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.

February 2, 1979

The Hockey News February 2, 1979

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011176/4377855-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="328" height="457"></div><p><b>OUR ESSAY THIS WEEK</b> comes from Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, North America.</p><p>How do you get here? Go to Montreal and take a right. What do you do here? Three big attractions. There&rsquo;s the Tidal Bore along the Petitcodiac River, where twice a day the water does a 180 and goes that away instead of thisaway. Then there&rsquo;s Magnetic Hill, a world famous mystery where you&rsquo;re really driving up but think you&rsquo;re driving down. Or is it the other way around? Last but not least, there are the New Brunswick Hawks, a hockey team, a good hockey team, which is in first place of the American Hockey League.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02901/4377848-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="473" height="595"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>LLOYD MELANSON</b></figcaption></div><p>Does Moncton love its hockey team? Is the Pope Polish?</p><p>Once upon a time, like last year, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Black Hawks, shared a Central Hockey League farm club in Dallas. The hockey wasn&rsquo;t bad&hellip;and neither was the golf.</p><p>&ldquo;Players would practice in the morning, then hit the links in the afternoon,&rdquo; remembered defenseman Mike O&rsquo;Connell, now playing in Chicago. &ldquo;In Moncton, to do that you&rsquo;d need an orange ball.&rdquo;</p><p>Which is part of the reason the Leafs and Hawks moved to this city of 80,000. Spendidly functional and clean rink, the Coliseum. Excellent hockey heritage which is being translated into excellent support; the New Brunswick Hawks may not make money this season, but they may not lose any either. Finally, the weather is no bargain. But the hockey is, and at least 4,000 or 5,000 or 6,000 natives think well enough of it to pay $4.50 or $5.50 a night, making the Moncton story a Cinderella story.</p><p>&ldquo;The novelty may wear off, but I don&rsquo;t think so,&rdquo; says sports editor Ed. St. Pierre of the Moncton Times and Transcript. &ldquo;In fact, as the playoffs get nearer, and the team keeps winning, the crowds may get even better.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>Johnston Top Coach</b></h2><p><b>HOCKEY, OF COURSE</b>, is a tradition in Moncton, just as it is throughout Canada. In 1911-12, the Moncton Victorias played the Stanley Cup but the Quebec Bulldogs won easily in two games by 9-3 and 8-0. No doubt Eddie Johnston wasn&rsquo;t in goal for Moncton.</p><p>But E.J., who is either 40 or 42 or 44, coaches the New Brunswick Hawks now, and if ever a first-year man grasped the nuances of running a bench, it has been he.</p><p>&ldquo;Best coach 1 ever played for.&rdquo; praised O&rsquo;Connell.</p><p>And Pops, as he was known in Boston, Toronto, St. Louis and Chicago, figures he found a pretty decent situation. He might have played somewhere this year, but coaching obviously is his future, and if he isn&rsquo;t in Moncton very long, it won&rsquo;t be because he hasn&rsquo;t done well.</p><p>In fact, there&rsquo;s been a tacit promise apparently tendered that Johnston will coach in Chicago when Bob Pulford decides that he&rsquo;s tackling two fulltime jobs with only one fulltime body.</p><p>&ldquo;Good, like it good,&rdquo; said Johnston, one of the most delightfull people in sports. &ldquo;Players are working hard here, and they&rsquo;re plugged in. Lots of hockey in the papers and lots on TV and radio. The guys know how the big clubs are going, who just got hurt, and what their chances are of being taken up by the Leafs or Chicago.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>Spreading Good Will</b></h2><p><b>THE NEW BRUNSWICK HAWKS</b> were a late entry, the AHL not having finalized the franchise until July after Toronto and Chicago departed Dallas. At that time, the ball was thrown to Lloyd Melanson. a former city employee who is now manager of the hockey club. He doesn&rsquo;t work 24 hours a day only because he figures he has to sleep at least three.</p><p>The club promotes and projects well, and the city has embraced the club in return.</p><p>&ldquo;It gives us an identify,&rdquo; said Mayor Gary Wheeler. &ldquo;You pick up the newspaper in Vancouver now and you read that the New Brunswick Hawks from Moncton are in first place of the AHL. Or you pick up the newspaper in Toronto and it says that Bobby Orr was in Moncton the other night signing autographs at a game It&rsquo;s been great for our city.&rdquo;</p><p>One other thing. The summers there are warm and breezy and scenic. Golf courses are nice, too.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03590/4377841-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="1093" height="1337"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>When a city of only 80,000 can pack 6,000 hockey fans into their gleaming new ice rink below, Moncton fans have to rate pretty high in enthusiasm. The Coliseum marquee tells departing fans who to expect for the Hawk&rsquo;s next AHL game.</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-04385/4377834-1-eng-US/f0006-042.jpg" title="f0006-04" width="2303" height="714"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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IN THIS ISSUE

HOCKEY TALK

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div><p>VANCOUVER&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; general manager Jake Milford traded Dennis Ververgaert to Philadelphia, he said that deal wasn&rsquo;t the last of his efforts.</p><p>And it wasn&rsquo;t. He also dealt away Randy Holt for Don Kozak. But now Milford, though he still needs to make a deal or two to balance the roster properly, has a problem. It&rsquo;s one of morale. He feels he can&rsquo;t trade for anybody because as soon as he does, they get hurt. Kevin McCarthy, obtained from Philadelphia to steady the Vancouver defense, and Kozak have both gone down since the trade and the Canucks are likely shy to make another one.</p><p>McCarthy,&rsquo; who apparently came to Vancouver with a groin injury, played one game for the club before turning the pulled muscle into a torn one. He will be our indefinitely, though the first diagnosis had him sidelined for only a game or two.</p><p>Kozak, on the other hand, was expected to step into the right wing spot left open by Ververgaert&rsquo;s departure. He played two games and promptly broke a bone in his foot, causing him to miss a minimum of four weeks of the schedule. The injury not only delayed the assessment of the trade for Holt, but forced youngster Drew Callander into the lineup in Kozak&rsquo;s spot, which was one the team&rsquo;s most productive line with Ron Sedlbauer and captain Don Lever at center.</p><p>With Callander the only man left from the trading blocks, Canucks have found themselves particularly thin on defense in light of the recent injury suffered by Jack McIlhargey.</p><p>McIlhargey, the club policeman, was originally hurt in a collision at practice with goalkeeper Dune Wilson in New York. He played hurt against the Rangers, and the following night he got into a fight with Canadiens behemoth Gilles Lupien. While he got in the most blows in the fight, he reinjured himself, his shoulder separated. The injury meant Canucks, in the middle of a six-game road trip, had to call in defender Larry Goodenough from Dallas of the Central League to give them five rearguards on the roster. Goodenough responded by playing his best game in two years on the right side and played the point on the power play in Canucks 5-1 victory over Toronto, the game which finished the road trip.</p><p>Kozak, meanwhile, seemed to fit in well, but of course two games is hardly a fair test. Regardless, the trade for him was like a resurrection.</p><p>&ldquo;It was the best thing in my life when Vancouver took an interest in me,&rdquo; said Kozak about the deal. &ldquo;I guess I definitely have to thank Jake Milford for that. I knew right from the beginning I didn&rsquo;t fit into the plans of the Los Angeles Kings. It didn&rsquo;t matter what I did in training camp, I just wasn&rsquo;t going to be a part of things down there. It&rsquo;s not that I had problems with Bob Berry, it was more George Maguire (Kings GM). He and I never saw eye to eye on anything, and I think more than anything else, he was the reason why I wasn&rsquo;t in their plans.&rdquo;</p><p>Canucks&rsquo; coach Harry Neale has already made it abundantly clear to Kozak what they are hoping will be his contribution to the club.</p><p>He is expected to provide some muscle on the right side, and Kozak, the former Edmonton Oil King star, knows that he plays his best when he plays aggressively.</p><p>&ldquo;My style is aggressive and I play my best when I&rsquo;m going into the corners and getting the puck,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I hope that will be my contribution and that I&rsquo;ll be around for a while.&rdquo;</p><p>Milford, meanwhile, would like some help at center, and may trade one defensemen and maybe another right winger in the process.</p><p>There have been reports in Vancouver that Neale had threatened to quit unless Milford started to move out some players and get what the coach had in mind in the way of players. Milford, understandably downplays the story, but it was well known that Neale was not totally satisfied with some of the players and at the lack of activity from-the GM seat. Neale was not a strong backer of Ververgaert, though he often said he admired the work of Randy Holt, the very tough, competent defenseman Canucks acquired in the off-season dispersal draft.</p><p>Neale still has the rest of this season and another two years to run on his contract which apparently calls for about $60,000 per, so it would seem that Milford&rsquo;s downplaying of the situation was the more likely. One thing is certain, though. There will be more trades.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

THE NHL

Canuck Injuries Forcing Delay In Trade Assessment

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01339/4380133-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg"></div><h2><b>OHA All Star Teams</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></h2>

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OTHER LEAGUES

ONTARIO MAJOR HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03219/4379236-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ken McKenzie, president and publisher of THE HOCKEY NEWS, second left, is surrounded by elated award winners at the recent 7th annual WHA All Star dinner in Edmonton. Shown receiving their HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; plaques are from the left, Howard Baldwin of New England, Quebec&rsquo;s Serge Bernier, Larry Gordon of the Edmonton Oilers and Glen Sather, the Oilers&rsquo; coach. Baldwin and Gordon shared the WHA executive of the year award while Sather was chosen top coach. Bernier accepted the award as player of the year for injured Mark Tardif, who missed both the dinner and the game.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-04157/4379229-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="1192" height="1170"><figcaption class="caption-body">With a capacity crowd of 15,590 watching in the Edmonton Coliseum, Ken McKenzie performed the ceremonial task of dropping the first puck prior to the start of the third game of the super series between the WHA and the Soviet Union&rsquo;s Moscow Dynamo team. Here the publisher and president of THE HOCKEY NEWS shakes hands with WHA All Star Paul Shmyr of Edmonton at the left, and with Soviet player Vladimir Orlov, after dropping the puck. WHA swept the series and attracted more than 35,000 to the three games.</figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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Hockey News Plays Role In WHA All Star Classic

Cover-01

The Hockey News

<p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p>For the first time in history, the National Hockey League could have 10 100-point scorers this 1978-79 season.</p><p>If all the 10 leaders maintain their current paces through the balance of the season, nine would finish with at least 106 points while Rick Middleton of Boston Bruins, currently 10th, would wind up with 97 points. A little splurge in one or two games would put him over the 100-point mark if he continued picking up points in the other games at the same rate he has done so far this season.</p><p>The most players to record at least 100 points in one season were nine in 1975-76, headed by Guy Lafleur of Montreal Canadiens with 125 points.</p><p>There were seven 100-point men in 1974-75 but in the other eight seasons in which players gained at least 100 points, no more than four players reached that plateau in any one season.</p><p>Lafleur, the points champion the last three seasons, had 125, 136 and 132 points, respectively for each of those campaigns. He currently is second with 73 points, five fewer than New York Islanders&rsquo; Bryan Trottier, who finished second to Lafleur last season with 123 points.</p><p>Unless he is able to return from a shoulder injury quickly, Islander defenseman Denis Potvin will have a tough time trying to become only the second defenseman to collect 100 points in a season. The recently-retired Bobby Orr had six 100-point seasons.</p><p>Potvin currently is ninth on the scoring list with 59 points in 44 games. If he didn&rsquo;t miss any games and continued at his season&rsquo;s pace, he would wind up the season with 106 points.</p><p>Trottier&rsquo;s pace would give him 145 points; Lafleur 127; Bob MacMillan of Atlanta would have 119; Marcel Dionne of Los Angeles would finish with 118; Mike Bossy of Islanders would have 117; Guy Chouinard, Atlanta, would have 112; Clark Gillies of Islanders would have 110; and Bernie Federko of St. Louis would collect 103.</p><h2><b>Middleton No. 1 NHL Plus Player</b></h2><p>BOSTON&mdash;</p><p><b>Rick Middleton of the Boston Bruins has become the first half plus-minus leader in the NHL.</b></p><p><b>According to latest league statistics, the Bruins&rsquo; right winger was on the ice for 40.1 per cent of Boston&rsquo;s evenstrength goals. He was on the ice for only 19.8 per cent of the even-strength goals against the Bruins, giving him a leading figure of 20.3. In second place was defenseman Ron Stackhouse of Pittsburgh with 16.0, while another Bruin, rearguard Al Sims, ranked third with 15.6.</b></p><p><b>Here are the top 10 plus-minus performers at the halfway mark in the 80-game schedule: Middleton 20.3, Stackhouse 16.0, Sims 15.6, Dave Taylor of L.A. 15.1, Bryan Trottier of the Islanders, 14.3, Dave Hutchison of Toronto, also 14.3, Bob Dailey of Philly 13.5, Nick Libett of Detroit 13.3, Bernie Federko of St. Louis 12.6 and Cliff Koroll of Chicago 12.1.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Top NHL Stars On Record Course

<p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><p>NEW YORK&mdash;</p><p>National Hockey League All Star voters came back to reality with a final week surge of balloting and picked the starting players for the forthcoming NHL-Soviet Challenge Cup series the way most hockey people expected they would.</p><p>Led by Guy Lafleur of the Montreal Canadiens, Who emerged as the leading vote-getter in the NHL-Wilkinson Sword balloting with 176,703 votes, the fans&rsquo; team reached its rightful conclusion with the naming of Lafleur at right wing, Steve Shutt of Montreal at left wing, Bobby Clarke of Philadelphia at center, and Larry Robinson of Montreal and the Islanders&rsquo; Denis Potvin on the first defense, and Philadelphia&rsquo;s Jim Watson and Canadiens&rsquo; Guy Lapointe on the second defense.</p><p>Goaler Tony Esposito of Chicago won the netminding balloting from Montreal&rsquo;s Ken Dryden and it appeared likely both men would be on the NHL selects when they square off against the Soviet Union&rsquo;s best Feb. 8, 10 and 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York.</p><p>For much of the first five weeks of the fan balloting, cities like New York, Chicago and Toronto, had apparently engaged in ballot-box stuffing with the result such Rangers as Ron Greschner, Anders Hedberg, Pat Hickey and Ulf Nilsson and Chicago&rsquo;s Esposito, Phil Russell and Ivan Boldirev, had dominated the weekly voting. Hickey led the vote-getters from the start but in the final vote computation, none of the Rangers, including Hickey, finished in the first two in any of the forward or defense balloting.</p><p>Shutt beat out Philadelphia&rsquo;s Bill Barber, who &ldquo;had 91,987 votes to Hickey&rsquo;s 85,921 for the left wing spot. Lafleur doubled up on Islanders&rsquo; Mike Bossy at right wing. Lafleur&rsquo;s 176,703 and Bossy&rsquo;s 70,062, left Hedberg a distant third with 64,816 votes.</p><p>Clarke came through with 70,726 votes for center to edge Islanders&rsquo; Bryan Trottier with Boldirev third with 56,672 and Nilsson fourth with less than 50,000 votes.</p><p>NHL fan voters apparently decided it was time to cast their ballots for the class defensemen in the league with the result Robinson was No. I with 121,831 votes and Potvin second with 100,638. Russell ended third with 89,049, Lapointe fourth with 88,919 and Greschner dropped to seventh place with 63,046 votes.</p><p>Esposito polled 101,099 votes to finish ahead of Dryden, who picked up 86,216 votes in the poll. Bernie Parent of Philadelphia, who led the first week before yielding the lead to Esposito, was third with 75,865 votes.</p><p>A total of 1,700,000 votes were cast in the six weeks with each NHL city receiving an allotment of 200,000 each. The five players who topped the voting in the fans&rsquo; poll will start the Challenge Cup series with coach Scotty Bowman, his assistant Claude Ruel and general manager Bill Torrey exercising the option of starting Esposito in goal or someone else, probably Dryden. Bowman, Ruel and Torrey will select the remaining 20 players for the team with practices opening Monday, Feb. 5 at Madison Square Garden.</p><p>Here are the final results of the six-week balloting:</p><p>LEFT WING: 1. Steve Shutt (Montreal) 103,213; 2. Bill Barber (Philadelphia) 91,987; 3. Pat Hickey (Rangers) 85,921; 4. Clark Gillies (Islanders) 74,921; 5. Bob Gainey (Montreal) 41,225.</p><p>CENTER: 1. Bobby Clarke (Philadelphia) 70,726; 2. Bryan Trottier (Islanders) 64,379; 3. Ivan Boldirev (Chicago) 56,672; 4. Ulf Nilsson (Rangers) 49,265; 5. Darryl Sittler (Toronto) 37,578.</p><p>RIGHT WING: 1. Guy Lafleur (Montreal) 176,703; 2. Mike Bossy (Islanders) 70,062; 3. Anders Hedberg (Rangers) 64,816; 4. Lanny McDonald (Toronto) 64,472; 5. Wilf Paiement (Colorado) 21,045.</p><p>DEFENSE: 1. Larry Robinson (Montreal) 121,831; 2. Denis Potvin (Islanders) 100,638; 3. Phil Russell (Chicago) 89,049; 4. Guy Lapointe (Montreal) 88,919; 5. Jim Watson (Philadelphia) 73,718; 6. Borje Salming (Toronto) 72,839; 7. Ron Greschner (Rangers) 63,046; 8. Bob Dailey (Philadelphia) 59,552; 9. Brad Park (Boston) 46,193; 10. Barry Beck (Colorado) 43,336.</p><p>GOALER: 1. Tony Esposito (Chicago) 101,099; 2. Ken Dryden (Montreal) 86,216; 3. Bernie Parent (Philadelphia) 75,865; 4. Chico Resch (Islanders) 61,791; 5. Mike Palmateer (Toronto) 41,208.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

COLUMNISTS

Lafleur ‘Winner’ After Late Surge Of All Star Votes

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011086/4377534-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TIM YOUNG&hellip;Game Of A Lifetime In N.Y.</b></figcaption></div><p>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;</p><p>Tim Young has always been an important player for the Minnesota North Stars.</p><p>As a rookie in the 1975-76 campaign, he scored 18 goals, added 33 assists in little more than three-quarters of a season and was branded as the nucleus of the club.</p><p>When he followed with a brilliant 95-point sophomore season, which included 29 goals, the North Stars rose to second place in their division, though they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.</p><p>Last season, Young had a tough time getting untracked. He lost his scoring touch for most of the season and though a late rush brought him up to 23 goals, he and the North Stars, who compiled the worst record in hockey, had a bad year.</p><p>This time around, things are different. Young is not the only star in Minnesota. No. 1 draft pick Bobby Smith is here, and after a slow start, is contending for Rookie of the Year honors. That helps Young, because he doesn&rsquo;t have to carry as much of the offensive load as in the past.</p><p>Gradually the North Stars have smoothed over the rough edges of their amalgamation with the Cleveland Barons and the club looks like it will be much tougher in the second half. New York Rangers found out how tough on Jan. 15 in Madison Square Garden.</p><p>The Rangers had opened 1979 with five straight wins. The North Stars were winless for the new year as they arrived in the Big Apple. Bang, the North Stars&mdash;more specifically Tim Young&mdash;exploded.</p><p>Young, who entered the game with 10 goals and 31 points took five shots&mdash;three against John Davidson, two at Wayne Thomas&mdash;and they all went in. Three were on power plays, one was a breakaway and the other was a 70-footer from outside the blueline. He also picked up an assist for a six-point night as the North Stars stunned the Rangers, 8-1.</p><p>Listen to North Stars&rsquo; captain J.P. Parise: &ldquo;Tim was more or less an individual player because he was so talented&hellip;When you have that much talent, so much more is expected of you, and you end up having to play as an individual. But Glen Sonmor (Minnesota coach) has made Tim aware that we depend on him and he depends on us and that has made him a better player.&rdquo;</p><p>For his part, Young was elated because he was on the ice for six goals, while the opposition didn&rsquo;t score any.</p><p>&ldquo;Now I&rsquo;m minus-three,&rdquo; Young said, &ldquo;&hellip;in the past, I&rsquo;ve always been around minus 35. I&rsquo;m really happy my defense has improved so much this year.&rdquo;</p><p>And there&rsquo;s another North Stars player whose greatest contribution has been to defense, who lends a new twist to the old tale of a player going back to his former teammates.</p><p>Mike Polich, not exactly a household name around the NHL, was a star offensive player for the collegiate champion University of Minnesota team in 1974 before signing on with the Montreal Canadiens.</p><p>Polich learned the finer skills of the sport with Nova Scotia in the American League the next three seasons, even appearing in five games of the Stanley Cup semi-finals by the Canadiens in 1977 against the New York Islanders.</p><p>The 26-year-old center, all five-foot-eight of him, played out his option in 1977-78 and felt the way for an opportunity to play on a more regular basis would be to leave the Canadiens and sign with the Minnesota North Stars.</p><p>Polich wasn&rsquo;t even with the Stars when they opened the current season in Montreal last October, he was sent to Oklahoma City for two weeks.</p><p>But his presence certainly was recognized when he came back to play in the Forum for the first time in the Minnesota green. His job? Shadow the incomparable Guy Lafleur.</p><p>Lafleur did score a goal, but it came in the final minute into an empty net. It was Polich, who scored Minnesota&rsquo;s only goal in the 3-1 North Star loss.</p><p>When Polich did not immediately appear in Minnesota&rsquo;s dressing room after the game, one of his teammates jokingly suggested that Polich had followed Lafleur into the Montreal dressing room.</p><p>Lafleur paid the Minnesota center a compliment when told Polich had been doing a similarly effective job on some of the league&rsquo;s other top scorers, such as Marcel Dionne and Guy Chouinard. &ldquo;Well fell him to leave me alone then,&rdquo; Lafleur said.</p><p>Polich credits the coaching of Al MacNeil (now a Canadiens&rsquo; assistant GM) with developing his defensive skills. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s taught me practically all I know about the finer aspects of defensive hockey,&rdquo; said Polich.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Five-Goal Night Fitting Reward For Stars’ Young

<div class="byline">BY TOM MURRAY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011094/4377596-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Ulf Nilsson, left, celebrates another goal with linemate Anders Hedberg and defenseman Dave Maloney, right. Nilsson has already become a dominant player in the NHL after little more than half a season.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</span></figcaption></div><p>NEW YORK&mdash;</p><p>There were only a few minutes remaining in the Rangers&rsquo; recent games against their hated rivals, the New York Islanders, and the partisan Madison Square Garden crowd was going crazy. And for good reason. The Rangers, ahead by a score of 5-2, were assured of a victory, and all of the players on the ice at this moment&mdash;from both teams&mdash;know it, and were merely going through the motions as the nearhysterical crowd waited for the final buzzer to end the game.</p><p>All of the players were going through the motions that is, except one, a skater for the Rangers named Ulf Gosta Nilsson, who wore No. 11 on his back and an expression of grim determination on his face. Already this evening, Nilsson had scored the Rangers&rsquo; second goal off a rebound of a shot by his linemate Anders Hedberg. Now, Nilsson was backchecking ferociously one second, then diving head first to block a shot taken during a meaningless, last-minute Islander power play a moment later. As Nilsson quickly pulled himself up off the ice and raced to the bench for a breather, the roars of the crowd became even louder, as much for Nilsson as for the dwindling seconds left on the game clock.</p><p>Moments, later, Nilsson is standing in front of his spacious stall in a corner of the Rangers&rsquo; plush locker room. A towel is wrapped around his waist, and a smile is on his face as he chats amicably with one reporter while a dozen more jockey for position around him&mdash;scribbling furiously or ungraciously thrusting their tape recorders and microphones towards Nilsson as if he were a human pincushion.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always played that way,&rdquo; Nilsson is saying, replying to a reporter&rsquo;s query about his indefatigable, never-say-die style. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m most comfortable and I play my best when I&rsquo;m going all-out, all the time.</p><p>&ldquo;When Anders and I first played here, I think we were a little bit intimidated&mdash;not by the opposing players, but by the new atmosphere of the National Hockey League. I was a little afraid to be too aggressive, but now I think I&rsquo;ve adjusted pretty well.&rdquo;</p><p>Indeed. Nilsson has not only adjusted to the NHL style of play over the first half of this season, he has asserted himself as one of the domineering and most exciting players in the league today. At this writing, the Rangers have played 46 games, and the 28-year-old centerman from Nynashamm, Sweden is leading the team in scoring, with 24 goals and 28 assists, for 52 points.</p><p>But the statistics, although a very significant part of what makes Nilsson such a valuable commodity to the Rangers, are only a small part of the story. What really makes this man such an outstanding hockey player&mdash;and such a favorite with the Rangers&rsquo; fans&mdash;is his perseverance and dedication. He literally never stops skating when he is on the ice. If Nilsson&rsquo;s not leading an exciting rush, deftly controlling the puck as he squirms around or through opponents or threading a pinpoint pass to linemates Hedberg or Pat Hickey, he is backchecking relentlessly, blocking shots, or doing anything he can to help his team win.</p><p>These are the kinds of things about Nilsson which are obvious to the fans and which make him so appealing and popular. When you talk to the&rdquo; Ranger players about their scoring leader, the subject of his dedication comes up, sure, but the quality that the Rangers seem to admire most about Nilsson is his hockey savvy, his intelligence on the ice.</p><p>&ldquo;I guess I&rsquo;m used to him by now,&rdquo; says Hedberg with a smile when asked about his linemate and close friend. &ldquo;For years, everyone has been saying that Ulf doesn&rsquo;t have the body of a hockey player, that he can&rsquo;t shoot and can&rsquo;t skate. But he has something that no one else out there has&mdash;an ability to know where he is in relation to everyone else on the ice. That is a gift he&rsquo;s had for as long as I&rsquo;ve played with him.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;His judgement of what the other guy is going to do is what really impresses me,&rdquo; says Hickey. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s never more than a stride or two away from the puck, and he can outguess an opponent and force him to do something he might not normally do. And when he does it, Ulfie&rsquo;s right there to steal the puck away from him.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02935/4377589-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="532" height="1699"></div><p>While his teammates can seemingly talk forever about Nilsson&rsquo;s abilities as a hockey player, it is almost as hard to get the subject of their conversation to talk about himself as it is to steal the puck off his stick. It&rsquo;s not that Nilsson is the shy, reserved type; actually he is gregarious. Personable, and extremely friendly and articulate. It&rsquo;s just that he doesn&rsquo;t like talking about himself much. He&rsquo;s more comfortable discussing the team and how he fits into its overall success as a unit, as one of 20 players with one goal in mind&mdash;winning hockey games.</p><p>But there&rsquo;s more to Ulf Nilsson than just talking hockey. Take for instance an incident which occurred in the Ranger locker room after a recent road victory against the Colorado Rockies. A local reporter approached Nilsson after the game and asked him if he spoke any English. Nilsson, whose English is as impeccable as his stickhandling, quickly seized the opportunity for a gag and, shaking his head, gazed dumbly at the naive scribe. Nilsson then motioned for Phil Esposito to come over and act as an interpreter for the reporter so that interview could be conducted. As the entire Ranger team gathered around, Nilsson had everyone&mdash;except the reporter, of course &mdash; practically rolling on the floor with his open-mouthed, wide-eyed rendition of a non-English speaking Swede.</p><p>But a few nights later, when a reporter approached Nilsson and informed him that Ulf was still ahead in the fan&rsquo;s balloting as their choice to be the starting center in the upcoming series against the Soviets, Nilsson&rsquo;s humility was genuine and his English poignantly perfect. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m embarrased,&rdquo; he said, lowering his head. &ldquo;How can they vote for me instead of (the Islanders&rsquo;) Bryan Trottier? He is by far the best center in hockey. In fact, I think I&rsquo;m going to vote for him myself.&rdquo; (As it turned out, neither Nilsson or Trottier was deemed the best center by the fans, who ultimately voted the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; Bobby Clarke as their No. 1 choice).<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0003-01

Nilsson Superceeding Rangers’ Expectations

<div class="byline">BY TOM MURRAY</div><p>NEW YORK&mdash;</p><p>With a little less than 10 minutes remaining in the Rangers&rsquo; January 21 game against the Philadelphia Flyers, a disconsolate looking fan trudged slowly up the stairs leading to the section of seats located high in Madison Square Garden, behind the press box. Suddenly, he stopped, and standing in front of hundreds of fans, thrust his arms out to either side of his body and let all of his frustrations hang out.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03635/4377627-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="560" height="886"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JOHN DAVIDSON&hellip;Blew Long Shot</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;I get up to go to the bathroom,&rdquo; he yelled, a look of incredulity on his face, &ldquo;and it&rsquo;s 5-2, What the hell&rsquo;s going on here? The Flyers get three goals in three minutes? I don&rsquo;t believe this game!&rdquo;</p><p>If you didn&rsquo;t believe the game, pal, you should have seen the Rangers after they had squandered a 5-2 lead (which included a hat trick by Ulf Nilsson) and had to settle for a 5-5 tie.</p><p>Actually, it took the Flyers three minutes and 25 seconds to get those three goals &mdash; but that was only an asterisk to what was another pretty weird week for the Rangers. It started with an 8-1 loss to the Minnesota North Stars on national television, and ended with that disappointing tie with the Flyers. Sandwiched in between &mdash; you figure this one out &mdash; was an impressive, inspired 5-3 win over the Islanders, the best team in the NHL, and an unimpressive, uninspired 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues, who have as many losses (31) as the Islanders have wins.</p><p>Four games, one win, two losses, one tie, three points. Yeccch. Not what you&rsquo;d call a terriflo week, but at the end of it, the Rangers were still in second place in the Patrick Division, with 57 points, and they still had the fourth-best record in the NHL (26-15-5).</p><p>But there are still a lot of questions to be answered and a lot of problems to be solved, not the least of which is the goaltending situation. For all of this season, John Davidson and Wayne Thomas have been alternating in the Ranger goal, with Doug Soetart being spotted occasionally. No one was particularly thrilled with this setup &mdash; especially coach Fred Shero, who deplores employing three goalies at the same time. Sio after Soetart and Thomas were bombed for eight goals in that Minnesota fiasco, Shero had a meeting with his three netminders and told them that he was going to be using just one of them for a couple of games. The lucky guy turned out to be Davidson &mdash; logical enough, he was 6-1-6 in his last seven starts, and was 13-6-2 overall &mdash; and he went right out and celebrated his No. 1 status by performing brillantly and beating the Islanders.</p><p>But then came that disappointing 3-2 loss to the Blues, a major setback not only for the Rangers as a team, but for J.D. in his bid to even more firmly entrench himself as No. 1.</p><p>But one night later, against the Flyers, everything looked just rosy with a little over 10 minutes remaining in the game: The Rangers were up, 5-2, Davidson had played well, and it looked like he was on the verge of redeeming himself after losing to the Blues. Then came two quick Flyer goals which made the score 5-4 and which Davidson could not be faulted on. But the fifth and tying goal, a 50-foot slap shot by Don Saleski, was simply misplayed by J.D., and he was the first one to admit it afterwards.</p><p>&ldquo;I blew it,&rdquo; he said, sagging with fatigue and frustration as he sat in front of his locker and talked to reporters. &ldquo;It was a rotten goal and I should have had it. But just because I let a bad goal in, I&rsquo;m not going to worry about it.&rdquo;</p><p>While Davidson was saying this, a lot of reporters were curious to see if Shero had any second thoughts about deviating from the &ldquo;two-and-a-half&rdquo; goalie system which &mdash; as much as he disliked it &mdash; had backboned the Rangers to 25 wins through mid-January.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know yet,&rdquo; Shero said. &ldquo;He gave up one bad goal, but I liked the way he played. I don&rsquo;t want to make a decision right now. This game has barely ended, and I don&rsquo;t want to start thinking about the next one yet. I want to relax. Let them (all three goalies) worry about it for a while.&rdquo;</p><p>Don&rsquo;t worry, Fred. They will.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0003-03

Rangers’ Goaling Proves Puzzling

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011145/4377686-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="487" height="486"></div><p>&#9679; <b>DON CHERRY</b> is far from pleased with the new contract offered him by the penny-pinching Boston Bruins. He&rsquo;s not going to sign it and will wait until the end of this season before he decides what he will do, but unless the Bruins up the ante substantially, he will move over to another NHL club. Several teams would dearly love to have him and he could also take on the general manager&rsquo;s role as well. Not only is Cherry as good a coach as you&rsquo;ll find in hockey, but he is one of the most quotable and best loved among the hockey writers and broadcasters. He helps hype the gate and is responsible for selling tickets. He should be the highest paid coach in the game&hellip;The Professional Hockey Writers Association panel to pick the NHL Player of the Week who is featured on the NHL television net work includes three columnists of THE HOCKEY NEWS. They are Bob Verdi (Chicago Tribune) Frank Orr (Toronto Star) and Bill Fleischman (Philadelphia Daily News)&hellip;At mid-season, Bob Dailey led the Philadelphia Flyers with a plus 19 The only other players in double figures were Blake Dunlop at plus 16, Bill Barber at plus 14 and Bobbi Clarke at plus 10&hellip;Vancouver Canucks have yet to beat Montreal Canadiens in a regular scheduler NHL game since the Canucks entered the league ir 1970.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021098/4377679-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="289" height="436"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Don Cherry</b></figcaption></div><p>&#9679; <b>MINNESOTA COACH</b> Glen Sonmor feels that NHL coaches are only now learning how to use the new 30-second time out that was given them by the rules this season. &ldquo;Some coaches are still using it only in the last couple of minutes of the game&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s necessarily the time. For example, we used it in one game when we were two men short and our most effective penalty killers were tired. We called time out and got them a breather. I think the time out thing will be used more intelligently by the coaches once we get used to it.&rdquo;&hellip;AHL president Jack Butterfield tells us that Buffalo is talking about activating their farm team in the American League. It was formerly located in Cincinnati&hellip;Maine Mariners drew a crowd of 6,934 (capacity is 6,570) in their 6-3 win over the touring Russian Traktor team&hellip;The ECAC Division One championship tournament may be lured away from Boston Garden to Providence Civic Center in the near future. The reason is mainly dollars and the excellent showing of Providence College in last year&rsquo;s NCAA tourney&hellip;Sandy MacDonald, popular ice arena director of the Mid-Hudson Civic Center, is running a nationwide youth hockey tournament at his arena in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. from Feb. 22 to 24. MacDonald, a native of Pictou, Nova Scotia, has done an outstanding job directing amateur hockey activities in New York state&hellip;Another Maritimer who is making it big these days is Bob Cole, who does the play-by-play telecasts on so many of the Hockey Night in Canada nationwide telecasts out of Toronto and Montreal. Cole is one of the best hockey broadcasters on the scene right now and hockey fans appreciate his crisp accurate play calling. He makes his home in Newfoundland where he is Mr. Sports on the CBC in that part of Canada.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03992/4377672-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="306" height="447"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bob Cole</b></figcaption></div><p>&#9679; <b>ATTENDANCE DROPS</b> as much as 4,000 a game in Boston when a poor NHL team is the opposition&hellip;Roger Naples, president of the Boston Bruin Gallery Gods advises that the club&rsquo;s annual dinner dance will be held March 20 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Revere, Mass&hellip;Proceeds will go to the Heart Fund of which Johnny Bucyk is the chairman. Tickets are limited so contact Roger early&hellip;A former NHL player was once asked if hockey fights are fakes. &ldquo;If they were,&rdquo; he replied, &ldquo;you&rsquo;d see a lot more of them&rdquo;&hellip;Canada&rsquo;s 1980 Olympic prospects are very bright indeed. This marks the first Canadian Olympic hockey team since 1968&hellip;Vince Leah, one of the most readable Canadian sportswriters, celebrates his 50th year as a sports scribe this June. He&rsquo;s been with the Winnipeg Tribune all that time and just turned 65 recently&hellip;A number of letters have reached this desk from irate hockey fans in Florida. They are complaining because it is difficult to get the NHL televised games. Either they are delayed anywhere from one hour to three days or they chop an hour off the game. Hockey is getting second-class treatment from the TV stations in Florida&hellip;Central League correspondent Tom Lobaugh indicates that teams there seem intent on reviving the popular U.S. TV show, &ldquo;The Friday Night Fights.&rdquo; On Friday, Jan. 12 each of the three CHL games produced more than 100 minutes in penalties with benchclearing brawls in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04890/4377665-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="310" height="437"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Wayne Gretzky</b></figcaption></div><p>&#9679; <b>ADD WINNIPEG</b> vice-president and general manager John Ferguson to the growing list of hockey experts who believe that Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; rookie Wayne Gretzky has all of the tools necessary to become a true super star. And Ferguson takes things a step further when he adds: &ldquo;I would compare him with Jean Beliveau,&rdquo; he stated. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s smooth, has a great shot and is a wizard when it comes to puck control.&rdquo;&hellip;Great play by their specialty teams has been an important factor in giving the New York Islanders the best record through midseason in the National Hockey League. They were ranked number one in power play percentage, 31.9, and penalty-killing 80.1&hellip;The third Annual Flyers wives Fight For Lives Carnival, an event which has raised more than $190,000 the last two years, will be held at the Spectrum in Philadelphia on Monday, Feb. 12. Several of the Flyers will be on hand for the carnival which will benefit the Barry Ashbee Leukemia Research Laboratories of the Orlowitz Cancer Institute&hellip;Tryouts for the U.S. Olympic Hockey team will be conducted in Minnesota (March 16), Michigan (March 25) and Massachusetts (March 29). Interested candidates can receive information from Ken Johannson, team general manager at 200 First St. S.W., Rochester, Minn. 55901&hellip;Bill McCreary, six-foot, 190-pound namesake son of former NHL player is gaining a reputation as one of Division l&rsquo;s hardest hitters as a freshman forward at Colgate. His coach, Terry Slater, says McCreary &ldquo;has everything to make it in the pros.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05751/4377658-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="311" height="457"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bill McCreary</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0004-01

PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-06445/4377724-1-eng-US/f0004-062.jpg" title="f0004-06" width="565" height="579"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BLAKE DUNLOP&hellip;Battled Back</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-07279/4377717-1-eng-US/f0004-072.jpg" title="f0004-07" width="555" height="586"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PAUL EVANS&hellip;All-Around Player</b></figcaption></div><p>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;</p><p>That player in a Philadelphia uniform approaching Boston&rsquo;s John Wensink along the boards&mdash;isn&rsquo;t that Blake Dunlop?</p><p>Quick, cover your eyes, Dunlop is checking Boston&rsquo;s enforcer-turned-goal scorer. Oh, it&rsquo;s safe to look now? Hmmm, Wensink has surely been checked harder, but Dunlop did his job and both are skating away.</p><p>The point of this vignette is, despite major-league scoring potential, it wasn&rsquo;t until this season&mdash;his sixth as a pro&mdash;that Dunlop has proven he is an NHL player. Scouts had labeled the five-foot-10, 175-pound Dunlop as someone who couldn&rsquo;t take the NHL physical grind.</p><p>Everywhere Dunlop had played&mdash;except Minnesota&mdash;he had been an effective scorer. Early last season the Flyers acquired him from the North Stars for Harvey Bennett. The Flyers also received a third-round draft choice, further enhancing Keith Allen&rsquo;s reputations as &ldquo;Keith the Thief.&rdquo;</p><p>The deal was intended to give the Flyers&rsquo; new Maine farm club some experience. All Dunlop did was finish among the league&rsquo;s top scorers (29-5382 in 62 games), win the Most Valuable Player award and earn All Star center honors for the Calder Cup titlists.</p><p>Prior to the new year, Dunlop was Philadelphia&rsquo;s No. 5 scorer. Then from training campon the former OH A scoring leader and teammate of Denis Potvin&rsquo;s at Ottawa has had easy time, right? Wrong.</p><p>When this season began, Dunlop was again wearing a Maine Mariners&rsquo; uniform and wondering what he had to do to play in the NHL.</p><p>&ldquo;When they sent me back to Main at the start of the season I was really down,&rdquo; Dunlop said. &ldquo;I thought I had done everything they had asked me to do.&rdquo;</p><p>Dunlop was right&mdash;he had done everything, but his friend, Paul Evans, had impressed Flyers&rsquo; brass as a steady worker home and away. Evans stayed, Dunlop went&mdash;but not for long. With Ken Linseman and Rick MacLeish injured early in November, Dunlop was summoned and all he did was score two goals in his first game,&rsquo;a 5-3 victory in Los Angeles.</p><p>&ldquo;When I got back to Maine,&rdquo; said Minnesota&rsquo;s top 1973 draft choice, &ldquo;I thought, it&rsquo;s easy to sulk.&rsquo; But that wouldn&rsquo;t do any good. I was a little older (25) and I knew how to handle it better. I thought &lsquo;When your chance comes again, take advantage of it.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p><p>Before he was traded to Philadelphia, Dunlop seemed doomed to a minorleague career. He admits he considered waving farewell to Fort Worth.</p><p>&ldquo;Some guys get the reputation of being a good minor leaguer and I didn&rsquo;t want that. I always felt I could play in the NHL, but all of a sudden I wasn&rsquo;t good enough to play in Minnesota&mdash;and they weren&rsquo;t a very good team. That meant I wasn&rsquo;t good enough to play for anybody else in the NHL.</p><p>&ldquo;I thought about going to Europe because there wasn&rsquo;t any point of banging my brains out riding the buses anymore. When I was traded to Philadelphia I was really excited because I know it&rsquo;s a great organization and they had a great team. I knew they had four strong centers, but if someone got injured I&rsquo;d get a chance and at least other teams could see I could play in the NHL.&rdquo;</p><p>Bob McCammon, who coached Dunlop at Maine last season, was puzzled by Dunlop&rsquo;s confinement to a minorleague sentencing.</p><p>&ldquo;He did the job for me last year,&rdquo; said the Flyers&rsquo; coach. &ldquo;Come to think of it, he&rsquo;s done the job just about everywhere he&rsquo;s played. After training camp, we just decided Evans would give us better balance because he&rsquo;s more of a defensive type.&rdquo;</p><p>Dunlop, who is an accomplished playmaker with a clever scoring touch, is needed now by the Flyers, whose offense has been limited to the Bobby Clarke-Bill Barber-Reggie Leach line. However, Dunlop still hasn&rsquo;t managed to claim a regular spot at center because Clarke, Mel Bridgman and Rick MacLeish are ahead of him. Evans is a good utility man and Linseman is waiting in Maine for a plane ticket back to Philadelphia&#8229; When Dunlop plays, it&rsquo;s usually as a right wing. It&rsquo;s a good thing he&rsquo;s a patient man. He&rsquo;s had a lot of practice.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0004-06

Dunlop Pleasing Flyer Hierarchy

<p>Following are the latest player movements in hockey:</p><h2><b>NATIONAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p>Atlanta&mdash;<b>Richard Mulhern</b>, D, traded to Los Angeles in exchange for <b>Bob Murdoch</b>, D.</p><p>Boston&mdash;<b>Dwight Foster</b>, RW, recalled from Rochester of AHL. <b>Don Larway</b>, RW, signed as free agent from Indianapolis of WHA and assigned to Rochester.</p><p>Chicago&mdash;<b>Jim Harrison</b>, C, assigned to New Brunswick of AHL. <b>J.P. Bordeleau</b>, RW, placed on disabled list with cracked bone in his left ankle.</p><p>COLORADO&mdash;<b>Mike Gillis</b>, LW, returned to lineup from injury list, assigned to Philadelphia of AHL and later recalled from Philadelphia.</p><p>MINNESOTA&mdash;<b>Kent-Erik Andersson</b>, RW, placed on disabled list for rest of season after breaking his arm. <b>Jim Roberts</b>, RW, and <b>Mike Fidler</b>, LW, recalled from Oklahoma City of CHL. <b>Jack Carlson</b>, RW, signed to NHL contract but will not report until next season. Carlson currently with New England of WHA.</p><p>N.Y. ISLANDERS&mdash;<b>Denis Potvin</b>, D, placed on disabled list with shoulder separation.</p><p>N.Y. RANGERS&mdash;<b>Tim Bothwell</b>, D, recalled from New Haven of AH.</p><p>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;<b>Barry Dean</b>, LW, assigned to Maine of AHL.</p><p>ST. LOUIS&mdash;<b>Mike Zuke</b>, LW, recalled from Salt Lake of CHL. <b>Rick Shinske</b>, RW, returned to Salt Lake.</p><p>TORONTO&mdash;<b>Trevor Johansen</b>, D, recalled from New Brunswick of AHL. <b>Borje Salming</b>, D, placed on disabled list with injury. <b>Bruce Boudeau</b>, C, returned to New Brunswick.</p><p>VANCOUVER&mdash;<b>John Grisdale</b>, D, and <b>Brad Gassoff</b>, LW, recalled from Dallas of CHL. <b>Pit Martin</b>, C, placed on disabled list with ankle injury. <b>Don Lever</b>, LW, placed on disabled list with shoulder injury. <b>Don Kozak</b>, RW, <b>Kevin McCarthy</b>, D, and <b>Jack McIlhargey</b>, D, all placed on disabled list with injuries. <b>Gary Bromley</b>, G, recalled from Dallas.</p><p>WASHINGTON&mdash;<b>Greg Polis</b>, LW, claimed on waivers from N.Y. Rangers. <b>Bill Riley</b>, RW, assigned to Hershey of AHL.</p><h2><b>WORLD HOCKEY ASSN.</b></h2><p>BIRMINGHAM&mdash;<b>Greg Tebbutt</b>, D, recalled from Binghamton of AHL.</p><p>CINCINNATI&mdash;<b>Darryl Maggs</b>, RW, released outright. <b>Gordie Clark</b>, C, recalled from Springfield of AHL. <b>Kelly Davis</b>, D, assigned to Philadelphia of AHL.</p><p>NEW ENGLAND&mdash;<b>Jordy Douglas</b>, LW, and <b>Tim Sheehy</b>, RW, reassigned to Springfield of AHL on loan.</p><p>QUEBEC&mdash;<b>Lou Levasseur</b>, G, and <b>Norm Dube</b>, RW, recalled from Binghamton of AHL. <b>Marc Tardif</b>, LW, returned to lineup without needing surgery on elbow injury.</p><p>WINNIPEG&mdash;<b>Roland Eriksson</b>, C, signed as free agent from Vancouver of NHL.</p><h2><b>AMERICAN LEAGUE</b></h2><p>BINGHAMTON&mdash;<b>Roger Kosar</b>, G, signed to pro tryout.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

FEATURES

Hockey Players On The Move

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01994/4377803-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DICK REDMOND&hellip;Nearly Reached Quitting Point</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Steve Babineau)</span></figcaption></div><p>BOSTON&mdash;</p><p>The Boston Bruins greeted the new year with good news and bad.</p><p>The bad news was that they would lose key defenseman Brad Park for perhaps a month after medical men determined they would have to whittle and scrape a little more inside his cranky right knee.</p><p>The good news was that Dick Redmond, a potentially key defenseman, was starting to round into the form that was expected of him when the Bruins obtained his services in exchange for Gregg Sheppard just prior to the start of the season.</p><p>It was no secret that the Bruins were disappointed with early season play of the man they expected to carry the puck out of their zone and man the point on the power play in a manner similar to Park.</p><p>Redmond blossomed in the Jan. Il game, a 6-4 victory over stubborn Minnesota, in which he was awarded a first star for the first time this season.</p><p>He fired the 100th goal of his career, but only the third of the current season, on a low shot from the point; and he set up Bobby Schmautz&rsquo; power play tip-in with another low shot from the point.</p><p>He also took a regular shift on defense; paired with Don Marcotte up front as a penalty killer; and played a couple of shifts at left wing when coach Don Cherry suffered one of those acute attacks of coaching intuition.</p><p>&ldquo;Here&rsquo;s a guy, Redmond, who was maligned more than anybody that has come to the Bruins since I&rsquo;ve been here,&rdquo; said Cherry, who cheerfully admits being one of the maligners. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s put up with an awful lot and he&rsquo;s finally coming through.</p><p>&ldquo;We worked on that low shot today for him and Mike Milbury. We worked on it, the three of us, for at least a half hour. What happens? Two goals. And he plays left wing in the last 10 minutes and they never get a shot when he&rsquo;s out there.</p><p>&ldquo;This guy is a very valuable addition to the club.&rdquo;</p><p>Redmond conceded that his poor start as a Bruins was so discouraging that it had him at the point of giving up. For one thing there was that mysterious back ailment, which recalled that his brother Mickey had to leave hockey because of a bad back.</p><p>&ldquo;My back was bad but I could live with that,&rdquo; said Redmond, &ldquo;only I couldn&rsquo;t get my legs in shape and, without legs, you&rsquo;re nothing in this game. It affected my skating, my shot and my concentration.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d go home and wonder if I could play hockey anymore. I worried about what the guys were thinking. Here I was traded to the Bruins to help the team and I wasn&rsquo;t helping at all. I&rsquo;d go to bed and I couldn&rsquo;t sleep.&rdquo;</p><p>It was during the holidays, while the Ice Capades took over Boston Garden and the Bruins wandered around rinks in Chicago, Denver and Minneapolis, that Cherry took charge of straightening Redmont out. Day after day, under Cherry&rsquo;s eye, Redmond practiced his shot.</p><p>&ldquo;Don got me to cut an inch off my stick,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and it helped a little bit. It gives you a little better control of the puck. It enables you to get the shot away a little quicker.</p><p>&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re having trouble shooting naturally you try to find ways to compensate to get the puck going on net. The easiest way is not to take the stick back so far. Lay it in there at first until it starts to come and then pick up speed.&rdquo;</p><p>It all came together about the time of the Minnesota game&mdash;and just in the nick of time, too, for it was only a few days before that Park got the word that he would be sidelined until early February.</p><p>&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t seem to get back to the level where I should be because there was still some interference inside the knee,&rdquo; said Park, who underwent cartilege removal Oct. 14 and returned to action Nov. 23.</p><p>&ldquo;There was a steady irritation, which meant it was impossible for me to build up any kind of strength in the leg. In Toronto (Dec. 27) I took a shot on the power play near the end and I felt it go. I knew it wasn&rsquo;t right.&rdquo;</p><p>Doctors at Mass General Hospital went into the knee with an arthroscope Jan. 3 and found some tiny particles floating around in there. They flushed them out and smoothed down the lining of the knee joint and directed him to rest it for a while.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m lucky,&rdquo; said Park. &ldquo;My ligaments are still good.&rdquo;</p><p>Naturally, the plight of Park&rsquo;s knee recalled a similar problem that haunted Bobby Orr throughout his 10 years in Boston and finally forced him to give up the game at the age of 30.</p><p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t work on Bobby Orr,&rdquo; said Dr. Bertram Zarins, who did work on Park. &ldquo;I understand Orr had a lot more damage to his joint surfaces. Brad still has fairly smooth joint surfaces, which is what you glide on.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0005-01

Bruins’ Redmond Recaptures Form Just In Time With Injury To Park

<p><b>Special To The Hockey News</b></p><p>DETROIT&mdash;</p><p>For a while it looked like the Detroit Red Wings were going to find out how the other half lives. That was because the Red Wings, who have made a habit of blowing leads in the third period this year, actually reversed the process and stole a few points on their own.</p><p>But that was last week, this week, it was more of the early season form as the Wings lost two out of three games and dropped into the cellar of the Norris Division.</p><p>Everything looked fine when the Wings began the week with a 4-1 victory over Pittsburgh in the Olympia. After a scoreless first period, Dennis Polonich netted the only goal of the second stanza and when the Penguins surged back to tie the game early in the third, the Wings broke the game open with goals by Danny Bolduc, Dan Labraaten and Polonich&rsquo;s second of the night for the 41 triumph.</p><p>Travelling to Landover for a divisional battle with the upstart Washington Capitals, the Wings got in trouble in the first period and were put away in the second. Not only did they lose a 5-1 decision to the Caps, but they also lost an important Four-point game which forced them into the basement of their division.</p><p>Paul Woods notched the only Detroit goal.</p><p>Back at home for a match with the Atlanta Flames, the Wings fell behind 2-0 by the 4:33 mark of the first period, but rallied for a tie at the end of the period on goals by Vaclav Nedomansky and Labraaten, the first one coming on a power play.</p><p>In the second period. Big Ned scored his 19th of the season for a one-goal Detroit lead, setting the stage for yet another late-game Wing collapse.</p><p>The Flames knotted the game on a power play goal at 5:26 with Andre St. Laurent in the penalty box and at 12:46 took over the lead once again.</p><p>Despite outshhooting the Flames 3220, the Wings were once again unable to hang onto a third-period lead, losing 43.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Red Wings Blow Lead Once More

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><p>LOS ANGELES&mdash;</p><p>The Los Angeles Kings reached the halfway point in the current campaign, but they barely made it. In the midst of a gruelling road trip and broken down by the worst siege of injuries the team has had in years, they had no more than 14 halfway healthy players for a game or two.</p><p>They start every new year with a gruelling road trip and it has hurt them horribly most years, as it has this year. While an ice show occupies their home Forum for two weeks, the Kings go on tour and sometimes it seems they won&rsquo;t even make it back.</p><p>They reached the midway mark with a 17-17-6 record, put together on quarters of 10-9-1 and 7-8-5. They have done better, but they also have done worse in the past. They were only 13-17-10 in the last year of Bob Pulford&rsquo;s regime, but 1714-9 in Ron Stewart&rsquo;s regime last year.</p><p>It has been forgotten that the Kings got off to a fast start under Stewart last season, before falling apart during an eight-game trip at the start of the year when they won only one. They finished three games below .500. Replacing the popular Pulford, Stewart was unpopular and received most of the blame.</p><p>Starting more slowly under Berry this season, the Kings had won only two of six games in eight nights with two to go before finishing this eight-game trip and had fallen two games under .500. Replacing Stewart, ex-King player Berry was more popular and has not been blamed for the team&rsquo;s troubles to this point, at least not by the players, press and fans.</p><p>Jack Kent Cooke is a demanding owner who has had eight coaches in 12 seasons, but George Maguire, the manager, says, &ldquo;Berry has done a fine job, especially when you consider the problems he&rsquo;s had.&rdquo; The team has less talent than it had last season and has had more injuries. Every game for a couple of weeks players have been knocked out of action with injuries.</p><p>Mike Murphy was in and out of the lineup with a nagging groin injury. Brian Glennie recovered from a groin injury and suffered a back injury. Butch Goring has been bothered by a bad back. Bob Murdoch suffered a separated shoulder and Murray Wilson wrenched his shoulder. Rick Hampton wrenched his knee and Burt Wilson bruised his ribs. Mark Heaslip broke his nose.</p><p>After a false start in an 8-3 loss in Washington, the Kings won big games by 5-4 in Montreal and 4-3 in Pittsburgh, before losing 3-0 in Philadelphia, 7-1 in Long Island, and 30 in Chicago. Their flight from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia landed in New York because of fog and it took them nine hours to bus to Philly, where they arrived three hours before game time and beaten before the game began.</p><p>They limped back to New York and on to Chicago in exhaustion with their energy and enthusiasm at a low ebb. The last two losses started the second half of the season and left them two games below .500 on the season and five games below .500 on the road.</p><p>It was said of Stewart that he did not give the team inspirational leadership and a precise system of play. It is said of Berry that he is giving the team inspirational leadership and a precise system of play.</p><p>The results do not reflect an improvement, but the players do respect and like Berry. He is inexperienced, but working hard and developing a style of play that looks like it will work if followed by all.</p><p>The players are happy that everyone knows what he is supposed to do in every situation, but the system breaks down when the players do not or can not stick to the system.</p><p>For instance, Bob sends his wings into the corners on defense, offering foes a free first shot from the point. The foes have been sending strong guys into the goalmouth to hammer rebounds home or deflect shots in.</p><p>The Kings do not have rugged defensemen who get guys away from the goalmouth. However, Berry can point to tapes that show that every time foes scored on these plays a winger or defenseman was out of position.</p><p>Like Pulford&rsquo;s, Berry&rsquo;s system stresses defense and close checking. Until an offense is settled in the offensive zone, one forward is to hang back.</p><p>However, Berry&rsquo;s system is more open to offensive freedom. He has puck-carrying forwards and wants them to carry the puck into the offensive zone, rather than throw it in. He is willing to let his defensemen take a break when they get one. as long as a forward drops back to cover up.</p><p>He has swift skaters who can skate with the best, including Montreal, but lacks hitters who can handle hitting teams like Philadelphia. Bob Sirois of Washington recently said, &ldquo;The only way to play the Kings is by taking the body because as far as speed and finesse goes they&rsquo;re the closest thing in the league to Montreal.&rdquo;</p><p>The Kings have won two and tied one with Montreal this season, while they haven&rsquo;t won one and have tied only four in their last 17 games with Philadelphia over the last three and one-half seasons.</p><p>When weariness and soreness slow their skating, they are absolutely ineffective, as happened as this trip went on. With Marcel Dionne, Dave Taylor, and Butch Goring they should not have been shut out four times this season, but they have only one goal in three games and had a recent spell of only seven goals in five games.</p><p>After 40 games, they did have 148 goals, a pace that would top their record of 271 in a season. However, the defense had given up 138 goals and defensemen had given inconsistent support to the goaltenders. Mario Lessard stopped 43 of 46 shots in one recent game and Ron Grahame 42 of 45 in another. Grahame started the first six games and 22 of the first 40, but gave way recently to Lessard who now has started eight of the last nine. In the first half, Grahame had a 2-12-1 W-L and 3.77 GA, while Lessard was 8-5-5 and 3.06.</p><p>Veteran defenseman Larry Brown had a bad shoulder so he was not recalled and the Kings settled for recalling a forward, Charlie Simmer. Glennie missed 22 of the first 40 games, Murphy 14, Tommy Williams 13, Rick Hampton 11, and Bob Murdoch eight, and several remained out as the disheartened team dragged into the second half two points in front of Pittsburgh in the fight for second place in their division.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011044/4377910-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="554" height="1342"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>LARRY BROWN&hellip;Sore Shoulder</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0007-01

Kings Enter Second Half Limping Staggered By Traveling, Injuries

<div class="byline">-BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011167/4377948-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="413" height="461"></div><h2><b><i>Winner With A Loser&hellip;</i></b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span>HEN TOMMY MCVIE</b> got the call to coach the Washington Capitals, the team was in the midst of a witless streak which reached 25 games before it was snapped. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a little like dying every night for two months,&rdquo; he sighed at the time. By working his players harder and making them better conditioned than the next team, he turned his into a team which only lost about half their games the next season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021051/4377941-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="829" height="1250"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Guy Charron has enjoyed two fine seasons with the Washington Capitals totalling 74 goals after signing as a free agent. But more than high goal totals, he&rsquo;d like to see his team become a winner.</b></figcaption></div><p>Players don&rsquo;t like to work hard, however, and these rebelled. The talent wasn&rsquo;t there, anyway. Putting Sousa marches on in the dressing room can only take a team so far and by last season the Caps were losing almost all the time again.</p><p>McVie muttered, &ldquo;I&rsquo;d rather come home to find my wife cheating than to keep going to games and seeing my team lose.&rdquo; Tommy&rsquo;s wife said, &ldquo;I understand his sense of humor. I thought that was a pretty good line, though I didn&rsquo;t let him know that. He married hockey before he married me, you know.&rdquo;</p><p>Tommy was supposed to be married to the team manager, Max McNab, too. They took over the team together and said they would stick together. When the team continued to lose this season, however, Max stayed while Tommy went, and it was Max who, tearfully, had to tell Tommy he had to go.</p><p>Whatever else they were, with McVie they were a conditioned and competitive team. Danny Belisle took over and the team won a few for him at first as if to show that players didn&rsquo;t have to work as hard as McVie wanted, but then the Caps started to lose again and the only difference is that a different coach is suffering.</p><p><b>GUY CHARRON</b>, who is the top player on the worst team in the league, says, &ldquo;It is very hard to lose game after game and it doesn&rsquo;t matter how well you do yourself. After awhile it is hard to do well yourself. I&rsquo;d be less than honest if I didn&rsquo;t admit that after awhile you dread going to games, and you begin to count the games, 50 gone, 30 to go, and can&rsquo;t wait for the season to end.</p><p>&ldquo;The money is there, but most of us have loved the game since we got into it as kids and we want to play. For awhile, when we were winning, I looked forward to the games.</p><p>&ldquo;When you lose a lot of games, you expect to lose. If you get a lead, you wait to see how you&rsquo;re going to blow it. You have to keep hoping this is going to be one of your nights, but if you don&rsquo;t expect to win, you&rsquo;re not likely to win, and you can&rsquo;t kid yourself into having confidence.</p><p>&ldquo;The media becomes critical and you have to expect that. The fans boo you and you can&rsquo;t blame them. The coach gets the blame, but what can he do? The talent just isn&rsquo;t enough. You suffer through another loss, change in a dreary dressing room, look forward to leaving the arena.</p><p>&ldquo;You hide out with your family. You try not to take the games home with you, you try not to take the disappointments out on your wife. But you have to talk to someone. On the road it&rsquo;s lonely. The players try not to talk about losing, but you begin to blame one another and then it&rsquo;s no fun to be with your teammates.&rdquo;</p><p>A dark, curly-haired, handsome French-Canadian, Guy is religious and active in church work. He married his high school sweetheart, Denyse Lalonde, and they have a daughter, Renee, who turned three in January. He says, &ldquo;My wife and daughter mean everything to me. My wife had a miscarriage and other problems before we got our little girl. So we try again. My sisters have five or six. We&rsquo;re happy just to have the one.&rdquo;</p><p><b>GUY JOSEPH JEAN CHARRON</b> was born in Verdun, but lived in Lasalle and Montreal, also. He has an older brother and three older sisters. &ldquo;I came along 13 years after the last one and I was absolutely an accident,&rdquo; he laughs. His father was paralyzed for years from a stroke, but seldom missed one of his son&rsquo;s games before he passed away eight years ago.</p><p>Guy&rsquo;s eyes mist over as he recalls the last time he talked to his father and was wished well with his career. Guy says, &ldquo;He saw me through juniors and even though my career has not been what I hoped it would be, I know he&rsquo;d have loved to see me in the majors.&rdquo;</p><p>Guy has just turned 30 and he has been a professional 10 years. He has been bounced around. He spent two seasons in the minors. He made it to Montreal in 1970, but was traded to Detroit in 1971 and on to Kansas City in 1974, played out his contract and signed with Washington in 1976. He scored 25 goals with Detroit one season and 27 with Kansas City another season and 36 and 28 his two seasons so far with Washington.</p><p>He has not been doing as well this season, but I guess losing gets to you after awhile. A five-foot-10, 180-pound center, Guy is a smooth, elusive skater who is accurate with the pass or shot. He has played, sometimes with severe injuries, through 200 straight games, always gives his best, and is too good to be with a bad team. He is a winner with a loser and it hurts terribly.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY MIKE DENNIS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03885/4377979-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MARIO TREMBLAY&hellip;Contributing Solidly To Canadiens</b></figcaption></div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>f you were willing to make a wager at the beginning of the season as to which player would be the Montreal Canadiens highest scoring right winger &mdash; after Guy Lafleur, of course &mdash; where would you place your money?</p><p>More than likely it would have been on either the venerable Yvan Cournoyer, who entered this season with 426 career goals, or World Hockey Association hotshot Mark Napier who was beginning his first National Hockey League season. Right?</p><p>And as the month of January was winding down, the winner is &mdash; Mario Tremblay!</p><p>That&rsquo;s right Mario Tremblay. A 21-goal scorer with the Habs at the tender age of 18 and a part-time performer last year who did not dress for 24 games and only managed 10 goals.</p><p>But here is Tremblay, fresh off a four-game goalscoring streak against Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Vancouver and well up among the team leaders after 45 games with 15 goals, 14 assists. In short, the No. 2 right winger on the club.</p><p>&ldquo;So far, yes, it&rsquo;s going well,&rdquo; began Tremblay, &ldquo;our line had areally good start this year and gave us all confidence.&rdquo;</p><p>For those who enjoy firewagon hockey, where the game is played from end to end, from one side of the boards to the other, the line to which Tremblay referred, which consists of Yvon Lambert on the left side, Doug Risebrough in the middle and right wing Tremblay, is a unit which epitomizes that style of play.</p><p>For three years they remained together and formed a most effective line. Their third year they combined for 159 points, but their major role was still checking.</p><p>Last year as Bowman went more and more with the defensive line of Bob Gainey, Doug Jarvis and usually Rick Chartraw in key situations, the trio was eventually broken up and Tremblay was often banished to the press box. It took him until Canadiens 50th game to score his fourth goal last year and probably the only thing which saved his season was another Stanley Cup championship and scoring a pair of goals in the final series clincher against Boston.</p><p>Over the summer Tremblay was invited to compete in the Superstars competition and did very well, finishing fifth overall in his segment. He impressed several show officials with his determination and especially with his enthusiasm. And apparently it carried over into training camp.</p><p>&ldquo;He (Bowman) tried us together again at the beginning of camp and we did well, &ldquo;explained Tremblay. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re made to play together and after five years we know what we can do.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d say that the biggest difference was that we were playing well AND we were scoring. We always played well, but I think we needed to score more and that&rsquo;s what we did right from the start this year.&rdquo;</p><p>Despite a couple of shoulder separations suffered by Risebrough, the first which sidelined him five weeks, and a current one which is not as severe, Tremblay and Lambert, (who also has 15 goals) and their new center Rejean Houle have been outstanding.</p><p>&ldquo;We do have to play differently with Reggie at center, rather than Dougie,&rdquo; said Tremblay. &ldquo;Dougie is very aggressive, he&rsquo;s always in there forechecking, so the wing on the opposite side of where he goes has to stay back. Reggie likes to play back, so we don&rsquo;t have to worry about getting back because he&rsquo;s there. It lets us do more forechecking.&rdquo;</p><p>And it is probably a good reason why Tremblay and Lambert are scoring more goals.</p><p>&ldquo;Well, maybe so, but I think it&rsquo;s because I&rsquo;m shooting faster. And now I know what to do with the puck when it&rsquo;s in the other team&rsquo;s zone. I used to just throw it into the corner and let the other guys go get it, but now I&rsquo;m making my own plays and so is Yvon. Plus we&rsquo;re playing more often.</p><p>&ldquo;I really feel as though I&rsquo;m playing my part to make us a winning team, &ldquo;Tremblay related. &ldquo;You know we heard talk that one of us might be traded, but I always wanted to just stay here and play. I&rsquo;ve passed through hard times, gone around the obstacles you might say, and I&rsquo;m happy with the way things are going.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-03

Tremblay Adding Scoring Talents To Habs’ Arsenal

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011124/4378010-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>KEITH MAGNUSON&hellip;Will Follow Doctor&rsquo;s Advice</b></figcaption></div><p>CHICAGO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>H</span>is right leg is immobilized in a cast, but the mind purrs on, and Keith Magnuson these days is thinking about the most unpleasant thought of all. Retirement.</p><p>&ldquo;I have to consider my future seriously, and I have to realize it may be all over, that I may not be able to play anymore,&rdquo; the Black Hawks&rsquo; captain said. &ldquo;I had some trouble this season skating even before the injury.</p><p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t run as it is, and you know what comes after that. You can&rsquo;t walk. I don&rsquo;t want that to happen. I have to think of my family&mdash;that&rsquo;s the one thing that comes ahead of hockey. The only thing.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to give it one more chance. If I could. Maybe in thie year&rsquo;s playoffs, maybe not until the start of next season. But if the leg doesn&rsquo;t heal right, or if the doctors advise me not to try, I think this time I&rsquo;ll have to listen.&rdquo;</p><p>Two nights after Christmas, Magnuson, who is the Black Hawks&rsquo; spiritual leader, went down in a collision with Harvey Bennett of the St. Louis Blues. Three or four hours later, Magnuson underwent surgery to repair ligaments in his right knee.</p><p>It was the second operation there within eight months, the third there within eight years. Magnuson toiled hard during the summer to rehabilitate, and in GM-coach Bob Pulford&rsquo;s mind, &ldquo;was just starting to play as well as he ever had when he got hurt.&rdquo;</p><p>Magnuson will consider a comeback again only on those terms&mdash;that he is able to play well.</p><p>&ldquo;And I don&rsquo;t know if I can any more,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It bothered me this season that I couldn&rsquo;t do some of the things that I used to do, that I couldn&rsquo;t play as physically tough as I want to.</p><p>&ldquo;And it bothered me that I felt I wasn&rsquo;t contributing like I should. When we had back-to-back games, or four games in five nights, the knee got sore. Even when we were playing with six defensemen.</p><p>&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t want to go through that again, that feeling of not contributing. And I wouldn&rsquo;t want to come back and just sit around, either. It wouldn&rsquo;t be fair to anybody just to do that. I have some serious thinking to do.</p><p>&ldquo;And I have to talk with Pully and the doctors. If they say that I could try it and not get hurt again, then I really would like to try one more time. I would kick myself if I didn&rsquo;t.</p><p>&ldquo;But if the doctors say that another shot on the same spot would be serious, then I&rsquo;d have to retire.&rdquo; Magnuson, after this season, just has the option year left on his contract. But he enjoys the security and meaningful year-round employment with the Joyce Beverage Co., the Chicago distributor of Seven-Up for which he has been working 10 years.</p><p>&ldquo;I really enjoy the business and I&rsquo;ve been lucky to be assocatied with the people that I am,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Just like playing hockey, I get a thrill out of meeting customers and making a sale.</p><p>&ldquo;It disappoints me very much the season we&rsquo;re having. It&rsquo;s been a struggling year and it shouldn&rsquo;t have been, because it&rsquo;s our second year under Pulford and I wish we were doing better.</p><p>&ldquo;The losing bothers me. It isn&rsquo;t as much fun as it used to be, although we can still turn it around. You can just see the difference a couple of wins makes in the spirit of the club.&rdquo;</p><p>But losing Magnuson, perhaps forevermore, has dampened the spirits considerably. *</p><p>&ldquo;Maggie really sets an example for the entire team, whether we&rsquo;re veterans or kids,&rdquo; said defenseman Phil Russell. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s had I don&rsquo;t know how many injuries to all of his body yet he keeps on coming.</p><p>&ldquo;There isn&rsquo;t a player on this team who doesn&rsquo;t completely respect him. Or in the league. The thought of him retiring&hellip;! don&rsquo;t even want to think of it.&rdquo;</p><p>But Magnuson, much as he doesn&rsquo;t want to, has to. This time, he must let discretion by the better part of valor.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0009-01

Chicago’s Gritty Captain At Crossroads Of Career

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011154/4378041-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"></div><p><b>Write to:</b></p><p><b>FAN FORUM</b>,</p><p><b>The Hockey News</b>,</p><p><b>1434 St. Catherine St., W., Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7</b></p><h2><b>Simple Questions For Hockey&rsquo;s Fans</b></h2><p>I have three very simple questions to ask&mdash;1) Who is the best right wing in the NHL today? 2) Who is the best center in the NHL today? Before I ask the third question, I would like to answer the first two. To all knowledgeable hockey fans, the answers to both questions are quite obvious&mdash;Guy Lafleur is the best at right wing and Bryan Trottier is the best at center.</p><p>Now, I ask the third question&mdash;If these two men are acknowledged as the best in the NHL today in their respective positions by both experienced hockey writers and knowledgeable hockey fans, why are they not running first in the balloting for the All Star team: (As I write this letter, Lafleur is running second to Anders Hedberg and Trottier is running fourth behind Ulf Nilsson and Ivan Boldirev)? I wish that the answer to this question alluded me but it doesn&rsquo;t. It makes me sick to my stomach</p><p>Fans, for the first time, are being allowed to choose the first team All Stars. But rather than picking the best, fans are turning the voting into a popularity contest, a farce, and, worst of all, a race to see which fans can cast the most ballots for their respective teams. Anders Hedberg better than Lafleur? Ulf Nilsson better than Bryan Trottier? Ivan Boldirev better than Trottier? Ron Greschner better than Larry Robinson, Denis Potvin, Brad Park, Borje Salming, Guy LaPointe, Serge Savard?</p><p>Come on, who are you fans trying to kid?</p><p>I certainly hope that, if the balloting ends with four Rangers (currently leading are Hickey, Hedberg, Nilsson and Greschner) on the starting line, the NHL seriously consider returning the choice of players to those whose job it is to be as honest as possible&mdash;the writers, the coaches, and even the players themselves.</p><p>The fans certainly do not deserve the privileges accorded them.</p><p><b>MARGARETE. GAVIN,</b><br><b>Mineola, N.Y.</b></p><h2><b>Letter To Hawks&rsquo; Chief Wirtz</b></h2><p>1 write this letter to you as I am convinced that what 1 saw at Chicago Stadium Sunday night, Dec. 10 is your complete fault and responsibility.</p><p>I found myself in Chicago from December 9-11, and much to my delight, not only were the Black Hawks in town, but they were playing the Red Wings who are divisional rivals of the Kings. I was sitting in Section 16, among some of the player&rsquo;s wives and ladies, when the ugliest brawl broke out that I&rsquo;ve ever witnessed in a sports building. There were many uncomforable moments as the flow and ebb of this riot seemed to be drifting in our direction. When I asked around me as to the whereabouts of the local police, I was informed that you decided they were not needed.</p><p>If that is true Mr. Wirtz, then I can assure you that the many empty seats you have every night at your stadium, will be sold to every local goon in town as no one will stop them from their violent nature.</p><p>Hockey is a superb sport. The players are fortunate as they can bang each other around on the ice and go out later and have a few beers and forget the game until the next time.</p><p>What I witnessed were a lot of sore people who will come back to your arena and get even with those employed ushers who ganged up on them and seemed to be bent on continuing this fight.</p><p>I intend to send copies of this letter to Mr. Bob Verdi of your Chicago paper who accurately reported the melee and also to Mr. John Ziegler of the NHL office. If fans cannot attend games in safety then you do not belong in professional sports and when it&rsquo;s only a handful that continue to patronize your arena you&rsquo;ll understand the reasons why.</p><p>Before I ever attend another function in your building, I would hope to be assured of my personal and family&rsquo;s safety.</p><p><b>LARRY ALPERT,</b><br><b>Anaheim, CAI.</b></p><h2><b>Kirton&rsquo;s Play Would Help Leafs</b></h2><p>As perhaps the only Maple Leaf fan in Boston, I sit in sadness after a recent spiritless performance versus the Bruins. The Leafs play like a group of automatons with no spirit, imagination or leadership.</p><p>I hope the opportunity caused by the unfortunate injury to Darryl Sittler results in Mr. Ballard calling up Mark Kirton from the Moncton Hawks. Having seen him play in Maine it is apparent his hustling &ldquo;Doug Jarvis&rdquo; style would inject some needed life into the struggling Leafs. The future of the Leafs is the young players like Kirton, Boudreau, Quenneville and Ron Wilson. The longer Neilson stays with the &ldquo;veterans&rdquo;, the farther back he falls in the standings. Hopefully, Roger will be replaced before he turns the youngsters into gray, colorless automatons like the rest of the team.</p><p>It is very distressing to see a team with so much talent playing .500 hockey at best. Former Leafs Dave Keon, Brad Seiwood and Rick Ley must be proud to play for a Whaler team that is so clearly superior to the Leafs. Under Harold and Roger, I fear the Leafs will not soon recover their glories of the past. At least we have memories of the great Leaf teams of years gone by.</p><p><b>FORD H. PECKHAM,</b><br><b>Needham, Mass.</b></p><h2><b>Rogie Appreciated By Detroit Fans</b></h2><p>After reading the article in the Dec. 29, 1978, issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS by Bill Libby regarding Rogie Vachon, I became very distrubed.</p><p>To come out right in the article and say that Vachon is not appreciated in Detroit is ridiculous Obviously, the writer of the article hasn&rsquo;t been to too many games at the Olympia where the fans chant &ldquo;Ro-gie Ro-gie,&rdquo; as he stated the fans in Los Angeles did.</p><p>Detroit is a knowledgeable hockey town and the people realize that Rogie Vachon is a superb goaltender. The breaks for the entire team have been bad, Rogie included. But the people realize that Rogie is a superior athlete and he is not to blame for these bad breaks.</p><p>The final statement in the article was &lsquo;it was nice to see him smile and laugh again.&rsquo; For those who are wondering, Rogie doesn&rsquo;t sit around and cry all the time. Believe it or not, we have seen him smile and we believe that he is happy here because he is appreciated.</p><p>Before long, maybe the fans everywhere will see an article in THE HOCKEY NEWS about how Rogie Vachon smiles frequently and feels loyal to the Detroit Red Wings!</p><p><b>ROSEMARY RZESZOTARSKI,</b><br><b>Detroit, Mich.</b></p><h2><b>LETTER OF THE WEEK</b></h2><h3><b>Fans Voting For Favorites, Not Best</b></h3><p><b>I have been an avid hockey fan for as long as I can remember and have supported the Boston Bruins since day one. I would like to believe I am somewhat knowledgeable about the game, but because of the large number of teams and players, knowing each players&rsquo; talents, is to say the least impossible. The main reason for this is because I don&rsquo;t see enough of each team, they may come to Toronto three times a season. Since hockey is not on national television each and every fan is confronted with same problem, not enough exposure of most teams.</b></p><p><b>Because of this problem I can&rsquo;t see fans picking the starting players to represent the NHL against the strong Soviets. Obviously the fans are going to pick favorites from their home teams, because they are so familiar with them, and their talents.</b></p><p><b>Players like Phil Russell (Chicago), Gilles Meloche (Minnesota), Robert Picard and Bob Sirois (Washington) and even Peter McNab (Boston) are team favorites. I&rsquo;m not saying they&rsquo;re not good players, but I think there are other players in the league who are a lot better, such as&hellip;Bryan Trottier (Islanders), Borje Salming (Toronto), Rick Middleton (Boston), Rick MacLeish (Philadelphia) and Gilles Perreault (Buffalo). None of these players were in the top three picks in any of their respective postiions when they should be far ahead of most players in the league.</b></p><p><b>I guess I&rsquo;m going to have to hope fan knowledge out votes fan favorites.</b></p><p><b>GARY BRIGGS,</b><br><b>Missisauga, Ont.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-01

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY FRED PIETILA</div><p>DENVER&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>ndy Spruce&rsquo;s biggest headaches are behind him. Now all he&rsquo;s got to do is start scoring some goals and break out of a season-long slump which has seen him procure only two goals in his first 30 games.</p><p>Granted, goal-scoring slumps in hockey are something players dread and fight. But Spruce&rsquo;s first four months of this National Hockey League season made a season-long slump pale by comparison.</p><p>The trouble began early in the Colorado Rockies&rsquo; training camp when the 24-year-old left winger complained of severe headaches. He was hospitalized and after an agonizing period, his illness was diagnosed as artritis, an inflammation of the arteries around the brain.</p><p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t really know what was going to happen,&rdquo; Spruce said recently. &ldquo;When the doctors thought it might be aneurysm for the first couple of days, I thought it might be a career-ending thing. Then we just played it by ear, the doctors and me. They put me on medication. I&rsquo;m still taking it, prednisone, a type of cortisone. But they&rsquo;re going to slowly start to take me off of it.&rdquo;</p><p>All the time Spruce was bothered by his artritis, his wife, Diane, was experiencing difficulty in her pregnancy. She gave birth to twin boys, two and one-half months premature, on Oct. 11.</p><p>&ldquo;That was opening night,&rdquo; Spruce recalled. &ldquo;I watched it (the Rockies&rsquo; televised the game at Vancouver) at the hospital.&rdquo;</p><p>The twins were in critical condition for some time and were hospitalized at Children&rsquo;s Hospital.</p><p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re doing great right now,&rdquo; Spruce said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re both at home. And she&rsquo;s (his wife) a lot better now that they&rsquo;re home.</p><p>&ldquo;Children&rsquo;s Hospital. It&rsquo;s a fantastic institution out there. A fantastic place. If it hadn&rsquo;t been for that hospital, they wouldn&rsquo;t be here today. Matthew had a lung disease and had heart surgery. But they&rsquo;re both home now and getting big.&rdquo;</p><p>And now the reason for some of. his sleepless nights is noise&mdash;the sound of crying babies. &ldquo;Yeah, all night,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;One of them is awake constantly. We were just lucky we didn&rsquo;t have triplets.&rdquo;</p><p>Throughout the ordeal, Spruce tried to keep his hockey game together. It proved difficult.</p><p>&ldquo;Well, yeah, the kids are first. My family is number one and hockey just has to be number two. Hockey&rsquo;s only going to last a few years and the kids are going to be around for a long time. But now that they&rsquo;re back home, hockey becomes the utmost priority.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02923/4378072-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="467" height="683"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ANDY SPRUCE&hellip;Year Of Hardship</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;And now it&rsquo;s time to get back into the swing of things and get going,&rdquo; Spruce explained. But that hasn&rsquo;t been easy for the young man who scored 19 goals last season.</p><p>He&rsquo;s been used sparingly since Aldo Guidolin took over Pat Kelly&rsquo;s job as head coach. &ldquo;I just wasn&rsquo;t scoring and doing my job. I wasn&rsquo;t getting points and I was having goals scored against me. I was just in a slump.&rdquo;</p><p>But Spruce insists that his personal problems had no effect on his play. &ldquo;Geez, when I got on the ice, I wasn&rsquo;t thinking about the problems I had,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not playing much right now. I haven&rsquo;t dressed for a few games and when I do, I&rsquo;ve just been playing the odd shift. I&rsquo;m sure Aldo is just trying to get my confidence back. When you play the odd shift, you just don&rsquo;t really want to make a mistake.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;Through it all, particularly the early going, management has been good to me. I can&rsquo;t say enough good things about them. They&rsquo;re not putting pressure on me,&rdquo; said Spruce. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;m sure they&rsquo;re getting teed off with me right now. I&rsquo;m just happy to be here right now.</p><p>&ldquo;I just have to keep working hard. I know I can play in this league. I think I proved it last year. It&rsquo;s just a matter of regaining my confidence. And I&rsquo;ve got nothing but kind words to say about Ray Miron (Rockies* general manager). He&rsquo;s been fantastic. He went out of his way to get me from Vancouver (as a free agent) and he&rsquo;s hung in there with me.&rdquo; Spruce said.</p><p>Andy Spruce has done quite a job of hanging in there himself.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-02

Rockies’ Spruce Finds Goal Slump A Minor Problem

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><p>BUFFALO&mdash;</p><p>&ldquo;How many lines have I played on?&rdquo; Ric Seiling repeated a question and answered it with a question. &ldquo;How many hairs on my hear? I haven&rsquo;t even tried to count all the lines I&rsquo;ve been on since I joined the Sabres.&rdquo;</p><p>Seiling, a second-year pro, isn&rsquo;t among the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; leading scorers. He isn&rsquo;t a great shooter or a heavy hitter. But he is a mighty handy guy to have around. Especially this season, when the Sabres have had so many injuries to forwards.</p><p>Seiling hasn&rsquo;t played a regular shift much of the time but he always gets into the game and when he does play a regular shift, he fits right in.</p><p>&ldquo;Ric seems to fit in well with anybody he plays with,&rdquo; says Billy Inglis, the Sabres&rsquo; coach, who teamed Seiling with Don Luce and Craig Ramsay when Danny Gare, their longtime right winger sprained an ankle.</p><p>Seiling set up a goal by Ramsay in a 53 loss in Atlanta the first game he was with the two Sabre veterans, and the next game he scored the first goal of the night and assisted on two others as the Sabres ran up a 6-2 score over the visiting Washington Capitals.</p><p>Seiling, who has had Gil Perreault, Andre Savard, Rene Robert and Jacques Richard as his centerman at one time or another this season, admitted it felt mighty good to participate in the scoring.</p><p>He scored his first goal of the season in the Sabres&rsquo; first win of the season, 52, over Minnesota in the club&rsquo;s second game. He added three more goals in one-goal losses to Vancouver and Minnesota and a tie with Pittsburgh.</p><p>Then he went 20 games without a goal. Playing sparingly as an extra forward much of that time, he picked up only two points on assists in those games.</p><p>He finally scored a goal, and it was an important one, in a 5-4 win over Atlanta, and scored in four straight games before going back to the bench for a short stint and then teaming with Luce and Ramsay.</p><p>Seiling is one of those players you don&rsquo;t notice much because he goes up and down his wing, not spectacularly but effectively. And, as Inglis noted, he fits in with whatever other two forwards he is teamed with.</p><p>He was the Sabres&rsquo; first pick in the 1977 amateur draft, coming from the St. Catharines Fincups of the OHA. When he joined the Buffalo organization he said the outstanding characteristics of his game were &ldquo;Hard work&hellip;and checking and skating.&rdquo;</p><p>That&rsquo;s the way it was worked out for the 21-year-old right winger from Elmira, Ont. He is the younger brother of Rod Seiling, a 14-year veteran of the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues and now the Atlanta Flames.</p><p>When the Sabres lost to the Flames in that game, in which Seiling teamed up with Luce and Ramsay, it was the first time in two seasons that a team Rod was playing on defeated the Sabres with Ric in the lineup.</p><p>That game in Atlanta was a bad one for the Sabres, probably the worst performance they put on since Inglis took over as coach after the firing of Marcel Pronovost Dec. 4.</p><p>The Sabres took a 2-0 lead in the first period, then did little except stand around and watch the Flames catch up and go ahead, perhaps marveling at the great stops Don Edwards was making in their goal.</p><p>Edwards made 34 saves and most of them were tough ones. &ldquo;Probably the best game he has played as a Buffalo goaltender,&rdquo; said Inglis. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t play the whole game in your own end and expect to win.&rdquo;</p><p>The next game, the Sabres didn&rsquo;t play much differently in the first period but they scored six times in the second and coasted in against the Caps.</p><p>Perreault, who had been playing right wing most of the time since Inglis took over, went back to center that game, between Tony McKegney and Gary McAdam.</p><p>&ldquo;We worked that line (Derek Smith centering for McKegney and Perreault) about as long as we could, I guess,&rdquo; said Inglis. &ldquo;It did work but was running into bad times. Perreault would rather play center, I know, because he feels more at home there. So, that&rsquo;s where he will be from now on. He did a great job at right wing while it lasted.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011100/4378103-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="552" height="928"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RIC SEILING&hellip;Replaced Gare</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0011-01

Seiling Longs For Fulltime Duty

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011126/4378158-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="338" height="473"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b><i>Bill Fleischman&rsquo;s</i></b></figcaption></div><h2><b>Cup Brings Credibility</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>A</span> BETTING MAN</b> would probably offer the following odds on the Stanley Cup chase: Montreal 2-1; Boston and the New York Islanders, each 4-1; the rest&mdash;forget &lsquo;em.</p><p>Even without Brad Park, Boston keeps winning. Should the Bruins reach the Stanley Cup finals for the third consecutive year, their experience and the law of averages might be on their side. With Gerry Cheevers also on their side, picking the Bruins wouldn&rsquo;t be grounds for a straitjacket.</p><p>A Cheevers, the best big-game goaltender in hockey, is something the Islanders don&rsquo;t have&mdash;yet. Both Glenn (Chico) Resch and Billy Smith are outstanding goalies, but until they&rsquo;ve won a Stanley Cup people will be skeptical. Resch is one of my favorite people in hockey, but he was victimized by Toronto in last spring&rsquo;s quarterfinal upset. The year before, the Islanders carried Montreal to six semi-final games. But on the first shift of the sixth game, at Nassau Coliseum, Bob Gainey beat Resch and the Islanders lost.</p><p>The Isles whetted their fans&rsquo; appetites in 1975 when, in only their third NHL season, they almost gave an entire city a nervous breakdown by forcing the Flyers to a seventh semi-final game. Their &rsquo;75 performance gave the Islanders a confident swagger that has made them serious Stanley Cup contenders.</p><p>However, after three semi-final losses in a row and that shocking setback by Toronto, GM Bill Torrey and coach Al Arbour felt as if they&rsquo;d been slapped between the eyes with two-by-fours. Combine the jolt by Toronto with owner Roy Boe&rsquo;s financial troubles and you had a hockey team on the ropes.</p><h2><b>Isles Quickly Rebound</b></h2><p><b>THAT THE ISLANDERS</b> have quickly rebounded to their current status as one of hockey&rsquo;s three best teams is a tribute to Torrey, Arbour and the players. Other teams&mdash;the Sabres come to mind&mdash;might still be floundering after such disappointments. But the Islanders have re-grouped into the kind of awesome well-balanced club Montreal fans would be proud to call their own.</p><p>&ldquo;What happened to us (against Toronto) is something you don&rsquo;t want to dwell on,&rdquo; Arbour said earlier this season. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s something you should learn from. After something like that, you should be mentally tougher.&rdquo;</p><p>The Islanders have been as tough physically as any of their rivals. But one reason for their defeat by Toronto was the assumption their talent would prevail over Toronto&rsquo;s rough tactics. Neutral observers of the series kept saying, &ldquo;When are Gillies and Nystrom and the rest of the Islanders going to stop taking all that from the Leafs and hit back?&rdquo;</p><p>Maybe it took a bench-clearing brawl with the Flyers this season to wake up the Islanders. After Dave Hoyda flattened Mike Bossy, Clark Gillies challenged Hoyda and won the decision. Afterward, Gillies would say his pacifist days were over, that anyone who took cheap shots at his teammates would have to deal with all six-foot-three, 220 angry pounds of him.</p><h2><b>Adaptable Arbour</b></h2><p><b>THE GENTLEMAN RAISING</b> a beer mug to Gillies&rsquo; get-tough policy is Arbour, who has led the Islanders to more than 40 victories the last three seasons. Arbour is the same man who was stamped a coaching failure by the former owners of the St. Louis Blues&mdash;and we all know where the Blues are these days.</p><p>In ability and respect Arbour ranks with the Bowmans, Cherrys and Sheros. His only &ldquo;fault&rdquo; is lack of color, which means Sports Illustrated will never entertain us with a feature on him as the magazine did on Boston&rsquo;s Don Cherry. When Resch was told how much the press admires Arbour despite his preference for cliches from the coaches&rsquo; manual, the bright young goalie smiled and said, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s funny you say that because recently I was telling someone why we&rsquo;re better this year. I mentioned everything except Al.</p><p>&ldquo;Al could coach any team anywhere because he knows how to adjust,&rdquo; Resch said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s mainly a defensive coach but he saw the offense we&rsquo;re capable of and let us break out. I&rsquo;ve heard that Freddie Shero doesn&rsquo;t have much communication with his players. Well, Al never avoids you. After practice he stays and talks with the guys who aren&rsquo;t playing. He attracts players.&rdquo;</p><p>The Islanders have impressed opponents like Bobby Clarke, who said, &ldquo;They have the top line in hockey. In (Bryan) Trottier, they have the best player and in (Denis) Potvin they have the best defenseman.&rdquo;</p><p>All the Islanders need to complete the picture is a Stanley Cup.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-01

HOCKEY WORLD

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02959/4378196-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>LANNY MCDONALD&hellip;Slump Affected Entire Team</b></figcaption></div><p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he victory wasn&rsquo;t one of epic proportions&mdash;a 4-2 triumph over Colorado Rockies, accomplished with considerable difficulty&mdash;but for Toronto Maple Leafs, it was a cause for celebration.</p><p>The win ended a seven-game winless stretch for the Leafs, a slump in which they secured only three ties. Six of those games were on the Leafs&rsquo; home pond, Maple Leaf Gardens, and things went so badly for the Leafs that they welcomed a two-week, seven-game road trip to conclude January.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;At least, we got a win out of the home stand,&rdquo; said Leaf winger Dan Maloney. &ldquo;It took a big weight off our shoulders and we can head out on the road on an upper note. We&rsquo;ve had our problems, a really bad stretch, but there were some good things out of it. Now we have some kids like Ron Wilson, John Anderson and Lorne Stamler who&rsquo;ve had a chance to play and now they can go on the ice and make things happen.&rdquo;</p><p>Perhaps the best example of why the Leafs were having such big troubles was winger Lanny McDonald, the team&rsquo;s best shooter.</p><p>McDonald, who has scored 130 goals in the past three seasons, hadn&rsquo;t produced a goal in 11 games until he sniped the clinching goal against the Rockies.</p><p>&ldquo;I was really pressing, probably trying too hard, and that only made things worse,&rdquo; McDonald said. &ldquo;It was starting to get to me because I know the club counts on me to produce a few goals.</p><p>&ldquo;My slump was starting to hurt the team in other ways. Some of the guys were sacrificing good chances, times when they should have taken a shot themselves, to pass the puck to me. That really hurts the team. I appreciate what they&rsquo;re trying to do but they should have worried about getting goals themselves, not helping me get one.</p><p>&ldquo;To go on the road with a win is a boost for us. There&rsquo;s been a lot of pressure on the guys in Toronto because the fans really want us to do well and they get a little restless when we don&rsquo;t do well. Maybe on the road we can relax, start to play our game again and get things going upward for the second half of the season.&rdquo;</p><p>While the win was big news for the Leafs on a snowy January Saturday night, the happenings of that morning weren&rsquo;t exactly discouraging, either.</p><p>Leaf captain Darryl Sittler, who&rsquo;s been sidelined since Dec. 26 with a knee injury, skated for the first time and his knee stood up to the test.</p><p>Sittler had his knee in a hinged cast which allowed him to retain some muscle tone in his leg. He worked out for several hours every day during his forced sabbatical.</p><p>&ldquo;I lost six pounds when I was off skates,&rdquo; Sittler said.</p><p>He expected to be ready to join the team halfway through the road trip.</p><p>Through the team&rsquo;s skid. Leaf coach Roger Neilson refused to panic or make any sweeping changes in the team&rsquo;s personnel or approach.</p><p>&ldquo;When things go badly for a team, there&rsquo;s a tendency for everyone to second-guess what you&rsquo;re doing and you even start to do it yourself,&rdquo; Neilson said.</p><p>&ldquo;The time to assess your program and personnel is when things are going well, not when you&rsquo;re on a skid. Everyone connected with the team has faith that we have the players to get the job done. We feel we&rsquo;re a better team than last season because we have more depth.</p><p>&ldquo;Our players have stayed close together through it all. There&rsquo;s been no blaming the other guy for the trouble, no backbiting. Sometimes, a team will come through a slump and be much stronger.&rdquo;</p><p><b>LEAF NOTES</b>:-The Leafs were encouraged by the strong work of goalie Paul Harrison in the win over the Rockies. He&rsquo;d been shaky in a couple of his previous starts&hellip;Winger Tiger Williams had moved close to the Leaf career penalty record of 1,389 minutes held by the late Tim Horton&hellip;With 12 goals in 44 games, winger Pat Boutette, one of the most consistent Leafs this season, appeared on his way to his first 20-goalseason in the NHL.</p><h2><b>NHL Leaders</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03690/4378189-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="603" height="783"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0012-02

Leafs Salvage Home Stand By Ending Winless Skein

<h2><i><b>Farewell To A Great Bruin</b></i></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011108/4378262-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="609" height="1204"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02912/4378255-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="1156" height="1200"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photos by Steve Babineau)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>J</span>ohn Bucyk, right, former scoring great and captain of the Boston Bruins, shakes hands with Bobby Orr as he turns Orr&rsquo;s No. 4 sweater over to the one-time super Bruin defenseman during ceremonies honoring Orr at the Boston Garden. The Bruins retired Orr&rsquo;s number in tribute to his 10 brilliant years in Boston before six knee operations forced him into retirement at an early age. Orr, who will be 31 in March, is now the assistant general manager of the Chicago Black Hawks.</p><h2><i><b>Forgot To Duck</b></i></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03674/4378248-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="1176" height="1200"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</span></figcaption></div><p>It isn&rsquo;t very often an NHL coach manages to get in the way of a puck but it happened to Rangers&rsquo; Fred Shero when a shot along the boards of a Jan. 3 game against Montreal skimmed over the dasher and struck Shero above the eye forcing him to leave the bench for repairs. Assistant Mike Nykoluk took over for Shero without incident.</p><h2><i><b>Even Hockey Referees Go Down From The Intense Action</b></i></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04476/4378241-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="1185" height="1673"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-05333/4378234-1-eng-US/f0014-052.jpg" title="f0014-05" width="612" height="1684"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-06266/4378227-1-eng-US/f0014-062.jpg" title="f0014-06" width="1181" height="1684"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photos by Bruce Bennett and Rich Strauss)</span></figcaption></div><p>Referee Dave Newell caught an errant puck on the side of his head during a recent game at the Nassau Coliseum and when he was unable to return to the ice, the league&rsquo;s supervisor of officials Frank Udvari, who was in the crowd but hadn&rsquo;t refereed a regular NHL game for several years, was pressed into service. Here&rsquo;s Newell at left being led away with a towel wrapped around his head after being cut by a flying puck. In center, Udvari skated out wearing Newell&rsquo;s jersey and at right proceeded to direct the game action between Denis Potvin (5) and Stefan Persson (7) of the Islanders. Udvari did a commendable pinch-hitting job for Newell, who was none the worse for wear and returned to his next game assignment.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-01

HOCKEY PEOPLE

<div class="byline">BY AL SMITH</div><p>ATLANTA&mdash;</p><p>Tom Lysiak, like his teammates and Atlanta Flames&rsquo; management, is having a frustrating time.</p><p>He knows the Flames aren&rsquo;t as good as the 10-0-2 record they posted in their first 12 games&mdash;he also knows they&rsquo;re better than the 12-18-2 record they&rsquo;ve had since that time. Buy Lysiak can&rsquo;t explain the difference.</p><p>&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re a confident team, but we don&rsquo;t seem to play with confidence,&rdquo; Lysiak said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re a hitting team and when we don&rsquo;t hit and get in people&rsquo;s way, we&rsquo;re in trouble.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sure every player on this team knows his role. If we&rsquo;re going to win the hitters have to hit, the skaters have to skate and the scorers have to score. It&rsquo;s hard to find all these qualities in one player, but I think this is what some guys are trying to do.&rdquo;</p><p>Lysiak was talking the morning after the Flames had blown a 4-1 lead and lost 6-4 to the New York Rangers at The Omni. In the first two periods the Flames took the body well and held the Rangers to only 16 shots on goal. But the third period was a different story.</p><p>The Flames got into a skating contest with the Rangers and came out a poor second.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s probably concentration more than anything,&rdquo; Lysiak said. &ldquo;We got away from our hitting game. It&rsquo;s going to take extra thinking and concentration for us to keep playing our style.&rdquo;</p><p>The High Prairie, Alta., native has seen it happen to the Flames many times before. Teams come into The Omni and play a skating game and leave the Flames alone.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the old, &lsquo;let sleeping dogs lie&rsquo; thing,&rdquo; Lysiak said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough to go out and hit&rsquo; every game and at times if other teams don&rsquo;t start it we find ourselves playing&rsquo;their game.</p><p>&ldquo;I think the biggest problem is that guys like to be recognized as hockey players and not just hitters. Hockey is a skating, shooting game and many guys feel they&rsquo;re not contributing if they don&rsquo;t have the stats some other guys do. They don&rsquo;t feel they are as much an asset to the club.&rdquo;</p><p>While Lysiak and many other Flames are enjoying their best offensive season ever, the club is not far ahead of last season&rsquo;s pace which saw them finish with the seventh best record in the National Hockey League.</p><p>After 44 games, Lysiak had 21 goals and 50 points, almost a 100-point season pace, and ahead of his best season when he had 82 points in 1975-76.</p><p>Lysiak&rsquo;s problem comes from the fact he is team captain. It&rsquo;s a role that hasn&rsquo;t changed the 26-year-old center, but at times leaves him frustrated, especially when the team is playing poorly.</p><p>&ldquo;I sometimes wonder what my role is,&rdquo; Lysiak said. &ldquo;Is it to show by example, is it to pat players on the back when playing well and criticize when they&rsquo;re not, or is it just to collect money for Christmas presents?</p><p>&ldquo;There are times 1 would like to take a more active role and times I don&rsquo;t know if I should. I don&rsquo;t believe my being captain is taken seriously enough&mdash;by management, the players or myself.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not a captain&rsquo;s job to give direction unless he&rsquo;s asked and I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;m asked enough. Management can&rsquo;t always tell when a player is having problems and many of the guys feel intimidated going to management with them. That&rsquo;s where I come in. If they would bring them to me, I could be the go-between.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02823/4378293-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="566" height="709"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TOM LYSIAK&hellip;Feels Frustrated</b></figcaption></div><p>Lysiak does admit there are times when he probably wouldn&rsquo;t want to know what management is thinking, but he has had a more active role than when he first was appointed.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been approached by management on a lot of things,&rdquo; Lysiak said. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;ve found I don&rsquo;t have the patience Fred and Cliff (Flames&rsquo; coach Creighton and general manager Fletcher) have. I find I can&rsquo;t wait for things to happen like they can.&rdquo;</p><p>Lysiak does admit to added pressure being captain, but he has shown he can handle it. He believes he should lead by example and he&rsquo;s on his way to his best season ever.</p><p><b>FLAMES NOTES:</b> Goalie Dan Bouchard is sure to break his own club record of 25 victories in a season set last year. He had 21 after 44 games&hellip;Willi Plett is also headed for a team record, that of 171 penalty minutes which he set last season. Through 44 games he had 141&hellip;Bob MacMillan, with 42 assists in first 44 games ranked second in league. It was also more than he has ever recorded in one season.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-02

Flames Best Playing Hitting Game

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div><p>ST. LOUIS&mdash;</p><p>Coach Barclay Plager has been trying numerous line combinations in an effort to get his St. Louis Blues moving, and he made two of his players very happy by putting them together.</p><p>Center Garry Unger and left wing Inge Hammarstrom enjoy playing together. Each believes he is more effective when playing on a line with the other.</p><p>&ldquo;Inge and I seem to handle the puck the same way,&rdquo; Unger said. &ldquo;He can skate and make the play with the puck. We seem to click together.&rdquo;</p><p>Much of Unger&rsquo;s career has imvolved a search for a left wing who is able to exploit Unger&rsquo;s scoring ability. Hammarstrom may not be the perfect complement for Unger, but Unger believes Hammarstrom is the best left wing available for him on the team now.</p><p>&ldquo;For my style of play I have to have the puck a lot,&rdquo; Unger said. &ldquo;I need wingers who are good at handling the puck and are good at making plays, so they can hit me with the pass when I make my break.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;The winger who can make more than the ordinary play is the kind 1 need,&rdquo; Unger added. &ldquo;I need the winger who sees me breaking when I&rsquo;m covered, but still makes the play because he knows I can get away from my check if the puck&rsquo;s there.&rdquo;</p><p>Hammarstrom, who has been benched several times this season, also believes he and Unger work well together.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s good at putting the puck into the net,&rdquo; Hammarstrom said. &ldquo;I know I have the speed, and I try to keep an eye on him.&rdquo;</p><p>Another reason Unger likes being with Hammarstrom is because it gets him off left wing and back at center. Unger has played part of the season at left wing, mostly because Mike Walton was kept at center. Walton was put on waivers by the Blues and eventually released.</p><p>&ldquo;Putting me back at center was something that had to happen,&rdquo; Unger said. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t play 12 or 13 years at one position to move to another. I&rsquo;ll move if necessary but I don&rsquo;t like it. When you&rsquo;re at a different position, you find yourself standing around. I feel a lot more at home at center.&rdquo;</p><p>Unger realizes Plager&rsquo;s frequent changing of line combinations are legitimate attempts to improve the team&rsquo;s record, now the worst in the National Hockey League.</p><p>&ldquo;He has to shake things up and get things going,&rdquo; Unger said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s why I didn&rsquo;t say anything when I was moved to left wing, but I think it&rsquo;s to the advantage of the team for me to play center.&rdquo;</p><p>Plager said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll try anything. I&rsquo;m looking for guys who want to play.&rdquo;</p><p>After a 4-3 loss in Chicago, the Blues finished the old year with a thrilling 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers for their eighth victory of the season.</p><p>But after two weeks of the new year the Blues still were looking for their first 1979 victory. They lost to the Rockies in Colorado, 4-2, to drop into the league basement, tied Minnesota, 3-3, lost again to Colorado, 4-1, lost to the New York Rangers, 5-3, squandered a 3-0 lead and lost to Vancouver, 4-3, and two nights later gave up a 2-0 lead and tied the Canucks, 3-3.</p><p>After that second loss to the Rockies on home ice, Plager said: &ldquo;This is the most disappointing game of the season. It that&rsquo;s what you call an effort on the ice, it&rsquo;s a joke.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very disappointed with a lot of guys,&rdquo; the coach said. &ldquo;Some guys are showing no sign of improvement.&rdquo;</p><p>Plager excused only his Kid Line of Bernie Federko, Brian Sutter and Wayne Babych from those who had drawn his wrath.</p><p>&ldquo;If we&rsquo;re the worst team in the NHL, there are a lot of guys who shouldn&rsquo;t be here,&rdquo; Plager said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to make some changes. We could change 10 of our players and have 18-year-olds who would play as well.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re trying to build, but you don&rsquo;t have to lose while you&rsquo;re building,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what you have to do to get these guys going. I have to wonder what kind of guys we have.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03634/4378331-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="561" height="690"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GARRY UNGER&hellip;Realized Why</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>Team Penalties</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011060/4378324-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="596" height="661"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0015-03

Unger Returned By Coach To Blues’ Center Duties

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01911/4378600-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"></div><h2><b>ATLANTA FLAMES</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02755/4378593-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="145" height="130"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03605/4378586-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="742" height="598"></div><h2><b>BOSTON BRUINS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04470/4378579-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="125" height="128"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-05362/4378572-1-eng-US/f0016-052.jpg" title="f0016-05" width="736" height="599"></div><h2><b>BUFFALO SABRES</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-06298/4378565-1-eng-US/f0016-062.jpg" title="f0016-06" width="118" height="119"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-07272/4378558-1-eng-US/f0016-072.jpg" title="f0016-07" width="733" height="583"></div><h2><b>CHICAGO HAWKS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-08252/4378551-1-eng-US/f0016-082.jpg" title="f0016-08" width="163" height="154"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-09228/4378544-1-eng-US/f0016-092.jpg" title="f0016-09" width="738" height="662"></div><h2><b>COLORADO ROCKIES</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-10206/4378537-1-eng-US/f0016-102.jpg" title="f0016-10" width="125" height="124"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-11192/4378530-1-eng-US/f0016-112.jpg" title="f0016-11" width="744" height="564"></div><h2><b>DETROIT REDWINGS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-12175/4378523-1-eng-US/f0016-122.jpg" title="f0016-12" width="156" height="90"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-13161/4378516-1-eng-US/f0016-132.jpg" title="f0016-13" width="747" height="635"></div><h2><b>LOS ANGELES KINGS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-14153/4378509-1-eng-US/f0016-142.jpg" title="f0016-14" width="141" height="146"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-15143/4378502-1-eng-US/f0016-152.jpg" title="f0016-15" width="742" height="685"></div><h2><b>MINNESOTA STARS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-16139/4378495-1-eng-US/f0016-162.jpg" title="f0016-16" width="154" height="135"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-17131/4378488-1-eng-US/f0016-172.jpg" title="f0016-17" width="751" height="610"></div><h2><b>MONTREAL CANADIENS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-18124/4378481-1-eng-US/f0016-182.jpg" title="f0016-18" width="143" height="114"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-19115/4378474-1-eng-US/f0016-192.jpg" title="f0016-19" width="766" height="668"></div><h2><b>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2095/4378467-1-eng-US/f0016-202.jpg" title="f0016-20" width="138" height="131"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2189/4378460-1-eng-US/f0016-212.jpg" title="f0016-21" width="736" height="640"></div><h2><b>NEW YORK RANGERS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2287/4378453-1-eng-US/f0016-222.jpg" title="f0016-22" width="141" height="137"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2384/4378446-1-eng-US/f0016-232.jpg" title="f0016-23" width="739" height="669"></div><h2><b>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2482/4378439-1-eng-US/f0016-242.jpg" title="f0016-24" width="161" height="111"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2577/4378432-1-eng-US/f0016-252.jpg" title="f0016-25" width="738" height="638"></div><h2><b>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2674/4378425-1-eng-US/f0016-262.jpg" title="f0016-26" width="146" height="140"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2765/4378418-1-eng-US/f0016-272.jpg" title="f0016-27" width="733" height="597"></div><h2><b>ST. LOUIS BLUES</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2863/4378411-1-eng-US/f0016-282.jpg" title="f0016-28" width="108" height="96"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-2956/4378404-1-eng-US/f0016-292.jpg" title="f0016-29" width="734" height="608"></div><h2><b>TORONTO LEAFS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3056/4378397-1-eng-US/f0016-302.jpg" title="f0016-30" width="127" height="131"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3156/4378390-1-eng-US/f0016-312.jpg" title="f0016-31" width="733" height="616"></div><h2><b>VANCOUVER CANUCKS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3250/4378383-1-eng-US/f0016-322.jpg" title="f0016-32" width="137" height="134"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3350/4378376-1-eng-US/f0016-332.jpg" title="f0016-33" width="731" height="720"></div><h2><b>WASHINGTON CAPS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3446/4378369-1-eng-US/f0016-342.jpg" title="f0016-34" width="177" height="98"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-3532/4378362-1-eng-US/f0016-352.jpg" title="f0016-35" width="733" height="656"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0016-01

NHL POINT SCORING AND PENALTY STATISTICS

<div class="byline">BY RUSS WHITE</div><p>WASHINGTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>N</span>eeding another nine points to get into the thick of the wild card playoff race in the National Hockey League, the red hot Washington Caps are making a determined bid to pull it off.</p><p>The Caps have won four of their last five games and for them that&rsquo;s a sizzling pace since they&rsquo;ve been mired in or near last place all season in the very competitive Norris Division.</p><p>But the Caps, buoyed by the acquisition of left winger Greg Polis from the Rangers on waivers, may have suddenly found their niche. It all started the weekend of Jan. 12-14 when they beat Colorado 8-1 and Vancouver 5-3. Then came a slight letdown when they lost to the Islanders but they followed with wins over Detroit 5-1 and Pittsburgh 5-2&mdash;two teams they have to overcome to get a wild card berth.</p><p>Right now the Caps with 35 points are behind Philly, 55 points, Atlanta 54, Buffalo 47, L.A. 44 and Minnesota 38, but if they keep up their present surprise turnabout they could be right smack in the middle of those teams in a matter of weeks.</p><p>For little more than the waiver price, Caps&rsquo; general manager Max McNab obtained Polis from the Rangers and the next night Polis played for Washington against the New York Islanders.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy about the chance to play,&rdquo; Polis said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got a career to think about. I was not furthering it watching the other guys play in New York. I want to prove that the Rangers were wrong.</p><p>Polis, 28, appeared in only six games for the Rangers and contributed one goal and one assist. He had three goals and three assists during a month he played in New Haven. Recalled by the Rangers, he became very frustrated.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d play a game and sit out five, play again and sit out 10. I don&rsquo;t feel as if they gave me a good chance.&rdquo;</p><p>In eight years Polis has scored 161 goals and added 158 assists and McNab is counting on a big effort from his new man. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s big and likes to work,&rdquo; McNab said. &ldquo;And he seems eager to do something for us.&rdquo;</p><p>Coach Dan Belisle has Polis at left wing on a line with Swedish center Rolf Edberg and right wing Bobby Sirois. In his first game Polis did well, although being held scoreless by the Islanders. &ldquo;The guy has some definite things in mind when he has the puck,&rdquo; Belisle said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll help us.&rdquo;</p><p>As the caps make their push&mdash;they&rsquo;ve been close to .500 for over a monthrookie Ryan Walter has been playing superbly as have former No. 1 draft choices Rick Green and Robert Picard. Walter upped his goal total to 17, one less than team leader Sirois. Picard scored in 10 straight games, a Caps&rsquo; record.</p><p>Bad news for the Caps was that defenseman Pete Scamurra, who had been playing impressively, was injured Jan. 6 in a victory at Detroit and had to undergo surgery on his left knee. Scamurra is out for the season and will be missed at the blueline.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01803/4378631-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="567" height="715"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GREG POLIS&hellip;Can Help Caps</b></figcaption></div><p>Swedish defenseman Leif Svensson injured his left ankle and had to miss over a week of play and defenseman Yvon Labre suffered a bruised knee in the game at Nassau Coliseum against the Islanders.</p><p>The Caps were pressed at defense and may have to reactivate veteran Bryan Watson, who has hardly played at all the last two months.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-01

Caps Hot After Wild Card Berth

<h2><b>Looking At NHL Goalers</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01821/4378669-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="624" height="2018"></div><h2><b>NHL&rsquo;S&hellip;</b>&nbsp;<i>Player of the Week</i></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>N</span>ew York Rangers have found a way to stop the Montreal Canadiens twice this year, but they couldn&rsquo;t turn off Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; center Tim Young in a recent Madison Square Garden contest.</b></p><p><b>Young, who came into the game as the second leading North Star scorer with 31 points, had been off to a slow start in the goalscoring department with only 10 past the midway point of the season after averaging 26 the last two years.</b></p><p><b>However, he unleashed the second five-goal game of the season (Bryan Trottier had the other) as the North Stars humiliated the Rangers, 8-1. Young, who also assisted on one goal for a six-point evening, had never scored even three goals in a game entering this season.</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03484/4378662-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="513" height="860"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TIM YOUNG&hellip;Minnesota North Stars</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0018-01

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div><p>PITTSBURGH&mdash;</p><p>&ldquo;Any time there&rsquo;s a crucial situation, I&rsquo;m not bragging or nothing, but I have to play,&rdquo; said Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; center Gregg Sheppard. &ldquo;And, I think I should be paid accordingly.&rdquo;</p><p>Sheppard, 29, was traded to the Penguins two weeks before the start of training camp from the Atlanta Flames in exchange for Pittsburgh&rsquo;s all-time leading scorer Jean Pronovost. The Flames had obtained Sheppard earlier the same day from the Boston Bruins for defenseman Dick Redmond.</p><p>But Sheppart balked at reporting to his new team because he was unable to reach a satisfactory contract agreement, and missed all of training camp.</p><p>&ldquo;Before I came here I wanted to have an indication of what they wanted to pay me and for how many, years,&rdquo; said Sheppard, who also missed the first seven games of the regular season before playing for Pittsburgh. &ldquo;As it turned out, it was kind of a standoff. I wan&rsquo;t benefiting myself from not playing hockey, and I wasn&rsquo;t helping the team. I thought I owed it to the team and the guys here to come and help them try to win. I thought the other things would just take care of themselves over the course of the year.&rdquo;</p><p>Those &ldquo;other things&rdquo; still have not been resolved. &ldquo;I signed my option year on my contract when I came here,&rdquo; said Sheppard. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m still on my option, that&rsquo;s all.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have anything against Pittsburgh,&rdquo; Sheppard said. &ldquo;As it turned out, I just didn&rsquo;t sign with Boston. In fact, basically I really never even negotiated with them. I couldn&rsquo;t believe what happened.</p><p>&ldquo;We had an initial meeting in June, and I wasn&rsquo;t even there. My attorney had one other meeting with (Boston general manager) Harry Sinden. He said I was paid adequately, and he wanted to keep my salary the same. I thought I deserved a raise. So my attorney told Sinden you&rsquo;ll have to take it up with Shep in August. I came to Boston, and they told me they had a meeting scheduled for a Thursday. And on the Wednesday before the meeting, Harry trades me. There was actually no negotiating. I still don&rsquo;t know what happened. I never did talk to Sinden after that.&rdquo;</p><p>Prior to last season, Sheppard played in 70 or more games every year for Boston since breaking into the National HOckey League with the Bruins in 1972-73. Last year he missed 26 games with a knee injury, and earned an estimated salary of $85,000 per season.</p><p>&ldquo;I talked to other centermen around the league, and found out what they were getting,&rdquo; said Sheppard. &ldquo;I compared myself to them, and they were getting a lot more than I was. I thought I was worth more than Sinden offered me.</p><p>. &ldquo;Heck, when I was in Boston, we went to four Stanley Cups in six years. And I played like 30 minutes every game in the playoffs. I couldn&rsquo;t understand why I couldn&rsquo;t have a raise. I was hurt last year, but every other year, I scored 3035 goals, and I&rsquo;ve always had an excellent playoff. So I just assumed I should get a raise.&rdquo;</p><p>In addition to missing the first seven games of the regular season because of contract negotiations, Sheppard suffered a broken little finger on his right hand. That made it impossible to grip a stick, and he missed another 12 games. Gregg scored six goals and added II assists in his first 22 games he played for the Penguins this season.</p><p>&ldquo;The players on the team were just super towards me when I first came,&rdquo; remembered Sheppard. &ldquo;They understood the situation. They stood behind me. I thought maybe I wanted to have a team meeting, and express to the guys exactly what had happened and what took place. I went to the captain Orest Kindrachuck, and he said there&rsquo;s no need for it. The guys understand what was happening, and they&rsquo;re just glad to have you here. I said that&rsquo;s great. That&rsquo;s all I want do do, try and help the team win this year. I fit into the team very well. We&rsquo;ve got a great bunch of guys here.&rdquo;</p><p>What options are open to Sheppard?</p><p>&ldquo;If I don&rsquo;t sign, I&rsquo;d be a free agent this year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d be free to negotiate like Rogie Vachon or Butch Goring. I&rsquo;ve left all the options open. I haven&rsquo;t made any decisions yet. I&rsquo;m no Guy Lafleur or Brad Park, and I&rsquo;m not demanding $200,000 a year, or something like that.</p><p>&ldquo;If I&rsquo;m sitting on the bench, then I shouldn&rsquo;t be paid. But I want to play in those crucial situations, and if you play in those situations, and the team is winning, you know your contributing your fair share. That&rsquo;s what I believe in.</p><p>&ldquo;The Pittsburgh management has offered me basically the same money as Boston offered me, only they&rsquo;ve said two or three years. But it&rsquo;s no raise. I don&rsquo;t only score goals, but I kill penalties too. And play the power play. I think I deserve a raise.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02655/4378700-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="563" height="747"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GREGG SHEPPARD&hellip;In Option Year</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0018-02

Sheppard Slighted By Pens’ Offer

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01785/4378731-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BILLY HARRIS&hellip;Has To Score More Often</b></figcaption></div><p>LONG ISLAND&mdash;</p><p>Right on Islanders, first half champs of the National Hockey League.</p><p>At press time, Montreal, Boston and the Islanders had all played at least 41 games&mdash;and the Isles led in wins, fewest losses, total points, most goals, and were one behind Montreal in goals against.</p><p>The Islanders have to rate as the hottest team in the NHL with a record of 24-3-5 in their last 32 games. If the Bryan Trottier-Clark Gillies-Mike Bossy line duplicates their pace in their first forty one games, they will score 162 goals&mdash;and set a new NHL record. At their present pace (Bossy 35, Trottier 32, and Gillies 16) the BTG line would go over the 160 mark, easily surpassing the 141 set by Bobbie Clarke, Reggie Leach and Bill Barber in 1975-76.</p><p>With 28 wins in their first 41 games, it isn&rsquo;t hard to conceive of the Isles with more than 50 wins, perhaps as high as 55. Double their five first-half losses and you come up with 10, only one more than Montreal owned in 43 games&mdash;and three more than Boston in 42.</p><p>The Islanders&rsquo; 198 goals was 14 better than Boston, their closest competitor, with the only fly in the ointment being the high preponderance of scores by the one line. With 83 of those 198 goals, coach Al Arbour and general manager Bill Torrey must worry just a bit about what affect an injury to one of the BTG stars might mean.</p><p>Torrey, however, didn&rsquo;t agree.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care how many those guys get. They have the advantage of the power play. Does Montreal worry about how many goals Guy Lafleur and Steve Shutt score? They won three Stanley Cups operating that way&mdash;and I bet if you add the goals scored by whichever player was centering for them, they would have more than one third of the Montreal total.&rdquo;</p><p>The Islander GM expects more goal production out of Bobby Nystrom and Billy Harris in the second half.</p><p>&ldquo;I would think they will each wind up with 25,&rdquo; says Bow Tie Bill. &ldquo;Right now, Nystrom has six and Billy nine.&rdquo;</p><p>Bob Bourne, with 17 first half scores should be good for 30, as should defenseman Denis Potvin, who also had 17. Potvin, with 55 first half points, was just behind Gillies&rsquo; 57, Bossy&rsquo;s 61 and Trottier&rsquo;s 72. He should make the century mark possibly giving the Isles four men over 100 points.</p><p>At home, the unbeaten Islanders were 17-0-1 with 11-5-6 on the road. The full season protection at home is 34-0-6, with 22-10-8 on the road.</p><p>Can New York go unbeaten at home? Probably not, as the schedule gives them Montreal once more and Boston twice in the Nassau Colliseum. While the Isles are perfectly capable of beating the Canadiens and Bruins anywhere, the law of averages says they must lose once.</p><p>The Nassau Coliseum, otherwise known as Fort Neverlose, hasn&rsquo;t witnessed a losing Islander game since the seventh game of last season&rsquo;s Stanley Cup semi-finals April 19. In regular season play, they have now gone 26 games without losing.</p><p>Trottier is challenging the NHL record for points per game held by Boston&rsquo;s Phil Esposito (1.94 in 197071 when he gged 152 points), and Bossy is fighting the legendary Cy Denenny&rsquo;s .767 goals per game average with 88 in his first 119 games.</p><p>&ldquo;If there was a first half Stanley Cup we would take the award,&rdquo; quipped Torrey. &ldquo;But since there isn&rsquo;t, we&rsquo;ll have to win it in May.&rdquo;</p><p>On the road the Islanders figure to have more trouble in the second half, as they play Montreal one time and Boston twice. They are finished with Toronto on the road, but skated through three games in three nights January 10-21-22. On the 20th, they played Chicago at home, then shuffled to Buffalo the next night, before going on to Chicago for the makeup of the cancelled con test of December 31.</p><p>Bob McCammon, the coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, hopes the Islanders will slump.</p><p>&ldquo;They can&rsquo;t keep on playing that well, can they?&rdquo; asked Bob. &ldquo;They have to lose one at home, maybe two or three. They are at the peak of their game right now&mdash;and I&rsquo;m sure they wish they could play the Stanley Cup playoffs right now. We are improving, so are the Rangers, so things may improve for us and the Rangers. It might be tougher on the Islanders in the second half.&rdquo;</p><p><b>ISLAND SOUNDS:</b> Goaltender Chico Resch went 23 games (15-0-8) without a loss. His only loss of the season was the 10-7 debacle in Toronto on the opening weekend&hellip;and he didn&rsquo;t lose again until Jan. 17 in Madison Square Garden. Islanders return match with Flyers at the Spectrum January 14 was a mild 1-1 tie, with the only sign of trouble coming at the end of the second period when the benches emptied, but trouble was averted. The combatants were Garry Howatt and Bobby Clarke.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0019-01

Stats Show Isles Playing NHL’s Best Hockey

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01617/4378769-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="397" height="380"></div><p>NEW YORK&mdash;</p><p>The National Hockey League will have its prestige and reputation on the line when its hand picked All Stars take on the Soviet Nationals Feb. 8, 10 and 11 in New York&rsquo;s Madison Square Garden.</p><p>One of the main problems in dealing with the Soviets is their completely different concept of attack.</p><p>&ldquo;The Russians want to score the perfect goal on every play,&rdquo; revealed Freddie Shero, the coach of the New York Rangers. &ldquo;They work for the perfect pass play in front of the net&mdash;in typical European style. We had somewhat of a problem early in the season with Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg, when the two Swedish players made their NHL debuts.</p><p>&ldquo;But, from the point of view of defending against it, it can present some problems. Much of what is done in the NHL is done by automatic reflex. Goalies become accustomed to a player shooting when he is in position to do so, and react accordingly. The Soviets might fake us out, by notshooting when everything says they should. In addition, they peel back into their own end in five man units, and unravel like thread coming off a spool. Your wingers have to be careful to stay with their man, especially when they criss cross, that is have the right wing go to the left side and vice versa,&rdquo; continued the Rangers boss.</p><p>Shero coached the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Central Red Army team in January of 1976 when both squads were the champions of their respective worlds.</p><p>&ldquo;You have to stay on top of them, play the body and keep them from winding up in their own end,&rdquo; analyzed Fred. &ldquo;They seem susceptable to power play type pressure on defense&mdash;perhaps the NHL can exploit this.&rdquo;</p><p>Soviet defensemen don&rsquo;t clear the slot like NHL defenders&mdash;and this is the reason for the offensive concept of the&rsquo; perfect pass in front.</p><p>&ldquo;Vaclav Nedomansky planted himself in front of the net in Europe and did what he wanted,&rdquo; remembers Karol Gut, the co-coach of the Czech Nationals. &ldquo;He was our Phil Esposito.&rdquo;</p><p>When a swift skating, pass oriented forward line such as the Vladimir Petrov, Boris Mikhailov, Valeri Kharlamov trio starts to work on the NHL, look out for cute little tricks.</p><p>&ldquo;That line isn&rsquo;t quite as fast as it used to be,&rdquo; said Gut. &ldquo;But, they have played together so long that they know exactly where each member will be, plus the two defensemen, so that their passes are to spots, almost automatically. They can beat you with slick passing, just as easy as with their skating.&rdquo;</p><p>The other big Soviet trio, made up of Victor Zhluktov, Sergei Kapustin and Helmut Balderis is pure speed.</p><p>&ldquo;Kapustin is the corner man, but Zhluktov can dig out the puck, too,&rdquo; reports Gut. &ldquo;Balderis is out of this world, he seems to have four different speeds and can shift like a figure skater.&rdquo;</p><p><b><i>This is the fourth 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.</i></b></p><p>That&rsquo;s the minus side in the NHL-Soviet confrontation. In favor of the NHL is the smaller rinks, which will tend to cramp the Soviets, used to larger surfaces&mdash;and will certainly take away from their passing and skating games. A big item in the NHL&rsquo;s favor may be that Soviet defensive weakness. This is not that their blueliners can&rsquo;t skate, hit and clear the puck. They do that very well, and there are more than a few NHL rearguards who would have trouble surviving on the larger European ice surfaces. But they don&rsquo;t play it tough in front of the net, and traditionally allow the opposition to stand around in front.</p><p>Marcel Pelletier, the Flyers personnel director, and an erudite judge of all hockey, noted, &ldquo;The Soviets big weakness is clearing the puck and their inability to withstand a gang six man attack or a power play type of pressure situation. If everything works well, our power play may do some business with them.&rdquo;</p><p>Actually, in both the Soviets strength and weakness it is unfamiliarity on an every game basis that makes for the difference in approach. The NHL will have to be careful and peel its wingers back so that the Soviets&rsquo; Dallas Cowboy style pass patterns don&rsquo;t draw them in&mdash;and the Soviet will have to learn to clear the slot, or eventually pay the price.</p><p>In a true sense, the NHL-Soviet confrontation will be a clash of cultures which will produce an exchange of ideas, even if those ideas are simply how to play the game of ice hockey.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02435/4378762-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="568" height="563"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MARCEL PELLETIER&hellip;Soviets Have Weaknesses</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0020-01

Soviets Hope To Blow NHL Off Ice With Devastating Offense, Passing

f0022-01

NATIONAL LEAGUE SUMMARIES

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE WARRINER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01496/4379062-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MICHEL GOULET&hellip;Bright Light For Bulls</b></figcaption></div><p>HARTFORD&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>G</span>oing into a pair of games at the Springfield Civic Center New England had the best home record in the WHA (13-40). The Whalers were two points out of first place but had three games in hand over the leading Quebec Nordiques. Everything looked rosy. Because of the All Star Game break, and a change in schedule, the Whalers had played only one game in 13 days, so when Edmonton came in the Whalers were raring to go.</p><p>Goalie Dave Dryden kept the Oilers in the game as the Whalers out-shot Edmonton 15 to 2 in the first period, and 15 to 6 in the second. With the game still scoreless in the third, 18-year-old Wayne Gretzky took over for the Oilers. Within a five-minute span he had rapped in a rebound, and twice stole the puck from Whaler defensemen before firing past the surprised New England netminder, John Garrett. That ended the scoring: Gretzky 3, Whalers 0. It was the first time the Whalers had been blanked his season.</p><p>Gretzky&rsquo;s hat trick put him over the 20-goal mark for the season and the partisan New England fans gave him a fine ovation when he was named the game&rsquo;s number one star. The two steals were particularly pleasing to the youngster as he said afterwards, &ldquo;The knock on me was defense. I was playing bad defensively. I went from in the dog house defensively to checking the top line in the WHA and I thought we did a pretty good job checking them tonight.&rdquo; He did indeed.</p><p>New England didn&rsquo;t have much time to commiserate about the loss. Winnipeg was in the next night and points have not come easy from the Jets in the past two seasons. Including the 1977-78 playoffs, the Whalers were 4-13-2 against the Jets. It was no different this time. New England could hardly get untracked in the first stanza while Winnipeg capitalized on three Whaler miscues and virtually rapped up the game. Final score, 4-2.</p><p>Veteran right winger Tom Webster&rsquo;s comeback plans have been scrapped. He&rsquo;s hoping for a third back operation, this time to repair a cracked fusion, &ldquo;so that I can enjoy a normal life.&rdquo; Webbie says he&rsquo;d like to coach in junior hockey or on the college level, not in the pros&mdash;not yet, anyway.</p><p><b>QUEBEC</b>: The Nordiques won a pair of games in Cincinnati and then couldn&rsquo;t get out of town because of the big snowstorm in the midwest. The visiting Edmonton Oilers were waiting for them in Quebec but the Nordiques had to postpone the game because the home team couldn&rsquo;t make it back to Le Colisee.</p><p>The double wins in Cincy were each by one goal margins, something that&rsquo;s quite common this year in the WHA. According to league statistician, Frank Polnaszek, 41 percent of the league&rsquo;s first 132 games were won by one-goal margins. Quebec and Cincy lead the WHA having been involved in 15 and 20, respectively.</p><p>The big story out of Quebec, however, was Marc Tardif. The brilliant left winger scored his 300th and 301st WHA career goals on way to a 10-1 romp over Winnipeg. The Nordiques thought they had lost Tardif indefinitely and that he would need surgery for an elbow injury. But the Quebec team captain surprised and made an auspicious and quick return to the lineup after missing the WHA All Star series in Edmonton against the Soviets.</p><p>The night prior to the series opener, Tardif complained of intense pain and pressure in the elbow. After futile attempts to locate a doctor in the middle of the night, Nordiques coach Jacques Demers finally used a razor blade to make an incision in the elbow in order to drain the fluid and ease the pain for the star left winger.</p><p>The Nordiques devastating power play had fallen off markedly according to league statistics. Whereas they led the WHA last year, so far this season they rank fifth among the six teams in the league. Last season the Nordis scored on 28.5 percent of their power play opportunities while this season they have converted only 20.4 percent of their chance&rsquo;s.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02392/4379055-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="573" height="757"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MARC TARDIF&hellip;Reaches Milestone</b></figcaption></div><p><b>BIRMINGHAM</b>: After demolishing the visiting Czechoslovakian team, 10-2, the Birmingham Bulls fell upon hard times. The Bulls hosted the Jets on two consecutive nights and then flew to Cincinnati for a third game in as many nights&mdash;but they failed to pick up even a point.</p><p>Winnipeg won back-to-back games in the Civic Center Coliseum by scoring early and winning by identical scores, 3-1. In each of the games the Jets jumped to a 2-0 lead and had virtually sewed up the game in the first period. The Bulls outshot Winnipeg 37-16 in the first contest but only Michel Goulet could get one by All Star netminder, Markus Mattsson.</p><p>The next night, the 18-year-old right winger was the sole Birmingham marksman again as he lit the lamp for the third game in a row. Ernie Wakely, in an infrequent start, had to face 32 shots as the Jets became more offensive-minded.</p><p>In Cincinnati, the Bulls jumped to a two goal lead early in the first stanza as, once again, Michel Goulet led the way getting his 14th goal of the season. The lead was short-lived, however, because the Stingers took advantage of power play opportunities to tie the game at two within a short period.</p><p>Rookie Greg Tebbutt was called for a cross-checking minor and major (spearing) by referee Peter Moffat. From that point on, the penalty timekeeper was kept busy and the Bulls had lost their momentum. The Stingers won, 4-2.</p><p>Birmingham has zoomed to the top of the WHA in the penalty minutes department. After 39 games the Bulls had accumulated 816 minutes to average 20.9 minutes per game. Their nearest rival was Cincinnati with a 17.9 average.</p><p>Louis Sleigher, who was sensational in the scoring department in the first 25 games had failed off considerably and was not dressing for recent games. Although losing quite a few of their games, the Bulls have not fallen out of the race. Cincinnati has played three more games than they have and hold a five point lead.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0024-01

THE WHA

Whalers’ Home Ice Edge Blunted; Nordiques’ Tardif Nets 301st Goal

<h2><b>WHA&rsquo;S&hellip;<i>Player of the Week</i></b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>C</span>incinnati Stingers are in a close battle for the runnerup spot in the WHA standings, and Robbie Ftorek is helping to keep them there as he continues to lead the league in scoring.</p><p>The diminutive centerman notched the first four-goal game of his career in an important 7-2 win by the Stingers over the Winnipeg Jets. In that game, Winnipeg held a 2-0 lead but after Peter Marsh cut the Cincy deficit to one goal, Ftorek tied the game in the second period and added three goals in the third period to pace the win.</p><p>Earlier in the week, Ftorek had another goal and now has 22 on the season and 50 assists to stay in front of Quebec&rsquo;s Real Cloutier in the individual scoring race.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03271/4379198-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="536" height="784"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ROBBIE FTOREK&hellip;Cincinnati Stingers</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>WHA Leaders</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01431/4379191-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="615" height="970"></div><h2><b><i>Looking At WHA Goalers</i></b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02320/4379184-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="598" height="580"></div><h2><b>WORLD HOCKEY ASSN. SUMMARIES</b></h2><h2><b>Where WHA Teams Play</b></h2><h3><b>JANUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01445/4379177-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="579" height="309"></div><h3><b>FEBRUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02347/4379170-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="612" height="689"></div><h2><b>The WHA Scoreboard</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tue. Jan. 23)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03298/4379163-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="589" height="202"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tue. Jan. 16</b></p><p>Winnipeg 1 at Edmonton 3</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 17</b></p><p>Birmingham 5 at Cincinnati 8</p><p>New England at Quebec (ppd, snow)</p><p>Edmonton 6 at Winnipeg 3</p><p><b>Thu. Jan. 18</b></p><p>Quebec 4 at New England 2</p><p><b>Fri, Jan. 19</b></p><p>Cincinnati 7 at Winnipeg 2</p><p>Birmingham 3 at Edmonton 11</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 20</b></p><p>Cincinnati 1 at New England 3</p><p>Winnipeg 1 at Quebec 10</p><p><b>Sun. Jan. 21</b></p><p>Birmingham 4 at Edmonton 3</p><p>Quebec 1 at Winnipeg 3</p><h2><b>WHA&rsquo;s Scorers</b></h2><h3><b>&hellip;This Week</b></h3><p><b>BIRMINGHAM</b>: Cassolato 4,5, Alley 9,10, Stephenson 10, Vaive 13,14, Henderson II, Stewart 7, Hanson 2, Gingras 10, Dillon 6.</p><p><b>CINCINNATI</b>: Gilligan 8, Hislop 16,17. Marsh 22.23, Shutt 4, Ftorek 18,19,20,21,22. Forbes 2,3, Thomas 5, Luksa 7, Dudley 16.</p><p><b>EDMONTON</b>: Chipperfield 9,10,11,12,13, Carlson 6, Driscoll 10,11,12, Micheletti 6,7,8. MacDonald 16, Callighen 6.7, Flett 11, Alexander 8. Gretzky 21,22, Shmyr 4, Hughes 4, Weir 11, Semenko 4.</p><p><b>NEW ENGLAND</b>: Rogers 15, Stoughton 11, Hangsleben 5, Roberts 8, Mark Howe 26.</p><p><b>QUEBEC</b>: Geoffrion 8.9,10. Leduc 15.16. Bordeleau 7.8, Cote 5,6, Cloutier 38,39. Tardif 25,26, Dube 2, Morrison 2.</p><p><b>WINNIPEG</b>: Gray 7,8,9. Eriksson 1,21, Sullivan 24. Lukowich 32, Guindon 7. Ruskowski 6. Preston 14.</p><h2><b>Tue. Jan. 16</b></h2><h2><b>WINNIPEG 1, EDMONTON 3</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Edmonton, 1&mdash;Chipperfield (Gretzky) 1:43.</p><p>Penalties: Campbell 1:04, Langevin 19:30.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Edmonton, 2&mdash;Chipperfield (Flett, Carlson) 2:56, Winnipeg, 3&mdash;Gray (Ruskowski, Campbell) 12:07.</p><p>Penalties: Gretzky 5:30. Campbell, Driscoll 18:26.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Edmonton, 4&mdash;Carlson (MacDonald, Shmyr) 13:31.</p><p>Penalties: Hughes 2:09, Terbenche 17:36.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04235/4379156-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="591" height="139"></div><p>Attendance: 9,447.</p><h2><b>Wed. Jan. 17</b></h2><h2><b>BIRMINGHAM 5, CINCINNATI 8</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Cincinnati, 1&mdash;Gilligan 7:45, 2&mdash;Hislop (Thomas, Ftorek) 8:25, Birmingham. 3&mdash;Cassolato (Hartsburg) 15:48, Cincinnati, 4&mdash;Marsh (Debol) 16:24.</p><p>Penalties: Hartsburg 18:41.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Birminsham, 5&mdash;Alley (Stewart) 4:58, 6&mdash;Stephenson (Hartsburg, Adduono) 6:48, 7&mdash;Vaive (Dillon) 11:03, Cincinnati, 8&mdash;Shutt (Gilligan) 11:39.</p><p>Penalties: Liut 3:50, Alley 13:38. Stephenson, Melrose (minors and majors). Adduono (major), Alley (misconduct) 15:48.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Cincinnati, 9&mdash;Ftorek (Hislop, Norwich) 7:02, 10&mdash;Hislop (Ftorek, Melrose) 10:15, 11&mdash;Forbes (Clark, Norwich) 18:42, Birmingham, 12&mdash;Henderson (Dillon, Goulet) 18:49, Cincinnati, 13&mdash;Thomas (Ftorek) 19:58.</p><p>Penalties, Hartsburg 2:46, Vaive, Dudley 5:43, Beaudoin. Gartner (minors, majors and game misconducts), Cassolato (major and misconduct), Hanson, Shutt (majors, misconducts and game misconducts) Vaive (double minor and game misconduct), Riggin, Dudley (minor, major and misconduct) 11:10.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05196/4379149-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="595" height="141"></div><p>Attendance: 6,384.</p><h2><b>EDMONTON 6, WINNIPEG 3</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Edmonton, 1&mdash;Driscoll (Chipperfield, Alexander) 2:39, 2&mdash;Driscoll (Flett, Langevin) 2:51, Winnipeg, 3&mdash;Eriksson (Nilsson, Ruskowski) 8:44, 4&mdash;Sullivan (Preston, Amodeo) 15:03.</p><p>Penalties: Hughes 0:21, Lindstrom 2:15, Driscoll 6:50. Gray. Langevin 7:04.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Edmonton, 5&mdash;Micheletti (Gretzky, Hunter) 5:52, 6&mdash;MacDonald (Carlson, Callighen) 9:04, 7&mdash;Callighen (Chipperfield, Hughes) 18:08.</p><p>Penalties: Shmyr 7:20, Driscoll 19:23, Gray (misconduct) 19:58.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Edmonton, 8&mdash;Chipperfield (Driscoll, Neilson) 6:55, Winnipeg, 9&mdash;Eriksson (Lindstorm, Gray) 13:51.</p><p>Penalties: Alexander 12:58.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-06163/4379142-1-eng-US/f0026-062.jpg" title="f0026-06" width="590" height="142"></div><p>Attendance: 8,413.</p><h2><b>Thu. Jan. 18</b></h2><h2><b>QUEBEC 4, NEW ENGLAND 2</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>No scoring.</p><p>Penalties, Hangsleben 3:59, Fitchner, Roberts (double minors) 6:08. Brackenbury. Roberts (majors) 15:27.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Quebec, 1&mdash;Geoffrion (Leduc, Tardif) 6:36 2&mdash;Leduc (Larividre) 16:09.</p><p>Penalties: Cloutier 11:50, Leduc 18:17.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>New England, 3&mdash;Rogers (Hangsleben) 7:58, Quebec. 4&mdash;Bordeleau (Lariviere, Cloutier) 12:07. New England, 5&mdash;Stoughton (Ley, Marty Howe) 15:01. Quebec, 6&mdash;Geoffrion (Leduc) 16:58.</p><p>Penalties: Weir 19:31.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-07146/4379135-1-eng-US/f0026-072.jpg" title="f0026-07" width="585" height="141"></div><p>Attendance: 6,592.</p><h2><b>Fri. Jan. 19</b></h2><h2><b>CINCINNATI 7, WINNIPEG 2</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Winnipeg, 1&mdash;Gray (MacKinnon, Lindstrom) 7:51,2&mdash;Gray (Lindstrom, Eriksson) 8:47.</p><p>Penalties: Hislop 8:17.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Cincinnati, 3&mdash;Marsh (Debol, Clark) 1:39, 4&mdash;Ftorek (Norwich, Thomas) 4:42</p><p>Penalties: MacKinnon 3:34.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Cincinnati, 5&mdash;Ftorek 2:48, 6&mdash;Ftorek 5:47,. 7&mdash;Luksa 12:19, 8&mdash;Ftorek (Hislop) 13:22, 9&mdash;Dudley (Norwich, Gartner) 19:29.</p><p>Penalties: Dudley 4:01, Gray 4:45, Baltimore 12:30, Melrose 16:18.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-08133/4379128-1-eng-US/f0026-082.jpg" title="f0026-08" width="586" height="138"></div><p>Attendance: 8,695.</p><h2><b>BIRMINGHAM 3, EDMONTON 11</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Edmonton, 1&mdash;Micheletti (Gretzky) 3:30, 2&mdash;Flett (Chipperfield, Langevin) 16:12.</p><p>Penalties: none.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Birminaham, 3&mdash;Stewart 1:27. Edmonton. 4&mdash;Alexander (Carlson) 5:24, 5&mdash;Callighen (Hamilton, MacDonald) 6:42, Birmingham, 6&mdash;Hanson (Ramage, Stephenson) 8:25, Edmonton, 7&mdash;Gretzky 9:48, 8&mdash;Shmyr (Langevin, Hunter) 11:02.</p><p>Penalties: Hughes 0:58, Stephenson 3:19, Micheletti, Hartsburg (majors) 11:02, Dillon 15:21, Callighen 17:43, Chipperfield, Tukiewicz 19:37.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Edmonton, 9&mdash;Hughes (Carlson, Callighen) 3:57, 10&mdash;Weir (Shmyr) 5:45, Birmingham, 11&mdash;Gingras (Stephenson) 7:26, Edmonton, 12&mdash;Semenko (Weir, Hamilton) 10:54, 13&mdash;Gretzky (Hamilton, Hughes) 14:59, 14&mdash;Micheletti (Gretzky, Shmyr) 18:58.</p><p>Penalties: Vaive, Hughes 0:33, Turkiewicz 5:57, Ramage, Driscoll 7:07.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-09125/4379121-1-eng-US/f0026-092.jpg" title="f0026-09" width="578" height="136"></div><p>Attendance: 9,485.</p><h2><b>Sat. Jan. 20</b></h2><h2><b>CINCINNAT11, NEW ENGLAND 3</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>New England, 1&mdash;Hangsleben (Stoughton, Rogers) 6:24.</p><p>Penalties: Luksa 2:24, Lacroix 3:16, Ley 16:07, Melrose 19:26.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>No scoring.</p><p>Penalties: Legge, G. Howe 1:07, Legge (major) Carlson (minor, major) 8:05.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>New England, 2&mdash;Roberts (Lacroix, G. Howe) 0:36, Cincinnati. 3&mdash;Forbes (Gilligan) 7:01. New England, 4&mdash;Mark Howe (G. Howe, Seiwood) 7:55.</p><p>Penalties: Plumb 9:16, Norwich 10:18.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-10119/4379114-1-eng-US/f0026-102.jpg" title="f0026-10" width="600" height="123"></div><p>Attendance: 6,443.</p><h2><b>WINNIPEG 1, QUEBEC 10</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Quebec, 1&mdash;Cote (Fitchner, Baxter) 2:13, 2&mdash;Geoffrion (Tardif, Weir) 8:44.</p><p>Penalties: Lariviere 8:59.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Quebec, 3&mdash;Cloutier (Tremblay, Bernier) 1:08, 4&mdash;Leduc (Tardif, Cloutier) 3:59, 5&mdash;Tardif (Tremblay, Bernier) 6:58, 6&mdash;Tardif (Leduc, Cloutier) 13:09, Quebec, 7&mdash;Dube (Fitchner) 19:53.</p><p>Penalties: Preston 3:09, Lukowich, Ruskowski (minor, major). Baxter, Fitchner (major), Baxter, Fitchner (major) 6:34, Clackson (minor, major), Baxter (major) 11:11, Bernier 15:27, Gray, Tardif 17:49.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>Winnipeg, 8&mdash;Lukowich (Ruskowski) 7:09, Quebec, 9&mdash;Cloutier (Tardif, Bernier) 9:41, 10&mdash;Cote (Hoganson, Fitchner) 15:14, 11&mdash;Bordeleau (Cloutier, Bernier) 17:07.</p><p>Penalties: Weir (minor, major), Clackson (major) 4:10, Corsi (served by Bordeleau) 5:52, Lesuk 8:32.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-11115/4379107-1-eng-US/f0026-112.jpg" title="f0026-11" width="597" height="139"></div><p>Attendance: 10,003.</p><h2><b>Sun. Jan. 21</b></h2><h2><b>BIRMINGHAM 4, EDMONTON 3</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Edmonton, 1&mdash;Chipperfield (Hamilton, Dryden) 4:02, Birminaham. 2&mdash;Vaive (Goulet) 8:29, 3&mdash;Dillon (Turkiewicz, Henderson) 16:50, 4&mdash;Cassolato (Alley, Turkiewicz) 18:56.</p><p>Penalties: Hunter 1:34, Stewart (minor and major), Gretzky (major). Micheletti (minor and game misconduct) 6:12. Hanson. Sleigher, Goulet. Callighen, Hughes 11:00, Stewart, Ramage, Vaive (majors), Callighen (minor and major), Carlson (minor and game misconduct), Langevin, Shmyr (majors) 15:36.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Birmingham, 5&mdash;Alley 10:50, Edmonton. 6&mdash;Chipperfield (Dryden, Driscoll) 14:53, 7&mdash;Driscoll (Chipperfield, Langevin) 19:00.</p><p>Penalties: Hanson 4:39, Vaive, Semenko, Langevin 10:13.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>No scoring.</p><p>Penalties: Vaive, Hunter 10:59.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-12106/4379100-1-eng-US/f0026-122.jpg" title="f0026-12" width="585" height="151"></div><p>Attendance: 8,675.</p><h2><b>QUEBEC 1, WINNIPEG 3</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST PERIOD</b></h3><p>Winnipeg, 1&mdash;Guindon (MacKinnon, Amodeo) 10:56, Quebec, 2&mdash;Morrison (Tremblay, Fitchner) 12:30.</p><p>Penalties: Leduc 7:27.</p><h3><b>SECOND PERIOD</b></h3><p>Winnipeg, 3&mdash;Ruskowski (Clackson) 9:10, 4&mdash;Preston (Amodeo, MacKinnon) 9:44.</p><p>Penalties: Weir 3:10, Lesuk 12:12.</p><h3><b>THIRD PERIOD</b></h3><p>No scoring.</p><p>Penalties: Morrison 12:46, Campbell 16:36.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-13103/4379093-1-eng-US/f0026-132.jpg" title="f0026-13" width="594" height="153"></div><p>Attendance: 9,133.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0024-03

WORLD HOCKEY ASSOCIATION

<p>WINNIPEG&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>hus far 1979 has been very kind to the Winnipeg Jets. Starting with a 3-3 tie with the Czechs on Jan. 1 the Jets put together a six-game unbeaten streak that saw them move to within one point of the second place New England Whalers. For a while it looked as if they would even overtake league leading Quebec, but then back-to-back losses to Edmonton slammed the door on those aspirations.</p><p>Winning streaks have been unusual this year in the World Hockey Association and coupled with the fact the Jets managed to put half their streak together on the road, the feat was that much more noteworthy.</p><p>Winnipeg began their four game, five day road trip in Birmingham where they took two games from the Bulls by identical scores of 3-1. In both games, the Jets jumped out to an early lead and then Markus Mattsson shut out any comeback efforts.</p><p>The story was repeated in Springfield as the Jets went in to face New England for their third game in as many nights. Taking a 4-1 lead early in the third period, Winnipeg fought off a late comeback bid and coasted to a 4-2 win. The victory gave the Jets the best road record in the WHA: 10-8-1.</p><p>Two nights later in Edmonton, the Oilers drew the curtain on the six game unbeaten streak. It was only the work of goaltender Markus Mattsson, who held the score to a respectable 3-1 count as the Oilers overpowered the Jets. Mother Nature may have had a hand in the demise as snow storms in the Mid-West turned a six hour trip into a 14 hour odyssey. &ldquo;It took us less time to get to Moscow for the Izvestia Tournament,&rdquo; commented one Jets&rsquo; player as he stepped off the plane in Edmonton. Assistant captain, Terry Ruskowski, hinted, &ldquo;You never like to blame a loss on something like that. Nevertheless, it was quite obvious we never had our legs out there.&rdquo;</p><p>Meanwhile, as the Jets arrived in Edmonton, new teammate Roland Eriksson was waiting for his comrades. Eriksson, who was signed as a free agent this past summer by the Vancouver Canucks, was acquired by the Jets four days earlier. It didn&rsquo;t take too long for the 24-year-old Swede to get accustomed to his new team, as the next night back in Winnipeg he slapped home two goals in a 6-3 losing effort.</p><p>&ldquo;I would rather the team get two points than me get two goals,&rdquo; said the modest center who is obviously feeling very comfortable in a Jets&rsquo; uniform.</p><p>Winnipeg is hoping the new Swede will help them regain their winning form when they meet the Quebec Nordiques in back-to-back games this week.</p><p>Jets&rsquo; GM John Ferguson explained the Jets&rsquo; situation. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t matter who you play, every team is in dire need of a win &mdash; every game is a four pointer.&rdquo; He added, &ldquo;Our guys deserve a lot of credit for the way they played during the last week, but we can&rsquo;t dwell on that streak. We&rsquo;ve lost two games in a row since and that&rsquo;s what he have to be concerned about.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01425/4379267-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="574" height="969"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ROLAND ERIKKSON&hellip;Two-Goal Start</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0027-01

Jets’ Inconsistency Costing Them

<p>EDMONTON&mdash;</p><p>Ron Chipperfield suffered hockey&rsquo;s equivalent of whiplash and promptly gave Winnipeg Jets a pain in the neck.</p><p>The Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; center was blind-sided by Winnipeg defender Barry Long early in the first game of a back-to-back series with the Jets. He saw Long at the last moment and barely avoided a serious check but, even so, he wrenched his neck when he hit the ice.</p><p>Before the first game was over. Chipperfield had scored two goals in a 3-1 victory that gave Edmonton a 4-3 lead in the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s season series between the Western Canada foes. The next night, he scored once and set up two goals in a 6-3 victory at Winnipeg.</p><p>The home-and-home performances continued Chipperfield&rsquo;s personal tradition of outstanding play against the Jets. He has been a pain to the Winnipeggers in one form or another since he joined Vancouver Blazers upon completion of his brilliant junior career with Brandon Wheat Kings.</p><p>Despite missing 18 games with a pulled muscle earlier in the season, Chipperfield has been a standout for the Oilers, who ran their most recent hot streak to eight wins in 11 games with their 6-3 triumph. He moved into fifth place in team scoring at a rate far in excess of a point a game.</p><p>Almost certainly the layoff has kept Chipperfield from a spot high among the league&rsquo;s top scorers. He opened the season with a brilliant display during training camp in Scandinavia and was injured in an exhibition game shortly after the Oilers returned home upon completion of their two-week overseas excursion. He attempted to come back before he was perfectly healed and aggravated the injury but now&mdash;at least&mdash;he&rsquo;s in top shape.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to evaluate how much &lsquo;Chipper&rsquo; means to us,&rdquo; said Edmonton coach Glen Sather. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good competitor who leads by example rather than by yelling. He&rsquo;s been much stronger this year, but I guess that shouldn&rsquo;t be a surprise because he had a tough off-season before last year.&rdquo;</p><p>Before Chipperfield joined the Oilers, he was stricken by an arthritic condition in his legs and his career was endangered. Although he played 80 games and led the club in points with 85 after his recovery, he was evidently tired at times during the season. He worked hard in preparation for this year and it appeared all his work had been nullified by the early-season injury&mdash;but fortunately for the Oilers, Chipperfield&rsquo;s recovery is complete.</p><p>His presence in the lineup became absolutely necessary when Stan Weir and Dennis Sobchuk were sidelined. Weir with a flu attack and Sobchuk with muscle spasms in his back. Sobchuk, a center-left winger, has been returned to center on a fulltime basis to fill the gap left by Weir&rsquo;s absence.</p><p>Sather was disturbed, but not discouraged, when Sobchuk was injured in the first Winnipeg game. &ldquo;It seems it always works like that,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You lose a guy and you get a guy back; you get a guy back and you lose a guy.&rdquo;</p><p>One game before Sobchuk was sidelined, left winger Peter Driscoll returned after missing two weeks with a severe Charley horse. When injured, Driscoll was struggling and he was less than brilliant in his return against the Jets.</p><p>The next night, however, he was amazing, He scored two goals within 12 seconds early in the first period, then later helped set up Chipperfield&rsquo;s goal. Driscoll, a robust sort, also banged into every Jet that moved and several that didn&rsquo;tin his best display as an Oiler.</p><p>Observers close to the club suggested there was a good reason for Driscoll&rsquo;s rapid return to form: he was playing beside Chipperfield and right winger Bill Flett who had a 12-game consecutive scoring streak ended two days previously.</p><p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re good to play with,&rdquo; said Driscoll, a noted wanderer whose excursions are offset by Flett&rsquo;s almost-perfect positional play. &ldquo;Anybody who can&rsquo;t play with Ron Chipperfield, well&hellip;&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1475/4379298-1-eng-US/f0028-142.jpg" title="f0028-14" width="563" height="516"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RON CHIPPERFIELD</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0028-14

‘Injured’ Oiler Star Sparks Sweep

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01410/4379413-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="250" height="252"></div><h2><b>BIRMINGHAM BULLS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02304/4379406-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="189" height="200"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03235/4379399-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="740" height="673"></div><h2><b>CINCINNATI STINGERS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04176/4379392-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="135" height="143"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-05152/4379385-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="723" height="683"></div><h2><b>EDMONTON OILERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-06134/4379378-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="201" height="185"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-07124/4379371-1-eng-US/f0028-072.jpg" title="f0028-07" width="752" height="644"></div><h2><b>NEW ENGLAND WHALERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-08114/4379364-1-eng-US/f0028-082.jpg" title="f0028-08" width="188" height="185"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-09108/4379357-1-eng-US/f0028-092.jpg" title="f0028-09" width="738" height="601"></div><h2><b>QUEBEC NORDIQUES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-10105/4379350-1-eng-US/f0028-102.jpg" title="f0028-10" width="190" height="187"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1197/4379343-1-eng-US/f0028-112.jpg" title="f0028-11" width="744" height="642"></div><h2><b>WINNIPEG JETS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1293/4379336-1-eng-US/f0028-122.jpg" title="f0028-12" width="179" height="177"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-1385/4379329-1-eng-US/f0028-132.jpg" title="f0028-13" width="729" height="633"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0028-01

WHA’S POINT SCORING AND PENALTY STATISTICS

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div><p>POTSDAM&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he blue pencils were poised, ready to write off Clarkson College as an also-ran for the ECAC playoffs. As the turbulent season approached the halfway point, the Golden Knights lost four of five Division one games and had slipped to 10th in the standings. A game with streaking Cornell was next on tap, at Ithaca.</p><p>But serving notice that they are solid contenders for home ice once again, the Knights ripped through the Big Red 104, outscoring their hosts 5-1 in the final period. Mike Prestidge and Steve Cruickshank, the only two freshman forwards recruited by Jerry York this year, tallied two goals apiece in the surprising rout.</p><p>The following Saturday, Clarkson jumped off to a 5-0 lead at home against an improved Northeastern club and held on for an 8-5 victory. This time it was Dan Makuch and Sid Tanchak with two goals each, and freshman walk-on goalie Rick Mills stopped 36 shots to Ed Arrington&rsquo;s 45. The win raised Clarkson&rsquo;s record to 7-6 with nine games to play against league foes; the record placed them in ninth but York professed to be pleased with his team&rsquo;s performance and improvement as the stretch run loomed.</p><p>The Knights, third seeded for last year&rsquo;s playoffs before being upset by Brown, had scored just one goal in the two games preceding the Cornell trip. York resorted to the old ploy of juggling all four lines, and it paid off in spades.</p><p>&ldquo;Considering our schedule. I&rsquo;m not really that displeased with the record,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve played 13 league games, and only two of them have been on home ice. I was hoping we&rsquo;d hold on and be in the thick of things until the schedule balanced out, and that&rsquo;s right where we are.&rdquo;</p><p>Defense appeared to be Clarkson&rsquo;s main weakness in pre-season. To compensate for graduation losses, York moved forward Jay Wescott to the backline, and the senior responded by winning All-Tournament honors in the North Country, Auld Lang Syne, and Yale Invitational Tourneys. Smallish senior Craig Loupelie has emerged as a holler-guy and on-ice leader of the defense crew, while sophs Ed Small and Steve MacDougall and freshman Bill Audycki have taken a regular turn. Small and Makuch toured Europe with the Canadian National team over the Christmas holidays.</p><p>Clarkson&rsquo;s scoring has been extremely well balanced. Junior Craig Laughlin leads the point getters while Tanchak and sophomore Bryan Cleaver top the goal scoring list. Eight Knights totaled between 20 and 30 points. Seven of the forwards are seniors, which means that York, now in his seventh year as coach, will have to bring in more than a handful of recruits this spring to maintain the high quality team that Clarkson, the little engineering school from the upstate hamlet, has always enjoyed.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02276/4379451-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="550" height="724"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JIM DUFFY&hellip;Sparks Vermont</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;I think that most of the coaches around the league are just glad to be still in contention,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>&ldquo;As for us, the key has been the development of our defense. Mills has taken some of the pressure off Kenny Moore, our first string goalie. Now we know he doesn&rsquo;t have to play every game. And I think Craig Laughlin is right up there with Ralph Cox and Joe Mullen as one of the premier forwards in college hockey. He doesn&rsquo;t get as much publicity as some of the other players for the big city schools, though.&rdquo;</p><p>Laughlin is the right wing on Clarkson&rsquo;s first line, pivoted by Cleaver with Jim Armstrong on the left side. Prestidge centers Makuch and Kevin Zappia, still one of Tech&rsquo;s best forwards despite a scoring slump. Tanchak is between Cruickshank and Kevin Owen on the third wave.</p><p>Vermont, like Clarkson, had Eastern watchers wondering if their early notices were premature after losses to Yale and Dartmouth. But the Catamounts vaulted back to a third place tie by belting Providence 11-2 in their only divisional game of the week. The line of Gordie MacFarlane, Jim Duffy, and Tom Cullity, amassed seven of UVM&rsquo;s goals. Providence, last year&rsquo;s playoff runner-up and still a veteran team, fell to 5-7 and 12th place. With 11 games to go and plenty of time, PC still has room for a rush finish but they can&rsquo;t afford many more losses.</p><p>Boston College, last year&rsquo;s playoff winner, lost 6-2 at first place Dartmouth and 4-2 at second place Boston University to plummet to 15th place at 2-9. BC&rsquo;s defense in front of goalies Doug Ellis and Paul Skidmore has been struggling all season, first with senior leader Joe Augustine leaving school because of grades and then with injuries to Mark Murphy, Rob McClellan, and Tom Wright.</p><p>Dartmouth retained first place with the win over BC, paced by Dennis Murphy&rsquo;s hat trick and Ross Brownridge&rsquo;s two goals. BU stayed one-half game behind via defeats of BC and New Hampshire. Jack Parker, dissatisfied with the lack of emotion of some of his charges, reunited the line of Mark Fidler, John Bethel and Tony Meagher. They responded with six goals at UNH and two against BC.</p><p>Yale won a pair at home, 6-4 over RPI and 7-2 over Cornell, to edge into eighth spot ahead of Clarkson. Keith Allain had 38 saves in each game, including foiling Cornell defenseman Rob Gemmell on a penalty shot attempt.</p><p>Northeastern managed a split of the North Country swing, topping St. Lawrence 3-1 in Canton thanks to Dave Wilkens&rsquo; two goals and 38 saves by Arrington. RPI blew out New Hampshire 9-5 on hat tricks by John Emerson and Don Boyd to stay within hailing distance. Colgate&rsquo;s third period rally against UNH the previous night fell short, 6-5, but the Raiders had already beaten St. Lawrence 5-2 in Canton earlier.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03176/4379444-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="558" height="744"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RICK MEAGHER&hellip;Gives BU Lft</b></figcaption></div><p>This week&rsquo;s activity marked the midpoint of the league schedule. Eighty-eight games have been played in the previous ten weeks or so, and ninety remain to be played in the next six weeks.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0029-02

Aroused Clarkson Contender Again; Dartmouth, BU Still Run One, Two

<h2><b>ECAC Conference</b></h2><p><b>Tue. Jan. 23</b></p><p>Clarkson at St. Lawrence</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 24</b></p><p>RPI at Boston University</p><p>New Hampshire at Dartmouth</p><p>Vermont at Cornell</p><p>Yale at Boston College</p><p><b>Thu. Jan. 25</b></p><p>Boston College at Providence</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 27</b></p><p>Cornell at RPI</p><p>St. Lawrence at Boston University</p><p>Dartmouth at Yale</p><p>Brown at Northeastern</p><p>Vermont at New Hampshire</p><p><b>Sun. Jan. 28</b></p><p>Providence at Princeton</p><p>St. Lawrence at Boston College</p><p><b>Tue. Jan. 30</b></p><p>St. Lawrence at Vermont</p><p>Dartmouth at Northeastern</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 31</b></p><p>Princeton at Cornell</p><p>Brown at Boston University</p><p>Colgate at RPI</p><p>Harvard at Providence</p><p><b>Thu. Feb. 1</b></p><p>Dartmouth at Boston College</p><p>Yale at Northeastern</p><p><b>Fri. Feb. 2</b></p><p>New Hampshire at Clarkson</p><p>Vermont at Boston University</p><p><b>Sat. Feb. 3</b></p><p>Harvard at Princeton</p><p>Colgate at Northeastern</p><p>New Hampshire at St. Lawrence</p><p>Providence at Brown</p><p>Vermont at Yale</p><p>Cornell at Dartmouth</p><h2><b>WCHA CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>Jan. 23</b></p><p>Denver at Colorado College</p><p><b>Jan. 26-27</b></p><p>Notre Dame at Michigan</p><p>North Dakota at Michigan</p><p>Tech Wisconsin at Minnesota-Duluth</p><p>Minnesota at Denver</p><p><b>Jan. 31</b></p><p>Bowling Green at Notre Dame</p><p><b>Feb. 2-3</b></p><p>Colorado College at Notre Dame</p><p>Michigan at Michigan Tech</p><p>Denver at Wisconsin</p><p>Minnesota-Duluth at North Dakota</p><p>Michigan State at Minnesota</p><h2><b>CCHA Conference</b></h2><p><b>Jan. 26-27</b></p><p>Bowling Green at St. Louis</p><p>Ferris State at Lake Superior</p><p>Northern Michigan at Ohio State</p><p>Miami at Western Michigan</p><h2><b>The Top 10 U.S. Colleges</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01361/4379482-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="583" height="491"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0029-01

Where The Colleges Play…

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div><p>GRAND FORKS&mdash;</p><p>Nearly 6,000 fans roared their approval after the University of North Dakota outlasted Michigan 9-8 in overtime to wrestle the Western Collegiate Hockey Association lead away from pre-season favorite Minnesota.</p><p>A standing ovation that followed freshman Kevin Maxwell&rsquo;s goal 1:02 into overtime prompted the star center to return to the ice to take a bow.</p><p>But it was North Dakota head hockey coach Gino Gasparini who put it all in perspective, after the Sioux took sole possession of first place for the first time this season.</p><p>&ldquo;The trick is to stay there. It&rsquo;s much harder to hold onto first than to get there. We can&rsquo;t afford to dip. But our players are deserving of first place,&rdquo; said Gasparini, the first-year coach who is the toast of the town in Grand Forks.</p><p>With just over seven minutes remaining in the game, it appeared unlikely that North Dakota would gain the sweep it needed to unseat Minnesota as the leader, Michigan &mdash; on lone shots by Doug Todd, Jeff Mars and John Blum &mdash; had broken a 5-5 tie after two periods with three goals in the first five minutes of the third period for an 8-5 lead.</p><p>Dave Christian gave North Dakota hope when he bulldozed his way through two Michigan defenders to pull the Sioux to within 8-6 with 7:41 left to play. Then 53 seconds later, it was all tied up.</p><p>Doug Smail boomed in a howitzer from a tough angle to make it 8-7. Nine seconds later, Smail set up Mike Burggraf for the equalizer before Maxwell won it on a breakaway on the only shot on goal for either team in overtime.</p><p>&ldquo;The victory came from here,&rdquo; said Gasparini, pointing at his heart. &ldquo;When you play North Dakota, you not only have to beat the Sioux, but 6,000 screaming maniacs as well,&rdquo; said Michigan coach Dan Farrell.</p><p>Michigan could do neither. The Sioux won the first game of the series 5-1 with Doug Smail providing two goals and Mel Donnelly turning back 19 of 20 shots.</p><p>Earlier in the week, the Sioux saw their prize freshman goalie, Bob Iwabuchi, suspended for four games for pushing official Don Wilkie a week earlier in a game with Denver. Then, North Dakota lost senior goalie Bill Stankoven with a strained knee.</p><p>That left Donelly to guard the nets. He stood strong in the opener, but had a tough time of it the second night until the third period explosion and Maxwell&rsquo;s heroics pulled it out for the Sioux.</p><p>Minnesota, the choice of nearly everyone, including Gopher head coach Herb Brooks to win the WCHA, came away with a split before over 8,600 fans both nights in Madison, Wis.</p><p>Minnesota spotted Wisconsin a 1-0 lead after one period the first night, then scored three second period goals for a 3-2 victory.</p><p>But the next night, Les Graver had the hat trick for Wisconsin and Dave Speer hit an empty-net in the closing seconds to give Wisconsin a 4-3 win and knock the Gophers into second place.</p><p>Elsewhere in the WCHA:</p><p><b>MINN-DULUTH AT COLORADO COLLEGE</b>: The amazing Bulldogs of Duluth continue to roll. Bruce Orson and John Harrington scored in the third period to preserve Duluth&rsquo;s 6-4 win the second night after the Bulldogs had stretched their unbeaten string to 10 games in a 7-4 win the first night. Mark Pavelich took over the WCHA scoring lead with seven points on a goal and six assists in the series. He now has 49 points to 46 for runnerup Mark Johnson of Wisconsin.</p><p><b>DENVER AT MICHIGAN STATE</b>: Michigan State moved out of the cellar for the first time this year by sweeping Denver 5-3 and 7-3 in a pair of afternoon games. Darry DiPace had two goals for the Spartans in the opener. Michigan State scored five power play goals in the third period the next night after a bench-clearing brawl ended with seven penalties: five of them on Denver.</p><p><b>MICHIGAN TECH AT NOTRE DAME</b>: Greg Meredith scored one goal and assisted on two others as Notre Dame split with Michigan Tech. The Irish won the second game 5-4 after dropping the opener to Tech 5-3.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1812/4379513-1-eng-US/f0030-182.jpg" title="f0030-18" width="516" height="689"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MARK PAVELICH&hellip;New Scoring Leader</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0030-18

North Dakota Rolls Over Michigan To Grab Top Spot From Minnesota

<h2><b>ECAC CONFERENCE</b></h2><h3><b>DIVISION I</b></h3><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 22)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01404/4379656-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="587" height="464"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tue. Jan. 16</b></p><p>Boston Univ. 7, New Hampshire 5</p><p>Dartmouth 6, Boston College 2</p><p>Colgate 5, St. Lawrence 2</p><p>Yale 6. RPI 4</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 17</b></p><p>Clarkson 10, Cornell 4</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 19</b></p><p>Northeastern 3, St. Lawrence 1</p><p>New Hampshire 6, Colgate 5</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 20</b></p><p>Vermont 11, Providence 2</p><p>Yale 7, Cornell 2</p><p>Clarkson 8, Northeastern 5</p><p>Boston Univ. 4, Boston College 2</p><p>RPI 9, New Hampshire 5</p><p>Dartmouth 9, Maine 3</p><h2><b>ECAC CONFERENCE</b></h2><h3><b>DIVISION II</b></h3><h3><b>East Section</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02316/4379649-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="590" height="298"></div><h3><b>West Section</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03221/4379642-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="588" height="330"></div><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><h3><b>DIVISION I</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04147/4379635-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="590" height="364"></div><h3><b>DIVISION II</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0596/4379628-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="589" height="336"></div><h2><b>WCHA CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Fri. Jan. 26)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0673/4379621-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="591" height="300"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Jan. 19-20</b></p><p>Michigan Tech 5, Notre Dame 3</p><p>Notre Dame 5, Michigan Tech 4</p><p>Minnesota 3, Wisconsin 2</p><p>Wisconsin 4, Minnesota 3</p><p>Minn-Duluth 7, Colorado College 4</p><p>Minn-Duluth 6, Colorado College 4</p><p>North Dakota 5, Michigan 1</p><p>North Dakota 9, Michigan 8</p><p><b>Jan. 20-21</b></p><p>Michigan State 5, Denver 3</p><p>Michigan State 7, Denver 3</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0756/4379614-1-eng-US/f0030-072.jpg" title="f0030-07" width="599" height="739"></div><h2><b>CCHA CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Fri. Jan. 26)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0848/4379607-1-eng-US/f0030-082.jpg" title="f0030-08" width="585" height="195"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Jan. 16</b></p><p>Bowling Green 5, Ohio State 2</p><p>Lake Superior 8, Northern Michigan 4</p><p><b>Jan. 19-20</b></p><p>Western Michigan 7, Lake Superior 6</p><p>Lake Superior 7, Western Michigan 3</p><p>Northern Michigan 6, St. Louis 2</p><p>St, Louis 5, Northern Michigan 4</p><p>Ohio State 4, Ferris State 2</p><p>Ohio State 6, Ferris State 4</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0940/4379600-1-eng-US/f0030-092.jpg" title="f0030-09" width="591" height="628"></div><h2><b>MID-CENTRAL CONFERENCE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 8)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1032/4379593-1-eng-US/f0030-102.jpg" title="f0030-10" width="592" height="168"></div><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1126/4379586-1-eng-US/f0030-112.jpg" title="f0030-11" width="593" height="328"></div><h2><b>CANADIAN COLLEGES</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 15)</b></p><h3><b>ATLANTIC ASSOCIATION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1224/4379579-1-eng-US/f0030-122.jpg" title="f0030-12" width="586" height="246"></div><h3><b>QUEBEC ASSOCIATION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1321/4379572-1-eng-US/f0030-132.jpg" title="f0030-13" width="585" height="195"></div><h3><b>GREAT PLAINS CONFERENCE</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1419/4379565-1-eng-US/f0030-142.jpg" title="f0030-14" width="585" height="166"></div><h3><b>ONTARIO ASSOCIATION</b></h3><h3><b>Eastern Division</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1519/4379558-1-eng-US/f0030-152.jpg" title="f0030-15" width="582" height="166"></div><h3><b>Central Division</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1614/4379551-1-eng-US/f0030-162.jpg" title="f0030-16" width="587" height="140"></div><h3><b>Western Division</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1714/4379544-1-eng-US/f0030-172.jpg" title="f0030-17" width="584" height="136"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0030-01

The College Scoreboard

<div class="byline">BY JIM SCHNEIDER</div><p>BOWLING GREEN&mdash;</p><p>Bowling Green puts its first ever &ldquo;Number I&rdquo; ranking (WMPL-Radio Poll) on the line after just one day and skated to a 5-2 victory over Ohio State in a mid-week Central Collegiate Hockey Association contest.</p><p>The victory was the 14th straight for the Falcons to set a team record as the Bowling Green squad pushed its season record to 24-3-1 with a 13-0 CHA mark.</p><p>Sophomore goalie Wally Charko set a BG record for winning his 12th consecutive start since tying St. Lawrence 33 in the first week of December, in fact, Charko raised his record to 21-2-1 on the season. The only team to beat Charko is Michigan and the Wolverines beat him twice in overtime to start the season. Charko is unbeaten in his last 22 starts.</p><p>BG wasted little time in getting ahead of Ohio State with senior John Markell collecting his 21st goal of the season at 1:46 of the first period assisted by leading scorer George McPhee and defenseman Mike Cotter.</p><p>BG captain Paul Titanic made the score 2-0 as he batted home a rebound from All-American Ken Morrow at 4:55 of the first period while the Falcons were killing a five-minute penalty.</p><p>The Buckeyes bought back getting a goal from Jim Penningroth on a beautiful assist by Larry Marson at 7:48, and Mike Conrad tied the game at 2-2 after Paul Tilley controlled a faceoff in the BG zone at 12:17 of the first period.</p><p>Senior Bruce Newton scored the game winning goal at 5:20 of the second period assisted by Yves Pelland and Titanic.</p><p>Titanic and Markell helped set up BG&rsquo;s fourth goal, a power play blast they skipped off Tilley&rsquo;s stick and eluded OSU&rsquo;s Steve Jones.</p><p>The final score of the night came on another shorthanded goal by the Falcons with Pelland taking a quick pass from John Gibb and scoring on a breakaway, Pelland drew a standing ovation from the standing room only crowd of 3,419 and was named the first star of the game.</p><p>In another mid-week contest Lake Superior topped Northern Michigan 84, the sixth straight time that former Laker coach Rick Comley has been unable to get a win in Sault Ste. Marie.</p><p>Ron Sandzik scored a pair of goals to pace the winning attack and Steve Sherman earned four assists in the game.</p><p>Myles Forget and Steve Farrell put LSSC on top in the first period against NMU freshman netminder Jon Benson. Benson was filling in for the injured Steve Weeks, but Weeks had to play in the third period after the Lakers moved the score to 6-2.</p><p>Mike Mielke&rsquo;s power play goal at 18:01 of the first period pulled the visiting Wildcats to within one goal at 21, but that was the closest they got in the game.</p><p>The Lakers scored four times in the second period and added two more goals in the third.</p><p>LSSC goalie Murray Skinner made 27 saves in the win that pushed the Lakers back over the .500 mark (6-5-1) in league play.</p><p>In CCHA weekend action Bowling Green swept Western Michigan 4-1 and 10-2, Northern Michigan took a pair from Ferris State 8-1 and 6-4 and Ohio State collected a win and a tie at St. Louis, 5-4 and 5-5.</p><p>In the NMU-Ferris State opener the host Bulldogs were only down 2-1 after two periods when Northern Michigan exploded for five goals in the first 5:05 of the third period.</p><p>FSC&rsquo;s Randy Strong scored the first goal of the game and Steve Fisher tied it after one period. Bill Joyce scored the lone second period goal to give NMU the lead.</p><p>Don Waddell started the barrage in the third period from captain Tom Laidlaw at 1:08. Terry Houck followed at 1:34 and Dave Ikkala made the score 5-1 at 3:02. Joyce completed his hat trick with goals at 4:11 and 5:05.</p><p>Ohio State&rsquo;s penalty killing ability played a major role in escaping from St. Louis with a win and a tie.</p><p>In the opener the Buckeyes allowed SLU just one power play goal in six attempts while scoring a power play goal in their only opportunity.</p><p>The host Bills led 2-1 after one period in the Checkerdome in front of 1,189 as Dan Pupillo and CCHA player-of-the-week Rob Zamejc scored while OSU&rsquo;s Conrad had the lone visiting goal.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01370/4379687-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="564" height="704"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BILL JOYCE&hellip;Led NMU Sweep</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0031-01

Bowling Green Measures Up To No.1 Ranking

<div class="byline">BY RICHARD JABLONSKI</div><p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>C</span>oming off a convincing victory in Concordia University&rsquo;s Micron Holiday Tournament, and armed with players returning from pre-Olympic competition, one might expect the University of Toronto Blues to successfully defend their undefeated record in Ontario University Athletic Association play throughout the second semester, right? Wrong.</p><p>In spite of a flock of plusses seemingly on their side, including a longstanding hex over the Yeomen on their opponents&rsquo; home ice, Tom Watt&rsquo;s Blues dropped a 7-4 decision to Ron Smith&rsquo;s York squad on Jan. 16.</p><p>The victory for the Yeomen was only their second home ice win over the Toronto team in twelve games since 1971, when the OUAA officially came into existence.</p><p>York was outshot by a 36-32 margin, but made the most of whatever opportunities materialized. Former Cornell University forward Alf Beasley scored three goals in the first 35 minutes to set the stage for teammates Paul Johnson and Gord Borland, who combined for three scores in the final five minutes of the second period to close the door on Toronto.</p><p>The York victory represents quite a reversal for the Yeomen, who had earlier dropped a 7-1 laugher to Toronto during the first semester.</p><p>What makes the upset even more of a shocker was the two team&rsquo;s previous outings. Earlier in the week, Toronto, led by four Cary Farelli goals and a four assist performance by newcomer Bob Sizon, had blasted Ottawa 12-2. Ottawa then turned around to dump York 3-2,</p><p><b>ATLANTIC ASSOCIATION</b>: Out East, the prevailing question among university hockey fans is something like this: how do we stop the Saint Mary&rsquo;s Huskies?</p><p>As Acadia and Saint Francis Xavier can well attest, you don&rsquo;t just walk through the Huskie defense. The Axemen were actually even at 3-3 after two periods before succumbing to a Don Maclver goal early in the third in losing a 6-3 decision to Saint Mary&rsquo;s.</p><p>Saint FX didn&rsquo;t even come that close. The Huskie defense limited the high-scoring X-Men to only 21 shots at goaltender Mark Locken, none of which eluded the former Soo Greyhound, as SMU recorded a 4-0 shutout.</p><p>With only 18 goals against in 11 league games, Saint Mary&rsquo;s is quite possibly the top defensive team in Canadian university hockey.</p><p>The Dalhousie Tigers, recovering from a late first semester slump, appear to be back on the track. With a 4-2 comeback victory over Acadia and a 5-2 win over Saint FX, the Tigers have slipped into second place in the AUAA race.</p><p>The Prince Edward Island Panthers have emerged as a playoff threat. The Panthers trail fourth place Saint FX by only one point following a 4-4 tie with Mount Allison and a 6-3 victory over Moncton.</p><p><b>QUEBEC ASSOCIATION</b>: All of those people who forecast that both the Chicoutimi Inuks and the Laval Rouge et Or would both be fighting for playoff spots in this year&rsquo;s QUAA race could fit rather comfortably in a sleeping bag. In other words, not even the teams&rsquo; respective coaches, Gilles Deslisle and Charles Thiffault, predicted such success for their squads.</p><p>But seeing is believing.</p><p>The second place Inuks stepped off the bus after a nine hour drive from Chicoutimi just long enough to rout Bishop&rsquo;s 8-1 and McGill 7-4. League leading scorers Daniel Dufresne (9-1726) and Bernard Chamberland (8-16-24) are providing the Inuks with plenty of accurate firepower, while goaltender Michel Savard resembles Ken Dryden in both size and effectiveness between the pipes.</p><p>Chicoutimi is for real.</p><p>So, it would seem, is Laval. The Rouge et Or put the first blemish on Concordia&rsquo;s stainless record with a 5-5 tie on the Stingers&rsquo; home ice. Center Normand Benoit was the star of the game as he set up linemate Pierre Daigneault for two goals and added a pair of his own scores as well. Defenseman Michel Blais led Concordia with a pair of blueline blasts past Laval goaltender Michel Ouellet.</p><p><b>GREAT PLAINS CONFERENCE</b>: A full slate of games in the GPAC saw the Manitoba Bisons, ranked fourth in the latest poll, increase their first place edge to 10 points over the idle Regina Cougars.</p><p>Manitoba swept a pair of weekend games from Brandon, 5-2 and 6-3. Third place Lakehead buried the hapless Winnipeg Wesmen twice, 9-4 and 5-2.</p><h2><b>Canada&rsquo;s 10 Top Colleges</b></h2><p>1. Alberta</p><p>2. Toronto</p><p>3. St. Mary&rsquo;s</p><p>4. Manitoba</p><p>5. Calgary</p><p>6. Regina</p><p>7. Western</p><p>8. Concordia</p><p>9. Acadia</p><p>10. McMaster<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

York Makes U of T Blue; Huskies’ Defense Superb

<h2><b>Where AHL Teams Play</b></h2><h3><b>JANUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01383/4379749-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="576" height="543"></div><h3><b>FEBRUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02294/4379742-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="578" height="297"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0032-01

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY JIM LEAHY</div><p>BINGHAMTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Dusters lost five in a row, but the club received some good news lately. Winger Brian &ldquo;Spinner&rdquo; Spencer will not require knee surgery according to his doctors in Buffalo. Spencer was hurt during pre-game warmups in New Brunswick and it was feared that the popular winger would have to be operated on. It looks now like he will be back in a Binghamton uniform within the next few weeks. During his 16 games with the Dusters prior to the injury, Spencer had three goals and six assists.</p><p>Three losses to AHL rivals during the week, resulted in the race for second place in the Southern Division being a three-team battle once again. At this time, Hershey and Binghamton are tied and Rochester is only one point behind.</p><p>Hershey started the losing weekend by hanging a 3-1 loss on the Dusters in the Broome County Arena. In Maine the next night, the Mariners skated to a 5-2 victory in a game that was highlighted by an unfortunate stick swinging incident. Binghamton goaltender Louis Levasseur slashed at Maine&rsquo;s John Paddock, cutting the burly Mariner forward in the process. Levasseur was assessed a match penalty for his antics and Paddock took six stitches near the eye.</p><p>The two game road trip ended in New Haven on Sunday night when the Nighthawks overcame a 3-0 Binghamton lead to post a 6-4 win over the tired Dusters. During that contest Levasseur was also detected using his stick on the ankles of a New Haven forward and he was given a minor penalty for the infraction.</p><p>The Washington Capitals recalled center Ron Lalonde, but the parent Pittsburgh Penguins added defenseman Bob Paradise.</p><p><b>SPRINGFIELD</b>: The Indian defense was strengthened recently by the addition of Dave Inkpen from the WHA New England Whalers. Inkpen has been with Cincinnati and the now-defunct Indianapolis Racers during his WHA career. According to Springfield owner George Leary, Inkpen is a solid backliner and can help the Tribe until the club can obtain some permanent help or their injured players recover.</p><p>Larry Brown (bruised shoulder), Pat Russell (neck injury) and Pat Westrum (broken hand) have been out of the Springfield lineup. Brown and Westrum, both veterans, were the mainstays of the Indians&rsquo; defense and Russel was a part-time defenseman. Despite the rash of injuries, the Indians have been playing outstanding hockey, and are now within two points of third place Nova Scotia. In addition, the Tribe has two games in hand on the Vees.</p><p>The week started with a 5-5 overtime tie with the Maine Mariners. Maine went to Springfield two nights later and handed the Tribe a 4-2 defeat at the Coliseum. New Haven came in the next night and won 4-3. The team travelled to Rochester to end the week, and they skated to a big 5-3 win over the improving Amerks.</p><p><b>NOVA SCOTIA</b>: The Vees won two of three, but lost their star left winger Norm Dupont for three to five weeks. Dupont, last year&rsquo;s AHL Rookie of the Year, suffered a broken ankle in Nova Scotia&rsquo;s 6-4 win over New Brunswick at the Metro Center.</p><p>The Vees have added goaltender Bruce Horsch, who was with the Flint Generals of the International Hockey League. Horsch, a native of Red Wing, Minnesota, played last season with Michigan Tech in the WCHA, finishing the year with a 3.83 GAA. This season with Flint, he had a 3.95 GAA in 16 games.</p><p>Horsch was first drafted in the 1976 amateur draft and was the 11th pick of the Montreal Canadiens. Since the Vees were last in the AHL in the goaltending department, the Nova Scotia coaching staff felt that the club needed some help; Horsch made quite a debut in Halifax, he shutout the visiting Philadelphia Firebirds 4-0.</p><p>After 39 games last year, the Vees had a 16-15-8 record for 40 points. This season, despite all of the injuries and lack of consistent goaltending and defense, Nova Scotia has a 17-20-1 record in 38 contests, or five points in back of the pace set last year. Average attendance is up considerably, now that the club is in the new Metro Center. After 16 games last year, the Vees drew an average of 2,638, This season, thanks to the rivalry with New Brunswick, Nova Scotia attendance is now at the 3,112 mark&mdash;an increase of nearly 20 percent.</p><p><b>NEW HAVEN</b>: Bud Stafanski, who was leading the Nighthawks in scoring with 48 points in 36 games, has been lost to the team for about six weeks as a result of a broken collarbone he suffered during New Haven&rsquo;s 4-3 win at Springfield&rsquo;. The Nighthawks lost Stafanski but added Mike Korney and Claude Larose to their roster, compliments of the N.Y. Rangers.</p><p>Korney was sent down by the Rangers after appearing in 18 games with the parent club. At six-foot-three, 205-pounds, he will be another huge addition to the Nighthawks, already the biggest team in the AHL. Korney can play right wing or defense and had his best pro season suring the 1976-77 campaign with Kansas City of the CHL when he scored 41 points.</p><p>Larose comes to New Haven by way of the Indianapolis Racers. The Rangers expect Larose to add some much-needed firepower to the Nighthawk lineup. In his rookie year with Cincinnati of the WHA, he scored 30 goals and had 46 assists.</p><p>The Nighthawks won two and tied one during the week. Ex-Nighthawk Steve West scored with 31 seconds to play to give Rochester a 4-4 tie before 4,126 at the Coliseum. John Bednarski scored twice and Bobby Sheehan along with Tom Coley added solo tallies for the Nighthawks. Two nights later the Nighthawks handed Binghamton their fifth straight loss. They overcame a 3-0 Duster lead and coasted to a 6-4 win behind two goals by Dale Lewis and some strong goaltending from Steve Baker.</p><p><b>NEW BRUNSWICK</b>: After picking up seven out of a possible 10 points during the last two weeks, the Hawks have a slim one point lead over the second place Maine Mariners in the Northern Division race. At this point in time, the new AHL club has the most victories and points in the entire nine-club circuit. The New Brunswick goaltending and defense has been outstanding. The Hawks have allowed only 124 goals in 39 games, an average of 3.17 goals per game. Only Maine has a better record.</p><p>The club was in action twice during the week and came up even. Arch-rival Nova Scotia skated to a 6-4 win in Halifax over the Hawks, but Dan Hinton scored a hat trick to lead his team to an easy 9-1 victory over the Philadelphia Firebirds in a game played at the Moncton Coliseum.</p><p>Another flurry of player movements upset New Brunswick. Michael O&rsquo;Connell and Tim Higgins were recalled by Chicago. Goaltender Pierre Hamel left for a while to attend the funeral of his father and the club released rookie goaltender Mike Frawley, who was on an amateur tryout. Trevor Johansen, a defenseman, came down from Toronto and goaltender Guy Bouchard was signed to an amateur tryout contract.</p><p>Rocky Saganiuk and Doug Lecuyer pace the New Brunswick scoring attack, with Lecuyer and Alain Belanger leading in penalty minutes.</p><p><b>MAINE</b>: Bernie Johnston and Wayne Schaab are among the AHL scoring leaders, which is understandable since the Mariners have scored more goals than any other team in the league. They also lead in overall defense.</p><p>Maine has been able to match the torrid pace set by New Brunswick during the last two weeks and the Mariners could vault into first place at any time. Last week they remained hot, posting a 2-0-1 record in three games.</p><p>Springfield came into the Civic Center and held the powerful Mariners to a 5-5 overtime tie, but the Mariners won 4-2 down in Maine two nights later. Back up in Maine the next night, Binghamton was on the short end of a 52 Mariner victory.</p><p>The Flyers returned Yves Preston and shuffled a few players back and forth between Philadelphia and Portland during the week to fill in for Flyers who were injured or suspended.</p><p><b>PHILADELPHIA</b>: The Firebirds returned to the friendly confines of the Philadelphia Civic Center after playing nine straight games on the road. They face the unenviable task of having to play catch up hockey to get back into the thick of the AHL Southern Division race. In spite of having a 3-6 record when the road trip concluded, the Firebirds are only four points in back of Rochester.</p><p>The nine game trip concluded in Rochester where the &lsquo;Birds hung a 2-0 shutout on the Amerks. The past week, the Firebirds had one win and two losses. New Brunswick raced to a 9-1 victory on Dan Hinton&rsquo;s five goals and Nova Scotia 3-2. Larry Skinner scored late in the second period to cap the victory.</p><p>In player transactions, the Firebirds lost three and added three during the week. Rejean Lemelin went back to Atlanta, Paul Messier to Tulsa of the Central Hockey League and Michael Lachance to the Colorado Rockies. Dale Yakiwchuk came back from Winnipeg, Brian O&rsquo;Connell was brought up from the IHL and Joe Contini came down from the Rockies. Rookie winger Paul Messier was sent by Colorado from Philadelphia to Tulsa after scoring only five points in 16 games with the Firebirds. Goaltender Brian O&rsquo;Connell, on loan from the Atlanta Flames, played in the 9-1 loss to New Brunswick, giving up two goals. According to general manager coach Bep Guidolin, O&rsquo;Connell was impressive.</p><p><b>HERSHEY</b>: The Bears have four games in hand on the first place New Haven Nighthawks and could start to make their move soon. Last week they split the two games on the schedule.</p><p>In Binghamton, the improving Bears handed the slumping Dusters a stinging 3-1 loss on their home ice. Back in Hershey the next night, visiting Rochester came alive and skated to a 4-2 win over the surprised Bears. A game scheduled for Sunday night in Moncton, New Brunswick had to be cancelled when the Bears arrived but their luggage took a slow boat to China.</p><p><b>ROCHESTER</b>: Coach Pat Kelly&rsquo;s Amerks have a 3-1-1 record during the last two weeks. With a few wins, the team could easily sneak into second place. At this writing, only one point separates Rochester, Hershey and Binghamton.</p><p>Last week it was an even split for the Amerks. They won a game, lost one and skated to a tie. A come-from-behind effort in New Haven gave Rochester a 4-4 tie with the Nighthawks. They beat Hershey 4-2 in Chocolate town the next night but lost 5-3 to Springfield at the War Memorial on Sunday.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03195/4379787-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="562" height="691"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DAN HINTON&hellip;Fired Hat Trick</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04111/4379780-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="565" height="697"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DALE LEWIS&hellip;Sparks Nighthawks</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0032-03

Dusters Lose Ground After Slump; Dupont Out But Voyageurs Roll On

<h2><b>Where CHL Teams Play</b></h2><h3><b>JANUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01350/4379825-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="544" height="303"></div><h3><b>FEBRUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02259/4379818-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="547" height="227"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0033-01

CENTRAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div><p>SALT LAKE&mdash;</p><p>Thirty-four player movements in 19 weeks ordinarily won&rsquo;t make for a stabilized hockey club. But there were Jack Evans and his Golden Eagles, perched comfortably atop the Central League standings in spite of wholesale roster changes.</p><p>&ldquo;The answer is easy,&rdquo; said Evans. &ldquo;St. Louis keeps taking good players away from us, but the ones they send down are equally as good. It&rsquo;s hard to get your lines set up, with changes every week, but the new arrivals fit right in. Many of them have been with us before, of course.&rdquo;</p><p>In a recent change, the parent Blues called up defenseman Neil Labatte and wingers Tony Currie and Mike Crombeen. In return the Eagles got left wing Brian Ogilvie and blueliners Bob Hess and Bruce Affleck.</p><p>The Birds lost a 4-2 Wednesday game in Kansas City, then came home to split a pair with &ldquo;Dallas in the Palace,&rdquo; winning 1-0 on Terry Richardson&rsquo;s first shutout of the season, and losing a 4-2 game the next night. The two games drew a total of 10,800. But they held on to their nine-point bulge over second-place Kansas City, although the Wings had a game in hand.</p><p>Mike Zuke, who later was recalled by the Blues, did all the Eagle scoring in the first two games. He tallied in the first period, and again in the third, in the loss at KC. Then he scored the only goal against Dallas&rsquo; Gary Bromley with 29 seconds left in the second period to decide the brilliant goaltending duel between Richardson and Bromley. A series of fights resulted in a total of 105 penalty-minutes in that game, 55 against Salt Lake and 50 on Dallas.</p><p>The Eagle goaltending was still the class of the league, with Doug Grant on top with a 2.43 reading, and Richardson runnerup at 2.72. The Eagles didn&rsquo;t allow their 100th goal-against until their 39th game. At that point, they&rsquo;d given up just 103, while the next-stingiest club in the CHL was Dallas, with 142.</p><p>The loss in Kansas City snapped a five-game unbeaten string, and the home loss to Dallas ended a streak of four victories in the Salt Palace.</p><p>Center Doug Palazzari missed three games with an ankle injury, and winger Gordon McTavish was out with a shoulder injury.</p><p><b>DALLAS</b>: Gary Bromley&rsquo;s stay with the Black Hawks was brief, but he left, an impressive mark. He was unbeaten in four starts, recorded the club&rsquo;s first shutout, and headed back to the Vancouver Canucks with a torrid 1.44 average for his CHL stint.</p><p>After playing in a 3-3 tie with Salt Lake, Jan. 5, Bromley turned back the Tulsa Oilers, 6-0, at home Jan. 10, and then nearly had another shutout when the Hawks went to Salt Lake, Jan. 12. Mike Zuke of the Eagles got the game&rsquo;s only goal at 19:31 of the middle period.</p><p>Dallas got a 4-2 victory in the rematch the next night, with Eddie Mio, just arrived from Edmonton of the WHA, in the nets. Bromley was back in action one night later in Kansas City, and was a 4-2 winner.</p><p>Ron Carter and Steve Hazlett scored on second-period power plays to wrest the lead away from Salt Lake in the Saturday game, with John Grisdale and Rob Tudor adding tallies in the third.</p><p>Although the Hawks were in fifth place, the rash of January postponements had left them with five games in hand on Oklahoma City, and three on Fort Worth. Those two clubs shared third place, only four points ahead of the Hawks.</p><p><b>KANSAS CITY</b>: The Red Wings, hopes of catching first-place Salt Lake looked bright for a moment when Larry Wilson&rsquo;s crew outpointed the league leaders, 4-2, in Kemper Arena. But three straight losses followed, leaving the Wings nine points off the pace. They dropped a 2-1 overtime game in Tulsa, a game that featured a bench-clearing team brawl in the last minute of the second period. Then came losses in Fort Worth and Dallas, both by 4-2 margins.</p><p>The game in Tulsa was a duel of superb goaltending between KC&rsquo;s Ron Low and the Oilers&rsquo; Tim Bernhardt. Each team scored in the second period, but there was an intermission between the tallies.</p><p>With the Oilers leading, 1-0, and 52 seconds left in the period, both benches were emptied and there were fights all over the north end of the rink. When peace was restored after a long delay, referee Terry Gregson ordered the teams to their dressing rooms. The last fragment of the second period was played after the intermission, and Mal Davis tied it for Kansas City on the final tick of the clock. After a scoreless third period, Craig Patrick won the game for Tulsa on a close-in shot at 7:28 of the overtime. The game produced 128 minutes in penalties, 74 against Tulsa and 54 on KC.</p><p><b>TULSA</b>: After the Oilers were blanked, 6-0, in Dallas, a major shakeup took four men off the squad. The &ldquo;new-look&rdquo; Oilers responded by edging Kansas City at home, 2-1 in overtime, and then winning in Oklahoma City, 7-4. Fort Worth broke the streak with a 6-3 decision in Tulsa&rsquo;s Assembly Center.</p><p>The Oilers&rsquo; leading scorer, left wing Gerry O&rsquo;Flaherty, was reassigned by the parent Atlanta Flames to the Nova Scotia Voyageurs of the American League. Center Dave Gardner was returned to the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL. Rookie defensemen Gord Wappel and Joe Augustine were sent to the Muskegon Mohawks of the International League. Atlanta assistant general manager David Poile, who is also Tulsa&rsquo;s player personnel director, made the moves two days after joining the club to watch the loss in Dallas.</p><p>The last-place Oilers were still five points back of fifth-place Dallas, but only nine points out of third place.</p><p><b>FORT WORTH</b>: Winning three out of four games pushed coach Billy Mac</p><p>Millan&rsquo;s Texans into a third-place tie The Texans split a pair with Oke City (winning at home, 7-4, and losing the Myriad, 4-1), then took a home victory over Kansas City, 4-2, and a road win in Tulsa, 6-3.</p><p>Right wing Yvon Vautour had the first two goals against Kansas City Friday and a hat trick in Tulsa Saturday.</p><p><b>OKLAHOMA CITY</b>: After breaking even in home-and-home battles with Fort Worth, the Stars were outclassed, 7-4, at home by Tulsa. The 4-1 home victory over the Texans saw both benches cleared in a team brawl, with most of the players trying to get into the Texans&rsquo; penalty box, where the action was heaviest. In all, 120 minutes were handed out in that game.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03186/4379856-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="571" height="597"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TERRY RICHARDSON&hellip;First CHL Shutout</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0033-03

Evans Proving Masterful At Player Shuffling

<h2><b>Where IHL Teams Play</b></h2><h3><b>January</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01380/4379894-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="580" height="450"></div><h3><b>FEBRUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02311/4379887-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="564" height="337"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0034-01

INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div><p>MUSKEGON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>G</span>erry Moore, the coach who has the unhappy task of sending the hapless Muskegon Mohawks onto the ice game after game with a predictable outcome&mdash;another loss&mdash;thinks the days for the Muskegon franchise in the International Hockey League are numbered.</p><p>&ldquo;It would surprise me if it&rsquo;s not over for us in another five or eight games,&rdquo; said Moore following a recent loss to Flint. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no sense in our owners paying the salaries of a bunch of guys who obviously don&rsquo;t want to play hockey. My suggestion would be to cut the squad to 10 guys who are qualified to play in the league and and send the rest home.&rdquo;</p><p>With the season at the halfway point, Muskegon, which just lost general manager Bryan McLay who resigned, was already out of the playoff picture &mdash; if not mathematically&mdash;certainly beyond the realm of possibility from a realistic viewpoint.</p><p>Through 40 games Muskegon had won just four and tied four and were 19 points behind Flint, the eighth place team in the league. Only the ninth-place team in the circuit isn&rsquo;t invited to the post-season (playoff) party.</p><p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t see any player help on the horizon,&rdquo; Moore said. &ldquo;Colorado may have one player but that&rsquo;s about all. Ix told Atlanta about one player and they picked him up and sent him to Tulsa instead of us.&rdquo;</p><p>While the Muskegon franchise may be on the verge of passing from view, there are signs the inactive Dayton franchise may be reactivated.</p><p>During the two-year suspension of the Dayton franchise, car dealer Jack Walker and the Wampler brothers, Ralph and Harold, have become the principal owners. The Wamplers also own Hara Arena, where the Gems played.</p><p>The three recently met with Keith Sprunk, currently the business manager of the Grand Rapids Owls, who enjoyed a short stay in Dayton before moving to Michigan.</p><p>Sprunk was given three options, to purchase the franchise outright and operate it independently, lease it with an option to buy or become the general manager of the operation.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m only interested in the general manager portion of the offer,&rdquo; Sprunk said. &ldquo;But right now I have some personal decisions to make before I say yes.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;If we can&rsquo;t get Keith, then we will probably approach another candidate we have in mind for the general managers job. But we definitely are trying to bring hockey back to town,&rdquo; said Walker.</p><p>Elsewhere in the league:</p><p><b>SAGINAW</b>: The Gears&rsquo; six-game winning streak came to an end in a road loss at Kalamazoo, 7-4. But the Gears continued to skate out front in the North, leading Port Huron by three points.</p><p>The streak reached six with a pair of home victories&mdash;a 4-2 decision over Toledo and a 9-1 rout of Milwaukee. In the game with the Admirals the Gears exploded for eight goals in the final period to break open a tight struggle.</p><p>Rookie Jon Fontas featured the third-period explosion with three goals. Fontas ignited the offense when he broke a 1-1 tie at 3:59 of the final period, scoring after shaking off a pair of Milwaukee defensemen. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what got us going,&rdquo; said manager-coach Don Perry. The eight goals is a club record.</p><p><b>KALAMAZOO</b>: The K-Wings&rsquo; &ldquo;Midget Line&rdquo; led an offensive explosion which carried the Wings to three straight one-side victories during the week.</p><p>The &ldquo;Midget Line&rdquo;&mdash;Tom Milani at left wing, Kevin Schamehorn at right wing and Tomm Ross at center-pumped in no less than 16 goals between them during easy victories over Toledo (9-3), Muskegon (9-2) and Saginaw (74). Milani had eight goals during the week, Schamehorn three and Ross five.</p><p>The&rsquo; K-Wings still trail first-place Saginaw by nine points but have played three less games.</p><p><b>FLINT</b>: A 6-3 victory over South Division power Grand Rapids featured the week for the Generals. It marked Flint&rsquo;s first victory over the Owls this season. Flint broke open a tight, 2-1 game with four goals in the final period.</p><p>The Generals seemed to come alive following a two-minute penalty against defenseman Dave Mancuso. Flint killed the penalty well and then turned on the offense.</p><p>Flint followed the impressive showing against Grant Rapids with a 6-4 triumph over Milwaukee which featured another four-goal final period.</p><p>The Generals didn&rsquo;t gain much in the standings, however. They are still in fourth place, three points behind third-place Kalamazoo and 12 behind front-skating Saginaw.</p><p><b>GRAND RAPIDS</b>: The Owls &ldquo;suffered&rdquo; through their poorest week of the season, breaking even in four games. For the first time they lost back-to-back games, dropping a 6-3 decision at Flint and then losing, 4-2, in Fort Wayne before 7,007 fans. The &ldquo;streak&rdquo; came to an end the next night in Toledo as the Owls skated off with a 4-2 triumph.</p><p>Left winger John Flesch featured a 75 win over Port Huron which opened the week. Flesch scored a pair of goals and assisted on two more.</p><p>Grand Rapids finished the week with a four-point lead over Fort Wayne. The Owls are 27-41-3 for 57 points and the Komets are 26-10-1 for 53 points.</p><p><b>FORT WAYNE</b>: The Komets had a light week, playing just twice. They lost for the first time in history in Milwaukee, 4-3, before bouncing back to take the key game from Grand Rapids at home, 4-2. Terry McDougall, the IHL&rsquo;s leading goal and point scorer, cemented the decision with an open net goal in the final minute.</p><p>The victory over Grand Rapids marked the Komets&rsquo; final home game until Jan. 20 when Flint came to the Memorial Coliseum. Five straight road games follow, including a rematch with the Owls in Grand Rapids.</p><p><b>TOLEDO</b>: The defending Turner Cup champions continue to struggle. A three-game road trip resulted in three straight losses and Grand Rapids spoiled the homecoming with a 4-2 decision.</p><p>The Diggers lost at Kalamazoo, 9-3, Saginaw, 4-2, and Port Huron, 5-4. The pointless week left the Diggers in third place in the South with 32 points, 25 out of first place. Fourth-place Milwaukee is just a point back of the Diggers.</p><p><b>MILWAUKEE</b>: Injuries are still hurting the Admirals. On the ice, Milwaukee won a 4-3 thriller from Fort Wayne at home before dropping a pair on the road, 9-1 at Saginaw and 6-4 at Flint.</p><p>Latest Admirals on the injured list are center Claude Boileau, who has been placed on the 21-game injury list. The same decision will be made with Darre Switzer. Switzer returned to action after missing five games because of torn ligaments in his right ankle and then broke his left ankle in a collision along the boards in the game at Flint.</p><p>After 39 games, Admiral players have missed a total of 127 games because of injuries.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03225/4379925-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="575" height="686"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JON FONTAS&hellip;Notched Hat Trick</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0034-03

Muskegon Team On Shaky Ground; Gears, Wings Run Up Win Streaks

<h2><b>AMERICAN LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 22)</b></p><h3><b>NORTHERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01359/4380054-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="584" height="139"></div><h3><b>SOUTHERN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02291/4380047-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="579" height="164"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tue. Jan. 16</b></p><p>Rochester 1 at New Brunswick 3</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 17</b></p><p>Nova Scotia 5 at Maine 5</p><p>Springfield 4 at Philadelphia 3</p><p><b>Thu. Jan. 18</b></p><p>Rochester 4 at New Brunswick 4</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 19</b></p><p>New Brunswick 2 at Binghamton 4</p><p>Maine 3 at New Haven 8</p><p>Hershey 4 at Philadelphia 1</p><p>Nova Scotia 4 at Springfield 3</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 20</b></p><p>New Brunswick 2 at Maine 6</p><p>Rochester 2 at Nova Scotia 4</p><p>Binghamton 4 at Philadelphia 4</p><p>Hershey 2 at Springfield 5</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03220/4380040-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="604" height="643"></div><h2><b>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 22)</b></p><h3><b>NORTH DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04175/4380033-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="602" height="177"></div><h3><b>SOUTH DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05135/4380026-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="586" height="137"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Mon. Jan. 15</b></p><p>Saginaw 5 at Milwaukee 5</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 17</b></p><p>Port Huron 2 at Saginaw 8</p><p>Flint 4 at Kalamazoo 5</p><p>Muskegon 4 at Toledo 5</p><p><b>Thu. Jan. 18</b></p><p>Port Huron 6 at Milwaukee 4</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 19</b></p><p>Grand Rapids 7 at Muskegon 2</p><p>Saginaw 3 at Flint 2</p><p>Fort Wayne 4 at Kalamazoo 7</p><p>Toledo 3 at Milwaukee 1</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 20</b></p><p>Flint 4 at Fort Wayne 8</p><p>Milwaukee 7 at Muskegon 4</p><p>Saginaw 8 at Port Huron 5</p><p>Toledo 5 at Kalamazoo 3</p><p><b>Sun. Jan. 21</b></p><p>Grand Rapids 2 at Port Huron 3</p><p>Kalamazoo 6 at Flint 4</p><p>Saginaw 1 at Toledo 2</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06116/4380019-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="595" height="382"></div><h2><b>CENTRAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 22)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-07107/4380012-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="595" height="193"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tue. Jan. 16</b></p><p>Dallas 2 at Kansas City 3</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 17</b></p><p>Salt Lake 4 at Fort Worth 4</p><p><b>Thu. Jan. 18</b></p><p>Tulsa 3 at Fort Worth 7</p><p>Oklahoma City 7 at Kansas City 3</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 19</b></p><p>Kansas City 2 at Dallas 3</p><p>Salt Lake 4 at Oklahoma City 6</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 20</b></p><p>Fort Worth 3 at Dallas 1</p><p>Tulsa 4 at Kansas City 2</p><p>Salt Lake 4 at Oklahoma City 1</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0888/4380005-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="590" height="304"></div><h2><b>NORTH EASTERN LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tue. Jan. 23)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0984/4379998-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="588" height="165"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tue. Jan. 16</b></p><p>Hampton 2 at Utica 11</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 17</b></p><p>Johnstown 1 at Erie 2</p><p><b>Thu. Jan. 18</b></p><p>Hampton at Cape Cod (ppd, weather)</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 19</b></p><p>Erie 7 at Utica 3</p><p>Johnstown 6 at Hampton 6</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 20</b></p><p>Erie 5 at Johnstown 2</p><p>Cape Cod 6, at Utica 8</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1074/4379991-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="590" height="278"></div><h2><b>UNITED STATES LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings On Mon. Jan. 15)</b></p><h3><b>MIDWEST CONFERENCE</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1169/4379984-1-eng-US/f0035-112.jpg" title="f0035-11" width="589" height="135"></div><h3><b>CENTRAL CONFERENCE</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1259/4379977-1-eng-US/f0035-122.jpg" title="f0035-12" width="580" height="113"></div><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1352/4379970-1-eng-US/f0035-132.jpg" title="f0035-13" width="587" height="384"></div><h2><b>NEW ENGLAND JUNIOR</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Fri. Jan. 19)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1441/4379963-1-eng-US/f0035-142.jpg" title="f0035-14" width="585" height="138"></div><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1537/4379956-1-eng-US/f0035-152.jpg" title="f0035-15" width="591" height="410"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0035-01

Looking At The Minor League Scoreboard

<h2><b>NHL TEAMS</b></h2><p>1&mdash;Montreal</p><p>2&mdash;Chicago</p><p>3&mdash;boston</p><p>4&mdash;Rangers</p><p>5&mdash;Detroit</p><p>6&mdash;Toronto</p><p>7&mdash;Philadelphia</p><p>8&mdash;Los Angeles</p><p>9&mdash;St. Louis</p><p>10&mdash;Minnesota</p><p>11&mdash;Pittsburgh</p><p>12&mdash;Islanders</p><p>13&mdash;Vancouver</p><p>14&mdash;Buffalo</p><p>15&mdash;Atlanta</p><p>16&mdash;Washington</p><p>17&mdash;Colorado</p><h2><b>WHA TEAMS</b></h2><p>18&mdash;New England</p><p>19&mdash;Quebec</p><p>20&mdash;Winnipeg</p><p>21&mdash;Indianapolis</p><p>22&mdash;Edmonton</p><p>23&mdash;Cincinnati</p><p>24&mdash;Birmingham</p><h2><b>OTHER AFFILIATIONS</b></h2><p>25&mdash;Quebec (WHA), Cincinnati (WHA, Birmingham (WHA) & Pittsburgh (NHL)</p><p>26&mdash;Buffalo (NHL) & Washington (NHL)</p><p>27&mdash;Toronto (NHL) & Chicago(NHL)</p><p>28&mdash;Montreal (NHL) & Atlanta (NHL)</p><p>29&mdash;New England (WHA), Edmonton (WHA), Winnipeg (WHA) & Los Angeles (NHL)</p><p>31&mdash;Atlanta (NHL), Hangers (NHL) & Minnesota (NHL)</p><p>32&mdash;Vancouver (NHL) & Los Angeles (NHL)</p><p>34&mdash;St. Louis (NHL) & Washington (NHL)</p><p>35&mdash;Los Angeles (NHL) & Toronto (NHL)</p><p>36&mdash;Minnesota (NHL) & Chicago (NHL)</p><p>37&mdash;Colorado (NHL) & Atlanta (NHL)</p><p>38&mdash;Vancouver(NHL) & Islanders (NHL)</p><p>39&mdash;Pittsburgh (NHL) & Boston (NHL)</p><p>40&mdash;Philadelphia (NHL) & Buffalo (NHL)</p><p>41&mdash;Minnesota (NHL) & St. Louis (NHL)</p><p>42&mdash;Independent operations</p><p>43&mdash;Philadelphia (NHL) & St. Louis, NHL)<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Who They’re Affiliated With…

<div class="byline">BY PATRICK LYON</div><p>HAMPTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>E</span>ven though the North Eastern Hockey League has seen two of its franchises switch cities within a month&rsquo;s time, the outlook for the circuit remains very promising according to commissioner Jack Timmins.</p><p>The Aces, located in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and owned by Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies, David Landfield and Jim Humphreys, became the second team to change operations at mid-season when they announced they would move the franchise to Hampton, Virginia. Earlier, the New Hampshire Freedoms moved from Manchester, New Hampshire to Cape Cod and became the Cape Cod Freedoms.</p><p>The Centrum, which housed the Aces in Cherry Hill, was reportedly unsafe and repairs were ordered if the Aces were to continue playing there. &ldquo;The fire marshall in Cherry Hill ordered improvements made on the building in the means of a sprinkler system which would have cost $18-$20,000&rdquo; related NEHL secretary-treasurer and Eric Blades&rsquo; owner doctor John Caruso. Since the building owner would not complete the repairs the Aces&rsquo; owners were forced into complying with the fire laws and did not wish to invest their money in a building they did not own.</p><p>&ldquo;They didn&rsquo;t have any alternative with the building problem in Cherry Hill,&rdquo; said Timmins. &ldquo;We were lucky they got a fabulous offer to move the team to Hampton, so the move was made with the approval of the Board of Governors.&rdquo; One of the stipulations made to the Aces owners was that they subsidize the extra travel expenses incurred by the other NEHL teams which was estimated at $16,000.</p><p>Timmins was sure that the moving of two franchises will not hurt the future of the NEHL in the slightest. &ldquo;Everything that was done was done for the better,&rdquo; stressed the commissioner. &ldquo;We are very fortunate to have these kind of facilities available to move into. Hampton is a good hockey city and they are getting a good, aggressive hockey club.&rdquo;</p><p>Hockey is no stranger to the coastal town as it was the home of the Hampton Gulls of the old Southern Hockey League which folded in January 1977 and a member of the American Hockey League until that club folded in February of 1978. The return of hockey to Hampton has also generated interest in other Southern cities for the return of hockey. &ldquo;We may have more expansion in that area next year and may establish a Southern Division,&rdquo; said Timmins. Among the Southern cities mentioned as possible loop entries were Norfolk, Richmond and Baltimore.</p><p>The debut of the Aces in Hampton was a sight to behold for owners, coaches and players alike. A very impressive crowd of 5,133 was in the stands for the return of hockey to the Hampton Coliseum which was by far, a North Eastern Hockey League attendance record. The large turnout was a far cry from what the Aces were used to in Cherry Hill where they averaged 1,000 people at their old Centrum home.</p><p>Muzz McPherson&rsquo;s Aces didn&rsquo;t disappoint anyone in that first game either as they scored a 6-3 triumph over the first place Blades to chop the Erie lead to a scant two points as the two clubs continued their dogfight for superiority in the NEHL. Hampton had the opportunity to regain control of first, but lost their chance when they dropped two road games in Johnstown 6-2 and 7-2.</p><p><b>JOHNSTOWN</b>: Wings fans saw something that they liked this past week at the War Memorial Auditorium&mdash;it&rsquo;s called winning hockey. After occupying last place for almost the entire season, the Wings came up with a new spirit in winning three of four games to move closer to finally getting out of the NEHL basement.</p><p>Especially pleasing to everyone concerned was the fact Johnstown defeated second place Hampton twice in one week after failing to beat them in seven of eight previous meetings. The home fans were delighted to see Johnstown easily outplay the Aces 6-2 and 7-2. The Wings came from behind on their home ice to top Cape Cod 5-2 before taking to the road and falling to the Mohawks 82.</p><p><b>ERIE</b>: The Blades kept undisputed control of first place with a pair of home ice victories that stretched their home winning streak to 11 games. Their last loss at the Erie County Fieldhouse was inflicted by the Freedoms on November 12.</p><p>Crowds of over 2,500 each night took in the Blades&rsquo; 7-3 win over Cape Cod and 6-3 decision of the Mohawks. Second in overall attendance to the Mohawks, Erie is hoping to take over the lead with nine home dates, including a January 27 game with the Aces which could easily be the largest in the Blades history because of the teams&rsquo; intense rivalry. A loss in Hampton ended the Blades win streak at four, but the club has still won 13 of the last 16 and show a glossy 17-5-1 mark in their last 23 games. The Blades are also the owners of a very respectable 7-7-1 road record.</p><p><b>UTICA</b>: After stretching their winning streak to three games, the Mohawks again fell on hard times just as they were making a run at the Aces and Blades.</p><p>Chuck Catto&rsquo;s crew lost three of four games and it all started with a road trip to Erie and saw them bow 6-3.</p><p><b>CAPE COD</b>: The Freedoms completed a hectic schedule that saw them play six games in six nights. The Freedoms dropped a pair of road contests, 7-3 in Erie and 5-2 in Johnstown before blasting the Mohawks in Utica 10-2 and in Cape Cod 9-3. In between their busy slate the Freedoms lost a hard fought 7-4 decision to the touring Soviet Traktor team before 3,000 people.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Hampton Debut Attracts 5,133 Fans

<div class="byline">BY MARTY KNACK</div><p>OSHAWA&mdash;</p><p>Tom McCarthy has justified Bill White&rsquo;s faith in him.</p><p>White convinced Oshawa Generals&rsquo; officials that they should make McCarthy the first overall pick in the priority selection draft in June, 1977, shortly after White was named to coach the Ontario Major Junior League team.</p><p>Some skeptics had negative things to say about White&rsquo;s choice last season because the second pick was Wayne Gretzky, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, and Gretzky was runner-up in the league scoring race behind Bob Smith of Ottawa 67s, who went on to become the No. 1 player picked in last summer&rsquo;s National Hockey League universal amateur draft.</p><p>Gretzky, then only a minor midget, finished with 70 goals and 182 points in 64 games and McCarthy had &lsquo;just&rsquo; 47 goals and 93 points in 62 games.</p><p>But the Generals&mdash;and White&mdash;have had the last laugh, because McCarthy is leading the 1978-79 scoring race by a wide margin and the Greyhounds lost Gretzky to the defunct Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association, even though he had three years of junior eligibility remaining. Gretzky is now playing with Edmonton Oilers of the WHA.</p><p>&ldquo;This is the third year I&rsquo;ve coached Tom,&rdquo; says White, a personable individual who turned Oshawa around in 1977-78 after a disastrous 5-57-4 season in 1976-77.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not surprised he&rsquo;s doing as well as he is. After coaching him in North York (in the tier two Provincial Junior League), I knew what he could do and what he was capable of doing.</p><p>&ldquo;As a midget, he scored 50 goals in tier two and we won the Ontario Hockey Association championship. We beat Guelph Platers for the OHA championship.</p><p>&ldquo;I knew him and I certainly watched Gretzky play many times. I liked Gretzky, too, but I made my choice. They&rsquo;re both going to be stars.</p><p>Before he&rsquo;s even celebrated his 18th birthday, Gretzky has proven that he can handle playing professionally, showing 20 goals and 28 assists&mdash;good enough for 10th place in the WHA&mdash;in only 34 games.</p><p>McCarthy has proven that he&rsquo;ll be ready to play professionally when his major junior eligibility runs out after the 1978-79 season, too. He has 48 goals and 107 points in 43 games this year and was a whopping 16 points ahead of the runner-up in the scoring race, right winger Mike Foligno of Sudbury Wolves.</p><p>McCarthy failed to score a goal in a 52 loss to Windsor Spitfires, a 4-3 loss to Kitchener Rangers and a 6-2 win over Kingston Canadians, but he did receive credit for six assists in the three games as he maintained his big edge over Foligno.</p><p>The Generals&rsquo; captain is a six-foot-one, 196-pound left winger with a long reach who has left many defenders behind because of his lengthy strides as he bears down on opposition goalies. He&rsquo;s the one mainly responsible for Oshawa&rsquo;s rise to a solid second place in the Leyden Division and would like nothing better than to help his team close the seven-point gap on the leading Peterborough Petes.</p><p>&ldquo;We lost six in a row to Peterborough and I felt they might have our number, then we beat them twice in a row in their rink,&rdquo; says White. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s about the first time in five years that an Oshawa club has won in their rink.</p><p>&ldquo;Finishing first is entirely in our hands. We still have three games with them (all during the last three weeks of the regular schedule) and if we win those we could finish first.&rdquo;</p><p>As well as boasting about McCarthy, White is also high on John Liprando, who ranks second on the team with 28 goals.</p><p><b>PETERBOROUGH</b>: Defenseman Larry Murphy had two goals and two assists and Keith Crowder also shot two goals as the Petes beat Sudbury Wolves 7-3, Tim Trimper&rsquo;s 39th goal of the season turned out to be the winner in a 3-1 decision over Brantford Alexanders and Chris Halyk had the lone goal in a 4-1 loss to London Knights.</p><p><b>SUDBURY</b>: Dale Hunter had his 29th goal of the season and three assists and Bob Lekun scored his 12th goal and also had three assists in a 10-4 win over the Soo in Sault Ste. Marie as Don Beaupre helped the cause with a 48-save performance, Foligno beat Kingston Canadians 5-4 with his 34th goal of the season after seven minutes and nine seconds of overtime and the Wolves were then shut out 6-0 by the red-hot Ottawa 67s.</p><p><b>OTTAWA</b>: Right winger Jim Fox went on a spree as the 67s extended a winning streak to seven games with a 4-3 decision over Kingston, 9-6 shootout over the Soo and the shutout over Sudbury. Fox padded his totals for the last five games to five goals and 19 points with two goals and an assist against the Canadians, a goal and five assists against the Greyhounds and two assists against the Wolves. Center Sean Simpson had three goals and two assists, against the Soo and his 31st and 32nd goals of the season against Sudbury and Yvan Joly had a goal and four assists against the Greyhounds. Paul Minaker made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season in the Sudbury game.</p><p><b>SAULT STE. MARIE</b>: The &lsquo;Hounds lost to the Wolves at home, then went on the road and lost in Ottawa, Kingston (7-1) and Toronto (9-1). Center Dave Hannan an acquisition from Windsor in a deal just prior to the trading deadline for center Brent Jarrett and right winger Jeff Mitchell, had a goal and two assists in his first game with the Soo, against Ottawa. Left winger Brian Gualazzi tied McCarthy for the league goal-scoring lead with five in the four games.</p><p><b>KINGSTON</b>: Mark Wichrowski scored his 19th goal of the season, Peter Dineen was credited with three assists and Avelino Gomez made 24 saves as the Canadians ended a nine-game losing streak with their rout of the Greyhounds. Scott Howson had his 22nd and 23rd goals of the season in the loss to Ottawa and Dave Clement shot his 16th and 17th in the overtime loss to Sudbury.</p><p><b>NIAGARA FALLS</b>: The Flyers, who placed seven players and coach Bert Templeton on the Emms Division All Star team, were led by rookie Wayne Crawford as they put together a four-game winning streak. Niagara beat London Knights 6-1 as Steve Ludzik scored his 22nd and 23rd goals of the season and added two assists and Steve Larmer shot his 25th goal and collected three assists. Crawford started a four-game goal-scoring steak in that game and finished with four goals and nine assists in his spree. He had a goal and four assists in a 9-4 win over Marlies, a goal and three assists in a 7-3 decision over Windsor in Niagara and a goal and an assist in a 5-4 overtime victory over the Spitfires in Windsor. Greg Foy&rsquo;s 21st goal of the season provided the overtime decision.</p><p><b>LONDON</b>: The Knights stayed within six points of Niagara in the Emms Division by winning three straight games after losing to the Flyers. Jim Egerton scored three consecutive goals to run his total for the season to 22 and also had an assist as the Knights won 7-3 in Brantford, linemates Egerton, center Frank Nigro and left winger Basil McRae had a goal and two assists each as the Knights beat the Alexanders 6-2 the following night in London and Bill Carroll scored his 22nd and 23rd goals of the season in the win over the Petes.</p><p><b>TORONTO</b>: Mike Kelly had two goals and three assists as the Marlies humiliated the Soo after losing to Kitchener Rangers 7-6 and the Flyers. Brian Paton and Gary Dillon also scored twice each against the Greyhounds and Glen Duncan earned four assists. Dillon had three goals in the loss to the Rangers.</p><p><b>KITCHENER</b>: The Rangers are unbeaten since the Christmas break, with four wins and a tie, and have taken over fourth place in the Emms Division. Jody Gage&rsquo;s 24th and 25th goals of the season and Doug Sulliman&rsquo;s goal and two assists led the way against Toronto, Gage had two more goals and Don Gregoul shot the third-period winner against Oshawa and Rob Motz&rsquo; ninth goal of the season was the winner against Brantford as defenseman Kerry Williston led the offense with three assists.</p><p><b>WINDSOR</b>: Rookie Paul Gagne scored his 13th and 14th goals of the season and goalie Roland Melanson made 35 saves against the Generals.</p><p>Newcomer Jarrett had two assists in the loss to the Flyers in Niagara and then had a goal and assist in the overtime defeat at home. Defenseman Mark Plantery and right winger Don Roach were acquired in a trade with Brantford just before the trading deadline when general manager-coach Wayne Maxner gave up center Bo Schryer and Mitchell, the latter the same individual picked up 24 hours earlier from the Soo.</p><p><b>BRANTFORD</b>: The Alexanders lost four games in as many nights to remain in last place in the division. Mike Bullard shot his 22nd goal in the first loss to London, defenseman Brian Cross scored his 16th in the loss to the Petes and goalie Rick Wamsley stopped 48 shots in that game, and left winger Paul Marshall had his 24th and 25th goals of the season in the loss to the Rangers. Cross shot his 17th goal in the game against Kitchener, too.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02251/4380164-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="580" height="706"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TOM MCCARTHY&hellip;Top League Scorer</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0036-02

McCarthy Justifies White’s Faith As Oshawa Star Bids To Be No. 1

<div class="byline">BY NORM COWLEY</div><p>SASKATOON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t took him almost a decade to do it, but Saskatoon Blades&rsquo; coach and general manager Jackie McLeod finally broke down and made a major transaction.</p><p>After losing leading scorer Ken Federko for six to eight weeks with a shoulder separation the night before the trading deadline, McLeod went into action and engineered a three-for-two deal with Billings that brought 19-year-old Pat Conacher&mdash;the Bighorns&rsquo; team captain&mdash;to the Blades.</p><p>Saskatoon also acquired a pair of 18-year-olds&mdash;rightwinger Blake Stephen and defenseman Ian Tennant&mdash;in the swap which sent rightwinger Lindsay Carson and defenseman Jim McTaggart to Billings.</p><p>Neither Carson nor McTaggart&mdash;both 18-year-olds&mdash;have played up to expectations this season even though the former had scored 21 goals and 50 points. McTaggart had collected 25 points, which was two more than Stephen&rsquo;s and Tennant&rsquo;s combined totals.</p><p>The key player in the deal for the Blades was the shifty Conacher, who had scored 26 goals and 36 assists. He&rsquo;ll be expected to pick up the slack in the high-scoring Saskatoon attack until Federko is able to re-join the team.</p><p>Apparently the Blades weren&rsquo;t the only team interested in Conacher. One WHL club supposedly offered McLeod three promising players and $4,000 for the speedy rightwinger.</p><p>Meanwhile, McLeod also traded 19-year-old leftwinger Franco Disciglio to Edmonton Oil Kings for a player to be named later and picked up forward Bob Black from Lethbridge Broncos to complete the deal which sent goaltender Ken McNabb to the Broncos to complete the deal which sent goaltender ken McNabb to the Broncos earlier this season McNabb is now with Regina Pats.</p><p>In other news, New Westminster Bruins coach Ernie McLean was fined $1,000 as a result of his conduct during a fight-filled Dec. 17 game with Portland Winter Hawks.</p><p>During the game, McLean went on to the ice to admonish Portland goalie Bart Hunter who had been mimicking a New Westminster player.</p><p>Also fined was Bruins&rsquo; manager will Shinske who will have to pay $250 for going on the ice in an attempt to speak to referee Paul Corcoran.</p><p><b>SASKATOON</b>: After dropping a 6-2 decision to Brandon, Blades bounced back with a 15-8 victory over Edmonton&mdash;to set a league record for most goals scored in a game by two teams&mdash;and a 9-0 whitewash of Regina to regain sole possession of second place in the Eastern Division. The rookie line of Kelly Kuspira-Marc Chartier-Terry Paskaruk led the way with a total of 28 scoring points. Kuspira, with four goals, and Paskaruk, with three, each notched their first WHL three-goal games against Edmonton while Chartier fired three goals against Regina.</p><p><b>BRANDON</b>: Brian Propp and the Wheat Kings started off the New Year the same way they began the season by easily winning four games from their weaker Eastern Division opponents. Wheaties beat Saskatoon 6-2, doubled both Regina and Edmonton 8-4 and then whipped Regina again 9-3. Propp caught fire with 10 goals and four assists to become the first player to score 50 goals and 100 points this season. In doing so, he set a record for the fastest a player has ever scored 100 points&mdash;32 games.</p><p><b>EDMONTON</b>: The Oil Kings followed up their first win on the road in 15 games against Eastern Division foe&mdash;a 5-2 win in Regina&mdash;with the embarrassing 15-8 loss in Saskatoon and a 8-4 defeat in Brandon. Rookie defenseman Butch Barkwell, on a three-game trial, collected four assists for the Kings in the three games while Mel Biluk scored four times and Ray Neufeld netted three goals&mdash;including his 40th and 41st of the year&mdash;and added two assists.</p><p><b>REGINA</b>: It wasn&rsquo;t a good week for the Pats, already weakened with the loss of injured 17-year-old sensation Doug Wickenheiser, as they took it on the chin four times. Two of the losses, 5-2 to Edmonton and 9-3 to Brandon, came on home ice. Regina also lost 8-4 in Brandon and 9-0 to an explosive group of Blades in Saskatoon. Overage Ted Vail quit the team during the Christmas break.</p><p><b>BILLINGS</b>: Bighorns increased their undefeated streak to six games with three wins and a tie. Led by the 13-point outing of the Mike Kouwenhoven-Gordie Stafford Cal Roadhouse trio, Bighorns doubled Victoria 6-3 in the first of two back-to-back games. Cougars managed a 2-2 draw the next night. Billings also recorded 5-4 and 6-1 victories over Seattle at home as three players, Conacher, Roadhouse and Stafford, crossed the 60-point barrier.</p><p><b>LETHBRIDGE</b>: 18-year-old rookie Duane Sutter, the third in a series of brothers to play with the Broncos, was the hottest scorer of the week as he fired 11 goals and eight assists in leading Lethbridge to a 9-7 victory over Calgary, a 6-6 tie with Medicine Hat followed by a 8-3 pasting of the Tigers, and a 9-1 decision over Victoria. Sutter&rsquo;s linemates also did well, with Gord Williams picking up five goals and 10 assists and Randy Ruff six goals and seven assists.</p><p><b>MEDICINE HAT</b>: The Tigers broke an 11-game winless streak when they erupted for five third-period goals to beat Victoria at home. Steve Tsujiura had a goal and six assists for Medicine Hat, which earlier battled to a 6-6 tie with Lethbridge before bowing 8-3 in the Broncos&rsquo; home rink the next night.</p><p><b>CALGARY</b>: Rocky Greenwood stretched his goal-scoring streak to five games with a total of four goals and two assists in a 9-7 loss to Lethbridge and a 3-2 triumph over Victoria. Warren Skarodenski was brilliant in stopping 34 shots in the Wranglers nets against the Cougars.</p><p><b>PORTLAND</b>: The Winter Hawks picked up three of a possible four points from a pair of games with Seattle to extend their lead in the Western Division. Portland, which has lost only once in its last 14 games and twice in the last 20 to open a seven-point advantage over Victoria with nine games in hand, battled to a 2-2 tie with Seattle and then rebounded from a three-goal deficit behind Ron Chorney&rsquo;s two-goal effort for a 5-3 victory.</p><p><b>NEW WESTMINSTER</b>: The Bruins battled to a 2-2 tie with Seattle in their only game, which saw all the goals scored in the first period. Kent Reardon and Scott MacLeod tallied for New West while Tom Semenchuk played a solid game in goal.</p><p><b>VICTORIA</b>: Victoria&rsquo;s second swing through the Central Division was a disaster, as the Cougars lost four games and tied one. Gary Lupul extended his scoring streak to 23 games by picking up assists in a 6-3 loss and 2-2 tie to Billings and a 3-2 defeat in Calgary, but lost it in Lethbridge when the Broncos reigned supreme 9-1. Mike Shields scored three goals in the 6-4 loss to Medicine Hat.</p><p><b>SEATTLE</b>: The road also has been cruel to the Breakers, who are now winless in 10 starts. Seattle started the week with 2-2 ties against Portland and New Westminster but suffered a 5-3 loss in Portland after leading 3-0 at one time, and 5-4 and 6-1 defeats in Billings to the Central Division-leading Bighorns.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01296/4380195-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="557" height="597"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PAT CONACHER&hellip;Key In Deal</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0037-01

Blades Grab Conacher In Five-Player Trade

<h2><b>ONTARIO MAJOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tue. Jan. 23)</b></p><h3><b>LEYDEN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01353/4380317-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="591" height="189"></div><h3><b>EMMS DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02279/4380310-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="587" height="199"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tue. Jan. 10</b></p><p>Sault Ste. Marie 2 at Sudbury 5</p><p><b>Thu. Jan. 18</b></p><p>Kitchener 3 at Peterborough 8</p><p>Kingston 1 at Windsor 7</p><p>Oshawa 3 at Sault Ste. Marie 2</p><p>Niagara Falls 3 at Brantford 1</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 19</b></p><p>Oshawa 5 at Sudbury 6</p><p>Windsor 4 at Kitchener 6</p><p>Peterborough 5 at Ottawa 4</p><p>Kingston 2 at London 6</p><p>Toronto 2 at Niagara Falls 5</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 20</b></p><p>London 5 at Sault Ste. Marie 3</p><p>Ottawa 5 at Brantford 6</p><p><b>Sun. Jan. 21</b></p><p>London 3 at Sudbury 7</p><p>Ottawa 3 at Kingston 7</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03208/4380303-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="596" height="301"></div><h2><b>QUEBEC MAJOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 22)</b></p><h3><b>DILIO DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04146/4380296-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="586" height="165"></div><h3><b>LEBEL DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05109/4380289-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="598" height="165"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Mon. Jan. 15</b></p><p>Montreal 7 at Laval 2</p><p><b>Tue. Jan. 16</b></p><p>Shawinigan 2 at Chicoutimi 11</p><p>Verdun 6 at Hull 3</p><p>Sherbrooke 2 at Trois-Rivieres 6</p><p><b>Thu. Jan. 18</b></p><p>Verdun 7 at Cornwall 7</p><p>Sherbrooke 7 at Laval 3</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 19</b></p><p>Cornwall 4 at Chicoutimi 7</p><p>Quebec 7 at Shawinigan 7</p><p>Trois-Rivieres 5 at Sherbrooke 2</p><p>Hull 2 at Verdun 4</p><p><b>Sun. Jan. 21</b></p><p>Shawinigan 4 at Hull 5</p><p>Sherbrooke 4 at Verdun 7</p><p>Montreal Chicoutimi (ppd, weather)</p><p>Cornwall at Quebec ppd, weather)</p><p>Laval at Trois-Rivieres (ppd, weather)</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0684/4380282-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="597" height="309"></div><h2><b>WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 15)</b></p><h3><b>WEST DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0772/4380275-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="589" height="137"></div><h3><b>CENTRAL DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0857/4380268-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="588" height="138"></div><h3><b>EAST DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0949/4380261-1-eng-US/f0038-092.jpg" title="f0038-09" width="584" height="138"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Tue. Jan. 9</b></p><p>Victoria 1 at Lethbridge 9</p><p>Seattle 4 at Billings 5</p><p>Regina 0 at Saskatoon 9</p><p>Edmonton 4 at Brandon 8</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 10</b></p><p>New Westminster at Portland (ppd)</p><p>Victoria 4 at Medicine Hat 6</p><p>Seattle 1 at Billings 6</p><p>Brandon 9 at Regina 3</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 12</b></p><p>Saskatoon 11 at Regina 4</p><p>Portland 3 at Calgary 4</p><p>New Westminster 6 at Seattle 2</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 13</b></p><p>Medicine Hat 1 at Billings 9</p><p>New Westminster at Victoria (ppd)</p><p>Calgary 9 at Saskatoon 7</p><p>Lethbridge 2 at Brandon 9</p><p>Portland 7 at Edmonton 3</p><p><b>Sun. Jan. 14</b></p><p>Calgary 5 at Regina 5</p><p>Victoria 2 at New Westminster 1</p><p>Medicine Hat 3 at Billings 13</p><p>Saskatoon 5 at Edmonton 4</p><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1046/4380254-1-eng-US/f0038-102.jpg" title="f0038-10" width="597" height="394"></div><h2><b>CONTINENTAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Tue. Jan. 9)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1140/4380247-1-eng-US/f0038-112.jpg" title="f0038-11" width="591" height="247"></div><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1235/4380240-1-eng-US/f0038-122.jpg" title="f0038-12" width="594" height="275"></div><h2><b>MANITOBA-ASSINIBOINE LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings On Mon. Jan. 15)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1326/4380233-1-eng-US/f0038-132.jpg" title="f0038-13" width="593" height="274"></div><h2><b>LEADING SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1422/4380226-1-eng-US/f0038-142.jpg" title="f0038-14" width="595" height="248"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0038-01

The Amateur Scoreboard

<div class="byline">BY DANNY YOUNG</div><p>CORNWALL&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>eing competitive against teams like Trois-Rivieres and Montreal is not easy for the young and inexperienced Cornwall Royals. But when they were tested by these two Quebec Major Junior League powers, the Royals came up with two fine performances.</p><p>In Montreal, Ron Scott led the Royals with brilliant goaltending to support a 4-4 tie with the Juniors. Pat Aramis sparked the Royal attack with a two goal night.</p><p>Hosting Trois-Rivieres, Cornwall took a 3-1 lead in the second period, but lost 5-3.</p><p>&ldquo;We had a great game against Trois-Rivieres,&rdquo; coach Doug Carpenter said. &ldquo;We played well enough to win.&rdquo;</p><p>The Royals&rsquo; most serious problem throughout the season has been their defense. You don&rsquo;t win too many hockey games with a goals against of 5.9, and nobody is more aware of this than Carpenter.</p><p>&ldquo;We have to cut down on our goals against,&rdquo; says Carpenter. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve shown some improvement, and I think that by gaining confidence, our execution will improve as the season progresses.&rdquo;</p><p>Offensively, Cornwall&rsquo;s 209 goals this season demonstrate that they can put the puck in the net. Forwards Bob Crawford and Rod Willard lead the Royal attack, but according to Carpenter, they could be playing better.</p><p>&ldquo;If those guys got hot, I think it would rub off on the whole team,&rdquo; the rookie coach says.</p><p>Since Cornwall&rsquo;s drafting and trading is limited to the Ontario Hockey Association, rebuilding has been particularly difficult for Carpenter.</p><p>&ldquo;We lacked depth, but we cannot trade with the Quebec teams,&rdquo; says Carpenter. &ldquo;We were drafting 13th this year so it was difficult to pick up excellent players.&rdquo;</p><p>Carpenter&rsquo;s limited exposure to Ontario players also prevents him from making trades. Occasional trips to Kingston and Ottawa when the Royals have a night off provide Carpenter with his only opportunity to observe players he might be interested in acquiring.</p><p><b>VERDUN</b>: Without the home ice line change advantage, Steve Kasper did not get the opportunity to check Denis Savard, and the Hawks lost to Montreal 4-2. In Hull, Normand Aubin scored goals 46 and 47 to support a 6-3 decision over Hull.</p><p><b>MONTREAL</b>: The Juniors are starting to get their act back together again. In their best team effort in several--weeks, the Juniors defeated Verdun 4-2. Denis Cyr&rsquo;s third period tally made him the league&rsquo;s first 50-goal scorer. A 7-2 win over Laval boosted Montreal&rsquo;s point total to 55, six points behind Verdun. Don&rsquo;t blame the Montrealers for their 4-4 deadlock with Cornwall. They ran into some hot goaltending. Besides, Pat Daley&rsquo;s two goals should be a further indication that the senior forward is healthy and raring to go which is certainly good news for Montreal fans.</p><p><b>TROIS-RIVIERES</b>: Center Jean Francois Sauve is tearing up the league. In the Draveurs&rsquo; 12-3 Shawinigan wipe out, Sauve scored six goals and two assists with rookie linemate Bernard Gallant producing the reverse output of two goals and six assists. Against Cornwall, Sauve notched a pair to support a 5-3 come from behind win. Finally in Sherbrooke, Sauve quieted down, but Pierre Tasse picked up the slack with two goals and Michel Leblanc had three assists to earn a 6-2 win and a 17 point lead in the Dilio Division. Sauve leads the league in scoring with 121 points.</p><p><b>SHERBROOKE</b>: Though the Beavers did drop that 6-2 decision in Trois-Rivieres, they did record two victories to stay just two points behind Verdun in the overall standings. Alan Haworth, who is tenth in league scoring with 80 points, had a hat trick and set up two others as the Beavers downed Chicoutimi 8-6.</p><p><b>LAVAL</b>: Most of the attention the Nationals received circled around the front office amid reports that the team is for sale. Recently released general manager Johnny Rougeau has expressed interest in buying the club. It has also been rumored that potential buyers include members of the Montreal Canadiens.</p><p><b>SHAWINIGAN</b>: In the Cataractes 12-3 loss to Trois-Rivieres, brothers Sylvain and Michel Cote received game misconducts and suspensions. Michel, who recently returned from a six week injury layoff, was suspended five games for leaving the penalty box. Sylvain is suspended indefinitely for spearing Daniel St. Laurent who was in the penalty box. The league is examining this case closely in view of the fact that it is not his first offense.</p><p><b>HULL</b>: Marcel Pronovost is bringing the fans back to the Robert Guertin Arena. 3,156 fans came out to see the Olympics tie Laval 3-3. Hull had their opportunities to win that one, too. They failed to score on 19 third period shots. Hull lost to both Quebec and Verdun by 6-3 scores. Mickey Brisebois scored twice in the former match.</p><p><b>CHICOUTIMI</b>: In the Sags 8-6 loss to Sherbrooke, Guy Carbonneau registered two goals and rookie defenseman Gilbert Delorme had three assists.</p><p>Chicoutimi then avenged a 7-3 loss to Shawinigan by crushing them at home, 11-2. Robert Millette was a hat trick man, and Carbonneau supplied two goals and two assists.</p><p><b>QUEBEC</b>: Alain Rioux scored two goals in a four goal flurry by the Remparts in the first period to send them on their way to a 6-3 victory. Rene Drolet and his players will just have to forget about their next encounter, an embarrassing 8-0 loss to Sherbrooke.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1520/4380348-1-eng-US/f0038-152.jpg" title="f0038-15" width="568" height="721"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ROD WILLARD&hellip;Royals&rsquo; Leader</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0038-15

Young Royals Showing Improvement; Draveurs’ Sauve On Scoring Spree

<div class="byline">&#x2014;By Bill Hilts</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01332/4380379-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="345" height="409"></div><h2><b>United States League</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>n the United States Hockey League, the Waterloo Black Hawks have established a comfortable 15 point lead over second place Green Bay in the Central Conference and have taken the over-all lead in the league with a 17-3 won-lost record for 34 points. Sioux City is one point behind Green Bay with a game in hand.</p><p>The Bloomington Stars are tops in the Midwest Conference with 31 points on 15 wins, 12 losses and one tie. The Austin Mavericks follow closely behind in addition to having seven games in hand with a 13-7-1 record and 27 points. Anoka/Hennepin and St. Paul are third and fourth with 19 and 10 points respectively.</p><p>Bloomington dominates all USHL scoring leaders&hellip;Craig Winter leads the league in assists (43) and total points (57) for his stars squad&hellip;teammate Mike Dahlberg leads the league in goals (29) and is second in scoring with 51 points&hellip;fellow star Rick Jaede is third (19-23-42)&hellip;Keith Ballstadt of Anoka/Hennepin is fourth with 17-22-39 and is tied with Bloomington&rsquo;s Tom Rudrud&hellip;Walt Johnson of Sioux (11-27-38), Kent Larson of Bloomington (21-16-37), and Stan Blom of Waterloo are also prime contenders for the USHL scoring race.</p><h2><b>New England League</b></h2><p>The Fitchburg Wallopers continue to hole a slight edge over the South Shore Braves in the New England Jr. Hockey League. The Wallopers are owners of a 15-3-3 mark, good for 33 points while the Braves are five points behind sporting a 13-5-2 record. The Springfield Olympics and the Skate 3 Huskies are third and fourth respectively.</p><p>In what can definitely be tabbed as the upset of the year thus far in the NEJHL, The Huskies fought back to earn a much deserved 8-6 victory over the first place Wallopers. Two goals each by Tim Shannon and Dave Greene and standout goaltending by backstop Joe Haddad enabled Skate 3 to score only their second win in 23 games.</p><p>In more of a minor upset, Springfield made their record 9-10-1 by handing the Braves their second loss this year at home with a convincing 7-3 verdict. Last year&rsquo;s most valuable goalie Steve Hudyka kicked out 52 Brave shots to spark the victory. Jeff Wojcik highlighted the Olympic offensive attack with two goals.</p><p>Hudyka leads all goalies with a 4.23 GAA followed closely by South Shore&rsquo;s Ron Bereszniewicz (4.33) and Springfield&rsquo;s Chris Trinceri (4.39). Walloper Don Leger is currently in fourth but still sports a 4.40 GAA while playing almost 200 more minutes than any other goalie. Lee Blossom continues to set the pace for both the Wallopers and the league with a league leading 31 goals and 51 points. Teammates Fran Boucher (15-29-44) and Scott Corwin (25-19-44) are currently tied for the third position after Huskie Bill Helton moved into the second slot with 23 goals and 23 assists. Only a point separates Brave teammates Paul Milan (28-15-43) and Brian Bertoni (1626-42) while Fitchburg&rsquo;s Keith Carter is 12 points behind them with seven goals and 23 assists.</p><h2><b>Great Lakes League</b></h2><p>The Allen Park Paddock Pool Saints have posted the best record thus far in Great Lakes Jr. Hockey League action by amassing 27 wins and one tie against one loss for 55 points. A distant second but with a respectable 18-7-4 record, the Detroit Jr. Wings may have their hands full in stopping an inspired Fraser Highlanders the second half of the 1978-79 season. Fraser now stands at 16-10-2 for 34 points is 13 points ahead of Wayne Chiefs with 21 points. The Redford Royals have 10 points and Cleveland Jr. Barons have totaled just four points on two wins in 24 games.</p><p>The Saints also hold a few of the leading scorers on their roster. Steve Murphy (30-40-70) holds a convincing 10 point edge over Frank Loconsole of the Jr. Wings. Murphy&rsquo;s teammates Tom Watson, (33-27-60), Tom Byrne (19-38-57), Tom Theisen (28-27-55), Bob Daniels (15-35-50) and Kirk Bjork (22-27-49) all rank third, fifth, sixth, ninth, and tenth in scoring. Fraser&rsquo;s Frank. Maidrana (23-35-58), is third and Mike Johnson (18-3250) is eighth while Cleveland&rsquo;s Doug Hauser (21-30-51) is seventh to complete the top ten.</p><p>The top netminder Detroit&rsquo;s Mark Kortier with a 4.20 GAA while playing in seven more games than second place Dave Tardich of the Saints who posted a 4.36 GAA. Fraser&rsquo;s Doug Jakubik is not far behind with a 4.92 average.</p><h2><b>Metropolitan Association</b></h2><p>The N.Y. Jr. Rangers continue to set the pace in the Metropolitan Jr. Hockey Assn, as they boast four of the top five scorers in the league and dominate almost every category. Brian Mullen, (25-24-49) leads the league in goals, points, power plays (8) and shorthanded (4) goals&hellip;teammate Ryan Boyd (23-21-44) is second in scoring which includes leading the MJHL with four game winners&hellip;teammate Bob Amore is third with a 14-25-39 output while leading the league in assists. Only Billy Nichols of Oyster Bay managed to break the top five dominance of the Jr. Rangers as he checked in at fourth with 13-17-30&hellip;Nichols also managed to tie Mullen, co-leader of shorthanded goals. Scott Faber (14-12-26) and John Kushay (11.15-26) of second place New Hyde Park managed to tie at 26 points for sixth.</p><p>Kevin Kiendle is currently leading the league in goaltending statistics with a 3.21 GAA for his Oyster Bay squad. The Arrows of New Hyde Park boast the second best in Bob Bussi as far as GAA is concerned with a 3.45, but he has played more games (16), minutes (956), and is tied for most wins with the Jr. Rangers Gary Weicker. Bussi also has the only shutout this year. Cosie Alberico of New York is third with a 3.51 GAA in six games. The league standing show the New York Jr. Rangers on top with a 13-5-1 record good for 27 points followed by New Hyde Park&rsquo;s (10-6-2) 22 points and Oyster Bay&rsquo;s (9-4-3) 21 points. The cellar dwelling Shamrocks of Greater New York have yet to post a point in league play, going winless in 17 straight games.</p><h2><b>British Columbia League</b></h2><p>The Merritt Centennials have all but wrapped up first place in the Interior Division of the British Columbia Jr. &ldquo;A&rdquo; hockey league as they posted a 32-5-0 won-lost record after 37 games for a 64 point total to lead the entire league. A distant second is the Vernon Canadians with a 20-17-0 record and a 40 point total. Following close behind are the Kamloops with 38 points, Kelowna with 32, Revelstoke with 30 and Penticton Vees with 26 points.</p><p>In the Coastal Division, the Bellingham Blazers lead the pack with 59 points and a 29-7-1 record, 15 points ahead of second place Nanaimo who have a 21-14-2 output. Right behind is Chilliwack-40, Langley-38, Abbotsford-33 and Delta-10 points&hellip;Bellingham&rsquo;s Don Fraser and Vernon&rsquo;s Terry Lowe are deadlocked for the league scoring lead at 76 points while Fraser leads the league in goals with 37 in only 20 games. Lowe&rsquo;s statistics stand at 32 goals and 44 assists in 32 games. Close behind is Abbotsford&rsquo;s Anthony McMurchy with 35-39-74, Evan Williams also of Bellingham with 24-45-69, Nigel Thomas skating with Nanaimo for 30-36-66, Abbotsford&rsquo;s Randy Wickwarfz 29-37-66, Canadian John Neeld posting a 3233-65 point total and Nanaimo&rsquo;s Brant Denat equaling his total output with 26-39-65.</p><p>Rob Polmantuin of the Centennials is the top goaltender in the BC league with an outstanding 2.36 GAA. He is the only goalie to play more than 2000 minutes and has posted a 31-4 won-lost record. He also has four shutouts in stopping 90 percent of all shots on goal. Doug Hodges of Chilliwack (3.78 GAA), Lawrence Dyck of Revelstoke (4.07 GAA), Darren Jansen of Penticton (4.44 GAA), and Ian McEachern of Kamloops (4.55 GAA) round out the top five goaltenders.</p><h2><b>Pacific League</b></h2><p>The NorWes Caps and the Richmond Sockeyes are battling for the top slot of the Pacific &ldquo;A&rdquo; Hockey League. The Caps are the current leaders with a 13 wins and 3 losses. Kerrisdale, Coquitlam and Surrey complete league standings with 12, 10, and 8 points respectively.</p><p>NorWes dominates the scoring in Pac &ldquo;A&rdquo; competition with phenomenal Bill Holowatz leading the pack. Holowatz leads the league in goals with 28, and assists with 38 and total points with 66 in only 16 games. Teammate Hugh Cameron is a distant second with 47 points on 15 goals and 32 assists. Fellow Cap Craig Berezowsky is third with 38 points.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0039-01

JUNIOR JOTTINGS

<p>SAN DIEGO&mdash;</p><p>Two franchises have expired, a third is league-operated and the once-strong remaining three are somewhat battle-scarred!</p><p>So goes life in the Pacific Hockey League, which, 13 months after its first-ever game, is a few hundred thousand dollars poorer and still only a four-team operation.</p><p>The pulse stopped beating for the defending champion San Francisco Shamrocks and the re-born-soon-to-die-again Los Angeles Blades Jan. 18 when the league suspended the franchises. The Shamrocks had already postponed four home games and the missed two on the road, while the Blades&mdash;poorly merchandised from the outset&mdash;had averaged fewer than 500 onlookers through 11 home appearances at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.</p><p>&ldquo;The action is purely economic,&rdquo; said PHL commissioner Ken Broderick, named to the post Dec. 22 by San Diego Hawks&rsquo; owner Elmer (Tiger) Jonnet following the resignation of James Browitt. &ldquo;This will enable the league to conclude the season with four viable franchises in Spokane, Phoenix, San Diego and Tucson while we evaluate potential new markets for the 1979-80 season.&rdquo;</p><p>Over a two-week period prior to the PHL&rsquo;s action, San Francisco owner. Dennis Murphy, a PHL co-founder along with San Diego Sports Arena operator Peter Graham, was desperately pursuing investors to salvage the franchise. His final hope was Las Vegas hotel owner Ralph Englestadt, who, after three days of evaluating the league, concluded he had sufficient migraines already expanding his hotel and casino business.</p><p>Englestadt&rsquo;s decision left PHL owners Mike Skerlak in Phoenix, Tom Hodges in Spokane and San Diego&rsquo;s Jonnet with a choice of channeling financial support to Murphy or the owner-less tucson Rustlers and, predictably, they chose to let Murphy drown.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a tremendous burden off my shoulders,&rdquo; said Murphy, who lost $80,000 with the Shamrocks last season. &ldquo;My problems certainly aren&rsquo;t resolved&hellip;they&rsquo;re awesome, but at least I don&rsquo;t have to worry about payrolls and airline tickets and arena rental.&rdquo;</p><p>The Shamrocka, through 10 home dates, had averaged 2,490 in a building with a $5,000 per night rental.</p><p>Over in Tucson, the Rustlers, at this writing under the direction of Jonnet employee Jamie Mueller, were averaging 1,767 through 14 games. But the arena rental was a mere $1,500 a night, including staffing.</p><p>&ldquo;We have studied the situation the last several weeks and it&rsquo;s the conclusion of the league&rsquo;s trustees to stay with the potentially strongest markets based on this year&rsquo;s attendance,&rdquo; said Broderick. &ldquo;This is not to say that we are turning our backs on the Bay Area or Los Angeles County markets. We are stopping back to analyse all the factors involved in running successful franchises in those areas.</p><p>&ldquo;It is a very realistic possibility that a team could operate in the Bay Area in coming seasons.&rdquo;</p><p>Phoenix, over 13 home, games, was averaging 5,380, San Diego 5,011 over 11 and Spokane 4,672 over 16.</p><p>Under normal conditions, those turnouts would represent black ink but each of the clubs, from the outset, was called upon to heavily subsidize the Jonnet-controlled. L.A. club and then Tucson when owner Alf Cadman of Sylvan Lake, Alberta, elected to pull out.</p><p>The league has re-written the schedule and will run it out to the original 60 games, with virtually all of the home dates of the four existing teame left intact. Current plans call for a number of games involving Western International League participation and possibly one or more WHA clubs.</p><p>With the announcement of the demise of the two tailend clubs in the standings, Droberick, one year removed from retirement as a goaltender, also announced that the league office will be relocated from Santa Ana to San Diego, adjacent to the Hawks in the Sports Arena.</p><p>Indications are it will be somewhat of a skelton operation, with the public relations and statistical work due to be farmed out following the resignation of administrator and media relations director Walt Marlow, who also scheduled the league&rsquo;s referees and licemen.</p><p>Broderick has indicated that the PHL is endeavoring to get a working arrangement with the NHL and WHA for use of their officials.</p><p>On the ice, San Diego has captured eight of its&rsquo; last nine to climb to within shouting distance of the Spokane Flyers, undefeated in six untill suffering a 3-2 overtime loss in Phoenix.</p><p>Broderick revealed that San Diego&rsquo;s Paul O&rsquo;Neil, with four goals and an assist in an 8-2 pounding of Tucson, was the PHL&rsquo;s &ldquo;Player of the Week,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Neil, since joining the Hawks Jan. 2, had 12 goals and three assists in eight games.</p><p>San Diego, winners of four of five in a five game in five night&rsquo;s span, now have three players among the PHL&rsquo;s top 10&mdash;league leader Joe Noris (50 points), Ray Adduono (42) and Kevin Devine (34).</p><p>Spokane, undercoach Seth Martin, has an incredible 14-2 record on home ice, and aren&rsquo;t exactly pushovers on the road where the Flyers are 5-7-1.</p><p>Spokane owns me most lop-sided win of the season, 13-2, over Los Angeles, a game that proved to be the Blades&rsquo; finale. Roy Sommer (3 goals and 2 assists), Brian DeRiasio (2-2) and Jim Stuart (2-1) were the big gunners. The night before, Spokane had engineered a 9-2 pounding of Los Angeles. In that one Kirk Fyffe and Jim Stuart each had five point nights.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

California Teams Cease Operations In PHL Shake-Up

<p>SANTA ANA&mdash;</p><p>Former newspaperman and veteran hockey executive Walt Marlow, who served the Pacific Hockey League from its infancy in various capacities, including interim commissioner without portfolio as a one-man league office last season, resigned as league administrator Jan.17.</p><p>&ldquo;I could no longer justify my association with the league,&rdquo; said Marlow, who formerly served as director of public relations for the World Hockey Association and before that was a hockey writer for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner.</p><p>Marlow&rsquo;s resignation was preceded by that of James Browitt, who stepped down in December. Browitt, a former executive director of the WHA, has gone into the real estate and mortgage field.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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February 2, 1979

HOCKEY TALK

Canuck Injuries Forcing Delay In Trade Assessment

ONTARIO MAJOR HOCKEY LEAGUE

Hockey News Plays Role In WHA All Star Classic