties and the Knights had a third tie against the 67s in Ottawa. The Generals beat them 5-2 in Oshawa but London rebounded with a 5-4 win in Kingston. In that game, Dino Ciccarelli set up all five Knights goals, giving him 55 goals and 55 assists for the season, good enough for third place in the scoring derby.</p><p><b>HAMILTON:</b> Fincups were fit to be tied all week. Twice they deadlocked with London and a third with Kingston. In their fourth game, Oshawa edged them 5-4.</p><p>Bert Templeton&rsquo;s team continues to stress defense. They have nobody close to leading the league in scoring but both goalies&mdash;Rick Walmsley and Al Jensen&mdash;are 1-2 in goals-against. Fincups have allowed only 169 goals in 52 games, a sparkling 3.2 average.</p><p><b>KITCHENER:</b> Splitting four games was good enough for the Rangers to move ahead of Toronto into fourth place. One of their two wins was against Toronto, 6-4, as trades Rangers made earlier paid off. John Walker, Jody Gage, and defensemen Bruce McKay and Brian McDavid have all been added to the Rangers&rsquo; lineup since the season began and they each scored a goal.</p><p>Rangers split their northern games, losing 7-5 in the Sault and crushing Sudbury 8-2 in Guidolin&rsquo;s last appearance there as coach Doug Sulliman, Gage, Walker, Dan McCafferty and Don Maloney scored in the Sault.</p><p><b>TORONTO:</b> The nightmare is finally over for George Armstrong and his Marlboros. After seven consecutive defeats and winless in nine games, the slump ended with a hard-earned 6-3 win over the Flyers in Niagara Falls.</p><p>It was no coincidence that the play of two centers, Gary Dillon and Rob Garner, contributed substantially to Toronto&rsquo;s 18th win of the season. Dillon scored three goals and Gamer added two as both players reached the 30-goal plateau. Scott McGeown scored his 10th on a wicked drive from the blueline.</p><p>Before that, Toronto lost to Windsor, Peterborough and Kitchener as the team continued to play wretched hockey, especially in the first period.</p><p><b>NIAGARA FALLS:</b> Most team think of home ice as an advantage but not the Flyers. They haven&rsquo;t won a game at home since Dec. 16 and are 0-7-4 in that stretch. Marlie Rob Gamer thinks he has the answer. &ldquo;Flyers have some excellent skaters&mdash;Mike Gartner especially&mdash;and I think they need a bigger ice surface.&rdquo; It also doesn&rsquo;t help that the ice at the Memorial Arena is one of the worst sheets in the league, according to Gamer.</p><p>Flyers only point in three games came in Peterborough on a 4-4 tie.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0040-13

Hounds Beater’ Clements Will Guide Wolves

<h2><b>AMERICAN LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 17)</b></p><h3><b>NORTH DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01133/4192363-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="599" height="139"></div><h3><b>SOUTH DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0279/4192356-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="591" height="190"></div><p><b>(*-Disbanded operations)</b></p><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Mon. Feb. 20</b></p><p>Philadelphia 3 at Maine 6</p><p><b>Tue. Feb. 21</b></p><p>Hershey 2 at Nova Scotia 2</p><p><b>Wed. Feb. 22</b></p><p>Hershey 3 at New Haven 7</p><p>Springfield 3 at Philadelphia 6</p><p><b>Thu. Feb. 23</b></p><p>Maine 0 at Nova Scotia 5</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 24</b></p><p>Hershey 6 at Binghamton 3</p><p>Maine 2 at Nova Scotia 1</p><p>New Haven 7 at Rochester 8</p><p>Philadelphia 6 at Springfield 3</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 25</b></p><p>Now Haven 1 at Hershey 7</p><p>Maine 5 at Nova Scotia 4</p><p>Binghamton 4 at Philadelphia 2</p><p>Rochester 5 at Springfield 4</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 26</b></p><p>Now Haven 4 at Binghamton 4</p><p>Maine 2 at Hershey 3</p><p>Springfield 3 at Rochester 9</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0354/4192349-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="596" height="571"></div><h2><b>GOALING RECORDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0443/4192342-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="584" height="463"></div><h2><b>CENTRAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tue. Feb. 28)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0535/4192335-1-eng-US/f0041-052.jpg" title="f0041-05" width="595" height="167"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tue. Feb. 21</b></p><p>Kansas City 0 at Tulsa 2</p><p><b>Wed. Feb. 22</b></p><p>Kansas City 5 at Fort Worth 6</p><p>Dallas 5 at Salt Lake 3</p><p><b>Thu. Feb. 23</b></p><p>Tulsa 3 at Kansas City 1</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 24</b></p><p>Tulss 3 st Fort Worth 4</p><p>Dsllss 4 st Sslt Laks 1</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 25</b></p><p>Dsllss 3 st Fort Worth 2</p><p>Tulss 6 st Salt Lake 5</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 26</b></p><p>Dallas 3 at Kansas City 5</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0629/4192328-1-eng-US/f0041-062.jpg" title="f0041-06" width="596" height="473"></div><h2><b>GOAUNG RECORDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0726/4192321-1-eng-US/f0041-072.jpg" title="f0041-07" width="589" height="316"></div><h2><b>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tue. Feb. 28)</b></p><h3><b>NORTH DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0824/4192314-1-eng-US/f0041-082.jpg" title="f0041-08" width="584" height="162"></div><h3><b>SOUTH DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0918/4192307-1-eng-US/f0041-092.jpg" title="f0041-09" width="580" height="132"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Mon. Feb. 20</b></p><p>Milwaukee 1 at Kalamazoo 4</p><p><b>Tue. Feb. 21</b></p><p>Milwaukee 1 at Toledo 4</p><p><b>Wed. Feb. 22</b></p><p>Kalamazoo 4 at Fort Wayne 1</p><p>Flint 2 at Grand Rapids 6</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 24</b></p><p>Toledo 6 at Muskegon 2</p><p>Milwsukee 3 at Port Huron 4</p><p>Saginaw 6 at Flint 4</p><p>Fort Wayne 3 at Kalamazoo 8</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 25</b></p><p>Milwaukee 5 at Fort Wayne 2</p><p>Port Huron 3 at Muskegon 2</p><p>Kalamazoo 6 at Grand Rapids 4</p><p>Flint 4 at Saginaw 12</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 26</b></p><p>Grand Rapids 4 st Fort Wsyne 5</p><p>Toledo 3 st Port Huron 6</p><p>Kalamazoo 4 at Flint 4</p><p>Muskegon 5 st Ssginsw 4</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-1017/4192300-1-eng-US/f0041-102.jpg" title="f0041-10" width="590" height="489"></div><h2><b>GOALING RECORDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-1117/4192293-1-eng-US/f0041-112.jpg" title="f0041-11" width="593" height="785"></div><h2><b>PACIFIC HOCKEY LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings On Fri. Feb. 24)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-1212/4192286-1-eng-US/f0041-122.jpg" title="f0041-12" width="592" height="140"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tue. Feb. 14</b></p><p>Sen Francisco 4 st Ssn Diego 3</p><p><b>Wed. Feb. 15</b></p><p>San Diego 7 at San Francisco 6</p><p>Long Beach 7 at Phoenix 3</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 17</b></p><p>San Diego 1 at Long Beach 5</p><p>San Francisco 3 st Phoenix 8</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 18</b></p><p>Long Beach 1 at San Diogo 2</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 19</b></p><p>Phoenix 7 at Long Beach 1</p><p>San Diego 4 at San Francisco 3</p><p><b>Wed. Feb. 22</b></p><p>San Diogo 7 at Long Beach 3</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-138/4192279-1-eng-US/f0041-132.jpg" title="f0041-13" width="593" height="552"></div><h2><b>Who They&rsquo;re Affiliated With&hellip;</b></h2><h3><b>NHL TEAMS</b></h3><p><b>1 &mdash;</b> Montreal</p><p><b>2 &mdash;</b> Chicago</p><p><b>3 &mdash;</b> Boston</p><p><b>4 &mdash;</b> Rangers</p><p><b>5 &mdash;</b> Detroit</p><p><b>6 &mdash;</b> Toronto</p><p><b>7 &mdash;</b> Philadelphia</p><p><b>8 &mdash;</b> Los Angeles</p><p><b>9 &mdash;</b> St. Louis</p><p><b>10 &mdash;</b> Minnesota</p><p><b>11 &mdash;</b> Pittsburgh</p><p><b>12 &mdash;</b> Islanders</p><p><b>13 &mdash;</b> Vancouver</p><p><b>14 &mdash;</b> Buffalo</p><p><b>15 &mdash;</b> Atlanta</p><p><b>16 &mdash;</b> Cleveland</p><p><b>17 &mdash;</b> Colorado</p><p><b>18 &mdash;</b> Washington</p><p><b>WHATEAMS</b></p><p><b>19 &mdash;</b> New England</p><p><b>20 &mdash;</b> Quebec</p><p><b>21 &mdash;</b> Winnipeg</p><p><b>22 &mdash;</b> Houston</p><p><b>23 &mdash;</b> Indianapolis</p><p><b>24 &mdash;</b> Edmonton</p><p><b>25 &mdash;</b> Cincinnati</p><p><b>26 &mdash;</b> Birmingham</p><p><b>INTER-LEAGUE</b></p><p><b>27 &mdash;</b> Boston (NHL) & St. Louis (NHL)</p><p><b>28 &mdash;</b> Montreal (NHL) & Atlanta (NHL)</p><p><b>29 &mdash;</b> Pittsburgh (NHL) & Houston (WHA)</p><p><b>30 &mdash;</b> Washington (NHL) & Buffalo (NHL)</p><p><b>31 &mdash;</b> Independent</p><p><b>33 &mdash;</b> Los Angeles (NHL) & New England (WHA)</p><p><b>35 &mdash;</b> Chicago (NHL) & Toronto (NHL)</p><p><b>36 &mdash;</b> Vancouver (NHL) & Atlanta (NHL)</p><p><b>37 &mdash;</b> Islanders (NHL) & Minnesota (NHL)</p><p><b>40 &mdash;</b> Detroit (NHL) & Atlanta (NHL)</p><p><b>41 &mdash;</b> St. Louis (TNHL) & Washington (NHL)</p><p><b>42 &mdash;</b> Chicago (NHL) & Colorado (NHL)</p><p><b>43 &mdash;</b> Vancouver (NHL) & Minnesota (NHL)</p><p><b>44 &mdash;</b> Buffalo (NHL) & Philadelphia (NHL)</p><p><b>45 &mdash;</b> Islanders (NHL) & Atlanta (NHL)</p><p><b>46 &mdash;</b> Rangers (NHL) & Cleveland (NHL)<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0041-01

Looking At The Minor League Scoreboard

<div class="byline">BY BRUCE PENTON</div><p>NEW WESTMINSTER&mdash;</p><p>If New Westminster Bruins are going to have any hope at all for their fourth consecutive Western Canada Hockey League championship, they&rsquo;re going to have to earn a playoff berth without the brilliance behind the bench of coach Ernie McLean.</p><p>McLean, recognized in many circles as Canada&rsquo;s top major Junior A coach, was slapped with a 25-game suspension in mid-February for his alleged &lsquo;punch&rsquo; on referee John Fitzgerald during a game in Portland.</p><p>McLean at first said he would appeal the suspension, but later said he would abide by WCHL president Ed Chynoweth&rsquo;s edict, and handed over the coaching reins of the struggling Bruins to assistant coach Doug Sauter.</p><p>Sauter will continue to coach Abbotsford of the B.C. Junior Hockey League (Tier II), the Bruins&rsquo; top affiliate.</p><p>The length of the suspension was timely. At the time of the announcement of McLean&rsquo;s punishment, the Bruins had but 25 regular-season games to play.</p><p>McLean denied hitting Fitzgerald, saying he knew what happened, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;m not going to say because I don&rsquo;t want to get any player involved.&rdquo;</p><p>Fitzgerald, though, was quoted as saying: &ldquo;I got punched&mdash;by the coach.&rdquo;</p><p>Bruins lost the game in Portland, 5-3, coming back from a 4-1 first-period deficit (when the alleged incident oc-cured) to make a close game of it.</p><p>McLean said that while he feels his suspension is unjustified, it may have two positive effects on his team.</p><p>&ldquo;Number one, I hope it stirs up our hockey club,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a string of crucial games coming up, and I hope the kids realize how important all the games are now.</p><p>&ldquo;Secondly, hopefully the league is now aware about what a bad situation we have in some cities where local people are refereeing the games. There&rsquo;s no way the league should have assigned a local official (Fitzgerald) to do an important game like we had in Portland. And the fact Fitzgerald is normally only a linesman makes it more ridiculous.&rdquo;</p><p>Chynoweth, in making the announcement, called the suspension the stiffest in his five-year career as WCHL president.</p><p>&ldquo;Our league has long been accused of protecting either our coaches or more particularly, owner-coaches, but there is no way one coach or one franchise is bigger than the league,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>&ldquo;I can live with the so-called violence on ice, as projected by the media, but when it comes to our officials, qualified or unqualified, I look at things much differently.&rdquo;</p><p>McLean&rsquo;s hopes for a turn-around by his team, currently five points out of the final playoff spot in the West Division, didn&rsquo;t seem to have much merit.</p><p>After a 4-2 victory over Brandon, the Bruins lost an 8-5 home slugfest to Billings and split a home-and-home series with Seattle, losing 4-1 on the road and winning 4-2 at home.</p><p><b>PORTLAND:</b> Wayne Babych had the Winter Hawks&rsquo; biggest single-game outburst of the season, rifling in five goals in a 6-2 road victory over Victoria. Paul Mulvey, who set up three of Babych&rsquo;s goals, scored three himself in his team&rsquo;s next start, an 11-5 ambush of Flin Flon. Doug Lecuyer also tallied three times, while Dale Yakiwchuk and Brent Peterson had nine assists between them. Dave Ross scored a couple to give him 30. Hawks lost a big one at home, though, 8-3 to Brandon, the team many people are saying they&rsquo;ll meet in the WCHL final.</p><p><b>SEATTLE:</b> Errol Rausse duplicated Babych&rsquo;s five-goal performance, but no other Breaker could score in the game and Billings walked out of Seattle with an 8-5 victory. Earlier, Ron Kolman scored with two seconds showing on the clock to salvage a 4-4 draw with Brandon, and Ryan Walter&rsquo;s two goals paved the way past New Westminster, 4-1. Seattle did suffer a loss, though, 4-2 in New West, but remained five points ahead of the fourth-place Bruins in the West.</p><p><b>VICTORIA:</b> After just one loss on a nine-game road trip, the Cougars went home and unexpectedly lost two of three. The lone win was 8-2 over Billings, as Curt Fraser fired three goals. Cougars lost 6-2 to Portland in a game in which rookie George Fritz tallied his 25th, and were beaten 4-2 by Brandon. Still, their road surge gave them enough breathing room to hold on to second place.</p><p><b>CALGARY:</b> Goalie Warren Skorodenski, a 17-year-old rookie with a bright future, was the talk of the torral after blanking Saskatoon 5-0 with a 28-stop performance. It was his, and his team&rsquo;s, first shutout of the year. Rookie Jerry Wilson&rsquo;s first two goals of the year provided almost half the offense. But the Wranglers lost their other two games, 6-4 at home to Flin Flon despite Darryl Erickson&rsquo;s two goals, and 6-2 in Medicine Hat, the team they have to beat out for the final playoff spot in the Central Division. At week&rsquo;s end, Calgary was one point back of the Tigers.</p><p><b>MEDICINE HAT:</b> &ldquo;We seem to play okay, but we don&rsquo;t win enough,&rdquo; said coach Vic Stasiuk after his team had been outscored 25-24 in five games, yet picked up just one win and one tie. The Tigers beat arch-rival Calgary 6-2 to open the week as Merlin Malinowski, Jim Nill, and Cal Halasz each scored twice, and tied Flin Flon 4-4 behind Nill&rsquo;s hat trick before losing three straight on the road, two by one goal. Rookie Curt Broadhead got his second hat trick of the year, Nill scored twice to give him 30 goals and Malinowski set up a pair to reach the 100-point mark, but the Tigers lost 9-8 to Saskatoon Blades. Later Malinowski notched his 40th goal in a 4-3 defeat in Regina before the Tigers went into Brandon and lost 6-3.</p><p><b>LETHBRIDGE:</b> The Broncos snapped their three-game home-ice losing streak with a 9-7 triumph over Flin Flon, as All Star center Steve Tambellini scored his 55th goal of the year and set up Rod Gui-mont for three others. Defenseman John Scammel had a big game with three assists while Dean Solheim proved to coach Howie Yanosik that he has recovered from his January appendectomy, scoring a pair. Still, the Broncos&rsquo; first-place lead in the Central Division was shaved to one point by the highflying Billings Bighorns.</p><p><b>BILLINGS:</b> The Bighorns are the only team to date with a perfect record in Queen&rsquo;s Park Arena, home of New Westminster Bruins. An 8-5 victory, led by Blake Sullivan&rsquo;s two goals, giving him 26 on the year, and Harvie Pocza&rsquo;s three assists, gave the Bighorns a sweep of their two-game series in Queen&rsquo;s Park. The game was marred by a benchclearing brawl after Billings went ahead 7-3 in the third period. The Bighorns followed that up with an 8-2 loss in Victoria, but rebounded to beat Errol Rausse and Seattle 8-5, as defenseman Dan Earley scored two goals in a game for the first time this season. Brent Gogal became the first WCHLer to pass the 400-minute mark.</p><p><b>REGINA:</b> The Pats should have saved a few goals from their 14-4 win over Saskatoon for the next time they played the Blades. As Regina coach Lorne Davis had cautioned, the Blades came back flying the next game, over-coming a 3-0 midgame deficit to eke out a 4-3 win in Regina. In the 14-4 laugher, Gerry Minor had six points (three of each), defenseman Trevor Bowering doubled his seasonal goal output with a pair, Gerry Galloway hit the 45-goal mark and added four assists, and Dirk Graham scored twice to give him 40 for the season. Minor later went over the 100-point mark with a goal and an assist as the Pats edged Medicine Hat 4-3.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01131/4192394-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="576" height="851"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>WAYNE BABYCH &hellip; 5 Wasn&rsquo;t Enough</b></figcaption></div><p><b>SASKATOON:</b> It was a strange week for new coach Gary Peters and the Blades, who were outscored 30-17 in four games yet managed a split. They lost 14-4 to Regina and 5-0 to Calgary, but sandwiched in 9-8 and 4-3 wins over Medicine Hat and Regina respectively to make it a .500 week. Wes George&rsquo;s goal with just over two minutes to play capped a four-goal rally by the Blades in their 4-3 win over the Pats. The line of George-Ken Federko and Dan Erickson hit for 14 points in the high-scoring win over Medicine Hat, a game in which rookie Wayne Merkel scored a hat trick.</p><p><b>BRANDON:</b> The Wheat Kings returned from their most successful road trip in recent history (a 5-1-1 record) to double Medicine Hat 6-3 as defenseman Brad McCrimmon figured in five goals and center Bill Derlago notched his 60th goal of the year, tops in the league. The biggest road win was in Portland, where Derlago scored three times en route to an 8-3 triumph.</p><p><b>FLIN FLON:</b> The Bombers fell 10 points back of Eastern Division-leading Brandon, getting three of a possible eight points to start their second road trip of the year. Kelly Davis&rsquo; short-handed goal at 18:26 of the third capped a Bomber comeback as they earned a 4-4 tie in Medicine Hat, and two goals each by Davis and Glenn Hicks (Nos. 44 and 45) propelled Mickey Keating&rsquo;s boys past Calgary 6-4. Keating was thrown out of that game and later suspended for three games and fined $750 for breaking a stick against the penalty-box glass.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0042-01

McLean Sitdown Dims Bruins’ Hopes; Wheaties Fly With Derlago’s Return

<p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><p>LONG BEACH &mdash;</p><p>It took nearly three weeks to finalize the sale, but the Long Beach Sharks&mdash;heretofore fighting for survival in an area saturated with major league attractions&mdash;are wearing a new optimistic look.</p><p>Orest Hershick of Calgary, along with three other Albertans, are the Pacific Hockey League&rsquo;s newest franchise holders, purchasing the club Feb. 24 from a group headed by James Browitt.</p><p>Ted McCaskill will continue as coach, while Browitt will work with the new owners as a consultant.</p><p>Filling the role of general manager is Biff Reddin, a veteran hockey man formerly active in Canadian junior ranks, the Calgary Cowboys of the WHA and the NHL&rsquo;s Minnesota North Stars.</p><p>Through 10 games at the Long Beach Arena, the Sharks were averaging a mere 2,349 despite heavy promotional efforts. The feeling persists, however, that with a sustained promotion program the franchise can succeed, and the new ownership has the resources to carry out such a program.</p><p>Negotiations for the sale were handled by PHL president Peter Graham of San Diego and Dennis Murphy, who, along with Jerry Saperstein of Miami, represents the major ownership of the PHL&rsquo;s San Francisco franchise.</p><p>At the time of the sale, the Sharks were in the custody of the league.</p><p>The new ownership, in addition to Hershick, includes other Calgarians Earl Lyons, Daryl Cockz and Dale Cockz.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01134/4192425-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="521" height="737"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BOB SAUVE &hellip; Leading Mariners</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s just too much potential here for this franchise not to succeed,&rdquo; said Hershick. &ldquo;It&rsquo;ll work.&rdquo;</p><p>The Sharks, after winning four of five and climbing into third place in the four team PHL, dropped three in a row. They hit rock bottom Feb. 22 when only 966&mdash;the PHL&rsquo;s worst turnout of the season&mdash;showed up for a 7-3 shellacking at the hands of San Diego.</p><p>The Shark situation, fortunately, was not reflective of the league as a whole.</p><p>The Phoenix Roadrunners, five nights earlier, pulled in a league high 7,544 for an 8-3 trouncing of San Francisco. That total gave Phoenix an average of 4,413 through 13 home dates, while the Shamrocks in San Francisco were next in line with 4,301 through 13 games.</p><p>After nine weeks of action, Phoenix and San Francisco still shared the league lead with 27 points, while the new-look San Diego Mariners&mdash;who for awhile were going nowhere&mdash;were starting to close in.</p><p>After going winless in six games, the Mariners cleaned house in the playing ranks, bringing in four new faces in the persons of Claude Chartre, Bill Reed, Kelly Pratt and Paul O&rsquo;Neil. Their contribution was immediately felt, launching the club on a streak that produced four wins in five starts.</p><p>During the stretch, Chartre, late of the defunct Hampton Gulls, produced five goals, Pratt three, including an overtime game winner in San Francisco and O&rsquo;Neil two.</p><p>Meanwhile, Bob Sauve and Bob Sicinski remained the club&rsquo;s top point producers, with 33 and 29 respectively.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve now got the balance and scoring punch to compete with Phoenix and San Francisco,&rdquo; said GM Bob Paine. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a good chance we could win it all.&rdquo;</p><p>The PHL scoring race, however, was still strictly a Phoenix affair, with veteran Frank Hughes, Jim Montgomery and Mike Will holding the top three positions. In order, they had produced 20, 16 and 21 goals, while defenseman Rick Newell was the league&rsquo;s assist leader along with Hughes at 25.</p><p>All was not joy in the Roadrunner ranks, however.</p><p>Defenseman Jim Niekamp was declared lost for the season following an auto accident when he crashed his van and suffered a broken pelvis and massive internal injuries.</p><p>The mishap came enroute home Feb. 17 following the Roadrunner&rsquo;s 83 bombing of San Francisco.</p><p>Niekamp, one of five Americans on the Phoenix roster and a 13-year veteran of the hockey wars, is recuperating well.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0043-01

Alberta Purchasers Acquire Sharks

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0296/4192456-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="831" height="917"></div><h2>The Backhand Shot</h2><p>Backhand shots are usually opportunity moves; quick shots from a teammate&rsquo;s pass or a loose puck picked up from a broken play.</p><p>The illustration shows the correct position of your body, legs and the puck on the stick. Your weight should shift to the front leg, the stick well back of the front leg to let you put body weight into the shot. And the puck should be on the heel of the blade so you get the weight of the stick and your arms into the drive.</p><p>Note that the front skate is square to the play so you won&rsquo;t slide with the weight shift from back leg to front.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0043-02

Hockey for Minors

<div class="byline">BY DANNY YOUNG</div><p>VERDUN&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>R</span>oland Salois is known as one of the premier scouts in the Quebec Major Junior League, but what&rsquo;s he doing behind the bench of the Verdun Black Hawks?</p><p>The regular coach of the Hawks, Rodrigue Lemoyne, who is also general manager and owner of the club, was suspended indefinitely for his actions in a game against Montreal.</p><p>Lemoyne, it appeared was out to start trouble as Montreal took a 2-0 lead after one period and led 6-0 in the middle of the second.</p><p>At one point in the second period, Lemoyne affectionately hugged Daniel St. Laurent who had just picked up his second fighting major of the night.</p><p>Throughout the game. Verdun tried to intimidate Montreal, but the Juniors fought back. The rough stuff reached its climax when Verdun&rsquo;s Denis Leduc left the bench to aid a player who was losing a scrap. Both benches emptied and a free-for-all erupted.</p><p>When the evening was over, 388 minutes in penalties had accumulated. 18 game misconducts had been handed out, and one coach was suspended, Rod Lemoyne.</p><p>The Hawk mentor opted to go with chief scout Salois behind the bench instead of his usual replacement, assistant coach Yvon Blais.</p><p>Salois has coached two games and won them both, 8-3 over Shawinigan and 4-2 against Sherbrooke, but would like to return to what he does best&mdash;scouting.</p><p>Salois has scouted for the Hawks since 1970. His record speaks for itself. His discoveries include Pierre Larouche and Pierre Mondou of the Montreal Canadiens and the player who gave him the most personal satisfaction, Lucien DeBlois of the New York Rangers.</p><p>Salois believes that desire is the most important asset in a hockey player. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking for players with heart,&rdquo; Salois says. &ldquo;If a player has heart, but not too much talent in midget, it will come out in major junior when he plays with the other players.</p><p>&ldquo;A player must also be tough. I prefer a medium talented player to a real good player if he is not tough. This is what Mr. Lemoyne is looking for as well.&rdquo;</p><p>Salois, like most scouts, will not talk about the upcoming midget draft. &ldquo;I never say anything before the draft.&rdquo; Those of you wondering who the league&rsquo;s future Guy Lafleurs and Gilbert Perreault&rsquo;s are, will have to wait.</p><p><b>CORNWALL:</b> You don&rsquo;t beat Trois Rivieres in Trois Rivieres, right? Wrong! The Royals kept themselves in contention for first place overall by defeating the Draveurs, 6-3.</p><p>The Royals had a difficult week with several injuries and seven players with the flu, but came on strong to stop the Draveurs.</p><p>&ldquo;We had to win,&rdquo; coach Orval Tessier said. &ldquo;Dan Geoffrion got us started with two goals and he also won a big fight. Our big line of Cam MacGregor. Rick Paterson, and Bob Crawford came to life scoring four goals. They skated and that&rsquo;s their game.&rdquo;</p><p>The victory put Cornwall seven point back of the Draveurs.</p><p><b>SHAWINIGAN:</b> Joe Canale has been removed as coach because of alleged drug related activities. The RCMP said that no players were involved as all events took place prior to the start of the season. Michel Gelinas has taken over the bench duties from Canale.</p><p>The Dynamos dropped two games, losing to Chicoutimi 13-8 despite a 7-6 second period edge, and dropped an 8-3 decision to Verdun. Gilles Hebert had a hat trick in the Chicoutimi game.</p><p><b>HULL:</b> After losing an important match to Verdun 5-2, the Olympiques rebounded to edge Laval 7-6. Hull fell behind 5-2 but played superb hockey in the third period. Dan Metivier sparked the Olympics with a spectacular shorthanded goal beating two Laval defenders to put Hull within one. Danny Cote scored twice, including the winner, and Hull left Laval with a badly needed two points.</p><p>Coach Richard Jamieson received a game misconduct during the game and winger Yves Dandurand was thrown out for throwing a helmet at Laval&rsquo;s Louis Houle. The league suspended Dandurand for two games.</p><p>Jamieson who has been with Hull for only two weeks is trying to add more discipline to his club. The rookie coach feels that Hull is a much better team than their record indicates.</p><p><b>MONTREAL:</b> Defenseman Glen Knight is back with the Juniors after being declared ineligible to play in Quebec.</p><p>The league explained that they had no legitimate right to prevent Knight from playing in Quebec. Knight, who played for the Windsor Spitfires of the OHA earlier this year, has played in two games for the Juniors. He played well in both games and should help Montreal&rsquo;s defense.</p><p>The Juniors downed Verdun 6-2 and Quebec 5-3. They blew a 3-1 lead over Sherbrooke at the Forum losing 4-3 and fell to Sherbrooke on the road, 5-2.</p><p><b>QUEBEC:</b> Vincent Tremblay was spectacular in the nets as Quebec tied Trois Rivieres 3-3 and Cornwall 2-2. In the former match, Tremblay faced 44 shots and against Cornwall, he stopped 38 of 40. Michel Goulet scored both goals in the Cornwall game and Denis Halle scored twice against Trois Rivieres.</p><p><b>CHICOUTIMI:</b> The Sags scored seven unanswered goals to down Shawinigan 13-8. Guy Carbonneau and Yvan Boudreau scored twice as Chicoutimi fired 62 shots on goal.</p><p>In action with Laval, Chicoutimi blew a 5-3 lead and lost 6-5. Carbonneau netted a pair. The Sags are still eight points behind Quebec with only 11 games remaining.</p><p><b>TROIS RIVIERES:</b> The Draveurs picked up only one point in two games. Denis Pomerleau scored twice to support a 3-3 tie with Quebec. At home, over 2,900 fans jammed into the Coliseum, which has a seating capacity below 2,000 to see the Draveurs battle Cornwall. The home team lost, 6-3, despite the three-goal performance of captain Richard David.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-1010/4192658-1-eng-US/f0044-102.jpg" title="f0044-10" width="559" height="741"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DANNY GEOFFRION &hellip; Got Royal Rolling</b></figcaption></div><p><b>SHERBROOKE:</b> Goals are not coming as easily for the Beavers. In three games, they scored 11 goals, well below their average of close to seven goals a game. They defeated Montreal 4-3 and 5-2 and lost to Verdun 4-2. Coach Ghislain Delage was not pleased with the three efforts.</p><p><b>LAVAL:</b> The Nationals split a pair of games, defeating Chicoutimi 6-5 and falling to Hull 7-6. Constant Priondolo scored four times, twice in each game.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0044-10

Super Scout Salois Directs Hawks; Royals Bidding For Overall Title

<h2><b>Amateur Scoreboard</b></h2><h2><b>WESTERN CANADA LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Sat. Feb. 18)</b></p><h3><b>EASTERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01125/4192627-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="583" height="139"></div><h3><b>CENTRAL DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0283/4192620-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="589" height="138"></div><h3><b>WESTERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0349/4192613-1-eng-US/f0044-032.jpg" title="f0044-03" width="591" height="135"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Mon. Feb. 13</b></p><p>Brandon 8 at Portland 3</p><p>Naw Westminster 1 at Seattle 4</p><p>Billings 2 at Victoria 8</p><p><b>Tua. Fab. 14</b></p><p>Brandon 4 at Seattle 4</p><p>Portland 6 at Victoria 2</p><p>Medicine Hat 8 at Saskatoon 9</p><p>Flin Flon 6 at Calgary 4</p><p><b>Wed. Feb. 15</b></p><p>Seattle 2 at Now Westminster 4</p><p>Saskatoon 4 at Regina 3</p><p>Flin Flon 4 at Medicine Hat 4</p><p><b>Thu. Feb. 16</b></p><p>Medicine Hat 3 at Regina 4</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 17</b></p><p>Flin Flon 5 at Portland 11</p><p>Medicine Hat 3 at Brandon 6</p><p>Billings 8 at Seattle 5</p><p>Saskatoon 0 at Calgary 5</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0435/4192606-1-eng-US/f0044-042.jpg" title="f0044-04" width="601" height="853"></div><h2><b>ONTARIO MAJOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 27)</b></p><h3><b>EMMS DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0526/4192599-1-eng-US/f0044-052.jpg" title="f0044-05" width="595" height="189"></div><h3><b>LEYDEN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0621/4192592-1-eng-US/f0044-062.jpg" title="f0044-06" width="591" height="190"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Mon. Feb. 20</b></p><p>Sudbury 4 at Ottawa 2</p><p><b>Tue. Feb. 21</b></p><p>London 5 at Hamilton 5</p><p>Kitchener 3 at Kingston 2</p><p>Toronto 6 at Niagara Falls 3</p><p><b>Thu. Feb. 23</b></p><p>Toronto 2 at Oshawa 9</p><p>Hamilton 5 at Peterborough 6</p><p>Niagara Fails 2 at Windsor 5</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 25</b></p><p>Sault Sto. Mario 6 at Kitchener 4</p><p>Sudbury 5 at Windsor 5</p><p>Kingston 1 at Hamilton 8</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 26</b></p><p>Ottawa 10 at Toronto 3</p><p>Sault Ste. Marie 3 at Hamilton 2</p><p>Niagara Falls 3 at Kingston 8</p><p>Peterborough 5 at Oshawa 5</p><p>Sudbury 1 at London 11</p><h2><b>QUEBEC MAJOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 27)</b></p><h3><b>LEBEL DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0719/4192585-1-eng-US/f0044-072.jpg" title="f0044-07" width="583" height="159"></div><h3><b>DILLIO DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0811/4192578-1-eng-US/f0044-082.jpg" title="f0044-08" width="584" height="168"></div><p><b>Mon. Feb. 20</b></p><p>Hull 7 at Laval 6</p><p>Montreal 2 at Sherbrooke 5</p><p><b>Tue. Feb. 21</b></p><p>Cornwall 6 at Trois Rivieres 3</p><p><b>Wed. Feb. 22</b></p><p>Montreal 5 at Quebec 3</p><p>Sherbrooke 2 at Verdun 4</p><p>Cornwall 1 at Hull 5</p><p><b>Thu. Feb. 23</b></p><p>Laval 5 at Cornwall 6</p><p>Chicoutimi 11 at Hull 6</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 24</b></p><p>Chicoutimi 2 at Montreal 10</p><p>Trois Rivieres 5 at Quebec 0</p><p>Cornwall 6 at Shawinigan 2</p><p>Laval 3 at Sherbrooke 9</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 26</b></p><p>Laval 3 at Quebec 3</p><p>Hull 10 at Shawinigan 7</p><p>Chicoutimi 9 at Sherbrooke 12</p><p>Cornwall 3 at Verdun 1</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0911/4192571-1-eng-US/f0044-092.jpg" title="f0044-09" width="610" height="301"></div><h2><b>HOW THEY STAND</b></h2><h2><b>CCHA CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Standing on Tua. Feb. 21)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01107/4192564-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="602" height="203"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Western Michigan 4, St Louie 0</p><p>Western Michigan 5, St Louis 2</p><p>Bowling Green 9, Lake Superior 1</p><p>Bowling Green 9, Lake Superior 3</p><p>Northern Michigan 9, Ohio State 2</p><p>Northern Michigan 6, Ohio State 3</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0278/4192557-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg" title="f0046-02" width="589" height="410"></div><h2><b>MID-CENTRAL CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Standing on Mon. Feb. 13)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0348/4192550-1-eng-US/f0046-032.jpg" title="f0046-03" width="595" height="235"></div><p><b>(*Includes 4-point win over Cincinnati)</b></p><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Miami 13, Cincinnati 5</p><p>Michigan-Dear born 7, Eastern Michigan 6</p><p>Michigan-Dearborn 6, Eastern Michigan 2</p><p>Kent State 7, Cincinnati 14</p><p><b>NON CONFERENCE</b></p><p>Ferris College 11, Michigan-Dearborn 4</p><p>Ferris College 13, Michigan-Dearborn 2</p><p>Miami 13, St Clair County CC 4</p><p>Miami 9, St Clair County CC 1</p><h2><b>Looking At The Races</b></h2><h2><b>U.S.-MIDWEST LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Fab. 13)</b></p><h3><b>U.S. CONFERENCE</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01118/4192543-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="595" height="117"></div><h3><b>MIDWEST CONFERENCE</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0282/4192536-1-eng-US/f0047-022.jpg" title="f0047-02" width="587" height="112"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Bloomington 8, St. Paul 1</p><p>Sioux City 8, Green Bay 2</p><p>Waterloo 7, Bloomington (ppd.)</p><p>Sioux City 5, Green Bay 4</p><p>Waterloo 7, Bloomington 3</p><p>Waterloo 5, Austin 4</p><p>Green Bay 6, St Paul 4</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0357/4192529-1-eng-US/f0047-032.jpg" title="f0047-03" width="593" height="543"></div><h2><b>WESTERN INTERNATIONAL</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tue. Feb. 14)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0447/4192522-1-eng-US/f0047-042.jpg" title="f0047-04" width="608" height="171"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tue. Feb. 7</b></p><p>Kimberley 3, Spokane 2</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 10</b></p><p>Spokane 8, Cranbrook 3</p><p>Nelson 5, Kimberley 2</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 11</b></p><p>Spokane 10, Nelson 1</p><p>Trail 8, Cranbrook 3</p><p><b>Tue. Feb. 14</b></p><p>Kimberley 2, Cranbrook 1</p><p>Trail 3, Nelson 2</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0531/4192515-1-eng-US/f0047-052.jpg" title="f0047-05" width="596" height="301"></div><h2><b>CONTINENTAL SENIOR</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tue. Feb. 14)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0622/4192508-1-eng-US/f0047-062.jpg" title="f0047-06" width="589" height="225"></div><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0718/4192501-1-eng-US/f0047-072.jpg" title="f0047-07" width="598" height="706"></div><h2><b>ONTARIO SENIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Wed. Feb. 22)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-089/4192494-1-eng-US/f0047-082.jpg" title="f0047-08" width="596" height="230"></div><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-097/4192487-1-eng-US/f0047-092.jpg" title="f0047-09" width="595" height="736"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0044-01

QUEBEC MAJOR HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">&#x2014;By Bill Hilts</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-104/4192713-1-eng-US/f0047-102.jpg" title="f0047-10" width="341" height="413"></div><h2><b>N.Y. Metro League</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he New Jersey Rockety, seemingly out of the running for first place in the N.Y. Metropolitan Jr. League have moved to within one point of league-leading Suffolk. Rockets beat Royals for the second time this year (6-4) at Suffolk behind goaltending of Bob Barich &hellip; Rockets had a chance to move into first place last weekend but fell to Oyster Bay 5-4. Gulls, who have moved into third place comfortably with 29 points, came back from a 4-2 deficithfor a big home ice victory &hellip; Gulls George Carlson posted the league&rsquo;s second shutout&mdash;a 10-1 pasting of Bergen-Rockland as Tom Ierna scored a hat trick &hellip; John DaSilva continues to lead the league in scoring with 36 goals and 42 assists for 78 points &hellip; Vic Sylvestri who became the first 40-goal scorer (in justh18 games), is 10 points back at 42-26-68 &hellip; Tom Campbell also has 68 points with 24 goals &hellip; Sylvestri, Billy Nichols and Steve Hamlin are tied for the lead in power play goals with nine apiece&hellip;Frank DeMayo continues to lead the league&rsquo;s goaltenders with a 20-1-3 record and 3.11 goals-against average &hellip; Oyster Bay&rsquo;s climb&rsquo; into third place was helped by three straight wins over Bergen-Rockland &hellip; New Hyde Park won three games in a row before bowing to Suffolk. The Arrows dumped the Westsiders twice, dealing New York tough jolts as far as the playoffs are concerned.</p><h2><b>N.Y.-Penn League</b></h2><p>A three-team fight for second place is claiming all the attention as New York-Penn Major Hockey League enters the final month of regular season play to determine four playoff teams. Rochester Monarchs, by virtue of a 6-1-2 record the past three weeks, have solidified their hold on top spot with a 23-11-4 record and 50 points. However, scrambling right behind them are Niagara Falls (18-12-4) and Binghamton (18-13-4) who have 40 points while Syracuse is only one point back with a record of 17-13-5 &hellip; Buffalo Jr. Sabres are fifth with a 12-19-7 record and 31 points that has them in an unfavorable spot to grab a share of fourth since they have played at least three more games than the trio of teams above them &hellip; Never before have league standings been so closely bunched with just a month to play, evidence that all teams are evenly matched &hellip; Rochester has been the most consistent, with four of the league&rsquo;s top 10 scorers skating for the Monarchs, Kevin Fitzpatrick leads the league with 52 points on an even split of 26 goals and 26 assists in 29 games. Ron Weathers (21-21-42), Rick Kozlowski (11-28-39) and Mark Burgholzer (18-18-36) are the other Monarch sharpshooters &hellip; Coach Andy Laing has a total of eight skaters who have scored at least 11 goals or better, which just about takes care of each of his three lines. Goaltender Bo Hewey has been an iron man, playing in 27 games with a 4.10 goals-against and one shutout &hellip; Niagara Falls has the toughest schedule remaining as seven of their last 12 games are on the road so they&rsquo;ll have to pick up points on enemy ice to keep in the second-place chase &hellip; Don Nolan (14-28-42), Joe Barrick (19-20-39) and Bill Alexander (19-17-36) are in league scoring top 10 &hellip; Ken Denman has a 3.99 GAA &hellip; Binghamton&rsquo;s last five games are at home where they have lost only twice all season &hellip; Goaltender Ron Petronella continues to sparkle with a 3.60 GAA in 26 games, best in the league. He is the only goalie to have recorded two shutouts, one each against Niagara Falls and Syracuse &hellip; Paul Iskyan (14-37-51) is number two in league scoring with teammate Joe Modaferri (25-24-49) third. Iskyan&rsquo;s 37 assists leads the league in that department &hellip; Barons have allowed fewest goals-106, in 31 games &hellip; Syracuse&rsquo;s Ed Marsh has climbed to fourth in league scoring with stars of 27-20-47 &hellip; Linemate Ken Grabeldinger back at (21-&lsquo;9-40). Only other Star to have more than 10 goals is Chris Ball with 12 to go with his 10 assists &hellip; Gary Colburn registered Stars first shutout in three years on Jan. 6 when he blanked Buffalo 6-0. Stars have six home and five road games left on the schedule &hellip; Shining light for Buffalo has been the play of goaltender Frank Tobias who has a 3.91 GAA in eight games &hellip; John Elphick cracked the top 10 scorers with (17-19-36) &hellip; Despite Tobias&rsquo; play, the Jr. Sabres have allowed most goals-167 in 36 games &hellip; Sabres have both five home and five away games remaining on schedule.</p><h2><b>New England League</b></h2><p>Fitchburg continues to set the pace in New England Jr. League with 27-3-2 record and 56 points. Just five points behind is Springfield with 51. South Shore has 34 points, Tyngsboro-26, Cape Cod-24, Berlin-18 and Tri-Valley-17 &hellip; Dean Lombardi leads the tight scoring race with 21 goals and 62 assists for 83 points. Just one point back is teammate Tom Gentile with 44 goals and 38 assists. Paul Milan of Cape Cod has 37 goals and 43 assists for 80 points &hellip; Frank Silva of South Shore has 65 points, Steve Hakala of Fitchburg-62, Jim Griffin of Berlin-57, Bill Helton of Tyngsboro-56, Mike Boucher of Fitchburg-54, and Mickey Rego of Fitchburg-50 &hellip; Fitchburg&rsquo;s goalie, Jim Mastalerz leads the league with a fine 3.09 GAA. Steve Hudyka of Springfield has 3.24 GAA and Don Leger of Fitchburg 3.47 GAA &hellip; Milan leads the league in power play goals with 14. Gentile, Charlie Ryan of South Shore and Mike DiCenzo of Cape Cod have eight each &hellip; In shorthanded goals, Gentile, Ryan and Scott Press of Tri-Valley. each have three.</p><p>Framingham clings to a single point lead over MassConn, 35 points to 34. Beverly is also closing fast with 30. Maine has 22, South Shore-21, Western Mass-20 and Assabet Valley-12 &hellip; Dan Mathieu of Maine has a 10-point lead in scoring with 39 goals and 26 assists for 65 points. Teammate Steve Sabine is tied with Jamie Lord of Framingham, each with 55 points. Bob Hess of Mass-Conn has 51, John McAvoy of Framingham-49, Ron Duchesne of MC-48, Luke Fannon of Framingham-43, Steve Bellis of Beverly-43, Bill Ferguson of MC-43, Rick Landry of WM-42, Jim Curley of Framingham-41 and teammate Jim Cooperman-40.</p><h2><b>Great Lakes League</b></h2><p>Allen Park Paddock Pool Saints lead &ldquo;A&rdquo; Division in Great Lakes Jr. League with 29-7-3 mark and 61 points. Detroit Jr. Red Wings are next with 50 points, Fraser Highlanders-39, Cleveland Jr. Barons-30 and Wayne Chiefs-22 &hellip; Chris Guertin of Wings leads in goals with 43. Bill Binnie of Barons is top in assists-54 and Bill Weisenstein of Saints is tops in penalty minutes with 169 &hellip; Guertin leads in game winning goals with seven. Todd Gardiner of the Saints has five. Don Dales of Wings has four &hellip; Saints goalie Dave Tardich leads league with 3.76 GAA. Jeff Mielnicki of Wings-4.05 GAA. Jim Nista of Saints-4.17 GAA. Steve Falcone of Highlanders-4.35 GAA and teammate Brad Mitseff with 4.36 GAA.</p><h2><b>Pacific League</b></h2><p>Richmond Sockeyes have a comfortable 10-point lead in Pacific &ldquo;A&rdquo; League play with 68 points on 33-5-2 record Kerrisdale Couriers are closest at 58, NorWest Caps-55, Coquitlam Comets-33, Vancouver Jr. Canucks-29, Surrey Stampeders-28 and Chilliwick Bruins-three &hellip; Don Davis continues to lead scoring with 43 goals and 43 assists for 86 poins. Bill Holowatty of Caps has 79 points. Paul Prade of Couriers-77, Kerry Gladson-74, Frank Nagy of Couriers-74 and Bruce Mathers of Richmond-70 &hellip; A pair of Richmond puck stoppers lead goalies. Scott Robinson has a 2.93 GAA and Randy Kika has 2.97 GAA. Two Caps are next, Brent Stuart at 3.72 GAA and Jim Galloway-3.96.</p><h2><b>Mid-Atlantic League</b></h2><p>Top scorers on each of the entries in the Mid-Atlantic Jr. League are as follows: Philadelphia Firebirds: 22 points, Dennis Cahill-11, Jim Bowen and Chris Domenick each at 10. Golden Blades: Ralph Bove leads with 11 points, Larry Carrigan-10, Jeff Bastone-nine, Greg Clarke-nine, and Randy Fardelman-nine &hellip; Sport-O-Rama: Wayne Billings has 20 points, Bill Barschow-19, John Dooley-19 and Pat Rittendale-13 &hellip; Bucks County: Dean Shemansky has 34 points, Michael Lawrence-26, John Taconelli-16. Brian Tetley, Mark Burgmann and James Austin all have 14&hellip;Ironbound: Bill Burger has 22 points, Jay Pryblski-16, Vin Kowalski-14 and Mike Ratelle-11 &hellip; Hershey: Tom Malloy has 33, Jeff Pavone-21, Duncan Wine-20, and Ken Dulabohn-15 &hellip; Bergen Raiders: Dave Stoll-16 points. Ken Davies-14, Dan Schwenker and Keith Sullivan each have 11.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0047-10

JUNIOR JOTTINGS

<p>NEW YORK&mdash;</p><p>The strategy of removing the goaltender near the end of a game in an effort to gain a tie worked more in the first half of this National Hockey League season than in the similar periods for any of the three previous seasons.</p><p>There were 126 attempts to gain ties and the move worked 14 times, including 11 in which the game ended tied and twice when a team moved to within a goal of its opposition.</p><p>Colorado, Pittsburgh and Vancouver each scored two game-tying goals with their netminders on the bench. Atlanta, Los Angeles, Montreal, New York Islanders and Philadelphia had one.</p><p>Paul Gardner scored both Colorado game-tying goals to become only the third player in four seasons to have two.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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March 10, 1978

Hull Chasing 1,000th Goal, Challenging Howe For No. 1

FAN FORUM

The WIHL Scene

NHL SCORING AND PENALTY STATISTICS