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

April 6, 1979

The Hockey News April 6, 1979

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;Vancouver Canucks have sunk so low, that even the critics can no longer be critical. Hope has been replaced by despair and a possible playoff position for the Smythe Division club has been suplanted by a fear that the team will again tank it in the last 10 games.Harry Neale cannot understand it. Jake Milford came back from Finland and nearly passed out when he watched the performance of the club.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s happened to us in the last two weeks,&rdquo; said Milford. &ldquo;Earlier in the year we were playing a lot better than this.&rdquo;Milford made those comments when he was watching his team drop a 3-1 decision at home to the Colorado Rockies, the eighth consecutive game Canucks had gone without a victory.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s obvious we&rsquo;re at our lowest ebb in our confidence,&rdquo; said Neale. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not scoring goals nad it&rsquo;s obvious we&rsquo;re a tired bunch. I hear the veterans saying that they can&rsquo;t seem to find their legs. I don&rsquo;t know whether we&rsquo;re not in good enough shape or we&rsquo;re too tired, I know we were in better shape than a lot of the teams we played just before the All Star break, but I don&rsquo;t think that is the case any more.&rdquo;Of particular concern to Neale and Milford has to be the team&rsquo;s apparent folding routine, which has seen them suddenly appear to be in danger of losing the final playoff spot in the holiday division.It has happened two years in a row, and if it happens again, it would make it a hat trick in terms of gassing playoff spots in the final month of the season. Blues, two trailed Canucks by as much as 12 points, closed to within five and appear to be playing vastly superior hockey. A key showdown came in Vancouver when the teams met for the final time on March 21.Canucks have been hit by an avalanche of injuries, but with the exception of Chris Oddleifson and possibly Bill Derlago and Glen Hanlon for the last five games at the most, it&rsquo;s the players they have now who will have to carry the load.&ldquo;This is the team that will have to do it for us,&rdquo; said Neale. &ldquo;Derlago and Hanlon will only be back for a short time, if at all before the playoffs. We&rsquo;ve got to get back to playing the way we were earlier, that&rsquo;s all there is to it.&rdquo;Some of the injuries have been odd cases indeed. Oddleifson looks like he is going to miss over four weeks with a charley-horse. Pit Martin, though back now, is just seeing spot duty, and he injured himself Jan. 14 an incredible amount of time to be out with a seemingly minor ankle problem.Neale has been forced into using an odd combination of lines, all of them equally ineffective of late. On one, he has three left wingers, Brad Gassoff playing on the right and Don Lever at center. Jere Gillis gets to play the left side.The latest injuries include a pulled abductor or thigh muscle to Jack Mcllhargey, the club&rsquo;s policeman who&rsquo;s had three, separate serious injuries in one year.Milford meanwhile, could hardly be blamed for heading over to Finland. With the way the NHL draft is looking this year, a first round pick might not be worth too much.In his travels, Milford did sign former Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; center Veli Pekka Ketola for the remainder of this season.&ldquo;I signed him for the rest of this season, and we have the option on his services for the next two years,&rdquo; said Milford. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a big, strong player who carried the puck well and might be just what we need. He might have trouble fitting in with Harry Neale&rsquo;s approach to the game because he doesn&rsquo;t check all that well. But it was certainly worth a try, because he&rsquo;s the kind of guy who will stand in the slot and he can handle the rough stuff. He&rsquo;s about 215 pounds.&rdquo;Milford also has the option of signing Swedish forward Harold Luckner before June 1, but he did not get to Sweden on his trip. Canucks drafted Luckner in the fourth round of last year&rsquo;s NHL draft, but Milford said he plans to wait until after the World Championships before making a decision.While everything is pretty bleak for the team, one area in which they have improved their behavior is in killing penalties. Gillis and Lever have been doing most of the work of front along with some help from Bob Manno and Martin, the result being that they have given up only two power play goals in their last 11 games. The only problem is that they have given up just as many shorthanded goals while on the power play.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01800/4367635-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="546" height="585"><figcaption class="caption-body">VELI-PEKKA KETOLA&hellip;Strong Pivot</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Canucks Leary Of Annual Late-Season Slump

<h2>NHL Parity? WHA Should Abstain</h2>The NHL bigshots are screaming for parity in their league. Why would they then accept four teams from the WHA that they plan to decimate? Their proposal is very absurd if they have any plans for parity. Giving the WHA teams two goalies (which are abundant), two skaters (hardly enough to build a team around), and any signed free agents (which the NHL throws out) would not give these four teams any solid base to build a team on. It would take at least five years to build any kind of a respectable team from this. The NHL will then have four more cripples on their hands.Out of the deal, established franchises like Montreal, Boston and Toronto will pick up players like Marc Tardif, Peter Sullivan, Mark Howe, Terry Ruskowski, Stan Weir, and Rick Ley, who will be kicking around these organizations when WHA teams could use them for a foundation. All this is doing it taking from the poor and giving to the rich.The WHA&rsquo;s best bet would be to reject the NHL&rsquo;s offer if it stays as first suggested. There will have to be some serious negotiations or else the WHA will get its face slaped again by accepting a ridiculous offer.BRENT ELLCHUK, Elphinstone, Man. &#9632;

LETTER OF THE WEEK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01356/4368976-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="481" height="955"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02289/4368969-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="483" height="496"></div> &#9632;

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Looking At The Minor League Scoreboard

BOWLING GREEN&mdash;Bowling Green Falcons, champions of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association for a second straight year, dominated the 1978-79 league All Star teams and individual awards.The Falcons placed four on the first team, one on the second and won the player of the year award, Ken Morrow, the best rookie in George McPhee and had the coach of the year in Ron Mason.Here are the CCHA All Star teams:<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02313/4368690-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="504" height="531"><figcaption class="caption-body">KEN MORROW&hellip;Player Of Year</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03220/4368683-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="1065" height="804"></div> &#9632;

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Bowling Green Squad Dominates All Stars

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01715/4369293-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

Cover-01

The Hockey News THE INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY VOL. 32 NO. 27 APRIL 6, 1979 64522 $1.00

<h2>THE NHL&hellip;</h2>Atlanta&hellip;&hellip;4Boston&hellip;&hellip;9Buffalo&hellip;&hellip;8Chicago&hellip;&hellip;20Colorado&hellip;&hellip;21Detroit&hellip;&hellip;6Los Angeles&hellip;&hellip;8Minnesota&hellip;&hellip;15Montreal&hellip;&hellip;10N.Y. Islanders&hellip;&hellip;5N.Y. Rangers&hellip;&hellip;18Philadelphia&hellip;&hellip;13Pittsburgh&hellip;&hellip;11St. Louis&hellip;&hellip;7Toronto &hellip;&hellip;17Vancouver&hellip;&hellip;17Washington&hellip;&hellip;19<h2>THE WHA&hellip;</h2>Birmingham&hellip;&hellip;25Cincinnati&hellip;&hellip;6Edmonton&hellip;&hellip;24New England&hellip;&hellip;25Quebec &hellip;&hellip;25Winnipeg&hellip;&hellip;27<h2>OTHER LEAGUES&hellip;</h2>Colleges&hellip;&hellip;29American&hellip;&hellip;32Central&hellip;&hellip;33International&hellip;&hellip;34Ontario Major&hellip;&hellip;36North Eastern&hellip;&hellip;28WHL&hellip;&hellip;37Quebec Major&hellip;&hellip;38Pacific League&hellip;&hellip;39COLUMNISTS&hellip;Ken McKenzie&hellip;&hellip;4Bob Verdi.3<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;38Hockey School News&hellip;&hellip;39 &#9632;

Where To Find It…

CHICAGO&mdash;Edmonton Oilers will take no chances of losing their 18-year-old super center Wayne Gretzky on a technicality.Gretzky does not have to be protected for the eventual expansion draft, because no NHL team now owns his pro rights. But he will be one of Oiler&rsquo;s four protected players.The NHL board did have some discussions, initiated by Montreal Canadiens, that Gretzky (and 18-year-old Michel Goulet of Birmingham Bulls) should be included in this year&rsquo;s amateur draft. Oilers will be allowed to keep Gretzky, who is on a long term, personal services contract which owner Peter Pocklington bought from Nelson Skalbania, owner of the now-defunct Indianapolis Racers.Goulet will go in the &lsquo;79 draft. Both players would have been eligible for the 1981 selections.Oilers are also expected to protect goalies Dave Dryden, 33-year-old brother of Canadiens&rsquo; Ken, and Eddie Mio, plus either defenseman Dave Langevin or Blair McDonald.Quebec Nordiques will retain goalies Jim Corsi and Richard Brodeur, plus forwards Real Cloutier and Marc Tardif. Winnipeg Jets will guard goalies Markus Matsson and Joe Daley, forwards Terry Ruskowski and Morris Lukowich. New England&rsquo;s choices will be goalies Al Smith and John Garrett, plus defenseman Gord Roberts and winger Mark Howe.Among the 45 WHA owned players who will remain with the new NHL expansion teams will be Robbie Ftorek. The Cincinnati super star is not on any NHL list although he was once the property of the Detroit Red Wings. He&rsquo;ll be up for grabs among the four WHA teams entering the NHL. &#9632;

Gretzky To Remain Property Of Oilers

MONTREAL&mdash;TWO divisional titles and one conference championship have been decided for the 1978-79 National Hockey League season but with only two weeks remaining in the regular schedule, many other positions have yet to be determined.New York Islanders, with a league-leading 106 points, are the Clarence Campbell Conference champions and Patrick Division winners this season. The Islanders receive 21 units of $2,500 each for the Conference championship plus another 21 units each of $2,500 as Patrick Division winners.Montreal Canadiens have won the Norris Division title, (21 units of $2,500 each) and need two points&mdash;or a loss by Boston&mdash;to clinch the Prince of Wales Conference championship for a fourth straight season and the Prince of Wales Trophy for the 20th time. The Wales Conference champions also receive 21 units of $2,500 each.Boston Bruins lead the Adams Division with 92 points, 11 more than second-place Buffalo Sabres, and any combination of four points will clinch the title for Bruins. In the fourth division, the Smythe, Chicago Black Hawks need a combination of three to become champions. They have 65 points, 10 more than Vancouver Canucks, who have six games left to play.Divisional champions earn a bye into the quarter-final round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Each division&rsquo;s second-place team plus the next four teams in order of points, regardless of division, take part in the best-of-three preliminary round. These eight teams are ranked in order of final standing points and the team with the most points plays the team with the fewest; the team with the second-highest point total plays the team with the seventh-highest; etc.If any teams are tied in points at the end of the regular schedule, the tie is broken 1) by the team with the most wins over-all; 2) by the team winning the season&rsquo;s series between the tied clubs; 3) by the team with the most goals in the season series between the tied clubs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02965/4366832-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="457" height="507"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRYAN TROTTIER</figcaption></div>Heading into the final two weeks of the season, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, New York Rangers and Vancouver are the second-place teams while the wild-card leaders are Philadelphia, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Toronto. Minnesota is the only other team which has a chance of gaining a wild-card berth. North Stars have 65 points with eight games to play, which means they could overhaul Pittsburgh, Los Angeles or Toronto which have 77, 73 and 72 points, respectively.Meanwhile, Bryan Trottier of New York Islanders continues to lead the individual points parade with 121 and the Montreal Canadiens have the Vezina Trophy lead. &#9632;

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Playoff Placings Up In Air With NHL

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011083/4366753-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Minnesota coach Herb Brooks holds National Collegiate Athletic Association hockey championship plaque while surrounded by his joyous Gopher players. Minnesota climaxed an uphill climb to the national title by defeating the University of New Hampshire, 4-3 and North Dakota by the same score in Detroit&rsquo;s Olympia.</figcaption></div>DETROIT&mdash;The University of Minnesota parlayed outstanding goaltending, team speed, and a pinch of downright meanness into its third National Collegiate Athletic Association Division One championship in the last seven years, defeating the Universities of New Hampshire and North Dakota by identical 4-3 scores in the Detroit Olympia.The Gophers got a hat trick from junior Eric Strobel in their Thursday night tussle with New Hampshire, the ECAC champion who deserved better. After 2:10 of the first period, it was 2-0 in favor of the Gophers. UNH cranked up and outplayed U of M the rest of the way, hurling 40 shots at goalie Steve Janaszak. But they just fell short once again.In the Friday night semi-final, heavily favored North Dakota played its usual game and came away with a 4-2 win over Dartmouth. The Sioux were aggressive and physical, if you&rsquo;re a Westerner; they were cheap and dirty, if you&rsquo;re an Easterner. At any rate, it was the superior talent of the McNaughton Cup winners, not their tactics of intimidation, that forced a couple of breaks and gave them the win.Dartmouth shook off the effects of their rugged Friday game and dumped UNH 7-3 in the Saturday afternoon consolation, coming from a 3-1 second period deficit after the Wildcats packed up their bags with 35 minutes of hockey yet to play.The final game was really two contests. In the first period of occasionally controlled mayham, the Gophers out-Siouxed the Sious, banging them around the Olympia with elbow, stick, leg, skate and glove. Though North Dakota did get a power play goal from Bill Himmelright, the Gophers killed off four other penalties with impunity and scored three times themselves on senior goalie Bill Stankoven.Steve Christoff stepped through two defenders to beat Stankoven with a high backhand at 4:11, and John Meredith connected to the same spot high to the glove side less than four minutes later. Himmelright&rsquo;s goal came with 2:50 to play in the period, but defenseman Bill Baker got the one back at 19:22. After Don Micheletti out raced Sioux penalty killers into the corner, for the puck, Baker broke from his left point position and took a perfect feed at the crease. It was basic textbook hockey, which the Gophers remembered to play while bumping heads.For the second period, it was hand-back time, with the emphasis on position and defensive play. The tactic worked except for a fluke carom goal by Kevin Maxwell from the side of the cage which made it 3-2 at the second intermission.Minnesota&rsquo;s speed came back on in the third, with freshman Neal Broten scoring the winner at 2:48. Breaking through two defenders on the left wing, Broten was hauled down but swiped at the puck as he fell. It bounded over startled goalie Bob Iwabuchi into the cage. Coach John Gasparini had inserted the freshman in Stankoven&rsquo;s place after the first period.Defenseman Mark Chorney scored through a screen halfway through the final frame, and the Sioux did manage some good shots on Janaszak in the closing moments. Steve reverted to the form he showed on Thursday night, coming up with some fine glove saves, and the title went back to Minneapolis, which is where many had predicted it would end up, back in crystal ball season.New Hampshire actually gave Minnesota a better game. Or, you might buy the insistence that the Gophers played very poorly in their Thursday night win. The truth is that the skillful UNH forwards controlled the game for long stretches with their stickhandling and passing, pressuring Janaszak repeatedly and making Minnesota appear disorganized at times. But a couple of offensive bursts, resulting in goals gave the needed edge to the WCHA runnersup.The national anthem&rsquo;s echoes had just died away in the virtually empty, Olympia when Steve Christoff took a center ice feed in full stride, accelerated around the left side of the UNH defense, and crossed in front of Greg Moffett for a quick backhand flip for a score at 0:35.Moffett robbed Robbie McClanahan at 1:20 with a sparkling let save, but Strobel was back 50 seconds later to steam into the zone and unleash a 30-foot slap shot that made it 2-0. The teams then traded power play goals, with UNH&rsquo;s Bob Francis knocking home a corner pass from Bob Gould and Strobel capping off a 3-on-2 rush with a high slap shot while his linemates each occupied a UNH defenseman.The second period was all New Hampshire, as the Cats took a 15-7 shot edge. Ralph Cox mustered the only goal of the frame at 18:36,however, after Francis won a faceoff in Minnesota zone and fed him atop the circle.The early third period belonged to Minnesota, and Strobel&rsquo;s lightning speed gave him the goal scoring chance. Catching a pass at center ice, he again circled the left side of the defense to bear in on goal unmolested. The goal came at 1:53, and though UNH woke up at the 10-minute mark and got one power play score the rest of the way, goalmouth passes just missed and Janaszak was equal to a few other good bids.But after all, New Hampshire was the ECAC champion, and a close game was expected. Shouldn&rsquo;t little Dartmouth have run and hid from the Green Meanies the next night? With their tremendous goalie, wave on wave of professional size forwards and their facility at penalty killing, the Sioux and their fans were expecting a cakewalk.They got the cake alright, but had to skate full speed to obtain it against Dartmouth&rsquo;s unorthodox forechecking style and refusal to be intimidated.Dartmouth drew first blood&mdash;figuratively&mdash;at 12:39 when Chip Bettenbourt faked his way around the defense and poked in his own rebound. But the NoDaks scored a specialty&mdash;a shorthanded goal&mdash;a little over two minutes later when defenseman Howard Walker beat goalie Bob Gaudet from a bag angle along the left boards.The first half of the second frame was the eventual key to the game. The Sioux could mount no shots on Gaudet, as they couldn&rsquo;t solve the Dartmouth checking patterns. But the visitors couldn&rsquo;t crack Iwabuchi either, and the Sioux got their break at 9:18 when Erwin Martens cleared the puck to center, poked the bouncing disc around Bob Grant, then outraced Gaudet to it halfway in the Dartmouth zone. With the goalie out of the cage, Martens poked the puck home and the Sioux took the lead for good. A power play goal at 19:21 made it 3-1 after two.The teams swapped goals in a fairly even third period for the final margin of 4-2.Dartmouth coach George Crowe marveled at the talent on the Sioux squad, but offered the opinion that if they were playing in the East &ldquo;they&rsquo;d be in the penalty box the whole game.&rdquo; John Gasparini called Dartmouth &ldquo;an excellent team.&rdquo;NCAA NOTES: The final records of the participant teams: Minnesota 32-111, North Dakota 30-11-1, Dartmouth 19-9-2, New Hampshire 22-10-3&hellip;Attendance was very poor, with the three events drawing 2,743, 4,101, and 7,011&hellip;With no Michigan school participating, and with Wisconsin eliminated, just a relative handful of fans from each school made the trek to Motown&hellip;A few Badger rooters showed up anyway and hung a sign from the balcony: &ldquo;Wisconsin is Here, in Spirit(s)&rdquo;&hellip;It was the 17th all-West final in the 32-year history of the tourney&hellip;Not many Eastern coaches made the trip&hellip;Missed especially was the wit and wisdom of Jim Salfi, who recently resigned his coaching post at RPl&hellip;Jim has been the East&rsquo;s most energetic and opioninated spokesman at NCAA meetings and committee functions in recent years. Amo Bessone, just retired from Michigan State, hosted a party each evening.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01359/4366746-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="1181" height="1171"><figcaption class="caption-body">Photos by Bill Kozerski & Mark BuryeMinnesota goaler Steve Janaszak, who was chosen the tournament MVP and All Star netminder, proudly holds the NCAA trophy at right after sparking Gophers to title. Minnesota coach Herb Brooks, above, and his players accept congratulations at center ice after trophy presentation ceremony. It marked second time in last four years Brooks&rsquo; team won it all.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02274/4366739-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="1176" height="1535"></div> &#9632;

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Minnesota Tough In Narrow Wins En Route To NCAA Ice Supremacy

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02932/4366894-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="589" height="3140"></div> &#9632;

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WHA Players Owned By NHL

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011091/4366863-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">GORDIE HOWE&hellip; Exempt From Any Drafts</figcaption></div>CHICAGO&mdash;The war is over. Only a few unsettled proposals remained to be settled to end the long, costly hockey struggle between the National Hockey League and World Hockey Association that will be culminated, probably in the next 10 days, with the realization of a one-major league format that many predicted would never happen.The NHL board of governors must now meet to approve modifications requested by the WHA in the final proposals that will send the WHA into all-time oblivion and increase the NHL from 17 to 21 teams for the 1979-80 season.If the NHL barons approve the WHA request for changes in the payment schedule of $6 million per team in expansion fees&mdash;the NHL originally proposed the four WHA clubs pay $1 million immediately and $5 million by June 1&mdash;then the way will be cleared for New England 5 Whalers, Winnipeg Jets, Quebec Nordiques and Edmonton Oilers to become a part of the NHL.The WHA cannot expect the final hour to pass without an emotional last-ditch bid by the three NHL desenters&mdash;Boston, Toronto and Los Angeles&mdash;to have the so-called merger squashed. All three teams will make one more attempt to acquire the negative vote they didn&rsquo;t get when the NHL voted 17-3 to approve the expansion plan. Only a three-quarters major vote is needed to swing the deal.Paul Mooney of Boston, who had threatened to sue the NHL if the merger went through, still maintained it was no good for the league. &ldquo;We remain opposed to any expansion of the league because the player source just isn&rsquo;t big enough to produce 21 competitive teams,&rdquo; added Mooney.NHL president John Ziegler, who is a pro-expansionist, says the league&rsquo;s legal staff will work out the final requests by the WHA. The four new NHL teams asked that their expansion payments be spread out over a 12-month period. The NHL, according to Ziegler, will also try to work out an arrangement under which $1 million of the expansion fee would come from the WHA&rsquo;s share of future NHL revenue in which all 21 teams share, including television, program sales and games with international teams.&ldquo;All areas of disagreement have been identified in our discussions. Our league had unilaterally prepared a proposal on expansion without understanding some of the specific problems the WHA clubs faced. Now that we&rsquo;ve thoroughly discussed the matter and appreciate their problems, we can make the necessary changes to make the proposal acceptable to them and to us.&rdquo;WHA president Howard Baldwin feels that the changes which his league has requested should be acceptable to the NHL governors.&ldquo;The original proposal as presented to us was unacceptable,&rdquo; Baldwin said. &ldquo;But we feel that with some fairly minor modifications it will be fine for everyone. If the NHL board can&rsquo;t go along with the changes, then I guess the merger will be off.&rdquo;&ldquo;Basically, the two leagues have reached an agreement on the important issues (money, player rights),&rdquo; said Peter Pocklington, owner of the Edmonton Oilers.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve simply requested some small changes to make the agreement easier to execute. Any hangup in agreement here was financial&mdash;not the amount of money but the way it is paid.&rdquo;The WHA teams quickly discovered in the negotiations that the NHL wouldn&rsquo;t bend in most areas of the proposal, notably the question of player rights&mdash;the number of players each WHA club could protect and the NHL rights to players on WHA teams held by NHL clubs.Each WHA team will be permitted to protect two goalies and two skaters plus the 45 WHA players whose NHL rights are not held by NHL teams. The NHL clubs will take back the players they want but must protect them in an expansion draft.&ldquo;It was obvious that the NHL wouldn&rsquo;t bend an inch on the question of player rights,&rdquo; said John Ferguson, vice-president and general manager of Winnipeg Jets.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t like the two and two protection arrangement but we&rsquo;ll have to live with it.&rdquo;Although there are 82 WHA players whose rights are held by NHL clubs, only a small number will be taken back by the NHL teams. If they do recover the players, they must then protect them in the expansion draft.When the merger is accomplished, the NHL must then deal with its players&rsquo; association and executive-director Alan Eagleson. The Eagle has stated that the NHLPA will want half of the $24 million in expansion fees to be slotted for the players&rsquo; pension plan.The merger of the two leagues also will invalidate the NHL&rsquo;s collective bargaining agreement with the players&rsquo; group, according to Eagleson.That will lead to a lengthy negotiation on a new deal. Eagleson will insist on changes in the free agent rules to allow the players greater freedom of movement because the disappearance of the WHA reduces their bargaining power.Eagleson wants a set compensation of draft choices and cash based on the players&rsquo; salary for workers who change teams as free agents.And the grand old man of hockey&mdash;Gordie Howe&mdash;won&rsquo;t have to be concerned about any draft. He&rsquo;s been exempted by mutual agreement of both leagues and he will continue to play&mdash;if he doesn&rsquo;t retire at age 51&mdash;with sons Mark and Marty. There&rsquo;s only one loophole&mdash;Marty is one of the 82 players whose rights are held by NHL teams and he could go in a draft to the Detroit Red-Wings.However, many feel that a prearranged deal between New England and Detroit&mdash;will allow the three Howes to play together for the family&rsquo;s first united appearance in the NHL. &#9632;

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Seven-Year Hockey War Almost Over

<div class="byline">&#x2014; BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03633/4366925-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="307" height="450"></div>Seven years and 28 cities ago, the World Hockey Association was born, a glimmer in the wallet of Gary Davidson, wherever he is. All you needed to get a franchise was faith, hope, $25,000 and a zip code.Well, the WHA has come a long way for a baby. Last week in Chicago, where many, many interesting elections have been held, the National Hockey League voted for the first time to extend an olive branch to the rival which, in no uncertain terms, has helped create chaos on ice since 1972.Will the WHA buy it?Well, if it does, it will cost untold millions to fold the tent and provide for the four healthiest franchises&mdash;New England, Edmonton, Quebec and Winnipeg&mdash;the NHL label they have craved since Day One.To wit: $6 million entry fee for each of the new clubs. Plus the guarantee of having no less than $1.5 million each in operating capital for the first year. Plus the indemnification to departed brothers in Birmingham and Cincinnati, totalling about $6 million. Plus enough stray bucks to pay for the WHA players who are left out of work after the revised 21-team solidifies its rosters.&ldquo;The whole thing will cost us $35 million,&rdquo; said one WHA official. &ldquo;And the bulk of the payoff wouldn&rsquo;t be over the long haul, either. It would be now for a lot of it. &ldquo;But&hellip;But the WHA has been promising its fans in all cities that the NHL crest would be a reality someday soon. For that reason, the new guys on the block may surrender to NHL terms&mdash;which are, to say the least, steep.Not that WHA pockets are empty. All four applicants are surviving quite well, if not very well. Edmonton has a first place team and a first class building&mdash;maybe the best in Canada. Quebec is a hockey-crazed area, and Winnipeg has received a healthy pledge toward building in its old building, merger or no. And as for the Whalers, well, they&rsquo;re in the good hands of Aetna Life and Casualty Insurance Co., which reported a net income last year of merely $569 million.Aetna, based in Hartford, has a 25 percent interest in the Whalers, which means it has a large interest in the WHA. The company already has agreed to underwrite a $50 million bond which would free the new NHL from fear of lawsuits. Lord knows, there have been enough of those.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a big plus in their favor,&rdquo; said NHL president John Ziegler.&rsquo; quite aware that Aetna spends many advertising dollars on many United States television channels. Aetna&rsquo;s bankroll impressed NHL governors. Money always does.Unlike the National Basketball Association, which gained numerous stars in its marriage with the American Basketball Association, the NHL would not be blessed with a plethora of new luminaries.&ldquo;There are maybe eight or nine players in their whole league who will be any good in our league,&rdquo; huffed Harold Ballard, blustry owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs and one of only three negative votes (Boston and Los Angeles were the others) in the 14-3 expansion approval by the NHL.&ldquo;Meanwhile, we add four new teams to the 17 in our league, which already has enough problems and enough lousy teams. Here we are in Chicago where they draw only 9,000 for the New York Rangers. How many will they draw for the Edmonton Oilers? Who the hell are the Edmonton Oilers?&rdquo;The Boston Bruins tend to agree.&ldquo;They say that the merger will end the bidding war,&rdquo; said Boston managing director Harry Sinden. &ldquo;Well, that&rsquo;s just not true. It&rsquo;s the free agents who are driving up the salaries now. The WHA did nothing to do with Rogie Vachon, did it? I&rsquo;m not worried about how much the Quebec Nordiques are going to pay for a free agent. I&rsquo;m worried about the New York Rangers. They&rsquo;re crazy.&rdquo;But the pros outweighed the cons, because most NHL clubs&mdash;for personal interests, bank interests or interests in the game&mdash;figure that merger, (amalgamation, annexation, expansion or whatever) will be the only answer.It could, perhaps, shoot a hole in the balloon which has become proliferating salaries. It will eliminate agents playing one league against another when time comes for a client to sign. And it will mean a common draft of junior players out of Canada. No longer will a raw-boned kid who can&rsquo;t shoot a backhand be moved out of the north woods at age 18 by a dollar-slinging WHA club which wants to beat the NHL to the doorstep.The bottom line might be better development of players&rsquo; skills at the lower levels of hockey. And certainly, after the Challenge Cup embarrassment of February, everybody who was anybody in hockey wondered why the Soviets all of a sudden were doing everything better than we were.For that price, and the usual price of your hockey ticket, folks in NHL cities will have to exchange a visit by the Canadiens for a visit by iter Jets and a visit by the Bruins for a visit by the Whalers. Balanced schedule is the plan: 21 teams play the other 20 four times each, two here, two there.That, indeed, is a stiff price to pay for the fans. But not as stiff a price as the WHA has to pay. Can the WHA afford to do it? After promising customers that the NHL is just around the corner, the question is, can the WHA afford not to do it?&ldquo;We&rsquo;re getting raped,&rdquo; noticed John Ferguson, general manger of the Jets. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s the only answer for hockey.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be very expensive for us, but there is no alternative,&rdquo; added Peter Pocklington, boss of the Edmonton Oilers. &ldquo;We can end the silly hassling between the leagues and put all our efforts into building one league.&rdquo;The WHA clubs were told last week that they will be able to protect only two skaters and two goalies each&mdash; &ldquo;which is swell,&rdquo; said one WHA general manager, &ldquo;because most of us don&rsquo;t even have one goalie to protect.&rdquo; All 45 players in the WHA who don&rsquo;t belong to any NHL club&mdash;such as Cincinnati star Robbie Ftorek&mdash;would be swallowed up by the four expansion teams.The Nordiques would join the Adams Division; the Whalers would go to the Norris; the Jets and Oilers would be part of the mighty Smythe. Somebody said that all but five of 21 teams will make the playoffs, bul let&rsquo;s hope somebody was joking.Is this the answer? Well, a better one might be to put the two leagues under one roof but wind up with fewer than 21 teams. There are too many non-entities now in the NHL and WHA. Will the new WHA clubs be competitive? Well, not all expansion teams have been any bargain. The Islanders paid $11 million in 1972 for the privilege of winning 12 games. So, you can see, the NHL has held intra-league rapes, too. &#9632;

f0003-03

WHA Pays Price To Become Part Of 21-Team NHL

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011142/4366984-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="395" height="454"></div>&bull; THE BIGGEST problem connected with the inclusion of the four World Hockey Association teams into the National Hockey League lies with the player rights and the protected lists to be filed by the four expansionists. Although it was expected that many of the details of the agreement between the two leagues would be cleared up within two weeks of the marathon Chicago meetings where the NHL offered their proposal to the WHA, the player rights issue may drag on into the summer meetings&hellip; Who can blame the WHA franchises for not wanting to see their clubs reduced to two goaltenders and two players, plus anyone else who has not been drafted by an NHL team. Quebec Nordiques, for example, would have to choose to protect Marc Tardif and Real Cloutier and risk losing a fine scorer like Serge Bernier&hellip;On the other hand, after the NHL clubs claim the players they had drafted earlier, there will be a subsequent draft in June to bring all of the WHA clubs up to 15 players and two goaltenders where the present NHL clubs will be allowed to protect only 15 skaters and two goaltenders, with first-year pros exempt&hellip;That was a nice touch exempting Gordie Howe from any of the drafts which may take place before the start of the 1979-80 season. Although nobody knows how long he&rsquo;ll keep playing, it would be nice to see him finish with the Whalers and sons Mark and Marty, if the latter if not claimed by Detroit Red Wings&hellip;No one is discounting the possibility that Quebec&rsquo;s Real Cloutier might reach the 80-goal mark this season. He had an amazing 71 goals in his first 68 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021095/4366977-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="283" height="494"><figcaption class="caption-body">Serge Bernier</figcaption></div>&bull; WHEN IT COMES time for kudos in the New York Rangers&rsquo; camp, don&rsquo;t overlook the contributions of assistant coach Mike Nykoluk. While general manager and coach for this year, Fred Shero, will undoubtedly receive many plaudits for the thoroughly enjoyable turnaround exhibited by the Rangers this season, it has been &ldquo;right-hand man&rdquo; &lsquo;Nykoluk who&rsquo;s been drilling the team during practices and running the show. Shero is more in the limelight handling &lsquo;w bench duties come game-time&hellip;Brent Peterson, the second draft choice of the Detroit Red Wings (11th overall) behind Willie Huber, who appeared in just five games for the team this year before breaking his leg on Oct. 13, finally resumed skating recently, more than five months after the accident&hellip;The 35th Annual Minnesota High School Hockey Tournament drew 100,902 fans to its three-day, eight-team event, the highest total in its history. Some 19,145 fans attended the first round afternoon session, the largest crowd to attend a high school hockey game in Minnesota. Edina East captured the event with a 4-3 overtime victory over Rochester Marshall&hellip;New York Islanders have the most effective power play in the NHL and Denis Potvin continues to play a key role in its efficiency. He has been on the ice for all 43 of the Islanders&rsquo; power plays this year in the games he had played (he missed six games with a shoulder injury) and ar incredible total of 341 of 352 power play goals since he&rsquo;s been playing.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03989/4366970-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="279" height="497"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Nykoluk</figcaption></div>&bull; THE ELEVENTH Annual Tournament of Champions was held in Swift Current, Saskatchewan from March 23-26. This international midget tournament has spawned current professional stars such as Ed Staniowski of St. Louis Blues, Clark Gillies and Bryan Trottier of the New York Islanders, W. Dennis Sobchuk of the Edmonton Oilers, and many others. Staniowski, who played for the Moose Jaw Kinsmen was the tourney&rsquo;s top goaltender two years in a row&hellip;When the Detroit Red Wings defeated Chicago 5-3 on March 20 it brought the season&rsquo;s series to three wins and a tie in favor of Detroit. It was the first time in 53 years that the Black Hawks failed to register a win against the Wings&hellip;Bernie Parent won the Third Annual Class Guy Award, presented by the Philadelphia chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association. Still recovering fromthe eye injury which threatens his career, Parent couldn&rsquo;t attend the luncheon which attracted nearly 200, so his wife, Carol, accepted the plaque&hellip;Also at the luncheon, in a surprise presentation, Flyers&rsquo; GM Keith Allen was honored by the writers for his &ldquo;patience and cooperation&rdquo; over the years. Allen was described on the plaque as &ldquo;a gentleman for all seasons.&rdquo;&hellip;Detroit&rsquo;s Vaclav Nedomansky would have to rate very highly in any considerations for &ldquo;Comeback Player of the Year&rdquo; in the NHL. The 35-year-old Czechoslovakian native is headed for a 40-goal season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04887/4366963-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="281" height="491"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ed Staniowski</figcaption></div>&bull; A FIRST was recorded in the March 18 contest in Philadelphia between the Flyers and the St. Louis Blues. The Flyers won the game 5-3, which certainly wasn&rsquo;t a first, but they accomplished the victory without drawing a single penalty. It was the first penalty-free game in the history of the Flyers&rsquo; franchise&hellip;Boston Bruins&rsquo; Terry O&rsquo;Reilly, meanwhile, has surpassed the 1,000 mark in penalty minutes and has established a career record for the club. O&rsquo;Reilly, finishing up his seventh season with the Bruins stood at 1,054 penalty minutes with 10 games left on the schedule, surpassing the 1,037 mark set by Eddie Shore, who accomplished his total in 14 years with the team&hellip;Atlanta&rsquo;s Ken Houston is closing in on becoming the team&rsquo;s eighth 20-goal scorer, which would break the team record of seven set last year. Houston recently scored his 15th and 16th goals of the season and rookie Don Laurence is also in the running with 14 goals&hellip;Roy Mlakar has been named vice president of operations of the New Haven Nighthawks. Mlakar, who served as director of publicity and marketing with the club since 1977, began in hockey eight years ago with Cleveland in the American League&hellip;Earlier in the season, the Boston Bruins went through a stretch of 20 games in which they won 16 and tied two. Sensing complacency setting in, coach Don Cherry called a team meeting. &ldquo;I ranted and raved but I could tell it wasn&rsquo;t doing any good,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I went to Gerry Cheevers afterward and I said, &lsquo;You know when you&rsquo;re 16-2-2, nobody listens to you.&rsquo; And he says, &lsquo;What did you say?&rsquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05748/4366956-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="292" height="498"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ken Houston</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0004-01

PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="byline">BY AL SMITH</div>ATLANTA&mdash;Defenseman David Shand calls it the First Round Jinx. Fans in Atlanta call it the First Round Flop.Call it what you will, the fact remains in order to gain respectability around the National Hockey League, the Atlanta Flames have to make it out of the first round of the playoffs this season.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to get by that first round jinx to play with any confidence,&rdquo; Shand said. &ldquo;Then we can go from there. We&rsquo;ve only won one out of nine or 10 playoff games and it&rsquo;s hard to play with confidence with a record like that.&rdquo;Truer words were never spoken. The Flames&rsquo; record in post-season play is a humiliating 1-10 and they have never made it out of the preliminary round.Now, this is a different Atlanta team. A team with the ability to score goals and come from behind.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re still concerned with the chances we give the other team,&rdquo; Shand said. &ldquo;But now we can come back and make up two or three goals. We never had that potential before. We&rsquo;d get a couple of goals behind and it was all over.&rdquo;Shand&rsquo;s statement is backed by the fact the Flames are one of the leading scoring teams in the league this season. With 10 games remaining they had already scored nine goals more than they did for the entire 1977-78 season, they had their first 40-goal scorer (Guy Chouinard), had two players in the league&rsquo;s top ten scorers (Chouinard and Bob MacMillan), and had seven players with 20 or more goals.Yet, the Flames had given up more goals than any season in their seven-year history.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re playing a more wide open, exciting style of hockey,&rdquo; Shand said. &ldquo;Before we had to keep the other team from scoring four or five goals because we didn&rsquo;t have the fire power to keep up, now we do.&ldquo;Still we&rsquo;re concerned about the chances we give up, but it&rsquo;s a different style. At times we need to get more defensive-minded and not get caught in a skating contest. Our game is still an aggressive style, but now we can score, too.&rdquo;When it comes to scoring with the Atlanta Flames it is mostly done by the forwards. The Flames&rsquo; defensemen aren&rsquo;t known for their ability to put the puck in the net. With the regular season almost at an end Flames&rsquo; defensemen had scored only 24 goals, but Shand feels Atlanta gets enough scoring from its forwards.&ldquo;The key is for us to get stronger defensively,&rdquo; the 22-year-old, Cold Lake, Alberta native said. &ldquo;Our forwards give us enough goals, we&rsquo;ve got to keep the other team out of our end more.&rdquo;While Shand is still only 22 he became a veteran of sorts this season when he was teamed with rookie, 20-year-old Brad Marsh behind the blueline. The pair make up one of the youngest defensive tandems in the NHL, and one of the most durable.Shand missed one game this season&mdash;his first in 199 NHL games and Marsh has been on the ice for every Flames&rsquo; game.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve felt very comforable with Brad,&rdquo; Shand said. &ldquo;Things have worked out pretty well for us.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-06443/4367015-1-eng-US/f0004-062.jpg" title="f0004-06" width="470" height="841"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE SHAND&hellip;Likes Club&rsquo;s Potential</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0004-06

Playoff Fortunes Rest On Defense Says Flame Shand

OFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY FOUNDED 1947VOLUME 32, NUMBER 27 APIRL 6, 1979Kenneth W. McKenziePresident and Publisher.Charlie HalpinEditorial DirectorTom MurrayAssistant PublisherMike DennisAssistant EditorPeter EmersonVice-President SalesSuite 600, 55 University Ave., Toronto, Ont. M5J 2H7, Telephone: (416) 361-0116Advertising Representatives:MontrealMary McCutcheon1434 St. Catherine Street West, Suite 217 Montreal, Can. &bull; H3G 1R7 (514) 866-4841New 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 1H7. Phone (514) 8664841. 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, $14.95in 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 H3G 1R7, Printed in Canada. &#9632;

THE HOCKEY NEWS

Following are the latest player movements in hockey:<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>BOSTON&mdash;Al Secord, LW, and Dwight Foster, RW, assigned to Rochester of AHL.CHICAGO&mdash;Miles Zaharko, D, recalled from New Brunswick of AHL.COLORADO&mdash;Mike Dwyer, LW, recalled from Philadelphia of AHL.MONTREAL&mdash;Larry Robinson, D, and Jacques Lemaire, C, returned to lineup from injury list.MINNESOTA&mdash;Kent-Erik Andersson, C, returned to lineup from injury list.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Rick St. Croix, G, recalled from Maine of AHL. Yves Guillemette, G, recalled from Milwaukee of IHL and reassigned to Maine as replacement.TORONTO&mdash;Kevin Kemp, D, recalled from New Brunswick of AHL and reassigned to Saginaw of IHL. Yves Hamel, G, returned to New Brunswick.VANCOUVER&mdash;Chris Oddleifson, C, returned to lineup from injury list. Lars Lindgren, D, placed on disabled list for rest of season with shoulder separation.WASHINGTON&mdash;Bob Sirois, LW, placed on disabled list with injury. Tom Rowe, RW, placed on disabled list with knee injury. Mike Marson, LW, recalled from Binghamton of AHL. Gary Rissling, LW, returned to Hershey of AHL.<h2>WORLD HOCKEY ASSN.</h2>CINCINNATI&mdash;Paul Stewart, LW, recalled from Cape Cod of NEHL.EDMONTON &mdash;Wes George, LW, and Pierre Guite, LW, assigned to Binghamton of AHL.QUEBEC&mdash;Lou Levasseur, G, recalled from Springfield of AHL.<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>BINGHAMTON&mdash;Mark Miller, LW, signed to pro trial from Michigan Univ.NOVA SCOTIA &mdash; Dale Yakiwchuk, C, secured from Winnipeg as compensation for allowing Bill Prentice, D, to be assigned to Philadelphia of AHL. Jim Kirkpatrick, D, signed as free agent.ROCHESTER&mdash;Doug Butler, D, signed to pro trial from St. Louis University.SPRINGFIELD&mdash;John French, LW, signed as free agent. Paul Tantardini, D, Brian Drumm, D, released outright.<h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>OKLAHOMA CITY&mdash;John Har rineton. RW. signed to pro trial. &#9632;

Hockey Players On The Move

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;The noise coming out of the New York Islanders&rsquo; dressing room sounded like a college basketball team celebrating the winning of the NCAA tournament.The Isles had just whipped the Montreal Canadiens, 5-3, at the Forum, opening up a four-point lead in the overall National Hockey League points race, and winning the season series between the teams, three games to one.&ldquo;We are number one,&rdquo; said Al Arbour, the Islander coach. &ldquo;We deserved this game. Right now, we are the best team in hockey.&rdquo;When Bob Bourne scored the clinching goal with just two minutes and 27 seconds remaining, goalie Chico Resch exulted, &ldquo;It was like someone had just dumped a pail of cold water on me. That&rsquo;s how great the relief was. Before that they were putting on the pressure and one mistake and we still don&rsquo;t win.&rdquo;Which would have been a shame, because New York had four distinct breakaways in the game, and failed to score even once. Billy Harris hit two posts, Bourne was beaten by Montreal goalie Ken Dryden on a backhander, and Wayne Merrick stole the puck from Serge Savard and walked in alone, only to hit a post.&ldquo;We took charge from the start,&rdquo; analyzed Arbour. &ldquo;The team on top has to let the opposition know they have to chase us. We did that. This game was different from other Islander-Montreal games at the Forum. It was played at our tempo.&rdquo;The game excited all of Canada, with tickets going for $150 at noon-time outside the Forum. Larry Robinson returned from a bad knee problem, after missing seven games to try and buttress the Hab defense.&ldquo;This will help us in the playoffs,&rdquo; exulted Denis Potvin, who fired the game winner for his 30th goal, the third time in the last four years he had reached that plateau. &ldquo;I wish this was the last game of the Stanley Cup finals.&rdquo;Resch came up big on two close in shots by Guy Lafleur, another by Doug Jarvis on a rebound, and a super save on Mark Napier on a breakaway. Napier had stolen the puck from Stefan Persson, and was in alone. Resch&rsquo;s poke check knocked the puck loose just as Napier was about to shoot.&ldquo;One instant I thought I had the goal,&rdquo; recalled Napier. &ldquo;Chico was to my left, and I could see the empty net, then he moved his stick and the puck was gone.&rdquo;And so, too, were the Canadiens&rsquo; hopes of finishing first atop the NHL in the regular season.&ldquo;Hold it,&rdquo; We&rsquo;re number one, but for the first 71 games,&rdquo; cautioned Resch. &ldquo;We still have nine games to go. We&rsquo;ve got to hold it.&rdquo;Arbour continued to coach in a takecharge manner. He had John Tonelli working with Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy, despite the return of Clark Gillies from his bout with the chicken pox. Gillies was working with Mike Kaszycki and Bob Bourne.Pat Price, who has played in only 46 of the 71 Islander games at press time, played his best game of the season in the Montreal contest. He scored a goal which put New York ahead 2-1 at the time and, combined with Bert Marshall, to protect Chico very well.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02765/4367101-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="523" height="855"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB BOURNE&hellip;Scored Clincher</figcaption></div>&ldquo;This was a team effort,&rdquo; insisted Arbour. &ldquo;Everyone gave 150 percent.&rdquo;General manager Bill Torrey said, &ldquo;This will do as our top accomplishment until the Stanley Cup comes along. Right now, I&rsquo;ll take this.&rdquo;It was New York&rsquo;s second ever win in the Forum in seven seasons of trying in regular season games.Bryan Trottier thought, &ldquo;It was the biggest game. We were under real pressure, but we came through. We had to win a game in the Forum. Right now, this was the game.&rdquo;The Canadiens played raggedly at times and seemed to buckle under the pressure of the Islanders&rsquo; forechecking. But, once the New Yorkers had the puck in front of the net they did develop &ldquo;buck fever.&rdquo; Harris was still shooting in bad luck and Merrick had a half empty net on his break and still jammed the puck into the post.&ldquo;This win will give us confidence and I think some of that type of thing (bad shooting luck) might go away,&rdquo; exulted Potvin. &ldquo;Like I said before I wish this one was the final game for the Stanley Cup.&rdquo;ISLAND SOUNDS: Resch has won four in a row, and is now tied with Billy Smith with 23 wins apiece&hellip;The last New York hockey team to finish atop the entire NHL in the regular season was the New York Rangers of 1941-42. The last New York Stanley Cup was the Rangers of 1939-40&hellip;Bert Marshall has played in only 40 games, but has come up big against Boston and Montreal in key contests.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01992/4367094-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="1137" height="1007"><figcaption class="caption-body">CHICO RESCH&hellip; Able To Withstand Pressure</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0005-02

Islanders Protect Claim As No. 1 Show Playoff-Type Style At Forum

DETROIT&mdash;Detroit Red Wings really aren&rsquo;t going anywhere this year&mdash;except that now they&rsquo;re out of the Norris Division cellar and possibly they&rsquo;re discovering that winning can be a nice way to go about playing hockey.The resurgent Wings won two games to begin the week and stretch their winning streak to five&mdash;suffered a 5-2 loss in Boston Garden&mdash;and then bounced right back with a 2-1 victory in the Olympia for their second triumph of the week over the Toronto Maple Leafs.Dan Labraaten pumped in two goals, including one on a power play and Vaclav Nedomansky (on the same power play), Paul Woods and Reed Larson supplied the firepower as the Wings opened with a 5-3 decision over Chicago.The following night in Toronto, Larson put the Wings on the board and Dale McCourt tied the game at 2-2 in the second period. Labraaten scored the game-winner, his 18th of the season, and Dan Bolduc closed out the scoring in the 4-2 Wings&rsquo; victory.Despite being outshot 27-15 in Boston Garden, the Red Wings actually led 2-1 on goals by Errol Thompson on a first-period power play and Paul Woods in the second stanza. But the Wings were outshot 15-4 in the final period as the Bruins tallied four answered goals.Back in Detroit against Toronto, the newly-formed Woods&mdash;Bolduc&mdash;Bill Hogaboam line saved the day. Following a scoreless first period, Bolduc netted his 16th of the season with Woods and Hogaboam assisting and midway through the third period, it was Hogaboam with aid from Woods and Bolduc. The Leafs halved the lead with less than five minutes to play, but could get not closer.Detroit tied Washington in wins at 21 and had one more tie while playing in one less contest. &#9632;

Detroit On Hot Streak

CINCINNATI&mdash;If Robbie Ftorek were an executive with a large company, he would probably be considered something of an over-achiever. He would be one of the guys who got to work a little early, stayed late and was always on top of his work.Of course, Robbie Ftorek isn&rsquo;t a rising young executive. He is a professional hockey player with the Cincinnati Stingers. The closest he comes to executive status is his position as team captain.But no one could say Ftorek hasn&rsquo;t achieved a level of greatness in his chosen profession.The Needham, Mass., native had two strikes against him when he chose to play hockey&mdash;he is American-born and he isn&rsquo;t very big. Hockey is a Canadian pasttime and most of the greats in the sport have come from Canada. And playing a hard contact sport like hockey with a five-foot-nine, 150-pound body would seem to border on masochism.Ftorek has proven all his critics wrong. He has been one of the most talented and most respected players in the World Hockey Association. He has accumulated 100 or more points in four straight seasons, has over 500 points, 300 assists and one of the best longevity records in major league hockey.But when confronted with his statistics, Ftorek insists he doesn&rsquo;t think about them most of the time. &ldquo;Points don&rsquo;t really matter,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Winning is the only thing that counts. You accept what you accumulate in the course of winning, naturally. But it&rsquo;s more important to win a 2-1 game than score three goals and lose 7-5.&rdquo;Ftorek, completing his fifth season in the WHA, did point out that good stats are useful when contract time rolls around. &ldquo;You can show a team what you&rsquo;ve done and use the figures when you&rsquo;re negotiating,&rdquo; he said.Ftorek, who played 15 games with the Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League but spent most of his time with Virginia of the American Hockey League before jumping to the WHA, always had the rap that he was too small and couldn&rsquo;t make it in the big leagues.Yet he keeps getting his goals and assists and is amazingly durable. He hasn&rsquo;t missed a game in the WHA yet because of an injury.&ldquo;My dad always told me, no matter how tired you are, always to have something left,&rdquo; Ftorek explained. &ldquo;I go hard in practice, because I figure if you work harder in practice you can go just a little bit longer in a game.&ldquo;I have to be more alert, more mentally awake on the ice than other players because everyone will run at me. Big players and little players will try to hit me because of my size. I learned real quick in juniors to avoid the hard checks. After you&rsquo;ve been clobbered a few times you learn.&rdquo;Ftorek pointed out that he is constantly looking for the hard checks. &ldquo;I anticipate,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I step out of the way of some checks and take a lot of them in such a way that I don&rsquo;t get the full force of the hit. It sounds crazy, but I believe my size actually helps me. I&rsquo;m really small across the hips, and if a guy is going to hit me solid he has a very small target to shoot at.&ldquo;And if I know I&rsquo;m going to get hit, I try to hit the guy first or at the same time and lessen the impact. Of course, a lot of being durable is luck.&rdquo;A perfect example of his durability was an incident last season during the WHA All Star contest when Ftorek was hit squarely in the side of the face with a puck. The doctor in Quebec City closed the wound with six big stitches, but when the little center returned to Cincinnati he eventually had 68 sutures applied to the cut along with some minor plastic surgery.But he played. He played the night he returned, albeit briefly, and was on the ice Jer the next Stinger game after visiting the local surgeon.&ldquo;It never entered my mind not to play,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Actually it didn&rsquo;t hurt much after it happened. It hurt a lot more after the surgeon reopened the cut and did all the stitching. I was almost in tears that afternoon.&rdquo; But he didn&rsquo;t miss a game.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011173/4367132-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="682" height="530"><figcaption class="caption-body">Photo by Denny LandwehCincinnati Stinger star center Robbie Ftorek became only the seventh player in World Hockey Association history to record 500 points and was honored at a recent home game with a plaque from Stinger executive vice president Bill DeWitt Jr.</figcaption></div>Ftorek&rsquo;s assists have exceeded his goals in all but one season. Last year he scored 59 goals and 50 assists, but he was quick to point out that wasn&rsquo;t his normal game and was the result of circumstances.&ldquo;I had to shoot more last year because my lingers weren&rsquo;t shooting that much,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This year I&rsquo;m back to passing more and making plays because my wingers are doing a lot of shooting.&rdquo;Ftorek has worked all season with Reg Thomas and Jamie Hislop on the wings and the line has become one of the most successful in the league. Ftorek and Thomas handle most of the scoring while Hislop goes into the corners after the puck. Each player complements the Other.&ldquo;I have a lot of points, but I like to have a good defensive record as well,&rdquo; Ftorek said in discussing the line. &ldquo;We all have good plus-minus, but being a scoring line makes a big difference. Most of the other teams play their checking line against us. That line is supposed to keep us from scoring. We keep scoring and the lines playing against us don&rsquo;t score that much, so our plus-minus is good.Ftorek assumed the captaincy of the Stingers at mid-season after Rick Dudley was sold to Buffalo. He was the logical choice because he is well-liked by his teammates and is an aggressive, go-get-&rsquo;em type who can get a team pumped up on the ice.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been pretty close to the guys since I came here,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m comfortable (as captain). I just wish I could help the guys more on the ice.&rdquo;The Stingers seem certain to make the WHA playoffs, and no one can take any more credit for that position than little No. 8, Robbie Ftorek. He helps himself an everyone on his team. &#9632;

f0006-01

Ftorek Overcame Battle Of Odds To Reach Stardom With Stingers

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;Bernie Federko has stayed among the National Hockey League&rsquo;s leading scorers long enough to prove he belongs there.Federko has been in the NHL&rsquo;s top 10 all season&mdash;usually about fifth or sixth. He has broken the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; record for points in a season and has become the Blues&rsquo; leader on the ice.The strategies and comments of opposing teams have been obvious in their respect for Federko. His game demands attention when another team makes its plans for playing the Blues.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very satisfying to know you have made everybody look up to you,&rdquo; Federko said. &ldquo;It makes you want to keep going. My only personal goal is to keep getting better.&rdquo;If Federko were to set personal goals of team records or other milestones, he would be meeting and passing them rapidly.With his 50th assist of the season Federko broke Phil Goyette&rsquo;s St. Louis record. At times this season Federko has led the NHL in assists. As he scored his 61st assist, he had an assist on 28 percent of the Blues&rsquo; goals at home and 31 percent of the goals on the road. He has recorded a point on 43 percent of the Blues&rsquo; goals this season.Federko&rsquo;s scoring this season had doubled his production for last season, when he had 41 points. He now has his first 20-goal season to his credit.The Blues&rsquo; scoring record of 85 points had been held by Chuck Lefley, but Federko broke that record with six weeks remaining in the season.Federko&rsquo;s scoring pace was about 1.35 points a game. He tied the team record of seven consecutive games with an assist. That record is also held by Goyette and Bob Hess.Federko scored at least one point in 12 straight games before he missed three games because of a pulled muscle. The 12 games is one short of the team record of 13 by Fran Huck.The litany of offensive accomplishments is long, and those who have watched Federko wonder what lies ahead in his career.&ldquo;This has been a good season, but there&rsquo;s no excuse for not doing it again,&rdquo; Federko said. &ldquo;Each year I&rsquo;ll have to do more to contribute to the team. I realize what I&rsquo;m capable of doing, and I realize what our line is capable of doing. There is no reason to slack off.&rdquo;Federko centers a line with Brian Sutter on the left wing and Wayne Babych on right wing. It is the Blues&rsquo; top line and one of the most prolific in the NHL. Each of the three works very hard, and the success of each encourages the others.Federko is the puck handler and playmaker. Sutter scores goals, forechecks rabidly, hawks the corners and can win a fight while the other fellow&rsquo;s gloves still are falling to the ice. Babych, who has an excellent chance of winning the Calder Trophy as the rookie of the year, has a devastating shot, a killer instinct for finishing a play and a resilient body that should allow him to crash through opposing defenses for many years.Federko is happy to let his wings inflate the line&rsquo;s goal total. The center says his own goal totals probably always will lag behind.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ll ever be a 50-goal scorer,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It would be nice, but the way I play hockey it probably never will happen.&rdquo;The Blues are struggling for small successes this season, and Federko and his linemates have brightened a gloomy season. The second half of the season has been more encouraging for the Blues, and for the first time in more than a year they won three straight games, 4-1 over the New York Rangers, 6-5 over the Detroit Red Wings and 8-4 over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Then the Blues ran into the New York Islanders, being shaken by coach Al Arbour, and let the Islanders have a 5-5 tie after leading, 5-3, midway through the final period.Federko suffered his muscle injury in the game against the Islanders, and the Blues lost the next game to the Washington Capitals, 75, then thrashed the Minnesota North Stars, 8-2, and blew another lead in the third period and had a 5-5 tie with the Colorado Rockies after leading, 5-2. In Federko&rsquo;s first game back from the injury, the Blues lost to the Red Wings, 3-1.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011042/4367187-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="985" height="1030"><figcaption class="caption-body">Photo by Bruce BennettBERNIE FEDERKO&hellip;Smashing Many Team Marks</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Improvement Main Desire Of Blues’ Federko

<div class="byline">BY DON MERRY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021048/4367218-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Photo by Steve BabineauMARCEL DIONNE&hellip;Threatens To Quit Hockey</figcaption></div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Because of the smooth, effortless way he plays the game&mdash;and produces in abundance as his 50-plus goal season attests&mdash;he is often referred to as not just Marcel Dionne but Magical Marcel. It&rsquo;s alliterative and it fits.And in the wake of Sunday, Bloody Sunday in Philadelphia when the Kings and Flyers gave a riot and everybody came, a distraught and discouraged Dionne said he may live up to his name. Like magic, he may disappear from the National Hockey League.&ldquo;If the owners don&rsquo;t clean up this sport, I&rsquo;ll quit,&rdquo; Dionne said emphatically in the wake of a horrendous 380 penalty minutes which were assessed in the Philadelphia-Los Angeles brawl. The game, and the term is used loosely, set or established 11 penalty records and it is Dionne&rsquo;s feeling that the NHL received a black eye as well.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got two years to go on my contract and I can always do something else,&rdquo; said Dionne, whose 50th goal of the season was largely overshadowed by the donnybrook which broke out at the end of the first period and took-12 minutes to quell.&ldquo;What&rsquo;s the league waiting for, somebody to die out there?&rdquo; he wondered aloud, bitterness in his voice. &ldquo;It was very fortunate that nobody got hurt really bad, like losing a finger or an eye. But it&rsquo;s coming to that, mark my word.&ldquo;You thought we would have learned something from the Russians but apparently we didn&rsquo;t. They beat us with solid hockey, beautiful hockey and the crowds loved it. Now all the NHL penalty records are broken.Dionne says that the players themselves, undoubtedly the ones who don&rsquo;t condone crime on the ice or comport themselves in a violent manner befitting an Idi Amin drill team, have begun to talk seriously about introducing lawsuits.&ldquo;I know if somebody hits me over the head I&rsquo;m going to sue somebody,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;This game has been awful good to me but I don&rsquo;t want to end up a vegetable. There&rsquo;s something wrong when you have to go out there every night and realize that somebody might stick you in the face for no reason whatsoever. Why don&rsquo;t they just teach Ernie Holmes how to skate? It&rsquo;s coming to that.&rdquo;And where, Dionne asks, has all the skating gone? The shooting? The crisp, sharp passing plays? The instinct for the game itself? Why has the beauty of the game been replaced by the beasts?&ldquo;I have a brother who is eight years old. He has more potential at that age than I did. In the back of my parents&rsquo; minds there is the hope that someday he&rsquo;ll make the NHL. But in the back of my mind is the thought that he won&rsquo;t make it unless he takes up karate and starts hitting a punching bag by the time he&rsquo;s 14.&ldquo;They don&rsquo;t draft kids just for skill anymore. They ask, &lsquo;Can he fight? Is he capable of taking somebody&rsquo;s head off?&rsquo; It&rsquo;s not a game of skill anymore but one of intimidation. Which team has the best fighters, the best cross checkers, the best at spearing? And if owners think this is going to sell the game, to fill up the arenas, they&rsquo;re crazy.&rdquo;Other players also shared their views on the unseemly incident.Said Mark Heaslip, one of five Kings and 10 players banished by referee Wally Harris:&ldquo;We call ourselves professionals but that was about as unprofessional as you can get. But I&rsquo;ll tell you one thing. We&rsquo;re a lot closer together as a team. Everybody stuck up for everybody else.&rdquo;Said captain Mike Murphy: &ldquo;It makes you wonder where the game is headed. When it boils down to who has the heaviest artillery instead of the best players, then it is not a sport anymore.&rdquo;Piped up Butch Goring, overhearing Murphy&rsquo;s law: &ldquo;Well, it may be a sport, but it&rsquo;s not necessarily hockey.&rdquo;Which was exactly what Marcel Dionne was saying.The puck would now appear to be in the owners&rsquo; end of the rink.KING THINGS: Dionne and Dave Taylor, who have been consistently productive all season, have benefitted further from the arrival of left winger Charlie Simmer. In 28 games since Simmer was recalled from Springfield and placed on the Dionne-Taylor line, the unit has exploded for 106 points&hellip;In a 3-1 victory over Montreal, in which the Kings rallied for their three goals in the final seven minutes, Dionne set a club record by scoring a point in his 12th straight game&hellip;Defenseman Darryl Edestrand (broken hand) and winger Tommy Williams (knee) were both expected back from the stretch run&hellip;The Kings, already hurting on defense with Randy Manery slowed by a virus and Doug Halward still underweight after a bout with a strep throat, were forced to go without Randy Holt for three games after he was suspended for his leading role in the fight with the Flyers. Holt earned 10 penalties and 67 minutes before he was banished after the first period flareup&hellip;Goring has surpassed the 30-goal plateau for the fourth straight season.Bill Libby&rsquo;s Hockey Ad Lib column will be missing for a few weeks during his illness. It will be resumed upon his return. &#9632;

f0008-02

Dionne Rues Game’s State After Kings’ -Flyers’ Brawl

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div>BUFFALO&mdash;The scorers finally were beginning to score as the Buffalo Sabres played their best hockey of the season in a final surge to the playoffs.Rick Martin, Rene Robert and Danny Gare began to find the net with regularity as the Sabres went unbeaten for six games part of a streak in which they lost only one in 11.One of the victories in the streak was a 4-1 decision over the Toronto Maple Leafs, the team the Sabres are battling for second place in the National Hockey League&rsquo;s Adams Division. The next night the Sabres widened their lead over the Leafs by overcoming a 2-0 deficit to beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-2, while the Leafs were losing to the New York Islanders. That put Buffalo five points ahead of Toronto and 13 ahead of Minnesota, a team that had been threatening to move ahead of the Sabres not too long before.Martin scored twice in the win over Toronto. That gave him six goals and an assist in four games and 22 goals for the season.The goal total was not especially good for Rick Martin, twice a 52-goal scorer, but after the drought he went through earlier this season, it was mighty fine.&ldquo;The main thing is,&rdquo; said Martin, as he always does when he talks about his scoring, &ldquo;the team is winning. I like to get the goals, sure, but what the team does is most important.&ldquo;Everybody is playing close, disciplined hockey. Everybody helps each other; that makes it a lot easier. The forwards are backchecking and the defensemen move the puck up fast and make it easier for us.&ldquo;They make nice, short passes, right on the stick, The forwards don&rsquo;t have to come back to get the puck. We&rsquo;re not playing fancy, just working the puck up the ice.&rdquo;Rick then talked a little about the days this season when he couldn&rsquo;t seem to buy a goal, when he would put as many as eight or nine shots on the net and not score.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011164/4367249-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="540" height="1069"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK MARTIN&hellip;Losing His Woes</figcaption></div>&ldquo;That was the hardest time I ever had,&rdquo; he noted. &ldquo;And it was compounded by the team not doing well. It doesn&rsquo;t matter to me so much how well I&rsquo;m doing personally if the team is doing OK.&ldquo;When the team isn&rsquo;t winning, I keep thinking to myself, if I could have scored this time or that time it would have made the difference between a tie and a win, or a loss and a tie.&ldquo;Believe me, it was frustrating. Every time the goalie came up with a big save, it seemed to be on me.&rdquo;The Sabres&rsquo; streak began with a 3-2 win over the New York Islanders, a game that coincided with the return of Jim Schoenfeld to the defense after he missed 12 games because of a knee injury.Gil Perreault, who also had trouble finding the net this season, started the Sabres on their way with a goal in that one.Then came a 6-4 decision over Los Angeles, in which Rick Martin scored two goals and Danny Gare, another 50-goal scorer of the past, got one.Gare and Martin each netted one in a 5-5 tie with the Atlanta Flames, then the Andre Savard-Rick Martin-Rene Robert line had a big game the following night when the Sabres doused the Flames, 9-4.The Savard line has four goals and a total of 10 points. Savard had a goal and four assists, Robert two goals and an assist and Martin a goal and an assist. Perreault and Gare each scored a goal.Then came the 4-1 win over Toronto, with Martin scoring twice, and the 4-2 victory over Vancouver, in which Robert scored a goal to start the Sabres on the way back from the two-goal deficit.Ric Seiling scored the winning goal in the Vancouver game, then set up Don Luce with an insurance tally. The goal gave Seiling 20 for the season, a personal high. He scored 19 in 1977-78, his first pro year.It also made everyone on the Luce-Craig Ramsay-Seiling line a 20-goal scorer. Luce was the team leader with 23. That line had been blanked the previous two games but was scoring steadily throughout the unbeaten streak.Seiling got two goals in the 3-2 win over the Islanders.ICE CHIPS; With the young defensemen brought up from Hershey doing so well, veteran Jocelyn Guevremont was traded to the New York Rangers for future considerations. &#9632;

f0008-01

Buffalo’s Attack Gets Great Lift From Top Scorers

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011121/4367280-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">WAYNE CASHMAN&hellip; Realized Last Month Important</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;It happens every year about this time.Wayne Cashman, the balding, 33-year-old captain of the Boston Bruins, rolls up his sleeves and gives the Bruins the momentum they need to carry them into the playoffs.It&rsquo;s worked for the past two years in which the Bruins have rolled on into the Stanley Cup finals.But will it work in 1978-79?Two years ago, captain Cash came back from a broken thumb to score five goals and record 15 assists as the Bruins went 16-4-2 over the final 22 games.Last year he had 11 goals and 18 assists in the last 21 games, during which Boston compiled a 13-5-3 record.This year, in the 10 games between March 1 and 19, while the Bruins were striving mightily to snap out of a late season slump, he contributed eight goals and four assists.&ldquo;This does seem to be my time of year,&rdquo; he said the other day after he had set up the first goal that got Boston off to a 4-2 victory over Chicago Black Hawks to snap a three-game winless streak.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve learned how important the last month of the season is if you expect to do well in the playoffs.&ldquo;I was fortunate to come to the Bruins in the days when they just started making the playoffs again. The first couple of years we got beat out very quickly in the playoffs because we were concentrating on just making them.&ldquo;After that we realized how much concentration it takes in the last month of the season to prepare yourself for the playoffs. If you can really bear down this month it&rsquo;s important and that&rsquo;s what I try to do.&ldquo;The last month you really have to come up with something. The Canadiens seem to be able to do it every year. They always seem to be able to go into the playoffs flying.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s something you&rsquo;ve got to have or you&rsquo;ve got to acquire.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m prepared for these last games and I&rsquo;m really looking forward to the playoffs. I know we&rsquo;re not ready yet. But I know we&rsquo;re getting there.&rdquo;Cashman attributed the Bruins&rsquo; late season problems to the fact that the team is wound up tight.&ldquo;This is the time of the year when you&rsquo;ve gotta play relaxed,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve gotta play your game.&ldquo;The other night some of the guys from the Rangers said, &lsquo;We&rsquo;ve never seen your team like that. You&rsquo;ve got guys who look like they don&rsquo;t want to handle the puck because they&rsquo;re too tight.&rsquo;&ldquo;That&rsquo;s something that comes from trying too hard. Nothing but a couple of wins will solve that. We won one tonight but now we&rsquo;ve got to put a bunch of wins together to get us back in full gear.&rdquo;Brad Park, who tied an NHL record with four assists in the first period of the Chicago game, was thinking along the same lines.&ldquo;We beat a club today but we need more than one game to turn it around,&rdquo; said the Bruins&rsquo; All Star defenseman, who was coming back from knee surgery and a, broken nose suffered in the Ranger game.&ldquo;We need to put five or six or 10 good games together and then you&rsquo;ll see an entirely different aspect on the ice as well as in the dressing room.&rdquo;Park, who missed most of the season after October surgery, on his right knee, was hopeful that he would be able to go at full spped by the time the playoffs arrived.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a little fluid on it,&rdquo; he reported, &ldquo;and I always ice it down after a game, mainly as a precaution.&ldquo;The schedule isn&rsquo;t too bad right now because we&rsquo;re playing like every second day. If I had to play two days in a row it might cause some problems. As long as it goes without swelling it means it&rsquo;s healing.&rdquo;WHAT&rsquo;S BRUIN: The feeling around Boston is that the Bruins have a less than 50-50 chance to sign coach Don Cherry to another contract. His old one expires in June and he and general manager Harry Sinden are still far apart on a new one.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel confident about it at all,&rdquo; said Sinden. &ldquo;I feel that I have a good chance of signing him but I have no indication that it will happen.&ldquo;As soon as we solve our more serious problems&mdash;the play of the team&mdash;we&rsquo;ll make an honest effort to come to an agreement but I don&rsquo;t feel confident of it at all.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0009-01

‘Captain Cash’ Hits Peak When Playoffs Approach

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011151/4367311-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"></div>DO YOU HAVEAN OPINION ON HOCKEY?Write to:FAN FORUM,The Hockey News,1434 St. Catherine St., W., Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7<h2>Others Deserve Hart Trophy Honors</h2>The NHL Guide states that the Hart Trophy is &ldquo;an annual award to the player ajudged to be most valuable to his team.&rdquo; Before the writers hand the award to Bryan Trottier or Guy Lafleur, they should look at the impact that some of this year&rsquo;s stars have had on their respective teams.With all of the fine individual talent on the New York Islanders, the man I feel is most valuable to them is Clark Gillies. The big left winger can do many things&mdash;score, check, dig in the corners, and you won&rsquo;t see too many players challenging him in the fisticuffs department. Gillies is the one who makes the NHL&rsquo;s most prolific line click.The Atlanta Flames would probably be just another hockey team if it weren&rsquo;t for Bob MacMillan. Big Mac has scored over 150 points in less than a season and a half with the Flames, and is one of the league&rsquo;s best all-around forwards.The Boston Bruins always have one player who rises to the occasion and performs like a true super star. This year, it&rsquo;s Rick Middleton. Since coming from the Rangers, Middleton has become a mainstay in Don Cherry&rsquo;s system of continuous checking, and has still found the time to stay in the top 10 scorers for the whole season.I think the NHL should introduce a rule that prohibits a player from winning the Hart Trophy in consecutive years. There are a number of players that deserve the award each season, and this rule would generate more fan interest in the balloting.RONALD L. BROWN, Saginaw, Mich.<h2>Thanks Columnist For Defending Clarke</h2>I would like to thank (columnist) Bill Fleischman for defending one of the NHL&rsquo;s all-time greats, Bobby Clarke.Larry Brooks of the New York Post had quite a big of nerve referring to clarke as th &ldquo;perfector of the spear.&rdquo; Clarke as the &ldquo;perfector of the spear.&rdquo; underhanded sneakiness of the Russians.If the NHL Players&rsquo; Association dared look somewhere else for their leadership I doubt that they would ever find anyone so dedicated to the sport of hockey as Bobby Clarke.,Clarke has given this great sport more than it ever gave him back through his determination and will to win. Bill Fleischman, you were right when you said:&rdquo;Hockey certainly doesn&rsquo;t need the goons, but it does need the Bobby Clarkes.&rdquo;B. TEICHMAN, St. Davids, Pa.<h2>Victoria&rsquo;s Shupe Could Coach Canucks</h2>With two points in the first 15 games after the Challenge Cup come on Vancouver management, you owe your fans and loyal supporters a &ldquo;shake-up.&rdquo;You are sitting on top of a gold mine. The prospector is Jack Shupe, coach of the Victoria Cougars of the Western Hockey League. I do not recall in his nine seasons in the WHL, seven with Medicine Hat Tigers, one of his teams ever missing the playoffs.His graduates include Lanny McDonald, Tom Lysiak, Don Murdoch, Greg Carroll, Morris Lukowich Stan Weir, plus many other, too numerous to mention. Need I say more, Jake (Milford)?BILL SAILER, Fernie, B.C.<h2>Nanne&rsquo;s Comments Spoiled NHL Telecast</h2>I have really been enjoying the NHL-79 presentations this season, but I did not at all appreciate a comment made by Lou Nanne in the closing moments of the game between Montreal and Detroit recently. With the Canadiens holding a man-advantage, a whistle stopped play&mdash;whereupon Nanne suggested that one of the Canadiens (Serge Savard) should have taken the opportunity to &ldquo;rough up&rdquo; (I think that was the expression he used) one of the Red Wing players in front of the net, hoping to take him off the ice with him, thus giving Montreal a 4 on 3 advantage and a better chance to score a game-winning goal.Excuse me, but I thought we were supposed to be promoting non-violence at a time when the sport is almost being taken over by the so-called goons. Here&rsquo;s Nanne, excouraging Savard, of all people, to deliberately start a fight in a game already marred by several similar incidents. I feel that anyone at that point in the game taking such aggressive action would have been severely criticized, not glorified as he seemed to suggest.WILLIAM J. O&rsquo;BRIEN, JR., Arlington, Mass.<h2>Travel Schedules Unfair For Minority</h2>I would like to know why a schedule could not be drawn up where &ldquo;no&rdquo; team in the NHL travels any more than 20 percent more than another team. For instance, the Canucks travel approximately 70,000 miles per season and the Penguins travel approximately 35,000 miles per season. Between those two teams alone, the Canucks travel 100 percent more than the Penguins.Why should the geographically isolated teams such as Vancouver, Colorado and Los Angeles be burdened with more travel and a worse schedule? Why couldn&rsquo;t this burden be shared with the rest of the teams in the league?To prove my point, please publish each team&rsquo;s total travel miles per season.JOHN J. LONG, Burnaby, B.C.<h2>WHA Teams Strong Additions</h2>Another small step forward for &ldquo;Bumbling&rdquo; Ballard&rsquo;s Bunch and another giant step backward for all of hockey.Merger is the only answer. There is no other hope for hockey. I just cannot understand why people are so regressive on this issue. Make no mistake about it, the WHA teams would be strong additions to the NHL not weak sisters like the Smythe Division. I have seen a lot of games in both leagues, and can attest to that.JOE POCH, Mentor, Oh.<h2>Isles&rsquo; Westfall Cannot Be Replaced</h2>With the announcement of the retirement of Eddie Westfall of the Islanders, I want to wish him farewell, I&rsquo;m sorry to see him leave. He cannot be replaced.Eddie has meant more to the development of the Islanders than any other players. He has guided and influenced all of the big Islander stars and I know he did the same for Boston.What Islander fan can forget his third-period goal against Pittsburgh in Game 7 of the playoffs a few years ago. The score was 1-0.Ed Westfall, we are all going to miss you. Good luck in the future.LARRY NOVAK, Merritt Island, Fla.<h2>Penalty Pace Not Helping Hockey</h2>If the NHL keeps up its pace in penalty minutes they may have only one thing to smile about&mdash;a world record for penalty minutes.In the March 9th issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS, all of the penalty minutes from each team added up to 22,972 minutes. All of the minor league are raising wrestlers instead of hockey players and putting them in the NHL. In the same issue Toronto had an average of 20 minutes per game, Philadelphia an average of 18.9 minutes per game. Montreal had only an average of 10.4 minutes per game.If we develop hockey players like in the 30s, 40s and early 50s, we might have a chance against the Russians in any future series.MIKE BURTON, Mill Cove, N.S. &#9632;

f0010-01

FAN FOURM

<div class="byline">BY MIKE DENNIS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02920/4367342-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB GAINEY&hellip;Led Way With Slam-Bang Effort</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;On an evening brimming with the expectations of the arrival of an early spring, 18,083 people journeyed to Montreal&rsquo;s Forum to find out whether their beloved Canadiens could stem the tide of the upstart New York Islanders&mdash;and more importantly, snuff out the indecision and inconsistency born of a not-so-merry March for the defending Stanley Cup champions.Earlier, the warm afternoon sunshine of a city shedding its winter vestments, shone down upon the anxious throng, who circled the arena searching for &ldquo;a good price&rdquo; on a pair of reds&mdash;scalpers were asking $150 to $200&mdash;or perhaps a seat in the blues, at $50 a throw. Many were there hours early, just to soak up the &ldquo;playoff-like atmosphere&rdquo; which enveloped Montreal as the key game drew closer.What the second largest crowd of the season saw (six more were announced for the Saturday night game with the New York Rangers two weeks earlier) was a meeting of the NHL&rsquo;s top two teams and undoubtedly the most thrilling game of the season.The Islanders scored after less than two minutes of play, built a 3-1 first period lead and then were faced by a Classic Canadiens&rsquo; onslaught. The Habs rallied for two goals tying the match briefly before the Islanders once more took over the lead. They maintained their one-goal lead for nearly 27 minutes before notching the insurance marker which mercifully eased the pressure.On this night of soaring emotions, with so much at stake with the end of the season so near, there was none perhaps, who stood out more than the Canadiens&rsquo; Bob Gainey.The evening belonged to the Bob Gaineys of the hockey world&mdash;skating hell-bent for the puck, making crashing contact with the opposition, taking a hit and coming back for more. Teammates Jacques Lemaire and Pierre Mondou were also conspicuous by their determined style of play, as were Bryan Trottier and Bob Bourne of the Islanders, leaders among the many who performed at a level befitting championship play.When the Canadiens mounted their comeback in the second period, it was Gainey who carried the puck down the left side and tested Islander goalie Chico Resch with a shot which he juggled and dropped for Mario Tremblay to direct into the net making the score 3-2 in favor of the Islanders.In the third stanza, the Habs trailed 4-3 with about seven minutes remaining in the game and there&rsquo;s Gainey desperately stretching to control a rebound which is inches beyond his grasp. Finally he managed to direct a weak shot which Resch smothers and the Canadiens&rsquo; threat goes by the boards. But Gainey and the other Habs who caught the &ldquo;playoff fever&rdquo; of work and grind and work some more, have realized what it is that has made them the best team in hockey for the past three years.Said Gainey: &ldquo;The most positive thing was those 15 minutes during the second period when we totally controlled the play. (Canadiens outshot the Isles 15-9, outscored them 2-1). It&rsquo;s the first time we&rsquo;ve dominated like that in a long while.&ldquo;We learned tonight that we have to be a little bit faster, a little bit quicker in making our plays,&rdquo; Gainey explained. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to be skating harder.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had our tempo slowed down (lately),&rdquo; said Gainey, in assessing the club&rsquo;s recent play (Canadiens were 3-6-2 in 11 games), and then we came out for the second period and we changed our lines quickly. We caught them when they had tired people on the ice a couple of times and for 15 minutes, maybe 25 minutes in the whole game, we did what we wanted.&ldquo;Now we&rsquo;ve just got to build on this and bring it to the point where we can be going for 45 minutes a game.&rdquo;&ldquo;This was probably our best game in two months,&rdquo; added Serge Savard, &ldquo;we played well in Minnesota and Los Angeles, but we lost. We played well again tonight and lost, but we have some injuries. Rejean (Houle) was out and it was Larry&rsquo;s first game back (from a knee injury). Give us three weeks and you&rsquo;ll see a different team out there.&rdquo;Just in time for playoffs.FORUM REBOUNDS: Guy Lafleur finally broke his eight-game goalless slump when he scored his 47th of the season and 350th of his career in a 3-1 Saturday afternoon win over the Washington Capitals&hellip;Habs struggled in that game and were tied at 1-1 with a little over seven minutes to play when Pierre Mondou scored his 26th on a beautiful breakaway to provide the winning marker. Doug Risebrough potted the insurance score on a backhander&hellip;Bunny Larocque stopped 25 shots the next night as the Canadiens shutout the Rangers in Madison Square Garden 1-0 for their first victory in four tries against Fred Shero&rsquo;s club. It was Larocques&rsquo;s third shutout of the year&hellip;Bob Gainey was chosen third star in the game, Larocque was first star. &#9632;

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Playoff ‘Style’ On Habs’ Minds At Season’s End

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;In this his second season as coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Johnny Wilson has felt the vocal fury of the Pittsburgh hockey fans more than a few times.&ldquo;That comes with the business,&rdquo; said Wilson. &ldquo;The minute we start thinking or worrying, and if they&rsquo;re going to concern you, you might as well get out ot it.&rdquo;A 49-year-old native of Kincardine, Ont., Wilson played 11 seasons in the National Hockey League with Detroit, Chicago, Toronto and the New York Rangers. He previously coached in the NHL in Los Angeles, Detroit and Colorado before coming to Pittsburgh.&ldquo;My Philosophy of hockey is good, hard forechecking,&rdquo; said Wilson. &ldquo;When you don&rsquo;t have possession of the puck, the wingers pick up the wingers. Wing on wing in the neutral zone, and the defensemen stay up. Coming out of our own end, it&rsquo;s a question of not making that bad pass.&ldquo;Goaltending? What can you say about goaltending. He&rsquo;s (Denis Herron) probably only as good as the team that&rsquo;s in front of him. One other thing that I strongly believe in is conditioning.&rdquo;In the last few years, there has been much talk around hockey of coaches employing &ldquo;systems.&rdquo;&ldquo;You can establish a system,&rdquo; said Wilson, &ldquo;however, you have to have the qualified personnel to execute that particular system. If you just don&rsquo;t have the personnel, the system does not look what you call pronounced. It looks like It deteriorated or there&rsquo;s a deficiency there.&ldquo;Coaching is a question of when to apply certain things. For example, when to increase the dosage or to sort of back off.&rdquo;Wilson believes theory plays an important part in practice sessions.&ldquo;Practice sessions revolve around theory,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Power plays, coming out of your own end, game situations. You give the goaltenders a substantial amount of work. After that it&rsquo;s all theory.&ldquo;You can work on theory in practice, and it always looks very enlightening in that practice. If you&rsquo;re working on the power play in practice, it&rsquo;s more coordination than theory. Your men are giving you liberties, like passing the puck.&ldquo;The key to power plays, and the key to any system and success is against the opposition. You can practice power plays to perfection. But the minute you step on the ice against the opposition, it&rsquo;s tarnished.&rdquo;Wilson, was asked his thoughts on penalty killing.&ldquo;When we are taking a faceoff while killing a penalty, I like to have two centermen on the ice,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s in case one of them gets thrown out of the faceoff circle.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s one of the theories you have to apply. Lots of times the opposition will try and get your key centerman thrown out of the faceoff circle. So, when you have another centerman on the ice, you can move him right in.&rdquo;Wilson once held the NHL&rsquo;s &ldquo;Iron Man&rdquo; title, for most consecutive games played, 580. But he said hockey has changed since he retired following the 1961-62 season.&ldquo;The players are bigger today,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;I think they skate faster as a team. They shoot the puck much harder. There&rsquo;s more emphasis on shooting than ever.&ldquo;I think you had a better line on the opposition in those days. Now, at times, you don&rsquo;t play clubs for two or three months. In those days you had 14 games against each club in a season.&rdquo;Wilson, who has one more season remaining on the initial contract he signed when he came to the Penguins, recently bought a home in the Pittsburgh area. He made the purchase despite choruses of &ldquo;Goodbye Johnny,&rdquo; echoing throughout the Civic Arena.&ldquo;The minute a game starts, it&rsquo;s out of a coach&rsquo;s hands,&rdquo; said Wilson. &ldquo;The guys play 80 games a year. At times it&rsquo;s tough to pump them up. I love the fans to yell at me because then it doesn&rsquo;t disturb the team.&ldquo;The players are the guys that control the game out on the ice. I can&rsquo;t. I can&rsquo;t score goals. I can&rsquo;t come up with spectacular saves. I can&rsquo;t execute. My hands are tied. Unfortunately, I&rsquo;m standing at a very bad angle when it comes to scoring goals and preventing them.&rdquo;PENGUIN TRACKS: The Penguins lost two players for the rest of the regular season within less than a week. Peter Mahovlich was lost when he separated a shoulder while being boarded by Philadelphia&rsquo;s Ken Linseman. Dale Tallon broke his right leg when he crashed into a goalpost in Vancouver.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011097/4367397-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="540" height="755"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHNNY WILSON&hellip;Hands Are Tied</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Pressure From Fans Part Of Game Reflects Penguins’ Coach Wilson

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div>CHICAGO&mdash;The agreement between the NHL and WHA for merger was a lengthy one. Here are the main terms of the deal proposed to bring four WHA teams&mdash;New England, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Quebec&mdash;into the NHL next season as part of a one-league 21-team concept:The WHA clubs asked for some minor changes in the proposal which the NHL board of governors will vote on at a meeting within the next 10 days.Each of the four WHA teams will pay $6 million in expansion fees. The NHL has requested that they pay $1 million now and the other $5 million on June 1. The WHA clubs have asked for a revision of the payment schedule.The four WHA clubs joining the NHL will indemnify the two clubs not in the expansion. Cincinnati Stingers will receive $3.5 million and Birmingham Bulls $2.85 million.The four WHA clubs must have available $1.5 million in working capital for operations during the &lsquo;79-&rsquo;80 season plus insurances in the form of bank notes of $1.5 million for the next two seasons.The WHA clubs will post a $50 million bond against any liability or legal action in the future.The WHA clubs will be responsible for paying off the contracts of any players or officials who become unemployed through the joining of the two leagues.The three Canadian teams (Winnipeg, Quebec, Edmonton) will not share in the revenue from television of Vancouver Canucks, Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens for five years. They will be permitted to establish their own regional TV networks.The four WHA teams will be allowed to protect two goalies and two skaters on their rosters plus the 45 WHA players to whom no NHL club holds rights up to a total protected list of two goalies and 15 skaters.NHL teams holding the rights to players in the WHA will reclaim the ones they want. However, those players must remain on the NHL team&rsquo;s major league roster for two years and if the NHL team wants to shed one of those players, the WHA team from which he was seized has first refusal on his services for a $100 fee.The NHL teams then will protect two goalies and 15 skaters for an expansion draft by the four WHA clubs. No NHL club can lose more than four players and first-year professionals are exempt from the draft. That expansion draft will be held in Montreal June 13.For each player drafted, the NHL club will receive $125,000 which will be taken from the $24 million expansion pot.The four WHA clubs will participate in the NHL&rsquo;s 1979 amateur draft as the 18th through 21st clubs selecting players. Their order of draft, picked by a lottery, will be Winnipeg, New England, Edmonton and Quebec.Gordie Howe, the 51-year-old winger of New England Whalers, will be exempt from any protected lists or drafts.The 21 teams will play a balanced schedule with each club meeting the other 20 teams four times each for an 80-game schedule.Winnipeg and Edmonton will join the Smythe Division with St. Louis Blues, Chicago Black Hawks, Vancouver Canucks and Colorado Rockies. Quebec Nordiques will be added to the Adams Division with Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins and Minnesota North Stars. Washington Capitals will switch from the Norris Division to the Patrick sector with Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers, Atlanta Flames and New York Islanders. New England will replace the Caps in the Norris Division with Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings.Sixteen of the 21 teams will participate in the Stanley Cup playoffs&mdash;the first two teams in each of the four divisions plus the eight teams with the next highest point totals.The underage juniors in the WHA will qualify for the NHL&rsquo;s 1979 amateur draft although Edmonton Oilers will be allowed to name 18-year-old scoring sensation Wayne Gretzky as one of their two protected skaters.There will be no NHL waiver-draft this year.The four WHA teams will not participate in any NHL expansion votes for the next five years. &#9632;

Surrender To Cost Each Team $7.5 Million

<h2>ADAMS DIVISION</h2>Boston BruinsBuffalo SabresToronto Maple LeafsMinnesota North StarsQuebec Nordiques<h2>NORRIS DIVISION</h2>Montreal CanadiensPittsburgh PenguinsLos Angeles KingsDetroit Red WingsNew England Whalers<h2>PATRICK DIVISION</h2>New York IslandersNew York RangersPhiladelphia FlyersAtlanta FlamesWashington Capitals<h2>SMYTHE DIVISION</h2>Chicago Black HawksVancouver CanucksSt. Louis BluesColorado RockiesEdmonton OilersWinnipeg Jets &#9632;

New Alignment Look

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011076/4367476-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Photo by Steve BabineauRICK MacLEISH&hellip;Flourishing Under Relaxed Approach</figcaption></div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Ask any Philadelphia psychologist who his favorite Flyers&rsquo; player is and the replies would be unanimous: Rick MacLeish.Surely each would say, &ldquo;I could make a career out of analyzing MacLeish.&rdquo;Several of Philadelphia&rsquo;s sporting-press types have gone through careers trying to analyze what makes one of hockey&rsquo;s most talented players click. Many of those curly gray hairs on Fred Shero&rsquo;s head are from worrying about MacLeish, who, despite impressive statistics, too often doesn&rsquo;t click. Shero finally threw up his film projector in dismay and decided all a coach can do with MacLeish is wait out one of his slumps.To illustrate the kind of season MacLeish was having, HOCKEY NEWS readers haven&rsquo;t seen much about him since training camp when one of then-coach Bob McCammon&rsquo;s plans was to permanently switch MacLeish to left wing on a Bobby Clarke-Reggie Leach line.MacLeish wasn&rsquo;t exactly a failure on the wing, but anyone who has watched him realizes he needs the puck and is most effective when he can free wheel. When Ken Linseman, who since his recall has been everything the Flyers expected, was demoted to the Maine Mariners, MacLeish shifted back to center.He also shifted into what has become an injury-filled rut. A stick near an eye in a game against Boston early in November sidelined him for six games. Last season he suffered an 8O-stitch neck gash against Los Angeles. The seasonafter the Flyers had won their second Stanley Cup, MacLeish was cut down in mid-season with a knee injury.But all those bad times were forgotten as the Pat Quinn-led Flyers of &lsquo;79 went on a five-game winning streak with people such as MacLeish, Linseman, Clarke, Leach, Bill Barber and Blake Dunlop leading the assault. Some vintage MacLeish included:&mdash;In a critical clash with division-rival Atlanta, MacLeish put the Flyers ahead, 4-3, by deflecting a power-play shot by Barber past goaltender Dan Bouchard. Less than a minute later, MacLeish accelerated like Mario Andretti, prevented an icing, retrieved the puck from a roaming Bouchard and fed linemate Paul Holmgren for the winning goal in a 5-4 victory.&mdash;In the next game, the Flyers had pulled away from the revived Buffalo Sabres, 4-2, but weren&rsquo;t out of danger until MacLeish stole the puck from Ken Breitenbach at the Buffalo blueline, skated in on goalie Bob Sauve, and scored the game clincher.In an explanation that should soothe professional shrinks, Quinn said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a psychologist. Maybe sometimes it&rsquo;s a combination of things that cause a player to look better on some nights than others. Some nights you can go out and your mind is some place else.&rdquo;MacLeish, still a spry 29, is as weary enduring probes about his nonproductive spells as are the questioners. All he&rsquo;ll say is, &ldquo;I guess I&rsquo;m working a lot harder, but I was working hard some nights before, too, still had some horsebleep games. The effort was there, I just didn&rsquo;t accomplish anything.&rdquo;Then MacLeish, who in 1972-73 was the youngest player ever to score 50 NHL goals, focused on the key to his reputation.&ldquo;I always seem to get stronger at this time of the season,&rdquo; said the man who let the Stanley Cup-winning Flyers in playoff scoring.Having Quinn relaxing (at least publicly) and not putting pressure on MacLeish helps. &ldquo;I know he&rsquo;s trying,&rdquo; said Quinn as his record as Flyers&rsquo; coach grew to an impressive 12-5-3. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been trying since I&rsquo;ve come here. I know he wants to do well. It would be stupid of me to try and change him. He&rsquo;s contributed a lot over the years. When he wants to play, he can contribute to this team as much, or more, than any forward we have.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Analyzing MacLeish Out, Flyers Try Waiting Game

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011105/4367528-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg"></div><h2>Filling In For Hubby</h2>Goaler Bernie Parent of the Philadelphia Flyers was this year&rsquo;s winner of the Class Guy Award presented by the Philadelphia media. Bernie is laid up with an eye injury and could not attend. His wife, Carole, is shown above accepting the honor for her famous husband from Bill Fleischman, hockey writer with the Philadelphia Daily News and a columnist with THE HOCKEY NEWS.<h2>The Coach Hams It Up</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02910/4367521-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="1421" height="1377"><figcaption class="caption-body">Photos by Bernie Moser</figcaption></div>Flyer coach Pat Quinn got in on the act at the Class Guy Award presentation when he showed up with a camera and snapped Mrs. Parent accepting the plaque for husband Bernie. Quinn has club general manager Keith Allen, Carole Parent, and former Flyer star Gary Dornhoefer, right, in focus for the photo. Dornhoefer won the first award two years ago but has since retired as a player to become a radio-TV commentator.<h2>Role Of A Spectator</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03672/4367514-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="1137" height="1438"><figcaption class="caption-body">Photo by Bruce Bennett</figcaption></div>Ulf Nilsson, the great young center of the New York Rangers, sits among the fans at Madison Square Garden as a reluctant spectator. Nilsson broke his ankle several weeks ago and is confined to the sidelines for the rest of the season &mdash; a big loss to the much-improved Rangers.<h2>Putting Kick in The North Stars</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04474/4367507-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="1743" height="1392"></div>Three members of the Minnesota North Stars, Mike Fidler, left, Glen Sharpley, and Kris Manery, right, join four girls from the North Stars&rsquo; hot new dance line, the Starlettes, for some on-ice follies. The girls, from the left are Heidi Skog, Debbie Thompson, Mary Dolan and Ann Lux. The precision line is made of 20 girls from Minnesota area skating clubs and performs between periods at NHL games. &#9632;

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HOCKEY PEOPLE

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011057/4367559-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Photo by Robert ShaverBOBBY SMITH&hellip;Not Concerned With Others&rsquo; Stats</figcaption></div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;The case for Bobby Smith.It&rsquo;s the drumbeat time of year again in the National Hockey League, as far as awards go.No one knows this better than the players.It was never more evident than in a recent visit by the Minnesota North Stars to St. Louis when two of the top candidates for the Calder Trophy, emblematic of the rookie-of-the-year award, were on display. Minnesota&rsquo;s Bobby Smith scored one goal, the Blues&rsquo; Wayne Babych two.Afterward, Babych told St. Louis reporters in no uncertain terms that he was much more deserving for the award than Smith, the No. 1 choice in the NHL amateur draft last summer.Smith let the subject drop, quickly, when asked for his reaction to Babych&rsquo;s comments. &ldquo;If he feels he has to campaign&hellip;&rdquo; Smith said without finishing the statement. elbow&hellip;Dennis Ververgaert was showing signs of playing like the aggressive winger the Flyers were counting on.Bobby Smith did not want to get caught up in a debate on whether he, Babych, Washington&rsquo;s Ryan Walter or Philadelphia&rsquo;s big Behn Wilson was-the best, better than, etc. Each no doubt has his own opinion.&ldquo;Sure, I&rsquo;d like to be rookie of the year. I&rsquo;d have to say that I&rsquo;d be disappointed if they named someone else,&rdquo; says Smith. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;m concentrating on my game, not what they have accomplished.&rdquo;After a slow start, Smith has achieved some accomplishments to be happy about. Playing in every Minnesota game, the six-foot-four, 215-pound Smith has moved to the top of North Stars&rsquo; scoring totals, as well as leading all other NHL rookies in scoring. He paces first-year players in another important category, game-winning and game-tying goals has moved.&ldquo;There was an adjustment to make, same as my first year in junior,&rdquo; said Smith. &ldquo;But I knew it would come, bit by bit. Everything is in order.&rdquo;After scoring only five goals in his first 25 games, Smith proceeded to score 24 goals and 22 assists his next 41 games, and will finish as only the second Minnesota rookie in 12 North Star seasons in the league to produce more than 30 goals, Danny Grant, 10 years ago, was the other en route to rookie-of-year honors.Smith has received a number of glowing compliments the last five months. One which he holds with high regard is this comment attributed to Montreal coach Scotty Bowman after a national television game in the Forum: &ldquo;Bobby Smith will be the next super star in the National Hockey League.&rdquo;Smith is a realist, knows that he has to improve and is striving toward that end constantly&mdash;he is almost always the last player off the practice ise, primarily working on shooting and faceoffs.&ldquo;Whether I turn out to be one of the top players in the NHL or a 30-goal scorer or whatever, I&rsquo;ll always be able to say that&rsquo;s as good as I could have done.&rdquo;STAR DUST: As much as Smith has meant to the Stars this season, the team went into a March swoon that probably cost them a shot at a wildcard playoff spot. Major problem was giving up goals. In one period of six games without a victory, the Stars gave up 27 goals&hellip;the team showed some signs of recovering by upsetting Montreal 4-3 with comeback goals by Glen Sharpley and Tom Younghans in a second span, but the next game out, the Stars spotted Toronto a 5-1 lead and lost 6-4 on an empty net goal&hellip;Lost for an indefinite period with a back injury was new winger Jack Carlson&hellip;Winger Jim Roberts was called up from Oklahoma City and went back down while winger Ron Zanussi went down and came back up&hellip;Ole Brasar broke a season-long scoring slump with two goals in the Toronto loss&hellip;Minnesota&rsquo;s average home attendance is more than 10,000 for the first time since the 1974-75 season&hellip;Kend Andersson, out for more than two months with a broken arm, hopes to be back for the final few games of the season. &#9632;

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Smith Builds Strong Case For Rookie Of Year A ward

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01908/4367604-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02753/4367597-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="712" height="3615"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03603/4367590-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="2166" height="3058"></div> &#9632;

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NHL POINT SCORING AND PENALITY STATISTICS

TORONTO&mdash;As quickly as you can say &lsquo;Harold Ballard,&rsquo; the Toronto Maple Leafs are playing themselves into a fine mess for the preliminary round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. That is, unless they play themselves right out of the playoff picture all together.The Leafs were involved in four games in the past week, and were outscored by four goals. But the sad part is that they only managed to pick up one of a possible eight points, leaving them in the lurch in the Adams Division race for second place behind Buffalo Sabres and only seven points in front of fourth-place Minnesota North Stars, who hold two games in hand.What the Leafs&mdash;who lost to Boston 4-3 to Detroit, 4-2 at home, tied Chicago 3-3 and then lost in Detroit, 2-1&mdash;have done is work themselves down into seventh place among teams which qualify for the playoffs, not counting the four divisional winners.What this does is put the Leafs into the position of facing two of the three preliminary games on foreign ice and if the season were to end tomorrow, they&rsquo;d be up against the Philadelphia Flyers in the Spectrum.Notwithstanding the fact that they only trailed sixth-place Los Angeles by a point and seventh-place Pittsburgh by five points, the Leafs really needed to finish ahead of Buffalo in second place to have a chance at home ice in the preliminary round.A Leaf&rsquo;s rally against Boston, sparked by goals by Darryl Sittler and Paul Gardner after Ron Ellis had helped them to a 1-1 tie, fell a goal short as Sittler hit the side of the net on a breakaway in the dying moments with goaler Mike Palmateer on the bench for an extra attacker.Against Detroit the first time around, Ian Turnbull and Gardner gave the Leafs a 2-1 edge but the Wings broke a 2-2 deadlock with two third-period goals.At home with Chicago, the Leafs came back three times for ties on goals by Garry Monahan, Sittler (his 35th) and Lanny McDonald (his 33rd), the latter coming with 3:05 to play. It was their only point of the week.McDonald scored the lone goal in the rematch in the Olympia with only 4:22 left in the game. &#9632;

Toronto Sinking In Race

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02673/4367690-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="584" height="825"></div> &#9632;

f0017-02

NHL Leaders

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/f0018-03482/4367721-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="596" height="731"></div> &#9632;

f0018-03

Top 20 Rookie Scorers

<div class="byline">BY TOM MURRAY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01818/4367752-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="533" height="904"><figcaption class="caption-body">WAYNE THOMASCan&rsquo;t Have Three</figcaption></div>NEW YORK&mdash;With just seven games remaining in the regular season, and with his team assured of a playoff spot as it battles to finish in second place in the Patrick Division, Ranger coach Fred Shero has a big decision to make in the next week or so. Namely, which one of his goaltenders is going to be the No. 1 man for the remainder of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs?This delemma is further complicated by the fact that John Davidson, who has been sidelined for 15 games with a sciatic nerve condition, is ready, willing, and able t9 return to action. And as far as J.D. is concerned, the sooner the better.&ldquo;Just let me know,&rdquo; Davidson told reporters after the Montreal Canadiens had edged the Rangers, 1-0, last Sunday night. &ldquo;I could have gone tonight if Freddie had asked me.&rdquo;But Freddie didn&rsquo;t ask J.D. Instead, he turned to Doug Soetaert, who has been rotating every other game with Wayne Thomas while Davidson has been out of action. Soetaert performed brilliantly, too, turning aside 30 Canadien shots&mdash;the majority of them on the difficult side. Soetaert was also the man on the spot earlier in the week, when the Rangers, down 2-1, tied the Washington Capitals with just five seconds remaining in the game on Phil Esposito&rsquo;s 40th goal of the season.The fact that both Soetaert and Thomas&mdash;who was in the nets for the Rangers&rsquo; 7-6 win over the Black Hawks last week&mdash;have been playing so very well is terrific for the Rangers, but not so terrific for Soetaert and Thomas now that favorite son Davidson&rsquo;s return to action is imminent.During the season, Shero had made no bones about his preference for Davidson over the other two goaltenders, and it was J.D. whom Shero designated to be the No. 1 man several months ago. Davidson responded to the challenge by leading the Rangers to 19 victories and compiling a 3.21 goals-against average.But then he was injured, and Soetaert and Thomas stepped in to admirably fill the void left by the big guy. Now that J.D. is capable of playing again, Shero has to decide whether to leave well enough alone by continuing to rotate Soetaert and Thomas and keeping Davidson&mdash;who, by his own admission, needs at least a few games under his belt to really get back into condition&mdash;on the bench. Or, does Shero disturb the rotation and insert Davidson in one of the Rangers&rsquo; upcoming games? The only problem with that strategy&mdash;aside from what affect it will have on the psyches of both Soetaert and Thomas&mdash;is the schedule itself. There just aren&rsquo;t any &ldquo;easy&rdquo; games left for J.D. to use to get back into form. With the second-place Rangers ahead of the streaking Flyers by just one point in the Patrick, every game is crucial&mdash;especially the one on March 27, when Philly and New York face off at Madison Square Garden. Whoever wins that game takes sole possession of second place, and the guess here is that Shero will stay with the rotation and play Thomas against the Flyers and, if the Rangers win, take advantage of the three-point cushion and play J.D. the following night against Pittsburgh. If the Rangers lose against Philly&hellip;who knows? Answering that question is just one of the reasons for why Shero is paid $250,000 a year.Putting all speculation aside for the moment, both Soetaert and Thomas, while happy that Davidson is healthy once more, are nonetheless concerned over who is going to be the odd man out if J.D. is able to regain his mid-season form.&ldquo;I just hope some kind of a decision is made soon,&rdquo; said Thomas. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been this way all season. We&rsquo;ve got one too many goalies. No one has played himself out of a job; it&rsquo;s up to them to choose who they&rsquo;re gonna go with. I know one thing for sure, though; we can&rsquo;t have three goalies in the playoffs.&rdquo;&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s going to be tough for J.D. to come back with just seven games left,&rdquo; Soetaert said after the Montreal loss. &ldquo;I just hope they tell us who is NO. 1 so that whoever it is can play the last four or five games of the season and get ready for the playoffs.&ldquo;I want to play,&rdquo; Soetaert continued. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve put in my time and I know I can do the job.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s just the problem. All their goalies know they can do the job. It&rsquo;s up to Freddie Shero to decide which one to go with,BLUE CHIPS: Phil Esposito&rsquo;s gametying goal against the Caps on March 20 marked the eighth time in his career that Espo has reached the 40-goal level, matching Bobby Hull for the most 40-goal seasons in NHL history&hellip;Ulf Nilsson&rsquo;s cast comes off on April 9, one day after the regular season ends. After that he&rsquo;ll need several weeks to strengthen the muscles and get back into condition, so don&rsquo;t look for him to make an appearance this season, unless the Rangers progress very far into the playoffs. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tell you one thing,&rdquo; Nilsson said adamantly, &ldquo;I won&rsquo;t take one extra day off. I want to play.&rdquo;&hellip;Shero said he is &ldquo;almost certain&rdquo; that Greschner will play &ldquo;soon.&rdquo; How&rsquo;s that for a nonanswer? &#9632;

f0018-01

Rangers Clogged In Crease Area; Shero Faced With Tough Decision

Last year the Atlanta Flames had balanced scoring with seven players scoring 20 or more goals. This year they have scoring power with three players over the 30-goal mark, and a 22-year-old center from Quebec City leading the way.He&rsquo;s Guy Chouinard, who recently broke the Flames&rsquo; club record for goals in a season when he reached the 40-goal mark to snap Eric Vail&rsquo;s record of 39. Last week Chouinard added four more goals and with 45 on the season rates an outstanding chance of reaching the exclusive 50-goal plateau.Chouinard, who is just three points shy of joining teammate Bob MacMillan as a 100-point scorer, collected two goals in a 4-3 loss against Los Angeles and another pair as the Flames ended a recent slump by thrashing St. Louis, 8-2.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02653/4367783-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="482" height="581"><figcaption class="caption-body">GUY CHOUINARD&hellip;Atlanta Flames</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0018-02

NHL’s… Player of the Week

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01782/4367814-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="606" height="1950"></div> &#9632;

f0019-01

Looking At NHL Goalers

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02627/4367845-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="591" height="628"></div> &#9632;

f0019-02

Team Penalties

<div class="byline">BY RUSS WHITE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03458/4367876-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">YVON LABRE&hellip; Always Plays Game Full-Tilt</figcaption></div>WASHINGTON&mdash;Of all that has been said about Yvon Labre of the Washington Capitals, the most gratifying to him was that he played hockey as though he were Charles Bronson. &ldquo;Yeah,&rdquo; Labre coos, &ldquo;like Bronson. Arrrrrrrrr.&rdquo;Labre has known only one way to play&mdash;all out.Once, in that first long, hard year for the Caps, he bemoaned the fact that his arms were too short. &ldquo;If they were this much longer,&rdquo; he said &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t lose every fight.&rdquo;As the Caps play their final games of the regular season&mdash;once again, they will not be in the playoffs&mdash;Labre is the only one of them selected in the June 1974 expansion pool draft, to have survived five seasons.When Milt Schr idt picked from the expansion pool, he said that in order for the club to grow none of the expansion players would be left in five years.He was right, except for Labre.Knee surgery and a chronic shoulder have cut Labre&rsquo;s playing time the past two years, yet if he suits up for the club&rsquo;s remaining half dozen games, he&rsquo;ll have participated in 291 of the team&rsquo;s first 400 games&mdash;more than anyone else.Naturally, it hasn&rsquo;t been easy for Labre or any of the Caps. The team will have to wait until next year to finally notch its 100th victory. It is no bargain going night after night with a team that can&rsquo;t even win one out of four (the Caps had 81 victories in 391 games.)Records, memories and the past don&rsquo;t concern Labre. He is more concerned with the future of the team and his role. He now gives ground to the club&rsquo;s more celebrated defensemen&mdash;top draft picks Rick Green and Robert Picard. Labre doesn&rsquo;t get as much ice time but he&rsquo;s been a plus five, which shows he has played well when called on by coach Danny Belisle.&ldquo;Labre is as sound as he ever was,&rdquo; says Caps&rsquo; general manager Max McNab, &ldquo;He made a typical Yvon Labre play recently in Detroit, throwing himself in front of a shot in the goal crease while Gary Inness was down. Labre has been handling the puck better and getting out of trouble better than I have ever seen him.&rdquo;The Caps have been making some interesting changes on defense and were expected to use Ex-Canadien favorite Pierre Bouchard in the last half-dozen games. Bouchard came out of retirement to begin working out with the Caps. Perhaps, he had Stanley Cup fever as spring arrived.Meanwhile, Belisle has been using Green at left wing. The move was designed to allow Green to observe the tactics used by other NHL defensemen. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve noticed some things that they do against forwards, that maybe I should be thinking of, myself,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s.a lot some of them get away with that I didn&rsquo;t think possible.&rdquo;Green lined up with Ryan Walter at center and Chuck Arnason, recently purchased by the Caps from the North Stars, at right wing. All three are first round draft choices&mdash;Arnason eight years ago by Montreal.CAPS&rsquo; NOTES: Cap&rsquo;s fear right winger Tom Rowe, 31-goal scorer in his second season will be out for at least two weeks with knee injury&hellip;since All Star break Caps have better road record than home mark. &ldquo;I think our players are more relaxed for road games,&rdquo; McNab said. &ldquo;They try too hard to do well before the fans at Capital Center&hellip; &#9632;

f0019-03

Defenseman Labre There When Capitals Call

MONTREAL&mdash;Get out the engraving instruments in Montreal and simply follow the pattern established five years ago. That&rsquo;s when Guy Lafleur won his first Molson Cup, and he&rsquo;s all but made it official for the fifth consecutive time as the last segment of the competition comes to a close.Lafleur, who won the first and third segments, and finished second to Pierre Mondou in the second portion of the competition held a 45-point lead over Mario Tremblay, 100 points to 55, with just 10 games remaining on the schedule. To overcome Lafleur&rsquo;s lead, Tremblay would have to earn a star rating in each of the 10 games, while Lafleur would have to be &ldquo;shut out&rdquo; from being named as any of the three stars in any of the games, an unlikely occurrence.The races in Toronto and Vancouver, though, are much closer. Maple Leafs&rsquo; netminder Mike Palmateer was the winner of the short February segment, the fourth portion of the competition by earning &ldquo;star ratings&rdquo; in three of nine Toronto games, and climbed into a second-place tie with Lanny McDonald in the overall competition behind Borje Salming.In Vancouver, goaler Garm Bromley and defenseman Harold Snepsts each finished the February segment with 15 points and decided to split the $1,000 prize which each segment offers, both to the player and to a charity or sports organization of his choice. Snepsts also climbed into the overall race as well, reaching 35 points for a tie for third place. Injured goaler Glen Hanlon leads with 60 points.Montreal&rsquo;s Michel &ldquo;Bunny&rdquo; Larocque was the fourth segment winner, grabbing a third star in the final game of the segment to win by five points, with a total of 15 points. Lafleur was tied with five other teammates at 10 points, but Larry Robinson received the $500 runner-up prize for having the most first star ratings.In the final segment of the season, Lafleur and Jacques Lemaire were the early leaders with 10 points, as Lafleur got set to wrap up his fifth consecutive Molson Cup.Borje Salming, who has twice won Toronto&rsquo;s Molson Cup, held a 10-point lead, 70 points to 60, over McDonald and Palmateer and was a two-time winner of the monthly segments, with McDonald and Palmateer claiming one each. Walt McKechnie (40 points), Dave Maloney and Darryl Sittler (both 35 points) were also in range for the overall title due to the lengthy final segment.Challenging in Vancouver are forwards Ron Sedlbauer and Chris Oddleifson, who entered the final segment with 40 points, to become runners-up to Hanlon. Sedlbauer collected 10 points in the February segment.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01615/4367907-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="535" height="893"><figcaption class="caption-body">GUY LAFLEUR&hellip;Five Years Running</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0020-01

5th Cup In Sight For Habs’ Lafleur

MONTREAL&mdash;Showing shades of their past greatness, members of the Les Anciens Canadiens defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; O Idtimers 5-2 in a charity arranged game that thrilled 15,665 fans at the Montreal Forum.Paced by John Ferguson, now the GM of the Winnipeg Jets, who scored twice, the Canadiens went on to repel the Maple Leafs with Henri Richard, Phil Goyette and Jean-Guy Gendron scoring once each. Ike Hildebrand and Eddie Shack were the Toronto goalgetters.Former NHL referee Red Storey and Linesmen Maurice &lsquo;Rocket&rsquo; Richard and Donnie Marshall handled the game. &#9632;

Oldtimer Canadiens Win

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02433/4367962-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOM LYSIAK&hellip;Found Being Traded Embarrassing</figcaption></div>CHICAGO&mdash;Pressure.Harold Phillipoff can&rsquo;t feel it all that much, even though he&rsquo;s expected to knock over everything that walks.And Greg Fox can&rsquo;t feel it all that much, even though he had the best plus-minus figure on his old team.And Pat Ribble can&rsquo;t feel it all that much, even though he broke his big toe in his first game with his new team.No, most of the pressure right now is on Tom Lysiak. As the 25-year-old designated savior of the Black Hawks, he must play well enough here not only to make people remember him, but well enough to make people forget Phil Russell and Ivan Boldirev.Ladies and gentlemen, that is pressure. Even more pressure than was ever placed on Lysiak in Atlanta, where he was entrusted with lifting an infant franchise from the incubator to the pay window in no time flat.&ldquo;I could feel it the other night when I first walked into the locker room,&rdquo; allowed Lysiak. &ldquo;It was as though somebody had died here. I can understand it, because the three players who left here were talented, and popular and had been here a while.&ldquo;If I&rsquo;m the player Chicago really wanted like they say, and if Boldirev and Russell were the guys that Atlanta really wanted, then I guess I have to sort of make up for both of them. It&rsquo;s a lot of pressure, more than I had been under.&ldquo;When I was first with Atlanta, the line I was on was expected to score most of the goals, but that changed the last couple of years. Still, I felt I was their most important player, or at least thought I was supposed to be. There still wasn&rsquo;t that much pressure, though.&rdquo;That sense of importance Lysiak enjoyed is not braggadocio, but rather fact. He was the Flames&rsquo; captain, their highest-paid employee, the charismatic figure who attracted customers to what is still a sport on trial down south, the touchstone of an expansion franchise which grew in leaps and bounds.&ldquo;And that&rsquo;s why the trade to Chicago was embarrassing for me,&rdquo; admitted the gifted centerman. &ldquo;I had prepared myself during my National Hockey League career to be traded once. But I figured it would be at the end of it rather than now.&ldquo;You know how it is. You have friends, you develop roots and you see the team coming along to a point where it might be able to win the Stanley Cup in two years. You think you&rsquo;ll be a part of it. You expect to be. And then, boom.&rdquo;Boom happened to Lysiak, it may now be told, not only because Chicago coach Bob Pulford wanted him badly but because Atlanta coach Fred Creighton didn&rsquo;t want him very badly.&ldquo;Not everybody can see eye to eye, right?&rdquo; said Lysiak. &ldquo;It was that way in Atlanta with Fred and me and the general manager (Cliff Fletcher) did what he had to do. He backed the coach.&ldquo;It was nothing serious, just a difference of opinion over a few things. Like I wanted more ice than he gave me, and I let my feelings be known and maybe that wasn&rsquo;t such a good idea. Put it this way. If we&rsquo;d have gotten along better, I&rsquo;d probably still be there.&rdquo;Lysiak, of course, always has been a rather candid fellow. A couple years ago, after the Black Hawks went through a 60-minute sleepwalk in Atlanta, he was quick to put down the foe, suggesting that a few Chicago players needn&rsquo;t worry about ever suffering a heart attack because, for that to happen, on$ must have a heart.&ldquo;Oh, I don&rsquo;t want to get into that,&rdquo; said Lysiak. &ldquo;And as far as coming from the Flames to a team that&rsquo;s not supposed to be as strong, I don&rsquo;t know. I don&rsquo;t think Chicago is really that far away in talent.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a little different type of club here. Now, I feel that if our team scores three goals, we should win. In Atlanta, we had a lot of scoring, but we also gave up a lot. We have more of a system here, and it will take time to learn it. I hope one bad game like our opener (4-0 loss to Philadelphia) won&rsquo;t get everybody unset &rdquo; &#9632;

f0020-02

Lysiak Feels Pressure In Chicago

<div class="byline">BY FRED PIETILA</div>DENVER&mdash;When newly-acquired Trevor Johansen donned the Colorado Rockies&rsquo; uniform and made his debut with the Denver team against Vancouver March 16, he became the 62nd player in three years to play for the Rockies in a National Hockey League game.It&rsquo;s been a changing scene here in three years and the main problem is the results are still about the same&mdash;bad.Johansen and &ldquo;retired&rdquo; center Don Ashby were acquired by the Rockies from Toronto just before the March 13 trading deadline for high-scoring center Paul Gardner in a transaction which proved unpopular with Colorado fans.At the time of the trade, Gardner was tied with Jack Valiquette for the team&rsquo;s goal-scoring lead with 23 and he was tied with Wilf Paiement for second in total points despite begin used infrequently the previous three weeks.But Ashby, who had quit hockey for personal reasons after being assigned by Toronto to New Brunswick three months earlier, promptly reported to the Rockies in time for their game against St. Louis and was on the ice on his first shift when Paiement deflected a shot past Phil Myre for the first Colorado goal.Johansen had trouble making flight connections to Denver, but arrived in time for the Rockies&rsquo; March 16 game against Vancouver and scored his fourth NHL goal on his first shot as a Rocky in a 4-1 Colorado loss. Johansen, a five-foot-nine, 200-pounder, also endeared himself to the die-hard fans with some hard body-checks, a commodity lacking with Barry Beck out of the lineup with his knee injury.The acquisition of Ashby and Johansen boosted to 34 the numbers of players who have seen action for the Rockies this season. Granted, some of those were because of emergency reasons.But when the Rockies played St. Louis to a 5-5 tie, out of the 19 players suited up, only three had been in uniform for Colorado&rsquo;s first NHL game in the fall of 1976. Those three were Paiement, team captain Gary Croteau and goalie Michel Plasse.The acquisition of Ashby and Johansen followed two other moves by general manager Ray Miron to shore up the front line. In the preceding six weeks, the Rockies acquired left winger Bill Lochead from Detroit on waivers and picked up right winger Don Saleski from the Philadelphia Flyers for a third-round 1979 draft choice.Both Lochead and Saleski made contributions, as Ashby and particularly Johansen were expected to, but the team continued to slump.In both the 5-5 tie with St. Louis and the 4-1 loss to Vancouver, a familiar pattern continued to haunt the third-year Rockies. The Rockies and Blues were tied 2-2 after two periods in a well-played game between two poor teams, but then St. Louis scored three goals within 2:17 to forge a 5-2 lead. Colorado, though, refused to quit and came back to score three in a row to earn a tie&mdash;a good sign by a team going nowhere.Against Vancouver, the Canucks snapped a 1-1 tie with two goals in 1:03 in the second period and the Rockies could not score again against Dune Wilson. A missed tripping call by referee Bryan Lewis when the Canucks&rsquo; Thomas Gradin hauled down Lochead from behind o.i a breakaway with just four minutes left infuriated a 25-cent Beer Night crowd, which proceeded to litter the ice with beer and debris.Trouble was, as Vancouver coach Harry Neale remarked later, &ldquo;Unfortunately, most of the beer and stuff ended up on us. I turned around and told them (the fans) if they were gonna give me beer I would like it in a cup.&rdquo;That win was Vancouver&rsquo;s first after seven straight losses and gave the Canucks a little more breathing room over third-place St. Louis in the Smythe Division race for second place.Meanwhile, Miron defended what he thought was going to work out to be a good trade for the Rockies. With one player &ldquo;retired,&rdquo; and another in the minors, the trade did not look good on paper.&ldquo;We think he&rsquo;s gonna be a helluva defenseman,&rdquo; Miron said of Johansen, who is bound to be a crowd-pleaser with his hustling play. &ldquo;And he&rsquo;s tough and that&rsquo;s what we need.&rdquo; Because of Toronto&rsquo;s use of five defensemen instead of six as most teams prefer, Johansen was the odd man out when the Leafs called up top 1978 draft choice Joel Quenneville to join Dave Burrows, Dave Hutchison, Ian Turnbull and Borje Salming.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got a good attitude and wants to play. He&rsquo;s a good skater,&rdquo; Miron said of Ashby, who like Johansen is a former first-round draft choice.Beck, the big second-year defenseman who played so well for the NHL All Stars in the Challenge Cup, had played just one game of the previous 13 games because of an ailing right knee. And there didn&rsquo;t appear to be any need, or cause, to rush him back into the lineup with the Rockies mired in last place.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01459/4368000-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="543" height="1007"><figcaption class="caption-body">TREVOR JOHANSEN&hellip;Tough Defenseman</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02289/4367993-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="558" height="1017"><figcaption class="caption-body">DON ASHBY&hellip;Wants To Play</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0021-01

Rockies Hope Fresh Faces Can Key Revival

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01505/4368073-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="590" height="1861"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02397/4368066-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="1190" height="2247"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03323/4368059-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="608" height="3273"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01476/4368052-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="641" height="3529"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02360/4368045-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="1199" height="1632"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03267/4368038-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="606" height="483"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-04207/4368031-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="617" height="237"></div> &#9632;

f0022-01

NATIONAL LEAGUE SUMMARIES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-05203/4368104-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0022-05

Where NHL Teams Play

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-06166/4368135-1-eng-US/f0022-062.jpg" title="f0022-06" width="583" height="1690"></div> &#9632;

f0022-06

The NHL Scoreboard

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-07145/4368166-1-eng-US/f0022-072.jpg" title="f0022-07" width="589" height="1011"></div> &#9632;

f0022-07

Overall, Wild Card Playoff Picture

ATLANTA: Chouinard 42,43,44,45, Plett 21, Pronovost 26, Vail 30, Houston 17, Kea 5, Rota 14, Shand 4, Russell 9.BOSTON: Cashman 24, Foster 5,6,7,8, O&rsquo;Reilly 21, Jonathan 4, Secord 13, Marcotte 17, Middleton 38.BUFFALO: Ramsay 22,23,24, Schoenfeld 8, Perreault 22,23, Savard 17, Care 23,24, R. Martin 24.CHICAGO: Marks 17,18,19,20, Murray 17, Bulky 21,22,23, Mikita 19, Walton 14, Mulvey 15, O&rsquo;Connell 2, Ribble 6, Kerr 15, Daigle 11.COLORADO: Paiement 24, Lochead 9, Pierce 16.DETROIT: Labraaten 16,17,18, Nedomansky 36, Woods 12,13, McCourt 26, Bolduc 15,16, Thompson 21, Hogaboam 5.LOS ANGELES: Dionne 52, Goldup 14, Manery 8, Taylor 40,41, Simmer 12,13,14, Murphy 13.MINNESOTA: Fidler 19,20,21, Payne 17,18,19,20, Young 23, Andersson 8, Sbarpley 19.MONTREAL: Lemaire 18,19, Tremblay 28, Lambert 25, Lafleur 47, Mondou 26, Risebrough 8.ISLANDERS: Bossy 59,60, Price 3, Henning 13, Potvin 30, Bourne 27, Trottier 45, Gillies 32, Kaszycki 15, Tonelli 18.RANGERS: Dave Maloney 10,11, Esposito 40,41, Don Maloney 7, DeBlois 9, Hedberg 29,30, Hickey 29.PHILADELPHIA: Linseman 5, Dunlop 19, Barber 29,30, Bridgman 20, Ververgaert 17, Holmgren 14,15, Gorence 13, Kelly 7, Leach 30, Watson 5,6, Hoyda 3.PITTSBURGH: Kehoe 22,23,24, Ferguson 16,17,18, Sheppard 12, McAdam 9,10, Malone 29.ST. LOUIS: Paley 12, Durbano 1, Sutter 38, Zuke 7, Federko 29, C. Bennett 13.TORONTO: Ellis 15, Sittler 34,35, Gardner 24,25, Turnbull 10, Monahan 4, McDonald 33,34.VANCOUVER: Gradin 19,20, Smyl 13, Sedlbauer 39,WASHINGTON: Sirois 29, Svensson 2, Walter 26, Maruk 29, Picard 19,20, Lane 3, Stewart 6, Mulvey 6. &#9632;

NHL’s Scorers …This Week

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-05177/4368221-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="157" height="159"></div><h2>ATLANTA</h2>GOALDan BouchardRejean LemelinDEFENSEEd Kea*Brad MarshBob MurdochPhil RussellRod SeilingDave ShandCENTERSIvan BoldirevGuy Chouinard*Red LaurenceR. WINGSBill ClementJohn GouldKen HoustonBob MacMillanJoan Pronovost CWilli PlottL. WINGSBobby LalondeDarcy RotaEric Vail<h2>BOSTONX</h2>GOALGerry CheeversGilles Gilbert*Jim PettieDEFENSEGary DoakMike MilburyDennis O&rsquo;BrienBrad ParkDick RedmondAl SimsRick SmithCENTERSPeter McNabBob MillerJean RatelleR. WINGSRick MiddletonTerry O&rsquo;ReillyBobby SchmautzL. WINGSWayne Cashman CStan JonathanDon MarcotteJohn Wensink<h2>BUFFALO</h2>GOALDon Edwards*Bob SauveDEFENSE*Mike BolandKen BreitenbachLee FogolinBill HajtJerry Korab*Larry PlayfairJim SchoenfeldCENTERSDon LuceGilles PerreaultAndri SavardR. WINGSDanny Gare CJacques RichardReni RobertRic SeilingL. WINGSRick DudleyRichard MartinTerry MartinCraig RamsayDavo Schultz<h2>CHICAGO</h2>GOALTony EspositoMike VeisorDEFENSEGreg FoxDave LoganMike O&rsquo;ConnellBob MurrayMiles ZaharkoCENTERSAlain DaigleTom LysiakStan MikitaMike WaltonR. WINGSJ.P. Bordeieau*Tim HigginsCliff KorollGrant MulveyL. WINGSTed BulleyBob Kelly*Reg KerrJohn MarksHarold Phillipoff<h2>COLORADO</h2>GOALBill OleschukMichel PlasseDEFENSEDon AwreyNick BeverleyMike ChristieTrevor JohansenMike KitchenDennis OwcharJohn VanBoxmeerCENTERSDon AshbyRey Comeau*Merlin Malinowski*Paul MessierJack ValiquetteR. WINGSRon Delorme*Paul MessierWilf PaiementRandy PierceDon Sale skiL. WINGSGary Croteau C* Mike Dwyer*Mike GillisBill LocheadAndy Spruce<h2>DETROIT</h2>GOALJim RutherfordRogie VachonDEFENSEThommie BergmanJean HamelTerry Harper*Willie HuberGreg JolyReed LarsonPerry MillerCENTERS*Greg CarrollBill HogaboamJ.P. LeBlancDale McCourtAndre St. LaurentR. WINGSDan LabraatenVaclac NedomanskiDennis PolonichL. WINGS*Dan BolducErrol ThompsonPaul Woods<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2>GOALRon Grahame*Mario LessardDEFENSEDarryl EdestrandDoug HalwardRick HamptonRandy HoltRandy ManeryRichard MulhernRob PalmerCENTERSSyl AppsMarcel DionneButch GoringVic VenaskyR. WINGSMark HeaslipMike Murphy CDave TaylorL. WINGSDanny GrantSteve JensenCharlie SimmerTom WilliamsBert WilsonMurray Wilson<h2>MINNESOTA</h2>GOALGary EdwardsGilles MelocheDEFENSEFred Barrett*Bill ButtersBryan MaxwellBrad MaxwellJean PotvinGary SargentGreg SmithCENTERS*Kris ManeryGlen Sharpley*Bob SmithTim YoungR. WINGSKent-Erik AnderssoMike FidlerAl MacAdamAlex PirusTom YoughansRon ZanussiL. WINGSPer-Oiov Brasar*Jack uarlsonJean-Paul Parise C*Steve Payne*Mike PolichJim Roberts<h2>MONTREAL</h2>GOALKen DrydenMichel LarocqueDEFENSERick ChartrawBrian Engblom* Rod LangwayGuy LapointeGilles LupienLarry RobinsonSerge Savard CCENTERSDoug JarvisPierre LaroucheJacques LemairePierre MondouDoug RisebroughR WINGSCam Connor*Pat HughesGuy LafleurMario TremblayL. WINGSBob GaineyYvon LambertMark NapierSteve Shutt<h2>ISLANDERS</h2>GOALChico ReschBilly SmithDEFENSEGerry HartDave Lewis*Bob LorimerBert MarshallDonis PotvinStefan PerssonPat PriceCENTERSLomo HenningMiko KaszyckiWayne MerrickBryan TrottierR. WINGSMiko BossyBilly HarrisBob NystromEd WestfallL. WINGSBob BoumeClarke Gillies CGarry HowattJohn Tonolli<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*Don MaloneySteve Vickers<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2>GOAL* Robbie MooreWayne StephensonDEFENSE*Frank BatheBob DaileyAndri DupontRick LaPointeJim Watson* Behn WilsonCENTERSMel BridgmanBobby Clarke CBlake DunlopKen LinsemanR. WINGS*Torn Gorence*Al HillPaul HolmgrenReggie LeachDennis VervergaertL. WINGSBill Barber*Dave HoydaBob KellyRick MacLelsh<h2>PITSBURGH</h2>GOALDenis Herron*Greg MillenDEFENSERuss AndersonTom BladonColin CampoellRandy CarlyleRon StackhouseBob ParadiseCENTERSGreg MaloneGregg SheppardR. WINGSBlair ChapmanJacques CossetteGeorge FergusonRick KehoePeter LeeL. WINGSOrest Kindrachuk CRoss LonsberryGary McAdam*Rod Schutt<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2>GOALPhil MyraEd StaniowskiDEFENSEJack BrownschidleSteve DurbanoBarry Gibbs CLarry GirouxNeil KomadoskiBob StewartCENTERSBernie FederkoLarry PateyGarry UngerR. WINGS*Wayne BabychBob MurdochMike Crombeen*Tony CurrieJohn SmrkeL. WINGSCurt BennettInge HammarstromBrian SuttlerMike Zuke<h2>TORONTO</h2>GOALPaul HarrisonMike PalmateerDEFENSEDave BurrowsDave Hutchisor.*Joel QuennevilleBorje SalmingIan TurnbullCENTERSJimmy JonesGarry MonahanWalt McKechnieDarryl Sittler CR. WINGS*John AndersonJerry ButlerRon EllisLanny McDonald* Rocky SaganiukL. WINGSPat BoutettePaul GardnerDan MaloneyDave Williams<h2>VONCOUVER</h2>GOALGary BromleyDune WilsonDEFENSEJohn GrisdaleLarry GoodenoughDennis Keams*Lars LindgrenBob MannoJack McllhargeyHarold SnepstsCENTERS*Thomas GradinDon LeverPit MartinR. WINGSRick BlightDon Kozak*Stan SmylRob TudorL. WINGS*Curt FraserBrad GassoffJere GillisRon Sedlbauer<h2>WASHINGTON</h2>GOAL* Jim BedardGary InnessDEFENSJERick GreenYvon Labre CGord LaneJack LynchRobert Picard*Leif SvenssonCENTERSGuy Charron*Rolf EdbergDennis HextailDennis MarukR. WINGSBlair StewartL. WINGSBob GirardMike Marson*Paul Mulvey*Ryan Walter<h2>INJURED PLAYERS</h2>BUFFALODerek Smith*Bill StewartCHICAGOKeith MagnusonDoug WilsonCOLORADOBarry Beck*Dave WatsonJoe WatsonDETROITNick Libett*Brent PetersonLOS ANGELESBrian GlennieGlenn GoldupMONTREALYvan CournoyerRajean HoulePITTSBURGHWayne BlanchinPete MahovlichDale TallonPHILADELPHIABernie ParentRANGERSRon GreschnerJohn DavidsonUlf NilssonVANCOUVER*Bill Deriago*Glen HanlonKevin McCarthyChris OddleifsonWASHINGTON*Tim CoulisGreg PollsPete ScamurraTom RoweBob Sirois &#9632;

f0023-05

NHL Team Rosters C - Captain * - Rookie

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/f0024-03268/4368252-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="601" height="1006"></div> &#9632;

f0024-03

WHA Leaders

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01493/4368283-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="514" height="853"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE CARLSON&hellip;Spotted By Oilers</figcaption></div>EDMONTON&mdash;The play of center Steve Carlson is proving it&rsquo;s a good thing that coach Glen Sather has a sharp memory.Carlson&rsquo;s play, both as a penalty-killer and a scoring threat, has been a big plus for the Oilers in their recent rush towards first place in the World Hockey Association.Often overlooked in recitations of Edmonton&rsquo;s strengths, Carlson finally had his worth recognized in full by a majority of fans when he missed a game with a back problem.In that game, the Oilers were whipped 7-2 by Quebec Nordiques, who claimed revenge for a 6-1 whipping two days previously. In Carlson&rsquo;s absence, his penalty-killing partner, Blair MacDonald, had to work even harder than usual and Carlson&rsquo;s ability to play any of the three forward positions left a severe gap.Fortunately, the lanky Carlson&mdash;six-foot-three and only 170 pounds, so thus his teammates call him &ldquo;Zipper&rdquo;&mdash; missed only one game.He returned for a game with the touring Finnish B team and scored a significant shorthanded goal in an 8-4 triumph. The following night, at Winnipeg, he scored a shorthanded goal and one with the sides at full strength in a 74 victory over the Jets.Carlson took little credit for the tallies. He thanked Winnipeg netminder Markus Mattsson for a perfect pass that left Carlson in front of an empty net for one goal and professed surprise at the strength of his 35-foot wrist shot that led to the second.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the longest wrist shot I ever took that went into the net,&rdquo; said Carlson, who was rescued when Sather and Edmonton general manager Larry Gordon spotted his name on a New England Whalers waiver announcement shortly before the season started.&ldquo;I remember how well Steve played against us in the playoffs last spring,&rdquo; said Sather. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s why I picked him up.&ldquo;I knew he was a good penalty-killer. In one of the games (Edmonton bowed 4-1 in a best-of-seven semi-final), Carlson killed penalties with Mark Howe and each of them scored a shorthanded goal against us.&ldquo;Some things you just don&rsquo;t forget.&rdquo;Sather also recalled that defenseman Ab DeMarco and forward Pierre Jarry were the culprits on the goals. Both have been removed from the Edmonton roster since the end of last season.Carlson&rsquo;s versatility has been a major asset, since Edmonton forwards Stan Weir, Ron Chipperfield, Bill Goldsworthy, Ace Bailey, Brett Callighen, Dennis Sobchuk and Peter Driscoll have all been sidelined with injuries this season.&ldquo;Sometimes I don&rsquo;t know what we&rsquo;d have done without Steve Carlson.&rdquo; says coach Sather.It&rsquo;s a good bet he doesn&rsquo;t want to find out what happens without the hardworking youngster in the future. &#9632;

f0024-01

Carlson’s Steady Play Big Plus For Edmonton

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04174/4368314-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="469" height="557"><figcaption class="caption-body">REAL CLOUTIER&hellip;Quebec Nordiques</figcaption></div>The Cloutier Express just keeps rolling in Quebec City. No matter the outcome of the game, somewhere along the line you can expect Real Cloutier to score a goal or two or three.Nordiques&rsquo; 22-year-old sensation stepped up his goal-a-game-pace a bit with five goals and two assists last week before being shutout in a 3-2 win over Birmingham. After 70 games, Cloutier led in goals with 71 and points with 120, to open a margin of 14 in both the points and goals race over his nearest competitors.Cloutier notched his fifth hat trick of the season in a 7-6 loss to New England, scored another goal in a 5-3 setback against the Whalers and potted his 71st of the season as the Nordiques downed Cincinnati, 6-2. &#9632;

f0024-04

WHA’S… Player of the Week

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE WARRINER</div>BIRMINGHAM&mdash;The Birmingham Bulls were scrambling for a position in the upcoming World Hockey Association playoffs and the New England Whalers were striving to overtake Edmonton and Quebec for first place honors when the two teams collided. They were scheduled to play three games against each other in just four nights.The Whalers had had difficulty with the Bulls all season long and this series proved to be no different. As a matter of fact, the results couldn&rsquo;t have been any closer. In the first of the three-game set, New England eked out the victory with a goal late in the final period, for a 4-3 count.Two nights later the scene shifted back to New England. It was another closely fought contest. The Bulls pulled their goaltender and John C. Stewart got credit for the tying goal with just 28 seconds remaining in regulation. Then Steve Alley tallied the game winner late in the overtime session to move Birmingham two points closer to that coveted playoff spot. Having split the first two games, the two teams headed back to Birmingham for the rubber match.The Bulls caught the Whalers flatfooted in the opening period and jumped to a 3-0 lead. Then New England surged for three goals in the middle stanza including one by Gordie Howe, celebrating his return to the lineup after a seven-week layoff due to a fractured ankle bone. From there on in, it was a very close game.The Bulls held a 5-4 lead with a minute to go when coach Bill Dineen pulled goalie Al Smith to give the Whalers an extra attacker, and rookie Jordy Douglas tied it up with just 24 seconds remaining. The game remained tied through the 10-minute overtime.After those three grueling matches, the two teams went their separate ways&mdash;Birmingham headed for Winnipeg where two nights later they had the Jets tied up 2-2 before running out of gas in the third period. In the final stanza Winnipeg outshot Birmingham 17 to one and won the game, 4-2.In Birmingham, coach John Brophy confided that the on-again, off-again merger stories had an effect on his young club, but he reiterated his pleasure working with the youngsters. &ldquo;Anybody who wouldn&rsquo;t enjoy working with those guys has to be crazy. They&rsquo;re super kids and super individuals,&rdquo; said Brophy.New England, meanwhile, went home to Springfield to host the Cincinnati Stingers. The home ice &lsquo;advantage&rsquo; had turned around for the Whalers. They had lost six of their last eight in Springfield (their home-away-from-home).The Whalers, however, got no compassion front the Stingers. Although the teams were tied at a goal apiece after two periods, the Stingers opened up a two-goal lead by the mid-way point of the third, and Robbie Ftorek rubbed salt in the wound with an open netter to dump the Whalers again, 4-1.Although New England had played well on the road&mdash;undefeated in five straight contests&mdash;they couldn&rsquo;t seem to get their act together before the home folks. The loss to Cincy was their fifth in a row at home, tying a team record set in 1977.Coach Bill Dineen was at a loss to explain his team&rsquo;s strange malady. All he could say was, &ldquo;We seem to be playing with a lot more intensity on the roaa than we are at home&mdash;I don&rsquo;t know why.&rdquo; Lots of reasons were advanced, but nobody really could put the finger on a valid excuse. A look at the standings and upcoming games made everyone realize that the solution had to be found quickly or the Whalers would be involved in a scramble just to make the &lsquo;final four&rsquo; of the Avco Cup playoffs.The Whalers have missed the offensive clout that Mark Howe usually provides. The 23-year-old left winger has hit every goal pipe in the league, but he has failed to find the twine in the last nine games&hellip;Veteran Dave Keon has been centering for two talented rookies&mdash;Jim Warner and Jordy Douglas. After struggling to break even a year ago, Keon leads the team in the plus/minus ratings with a plus 15&hellip;Marty Howe was expected to return shortly from his bout with a knee injury.QUEBEC: When the Nordiques headed out on their six-game road trip around the WHA, coach Jacques Demers said if the Nordiques could win four of the six they&rsquo;d have a good shot at taking the first place spot in the WHA race. Well, the Quebecers didn&rsquo;t quite fulfill their coach&rsquo;s hopes, but they came close as they managed to beat New England, Winnipeg, and Edmonton once each.After back-to-back losses in Cincinnati and Winnipeg, the Nords evened the count against the Jets, 4-2. Then they headed to Edmonton for an extremely important two-game encounter with the Oilers. The Edmonton fans turned out en masse for the opener. More than 15,000 people cheered the Oilers to a 6-1 tromping of the Nordiques.Another large crowd returned hoping to see more of the same two nights later, but this time the shoe was on the other foot. Led by the goal-a-game kid, Buddy Cloutier, the Nordiques roared back to jump into a 5-1 lead after two periods. From there they coasted to the final buzzer and a 7-2 score.Cloutier, who had been held scoreless for a pair of games, erupted for the 21st hat trick of his career. It was game number 66 for the Nordiques and the 22-year-old super star blasted his 64th, 65th, arid 66th goals of the season. In addition, Cloutier was credited with a pair of assists as he continued to outdistance all WHA scorers. He leads the league in shots on goal, but his scoring percentage was a phenomenal 31 percent, again outdistancing all rivals.Teammate Marc Tardif still leads the WHA in the plus/minus department with a plus 30. The Nordiques had a favorable schedule for the final four weeks of the season. Nine of their final 14 games were to be played at Le Colisee.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01429/4368352-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="531" height="756"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE ALLEY&hellip;Overtime Winner</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02318/4368345-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="533" height="757"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE KEON&hellip;Whaler Leader</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0025-01

Bulls Scrambling For Playoff Spot; Home Unwelcome Site For Whalers

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01442/4368411-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="621" height="3345"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02346/4368404-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="630" height="2635"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03297/4368397-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="591" height="984"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04234/4368390-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="589" height="1670"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05195/4368383-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="612" height="678"></div> &#9632;

f0026-01

WORLD HOCKEY ASSN. SUMMARIES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-06" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-06162/4368442-1-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/f0026-07145/4368473-1-eng-US/f0026-072.jpg" title="f0026-07" width="593" height="725"></div> &#9632;

f0026-07

The WHA Scoreboard

WINNIPEG&mdash;Tom McVie is a patient man. He must be. His troops were just about ready to assault the World Hockey Association leaders when they were stoned 7-4 by the Edmonton Oilers at the Winnipeg Arena. Although the Jets made a valiant effort in hopes of a comeback, they couldn&rsquo;t overcome a 7-2 deficit as they entered the last 20 minutes.&ldquo;They never gave up and that is something in itself.&rdquo; said McVie at hispost-game chat with the media. &ldquo;But we just had a complete breakdown in the second period. They tried, but they did not play intelligent hockey. Edmonton capitalized on all our mistakes and that&rsquo;s what wins hockey games.&rdquo;Intelligent hockey is what the Jets had played in their two previous games and in essence, that&rsquo;s what had set up the big game with the Oilers. Three nights before, Winnipeg broke open a tight 2-2 tie, to defeat the Birmingham Bulls 4-2 as Bill Lesuk slammed home the winner early in the third period.Prior to that game, the Jets opened up a 4-0 lend and then held on to edge the Cincinnati Stingers 5-3 in a game which saw the Moffat-Sullivan-Lesuk line pick up two goals and three assists.The Jets will have a chance to avenge ttyeir loss to the Oilers as the game in Winnipeg was the first of a two game home and home series with Edmonton. If they hope to move up on the second place Nordiques and third place Whalers, a victory is essential.JET STREAMS: Peter Sullivan has a seven game point streak going. Duringthat time he scored three goals and assisted on seven others&hellip;Bill Lesuk has a six game point streak while linemate Lyle Moffat had at least one point in each of his five games before he was sidelined with a back ailment&hellip;The Winnipeg Jets Booster Club held its 6th Annual Awards Night and handed out honors to Markus Mattson (Rookie of the Year), Peter Sullivan (Most Improved Player), Morris Lukowich (Most Exciting Player), Paul Terbenche (as the Unsung Hero) and Terry Ruskowski (Most Valuable Player).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01423/4368504-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="552" height="712"><figcaption class="caption-body">PETER SULLIVAN&hellip;Streaking Jet</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0027-01

Jets Primed For First Place Run

<div class="byline">BY PATRICK LYON</div>JOHNSTOWN&mdash;With the Northeastern Hockey League&rsquo;s first season slowly winding down into the playoffs, talk of expansion for the 1979-80 campaign centers around Buffalo in the north and Richmond and Salem, Virginia in the South.An eight team, two division league could be in the future of the NEHL if the league&rsquo;s Board of Governors could draw another southern team into the fold. Some interest has been shown by a group in Charleston, West Virginia for a possible franchise in 1980-81 season.The Board of Governors got a sneak preview on how Richmond would support hockey this past week when the Aces and Blades, the league&rsquo;s top two teams, met in the Richmond Coliseum when the Aces&rsquo; regular home, the Hampton Coliseum, could not accommodate them on that night.League officials were very pleased with the response in Richmond as 3,223 people turned out to see Hampton stop the Blades&rsquo; express, 5-3. Richmond will also host another NEHL game before the end of the regular season. At a league meeting in Pittsburgh, the Board of Governors set a date of April 15 as the final application deadline for new franchises with a final decision to be reached by the end of April.With three of the four playoff spots already going to Erie, Hampton and Cape Cod, the fourth is still up for grabs as the season enters its final two weeks. Dick Roberge&rsquo;s Johnstown Wings are locked in a struggle with the Utica Mohawks for fourth place and the right to meet the Blades in the first round of the playoffs. Virtually assured of first place, Erie will take on Utica or Johnstown in a best of seven series, while Hampton enjoys the home ice advantage in a seven-game set with the Freedoms. The winners will then meet in another best of seven for the John Mitchell Cup, symbol of league supremecy.When this issue went to press the Wings had the upper hand, holding down fourth place by a scant three points over the fifth place Mohawks. Johnstown finished the week with a win, loss and a tie, topping Cape Cod 53 and tying Erie 4-4 before dropping a 52 game to the Freedoms.Jim Cowell has been instrumental in the Wings turnaround, scoring 30 points since he joined the club 19 games ago from the Pacific Hockey League. Rookie Dave Lundeen is Johnstown&rsquo;s top pointmaker with 86 points on 32 goals and 54 assists. Lundeen and Mike Haedrich (78 points) have each accumulated eight power play goals, Lundeen also credited with a pair of shorthanded tallies and four gamewinning strikes.Johnstown could run into trouble when the final season standings are tabulated since they have just three games left, the Mohawks having three games in hand over the Wings. Johnstown&rsquo;s bid for the playoffs will be that much tougher because they must face Erie in each of their remaining games and the Blades won&rsquo;t be looking to help the Wings in any way in an attempt to sharpen their game for postseason action.ERIE: The Blades clinched a tie for the regular season championship, but their magic number remained at one when they were dealt a 5-3 setback to Hampton.After being dominated by the fifth place Mohawks in their last three meetings, the Blades quickly changed things and reminded Utica just who is the first place team with a pair of wins on their Erie County fieldhouse ice. Brad Rhiness spearheaded the Blades&rsquo; 10-5 thumping of Utica with a hat trick, his second in three games as he continues his pursuit of John Cunniff for the NEHL scoring championship. Rhiness has been an offensive demon the past month and has moved to within three points of Cunniff with 109.After playing the Wings to a 4-4 tie in Johnstown, Erie returned home and put on a brilliant performance in besting the Mohawks 6-5. Utica took a 4-2 advantage after two periods, but Erie rallied with three third period goals to regain the lead 5-4. Larry Mickey of Utica tied the game with a goal in the last three minutes, the Blades winning it with just 15 seconds left on a picture perfect pass play from Randy Wyrozub to Paul Mancini.Blade winger Stan Gulutzan has his eye on the goal scoring title, owning 49 lamplighters, one more than Jim Misener of the Aces.UTICA: Despite losing both games this past week to Erie by 10-5 and 6-5 margins, Mohawks&rsquo; coach Larry Mickey is confident that his club can pass Johnstown and make the playoffs. Utica would appear to be in good shape for their stretch run with six games left, four of the games on friendly Utica ice.Since adding player to his title of coach and general manager, Mickey has come up with four goals and four assists in eight games. Cam McGregor remains the team&rsquo;s leading scorer with 73 points on 30 goals and 43 assists, former Freedom Glenn Tomalty second with 64 points.A refrigeration problem at the Utica arena forced postponement of a recent game with the Freedoms.HAMPTON: The Aces may not be able to catch the Blades for first place, but they did get a lot of satisfaction out of beating the leaders 5-3 in Richmond. Erie was hoping to wrap up the season title, but the Aces had different ideas. With both teams still having seven games remaining, the Aces would have to win all seven and Erie drop seven straight for Hampton to even tie the Blades.Brian Coates, part of the high scoring Jim Missener-Larry Billows line, had a hat trick in the triumph over Erie. TheAces had their problems with the Freedoms, dropping narrow 5-3 and 4-3 setbacks.CAP COD: After their losing streak was extended to four games, the Freedoms bounced back just as quickly with three straight victories. Cape Cod lost to Johnstown 5-3, but then came up with back-to-back 5-3 and 4-3 decisions over Hampton. The good showings against the Aces meant a lot to the Freedoms with Hampton slated to be their playoff foe.Player-coach John Cunniff will try to bring his team to the .500 mark in their final six games. The Freedoms moved their record to 31-33-1 and have had trouble all season going over that elusive break-even mark.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01408/4368535-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="558" height="751"><figcaption class="caption-body">JIM COWELL&hellip;Led Turnaround</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Wings, Mohawks Covet Fourth Spot

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02302/4368573-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="240" height="236"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03233/4368566-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="2229" height="1611"></div> &#9632;

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WHA’S POINT SCORING AND PENALTY STATISTICS

<h2>Champions Of NCAA</h2>1979&mdash;Minnesota1978&mdash;Boston Univ.1977&mdash;Wisconsin1976&mdash;Minnesota1975&mdash;Mich. Tech.1974&mdash;Minnesota1973&mdash;Wisconsin1972&mdash;Boston Univ.1971&mdash;Boston Univ.1970&mdash;Cornell1969&mdash;Denver1968&mdash;Denver1967&mdash;Cornell1966&mdash;Mich. State1965&mdash;Mich. Tech1964&mdash;Michigan1963&mdash;No. Dakota1962&mdash;Mich. Tech.1961&mdash;Denver1960&mdash;Denver1959&mdash;No. Dakota1958&mdash;Denver1957&mdash;Colorado Coll.1956&mdash;Michigan1955&mdash;Michigan1954&mdash;RPI1953&mdash;Michigan1952&mdash;Michigan1951&mdash;Michigan1950&mdash;Colorado Coll.1949&mdash;Boston College1948&mdash;Michigan &#9632;

East Shut Out In 17th All-Western Ice Final

Goal: STEVE JANASZAK, MinnesotaDefense: HOWARD WALKER, No. DakotaDefense: MIKE RAMSEY, MinnesotaForward: MARK TAYLOR, No. DakotaForward: STEVE CHRISTOFF, MinnesotaForward: ERIC STROBEL, MinnesotaTourney MVP: STEVE JANASZAK, Minn. &#9632;

All-Tournament Team

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01402/4368652-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">University of Lowell (Mass.) captured the NCAA Division II hockey crown by downing Illinois Chicago-Circle and Mankato State at Merrimack College&rsquo;s Volpe Center. Left to right, co-captain John Costello, assistant coach Mike Geragosian, coach Bill Riley and Tom Jacobs, co-captain.</figcaption></div>NORTH ANDOVER&mdash;The chant wasn&rsquo;t the familiar &ldquo;We&rsquo;re Number One,&rdquo; even though the dressing room hosted the new National Collegiate Athletic Association Division Two hockey champions.The winning team was the University of Lowell, fresh from a 6-4 triumph over Mankato State at Merrimack College&rsquo;s Volpe Center. The Chiefs, who have developed into one of ECAC Division Two&rsquo;s best teams over the past five years or so, were shouting &ldquo;Rink! Rink! Rink!&rdquo;Lowell, you see, does not have an on campus ice facility. They have to practice and play in the neighboring town of Tyngsboro. It&rsquo;s an inconvenience, but that doesn&rsquo;t prevent the Chiefs from playing sound, fundamental hockey and it doesn&rsquo;t prevent the raucous disciples of Senator Blutarsky from pouring into the rooting section every game and shouting lusty cheers.Coach Billy Riley, decked out in green to honor St. Patrick, the patron of the day, congratulated his squad and echoed their sentiments.&ldquo;The kids deserve to get a rink. We might consider going Division One in the future if we do.&rdquo;Lowell ended the year with a 27-6 record. They won their last 16 contests, including the title game and a freewheeling 10-6 semi-final sin over the University of Illinois-Chicago Circle the previous evening. Mankato had attained the final berth by dumping Salem State College 5-3 on Thursday, so Lowell had to overcome an additional handicap by playing against a team which had enjoyed an extra day&rsquo;s rest.Forechecking was the key to Lowell&rsquo;s win. They climbed out front of Mankato 3-0 in the first period on goals by Dean Jenkins, Mike Fitzgerald, and Tom Jacobs. Passouts and deflections on plays originating deep in the zone provided most of the pressure on Mankato goalie Steve Carroll during that time.The teams traded goals until Jacobs&rsquo; second of the game with 8:13 to play made it 6-2. Mankato&rsquo;s two late goals only made the final count more respectable, as they were never subsequently in the hunt. Fitzgerald also scored twice, and Craig MacTavish, who had one goal in the final and a hat trick in the opener, was named MVP.In the Lowell-Illinois Chicago Circle semi-final, 31 penalties dotted the match. The decisive stretch was the first 1009 of the second period. Lowell scored five consecutive goals to take a 61 lead, then faltered a bit but still went into intermission with an insurmountable 9-4 spread.A brawl broke out at the 12:00 mark of the third frame when it was all over but the glaring shoving.Mankato got a break in its semi-final with Salem State when the Vikings&rsquo; star goalie, Jay Palladino, was sidelined with a high fever. Salem took leads of 10 and 2-1 but couldn&rsquo;t hold on. Steve Forliti scored shorthanded to get the Mavericks onto the board at 10:40 of the first, and Larry Young victimized Salem&rsquo;s backup goalie, Jim Barnard, on a rebound after the senior netminder had made an acrobatic save.In the third period, Salem again took a lead at 3-2 when Dan Kreiner tallied his 30th goal of the year. Mankato&rsquo;s Paul Mattson rapped home a rebound to tie for the last time at 8:58. Then Maverick captain Carl Davis netted the winner on a power play with 7:37 remaining, and an empty net score by Steve Loomis sealed the win.In the consolation preceding the rubber match, Illinois-Chicago Circles&rsquo;s Kerry Gladson scored off a scramble at 2:24 of the second overtime to give his team a 4-3 win over Salem.Lowell followed with its championship triumph, keeping the title in the East for the second year of its existence. Merrimack, the host school for the tourney, won the first. &#9632;

f0030-01

Lowell Employs ‘Road’ Win To Retain Honors For East

<div class="byline">BY RICHARD JABLONSKI</div>MONTREAL&mdash;Dreams of Canadian University hockey fans across the nation came several steps closer to reality this past week when the Canadian University Hockey Coaches Association gave unanimous approval to a plan for creation of a nationwide &ldquo;super league.&rdquo;At a time when many of hockey&rsquo;s staunchest supporters have become disenchanted with the product provided by their local professional or junior team, the CUHCA has taken the opportunity to attempt to upgrade its product by calling for improved scheduling and stiffer competition for Canada&rsquo;s top university teams.The idea centers around the concept of Canada&rsquo;s top 12 teams forming an elite division complete with an extensive home and home schedule. The Division I teams would still be required to fulfill their regional commitments within their home leagues.Talk of the &ldquo;super league&rdquo; was prevalent at the four-day CIAU championships recently held in Montreal, and came to a head when CUHCA president George Kingston announced at the all Canadian banquet that the concept had received unanimous support from all of the coaches present in Montreal.&ldquo;We only lack approval from the national&rsquo;s athletic directors,&rdquo; said the coach of the Calgary Dinosaurs. &ldquo;The new league could become a reality by next season.&rdquo;However, before such a motion would be rubber-stamped by the nation&rsquo;s athletic directors, several problems would have to be ironed out by June (when the ADs will have their general assembly in Calgary). The obvious problems are ones of funding and administration.Most of the directors would insist upon end of season equalization guarantees as a means of offsetting travel expenses. It has been suggested that travel budgets for Maritime teams such as Saint Mary&rsquo;s or Dalhousie, two likely participants in the new league, could run as high as $40,000, an immense amount to some of the more improverished programs across the nation.The universities naturally hope that a national sponsor and possible television contracts would help to ease some of this financial burden.The administrative problems are equally pressing. A governing body would have to be established to deal with such potential difficulties as business and on ice affairs. Among the stumbling blocks on the business end of things are the arrangement for proper facilities, the administration of guaranteed gate receipts, and the necessary dealings with both print and broadcast media.This is not to cloud the positive aspects of the national league concept.&ldquo;University hockey coaches in Canada see the need to promote and upgrade the sport,&rdquo; said Kingston in Montreal. &ldquo;Many fans do not realize that university hockey is a good brand of the sport.&rdquo;The coach of the recently crowned CIAU champion Alberta Golden Bears, Clair Drake, sees a super league as a means of attracting high quality players to the university ranks.&ldquo;If we can show prospective players that we have a good national schedule which will provide for both good competition and nationwide exposure, then we will be able to acquire better players,&rdquo; said Drake. &ldquo;I see university hockey as a potential alternative to Junior hockey that has not been thoroughly explored.&rdquo;Paul Arsenault, coach of the QUAA champion Concordia Stingers, sees the formation of a national league as the next logical step for CIAU hockey.&ldquo;The establishment of two divisions would make for better competition all the way around,&rdquo; said Arsenault. &ldquo;They already have two divisions in the ECAC, and it works well there.&ldquo;The idea is essentially one of tiering,&rdquo; continued the Stinger coach. &ldquo;In the past, many coaches and directors have been opposed to tiering. Now, it&rsquo;s just the right move to make. Look around Canada and you&rsquo;ll see that some of the leagues are already involved with tiering. They do it in the Maritimes with unbalanced schedules and in Ontario with a divisional system. We even had it for a few seasons in Quebec.&rdquo;The only question now seems to revolve around the willingness of Canada&rsquo;s athletic directors to accept an idea whose time, in the eyes of the nation&rsquo;s coaches, has obviously come. The federal government and its various amateur sports agencies have accepted and supported two tier university hockey in Canada. If all of the wrinkles can be ironed out, it will only be a matter of time until the nation&rsquo;s fans are treated to a new and improved brand of amateur hockey.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01368/4368721-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="570" height="775"><figcaption class="caption-body">PAUL ARSENAULT&hellip;Right Move</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Nation-Wide Super League Format Meets With Top Coaches’Approval

HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLEHOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02291/4368752-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="539" height="929"></div> &#9632;

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Where AHL Teams Play

<div class="byline">BY JIM LEAHY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01380/4368783-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="553" height="869"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOBBY SHEEHAN&hellip;Four-Goal Night</figcaption></div>NEW HAVEN&mdash;Bobby Sheehan&rsquo;s phenomenal four-goal outburst brought 5,010 Nighthawk fans to their feet as he led his team to a 9-3 win over the Hershey Bears. Sheehan scored the hat trick at 8:43 of the third period and added one more just 26 seconds later, to give him 31 goals in 57 games as a Nighthawk. Dave Hrechkosy scored twice and the Nighthawks got solo tallies from Dan Clark, Mike McDougal and Ron Andruff to round out the scoring blitz.Goaltender Steve Baker, who now has lost only one of his last 10 starts, has emerged as a big surprise to coach/GM Parker MacDonald. The big six-foot-three netminder who played at Union College and Toledo of the IHL, may come on to give the Nighthawks additional strength in the nets as the team prepares for the upcoming Calder Cup playoffs. New Haven will have already clinched the Southern Division crown by the time this issue goes to press.Rookie defenseman Dan Clark has returned from the NY Rangers and the Nighthawks now have 20 players on their roster. Claude Larose has been signed after passing his 25-game tryout with flying colors. He scored 20 goals and had 20 assists in his first 25 contests in the American Hockey League. During that span the smooth-skating left winger set a club record with a 17-game scoring streak, breaking Steve West&rsquo;s record of 14 straight set in 1973-74.Tenacious winger Frank Beaton has set a new team penalty record. After 61 games as a Nighthawk, he has 261 penalty minutes, breaking Jerome Engele&rsquo;s old mark of 232. In addition, the team has set a new record in that department, easily surpassing the old mark of 1,460.During the week, the Nighthawks were in action only twice. They lost 4-3 in New Brunswick and blasted Hershey 9-3, to remain 21 points ahead of the second place Bears.NOVA SCOTIA: Locked in a titanic struggle with the Springfield Indians for the last playoff spot in the Northern Division, the Voyageurs have to get their act together or will fail to make the playoffs for the first time in the team&rsquo;s history. At this writing, the Vees have a slim two point lead over Springfield and the Indians have a game in hand on Nova Scotia.The Vees lost twice during the week which didn&rsquo;t help their playoff chances. New Brunswick dealt them a 6-4 loss in Moncton and Maine skated to a 5-4 win in Halifax.Defenseman Bill Prentice was sold to the Philadelphia Firebirds and the Voyageurs apparently got rookie center Dale Yakiwchuk as compensation by way of the WHA Winnipeg Jets who own Yakiwchuk&rsquo;s contract. In addition, defenseman Jim Kirkpatrick was signed to an AHL contract after passing his trial period.Jerry Byers, Rick Meagher and Dave Lumley continue to be the big scoring guns for Nova Scotia. The addition of Byers, who was signed after playing for New Haven last season, has given the Voyageurs the most potent power play in the AHL. It remains to be seen if that will be enough to make the playoffs.BINGHAMTON: A rash of injuries has left the Dusters dangerously shorthanded at a time when everybody is gearing up for the playoffs. The biggest loss to the club occurred when captain Randy MacGregor was injured in a game against New Haven. He will miss the rest of the season with torn knee ligaments. MacGregor was having his best year as a pro, his 75 points good enough to tie for the AHL scoring lead until he was injured.At least seven other Dusters were also suffering from injuries. Norm Dube and center Rob Garner were out with hip pointers. Winger Jim Hamilton had a groin injury. Richard Grenier was playing with a painful shoulder and Mike Meeker had a sprained thumb. Joe Kowal and Jim Marsh each had cuts above the eye but were skating.Two players have been added to the Duster roster, left wingers Richard David and Mark Miller. David, who belongs to the WHA Quebec Nordiques, is returning from a knee injury. Miller just finished his fourth season of college hockey with the Michigan Wolverines of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, and has seen action in only two pro games.As Hershey and Binghamton fight for second place in the Southern Division race, every game from here on in becomes important. Last week the Dusters lost two of three and Hershey crept into second place. The Dusters began the week by defeating Springfield 5-3 on home ice. Two nights later they were upset 5-3 in Philadelphia and the week ended with a 4-3 loss in overtime at Binghamton to the New Brunswick Hawks.MAINE: Early one morning last week the Maine Mariners boarded a plane in Portland that took them to Hershey, Pennsylvania and the first stop on the club&rsquo;s longest remaining road trip of the season. Maine&rsquo;s 6-2 win that night in Hershey commenced a four-games-in-seven-nights excursion which took the Mariners to Halifax two nights later (Maine won 5-4) and back to Halifax for a Sunday afternoon contest. The trip concluded in New Brunswick.Bob McCammon&rsquo;s club, which has posted a 12-5-2 record since his return, has only 11 games left before the Calder Cup playoffs start. Right now, Maine is battling New Haven for the best record in the AHL, a mark that will give that team the all-important home ice advantage in the playoffs should these two clubs meet in a repeat of last year&rsquo;s championship series. The Mariners and Nighthawks are also battling for the AHL scoring title as well as the Hap Holmes Trophy, given to the team that allows the least amount of goals during the season. Both races could go right down to the wire.ROCHESTER: After shaking off the effects of a 15-game winless streak, the Amerks have made a mild recovery, winning three of their last five. It may be a case of too little too late as the Amerks trail third place Binghamton by nine points with only 11 games to play. It&rsquo;s possible that Rochester will fail to make the playoffs for the first time in many, many years.During the week the Amerks split two games. They skated to a 5-0 win at Philadelphia over the hapless Firebirds, but lost an important game in Hershey by a 5-4 margin.Rookie defenseman Doug Butler, fresh from St. Louis University, made an impressive debut as an Amerk. A fifth-round draft pick of the Boston Bruins in 1977, Butler had-22 points in 35 games with the Billikens this season. He is six-foot-one, 205 pounds and hails from Souris, Manitoba.NEW BRUNSWICK: The Hawks have an even split (4-4) in their last eight games, but Maine will probably win their second straight Northern Division crown.The week started with a big 4-3 win at home over New Haven, but the victory was somewhat tainted when referee Charley Banfield ruled that New Haven&rsquo;s tying goal with 15 seconds to play didn&rsquo;t count, because he had ruled the play dead. New Brunswicks&rsquo; Lorne Stamler had scored 34 seconds earlier to give the Hawks a 4-3 lead. The Hawks edged the Voyageurs 6-4 at home two nights later and then hit the road for games in Springfield and Binghamton. They lost 7-2 in Springfield and bounced back to beat the Dusters 4-3 in overtime.PHILADELPHIA: The Firebirds came to life and won two of three but their flame is out as far as making the playoffs this year. Even though they beat Springfield and Binghamton, only a miracle will enable them to climb out of the Southern Division cellar and overtake Rochester. It&rsquo;s been a long season in Philadelphia and their rumored move to Syracuse next year may be announced soon. AHL officials would like to have a team in Syracuse to form a Rochester-Syracuse-Binghamton triangle. In addition, Adirondack will be in the league next year.What about Buffalo for the 1979-80 campaign? Stay tuned next week.SPRINGFIELD: The Indians bolstered their playoffs hopes with the addition of left wingers Mike Antonovich and John French. Antonovich was assigned by the New England Whalers and French has been signed as a free agent. To make room for them, Paul Tantardini and Brian Drumm have been released.In 58 games with the Whalers this season, Antonovich had 44 points. He had 67 points last season and was the club&rsquo;s leading scorer during the playoffs.The Tribe can&rsquo;t seem to put together a late-season drive that will clinch them a playoff spot. They have a marginal 4-3 record during their last seven games, including a loss to Philadelphia in the Big E Coliseum.HERSHEY: Under new coach Fred Stanfield, the Bears are 10-7-1 and have climbed into second place in the Southern Division. As things stand now, Hershey will meet Binghamton in the first round of the playoffs with the Bears having the home ice advantage.During the week the Bears lost 6-2 at home to Maine, were bombed 9-3 in New Haven but recovered to beat Rochester 5-4 at the Hersheypark Sports Arena.The parent Buffalo Sabres have recalled defensemen Larry Playfair, Mike Boland and Ken Breitenbach, which has left Fred Stanfield weak on the blueline. Veteran Gord Smith has been added from the Washington Caps, but the Bears may need a lot more help to go very far in post-season play. &#9632;

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New Haven Outburst Caps Pennant; Vees, Amerks Could Miss Playoffs

LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY, 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/f0033-02257/4368814-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="529" height="526"></div> &#9632;

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Where CHL Teams Play

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div>TULSA&mdash;Tulsa Oilers played hot and cold, but even at their best, they weren&rsquo;t able to shake the slump that has gripped them since Feb. 16. They were outclassed at home, 7-3, by Salt Lake, then had the lead three times before losing at home to Dallas, 6-4. They couldn&rsquo;t do anything right in Oklahoma City, either where Jim Warden shut them out, 7-0. Then they came home to lose to Fort Worth, 4-2.That Sunday loss broke three club records. It was the Tulsans&rsquo; ninth straight defeat, 13th game without a victory, and sixth straight setback at home.One woe piled upon another, and coach John Choyce didn&rsquo;t have enough bodies. Defenseman Miles Zaharko was traded by Atlanta to Chicago. Defensemen Gordon Buynak and Mike Korney both crashed into the Salt Lake net in the Wednesday loss. Buynak broke some ribs against a goalpost, and Korney twisted a knee in colliding with Eagle goalie Doug Grant. Center Jim Wiley missed two games with a back injury, and left wing Bobby Simpson damaged a knee against Fort Worth.Atlanta brought in defenseman Gord Wappel, who started the season in Tulsa but was sent to Muskegon in the International League, Jan. 12. Another blueliner. Bill Sutter from the University of Wisconsin, was due in for a pro trial.Brian Hill and Kurt Walker scored in the first period against Salt Lake, Guy Lash in the third. Rookie Mike Penasse, converted from left wing to defense, scored on two long slapshots in the opening period against Dallas. Simpson in the middle period also provided a lead that didn&rsquo;t last, and Craig Patrick tied the game for the last time in the third.After the Saturday shutout in Oklahome City, the undermanned Oilers got goals from Rick Hodgson in the first period against Fort Worth, and Ken Kuzyk (his 30th) in the third. Wiley, the club scoring leader, was blanked for the week. With 63 points he was tied for sixth on the CHL chart. &#9632;

Tulsa Tailspin Sets Club Marks

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div>DALLAS&mdash;It took 6:39 of overtime play before Steve (Clipper) Clippingdale got the assist that gave him a Central Hockey League record point streak of 19 games.The 22-year-old left wing from Vancouver, on loan from the Los Angeles Kings to the Dallas Black Hawks, was scrambling for the puck behind the Oklahoma City net. Steve was able to kick the puck out to teammate Doug Berry, who found Jim Mayer all alone in front of the net. Mayer&rsquo;s short flip beat Stars&rsquo; goalie Jim Warden, and the amazing Hawks had posted their 10th straight victory, 3-2. That left them only one shy of the record CHL string established by the Omaha Knights in the league&rsquo;s inaugural season, 16 years ago.The Mar. 18 overtime win wasn&rsquo;t the first time the Clipper&rsquo;s streak had been in peril until the closing minutes. Steve had collected 10 goals and 14 assists in that record-setting streak, that began with a 10-5 home victory over Tulsa, Feb. 11.On Feb. 21, for instance, in a 4-2 triumph at Fort Worth, Clippingdale didn&rsquo;t get a point until he scored the insurance goal at 17:04 of the final period. Two nights later, although the Hawks posted an 8-6 home victory over Tulsa (that was the night Mayer tallied six), Clipper didn&rsquo;t figure in the scoring until 13:54 of the third (an assist).On Mar. 3, again in Fort Worth, Steve preserved his streak with an empty-net goal 22 seconds before the final buzzer, as the Hawks won, 3-1. On Mar. 8, the streak appeared ended. But the Hawks lifted goalie Curk Ridley and gained a tie with give seconds left in regulation time, then beat Kansas City, 5-4, in overtime. The tying goal saw Clipper throw the puck out from the boards behind the net, and it bounced in off Drew Callender&rsquo;s body.Clipper was the top Los Angeles draft choice (off the New Westminster Bruins) in 1976. He was with Fort Worth in the CHL most of his rookie season, but played 18 games with the Kings. Last season he was at Springfield in the American League.While Clippingdale was hot, the Hawks as a club were just as torrid. After getting off to a 2-9-2 start, they were just part of the pack for much of the season. They took over second place on Feb. 21, but on Feb. 26, after absorbing a 10-3 shellacking in Kansas City, they were 17 points behind the frontrunning Salt Lake Golden Eagles.Then the streak began. They strung together six home wins and four on the road. After the overtime triumph against OC, Dallas was only six points behind Salt Lake, and each team had eight games left, two with each other. Dallas coach John Muckier had been telling everyone Salt Lake couldn&rsquo;t be caught, but his team obviously wasn&rsquo;t believing him.For their eighth straight victory, in Tulsa, the Hawks had to come from behind three times, on goals by Clippingdale in the first period, Gerry Minor and Greg Hubick (shorthanded) in the second. Steve Hazlett put them ahead for the first time in the third, but it took Ron Carter&rsquo;s stuff shot with 7:11 left to win it, and Clipper added insurance for the 6-4 triumph.A showdown with the Eagles in Dallas was a 6-1 romp, with Carter and Callender each scoring twice, Mayer and Hazlett completing the rout. The lone goal off Ridley came late in the first period.In the Sunday night cliffhanger against OC, the Hawks couldn&rsquo;t score until the third period, when Tom Roulston and Carter each tied the count, the latter with 6:03 to go in regulation time.Rick Blight was called up by the parent Vancouver Canucks, and promptly bruised a shoulder. He was expected back in Dallas after recuperating. The WHA Edmonton Oilers recalled Berry briefly, but returned him to the Hawks. Defenseman Jeff Bandura was sidelined with a knee problem, and winger Rob Flockhart&rsquo;s charley horse wasn&rsquo;t mending as quickly as expected.Clippingdale ran his point total to 64, matching that of Hawk Rob Tudor before he went up to Vancouver four weeks earlier. The two shared fourth place in the CHL scoring. Hazlett was tied for sixth at 63, and Mayer eighth at 61.KANSAS CITY: Although forced on the road for the week, the Red Wings didn&rsquo;t suffer, as they won in Oklahoma City, 4-2, and Fort Worth, 5-1. Ron Low was magnificent in the nets, facing 63 shots and allowing only three to get by him.Dan Gruen&rsquo;s first period goal in OC tied the score, Mai Davis and Jim Maladrewicz put the Wings ahead in the second, and Ted Nolan added late insurance. At Fort Worth, Gruen got two goals, with others by Roland Cloutier, Sylvain Locas and Rick Vasko. The victories tightened Kansas City&rsquo;s grip on third place, 10 points behind runnerup Dallas, but eight ahead of fourth-place Oklahoma City.Davis was the club&rsquo;s top scorer with 58 points, ninth in the league. He suffered a bruised knee at Fort Worth, but wasn&rsquo;t expected to miss much action.Rob Plumb (out six weeks after a home butcher-knife mishap) and Clark Hamilton (sidelines before Christmas by a knee injury), were skating, but it wasn&rsquo;t known how quickly they would be in the lineup. Fern LeBlanc&rsquo;s knee injury was found to be not as serious as feared. No surgery was needed, but he was expected to miss three weeks. J.P. LeBlanc was summoned to Detroit. Cloutier went up, too but quickly came back.SALT LAKE: Although they had a 44-1 record for three weeks, Jack Evans&rsquo; Golden Eagles have seen their leagueleading margin dwindle from 17 to six points in the face of Dallas&rsquo; late surge. It was a break-even week, all on the road, as the Birds won in Tulsa, 7-3, tied in Fort Worth, 3-3, then succumbed in Dallas, 6-1.Two goals each by Gordie McTavish and Bob Hess featured the win in Tulsa, as the Eagles jumped to a 4-2 lead in the first period. Other goals were contributed by Rick Bowness, Brian Ogilvie and Ken Richardson. McTavish had the first and last goals of the Fort Worth game, tying it up at 14:22 of the third. Doug Palazzari had scored 34 seconds into the third period, only 14 seconds after Charlie Skjodt had put the Texans ahead. Bruce Affleck scored in the first at Dallas, but the Eagles could do no further damage to Curt Ridley.Palazzari had stretched his franchiserecord point streak to 14 games in Fort Worth, but was stopped in Dallas. The line of Rick Shinske, Floyd Thomson and Rick Bowness was held to a lone point (Bowness&rsquo; goal) for the week. Shinske&rsquo;s blanking cost him the league scoring leadership. With 72 points, he was one of Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Mike Eaves, and Thomson was third with 66.OKLAHOMA CITY: Ted Hampson&rsquo;s Stars stayed a point ahead of Fort Worth in the grim battle for the fourth and final playoff spot. Oke City won a big one in Fort Worth, 4-2, lost at home by the same score to Kansas City, rode Jim Warden&rsquo;s perfect goaltending to a 7-0 romp at home over Tulsa, then bowed in overtime at Dallas, 3-2.Mike Eaves had three goals, three assists to regain the CHL scoring lead. Left wing Jim Roberts returned from the Minnesota North Stars, who also sent in right wing John Harrington on trial from the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Right wing Ron Zanussi returned to Minnesota, and Chuck Arnason was dealt to the Washington Capitals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01347/4368845-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="586" height="730"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE CLIPPINGDALE&hellip;19-Game Streak</figcaption></div>Kelly Greenbank and Eaves put the Stars in firm command in the opening period at Fort Worth. After the Texans threatened, Rick Jodzio and Roberts tallied in the third. Eaves started the scoring against KC, and John Baby scored early in the third.The Saturday romp that continued the Stars&rsquo; domination of Tulsa was their first shutout victory of the season. Warden faced only 21 shots, as Oklahoma ran its turnpike series advantage to 13-5-1. It was Greenbank, Tom Cassidy and Roberts scoring in the first, Les Auge and Baby in the second, and Eaves 55 seconds into the third.Baby and Dan Chicoine twice put the Stars in front at Dallas, but they fell in overtime. Baby&rsquo;s goal was the 16th for the young defenseman.Chicoine returned to duty after missing six games with a severe Charley horse.FORT WORTH: The Texans had a four-game winless string until they came out of Tulsa with a 4-2 triumph. Earlier they had lost at home to Oklahoma City (4-2), had to settle for a home tie with Salt Lake (3-3), and suffered another home loss to Kansas City (5-1).As a result, Billy MacMillan&rsquo;s men were still in fifth place, a point behind OC in the playoff jockeying, but had a game in hand.After falling behind by two goals in the first period against Oklahoma City, Ed Pizunski narrowed the deficit with the only goal of the middle frame. But the Stars scored two more before Ralph Stewart counted with 31 seconds left in the game.Mike Hordy scored late in the first, and Charlie Skjodt after 20 seconds of the third for a 2-1 lead over Salt Lake. Steve Tambellini put the Texans ahead again with 9:18 left, but the lead didn&rsquo;t last.Skjodt&rsquo;s power play goal at 9:11 of the third period was all the Texans could get against KC&rsquo;s Ron Low. By that time the Wings had five goals. Goran Hogosta was relieved in the nets, after allowing four in the first. But Don Cutts, bothered by an ankle injury he suffered in the warmup, had to retire after the second period, and Hogosta came back.Skjodt had two goals in Tulsa, each time shortly after the Oilers had tied the score. Hector Marini opened the scoring, and Garth MacGuigan added late insurance.Defenseman Steve Letzgus was out with a knee injury. The Texans shipped three men to the International League&mdash;forward Neil Hawryliw to Muskegon, goalie Andre LePage and forward Dave Salvian to Fort Wayne.With four goals (adding up to 25) and one assist, Skjodt led the club scorers. His 57 points put him 10th in the league. &#9632;

f0033-01

Dallas Challenges Eagles With Late Surge

LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and CanadaLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSMade in Canada by HILLERICH & BRAOSBY, 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/f0034-03223/4368900-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="540" height="976"></div> &#9632;

f0034-03

Where IHL Teams Play

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01378/4368938-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">WES JARVIS&hellip;Eyes Scoring Title</figcaption></div>PORT HURON&mdash;Grand Rapids and Fort Wayne jumped from the starting gate and dominated play in the International Hockey League season for more than half the campaign. And the two were primarily responsible for a strong domination by the South over the North. Two teams are still setting a hot pace in the IHL&mdash;but now it&rsquo;s Port Huron and Kalamazoo.The Flags are skating towards an IHL record for consecutive victories&mdash;14 set by the Komets during the 1959-60 season. The Flags have put away 12 straight and should the Flags keep going, they could break the record when they invade Fort Wayne the next time.The Flags added four victories to their string during the week and carried a four-point edge over the K-Wings as a result. Featuring the four-game spurt was a smashing, 11-0 rout of the K-Wings in Port Huron.The season&rsquo;s largest crowd&mdash;2,939&mdash;witnessed the romp over the K-Wings. Lou Franceshetti featured the offensive explosion with a five-point game, three goals and a pair of assists. Rick Heinz chalked up his fourth shutout as he throttled 26 K-Wing shots.The Flags&rsquo; week opened with a 7-4 conquest of Fort Wayne. Then came the romp over Kalamazoo. Two road wins boosted the Flags&rsquo; winning streak to 12, The Flags turned back Muskegon in a shootout, 8-6, and then won at Milwaukee, 5-2. Since the All Star game, the Flags have skated at a nearperfect, 13-3 level.Wes Jarvis has been a key contributor during the Flags&rsquo; surge and has moved to within one point of the scoring lead. Jarvis now has 105 points on 43 goals and 62 assists. Fort Wayne&rsquo;s Terry McDougall, the season-long leader, has 106 points on a league-high 46 goals and AA accictcKALAMAZOO: The K-Wings haven&rsquo;t quite matched Port Huron&rsquo;s pace but Billy Purcell&rsquo;s club has one advantage which could be a strong factor in the final finish. The K-Wings have played one less game than the Flags and have seven of their final 14 games at home. Port Huron has eight of its final 13 on the road.The K-Wings lost some ground with a 1-2-1 week. The lone victory was a 6-2 win at Fort Wayne. Kalamazoo is the only club to defeat the Komets three times in Fort Wayne. In addition to the 11-0 loss at Port Huron, the K-Wings dropped a 4-1 verdict at Milwaukee and played to a 2-2 tie with Toledo at home. The loss at Port Huron snapped a 12-game undefeated string&mdash;a club record.SAGINAW: The Gears slipped deeper into third place, which would be their lowest finish since the 1974-75. season with a 2-2 week. But since the All Star game the Gears are 3-11. And manager-coach Don Perry is more concerned about holding off Flint than any possible playoff opponent as the Gears closed the week with a 4-2 loss at home to Grand Rapids.Perry was concerned, to be sure, but not ready to panic. &ldquo;The other clubs haven&rsquo;t changed personnel that much. We beat them before and we can do it again. We are lacking a killer instinct right now!!The Gears opened the week with a 134 romp over Muskegon and followed with a 4-2 road win at Milwaukee. Then they dropped two straight at home, to Toledo, 3-2, and Grand Rapids.FLINT: The Generals struggled through a 1-1-1 week but found consolation in the fact they are assured a playoff berth. A 7-1 win over Muskegon clinched the post-season seat for the Generals. It gave Flint 58 points and the most Muskegon could muster is 55.Muskegon bounced back for a 6-3 win in Muskegon before the Generals closed the week by playing a 4-4 tie with Toledo at home.MUSKEGON: Time has run out on the Mohawks as far as a post-season playoff spot is concerned. The Mohawks just dug too deep a hole. They&rsquo;ve been playing much better but there was too much ground to cover. Milwaukee, the last available target, still holds a comfortable lead and plays all but four of its final games at home.For the week, the Mohawks were 1-3. The victory was a 6-3 decision at home over Flint. They also lost to Port Huron at home, 8-6 while suffering two road defeats, 13-4 at Saginaw and 7-1 at Flint.GRAND RAPIDS: The Owls, crippled by suspensions in the wake of the incident involving referee Tod Larson, have managed to maintain their nine-point cushion over second-place Fort Wayne. The Owls lost Captain Rick Dorman for the season and wingers John Flesch and Dean Magee for 10 games each as a result of the Larson incident. Commissioner Frank Gallagher made the decision following a lengthy hearing attended by all the parties involved.The Owls dropped a 4-3 decision at Milwaukee but bounced back to win at Saginaw, 4-2. Flesch and Magee returned to action on March 24. The two had served three games of the 10-game suspension when the decision was announced.FORT WAYNE: The Komets failed to get a point in two attempts during the week, losing at Port Huron, 7-4, and dropping a 6-2 decision at home to Kalamazoo. The Loss to the K-Wings was the third at the Coliseum for the Komets to Kalamazoo.TOLEDO: The Diggers continued to play well on the road during the week, picking up four of a possible six points. Toledo played a 2-2 tie at Kalamazoo, won at Saginaw, 3-2, and got a 4-4 tie in Flint.Since the middle of January, Toledo MILWAUKEE: The Admirals opened a four-game home stand on a losing note, losing to Saginaw, 4-2. They bounced back to beat Grand Rapids, 43, and Kalamazoo, 4-1, before losing the final game of the stand to Port Huron, 5-2.A crowd of 4,062 witnessed the win over Grand Rapids and saw Randy Rudyk score all four of the Admiral goals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02309/4368931-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="557" height="730"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Port Huron Flags are the hot team as the IHL campaign winds down and one of the bright lights for the North Division leaders is Lou Franceschetti, shown above left, with teammates Larry Gould, center, and Kevin Willison, earlier this season when the three each scored hat tricks in a lopsided 17-2 romp over Muskegon. Franceschetti was up to his old tricks again last week with another three-goal blast as the Flags ripped Kalamazoo 11-0.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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April 6, 1979

Canucks Leary Of Annual Late-Season Slump

LETTER OF THE WEEK

Looking At The Minor League Scoreboard

Bowling Green Squad Dominates All Stars