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.

January 26, 1979

The Hockey News January 26, 1979

<div class="byline">-BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011139/4265333-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="328" height="442"></div><h2>The Student Coach&hellip;</h2>AT 35, BOB BERRY is the youngest coach in the National Hockey League. He also is one of the most promising. &ldquo;He is the best coach for his age I&rsquo;ve ever seen,&rdquo; said Marcel Dionne, who is not easy to please. He also is the ninth coach the Kings have had in their 12 seasons so far. Owner Jack Kent Cooke also is not easy to please.Berry does not have a lot of experience as a I coach or a lot of talent to coach. The team is not going good and his job is in jeopardy. There is no security in coaching, anyway. It is the most degraded of professions. The Old Grey Fox is dead, wounded by overpaid players and shot down by I demanding management.Coaches not only do not last long, they do not enjoy coaching as long as they last. They not only to not enjoy losing games, they do not enjoy winning games for worrying about the next game. &ldquo;This is true,&rdquo; admits Berry. &ldquo;I have found it hard to relax. I replay every game in my mind over and over and plan the next game. I find myself lying awake at nights and I get little sleep.&rdquo;Why then does an intelligent person become a coach? &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a cliche, but it is a challenge. Every player second-guesses his coaches and thinks he can coach,&rdquo; Berry says. &ldquo;In my case, I might not have sought out a coaching career, but I was completing my playing career in the minors and had a chance to start in the majors as coach of my old team and return to the town where I planned to keep my home. I couldn&rsquo;t resist.&rdquo;BOB WAS BORN in Montreal. He is an intelligent person, well-educated and well-read. He attended the University of Michigan, University of Kentucky, Middlebury College, and McGill University in Montreal a couple of weeks here and a couple of months there before settling in at Sir P. George Williams University in Montreal and gaining a degree in psychology. He recently gained his real estate license. He reads the best of books.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021028/4265326-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="756" height="979"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob Berry was slowing down as a player when he was offered the coaching job with the minor league Springfield Indians. With just six weeks of coaching experience he became an NHL coach with Los Angeles, an opportunity he said he couldn&rsquo;t resist. (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>He also is a natural athlete. His high school did not have a hockey team so he played baseball and football. He had a tryout with the Houston Astros as a catcher and a tryout with the Montreal Alouettes as a receiver. He did play semi-pro football with the Quebec Rifles. &ldquo;I think I could have made it in either sport, but I got hooked on hockey,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s laughable how I jumped from thing to go thing and quit time and time again, but I lacked dedication and menal toughness. I didn&rsquo;t know what I wanted to do with my life until I made a commitment to hockey. I know there is more to life than hockey, and some day I&rsquo;ll have to go on to other things, but by now I hope that day doesn&rsquo;t come too soon.&rdquo;He did not look like a natural athlete in hockey because he was a mediocre skater. Bob and his wife are runners and she teases him because he runs like he skates&mdash;all hunched over. She says she won&rsquo;t let Bob teach their son to skate. But Bob worked hard developing skills with his stick. He was nicknamed &ldquo;Crease&rdquo; because most of his goals came on short shots, rebounds, and deflections from the goal mouth. Signed by the Canadiens, he spent two years in the minors before settling in for seven seasons with the Kings, averaged 25 goals a season, set team records, and seldom missed a game.Slowed down, he was sent to Springfield last season, but his disappointment passed when he was made coach the last month of the season, then brought up to coach in the majors this season. He admits he has had problems coaching former teammates. &ldquo;They expect you to accept their advice, and I do consider suggestions from anyone, but I have learned I have to make my own decisions, They expect you to play them for old time&rsquo;s sake, but I have learned to bench them or send them away if they don&rsquo;t do the job. It i tough, but you have to be tough to coach.&rdquo;HE IS TOUGHER then anyone thought he &rsquo; would be and has separated himself from the easy riders as well as the well-wishers who stopped sending him Christmas cards when he was sent to the minors and started again when he was recalled to the majors. Still, he says one benefit of his youth and situation is that he can relate to and communicate with these players. He has their respect, He also is more imaginative than anyone thought he would be. He admired Bob Pulford&rsquo;s methods and has copied his old coach, but is developing his own system, which opens up the offense while still stressing the defense.Any system will help if the players pursue it as a team, but if the players are not good enough there are going to be gaps. Berry, who will not criticise his players, is making the most of what he has, but he does not have enough. He admits coaching is harder than he thought it would be. Like most coaches, he says, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m up for every game and I can&rsquo;t understand why the players aren&rsquo;t. You think you&rsquo;ve prepared them properly, but you find they&rsquo;re not always prepared to play.&rdquo; Unlike most coaches the Kings have had, he has not harassed referees or condemned them for defeats. He says, &ldquo;In honesty, I don&rsquo;t think the officiating has been very good, but I don&rsquo;t believe in blaming officials for our failures.&rdquo; ggBob Berry is a class guy and he has a classy wife, Lynn. They are an attractive couple, good-looking, lively, and witty. They kid each other a lot. He married her in October of 1973, inheriting daughters Gina, born in May of 1963, and Cori, born in November of 1967, from her previous marriage. Bob and Lynn suffered through the death of a son a few days after his birth three months prematurely in May of 1973, and the survival of a son, Bradlee, born three weeks prematurely in April of 1977, and now, thankfully, thriving.At their handsome home in exclusive Palos Verdes near the Pacific ocean, Lynn says, &ldquo;Bob is too good a father to be true, perhaps-too permissive. He regards the girls as his own and they consider him their father. And, after all we went through, the boy is, of course, special. Bob is as good a husband as he can be. I think he can be anything he wants in life, but as long as I&rsquo;ve known him all he&rsquo;s wanted is hockey. He&rsquo;d look forward to the off-season, then get restless to return to action right away.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy if he&rsquo;s happy and he&rsquo;s happy in hockey. I know there&rsquo;s no security in coaching, but I think I take the ups and downs worse than he does. He&rsquo;s always cautioning me not to get up on cloud nine over victories or down in the dumps over defeats. I think he can be a terrific coach if he gets a good enough chance.&rdquo;So do I. &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Hockey Ad Lib

MONTREAL&mdash;Phil Esposito of the New York Rangers isn&rsquo;t scoring goals with the same proficiency as he did back in the early 1970&rsquo;s, but the veteran center remains the active leading goal scorer among National Hockey League players.At the halfway mark in the 1978-79 NHL schedule, Espo had 655 career goals for a healthy lead over Chicago&rsquo;s Stan Mikita, who is No. 2 on the all-time active scoring list with 528 goals.Others in the top five include Jean Ratelle of Boston with 438 goals, Montreal&rsquo;s Yvan Cournoyer with 428 and Garry Unger of St. Louis with 364. Guy Lafleur is closing in on the top rung with 331 goals.Two other members of the Montreal Canadiens are prominent in the all-time scoring race. Jacques Lemaire is in the No. 6 spot with 350 goals while teammate Guy Lafleur and Atlanta&rsquo;s Jean Pronovost are right behind tied with 331 career goals.Lafleur is still making the biggest strides on the all-time list. His scoring total has been achieved in only eight seasons and if he maintains his present 50 to 60-goal a year pace, he is certain to become the all-time greatest league scorer. Gordie Howe left the NHL after 25 seasons with a lifetime mark of 786 goals, which is still the best in the league.Pit Martin of Vancouver is ninth on the list with 322 goals while Ron Ellis of Toronto holds the 10th position with 312 goals. &#9632;

Esposito Maintains Role As NHL’s Leading Active Goal Scorer

BIRMINGHAM: Goulet 12,13,14, Adduono 10.CINCINNATI: Norwich 5, Thomas 13,14, Gilligan 7, Ftorek 17, Gartner 18, Debol 10.EDMONTON: Micheletti 5, Weir 10, Hunter 3, Gretzky 18,19,20.NEW ENGLAND: Marty Howe 7, Mark Howe 25.QUEBEC: Bordeleau 6, Lariviere 3, Cloutier 36,37, Fitchner4, Leduc 14.WINNIPEG: Preston 12,13, Nilsson 15,16,17,18, Lindstrom 15,16, Lukowich 29,30,31, Lesuk 11, Long 2, Sullivan 23. &#9632;

WHA’s Scorers …this week

<h2>Absolute Outrage Not Starting Trottier</h2>As an avid hockey enthusiast and supporter of international competition, I was naturally delighted by the decision to replace the annual All Star contest with a Soviet All Star-NHL All Star series. I feel, however, that it is necessary to revise the process by which the starting NHL team is chosen.It would be an absolute outrage for Bryan Trottier not to reveive the honor of being the starting center for this squad. Any spectator who has seen Trottier perform knows what I am talking about. For those who have not, his statistics speak for themselves. He has been one of the prime reasons for the Islanders surge into the upper echelon of hockey teams with the Canadians and Bruins.If Bryan Trottier does not receive the starting birth, I feel a definite injustice has been witnessed.WAYNE D. SIEGEL, Oyster Bay, N.Y. &#9632;

LETTER OF THE WEEK

<div class="image-hero"><img title="cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01695/4267456-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"></div>&mdash;Page 2 &#9632;

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HOT RANGERS EYEING ISLANDERS

<h2>THE NHL&hellip;</h2>Atlanta &hellip;&hellip; 18Boston &hellip;&hellip; 11Buffalo &hellip;&hellip; 5Chicago. &hellip;&hellip; 4Colorado &hellip;&hellip; 15Detroit &hellip;&hellip; 13Los Angeles &hellip;&hellip; 13Minnesota &hellip;&hellip; 15Montreal &hellip;&hellip; 3N.Y. Islanders &hellip;&hellip; 9N.Y. Rangers &hellip;&hellip; 8Philadelphia &hellip;&hellip; 10Pittsburgh &hellip;&hellip; 16St. Louis &hellip;&hellip; 12Toronto &hellip;&hellip; 21Vancouver &hellip;&hellip; 6Washington &hellip;&hellip; 12<h2>THE WHA&hellip;</h2>Birmingham &hellip;&hellip; 25Cincinnati &hellip;&hellip; 28Edmonton &hellip;&hellip; 28New England &hellip;&hellip; 25Quebec &hellip;&hellip; 25Winnipeg &hellip;&hellip; 24<h2>OTHER LEAGUES&hellip;</h2>Colleges &hellip;&hellip; 29American &hellip;&hellip; 32Central &hellip;&hellip; 33International &hellip;&hellip; 34North Eastern &hellip;&hellip; 35Ontario Major &hellip;&hellip; 36WHL&hellip; &hellip;37Quebec Major &hellip;&hellip; 38<h2>COLUMNISTS&hellip;</h2>Ken McKenzie &hellip;&hellip; 4Bob Verdi &hellip;&hellip; 2Bill Libby &hellip;&hellip; 8<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…

NEW YORK&mdash;The National Hockey League Television Network opened its 1979 season last Monday, Jan. 8, when the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Minnesota North Stars at the Forum in Montreal.The Montreal-Minnesota game is one of 10 Monday night telecasts. In addition, the NHL-TV Network will televise 12 Saturday afternoon games and the Challenge Cup games between the NHL All Stars and the Soviet National team on February 8 and 11. The Feb. 10 Challenge Cup game in New York will be seen in part on CBS Sports Spectacular.Veteran NHL sportscaster Dan Kelly will handle the play-by-play for the NHL-TV Network while Len Berman will act as intermission host. Kelly is now in his 11th season as the voice of the St. Louis Blues. In addition to broadcasting Blues games on both radio and TV, Kelly is assistant sports director of KMOX radio in St. Louis and is one of the most respected broadcasters in hockey.Berman is former sports director of WBZ-TV in Boston and covered three Stanley Cup finals involving the Boston Bruins. A two time Emmy Award winner, he has also served as the voice of the Boston Celtics and the New England Patriots, and is the creator of the nationally known Sports Fantasies.It is estimated that 60 percent of the United States will be able to view the NHL Game of the Week, including the great majority of hockey markets.Chris Zoulamis, of the NHL-TV Network and veteran Hockey Night in Canada producer Don Wallace will serve as executive producers of the NHL-TV games.In the New York area, the Monday Night games and the two Challenge Cup games will be carried by Channel 11, WP1X-TV. Channel 11 is also expected to carry some selected Saturday afternoon games.Here&rsquo;s the Monday night NHL-TV schedule:Jan. 15&mdash;Minnesota at N.Y. Rangers. Feb. 26&mdash;Toronto at Buffalo.Jan. 22&mdash;Atlanta at Boston. Mar. 5&mdash;Montreal at Washington.Jan. 29&mdash;Montreal at Philadelphia Mar. 12&mdash;Detroit at Montreal.Feb. 8 (Thu)&mdash;NHL Challenge Cup Mar. 19&mdash;Toronto at Boston.Feb. 11 (Sun)&mdash;NHL Challenge Cup Mar. 26&mdash;Buffalo at St. Louis.Feb. 19&mdash;Toronto at Detroit.Here&rsquo;s the Saturday afternoon NHL-TV schedule:Jan. 13&mdash;Los Angeles at Detroit. Mar. 3&mdash;Buffalo at N.Y. Rangers.Jan. 20&mdash;Buffalo at Boston. Mar. 10&mdash;Boston at Minnesota.Jan. 27&mdash;Chicago at Washington. Mar. 17&mdash;Chicago at Boston.Feb. 3&mdash;Detroit at Pittsburgh. Mar. 24&mdash;Detroit at Boston.Feb. 17&mdash;N.Y. Rangers at Philadelphia. Mar. 31&mdash;Philadelphia at St. Louis.Feb. 24&mdash;Detroit at N.Y. Islanders. Apr. 7&mdash;Philadelphia at N.Y. Islanders.<h2>Canada Cup Hockey Closer</h2>OTTAWA&mdash;The Canada Cup super hockey tournament, that was threatened with possible dissolution because of an internal squabble between the CAHA and Hockey Canada, appears to be near reality after a definitive meeting held by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association.The CAHA had approved a suggestion that Guenther Sabetzki, president of the International Ice Hockey Federation which rules all amateur hockey in the world should have approval rights on all international tournament and exchange games involving the NHL and WHA.With Alan Eagleson, chairman of Hockey Canada&rsquo;s international committee having suggested the move to Sabetzki, the CAHA decision appears to have solvet the festering problem of jurisdiction over events involving the professional leagues.The CAHA and Hockey Canada have been at odds for months over which has representation rights for the professional leagues when they became involved in international competition.It also appears to be a victory for Eagleson and his Hockey Canada committee. &#9632;

NHL Sets Up Schedule For Special TV Games

BUFFALO&mdash;There are indications Punch Imlach may have sealed his own doom as general manager of the Buffalo Sabres.The Buffalo Courier-Express said the Imlach tried to get out of an exhibition hockey game against the touring Soviet Wings by personally booking the Memorial Auditorium for his own use to block the game.The newspaper said the action may have been instrumental in the Sabres firing of Imlach along with coach Marcel Pronovost. The Sabres were offered the game Jan. 2. Imlach opposed the idea and on Sept. 15 booked the arena without telling the Sabres&rsquo; management.When Seymour Knox, owner of the Buffalo club, inquired into the availability of the arena, he was informed it was booked. Knox turned down the NHL offer not knowing it was Imlach who reserved the arena. &#9632;

Did Punch Do Himself In?

<div class="byline">BY TOM MURRAY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011059/4264885-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Duguay produced a four-goal week for the Rangers.</figcaption></div>Remember a few weeks back when the Rangers were frustrating themselves and their fans &mdash; and delighting their opponents &mdash; by doing crazy things like beating Detroit Red Wings one night and then getting their lunch eaten by the New York Islanders the following night?Or how about that New Year&rsquo;s eve &lsquo;Early Hangover&rsquo; game against the Atlanta Flames, when the Rangers took a 5-2 lead into the third period and &mdash; yup, that&rsquo;s right &mdash; blew it and lost the game 6-5.If you recall, the big thing back then was consistency &mdash; or a lack of it &mdash; and the frowns and looks of bewilderment that creased all of the Rangers&rsquo; perplexed faces were the result of each player&rsquo;s inability to come up with a reasonable explanation for their erratic play.Well, friends since that day, the Rangers are suddenly doing things differently. They&rsquo;re one of the hottest teams in the NHL and right now they have their sights squarely set upwards as they look menacingly at the division leading Islanders.Since that New Year&rsquo;s Eve fiasco, the Rangers are suddenly playing consistent hockey. As of this writing, in fact, they have yet to lose a game in 1979, having started the new year off with a real bang, destroying the Montreal Canadiens, 6-2, only three days after that comeback, by the Flames. Since that win over the Canadiens, here&rsquo;s what the Rangers have bean doing.January 5: Two nights after the Canadien win, the Vancouver Canucks come into town, decked out in those Tazzy uniforms which are supposed to make their wearers more aggressive. All they do, however, is turn the stomachs of those observers who are still hungover from New Year&rsquo;s. The Rangers win the game, 6-4, as Ulf Nilsson leads the way with a hat trick.January 9: The Rangers travel to St. Louis to play the Blues in a game which marks the halfway point of the New Yorkers&rsquo; season. They spot St. Louis a two-goal lead, but then they rally to win the game 5-2 as Ron Duguay scored two goals in the start of a four-goal week for him, as the Rangers had their third victory in a row and their seventh in 10 games. The win gives the Rangers 50 points, and their midway record stands at 23-13-4. The 1977-78 Rangers had only 35 points in their first 40 games and did not reach the 50-point mark until their 60th game of the season. &ldquo;When we were down 2-0 tonight,&rdquo; Phil Esposito said afterwards, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there was ever any doubt that we&rsquo;d win the game. None.&rdquo;January 10: The following night, and the Rangers are in Denver to play the Colorado Rockies in a game which marks the return of Don Murdoch after being suspended for the first 40 games of the season. Twelve minutes into the first period, the Rangers are down, 3-0. Midway through the second session, though, in a span of 4:49, the Rangers erupt for four unanswered goals, and one more later on, and coast to a 5-3 win&mdash;their fourth straight, their eighth in 11 games. While this is all terrific, the highlight of the game occurs afterwards, in the looker room, when Ulf Nilsson is approached by a Denver reporter, who asks the Swedish center if he speaks English. Nilsson, who speaks better English then half of New York, looks dumbly at the unknowing reporter, shakes his head, and summons Phil Esposito to &ldquo;translate&rdquo; for him. The result is a hilarious interview that is conducted with the entire Ranger team looking on as Esposito acts as in interpreter. The reporter, by the way, still doesn&rsquo;t know the whole thing was a big joke.January 14: In Atlanta against the Flames. This game marks the fifth time that those two teams have met this season. So far, neither one has been able to win on its home ice, but the Flames look like they&rsquo;re finally going to when the first period ends and they are leading, 3-0. This is the third consecutive game in which the Rangers have been down in the early going by at least two goals. In the second period, Phil Esposito cuts the Flames&rsquo; lead to 3-1, but moments later Tom Lysiak pops one for the Flames. At the end of the second the score is 4-1 and the Rangers&rsquo; winning streak is in severe jeopardy.But in the third period, as the saying goes, all hell broke loose. The Rangers, particularly Don Murdoch, are someone, as the young right wing, who is intent on proving his good intentions to his teammates, takes a large step in the right direction when he scores a hat trick in the third period to rally the Rangers to a miraculous 6-4 win. Although he looks a little bit on the chunky side, Murdoch has lost none of his panache around the net. &ldquo;I kept in condition during my layoff,&rdquo; he says after the game, &ldquo;but scoring three goals in one game&hellip;especially this early&hellip;that&rsquo;s unbelievable.&rdquo;Almost as unbelievable as the Rangers&rsquo; play of late: That victory over. the Flames gave the Rangers their 25th win of the season. Last year, the Rangers&rsquo; 25th didn&rsquo;t come until March 22, 1978, against the Washington Capitals.BLUE CHIPS: The win over the Flames was the Rangers&rsquo; 13th road victory of the season. They&rsquo;re 13-6-1 on the road, the best &ldquo;away&rdquo; record in hockey, and 12-7-3 at home&hellip;Rangers have won nine of their last 12 games, five straight, and have tallied five or more goals in each of their last nine games. In their last 12 games they&rsquo;ve scored 61 goals&hellip;Greg Polis is rapidly becoming &ldquo;The Lone Ranger.&rdquo; He has not dressed for 13 consecutive games and has played only once since being brought up from New Haven on December 11&hellip;Don Murdoch, who attributed many of his problems to the fact that he was overexposed to the evils of New York City, is going to give suburbia a try. He&rsquo;s sharing Dave Maloney&rsquo;s Westchester condominium for the remainder of the season. &#9632;

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Streaking Rangers Eye Top Ranked Islanders With Sizzling ‘79 Start

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03623/4264988-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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Lafleur 7th Highest Active Goal Scorer

<div class="byline">BY MIKE DENNIS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011066/4265026-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Canadiens&rsquo; Guy Lafleur is a man who is always in motion on the ice and a constant threat to put the puck in the net.</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;Defenseman Larry Robinson. Centers Pierre Mondou, Jacques Lemaire and Doug Risebrough. Right wingers Yvan Cournoyer and Rick Chartraw. Left winger Steve Shutt.A pretty sizeable portion of the Canadiens, agreed? And all were on the sidelines for back-to-back games Jan. 8 and Jan. 10 against Minnesota and Pittsburgh. Using their &ldquo;Black Aces,&rdquo; players like Pierre Larouche, Mark Napier, Cam Connor, Pat Hughes, and of late, Rod Langway, plus a couple of reserves from their Halifax farm club, Dave Lumley and Dan Newman, the Canadiens managed to play sound, defensive hockey in gaining a split of the two games, downing Minnesota 3-1 and dropping a 3-2 decision to the Penguins.But that wasn&rsquo;t the big story for the Canadiens. Once again it was If Guy Lafleur, three-time defending National Hockey League scoring champion, who was waging a battle with the Islanders&rsquo; Bryan Trottier in the scoring race and stretching yet another of his personal scoring streaks beyond the 20-game mark,You can marvel at the skating, stickhandling and shooting abilities of Lafleur, but what enhances his If value even more to his team and to the fans who pay to see him, is his consistency.Slumps are common to all performers who have to play game after game, night after night, but Lafleur seems to exist on a different level than the rest of the league.He says, &ldquo;I just try to do my best; make a contribution to the team. It&rsquo;s nice to be a part of a win, but as long as we win, whether I score or not If doesn&rsquo;t matter.&rdquo;On a team laden with injuries, If Lafleur keeps churning out goals If and assists though playing with practically a new line on a week to week If basis.First Lemaire went out of the lineup in early December with a separated shoulder, and for a time Shutt was also working on a different line. Then coach Scotty Bowman put Pierre Mondou at center between Lafleur and Shutt and the line racked up impressive statistics. Lafleur and Mondou were 1-2 on the club in goals. Lafleur and Shutt were 1-2 in points.But then Shutt cracked a bone in ff his wrist and missed a few games and shortly after his return, Mondou stretched knee ligaments. Lafleur inherited Pierre Larouche as his center and also worked with Rejean Houle as his left winger and either Larouche or Mark Napier as his other linemate. Still the points kept coming.Concerning the injuries, Lafleur said that he had never seen anything like it in his eight years in the league.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02918/4265019-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1020" height="1386"><figcaption class="caption-body">GUY LAFLEUR&hellip;Second Largest Scoring Streak (Photo by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Maybe it&rsquo;s because we don&rsquo;t get a chance to practice much,&rdquo; he analyzed. &ldquo;Playing three games in four nights is tough and there seems to be more injuries all around the league this year and it may be because of that.&rdquo;Lafleur, though, has been fortunate in his NHL career, his worst injury being a broken hand which hampered him in his first bid at the NHL scoring title and caused him to miss 10 games during the 1974-75 campaign.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been lucky,&rdquo; Lafleur admitted.Is it your skating ability, your eyesight which have helped you stay healthy?&ldquo;Sure it&rsquo;s that, but I don&rsquo;t go blindly into the corners. When I go towards the corner, I make sure where the guy behind me is. And you watch out for certain guys. I just try to avoid getting hit straight on.Lafleur scored both Montreal goals in the 2-0 victory over Vancouver Jan. 6 which allowed him to hit 20 consecutive games with at least a point. Two seasons ago, Lafleur set the NHL record by recording points in 28 consecutive games.He followed the Vancouver game with an empty net goal in the final minute in the Minnesota game and assisted oh a Larouche goal which tied the Penguin game at 2-2 to reach 22 straight games on his current streak.About that Lafleur said. &ldquo;Well it would be nice to score in every game, but I&rsquo;m not concerned about it. When I broke (Bronco) Horvath&rsquo;s record, a couple of years ago everybody was talking about it and it was exciting.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think about Trottier,&rdquo; explained Lafleur, &ldquo;I mean I might hear after our game how he did or something, but I just go out and play the game and there&rsquo;s a long way to go in the schedule. I just hope I can play in every game.&rdquo;Lafleur also shot down the myth that he performs much better in Montreal than in arenas on the road.&ldquo;Last year I guess I scored quite a few more goals at home, but I remember the season before, I ended up scoring more goals away than at home. This year, personally, I&rsquo;m playing better on the road than at home. I don&rsquo;t know why. I enjoy playing on the road. There&rsquo;s the challenge of playing against the other team and their fans, too. I like playing in the Forum as well although it&rsquo;s much different,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You really get a together feeling on the road.&rdquo;Lafleur got off to a slow start this season as he produced only three goals in his first nine games as compared to eight the season before and said that it was a relief to have cleared up the renegotiation of his contract.&ldquo;We wanted it finished before the season started, but with the changes in ownership and Sam (Pollock) leaving, we didn&rsquo;t get it settled in time.&rdquo;But shortly after an agreement was reached, Lafleur began to produce at the rate which marks him as the NHL&rsquo;s top player. Despite the efforts of some of the best checking lines in the league and the numerous I changes by the Canadiens because of their injury situation, Lafleur upped his streak to 23 games with a goal in I a 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. It gave the blond phenom 19 I goals and 21 assists in his last 23 games, and enabled Lafleur to reach the 30-goal plateau for the fifth consecutive season.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re really checking us closely,&rdquo; says Lafleur, &ldquo;so we have to make-sure we make the most of our chances. If we work hard enough, though, we still get a lot of good chances.&rdquo;And when the Canadiens, whose lineup was bolstered by the return of Robinson and Mondou for the Buffalo game, get good chances, the ball game is over. &#9632;

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Lafleur’s Consistency Beyond Comparison

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011117/4265085-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="331" height="459"></div>&bull; BUTCH WILLIAMS, of Duluth, Minnesota, is suing the Minnesota North Stars, claiming they discriminated against him because he wasn&rsquo;t a Canadian and refused to give him a chance to make the team. That may be a tough case to win as the North Stars employ more U.S. players on their roster than any other NHL team. Right now they have five Americans toiling for them. They are Mike Fidler, Pete LoPresti, Bill Butters, Gary Sargent and Tom Younghans&hellip; Lou Nanne, general manager of the North Stars, is the only player in NHL history who jumped directly from being a player to a general manager job and that&rsquo;s what Lou did last year&hellip;Doug Wenschlag, director of marketing for the Edmonton Oilers, is still receiving plaudits for the excellent job he did attending to the many details associated with the recent WHA All Stars-Moscow Dynamo series. He handled the pre-game ceremonies and All Star banquet in major league fashion&hellip;David Kelley, son of Jack Kelley, director of hockey operations for the New England Whalers, is captain of the Princeton hockey team&hellip;Prediction: Scotty Bowman will never become general manager of the Montreal Canadiens&hellip;Teddy Graham, who died recently in Owen Sound at age 72, was a graduate of the famous Owen Sound Greys and played in the NHL with Chicago, Montreal Maroons, Detroit, St. Louis, Boston and New York Americans&hellip; Pete Stemkowski lost only one of his first 10 games after taking over as coach at Springfield&hellip;Jim Boo is the name of a defenseman with the Oklahoma City Stars of the Central League&hellip;Bill Wirtz, president of the Chicago Black Hawks, will be guest speaker at the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League All Star game in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. on Jan. 30.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021072/4265078-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="296" height="470"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pete Stemkowski</figcaption></div>&bull; FIVE OF THE SIX WHA teams will take part in the World Hockey Association playoffs for the coveted Avco Trophy. Several of the WHA owners were against this plan and wanted only four teams to make the post-schedule playdowns. However, we can&rsquo;t see too much wrong with the five-team setup. It will create I interest among all clubs right throught the entire schedule&hellip; When the NHL in the late thirties and early forties was composed of seven teams, six of the seven made the Stanley Cup playoffs. This prompted the acid-penned Dan Parker of the New York Daily Mirror to write: &ldquo;What have they got against that seventh team?&rdquo;&hellip;Maine Mariners still top the AHL attendance. It&rsquo;s the best operated club in minor professional hockey, and better than many so-called major league teams&hellip;Attendance at Maine games averages 500 better than last year&hellip;AHL president Jack Butterfield thinks the trend towards NHL clubs owning AHL development teams is on the upswing. &ldquo;The parent organizations are again of the opinion that this is the way to develop talent,&rdquo; said Butterfield. Montreal (via Nova Scotia) began in 1969, Philadelphia (via Maine Mariners) in 1977, and Toronto-Chicago (via New Brunswick) in 1978&hellip; Islanders&rsquo; Mike Bossy has the best goals-per-game record of any player in NHL history. The 22-year-old may be a part of the highest scoring line ever this season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03967/4265071-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="300" height="448"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Bossy</figcaption></div>&bull; SPECTACORP, owner of Philadelphia&rsquo;s Spectrum and Flyers, is expected to take over the debt-ridden and county-owned Nassau Coliseum, home of the New York Islanders. The Coliseum&rsquo;s deficit for 1978 is expected to exceed $350,000&hellip;Bill Beagan, commissioner of the Ontario Major Junior League discloses that 53 percent of all the talent in the NHL graduated from his league&hellip;It&rsquo;s only a matter of time before Fred Shero gives up the coaching role of the New York Rangers to devote all his time to being general manager and Mike Nykoluk takes over as Ranger coach&hellip;Certain Toronto hockey writers think it is time that 75-year-old owner Harold Ballard of the Toronto Maple Leafs should retire. Under his direction the team is getting worse instead of better and the feeling is that maybe the parade has passed him by&hellip; John Ziegler, NHL president, sure made a big impression in Western Canada. Several of the papers out there refer to him as Ron Ziegler (former press aide to Richard Nixon)&hellip;The Edmonton Coliseum will no doubt be one of the sites of any games played next September in Canada Cup matches&hellip;Harvey Bennett of the St. Louis Blues says he likes playing on the same line with older brother Curt. &ldquo;I like playing with my brother,&rdquo; Harvey said. &ldquo;I think it helps both of us&rdquo;&hellip;Harvey Bennett is one of six hockey-playing brothers. He was named after his father, a goalie who played briefly with Boston Bruins and for a number of years in the American Hockey League&hellip;Pete Peeters, who was drafted 135th at last year&rsquo;s amateur draft is now the third string goalie behind Bernie Parent and Wayne Stephenson with the Philadelphia Flyers. The former Medicine Hat junior is described as &ldquo;the goalie of the future.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04865/4265064-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="304" height="454"><figcaption class="caption-body">Harvey Bennett</figcaption></div>&bull; THERE IS conjecture that Bryan &ldquo;Bugsy&rdquo; Watson, the National Hockey League&rsquo;s most penalized player of all time, will be the next coach of the Washington Capitals&hellip;Injured Darryl Sittler of Toronto is expected to be in the lineup of the NHL All Stars when they clash with the Soviets next month&hellip;Former Flyer Gary Dornhoefer, who is impressing people with his work as a commentator for Hockey Night in Canada and PRISM, the Spectrum&rsquo;s cable network, was surprised at how well the Soviet Wings played against his old team. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve really improved, especially in their own end, said Dornnoerer. Tney take me body more&hellip;and when they throw the puck around, somebody&rsquo;s always there.&rdquo;&hellip;Mike Walton, recently released by the Boston Bruins, said he knew he was only on a month trial with the club. Walton who scored four goals and two assists in 14 games for Boston said, &ldquo;I thought I could help the team but it takes awhile to get into playing form.&rdquo;&hellip;Bob Peterson of Colorfast in Edmonton has been taking exceptional photos for the Oilers&hellip;Winnipeg defenseman Lars-Erik Sjoberg is back on skates after severing an achilles tendon during the pre-season. Sjoberg hopes to return to the Jets&rsquo; lineup before the end of the season&hellip;Cincinnati Stingers have a pair of rookies in the WHA&rsquo;s Top 20 scorers, center Dave Debol and right winger Mike Gartner.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05726/4265057-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="299" height="463"><figcaption class="caption-body">Lars-Erik Sjoberg</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0004-01

PASSING THE PUCK

OFFICIAL NATIONALHOCKEY WEEKLY FOUNDED 1979VOLUME 32, NUMBER 17 JANUARY 26, 1979Kenneth W. McKenziePresident and Publisher.Charlie HalpinEditorial DirectorTom MurrayAssistant PublisherPeter EmersonVice-President SalesSuite 600, 55 University Ave.,Toronto, Ont M5J2H7Telephone: (416) 361-0116Advertising Representatives:MontrealMary McCutcheon1434 St. Catherine Street West, Suite 217Montreal, Can. &bull; H3G 1R7 (514) 866-4841New York:Tom Murray850 Third Ave.New York, N.Y. 10022 &bull; (212)593-2100Chicago:Hooper, Jones & Associates3322 W. Peterson AvenueChicago, III. 60659 &bull; (312)478-5544Published weekly except monthly June through September by W. C.C. Publishing Ltd., 1434 St. Catherine Street West, Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7 (514) 8664841 U.S. C/O W.C.C. Publishing Corp., 850 Third Ave. New-York, N.Y. 10022, (212) 5932100.YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $11.95 in Canada, $12.95 in the U.S.A, and $17.25 in Foreign Countries. Second class postage paid at New York, N.Y. 10001 and at additional mailing offices. SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO 1434 ST. CATHERINE STREET WEST, SUITE 217, MONTREAL, CANADA H3G. IB7 second Class mail Registration No. 1327. All inquiries pertaining to subscriptions should be addressed to Subscription Dept., The Hockey News, 1434 St. Catherine St. W., Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7, Printed In Canada. &#9632;

The Hockey News

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div>CHICAGO&mdash;It was all cut the dried.Tim Higgins, Ottawa 67s, became Tim Higgins, Black Hawks, last June. First pick in the amateur draft. Four year contract. Big money. Great expectations. Surely, he&rsquo;d live happily ever after in Chicago.But surely, that&rsquo;s not what happened. Higgins spent most of October in the press box, which was no good, because he,&rsquo;s not the type to type. And he spent most of November in Moncton, which was no good because it&rsquo;s the American Hockey League.Now, of course, it is January and now, after all those stops in between, Higgins is ready and willing and able and, last but not least, here.&ldquo;And if I do get sent back to the minor leagues again&mdash;even though I don&rsquo;t want to go&mdash;there&rsquo;ll be no more pouting,&rdquo; the 20-year-old right wing said. &ldquo;I know I can play up here now, I know that if I do go down, I will be back up because I can play.&ldquo;I first said that to myself in mid-December when I came up for that one game against Pittsburgh. After that game, I realized that if I worked hard, I belonged here. Until then, I really didn&rsquo;t know.&rdquo;Until then, it wouldn&rsquo;t be fair to say that Higgins didn&rsquo;t really care. It&rsquo;s just that when a guy is the No. 1 pick for a National Hockey League team inJune, he&rsquo;s supposed to be a player for that team come September. You know. Cut and dried. Except that soon after the ink dried on his contract, he was cut.&ldquo;If I had the summer to do over again, I&rsquo;d do a lot differently,&rdquo; Higgins admits. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t come into camp in bad shape, but I could have come in better shape. I worked hard during the summer, but I could have worked harder.&ldquo;Maybe one mistake I made back home in Ottawa was skating just twice a week with the guys I had played junior hockey with. Doug Wilson was there in Ottawa, but he was skating with some of the pros in the area like his brother (Murray, Los Angeles Kings). Maybe I should have done that.&rdquo;Maybe skating with the guys he skated with allowed Higgins to think that nothing would change in the NHL, that the way he starred in Ottawa beside center Bob Smith and left wing Steve Payne&mdash;both drafted by the Minnesota North Stars&mdash;would be the way he&rsquo;d star in Chicago.&ldquo;But it&rsquo;s completely different here,&rdquo; noticed Higgins. &ldquo;There I&rsquo;d just go to the net. I didn&rsquo;t have to worry about checking that much. We always had the puck. And if you didn&rsquo;t, you just chased for it all over the rink.&ldquo;Not once in the last three years did I ever get criticized for not playing defensively. I didn&rsquo;t mind playing defensively, either, it&rsquo;s just that the emphasis was on offense in junior hockey. You never worried about dropping back and picking up your man.&ldquo;But here, in the NHL, you skate a lot less and think a lot more. That&rsquo;s the way it should be, but it takes a while to learn. The game is still hockey, and it&rsquo;s still played on ice, but everything else is different.&ldquo;I feel like I&rsquo;m finally catching on to what I&rsquo;m supposed to do. I&rsquo;m concerned a lot about my defensive play, and I haven&rsquo;t done much offensively. If I could just do more that way, if I could score a goal or two, I&rsquo;d feel a lot better.&rdquo;Higgins scored 41 times in 50 games last season, but the nuances of NHL hockey, particularly Bob Pulford style, plus the newness of the Black Hawks, plus the bigness of Chicago&hellip;well, maybe it was just too much, too soon.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-06433/4265140-1-eng-US/f0004-062.jpg" title="f0004-06" width="544" height="697"><figcaption class="caption-body">TIM HIGGINS&hellip;Back To Stay?</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0004-06

A Rude Awakening Greeted Higgins’ NHL Introduction

<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>BOSTON &mdash; Mike Walton, C, handed outright release.COLORADO&mdash;Nelson Pyatt, C, returned to Philadelphia of AHL.CHICAGO&mdash;Tim Higgins, RW, recalled from New Brunswick of AHL. Jean Savard, C, returned to New Brunswick.DETROIT&mdash;Greg Carroll, C, claimed from Washington on waivers. John Taft, D, and Rob Plumb, LW, returned to Kansas City of CHL. Lorry Gloeckner, RW, recalled from Kansas City.LOS ANGELES&mdash;Charlie Simmer, C, recalled from Springfield of AHL. Mike Murphy, RW, returned to lineup from injury list. Kings secured NHL right to Steve Carlson, RW, from Edmonton of WHA.MONTREAL&mdash;Dave Lumley, C, returned to Nova Scotia of AHL. Dan Newman, LW, recalled from Nova Scotia. Steve Shutt, LW, returned to injury list with cracked bone in his wrist. Rick Chartraw, RW, placed on disabled list with pulled groin.MINNESOTA&mdash;North Stars secured Jack Carlson&rsquo;s NHL rights from New England of WHA. They also secured Bill Nyrop&rsquo;s NHL rights from Montreal, Brent Gogol, RW, recalled from Oklahoma City of CHL and reassigned to Flint of IHL.N.Y. RANGERS&mdash;Don Murdoch, RW, added to active roster after suspension lifted. Mike Korney, D, assigned to New Haven of AHL. Claude Larose, LW, signed as free agent from Indianapolis of WHA and assigned to New Haven.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Peter Peeters, G, returned to Maine of AHL.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Bob Paradise, D, assigned to Binghamton of AHL.ST. LOUIS&mdash;Wayne Babych, RW, placed on disabled list for six weeks with broken ankle. Bruce Affleck, D, Bob Hess, D, and Brian Ogilvie, RW, assigned to Salt Lake of CHL. Tony Currie, RW, Mike Crombeen, RW, and Neil Labatte, D, recalled from Salt Lake.TORONTO&mdash;Ron Wilson, LW, recalled from New Brunswick of AHL.VANCOUVER&mdash;John Grisdale, D, assigned to Dallas of CHL. Larry Goodenough, D, and Rob Flockhart, LW, recalled from Dallas. Roland Eriksson, C, released outright. Kevin McCarthy, D, placed on disabled list with injury.WASHINGTON&mdash;Ron Lalonde, C, recalled from Binghamton of AHL.<h2>WORLD HOCKEY ASSN.</h2>EDMONTON&mdash;Steve Short, D, signed as free agent from Los Angeles of NHL. Wes George, RW, assigned to Flint of IHL.NEW ENGLAND&mdash;Dave Inkpen, D, assigned to Springfield of AHL. &#9632;

Hockey Players On The Move

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01968/4265195-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GIL PERREAULT&hellip; Scoring Goals Is His Job</figcaption></div>BUFFALO&mdash;Ever since his first year in the National Hockey League, when he was a top performer in the 1971 All Star Game, Gil Perreault has been one of the league&rsquo;s premier centers.So, how come he now is playing right wing for the Buffalo Sabres?Gil has been playing right wing on a line with two young players, Derek Smith, a center in his second NHL year, and rookie Tony McKegney, since Billy Inglis took over as coach of the Sabres Dec. 6.Actually, Gil started playing on the wing before that. Marcel Pronovost, who was fired as coach Dec. 4, started to double shift Perreault shortly before he left the club. He would play Gil at center with one line and at right wing with another.For a few games before he departed, Pronovost put Perreault with Smith&mdash;who was coming back from a groin injury&mdash;and McKegney, who had been an extra forward.The line clicked, even though the Sabres were losing.Inglis did not want to change something that was working so he kept the trio together. In the first 14 games under Inglis, the Smith-McKegney-Perreault line hit for 22 goals and a total of 53 points.Perreault scored seven goals and assisted on 13 in those games and had a streak of nine games going in which he scored at least one point.Inglis points out that Gil still plays pretty much as a center, even though he is classified as a right wing.&ldquo;He and Smitty work well together, changing off between the wing and center,&rdquo; the coach pointed out, one day after practice. &ldquo;Gil often skates the puck down the middle, as he used to, and Smitty swings over to the right side.&ldquo;To me,&rdquo; Inglis continued, &ldquo;Gil is not a player for any particular position. He is a forward, not merely a center.&rdquo;Smith goes even further.&ldquo;Gil can play any position on the club,&rdquo; said Derek. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s just a good hockey player, that&rsquo;s all. Any hockey player should be able to play any position but not many can do it as Gil can. He looks like he&rsquo;s been playing right wing for 10 years.&ldquo;Tony and I try to give the puck to Gil as often as we can, for him to carry it down. Then one of us goes to the net and the other goes to where there&rsquo;s a hole.&ldquo;Gil then sets us up. Most of my goals I just was sitting in a hole, waiting for the puck. Gil would take a couple of their guys with him and then send me the puck. He makes it easy.&rdquo;Inglis mentioned another advantage in having Perreault on the wing. &ldquo;I always figured Gil as a center who goes to the left. Seldom to his right,&rdquo; Inglis pointed out. &ldquo;Put him at right wing, he has the whole ice to work in.&ldquo;When he stops, he is facing the play, either to make a pass or take a shot.&rdquo;How about Perreault? How does he like playing on the wing after all those years as a center?&ldquo;It&rsquo;s OK with me,&rdquo; replied the fancy dipsydoodler, who seldom has much to say about his play. &ldquo;They put me there and we have been playing pretty good. The team has been winning.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the coach&rsquo;s job to tell me where to play. My job is to score the goal and make the assist. Anyway, we change positions a lot, Derek and I.&ldquo;The main change for me is that I have to come back with my wing. I have to come back a little deeper; sometimes have to go very deep.&rdquo;Gil still takes faceoffs, sometimes, when Inglis sends him out with a couple of extra forwards on nights when only 11 forwards dress.ICE CHIPS: With the return of Andre Savard, after a knee injurs, Rene Robert returned to right wing after playing center for several games.Danny Gare, who sat out a game in Colorado because his ailing back was acting up, returned to action the next night and scored two goals in a 3-3 tie in Vancouver. He got two more in a 7-3 loss to Boston the next game and netted the tying goal in a 3-3 tie with Chicago the game after. He still does special exercises daily, takes whirlpool baths and several times a week has treatments that stretch his back muscles.The Sabres, who went off on a seven-game unbeaten streak after Inglis took over, slowed down and went 2-3-2 in the next seven games. &#9632;

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Perreault At Home On Right Wing As Part of Sabres’ Hottest Line

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03583/4265264-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="507" height="1097"><figcaption class="caption-body">RANDY HOLT&hellip;Stuck Neck Out (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>VANCOUVER&mdash;Having won one of their last IO games, Vancouver Canucks finally made their moves, the results of which will not be measured until at least after their present agonizing road trip.In what appears to be a series of trades aimed at changing the losing faces, general manager Jake Milford has made two deals in the past week, and says there are more likely to follow.The dealing of veteran right winger Dennis Ververgaert to the Philadelphia Flyers is much like the trade of Bob Dailey to the same club two years ago. There is simply nothing to lose. Ververgaert was not playing up to his fine capabilities in Vancouver, a fact which seemed to take three years to sink in with the Canucks management.Ververgaert&rsquo;s workmanship was not what it should have been over that period, though his ability to put a puck in a net when given the opportunity is unquestioned. He simply needs someone to give it to him. If the Flyers were looking for someone to go into the comers and get the puck, they are bound to be disappointed, unless Ververgaert is capable of a complete reversal of form.Getting Kevin McCarthy should help the Canucks defense, with Drew Callander pretty much the unknown in the deal, except for the fact that he has good size and could provide the muscle if he so desired.The second trade made by Milford &mdash; Randy Holt to Los Angeles for Don Kozak&mdash;was not so good on first examination, though history is always the ultimate judge of a trade.Coaches who take over a hockey club&mdash;and Vancouver&rsquo;s Harry Neale is no exception&mdash;are fond of saying that if a player doesn&rsquo;t do the job, they will go out and get people who can. The underlying thought behind that logic implies that players who are not doing the job will be done away with.Milford&rsquo;s problem, you see, is that Holt was doing the job. True, one must give something to get something, but getting Kozak out of the minors is at best a gamble that he (Kozak) feels like playing, as he has been in the doghouse of two separate coaches in L.A. for reasons unknown. Further, it gives Canucks a glut of right wingers, indicating yet another trade in the near future.In giving up Holt, Milford figured he had enough muscle on defense in Harold Snepsts and Jack Mcllhargey. Whether their sudden increase in physical activity this season was because of the presence of Holt or not remains a question mark.There are a number of people on Canucks roster who&mdash;to put it nicely&mdash;are struggling. Dennis Kearns has been having the worst year of his NHL career, Rick Blight has been worse and Jere Gillis appears more suited to the calling of a blacksmith than to hockey star. He is simply not the same person whom Canucks drafted last year. The question arises whether Milford should have first exhausted his attempts to peddle one of these players before moving Holt, who had stuck his nose in for the club from the outset.&ldquo;Yes, we do have an excess of right wingers,&rdquo; said Milford. &ldquo;We had an extra defenseman when we got McCarthy and we felt we had enough muscle on defense with Snepsts and Mcllhargey. Kozak is a real hustler and I think he&rsquo;ll help, though we hated to give up Randy Holt.&rdquo;McCarthy, the former all-everything with the junior Winnipeg Monarchs, was the key man in the deal of Canucks, who did need someone who could move the puck on defense. The 21-year-old right handed shooting defender was &ldquo;happy to come.&rdquo;&ldquo;I was quite surprised to learn about the trade. We were at the airport ready to go when I got a call. I was surprised because we had just been going with four defensemen with Bob Dailey hurt. I was playing with Jimmy Watson and being traded was the furthest thing from my mind. I welcome the chance to come to a team that is on it&rsquo;s way up. We&rsquo;re the youngest team in the NHL and there is really nowhere to go but up. And we&rsquo;re only two points out of first place in our division, and if you win first place it&rsquo;s what you do in the playoffs that counts.&rdquo;McCarthy played in Vancouver&rsquo;s 4-0 loss in Los Angeles at the start of their latest six-game road trip, then missed the next four games in Long Island, Pittsburgh, New York and Montreal with a groin injury.&ldquo;It started as a hip injury and now becuase I was favoring it, the problem has moved into the groin,&rdquo; said McCarthy. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m really disappointed at not being out there.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0006-03

Canuck Slump Forced Deal, But Holt’s Loss Regretted

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011148/4265233-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="298" height="447"></div>&ldquo;Baw-bee, Baw-bee, Baw-bee.&rdquo;MY EARS STILL HURT and my eyes are still moist and it&rsquo;s been more than a week since the city of Boston staged Bobby Orr Day, a day which shall be remembered as one of sport&rsquo;s most splendid I homecomings.The games athletes play now are diced liberally and repugnantly so with free agents and drugs and illegal recruiting and people with small hearts getting big paychecks. Sentiment takes a back seat, a beating, a rancid post position on the list of priorities.So what a relief to experience days like January 9, 1979. If you were there, you won&rsquo;t forget it. If you weren&rsquo;t there, forget it. Words, pictures, descriptions tend to shortchange happenings.They didn&rsquo;t give Orr the key to the city that day. He already had it. And they didn&rsquo;t give him a car or a boat or a vacation for two. They just gave him a big hug, which is what Orr and the city are all about. Both strong, both compact, both Irish, both averse to frills, both unalterably opposed to phonies and losers, both loyal to a hilt, both full of hiss and vinegar.&ldquo;He left but he never really left,&rdquo; reminded Mayor Kevin White. &ldquo;Bobby was and is a genuine hero, a legend, the kind of person you could stare at and not be embarrassed to be caught staring at.&rdquo;He made the rounds that day, did the 30-year-old retired superstar, from the State House where he banged the gavel, to City Hall, where he blushed through another speech, to Boston Garden, his playpen for a glorious decade.Lots of luminaries there that night. Sen. Ted Kennedy. Clarence Campbell. Gov. Edward King. John Ziegler. Even Al Eagleson, sans earmuffs. But Bruins fans, Orr Fans, still think baloney is for sand-wishes only, and they didn&rsquo;t want rhetoric. They wanted No. 4.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02881/4265226-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="376" height="680"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bobby Orr</figcaption></div><h2>Stood, Screamed, Remembered</h2>WHEN THE COMPLETE and utter sellout (&ldquo;toughest ticket ever here, and that includes Stanley Cup finals,&rdquo; said PR guru Nate Greenberg) finally saw Orr, head down emerging from the runway beside the Bruins&rsquo; bench, they stood and screamed and, above all, remembered. Seven minutes, somebody said.&ldquo;Baw-bee, Baw-bee, Baw-bee.&rdquo;Then John Bucyk brought out a Number Four jersey and Orr politely folded it over his arm like a waiter. No good. Fans wanted him to put it on one more time. And he took off that brown suit jacket and he put it on. One more time.&ldquo;Baw bee, Baw-bee, Baw-bee.&rdquo;Alas, right above center ice, they lifted the round emblem which would now join him in retirement: &ldquo;Robert G. Orr, 4, 1966-76.&rdquo; Orr cried; his wife Peggy cried; Don Cherry, who usually chokes referees, choked himself.&ldquo;Baw-bee, Baw-bee, Baw-bee.&rdquo;AL EAGLESON SAYS Orr was so great, so unique that every franchise in the league should have had him for one season. Folks in The Hub, who wish the Eagle would fly away anyway, don&rsquo;t agree. They think Orr should never have left, and they&rsquo;re probably right, He is Boston.The bruins, who were stupid to let him go, have a partner in the felony now, though. The Chicago Black Hawks. Orr wants to work 24 hours a day to resurrect them from the sick puppy they are, but the Black Hawks won&rsquo;t let him work even 12.&ldquo;Assistant general manager?&rdquo; barks Cherry, choking no more, &ldquo;What the hell is that? That&rsquo;s like taking a Stradavarius to a third grade music recital.&rdquo;&rsquo;ORR WAS AN ASSISTANT coach with the Black Hawks, but they took the ice away from him because he made the players up-tight. God knows, there&rsquo;s a flip side to that record. They made him uptight.&ldquo;Moses don&rsquo;t like losing,&rdquo; reminded former teammate Eddie Johnson. &ldquo;He don&rsquo;t like losing so much that when you lose, he doesn&rsquo;t like anybody. He can be miserable. But if you don&rsquo;t take time to understand him, then your&rsquo;re missing something.&rdquo;There is a hint that Orr is so restless with the Black Hawk malaise that he will pack up and leave someday soon. Maybe to rejoin the Bruins, maybe to buy them. He looks at the team&rsquo;s won-lost record, the fights in the near-empty stands, the organization&rsquo;s perhaps terminal case of ennui, and he wants to vomit.If he bolts, it will allow the Black Hawks the ignominy of having blundered away not one touch-stone in Bobby Hull, but two in Bobby Hull and Bobby Orr. By all means, don&rsquo;t sell them short.But this is not a time to discuss what is wrong with the game, Rather it is a time to discuss what is right. January 9, 1979.&ldquo;Baw-bee, Baw-bee, Baw-bee.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0006-01

Boston Salutes Its No. 4 In Moving Tribute To Orr

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011025/4265295-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0007-01

COMBAT GLASSES.

NEW YORK&mdash;The New York Rangers are pretty well assured of at least two starters on the National Hockey League&rsquo;s All Star team to oppose the Soviet Union but there&rsquo;s a good chance the number could swell to four.With Pat Hickey a cinch to clinch the left wing voting and Ulf Nilsson the big favorite to lead the centers, the Rangers are certain of two places. If Anders Hedberg succeeds in overtaking Montreal&rsquo;s Guy Lafleur at the wire in the windup to the voting, then the Rangers will have three men on the starting team. It could reach four if Ron Greschner continues to grab the votes among the defensemen. He is currently in third place, only a step behind Phil Russell of Chicago, the leader, and Toronto&rsquo;s Borje Salming.Hickey had the most votes, 67,040, after five weeks of balloting to double his closest competitor Steve Shutt of Montreal. Nilsson had a sizeable lead over Ivan Boldirev for the center position while Lafleur led Hedberg by a mere six votes &mdash; 51,450 to 51,444.Tony Esposito led all netminders. The Chicago goaler looked like the he had the voting all wrapped up with 56,281 votes, almost twice that of Mike Palmateer of Toronto, who surged into second place.The balloting will determine the starting players at forward and on defense for the NHL All Star team which will meet the Soviet National team on Feb. 8, 10 and 11 at Madison Square Garden. The top vote-getter among the goaltenders will be guaranteed a position on the squad. However, coach Scotty Bowman has the option of starting any one of the team&rsquo;s goalies. After the six players have been chosen, general manager Bill Torrey and Bowman will select the remainder of the All Star team.With close to a million votes tabulated, New York Rangers and Chicago Black Hawks fans have returned the most number of ballots. (Each NHL team received 200,000 ballots).Here is the NHL All Star balloting after five weeks:LEFT WING: Pat Hickey (N.: Rangers) 67,040; 2. Steve Shutt (Montreal) 34,434; 3. Bill Barber (Philadelphia) 32,297; 4. Clark Gillies (N.Y. Islanders) 21,137; 5. Richard Martin (Buffalo) 14,040.RIGHT WING: Guy Lafleur (Montreal) 51,450; 2. Anders Hedberg (N.Y. Rangers) 51,444; 3. Lanny McDonald (Toronto) 43,620; 4. Mike Bossy (N.Y. Islanders) 48,476; 5. Terry O&rsquo;Reilly (Boston 13,047.CENTER: Ulf Nilsson (N.Y. Rangers) 40,751; 2. Ivan Boldirev (Chicago) 34,322; 3. Darryl Sittler (Toronto) 28,704; 4. Bobby Clarke (Philadelphia) 28,215; 5. Bryan Trottier (N.Y. Islanders) l3,733.DEFENSE: 1. Phil Russell (Chicago) 53,035; 2. Borje Salming (Toronto) 52,752; 3. Ron Greschner (N.Y. Rangers) 51,244; 4. Larry Robinson (Montreal) 41,550; 5. Denis Potvin (N.Y. Islanders) 39,239; 6. Ian Turnbull (Toronto) 30,749; 7. Brad Park (Boston) 30,084; 8. Jim Watson (Philadelphia) 21,336; 9. Bob Dailey (Philadelphia) 21,336; 10. Guy Lapointe (Montreal) 18,350.GOALER: 1. Tony Esposito (Chicago) 56,281; 2. Mike Palmateer (Toronto) 32,976; 3. Bernie Parent (Philadelphia) 26,956; 4. Ken Dryden (Montreal) 23,403; 5. Chico Resch (N.Y. Islanders) 18,491.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03872/4265364-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="552" height="731"><figcaption class="caption-body">TONY ESPOSITO&hellip;Goaling Wrapped Up</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0008-03

Hedberg Chasing Lafleur To Wire In All Star Poll

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04463/4265395-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg" title="f0008-04" width="572" height="820"></div> &#9632;

f0008-04

NHL Leaders

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011098/4265426-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="540" height="633"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB NYSTROM&hellip;Automatic Fine</figcaption></div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;More than one faithful New York Islander fan feels his heroes were outworked in their losing effort against the Toronto Maple Leafs in last spring&rsquo;s Stanley Cup playoffs. Some also feel they were outmuscled and perhaps intimidated.When the Philadelphia Flyers ended New York&rsquo;s 11-game unbeaten string with a brawl filled 3-2 win in the Spectrum, most Islander players blamed referee Bob Myers&mdash;and didn&rsquo;t credit the Flyers. When during the third period of the return match in the Nassau Coliseum, with the Isles coasting on a 5-1 lead, Flyers&rsquo; Dave Hoyda jumped Mike Bossy, all hell broke loose.Clark Gillies, gentle Jethroe, became an enraged six-foot-three 200-pound Godzilla, as he crashed Hoyda to the ice with a cross check and flurry of punches. Gillies&rsquo; reaction was something Islander fans have been waiting to see&mdash;and it was almost an instant replay of his spectacular victory over the Flyers&rsquo; Dave Schultz in the 1974-75 playoffs.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believe in going after guys who deliver clean, crisp body checks,&rdquo; said Clark. &ldquo;But Hoyda crossed over the line.The Islanders easily won the game&mdash;and they won the war which ensued as both benches emptied during a 36minute brawl which showed that the Long Islanders are serious about not being pushed around.&ldquo;All for one and one for all,&rdquo; emphasized Al Arbour. &ldquo;You stick together. That&rsquo;s our team.&rdquo;While Jethroe Gillies was disciplining Hoyda&mdash;whom he easily destroyed in their fistic meeting&mdash;Flyers&rsquo; rookie Behn Wilson three times went after Bossy, who merely is a quiet, mind his own business type of right wing who leads the NHL in goals. First goalie Chico Resch jumped in then Bobby Nystrom came off the Islander bench&mdash;and precipitated the furor.&ldquo;The club will be fined, most likely, but I feel its money well spent,&rdquo; said Islanders&rsquo; general manager Bill Torrey. &ldquo;They (the Flyers) were a frustrated hockey club, who couldn&rsquo;t beat us one way, so they tried to test us another. They failed.&rdquo;&ldquo;Chico Resch, a policeman,&rdquo; quipped Nystrom. &ldquo;I thought Billie Smith was our goaltending intimidator. I couldn&rsquo;t let Wilson keep going after Boss.&rdquo;&ldquo;And I can&rsquo;t tolerate cheap shots,&rdquo; added Gillies, who left the penalty box and rejoined the fray when the benches emptied. &ldquo;I know Bossy can stand up for himself and take care of himself, but I&rsquo;ve been criticized for not hitting someone when he&rsquo;s hitting one of our guys, and I&rsquo;m not going to let that happen anymore.&rdquo;Bossy, a slender six foot and 186 pounds, is a goal scorer, not a fighter.&ldquo;This is the story of this team,&rdquo; said Bossy. &ldquo;Everybody was behind me 100 percent. I&rsquo;m not a boxer and I don&rsquo;t want to take any chances. What really matters is the way the guys jumped in to help me. It&rsquo;s the way this club feels about each other,&rdquo; said Mike.All told, referee Ron Wicks called 166 penalty minutes and ejected eight players, including Bossy&mdash;which didn&rsquo;t, seem right.&ldquo;There is something wrong with a procedure which calls for your ejection if you are defending yourself,&rdquo; said defenseman Gerry Hart.Hart was called for a double minor in the Spectrum game when he snapped his stick into Mel Bridgman&rsquo;s face after the Flyer had high sticked him.&ldquo;I bumped him back and Myers didn&rsquo;t call anything,&rdquo; growled Gerry. &ldquo;Then when I hit him with my stick, I get a penalty and he gets nothing. I shouldn&rsquo;t have mouthed off, and cost us two more minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct&hellip;&rdquo;While Hart was in the cooler, Philadelphia scored two power play goals within 39 seconds to eke out their 3-2 win. Arbour also credited Myers with a major portion of the Flyers win.ISLAND SOUNDS: Nystrom was suspended for one game in accordance with NHL rule 66E for being the first player to leave the bench&hellip;Isles are only unbeaten team at home in NHL at halfway mark (17-0-4)&hellip;They are 10-5-4 on the road. &#9632;

f0009-01

Islanders Refuse To Be Put Off By Rivals’ Intimidation Tactics

<div class="byline">&#x2014;MACLEAN</div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;New York Islanders&rsquo; president Bill Torrey has announced the formation of Nassau Sports Productions, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Nassau Sports. Jay Merkle is the president of the new company.Nassau Sports Productions will handle marketing, advertising, promotions, licensing and merchandising for the Islanders. In addition, it will be responsible for the production of the Islanders&rsquo; television, cable television and radio broadcasts of both home and road contests.This season all 80 Islander games, home and away are being broadcast on radio with 25 road games to be seen on television and all home games on cable TV.Torrey noted, &ldquo;Jay Merkles&rsquo; broad experience in the broadcast field makes him an ideal man to run Nassau Sports Productions. We plan to have as good a team off the ice as we do on it.&rdquo;Torrey hopes that the new company will enable the Islanders to gradually gain complete control of all phases of their ancilliary operations.&ldquo;We still have some leftovers from the basketball Nets, especially in the cable TV area,&rdquo; revealed the Islander executive.Hawley T. Chester III is the director of sales and advertising, moving up from the post of public relations director after six years. Penny Lungman is promotion manager and Kate Cote the administrative assistant to the new company. &#9632;

Isles Form Company To Handle Ads, Promotions

<div class="byline">BY PILL FLEISCHMAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011126/4265481-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="548" height="1183"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOBBY CLARKE&hellip;One More Cup</figcaption></div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Disregarding the early All Star ballot stuffing by New York Rangers&rsquo; fans, concensus among hockey experts lists Bryan Trottier and Darryl Sittler as the two most valuable centers in the league.Uh, may we add a third? Before Bobby Clarke is pointed toward retirement, let it be noted that the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; captain remains in the top four. At 29, Clarke is still mas: rfully setting up his wingers, disrupting opponents&rsquo; attacks, and leading in his unique vay.In recent back-to-back games Clarke showed again why he is a sure-shot future Hall of Famer.With the Flyers desperately trying to avoid an embarrassing exhibition loss to the Soviet Wings, Clarke scored two goals in the closing minutes to gain a 4-4 tie. The final goal, with 16 seconds remaining, was a classic. Bill Barber&rsquo;s shot caromed off the glass behind goaltender Vladimir Myshkin and floated into Clarke&rsquo;s strike zone. All the three-time Hart Trophy winner did was tap it in mid-air past Myshkin into the net as the roar from the Spectrum crowd resembled a Stanley Cup clincher. Those Soviets certainly bring out the best in everyone.Two nights later, Clarke set up the tying goal, then scored the winner in a vital 3-2 victory over the division-leading Islanders. As hockey writer Jay Greenberg of the Philadelphia Daily News said, &ldquo;When Clarke does retire, the Flyers should build a statue of him outside the Spectrum and make all the players kiss it every time they enter the building.&rdquo;&ldquo;Now I know why Freddie (Shero) quit,&rdquo; said coach Bob McCammon. &ldquo;He knew that Clarke would only last four or five more years, and he didn&rsquo;t want to be around here after he left.&rdquo; McCammon was smiling, but he was more than semi-serious.McCammon is probably extending Clarke&rsquo;s career a few years longer than it will actually last. Insiders believe Clarke, now in his 10th NHL season, will only play two or three more seasons. Insiders also believe that when Clarke announces that his distinguished career is over, a few management types in the Flyers front office will be fleeing out the Spectrum door.&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t want to be around here when they try replacing Clarke,&rdquo; is a comment frequently heard around the Spectrum.No one&mdash;except, of course, a few sports writers&mdash;is irreplaceable. In the Flyers&rsquo; case, they&rsquo;ve been trving for years to develop leaders comparable to Clarke. The Flyers still hope Mel Bridgman is a candidate. The club spent $600,000 to spring Ken Linseman from Birmingham, but he was an early disappointment. At last look, Linseman wasn&rsquo;t exactly tearing up the American League with Maine.During a training-camp discussion, Shero suggested the Flyers should replace Clarke as captain &ldquo;because he has too much to worry about. They should just let him play.&rdquo; When the Rangers&rsquo; GM-coach was asked to suggest a successor to Clarke, he replied. &ldquo;Anyone.&rdquo;The impression was successors aren&rsquo;t in abundance. Perhaps only Jimmy Watson is in Clarke&rsquo;s class as a leader, which is another example of how the Flyers have slipped from their Stanley Cup days when people named Dornhoefer, Joe Watson, Van Impe, Barry Ashbee and Schultz were in the same dressing room.That Clarke hasn&rsquo;t slipped as a player is seen on the ice game after game and in this testimony from Islanders&rsquo; defenseman Gerry Hart, a former Flin Flon teammate of Clarke&rsquo;s.&ldquo;I was watching Bobby (in the last minute of the Flyers&rsquo; 3-2 victory),&rdquo; said Hart. &ldquo;He was down on his hands and knees in front of the (Philadelphia) net. He would&rsquo;ve swallowed the puck if he thought he could get away with it. He wanted this win so badly, his spirit inflamed the entire team.&rdquo;Winning another Stanley Cup is Clarke&rsquo;s goal before he retires. He worries that when the Flyers do climb back on top, he won&rsquo;t be as useful as he is now. And he makes it clear he won&rsquo;t linger as a player if he can&rsquo;t contribute.&ldquo;I feel good, I feel I&rsquo;m contributing now,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;d sure hate to start all over. I don&rsquo;t think we are. We&rsquo;re rebuilding but we&rsquo;re still staying up there.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0010-01

Clarke Hasn’t Lost Zest For Game

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02902/4265512-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg"></div>DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION ON HOCKEY?Write to:FAN FORUM,The Hockey News,1434 St. Catherine St., W., Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7<h2>Merger, Realignment Necessary For Hockey</h2>I am submitting yet another letter on realignment of the NHL divisional setup along with the merger of the two leagues. With most teams losing money, it is obvious that some changes must be made.A merger must come about, regardless of what some owners say. John Ziegler must put his foot down and get a merger any way he can. Four of the WHA teams are doing well and to ensure their success in a more competitive league, a special draft could be held before next season. The WHA teams paid to fold would free their players for a special draft only for New England, Quebec, Winnipeg and Edmonton.In the NHL, St. Louis and Colorado must be paid to fold also and Pittsburgh should merge with Washington. Then another draft can be held where players from the folding teams are drafted by the NHL teams which did not make the quarterfinals. Then the equalization draft must be revised so that less players may be protected by the &ldquo;haves&rdquo; to help the &ldquo;have-nots&rdquo; improve.This would lead to a new alignment: Canadian Div.: Montreal, Toronto, &lsquo;Winnipeg, Quebec, Edmonton and Vancouver; East Div: Rangers, Islanders, Boston, New England, Washington and Philadelphia; West Div.: Detroit, Atlanta, Chicago, Buffalo, Minnesota and Los Angeles.A team would play in its own division six times and the other teams four times for a 78-game schedule. Playoffs consist of three divisional winners, plus five wild card teams. There are no byes and each series is 4 of 7.If John Ziegler cannot generate some enthusiasm and bring about some kind of changes such as outlined here, then I suggest replacing him with a man of action like Alan Eagleson.ERIC HOFFMANN, Ridgewood, N.Y.<h2>Hats Off To New Rangers</h2>I think it&rsquo;s just great that the New York Rangers are alive again. With the great coaching of Fred Shero, we Ranger fans have hopes of a good solid season. Everyone is working hard and it&rsquo;s paying off.We have a new leader in Dave Maloney who is extremely mature and a capable leader. Hats off to the &ldquo;new&rdquo; Rangers and a good season ahead.KATHY BURNS, Clinton, N.Y.<h2>Overrated Swedes Aren&rsquo;t Ranger Saviours</h2>It is my opinion that the Saviours of New York, Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson, are two of the most overrated players in the league.Sure they were big scorers in the WHA, but that&rsquo;s like playing in an advanced junior league. I have seen them play and they can&rsquo;t check their hats. They skate around like zombies and will pass when they are right in front of the net with an open shot.Anyone who would pay $600,000 apiece for them needs his head examined. If I were one of the other Rangers, I sure would ask for a stiff raise come contract time.JOE JOHNSON, Atlanta, Ga.<h2>Utter Contempt For Star Voting</h2>I am writing to inform you (John Ziegler) of my utter contempt for the manner in which the voting for the Canada vs Russia series in Feb. &lsquo;79 is being conducted.First of all, I resent the fact that I cannot find a ballot in this town, so am unable to vote.Secondly, I am livid at the fact that New Yorkers, most of whom do not know a puck from a basketball, are permitted to stuff the ballot boxes for Hedberg and Nilsson, who have proved nothing in this league. In fact, as of Dec. 22 the two best players on the Rangers, Hickey and Esposito were not being considered by those so called &ldquo;fans&rdquo; in the &ldquo;Big Apple.&rdquo;I can name at least six centers and four right wingers who are better than the &ldquo;Million Dollar&rdquo; Swedes; but you know who they are, so it is pointless to name them. It is even conceivable that Hedberg, with his 11 goals may beat out Guy Lafleur for the right wing spot. Can you imagine Hedberg with more votes than the best hockey player in the world.Please send me a ballot so I can at least attempt to stop this farce.J.E. KENNEDY, Trenton, Ont.<h2>Supports Writer On Potvin&rsquo;s Ability</h2>I am writing in support of Norm MacLean&rsquo;s article in the Jan. 5 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS, &ldquo;Potvin Feels He&rsquo;s No. 1.&rdquo; At this point I&rsquo;m sure that anyone reading this letter is looking to see where I am from. Well, save your eyes the trip, I&rsquo;m from New York City and I&rsquo;ve been an Islanders&rsquo; fan as long as they&rsquo;ve been in the league. But that: doesn&rsquo;t mean that most of his praise is coming because he plays for my favorite team.I know that Boston fans will disagree, or Toronto fans will feel they have the best defenseman in the league, that&rsquo;s very natural. I&rsquo;m sure that if they really looked at Denis Potvin, and I mean going beyond the statistics, they&rsquo;d see a player who&rsquo;d be a super star on any team, winner or loser. To be isolated from one&rsquo;s own team and still excell, as Potvin was and did several seasons ago, is, to me, the true mark of a great athlete.I only pray that he will always be an Islander, but whether he is or not, all he need do it continue playing as he is to earn my vote as the NHL&rsquo;s premier defenseman.SERGE NERLI, Fresh Meadows, N.Y. &#9632;

f0010-02

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011077/4265567-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM PETTIE&hellip;Not One To Complain (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;The name is Pettie. That&rsquo;s P-e-t-t-i-e. He plays goal. And if you&rsquo;re not familiar with the name or its owner it&rsquo;s just that, in five seasons as a pro hockey player, he never really did anything with which to become familiar.Until recently, Jim Pettie&rsquo;s chief claim to fame was that he roomed with author George Plimpton at the 1976 Bruin training camp while the latter gathered material for another one of his participatory sports journalism stories.Plimpton, who was known as ol&rsquo; Double Zero, partly because that was the number he wore in goal, was so fascinated by the wit and wisdom of Jim Pettie that he devoted the first of his two-part series in a national magazine to it.It was not until this season, however, that Pettie began to attract attention as a hockey player.At the halfway mark, his record in the Boston nets stood at five wins, no losses and a tie; he had apparently displaced Gilles Gilbert as the Bruins&rsquo; No. 2 goalie; and coach Don Cherry was calling him his &ldquo;baby Cheevers.&rdquo;&ldquo;Cheevers and Pettie will play and Gilbert will be ready if someone gets hurt or is not playing well,&rdquo; said Cherry after Pettie won back-to-back games against Colorado and Minnesota. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m playing Pettie because he wins games. He hasn&rsquo;t lost one so far.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just too good to be true,&rdquo; said Pettie, whose wit and wisdom failed him at that point.Pettie was the Bruins&rsquo; ninth round draft choice (143rd overall) in 1973 and if you wonder why he roused so little enthusiasm be advised that he had a 5.04 goals against average with St. Catharines in his final junior year.He spent three solid years with Dayton in the International League with a brief move sideways to Binghamton in the North American League. This, at a time when the Bruins were desperate for even adequate goaltending.He got his first crack at the NHL in a single game against Chicago. He won, but he was so uptight that he got sick behind his goaltenders mask during the game.&ldquo;Usually I get sick before games,&rdquo; he said, recalling the incident. &ldquo;But Gerry Cheevers talks to me now and it helps me to relax. I&rsquo;m not as up tight as I thought I&rsquo;d be this year.&rdquo;Pettie played once for the Bruins last season, losing to Philadelphia, and when Boston obtained Ron Grahame to play goal with Cheevers and Gilbert and drafted Dave Parro as the heir apparent it seemed like Pettie&rsquo;s career was over before it fairly started.But then Grahame was traded, Parro was developing slower than expected, Cheevers underwent knee surgery, Gilbert popped in and out of Cherry&rsquo;s doghouse and there was Pettie, for once the best available goalie.Moving up and down between Boston and Rochester, he backstopped the Bruins to a 2-2 tie with the Black Hawks and then ran off a string of five straight wins over Buffalo (twice), the Rangers, Colorado and Minnesota.Strangely, when he was called up to the Bruins for the last time, Pettie had a record of no wins, eight losses and one tie with Rochester and, except for two periods in relief of Gilbert Nov. 4, he had never played before the home folks in Boston.Pettie is philosophical about his new found good fortune.&ldquo;Whatever I have to do to help the Bruins is part of my job,&rdquo; he says.&ldquo;When they call me up I come up and do the best I can. When they send me back down I go back there and do the best I can. You just have to keep the right attitude.&rdquo;One thing, Pettie is the fightingest goalie the Bruins have had since Don Head in the early 60s. He once rang up 150 minutes in penalties with Dayton and got a letter from the IHL&rsquo;s commissioner suggesting that he cool it.&ldquo;Earlier in my career,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;when I was younger (he&rsquo;s all of 25 now), maybe I&rsquo;d go looking for it. I guess maturity or old age has slowed me down. But I&rsquo;m not afraid to swing with anybody.&ldquo;The main thing is to be able to stop the puck but it&rsquo;s nice to have the respect of people around the league. They know that if they mess with me they&rsquo;re going to get the stick or whatever the case may be.&rdquo;In the midst of the Pettie success story, Cherry foresaw one little cloud, one small problem.&ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t eat the day of the game,&rdquo; the coach reported after Pettie&rsquo;s back-to-back encounters in Denver and Minneapolis. &ldquo;He just has coffee or something like that. If I play him four games in a row, he&rsquo;d die of starvation.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0011-01

Pettie Hears Bruins’ Call Following Obscure Career

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011099/4265605-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="549" height="892"><figcaption class="caption-body">PHIL MYRE&hellip;Unflappable Vet</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02934/4265598-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="508" height="887"><figcaption class="caption-body">ED STANIOWSKI&hellip;Happy With Work</figcaption></div>ST. LOUISAS the St. Louis Blues sank to the worst record in the National Hockey League, the team&rsquo;s two goaltenders bore their shares of the blame.Phil Myre and Ed Staniowski&mdash;both highly regarded for previous work in the NHL&mdash;were slipping into losing ways. Neither was able to reverse the Blues&rsquo; slide into the league&rsquo;s basement.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking for one of them to get hot,&rdquo; said coach Barclay Plager. &ldquo;I think they both can play better. If either gets hot, he&rsquo;ll be the one to play.&rdquo;Plager was switching from one goalie to another with regularity, although Myre, obtained in a big trade with Atlanta slightly more than a year ago, was in the nets more than Staniowski. Through the first half of the season Myre had played 23 games and had a 4-14-5 record with a 4.42 goals-against average. Staniowski, who spent the first month at Salt Lake City while Doug Grant was with the Blues, had played 15 games with a 4-11-0 record and 4.07 goals-against record.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think Phil is as sharp as he can be,&rdquo; Plager said, &ldquo;but I think it&rsquo;s a temporary thing. His confidence may be a little down, but he&rsquo;ll work his way out of it. Before it&rsquo;s all over he&rsquo;ll play good hockey.&rdquo;Myre is an unflappable veteran, and Plager acknowledges a slumping team needs a solid veteran such as Myre.&ldquo;Phil is tough,&rdquo; Plager said. &ldquo;He has shown he&rsquo;s a fighter, and you need that quality to be a goaltender.&rdquo;Myre has tried to lift the team to better play but has been unsuccessful. Sometimes he has been victimized by poor defensive support in front of him. At other times he has blamed himself for mistakes.&ldquo;If we can win some games, we can get started,&rdquo; Myre said. &ldquo;We have to put a streak together.&rdquo;&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re losing, changes are made,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;The team is looking for the hot hand in goal. Something is needed to spark the team.&rdquo;Staniowski played 57 games during three seasons for the Blues prior to this season. He was called from the farm club after Grant was on the losing side in three lopsided games in October and November.&ldquo;I felt I was ready in training camp and wanted to play in St. Louis,&rdquo; Staniowski said. &ldquo;I thought I was playing fairly well, but they weren&rsquo;t pleased with me. I was surprised they called me back up.&rdquo;Staniowski is pleased with his own work, although he admits some costly mistakes. He is wondering what any human can do to pull the Blues out of their lengthening slump.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m playing the best I&rsquo;ve ever played in the NHL,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m challenging the shooters, and my attitude is the best it&rsquo;s ever been. It usually takes a couple of years for a goalie to establish himself, and that&rsquo;s where I am now.&rdquo;Staniowski realized any considerations about the development of an individual player must be secondary to solving the team&rsquo;s problems.&ldquo;The team has to go with the guy who&rsquo;ll do the best job in goal,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a very tough situation out on that ice these days. There&rsquo;s an awful lot of goals being scored from the slot.&rdquo;The Blues have the worst defensive record in the league, but Staniowski believes much of the blame has to be shouldered by those who labor outside the crease.&ldquo;I think the team has to be satisfied with the goaltending it&rsquo;s getting,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Phil is playing pretty well, but our forwards have to help out the defensemen in picking up those forwards coming into our end. Bare has a tough job ahead of him in working out the solution to our defensive play.&rdquo;Staniowski knows goaltending must be a big part of a winning record but is distressed by the distance the Blues must travel back to respectability.&ldquo;A goalie can come up with a few big saves and give a team momentum,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s any goalie in the league who could be so dominant as to carry a team from the bottom to the top.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0012-01

Blues’ Poor Play, Losing Streaks Pressure Goalers

<div class="byline">BY RUSS WHITE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03677/4265636-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GUY CHARRON&hellip;Unleashed 13-Shot Barrage (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>WSHINGTON&mdash;Center Guy Charron has passed the 200-consecutive game plateau for the Washington Capitals and began his next 200 with an amazing 13-shot effort against the Flyers at Capital Center.Caps&rsquo; general manager Max McNab called this one of Charron&rsquo;s finest games. The Caps took it on the chin, however, 5-2, despite outshooting Philadelphia, 43-22.Charron netted his 13th goal on a power play in the second period and had 10 of the shots midway through the period for a club record.Since coming to Washington from the Colorado Rockies, Charron has not missed a game and played last year with a bad knee and with a broken nose.In recent weeks, Charron has also served the team well as captain during defenseman Yvon Labre&rsquo;s absence due to a shoulder injury.When Labre returned to play last week, coach Danny Belisle called him aside and said that he would like Charron to keep wearing the Captain&rsquo;s crest.&ldquo;I have no objection,&rdquo; Labre said. &ldquo;I was named captain by Tom McVie and when he was fired, I told them I was willing to turn in my crest, so that Danny Belisle would be able to name his own captain. There was so much fuss about McVie that I guess they didn&rsquo;t want any more commotion and no one ever said anything.&rdquo;Labre credited Charron with a good job as captain and since the team was starting to jell, he suggested Charron also continue.Charron, who&rsquo;ll be 30 this month, is the all-time Caps&rsquo; goal-getter and scorer.Defenseman Robert Picard had rattled off 19 points in 10 games and set a club record by scoring in 10 straight. Center Tommy Williams was the only other Cap to score in as many as nine straight games.Injuries shelved both Rick Green and Pete Scamurra, who were doing a good job on the Caps&rsquo; blueline. Green was expected back after his knee injury but Scamurra, injured at Detroit, may be out for some time.Garry Inness continued to be effective in goal for the Caps and was 2-2-3 in his first seven decisions, stopping 90 percent of the shots fired in on him.Blair Stewart made a successful return to the Caps and played right wing with Charron and rookie left wing Ryan Walter. The Caps intend to use Walter as a center when everything is set but he is doing very well with Charron at present and could be a prime contender for rookie of the year honors with Wayne Babych of St. Louis out for at least a month.Walter had 25 points in his first 30 games, 10 in his last nine after missing all of training camp because of knee surgery and being sent out of action for a week with a painful rib injury. Walter also had an even plus-minus record, which was most impressive.The Caps had converted Ohly eight percent of the power plays early in the season but have been close to making one of three in recent games. Key men on the power play are Picard and Green, Walter, Charron, Bob Sirois and both Dennis Maruk and Tom Rowe.Caps had six of 10 wins on the road and should post best road record in the team&rsquo;s history. &#9632;

f0012-03

Caps’ Resilient Charron Gutsy Leader By Example

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011054/4265667-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="501" height="642"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOBBY KROMM&hellip;Disillusioned</figcaption></div>DETROIT&mdash;The Red Wing collapse which sent them tumbling toward the Norris Division cellar was a result of an incredible series of third period letdowns which left the team bewildered.Consider: No less than seven times this season have the Wings watched two-goal leads disappear in the final three minues. Four of those occasions came in the 12 games before the end of 1978, with the New Year&rsquo;s Eve Disaster, as it is being led, finishing it off.In that one, at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Wings blew a four-goal lead to lose, 5-4, on Randy Carlyle&rsquo;s goal with seven seconds left. The last three Pittsburgh goals came in the final two minutes, 54 seconds and left the Wings dazed and coach Bobby Kromm shocked.Two days later, Kromm was to say: &ldquo;Never have I been so disillusioned and dissatisfied. It happened before, I know, but I never thought it would happen in that game.&rdquo;Before the Wings got back into action, there was a meeting with Kromm and GM Ted Lindsay covering all bases.&ldquo;I told them there are still 40 games left in the season and I expect to win more than we lose,&rdquo; Kromm said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t expect to win them all, but I do expect to win. You never know what can happen.&ldquo;It seens we&rsquo;re a team of 58 minutes and collapse. It becomes a bigger thing mentally. At the team meeting, Ted and I went over it. Everybody has to do his own job. The players realize what&rsquo;s happening late in the games and everybody is trying to help somebody else.&ldquo;There won&rsquo;t be any slack time. We&rsquo;re going to practice hard. If they still can&rsquo;t see it, we&rsquo;ll take them in the film room and show them on film what they&rsquo;re doing wrong.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not getting beaten badly. We&rsquo;re getting two-goal leads and then wasting them. We&rsquo;re so close to being where we should be.&ldquo;Look at where we are now. Ten points out of second place, and look at all the games we&rsquo;ve wasted. In my mind we could be in second place today. Look at all the games&mdash;the opener against St. Louis; Chicago, when we had a 3-1 lead; Atlanta, when they scored with one second left; Philadelphia; the New York Rangers early in the season. The Pittsburgh game. There have been so many like that.&ldquo;First it was only a little problem mentally,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;Now that, the mental part of it, is becoming a great factor.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very important that we get back to everybody doing his own job. Why change things after two periods when we&rsquo;ve had success with it? You know the other team, trailing late in a game, is going to send two, three men in. It should create chances for you to take advantage of.&rdquo;MOTOR CITY SHORTS: Morris Moorawnick, the all-pro statistician from Detroit, provides some interesting statistics on the Wings and their third period woes.For instance, the Wings were outscored 48-31 in the final 20 minutes of the first 39 games this season. More significantly, they have been outscored, 16-1, in the final two minutes of the games. That breaks down to 9-0 between the 18 and 19-minute marks and 71 in the final minute. &#9632;

f0013-01

Third Period Letdowns Clip Wings

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02842/4265698-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="537" height="734"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE JENSEN&hellip; Just Needs Finesse</figcaption></div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;When you&rsquo;re on a team, but not playing for the team you have to be careful how you conduct yourself, according to Steve Jensen. &ldquo;You want to show spirit and root for the team, but you don&rsquo;t want to look content like you don&rsquo;t care if you don&rsquo;t play,&rdquo; he says with a smile.Jensen came to the Kings with Dave Gardner and Rick Hampton from Minnesota as compensation when free-agent Gary Sargent signed with the North Stars. Gardner is in the minors, Hampton has played regularly on defense, and Jensen has played irregularly on offense.Steve spent eight games in civvies or on the bench in the first half of the season and spent little time on ice in 10 to 12 other games. He played regularly in only about 15 games, yet totalled 10 goals. His goals per minutes played has to be one of the highest on the team.This is Steve&rsquo;s fourth season in pro hockey,, all in the NHL. Out of Minneapolis, he played for an NCAA championship club at Michigan Tech and scored six goals in six games for the U.S. team at the Olympics in 1976. Joining the North Stars, he scored seven goals in 19 games his first season and 22 in a full season the following season, but fell off to 13 last season, and his hometown team let him go.Here, there was the fear that he might be another Gene Carr&mdash;an outstanding skater who has trouble controlling the puck and shooting it. He admits, &ldquo;I must have had 15 breakaways I messed up last season. However, I felt I had the ability and just had to add a little finesse.&rdquo;The Kings were overloaded with a lot of forwards of similar ability going into this season and Jensen was encouraged when others were cut and he was kept, but he was discouraged when he was not played. However, he impressed coach Bob Berry with his spirit and looked good when played.A series of injuries opened up opportunities to him recently and he came through, notably with two goals in a tie in Montreal although the left-winger was pressed into service on the right side of Butch Goring&rsquo;s line. He has had to play with a variety of linemates this season, but he has played well.A six-foot-two, 190-pounder, Jensen has size and strength to go with his swift skating ability, he is aggressive and he plays defense as well as offense. Born in April of 1955, he is only 23 and can become an excellent player.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s time to make it in the majors and I&rsquo;m confident I can,&rdquo; concludes the promising youngster.KINGS THINGS: In an effort to add muscle to their defense the Kings swapped Don Kozak to Vancouver for Randy Holt, a five-foot-11, 185-pounder who had 411 minutes in penalties in the Central League one season and 249 in the NHL last season. At 25, the righthanded Holt is in his sixth, pro season and played with Chicago and Cleveland previously. Brother Gary has played for California, Cleveland, and St. Louis.The Kings also recalled from Springfield defenseman Doug Halward, the six-foot-one, 190-pound, 23-year-old fourth-year pro obtained from Boston at season&rsquo;s start. And obtained rights to six-foot-two, 180-pound center Steve Carlson of Edmonton of the WHA from Detroit, which signed Steve Short as a free agent&hellip;Short and Kozak both had been assigned to the minors. Short played only briefly for L.A., but Kozak played six seasons here.The defense was depleted at year&rsquo;s end in the Montreal game when Bob Murdoch suffered a separated shoulder and Rick Hampton suffered a wrenched knee. Recovered from his groin injury,&rsquo; Brian Glennie picked up some slack with his best play of the season, but captain and right-wing Mike Murphy returned too soon from his groin injury. &#9632;

f0013-02

Speedster Jensen Deserves Chance To Impress Kings

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011080/4265757-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg"></div><h2>Ice Cleaning With Class</h2>Bill Martre, building superintendent of the Toledo Sports Arena, answered Ted Garvin&rsquo;s criticism that arena workers were shabbily dressed when cleaning the ice by donning white top hat; white tie and tails while operating the Zamboni machine between periods of a Toledo Goaldiggers&rsquo; home game in the IHL. Gerald Francis, the general manager of the Toledo arena, ordered formal wear for a dozen of his maintenance workers following Garvin&rsquo;s criticism.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02891/4265750-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="1141" height="1166"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Ian MacAlpine)</figcaption></div><h2>Dean Of Discipline</h2>NHL vice-president Brian O&rsquo;Neill watches intently from his Montreal Forum seat as he observes the action on the ice for future reference. O&rsquo;Neill, who has become entrusted with the task of dealing with stick swingers, brawlers and rowdies who abuse game officials, has been kept busy this season meting out suspensions. He set Colorado&rsquo;s Wilf Paiement down for 15 games and Philadelphia&rsquo;s Paul Holmgren for six for using their sticks on NHL rivals.<h2>Voice Of The Hawks</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03660/4265743-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="834" height="1304"></div>Ron Oakes, the play-by-play broadcaster of the San Diego Hawks of the Pacific Hockey League, is strongly convinced the city of San Diego should be part of the NHL. Oakes, who did the Chicago Black Hawks&rsquo; games last season, says the PHL is lucky to have San Diego and he thinks it is a better hockey town than some of the present NHL cities.<h2>His Caps On The Move</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04464/4265736-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="861" height="1358"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>General manager Max McNab strolls down the corridor of the arena undoubtedly a more happier man now that his Washington Capitals are starting to put it all together with a little more regularity. McNab has had to go through two coaches and endless i number of hockey players this year but it appears to be paying dividends. The Caps actually got out of last place last week.<h2>The Family Pride</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-05326/4265729-1-eng-US/f0014-052.jpg" title="f0014-05" width="682" height="1529"></div>Winger Errol Thompson of the Detroit Red Wings takes his daughter Lisa Rae for a skate during the recent Red Wings&rsquo; family get together at the Olympia. It was a proud moment for the youngster to get out with her hockeyplaying father, who doesn&rsquo;t get very many chances to shed his Detroit hockey suit and go for a family skate. &#9632;

f0014-01

HOCKEY PEOPLE

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02812/4265788-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="555" height="988"><figcaption class="caption-body">PER-OLOV BRASAR&hellip;Poor First Half</figcaption></div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;Glen Sonmor, the quick quipping coach of the Minnesota North Stars, will talk an arm off about the virtues of rising star Bobby Smith.He put it best, though, with a succinct comment on the improved play of the onrushing rookie center.&ldquo;Bobby Smith is going to put a lot of people into our seats because he&rsquo;s the type of person who is going to bring people out of their seats,&rdquo; Sonmor said.The six-foot-four, 215-pound center from the Ottawa 67s has, after a slow start, the people on their feet in Minnesota.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got moves,&rdquo; Sonmor said, &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t seen before from many rookies and a lot of veterans for that matter.&rdquo;It took a while, but the North Stars went out of the way to keep from pressuring the No. 1 draft choice in the NHL amateur ranks last summer, for not tearing apart the league from the start.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t worried about Bobby coming around,&rdquo; said Lou Nanne, Stars&rsquo; general manager. &ldquo;I saw what he could do last year when he was a dominating junior player. We didn&rsquo;t want to put any pressure whatsoever on him&hellip;we knew he was going to come around. He&rsquo;s still learning, and remember he&rsquo;s only halfway through his first season. Guys like Bobby Orr and Guy Lafleur did not exactly go gangbusters their first seasons in the league either.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d rather have him gain his confidence than worry about him being a flash in the pan. So many times you see outstanding juniors who never fully develop as pros. We surely were not worried.&rdquo;The record backs Nanne. The incomparable Lafleur did not make the first team All Star selections until his fourth season after three seasons with goals in the 20s. Orr did win the Calder Trophy as top rookie his freshman season, but without the scoring records he was to achieve later in his injury-shortened career.Smith did not really get going until December. But once he did, the points started to add up. He scored goals in four straight games, scored 12 points in a nine-game span and was named No. 1 star in four out of five games in one stretch.&ldquo;Those first two months are the worst Smith will have for the next 10 years,&rdquo; said one visiting scout to Minnesota.The problem was, however, Smith and linesmates Al MacAdam and Steve Payne formed the only Minnesota line which was scoring with any regularity.In a three-game winless streak, when the North Stars lost two and tied one with only seven goals for, Smith and his wingers scored five of the seven goals. Only one other forward had a goal in that stretch.&ldquo;Once again, our inability to get scoring from people we know can score goals in reaching alarming proportions,&rdquo; said Sonmor. &ldquo;How long can we continue to wait?&rdquo;Smith took over the team scoring lead as Tim Young went into the throes of a winter slump. Most puzzling has been the ill fortune of Per-Olov Brasar, the team&rsquo;s top rookie a season ago. The little Swede had a much better second-half last year, so maybe his total of three goals and 14 assists would begin to improve quickly.Glen Sharpley is another forward who has not yet become untracked as Sonmor continues to juggle his front lines in trying to find the right combination.The Minnesota coach even had MacAdam and Smith take brief stints on extra shifts to get some other forwards going. So who did the scoring then? Smith and MacAdam.Smith turned in two memorable plays in early January that, like Sonmor said, brought Minnesota fans off their chairs for prolonged ovations. One came against St. Louis when Smith came in on a breakaway, faked a pass, faked a slapshot and skated around the goalie to deposit in a goal. The other was on a rush down the right side against Boston. He took a two-handed baseball swing slash from Mike Milbury on the forearms, continued the mission with a sweep around the net and deposited the puck for an easy Ron Zanussi goal while surviving a cross-check at the same time from Dennis O&rsquo;Brien.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s coming&hellip;it&rsquo;s coming,&rdquo; Smith will say, &ldquo;but there is a long way to go.&rdquo;STAR DUST: Gilles Meloche played 14 straight games in goal before finally taking a night off&hellip;The Stars gave a very uninspired performance in an 8-5 loss to the Soviet Wings, who built a 7-1 lead then coasted on New Year&rsquo;s Eve&hellip;Bryan Maxwell was recalled from Oklahoma City and defensive cohort Brad Maxwell returned from a three-game layoff for a shoulder injury&hellip;Defenseman Don Jackson and center Mike Eaves went back to Oklahoma City after brief stays and Jim McKenny was sent down&hellip;GM Lou Nanne acquired the negotiating rights to defenseman Bill Nyrop, who played regularly with three Montreal Stanley Cup teams before his sudden retirement this season&hellip;Nyrop is currently working for an insurance company in Minnesota, his home state&hellip;Nanne also has negotiated the rights to deal with New England&rsquo;s aggressive winger Jack Carlson, another native Minnesotan. &#9632;

f0015-02

Stars Not Getting Enough Goals As Smith’s Line Carries Scoring

<div class="byline">BY FRED PIETILA</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011035/4265819-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="520" height="599"><figcaption class="caption-body">MERLIN MALINOWSKI&hellip;Rapidly Improving</figcaption></div>DENVER&mdash;Merlin &ldquo;The Magician&rdquo; Malinowski didn&rsquo;t use any magic to make it with the Colorado Rockies this season. Just hard work on his defensive game.And most of that hard work took place in Philadelphia with the American Hockey League Firebirds as the Rockies&rsquo; No. 2 draft choice from Medicine Hat played his way onto the NHL club&rsquo;s roster.It&rsquo;s typical for high-scoring juniors to step into, the pros and discover it&rsquo;s another game. You&rsquo;ve got to be checking and playing defense when you don&rsquo;t have the puck.It was the same for Malinowski, a personable 20-year-old center who earned his nickname for his puck-handling ability and clever moves. But Malinowski is working hard to improve, both his checking and hitting.&ldquo;The biggest adjustment is checking and hitting,&rdquo; Malinowski said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what they told me I had to do. That&rsquo;s why they sent me down and I worked on checking and hitting while I was there. That&rsquo;s been my biggest adjustment.&ldquo;Mostly, it&rsquo;s just mentally, force of habit. You&rsquo;re used to turning away from a check instead of following through and taking the man. The biggest thing is thinking to do it and doing it on instinct,&rdquo; Malinowski said.Malinowski got his first real chance to play on a regular basis when veteran center Rey Comeau missed five games because of a pulled groin. He was inserted between right winger Ron Delorme and left winger Ralph Klassenori what had been designated as the Rockies&rsquo; checking line. It seemed strange that a guy noted for his offense would be placed in such a position.Malinowski laughed at the notion. &ldquo;Just anywhere I can play, I&rsquo;ll play,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If it&rsquo;s checking they want me to do, I&rsquo;ll check as hard as I can. If it&rsquo;s-coring, I&rsquo;ll try as hard as I can to score. I just want to become an all-around player.&rdquo;Ray Miron, the Rockies&rsquo; general manager who was up until 4 a.m. the night before the draft negotiating for a second-round draft choice with the Philadelphia Flyers, said that Malinowski&rsquo;s main problem area is &ldquo;defensively, knowing where to go and what to do&hellip;checking.&rdquo;But Miron feels that Malinowski&rsquo;s earlier defensive inadequacy might have come because he was a star on a losing team in junior hockey. &ldquo;He was the best player on his team last year and tried to do everything by himself.&rdquo;&ldquo;I was just wanted to poke check and make the play,&rdquo; Malinowski recalled. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t say that it hurt me that much. You&rsquo;re on a losing team and you don&rsquo;t like to be embarrassed so you want to work harder. Sometimes on a good team, you&rsquo;ll have a lot of good players and you might sit back and let them pick it up for you. I think it probably helped me in that respect,&rdquo; Malinowski said.Rockies&rsquo; coach Aldo Guidolin said that &ldquo;I think that what he&rsquo;s lacking, to play up to his abilities, is confidence. It&rsquo;s a matter of time and him getting adjusted to the NHL. But this is the enlightening part&mdash;he&rsquo;s improving all the time.&ldquo;Checking has been his problem, but he&rsquo;s doing it pretty good and he&rsquo;s learning different things all the time,&rdquo; Guidolin said. &ldquo;He gets in the way. He&rsquo;s doing this well. He&rsquo;s taking guys out of the play.&rdquo;One of Malinowski&rsquo;s best efforts was in a 5-2 loss to Buffalo. He assisted on a goal by Delorme and created numerous opportunities.Malinowski was still looking for his first NHL goal after 10 games with the Rockies. But at least he was in a position, playing regularly, to look for it.ROCKY RAMBLINGS: The Rockies, who had great power-play efficiency in their first 30 games, suddenly found themselves having problems scoring with a man advantage&hellip;In that 5-2 loss to Buffalo, the Sabres, thanks primarily to goalie Don Edwards and penalty-killers Don Luce and Craig Ramsay, shut out the Rockies on six advantage situations. &#9632;

f0015-01

Stint In Minors Aids Malinowski

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01885/4265864-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="811" height="545"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02741/4265857-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="704" height="3616"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03592/4265850-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="2175" height="3074"></div> &#9632;

f0016-01

NHL POINT SCORING AND PENALTY STATISTICS

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01777/4265895-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="542" height="701"><figcaption class="caption-body">GREG MILLEN&hellip;Set Penguin Mark</figcaption></div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;Pittsburgh Penguins owner Edward J. DeBartolo is looking into the possibility of taking over control of the Civic Arena, where the Penguins play their home games, and ensure the future of hockey in Pittsburgh.Vice president of the Penguins, Paul Martha, said, &ldquo;We are in a very preliminary stage. Mr. DeBartolo has talked with some political leaders and their response was very enthusiastic.&ldquo;Our main concern is the continued survival of the Penguins here.&rdquo;The Civic Arena is operated by the Public Auditorium Authority for the city of Pittsburgh and the county of Allegheny.&ldquo;We are not aware of any legal reasons why the city and the county couldn&rsquo;t turn the Civic Arena over to us,&rdquo; said Martha, an attorney. &ldquo;We would probably become a sublessee of the Auditorium Authority. We need control of the facility, either as an owner or an operator.&rdquo;DeBartolo would take over the debt service obligation of the city and county, which split the annual payments of nearly a million dollars.&ldquo;The debt service payments would be treated as our rent for the Arena,&rdquo; Martha said. The multi-purpose facility would continue to be used as itJs now for a variety of sports events and shows, Martha added.&ldquo;But we think we could do a lot of things to make it a more exciting place,&rdquo; he said, noting that other owner-occupied National Hockey League rinks are adorned with a &ldquo;hockey atmosphere.&rdquo;Among the NHL franchises that own or control their own arenas are Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Montreal, New York Rangers, Philadelphia and Toronto, Martha said.He said more than high attendance is necessary for a successful franchise operation.&ldquo;We had to look at the big picture,&rdquo; Martha said. &ldquo;That means controlling parking, food and beverage revenues al the Arena. Even if we sold out for every game, we still couldn&rsquo;t make it. We need time and we need more capital to build a strong team.&ldquo;The teams in the National Hockey; League that are most secure are the one; that own their own rinks. There an peaks and valleys in cash flow. When attendance is down, other sources of in come are needed.&ldquo;Last year the Penguins had a cash flow loss of $2.2 million,&rdquo; Martha said.DeBartolo, who owns 96 percent o the Penguins stock, was encouraged look into the development of the Aren; and surrounding property by the Penguins improved performance on the ice this year, Martha stated.The Civic Arena has been expande; during recent years to seat 16,033 fo hockey.&ldquo;Our goal is to pull it all together make it an attractive package for the city and the county and to preserve the Penguin franchise,&rdquo; Marcha said.PENGUIN TRACKS: According to figures recently released by the NHL, the Penguins have the lowest average priced ticket in the league. The home game with Detroit on February 3, has been rescheduled from a night game to the afternoon. The change allows the game to be televised by the NHL network. Rookie goaltender Greg Millen tied a club record by winning six straight games. Al Smith set the mark in 1970. Millen&rsquo;s streak was broken by the man he replaced in goal for Pittsburgh, Dune Wilson, now with Vancouver. &#9632;

f0017-01

Owners Seek Civic Arena Control

MONTREAL&mdash;Center Bryan Trottier of New York Islanders is flirting with a points-per-game average of two, a level never attained in any National Hockey League season.Trottier, who missed four games earlier this season because of a shoulder injury, has 73 points in the 38 games he has played for an average of 1.92 points-per-game. The highest average ever recorded in one season among players with 50 points or more was 1.97 by former Boston Bruin great Bill Cowley. He had 71 points during the 36 games he played in 1943-44. The only other player to post a mark better than 1.78 is Phil Esposito of New York Rangers. While with Boston, Esposito had a 1.95 average during 1970-71 when he set the NHL record of 152 points in 78 games and in 1973-74 he had a 1.85 figure which is third best on the all-time list.Meanwhile, Guy Lafleur of Montreal. Canadiens has been losing ground to Trottier in the individual scoring race despite a consecutive-games points-streak of 23 that is second longest in NHL history.Lafleur set the league record of 28 in 1976-77 and his current streak is one more than Bronco Horvath of Boston Bruins and Bobby Clarke of Philadelphia Flyers registered. During his 23-game string, Lafleur has 19 goals and 21 assists for 40 points but during the same number of games, Trottier has outscored Lafleur by 12 points. Trottier has been held pointless once in his last 23 games and has scored 23 goals and 29 assists for 52 points and has a five point lead over Lafleur and six ahead of Marcel Dionne of Los Angeles Kings.Dionne moved into contention on the strength of a four-goal game against Detroit Red Wings, Saturday. It was the first four-goal game of Dionne&rsquo;s career and 14th time he had scored three goals in a game. That ties him with Lafleur for fourth place among active players in that category. Esposito holds the NHL record of 29 three-goal games while Rick Martin of Buffalo Sabres is next with 19 and Stan Mikita of Chicago Black Hawks is third with 16.Glenn Resch of Islanders became the third goaltender in NHL history to post an undefeated streak of 23 games when Islanders and Philadelphia played to a 1-1 tie, Sunday. Resch lost his first game of the season but since then has a record of 15 wins and eight ties which is identical to the streak by former Bruin Frank Brimsek in 1940-41. The League record of 33 was set during 1970-71 by Gerry Cheevers of Boston.It was confirmed during the past week that Trottier won $500 as. leader of the individual scoring race for the first half while Lafleur collected $250 as runner-up. &#9632;

Isles’ Trottier Nearing 2-Point Game Average

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/f0018-01795/4265950-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="622" height="1937"></div> &#9632;

f0018-01

Looking At NHL Goalers

<div class="byline">BY AL SMITH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02640/4265981-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="475" height="612"><figcaption class="caption-body">YVES BELANGER&hellip;Lost Confidence</figcaption></div>ATLANTA&mdash;Yves Belanger probably knows better than anyone in the National Hockey league how Custer felt at Little Big Horn.For awhile this season every time he looked up and saw the opponent coming the thought of, &ldquo;Oh, my God, here they come again,&rdquo; went through his mind.Reason for the total lack of confidence for the Atlanta Flames&rsquo; back up goalie came from a total lack of playing time.Flames&rsquo; coach Fred Creighton has shouldered the blame for Belanger&rsquo;s early season frustrations, but other coaches in his shoes might have done the same thing.The Flames, as has been documented time and time again, got off to the best start in the history of the franchise and the third best ever in the NHL. They went undefeated in their first 12 games and Dan Bouchard was in net every game.So, how was Creighton to break up a winning combination such as this?Belanger admits that it was a tough thing for Creighton to do when the Flames had put eight, nine or 10 victories together, but if he had played earlier things might have been different.The 26-year-old goalie didn&rsquo;t get into a game until Nov. 14 and it proved to be disastrous. The first three shots by the Washington Capitals ended up behind Belanger and when it was over the Caps had put five more in the net for an 8-7 victory.&ldquo;The first two were pretty good goals,&rdquo; Belanger said. &ldquo;But the third was all my fault. After that every time they came down the Ice I cringed.&rdquo;It wasn&rsquo;t until Nov. 24 that Belanger got another chance and it proved as disastroug as the first. The St. Louis Blues took a 6-0 lead and ended up winning 7-4.From Belanger&rsquo;s first two times in the net came a lack of confidence&mdash;for Creighton, general manager Cliff Fletcher, but most of all for Yves Belanger.&ldquo;I had changed my whole style without even being aware of it,&rdquo; Belanger said. &ldquo;I had watched Danny so much and seen him go undefeated that I picked up some of his style and it didn&rsquo;t work for me,&rdquo; Belanger said. &ldquo;I was really all screwed up.&rdquo;A trip to the minors to get in some playing time helped the Bate Comeau, Que., native but the days of frustration still linger.&ldquo;I came to camp feeling better about this season than any other in my career,&rdquo; Belanger said. &ldquo;I knew this team could go somewhere and I felt a part of it.&rdquo;But 16 games into the season, Belanger had lost that feeling. He sat on the bench during games and watched the Flames win and just went through the motions in practice.&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t get psyched up for anything,&rdquo; Belanger said. &ldquo;In the early part of the season and in training camp I worked harder than I ever had before. But as the season went on what was there to work for? What the hell was I going to do&hellip;sit on the bench a different way or something?&ldquo;I feel I should have played earlier in the season and things would have been different. But when the streak got up to eight, nine or 10 games I realize Fred felt he would have been putting pressure on me to put me in the game.&ldquo;What if I was in goal when the streak came to an end? But I&rsquo;m a pro and I could have taken the pressure.&rdquo;After his stint in the minors, Belanger got his next chance in the third period against the New York Islanders after the New Yorkers had shelled Bouchard and the Flames for the first two periods. Belanger played well enough, but still not up to the form he showed as Bouchard&rsquo;s backup for the 1977-78 season when he posted a 3.52 goals against average.The following night Belanger got his first &lsquo;78-79 victory against the New York Rangers and things were looking up at the start of a new year. But even the victory had its drawback in a season of drawbacks for the personable goaltender.With only three minutes gone in the second period, Belanger stopped a long shot off the stick of Ron Duguay and the fingers on his catching hand went numb.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think too much about it at the time,&rdquo; Belanger said. &ldquo;But as the game went on I had trouble closing my glove. Norm (Flames&rsquo; trainer Mackie) wanted to know if I wanted to come out, but I stayed in.&rdquo;Later it was learned that Belanger had broken some bones in his hand and would be out for two or three weeks. &#9632;

f0018-02

Belanger Fights Frustrating Year

Ryan Walter, the Washington Capitals&rsquo; number one 1978 draft choice enjoyed his finest week as a pro with five goals which I played an important part in the Caps&rsquo; winning two of their last three games.Walter supplied all of the Capitals&rsquo; offense with a pair of goals in a 6-2 setback suffered against the Buffalo Sabres and then added another pair of goals as the Caps blasted the Colorado Rockies 8-1, and had a goal which gave the Caps a 3-1 lead in a game they eventually won 5-3 over Vancouver.Despite missing all of training camp and the first several games of the regular season due to an injury, Walter has raised his goals total to 16 and is challenging for the number two spot among rookie scorers with 31 points.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03472/4266012-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="499" height="617"><figcaption class="caption-body">RYAN WALTER&hellip;Washington Caps</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0018-03

NHL’S— Player of the Week

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01758/4266043-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0019-01

Learn Hockey from Professional Coaches

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01594/4266081-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="389" height="375"></div>NEW YORK&mdash;The first pre-NHL Challenge Cup roster of the Soviet Nationals has been issued&mdash;and there are some changes, some surprises and some old familiar names.Vladislav Tretiak is still &ldquo;numero uxno&rdquo; in goal with Aleksandr Pashkov and Vladimir Myshkin, both members of the Soviet Wings as the backups.On the blueline the keys are still Vjacheslav Fetisov and Valeri Vasiliev. But Sergei Babinov and point man Genandi Tsygankov have fought their way back onto the roster.In addition, youthful Victor Khatulev, who played for the Wings in their NHL tour, has made the squad and is highly touted.Dan Summers, a New York Rangers&rsquo; scout who watched the Izvestia Tournament noted, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a big, mean defenseman who likes to hit.&rdquo;At present, the Soviets number one line, as the Nationals tour Eastern Europe, is Victor Zhluktov with Sergei Kapustin on the left wing and Helmut Balderis on the right.&ldquo;But Vladimir Petrov at center, with Boris Mikhailov and Valeri Kharlamov on the wings still get plenty of ice time and most of the power play opportunities,&rdquo; revealed Summers.The Soviet third line has Aleksandr Golikov working with Pjoir Priordin and Vladimir Kovin.&ldquo;They were outstanding,&rdquo; reported the Ranger bird dog. &ldquo;They work very well together and skate all night long, seemingly getting better in the third period than the first.&rdquo;With these three lines functioning in front of Fetisov and Tsygankov the Soviets have explosive power play, based on five man units.&ldquo;They still try for the perfect goal on almost every offensive thrust,&rdquo; said Summers.Maltsev is still listed on the Soviet roster, but was prevented from playing with Moscow Dynamo against the WHA by a broken wrist. His availability, and the Soviets willingness to use him February 8, 10 and 11 when the NHL All Stars meet the Nationals in Madison Square Garden, is questionable.&ldquo;Zhluktov moved into Maltsev&rsquo;s place and did a job,&rdquo; reported Doug Soetaert, the goalie on NHL Team of the Future. &ldquo;He and Balderis work very well together.&rdquo;The problem of skating speed, which the Russians are blessed with in great abundance, is one which Scotty Bowman, the NHL coach and Bill Torrey, the general manager have to be concerned with.There is no question that the Rangers line of Ulf Nilsson, Pat Hickey and Anders Hedberg has the pure speed to keep up with the Balderis trio or the one on which Kharlamov plays, but they may not have it in certain other aspects of the game. Except for 1977-78, when Sweden twice beat the Soviets in the World Championship without Hedberg and Nilsson, the Soviets have owned the Swedes.There seems little doubt that the NHL squad will include Guy Lafleur and his left wing partner Steve Shutt, but whether center Pierre Mondou will be chosen is a moot point. Undoubtedly, Bowman hopes regular center Jacques Lemaire is healthy again by All Star time.&ldquo;Lemaire gives you both offense and super checking,&rdquo; said Bowman. &ldquo;We (meaning Montreal) don&rsquo;t miss him too much on attack, but on defense it is beginning to show in the goals against. He is a vital player.&rdquo;The Soviets&rsquo; speed might preclude a player such as Boston&rsquo;s Terry O&rsquo;Reilly, who is both an enforcer and a big point producer. However, one NHL front office type noted, &ldquo;O&rsquo;Reilly gives a toughness and will to win which will be needed. He might take over the role played by Phil Esposito in 1972 when Espo had his finest hour as Team Canada&rsquo;s leader.&rdquo;There are those who think the forechecking system used by coach Don Cherry and the Boston Bruins is the answer to confusing the Soviets in their own end.&ldquo;The key to beating the Russians is to keep on top of them in their own end and prevent them from getting their offenses free wheeling,&rdquo; said Bobby Clarke, who played on both the 1972 and 1976 Team Canada squads. It was Clarke whose slash &ldquo;accidentally&rdquo; broke Kharlamov&rsquo;s ankle in game six, which helped Team Canada win in 1972. Paul Henderson scored three consecutive game winning goals to pull out the series four games to one with one tie.Clarke recently scored two goals in the final three minutes, the last score coming with just 16 seconds remaining to tie the Soviet Wings for the Flyers, 44 in an exhibition game.&ldquo;I just couldn&rsquo;t let them beat us,&rdquo; said Bobby. &ldquo;When I play against the Russians I give something extra&mdash;and usually it takes that to beat them.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02422/4266074-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="556" height="1238"><figcaption class="caption-body">VALERI KHARLAMOV&hellip;Old Face Returns</figcaption></div>This is the third of a series dealing with the Soviet Nationals and the NHL Stars for their three-game showdown in the super Challenge Cup series Feb. 8, 10 and 11 in New York&rsquo;s Madison Square Garden. &#9632;

f0020-01

Soviets Final Player Selection Produces Surprises For NHL Test

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03334/4266112-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="509" height="1150"></div> &#9632;

f0020-03

Soviets Name Team For NHL’s Cup Series

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01442/4266143-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="546" height="797"><figcaption class="caption-body">TIGER WILLIAMS&hellip;Can&rsquo;t Boo Mates</figcaption></div>TORONTO&mdash;The Toronto Maple Leaf players often have complained that the fans in their home rink. Maple Leaf Gardens, are too quiet.Recently, however, those spectators have been making abundant noise&mdash;and the Leafs don&rsquo;t like it much.During the club&rsquo;s extended slump which saw the Leafs dip to a .500 mark for their first 40 games of the 1978-79 National Hockey League season&mdash;17 wins, 17 losses, six ties, the Gardens&rsquo; fans have booed the team soundly on several occasions. A special target for the paying customers&rsquo; derision has been winger Dan Maloney, who was acquired last season in a trade for a very popular Leaf, winger Errol Thompson.In fact, some Leaf players claim that the jeers of the crowd was part of their problem because it had an upsetting influence on the team. Too many goals entering the Leaf net and not enough contacting the twine at the other end didn&rsquo;t help the club, either.Leaf captain Darryl Sittler, who will be sidelined until late January with a knee injury, claims the players aren&rsquo;t relaxed, afraid of making a mistake which will attract the negative reaction from the crowd.&ldquo;You can tell when a guy stops behind the net to set up a play,&rdquo; Sittler said. &ldquo;The crowd starts to get on him, he gets flustered and makes a mistake. No one seems to be playing with any confidence.&rdquo;Tiger Williams agrees that the booing is bothering some of his teammates.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t get bothered by it but I know a few of our guys are really down about it,&rdquo; Williams said. &ldquo;The other night, the fans were booing ns in a game against Atlanta when we were behind only 1-0.&ldquo;The booing has a bad effect on a club. When the fans boo, each guy wants to be the man to shut them up. So when he gets the puck, he tries to skate through the other team with it. We only have a couple of guys on this team, Darryl Sittler and Borge Salming, who can do that.&rdquo;&ldquo;The fans are like us: They get upset when we don&rsquo;t win and boo us,&rdquo; Williams added. &ldquo;But we can&rsquo;t boo each other.&rdquo;The only roster changes the Leafs were able to make were small ones. They dispatched defenseman Trever Johansen and center Bruce Boudreau to their American league farm team, New Brunswick Hawks, and recalled forward Ron Wilson from the Hawks. &#9632;

f0021-01

Toronto Fans Voice Displeasure

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-05193/4266254-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0022-05

Where NHL Teams Play

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-06156/4266285-1-eng-US/f0022-062.jpg" title="f0022-06" width="580" height="1764"></div> &#9632;

f0022-06

The NHL Scoreboard

ATLANTA: Laurence 5, MacMillan 19,20, Pronovost 16,17,18, Chouinard 26, Lysiak 21.BOSTON: Schmautz 10,11, O&rsquo;Reilly 11,12, Redmond J, Miller 13, Middleton 19, Doak 3, O&rsquo;Brien 1, Secord 9, Ratelie 14,15.BUFFALO: Savard 9,10, Ramsay 14,15, McAdam 5, Seiling 9,10, Schoenfeld 3,4, Luce 14, Robert 7,8, Perreault 14, Smith 13, T. Martin 4.CHICAGO: Bulky 13, Boldirev 18, Wilson 3, Mikita 9, Rota 9, Daigle 5.COLORADO: Paiement 13,14,15, Valiquette 14,15,16.DETROIT: McCourt 16, Bolduc 7, Libett 8,9,10,11, Woods 5, Larson 10, Carroll 6, Huber 4, Nedomansky 17.LOS ANGELES: Williams 6,7,8, Jensen 12,13, Taylor 21,22,23, Dionne 31,32,33,34, Venasky 2, B. Wilson 6.MINNESOTA: Polich 4, Young 10, B. Smith 13,14, Younghans 6, Sharpley 10,11, Sargent 10, Brad Maxwell 4, Zanussi 11, Payne 6.MONTREAL: Lapointe 10, Tremblay 13,14,15, Lafleur 29,30, Larouche 5, Napier 5, Jarvis 7, Gainey 10.ISLANDERS: Bourne 16,17, Trottier 29,30,31,32, Marshall 1, Henning 7,8, Bossy 34,35, Kaszycki 8, Merrick 9,10,II, Gillies 16, Lewis 3.RANGERS: Tkaczuk 7, Hedberg 17,18, Duguay 12,13,14,15, Nilsson 18,19,20, Plante 4, Esposito 22,23, Murdoch 1,2,3.PHILADELPHIA: MacLeish 17, Ververgaert II, Leach 20,21, Barber 17, Watson 3, Clarke 12, Dailey 6, Gorence 3.PITTSBURGH: Lonsberry 13,14,15, Lee 22,23, Kehoe 10,11, Schutt 14, Malone 14,15,16, Ferguson 9, Carlyle 7.ST. LOUIS: Sutter 21, Giroux 2, H. Bennett 1, Unger 18,19,20, Murdoch 4,5, Federko 15.TORONTO: Jones 8, Stamler 3, Wilson 4, Turnbull 6, Boutette 12, McKechnie IS, McDonald 16.VANCOUVER: Lever 14,15, Manno 1, Smyl 5,6, Sedlbauer 27, Graves 10, Oddleifson 9,10, Snepsts 4, Gillis 5,6, Callander 3,4, Goodenough 1.WASHINGTON: Picard 10, Charron 13,14, Walter 12,13,14,15,16, Maruk 11,12,13,14, Rissling 1,2, Bergeron 7, Stewart 3, Green 6. &#9632;

NHL’s Scorers …This Week

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01482/4266223-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="594" height="1814"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02377/4266216-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="1190" height="2256"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03306/4266209-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="596" height="3388"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04233/4266202-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="573" height="1279"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02345/4266195-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="618" height="3547"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03254/4266188-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="1176" height="1686"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-04196/4266181-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="571" height="643"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-05167/4266174-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="563" height="387"></div> &#9632;

f0022-01

NATIONAL LEAGUE SUMMERIES

C-Captain *- Rookie<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01454/4266340-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="146" height="146"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2>ATLANTA</h2>GOALDan BouchardRejean LemelinDEFENSEGreg FoxEd Kea*Brad MarshRichard MulhemPat RibbleRod SeilingDave ShandCENTERSGene CarrGuy Chouinard*Red LaurenceTom Lysiak CR. WINGSJohn GouldKen HoustonBobby LalondeBob MacMillanJean PronovostWilli PlettL. WINGSBill ClementHarold PhillipoffEric Vail<h2>BOSTON</h2>GOALGerry Cheevers*Jim PettieDEFENSEGary DoakMike MilburyDennis O&rsquo;BrienDick RedmondAl SimsRick SmithCENTERSPeter McNabBob MillerJean RatelleR. WINGSRick MiddletonTerry O&rsquo;ReillyBobby SchmautzL. WINGSWayne Cashman CDon Marcotte*Al SecordJohn Wensink<h2>BUFFALO</h2>GOALDon Edwards*Bob SauveDEFENSERichard DunnLee FogolinJocelyn GuevremontBill HajtJerry KorabJim Schoenfeld*Bill StewartCENTERSDon LuceGilles PerreaultAndr6 SavardDerek SmithR. WINGSDanny Gare CJacques RichardRend RobertRic SellingL. WINGSRichard MarlinTerry MartinGary McAdam*Tony McKegneyCraig Ramsay<h2>CHICAGO</h2>GOALTony EspositoMikeVeisorDEFENSEDoug HicksDave LoganMike O&rsquo;ConnellBob MurrayPhil RussellDoug WilsonCENTERSIvan BoldirevAlain DaigleJim HarrisonStan Mikita*Jean SavardR. WINGSJ.P. Bordeleau*Tim HigginsCliff KorollGrant MulveyL. WINGSTed BulleyBob Kelly*Reg Kerr*Doug LecuyerJohn MarksDarcy Rota<h2>COLORADO</h2>GOALBill OleschukMichel PlasseDEFENSEDon AwreyBarry BeckNick BeverleyMike ChristieMike Kitchen*Michel LachanceDennis OwcharJohn VanBoxmeerCENTERSRey ComeauPaul Gardner*Merlin Malinowski*Paul MessierClayton PachalNelson PyattJack ValiquetteR. WINGSRon Delorme*Paul MessierWilf PaiementRandy PierceL. WINGSGary CroteauRalph KlassenAndy Spruce<h2>DETRONT</h2>GOALJim RutherfordRogie VachonDEFENSEThommie BergmanJean HamelJohn Hilworth*Willie HuberReed LarsonPerry Miller*John TaftCENTERS*Dan Bolduc*Greg CarrollDale McCourtAndre SL LaurentR. WINGSDan LabraatenVaclac NedomanskyDennis PolonichL. WINGSNick LibettBill Lochead*Rob PlumbErrol ThompsonPaul Woods C<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2>GOALRon Grahame*Mario LessardGary SimmonsDEFENSEDarryl EdestrandBrian GlennieDoug HalwardRandy HoltRandy ManeryRob PalmerCENTERSSylAppsMarcel DionneButch GoringVic VenaskyR. WINGSMark HeaslipGlenn GoldupL. WINGSDanny GrantSteve JensonDave TaylorTom WilliamsBert WilsonMurray Wilson<h2>MINNESOTA</h2>GOALGary EdwardsPete LoPrestiGilles MelocheDEFENSE*Bill Butters*Don JacksonBrad MaxwellJean PotvinGary SargentGreg SmithCENTERS*Kris ManeryGlen Sharpley*Bob SmithTim YoungR. WINGSKent-Erik AnderssonAl MacAdamDan ChkoineTom YoughansRon ZanussiL. WINGSPer-Olov BrasarJean-Paul Parise C*Steve Payne*Mike Pollch<h2>MONTREAL</h2>GOALKen DrydenMichel LarocqueDEFENSERick ChartrawBrian EngblomGuy LapointeRod LangwayGilles LupienLarry RobinsonSerge SavardCENTERSDoug JarvisPierre Larouche*Dave LumleyPierre MondouR. WINGSCam Connor*Pat HughesGuy LafleurMario TremblayL. WINGSBob GaineyRejean HouleYvon LambertMark NapierDan Newman<h2>ISLANDERS</h2>GOALChico ReschBilly SmithDEFENSEGerry HartDave Lewis* Bob LorimerBert MarshallStefan PerssonDenis PotvinPat PriceCENTERSRichie HansenLome HenningMike KaszyckiWayne MerrickBryan TrottierR. WINGSMike BossyBilly HarrisBob NystromEd WestfallL. WINGSBob BourneClarke Gillies CGarry HowattJohnTonelli<h2>RANGERS</h2>GOALJohn DavidsonDoug SoetaertWayne ThomasDEFENSEDave FarrishRon GreschnerMike KorneyDave Maloney CMario MaroisMike McEwenCarol VadnaisCENTERSRon DuguayPhil EspositoUlf NilssonWalter TkaczukR. WINGSLucien DeBloisAnders HedbergEddie JohnstonePierre PlanteDean TalafousL. WINGSNick FotiuPat HickeyGreg PolisSteve Vickers<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2>GOALBernie Parent*Peter PeetersWayne StephensonDEFENSE*Frank BatheBob DaileyAndre DupontRick LaPointeJim Watson*Behn WilsonCENTERSMel BridgmanBobby Clarke CBlake Dunlop*Paul EvansR. WINGS*Torn Gorence*Al HillPaul HolmgrenReggie LeachDon SaleskiDennis VervergaertL. WINGSBill BarberBarry Dean*Dave HoydaBob KellyRick MacLeish<h2>PITTSRURGH</h2>GOALDenis Herron*Greg MillenDEFENSERuss AndersonTom BladonColin CampbellRandy CarlyleRon StackhouseDale TallonCENTERSPete MahovlichGreg MaloneGregg SheppardR. WINGSBlair ChapmanJacques CossetteGeorge FergusonRick KehoePeter LeeL. WINGSWayne BianchinOrest Kindrachuk CRoss LonsberryDave Schultz*Rod Schutt<h2>ST.LOUIS</h2>GOALPhil MyraEd StaniowskiDEFENSEBruce AffleckJack BrownschidleBarry Gibbs CLarry GirouxBob HessNeil Komadoski*Neil LabatteBob StewartCENTERSHarvey BennettBernie FederkoBrian OgilvieLarry PateyGarry UngerR. WINGSBob MurdochMike Crombeen*Tony CurrieRick Shinskec JohnSmrkeL. WINGSCurt BennettInge HammarstromBrian Suttler<h2>TORONTO</h2>GOALPaul HarrisonMike PalmateerDEFENSEDave BurrowsDave Hutchison*Joel QuennevilleBorje SalmingIan TurnbullCENTERSBruce BoudreauJimmy JonesGarry MonahanWalt McKechnieR. WINGS*John AndersonJerry ButlerRon EllisLanny McDonaldL. WINGSPat BoutetteDan MaloneyLome StamlerDave Williams<h2>VANCOUVER</h2>GOAL*Glen HanlonDune WilsonDEFENSEJohn GrisdaleDennis Kearns*Lars LindgrenBob MannoKevin McCarthyJack MclllhargeyHarold SnepstsCENTERS*Thomas GradinPit MartinChris OddleifsonR. WINGSRick Blight*Drew CallanderHilliard Graves*Brad Smith*Stan SmylL. WINGS*Curt FraserJere GillisDon LeverRon Sedlbauer<h2>WASNINGTON</h2>GOALGary InnessBernie WolfeDEFENSERick GreenYvon Labre CGord LaneRobert PicardPete ScamurraGord Smith*Leif SvenssonBryan WatsonCENTERSGuy CharronRon LalondeDennis Maruk*Ryan WalterR. WINGSMichel Bergeron*Mark LofthouseBill RileyTom RoweL. WINGS*Rolf EdbergBob Girard*Gary RisslingBob SiroisBlair Stewart<h2>INJURED PLAYERS</h2>ATLANTAYves BelangerBOSTONGillos GilbertStan JonathanBrad ParkCHICAGOKeith Magnuson CCOLORADO*Mike Gillis*Dave WatsonJoe Watson CDETROITGreg Joly*Brent PetersonLOS ANGELESRick HamptonBob MurdochMike Murphy CMINNESOTA*Fred BarrettJack LynchMONTREALYvan Coumoyer CJacques LemaireDoug RisebroughSteve ShuttST. LOUIS*Wayne BabychTORONTODarryl Slttler CVANCOUVER*Bill DeriagoWASHINGTON*Tim Coulis &#9632;

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NHL Team Rosters

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/f0024-02377/4266371-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="579" height="855"></div> &#9632;

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WHA Leaders

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01471/4266402-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="554" height="569"><figcaption class="caption-body">BILL LESUK&hellip;Great Checker</figcaption></div>WINNIPEG&mdash;With every outing, the Winnipeg Jets are looking more like the defending Avco Champions. The Jets played only two games this past week, but like before the All Star break, they haven&rsquo;t forgotten their winning ways. Winnipeg picked up the maximum four points in those two games and by doing so, vaulted into third place in the World Hockey Association standings.The Jets opened their post All Star campaign by edging the Quebec Nordiques 3-2. Terry Ruskowski, Morris Lukowich and Peter Sullivan provided the scoring punch for the Jets, who once taking the lead, reverted to a close checking brand of hockey.In the dressing room after the game, a smiling general manager John Ferguson noted that it was a &ldquo;disciplined win - the kind you take pleasure in.&ldquo;With players like Cloutier, Tardif, Bernier and Geoffrion, Quebec is probably the most explosive club in the league. Then, when those guys aren&rsquo;t going well, their goaltending is killing us,&rdquo; he added.In six previous encounters with Quebec this year, the Jets had one win, three losses and two ties.&ldquo;Disciplined&rdquo; was the appropriate adjective as Quebec, without their All Star left winger, Marc Tardif, couldn&rsquo;t organize a concerted attack. Perhaps the most important reason for this was the work of Jets&rsquo; left winger Bill Lesuk. Now in his fourth year with Winnipeg, Lesuk stuck like fly-paper to the league&rsquo;s leading scorer, Real Cloutier. Everywhere the youngster turned, he found number 17 close on his heels. Lesuk was so effective that Cloutier failed to pick up a point, and in fact, was held to a meager one shot on goal.Lesuk and his linemates, Lyle Moffat and Bobby Guindon, never got the acclamations saved for the Nilssons, Lukowiches or Sullivans. Nevertheless, they have played an important role in the resurgence of the Winnipeg Jets.A veteran of four NHL teams (Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Washington), Lesuk came to the Jets in 1975. The 32-year-old native of Moose Jaw has never been known as a prolific goal scorer but his determination and hard work have earned him the respect of his peers: A very intense and competitive individual on the ice, &ldquo;Tractor&rdquo; has helped the Jets maintain one of the best penalty killing records in the WHA.Lesuk&rsquo;s close checking style of play carried over into the Jets&rsquo; next game against the Edmonton Oilers. In 60 minutes of regulation play and six minutes and 22 seconds of overtime, the Oilers managed to fire only 26 shots at goaltender Joe Daley.The Jets themselves came away with only 23 shots, but four of them eluded Edmonton goalie Ed Walsh. Kent Nilsson, who continues to give the Oilers fits, scored the winner midway through the overtime session. It was Nilsson&rsquo;s second goal of the game and 16th of the year. Of his 16 goals, five of them have come against Edmonton.Nilsson&rsquo;s winning goal was set up by Terry Ruskowski who retrieved an errant Paul Shmyr pass behind the Oiler net. &ldquo;Roscoe&rdquo; shoved the puck out to the big Swede who kicked the puck up to his stick, and rifled home a low wrist shot from 10 feet out. It was Nilsson&rsquo;s 12th game in a row in which he picked up at least a point.Other Jet goals came off the sticks of Willy Lindstrom and Rich Preston. Preston&rsquo;s goal was set up by Peter Sullivan, who continues to play superb hockey. Sullivan skated the length of the ice and moved to the outside as he approached the Edmonton defense. After faking a move to the inside, Sullivan slipped to the outside again and slid a pass across the crease where Preston was waiting to slam it in the twine. The victory left the Jets with a 52-1 record in their last eight outings. &#9632;

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Lesuk’s Defense Leading Jets’ Rise

Winnipeg Jets have stormed into third place of the World Hockey Association standings and are threatening to go all the way to the top led by sophomore sensation Kent Nilsson.Nilsson, who holds down fourth place in the league scoring statistics with 55 points, had four goals and two assists last week as the Jets won four straight games, including three on consecutive nights.They opened the week with a 4-3 overtime victory over Edmonton, a game in which Nilsson netted two goals, including the winner in the extra period. He also contributed a goal in one of two 3-1 victories over Birmingham, and notched the final Jets goal as they downed New England 4-2 in Springfield.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03260/4266433-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="421" height="637"><figcaption class="caption-body">KENT NILSSON&hellip;Winnipeg Jets</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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WHA’S… Player of the Week

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE WARRINER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01407/4266471-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Center Andre Lacroix of the Whalers enjoyed a highly productive scoring month with 16 points during December. It won him the booster club player of the month award. (Photo by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div>HARTFORD&mdash;For the New England Whalers, the All Star break was met with mixed emotions. Mark Howe, Gordie Howe, Dave Keon, and Rick Ley were proud to be named to the team. Others were disappointed at not making the squad. Most of those who stayed home, however, welcomed a three-day break from practice sessions.When it was time to get back to work, a problem developed. In addition to the four who were skating against the Moscow Dynamo in Edmonton, a number of others were stranded by the crippling snowstorm in the midwest. When practice sessions reconvened there were only 10 or 12 players present&mdash;which made it difficult to run an effective session.Fortunately, everyone managed to assemble before a re-match with Cincinnati at Springfield. A week earlier the Stingers had ended a lengthy Whaler win skein so the Whalers wanted to make sure they didn&rsquo;t lose two more points to the team that always plays well against them.It didn&rsquo;t take long for Mark Howe to show his usual form as he drilled one by Cincy goalie, Mike Liut, at the 24-second mark. By adding another tally later in the period young Mr. Howe moved into what turned out to be a three-way tie for the WHA&rsquo;s scoring lead. The goals were Mark&rsquo;s 23rd and 24th of the season.Although the Whalers were never headed, the Stingers kept the game close throughout. A late third period goal by veteran Davey Keon was the clincher for New England. Keon deked around defenseman Barry Legge and, although tripped from behind, managed to nudge the puck toward the goal as he fell. Keon, goalie Liut, and the puck ended up in the back of the cage. Final score, 5-4 Whalers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02299/4266464-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="874" height="970"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rob Ramage was one of the young stars the WHA inserted into its All Star game lineup against the Soviets and the Birmingham defenseman came through with a commendable performance.</figcaption></div>The Whalers&rsquo; victory combined with a Quebec loss put New England in first place. With six of their next nine games at home, the team was hoping to widen the gap because the month of February brings a hectic schedule, including a string of nine games in 12 nights&mdash;many of them on the road.Newly acquired Dave Inkpen and Blaine Stoughton (from the defunct Indy team) were finding it tough to break into the lineup. Inkpen was finally sent down to Springfield (AHL) to get more ice time. The Whalers&rsquo; right wing depth situation was looking up with the availability of Stoughton, and with rookie Jim Warner who is scoring and getting high marks with the Springfield Indians. Andre Lacrois was named Booster Club Player of the month for his big point production in Dec.BIRMINGHAM: The Bulls celebrated the return of their Ione All Star, Rob Ramage, and immediately got back into gear for the second half of the season. The Czechoslovakian team came to Birmingham in hopes of finishing off their tour of WHA cities on a successful note. But they left the &lsquo;Magic City&rsquo; with tails dragging after the frisky Bulls kicked them out of their pasture by means of a 10-2 shellacking.Although practically everyone got into the act, it was a couple of youngsters who led the way, Nineteen-year-old Rick Vaive scored a pair and assisted on four others. Eighteen-year-old Michel Goulet notched his first major league hat trick and added an assist. The scoring outburst put Goulet and Vaive in a tie with 20-year-old Louis Sleigher for the team scoring lead.Rookie Rick Adduono had three assists while Paul Henderson led the veterans with a goal and two assists.The first period was a wide open affair with the Bulls bombing the Czech goalie with 19 shots. At the other end, 19-year-old Pat Riggin turned away nine Czech efforts. Goals by Goulet, Vaive, and Wayne Dillon got the ball rolling for the Bulls.The second stanza was more of the same as Birmingham outshot the Czechs 17-10 and the Bulls found the mark for four more. Rob Ramage and Henderson sandwiched a pair of goals by Goulet. It was 7-1 going into the final period.Dave Hanson got his first goal of the season to lead off the third session. Vaive and John C. Stewart rapped things up with the final goals for Birmingham.Coach John Brophy had to be pleased with the performance of his &lsquo;kids&rsquo;, especially in light of their decrease in production prior to the All Star juncture. Actually there had been some signs just prior to the break that the younger guys were perhaps getting their second wind. But after demolishing the Czechs, the Bulls looked like they were ready to tackle the rest of the WHA with renewed vigor.Although in last place at the break, they were only three points behind the third place Stingers&mdash;and the Bulls had a pair of games in hand.Rob Ramage was singled out for some stellar play in the third game of the All Star series with the Moscow Dynamo. He ended up the three-game set with a very respectable plus four.QUEBEC: The Nordiques traveled to Winnipeg to get the post-all Star game schedule underway. Defenseman Kevin Morrison got his first goal of the season on a power play early in the first period to get the Quebec team off on the right foot. But it was downhill from there for the Nordiques.Winnipeg outshot the Nords 14-7 in the first period while notching a pair of goals. In the second stanza the Jets again outfired their guests, this time 136. Peter Sullivan&rsquo;s goal put the Nordiques down 3-1 going into the third stanza. Although the Quebec City crew came to life outshooting Winnipeg, 10-5 in the period, they could manage only a single goal&mdash;a power play effort by Serge Bernier.Bernier was the only representative from the Nordiques to play in the All Star game. Although Marc Tardif and Real Cloutier were elected to the team, neither played in the series. Tardif flew to Edmonton hoping to play but was ruled out by physicians, due to a badly swollen elbow.Cloutier complained of back problems and didn&rsquo;t make the trip, preferring, to take the time off. He is the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s leading goal scorer with 35 goals in his first 35 games. &#9632;

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Whalers Come Through After All Star Ordeal

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01422/4266523-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="620" height="3400"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02331/4266516-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="1194" height="1045"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03285/4266509-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="591" height="1881"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04223/4266502-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="569" height="194"></div> &#9632;

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WORLD HOCKEY ASSN. SUMMARIES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05184/4266554-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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Where WHA Teams Play

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-06152/4266585-1-eng-US/f0026-062.jpg" title="f0026-06" width="577" height="664"></div> &#9632;

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The WHA Scoreboard

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01399/4266640-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01386/4266678-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="244" height="237"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02286/4266671-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="2236" height="1694"></div> &#9632;

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WHA’S POINT SCORE AND PENALTY STATISTICS

CINCINNATI &mdash;Two of the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s young stars of the future&mdash;Robbie Ftorek of Cincinnati and Edmonton&rsquo;s Wayne Gretzky&mdash;are riding high in the league&rsquo;s scoring race.Ftorek, the talented Stinger center, is the current WHA point scoring leader despite the fact his team is eight points off the league pace. The diminutive Cincinnati star had 64 scoring points after 42 games to lead Real Cloutier of the Quebec Nordiques by one. Robbie&rsquo;s 47 assists are a league high.The Cincinnati pivot scored once and set up two others as the Stingers tripped up Birmingham 4-3 in a weekend-closing game.While Ftorek continued to push towards the scoring pinnacle in the WHA, another young favorite was making waves in the West.The Oilers&rsquo; 17-year-old whiz kid, Wayne Gretzky scored all three goals as he singlehandedly beat New England 30. It was his second hat trick of the year and raised his season total to 20 goals.Gretzky fired all three of his goals in the third period after the Whalers and Oilers had battled through nearly 47 minutes of scoreless, defensive hockey. Then Gretzky broke it open with goals at 6:55, 10:23, and 11:35, and all while both teams were at full strength. The last two of goals were unassisted efforts, the kind of hockey playing that has won him the admiration of Edmonton hockey fans. &#9632;

Ftorek, Gretzky Making Impact

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div>DENVER&mdash;Dont&rsquo;t look now, but upstart Minnesota-Duluth is quietlyemerging as one of the powers in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.Duluth served notice it&rsquo;s for real by taking three points out of a possible four with WCHA pre-season favorite Minnesota on the Gophers&rsquo; home ice.Duluth battled Minnesota to a 6-6 overtime tie the first night before blitzing the nation&rsquo;s top-ranked team 6-1 the next night. Duluth trailed 1-0 in that game, tied it on a shorthanded goal late in the second period, then put it away in the third period as Glenn Kulyk scored once and set up two others.The Duluth uprising shook up the WCHA. Minnesota now holds only a one point lead over North Dakota, which has won three of its last four games against Notre Dame and Denver, all on the road. Minnesota has 25 points, North Dakota 24, Duluth 22, Notre Dame and Wisconsin 21, as four teams are now within four points of Minnesota.Duluth Coach Gus Hendrickson was a gracious winner. &ldquo;Minnesota has a helluva hockey club,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Friday&rsquo;s game was as exciting as you&rsquo;ll find anywhere. It was a thrill-a-shift type of game.&rdquo;That it was, Minnesota scored the tying goal with 56 seconds left in the final period after pulling goaler Steve Janaszak for a sixth skater. The two teams then battled through a scoreless 10-minute sudden death overtime.Duluth had battled from 3-1 and 5-3 deficits to take the lead before Minnesota forced the overtime.&ldquo;Our goaltending&rsquo;was exceptional,&rdquo; Hendrickson said. Sophomore Bill Perkl played both games for the Bulidoes.Hendrickson said the Bulldogs had the jitters the first night. &ldquo;We were so tight we couldn&rsquo;t even move,&rdquo; he said.A standout in the series was Duluth&rsquo;s All-America senior defenseman, Curt Giles. &ldquo;He was one of the best defensemen ever to play in Williams Arena,&rdquo; Hendrickson said of Giles&rsquo; performance against Minnesota. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not flashy, but he controls everything.&rdquo;There is little doubt that Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth are two exceptionally-well matched hockey teams. Earlier in the season, the teams split in Duluth, Minnesota winning 5-4 in overtime before Duluth won the second game 5-4.After the series in Minneapolis, the Gophers and Bulldogs had played 13 periods and were still tied 16-16 but that was before Duluth outscored Minnesota 5-0 in the third period the last night to win the season series 2-1-1 and outscore the Gophers 21-16.Around the WCHA:NORTH DAKOTA AT DENVER: North Dakota salvaged a split to gain one point on Minnesota by winning 11-5 in the second game as Doug Smail and freshman sensation Kevin Maxwell scored two goals apiece. Denver, leading 4-2 with 27 minutes left in the game, saw the Sioux score nine goals in the last 27 minutes to win going away. The Sioux came to life after the WCHA&rsquo;s leading goaltender, freshman Bob Iwabuchi, was tossed from the game for pushing official Red Wilkie. The first night, Denver won 5-4 as goals by Perry Siensland, Andy Hill, Darrell Morrow and Ken Berry helped the Pioneers overhaul a 2-1 Sioux lead. Denver had three power play goals in winning for the first time in eight WCHA games.WISCONSIN AT MICHIGAN TECH: Mark Johnson, Wisconsin&rsquo;s scoring machine, popped in two goals as the Badgers toppled Michigan Tech 5-2 in Houghton. Mich., after Michigan Tech outscored Wisconsin 8-5 in the opener. Michigan Tech has been a surprising team at home, but not the kind of surprise coach John MacInnes favors. His Huskies have now lost six WCHA games at home while losing just twice on the road, both at North Dakota.NOTRE DAME AT MICHIGAN STATE: Lowly Michigan State won for just the fourth time in 20 league games by stunning Notre Dame 6-3. Leo Lynett scored the game-winner for Michigan State, which lost 3-2 to Notre Dame the first night as the Irish snapped a four-game losing streak. Steve Schneider had two goals for Notre Dame in the Saturday loss.COLORADO COLLEGE AT MICHIGAN: Colorado College continues to be an improved hockey team. The Tigers took a pair of wins out of Ann Arbor, Mich. CC won 6-5 in overtime and 4-2 to move into seventh place in the WCHA, one point ahead of archrival Denver. Gary Reinking broke a 2-2 deadlock the second night with seven minutes to play, then Dave Delich hit an empty-getter with five seconds left to wrag it up.WCHA NOTES: CC&rsquo;s Delich is now the all-time scoring leader for the Tigers. He surpassed Doug Palazzari, who had 226 points from 1970-74 for the Tigers&hellip; Wisconsin continues to lead the nation in attendance, averaging 8,658 for 13 home games this season&hellip; Michigan State has been bolstered by the return of Leo Lynett, Paul Gottwald and Dan Sutton, all academically ineligible the first semester&hellip; Michigar Tech&rsquo;s victory in the Great Lakes was the third straight year the Huskies have won the title in the Detroit tourney. Tech goalie John Rockwell was MVP of the tourney after making 67 saves in two games. Tech&rsquo;s John Hadded and Gord Salt joined Rockwell on the all-tourney team. &#9632;

Minnesota-Duluth Emerges As New Power

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01337/4266757-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="558" height="481"></div> &#9632;

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The Top 10 U.S. Colleges

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0029-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02265/4266788-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOM MICHALEK&hellip;Eyeing Two Careers (Photo by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div>NOTRE DAME&mdash;If his father hadn&rsquo;t been such a football fanatic, Tom Michalek might never have been a hockey player for the University of Notre Dame.Fortunately for the Irish, the elder Michalek was a Notre Dame football buff, and that&rsquo;s a big part of the reason why the native of Dearborn, Mich., would up playing hockey for the Fighting Irish.Michalek&rsquo;s fine play and leadership are two reasons why the Irish were the surprise team in the first half of the 1978-79 Western Collegiate Hockey Association race.Michalek chose Notre Dame over Michigan State, partly because of the wishes of his father and partly because of the recruiting efforts of Notre Dame assistant coach Ric Schafer. &ldquo;I wanted to play at a major school and I wanted one with a good academic reputation,&rdquo; Michalek said.He got both at Notre Dame. At the same time he&rsquo;s been cracking in goals for the Irish, he&rsquo;s been cracking the books to the tune of a near 4.0 average in engineering. He&rsquo;s one of three Notre Dame hockey players under consideration for a Rhodes Scholarship. Goalie Greg Rosenthal and wing Greg Meredith are the others.Michalek would like to combine future studies with pro hockey.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s much chance of me playing pro hockey. I wasn&rsquo;t picked in my draft year,&rdquo; said Michalek, a five-foot-nine, 160-pound junior center.Michalek believes Notre Dame is more than an early season surprise. &ldquo;I was surprised when we were at the top, but I think we can stay up there. We have the ability to be there,&rdquo; he said.Michalek&rsquo;s coach, Lefty Smith, is a believer in his prize player, both on and off the ice. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a tremendous student, a tremendous young man,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;When he came to Notre Dame, he had just marginal speed, but he&rsquo;s improved that greatly,&rdquo; Smith, said.Michalek is one of the few Notre Dame players to come to the school from Michigan. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been scouting that area, but we had trouble finding players who fit our needs both in hockey talent and scholastic reuirements. Tom had it all,&rdquo; Smith said.Michalek&rsquo;s figures have improved dramatically each year. He had one goal and six assists as a rookie before adding 15 goals and nine assists as a sophomore.Through the first 16 Western Collegiate Hockey Association games, Michalek has 10 goals and 16 assists to rank second in team scoring only to freshman star Dave Poulin, from Mississauga, Ont. &#9632;

f0029-02

Michalek Chose Notre Dame For ‘Academic Reputation’

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01380/4266819-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="553" height="747"><figcaption class="caption-body">KEITH ALLAIN&hellip;43 Saves</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;Northeastern University, an also-ran in ECAC Division One for the past 11 seasons, scored two impressive wins over favored rivals Boston University and RPI to elbow their way into seventh place in the playoff racerThe Huskies dumped the Terriers for the first time since 1964, a span which saw 29 consecutive BU triumphs. The score was 6-4, aided by an empty net goal, but both coaches agreed that it was a well-deserved victory tor the young NU skaters. Then RPI hit town and was handed a 5-1 pasting before a regional television audience. The win raised NU&rsquo;s record to 4-3 in league play. While there&rsquo;s a long way to go until the March playoff seedings, Northeastern must now be considered a solid contender.Against BU, the Huskies hopped out to a 2-0 first period lead on goals by Doug Harvey and Mark Simmons in a span of 1:20. BU scored quickly in the second period, but power play goals by Wayne Turner and Dave Wilkens more than offset the tally. The teams then swapped goals, and BU drew to within one at 12:15 of the final period.&ldquo;But then they just dug in and disn&rsquo;t let us touch the puck for about a five minute stretch,&rdquo; said stunned BU coach Jack Parker afterwards. And when goalie Ed Arrington foiled Bill Cotter in the waning minutes as the sophomore cruised in alone, it was the coup de grace. Turn-r clinched it with an unassisted empty netter at 19:29.The scores against BU were Turner&rsquo;s first goals of the season, and he got things going against RPI with a first period goal. The Huskies drew away from the Engineers with a three goal third period on Bill Sloan, the RPI netminder who was relegated to third spot but brought back to the varsity by Jim Salfi. Sloan played well but no one could have kept the fired-up Huskies at bay this time.There are no seniors on this Northeastern crew. To make matters worse, last year&rsquo;s leading scorer Scott Gruhl decided to return to Canada the week before school opened in the fall, leaving Fernie Flaman with another gaping hole to fill. The old Bruin basher just went to work with his available talent and was pleasantly surprised by a few of the newcomers like defenseman Paul Filipe and forwards Kert Gennings and Rod Yaworski.&ldquo;The big difference this year is that we&rsquo;ve cut way down on the penalties,&rdquo; said Flaman, now in his tenth year as coach. &ldquo;For the last four or five years we&rsquo;ve been respectable anyway, but the idea that this was a dirty team and that they belonged in the penalty box was around. But since our trip to Michigan State we&rsquo;ve only had two or three penalties per game.&ldquo;Look at the win we had over BU, for instance. We had two power play goals and they didn&rsquo;t get any. Plus, Larry Parks has two or three shorthanded goals. Some of the other guys doing very well are ChrisNilan in cutting down on his penalties, and Doug Harvey. Doug didn&rsquo;t think this league was going to be as good as it is when he started out last year, but now he&rsquo;s coming on strong.&ldquo;It really meant a lot to me after the BU game when the kids presented me with the puck,&rdquo; he concluded. Maybe this will be the year when Northeastern can sustain a February stretch run. Last season they finished fourteenth, losing their last 10 league games. But a closer look shows that three of those defeats were by a single goal, six were by two goals, and just one was by a margin of three goals. Maybe they were never all that far away after all.Elsewhere in the league, New Hampshire and Dartmouth won three and two games, respectively, to take over first place with identical 8-2 records. Ric Mellum and Ross Brownridge scored twice each in Dartmouth&rsquo;s 7-4 triumph over then-first place Vermont. UVM then lost 6-4 to Yale in Burlington as Eli goalie Keith Allain turned aside 43 shots. The twin setbacks dropped Vermont from first to sixth place. Then Yale journeyed down the road to Hanover and was shut out 1-0 by Dartmouth. Brownridge&rsquo;s first period score was all Dartmouth needed. The Green&rsquo;s forecheckers kept Yale back on their heels all evening and gave them but 13 shots on goalie Bob Gaudet.UNH could always score, and now it appears that their defensive problems are on the mend. First the Wildcats sent Princeton into exams still winless at 0-82, posting an 8-3 triumph led by a pair of goals each by Bob Gould and Ralph Cox. Then nine different players punctured the St. Lawrence defense in a 9-1 runaway at Durham. The next night,, it was Greg Moffett stopping 27 Clarkson shots for a 4-0 shutout, breaking a scoring string of 252 consecutive games for the Golden Knights. Cox also had a pair of goals in his contest, one of which was his 100th collegiate marker.Brown entered exams snuggled in fifth place at 7-3, as they defeated Providence 5-3 on the strength of a 35 save performance by Mark Holden. Cornell&rsquo;s question marks are now exclamation points, as evidenced by an 8-6 win over Colgate and an 11-4 pasting of Boston College, both on the road. &#9632;

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Northeastern Trips Favored Foes As Huskies Launch Playoff Drive

<div class="byline">BY JIM SCHNEIDER</div>COLUMBUS&mdash;Bowling Green junior Andy Crowther scored the game winning goal with less than five minutes to play as the Falcons defeated Ohio State 3-2 in a mid-week contest played in the OSU Ice Rink.The &ldquo;gamer&rdquo; for Crowther was his second in two games. In fact, the Melrose, Mass, native tripled his season output in goals in three games and was named Central Collegiate Hockey Association player-of-the-week for his three-goal weekend against Lake Superior.The Falcons swept the three games over LSSC, 5-2 and 4-0 and the win over OSU put the defending CCHA champs at 10-0 in league play and 21-3-1 overall.The second place Ohio State Buckeyes headed into the BG game with an 8-0 home record and were waiting fresh from their second place finish in the Great Lakes Invitational Tournament in Detroit.The Bucks jumped to a quick lead with Jim Penningroth scoring from Larry Marson and Dan Mandich after just 1:23 of action.BG put the pressure on OSU goalie Steve Jones before Mark Wells scored the tying goal from George McPhee and Ken Morrow at 15:30. BG held a 14-7 shooting edge in the first period in front of packed house of 1,800.Ohio State freshman Steve Amoruso pushed the Buckeyes ahead for the second time in the game when Tom Scanlon and Mandich assisted at the 5:11 mark of the second period.The score was tied at 2-2 by Falcon freshman defenseman John Gibb at 13:03 of the second period assisted by All American Morrow and Crowther.The Buckeyes outshot BG 10-9 in the final period, but the only goal was scored by Crowther, his sixth of the season, from linemates Tom Newton and Chris Guertin. The line has been clicking for three games since Newton joined the trio.&rsquo; Newton started the season as the center of the top line with high scoring McPhee (24-26-50) and John Marked (19-26-45), but he has missed nine games with injuries.Sophomore netminder Brian Stankiewicz, who was All-CCHA as a freshman, made 23 saves in his first start of the season for the Falcons. He had made 15 saves against Lake Superior to share a 4-0 shutout with Wally Charko in his first action of the season on the weekend. Steve Jones made 34 saves in the OSU nets.In the sweep over Lake Superior Crowther scored two goals in the opener while Gibb, Wells and Bill Newton collected the others in the first game while Bryan Alexander and John Wilson scored for the Soo Lakers.Markell collected his 200th career point in the opener, only the third player in BGSU history to reach that milestone.In the second game Charko made his 20th straight appearance without a loss running his record to 19-2-1 and making 14 saves before Stankiewicz appeared for the third period.Crowther opened the scoring and Yves Pelland made the score 2-0 for the Falcons after one period.Markell collected his 201st career point with a goal at 7:30 of the second period and T. Newton netted the final goal of the game from Guertin and Steve Douglass at 12:57 of the second period. Douglass was filling in on defense in place of Mike Cotter (sitting out fighting disqualification from the first night) and he played a solid game and was named third star of the game.Murray Skinner made 75 saves in the Laker nets on the weekend, but came up with a pair of defeats.In other weekend action Northern Michigan jumped back into the playoff picture sweeping Western Michigan 3-2 and 4-3 while in non-league action St. Louis swept Miami (of Ohio) 8-2 and 53, while Ferris State dropped a pair of 76 games at the University of Illinois Chicago Circle.In the series in Marquette, MI, the host Wildcats moved out of sixth place with their sweep over Western Michigan.Junior Mike Mielke was the hero in the opener as he converted power play assists from Don Waddell and Bill Joyce with just nine seconds left in the game to provide the 3-2 winning margin.Joyce scored the other two Wildcat goals giving NMU a 1-0 lead in the first period and tying the score in the second period. Ben Pederson and captain Bernie Saunders had given the Broncos a very short 2-1 lead as Joyce netted the tying goal nine seconds after the Saunders goal.The second game was tied 2-2 after the first period with Saunders and Mike &lsquo;Brown scoring for NMU and Steve Cloutier and Keith Hanson scoring for the hosts.Dan Stothers scored at 6:22 of the second period, his fourth point of the weekend, from Brown and Saunders and Glen Weller&rsquo;s Broncos led 3-2 after two periods.NUM&rsquo;s Terry Houck tied the game on a shorthanded goal assisted by Tom Laidlaw at 2:33 of the third period and Laidlaw scored the winner on a power play tally from Hanson and Waddell moments later.Steve Weeks made 33 saves to win the opener and Jon Benson had 31 in the second win for the Wildcats who learned at the start of the series that junior netminder Barrie Oakes was leaving the team due to his knee injury suffered at the start of the season. &#9632;

Falcons Remain Unbeaten As Crowther Grounds OSU

<h2>ECAC Conference</h2>Tue. Jan. 16Boston University at New HampshireBoston College at DartmouthColgate at St. LawrenceRPI at YaleWed. Jan. 17Clarkson at CornellFri. Jan. 19Northeastern at St. LawrenceNew Hampshire at ColgateSat. Jan. 20Providence at VermontCornell at YaleNortheastern at ClarksonBoston College at Boston UniversityNew Hampshire at RPITue. Jan. 23Clarkson at St. LawrenceWed. Jan. 24RPI at Boston UniversityNew Hampshire at DartmouthVermont at CornellYale at Boston CollegeThu. Jan. 25Boston College at ProvidenceSat. Jan. 27Cornell at RPISt. Lawrence at Boston UniversityDartmouth at YaleBrown at NortheasternVermont at New Hampshire<h2>WCHA CONFERENCE</h2>Jan. 19-20Michigan Tech at Notre DameMinnesota at WisconsinMinnesota-Duluth at Colorado CollegeMichigan at North DakotaJan. 20-21Denver at Michigan StateJan. 23Denver at Colorado CollegeJan. 26-27Notre Dame at MichiganNorth Dakota at Michigan TechWisconsin at Minnesota-DuluthMinnesota at Denver<h2>CCHA Conference</h2>Jan.16Ohio State at Bowling GreenNorthern Michigan at Lake SuperiorJan. 19-20Western Michigan at Lake SuperiorSt. Louis at Northern MichiganOhio State at Ferris StateJan. 26-27Bowling Green at St. LouisFerris State at Lake SuperiorNorthern Michigan at Ohio StateMiami at Western Michigan. &#9632;

Where The Colleges Play…

<div class="byline">BY RICHARD JABLONSKI</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0031-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01347/4266898-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Robin Burns, Micron representative, left and Richard Rose of NHL Central Scouting flank All Stars from the Micron Holiday Tournament hosted by Concordia University. Left to right, Burns, Roy Halpin and Dave Jamieson of Toronto, Allie MacDonald of Dalhousie, Rick Tarasuk and Charlie Hughes of Toronto, and Rose.</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;Start with the University of Toronto Blues hockey team. Remove starting goaltender Dave Jenner because of an injury sustained during practice. Then subtract the outstanding defensive play of team captain Rocci Pagnello. Delete five top scoring forwards, and then ice the remainder in the Concordia Hockey Micron Holiday Tournament.What have you got?The answer, simply enough, is a tournament championship team.Tom Watt&rsquo;s Blues, seemingly unhampered by their losses due to injury or pre-Olympic team commitments, waltzed through Guelph and Dalhousie en route to the championship of Concordia University&rsquo;s annual holiday tournament.With a 13-6 thrashing of Guelph in first round play and a convincing 7-1 triumph over Dalhousie in the championship game, the &ldquo;backup Blues&rdquo; clicked for a grand total of 20 goals, demonstrating both the depth and the discipline of a frontline contender for the overall Canadian intercollegiate championship.The Blues weren&rsquo;t the only team in the tournament decimated by player losses. The surprising Guelph Gryphons, with only one regular defenseman healthy-for the Micron competition, nonetheless captured the consolation championship via a somewhat shocking 10-4 thrashing of Paul Arsenault&rsquo;s homestanding Concordia Stingers. The loss to Guelph was only the Stingers&rsquo; second in the past three seasons of holiday competition, the first coming the day before at the hands of the Dalhousie Tigers 6-1.If the tournament was a writeoff for Concordia, it was a smashing success for the players and coaches of the boys from Toronto. Only twice during the two day competition did the Blues appear to lose their composure. In the opening game against Guelph, Toronto twice allowed the Gryphons to net three consecutive goals, and actually fell behind 3-0 in the first 3:29 of play.Six consecutive Toronto goals, two by tourney MVP Roy Halpin, appeared to put things back in perspective until Guelph struck three more times to even things at 6-6 before the second intermission.As the final score indicates, the Blues exploded for seven unanswered goals in the final 20 minutes.Rick Tarasuk netted two of the seven, giving him four for the game. Halpin added his third for the hat trick.The outcome of the final round match against Dalhousie was never in doubt past the twenty-fifth minute of play. The first period ended with Dal&rsquo;s Jim Bottomley and Toronto&rsquo;s Geoff Shaw trading goals in a 1-1 sawoff. However, the first five minutes of the second period saw of T&rsquo;s Frank Davis score once and Brad Thiessen twice to put Dal into an escapable blind.Tarasuk wrapped things up with a pair in the third period, giving him six in the two games. Alex Jeans added the other Toronto marker.While the Blues were putting the icing on the proverlal cake, Concordia coach Paul Arsenault sat in the stands uneasily contemplating the national championship aspirations of his bedraggled Stingers. The Concordia goaltending triumverate of Doug Dragesevitch, Doug McCormick and Gary Facteau had watched a total of 16 goals fly by in a mere two games, prompting Arsenault to consider second semester changes.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not overly optimistic about our goaltending,&rdquo; remarked the Concordia coach after the flood. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve given our goalies until Christmas in the hope that one would improve. They&rsquo;ve got the potential, but how far can you go with potential?&rdquo;Finally, as if a pair of tournament losses wasn&rsquo;t enough, Concordia lost the services of defenseman Brendan Lowe for a period of six to eight weeks with a broken wrist.In marked contrast to the frustration of Arsenault was the elation of the Toronto players at the selection of their goaltender, Dave Jamieson to the all tournament team. Jamieson, who was only rarely employed during the first semester, overcame a shaky first perioc against Guelph to allow only four goal: in the remainder of the tournament. The pressure on the uninitiated Jamieson to perform was especially tremendous in view of the fact that he was the only Toronto goaltender dressed for the twc games. He had to come up big, and he did.Aside from MVP Halpin and goaltender Jamieson, defensemar Charlie Hughes and forward Tarasuk made the all-tournament team from Toronto. The team also included defenseman Allie MacDonald of Dalhousie and forward Mike McParland of Guelph.Halpin clicked for three goals and three assists in the two games and was a persistent goalscoring threat teamed with linemates Alex Jeans and Brad Thiessen. Tarasuk was the tourney&rsquo;s top scorer with six goals and two assists. Former Sudbury Wolves forward McParland was a standout with three goals, three assists, and numerous shifts on the Guelph defense.All in all however, for all of its ups, downs and action, the tournament stands out as a personal triumph for Toronto coach Tom Watt. Any Blues player you talked to would rave about Watt and his system, a takeoff on those seen more commonly in European rinks. The Blues are a well-oiled machine, and Watt is the man most responsible for their performance. Take away seven key players from almost any team in Canada and you have disaster. Remove seven players from the Blues and you have seven more who all know and execute the system. &#9632;

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Blues Make Holiday Tourney Title Look Easy

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0031-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02264/4266929-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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The College Scoreboard

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/f0032-02277/4266960-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="541" height="879"></div> &#9632;

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Where AHL Teams Play

<div class="byline">BY JIM LEAHY</div>SPRINGFIELD&mdash;New coach Pete Stemkowski has his club riding the crest of a six-game unbeaten streak as the Indians attempt to overtake the Nova Scotia Voyageurs in the battle for third place in the American Hockey League&rsquo;s Northern Division. In picking up 11 out of a possible 12 points in their last six games, the Indians are closing in on Nova Scotia.&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve done everything that I have asked them to do,&rdquo; said Stemkowski. &ldquo;As long as they continue to do so, we&rsquo;ll be right in the middle of the battle.&rdquo;In a recent game against the Bears in Hershey, which ended in a 5-5 tie, the Indians came back strong, largely on the efforts of the newly assembled line consisting of Derek Haas, Jim Warner and Hartland Monahan. They accounted for most of the scoring, with Monahan getting two goals and his linemates one apiece.Monahan, who joined the club late, now has 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points, while Haas and Warner also continue to add to their point production.After the 5-5 tie with Hershey on the road, the Indians returned to the friendly confines of the Big E Coliseum and defeated Binghamton 3-1.ROCHESTER: After Amerks edged the Soviet Traktor team 6-5 in overtime Pat Kelly&rsquo;s club appears on the way back. During the last three weeks they have split eight games and are now within two points of third place Hershey.With two wins to their credit during the week, Amerk fans were hoping that their club can regain the spirit that led them to the Southern Division title last year. Rochester defeated Binghamton 64 on the road and beat Philadelphia 3-2 at the Rochester War Memorial.NEW HAVEN: Parker MacDonald&rsquo;s Nighthawks lead the Southern Division by seven points and his club has just returned from one of their most successful Canadian trips in the team&rsquo;s history. In a wild week of action the Nighthawks played four games in less than five days, losing only once and getting three out of a possible six points in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.The hectic week started in New Haven on a Wednesday night when 5,059 fans were treated to another Maine Mariner&mdash;Nighthawk shootout. This one took the cake. New Haven won 7-6 in a wild, fight-filled contest. Last year the burly Mariners could easily intimidate New Haven&mdash;not so this season. The Nighthawk fans roared their approval as one Mariner after another was on the receiving end of a Nighthawk body check.In the Maritimes, it was a win, a loss and a tie in three games. Tired after the very physical game with Maine the night before, the Nighthawks flew to Moncton and skated to a 3-3 tie with the Hawks.In Nova Scotia the Nighthawks were again involved in a high-scoring fight-filled game. Jerry Byers scored a hat trick and five other players added solo tallies, but the eight Nova Scotia goals were not enough to beat the Nighthawks. New Haven scored nine times.PHILADELPHIA: The Firebirds played five straight games on the road and came up with only one victory. The club has now lost six of their last seven. It was a losing week for Philly, as they dropped all three games on the schedule.It started up in Binghamton where the Dusters skated to a 3-1 victory over the Firebirds. Three nights later in Maine, the Mariners blasted the Firebirds 11-3 in a game which featured 14 goals as well as a new season penalty mark being set by Philadelphia&rsquo;s Paul Stewart. The newly acquired Stewart ran up 42 minutes in penalties in that contest (one minor, two majors, two misconducts and a game misconduct). Stewart&rsquo;s antics didn&rsquo;t help the Firebirds as they dropped deeper into the Southern Division cellar with the loss.MAINE: The Mariners have won four of their last six, however they trail New Brunswick in the fierce battle for the top spot in the Northern Divsion race. During the week the Mariners split two contests and both of them were fight-filled as well as high-scoring games.In New Haven, the Mariners came out on the short end of a 7-6 contest with New Haven. A day earlier, the club defeated Team Russia 6-2 before a capacity crowd of 6,574 at the Civic Center.Maine handed Philadelphia an 11-3 defeat in Portland on hat tricks by Wayne Schaab and Ken Linseman as the Mariners improved their home record to 15-2-1,NEW BRUNSWICK: The Hawks are proving to AHL skeptics that their entry into the league was no fluke. They have the best record in the league and are in front of the defending Calder Cup champion Maine Mariners. New Brunswick also has the best road record in the league, a 10-7-3 mark after 20 contests.They beat Nova Scotia and New Haven last week and also skated to a 3-3 tie with the Southern Division-leading Nighthawks. New Brunswick has only lost three of their last 11, making them the hottest team in the AHL.HERSHEY: Even though the Bears are starting to show some signs of life, they can&rsquo;t seem to gain any ground in the Southern Division standings. The club had a respectable 4-2-1 record over the last seven games, but they are still in third place. Hershey can boast about one thing, Fred Stanfield leads the AHL in scoring with 46 points.During the week&rsquo;s action, Hershey beat Nova Scotia and skated to a tie with Springfield.BINGHAMTON: After 35 AHL contests the Binghamton Dusters are running neck and neck with Hershey in the battle for second place in the Southern Division race. Right now they lead the Bears by two points, however, the third place Bears have three games in hand.During the week the Dusters posted a 1-2-1 record and have a 4-6-1 mark during the last three weeks. Their only win came at home against Philadelphia where they skated to a 3-1 victory over the slumping Firebirds. Two nights later they dropped a 6-4 contest to Rochester on home ice. A trip to Springfield ended in a 3-1 loss and the Dusters managed a 5-5 overtime tie back in Binghamton; against the Nova Scotia Voyageurs.NOVA SCOTIA: The Voyageurs have hit the skids. They are winless in their last eight games and have dropped out of the Northern Division race, trailing New Brunswick by 15 points at this time.They lost 5-2 to New Brunswick before 5,037 in Halifax, were defeated 9-8 by New Haven, also at home; lost 92 at Hershey and tied Binghamton 5-5 on the road.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01359/4266991-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="551" height="579"><figcaption class="caption-body">JERRY BYERS&hellip;Fired Hat Trick</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Leading Hawks Thrive On CanadianCooking

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/f0033-02244/4267022-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="519" height="563"></div> &#9632;

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Where CHL Teams Play

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01325/4267053-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="539" height="773"><figcaption class="caption-body">GERRY O&rsquo;FLAHERTY&hellip;10-point Week</figcaption></div>Winter storms occasionally cut into a hockey team&rsquo;s schedule, but coach John Muckier and his Black Hawks felt they were getting more than their share of postponements. Three out of four games in a seven-day span had to be called off because of ice and snow-.And it wasn&rsquo;t the weather in Texas which was responsible, although the Dallas area did get some ice. It was storms in Oklahoma and Nebraska which kept the Hawks idle.In the one game they-were allowed to play, the Hawks rallied to go ahead in the final period, but had to settle for a 3-3 tie with Salt Lake in Dallas.In each of the postponements, all of them road games for the Hawks, Muckier didn&rsquo;t know until around 3 p.m. that the 7:30 game wouldn&rsquo;t be played.It started on New Year&rsquo;s Eve, when the Hawks flew into Kansas City for a game. Kansas City received a 15-inch blizzard that day, but that wasn&rsquo;t the biggest problem. The KC Wings, who had played in Salt Lake City the night before, got as far as Omaha on the return flight, but the Omaha airport closed shortly after their plane touched down there.So it was back to Dallas for the Hawks, who began preparing for a Thursday night game in Oklahoma City. This time Muckier and his men never left Dallas. There was some time lost when the bus company, from which the Hawks had chartered a vehicle for the trip, apparently had lost the order. When that was cleared up, the Hawks were told the trip couldn&rsquo;t be made, because the road in southern Oklahoma was a solid sheet of ice. Other bus companies gave the same story, and the airlines were booked up solidly.Came Friday, and the Hawks actually got to play a game. In their own State Fair Arena, Steve Clippingdale and Brad Smith twice rallied the Hawks into a tie, and Rob Tudor provided a go-ahead goal midway of the third, but the Eagles knotted the score two and onehalf minutes later, and the two clubs played IO minutes of scoreless overtime.But Saturday a scheduled game in Fort Worth went the way of all the other Hawk road games. The Texans had played in Kansas City Friday night and got only as far as Tulsa on the return bus trip. They found theTulsa-OC turnpike closed by ice, and had to call off the game.The Thursday tie pulled fifth-place Dallas to within four points of fourthplace Fort Worth (winless for the week). And, because of the snow-outs, the Hawks had three games in hand. They had six in hand on third-place Oklahoma City, and were eight points back of the Stars.The tie extended the Hawks&rsquo; modest unbeaten string to three games. Goalie Gary Bromley, sent down by the parent Vancouver Canucks, made his Dallas debut in that game. Defenseman John Grisdale came down to start the new week, as the-Canucks summoned blueliner Larry Goodenough.SALT LAKE: The Golden EAgles of coach Jack Evans kept rolling, with two victories and a tie, running their undefeated string to five games, and padding their league lead to nine points over Kansas City, 11 over Oklahoma City.With Doug (Pizza) Palazzari setting the pace, the Eagles polished off the Tulsa Oilers twice (5-3 at home, 8-5 in Tulsa), around a 3-3 tie in Dallas.Tulsa rallied to go ahead, 3-2, after two periods in the Salt Palace Tuesday. But two Palazzari goals in the final period, followed by one from Rick Bourbonnais (the three goals coming in a span of 3:49) provided the victory.Rick Bowness had two goals in Dallas Friday, but it took Gord Gallant&rsquo;s rebound shot at 12:30 of the third stanza for the tie.In Tulsa, Palazzari had two goals in the first period, Bowness two in the third. Tulsa&rsquo;s rally included a third-period hat trick by Gerry O&rsquo;Flaherty, but the Oilers couldn&rsquo;t catch up after falling behind, 4-0, in the first. Floyd Thomson and Bourbonnais joined Palazzari in the first period barrage. McTavish made it 5-1 in the second. After Bowness got a pair for the second night in a row, Tony Currie tallied the last one, scoring into an empty net after Tulsa goalie Tim Bernhardt was stunned by a Palazzari shot, which struck the netminder in the jaw.Terry Richardson was the Eagle goalie for both victories, while Doug Grant worked the tie.Palazzari ran his scoring totals to eight goals and 14 assists in six games since joining the Birds. Bowness had four goals, six assists in seven games.FORT WORTH: The Texans&rsquo; five-game win string was snapped decisively, when the cellar-dwelling Tulsa Oilers skated into Will Rogers Coliseum and came out with a 7-2 triumph. &ldquo;We took them too lightly,&rdquo; commented unhappy coach Billy MacMillan. A 5-3 loss in Kansas City the next night didn&rsquo;t make Billy any happier.Steve Tambellini&rsquo;s shorthanded goal gained a brief 1-1 tie in the opening period against Tulsa. But the Oilers scored five times before Mike Hordy got the next Fort Worth tally in the middle period.Goalie Goran Hogosta yielded the first four Tulsa goals, with Andre LePage taking over at 14:20 of the first period. LePage was in the nets for the loss in KC.KANSAS CITY: A 6-5 victory in Oklahoma City gave the Wings undisputed second place (if only by two points), and ended a string of three road losses (after the Wings had broken the CHL record with eight straight victories away from home).The LeBlancs, J.P. and Fern, each scored twice in the victory at Oke City. Bjorn Skaare, playing with a face-guard to protect his broken nose, also tallied, and Jim Maladrewicz got what proved to be the winner.TULSA: Losing three out of four games kept Johnny Choyce&rsquo;s Oilers mired in last place. The only bright notes were a 7-2 romp in Fort Worth, and the fact that Oilers Ken Kuzyk and Gerry O&rsquo;Flaherty posted hat tricks. Kuzyk&rsquo;s came in the runaway at Fort Worth, O&rsquo;Flaherty&rsquo;s in an 8-5 home loss to Salt Lake.O&rsquo;Flaherty&rsquo;s 10-point week (five goals, five assists) vaulted him from 10th place to third among the CHL scorers, with 42 points, four off the pace of Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Mike Eaves.OKLAHOMA CITY: The Stars took a 5-4 verdict in Tulsa, to keep a second place tie with Kansas City for the 15th straight day, but then lost a &ldquo;four-point&rdquo; game at home against the Wings, 6-5.Mike Fidler, who had torn up a shoulder in a goalpost crash on his last visit to Tulsa, scored once in the first period and twice in the second, while managing to avoid all four goalposts. &#9632;

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Storms Curb Black Hawks’ Schedule; Eagles Open Daylight Over Others

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/f0034-02287/4267084-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="552" height="908"></div> &#9632;

Search for your favorite player or team

January 26, 1979

Hockey Ad Lib

Esposito Maintains Role As NHL’s Leading Active Goal Scorer

WHA’s Scorers …this week

LETTER OF THE WEEK