The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.

March 30, 1979

The Hockey News March 30, 1979

<div class="byline">BY DANNY YOUNG</div>SHAWINIGAN&mdash;With playoff positions still undecided going into the final week of the regular season, tension in the Quebec Major Junior Leauge is at its maximum. On Sunday, March 11, with all 10 teams in action, attendance totalled 17,450 for an average of 3,490 at each of the five arenas.Chicoutimi and Cornwall, the teams battling for sixth place in the overall standings, both won their respective contests. Chicoutimi&rsquo;s 7-3 win over Quebec coupled with Cornwall&rsquo;s 10-4 win over Hull has actually put both teams in contention for the fifth spot which is occupied by Quebec. After 70 games, Quebec had 65 points, Cornwall 64, and Chicoutimi 61.But the main event of this active evening was a battle between the two clubs fighting for the eighth position and final playoff draw &mdash; the Shawinigan Cataractes and the Laval Nationals.In that match, the amazing Cats bombed Laval 10-2. Marc Genest led that big win with a hat trick, and Marc Audisio contributed a pair.Previously, Shawinigan had dumped Chicoutimi 9-5, but that time, Eric Morin was the hat trick man.The Cats closed the week with a dazzling upset victory over Sherbrooke which ended that team&rsquo;s seven-game winning streak. With two games left for both Laval and Shawinigan, the Cats hold a slim two point edge.Laval kept themselves alive in the race with two slim victories. Against Verdun, rookie Alain Grenier scored his 50th goal of the season to record a 7-5 win.CORNWALL: The Royals were undefeated in four outings. In a pressure game against Chicoutimi, Brian Fontaine scored his second of the night for a 4-4 tie. The Royals crept up on Quebec by downing the Remparts 75. Dave Ezard bagged three, and Dan Daoust scored twice. Ezard duplicated that three goal performance against Hull, while Marc Crawford also added three, to destroy Hull 10-4. Cornwall also tied Laval on two Mike Corrigan goals.CHICOUTIMI: Francois Gravel paced the Sagueneens with a pair of goals to down Quebec 7-3. The win, however, was the Sags&rsquo; only one of the week. They tied Cornwall 4-4 despite a 60-39 shooting advantage, and dropped a 9-5 match to Shawinigan. Captain Guy Carbonneau did score his 60th goal of the season.SHERBROOKE: The Beavers extended their winning streak to seven games, and clinched second place overall in the QMJHL standings. In action against Montreal, Jean Chouinard scored twice in an easy 6-1 win. Sherbrooke outshot the Juniors 40-19. Hosting Laval, Chouinard provided two more as they crushed the Nats 9-2. Finally, the Beavers proved that they&rsquo;re ready for anybody in the playoffs by defeating Trois-Rivieres 3-1. Sherbrooke needs to win their last three regular season games to finish with 100 points.QUEBEC: With only five games left on the regular season calendar, the Remparts management fired first year coach Rene Drolet. The team had been having a poor second half. They had lost seven in a row, and were winless in their last 11 starts. General manager Martin Madden took over behind the bench for the remainder of the season.HULL: The Olympics continued in their losing ways with four setbacks. After a 5-2 loss to Trois-Rivieres, Mike Brisebois scored twice before they were bombed by Verdun 11-5. In Cornwall, they were defeated 10-4, but Scott Thompson picked up a hat trick. Even with a 49-26 shooting advantage over Laval, they were edged 6-5. After 71 games, the Olympics had a goals against of 6.8.TROIS-RIVIERES: The Draveurs registered three points in three games which is lower than their fans are accustomed to. After defeating Hull 5-2, they tied Quebec and lost to Sherbrooke 3-1. With two games remaining, Jean Francois Sauve has a 10-point lead over Montreal&rsquo;s Denis Savard in the league scoring race.VERDUN: An unexpected 7-5 loss to Laval had Hawks&rsquo; supporters worried, but a 5-2 victory over Montreal secured first place in the Lebel division. The Hawks also defeated Hull 11-5 on three goals from Normand Aubin, and two apiece from Steve Kasper and Brian Johnson. Aubin leads the league in goals scored with 79.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01345/4348382-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="546" height="581"><figcaption class="caption-body">ALAIN GRENIER&hellip;50-Goal Rookie</figcaption></div>MONTREAL: The Juniors dropped out of contention for the Lebel division title with losses to Sherbrooke and Verdun. Though recently they had been playing well, their goaltending was not at its best in the two encounters. They lost 6-1 in Sherbrooke, and 5-2 to Verdun at the Forum. &#9632;

f0038-01

IN THIS ISSUE

Cats Claw Towards Playoff Spot

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01457/4347220-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="657" height="819"></div> &#9632;

f0021-01

The Hockey News

<h2>WCHAREGIONALS</h2>Sudden-Death GameMinnesota 6, Bowling Green 3<h2>NCAA TOURNAMENT</h2>DIVISION IChampionship DrawThu. Mar. 22New Hampshire vs MinnesotaFri. Mar. 23Dartmouth vs North DakotaSat. Mar. 24Championship &Consolation finals.(All games at Detroit Olympia)<h2>NCAA TOURNAMENT</h2>DIVISION IIChampionship GameLowell 6, Mankato State 4Consolation GameChicago Circle 4, Salem State 3<h2>WCHA CONFERENCE</h2>FinalsNorth Dakota 4, Wisconsin 2North Dakota 7, Wisconsin 7(North Dakota wins two-game series 11-9)Minnesota 2, Minn-Duluth 1Minnesota 6, Minn-Duluth 3(Minnesota wins two-game series 8-2)Semi-FinalsNorth Dakota 6, Colorado College 3North Dakota 7, Colorado College 3(North Dakota wins two-game series 13-6)Minnesota 5, Michigan Tech 3Minneaota 6, Michigan Tech 1(Minnesota wins two-game series 11-4)Minn-Duluth 5, Denver 2Denver 4. Minn-Duluth 2(Minn-Duluth wins two-game series 7-6)Wisconsin 11, Notre Dame 5Wisconsin 5, Notre Dame 2(Wisconsin wins two-game series 16-7)<h2>ECAC CONFERENCE</h2>Championship GameNew Hampshire 3, Dartmouth 2Consolation GameCornell 7, Boston Univ. 4Semi-FinalsNew Hampshire 5, Cornell 2Dartmouth 5, Boston Univ. 3Quarter-FinalsBoston Univ. 4, Vermont 3New Hampshire 9, Yale 2Cornell 6, Providence 5Dartmouth 2, Clarkson 1<h2>ECAC CONFERENCE</h2>DIVISION IIEast ConferenceQuarter-FinalsMaine 4, AIC 1Lowell 7, New Haven 3Merrimack 4, Holy Cross 0Salem State 4, Bowdoin 3Semi-FinalsSalem State 7, Maine 4Lowell 7, Merrimack 6FinalsLowell 4, Salem State 1<h2>WEST CONFERENCE</h2>Quarter-FinalsPlattsburgh 11, Williams 1Elmire 4, Buffalo 2Middlebury 7, Oswego 2Norwich 9, Westfield 1Semi-FinalsNorwich 6, Plattsburgh 6Middlebury 6, Elmira 3FinalsMiddlebury 2, Norwich 1<h2>CANADIAN COLLEGES CIAU Tournament</h2>Preliminary RoundAlberta 7, Concordia 1Dalhousie 6, Guelph 5UQAC 7, Guelph 2Alberta 3, Regina 1Concordia 8, Regina 3Dalhousie 7, UQAC 3Championship GameAlberta 4, Dalhousie 1(Alberta wins title)Ontario AssociationGuelph 7, McMaster 4Guelph 3, McMaster 2(Guelph wins best-of-three final series 2-0)Quebec AssociationConcordia 7, UQAC 2Concordia 7, UQAC 5Concordia 8, UQAC 5(Concordia wins best-of-five final series 3-0)Maritime AssociationSt. Mary&rsquo;s 4, Dalhousie 3Dalhousie 6, St. Mary&rsquo;s 3Dalhousie 5, St. Mary&rsquo;s 4(Dalhousie wins best-of-three final series 2-1)Canada West AssociationAlberta 6, Calgary 4Calgary 6, Alberta 3Alberta 3, Calgary 1(Alberta wins best-of-three final series 2-1)Great Plains AssociationRegina 7, Manitoba 2Regina 5, Manitoba 1(Regina wins best-of-three final series 2-0) &#9632;

College Playoffs

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;Hilliard Graves was often in the limelight as a Vancouver Canuck. He went out the same way.Graves, who was waived through the National Hockey League and then sent to Moncton in the American League by Canucks, left the scene by directing the first criticism that has yet been levelled at Vancouver&rsquo;s new coach Harry Neale.Graves, the tough little right winger with the viciously-low hip check, always said what he felt at any particular time and was always honest with the media. He was probably unhappy this year because of his contract, which he wanted renegotiated at the end of last season, after he had been the only bright spot on the team all year. He didn&rsquo;t get what he wanted, and his troubles started from that point.He didn&rsquo;t produce in terms of goals, and his plus-minus was not what it might have been so Neale decided that Graves didn&rsquo;t fit in with the club&rsquo;s long-range plans. He shipped out Graves, but the native of Charlottetown, P.E.I. did not go out without blasting the way Neale was running things.&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s got a lot of people in Vancouver fooled,&rdquo; said Graves. &ldquo;Look at the statistics. His record is only three points better than we were last year and look at all the talent that was brought in in the off season. He hasn&rsquo;t had any heat at all from the media and his record isn&rsquo;t any better than Orland Kurtenback&rsquo;s.&rdquo;Graves felt it was a personality conflict between him and the coach that was more responsible for his departure than any failure on his part.&ldquo;Earlier in the year I was the guy on the ice in the last seconds at crucial parts of the game and I killed penalties and was on the power play,&rdquo; said Graves. &ldquo;Now suddenly I don&rsquo;t fit in with their plans. I don&rsquo;t understand that. I&rsquo;ve played in this league six years and I&rsquo;ve played in every game this year (the only Canuck to do so) and now I don&rsquo;t fit in.&rdquo;Graves went on to say that he felt there were dissention problems impending on the club and that he felt that Neale took the credit when the team won because of his system and criticized the players when the team lost.&ldquo;He says after we lose that this player played bad and that player played bad,&rdquo; said Graves. &ldquo;But when we won it was his system, and he never took any of the blame when we lost.&rdquo;It was there that Graves lost some credibility, as Neale often says he&rsquo;s made coaching errors or he&rsquo;s gone with the wrong players at the wrong time.Graves had scored only two goals in his last 23 games and was not getting many good chances, but he doesn&rsquo;t differ from any other Vancouver forward in that respect, save Ron Sedlbauer.Neale said he didn&rsquo;t expect Graves&rsquo; comments would affect the way he coaches, and that his somewhat high profile with the media in no way affects the way he relates to the team.The effect of Graves&rsquo; departure means that Neale, by hook, crook and other means, has completely changed his right side since the beginning of training camp.Dennis Ververgaert went to Philadelphia in a trade, Rick Blight had been waived through the league though he could soon return, and Graves is now history as far as Vancouver is concerned.&ldquo;That is not something I really consciously set out to do,&rdquo; said Neale. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s sort of worked out that way. I suppose that was our weakest spot up front but it wasn&rsquo;t anything I aimed at doing.&rdquo;On the right side now, Canucks are thin indeed. Their best right winger is a rookie third round draft choice named Stan Smyl. Others are Don Kozak and of late, Brad Gassoff, who has been on the right side on what is really a line of left wingers, with Don Lever at center and Jere Gillis on the left.Somewhere in the back of Neale&rsquo;s mind, he would like to get Chris Oddleifson back on the right side where he played some games this season. But with all Vancouver&rsquo;s injuries, Oddleifson, himself missing almost three weeks with a charley-horse, is badly needed at center.Canucks, meanwhile, are in one of their worst tailspins of the year, and the question pops up once again&mdash;will they be caught from behind in the race for the last playoff spot?They have an excellent schedule the last 16 games of the season, but they simply can&rsquo;t beat anyone, home or away, because of injuries and a chronic disability of the forwards to put the puck in the net.With Glen Hanlon out, consistent goaltending has also been a problem, as Gary Bromley and Dune Wilson have had their ups and downs behind what might be described as a shaky defense. &#9632;

Graves Criticizes Canucks’ Coach After Demotion But Neale Unfazed

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01711/4348506-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"></div>&mdash;Page 2 &#9632;

Cover-01

TRADED NHL PLAYERS IN SHOCK

<h2>THE NHL&hellip;</h2>Atlanta&hellip;&hellip;2Boston&hellip;&hellip;7Buffalo&hellip;&hellip;19Chicago&hellip;&hellip;17Colorado&hellip;&hellip;13Detroit&hellip;&hellip;20Los Angeles&hellip;&hellip;11Minnesota&hellip;&hellip;6Montrea&hellip;&hellip;l9N.Y. Islanders&hellip;&hellip;15N.Y. Rangers&hellip;&hellip;5Philadelphia&hellip;&hellip;8Pittsburgh&hellip;&hellip;20St. Louis&hellip;&hellip;13Toronto&hellip;&hellip;12Vancouver&hellip;&hellip;18Washington&hellip;&hellip;4<h2>THE WHA&hellip;</h2>Birmingham&hellip;&hellip;24Cincinnati&hellip;&hellip;28Edmonton&hellip;&hellip;27New England&hellip;&hellip;24Quebec&hellip;&hellip;24Winnipeg&hellip;&hellip;25<h2>OTHER LEAGUES&hellip;</h2>Colleges&hellip;&hellip;29American&hellip;&hellip;32Central&hellip;&hellip;33International&hellip;&hellip;34Ontario Major&hellip;&hellip;36North Eastern&hellip;&hellip;39WHL&hellip;&hellip;37Quebec Major&hellip;&hellip;38<h2>COLUMNISTS&hellip;</h2>Ken McKenzie&hellip;&hellip;4Bob Verdi6&hellip;&hellip;Bill Libby&hellip;&hellip;8Bill Fleischman&hellip;&hellip;12<h2>FEATURES&hellip;</h2>Player Movements&hellip;&hellip;5Fan Forum&hellip;&hellip;10Hockey People&hellip;&hellip;14NHL Scoreboard&hellip;&hellip;22Minor Scoreboard&hellip;&hellip;35Amateur Scoreboard&hellip;&hellip;38 &#9632;

Where To Find It…

WASHINGTON&mdash;Defenseman Pierre Bouchard has reported to the Washington Capitals and begun working out with the team.&ldquo;Pierre has come to Washington on his own accord, and in the next few weeks there will be a period of mutual evaluation,&rdquo; stated Capital&rsquo;s general manager Max McNab. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll meet our players and get to know our organization.He&rsquo;ll begin playing once Danny Belisle, Pierre and I all agree that he&rsquo;s ready to begin action&rdquo;.&ldquo;Pierre had to make a decision whether to stay in business (he is coowner of a restaurant) or go with hockey. After weighing his options for some time, he has decided to stay in the game with an organization that has a bright future.&ldquo;In one sense the timing is ideal, because this way he&rsquo;ll get a first hand look at our operation.&ldquo;Naturally, since he hasn&rsquo;t been skating much this past winter we&rsquo;re not expecting any overnight miracles. We feel Pierre is a class addition to our defense corps and we&rsquo;re not going to put any undue pressure on him for immediate results.&ldquo;At the end of the season, we&rsquo;ll sit down with Pierre and his representative, Alan Eagleson and make a decision with regard to Pierre&rsquo;s future.&rdquo;Close friends of Bouchard say he tired of the long hours he was putting in at his family&rsquo;s prosperous restaurant and told his former teammates that he really missed hockey and wanted to play again.<h2>Bobby Hull Jr., Yanked From Team</h2>BELLEVILLE&mdash;Bobby Hull has reacted to the violence that is going on in hockey today by threatening to send his son, Bobby Jr., to Europe to continue his hockey career.Hull said he pulled his son off the Lethbridge Broncos of the Western Major Hockey League because he felt the 17-year-old right winger wasn&rsquo;t learning a thing and he didn&rsquo;t like the attitude of the league.It marked the second year in succession that Bobby Jr., had been removed from a junior team by his parents. His mother took him off the Tier Two Taber team last season because he wasn&rsquo;t getting enough ice time.The elder Hull said he wanted to put his son in a European league where he could develop his hockey skills better. He added that he had watched NHL, WHA and junior games and he was disgusted with the violence he had seen.<h2>WHA&rsquo;s Baldwin Says Merger Not Set</h2>HARTFORD&mdash;Howard Baldwin, the head man of the WHA, said no merger deal has been completed between his league and the NHL.&ldquo;I think there has been an overreaction to this and everyone should slow down. As far as I&rsquo;m concerned, we&rsquo;re in the WHA, we have a six-team league, we have a five-year plan and that&rsquo;s the way we&rsquo;re proceeding right now,&rdquo; said Baldwin. &#9632;

Bouchard Returns To NHL With Caps

<div class="byline">BY AL SMITH</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011078/4345972-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Atlanta team captain Tom Lysiak called the eight-player trade &ldquo;horse bleep&rdquo; and admitted he was pretty put off at being swapped to Chicago. It was the last thing he expected. (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>ATLANTA&mdash;Atlanta Flames&rsquo; general manager Cliff Fletcher called it, &ldquo;The biggest trade since the Espo-Park deal, but Tom Lysiak called it a bunch of horse (bleep).To say Tue. March 13 was a shocking day in the lives of eight National League hockey players would be putting it mildly. The Atlanta Flames and the Chicago Black Hawks completed a trade on that day and it wasn&rsquo;t the usual nickel for five pennies&mdash;these teams traded Cadillacs.Atlanta gave up its all-time leading scorer and the most popular Flame in the history of the franchise, Tom Lysiak; left winger Harold Phillipoff, a second-year player who made a big hit around the NHL last year with his aggressive style; two young, hard-hitting defensemen Pat Ribble and Greg Fox; and minor league defenseman Miles Zaharko.For Chicago, they parted with their leading scorer, Ivan Boldirev, their best defenseman and crowd favorite, hard-hitting Phil Russel, and their fastest skater, left winger Darcy Rota.The trade didn&rsquo;t set well with the fans in either city. In Atlanta the switchboard at The Omni, home of the Flames, rang off the hook long after the trade was announced. The first question was, &ldquo;Is it true?&rdquo; and the second was, &ldquo;What&rsquo;s Fletcher on?&rdquo;In Chicago the reaction was the same. Both Fletcher and Black Hawks coach-general manager Bob Pulford maintained the trade was for the good of their respective teams.But the players involved were shocked and surprised and none involved liked the deal at first look.&ldquo;I feel like horse (bleep),&rdquo; Lysiak said. &ldquo;I love Atlanta on and off the ice and it&rsquo;s going to be hard to get used to another team and another city.&ldquo;I know Cliff has always been high on Russell and they feel Boldirev can take my place.<h2>Lysiak Shaken By Swap</h2>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not bitter about anything,&rdquo; Lysiak said. &ldquo;But I am shocked. However, I can understand the trade. They needed a guy like Russell to take charge of the defense. But the reasons for the trade don&rsquo;t make me feel any better.&ldquo;I think they felt that if the club didn&rsquo;t do well in the playoffs this year, it would hurt the club, especially financially.&rdquo;The trade is even more shocking and surprising when you take into account Lysiak signed a seven-year contract with the Flames during the off-season. Fletcher called Lysiak the Flames&rsquo; &ldquo;best player,&rdquo; and said at the time, &ldquo;What this means is that we want Tommy to play the rest of his career in Atlanta.&rdquo;Lysiak discounted rumors that he was on the outs with management after missing an optional prectice when coming off a groin injury.&ldquo;The little stuff like missing the practice goes on with one player or another every year,&rdquo; Lysiak said. &ldquo;It was nothing big. There were no problems like that.&rdquo;Meanwhile, in Chicago, Russell, Boldirev and Rota were just as surprised as Lysiak.&ldquo;We had heard there was going to be a trade with Colorado,&rdquo; Boldirev said, &ldquo;But our names weren&rsquo;t mentioned. I&rsquo;m completely shocked. I&rsquo;ve done everything they have asked me to do here, including keeping my mouth shut. Maybe I should have said more.&rdquo;Russell also expressed surprise.&ldquo;You can take the boy out of Chicago, but you can&rsquo;t take Chicago out of the boy,&rdquo; Russell said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got businesses here and I&rsquo;m not going to leave them. Also, my wife is five months pregnant and the baby is going to be born in Chicago.&rdquo;It probably didn&rsquo;t make Russell feel any better at the time, but he was the reason for the trade. The Flames wanted him and the Black Hawks wanted Lysiak, but Fletcher didn&rsquo;t want to lose Lysiak without getting a top notch center in return.<h2>Hawks Gave Stars Away</h2>&ldquo;They wanted Lysiak and we wanted Russell and Boldirev,&rdquo; Fletcher said. &ldquo;This deal took two-and-a-half months to put together. And you can&rsquo;t blame Chicago for taking so long and demanding so much. They gave up their two best players.&rdquo;But even Russell admits he hasn&rsquo;t played like one of the Black Hawks best players this season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got one of the worst plus-minuses on the team,&rdquo; Russell said. &ldquo;The team has played badly and I&rsquo;ve played badly.&rdquo;Flames&rsquo; coach Fred Creighton, who favored the trade when he learned Chicago was willing to give up Boldirev, admitted he had his doubts about Russell.&ldquo;I hope Phil Russell can play better than I&rsquo;ve seen him play lately,&rdquo; Creighton said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen him play better in the past. I hope a change of scenery might give him a better outlook.&rdquo;While all the others involved in the trade were shocked, Ribble said fie wasn&rsquo;t that surprised.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve heard rumors of a trade since the All Star break,&rdquo; Ribble said. &ldquo;And Tommy&rsquo;s and my name.were mentioned. Cliff has always liked Russell and he&rsquo;s been known for good trades, but I don&rsquo;t know about this one. He&rsquo;s given up a lot of youth in this one.&rdquo;And Phillipoff, who was just married in December and recently moved into a custom-build home, was among those shocked and surprised.&ldquo;I could feel better,&rdquo; Phillipoff said, when asked about the trade.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t expect it, but these things happen in the game. I guess it&rsquo;s just a minor disaster, not a catastrophe.&rsquo;.&rsquo;In the trade, the Black Hawks did gain youth, but Pulford maintained he didn&rsquo;t make the trade with that in mind. He was after some muscle and he got it.Ribble is one of the biggest players in the NHL (6-4, 210); Phillipoff, (6-3, 220); Fox, (6-2, 190); Lysiak, (6-1, 195) and Zaharko (6-0, 197).They also came out better in age with Ribble 24, Lysiak 25, Phillipoff 22, Fox 25, and Zaharko 21. The ex-Black Hawks&rsquo; ages are: Russell 26, Boldirev 29, and Rota 26.&ldquo;In order to reach a higher echelon in the playoffs I felt we needed to add some muscle,&rdquo; Pulford said. &ldquo;I think we did that.&rdquo;But no matter how shocked or surprised anyone involved in the trade or outside the trade was, seven of the players involved took the ice the night after the trade wearing their new uniforms.Lysiak, Ribble, Phillipoff and Fox skated onto the Chicago Stadium ice amidst some boos and with signs hanging from the rafters making them feel unfomfortable.One sign read: &ldquo;Wirtz the matter with you?&rdquo; referring to Black Hawk owner Bill Wirtz, while another read: &ldquo;Hawk fans burned by Pully,&rdquo; and the Rota fan club was on hand but seemed to have their hearts elsewhere. &ldquo;Rota Rooters, Go Flames&rdquo; their sign read.Meanwhile the ex-Black Hawks traveled to New York where they got outfitted in uniforms with no names on the back and took to the ice in Madison Square Garden where the Flames played the New York Rangers.&ldquo;It was strange,&rdquo; Atlanta defenseman David Shand said. &ldquo;We were going around the dressing room introducing ourselves. They didn&rsquo;t arrive in New York in time to make it to the hotel, so we didn&rsquo;t get to meet them until just before the game started. It was kind of a nervous situation.&rdquo;But the nervousness ended when the puck was dropped and the three new Atlantans may have quieted some of their critics back in Atlanta.The Flames won 6-4 and Boldirev and Rota picked up assists, while Russell played a steady game on defense.And as surprised and shocked as some of the Flames were over the trade, there was an even bigger surprise to come. Creighton, who some say still has a few of the dollars he made coaching back in New Haven, announced he was picking up the tab for the first round of drinks after the game.Back in Chicago things weren&rsquo;t going that well. The Black Hawks lost their first game with the ex-Atlantans in the lineup 4-0 to the Philadelphia Flyers.Pulford, of course wasn&rsquo;t happy with the outcome, but did say he didn&rsquo;t expect too much the first night.&ldquo;We were nervous,&rdquo; Pulford said. &ldquo;With our new players, nobody knew what to do out there, and we had trouble getting the puck out of our own end.&rdquo;Pulford did say that Lysiak played a good game, but the former Flame captain disagreed.&ldquo;No way,&rdquo; Lysiak said. &ldquo;Speaking for myself, there&rsquo;s no way you can be mentally prepared to play after what happened yesterday.&ldquo;For six years I have had a big &ldquo;A&rdquo; on my jersey and all of a sudden I look down and there&rsquo;s an Indian head there. It&rsquo;s a heck of a transition.&rdquo;Phillipoff played on the same line with Lysiak, but was a little delayed when he couldn&rsquo;t find a pair of pants big enough to fit him. &ldquo;I did all my crying yesterday,&rdquo; Phillipoff said. &ldquo;Now I&rsquo;m here to play.&rdquo;Two nights after the trade, the Flames ran into the Flyers and got some of the same medicine the Black Hawks received the night before.But those back in Atlanta asking &ldquo;Ivan who?&rdquo; found out who Ivan was. Boldirev scored a hat trick in the 5-4 loss and probably saved Fletcher a couple of hundred phone calls when he arrived back in Atlanta.And it seemed at least Boldirev had gotten over the shock of the trade and playing with the Flames might just be his cup of tea.&ldquo;I had forgotten what it was like to play a wide open game,&rdquo; Boldirev said. &ldquo;I talked with Mr. Fletcher and Fred before the Rangers game and they both said, &lsquo;We know you like to carry the puck and we know you can do it, go ahead.&rsquo;&rdquo;And then there was the locker room.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t believe how loose this team is,&rdquo; Boldirev said. &ldquo;I noticed a different atmosphere here right away.&ldquo;For a team as high up in the standings as they are, they&rsquo;re really loose. In Chicago we&rsquo;d sit around like it was the Stanley Cup playoffs every night.&ldquo;We were so tight.&rdquo;FLAME NOTES: Bob MacMillan became Flames&rsquo; first 100-point scorer in a season with an assist in Flames&rsquo; 5-4 loss to Flyers in the Spectrum March 15.Guy Chouinard got his 40th goal against Buffalo in Flames&rsquo;9-4 loss and became Flames&rsquo; first 40-goaI scorer. Eric Vail held old team record with 39 set in 1974-75 season&hellip;Buffalo&rsquo;s 48 shots on goal in March 11 game was most against Flames this season&hellip;After 67 games, Flames had 79 points, 12 more than for the same number of games last season when they set team record of 87 points&hellip;Flames had second best penalty killing percentage in league (80.6), but power play had dropped off with only two goals in 22 attempts. &#9632;

f0002-01

Atlanta, Chicago Reaction Same: Big Trade Left Everyone In Shock

<h2>JUNIOR AGE</h2>1. Mike Gartner, Cincinnati*2. Rob Ramage, Birmingham*3. Perry Turnbull, Portland4. Craig Hartsburg, Birmingham*5. Brian Propp, Brandon6. Mike Foligno, Sudbury7. Erroll Rausse, Seattle8. Ray Allison, Brandon9. Ray Neufeld, Edmonton10. Gaston Gingras, Birm.*11. Blake Wesley, Portland12. Kevin Lowe, Quebec13. Ricky Vaive, Birmingham*14. Ken Ellacott, Peterborough15. Brad McCrimmon, Brandon16. G. Theberge, Peterborough17. JinfMann, Sherbrooke18. Bobby Crawford, Cornwall19. John Liprando, Oshawa20. Pat Riggin, Birmingham*21. Gary Dillon, Toronto22. Pat Conacher, Saskatoon23. Ed Hospodar, Ottawa(* WHA players)<h2>UNDERAGE</h2>1. Tom McCarthy, Oshawa2. Jim Fox, Ottawa3. Laurie Boschman, Brandon4. Raymond Bourque, Verdun5. Keith Brown, Portland<h2>U.S. COLLEGES</h2>1. Jeff Brownschidle, N. Dame2. Tim Watters, Mich. Tech3. Bill Welton, Boston Univ.4. Gary Eaves, No. Dakota5. Brock Tredway, Cornell &#9632;

The Top 23 Draft Picks

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011086/4346093-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Cincinnati&rsquo;s Mike Gartner is listed on every NHL scouting report as the best prospect for the summer draft. He jumped fromlhe underage ranks this season leaving Niagara Falls as an 18-year-old to turn pro with the WHA Stingers.</figcaption></div>NEW YORK&mdash;It now appears likely the National Hockey League will consider an underage draft this June to augment the regular selection of those junior players who become 20 years of age after Dec. 31, 1979.The reasons for this turn of events are simple. When Art Kaminsky, hockey&rsquo;s second most influential player agent (behind Alan Eagleson) forced the signing of Ken Linseman by the Birmingham Bulls in 1976-77 through legal action in United States courts, he opened a pandora&rsquo;s box.&ldquo;After the federal judge ruled that United States teams could sign players of any age, certain World Hockey Association teams (mainly Birmingham, Cincinnati and Indianapolis) automatically took the best of the under age juniors every season. Philadelphia had to pay the Bulls $600,000 for Linseman. Why should the WHA get their pick of the juniors every season?&rdquo; explained an NHL general manager.As a result, the cream of the crop in this season&rsquo;s 20-year-old amateur draft will be players who have WHA experience under their belts. Last year Kaminsky stabled six first round picks, including Bobby Smith of the Minnesota North Stars, the number one pick.Kaminsky asks, &ldquo;Why should a junior player make $60 a week when he can make a minimum of $50,000 a season, playing pro? What has age got to do with the right to make a living? Why should a player who has the ability to play pro at 18 be held back two years? Both Bobby Orr and Bobby Hull were in the NHL at age 18, so why all the fuss?&rdquo;Last season&rsquo;s top pick, Smith, has justified his selection&mdash;and is the NHL&rsquo;s coming super star. Dale McCourt, numero uno in 1977, has done well and leads the Red Wings in scoring, although the number 15 pick two years ago, Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders, has burst through as the NHL&rsquo;s newest goal making super star.This June the NHL draft will likely go as follows:1. Mike Gartner, right wing, Cincinnati Stingers (WHA). Gartner formerly played with the Niagara Falls Flyers of the Ontario Major Junior League. He is six-foot-one, 180 and unlike many junior grads stays on his wing and patrols his zone both ways. He shoots the puck exceptionally well&mdash;and has a can&rsquo;t miss label. Gartner is at the top of every scout&rsquo;s list.2. Rob Ramage, defense, Birmingham Bulls (WHA). The tougher half of the Bulls&rsquo; defense pairing of (Craig) Hartsburg and Ramage. A former London Knight, Ramage is six-foot-two and 195. For a 19-year-old he is. poised and steady. Leads Birmingham in shots on goal, ahead of Hartsburg and forward Paul Henderson.3. Perry Turnbull, left wing, Portland Winter Hawks (WHL). A. tremendous scorer and fighter, who is tough in the corners. Another with a can&rsquo;t miss label.4. Craig Hartsburg, defense, Birmingham Bulls (WHA). Hartsburg and Ramage may sound like a law firm, but they are tough 19-year-old kids, who have made the Bulls respectable. Hartsburg has a slight offensive edge on Ramage and at one time led the Bulls in shots on goal. He moves the puck well, plays the point with skill. His six-foot-one and 190 helps, too.5. Brian Propp, left wing, Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL). Propp is the runaway scoring leader of the WHL&mdash;and the acknowledged fastest gun in the West. He had 82 goals in 59 games down the home stretch. Scouts rate him an unbelieveable scorer with natural scoring talent.6. Mike Foligno, right wing, Sudbury Wolves (OHA). The highest scorer in the OHA and its best player after the under age raids had stripped it of its prime talent. He won 1978-79 scoring title with 150 points, including 65 goals.7. Erroll Rausse, right wing, Seattle Breakers (WHL). Tremendous scorer with great skating speed. Reminds scouts of the Soviet Union&rsquo;s Helmut Balderis.8. Ray Allison, right wing, Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL). The &ldquo;other&rdquo; wing on the line with Propp. Will make the NHL, with some additional experience.9. Ray Neufeld, right wing, Ed monton Oil Kings (WHL). The Black Clark Gillies. Neufeld is six-foot-three and 215 pounds. A good scorer, he is tough, used his weight and was the outstanding player in Labatt&rsquo;s International Junior Tournament.10. Gaston Gingras, defense, Birmingham Bulls (WHA). An extremely mobile defenseman with a great slap shot. At six-feet and 190, he is big enough, but may lack some defensive ability and doesn&rsquo;t rough it that much. An offensive defenseman.11. Blake Wesley, defense, Portland Winter Hawks (WHL). Mobile, strong smart.12. Kevin Lowe, defense, Quebec (QMJHL). Could be sleeper, can make the plays.13. Ricky Vaive, right wing, Birmingham Bulls (WHA). A former Sherbrooke player in the Quebec Junior loop, Vaive is highly rated by some scouts, questioned by others. He is six feet and 180, can motor and plays good positional hockey.14. Ken Ellacott, goalie, Peterborough (OHA). Goalies usually don&rsquo;t rate this high, but the NHL&rsquo;s Central Scouting Bureau feels Ellacott is a super prospect. His team is the favorite for the Memorial Cup, emblematic of junior supremacy in Canada. A Don Edwards look alike at five-foot-eight and 152, but cat-like.15. Brad McCrimmon, defense, Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL). Very mobile, good puck handler, but his five-foot-10, 178 size makes him suspect.16. Greg Theberge, defense, Peterborough Petes (OHA). Strong, good leader, mature for his age&mdash;and might step right into NHL immediately with non-playoff caliber team.17. Jim Mann, right wing, Sherbrooke Beavers, (QMJHL). Sleeper pick. Might be toughest player in draft. Hits in NHL style, upsets Quebec players not used to that. Coming fast.18. Bobby Crawford, right wing, Cornwall, (QMJHL). Rink rat from New York city. Tough, highest rated American in the draft.19. John Liprando, left wing, Oshawa Generals (OHA). Another American, Liprando played with Crawford on the U.S. National Junior team while prepping in the OHA.20. Pat Riggin, goalie, Birmingham Bulls (WHA). Riggin has done the job for the Bulls, playing in two thirds of their games. A former London Knight, Riggin was playing at .500 with a 3.66 GAA. Standup goaler, who is 5-9 and 163, he is a former London Knight.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02927/4346086-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="498" height="680"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRIAN PROPP&hellip;No. 5 Pick</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03629/4346079-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="504" height="638"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROB RAMAGE&hellip;Second Best</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04374/4346072-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="488" height="638"><figcaption class="caption-body">PERRY TURNBULL&hellip;He&rsquo;s No. 3</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-05213/4346065-1-eng-US/f0003-052.jpg" title="f0003-05" width="332" height="423"><figcaption class="caption-body">CRAIG HARTSBURG&hellip;4th Pick</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-06139/4346058-1-eng-US/f0003-062.jpg" title="f0003-06" width="491" height="637"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE FOLIGNO&hellip;Best In OHA</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-0789/4346051-1-eng-US/f0003-072.jpg" title="f0003-07" width="343" height="431"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICKY VAIVE&hellip;Highly Rated</figcaption></div>21. Gary Dillon, center, Toronto Marlboros (OHA). Faster, flashier than older brother Wayne, now playing center for the Bulls.22. Pat Conacher, center, Saskatoon Blades (WHL). An endless worker, junior Bobby Clarke type.23. Ed Hospodar, defense, Ottawa 67s (OHA). Another American. Tough body checker, best hit man in open ice. Also can play center and wing.Probably the best player to come out of previous underage drafts is the Islanders&rsquo; center Bryan Trottier, who was picked in the 1974 amateur draft in the second round. He was &ldquo;red-shirted&rdquo; for an additional year with Lethbridge of the WCHL before joining the Islanders at age 19. The present underage crop also has an outstanding number one pick: Tom McCarthy, left wing, Oshawa Generals (OMJHL). He is 18, 6-2 and 200. The scouts want him right now. In midget he was picked ahead of Wayne Gretzky. McCarthy is in the Orr-Hull class as being ready for the NHL at age 18.2. Jim Fox, center, Ottawa 67s (OHA). Fox is also 18, a good scorer, getting better. A former right wing, at 5-8 and 180 Fox has the tools.3. Laurie Boschman, center, Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL). The playmaker for the Propp-Allison line. Also 18.4. Raymond Bourque, defense, Verdun Maple Leafs (QMJHL). Will make it eventually. Very poised and tough.5. Keith Brown, defense, Portland Winter Hawks (WHL). Good prospect.There are no Mike Fidlers ready in U.S. collegiate play this season, but some scouts figure there are a number of prospects ready to break through.1. Jeff Brownschidle, defense, Notre Dame. A former NHL Junior All American and the brother of Jack Brownschidle of the St. Louis Blues. Big, strong, will make it, but may require further seasoning.2. Tim Watters, defense, Michigan Tech. Is improving rapidly and could go fairly high for a college player.3. Bill Walton, defense, Boston University. Sleeper, late bloomer.4. Gary Eaves, right wing, North Dakota. Good prospect.5. Brock Tredway, right wing, Cornell, good scorer, good athlete, All American in soccer.The NHL still tends to overlook the QMJHL, despite the smash success of Bossy, who scored 53 goals as a rookie last year and once more has passed the fifty mark this season. A dark horse who interests scouts is the Montreal Juniors&rsquo; Richard Suwek, a forward, who has been out with a leg injury, but may be a fairly high pick.Last summer the NHL took 234 players, double the number expected. &#9632;

f0003-01

NHL Planning Own Underage Draft? Scouts Claim Best Prospects In WHA

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011137/4346176-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="480" height="483"></div>&bull; THERE ARE a number of opinions as to which team got the better of the deal in the eightplayer swap between the Atlanta Flames and the Chicago Black Hawks. The Flames&rsquo; move, in which they received center Ivan Boldirev, defenseman Phil Russell and left winger Darcy Rota, is one of immediacy, trying to acquire the kind of key personnel which will give them an edge in this year&rsquo;s playoffs. Russell was the player the Flames wanted most, a take-charge type of defenseman who can steady their blueline brigade&hellip;Chicago, on the other hand is obviously inclined to building for their future by picking up center Tom Lysiak, 24, left winger Hal Phillipoff, 22, and three young defensemen, Greg Fox, 24, Pat Ribble, 24, and Miles Zaharko, 21. Atlanta observers claim they knew a trade with the Black Hawks was coming when Chicago assistant general manager Bobby Orr was seen at five consecutive Flames&rsquo; contests&hellip;The Great Gears Giveaway has begun with the Saginaw Gears of the International League. They&rsquo;re holding all kinds of promotions throughout March and early April for the benefit of fans including, Stick, Puck and Jersey nights and Family Skating while posters, photo albums and souvenirs will be given away&hellip;Some very interesting races in the WHA and NHL as the regular season winds to a close. In the WHA the Edmonton-Quebec race for first and New England-Winnipeg battle for third should go right down to the wire, while in the NHL Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and Toronto were all within two points of each other in the wild card race with fifth-place overall among non-divisional winners up for grabs.&bull; HOCKEY FANS who have wondered about the whereabouts of former top hockey executive Lefty McFadden are assured that Lefty and his wife are fine and enjoying the good life in Oklahoma City where he has ventured into the business field. McFadden was formerly with the Washington Caps and Cincinnati Stingers&hellip;St. Louis Blues&rsquo; rookie Wayne Babych has a chance to become only the sixth rookie in NHL history to average better than a point a game. After missing five weeks of the schedule with a fractured left ankle, Babych had nonetheless managed to break the team record of 20 goals and 43 points by a rookie and had 55 points in his first 54 games. Among players participating in the majority of their team&rsquo;s games, Gus Bodnar was the first player to average better than a point a game with 62 in 50 games in the 1943-44 season, and was followed by Rick Martin of Buffalo, and Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy of the Islanders&hellip; Rangers&rsquo; Nick Fotiu, the only New York native to ever play for the Rangers, served as tournament commissioner of the New York Police Athletic League Cosom floor hockey tournament and presented awards to the winning team from the 101st precinct in Far Rockaway, Queens. Fotiu, who found the game a sound hockey training aid, was in turn presented with a special plague by the Police Athletic League at Madison Square Garden.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021090/4346169-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="256" height="453"><figcaption class="caption-body">Phil Russell</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03984/4346162-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="319" height="493"><figcaption class="caption-body">Nick Fotiu</figcaption></div>&bull; THE SHUTOUT turned in by five-foot-five goaler Robbie Moore of the Philadelphia Flyers (50 against Colorado) put him into the spectacular debut category along with Mario Lessard of Los Angeles (earlier this season), Wayne Thomas (for Montreal in 1973) and Jack McCartan (for the New York Rangers in 1960), following his triumphant return from leading the U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal over the Soviets&hellip;The highest paid hockey players in the NHL, Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson of the Rangers, at $650,000 per season, only rank sixth among athletes from all sports. Muhammad Ali tops the list with nearly $7 million for 1978, followed by Leon Spinks (a little over $4 million, basketballer David Thompson, $800,000, O.J. Simpson at $733,358 and tennis star Bjorn Borg at $691,886&hellip;Rick Martin of Buffalo finally seems to be coming out of his extended slump which dates back to the head injury he suffered last season. Martin, who entered the season with 298 career goals, has put together a couple of two-goal games of late&hellip;That was some upset in the ECAC playoffs where defending national champion Boston University was knocked off by Dartmouth who in turn were edged by New Hampshire 3-2 in the final. It&rsquo;s the first time in 30 years that UNH has reached the NCAA finals&hellip;Blair Stewart didn&rsquo;t waste much time getting back into the good graces of the Washington Capitals. Immediately after clearing waivers and being reinstated by the club, Stewart had the only Caps&rsquo; goal in a recent game.&bull; AHAUS, The Amateur Hockey Association of the United States is planning nationwide workshops with top European coaches beginning in mid-May, in approximately 10 cities. As part of the coaching achievement program, the workshops according to AHAUS coaching program director Lou Vairo, are being offered &ldquo;to enrich and expand the knowledge of coaches by giving them the benefits of the expertise of two of the world&rsquo;s leading specialtists in the sport.&rdquo; &hellip;Subject matter of the workshops will be directed towards the development of improved training methods of youth hockey coaches by utilizing modern on and off-ice training methods&hellip;Estimates put Pat Quinn&rsquo;s salary in the new two-year pact he signed with the Philadelphia Flyers in the $75,000 per season range&hellip;Jacques Demers, coach of the Quebec Nordiques is the youngest coach in major league hockey. He&rsquo;s only 34 and has been coaching nearly half his life, starting at the age of 18 after breaking his leg playing junior hockey&hellip;The Minnesota North Stars, who are closing in on the 300 mark in victories in the history of their franchise, have seen their attendance rise above an average of 10,000 per game for the first time since the 1974-75 season&hellip;With 14 games left on the schedule, the new-look Stars had scored two more goals than all of last season&hellip;NHL teams are combining for more than seven goals each game, the highest average in 35 years, since the 1943-44 season, the year the red line was introduced.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04882/4346155-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="270" height="429"><figcaption class="caption-body">Robbie Moore</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05743/4346148-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="137" height="212"><figcaption class="caption-body" style="width: 137px">Jacques Demers</figcaption></div> &#9632;</div>

f0004-01

PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="byline">BY RUSS WHITE</div>WASHINGTON&mdash;Success has given both the Capitals &mdash; and Tommy Rowe&mdash;a new look.The club recently went six games (3-03) without a defeat, a new club record. That skein was eventually ended by a 41 loss to Detroit.But even the loss couldn&rsquo;t take the luster off the team&rsquo;s improved play or the performance of one Thomas John Rowe.Once the players on the Washington Capitals called the American right wing &ldquo;Stanley&rdquo; because he was shy, somewhat awkward and sometimes whimsical and reminded his teammates of old time comedian, Stanley Laurel.Lately however, Rowe has shed that label. This year, he was the first Capital to hit the 30-goal mark.Only a few players in the National Hockey League really match Rowe&rsquo;s skating and shooting skills. They are the top men: Guy Lafleur, Marcel Dionne and Mike Bossy.Lafleur, Dionne and Bossy are great Canadian telents, born and raised in hockey. The 22-year-old Rowe, however, is an American who didn&rsquo;t get as early a start in the game. He was nine years old before he realized how much fun it was to go skating on the frozen pond near Gage Street at his home in Lynn, Mass.&ldquo;My brother Danny was playing some hockey,&rdquo; Rowe recalled, &ldquo;and we all thought he was crazy. The rest of us were into baseball, basketball and football. It wasn&rsquo;t until I finally watched Danny play a few hockey games at the Lynn sports arena that I thought of giving it a try.&rdquo;Recently, Rowe has achieved a scoring record no other American has come close to in 62 NHL seasons: 30 goals, five more than any American ever scored Before in a single season. He scored four recently against St. Lewis and another Sunday afternoon in Detroit. This earned him the player of the week award in the NHL.Cecil Dillon, from Toledo, Ohio, scored 25 goals for the New York Rangers in 1934-35.That American record lasted for 40 years, until Gerry O&rsquo;Flaherty, son of an NHL scout and born in Pittsburgh, Pa., scored 25 goals for Vancouver Canucks.Rowe has swept past both Dillon and O&rsquo;Flaherty and looms as a potential 40-goal scorer next year.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m playing with so much confidence that I guess I even amaze myself at times,&rdquo; Rowe said on an off day for the Caps. &ldquo;When the season began I thought that I could get 20, maybe even 25 goals. I had scored six in the last seven games last year. That gave me some confidence that I could score if everything worked out all right.&rdquo;What has worked out the best for Rowe is that he has played all year on a line with center Dennis Maruk and lately with both Maruk and Swedish left winger Rolf Edberg.&ldquo;If I&rsquo;m open, I know the puck will be on my stick having Dennis and Rolf playing with me,&rdquo; Rowe said. &ldquo;Neither of them makes many bad passes. They guarantee that I&rsquo;m going to get six or seven good shots on goal a night. I had eight the other night&mdash;eight golden opportunities.&rdquo;Max McNab, the Capitals&rsquo; general manager who drafted Rowe in the third round of the 1976 amateur pool (Rowe was the 37th player chosen), remembers the early reports on the rangy right wing.&ldquo;Tommy Rowe has size (six feet, 185 pounds), tremendous skating ability and a hard shot,&rdquo; McNab said. &ldquo;He was an American-born player, however, and most scouts didn&rsquo;t grade him as high as Canadian-born players because he lacked basic hockey imagination.&ldquo;I remember watching Rowe play for the London Knights&mdash;he had gone to Canada after playing American high school hockey in Boston&mdash;and you could see the raw ability.Rowe scored only one goal&mdash;at Boston Garden on his first shot on his very first shift with the Capitals&mdash;while playing 12 games two years ago. He scored 13 goals in 63 games last year. He remained &ldquo;Stanley,&rdquo; a likeable but somewhat awkward youngster.Now, it has changed.&ldquo;Tommy has acquired poise and quite a bit of patience,&rdquo; McNab said. &ldquo;He has tremendous reflexes and as long as he continues to be patient and does not force matters, he will continue to get his goals.&rdquo; &#9632;

Poise, Patience Mark Cap Rowe’s Rise To Stardom

OFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY FOUNDED 1947VOLUME 32, NUMBER 26 MARCH 30,1979Kenneth W. McKenziePresident and Publisher.Charlie HalpinEditorial DirectorTom MurrayAssistant PublisherPeter EmersonVice-President SalesSuite 600,55 University Ave.,Toronto, Ont M5J 2H7,Telephone: (416) 3614)116Advertising Representatives:MontrealMary McCutcheon1434 St. Catherine Street West, Suite 217 Montreal, Can. &bull; H3G 1R7 (514) 866-4841 New York:Tom Murray850 Third Ave. New York, N.Y. 10022 &bull; (212)593-2100Chicago:Hooper. Jones & Associates 3322 W. Peterson Avenue Chicago, III. 60659 &bull; (312)478-5544THE HOCKEY NEWS, (ISSN 0018-3016), is published weekly except monthly June through September by W.C.C. Publishing Co., Ltd., 1434 St. Catherine Street West, Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7. Phone (514) 866-4841. In U.S. c/o W.C.C. Publishing Corp., 850 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10022. Phone (212)593-2100.YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $13.95 In Canada, $14.95 in the U.S.A, and $19.25 in Foreign Countries. Second class postage paid at New York, N.Y. 10001 and at additional mailing offices. SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO 1434 ST. CATHERINE STREET WEST, SUITE 217, MONTREAL, CANADA H3G 1R7. Second Class mail Registration No. 1327. All Inquiries pertaining to subscriptions should be addressed to Subscription Dept., The Hockey News, 1434 St. Catherine St. W., Montreal, Canada H3G1R7, Printed In Canada. &#9632;

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02762/4346310-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="567" height="782"></div> &#9632;

f0005-02

Top 20 Rookie Scorers

<div class="byline">BY TOM MURRAY</div>NEW YORK&mdash;March 14, 1979.Chances are, when the regular season ends in three weeks the Rangers will finish in second place in the Patrick Division. But if they don&rsquo;t; if the Atlanta Flames or the Philadelphia Flyers beat them out&hellip;remember the date above.That was the night the Rangers played one of those crucial &ldquo;four point&rdquo; games you hear so much about around this time of the year. The opponent was the Atlanta Flames, three points behind the Rangers in the standings, and the game was crucial: If the Rangers won, they would move five points ahead of the Flames in the standings and make it very difficult for either Atlanta or Philly to overtake them. If they lsot, however, Atlanta would move to within one point and the race for second place would again be reduced to a scramble.Taking into consideration the fact that all of the season&rsquo;s less significant (is any Flames-Rangers game not significant?) confrontations between these two teams had been typically hard-hitting, exciting games, this one should have been the hardest-hitting, most exciting one of them all.But it wasn&rsquo;t.In what had to have been one of the most boring, unemotional, error-ridden games of the season, the Flames vanquished the Rangers, 6-4, and presto, the race was once again on for second place.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t fast, it wasn&rsquo;t exciting, it wasn&rsquo;t even an average game,&rdquo; said a disgusted Don Murdoch when the festivities were all over. &ldquo;It sure wasn&rsquo;t the kind of game you&rsquo;d expect our two teams to play at this point in the season. I was even bored watching from the bench. It must have been brutal for the fans.&rdquo;It was, and the frequent shouts of &ldquo;Boooooring&rdquo;normally reserved for games against Colorado and St. Louis&mdash;bore out that suspicion. But it was more brutal for the Rangers, who got the games&rsquo;s first two goals, but fell behind, 3-2 before the period ended. They pulled ahead again, 4-3, early in the third period on Walt Tkaczuk&rsquo;s fourth goal in four games, but it was at that point that they should have remembered that in each of the five previous meetings between these two teams, the visitor has always come from behind to win. This game would prove to be no exception to that rule, as Bill Clement and then Jean Pronovost put the icing on the cake for the Flames.Putting that dismal performance against the Flames behind them, the Rangers were faced with the bleak prospect of playing the Bruins the next night in Boston. And what happened? Thirty-seven-year-old center Phil Esposito, playing like a teenager, used the occasion to wreck havoc on his old teammates, scoring four goals and lead his team to an inspiring 7-4 win which moved New York to within two points of the Bruins for the NHL&rsquo;s third-best record.The hat trick was the 31st of Espo&rsquo;s incredible career, the four-goal performance was the fifth of his career, his first as a Ranger, and when the game was over Esposito had 39 goals&mdash;his high as a Ranger. And, get this, only a couple of guys&mdash;named Bossy, Lafleur, Dionne, Trottier and Chouinard&mdash;have more goals than Espo does. At 27, Lafleur is the oldest member of that elite group, and he is a full 10 years younger than Esposito. &ldquo;Not bad for an old guy, eh?&rdquo; Espo said when the game was over. Not bad at all, Phil.As it turned out, the Rangers could have used some of the goals Espo scored against the Bruins in the two games they played over the weekend&mdash;against the Islanders and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Rangers lost to the Islanders, 5-2, in a game which saw the Isles explode for five goals before the Rangers knew what was happening. By the time Mike McEwen and Tkaczuk spoiled Chico Resch&rsquo;s shutout&mdash;Resch, by the way, was superlative&mdash;it was too late to do anything but marvel at the overall excellence of the Islanders, who point-wise became the best team in the NHL, hitting the 100-point mark in the win over their rivals.The following night, the Rangers lost their second game in a row&mdash;the first time they had achieved that dubious distinction since early February&mdash;when they rolled over and played dead for the Penguins, who won the contest, 5-1. The less said about this game the better, except that sometime during it the rangers clinched a playoff spot by virtue of a loss somewhere else in the league.&ldquo;We clinched a spot in a loss last year, too,&rdquo; Dave Maloney said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if that&rsquo;s a good or a bad sign.&rdquo;What&rsquo;s definitely NOT a good sign is the Ranger&rsquo;s recent record&mdash;they&rsquo;ve lost three of their last four games&mdash;and their upcoming schedule: There are just 10 games left in the regular season, and six of them are real toughies&mdash;Montreal, Philadelphia (twice), Atlanta (twice), and the Islanders. And at this writing, only three points separate the second-place Rangers from the last-place Flyers in the Patrick Division.Hang on tight, fans, it&rsquo;s gonna be a helluva finish. the phantom of the Rangers (he has yet to make an appearance with the team) should be ready by next weekend, too&hellip;Esposito&rsquo;s next goal will give him his eighth 40-goal season&hellip;Pat Hickey&rsquo;s game against Pittsburgh was his 300th NHL game&hellip;Nick Fotiu is closing in on Lou Fontinato&rsquo;s penalty minute record. Lou had 202 minutes during the 1955-56 season. That should be a piece of cake for Nickie, who had 188.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01988/4346279-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="565" height="847"><figcaption class="caption-body">PHIL ESPOSITO&hellip;Four-Goal Game</figcaption></div>BLUE CHIPS: Good news in the injury department (finally!!!): John Davidson has been working out for several days in full equipment and &ldquo;feels fine.&rdquo; He&rsquo;s not going on the road trip this week, but is going to stay behind and work out so he&rsquo;ll be ready by next weekend&mdash;possibly to play against the Canadiens&hellip;Ron Greschner has been working out with Davidson and says that his shoulder feels fine &ldquo;except when I finish shooting.&rdquo; He wants to work out for at least 10 more days so that he&rsquo;s in top shape before attempting to come back&hellip;Jocelyn Guevremont, &#9632;

f0005-01

Rangers Allow Lackluster Effort To Scramble Patrick Race Again

Following are the latest player movements in hockey:<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>ATLANTA&mdash;Tom Lysiak, C, Harold Phillipoff, LW, Greg Fox, D, Pat Ribble, D, and Miles Zaharko, D, all traded to Chicago in exchange for Ivan Boldirev, C, Darcy Rota, LW, and Phil Russell, D.BOSTON&mdash;Rick Smith, D, and Stan Jonathan, LW, returned to lineup from injury list.BUFFALO&mdash;Jocelyn Guevremont, D, traded to the Rangers for future considerations.CHICAGO&mdash;Bob Hoffmeyer, D, and Jean Savard, C, returned to New Brunswick of AHL.COLORADO&mdash;Paul Gardner, C, traded to Toronto in exchange for Don Ashby, C, and Trevor Johansen, D. Michel Lachance, D, returned to New Brunswick of AHL.DETROIT&mdash;Thommie Bergman, D, returned to lineup from injury list. J.P. LeBlanc, C, recalled from Kansas City of CHL. Randy Wilson, C, assigned to Kansas City on pro trial.MINNESOTA&mdash;Jim Roberts, LW, returned to Oklahoma City of CHL. Ron Zanussi, RW, assigned to Oklahoma City and later recalled. Warren Young, C, assigned to Oklahoma City on pro trial.MONTREAL&mdash;Brad Seiwood, D, signed as free agent after leaving New England of WHA. Seiwood assigned to Nova Scotia of AHL. Mario Tremblay, RW, placed on disabled list with bruised ribs. Richard Sevigny, G, returned to Nova Scotia. Ken Dryden, G, returned to lineup from injury list.N.Y. ISLANDERS&mdash;Ed Westfall, RW, announced retrfement effective at the end of 1978-79 season. Don Cults, G, recalled from Fort Worth of CHL and reassigned to Fort Wayne of IHL. Clark Gillies, LW, returned to lineup after illness.N.Y. RANGERS&mdash;Dan Clark, D, returned to New Haven of AHL. Carol Vadnais, D, returned to lineup from injury list.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Bob Paradise, D,&rsquo; recalled from Binghamton of AHL. Dale Tallon, D, placed on disabled list for rest of season after suffering broken leg.TORONTO&mdash;Ron Wilson, RW, returned to New Brunswick of AHL.VANCOUVER&mdash;Rick Blight, RW, recalled from Dallas of CHL.WASHINGTON&mdash;Bernie Wolfe, G, and Rick Bragnalo, RW, assigned to Hershey of AHL. Chuck Arnason, RW, claimed as free agent from Minnesota. Blair Stewart, RW, and Rick Green, D, returned to lineup from injury list.<h2>WORLD HOCKEY ASSN.</h2>CINCINNATI&mdash;Gordie Clark, RW, assigned to Maine of AHL on 24-hour recall.EDMONTON&mdash;Doug Berry, C, recalled from Dallas of CHL.QUEBEC&mdash;Richard David, RW, assigned to Binghamton of AHL. &#9632;

Hockey Players On The Move

<div class="byline">&#x2014; BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011168/4346341-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="338" height="463"></div><h2>Season Of Nightmares</h2>NICOLE VACHON is more than a concerned wife. She is an angry wife, a frustrated wife, a desperate wife.&ldquo;It is unbelievable what they have said and written about my husband, it&rsquo;s vicious, it&rsquo;s libelous,&rdquo; she related, as calmly as her distress would permit. &ldquo;One newspaper says that he is a robber, like he put the gun to their heads for the money he is getting.&ldquo;Another newspaper compares him with the Shah of Iran, and another says all he can do is skate backwards. Nobody deserves this. My husband has had a bad year, but he has nothing to prove. Everything is negative here. With what he has had to put up with, the aggravation, my husband is underpaid.&rdquo;Unfortunately, all the clubs in the National Hockey League probably disagree, which is why Rogie Vachon, one of the best goalkeepers in a sport berefit of stars, is the goalkeeper nobody wants. The Detroit Red Wings tossed his name onto the waiver list the other day, and everybody tossed it back. Been that kind of a winter for Vachon.&ldquo;It might even get worse, I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; the little guy said. &ldquo;Can you imagine if, after all this, the Red Wings lose Dale McCourt, too? That&rsquo;ll be tough. It&rsquo;s been tough already, but I will finish the season here, I hope, and finish it strong. Yeah, I have four years left on my contract, but if you are not happy in your job&hellip;.&rdquo;Vachon did not finish that sentence very strong. And it had all looked so promising, too. For $1.9 million last summer, he joined the Red Wings, a revived team which seemed to need only what he is&mdash;a blue chip goalkeeper with lots of good years behind him, and lots of good years ahead.<h2>Hasn&rsquo;t Played Well</h2>THEN THE LAUGHTER turned to sorrow. Vachon, who had yielded less than three goals a game during a dozen fine seasons in Montreal and Los Angeles, starts yielding more than three and sometimes four and five behind a band of Red Wings who just might have been thinking more of his checks than theirs.Then the Detroit brass, which offered the Kings a sawbuck as compensation for Vachon, is ordered to surrender McCourt, its best young hockey player. Then the fans got restless, and the press got restless, and coach Bobby Kromm ripped him and now this.&ldquo;I have not played well,&rdquo; confessed Vachon. &ldquo;I seem to be giving up more bad goals than I used to. Long shots, yeah. You know, I will play two great periods, and then I will let a soft one in. That&rsquo;s just concentration, I guess.&ldquo;But there have been times I have played great, and still we have lost. It has been a little bit of everybody, I feel. The defense, the forwards not coming back, and me. The coach, yes, he criticized me. I never had that in Los Angeles with Bob Pulford, and it is difficult because you see that when you need a boost instead.&ldquo;The players have been OK to me, but they feel badly, too. It&rsquo;s like when someone dies. What do you do? Do you say something or do you say nothing? The fans have been on me, but I still think that they are the type who will be on my side if we start winning. The press has been the toughest.Right from training camp in September, they were after me.&ldquo;I feel good physically, too. I got hit in the head with a puck last year, and again this year. But my problem is not that. No, I have not played well, as well as I can.&rdquo;<h2>Problem For Ego</h2>THERE ARE OTHER problems, too. Like a man&rsquo;s ego after being told by your own club which once wanted you so much that now you aren&rsquo;t wanted at all. And being told by 16 other teams, including teams such as Philadelphia which are short on goalkeeping, that the price is too high. And having to go back into that cage again, therein Detroit before all those disconnected jurors.I Certainly the Vachons were not dealt this hand through avarice, I Besides their one son&mdash;Nicholas, 6, who is getting it from schoolmates, too&mdash;they have adopted two daughters, a Vietnamese orphan and a Korean orphan. And the family extends to Indonesia, where Rogie and Nicole support six other children they don&rsquo;t even know.&ldquo;Yes, I&rsquo;m making a lot of money,&rdquo; said Rogie. &ldquo;But I did what I felt was best for everybody, for security. I didn&rsquo;t think that it would turn out like this, of course, but I&rsquo;m not ready to give up yet and ask to get out.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0006-01

HOCKEY TALK

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02895/4346372-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE FIDLER&hellip; Caught Fire After Reinstatement</figcaption></div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;Back in December, Minnesota&rsquo;s hottest scoring line of early March was spread through various outposts of the world. Yes, the world.Glen Sharpley, the center, was with the North Stars, going from one NHL city to another. But he was not on any one set line. He&rsquo;d be playing right wing for a couple games, or playing on a checking line. He seemed to be with different wingers every few games.Mike Fidler was sent down to Oklahoma City, decided to quit and went home to Boston for a time.Kris Manery accepted Minnesota&rsquo;s offer to represent the Stars on a Canadian team playing in the Soviet Union. He, too, had been playing in Oklahoma City.The trio had opened the regular season on the same line with the North Stars, but all three hit a lengthy slump that relegated them to irregular status or the minor leagues.It did not help their cause when the North Stars reeled off their best December in history with nine victories.But coach Glen Sonmor knew that the North Stars, especially when they hit a snag in early January, needed to have more offensive firepower to go along with outstanding Bobby Smith and his linemates of Steve Payne and Al Mac Adam.Soon the messages went out. Manery joined the team on the way back from the Soviet Union. Fidler agreed to report to Oklahoma City and was recalled after he had played a few games.And Sharpley found himself no longer an irregular regular when his wingers came up.Fidler was sensational almost from the start of his resinstatement. He picked up an assist on each of his first two games, Sharpley scoring both, and then started scoring himself. Filling the net might not be such an exaggerated description.Over a 19-game span, Fidler scored 16 goals and 12 assists. In a five-game stretch that threesome scored 10 goals&mdash;four by the 22-year-old Fidler, and three each by 24-year-old Manery and 22-year-old Sharpley.&ldquo;They may not look very pretty out there,&rdquo; said Sonmor, &ldquo;but they&rsquo;re all over the ice and they know where the net is. This is the type of line that is fun to watch.&rdquo;Fidler and Manery did not have so much fun in one stretch. Manery was knocked silly taking a check from Toronto&rsquo;s Dan Maloney and missed two games after suffering a slight concussion. Next game back, though, he scored two goals.Fidler suffered a six-stitch gash when a puck bounced off the mask of Boston goalie Gerry Cheevers, and off Fidler&rsquo;s forehead. Video tape replays showed that the puck actually was headed into the net, but the light never went on.Even so, Fidler should end up the regular season with almost as many goals (25) as he scored over a full schedule with Cleveland last season. Manery, also with less playing time than a year ago, probably will not duplicate his 22 goals of a year ago. But Sharpley should come close to his first two season figures of 25 and 22 goals.STAR DUST: The Stars sent winger Ron Zanussi to Oklahoma City after recalling wingers Jim Roberts and Alex Pirus and defenseman Bryan Maxwell. Pirus suffered a shoulder separation in practice before he could play a game. Maxwell picked up two assists his first game back and Roberts fit into the team&rsquo;s checking line with Mike Polich and Tom Younghans&hellip;Steve Payne scored two goals 10 seconds apart in a 51 victory over Detroit&hellip;Jack Carlson missed two games.with a shoulder injury, then was hampered by a bad back&hellip;Bobby Smith will be the first North Star rookie to score 30 or more goals since Danny Grant did so 10 years ago and was named the NHL rookie of the year. &#9632;

f0006-02

Minnesota Searched Far To Find Explosive Combo

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div>BOSTON&mdash;The fighting qualities of the battling and sometimes embattled Boston Bruins took on a new dimension the other day. Even the goalies were getting into the act. One goalie, anyway. Belligerent fellow named Jim &ldquo;Seaweed&rdquo; Pettie.Shades of Don Head, the most bellicose of all Bruins&rsquo; goalies who played only 38 games for Boston in 1961-62 but managed to squeeze in knock down and drag out fights with Vic Stasiuk of Detroit and Marcel Bonin, the Montreal Canadien who used to wrestle bears.Pettie, in his 18th game as a Bruin, came up with his first five minute penalty in the National Hockey League for a go with no less than Gary Howatt of the Islanders, who had 161 penalty minutes of his own at the time.Each drew seven minutes in penalties and John Wensink got five plus a game misconduct as third man in for going to his goelie&rsquo;s rescue and the Islanders got two goals during the five minute advantage. However, it sparked the Bruins to a 4-4 tie.Pettie, who once had 145 minutes in penalties with Dayton, explained his problems with Howatt like this:<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011040/4346410-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="507" height="935"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM PETTIE&hellip;Fought Tough Guy</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Earlier he came in and gave me a stick in the back of the head. I was out of the net. Instead of trying to cut behind me he tried to cut through me and he got his stick up in the back of my head.&ldquo;Next time he came through I got my stick out on him and just told him, &lsquo;Keep you head up. If I get my chance I&rsquo;ll get you the same way.&rsquo; He turned and gave me a two-hander and he looked at me as much as to say, &lsquo;Any time you&rsquo;re ready.&rsquo;&ldquo;So I took the opportunity.&rdquo;Pettie was a little perturbed that Wensink jumped in and spoiled his fun.&ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t know if I needed his help,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think I can hold my own pretty good with him. But it&rsquo;s nice to know guys are there.&ldquo;I remember a couple of months ago, Stan Johathan let their goelie, Billy Smith, have it. Knocked him down and everybody from the Islanders just stood around and watched. It shows that we&rsquo;re a team. That&rsquo;s why we&rsquo;re successful, I think.&rdquo;Bruins&rsquo; coach Don Cherry was thinking along the same lines.&ldquo;Remember when Jonathan decked Smith and nobody came to his rescue?&rdquo; he said, defending Wensink&rsquo;s five minute penalty that cost the Bruins two goals.&ldquo;I would rather have them take the game than have somebody deck our goalie and then stand there and watch him.&ldquo;I think Wensink forgot for a minute. He thought it was Gerry Cheevers. That&rsquo;s why he went to the rescue. If he had remembered it was Seaweed he wouldn&rsquo;t have needed to go.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a different situation with Billy Smith because he&rsquo;s the kind of guy who likes to fight his own battles,&rdquo; said the Islanders&rsquo; Mike Bossy, defending what happened Nov. 2 in Boston.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a physical goaltender and he likes to do that kind of stuff. It&rsquo;s his way of getting into the game. He likes to fight his own battles and he really doesn&rsquo;t like us coming in for him.&rdquo;Responded Cherry, having the last word, as is his wont:&ldquo;Maybe that&rsquo;s why we make the finals and they don&rsquo;t.&rdquo;The March 11 game was billed in Boston as a preview of the coming Stanley Cup semi-finals, since it is possible that they will finish two-three behind Canadiens in overall point production.Since the Islanders were eliminated in the quarter-finals last year when they were virtually battered into submission by Toronto Maple Leafs, the philosophical question was raised once again in anticipation of a series with the Bruins:Can the Islanders be beaten by intimidation?&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believe that nonsense,&rdquo; said Isles&rsquo; coach Al Arbour. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believe anybody can intimidate our team. We&rsquo;ve got a lot of guys who can take care of themselves. We&rsquo;ve got a lot of finesse hockey players, too. We can play it either way.&rdquo;All of which can make for an exciting semi-final series, especially with fighting goalies named Seaweed Pettie and Billy Smith in the nets.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02799/4346403-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="508" height="936"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN WENSINK&hellip;Third Man In</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0007-01

Pettie Adds New Slant To Fighting Spirit

<div class="byline">-BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011159/4346448-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="405" height="455"></div><h2>The Gutty Goaler&hellip;</h2>FEW YOUNG GUYS want to be goaltenders. Winning and losing games rests too much on them. The pressure pounds at them. Some of the greatest have gone into tailspins and cracked up over the years. Junior goalers seldom look good. Play is wide open and their statistics suffer. Seldom is one selected in the first round of the draft.The scorers attract attention in the race for Rookie of the Year honors. Statistics don&rsquo;t measure goaltenders too well because if they break in on a bad team their records have to suffer. Ken Dryden was the last goaler to capture the Calder trophy and he was helped by playing for mighty Montreal. And that was eight years ago.Since then, few goalers have established themselves as stars. You can get by in goal on smart positional play and the old guys go on and on. After Dryden the only new stars for years were the Islander pair of Chico Resch and Billy Smith and the one now is 30 and the other close to it.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021043/4346441-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="787" height="772"><figcaption class="caption-body">Buffalo&rsquo;s Don Edwards is a terrific competitor who loves to play hockey. He&rsquo;s also something of an Iron man who wants to play all the time and is surprisingly durable despite his small frame.</figcaption></div>Two years ago, Mike Palmateer broke in brilliantly with Toronto and he&rsquo;s only 25. The same year, Don Edwards broke in brilliantly with Buffalo and he&rsquo;s only 23. This season, Mario Lessard of Los Angeles and Glen Hanlon of Vancouver have broken in brilliantly and the first is only 24 and the other just 22. These four are real standouts.Because he had played the limit of 25 games the year before, Edwards was just barely eligible for Rookie of the Year honors last season, when he had a 38-16-17 record with five shutouts. But, although he was selected second All Star, he was third behind the human goal-getter, Mike Bossy, and a high-scoring defenseman, Barry Beck, in the Calder competition.BECAUSE THEY PLAY for struggling teams and get little defensive support, Lessard and Hanlon, face similar fates at the hands of high-scoring Bobby Smith of Minnesota and Ryan Walter of Washington this season, but their records are good and their performances even better. Hanlon is hurt by being hurt right now.Edwards was hurt this season. He missed almost a month with an ankle injury. This is unusual for this gutty goaler. Although only five-foot-nine and 165 pounds, he is a durable little guy. After breaking in with 25 games and 1,480 minutes the year before, he led the league&rsquo;s goalers with 72 games and 4,209 minutes last season. Counting 47 games and 2,792 minutes at Hershey the year before, his two-season totals came to 144 games and almost 8,500 minutes.Such hard work is rare in this era of two-goalie and three-goalie systems. Punch Imlach, said, &ldquo;Goalers used to do it all the time and there&rsquo;s no reason they can&rsquo;t do it in these times.&rdquo; Edwards said, &ldquo;I think I could play all the time. I look forward to every game. I can&rsquo;t wait to play. I hate a game when I don&rsquo;t play. I don&rsquo;t get tired. I relax between games.&rdquo;It would be no good if the goaler wasn&rsquo;t good, of course. Edwards set a team record with a 2.5 goals-against his break-in season, was still a splendid 2.6 despite the heavier burden he bore last season, and is only a little above 3.0 goals a game despite a drastic decline in the quality of his support this season. He is swift and agile and incredibly consistent.Playing goal&mdash;and gold&mdash;is almost all he cares about. The only book he ever read all the way through was on goaltending.EDWARDS WAS BORN in Woodburn, Ontario, and moved to nearby Hamilton, not far from Buffalo. A slender lad with a brownish-blonde mustache he married the former Tannis Kinrade, his hometown sweetheart, almost three years ago and they have a suburban home in Amherst. Don&rsquo;s parents, Arnold, a steelworker, and Donna, had three other children, all girls. Dad insisted Don play a forward so he could learn skating techniques before he permitted him to turn to goaltending as a teen-ager.Don&rsquo;s uncle, Roy Edwards, is a former big league goaler. &ldquo;I looked up to him, but didn&rsquo;t see much of him,&rdquo; Don says. Don developed fast as an amateur goaler and was first All Star his last two seasons in the OHA. However, he gave up almost five goals a game his last season. His Kitchener club was a last-place team which won only 17 games. Don was overlooked by almost all. Imlach took him on the sixth round in 1975. He was only the 89th player picked.Imlach said, &ldquo;You can see quick hands and feet. You can&rsquo;t see desire to play and will to win. Don has it all.&rdquo; Coach Marcel Pronovost said, &ldquo;Don has everything he needs inside of him.&rdquo; Punch and Pronovost are gone now, but current coach Bill Inglis says, &ldquo;Edwards is a terrific competitor and doesn&rsquo;t give up.&rdquo; Edwards says, &ldquo;I faced 50 or 60 shots a game my last season as a junior. It was tough, but it toughened me. It&rsquo;s been tough this year, but I&rsquo;m hanging in there. If I had my choice at being anybody I wanted to be, I&rsquo;d be just what I am. I love the game and I have complete confidence in myself. The odd bad goal I let in is the only thing 1&rsquo;11 let bother me. I won&rsquo;t give in an inch to the game.&rdquo;He not only plays a lot of games, but games within games. &ldquo;I keep the pressure from me, by taking games a little at a time. Instead of worrying about playing every game, I only think about one at a time. When I get to the game, I think only of the first period. I take 20 minutes at a time. I try to take a minute at a time. On the ice, all I let myself think about is the next save. You can stand the pressure that way,&rdquo; he concludes. &#9632;

f0008-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03878/4346479-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">KEN LINSEMAN&hellip; Overcame Ankle, Attitude Problems</figcaption></div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;&ldquo;He&rsquo;ll be back when he shows he can come back and help the Flyers.&rdquo;The speaker was Keith Allen, the date was Dec. 1, 1978.It&rsquo;s nice to report that Ken Linseman, the youngster the Flyers&rsquo; GM was talking about, is back, And, is he ever helping the Flyers!The player who was categorized in this space not long ago as a possible &ldquo;million-dollar mistake&rdquo; returned with a three-assist game in a 4-4 tie at Boston. In his first seven games since returning from a soul-searching AHL exile, Linsjman had 2-7-9 coring figures playing on a line with Al Hill and Blake Dunlop.Bobby Clarke, Bill Barber and Reggie Leach have been Philadelphia&rsquo;s Main Line for years. Lately, Linseman, Hill and Dunlop have been the Flyers&rsquo; Maine Line&mdash;for their service with the Maine Mariners and also for their productivity. Combined with the KGB Line (Bob Kelly, T.J. Gorence, Mel Bridgman), the Flyers suddenly had two youth-oriented attack forces to carry them into the playoffs.After Linseman, who will forever be known as the draft choice the Flyers received from the Rangers for Fred Shero, returned from Portland, Me., he was asked the inevitable: Why the delay, pal? Why couldn&rsquo;t a guy who scored 38 goals and 38 assists as a 19-year-old rookie in the WHA be impressive enough to stay in the NHL immediately?Following the straight-forward approach that, on and off the ice, makes people compare him to Clarke, Linseman cited two reasons: a painful ankle injury and a pain-in-the-ears attitude.An ankle injury during the exhibition schedule has left the Kingston, Ont., native with a bone chip that will require post-season surgery. The attitude? Well, those balmy winter nights in Portland have made him a changed young man, someone who quickly realized a minorleague sentence was good for what ailed him.&ldquo;If they hadn&rsquo;t sent me (to Portland), things probably would have gotten worse,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They couldn&rsquo;t have kept playing me here. I was never able to get the right feeling. At first, I was too relaxed. Then later, I was too keyed up.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t do anything right at the start. As I look back, maybe I was too relaxed. This was my goal, making it in the National Hockey League, and I had finally done it and it didn&rsquo;t occur to me that I had to keep playing hard to stay here. I had my place (condominium), I was thinking too much about settling in, getting used to the surroundings, and not on playing.&ldquo;Then, the adjustment was bigger than I expected. And I&rsquo;d never had any problems adjusting before. I just went out, played and produced. Now, I wasn&rsquo;t producing and I was getting scared. Then I injured the ankle.&rdquo;The difference between the current Linseman and the training-camp Linseman is as glaring as the difference between the Colorado Rockies and Montreal Canadiens. Back in September, people would watch the five-foot-10, 175-pound Linseman accomplish little and they&rsquo;d mutter, &ldquo;This guy was worth a million dollars?&rdquo; ($500,000 to Birmingham, $500,000 to Linseman&rsquo;s bank account).Since last month, however, the price tag appears justified. Linseman gives the Flyers much-needed speed, playmaking, and a sizeable dose of the mean streak most hockey teams need to succeed. Linseman has a master&rsquo;s degree in agitation.&ldquo;When his ankle was bothering him,&rdquo; said coach Pat Quinn, &ldquo;it was like going into a gunfight without a gun. You have speed like that, you learn to rely on it. He had never had to do without it before.&rdquo;While he was with Maine, Linseman says fans&rsquo; taunts included calling him &ldquo;the highest-paid AHL player.&rdquo; Linseman&rsquo;s AHL days should be over. He&rsquo;s earning his major-league salary. &#9632;

f0008-03

Flyers’ Linseman Different Player In NHL Comeback

<div class="byline">BY MIKE DENNIS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011116/4346510-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">BUNNY LAROCQUE&hellip; Handled Full Canadiens&rsquo; Load (Photo by Stove Beblneou)</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;Guy Lafleur mentioned just prior to the Canadiens&rsquo; departure for their last western swing of the year that it would be nice to get out of town and &ldquo;get our game together.&rdquo;No doubt Lafleur, and most of the other Montreal skaters, figured that they could march off to stops in Bloomington, Los Angeles and Denver and come away with the necessary ingredients for defending their lead in the National Hockey League&rsquo;s overall points race with the New York Islanders&mdash;you know, the usual ploy&mdash;grabbing five or six points in the standings.Canadiens were happy to leave town after picking up just three points in their last four home games against opposition which ranged from competitive (Rangers) to weak (Detroit) to hopeless (Vancouver). Obviously their march into the March portion of the schedule has not gone according to usual specifications. Nor did their first stop on the tour against the Minnesota North Stars.Blowing 3-1 leads in the final period against teams which are 39 points lower than you in the standings, isn&rsquo;t the way to defend your number one status in the league. But that&rsquo;s what the Canadiens did as they continued their totally disintegrated style of play in this final full month of the schedule, a pattern which developed at the close of February with a 7-3 loss in Nassau County Coliseum to the Islanders.Following the Islanders&rsquo; setback, the Canadiens managed a well-played 2-1. home ice triumph over Toronto, dropped a 5-3 decision to Detroit in Montreal in a game where Larry Robinson injured his knee and were held to a 2-2 tie in Landover by the Washington Caps.Everything seemed back in the groove with an 11-1 pasting of the Vancouver Canucks on home ice, but the Habs followed that up with a 6-3 loss to the Rangers at home, a 33 tie at home with Detroit and their loss to Minnesota. What it added up to was four losses in eight starts, and only one win in a six-game stretch.Particularly damaging was the loss to the Rangers. With Robinson on the sidelines with a knee which kept filling with fluid the Canadiens finished the game with just 16 men in uniform.Rejean Houle pulled a groin muscle and was through for the night in the first period. Steve Shutt was struck on the side of the head with a shot moments after scoring his 30th goal of the season, took a couple of sticks and then went to the hospital during the second period for x-rays and Ken Dryden stretched a hamstring in the closing stages of the game while defending against Anders Hedberg.Bunny Larocque, who earlier in the week had been quoted as saying that he &ldquo;wasn&rsquo;t going to sit on the bench next year&rdquo; was pressed into service for the final six minutes of the Ranger game and then started against Detroit and Minnesota with Righard Sevigny called up from Nova Scotia as the backup goaler. Defenseman Rod Langway also joined the team. Dryden made the western trip with the club and was expected to be ready to play at least in time for the March 22 Islanders&rsquo; game, the first visitors upon the Canadiens&rsquo; return. Robinson and Houle, who did not make the trip, were also expected back.The inability to get the team playing at a consistent level&mdash;with so many players being shuffled in and out of the lineup and playing at less than 100 percent capacity&mdash;was throught to be the major reason for the Canadiens&rsquo; sub-par performance.Semi-regulars Pierre Larouche (back) and Pat Hughes (groin) were also trying to overcome injury woes.For his part, Larocque, who has appeared in 28 of the Canadiens first 68 games (his previous one-season high is 30) explained his reasons behind not wanting to remain a back-up goaltender.&ldquo;Yes, I said that,&rdquo; Larocque remarked after the Rangers&rsquo; game, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be 27 in April and I think that it&rsquo;s a time in my life when I should be playing regularly.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a normal thing to do and after the season I&rsquo;m going to sit down with management and decide what to do. That&rsquo;s next season, though. I&rsquo;m not complaining about this season. It&rsquo;s not a big deal. Someone asked me about my plans for next year and I told them, that&rsquo;s all.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just that you can&rsquo;t stay in the NHL 15 years as a back-up.&rdquo;But for now, Larocque and the rest of the Canadiens have more immediate concerns on their hands. Nothing can be taken for granted and the Canadiens are being forced to play things one game at a time, just like everybody else. &#9632;

f0009-01

Life Difficult For Habs Due To Unsettled Lineup

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011146/4346541-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"></div>DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION ON HOCKEY?Write to:FAN FORUM,The Hockey News,1434 St. Catherine St., W., Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7Due to the quantity of letters received for the Fan Forum section, only those which are legible and to the point can be printed. Please keep this in mind when submitting your opinions.<h2>Another Vote For Goalers&rsquo; Award</h2>There should be a trophy for the goaltender with the best goals against average for a team whose record is less than .500. This way people would stop complaining about the superb goalies on teams with little or no defense.Rogie Vachon (when he played for L.A.) would have won it last year. They should call it &ldquo;The Terry Sawchuk Award.&rdquo;ROD MacNEIL,Brantford, Ont.<h2>Florida Fan Raps Local Coverage</h2>As I sit here watching another travesty of hockey, I feel compelled to write out of pure frustration. At the moment Channel 45 (Miami, Fla.) is experiencing technical difficulties during the broadcast of the Buffalo Sabres-New York Rangers game. They did not even show the first period of a recent Saturday afternoon broadcast and last week&rsquo;s Islander game was a succession of one minute of action followed by 15 minutes of technical difficulties resulting in one score out of four seen in Florida and most of the third period not shown.The period shows are shown in full, forcing fans to stay up to 2:15 a.m. to watch the end. One week, a two week-old game (Minn.-Montreal) was shown while the tape delayed game was not shown.Last year, Channel 2 (public TV) did an excellent job showing all the broadcasts including many playoff games, but was not awarded the contract this year&hellip;and instead Channel 45 has been destroying it (hockey) through mismanagement.At this moment, an old cowboy show is coming on Channel 45 indicating the end of NHL hockey in southern Florida at 2:20 p.m. Channel 45 and NHL management has alienated many old hockey fans and ruined the chances of gaining any new fans.JAMES RODNEY,Coral Gables, Fla.<h2>Limit Number Of Icings Per Game</h2>Since hockey is a fast and exciting sport, I think that the icing the puck rule should be changed. It&rsquo;s a cheap way to get out of difficulties not to mention slowing down the game considerably.The rule should be changed so that each team is allowed four icing calls per period. If a team is called for icing the fifth time, it should be handed a two-minute penalty. This rule would make the players think twice before shooting the puck down the ice.ALEX GUNN,Kamloops, B.C.<h2>Ftorek A Star In Any League</h2>Robbie Ftorek is one of the best players in hockey. He is also one of the most underrated players in hockey. He just happens to play in a league which never gets any credit or attention, the WHA.Consider what he has done: leading scorer in the WHA in 1976-&rsquo;77, he was also the MVP the same year, had a mere 109 points last season, and so far is the second leading scorer this season. He has played in nearly 400 straight games, is a great team motivator, and is a great leader.Even if he were playing in the NHL, he would be doing just as well, and the same goes for other players (Real Cloutier, Mark Howe, Marc Tardif) also.So come on HOCKEY NEWS, let&rsquo;s give a little credit where it&rsquo;s due, instead of playing up Bossy, Lafleur and Trottier all the time.KELLY VILLIERS,Cincinnati, Oh.Editor&rsquo;s note: See next issue.<h2>Challenge Cup Disaster For Stars</h2>The Challenge Cup was a disaster for NHL All Stars. The winner of the Stanley Cup should play the USSR in the next meeting in near future.NORMAN AUTIO,Sudbury, Ont.<h2>Indy Racer Fan Tells Other Side</h2>Re: Mike Burton, Lunenberg, N.S. and his letter in the March 2 issue of Hockey News: &ldquo;&hellip;thank Skalbania&rdquo;? &ldquo;&hellip;tried as hard as he could&rdquo;? &ldquo;&hellip;have some consideration toward Skalbania&rdquo;? Get your facts straight!He paid virtually nothing for a franchise that in spite of previous mismanagement and underfinancing was drawing 9,000 in a city just becoming educated to the sport. He stripped authority from the competent (Stapleton) and gave total control to the inept, thus assuring that every possible bad decision would be made. The sale of Gretzky, Mio, and Driscoll (to quote Mr. Skalbania, &ldquo;to insure the jobs of 20 other players&rdquo; who would finish out the year &ldquo;come hell or high water&rdquo;) was only one indication of the 16 month-long deception.Only after closing the operation one month later did the endless trail of unpaid bills become evident. Strange, though, that he was able to make a multi-million dollar real estate deal just days later.ANNETTE GILMAN,Indianapolis, In.<h2>Leafs&rsquo; Brass Performing Poorly</h2>While the old saying way, &ldquo;It could only happen in Brooklyn&rdquo; the 1979 version is, &ldquo;It could only happen in Toronto.&rdquo; The vaudeville antics of the Toronto Maple Leaf brass this week were low class all the way. Even governments couldn&rsquo;t do a lousier job of running a business.Certainly nobody else would get more effort from the Leafs in the seasons remaining games than Roger Neilson. The fact that the Leafs would be in trouble this year was evident before the season started. Picking up old castoffs like Monahan and McKechnie is no way to build a team for the future. These were nothing more than desperation moves of a stop gap variety. The Leafs have also been hurt in their transition to goon hockey, proven by penalty records, and resulting in a poor brand of entertainment for the fans.Besides a weak bench, the Leafs&rsquo; biggest deficiency is fire power on the second and third forward lines. Good clubs simply stop the Sittler line and Toronto is dead. No wonder a well versed hockey fan is willing to wager that Darryl Sittler will never see his name on the Stanley Cup for Toronto.L.R. GRANTHAM,Regina, Sask.<h2>Time Savard Gets Proper Recognition</h2>Another season is drawing to a close and soon the so-called experts will mark their ballots for this year&rsquo;s All Star team. I hope they will pause for a few moments to consider a really great defenseman, Serge Savard of the Montreal Canadiens. For much too long, this man has been completely ignored, his superior talents totally unrewarded. True, he is not flashy or flamboyant. It&rsquo;s just not his style&mdash;but he never gets any recognition.Right now, Serge Savard is playing about the best hockey of his life. Not only was he chosen by THE HOCKEY NEWS as the most valuable player in the recent Challenge Cup series, but it was stated further that he was the man who &ldquo;did his utmost to make it respectable.&rdquo; It was also mentioned in the same edition that he has been Canadiens&rsquo; steadiest defenseman this season and &ldquo;maybe even the steadiest player in the league, game in and game out.&rdquo;Serge&rsquo;s admirers are many and even in the Boston area he has his &ldquo;fan club&rdquo;, his most ardent admirers. We refer to him simply as &ldquo;the star&rdquo; and not without reason. When I say he is the best of the Big Three, I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s exaggerating. Maybe this will be the year he finally gets the honors he deserves.JEAN CARDILLO,Somerville, Mass. &#9632;

f0010-01

FAN FORUM

<h2>Body Contact Essential To Hockey</h2>I for one am sick of reading letters in Fan Forum or articles by so called hockey experts on the violence and goons in the NHL today. Hockey has always been a game played by people who enjoy body contact and, in days gone by, they hit and fought a lot harder than today.Sprague Cleghorn, Billy Coutu, Lionel Hitchman, King Clancy, Bad Joe Hall, Newsie Lalonde, Lou Fontinato, John Ferguson, Ted Lindsay, Eddie Shore, Lionel Conacher, Sylvio Manilla.If these players, and many more I didn&rsquo;t mention, were playing today, they would all be referred to as goons. Amazing, isn&rsquo;t it, how many so-called goons there are in the Hockey Hall of Fame. As for people who think hockey is too violent, there&rsquo;s always the ice capades.KENNETH HERRMANN,Shaker Hts., Oh. &#9632;

LETTER OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE HALPIN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02917/4346596-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg"></div>MONTREAL&mdash;With the National Hockey League heading down the home stretch and the races tightening up, the outlook for a better attendance year is beginning to show positive signs.For example, NHL publicity director Bob Casey announced that during the first two weeks of March, the league attracted 746,935 fans to 56 games putting the single game average at 13,338 fans, the highest figure reported since 1974-75 when the average was 13,654.In addition, Minnesota North Stars showed a whopping 43,000 increase in their home attendance in their last 10 games, Washington cut close to 33,000 fans off their box office deficit for games at the Capital Center and at least three other NHL teams were drawing more fans at home games.In the third survey of attendance figures by THE HOCKEY NEWS, the attendance for the first 30 home games of the 17 NHL teams showed a total of 6,560,998 fans turned out for league games as compared to 6,609,781 at this time last season. It represented a deficit of 48,783 fans for the NHL but it was a big improvement from the 20-home game minus figure of 66,408.With wild card races shaping up and the Islanders, Canadiens, Rangers and Bruins fighting for the overall team championship, NHL crowds are bound to increase.In a breakdown of the 30 home game figures (each team has 10 left to play), Atlanta showed a plus of 28,007 fans, Boston was 26,802 ahead, Detroit reported the biggest gain with 47,745, Minnesota was right behind with 47,659 and Pittsburgh was up by 8,282 fans.The NHL&rsquo;s three troubled spots continued to be Colorado where the Rockies are running 60,454 behind last year, Los Angeles, with a 62,112 deficit and Washington with a minus 34,271 although the Caps are gaining momentum at the box office. St. Louis crowds have also fallen off noticeably and the Blues are 18,867 behind.The Rangers continue to be the NHL&rsquo;s box office heavyweights with 516,980 fans watching their first 30 home games. Philadelphia was a close second with 512,310.<h2>Attendance figures compiled by THE HOCKEY NEWS: &#9632;</h2>

f0010-02

NHL’s Attendance Outlook Brightens With Average Up

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011092/4346627-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARCEL DIONNE&hellip; Feels He&rsquo;s At His Peak (Photo by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;It looks like either Guy Lafleur of the Canadiens or Bryan Trottier of the Islanders will win Most Valuable Player or Player of the Year honors in the National Hockey League this season. But Marcel Dionne of the Kings ranks right with them and possibly only publicity and support parts him from them.Lafleur and Trottier are spectacular players who have had spectacular seasons and both deserve all the honors they may get. But they play on the two best teams in the league while Dionne plays for a middle-level club. They play in hockey&rsquo;s two major media centers. Individually, Dionne is similarly spectacular.After about two-thirds of the season, they were 1-2-3 in league scoring, less than 10 points apart. Lafleur led the trio in goals and Trottier in assists, but Dionne is close to both. After 65 games, Dionne had 47 goals, 51 assists, and 98 points and at this pace would finish with 57 or 58 goals, 62 or 63 assists, and about 120 points.At 27, Dionne is completing his eighth season in the league and fourth in Los Angeles. Asked about the possibility of being voted honors this season, Dionne says, &ldquo;I feel like I&rsquo;m playing at my peak, but others have to decide if I&rsquo;m deserving.&rdquo;The dynamic Dionne was the first All Star center in 1977 and should be first or second this season. The chances are the immensely gifted Trottier already has the votes for the first team, but it is hard to imagine another center deserving more support than Dionne.There are some excellent centers in the league, like Darryl Sittler of Toronto, Guy Chouinard of Atlanta, and Bobby Clarke of Philadelphia, but only Trottier has had the kind of consistently outstanding performance put on by Marvellous Marcel this season.Lafleur is a cinch for first-team honors at right wing, although Mike Bossy of the Islanders looks like he may lead the league in goals. At their present pace, Bossy will wind up with close to 70, while Lafleur will finish with 60. Taylor would rank third among right wingers with 45, and second, behind Lafleur, but ahead of Bossy, in assists. He could be top ten in points among all players with between 90 and 100.Although it can be considered a cinch that Lafleur and Bossy will be the first and second All Star right-wingers, respectively, and there is no official third team, a lot of people would like to see Dave Taylor have the honor of finishing third. A lot of people consider Dave the best all-around right-wing in the league. He is superior defensively to the other two. He checks consistently and digs in the corners.Asked, the shy Taylor admits, &ldquo;I think Lafleur and Bossy are ahead of the rest at right wing, but I think I&rsquo;m in the bunch right behind them. I think I&rsquo;m improving and could become one of the best.&rdquo;He already is. He was only the 210th player in the 1975 pro draft and gained modest experience at Clarkson College before breaking in with surprising promise last season, but he has shot to stardom this season.At 23, the gifted, durable, and dedicated Taylor has teamed terrifically well with Dionne. While Trottier benefits from the play-finishing of the goal-scoring-machine Bossy, Dionne has benefitted from Taylor, too.The goal-scorers get the attention annually in the race for Rookie of the Year honors, but exceptional young goaltenders like Don Edwards of Buffalo last season and Glen Hanlon of Vancouver and Mario Lessard of L.A. this season deserve an extra look.Lessard was supposed to back up veteran Ron Grahame for the Kings, but Mario&rsquo;s goals-against average has gone below 3.00 a game, almost a goal a game better than Grahame&rsquo;s, and Lessard has started most of the games this season now, including 13 of the last 14.Lessard hasn&rsquo;t any All Star defensemen in front of him, but he has been brilliant and carried the club at times. Recently, he recorded his fourth shutout, within one of the league lead and is seven games above .500 on a club struggling to achieve a .500 win-lost slate. Statistics seldom measure a goaler&rsquo;s performance.The cool, confident 24-year-old kid, up from four years in the minors while Rogie Vachon manned the Kings nets, is playing better than Vachon did last season and probably as well as all but a half-dozen veterans in the league.&rdquo;I think I&rsquo;m proving myself. I expected to. Nothing bothers me,&rdquo; he smiles.He should finish high in the first five in voting for the Calder Trophy, which has not been won by a goaler since Ken Dryden eight years back. &#9632;

f0011-01

Kinas’ Threesome Candidates For Top Honors

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-02889/4346658-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="564" height="782"></div> &#9632;

f0011-02

NHL Leaders

<div class="byline">Bill Fleischman&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011119/4346689-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="343" height="471"></div><h2>Front Office Refresher</h2>THE NHL DESPERATELY needs its Mike Bossys, Barry Becks and Dale McCourts, but the league also needs bright, refreshing people in the front offices like Paul Martha.Martha is the former University of Pittsburgh football All American and Steelers&rsquo; defensive back who didn&rsquo;t rest on his clippings. Martha graduated from law school, affiliated with the DeBartolo family that purchased the Penguins, and wound up as the hockey club&rsquo;s vice president.Martha brings vitality and a demanding nature to a franchise that has been aimless. Consider these comments by ex-Penguin Pierre Larouche earlier this season:&ldquo;The thing that I hated was the Penguins&rsquo; organization and the people who ran it. I don&rsquo;t think they were fair to me. They used me to kind of prostitute myself in the three years I played there.&ldquo;After my first and second years, I asked them if they were going to do something to improve the team. They kept saying they were going to do something, but we&rsquo;d go back to training camp and it would be the same old story. We&rsquo;d win five, lose 10 and go home in the first week of April when the first round of the playoffs were over.&rdquo;<h2>Respectable Background</h2>EVEN THE MOST critical Penguin watchers will say Larouche has a rink-sized bundle of brass rapping his former team as his free-spirit attitude was largely responsible for the Penguins going home the first week in April. Observers say the Penguins finally did something to improve the team by trading Larouche to Montreal for Peter Mahovlich and Peter Lee.Martha&rsquo;s reputation&mdash;in football, law and as a solid citizen&mdash;helped add some class to the Penguins&rsquo; operation. But if he were a phony, a meddler who tried to influence decisions without any expertise, the Pittsburgh players would spot it faster than you can say Monongahela River. Martha doesn&rsquo;t pretend to be another Sam Pollock, but he has a respectable hockey background.&ldquo;When I was a kid, I used to go to games with my father,&rdquo; Marstha said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s when Baz (Bastien) was coaching here. When I was with the Steelers, I used to go to a lot of games on Saturday nights and then play Sunday.&rdquo;Martha&rsquo;s experience in two sports gives him an interesting perspective on athletes.&ldquo;Of the four major sports, hockey players are probably the easiest to work with,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Generally, they&rsquo;re not quite as well educated as football players. Most hockey players are from small towns and when they come to major metropolitan areas it&rsquo;s a different lifestyle for them.<h2>Opinions Have Validity</h2>ATHLETICALLY, THE SINGLE biggest difference between hockey players and football players is the giant step td the NHL. If a football player were to make a jump similar to the jump from junior hockey to the NHL, it would be like a high-school senior going directly to the NFL.&rdquo;Martha went directly from the NFL to a law office to the Penguins&mdash;with brief consideration to accepting the San Francisco 49ers&rsquo; general manager&rsquo;s job. He has been with the Penguins long enough for his opinions to have validity. A few samples:&mdash;On the trade that brought Orest Kindrachuk, Ross Lonsberry and Tom Bladon to Pittsburgh for the Penguins&rsquo; No. 1 draft choice (Behn Wilson): &ldquo;Those three have been a terrific help to our hockey club. The attitude they brought here was different from what was here before. They accept that sometimes you have to play injured. I don&rsquo;t think all hockey players are that way. We knew Behn Wilson would be good, but I don&rsquo;t think he would have solved our problems. We needed some hockey players to level out our situation.&rdquo;&mdash;On the Penguins&rsquo; season: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re a little disappointed in our inconsistency and, quite frankly, we don&rsquo;t know the reason. I think we still need help on left wing and defense and we need more speed.&rdquo;Martha is totally involved in the Penguins, but he sounds like a man who some day may return to football.&ldquo;The 49ers&rsquo; offer was appealing,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;d like to get this job finished.&rdquo; &#9632;

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/f0012-02952/4346720-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rookie Rocky Saganiuk is embraced by veteran Walt McKechnie after the young Leaf pumped in his first NHL goal against Pittsburgh. He was recently called up from the minor leagues. (Photo by Ian MacAlpine)</figcaption></div>TORONTO&mdash;A brief rebirth in the fortunes of the Toronto Maple Leafs, inspired by the second coming of coach Roger Neilson, encountered harsh reality in the form of Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders.Now the Leafs face a battle if (a) they&rsquo;re to finish the 1978-79 National Hockey League season with a mark above .500: (b) they&rsquo;re to make any noise at all in the Stanley Cup playoffs.After the wierd firing and rehiring of Neilson, that strange two days of chaos around Maple Leaf Gardens, the Leafs immediately won five consecutive games to place a small bit of daylight between themselves and Minnesota North Stars, who could be the Leafs&rsquo; chief opposition for a wild-Card playoff spot.Then the Leafs encountered the Sabres and Islanders, who are two of the NHL&rsquo;s best clubs at this point in the season. The Sabres whipped the Toronto club, 4-1, one night and the next evening on Long Island, the Islanders counted a 6-2 victory.Neilson took some solace from the fact that his club didn&rsquo;t wave a white flag when the Islanders had a 5-0 lead after two periods.&ldquo;At least, we gave them a fight in the third period and that&rsquo;s a good sign,&rdquo; Neilson said. &ldquo;But we had a bad letdown in the second when they scored four goals.&rdquo;The Leafs set their roster for the duration of the season by summoning winger Rocky Saganiuk from the New Brunswick Hawks of the American League and acquiring center Paul Gardner from Colorado Rockies in a trade just before the trading deadline.A second-year pro, Saganiuk had blossomed this season under coach Eddie Johnston with the Hawks. When the Leafs called him up to replace John Anderson for one game when Anderson had a groin injury, Saganiuk was leading the AHL with 47 goals and had a big shot at a 30-year old single season scoring mark of 54 goals. He also was in contention for the AHL scoring title.While the Leafs&rsquo; offense has spluttered this season and Saganiuk was pouring in the goals in the minors, Toronto fans wondered why he hadn&rsquo;t been called much earlier.&ldquo;We sent him to the minors to improve the weak parts of his game, checking and playing well in his own zone,&rdquo; Neilson said. &ldquo;He made good progress in those areas and scored very well. His play in his first three games with us has earned him a regular job for the duration of the season.Saganiuk, who scored a goal-and had two assists in his first Leaf game against Pittsburgh Penguins said he was a trifle puzzled why the Leafs hadn&rsquo;t given him a chance earlier.&ldquo;I thought I might get a look with the Leafs before I did.&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But I had those AHL records to think about and they kept me hungry.&rdquo;The Leafs acquired Gardner from the Rockies in exchange for defenseman Trevor Johansen, who was demoted to Moncton earlier after being a Leaf regular last season, and center Don Ashby, who quit the Hawks in December, saying he needed some time away from hockey, then decided to return.The son of former Leaf star Cal Gardner and the brother of Dave Gardner who&rsquo;s with Springfield of the AHL, Gardner scored 83 goals in 170 games for the Rockies. But recently he&rsquo;d been on the bench much of the time and the Rockies were critical of his defensive play claiming that he didn&rsquo;t work very hard.&ldquo;They never really told me why I&rsquo;d been riding the bench,&rdquo; Gardner said. &ldquo;I do know that when I heard I&rsquo;d been traded to the Leafs, I couldn&rsquo;t get packed up fast enough. Toronto is my hometown and my wife is from there, too. The Leafs are a good team, one that&rsquo;s a contender, and it&rsquo;s a lift to get there.&rdquo;Gardner made his blue-and-white debut against Buffalo but sustained a sprained knee in that game and missed the Islander match.&ldquo;I was pushing off my leg to take a shot, the knee locked up and down I went,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s never happened to me before. Luckily, it&rsquo;s not serious.&rdquo;LEAF NOTES: Mike Palmateer played in seven consecutive games in the Leaf net while his back-up Paul Harrison was recovering from a pulled hamstring. Pierre Hamel, called up from New Brunswick, was the backup&hellip;Saganiuk fitted in well on a line with Walt McKechnie and Dan Maloney. &#9632;

f0012-02

Leafs Turning It Around After Neilson’s ‘Return’

<div class="byline">BY FRED PIETILA</div>DENVER&mdash;Mike Gillis, the Colorado Rockies&rsquo; injury-troubled No. 1 draft choice, doesn&rsquo;t consider his first National Hockey League season a total writeoff, but you couldn&rsquo;t blame him if he did.&ldquo;No, it&rsquo;s not a writeoff, &lsquo;cause I&rsquo;m getting experience,&rdquo; Gillis said as his team struggled through a stretch with just two wins in 17 games. Gillis and the team have been struggling from the start of training camp after high expectations for both.&ldquo;The first year the biggest thing you can gain is experience,&rdquo; said Gillis, a six-foot-one, 190-pound left winger who played his last season of junior hockey in Kingston. &ldquo;I just want to play as many as possible of the last 15 games and gain experience.&rdquo;Gillis suffered two broken collarbones and a broken leg his last two seasons of junior hockey and actually didn&rsquo;t see that much playing time. But after the Rockies&rsquo; made him the No. 5 pick overall in the 1978 draft, Gillis said his health was good and he was ready to step in and help the club.At the start of training camp, Gillis said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just looking forward to playing the whole year and having a reasonably good season.&rdquo; Four days later, Gillis collided with teammate Mike Eruzione in a scrimmage and went down with a knee injury which required immediate surgery. He was expected to be out of the lineup for at least three months.As the Rockies entered the last 12 games of their season, Gillis had seen action in but 18 of the team&rsquo;s 68. He had one goal and six assists.But Gillis&rsquo; first NHL game, after a two-game stint with the Philadelphia Firebirds of the American Hockey League, marked a monumental occasion of sorts for a team with the worst record in hockey. Gillis made his debut against Minnesota on Jan. 19, he threw some tremendous body-checks which helped establish the tempo and the Rockies won to start a five-game unbeaten streak, which equalled a club record.Gillis picked up his first assist in his second game, was involved in an auto accident (with his 1978 Cadillac) en route to his third game, but responded with a three-assist effort against Pittsburgh and scored his first goal against the New York Rangers in his fifth game.Recently, he&rsquo;s playing on a line with veterans Rey Comeau and Don Saleski and the line has been effective.But in between his debut and the shift to the Comeau line, Gillis suffered yet another injury&mdash;a charley horse which kept him out of four games.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve learned now what it takes to play well,&rdquo; a reserved Gillis said as he pondered his return. &ldquo;Already I&rsquo;ve realized what it means to be in condition, shape and how it pertains to the game.&ldquo;To play your best, you have to be in peak shape. So far I haven&rsquo;t been in great shape. I haven&rsquo;t been able to keep up with the guys, haven&rsquo;t been able to body-check like I should. When I got that charley horse, I realized that if I was in better shape, I probably wouldn&rsquo;t have got it. I realize now I&rsquo;ve got to be in better condition, better shape to play my game.&ldquo;You know, there are no excuses for hard work. That&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;ve got to do, work harder,&rdquo; the 20-year-old said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011073/4346751-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="562" height="618"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE GILLIS&hellip;Must Work Harder</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0013-01

Gillis Rookie Year An Experience’

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;When the St. Louis Blues recently played their 1,000th game, including playoffs, trainer Tommy Woodcock was the only person who could claim to have seen every one of them.Woodcock was one of the first employees hired by the Blues when they started getting organized for their first season, 1967-68. In the Blues&rsquo; 12th season Woodcock still is the team&rsquo;s head trainer and one of the most popular men at the Checkerdome.Except for the trainer, virtually nothing about the Blues has remained the same&mdash;including ownership of the team and the name of the building, which formerly was called the St. Louis Arena. Woodcock has endured through the terms of six general manager and 11 coaches and helped 181 St. Louis players.So, the ceremony marking the Blues&rsquo; 1,000th game turned into a testimonial for Woodcock. The current Blues&rsquo; players were happy they had an excuse to show their appreciation of their trainer.&ldquo;Everybody was eager to do something for Tommy,&rdquo; St. Louis captain Barry Gibbs said. &ldquo;The trainer has the hardest job in hockey, and most people don&rsquo;t hear about what a trainer does.&rdquo;The players collected $600 among themselves, added $500 from the team&rsquo;s management and withdrew several hundred dollars from the players&rsquo; pool of fine money to buy Woodcock a $1,400 motorcycle, a 250 Honda, capable of speeds up to 80 miles an hour. Woodcock has been a motorcycle enthusiast and was delighted with the gift.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been to a lot of banquets and watched a lot of other guys get awards,&rdquo; Woodcock said, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;ve never received anything like that. To get recognition from my players&mdash;that was really nice.&rdquo;In a ceremony before one of the Blues&rsquo; games, Woodcock was the guest of honor on the ice, and Gibbs wheeled out the shiny motorcycle for everyone&rsquo;s inspection.&ldquo;Tommy loves his players,&rdquo; Garry Unger said later. &ldquo;He argues and fights with us and sometimes he&rsquo;s miserable to us. But he&rsquo;s the best trainer in the league, and we wanted to show we appreciate him. Tommy knows how I feel about him.&rdquo;Woodcock and Unger have admired one another during the years. Woodcock has helped to keep Unger in the lineup to set the NHL record for consecutive games and has admired Unger&rsquo;s tolerance for pain.Unger is special to Woodcock but he is just one of the players Woodcock has treated and consoled since he left Brown University to become the Blues&rsquo; trainer.&ldquo;I never dreamed we&rsquo;d get to 1,000 games,&rdquo; Woodcock said. &ldquo;That first season there were times we wondered whether we would get to 100 games. A thousand games is a lot of miles in the air, a lot of taxis and trucks full of equipment and a lot of good guys.&rdquo;Woodcock believes the current NHL players in general are not as dedicated to hockey and do not work as hard as players of 10 and 15 years ago. But he cites young Brian Sutter along with Floyd Thomson as the two players he credits with working the hardest.&ldquo;Sutter is a guy young players should pattern themselves after,&rdquo; Woodcock said. &ldquo;He works and works and he&rsquo;s become a top player. A lot can be done with desire and dedication.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02856/4346782-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="557" height="580"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOMMY WOODCOCK&hellip;1,000 NHL Games</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0013-02

Blues’ Trainer Has Seen It All, Praises Unger

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011100/4346841-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Craig Fowlkes)</figcaption></div><h2>Flames&rsquo; Flag Waiver</h2>Don Goodwin is no ordinary hockey fan. He&rsquo;s the man who comes dressed in a southern army uniform and waves the confederacy flag at all homes game of the Atlanta Flames at the Omni. Goodwin adds a southern flair to the NHL games and he has become a popular addition to the hockey scene in that city.<h2>His Hockey Hero</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02906/4346834-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="1147" height="955"></div>Patrick Nicol, program director for CJIB in Vernon, B.C., reports that the station&rsquo;s favorite hockey player contest this year was an overwhelming success. Winner of the event was young David O&rsquo;Sullivan of Vernon, who is shown above posing with the player he favors most in the NHL&mdash;Islander defenseman Denis Potvin. All young hockey players in the Okanagan area were given the privelege of writing CJIB naming the player they would like to meet in person after a Vancouver home game.<h2>Adding To Her Collection</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03668/4346827-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="1760" height="1132"></div>Lynn Holly Johnson, star of the skating movie &lsquo;Ice Castles&rsquo; receives a Washington Capital sweater from Caps&rsquo; rookie star, Ryan Walter, after she skated at the Capital Center during the intermission of a recent NHL game. Miss Johnson was presentled with a Colorado Rockies&rsquo; jersey earlier this season for a similiar appearance at a Colorado game.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04470/4346820-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="1749" height="868"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-05330/4346813-1-eng-US/f0014-052.jpg" title="f0014-05" width="1755" height="905"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photos by Gary Olinkin)</figcaption></div><h2>Jets Show Talents On And Off The Ice</h2>Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; vice-president and GM, John Ferguson, above left, presents a gold watch to left winger Morris Lukowich on the occasion of his 50th goal this season in the WHA. In lower photo, Jets&rsquo; star Rich Preston, left, shows off his trophy as the top chef in a recently held competition during Nutrition Week in Manitoba. Preston beat out Winnipeg sportswriter Reyn Davis, right, who was assured his oyster soup was a close second. Making the presentation are two ladies from Manitoba&rsquo;s Dietric Association. &#9632;

f0014-01

HOCKEY PEOPLE

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02818/4346879-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">EDDIE WESTFALL&hellip; Moving Into PR Department</figcaption></div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;This will be Eddie Westfall&rsquo;s last chance to increase his Stanley Cup playoff record of eight shorthanded goals. And it will be his last chance at a third Stanley Cup, the first two having come when the 38-year-old utilityman was with the Boston Bruins.The 18-year veteran will step up to a position as vice president in charge of public relations at the end of the current season, it was officially announced just before the start of the Islanders &ldquo;perfect&rdquo; win over the Boston Bruins, 7-2.&ldquo;I always wanted to see a game played like this on the day I announced my retirement,&rdquo; said the Islanders&rsquo; former captain. &ldquo;It was the way I dreamed it would be.&rdquo;Westfall is one of four Islanders who played on the original expansion club seven years ago. Billy Smith, Gerry Hart and Billy Harris are the others.Eddie scored the Islanders first goal against Atlanta Oct. 7, 1972 and he scored the winning goal in a 1-0 seventh game victory in the 1975 quarter-finals against Pittsburgh.&ldquo;Mr. Versatility has played more than a few positions in this game,&rdquo; said Islander general manager Bill Torrey. &ldquo;And he&rsquo;s going to play one he&rsquo;s never played before by becoming more valuable off the ice than on it. He&rsquo;ll find that he&rsquo;ll work 9-5 like the rest of us, and that I can be a tougher boss than (coach) Al Arbour.&rdquo;Westfall is still gung ho to win the Stanley Cup this year, saying, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll prove my value on the ice between now and the Stanley Cup. I can still do the job. If anything my retiring will intensify my effort the rest of this year.&rdquo;There couldn&rsquo;t have been a much more intense effort than the Islanders put out in their win over Boston. Mike Kaszycki scored twice in the first period, Mike Bossy got the hat trick (goals 55, 56 and 57), and Bryan Trottier garnered four assists to forge ahead of the Canadien&rsquo;s Guy Lafleur in the scoring race.Kaszycki put his effort into perspective when he said, &ldquo;if I&rsquo;m playing better it&rsquo;s because if I don&rsquo;t play better I won&rsquo;t be playing at all.&rdquo;Obviously, the one game visit of Steve Tambellini, Mike Hordy and Hector Marini had the desired effects on the Islanders&rsquo; fringe players. After playing against the St. Louis Blues the trio was returned to the CHL.Bruins&rsquo; coach Grapes Cherry, embarrassed at the lacing, told Bossy, &ldquo;You&rsquo;re the greatest scorer I&rsquo;ve ever seen.&rdquo;The win put the Islanders within hailing distance of the Montreal Canadiens in the struggle for first place overall in the NHL&mdash;and home ice in the Stanley Cup finals. It might be partially settled when the teams meet at the Forum in Montreal on March 22.&ldquo;Things are different than a month ago,&rdquo; said Bob Bourne. &ldquo;At the start of the season we were happy and confident. Right now, we are closer to that feeling since November.&rdquo;If the Islanders are hanging in with Montreal, Bossy is fast closing in on Reggie Leach&rsquo;s 61-goal record for right wings.&ldquo;If I don&rsquo;t get past Leach, something is wrong,&rdquo; said Mike. &ldquo;As far as Phil Esposito&rsquo;s 76 goal record is concerned that record is unattainable. That&rsquo;s why I don&rsquo;t mention it. That&rsquo;s a record that may never be broken.&rdquo;Which might be music to Phil&rsquo;s ears as the veteran Ranger closes in on a 40-goal season this year.Trottier and Bossy are both over the century mark in points and defenseman Denis Potvin has a pretty good shot at it, despite that month he missed with his shoulder separation.&ldquo;This is the time of year that players get worn down,&rdquo; said Denis. &ldquo;Almost every year we go into the playoffs tired, physically and mentally. It&rsquo;s a fact of life. But this year, because of the rest I had when I was injured I expect to go in strong.&rdquo;Potvin complains that after the layoff his shot didn&rsquo;t have quite the zip in it that it had before.&ldquo;I was in the groove before the injury,&rdquo; said Denis. &ldquo;After the injury I think I may have been a little bit too aggressive, not waiting long enough with the puck to get enough snap on the shot.&rdquo;ISLAND SOUNDS: Defenseman Hart is out with an ankle injury which has given Pat Price a renewed chance to play once more&hellip;Clark Gillies&rsquo; bout with the chicken pox is over and he is back in the lineup&mdash;and took part in the Ed Westfall retirement ceremonies&hellip;Both Islander goalies Glen Resch and Billy Smith have been the steadiest part of the defense this season. Each had won 21 games at press time.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011053/4346872-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="628" height="658"><figcaption class="caption-body">DENIS POTVIN&hellip;Should Be Rested</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0015-02

Westfall Caps Retirement Dream; Islanders Eye First Place Fight

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01903/4346924-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02748/4346917-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="731" height="3604"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03598/4346910-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="2167" height="3036"></div> &#9632;

f0016-01

NHL POINT SCORING AND PENALTY STATISTICS

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01795/4346962-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="563" height="573"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRIAN YOUNG&hellip;Hawks&rsquo; Sleeper</figcaption></div>CHICAGO&mdash;If Eddie Johnston indeed is destined to be coach of the Black Hawks next season, he&rsquo;s had plenty of training.Several years ago, he received last rites of the Catholic Church.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re warming up before a game in Detroit when I was with the Bruins,&rsquo; Johnston chuckled. &ldquo;Moses (Bobby Orr) takes a practice shot and hits me in the side of the head&hellip;right by the temple.&ldquo;Well, they rush me to the hospital, I drop 40 pounds within 48 hours, and get blood clots in my head and they figure it&rsquo;s all over for me. Priest is up there with me for two weeks, they tell me, and for five weeks I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s going on.&ldquo;My family comes to visit me and I don&rsquo;t recognize them. I don&rsquo;t recognize anybody, don&rsquo;t remember anything, and they won&rsquo;t let me sleep, either, in case I don&rsquo;t ever wake up. The question is not whether I&rsquo;ll play hockey again, but whether they&rsquo;ll play taps. Finally after eight weeks they check my head again and they find nothing. I told them that&rsquo;s what was there in the beginning. I&rsquo;m a goalie.&rdquo;Now, of course, Johnston is a coach, coach of the New Brunswick Hawks of the American Hockey League. Recently, he could have been coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League but the Black Hawks, who own him, decided they wanted to keep it that way.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad, too,&rdquo; Johnston said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad it&rsquo;s over with. No promises have been made to me about next year in Chicago yet, but I&rsquo;m glad they showed enough confidence in me to want to keep me. Maybe if I had pressed Bob Pulford to let me to go Toronto, he would have let me. I don&rsquo;t know. But I didn&rsquo;t want to do that, and I&rsquo;m happy he did what he did.&rdquo;What general manager-coach Pulford did, after first consulting with team president Bill Wirtz, was deny Johnston an immediate promotion to Toronto in exchange for what invariably will be future considerations.&ldquo;If they want me to coach in Chicago next year, I&rsquo;ll be ready,&rdquo; said Johnston, who is one year older than Pulford but highly respectful of him. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s where my loyalty is&mdash;to Pulford and to Orr. They&rsquo;re winners. In time, the Black Hawks will be.&ldquo;When they signed me as a backup for Tony (Esposito) last year, they gave me the idea that they had some plans for me beyond my playing days. They showed a lot of confidence in me sending me to a new minor league franchise which had to make a go of it, and they just showed a lot of confidence in me the other day.&rdquo;What has impressed the Hawks&rsquo; upper echelon more than the wit and wisdom of Eddie Johnston is his honor and sense of priorities. Whenever the varsity places a call to Moncton for reinforcements, there&rsquo;s no cold reception, no blarney.&ldquo;Sure, you like to have a good team yourself in the minors, because you&rsquo;re measured on how many games you win and how many you lose,&rdquo; said Johnston, who carried nicknames ranging from &ldquo;EJ&rdquo; to &ldquo;Pops.&rdquo;&ldquo;But the reason you&rsquo;re down there is to get the guys ready for the big show. Earlier in the year, I had Doug Lecuyer down there. Best rookie in the American League, and gonna be a good one in Chicago soon. Naturally, the more I have him, the better our team is. But when the Black Hawks call and say they need help, then I gotta send it. Right?&rdquo;Right. But not all minor league coaches craving major league jobs think thusly. Then again, maybe Johnston is so anxious to help the Black Hawks because he knows how much help they need.&ldquo;To tell you the truth, I was amazed we got 83 points last year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was there a half season, and the guys played some great games, but to get 83 points with a team that has only one 30-goal scorer and only one 20-goal scorer&hellip;well, you gotta hand it to them.&ldquo;To really get over the hump, though, you gotta get into the area of 90 points. Then you call yourself one of the top clubs. I think they have to get another scorer up there to reach that plateau. They got good kids down here. Lecuyer is a player, so is Tim Higgins going to be.&ldquo;We might have a sleeper in Brian Young (defense, last year&rsquo;s fourth draft choice) and Rick Paterson (center, third draft choice) can play. Murray Bannermann, the goalie, isn&rsquo;t ready yet. Needs another year, I think.&ldquo;I sure hope they sign me to coach there. But I sure hope they sign Tony, too. You have to have the goalkeeper, and there&rsquo;s none better than him. Hope we&rsquo;re both there next year. I can&rsquo;t play goal and coach, too, eh?&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02668/4346955-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="566" height="569"><figcaption class="caption-body">MURRAY BANNERMAN&hellip;Not Ready Yet</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0017-01

Johnston’s Loyalty Impresses Hawks

LOUISVILLEHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLEHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01813/4346993-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="581" height="1965"></div> &#9632;

f0018-01

Looking At NHL Goalers

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02648/4347024-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="556" height="612"></div> &#9632;

f0018-02

Team Penalties

Bryan Trottier of the New York Islanders, last year&rsquo;s runnerup in the race for the Art Ross Trophy as the top NHL scorer, made a dramatic move this week from the No. 2 spot, two points behind Montreal&rsquo;s Guy Lafleur, to a healthy eight-point lead in the scoring battle.Trottier collected 12 points in four Islanders&rsquo; games, all of them victories, while Lafleur only managed two points in three Montreal games. With 10 games to play, Trottier had 118 points on 44 goals and 74 assists. Lafleur had 110 points.He recorded four assists in a 7-2 win against Boston, popped in three goals in a 6-2 triumph over Toronto, three more assists in a 5-2 win versus the Rangers and then settled for &ldquo;only&rdquo; a goal and an assist as the Islanders downed Minnesota 53.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03478/4347079-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="509" height="522"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRYAN TROTTIER&hellip;New York Islanders</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0018-03

NHL’s… Player of the Week

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01777/4347110-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="566" height="1065"><figcaption class="caption-body">KEN BREITENBACH&hellip;Auspicious Return</figcaption></div>BUFFALO&mdash;Four regular defensemen out of action because of injuries?The Buffalo Sabres have gone through a hectic season but no one figured they ever would be in such bad shape at the backline.Yet, they had one of their most successful stretches&mdash;seven games with only one defeat&mdash;when at least three defensemen, and sometimes four, were sidelined.John Andersen, director player personnel, reached down into the minors and came up with three backliners who filled in more than capably.Jim Schoenfeld, picked for the NHL All Stars for their Challenge Cup series against the Soviet Nationals, suffered a strained right knee and missed 12 games.Then Bill Hajt got knocked against a goalpost in a game in Chicago and his lower back was hurt. The next game, Jocelyn Guevremont was hit in the shin by a slap shot and it put him on crutches.Then Bill Stewart was knocked down and hurt his tailbone.Schoenfeld, Hajt and Guevremont all were out of action as the Sabres defeated Washington, then Toronto, then tied Minnesota, then tied the New York Rangers.Stewart joined them on the sidelines when the Sabres lost to Philadelphia, 61, but then Schony returned to action and helped the Sabres beat the New York Islanders, 3-2, in only the Islanders&rsquo; third home loss of the season. The Sabres followed this with a 6-4 victory over Los Angeles at home with Hajt, Guevremont and Stewart still out.Larry Playfair, the big guy from the Portland Winter Hawks who was the Sabres&rsquo; No. 1 choice in the 1978 amateur draft, was called up to fill in before the seven-game stretch began.The night before the game in Washington, after Hajt and Guevremont were sidelined, Andersen watched an American League game, Hershey at Rochester. He then traveled to Washington, accompanied by Ken Breitenbach and Mike Boland.Both moved in and played a regular shift in that game and in subsequent games. Breitenbach assisted on two goals in the 6-4 win over the Capitals and had an assist in a 5-5 tie with Minnesota two games later.Boland got his first National Hockey League point on what proved to be the winning goal when the Sabres overcame a 3-0 first-period deficit and beat Los Angeles, 6-4.Boland wasn&rsquo;t even listed in the Sabres&rsquo; media guide but he looked as though he could do the job in the NHL. Brother-in-law of Sabre center Don Luce, Boland played in the International Hockey League the last two years.Breitenbach was Buffalo&rsquo;s second pick in the 1975 draft. He divided his time between Buffalo and Hershey his first two pro years, then missed all of last season because of a broken leg.He came back in the 1978 training camp and made the club but, when he felt he wasn&rsquo;t playing enough and had some personal problems, he left the team and went back to his home in Welland, Ont.After general manager Punch Imlach and coach Marcel Pronovost were fired, Breitenbach got in touch with the Sabres and asked if he could try to play again.He was sent to Hershey, where he did well, and then was called up to the Sabres when all the injuries hit the defense.So well did the young backliners from Hershey play, fans were wondering what coach Billy Inglis would do with all his defensemen when all were healthy again. Part of the answer came when the Sabres dispatched Guevremont to the Rangers for future considerations.The big Sabre scorers were beginning to get the range in that seven-game stretch but it was the Don Luce-Craig Ransay-Ric Seiling line, supposedly the checking line, which carried the load.After getting one goal in the win over Washington, the line scored all three goals (two by Luce) in an important 3-1 victory over Toronto.Then one goal in a 5-5 tie with Minnesota, followed by one of the two goals in a 2-2 tie with the Rangers. Seiling scored the only Buffalo goal in a 6-1 loss to Philadelphia, then got two, including the third-period winner, in a 3-2 win over the Islanders.After the Sabres fell behind by three goals in the game against Los Angeles, Luce set up Ramsay for a score on the first shift of the second period, then Ramsay set up Luce for another Buffalo goal.In all, the Luce line scored 11 goals in those seven games. Luce was the first Sabre to hit the 20-goal mark and Ramsay was the third, after Gil Perreault got his 20th.Rick Martin, who has been in a horrendous scoring slump this season, scored the last two goals to win that game against the Kings. &#9632;

f0019-01

Sabres Revived By Minor League Defensemen

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;Rick Kehoe missed the Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; first 19 games of the season with a hairline fracture of the ankle suffered in training camp. The Penguins&rsquo; record with Kehoe out of the lineup was 3-13-3. When Kehoe recovered from the ankle injury, Pittsburgh&rsquo;s record during the next 44 games was 24-14-6. A coincidence? Perhaps.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it was me,&rdquo; said Kehoe about the Penguins&rsquo; improved record since he returned to the lineup. &ldquo;They had a lot of new players, and they had to get to know each other. It takes a little time.&rdquo;The 27-year-old right wing from Windsor, Ont., scored 18 goals and assisted on 12 others in his first 42 games this season.&ldquo;I had a lot of catching up to do when I came back,&rdquo; remembered Kehoe.-&ldquo;I just happened to come back at the right time.&rdquo;Before he was injured in training camp, Kehoe played on a line with Orest Kindrachuk at center and Ross Lonsberry at right wing. That line was immediately reunited upon his return.&ldquo;Rick&rsquo;s line complements each other,&rdquo; said Penguin coach Johnny Wilson. &ldquo;Kindrachuk and Lonsberry are pretty good corner men. They move the puck around the boards pretty good. Rick is more or a productive offensive player.&ldquo;Kehoe&rsquo;s a bonafide 30-goal man in the National Hockey League. He&rsquo;s dangerous in that offensive zone. He manipulates the puck well. He&rsquo;s got a good wrist shot in close. Fifteen, 20 feet, he&rsquo;s dangerous.&rdquo;Kehoe talked about his linemates.&ldquo;Orest and Ross played a disciplined system in Philadelphia,&rdquo; said Kehoe. &ldquo;They are willing to go into the corners and take the hits along the boards. They never throw the puck out blind. They always know where they&rsquo;re passing the puck.&rdquo;Kehoe came to Pittsburgh from the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1974. He was traded for right wing Blaine Stoughton and a first round draft pick in the 1977 amateur draft. While noted for his offensive game, Kehoe&rsquo;s physical game has improved the last few years compared to when he first was traded to the Penguins.&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re surrounded by physical type players, they set the example,&rdquo; said Wilson. &ldquo;Rick&rsquo;s following his teammates&rsquo; example. That&rsquo;s the way the whole team has been trying to play.&rdquo;Prior to this year, Kehoe had scored 120 goals in four seasons in a Pittsburgh uniform. As the season grew to a close, because of the ankle injury, Kehoe would probably not reach that 30 goal average this year.&ldquo;When I first came back I was having a little bit of a hard time turning with my ankle,&rdquo; said Kehoe. &ldquo;It really doesn&rsquo;t give me any problems now, but I do have to ice it down all the time after games.&rdquo;Despite averaging 30 goals a year during the regular season, Rick is still looking for his first NHL playoff goal after playing 17 games.The Penguins hope Kehoe stays healthy to help them make the playoffs this year. Just look what Pittsburgh&rsquo;s record was without him inthe lineup.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01611/4347141-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="559" height="935"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK KEHOE&hellip;Sparks Club</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0020-01

Offensive Star Kehoe’s Presence Makes Difference in Pens’ Attack

DETROIT&mdash;There&rsquo;s a rumor going around the National Hockey League that the 1977-78 Red Wings are back in town. You remember the bunch who came on like gangbusters to finish second in the Norris Division and then upset Altanta in the preliminary round of the playoffs.Well through three-quarters of the 1978-79 season those Red Wings were a rare species indeed. No one around Detroit seemed to have known where they had vanished.But suddenly, with only their pride at stake, this year&rsquo;s Red Wings are displaying the form of last year&rsquo;s club, and they&rsquo;ve been doing it on the road to boot.The Wings, who hope to overtake Washington to escape the Norris cellar, have at least moved into a tie for 14th place in NHL with Vancouver (plus they hold two games in hand) and did so by skating through a three-win, no loss, one-tie week which included stops in Montreal, Washington, St. Louis and Chicago.Red Wings held three one-goal leads as Paul Woods, J.P. Leblanc and Reed Larson scored before having to settle for a tie against Montreal.Woods scored his second of the week and Dan Labraaten, Dale McCourt and Willie Huber all pitched in with goals in a 4-1 triumph over Washington and subsequent wins against St. Louis (3-1) and Chicago (4-2) moved the Wings to within three points of Washington with a game in hand.Jim Rutherford handled all four net assignments, allowing only seven goals on the week with Rogie Vachon dressed as the backup. And while the defense was steady, the scoring balance was as good as it has been all season.Eleven different players managed goals in the four games and yet another pleasant sign was the fact that the Red Wings overcame deficits to win the latter two contests.They trailed St. Louis in the first period before Labraaten tied it and Dan Bolduc notched the winner in a span of 64 seconds in the final two minutes of the first period. Vaclav Nedomansky secured the win with his 35th goal of the season in the middle frame.In Chicago, following a scoreless first period, the Wings saw the Hawks move into a 2-0 lead before Andre St. Laurent got things moving for Detroit. He halved the Chicago lead with his 15th goal of the season in the second period and then set up the tying goal by Errol Thompson. &#9632;

Red Wings Recapture ‘Old’ Form

SAGINAW&mdash;Talk about your hockey massacres. Jim Harvey of Freeland, Mich., writes to say that Custer&rsquo;s last stand was a tea party compared to the recent plight of the Saginaw High school hockey team.Saginaw travelled to Midland, Mich., for a state hockey playoff game with Traverse City and was ambushed&mdash;48 to 0.Harvey reports that Traverse City scored 30 seconds into the game and the red light stayed lit most of the game. Steve Armour scored seven goals and six of his teammates recorded hat tricks. In all 14 Traverse City players scored at least one goal each in the onslaught. &#9632;

Hockey Massacre Ends 48-0

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04239/4347331-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0022-04

Where NHL Teams Play

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-05198/4347362-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="568" height="1732"></div> &#9632;

f0022-05

The NHL Scoreboard

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-06161/4347393-1-eng-US/f0022-062.jpg" title="f0022-06" width="566" height="992"></div> &#9632;

f0022-06

Overall, Wild Card Playoff Picture

ATLANTA: Murdoch 7.8, Gould 8, MacMillan 3d, Clement 11. Pronovost 25.26. Boldirev 30,31.32. Chouinard 41.BOSTON: Cashman 21. 22, 23. Middleton 36. 37. Secord 12, Smith 5, Foster 4. Ratelie 25, NcNab 35.BUFFALO: Schoenfeld 7, R. Martin 21.22.23. Dudley 3. Robert 17,18,19,20, Gare 22, Seiling 20, Luce 23, Korab 10,11.CHICAGO: Mulvey 13,14, Marks 16, Koroll 12.COLORADO: Paiement 21,22, Delorme 16. Croteau 23, Malinowski 4, Johansen 2.DETROIT: Woods 10,11, Leblanc 1, Larson 14,15, Labraaten 14,15, McCourt 25, Huber 7, Bolduc 14, Nedomansky 35, St. Laurent 15, Thompson 20, Miller 5.LOS ANGELES: Taylor 38,39, Jensen 20,21, Simmer 11. Dionne 51.MINNESOTA: MacAdam 21.22. Manery 14,15, Sharpley 18, Younghans 8, Brasar 5,6, Payne 16, Bryan Maxwell 1, Potvin 5.MONTREAL: Hughes 9, Mondou 24,25, Lambert 24, Lapointe 12, Lemaire 17, Shutt 31,32, Gainey 17,18.ISLANDERS: Kaszycki 12,13,14, Bossy 55,56,57,58, Howatt 15,16, Price 3. Trottier 42,43,44, Potvin 26,27,28, Persson 9,10, Bourne 25,26, Tonelli 16,17.RANGERS: Murdoch 13,14, Marois 5, Don Maloney 5,6, Tkaczuk 12,13,14, Esposito 36,37,38,39, McEwen 16, Hickey 29.PHILADELPHIA: Linseman 3,4, Barber 26.27.28, Leach 28,29, Hoyda 2, Dunlop 14.15.16.17.28, MacLeish 23,24,25, Holmgren 12,13, Ververgaert 15.PITTSBURGH: Lonsberry 20,21,22,23, Lee 30, Schutt 24, Malone 26,27,28, Kehoe 19,20,21, Ferguson 15, McAdam 8, Sheppard 11, Carlyle 11, Chapman 10, Stackhouse 7, 8,9, Kindrachuk 17.ST. LOUIS: Babych 25,26, Smrke 6, Murdoch 13, Sutter 37, Hammarstron 8, Patey 11, Unger 30, Zuke 6.TORONTO: Salming 16, McDonald 32, McKechnie 23,24, Sittler 31,32,33, Quenneville 2, Williams 19.VANCOUVER: Lever 18,19,20,21, Fraser 13,14, Gamoff 4, Sedlbaner 37,38, Tudor 3. Snepsts 6.WASHINGTON: Stewart 5, Maruk 28, Green Edberg 9, Rowe 31, Lane 2. &#9632;

NHL’s Scorers …This Week

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01500/4347300-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="568" height="1506"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02392/4347293-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="1181" height="2486"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03318/4347286-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="589" height="3259"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01471/4347279-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="586" height="3510"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02355/4347272-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="1179" height="1611"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03262/4347265-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="563" height="344"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-04202/4347258-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="562" height="110"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01403/4347251-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="595" height="2539"></div> &#9632;

f0022-01

NATIONAL LEAGUE SUMMARIES

C-Captain * - Rookie<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-05172/4347448-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="174" height="162"></div><h2>ATLANTA</h2>GOALDan BouchardRejean LemelinDEFENSEEd Kea&bull;Brad MarshBob MurdochPhil RussellRod SellingDave ShandCENTERSIvan BoldirevGuy Chouinard&bull;Red LaurenceR. WINGSBill ClementJohn GouldKen HoustonBob MacMillanJoan Pronovost CWilli PlettL. WINGSBobby LalondeDarcy RotaEric Vail<h2>BOSTON</h2>GOALGerry CheeversGilles Gilbert&bull;Jim PettieDEFENSEGary DoakMike MilburyDennis O&rsquo;BrienBrad ParkDick RedmondAl SimsRick SmithCENTERSPeter McNabBob MillerJean RatelieR. WINGSDwight FosterRick MiddletonTerry O&rsquo;ReillyBobby SchmautzL. WINGSWayne Cashman CStan JonathanDon Marcotte*AI SecordJohn Wensink<h2>BUFFALO</h2>GOALDon Edwards&bull;Bob SauveDEFENSE&bull;Mike BolandKen BreitenbachLee FogolinBill HajtJerry Korab&bull;Larry PlayfairJim SchoenfeldCENTERSDon LuceGilles PerreaultAndre SavardR. WINGSDanny Gare CJacques RichardReni RobertRic SeilingL. WINGSRick DudleyRichard MartinTerry MartinCraig RamsayDave Schultz<h2>CHICAGO</h2>GOALTony EspositoMike VeisorDEFENSEGreg FoxDave LoganMike O&rsquo;ConnellBob MurrayPat RibbloCENTERSCHICAGOAlain DaigleTom LysiakStan MikitaMike WaltonR. WINGSJ.P. Bordeleau&bull;Tim HigginsCliff KorollGrant MulveyL. WINGSTed BulleyBob Kelly&bull;Reg KerrJohn MarksHarold Phillipoff<h2>COLORADO</h2>GOALBill OleschukMichel PlasseDEFENSEDon AwreyNick BeverleyMike ChristieTrevor JohansenMike KitchenDennis OwcharJohn VanBoxmeerCOUMAMICENTERSDon AshbyRoy Comeau&bull;Merlin Malinowski&bull;Paul MessierJack ValiquetteR. WINGSRon Delorme&bull;Paul MessierWilf PaiementRandy PierceDon SaleskiL. WINGSGary Croteau C&bull;Mike GillisBill LocheadAndy Spruce<h2>DETROIT</h2>GOALJim RutherfordRogie VachonDEFENSEThommie BergmanJoan HamelTerry Harper&bull;Willie HuberGrog JolyRood LarsonPorry MillerCENTERS&bull;Grog CarrollBUI HogaboamJ.P. LeBlancDale McCourtAndre St. LaurentR. WINGSDan LabraatonVaclac NedomanskyDennis PolonichL. WINGS*Dan BolducErrol ThompsonPaul Woods C<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2>GOALRon Grahame&bull;Mario LessardDEFENSEDarryl EdestrandDoug HalwardRick HamptonRandy HoltRandy ManeryRichard MulhernRob PalmorCENTERSSyl AppsMarcel DionneButch GoringVic VenaskyR. WINGSMark HeaslipMike Murphy CDave TaylorL. WINGSDanny GrantStove JensonCharlie SimmerTom WilliamsBert WilsonMurray Wilson<h2>MINNESOTA</h2>GOALGary EdwardsGilles MelocheDEFENSEFred Barrett&bull;Bill ButtersBryan MaxwellBrad MaxwellJean PotvinGary SargentGreg SmithCENTERS*Kris ManeryGlen Sharpley&bull;Bob SmithTim YoungR. WINGSMike FidlerAl MacAdamAlex PirusTom YoughansRon ZanussiL. WINGSPer-Olov Brasar&bull;Jack CarlsonJean-Paul Parise C&bull;Steve Peyne&bull;Mike PolichJim Roberts<h2>MONTREAL</h2>GOALKen DrydenMichel LarocqueDEFENSERick ChartrawBrian Engblom* Rod LangwayGuy LapointeGilles LupienSerge Savard CCENTERSDoug JarvisPierre LaroucheJacques LemeirePierre MondouDoug RisebroughR. WINGSCam Connor&bull;Pat HughesGuy LafleurL. WINGSBob GaineyYvon LambertMark NapierSteve Shutt<h2>ISLANDERS</h2>GOALChico ReschBilly SmithDEFENSEGerry HartDave Lewis&bull;Bob LorimerBort MarshallDonis PotvinStefan Pors sonPat PriceCENTERSLome HenningMike KaszyckiWayne MerrickBryan TrottierR. WINGSMike BossyBilly HarrisBob NystromEd WestfallL. WINGSBob BourneClarice Gillies CGarry HowattJohn Tonelli<h2>RANGERS</h2>GOALDoug SoetaertWayne ThomasDEFENSEDave FarrishJocelyn GuevremontDave Maloney CMario MaroisMike McEwenCarol VadnaisCENTERSRon DuguayPhil EspositoWalter TkaczukR. WINGS* Lucien DeBloisAnders HedbergEddie JohnstoneDon MurdochPierre PlanteDean TalafousL. WINGSNick FotiuPat Hickey&bull;Don MaloneySteve Vickers<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2>GOAL* Robbie MooreWayne StephensonDEFENSE&bull;Frank BatheBob DalleyAndre DupontRick LaPointeJim Watson&bull;Behn WilsonCENTERSMel BridgmanBobby Clarice CBlake DunlopKen LinsemanR. WINGS&bull;Tom Gorence&bull;Al HillPaul HolmgrenReggie LeachDennis VervergaertL. WINGSBUI Barber&bull;Dave HoydaBob KellyRick MacLeish<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2>GOALDenis Herron&bull;Greg MillenDEFENSERuss AndersonTom BladonColin CampoellRandy CarlyleRon StackhouseBob ParadiseCENTERSGreg MaloneGregg SheppardR. WINGSBlair ChapmanJacques CossetteGeorge FergusonRick KehoePeter LeeL. WINGSOrest Kindrachuk CRoss LonsberryGary McAdam&bull;Rod Schutt<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2>GOALPhil MyroEd StaniowskiDEFENSEJack BrownschidleSteve DurbanoBarry Gibbs CLarry GirouxNeil KomadoskiBob StewartCENTERSBernie FederkoLarry PateyGarry UngerR. WINGS&bull;Wayne BabychBob MurdochMike Crombeen&bull;Tony CurrieJohn SmrkeL. WINGSCurt BennettIngo HammarstromBrian SuttlerMike Zuke<h2>TORONTO</h2>GOALPierre HamelPaul HarrisonMike PalmateerDEFENSEDave BurrowsDave Hutchisor.&bull;Joel QuennevilleBorje SalmingIan TumbullCENTERSJimmy JonesGarry MonahanWalt McKechnieDarryl Slttlor CR. WINGS&bull;John AndersonJerry ButlerRon EllisLanny McDonald&bull;Rocky SaganiukL. WINGSPat BoutettePaul GardnerDan MaloneyDave Williams<h2>VANCOUVER</h2>GOALGary BromleyDune WilsonDEFENSEJohn GrisdaieLarry GoodenoughDennis Keams&bull;Lars LindgrenBob MannoJack McllhargeyHarold SnepstsCENTERS&bull;Thomas GradinDon LeverPit MartinR. WINGSRick BlightDon Kozak&bull;Stan SmvlRob TudorL. WINGS&bull;Curt FraserBrad GassoffJere GillisRon Sedlbauer<h2>WASHINGTON</h2>GOAL* Jim BedardGary InnessDEFENSERick GreenYvon Labre CGord LaneJack LynchRobert Picard&bull;Leif SvensaonCENTERSGuy&bull;Rolf EdbergDennis HextallDennis MarukR. WINGSTom RoweBlair StewartL. WINGSBob Girard&bull;Paul Mulvey* Gary RisslingBob Sirois&bull;Ryan Walter<h2>INJURED PLATERS</h2>BUFFALODerek Smith&bull;Bill StewartCHICAGOKeith MagnusonDoug WilsonCOLORADOBarry Beck&bull;Dave WatsonJoe WatsonDETROITNick Libett&bull;Brent PetersonLOS ANGELESBrian GlennieGlenn GoldupMONTREALYvan CournoyerRejean HouleLarry RobinsonMario TremblayPITTSBURGHWayne BianchinPete MahovlichDale TallonPHILADELPHIABernie ParentRANGERSRon GreschnerJohn DavidsonUlf NilssonVANCOUVER&bull;Bill Derlago*Glen HanlonKevin McCarthyChris OddleifsonWASHINGTON&bull;Tim CoulisGreg PolisPete Scamurra &#9632;

f0023-05

NHL Team Rosters

LOUISVILLEHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U. S. and CanadaHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U. S. and CanadaCincinnati Stingers still have a fight on their hands, holding off Birmingham for the final playoff spot in the World Hockey Association standings, and left winger Reg Thomas played a key role in helping them to two important victories last week.Thomas, who surpassed a personal high of 25 goals when he notched four in three Stingers&rsquo; games to reach 29 on the season, assisted on the winning goal and scored once himself in a 5-1 defeat of first-place Edmonton, scored a pair of goals in a losing cause against Winnipeg and collected a goal and two assists to pace a 4-1 triumph in New England.The 25-year-old Lambeth, Ont. native also cracked the 60-point barrier with his big week. His previous best had been 55 points during the 1976-77 campaign.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02386/4347510-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="482" height="482"><figcaption class="caption-body">REG THOMAS&hellip;Cincinnati Stingers</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0024-02

WHA’S… Player of the Week

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE WARRINER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01488/4347479-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="562" height="1264"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE ROGERS&hellip;Shot Game Winner</figcaption></div>QUEBEC CITY&mdash;Just as the Edmonton Oilers looked like they were going to pull away and hide from the rest of the World Hockey Association, the Quebec Nordiques brought them to a screeching half. The Oilers had put together a 13-game unbeaten string before moving into Le Colisee at Quebec for a pair of games.In the first contest, the Nordiques found themselves down by two goals early in the first period. Real Cloutier banged home his 57th of the season but Paul Shmyr countered giving the Oilers a two goal edge again heading into the final stanza.Cloutier rallied the Nordiques in the third period with his second of the night. Later in the period, Curt Brackenbury&mdash;with the help of Bob Fitchner&mdash;turned hero with the tying and winning goals. Coach Jacques Demers later said, &ldquo;Those are guys (Brack and Fitch) who don&rsquo;t usually score&mdash;and you don&rsquo;t expect them to score. But lately they&rsquo;ve been scoring. I&rsquo;m very proud because they work so hard checking.&rdquo;The headlines, however, went to Buddy Cloutier. The two goals he tallied gave him seven in just three games. But the 22-year-old right winger wasn&rsquo;t finished. Two nights later the Oilers were back for another try, but Monsieur Cloutier found the net in each of the three periods to personally match the Edmonton team&rsquo;s offensive output. Messrs. Leduc, Bernier, and Lariviere also found the net thereby ensuring the Nordiques&rsquo; sweep.Cloutier&rsquo;s goals were his 58th, 59th, and 60th&mdash;60 goals in 60 games, and 10 in his last four games!&hellip;When the Nords hit the road for a six-game trip, coach Demers said, &ldquo;If we can win four of the six on this trip we should be able to take it all.&rdquo;First stop was New England. After giving up an early goal, the Nords countered with a power play deflection by Cloutier and followed with markers by Fitchner and Bernier (No. 33 for Serge), for a 3-1 victory.Then the trouble started. Twenty four hours later they were in Cincinnati where the Stingers overpower the Nordiques, 5-2. Cloutier managed a last minute goal to keep his goal-a-game average alive.The next night the classy winger potted his 63rd in as many games, but the Nords again took it on the chin&mdash;7-2 in Winnipeg. The schedule ahead showed them staying in Winnipeg for another encounter and then heading into Edmonton for a pair of decisive battles&mdash;perhaps for first place honors.NEW ENGLAND: After picking up three out of four points on the road (in Edmonton and Winnipeg), the Whalers came home confident that they could pick up some valuable ground. Instead they lost back-to-back games to the Stingers and the Nordiques.Against Cincinnati, the Whalers outshot their opponents by a wide margin but ended up losing the game on a power play goal in overtime. Then the visiting Quebec Nordiques dumped the Whalers 3-1. With New England needing victories to stay close in the race for the WHA&rsquo;s top spot the two losses were quite a setback. Coach Bill Dineen commented, &ldquo;to lose two at home after picking up three out of four points on the road&mdash;that really hurts.&rdquo;In reference to an upcoming two-game jaunt to Cincy and Birmingham, Dineen continued, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to have to regroup on the road. Seems like we&rsquo;ve been playing better on the road lately&hellip;&rdquo;As if to prove Dineen&rsquo;s point, the Whalers went into Cincy and stung the Stingers. Goalie John Garrett was magnificent in holding the fort while his New England teammates managed to get two goals out of a mere 15 shots on the Cincy netminder. It was Mike Rogers who rifled home a nifty set up by Warren Miller for the winner late in the final period.Grandpa Gordie Howe is champing at the bit to get back into action after his bout with a fractured ankle. Although he had been working out with the team in practice, the ankle was still painful when he made sharp turns. So any hope of his returning was set back a week or so. Because of the number of games missed, he had scored only 15 goals this season. Thus Gordie was in danger of having a personal streak broken&mdash;he had scored at least 20 goals in every season he had played since the 1949-50 season&mdash;27 years.BIRMINGHAM: In a struggle that looked like it might go down to the wire, the Bulls were fighting for the final spot in the WHA playoffs. Their chief adversary was the fifth place Stingers but the Bulls had to earn their points against the likes of Winnipeg and Edmonton.Against the visiting Jets, captain Brent Hughes celebrated his return from Binghamton (AHL) by notching the winner in the final period of a 5-4 contest. Next came the league-leading Edmonton Oilers. The Bulls had a 4-2 lead going into the last four minutes of the game when Cowboy Flett made it close with a power play tally. Then, with Oiler goalie Dave Dryden on the bench, the Oilers managed to slip in the tying goal with less than a minute remaining. Although the overtime was scoreless, the Bulls were disappointed not to have picked up the two points that seemed well within their grasp.Perhaps those late heroics by the Edmonton crew took some of the steam out of the Bulls because a couple of nights later the Oilers shut out the Birmingham entry, 4-0.Bulls&rsquo; president, John Bassett, reportedly has served notice that he wants to continue with the Bulls in Birmingham. It was announced that the Bulls&rsquo; highly rated underagers had &lsquo;agreed in principle&rsquo; to four-year contracts worth about $650,000 each. Rick Vaive, Pat Riggin, Rob Ramage, Gaston Gingras and Craig Hartsburg will apparently be joined by other talented youngsters too. Reports said the Bulls were aggressively seeking the services of more top-rated graduating and underaged juniors. &#9632;

f0024-01

Cloutier Proving One-Man Show; Nordiques, Whalers Vie For Top

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01424/4347541-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Winnipeg Jets rely on Barry Long, left, and Scott Campbell for offensive points in his first 61 games while Campbell set a new much of their defensive strength. The two Jets are durable and team penalty record with 184 minutes. Both figure prominently in have missed very few games this season. Long also contributed 31 the Jets&rsquo; future plans. Campbell was a top NHL draft choice.</figcaption></div>WINNIPEG&mdash;On all hockey teams, the players who are given the most ink are the goal scorers and the point getters. The Winnipeg Jets are no exception. One doesn&rsquo;t go too long without reading about Kent Nilsson, Morris Lukowich and Terry Ruskowski, all noted for their offensive prowess.But there are those players who become notorious for keeping the offensive stars off the score sheet. And the Jets are no exception to this, either.One of their defensive specialists is Lyle Moffat. Moffat, who turned 31 on March 19, has been on the team for four years, and has been a major part of one of the fiercest checking lines in the WHA. The line consists of Bill Lesuk, Bob Guindon and Moffat, and they were instrumental in the Avco Cup win last year. Checking the top lines in the league is a great challenge for Moffat, and he knows that it is as important to the team as scoring.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s our contribution to the team,&rdquo; he agrees, &ldquo;keeping another team&rsquo;s top line off the scoreboard. That&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;ve had to do for three years now, and I accept it as a challenge, and I enjoy doing it.&rdquo;This season, Moffat is amassing points at a rate which may permit him to surpass his personal WHA points high (33) of three years ago. He may even top his highest goal output of 17. He doesn&rsquo;t feel it is a checker&rsquo;s job to try to get 30 goals a season.&ldquo;But if we could chip in with 15 to 20 apiece,&rdquo; he reasons, &ldquo;this gives our line 60 goals, which I think would be a pretty productive season for a checking line.&rdquo;For much of this year, Moffat and Lesuk have been joined at center by the smooth skating Peter Sullivan who is more offensive-minded than his two new linemates. Moffat agrees that the line is playing a different style, with a distinct offensive flavor intermixed with the aggressive checking. He believes the reason for this is Sullivan, and is quick to praise him.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a natural centerman and one of the best stickhandlers in the business, I think. If we can give him the puck and let him skate with it, we can jump into some holes. I think it just changes the strategy as far as playing together, from one extreme to another.&rdquo;Moffatt attended Michigan Tech on a hockey scholarship, and still has fond memories of the college game. He had two brief stints with the Toronto Maple Leafs before heading for the WHA and the Cleveland Crusaders in 1975. In mid-season, he was brought to Winnipeg and has been here ever since. Originally from Calgary, the five-foot-ten, 185-pound Moffat now resides in Winnipeg all year round.As the playoffs are rapidly approaching, the Jets are beginning to show signs of rebirth under new head coach Tom McVie, and consistency is something they will have to maintain. What can the team do to win consistently?&ldquo;The best thing you can do is outhustle, outwork and just outplay the other team in every aspect of the game,&rdquo; says Moffat. &ldquo;Make them make mistakes in their own end, and they can cough up a couple of goals that way.&rdquo;This is basically the type of game which Moffat likes to play, and he has been successful at it this year. All has not been rosy for him this season, though. He had his problems earlier in the campaign and he was left at home for one road game. After that game his play has steadily improved.Not only is his checking strong, but it is always creating opportunities for him and his linemates. He has been nicknamed &ldquo;Goal Scorer&rdquo; by his teammates and as the Quebec Nordiques have found out, there may be more truth to that name than anyone thought.With two goals in the Jets&rsquo; 7-2 pounding of the Nordiques, Moffat upped his season total to 13, tying his previous WHA personal high set in 1975-76 and 1976-77. One of the noisiest crowds to fill the Winnipeg Arena this season cheered the Jets every move of the way as they swarmed all over travel-weary Quebec. For coach Tom McVie it was his first home ice win but the celebrations didn&rsquo;t last long. Two nights later the rested Nordiques clawed their way to a 4-2 win. A shorthanded goal by Alain Cote proved to be the winner as he lifted a high shot over the glove hand of Markus Mattsson to break a 2-2 deadlock.The loss snapped the Jets win streak at two, but with three consecutive home games coming up, they are hoping to get back on the winning trail,JET STREAM: Kent Nilsson and Morris Lukowich are both two points shy of reaching the 200 point plateau in their WHA careers&hellip;Scott Campbell has broken a club record for penalty minutes. The old one of 203 was set last year by Kim Clackson&hellip;Lukowich leads the WHA in lead producing goals with 20&hellip;Sullivan appeared in his 300th game on March 16. &#9632;

f0025-01

Jets Show More Consistency As Playoffs Near

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01437/4347600-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="575" height="2483"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02341/4347593-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="616" height="998"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03292/4347586-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="605" height="1274"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04229/4347579-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="573" height="2102"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05190/4347572-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="555" height="293"></div> &#9632;

f0026-01

WORLD HOCKEY ASSN. SUMMARIES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-06" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-06157/4347631-1-eng-US/f0026-062.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0026-06

Where WHA Teams Play

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-07140/4347662-1-eng-US/f0026-072.jpg" title="f0026-07" width="557" height="698"></div> &#9632;

f0026-07

The WHA Scoreboard

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-08128/4347693-1-eng-US/f0026-082.jpg" title="f0026-08" width="567" height="686"></div> &#9632;

f0026-08

WHA Leaders

BIRMINGHAM: Vaive 22, Cassolato 7,8, Stewart 15,16,17, Adduono 15,16, Hanson 5, Alley 13, Goulet 23,24, Beaudoin 5, Dillon 12.CINCINNATI: Ftorek 33,34, Marsh 32,33,34, Thomas 26,27,28,29, Gartner 23, Hislop 24, Gilligan 14.EDMONTON: Micheletti 12. Chipperfield 28,29, Callighen 20, MacDonald 3,1, Semenko 8, Driscoll 15, Siltanen 1, Flett 18.NEW ENGLAND: Lyle 14, Pleau 2,3, Doublas 5,6, Hangsleben 8,9, Miller 20,21,22, Lacroix 30, Plumb 3, G. Howe 16.QUEBEC: Leduc 24,25,26, Brackenbury 12, Cote 10, Bernier 35, Fitchner 6,7, Cloutier 64,65,66, Bordeleau 13.WINNIPEG: Lesuk 15,16, Ruskowski 16, Sullivan 38, Nilsson 34, Moffat 14, Lukowich 52,53, Preston 21,22, Eriksson 4. &#9632;

WHA’s Scorers …This Week

EDMONTON&mdash;While many clubs in both major professional leagues were concerned about the prospect of National Hockey League expansion, Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association continued to enjoy the best season in their history.General manager Larry Gordon and coach Glen Sather, who also is director of hockey operation, signed two bright young Finnish stars&mdash;goaltender Hannu Kamppuri and defenseman Risto Siltanen&mdash;to WHA contracts shortly before NHL trustees voted down the proposed expansion at a meeting in Key Largo, Fla.Siltanen stepped into the lineup almost immediately, in a game against Birmingham Bulls, and showed aggressiveness and a hard shot unexpected in one of his stature (five-feet-eight and 175 pounds). Kamppuri, scouted by chief scout Barry Fraser of the Oilers during training camp in Europe last fall, was not dressed in his first two games as an Oiler but Sather predicted the youngster would be in uniform before the end of the season.Edmonton ended a testing six-game road swing with two wins, three losses and a tie, especially impressive considering the Oilers dropped decisions to Quebec in the first two games of the lengthy trip, which is caused annually in March by a major boat show at Edmonton&rsquo;s 15,248-seat coliseum.The Oilers also played most of the trip without Ron Chipperfield and Dennis Sobchuk, leaving them shorthanded at center ice. However, when they returned home for a vital two-game weekend series with the Nordiques, Sather declared Chipperfield and Sobchuk would be ready for action.Edmonton fans, predictably, reacted with anger and shock at the NHL&rsquo;s decision to block the proposed expansion. However, in recognition of the club&rsquo;s improvement under Gordon and Sather, many fans conceded they would rather stay in the WHA in any case&mdash;because of the high level of competition among all six clubs in the league.Several letters were sent to Edmonton newspapers saying the NHL should be allowed to continue on its road of mismanagement. Owner Peter Pocklington said the Oilers would continue to function at a high level whether merger was possible or not.Canada-wide reaction helped prompt key personnel of Vancouver Canucks and Montreal Canadiens, both of whom voted &ldquo;no&rdquo; to the proposed addition of the Edmonton, Winnipeg, Quebec and New England franchises from the WHA, to change their minds&mdash;at least tentatively&mdash;but the experienced Gordon and Pocklington refused to jump quickly into an agreement with the NHL.Gordon, in particular, had reason to be cautious. He was a key man in the WHA administration during the first two sets of expansion negotiations and, two seasons ago, was assured by NHL president John Ziegler that the vote would be favorable.History shows, of course, that the vote was negative. Gordon has played a key role in constructing the first-place Oilers this season, collaborating closely with Sather, and is understandably reluctant to give up young prospects claimed by the NHL in any further talks.&ldquo;We have as many good, young players as any team in hockey,&rdquo; said Gordon. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll do everything we can to keep them.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no benefit to the NHL in bringing four teams into the league and leaving us all so weak we will not be competitive for 10 years.&ldquo;Some of the NHL owners recognize we&rsquo;re more valuable as partners if we can add fans in their buildings. Unfortunately, some don&rsquo;t realize that&mdash;they&rsquo;re the ones we have to be concerned with.&rdquo;OIL DROPS: Brett Callighen, Blair MacDonald and Wayne Gretzky&mdash;the team&rsquo;s hottest line&mdash;had 56 points in a 15-game stretch which included 10 wins and two ties&hellip;Veteran Dave Dryden at mid-March led the league in goals-against average, minutes played and won-lost percentage&hellip;Joe Micheletti, the young defenseman who had a slow start after recuperating from late-season knee troubles last year, had become one of the Oilers&rsquo; most successful players. Sometimes rebuked for lack of aggressiveness, Micheletti wound up in fights with Danny Geoffrion of Quebec and Barry Melrose of Cincinnati on the road trip. He won both, quite handily, although outweighed in each case. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen Joey fight like that,&rdquo; said teammate Callighen. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing really well.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01418/4347748-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="573" height="599"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOE MICHELETTI&hellip;Coming On Strong</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0027-01

WHA Club Cautious About Merger

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02297/4347779-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03228/4347786-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="238" height="233"></div> &#9632;

f0028-02

WHA’S POINT SCORING AND PENALTY STATISTICS

CINCINNATI&mdash;Cincinnati Stingers&rsquo; rookie standout Mike Gartner has been very impressive in his first season as a professional but he feels he can do better.&ldquo;I know I can score goals,&rdquo; said the 19-year-old Gartner. &ldquo;What I&rsquo;m trying to do now is play positional hockey, play my position properly. The tough thing to do now is to play both ways and to check off.&ldquo;The goals will then fall into place. I think I&rsquo;ve done pretty well but not as good as I think I might have.&rdquo;Nevertheless, Gartner&rsquo;s performance has impressed veteran hockey writers and observers throughout the United States and Canada.Through 63 games, the big right winger had scored 23 goals and added 20 assists for 43 points, sixth best total on the team.Beyond mere statistics, however, hockey observers have been impressed with Gartner&rsquo;s style of play, his skating and his play in the corners.In a recent article in the Edmonton Journal hockey writer Jim Matheson listed, based on his observations, the top 20 juniors who he felt would be picked by the National Hockey League in this year&rsquo;s draft.Mike Gartner topped the list. Matheson described the rugged forward as &ldquo;big and tough&hellip;can skate&hellip;and with a mean streak&rdquo; and Gartner did not quarrel with the latter assessment.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been taught since I was 15 that if you&rsquo;re going to go into the corners, you&rsquo;re going to go in and check. If you do that, you might as well take the man out of the play. I&rsquo;m not dirty.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going into the corners. I can take a hit and I can give a hit. I always finish the checks off.&rdquo;Gartner is strong on his skates, something which he utilizes in each game. It is not uncommon for him to play off checks by two defensemen to get to a puck.He has been involved in several fights this season but does not intentionally look for them.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t mind fighting,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but I don&rsquo;t go out and look for a fight, only if someone&rsquo;s trying to hurt me. If someone hits you into the boards, you have to stand up for yourself. I don&rsquo;t believe in fighting, just for the sake of fighting.&rdquo;One year ago, Gartner was playing in the juniors, scoring goals at a prolific rate for the Niagara Falls Flyers of the Ontario Hockey Association.He scored 41 goals and added 49 assists in his last year in juniors, then was signed to a contract by the Stingers in August, 1978.Gartner has made the transition from junior to professional hockey smoothly, although he said there is a pronounced difference.&ldquo;First, you have to make the adjustment in practice,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s as if you&rsquo;re in kind of a daze. The checking is much harder, the playing is much faster.&ldquo;And you have to think a lot quicker. There is really a big difference. You&rsquo;ve seen these guys playing on TV for five or six years and you&rsquo;re playing against them. You have to forget about that and just play hockey.&rdquo;During the six months he has been in Cincinnati, Gartner has made an impression on the reporters who cover the team for he exudes maturity and confidence which belie his 19 years.&ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t like to reveal my goals,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but I know what I want to do. want to prove to myself I can play professional hockey.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to just play and I won&rsquo;t be satisfied to be just another player.&rdquo;Anyone who has seen Mike Gartner play knows he is anything but just another player. &#9632;

Gartner Portrays Desire To Excel

<div class="byline">BY RICHARD JABLONSKI</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0029-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01354/4347848-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg"></div>POINTE CLAIRE&mdash;For the second time in as many years, the Alberta Golden Bears, under the coaching of Clare Drake, have captured the championship of Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Association hockey.Along the road to the title, the Bears dumped the Concordia Stingers, the Regina Cougars and the Dalhousie - Tigers, never relinquishing more than one goal in any of the three games. The deciding game pitied Alberta against the Atlantic Association champs from Dalhousie, with the 5-1 final score accurately reflecting the afternoon&rsquo;s play. The Bears were just that good.If there was a key to the Albertans&rsquo; success aside from superior skills, it was their ability to cash in on power play opportunities. Three of the Bears&rsquo; five goals in the final round of play were of the power play variety, including a pair of first period backbreakers.Most of the fans at the Pointe Claire Arena shared the opinion that the best chance for the underdog Dalhousie team was to strike early and dictate the pace of play. That chance was effectively removed when eventual tournament MVP Dave Hindmarch netted a point blank power play wrist shot only 4:06 into the game. Two more first period scores, including a second man advantage goal by Hindmarch, sent the Bears well on their way to a CIAU title.Bob Dugan&rsquo;s bank shot goal early in the second period appeared to give Dalhousie new life, but that was snuffed out minutes later by yet another power play goal. This time it was Jim Causgrove who was the beneficiary of the manpower advantage, deflecting a Larry Riggin shot from the point.Tournament All Star John Devaney wrapped up the scoring at 13:29 of the second period.Emerging from his traditional post-tournament shower, Alberta coach Clare Drake shed some light on the success of the Bears.&ldquo;Our goal was to put pressure on their defensemen,&rdquo; said Drake at the press reception. &ldquo;We were trying to force errors in their end of the ice.&ldquo;Actually,&rdquo; laughed Drake, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s a system very similar to the one they use. In fact, Pierre Page (the Dal coach) told me that he borrowed their system from us.&rdquo;But what about that power play, Clare?&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve spent a lot of time in practice on our power play,&rdquo; said Drake, &ldquo;and it&rsquo;s something that we&rsquo;re really quite proud of. We score on about 33 percent of our power play opportunities, which is higher than most teams.&rdquo;&ldquo;The key,&rdquo; continued the Alberta coach, &ldquo;is to have players who handle the puck well and don&rsquo;t panic. We have five or six variations on our power play, and it takes good puckhandlers to execute them. Today, we used our double slot variation and it got us two early goals.&rdquo;The double slot formation, which Alberta had shrewdly not employed prior to the final game, featured John Devaney behind the net passing into the slot for quick wrist shots. Devaney assisted on all three of the Bears&rsquo; power play goals in the championship game.For the two finalists, it had been a most interesting three-day trip to the championship game. Dalhousie opened up tournament play with a come-from-behind 6-5 decision over Bud Folusewych&rsquo;s Guelph Gryphons. Trailing 4-3 going into the third period, the Tigers received goals from Paul MacLean, Louis Lavoie and Earl Theriault to grab the decision. Theriault&rsquo;s goal came with only 34 seconds remaining on an unassisted wrist shot.That same night, Alberta served notice that it was after yet another title with a 7-1 thrashing of the host Concordia Stingers. Jim Causgrove led the way in that one with a pair of goals and an assist.On the second night of play, Chicoutimi shocked Guelph 7-2 and Alberta narrowly defeated Regina 3-1. The victory by Chicoutimi came as quite a surprise to those in attendance who had forcast a big win for the Ontario team over the wildcard entry from Quebec. Such was not the case, however, as defenseman Pierre Hervieux netted two quick goals and goaltender Marcel Savard, another tourney All Star, kicked out 42 Gryphon shots.The upset of Chicoutimi set the stage for a showdown between the Inuks and Dalhousie. Actually, the game provided little by way of competition, as the Tigers, led by Paul MacLean&rsquo;s hat trick, jumped off to a 6-0 lead and an eventual 7-3 victory.The final preliminary game provided some solace for the hosts from Concordia. As Paul Arsenault&rsquo;s boys routed theGPAC champions from Regina 8-3. Thus it could be said that the teams from Quebec, each with 1-1 records, had salvaged a fair bit of respect for the much-maligned QUAA hockey program.When it came time to pick tournament All Stars, the top two teams, Alberta and Dalhousie, were understandably well-represented. Forward Dave Hindmarch, with three goals and three assists during the competition, was the recipient of the Gruen Award, given annually to the tournament&rsquo;s top player. He was joined by Alberta teammates John Devaney and defenseman Stan Swales.MacLean and Lavoie were named to the star team from Dalhousie, while Chicoutimi goaltender Savard received the nod in the nets.CIAU NOTES: Tournament festivities included the All Canadian banquet. Defenseman Randy Gregg, the six-foot-four captain of Alberta was named the nation&rsquo;s outstanding collegiate player. Other All Canadians included defensemen Wilfrid MacDonald of UPEI, Brad Pirie of Guelph, and Michel Blais of Concordia, and forwards Dan D&rsquo;Alvise of Toronto, Chris Helland of Alberta, Willie Warner of Manitoba, Bernard Chamberland of Chicoutimi, Greg Wiebe of Saskatchewan and Tony Cuomo of Saint FX. Goaltenders selected were Jim Britton of McMaster and Ted Poplawski of Alberta. Bill Mahoney of McMaster was the CIAU&rsquo;s Coach of the Year.Attendance at the Point Claire Arena was not exactly overwhelming, but those who came out were quite enthusiastic. A large number of Dal fans made the long bus ride from Halifax to cheer on their boys with their &ldquo;terrible tiger towels&rdquo; and rhythmic cheering. The CIAU could use more of that, thank you.The big development at this year&rsquo;s coaches&rsquo; meeting was further discussion of the so-called &ldquo;super league&rdquo;. Top teams from across the nation would play each other to promote Canadian university hockey and to see top calibre competition. Eligibility would be determined by a tiering system similar to that employed by our ECAC neighbors to the South.A pat on the back goes to Concordia for a well-run tournament. Even though the prices, three dollars a game, were a bit steep, the Stinger staff did a fine job organizing and promoting this year&rsquo;s CIAU tourney.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02270/4347841-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="1158" height="1057"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alberta Golden Bear co-captains John Devaney and Randy Gregg, at left, hold aloft CIAU championship trophy after successfully defending their title with victories over Concordia, Manitoba and Dalhousie. Above, Golden Bear assistant captains Darrell Zaparniuk and Don Spring display championship banner. (Photos by Ian MscAlpine)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

Alberta Outstrips Field In CIAU Title Repeat

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01397/4347910-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02308/4347903-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="1110" height="1139"><figcaption class="caption-body">New Hampshire coach Charlie Holt and captain Bob Gould smile approvingly as they accepted the trophy following their ECAC Conference championship victory. The Wildcats won it all and went on to participate in the NCAA championship tournament at Detroit. UNH goaler Greg Moffett looks at little surprised at left as he accepts MVP award following ECAC tournament windup but Moffett was key in UNH&rsquo;s 3-2 championship win over Dartmouth. (Photos by Steve Babineau)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0030-01

New Hampshire Savors The Spoils

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div>TYNGSBORO&mdash;Lowell University cruised to a 4-1 victory over Salem State College behind a hat trick by Tom Jacobs to gain the championship of ECAC Division Two&rsquo;s Eastern sector.In the West, Middlebury nipped Norwich 2-1 on a slap shot by P.J. Murphy at 5:34 of the third period. The Panthers ended their season with a 17-4-1 record, but because of New England Small College Athletic Conference restrictions on post-season play, could not go to the second NCAA Division Two championship tournament, held at Merrimack College. Lowell, 26-6, won one Eastern slot in the event while Salem State was picked by a committee for the other. The Western participants are Mankato State and Illinois-Chicago Circle.Lowell, second seeded in the Division Two East, defeated Merrimack 7-6 and New Haven 7-3 enroute to the title. Salem actually held the lead, 1-0, through two periods of the final game before Jacobs tallied at 3:04, 10:35, and 12:22 of the frame to break the game open. Frank Dee added the clincher for Billy Riley Jr.&rsquo;s crew with 34 seconds to play.Jay Palladino, Salem netminder, sparkled in the cage, making 33 saves to 29 for Brian Doyle. His best stretch was during a Lowell two-man advantage in the first period.The losing goalie also was busy in the Western title game. Rich Brooke of Norwich stopped 38 Middlebury bids to 24 for his counterpart, Mike McNamara. Like the Eastern game, this one was scoreless for most of the way. Finally, Chip Hagy broke through to put Middlebury up 1-0 at the 1:00 mark of the third period, but Mike Phayre offset that one with a score at 2:23 on a power play.In Middlebury&rsquo;s semi-final win, 5-3 at the home rink of second seeded Elmira, Hagy and Tom Plant each tallied two goals. The Panthers outscored the Soaring Eagles 3-0 in the second period to gain the final. Meanwhile, fourth seeded Norwich pulled a shocker at top seed Plattsburgh, stealing a 6-5 win.Brooks faced 65 Plattsburgh shots and stopped 60 of them in the upset. Four Cadets named Mike&mdash;Sheehan, Phayre, Jamieson, and Connor&mdash;gave the underdogs a 4-0 first period lead. The second period belonged to the Cardinals, as they scored three goals to Norwich&rsquo;s one, then tied it up on two tallies by Francis LeComte in the third frame. Bob Tolman scored at 18:26 to pull it out for Norwich.The Eastern semis were just as entertaining. Salem, fourth seeded, journeyed to top rated Maine and knocked off the Black Bears 7-4 while Lowell was nipping the defending NCAA Division Two titlists, third ranked Merrimack, 7-6.At Orono, the game was tied at 4-4 after two periods. Then Mike Clasby beat Jim Tortorella at 5:35, followed nine seconds later by Bob Buttiglieri&rsquo;s third score.At Tyngsboro, it was again a case of the visiting team staging a third period rally, but this time the home team prevailed. Lowell found one goal, an unassisted tally by Dave Sullivan at 10:52, to provide the winning edge.Jim Toomey brought it to 7-5, however, with less than five minutes to play, and coach Bruce Parker pulled Moffitt to make up a two goal deficit in the waning moments. The Warriors got halfway there, with Mike Woodward scoring from the point at 19:42, but Lowell managed to hang on and avenge the semi-final defeat at Merrimack&rsquo;s hands one year ago. &#9632;

Lowell Emerges As Division Two Power

<div class="byline">BY JIM SCHNEIDER</div>MINNEAPOLIS&mdash;Host Minnesota grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first period and used the three-goal margin to defeat Bowling Green 6-3 to win the NCAA Midwest Regional and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in Detroit&rsquo;s Olympia Stadium.The Golden Gophers of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association moved their season record to 30-11-1, while the BGSU Falcons, champions of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association finished their season with a 37-6-2 record.By winning, Minnesota advanced to the NCAA championship tournament at Detroit Mar. 22-24 in four-team playoff round with North Dakota, New Hampshire and Dartmouth. The Gophers meet New Hampshire, the ECAC Conference champions and No. 1 seed in the East. North Dakota, the WCHA Conference titleholder, and No. 1 Western seed, opposes Dartmouth in the other game. Winners meet Sat. Mar. 24 on the Olympia ice for the U.S. college championship.In Minnesota&rsquo;s divisional win over GB, Tim Harrer opened the scoring at 8:36 of the first period and Steve Christoff added two goals, his 35th and 36th of the season, to finish off the first period Minnesota onslaught.Junior left winger Don Micheletti assisted on all three goals in the first period for Minnesota and ended the evening with a goal and four assists to push his season point total to 70.Although outshot 16-7 in the first period, the second-ranked Falcons, the only team to qualify for NCAA postseason play the past three seasons, rallied in the second period and held a commanding 18-8 edge in shots.BG senior Bruce Newton put the Falcons on the scoreboard at 4:59 of the second period on the power play assisted by All American defenseman Ken Morrow and left winger Steve Dawe.BG cut the margin to 3-2 at 13:46 as defenseman Steve Douglass intercepted the puck at the right point and fired a shot that Dawe tipped into the net behind Minnesota&rsquo;s Steve Janaszak.Less than a minute after cutting the lead to 3-2 BG&rsquo;s Mike Cotter was sent off for holding. Dawe had the best chance to score in the first few seconds of the penalty when Janaszak raced out of his net to clear the puck and shot it into Dawe. The left-handed shooter fired a backhander from the right side and hit the outisde of the net giving the 7,940 fans in Williams Arena a thrill.BG&rsquo;s John Gibb was called for tripping at 15:11 and the Gophers used the two-man advantage with Micheletti scoring his 36th goal of the season at 5:26 and Eric Strobel netted his 27th at 17:07.Harrer scored his 28th goal of the season, his second of the night, on another power play at 00:27 of the third period pushing Minnesota&rsquo;s lead to 6-2.In the game Minnesota scored four power play goals and a fifth was scored while a delayed penalty was being called on the Falcons.Defenseman Cotter scored the final goal of the contest at 6:44 of the final period with assists going to Andy Crowther and Chris Guertin.Janaszak finished the contest with 36 saves for Minnesota while BG&rsquo;s Wally Charko finished with 24 with only 11 in the final two periods when the Falcons were outshooting Minnesota 30-14.Home ice proved to be the key in the regional contest for the third consecutive year with Michigan, Bowling Green and Minnesota, the host school in each of the three regionals, advancing to the final four.It was interesting to note in the contest that the WCHA was represented by both referees, while in the game played in Bowling Green in the 1977-78 season, each league had a referee. In the three regionals played in the midwest, five of the six referees have been from the WCHA.The attendance of 7,940 was the largest playoff crowd in Williams Arena in the past 10 seasons. The regional has proven to be a success with a sellout last season in the BGSU Ice Arena and a near sellout in Williams Arena. Next season when the Central Collegiate Hockey Association hosts the game there could be a third great crowd.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01363/4347965-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="559" height="926"><figcaption class="caption-body">TIM HARRER&hellip;Two Big Goals</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0031-01

Minnesota Bursts Bowling Green Bubble

LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S and CanadaLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S and Canada<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03190/4347996-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="559" height="901"></div> &#9632;

f0032-03

Where AHL Teams Play

<div class="byline">BY JIM LEAHY</div>ROCHESTER&mdash;The Amerks finally stopped their 15-game winless streak with a 6-3 win on home ice over Hershey. Rochester coach Pat Kelly&rsquo;s team won two of three during the following week to remain only nine points in back of third place Binghamton in the race for a playoff spot in the upcoming Calder Cup series.Tom Cassidy was suspended by the club and returned to the Pittsburgh Penguins and the ever-changing Rochester lineup received additional jolts during the week. Left winger Jeff Brubaker was recalled by the New England Whalers and wingers Al Secord along with Dwight Foster went back and forth between Rochester and Boston. Center Steve West did come back from Winnipeg which should help the Amerks in the stretch drive to gain a playoff berth.MAINE: Center Ken Linseman and golatender Robbie Moore were recalled by the parent Philadelphia Flyers but the Mariners still continued to roll. After winning three of their last four, they led second place New Brunswick by 15 points and are well on their way toward wrapping up their second consecutive Northern Division title.Maine was at home twice during the week, beating the Binghamton Dusters 6-4, but losing to Hershey 8-4. The Mariners were more successful on the road, winning 5-1 at Philadelphia and 63 in Hershey.NEW HAVEN: A gala champagne reception held at Center Ice of New Haven&rsquo;s Veteran&rsquo;s Memorial Coliseum, was the setting for the formal signing of the contract that enabled Schiavone Sports to purchase the New Haven Nighthawk organization. Honored guests included Sonny Werblin, Mike Burke, Mickey Keating, Phil Esposito, Rod Gilbert and AHL president Jack Butterfield.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01375/4348034-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="565" height="744"><figcaption class="caption-body">TONY MCKEGNEY&hellip;Hot For Bears</figcaption></div>It was an historic evening in New Haven&rsquo;s long hockey history. Two bands were on hand, champagne flowed freely, and a live television pickup zoomed in on the festivities.The Nighthawks unveiled their new Ranger-style uniforms for next season. The team colors will be changed to the traditional New York Ranger red-white and blue, however, the Nighthawk emblem will still appear on the new home outfits.Back on the ice, the parent club brought up winger Lucien DeBlois after he had been playing great hockey during his stint in the AHL. He responded by scoring two goals and adding an assist in a win over Montreal during his first game back with the Rangers.NEW BRUNSWICK: Rocky Saganiuk, who was among the rop three AHL scoring leaders, had been called up to Toronto. In his first game with the Maple Leafs, he scored a goal and had two assists in a 4-0 win over Pittsburgh. His loss will deal the Hawks a severe blow in their attempt to catch the divisional-leading Maine Mariners.The Hawks won only two of five during the week. They beat Philadelphia 71, lost to Springfield 4-2 and bounced back to defeat the Indians 6-2 in games played at the Moncton Coliseum. Out on the road, the club was beaten badly in two games. They were blown out 10-6 in Philadelphia and lost 4-1 in Binghamton.Goaltenders Pierre Hamel and Murray Bannerman and defensemen Bob Hoffmeyer and Doug Hicks were lost to the Hawks due to injuries or callups. A few rookies were brought in to fill out the roster, but only veteran winger Hillard Graves, obtained from Vancouver, may be able to help.HERSHEY: In nine games since being assigned to Hershey by the Buffalo Sabres, rookie center Tony McKegney has had five goals and 11 assists for 16 points. The line of McKegney, Nelson Burton and Doug Patey has 13 goals and 21 assists in their last nine contests.Hershey climbed into second place in the Southern Division past Binghamton, and the improving Bears have two games in hand on the Dusters to boot. Now that Fred Stanfield has removed his skates to take over the coaching duties, Claude Noel is the club scoring leader with 64 points in just 52 games. Big Archie Henderson leads the Bears with 256 penalty minutes, and Hershey is second to the Maine Mariners in team penalties. However, Maine has 23 more points than the hot-and-cold Bears have at this late juncture in the season.SPRINGFIELD: After posting a 3-2 record in their last five games, the Indians still trail Nova Scotia by four points in their desperate attempt to overtake the Voyageurs and gain a playoff berth. During the week the Tribe lost 8-1 at Nova Scotia, won 4-2 in New Brunswick but lost 6-2, also in New Brunswick. They beat Hershey 4-3 at home and blasted Rochester 7-4, at the Big E Coliseum in West Springfield.Clayton Pachal, who was supposed to be on loan to Springfield, never reported and his current status is unknown. The Tribe lost Jordy Douglas on recall to New England, but got netminder Louis Levasseur back from the Quebec Nordiques and winger Pat Russell has returned from the injured list.PHILADELPHIA: The Firebirds have lost four of their last five and are just about eliminated from playoff contention. The only bright spot during the week was a 10-6 win over the injury-riddled and short-handed New Brunswick Hawks.Gordie Brooks and Bob Collyard continue to pace the Firebird offense, but the lack of a consistent scoring attack has been a problem for the team since the season began.NOVA SCOTIA: On Jan. 12 the Vees sent goaltender Moe Barrette to Springfield and recalled Richard Sevigny from the Tribe. With the arrival of Sevigny, the Voyageur goaltending started to improve and Nova Scotia started to win consistently.In addition to Sevigny, the Vees brought in Rod Langway to help shore up the defense. His presence has helped the team&rsquo;s defense to improve considerably, but just as both men were starting to get the Vees ready for a playoff drive, the Montreal Canadiens recalled then to the NHL.The Vees did manage to win two of three during the week and now lead Springfield by four points with the season rapidly drawing to a close. Both clubs are battling for a playoff spot. However, the Indians still have two games in hand on Nova Scotia.BINGHAMTON: Losing three of four during the week caused the Dusters to slip into third place in the Southern Division. The series of losses started in New Haven where Binghamton dropped a wild 8-6 game to New Haven before 5,167 fans at the Coliseum. In a fight filled contest, the Dusters were as close as 6-5 early in the third period, but were outgunned by the first place New Haven Nighthawks.The Dusters lost 6-4 at Maine, 2-1 at home to Rochester and bounced back to beat New Brunswick 4-1 on home ice at the Broome County Arena.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02287/4348027-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="563" height="718"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICHARD SEVIGNY&hellip;Pickey Up Voyageurs</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0032-01

Americans Rally To Keep Playoff Hopes Alive

LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S and CanadaLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S and Canada<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02252/4348065-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="513" height="800"></div> &#9632;

f0033-02

Where CHL Teams Play

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div>OKLAHOMA CITY&mdash;Ted Hampson and the Stars had been waiting a long time&mdash;a month, to be exact&mdash;for their next bus trip into Tulsa. Doctors may not prescribe a 90-mile bus trip as a cure for many ailments, but it usually proves the best tonic for the Oklahoma City hockey club.Since a Feb. 9 trip into Tulsa&rsquo;s Assembly Center, where the Stars won in overtime, 4-3, to clinch the turnpike series, Hampson&rsquo;s crew had lost six straight road contests. But on Mar. 10 the Stars came back to the Center and picked up another 4-3 decision. The game wasn&rsquo;t as close as the score would indicate, as the Oilers scored their last two goals the final minute of play.The previous night the Stars had extended their unhappy road string with a 7-2 setback in Dallas. The Hawks had a 6-0 advantage before Oke City finally solved Curt Ridley for third-period goals by Ron Zanussi and Jamie Gallimore. The Stars had only six shots in the first two stanzas.The first period was scoreless in Tulsa, but after that the Stars took command. Mike Eaves, Gallimore and Peter Shier made it 3-0 before Jim Warden lost his shutout at 11:32 of the middle period. John Baby&rsquo;s third-period goal seemed unimportant at the time, but became the winning marker after Tulsa scored its last two goals, seven seconds apart, in the closing minute.The victory raised OC&rsquo;s margin to 125-1 in the state rivalry, the most lopsided advantage in 12 years of the turnpike competition. The Stars&rsquo; margin was principally because of a 7-1-1 record on Tulsa ice. It was the fourth time this season that a visit to Tulsa had stopped an OC slump of three or more games.Hampson was excited about the victory. &ldquo;We have to start winning on the road, because we have more road games left than home games.&rdquo;The coach kept reminding the Stars their immediate task is to pick up a cushion of points in advance of their schedule-ending three-game set against league-leading Salt Lake, (two of them in the Salt Palace.) &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t go into those last three games needing three or four points to clinch a playoff spot,&rdquo; he said.The break-even week left the Stars tied with Fort Worth for the fourth and final playoff position, but the Texans had a game in hand.Hampson took himself out of the lineup with the acquisition of two young right wings&mdash;Zanussi, sent down by the Minnesota North Stars, and Warren Young, given a pro trial during spring break at Michigan Tech. Their arrival enabled Jim McKenny to move back to defense for the first time since he was injured in mid-February.Dan Chicoine, who was the Stars&rsquo; leading goal scorer when he suffered a severe charley horse Feb. 28, had resumed skating and was expected back in the lineup within a week. He had missed four games.Eaves, with 67 points, was the No. 2 scorer in the league, five off the pace of Salt Lake&rsquo;s Rick Shinske.TULSA: Defensive lapses continued to dig graves for the Oilers, who were destined to miss the playoffs for only the fifth time in 15 seasons of CHL membership.Johnny Choyce&rsquo;s men dropped an 8-3 decision in Salt Lake, where they had fallen in overtime two nights earlier. Home ice proved no better, as they fell to Kansas City, 6-3, and Oklahoma City, 4-3, in spite of outshooting both foes.Although it wasn&rsquo;t good enough to win, the scoring was the only bright note in the Tulsa picture. Center Jim Wiley, making a comeback after working in the front office last season, scored two goals against KC, reaching the coveted 20-goal plateau, and notched his 21st against OC.Ken Kuzyk, right wing on the same line, tallied his 28th goal against Oklahoma City, and was close to becoming the Oilers&rsquo; first 30-goal scorer in two season.The losses ran the cellar club&rsquo;s string to five in a row (three at home), and nine games without a victory since Feb. 16. On the road they had lost three straight, and hadn&rsquo;t won in 10 tries since Jan. 13.Wiley had a seven-point week (three goals, for assists) and climbed to fifth place on the league chart with 63.FORT WORTH: With a strengthened lineup, Billy MacMillan&rsquo;s Texans were gearing for a stretch run to wrap up a playoff berth. With 13 games left, they were tied with Oklahoma City tor fourth place.Center Steve Tambellini, right wing Hector Marini and defenseman Mike Hordy went up to the New York Islanders for a mid-week game, but immediately rejoined Fort Worth. Back from four-game injury layoffs were forwards Alex McKendry (shoulder) and Yvon Vautour and Richie Hansen (ankles). Goalie Don Cutts, who had spent three of the last four seasons in Fort Worth, was brought up for one game from Fort Wayne in the International League. The Islanders were negotiating to get him back with the Texans.The club won only one of three starts for the week, but that was a 6-4 upset of first-place Salt Lake in the Salt Palace. Other road games resulted in a 4-2 setback in Kansas City and a 2-1 loss in Dallas. That narrowed the Texas turnpike series to 9-8 in Fort Worth&rsquo;s favor, after MacMillan&rsquo;s men once enjoyed a 9-3 edge over their state rivals.In Dallas it was a brilliant goaltending duel between Hogosta and Curt Ridley. A shorthanded goal by Jim Mayer put the Hawks in front early. Steve Clippingdale scored early in the second period. Neil Hawryliw got the lone Texan tally at 11:51 of the third.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01342/4348096-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="564" height="678"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN BABY&hellip;Important Goal</figcaption></div>KANSAS CITY: Breaking even in a four-game week solidified the Red Wings&rsquo; hold on third place. They were eight points ahead of Oklahoma City and Fort Worth, who shared fourth, and a similar distance behind second-place Dallas.Best of all, they had finished the season series against the front-running Salt Lake Golden Eagles. It finished 117-2 in favor of the Birds.Although they had just won a pair of upsets in Salt Lake, the Wings closed the week by dropping a 5-4 overtime game to the Eagles in Kemper Arena. Earlier they had beaten Fort Worth at home, 4-2, lost an overtime home game to Dallas, 5-4, and taken a 6-3 decision in Tulsa.Coach Larry Wilson welcomed his youngest son, Randy, a 20-year-old right wing from Providence College, for a 10-game professional trial. As the week ended, center Roland Cloutier and left wing J.P. LeBlanc were called up to Detroit.A four-goal burst in the middle period settled the issue in Tulsa, where Larry Wright had two goals. He and Jim Maladrewicz tallied in the first period, then J. P. LeBlanc, Wright, Sylvain Locas and Mai Davis in the second.SALT LAKE: The Golden Eagles&rsquo; once-proud first-place margin of 21 points (Feb. 21) had dwindled to nine (Mar. 10). But, with 11 games left on the regular schedule, the Birds were pointing at the magic number of seven (Salt Lake wins or Dallas losses) to clinch their second CHL pennant.They started the week with an 8-3 romp over Tulsa, lost a 6-4 home game to Salt Lake, but opened a four-game road swing with an overtime 5-4 triumph in Kansas City.Floyd Thomson collected his 35th goal against Tulsa and his 36th against Fort Worth, to lead the league in that department. Rick Shinske was the CHL scoring leader on 72 points (with a league-leading 55 assists), and Thomson had 65 points for third place in the league. The Eagle goaltenders continued atop the CHL chart, Terry Richardson with a 2.58 average yield, Doug Grant with a 2.84 reading.Doug Palazzari had a five-goal week, starting with two against Tulsa. It was Palazzari and Rick Bowness scoring in the first period, Gary Holt and Len Frig in the second, and Gordie McTavish, Palazzari, Thomson and Bob Hess in the third. Against Fort Worth, Thomson and Bowness each put the Eagles in front in the first period, and McTavish gained a 3-3 tie in the second.Bruce Affleck had an early shorthanded goal in Kansas City, but the Wings scored three times before Hess counted late in the second period. Then Palazzari took over. His first goal came at 2:13 of the third. Another at 8:29 put the Eagles ahead. Roland Cloutier forced the overtime with a goal at 18:49, but Palazzari clinched his hat trick with a winning goal at 3:29 of the extra period.DALLAS: A seven-game winning streak had John Muckier&rsquo;s Black Hawks firmly in second place, and within shouting distance of frontrunning Salt Lake. They edged Kansas City, 5-4, in overtime at KC, then came home to trim Oklahoma City, 7-2, and edge Fort Worth, 2-1.The third straight road victory wasn&rsquo;t easy. The Hawks blew 2-1 and 3-2 leads, but Steve Clippingdale&rsquo;s shot with five seconds left in regulation time bounced in off a body in a melee at the net. Doug Berry&rsquo;s winning goal came after just 19 seconds of overtime play. Brad Smith, Tom Roulston and Steve Hazlett had scored earlier for Dallas.The issue wasn&rsquo;t left in doubt when Oklahoma City visited Fair Park Coliseum. Roulston and Jim Mayer scored in the first, Drew Callender, Clippingdale, Smith and Berry (shorthanded) in the second. Rick Blight added the last tally in the third. &#9632;

f0033-01

Tulsa Trips Prove Cure For Stars; Surging Hawks Firm Up Position

LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S and CanadaLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S and Canada<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02305/4348127-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="552" height="948"></div> &#9632;

f0034-02

Where IHL Teams Play

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div>MILWAUKEE&mdash;Gene Ubriaco and his Milwaukee Admirals can unpack their bags and stay home awhile. The worst part of their International Hockey League season is behind them.The Admirals limped home from a three-game road swing during which the Admirals were burned for 29 goals in dropping all three. Toledo did the most damage, ripping Milwaukee, 15-4.The trip ended with a 9-4 loss in Fort Wayne. But Ubriaco, who has had a number of injuries hamper his efforts as well as an unbalanced schedule, looked for better things to come.The game in Fort Wayne was the Admirals&rsquo; 36th road game of the season. They have just four more. At home, the Admirals have 14 remaining. And while the closing rush may not see Milwaukee improve its position in the South Division, it should assure a playoff spot at least.Muskegon, the only threat to the Admirals in making the eight-team postseason party is 16 points back. But the Mohawks have just seven home games left as opposed to 10 on the road.Milwaukee managed just six victories in their 36 road games thus far. They tied three and dropped 27. At home, Milwaukee has skated at a 10-10-6 clip.Ubriaco is confident the Admirals will perform much better over the final 14 home dates. The schedule thus far has made most of the home games like road games. The Admirals would play on the road Sunday night and at home Monday. There were times when the visiting team arrived in Milwaukee ahead of the Admirals.GRAND RAPIDS: As expected, the Owls aren&rsquo;t the same team without John Flesch, captain Rick Dorman and Dean Magee. And manager-coach Moe Bartoli is fearful the Owls may not be the same again. At least there&rsquo;s a possibility the current indefinite suspension of the three could be extended through the balance of the season for one or more of the talented trio.The three were placed on indefinite suspension for involvement in an incident with referee Tod Larson. A hearing is scheduled to determine the length of the suspension. Indications are that Flesch and Dorman are in the most danger of having played their last game for the Owls this season.Minus Flesch, Dorman and Magee the Owls dropped two of three for the week. Flint snapped the Owls&rsquo; recordbreaking 27-game unbeaten string at home, 7-2. The Owls regrouped to whip Saginaw, 6-2, at home before losing at Port Huron, 7-2. The 1-2-0 week saw the Owls&rsquo; lead over second-place Fort Wayne cut to seven points. The Komets also have a game in hand.FORT WAYNE: The Komets snapped out of a mild slump with a four-game winning streak. After losing the fifth game at Kalamazoo, the Komets bounced back with a 9-4 win at home over Milwaukee. The surge pulled the Komets to within seven points of frontskating Grand Rapids.Veteran Al Dumba led the charge with seven goals in the five games. Barry Scully and Stu Ostlund pumped in five over the same stretch and rookie Dave Ross got four.TOLEDO: Lack of consistency still is a matter of concern for manager-coach Ted Garvin. The week&rsquo;s action provided a good example of same.The Diggers went on a goal-scoring spree against Milwaukee, whipping the Admirals by a 15-4 score. The 15 goals are a club record as are the nine goals scored in the final period. Veteran Len Fontaine led the attack with three goals as every Digger in the lineup with the exception of the goalie scored at least one point.The following night Saginaw invaded the Ice Arena and ended a nine-game losing streak with a 7-2 verdict.KALAMAZOO: The K-Wings had another perfect week as they continue to be the hottest club in the league as the season winds down to playoff time.The K-Wings won a big game at Flint, 5-2, then posted successive home victories over Fort Wayne, 6-4, and Muskegon, 6-1.The three-game sweep boosted the K-Wings current undefeated string to 11, one shy of the club record.PORT HURON: If Kalamazoo is the hottest team in the league, Port Huron is the second best. The Flags matched Kalamazoo&rsquo;s 3-0 week to remain just a point behind the K-Wings. The Flags whipped Milwaukee, 5-1, and Grand Rapids, 7-2, in home games while nipping Flint, 4-3, on the road.SAGINAW: The Gears ended their nine-game losing streak in a most unlikely place&mdash;on the road in Toledo. The Gears apparently caught the Diggers a little off guard. Toledo had whipped Milwaukee, 15-4, the night before and had nothing left as the Gears skated to a 7-2 victory.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01373/4348158-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="559" height="680"><figcaption class="caption-body">ALDUMBA&hellip;Seven-Goal Week</figcaption></div>FLINT: The Generals ended a demanding road trip on a winning note&mdash;then went flat at home. Following an impressive, 7-4 victory at Grand Rapids, the Generals lost consecutive home games to Kalamazoo, 5-2, and Port Huron, 4-3.MUSKEGON: The Mohawks are finding victory more often but not often enough to create much excitement among other league members. Muskegon was 1-2-0 for the week, the victory coming over Saginaw, 4-3, at home. The Mohawks also lost a high-scoring affair to Fort Wayne at home, 8-6, before closing out the week with a 6-1 loss at Kalamazoo. &#9632;

f0034-01

Admirals Expect Smooth Sailing On Home Ice

<div class="byline">GALLMEIER&#x2014;</div>DAYTON&mdash;The International Hockey League accepted a franchise fee of $125,000 from Dayton during its semi-annual meeting. The fee represents an increase of $25,000. Dayton has applied for reinstatement after suspending the franchise for two seasons. The league will make a decision soon&mdash;and it is expected the franchise will be reactivated.In other league matters, the governors set playoff dates. Playoffs will start no later than April 13 and first-round action must end by April 24. Semifinals will start April 27 and end May 6. The championship series will begin by May 9 and end on May 20 at the latest.Eight of the nine teams qualify for the playoffs. &#9632;

IHL Accepts $125,000 Dayton Franchise Fee

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0035-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01351/4348220-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02284/4348213-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="561" height="243"></div> &#9632;

f0035-01

Looking At The Minor League Scoreboard

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03213/4348251-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="520" height="1061"></div> &#9632;

Search for your favorite player or team

March 30, 1979

Cats Claw Towards Playoff Spot

The Hockey News

College Playoffs

Graves Criticizes Canucks’ Coach After Demotion But Neale Unfazed