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 24, 1978

The Hockey News March 24, 1978

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02318/4203317-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="717" height="674"></div><h2><b>BIRMINGHAM BULLS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01405/4203324-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" 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/f0026-03274/4203310-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" 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/f0026-04217/4203303-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="720" height="726"></div><h2><b>EDMONTON OILERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05180/4203296-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="186" height="185"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-06147/4203289-1-eng-US/f0026-062.jpg" title="f0026-06" width="724" height="781"></div><h2><b>HOUSTON AEROS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-07135/4203282-1-eng-US/f0026-072.jpg" title="f0026-07" width="253" height="110"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-08123/4203275-1-eng-US/f0026-082.jpg" title="f0026-08" width="728" height="601"></div><h2><b>INDIANAPOLIS RACERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-09117/4203268-1-eng-US/f0026-092.jpg" title="f0026-09" width="202" height="157"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-10112/4203261-1-eng-US/f0026-102.jpg" title="f0026-10" width="731" height="684"></div><h2><b>NEW ENGLAND WHALERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-11108/4203254-1-eng-US/f0026-112.jpg" title="f0026-11" width="210" height="218"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-12100/4203247-1-eng-US/f0026-122.jpg" title="f0026-12" width="725" height="649"></div><h2><b>QUEBEC NORDIQUES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1398/4203240-1-eng-US/f0026-132.jpg" title="f0026-13" width="182" height="187"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1490/4203233-1-eng-US/f0026-142.jpg" title="f0026-14" width="734" height="621"></div><h2><b>WINNIPEG JETS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1582/4203226-1-eng-US/f0026-152.jpg" title="f0026-15" width="195" height="204"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1673/4203219-1-eng-US/f0026-162.jpg" title="f0026-16" width="724" height="676"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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IN THIS ISSUE

WHA’S SCORING AND PENALTY STATISTICS

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02866/4201780-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DON MURDOCH&hellip;Presenting More Mature Attitude</b></figcaption></div><p>NEW YORK&mdash;</p><p>This season has been pure murder, in more ways than one for Donnie Murdoch, the New York Rangers sophomore right wing. But there were signs that things might be getting better for the 21-year-old British Columbia native.</p><p>Against the Cleveland Barons on March 8, Murdoch&rsquo;s magic produced a pure hat trick&mdash;three straight goals&mdash;in the third period&mdash;as the Rangers whipped the Barons 6-1.</p><p>&ldquo;In the final minute, Phil Esposito came over to me and told me to be ready for a faceoff pass. When I got the five goals against Minnesota, Espo got me the fifth goal in the final minute with a pass from a faceoff,&rdquo; revealed Murdoch.</p><p>Sure enough, Esposito won the draw and got the puck to Murdoch in the slot. Donnie pulled the trigger&mdash;and the puck whipped past goalie Gilles Meloche with just 19 seconds left.</p><p>At 2:24 of the third period, &ldquo;Murder&rdquo; fished the puck out of a scramble in front of Meloche, and registered goal number one. Espo and Mike McEwen assisted.</p><p>Walter Tkaczuk assisted on Donnie&rsquo;s number two, at 13:31, with a neat transfer to the deep slot where Murdoch&rsquo;s rising 25 footer beat Meloche.</p><p>The hat raised Murdoch&rsquo;s goal total to 25, not that far behind his 32 of 1976-77, when he burst from the barrier and scored 30 goals in the first half, before slumping and then injuring an ankle.</p><p>&ldquo;I did it for John Ferguson, to help him.&rdquo; said Murdoch, referring to the Rangers&rsquo; general manager, who was behind the bench for the first time this year in the Cleveland game. Regular coach Guy Talbot had the flu.</p><p>&ldquo;Ferguson has confidence in me&mdash;and I kept working hard in the game, even when Meloche came up big in the first and second period, on a couple of good chances,&rdquo; continued the five-foot-11,180-pound youth.</p><p>In many ways, Murdoch has grown up this year. He handled the obvious pressure of an off the ice arrest in good style&mdash;and hopefully will clear his name when the court case comes up in April.</p><p>And he endured a painful lower vertebrae injury, when checked by Bryan Trottier in a game against the Islanders. On two other occasions, he was benched by Talbot. So far, this season he has missed nine games, so his 25-goal production is pretty good.</p><p>He is a skilled operative on the power play, and along with Esposito and Pat Hickey, amongst others, has helped make the Rangers power play either the best, or second best, in the NHL. Number two, behind Montreal, isn&rsquo;t that bad.</p><p>Whether the Rangers make the playoffs or not&mdash;and they are in a desperate struggle with Pittsburgh and Detroit for the final wild card spot, Hickey has established himself as a premier player of potential All Star ability.</p><p>With 36 goals at press time, Pat stands an excellent chance of hitting the 40 mark. He picked up an errant Cleveland pass in the March 8 game, and circled the net, beating Meloche to the near post&mdash;and tucked the puck into the net.</p><p>Hickey is the obvious candidate to play the left side, if the Rangers sign center Ulf Nilsson and right wing Anders Hedberg for 1978-79 delivery.</p><p>Pat, unlike many other Rangers, likes New York, lives on the East side, and has scored 26 of his 36 goals in the Garden. At 24, he has it all in front of him.</p><p>Rumors keep circulating that the Rangers will move Esposito to the Minnesota North Stars before next season, if not right away. Lou Nanne, Esposito&rsquo;s lifelong friend, was recently made general manager-coach of Minnesota, and he wants Philip, huge contract and all.</p><p>When questioned as to the report, Ferguson replied, &ldquo;no comment.&rdquo;</p><p>Indications were that the Rangers might pay half of Espo&rsquo;s salary and Minnesota the other half. A similar arrangement was made when New York dumped Vic Hadfield on the Pittsburgh Penguins.</p><p>Look for something to heppen in the Esposito situation before the start of the 1978-79 season. Minnesota isn&rsquo;t likely to make the deal now. and be forced to give up a draft pick&mdash;and the Rangers still hope for the playoffs. If they make it. it will be because of Esposito&rsquo;s efforts, and those of certain other players.</p><p><b>BLUE CHIPS:</b> Nick Fotiu also blasted off about wanting to play more or be traded, but then insisted he liked playing with the Rangers&hellip;Rangers irate over the postponement of their game in Washington March 3. A small quantity of snow caused the Capitals to put the game off until March 26. but the whole thing had overtones of no box office.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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THE NHL

Murdoch Sparking Rangers In Bid For Wild Card Spot

<div class="byline">BY BRUCE PENTON</div><p>CALGARY&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>P</span>resident Ed Chynoweth stunned the Western Canada Hockey League in late February with the announcement that he has tendered his resignation, effective June 15.</p><p>The next day, referee-in-chief Joe Cassidy followed Chynoweth down the retirement alley, saying simply, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had enough.&rdquo;</p><p>The resignations leave a gaping hole in the WCHL operation, looked upon by Canada&rsquo;s other two major junior A leagues as a model of efficiency.</p><p>Chynoweth actually wrote his letter of resignation&mdash;his third one in three years, one governor said-on Feb. 15, two weeks before it became public. It was regretfully accepted because, as was not the case with his previous attempts to quit the post, the WCHL governors could not dissuade the popular 36-year-old president from following through with his decision.</p><p>&ldquo;I leave with no hard feelings,&rdquo; Chynoweth told The Brandon Sun in an interview, &ldquo;but there comes a time when a job is no longer any fun. It was a matter of me just running out of steam.&rdquo;</p><p>Bob Cornell, president of Brandon Wheat Kings and acting chairman of the board of governors, said he was &ldquo;shocked and disappointed by Ed&rsquo;s decision.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;His loss will be a tremendous blow not only to our league, but to the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League and to junior hockey in Canada on the whole.&rdquo;</p><p>Chynoweth said there wasn&rsquo;t one particular event which causes his decision to resign.</p><p>&ldquo;Things have happened in our league that not only upset me, but disappointed me,&rdquo; he said, refusing to elaborate. &ldquo;But as I stated in the opening paragraph of my letter to the governors, there is a little piece of the WCHL in me and there probably always will be.&rdquo;</p><p>Chynoweth, who took over from Vancouver lawyer Tom Fisher Dec. 1, 1972, and soon emerged as one of junior hockey&rsquo;s strongest voices in dealings with the major pro leagues and the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, said the decision was &ldquo;not easy, nor was it made on the spur of the moment. I&rsquo;ve been giving it serious thought for the last three or four months.&rdquo;</p><p>Cassidy&rsquo;s resignation was perhaps more of a surprise. As head of the WCHL officials (a group much more maligned this year than in any other), he seemed to be making some progress in upgrading the quality of the striped-shirt men.</p><p>But apparently, he thought he wasn&rsquo;t making strides.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s like banging your head against the wall,&rdquo; he said in an interview. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve tried to improve it (the officiating) and all we get from the owners and coaches is hassle and abuse.&rdquo;</p><p>Chynoweth&rsquo;s likely successor is Del Wilson of Regina, the president of the board of governors and a member of the CAHA. Who will replace Cassidy has not been a matter of much speculation.</p><p>Both men&rsquo;s positions, though, will be discussed thoroughly at a league meeting in Calgary March 13.</p><p>Their shoes will be hard to fill.</p><p><b>NEW WESTMINSTER</b>: The Bruins, hoping for at least a split of their eightgame Eastern swing that would make it a three-team race for the final two playoff berths in the West Division, seemed en route to at least that much success, winning three of their first four in enemy territory. Bill Hobbins, Stan Smyl and Dave Orleski got a goal and an assist each in a 4-2 trip-opening victory over Lethbridge, and then Scott McLeod&rsquo;s 30th goal of the year snapped a tie in Regina and gave the Bruins a 5-4 victory. After a 6-5 defeat in Brandon, where McLeod scored twice against his former Wheat King teammates, the Bruins got back on the winning track in Saskatoon, hammering the Blades 8-2 behind Orleski&rsquo;s first hat trick of the season. The production left acting coach Doug Sauter and his Bruins three points back of third-place Victoria, with four games in hand. The three road wins gave the Bruins five for the season, in 28 starts.</p><p><b>FLIN FLON</b>: The Bombers were officially eliminated from first place contention in the Eastern Division, winding up a long road trip with a 5-1 loss in Brandon and dropping a 7-6 home game to Billings. Rookie Ray Gregorash and blueliner Dale Baumgartner were the big offensive gunners in the loss to Billings. The Bombers could wind up the season with 100 goals from their defense, which would be an unofficial WCHL record. Gregg Tebbutt has 26 goals, Craig Levie 25, Kelly Davis 20, Baumgartner six and Mike Panteluk five for a total of 82, with three weeks left in the schedule.</p><p><b>BRANDON</b>: Bill Derlago had the umpteenth hat trick of his career and rookie Mike Polonich had the first multiple-goal game of his (a two-goal effort) as the Wheat Kings edged New Westminster 6-5, their second of three straight home wins. The streak helped them clinch the Eastern pennant. Rookie Laurie Boschman led the week&rsquo;s pointgetters with nine (three goals, six assists) as Brandon also beat Flin Flon 5-1 and Billings 5-3. A third-period brawl against the Bighorns helped the Kings establish a new one-season penalty record, beating the mark set four years ago by New Westminster.</p><p><b>REGINA</b>: The Pats lost a pair of one-goal games, 3-2 to Saskatoon and 5-4 to New Westminster, but their playoff hopes weren&rsquo;t threatened in the least. Two more wins this year, or Saskatoon losses, will give them the final spot in the East. Gerry Minor entrenched himself solidly within the WCHL&rsquo;s top 10, though, scoring three goals to put him over the 50 mark for the season.</p><p><b>SASKATOON</b>: The Blades&rsquo; offense continued to sputter, producing nine goals in three games, but goalie Ken McNabb&rsquo;s solid work earned the Eastern tail-enders one win, 3-2 over Regina as defenseman Doug Archibald scored the only goal of the third period, at 19:30. Earlier, the Blades had been beaten 6-4 in Medicine Hat, and they ended the week by being slapped around 8-2 at home by New Westminster. One bright spot, though, was sophomore 18-year-old Ken Federko, who was in on six of the nine Saskatoon goals, one of which was his 35th tally of the season.</p><p><b>MEDICINE HAT</b>: The Tigers ran off a two-game winning streak to open up a four-point lead on Calgary in the race for the final playoff spot in the Central Division. Tigers have 12 games left, Calgary has 10. Cal Halasz fired two goals, and center Merlin Malinowski scored once and set up two&rsquo;others in a 5-3 win over Seattle, while rookie Rod Van Slyke had two points in a 6-4 triumph over Saskatoon.</p><p><b>LETHBRIDGE</b>: After a pair of homeice losses to Western Division foes, the Broncos snapped the slump&mdash;led by their top two offensive stars, Steve Tambellini and Dean Solheim. Each player picked up six points, three goals and three assists, to pace an 8-6 win over Calgary. The outbursts moved Tambellini into second place in the scoring race with 134 points and Solheim over the 100-point plateau (101). Solheim fired the hat trick in a 6-5 loss to Seattle, while Earl Ingarfield set up both Lethbridge goals in a 4-2 defeat at the hands of New Westminster.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01300/4203971-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="574" height="682"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RYAN WALTER</b></figcaption></div><p><b>BILLINGS</b>: Rookie goalie Tom Muc, who plays infrequently because he&rsquo;s behind star netminder Tim Thomlison, got his second win of the season by helping the Bighorns beat the hometown Flin Flon Bombers 7-6. Muc was forced into action as Thomlison was injured in Billings&rsquo; 5-3 loss two nights earlier in Brandon. Thomlison left with the score 20 in favor of his team, early in the second period. Prior to the swing into Manitoba, the Bighorns were tied 3-3 at home by Calgary, despite defenseman Kevin Willison&rsquo;s two goals. Mike Toal and rookie Pat Conacher hit the 25-goal mark during the week.</p><p><b>CALGARY</b>: The Wranglers were stuck on three, getting three consecutive 3-3 draws, two at home. They finally broke out of the three-situation, scoring six goals in their next game, but it turned out to be an 8-6 loss in Lethbridge. Richard Young fired three goals, two of them shorthanded in the final minute, against Lethbridge, while converted forward Mel Hewitt, who took over the individual penalty lead during the week from Billings&rsquo; Brent Gogal, had a pair of goals. Wranglers&rsquo; ties were at home against Portland and Seattle, and in Billings.</p><p><b>PORTLAND</b>: Wayne Babych&rsquo;s goal late in the game gave the Winter Hawks a 3-3 tie with Calgary to wind up a road trip, and then they headed west for a triple header with Victoria. On Vancouver Island, the Hawks fell 10-5, then got a win (7-4) and a tie (3-3) playing at home. Babych went over the 100-point mark with three goals and six assists in the four games.</p><p><b>SEATTLE</b>: The Breakers had a .500 week in three Central Division road games, winning 6-5 in Lethbridge behind Errol Rausse&rsquo;s two goals, tying 3-3 in Calgary as Ryan Walter, Anthony Thomas and Ryan Hatfield figured in two goals each, and losing 5-3 in Medicine Hat. The three-point week left Seattle one point ahead of Victoria in the race for second in the West, eight back of leading Portland.</p><p><b>VICTORIA</b>: Bob Jansch, one of the loop&rsquo;s best 17-year-old&rsquo;s, scored two goals (giving him 35 for the year) and added a pair of assists, as the Cougars throttled Portland 10-5 to open a three-game series with the division-leaders.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Chynoweth Resignation Stuns WCHL; Bruins Turn Road Fortunes Around

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div><p>BOSTO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span> tremendous stretch run by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute elevated the Engineers to fourth place in Eastern Collegiate Athletic Association Division One&rsquo;s final standings and gave them - home ice for their first playoff quarterfinal round ever.</p><p>Jim Salfi&rsquo;s sextet won their last seven league games to finish with a 13-8 league record, their most wins ever in Division One play. Significantly, all but one of the games, an 8-6 win at Vermont, were on the friendly ice of the RPI Field House. The Engineers were slated to host Boston College, at 14-9 just percentage points behind them in the final standings.</p><p>Other playoff pairings were: Eighth place New Hampshire (14-11) at first place Boston University (21-1); seventh place Providence (12-9-2) at second place Cornell (16-5-1); and sixth place Brown (13-9-1) at third place Clarkson (16-7).</p><p>The great blizzard of Feb. 6 had a definite bearing on the final standings, for RPI was slated to visit then-unbeaten Boston University on Feb. 10. The snow prevented their trip, and the schools did not reschedule the game. Okay, so RPI would have had a slim chance, but&hellip;</p><p>As they had done all season long, RPI&rsquo;s Don Armstrong and Steve Stoyanovich played key roles in the final Engineer surge. Armstrong had a pair of goals in the season ender, a 3-1 squeaker over improved Princeton. Stoyanovich had a pair in a 6-4 win over Northeastern the previous night, and prior to a 10-2 romp over Colgate, Stoyanovich scored the overtime winner in a 6-5 triumph over New Hampshire.</p><p>The last week of the season was heavily scheduled, dotted with makeup contests from blizzard week. The rescheduled games included the Beanpot Tournament, which went to Boston University via a 7-1 win over an outclassed and tired Harvard team. The Crimson were never in the contest since they had to play at Dartmouth the night before and won a tight 4-3 decision. The game was highlighted by a hat trick from BU&rsquo;s reserve wing Mickey Mullen, two goals by defenseman Dick Lamby, and a third period fight after BU had put the game away. Five players, three for Harvard and two for BU, received fighting penalties and match misconducts.</p><p>The loss knocked Harvard, which dropped seven of its last eight league games, out of the playoffs for the second year in a row. Others who fell by the wayside in the final weeks included Dartmouth (2-9 in thier last 11 games), Northeastern (0-9), and Vermont (4-9). Of these, the Catamounts went out with their heads highest, tipping Boston College 3-2 in overtime at McHugh Forum on Craig Homola&rsquo;s tally, then taking Boston University to the final two minutes at BU&rsquo;s Walter Brown Arena before bowing 6-5. The Catamounts wound up with a respectable 8-6 road record in the league, but their amazing 18 home ice mark killed any chances of a playoff berth.</p><p>Boston College spilt four games in the final week to miss out on home ice after being in the top four all season. After the 3-2 OT loss to Vermont, BC won the Beanpot Consolation by the same score, also in overtime, with junior Joe Mullen netting the last two goals. Mullen also had a pair in the 4-2 home ice win against New Hampshire on the final Sunday, a game that gave the winner fifth spot and the loser eighth in the tight Division One race. Paul Skidmore had 49 saves against the potent Wildcat attack.</p><p>New Hampshire ensured playoff participation with a 5-2 win at Meehan Auditorium before dropping the season finale at BC. The Wildcats zoomed to a 40 lead in the first period and coasted against the Bruins. Brown bounced back with a 6-1 whipping of Dartmouth in Hanover to close the season. Six different players scored for the defensive-minded Browns, who have parlayed good goaltending by Mike Laycock and solid checking into a rebuilding year to remember. Brown disappointed with a veteran club last season but atoned by changing its style from offense to defense.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02266/4203746-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="552" height="782"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JOE MULLEN&hellip;Made BC Fifth</b></figcaption></div><p>Yale, St. Lawrence, Princeton, and Colgate, all of them missing from the playoffs, still ended the season on a happy note. The Elis dumped Harvard twice, 3-2 in New Haven and 4-3 in Cambridge, on the last two Saturdays to break an eight-game losing string in the series and give Yale their first pair of victories over Harvard in a single season since the 1965-66 campaign. The win at Cambridge featured a defensive showing that allowed Harvard just 22 shots on Keith Allan.</p><p>Colgate edged slumping Northeastern 7-5 in Hamilton with senior Dave MacKenzie ending his career in style, netting the hat trick for Terry Slater&rsquo;s beleaguered Red Raiders. Princeton proved that its 7-6 loss to Cornel! at Ithaca was no fluke by nailing the Big Red 5-4 in overtime at Baker Rink in the return match. Trevor Kilburn tallied at 5:36 of the extra session to give Jim Higgins&rsquo; crew the win. The Tigers outshot the powerful Big Red 42-36. Even though they dropped the season ender at RPI, the Tigers showed that they&rsquo;re on the way back by both winning three of their last four, improving from 3-21-1 to 10-142, and losing eight games by a single goal. Though the votes for coach of the year will probably go to Jack Parker, Charlie Holt, and Tim Taylor, one must not overlook what Jim Higgins has done with a veteran team that was used to losing. Next year the Tigers may be too young to challenge for a playoff spot, but watch out thereafter.</p><p>While the big boys were winding up the regular season, Divisions two and three were already getting their playoffs underway. Seven of the eight Division two quarter-final tilts saw the higher-seeded team win; the only upset was in the West where fifth place Norwich knocked off fourth place Oswego 5-3.</p><p>Division three crowned a new champion in Westfield State, which edged Trinity 4-3 behind a one goal and two assist performance by Ken Girourard. The Owls blasted Iona 17-2 in the semifinal while Trinity got by Framingham State 6-4. Girourard was named the tourney&rsquo;s MVP.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0032-02

Stretch Run Grants RPI Home Ice; Tigers Show Promise For Future

Cover-01

The Hockey News

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011042/4201480-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="557" height="1706"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TERRY O&rsquo;REILLY&hellip;Given Free Rein</b></figcaption></div><p>BOSTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>C</span>onnoisseurs of hockey violence are going to find this hard to believe but a nember of the so-called Big Bad Bruins is about to reach 200 minutes in penalties for the first time in the 54-year history of the franchise.</p><p>He is Terry O&rsquo;Reilly, the two-fisted chess player and collector of antiques who plays right wing for Boston like he was shot out of a pinball machine.</p><p>O&rsquo;Reilly is also leading the Bruins in scoring.</p><p>On the evening that he scored his 21st and 22nd goals and picked up his 44th assist in a 4-4 tie with Philadelphia, he was also assessed eight minutes in penalties (on four minors) for roughing, fighting, tripping and holding, which is a pretty representative sampling of O&rsquo;Reilly sins.</p><p>That gave him 177 minutes in the penalty box, breaking the year-old team record of 168 set by that nice college kid. Mike Milbury, who in turn had broken an older mark of 165 held by Eddie Shore for half a century.</p><p>&ldquo;Terry O&rsquo;Reilly shouldn&rsquo;t be fighting so much,&rdquo; Flyers coach Fred Shero was saying after the game and a lot of ears perked up at that for Shero is not widely known for knocking the manly art of self defense.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s needed more for his other skills,&rdquo; Shero added, explaining his heresy. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a big man on that team and I think they need him more than they think.&rdquo;</p><p>Still it was hard to tell whether or not Shero had his tongue in his cheek because he had just gotten through sending two expendable rookies named Jimmy Cunningham and Dave Hoyda out to help O&rsquo;Reilly accumulate six of his eight penalty minutes.</p><p>&ldquo;Whenever the Bruins had their tough guys (O&rsquo;Reilly and John Wensink) out there I&rsquo;d throw Cunningham in,&rdquo; said Shero. &ldquo;But I wouldn&rsquo;t leave him out too much against O&rsquo;Reilly because he can hurt you in other ways, scoring and setting up plays.</p><p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no sense to O&rsquo;Reilly fighting a guy like Cunningham, who&rsquo;s not good enough really for the league right now. It just hurts the team.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what he&rsquo;s got now but I&rsquo;d say he&rsquo;d get 30 goals easy in a year if he didn&rsquo;t have so many penalties. He doesn&rsquo;t need to fight. He&rsquo;s got enough respect now.</p><p>&ldquo;The Bruins have got enough other tough guys, like Wensink, who should be going after guys more.</p><p>&ldquo;That Milbury&rsquo;s a pretty tough kid. But then he&rsquo;s a pretty good hockey player, too. You don&rsquo;t want to lose him too much. A guy like Milbury can&rsquo;t afford to be picking on goons. He should try to pick on a pretty good hockey player when he feels like fighting.&rdquo;</p><p>Shero, who once had the NHL&rsquo;s premier exponent of fisticuffs, Dave Schultz, in his Philly stable, went on to offer an expert critique of O&rsquo;Reilly&rsquo;s fighting ability.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got very good balance on his feet,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s important. Schultz didn&rsquo;t have good balance. He had to get a hold of you first, grab your sweater to give himself balance. A guy like O&rsquo;Reilly can fight pretty well from a distance. He can pull away from you and throw a punch and not lose his balance.&rdquo;</p><p>Bruins coach Don Cherry of course, disagrees with everything Shero says, except his assessment of O&rsquo;Reilly&rsquo;s fighting ability and his value to the team.</p><p>&ldquo;Rocket Richard got an awful lot of penalties, too,&rdquo; he pointed out. &ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t bother him. That&rsquo;s the type of person he was. That&rsquo;s the kind of person Terry is, too.</p><p>&ldquo;What do you want me to say, &lsquo;Terry, don&rsquo;t fight? Terry don&rsquo;t bash in the comers? Terry, don&rsquo;t hit anybody? Fighting is part of his makeup, if he wants to fight let him fight all he wants.&rdquo;</p><p>O&rsquo;Reilly himself has neither the desire nor the intention of changing his rambunctious style of play on the off chance it would help him to put a few more pucks, in the net.</p><p>For which 14,602 Bruins fans will be grateful.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03702/4201473-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="545" height="781"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DON MURDOCH Spark For Rangers</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0002-01

Bruins’ Volatile O’Reilly Not About To Alter Style

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02945/4201511-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg"></div><h2><b>North Stars Show Interest In Esposito</b></h2><p>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>P</span>hil Esposito could be the next coach of the Minnesota North Stars if the club can swing some sort of a deal with the Rangers for his services.</p><p>GM and coach Lou Nanne said he is definitely interested in acquiring Espo from the Rangers. The idea would be to allow Phil&rsquo;s experience to rub off on some of the younger North Stars and when Nanne steps up to handle the GM role next season, Esposito would take over as coach.</p><p>Ranger GM John Ferguson said he would listen to any offers for Espo, who at 36 years of age is nearing the end of the line as a player. The New York captain also carries a $325,000 per season contract.</p><h2><b>Boileau Joins Flint In IHL Coaching Changes</b></h2><p>FLINT&mdash;</p><p>Marc Boileau, deposed as coach of the Quebec Nordiques recently, has turned up in the International League as bench boss of the Flint Generals. Boileau is one of two new coaches to take over IHL teams this past week.</p><p>Moose Lallo, longtime operator of the Muskegon Mohawks, quit the dual role with the IHL team declaring that he wanted to get out and concentrate on the executive duties with the club. He is also one of the Hawks&rsquo; financial owners. Lallo will be replaced by Bryan McLay, who has been Lallo&rsquo;s assistant coach for the past two years.</p><p>Boileau relieves Doug Carpenter of the coaching reins at Flint. Carpenter will continue to fill the role of GM with the Generals.</p><h2><b>Hull Joins Howe As 1,000 Scorer</b></h2><p>QUEBEC CITY&mdash;</p><p>Bobby Hull of the Winnipeg Jets became only the second player in professional hockey history to score 1,000 career goals when he shot his 44th goal of the WHA season on March 11 against Quebec Nordiques to take his place alongside the great Gordie Howe.</p><p>Both Hull and Howe are big league hockey&rsquo;s only 1,000-goal snipers and now the controversy will rage&mdash;will Hull eventually pass Howe as the greatest all-time goal getter Howe isn&rsquo;t taking Hull&rsquo;s challenge lying down. He scored his 30th goal of the season last weekend and now has a career total of 1,019 to continue to lead Hull. The Jets&rsquo; brilliant left winger has scored 299 in regular WHA season play, 35 in playoffs, 604 in the NHL and 62 in Stanley Cup playoffs.</p><h2><b>Eagleson In Favor Of Ousting CAHA</b></h2><p>OTTAWA&mdash;</p><p>Alan Eagleson is in favor of the move that would eliminate the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association from the international hockey scene.</p><p>Eagleson, head of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association and Hockey Canada&rsquo;s chief negotiator in international competition, said he favored Hockey Canada being given the seat on the International Ice Hockey Federation council instead of the CAHA. Eagleson said such a move would put an end to the constant squabbling over international matters between the CAHA and Hockey Canada.</p><p>Eagleson said that in the past Hockey Canada has never been satisfied with its dealings with the CAHA over the arranging of international games.</p><h2><b>Rangers Stay In Hunt For Wild Card Berth</b></h2><p>NEW YORK&mdash;</p><p>The Rangers are still alive and kicking in the NHL&rsquo;s stretch battle for the final wild card berth in the forthcoming Stanley Cup playoffs.</p><p>Locked in a desperate struggle with Pittsburgh and Detroit for the last wild card playoff spot, the Rangers enhanced their chances last week by beating Cleveland 6-1 and Washington 8-2. Rangers and Pittsburgh are tied with 59 points each with 14 games apiece left to play.</p><p>Montreal, L.A., Boston, Buffalo, Islanders, Philly, Chicago and either Vancouver or Colorado are assured playoff berths. Toronto with 86 points, Atlanta 69 and Detroit 63, come next, with Pittsburgh and Rangers likely to battle for the 12th and final playoff spot.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0002-02

DEADLINE STOPPERS

<div class="byline">BY MIKE DENNIS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011049/4201549-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BILL NYROP&hellip;Lending Help On Defense</b></figcaption></div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen the Big Bird is flying, there&rsquo;s no telling how high the Montreal Canadiens will go. Like to their third consecutive Stanley Cup, might be a good guess.</p><p>The big bird, of course, is Larry Robinson, whose soaring style not only earned him the Norris Trophy last year as the league&rsquo;s best defenseman, but who often makes some of the other so-called &ldquo;big birds&rdquo; around the league look more like turkeys when they skate into his end of the rink.</p><p>Robinson was seated in the Forum dressing room, enjoying the hordes of reporters crowding around Rick Chartraw, the Habs&rsquo; rugged right winger, who had scored a goal and been named second star of a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. The triumph pushed the Canadiens another two points closer to clinching the overall points championship.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy for Rick, Robinson told a lone reporter as Chartraw explained that he was glad to get a hat trick&mdash;three goals for the season&mdash;to the assembled masses, &ldquo;he&rsquo;s worked hard.&rdquo;</p><p>Robinson hadn&rsquo;t exactly spent the evening reading fan mail. All he did was assist on all four goals, sending Guy Lafleur off on a breakaway down the right side, and hitting Chartraw with a perfect carom shot from inside the Canadiens&rsquo; zone, off the boards and out near center ice where Chartraw was waiting while the Leafs were in the process of changing lines.</p><p>So crisp was the pass from Robinson and so deep were the Leaf players on the ice that Chartraw had not one, not two, but three shots at Toronto goaler Mike Palmateer before scoring from behind the goal line.</p><p>Robinson was congratulated by his lone interviewer, not only for his offensive contributions but for leading a tight defensive display which limited the Leafs to only 26 shots, few of the difficult variety. Most effectively harnessed were the big guns of the Leafs, Darryl Sittler, who was held off the scoresheet for the first time in 19 games, Lanny McDonald, Ron Ellis, and defensemen Borje Salming and Ian Turnbull.</p><p>&ldquo;I guess that was our plan, to keep their big shooters off the board, to check them very closely,&rdquo; said Robinson, &ldquo;and at the same time we had to be aware of playing offensively, making the best of our opportunities because you can&rsquo;t lay back against teams like Toronto, you can&rsquo;t let them keep coming at you.&rdquo;</p><p>By now the center of attraction had shifted, media types filling in around Robinson while the latecomers gathered with Chartraw. One wondered aloud if Robinson got a special charge playing against the Leafs because of the presence of Salming.</p><p>&ldquo;I knew someone was going to ask that,&rdquo; laughed Robinson. &ldquo;Yes, it means something to go up against Salming. It&rsquo;s nothing personal. I think he&rsquo;s a fantastic hockey player. But I&rsquo;d like to prove our defense can play just as well as anyone else&rsquo;s, and I think what it comes down to is a team effort. You can&rsquo;t do it alone as was proved tonight.&rdquo;</p><p>Robinson was asked if his four-point night might not spur him on towards finishing the season with a surge which would bring him up near the 85 points he produced last year. The six-foot-three blueliner replied. &ldquo;Last year was an exceptional year for me and while it&rsquo;s nice to think that you can keep having good scoring years everytime out, (he set a club record for points by a defenseman) it&rsquo;s not my main objective.</p><p>&ldquo;My job is to stop the other team from scoring. I&rsquo;m worried more about wrapping up first place,&rdquo; Robinson continues. &ldquo;How many points I score isn&rsquo;t important.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02903/4201542-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1092" height="1988"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>LARRY ROBINSON&hellip;Stopping Goals His Job</b></figcaption></div><p>I asked Robinson to sum up the play of the Canadiens&rsquo; defense over the last half dozen games and he said:&ldquo;Inconsistent&mdash;that&rsquo;s the best way to describe it. But it&rsquo;s not just the defense. I like to think that we do well when we get a lot of help from our forwards and vice versa. So maybe the defense has looked bad at times, but perhaps it&rsquo;s because the forwards weren&rsquo;t helping out enough.</p><p>&ldquo;The one good thing is that we&rsquo;ve been able to come up big against the good teams. We&rsquo;ve played well lately against Toronto, Philadelphia, the Islanders, so we know we can do it if everyone works together.&rdquo;</p><p>Robinson has also had some staunch support from within the defense corps, particularly some solid play by Bill Nyrop. Last season the Canadiens were praised for their Big Three on defense&mdash;Robinson, Serge Savard, Guy Lapointe. This year, the group has been expanded to include Nyrop, who is becoming more and more confident carrying the puck and whose smart play and alertness behind the blueline is appreciated by the goaltenders.</p><p>Add too, Pierre Bouchard, the easygoing rearguard who has made significant progress to rate fairly steady assignment in a five-man defensive rotation which coach Scotty Bowman employed in the Toronto game.</p><p>Bouchard played a great deal when Lapointe was shelved with his eye injury and justified his presence on the ice with strong play.</p><p><b>FORUM REBOUNDS:</b> Lapointe is getting set to become the Canadiens&rsquo; all-time leading scoring defenseman. He had caught up with Doug Harvey&rsquo;s career mark of 447 points as the Canadiens headed out on their final western trip of the regular season&hellip;Rejean Houle is looking like a pretty good bet for his first 30-goal NHL season. His ability to cash in on offensive opportunities which he used to fail to recognize has netted him 13 goals in an 18-game stretch.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0003-01

‘Big Bird’ Robinson Again Flying High

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011100/4201608-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="466" height="476"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b><i>Ken McKenzie&rsquo;s</i></b></figcaption></div><p>&#9679; <b>GIL STEIN</b>, vice-president and general counsel of the National Hockey League, was recently given two more major assignments by the NHL Board of Governors. He was named president of NHL services, succeeding the former incumbent, Don Ruck; as well as being appointed president of the NHL Television Network which handles the NHL Game of the Week. Stein is one of the most competent hockey executives on the scene today and will no doubt do an outstanding job in all departments. He will work out of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s New York office&hellip;Claude Mouton, publicity and information director of the Montreal Canadiens and public address announcer extradordinaire, is also the matchmaker for all boxing bouts staged at the Montreal Forum&hellip;Overheard at the Lester Patrick dinner: How Sonny Werblin, the new major domo at Madison Square Garden and the New York Rangers, would like to get someone like Keith Allen of the Philadelphia Flyers to run the hockey operation. Allen, who was with the Flyers from Day One, has done a phenomenal job in building the Flyers to the point where they are by far the most successful of all the NHL expansion clubs and the only expansion team to win the Stanley Cup (which they did in two successive years, 1974 and 1975). Allen possess the experience and savvy to make the Rangers the formidable aggregation they should be in the years to come&hellip;Butch Goring, clever center of the Los Angeles Kings now holds the club record of most games in a Kings&rsquo; uniform. Former record was 539 games and was held by Bob Berry. Berry is now coaching the Springfield Indians of the American League.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021055/4201601-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="276" height="377"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Gil Stain</b></figcaption></div><p>&#9679; <b>JEAN POTVIN</b>, defenseman with the Cleveland Barons, would like to be a sports announcer when his playing days are over&hellip;Hasn&rsquo;t Marcel Pronovost done a magnificent job in coaching the Buffalo Sabres this season? Pronovost just needed the chance and Punch Imlach gave it to him. He sure hasn&rsquo;t let anyone down and the Sabres are one of the finest coached clubs in pro hockey today&hellip;Don Edwards, Buffalo goalie and Mike Bossy, New York Islander forward, are the leading candidates at this stage in the voting for the NHL rookie of the year&hellip;Johnny Wilson has coached four NHL clubs. The Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; mentor also coached Detroit, Los Angeles and Colorado&hellip;Sid Abel, who works on Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; radio and TV broadcasts, is another coach who handled four NHL teams. Besides Detroit, Abel also coached Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City&hellip;Lou Nanne, Minnesota general manager, would like to have Harry Neale, coach of the New England Whalers, as his coach with the North Stars next season. &ldquo;He did a fine job running the club and promoting the club when he was with St. Paul and I&rsquo;m sure he would be the man for the job here,&rdquo; Nanne pointed out. &ldquo;I also know he has another year to go on his contract with the Whalers,&rdquo; he added&hellip;Toronto have given Minnesota the option of picking up Jim McKenny, who was demoted to Dallas of the CHL earlier this season, after nine seasons in the NHL&hellip;Ken Friedman has been named sports director of New York&rsquo;s WGBB. Friedman did an excellent job in publicity for five years with the New York Islanders and their Fort Worth farm team.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03950/4201594-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="279" height="413"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Butch Goring</b></figcaption></div><p>&#9679; <b>CANADIAN MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY</b> loses one of its most valued members when Ed Chynoweth, president of the Western Canada Hockey League, resigns from that post effective June 15. Chynoweth was by far the brightest young hockey executive in Canada and it will be extremely tough to replace a man of his calibre. President of the WCHL since Dec. 1, 1972, Ed guided the league through its stormiest period. The 36-year-old Chynoweth just got fed up taking abuse from some of the WCHL governors and decided it was time to embark on another career. He will be sorely missed in junior hockey circles&hellip;The standings have tightened considerably in the World Hockey Association lately and the league recently went through a period where the team lower in the standings emerged victorious over the higher team in 17 of 18 games&hellip;Colorful Boston Bruins&rsquo; coach Don Cherry tells the story about going out for a drink with goaltender Ron Grahame, who is known as &ldquo;Reverend.&rdquo; Said Cherry, &lsquo;I ordered a beer and he ordered a mineral water. Then I ordered another beer and he ordered another mineral water. Later when we were walking down the street, Grahame spit, which made me very happy because I was beginning to feel like a degenerate&rsquo;&hellip;St. Louis Blues, the last NHL team to score a shorthanded goal this year when Bill Fairbairn notched one against Detroit, scored their second just six days later when Red Berenson tallied against the Washington Capitals&hellip;A playoff pool of $157,000 has been guaranteed by the American Hockey League, which means that players on a team which finished first and goes on to win the Calder Cup will receive at least $2,570.87 this year or more if 50 percent of the net gate is higher.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04848/4201587-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="257" height="446"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ed Chynoweth</b></figcaption></div><p>&#9679; <b>NORTH STARS</b>&rsquo; centerman Tim Young is making a late-season move towards another club scoring championship. Young has led the Minnesota squad in scoring the last two years and obtained 95 points a year ago, a figure which placed him sixth in the league in scoring&hellip;Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; GM Punch Imlach is touting rookie star goaltender Don Edwards for the Hart Trophy as well as the Calder award. Says Punch, &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t conceive of anyone in the league individually contributing more to the success of his team this year than Edwards&rdquo;&hellip;University of Vermont hockey player Craig Homola carried the thrill of meeting his idol Bobby Clarke onto the ice when he scored an overtime goal which beat Boston College 3-2. Homola said he saw Clarke in the hotel lobby where his team and the Flyers were staying, went up to him, told him he played college hockey and that Clarke had been his idol since he was a little kid. Komola explained to a Boston newsman that he would have kicked himself if he didn&rsquo;t shake Clarke&rsquo;s hand&hellip;When Bunny Larocque started for Montreal in their 7-1 victory over the Flyers, it was the first time that a Montreal goalie other than Ken Dryden had faced the Flyers in 16 games&hellip;The goalie before Dryden was Larocque who shut out Philadelphia on Jan. 11, 1975, 6-0&hellip;IHL commissioner Bill Beagan reports that his league has topped the 1,000,000 mark in fans for the fifth consecutive year. The league recently attracted its 1,000,770th fan for this season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05709/4201580-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="287" height="436"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Tim Young</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0004-01

COLUMNISTS

PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><p>CHICAGO&mdash;</p><p>Real Cloutier. Terry Ruskowski. John Garrett. Number 9.</p><p>Remember those names and number, because the Black Hawks could be just a heartbeat away from acquiring them. The heartbeat belongs to the World Hockey Association, and it is fading.</p><p>A lot of National Hockey League clubs are anxious for the WHA to fold, and recent developments indicate a real possibility that death is imminent.</p><p>As the Black Hawks were burned severely when the WHA started, so are they now in an excellent position to acquire one, two, three or more quality players should the rival league expire after six years.</p><p>Funeral rights for it will mean automatic rights to the Black Hawks for, among others:</p><p>&#9679; Cloutier, a fleet 21-year-old right wing with the Quebec Nordiques. Cloutier has amassed 152 goals in two full WHA seasons, winning the scoring title last winter with 141 points. At press time, he had 43 goals and 57 assists for the Nordiques and was the only &ldquo;plus&rdquo; forward on the Nordiques. The Black Hawks selected him first in the 1976 amateur draft. He expressed nominal interest in playing anywhere but French Canada, and signed a six-year contract with the Nordiques. But if there are no Nordiques, and he wants to play in the NHL, it&rsquo;s Chicago. A highly-regarded scout for another NHL club said Monday there is &ldquo;no question&rdquo; Cloutier could score in the NHL, &ldquo;though he won&rsquo;t romp like he does in the WHA, where there is no checking.&rdquo;</p><p>&#9679; Ruskowski, a rambunctious 23-year-old center for the Houston Aeros. Ruskowski had 15 goals, 43 assists so far this season, good for 13th place in the WHA scoring. He also owned 109 penalty minutes and is a plus-11. Ruskowski has been scouted this season by the Hawks, and reports are favorable. He was drafted by Chicago from the Swift Current Broncos in the third round of the 1974 market. Wouldn&rsquo;t be nearly as expensive as Cloutier. In his first three seasons with Houston, Ruskowski scored 10,14 and 24 goals, respectively.</p><p>&#9679; Garrett, a 26-year-old goalkeeper for the Birmingham Bulls. Though playing for a mediocre team, Garrett last year led the WHA with four shutouts. Also had a 3.53 goals-against average and a save percentage of .899, second only to the .901 achieved by Ron Grahame of Houston (now with the Boston Bruins). Garrett has a 3.82 average for Birmingham in 42 games this season his won-lost record 16-24-1. The Black Hawks acquired him from the St. Louis Blues to complete an earlier deal for Danny O&rsquo;Shea in 1972. He was with the Black Hawks briefly before jumping to the Minnesota Fighting Saints, and is considered a fine talent.</p><p>&#9679; Number Nine, Bobby Hull. No comment necessary except that he has stated this will be his last season playing hockey for the Winnipeg Jets, or anybody else. One more thing: Hull has been known to change his mind.</p><p>There are other Chicago-owned players scattered throughout the WHA: Andre Lacroix in Houston, Pat Stapleton and Reg Thomas in Cincinnati, Bryan Campbell in Edmonton, to name a few. But Hawk interest in them would be nominal compared with the others.</p><p>Plus, there is a diamond in the Cincinnati rough whom the Hawks might crave. Robbie Ftorek, last year&rsquo;s most valuable player in the World Hockey Association, is having another fine season, but no NHL team owns his rights.</p><p>&ldquo;If he became available, we&rsquo;d definitely be interested,&rdquo; said Hawk GM-coach Bob Pulford. &ldquo;And I&rsquo;d like to think we could sell anybody on playing in Chicago.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-06420/4201639-1-eng-US/f0004-062.jpg" title="f0004-06" width="538" height="697"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>REAL CLOUTIER&hellip;Wants NHL Test</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0004-06

Hawks Hold Rights To Several Stars In WHA Uniforms

<p>Following are the latest player movements in hockey:</p><h2><b>NATIONAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p>ATLANTA&mdash;<b>Greg Fox</b>, D, returned to Nova Scotia of AHL.</p><p>BOSTON&mdash;<b>Dennis O&rsquo;Brien</b>, D, claimed on waivers from Cleveland. Cleveland.<b>Jim Pettie</b>, G, recalled from Rochester of AHL as replacement for <b>Gilles Gilbert</b>, G, who is on disabled list with sprained ankle. <b>Clayton Pachal</b>, RW, returned to Rochester. <b>Bobby Schmautz</b>, RW, returned to lineup from injury list. <b>Mike Forbes</b>, D, recalled from Rochester as replacement for <b>Gary Doak</b>, D, who is out indefinitely with fractured cheek bone.</p><p>BUFFALO&mdash;<b>Joe Kowal</b>, LW, and <b>Richard Dunn</b>, D, recalled from Hershey of AHL. <b>Richard Martin</b>, LW, returned to lineup from injury list.</p><p>COLORADO&mdash;<b>Roger Lemelin</b>, D, and <b>Larry Skinner</b>, LW, recalled from Springfield of AHL. <b>Gary Croteau</b>, LW&rsquo; <b>Joe Contini</b>, C, and <b>Dave Hudson</b>, C, all placed on injury list.</p><p>DETROIT&mdash;<b>Al Cameron</b>, D, and <b>John Hilworth</b>, LW, recalled from Kansas City of CHL. <b>Roland Cloutier</b>. C, returned, to Kansas City.</p><p>MINNESOTA&mdash;<b>Alex Pirus</b>, RW, recalled from Fort Worth of CHL. <b>Kelly Greenbank</b>, RW, assigned to Fort Worth on loan.</p><p>N.Y. ISLANDERS&mdash;<b>Ed Westfall</b>, RW, returned to lineup from injury list. <b>Bryan Trottier</b>, C, placed on disabled list with hip injury but later returned to lineup.</p><p>N.Y. RANGERS&mdash;<b>Hardy Aastrom</b>, G, returned to New Haven of AHL.</p><p>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;<b>Jim Watson</b>, D, returned to lineup from injury list. <b>Rick St. Croix</b>, G, returned to Maine of AHL.</p><p>ST. LOUIS&mdash;<b>Brian Ogilvie</b>, RW, placed on disabled list for rest of season after undergoing surgery on his thumb.</p><p>TORONTO&mdash;<b>Paul Evans</b>, LW, recalled from Dallas of CHL. <b>Jack Valiquette</b>, C, and <b>Errol Thompson</b>, LW, placed on injury list. <b>John Anderson</b>, LW, recalled from Dallas.</p><h2><b>WORLD HOCKEY ASSN.</b></h2><p>CINCINNATI&mdash;<b>Norm Lapointe</b>, G, returned to Binghamton of AHL.</p><p>WINNIPEG&mdash;<b>Kent Rhunke</b>, RW, returned to Binghamton of AHL.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Hockey Players On The Move

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01951/4201718-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JIM SCHOENFELD&hellip;Set Hitting Trend For Sabres</b></figcaption></div><p>BUFFALO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>O</span>ne of the most heartening aspects of the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; play as they headed into the last month of the National Hockey League season has been the play of the defensemen.</p><p>Coach Marcel Pronovost, an outstanding NHL defenseman for 20 years, said as much after his team scored an important victory over the New York Islanders, a team that has given the Sabres considerable trouble the last few years.</p><p>The win over the Islanders not only kept the Sabres in first place in the Adams Division, but also moved them ahead of the Islanders, into second place in the league&rsquo;s overall standing.</p><p>Pronovost is not one to single out indivuals for their performance in a game but after this one he voluntarily mentioned Jim Schoenfeld and Bill Hajt, two members of his backline corps.</p><p>&ldquo;Schoenfeld played one helluva game,&rdquo; said Pronovost, after the Sabres beat the Islanders, 6-3, for their third win over the New Yorkers in four meetings this season.</p><p>&ldquo;The Islanders have guys up front who are physical,&rdquo; the coach went one. &ldquo;They try to wear you down. Right at the start, Schony hit them and set the trend for our team.</p><p>&ldquo;As it turned out, we slowed them down, instead of the other way around.</p><p>&ldquo;And Bill Hajt,&rdquo; Pronovost went on, &ldquo;played a very disciplined hockey game. That was important because both teams played disciplined hockey. Neither team allowed the other to make clean plays or take clean shots. The secret of playing against top clubs is to control your own end and we did tonight. We only gave them shots from outside or from scrambles.&rdquo;</p><p>The Buffalo defensemen, who had been far below par in the scoring department early in the season, began to pick up goals and assists in the latter half.</p><p>Jos Guevremont, playing in his 500th NHL game against the Islanders, scored an unassisted goal into an empty net in the final minute of play and took the shot that resulted in the goal that put the Sabres ahead to stay.</p><p>Gil Perreault made one of his typical rushes, circled behind the Islanders&rsquo; goal and passed the puck out to Guevremont, just inside the blueline. Jos took a hard, low shot that goalie Billy Smith blocked. But Rene Robert was right there to put in the rebound.</p><p>That made the score Buffalo 3, Islanders 2, and 30 seconds later, Robert scored again.</p><p>The night before, against Atlanta, Guevremont scored another unassisted goal and this proved the winner in a 4-3 Buffalo win.</p><p>In nine games, finishing with the one against the Islanders, Buffalo defensemen picked up eight goals and 22 assists.</p><p>In a game against Cleveland the week before the Atlanta and Islander contests, when the Sabres ran up their highest score of the season in a 13-3 win, defenseman Jerry Korab had two goals and three assists.</p><p>That finished off a scoring streak for King Kong that saw him pick up at least one point in five of six games and finish those half dozen games with two goals and eight assists.</p><p>That upped Korab&rsquo;s production to six goals and 29 assists for 60 games after a very slow start. He holds the club record for goals (14), assists (44) and points (56) by a defenseman in a single season.</p><p>&ldquo;Nobody believes me,&rdquo; said Kong, &ldquo;but the reason I am scoring better is that I changed sticks. I went back to the heavier, stiffer stick I used last year. Why did I change originally? I don&rsquo;t know. I guess I was in a slump or something. All I know is I wish I didn&rsquo;t change. I was spraying the puck all over on my shots.&rdquo;</p><p>The victory over the Islanders gave the Sabres a 12-2-3 record in a 17-game stretch. They won 11 of 14.</p><p>It also set a club record for Don Edwards, who recorded his 32nd goaltending victory coming off a bout with the flu that had kept him out of the Atlanta game. Bob Sauve replaced Edwards against Atlanta and scored his fifth win in five starts.</p><p>Craig Ramsay scored two goals, one while the Sabres were shorthanded, against the Islanders, and assisted on one to total nine goals and 13 assists in 15 games.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0005-01

Pronovost Heartened By Defense As Buffalo Blueliners Get Hot

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011131/4201749-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="347" height="474"></div><h2><b>A Man Of Letters</b></h2><p><b>OH, IT&rsquo;S GREAT</b> to be a man of letters, even if some of them carry harpoons, brickbats, or happen to be ticking when they arrive:</p><p>Mr. Verdi:</p><p>You are always writing negatively about the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise, and I would like to know why: the &ldquo;grave&rdquo; financial problems of the team, the lack of fan support, etc. I feel much of what you have written has been based on &ldquo;grave&rsquo; misconceptions. And I would like to straighten you out.</p><p>I will be the first to admit that Pittsburgh doesn&rsquo;t have many sellouts, but who does? You have to remember the type of teams the Pittsburgh fan has been forced to support. In the entire history of the franchise, there has never been a truly successful team.</p><p>There also has been the problem of weak ownership, not because of lack of fan support, but because of poor management. When you take all of these factors into account, I think 10,000 average attendance for the Penguins is quite good.</p><p>Also compared with the team you cover, the Black Hawks, the Pittsburgh situation looks even better. Here is a franchise that has a great history, a city that is much bigger than Pittsburgh, yet the fans are staying away in droves. Furthermore, Chicago has no TV coverage and almost didn&rsquo;t get on radio. I repeat, the Penguins have been given better support than many NHL cities.</p><p><b>John O&rsquo;Toole, Chicago, Ill.</b></p><p>Thank you for your Dear John letter. The financial problems encountered by the Penguins in the past are not a figment of one&rsquo;s imagination, but documented fact. Nobody accused the Penguins&rsquo; clientele of being disloyal, nobody said things aren&rsquo;t looking up, nobody said the team is doomed.</p><p>In fact, upon checking recent copies of THE HOCKEY NEWS, the we find anti-Penguin literature about only two subjects: a bush newspaper ad promoting a fight between Dave Shultz and Bob (Battleship) Kelly when the later first returned to The Igloo, and a couple trades made by the Penguins.</p><p>The ad fortunately has not been repeated, and deals such as the Peter Mahovlich one with Montreal have not hurt the Penguins so far. &ldquo;He has turned this team around,&rdquo; said GM Baz Bastien. &ldquo;Peter is a winner, and he&rsquo;s doing things the other guy (Pierre Larouche) didn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>Don&rsquo;t Blame Me</b></h2><p>Well, I see you got Don Ruck fired. Anybody else you want to nail?</p><p><b>Bill Harrison, Simcoe, Ont.</b></p><p>Don Ruck&rsquo;, Peter Puck, Run Amuck, we have the power to fire none of the above. If we did, then the picture atop this column would be John Ziegler&rsquo;s. One line here four months ago on the possibility that Ruck would leave, and you blame us? Besides, he wasn&rsquo;t fired. He resigned.</p><p>Your column on realignment of the NHL made a lot of sense, especially since the NHL turned around and did what it did with the schedule. What do you think?</p><p><b>Peter O&rsquo;Malley, Boston, Mass.</b></p><p>By increasing the number of intra-divisional games, the NHL is attempting to manufacture rivalries. More meetings for the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers or Islanders is a good idea.</p><p>But find me a man who thinks the Vancouver Canucks ever will generate nervous tension in the Checkerdome, and we shall find that man a straightjacket. Furthermore, by having but two visits from elite clubs such as Philadelphia, Boston, Montreal, places such as the Checkerdome will suffer more. No, the answer is not only more games within the division, but better games in each division.</p><h2><b>Will Orr Be Back?</b></h2><p><b>IS BOBBY ORR EVER</b> going to play again?</p><p><b>Patty Weston, Bangor, Maine.</b></p><p>Orr says he will try to punish the left knee a bit this summer with a week or so of hard skating. If he gets good vibes, he might try training camp in September. If not, he will call it a career. He is skating again in his capacity as assistant coach for the Black Hawks, and confidants such as goalie Ed Johnston opine that &ldquo;Moses has the bug again&hellip;I expect him to be playing next season.&rdquo; Hockey fans everywhere should be so lucky.</p><p>Who will win coach of the year in the NHL and who votes?</p><p><b>Gary Finnelli, Glen Ridge, N.J.</b></p><p>The Broadcasters Association handles that award. Lots of good work being done around the league, but our nominee would be Bob Pulford in Chicago. He&rsquo;s done more than coach. He&rsquo;s resurrected a corpse.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0006-01

HOCKEY TALK

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011009/4201811-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>WAYNE STEPHENSON&hellip;Will Pride Be Motivation Enough?</b></figcaption></div><p>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;</p><p>Success or failure?</p><p>The Flyers&rsquo; Great Experiment&mdash;tapping rookie Rick St. Croix as their goaltender for the season&rsquo;s most demanding road trip&mdash;certainly wasn&rsquo;t a failure. St. Croix compiled a respectable 3.04 average that included 3-1 and 6-1 victories in Pittsburgh and Washington respectively.</p><p>Everyone from Keith Allen to Fred Shero to Philadelphia players were convinced that St. Croix can play in the NHL. However, following a humiliating 7-1 crushing in Montreal that concluded the 10-day trip, it was clear that St. Croix wouldn&rsquo;t lift the Flyers on his slender shoulders and single-handedly carry them to the Patrick Division pennant.</p><p>Their 2-3-1 record on the trip shoved the Flyers almost hopelessly behind the division-leading Islanders. The Flyers were an embarassing 1-10-5 vs. the NHL&rsquo;s other top five teams. Montreal&rsquo;s 13-2-3 was best among the league&rsquo;s Super Six. Next up from the Flyers was Toronto, with 6-8-3.</p><p>With St. Croix playing well, but not well enough to launch the Flyers on a furious homestretch drive. Shero was faced with turning again to Bernie Parent and Wayne Stephenson.</p><p>The problem with dusting off Parent and Stephenson, was that, while they had played well during the season, their performances against the NHL&rsquo;s top teams were judged not good enough. Shero&rsquo;s delicate dilemma now was to ask the two veterans to give it another try for the ol&rsquo;orange-and-black.</p><p>With both Parent and Stephenson, who through injury and his father&rsquo;s death had not played in five weeks until he relieved St. Croix in the Montreal mauling, mentioned in trade speculation it&rsquo;s likely neither felt like making the extra sacrifice necessary to restore the Flyers to their recent but vanishing stature. Their professional pride will make them do their best, which, perhaps in the pressure both are accustomed to, will help re-ignite the Flyers&rsquo; spark.</p><p>At least one opinion is that St. Croix is the best thing that could happen to Parent and Stephenson. Bobby Taylor, the former goaltender turned broadcaster, sees St. Croix&rsquo; presence as the catalyst that will make the two veterans more effective.</p><p>&lsquo;We&rsquo;ve had three goalies here before&mdash;myself Mike Belhumeur and Gary Inness, but none of us got the ice time Rick is getting,&rdquo; said Taylor. &ldquo;I think Rick will push the others and bring out the best in everybody.&rdquo;</p><p>Like almost everyone else, Taylor has been impressed with St. Croix, who was the Flyers&rsquo; fourth-round draft pick in 1975.</p><p>&ldquo;Rick plays the angles extremely well,&rdquo; said Taylor. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a carbon copy of Jacques Plante&mdash;every move, even to the point of how he skates off the ice and how he carries his mask. It&rsquo;s like Jacques Plante&rsquo;s body has been reincarnated in a 22-year-old man&rsquo;s body.&rdquo;</p><p>While the Flyers were hoping that Plante&rsquo;s great skills would surface in the bodies of either St. Croix, Parent or Stephenson, they were welcoming Bobby Clarke back to the lineup. Clarke returned against Montreal with his familiar zest, setting up Philadelphia&rsquo;s only goal, by Paul Holmgren, and generally trying to inspire his teammates.</p><p>Clarke&rsquo;s broken thumb sidelined him for 10 games, including the six-game road trip. During his absence the Flyers were 4-5-1, which proved that without their captain the Flyers just aren&rsquo;t the same team.</p><p>The Flyers were also without their best defenseman. Jimmy Watson. An infected elbow hospitalized Watson, forcing him to miss five games.</p><p><b>FLYERS FACTS:</b> Bid Barber, the Flyers&rsquo; goal-scoring leader, topped the scoring on the six-game road trip with 34-7. Rick MacLeish followed with 2-4-6&hellip;</p><p>Rick LaPointe has responded well to the opportunity to play regularly following Kevin McCarthy&rsquo;s knee injury. Lapointe is playing with the confidence that was missing earlier in the season.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0007-01

Flyers Bank On Veteran Goalers In Stretch

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011122/4201849-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="411" height="464"></div><h2><b><i>Dedicated Coach&hellip;</i></b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>HE LAST TIME</b> I saw Bobby Kromm he was wedged prone on the rear deck of a Sunbeam. Bobby vyas coaching in the Western League at that time and was laying over at a motel on Sunset the night before a game in Los Angeles. I went down with another coach to visit and they decided they wanted to eat at a steak house on Alvarado, a few miles away. They didn&rsquo;t want to take a taxi. Western League coaches didn&rsquo;t make much money. They wanted me to drive them. But all I had was a two-seater sports car. Bobby, being the smallest, volunteered to climb atop the shelf behind the front seat and in front of the back window. So, ingloriously, he travelled to and from our meal. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been in worse spots,&rdquo; he laughs.</p><p>Bobby has travelled a rather inglorious road to the top in his profession, nearly breaking up his marriage and losing his family in his dedication to coaching. Bom in Calgary, the little guy played minor league hockey, but never made the majors. Turning to coaching, he worked the minors for many years. His wife didn&rsquo;t want to leave Canada so while he coached Dallas eight seasons he was apart from her and their four children. He was promised promotion to the majors by the Black Hawks but it never came. Finally, he went to the World Hockey Association for two seasons before making it to the National Hockey League this season. There have been many excellent coaching jobs done here this season, but none better than Bobby&rsquo;s. Closing in on the age of 50 in his first season as an NHL mentor, Kromm could be &ldquo;coach of the year.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021011/4201842-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="741" height="696"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bobby Kromm waited In Chicago for his chance to coach In the National Hockey League, but couldn&rsquo;t resist an offer from Winnipeg Jets of the WHA. Now he&rsquo;s moved to Detroit and Is making the most of his long-awaited NHL coaching opportunity.</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t even want to think about that. I&rsquo;m just happy to be here,&rdquo; Bobby smiled after his Red Wings had won a game the other night. Winning games is not what the once dominant Detroit franchise has been doing in recent years. The Wings won only 16 games and lost 55 last season, but they have been winning almost as many as they have been losing this season. They have missed the playoffs 10 of the last 11 seasons, the last seven in succession, but they may make it this season. They may not, but the fact that they are giving it a good run and have improved dynamically is a tribute to the job he has done.</p><p><b>BOBBY CAN COACH</b>. He proved that a long time ago. He was the last man to coach Canada to the World Amateur Championship. That was with the Trail Smoke Eaters back in 1961. Two years later he took the same team to the Allen Cup crown, symbolic of senior hockey supremacy in Canada. After he joined the Chicago organization, he thought he was on his way to the Black Hawks. Tommy Ivan, who was the manager, encouraged him to wait, though Billy Reay, the coach, didn&rsquo;t. Kromm recalls, &ldquo;Tommy kept telling me he had plans for me and they&rsquo;d be making changes soon. He was supposed to become a vice-president, while Billy would become manager, and they&rsquo;d need a coach. Billy pointed out to me one time that when he became manager, he&rsquo;d have the right to name his own coach. I should have gotten the message, but I waited too long to make a move. The funny thing, of course, is that when the change came, both were out and Bob Pulford became both coach and manager.&rdquo;</p><p>Kromm won three pennants and three playoff titles in his eight seasons at Dallas in the Central League. He went on to win the playoff title in his first season with Winnipeg in the WHA, and lose it only in the last game of the last series his second season. By then, he&rsquo;d already agreed to take over in Detroit in the NHL this season.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d passed up several offers from NHL and WHA teams when Rudy Pilous made me an offer I couldn&rsquo;t resist. Too much money. And a chance to return to Canada and my family,&rdquo; Bobby says. &ldquo;So I went to Winnipeg and I was happy there. But when the offer from Detroit came I couldn&rsquo;t resist the temptation to move into the NHL at last. There were rumors the Wings had signed a coach for this season, but I was sworn to silence.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ODDLY, THE OFFER</b> came from Alex Delvecchio, who was replaced by Ted Lindsay, and rumors surfaced that Ted didn&rsquo;t want to honor the deal, causing Kromm to sweat it out. However, Ted did. Supposedly, they&rsquo;d never make it together. Kromm won with Scandinavians at Winnipeg, coaching a skate-and-pass system, preaching nonviolence, while Terrible Ted promised an aggressive game with the Wings. However, Kromm has come through with the style Lindsay likes, &ldquo;Horses for courses,&rdquo; Bobby says. &ldquo;I have hitters here, so I let them hit. I had skaters, there, so I let them skate. They say the Swedes lack courage because they don&rsquo;t like to fight, but I think it takes more courage to keep playing hockey when you&rsquo;re being fouled. Fighting is the least part of this sport. I encourage my Wings to hit, not fight.&rdquo;</p><p>He grinned. &ldquo;I am,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;a lover, not a fighter.&rdquo;</p><p>He and his wife. Geraldine, celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary last June. They have 15-year-old twins, Robin, a girl, and David, a boy, as well as another son, Richard, 14, and daughter, Michelle, almost 11. Bobby sighs and says, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t blame my wife for wanting to keep the family in Canada. It&rsquo;s our country. And you don&rsquo;t want to move kids around too much once they start school. But those were lonely seasons in Dallas. And my wife had to raise the kids by herself in Canada. It bothered me. Boys need a father. Girls, too. But, what do you do, give up your life?</p><p>&ldquo;She did a great job. The oldest girl has a scholarship to the Royal Winnipeg ballet. They all have something going for them. They&rsquo;re great kids and I&rsquo;m proud of them. I have a great wife and I&rsquo;m happy she stuck with me. We got together for the winter for the first time in a long time in Winnipeg. We have our home there, but now we&rsquo;re building a house outside of Detroit. That&rsquo;s practically Canada and she&rsquo;s coming with the kids. So I can concentrate on coaching. Coaching is a lot like being a father, anyway,&rdquo; he smiled. &ldquo;You have to be father, teacher, psychologist, priest to your players. You do what you have to do,&rdquo; he said.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03857/4201880-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JIM RUTHERFORD&hellip;Backstopping Key Detroit Victories</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Steve Babineau)</span></figcaption></div><p>DETROIT&mdash;</p><p>&ldquo;Jimmy Rutherford & Co.&rdquo;</p><p>That&rsquo;s what roach Bobby Kromm was labeling his Red Wings during a recent string of victories as Rutherford posted four straight victories, five of six and lost only one of seven appearances.</p><p>One of the victories was a big 5-1 decision over the Kings, in which Rutherford outduelled Rogie Vachon for the second straight meeting. Rutherford backstopped the Wings to a 2-1 triumph in L.A. earlier in the streak.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been getting great goaltending, as good as any team in the league,&rdquo; veteran Dennis Hextall said.</p><p>Kromm agreed. &ldquo;It was Jimmv Rutherford and company out there. No question about it. This was the first time all season we&rsquo;ve gotten three straight consistently well-played games from our goalies.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen Rutherford any sharper. And he was just as sharp the next day in practice. Nobody could get the puck past him.&rdquo;</p><p>And in the next game, too, a 4-1 victory over Washington.</p><p>&ldquo;And I am confident that Ron Low is going to do the job for us when we call on him. Our goalies are going to give us a big edge down the stretch,&rdquo; Kromm said.</p><p>Of the L.A. game, Jimmy said: &ldquo;All I knew was that it was the biggest game I&rsquo;ve ever played for the Wings. We&rsquo;ve never before been in a position where we&rsquo;re fighting for the playoffs. This game had a bearing on second place and that made it even bigger.&rdquo;</p><p>Rutherford was dominating the three-star selections.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the points in the standings that count,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care about the spotlight, except that when a goalie is the No. 1 star, it usually means your team won. And that&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;re for.&rdquo;</p><p>One of the Red Wings&rsquo; lines this season&mdash;a most efficient one of late&mdash;consists of three grinders&mdash;Nick Libett, Hextail and Rick Bowness&mdash;and you seldom get three of a kind playing together. In this game, it&rsquo;s a winning hand.</p><p>The players like it, and so does Kromm.</p><p>Hextall is the center and a fine playmaker. If he does anything better than agitate and force the opposition to keep its head up, it&rsquo;s set up plays. Libett dabbles in goal scoring and is enjoying an outstanding season. Bowness, the youngster in the group, is coming along quite well after a roller coaster start.</p><p>Libett and Hextall are naturals and Bowness has fit in nicely.</p><p>&ldquo;We play the same type of a game,&rdquo; said Libett, who already had 15 goals.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re basically up-and-down players who work along the boards and in the corners. Ricky plays a lot like Hex and I so there&rsquo;s no problem.&rdquo;</p><p>Bowness, 23, got off to a promising start this season. He scored a couple of big goals in early games but then, with Kromm experimenting with newcomers, the six-foot-one right winger mysteriously got lost in the shuffle. Just recently he got back into good graces and onto the Hextall-Libett line. He has six goals and six assists in part-time service and scored the winning goal in Detroit&rsquo;s pivotal 2-1 victory in Los Angeles recently.</p><p>&ldquo;I love it,&rdquo; Bowness said of his new line. &ldquo;I find it very easy to play with them.</p><p>&ldquo;They throw it (the puck) in and grind it out. That&rsquo;s my game, too. Nick and Hex have been in the league a long time. They know how to play the game and it&rsquo;s a pleasure for me to play with them.&rdquo;</p><p>The line has been producing at both ends, scoring some key goals&mdash;Hextall had a pair in the victory over Los Angeles, including the winner&mdash;and doing yeomen duty defensively. Hextall and Libett remain two of the club&rsquo;s top penalty killers and the top defensive forwards.</p><p>Both Libett and Hextall had early-season spats with Kromm and general manager Ted Lindsay. They were, to put it mildly, in the doghouse. They got out of it the best way there is&mdash;by playing so well that they could no longer be confined.</p><p>&ldquo;That line is playing very well,&rdquo; Kromm said. &ldquo;Bowness is still a stride behind the other two but in fairness to him, he hasn&rsquo;t played as much.&rdquo;</p><p>Naturally, the others used that line&mdash;&rdquo;&hellip;is still a stride behind&rdquo;&mdash;to rib Bowness at practice the next morning about his inability to keep up with the older guys.</p><p>&ldquo;They may be old but they have young legs,&rdquo; Bowness shot back.</p><p>&ldquo;Libett? What can I say? He&rsquo;s been outstanding,&rdquo; Kromm continued.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a solid NHL winger. I know I&rsquo;d be reluctant to deal him off.</p><p>&ldquo;I know the players weren&rsquo;t happy with four lines and the little ice time they were getting earlier. They didn&rsquo;t understand it. I have to take the crap for it and persevere But I&rsquo;d like to think that it helped Dennis, we didn&rsquo;t work him to death like has been done before. If it helped Dennis, it has to help the team.&rdquo;</p><p><b>MOTOR CITY SHORTS:</b> Defensemen Al Cameron and John Hilworth, recalled from Kansas City on an emergency basis.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-03

Wings’ Rutherford Coming Up Sharp In Playoff Drive

<div class="byline">BY AL SMITH</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011082/4201911-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ED KEA&hellip;Possesses Rare Shot-Blocking Ability</b></figcaption></div><p>ATLANTA&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>N</span>ot too many years ago the only distinctions Atlanta Flames&rsquo; defenseman Ed Kea held in the National Hockey League were he was the only NHLer that was born in Holland and he had the shortest name in the league.</p><p>That&rsquo;s not true any longer. Keas biggest distinction now is, he&rsquo;s one of the most improved defensemen in the league. And it&rsquo;s all come from hard work and the fact that Ed Kea now believes in himself.</p><p>And Kea will be the first to tell you, that the reason he now believes in himself is that he&rsquo;now believes in Jesus Christ. Ed Kea is a Christian&hellip;a fact he is very proud of. His spare time is spent in church or reading the Bible.</p><p>Those long waits in airports can be boring, but not so much any more for the Weesp, Holland native. When others gather to play cards, read the paper or do crossword puzzles, Kea can be found with his Bible.</p><p>Kea credits much of his improved play and improved life to Christ, but there are those who know a lot of it came from nothing more than hard work.</p><p>He is usually one of the last players off the ice during any Flames&rsquo; practice session. And his hard work has paid off.</p><p>Kea has become the Flames&rsquo; steadiest defenseman and his plus-minus figure has become the best on the team.</p><p>And don&rsquo;t think this is a case of a Christian being thrown to the lions. He doesn&rsquo;t go looking for fights, but he doesn&rsquo;t back down, either. His fight record has been one of the best on the team this season and he uses his body with the best in the league.</p><p>One of Kea&rsquo;s biggest plusses is his shot-blocking ability, an almost lost art in the league. He has been injured twice this season sliding in front of defensemen teeing off from the blueline.</p><p>The latest injury put Kea on the shelf for 10 games with two broken fingers.</p><p>&ldquo;It was a high shot and I thought it was going to hit me in the chest,&rdquo; Kea said. &ldquo;The puck must have hit between the padding in my glove. It cracked one of the bones and fractured another.&rdquo;</p><p>Kea says his shotblocking is a matter of instinct.</p><p>&ldquo;If I&rsquo;m really in the game I&rsquo;m blocking shots and everything,&rdquo; Kea said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just instinct and I guess it comes from the days when I played soccer.&rdquo;</p><p>While sitting on the sidelines, Kea said it was hard to watch.</p><p>&ldquo;It was sickening just sitting there and not being able to do anything,&rdquo; Kea said. &ldquo;You can see plays developing for and against the team and there&rsquo;s nothing you can do about them.&rdquo;</p><p>Now, Kea&rsquo;s worried about what effect the injury will have on him the rest of the season.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never been injured for this long, this late in the season,&rdquo; Kea said. &ldquo;I know I can&rsquo;t just step on the ice and take up right where I left off.</p><p>&ldquo;After the last injury it seemed like it took me forever to get back to where I was before I left. You can skate by yourself all you want, but it&rsquo;s not like being involved.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to need a lot of help from my teammates to get back.&rdquo;</p><p>And speaking of Kea&rsquo;s teammates, his defensive partner, Rick Mulhern, credits Kea for his improved play.</p><p>&ldquo;We had things going good,&rdquo; Kea said. &ldquo;Rick had lost all his confidence and defeated his whole purpose before he stepped on the ice. He just knew they were going to score against him as soon as he got on.</p><p>&ldquo;But we got something going and it came mostly from communication on the ice. We started yelling at each other as to where we were and what to do. The first thing we did was to establish the fact we were the bosses on the ice. He had a couple of super games and then he got his confidence back and that&rsquo;s all he needed.</p><p>&ldquo;He was really down on himself for awhile.&rdquo;</p><p>Time will only tell how effective Kea will be when he gets back in action, but one thing&rsquo;s for sure. He&rsquo;s ready to go and there are a lot of people waiting to find out.</p><p>He may not think he can step on the ice and take up where he left off, but Atlantans are hoping he can.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0009-01

Hard Work And Christianity Keys To Kea’s Improvement

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011109/4201942-1-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>Canadiens Too Strong To Lose Stanley Cup</b></h2><p>Montreal, not the Islanders will win the Stanley Cup. I think, they are just too strong. If you look back, they only lost eight games last year and this year with 14 left to play they have only lost nine.</p><p>At the time the Canadiens lost two in a row, many of their players had the flu and Guy Lafleur was off almost two weeks, as the team was not playing at the usual plateau.</p><p>Another reason the Canadiens will win the cup is that they have the best defense in the NHL. Sure they make mistakes, but they still have the best goals-against average.</p><p>I think it will be the Canadiens against the Islanders in the final with the Islanders reaching the finals because of the Mike Bossy line.</p><p><b>TIM CORMIER,</b><br><b>Toronto, Ont.</b></p><h2><b>Letter Of Thanks To Mark And Sandy</b></h2><p>I would like to thank Mark and Sandy of N.Y. for their letter about the style of hockey the Birmingham Bulls are playing now which appeared in the March 3 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS.</p><p>It&rsquo;s really nice to know that there are some people that don&rsquo;t look at the Bulls as &ldquo;violent goons that don&rsquo;t know a thing about hockey and the only thing they know how to do is fight.&rdquo;</p><p>A lot of people say they don&rsquo;t like rough tough hockey, but still they are the first ones in line to get tickets when a team like the Bulls come to town, and also Bulls&rsquo; crowds have gotten bigger since they started playing this type of hockey and they do win more. Just ask Winnipeg or Cincy.</p><p>Sure we have a lot of rough players like Dave Hanson, Gilles (Bad News) Bilodeau, and Steve Durbano, but we also have some good hockey players, too, like Mark Napier, Ken Linseman, Paul Henderson, Peter Marrin, as well as good hockey players that are also rough and tough like Frank Beaton, Serge Beaudoin, Brent Hughes and the best goalies in the world, John Garrett and Wayne Wood.</p><p><b>KEITH MARCUS,</b><br><b>Birmingham, Ala.</b></p><h2><b>It&rsquo;s Easy To Star With Powerhouse Teams</b></h2><p>Who couldn&rsquo;t score 50 goals on a line with Bryan Trottier and Clark Gillies, playing on one of the top six teams in the NHL? Who wouldn&rsquo;t contend for the Vezina Trophy playing behind a great Buffalo team, another of the top six?</p><p>Put Mike Bossy on a line in Minnesota, Cleveland, Washington, St. Louis etc. Would he score 50? Put Don Edwards behind Detroit, Colorado, Vancouver, Pittsburgh. Would he have a 2.70 goals-against average?</p><p>Now look at a real Calder Trophy candidate. He&rsquo;s broken the record for goal scoring by a rookie defenseman. He beat out the likes of Tom Bladon, Carol Vadnais, Ed Kea and Keith Magnuson for a spot on the second All Star team.</p><p>Along with Wilfred Paiement and Pau Gardner before he was hurt, this real Calder Trophy candidate is making the Rockies respectable: Barry &ldquo;Bubba&rsquo; Beck.</p><p><b>ERIC RUBANOWITZ,</b><br><b>Englewood, Colo</b></p><h2><b>Commendations Due To New England Whalers</b></h2><p>Let me take this opportunity to commend the New England Whalers hockey team and their management on their unending determination, presistence and strength in dealing with the undeserved problems they are facing.</p><p>Even with the changeover from the tragic roof collapse at the Hartford Civic Center, the team has stayed near the top. They are a well-run organization run by some wonderful people and they deserve all the credit they can get.</p><p>They&rsquo;ll always remain on top.</p><p><b>CYNTHIA GEBOW,</b><br><b>Marblehead, Mass.</b></p><h2><b>Leafs Have More Than Two Stars</b></h2><p>I would like to argue one of the points made by a fan in the Feb. 24 Fan Forum. This person said that there are only two good defensemen on the Leafs. I think, however, that if this so-called &ldquo;fan&rdquo; would pay a little more attention to Toronto games, he would see that he has overlooked some key players.</p><p>I should agree that Salming is a good defenseman, but his other choice, I am Turnbull should not even be classified as a defenseman. Although he plays well when he is in position, it is very rare that we find him defending his own net. Usually he can be found in the other team&rsquo;s territory trying to score goals rather than stop them.</p><p>On the other hand, the Leafs have two other blueliners who do their job and do it well. Brian Glennie is always there ready to bounce the opposing player off the puck. Their other defenseman is Trevor Johansen, a very underrated rookie. Trevor, a &ldquo;superstar-to-be&rdquo;, has scored only two goals so far this season, but he has played many very strong games. He is able to skate very well, and lately has become famous in Toronto for his thundering checks. Although not very tall (five-foot-nine) Trevor is strong and does a fantastic job of breaking up plays in his zone and has set up many Toronto goals.</p><p>As B.A. Campeau also stated in his letter, the Leafs are contenders only because of two players. I think he better open his eyes a bit more and think about where the Leafs would be without people like Mike Palmateer, Darryl Sittler and most important, Roger Neilson.</p><p>No team, not even Montreal, could win or even be contenders because of only two players.</p><p><b>DEBBIE OTTEN,</b><br><b>Toronto, Ont.</b></p><h2><b>Put Powder Puffs Away, Let&rsquo;s Get Down To Hockey</b></h2><p>Come on World Hockey Association, quit being sissies. If hockey players are to wear lace on their shorts, then maybe the WHA should join the women&rsquo;s tennis tour.</p><p>Not only has the WHA been unfair to Birmingham in the matter of fines and suspensions they now want Birmingham to stop playing and singing &ldquo;Dixie.&rdquo; I guess the Flyers will have to do away with Kate Smith.</p><p>Let&rsquo;s play hockey and put away the powder puffs.</p><p><b>OBIE EVANS,</b><br><b>Birmingham, Ala.</b></p><h2><b>Too Many Penalties For Tiger Williams</b></h2><p>I have been following the Maple Leafs&rsquo; statistics this season and I feel that Tiger Williams spends too much time in the penalty box.</p><p>He has collected nearly 30 percent of all the Toronto penalty minutes and at one point I calculated that Toronto was the fifth most penalized team in the league, but that without Williams&rsquo; penalties they would be the fifth least penalized.</p><p>I have yet to see a hockey player who can score from the penalty box.</p><p><b>MIKE SCHILLING,</b><br><b>N. Syracuse, N.Y.</b></p><h2><b>Terry O&rsquo;Reilly Key To The Bruins</b></h2><p>Boston Bruins&rsquo; right winger Terry O&rsquo;Reilly is the team&rsquo;s top scorer and is in the top 10 for the NHL among scorers.</p><p>He is not a good skater but is a very big hard worker and a very good stickhandler. As Boston&rsquo;s general manager Harry Sinden says, O&rsquo;Reilly is the key for the Bruins.</p><p>The Bruins are going to win the Stanley Cup, not Montreal or the Islanders.</p><p><b>NUNO PITEIRA,</b><br><b>Fall River, Mass.</b></p><h2><b>Watch Out Habs Hawks On Warpath</b></h2><p>Thank you for your great hockey coverage. I especially enjoy Bob Verdi&rsquo;s weekly article on the &ldquo;new&rdquo; Chicago Blackhawks.</p><p>Being present at all their games, I can notice the great turnabout from previous years. Bob Pulford has molded the Hawks into a real contender.</p><p>With the great goaltending of Tony Esposito, the staunch defense of Keith Magnuson and Phil Russell, and the offense supplied by Stan Mikita and Ivan Boldirev, it is the Stadium&rsquo;s consensus that it is time for the Canadiens to start looking over their shoulders.</p><p><b>DAN FRICK,</b><br><b>Westchester, Ill.</b></p><h2><b>Racers&rsquo; Inness Only Protecting Self</b></h2><p>After reading and hearing what the coach of the Birmingham &ldquo;Bullies&rdquo; had to say, I was beginning to wonder about our goaltender Gary Inness.</p><p>The coach (Glen Sonmor) has been quoted as saying that Inness is a &ldquo;goon goalie.&rdquo; Who would recognize a &ldquo;goon&rdquo; more readily than a &ldquo;goon connoisseur?" He certainly has done a fine job of signing the &ldquo;best&rdquo; with his team.</p><p>The coach also claims that Inness is at fault for beginning both fights. He said that he saw, from the films. Inness slashing his players. I think the coach should have rewound the film just a bit. Then he could seen Inness getting &ldquo;killed&rdquo; in his own goal crease.</p><p>Who could blame Inness for trying to protect himself or maybe even seeking some revenge if that&rsquo;s what it was? Maybe that kind of play draws the crowds in Birmingham, but Indianapolis would not go for the kind of garbage he calls hockey.</p><p>I think the city of Birmingham has a good hockey crowd. It&rsquo;s too bad they don&rsquo;t have a hockey team. Sorry, coach. I&rsquo;ll pick the Racers over the &ldquo;Bullies&rdquo; any day, win or lose.</p><p><b>GINNY HAYES,</b><br><b>Indianapolis, Ind.</b></p><h2><b>Why Are Black Hawks Overlooked By NHL TV?</b></h2><p>The NHL televises two games a week. They broadcast teams like Montreal, Buffalo, Boston. Philly and the Islanders two or three times a year and these teams bring good ratings. But why are teams like St. Louis, Minnesota, Detroit, and Colorado being televised just as often.</p><p>Chicago Black Hawks have improved greatly since last year. Currently they rank seventh out of the 18 teams. But they&rsquo;re not on TV.</p><p>Bob Pulford has done a great job with rookies like Ted Bulley and Doug Wilson and his best move was the departure of (Pit) Martin and (Dennis) Hull, who were replaced by people like (J. Bob) Kelly and (Pierre) Plante. Pulford&rsquo;s system is mainly defense and Chicago has allowed thesame amount of goals as teams like Montreal. Boston. Philly, the Islanders and Buffalo.</p><p>Maybe Chicago widget the recognition it deserves.</p><p><b>DAVE DESROSIERS,</b><br><b>Fall River, Mass.</b></p><h2><b>LETTER OF THE WEEK</b></h2><h2><b>Have Greater Penalties For Misuse Of Sticks</b></h2><p>When writers, sportscasters and fans talk about violence in hockey, they generally refer to fights as the main disturbance. I believe, however, that more injuries occur from abuse of the opposition with sticks than during a bout of fisticuffs.</p><p>Wouldn&rsquo;t most people agree that control of offenses where the stick is involved would actually work to curtail the frequency of fights?</p><p>I believe that if unnecessary use of the stick was penalized by penalty shots rather than penalty minutes that it would not only put a lid on violence but add an exciting new dimension to the game.</p><p><b>RON DEVAL,</b><br><b>Whitefish Bay, Wis.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-01

OTHER FEATURES

FAN FORUM

<p><b>1. Which former member of the Canadiens wore No. 10 before Guy Lafleur?</b><br><b>Larry Pleau&#9633; Mickey Redmond&#9633; Bill Collins&#9633;</b></p><p><b>2. Which Montreal defenseman recently tied the club record for career points (447) set by Doug Harvey?</b><br><b>Serge Savard&#9633; Guy Lapointe&#9633; Larry Robinson&#9633;</b></p><p><b>3. Which NHL team holds a record by reaching 40 victories in a season 10 years in a row?</b><br><b>Montreal&#9633; Detroit&#9633; Boston&#9633;</b></p><p><b>4. Which NHL teams has the lowest average ticket price?</b><br><b>Boston&#9633; Cleveland&#9633; Atlanta&#9633;</b></p><p><b>5. Which NHL team has played four games this year without drawing a penalty?</b><br><b>Buffalo&#9633; Montreal&#9633; Colorado&#9633;</b></p><p><b>6. How many players in World Hockey Association history have scored more than 200 goals?</b><br><b>Four&#9633; Six&#9633; Nine&#9633;</b></p><p><b>7. Who is the all-time shutout leader in the WHA?</b><br><b>Ernie Wakely&#9633; John Garrett&#9633; Gerry Cheevers&#9633;</b></p><p><b>8. Which NHL player scored the most goals, 24, in two successive playoff years?</b><br><b>Guy Lafleur&#9633; Rick MacLeish&#9633; Phil Esposito&#9633;</b></p><p><b>9. True or false: only one WHA player has accumulated over 1,000 penalty minutes in his career?</b></p><p><b>10. Which NHL team has the worst road record in the league this year?</b><br><b>Washington&#9633; Colorado&#9633; Minnesota&#9633;</b></p><h2><b>QUICK QUIZ ANSWERS</b></h2><p><b>1. Collins. 2. Lapointe. 3. Boston. 4. Atlanta. 5. Montreal. 6. Six. 7. Wakely. 8. MacLelsh. 9. False, none have. 10. Colorado, one win.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Fans’ Quick Hockey Quiz

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><p>LOS ANGELES&mdash;</p><p>The immediate problem confronting the Kings is securing a place in the playoffs as the season runs out. If that is done the main problem will be doing well in the playoffs. In any event, once their season ends the club will confront a problem that could, in the long run, have even greater import. The contracts of half-a-dozen key members of the cast will have expired.</p><p>The great goaler Rogie Vachon, powerful young defensemen Gary Sargent and Dave Hutchison, veteran defenseman Bob Murdoch, the brilliant center Butch Goring, and the veteran forward Tom Williams will be available to other teams unless signed by the Kings. Aside from Marcel Dionne and Mike Murphy, maybe one or two others, they are the heart of this team.</p><p>All are attractive to other teams, some especially so. Several of them would improve teams tremendously by themselves. Two or three could turn a bad team into a good team, a good team into a contender, possibly a contender into a champion. There are a few teams who have the money and would be willing to bid high for some of them. The Kings have the money and are willing to go high to sign them.</p><p>However, as manager George Maguire admits. &ldquo;Some of them are asking more money than we are willing to pay, ridiculous sums of money. We know salaries have gone up and we have gone along with this, but there has to be a limit.&rdquo; Of owner Jack Kent Cooke. Maguire says, &ldquo;Mr. Cooke would take compensation for some of these players rather than pay what they ask. but who could determine proper compensation for them? Players? What goaler is as good as Vachon? Draft choices? Mr. Cooke wouldn&rsquo;t take a dozen first draft choices for him.&rdquo;</p><p>Cooke possibly would pay what some players want for a few years, but may not want to committ the team to long-term payments of such size. While Cook may come personally into the picture, he is at this time an absentee owner living in Las Vegas and Maguire must talk&rdquo; to him on the telephone and do the direct dealing with the players and their agents. Darkly, he admits. &ldquo;Yes. I anticipate trouble signing them. I think they will be signed, but I don&rsquo;t think it will be easy.&rdquo;</p><p>The team has had a disappointing season and has had a lot of trouble lately, but it would be the deepest of disappointments if it lost some of these stars, and if it lost two or three of them it would be in terrible trouble for the future. There is here the nucleus of a bigger winner than the Kings have been this season. Without them the Kings would be a loser again.</p><p>It is freak coincidence that so many key players have contracts concluding at the same time. Most of them are five-year contracts that conclude at season&rsquo;s end. Salaries have risen in these seasons and players have come in like Dionne with a $250,000 annual salary that makes others envious. Vachon, for example, may well be asking double the $150,000 annual pact he signed in 1972.</p><p>&ldquo;I gave management my figures at the start of the season and they haven&rsquo;t been met yet,&rdquo; the 32-year-old Vachon says. &ldquo;As of now. we&rsquo;re not even close, but we want to wait until season&rsquo;s end to get down to serious negotiations because we don&rsquo;t want to be distracted from the job we have to do. I&rsquo;pi not looking to make a move. I love it here. But I want the security of a five-year contract, I figure it&rsquo;ll be the last contract I&rsquo;ll sign as a player, and I&rsquo;d be foolish not to listen to what other teams might offer me.&rdquo;</p><p>Goring, 28. says, he is making more than the published estimate of $70,000. but justifiedly feels he should not be making only a third of even a half of what a couple of others are. &ldquo;I love playing here, but this is a business. When I signed five years ago the salary seemed fine. It&rsquo;s still not bad. but a lot has changed. I would have liked to have had the contract renegotiated, but it didn&rsquo;t happen. Now, I figure if I sign for five and an option year it will be the last one and I want it to be a good one. The offers the Kings have made pie I&rsquo;ve turned down. I want to talk to other teams and see what they have to offer.&rdquo;</p><p>Murdoch, 31, says, &ldquo;I had a five-year contract and liked the security of it. I&rsquo;d like at least a three-and-one and I&rsquo;d like what others on my level are earning. I don&rsquo;t like the idea of leaving, but this may be my last chance in hockey to protect my family&rsquo;s future. I realize a free agent has some power, and I have to keep an open mind about this situation.&rdquo;</p><p>Hutchison, 25, and Sargent, 24, are playing out the option years of three and two-year pacts, respectively, and would be free agents June 1.</p><p>Sargent says, &ldquo;I signed as a rookie, but now I&rsquo;ll sign as an established player. I&rsquo;m not making much money now and I&rsquo;m aware I&rsquo;m worth a lot more to many teams, hopefully to this team. I&rsquo;d like to stay, but I&rsquo;m married now and I&rsquo;d also like to be able to buy a home instead of renting one.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011061/4201997-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="553" height="687"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BOB MURDOCH&hellip;Keeping Open Mind</b></figcaption></div><p>Hutch says, &ldquo;They know what I want but we kind of turned off the talk until the season ends. I&rsquo;m married now and I have to make more money. I&rsquo;m happy here, but I have to see how happy others might make me.&rdquo;</p><p>The attraction of life in sunny southern California might be a bigger lure if it hadn&rsquo;t been raining for months. Troubles on the team may have turned some players off. But Maguire says. &ldquo;I still think they&rsquo;ll be reasonable when we get down to it and we&rsquo;ll sign &rsquo;em.&rdquo;</p><p><b>KINGS THINGS</b>: The latest in a severe series of injuries that has struck the team in general and Hutchison in particular sidelined him for the season when a Barry Beck shot shattered the outside bones on his left foot the second night of March. The Kings did beat Colorado for their second win at home after going five games without one&hellip;Previously they finished a third quarter of 6-11-3 to enter the stretch at 23-25-12. A year ago under Bob Pulford the figures were 9-10-1 and 22-27-11. but that team finished 12-4-4. This was the worst third quarter in five years, but the second quarter last year with Pully. 5-11-4, was worse.</p><p>Coach Ron Stewart is still under fire and when Bob Nevin Showed up for the first time this season on a &ldquo;vacation&rdquo; from his season-long vacation, it looked suspiciously like he was sent here to watch and wait. Bob Berry did become coach, but at Springfield of the AHL as Gary Dineen was let go. Cooke called Maguire and Stewart to a conference in Vegas late in February. The first of March. Stewart and wife Linda finally moved into their new home in Valencia.</p><p>At Springfield, Larry Carriere retired and Steve Short was recalled to replace Hutchison. The Kings now have no more defensemen to call on&hellip;With 14 goals in 14 games. Goring passed the 30-goal plateau for the third straight season and tied Dionne for the team lead in points at 51. Some missed many games, but Dionne is down from 53 goals last season to 23 at the three-quarter pole this season. Williams 35 to seven, Vic Venasky 14 to two and defensemen Sargent 14 to one. Murdoch nine to one and Hutchison six to zero. Average attendance was down 12,207 to 11,832, but at higher prices gross receipts were up about $200,000.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-01

Unsigned Kings May Cause Problem

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011083/4202028-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="284" height="462"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b><i>Bill Fleischman&rsquo;s</i></b></figcaption></div><h2><b>Fleischman&rsquo;s Hiring Hail</b></h2><p><b>WELCOME TO FLEISCHMAN&rsquo;S</b> Hiring Hall.</p><p>General managers, and owners whose bank accounts and or egos make them serve as GMs, can save time and money ordinarily spent on telephone calls by examining the list of candidates for NHL and WHA (if there is a WHA) coaching jobs which is humbly submitted here.</p><p>I&rsquo;m not even asking for a percentage of contract should team hire someone from this list. The last sports writer-turned-agent I know of now has time on his hands&mdash;in the slammer. All I ask is the bare bones of an occasional exclusive, like first rights to the story when the coach is hired.</p><p>Starting with gentlemen who are, or were associated with NHL or WHA clubs:</p><p>Al MacNeil: almost everybody&rsquo;s first choice for an NHL job; coached Montreal to the 1971 Stanley Cup, then headed east to Halifax where he is now GM of the AHL Nova Scotia Voyageurs; seems content to stay there (he must know a great seafood restaurant), but might be lured away with the right offer.</p><p>Terry Crisp: in first year as Philadelphia assistant: knows the game, can communicate; may want to wait a year or two making the transition from player to coach.</p><p>Pat Quinn: the former NHL defenseman is also making the switch from player to coach; has smoothly handled the awkward task of replacing the late Barry Ashbee: impresses everyone with his intelligence and firmness.</p><p>Bobby Orr: I know, he insists coaching doesn&rsquo;t interest him, but more than one former player has melted after a year or two as an assistant; Orr&rsquo;s knowledge of the game and his gate appeal might prompt some owner to make him an offer he couldn&rsquo;t refuse.</p><p>Bill MacMillan: In first season as player-coach for Fort Worth, he&rsquo;s winning rave reviews for developing Islanders&rsquo; and North Stars&rsquo; prospects.</p><h2><b>Prefers Adviser&rsquo;s Role</b></h2><p>Mike Nykoluk: Fred Shero&rsquo;s assistant for five years with the Flyers seems to prefer the role of top adviser; however, he may be anxious to demonstrate his capabilities as a head coach.</p><p>Harry Neale: now with the New England Whalers, he has won respect for his work in the WHA.</p><p>Larry Wilson: coaching Kansas City in Central League: had brief exposure to NHL late last season with then-hopeless Detroit; another who has built a good reputation working with minor leaguers.</p><p>Jacques Demers: suspicion is that, given a good team to work with, he could improve on his record with Indianapolis and Cincinnati of WHA.</p><p>Joe Crozier: highly regarded former NHL and WHA coach who may be interested in returning to the major-league grind.</p><p>The following are associated with minor league or college teams.</p><p>Tom Watt, Univ, of Toronto: has won nine Canadian collegiate championships in 12 seasons; an educator and author, says he&rsquo;d be interested in a pro job &ldquo;if the offer were right&rdquo;.</p><p>Danny Belisle: when the North American League folded and Philadelphia Firebirds joined the AHL, he had two weeks to assemble a team; Firebirds have had winning record in a tough division; Belisle has won championships in IHL and NAHL.</p><h2><b>This Flake Can Coach</b></h2><p>Gregg Pilling: antics at several minor-league stops branded him as a flake, but he can coach; has had Fort Wayne in first place; young and colorful.</p><p>Herb Brooks, Univ, of Minnesota, apparently can have the North Stars&rsquo; job if he wants it; enthusiastic, innovative and successful.</p><p>Marshall Johnston, Univ, of Denver: had players&rsquo; respect when he was piloting Charlie Finley&rsquo;s legion of the lost at Oakland; also mentioned for North Stars&rsquo; job.</p><p>Don Perry and Bob Lemieux: have paid their dues in IHL; Perry is a former Eastern League tough guy who has Saginaw in first place.</p><p>Bob McCammon: since moving to AHL Maine Mariners after playing and coaching in IHL, he has impressed people as a sharp young man who will move up.</p><p>Jack Parker, Boston University: don&rsquo;t know his ambitions, but just check his record.</p><p>Bob Johnson, Univ, of Wisconsin: another coach with a successful collegiate record.</p><p>On the junior level moving east to west, these people are worth interviewing:</p><p>Orval Tessier, Cornwall: Bert Templeton, Hamilton; George Armstrong, Toronto Marlies; Roger Bedard, Montreal Juniors; Jim Morrison, Kingston; Noel Price, former Sudbury coach; Dune McCallum, Brandon; Les Calder, Seattle; Punch McLean, New Westminster.</p><p>Among those who are close to retiring as players, the following are coaching material: Ed Westfall, Bert Marshall, Stan Mikita, Terry Harper, Red Berenson, Jim Roberts, Ed Giacomin (retired) and Cesare Maniago.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-01

HOCKEY WORLD

<div class="byline">BY HARRY KLAFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02920/4202059-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BILLY HARRIS&hellip;Draws Respect Of Teammates</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</span></figcaption></div><p>LONG ISLAND&mdash;</p><p>It&rsquo;s so simple a trivia question that most hockey fans won&rsquo;t even try to tease their friends with it: Who was the first player chosen by the New York Islanders in their original 1972 amateur draft?</p><p>The answer, of course, is Billy Harris, and it&rsquo;s hard to believe that it has been almost six full years since he was unveiled to the N.Y. press at a gala press conference early that summer. Few who were there will forget how the 20-year-old graduate of the Toronto Marlies handled himself that afternoon in a manner far beyond his years.</p><p>He spoke well and maturely, but deftly dodged any questions that tried to pin him down to a goal prediction for his freshman season. But Billy was chosen as scorer, following in the footsteps of Gilbert Perreault and Guy Lafleur before him. He would not be able to slip by such questions for long.</p><p>Although that afternoon was the pinnacle of Harris&rsquo; young career to that point, he might be better off today if it never happened. When you&rsquo;re a number one pick, it&rsquo;s very difficult to avoid the inevitable comparisons with the super-duper stars.</p><p>In short, Harris has developed in time to the point of becoming an excellent hockey player. He&rsquo;s never scored 40 goals&mdash;in fact the best he&rsquo;s ever done is 32 two years ago&mdash;but he plays the kind of game coaches notice. He&rsquo;s an excellent checker, and an unsung one at that. He should be every bit as recognized for that ability alone as a Bob Gainey or a Don Marcotte.</p><p>But he&rsquo;s not because he was once a numero uno.</p><p>If Billy had been chosen further down the list, say third, fourth, or fifth, people might be saying, &ldquo;Hey, that Harris is some great two-way player. He really knows how to get the job done.&rdquo; But instead, casual fans around the league who pay attention only to the statistics page wonder why he isn&rsquo;t scoring more goals.</p><p>Harris had to face a period of adjustment early this season when coach Al Arbour took him off his old spot with Bryan Trottier and Clark Gillies in favor of Mike Bossy, who merely shattered Rick Martin&rsquo;s old record for goals by a rookie before the calendar flipped over to March. Billy could understand the reason for the coach&rsquo;s moves, and he understood fully that the move was hardly a demotion, but it hurt nonetheless.</p><p>For the first half of the season, Billy had to pay close attention to Arbour&rsquo;s commands from the bench. He never knew who his linemates would be on any given turn. For that matter, he didn&rsquo;t even know for sure if he would be at his accustomed right wing either. Center or even left wing were also possibilities.</p><p>Although his scoring was down a bit (he had only 10 goals through New Year&rsquo;s), Harris continued to play the game at both ends of the ice. He may not have been denting the net much, but he was doing an excellent job of keeping the enemy away from his own crease.</p><p>Things began to settle down in early January when the Islanders sent J.P. Parise and Jean Potvin to the Cleveland Barons for center Wayne Merrick. There was no question concerning general manager Bill Torrey&rsquo;s intent in the deal.</p><p>&ldquo;If we can&rsquo;t find someone around here to fit in with Billy, we&rsquo;ll just have to look somewhere else,&rdquo; said the office boss shortly before the trade was completed.</p><p>The acquisition of Merrick allowed Harris to return to right wing (he had performed very well at center in the weeks preceding the trade), and enabled plucky Garry Howatt, who had seen sporadic action all season, to win a chance to return to the starting lineup.</p><p>The move has paid off handsomely, even as Harris had to return to center for a week when Merrick was injured after jabbing himself with his own stick, and then hitting his head on the boards. Howatt has shown Arbour that he was correct in sticking with him; Merrick has added another touch of offensive power; and Harris has been generously adding to his scoring totals. During one recent stretch of 18 games, Billy picked up at least one Doint in 14 of them.</p><p>&ldquo;Billy is our type of hockey player,&rdquo; said Arbour. &ldquo;Not only does he go up and down his wing according to our system, but he can play anywhere. We prefer to use him on the right side, but if conditions warrant, we can move him to center, even left wing, and we know we&rsquo;ll get a smooth performance.</p><p>&ldquo;And he&rsquo;s also excellent on faceoffs. He&rsquo;s like another center out there when the faceoff man is kicked out of the circle.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;I played against Billy in the juniors, and you could see even then that he was more than just a big scorer,&rdquo; added Merrick. &ldquo;Most forwards in the OHA didn&rsquo;t check much, but he did. He&rsquo;s a good, solid player. I think we&rsquo;ll fit in well together.&rdquo;</p><p>Overshadowed on his team by the scoring heroics of Trottier, Bossy, and Denis Potvin, Harris is content with the knowledge that he has done his job well. It may not grab the headlines, but it helps keep the Islanders near the top of the NHL heap.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-02

Isles’ Depth Personified By Coach’s Dream Harris

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div><p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>R</span>oger Neilson&rsquo;s freshman National Hockey League season as the coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs has been a successful one with an overall improvement in the team&rsquo;s performance.</p><p>But it&rsquo;s also been a frustrating time for Neilson and his Leafs because they&rsquo;ve been unable to gain any ground on the Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins in the Adams Divison.</p><p>A stretch of 14 games heading into March provided an example. The Leafs had nine wins, two ties and only three losses in those matches, a calibre of performance with which most clubs would be extremely happy.</p><p>But they didn&rsquo;t gain an inch on the Sabres and Bruins, who just rolled along their merry paths.</p><p>Thus, the Leafs headed into the concluding 20 games of the season needing help, i.e. a slump by the teams in front of them if their position as perennial third-place club in the Adams sector is to be changed.</p><p>The realistic Neilson, who might become the first NHL coach to go through a season without a single public emotional outburst, still hadn&rsquo;t ruled out the possibility of his club catching the clubs up top.</p><p>&ldquo;All season, we&rsquo;ve been waiting for the Sabres and the Bruins to hit a flat spot and neither club has had one,&rdquo; Neilson said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve played with remarkable consistency over the entire season.</p><p>&ldquo;But we certainly haven&rsquo;t given up the idea of catching them. If they lose a couple, we win a couple and all of a sudden an eight-point deficit, which seems big, is four points and that&rsquo;s a different story.&rdquo;</p><p>However, Neilson feels that most coaches face a dilemna late in the season in deciding when to back off in the chase for a higher position and prepare the team for the playoffs.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011039/4202104-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="556" height="1090"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ROGER NEILSON&hellip;Will Ease Workloads</b></figcaption></div><p>That doesn&rsquo;t mean that Neilson planned to give-up on the pursuit of the Sabres and Bruins or the more realistic goal of passing the Philadelphia Flyers for fifth place in the overall standing. What he discussed was realistically assessing the team&rsquo;s position and the potential futility in a chase which would send the team into the playoffs in an exhausted condition.</p><p>For Leafs this season, a dependence on their top players&mdash;Darryl Sittier, Borje Salming and Lanny McDonald&mdash;necessitates a heavy workload for them.</p><p>Should the Leafs reamin in the hunt for a higher spot until the end of the schedule and attain it, they could win the battle but lose the war because they&rsquo;d enter the playoffs with their big shooters exhausted.</p><p>&ldquo;Sure, there will be some people who think I&rsquo;m talking about the team giving up and coasting down the stretch but that&rsquo;s not it at all,&rdquo; Neilson said.</p><p>Although Neilson is in favor of sending an overworked player for a week&rsquo;s vacation late in the season to a sun spot when the team falls into an impossible deficit, his idea of preparing the workers for the playoffs is to ease their workload.</p><p>&ldquo;We could go with four forward lines, instead of three, or six defensemen instead of four or five,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>&ldquo;In the case of a Sittier or Salming, who have been playing, say, 32 to 36 minutes per game, that load would be eased to 24 minutes. I don&rsquo;t know how top management feels about it but I wouldn&rsquo;t hesitate to send a player such as Salming south for a few days to relax before the playoffs.</p><p>&ldquo;As long as there&rsquo;s a chance for us to grab one of the top two spots in the division or to move up a notch in the overall standings, we&rsquo;ll be after it. It can mean the difference in home games in the playoffs.</p><p>&ldquo;First-place in a division is very important because it gives you a bye in the preliminary round. I don&rsquo;t like those best-of-three series. You can meet a team far below you in the standings and if they&rsquo;re fired up in a short series, you can be in trouble.&rdquo;</p><p><b>LEAFS NOTES</b>: Maple Leafs continued to examine their farmhands under NHL conditions. They summoned forward Ron Wilson from the Dallas Black Hawks of the Central League where he was the second top scorer with a 31-31-62 point total. Center Bruce Boudreau will be missing from the Leaf line-up for three weeks with a knee injury&hellip;The Leafs also plan to recall defenseman Randy Carlyle from Dallas.</p><h2><b>1978 WORLD HOCKEY TOURNAMENT DATES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02834/4202097-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="1119" height="824"></div><h2><b>PLAYOFF PAIRINGS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03711/4202090-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="1112" height="361"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0013-01

Neilson To Guard Against Expending Leafs

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div><p>VANCOUVER&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>n the fond years of the National Hockey League, the 20-goal plateau was something to behold. For a rookie to reach such a dizzying height of stardom was really something. It meant for sure the lucky fellow would earn at least $15,000 in his following year.</p><p>But how times have changed. Rookie Jere Gillis recently hit the 20-goal mark in a home game against the Minnesota North Stars and barely had time to notice the goal.</p><p>Part of the season is that the young left winger from Sherbrooke has really been struggling of late. He was stalled at the 17-goal mark for several weeks and only recently has he begun to get scoring chances again. He began doing well earlier in the season when on a line with Rick Blight and Pit Martin, but there came a time when the line was severe minus in a stretch of four games.</p><p>Coach Orland Kurtenbach found it necessary to break up the line because of those defensive losses and only recently has he reunited the line with some degree of success.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a nice plateau to reach,&rdquo; said Gillis after being questioned about it. &ldquo;I mean you can&rsquo;t get any further without passing it. But to be honest, I&rsquo;m more pleased to win than scoring my 20th goal.&rdquo;</p><p>Indeed wins have been scarce for Canucks as they have fallen hopelessly short of their goal at the beginning of the year&mdash;.500 hockey.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been struggling a lot,&rdquo; says Gillis, who really has had his eyes on higher scoring marks than 20. &ldquo;But you&rsquo;ve got to keep working hard, keep trying and hope things turn around for you.&rdquo;</p><p>Gillis has been working hard, often turning his frustrations at not scoring into more aggressive play. That indeed has been one of the problems of the Canucks not so much that Gillis has been fighting but rather the fact that some of the other so-called aggressive players have not been. Gillis has had four major penalties this year, while so-called policeman Harold Snepsts has only two.</p><p>Many veterans on the club are not having good years. Dennis Kearns, rated among the top 15 defensemen in the league by most observers, has not had a season anywhere near his previous three. Snepsts, who got off to a good start, has been hampered by injuries, and has been suffering of late. Larry Goodenough was such a disappointment he was shipped to Tulsa. The club&rsquo;s second round draft choice, Jeff Bandura, was a disappointment in training camp, and every time the club has thought about bringing him up he separates his shoulder.</p><p>John Grisdale has been the team&rsquo;s most consistent defenseman and he was on a termination contract. Claire Alexander, the team&rsquo;s late addition, has been a tremendous help offensively and has been holding his own on the plus-minus ledger. Sheldon Kannegiesser has been hurt so much this year he hasn&rsquo;t been able to get into his best shape. Bob Manno has shown signs of brilliance on offense, and signs of his rookie status on defense.</p><p>Therein lies the story of the defense that has been among the worst in the league as far as surrendering goals. But it&rsquo;s not all the fault of the defense.</p><p>It&rsquo;s been as much the fault of the forwards and even to some extent the goaltenders.</p><p>The latest disappointment was a 3-3 tie against Cleveland Barons in Vancouver, a game which Canucks led 2-0 and 3-2 before giving up the final goal with six seconds left after losing a faceoff in their own end.</p><p>Chris Oddleifson lost a draw to Walt McKechnie and the puck went to Chuck Arnason. Both Vancouver defensemen Kannegiesser and Snepsts went for the puck and that left three Barons all alone in front of Ridley to eventually jam the puck past the prone goaltender.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s one thing after another,&rdquo; said Kurtenbach after this particular disappointment. &ldquo;It happened both defensemen went for the puck in the corner, leaving three of their players unguarded in front.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011063/4202135-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="555" height="830"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JERE GILLIS&hellip;Working, Hoping</b></figcaption></div><p>But as Canucks are being pressed for the last playoff spot in the Smythe Division, the schedule gets tougher. After one more home game against Chicago Black Hawks, the club heads out on its toughest road trip of the year, with chances of any more than two or three points on the six-game tour being extremely thin. Heads will roll in Vancouver regardless of whether the team qualifies for the playoffs, but if they miss them again, the fans will likely show their displeasure by their absence. It&rsquo;s becoming easier and easier to get a ticket in Vancouver these days.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-01

Frustrations Mount For Canucks; Play Of Veterans Disappointing

<p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><p>PITTSBURGH&mdash;</p><p>Come playoff time the Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; fans, or what&rsquo;s left of them, may be referring to the weekend of March 11-12 as the &ldquo;Lost Weekend.&rdquo; In the space of two appearances at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena, the club may have witnessed its wild card chances going out the window.</p><p>The Penguins lost both games, first to the Vancouver Canucks and then to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and scored just two goals in the process, thus allowing the New York Rangers to tie them for the fourth and final wild card spot in the standings.</p><p>With each team having 59 points with 14 games to play, the Rangers would get the nod if they remained tied because they have picked up more victories than the Penguins this year.</p><p>An overflow crowd of 15,205 witnessed the 3-1 loss to the Canucks as Blair Chapman saved the Pens from a shutout with his 16th goal of the season with three minutes left in the game.</p><p>Chapman also registered the only goal against the Maple Leafs notching his 17th midway through the third period after Toronto had assumed a 6-0 lead.</p><p>The Penguins now face a five-game road journey with stops in Los Angeles, Vancouver, Toronto, Chicago and Minnesota, where they hope their fortunes will improve.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Penguins Hit Skids For Playoff Berth With Lost Weekend

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01869/4202442-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="361" height="761"></div><h2><b>ATLANTA</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02727/4202435-1-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/f0016-03581/4202428-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="721" height="620"></div><h2><b>BOSTON</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04457/4202421-1-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/f0016-05351/4202414-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="724" height="594"></div><h2><b>BUFFALO</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-06288/4202407-1-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/f0016-07262/4202400-1-eng-US/f0016-072.jpg" title="f0016-07" width="713" height="566"></div><h2><b>CHICAGO</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-08242/4202393-1-eng-US/f0016-082.jpg" title="f0016-08" width="163" height="154"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-09219/4202386-1-eng-US/f0016-092.jpg" title="f0016-09" width="715" height="670"></div><h2><b>CLEVELAND</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-10197/4202379-1-eng-US/f0016-102.jpg" title="f0016-10" width="139" height="143"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-11183/4202372-1-eng-US/f0016-112.jpg" title="f0016-11" width="716" height="565"></div><h2><b>COLORADO</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-12166/4202365-1-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/f0016-13152/4202358-1-eng-US/f0016-132.jpg" title="f0016-13" width="719" height="598"></div><h2><b>DETROIT</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-14145/4202351-1-eng-US/f0016-142.jpg" title="f0016-14" width="156" height="90"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-15135/4202344-1-eng-US/f0016-152.jpg" title="f0016-15" width="715" height="587"></div><h2><b>LOS ANGELES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-16131/4202337-1-eng-US/f0016-162.jpg" title="f0016-16" width="194" height="124"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-17123/4202330-1-eng-US/f0016-172.jpg" title="f0016-17" width="718" height="623"></div><h2><b>MINNESOTA</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-18116/4202323-1-eng-US/f0016-182.jpg" title="f0016-18" width="154" height="135"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-19108/4202316-1-eng-US/f0016-192.jpg" title="f0016-19" width="713" height="645"></div><h2><b>MONTREAL</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2089/4202309-1-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/f0016-2183/4202302-1-eng-US/f0016-212.jpg" title="f0016-21" width="717" height="646"></div><h2><b>ISLANDERS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2281/4202295-1-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/f0016-2378/4202288-1-eng-US/f0016-232.jpg" title="f0016-23" width="716" height="590"></div><h2><b>RANGERS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2476/4202281-1-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/f0016-2571/4202274-1-eng-US/f0016-252.jpg" title="f0016-25" width="727" height="622"></div><h2><b>PHILADELPHIA</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2668/4202267-1-eng-US/f0016-262.jpg" title="f0016-26" width="161" height="111"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2759/4202260-1-eng-US/f0016-272.jpg" title="f0016-27" width="716" height="651"></div><h2><b>PITTSBURGH</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2857/4202253-1-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/f0016-2950/4202246-1-eng-US/f0016-292.jpg" title="f0016-29" width="718" height="622"></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/f0016-3050/4202239-1-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/f0016-3150/4202232-1-eng-US/f0016-312.jpg" title="f0016-31" width="720" height="598"></div><h2><b>TORONTO</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3244/4202225-1-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/f0016-3344/4202218-1-eng-US/f0016-332.jpg" title="f0016-33" width="715" height="572"></div><h2><b>VANCOUVER</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3440/4202211-1-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/f0016-3526/4202204-1-eng-US/f0016-352.jpg" title="f0016-35" width="716" height="593"></div><h2><b>WASHINGTON</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3623/4202197-1-eng-US/f0016-362.jpg" title="f0016-36" width="177" height="98"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3723/4202190-1-eng-US/f0016-372.jpg" title="f0016-37" width="714" height="643"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0016-01

NHL SCORING PENALTY STATISTICS

<p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p>There are only 28 days left in the National Hockey League&rsquo;s 1977-78 regular schedule and only Montreal Canadiens are guaranteed of finishing where they are, now&mdash;first in the Norris Division. No team has yet been mathematically eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs: five teams are assured of playoff berths. That leaves seven spots still undecided.</p><p>There are at least two games every date with the exception of three nights&mdash;and there is one on each of those&mdash;between now and April 9 when the 720-game schedule ends. It would appear little will be known as far as which teams will play other teams in the playoffs until the final night of the season.</p><p>Besides Canadiens, New York Islanders, leaders of the Patrick Division, Boston Bruins, leaders of the Adams Division, Buffalo Sabres, second in the Adams Division, and Philadelphia Flyers, second in the Patrick Division, have clinched playoff positions but they have-not yet guaranteed themselves of staying where they currently are in the standings.</p><p>The closest race for a divisional title is in the Adams Division. Bruins lead Sabres 95 points to 93 but Boston has played two games fewer. In the Patrick Division, Islanders, who only five years ago&mdash;in 1972-73&mdash;set a league record for futility with only 12 wins, led the Flyers by seven points. Philadelphia, with 89 points, has an extra game to play.</p><p>Chicago Black Hawks are seven points from clinching the Smythe Division title. They have 69 points, 18 more than second-place Vancouver Canucks, who have 12 games left to play. Toronto is the only third-place team in any of the four divisions with a chance to finish first. The Maple Leafs have 86 points, their highest total since 1973-74, and trail Boston by nine points and Buffalo by seven. Leafs are one victory away from clinching a playoff berth.</p><p>With the new wild card system introduced in the NHL this season, the plot thickens considerably. The first and second-place teams of each division are guaranteed a playoff berth. The next four spots will go to the teams with the most points, regardless of division. Philadelphia can assure itself of a playoff position without being involved in the wildcard race be taking another five points. Flyers are currently 20 points ahead of third-place Atlanta Flames, who have 12 games left to play.</p><p>At the moment, five teams are separated by only six points in the battle for four playoff positions and three of those are in a fight for second place in the Norris Division, where Los Angeles is second with 65 points. Detroit Red Wings, who had the worst record in the NHL last season, are only two points behind and Pit-sburgh is fourth with 59 points. NewYork Rangers, fourth in the Patrick Division, also with 59 points, trail third-place Atlanta by 10 points but are tied with Pittsburgh for the final wild card playoff spot.</p><p>If all of that is not confusing enough, consider the predicament of Colorado Rockies. While they trail Pittsburgh and Rangers by 15 points, they are only seven behind Vancouver in the Smythe Division and would make the playoffs if they passed the Canucks into second place.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

NHL Playoff Races Going Doing Down To Wire

<div class="byline">BY RICH PASSAN</div><p>CLEVELAND&mdash;</p><p>Wanna make Randy Holt angry? Just pick on one of his teammates.</p><p>If there&rsquo;s one thing the defenseman-tuned-right winger dislikes intensely is when a member of the opposition picks on one of his Barons&rsquo; teammates.</p><p>&ldquo;I want guys around the league to know we&rsquo;re not going to be pushed around,&rdquo; said Holt, the man coach Jack Evans and general manager Harry Howell are looking towards to take the lead in the belligerence department.</p><p>Holt is a quiet young man off the ice. But once those pads and skates go on, he is an entirely different person.</p><p>The first part of the season, Holt was used as a defenseman by Evans. It was a position he played for the Chicago Black Hawks, from whom he was obtained in a November deal.</p><p>Randy had no trouble taking over the role as the club policeman, he seemed to be on the ice for a lot of opposition goals.</p><p>So the decision was made to shift him to the right wing, not an unfamiliar position. Holt, whose older brother Gary plays for St. Louis, played up front for the Dallas Black Hawks of the Central League one season. Evans saw him while coaching at Salt Lake City and remembered.</p><p>The switch enabled Holt to become more of a digger in the comers and give further vent to his anxieties. Back on defense, the contact is not as frequent.</p><p>The move proved fruitful. Holt was teamed with Rick Jodzio, another rugged performer, and they played for a variety of center icemen over a long period of time.</p><p>Their offensive output will not make you think of them as candidates for the Art Ross Trophy, but their defense impressed Evans and that is what counted.</p><p>Holt&rsquo;s bellicose manner has not made him popular with his National Hockey League counterparts. His feisty approach to the game rubs opponents the wrong way.</p><p>All of which bothers Holt not one bit. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to be known as a good, tough hockey player,&rdquo; said the graying native of Pembroke, Ont. &ldquo;I play my best when I&rsquo;m hitting.&rdquo;</p><p>And he is hitting all the time. There is not one shift where he doesn&rsquo;t get at least a little piece of his check.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01761/4202497-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="548" height="559"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RANDY HOLT&hellip;Loves To Hit</b></figcaption></div><p>That type of play usually draws the attention of referees. That, and Holt&rsquo;s hair-trigger temper, probably will enable him to set the all-time club record for penalty minutes.</p><p>It took Holt just eight games to take over the team lead in penalty minutes after joining the Barons. He has had numerous fights and will not back down. From anybody.</p><p>In a late February contest in Montreal, Holt and Montreal defenseman Gilles Lupien bumped into each other on a few occasions. The first led to seven minutes in penalties to each man.</p><p>Later on, the two were banished for high sticking and traded insults in the penalty box. Nothing happened when they emerged, but they met again shortly before the game was over.</p><p>Holt dropped his stick and gloves. Lupien, a large man (six-foot-six) with immense hands, surprisingly did not. Instead, he pointed to the scoreboard (which showed Montreal with a 5-1 lead) and skated away.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got a short trigger,&rdquo; Holt admitted. &ldquo;When I see somebody pushing us around, I go bananas. I wouldn&rsquo;t be able to look at myself in the mirror if I didn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;</p><p>That temper resulted in three ejections, which resulted in a game suspension from the league. But that did not stop his aggressiveness play.</p><p>If the Barons can latch onto some more of that aggressiveness in the trade or amateur draft marts, then they should be on their way.</p><p><b>BARONS&rsquo; BITS</b>: In their first 13 games after the All Star game, the Barons were 3-7-3 and scored just 28 goals. Most of the scoring was coming from the Dave Gardner-Mike Fidler-Chuck Arnason line&hellip;Goaltender Gilles Meloche continues to see more rubber than a factory worker at Firestone or Goodyear&hellip;Attendance has averaged a shade over 5,600 for the first 31 dates&hellip;Because of the energy crunch, power has been cut back to 50 percent at the Richfield Coliseum&hellip;Five of the Barons have brothers playing for other NHL clubs. In addition to the Holts, there are the Murdochs (Bob and Don), Gardners (Paul and Dave), Potvins (Jean and Denis), and Manerys (Kris and Randy).<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-01

Cleveland’s Tough Guy Holt Making ‘Contacts’ As Forward

<h2><b>Looking At NHL Goalers</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01579/4202542-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="625" height="2187"></div><h2><b>NHL Leaders</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02411/4202535-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="607" height="771"></div><h2><b>NHL&rsquo;S &hellip; <i>Player of the Week</i></b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span> five-point game against the Pittsburgh Penguins put Darryl Sittler over the 100-point mark and brought him within one point of second place in the National Hockey League scoring race.</p><p>Earlier in the week Sittler scored his 40th goal of the season and then had an assist on the winning goal against Cleveland on Saturday night. The following night in Pittsburgh, Sittler collected a pair of goals and three assists as the Maple Leafs downed the Penguins 7-1.</p><p>Sittler, seeking to become the first Toronto player to win the scoring title since Gordie Drillon accomplished the feat in 1937-38, pushed his points total to 103, a career-high, and trails Bryan Trottier by a single point and leader Guy Lafleur by 10 points with 13 games to play.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02628/4202528-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="526" height="698"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DARRYL SUTLER&hellip;Toronto Maple Leafs</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0020-01

NATIONAL HOCKEY LAEGUE

<div class="byline">BY LARRY BORTSTEIN</div><p>DENVER&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>y the time you read this, all discussion of the Colorado Rockies and the Stanley Cup playoffs probably will be academic. Either the Rockies will be in the playoffs, or they&rsquo;ll be out of contention for the post-season competition. But the fact, that as of the beginning of March the Rockies still were in the running for second place in the Smythe Division and an automatic Stanley Cup berth, made for some interesting speculation, and not a little controversy.</p><p>Since the Smythe Division is so weak, especially among the four teams that aren&rsquo;t Chicago, the Rockies, along with Vancouver, Minnesota, and St. Louis, could dream about making the playoffs even as they were running up some of the worst records of the 1977-78 National Hockey League season.</p><p>But since this area has not known hockey success at the major league level before, there was a lot of talk that if the Rockies managed to make the playoffs, and play even one game in McNichols Arena of a best-of-three series, the subsequent jolt this kind of excitement would provide would anchor the franchise here, and would once and for all end speculation that the Rockies were headed for another town in the near future.</p><p>Coach Pat Kelly, who has done a commendable job in his first year in Colorado, might have been affected by the New York air when he told a group of Big Apple sportswriters in late February that he had no doubt the Rockies would make the playoffs. &ldquo;I guarantee it,&rdquo; he said, calling to mind the promouncement on the eve of the 1969 Super Bowl by Joe Namath, who assured all who would listen that the New York Jets would dismantle the overwhelmingly heavy favorites, the Baltimore Colts.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re a better team than Vancouver,&rdquo; Kelly said, referring to the team whose second-place lead over Coloardo was fluctuating between four and eight points during most of February.</p><p>Better maybe. But playoff material? Since whichever team finished second in the Smythe Division would go into the playoffs with the poorest record of any of the playoff competitors, it wouldn&rsquo;t prove much. Maybe it would prove that the NHL&rsquo;s system of ties finally had become a real problem.</p><p>At the time this is being written, the Rockies had 16 ties&mdash;and only 13 wins. So 16 of the 42 points they had accumulated in the standings had come as a result of deadlocked games. The Rockies had tied 10 games on the road, as opposed to just one win away from home. And this was hardly a local phenomenon.</p><p>As outspoken Denver sports columnist and broadcaster Woodrow Paige Jr. recently calculated, &ldquo;More than 25 percent of the contests in the league this season have ended with no winner.&rdquo; He added that, &ldquo;While it would be nice to witness the Rockies in post-season play, the accomplishment would be tainted with such a despicable record.&rdquo;</p><p>But obviously the Rockies wouldn&rsquo;t feel as if they were tainted should they somehow reach post-season play. And others agree with them.</p><p>&ldquo;I hate to oversimplify it,&rdquo; Ron Andrews of the NHL office in Montreal told Steve Cameron, another Denver sports columnist, &ldquo;but just the excitement of one playoff series and what it means in terms of the future, would do the Denver franchise a world of good. I don&rsquo;t care what the team&rsquo;s record is, if the Rockies can get to the playoffs any way at all, they&rsquo;ve taken that giant step up. And everyone around the league, I think, is rooting for them.&rdquo;</p><p>Again with the warning that all of this may be academic by the time you fold back this page and read these words, the date for what would be the Rockies&rsquo; first playoff game has been targeted as Thursday night, April 13. This would be the second game in a best-of-three series against either Boston, Buffalo, Philadelphia or the Islanders&mdash;the divisional runnerup with the most points.</p><p>Of course, nothing comes easy for the Rockies. Even if they do reach the playoffs, April 13 already is down on the McNichols Arena schedule as one of the nights for the week-long Ice Capades show. So the possibility existed that the Rockies would have to play any post-season games on the road.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01778/4202573-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="549" height="828"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RON ANDRUFF&hellip;On Hot Streak</b></figcaption></div><p><b>ICE PEBBLES</b>: At the end of February, the Rockies were 13-32-16, with a 12-12-6 mark on home ice and the worst road mark in the NHL, 1-20-10&hellip;The 20th road loss was a galling one, coming against the Washington Caps 7-4, after Colorado had raced to a 3-1 lead in the first period&hellip;Breaking down the Rockies&rsquo; first 60 games of the season into 20-game segments, they were 6-9-5 for the first 20, 3-13-4 for the next two, and 4-9-7 for the third 20&hellip;The &ldquo;Action PAC&rdquo; line, of Randy Pierce, Ron Andruff, and Joe Contini was continuing to shine, with Andruff benefiting by the presence of the two rookie wingers to go on his best streak of the campaign. Barry Beck&rsquo;s 18th goal of the year, the game-winner in a 3-2 verdict over Minnesota on Feb. 24, topped Denis Potvin&rsquo;s league record for goals by a rookie defenseman. Bubba scored no. 19 the following day, a Saturday afternoon televised affair in St. Louis that ended in a 5-5 tie. It was Colorado&rsquo;s first point of the year against the Blues, who had beaten them in each of the four previous outings between the clubs&hellip;The Rockies are looking forward to negotiating with Doug Berry to join them for next season. Berry was Colorado&rsquo;s second choice in last summer&rsquo;s amateur draft, but elected to return to Denver University. He led the Pioneers to a great season in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, and the young centerman, whose rights still belong to the Rockies, may decide to turn pro this year. The six-foot-one, 195-pounder seems to fit the Rockies&rsquo; pressing need for a playmaking centerman.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-01

Playoff Prospects Excite Denver

<p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p>Have you been thinking about participating in THE HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; annual All Star balloting? If so. you&rsquo;ll have to hurry because this is the last chance to get in on the fun of choosing your own major league All Star team.</p><p>With this issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS, we are closing the balloting in our 31st annual All Star selections in which the fans pick the teams of their dreams for both the National Hockey League and the World Hockey Association.</p><p>Last season we afforded our readers the opportunity to pick teams from both the NHL and WHA and the response was overwhelming. It is following the same pattern this season but don&rsquo;t say you weren&rsquo;t warned. This is your final chance to become an expert and pick the best in the two leagues.</p><p>It poses a real challenge for the staunch hockey fan and readers are urged to sit down now and get those ballots in before the deadline.</p><p>Selections will follow the same procedure as last season when readers picked two goals, four defensemen, two centers, two right wings and two left wings from both the NHL and WHA.</p><p>Picking the All Star teams is only half the challenge.</p><p>In addition to the first and second All Star teams, the editors are also requesting that readers select a most valuable player and the outstanding rookie of the year from both the NHL and WHA.</p><p>Picking All Star teams is something most avid hockey fans relish but get very few opportunities to do. THE HOCKEY NEWS gives its readers this chance to exercise their right to select a first and second All Star team. Don&rsquo;t miss out on this test of your hockey knowledge.</p><p>It&rsquo;s really fun and might require a little more concentration on your part to come up with the best teams. With nearly 350 eligible players from the NHL and 160 from the WHA to choose from, you can expect to have your work cut out for you</p><p>Merely clip the ballot shown on this page and then fill in your selections. It&rsquo;s both simple and exciting.</p><p>As we mentioned last week, All Star ballots have now appeared in two issues of THE HOCKEY NEWS and final NHL results will be published in the issue of April 14. The final WHA selections will appear one week later in the April 21 issue.</p><p>So hurry fans. This is positively your final chance.</p><p>Remember if one of your favorites should fail to gain a berth on the fans&rsquo; All Star teams by the margin of just a few points, it could be because you didn&rsquo;t take the time to send in your ballot. So right now. while it&rsquo;s still fresh in your mind, fill out the ballot and mail it right away to All Star Editor, THE HOCKEY NEWS, 1434 St. Catherine St. West, Montreal, Canada, H3G 1R7.</p><p>If you need any player help in making your selections, kindly consult the leading player lists of both the NHL and WHA shown in column one and two of this page.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-11134/4202681-1-eng-US/f0019-112.jpg" title="f0019-11" width="559" height="835"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ANDERSHEDBERG&hellip;Winnipeg Jets</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-12126/4202674-1-eng-US/f0019-122.jpg" title="f0019-12" width="559" height="833"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DENNIS POTVIN&hellip;N.Y. Islanders</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>Leading Players To Help You Select Your All Stars</b></h2><h2><b>NHL</b></h2><h3><b>CENTERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01744/4202667-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="574" height="246"></div><h3><b>RIGHT WINGS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02598/4202660-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="580" height="245"></div><h3><b>LEFT WINGS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03451/4202653-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="582" height="247"></div><h3><b>DEFENSEMEN</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-04378/4202646-1-eng-US/f0019-042.jpg" title="f0019-04" width="575" height="241"></div><h3><b>GOALERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-05313/4202639-1-eng-US/f0019-052.jpg" title="f0019-05" width="594" height="252"></div><h2><b>WHA</b></h2><h3><b>CENTERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-06242/4202632-1-eng-US/f0019-062.jpg" title="f0019-06" width="571" height="238"></div><h3><b>RIGHT WINGS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-07211/4202625-1-eng-US/f0019-072.jpg" title="f0019-07" width="572" height="239"></div><h3><b>LEFT WINOS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-08194/4202618-1-eng-US/f0019-082.jpg" title="f0019-08" width="570" height="283"></div><h3><b>DEFENSEMEN</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-09169/4202611-1-eng-US/f0019-092.jpg" title="f0019-09" width="576" height="243"></div><h3><b>GOALERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-10149/4202604-1-eng-US/f0019-102.jpg" title="f0019-10" width="587" height="244"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0019-11

Hockey News Closes NHL, WHA All Star Balloting

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03327/4202712-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="573" height="1054"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BRAD MAXWELL&hellip;Tied Team Record</b></figcaption></div><p>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;</p><p>The inability to beat teams in their own division cost the North Stars any chance of making the playoffs this season.</p><p>The North Stars, who had showed some signs of revival after Lou Nanne became their third coach of the season, could resign themselves as also-rans after four consecutive losses to Smythe Division rivals.</p><p>Minnesota can claim the distinction of beating Montreal twice this season with one more game to go against the high-flying Canadiens. The Stars also own victories over Boston, Buffalo, the New York Islanders and Philadelphia.</p><p>Against the best in the NHL, the Stars have not played badly.</p><p>But when it&rsquo;s time to go against Chicago, St. Louis, Vancouver and Colorado&mdash;those old four-pointers, you know&mdash;in Smythe faceoffs, the Stars collapse.</p><p>Headed for a last, or next-to-last, place in all of the NHL, the North Stars had lost 11, tied three and won but three against teams in their own division.</p><p>The latest set of losses was most damaging. The team was showing renewed vigor and spirit under new GM-coach Lou Nanne when it began a three-game road trip with a 3-2 loss in Colorado.</p><p>They followed that with losses of 5-1 and 7-1 in Vancouver and St. Louis, and returned to Minnesota to fall to the Blues 3-2. In three of those four losses, the Stars led 1-0.</p><p>Nanne thought he knew the problem, but finding a solution was a different matter.</p><p>&ldquo;Our club has not been scoring like it should.&rdquo; said Nanne. &ldquo;We came out smoking in that second game against the Blues (41-25 shots for the Stars), but where there is smoke, there is supposed to be fire&hellip;we just don&rsquo;t have the scoring fire lately.&rdquo;</p><p>Nanne was trying to take corrective measures. Wingers Steve Jensen and Alex Pirus, who scored 22 and 20 goals respectively in their rookie seasons of &lsquo;76-77, were down to 11 and nine this season. And they found themselves down at Fort Worth after the 7-1 loss in St. Louis.</p><p>&ldquo;The only reason they went down was to regain their confidence,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I hope it gets them going.&rdquo;</p><p>Various shakeups of lines have not been the answer either. Even the Swedish trio of Per-Olov Brasar, Roland Eriksson and Kent Eriksson slowed down after it had provided the Stars with most of the scoring punch.</p><p>The only goals in the 3-2 loss to St. Louis came from defensemen Bryan Maxwell and Brad Maxwell, who tied a team record for goals by a defenseman with his 14th of the year.</p><p>By the time the Stars do get their offense in gear, it will probably be too late.</p><p>Besides, they will have five games left against Smythe Division rivals, and those are the four-pointers, you know.</p><p><b>STAR DUST</b>: As expected, goalie Gary Smith was recalled from Fort Worth after a four-game conditioning stint in the CHL&hellip;He was picked up on waivers from Washington&hellip;The Stars sent Pierre Jarry through waivers and he was signed by Edmonton of the WHA&hellip;Nanne signed Kelly Greenbank and sent him to Fort Worth&hellip;The 22-year-old right winger played two seasons in the Montreal organization, then quit in a dispute with the Canadiens&rsquo; management and was playing senior hockey in Manitoba&hellip;The Stars obtained his rights on waivers.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-03

Stars Can’t Handle Division Foes

<p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><p>WASHINGTON&mdash;</p><p>FANS, the consumer group headed by Ralph Nader, has written to National Hockey League president John Ziegler urging that teams hold down their ticket prices.</p><p>The group, whose initials stand for Fight to Advance the Nation&rsquo;s Sports, revealed that the average ticket for an NHL game costs $7.87, a figure which the group feels &ldquo;is perhaps the most difficult to justify of all the major sports.&rdquo;</p><p>Peter Gruenstein, executive director of FANS said that &ldquo;NHL owners must understand that the fans&rsquo; loyalty is reciprocal, their patronage is conditional and their money is not inexhaustible.</p><p>According to the figures released by FANS, the highest priced ticket in the NHL is sold by Montreal and is $15, while the Canadiens also have the highest average price, $11. Cleveland Barons offer the lowest top ticket price of $8.50, while the Atlanta Flames have the lowest average ticket price, $6.</p><p>Following are the club&rsquo;s average ticket prices with the top ticket price charged in parentheses: Montreal, $11 ($15), New York Islanders $9 ($11), St. Louis Blues $8.88 ($12), Philadelphia $8.70 ($11.50), Toronto $8.50 ($13.50), Chicago $8.50 ($12.50), New York Rangers $8.10 ($12), Detroit $7.90 ($10), Pittsburgh $7.50 ($9.50), Boston $7.17 ($11), Washington $7.17 ($9.50), Colorado $7.15 ($8.80), Minnesota. $7.13 ($9), Cleveland $6.67 ($8.50), Atlanta $6 ($9).<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Nader Urges NHL To Hold Prices

<div class="byline">BY RUSS WHITE</div><p>WASHINGTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he honeymoon between the hockey fans and the Washington Capitals could be coming to an end because of the team&rsquo;s unproductive fourth year and the cloudy prospects of the fifth.</p><p>In a rare outburst, fans complained that the media in Washington has been too kind in dealing with the Capitals.</p><p>Usually newspapers are criticized for knocking management of professional teams and in Washington this has certainly been the case when it came to coverage of the Washington Redskins football team.</p><p>Before he was fired, coach George Allen of the Redskins was constantly being shot down in the press but defended quickly by the fans.</p><p>&ldquo;What makes Peter O&rsquo;Malley (Caps president), Max McNab (general manager) and Tom McVie (coach) any more untouchable than George Allen?&rdquo; complained Ira S. Loss, a season ticket holder for Capitals&rsquo; hockey for all four years.</p><p>Loss sent a letter to Caps&rsquo; play-by-play broadcaster Ron Weber, complaining that Weber and the two sportswriters who regularly cover the hockey team had been &ldquo;brainwashed&rdquo; by Capitals&rsquo; management.</p><p>&ldquo;Our city is filled with distraught and frustrated hockey fans,&rdquo; Loss said, &ldquo;we&rsquo;re tired of settling for a minor league operation.&rdquo;</p><p>Loss had support from other season ticket holders, one of whom predicted that anywhere from 700 to 1,000 season ticket holders would not renew for the 1978-79 season.</p><p>The Caps don&rsquo;t give out figures of season ticket holders but it is estimated that 4.500 season plans were sold for this season. The Caps have averaged 11,000 fans per home game and O&rsquo;Malley may be able to balance the books for owner Abe Pollin this spring.</p><p>The Caps have one of the lowest if not the lowest payroll in the NHL and refused to pay goalie Ron Low or forward Hartland Monahan what they wanted before the season began. Low went to Detroit as a free agent, Monahan was dealt away on opening night.</p><p>The trading of Monahan because of a contract dispute angered the fans. &ldquo;Trading the highest scoring winger from last year&rsquo;s team for a draft pick two years away might be a good move for a team with lots of wingers who can score, but from the Caps&rsquo; position, the trade defies logic,&rdquo; said fan Ira Loss.</p><p>The Caps have all kinds of future draft picks but the fans doubt that these futures will help any more than the previous draft choices, who have taken the Caps nowhere. Washington&rsquo;s record this year is the worst in the NHL despite the fact the Caps could have had the No. 1 amateur in three of the previous four draft sessions.</p><p>Greg Joly, the Caps&rsquo; first No. 1 choice, is now with the Detroit Red Wings and beginning to blossom as an NHL defenseman. The Caps surrendered the No. 1 pick to the Philadelphia Flyers in year two to get Billy Clement, who was dealt to Atlanta for Gerry Meehan. Meehan has 13 goals this year.</p><p>Rick Green was the Caps&rsquo; No. 1 choice two years ago but has been plagued by injuries.</p><p>Last year&rsquo;s No. 1 Washington pick and third overall, Robert Picard, has had nowhere near the rookie season enjoyed by kids like Mike Bossy, Dale McCourt or Barry Beck.</p><p>The Caps could take everyone&rsquo;s first round draft choice this year and still be a loser if you listen to some of the disenchanted fans in Washington.</p><p>&ldquo;Very little can be salvaged from this season,&rdquo; said fan Ira Loss, &ldquo;and I must admit that I am neither optimistic nor enthusiastic about next season.&rdquo; Added Loss, &ldquo;I think it is time for the Washington press corps to end its romance with the Caps&rsquo; management and tell it like it is.&rdquo;</p><p>Not all of the fans necessarily agreed with Loss but the tone seemed to be that it was time for the Caps to clean up their act. The Caps home record was 6-18-5. the poorest home ice mark in the NHL, and the fans found this hard to take after being treated to a 17-15-8 record a year ago.</p><p>Tom McVie was runner-up to Montreal&rsquo;s Scotty Bowman as NHL coach of the year last season but it was suggested that he should be considered for man of the year this time if he survives the punishment.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02280/4202767-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="548" height="882"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>YVON LABRE &hellip; Back In Action</b></figcaption></div><p><b>CAPS NOTES:</b> Picard had his nose broken in melee against the Philadelphia Flyers. Picard was roughing up Rick Lapointe in one-sided fight when Gary Dornhoefer was third man in to stop it. In a pileup, Picard had his nose bashed and quick work by trainer Gump Embro saved Picard&rsquo;s life as the rookie almost swallowed his tongue&hellip;After 28 days at Hershey in the AHL, Yvon Labre returned to the Caps to wear the captains crest and hopefully lead the team from the wilderness. Labre was at Hershey to recover from knee surgery and subsequent inactivity.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0021-02

Fans Disenchanted By Caps’ Failings

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div><p>ST. LOUIS &mdash;</p><p>Emile Francis wants Chuck Lefley back in a St. Louis uniform next season.</p><p>The Blues&rsquo; president and general manager plans to pursue the former St. Louis winger, who now is playing in Finland.</p><p>&ldquo;I have to think he&rsquo;s missing playing in the NHL,&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;A guy with that kind of talent not playing in his prime is a waste. Thousands would give their right arms to have his talent.&rdquo;</p><p>Lefley was 28 in January. Last fall in the Blues&rsquo; training camp he signed a three-year contract for more than $100,000 a season. But just before the season began he announced his retirement.</p><p>&ldquo;I know this will be difficult for many to understand,&rdquo; Lefley said at the time, &ldquo;and it&rsquo;s hard for me to explain. The only thing I can say is that I no longer was content with what I was doing. My mental attitude toward the game had changed. My heart no longer was in it.&rdquo;</p><p>Lefley, blessed with lightning-quick feet and a big-league scoring touch, had been in professional hockey seven years, including five full seasons in the NHL and nearly three full seasons with the Blues. In the 1975-76 season he had 43 goals.</p><p>At no time did Lefley express any dissatisfaction with the Blues&rsquo; organization, and that situation has encouraged Francis in his plans to get Lefley back to St. Louis.</p><p>At the time Lefley left the Blues last fall, his announced intention was not to play hockey anywhere. He stayed in St. Louis about three weeks after retiring, then returned to his family&rsquo;s farm in Grosse Isle, Man. He was selling grain when a players&rsquo; agent in Montreal called and asked Lefley about playing in Finland.</p><p>Another NHL club had approached him with the thought that Chuck had been having problems in St. Louis,&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;He told the man he thought he had made it clear that if he ever played again, he would play in St. Louis.&rdquo;</p><p>But Lefley accepted the offer to play in Finland.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01428/4202798-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="488" height="729"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CHUCK LEFLEY &hellip; Sorting His Thoughts</b></figcaption></div><p>Lefley&rsquo;s loss was a blow to the Blues, who a few months earlier had lost Bob Gassoff in a fatal traffic accident. Francis thinks the two losses may be related.</p><p>&ldquo;Charlie was very close to Bob.&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;He took that very hard. He never said that was a factor in his decision, but I have to think it had something to do with it.</p><p>&ldquo;All of this is something Chuck has to do on his own,&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been through all kinds of problems with players. I&rsquo;ve been in morgues and funeral homes and through divorces and pregnancies. Sometimes you can help, and sometimes you can&rsquo;t. There are certain pressures on a professional athlete.&rdquo;</p><p>Bryan Lefley, Chuck&rsquo;s brother who plays with the Colorado Rockies, says Chuck has not expressed an interest in returning to the NHL &ldquo;but he sometimes is inclined to change his mind.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s enjoying the experience of playing in Europe,&rdquo; Bryan said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s making decent money&mdash;more than some people think, but, of course, nowhere near what he was making in St. Louis.</p><p>&ldquo;He never has said he was unhappy about anything in St. Louis,&rdquo; Bryan added, &ldquo;but he made a decision to leave and he may not want to go back on it.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0021-01

Blues’ GM Francis Planning Pursuit Of Retired Lefley

f0022-01

NATIONAL LEAGUE SUMMARIES

<h2><b>Looking At WHA Goalers</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01391/4203119-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="600" height="939"></div><h2><b>WHA Leaders</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02284/4203112-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="601" height="1092"></div><h2><b>WHA&rsquo;S &hellip; <i>Player of the Week</i></b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>M</span>orris Lukowich of the Houston Aeros is working on his second stint in the WHA and he&rsquo;s making more noise this time around than he did in his first try.</p><p>The 21-year-old left winger, who was the object of a contract tug-of-war between Houston and Pittsburgh of the NHL, finally settled on the Aeros. This past week he showed his value to the Houston club as he emerged with an eight-point week to become the WHA&rsquo;s most productive performer.</p><p>Lukowich scored four goals raising his season total to 37, which is tops on the Houston team, and added four assists to increase his season total to 67 points.</p><p>With the Aeros driving for one of the upper spots in the WHA playoff race, Lukowich&rsquo;s offensive punch has been timely.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02362/4203105-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="568" height="864"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MORRIS LUKOWICH&hellip;Houston Aeros</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0025-01

THE WHA

WORLD HOCKEY ASSOCIATION

<div class="byline">BY JOHN McCLAIN</div><p>WINNIPEG&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>S</span>uccess for the Winnipeg Jets is often taken for granted around the World Hockey Association. Blessed with outstanding players, few take notice when the Jets win, only when they lose.</p><p>This season the Jets have accumulated 11 and 15-game winning streaks, the latter a major-league hockey record accomplished in the WHA&rsquo;s strongest and most competitive season on the ice. But the Jets have had their problems, such as the early-season losing streak, the publicity surrounding Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson receiving offers from the New York Rangers, and the disclosure that the team might not be able to finish the season until eight new owners stepped forward.</p><p>Not enough credit has gone to coach Larry Hillman, the architect of this season&rsquo;s success, his first with the Jets. Hillman, a much-traveled defenseman in his playing days in the NHL and WHA, replaced Bobby Kromm, who moved to Detroit. Hillman took over a team with two styles of play, European and North American. After an adjustment period, he had the Jets dominating the WHA.</p><p>When the Jets win, Hillman praises players. When they lose, he often places the blame upon himself. He doesn&rsquo;t like to talk about himself, only about the team, so let&rsquo;s take a look at what makes the Jets&rsquo; the favorites for the Avco Trophy.</p><p>&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t had any problems with depth since the addition of Ken Baird, Dave Kryskow, Lynn Powis and Gary Bromley,&rdquo; Hillman says. &ldquo;At the first of the year, I was using 17 guys. Now I use 20. This team has a very positive outlook. We&rsquo;v? played well on the road, and we&rsquo;ve been able to come from behind.</p><p>&ldquo;I call Powis, Kryskow, Baird and Bromley my Calgary renegades. They all played for the Cowboys last season and nobody wanted them this season. Now they&rsquo;ve done excellent jobs for us,&rdquo; said Hillman.</p><p>If a player has a few off games, Hillman doesn&rsquo;t panic. Right wing Willy Lindstrom got off to a slow start, but Hillman stuck with him. Lindstrom has resumed his place as one of the team&rsquo;s best goal-scorers.</p><p>&ldquo;Lindstrom has been playing well lately,&rdquo; Hillman says. &ldquo;He started slowly, but I look for performance over a season and not just certain stages. When he got off to the slow start, I wasn&rsquo;t really concerned because we were winning and Willy had proved himself over the last two years.&rdquo;</p><p>Peter Sullivan is another player in the same category.</p><p>&ldquo;Sullivan hasn&rsquo;t been scoring as much as last season because he&rsquo;s not getting as much ice time,&rdquo; Hillman says, &ldquo;?m primarily using him on a checking line and to kill penalties. But just because he&rsquo;s not scoring a lot of points doesn&rsquo;t mean he&rsquo;s any less effective.&rdquo;</p><p>The defensemen have made the best progress under Hillman.</p><p>&ldquo;The only thing I&rsquo;ve changed with them was to tell them to concentrate a little more on defense and less on offense,&rdquo; the coach says. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got enough scoring up front, so I like the defensemen to stay back.</p><p>&ldquo;Barry Long was our best defenseman over the first half of the season. Kim Clackson has given the other players confidence with his muscle. They know they won&rsquo;t see as much goon tactics with Kim around.&rdquo;</p><p>Captain Lars-Erik Sjoberg is the catalyst of the defense. Ted Green, Dave Dunn and Thommie Bergman have been consistent in front of goalies Bromley and Joe Daley, who is out with a fractured hand.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01455/4203157-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="560" height="891"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BILL DINEEN &hellip; Took A Rest</b></figcaption></div><p>Also overshadowed by the scoring of Hedberg, Ulf Nilsson and Bobby Hull are Bill Lesuk, Bob Guindon and Lyle Moffat, all of whom have contributed to the Jets&rsquo; success in ways that don&rsquo;t show on the scoring sheets, only in the win-loss column.</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the way it is with our team,&rdquo; Hillman says. &ldquo;Everybody has a job to do, and everybody produces.&rdquo;</p><p>Another important player has been rookie Kent Nilsson, who centers Kryskow and Lindstrom and plays the point on the power play. Nilsson is on his way to a 100-point season, and many say he is more accomplished as a rookie than Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson were at the same stage.</p><p>&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t possibly expect more from a first-year player,&rdquo; Hillman says. &ldquo;If he can stay as good as he is right now, he&rsquo;d be a big plus on any club. If he keeps improving, well, let&rsquo;s just say I&rsquo;d love to be his coach.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1767/4203150-1-eng-US/f0026-172.jpg" title="f0026-17" width="564" height="584"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>AL HAMILTON</b></figcaption></div><p>Hull agrees with Hillman: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got more ability than any other 21-year-old hockey player I&rsquo;ve ever seen,&rdquo; Hull says. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a tremendously gifted athlete, and you know he won&rsquo;t reach his potential until he&rsquo;s 27. He passes when he should pass and shoots when he should shoot.&rdquo;</p><p>That just about sums up the case for the Winnipeg Jets. They excel at fundamentals and do whatever is necessary to win. Barring a major upset, they should be the next WHA champions.</p><p><b>JETS NOTES:</b> Goaltender Markus Mattson, whom the Jets sent to Quebec for future considerations a few years ago, is back in Winnipeg to replace Daley. Doctors are hoping Daley can return by the playoffs &hellip; Left wing Dan Labraaten, declared out for the season with a blood clot in his left leg, remains in Winnipeg. There is a very slim chance Labraaten may be able to return for the playoffs &hellip; Winger Kent Ruhnke has been returned to the minors.</p><p><b>EDMONTON:</b> The Oiler injury list grows. Defenseman Al Hamilton enjoying his best season, was hit in the face by a slap shot from Houston&rsquo;s John Gray. At first, it was believed Hamilton would miss only two weeks, but he is out for the regular season with a slight chance of returning for the playoffs. The hemorrhaging behind his left eyeball will have to clear up before he can return. Defenseman Dave Langevin missed 10 days because of strained ligaments. Joe Micheletti had the cast removed from his strained knee and should return by the playoffs. With the injured defensemen, the Oilers used Bob Falkenberg, Jim Cross, Chris Ahrens and Craig Topolnisky on the blueline &hellip; Coach Glen Sather solved a problem at left wing when he signed Pierre Jarry from the Minnesota North Stars. Jarry moved on the No. 1 line with Ron Chipperfield and Bill Flett and scored a goal in his first game with the Oilers &hellip; Edmonton had an excellent opportunity to move past the Houston Aeros recently. While the Aeros were going 4-4-1 on a nine-game road trip, including four losses in a row, the Oilers lost at home to New England, Cincinnati and Indianapolis then fell behind the Aeros in the standings.</p><p><b>HOUSTON:</b> Coach Bill Dineen took a week off because of physical exhaustion on the Aeros&rsquo; nine-game, 16-day road trip. Ted Taylor and Wayne Rutledge coached the team. After two wins to begin the trip, the Aeros lost four in a row before winning over New England and Winnipeg and tying Quebec on consecutive nights to end the trip. The Aeros are talking about second place behind Winnipeg&hellip;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0024-01

Architect Of Jets’ Success Hillman Praises Club’s Depth, Togetherness

<div class="byline">JIMMY BRYAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03196/4203188-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JOHN FRENCH&hellip;Making Racers&rsquo; Penalty-Killing Tops</b></figcaption></div><p>INDIANAPOLIS&mdash;</p><p>Given up for dead a couple of weeks ago, the Indianapolis Racers have suddenly become a very lively corpse.</p><p>All but counted out of the playoff chase in the World Hockey Association after a horrendous losing streak of 11 straight, the Racers sneaked back in the picture with a five-game winning streak which pulled them within nine points of Cincinnati and 10 of Birmingham.</p><p>The Racers were roadblocked in their bid to match the club record winning streak of six straight by an overtime loss to Quebec.</p><p>Indianapolis fans have come alive with the team. The Racers drew back-to-back crowds of 8,000 and 9,000 for a weekend set with Winnipeg and Cincinnati, and didn&rsquo;t do a thing to discourage the fans by winning both games.</p><p>Indy fans are decorating Market Square Arena with &ldquo;It Can Be Done&rdquo; signs, and at one game 6,000 bumper stickers were handed out proclaiming the same message. The Racers believe the playoffs are still possible, despite having only eight of their final 18 games at home.</p><p>&ldquo;The club is higher now than it&rsquo;s been all season,&rdquo; coach Bill Goldsworthy admits. &ldquo;The team is very fired up, and it&rsquo;s easy to see a new attitude in our practices.</p><p>&ldquo;For awhile there we were really down in the dumps,&rdquo; the coach said, &ldquo;but the enthusiasm is beginning to build. And the fans are starting to come back, too. That&rsquo;s a plus.&rdquo;</p><p>Goldsworthy, the 12-year National Hockey League veteran with the Minnesota North Stars the Racers&rsquo; coaching assignment front Ron Ingram, and quickly turned the team in the proper direction with a 6-6 start in his first dozen games.</p><p>Ingram, incidentally, moved into the general manager&rsquo;s office for awhile, but has since left the Racer organization all together.</p><p>&ldquo;The coaching change, plus the acquisition of Richie Leduc and Claude Larose from Cincinnati is really what pulled it all together,&rdquo; one club spokesman says. &ldquo;Goldsworthy relates really well to the players. He&rsquo;s only 34-years-old, but he has a lot of experience.&rdquo;</p><p>Goldsworthy announced his intention of being a playing coach, but he hasn&rsquo;t pulled on skates lately. &ldquo;As long as everybody&rsquo;s doing well, I&rsquo;ll stay back of the bench instead of on it,&rdquo; the young coach admitted.</p><p>The Racers and Cincinnati have kept the highway between the two cities scorching with traded players moving in and out. &ldquo;As a matter of fact,&rdquo; a club official laughed, &ldquo;they&rsquo;re beginning to call us the Indianapolis Stingers and them the Cincinnati Racers. We have made a few trades, but Jacques Demers had some guys he coached here last year that he wanted in Cincinnati, and he had some players we wanted here.&rdquo;</p><p>Former Stingers now in Racer uniform are Leduc, Larose, Blaine Stoughton and Dave Inkpen. Former Racers who are now Stingers include Darryl Maggs, Bryon Baltimore, Reg Thomas, Hugh Harris, Pat Stapleton and Michel Dion.</p><p>Much of the credit for Indianapolis&rsquo; recent surge must go to an offense which has stoked its fires. The Racers are first in the WHA in shorthanded effectiveness-thanks to the excellent work of John French and Don Burgess&mdash;and are killing penalties expertly. Indy has the least number of power play goals against in the league.</p><p>The Racers and Winnipeg broke one WHA offensive record and tied another during Indy&rsquo;s 8-6 win. Nine goals in one period&mdash;five by the Jets and four by Indy&mdash;tied the WHA record, and five goals in 2:04 were the quickest on record.</p><p>Indianapolis&rsquo; No. 1 line has become the Leduc-Larose-Stoughton line, a trio of former Stingers. Leduc was 10th in the league in points, Larose had a 10-game scoring streak going plus a 29 percent shooting efficiency chart.</p><p>Claude St. Sauveur, Peter Driscoll, Rene Leclerc and Rusty Patenaude, Michel Parizeau, Kevin Devine are the other lines Goldsworthy has been sending out regularly.</p><p>A recent surge by defenseman Kevin Morrison has also helped the club. Morrison hit the 50-point mark and was in the top five scoring defensemen in the league.</p><p>Young Eddie Mio, obtained from the Birmingham Bulls, was also heating up in net and stayed in there during the winning streak. One of the rookie&rsquo;s most satisfying wins came over the Bulls in Birmingham when he was absolutely sensational in a 6-3 Indianapolis win.</p><p>So the Racers, Stingers and Bulls toughened up for the stretch run with each club yet in the fight for the final playoff spot.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0025-03

Trades, Goldsworthy Help Put Racers On Track

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE WARRINER</div><p>HARTFORD&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t has been said that misery loves company. Unfortunately the New England Whalers have had plenty of misery lately but no one to share it with&mdash;except their fans. Back in mid-January the Whalers were perched atop the WHA with a 26-123 record, and their fans were beginning to plan post-season Avco Cup parties. But then the &lsquo;roof fell in&rsquo;, literally, as well as figuratively.</p><p>On Jan. 18, when the Coliseum roof collapsed at the Hartford Civic Center, the Whalers led the Winnipeg Jets by four points in league standings. Since switching their base of operations north to Springfield (Mass.), the Whalers had won eight while losing 14 and tying one. In the new rink they had managed to play .500 hockey, but overall they were sinking fast.</p><p>No one was blaming the team&rsquo;s performance on the unfortunate incident, but there&rsquo;s no question it&rsquo;s had an effect. Getting used to the tricky caroms, etc., at the new rink was an additional challenge&mdash;especially since the Whalers were unable to secure much practice time in the new building. Coach Harry Neale was reluctant to accept any of the aforementioned as excuses for his team&rsquo;s problems on the ice, however.</p><p>By mid-February the Whalers slid four points behind the Jets. At that point the Jets continued on their record-breaking winning streak while New England headed in the other direction, managing to win only two of 10 games. Suddenly the Whalers were 12 points out of first place.</p><p>Coach Neale hit the nail on the head when he commented, &ldquo;Many times in the last 15 games or so we were tied, or ahead, and needed a goal&mdash;and didn&rsquo;t get it&rdquo; The remark was reinforced by the fact that five of eight losses were by a one goal margin. Furthermore, three were consecutive overtime losses&mdash;in the home rink yet</p><p>Goalie Al Smith had been in the nets for 13 straight consecutive games during the bad spell but no one was pointing the finger at him. As a matter of fact he got credit for keeping the team in many of the games. But Smitty was getting down on himself about the overtime games. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never lost an overtime game until this year,&rdquo; said Smith. &ldquo;Now I&rsquo;ve lost six in a row. I&rsquo;ve got it in my blessed head. It&rsquo;s stupid,&rdquo; concluded one of the WHA&rsquo;s top goaltenders.</p><p>After losing four straight coach Neale said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what disease we&rsquo;ve got as a team, but we&rsquo;re in a heck of a mental slump, there&rsquo;s no doubt about it. We&rsquo;re losing all the close games.&rdquo; At a loss to explain the doldrums the team found itself in, Neale continued&mdash;It happens on a winning streak too Although you don&rsquo;t say anything about it, you don&rsquo;t know why you&rsquo;re winning either.&rdquo;</p><p><b>WHALER WAVES</b>: During the slump the Whalers were often outshooting their opponents but were finding it difficult to put it in the net &hellip; Newly re-acquired Tim Sheehy admitted being out of shape after seeing limited action with the Detroit organization &hellip; Gordie Howe continues a scoring pace that will move him close to the 100-point mark this season (77 points in 61 games)&hellip;The Whalers missed a golden opportunity to regain ground in the standings. After the Jets record-breaking win streak, they lost four straight. But at the same time, the Whalers also lost four in a row.</p><p>QUEBEC: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not thinking about first place, just thinking about making the playoffs.&rdquo; So said Quebec GM Maurice Filion who had recently taken over the coaching reins from Marc Boileau. Asked why he had relieved Boileau, Filion said&mdash;The team wasn&rsquo;t going anywhere. I had a couple of meetings with the players and talked often with them. His message wasn&rsquo;t going through anymore.&rdquo;</p><p>Admitting that Boileau was &ldquo;a good hockey man&rdquo;, Filion offered &ldquo;if he wants to come back we&rsquo;ll find something, maybe as scout or something.&rdquo; It was apparent that Boileau was unhappy about his sudden dismissal as he was un-available for comment for some time.</p><p>Injured players Curt Brackenbury and Wally Weir had spent two weeks in Florida on &ldquo;doctor&rsquo;s orders&rdquo; to speed recovery. They stopped in Hartford on the return trip to take in the Nordiques contest with the Whalers. Both were very vocal spectators as they watched their teammates come from behind to tie the Whalers in the final minute. When Marc Tardif drilled one by Al Smith for the winner in overtime, Weir and Brackenbury almost blew the roof off the Springfield Civic Center with their yelling and whopping&hellip;During some heavy checking by the Whalers Weir commented, &ldquo;Just wait a few more weeks, then we&rsquo;ll see who pushed who around.&rdquo; Both Wally and Curt expect to be back before playoff time&hellip;Having tried returning earlier, Brackenbury said he didn&rsquo;t want to come back &ldquo;until I can stay back&rdquo;&hellip;</p><p>Although Filion &ldquo;hadn&rsquo;t coached in five years&rdquo;, he certainly got off to a good start as the Nordiques quickly got back to .500 and began to close in on the upper regions of the WHA standings &hellip; There seems to be some management reshuffling in the offing for Quebec. According to reports president John Dacres will be stepping aside. Likely successor is VP Maurice Taschereau who represented the Nordiques at recent WHA meetings in New York.</p><p>With the NHL picture soon to be resolved, word out of Quebec is that there will be no new building to house the Nordiques. Instead, the expectation is to add 4,000 or 5,000 seats to the present building, Le Colisee&mdash;bringing capacity to approximately 15,000&hellip;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01384/4203355-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="568" height="990"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>HARRY NEALE&hellip;Fights Mental Slump</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0027-01

Whalers Being Sunk By CloseOnes; Playoffs Object Of Quebec Changes

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01370/4203491-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg"></div><h2><b>Where WHA Teams Play</b></h2><h3><b>MARCH</b></h3><h2><b>The WHA Scoreboard</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. March 13)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02271/4203484-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="588" height="248"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tue. March 7</b></p><p>Edmonton 3 at Houston 4</p><p>Cincinnati 5 at Quebec 4</p><p><b>Wed. March 8</b></p><p>Quebec 5 at Indianapolis 4</p><p><b>Thu. March 9</b></p><p>Quebec 2 at Birmingham 9</p><p>Edmonton 5 at Cincinnati 6</p><p>New England 4 at Houston 6</p><p>Indianapolis 5 at Winnipeg 8</p><p><b>Fri. March 10</b></p><p>Now England 5 at Birmingham 4</p><p><b>Sat. March 11</b></p><p>Edmonton 0 at Cincinnati 2</p><p>Houston 2 at Indianapolis 4</p><p>Winnipeg 7 at Quebec 4</p><p><b>Sun. March 12</b></p><p>Indianapolis 3 at Houston 8</p><p>Birmingham 2 at Winnipeg 3</p><p>Sweden at Cincinnati (rescheduled to March 26)</p><h2><b>WHA&rsquo;s Scorers &hellip; <i>This Week</i></b></h2><p><b>BIRMINGHAM</b>: Henderson 34,35, Linseman 31,32, Noris 7, Roberto 6, Cassolato 18, Hanson 6, Marrin 26, Beaudoin 7, Napier 30, Stewart 6,7, Alley 1, Westrum 2.</p><p><b>CINCINNATI</b>: Hislop 20, Dudley 20,21,22,23, Ftorek 46, Gilligan 5,6,7, Deadmarsh 10, Marsh 21, Stapleton 3.</p><p><b>EDMONTON</b>: Chipperfield 27,28, Shmyr 7, Flett 36,37,38, Callighen 16, Guite 4.</p><p><b>HOUSTON</b>: Lacroix 28,29, Preston 23,24,25, Ruskowski 14, Gray 28, Hughes 3, Lukowich 34,35,36,37, Connor 21, Larway 16, Schella 7,8,9, West 7.</p><p><b>INDIANAPOLIS</b>: Leduc 32,33, Devine 14,15, St. Sauveur 31,32, Inkpen 1, Larose 20,21, Burgess 10,11, Leclerc 9,10, Parizeau 8, Driscoll 22,23.</p><p><b>NEW ENGLAND</b>: Rogers 20,21,22, Carlson 3, Mark Howe 18, G. Howe 29,30, Sheehy 7, McKenzie 20.</p><p><b>QUEBEC</b>: P. Bordeleau 33,34,35, J. Bernier 8, Tardif 48,49,50, Miller 15, Boudrias 9, C. Bordeleau 4,5, Sutherland 18,19, S. Bernier 18, Cloutier 44.</p><p><b>WINNIPEG</b>: Powis 13, Lindstrom 27, Kryskow 16, Dunn 5, U. Nilsson 31, K. Nilsson 34,35,36, Hull 44, Sullivan 14,15, Baird 14, Moffat 8, Long 5, Hedberg 55.</p><h2><b>Sun. March 6 HOUSTON 4, WINNIPEG 3</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Winnipeg, 1&mdash;Kryskow (Lindstrom, Long) 15:13, Penalty: Scholia 8:48.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Houston, 2&mdash;West (Larway, Lukowich) 8:33, Winnipeg. 3&mdash;Lindstrom (K, Nilsson) 9:06, Houston, 4&mdash;Lukowich (Ruskowski, Hale) 13:05, Winnipeg. 5&mdash;Guindon (Sullivan, Lesuk) 18:04, Houston, 6&mdash;Gray (Ruskowski, Preston) 18:32.</p><p>Penalty: Connor 1:24.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Houston, 7&mdash;Lund (Connor, Schella) 12:12.</p><p>Penalies: Preston 3:17, Green 9:33, Hale 16:51, Lund. U. Nilsson 19:00.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03208/4203477-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="593" height="114"></div><p>Attendance: 10,389</p><h2><b>Tue. March 7 EDMONTON 3, HOUSTON 4</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Edmonton, 1&mdash;Chipperfield (Zuke, Flett) 6:37, 2&mdash;Shmyr (Chipperfield, Flett) 17:09.</p><p>Penalties, Busniuk. Lacroix (double minors), Hansis5:54, Ruskowski 18.13, Shmyr 19:25.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Houston, 3&mdash;Lacroix 1:05, 4&mdash;Preston (Lacroix) 7:19.</p><p>Penalties: Guite 2:34, DeMarco, Lacroix 5:11, Larway 6:16.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Houston, 5&mdash;Preston (Lukowich, Lacroix) 13:42, 6&mdash;Ruskowski 15:38, Edmonton, 7&mdash;Flett 19:49.</p><p>Penalties: Connor 10:49, Zuke 12:04, Connor 18.20</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04162/4203470-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="595" height="115"></div><p>Attendance: 6.028.</p><h2><b>CINCINNATI 5, QUEBEC 4</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Cincinnati, 1&mdash;Hislop (Marsh) 1:48, Quebec, 2&mdash;P Bordeleau (Tardif, Hagman) 6:34.</p><p>Penalties Deadmarsh 4:55, Handrahan 13:25, Sutherland 16:20.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Cincinnati, 3&mdash;Dudley (Hislop, Stapleton) 2:17, 4&mdash;Ftorek (Dudley) 3:06, Quebec, 5&mdash;J. Bernier (Tardif, Lariviere) 10:24.</p><p>Penalties: Dube 3:35, Handrahan 8:37.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Quebec, 6&mdash;Tardif (C, Bordeleau) 5:21, 7&mdash;Miller (Sutherland. J. Bernier) 7:25, Cincinnati. 8&mdash;Gillian (Melrose) 10:59, 9&mdash;Dudley (Hislop) 11:24.</p><p>Penalties: Gillian 8:21, Baxter. Dudley 9:40.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-05141/4203463-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="588" height="108"></div><p>Attendance: 7.631</p><h2><b>Wed. March 8 QUEBEC 5, INDIANAPOLIS 4</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Indianapolis, 1&mdash;Leduc (Larose, Stoughton) 8:47, Quebec, 2&mdash;Boudrias (Dorey, P. Bordeleau) 12:03, 3&mdash;C Bordeleau (Tardif, J. Bernier) 19:42.</p><p>Penalty: Cloutier 6:50.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Indianapolis, 4&mdash;Devine (St. Sauveur, Morrison) 14:16.</p><p>Penalty: Baxter 6:15.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Quebec, 5&mdash;Sutherland (Miller, Fitchner) 7:04, Indianapolis, 6&mdash;Leduc (Inkpen, Larose) 7:49, 7&mdash;St. Sauveur (Driscoll, Wilkins) 11:06, Quebec, 8&mdash;Tardif (C. Bordeleau, Lariviere) 19:55.</p><p>Penalty: Miller 12:39.</p><h3><b>OVERTIME PERIOD</b></h3><p>Quebec, 9&mdash;P. Bordeleau (Boudrias) 2:06</p><p>Penalties: None.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-06123/4203456-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="584" height="113"></div><p>Attendance: 7,422.</p><h2><b>Thu. March 9 QUEBEC 2, BIRMINGHAM 9</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Birmigham, 1&mdash;Henderson (Napier, Langway) 2:15, 2&mdash;Linseman (Beaton, Roberto) 8:44, 3&mdash;Noris (Gorman, Mahovlich) 9:11, 4&mdash;Roberto (Linseman) 16:03, 5&mdash;Henderson (Marrin) 18:22.</p><p>Penalties: Napier 10:53, Beaton. Tardif 16:59.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Quebec, 8&mdash;Tardif (Bordeleau, Lacombe) 6:55, Birmingham. 7&mdash;Cassolato (Stewart, Turkiewicz) 10:40 8&mdash;Hanson (Stewart) 10:56, 9&mdash;Marrin (Henderson, Turkiewicz) 13:44, 10&mdash;Beaudoin (Linseman, Zeaton) 18:18.</p><p>Penalties: None.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Quebec, 11&mdash;P. Bordeleau (C. Bordeleau, Cloutier) 3:08.</p><p>Penalties: Marrin 2:21, Beaton 12:10.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-07113/4203449-1-eng-US/f0028-072.jpg" title="f0028-07" width="592" height="109"></div><p>Attendance: 7,777</p><h2><b>EDMONTON 5, CINCINNATI 6</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Cincinnati, 1&mdash;Gilligan (Handrahan, Maggs) 7:36 Edmonton. 2&mdash;Chipperfield (Pinder, Shmyr) 11 03. 3&mdash;Callighen (Shmyr, Ferguson) 14:31.</p><p>Penalties: Chipperfield 5:25, Deadmarsh 10:35.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Cincinnati, 4&mdash;Deadmarsh (Marsh, Carroll) 0.23. 5&mdash;Dudley (Stapleton, Hislop) 3:52, 6&mdash;Dudley (Legge, Ftorek) 8:01, 7&mdash;Harris (Ftorek, Handrahan) 14 48, Edmonton. 8&mdash;Flett (Topolinsky, Busniuk) 19:44.</p><p>Penalties: None.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Cincinnati, 9&mdash;Marsh (Carroll, Norwich) 5:50, Edmonton. 10&mdash;Flett (Shmyr, Chipperfield) 16:14, 11&mdash;Guite (Zuke, McDonald) 19:42.</p><p>Penalties, None.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-08104/4203442-1-eng-US/f0028-082.jpg" title="f0028-08" width="590" height="111"></div><p>Attendance: 7,113</p><h2><b>NEW ENGLAND 4, HOUSTON 6</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>New England. 1&mdash;Rogers (Roberts, Selwood) 3.39. Houston, 2&mdash;Gray (Lukowich, Hale) 8:35, New England. 3&mdash;S. Carlson (Sheehy) 14:51, Houston, 4&mdash;Hughes (Lund) 19:08.</p><p>Penalties: Tonelli 1:39, J. Carlson 4:21, Hangsleben 17:00, Seiwood, Tonelli 19:04.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Houston, 5&mdash;Lukowich (Ruskowski, Gray) 4:38, 6&mdash;Lukowich (Lacroix, Ruskowski) 7:25, New England, 7&mdash;Rogers (J, Carlson) 12:22.</p><p>Penalties: Roberts 6:38, Marty Howe 16:00, Lukowich 19:26.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Houston, 8&mdash;Lacroix (Preston, Wakely) 3:52, 9&mdash;Connor (Tonelli, Hughes) 13:05, New England, 10&mdash;Mark Howe (Roberts) 18:07</p><p>Penalties: G. Howe 1:44, Connor 9:23, Mayer 10:54, New England bench (served by Hangsleben) 16:11, Ruskowski 16:11, West 16:54.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0998/4203435-1-eng-US/f0028-092.jpg" title="f0028-09" width="584" height="109"></div><p>Attendance: 7,995.</p><h2><b>INDIANAPOLIS 5, WINNIPEG 6</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Indianapolis, 1&mdash;Devine (Patenaude) 15:32.</p><p>Penalties: None.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Winnipeg, 2&mdash;Powis (K. Nilsson. Bergman) 4:01, Indianapolis. 3&mdash;Inkpen (St. Sauveur, Larose) 9:08 Winnipeg, 4&mdash;Lindstrom (Hull, K. Nilsson) 14:05 5&mdash;Kryskow (Long, K. Nilsson) 18:25.</p><p>Penalty: Fortier 3:47.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Indianapolis, 6&mdash;Larose (Leduc, Inkpen) 0:54, 7&mdash;Burgess (Patenaude, Devine) 6:36, 8&mdash;LeClerc (St, Sauveur) 8:42, Winnipeg. 9&mdash;Dunn (K, Nilsson) Kryskow) 16:07, 10&mdash;U. Nilsson (Hull, Nilsson) 17:00, 11&mdash;Guindon (Hull, Bergman) 19:25.</p><p>Penalties: Devine 1:10, Long 3:53, Inkpen, Baird 17:55.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1095/4203428-1-eng-US/f0028-102.jpg" title="f0028-10" width="585" height="111"></div><p>Attendance: 9,947.</p><h2><b>Fri. March 10 NEW ENGLAND 5, BIRMINGHAM 4</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Birmingham, 1&mdash;Linseman (Napier) 3:00, New England, 2&mdash;G. Howe 3:03, Birmingham, 3&mdash;Napier (Henderson, Marrin) 13:45.</p><p>Penalties: Selwood 1:20, Beaton 16:15.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Birmingham, 4&mdash;Stewart (Mahovlich, Langway) 9:14, New England, 5&mdash;Sheehy 10:14, Birmingham. 6&mdash;Stewart (Hughes, Mahovlich) 15:19.</p><p>Penalties: Plumb, Bilodeau 3:39, Sheehy 6:27, J. Carlson 13:56, Ley (misconduct) 15:19.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>New England, 7&mdash;G. Howe (McKenzie, Keon) 6:21, 8&mdash;McKenzie (Antonovich) 17:54.</p><p>Penalties: Beaton 4:59, Ley 8:57.</p><h3><b>OVERTIME PERIOD</b></h3><p>New England, 9&mdash;Rogers (Selwood) 3:58</p><p>Penalties: None.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1187/4203421-1-eng-US/f0028-112.jpg" title="f0028-11" width="581" height="112"></div><p>Attendance: 9,779.</p><h2><b>Sat. March 11 EDMONTON 0, CINCINNATI 2</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>No scoring:</p><p>Penalties: None.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>No scoring.</p><p>Penalties: Zuke, Busniuk (majors), Ftorek (minor and major), Guite, Handrahan 2:54, Ferguson 8:13, Norwich 13:31.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Cincinnati, 1&mdash;Gilligan (Dudley, Norwich) 4:26, 2&mdash;Stapleton (Gilligan, Marsh) 19:54.</p><p>Penalties: None.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1283/4203414-1-eng-US/f0028-122.jpg" title="f0028-12" width="602" height="107"></div><p>Attendance, 13,951.</p><h2><b>HOUSTON 2, INDIANAPOLIS 4</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Indianapolis, 1&mdash;St. Sauveur (Driscoll, Leclerc) 7:06, 2&mdash;Larose 9:12, Houston, 3&mdash;Lukowich (Gray, Ruskowski) 16:54.</p><p>Penalties: Popeil 9:56, Stoughton 12:28, Tonelli 13:38.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Indianapolis, 4&mdash;Driscoll (St. Sauveur, Wilkins) 14:06, Houston, 5&mdash;Schella (Lukowich, Gray) 19:13.</p><p>Penalty: Irwin 9:59.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Indianapolis, 8&mdash;Burgess 6:27.</p><p>Penalties: Lund 3:14, Stoughton 13:15.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1377/4203407-1-eng-US/f0028-132.jpg" title="f0028-13" width="589" height="111"></div><p>Attendance: 8,827.</p><h2><b>WINNIPEG 7, QUEBEC 4</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Winnipeg, 1&mdash;K. Nilsson (Lindstrom) 1:48, 2&mdash;K. Nilsson 15:38.</p><p>Penalties: S. Bernier Sjoberg 11:38, Baird 12:42, S. Bernier 14:32.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Quebec, 3&mdash;S. Bernier (P. Bordeleau, Baxter) 3:03, Winnipeg. 4&mdash;Hull (Long) 17:27, 5&mdash;K. Nilsson (Hedberg, Hull) 19:34.</p><p>Penalties: Clackson 5:24, C. Bordeleau 18L16.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Winnipeg, 6&mdash;Sullivan (Leduc, Guindon) 0:21, 7&mdash;Baird (Moffat, Powis) 1:52, Quebec, 8&mdash;Sutherland (Boudrias, Miller) 8:04, Winnipeg, 9&mdash;Moffat (Powis, Guindon) 13:12, Quebec. 10&mdash;Cloutier (C. Bordeleau, Tardif) 14:35, 11&mdash;C. Bordeleau (Cloutier, J. Bernier) 14:56.</p><p>Penalties: None.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1468/4203400-1-eng-US/f0028-142.jpg" title="f0028-14" width="593" height="108"></div><p>Attendance: 10,313.</p><h2><b>Sun. March 12 INDIANAPOLIS 3, HOUSTON 6</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Houston, 1&mdash;Larway (Campbell, Lund) 2:02, 2&mdash;Schella (Tonnelh, Campbell) 3:05, 3&mdash;Schella (Lacroix, Preston) 10:36, Indianapolis, 4&mdash;Leclerc (St-Sauveur, Morrison) 13:08.</p><p>Penalties: Black 10:18, Campbell 12:18, Inkpen. Connor (majors). Houston bench 17:00, Lukowich 19:34.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Houston, 5&mdash;Preston (Lukowich, Lacroix) 2:38, 6&mdash;West (Tonnelh, Hansis) 10:20, Indianapolis. 7&mdash;Parizeau (Wilkins, French) 10:54.</p><p>Penalties: Lund 3:01, Schella 10:49, Morrison 18:11</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Houston, 8&mdash;Lukowich (Lacroix) 15:13, Indianapolis, 9&mdash;Driscoll (Morrison) 18:26.</p><p>Penalty: Preston 5:15.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1854/4203393-1-eng-US/f0026-182.jpg" title="f0026-18" width="602" height="52"></div><p>Attendence: 7,020.</p><h2><b>BIRMINGHAM 2, WINNIPEG 3</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Birmingham, 1&mdash;Alley (Henderson, Marrin) 14:38, Winnier 2&mdash;Long (Jryskow) 17:50.</p><p>Penalties: Stewart 3:56, Winnipeg bench (served by Moftat), Sullivan (misconduct) 4:32, Beaton Linseman, U. Nilsson 5:38, Beaton 12:16, Roberto, Sjobert (misconduct). Beaton (double minor), Dunn 16:25.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>No scoring.</p><p>Penalties: Hughes 0:48, Linseman 2:33, Baird 9:05, Hughes 11:18.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Winnipeg, 3&mdash;Hedberg (Lesuk, U. Nilsson) 1:20, 4&mdash;Sullivan (Green,. Hull) 3:44, Birmingham, 5&mdash;Westrum (Marrin) 16:07.</p><p>Penalties: Beaton 2:19, Turkiewicz 9:05, Baird 9 55. Dunn 12:43, Linseman (minor, major, misconduct). Durbano (double minor, game misconduct). Roberto (double minor, game misconduct) Hughes (misconduct). Napier (misconduct). Garrett. Beaudoin (minor, game misconduct), Birmingham bench, U. Nilsson (minor, game misconduct). Hedberg (misconduct). Hull (Misconduct), Sjobert (misconduct). Dunn (minor, major), Bromley. Winnipeg bench 17:42.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1946/4203386-1-eng-US/f0026-192.jpg" title="f0026-19" width="597" height="106"></div><p>Attendance: 10,363.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-01

WORLD HOCKEY ASSN. SUMMARIES

<h2><b>Where AHL Teams Play</b></h2><h3><b>March</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01324/4203522-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="545" height="826"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0029-01

OTHER LEAGUES

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY JIM LEAHY</div><p>SPRINGFIELD&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Springfield Indians, despite losing their last four games, remain in second place in the&rsquo; American Hockey League&rsquo;s Northern Division, eight points ahead of third place Nova Scotia and eight points in back of the Maine Mariners.</p><p>The Tribe lost 6-3 in Philadelphia and were beaten by the same score in the return match at the Big E Coliseum. Rochester left Springfield on Saturday night with a 5-4 victory and blasted the Indians 9-3 back in Rochester on Sunday.</p><p>With the opposition scoring 26 goals in four games last week defense and/or goaltending appears to be a big problem for the club. At this writing, the Indians are last in the AHL in defense, allowing an amazing 4.60 goals per game.</p><p><b>MAINE</b>: This week the Mariners&rsquo; home attendance will exceed 150,000 fans. In 31 AHL games plus the exhibition with the Russians, the team has attracted 146,498 fans to the Civic Center for an average of 4,578 per game.</p><p>Coach Bob McCammon&rsquo;s team played eight games in 10 days as a result of the revised AHL schedule. While they increased their lead over Springfield, the Mariners only managed to come up with a 4-3-1 record in those eight games. The club was in action five times last week, including four straight on the road. They limped back to Portland with a 3-2 record.</p><p>After handing the Firebirds a 6-3 loss in Maine on Monday, the Mariners headed for Nova Scotia for three games. The Mariners took two of three in Canada, both wins coming in sudden death overtime. Sunday night in Hershey, a weary Mariner club came up on the short end of a 3-2 contest.</p><p>Al Hill and Blake Dunlop are 1-2 in the Mariner scoring race and big John Paddock is the penalty leader with 142 minutes in only 38 games.</p><p><b>NOVA SCOTIA</b>: One win, two losses and a tie last week left the Voyageurs eight points behind second place Springfield with two games in hand on the Indians.</p><p>The Vees played all four games at home, including three with Maine. Tuesday night they held the Hershey Bears to a 2-2 overtime tie, then beat the Mariners once and dropped two contests. Rod Schutt continues to lead Nova Scotia in scoring with 54 points in just 52 games. Defenseman Pierre Roy leads the club in penalty minutes with 165 and goaltender Maurice Barrett edges out Bob Holland with a 2.89 goals-against average.</p><p>Now that the Voyageurs are home for a good portion of the rest of the seasonwatch out. Never count the smoothskating and well-coached club from Nova Scotia out. Springfield and Maine are now within striking distance of the Vees who have a knack of being very tough when the chips are down.</p><p><b>BINGHAMTON</b>: The Dusters made a flurry of moves recently in an attempt to climb out of the Northern Division cellar. Veteran WHA goaltender Norm Lapointe was obtained from the Cincinnati Stingers, defenseman Floyd Lahache from the defunct Hampton Gulls and defenseman Bjorn Hohansson from the Rochester Americans. Peter McNamee was traded to Rochester in the deal that sent Johansson to Binghamton. That&rsquo;s the good news.</p><p>Now for the bad news. Captain Rod Bloomfield may be out for the season with a severe shoulder injury and Pierre Laganiere is sidelined with a broken hand. In addition, netminder Larry Hendrick is out with a groin pull.</p><p>Despite all of the changes and injuries, the Dusters managed to split three games last week. Hershey inflicted a 6-3 beating on the Dusters in Binghamton, yet the Dusters bounced back. A 4-2 win in Philadelphia on Saturday was followed by a 4-4 overtime tie against New Haven before 4,468 fans at the Arena.</p><p><b>ROCHESTER</b>: A roaring crowd of 6,225 at the War Memorial helped the Amerks post a big 8-7 win over New Haven in a wild AHL contest. Earl Anderson stole the puck from a New Haven winger and beat Doug Soetaert to give Rochester the win in a game that kept the fans screaming from the opening whistle. The game featured three fights, 15 goals and a win for the home team. Ken Murray, Benoit Gosselin and Brad Becker of New Haven tangled with Sean Shanahan, Mike Forbes and Rick Adduono with the decision being awarded to the Rochester player in each case.</p><p><b>NEW HAVEN</b>: After a 7-3 win at home against Hershey on Wednesday, the Nighthawks took to the road for three straight games. Friday night the Rochester Americans beat New Haven 87, Saturday night it was a 1-1 tie with Hershey and Sunday a 4-4 deadlock at Binghamton.</p><p>The Nighthawks piled up some injuries over the rough weekend but all will be back except Mario Marois who is still out with a broken ankle. Ken Hodge missed the road trip with a bruised knee and Greg Hickey along with Brad Becker have minor knee injuries.</p><p>Saturday night the Amerks played in Springfield and handed the slumping Indians a 5-4 defeat. Back in Rochester on Sunday night, the Amerks blasted the same Springfield Indians, this time by a 9-3 margin.</p><p>With three wins last week, the streaky Rochester Americans hope to get their act together for a stretch run at New Haven. It could be a great race.</p><p><b>PHILADELPHIA</b>: The third place Firebirds are eight points in back of Rochester but they have three games in hand on the Amerks and five in hand on the first place New Haven Nighthawks. Last week the &lsquo;Birds split four games.</p><p>First the Mariners skated to a 6-3 win over Philadelphia in Portland before the Binghamton Dusters handed the Firebirds a 4-2 loss on home ice. Philadelphia picked up two wins in a home and home series with the Springfield Indians and the expansionist Firebirds continue to be competitive in the AHL with a fine 24-22-9 record after 55 games.</p><p><b>HERSHEY</b>: The Bears earned six points in a week which saw them play five games in six nights, three of them on the road. The Bears were in Nova Scotia and held the improving Voyageurs to a 22 overtime tie, while the next night in New Haven, the Nighthawks handed them a 7-3 loss.</p><p>After an off day the Binghamton Dusters hosted the travelling Bears&rsquo; caravan but were swept off the ice by a 63 Hershey victory. Saturday night the club finally arrived back in Chocolatetown and a crowd of 5,974 saw the Bears and Nighthawks skate to a 1-1 overtime tie. On Sunday, the Maine Mariners came to town and left on the short end of a 3-2 Hershey victory. Goaltender Jim Weaver paced the Bears in the 1-1 tie with New Haven and the wins over Binghamton and Maine.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02256/4203553-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="552" height="920"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BJORN JOHANSSON&hellip;Now With Dusters</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0029-02

Slumping Indians Remain Second; Bears Survive Grueling Schedule

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div><p>DALLAS&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>H</span>ow do you explain a hockey club that&rsquo;s hotter on the road than at home? Coach Gerry McNamara had that situation, as his Dallas Black Hawks won six out of seven on the road, and only two of six in their own State Fair Coliseum.</p><p>McNamara certainly wasn&rsquo;t unhappy with the road record. The Hawks swept a two-game set in Salt Lake City, 5-4 and 41, than went into Fort Worth and defeated their turnpike rivals, 3-2. That made six straight road victories for McNamara&rsquo;s band, one shy of a club record, and only two short of the Central League record, set in 1963-64 by the Omaha Knights.</p><p>The streak ended with a 5-3 setback in Kansas City&rsquo;s Kemper Arena. But the Hawks had brought themselves into the thick of an unbelievably tight CHL race. They were in a three-way tie for second place (with Salt Lake and Tulsa) and only a point behind the first-place Fort Worth Texans.</p><p>Then McNamara found more problems on his hands. The parent Chicago Black Hawks first called up defenseman Bob Hoffmyer and center Jean Savard, then took defenseman Mike O&rsquo;Connell and finally recalled center Kirk Bowman, who had returned to Dallas a week earlier. The Hawks then returned Savard and right wing Alain (Bam Bam) Belanger, who hadn&rsquo;t lost his CHL penalty leadership after being out of the league for three weeks. At the same time, the Toronto Maple Leafs called up defenseman Randy Carlyle, and right wings Kurt Walker and John Anderson.</p><p>Opening the week in Salt Lake City, Ron Wilson and Duane Wylie gave Dallas brief leads, before the Eagles went ahead in the second period. Dan Hinton tied it up in the third with a two-man power play advantage. Anderson won it with a breakaway, and Reggie Kerr added late insurance.</p><p>It was easier two nights later against the same foes. After Kerr scored in the first period, Paul Evans and Wilson tallied 10 seconds apart at the start of the second. Eagle Floyd Thomson spoiled Pierre Hamel&rsquo;s shutout bid at 8:33 of the middle period, but the Eagles never seriously threatened. Greg Vaydik scored an empty-net goal from a center-ice faceoff with eight seconds to play.</p><p>Dallas did all its scoring in the second period at Fort Worth. Hoffmyer and Walker rallied the Hawks into the lead, and then Vaydik was credited with a goal on which his shot was blocked and the Texans got the rebound. Trying to clear the puck, one Fort Worth defender caromed it off a colleague and into the net!</p><p>In the Sunday game at Kansas City, Belanger and Vaydik moved Dallas ahead twice early in the first, but the Red Wings had a lead before that period ended. Hoffmyer added a late goal, but the Hawks couldn&rsquo;t catch up. Hamel tied a club record by making 49 saves.</p><p><b>TULSA</b>: The Oilers of coach Johnny Choyce kept winning games and losing players. The latest losses were to injuries, not major league callups. Rookie center Rob Tudor, top scorer among the current club members, suffered a broken hand. And center Sid Veysey, last year&rsquo;s leading Oiler scorer, separated a shoulder, and had surgery.</p><p>Both injuries occurred in a 4-3 overtime loss at Fort Worth, the only game the Oilers lost in a busy week.</p><p>Rookie goalie Glen Hanlon opened the week with his third shutout of the season, 2-0 at home against Kansas City. Two nights later in KC, Glen blanked the Wings for 53 minutes in a 3-1 victory. After rallying for a tie in Fort Worth, the Oilers lost it after nine seconds of overtime play, when Pierre Jarry scored after the opening face-off. But the next night in Salt Lake, new Oiler Ron Sedlbauer scored 14 seconds into the overtime period for a 6-5 Tulsa triumph.</p><p>That clinched the hat trick for Sedlbauer, just sent down from the Vancouver Canucks ahead of the three weekend games. He had goals in the two previous starts, giving him five for his first three outings as an Oiler. He quickly was recalled by the Canucks.</p><p>Brian Hill in the first period, and Ralph Stewart in the second, scored the Oiler goals in the home victory before they embarked on the week-long road jaunt. Sedlbauer, playing his first game, opened the scoring in the second period of the rematch in KC. Tudor scored midway of the third, before Wing Mike Bloom broke Hanlon&rsquo;s shutout string. Veysey added an empty-net tally with 35 seconds left.</p><p>Hanlon remained the league&rsquo;s stingiest goalkeeper on a 2.92 average.</p><p><b>KANSAS CITY</b>: The Red Wings lost Terry Richardson, who had started all but five games in the KC nets. Terry pulled some rib cage muscles in Fort Worth, when he leaned over backwards to make a save. Rookie Mike Frawley, who had been gathering bench splinters, inherited a regular job, and the Wings brought up Rick Szabo from Flint in the International League for a pro trial.</p><p>The Wings ran their losing streak to three (six out of eight) by bowing in Tulsa to Glen Hanlon&rsquo;s brilliant goaltending, 20; losing a 6-5 overtime game in Fort Worth, and then falling victim to Hanlon again at home, 3-1. A Sunday 5-3 home triumph over Dallas provided a bright note.</p><p>After the shutout in Tulsa, the Wings were firing from the hip in Fort Worth but ran out of gas. John Hilworth, Fem Leblanc, Al McDonough and Dan Gruen scored in a span of 3:30 early in the first period (the last two only 30 seconds apart). The Texans gained a 4-4 tie just 22 seconds into the third period, before J.P. Leblanc gave KC another lead 5:26, but the Texans refused to quit, and won it in the extra period.</p><p><b>FORT WORTH</b>: In overtime games the Texans of coach Billy MacMillan were hard to beat. After losing six straight of the regulation-type contests, the Texans broke their slump by beating Kansas City (6-5) and Tulsa (4-3) in overtime at home. But when they went back to 60-minute games, they lost at home to Dallas, 3-2, as the Hawks took a 10-8 lead in the turnpike series.</p><p>It was Jamie Gallimore who won the game against KC, after 4:53 of the extra period, while Pierre Jarry needed only nine seconds of overtime to beat Tulsa.</p><p>The winning goal was Gallimore&rsquo;s second in that Wednesday victory. He launched the Texans&rsquo; comeback from a 40 deficit by scoring midway in the second period, followed by Jarry and Ed Pizunski. In the third Dave Salvian and Alex McKendry scored, the latter tying it up with 8:16 left.</p><p><b>SALT LAKE</b>: Their tenure in first place was brief, lasting only a week as the Golden Eagles dropped three straight home games and fell a point off the pace. They still had a game in hand on leagueleading Fort Worth, three on Tulsa and Dallas, which shared second place.</p><p>With goalie Doug Grant called to St Louis, Ed Staniowski took over the Salt Lake netminding, and was treated roughly. Mike Crombeen, Joe Zanussi and John Smrke scored in the second period of the first game with Dallas, but the Hawks pulled away in the third. In the rematch. Floyd Thomson got the lone Eagle tally, after Dallas had zoomed to a 3-0 lead.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01364/4203584-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="549" height="704"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GLEN HANLON&hellip;Top CHL Goaler</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0030-01

Black Hawks’ Road Record Mystifies McNamara

<p>PHOENIX&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he newest award in the Central Hockey League for post-season honors will be the Ken McKenzie Trophy which has been presented to the CHL by the publisher of THE HOCKEY NEWS. Ken McKenzie. The trophy will be awarded to the league player voted as the rookie-of-the-year by the CHL coaches.</p><p>The current season has produced an extremely large number of top candidates for the new McKenzie Trophy. Heading the list for the honor are goaltender Glen Hanlon of the Tulsa Oilers, forward Tony Currie of the Salt Lake City Golden Eagles and forward Ron Wilson of the Dallas Black Hawks. Hanlon, a second round draft selection by the Vancouver Canucks quickly moved into the number one goaltending position with the Oilers and has been a major factor in the high position in the standings maintained by Tulsa. This former member of Brandon (WCHL) currently ranks first in the league with a 2.95 goals-against average. If selected as rookie-of-the-year, Hanlon would become only the second goaltender in the 15-year history of the CHL to earn such an honor. Mike Veisor is presently the only netminder to gain such an honor in the Central League.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Ken McKenzie Trophy Awaits Tod Rookie

<h2><b>Where IHL Teams Play</b></h2><h3><b>MARCH</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01337/4203639-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="576" height="848"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0031-01

OTHER LEAGUE

INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div><p>MUSKEGON&mdash;</p><p>Muskegon manager-coach Moose Lallo is looking southward these days&mdash;and not because of the weather.</p><p>The Mohawks are members of the North Division of the International Hockey League and as the season grinds down to playoff time it appears the Mohawks&rsquo; best chance&mdash;only chance probably&mdash;to get an invitation to the postseason party is to finish in front of at least one of the South Division clubs.</p><p>Eight of the nine teams in the IHL qualify for the annual playoffs. The format calls for the top four teams in each division to comprise the playoff field. But because of the inbalance&mdash;five teams in the North as opposed to just four in the South&mdash;the fifth-place team in the North qualifies if it has more points than the fourth-place team in the South.</p><p>Currently the Mohawks trail fourthplace Flint in the North by 12 fat points. However, Muskegon is within striking distance of third-place Milwaukee of the South and leads fourth-place Grand Rapids by three points. Milwaukee has 50 points, Muskegon 49 and Grand Rapids 46.</p><p>The three-point cushion came about as the Mohawks continued to play their best hockey against defending champion Saginaw. The Hawks snapped a two-game losing streak for the week with a 5-4 win over the Gears&mdash;in Saginaw. The victory pulled Muskegon even with Saginaw in the season series. The two teams stand at 3-3-2.</p><p>&ldquo;This win gives us a little bit of confidence&mdash;in fact, it will give us a lot of confidence,&rdquo; Lallo said after the key victory over the Gears.</p><p>&ldquo;We have been in a slump and young kids like we have tend to get down on themselves. So this was a big win for us.&rdquo;</p><p>Ironically, Lallo wasn&rsquo;t around to see the Mohawks complete a great come-back, Saginaw had a three-goal lead at one time but the Mohawks rallied to cut the deficit to one by the end of the second period and won it on defenseman Kevin MacDonald&rsquo;s goal early in the final period. Goalie Andre Lepage protected the slim lead the rest of the way.</p><p>Lallo had been ejected by referee Todd Larson late in the second period for protesting a tripping penalty on Mike Wong.</p><p>&ldquo;Maybe my getting thrown out helped us,&rdquo; Lallo was to say later. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t do it on purpose, but sometimes something like that gives you a little psychological edge.&rdquo;</p><p><b>AGINAW</b>: Marcel Comeau and rookie Warren Holmes featured another productive week for the Gears&mdash;four points our of a possible six.</p><p>Holmes, who is battling Fort Wayne rookie Dan Bonar for the IHL goalscoring championship, became the highest scoring rookie in Saginaw history when he scored twice in a 6-4 win at Flint and added another in a return match with the Generals the next night. The three goals pushed Holmes&rsquo; season production to 38. The previous record for a Gear rookie for goals was 36&mdash;set by D&rsquo;Arcy Ryan in 1975-76.</p><p>The veteran Comeau celebrated his return to the Gear lineup following a leg injury by scoring three goals and picking up four assists as the Gears ripped the Generals, 12-4. The seven points ties a club record for a single game&mdash;set by Dennis Desrosiers in 1973 against the same Flint team.</p><p>Comeau also got his name in the IHL record book for the fastest opening goal. Comeau scored just six seconds after the opening faceoff&mdash;tying a record set originally by Jim Hrycuik of Fort Wayne</p><p><b>PORT HURON</b>: The Flags are making an old man of coach Ron Ullyot. The Flags are winning all right. But how is what is ageing Ullyot.</p><p>A six-point week, three straight victories including one on the road, has pushed the Flags into second place in the North. But it hasn&rsquo;t been easy.</p><p>The road win was a 3-2 thriller at Muskegon. And in beating Milwaukee in one of the home games the Flags had to score four goals in the final period for the 4-3 decision.</p><p>&ldquo;Just run off a carbon copy of the last game here,&rdquo; a weary Ullyot said after the Flags had sunk the Admirals. &ldquo;These comebacks are driving me crazy. They&rsquo;re making an old man of me.&rdquo;</p><p>The week was capped by a 6-3 romp over Toledo with Dave Faulkner scoring four of the six goals.</p><p><b>KALAMAZOO</b>: The K-Wings continue to be the hottest club in the league and the standings reflect as much. Three more victories and a tie boosted the K-Wings unbeaten string to 11 and pushed them over the .500 plateau for the first time this season. The K-Wings are now also third in the North Division and threatening to push higher. Second-place Port Huron is just a point away.</p><p>The K-Wings ran their winning streak to eight with a 4-1 win over South Division leader Fort Wayne, an 8-3 romp over Flint and a 6-4 win at Grand Rapids before settling for a 4-4 tie at Flint. The tie was the 13th of the season&mdash;a club record.</p><p><b>FLINT</b>: The Generals continue to struggle in their efforts ko secure a favorable starting block for the playoffs. And it&rsquo;s a battle they appear to be losing.</p><p>The best Flint could show for a four-game week was a tie with Kalamazoo. Three straight losses preceded the tie and it cost the Generals vital ground in the playoff struggle. The Generals have dipped to fourth place. With a comfortable lead over both Muskegon of the North and Milwaukee and Grand Rapids of the South. Flint is assured a playoff spot. But a fourth-place finish would mean starting the playoff bid against Saginaw&mdash;in all probability. And the Gears have won the last four from the Generals&mdash;outscoring Flint by an 18-8 margin in the process.</p><p><b>FORT WAYNE</b>: The Komets, who had gone through eight games without a loss while expanding their South Division lead to 14 points over second-place Toledo, suddenly went flat.</p><p>Calling three straight losses a &ldquo;mini slump&rdquo;, coach Gregg Pilling admitted the team had played &ldquo;lousy&rdquo; while losing to Kalamazoo twice and Milwaukee.</p><p>An injury to veteran Robbie Laird could have been one of the problems. Laird, who was on the shelf earlier because of an injured elbow was put back out of action when he suffered a badly bruised ankle when struck by a flying puck.</p><p>The streak ended with a 5-4 win over Grand Rapids and a six-day layoff followed. &ldquo;Maybe that&rsquo;s what we need right now,&rdquo; said Pilling. The Komets still have a 12-point bulge in the South.</p><p><b>TOLEDO</b>: The Goaldiggers are making a belated&mdash;but determined&mdash;run at first place in the South. Down 14 points to Fort Wayne after a two-game series with the Komets, the Diggers have put together a consistent attack which has failed only once in the last seven games.</p><p>A 4-1 win over Milwaukee Started a four-point week which also saw the Diggers win big at Muskegon, 6-2, before losing at Port Huron, 6-3. The significance in the Milwaukee victory was it was the first time this season the Diggers had managed to defeat the expansion club.</p><p>Len Fontaine and Paul Tantardini snapped out of scoring slumps with two-goal performances each in the victory at Muskegon.</p><p><b>MILWAUKEE</b>: If hockey games were two periods long instead of three, Milwaukee might be leading the South Division. The Admirals got off to leads in three straight games&mdash;but managed to survive in only one of them.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02256/4203670-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="554" height="642"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>WARREN HOLMES&hellip;Sets Saginaw Mark</b></figcaption></div><p>A 3-0 lead at Port Huron faded into a 43 defeat. In Toledo, the Admirals had a 10 lead in the final period but lost, 4-1. The lone victory came at Fort Wayne where the Admirals took an early lead, fell even but then scored four straight goals to turn back the Komets, 5-2.</p><p><b>GRAND RAPIDS</b>: Inconsistency is still the main weaknes with the Owls. Following a most impressive 6-2 bombing of Flint, the Owls dropped a 6-4 decision to Kalamazoo at home and then lost a one-goal decision at Fort Wayne, 5-4.</p><p>But the turnouts in Grand Rapids have been most encouraging. Almost 4,000 were on hand for the game with Kalamazoo. Some 2,500 witnessed the win over Flint.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0031-02

Mohawks’Hopes Riding With South; Flags Making Coach Cardiac Case

<div class="byline">BY RICHARD JABLONSKI</div><p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Toronto Blues and the Regina Cougars have advanced to the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union&rsquo;s national championships on the basis of playoff victories in their respective conferences. Toronto will represent the Ontario Universities Athletics Association while Regina will be attempting to improve the somewhat tarnished national reputation of Great Plains Athletics Conference hockey.</p><p>Toronto travels to Moncton after defeating the Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks in consecutive games of Ontario&rsquo;s best-of-three final series. The Hawks provided the Blues with some of the type of competition which they had been missing this season, extending the defending national champions beyond regulation before dropping a 3-2 decision in the first game of the series. Dan D&rsquo;Alvise put the Hawks away with his goal in overtime.</p><p>The second game of the series, played on Laurier&rsquo;s ice, was somewhat less exciting. Perhaps suffering from a letdown after their overtime loss, the Hawks succumbed 4-1. D&rsquo;Alvise, Doug Harridge. Larry Hopkins and Cary Farelli were the goalscorers for Toronto</p><p>Meanwhile in the Queen City, Regina hooked up with the Lakehead Norwesters in a best-of-three series for the GPAC championship. After losing the series opener 5-4, the Cougars came back to take the final two games, and the conference title, 3-1 and 9-7.</p><p><b>CANADA WEST</b>: After a lengthy regular season, the Canada West Association began its championship series on Fri. March 10. with the first-place Alberta Golden Bears playing host to the runnerup British Columbia Thunderbirds in a best-of-three matchup. The conference is the last of the five collegiate associations in Canada to begin its post-season schedule.</p><p>Alberta, consistently ranked among the top three teams in Canada by the CIAU, is led by four conference All Stars; forwards Dave Breakwell and Kevin Primeau and defensemen Randy Gregg and Don Spring.</p><p>British Columbia, which has defeated Alberta twice since Christmas, features first team All Star goaltender Ron Patterson, whose goals-against average of 2.87 speaks for itself. Thunderbird forwards Jim Stewart and Rob Jones received second team honors.</p><p>Rounding out the All Star first team were defenseman Ross Cory of British Columbia, forward Doug Murray of Calgary and Saskatchewan&rsquo;s Greg Wiebe, the associations leading scorer. Goaltender Terry Kryczka and defenseman Russ Hall of Calgary were named to the second team.</p><p>Fans of Alberta and Saskatchewan were upset that goaltender Ted Poplawski of the Golden Bears and forward Mitch Bozak of Saskatchewan did not make either All Star team. Poplawski compiled the best goals-against, average in western Canada, 2.31, and led the Bears to the championship of this year&rsquo;s Pacific Rim tournament in Japan. Bozak was the second leading scorer in the conference, totaling 44 points for a last place team.</p><p><b>QUEBEC</b>: Pierre Gingras, the top goalscorer in Quebec this year, netted three goals in leading the Trois Rivieres Patriotes to a 4-2 victory over the Concordia Stingers in the fourth game to even their best-of-five QUAA championship series at 2-2.</p><p>The home ice advantage has held up in all four games of the finals, with the Patriotes taking games one and four in Trois Rivieres and the Stingers winning the second and third games in Montreal. Forward Randy Borbely paced Concordia&rsquo;s attack in the Stingers&rsquo; 8-2 and 5-3 victories, scoring two goals in each game.</p><p>Including regular season play, the two teams have met eight times this year, with each winning four games. However, Concordia has won four of the last six and appears to have a slight edge at this time. Add this to the fact that Concordia will be backed by 1,700 screaming fans in the final game, and the Stingers look like a solid choice to appear in Moncton later this month.</p><p><b>THE MARITIMES</b>: St. Mary&rsquo;s and St. Francis Xavier split the first two games of their Atlantic Association final series, with the Huskies taking game one 8-4 and the X-Men responding in overtime 6-4. Unfortunately for St. FX, the series now swings from Antigonish, N.S. to Halifax, the Huskies&rsquo; backyard, for games three, four and five (if necessary).</p><p>Game one belonged to Mac Davis. The Huskies&rsquo; All Star forward scored the first three goals of the evening and John Nazar added two more as St. Mary&rsquo;s cruised to victory. Allan MacArthur netted two goals in a losing cause.</p><p>St. Mary&rsquo;s pattern of success continued for the first 40 minutes of game two. On goals by Nazar, Grant Thomson, Tom MacDonnell and Mike Backman, the Huskies led the X-Men 4-2 after two periods. The score would have been much higher if not for the outstanding work of St. FX goaltender George Barrett. The five-foot-nine, 165 pound rookie from Ottawa turned back 14 Huskie shots in the first period alone.</p><p>Facing the nearly impossible task of winning three straight games in Halifax, the X-Men came out flying in the third period. Steve Croucher netted their third goal at 16:55, setting the stage for Jim Young&rsquo;s tying goal at 19:10. With goaltender Barrett on the bench in favor of a sixth attacker, Young emerged from a scramble in front of the St. Mary&rsquo;s net to beat Huskie netminder Steve Davies and send the game into overtime.</p><p>It was left to X-Man forward Greg Keating, who had two goals and two assists for the night, to score the gamewinner at 6:35 of overtime. A Tony Cuomo goal at 8:51 merely iced the cake for St. FX.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Blues, Cougars Advance; Await Others In Moncton

<h2><b>College Races</b></h2><h2><b>ECAC CONFERENCE</b></h2><h3><b>(Final Standing)</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01344/4203715-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="602" height="469"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Providence 8, Northeastern 5</p><p>Vermont 3, Boston College 2</p><p>Harvard 4, Dartmouth 3</p><p>Princeton 8 Pe-nsylvania 5</p><p>New Hampshire 5, Brown 2</p><p>Princeton 5, Cornelll 4</p><p>Providence 4, Boston College 0</p><p>RPI 6, Northeastern 4</p><p>St. Lawrence 9, Clarkson 4</p><p>Boston University 6, Vermont 5</p><p>Colgae 7, Northeastern 5</p><p>Brown 6, Darmouth 1</p><p>Yale 4, Harvard 3</p><p>Cornell 8, Pennsylvania 5</p><p>RPI 3, Princeton 1</p><p>Boston College 4, New Hampshire 2</p><h2><b>BEANPOT TOURNAMENT</b></h2><p>Championship Final</p><p>Boston University 7, Harvard 1</p><h2><b>CONSOLATION FINAL</b></h2><p>Boston College 3, Northeastern 2</p><h2><b>College Races</b></h2><h2><b>WCHA CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01309/4203708-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="588" height="312"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>North Dakota 5, Notre Dame 3</p><p>North Dakota 4, Notre Dame 2</p><p>North Dakota 6, Minnesota 2</p><p>Minnesota 4, North Dakota 2</p><p>Minn-Duluth 5, Michigan Tech 3</p><p>Michigan Tech 4, Minn-Duluth 2</p><p>Denver 9, Colorado College 2</p><p>Denver 7, Colorado College 5</p><p>Wisconsin 5, Notre Dame 2</p><p>Wisconsin 12, Notre Dame 1</p><p>Michigan State 7, Michigan 7</p><p>Michigan 3, Michigan State 2</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02230/4203701-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="599" height="1146"></div><h2><b>ECAC PLAYOFFS</b></h2><p>Division 1 Quarter-Finals</p><p>Now Hampshire vs Boston University</p><p>Providence vs Cornell</p><p>Brown vs Clarkson</p><p>Boston College vs RPI</p><h2><b>Division II Quarter-Finals</b></h2><h3><b>EAST CONFERENCE</b></h3><p>Brown 7, Colby 4</p><p>Bowdoin 7, Colby 4</p><p>Lowell 6, AIC 4</p><p>Merrimack 12, St. Anselm&rsquo;s 3</p><p>Salem State 4, Holy Cross 1</p><h3><b>WEST CONFERENCE</b></h3><p>Middlebury 7, Buffalo 3</p><p>Elmira 5, Hamilton 4</p><p>Plattsburgh 6, Army 3</p><h2><b>Division III Semi-Finals</b></h2><p>Trinity C, Framingham State 4</p><p>Westfield State 17, Iona 2</p><h2><b>FINALS</b></h2><p>Westfield State 4, Trinity 3</p><h2><b>CCHA CONFERENCE</b></h2><h3><b>Semi-Final Playoffs</b></h3><p>Bowling Green 3, Ohio State 1</p><p>Bowling Green 4, Ohio State 2</p><p>(Bowling Greens wins two-game total-goals series 7-3)</p><p>St. Louis 6, Northern Michigan 2</p><p>St. Louis 4, Northern Michigan 4</p><p>(St. Louis wins two-game total-goals series 10-6)</p><h2><b>CANADIAN COLLEGES</b></h2><h3><b>QUEBEC CONFERENCE Finals</b></h3><p>UQTR 6, Concordia 4</p><p>Concordia 8, UQTR 2</p><p>Concordia 5, UQTR 3</p><p>UQTR 4, Condordia 2</p><p>Concordia 7, UQTR 4</p><p>(Concordia wins best-of-five series 3-2)</p><h2><b>GREAT PLAINS Finals</b></h2><p>Lakehead 5, Regina 4</p><p>Regina 3, Lakehead 1</p><p>Regina 9, Lakehead 7</p><p>(Regina wins best-of-three series 2-1)</p><h2><b>MARITIMES Finals</b></h2><p>St. Mary&rsquo;s 8, St. Francis Xavier 4</p><p>St. Francis Xavier 6, St. Mary&rsquo;s 4</p><p>(Best-of-five series tied 1-1)<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0032-01

COLLEGE HOCKEY

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div><p>GRAND FORKS&mdash;</p><p>The three finalists for the hockey coaching job at the University of North Dakota were 1) Marshall Johnston, hockey coach at Denver University; 2) Ned Harkness, late of Union College and formerly of the Detroit Red Wings: and 3) John Gasparini, current UND assistant.</p><p>Johnston posted the best record ever in the WCHA when his Denver Pioneers won 27 and lost just five to win the league title going away. The 27-5 record bettered Wisconsin&rsquo;s mark of 26-5-1 a year ago.</p><p>Johnston, however, withdrew his application after visiting Grand Forks. He chose to stay with Denver.</p><p>Harkness, the winningest college hockey coach ever with a .760 percentage, was the logical choice. He has produced national championship teams at both RPI and Cornell while always being in the midst of controversy.</p><p>The third candidate, Gasparini, had been an assistant at UND since 1970 and had handled much of UND&rsquo;s recruiting.</p><p>Public sentiment in Grand Forks was heavily in Harkness&rsquo; favor. Harkness claimed that the job was offered to him and that UND athletic director Carl Miller wanted a press conference immediately to announce the appointment</p><p>Harkness returned to New York and turned down chances to coach the U.S. Olympic hockey team and build the hockey program at Syracuse University.</p><p>All the time, North Dakota athletic director Miller was vacationing in Texas.</p><p>When he returned, he ended speculation by calling Harkness and telling him the job was going to Gasparini, which naturally upset Harkness.</p><p>&ldquo;He offered me the job, no ifs, ands and buts about it. The job was mine. We shook hands on it and everything. Because of that, I went back to New York and burned the bridges behind me,&rdquo; Harkness said.</p><p>Miller said that he offered the job to all three candidates and said it was common procedure to do it. He said he had no commitment to Harkness.</p><p>When he called Harkness to inform him of the decision, he asked Harkness to withdraw his application but Harkness refused. &ldquo;I won&rsquo;t do that. I was promised the job. I won&rsquo;t withdraw. I want that job,&rdquo; Harkness said.</p><p>But Gasparini&rsquo;s appointment as head coach was to be announced at a press conference March 7, barring a further change of heart from Miller.</p><p>Meanwhile, the WCHA race came to a close and playoff pairings were firmed up. The biggest shock came when Michigan, the pre-season pick to win the WCHA, failed to make the eight-team playoffs. Michigan tied Notre Dame and Duluth for seventh but lost out in a complicated tie-breaking formula.</p><p>In head-to-head competition between the three schools. Duluth was 3-1, Notre Dame 3-3 and Michigan 2-4, putting the Wolverines on the sidelines.</p><p>First round pairings have No. 8 Notre Dame at No. 1 Denver, No. 7 Duluth at No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 6 North Dakota at No. 3 Michigan Tech and No. 5 Colorado College at No. 4 Minnesota.</p><p>The first round consists of a two-game, total goal series with the four winners advancing to the semi-finals.</p><p>North Dakota and Colorado College tied for fifth as the Sioux finished strong with four wins in their last five games. But CC got the fifth place nod for playoff pairings based on a tie-breaking formula. UND and CC split in four meetings but CC gave up three fewer goals in those games, earning the higher seeding.</p><p>Wisconsin&rsquo;s Mark Johnson and Mike Eaves settled the season-long leapfrog competition for individual scoring honors in the league by tying for first. Both finished with 70 points. Johnson led the league in goals with 39 while Colorado College&rsquo;s Greg Whyte, a rookie, was tops in assists with 46</p><p>Denver&rsquo;s Ernie Glanville finished as the leading goalie with a 2.57 goals-against average.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03173/4203801-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="554" height="742"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MIKE EAVES&hellip;Ties Badger Mate</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0033-03

Awarding Of UND Job To Gasparini Draws Angry Response By Harkness

<div class="byline">BY DICK PROCTOR</div><p>LONDON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he London Knights were the preseason pick of many to finish first in the Onatrio Major Junior Hockey League&rsquo;s Emms Division&mdash;and after 59 games, they finally made it.</p><p>Windsor Spitfires jumped into first place last September and still haven&rsquo;t relinquished it completely. But Knights pulled even with a 4-2 win over the Spitfires and an 11-1 thrashing Sudbury. They also have one game in hand with Windsor and a favorable schedule in the final three weeks of the season.</p><p>&#9679; In other action last week, the Ontario Hockey Association suspended Doug Shedden indefinitely after he played one game for the Kitchener Rangers. But the suspension was set aside when an Ontario Supreme Court judge issued a second injunction ordering the OHA not to interfere until there has been a full court hearing.</p><p>&#9679; A players&rsquo; strike amongst members of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds was averted when the management of the club hired Paul Theriault as an interim coach. The Greyhounds responded with road victories in Kitchener and Hamilton.</p><p>&#9679; Referee Henry Reynen called a game in Hamilton with slightly more than three minutes remaining after two bench-clearing brawls. The OHL and OMJHL will decide whether the Fincups&rsquo; bench clearing against Kingston jeopardizes coach Bert Templeton&rsquo;s $1,000 good conduct bond that he was required to post before the start of the regular season. " o</p><p>One of the main reasons for the surge by London has been the play of rightwinger Dino Ciccarelli. With two years of junior eligibility still remaining, Ciccarelli is averaging better than a goal and an assist each game.</p><p>Against the Wolves, Ciccarelli scored four goals and registered three assists. The four goals gave him 62 goals for the season. Only Dennis Maruk, now with the Cleveland Barons, ever scored more than 60 goals in Knights&rsquo; history, and Maruk&rsquo;s 66 should be eclipsed soon.</p><p>London&rsquo;s climb to first place was completed with two key members of the team on the injured list. Goaltender Pat Riggin and defenseman Rob Ramage&mdash;both first team All Stars&mdash;are out with muscle problems. Riggin pulled some muscles diving to make a save off Fincups&rsquo; Gaston Gingras, while Ramage suffered what is thought to be a deep muscle bruise in the win over the Spitfires.</p><p>With Riggin out, coach Bill Long still has Barry Heard and his 3.51 goals-against mark is slightly better than Riggins.</p><p>London has nine games remaining. Four of them are at home against tougher teams. But the five on the road are against the Sault, Sudbury, Toronto (twice) and Kingston. Barring a complete turnaround, the Knights should win then-share.</p><p><b>WINDSOR</b>: Aside from their important loss in London, Spitfires defeated Niagara Falls 5-3 and tied Sudbury 5-5. The line of John Kibyuk, Wes Jarvis and Gerry Leroux combined for 11 points to help Windsor to its sixth consecutive win. Kibyuk, an overage who played for Marlboros last year, now has 18 goals for the season. Leroux remains fourth in league scoring, behind Ciccarelli, with 55 goals and 62 assists.</p><p>Leroux scored twice in the 5-5 tie against Sudbury as the team failed to hold a lead at home. Jarvis scored twice and Joel Quenneville added one giving him 91 points for the season There were nine fights in this game and 210 minutes in penalties, 111 against Windsor.</p><p><b>HAMILTON</b>: After surviving a rash of mid-season injuries, most coaches at last month&rsquo;s All Star game expected Fincups to run away with the Emms race. But Fincups have been something less than spectacular with only eight points in their last nine games and two losses in their last three starts.</p><p>Peterborough defeated Hamilton 6-5 and Greyhounds eked out a 3-2 win in Hamilton. Fincups are now six points behind London and Windsor but do have three games in hand on the Knights and four on Windsor.</p><p>Against the Petes, Steve Hazlett scored twice while Geoff Shaw, Paul Marshall and Gingras had singles. Hazlett and Scott Vanderburgh scored power-play goals against the Greyhounds.</p><p>In the team&rsquo;s only win last week, and it may have been costly, Fincups whipped Kingston 8-1. Referee Reynen enlisted the aid of Hamilton police to break up a second period brawl that produced 95 minutes in penalties. When a second brawl started, at 16:56 of the third, Reynen ordered the game called. Vanderburgh and Hazlett scored twice. Danny Poliziani, Randy Ladouceur, Marshall and Greg Terrion added singles.</p><p><b>KITCHENER</b>: In addition to getting Shedden back in the lineup, suspensions against Bob Ertel and a $300 fine against the club were set aside by the OHA after Supreme Court judge R.F. Reid signed the injunction put forward by lawyer William Sasso acting for Shedden. and his agent, Gus Badali.</p><p>Rangers had an impressive 3-2 homeice win against Ottawa 67s as they scored three times in the final seven minutes. Shedden failed to score but effectively shadowed scoring leader Bobby Smith most of the night.</p><p>However, the Greyhounds came into Kitchener and defeated the Rangers 6-4. Don Maloney scored twice for Kitchener with Jode Gage and John Walker adding singles.</p><p>Rangers split keeps them in fourth place two points ahead of Toronto with two games in hand.</p><p><b>TORONTO</b>: With two wins last week, the Marlies ended a seven-game losing binge. But a 10-3 thrashing by Ottawa and a 9-2 loss to Oshawa meant not much had changed for George Armstrong&rsquo;s charges.</p><p>Marlies ended their slump in Niagara Falls with a hard-earned 6-3 win spearheaded by the play of Gary Dillon and Rob Garner.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01339/4203832-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="565" height="759"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DON MALONEY&hellip;Ranger Scores Two</b></figcaption></div><p>Marlies 19th win of the season was a 4-2 win over Sudbury as four rookies did all the scoring. Brian Paton. Dave Aquin, Stewart Gavin and Glen Duncan got the goals and Stuart Birenbaum was steady in his first start in two months. Birenbaum was out of action with a neck injury after losing the starting job to Terry Wright.</p><p><b>NIAGARA FALLS</b>: Flyers who had not won a home-ice game since last December finally broke through with a 7-3 win over Kingston Canadians. But losses to Windsor and Kingston kept them in the cellar.</p><p><b>OTTAWA</b>: Brian Kilrea&rsquo;s team ended an unusual two-game losing streak as they crushed the Marlies at Maple Leaf Gardens. The win also marked the first time a Kilrea team has ever won there. Steve Payne paced the 67s with three goals giving him 45 for the season.</p><p><b>OSHAWA</b>: It took a goal by Joe Campagnola in the third period for Oshawa to pull even with Peterborough and maintain the team&rsquo;s home unbeaten streak at 15 games. American-born Bob Crawford scored twice, Mike Pidgeon and Dan Lane had the other goals.</p><p><b>PETERBOROUGH</b>: A win and a tie last week extended Petes unbeaten streak to 10 games and narrowed the gap slightly between them and the 67s. Keith Acton and Mike Meeker scored twice at home as Petes nipped the Fincups.</p><p><b>KINGSTON</b>: After losses to Niagara Falls and Hamilton, Canadians rebounded with an 8-3 win at home against the Flyers. But the Canadians are now 11 points behind Oshawa and have resigned themselves to a fourth place finish which has to be a disappointment</p><p><b>SAULT STE. MARIE</b>: Greyhound players were upset that the club had dismissed popular coach Muzz MacPherson and appeared to be in no rush to hire a replacement. Finally. Greyhounds boycotted a team practice and told GM Angelo Bumbacco that he either hire a new coach or they would refuse to play Enter Paul Theriault.</p><p>The players responded immediately with wins in Kitchener and Hamilton. Wayne Gretzky had two goals and two assists as Rangers fell 6-4</p><p><b>SUDBURY</b>: After winning their first game under new coach Marcel Clements, Wolves lost two and tied one as they played three games in three nights. Marlies edged them 4-2 as the Wolves could not hold on to a 2-0 lead on goals by Mike Gazdic and Mike Foligno.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0034-01

London In Position For Emms Crown; Generals’ Unbeaten Streak Intact

<h2><b>AMERICAN LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. March 13)</b></p><h2><b>NORTHERN DIVISION</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01318/4203940-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="601" height="144"></div><h2><b>SOUTHERN DIVISION</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02255/4203933-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="590" height="193"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tue. March 7</b></p><p>Springfield 5 at Nova Scotia 4</p><p><b>Wed. March 8</b></p><p>Rochester 4 at Binghamton 5</p><p>Springfield 4 at Hershey 4</p><p>Now Haven 2 at Maine 8</p><p>Nova Scotia 2 at Philadelphia 2</p><p><b>Fri. March 10</b></p><p>Maine 2 at Binghamton 2</p><p>Nova Scotia 5 at Now Naven 1</p><p>Hershey 5 at Philadelphia 8</p><p>Rochester 1 at Springfield 3</p><p><b>Sat. March 11</b></p><p>Maine 5 at Hershey 1</p><p>Rochester 1 at Philadelphia 4</p><p>Nova Scotia 5 at Springfield 5</p><p><b>Sun. March 12</b></p><p>Springfield 1 at Maine 1</p><p>Philadelphia 1 at Now Haven 5</p><p>Hershey 4 at Rochester 8</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03190/4203926-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="603" height="574"></div><h2><b>CENTRAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>Standings on Wed. March 15)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04154/4203919-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="619" height="175"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Wed. March 8</b></p><p>Fort Worth 3 at Salt Lake 2</p><p>Dallas 7 at Tulsa 3</p><p><b>Fri. March 10</b></p><p>Fort Worth 1 at Salt Lake 2</p><p>Kansas City 1 at Tulsa 4</p><p><b>Sat. March 11</b></p><p>Forth Worth 5 at Dallas 2</p><p>Tulsa 4 at Kansas City 9</p><p><b>Sun. March 12</b></p><p>Salt Lake 5 at Tulsa 1</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05119/4203912-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="604" height="461"></div><h2><b>GOALING RECORDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06100/4203905-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="590" height="348"></div><h2><b>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. March 13)</b></p><h2><b>NORTH DIVISION</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0791/4203898-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="603" height="164"></div><h2><b>SOUTH DIVISION</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0873/4203891-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="606" height="136"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tue. March 7</b></p><p>Port Huron 2 at Kalamazoo 9</p><p><b>Wed. March 8</b></p><p>Flint 5 at Fort Wayne 4</p><p>Muskegon 2 at Toledo 5</p><p>Milwaukee 1 at Grand Rapids 3</p><p><b>Thu. March 9</b></p><p>Port Huron 5 at Milwaukee 7</p><p><b>Fri. March 10</b></p><p>Fort Wayne 4 at Muskegon 2</p><p>Milwaukee 4 at Flint 4</p><p>Grand Rapids 2 at Saginaw 4</p><p>Port Huron 3 at Toledo 8</p><p><b>Sat. March 11</b></p><p>Grand Rapids 6 at Muskegon</p><p>Fort Wayne 2 at Port Huron 9</p><p>Toledo 2 at Saginaw 8</p><p>Flint 3 at Kalamazoo 8</p><p><b>Sun. March 12</b></p><p>Muskegon 2 at Fort Wayne 5</p><p>Toledo 4 at Flint 4</p><p>Saginaw 4 at Grand Rapids 2</p><p>Kalamazoo 3 at Milwaukee 5</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0969/4203884-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="598" height="489"></div><h2><b>GOALING RECORDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1059/4203877-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="599" height="728"></div><h2><b>PACIFIC HOCKEY LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings On Fri. March 10)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1154/4203870-1-eng-US/f0035-112.jpg" title="f0035-11" width="592" height="136"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Thu. March 2</b></p><p>San Diego 1 at San Francisco 5</p><p>Long Beach 2 at Phoenix 5</p><p><b>Fri. March 3</b></p><p>Phoenix 5 at San Diego 3</p><p>San Francisco 8 at Long Beach 3</p><p><b>Sat. March 4</b></p><p>Long Beach 4 at San Francisco 7</p><p>San Diego 2 at Phoenix 4</p><p><b>Sun. March 5</b></p><p>San Diego 0 at Long Beach 4</p><p>Phoenix 4 at San Francisco 3</p><p><b>Wed. March 8</b></p><p>San Francisco 3 at Phoenix 8</p><p><b>Thu. March 9</b></p><p>Long Beach 3 at San Diego 10</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1245/4203863-1-eng-US/f0035-122.jpg" title="f0035-12" width="614" height="353"></div><h2><b>Who They&rsquo;re Affiliated With&hellip;</b></h2><h3><b>NHL TEAMS</b></h3><p>1&mdash;Montreal</p><p>2&mdash;Chicago</p><p>3&mdash;Boston</p><p>4&mdash;Rangers</p><p>5&mdash;Detroit</p><p>6&mdash;Toronto</p><p>7&mdash;Philadelphia</p><p>8&mdash;Los Angeles</p><p>9&mdash;St Louis</p><p>10&mdash;Minnesota</p><p>11&mdash;Pittsburgh</p><p>12&mdash;Islanders</p><p>13&mdash;Vancouver</p><p>14&mdash;Buffalo</p><p>15&mdash;Atlanta</p><p>16&mdash;Cleveland</p><p>17&mdash;Colorado</p><p>18&mdash;Washington</p><h3><b>WHA TEAMS</b></h3><p>19&mdash;New England</p><p>20&mdash;Quebec</p><p>21&mdash;Winnipeg</p><p>22&mdash;Houston</p><p>23&mdash;Indianapolis</p><p>24&mdash;Edmonton</p><p>25&mdash;Cincinnati</p><p>28&mdash;Birmingham</p><h3><b>INTER-LEAGUE</b></h3><p>27&mdash;Boston (NHL) & St Louis (NHL)</p><p>28&mdash;Montreal (NHL) & Atlanta (NHL)</p><p>28&mdash;Pittsburgh (NHL) & Houston (WHA)</p><p>30&mdash;Washington (NHL) & Buffalo (NHL)</p><p>31&mdash;Independent</p><p>33&mdash;Los Angeles (NHL) & New England (WHA)</p><p>35&mdash;Chicago (NHL) & Toronto (NHL)</p><p>36&mdash;Vancouver (NHL) & Atlanta (NHL)</p><p>37&mdash;Islanders (NHL) & Minnesota (NHL)</p><p>40&mdash;Detroit (NHL) & Atlanta (NHL)</p><p>41&mdash;St Louis (NHL) & Washington (NHL)</p><p>42&mdash;Chicago (NHL) & Colorado (NHL)</p><p>43&mdash;Vancouver (NHL) & Minnesota (NHL)</p><p>44&mdash;Buffalo (NHL) & Philadelphia (NHL)</p><p>45&mdash;Islanders (NHL) & Atlanta (NHL)</p><p>46&mdash;Rangers (NHL) & Cleveland (NHL)<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0035-01

Looking At The Minor League Scoreboard

<p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><p>PHOENIX&mdash;</p><p>Gordon Richard Newell is not your ordinary garden variety defenseman.</p><p>The day is not far off when he&rsquo;ll be making a case for the defense off skates, inasmuch as he&rsquo;s studying for his law degree at Arizona State.</p><p>Meanwhile, the 29-year-old native of Winnipeg. Man., is making a somewhat impressionable case for the streaking Phoenix Roadrunners in the year-old Pacific Hockey League.</p><p>A six-year veteran of the hockey wars, Newell sat out last season to launch his new career in law, and only came back because the Roadrunners needed a player of his talents and the PHL season is such that playing wouldn&rsquo;t seriously interfere with his higher learning pursuits.</p><p>And no one will deny that Newell, first the property of the New York Rangers and later in the Detroit Red Wing system where he functioned in such outposts as Omaha, Providence, Tulsa, Richmond and London (England), has been a vital force in the Roadrunner&rsquo;s devastating attack.</p><p>Aside from the fact that he holds the record for most points (one goal and six assists) in a single game this season, Newell has been the PHL&rsquo;s assist leader virtually the entire season. Through 31 games he owns 31, and, with his nine goals, ranks fifth in total points with 40.</p><p>The only Roadrunners above him are Frank Hughes (56), Jim Montgomery (48) and Mike Will (43).</p><p>&ldquo;There is no question that Newell has been a big plus for the Roadrunners,&rdquo; offered Mike Skerlak, director of administration. &ldquo;Not only is he a fine hockey player, but his popularity with the fans is unsurpassed.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a little hard to attend class when we&rsquo;re on the road,&rdquo; Newell told John Lowe of the Long Beach Independent-Press Telegram. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s not much chance I&rsquo;ll be back next season.&rdquo;</p><p>There&rsquo;s always the chance, though, that the Roadrunners will engage in a little persuasion.</p><p>As the PHL headed into the stretch drive, Phoenix was riding the crest of a five game winning streak, the last two over San Francisco to slip into first place.</p><p>At this juncture, it&rsquo;s a two-team race for the PHL title, while San Diego and Long Beach, short of a collapse by the front runners, appear destined to fight it out for third place.</p><p>Most conspicious player in the league of late has been Hughes, who, in maintaining the scoring lead, has a 16-game streak going (13 goals and 17 assists) and had produced at least one point in 21 of 22 games and 26 of 28. Admittedly, he&rsquo;s had to produce at that pace to stay ahead of teammate Montgomery and San Francisco&rsquo;s Randy Wyrozub, both eight points back.</p><p>And while the Roadrunner offense has been capturing much of the headlines, goaltending hasn&rsquo;t exactly been shabby. Bruce Bullock (3.52 average! has captured seven in a row and 12 of his last 13 decisions.</p><p>Long Beach&rsquo;s Dale Smedsmo, last season with Cincinnati in the WHA, continues to lead the league in penalty minutes with 124. He&rsquo;s been hit with 27 minors, two majors, five misconducts and one gross misconduct. It&rsquo;s worth noting, though, that in the last seven games Smedsmo has been downright passive with a mere six minutes in penalties.</p><p>Beyond Smedsmo, the Shamrocks&mdash;most penalized team in the league with 625 minutes in 34 games&mdash;can claim the next four positions with Keith Kokkola (102 minutes), Steve Cardwell (82), Bob Sunderland (72) and Bill Fraser (70).</p><p>Kokkola was recently set down for one game and fined $50 for getting San Francisco-based referee Larry Warner&rsquo;s attention with his stick, running his fine total for the season to $125&mdash;most in the league.</p><p>The Mariners in San Diego, struggling to escape the cellar, dropped four in a row. while Long Beach snapped a four-game winless streak with a 4-0 decision over San Diego, the shutout going to Ron Docken. Peter Donnelly also has one blank job for the newly-named Rockets.</p><p>Phoenix has taken over as the best overtime club in the league (3-2-1) followed by Long Beach (3-2-0). San Francisco is the worst (0-2-1) while San Diego is 1-0-0.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01260/4204002-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="560" height="573"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RICK NEWELL&hellip;May Not Return</b></figcaption></div><p>On the attendance front, San Francisco was No. 1 with an average of 4,429 over 18 games followed by Phoenix at 4,301 through 15 games. Overall, the league was averaging 3,640 through 62 games.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0037-01

Phoenix’s Newell States Strong Case

<div class="byline">BY DANNY YOUNG</div><p>CORNWALL&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>ith only one week remaining on the Quebec Major Junior League calender, the league championship is still in question. The Trois Rivieres Draveurs, 45-16-6, hold a narrow two point lead over the Cornwall Royals who are 43-17-8.</p><p>In addition to similar records, the two clubs have almost identical goals for and against totals. Trois Rivieres has allowed 236 goals, six less than Cornwall. Both teams are competing for the Robert Lebel award, the QMJHL&rsquo;s version of the Vezina trophy. Cornwall goalie Tim Bernhardt leads Trois Rivieres goalie Jacques Cloutier by two tenths of a point in the race for the Jacques Plante award which goes to the netminder with the lowest goals-against average.</p><p>Examining the last week of play, the Royals play three games at home and one on the road, while the Draveurs have a pair at home and three on the road. The key game will undoubtedly be when the two teams clash in Cornwall.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve come off the last 10 games 7-21,&rdquo; Royal mentor Orval Tessier said. &lsquo;We re ready for the next four games and the playoffs. I&rsquo;m looking for the Paterson line (Rick Paterson, Bob Crawford, and Cam MacGregor) to play well. Last year. Danny Geoffrion was out for the playoffs, but he&rsquo;s healthy and ready this year.&rdquo;</p><p>The Draveurs suffered a similar loss last year when captain Richard David suffered an injury before the playoffs. &ldquo;If we stay healthy, we have a good chance,&rdquo; Draveur instructor Michel Bergeron said. &ldquo;David better not get hurt.&rdquo; The winner of the league flag will meet Quebec in the first round of the playoffs and the runner up will play either Hull or Verdun.</p><p>In this respect, Tessier does not have a preference. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve played Quebec and Hull all season. I&rsquo;m not really worried about that.&rdquo;</p><p>The club that probably keeps both Tessier and Bergeron up at nights is Sherbrooke. The Beavers can put the puck in the net, as evidenced by the fact that they have done so 60 more times than both Cornwall and Trois Rivieres. Says Tessier, &ldquo;We have to check them closely and hope for the best.&rdquo;</p><p>Though the statement that both teams will advance to the finals is far from certain, the matchup between the Draveurs and the Royals is a classic one. However, if Montreal. Sherbrooke, or Laval have a say in the matter, it may never be realized.</p><p>The QMJHL has honored its finest graduate by introducing a new award, the, Guy Lafleur trophy. The award will go to the player who contributes the most to his team during the playoffs. Lafleur scored 130 goals during the 1970-71 season, a mark that may never be equalled.</p><p><b>QUEBEC</b>: The Remparts played three good teams and finished 1-1-1. After losing to Cornwall 8-2, they came from behind to edge Montreal at the Forum, 54. Andre Dore was nothing less than sensational on defense and contributed to the Quebec attack with a goal and an assist. Quebec then tied Verdun 4-4. Prolific scorer Michel Goulet had a hat trick.</p><p><b>SHERBROOKE</b>: Yvan Charbonneau stopped 32 shots and the Beaver scorers did the rest as they topped Verdun 7-2. Against Chicoutimi, the Beavers were not as impressive and had to settle for a 5-5 tie. Jean Chouinard scored the equalizer late in the third. Ricky Vaive paced the offense with a goal and three assists. Sherbrooke has not played well against Chicoutimi throughout the season. Sherbrooke then lost in Hull, 5-3.</p><p><b>MONTREAL</b>: The Juniors proved they can play with the best by splitting a pair with Trois Rivieres. They won at home 53, and lost in Trois Rivieres 8-3. In other games, they lost to Quebec 5-4 despite a 3-2 lead in the third period and a 48-32 shooting advantage. The Juniors demolished Shawinigan 17-4. Kevin Reeves had a five-point night putting him within eight points of league-leader Ron Carter. Marcel Tourigny and Denis Savard netted a pair each.</p><p>Montreal is just three points behind Sherbrooke with a game in hand. The two teams face off in Montreal next week. Defenseman Glen Knight has left the team and returned to his home in Toronto</p><p><b>CORNWALL</b>: The veterans had a big night as the Royals defeated Quebec 8-2 Rick Paterson picked up a goal and three assists and Cam MacGregor and Danny Geoffrion added two goals each. In Laval, Dave Allison scored late in the third to tie the Nationals 4-4. The Royals also won at home over Hull, 4-2.</p><p><b>TROIS RIVIERES</b>: The Draveurs demonstrated their prowess by blanking Laval 9-0. Normand Lefebvre scored three and set up two others. His center, Carey Haworth also had a five-point night. In a home-and-home series with Montreal, the Draveurs lost 5-3 away, and won 8-3 at home. Every win is adding to the team&rsquo;s best season ever.</p><p><b>VERDUN</b>: The Hawks kept out of the penalty box, drawing only two minors and beat Laval 5-3. Yves Richer continues to score at a rapid pace. He had two goals including the winner. Verdun went into the third period with a 3-1 lead, but tied Quebec 4-4. Against Sherbrooke, the Hawks lost 7-2.</p><p><b>LAVAL</b>: The Nationals got two goals from Gilles Hamel and tied Cornwall 4-4. In Verdun, Laval couldn&rsquo;t score during the final 33 sinutes and lost 5-3. Richard Pepin scored three goals as the Nationals rolled over Shawinigan 9-4. Goaltender Mike Parker has been suspended by coach Jacques St. Jean for refusing to finish a game in the nets. According to Parker, he was dizzy and unable to continue. Parker will not see action until the playoffs. Hot winger Constant Priondolo missed a week of action with an injured finger.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1042/4204162-1-eng-US/f0038-102.jpg" title="f0038-10" width="565" height="910"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RICHARD DAVID&hellip;Must Stay Healthy</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0038-10

Draveurs, Royals Scrambling For Supremacy

<h2><b>Amateur Scoreboard</b></h2><h2><b>WESTERN CANADA-LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tue. March 7)</b></p><h2><b>WEST DIVISION</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01310/4204131-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="588" height="142"></div><h2><b>CENTRAL DIVISION</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02245/4204124-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="583" height="133"></div><h2><b>EAST DIVISION</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03185/4204117-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="581" height="137"></div><p><b>Tue. Feb. 28</b></p><p>Calgary 3 at Billings 3</p><p>Portland 5 at Victoria 10</p><p>Now Westminster 5 at Brandon 8</p><p>Seattle 3 at Medicine Hat 5</p><p>Regina 2 at Saskatoon 3</p><p><b>Wed. Mar. 1</b></p><p>Now Westminster 5 at Regina 4</p><p>Billings 3 at Brandon 5</p><p>Victoria 3 at Portland 3</p><p>Seattle 8 at Lethbridge 5</p><p><b>Thu. Mar. 2</b></p><p>Victoria 4 at Portland 7</p><p>Seattle 3 at Calgary 3</p><p><b>Fri. Mar. 3</b></p><p>Billings 7 at Flin Flon 8</p><p>New Westminster 8 at Saskatoon 2</p><p>Calgary 8 at Lethbridge 8</p><p><b>Sat. Mar. 4</b></p><p>Billings 5 at Flin Flon 5</p><p>Seattle 5 at Portland 5</p><p><b>Sun. Mar. 5</b></p><p>Now Westminster 2 at Calgary 2</p><p>Billings 1 at Brandon 8</p><p>Portland 8 at Seattle 5</p><p>Medicine Hat 2 at Lethbridge 4</p><p>Regina 7 at Saskatoon 9</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04129/4204110-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="590" height="746"></div><h2><b>ONTARIO MAJOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Sun. March 12)</b></p><h2><b>EMMS DIVISION</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0598/4204103-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="599" height="196"></div><h2><b>LEYDEN DIVISION</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0677/4204096-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="596" height="189"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Sun. March 5</b></p><p>Kingston 4 at Kitchener 4</p><p>Peterborough 3 at Hamilton 3</p><p>Ottawa 5 at London 3</p><p>Niagara Falls 1 at Oshawa 8</p><p><b>Tue. March 7</b></p><p>Ottawa 7 at Hamilton 0</p><p>Niagara Falls 9 at Toronto 4</p><p>Kitchener 4 at Kingston 4</p><p>Sault St. Mario 5 at Sudbury 4</p><p><b>Thu. March 9</b></p><p>Toronto 5 at Peterborough 9</p><p>Hamilton 0 at Windsor 7</p><p>Kitchener 4 at Oshawa 4</p><p><b>Sat. March 11</b></p><p>Peterborough 11 at Niagara Falls 5</p><p>Ottawa 8 at Oshawa 5</p><p>Hamilton 4 at Kingston 1</p><h2><b>QUEBEC MAJOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. March 13)</b></p><h2><b>LEBEL DIVISION</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0768/4204089-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="593" height="162"></div><h2><b>DILIO DIVISION</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0853/4204082-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="598" height="163"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Mon. March 8</b></p><p>Cornwall 4 at Laval 4</p><p>Trois Rivieres 3 at Montreal 5</p><p><b>Tue. March 7</b></p><p>Sherbrooke 3 at Hull 5</p><p>Montreal 3 at Trois Rivieres 8</p><p><b>Wed. March 8</b></p><p>Shawinlgan 4 at Laval 9</p><p>Verdun 4 at Quebec 4</p><p><b>Thu. March 9</b></p><p>Chicoutimi 4 at Cornwall 8</p><p>Quebec 3 at Montreal 2</p><p><b>Fri. March 10</b></p><p>Montreal 12 at Shawinigan 3</p><p>Hull 3 at Sherbrooke 7</p><p>Chicoutimi 5 at Verdun 7</p><p><b>Sat. March 11</b></p><p>Shawinigan 5 at Quebec 13</p><p>Trois Rivieres 3 at Hull 8</p><p><b>Sun. March 12</b></p><p>Quebec 11 at Chicoutimi 7</p><p>Sherbrooke 3 at Cornwall 8</p><p>Hull 4 at Montreal 11</p><p>Laval 11 at Shawinigan 2</p><p>Trois Rivieres 4 at Verdun 2</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0945/4204075-1-eng-US/f0038-092.jpg" title="f0038-09" width="595" height="309"></div><h2><b>Looking At The Races</b></h2><h2><b>CONTINENTAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01289/4204068-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="594" height="225"></div><h2><b>FINAL LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02212/4204061-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="597" height="536"></div><h2><b>GOALING LEADERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03159/4204054-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="589" height="247"></div><h2><b>WESTERN INTERNATIONAL</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 27)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04134/4204047-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="590" height="165"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tue. Feb. 21</b></p><p>Cranbrook 4, Kimberley 1</p><p>Trail 4, Nelson 2</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 24</b></p><p>Cranbrook 8, Trail 3</p><p>Kimberley 6, Nelson 3</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 25</b></p><p>Spokane 11, Nelson 0</p><p>Kimberley 6, Trail 2</p><p><b>Sun. Feb. 26</b></p><p>Spokane 7, Cranbrook 5</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05105/4204040-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="596" height="297"></div><h2><b>ONTARIO SENIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0688/4204033-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="588" height="244"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0038-01

QUEBEC MAJOR HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY MIKE LYNCH</div><p>SPOKANE&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>ith the British Columbia playoffs beginning in mid-March, the top four Western International League teams appeared to have their assignments well worked out.</p><p>The best-of-seven semi-finals leading to the Savage Cup call for the league champion to play the fourthplace team in one series while the second and third finishers meet in the other.</p><p>At the end of February the Spokane Flyers had virtually their first league championship in three seasons. And Trail appeared to have knocked Nelson out of contention for the fourth and final playoff spot.</p><p>In the middle Cranbrook and Kimberley were tied for second but Kimberley had played two more games. Most analysts figured that Cranbrook had the best schedule down the stretch, including a final meeting with Kimberley on home ice.</p><p>Kimberley had a six-game win streak going against Cranbrook and a key game a? home near the end of February, but lost the game and the streak 4-1. Brian Dickie scored all four goals and Leo Karchie stopped 36 Kimberley shots.</p><p>Meanwhile, Spokane had a lighter schedule with only three games over two weeks. Two of the games came on one weekend at home and the Flyers helped bury Nelson with an 110 romp and then moved to within one point of the league title with a loosely-played 7-5 win over Cranbrook.</p><p>The shutout was the third for goalie Frank Turnbull. In the previous game teammate Ron Lefebvre gained his second in a 7-0 win over Kimberley. The Flyers won the two games and lost two players temporarily when winger Dale McMullin and defenseman Craig Topolinsky joined Edmonton of the World Association for late February games.</p><p>Spokane&rsquo;s Ron Huston will win the league scoring title and Kimberley&rsquo;s Len Hicks apparently has a lock as top goal scorer.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

The WIHL Scene

<div class="byline">&#x2014;By Bill Hilts</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0775/4204217-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="348" height="417"></div><h2><b>New England League</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>F</span>itchburg still sets pace in New England Jr. League with 64 points. Springfield has 59, South Shore-40, Tyngsboro-32, Tri Valley-29 and Cape Cod-28&hellip;A pair of Springfield players are tied for the scoring lead, Tom Gentile and Dean Lombardi, each with 88 points. Gentile has 47 goals and 41 assists and Lombardi has 23 goals and 65 assists&hellip;Paul Milan of Cape Cod-81, Frank Silva of South Shore-65, Steve Hakala of Fitchburgh-65&hellip;Jim Mastalerz of Fitchburg leads goalies with a 3.14 GAA: Teammate Don Leger has 3.33 GAA. A pair of Springfield players are next, Steve Hudyka at 3.34 GAA and Chip Golash-4.60 GAA. Chris Harrington of South Shore has 4.61 GAA.</p><h2><b>B.C. Junior League</b></h2><p>Merritt Centennials continue to set pace in the Interior Division of British Columbia Jr. &ldquo;A&rdquo; League with a 38-10-1 record and 77 points. Penticton Vees have 70 points, Kelowna Buckaroos-58, Kamloops Chiefs-45, Revelstoke Bruins-18 and Vernon Vikings-14. Nanaimo Clippers top the Coastal Divison with a 31-18-1 record and 63 points. Bellingham Blazers-62, Abbotsford Flyers-55 and Langley Lords-30&hellip;Rob Polmantuin of Merritt leads goalies with 3.31 GAA. Teammate Keith Ferner has 3.46 GAA, Tom Semenchuk of Flyers-3.87 and Randy Struch-3.95 GAA&hellip;In the scoring race, Ron Vincent of Vees has 59 goals and 79 assists for 138 points. Barry Pederson of Clippers is at 123 points, Glen Merkusky of Chiefs-121, and Ken Stroud of Centennials-107.</p><h2><b>Pacific League</b></h2><p>Richmond Sockeyes have a comfortable lead in the PAC &ldquo;A&rdquo; League with 38-5-2 mark and 78 points. Kerrisdale Couriers with 64 points, NorWes Caps-61, Coquitlam Comets-39, Vancouver Jr. Canucks-31, Surrey Stampeders-30, and Chilliwack Bruins-three&hellip;Don Davis of Richmond leads scorers with 48 goals and 47 assists for 95 points. Paul Prade of Couriers is closing the gap with 92 points, Bill Holowatty of Caps-85, Frank Nagy of Couriers-84, Mark Withenshaw of Comets-82, Kerry Gladson-81, Steve Mulholland of Couriers-30&hellip;Richmond goalies Randy Kika and Scott Robinson lead with a 2.98 GAA and 3.04 GAA. Brent Stuart of Caps-3.66, Don Piner of Couriers-3.86 GAA, Randy Larsen-3.90 GAA and Jim Galloway of Caps-3.97 GAA.</p><h2><b>N.Y. Metro League</b></h2><p>Suffolk continues to lead N.Y. Metropolitan Jr. League with 49 points on a 23-3-3 record. New Jersey is next with 44 points, Oyster Bay-32, N.Y. Shamrocks-26, N.Y. Westsiders-23, New Hyde Park-17. John DaSilva of NYS leads the scoring race with 37 goals and 43 assists for 80 points. Vic Sylvestri and Rich DeStasio, both from Suffolk have 77 and 72 points each. Tom Campbell of NHP has 68 points. Ryan Boyd of NYW-63, and a pair of NHP players. Scott Faler and John Kuskey each have 70 points&hellip;Sylvestri has seven game-winning goals and Boyd has four&hellip;Sylvestri also has 10 power play goals &hellip; Bill Nichols of O.B. has two game-tying goals&hellip;Sylvestri has five shorthanded goals&hellip;Doug Mitchell of NHP leads in penalties with 141 minutes&hellip;DeMayo of Suffolk leads goalies with a 3.08 GAA. Three N.J. goalies are next, Zarzecki-4.00 GAA, Farrell-4.17 GAA and Barich-4.42 GAA.</p><h2><b>Midwest League</b></h2><p>Tommy Ivan, chairman of Ice Hockey for the U.S. Olympics National Sports Festival, announced that Ron Woodey of St. Paul, Minn., has been named general manager of the Midwest hockey team which will compete in the Festival set for July 23-31 in Colorado Springs, Colo. Woodey is president of the St. Paul Vulcans of the Midwest League. Jim Wilbur also from the Vulcans, has been named director of public relations.</p><h2><b>Mid-Atlantic League</b></h2><p>In Northern Division of Mid-Atlantic Jr. League, N.J. Golden Blades lead with 27 points, followed by S-O-R Saints-22, Bergen Raiders-17 and Ironbound-nine&hellip;In Southern Division, Bucks County Americans have 22 points, Philadelphia Jr. Firebirds-20 and Hershey Icers-16&hellip;Tom Malloy of Hershey leads the scoring race with 36 points. Sean Shemansky of Bucks has 34 points. Vin Kowalski of Ironbound has 33 and teammate Bill Borger has 27. Jeff Pavone of Hershey-27, Michael Lawrence of Bucks-26, Duncan Wine of Hershey-25, Neill Jordan of Firebirds-23, and Larry Garrigan of Golden Blades-22 points.</p><h2><b>N.Y. - Penn League League</b></h2><p>What seemed to be strictly a three way battle for second place two weeks ago in New NY-Penn Major hockey League has now turned into a three way scramble for first place as regular season play enters its final three weeks. Rochester Monarchs, (24-13-5) who held a 10 point bulge on Feb. 10 over their nearest challenger, have seen that lead chopped to four points by Binghamton Barons (22-15-5). Monarchs, who have 53 points, managed a win and a tie in four games during that period while Binghamton, with 49 points, skated to an impressive 4-2-1 log at the same time. One point behind the Barons are the Syracuse Stars (21-156) who have also played winning hockey during that stretch with a 4-2-1 record also. Niagara Falls, (9-14-7) who previously held second, slipped to fourth with i vo weeks of play and a 2-1-3 record. However, Sharks have two games in hand on everyone and have 45 points so they. too. aren&rsquo;t out of race for the top. The Buffalo Jr. Sabres found themselves virtually eliminated from playoff competition as they have only six games remaining with a 12-21-9 record and 12 points behind Niagara Falls&hellip;In Rochester. Kevin Fitzpatrick continues to lead NYP in scoring with 58 points (2929). He also has a hefty 146 penalty minutes to his credit&hellip; Monarchs have scored 195 goals, tops of all five teams&hellip;Rochester has eight players who have scored at least one point in each game on average&hellip;Binghamton&mdash;&ldquo;The Franchise&rdquo; has turned out to be goaltender Ron Petronella who has been sensational all year. In Syracuse on Feb. 24 he turned back 57 shots, leading his mates to an all important 6-2 win that moved the Barons into second place over the Stars. Petronella has spun three shutouts, has a 3.57 GAA and has appeared in 35 of the Barons 42 games&hellip;Paul Iskyan and Joe Modaferri are battling Rochester&rsquo;s Fitzpatrick for the league scoring title&hellip;Syracuse&mdash;Stars quest for top spot has been really thwarted by Binghamton who holds a commanding 7-3-1 record over Syracuse in season series. Barons are the only team that holds upper hand over the Stars through the course of the year&hellip; Ed Marsh, though in a recent scoring slump, is still the fourth leading scorer in the league&hellip;Niagara Falls&mdash;Games in hand are in Sharks favor as they attempt to overtake two teams ahead of them for second place&hellip;</p><h2><b>Great Lakes League</b></h2><p>In Great Lakes Jr. League. Jr. &ldquo;A&rdquo; Division play Todd Gardiner&rsquo;s three goal hat trick led Paddock Pools Saints to an easy 9-3 pasting of Fraser Highlanders. Tom Theisen added two goals and an assist and Tom Watson three assists for the Saints&hellip;Chris Guertin and Steve Yoxheimer each scored twice as the Detroit Jr. Wings pounded Cleveland Jr. Barons 11-4. Frank Finn Mito Idunate and Kevin Knight each added three assists while Bill Binnie and Greg Coyle each scored twice for the Barons&hellip;Frank Finn scored with only 2:08 remaining in the third period as Detroit Jr. Wings slipped past Wayne 6-5. Chris Guertin and Steve Yoxheimer each scored twice for Detroit while Pat Behen notched a goal and two assists for the Chiefs&hellip; Paddock Pools Saints made it two Great Lakes Jr. &ldquo;A&rdquo; Division regular season titles in a row and made Detroit bridesmaids for the third straight year, skating past the Jr Wings 5-2. The win was Paddock Pools&rsquo; 18 in their last 21 outings&hellip;Matt Kesler scored two goals and two assists as Fraser Highlanders skated past Wayne 5-3. Frank Maiorana added one goal and three assists to the Fraser cause&hellip;Lost in the excitement of Saints&rsquo; clinching of regular season championships, was the fact that Saints snapped their own league record of most goals in a season by a team. Their total of 355 beats last year&rsquo;s team total of 354&hellip;This year other records will fall as Bill McCreary, Chris Guertin, and Bill Binnie continue their assault on record books. Guertin has crept to within three goals of Dave Gandini&rsquo;s record of 53 when Gandini was a member of the Jr. Wings, McCreary has drawn to within six points of Paul Gottwald&rsquo;s record of 109 set last season with the Paddock Pools Saints, and Binnie has drawn to within three assists of the record of 65 held also by Gottwald.</p><h2><b>American League</b></h2><p>Framingham leads the American Jr. League with 17-6-5 record and 39 points. Mass-Conn is close with 36 points. Beverly-32, Western Mass-26, Maine-22, South Shore-21 and Assabet Valley-12 points&hellip;Dan Mathieu of Maine leads the scoring with 44 goals and 31 assists for 75 points. Teammate Steve Sabine has 60 points, Jamie Lord of Framingham-59, Bob Hess of MC-58, John McAvoy of Framingham-55, and Rick Landry of WM-51.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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March 24, 1978

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