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.

December 1, 1978

The Hockey News December 1, 1978

<div class="byline">BY JIM SCHNEIDER</div>BOWLING GREEN&mdash;The fifth-ranked Bowling Green State University hockey team of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association used a pair of solid goaltending efforts by sophomore Wally Charko and timely scoring to sweep the University of Vermont 52 and 7-2.All American candidate John Marked opened the weekend scoring in front of 3,003 fans in the BGSU Ice Arena at 6:24 of the first period assisted by freshmen sensations George McPhee and John Gibb. Gibb scored his fifth power play goal of the season to give BG a 2-0 lead after two periods.The Falcons (5-3) added goals by captain Paul Titanic, Bruce Newton and Steve Dawe to complete the win and Charko made 42 saves.The Catamounts and the Falcons were tied at 1-1 after the first period of the second game before BG pumped in four goals in the second. McPhee started the BG rally at 44 seconds of the period and other goals were scored by Newton, Yves Pelland and Andy Crowther.Brian MacLellan scored his second goal of the game just eight seconds into the third period and Pelland added his second of the night at 16:38 to finish the scoring. Charko recorded 43 saves as Vermont became the first team this season to outshoot Bowling Green in both games Of a series. Vermont held an 89 to 67 edge on the weekend.Charko, a five-foot-nine, 185-pound native of Islington, Ont., pulled his goals against average down to 3.21 with the four-goals against weekend.In other CCHA action last weekend Lake Superior topped ST. Louis 7-5 and tied 6-6 while Western Michigan and Ferris State were splitting a series. WMU won 11-1 and Ferris Slate took the second game 7-5. Northern Michigan swept Air Force 4-3 and 8-1 and Ohio State took two from St. Lawrence 6-4 and 11-3.Lake Superior Stale College moved into first place in the CCHA with a win and a tie at St. Louis in the Checkerdome. The Lakers (5-4-1) won the opener 7-5 and the second game ended in a 6-6 tie after a dramatic finish.Ron Sandzik and defenseman Andy Clark each scored two goals in the series opener and sophomore goalie Murray Skinner earned his fourth win of the season. Bobby Ciotti chipped in with three assists.St. Louis freshman Chris Valentine earned CCHA player-of-the-week honors as he collected nine points against Lake Superior. He scored two goals in each game and in the 6-6 tie he and linemate Chuck Durocher each had five points.The second game was exciting as the host Billikens jumped to a 3-0 lead, but had to fight back for the tie. In fact, when Sandzik netted an unassisted shorthanded goal at 18:10 of the third period, it gave the Lakers a 6-4 margin. St. Louis took advantage of a two-man power play, to score at 18:39 with Durocher scoring from Valentine and Rob Zamaje and at 19:28 with Valentine scoring from Durocher and Zamejc.In the scoreless overtime LSSC held a 1-0 edge in shooting despite two SLU power plays.Western Michigan and Ferris State played a home-and-home series that counted for WMU in the league standings and the home team won in each game.The Broncos ambushed Ferris in the opener 11-1 in Lawson Arena as Kipp Acton and Dave Berthelsen each registered hat tricks. Berthelsen set a team record scoring two goals in nine seconds in the second period.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02239/4105077-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="504" height="702"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN GIBB&hellip;Power Play Demon</figcaption></div>In the rematch in Big Rapids, Mi, Bulldog goalie Doug Nowels was the difference as he made 54 saves including 20 in the third period. Jeff Toombs scored the first and last goals of the game for Ferris State with the last goal sailing into an empty net at 19:59 of the third period. Keith Zoldak, a Transfer from WMU, also had two goals for Ferris.Northern Michigan remained undefeated (6-0) with a sweep against Air Force 4-3 and 8-1.Steve Weeks made 21 saves for NMU in the opener while Air Force goalie Tom Talbot was making 49 saves but the big news for 2,915 NMU fans Saturday night was the play of junior Barrie Oakes in goal stopping 19 of 20 USAF shots in his first performance since a serious knee injury suffered in the preseason.Ohio State kept its offense alive in a 6-4 and 11-3 sweep over St. Lawrence in the OSU Ice Rink. &#9632;

f0029-02

IN THIS ISSUE

Bowling Green Shows Defense In CCHA Sweep

LOUISVILLEHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S and CanadaLOUISVILLEHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S and Canada<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01317/4105232-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="555" height="863"></div> &#9632;

f0032-01

Where AHL Teams Play

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011073/4103381-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="422" height="459"></div>&bull; STATISTICS RELEASED by the National Hockey League indicate that the league&rsquo;s average player is getting bigger and bigger each year. The i 375 players listed on current rosters average six feet in height, weigh 188.9 pounds and are 25.9 years of age&hellip;. Mont real&rsquo;s Gilles Lupien is still the tallest player at six-foot-six, while Detroit rookie Willie Huber is the heaviest at 228 pounds&hellip;Red Wings also have the oldest player, 38-year-old Terry Harper, while Behn Wilson of Philadelphia is the youngest NHL player. He won&rsquo;t be 20 until Dec. 19&hellip;Massachusetts native John Carlton, an ad ministrative assistant with the Boston Bruins has been named as general manager for the 1979 U.S. National hockey team which will be competing in the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship in Moscow this coming spring&hellip;Dave Forbes of the Cincinnati Stingers will be the subject of a 15-minute film by a public service broadcasting service from Fort Worth, Texas. The film will focus on the spiritual convictions of Forbes and will show his off-ice interests, including his hobbies and family&hellip;Edmonton Journal hockey reporter Norm Cowley was punched in the eye by Edmonton Oil King trainer Lyle Kulchinsky while interviewing Oil King players on a recent road trip. Edmonton coach Wayne Tennant (since replaced) later admitted sending the trainer out to stop the interview, but said he didn&rsquo;t mean for the trainer to punch Cowley.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021028/4103374-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="289" height="442"><figcaption class="caption-body">Terry Harper</figcaption></div>&bull; MID-SEASON RETIREMENTS have become popular of late in professional hockey. Following the two big announcements that Bobby Hull and Bobby Orr were hanging up their skates came word that Christian Bordeleau of Quebec Nordiques, Ken Breitenbach of Buffalo Sabres and Bill Fairbairn of the St. Louis &rsquo; Blues were all leaving the game&hellip;National Hockey League president John Ziegler announced that Orr will be honored during the Challenge Cup week by the Chicago Black Hawks and the NHL. Said Ziegler about Orr: &ldquo;Bobby&rsquo;s skills, competitiveness and determination are already legendary. The special courage, the discipline and dedication that it took for Bobby to come back and play in this season is probably unequalled in sports&rdquo;&hellip;Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; patience with Barry Dean is paying off. Dean, the second player chosen in the 1975 amateur draft (behind Flyers&rsquo; Mel Bridgman), was providing a bonus&mdash;scoring&mdash;in addition to his usual playmaking and checking talents&hellip;Last year&rsquo;s Coach of the Year award in the Western Hockey League was shared by Jack Shupe of Victoria Cougars and rookie coach Dave King of Billings Bighorns. The word didn&rsquo;t come officially from the league office, as most announcements of award-winners do, and somehow, it was published that Shupe, alone, had won the award&hellip;Tom Simpson, who once scored 53 goals with the Toronto Toros in the World Hockey Association, has signed a contract with the Tucson Rustlers&rsquo; of the Pacific League. Simpson, 26, played with Birmingham last year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04821/4103367-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="224" height="280"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tom Simpson</figcaption></div>&bull; COLORADO ROCKIES were reportedly interested in talking with Pat Quinn, coach of the American League Maine Mariners, about succeeding Pat Kelly as Rockies, coach. However, Philadelphia general manager Keith Allen said he would refuse the Rockies, or any other team, permission to talk with Quinn&hellip;Raymond Bourque, of Verdun Black Hawks was the only Quebec Major Junior player to be added to the New Westminster Bruins who are representing Canada as the Memorial Cup champions in the world junior hockey championships in Sweden. Two Ontario juniors, Yvon Joly of Ottawa and Roland Melanson of Windsor were named to the team, along with five other Western League players&hellip;Rockies have really been decimated again this year by injuries. When Joe Watson broke his leg in 13 places Nov. 11 he joined Mike Kitchen (broken wrist), Mike Gillis (knee surgery), Dave Watson (knee surgery) and Joe Contini (knee injury) on the injury list&hellip;Smallest and lightest player in the NHL is Atlanta&rsquo;s Bobby Lalonde who checks in at five-foot-five, 155-pounds. Doug Palazzari of St. Louis is also five-foot-five&hellip; Walt McKechnie appears to have found a home in Toronto. Originally drafted by the Leafs in 1963, McKechnie played for six NHL teams before finally donning the Maple Leaf uniform. He&rsquo;s pleased coach Roger Neilson with his consistent play and timely scoring&hellip;Indianapolis Racers&rsquo; owner Nelson Skalbania says the club has been averaging about $30,000 revenue per game while the break-even mark is more than $60,000.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03923/4103360-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="286" height="432"><figcaption class="caption-body">Walt McKechnie</figcaption></div>&bull; THERE HAVE been some rather strange injuries suffered in the National Hockey League but colorful Steve Durbano has to rank right up mere When it comes to unusuai ones. Durbano, who led the World Hockey Association in penalty minutes last year was doing what he does best, working out with a punching bag, when he broke his hand, and will be out of the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; lineup for at least six weeks. Durbano, who has yet to play for the Blues this year, after suffering from an infectious virus during training camp, was using the punching bag to get himself into playing shape&hellip;Guy Lafleur, who does commercials for General Motors, has recently sold his 1975 Ferrari sports car. Lafleur said he didn&rsquo;t feel right driving the Italian-made car, but that he might consider buying another in three years after his commercial contract is finished&hellip;Barclay Plager says that his St. Louis Blues are so young that they have to expect to lose and they have to suffer, but that with maturation and the building up of their good players that the club can soon become a Stanley Cup contender&hellip;A couple of defensemen who play a large role for their teams are expected to be returning to the lineups soon following knee surgery, Boston&rsquo;s Brad Park and Dave Burrow of the Toronto Maple Leafs&hellip;You have to wonder about the thinking behind the Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; acquisition of goaler Dune Wilson. Glen Hanlon has performed well of late even though injured, while Gary Bromley has been the back-up and Curt Ridley is now playing himself into shape in the Central League.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05682/4103353-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="271" height="442"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Durbano</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0004-01

PASSING THE PUCK

DETROIT&mdash;Heading into this season, one of the things the Detroit Red Wings felt most secure about was their defense, especially their goaltending. After all they had either Jim Rutherford or Ron Low, both of whom had performed capably in the Wings&rsquo; turn-around campaign a year ago, to back up newcomer Rogie Vachon, who was considered one of the top five netminders in the National Hockey League. But last week, while the Red Wings were losing three consecutive games, it was their defense which let them down.The Wings blew a lead and lost 5-3 in Atlanta, lost a heartbreaker at home, 31, the last goal coming into an empty net, and were unable to recover from a four-goal assault in the first 21 minutes in Philadelphia, dropping a 4-3 decision. The losses enabled the Los Angeles Kings to slip past the Wings into second place in the Norris Division and the fourth-place Pittsburgh Penguins were only one point away from Detroit and held a game in hand.Losing in Atlanta was the crudest blow for the Red Wings. With Rogie Vachon in goal they tied the Flames 1-1 on Errol Thompson&rsquo;s eighth goal of the season and then romped into a 3-1 lead by the 6:45 mark of the middle frame on goals by Reed Larson, his fifth, and Perry Miller, his second. But by the end of the period, the Flames were right back in the game, tied at 3-3, and potted two third-period goals within a minute to gain the victory. Bobby Kromm&rsquo;s Wings were outshot 29-18.Rutherford took over in goal for a Saturday home game with the Buffalo Sabres in town, and this time it was the Red Wings that were doing the shooting. They blasted 39 shots at Buffalo&rsquo;s Don Edwards and had three power play advantages to none by Buffalo. But Edwards was brilliant. Larson was the only Wing to get one past the Sabres&rsquo; goaler and by then Buffalo had a 2-0 lead. With 25 seconds remaining, the Sabres scored an empty net goal to ice the verdict.The following night in Philadelphia, Vachon returned to the nets only to be hit by a 15-shot first period assault by the Flyers. Meanwhile the Red Wings were only able to manage four shots on the Philadelphia goal.Dan Labraaten scored his fifth NHL goal in the first stanza to give Detroit a brief 1-1 tie, but the Flyers added two more goals in the period, the latter one coming with only 38 seconds to play.Fifty-four seconds into the second period the Flyers made it 4-1, a lead which proved insurmountable. The Red Wings struck back with second period goals by Andre St. Laurent, his fourth, and Dennis Polonich, his first, but Bernie Parent shut them out for the final 33:45 to preserve a 4-3 Philadelphia victory. It was the Red Wings&rsquo; 12th consecutive loss in Philadelphia&rsquo;s Spectrum, and they have now gone since Nov. 13, 1971, since their last win on Philadelphia ice, a stretch of 16 games.Polonich was returning to the Detroit lineup after missing several games with a concussion and facial injuries after being struck in the face by Colorado&rsquo;s Wilf Paiement&rsquo;s stick. Also in the Detroit lineup was defenseman John Hilworth, who was recalled from Kansas City of the Central League. Two Detroit defensemen, rookie Willie Huber and Al Cameron were sent to Kansas City to get more ice time to get themselves in shape following injuries.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01719/4104270-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="231" height="541"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROGIE VACHON&hellip;Blitzed In Philly (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0019-01

Red Wings’ Strength Fast Becoming Weakness

&mdash;Page 2<h2>LIGHTS THE FLAMES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01670/4105783-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg" title="cover-01" width="285" height="392"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tom Lysiak is one of the many reasons the Atlanta Flames are the NHL&rsquo;s hottest team of the new season. Lysiak and the rest of the Flames have discovered the winning touch and they are No. 1 in the NHL. For details see page 3. (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

cover-01

NHL MAY WIND UP WITH 16 TEAMS

BLOOMINGTON&mdash;The Minnesota North Stars have a new coach and a new head scout.Harry Howell, the 45-year-old mentor of the North Stars has stepped aside to allow his aide, Glen Sonmor, to take over the reins of the NHL club after Howell discovered that he may be suffering from a mild heart condition.During a routine check of the North Stars, it was discovered Howell had a coronary abnormality and he was sent to hospital for tests. Sonmor took over while he was away. Howell returned with a medical OK and resumed coaching.Then Howell came forth to announce he was quitting coaching because it was something he didn&rsquo;t really want to do in the first place. The club named Sonmor head coach and made Howell chief of scouting.<h2>If No Merger, Tardif Will Quit</h2>QUEBEC CITY&mdash;You can count Marc Tardif out if the NHL and WHA don&rsquo;t get together soon and arrange a merger.The high-scoring left winger of the Quebec Nordiques said he&rsquo;d rather retire if there is no NHL team in Quebec City next year.Tardif said he means what he says and he added that he has no intention of playing with Montreal Canadiens or any other NHL team if the Nordiques are not in business next season.<h2>European Series Approved For WHA</h2>TORONTO&mdash;The WHA has been given the green light to go ahead with plans for its midseason series against European teams. The highlight of course will be the three-game meeting between the Moscow Dynamos and the WHA All Stars Jan. 2, 4 and 5 in Edmonton&rsquo;s spacious Coliseum. &raquo;The WHA was on the verge of losing sanction for the series for failing to come to terms with the CAHA and Canadian Major Hockey Leagues over compensation for underage players they picked off Canadian teams to play in the WHA this year.The CMJHL lost nine underage juniors to the WHA and were seeking $40,000 development fees for each of the players the Cincinnati Slingers, Indianapolis Racers and Birmingham Bulls signed.<h2>Skalbania Taking Financial Bath</h2>INDIANAPOLIS&mdash;Nelson Skalbania, the wealthy owner of the downtrodden Indianapolis Racers of the WHA wonders how long he can stay on his feet under the financial burden he&rsquo;s carrying in operating the troubled Racers.Skalbania, who has traded off Wayne Gretzky, Eddie Mio, Peter Driscoll, Richie Leduc and Kevin Morrison to other WHA teams to recoup some of his financial losses, says enough is enough.He says he wants to finish the year in Indianapolis but feels that if crowds at Market Square Arena don&rsquo;t improve from 5,073 he&rsquo;s not so sure he can stay around. Skalbania says he grosses $30,000 a game and it costs him in excess of that amount to open the doors for Racer games. &#9632;

Sonmor Replaces Howell As Coach Hockey Briefs

<h2>THE NHL&hellip;</h2>Atlanta&hellip;&hellip;3Boston&hellip;&hellip;5Buffalo&hellip;&hellip;21Chicago&hellip;&hellip;12Colorado&hellip;&hellip;17Detroit&hellip;&hellip;19Los Angeles&hellip;&hellip;9Minnesota&hellip;&hellip;11Montreal&hellip;&hellip;7N.Y. Islanders&hellip;&hellip;18N.Y. Rangers&hellip;&hellip;6Philadelphia&hellip;&hellip;20Pittsburgh&hellip;&hellip;11St. Louis&hellip;&hellip;20Toronto&hellip;&hellip;4Vancouver&hellip;&hellip;8Washington&hellip;&hellip;15<h2>THEWHA&hellip;</h2>Birmingham &hellip;&hellip;25Cincinnati&hellip;&hellip;24Edmonton&hellip;&hellip;27Indianapolis&hellip;&hellip;24New England&hellip;&hellip;25Quebec&hellip;&hellip;25Winnipeg&hellip;&hellip;27<h2>OTHER LEAGUES&hellip;</h2>Colleges&hellip;&hellip;29American&hellip;&hellip;32Central&hellip;&hellip;33International&hellip;&hellip;34Northeastern&hellip;&hellip;35Ontario Major&hellip;&hellip;36WHL&hellip;&hellip;38Quebec Major&hellip;&hellip;39<h2>COLUMNISTS&hellip;</h2>Ken McKenzie&hellip;&hellip;4Bob Verdi&hellip;&hellip;2Bill Libby&hellip;&hellip;8Frank Orr&hellip;&hellip;12<h2>FEATURES&hellip;</h2>Player Movements&hellip;&hellip;5Fan Forum&hellip;&hellip;10Hockey People&hellip;&hellip;14NHL Scoreboard&hellip;&hellip;22WHA Scoreboard&hellip;&hellip; 26Minor Scoreboard&hellip;&hellip;35Amateur Scoreboard &hellip;&hellip;. 39 &#9632;

Where To Find It…

<div class="byline">BY RUSS WHITE</div>WASHINGTON&mdash;While Caps were at last making some sense on the ice, the franchise was making little dollars and sense at the gate. Going into a Friday night home game with the New York Islanders, their ninth home date, the Caps still hadn&rsquo;t drawn 10,000 to a single game. The Canadiens drew only 8,300 on their visit, the Flames 6,149.Owner Abe Pollin had hoped for 10,000 season ticket holders. Instead, he had 4,200 and the average crowd was under 7,000, down 3,800 on the average a year ago.Many fans were still angered at Tom McVie&rsquo;s dismissal at coach before the season began in what many termed a &lsquo;grand-stand play&rsquo; by Pollin to sell season tickets.Competing for newspaper and media attention with the World Series and a brilliant football start by the Washington Redskins. Pollin decided to fire his coach and McVie was sacrificed.Capitals&rsquo; fans apparently haven&rsquo;t forgiven Pollin for his act.New coach Danny Belisle walked into an unenviable situation at Washington but it didn&rsquo;t phase him too much. He has managed to pick up after a big win over Atlanta in which the Caps had to score eight times to outlast the Flames. They won 8-7.Belisle was encouraged perhaps by comments made by Boston&rsquo;s Don Cherry, who said: &ldquo;Give Danny Belisle time. He can do the job. It took me a year to get my system in Boston. He has only had a month or so.&rdquo; &#9632;

Pollin Comes Up Short On Caps’ Subscribers

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02920/4103143-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="722" height="1441"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dale McCourt called the NHL&rsquo;s bluff and won. (Photo by Stove Babineau)</figcaption></div><h2>Eagleson Predicts NHL Will Drop To 16 Teams; Sees Merger Problems</h2>ALAN EAGLESON, executive director of the National Hockey League Players&rsquo; Association, do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?&ldquo;I do.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011015/4103150-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="213" height="315"></div>As the sport&rsquo;s most influential figure, how do you assess the status of professional hockey right now?&ldquo;We&rsquo;re in trouble. The Pittsburgh Penguins may not be around next year, or the Colorado Rockies, and a few others like Minnesota, St. Louis and Washington can&rsquo;t keep drawing the way they are. You won&rsquo;t see more than 16 teams in the NHL next season. At the most.&rdquo;What&rsquo;s the solution?&ldquo;One thing that would help is if the owners stop being so greedy. You have four players sitting in the press box for the Canadiens every game who could make any other club in the league. Who is it going to hurt if the Candiens send one or two of those players to Colorado? In the old days, the &ldquo;haves&rdquo; helped the &ldquo;have-nots&rdquo; for the good of the league. Now, every team is just worried about itself.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll give you an example. The Boston Bruins had three goalies going into the equalization draft last month. You can only protect two. So they say Gerry Cheevers isn&rsquo;t signed or he&rsquo;s going to retire or something so nobody will touch him. Then they trade Ron Grahame to Los Angeles for a No. 1 draft choice. Now if they don&rsquo;t hide Cheevers, they lose Grahame in the draft for only $25,000. Instead they get a No. 1 draft choice. Meanwhile, there are 8,000 empty seats in Los Angeles. Get my point?&rdquo;WHAT IS THE STATUS of the NHL clubs right now?&ldquo;Six sell out all the time&mdash;the two New Yorks, Montreal, Toronto, Buffalo and Philadelphia: Three other do very well&mdash;Boston, Detroit, Vancouver&mdash;but might not completely sell out except for the &rsquo;good clubs. Chicago, Atlanta, St. Louis and Los Angeles are struggling, with Atlanta picking up. But they aren&rsquo;t in the trouble that Colorado, Washington, Minnesota and Pittsburgh are in. I&rsquo;d feel a lot more comfortable about Minnesota if it were owned locally rather than by the same people who had the team in Cleveland. I don&rsquo;t know how much patience they have. Or interest.&rdquo;Is there any possibility that the annual rumor will come true: that the NHL will merge with the World Hockey Association?&ldquo;The WHA is all set to pay off Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Birmingham if they would close up shop and not sue. That would be no problem. But when the four remaining WHA clubs&mdash;Quebec, Edmonton, Winnipeg and New England&mdash;apply for entrance into the NHL, then you might have problems.&rdquo;Will hockey ever get into a free agent bidding situation like baseball?&ldquo;A lot of that depends on what happens with the Dale McCourt case in Detroit. Either way, I don&rsquo;t think you&rsquo;ll see the clubs in hockey bidding for players like Marcel Dionne. There just isn&rsquo;t the money around. Too many teams in hockey are losing money. And the league lost 20 million dollars last year. In baseball, a bad team like the Atlanta Braves can compete with the New York Yankees for a top free agent because of TV revenue. In hockey, there&rsquo;s no TV revenue to speak of.&rdquo;WHAT ABOUT THE McCOURT situation? He was awarded to the Kings as compensation for Rogie Vachon, and refused to report to Los Angeles and is still playing for Detroit. What next?&ldquo;He challenged our collective bargaining agreement and won in a local court. Now, it&rsquo;s being appealed and could come up any time from December to June. If McCourt wins, if the players&rsquo; agreement with the owners is declared illegal, then we have to start all over again. One of the key clauses in the agreement was the compensation clause.&ldquo;The players are now proposing to the owners a revised set of rules on compensation, l&#309; a player 32 years or over wants to jump, his old club has right of first refusal, but there&rsquo;s no compensation. Players younger than 32, there&rsquo;d be compensation in draft choices according to what a free agent makes. The owners don&rsquo;t feel too good about reworking the compensation part of the agreement. But we always have an alternative. We can strike.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0002-02

HOCKEY TALK

<div class="byline">BY AL SMITH</div>ATLANTA&mdash;Through the first 16 games of the 1978-79 season the Atlanta Flames were the talk of the National Hockey League.But to many around the NHL and in the Flames&rsquo; organization, their 12-2-2 record came as no surprise. In fact, their start of a year ago was even more surprising. The potentialladen Southern entry was the mystery team in the early going last season.The question around the league was, &ldquo;What&rsquo;s wrong with the Flames?&rdquo;Well, they answered the*-critics going into 1978 when they became one of the best teams in the league. And it&rsquo;s carried over to this season.&ldquo;1 think the poor start we got off to last year, helped this year,&rdquo; general manager Cliff Fletcher said. &ldquo;Everybody&mdash;from the coach down to the trainer&mdash;wanted to get off to a fast start this season.&ldquo;We learned a lesson of what an uphill fight it is all year if you start slowly.&rdquo;The turnabout has been a dramatic one. In picking up 26 of 32 possible points in their first 16 games, the Flames became the toast of Atlanta. Attendance is up some 20,000 in their first nine home games and they have never been a big draw on the road, but the Montreal Canadiens had their first sellout of the year when the Flames visited there Nov. 4.The Flames suffered their first loss of the season that night 4-2, but won two more before suffering their second loss of the season the following Saturday to the Islanders, 4-2.To say their start through their first 16 games is the best in the franchise&rsquo;s history would be putting it mildly.And compared to last season&rsquo;s start it&rsquo;s amazing.But Fletcher maintains the Flames didn&rsquo;t turn things around last season until the trade with the St. Louis Blues. In that deal, the Flames acquired winger Bob MacMillan, defenseman Dick Redmond and Yves Belanger for winger Curt Bennett, defenseman Barry Gibbs and goalie Phil Myre.The success of that trade has carried over into this season. At one point MacMillan led the league in scoring, but an even more dramatic statistic is this:Through 16 games in 1977, Bennett managed one goal and one assist. In the same number of games in the 1978, MacMillan had 10 goals and 14 assists.That&rsquo;s one of the big reasons why the Atlanta Flames have been the talk of the NHL this season. And Captain Tom Lysiak is another.Lysiak, the Flames&rsquo; first choice in the 1973 amateur draft and second overall, has always been looked upon as a leader with the club, right from his rookie year when he established a team mark with 64 points.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02879/4103260-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="353" height="404"></div>In his five years since, the center from High Prairie, Alta, has established club records for career goals, assists and points, as well as one-season marks for assists and points, but his slow start of a year ago where he had only 10 points after 16 games as compared to 20 points this season, came at a time when the Flames&rsquo; offense was sputtering badly.However, with 10 poals in the first fifth of the 1978-79 campaign, Lysiak stands in good shape to improve upon his personal goalscoring highs of 31 and 30 in the 1975-76 and &lsquo;76-77 seasons respectively and with the additional scoring strength of the Flames, roster, some of the pressure appears to have been lifted from his shoulders.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011022/4103253-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="362" height="293"><figcaption class="caption-body">Players like Bob MacMillan, above, and Tom Lysiak, at left, have turned the Flames into an authentic NHL contender in one season. Both have provided new offensive life for the club. (Photos by Bruce Bennelt)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0003-02

Atlanta Turnabout Not Totally Unexpected

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04354/4103291-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg"></div>Here&rsquo;s proof:77-78: 12th win-Dec. 31 Game 36, record 12-14-1078-79: 12th win-Nov. 10 Game 15, record 12-1-277-78: 8th home win-Dec. 29 Game 35, home record 8-7-3 overall 11-14-1078-79: 8th home win-Nov. 10 Game 15, home record 8-0-1 overall 12-1-277-78: 4th road win-Dec. 31 Game 18 on road, road record 4-7-778-79: 4th road win-Oct. 31 Game 5 on road, road record 4-0-177-78: won first road game Nov. 13, Game 7 on road, road record 1-2-478-79: won first road game Oct. 14, Game 2 on road, road record 1-0-177-78: Got 24th and 25th pts. Dec. 10 Game 27, record 8-10-978-79: Got 25th and 26th pts. Nov. 10 Game 15, record 12-1-2Individually the statistics are even more amazing: &#9632;

f0003-04

Flames’ Success Story

<div class="byline">BY AL SMITH</div>Brad Marsh came to the Atlanta Flames training camp this season Wig in mind&mdash;make the in Atlanta.He&rsquo;s achieved that goal, but he&rsquo;s not satisfiedI came here looking for a job,&rdquo; &ldquo;Now, I want to stay and most all I want to improve, I&rsquo;m never happy with what I do, there&rsquo;s always room for improvement. I have a competition myself all the time.&rdquo;Marsh may have room for improvement, but he&rsquo;s surprised a lot of the way he has played 16 National Hockey League games.He&rsquo;s worked in very well,&rdquo; said Flames&rsquo; general manager Cliff Fletcher. &ldquo;we knew he had the potential, but we didn&rsquo;t know if he could step in right away. He&rsquo;s the first player we&rsquo;ve drafted since Tom Lysiak in 1972 that hasn&rsquo;t spent sometime in the minors. And it&rsquo;s even more unusual since he&rsquo;s a defensive defenseman.&ldquo;It isn&rsquo;t very often that you find a defensive defenseman that is as fundamentally sound as Brad. I&rsquo;ve seen offensive defensemen come out of junior and step right into the NHL, but it&rsquo;s not too often the defensive types are able to.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s so strong&mdash;he&rsquo;s good in front of the net, along the boards and in the corners and he gets the puck out of his end very well.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re more than happy with the way he has worked out.&rdquo;Marsh was the Flames&rsquo; first pick in the June draft and 11th overall after his junior playing days in his hometown of London, Ont. He was regarded as one of the three top defensemen in the draft and Fletcher was surprised and happy Marsh was available.One reason the six-foot-two, 210-pounder has been able to step right in is that he fits the Fred Creighton style of defenseman. The Flames&rsquo; coach likes to have defensemen pass the puck up ice rather than trying to bring it out of their end on their own.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the way I was taught,&rdquo; Marsh said. &ldquo;The puck can travel a lot faster than I can skate and besides I&rsquo;m not going to outskate many people. It&rsquo;s been easy for me to fit into Fred&rsquo;s style.&rdquo;But the Max Kaminsky Trophy winner (best defenseman in the OHA) for the 1977-78 season is the first to admit he needs work in some areas.&ldquo;My shot and my skating are my weak points,&rdquo; Marsh said. &ldquo;And I work on both of them every time we practice. I think they&rsquo;ll both improve the more I play.&rdquo;The 20-year-old admits there were a few moments that he was in awe when he first stepped on the ice in Chicago Stadium for his first NHL game.&ldquo;I had heard so much about Stan Mikita and Bobby Orr I found myself watching them during warmups,&rdquo; Marsh said. &ldquo;But I can&rsquo;t hold these guys in awe very long, because now I&rsquo;ve got to play against them. But it did seem a little funny to be on the ice with them&rdquo;After a few butterflies, Marsh was ready for action and he says he didn&rsquo;t know what to expect, but there were no big surprises.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03592/4103322-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="256" height="505"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRAD MARSH&hellip; Sets His Goal</figcaption></div>&ldquo;The big thing I&rsquo;ve had to learn is that every shift that comes on ice against you in the NHL has good players and you have to be ready all the time. In junior a team might have two or three good players you had to watch, but up here you have to watch everyone.&ldquo;I expected the speed&mdash;everyone&rsquo;s so fast&mdash;but the grabbing, pulling and interference came as a surprise. In junior you took some hard checks but there weren&rsquo;t that many of them. Up here someone is bumping you all, the time and it wears you out.&rdquo;Marsh is not a flashy player and maintains it has helped him make the adjustment to the NHL.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think the veterans like a flashy rookie,&rdquo; Marsh said, &ldquo;so, they are always taking runs at them. I&rsquo;m just doing my job&mdash;nothing flashy.&rdquo;Being the biggest player on his junior team, fighting became part of Marsh&rsquo;s repertoire, but he hasn&rsquo;t had to do too much of it in the NHL.&ldquo;I. did have a few fights early,&rdquo; Marsh said. &ldquo;But word gets around the league pretty fast and if they find out you&rsquo;ll stand your ground and not back down, they&rsquo;ll leave you alone most of the time.&ldquo;Oh, there will be fights, but not as many if you stand your ground. I understand Bobby Smith (first pick in the NHL draft) is having trouble. He never fights and word gets around that he won&rsquo;t drop the gloves. He&rsquo;s got everybody taking runs at him.&rdquo;So far, no one is taking runs at Marsh and it will probably continue that way. As Fletcher puts it, &ldquo;That&rsquo;s one thing we were sure of,&rdquo; Fletcher said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not going to get pushed around.&rdquo;And the signing of Marsh didn&rsquo;t hurt the Flames&rsquo; average height of weight. Already known as the biggest team in the NHL, Marsh&rsquo;s physical statistics (six-foot-two, 210-pounds) might have added a few points here and there. &#9632;

f0003-03

Marsh Intent On Becoming Regular

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-06406/4103412-1-eng-US/f0004-062.jpg" title="f0004-06" width="289" height="427"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN ANDERSON&hellip;Keeps Improving</figcaption></div>TORONTO&mdash;For a team which entertained high hopes at the start of the 1978-79 National Hockey League season of a divisional pennant and a top-four overall finish, the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; start to the schedule must be rated as a disappointment.Through the first 16 games of the season, the Leafs were a not-too-solid .500&mdash;seven wins, seven losses and two ties. Granted, 11 of those matches were on the road but the Leafs had hopes that their strong performance on foreign turf last season, the third-best road mark in the NHL, could be duplicated this season.Coach Roger Neilson&rsquo;s ambition was to have the Leafs score 300 goals this season, an average of better than 3.5 per game, and surrender 200 or less, a 2.50 average. Through the first 16 contests, the Leafs were a fairly large distance away from those figures. They&rsquo;d produced 2.93 goals per game themselves while surrendering 2.81 scores, the marks of a .500 team.The Leafs&rsquo; six-game road trip started well with wins against Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks, a tie with Colorado Rockies and a convincing triumph over St. Louis Blues. But that hardly represented conquest over the NHL&rsquo;s elite and the Leafs concluded the tour with two tough matches, both one-goal losses, 2-1 to Chicago Black Hawks and, 3-2, to Montreal Canadiens.However, Neilson refused to be disheartened by his club&rsquo;s showing in the first month of the season. Knee injuries did remove two key men&mdash;winger Ron Ellis and defenseman Dave Burrows for a long stretch. Other hurts took out forwards Jimmy Jones and Garry Monahan for shorter periods.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been inconsistent, that&rsquo;s all, and we haven&rsquo;t had the game-in, game-out solid work that a top contender must have,&rdquo; was Neilson&rsquo;s assessment.&ldquo;We did have a tough schedule to open the season with only seven of our first 21 games at home,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;And 11 of those games were against the five clubs which finished ahead of us last season.&ldquo;But there were some encouraging factors for our team, especially the emergence of some players who had the chance to play when the others were out with injuries. When Ellis and Burrows come back, it&rsquo;s going to make us that much stronger.&rdquo;Neilson was referring to winger John Anderson and defenseman Dave Hutchison plus goalie Paul Harrison.Harrison was acquired from the Minnesota North Stars during the offseason and his strong work in the exhibition games earned him the backup job behind Mike Palmateer. Harrison lost his first four starts for the Leafs and although he played strongly in them all, the team produced few goals for him.But he was brilliant in the win over the Canucks and blanked the Blues to earn a heavier workload over the next stretch of games.Anderson was the Leafs&rsquo; first-round draft choice in 1977 and his rookie season was spotty&mdash;some ordinary play with Dallas in the Central League and spot duty in 17 games with the Leafs.But in the CHL playoffs, Anderson was the most valuable player scoring 11 goals and 19 points in 13 games. When Ellis was injured, Anderson earned the chance to play regularly and improved with every game, slowly learning to use his great speed and scoring touch.In the first six games of the season when Burrows played strongly, Hutchison was reduced to spot duty and in his eagerness to play well, he picked up an excessive number of penalties. When Burrows departed with his knee problems, Hutchison took a regular shift in partnership with Borje Salming and played strongly.LEAF NOTES: Lanny McDonald continued his excellent play for the Leafs, working mostly at right wing on a line with center Walt McKechnie and Dan Maloney. McDonald had a 10-1222 point mark in the first 16 games&hellip; Neilson continued to be the No. 1 user of the NHL&rsquo;s new timeout rule which grants one 30-second pause to each team per game. In just about every match, the Leaf coach employed the break to chat with his troups. &#9632;

f0004-06

Leafs Disappoint With .500 Record For First Month

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div>BOSTON&mdash;There must be a great gnashing of teeth around Madison Square Garden, the noted New York hockey emporium, whenever the name of Rick Middleton comes up.And it must come up fairly often for Rick Middleton is starting to do for the Boston Bruins all the nifty things that the New York Rangers expected him to do for them when they drafted him back in 1973.They expected him to score goals at a frequency approaching his junior rate when he tallied 67 times for Oshawa in his final amateur season.Now, five years later, Middleton, who came to the Bruins in the summer of 76 in exchange for Ken Hodge, is off to what may prove to be the best start of his professional career.When he scored two goals and had a pair of assists against Washington in the 13th game of the season, his totals were seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points, only one less than the team leader, Peter McNab.&ldquo;I had 18 goals by Christmas in my first year with the Rangers,&rdquo; recalled Middleton. &ldquo;I remember that because I ended up with only 22 goals. I&rsquo;11 have to wait until Christmas to find out if this is my best start or not.&rdquo;And he is doing it all while taking on an additional skating chore. He has replaced the departed Gregg Sheppard as Donnie Marcotte&rsquo;s penalty-killing partner. The shorthanded skating, he feels, has played a role in his scoring surge.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s because I&rsquo;m in better shape earlier through the penalty killing,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Usually, over 80 games, it takes you a little while to roll into shape. Playing as much as I have, I think I&rsquo;ve reached top shape early in the season. When you get your legs early it gives you that little spurt late in the game.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s helping my concentration, too. Don Cherry said that was one of my big problems last year. I didn&rsquo;t concentrate enough. When you&rsquo;re out on the ice a lot instead of sitting on the bench, it&rsquo;s much easier to concentrate.&rdquo;Middleton has been one of Cherry&rsquo;s proudest reclamation projects since he came to the Bruius, a job that has Brad Park and Jean Ratelie. his, former teammates with the Rangers, a little bit in awe.Park and Ratelle came to the Bruins a half year before Middleton. They knew Ricky, the blithe spirit. They also knew Cherry, the intense, tough, demanding, sarcastic Bruins coach.&ldquo;I smiled when I heard about the trade,&rdquo; said Park. &ldquo;I was thinking about what kind of a confrontation there&rsquo;d be between Cherry and Rick. I wondered how he could adapt to the Cherry style, as Jean and I had to do.&rdquo;&rdquo;1 remember the first time I met him at training camp,&rdquo; said Cherry. &ldquo;He was out on the ice and I went up and introduced myself. He was a little pudgy and I told him so. So what does he do? He grins at me and says, &lsquo;Yeah, I had a good summer.&rsquo;&rdquo;Cherry debated whether to hit him or fire him. Instead, he decided to turn him into a hockey player in the only way he knows&mdash;with a hammer and chisel.&ldquo;He got on my back,&rdquo; said Middleton. &ldquo;Sometimes it was a little too much but he drilled it into my head. It was hard to change my style and it took all of that first season but I finally started to make the adjustment.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know Cherry very well and I took it personally. But some of the guys came to me and told me not to worry about it. He was rough on Peter McNab, too, because both of us were new to his system and neither or us could check well.&ldquo;All that abuse paid off, though, I&rsquo;m a more complete hockey player now than I was when I came here. I still make mistakes but the system has become instinctive to me. I can go when I have the chance and know I&rsquo;ll be back when I have to be.&rdquo;WHAT&rsquo;S BRUIN: Iron man of the Bruins in the early season games has been Don Marcotte, who was taking a regular shift on either right or left wing, playing the power play and killing penalties. He played almost 40 minutes in a crucial penalty-filled game with the Buffalo Sabres.Goalie Gerry Cheevers returned from August surgery on his knee Nov. 9 with a fine 6-2 outing against Washington and the usual quip: &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t a fair test. My team played terrific. They must have seen me in practice and decided they&rsquo;d better play like hell.&rdquo;A two-game suspension for a kicking incident in St. Louis apparently cooled off John Wensink&rsquo;s unexpectedly hot scoring start but Don Cherry thinks there&rsquo;s another reason that he plans to do something about. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s started to think instead of shoot,&rdquo; said the coach. &ldquo;When you get it, shoot it.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01931/4103491-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="583" height="473"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rick Middleton, left, is playing the best hockey of his career after coming under the forceful tutelage of Boston coach Don Cherry. John Wenskin is another Bruin who has responded to the opportunity presented him by the team. (Photos by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0005-01

Bruins’ Middleton Has Fast Start As One Of Cherry’s ‘Pet Projects’

<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>BOSTON&mdash;Dick Redmond, D, returned to lineup from injury list. Stan Johathan, LW, placed on disabled list indefinitely with broken wrist.BUFFALO&mdash;Bob Sauve, G, assigned to Hershey of AHL. Randy Ireland, G, recalled from Hershey as replacement for Sauve. Ken Breitenbach, D, placed on voluntary retired list at his own request.CHICAGO&mdash;Bobby Orr, D, placed on voluntary retired list at his own request.COLORADO&mdash;Randy Pierce, RW, recalled from Philadelphia of AHL. Ron Andruff, C, Larry Skinner, RW, and John McCahill, D, returned to Philadelphia. Kevin Krook, D, returned to Muskegon of IHL. John Van Boxmeer, D, returned to lineup from injury list.DETROIT&mdash;Willie Huber, D, and Al Cameron, D, assigned to Kansas City of CHL. Dennis Polonieh, C, returned to lineup from injury list.LOS ANGELES&mdash;Nick Beverley, D, sold to Colorado for future considerations. Brian Glennie, D, and Tom Williams, LW, placed on disabled list with injuries.MINNESOTA&mdash;Jim Roberts, LW, Sieve Payne, LW, and Chuck Arnason, RW, recalled from Oklahoma City of CHL. Kris Manery, RW, and Alex Pirus, RW, sent to Oklahoma City as replacements. Al MacAdam, RW, returned to lineup from injury list. Mike Dibble, G, recalled from Toledo of IHL and reassigned to Oklahoma City.MONTREAL&mdash;Doug Risebrough, C, placed on disabled list with shoulder separation. Pierre Larouche, C, placed on disabled list with knee injury.RANGERS&mdash;Greg Polis, LW, assigned to New Haven of AHL.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Blake Dunlop, C, recalled from Maine of AHL.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Dune Wilson, G, sold to Vancouver in straight cash deal. Brian Spencer,, LW, returned to Binghamton of AHL.ST. LOUIS&mdash;Bill Fairbairn, RW, balked at being assigned to Salt Lake of CHL and decided to retire from hockey. Bob Murdoch, RW, assigned to Salt Lake. Steve Durbano, D, placed on disabled list with broken hand.VANCOUVER&mdash;Bill Derlago, RW, and Brad Smith, RW, recalled from Dallas of CHL.WASHINGTON&mdash;Gord Smith, D, Eddy Godin, RW, and Nelson Burton, LW, assigned to Hershey of AHL, Jack Lynch, D, recalled from Hershey.<h2>WORLD HOCKEY ASSN.</h2>EDMONTON&mdash;Dave Hunter, LW, recalled from Dallas of CHL. Pierre Guile, RW, and Jim Mayer. RW, assigned to Dallas. Rudy Tajcnar, D, signed as free agent after release by Philadelphia of NHL.INDIANAPOLIS&mdash;Rich Leduc, C, and Kevin Morrison, RW, traded to Quebec for future draft choices.QUEBEC&mdash;Chris Bordeleau, C, placed on voluntary retired list after quitting team.<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>BINGHAMTON&mdash;Dennis Abgrall, RW, sent to Erie of NEHL on loan. Lex Hudson, D, Dan Poulin, D, and Pierre Lagace, C, all released.MAINE&mdash;M.F. Schurman, LW, sent to Milwaukee of IHL on loan &#9632;

Hockey Players On The Move

<div class="byline">BY TOM MURRAY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011104/4103522-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="274" height="440"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE VICKERS&hellip;Sobering Words</figcaption></div>NEW YORK&mdash;For anyone out there who is going bananas over the fact that the Rangers still have the best defensive record in the NHL (2.39 after 18 games) and are in a dog fight with the Islanders for second place in the Patrick Division the NHL&rsquo;s toughest&mdash;Steve Vickers has some sobering words of caution for you:&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a long way to go,&rdquo; said the Rangers&rsquo; left wing. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not out of the woods yet, and we haven&rsquo;t proved anything until we beat some of the better teams in this league.&rdquo;Vickers&rsquo; words came in the wake of the Rangers&rsquo; 3-1 loss to the Atlanta Flames, the hottest team in hockey, after the first encounter of the season between the Patrick Division rivals. The loss brought the Rangers&mdash;and their fans&mdash;back to earth after the New Yorkers&rsquo; 8-l humiliation of the Chicago Black Hawks and their 7-2 victory over the Minnesota North Stars.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s great beating teams by those scores,&rdquo; said a distressed Mike McEwen after the loss tq the Flames, &ldquo;but those teams just aren&rsquo;t that good. We&rsquo;re supposed to win games like those. It&rsquo;s good solid teams like Atlanta that we gotta beat if we&rsquo;re gonna go anyplace.&rdquo;Unfortunately for the Rangers, the Flames are one team that really seem to have New York&rsquo;s number: In the last 17 games the teams have played, the Rangers have won exactly one game, and that victory came several years ago, after Atlanta had already clinched a playoff spot.&ldquo;We just don&rsquo;t seem to be able to put three good periods together against them,&rdquo; Vickers said. &ldquo;We really have to improve ourselves mentally so that we hang tough in tight situations and don&rsquo;t panic.&rdquo;Atlanta isn&rsquo;t the only team that the Rangers have to learn to &ldquo;hang tough&rdquo; against: While New York may have the third best overall record in hockey, their slate against their rivals in the Patrick Division is a dismal 0-1-2.While that may not be a particularly encouraging statistic, the Rangers are very encouraged by the statistics that were accumulated (finally) by the Hickey-Nilsson-Hedberg line in that game against the hapless Black Hawks, the trio accounted for five goals, eight assists, one hat trick (for Hickey, the second of his career) and Hedberg&rsquo;s first goal in seven games. Against Minnesota three night later, the line got eight more points, bringing their two-game point total to 21, and looking, for the first time in a long time, like they really belonged together. Everyone, fans and players alike, have been waiting for that to happen since the beginning of the season.Speaking of waiting for something, left wing Nick Fotiu is still waiting for his first goal&mdash;or assist, for that matter&mdash;of the season. After 18 games, the Staten Island native was still pointless but not overly concerned about the situation. &ldquo;My job is to keep the other team honest,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not supposed to score goals, and so long as there are no goals scored against us when I&rsquo;m out there&hellip;I don&rsquo;t care.&rdquo;BLUE CHIPS: Defenseman Dan Awrey was sold to the Colorado Rockies..Steve Vickers, after being asked if the game with Atlanta could be considered important so early in the season replied: &ldquo;The most important game of the year is the one you&rsquo;re in volved in at the time.&rdquo;&hellip;New York has scored 17 power play goals in 72 attempts, while allowing 13 in 70 shorthanded situations&hellip;Best post-game quote heard so far came from Nick Fotiu as Madison Square Garden president Sonny Werklin was escorting a guest around the Rangers locker room after a game. &ldquo;Hey, Mr. Werblin,&rdquo; yelled Fotiu from the shower in his distinct New York accent, &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no water presshuh, tell the landlord there&rsquo;s no water presshuh.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0006-01

Rangers Brought Back To Reality By Defeat From Divisional Rival

<div class="byline">BY MIKE DENNIS</div>MONTREAL&mdash;Most National Hockey League teams view their first road trip to the West Coast as a benchmark Tor their team&rsquo;s progress at that point in the season. The theory does not necessarily hold true for the Montreal Canadiens.While most eastern teams talk about getting used to the time zone differences, the long flight, the change in weather, the Canadiens have usually had very low-key and productive journeys to the west. Time to relax in a Rocky Mountain resort, a Nevada fun city; a chance to unwind and perhaps forget about hockey for a brief interlude. And the Canadiens have had outstanding success in the West, a record of 47-10-17 in Los Angeles, Vancouver and Oakland, and even more impressive when you consider their 7-01 record in Colorado which has replaced Oakland on the western swing.Most teams also complain about their schedules and the &ldquo;soft&rdquo; schedule which the Canadiens always seem to wrangle from the NHL. But this year, with the NHL&rsquo;s Challenge Series clipping a week from the schedule in early February, nearly all of the teams have a legitimate complaint about the schedule which often finds teams playing three games in four nights. Even the Canadiens are unhappy.They were headed west for a four-day respite with a seven-game unbeaten streak in mid-November. Their stopover in Colorado Springs seemed to come at a good time with Jacques Lemaire coming off the sick list with the flu ready to make the trip and Steve Shutt (bruised knee) and captain Yvan Cournoyer (bruised hip) getting a chance to rest their injuries.In the final practice before leaving on their road trip, however, both Doug Risebrough and Pierre Larouche were injured by teammates in collisions. Larouche made the trip, while Risebrough, who suffered a slight shoulder separation when hit by Brian Engblom, was left behind.With the surplus of players still being carried by the Canadiens, Risebrough&rsquo;s absence gave Mark Napier a chance to get into the lineup for the first stop on the tour, Denver, and he was joined by right winger Pat Hughes, who had dressed for just one game this season, when swelling in Larouche&rsquo;s left knee forced the club to return him to Montreal to have it examined.As so often develops, Hughes and Napier turned out to be the spark Montreal needed in a 6-1 victory over the Rockies. Hughes intercepted a pass near the blueline and set up Steve Shutt for a first period goal which tied the game at 1-1 and scored his first NHL goal in the third period when the Canadiens were turning a 2-1 contest into a five-goal advantage. Napier did most of the work on the winning goal when his backhand shot was converted on the second rebound by Guy Lafleur, and closed out the scoring with his third NHL goal in five games.But here&rsquo;s where the tighter schedule comes in. Instead of getting the usual travel day, to fly to the coast, the Canadiens where scheduled the next night for a game in the L.A. Forum. Leaving Denver immediately after the game, the squad didn&rsquo;t settle into their hotel rooms until the wee hours of the morning.It was no wonder that they came out flat later that evening, and were out-skated by the Kings. L.A. led 2-1 after the first period and broke the game wide open in the middle stanza with three unanswered goals.Although the Canadiens responded with 16 shots to only three by the Kings in the third period and received a pair of goals from Guy Lafleur, his 10th and 11th, Montreal couldn&rsquo;t close the gap enough and lost their fifth decision of the year, 6-3.Goaltender Bunny Larocque, who played in the Canadiens&rsquo; 8-4 triumph over the Kings at the Montreal Forum, did not have one of his better nights and saw his record fall to 5-2.Vancouver was the next stop on the Canadiens&rsquo; lour, but at least the club had one day off to get themselves in order.FORUM REBOUNDS: Defenseman Guy Lapointe, who leads the team&rsquo;s rearguards in scoring with 20 points, was also tops among defensemen in the plus-minus department at plus 10, says he plays best when he&rsquo;s used a lot..Lapointe, who&rsquo;s been one of the most consistent performers on the club this year admits that he is pleased by the way he has been playing defensively.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01986/4103553-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="274" height="492"><figcaption class="caption-body">GUY LAPOINTE&hellip;Good Start</figcaption></div>He also suggested that forgetting about his serious eye injury suffered last year, is one of the main reasons for his fast start this time around.&ldquo;Last year when I came back, I was too aware of it (the injury) and it affected my play,&rdquo; said Lapointe. &#9632;

f0007-01

Arduous Road Journey Trips Habs

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02788/4103584-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="335" height="426"><figcaption class="caption-body">GUY LAFLEUR&hellip;Four Straight</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;Guy Lafleur attempts to make it five straight, Darryl Sittler and Borje Salming look to see if they can continue their domination and there will be a new champion crowned in Vancouver as the three star competition for the Molson Cup enters its seventh season.The Molson Cup competition began in Montreal in the 1972-73 season when Ken Dryden was its first winner. Toronto picked up the competition the next year as Borje Salming took seasonal honors and the Vancouver Canucks followed suit as Bobby Lalonde became their first winner in the 1975-76 campaign.Montreal&rsquo;s Lafleur has won the Molson Cup for the past four seasons but was off to a slow start in the competition, trailing Guy Lapointe by as much as 15 points during the first segment of the competition.The season is divided into five segments with the winner of each segment receiving $1,000, plus a similar amount for his favorite charity or amateur sports organization. Runnerups for each segment receive $500. Each star selection whether first, second or third, is worth five points in the Molson Cup standings.In the October-November segment in Montreal, Lapointe had 25 points on one first star and four second star selections to lead Larry Robinson by five points. Lafleur picked up two first star honors in November and was third on the team with 15 points.In Toronto, near the mid-point of the October-November segment, Darryl Sittler was in a familiar position &mdash; the lead &mdash; with 15 points after 10 games. Three players were tied for second place with 10 points, including Dan Maloney, Lanny McDonald and Mike Palmateer. In the event of a tie, priority is given to the player with the most first star selections.Sittler has won the Toronto competition three times in 1975, 1976, and again last year. Salming won the other two years, in 1974 and 1977.Vancouver&rsquo;s defending champion Cesare Maniago, who won the Molson Cup in 1977 and 1978, has retired from hockey, so a new champion will be crowned on the west coast.Veteran Pit Martin and rookie Thomas Gradin were the leaders in the first Vancouver segment with 15 points each. However, Martin had two first star selections and would be awarded first place if the two remained tied.Goaltender Glen Hanlon and Hilliard Graves were close behind with 10 points, each earning a pair of first star selections.The winner of each segment receives $1,000 and the overall winner is awarded an additional $1,000 and the coveted Molson Cup. &#9632;

f0007-02

Lafleur, Sittler Both Trying To Defend Molson Cup Titles

<div class="byline">-BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011095/4103629-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="402" height="451"></div><h2>Swedish Smorgasbord&hellip;</h2>THE TWO NEW STARS of the New York Rangers, Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg, are conducting themselves marvellously well as they take their first turn around the National Hockey League. It cost the Rangers $2.4 million to sign the two for just two years and everywhere they go they are put under great pressure by the press.The expatriates from Sweden and Winnipeg are bright young men who took courses at the University of Stockholm and speak excellent English. They are charming guys, agreeable and articulate, k They do not seem to mind being asked to answer the same questions over and over again as they travel from town to town. They seem unspoiled.Hedberg says, &ldquo;We are paid not only to play, but to pay back the team with publicity.&rdquo; Nilsson says, &ldquo;I do not think our riches will spoil us. We talk about it and we both say we will try to stay the same as we were in our homeland, no matter what. We will still have a lot of living to do after we are Finished in this sport.&rdquo;Hedberg is from Ornskoldsvik, which is closer to the Arctic Circle than to Stockholm. It is about 200 miles from the circle and 300 miles from the big city. It is a small town set in the midst of a forest. There is a paper mill, which is the main industry. The city is located on the Baltic Sea and Anders has a summer house on the Gulf of Bothnia.Here, he lives with Gun-Marie, with whom he lived in Sweden and Canada for several years before he married her after he signed in New York this summer. Here, they go out in row-boats and power-boats, waterski, wind-surf, fish. In the back yard of their house with its walls of pine wood, Hedberg has a net at which he fires pucks in practice.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02986/4103622-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="191" height="294"><figcaption class="caption-body">Anders Hedberg</figcaption></div>THE YOUNGEST OF TWO SONS, Hedberg&rsquo;s mother, Stina, is a nurse and his father, Bertil, a construction engineer. Anders grew up playing hockey on frozen ponds and canals. He says, &ldquo;We had&rdquo; to shovel the snow off before we could play and we played with what makeshift equipment we had. Because in our midwinter the sun is up only a couple of hours a day, we played in the dark, when it was freezing.Hedberg says: &ldquo;You had to love it to do it. I think those boys who are driven to indoor rinks and play with nice equipment in nice conditions do not develop the desire we did and are not as well off because you win more with your heart than with your talent.&rdquo; Nilsson says, &ldquo;I, t&phi;o, had it hard to get ahead in hockey and I agree it does you good and hardens you for what is not easy.&rdquo;Nilsson was born in Nynashamn, a tiny town of 10,000, 40 miles south of Stockholm and also on the water. It is less wooded and more of a fishing village, although the big industry is an oil refinery. lt also gets a lot of tourists as it is a take off point to Finland. &ldquo;It is a nice quiet town. We have a house there. We swim and fish and do a bit of boating.&rdquo; He has been married for about five years and he and his Barbro have a daughter, Anna, 4, and a son Mikael, 2.Ulf&rsquo;s mother, Birgit, works part-time for the telephone company. His late father, Gosta, was a first division soccer star who died at 43. Ulf has a younger sister.Anders and Ulf agree they do not miss Sweden so much because they go back every summer and know they will live there again later. They met while playing for the Swedish National Hockey Team, became close and have remained close.Sports are supposed to be amateur in Sweden and only five years ago the two were each earning only $10,000 a year in &ldquo;expenses&rdquo; to play hockey. Russian and Czechoslovakian players are not available, so North American scouts have concentrated on the Swedes, all of whom seem to skate skillfully.As long ago as the early 1970&rsquo;s Vancouver and Detroit tried to sign them but they wanted to complete their educations first. Then Toronto and Buffalo each got rights to one and when they couldn&rsquo;t reach an agreement the Swedes signed with Winnipeg of the WHA for $100,000 a year for two years. Later, they signed for two more years for $160,000 a year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03836/4103615-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="264" height="391"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ulf Nilsson</figcaption></div>THEY WERE DETERMINED to stay together and when their agent Don Baizley, arranged a deal with the Rangers for the next two seasons, they made the move. They were each given a $600,000 bonus and a $600,000 contract. It works out to $600,000 a year each and they will be free again in two years.Nilsson says, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a crazy salary. We&rsquo;re not worth that much.&rdquo; Hedberg says, &ldquo;No one is, but it&rsquo;s inflation and we couldn&rsquo;t turn it down could we?&rdquo;Both are five-foot-11 and 175-pounds. Nilsson, 28, is a uniquely intelligent playmaker who averaged 35 goals, 86 assists, and 121 points a season in four seasons in the WHA. Hedberg, 27, is a spectacular skater and shooter, who averaged 59 goals, 55 assists, and 114 points. One season he snapped in 70 goals.They played with the great Bobby Hull in Winnipeg, but he says, &ldquo;They can play with anyone. They can play in the NHL and they&rsquo;ll prove it. They&rsquo;ll have to because they beat the hell out of them in this league and they&rsquo;re gonna do the same in that league. They can take it.&rdquo;Hedberg says, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s like going down a dark, empty street and wondering if someone is going to jump you. Ulf and I lay in our beds in our rooms on the road at night and talk about it and say we will once again have to show them we can play without fighting because we were brought up to believe that is not hockey.&rdquo;Ulf says, &ldquo;Being togehter, we can split the pressure on us and help each other.&rdquo; Anders says, &ldquo;1 will go with this as far as it takes me. I could take an ordinary job and still like my life. I live for today and take tomorrow as it comes.&ldquo;If we work hard and do our best, no one can blame us if we do not do as well as we&rsquo;re supposed to, can they?&rdquo; &#9632;

f0008-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04460/4103660-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg" title="f0008-04" width="571" height="553"><figcaption class="caption-body">CHRIS ODDLEIFSON&hellip;Superb Job Of Penalty-Killing (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>VANCOUVER&mdash;There is a television commercial making the rounds on the U.S. networks which probably makes Harry Neale chuckle just a mite.It&rsquo;s one put out by the Bell telephone system, which outlines a problem in communication then finishes with the words: &ldquo;The system is the solution.&rdquo;Whether you want to call it a system, or simply an intelligent way of bringing the puck out of your own end matters not. What does is whether all six players on the ice, all 19 players on the team,, stick to the format selected. When they do, success is often forthcoming, like the Vancouver Canucks recent success on the road.They convinced themselves they could win by playing disciplined hockey in Philadelphia when they bagged their first road win. Immediately after that, they won two of their next three road games with a similar type of game, the 1-0 win in Chicago producing Glen Hanlon&rsquo;s first National League shutout as well as one of the best team defensive performances put on by the team starting their ninth season in the league.Following that, they played well against Atlanta Flames but lost 4-2, then went in and knocked off Detroit Red Wings 6-4 the night after the loss in Atlanta.All of this is helping Neale convince his players that the system is the solution in this game which depends so much on team play.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know whether you call it a system or what,&rdquo; says Neale. &ldquo;But there are certain situations we are going to face about 2,000 times in a year, and there is a right way and a wrong way to handle it.&rdquo;The fact Canucks are bringing the puck out of their end better this year than last has led to improvements in other areas, particularly in forechecking. When the club has scored a lot of-goals in a game, they have generally generated their opportunities with fine work defensively in the offensive zone, as was the case in Detroit when they generated their goals.And it was the man generally acknowledged to be the team leader in the dressing room. Jack Mcllhargey, who put it best when he was asked to compare this year&rsquo;s team with last.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of new guys, a lot of different guys on the club and many of them are young and we have a young spirit to go along with them,&rdquo; said the veteran defender who has been rumored going back to Fred Shero, his old coach in Philadelphia. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll get better and better as time goes on.&rdquo;Canucks are a long way from the .500 mark on the road, but they have indeed proved to themselves that when they play in the style in which Neale would like them to, success is possible no matter which city they are playing in.The win in Chicago, largely a function of fine goaltending of the 21-year-old rookie, was precisely what Neale has been hoping for, the Hawks held to just 23 shots on goal.&ldquo;Hanlon was great and he was lucky, but you are always a bit lucky when you&rsquo;re great,&rdquo; said Neale, who was forced to break up his rookie line of Thomas Gradin, Curt Fraser and Stan Smyl when the latter suffered a bruised shoulder against Chicago.&ldquo;The line hasn&rsquo;t been the same when either of the two has been missing,&rdquo; said Neale of the fact that Fraser missed one game in New York with a charleyhorse and now Smyl was unavailable. &ldquo;And then there is the fact that you can&rsquo;t expect them to be the best line on your club all year when they are all rookies.&rdquo;So Chris Oddleifson, who has been one of Canucks best forwards right fromt he day training camp opened, was at right wing with Gradin at center and Jere Gillis on the left. The line was effective in Detroit, bagging three of the six goals, and Oddleifson did superb service killing penalties, particularly one stretch when the Wings had a two-man advantage for a full two minutes.Vancouver&rsquo;s traditional problem, the schedule, has plagued their home performance, though their 3-1 loss to Toronto Maple Leafs could hardly be credited solely to geographyThere are only three clubs in the league who do not have all their games scheduled on two or three nights of the week, and we are one of them.&rdquo; said Neale. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s crazy. This business of finishing on the road on Sundays and Wednesday&rsquo;s and coming home and playing on the Tuesday and the Friday is going to cost us 15 to 20 points a year. We should have those games on Wednesday and Saturday.Neale, who is getting his taste of travel on the west coast, says he intends to attend the league meetings next year in hopes of doing something about the Vancouver schedule, which is the second worst in the league&rsquo;s after the Colorado Rockies. &#9632;

f0008-04

Communication Key To Improvement By ‘Neophyte’ Canucks

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011057/4103691-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="369" height="442"><figcaption class="caption-body">DARRYLEDESTRAND&hellip;Tired Of Moving</figcaption></div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Attempting to drive Washington&rsquo;s Robert Picard away from the Los Angeles net, Darryl Edestrand crashed into the cage. One leg crossed a post as his bulky foe smashed into it. It looked like it had to be broken. It was lucky it turned out to be only a sprained knee.&ldquo;If you can call this lucky,&rdquo; Edestrand said as he sat in front of his locker later with his knee covered by an ice bag as big as a basketball. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s an injury. I guess it could have been worse. But I didn&rsquo;t need it now.&rdquo;I mentioned that it came at a time he was trying to gain a regular berth on the Kings&rsquo; defense and just when he had played his two best games as a King. He shrugged and said, &ldquo;If these last few games didn&rsquo;t prove I belong, the injury won&rsquo;t change anything.&rdquo;He is 33 years old and has been a pro 14 seasons. He has played a lot in the minors as well as in the majors. He has played for Rochester, Quebec and Hershey in the American League and Kansas City in the Central League, as well as St. Louis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Boston, and L.A. in the National League.A pre-expansion player, he originally was owned by Toronto, but taken by St. Louis in the expansion draft of 1967. Since then he has been traded twice and sold twice, demoted and promoted, bounced around like a rubber ball.It has been hard on him and his family&mdash;his wife of 13 years, Tricia, son Darryn, 9, and daughter Leanne, 7. But he has hung in there. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s part of the game for some players, but it&rsquo;s tough,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s especially lough on your family.&ldquo;As I get older and the kids get older I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;d do too much more moving around. They have to break into new schools as foreigners and make friends and I don&rsquo;t want to put them through that.late, which is one reason &ldquo;I smashed my left arm in a practice accident my first year as a pro and that set my progress back four or five years. I had to learn to handle the stick and shoot all over again, so I developed late, which is one reason I&rsquo;ve been moved so much.&ldquo;Also, I was as much an offensive player as a defensive player originally. I scored 10 goals one season, 15 another in Pittsburgh. But when I got to Bostor they had offensive defensemen in Orr and Vadnais, so they wanted me to concentrate on defense.&ldquo;I had an adjustment to make, but I&rsquo;ve made it. I&rsquo;m happy concentrating on defense. I&rsquo;m happy here.in L.A. I have allergies and it&rsquo;s nice in the west when I&rsquo;m not sneezing and stuff like that all the time. It&rsquo;s a nice way of life here for a family man and I hope tc stay. When you sit on your butt on a but 12 hours on the way to a game in the minors, you appreciate the majors.&rdquo;He should stay but you never know what&rsquo;s going on in the minds of the men who run hockey teams. He played on two Stanley Cup finalist in Bostor and three Calder Cup champions it Rochester, but he spent more time in Rochester than Boston the last two seasons.The Kings bought him from Bostor last March in hopes of adding some muscle to their read guard and he was one of their better defensemen the Iasi month of the regular season and the short run of their playoffs.This season he was not expected to make the team because the Kings had eight younger veterans trying out, but he has been one of the better ones and has outlasted most of the rest. In the games just before he got hurt, he was by far the best.It has been a bad bunch so far with only a few doing well, and he was missed following his injury. He looks like a fighter, but isn&rsquo;t. He looks like a hitter and is. At five-foot-11 and 185-pounds, he&rsquo;s the only King who clouts foes from the crease.Born November of 1945 in Strathroy, Ont. he was one of many &ldquo;service brats&rdquo; in hockey who were moved from base to base as a boy and benefitted from youth athletics at each stop. Hi late father, Bill, was an Air Force career man. Darryl&rsquo;s brother, Barry, followed in dad&rsquo;s footsteps, as would have Darryl had it not been for hockey.He left home at 14 to pursue his sport and prepped at London, where he now makes his summer home and where his mother, Peggy, lives. Twenty years late he still is pursuing his passion, a fellow who has been moved so many people assume he can&rsquo;t play, but one who a this point in his career really plays well at a position and on a team where few are playing well right now.If the Kings are wise they will keep him and play him.KINGS THINGS: Did you see the big HOCKEY NEWS ad picturing Barry Long as a bright young star you can sec in the WHA? Ex-Kings&rsquo; Long and Bil Lesuk are at Winnipeg, Serge Berniet and Dale Hoganson in Quebec, Bil Flett in Edmonton, Brent Hughes in Birmingham. Don Kozak is on load to Tulsa in the CHL. &#9632;

f0009-01

Edestrand Earning Regular’s Role In Bid To Bolster Kings’ Defense

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011082/4103722-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="775" height="328"></div>DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION ON HOCKEY?Write to:FAN FORUM,The Hockey News,1434 St. Catherine St., W., Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7<h2>Greetings From An Austrian Fan</h2>As a two year subscriber to THE HOCKEY NEWS and a fan of Canadian Hockey through the years, the arrival of each new paper means a red-letter day for me. It is the only way for one in Austria to follow the Canadian and U.S. hockey scene in detail.I have two main requests which I hope one day will be fulfilled: 1) for Canada to send a real competitive team to the world championships in future years. Canadian hockey should realize that any team representing Canada at a world championship is considered by the average European fan as &ldquo;the best of Canada&rdquo; because very few people know about Canada&rsquo;s problems with the Stanley Cup scheduling, etc.2) That THE HOCKEY NEWS will bring more news concerning European hockey into the paper. Since you call yourself an International Hockey Weekly Magazine, I think that international mean more than just Canada and the U.S. *FRANZ WUTZL,Perchtoldsdorf, Austria<h2>Persson Deserves Additional Credit</h2>I&rsquo;ve been listening to broadcasters and I&rsquo;ve been reading hockey magazines and I think there hasn&rsquo;t been enough talk about Stefan Persson.Persson, a defenseman, who often stops the &ldquo;Islanders&rsquo; opposition from scoring, isn&rsquo;t getting the credit he deserves. He may not be a big scorer, but he can really play defense and set up goal opportunities.Other people may not agree, but in my opinion Persson can play defense as well as any other defenseman. I admire Persson and believe he&rsquo;s going to come close to winning the Norris Trophy this year,RALPH FIGUEROA,Brooklyn, N.Y.<h2>Thank You For Wilson Story</h2>I was delighted to read your article about Murray Wilson of the Los Angeles Kings in your Nov. 10 issue. I have followed Murray&rsquo;s hockey career ever since he started with the Canadiens in 1971, and am glad that now he will get a chance to play regularly.I felt that the Canadiens did not give him much of a chance to prove himself, but hopefully that will change now that he is with Los Angeles. I was sorry to see him traded, but I hope he will be happier playing regularly then sitting on the bench. Again, thank you very much for the article. It made my day.JENNY RENWICK,Pointe Claire, Que.<h2>Divisional Crisis Still Haunts NHL</h2>The divisional crisis still haunts the National Hockey League. The NHL governors are reluctant to make any changes in the makeup of the division which exists now, but if they do not reconstruct the unequal and mostly rivaless divisions in the next year or so, the popular sport of hockey will become another World Football League.In case any governors are able to read this letter in the Fan Forum section I strongly urge them to look at my suggestion for the following divisional formats:East Division: Islanders, Rangers, Buffalo, Boston; South Division: Atlanta, Philadelphia, Washington, Pittsburgh; North Division: Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, Detroit; West Division: Los Angeles, Vancouver, Colorado, St. Louis, Minnesota.If you look at a map, you can see that this format is the simplest and only way to make the divisions equal and have very good rivalries. And isn&rsquo;t rivalries what will make the NHL proud again.ROBERT HOWINGTON,Fort Worth, Tx.<h2>Is It NHL Or MCL? (Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; League)</h2>It&rsquo;s too bad for hockey fans that the Montreal Canadiens have to be the major share holders of the National Hockey League (or at least that&rsquo;s what they appear to be).First, there is the divisional format in which the Canadiens have practically no competition, and in contrast to the Adams Division where teams like Boston, Toronto and Buffalo must battle it out for the top spot.Second, the &ldquo;new&rdquo; NHL schedule is going to help Montreal remain in the overall top spot with them playing their weaker divisional teams more often.Finally, last year&rsquo;s playoffs were another example of Montreal&rsquo;s league domination. The N.Y. Islanders and the Toronto Maple Leafs had a tough seven-game series with plenty of fighting and rough play and nothing much was said by NHL officials. Then it was a different story when Boston went against Canadiens in the finals and started to rough them up and win games. At that time the NHL Referee in Chief stepped in and told them to cut out the rough stuff.This is not an anti-Montreal letter as much as it may seem. I would just like to see the NHL executive organize a better overall setup.BERNIE LeBLANC,Amherst, N.S.<h2>Chicago Bad? L.A. Prices Worse</h2>I read Bob Verdi&rsquo;s column &ldquo;Hockey Talk&rdquo; in the Oct. 27 issue with much interest. His story about &ldquo;Black Hawks lower ticket prices&rdquo; is rather humorous to say the least to season seat holders of the L.A. Kings.If he thinks that Chicago is a rip-off, listen to this:1) Season seats at the L.A. Forum have always been the same price as individual seal tickets.2) The Forum sells &ldquo;Ladies Night Tickets&rsquo; for $2.00 less than regular ticket prices.3) Starting with the first exhibition game this year, fans could buy season seats at a (get this) 10 percent discount, but, if you had already purchased or renewed your season seats prior to the first exhibition game, you pay full price. This discount also indludes preferred parking.The topper is, general manager George Maguire stated that, they would lose a lot of fans because Rogie Vachon signed with Detroit.The number of people in our section of the Forum holding season seats this year has dropped 50 percent and their reason was not because of Rogie leaving, it was &ldquo;the hell with the fans&rdquo; attitude being shown. The fans are tired of being taken.My wife and I love hockey and the Kings and have only missed four games over the last four years, but next year that figure will go to 40 if the Forum management continued with its &ldquo;rip-off policy.&rdquo;Anyone want to trade two season seats to anything for two season seats to the L.A. Kings?JAMES SCHAPERS,Brea, Ca.<h2>Thank You Mr. Sports Bobby Orr</h2>The news that Mr. Sports, Bobby Orr, retired from hockey had to be the hardest thing for me to swallow as a sports fan.Mr. Orr, thanks, not only for the 10-plus seasons of the greatest exhibition of sports talent on earth, but also for showing fans something called guts.Maybe we can all learn a lesson from the way, after six knee operations, he unselfishly tried one more time to light up the faces of hockey and sports fans alike. Again, thanks for the memories.WARREN ROSENBERG,New York, N.Y.<h2>Fiery Smyl Will Be Noticed</h2>There is no doubt in my mind that the Vancouver Canucks were extremely fortunate in their ability to pick Stan Smyl in the third round of this year&rsquo;s amateur draft. The fiery winger has been nothing short of fantastic for the Canucks, and with the handful of youthful teammates around him, the Canucks with Smyl will be heard from!Along with rookies Thomas Gradin and Curt Fraser, he forms a rookie line that the NHL opponents have had to be worried about. The fiery young combination can skate with the best of them, and they can throw their weight around too. Although Gradin is quite small he can be covered up by the gigantic Curt Fraser and the small but aggressive Smyl. So watch out all you Vancouver enemies, the Canucks and their fiery winger Stan Smyl will be coming at you, with full force.Smyl&rsquo;s play in the early going of the campaign has been just great, and if he keeps it up, he&rsquo;ll be heard from for a lot longer than just a couple of months. Hat&rsquo;s off to Stan the man and his Canucks teammates for their early success.DONFENNELL,Calgary, Alia.<h2>By What Right Was Age Limit Set?</h2>In response to a letter sent in by Philip Flegel about the WHA: sure some WHA teams are luring juniors away from Junior hockey, but what right does a league have to say that a man must be 20 to play pro hockey? Tony Tonelli of the New York Islanders has proved that it can be much more beneficial to the player than junior hockey Could ever be.Also about the WHA being an inferior league, he cites one example. I could cite a dozen in the other direction, but it proves nothing. What proves it, is when you get the teams on the ice and let them play the game, and the WHA has proved it can play with the best of them.<h2>Wants To See More TV Bruins&rsquo; Game</h2>Last year the Boston Bruins only played five games on the NHL television network and this year, they&rsquo;ll only be playing two games.I think that the NHL should put a greater variety of teams on TV. Two years ago they had something good going by televising Wednesday night games. I think these games should be back on television again and that way teams in the lower part of the standings would get a chance to be on television.ALAN HUDSON,Moncton, N.B. &#9632;

f0010-01

FAN FORUM

<h2>Lack Of Enthusiasm Hockey&rsquo;s Biggest Problem</h2>Lately the NHL has received much criticism in the press over many issues facing the league. These are unjust and unwarranted. After all, not every league can spend their summer meetings discussing such important and vital items as separating players on face-offs and instituting a worthless 30-second timeout.I believe hockey&rsquo;s biggest problem is a lack of enthusiasm among the fans in North America. This is due Io a vast amount of teams and players. When hockey was a six-team league, each game was an event&mdash;a happening&mdash;and attending it was first on the minds of the fans. Now, using the Rangers as an example, you face a continuous stream of Pittsburgh, Washington, Colorado, etc. These games have been recommended by physicians for safe, restful sleep.Though hockey will never return to a six-team or eight-team formal voluntarily, those who remember should hold onto the memories of jammed arenas where attendances were announced lower than they actually were just to satisfy the local fire commissioner. &ldquo;KEN MURRELL, Brooklyn, N.Y. &#9632;

LETTER OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;Ahh, no place like home.It may sound trite, but a yearning for the homestead played a big part of the revival of the Minnesota North Stars after a slow start, especially for Mike Polich and Jean Potvin.The pair opened the season, not in Montreal with the rest of the North Stars, but in Oklahoma City in the Central League.Polich was the free agent center who was signed out of the Montreal system in-a return to his homestate. The return lasted as long as training camp.Potvin, veteran defenseman acquired in the merger, had not been down to the minor leagues since early in his career before he became a regular with the New York Islanders and the Cleveland Barons.Yet, there they were, down on the farm, far away from home. Potvin, in fact, had not seen his wife and young child for two months. They remained home in Long Island while he made a bid to stick with the Stars.Two weeks into the NHL season, the Stars were struggling. They had swamped Vancouver, 7-2, and had been tied in the third period by Boston in their best efforts.But with a record of 1-4-2, general manager Lou Nanne, coach Harry Howell and staff decided a change was necessary. Potvin was summoned from Oklahoma, along with goalie Pete LoPresti who was on a conditioning stint in the CHL.Polich happened to be in town, too, with permission to close the mortgage on his new home in the suburbs. He was to rejoin Oklahoma City on a Wednesday night.&ldquo;As long as you&rsquo;re here,&rdquo; Nanne told him, &ldquo;you might as well stick around and play against the Blues.&rdquo;Polich was put on a checking line with Tom Younghans and Kent Andersson. Potvin would take a regular turn on defense.The day before the Stars met the Blues, the entire Minnesota team left an indication that St. Louis was going to be in for a long evening. There were two scrapes and a lot of crunching checks being thrown in practice.It took the North Stars about 90 seconds to break out of their shell against the Blues. The first time Polich stepped out on the ice for his North Star debut (he has five Stanley Cup games to his credit while with the Canadiens), the Stars scored on Polich&rsquo;s setup for Younghans.Potvin, meantime, scored two goals as the Stars frolicked to a 9-1 victory. Sixteen of the 17 skaters had at least one point in the game, which was the start of three consecutive one-goal games for goalie Gilles Meloche.&ldquo;It was not only a big game for me, but the team as well,&rdquo; said Potvin. &ldquo;I did not have that good of a training camp. Part of the reason is that I played in the first three exhibitions and none of the others. I wasn&rsquo;t as sharp as I or dinarily would have been.&ldquo;No I didn&rsquo;t like going to Oke City one bit. I feel I can play regularly in the NHL, and I even asked Louie to trade me. But I didn&rsquo;t go down with my head down. I worked hard and regained my timing and my confidence.&rdquo;And he got to see his family when the Stars swung through New York on an early November road trip.Polich was still with the team, too, on Minnesota&rsquo;s new checking line which was creating more offensive chances than it was allowing. &ldquo;1 don&rsquo;t mind playing defensively&mdash;that&rsquo;s my game,&rdquo; said Polich, who played three seasons with Nova Scotia. &ldquo;I played against the other team&rsquo;s top line just about every game when I was in Halifax.&rdquo;From the St. Louis game, the Stars started playing as a team, something that was expected but had taken some lime to accomplish while players from Minnesota and Cleveland, the rookie ranks and the free agent ranks melted together.The Stars beat Buffalo on the heels of the St. Louis game, lost in Buffalo and in Uniondale against the Islanders before breaking the Rangers&rsquo; unbeaten streak in Madison Square Garden 5-3 on Meloche&rsquo;s 34 saves and Gary Sargent&rsquo;s goal and two assists to move by Buffalo into third place in the Adams Division. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to be a much bigger factor in this division than people give us credit for,&rdquo; said interim coach Glen Sonmor.Especially if the Stars continue to strive on homecooking.STAR DUST: Sonmor was 2-2 as interim coach before Harry Howell rejoined the team after extensive heart tests showed him to be in excellent health. An abnormality had been noted in a routine physical, but an angiogram proved that to be a &ldquo;false positive&rdquo; result&hellip;Meloche&rsquo;s 2.70 was the lowest by a Minnesota goalie in more than five years&hellip;best since the days of Gump Worsley and Cesare Maniago.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011035/4103777-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="276" height="346"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE POLICH&hellip;Chance Start</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0011-01

Recalled Players Get Stars Moving

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;When right wing Peter Lee came to the Pittsburgh Penguins last December along with center Peter Mahovlich from the Montreal Canadiens, he was told which uniform numbers were&rdquo;available, and asked which one he would like to wear.&ldquo;I was told uniform number 10 was available,&rdquo; said Lee, &ldquo;so I took it. But, I didn&rsquo;t know who previously wore that uniform. I eventually Jound out it had belonged to Pierre Larouche.&rdquo;Larouche, the Penguins former problem child and darling of the younger female fans, was the player surrendered to Montreal in the trade which brought Lee to Pittsburgh.&ldquo;Pete Mahovlich relieved any pressure which may have been brought on me because I was wearing Larouche&rsquo;s old uniform number,&rdquo; Lee said. &ldquo;Pete played so well for the Penguins from the time the trade was made, it gave me time to adjust to playing, in the National Hockey League.&rdquo;Lee, 22, scored only five goals and added 13 assists in the 60 games he played for the Penguins. He started off the year with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, Montreal&rsquo;s Top farm club in the American Hockey League.This season, Peter was. Pittsburgh&rsquo;s leading goal scorer with nine through the first 14 games.&ldquo;I was in awe when I came here last year,&rdquo; Lee admits. &ldquo;I never felt sure of a place on the team. I did a lot of running this summer. I came to training camp to win myself a place on the club.&ldquo;The trade of Jean Pronovost gave me a great chance to win a starling position. Although Pronovost&rsquo;s trade may have been a big break for me, I was still a little sad to see him go. Jean helped me a lot last year. He was always trying to help me adjust or teach me something.&rdquo;Lee, five-foot-nine, 180 pounds, was born in Ellesmere, England, but his family moved to Canada when he was only three months old, and &ldquo;still in the cradle.&rdquo; His family eventually settled in Ottawa, where he played junior hockey for the Ottawa 67&rsquo;s.Montreal made Lee their first choice and the 12th player chosen overall in the 1976 Amateur Draft. He scored 33 goals and 27 assists playing for Nova Scotia his rookie season.The Canadiens second first round selection in 1976 was left wing Rod Schutt, recently acquired by Pittsburgh from Montreal.Schutt was immediately placed on a line-with Lee and Mahovlich to form the Pittsburgh version of the &ldquo;Canadien Connection.&rdquo;&ldquo;Playing on a line with Pete gives me a lot of confidence,&rdquo; Lee said. &ldquo;Pete stickhandles so well, and with his long reach and skating ability, he draws a lot of opposing players to him. That gives me a lot of extra room to skate, and more room to shoot.&rdquo;One of the reasons for Lee&rsquo;s lack of goal scoring last season was his inability to get his shots on the net. Peter worked long and hard in training camp on getting his quick wrist shots, on goal.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-02866/4103808-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="234" height="470"><figcaption class="caption-body">PETER LEE&hellip;Worked On Shot</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Last year I was always missing the net,&rdquo; Lee said. &ldquo;This year I&rsquo;ve been concentrating on getting my shots off as quickly as I could. I&rsquo;m still aiming the puck sometime, but not as much as I did last year. I was frustrated and I didn&rsquo;t have much confidence in my shot a year ago. I tried to pick too many corners and I missed the net a lot. The harder I tried the worse it got. But, like I said before, I am much more confident this season.&rdquo;Penguin coach Johnny Wilson talked about working with Lee.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been working to get Pete&rsquo;s shots on the net,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;He would come in off the wing last season and fire four feet wide of the net. The puck would hit over in the corner and scoot all the way out in the neutral zone. At least if he puts it on net, even if it doesn&rsquo;t go in, there is the possibility of a &rsquo; rebound.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s improved from last season. He&rsquo;s looked real good so far this year and his skating (which Lee attributes to his running in the off-season) is better than I&rsquo;ve ever seen it.&rdquo;Lee, who lives with his wife in Ottawa during the off-season, thinks if he can couple two things together he will continue to have a good season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve worked on my timing and my accuracy,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I have to concentrate on getting my shots on the net. But, if I wait too long to get my shot off, the goaltender and the defense will be in position to stop it.&ldquo;if I can find both timing and accuracy,&rdquo; Lee said, &ldquo;I have no doubt about having a good season.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0011-02

Lee Overcomes Awe In Becoming Top Penguins’ Starter

<h2>Merger Makes Sense</h2>ONCE AGAIN, TALK OF merger between the National Hockey League and World Hockey Association is heard and it appears likely that the two leagues will make another try at getting together under one umbrella.Of course, it&rsquo;s all been heard before and in the summers of both &lsquo;77 and &lsquo;78, the NHL and WHA made big tries at merging the two leagues but failed. This time, there&rsquo;s a difference&mdash;an early start. When the leagues tried to merge before, the proximity to the start of the season left little time to iron out all the problems.The situation is basically the same as it&rsquo;s been all along. The four strong WHA teams&mdash;Edmonton Oilers, New England Whalers, Quebec Nordiques and Winnipeg Jets&mdash;would buy out their three partners &mdash; Indianapolis Racers, Birmingham Bulls and Cincinnati Stingers, one of the four clubs would then purchase a weak NHL team and the NHL would have 20 clubs in four, five-team divisions.Of course, it all sounds much more simple than it really is but professional hockey has so many troubles that it&rsquo;s about time one&rsquo;of them&mdash;two leagues&mdash;was removed.In fact, it appears that the three WHA teams which will fold under any merger plan operated this season in the hope that the merger would come and they&rsquo;d be able to salvage a little bit of loot to disappear when their partners join the NHL.Of course, there still is strong opposition to any merger of the leagues within the NHL board of governors but even that is in a state or erosion. Time, it seems, wears down even the strongest of views.&ldquo;When we tried to get the merger thing going before, both times it happened in the summer and the time factor became a problem,&rdquo; said an NHL governor, who&rsquo;s strongly pro-merger.&ldquo;We were trying to work out large problems&mdash;and, believe me, there still are some big ones to be solved before any merger happens &mdash; and we ran out of time. At least, this time, we&rsquo;re starting early.&rdquo;<h2>Big Problem Unchanged</h2>THE BIG ROADBLOCK in the path of a merger remains the same: The ability of the WHA owners to prove beyond any doubt to the NHL that they have the financial resources to survive.&ldquo;We almost had it pulled off in 1977,&rdquo; the governor continued. &ldquo;Most of the details were-ironed out to satisfy both sides. Then when it came time for the WHA teams to give us the statements of their finances, they turned out to be the worst batch of presentations I&rsquo;ve seen in a lifetime in business. There was just no way we could go ahead with a merger unless we had stronger assurances from them that they had the means to survive in our league.&ldquo;We have enough teams with financial woes in our own league without adding more from someplace else. During the past summer when we talked again&mdash;but under a tight deadline, their positions were a little stronger. Maybe this time, they&rsquo;ll be better prepared.&rdquo;What the NHL wants is for committees from both leagues to work out the proposals for a merger, then present them to the boards of both leagues early in 1979. Then, if it&rsquo;s going to happen, there&rsquo;ll be plenty of time to prepare for the &lsquo;79-80 season.<h2>It&rsquo;s No Sure Thing</h2>WHILE BOTH SIDES have some confidence that the third try will bring off a merger, and everyone agrees that one league makes sense, it&rsquo;s not exactly cut-and-dried that it will happen this time.The problems remain the same: the WHA teams satisfying the NHL of the financial viability; the NHL Players&rsquo; Association must be satisfield, which means a new collective bargaining agreement; the WHA teams which join the NHL must provide guarantees that there will be no lawsuits from teams or players not included in the merger.At least this time, the talks have started early enough to accomplish something. &#9632;

HOCKEY VIEWPOINT

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div>CHICAGO&mdash;It was not easy. Playing the game was, but not this.&ldquo;I cried, didn&rsquo;t I?&rdquo; asked Bobby Orr. &ldquo;Well, it&rsquo;s not the first time I&rsquo;ve cried about hockey.&rdquo;But an hour after the 30-year-old superstar defenseman announced Nov. 8 here that he was retiring from hockey, he headed for his office to begin the first day of the rest of his life.He will do anything and everything now for the Black Hawks, most of all work.&ldquo;Bobby Orr is going to sing for his supper,&rdquo; grinned team president Billy Wirtz. &ldquo;He is now the No. 2 man in our hockey management team, right under Bob Pulford. The only title Bobby will have will be assistant coach, but we&rsquo;re going to throw him the ball. The busier he is, the better he is.&ldquo;And nobody will ever wear the No. 4 jersey for the Black Hawks. He only played 26 games for us, but we&rsquo;re retiring it in respect to what he&rsquo;s done for hockey. I suppose there are some people in Boston now saying, &lsquo;I told you so&hellip; we knew Bobby couldn&rsquo;t play hockey anymore&rsquo;.&ldquo;Well, we took a gamble two years ago and as far as I&rsquo;m concerned, we didn&rsquo;t lose. We got Bobby Orr, the greatest hockey player in the world, and he&rsquo;s working for only one organization. Only the Black Hawks have him. He won&rsquo;t play for another team that will win the Stanley Cup, but he&rsquo;s going to be part of another team that wins the Stanley Cup. Here.&rdquo;According to Wirtz, Orr has reworked his original contract with the club and will now earn $150,000 a. year for the next ten years.That&rsquo;s less, much less than free agent Orr signed for in June, 1976, after the Bruins said thanks but no thanks for a decade of unparalleled excellence.&ldquo;When he was healthy, he was unbelievable,&rdquo; mentioned Hawk center Ivan Boldirev. &ldquo;My rookie year I came up to the Bruins during the playoffs, and he was unbelievable. Had to be the best ever.But with the Black Hawks, Orr was not healthy and not dominant and not himself. After six operations on his left knee, Orr finally realized that &ldquo;great as he was, he had to accept human frailties,&rdquo; said Wirtz. Which is why what happened, happened.&rdquo;&ldquo;This was my last comeback and I knew when I started what my chances were,&rdquo; said Orr. &ldquo;But I wanted to give it one more try and if, God forbid, any athlete came to me with the same problem, I&rsquo;d tell him to do the same thing. I wouldn&rsquo;t do anything differently.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve done that now and I think the best thing I can do is quit for good and try to help the Black Hawks in whatever way I can other than playing. All along, during training camp and the first few game., I thought it would work, I hoped it would work.&ldquo;But about two and one-half weeks ago, I talked with Bob (Pulford). I kept putting it off&hellip;putting it off. We didn&rsquo;t finally decide on my retirement until last night, but the decision was based on two things&mdash;the trouble the knee was giving me, the way it felt, and my inability to contribute to the club like I had hoped to.&ldquo;This was my decision, nobody else&rsquo;s. Everybody here has been great to me&mdash;the owners, the players, the fans, the press. That&rsquo;s why I regret I couldn&rsquo;t have played more for the Black Hawks. Right after I signed two years ago, I was asked to play for Team Canada against the Soviet Union.&ldquo;Billy Wirtz and Tommy Ivan said go ahead. A lot of people said, &lsquo;if that was my player, I wouldn&rsquo;t allow it.&rsquo; People also say that&rsquo;s where I did damage to my knee, but I don&rsquo;t believe it for a minute. This is the greatest league, the greatest sport. It&rsquo;s given my family and me everything we have. I hope now I can just give something back.&rdquo;Orr tried a few light touches at the press conference. He joked about how he hadn&rsquo;t cashed a Hawk check, but will first thing &ldquo;tomorrow.&rdquo; And he tickled Howard Cosell, who last week announced that &ldquo;Bobby Orr was calling it quits&rdquo; instead of Bobby Hull.&ldquo;Howard knew I was retiring before I did,&rdquo; quipped Orr. &ldquo;I know he&rsquo;s a genius, but this is ridiculous.&rdquo;Yet, it was not a happy occasion. Orr once, twice almost cracked. Vice president Ivan said it was a &ldquo;sad day for hockey&rdquo; and that never had the seen a player under such pain give so much. Pulford added that he felt like the father at a wedding: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m losing a player but gaining an assistant coach.&rdquo;Telegrams, tributes, phone calls from throughout the NHL poured into the Stadium, and the honors won&rsquo;t stop<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011056/4103863-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="221" height="485"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOBBY ORR&hellip;Last Comeback</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0012-01

Black Hawks Reveal Plans To Keep Orr On The Move

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02894/4103894-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0012-02

Orr’s Lifetime Record

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011015/4103925-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0013-01

WE HAVE ALL KINDS OF GREAT BOOKS ON HAND FOR GIFT GIVING. SELECT YOUR BOOKS NOW WHILE THEY LAST

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011037/4103984-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="582" height="441"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Ame Glassbourg)</figcaption></div><h2>Having A Hockey Reunion</h2>When the Toronto Maple Leafs came to town recently for a rare Saturday night Forum appearance against the Canadiens, it was an of occasion for three former Maple Leaf associates to hold a getogether. Here&rsquo;s King Clancy, left, Frank Selke Sr., and Harold Ballard, the present owner, of the Leafs, talking over old times. All three were one time the brain trust of the Toronto team before Selke moved on to Montreal to head up a hockey dynasty that still flourishes today.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02860/4103977-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="379" height="423"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div><h2>May Be Free Agent</h2>Don Murdoch of the Rangers, who is currently sitting out a one-year suspension by the NHL for being involved in a drug conviction, could become a free agent before he gets a chance to return to the ice with the New York team. His agent says if the Rangers fail to renegotiate his contract, Murdoch can declare himself a free agent. Legally his contract has already expired with the NHL team.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03637/4103970-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="380" height="502"></div><h2>Hall Of Famer</h2>Goaler Ken Dryden of the Canadiens returned to his alma mater recently to be presented with a scroll by Cornell University as a member of the school&rsquo;s Hall of Fame. Dryden, who was a Cornell All-American in 1967, 68 and 69 and left behind a bunch of college goaling records, accepts award from Dick Schultz, left, Cornell&rsquo;s athletic director.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04445/4103963-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="380" height="511"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photos by Bruce Bennetty)</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-05312/4103956-1-eng-US/f0014-052.jpg" title="f0014-05" width="220" height="509"></div><h2>Fans Dress Up</h2>The N.Y. Islanders took the occasion of a Halloween night hockey game to urge their fans to come to the Nassau County Coliseum dressed for the occasion. Three fans who responded included &lsquo;Richard Nixon&rsquo;, top left, &lsquo;Wookie&rsquo; and &lsquo;Darth Vader&rsquo;, lower left, and a young &lsquo;Daniel Boone&rsquo;, above. &#9632;

f0014-01

HOCKEY PEOPLE

<div class="byline">BY RUSS WHITE</div>WASHINGTON&mdash;Swedish center Rold Edberg has quickly gained the respect of his Washington Capitals&rsquo; teammates, and looks as though he can help the team make a run at second place in the Norris Division standings.Edberg&rsquo;s smooth skating and fine effort in Washington&rsquo;s 8-7 upset at home over the Atlanta Flames established the Swede as a favorite with the fans and his teammates.&ldquo;He is ready to play in this league,&rdquo; said winger Bill Riley.&ldquo;Rolf is always skating, always making something happen,&rdquo; said defenseman Rick Green. &ldquo;If I can get the puck to him while he is on the move there is no telling what happens next.&rdquo;Coach Danny Belisle immediately put Edberg, fellow Swede Leif Syensson and Green on the ice when the Caps and Flames were down to three skaters apiece in their Capital Center shootout.&ldquo;It looked more like the Caps were up two players the way those guys skated circles around Atlanta,&rdquo; Belisle raved.&ldquo;I knew the Swedes would like the three-on-three,&rdquo; Belisle said. &ldquo;I thought that they would feel as though they were back in Europe, that they would have all the extra room that they were used to. From what I saw, I wish we had more three on threes.&rdquo;Edberg agreed. &ldquo;I like three on three very much.&rdquo;Tom Rowe had a pair of goals in the victory over Atlanta, his seventh of the season the game winner with 1:16 to go. &ldquo;We are a lot like that Atlanta team,&rdquo; Rowe said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re young, we have talent and maybe the next team you see moving up will be the Caps.&rdquo;After five weeks of frustration, Belisle had something to show his team, something to refer to in the win over tough Atlanta. &ldquo;This,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;ought to make these players believe in themselves.&rdquo;The Caps unloaded for three goals on three shots against Yves Belanger, in goal for the first time this year. The scores by Dennis Maruk, Syensson and Mark Lofthouse by 3:03 were the three fastest opening goals in Caps&rsquo; history.&ldquo;I never got into it, never had a chance to get my concentration,&rdquo; Belanger said.Edberg ended with a goal and two assists in the game, &ldquo;my happiest night in Washington,&rdquo; he said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01997/4104015-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="366" height="401"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOM ROWE&hellip;Scored Pair</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0015-01

Caps Get Something To Believe In

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02713/4104060-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="460" height="226"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01843/4104053-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="302" height="1470"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03569/4104046-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="887" height="1239"></div> &#9632;

f0016-02

NHL POINT SCORING AND PENALTY STATISTICS

<div class="byline">BY FRED PIETILA</div>DENVER&mdash;Paul Gardner was one of many people who spent most of last summer wondering where the Colorado Rockies&rsquo; National Hockey League franchise would wind up for the 1978-79 season &mdash; Denver, Houston, Edmonton or the East Coast?But through it all, Gardner had other nagging things bothering him. Namely he was concerned about his ability to bounce back from a serious back injury which sidelined him the final 34 games of last season.&ldquo;Yeah, I was scared about it in the summer,&rdquo; Gardner recalled. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d be with my wife (then his fiancee) and I&rsquo;d start thinking about it (coming back) and she&rsquo;d notice and say, &lsquo;What&rsquo;s wrong with you?&rsquo; I&rsquo;d have a great day, and all of a sudden I&rsquo;d start thinking about it.&ldquo;I did have doubts. But right now I know I can play,&rdquo; Gardner said after scoring his second career hat trick against the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 44 tie.Even at that, with the back injury apparently healed properly and Gardner&rsquo;s outlook optimistic, he suffered a strained knee early in training camp and was forced to miss the first four games of the regular season.&ldquo;The knee feels good. I&rsquo;ve started skating without taping or wearing a bandage in practice now,&rdquo; Gardner said. &ldquo;I still tape it for games because I take more hits in games.&ldquo;The back&rsquo;s fine. It gets stiff now and then on plane rides (the Rockies had plenty of them in playing eight of their first 10 and 12 of their first 17 games on the road). But Toby (trainer Toby Wilson) just puts hot stuff on it before every game and it&rsquo;s fine.&rdquo;Gardner&rsquo;s hat trick against Toronto came in a span of 5:04 in the second period. It was accomplished in typical Gardner fashion.He got his own rebound, came out from the side of the net, let Toronto goalie Mike Palmateer commit himself and then lifted a shot over him for his first. His second was a deflection of a shot by former Leaf Jack Valiquette and his third came when he knocked a rebound out of mid-air.The next night in Philadelphia, Gardner had another goal and one assist in a 6-4 loss.&ldquo;The team&rsquo;s been struggling and I&rsquo;ve been struggling. I haven&rsquo;t been skating and I haven&rsquo;t been scoring. To get those three goals and then a goal and an assist the next night really helps my confidence. That&rsquo;s my game, to score,&rdquo; Gardner said.And score Gardner has in his three NHL seasons. He scored 30 goals in each of his first seasons and had six through his first 10 games this year, giving him a career record of 66 goals in 116 NHL games.But the scoring brings attention from the opposition. And Gardner is drawing it like never before. Seems like everyone is trying to knock him around.&ldquo;Yeah, I think so,&rdquo; the 22-year-oId said of the increased attention. &ldquo;Just in the few games I&rsquo;ve played, I&rsquo;ve been getting a little more attention now and then. But I&rsquo;ve grown up with that in junior hockey. I&rsquo;m getting used to it.&rdquo;Gardner laughed when asked if it was the price he had to pay for being a star. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t really want to say I&rsquo;m a star. I guess it&rsquo;s the price you pay for scoring 30 goals. I&rsquo;m sure other guys who score 30 goals have the same type of attention.&rdquo;ROCKY RAMBLINGS: The Rockies&rsquo; horrid start, 2-10-2, was compounded by numerous factors, namely injuries and an unfavorable schedule, but after a jackluster 6-3 loss in Pittsburgh, coach Pat Kelly was perplexed and with reason&hellip;Kelly, the second-year coach whose job appears in jeopardy if things don&rsquo;t get turned around pretty quick, said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what it is. They get up for teams like the Islanders and the Flyers, but now they&rsquo;re not getting up for games like the one tonight. They seem to get up more for tougher teams. Whether they&rsquo;re feeling sorry about the suspension (to Wilf Paiement), all the travel or the injuries, I don&rsquo;t know. But they can&rsquo;t think that way. This club&rsquo;s got to work hard to win&rdquo;&hellip;goalie Michel Plasse played exceptionally well in his first two starts with the Rockies after being recalled from the Philadelphia Firebirds&hellip;and forward Gary Croteau, who has spent much of the early going on the right side, continues toward what should be his best NHL season&hellip;through 15 games, Croteau had 11 goals&hellip;his career high is 24.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01734/4104091-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="468" height="650"><figcaption class="caption-body">PAUL GARDNER&hellip; Hat Trick Restored Confidence (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0017-01

Rockies’ Gardner Ends Doubts About Health

<h2>&hellip;In Review</h2>MONTREAL&mdash;The steady goaltending of Don Edwards and the benefit of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s most effective penalty killing record has helped Buffalo Sabres to reach a current eight game undefeated streak and move amongst the leaders of the NHL&rsquo;s Adams Division for the first time this season.Edwards, who finished third in last season&rsquo;s Calder Trophy voting for the League&rsquo;s top rookie, has played all but one of Buffalo&rsquo;s 18 games this season and has slipped into the individual lead among goaltenders playing 120 minutes or more this season. Edwards&rsquo; 1.29 goals against average has Sabres in second-place in the Vezina Trophy race behind New York Rangers and ahead of Montreal Canadiens, second a week ago. During the eight game undefeated streak, Edwards has allowed 16 goals for an average of 2.00 per game which has helped Sabres move within four points of Division leading Boston Bruins and one point behind second-place Toronto Maple Leafs, who have played one game more.Buffalo has the best penalty killing record in the NHL with a percentage of 90.5 and is second in the League with a total of five shorthand goals, all of which have been scored during the past eight games. Sabres also have been quite effective when they hold the man advantage. They have scored 11 of their season total 16 power-play goals during the undefeated streak and have only had 33 advantages. Defenseman Jerry Korab, the team&rsquo;s leading pointman with six goals and 11 assists, has led the way with five power-play goals this season, three of which were scored during the second period of Buffalo&rsquo;s 9-2 win against Minnesota Sunday. That was the first time since the 1976-77 season that a player has scored three power-play goals in one period. Roland Eriksson, then with Minnesota and now with Vancouver Canucks, was the last player to accomplish that feat.The individual scoring race has two Atlanta Flames leading the way with 31 points. Guy Chouinard and Bob MacMillan lead Marcel Dionne of Los Angeles Kings and Guy Lafleur of Montreal Canadiens by three points while there are five players tied with 24 points each. Chouinard had the best week of the League&rsquo;s leading pointmen as he scored five goals and added four assists during Flames&rsquo; four games. Chouinard has 13 goals which ties him with four other players for the League lead while MacMillan had two goals and five assists during the week. Dionne, who is off to the best start of his impressive career, was held pointless during Kings&rsquo; 3-1 weekend loss against Pittsburgh, which left him in the tie with Lafleur for third place. &#9632;

NHL WEEK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02622/4104146-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="575" height="591"></div> &#9632;

f0017-02

Team Penalties

LOUISVILLEHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S and CanadaLOUISVILLEHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S and Canada<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02603/4104177-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="301" height="814"></div> &#9632;

f0018-02

Looking At NHL Goalers

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;The National Hockey League&rsquo;s best third place team served notice they would soon regain their predestined spot atop the Patrick Division by whipping both the Atlanta Flames and the New York Rangers in back to back games. If that wasn&rsquo;t enough for New York Islander fans, the renaissance of goalie Billy Smith once more gave coach Al Arbour two number one goalies.Smith, an All Star for the first half of the 1977-78 season, had a good preseason, then slumped. But the 27-year-old original Islander was the difference as the Isles defeated the Rangers 5-3. The Broadway Blueshirts stormed the Islander goal in the first period firing 16 shots on Smith&mdash;and coming up with a 1-1 tie. The Islanders had only six shots on Wayne Thomas in the Rangers goal.&ldquo;We worked hard, but Smith took something out of us in that first period,&rdquo; admitted Dave Maloney, the Rangers&rsquo; captain. &ldquo;The Islanders are an excellent team, right up there with Montreal and Boston in the league. Their best player (Bryan Trottier) didn&rsquo;t play&mdash;and they still win. They&rsquo;re, disciplined, but even though they have beaten us twice this year we&rsquo;ll be back. The rivalry is for real, hopefully we want to be the best this year.&rdquo;&ldquo;I was hot,&rdquo; grinned Smitty. &ldquo;You know, things haven&rsquo;t been going well for me, and Al (Arbour) wanted me to stop fooling around in practice. I worked hard, but then ran into some hot teams. This game against the Rangers was my best this year.&rdquo;Chico Resch beat the Atlanta Flames, 4-2, the night before Smitty stopped the Rangers, as the Islanders, rose to the challenge.&ldquo;I know it&rsquo;s early, maybe too early to say iris the most important weekend we will have this year,&rdquo; said captain Clark Gillies. &ldquo;But I really think it was. If we had lost to Atlanta we would have been 12 points back of them. If the Rangers beat us it would have been five points between us and them.&rdquo;Arbour agreed, saying, &ldquo;They finally saw the light. I said a while back that we were starting to come along. Our defense and our goaltending and all around play have really improved. We look the body, got the puck in both ends as a result, and played with intensity. The idea is to do the same thing against clubs such as Washington and Colorado.&rdquo;Trottier was boarded in the Atlanta game and suffered a bruised left shoulder, but Arbour&rsquo;s season long interchange of personnel enabled the Islanders to survive without Trots. Richie Hansen took over for some shifts against the Rangers, pivoting for Mike Bossy and Gillies. On other occasions Bob Bourne switched from wing to center, and worked the power play with Mike and Clark. Lome Henning also went between Trottier&rsquo;s normal wingmen.&ldquo;When Trots got hurt I went to Al Arbour and asked to play,&rdquo; revealed Hansen the 23-year-old Bronx born center. I have built my knee up (injured last January in Fort Worth) and felt it was time.&rdquo;Hansen got two assists against the Rangers, beating Phil Esposito on a faceoff in his own end, forwarding the puck to Gillies who put Mike Bossy in for the fifth and insurance goal. The Islander bench emptied in congratulations for Bossy, who had missed two breakaway chances against Atlanta.&ldquo;Bossy had been struggling (it was his first goal in six games) and the guys gave him a lift,&rdquo; said Arbour. &ldquo;Hansen did everything asked of him, too.&rdquo;So, too, did the Islanders checking line of Wayne Merrick, John Tonelli, and Billy Harris, who snuffed out two top scoring lines on successive evenings.Against the Flames Merrick&rsquo;s line stopped Guy Chouinard, Eric Vail and Bob MacMillan. In the cross town fight for &ldquo;bragging rights&rsquo;,&rsquo; against the Rangers, the Ulf Nilsson, Anders Hedberg, Pat Hickey trio were matched against Merrick&rsquo;s line.The Flames drew a complete blank, Nilsson got two assists and Hickey one, on goals by Ranger defensemen Ron Greschner and Mike McEwen. The celebrated Anders Hedberg was held to two shots on goal by Tonelli, who noted, &ldquo;stay dose to him and play him tight. Don&rsquo;t give him room to skate or shoot.&rdquo;ISLAND SOUNDS: Islanders and Rangers are now 19-19-2 over the years, including the best of three Stanley Cup playoffs won by the Isles&hellip;Bob Bourne has been hot with nine points in his last five games and six goals in seven contests&hellip;Bryan John Trottier Jr. was born to Bryan and Nickie Trottier on November 10 at 4:52 a.m. He weighed eight pounds&hellip;Bossy&rsquo;s goal against the Rangers was his first point in six games&hellip;Before Trottier was hurl Arbour had reunited the Trottiei Bossy, Gillies line.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01751/4104208-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="273" height="425"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILLY SMITH&hellip;Looked Sharp</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0018-01

Isles Serve Notice To Challengers With Consecutive Divisional Wins

There has been a lot of talk in Altanta about Bob MacMillan and Tom Lysiak, but not to be overlooked is the play of Guy Chouinard, who is currently leading the high-scoring club in goals with 13.Chouinard, who was perhaps the Flames&rsquo; most consistent player a year ago is off Io. his best start ever in the National Hockey League and last week contributed five goals to the Flames&rsquo; offense.Chouinard scored the game-winning goal in a crucial divisional match-up with the New York Rangers and entered the upper half of the Top 10 among league scorers. He also had one goal in an 8-7 loss to Washington, another in a 5-3 comeback victory over Detroit and both Atlanta goals in their 5-2 loss to Boston.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03450/4104239-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="253" height="318"><figcaption class="caption-body">GUY CHOUINARD&hellip;Atlanta Flames</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0018-03

NHL’S…Player of the Week

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;The St. Louis Blues broke fast from the starting gate this season but faltered after the first couple of weeks. With a long winless streak in November the team made some changes.The Blues had a wealth of players in training camp, and everyone agreed the level of talent at the Salt Lake City farm club was a healthy situation for the parent club. St. Louis players would be motivated to their best efforts because their jobs were less secure with capable minor-leaguers in the wings. And the Salt Lake City players could be called to fill any gaps caused by injuries.Now the Blues have called from the farm club some players with NHL experience. So, there is the question of whether the Blues can maintain the players&rsquo; attitudes about being pressed for their jobs. The changes mostly seem to have been examples of players rising or falling to their appropriate levels.The Blues had five points in their first five games, four of which were on the road. But they already had started on a 10-game winless streak stretching over nearly four weeks.A 7-2 thrashing by the Boston Bruins was the third game of the streak before a 5-5 tie with Pittsburgh and a 7-7 tie with Buffalo. After poor defensive play in a 5-2 loss to Atlanta and a 9-1 bombing by the Minnesota North Stars, the Blues began to make changes.Dick Lamby, a rookie defenseman from Boston University, and Jamie Masters, who unsuccessfully has been trying to make the team on defense for four seasons, were dispatched to Salt Lake City. The next morning the Blues called defenseman Bruce Affleck, who has about 250 games of NHL experience, from Salt Lake City and later in the day sold veteran defenseman Rod Seiling to the Flames.That night the Blues allowed a goal by Reg Kerr in the final five minutes of the game, on home ice to extend their winless streak to eight games in a 5-5 tie with Chicago. They lost the next night to the Black Hawks in Chicago, 3-1, and the winless streak reached 10 in a poorly contested loss to Toronto, 5-0.Coach Barclay Plager, dejected by the effort of his players in the loss to the Maple Leafs, looked again to Salt Lake City a week after the initial changes.He dispatched another defenseman, Neil Komadoski, whose job was more secure in five full seasons with the Los Angeles Kings. Komadoski was the fourth defenseman to leave the Blues, who were carrying the worst goals-against average in the NHL. They had allowed more than twice as many goals as seven other teams in the league.The blame for the excessive number of goals allowed could be placed on the defensive corps. Phil Myre, playing virtually all of the games, was providing sound goaltending but was being victimized by poor support in front of him.Myre&rsquo;s backup, Doug Grant, also was pounded behind the sagging defense. He allowed six goals by Los Angeles, six by Pittsburgh, nine goals by Minnesota and three goals in the first 10 minutes of the game with Buffalo. He was sent to Salt Lake City, and Ed Staniowski was summoned.&ldquo;Dougie was the victim of circumstances,&rdquo; Plager said. &ldquo;I know what he can do.&rdquo;At the time Grant and Komadoski were sent down, the Blues called defenseman Jack Brownschidle, left wing John Smrke and right wing Tony Currie in addition to Staniowski.&ldquo;They were playing well down there, and we figured we could use them,&rdquo; Plager said. &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t a panic situation, but when things aren&rsquo;t going good, you have to bring players up to _ see how they&rsquo;ll do.&rdquo;&ldquo;I want our best out there on the ice at all times,&rdquo; Plager said. &ldquo;If guys on the team don&rsquo;t work hard, they shouldn&rsquo;t be out there. I&rsquo;m looking for the guys who will be the best for the team but I don&rsquo;t want to rip the club apart with trades.&rdquo;Staniowski started in goal a few hours after he reported to the Blues, and St. Louis halted its 10-game winless streak with a 5-3 victory over the Rockies. Staniowski stopped 36 of 39 shots, and Brownschidle had two assists.&ldquo;We needed a win, and maybe this will be our stopper,&rdquo; Plager said. &ldquo;The puck doesn&rsquo;t always bounce the right way, but that&rsquo;s when leaders come forth on the team, hard work changes things. I&rsquo;m looking for this team to become good and stay good. It takes awhile, but sometimes you get lucky and it happens soon.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01558/4104301-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="232" height="453"><figcaption class="caption-body">NEIL KOMADOSKI&hellip;Dispatched By Blues</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0020-01

Blues Delve Into System To Break Winless Streak

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02401/4104332-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="436" height="488"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Robert Shaver)</figcaption></div>The Buffalo Sabres needed a speedy winger willing to work in the corners to give their team a little more scoring balance when they went to the 1978 amateur draft. They came away with Kingston&rsquo;s Tony McKegney, rated as the fastest accelerator in the Ontario Major Junior League last season, as their second choice (32nd overall) and then surprised a few people by quickly getting the 6&rsquo;1, 198-pound winger, who scored 44 goals and 49 assists, under contract. That&rsquo;s because most clubs assumed McKegney was under contract to the Birmingham Bulls of the WHA, but the Sabres obtained his release and had the prize they were seeking. &#9632;

f0020-02

McKegney’s Speed Sought By Sabres

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Has anybody noticed a change in Bill Barber?Makes you think doesn&rsquo;t it? Barber still scores goals for the Flyers (a team-high nine through 15 games). He still checks as well as any National Hockey League left winger. He is a valuable member of Philadelphia&rsquo;s power play and he and Bobby Clarke form a deadly penalty-killing force. That Barber and Rick MacLeish each had three short-handed goals after just 15 games proves how effective Philadelphia&rsquo;s penalty killers have been in preventing opponents from concentrating entirely on offense during their power plays.Well, you ask impatiently, how has Barber changed? The answer is, very subtly, which is appropriate because it matches his playing style.What Barber, and teammates such as Mel Bridgman and Paul Holmgren, are doing is attempting to assume more leadership on a team that has been virtually Clarke-led for years. It has finally occurred to the Flyers that one reason the team slipped from serious Stanley Cup contention was an &ldquo;Ah, let Clarkie handle it&rdquo; attitude.&ldquo;I guess we&rsquo;ve all pretty much sat back and let Clarkie do it, admitted Barber. &ldquo;Now, with so many younger players on the team, we&rsquo;ll all have to pick it up. &rsquo;More concern for the team&rsquo;s success means sacrificing, a quality the Flyers, Stanley Cup champions had in abundance.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s gonna mean adjusting,&rdquo; said the Flyers&rsquo; only 40-goal scorer last season. &ldquo;It&rsquo;ll probably mean I won&rsquo;t be playing as much on the power play as I used to. Bob (McCammon) was trying a lot of guys early in the season. Well, if it&rsquo;ll help the team, I&rsquo;m willing to do it.&ldquo;I won&rsquo;t be the only one who has to change. A lot of guys on our team always have been low key. Now, we&rsquo;ll have to go out of our way to set an example, to show we care.&rdquo;Philadelphia fans have cared for Barber ever since he scored 30 goals as a rookie in the 1972-73 season. Consecutive 34-goal seasons followed during the Flyers&rsquo; championship years, but it took a 50-goal collection in 1975-76 for Barber to be named the league&rsquo;s top left winger.Last season, despite 41 goals and a typically effective two-way performance, Barber finished third in All Star balloting by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. The Islanders&rsquo; Clark Gillies was number one, with 192 votes* Montreal&rsquo;s Steve Shutt was a close runnerup with 186, far ahead of Barbers 59 total.&ldquo;If it lakes scoring goals to be recognized, then I&rsquo;m not the man, &rsquo; Barber said. I think the team counts on me for two-way play, and that&rsquo;s what I want to be recognized for.&rdquo;While Barber has had difficulty attracting All-Star support, he is a landslide winner compared to Rick MacLeish. Despite a reputation as one of the league&rsquo;s most devastating scoring threats, MacLeish was always the Flyers&rsquo; No. 2 center, behind Clarke.This season, McCammon moved MacLeish to left wing, where he was off to an impressive start until Mike Milbury&rsquo;s stick inadvertently cut him above the right eye. MacLeish was hospitalized while the Flyers made their first West Coast trip. When he returns, MacLeish will find he is still competing for All Star attention with a teammate.Fortunately, for themselves arid their team, neither MacLeish nor Barber place making All Star teams above team success.After a disappointing start, the Flyers were having some success. They were still in last place with a winning record, indicating the Patrick Division is tougher than ever, but there were encouraging signs.One bright spot was the club&rsquo;s depth. With MacLeish and Ken Linseman (cracked ankle bone) left home, and Holmgren serving a three-game suspension for kicking at Terry O&rsquo;Reilly, Blake Dumlop was recalled from the AHL Maine Mariners. The first thing Dunlop did was score two goals in a 5-3 victory in Los Angeles.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03320/4104363-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="225" height="373"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILL BARBER&hellip;Subtle Changes</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0020-03

Barber Taking More Active Role As Leader

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01402/4104394-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">DON EDWARDS &hellip;Missed Fluke Shot</figcaption></div>BUFFALO&mdash;Rene Robert returned with a flourish and goalie Don Edwards displayed his resiliency as the Buffalo Sabres managed to go three straight games without losing.Craig Ramsay and Don Luce again showed they rank with the best penalty killers in the National Hockey League.The three games were against low-ranking teams but going win, tie, win in three games was something special for the struggling Sabres this young season. They beat the Minnesota North Stars, 21; tied the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-4, and beat the Washington Capitals, 2-0.Edwards missed a shutout in the first of the three games by 15 seconds when Minnesota&rsquo;s Glen Sharpley scored at 19:45 of the third period.In the next game, Edwards gave up a goal on a shot from the red line in the closing minutes after the Sabres had over come an 0-2 deficit to lead, 4-3. Randy Carlyle rook the shot&mdash;actually, he said, he was merely flipping the puck into the Buffalo end&mdash;to give Pittsburgh the 4-4 tie.&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t believe it,&rdquo; said Edwards, after the game.&ldquo;I had the shot all the way, ready to stop it. But it hit the ice. I don&rsquo;t know if it hit a rut or just hit on the edge of the puck, about six or seven feet in front of me, and jumped two feet left.&rdquo;The NHL&rsquo;s second team All Star had started 11 of the Sabres&rsquo; first 12 games, so coach Marcel Pronovost decided to give him the next game off and start Bob Sauve.The afternoon of the game in Washington, however, Pronovost changed his mind and his goaltenders. Edwards got the word on the bus to the arena that he was starting.In he went and stopped all 25 of the Capitals&rsquo; shots on goal and some of them were tough saves.&ldquo;Sure I was glad to get the shutout,&rdquo; said Don, &ldquo;but shutouts aren&rsquo;t important right now. The points we get for winning mean so much more. Two points now are like ten ordinarily, they&rsquo;re coming so hard.&rdquo;Robert, who had said &ldquo;play me or trade me&rdquo; when he didn&rsquo;t make a two-game road trip prior to the victory over Minnesota, returned to the lineup and immediately showed much more than he had in any game until then.The former right wing of the French Connection hustled, checked, skated hard and got off some of the Sabres&rsquo; best shots. His work on the point of the power play was especially noticeable.Rene didn&rsquo;t do much the first game he was back but in the 4-4 tie with the Penguins he was in on two goals.His shot from the point produced the goal that tied the game at 2-2. Ric Seiling tipped it in. Then Robert put the Sabres ahead with his first goal of the season, on a blazing 40-foot slap shot.In the win over the Capitals, Robert broke a scoreless duel midway through the second period with a low drive from the point during a Buffalo power play.That gave Buffalo two power-play goals in five chances over two games after scoring only five goals in 41 manpower advantages in the previous 11 games.Their penalty-killing, best in the league last season, was continuing on a high level. Luce and Ramsay were the main contributors, with Jerry Korab doing a great job at defense, along with Bill Hajt or Lee Fogolin. Andre Savard and Terry Martin were spelling Luce and Ransay up front.Hajt scored his first shorthanded goal as a pro on passout from Luce in the first game of the three-game streak. Ramsay got one in the tie with the Penguins, then Luce scored one in the Washington game. Ransay, Luce and Korab collaborated on the last two.After 13 games the Sabres had allowed only five power play goals in 43 times shorthanded, only two in 29 times over the last 10 games.Pronovost finally seemed to have settled on two forward lines&mdash;Gil Perreault centering for Rick Martin and Seiling and Luce between Ramsay and Danny Gare but he was shuffling Robert, Savard, Jacques Richard, Derek Smith, Terry Martin, Tony McKegney and Gary McAdam on the third. &#9632;

f0021-01

Struggling Sabres Finally Get Act Together

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-07" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-07125/4104505-1-eng-US/f0022-072.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0022-07

Where NHL Teams Play

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-06140/4104536-1-eng-US/f0022-062.jpg" title="f0022-06" width="583" height="1581"></div> &#9632;

f0022-06

The NHL Scoreboard

ATLANTA: MacMillan 11,12, Vail 8,9, Chouinard 9,10,11,12,13, Lalonde 10, Pletl 8,9, Lysiak 11, Houston 5, Kibble 3, Pronovost 3,4.BOSTON: Seeded 3,4, Middleton 8,9, McNab 10,11,12,13, Schmautz 3,4,5, O&rsquo;Reilly 5, Ralelie 4, Cashman 3, VV ensink 9.BUFFALO: Savard l,2,3,4,5, Gare 4,5, Perreault 3,4,5, McAdam I. R. Martin 7,8, Robert 3, Korah 3,4,5,6, Luce 5,6.CHICAGO: Murray 3,4, Bordeleau 8, Harrison 2, Kerr 4, Russell 3, Bulley 4, Kelly 1.COLORADO: Delorme 3, Beck 2, Pierce 2, Conlini 3,4, Croteau 12,13, Van Boxmeer 1, Valiquetie 5, Awrey 1, Partial 2.DETROIT: Thompson 8, Larson 5,6, Miller 2, Labraalen 5, St. Laurent 4, Polonich 1.LOS ANGELES: Taylor 9, Grant 6,7, Manery 2, Dionne 10,11, Murphy 4,5, Palmer 3, B, Wilson 1, Goring 13.MINNESOTA: Parise 7,8, Mac Adam 1,2, Zanussi 5, McKenny 1.MONTREAL: Shutt 5,6, Lafleur 9,10,11, Mondou 7,8, Hughes 1, Lambert 7, Napier 3,4, Jarvis 2, Houle 7.ISLANDERS: Howatt 4, Henning 2, Hansen 1, Bossy 9,10,11, Potvin 8,9, Persson 3, Bourne 8, Harris 6, Gillies 5,6.RANGERS: Hickey 5,6,7,8, Vadnais 2,3,4, Hedberg 4,5, Talafous 4,5, Esposito 6,7,8, Nilsson 7,8.PHILADELPHIA: Dunlop 3, Leach 7,8, Dailey 1,2,3, Callander 2, Clarke3, Barber 11.PITTSBURGH: Sheppard 3, Lonsberrv 4, Schutt 5,6, Lee 11, Bladon 2, Carlyle 3, Malone 6, Schultz 3.ST. LOUIS: Sutler 13, Unger 8,9,10, Federko 8, Walton 7, Paley 3.TORONTO: Buller 1,2, McKechnie 5, Williams 6, Maloney 5,6, Boutette 2, Boudreau 1, Sillier 9,10, McDonald 11.VANCOUVER: Graves 4,5, Gillis 4, Oddleifson 5,6.WASHINGTON: Maruk 2, Svensson 1, Lofthouse 3,4, Edberg 2, Charron 4, Rowe 6,7,8,9, Green 2, Carroll 2, Sirois 5. &#9632;

NHL’s Scorers

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01440/4104474-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="587" height="1805"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02343/4104467-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="1189" height="2284"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03279/4104460-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="586" height="3377"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04213/4104453-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="600" height="1412"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01414/4104446-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="267" height="1479"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02313/4104439-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="290" height="309"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-04180/4104432-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="311" height="853"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-05153/4104425-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="604" height="302"></div> &#9632;

f0022-01

NATIONAL LEAGUE SUMMARIES

C-Captain *-Rookie<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-06136/4104591-1-eng-US/f0023-062.jpg" title="f0023-06" width="184" height="189"></div><h2>ATLANTA</h2>GOALYves BelangerDan BouchardDEFENSEGreg Fox*Brad MarshRichard MulhemPat RibbleRod SeilingDave ShandCENTERSGene CarrGuy ChouinardTom Lysiak CR. WINGSJohn GouldKen HoustonBobby LalondeBob MacMillanJean PronovostWilli PlettL. WINGSBill ClementHarold PhillipoffEric Vail<h2>BOSTON</h2>GOALGerry CheeversGilles GilbertDEFENSEGary DoakMike MilburyDennis O&rsquo;BrienDick RedmondAl SimsRick SmithCENTERSDwight FosterPeter McNabBob MillerJean RatelleR. WINGSRick MiddletonTerry O&rsquo;ReillyBobby SchmautzL. WINGSWayne Cashman CDon Marcotte*Al SecordJohn Wensink<h2>BUFALO</h2>GOALDon Edwards*Randy IrelandDEFENSERichard DunnLee FogolinJocelyn GuevremontBill HajtJerry Korab*Bill StewartCENTERSDon LuceGilles PerreaultAndr6 SavardDerek SmithR. WINGSDanny Gare CJacques RichardRene RobertRic SeilingL. WINGSRichard MartinTerry MartinGary McAdam*Tony McKegneyCraig Ramsay<h2>CHICAGO</h2>GOALTony EspositoMike VeisorDEFENSEDoug HicksDave LoganKeigh Magnuson CBob MurrayPhil RussellDoug WilsonCENTERSIvan BoldirevAlain DaigleJim HarrisonStan MikitaR. WINGSJ.P. BordeleauCliff KorollGrant MulveyL. WINGSTed BulleyBob Kelly*Reg KerrJohn MarksDarcy Rota<h2>COLORADO</h2>GOALBill OleschukMichel PlasseDEFENSEDon AwreyBarry BeckNick BeverleyMike Christie*Michel LachanceDennis OwcharJohn VanBoxmeerCENTERSRey ComeauPaul Gardner*Merlin Malinowski*Paul MessierClayton PachalNelson PyattJack ValiquetteR. WINGSRon DelormeWilf PaiementRandy PierceL. WINGSJoe ContiniGary CroteauRalph Klassen<h2>DETROIT</h2>GOALJim RutherfordRogie VachonDEFENSEThommie BergmanJean HamelTerry HarperJohn HilworthReed LarsonPerry MillerCENTERS*Roland CloutierDennis Hextall CDale McCourtDennis PolonichR. WINGSDan Labraaten*Fem LeblancVaclac NedomanskyL. WINGS*Dave HansonNick LibettBill LocheadErrol ThompsonPaul Woods<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2>GOALRon Grahame*Mario LessardGary SimmonsDEFENSEDarryl EdestrandRick HamptonRandy ManeryBob MurdochRob PalmerCENTERSSyl AppsMarcel DionneButch GoringVic VenaskyR. WINGSMark HeaslipGlenn GoldupMike Murphy CL. WINGSDanny GrantSteve JensenDave TaylorBert WilsonMurray Wilson<h2>MINNESOTA</h2>GOALGary EdwardsPete LoPrestiGilles MelocheDEFENSEFred BarrettBrad MaxwellBryan MaxwellJim McKennyJean PotvinGary SargentGreg SmithCENTERSGlen Sharpley*Bob SmithJim Young CR. WINGSKent-Erik AnderssonAl MacAdamChuck AmasonTom YoughansRon ZanussiL. WINGSPer-Olov BrasarMike FidlerJean-Paul Parise C*Steve Payne*Mike PolichJim Roberts<h2>MONTREAL</h2>GOALKen DrydenMichel LarocqueDEFENSERick ChartrawBrian EngblomGuy LapointeRod LangwayGilles LupienLarry RobinsonSerge SavardCENTERSJacques LemairePierre MondouR. WINGSCam ConnorYvan Cournoyer CPat HughesGuy LafleurMario TremblayL. WINGSBob GaineyR6jean HouleYvon LambertMark NapierSteve Shut<h2>ISLANDERS</h2>GOALChico ReschBilly SmithDEFENSEGerry HartDave Lewis*Bob LorimerBert MarshallStefan PerssonDenis PotvinPat PriceCENTERSLome HenningMike KaszyckiWayne MerrickBryan TrottierR. WINGSMike BossyBilly HarrisBob NystromEd WestfallL. WINGSBob BourneClarke Gillies CGarry HowattJohn Tonelli<h2>RANGERS</h2>GOALJohn DavidsonDoug SoetaertWayne ThomasDEFENSEDave FarrishRon GreschnerMike KomeyDave Maloney CMario MaroisMike McEwenCarol VadnaisCENTERSRon DuguayPhil EspositoUlf NilssonWalter TkaczukR. WINGSLucien DeBloisAnders HedbergEddie JohnstonePierre PlanteDean TalafousL. WINGSNick FotiuPat HickeySteve Vickers<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2>GOALBernie ParentWayne StephensonDEFENSEBob DaileyAndre DupontRick LaPointeKevin McCarthyTerry MurrayJim Watson*Behn WilsonCENTERSMel BridgmanBobby Clarke CBlake Dunlop*Paul EvansR. WINGS*Drew CallanderPaul HolmgrenReggie LeachDon SaleskiL. WINGSBill BarberBarry Dean*Dave HoydaBob KellyRick MacLeish<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2>GOALDenis Herron*Greg MillenDEFENSERuss AndersonTom BladonColin CampbellRandy CarlyleBob ParadiseRon StackhouseDale TallonCENTERSOrest Kindrachuk CPete MahovlichGreg MaloneGregg SheppardR. WINGSBlair ChapmanJacques CossetteRick KehoePeter LeeL. WINGSWayne BianchinGeorge FergusonRoss LonsberryDave Schultz<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2>GOALPhil MyreEd StaniowskiDEFENSEBruce AffleckJack BrownschidleBarry Gibbs CLarry GirouxBob HessBob StewartCENTERSBernie FederkoDoug PalazzariLarry PateyGarry UngerMike WaltonR. WINGS*Wayne BabychRick Bowness*Tony CurrieJohn SmrkeL. WlNGSCurt BennettHarvey BennettInge HammarstromKen RichardsonBrian Suttler<h2>TORONTO</h2>GOALPaul HarrisonMike PalmateerDEFENSEDave HutchisonTrevor Johansen*Joel QuennevilleBorje SalmingIan TurnbullCENTERSBruce BoudreauJimmy JonesGarry MonahanDarryl Sittler CWalt McKechnie*Ron WilsonR. WINGS*John AndersonJerry ButlerLanny McDonaldL. WINGSPat BoutetteDan MaloneyLome StamlerDave Williams<h2>VANCOUVER</h2>GOALGary Bromley*Glen HanlonDune WilsonDEFENSEJohn GrisdaleRandy HoltDennis Kearns*Lars LindgrenJack McllihargeyHarold Snepsts*Lars ZetterstromCENTERSRoland Eriksson*Thomas GradinPit MartinChris OddleifsonR. WINGSRick Blight*Bill DerlagoHilliard Graves*Brad Smith*Stan SmylDennis VervergaertL. WINGS*Curt FraserJere GillisDon LeverRon Sedlbauer<h2>WASHINGTON</h2>GOALJim BedardBernie WolfeDEFENSERick GreenGord LaneJack LynchRobert PicardPete Scamurra*Leif SvenssonBryan WatsonCENTERS*Greg CarrollGuy Charron*Rolf EdbergDennis MarukGerry Meehan*Ryan WalterR. WINGSMichel Bergeron*Mark LofthouseBill RileyTom RoweBob SiroisL. WINGSBob Girard*Paul MulveyINJURED PLAYERSATLANTAEd KeaBOSTONStan JonathanBrad ParkBUFFALOJim SchoenfeldCOLORADO*Mike GillisMike KitchenAndy Spruce*Dave WatsonJoe Watson CDETROITGreg Joly*Brent PetersonLOS ANGELESBrian GlennieTom WilliamsMONTREALPierre LaroucheDoug RisebroughPHILADELPHIAKen LinsemanST. LOUISSteve DurbanoTORONTODave BurrowsRon EllisWASHINGTON*Tim CoulisYvon Labre C &#9632;

f0023-06

NHL Team Rosters

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03231/4104622-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="302" height="444"></div> &#9632;

f0023-03

NHL Leaders

LOUISVILLEHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLEHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaMorris Lukowich made the Winnipeg Jets very happy when he elected to sign with them as a free agent rather than the Pittsburgh Penguins after the Houston Aeros folded last year.Lukowich formed a potent line with Terry Ruskowski and Rich Preston in Houston and the trio figures to be a big boost for the Jets offense. Last week he scored five goals, including his first four-goal game and upped his season total to 13 goals, best on the Jets.Lukowich&rsquo;s big outburst came in a 10-6 Winnipeg triumph over the Cincinnati Stingers. He scored two goals in the first, one and the second and one in the final period.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03242/4104653-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="326" height="472"><figcaption class="caption-body">MORRIS LUKOWICH&hellip;Winnipeg Jets</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0024-03

WHA’S…Player of the Week

<div class="byline">BY DICK DENNY</div>CINCINNATI&mdash;Pat Stapleton knew the Cincinnati Stingers had a gold mine in their youth corps when he played alongside such names as Mike Liut, Barry Melrose, Craig Norwich, Dave Debol and Peter Marsh last season as a veteran defenseman.After the Racer coach had seen the young Stingers shut out his Indianapolis club in the first meeting of the season between the Interstate 74 rivals in Riverfront Coliseum, he wasn&rsquo;t surprised.&ldquo;Liut simply closed the door early and gained confidence as the night went on,&rdquo; said Stapleton following Cincinnati&rsquo;s 4-0 triumph.&ldquo;Cincinnati has matured. They are winning and the young players realize they can make things happen.&rdquo;Marsh, who is 22 like Liut, Melrose, Norwich and Debol, made things happen when he darted in to flip in a rebound after Racer goalie Gary Inness had failed to smother the puck in a lunging try for a save early in the second period.The goal, Marsh&rsquo;s 11 th of the season, was the game winner as Liut stopped 28 shots in registering his first major league shutout.&ldquo;It was just one of those nights,&rdquo; said the Bowling Green University product. &ldquo;The puck looked like a bead ball.&rdquo;Dave Forbes, who combined with Robbie Ftorek, Eddie Gilbert and Chuck Luksa to provide the Stinger with excellent penalty killing, got his first WHA goal to give Cincinnati a 2-0 lead and Jamie Hislop built the margin to 3-0 after two periods.Rick Dudley closed out the scoring in the third period.Cincinnati coach Floyd Smith, whose team began the week with a 5-4 victory in Riverfront Coliseum over the New England Whalers, continued to strengthen the club by adding defenseman Darryl Maggs.The former first-time All Star, who left the Stingers late last season &ldquo;for persona! reasons,&rdquo; spent several week: in Germany, but grew homesick and returned to his home in Denver. It was then he heard from Smith.Maggs, who was traded to the Stingers last season from Indianapolis, flew to Cincinnati and negotiated with the Stinger coach, eventually agreeing to join Cincinnati.Smith said Maggs&rsquo; problems &ldquo;were behind him now and we&rsquo;re glad to have him. We believe Darryl can help oui club.&rdquo;It didn&rsquo;t take Maggs long to show hi: value as an offensive threat. He scored on a power play in the first period against Winnipeg in the Coliseum two nights after Liut&rsquo;s shutout and the goal gave Cincinnati a 2-0 lead.Ftorek&rsquo;s deflection goal off a pass from Dudley had given the Stingers a l 0 lead. But Winnipeg tied it at 2-2 or second-period goals by Peter Sullivar and Willy Lindstrom.Debol, taking a pass from Norwich fired in a backhanded goal at 4:16 of the final period to give the Stingers a 3-i triumph, their fourth one-goal success of the season.&ldquo;He (Winnipeg goalie Marku Mattsson) had beaten me before on my forehand, so there was no way I was going to do that again,&rdquo; said the rookie from the University of Michigan of hi: breakaway strategy.Smith was ecstatic. &ldquo;We had some great checks,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;In hockey offense keeps the puck moving. We are a good team doing what it takes to be in First place. We ran into a hot goaltender or the game would have been a runaway.&rdquo;INDIANAPOLIS: The Racers, who saw their winless streak go to six games by losing the first three games of a five-contest road trip (6-2 at Winnipeg, 4-0 at Cincinnati and 8-2 at Quebec), apparently were moving to add more underage players.After 17-year-old Wayne Gretzky was dispatched to Edmonton along with Peter Driscoll and Eddie Mio, the Racers brought in 17-year-old left wing Mark Messier of Edmonton for a 10-game trial.Indianapolis also announced the acquisition of 20-year-old left wing Wes George from Edmonton. Larry Sacharuk, 26, a defenseman once in the St. Louis Blues organization, also joined the team on a 10-game trial.Racer coach Pat Stapleton said of Messier, &ldquo;One game doesn&rsquo;t make a season, but I would say from what I saw in Winnipeg he is capable of playing in this league right now.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02338/4104691-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="468" height="429"><figcaption class="caption-body">DARRYL MAGGS&hellip;Rejoins Stingers</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01428/4104684-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="362" height="444"><figcaption class="caption-body">PETER MARSH&hellip; Making Things Happen In Cincy your</figcaption></div>&ldquo;We were interested in his brother Paul, but he signed with Colorado. Mark skates well, he shoots well and he has poise.&rdquo;Rod Zaine, Racer assistant general manager who went to Canada to scout several underage players, said Messier &ldquo;is better all-around right now than Gretzky, although he can&rsquo;t handle the puck like Wayne.&rdquo;Stapleton said Zaine went to Canada on instructions from majority owner Nelson Skalbania.&ldquo;He (Skalbania) wants to go with junior players,&rdquo; said Stapleton. &ldquo;Rod was instructed not to look for underage talent but to get it.&rdquo;Said Zaine: &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a strong possibility we&rsquo;ll be bringing in some of these kids and inject some enthusiasm into our hockey.&ldquo;I think they&rsquo;re immune to what&rsquo;s going on and their enthusiasm would make it a better environment to work in.&ldquo;We have had preliminary negotiations with some of them. We are interested in five, six or seven juniors.&ldquo;Some agent called and offered to send two juniors at his own expense. We&rsquo;re going to be selective. If any junior seems to have potential, we want to have a look.&rdquo;Zaine also stated the Racers have placed Tommie Nord, a 20-year-old Swedish defenseman, on their negotiations list.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing in Sweden&rsquo;s No. 1 division and we are trying to get him over here,&rdquo; said Zaine. &ldquo;People in Sweden are comparing him to Lars-Erik Sjoberg.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0024-02

Young Stingers Maturing Rapidly; Racers Eye More Underage Talent

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03185/4104760-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="571" height="892"></div> &#9632;

f0025-03

WHA Leaders

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE WARRINER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01365/4104729-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rick Adduono is one of the Birmingham Bulls many rookies this season. The high scoring center, shown at left, is on the rebound after failing to make it with the Boston Bruins. He tops the Bulls in scoring with 13 points.</figcaption></div>springfield&mdash;After a stretch of six games in which they had scored 29 goals, but had given up 35 (averaging almost six per game), the New England Whalers came home and got down to business. In a 6-l win over Edmonton, the Whalers almost completely dominated while goalie John Garrett thwarted the few good forays the Oilers were able to mount. The only goal against was a magnificent effort by 17-year-old Gayne Gretzky who evaded a close-checking Mark Howe and deked Garrett to slip in Edmonton&rsquo;s only tally late in the third period, spoiling the shutout.Two nights later Cincinnati&rsquo;s Stingers came to town riding a one-point lead over the Whalers at the top of the WHA standings. The game turned into a real &lsquo;grinder&rsquo; with New England playing a strong physical game. After the Whalers emerged with a 2-1 win, center Mike Rogers, referring to the strong defensive game played by the entire team said, &ldquo;Maybe that&rsquo;s just what we need to turn us around.&rdquo;The Whalers&rsquo; defense corps spent the evening standing the Stingers up at the blue line, but almost to the man they credited the forwards for coming back to help out. Those Stingers who pierced the defense had to contend with Garrett who, for the second night in a row, was immense in the nets. It was a good all around defensive effort.The game also chalked up a World Hockey Association record for power play opportunities. Between the two teams there were 21 power plays (12 for Cincy and 9 for New England). It was amazing that there was only one power play goal&mdash;and that was a disputed one by Gordie Howe in the second period. The Stingers argued vehemently that it was kicked in, but referee Ron Fournier rejected the appeal.Overworked penalty killers did a masterful job for both teams, but Dave Keon and John McKenzie, and Andre Lacroix and Mark Howe were especially effective. The younger Howe is especially dangerous in shorthanded situations and nearly got another shoot-hander when he broke in, only to shoot the disc off the crossbar.He is off to a torrid start, and attributes the early jump to the fact that he&rsquo;s been injury-free so far. A series of exercises prescribed by trainer Joe Altott has helped a great deal Howe says. In the 2-1 victory over the Stingers Mark scored the winner after drawing an assist on his father&rsquo;s earlier marker. In a 13-game streak he had accumulated 26 points on l2goalsand I4assists.After 14 games the Whalers finally encountered the Baby Bulls of Birmingham. Through some quirk in the scheduling they were to meet the Bulls in five of their next seven outings.BIRMINGHAM: Rookie centerman Rick Adduono began finding the mark for the Bulls after racking up a bundle of assists: in the early going. A 38-goal scorer with Rochester in the American League last year, Adduono took the team scoring lead in the fourth week of the campaign as he combined with linemate Michel Goulet to get back-to-back goals in an important win over the Winnipeg Jets.Wayne Dillon, recently picked up on loan from the New York Rangers, slid in at center between Dave Gorman and Steve Alley. The 23-year-old picked up his first point assisting Gorman&rsquo;s fourth goal of the season and two nights later notched his first goal since returning to the WHA. Dillon was signed by John Bassett at the age of 18. He played two seasons with the Bulls (then the Toronto Toros) compiling 59 goals and 101 assists before he was released so he could sign with the Rangers.The long awaited signing of goalie Ernie Wakeley was announced in mid-November. Management was trying to find a place to send veteran Wayne Wood as underager Pat Riggin was doing most the goaltending, finally deciding on Phoenix of the Pacific League. Coach John Brophy said, &ldquo;Pat has been playing well and seems to be more confident with each game.&rdquo;QUEBEC: Last year the Quebec Nordiques had the best home record in the World Hockey Association, and almost the worst record on the road. So far this season it has been almost a complete turnaround. After the first 16 games the Nordiques sported a good 42-0 record on visitor&rsquo;s ice but in Le Colisee at Quebec City they were only 45-1.In a recent week they shut out Edmonton with Jim Corsi stopping 38 Oiler shots. His teammates managed only 18 but two found the mark and the Nordiques won, 2-0. It was their fifth straight victory and put them in the middle of a tight grouping at the top of the WHA standings.But the Nordiques apparently couldn&rsquo;t stand prosperity. In the second game of a four-game home stand, Corsi again played well but the Jets, from Winnipeg grabbed a 2-1 win. Then Edmonton came in for a rematch and dumped the Nords, 6-5. Finally it took the hapless Indianapolis Racers to get the Nordiques on the winning track again. Final score at Le Colisee was 8-2.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02265/4104722-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="1153" height="1099"><figcaption class="caption-body">Real Cloutier of the Quebec Nordiques is still the hot point man in the WHA. The fast-skating right winter is off to another whirlwind start with 31 scoring points in his first 17 games to lead the WHA in goals and points. (Photo by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div>In, that contest the reunited line of Marc Tardif, Chris Bordeleau, and Real Cloutier combined for 13 points. Tardif and Cloutier had two goals each in the first period. Three of the four were registered on power plays. Tardif later picked up a third goal for his 13th career hat trick. The Quebec captain led the league by a wide margin in the plusminus department with a plus 18.-NORDIQUES&rsquo; NOTES: Since being recalled from Binghamton (AHL) goalie Jim Corsi had built up a very respectable 2.61 goals against average&hellip; Veteran Jim Dorey apparently has reached the end of his career with the Nordiques. He reportedly was balking at being sent down to Binghamton and management was comtemplating releasing the 31-year-old defen seman&hellip;Another 31-year-old, Christian Bordeleau, off to an excellent start with 17 points in 16 games, shocked his treammates when he announced his retirement from hockey. Bordeleau was coming back after being injured most of last year. &#9632;

f0025-01

Stingers, Whalers Strike Out On Power Plays

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01378/4104805-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="608" height="3337"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02303/4104798-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="1175" height="920"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03260/4104791-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="587" height="1892"></div> &#9632;

f0026-01

WORLD HOCKEY ASSN. SUMMARIES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04205/4104836-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0026-04

Where WHA Teams Play

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05168/4104867-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="560" height="686"></div> &#9632;

f0026-05

The WHA Scoreboard

<h2>&hellip;This Week</h2>BIRMINGHAM: Sleigher 10, 11, 12, 13, Henderson 5, 6, Vaive 5, 6, 7, Stephenson 2, Turkiewkz 2, Goulei 2, Cassolato 1, Adduono 5.CINCINNATI: Debol 5, 6, Gilligan 1, Maggs 4, Marsh 12, Baltimore 1, Elorek 5, 6, Hislop 8, 9.EDMONTON: MacDonald 5, Carlson 3, Berry 2, Gretzky 7, 8, Langevin 1.INDIANAPOLIS: Stoughton 6, Morello 2, Parizeau 2.NEW ENGLAND: Lacroix 7, Miller 7, 8, Rodgers 6, 7, Kron 2, 3, Mark Howe 13, Marly Howe 3, 4, Plumb 1, McKenzie 8.QUEBEC: Brackenbury 6, Lacombe 1, Tardif 13, 14, P. Bordeleau 2.WINNIPEG: Preston 3, 4, 5, Nilsson 7, Lindslrom 10, Hicks 2, 3, Gray 4, 5, Lukowich 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, Ruskowski 4, Moffat 3, Sullivan 12. &#9632;

WHA’s Scorers

EDMONTON&mdash;Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association opened their fifth week of the regular season still staggering from a siege of injuries that struck before the season even started.Dismayed at his team&rsquo;s early-semester mark of only six wins and eight losses, coach Glen Sather refused to use the injuries as an excuse&mdash;the positive-thinking Sather never uses ANYTHING as an excuse&mdash;but many observers close to the team recognized what pressures the squad was under.From the end of training camp until the Oilers&rsquo; 15th game on Nov. 17, the Oilers made an almost-inconceivable 17 lineup changes&mdash;highlighted by the addition in early November of goaltender Ed Mio, rugged winger Peter Driscoll and Superkid Wayne Gretzky in a purchase from Indianapolis Racers.Count that as three changes. Utility forward Jim Mayer was involved in three all by himself&mdash;being shipped to Dallas of the Central Hockey League and recalled when an injury struck Bill Goldsworthy and then being returned to the warm Texas climes. Include the loss of Goldsworthy for at least two months with a separated shoulder and that makes seven roster changes.The others include:Wes George loaned to Indianapolis; rookie Dave Hunter shipped to Dallas for three weeks and recalled after only two because he was playing so well with the Black Hawks; Pierre Guile shipped to Dallas, George Buat placed with a minor-league team; Ron Carter moved to Dallas; Steve Carlson shipped to Springfield of the American Hockey League and recalled.That&rsquo;s 15. You want more?Defenseman Cal Sandbeck was shipped to Dallas along with goaltender Larry Hendrick. That brings the total to 17&mdash;not including the loss of centers Ron Chipperfield and Stan Weir for extended periods with injuries and the fact that defenseman Joe Micheletti and Jim Neilson were sidelined with back trouble.Neilson was out now and again with recurrences of a long-standing arthritic condition while Micheletti missed a handful of games when a viral infection settled in his back.There was no indication when Chipperfield would be able to rebound from a ruptured hip muscle but the Oilers received bad news when a club doctor instructed Chipperfield to stay off skates for at least 10 days following the team&rsquo;s return from its first extended road trip of the season.&ldquo;Sure that&rsquo;s a blow,&rdquo; conceded Sather. &ldquo;Chipper was playing really well (seven points in his only five games) when he went out of the lineup. No club in our league could afford to give him up for very long&mdash;and we had to give up two of that caliber when we lost both Chipper and Weir.&rdquo;The Oilers, as a result of the incessant shuffling, were last in the league in goals scored when they returned home for an important seven-game series. The problem would have been much worse, observers agreed, except that the Oilers had the best power play scoring percentage in the league, well over 30 percent.The well-travelled Guite, a veteran of six full WHA seasons at age 26, was one of the major scoring disappointments, which explained Salher&rsquo;s decision to send him to Dallas on three-week recall.&ldquo;I know Pierre has talent,&rdquo; Sather said. &ldquo;Every hockey man I know says the same thing, but he can&rsquo;t seem to put a string of good games together.&ldquo;If he gets untracked down there, we&rsquo;ll call him back.&rdquo;Even Guite had injury problems that affected his departure. He was hampered by a bad back and forced to stay in Edmonton several days before the Oilers&rsquo; athletic therapist, Peter Millar, judged him well enough to go to Texas.WINNIPEG: Jets&rsquo; center Peter Sullivan, who&rsquo;s tops on the club in goalscoring, is also the league&rsquo;s most accurate shooter. Through 15 games Sullivan had recorded 11 goals on 31 shots, a scoring percentage of .35. He&rsquo;s also in the WHA&rsquo;s Top 10 in scoring, with 21 points, two less than teammate Kent Nilsson, who has produced 17 assists, second best in the league.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01357/4104922-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="548" height="696"><figcaption class="caption-body">GLEN SATHER&hellip;No Excuses</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0027-01

Oilers Forced Into Roster Shuffle As Injury Siege Refuses To Abate

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01344/4104960-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02251/4104953-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="714" height="2013"></div> &#9632;

f0028-01

WHA’S POINT SCORING AND PENALTY STATISTICS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03191/4104991-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">CRAIG HARTSBURG&hellip;Birmingham Bulls Rookie</figcaption></div>When the Birmingham Bulls decided to swoop down on Canadian major junior hockey ranks and hire themselves a flock of hockey players one of those they reached out for was defenseman Craig Hartsburg.The youngster is a promising hockey player and the Bulls realized this when they plucked their underage stars. Hartsburg is only 19, stands 6&rsquo;1 and weighs in at 190 pounds. Last season he saw limited action because of injuries with Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, the same team that spawned Wayne Gretzky for the WHA. In 36 starts, Hartsburg scored 15 times, set up 42 more goals and ended up with 101 penalty minutes.The Bulls use Hartsburg in their offensive plans for a good reason. He moves the puck. He is also one of those rare rookies who plays as a plus player. The Bulls&rsquo; rearguard had a plus 11 percentage and 10 scoring points in 12 games, including one power play goal. Hartsburg also leads the Bulls in shots on goal with 37, also a rare happening for a defenseman. &#9632;

f0028-03

Hartsburg One Of The Baby

Here are the top 10 teams this past week in U.S. college hockey:<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01301/4105022-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="559" height="460"></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

The Top 10 U.S. Colleges

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div>ITHACA&mdash;Eight seasons ago, he would have been offended by a prediction that his Cornell hockey team might finish the upcoming season in seventh or eighth place, closer to playoff elimination than to home ice. But Dick Bertrand, slightly mellowed and holding several aces up his plaid blazer&rsquo;s sleeves, only smiles and encourages reporters who think that his ninth year as Big Red coach will be his least Successful yet.On paper, such predictions are warranted. Cornell failed to make the Boston Garden semi-finals in ECAC Division One for the first time in 13 years last March. A scoring machine with occasional defensive problems, Cornwell was seeded second in the league and lost a home playoff game to upstart Providence. Now that the long skein of Garden appearances had snapped, and that circumstances combined to deprive the Ithacans of most of their scoring punch of a year ago, prognostications of a building year and a record in the neighborhood of .500 seemed appropriate when the scribes began attacking their Royal keyboards in earnest.Bertrand loves the sympathy.&ldquo;You&rsquo;re right. Don&rsquo;t go picking us any higher. I don&rsquo;t see us jelling until January or February. I have been around long enough to see the signs of a good hockey team but we appear to need some time,&rdquo; he said before his charges opened their home season against Queens.Let us first survey the damages wrought by the passage of nine months before considering Cornell&rsquo;s hopes for 1978-79. Graduation, low marks, pro defections, and tragedy have claimed 13 Cornell players who combined to score 113 of the team&rsquo;s 195 goals. Leading grads were Pete Shier (24-26-50), Dave Ambrosia (10-36-46), and Kevin Fullan (18-22-40). Roy Kerling (29-30-59 as a freshman) elected to turn pro while defenseman Steve Hennessey (5-15-20) will sit out at least a semester for academics. The worst, blow was the death of junior-to-be Mark Weiss (2023-43), killed in a auto crash. Goalies Steve Napier and John VanDerMark also graduated, leaving Bertrand with just two big producers in senior Lance Nethery (23-60-83) and soph Brock Tredway (28-12-40).Considering all these losses to the Cornell squad, it&rsquo;s little wonder that pre-season found the Red taken lightly. But enter Dame Fortune again, this time with a little grin. Pennsylvania elected to abort a potentially fine rebuilding program, in its second-gear under young coach Bob Finke, casting adrift a squad of talented skaters. These players had absorbed the rugged lessons of youth in the ECAC, and were ready for better things when the axe fell. Bertrand talked five of the regulars into coming to Cornell, then brought in 13 freshmen including a goalie named Brian Hayward who has more promise than any Cornell netminder during Bertrand&rsquo;s tenure, according to the coach.The result of this tumultuous off season is that Cornell has been advanced at least a year in a major rebuilding program of its own. They may very well challenge for home ice after all, provided that both Hayward comes through and the Penn transfers fit in. The latter doesn&rsquo;t seem a problem as forwards Tom Whitehead and Doug Berg are taking a regular shift and the three defensemen, Steve Shandley, Geoff Roeszler, and Tim Strawman have won positions in the top six. Defense and goal have been chronic weak points for Cornell teams in the past half dozen years, but it appears that such woes will diminish if Hayward can take the pressure.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the best goalie I&rsquo;ve ever had here in the area of fundamentals, and that includes Dave Elenbass and Brian Cropper,&rdquo; bubbles Bertrand. &ldquo;He covers angles and plays the post well.Defensively, Roeszler and Strawman make up one combo while Shandley, who may be cleared for four years of eligibility due to an injury early last season at Penn, teams with Rob Gemmell, back after a year off. The other pair comprises holdovers Dave Mitchell and Jeff Roche, and Hennessey is due back in January. Indeed, Bertrand&rsquo;s claim that Cornell is as strong in last year&rsquo;s weak spots seems believable.It remains to the forwards to garner the goals in sufficient if not record breaking numbers. Nethery and Tredway are linemates along with senior John Stornik, undoubtedly this trio will see many Checking lines in 1979. Berk and Whitehead team with freshman John Olds on the second wave. A pair of rookies, Paul Kistner and Dean Baerg, flank sophomore Jim Gibson on the third unit. Frosh depth extends to the fourth unit, with newcomer Andre Proulx between senior Pete Whiling and soph Bill Cole.Cornell could conceivably be a &ldquo;one-line&rdquo; team unless some of the younger players develop. But Ithaca rooters can take heart if this happens, recalling that the Red eked out an ECAC playoff crown in 1973 almost solely on the scoring of the Carlo Ugolini-Doug Marrett-Bob Murray line. Development of the young forwards must be foremost in Bertrand&rsquo;s mind when he mentions jelling in January or February.The pivotal stretch for the Red will be the early season when four of the first five league games are at Lynch Rink After that it&rsquo;s eight at home and ten on the road, but if Cornell is Slow in getting started while they have a favorable schedule, it could mean a few notches in the standings.In a way, it&rsquo;s almost unfortunate that events have taken such a positive turn for Cornell before the season even begins. Had the roster stayed as depleted as it initially seemed, Bertrand the coach could have silenced all his critics by pulling something similar to what Charlie Hold did at New Hampshire last season. For too long, many have considered Dick an adequate coach who gets by on great material; the truth is that Cornell is usually thin on defense and without consistent goaltending. They&rsquo;ve still made the top four seven of eight times since Bertrand graduated and succeeded Ned Harkness. You don&rsquo;t do that with haphazard coaching.Yes eight years ago, Dick Bertrand would have been subsisting on a diet of milk shakes and cottage cheese. He&rsquo;s not so nervous now, on the eve of the season. Maybe he knows something we don&rsquo;t. &#9632;

Bertrand Hastens Cornell Rebuilding Task

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div>DENVER&mdash;Like the Montreal Canadiens, the Denver University Pioneers keep on rolling as a hockey power.But Denver coach Marshall Johnston has no visions of grandeur that it will stay that way, despite Denver&rsquo;s 6-2 start in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re off to a good start, but there&rsquo;s a long way to go yet. I have no ideas of grandeur that we&rsquo;ll stay where we&rsquo;re at, to be honest with you,&rdquo; Johnston said.Other WCHA coaches aren&rsquo;t so sure. Several think Denver might repeat as league champion. A year ago, the Pioneers rolled to a 27-5 finish, but graduation, injuries and signings by pro hockey supposedly left the Pioneers in a rebuilding year.If so, someone forgot to tell Denver. The Pioneers broke on top the first week and have been there ever since.Still, Johnston talks like a realist, not an optimist. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d be quite surprised if we maintain this position. I think I know my team pretty good. We&rsquo;ve got some good players, but we&rsquo;ve got to get good goaltending and top play from our freshmen to do well,&rdquo; Johnston said.Denver has had that. Freshmen Scott Robinson and Stuart Birenbaum rank among the leaders in goaltending averages and freshmen Glenn Anderson, Ken Berry and Darrell Morrow have sparked the offense.Denver got an unassisted hat trick from a veteran, junior Vince Magnan, in a 6-5 road victory over Michigan, including the game-winner with 31 seconds left.Michigan had forced the tie on third period goals by Jeff Tessier and Tim Manning before Magnan won it for Denver.Michigan salvaged a split the next night behind stout goaltending from sophomore Rudy Vavari. He turned back 30 Denver shots while Michigan got goals from Tim Manning, Mark Miller, Jeff Mars, Murray Eaves and Roger Bourne. Magnan replied for Denver.The split didn&rsquo;t hurt Denver, which is following the generally-prescribed pattern to a title&mdash;sweep at home and split on the road. Denver is 4-0 at home, 2-2 on the road.Notre Dame continued to be the early-season surprise. Coach Lefty Smith&rsquo;s Irish moved to within a point of Denver by sweeping last-place Michigan State 9-1 and 5-4 at home.Junior Greg Meredith had four goals in the 9-1 victory while freshman wing Jeff Logan got the winner the next night as the Irish rallied to win.North Dakota continued to be the best defensive team in the WCHA, but still, the Sioux could only split with Wisconsin in Grand Forks.Wisconsin&rsquo;s ace&mdash;junior center Mark Johnson&mdash;sent North Dakota reeling to its 11th straight overtime loss since 1976 with a 50 foot slapshot with just 2:04 left in sudden death overtime the first night in a 2-1 Wisconsin victory. North Dakota&rsquo;s Erwin Martens had forced the overtime with a third period goal.Saturday&rsquo;s game appeared headed for overtime, too. Johnson&rsquo;s second goal of the weekend gave Wisconsin a 1-0 lead heading into the last period, but North Dakota struck back for three goals to win 3-l.Freshman center Kevin Maxwell tied the game al l-l midway through the period on a power play. Maxwell then got the winner for North Dakota with l:46 left to play. Doug Smail added an insurance goal for North Dakota in the final minute. All North Dakota goals came on power plays as the two teams took 56 penalties in the weekend, series.Goaltending was outstanding for both teams. Julian Baretta made 36 saves in the first game with freshman sensation Bob Iwabucci stopping 29 for North Dakota.The second night, Iwabucci and Wisconsin freshman Roy Schultz put on a goaltender&rsquo;s battle. Schultz turned back 49 shots while Iwabucci stopped 27. Iwabucci has given up just three goals in three starts for North Dakota. The Sioux have yielded 17 goals in eight WCHA games, by far the best defensive record in the league.Michigan Tech took three points out of four from Colorado College on CC&rsquo;s home ice. Larry Soltvedt&rsquo;s tally with one second left gave Colorado College a 5-5 tie in the opener. Neither team could score in a 10-minute sudden death overtime. Dale Maksymyk scored twice for Colorado College and Glenn Merkowsky twice for Michigan Tech.It was all Michigan Tech the second night in a 5-l victory. Junior wing Gord Salt had the hat trick for Michigan Tech.It was the start of a two-week stay in Colorado for Michigan Tech, which will practice in Colorado Springs all week before facing Denver twice on the weekend.Minnesota-Duluth ended years of frustration against rival Minnesota by finally beating Minnesota for the first time in 22 games.Bill Oleksuk&rsquo;s third period goal gave Duluth a 5-4 win over Minnesota after Minnesota had won 6-5 the first night on Steve Christoff&rsquo;s goal with 5l seconds gone in overtime.Mark Pavelich paced Duluth&rsquo;s win with two goals and one assist while Neal Broten matched that for Minnesota.The first night Phil Verchota had two goals for Minnesota and Glenn Kulyk two for Duluth, including the one that forced the overtime.WCHA NOTES: Wisconsin&rsquo;s Johnson was named the WCHA player of the week. Johnson, the leading scorer in the league, got his award for scoring five goals and three assists in a split with Michigan&hellip;In 20 of the first 30 WCHA games this season, the team that led after one period went on to win. Four times the game was tied after one&hellip;Wisconsin has been hit with a rash of injuries. Scott Lecy, Clark Kavolinas, Ron Griffin, Dave Speer and Mike Blaisdell are all out with in juries&hellip;North Dakota&rsquo;s Bob Iwabucci has the league&rsquo;s only shutout. He blanked Colorado College 10-0&hellip;Notre Dame&rsquo;s Dave Laurion leads goaltenders with a 3.49 goals-against mark.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01338/4105115-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="562" height="830"><figcaption class="caption-body">GORD SALT&hellip;Notched Hat Trick</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03201/4105108-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="560" height="823"><figcaption class="caption-body">VINCE MAGNAN&hellip;Fired Game Winner</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0030-01

Denver Pace Typical Of Pioneers; Notre Dame Closes In With Sweep

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02269/4105146-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0030-02

College Scoreboard

<h2>ECAC Conference</h2>Mon. Nov. 20St. Lawrence at BrownTue. Nov. 21Harvard at DartmouthBoston University at RPISat. Nov. 25Dartmouth at PrincetonHarvard at RPIClarkson at St. LawrenceSun. Nov. 26Providence at Boston UniversityMon. Nov. 27Boston College at BrownTue. Nov. 28Vermont at St. LawrencePrinceton at YaleWed. Nov. 29Harvard at ProvidenceDartmouth at Boston UniversityFRI. DEC. 1Brown at CornellBoston College at VermontYale at ColgateClarkson at DartmouthSat. Dec. 2RPI at New HampshireClarkson at VermontProvidence at NortheasternYale at CornellBrown at ColgateSun. Dec. 3Boston University at Harvard<h2>WCHA Conference</h2>Nov. 24-25North Dakota at Michigan StateMichigan at Notre DameMichigan Tech at DenverMinnesota-Duluth at WisconsinMinnesota at Colorado CollegeDec. 1-2Notre-Dame at Michigan TechColorado College at Minnesota-DuluthDenver at North DakotaDec. 2-3Michigan at MinnesotaWisconsin at Michigan StateDec. 5Colorado College at Air ForceDec. 8Michigan at Michigan StateDec. 8-9Wisconsin at Notre DameMinnesota-Duluth at Michigan TechNorth Dakota at Northern ArizonaDec. 9Michigan State at MichiganColorado College at Denver<h2>CCHA Conference</h2>Nov. 21Ohio State at Bowling GreenNov. 24Yale at St. LouisNov. 24-25Bowling Green at Northern Michigan Ohio State at VermontSt. Scholastica at Western MichiganNov. 26Yale at St. LouisDec. 1-2Lake Superior at Western MichiganNorthern Michigan at St. LouisFerris State at Ohio StateSt. Lawrence at Bowling GreenDec. 5Northern Michigan at Lake SuperiorDec. 8-9St. Louis at Bowling GreenLake Superior at Ferris StateOhio State at Northern Michigan &#9632;

Where The Colleges Play…

<div class="byline">BY RICH JABLONSKI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01312/4105201-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="557" height="665"><figcaption class="caption-body">TONYCUOMO&hellip;Five-Goal Spree</figcaption></div>HALIFAX&mdash;It didn&rsquo;t take long for the Dalhousie Tigers to come back to earth.Just as soon as Dalhousie had been installed as co-favorite to take this year&rsquo;s Atlantic Association title, the Moncton Aigles Bleu came along and upset the Tigers 4-2 in overtime.The defeat, Dalhousie&rsquo;s first of the young season, came only after Jena Belliveau and Daniel Desjardins had vetted overtime markers for Moncton.Regulation play had seen Moncton jump out to an early 2-0 lead on the strength of two Danny Rochon goals, only to be tied by a pair of Dalhousie goals 23 seconds apart in the middle of the third period by Jim Bottomley and Earl Theriault.In spite of the loss, the weekend wasn&rsquo;t a total writeoff for Dalhousie, as the Tigers edged New Brunswick 6-4 in overtime.Forward Ray Off put the game into overtime with his goal at the 13:00 mark of the third period, and then won the game for the Tigers with an overtime score.The two teams off to the fastest starts in the Maritimes are St. Mary&rsquo;s and Acadia. St. Mary&rsquo;s was paced by a pair of hat tricks by center Doug Chase in routing Mount Allison 10-1 and Prince Edward Island 8-3.Acadia, which won only two games all last year, matched that total on the first weekend of the new season with a 6-4 overtime decision over U.P.E.l. and a 7-1 victory over Mount Allison.Andre Tessier, a refugee from Ontario Major Junior Hockey, netted two goals in the overtime decision. Defending champion St Francis Xavier continued to manifest its early season inconsistency, splitting a pair of games. First, the X-Men lost 7-5 to the tenacious forechecking game of U.N.B. Then, in a rapid turnaround, Saint FX dumped Moncton 8.5.Forward Tony Cuono was the scoring star for the X-Men with five goals in the two weekend games.For those fans looking for early season trends, two points are worth noting. St. Mary&rsquo;s always a good pre-season choice to take the league title, had little difficulty in dispatching two non-Nova Scotia teams. This should continue throughout the year.Also of interest was Moncton&rsquo;s inability to put together back-to-back wins. After a well-palyed overtime victory over Daihousie, the Blue Eagles rolled over and died against St. EX.GREAT PLAINS ATHLETIC CONFERENCE: Things have yet to really get rolling in the GPAC, where only two games were played this past week. In the first of those, the Brandon Bobcats outshot Winnipeg 41-19 on their way to a 5-2 decision over the young Wesmen.Dave Hedley and Gord Kaluzniak, with two goals apiece, did most of the damage for the Bobcats.In weekend play, the Manitoba Bisons ran their record to 2-0 with an 84 wiri over Brandon.Tim Laing scored two goals for Manitoba, while Steve Montgomery and Paul Peters added three assists each, as the Bisons fired 39 shots on the Brandon net.ONTARIO ASSOCIATION: Every so often the unusual occurs in Ontario Association hockey, the unusual often being a less than winning performance by the Toronto Varsity Blues. _This week&rsquo;s surprise proved no exception to that rule, as the Laurentian Voyageurs, disregarded in the majority of pre-season forecasts, managed a come-from-behind 2-2 tie against Tom Watt&rsquo;s Blues.Elsewhere in the Eastern Division, York bounced back from a 7-1 drubbing at the hands of Jorontt5 with a come-from-behind 3-3 tie of Laurentian. York&rsquo;s Al Sinclair, assisted by Roger Yeomen goals were netted by Paul Johnson and Steve Falkner, while Bob Hunt, Bob Dupuis and Steve DeMarco did the scoring for the Voyageurs.The Ottawa Gee-Gees continued to play sound hockey with a 6-4 victory over the Queen&rsquo;s Golden Gaels.In the Central Division, McMaster opened up regular season play with an 8-3 pounding of winless Ryerson.Two interlocking games were played between Western and Central Division teams with the results, two wins for the Western teams, being predictable enough.The Western Mustang continued their rebuilding campaign with a 5-3 win over Windsor. Bob Horton with two goals, and Dereck Schmuck, John Plouffe and David Hilborn with one apiece did the damage for Western.Meanwhile, the usually steady Wilfrid Laurier Hawks were taken to the limit before prevailing 9-7 over Ryerson in&rsquo; a surprisingly close game. Yes, this was the same Laurier team which had shut out Western 9-0 only a week earlier.QUEBEC ASSOCIATION: The Concordia Stingers, who suffered through some hard times during a strenuous exhibition schedule, opened the defense of their QUAA championship with a solid 9-5 beating of the Laval Rouge el Or.While the score at the end of two periods was only 3-3, the Stingers outplayed their youthful opponents from Quebec City rather thoroughly, with only the sometimes miraculous play of goaltender Michel Ouellet keeping the Rouge et Or in the game.When Ouellet finally ran out of gas and luck, Concordia pumped six consecutive third period goals past him, putting the game out of reach.Albert DiFazio, Raoul Boudreau and Yvon Disofell scored two goals each to lead the Stingers, while center Ynes Terusse kept Laval in the game with a hat trick&hellip;Concordia goaltender Doug McCormick stopped 27 Laval shots, and seems to be the number one man for now in Paul Arsenault&rsquo;s plans.Perhaps the most competitive game of the week pitied the previously winless McGill Redmen against the improving Bishop&rsquo;s Gaiters. When the smoke had cleared frortf the McGill rink, the Redmen had skated away with a 3-2 decision and their first two points of the season.Ron Perowne&rsquo;s Gaiters pressured the Redmen from the outset, taking an early first period lead on a Ron Armastrong goal, and then tying the score late in the second on Northwest Territories&rsquo; native Mark Asleson&rsquo;s first QUAA goal.Al MacNamara&rsquo;s picture play backhand goal early in the third period iced the game for McGill. Other Redmen goals were scored by Kelly Burke and Bill Hozack, who also chalked up two assists in an excellent two way effort.On Nov. 12, McGill continued in its winning ways, thrashing Laval 7-2 behind the two goal, two assist performance of right wing Barry Ross.Trots Rivieres is featuring a new look this year, but the results appear to be similar to those of seasons past. With only a handful of veterans, the Patriotes started their QUAA schedule with a convincing 11-3 bombing of Chicoutimi.Raymond Laroche with four goals and two assists and Denis Richard with two goals and three assists were the big guns forTrois Rivieres.In spite of the lopsided loss to Trois Rivieres, Chicoutimi was able to pick up a point on the weekend with a 4-4 tie of Laval.CANADA WEST ASSOCIATION: Canada West results have been slow in coming in due to spotty mail service in the western part of the country. However, standings after two weeks of play are available and show no surprises for CWAA hockey fans.Three weekend series have been played to date, with Alberta sweeping British Columbia, U.B.C. turning around to double up Calgary, and Calgary in turn taking two from Sasdatchewan.This leaves Alberta on top with four points in two games, U.B.C. and Calgary with four points in four games, and Saskatchewan pointless and in last place after four games. &#9632;

f0031-01

Maritime Tigers Suffer First Loss; Unheralded Vovageurs Tie Toronto

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02242/4105308-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="525" height="567"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE LUMLEY&hellip;Hot Plavmaker</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03168/4105301-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="554" height="566"><figcaption class="caption-body">JEAN SAVARD &hellip;Shares Goal Lead&ldquo;SPRINGFIELD&mdash;</figcaption></div>Dave Lumley of the Nova Scotia Voyageurs ranks as the American eague&rsquo;s leading scorer and playmaker 5oth as the teams completed the first six weeks of the schedule.Lumley&rsquo;s 26 points game him a five-joint bulge over Bernie Johnston of Maine. The Voyageurs had three men n the top four scorers. Lumley was No. 1, Rick Meagher and Norm Dupont, joth Voyageurs, were tied behind lohnston with 19 points each.Here are the leading scorers in all hree minor league races:<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0563/4105294-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="571" height="698"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04103/4105287-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="570" height="1268"></div> &#9632;

f0032-02

Lumley Early Leader In AHL Scoring Race

<div class="byline">BY JIM LEAHY</div>NEW HAVEN&mdash;In a rare display of emotion, the often-fickle New Haven fans went wild. With the Nighthawks leading Nova Scotia 3-0 and trying to preserve Lindsay Middlebrook&rsquo;s second Straight shutout, the Voyageurs prepared to charge at Middlebrook with a two-man power play advantage. Nighthawk defensemen blocked shots with their bodies, the forwards intercepted Nova Scotia passes and iced the puck and everybody threw up a steel curtain that the high-scoring Vees could not crack. When both of the penalized New Haven players returned to the ice, the crowd of 3,489 stood and gave their team a standing ovation. It was a sight rarely seen in the six-year history of the franchise.The Vees did manage to score two goals later in the contest but Mike McDougal, Greg Hickey (shorthanded), Bud Stefanski and Bobby Sheehan scored for New Haven to give the Nighthawks a4-2 win.Two nights earlier the Philadelphia Firebirds came into the Coliseum and left on the short end of a 5-0 score. The Firebirds came into the game three men short due to injuries and callups and lost two more during the contest when referee Alf Lejune sent them to the showers with game misconducts.Dale Lewis scored twice and Tom Colley along with Sheehan added solo tallies but it was Ray Markham&rsquo;s goal that broke the Firebirds&rsquo; back. The big six-foot-three, 220-pound rookie center fired a blazing shot from just inside the blue line. Philadelphia goaltender Michel Plasse ducked to avoid being hit on the head, and the puck found the net for Markham&rsquo;s first professional goal. It was all downhill for the visitors from that point on.&ldquo;Our club has been playing with a lot of enthusiasm and hustle. We have a good combination of veterans and rookies that share a great winning attitude and seem to perform with great harmony. Never before in New Haven have we had a club that takes the body like this team does, and it shows in our goals against. The forwards deserve credit, too, for coming back to help the defense, plus Lindsay (Middlebrook) is just playing outstanding goal,&rdquo; commented the Nighthawk GM-coach Parker MacDonald after his team won both games.BINGHAMTON: The improving Broome Dusters had a 2-1 week to move into a tie with Hershey for third place in the AHL Southern Division. They lost 1-1 in Rochester but defeated New Haven 3-2 and Nova Scotia 5-3 in contests played at the Broome County Arena.Veteran center Ron Lalonde has been rdded to the Duster roster in a move that will bolster the team&rsquo;s center ice strength. The five-foot-ten, 170-pounder played for two years with the Pittsburgh Penguins before being traded to the Washington Capitals in 1974. He scored 44 goals and had 119 joints in his six year NHL career.Defensemen Lex Hudson and Dan Poulin, along with center Pierre Lagace have been released. In addition, goaltender Louis Levasseur has joined the team from the WHA Quebec Nordiques. Levasseur appeared in 27 games, last season for the New England Whalers, posting a 14-11-2 record with a 3.30 GAA.MAINE: The Mariners are locked in a tight race with the New Brunswick Hawk&rsquo;s for the top spot in the Northern Division. Maine was 2-0-1 last week, but the Hawks were 1-1-2 and have two games in hand on the defending AHL champions.Yves Preston scored a hat trick as the Mariners beat Hershey 6-3 and they beat Springfield 4-1 on the road but a crucial game in Portland against the Hawks ended in a 1-1 overtime tie.Center Bernie Johnston is leading the AHL with 20 points, two ahead of Nova Scotia&rsquo;s Dave Lumley. Goaltender Robbie Moore has the third best goals against average in the league, a 2,36 mark.PHILADELPHIA: The Firebirds continue to be in a coma. Three more losses gave them a 2-11-2 record after 15 games. It&rsquo;s been a horrible start for the second year AHL entry and GM-coach Bep Guidolin has started to make some changes.Defenseman Mark Bousquet, who spent three years with the Philadelphia entry in the old North American Hockey League, has been signed as a free agent. It is hoped that Bousquet wijl add some much-needed aggressiveness to the Firebird defense. His ability to move people out from in front of the net should be good news to goaltenders Reggie Lemelin and Michel Plasse. Lemelin has a respectable 2.99 GAA despite the lack of any defensive help.Ron Andruff, Michel LaChance, John McCahill, Merlin Malinowski and Michel Plasse were each called up to the Colorado Rockies, but were expected to rejoin the Firebirds soon. Bill Davis, Gary Coalter and Steve Coates were out with injuries and Barry Wilkins along with Mike Dwyer were playing hurt. It&rsquo;s been a rough start for the team.HERSHEY: The Bears were only in action for one contest. They dropped a 6-3 contest in Maine to fall one game below the .500 mark. Gary Rissling and Claude Noel were the club scoring leaders and right winger Archie Henderson led with 67 penalty minutes, including two 10-minute misconducts. Goaltending or defense continues to be a problem for coach Chuck Hamilton. The tandem of Rollie Boutin and Randy Ireland had a combined 4.55 goals against average through nine games.SPRINGFIELD: Scott Garland, sent to the Indians by the parent Los Angeles Kings, may be converted into a defenseman by coach Ted Harris. Garland started out his pro career as a defenseman, but was moved up to the front line because of his skating and puck handling abilities.George Leary, managing general partner of the Tribe said &ldquo;He has had experience on defense and may be the answer to some of our problems.&rdquo; Garland is six-foot-one, weights 195-pounds and enjoys battling in the corners.Doug Halward, another experienced defenseman, who was also sent by the Kings, has ended a brief holdout and will report to Springfield.The Indians are in the Northern Division cellar after posting a 1-2 recorc last week. They beat New Brunswick 4-3 in overtime at Moncton but lost 4-2 tc Nova Scotia and 4-1 to Maine ir contests at the Big E Coliseum.ROCHESTER: For a trio that supposed to be the second line for the Rochester Americans, Bill Bennett Gary Burns and Tom Songin have started to put it all together as the Amerks picked up three of four points in home contests. The trio accounted for eight goals and 10 assists as the hard-working Amerks tied the New Brunswick Hawks 6-6 in overtime before 4,130 at the War Memorial. Two nights later they beat the Broome Dusters4-1 before3,O73.Bill Bennett scored four times against the Hawks, while Songin fired home two goals and assisted on three others. Burns had three assists. In the Duster Game, Bennett scored again. Songin also found the range and Burns added two more assists. Bennett became the first Amerk since Dave Hynes in the 1974-75 season, to score four times.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really pleased with the play of our forwards,&rdquo; coach Duane Rupp commented. &ldquo;First it was Tom Cassidy, Ron Garwasiuk and Steve Langdon that scored well, then Smitty&rsquo;s (Barry Smith&rsquo;s) line caught fire, and now Bill, Gary and Tom. It really keeps the pressure on the other team, not knowing who to check.&rdquo;The Amerks were dealt a severe blow when captain Ron Garwasiuk stretched knee ligaments and will be out of the lineup for at least three weeks. Right winger Alain Harvey was brought up from Grand Rapids of the IHL to fill the vacancy.NEW BRUNSWICK: Statistically, the Hawks have the smallest team in the AHL, but they also have more points than seven other teams and are tied with Maine for the Northern Division lead. The &ldquo;average&rdquo; Hawk is five-foot-11 and weigh 182-pounds, just one pound less than the average Nova Scotia Voyageur who also stands five-foot-11.A record of 1-1-2 last week gave the Hawks a 7-2-2 mark after 11 games. The hapless Philadelphia Firebirds were beaten 5-1 at Moncton and then the Hawks skated to overtime ties with Maine in Portland and Rochester in New York. Springfield forced an overtime game in Moncton, and pulled out a 4-3 win.NOVA SCOTIA: The Vees have played more games on the road than any other team in the American Hockey League&mdash;so what else is new? Last week they were away from Halifax for three of four contests and managed to fly back to home base with a2-2 record.After beating Philadelphia 4-2 at the Metro Center, the Vees went to Binghamton and lost to the Dusters 5-3. They rebounded the next night in Springfield to defeat the Indians 4-2 but were overpowered by New Haven by the same score the next night.With a 6-7 record after 13 games, the Voyageurs are staying within striking distance of Maine and New Brunswick until they can get back to the new Metro Center and proceed to pick up some points on the front-runners. &#9632;

New Haven Fans Responding To Club’s Efforts

LOUISVILLEHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S and CanadaLOUISVILLEHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S and Canada<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02215/4105339-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="507" height="399"></div> &#9632;

f0033-02

Where CHL Teams Play

<div class="byline">BU TOM LOBAUGH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01285/4105370-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="549" height="745"><figcaption class="caption-body">TIM BERNHARDT&hellip;Oilers&rsquo; Hot Rookie</figcaption></div>OKLAHOMA CITY&mdash;Mike Eaves doesn&rsquo;t have much to say. He lets his skating, his passing, and his shooting speak for him.And that&rsquo;s saying a lot. Because the quiet young rookie from the University of Wisconsin was making a runaway of the Central League individual scoring race as the top pointmaker on a club of high scorers&mdash;the Oklahoma City Stars.Through the first five weeks of the season, in 14 games the 22-year-old center had garnered 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points, seven ahead of his closest challenger, Dan Bolduc of Kansas City. Eaves had scored at least a point in each game the Stars had played.Although U.S. born (Denver), Mike grew up in Kanata, Ont. His dad had been a hockey player for the University of Denver, which may have influenced Mike&rsquo;s decision to play collegiate hockey, rather than junior A.At Wisconsin he led (or shared the lead) in scoring all four years, and wor All America honors as a senior. He was the sparkplug of the Badger team which won the NCAA championship his junior season and placed fourth when he was a senior.Eaves was drafted by the St. Louis Blues after his sophomore year at Wisconsin, when he was captain and most valuable player on an Olympic-depleted Badger team. He himself was selected for the U.S. National team in the World Cup games the following year.After being drafted by the Blues Mike wasn&rsquo;t interested in giving up his collegiate career. St. Louis traded hi; rights to the Cleveland Barons, whe merged with the Minnesota North Stars last summer. That&rsquo;s why Mike&rsquo;s firs professional training camp was with the North Stars last September, and why hi now wears an Oklahoma City uniform.All of which makes Stars&rsquo; coach Tet Hampson pretty happy. &ldquo;Mike is a ver; smart hockey player, he always seems to know where his wings will be, and he can make plays to both sides, which is rare.&rdquo;Hampson was happy, too, with the fact his Stars had tasted defeat only twice in 14 games, running their lates string to five without a loss. They padded their first-place margin to six points over the runnerup Salt Lake City Golden Eagles.A 3-2 victory in Fort Worth and a 5-3 home triumph over archrival Tulsa ran their latest win string to four games before they traveled to Tulsa and had to rally for a 4-4 tie.The coach was especially pleased with the play of Jim Warden in the nets. Jim, forced to work every game, was off to an impressive start. His 2.69 average yield was the stingiest in the league, after Salt Lake&rsquo;s league-leading Ed Staniowski (1.94) was called up by the Blues.Eaves tallied what proved to be the winning goal in Fort Worth, early in the second period, after Kelly Greenbank and Chuck Arnason had scored in the first.Defenseman Jim Boo collected 21 minutes in the three games to vault to the top of the CHL penalty-sitters with 56. Boo also had a one-game suspension for leaving the bench to engage in a fight in Fort Worth.Mike Dibble, a Wisconsin teammate of Eaves, was called up from Toledo in the International League as backup goalie. Amateur netminder Jach Shaw returned to his Toronto home. Defenseman Brad Maxwell was summoned by Minnesota.The Stars announced scheduling of a Jan. 2 exhibition game in the Myriad against the touring Traktor team from Russia.FORT WORTH: The Texans dropped two of three games, and their hold on fourth place was threatened. They were five points back of third-place Tulsa, only one ahead of Kansas City and two in front of Dallas.After a 3-2 home loss to Oklahoma City, Billy MacMillan&rsquo;s Texans broke their home losing streak with a 5-4 verdict over archrival Dallas. But a brawling rematch in Dallas resulted in a 3-1 setback. That left the Texans with a 3-1 advantage in the turnpike series.Steve Tambellini knotied the score briefly against Oke City, and Dwayne Lowdermilk scored late in the second period, cutting the final margin.Although Dave Salvian scored in the first period at home against Dallas, the Texans trailed at the end of that period, and it was 3-1 before Charlie Skjodt tallied three seconds before the middle session ended. Mike Hordy and Alex McKendry put Fort Worth in front at the start of the third, and Skjodt scored again.Hector Marini got the only Forth Worth goal when the teams met again in Dallas the following night. The two fight-filled games produced a total of 171 penalty-minutes.TULSA: Johnny Choyce&rsquo;s hopes of climbing in the standings looked good when his Oilers came out of Dallas with a 4-3 victory. But they suffered a 5-3 setback in Oklahoma City, then had to settle for a 4-4 tie against the same foe at home. The results left them in third place, three points behind second-place Salt Lake, and nine back of front-runnirg Oklahoma City.The Oilers won in Dallas in spite of giving away a goal. Mike Penasse, Gerry O&rsquo;Flaherty and Brian Hill all scored in the first period, but it took Craig Patrick&rsquo;s goal at 14:10 of the third to earn the victory. Defender Miles Zaharko broke up a Dallas centering pass in the first period, then accidentally put the puck into the corner of his own net, tying the score briefly at 1-1.Rookie goalkeeper Tim Bernhardt from the Cornwall Royals had won four starts in a row before the draw gave him a 5-1-1 record. Simpson was the Oilers&rsquo; leading scorer, with 17 points, tied for third in the league.DALLAS: The Black Hawks were scoring a fair amount of goals, but giving up too many. That is, they were until Larry Hendrick&rsquo;s superb goaltending brought a 3-1 home victory over Fort Worth. Earlier in the week, the Hawks had lost 4-3 in Tulsa and 5-4 in Fort Worth.In Tulsa, Brad Gassoff and Rob Tudor scored in a span of 1:24 at the start of the third period for a 3-3 tie, but the Hawks couldn&rsquo;t match Tulsa&rsquo;s final tally.The torrid Tudor scored twice in the first period at Fort Worth, and Cal Sandback made it 3-1 in the second, but again the Texans were denied. Tom Roulston gained a 4-4 tie in the third.Victory finally came at the week&rsquo;s end on goals by Roulston and Greg Hubick in the opening stanza, with Brad Smith adding insurance on a late power play.Smith was then recalled by the Vancouver Canucks, and rookie center Stu Ostlund was shipped to Fort Wayne in the International League.SALT LAKE: For the second straight week the Golden Eagles had to settle for a split against an invader. They whipped Kansas City, 7-3, only to be 5-3 victims the next night. That cost them tn the battle for first place, as they dropped six points behind front-running Oklahoma City.The victory was Terry Richardson&rsquo;s sixth straight in the nets, tying a club record. But he also took the loss the next night.Floyd Thomson scored four goals and assisted on one in the victory. He had two power play goals in the first period, a shorthanded tally in the second, and an even-strength marker in the third. His scoring spree came exactly a week after Brian Ogilvie had scored four goals at home against Tulsa.In the rematch Jamie Masters, Gary Holt and Rick Shinske rallied the Eagles to tie the score, but the Wings prevailed.The Friday game saw a benchclearing brawl develop from a set-to between Shinske and the Wings&rsquo; rookie Mai Davis. It was Bruce Jenner Stick Night, and the former Olympic decathlon champion dropped the first puck before the season&rsquo;s largest turnout&mdash;5,160 fans.KANSAS CITY: Referee Todd Larson and other officials agreed the Kansas City Red Wings&rsquo; bench emptied first in a first-period brawl at Salt Lake City. But no one could say for certain which player led the charge.There were a number of witnesses who claimed it was not left wing Clark Hamilton. But the ref finally asked coach Larry Wilson to pick someone to get the automatic double minor penalty and game misconduct. Hamilton was the coach&rsquo;s &ldquo;designated victim.&rdquo; Later he received a one-game suspension, which was appealed by the club.Rookie Larry Lozinski had played in goal in only five of the Wings&rsquo; 13 games, but he was credited with all three of the club&rsquo;s victories, the latest a 5-3 setting down of the Eagles, one night after veteran Ron Low was stung for a 7-3 loss. &#9632;

f0033-01

Ace Scorer Eaves Brightest Star; 5,160 Watch Eagles’—Wings’ Brawl

LOUISVILLEHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLEHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada<h2>FLINT</h2>Goal&mdash;Jean Piminville, Rick Szabo. Defense&mdash;Paul Clarite, Jean Gagnon, Dave Mancuso, Mike Rusin, Kim Spencer.Centers&mdash;Jim Johnston, Dan McCarthy, Terry Smith. R. Wings&mdash;Randy Betty, Mike Clarice, Brant Gogol, Tim Sanche. L. Wings&mdash;Pierre Giroux, Dave Hatheway.<h2>FORT WAYNE</h2>Goal&mdash;Don Cutts, Robbie Irons. Defense &mdash; Bill Blackwood, Tim Dunlop, Rick Hendricks, Devin McCloskey, Dave Morrow.Centers&mdash;Terry McDougall, Gerry Minor, Steve Murphy. R. Wings&mdash;Al Dumba, Bob MacGuigan, Dave Ross. L. Wings&mdash;Robbie Laird, Dave Norris, Richard Pepin.<h2>GRAND RAPIDS</h2>Goal&mdash;Jean Belisle, Gord Laxton. Defense &mdash; Mike Holmes, Lex Hudson, Brad Knelson, Kevin P Mac Donald, Guido Tenesi.Centers&mdash;Kim Davis, Marie Izzard, Tom Mullens. R. Wings&mdash;Rick Dorman, Archie King, Hank Taylor. L. Wings&mdash;Bob Ferriter, John Flesch, Dean Magee.<h2>KALAMAZOO</h2>Goal&mdash;Jim Baxter, Yves Guillemette. Defense&mdash;John Barrett, Len Ircandia, Jack Rankin, Al Stoneman.Centers&mdash;Fred Barry, Kip Churchill, Tom Ross. R. Wings&mdash;Tom Milanl, Kevin Schamehcm, Mice Wanchuk, Glen Wylie. L Wings&mdash;Grant Morin, Greg Neeld, Brian Shmyr, Dean Willers.<h2>MILWAUKEE</h2>Goal&mdash;Carey Walker, Jim Weaver. Defense &mdash; Vic Battey, Mike Gazdic, Mark Jackson, Denny McLean.Centers&mdash;Claude Boileau, Gene O&rsquo;Sullivan, Morris Titanic. R. Wings&mdash;Rene Hamelin, D&rsquo;Arcy Keating, Mike Melanson, Denis Pomerieau, Buzz Schneider. L. Wings&mdash;Dana Decker, Dan Lecours.<h2>MUSKEGON</h2>Goal&mdash;Brian O&rsquo;Connell, Tom Thomlison. Defense&mdash;Joey Girardin, Kevin Krook, Dave Miglia, Mike Sandford, Dave Robinson.Centers&mdash;Rick Doyle, Gary Ford, George Kotsopoulos. R. Wings&mdash;Bill Hamilton, Dave Morrison, Erie Switzer. L. Wings&mdash;Mario Botlik, Barry Kibsey, Gary McFadyen.<h2>PORT HURON</h2>Goal&mdash;Dale Rideout, Dale Heinz. Defense &mdash; Jim Bannatyne, Steve Harrison, Jay Johnston, Brian Schnitzler, Kevin Willison.Centers&mdash;Glen Currie, Wes Jarvis, Brian Kinsella, Gary Murphy. R. Wings&mdash;Serge Menard, Rick Simpson. L. Wings&mdash;Jean Boutin, Denis Houle, Lou Franceschetti.<h2>SAGINAW</h2>Goal&mdash;Bob Froese, Doug Keans. DefenseBob Gladney, Paul McIntosh, Greg Steel, Mark Toffolo, Doug Towler.Centers&mdash;Marcel Comeau, Jon Fontas, Warren Holmes, Lynn Jorgenson, Claude Larochelle. R. Wings&mdash;Randy Rudnyk, Dave Westner. L. Wings&mdash;Larry Hopkins, Stu Irving.<h2>TOLEDO</h2>Goal&mdash;Tony Piroski, Tom Wynne. Defense-Pete Brown, Pete Crawford, Gerry Egers, Tony Horvath, Brian McDavid.Centers&mdash;Len Fontaine, Jim McCabe, Randy Mohns. R. Wings&mdash;Brad Becker, Ian MacPhee, Barry Scully. L. Wings&mdash;Mike Eruzione, Mike Keating. paul Tanturdini &#9632;

Search for your favorite player or team

December 1, 1978

Bowling Green Shows Defense In CCHA Sweep

Where AHL Teams Play

PASSING THE PUCK

Red Wings’ Strength Fast Becoming Weakness