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.

April 28, 1978

The Hockey News April 28, 1978

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01790/4320021-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PETER McNAB&hellip; Just Played His Game</b></figcaption></div><p>BOSTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t was a soft backhander from the slot that floated by Ranger goalie Wayne Thomas&rsquo; outstretched glove and it sent Peter McNab leaping for the rafters in Boston Garden.</p><p>It was his 40th goal of the season, a career high, and it marked the climax of one of the NHL&rsquo;s least publicized comeback stories of 1977-78.</p><p>McNab, who led the Bruins in goalscoring with 38 last season, was on the trading block last summer and spent the early part of the current season in coach Don Cherry&rsquo;s doghouse.</p><p>McNab&rsquo;s value to the Bruins is that he can score 40 goals on a club made up chiefly of 20-goal scorers (11 of them) who are also ferocious checkers.</p><p>When he doesn&rsquo;t score, his value tails off rapidly and so does his playing time and, in sequence, so does his confidence. It&rsquo;s what happened to him late last year and early this year.</p><p>McNab came to the Bruins in the summer of 1976 in an exchange of rights with Buffalo for Andre Savard and he quickly became the darling of Boston fans.</p><p>He scored 19 goals in his first 20 games as a Bruin. Then he fell on his face with 19 goals in the last 60 games. He had but three in the final 25.</p><p>The Bruins, with a. center corps of Jean Ratelie, Gregg Sheppard, Matti Hagman and the highly touted rookie, Dwight Foster, were frankly trying to deal McNab last summer but there were no takers willing to give anything decent in return.</p><p>He got off to a horrible start this year. He was benched in the second game of the season. The only thing that saved him were knee injuries to Sheppard and Foster. He had only 10 goals in the first 23 games, a virtual shutout for a guy whose great skill is putting the puck in the net.</p><p>&ldquo;There are times when I thought I was going to be gone,&rdquo; recalled McNab, a generally happy-go-lucky chap who is subjected to moods of exhilaration and depression.</p><p>&ldquo;It was just a matter that I wanted to remain a Boston Bruin. I just enjoy it here too much to let myself pout and worry about not playing. I just figured whenever they put me out there I was going to do a job and quit worrying.&rdquo;</p><p>He was plugging away with 19 goals in 46 games when suddenly Bobby Schmautz, the Bruins&rsquo; most explosive scorer, was taken out of the lineup with a broken heel. It was then the Bruins got a glimpse of the real McNab, vintage early 1976-77.</p><p>While Schmautz was out, McNab scored 12 goals in 16 games and the night the injured one returned he got two goals and three assists against St. Louis, the first five-point game of his career. What happened?</p><p>&ldquo;Don had a talk with me a few games ago,&rdquo; said McNab. &ldquo;We talked a few things out. We talked on a personal one-to-one basis and I think it&rsquo;s helped me.</p><p>&ldquo;Actually, what he told me to do was not to listen to some of the things he said and just play my game.</p><p>&ldquo;He told me that I should carry the puck in a little more and try to make my move at the blueline going at full speed. In the last few games it&rsquo;s been working out pretty well.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;It looks like Peter&rsquo;s playing with confidence now,&rdquo; said Cherry, whose patience with McNab is in stark contrast to his treatment of some other players who have landed in his doghouse.</p><p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll notice when he hits the blueline he&rsquo;s moving. He used to slow down. If you notice, he&rsquo;s getting knocked down a lot. That&rsquo;s the reason. They gotta drag him down or let him go.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not comparing him to Guy Lafleur, naturally, but if you notice when Lafleur hits the blueline he&rsquo;s going 90 miles an hour, too.&rdquo;</p><p>McNab&rsquo;s desire to score 40 goals, and perhaps prove something to his coach and to himself, was obvious as the season wound down.</p><p>&ldquo;I think that 40th goal thing had been like a monkey on his back,&rdquo; said Cherry. &ldquo;When he got it I thought he was going to jump all the way up to the girders.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad it&rsquo;s over,&rdquo; said McNab. &ldquo;I guess that subconsciously I&rsquo;ve had it on my mind most of the time. In fact, I think that thinking about No. 40 cost us the first two goals.&rdquo;</p><p>McNab was on the ice for the first two Rangers&rsquo; goals in an 8-3 Boston victory, a fact which did not escape notice. But, for the moment at least, it failed to dampen McNab&rsquo;s enthusiasm</p><p>&ldquo;I wanted to dive right into the net and get the puck for a souvenir,&rdquo; he grinned, &ldquo;but that would be too much.&rdquo;</p><p>He didn&rsquo;t have to. Teammate Terry O&rsquo;Reilly did it for him.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-01

THE NHL

From Doghouse To Penthouse Sums Un Campaign For McNab

<h2><b>WESTERN INTERNATIONAL</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01318/4321988-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="603" height="171"></div><h2><b>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02229/4321981-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="601" height="444"></div><h2><b>FINAL GOALING RECORDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03168/4321974-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="595" height="171"></div><h2><b>PLAYOFF GAMES</b></h2><h3><b>FINALS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04141/4321967-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="588" height="122"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Kimberley 3, Spokane 2</p><p>Spokane 6, Kimberley 4</p><h3><b>SEMI-FINALS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05111/4321960-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="597" height="243"></div><h2><b>MANITOBA-ASSINIBOINE LEAGUE (Final Standing*)</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0692/4321953-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="593" height="220"></div><h2><b>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0778/4321946-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="594" height="350"></div><h2><b>GOALING RECORDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0869/4321939-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="589" height="162"></div><h2><b>U.S.-MIDWEST LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standing*)</b></p><h3><b>U.S. CONFERENCE</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0958/4321932-1-eng-US/f0039-092.jpg" title="f0039-09" width="595" height="110"></div><h2><b>MIDWEST CONFERENCE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1052/4321925-1-eng-US/f0039-102.jpg" title="f0039-10" width="591" height="111"></div><h2><b>ONTARIO SENIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standing*)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1146/4321918-1-eng-US/f0039-112.jpg" title="f0039-11" width="593" height="217"></div><h2><b>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1243/4321911-1-eng-US/f0039-122.jpg" title="f0039-12" width="601" height="389"></div><h2><b>GOALING RECORDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1338/4321904-1-eng-US/f0039-132.jpg" title="f0039-13" width="594" height="308"></div><h2><b>N.Y.-PENN JUNIOR</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1434/4321897-1-eng-US/f0039-142.jpg" title="f0039-14" width="600" height="169"></div><h2><b>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1530/4321890-1-eng-US/f0039-152.jpg" title="f0039-15" width="597" height="336"></div><h2><b>GREAT LAKES JUNIOR</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1628/4321883-1-eng-US/f0039-162.jpg" title="f0039-16" width="599" height="178"></div><h2><b>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1724/4321876-1-eng-US/f0039-172.jpg" title="f0039-17" width="599" height="576"></div><h2><b>N.Y. METRO JUNIOR</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1818/4321869-1-eng-US/f0039-182.jpg" title="f0039-18" width="596" height="278"></div><h2><b>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-1914/4321862-1-eng-US/f0039-192.jpg" title="f0039-19" width="597" height="679"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0039-01

IN THIS ISSUE

Looking At The Races

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE HALPIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02922/4319231-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="917" height="1021"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BOB PULFORD &hellip; Improved Hawks&rsquo; Record</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03625/4319224-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="867" height="1017"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GUY LAFLEUR &hellip; Another Super Season</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04372/4319217-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="913" height="1024"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TED LINDSAY &hellip; Turned Detroit Around</b></figcaption></div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>G</span>uy Lafleur has many goals in his hockey life. He would like to be the best player of his time and he would ultimately like to become the greatest player of all time.</p><p>It would appear he has a lock on the first of his adventurous achievements and there&rsquo;s no reason to think he can&rsquo;t succeed in ending his days as hockey&rsquo;s all-time best performer.</p><p>Lafleur this season again demonstrated quite convincingly why he has been selected by THE HOCKEY NEWS as the National Hockey League&rsquo;s player of the year for a second successive season. The dynamic right winger of the Montreal Canadiens is unequivocally the finest hockey player of his era and there is no telling what heights the blond sharp-shooting Montreal winger will attain.</p><p>Lafleur was easily the unanimous choice of the editors of THE HOCKEY NEWS in their 30th annual NHL awards poll. However, the two other major selections&mdash;coach of the year and the outstanding executive of the NHL season&mdash;weren&rsquo;t quite as conclusive. Both categories presented considerable research and thought before deciding on general manager Ted Lindsay of Detroit as the leading executive of the 1977-78 season and Chicago&rsquo;s Bob Pulford as the top coach of the NHL campaign.</p><p>The choice of Lindsay will undoubtedly capture the imagination of hockey people everywhere. The onetime fiery left wing great of the Red Wings took a franchise in trouble this season and completely turned it around to the extent the Red Wings made money for the first time in years, showed the biggest box office increase of any NHL team and advanced to the playoffs for the first time in a decade.</p><p>There were other outstanding executives who received consideration selection of the 1978 award winner such as Philadephia&rsquo;s Keith Allen, who has done so much to keep the Flyers as one of the NHL&rsquo;s power teams, Sam Pollock, who has already been chosen twice in the past for the award and who was recently named to Hockey Hall of Fame for his unparalleled success in building Montreal Canadiens into a hockey dynasty, and Bill Torrey, of the Islanders, who was last year&rsquo;s executive of the year and is still doing a sterling job.</p><p>But no matter what degree of success this season any of these men have earned the name Ted Lindsay has been on the tongues of hockey men everywhere for his brilliant efforts in skyrocketing the Red Wings back into NHL prominence.</p><p>Lindsay will readily tell you he couldn&rsquo;t have done it without the help of his coach, Bobby Kromm, who was the second choice behind Pulford in THE HOCKEY NEWS coach of the year award. Between them, Lindsay and Kromm made Detroit fans believers in their Red Wings.</p><p>Lindsay, who is also an NHL Hall of Famer and an eight-time NHL All Star left winger, wheeled and dealed this season with the theme that he wanted to bring aggressive hockey back to Detroit. The puffed Red Wings&rsquo; attendance figures verified that he had succeeded in making the Wings the kind of attractive hockey club the fans wanted to see on the ice. The manner in which he handled the franchise, his relationship with Kromm and the players, and his demand for excellence were attributes that established him as the man who did the best front office job in the NHL this season.</p><p>Lafleur enjoyed another remarkable year with the Canadiens. He won his third straight NHL scoring title with 132 points, recorded his first 60-goal season and attained his 300th NHL career goal. He is certain to be chosen All Star right winger and he has an excellent chance of winning the Hart Trophy as league MVP for the second straight year.</p><p>The 27-year-old Lafleur has been a major figure on the ice for the Canadiens and if Montreal goes all the way as expected to the Stanley Cup. much of the credit will rest on his shoulders. He has been the driving force behind the Habs&rsquo; awesome offense which has brought most every NHL team to its knees in the past three years.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-05211/4319210-1-eng-US/f0003-052.jpg" title="f0003-05" width="1644" height="1106"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>HONORING THE BEST: Guy Lafleur, left, of the Canadiens, and his coach, Scotty Bowman, right, accept THE HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; awards as the best player and coach respectively last year in the NHL. Presentation was made by Ken McKenzie, center, the publisher and president of THE HOCKEY NEWS. Lafleur showed his selection was no fluke by coming back to win the honor again this season.</b></figcaption></div><p>Picking post-season awards&rsquo; winners usually doesn&rsquo;t present too many problems to the selectors but trying to decide between Pulford and Kromm this season, took much soulsearching. Kromm was superb in lifting the Red Wings from the NHL doldrums into the playoffs this season and he faced many challenges in getting the job done. But in Chicago they are hailing Pulford as the man who finally implemented a system for success and made it work.</p><p>The Hawks came down in front of the weak Smythe Division by a commanding 24-point margin over Colorado but the performance of the Hawks this year in Pulford&rsquo;s first season at the helm of the club, enabled Chicago to finish first for the first time and better their overall record by 20 points. The Hawks lost 43 times in 80 games last year. This season they lost only 29. They didn&rsquo;t score as many goals as last season but they didn&rsquo;t have to because Pulford introduced a defensive system that lopped 78 goals-against off the club&rsquo;s 1976-77 record, truly a tribute to his ingenious coaching.</p><p>Lafleur became the second double winner in THE HOCKEY NEWS player awards since Phil Esposito turned the trick in 1971 and 1972. It was Pulford&rsquo;s first time in the yearend awards and he also became the first Chicago coach to win the honor in modem times. Lindsay, who never was able to win an award as player of the year, made it as an executive as he became Detroit&rsquo;s first representative to win a HOCKEY NEWS award since the late Jim Norris in 1963.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0003-02

Lafleur Again Player Of Year—Pulford Best Coach

<h2><b>HOW THEY STAND</b></h2><h2><b>WESTERN CANADA LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><h3><b>WEST DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-218/4321515-1-eng-US/f0038-212.jpg" title="f0038-21" width="596" height="139"></div><h3><b>CENTRAL DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-228/4321508-1-eng-US/f0038-222.jpg" title="f0038-22" width="591" height="110"></div><h3><b>EAST DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-236/4321501-1-eng-US/f0038-232.jpg" title="f0038-23" width="595" height="111"></div><h2><b>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-246/4321494-1-eng-US/f0038-242.jpg" title="f0038-24" width="605" height="466"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0038-21

OTHER LEAGUES

WESTERN CANADA HOCKEY LEAGUE

Cover-01

The Hockey News

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02960/4319179-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Jean Pronovost of the Pittaburgh Penguins la going back with Team Canada for the 1978 tournament at Prague. He is one of the team&rsquo;e elder performers on a team that will emphaasize youth. But hie experience last season at Vienna will be a plus for the Canadians as they face the world&rsquo;s top hockey powers. For details see page 7.</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>Stingers Striving To Stay Alive</b></h2><p>CINCINNATI&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he financially-troubled Cincinnati Stingers have laid it on the line for their fans&mdash;either they sell 5,000 season tickets by June 1 or else forget about pro hockey next season.</p><p>The Stingers, who were bitterly disappointed at not making the WHA playoffs this season, gave their fans an ultimatium after it was disclosed the club had dropped more than a $1 million this season, the Stingers third in the WHA.</p><p>The Stingers kicked off their giant ticket drive as soon as the season ended. The June 1 deadline will coincide with the expiry date on some of the Cincinnati players contracts and the club&rsquo;s board of governors wants to see some results at the box office before they sign any players to new pacts.</p><p>Average attendance this season in Riverfront Coliseum has been 7,133. The rink seats 15,000. To help meet new ticket sales, the Stingers have slashed prices from $7.25 to $3.50 on some seats.</p><h2><b>NHL, WHA Stars To Play In Prague</b></h2><p>PRAGUE&mdash;</p><p>The 1978 World Hockey Tournament will have more than a sprinkling of NHL and WHA pros. Many players have returned from North American cities to supplement their national teams for the tournament.</p><p>Matti Hagman of the Quebec Nordiques didn&rsquo;t wait around for the WHA playoffs. He left the Nordiques to return to his native Finland and will suit up with the Finnish team at Prague. Another Finnish star, Veli-Pekka Ketola said be would not join the Winnipeg Jets for personal reasons. Ketola said they would also keep him off Finland&rsquo;s national team.</p><p>Roland Eriksson, Per-Olov Brasar and Kent-Erik Andersson of the Minnesota North Stars will also be returning in time to play for Sweden in the Prague tournament.</p><h2><b>Kurtenbach First To Get Axe</b></h2><p>VANCOUVER&mdash;</p><p>Orland Kurtenbach of the Vancouver Canucks became the first coaching casualty since the close of the 1977-78 season.</p><p>The Canucks fired &lsquo;Kurt&rsquo; and his assistant coach, Amie Brown, shortly after the Vancouver team slumped in the final weeks of the schedule and missed an NHL playoff berth by one point to the Colorado Rockies. GM Jake Milford said he told Kurtenbach that he would not renew his contract for next season. Milford said he felt the Canucks had a better team than they showed on the ice. No replacement has been announced.</p><p>Glen Sather of Edmonton is reported to be one coaching possibility for next year.</p><h2><b>Rockies Threaten To Move Franchise</b></h2><p>DENVER&mdash;</p><p>Unless the Colorado Rockies can secure a more favorable rink lease in the city of Denver, the NHL Rockies won&rsquo;t be returning to the Mile High city next season.</p><p>That&rsquo;s the word from team owner Jack Vickers, who admitted that if the city doesn&rsquo;t relent and give the Rockies a better deal on their lease agreement at McNichols Arena, he would look elsewhere to locate the NHL team.</p><p>Vickers said &ldquo;he can&rsquo;t live with it&rdquo; any longer and plans to serve notice on the city terminating the team&rsquo;s lease. Vickers urged the city to &ldquo;get realistic&rdquo; about it in order to keep the Rockies in Denver.</p><p>The Rockies&rsquo; boss said the city is making exorbitant profits at the expense of his hockey team. An official said the city would likely make some sort of new proposal to Vickers and the Rockies.</p><h2><b>Player Launches Sult Against Canucks</b></h2><p>VANCOUVER&mdash;</p><p>Do you remember Mike Robitaille, the NHL defenseman who can&rsquo;t play hockey because he was too severely injured?</p><p>Well, Robitaille is doing something about his forced idleness as he filed a writ in British Columbia Supreme Court claiming $90,000 from the Canucks.</p><p>Robitaille, who is 30, claims the NHL club was &ldquo;negligent in failing to ensure his safety fitness and health&rdquo; while he was a member of the Canucks&rsquo; defense. His pro hockey career ended Jan. 19,1977 as the result of injuries sustained while performing with the Canucks. He suffered an injury to the base of his spine from being checked into the boards.</p><h2><b>Eagleson Favors Return To Overtime</b></h2><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p>Alan Eagleson, the executive director of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association, is one man who would like to see overtime restored to NHL games in the future.</p><p>Eagleson pointed out that there were 132 ties in 720 NHL games, an increase from last year when there were 104.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0002-02

DEADLINE STOPPERS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011072/4319148-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MARCEL DIQNNE &hellip; TO Start At Center</b></figcaption></div><p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><p>TORONTO &mdash;</p><p>If nothing else, Team Canada 78 will be youthful and well disciplined for the forthcoming World Tournament in Prague.</p><p>With an average age of 24 years, Team Canada will head into the world hockey turmoil starting April 27 against Finland with hopes high that its 21-man team will be able to make a presentable showing and if they get a few breaks and a little luck, they just might sneak home with the title.</p><p>That was generally the feeling as the Canadians gathered in a Toronto hotel to complete arrangements to fly overseas as the best possible players the National Hockey League could muster for the games.</p><p>Tom Lysiak of the Atlanta Flames told Toronto Globe and Mail columnisf Allan Abel, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not trying to fool anybody. We know we&rsquo;re not Canada&rsquo;s best. All we can try to do is not make it look that way,&rdquo; said the spirited center of the Flames.</p><p>But there was considerable enthusiasm that Team Canada would be able to make a pretty good tournament showing with the likes of Marcel Dionne of the Los Angeles Kings, Atlanta&rsquo;s Dan Bouchard, Garry Unger of the St. Louis Blues, Pat Hickey and Dave Maloney of the Rangers, Bob McMillan of Atlanta, Wilf Paiement of Colorado, Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Jean Pronovost and many others to provide the team with a pretty good representation of players.</p><p>Like Lysiak said, it wasn&rsquo;t the best the NHL could send but they were the only players available with the Stanley Cup playoffs in full bloom and most of the NHL&rsquo;s super stars engaged in cup play.</p><p>Team Canada hired Cleveland Barons&rsquo; general manager Harry Howell for the coaching job with Denver University coach Marshall Johnston as Howell&rsquo;s assistant.</p><p>Jake Milford, general manager of Vancouver Canucks, and Sam Pollock, vice-president and general manager of Montreal Canadiens, were two-thirds of a Team Canada selection panel that included Toronto Maple Leaf captain Darryl Sittler. Manager Bill Watters wanted Howell and it was approved.</p><p>Watters made the announcements as to which players would be going to Prague and conspiciously absent was the name of Phil Esposito of the Rangers. The veteran of international competition was available but not named by Watters, who was emphatic in declaring Team Canada was launched on a youth movement and the 36-year old Espo just didn&rsquo;t fit into the team&rsquo;s plans.</p><h2><b>Average Age 24 Leaves Esposito Out</b></h2><p>Esposito was informed by Watters long before the player selections were made that they would be going with youth and Espo wouldn&rsquo;t be considered for the team. Esposito was reportedly only interested in Team Canada as a coach and Watters favored Howell for the job.</p><p>Watters backed his youth theory in announcing a team with an average age of just 24. Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; winger Jean Pronovost (32) and St. Louis Blues&rsquo; Centre Garry Unger (30) are the oltimers on a team that hopes to improve on its fourth-place finish in Vienna.</p><p>Howell and Johnston will rely on the goaltending of Penguins&rsquo; Denis Herron and Flames&rsquo; Bouchard to combat the tough national teams from Sweden, Czecholovakia and the Soviet Union. Both have come up big and both have had nights where they would have had difficulty stopping a beach ball. There was hopes that Rogie Vachon of the L.A. Kings would be the goaler but Vachon apparently conformed officials he would not be available.</p><p>Others named included Rangers&rsquo; Maloney (21), Flames&rsquo; David Shand (21) and Pat Ribble (24), Barons&rsquo; Rick Hampton (21), Washington Capitals&rsquo; Robert Picard (20) and Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; Brad Maxwell (20) comprise a young and inexperienced defence.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re a young, good skating hockey club, very mobile,&rdquo; Howell said. &ldquo;If a weakness can be pinpointed it would have to be inexperience. We&rsquo;re giving away something in this area.&rdquo;</p><p>Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union have veteran national teams. A young player has a very difficult time winning a spot on their roster until he reaches an age of about 24. Team Canada&rsquo;s youth, and lack of poise will be exploited by their European opposition.</p><p>At center Unger is first rate. Barons&rsquo; Dennis Maruk has blossomed into a goal-scoring terror. Flames&rsquo; Lysiak is a strong centerman who hasn&rsquo;t lived up to his press clippings from his rookie season. North Stars&rsquo; Tim Young, a terror with the puck doesn&rsquo;t know what to do when he doesn&rsquo;t have it.</p><p>On the left wing, Howell will use Rangers&rsquo; Hickey an excellent skater who fired 40 goals this season, Flames&rsquo; high scoring MacMillan, Canucks&rsquo; captain Don Lever and Guy Charron, a strong all-around winger from Washington Capitals.</p><p>Kings&rsquo; Dionne will go to Prague with Team Canada&rsquo;s finest credentials on right wing. Pronovost plays a strong game in both ends of the rink, Rockies&rsquo; Paiement will provide a tough checking, robust game. North Stars&rsquo; Glen Sharpley is untried in this type of intense international competition, as is Kings&rsquo; Mike Murphy, a surprise selection.</p><p>Howell was aware of what happened at Vienna last season and planned to take steps to see that there would be no recurrence of the rough-house tactics some Team Canada players demonstrated while being embarrassed by some of Europe&rsquo;s best hockey teams in 1977.</p><p>&ldquo;One of my main concerns will be how the team conducts itself on the ice to avoid costly penalties,&rdquo; Howell admits. &ldquo;We will compete in four exhibition games before the tournament and this should be sufficient pretournament experience for all of us in getting used to the style of play, larger ice surfaces and most important, an opportunity for us all to get to know each other.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;We want to play it tough because that&rsquo;s the style of Canadian players,&rdquo; Howell said. &ldquo;But we want our players to control themselves. Retaliation will only cost us penalties and that&rsquo;s what we have to avoid.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;I think all the players are aware of what we&rsquo;re up against and are prepared mentally.</p><p>&ldquo;The big thing is not to let the bad refereeing or whatever it is get to you,&rdquo; said Garry Unger. &ldquo;We all know we have to prepare ourselves for bad calls. They are going to happen so we can&rsquo;t let ourselves get upset about them.&rdquo;</p><p>Team Canada will play two exhibition games in Sweden and two in Czechoslovakia before opening the tournament April 25 with Sweden and West Germany launching the proceedings followed by the Soviet Union and the United States.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-03560/4319141-1-eng-US/f0007-032.jpg" title="f0007-03" width="519" height="611"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>HARRY HOWELL &hellip; To Coach Canada</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0002-01

Team Canada Pins Hopes On Young Legs At Prague

f0003-01

NEWS’ AWARDS WINNERS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011130/4319321-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="469" height="479"></div><p>&#9679; <b>NO LESS THAN</b> 11 members of the Minnesota North Stars are slated to compete in the World Ice Hockey Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia, April 26-May 15. Five players including goaltender Pete LoPresti, defenseman Donald Jackson and forwards Steve Jensen, Tom Younghans and Harvey Bennett will play for the United States. Center Roland Eriksson and wingers Per-Olov Brasar and Kent-Erik Andersson will compete for Sweden and centers Tim Young and Glen Sharpley and defenseman Brad Maxwell are candidates for Canada&rsquo;s club in the tournament &hellip; In addition, assistant general manager John Mariucci will coach the U.S. team and have Andre Beaulieu as his assistant &hellip; Colorado Rockies entered their first postseason action this year with only six players who had ever competed in National Hockey League playoff action. Most experienced was Doug Favell with 18 games, followed by Denis Dupere with 14 games, Gary Croteau with 11 games, Dennis Owchar with eight, Michel Plasse with three and John Van Boxmeer with one game &hellip; Boston&rsquo;s Terry O&rsquo;Reilly who became the third member of the Bruins to lead the club in scoring and penalty minutes in the same year (he set penalty record of 211 minutes) also did well in team awards winning No. 1 star from radio station WBZ, sharing Eddie Shore Trophy voted by the Gallery Gods with Stan Jonathan and also tying for the Elizabeth Dufresne Trophy with Brad Park as the media&rsquo;s selection as MVP for home games &hellip; After missing four games due to a severely bruised shoulder New York Islanders Garry Howatt was told he wouldn&rsquo;t be playing April 4 game against Philadelphia by coach Al Arbour and the team doctor. Howatt&rsquo;s response was &lsquo;there&rsquo;s no way you&rsquo;ll keep me out.&rsquo; He played.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021084/4319314-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="300" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Tarry O&rsquo;Reilly</b></figcaption></div><p>&#9679; <b>AMONG THE GIFTS</b> on Gary Domhoefer Night at Philadelphia&rsquo;s Spectrum were: a trip to Hawaii for the Domhoefer family from the Flyers; a diamond bracelet for wife Cheryl from the players wives; a lifetime pass and $500 donation to the Barry Ashbee Fund from the baseball Phillies; golf shirts and a $250 donation to the Ashbee Fund from the basketball 76ers; and a liberty bell with his name engraved on it from the city &hellip; Montreal Juniors surprised quite a few of the experts, by not only putting up a tough battle against heavily-favored Cornwall Royals but by winning four straight after losing the opener to move into the Quebec Major Junior finals &hellip; Harry Howell has been named coach of the Canadian team for the World Championships. Howell&rsquo;s Cleveland Barons did not make the playoffs, but the 21-season NHL veteran made substantial progress in getting the club some experienced players &hellip; Boston Bruin centerman Bob Miller from Billerica, Mass., impressed as one of the top two-way performers to come into the NHL this year. He&rsquo;s an excellent skater and forechecker &hellip; Toledo rookie center Randy Mohns celebrated his return to the line-up with a four-goal game after missing two months with a broken ankle. Mohns earlier had five goals and three assists in one game &hellip; Though he has one year remaining on his contract Mike Nykoluk, formerly Fred Shero&rsquo;s assistant and top aide with the Flyers says that &ldquo;there&rsquo;s no way&rdquo; he&rsquo;ll scout and work with the Flyers&rsquo; top farmhands next season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03978/4319307-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="293" height="445"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Mika Nykoluk</b></figcaption></div><p>&#9679; <b>THERE WERE NO</b> surprises in the first round of the 1978 Stanley Cup playoffs with the possible exception of the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; triumph over the Atlanta Flames. The Flames had been one of the hottest teams to close the season, but were unable to recover from a first period blitz by the Red Wings in the first game in Atlanta which was similar to the start Detroit got against Montreal en route to a 4-0 shutout in their final regular season game &hellip; As expected Philadelphia, Toronto and Buffalo advanced to the quarterfinals, although the Sabres were forced to three games by the pesky Rangers and the Flyers had a difficult time with Colorado, winning the first game in overtime &hellip; Best series of the quarter-finals should be between Buffalo and Philadelphia with the Flyers enjoying the extra home game. The two teams finished the season with 105 points, but the Flyers had more wins than the Sabres &hellip; Buffalo, however, won the season&rsquo;s series, three games to none with one game a tie &hellip; Fifty-year-old Gordie Howe continues to amaze. A member of the WHA&rsquo;s Top 10 in scoring, old Gordie finished the regular season as the league&rsquo;s leading plus-minus among centers. He was second overall to Cincinnati&rsquo;s Robbie Ftorek in the plusminus percentages &hellip; Jim Watson was named winner of the Barry Ashbee award as the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; best defenseman in a poll of media members &hellip; Montreal Canadiens are hoping that medication can calm defenseman Bill Nyrop&rsquo;s ailing appendix. Nyrop has twice been hospitalized this season for suspected appendicitis.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04876/4319300-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="296" height="464"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Gordie Howe</b></figcaption></div><p>&#9679; THAT WAS QUITE a closing rush by Marc Tardif of the Quebec Nordiques on his way to the major league all-time single season scoring record, breaking Phil Esposito&rsquo;s mark of 152 points sent in 1970-71.</p><p>Tardif scored 154 this year, potting two hat tricks and three two-goal games in the last nine regular season contests &hellip; Among the oddities from the National Hockey League&rsquo;s preliminary playoff round was a baby born in Madison Square Garden during the April 13 game between the Rangers and the Sabres. The Rangers also delivered in that one, winning 43 in overtime &hellip; Youth was selected ahead of experience when Team Canada&rsquo;s squad for the Prague championships was selected. Only two players, Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Jean Pronovost and Garry Unger, of St. Louis, are 30-years of age or older. Pronovost is 32, Unger 30. The average age of the team is 24 &hellip; Playoff fever seems to have awakened Detroit&rsquo;s slumbering giant Vaclav Nedomansky. After a largely unimpressive season with the Red Wings after being obtained from the Birmingham Bulls of the WHA, Big Ned helped to lead the Wings to their two-game sweep of Atlanta with a goal and two assists in the first game and a goal in the second contest &hellip; Among the players not interested in joining Team Canada &lsquo;78 were Rogie&rsquo; Vachon and Butch Goring of the Los Angeles Kings. Both players are becoming free agents and may not have wanted to risk injuries in Prague &hellip; Phil Esposito was very interested in coaching the Team Canada aggregation, but apparently was not viewed as an impressive candidate by Canadiens&rsquo; GM Sam Pollock and Canucks&rsquo; GM Jake Milford who made up two thirds of the selection panel.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05737/4319293-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="252" height="450"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Rogie Vachon</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0004-01

COLUMNISTS

PASSING THE PUCK

<p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p>When the regular season schedule was in its closing weeks, Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; rookie coach Roger Neilson said that he was going to guard against wearing his team out in a futile chase for the Adams Division title. He would rest his regulars, give back-up goaltender Gord McRae more action and generally ready his team for the playoffs ahead.</p><p>Leafs&rsquo; president Harold Ballard contributed a two-day holiday for the team in Florida following a road game in Atlanta and though the Leafs closed out the regular season with just two victories in their last 11 starts, Neilson at least had a rested team for the post-season action.</p><p>Rested and rarin&rsquo; to go as was evidenced in their somewhat surprising total domination of the Los Angeles Kings in the preliminary round. The Leafs hit everything which moved in a purple Kings&rsquo; jersey in the opening matchup, completely stopping the L.A. attack from functioning, outshooting the Kings 12-7 in the first period.</p><p>Though they had a first-period goal disallowed. the Leafs came back less than a minute later as Stan Weir came out from behind the Kings net, and flipped a sharply angled shot past Rogie Vachon at 6:35. The Leafs continually bottled up the Kings throughout the period before Jerry Butler, sped past the Kings&rsquo; defense to give Toronto a 2-0 bulge.</p><p>More Leaf domination followed in the second period as Tiger Williams scored from a goal-mouth scramble just 16 seconds after Leafs&rsquo; Dan Maloney and Glenn Goldup of the Kings were assessed seven minutes in penalties for highsticking and fighting. Williams then went off himself with Bob Murdoch when they tangled immediately following the goal. Borje Salming scored the fourth Leaf goal late in the middle frame.</p><p>The third period belonged to the Leafs&rsquo; George Ferguson, despite the fact that the Kings finally got on the scoreboard. He poked in a rebound of a Ron Ellis shot which was lying uncovered a couple of feet in front of Vachon at 2:18 and took a feed from Butler to sweep around Darryl Edestrand at the Kings&rsquo; blueline, scoring on a rebound of his own shot.</p><p>When the Kings finally scored at 9:41 on a goal by Pete Stemkowski, Ferguson came right back with a goal of his own just 10 seconds later to give the Leafs a commanding 7-1 lead. The three goals in a period tied a Stanley Cup record.</p><p>Los Angeles closed out the scoring with meaningless goals at 17:52 and 19:13 by Edestrand and Goldup, but it was to be their last goals of the series.</p><p>In Los Angeles, the Leafs once again threw a cloak over the Kings&rsquo; offense, refusing to give Marcel Dionne and Butch Goring room to operate. It was Toronto checking at its best which continually had the puck in the Kings&rsquo; end of the ice all night long.</p><p>Darryl Sittler, scoreless in the first game, won a draw back to Ellis and the Leafs were off to a quick 1-0 lead on Ellis&rsquo; 20-shot which found the range at 1:12.</p><p>Sittler was in the middle of things again midway through the period when he set up Lanny McDonald, again off a faceoff for the second Leafs&rsquo; goal at 10:38. Defensive specialist Jimmy Jones, assigned to cover Marcel Dionne, scored a key goal later in the period to further bury the Kings. In the third period, Sittler closed out the scoring with his first goal of the playoffs at 13:15 with Mike Palmateer registering his first playoff shutout.</p><p>Now if Neilson and Ballard can only get the New York Islanders to postpone the quarter-finals to give the Leafs time for another trip to Florida.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-06434/4319352-1-eng-US/f0004-062.jpg" title="f0004-06" width="546" height="832"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JIMMY JONES &hellip; Handcuffed Dionne</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0004-06

Florida Vacation Had Leafs Primed For First Round

<div class="byline">BY HARRY KLAFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01981/4319407-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MIKE BOSSY &hellip; Celebrated Milestone With Shuffle</b></figcaption></div><p>LONG ISLAND&mdash;</p><p>It seemed such a long time ago that the Islanders&rsquo; Mike Bossy had broken Rick Martin&rsquo;s record for most goals by a rookie. That was on Feb. 25, when he beat Chicago&rsquo;s Tony Esposito with number 45, and wrote his name in the record book.</p><p>With that important barrier out of the way, there seemed to be nothing holding him back from reaching a truly incredible total in this, his first season of professional hockey. The heralded 50-goal plateau was nothing but a foregone conclusion.</p><p>But then he seemed to feel the pressure for the first time. Number 46 didn&rsquo;t come until three games later, and number 49 didn&rsquo;t arrive until the middle of March when he scored against St. Louis. Now it was a matter of waiting for the magic 50th.</p><p>Although Mike got plenty of opportunities. especially with Bryan Trottier setting him up beautifully as he had all season, Bossy appeared to be snake-bit.</p><p>Nothing went in&mdash;either he was stopped on a sensational effort by the goaltender, or the puck whizzed by the post. He even caught iron a couple of times.</p><p>As the season drew down, the Islanders were more preoccupied with the task of keeping ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers than trying to feed their super-prodigy. With only a week remaining in the season, he was wondering if he would ever get that elusive 50th.</p><p>Even a hockey fan imprisoned in a Russian salt mine in Siberia knows by now that Bossy succeeded, and then some, but the high-scoring right winger will savor that moment for the rest of his life. Number 50 was a big one, all right, but number 51 was even sweeter.</p><p>The Islanders were in the midst of a late-season slump when they faced off against the Washington Capitals on April 1 at the Coliseum. With the pennant riding on every contest, the Isles were confident with the knowledge that they had never lost to the Cap&rsquo;s.</p><p>But Washington led 2-1 mid-way through the third period. Then the Islanders got a break when referee Bruce Hood signalled off Bill Riley for tripping.</p><p>A little more than a minute later, Trottier sent one in on goal that was stopped by Bernie Wolfe, who played a fine game. Bossy was to his left arid poked at the rebound. Wolfe stopped him. Bossy poked again. Another save.</p><p>Wolfe had no chance on try number three and the puck was in the net. Bossy leaped, and went into an impromptu jig, which Trottier affectionately calls the &ldquo;Bossy Shuffle,&rdquo; &mdash; not very original, but highly appropriate.</p><p>The jinx was over; the prize 50th had finally arrived. Now Mike could settle down and begin to play the way he did earlier in the season when he popped goals like golf balls at the practice tee.</p><p>Little did the Islanders realize how little they would have to wait. The Isles had another power play in the final minute, and once again Bossy performed the magic stick trick. Denis Potvin put it in front, Wolfe stopped it, but Bossy was on the doorstep to fire in the winner with only five seconds left on the clock.</p><p>&ldquo;I could sum up how I feel in two words,&rdquo; Bossy said later. &ldquo;Very happy. I&rsquo;m very excited, but more important, it feels like someone took a 200-pound weight off my shoulders. The 50th goal was great, but the second one was even better.&rdquo;</p><p>How about the shuffle? &ldquo;When I saw the puck go in, I was so overjoyed that every bit of frustration left me at once. I didn&rsquo;t care what I looked like.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no question that there was so much pressure on him, even from the beginning of the season,&rdquo; said a relieved Al Arbour. &ldquo;He wasn&rsquo;t saying much about it, and of course, we weren&rsquo;t going to remind him either. But he was pressing the last couple of weeks. Now that it&rsquo;s over, we can all go back to playing the way we&rsquo;re supposed to.&rdquo;</p><p>Bossy didn&rsquo;t stop at 51, either. A few nights later he added number 52 as the first goal of the game as the Isles tied Philadelphia 3-3 at the Coliseum in one of the most memorable battles in years.</p><p>If there was one thing that was questionable about Mike&rsquo;s wealth of talents when he came up from the juniors, it was his checking ability. But as the season has progressed, Bossy is continuing to prove the scouts wrong. A Bob Gainey or a Don Marcotte he isn&rsquo;t, but he is conspicuously present in the defensive zone when the opposition has the puck and not at the blue line where other &ldquo;gunners&rdquo; generally hang out awaiting a clearing pass.</p><p>Mike Bossy&rsquo;s the real McCoy. The big numbers just make him look even better.</p><p><b>ISLAND SOUNDS:</b> When Glenn Resch beat Detroit on April 2, it was his 27th victory of the season, breaking his own team record set in &lsquo;76-77 &hellip; Big Alex McKendry was called up from Fort Worth to replace the injured Garry Howatt. Howatt played in the Philadelphia game despite a still-tender shoulder &hellip; The stick Bossy used to score goals 50 and 51 went straight to the Hall of Fame in Toronto. Another of Mike&rsquo;s sticks recently sold for $450 at a charity auction &hellip; Bob Nystrom was the Isles&rsquo; hottest scorer going down the stretch.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0005-01

Islanders’ Bossy Fulfills A Rookie’s Dream

<p class="dropcap"><span>N</span>ext week THE HOCKEY NEWS will select Its leading hockey figures for the past season in the World Hockey Association. We will name the player of the year, the best coach and man most deserying of the outstanding executive award. When you have Marc Tardif, Ulf Nilsson, Anders Hedberg, Gordle Howe, Bobby Hull and Robbie Ftorek to pick from, it Is quite a challenge for the editors of THE HOCKEY NEWS. So, don&rsquo;t miss next week&rsquo;s issue for the results.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

WHO ARE THE WHA’S TOP MEN FOR‘77-78?

<div class="byline">&#x2014; BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011161/4319462-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="342" height="479"></div><h2><b>Puckish Plaques Awarded</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>R</span>EADY OR NOT</b>, it&rsquo;s time for our season-ending Puckish Plaques ceremony honoring good deeds in hockey, bad deeds or no deeds at all. $ When we&rsquo;re done, the Academy Awards will look like an hors d&rsquo;oeuvre. Being free of charge, naturally, these citations are no deposit, no return, whether recipients like them or not. Envelope please&hellip;</p><p><b>MOST COLORFUL CHARACTER:</b> Coach Don Cherry of the Boston Bruins by a light year. He wrote a letter to the publisher of the Boston &reg; Globe complaining about hockey coverage. He tickled roundballer John Havlicek, an institution, for announcing his impending retirement at mid-season, or just in time to collect a TV set at every final &gt; road game. And he hinted that the Bruins brass was penny-wise, dollar-foolish by failing to charter a plane for the team before an important game against Montreal at home the night after a road game. *</p><p>Cherry also packed a chorus full of one-liners. Early this season, a player was looking over his shoulder to check scores in the news-papers.</p><p>&ldquo;Washington Caps lost again,&rdquo; noticed the chap. &ldquo;That Max McNab is no dope &hellip; he&rsquo;s shooting for the No. 1 draft choice next summer.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;Yeah,&rdquo; growled Cherry, &ldquo;but does he have to start in October?&rdquo;</p><p><b>CURRENT EVENTS AWARD:</b> The Detroit Red Wings published a lovely yearbook with pictures, statistics, biographies &hellip; even a shot of Ted Lindsay smiling. Unfortunately, the tome reached our desk in early March, a mere six months after the season started. Why didn&rsquo;t they i wait a week or so and send us next year&rsquo;s yearbook?</p><h2><b>Hawks&rsquo; Public Retaliation</b></h2><p><b>FLACK PLAQUE FOR P.R. GENIUS:</b> In this case, P.R. is for public retaliations and not public relations. The winner (again) is the Chicago Black Hawks. When 527 spectators braved a blizzard to watch King Arthur&rsquo;s Knights play the Cleveland Barons last January, 527 spectators left Chicago Stadium without even a free snow cone. But the surprise was yet to come. For better or Wirtz, playoff ticket prices were jacked up 50 percent to as much as $18.75. Meaning, all you needed to take a family of four to a Stanley Cup game was a night off from your second job.</p><p><b>ROOKIE OF THE YEAR, NHL:</b> A close race, but (1) Mike Bossy (2), Don Edwards; (3) John Ziegler.</p><p><b>ROUGHEST TEAM, ENGLISH SPEAKING CITY:</b> Boston Bruins.</p><p><b>ROUGHEST TEAM, NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING CITY:</b> Birmingham Bulls.</p><p><b>COMEBACK STORY:</b> The return of the Detroit Red Wings. A feisty &lt; general manager, a coach who wins wherever he goes, a marketing &lt; department which rolled up its sleeves&mdash;they all helped a downtrodden franchise do a startling about face. Congratulations. Details of the comeback may be found in next year&rsquo;s yearbook, to be 5 published in a year to be named later.</p><p><b>GO AWAY STORY:</b> The article in the Toronto Globe and Mail featuring a price list of all NHL players was the piece that caused most apprehension. Reporter Donald Ramsay, for his enterprise, wins a poison pen and an unlisted phone number. When Chicago&rsquo;s Stan Mikita heard about the expose, he was apoplectic. &ldquo;Next week, hear they&rsquo;re going to print all the sportswriters&rsquo; salaries,&rdquo; he huffed. &ldquo;Wonder if they&rsquo;ll have enough decimal points?&rdquo;</p><h2><b>Ballard&rsquo;s Sartorial Splendor</b></h2><p><b>HABERDASHER HAL:</b> This year&rsquo;s Bill Blass salute goes to Harold Ballard, ruling potentate of the Toronto Maple Leafs. When he wasn&rsquo;t wearing a Hamilton Ti-Cats sweat shirt, size infinity, he was admiring those blue-on-blue letters which spelled out Leaf players&rsquo; names. A fellow staring at the jerseys during a pre-game warmup one night &pound; questioned Pal Hal.</p><p>&ldquo;Mr Ballard,&rdquo; the guy quoth, &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t read those names.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;Relax, boy,&rdquo; giggled Ballard, &ldquo;the letters light up when the game starts. And if there&rsquo;s a power failure, they glow in the dark.&rdquo;</p><p><b>BEST COACH:</b> Lots of candidates. Bobby Kromm, Don Cherry, Al Arbour, Scotty Bowman, Marcel Pronovost, Roger Neilson. But the winner, because he won with almost the same team that was a travesty is a winter ago, should be Bob Pulford in Chicago.</p><p><b>BEST PLAYER, EITHER LEAGUE:</b> Guy Lafleur, no questions is asked.</p><p><b>HEART TROPHY:</b> As in lonely heart. To the Cleveland Barrens, whose stands for home games are so sparsely populated that a puck can fly up there and not be retrieved for 10 minutes. When goalie Gilles Meloche permitted a 130-foot goal recently, he was lost for an excuse: &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t say lost it in the crowd, can I?&rdquo;</p><p><b>TRUE GRIT WRIT:</b> The World Hockey Association. The roof fell in on them in New England, the Swedes went to Broadway, and their touchstone Bobby Hull, is quitting. But prez Howard Baldwin will not concede. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll operate again next year,&rdquo; he said, raindrops 1 falling on his head.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0006-01

HOCKEY TALK

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02889/4319493-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DEREK SMITH &hellip; Centered Trio Of Youngster</b></figcaption></div><p>BUFFALO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Buffalo Sabres finally ended their longest losing streak in four-and-a-half years, against one of the unlikeliest clubs, and with help from an unexpected source.</p><p>Three youngsters who had played little for the Sabres this season combined to spark the Sabres to a 5-2 victory over the Boston Bruins, who already had beaten out the Sabres for the Adams Division title, in the second last game of the regular season to end a Buffalo losing streak at five games.</p><p>When the Sabres lost to the lowly Washington Capitals, 4-3, the game before, it looked as though they had a very good chance of tying the club record for consecutive losses. That was seven straight, set in the first two months of the club&rsquo;s existence. October and September, 1970.</p><p>The Sabres hadn&rsquo;t lost five in a row since November, 1973. Few of the players now on the club were playing for Buffalo then and hardly any could remember when Buffalo lost that many consecutively.</p><p>Coach Marcel Pronovost came up with a makeshift forward line, however, that shook things up.</p><p>The center was Derek Smith. Smith, the Sabres&rsquo; 10th draft choice in 1974, played in the minors, for Hershey of the American League, his first three years. He was with the Sabres nearly all of this season&mdash;except for a brief early-season stint in Hershey&mdash;but had played little.</p><p>Mostly he filled in for an odd shift at either left wing or right wing. Rarely did he get a chance to play his normal position, what with such veterans as Gil Perreault, Don Luce, Andre Savard, Fred Stanfield and Ron Schock around.</p><p>Terry Martin became Smith&rsquo;s left winger in the final period of the Washington game and Bill Stewart was sent out at right wing.</p><p>Stewart on the wing was a strange sight, indeed, for this youngster from the Niagara Falls Flyers was drafted as a defenseman, in the third round last summer. He hadn&rsquo;t played forward since he couldn&rsquo;t remember when&mdash;maybe in pee wee, he said&mdash;except for an occasional shift in junior &ldquo;when somebody got hurt.&rdquo;</p><p>Martin had had an up-and-down career with the Sabres since being drafted third in 1975.</p><p>He was with the Sabres much of his first pro season but got into only one game. He played for Hershey early in the season but finished up with Charlotte in the Southern League. He played only 45 games in all, in 1975-76.</p><p>Last season Terry started with Hershey but came up to the Sabres early. He started on a line with Perreault and Rick Martin some games, others he sat in the stands, watching. He was in and out of the lineup all season.</p><p>In the playoffs, however, Terry played regularly and played well, only to suffer a severely bruised right thigh in the quarter finals against the New York Islanders. He missed the last two games and started his summer vacation on crutches.</p><p>This season. Terry started with the Sabres, then was sent to Hershey, where his thigh was bruised again on Dec. 16. He developed a calcium deposit and he spent most of the season undergoing therapy and sitting in a whirlpool bath.</p><p>He finally was OK&rsquo;d to play the day before the trip to Washington.</p><p>The Sabres were losing that game, 4-3, and playing as poorly as they had at any time in their four previous losses&mdash;to Detroit, Cleveland, Toronto and Atlanta&mdash;when Pronovost sent out the Smith-Martin-Stewart line. The coach sent it out when it was the turn of the French Connection&mdash;Perreault, Rick Martin and Rene Robert&mdash;and there were a few amazed looks on the bench.</p><p>With the three youngsters working hard and using the body&mdash;something the rest of the club apparently had forgotten&mdash;the Sabres began to pick up the tempo. Bill Hajt scored a goal late in the game and then with 20 seconds remaining, Stewart got his first National Hockey League goal.</p><p>The three worked out as a line in a practice in Boston the next day and when the game against the Bruins began, they were on the ice as the starting forward line, something else to shake up the veterans.</p><p>Stewart scored his second NHL goal from a faceoff six seconds after Ric Seiling gave Buffalo a 2-1 lead in the first period. From then on the Sabres were in command. Stewart also played some at defense and at right wing with Don Luce and Craig Ramsay.</p><p>Terry Martin worked some with Luce and Ramsay and started the play on the Sabres&rsquo; fifth goal.</p><p>Terry killed penalties with Smith, spelling the Sabre stars at this chore, Luce and Ramsay, and Smith played point on the power play.</p><p>&ldquo;You have to credit the young guys,&rdquo; said Ramsay, who was picked as the game&rsquo;s first star, after scoring one goal and setting up another. &ldquo;They got us going in the third period in Washington and started right off here. They played the body and skated and did the things we used to do.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0006-02

Sabres’ Makeshift Lineup Helps End Longest Drought

<p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><p>COLORADO SPRINGS&mdash;</p><p>The fate of Team U.S.A, in the 1978 World Hockey Tournament at Prague will rest in the hands of seven National Hockey Leaguers, who will form the backbone of the young American squad.</p><p>Headed by four members of the Minnesota North Stars, Team U.S.A, will be comprised of top American college players, a handful of good minor leaguers and a total of seven NHL players.</p><p>Coached by John Mariucci of the North Stars and assisted by Andre Beaulieu, who was a short-time coach of the Minnesota team this year, the Americans will have a 21-man roster for the trip to Prague. The U.S. squad will play four exhibitions games, two in Finland and two in Prague, before opening the tournament against the powerful Soviet Union. A report from Prague said the Russians are looking super and their 10-0 romp over a Swedish club team in a pre-tourney exhibition game was said to be i awesome.</p><p>The Americans will have three? goalers headed by Pete LoPresti of the North Stars. He will be backed up by Jim Warden from Salt Lake Eagles and Frank Zimmerman of Michigan Tech.</p><p>The five-man defense corps will include one established pro, Craig Norwich from Cincinnati Stingers. The rest are slightly short on experience. They include Clark Hamilton from Kansas City, Donald Jackson of Notre Dame and Dick Lamby and Jack O&rsquo;Callahan, both of Boston University.</p><p>The forwards will be headed by North Stars such as Steve Jensen, Harvey Benne&rsquo;tt and Tom Younghans, Curt Bennett of St. Louis Blues, a surprise selection, Jere Gillis of the Vancouver Canucks and Mike Fidler of the Cleveland Barons.</p><p>Other forwards named to the team include Dave Delich and Jim Warner, a couple of Colorado College products, Mark Johnson and Mike Eaves from Wisconsin, Craig Patrick of Hershey, who also played with Washington Caps this season, Phil Verchota of the University of Minnesota and Mark Green of Sherbrooke Beavers of the Quebec Major Hockey League. Green hails from Pennsylvania.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-04394/4319545-1-eng-US/f0007-042.jpg" title="f0007-04" width="504" height="588"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JERE GILLIS &hellip; Surprise Starter</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-05277/4319538-1-eng-US/f0007-052.jpg" title="f0007-05" width="538" height="683"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>HARVEY BENNETT &hellip; North Star Going</b></figcaption></div><p>Conspicious by his absence from Team U.S.A., is Robbie Ftorek, the 59-goal scorer of the Cincinnati Stingers. No reason was given why Ftorek was not included on the team.</p><p>Mariucci is returning for his second year as coach of Team U.S.A.</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/f0007-011033/4319531-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="1123" height="841"></div><h3><b>PLAYOFF PAIRINGS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02797/4319524-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="1120" height="356"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0007-04

Seven NHL Stars Form Nucleus For Americans

<div class="byline">-BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011152/4319583-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="392" height="454"></div><h2><b><i>Smash From Smithers&hellip;</i></b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>A</span>LL THE ALL STAR</b> votes go to the defensemen who play offense, but it&rsquo;s a big year for the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; best defenseman, Jimmy Watson, if he gets five goals in a season. Bobby Clarke, better than ever, is the most valuable player on the Flyers. But Watson, a defenseman who plays defense with boyish enthusiasm is the best defenseman on the Flyers, a team which wins with defense.</p><p>Fred Shero says the officials should be investigated for picking on the Flyers. They should be investigated. For letting the Flyers get away with murder. The Flyers don&rsquo;t deal in violence, the way they did when they won two Stanley Cups in two seasons, but the push-and-shove, high-stick and high-elbow game these guys play still intimidates the opposition, or, at the least, throws them off their game. Well, it works, and if they can get away with it, you can&rsquo;t blame them for doing it. Some of us would rob banks if we thought we could get away with it.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021037/4319576-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="783" height="1070"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Jim Watson&rsquo;s enthusiasm for the game of hockey Is probably matched only by the talent the Smithers, B.C. native brings to the game. He has Improved each year in the NHL and promises to get better.</b></figcaption></div><p>The funny thing is Watson doesn&rsquo;t do as much of it as others. After five seasons up top he has yet to come close to 80 minutes in penalties, any single season, yet if you don&rsquo;t get 100 minutes you might be considered an outcast in the Flyer dressing room. Although a big guy, six-foot tall and 195-pounds, he is not a heavy hitter, infrequently fouls and infrequently fights. He is a strong skater, a quick skater, and always is in position. He carries and passes the puck fairly well, but, although Shero begs him to rush more, seldom moves in deep enough to pick up points. Assistant coach Pat Quinn shrugs, &ldquo;He plays his position and comes to play. I don&rsquo;t know what more you could ask.&rdquo; Watson, himself, shrugs, &ldquo;I play the way I&rsquo;ve always played. &ldquo;Maybe I should be more aggressive, rougher, but it&rsquo;s not in my nature.&rdquo;</p><p><b>BROTHER JOE PLAYS</b> pretty much the same way. Both, of course, play for the Flyers. Joe is two inches shorter, five pounds lighter, and nine years older than his 25-year-old younger brother. Joe has been a pro 15 years and a big leaguer 12. He broke in with Boston, but spent three seasons in the minors with Minneapolis and Oklahoma City before being picked by Philly in the expansion draft in June of 1967. He established himself as a big leaguer with Philly. And, drafted by the Flyers five years later, Jim joined Joe up top. Renegotiating his own contract, Joe negotiated Jim&rsquo;s with the Flyers at the same time. When the Flyers sent Jim out to Richmond that first season, Joe was as furious as Jim. But Jim rejoined Joe the following season and they&rsquo;ve been together ever since. Joe is good, but Jim is better, and getting better every year.</p><p>For them, the winters in Philly are fair and fine. After all, they were born and reared in Smithers, British Columbia, a little town 700 miles north of Vancouver, near the southern tip of the highway between Prince Rupert and Prince George, where, Jimmy says, &ldquo;It sometimes get 30, 40, 50 degrees below zero in&rsquo;the wintertime and the winter runs seven months, October through April. It gets so cold it gets tough to breathe. It hurts to breathe that kind of cold. Your sweat would freeze, but it&rsquo;s too cold to sweat. We learned to skate on natural ice, because there was no need for any other kind. We loved hockey, cold or not. Because of the cold and ice, the silence, sound seemed louder. I can still hear the sound of our skates cutting over the ice, of the stick smacking the puck.&rdquo;</p><p><b>FATHER JOE WAS</b> a butcher. Mom worked in a restuarant when she wasn&rsquo;t running the farm and raising six sons. &ldquo;We drove her crazy,&rdquo; Jim recalls, laughing. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t have a lot, but we had all we needed. It&rsquo;s not an easy life, but I love it. Joe has his own family now and lives year-round around Philadelphia, but I&rsquo;m still a bachelor and go home every summer to golf, fish, play baseball, fool around the farm. Mom takes care of cows, chickens, pigs. When I retire, I want to return to Smithers, get a little land and a few animals and Eve off that. I like to date and dance, but the girl I&rsquo;m going to marry will have to live and like the life I want to live around Smithers,&rdquo; concludes the dark curly haired and handsome young man.</p><p>Jim travels with Joe on the road and since he moved near Joe, wife Marianne, and son Ryan in the suburbs sometimes drops in for dinner, but they live their own lives. Jim and Joe seldom even have teamed on defense.</p><p>Jim says, &ldquo;Joe was long gone before I got going.&rdquo;</p><p>Jim was the best defenseman at Calgary in the Western Canada Hockey League but didn&rsquo;t score much until his last season and so wasn&rsquo;t picked until the third round of the 1972 draft. Many regret it because he&rsquo;s become one of the best, despite a series of serious injuries.</p><p>He suffered a back injury in New York in 1975. The Ranger doctor suggested surgery, but the Flyer doctor recommended rest. &ldquo;I was worried until the rest turned the trick,&rdquo; Jim remembers. Struck by a shot in the Canada Cup competition in Montreal, he suffered depression of the orbit bone around the right eye and a fractured cheekbone in 1976. Then, late in the year, he was struck in the left eye by a stick, suffered retinal bleeding, a scratched cornea, and blurred vision. &ldquo;Three fourths of my contact lens was knocked out, but it probably saved my sight. I was sick to my stomach thinking about it before I recovered,&rdquo; he comments. He played with a face shield for awhile, then discarded it. Now, again, he just plays, with enormous enthusiasm. He is a holler guy. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re never too big to show the little boy in you,&rdquo; he says.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY AL SMITH</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03873/4319614-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ERIC VAIL &hellip; Rewarded Confidence Of Flames</b></figcaption></div><p>ATLANTA&mdash;</p><p>A great deal was expected of Eric Vail and the Atlanta Flames when the 1977-78 National Hockey League season got underway.</p><p>The Flames finished the prior regular season well and big things were almost demanded by hockey fans in Atlanta. Vail, the NHL&rsquo;s 1974-75 rookie of the year, was big cog in those plans.</p><p>After all, he had been a member of the Downtown Connector line with Tom Lysiak and Willi Plett and the young trio had combined for 95 goals the previous year. Going into the current season, this was one of the things Flames&rsquo; officials were counting on the heaviest &mdash; the Connectors.</p><p>But the Connectors didn&rsquo;t connect. Not far into the season their plus-minus figures read like the national debt and the Connectors were broken up.</p><p>Twenty games into the season, Vail had two goals, five assists and things looked bleak. Lysiak and Plett had only nine goals between them and the Flames were playing under .500.</p><p>Twenty games later &mdash; half-way through the season &mdash; things didn&rsquo;t look that much better. Vail had only seven goals and the Flames were still under .500.</p><p>&ldquo;Those were frustrating times,&rdquo; the six-foot-two, 210-pounder said. &ldquo;I was on ice for so many goals-against I almost dreaded it when Fred (Flames coach Creighton) put me on the ice. I knew I was going to screw things up again.</p><p>&ldquo;It was a time of indecision and when I did make a decision it was usually the wrong one. I shot when I should have passed and passed when I should have shot.</p><p>&ldquo;I even took the game home with me and I was crabby all the time.&rdquo;</p><p>But then on Jan. 20, Vail got two goals against the New York Hangers and Stage Two of the season started. He was put on a line with Guy Chouinard and Bob MacMillan and the change in &ldquo;Big E&rdquo; was a dramatic one.</p><p>The GEM line played like they had been together for years and they started the Flames on the road to the team&rsquo;s best record in history.</p><p>&ldquo;All of a sudden I thought I could salvage something out of the season,&rdquo; the big left winger said. &ldquo;And I have to thank management for sticking with me. I&rsquo;ve always got my ice time and they never lost confidence in me.</p><p>&ldquo;There were trade rumors earlier in the season and I heard my name mentioned and they bothered me. But there wasn&rsquo;t anything I could do other than keep playing the best I knew how.</p><p>&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t blame anyone but myself.&rdquo;</p><p>Little by little, Vail worked out of his slump and the Flames worked out of theirs.</p><p>The highlight of Vail&rsquo;s season came on March 4 when he was instrumental in the Flames&rsquo; 9-3 victory over the Cleveland Barons.</p><p>In that game the GEMs scored 15 points and Vail, although not getting a goal, set up four with four beautiful passes. MacMillan set a team record of six points in a game with three goals and three assists and Chouinard had two goals and three assists. Vail had four assists and seemed as pleased with them as he would four goals.</p><p>&ldquo;My role on this team has been to be a goal scorer,&rdquo; Vail said. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;d like to be known as an all around player. I&rsquo;ve tried not to be a selfish player and I get a charge out of setting up a goal.&rdquo;</p><p>It was the 70th game of the season before Vail got his 20th goal. No big deal for someone who had 33 goals the previous season, but after Vail&rsquo;s start in &lsquo;77-78 he was happy with the 20 plateau.</p><p>And the confidence returned. In fact, Vail was even sent on the ice to kill penalties and got all the ice time he wanted.</p><p>&ldquo;Fred showed a lot of confidence in me,&rdquo; Vail said. &ldquo;And for the past 25 games I think I&rsquo;ve contributed more to this team than I ever have before &mdash; even when I was scoring quite a few goals.</p><p>&ldquo;Things really turned around for me and the team. Earlier in the season I was hesitant to go on the ice late in the game and now I want to get out all the time.</p><p>&ldquo;And what this team has accomplished is amazing.&rdquo;</p><p>The accomplishments that Vail spoke of are: Coming from a .500 team to finish seventh overall in the NHL; gaining the playoffs for the fourth time in the team&rsquo;s history; gaining home-ice advantage in the first round; and in the precess breaking 18 team records.</p><p>It&rsquo;s been a turn-around season for the Atlanta Flames and Eric Vail.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-03

Flames’ Big Vail Important Cog In Club’s Turnabout

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011109/4319645-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GARY DORNHOEFER &hellip; One-Of-A-Kind Performer</b></figcaption></div><p>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;</p><p>Those Philadelphia hockey fans who have been described by visiting writers as everything from bloodthirsty to sadistic were at it again.</p><p>On the regular season&rsquo;s final night, the people who have paid to see Gary Dornhoefer play for 11 seasons stood to cheer the man who is retiring. From the emotion and warmth that filled the Spectrum, it was clear no one ever thought of requesting a refund after a Dornhoefer performance. If these were sick people, then let&rsquo;s hope it&rsquo;s an epidemic.</p><p>Dornhoefer&rsquo;s worth to the Flyers &mdash; and hockey &mdash; has been chronicled many times, but the man deserves one last review.</p><p>Fans in other cities have despised the Kitchener, Ont., native for the way he throws his sharpened elbows and the rest of his lean, battered body into opposing players. The 35-year-old original Flyer is annually voted Most Disliked by the NHL Goaltenders Union for the torment he inflicts upon them. One banner on Dornhoefer&rsquo;s unforgettable night summarized goaltenders&rsquo; feelings: &ldquo;Nobody Did It Better, (signed) Chico, Rogie, Ken and Cheesy.&rdquo;</p><p>Before, during and after the 30-minute pre-game ceremonies the tributes poured in for the man who is one of the most respected athletes ever to play in Philadelphia.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you&rsquo;ll ever find another quite like Dornhoefer,&rdquo; said Bobby Clarke. &ldquo;He wasn&rsquo;t just another winger who scored 25 goals. He was a player who gave our team character every time he stepped on the ice.</p><p>&ldquo;If you hear somebody say &lsquo;that guy is a Domhoefer-type player,&rsquo; that&rsquo;s a helluva compliment.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;I never saw a player who was so reckless with his body,&rdquo; Orest Kindrachuk told Ray Didinger of the Philadelphia Bulletin. &ldquo;There isn&rsquo;t a defenseman in the league who doesn&rsquo;t respect him. I see it in their faces. They&rsquo;ll be in the comer and see Dorny coming, and they&rsquo;ll say, &lsquo;Oh, no, not him again&rsquo;.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s supplied us with a lot of heart,&rdquo; said Jimmy Watson.</p><p>Paul Holmgren, who has been groomed as successor to Dornhoefer&rsquo;s parking space in the crease area, spotted the man&rsquo;s value several years ago. Growing up in Minnesota, Holmgren would watch the Stanley Cup-champion Flyers on television.</p><p>&ldquo;Dorny was the guy I liked most,&rdquo; said Holmgren. &ldquo;We played the same position, but I liked the way he always took the body.&rdquo;</p><p>Before the Flyers became the Broad Street Bullies and Mad Squad, Dornhoefer was one of the few who would hit on the road. That&rsquo;s hit, not fight. Whenever he won a hockey fight, it was occasion to telegram Ring Magazine.</p><p>I&rsquo;ll never forget him playing in Boston when the Bruins were the league&rsquo;s villains. Time after time Dornhoefer crashed into Boston players, who would return the hit to the fans&rsquo; delight. But Dornhoefer never altered his style &mdash; and he has the bruises to prove it.</p><p>During Richard Martin&rsquo;s first several NHL seasons it&rsquo;s amazing he ever saw a Flyers&rsquo; goaltender because Dornhoefer continually harassed the Buffalo winger. Once, an infuriated Martin vowed to destroy Dornhoefer before the season ended.</p><p>&ldquo;The only way to keep things even when he (Dornhoefer) is on the ice is to make sure he&rsquo;s playing against someone he respects,&rdquo; said Montreal coach Scotty Bowman.</p><p>When the playoffs end Dornhoefer won&rsquo;t be on the ice any more. He&rsquo;ll miss it, but he knows it&rsquo;s time to launch a new career. He has several opportunities in the Philadelphia area, including broadcasting. The consensus is Dornhoefer would make a fine coach, but he&rsquo;s anxious to spend more time with his wife, Cheryl and children.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a tremendous relationship with the people of Philadelphia,&rdquo; he said-&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll have a lot of fond memories.&rdquo;</p><p>Dornhoefer has provided a lot of memories for Philadelphia fans, including his &ldquo;night.&rdquo; He was greeted with a prolonged thunderous ovation.</p><p>&ldquo;Tears were running down my cheeks during that ovation,&rdquo; he said later. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good thing I didn&rsquo;t have to say anything then. I cried a cupfull.&rdquo;</p><p>Gary Domhoefer gave Flyers&rsquo; fans a Stanley Cup-full example of courage and dedication. Perhaps the best tribute is &mdash; he was one of a kind.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0009-01

Spectrum Filled With Warmth For Tribute To Dornhoefer

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011139/4319676-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"></div><p><b>Write to: FAN FORUM, The Hockey News, 1434 St. Catherine St., W., Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7</b></p><h2><b>Goalers Not Scorers Will Give Islanders Cup</b></h2><p>New York Islanders will win the Stanley Cup because of their goaltenders and not because of the Trottier-Bossy-Gillies line. Bill Smith and Glenn Resch are the best goalies in the NHL now.</p><p>Yes, they are better than Ken Dryden and Michel Larocque and Bernie Parent and Wayne Stephenson and maybe a sight better than Jim Rutherford and Ron Low. Besides Montreal will get bounced out in the quarter-finals and Detroit and the Islanders will meet in the finals.</p><p>P.S. Isles will win four games to three.</p><p><b>PETER CROWTHER, Moncton, N.B.</b></p><h2><b>Flames Deserve More Recognition</b></h2><p>The Atlanta Flames finished the season as one of the hottest teams in the NHL, yet they do not get the recognition or press they deserve.</p><p>Over a 17-game stretch the Flames were 10-3-4. They scored 80 goals in this span, which is 4.7 goals a game. During this span they have beat the N.Y. Islanders, in New York, 5-2, the Boston Bruins 6-3, the Toronto Maple Leafs, 7-4, and the N.Y. Rangers 6-0. The Flames also won seven consecutive games at home.</p><p>The Flames had seven 20-goal scorers and one player with 19 goals, which shows their scoring balance.</p><p>The Flames tied for second in the league in ties because they have blown a lot of leads late in the game. But you have to remember that they have the youngest team in the NHL and next year, when they have the experience, they&rsquo;re not going to blow the games, but rather the teams, right out of their buildings.</p><p><b>ALAN MASSING, Doraville, Ga.</b></p><h2><b>Thank You Kromm and Lindsay</b></h2><p>Thanks to Bobby Kromm and Ted Lindsay the Detroit Red Wings are again playing winning hockey. The great job Kromm and Lindsay have done with players like Dale McCourt, Thommie Bergman, Paul Woods, Rick Bowness, Perry Miller and Andre St. Laurent has helped to bring sellout crowds back to the Olympia.</p><p>In my opinion, Kromm deserves &ldquo;Coach of the Year.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ARTHUR GALBRAITH, Gallants, Nfld.</b></p><h2><b>Lots Of Players Overlooked For Seike</b></h2><p>As every hockey fan knows there is a new award this year, the Frank Selke Trophy for the best defensive forward. This award, for all practical purposes, has been awarded to Bob Gainey already. It may as well have been given to him when the trophy was first announced.</p><p>Bob Gainey is a very fine hockey player, but I feel that a lot of others are being overlooked. Don Marcotte, Craig Ramsay, Don Luce, Walt Tkaczuk as well as others are as good defensively and score more goals, which by the way, is a forward&rsquo;s job.</p><p>Gainey gets more coverage by the press and TV than some of the others. Guest commentators on the NHL 78 series even put in plugs for him.</p><p>I would also like to know who decides which games are televised on the NHL 78 TV system. It is a shame to show a game between Montreal and Washington and not televise a game involving Vancouver, Chicago or Los Angeles all season.</p><p><b>ROBERT GRAY, Wayne, Maine</b></p><h2><b>How About Seattle As NHL Franchise?</b></h2><p>I find it amazing with the crowd support problems in some NHL cities (examples: Denver-Cleveland) that until now a city like Seattle has been overlooked.</p><p>Here is a northern city which is capable of supporting both major league baseball and an NFL franchise. Not major league hockey according to the so-called experts.</p><p>Some people will argue because of the closeness to Vancouver, but look at Toronto and Buffalo. Furthermore, it would make for another west coast team to complement both the Canucks and the L.A. Kings.</p><p>I hope this can come about.</p><p><b>BRIAN ROURKE, Dorchester, N.B.</b></p><h2><b>LETTER OF THE WEEK</b></h2><h2><b>Wants Status Quo On Tie Hockey Games</b></h2><p>I have noticed an increasing amount of opinion being voiced in favor of an overtime period to eliminate tie games in the NHL. While conceding that the idea has its merits, I would like to point out several factors which I feel give justification to the present system.</p><p>Far from being dull, as some people claim, I have found some of the most exciting hockey games I&rsquo;ve ever viewed to end in ties. When a tie score is on the board at the end of regulation time, it is an accurate indication of the two teams having been equal to the task of matching their opponents efforts for the duration. Particularly when one team is able to rally for the tying goal in the closing minutes, the excitement is at least equal to a close fought game which ends in a one-goal decision.</p><p>Looking back at the finish of the regular season, the Philadelphia Flyers needed two non-winning efforts from the New York Islanders, in addition to a Flyer victory in the final head-to-head contest, to win the Patrick Division and a first-round playoff bye. One Islander loss in addition to a final loss to the Flyers would have left the two teams with identical win-loss-tie records, but the Islanders superiority in goal scoring would still award the title to them. Two ties, however, would have made the point records identical, but give the title to the Flyers on the basis of more wins. Consequently, no pressure was placed upon the Islanders to go all-out to avoid being tied twice, as this would do them more damage than a single loss.</p><p>If a change eventually must be made, perhaps a compromise could be arranged. Rather than sudden-death overtime, a guaranteed 10-minute extra period (similar to basketball) would at least eliminate the sudden-death stigma, and keep the format of a definite time limit for both teams to work with.</p><p><b>MIKE CONWAY, Excelsior Springs, Mo.</b></p><h2><b>Fan&rsquo;s Plea For Hockey In England</b></h2><p>A plea from this hockey-starved country; how about Team Canada or Team U.S.A, playing an exhibition game in London en route to the Prague World Championships or, if not possible this year, in 1979? I am sure that there are more than enough exiled North Americans as well as native hockey fans to make such a venture a sell-out.</p><p>I keep in touch with the best game in the world by subscribing to your excellent journal and would also be keen to correspond with any hockey fans who care to write to me.</p><p><b>JOHN PALMER, Heywood House, Oval Way, Gerrards Cross, Bucks, England SL9 8GA</b></p><h2><b>Maine Mariners Team Of Winners</b></h2><p>I&rsquo;d like hockey fans to know more about the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; farm team, the Maine Mariners of the American Hockey League. Coach Bob McCammon has led the team to the Northern Division championship in their first year and the Oke Trophy which goes with the division title. And it&rsquo;s only the first of many trophies for which the Mariners are eligible.</p><p>Goalie Rick St. Croix and center Paul Evans have a shot at the Red Garrett Trophy (outstanding rookie), while on defense, Mariner captain Dennis Patterson and Terry Murray have chances for the Eddie Shore Plaque (outstanding defenseman). The Les Cunningham Award for the Most Valuable Player could be won by a number of Mariners. Also Ed Snider could be executive of the year (James Hendy Award), with McCammon as coach of the year (Louis Pieri Award).</p><p>Attendance has averaged approximately 4,200 a game making the team an even bigger success. Congratulations to the Flyers&rsquo; organization for bringing a winner to Maine.</p><p><b>GEORGE MONTANESE, Westbrook, Me.</b></p><h2><b>Be Satisfied With Team You Have</b></h2><p>After reading the letter from Tom Krewson of Kansas City, I couldn&rsquo;t help but write this letter. Mr. Krewson, should be thankful that he has a team in Kansas City to cheer for. Hockey fans in the Tampa-St. Petersburg (Fla.) area want a team (any team) in the worst way.</p><p>St. Petersburg had a team four years ago, the Sun Coast Sons, but it folded with the old Southern League. Since then, the population of northerners and Canadians has almost doubled in this area. We have a nice arena, the Bayport in St. Petersburg which seats around 6,000 and a good team, in any league, would be a sure sellout here every game.</p><p>I&rsquo;m from Detroit and know that the Kansas City area could never support a major league team&mdash;so be happy with what you have&mdash;here we&rsquo;d even like a last-place team. KC doesn&rsquo;t know how good they have it.</p><p><b>TED BARRIE, Tampa, Fla.</b></p><h2><b>Give Herron Some Solid Defensemen</b></h2><p>Denis Herron is helpless in the Penguin crease with all the pucks being shot at horn. It&rsquo;s a wonder he doesn&rsquo;t see pucks in his sleep.</p><p>The reason Herron faces so many shots a game is obvious, an inadequate defense. The Penguins who are thin on draft choices, picked three forwards in last year&rsquo;s draft. What the Penguins need most are defensemen.</p><p>Dave Burrows is the only consistent defenseman playing for the Pens. You don&rsquo;t get into the playoffs, not to mention have a chance for the Stanley Cup without solid blueline performers.</p><p>So in this summer&rsquo;s draft, Mr. Bastien, please draft some defensemen.</p><p><b>CURTIS VICKERS, Pittsburgh, Pa.</b></p><h2><b>Halifax Providing Poor Fan Support</b></h2><p>Now that Halifax has the new Metro Center, and the finest rink east of Montreal, hockey fans are still not supporting the Voyageurs.</p><p>Thanks to Sam Pollock, Al MacNeil and company we have had three Calder Cup wins in six years and contributed at least 30 players to NHL and WHA ranks.</p><p>Nova Scotia has always had super hockey teams and the same dedicated 2,500 or so fans. How does Nova Scotia ever expect to get a major league franchise if they won&rsquo;t support the Voyageurs?</p><p>Hopefully fan support will increase in our new rink, but until it does all the Vees can do is to win yet another Calder Cup for the loyal fans.</p><p><b>BRIAN LAPIERRE, Halifax, N.S.</b></p><h2><b>Dale McCourt Potential Super Star</b></h2><p>This season the NHL has produced a fine crop of rookies, namely Mike Bossy, Barry Beck and Don Edwards and has a bright future with players like these coming in annually.</p><p>One player who has super star potential written all over him and is drastically underrated is Detroit rookie Dale McCourt. Dale, along with another outstanding Detroit rookie Reed Larson have led the Red Wings into the playoffs.</p><p>McCourt, the first player selected in the amateur draft in 1977 after a terrific junior career in the Ontario Hockey Association, led Canada to a second place finish in last year&rsquo;s junior world hockey championship behind the U.S.S.R. and picked up the MVP trophy as well as the All Star team at center and said he would have traded his awards to have his team win the championship.</p><p>As a rookie, he scored more than 30 goals, killed penalties and plays on the power play. Remember the name Dale McCourt, fans, you&rsquo;re going to hear it quite often in the future.</p><p><b>ROCKY SALERNO, Geraldton, Ont.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-01

OTHER FEATURES

FAN FORUM

<p><b>1. In term of playoff aerie, how many currant National Hockey League teams have .500 record or better?</b></p><p>Three &#9633; Six &#9633; Eight &#9633;</p><p><b>2. The Philadelphia Flyer* hold the record for the most penalty minutes In one NHL playoff game? How many minutes?</b></p><p>88 &#9633; 99 &#9633; 107 &#9633;</p><p><b>3. Which goalie holds the record for most minutes played In one playoff year, 1,221?</b></p><p>Ken Dryden &#9633; Glenn Hall &#9633; Tony Esposito &#9633;</p><p><b>4. Which of these players does NOT share a record for most points In a playoff game, six?</b></p><p>Phil Esposito &#9633; Guy Lafleur &#9633; Reg Leach &#9633;</p><p><b>5. True or false: a World Hockey Association final has never lasted exactly six games?</b></p><p><b>6. Houston Is the only WHA team to clinch the Avco Trophy on the road. In which city did they win It?</b></p><p>Quebec City &#9633; Chicago &#9633; Cleveland &#9633;</p><p><b>7. Two active NHL goaltenders have a share of a Stanley Cup record with four shutouts in one playoff year. One of the goalies Is Bernie Parent. Who is the other?</b></p><p>Gerry Cheevers &#9633; Ken Dryden &#9633; Chico Resch &#9633;</p><p><b>8. Toronto&rsquo;s George Ferguson tied a Stanley Cup record by scoring three goals In one period on April 11, 1978. Who was the last player before him to accomplish the feat?</b></p><p>Darryl Slttler &#9633; Guy Lafleur &#9633; Bobby Schmautz &#9633;</p><p><b>9. Who was the captain of both of the Houston Aeros WHA championship teams?</b></p><p>Gordie Howe &#9633; Ted Taylor &#9633; Poul Poplel &#9633;</p><p><b>10. Besides Mel Hill who scored three, who is the only Boston Bruins player to score two Stanley Cup overtime goals?</b></p><p>Forbes Kennedy &#9633; Johnny Pierson &#9633; Don Gallinger &#9633;</p><h2><b>QUICK QUIZ ANSWERS</b></h2><p>1. Six.</p><p>2. 107.</p><p>3. Dryden.</p><p>4. Leach.</p><p>5. True.</p><p>6. Quebec City.</p><p>7. Dryden.</p><p>8. Schmautz, exactly one year earlier.</p><p>9. Taylor.</p><p>10. Gallinger.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Fans’ Quick Hockey Quiz

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><p>LOSANGELES&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Los Angeles Kings hit their recent peak in the third and middle season of Bob Pulford&rsquo;s five-year reign as coach. They won 42 games, finished second by only eight points behind mighty Montreal in their division, and had the fourth best record in the National Hockey League.</p><p>The following season, they won 38 games and had the fifth best record in the league. Last season, they won 33 games and had the seventh best record. This season, after Ron Stewart replaced Pulford, they won 31 games, and had the 10th best record.</p><p>Most observers believe Pulford&rsquo;s departure after last season led to the Kings&rsquo; troubles this season, but a close look suggests otherwise. The Kings were on the skids before Bob left.</p><p>Resenting a lack of authority, he had lost interest in Los Angeles. He is a superior coach, but he has been a better one in Chicago this season than he was in Los Angeles last season.</p><p>Disappointment here has been deepened by the success of Pulford in Chicago, where he took a team that finished 20 points short of the Kings last season and passed them to finish six in front of them this season. Thus Stewart is under fire, but he had to contend with 129 player games lost to injuries, by far the worst season for injuries any King coach has faced.</p><p>Moving in for Jake Milford as manager this season, George Maguire must accept his share of responsibility for this season&rsquo;s performance, but trades he made not only looked good to him, but to most of us so-called &ldquo;experts&rdquo; when they were made. They did not help the team, but they did not hurt, either, and may yet help. He did not give up players who had helped a for.</p><p>Trying to improve the product, the Kings made a lot of moves, so many the team may have become unsettled. No fewer than 32 players were on the roster at one time or another and some of them played only a few minutes or not at all. As many as 24 were on hand at one time. Stewart juggled his lines and his lineups so much some players described the club as &ldquo;disorganized.&rdquo;</p><p>The team may be tossed into turmoil this summer. Owner Jack Kent Cooke gave Maguire the go-ahead to try to sign Rogie Vachon, Butch Goring, Gary Sargent, Dave Hutchison, Bob Murdoch and Tommy Williams before the season even ended, but if not signed they will be free agents and may want to see what other clubs will offer.</p><p>With Marcel Dionne, Mike Murphy and a couple of others they have the nucleus of a contender, but the loss of some of them would drop the team among the mediocrities. Right now, Rogie and the Rangers look close, Goring and Pully in Chicago, Sargent and his homestate of Minnesota.</p><p>If the Kings can keep their key men this still will be a club which could come back from a three-season tail-spin. The Kings actually were ahead of last season&rsquo;s record most of this season, but finished 89-3 instead of 12-4-3 the last quarter to finish 31-34-15 instead of 34-31-15.</p><p>Their halves were 17-14-9 and 14-20-6. They didn&rsquo;t do as well as they should have at home at 18-16-6, but weren&rsquo;t too bad away at 13-18-9. They wound up with a losing record overall for the first time in six seasons. Attendance fell from 497,424 to 471,856, from an average of 12,436 to 11,796, but higher prices boosted the take more than $250,000.</p><p>Their goals for and against were 231234 compared to 271-241 last season. Their offense fell off more than their defense.</p><p>Rogie Vachon started 68 of the 80 games, was among the league leaders with 4,107 minutes played, and was a winner at 29-27-13 with a 2.86 goals-against average. It was an average season for him, but he didn&rsquo;t have much help. Sub Gary Simmons wound up 2-7-2 with a 3.81 average.</p><p>Butch Goring, voted team MVP at season&rsquo;s end, led in goals with 37, while Marcel Dionne had 36, club Rookie of the Year Dave Taylor 22, Mike Murphy 20, Syl Apps 19, Tommy Williams 15, Glenn Goldup 14, Pete Stemkowski 13, Hartland Monahan 12, Danny Grant 12, Don Kozak eight, Bert Wilson seven, and Vic Venasky three.</p><p>Among defensemen, Gary Sargent had seven, Randy Manery six, Bob Murdoch two. Larry Brown one, and Dave Hutchison and Rob Palmer none.</p><p>Goring&rsquo;s goals were a career high, but Dionne fell from 53, Williams from 35, Murphy from 25, Sargent and Venasky from 14, Hutchison from six. Goring played every game, but Dionne suffered from one severe shoulder injury, Murphy from two, and Williams from injuries and demotions.</p><p>Dionne did lead in assists with 43, followed by Goring and Murphy with 36, Apps with 33, Sargent with 34, and Manery with 27. Dionne led in scoring points with 79, followed by Goring with 73. Sargent led defensemen with 41, followed by Manery with 33.</p><p>Wilson led in penalty minutes with 127, followed by Hutchison, who missed 36 games, with 71. Goring had only two for the fifth season and deserves the league&rsquo;s Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanlike excellence.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011086/4319731-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="553" height="472"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BUTCH GORING&hellip;Deserves Byng Trophy</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0011-01

Kings’ Regular Season Disappointing As Record Slides Beneath .500 Level

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011112/4319769-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"></div><h2><b>Observations And Notes</b></h2><p>HERE ARE A few observations and notes on a hockey season winding down. Or did it ever really get wound up?</p><p>Probably no statement produced as many chuckles around the NHL: as the bleat by Philadelphia Flyer coach Fred Shero that the officials were picking on his team. Shero wanted&mdash;no, he demanded&mdash;the examination of 20 game tapes by the league officials to determine that Flyers were receiving penalties they didn&rsquo;t really deserve. It was a bit like the Mau Mau accusing someone of fighting dirty.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02946/4319762-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="532" height="647"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Fred Shero</b></figcaption></div><p>Seldom has a National Hockey League season contained as many sags late in the schedule as this one. The Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings all went for big dips but the flop of the year is the Pittsburgh Penguins. They had a good shot at second place behind the Montreal Canadiens back in February, then won two of their next 18 matches.</p><p>Few elubs in the history of any sport have entered the playoffs as such an overwhelming favorite as the Canadiens. The only question seems to be: Will they win the Stanley Cup in 12 games or will they need 13? The last time a team was such an overwhelming choice probably was 1971 when the Boston Bruins were expected to sweep, then the Canadiens and Ken Dryden knocked them out in the first round in that memorable series.</p><p>If there&rsquo;s a playoff &ldquo;sleeper,&rdquo; a club which could rise up from the pack and cause trouble, Atlanta Flames are the team. They have one of the largest collections of players in the league but took a placid approach until late in the season. The Flames appeared to be learning to use their muscle and that spells trouble for opponents.</p><p>Bobby Kromm appears to be a cinch to earn coach-of-the-year honors for his engineering of an amazing comeback by the Detroit Red Wings.</p><h2><b>An Award For Bravery</b></h2><p>THE WORLD HOCKEY ASSOCIATION deserves an award for bravery in the face of adversity. Or at least John Bassett, the owner of the Birmingham Bulls should receive an accolade. While everyone else, and especially the NHL, is predicting the demise of the WHA at the end of this season, Bassett made statements that the league is considering expansion, not demise.</p><p>The NHL will stage its amateur draft as part of its annual meeting in June. No one will admit it but steadily declining media attention and attendance to the June meeting inspired the switch of the draft to the &ldquo;live&rdquo; format. In the past three years, it&rsquo;s been conducted by telephone. The NHL meeting has failed to gain the large press attention focused on baseball and football&rsquo;s annual confabs.</p><h2><b>Two Greats, One Winner</b></h2><p>IT&rsquo;S UNFORTUNATE THAT Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders and goalie Don Edwards of Buffalo Sabres can&rsquo;t share the Calder Trophy as the best rookie in the NHL. Seldom in NHL history have two freshmen had seasons of the calibre of Bossy&rsquo;s 50 goals and Edwards&rsquo; brilliant goaltending. But then Barry Beck, Reed Larson, Dale McCourt and Stefan Persson haven&rsquo;t been bad, either.</p><p>Name a better experience in sport than watching Guy Lafleur play hockey!</p><p>Perhaps it&rsquo;s an unfortunate trend in hockey but more and more coaches are making more and more use of videotapes of games to analyze their teams and opponents. Hockey, at its best, is an adlib game, not some preconceived succession of patterned plays based on tendency charts.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-01

FRANK ORR SAYS

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><p>CHICAGO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>C</span>redit Bob Murray with high marks for candor when he tells you that last year selfishness was his most important product and that Black Hawk victories, rare as they were, didn&rsquo;t always wipe that scowl off his face.</p><p>&ldquo;In fact, it was so bad that there were times I would almost hope the team didn&rsquo;t do well,&rdquo; he admitted. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t playing and I had a terrible attitude, and I figured that maybe if the team would lose, I would get a chance to play.</p><p>&ldquo;It was a completely wrong way to think. I was like a little kid, and I&rsquo;m sure some of the other guys were unhappy about it and had to wonder about me. But that&rsquo;s the way I was. I was a loser, and I was pouting all the time. I wouldn&rsquo;t have wanted to be my wife, living with me the last couple years.</p><p>&ldquo;I would come to the rink 20 minutes before practice, coast through it for an hour&mdash;I weighed 190 pounds&mdash;and then get dressed and leave. Didn&rsquo;t really care about anything, and there were times when I wasn&rsquo;t even sure whether I wanted to play hockey for a living anymore. I was very frustrated and depressed.&rdquo;</p><p>But at this point in time, with the Black Hawks a respectable team again, and a first place team, the only thing down about Murray is his weight, which is 178.</p><p>Otherwise, the latent talent which always seemed to be there somewhere at last has been tapped, and the 23-year-old defenseman has burgeoned into one of the club&rsquo;s most important players, especially with puck in tow.</p><p>&ldquo;My game in the minor leagues always was carrying the puck,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;But since I came up here, I never really had the confidence to do it, and I never really had that much ice to develop my confidence. Though (coach Bill) White saved me the last half of last year by trying to talk to me.</p><p>&ldquo;Billy Reay gave me my first break by bringing me up from Dallas three years ago. But there were times when I would play only a shift a game, or a little at right, or not at all. I think he believed that was the way to bring along young players, and maybe it was the best thing for me.</p><p>&ldquo;This year, ever since I&rsquo;ve been playing a lot, Bob Pulford hasn&rsquo;t once told me not to carry the puck. It&rsquo;s like the runner on first base who always has the green light to steal second on his own if he thinks he can.</p><p>&ldquo;I mean, if Pully thinks we should be dumping the puck in more, he&rsquo;ll tell you. But he hasn&rsquo;t yet discouraged me from carrying it, and that&rsquo;s my game. I&rsquo;m not big, and I don&rsquo;t play as physical as some other defensemen. Moving the puck is my strength.&rdquo;</p><p>Uncovering his athletes&rsquo; strengths and reaping maximum performance from same seems to be the facet of Pulford&rsquo;s coaching that most intrigues and benefits his players.</p><p>&ldquo;He really studies people and leams what one person needs&mdash;a kick in the butt or praise,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;You see guys playing with confidence here that they never had before. That&rsquo;s besides giving us a system and being as smart as he is behind the bench.</p><p>&ldquo;I feel that in a close game, he might win it for us with coaching. He&rsquo;s out-coached a few coaches in this league this year in big games. We had a 3-3 tie in Montreal, and he had Scotty Bowman going nuts for two periods until he finally just threw his players out at the end and didn&rsquo;t worry about matchups.&rdquo;</p><p>The biggest noise Murray made last season was during the playoffs when he complained openly about how the Black Hawks were locked out of the Stadium because of a rock concert. As a result, they had to play their entire opening round series against the Islanders&mdash;it lasted only two defeats&mdash;in New York.</p><p>&ldquo;I felt we got shoved in the background a little by management, but some of the guys didn&rsquo;t seem to care either way,&rdquo; Murray recalled. &ldquo;They just wanted to get the thing over with and head to the golf courses or their summer cottages.</p><p>&ldquo;This year, I don&rsquo;t think you&rsquo;ll see that kind of attitude here. I have a feeling that the guys are anxious. I think this team is on the way back.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03688/4319800-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="552" height="1597"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BOB MURRAY&hellip;Praises Coach</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0012-03

Murray Likes New Attitude Hawks Carry With Pulford

<p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><p>Detroit Red Wings proved they can handle the hot ones. Now how about the rested ones?</p><p>The Red Wings, whose entire team may be in the running for comeback player of the year, shrugged off the Atlanta Flames in two straight preliminary round games to advance to the quarter-finals. The only problem is that they are going up against defending Stanley Cup champions Montreal and the Canadiens have had eight days to get ready for the beginning of their playoff action.</p><p>Can David topple Goliath?</p><p>Off the teams&rsquo; records against each other during the regular season, the answer, of course, is no. Add in the fact that the Canadiens won 27 more games than the Red Wings and finished with 51 more points. But after the progress made by the Red Wings this year, rising from 18th in the National Hockey League to ninth, you can bet that they&rsquo;ll be trying to spring an upset.</p><p>The Red Wings did gain a playoff advantage of sorts by defeating the Canadiens 4-0 on the last day of the regular season before a wildly enthusiastic Olympia audience. It stopped a string of four consecutive losses to the Canadiens (three in Montreal) following a 2-2 tie in Detroit in October.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011067/4319845-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="534" height="832"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ERROL THOMPSON&hellip;Helped Douse Flames</b></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02851/4319838-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="1167" height="1259"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ANDRE ST. LAURENT&hellip;Open-Net Scorer</b></figcaption></div><p>The fact that the Canadiens had little to gain from a victory in the final meeting of the season and that the Red Wings were trying desparately for a win and second place over the Los Angeles Kings, did little to take away from the Red Wings&rsquo; feeling of accomplishment in beating the NHL&rsquo;s best.</p><p>Red Wings&rsquo; hopes would seem to lie in getting a jump on the Canadiens, who could appear rusty after their layoff, and possibly winning one of the two games in Montreal.</p><p>Against the Flames, the Red Wings bolted out to a 4-0 lead in the first period on goals by Dale McCourt, Errol Thompson, Vaclav Nedomansky and Dennis Hextall before getting an open-net goal from Andre St. Laurent to hold on to a 5-3 victory.</p><p>In Detroit, the Wings overcame a 1-0 deficit and after the Flames had battled back in the third period for a 2-2 tie, Bill Lochead scored his second goal of the game to send the Wings packing for Montreal.</p><p>While the additions of first-year personel such as coach Bobby Kromm, GM Ted Lindsay and Date McCourt, Paul Woods and Reed Larson were certainly key factors in the rise of the Red Wings, the backbone of the team is contained in a crew of grizzled veterans such as Terry Harper. Dennis Hextali, Nick Libett and goaltender Jim Rutherford. Add the names of Nedomansky and Thommie Bergman, who each started the season in the World Hockey Association, and the depth on the club begins to rise dramatically.</p><p>Enough to upset the Canadiens? Even Lindsay would admit that such a dream is only remotely possible. But the improvement shown by the Red Wings, a jump from 41 points to 78 on the season, from 16 to 32 victories, is enough to ensure that the Detroit club has made great strides on the way back to being a winning franchise.</p><p>Is aggressive hockey back in town as the Detroit pre-season slogan stated? Yes, to a degree, but more importantly, the Red Wings are back to respectability and that has to be a shot in the arm for hockey.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03713/4319831-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="1780" height="1484"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PULLING FOR A WINNER: Members of the Louisville Hockey Stick advisory staff, Vaclav Nedomansky, left, and Bill Lochead, of the Detroit Red Wings officiate at ceremony as Nedomansky draws name of Pat Sherman of Dallas, Tex., as the March segment winner of a year&rsquo;s supply of Louisville hockey sticks. Holding container for draw Is Dan Olesevich, assistant trainer of the Red Wings.</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0013-01

Surprising Red Wings About To Face Supreme Test

<div class="byline">BY MIKE DENNIS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011093/4319876-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Canadiens&rsquo; captain Yvan Cournoyer waits his turn to drink from the Stanley Cup following another of Montreal&rsquo;s post-season triumphs. Will he do it again this season? Canadiens are working on their 20th cup win.</b></figcaption></div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>s if the Canadiens don&rsquo;t have enough factors going for them in their attempt at a third successive Stanley Cup what with the home ice advantage for each series, the league&rsquo;s leading scorer and the stingiest defense, you might also chalk up the old intangibles such as playoff experience, and here again the Canadiens come out on top of the National Hockey League.</p><p>They&rsquo;ve been handing out Conn Smythe Trophies for the past 13 years for the Most Valuable Playoff performer and it&rsquo;s little wonder that of the 13 previous winners, 10 have been on the winning team. And exactly half of them have been Canadiens. What makes this particularly significant is that besides Jean Beliveau who won the award the first year it was instituted in 1965, the other four Montreal recipients are still in the Canadiens&rsquo; lineup, the eldest being captain Yvan Cournoyer, who&rsquo;s 34.</p><p>The Philadelphia Flyers are the only other team to have a Smythe winner still playing, with Bernie Parent who took the honor twice in a row when the Flyers captured their pair of Stanley Cups and Reg Leach who won it the following year (1976) when he popped in a record 19 playoff goals. The only other Conn Smythe winner that is not retired, and excluding Bobby Orr, is Dave Keon, who plays for the World Hockey Association New England Whalers. Keon copped the trophy in 1967, the last time the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup.</p><p>Serge Savard, the 32-year-old Habs&rsquo; rearguard was the first of the current lineup to be awarded the Smythe Trophy, back in 1968 when he led the Habs to a sweep in the finals against St. Louis.</p><p>Savard was mentioning after a practice while awaiting the start of the Stanley Cup quarter-finals that he has already been on six Stanley Cup winners. While admitting that he&rsquo;d dearly love a seventh victory parade down Montreal&rsquo;s St. Catherine street, Savard sounded a note of catuion about the playoffs.</p><p>&ldquo;This team is good, in my mind even better than last year&rsquo;s. But the playoffs&hellip;they&rsquo;re something different. What you&rsquo;ve done all season doesn&rsquo;t mean a thing if you get a string of injuries or come up flat. We have to work to remember that. The injuries you can&rsquo;t control, but getting ready mentally, that&rsquo;s very important.&rdquo;</p><p>Ken Dryden who exploded into hockey prominence with a scintillating playoff round which earned him the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1971 when the third-place Canadiens shocked the hockey world by edging the supposedly invincible Boston Bruins and then surged on to another Stanley Cup triumph also talked of the peculiarities of the playoffs.</p><p>He was discussing the eight-day layoff experienced by the Canadiens between the close of the regular schedule and the quarter-final round&mdash;their reward for winning the Norris Division.</p><p>&ldquo;Maybe the first time you go through it (the layoff) it&rsquo;s a bit difficult,&rdquo; said the 30-year-old netminder, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s difficult because of the uncertainty that you might lose your edge.</p><p>&ldquo;But after the first time,&rdquo; Dryden said, in reference to the team&rsquo;s experience in handling the situation, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s no problem at all.&rdquo;</p><p>Captain Cournoyer was the third player on the roster to earn the post-season&rsquo;s most prestigious award. He became the first player to score 15 goals in playoff history, a feat surpassed only by Leach. Cournoyer added 10 assists for 25 points to lead all scorers for the 1972-73 playoffs.</p><p>Canadiens&rsquo; hard-working forward Doug Risebrough said how the younger players were getting a prime example of how to get ready for the playoffs from their venerable captain Cournoyer.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s out here for all the optional practices and now he&rsquo;s been running two and three miles after practices,&rdquo; Risebrough said. &ldquo;How can you not go all out when you see something like that?&rdquo;</p><p>Montreal&rsquo;s fourth Conn Smythe winner, of course, is Guy Lafleur who turned the trick last year with 26 points in only 14 playoff encounters.</p><p>Lafleur went on to a personal best of 60 goals this season and undoubtedly will draw heavy attention from the opposition&rsquo;s checkers. Detroit Red Wings, fresh from their preliminary-round upset of the Atlanta Flames, will draw the onerous burden of trying to contain Lafleur.</p><p>But it&rsquo;s obvious that there are any number of players on the Canadiens who will have to be contained for the rest of the league to upset Montreal. Jacques Lemaire enjoyed his finest season with 97 points and Rejean Houle became a 30-goal scorer for the first time in his NHL career. Steve Shutt scored 49 goals for a two-year total of 109.</p><p>When it comes to matching cards in a head-to-head Stanley Cup showdown, Montreal still holds all the aces.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-01

Habs Feature Slew Of Smythe Trophy Winners

<p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>M</span>ontreal Canadiens&rsquo; vice-president and general manager Sam Pollock was one of three men elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame last week in the builder category.</p><p>The three men, which includes the late J.P. Bickell and William Thayer Tutt, president of the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States have been involved with teams or organizations entwined in the history of hockey.</p><p>Player selections will be announced during the June meetings and builder and player electees will be formally inducted at the Hall of Fame dinner in September. The naming of the three men brings the number of builders to 59 and the total membership of the Hall of Fame to 219.</p><p>At 52, Pollock is one of the youngest ever elected to the Hall in the builder category. Frank Dilio of Montreal, was also 52 when elected, while former NHL governors, Bruce A. Norris and William W. Wirtz were chosen for the honor before their 50th birthdays.</p><p>Pollock, who has been in the Canadiens&rsquo; organization for more than 30 years, has been a guiding force and influence behind the Montreal record of eight Stanley Cups in the 13 years that Pollock has been general manager.</p><p>Bickell, who died Aug. 22, 1951, was the founding president of Maple Leaf Gardens. He helped Conn Smythe to organize the Leafs and it was his financial support and influence that helped create the system which produced Stanley Cup success in Toronto.</p><p>Tutt became only the second president of the AHAUS in 1974 when he took over following the retirement of Tommy Lockhart, who is also a member of the Hall of Fame.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02899/4319907-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="550" height="983"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>SAM POLLOCK&hellip;Receives Honor</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0014-02

Montreal GM Sam Pollock Selected To Hall Of Fame

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><p>NEW YORK&mdash;</p><p>The Rangers playoff life was shortlived but they had the distinction of being the only team in the Stanley Cup preliminary round to drag their series to the maximum three games. Not only that, they also scored the only overtime win of the first round and the hero was Don &lsquo;Murder&rsquo; Murdoch.</p><p>With the Sabres winning the best-of-three series 2-1 in games, the Rangers have gone packing for another year but to the final end, they gave it all they had and New York fans couldn&rsquo;t have asked for more.</p><p>Their 4-3 win in game two of the series was a thriller and Murdoch emerged as the darling of the Gallery Gods with his overtime-period goal that gave the Rangers a life and forced the series back to Buffalo ice where the Sabres wrapped it up.</p><p>&ldquo;The fans were behind us all night,&rdquo; observed the happy Murdoch. &ldquo;It made us want to give 110 percent to win the game for them. In the first game when Buffalo won, (4-1), Donnie Edwards got hot and came up big for them&rsquo;. In game two, it was John Davidson&rsquo;s turn to make the big save.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll never forget my goal&mdash;and I don&rsquo;t mind repeating how I scored it 10 times. Vickers told me to get loose in front if he got the puck. Walter (Tkaczuk) pushed it loose from their man, and Steve threw it out to me. It hit the blade of Billy Hajt&rsquo;s stick and went straight up. When it went over Jerry Korab. I caught it with one hand, dropped it to the ice and shot all in one motion,&rdquo; continued Murdoch.</p><p>The shot caught the lower corner of the net, in the space of about a foot that Edwards had left. It made the season for general manager John Ferguson, and Talbot, and drew approving nods from board chairman Sonny Werblin, who was on hand with club president Bill Jennings and Mike Burke.</p><p>In game one, Talbot and Ferguson created a furor by hinting, before and, that they would start goalie Hardy Aastrom, the Swedish import. They recalled Aastrom from New Haven of the AHL, and then played him in the final game of the regular season, after benching Davidson in the first seven minutes of a bad loss to the Islanders on April 8.</p><p>&ldquo;I picked Thomas because of his experience in game one,&rdquo; said Talbot.</p><p>Davidson was openly unhappy, and many felt he would never again wear the Ranger uniform, but he was the goalie in game number two&mdash;and he came through in fine form. He also tended goal in game three.</p><p>&ldquo;Hardy, Wayne and myself went in and sat down with Talbot and Fergy, and talked it out, man to man,&rdquo; revealed Davidson. &ldquo;That made everybody happy. Telling someone in a cold manner is like chopped liver, and I didn&rsquo;t like the way it was done before game one.&rdquo;</p><p>The Rangers&rsquo; overtime win produced two disallowed goals in the overtime period before Murdoch&rsquo;s sudden death winner.</p><p>&ldquo;If (referee) John McCauley had disallowed mine I think I would have killed him,&rdquo; quipped Murdoch.</p><p>The Rangers have had a pretty fair season, despite five losses at the end of the regular campaign, before a season ending win over Chicago broke the slump.</p><p>Dave Maloney, the Blueshirts best defenseman, happily proclaimed, &ldquo;It couldn&rsquo;t have happened to a better guy than Murdoch. He&rsquo;s a good kid and this will help him. It was poetic justice that &lsquo;Murder&rsquo; got it.&rdquo;</p><p>The Garden wasn&rsquo;t quite sold out for the Rangers first home opening in the playoffs&mdash;and their first since disaster struck in April of 1975, when J.P. Parise beat Eddie Giacomin 11 seconds into sudden death in the deciding game of the best of three with the Islanders.</p><p>&ldquo;I assisted on that one, too,&rdquo; quipped Vickers. &ldquo;I gave the puck to Jude Drouin, who threw it over to Parise. I guess this gets me even.&rdquo;</p><p>Vickers, always a clutch player, was the one Ranger who stood up to the Flyers&rsquo; bully boys in the 1973-74 playoffs, scored a goal in each of the first two playoff games&mdash;and was used in key power play situations. Murdoch also comported himself with skill, notching a goal and two assists in the Rangers tying effort. Murder and Dallas Smith assisted on Vickers goal in Buffalo.</p><p>BLUE CHIPS: Phil Esposito and Rick Martin, normally non-combatants staged a wing ding brawl at the end of regulation time April 13&hellip;Buffalo had a 2-1-1 edge in regular season play with the Rangers&hellip;Eddie Johnstone, Mike McEwen and Greg Polis were out of the New York lineup with injuries&hellip;It was the first time Buffalo and New York had met in the playoffs&hellip;The Rangers were appearing for the 31st time in the team&rsquo;s 52-year history. They have a playoff record of 92-103-8&hellip;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011046/4319938-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="558" height="673"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DON MURDOCH&hellip;Overtime Hero</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0015-01

Murdoch, Rangers Leave Fans Happy

<div class="byline">BY LARRY BORTSTEIN</div><p>DENVER&mdash;</p><h2><b>Penalty Leaders</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01898/4319990-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="600" height="358"></div><h2><b>Rookie Leaders</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02744/4319983-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="611" height="397"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>s the days were dwindling down to a precious few, and the Colorado Rockies, playing their best hockey of the season, remained in the fight for the playoffs, Doug Favell was providing the club with a fine stretch of work in the goal and keeping the rest of the team loose with his easy-going approach to life and his demanding profession.</p><p>This year has been one of redemption for Fawy, whose career has been marred by injuries three straight seasons before this one. Though slowed by a broken thumb for a time in mid-season this year, Doug has been a workhorse in the Rockies&rsquo; cage most of the campaign, and coach Pat Kelly called on him often as the season wore down. More often than not, the oldest Rocky at age 32, responded with solid efforts.</p><p>There may have been surprise around the league when Favell kept coming up with strong showings on a regular basis. But Doug was not at all surprised at the success he&rsquo;s enjoyed this year with the second-year Mile High City club.</p><p>&ldquo;You have to believe in yourself,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Have you ever known me to have doubts about myself? Have you?&rdquo; Those who have known or been associated with Fawy here well know the answer to the question.</p><p>Favell was one of very few Rockies with previous playoff experience. Gary Croteau, the only other Rocky player over 30, has been in the post-season skirmishing in the past. Denis Dupere, who&rsquo;ll turn 30 in June, played a total of 14 playoff games in three years, and Dennis Owchar and John Van Boxmeer have seen playoff action.</p><p>In 19 Stanley Cup games, with Philadelphia and Toronto, Favell has a 3.13 goals-against average. He posted a shutout for the Flyers in the 1973 playoffs. &ldquo;I think I know and understand the kind of pressure you feel in the playoffs,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Also, because I&rsquo;m older and have more experience, I feel I have to be a leader on this team. But it&rsquo;s tough for a goaltender to be a leader, a take-charge guy.</p><p>&ldquo;A goaltender can&rsquo;t make things happen,&rdquo; Doug goes on. &ldquo;You have to wait for things to happen. But I try to help the other guys any way I can. I&rsquo;m not going out and help them score goals. That&rsquo;s not my job. I can&rsquo;t do anything about the way they play. But I can help them be relaxed, help them concentrate on what we have to do. I&rsquo;ve always been kind of an outgoing guy, so it&rsquo;s easy for me to talk to people.&rdquo;</p><p>Favell wears outsized cowboy hats on team planes and grins easily, but he says he doesn&rsquo;t want to be known as &ldquo;flaky.&rdquo; He was happy that THE HOCKEY NEWS correspondent from Denver wrote a story about him earlier this season without using the word &ldquo;flake&rdquo; to describe him. Maybe he won&rsquo;t be as happy about this story when he reads it. But it has been a pretty happy season for the veteran goaler, and the quality of his work has made other people happy&mdash;people who are involved with making the Colorado franchise a going enterprise in this city and within the league.</p><p>A lot of that happiness was going around in the closing weeks of the Rockies&rsquo; second season in Denver. A year ago at this time there was doubt whether there&rsquo;d be a second season for the Rockies here. There&rsquo;s no doubt that there&rsquo;ll be a third, and quite likely many more after that.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03594/4319976-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="1178" height="1456"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DOUG FAVELL&hellip;Helps Relax Colorado Teammates</b></figcaption></div><p>ICE PEBBLES: Barry Beck became the first rookie defenseman in NHL history to score 20 goals in a season when he tallied at 5:55 of the second period in a game against Washington on March 30. The goal gave the Rockies a 3-1 lead at home, but the Caps rallied to win, 4-3&hellip;Beck counted goal No. 21 in an April 1 4-2 victory over Minnesota. The Rockies were undefeated in their six-game series with the North Stars this season, with a 30-3 mark&hellip;The Rockies were conducting a poll among local media to see which Rocky defenseman was the best, and the winner would be presented a post-season award from the team. Considering that Beck is already rated one of the top five or six defenseman in the league, could there have been any doubt about top Colorado blueliner this season?&hellip;The Rockies have their first sellout crowd, 16,399, who watched them defeat Minnesota on April 1. A good part of the crowd was made up of people who paid discount rates as part of a special Coors Beer promotion set up several months ago. But the Rockies aren&rsquo;t allowing this fact to dampen their enthusiasm and elation at the record crowd. The Rockies came right back with their second straight sell-out in the season&rsquo;s finale against St. Louis and rewarded their fans with a 5-2 triumph and a spot in the playoffs.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04465/4319969-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="561" height="1227"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DENIS DUPERE&hellip;Second In Experience</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0016-01

Easy-Going Goaler Favell Backbone For Rockies’ Rise To Playoff Berth

<p class="dropcap"><span>P</span>layers like Gil Perreault, Rick Martin and Don Edwards are certainly foremost in the minds of hockey observers come playoff time, but perhaps the most important player on the Buffalo Sabres is captain Danny Gare who has established a reputation as a money player and leader.</p><p>Gare scored at least one point in each of the Sabres&rsquo; three games which they needed to advance past the New York Rangers. In Game One, he assisted on the third goal of the game to give the Sabres a 3-0 lead. In Game Two, it was Gare&rsquo;s goal which forced the contest into overtime and for a minute it looked like he might have scored the winner, but it was ruled that he had kicked the puck into the net.</p><p>In the decisive match in Buffalo, Gare assisted on the winning goal and later added the third goal of the game to give the Sabres a commanding 3-0 lead.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01807/4320073-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="505" height="733"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DANNY GARE&hellip;Buffalo Sabres</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>Team Penalties</b></h2><h3><b>FINAL RECORDS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02642/4320066-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="608" height="637"></div><h2><b>Lafleur Easy Winner Of NHL Scoring Race</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01605/4320059-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="1123" height="479"></div><h2><b>Final Goaling Records</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02426/4320052-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="1144" height="2927"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0018-01

NHL’S…Player of the Week

<div class="byline">BY RUSS WHITE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03473/4320111-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TOM ROWE&hellip; Blossomed On Washington Power Play</b></figcaption></div><p>WASHINGTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he final days of the hockey season were good ones for the Capitals. &ldquo;We deserve something good,&rdquo; coach Tom McVie said. &ldquo;We worked hard all year and got a lot less than we put into it. We worked harder than we did a year ago when we won more games.&rdquo;</p><p>Within a week the Caps pulled off ties against Boston and Montreal and beat Buffalo. The Caps were up 2-1 at Nassau Coliseum, but lost 3-2 on a goal by Mike Bossy with five seconds to go.</p><p>Wingers Tommy Rowe and Mike Marson drew raves for their work in the final days.</p><p>&ldquo;Rowe is doing things he hadn&rsquo;t for a year and a half,&rdquo; said McVie. The sturdy right wing from the London Knights of the Ontario Junior Hockey Association, scored goals in four straight games and picked up points in six straight.</p><p>Rowe is one of the fastest skaters on the team and has perhaps the hardest shot. &ldquo;From 20 to 25 feet he is extremely dangerous,&rdquo; said general manager Max McNab. &ldquo;He fires at 95 miles an hour, maybe more and there aren&rsquo;t many goalies who can react to that shot.&rdquo;</p><p>Earlier in the year Rowe enjoyed a two-goal game against the New York Rangers and seemed to be coming alive but was shelved shortly thereafter with a shoulder injury. It kept Rowe out for a month.</p><p>As the season drew to a close, Rowe was on target again and the loyal Caps&rsquo; fans enjoyed every shift the second-year pro took. McVie, desperate for help on the club&rsquo;s power play, sent Rowe on the ice and again found success. &ldquo;Maybe I&rsquo;ve been using the wrong people,&rdquo; McVie said.</p><p>Rowe went immediately to the slot and stood his ground there for a power play deflection that gave the Caps their tying goal in the 4-4 game against the Canadiens.</p><p>A couple of nights later he fought off the Sabres&rsquo; defenders and drew a standing ovation from the fans at Capital Centre. He also whipped in his 12th goal. &ldquo;He should be a 17 to 20 goaler next year,&rdquo; McVie said, &ldquo;maybe even better.&rdquo;</p><p>Rowe anticipates a permanent place on the power play unit next year either in the slot or even at one of the points. &ldquo;I played the point in junior and scored. I realize it&rsquo;s a lot different in the NHL, that you really have to be able to handle the puck. In time, I&rsquo;d like a chance at it.&rdquo;</p><p>Marson, drafted as an underage player in Washington&rsquo;s first crack at the amateur pool, has come on dramatically in the closing days of the season. His passing and shooting has been exceptional. Against Montreal, Marson made a fine drop pass to Guy Charron that not only gave Charron possession but at the same time took out the last defender. Charron, who is always on target, drilled in his 37th goal.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04331/4320104-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="558" height="739"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MIKE MARSON&hellip;Concentrating More</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;It may sound strange but I learned something this past winter from looking at football on television,&rdquo; Marson said. &ldquo;I watched how guys like Lynn Swann of the Pittsburgh Steelers was able to catch passes in the heaviest of traffic. He concentrated on getting the ball and defied the risk he may have taken with the defenders. He got his head chipped off a couple of times but look at the catches he made.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the same thing with the quarterbacks. They can&rsquo;t be too concerned with the rush. They have to concentrate on finding their receivers and getting the ball to them.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve worked on my passing game and on receiving the puck and I think it&rsquo;s concentration. I used to get so tense that I&rsquo;d foul up. I try not to let anything bother me now except keeping an eye for the puck and for someone to get it to quickly.&rdquo;</p><p>Marson, once a bonus baby with the team, accepted a pay slice this year to relieve pressure and be accepted in the clubhouse. He has a longer term pact now and there are signs he&rsquo;ll be of help as the Caps get their act together.</p><p>There has been little doubt from the start that this year&rsquo;s top draft pick, Robert Picard, is a Cap for good. Picard assisted on three of the goals in the Buffalo game and as GM McNab said: &ldquo;We are happy with Pic. We have never talked to anyone about him. Not Montreal, No one.&rdquo; Picard is a Cap untouchable.</p><p>CAPS NOTES: Caps drew an average of 10,700 again this year and while there were threats by season ticket holders to pull out, the late drive to respectability saved a few of them&hellip;rookie goalie Jim Bedard drew a standing ovation at home for a brilliant save on a breakaway by Buffalo&rsquo;s Gilbert Perreault&hellip;Bernie Wolfe had outstanding night at Island in 3-2 loss to New York&hellip;Brian Watson is Washington Hockey Writer&rsquo;s choice for Masterton Trophy. Watson is a spunky, total pro who has given much to the game and to charity through the years. He&rsquo;s first class all the way and truly deserves a trophy such as the Masterton for his dedication, perserverance and contributions to the game.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-03

Caps End Season In High Spirits; Rowe, Marson Head Impressive Kids

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div><p>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;</p><p>Lou Nanne&rsquo;s work in the capacity of general manager is just beginning, now that the Stars have concluded a disappointing season.</p><p>The next major decisions will not be made immediately as Nanne goes about the groundwork for rebuilding a Stars&rsquo; team that some thought would contend for the Smythe Division championship. Three coaches later, the Stars wound up in the Smythe basement.</p><p>A major housecleaning is expected before training camp next September when the Stars will open with their fourth coach in a year. Nanne&rsquo;s handpicked man will be named late this spring.</p><p>&ldquo;I probably will not get around to naming a coach until the end of May,&rdquo; Nanne said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be on the road five weeks before that scouting the Central League playoffs, the juniors, the World Championships in Prague and the Stanley Cup.&rdquo;</p><p>An especially close look will be taken at Canadian junior talent since the Stars have the honor (dishonor) of the first choice in each round of the June amateur draft.</p><p>There is plenty of talk of Nanne bringing new faces to the Stars via the trade market and from the pool of free agents.</p><p>More crucial decisions await Nanne in next September&rsquo;s training camp with all the newcomers and the holdovers from this year&rsquo;s team.</p><p>&ldquo;Training camp will be a spirited, decision making time,&rdquo; said Nanne, who coached the team the last 29 games of the season. &ldquo;Most of the current players will get a chance then to make the team.&rdquo;</p><p>Nanne said he was very pleased with the team&rsquo;s effort during his brief stay behind the bench.</p><p>&ldquo;I have no complaints about that,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was totally disappointed with our effort in only a few games. And there was only one of the 13 home games in which the earn did not play well.</p><p>&ldquo;Our record should have been a lot better. We lost too many one-goal games. I think our fans have seen some good hockey and we could have won a lot more than we did. There is no question in my mind that this team is better than its record indicates.&rdquo;</p><p>It was hard to explain why the Stars could perform so well against certain teams and so flat against others. The highlights were two victories over Montreal. And the Stars also took victories from the other powers&mdash;Philadelphia, Boston, Buffalo and the New York Islanders.</p><p>But against division rival Colorado, for example, the Stars went the first five games between the teams without winning before finally pulling out a 5-3 decision in Minnesota&rsquo;s final home game.</p><p>&ldquo;We couldn&rsquo;t beat the bottom clubs for some reason,&rdquo; said Tim Young, who closed the season as the team&rsquo;s acting captain. &ldquo;It was a bad year&mdash;the league was tougher and we had that bad start (0-6). A good start gives a team a winning attitude and we missed that most of all.&rdquo;</p><p>Nanne is travelling extensively because he does want the team to get off to a winning start next fall.</p><p>STAR DUST: The contracts of replaced coaches Ted Harris and Andre Beaulieu will not be renewed. They are interested in continuing in the pro coaching ranks&hellip;Jack Gordon, fired as GM, will remain with the club the coming season&hellip; Per-Olov Brasar won most of the team awards given before the teams&rsquo;s final home game.. The little Swedish left winger was honored as most valuable player on a vote of teammates, most popular by fans, outstanding rookie and winner of most Three-Star awards&hellip;In addition, Twin Cities hockey writers nominated him for the NHL&rsquo;s Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy&hellip; Fred Barrett was voted outstanding defenseman&hellip;The Stars finished with an all-time low average attendance of 8,666.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01771/4320149-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="874" height="1148"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02620/4320142-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="874" height="1153"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Two of the player Minnesota will rely heavily upon for the future are Per-Olov Brasar who was chosen by teammates as the team&rsquo;s Most Valuable player and Tim Young, who closed the season with a flourish as acting captain of the North Stars.</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0019-01

GM Says North Stars Better Than Record Shows

<div class="byline">BY RICH PASSAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03335/4320180-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GILLES MELOCHE&hellip;Could Only Try His Best</b></figcaption></div><p>CLEVELAND&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>o say the 1977-78 National Hockey League season has been a disappointment to Gilles Meloche would be grossly understating the feeling for the fine goaltender of the Barons.</p><p>Hopes for a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs looked better than just a little bright for the Barons back in January and the early days of February.</p><p>And Meloche, for one, could not wait to get into post-season action after his club had been floundering for so long without tasting playoff money.</p><p>Everything looked good.</p><p>General manager Harry Howell made a couple of trades that seemed to turn around the Barons, hoping to latch onto one of the four wild-card spots available for the playoffs.</p><p>In came defenseman Jean Potvin and left winger J.P. Parise from the New York Islanders and Chuck Amason from the Colorado Rockies. The incessant losing stopped.</p><p>&ldquo;I really believed we&rsquo;d be in there,&rdquo; said Meloche, whose anticipation turned to disappointment when the Barons went a disastrous 15 games without winning.</p><p>The streak started Feb. 17 and lasted 41 long, frustrating and agonizing days. Meloche was crushed.</p><p>&ldquo;Right now,&rdquo; he said shortly after the streak was broken in a 7-3 victory over Minnesota, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s a long season.&rdquo;</p><p>Throughout all the non-winning, Meloche never griped. That&rsquo;s not his nature. But he had every reason to grouse about the play of his teammates.</p><p>The offense quit being offensive and the defense stopped being defensive. Tha leaves just one area to deal with the opponent. And Meloche was the best player during the siege.</p><p>Yet, he will not acknowledge the fact.</p><p>&ldquo;If we don&rsquo;t win, there is something going wrong,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to pinpoint whose fault it is. It&rsquo;s not just one thing. The whole team is not working. Once in a while, that includes the goaltender.&rdquo;</p><p>All the seven-year veteran netminder tries to do is &ldquo;go out and try my best. What happens, happens. Of course, I&rsquo;m not too happy about it, but what can you do?&rdquo;</p><p>Meloche isn&rsquo;t certain whether all the non-winning had an effect on his performances. &ldquo;I feel the same way,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s up to the coach or general manager to decide that.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think, though, I&rsquo;m playing any worse than I was earlier in the season. If the team goes well, the goalies look good. If the team goes badly, the goalies look bad.&rdquo;</p><p>The fact he can still make one or two big saves a game tells Meloche he still has what it takes to be one of the top goalkeepers in the NHL.</p><p>The only difference between him and some of his adversaries is that other teams usually reward a clutch save with a goal. Meloche has been rewarded with more shots on goal.</p><p>The season couldn&rsquo;t end soon enough for Meloche. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s nothing to fight for,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;All I want to do is win as many games as I can.&rdquo;</p><p>Several nights later, he went out and stoned the Buffalo Sabres, 5-3, right in their own building. A bit of consolation among all the disappointment.</p><p>BARONS&rsquo; BITS: Defensemen Jim Neilson and Bob Stewart were forced to call it quits before the end of the season. Neilson went down with a broken finger, while Stewart underwent exploratory surgery on an injured ankle and knee&hellip;Center iceman Dave Gardner&rsquo;s hopes of scoring 20 goals were dashed by a back injury&hellip;Chuck Arnason&rsquo;s hot stick enabled him to score 13 goals in 14 games. The burly right winger popped home 20 goals in his first 36 games for the Barons since coming here from Colorado.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-03

Meloche Offers No Excuses For Barons’ Inept Efforts

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div><p>ST. LOUIS&mdash;</p><p>The St. Louis Blues have a glittering record of getting into the Stanley Cup playoffs, but this season some of the glitter faded.</p><p>The Blues have been in existence 11 seasons and have been in the playoffs nine of those years, including three times in the finals. The only time before this season the Blues missed the playoffs was in 1974 when coach Jean Guy Talbot quit because of illness with 23 games remaining in the season and Lou Angotti finished the season with a 4-15-4 record.</p><p>Then there was this season.</p><p>The Blues won the Smythe Division title a year ago but this year sank to fourth place behind Chicago, Vancouver and Colorado. Only the total collapse of last year&rsquo;s second-place Minnesota North Stars kept the Blues from the bottom of the standings.</p><p>The first problem for the Blues in 1977-78 was that preparations for the season started very late. The question of whether the Blues would survive was not answered until the middle of summer when Ralston Purina Co., bought the team from the Salomon family. By that time the Blues&rsquo; top draft choice, defenseman Scott Campbell, had signed a contract with the Houston Aeros with the explanation that the Aeros were more sound financially than the Blues.</p><p>Campbell should have waited. The change in ownership gave the Blues solid financial backing, and Campbell probably would have been able to earn a spot in the Blues&rsquo; lineup.</p><p>General manager Emile Francis, who was one of a handful of employees at the Blues&rsquo; offices last summer, was hampered by the team&rsquo;s uncertainty. There was dealing to do, but Francis was dealing from quicksand.</p><p>The Blues had two big holes to fill before the season started. Bob Gassoff was killed in a traffic accident, and Chuck Lefley surprised everyone during training camp by retiring from hockey. He went home to Manitoba but later went to Finland to play hockey.</p><p>Francis had to make changes in the Blues&rsquo; roster after the season started. He picked up Bill Fairbairn on waivers, sent Jerry Butler to Toronto to get Inge Hammarstrom and obtained Neil Komadoski from Los Angeles. The big trade of the season sent Bob MacMillan, Dick Redmond and Yves Belanger to Atlanta for Phil Myre, Barry Gibbs, Curt Bennett and a draft choice. The Blues finished the season with 20 players, only 10 of whom were with the team all season.</p><p>And the Blues followed a team tradition by changing coaches during the season. In only three of the Blues&rsquo; 11 seasons has the coach at the beginning of the season still been the coach at the end of the season.</p><p>Leo Boivin resigned with 26 games remaining, and former hero Barclay Plager was called, from Salt Lake City, where he had been coaching the Blues&rsquo; farm club.</p><p>Plager did a good job. He finished the season with a 9-11-6 record, a better pace than the first part of the season. And he showed that his own fighting determination could be transferred with som* success to an NHL team under his command.</p><p>In the last eight games of the season the Blues lost to Atlanta, 5-3, tied Chicago, 2-2, lost to the New York Rangers, 5-2, beat Vancouver and Cleveland, 3-1, and then were eliminated from the playoffs in a 3-2 loss to Vancouver before beating Los Angeles, 3-2 and losing to Colorado, 5-2.</p><p>The Blues will be making some changes before next season, and perhaps some of them will come soon.</p><p>&ldquo;We need some holes filled,&rdquo; Plager said. &ldquo;Part of my job over the last part of the season was to find out who wants to play for us next season. Apparently some of them don&rsquo;t want to.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01453/4320211-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="552" height="1447"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BARCLAY PLAGER&hellip;Will Fill Holes</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0021-01

Uncertain Foundation Sank Blues

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div><p>VANCOUVER&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>O</span>ne of the bright faces in the Vancouver lineup to close the season was Glen Hanlon, the rookie goaltender drafted by the Canucks in the last amateur draft from Brandon.</p><p>He was brought in from Tulsa of the Central League in the last week of the season to replace Curt Ridley, who was injured in a road game against St. Louis Blues. Ridley, who has not signed a contract for next season and is a free agent, suffered tom knee ligaments.</p><p>But Hanlon, who is being touted in some places as the Central League&rsquo;s rookie of the year, came up and got his first start of the season at the Pacific Coliseum against the Philadelphia Flyers. He was as nervous as a cat, but his performance was more than acceptable.</p><p>&ldquo;That game was the most exciting of my life,&rdquo; said Hanlon. &ldquo;It was all fun for me because the exceitment was fun. When (Mel) Bridgman got that breakaway, I thought &lsquo;now don&rsquo;t get nervous, it&rsquo;s not going to help.&rsquo; When he got closer, I thought &lsquo;what am I gonna do.&rsquo; I ended up playing it really badly but I looked up and thought well, this sort of thing is going to happen. You&rsquo;ve just got to forget about it and concentrate. It was the best defensive game I&rsquo;ve ever played in. Our defense played really well, because the Flyers have a lot of great shooters. The guys were really working in front of me. They really wanted to help me.&rdquo;</p><p>Indeed Hanlon, who is one of the most enthusiastic individuals you will ever meet, has given Canucks a little bit of life with his attitude.</p><p>And while it wasn&rsquo;t enough to drag the club into the playoffs, it certainly stands them in good stead should Cesare Maniago go ahead with his retirement plans this year.</p><p>Hanlon, who had a goals-against average of just over 3.00 in the shootout Central League, has an excellent chance to be the top rookie, but doesn&rsquo;t seem overly enthused about the possibility.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve heard the talk, and it&rsquo;s nice, but I don&rsquo;t really much care. I just care about this league. My parents wanted me to send them my press clippings from Tulsa, but I said &lsquo;I don&rsquo;t want anything to do with the minor leagues.&rsquo; Everything I&rsquo;m working for is to do well in the NHL. I love this city. It&rsquo;s where I wanted to play all the time I was in Brandon because it&rsquo;s so beautiful and all the people here have always been nice to me. Even when I played in New Westminster, the Bruins&rsquo; fans used to applaud me.&rdquo;</p><p>One of Hanlon&rsquo;s chief problems according to those in Vancouver management and his close friends is that he was overly bothered by goals that got past him. He would sometimes worry about shots he felt he might have had a chance at stopping. But Hanlon says he has gained considerable benefit from the book Sports Psyching, by Thomas Tutko. He says it helped him forget a goal once it was past him.</p><p>&ldquo;I used to worry about goals; but I read one sentence in this book when I was in Tulsa, and suddenly it hit home to me. It said that it is so much easier to concentrate on one thing at a time and not about the past or the future. Now I seem to be able to forget about the goals that get by, although not completely.&rdquo;</p><p>Hanlon is a bit Uke former star Glenn Hall in a sense that he doesn&rsquo;t like the puck to get past him anytime, even in practice. And it is that spirit, that refreshing mood of his that had the Canucks playing a little better. Hanlon, whose first game was a 3-2 loss to Philly. countered that with his first win in the NHL, a 3-2 decision over St. Louis Blues. He saved the puck when the final buzzer went, and it left coach Orland Kurtenbach in a quandary as to whether he should go with his veteran Maniago or Hanlon against the Los Angeles Kings. Though he started with Maniago, Kurtenbach brought Hanlon on in a relief role to gain a 5-5 with Hanlon holding the Kings scoreless. The next night the Colorado Rockies won and the Canucks suddenly hit hard by injuries lost to the Kings and missed the playoffs.</p><p>While they remained relatively free of the injury-bug earlier in the year, some key players were suddenly eliminated or slowed by late-season injuries.</p><p>Mike Walton suffered a broken bone in his hand in a game against Chicago when he was slashed by Ted Bulley, and he missed three games before he could be fitted with a cast for the hand and play with limited movement.</p><p>Sheldon Kannegiesser, one of the team&rsquo;s best defensemen when he&rsquo;s healthy, suffered a painful heel bruise and could not skate, forcing the recall of former Flyer Larry Goodenough from Tulsa. Further, Jack Mcllhargey, who gave it all he could this year, including one night in Atlanta when he took on both Willi Plett and Harold Phillipoff, suffered a separated shoulder in Hanlon&rsquo;s first game against the Flyers and was operated on the day after the game.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Hanlon Impressive In Bid To Remain Major League Goalie

<p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><p>BUFFALO&mdash;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01494/4320273-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="466" height="679"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>STANLEY CUP 1978</b></figcaption></div><p>Buffalo Sabres were the only surviving team to face the prospect of being eliminated from the playoffs by one more loss, being forced to&rsquo; a third game in the preliminary round with the New York Rangers, but they entered quarter-final play on Monday, April 17, just as Philadelphia, Toronto and Detroit did after sweeping their series.</p><p>The preliminary round, which is liable to produce upsets because it is a best-of-three affair, had only a series of minor surprises as the favored teams saw their short playoff lives come to an end.</p><p>Here are what might be considered the minor surprises:</p><p>&mdash;that Detroit took Atlanta in two straight;</p><p>&mdash;that Colorado made things so difficult for Philadelphia;</p><p>&mdash;that Toronto had things so easy against Los Angeles;</p><p>&mdash;that it took the Sabres three games to knock off the Rangers.</p><p>Momentum was thought to be the key factor in the Detroit-Atlanta series with the Flames playing their best hockey ever through the last dozen games of the regular schedule and with the Red Wings caught up in the euphoria of reaching the playoffs for the first time since 1970 after finishing dead last in the league a year ago.</p><p>The Red Wings were being conceded the second game of the series at home in the Olympia before sellout audience some of whom camped out more than 24 hours before the tickets went on sale. Their hopes lay in being able to win one game in Atlanta, and they wasted very little time in getting the jump on the Flames.</p><p>Dale McCourt, Errol Thompson, Vaclav Nedomansky and Dennis Hextall each scored in the first period in the Omni and the Red Wings never looked back. Not that the Flames gave up. They picked up a second period goal from Tom Lysiak and by midway in the third period had closed to within a goal after Eric Vail and Dick Redmond scored, but Andre St. Laurent scored into an empty net for a 53 Detroit victory.</p><p>The Wings may have been a bit tight before the 16,671 fans back home as they went through a scoreless first period and then fell behind 1-0 when Lysiak scored for the Flames. Nedomansky evened it up at the 12:09 mark of the second frame and then Bill Lochead gave the Wings a 21 lead near the midway point in the third period.</p><p>With 5:54 left to play, Bobby Lalonde tied the game for Atlanta on a breakaway and set the stage for Lochead&rsquo;s second goal at 18:26 which vaulted the Wings into the quarter-finals.</p><p>Philadelphia Flyers found that the Colorado Rockies weren&rsquo;t about to come down to earth from the rarefied atmosphere of their first playoffs and play like a team which had only won 19 of 80 games as the Rockies indeed had done.</p><p>Rick MacLeish&rsquo;s tally for the Flyers was matched in the first period by a goal from Colorado&rsquo;s Denis Dupere. Bobby Clarke put Philadelphia on top 2-1 in the second stanza, but Dave Hudson knotted the score early in the third and the Flyers, despite outshooting the Rockies 42-18 were forced to overtime. It took just one shot as Mel Bridgman beat Rockies&rsquo; Doug Favell after 23 seconds and the Flyers were off the hook.</p><p>Another close game was waiting for them in Denver. Reg Leach scored in the first period, but so did Dennis Owchar of the Rockies. The second period was scoreless with neither side taking many chances and no penalties called. Don Saleski scored the game-winner at 1:13 of the third period with Kelly adding an insurance goal at 10:36, but the Flyers knew they had been in a series.</p><p>So did the Los Angeles Kings, who were very unimpressive in losing two straight to the Toronto Maple Leafs. By the same token, the Leafs were very impressive.</p><p>They jumped to a 6-0 lead by the 4:48 mark of the third period, allowing the Kings very few scoring opportunities along the way. Goals five and six of the lead were provided by George Ferguson who only had seven goals during the regular season. After the Kings finally broke the shutout with a goal from Pete Stemkowski, Ferguson came right back with his third goal of the period to join 10 other players who had scored a Stanley Cup hat trick in one period.</p><p>It was expected that the Kings would put up much stronger opposition in their Forum home, but such was not the case. The Leafs scored at 1:12,10:38 and 15:29 of the first period and from there just played out the string. Darryl Sittier added a third period goal, but the Kings provided their 12,889 fans with little to cheer about.</p><p>Buffalo played true to form by winning a pair of games at home by 4-1 scores, but the surprise was that they had to even play three games to dispose of the Rangers.</p><p>Gil Perreault and Rick Martin gave the Sabres a 2-0 lead in the first game before Steve Vickers replied for the Rangers. Josh Guevremont and Gary McAdam, though, wrapped up things for Buffalo.</p><p>The second game seesawed back and forth with the Rangers twice tying Buffalo before grabbing a 3-2 lead in the second period when Ron Duguay scored at 15:07. Danny Gare got that one back and the teams played through a scoreless third period to bring about overtime. Each team then had a goal disallowed before Don Murdoch knocked down a pass with his glove and shot it past Don Edwards to send the series back to Buffalo.</p><p>Finally the Sabres wore the Rangers down. They outshot them 15-3 in a scoreless first period and then fired 15 more shots at John Davidson in the second frame as Perreault, Craig Ramsay and Gare scored. Pat Hickey got one back for the Rangers but Rene Robert matched that and the Sabres advanced.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03312/4320266-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="1176" height="1062"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GEORGE FERGUSON&hellip; Playoff Hat Trick</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0022-01

Flyers, Sabres, Leafs Win Playoffs With Ease

<p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p>Montreal Canadiens, defending Stanley Cup champions of the past two years and last year&rsquo;s finalists Boston Bruins, appear to have the easiest routes to a berth in the semi-finals, and a possible date for a rematch in May&rsquo;s Stanley Cup finals.</p><p>The Canadiens drew the Detroit Red Wings as a quarter-final opponent, a team they defeated in four of six meetings during the regular season with one game also ending in a tie. The Detroit victory came in the final game of the schedule, a 4-0 shutout in Detroit. Boston will go up against Chicago Black Hawks and are heavily favored as they shut out Chicago on three occasions in four tries during the regular season. The other meeting of the two clubs was a 4-2 Chicago triumph.</p><p>In other quarter-final series, third place (overall) and Patrick Division champions New York Islanders are battling Toronto, while what should be the closest match pits Philadelphia Flyers against the Buffalo Sabres in a series which will probably run seven games.</p><p>After tying 2-2 in their first meeting in Detroit in October, the Canadiens pulled off four straight victories. They won by 31, 9-3 and 5-1 in Montreal, with a 6-1 win in Detroit. Guy Lafleur was particularly effective against the Red Wings scoring eight goals and four assists in the six meetings of the two clubs while Steve Shutt had nine points and Jacques Lemaire seven for Montreal. Dennis Hextall led Detroit with three goals and three assists.</p><p>The Black Hawks did not score a goal on Boston Garden ice this year, losing the first match of the year in November 1-0 and later dropping a 7-0 decision. In between the clubs split in the Windy City with the Bruins recording a 3-0 whitewash in January and the Hawks breaking through with a 4-2 triumph in February.</p><p>Terry O&rsquo;Reilly and Wayne Cashman paced the Bruins with four points apiece during the season with a goal and three assists, while four different Hawks counted goals in the lone game they managed to win.</p><p>The Islanders also had a 3-1 record during the regular schedule against the Leafs, but with the exception of the final meeting, a 6-2 Islanders&rsquo; victory near the end of March, the games were much closer.</p><p>Toronto won the first meeting between the clubs, back in December in a 3-2 game, but the Islanders took over after that, winning at home 4-2 in January and 4-3 in February.</p><p>Bryan Trottier had six points to lead the Islanders while Denis Potvin and Bob Bourne each picked up five. Darryl Sittier led the Leafs with five points.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02386/4320304-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="511" height="656"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BRYAN TROTTIER</b></figcaption></div><p>Buffalo Sabres took seven of eight points from the Flyers in their season&rsquo;s series, gaining their first victory ever at the Spectrum, and hope they can carry this success into the playoffs to overcome the Flyers&rsquo; extra home game.</p><p>The Sabres nipped the Flyers 3-2 in Philly in November 4-0, and 3-1 in Buffalo in February and March and then tied the final meeting of the season 2-2 in Philadelphia.</p><p>Danny Gare led the Sabres with seven points including four goals against the Flyers, with Gil Perreault next with four points. Bobby Clarke topped the Flyers with three points.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0022-02

Canadiens, Bruins Rank As Favorites

<h2><b>SERIES &lsquo;A&rsquo;</b></h2><h2><b>Tue. April 11</b></h2><h2><b>COLORADO 2, PHILADELPHIA 3</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Philadelphia, 1&mdash;MacLeish (Clarke, Leach) 11:57, Colorado, 2&mdash;Dupere (Beck, Van Boxmeer) 17:45.</p><p>Penalties: Holmgren, Delorme (misconducts) 5:30, Jim Watson 5:42, Van Boxmeer 9:45, Owchar 11:45, Bridgman 14:34, Dailey 16:25.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Philadelphia, 3&mdash;Clarke (Leach, Jim Watson) 19:31.</p><p>Penalties: Dailey, Paiement (minors-majors) 9:33, Ahern 10:47.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Colorado. 4&mdash;Hudson (Spruce, Ahern) 1:48.</p><p>Penalties: Kitchen, McCarthy 10:06.</p><h3><b>OVERTIME PERIOD</b></h3><p>Philadelphia, 5&mdash;Bridgman (Jim Watson, Kindrachuk) 0:23.</p><p>Penalties: None.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-08116/4320440-1-eng-US/f0023-082.jpg" title="f0023-08" width="598" height="106"></div><p>Attendance: 17,077.</p><h2><b>Thu. April 13</b></h2><h2><b>PHILADELPHIA 3, COLORADO 1</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Philadelphia. 1&mdash;Leach (MacLeish, Lapointe) 2.41, Colorado 2&mdash;Owchar (Spruce, Hudson) 6:59, Penalties: Dupont 4:37, Lapointe 12:26.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>No scoring.</p><p>Penalties: None.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Philadelphia, 3&mdash;Saleski (Bridgman, Kindrachuk) 1:13, 4&mdash;Kelly (Bridgman) 10:36.</p><p>Penalties: None.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-09100/4320433-1-eng-US/f0023-092.jpg" title="f0023-09" width="594" height="106"></div><p>Attendance: 16,399.</p><h2><b>SERIES &lsquo;B&rsquo;</b></h2><h2><b>Tue. April 11</b></h2><h2><b>RANGERS 1, BUFFALO 4</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>buffalo, 1&mdash;Perreault (R. Martin, Stewart) 16:41.</p><p>Penalties: Maloney 8:12, 18:52.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Buffalo, 2&mdash;R. Martin (Perreault, Stewart) 12:28.</p><p>Penalties: Fogolin 9:01, R. Martin 19:32.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Hangers, 3&mdash;Vickers (Smith, Murdoch) 2:35, Buttalo. 4&mdash;Guevremont (Luce) 8:33, 5&mdash;McAdam (Gare, Guevremont) 17:50.</p><p>Penalties: Korab 4:05, DeBlois 12:15.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1088/4320426-1-eng-US/f0023-102.jpg" title="f0023-10" width="592" height="107"></div><p>Attendance: 16,433.</p><h2><b>Thu. April 13</b></h2><h2><b>BUFFALO 3, RANGERS 4</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Buffalo, 1&mdash;Robert 3:06, Rangers. 2&mdash;Vickers (Ikaczuk, Murdoch) 14:36, Buffalo, 3&mdash;Smith (Korab) 16:29, Rangers, 4&mdash;Hickey (Duguay, Dillon) 19:59.</p><p>Penalties: Robert 4:19, Vadnais 4:19, Robert 6 40, Vadnais. R. Martin 15:44.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Hangers, 5&mdash;Duguay (Vadnais, Murdoch) 15:07, Buttalo, 8&mdash;Gare (Smith) 18.04.</p><p>Penalties: Awrey 11:47, Hajt 15:02, R. Martin, Murdoch 16:38, Duguay 17:05.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>No scoring.</p><p>Penalties: Schoenfeld 5:25, Greschner 7:05, McAdam. Newman 18:16, R. Martin, Esposito (majors) 20:00.</p><h3><b>OVERTIME PERIOD</b></h3><p>Rangers, 7&mdash;Murdoch (Tkaczuk, Vickers) 1:37.</p><p>Penalties: None.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1174/4320419-1-eng-US/f0023-112.jpg" title="f0023-11" width="593" height="108"></div><p>Attendance: 17,500.</p><p>(Best-of-three series tied 1-1)</p><h2><b>Sat. April 15</b></h2><h2><b>RANGERS 1, BUFFALO 4</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>No scoring.</p><p>Penalties: Gare, Vadnais 0:31, Maloney 1:53, Ramsay, Newman 10:34. Awrey 13:57, Schoenfeld 15:22, Murdoch 16:04. Robert 18:56.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Buffalo, 1&mdash;Perreault 8:04, 2&mdash;Ramsay (Korab, Gare) 14:23, 3&mdash;Gare (Smith, Korab) 15:56, Rangers, 4&mdash;Hickey (Esposito, Vadnais) 19:18.</p><p>Penalties: Awrey 14:10, Luce 18:59.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Buffalo, 5&mdash;Robert (Martin, Korab) 10:33.</p><p>Penalties: Maloney (major) 10:33, McAdam (major) 9:14, Vadnais (double major), Gare (major. double minor gross misconduct) 19:07, Fotiu (major and double minor), Marois, Ramsay. Schoenfeld (majors) 19:53.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1262/4320412-1-eng-US/f0023-122.jpg" title="f0023-12" width="602" height="109"></div><p>Attendance: 16,433.</p><h2><b>SERIES &lsquo;C&rsquo;</b></h2><h2><b>Tus. Aprils 11</b></h2><h2><b>LOS ANGELES 3, TORONTO 7</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>loronto. 1&mdash;Weir (Turnbull, Boutette) 6:35, 2&mdash;Butler (Jones, Turnbull) 15:53.</p><p>Penalties: Edestrand 1:18, Salming 1:58, Brown 4.36, Wilson. Sutler 10:11, Williams 12:56.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Toronto. 3&mdash;Williams (Jones, Salming) 12:48, 4&mdash;Salming (McDonald) 13:24.</p><p>Penalties: Williams 6:33, Goring 6:55, Sittier 9:09. Godlup, Maloney (minors, majors) 12:32, Williams (minor, major) Murdoch (major) Vachon (served by I. Williams) 13:24, Stemkowski 16:18, Edestrand 19:24.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Toronto, 5&mdash;Ferguson (Ellis, Pelyk) 2:18, 6&mdash;Ferguson (Butler) 4:48, Los Angeles, 7&mdash;Stemkowski (Grant, Edestrand) 9:41, Toronto. 8&mdash;Ferguson (Turnbull) 9:51, Los Angeles. 9&mdash;Edestrand (Apps, Grant) 17:52. 10&mdash;Goldup (Murdoch) 19:13.</p><p>Penalties: Williams 7:25. Sittier 15:43.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1352/4320405-1-eng-US/f0023-132.jpg" title="f0023-13" width="594" height="106"></div><p>Attendance: 16.485.</p><h2><b>Thu. April 13</b></h2><h2><b>TORONTO 4, LOS ANGELES 0</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Toronto, 1&mdash;Ellis (Sittier) 1:12, 2&mdash;McDonald (bittier) 10:38. 3&mdash;Jones (Boutette, Salming) 15:29.</p><p>Penalties: Grant 1:57, Turnbull 2:38, Taylor (major) 7 32, Boutette (major-minor) 7:32, Salming 18:55.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>No scoring.</p><p>Penalties: Manery 2:38, Williams 16:14.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Toronto, 4&mdash;Sittier (Turnbull) 13:15.</p><p>Penalties: Goldup 4:28, 12:10.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1446/4320398-1-eng-US/f0023-142.jpg" title="f0023-14" width="602" height="109"></div><p>Attendance: 12,889.</p><h2><b>SERIES &lsquo;D&rsquo;</b></h2><h2><b>Tue. April 11</b></h2><h2><b>DETROIT 5, ATLANTA 3</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Detroit, 1&mdash;McCourt (Libett, Nedomansky) 4:52, 2&mdash;inompson (Nedomansky) 7:05. 3&mdash;Nedomansky 7:32, 4&mdash;Hextali 15:18.</p><p>Penalties: Phillipoff 3:16, Polonich, Fox 4:19, snand 5:29, Clement 6:32, Joly (double minor) Simpson 10:03, Hamel 15:53.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Atlanta, 5&mdash;Chouinard (Ribble, Vail) 5:26.</p><p>Penalties. Woods 7:43. Fox 15:30.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Atlanta, 6&mdash;Vail (MacMillan, Fox) 0:09. 7&mdash;Redmond (MacMillan, Mulhern) 8:07, Detroit, 8&mdash;St. Laurent (Harper) 19:59.</p><p>Penalties: Joly, Gould 6:51.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1537/4320391-1-eng-US/f0023-152.jpg" title="f0023-15" width="602" height="110"></div><p>Attendance. 15,155.</p><h2><b>Thu. April 13</b></h2><h2><b>ATLANTA 2, DETROIT 3</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>No scoring.</p><p>Penalties: Fox 10:20, Lysiak 16:21.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Atlanta, 1&mdash;Lysiak (Phillipoff) 6:29, Detroit, 2&mdash;Nedomansky (Woods) 12:09.</p><p>Penalties: Polonich 1:02, Fox 9:16, Hamel 9:17, HibDie, Woods 9:56, Snand, St. Laurent 19:44.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Detroit, 3&mdash;Lochead (McCourt, Woods) 8:58, Atlanta. 4&mdash;Lalonde 14:06, Detroit, 5&mdash;Lochead (Woods, Larsen) 18:26.</p><p>Penalties: None.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1631/4320384-1-eng-US/f0023-162.jpg" title="f0023-16" width="608" height="102"></div><p>Attendance: 16,671</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-06148/4320377-1-eng-US/f0023-062.jpg" title="f0023-06" width="1174" height="1734"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DANNY GARE&hellip;Provides Playoff Spark</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-07131/4320370-1-eng-US/f0023-072.jpg" title="f0023-07" width="1127" height="1537"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>IAN TURNBULL&hellip;Playmaker In Series</b></figcaption></div><h2><b><i>Stanley Cup Scoreboard</i></b></h2><p><b>Preliminary Round</b></p><h2><b>SERIES&lsquo;A&rsquo;</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01465/4320363-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="604" height="120"></div><p><b>Tue. April 11</b></p><p><b>Colorado 2 at Philadelphia 3</b></p><p><b>Thu. April 13</b></p><p><b>Philadelphia 3 at Colorado 1</b></p><h2><b>SERIES &lsquo;B&rsquo;</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02349/4320356-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="595" height="120"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tue. April 11</b></p><p><b>Rangers 1 at Buffalo 4</b></p><p><b>Thu. April 13</b></p><p><b>Buffalo 3 at Rangers 4</b></p><p><b>Sat April 15</b></p><p><b>Rangers 1 at Buffalo 4</b></p><h2><b>SERIES &lsquo;C&rsquo;</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03256/4320349-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="604" height="92"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tue. April 11</b></p><p><b>Los Angeles 3 at Toronto 7</b></p><p><b>Thu. April 13</b></p><p><b>Toronto 4 at Los Angeles 0</b></p><h2><b>SERIES &lsquo;D&rsquo;</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-04197/4320342-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="604" height="115"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tue. April 11</b></p><p><b>Detroit 5 at Atlanta 3</b></p><p><b>Thu. April 13</b></p><p><b>Atlanta 2 at Detroit 3</b></p><h2><b>PLAYOFF SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-05168/4320335-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="603" height="1080"></div><h2><b>Stanley Cup Dates</b></h2><h3><b>SERIES &lsquo;E&rsquo;</b></h3><p><b>DETROIT vs MONTREAL</b></p><p><b>Mon. April 17 at Montreal</b></p><p><b>Wed. April 19 at Montreal</b></p><p><b>Frl. April 21 at Detroit</b></p><p><b>Sun. April 23 at Detroit</b></p><p><b>Tue. April 25 at Montreal</b></p><p><b>Thu. April 27 at Detroit</b></p><p><b>Sat. April 29 at Montreal</b></p><h3><b>SERIES &lsquo;F&rsquo;</b></h3><p><b>CHICAGO vs BOSTON</b></p><p><b>Mon. April 17 at Boston</b></p><p><b>Wed. April 19 at Boston</b></p><p><b>Frl. April 21 at Chicago</b></p><p><b>Sun. April 23 at Chicago</b></p><p><b>Tue. April 25 at Boston</b></p><p><b>Thu. April 27 at Chicago</b></p><p><b>Sun. April 30 at Boston</b></p><h3><b>SERIES &lsquo;G&rsquo;</b></h3><p><b>TORONTO vs ISLANDERS</b></p><p><b>Mon. April 17 at Islanders</b></p><p><b>Wed. April 19 at Islanders</b></p><p><b>Fri-Sat. Apr. 21-22 at Toronto</b></p><p><b>Sun. April 23 at Toronto</b></p><p><b>Tue. April 25 at Islanders</b></p><p><b>Thu. April 27 at Toronto</b></p><p><b>Sat. April 29 at Islanders</b></p><h3><b>SERIES &lsquo;H&rsquo;</b></h3><p><b>BUFFALO vs PHILADELPHIA</b></p><p><b>Mon. April 17 at Philadelphia</b></p><p><b>Wed. April 19 at Philadelphia</b></p><p><b>Fri. April 21 at Buffalo</b></p><p><b>Sun. April 23 at Buffalo</b></p><p><b>Tue. April 25 at Philadelphia</b></p><p><b>Thu. April 27 at Buffalo</b></p><p><b>Sun. April 29 at Philadelphia</b></p><p><b>(All quarter-final series best-of-seven)</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0023-08

STANLEY CUP SUMMARIES

<div class="byline">BY JIMMY BRYAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01483/4320523-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DAVE GORMAN&hellip;Promising Youngster With Bulls</b></figcaption></div><p>BIRMINGHAM&mdash;</p><p>For the first time in three years, the franchise that began life as the Ottawa Nationals is back in World Hockey Association playoffs.</p><p>The team popped champagne corks this trip as the Birmingham Bulls, pride of The Heart of Dixie. Sixth place isn&rsquo;t a pennant, of course, and teams rarely come from that position to win an Avco Cup, but merely getting to the playoffs is a step that had to be made.</p><p>The Bulls had to fight to the 80th game to assure coach Glen Sonmor and owner John Bassett the playoff ticket. Birmingham won its final game of the regular season 9-7 in Indianapolis to finally put stubborn Cincinnati to bed once and for all.</p><p>Cincinnati could have tied the Bulls in wins and points with a final decision of New England, but it wouldn&rsquo;t have mattered. The Bulls had ruled the season series 7-4 and that eliminated Cincy from any playoff hopes.</p><p>Birmingham&rsquo;s final ticket was 36-41-3 for 75 points. Cincinnati finished 35-42-3 for 73.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m pleased at making the playoffs, of course,&rdquo; first-year coach Sonmor said, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;m absolutely delighted we won our way into the playoffs and didn&rsquo;t have to depend on Cincinnati losing to get there. We were in bad shape toward the end when Cincy had nine games to go and we had five. We were only two points up. But the Stingers lost four straight on a road trip and came back to us. We lost a couple of one-goal games at home, too, but we won four of the last five when we had to.&rdquo;</p><p>The Bulls were dangerously close to becoming Sonmor&rsquo;s first team to miss post-season play since he began coaching. It required a stunning effort by Birmingham&rsquo;s fantastic Gas Line to bring the final decision home in Indianapolis. From a 2-0 deficit late in the first period, the Gas Line scored six straight goals to lift the Bulls ahead to stay. These were hat tricks for wingers Dave Gorman and rookie Steve Alley. Center John Stewart had four assists.</p><p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt those kids carried us right into the playoffs,&rdquo; Sonmor said. &ldquo;They were truly amazing the final 10 games of the season. The youngsters had 17 points in the final game, and that is probably a league record for one line.</p><p>&ldquo;We were able to achieve some goals this season,&rdquo; Sonmor pointed out. &ldquo;First, we wanted to be in the playoffs. We did that. We wanted to improve our record by at least five wins. We did that. The team won 31 games last season, totaled 66 points. This year we won 36, totaled 75.</p><p>&ldquo;So we&rsquo;re making steady progress. A corresponding improvement next season will put us among the top two or three in the league and that&rsquo;s where we&rsquo;re headed.&rdquo;</p><p>Rookie Ken Linseman led the Bulls in scoring this season with 38 goals and 38 assists for 76 points. Peter Marrin was 2843-71, Paul Henderson 37-29-66, Mark Napier 33-32-65 and defenseman Brent Hughes 9-35-44.</p><p>The Bulls broke the major league hockey record for penalty minutes with 2,187. Philadelphia Flyers had the previous record of 1,980 in the 1975-76 season. The previous WHA mark was 1,654 by Quebec Nordiques in 1975-76.</p><p>CINCINNATI: There was keen disappointment in Stingerland.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never missed the playoffs before as head coach,&rdquo; Jacques Demers said, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;m pretty sad. Sad for myself and the team and the people who supported us. I never thought we wouldn&rsquo;t make the playoffs.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s going to happen to me,&rdquo; Demers said in the aftermath of the season&rsquo;s final game. &ldquo;My contract ends. I had a one-year contract. I&rsquo;m disappointed I haven&rsquo;t heard from them (Stinger management) about it. All I can say is I gave it all I&rsquo;ve got.&rdquo;</p><p>Center Robbie Ftorek had a sensational season for the Stingers. Ftorek had 59 goals and 109 points, both major league hockey records for an American-born player. He set an additional club record of scoring at least one goal in each of the final eight games.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02382/4320516-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="561" height="788"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RICHIE LEDUC&hellip;Led Indianapolis</b></figcaption></div><p>Captain Rick Dudley finished second in Stinger scoring with 30 goals and 41 assists. 71 points. Jamie Hislop was 24-4367, Peter Marsh 25-25-50, and defense ace Pat Stapleton 4-45-49.</p><p>INDIANAPOLIS: The Racers finished last in the standings, but player-coach Bill Goldsworthy and his men feel confident things would have been different if massive changes the team underwent had been made earlier.</p><p>Ron Ingram was replaced by Goldsworthy as coach about mid-way through the season, and the Racers spurted for awhile. But the team finally fell from contention with a couple of weeks to go. However, the Racers never flew a white flag, beat Cincinnati in a vital game for Birmingham down the stretch and carried the Bulls inside the final minute of the final game. Two of Birmingham&rsquo;s nine goals were empty netters in the final minute when Indy had an extra skater on attempting to win.</p><p>&ldquo;I feel confident we would have made the playoffs if the changes had been made earlier,&rdquo; Goldsworthy said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;ll be together from the beginning next season and things will be different.&rdquo;</p><p>Rich Leduc led Racer scoring with 37 goals, 46 assists for 83 points. Claude St. Sauveur was 36-42-78, Claude Larose 2536-61, Kevin Morrison 17-40-57, and Peter Driscoll 28-28-56.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0024-01

THE WHA

Bulls On Right Track For Progress; Stingers, Racers Rue Past Season

<h2><b>WHA&rsquo;S&hellip;Player of the Week</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>obby Hull may have been lost in the Winnipeg shuffle what with the Jets wrapping up first place several weeks ago and the hubbub surrounding. Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson signing with the Rangers, but it&rsquo;s playoff time and the Golden Jet is again rating headlines. Winnipeg jumped to a 2-0 lead over Birmingham the 39-year-old Hull showing the way with two goals in each game as the Jets flew past the Bulls 9-3 and 8-3. Hull also added an assist in the first game. The blond left-winger who scored 129 points in 116 National Hockey League playoff games, had 13 goals in 20 playoff games last year, and appears to be picking up where he left off.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03263/4320485-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="539" height="614"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BOBBY HULL&hellip;Winnipeg Jet</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>Looking At WHA Goalers</b></h2><h3><b>FINAL GOALKEEPING RECORDS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01419/4320478-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="1124" height="944"></div><h2><b>WHA Leaders</b></h2><h3><b>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01431/4320471-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="610" height="882"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0024-03

WORLD HOCKEY ASSOCIATION

<div class="byline">BY JOHN McCLAIN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02311/4320561-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JOE DALEY &hellip; Getting Ready For Playoffs</b></figcaption></div><p>WINNIPEG &mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>efore the season, officials of the Winnipeg Jets decided that veteran goaltender Joe Daley would last longer it he had more time to rest. The previous season, Daley had played in 65 games. His backup, Curt Larsson, had appeared in only 18 games with a 6-9 record and a 4.88 goals-against average.</p><p>Not even Daley, the premier goalie in the World Hockey Association, should have to endure such a vigorous work load. When the Calgary Cowboys folded, Gary Bromley became available. The Jets acted quickly, acquiring the rights to Bromley, then signing the goalie to a contract. It was a wise move that has paid tremendous dividends.</p><p>&ldquo;I had been talking to Houston, and they had been talking to another goaltender,&rdquo; recalls Bromley, who appeared in 29 games this season with a 25-12-1 record and a 3.30 goals-against average. &ldquo;In the meantime, Winnipeg came up with an offer and a contract, so I decided to come here. I thought if I went to Houston I would have had a definite chance to play since they lost Ron Grahame (to the Boston Bruins).</p><p>&ldquo;Sometimes the breaks happen and everything turns out for the best. That&rsquo;s what happened for me since I signed with Winnipeg.&rdquo;</p><p>Indeed, not only did Bromley receive plenty of playing time, but the Jets reaped benefits when he was able to spell Daley. Late in the season, Daley fractured his hand, leaving the load on Bromley. Although the Jets re-acquired rookie Markus Mattson from Quebec, Bromley could not be dislodged.</p><p>&ldquo;At the beginning of the season, I kind of thought they&rsquo;d give Joe a bit more rest than he had last year,&rdquo; Bromley says. &ldquo;I was thinking of maybe a 30-50 split, something like that. It&rsquo;s actually worked out even better for me.</p><p>&ldquo;The last three months before Joe was hurt, we had been alternating on a game-by-game basis. For me, that&rsquo;s probably the best way. After Joe got hurt, I played in all the games, so it worked out that way, too.&rdquo;</p><p>The Jets were so pleased with Bromley&rsquo;s performance midway through the season that they sent Mattson to the Nordiques. Bromley knew then he was firmly entrenched as the No. 2 goalie. Although he played in one more game than Daley, no one is considered No. 1 in Winnipeg other than Daley, an original Jet.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03217/4320554-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="1181" height="1176"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PAUL SHMYR &hellip; He&rsquo;s Sather&rsquo;s MVP</b></figcaption></div><p>Bromley liked his role just fine. He earned a chance to play, and his appearance in 39 regular-season games represented the second-highest figure in his five-year major-league career. Only in 1974-75 did he play in more games. With the Buffalo Sabres, Bromley compiled a 3.10 average in 50 games.</p><p>&ldquo;The way I played this year is comparable to the way I played that year in Buffalo,&rdquo; Bromley says. &ldquo;I thought I played really well for Buffalo, and I still can&rsquo;t understand what really happened there.</p><p>&ldquo;This year I&rsquo;ve been through some pressure, but with the kind of team I&rsquo;ve got in front of me, it&rsquo;s not so bad because I know they&rsquo;re going to score a few goals for me every night. I&rsquo;ve played well, and everybody has pitched in to help me and the team&rsquo;s done well.&rdquo;</p><p>At 28, Bromley has his best years in front of him. His appearance is not overly impressive. He is five-foot-10,160-pounds with almost boyish looks. He is quiet but personable. He retains a bitterness for the confusion in Buffalo, but he is thankful for his opportunity to play for the best team in the WHA. Bromley, in fact, should prolong Daley&rsquo;s career, something the rest of the league does not relish.</p><p>&ldquo;I really enjoy it in&rsquo; Winnipeg,&rdquo; Bromley admits. &ldquo;With the two styles we have &mdash; North American and European &mdash; I think I&rsquo;m more ready for a game. I&rsquo;m prepared more and I learn more. The Europeans shoot so quickly, usually on stride, where I have to be alert all the time.</p><p>&ldquo;The toughest part about playing goal for our style of play is the mental factor. The other guys are always circling back in front of me to start a play. There&rsquo;s always a chance they&rsquo;re going to lose the puck.</p><p>There is less risk in that area for teams that drive the puck straight up the ice.</p><p>&ldquo;I picked this style up pretty fast, and I didn&rsquo;t have much trouble adjusting.&rdquo;</p><p>Bromley&rsquo;s teammates and opponents will have to agree.</p><p><b>JETS&rsquo; NOTES:</b> Daley returned to action the last two weeks of the season, and although he lost a couple of games, he regained his old form, which meant more bad news for opponents. &ldquo;My hand isn&rsquo;t bothering me at all, and neither is my conditioning,&rdquo; Daley said after a loss to Houston. &ldquo;I had to come back because the playoffs were so close. The team had been on the road 16 days, so I didn&rsquo;t have a lot of time to practice. The main thing I needed to work on was my timing.&rdquo;</p><p><b>EDMONTON:</b> Call it poetic justice, but for one period, Ab DeMarco was the most popular player on the Oilers. DeMarco, the much-maligned defenseman, has been booed by the Oiler fans this season. The boos turned to cheers in a late-season game against New England at the Coliseum. With the Oilers battling for position in the standings for the playoffs, the Whalers had taken a 4-1 lead midway through the final period. Then DeMarco had his moment of glory when he scored three consecutive goals, the last with five seconds left, to tie the game before more than 10,000 fans. The goals gave the veteran six for the season &hellip; Defenseman Paul Shmyr gets coach Glen Sather&rsquo;s vote as the Oilers&rsquo; most valuable player. Al Hamilton was close, but he missed 21 games with an eye injury. &ldquo;Shmyr has held this team together,&rdquo; Sather says. &ldquo;Some people said some bad things about him after last season (when Shmyr played for San Diego), but he&rsquo;s done everything I&rsquo;ve asked him to do and more&rdquo; &hellip; There have been reports that some NHL teams are interested in Sather. &ldquo;I ve talked to some NHL teams,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;m happy here because I have complete control over player transactions. The Oilers have been good to me, and they&rsquo;ve offered me a nice contract.&rdquo;</p><p><b>HOUSTON:</b> The Aeros&rsquo; problems continued to surface. While the owners were launching a $100,000 campaign to sell 7,000 season tickets within 30 days to impress the NHL, there was bad news on the ice. Goaltender Ernie Wakely, who has been as important as any player on the team, suffered a severely pulled hamstring with two games left in the regular season, placing the goaltending load on Lynn Zimmerman and Wayne Rutledge. Defenseman Larry Hale, an original Aero, jumped the team with two weeks left. Hale left the bench in the third period of a game against Winnipeg after having words with coach Bill Dineen. Hale has been unhappy with his role as a reserve.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0025-02

Bromley Provides Superb Insurance For Jets

<p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02335/4320599-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="565" height="1291"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>KENT NILSSON &hellip; Led All Rookies</b></figcaption></div><p>HARTFORD &mdash;</p><p>Left wing Marc Tardif led the World Hockey Association in goals, assists and total points to capture his second Hunter Trophy in three years. His point total of 154 (65 goals, 89 assists), sets a new major league regular season point record surpassing Phil Esposito&rsquo;s 152 total from the 1970-71 season.</p><p>It marks the third straight year that a member of the Quebc Nordiques has won the Hunter Trophy. Right wing Real Cloutier, Tardif&rsquo;s linemate, won the trophy last year and finished second this season with 129 points. The 25-point spread between Tardif and Cloutier matches the largest difference between the number one and number two scorers set by Tardif in 1975-76 when he topped Bobby Hull 148 to 123.</p><p>New England&rsquo;s goaltending tandem of Al Smith and Louie Levasseur proved to be the stingiest goaltenders in the league to win the prestigious Ben Hatskin Trophy. Allowing one goal less than the Winnipeg Jets, the Whalers became the sixth straight United States based team to win the award.</p><p>Smith led the individual goaltending with a 3.22 goals-against average. Levasseur and Winnipeg&rsquo;s Joe Daley and Gary Bromley all finished with matching 3.30 averages. Cincinnati&rsquo;s Michel Dion led in shutouts with four.</p><p>Marking the first time in league history that the season average has been over 8.000, the 1977-78 attendance per game increased 6.1 percent over the 1976-77 season. A total of 2,860,211 attended WHA games during the 1977-78 season for an average of 8,267. The Edmonton Oilers were the banner team drawing 10,235 per game.</p><p>The Winnipeg Jets finished the season with 102 points, nine ahead of the second place Whalers. Their goal production of 381 sets a new league mark for a single season. They also collected 629 assists for 1,010 points, both new WHA team standards.</p><p>Winnipeg had three players among the top five scorers and six in the top 10. Ulf Nilsson, Anders Hedberg, and Bobby Hull finished third, fourth and fifth in the scoring derby with 126,122 and 117 points respectively.</p><p>Nilsson had 89 assists to match Tardif for the league lead in that department. Hedbert finished the year with 63 goals, second to Tardif but he led the WHA with 11 first goals, 11 tie-breaking goals and six shorthanded goals. Tardif led the league with 14 score-tieing goals while teammate Cloutier matched Hedberg&rsquo;s 11 tie-breakers.</p><p>Andre Lacroix, with 17 points in the final five games, finished sixth with 113 points and Robbie Ftorek became the first U.S. born player in history to score over 50 goals. Ftorek finished the year with 59 goals, 20 of them on power plays, and 109 points.</p><p>Swedish-born rookie Ken Nilsson rounded out the leagues&rsquo; 100-point scorers with a 107 total. Gordie and Mark Howe finished ninth and 10th in scoring with 96 and 91 points. Nilsson ended up as the highest scoring rookie of the season.</p><p>The 1977-78 season marked the first time in WHA history there were no penalty shots.</p><p>In the individual penalty race, Birmingham Bulls won hands down. The top bad men&rsquo; belonged to the Bulls led by Steve Durbano, who was No. 1 with 284 penalty minutes. Frank Beaton had 279 and Gilles Bilodeau 258. A fourth member of the Bulls, Dave Hanson had 242.</p><p>Other 200&rsquo; minute penalty collectors included Paul Stewart of Cincinnati, 241, Richie Leduc of Indianapolis 254, Cam Connor of Houston 217 and Kim Clackson of Winnipeg, 203.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03287/4320592-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="507" height="577"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MARC TARDIF</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0026-02

Tardif Climaxes Record Scoring Year

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05185/4320749-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="723" height="673"></div><h2><b>BIRMINGHAM BULLS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04224/4320756-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" 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/f0026-06153/4320742-1-eng-US/f0026-062.jpg" title="f0026-06" 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/f0026-07137/4320735-1-eng-US/f0026-072.jpg" title="f0026-07" width="742" height="729"></div><h2><b>EDMONTON OILERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-08125/4320728-1-eng-US/f0026-082.jpg" title="f0026-08" width="186" height="185"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-09118/4320721-1-eng-US/f0026-092.jpg" title="f0026-09" width="715" height="760"></div><h2><b>HOUSTON AEROS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-10113/4320714-1-eng-US/f0026-102.jpg" title="f0026-10" width="253" height="110"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-11109/4320707-1-eng-US/f0026-112.jpg" title="f0026-11" width="715" height="649"></div><h2><b>INDIANAPOLIS RACERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-12101/4320700-1-eng-US/f0026-122.jpg" title="f0026-12" width="202" height="157"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1399/4320693-1-eng-US/f0026-132.jpg" title="f0026-13" width="741" height="749"></div><h2><b>NEW ENGLAND WHALERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1491/4320686-1-eng-US/f0026-142.jpg" title="f0026-14" width="210" height="218"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1583/4320679-1-eng-US/f0026-152.jpg" title="f0026-15" width="745" height="645"></div><h2><b>QUEBEC NORDIQUES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1674/4320672-1-eng-US/f0026-162.jpg" title="f0026-16" width="182" height="187"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1768/4320665-1-eng-US/f0026-172.jpg" title="f0026-17" width="739" height="678"></div><h2><b>WINNIPEG JETS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1855/4320658-1-eng-US/f0026-182.jpg" title="f0026-18" width="195" height="204"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1947/4320651-1-eng-US/f0026-192.jpg" title="f0026-19" width="723" height="702"></div><h2><b>The WHA Scoreboard</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01412/4320644-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="604" height="248"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Mon. April 3</b></p><p>Houston 6 at Now England 8</p><p><b>Tue. April 4</b></p><p>Edmonton 1 at Quebec 9</p><p>Winnipeg 3 at Houston 6</p><p><b>Wed. April 5</b></p><p>Birmingham 4 at Cincinnati 5</p><p>Now England 4 at Edmonton 4</p><p><b>Thu. April 6</b></p><p>New England 4 at Winnipeg 7</p><p><b>Frl. April 7</b></p><p>Cincinnati 6 at Indlanapolia 4</p><p>Winnipeg 2 at Edmonton 4</p><p>Houston 3 st Birmingham 5</p><p><b>Sat. April 8</b></p><p>Cincinnati 4 at Houaton 5</p><p>Indianapolis 3 at Quebec 7</p><p><b>Sun. April 9</b></p><p>Quebec 2 at Cincinnati 6</p><p>Birmingham 9 at Indianapolis 7</p><p>Houaton 5 at Winnipeg 4</p><p><b>Mon. April 10</b></p><p>Cincinnati 1 at Now England 6</p><p><b>Tue. April 11</b></p><p>Indianapolis 3 at Now England 6</p><h2><b>Mon. April 10 Cincinnati 1, Naw England 6</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>No scoring.</p><p>Penalties: Deadmarsh 2:59, Carroll 3:21, G. Howe 4:58, Trognitz 13:18, Lyle 17 26, Cin. bench 19:54.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>New tngland, 1 &mdash; Mark Howe (S. Carlson, G. Howe) 11:16. 2 &mdash; Antonovich 13:01. Cincinnati, 3 &mdash; Abgrall (Norwich, Debol) 13:38.</p><p>Penalty: Ley 14:37.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>New England, 4 &mdash; Marty Howe (Antonovich, Keon) 2:00, 5 &mdash; Keon (McKenzie) 6:42, 8 &mdash; Seiwood (S. Carlson, G. Howe) 17:03, 7 &mdash; Mark Howe 18:15.</p><p>Penalty: Sheehy 13:18.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02305/4320637-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="587" height="109"></div><p>Attendance: 7,632.</p><h2><b>Tue. April 11 Indianapolis 3, New England 6</b></h2><p>New England, 1 &mdash; Antonovich (Keon, Hangsieben) 4:26, Indianapolis, 2 &mdash; Stoughton (Leduc) 5:47, New England. 3 &mdash; Mark Howe (G. Howe. S. Carlson) 9:45, 4 &mdash; Bolduc 13:26, 5 &mdash; S. Carlson (G. Howe. Mark Howe) 18:46.</p><p>Penalties: Devine 3:22. Kogers 6:05. Mark Howe 11:00.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>No scoring. o</p><p>Penalties: Sheehy 3:05, Block 8:33, Antonovich (double minor) 8:53.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>New England. 6 &mdash; Lyle (Ley) 0:59, Indianapolis, 7 &mdash; Devine (Block, Paiement) 6:58, 8 &mdash; Paiement (Devine, Pairzeau) 7:46, New England, 9 &mdash; S. Carlson (Mark Howe) 8:46.</p><p>Penalties: Witkins 0:16, Wilkins, Rogers 3:58.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03200/4320630-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="586" height="105"></div><p>Attendance: 7,408.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-05

WHA’S FINAL 1977-78 SCORING AND PENALTY STATISTICS

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE WARRINER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-04144/4320787-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="574" height="1103"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DAVE KEON &hellip; Netted Pair</b></figcaption></div><p>HARTFORD&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>H</span>eading into the final week of the season the Whalers had little to gain as far as league standings were concerned, but there was a need to establish some momentum for the playoffs. Beginning a brief road trip in Edmonton, the game had a bit more significance since it was all but confirmed that the Whalers would play the Oilers in the first round of the playoffs.</p><p>Although Pierre Guite got the Oilers on the board early, the Whalers quickly tied it up, and by early in the third period had built their lead to 4-1&mdash;on goals by Mike Antonovich, Gordie Roberts, and two by Dave Keon. Roberts&rsquo; effort was a beautiful unassisted maneuver.</p><p>In the third stanza Oilers coach Glen Sather gave Ab DeMarco some ice time and the offense-minded defenseman responded with a goal at the 12-minute mark. On his next shift DeMarco unleashed another hard slap shot that found the net, and the Oilers were within one of tying with more than six minutes to go.</p><p>At 19:35 the Whalers drew a minor for holding and Sather yanked goalie Don McLeod for a six-on-four skating advantage. Once again DeMarco was at the point, and with just five seconds remaining he fired another bullet which bounced off a Whalers defenseman and into the net, tying the score at 4-4&mdash;and giving the veteran DeMarco a hat trick.</p><p>Since the Whalers had also drawn an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from referee Ron Harris, they had to start off the overtime session shorthanded too. Shortly after surviving that, they drew a bench minor for yapping at Harris. So the Whalers were fortunate indeed to get out of town with the 4-4 tie.</p><p>Bad penalties continued to be a problem for the Whalers but it was hoped the team would get its act together before playoff time.</p><p>The next night in Winnipeg neither team played as though the game meant a great deal. But actually the Whalers did have some incentive. They hadn&rsquo;t beaten the Jets in several games, and down the road a series or two they just might meet these Jets in the playoff finals. In addition, the Hatskin Trophy (for superiority in the goals-against department) was on the line. Both teams had a shot at it, but in that game neither team seemed to be sheltering its goaltender very much at all.</p><p>Winnipeg blew out to a 4-0 lead after the first period before. Jack Carlson sneaked one in for the Whalers early in the second. Then the Jets converted three of their 18 second period shots-on-goal to up the margin to 7-1. Apparently the Whalers finally decided to at least narrow the gap for the sake of their goaltenders, and they came back with three in the third to make the final 7-4.</p><p>Because of their change in home dates (caused by the roof collapse) the Whalers found themselves hosting the final two games of the WHA regular season. Going into the games they had five fewer goals-against than Winnipeg, who had already finished the season. So the final pair of games had two interesting aspects&mdash;one. to keep the goals-against down; and two, for players to pump in goals and pick up points to qualify for that bonus money.</p><p>Having been eliminated for the playoff picture the night before, the Cincinnati Stingers came in to finish up their season. Goalie Mike Liut was outstanding in turning aside 50 shots, but the Whalers did manage to put six by the young netminder. Meanwhile the Whalers played tight enough defensively to limit the Stingers to just 19 shots and one goal.</p><p>Experimenting in his search for a winger to complement Gordie and Mark Howe, coach Harry Neale inserted Steve Carlson on the right side. The line per</p><p>formed well and Mark later complimented&mdash;&rdquo;I like a winger who can muck around in the comers and dig out the puck. My style is better suited to moving and looking for the quick pass.&rdquo; Coach Neale added &mdash; &ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s the kind of winger those guys need.&rdquo;</p><p>The Whalers closed out the regular season the following night with a 6-3 triumph over Indianapolis.</p><p><b>QUEBEC:</b> The Nordiques finished the season with an impressive flurry, winning five in a row before losing the finale in Cincy&rsquo;s Riverfront Coliseum, 6-2. In the final weeks of the regular campaign Quebec treated its fans to some powerful offensive displays&mdash;7-1 over Houston; 9-1 over Edmonton; 7-3 versus Indy.</p><p>As usual Marc Tardif led the parade with a slew of points, ending the campaign with 65 goals and 89 assists. His total of 154 points set a new major league record, edging Phil Esposito&rsquo;s output with the NHL&rsquo;s Boston Bruins in 1970-71 by two points. Teammate Buddy Cloutier also had an impressive year, finishing second in the WHA&mdash;but 25 points in arrears of captain Tardif.</p><p>In his last home game before playoff time Tardif rained a season high 15 shots on Indy goaltenders. Then, fittingly enough, he also picked up the final Quebec goal of the regular season, in Cincinnati.</p><p>The Nordiques were not involved in a shutout game (for or against) all season long&mdash;a rather unique feat in the WHA. Although Tardif and Cloutier were reaping most of the accolades, Serge Bernier was 13th in WHA scoring while linemate Paulin Bordeleau drilled in 42 goals.</p><p>Matti Hagman, who had produced 25 goals and 31 assists in only 51 games for the Nordiques, was reportedly given permission to leave the team to return home where he was expected to play for Team Finland in the World Cup competition. Hagman had been in and out of GM-coach Maurice Filion&rsquo;s dog house&mdash;apparently because of defensive difficulties.</p><p>Just as the injury problems seemed to be licked, some pre-playoff concerns had arisen. J.C. Tremblay remained out with an injury, while steady defenseman Jean Bernier was sidelined by an infected foot. Recent returnees Chris Bordeleau and Curt Brackenbury also had been slowed by recurring injuries. Both are considered key performers&mdash;Bordeleau as centerman for Tardiff and Clouter and Brackenbury supplying needed muscle up front. All would be sorely missed if they were unable to suit up for the playoffs.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0027-04

Whalers Aim For Playoff Momentum; Nordiques End Schedule With Rush

<h2><b>SERIES &lsquo;A&rsquo;</b></h2><h2><b>Fri. April 14 BIRMINGHAM 3, WINNIPEG 9</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>irmingham, 1&mdash;Linseman 1:15, Winnipeg. 2&mdash;Hedberg (Hull, Sjoberg) 1:48. 3&mdash;Amodeo (Powis. Baird) 5:37, 4&mdash;Hull (U. Nilsson, K. Nilsson) 10:18. 5&mdash;Guindon (Sjoberg, Daley) 16:54.</p><p>Penalties: J. Stewart 1:30, Green 3:28, Hanson (minor and major), 4:51, Roberto 8:36. Napier. Lesuk 10:29. Cassolato 12:39. Langway. K. Nilsson 15:09</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Birmingham, 6&mdash;Beaton (Napier, Durbano) 1:51. 7&mdash;Gorman (Henderson, Marrin) 12:04</p><p>Penalties: Beaudoin 2:49, Daley (minor and game misconduct) 12:04, Clackson 12:46, Sjoberg 13:57, Winnipeg bench 15:43, Cassolato 18:17.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Winnipeg, 8&mdash;Moffat (Guindon, Lesuk) 8:11, 9&mdash;Huhnke (Sioberq, Baird) 9:02, 10&mdash;Hull (Hedberg, u. Nilsson) 13:19. 11&mdash;Guindon (Sjoberg) 16:37. 12&mdash;Hedberg (penalty shot) 19:53.</p><p>Penalties, Beaton 12:19. Durbano. Clackson 14 34. Roberto 14:53. Bilodeau 16:38.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-07118/4320895-1-eng-US/f0028-072.jpg" title="f0028-07" width="593" height="106"></div><p>Attendance: 9,301.</p><p>(Winnipeg leads best-of-seven series 1-0)</p><h2><b>Sun. April 16 BIRMINGHAM 3, WINNIPEG 8</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Winnipeg, 1&mdash;Kryskow (Long, K. Nilsson) 2:53,2&mdash;Sullivan (K. Nilsson, Lindstrom) 5:56. Birmingham. 3&mdash;Henderson (Mahovlich) 10:56, Winnipeg. 4&mdash;Hull (K. Nilsson. Long) 13:41.</p><p>Penalties: Beaudoin 5:09, Westrum. U. Nilsson 8:50. Stewart 12:06, Moffat 14:56, Beaudoin (misconduct). Hughes (misconduct). Hull (misconduct). Lindstrom (misconduct), Bilodeau (minor, major and match), Clackson (minor, major and match) Hanson (double minor and match), Roberto (double minor and match) 17:55, Hoganson 18:02, Linseman 19:08.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Winnipeg, 5&mdash;Ruhnke (Sullivan, Green) 3:24. 6&mdash;Kryskow (Hedberg, U. Nilsson) 3:33, 7&mdash;Hull (U. Nilsson. Hedberg) 11:31, Birmingham, 8&mdash;Beaton (Marrin, Napier) 12:54. 9&mdash;Mahovlich (Linseman, Westrum) 17:18.</p><p>Penalties: None.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Winnipeg. 10&mdash;Guindon (Amodeo, Moffatt) 3:18. 11&mdash;Lesuk (Moffatt, Guindon) 14:17.</p><p>Penalties: Beaton 1:15, Amodeo 4:00, Sjoberg 4:51. Jurkiewicz 5:04, Linseman, Guindon (majors). Beaudoin (minor and misconduct) 18:59.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-08108/4320888-1-eng-US/f0028-082.jpg" title="f0028-08" width="590" height="106"></div><p>Attendance: 10.401.</p><p>(Winnipeg leads best-of-seven series 2-0).</p><h2><b>SERIES &lsquo;B&rsquo;</b></h2><h2><b>Fri, April 14 EDMONTON 4, NEW ENGLAND 6</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>New England, 1&mdash;Keon 2:53, Edmonton, 2&mdash;Jarry (Langevin, Chipperfield) 3:07.</p><p>Penalties: Seiwood 1:08, Sandbeck 4:52, 13:59, Busniuk, McKenzie 15:53, Micheletti 18:25, Busmuk 19:32, Shmyr, Roberts 19:46.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>New England, 3&mdash;Antonovich (Plumb, Roberts) 1.56. 4&mdash;G. Howe (Keon, Ley) 10:28, 5&mdash;Pleau (Bolduc) 14:30.</p><p>Penalties: Sandbeck, Roberts, McKenzie 4:47, Guite 7:23. Busniuk, G. Howe 8:13, Hangsleben 9:50.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Edmonton, 8&mdash;Chipperfield (Micheletti) 3:10, 7&mdash;Zuke (MacDonald, Guite) 9:10, New England, 8&mdash;Marty Howe (Antonovich, McKenzie) 14:46, Edmonton. 9&mdash;Rota (Callighen) 16:14, New England, 10&mdash;Antonovich (Keon, Plumb) 18:09.</p><p>Penalties: Callighen. Hangsleben (majors) 16.24.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-09102/4320881-1-eng-US/f0028-092.jpg" title="f0028-09" width="595" height="105"></div><p>Attendance: 6,530.</p><p>(New England leads best-of-seven series 1-0).</p><h2><b>Sun. April 16 EDMONTON 1, NEW ENGLAND 4</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>New England. 1&mdash;Rogers (Roberts) 4:14. 2&mdash;McKenzie (Antonovich, Mark Howe) 5:35.</p><p>Penalties: Sandbeck 2:41, Semenko, Jarry 4:39, Rogers. Busniuk 7:58, Langevin. Roberts 8:34. Sandbeck 10:22, Pleau, Busniuk 15:39, Langevin, G. Howe 18:41, Hangsleben 19:31.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>No scoring.</p><p>Penalties: Roberts 3:28, McKenzie, Guite 4:15, Sheehy 7:58, Guite (triple minor and misconduct) 9 15. Langevin 10:36. Roberts 13:45, Shmyr (major) 18:12.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Edmonton. 3&mdash;MacDonald (Shmyr, Zuke) 9:14, New England. 4&mdash;Mark Howe (S. Carlson, Ley) 10:54. 5&mdash;S. Carlson (Ley, Mark Howe) 11:37.</p><p>Penalties: Pleau 1:37, Langevin, Mark Howe 7 17. Roberts 12:44, Rota, Callighen, Plumb, Marty Howe 13:42.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1099/4320874-1-eng-US/f0028-102.jpg" title="f0028-10" width="597" height="109"></div><p>(New England leads best-of-seven series 2-0).</p><h2><b>SERIES&lsquo;C&rsquo;</b></h2><h2><b>Sun, April 16 QUEBEC 3, HOUSTON 4</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Quebec, 1&mdash;J. Bernier 5:12, Houston, 2&mdash;Lacroix (Campbell, Lukowich) 15:59, Quebec, 3&mdash;Baxter (Boudrias) 16:25.</p><p>Penalties: Tardif (minor and major), Weir (major and misconduct). Cloutier, Lukowich (minors and majors), Schella (major and misconduct), Hansis 0:59, Baxter. Taylor 1:35. Gray 5:07, Baxter 7:07. Fitchner (double minor), Taylor 13:24. Dorey 14.41. Gray 16:56.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>No scoring.</p><p>Penalties: Brackenbury 12:18, McLeod 14 47 THIRD PERIOD</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Houston. 4&mdash;McLeod 0:15, Quebec, 5&mdash;Cloutier (C. Bordeleau, Lariviere) 0:42, Houston, 8&mdash;Larway (Tonelli, Schella) 15:49.</p><p>Penalties: Brackenbury, Taylor 17:43</p><h3><b>OVERTIME PERIOD</b></h3><p>Houston. 7&mdash;Taylor (Hughes, Popiel) 7:19.</p><p>Penalties: Dorey, Campbell 6:39.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1191/4320867-1-eng-US/f0028-112.jpg" title="f0028-11" width="610" height="111"></div><p>Attendance: 5,337.</p><p>(Houston leads best-of-seven series 1-0)</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-05146/4320860-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="1105" height="1156"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ANDERS HEDBERG &hellip; Scored On Penalty Shot</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-06128/4320853-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="1165" height="1849"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MIKE ANTONOVICH &hellip; Helped Put Ollers On Skids</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>AVCO TROPHY SCOREBOARD</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1287/4320846-1-eng-US/f0028-122.jpg" title="f0028-12" width="112" height="339"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3>Preliminary Round</h3><h2><b>SERIES&lsquo;A&rsquo;</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01397/4320839-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="599" height="117"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Fri. April 14</b></p><p>Birmingham 3 at Winnipeg 9</p><p><b>Sun. April 18</b></p><p>Birmingham 3 at Winnipeg 8</p><p><b>GAMES TO COME</b></p><p><b>Wed. April 19</b></p><p>Winnipeg at Birmingham</p><p><b>Fri. April 21</b></p><p>Winnipeg at Birmingham</p><p><b>Sun. April 23</b></p><p>Birmingham at Winnipeg</p><p><b>Wed. April 26</b></p><p>Winnipeg at Birmingham</p><p><b>Fri. April 28</b></p><p>Birmingham at Winnipeg</p><h2><b>SERIES&lsquo;B&rsquo;</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02291/4320832-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="590" height="118"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Fri. April 14</b></p><p>Edmonton 4 at Now England 6</p><p><b>Sun. April 16</b></p><p>Edmonton 1 at New England 4</p><p><b>GAMES TO COME</b></p><p><b>Wed. April 19</b></p><p>New England at Edmonton</p><p><b>Fri. April 21</b></p><p>New England at Edmonton</p><p><b>Sun. April 23</b></p><p>Edmonton at Now England</p><p><b>Tue. April 25</b></p><p>Now England at Edmonton</p><p><b>Thu. April 27</b></p><p>Edmonton at Now England</p><h2><b>SERIES&lsquo;C&rsquo;</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03223/4320825-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="593" height="111"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Sun. April 16</b></p><p>Quebec 3 at Houston 4</p><p><b>GAMES TO COME</b></p><p><b>Tue. April 18</b></p><p>Quebec at Houston</p><p><b>Thu. April 20</b></p><p>Houston at Quebec</p><p><b>Wed. April 21</b></p><p>Houston at Quebec</p><p><b>Sun. April 23</b></p><p>Quebec at Houston</p><p><b>Wed. April 26</b></p><p>Houston at Quebec</p><p><b>Fri. April 28</b></p><p>Quebec at Houston</p><h2><b>PLAYOFF SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04169/4320818-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="602" height="427"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0028-07

AVCO TROPHY SUMMERIES

<p>HARTFORD&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he World Hockey Association playoffs were already beginning to take shape with the highly-favored Winnipeg Jets and the New England Whalers quickly establishing themselves as the teams to beat for the Avco Trophy.</p><p>The Jets literally bombed the Birmingham Bulls out of the Winnipeg Arena with a two-game offense that netted them 17 goals to the Bulls&rsquo; six. The Jets won 9-3 and 8-3 to take a commanding two-game lead in their best-of-seven series with Birmingham.</p><p>Bobby Hull emerged as the early playoff scoring leader with four goals in the two games against Birmingham. Anders Hedberg had the distinction of scoring the WHA&rsquo;s first penalty shot goal of the season. The league went through the entire 80-game schedule without a penalty shot being scored and Hedberg popped one in the second playoff game.</p><p>The Whalers teed off on the Edmonton Oilers, who went home for games three and four facing a 2-0 deficit. The New Englanders stopped the Oilers 6-4 and 4-1 to take a solid hold on the series. Mike Antonovich, who scored twice and set up two other goals, was the most productive of the Whalers.</p><p>In the other WHA plyaoff series, the Houston Aeros drew first blood against the Quebec Noaliques winning 4-3 in overtime. Veteran team captain Ted Taylor cut the Nordiques short in game one as he scored the game-winning goal in the extra period</p><p>The Aeros went with third-string goaler Lynn Zimmerman in the game and he responded with a winning effort.</p><p>The first-round playoffs will produce three winners but the team finishing with the best season record gains a bye into the WHA finals while the other two clubs playoff. The Jets, who finished first with 102 points, are likely to get the free ride into the finals.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Whalers, Jets Hot Lowering The Boom In Playoff Start

<div class="byline">BY JIM LEAHY</div><p>NEW HAVEN&mdash;</p><p>The New Haven Nighthawks, who failed in their stretch duel with the Rochester Americans to land first place in the South Division, will get another crack at the Americans&mdash;this time in the Calder Cup semi-final playoffs.</p><p>The Nighthawks made it to the division final by ousting the Philadelphia Firebirds 3-1 in their best-of-five series and they did it by winning the deciding game of the series right in Philadelphia.</p><p>The Nighthawks had little or no trouble disposing of the Firebirds as they won the first two games of the series at home 6-3 and 7-1 to go on and take the playoff in four games. After Philly temporarily sidetracked New Haven by winning game three 4-1 at home, the Nighthawks delivered the coup de grace the next time out as they won 5-2 to earn the right to advance against Rochester in the South final for the right to represent the division in the Calder Cup championship series later this month.</p><p>In the other division playoff, the Nova Scotia Voyageurs and Springfield Indians were locked in a head-to-head battle for the right to advance against Maine Mariners in the North Division showdown final. The Vees, who finished the American Hockey League season as the hottest club in the loop, appeared to be in the driver&rsquo;s seat as the series neared its finish.</p><p>The Indians sprang a 2-0 upset on the Vees on Halifax ice in the series opener but Nova Scotia came back with a vengeance winning the next two, 3-2 in Halifax, and 5-4 in Springfield, where the series could conceivably end.</p><p>The teams were pushed off the Springfield ice for game four when a conflict of dates had both the New England Whalers and the Indians at home for a playoff game on the same night.</p><p>The Indians graciously moved their game to Monday night against the Voyageurs.</p><p>Meanwhile, the Maine Mariners were gearing for their first taste of Calder Cup action since their entry in to the league. The Mariners closed the 1977-78 campaign by wrapping up their division title in a tense last month of the season when they came on to outfoot the Voyageurs and Indians to first place.</p><p>From the time the Mariners took over first place on Feb. 12, the club played 17 of 28 games on the road and managed to come up with a record of 15-9-4. The team closed with a 7-4 record to nail down first spot.</p><p>Al Hill emerged as the Mariners&rsquo; leading scorer with 91 points, seven off the pace set by Gord Brooks of Philadelphia and Rick Adduono of Rochester, who finished in a two-way tie for the scoring championship, each with 98 points.</p><p>While Hill led the Mariners in points, young Drew Callander was high man with 40 goals on the club. He was one of five 40-goal scorers in the AHL this season.</p><p><b>NOVA SCOTIA:</b> The Voyageurs came down the home stretch like gangbusters and if their momentum carries through to the playoffs, then everyone else can turn around and hand them the Calder Cup now.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01349/4320971-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="555" height="768"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GORD BROOKS&hellip;Shared Scoring Title</b></figcaption></div><p>The Vees gathered such momentum in the closing weeks of the schedule that they ended with a 13-game undefeated streak to grab second place ahead of Springfield. The Voyageurs finished with the best defensive record as goalers Maurice Barrette and Bob Holland combined to win the goaling award for Nova Scotia. In all, the Voyageurs allowed only 250 goals, six less than Maine.</p><p><b>NEW HAVEN:</b> The Nighthawks fell six points short of the top in their battle with Rochester but the club went into the post-season round with a good head of steam as was evidenced by their four-game romp over Philadelphia.</p><p>Coach Parker MacDonald was elated with the Hawks&rsquo; play this season and despite the many recalls by the Rangers and an influx of player injuries, the Hawks came through and MacDonald was looking like a genius as he steered the team into the division finals.</p><p>Tom Colley ended as the team&rsquo;s scoring leader with 86 points but Colley was the only player on the team to finish in the top 20 scorers. But MacDonald put it down to offensive balance and the Hawk&rsquo;s highest scoring team in the AHL behind Springfield, which was No. 1, and Rochester.</p><p>Goaler Hardy Aastrom led the AHL in individual goaling averages with a 2.63 goals-against mark and also was top man in shutouts with five. Aastrom and Doug Soetaert divided the New Haven goaling load in the stretch.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02267/4320964-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="562" height="773"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RICK ADDUONO&hellip;Finished Up Strong</b></figcaption></div><p><b>PHILADELPHIA:</b> The Firebirds achieved what they started out to do&mdash;gain a playoff berth in their first AHL season. Their season-ending spurt didn&rsquo;t have the punch of some of the other clubs but it enabled them to finish third 17 points ahead of the Hershey Bears. The Firebirds were in the battle for second place with New Haven until the closing weeks of the schedule.</p><p>If nothing else, the Philadelphia club ended high in the scoring race with Brooks sharing the title with Adduono while Bob Collyard finished fourth with 90 points behind Brooks, Adduono and Maine&rsquo;s Hill.</p><p><b>ROCHESTER:</b> The Southern-divison leading Americans were itching to spring into playoff action after clinching first place and sitting idly by while New Haven and Philadelphia fought it out.</p><p>Adduono was Rochester&rsquo;s top scorer with 98 points. Gordie Clark ended fifth with 88 and Ron Garwasiuk followed with 80.</p><p>Dave Parro played in 46 games for the Americans and was their designated starter for the Calder Cup playoffs against New Haven.</p><p><b>HERSHEY:</b> Center Claude Noel received the most valuable player award&mdash;the player most frequently selected by sport writers as the outstanding player during regular season games, both home and away. Unfortunately, Noel is one of the many injured Bears and had been out of the lineup since March 15th with a shoulder separation. He had been selected MVP 11 times this season.</p><p>The award consists of a trophy, $500 in cash and a $500 donation to Noel&rsquo;s favorite charity. Noel will donate the $500 to The Four Diamonds Fund, which has been established at a local hospital to help defray the costs of outpatient care for those afflicted with cancer.</p><p>The Bears dropped nine of their last 13, assuring the club of an unheard of last place finish in the AHL Southern Division.</p><p>Left winger Nelson Burton set a new Hershey penalty record when he amassed 323 minutes. Burton eclipsed Larry Ziedel&rsquo;s old Hershey mark of 211 penalty minutes but Dave Schultz set the all-time AHL record with 392 minutes in the 197172 season when he played for the Richmond Robins.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03171/4320957-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="554" height="622"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>AL HILL&hellip;Top Mariner</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04116/4320950-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="558" height="599"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DREW CALLANDER&hellip;42-Goal Year</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0029-01

New Haven Romps Into South Final; Voyageurs Get Battle From Indians

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04144/4321002-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg"></div><h2><b>CHL All Stars</b></h2><p><b>Most Valuable Player&mdash;DOUG PALAZZARI, Kansas City.</b></p><p><b>Rookie of the Year&mdash;GLEN HANLON, Tulsa.</b></p><p><b>Coach of the Year&mdash;BILLY MacMILLAN, Fort Worth.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0030-04

CENTRAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

<p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><p>SALT LAKE&mdash;</p><p>Doug (Pizza) Palazzari of the Golden Eagles, first winner of the &ldquo;triple crown&rdquo; in 15 years of Central League history, was voted the Tommy Ivan Award, as the league&rsquo;s most valuable player. The 25-year-old U.S. native (Eveleth, Minn.), led the circuit in points (101), goals (45) and assists (56).</p><p>The fiery little center from Colorado College (five-foot-five, 174-pounds), tied Jin? Lorentz for the second highest-point production in CHL history. Lorentz had 101 points for the Oklahoma City Blazers in 1968-69. Al Caron has 125 for St. Louis in 1963-64.</p><p>Doug had a golden opportunity for his 102nd point in the last minute of the regular season at Kansas City. With the Red Wings&rsquo; goalie lifted, and 30 seconds on the clock, Eagle John Smrke had the puck, but elected to pass to &ldquo;Pizza&rdquo;. But the pass was wide, and Palazzari didn&rsquo;t get it.</p><p>Tulsa goalie Glen (Carrot) Hanlon was runnerup in the MVP balloting, 36 points to 26, but snared rookie of the year honors, the first netminder in CHL history to win that award. The 21-year-old redhead from Brandon, Man., was in the nets for 53 of the Oilers&rsquo; 76 games, posting a 3.07 average and three shutouts. He finished the schedule with four games for the parent Vancouver Canucks, where he had a 2.70 mark, then returned to Tulsa for the second week of playoffs.</p><p>The Tulsa goaler became the first winner of the new Ken McKenzie Trophy, which the founder and president of THE HOCKEY NEWS, Ken McKenzie, donated to the CHL this season for the first time in honor of the league&rsquo;s best rookie performer.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02304/4321071-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="551" height="593"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GLEN HANLON&hellip;Rookie Of Year</b></figcaption></div><p>Hanlon, who had just returned from the NHL where he appeared in two games for the Canucks and managed his first NHL win, was outstanding in his first season with Tulsa and appears destined for bigger things with the Vancouver Canucks in the near future.</p><p>Hanlon and Palazzari garnered spots on the CHL&rsquo;s first All Star team. They were joined by defensemen Larry Giroux (Kansas City) and Joe Zanussi (Salt Lake), left wing J.P. LeBlanc (Kansas City) and right wings Ron Wilson (Dallas) and Tony Currie (Salt Lake), who tied in the coaches&rsquo; balloting.</p><p>Doug Grant (Salt Lake) and Terry Richardson (Kansas City) tied for the goalkeeping spot on the second team. Others named were defensemen Jim McKenny (Dallas) and Claire Alexander (Tulsa), center Richie Hansen (Fort Worth), left wing Floyd Thomson (Salt Lake) and right wing John Anderson (Dallas).</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03216/4321064-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="559" height="587"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DOUG PALAZZARI&hellip;Selected MVP</b></figcaption></div><p>Wilson finished the campaign with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Currie and Grant with the St. Louis Blues, and Alexander with the Vancouver Canucks.</p><p>Player-coach Billy MacMillan, who guided the Fort Worth Texans to the regular-season championship, was voted coach of the year. The Iron Man Award went to center Duane Wylie of Dallas, who played in all 77 of the Black Hawks&rsquo; games (one more than any other team played, because of the schedule revision after the Phoenix Roadrunners folded in December).</p><p>Ed Staniowski and Grant shared the Terry Sawchuk Trophy, as their Salt Lake club allowed the fewest goals in the season, 238, which was 13 less than the nearest competitor, Fort Worth.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0030-02

Palazzari Captures MVP Award; Hanlon Takes McKenzie Trophy

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div><p>TULSA&mdash;</p><p>They&rsquo;re playing no favorites in the 1978 Adams Cup playoff sweepstakes. The favorites are being bowled over like tenpins.</p><p>The third-place Dallas Black Hawks, who finished eight points behind the Salt Lake Golden Eagles, came along to upset the Eagles 4-2 in their best-of-seven semifinal playoff series. Three of the games were decided in sudden-death overtime.</p><p>Rick Bourbonnais won game three and Floyd Thomson won game five for Salt Lake in extra periods. Bob Warner fired the overtime winner in game four as Dallas won.</p><p>The upset victory for Dallas moved the Hawks into the cup final against the winner of the Tulsa-Fort Worth semifinal series and here again, it appears an upset is in the making.</p><p>The Oilers were leading the Texans 3-2 having won the fifth game on Fort Worth ice 6-3. The Texans, who were the pre-playoff choices for the Adams Cup, faced an uphill battle to survive and make the finals.</p><p>Meanwhile, the Salt Lake Eagles gained second place in the final schedule windup the haid way. They won their must game in Kansas City 3-2 but had to settle for second place behind Fort Worth when the final curtain came down.</p><p>Forced to open the playoffs on the road, the Birds dropped a pair of 6-4 games in Dallas, with the Hawks scoring into an empty net in the last minute of each contest. However, the next three series games were scheduled in the Salt Palace, and the Eagles were strengthened by the return of their former player-coach Barclay Plager.</p><p>Barclay had been elevated in February to coach the parent St. Louis Blues, with brother Bob taking over the Eagle reins. It was believed the first time an National Hockey League coach was ever in the lineup for a minor league club. Barclay was never taken off the Salt Lake players&rsquo; list, since he was not a player in St. Louis. When the Blues failed to make the Stanley Cup playoffs, the coach came back to play under his brother.</p><p>Both Salt Lake and Dallas tied the CHL road record with 20 victories. Smrke&rsquo;s 70 points ranked second behind Palazzari in the Eagle scoring (fourth on the league chart), while Lyle Bradley had 57 points to tie for eighth in the league.</p><p>Bradley, incidentally, is the only other Salt Lake player ever to be named MVP in a professional hockey league. He took the honors in the Western League in 1973-74.</p><p>Palazzari led the CHL in game-winning goals (10) and power play goals (21), while teammate Neil Labatte led in shorthanded goals (four).</p><p>Winding up the regular season at KC Rick Bourbonnais and Ken Kuzyk gave the Eagles a lead, but it was Bradley&rsquo;s goal at 8:48 of the third which won the game.</p><p>The playoffs opened on Friday in Dallas. Eagle Ken Richardson had the only goal of the first period, and Zanussi scored on a power play early in the second. But the Hawks came back with four straight tallies before Bourbonnais scored for Salt Lake. With six minutes left, a power play goal by Palazzari narrowed the deficit to 5-4. Goalie Staniowski was removed with 42 seconds to play, but 20 seconds later Hawk John Anderson clinched his hat trick with an empty-net goal.</p><p>The next night the Eagles kept rallying, as Mike Korney scored in the first, Richardson had a shorthanded goal in the second, and Bradley and Smrke counted in the third, cutting a Dallas lead to 54. This time Staniowski came out of his cage with 1:07 left, but the result was the same. In 15 seconds Anderson had another empty-net goal.</p><p><b>KANSAS CITY:</b> It was a frustrating finish for Larry Wilson&rsquo;s Red Wings. Tulsa was the team they needed to beat out for the last playoff spot, and the Wings massacred the Oilers in their last three meetings, 9-4, 8-2, 6-4, the last two on Tulsa ice. But the Oilers had built up too big a cushion in their prosperous-days, and KC fell two points short.</p><p>The coup de grace was a 3-2 loss at home to Salt Lake, where Danny Gruen opened the scoring, and Rob Plumb tied in the final period, but the Wings couldn&rsquo;t regain the lead.</p><p>The season finale the next night in Tulsa was meaningless, except for Kansas City pride. The Wings came back from a two-goal deficit to take command with four tallies in the middle period.</p><p>Fern LeBlanc, playing with a wire mask after suffering a fractured ethmoid bone of the left eye, fired in two goals in the second period, with Ron Plumb and Larry Giroux contributing the others. Danny Gruen got two in the third, the last an empty-netter with 40 seconds to play, as the Wings held off a Tulsa rally.</p><p>Mike Bloom flushed as the No. 3 scorer in the CHL, with 77 points, and Giroux was seventh, with 60.</p><p><b>FORT WORTH:</b> It was a double harvest for the Texans, as captain Richie Hansen skated around holding the Emory Jones Trophy (for the regular-season championship) and the Turnpike Trophy (for beating Dallas, 12 games to 10, in their fierce rivalry).</p><p>The turnpike series wasn&rsquo;t decided until the final game of the schedule, a 7-5 victory at home. But Billy MacMillan&rsquo;s Texans had wrapped up the regular season title the previous night with a 3-2 overtime decision in Dallas.</p><p>For the playoffs the Texans were facing Tulsa, a team they had &ldquo;owned&rdquo; during the regular season (13-3-2, with nine straight victories at home). The mastery continued, as Don Cutts beat the Oilers, 4-2, and then Gary Smith shut them out the next night, 4-0. That ran the Texans&rsquo; string to 14 games without defeat.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01391/4321033-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="559" height="841"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BILLY MacMILLAN &hellip; Did Super Job</b></figcaption></div><p>Dwight Bialowas scored at 5:03 of overtime to clinch first place in the game at Dallas. Kelly Greenbank and Alex Pirus had pushed the Texans to an early 2-0 lead before the Hawks rallied.</p><p>Their celebration left the Texans a little flat for the rematch at home, and Dallas was off to a quick 2-0 lead. Neil Nicholson started the rally before the first period was over, and Bialowas, Greenbank and Richie Hansen gained the lead in the second. In the third Nicholson scored shorthanded, and Pirus got two more, as the victory was more one-sided than the final score indicated. For the second straight night, Bialowas had the winning goal. Dallas&rsquo; last two goals came in the final minute of play.</p><p>Hansen, with 78 points, was second on the CHL scoring chart, while Bill Hogaboam was sixth, with 66, and Doug Rombough tied for eighth, with 57. Cutts wound up as the league&rsquo;s top goalie (a 2.88 average for 48 games), and Smith was runnerup (2.98 for 13 games).</p><p>Three goals in the first four-and-a-half minutes, two by Hansen and one by Richard Nantais, put the Texans in complete charge of the playoff opener at home. Tulsa&rsquo;s Glen Richardson spoiled Cutts&rsquo; shutout bid at 8:46 of the second. Mike Hordy padded the Fort Worth margin in the third.</p><p>Smith turned back 22 shots in the shutout (the Texans had 93 shots in the two games, Tulsa 50). Hansen scored in the first period, Nicholson in the second, Nantais and Bob Lorimer in the third.</p><p><b>TULSA:</b> The Oilers played six straight games without a victory at the close of the regular schedule, but still gained a playoff spot on the strength of their performances earlier in the season, before major league callups and injuries stripped the squad. Then they proceeded to lose two playoff games in Fort Worth, giving them a 0-11 record in Will Rogers Coliseum for the season.</p><p>Johnny Choyce&rsquo;s men couldn&rsquo;t win either of the two closing games against Kansas City, needed to clinch the playoff berth. But it didn&rsquo;t matter, as the Wings fell to Fort Worth and Salt Lake, losing their playoff chance before the season finale in Tulsa.</p><p>Don (Red) Laurence had two goals in that game. He and Scott Garland gave Tulsa an early two-goal lead, but the Wings counted four times in the second period, then added two more in the third, the last an empty-net tally, after Laurence and Alex Forsyth had narrowed the margin to 5-4.</p><p>In 120 minutes of playoff action, the only goal the Oilers could manage was a high shot by Glen Richardson in the second period of a 4-1 loss.</p><p>For the second week of post-season action, the Oilers welcomed back goalie Glen Hanlon and defenseman Larry Goodenough, who both had gone up to Vancouver, as the Canucks battled in vain for a Stanley Cup playoff spot.</p><p>The Oilers&rsquo; leading scorer was Stan Weir, who had been in Toronto since Feb. 1. His 57 points tied for eighth among CHL scorers. Rob Tudor came close to catching Stan, registering two assists in the loss to KC, but fell one point shy.</p><p>Ralph Stewart led the league in first-goals-of-game, with seven.</p><p><b>DALLAS:</b> The regular schedule ended on an unhappy note for Gerry McNamara&rsquo;s Black Hawks, with back-to-back losses against archrival Fort Worth, 3-2 (overtime) and 7-5. But the playoffs opened on a happier tune with a pair of 64 victories at home over Salt Lake.</p><p>For the second week of the playoffs, the Hawks lost right wing Kurt Walker to Toronto, and brought in a pair of rookie left wings on pro trials&mdash;Larry Hopkins from the University of Toronto and Lynn Jorgensen from Grand Rapids in the International League.</p><p>Dan Hinton and Jim McKenny rallied Dallas to a 2-2 tie in the home loss before Texan Dwight Bialowas flipped in the overtime winner. Hinton&rsquo;s shorthanded goal, and one by Reggie Kerr, provided a 2-0 lead in Fort Worth, but it vanished in the face of the Texans&rsquo; second-period rally. Walker scored early in the third, then the Hawks got two goals in a futile last-minute rally. Greg Vaydik scored with 59 seconds to play, and McKenny with one second left.</p><p>John Anderson had the hat trick in the playoff opener, scoring twice in the first period, and into an empty net with 22 seconds left. Duane Wylie had two goals, and Walker the other.</p><p>Ron Wilson who was recalled by Toronto the last week of the season, led the Hawk scorers with 69 points, fifth best in the CHL.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Texan-Black Hawk Final Looms For Adams Cup

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div><p>TOLEDO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hile Fort Wayne and Saginaw led their respective divisions most of the season and figure to play the role of favorites in the International Hockey League playoffs, Toledo and Flint may be the teams to watch.</p><p>The Goaldiggers finished a distant second to the Komets in the South while Flint bounced back and forth between fourth and third in the final weeks of the season in the North Division before edging Port Huron for third by a point. But each club appears to have the momentum as the playoffs arrive.</p><p>Toledo won three of four games during the week, tying the fourth for seven of eight points. The points were incidental as Fort Wayne clinched the South Division title some time back. But the way the Diggers have been skating, they could be a strong threat in the post-season competition.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really pleased with the momentum we seem to be gaining for the playoffs,&rdquo; said Toledo general manager-coach Ted Garvin. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to have to play tighter defense than we have been playing, but we have 10 guys with 20 goals or more and I think we&rsquo;re playing as well or better than anyone in the league offensively.&rdquo;</p><p>Garvin is particularly pleased to see the return of center Randy Mohns, who scored four goals in a 10-5 romp over Grand Rapids. &ldquo;Getting Mohns back from his injury to center the line with Scully (Barry) and Eruzione (Mike) is really going to make that a potent scoring line,&rdquo; Garvin stated.</p><p>Garvin has always had his teams ready by playoff time and this season doesn&rsquo;t appear to be the exception.</p><p>The hottest team during the week was Flint which swept a three-game series with the IHL&rsquo;s two top teams.</p><p>The Generals took a home-and-home series from Fort Wayne and ended a string of six winless games against Saginaw for the first six-point weekend of the season.</p><p>All three victories were by one-goal margins. Fort Wayne fell at home, 4-3, and was a victim on the road, 5-4. Saginaw also lost, 4-3.</p><p>&ldquo;I think some of the extra running and conditioning we did paid off,&rdquo; said coach Marc Boileau. &ldquo;We had the stamina to come back and win at the end.&rdquo;</p><p>Ironically, the hero of the 5-4 victory at Fort Wayne was Mike Breen, whose goal broke a 4-4 tie late in the final period. It was only Breen&rsquo;s second goal in 71 games. His other goal was also scored against Fort Wayne&mdash;but into an empty net.</p><p>Elsewhere in the IHL:</p><p><b>SAGINAW:</b> The Gears finally nailed down the North Division title but failed to gain any ground on Fort Wayne for the overall league title and the Huber Trophy. The title-clincher came in a 3-3 tie with Toledo. The Gears also nipped Kalamazoo, 5-4, while dropping a pair of one-goal decisions at Toledo and at Flint by identical 4-3 scores.</p><p>The Gears have the lowest goals-against average in the league, goalies Pierre Chagnon and Lorne Mollenken yielding but 278.</p><p><b>KALAMAZOO:</b> The K-Wings have slacked off a bit after making a strong run at Saginaw for the North Division title. Kalamazoo was 1-1-1 for the week, winning over Port Huron, 3-1; losing at Saginaw, 5-4; and playing a 6-6 tie with Muskegon at home. The K-Wings had a 41 lead over the Mohawks but couldn&rsquo;t hold it.</p><p><b>PORT HURON:</b> Tough luck continues to plague the Flags. Case ip point: A 3-3 tie with Fort Wayne which just seconds before the end appeared to be a 3-2 triumph which would have snapped a six-game winless string.</p><p>Tom Roulston scored for the Flags with just 39 seconds remaining for a 3-2 lead. But with .25 seconds left Fort Wayne&rsquo;s Mike Penasse tied the game with a 45-foot blast.</p><p>The Flags appeared certain of victory when Komet coach Gregg Pilling called for a measurement on Flags&rsquo; goalie Rollie Boutin&rsquo;s stick after Roulston&rsquo;s goal. The stick was found to be legal so the Komets got a two minute penalty for delay of game.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;What the heck,&rdquo; said Pilling. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re down by one goal. What did we have to lose? If the move works, you get the extra man. If it doesn&rsquo;t you can ice the puck.&rdquo;</p><p>So, Pilling pulled Murray Bannerman and Penasse promptly drilled in the tying goal.</p><p><b>MUSKEGON:</b> The Mohawks&rsquo; determined bid to win the wildcard playoff position ended successfully as the Mohawks edged Grand Rapids of the South by a point.</p><p>Since Gerry Moore took over as coach, Muskegon has played .500 hockey. The Mohawks win 5-5-2 in the 12 games under Moore.</p><p>Maybe the biggest point of the season came in Kalamazoo&mdash;where the Mohawks came from a three-goal deficit to manage a 6-6 tie. Jerry McDill got the hat trick, including the game-tying goal at 17:50 of the final period. The Mohawks also scored a key 6-3 win over Milwaukee. The game was the 800th regular season IHL game for the Mohawks Bob Tombari who also scored his 307th goal in the victory.</p><p><b>FORT WAYNE:</b> The Komets continue to have problems winning at home. Boasting the best road record in the league&mdash;19-13-8&mdash;the Komets have managed to win just two more at home&mdash;21. The K&rsquo;s have lost 10 and tied nine.</p><p>&ldquo;We just haven&rsquo;t played well at home recently,&rdquo; said coach Gregg Pilling after the K&rsquo;s went 0-2-1 in three home assignments. But the Komets have some injury problems which has seriously cut the scoring potential.</p><p>Left winger Robbie Laird has a broken hand; left winger Dave Norris an injured thumb; defenseman-winger Bob McNeice a jammed wrist; winger Al Dumba a pulled groin. Veteran defenseman Terry Pembroke has returned from an 18-game layoff because of a knee injury.</p><p><b>GRAND RAPIDS:</b> The Owls&rsquo; playoff chances suffered a triple jolt with three straight losses on the road. The Owls lost twice at Toledo, 5-2 and 10-5, and at Milwaukee, 3-2. After that they played three one-goal games, losing 4-3 to Kalamazoo and 3-2 to Fort Wayne after defeating Kalamazoo 2-1 to miss the playoffs by a point.</p><p><b>MILWAUKEE:</b> The young Admirals secured a playoff position in their maiden voyage.</p><p>The Owls won a pair of home games, 72 over Muskegon and 3-2 over Milwaukee, while losing at home to Fort Wayne, 6-3, and on the road at Muskegon, 6-3. The Owls finished third in the South, five points ahead of Grand Rapids.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01358/4321109-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="561" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BARRY SCULLY&hellip;Potent &lsquo;Diggers Line</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02268/4321102-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="568" height="525"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MIKE BREEN&hellip;Scored Key Goal</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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Toledo, Flint Gathering Momentum; Mohawks Edge Owls In Playoff Bid

<div class="byline">BY MARY KAY DAVIS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01371/4321140-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg"></div><h2><b>Summer Convention</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>D</span>ISCO DANCING, DOLPHIN RACES</b>, a Hawaiian luau, and hockey personalities will be featured when the puck is dropped at the NHL Booster Clubs convention Aug. 11-1213 in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey&hellip;Our gracious hosts this year will be the <b>NEW YORK RANGERS FAN CLUB</b>, led by <b>Sammy Pitkowsky</b>&hellip; Convention chairman <b>Mark Friedman</b> and convention secretary <b>Phyllis Schlemmer</b> and their enthusiastic committee have planned &ldquo;on the house&rdquo; refreshments Friday evening&hellip;The convention is open to members of fan clubs affiliated with the NHL Booster Clubs, Inc. which covers every NHL city so far with the exceptions of Toronto and Montreal, and club members should communicate with their clubs&rsquo; individual convention chairpeople for reservations and information&hellip;Speaking of the <b>RANGERS FAN CLUB</b> the 28th annual player/fan dinner dance marked the first &ldquo;public appearance&rdquo; of Yvonne &ldquo;<b>Mighty Mouse</b>&rdquo; Foss since her auto accident a year ago&hellip;Yvonne&rsquo;s &ldquo;national&rdquo; public, meaning all her friends from booster clubs in other cities, will be looking for her on Friday night at the luau, and she&rsquo;d better be there!&hellip;<b>Rod Gilbert</b> was presented by RFC member Dianne Bell will honorary membership in the club, and with a $1,000 check for the Rod Gilbert Foundation by <b>Dave Kaiser</b>&hellip;Among raffle winners, whose donations benefited the Foundation, were <b>Joe Foley, Mike McEwen, Harvey Rosenblum, and Jim O&rsquo;Donnell</b>&hellip;In addition to the players and their wives, <b>Rita White</b> and <b>Joan Sklover</b> of the Ranger office attended&hellip; Winner of the Jerry Gorbaty award for &ldquo;unsung club member&rdquo; was <b>Debbie Wilkinson.</b></p><p><b>THE LADIES&rsquo; LUNCHEON</b> and fashion show hosted each year for the players&rsquo; wives by female members of the <b>CHICAGO BLACK HAWK STANDBYS</b> was once again &ldquo;invaded&rdquo; by some of the male members, who sat in an adjoining room and made rather a lot of noise&hellip;This is the price the gals must pay for getting to play golf with them at that formerly all-male event&hellip;Perhaps next year the boys will agree to model&hellip;Many Standbys stopped by <b>Ruth Morrill&rsquo;s</b> pad, a few blocks away, after the luncheon and were amazed at her collection of antiques&hellip;What with her collection of ewers and chamber pots in the rec room, Dick needn&rsquo;t worry about putting in a powder room in the basement&hellip; Favorite Hawk wife <b>Lynnae Koroll</b> was presented by hubby Cliff with a little Shitzu puppy and, according to Lynnae, it&rsquo;ll be just fine as soon as it learns to stop Shitzuing all over their house.</p><p><b>Marie</b> and <b>Joanne Kolcz</b> of the <b>DETROIT RED WINGS FOR&rsquo;EM CLUB</b> are former members who were enticed back by the after-game skating parties sponsored by the fan club this season&hellip; The club has <b>Art Whalen</b> to thank for arranging ice time&hellip;<b>Marge Telek</b> of Richmond. Kentucky, keeps in touch with her favorite team through the club&rsquo;s newsletter, Fanfare, edited by her sister, <b>Dianne Lobart</b>, and is gathering a following in Richmond starting with neighbor <b>Nancy Barnett&hellip;Nancy Russell</b> and <b>Larry Zub</b> are both hospitalized and nothing will cheer them up as much as getting back to their old seats at the Olympia&hellip; <b>Stanley &ldquo;Pa&rdquo; Szalony</b> is the official translator of those authentic Polish phrases you see in Fanfare (keep it clean, Pa)&hellip;<b>Diane McKnight</b>, a former Fanfare editor, still provides Dianne with tops and tidbits, proving old editors never die&hellip;<b>James</b> and <b>Meg Brannon</b>, among other Detroiters scheduled to visit Chicago, were sorely disappointed when that snowstorm freaked out their plans&hellip;A sleigh ride was featured on Feb. 11 and I have a sneaky feeling that it was not tuff sledding (lots of snow!).</p><p><b>Lois Thomson</b> profiles Penguins&rsquo; &ldquo;organist extraordinaire&rdquo; <b>Vince Lascheid</b> in a recent issue of The Waddler, newsletter of the <b>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS BOOSTER CLUB</b>&hellip;Another article remembers former Penguin <b>Michel Briere</b>, killed in a tragic auto accident, who would be 28-years-old this season and an undoubted All Star&hellip;On the un-serious side, the fan club sponsored banner night, with players&rsquo; wives to judge&hellip;Winning banners and their artists will be announced later&hellip;Club members enjoyed a &ldquo;mystery trip&rdquo; after a recent game against Buffalo, when they took their visiting friends from the Buffalo Sabres Booster Club on a three-hour traveling party on the Pittsburgh trolley system, complete with sandwiches and wine&hellip;<b>Sharon Baumgardner</b>, writing about the party in The Waddler, relates that many of the Buffalo gang had never ridden a trolley before (too busy with the old snowshoes, perhaps, heh-heh).</p><h2><b>Swing With The Kings</b></h2><p><b>MEMBERS OF THE LOS ANGELES KINGS COURT</b> enjoyed &ldquo;Swing with the Kings&rdquo; on March 5, featuring dining, dancing, trophies, and lots of fun&hellip;<b>Roy Englebrect</b> is the Kings&rsquo; handsome young PR man and <b>KINGS COURT</b> members appreciate the way he is involving them in the promotion of their favorite team&hellip;Members recently assisted him in several promotional giveaway nights&hellip; Dentist <b>Lawrence Handley</b>, also a gourmet chef, had several of his fellow booster clubbers over recently for dinner and hockey talk, and after dinner each guest was presented with a roll of dental floss&hellip;<b>John</b> and <b>Barbara Marino</b> sponsored a swinging party for their friends in Section 35, Loge&hellip;<b>Shirley McManus&rsquo;</b> pom-poms must be pretty tired about the time you read this, as Shirley is a tax accountant&hellip;<b>Ed Coffer</b> doesn&rsquo;t let his San Diego residency keep him away from Kings games, and brings busloads to the Forum regularly.</p><p>Several upcoming events sponsored by the <b>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS FAN CLUB</b> will benefit the Barry Ashbee Memorial Fund including the Flyers&rsquo; Wives Fight for Lives Carnival; a Penn-Harvard hockey game, a softball game this summer between the Flyers and the Islanders, a golf tournament and others&hellip;Details on all events are available from the fan club, which can be reached c/o The Spectrum&hellip;<b>Lou Damia</b> and <b>Guy Pal</b>, in a recent edition of The Puck (the fan club&rsquo;s newsletter) recalled some of the &ldquo;good old days&rdquo; when the club was getting started and, among other nostalgia, those &ldquo;bubble gum contests&rdquo; for the players featuring many partial dentures getting stuck together with gum (these two guys are a couple of sadists!)&hellip;Then there was the night Guy won the door prize, which turned out to be a door&hellip;Personalized T-shirts are available through the fan club for nearly every Flyer, featuring such legends as &ldquo;Reggie&rsquo;s Rifles,&rdquo; &ldquo;Big Bird,&rdquo; and &ldquo;Roscoe&rsquo;s Rabbits.&rdquo;</p><p>Globetrotting members of the <b>ATLANTA FLAMES FAN CLUB</b> who flew to Denver on Feb. 10 were treated not only to a great game and the mile-high hospitality of the <b>COLORADO ROCKEY BLUELINERS</b>, but also to 10-cent beer night (what luck)&hellip; Sightseeing followed, with the intrepid Pierce family uncowed by snow, ice, and a closed interstate as they detoured through the snow country (practicing for those one-inch snowfalls back home)&hellip;Meanwhile most of the other magnolia blossoms, including <b>Tish Lemaster</b> and <b>Mary Ellen Sullivan</b>, cowered in the hotel&hellip;<b>Bobbie Morris</b> handled trip arrangements, and the group thanks Rocky Blueliner president <b>Len Wrysinski</b> and his members for their &ldquo;Western hospitality.&rdquo;</p><p>Paul Ross and his fellow <b>BUFFALO SABRES BOOSTER CLUBBERS</b> really enjoyed that recent trip to Washington, particularly so since they were entertained by <b>Joe Madison</b> and other members of the <b>WASHINGTON CAPITALS FAN CLUB</b> throughout the entire weekend&hellip;The Buffalo folk held a dinner for visiting members of the <b>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS BOOSTER CLUB</b> to reciprocate for &ldquo;their many kindnesses.&rdquo;</p><p><b>Marty Suffae</b> and <b>Barbara August</b> were two of the lucky game ticket winners in the <b>WASHINGTON CAPITALS FAN CLUB</b> raffle&hellip;March 11 marked the fashion show/luncheon for the Caps&rsquo; wives&hellip;This year&rsquo;s player/fan banquet is tentatively scheduled for April 6, with busy bee <b>Diane Jackson</b> hard at work planning a festive time for members and guests&hellip;Evidently no one could find <b>Ron Kleinfelter</b> at the club&rsquo;s Christmas Party and he missed seeing Santa once again&hellip;<b>Sue Ticknor</b> is clicking away as the club&rsquo;s photographer of official events&hellip;<b>Danna Beard</b> represents the club in the &lsquo;Miss Capitals&rsquo; Sweetheart contest, which benefits the heart fund&hellip;Members welcomed and partied with the <b>NEW YORK RANGERS FAN CLUB</b> and the <b>DETROIT RED WINGS FOR&rsquo;EM CLUB</b> in recent weeks.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0032-01

NHL BOOSTER CLUB NEWS

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><p>BUFFALO&mdash;</p><p>Professional hockey is having its troubles right now but great days are coming.</p><p>That, in essence, is what Danny Gallivan, veteran broadcaster for Hockey Night in Canada, told members of the Buffalo Sabres Booster Club at their annual testimonial dinner-dance for their National Hockey League team in Buffalo&rsquo;s Executive Inn. A crowd of 230 attended, including Sabres and their wives.</p><p>&ldquo;I have never been as optimistic about hockey as I am now,&rdquo; said Gallivan, &ldquo;and my optimism is tied up with international hockey. Meaningless exhibition games between North American and European teams have had it, though. They will not draw.</p><p>&ldquo;The best in North America against the best in Europe is coming up. In three to five years we will have it and that will put hockey back on top in sports.&rdquo;</p><p>The well-known play-by-play man told stories of his 24 years as an announcer in Montreal and mentioned that in 1961 in Chicago he saw the greatest hockey game he ever witnessed. Rocket Richard tied the game at 1-1 with 16 seconds to go and in the fourth overtime Murray Balfour won it for the Black Hawks.</p><p>Hockey is the most exciting spectator sport there is, Gallivan stated, but &ldquo;we can&rsquo;t hide our heads in the sand when we assess hockey today. We do have problems because of excessive expansion.</p><p>&ldquo;There are some changes I would like to see in hockey. First, there is too much icing of the puck; it slows down the action. I would change the rules to get rid of that.</p><p>&ldquo;And I would change the All Star game format, as I am glad to see they expect to do. I hope they will have the Russians play the NHL All Stars but if they can&rsquo;t bring that about, why not have the Stanley Cup champions play the All Stars?&rdquo;</p><p>Don Edwards, the Sabres&rsquo; 22-year-old goaltender, swept all the awards at the banquet.</p><p>Edwards received the new Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award as the club&rsquo;s outstanding rookie, as well as the established trophies to the most valuable player and most popular player.</p><p>Mrs. Fred T. Hunt presented the Hunt Award, decided by a vote of the club members and the media. Mrs. Frank Ed-dolls presented the Frank Eddolls Memorial Award for most popular, voted on by the Booster Club, and Jack Brew, Booster Club president, presented the Wayne Larkin Memorial Award as MVP, voted on by the Sabres, themselves.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02282/4321171-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="566" height="1364"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DANNY GALLIVAN&hellip;He&rsquo;s Optimistic</b></figcaption></div><p>Edwards is the fourth player to win-both MVP and most popular awards. Gil Perreault did it in 1970-71, Rick Martin in 1973-74 and Danny Gare in 1975-76.</p><p>Dick Groh and Jack Brew received lifetime honorary memberships to the club for outstanding service. Ken Rose, membership chairman, made the presentation.</p><p>The Rev. Ronald P. Sclera gave the invocation and benediction. Ted Darling, &lsquo;Voice of the Sabres&rsquo;, was the master of ceremonies.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0032-02

IN THE ISSUES

NHL Broadcaster Predicts Global World Cup Series

<h2><b>AMERICAN LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><h3><b>NORTHERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01335/4321342-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="596" height="135"></div><h3><b>SOUTHERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02245/4321335-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="602" height="192"></div><h2><b>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03180/4321328-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="596" height="595"></div><h2><b>FINAL GOALING RECORDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04139/4321321-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="590" height="496"></div><h2><b>PLAYOFF GAMES</b></h2><h3><b>SERIES&lsquo;A&rsquo;</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-05111/4321314-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="610" height="144"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Wed. April 12</p><p>Springfield 2 at Nova Scotia 0</p><p>Fri. April 14</p><p>Springfield 2 at Nova Scotia 3</p><p>Sat. April 15</p><p>Nova Scotia 5 at Springfield 4</p><p>Wun. April 16</p><p>Nova Scotia at Springfield (ppd.)</p><h2><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h2><p>Mon. April 17</p><p>Nova Scotia at Springfield</p><p>Tue. April 18</p><p>Springfield at Nova Scotia</p><h3><b>SERIES &lsquo;B&rsquo;</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0689/4321307-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="600" height="142"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Tue. April 11</p><p>Philadelphia 3 at Now Haven 6</p><p>Thu. April 13</p><p>Philadelphia 1 at Now Haven 7</p><p>Fri. April 14</p><p>How Haven 1 at Philadelphia 4</p><p>Sun. April 16</p><p>Now Haven 5 at Philadelphia 2</p><h2><b>CENTRAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p>(Final&rsquo;Standings)</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0778/4321300-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="599" height="221"></div><h2><b>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0865/4321293-1-eng-US/f0033-082.jpg" title="f0033-08" width="604" height="301"></div><h2><b>GOALING RECORDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0956/4321286-1-eng-US/f0033-092.jpg" title="f0033-09" width="597" height="341"></div><h2><b>PLAYOFF GAMES</b></h2><h3><b>Sami-Finals</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1051/4321279-1-eng-US/f0033-102.jpg" title="f0033-10" width="604" height="113"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Fri. April 7</p><p>Salt Lake 4 at Dallas 6</p><p>Sat. April 8</p><p>Salt Lake 4 at Dallas 6</p><p>Wed. April 12</p><p>Dallas 3 at Salt Lake 4</p><p>Fri. April 14</p><p>Dallas 2 at Salt Lake 1</p><p>Set. April 15</p><p>Dallas 5 at Salt Lake 6</p><p>Sun. April 16</p><p>Salt Lake 1 at Dallas 2</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1149/4321272-1-eng-US/f0033-112.jpg" title="f0033-11" width="593" height="116"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Frl. April 7</p><p>Tulsa 1 at Fort Worth 4</p><p>Sat. April 8</p><p>Tulsa 0 at Fort Worth 4</p><p>Tue. April 11</p><p>Fort Worth 2 at Tulsa 5</p><p>Wed. April 12</p><p>Fort Worth 1 at Tulsa 4</p><p>Sat. April 15</p><p>Tulsa 6 at Fort Worth 3</p><h2><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h2><p>Tue. April 18</p><p>Fort Worth at Tulsa</p><p>Wed. April 19</p><p>Tulsa at Fort Worth</p><h2><b>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p>(Final Standings)</p><h3><b>NORTH DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1248/4321265-1-eng-US/f0033-122.jpg" title="f0033-12" width="595" height="161"></div><h3><b>SOUTH DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1337/4321258-1-eng-US/f0033-132.jpg" title="f0033-13" width="588" height="167"></div><h2><b>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1434/4321251-1-eng-US/f0033-142.jpg" title="f0033-14" width="558" height="463"></div><h2><b>FINAL GOALING RECORDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1529/4321244-1-eng-US/f0033-152.jpg" title="f0033-15" width="606" height="766"></div><h2><b>PLAYOFF GAMES</b></h2><h3><b>SERIES &lsquo;A&rsquo;</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1624/4321237-1-eng-US/f0033-162.jpg" title="f0033-16" width="592" height="124"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Wed. April 12</p><p>Muskegon 4 at Fort Wayne 1</p><p>Sat April 19</p><p>Muskegon 2 at Fort Wayne 3</p><h2><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h2><p>Wed. April 19</p><p>Fort Wayne at Muskegon</p><p>Fri. April 21</p><p>Fort Wayne at Muskegon</p><p>Sat. April 22</p><p>Muskegon at Fort Wayne</p><p>Tue. April 25</p><p>Fort Wayne at Muskegon</p><p>Wed. April 26</p><p>Muskegon at Fort Wayne</p><h3><b>SERIES &lsquo;B&rsquo;</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1724/4321230-1-eng-US/f0033-172.jpg" title="f0033-17" width="599" height="109"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Fri. April 14</p><p>Port Huron 9 at Saginaw 3</p><p>Sat. April 15</p><p>Saginaw 2 at Port Huron 4</p><p>Sun. April 16</p><p>Port Huron 3 at Saginaw 6</p><h2><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h2><p>Fri. April 21</p><p>Saginaw at Port Huron</p><p>Sat. April 22</p><p>Port Huron at Saginaw</p><p>Sun. April 23</p><p>Saginaw at Port Huron</p><p>Wed. April 26</p><p>Port Huron at Saginaw</p><h3><b>SERIES &lsquo;C&rsquo;</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1821/4321223-1-eng-US/f0033-182.jpg" title="f0033-18" width="606" height="117"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Wed. April 12</p><p>Milwaukee 4 at Toledo 6</p><p>Fri. April 14</p><p>Milwaukee Oat Toledo 5</p><p>Sat. April 15</p><p>Toledo 4 at Milwaukee 1</p><h2><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h2><p>Mon. April 17</p><p>Toledo at Milwaukee</p><p>Wed. April 19</p><p>Toledo at Milwaukee</p><p>Sat. April 22</p><p>Toledo at Milwaukee</p><p>Wed. April 26</p><p>Milwaukee at Toledo</p><h3><b>SERIES &lsquo;D&rsquo;</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1919/4321216-1-eng-US/f0033-192.jpg" title="f0033-19" width="599" height="115"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Thu. April 13</p><p>Flint 1 at Kalamazoo 3</p><p>Frl. April 14</p><p>Kalamazoo 3 at Flint 5</p><p>Sat. April 15</p><p>Flint 3 at Kalamazoo 4</p><h2><b>GAMES TO COME</b></h2><p>Fri. April 21</p><p>Kalamazoo at Flint</p><p>Sat. April 22</p><p>Flint at Kalamazoo</p><p>Sun. April 23</p><p>Kalamazoo at Flint</p><p>Wed. April 26</p><p>Flint at Kalamazoo</p><h2><b>PACIFIC HOCKEY LEAGUE</b></h2><p>(Standings on Fri. April 7)</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-2016/4321209-1-eng-US/f0033-202.jpg" title="f0033-20" width="612" height="144"></div><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-2115/4321202-1-eng-US/f0033-212.jpg" title="f0033-21" width="602" height="362"></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;lslanders</p><p>13&mdash;Vancouver</p><p>14&mdash;Buffalo</p><p>15&mdash;Atlanta</p><p>16&mdash;Cieveland</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>26&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>29&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>38&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>

f0033-01

Looking At The Minor League Scoreboard

<h2><b>HOW THEY STAND</b></h2><h2><b>ONTARIO MAJOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><h3><b>Emms Division</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01366/4321394-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="603" height="194"></div><h3><b>Leyden Division</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02300/4321387-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="595" height="164"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03219/4321380-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="607" height="577"></div><h2><b>ONTARIO SENIOR LEAGUE</b></h2><h2><b>Playoff Games</b></h2><h3><b>Finals</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04140/4321373-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="595" height="112"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Brantford 7, Thunder Bsy 5</b></p><p><b>Brantford 6, Thunder Bay 3</b></p><p><b>Brantford 7, Thunder Bay 5</b></p><p><b>Thunder Bay 5, Brantford 3</b></p><p><b>Brantford 9, Thunder Bay 3</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0034-01

ONTARIO MAJOR HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY RICHARD PROCTOR</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-05100/4321432-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DAN LUCAS &hellip; Keyed Sault Win In Ottawa</b></figcaption></div><p>SAULT STE. MARIE&mdash;</p><p>Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds finally succumbed to the Ottawa 67s, but not before one of the greatest junior final series ever witnessed.</p><p>Trailing in points 7-3, Greyhounds won at home and then stunned the 67s with a 6-3 victory in Ottawa, which tied the series and sent everybody back to the Sault for the eighth game.</p><p>More than 1,000 fans waited for more than nine hours in below freezing temperatures to get tickets for the last game. More than 5,000 spectators jammed into the Memorial Gardens which lists 3,800 as capacity.</p><p>Greyhounds took a 2-0 first period lead but, playing their 13th playoff game in 17 days, just couldn&rsquo;t hold off the Ottawa team, losing 4-3. Jim Fox, who had 17 points in the eight games fired the winning goal with 51 seconds left in the regulation time.</p><p>The victory sends Ottawa into the Leyden Division final against Peterborough Petes.</p><p>In the Emms Division, Hamilton Fin-cups have taken a 3-1 lead in points over the London Knights in their eight point division championship series.</p><p>Fincups held Knights to a 3-3 tie in the opening game of the series in London. Willie Huber, Paul Marshall and Mike Szabo scored for Hamilton, who never trailed in the game.</p><p>Left winger Jim MacRae scored all three London goals. His tying goal came midway through the final period on a setup from Dino Ciccarelli.</p><p>Fincups skated to a 4-1 win in Hamilton that would have been higher except for the outstanding goalkeeping of London&rsquo;s Pat Riggin. Knights opened the scoring on a first period goal by defenseman Rob Ramage. But Hamilton scored two goals in each of the second and third periods to secure the win. Al Secord and Paul Marshall put Hamilton in the lead before Tim Coulis scored twice, one of them while Fincups were short-handed.</p><p>Bobby Smith led all scorers in the 67s-Greyhounds series with 18 points and set up Fox for the winner.</p><p>Paul Mancini and Arthur Rutland gave Greyhounds a 2-0 first period lead. But Smith assisted on second period goals by Larry Elson and Rory Cava to tie the game.</p><p>Wayne Gretzky put Greyhounds ahead 3-2 on a third period power play goal after Ottawa was caught with too many men on the ice. Center Sean Simpson tied the game midway through the third, preceding up Fox&rsquo;s winner.</p><p>The 5,029 fans was the largest crowd ever in Memorial Gardens. Fans were restricted to four tickets each at $4 but Scalpers were reselling them for as much as $50.</p><p>Greyhounds had evened the series in Ottawa with a 6-3 win. Dan Lucas scored twice in that one with Paul Mancini, Tom McLeod, Brian Gualazzi and Mike Boyd adding singles. Steve Payne scored twice for Ottawa with Simpson also scoring.</p><p>Greyhounds&rsquo; GM Angelo Bumbacco called that game &ldquo;the finest game any Greyhounds team has ever played.&rdquo; Both Bumbacco and Ottawa coach and GM Brian Kilrea agreed that Greyhounds&rsquo; goalie Greg Millen was the star of the series. &ldquo;We had good goaltending with Jay O&rsquo;Connor and Paul Minaker, but Millen was outstanding,&rdquo; Kilrea said.</p><p>Millen, who graduated from Peterborough Petes last year, returned to Greyhounds in mid-season after being drafted in the sixth round by Peterborough Petes.</p><p>Meanwhile, Gretzky has said he&rsquo;s uncertain he wants to return to the Greyhounds next season. According to his agent Gus Badali, the defensive style of Greyhounds under Paul Theriault doesn&rsquo;t suit Gretzky, who scored 70 goals and 112 assists in the regular season. In 13 playoff games Gretzky scored six goals and 24 assists.</p><p>Gretzky indicated he would like to go to one of five teams&mdash;Toronto Marlboros, Ottawa 67s, Kitchener Rangers, London Knights or Niagara Falls Flyers.</p><p>Meanwhile, Ontario Major Junior Hockey League coaches voted Smith and Gretzky as the best players in three separate categories.</p><p>Smith was voted best on face-offs, top penalty killer and best stickhandler. Smith shared the face-off honors with Peterborough&rsquo;s Mark Kirton.</p><p>Gretzky was named best playmaker, most dangerous in the goal area and was the unanimous choice as the smartest player.</p><p>Cicarelli, the league&rsquo;s leading goal scorer was chosen as the player with the best shot. But Hamilton defenseman Gaston Gingras has the hardest shot, according to the coaches. Gingras was also voted best offensive defenseman while London&rsquo;s Brad Marsh was named best defensive defenseman and the league&rsquo;s top body checker.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0674/4321425-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="555" height="870"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BOB SMITH &hellip; 18-Point Series</b></figcaption></div><p>Ottawa defenseman Steve Marengere was voted best skater while Kingston&rsquo;s Tony McKegney was rated fastest skater. Dave Hunter of Sudbury and Bill Carroll of London were tied as the best checkers, while Windsor&rsquo;s Gerry Leroux was named the hardest worker. Steve Payne of Ottawa was picked the league&rsquo;s most underrated player and Niagara Falls Stan Adams was judged the most improved player during the season.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0034-05

Greyhounds Expire In Barnburner; Smith, Gretzky Top Coaches’ Lists

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div><p>GRAND FORKS&mdash;</p><p>What&rsquo;s a red-blooded young man like John (Gino) Gasparini doing bleeding green all over his University of North Dakota hockey office?</p><p>Gasparini, named the new hockey coach at North Dakota, believes in himself, UND and green-and-white pride, the school colors.</p><p>&ldquo;Long before I came to the University of North Dakota, the school had been drummed into my head,&rdquo; said Gasparini, who cited such former Sioux players as Bill Selman, Bob Peters and Guy LaFrance who came out of Gasparini&rsquo;s home town of Fort Frances, Ont., to play for North Dakota.</p><p>&ldquo;They all had a great deal of pride in playing for North Dakota. They kind of pushed that on me and it stayed in my head. Then I came to North Dakota and played hockey and it became more a part of me. We believed in UND and in the program. If you cut us, our blood would run green,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>Gasparini, now the youngest coach in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, replaces Rube Bjorkman, who resigned after 10 years as head coach.</p><p>Gasparini&rsquo;s blood still runs green. &ldquo;UND has great hockey tradition. You can tell by talking to people in Grand Forks, by looking at the pictures on the walls, by walking into the equipment room and seeing all the old jerseys hanging there. In fact, I had a recruit in the other day and after he went through the Winter Sports Center, he told me &lsquo;I can feel it (tradition)&rsquo;, Gasparini said.</p><p>Gasparini&rsquo;s Italian eyes jump with enthusiasm when he talks about the challenge ahead of him.</p><p>&ldquo;I believe in commitment. I told the players that commitment is a very important thing to me. I expect them to be committed to each other, to UND and to me. When we&rsquo;re in a tight game, I want that pride and tradition to be working on our side,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>Gasparini is an intense individual.</p><p>&ldquo;The players know me. They know I&rsquo;m <i>a very</i> demanding individual, I&rsquo;m going to push them,&rdquo; he said.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01346/4321463-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="568" height="741"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JOHN GASPARINI&hellip;Blood Runs Green</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;I have great confidence in the capabilities of this team. Everyone is craving for a winner&mdash;the city, the school and the players. The players have shown they can play with anyone. We&rsquo;re just one of two schools in the league that beat every other team in the league at least once. Denver is the only other team that did that and they won the league,&rdquo; Gasparini points out.</p><p>He believes that defense wins games. &ldquo;In a way, I had to. I was never a big scorer, a big gun. 1 had to play good defense to play at all. Defensive play will be a big emphasis of mine. The goals-against will be a big factor. It&rsquo;s really, more important in telling how a team is playing than goals-for,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>One change Gasparini will make is to use more game-to-game, series-to-series lineup changes, borrowing a successful formula from Herb Brooks at Minnesota and John MacInnes at Michigan Tech.</p><p>&ldquo;Nothing is going to be cut-and-dried. I&rsquo;ll sit down anyone who isn&rsquo;t playing well. I&rsquo;ll look at each case individually because you have to consider the personality of the individual when you do that, too,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>&ldquo;The kids who play for me are those who are performing and giving 100 percent. I believe it&rsquo;s not size or speed that makes a good hockey player, it&rsquo;s the size ot the heart. I believe in having players with &lsquo;good wheels.&rsquo; But I would like to combine that with size,&rdquo; he added</p><p>He won&rsquo;t change the recruiting boundaries much, either. &ldquo;Over the years, I think we ll continue to be about 50 percent Canadian, 50 percent American. That will fluctuate from year to year. It makes no difference to me where the players come from,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>Gasparini can&rsquo;t wait for next season. &ldquo;I wish the season started next month. I&rsquo;m very excited about next year. I&rsquo;ll do the best job I can. I&rsquo;d like to disprove the doubters,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>He&rsquo;s fond of quoting a statement made by former Denver University hockey coach Murray Armstrong last year. Armstrong said, &ldquo;Anybody can play in the WCHA. What I want are players who can win in the WCHA.&rdquo;</p><p>Gasparini does, too. And if they spill a little green blood in the process, all the better.</p><p>Gasparini was originally one of 44 applicants for the position. The field was narrowed to Gasparini. Marshall Johnston, currently the coach at Denver University, and Ned Harkness, an ultra-successful coach on the East Coast for many years.</p><p>Johnston withdrew his application. UND then decided to promote Gasparini from assistant coach to head coach. The 32-year-old Gasparini has been the only fulltime assistant at UND since 1971.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0035-01

Loyalty For North Dakota Ingrained In New Coach

<div class="byline">BY BRUCE PENTON</div><p>PORTLAND&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>rian Shaw&rsquo;s dream of taking the Memorial Cup to a United States city for the first time was shattered in the first round of the Western Canada Hockey League playoffs.</p><p>Shaw, owner and general-manager of Portland Winter Hawks, was one of the most shocked people in Western Canada when his club stumbled to a 1-7 record in the Western Division&rsquo;s preliminary round-robin and was quickly eliminated.</p><p>But while Shaw, coach Ken Hodge and the Winter Hawk players were stunned by the sudden turn of events, so were fans of the league, who had watched while Portland compiled an outstanding 41-20-11 record while coasting to the Western Division championship.</p><p>Along the way in the early portion of the playoffs, however, the Hawks suffered a couple of injuries, they fell behind and, with the pressure on their backs, didn&rsquo;t have what it took to get back into the chase for one of two final berths.</p><p>Resultingly, Victoria Cougars and New Westminster Bruins, who tied for second in the Western Division with 77 points, 16 back of the Winter Hawks, will play a best-of-seven series to decide the Western representative.</p><p>The situation was similar in the East Division, where pennant-winning Brandon Wheat Kings faced elimination heading into their final round-robin game. And in the Central Division, first-place Lethbridge Broncos had to win their final game to stave off elimination, but they didn&rsquo;t and were eliminated.</p><p>No one in Portland could have foreseen what was in the immediate future when the Hawks finished their 72-game regular schedule with a 5-4 victory over New Westminster.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re winning hockey games right now, and that&rsquo;s what is important going into the playoffs,&rdquo; said coach Hodge, whose team set a club record with its 93 points.</p><p>&ldquo;We are pretty close to where we should be, but I guess we could be a bit stronger defensively,&rdquo; said Hodge. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve played a few games lately that haven&rsquo;t meant much to us, though, and that takes the edge off a bit.&rdquo;</p><p>Once they started playing for real, the Hawks lost their edge.</p><p>Centers Brent Peterson and Perry Turnbull went down with minor injuries, but both returned for the latter portion of the double round-robin (each team plays eight games, four vs. each of its two opponents).</p><p>The killer for the Hawks was a home doubleheader which started on April Fools Day. They had a 1-1 record going into the weekend set, but fell 6-3 to Victoria. The next night, New Westminster upped its record to 4-0 with a 5-3 win over the Winter Hawks, despite two goals by Wayne Babych.</p><p>The standings showed New West at 40, Victoria and Portland at 1-3. But the Hawks were behind the eight-ball, since they then faced three straight games on the road.</p><p>They dropped the first one, 4-3 in Victoria, and fell 5-4 to the Bruins the next night, dropping their playoff record to 15. In New Westminster, the Hawks led 4-1 midway through the game before the Bruins took advantage of Portland penalties to tie it 4-4 by the end of the second period. In the third, Stan Smyl&rsquo;s goal at 9:21 gave Bruins the victory, and clinched them a berth in the final.</p><p>Winter Hawks fell to 1-6 the following night, getting thrashed 9-2 in Victoria. That loss eliminated them.</p><p>The sudden turn of events was shocking because the Hawks had been a preseason favorite of many people to represent the WCHL in the Sudbury-Sault Ste. Marie Memorial Cup championships in May.</p><p>Four years ago, when Babych, Peterson, Paul Mulvey and Doug Lecuyer were with Edmonton Oil Kings as 16-year-olds, the franchise began aiming at this season with those four as the nucleus of a potential champion.</p><p>The Oil Kings later moved to Portland and became the Winter Hawks and finally, they became just slightly more than a bad dream to Shaw.</p><p><b>NEW WESTMINSTER:</b> The Bruins tied a WCHL playoff record by rattling off seven successive victories, before losing their final game, 7-3 to Victoria. Dave Orleski, a 15-goal scorer during the regular season, had seven goals to lead the Bruins in the playoffs, while Scott MacLeod and Smyl each had seven points. As well, goalie Carey Walker was compiling a goals-against average of less than three. Although the Bruins don&rsquo;t get the extra home game in the Western Division final, their round-robin record makes them the favorite to beat Victoria.</p><p><b>VICTORIA:</b> The Cougars appeared en route to elimination when they lost their first three playoff games, but a 6-3 win in Portland, behind Geordie Robertson&rsquo;s three goals, put them back into the picture. Then, a pair of home-ice wins over the Winter Hawks put them into the divisional final. Curt Fraser and Gary Lupul scored once and set up each other for goals in a 4-3 win, before each getting five points in the Hawks-eliminating triumph, 9-2. Fraser scored three in that game. Both victories were sparked by the goaltending of rookie Kevin Eastman, who played Tier II hockey most of the season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01327/4321553-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="573" height="666"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CURT FRASER&hellip;Helped Down Hawks</b></figcaption></div><p><b>BILLINGS:</b> The Bighorns, second-place finishers during the regular season, were the first team to clinch a spot in the final, beating Lethbridge 6-5 to increase their round-robin record to 5-1. Harvie Pocza scored the winning goal in that game with less than seven minutes to play. Pat Conacher and Doug Robb scored twice each in that triumph, more than offsetting a three-goal performance by Steve Tambellini of the Broncos, who led 2-0 at one point in the game. The Bighorns tightened the standings somewhat by losing twice at home to Medicine Hat, both by 7-4 scores. Cal Roadhouse and defenseman Kevin Willison, a pair of unheralded Bighorns, were the offensive sparkplugs of the team, each with 11 points after seven games.</p><p><b>LETHBRIDGE:</b> The Broncos, pennant-winners in the Central Division, were unexpectedly bumped from the playoffs as early as the Winter Hawks&mdash;although their ouster was not quite as much an upset. On the final weekend of round-robin play, Broncos were beaten 10-4 in Medicine Hat and 7-4 at home by Billings, to fall to a 3-5 record. That tied them with the Tigers, but Medicine Hat gained the other berth in the final due to a superior goals for-against record. Steve Tambellini paced the Broncos&rsquo; scorers with 10 in the eight playoff games.</p><p><b>MEDICINE HAT:</b> The Tigers lurked behind everybody until their final two games. But then they not only won, but won by big scorers (7-4 over Billings and 10-4 over Lethbridge) to vault into second place. Fifteen-year-old Steve Tsujiura, possibly the best player of his age in WCHL history, fired three goals in the big win over Lethbridge. In the important triumph at Billings, the second of two 7-4 wins in Montana actually, Merlin Malinowski figured in six goals. Vic Stasiuk&rsquo;s Tigers will be decided underdogs in the final vs. Billings, but they could surprise, since they&rsquo;ve been fairly hot since the first of February.</p><p><b>FLIN FLON:</b> Going into the 12th and final game of the Eastern playoffs (Flin Flon at Regina), the placings still hadn&rsquo;t been decided. Bombers were 4-3, Brandon 4-4 and Regina 3-4. A Regina win over the Bombers would leave the three clubs tied, and then goals for-against would be used to determine the finalists.. Bombers, though, with a plusmine rating, were in solidly. The game that caused the logjam was a 5-3 Bomber win in Brandon, as defenseman Gregg Tebbutt scored twice and checking specialist Mario Botlik threw a blanket over high-scoring Wheat King Bill Derlago.</p><p><b>BRANDON:</b> The Wheat Kings, needing a victory by at least six goals to wrap up a berth in the final, downed the Bombers 9-6, after holding a 9-3 lead early in the third period. Derlago broke loose for three goals, including two in a WCHL playoff record time of seven seconds, in that game. The Wheat Kings wound up splitting the four games with Regina and Brandon, and lost twice at home in the process&mdash;the exact number of defeats they suffered through the 36-home-game regular season. It boiled down to the Wheat Kings hoping for Flin Flon to beat Regina in the final game, or for the Pats to win by not more than four goals, for Brandon to advance to the final.</p><p><b>REGINA:</b> Gerry Minor was the star for the Pats, scoring three goals, including the winner with 69 seconds left, in a 7-5 do-or-die situation against the Wheaties. Paul Hogan, a 20-goal man during the season, scored his ninth and 10th in the 75 win over Brandon, the Pats&rsquo; seventh playoff game. But the win that allowed Regina to be in the position of possibly making the final was a 6-2 triumph in Flin Flon, with Minor (three goals) and Hogan (a pair) the big gunners once again.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02247/4321546-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="554" height="718"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>HARVEY POCZA&hellip;Netted Game-Winner</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0036-01

Division Winners Fall Victim In Round-Robin

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01283/4321591-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="945" height="791"></div><h2><b>When to Use Body Checks</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>D</span>efencemen must learn when and when NOT to use a body check. Remember, you may body a man out of the play, but you may be off balance or down and out of it.</p><p>Attempting to body check out in the open can be dangerous. You have to set yourself for a check and immediately telegraph what you&rsquo;re going to do. An attacker has the advantage and could go around you &mdash; on either side. If you miss him, you&rsquo;re off balance and unable to recover quickly enough to catch him.</p><p>Body checking close to the boards is another matter. A puck carrier can only go around you one way. You can hem him into the boards.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02197/4321584-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="809" height="785"></div><h2><b>Slap Shot Defence</b></h2><p>The best way for a goalie to play the slap shot is to make his body the target&hellip; step right into it.</p><p>The attacker is relying more on speed and luck than accuracy to beat you. Your stick hand will probably be too slow to get in the way and the danger of rebounds off it are great. The gloved shot is the ideal defence, but again, you may not react quickly enough.</p><p>Your body padding will help you smother a rebound and you&rsquo;ll have a good chance of grabbing the puck.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0037-01

Hockey for Minors

<h2><b>Amateur Scoreboard</b></h2><h2><b>ONTARIO MAJOR LEAGUE Playoff Games</b></h2><h3><b>SEMI-FINALS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01340/4321755-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="597" height="111"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Ottawa a, Peterborough 6</p><p>Peterborough 4, Ottawa 2</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02268/4321748-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="591" height="110"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>London 3, Hamilton 3</p><p>Hamilton 4, London 1</p><p>London 5, Hamilton 3</p><p>London 3, Hamilton 2</p><p>Hamilton 8, London 4</p><h3><b>QUARTER-FINALS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03203/4321741-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="590" height="106"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Ottawa 13, Sault Sta. Maria 3</p><p>Sault Sta. Maria 8, Ottawa 5</p><p>Ottawa 6, Sault Sta. Maria 6</p><p>Ottawa 5, Sault Sta. Maria 2</p><p>Sault Sta. Marla 4, Ottawa 3</p><p>Sault Sta. Marla 0, Ottawa 3</p><p>Ottawa 4, Sault Sta. Marla 3</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04143/4321734-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="592" height="142"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Toronto 5, Kitchener 4</p><p>Toronto 5, Kltchanar 4</p><p>Kitchener 6, Toronto 3</p><p>Kitchener 4, Toronto 3</p><p>Kitchener 6, Toronto 4</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05106/4321727-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="591" height="116"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Kingston 4, Sault Sta. Marla 3</p><p>Sault Sta. Marla 6, Kingston 4</p><p>Kingston 5, Sault Sta. Mario 2</p><p>Sault Sta. Maria 6, Kingston 2</p><p>Sault Sta. Maria 6, Kingston 5</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0681/4321720-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="597" height="118"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Hamilton 3, Windsor 3</p><p>Hamilton 3, Windsor 2</p><p>Hamilton 7, Windsor 4</p><p>Windsor 2, Hamilton 1</p><p>Hamilton 3, Windsor 2</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0769/4321713-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="604" height="114"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Peterborough 5, Oshawa 5</p><p>Peterborough 3, Oshawa 1</p><p>Peterborough 6, Oshawa 4</p><p>Peterborough 6, Oshawa 2</p><p>Potorbrough 6. Oshawa 2</p><p>Peterborough 2, Oshawa 1</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0854/4321706-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="601" height="119"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>London 9, Kitchener 2</p><p>London 4, Kitchener 3</p><p>London 4, Kitchener 3</p><h2><b>WESTERN CANADA LEAGUE</b></h2><h2><b>Division Finals</b></h2><h3><b>EASTERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0946/4321699-1-eng-US/f0038-092.jpg" title="f0038-09" width="595" height="112"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Flin Flon 11, Regina 9</p><p>Regina 9, Flin Flon 8</p><h3><b>WESTERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1043/4321692-1-eng-US/f0038-102.jpg" title="f0038-10" width="603" height="107"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>New Westminster 7, Victoria 4</p><p>New Westminster 8, Victoria 3</p><h3><b>CENTRAL DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1137/4321685-1-eng-US/f0038-112.jpg" title="f0038-11" width="598" height="113"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Billings 8, Medicine Hat 6</p><p>Billings 4, Medicine Hat 2</p><h2><b>ROUND-ROBIN SERIES</b></h2><p><b>Final Standings</b></p><h3><b>EASTERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1232/4321678-1-eng-US/f0038-122.jpg" title="f0038-12" width="591" height="103"></div><h3><b>CENTRAL DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1324/4321671-1-eng-US/f0038-132.jpg" title="f0038-13" width="591" height="81"></div><h3><b>WESTERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1420/4321664-1-eng-US/f0038-142.jpg" title="f0038-14" width="590" height="83"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><h3><b>West Division</b></h3><p>New Westminster 7, Victoria 3</p><p>Portland 4, Victoria 3</p><p>New Westminster 5, Portland 2</p><p>New Westminster 3, Victoria 2</p><p>Victoria 8, Portland 3</p><p>New Weatmlnator 5, Portland 3</p><p>Victoria 4, Portland 3</p><p>New Westminster 5, Portland 2</p><p>New Westminster 4. Portland 3</p><h3><b>Central Division</b></h3><p>Lethbridge 7, Medicine Hat 4</p><p>Billings 3, Medicine Hat 2</p><p>Lethbridge 5, Medicine Hat 2</p><p>Billings 5, Lethbridge 3</p><p>Medicine Hat 7, Billings 4</p><p>Billings 5, Medicine Hat 3</p><p>Billings 8, Lethbridge 5</p><p>Medicine Hat 10, Lethbridge 3</p><h3><b>Eastern Division</b></h3><p>Regina 3, Brandon 2</p><p>Brandon 5, Flin Flon 3</p><p>Flin Flon 9, Brandon 2</p><p>Brandon 9, Regina 8</p><p>Flin Flon 8, Regina 5</p><p>Brandon 5, Regina 1</p><p>Regina 6, Flin Flon 2</p><p>Regina 7, Grandon 5</p><h2><b>QUEBEC MAJOR LEAGUE Playoff Games</b></h2><h3><b>SEMI-FINALS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1518/4321657-1-eng-US/f0038-152.jpg" title="f0038-15" width="591" height="108"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Trois-Riveres 8, Sherbrooke 2</p><p>Trois-Riveres 8, Sherbrooke 5</p><p>Trois-Rlvltroo 4, Sherbrooke 3</p><p>Sherbrooke 8, Trois-Riveres 1</p><p>Trois-Riveres 5, Sherbrooke 3</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1615/4321650-1-eng-US/f0038-162.jpg" title="f0038-16" width="587" height="113"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Cornwall 2, Montreal 1</p><p>Montreal 5, Cornwall 4</p><p>Montreal 5, Cornwall 3</p><p>Montreal 5, Cornwall 3</p><p>Montreal 8, Cornwell 5</p><h3><b>Quarter-Finals</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1712/4321643-1-eng-US/f0038-172.jpg" title="f0038-17" width="606" height="139"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Trois-Rivieres 7, Quebec 3</p><p>Trois-Rivieres 6, Quebec 0</p><p>Trois-Rivieres 8, Quebec 3</p><p>Trois-Rivieres 5, Quebec 4</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1811/4321636-1-eng-US/f0038-182.jpg" title="f0038-18" width="591" height="122"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Cornwall 11, Hull 3</p><p>Cornwall 5, Hull 2</p><p>Cornwall 7, Hull 0</p><p>Cornwall 10, Hull 0</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1910/4321629-1-eng-US/f0038-192.jpg" title="f0038-19" width="589" height="118"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Montreal 6, Vordun 3</p><p>Montreal 6, Vordun 4</p><p>Montreal 8, Vordun 4</p><p>Montreal 3, Vordun 2</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-209/4321622-1-eng-US/f0038-202.jpg" title="f0038-20" width="595" height="114"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p>Sherbrooke 5, Laval 0</p><p>Sherbrooke 7, Laval 5</p><p>Sherbrooke 9, Laval 4</p><p>Sherbrooke 4, Laval 4</p><p>Sherbrooke 8, Laval 4<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0038-01

QUEBE MAJOR HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY DANNY YOUNG</div><p>CORNWALL&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen the subject of father and son acts in professional hockey is discussed, names like Patrick, Howe, Gardner, Bouchard, and Apps come to mind. However, in the near future, it is more than likely that the name of Geoffrion will be added to this prestigious list.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-255/4321800-1-eng-US/f0038-252.jpg" title="f0038-25" width="578" height="695"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DANNY GEOFFRION&hellip;Wants NHL Chance</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-264/4321793-1-eng-US/f0038-262.jpg" title="f0038-26" width="568" height="737"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MARCO BARON&hellip;Stopped Cornwall</b></figcaption></div><p>Danny Geoffrion, the son of former Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers great, Bernard &ldquo;Boom Boom&rdquo; Geoffrion, is eligible for this year&rsquo;s draft and destined for the pros.</p><p>He has played with the Cornwall Royals for the past five seasons, amassing a total of 436 points. He can do it all: shoot, skate, check, pass. In short, Danny is following in his father&rsquo;s skates.</p><p>&ldquo;I had to put the Geoffrion name back on the map,&rdquo; Danny says. &ldquo;At first, the name put a lot of pressure on me, but I got used to it. People would make comments and try to give me a hard time. I&rsquo;d just wink at them when I made a good play.&rdquo;</p><p>Good plays are not infrequent for the Cornwall veteran. His credentials make up an ideal scouting report. He is an excellent skater, an adept playmaker, and has a booming shot, possibly inherited from his father, the man who popularized the slap shot. What distinguishes Danny from the other fine scorers in the Quebec Major League is his toughness. He skates up and down the right wing with intensity and uses a lot of muscle. He has the desire and the natural ability.</p><p>Danny&rsquo;s idol is unquestionably his father. As a junior, he has proudly donned the same number five. Many people presume that Danny patterned his playing style after his dad, but he was too young, eight or nine-years-old, when he saw his dad play with the Rangers.</p><p>The Geoffrion family moved several times while Danny grew up. He played minor hockey in Montreal and New York, and also lived in Quebec City and most recently, Atlanta, Georgia. The family moved to Atlanta when Boom Boom began working with the Flames. Danny spends a lot of time there in the off season.</p><p>After being cut from Team Canada last December, Danny went there for the Christmas vacation. Flames&rsquo; general manager Cliff Fletcher invited Danny to work out with the Flames during their practices. He skated with them every day for a week and according to Danny, the experience was the turning point of his hockey career.</p><p>&ldquo;I tasted the potatoes,&rdquo; Geoffrion remarks. &ldquo;I found out what I want and what I am going to do.&rdquo;</p><p>Danny returned to Cornwall with, as coach Orval Tessier put it, &ldquo;renewed determination.&rdquo; In the remaining 34 games, he scored 39 goals and finished his senior year with 68 goals and 143 points.</p><p>Unlike most top 10 scorers, Geoffrion played on his team&rsquo;s second line with two unexperienced players, Brian Fontaine and Dan Daoust, to give the Royals more balance.</p><p>&ldquo;At first I was a little disappointed, but it&rsquo;s worked out well,&rdquo; Geoffrion explained. &ldquo;I told Dan (Daoust) to go after the puck, pass, and shoot. Things got better and better.&rdquo;</p><p>Danny brought out the best in his linemates. Center Daoust had 68 points and winger Fontaine picked up an identical output in only 59 games.</p><p>&ldquo;It was good for me because I had to work harder.&rdquo; Geoffrion added. &ldquo;I probably had to show the other guys what I could do.&rdquo;</p><p>Though both dad and son agree that it would be ideal for him to be drafted by the Flames, Danny would be satisfied with any club that gives him the chance.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-274/4321786-1-eng-US/f0038-272.jpg" title="f0038-27" width="562" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ORVAL TESSIER&hellip;Looking Elsewhere</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve discussed it,&rdquo; Danny said. &ldquo;Playing in Atlanta would be great. I&rsquo;ve lived with my family for only about 10 months in the last six years. With the friends I have there, it would give me a head start as a rookie.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m prepared to play anywhere though. I&rsquo;d prefer a weaker team where I would get a better chance, but I am willing to start in the minors if I have to.&rdquo;</p><p>In his spare time, Danny is studying social sciences at the University of Ottawa at Cornwall. He enjoys working with retarded children and continuing in the field is his major goal next to hockey.</p><p>The team who drafts Danny is not just selecting a name. They are selecting a great player, on and off the ice.</p><p><b>MONTREAL:</b> The Juniors upset the heavily favored Cornwall Royals in the semi-finals of the QMJHL playoffs. After dropping the first game 2-1, Montreal took the next four games and eliminated Cornwall. They won the series with a 6-5 victory in Cornwall. Jean Pierre Dubois scored two late third period goals, the second one with only 34 seconds remaining, to win it for Montreal. Goalie Marco Baron who was nothing short of spectacular throughout the series, stopped 50 Royal shots.</p><p>&ldquo;It was a great series,&rdquo; Montreal coach Roger Bedard said. &ldquo;Good, clean hockey. We&rsquo;re a young club. It didn&rsquo;t happen overnight. We worked up to this series. The kids played very well.&rdquo;</p><p><b>CORNWALL:</b> Immediately following the Royals elimination from playoff action, general manager and coach Orval Tessier announced that he was leaving the team. Tessier led the Royals to the Quebec championship and Memorial Cup in 1972, and directed the Quebec Remparts to the Memorial Cup in 1973. Tessier said that it was best for himself and his family that he left the city of Cornwall. He will look for another coaching job.</p><p><b>SHERBROOKE:</b> Beavers averted elimination in the semi-finals with a 6-1 victory over Trois Rivieres in game four of their series. The Draveurs, though only needed a single victory to reach the finals against Montreal.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0038-25

Geoffrion Yearns For Pro Career; Juniors Oust Royals In Surprise

<div class="byline">BY MIKE LYNCH</div><p>KIMBERLEY&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>ith the British Columbia semifinals out of the way. Spokane and Kimberley have resumed their rivalry for the Savage Cup in a best-of-seven championship series.</p><p>The teams played in the same final series last season with their roles reversed&mdash;Spokane finished first and Kimberley third in the Western International League race a year ago.</p><p>After the first two games the teams were even. Kimberley won 3-2 at home in the opener and Spokane won the second 6-4. Because of a scheduling conflict Spokane did not open at home, but the Flyers will have three of the first five games at home, nevertheless.</p><p>Spokane marched past Trail in the semis more easily than anticipated, winning four straight while outscoring Trail 23-6. Spokane won the opener 5-4 in overtime in the only close game.</p><p>Trail team leader Ernie Gare, the Smokies&rsquo; top scorer, suffered a chipped ankle bone in the opener. After that Trail was blanked twice by Spokane goalie Ron Lefebvre who played all four games.</p><p>Kimberley recorded a mild upset by ousting Cranbrook in six games. The Royals avoided elimination in five games by winning in double-overtime at home. Kimberley had an overall goal edge of only 23-19.</p><p>Goalie Barrie MacKay, with a 3-1 record, was the standout for Kimberley in the semis. While Spokane goaler Ron Lefebvre and winger Oliver Steward scored six goals to star for Spokane. Steward scored twice in the opener against Kimberley for eight goals in five contests.</p><p>After the semis Trail coach Norm Dennis resigned. In other league news WIHL president Art O&rsquo;Bryan announced plans for expansion that could include inter-league play with the four-team Alberta League and a forming British Columbia League.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-2013/4321831-1-eng-US/f0039-202.jpg" title="f0039-20" width="503" height="764"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>NORM DENNIS&hellip;Quits As Coach</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>WHA Closes TV Deal With CBC For Finals</b></h2><p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p>The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has announced plans for regional television coverage of the World Hockey Association playoffs, including national coverage in French and English for the final Aveo Trophy round.</p><p>Televised games will be those scheduled for Saturday and Sunday afternoons and Friday evenings. Included in the coverage on the national network are final-round contests on Friday, May 19, Saturday, May 20 and Sunday, May 21, if necessary. If games six and seven of the series are necessary, they will be televised on either May 26, 27 or 28.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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April 28, 1978

From Doghouse To Penthouse Sums Un Campaign For McNab

Looking At The Races

Lafleur Again Player Of Year—Pulford Best Coach

WESTERN CANADA HOCKEY LEAGUE