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 20, 1979

The Hockey News April 20, 1979

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><p>LOS ANGELES&mdash;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01352/3861597-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="576" height="1072"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MURRAY WILSON&hellip;Rough Season</b></figcaption></div><p>This was a difficult season for Murray Wilson. He is 28-years-old and after six seasons as a part-time player with mighty Montreal, he failed to establish himself as a full-time regular with lowly Los Angeles.</p><p>He missed about 20 games, primarily with a shoulder injury, played irregularly on several different lines, and scored infrequently. His play was impressive only occasionally.</p><p>If his professional performance was unimpressive, his personal life was an even greater problem. And that has been more important. Murray and his wife Catherine went through about two months of the worst kind of worry before a newborn daughter Emily escaped danger.</p><p>These are not uniformed robots out there on the ice, performing for the pleasure of the public, but flesh and blood people with families and the sort of real-life concerns that troubles us all. At times, their personal problems have to take precedence over their professional pursuits.</p><p>The oldest of four children of a Canadian Air Force officer, Murray was moved around a lot as a boy. He even spent three years in Brimsby, England. But he was born in Ottawa and has made a home just outside of Ottawa, in Perkins. He married his high school sweetheart, the former Catherine Lewis, in June of 1975.</p><p>Traded from Montreal to Los Angeles last fall, his wife was expecting their first child late in March and he worried much of the burden of the sale of their suburban home in Montreal and their move to a suburban home in southern California would weigh heavily on her. Around the start of the new year, she took a trip home, which may have been hard on her.</p><p>In mid-January, Catherine began to hemorrhage and wound up in the hospital for two weeks for treatment. This came just when the Wilsons were moving into their new house. Sidelined by shoulder injury at the time, Murray, moved into the new house, which was empty of furnishings except for a bed, and commuted to the hospital. His visits to the hospital has only just begun.</p><p>On the 12th of February, six weeks premature, the baby was born. She was undersized, underweight, and underdeveloped. She had a heart murmur, jaundice, and a respiratory ailment.</p><p>Murray says, &ldquo;It was difficult to treat her. They wanted to give her fluids for her jaundice, but keep her body dry for her heart murmur. She had a hole in her heart, which would close, then open up again. We almost lost her two or three times.&rdquo;</p><p>Catherine was not told how gravely ill the infant was for a few days, but finally had to be told. The baby was not even named for a few days. Finally, she was named Emily. The fight for her life went on.</p><p>Reluctantly, the doctors decided to do a complete blood transfusion. It was dangerous, but needed to relieve the jaundice before brain damage was done. It worked. The heart healed itself. The baby&rsquo;s health improved rapidly. On the 26th of February, at exactly two weeks of age, Emily was allowed to go home with her parents. They are smiling these days.</p><p>The birth came at the All Star break. Between this and his shoulder injury, Murray had some time off. When he was physically ready to return to hockey, he was not ready psychologically so Kings&rsquo; coach Bob Berry gave him some more time off. Bob and his wife Lynn endured a similar ordeal during the birth of their son Bradlee and were enormously sympathetic to the Wilsons.</p><p>All of Murray&rsquo;s new teammates and their wives were sympathetic. He says, &ldquo;Catherine didn&rsquo;t get here&rsquo; until November and knew few of the wives. The hardest thing for her was she had few friends here and no relatives. She didn&rsquo;t want to impose on anyone. But they&rsquo;ve been great since the birth. They helped in every possible way. And they gave her a tremendous shower. They&rsquo;ve made her feel at home.&rdquo;</p><p>Once he returned to action, he spent most of his days at the hospital. Fortunately, the team was at home. After games, he&rsquo;d rush back to the hospital. Once the crisis ended and his wife and baby got back in their new house, he had to help settle them in. Then he had to turn his attention back to his hockey career. He admits, &ldquo;It hasn&rsquo;t been a good season.&rdquo;</p><p>Used primarily on checking lines at Montreal, he did score 24 goals one season, but averaged only 16 goals a year over six seasons. He had only nine goals in this first 55 games this season. One of the great skaters in the game, he has a potential that remains as yet untapped. A first-round draft pick in 1971, he did not come cheap. The Kings-got Montreal&rsquo;s 1979 No.l draft pick with him, but had to give up their own No. 1 for 1981. It may be 1981 before they decide how they did in the Murray Wilson deal.</p><p><b>KINGS THINGS:</b> To set the record straight, I was sidelined two weeks with a heart irregularity. I am back at work for the time being, but it will take time and tests to determine the exact extent of the problem. I do not know whether I will need an operation and contrary to a published report, I have not had one.</p><p>At one point through the stretch, the Kings lost only one of six games, yet lost a lot of ground to the Penguins in the race for second place in their division. By becoming the hottest club in hockey near the end of the regular season, Pittsburgh seemed to steal the runnerup slot from L.A., much as Detroit did last season. It was unlikely the Kings could wrest it back in the few games remaining as this was written.</p><p>Marcel Dionne set a personal and team record with his 54th goal. Ironically, 11 came against his old Detroit mates. He became only the fifth NHL player to have three 100-point seasons in a career. He set a team record with at least one point in 14 straight games and scored in 25 of 26 games&hellip;Dave Taylor became the only other King ever to have scroed 40 or more goals and 85 or more points.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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IN THIS ISSUE

Difficult Year For Murray Wilson As Problems Mount After Trade

<h2>1978 Cup Final</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01884/3860776-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="620" height="210"></div><p><b>(Montreal won best-of-seven series 4-1)</b></p><h2>GAME RESULTS</h2><p><b>Boston 1 at Montreal 4</b></p><p><b>Boston 2 at Montreal 3</b></p><p><b>Montreal 0 at Boston 4</b></p><p><b>Montreal 3 at Boston 4</b></p><p><b>Boston 1 at Montreal 4</b></p><p><b>Montreal 4 at Boston 1</b></p><h2>Semi-Finals</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02720/3860769-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="633" height="207"></div><p><b>(Montreal won best-of-seven series 4-0)</b></p><h2>GAME RESULTS</h2><p><b>Toronto 3 at Montreal 5</b></p><p><b>Toronto 2 at Montreal 3</b></p><p><b>Montreal 6 at Toronto 1</b></p><p><b>Montreal 2 at Toronto 0</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03512/3860762-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="630" height="206"></div><p><b>(Boston won best-of-seven series 4-1)</b></p><h2>GAME RESULTS</h2><p><b>Philadelphia 2 at Boston 3</b></p><p><b>Philadelphia 5 at Boston 7</b></p><p><b>Boston 1 at Philadelphia 3</b></p><p><b>Boston 4 at Philadelphia 2</b></p><p><b>Philadelphia 3 at Boston 6</b></p><h2>Quarter-Finals</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-04338/3860755-1-eng-US/f0005-042.jpg" title="f0005-04" width="604" height="1820"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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Stanley Cup Flashback

<div class="byline">BY JIM LEAHY</div><p>PORTLAND&mdash;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01260/3862571-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="572" height="718"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>YVES PRESTON&hellip;On Scoring Spree</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Maine Mariners, the team that did it all last season in the American Hockey League, are back in the throne room for another shot at the Calder Cup.</p><p>The Mariners won the AHL&rsquo;s overall team points title from the pursuing New Haven Nighthawks and in so doing assured themselves of the home ice advantage for the forthcoming Calder Cup playdowns.</p><p>The Mariners ended the 1978-79 season with 103 points, just two more than New Haven. Maine finished in first place in the Northern Division and will get a bye into the division finals against the winner of the Nova Scotia-New Brunswick series. New Haven, which won the Southern race, geta a bye into the division finals as well and will oppose the winner of the Hershey-Binghamton series.</p><p>Both division survivors cross over to oppose one another in the Calder Cup best-of-seven championship series. Maine won the cup last season by beating New Haven in the Mariners&rsquo; first year in the league.</p><p>Meanwhile, the Mariners and Springfield Indians played their final and deciding game of their eight-game Civic Center series and the Mariners skated to a 4-3 win in overtime. Two of the top scorers in the Mariner-Springfield series&mdash;Yves Preston with six goals and five assists for Maine, and Dan Bonar with seven goals and four assists for the Indians, are also leading candidates for the AHL rookie of the year award. Preston, a five-foot-11, 180-pound left wing from Montreal, is in his second pro season, having played last season with the IHL Milwaukee Admirals. Bonar, the 1977-78 IHL rookie of the year while with Fort Wayne, is a 22-year-old center from Deloraine, Manitoba.</p><p>Another Mariner sharpshooter in the series was Bernie Johnston, the AHL&rsquo;s top scorer. Against the Indians prior to the 4-3 win, Johnston had scored five goals and had 10 assists. Wayne Schaab, who is second in the AHL scoring derby, has six goals and six assists against the Tribe.</p><p>For Springfield, their leading scorer against the Mariners has been captain Andre Peloffy. He had 13 points in the important series. Right behind Peloffy is right wing Hartland Monahan, a NHL veteran who spent last year with Los Angeles and Pittsburgh.</p><p>After the Mariners won 4-3 on their home ice, they went to Springfield two nights later and hung a 5-4 loss on the Indians. The win helped keep Maine ahead of New Haven in the allimportant race for the best record in the AHL and home ice advantage in the Calder Cup playoffs.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Mariners Capture AHL’s Point Title From Nighthawks

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Top 15 Draft Prospects

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01651/3863249-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</span></figcaption></div><p><b><u>EXPANSION OUTLOOK</u></b></p><p><b><i>SA TH ER SA YS WHA &lsquo;S TEA MS STARTING OVER</i>&mdash;Page 25</b></p><p><b>CHERRY ON WARPATH OVER OFFICIATING&mdash;Page 5</b></p><p><b>NORTH DAKOTA GRABS TOP AWARDS IN WCHA&mdash;Page 29</b></p><p><b><u>PLAYOFF DATES</u></b></p><p><b><i>CANADIENS HEALTHY FOR CUP DEFENSE</i>&mdash;Page 17</b></p><p><i><b>A FAMILY AFFAIR</b></i></p><p><b>The NHL&rsquo;s hasn&rsquo;t had too many brother combinations in recent years but the New York Rangers have one they are very excited about. Dave, left, and Don Maloney are the NHL&rsquo;s newest brother act and their performance has been eye catching for Garden fans this season. For details see page 3.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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ISLANDERS N0.1 FOR PLAYOFFS—Page 2

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0002-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01958/3860451-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BRYAN TROTTIER&hellip;1979 Scoring Champion</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photos by Bruce Bennett)</span></figcaption></div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p>The amazing New York Islanders are No. I in the National Hockey League ending the three-year domination of the Montreal Canadiens.</p><p>Blazing down the home stretch with four wins in their final four games and outscoring the opposition 20-7, the Islanders won it all for the 1978-79 Stanley Cup playoff start and to further enhance their superiority, Islander center Bryan Trottier captured the Art Ross Trophy as the individual scoring champion also ending a three-year monopoly Canadiens&rsquo; Guy Lafleur had put on the scoring title.</p><p>As a result Islanders are the overall point leaders for the NHL season, their seventh in the league. Only the Boston Bruins, who won their first league title in 1929-30&mdash;six seasons after entering the NHL&mdash;accomplished the feat in fewer seasons.</p><p>Islanders, in winning their second straight Clarence Campbell Conference title, led the NHL with 116 points, second-highest total attained by any team entering the NHL since 1967-68. Philadelphia had 118 points in 1975-76. Islanders won the points title on the final night of the season, defeating Rangers at Madison Square Garden 5-2 while Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; Jim Rutherford was posting the team&rsquo;s only shutout of the season, a 1-0 upset of Canadiens, the reigning Stanley Cup champions.</p><p>Montreal, overall point leaders for the last three seasons, finished with 115 points, which gave them their fourth straight Prince of Wales Conference title. It was the 20th time Canadiens won the Wales trophy since it was presented to the NHL in 1924.</p><p>Islanders were Jed throughout the season by Trottier, Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin and the goaltending duo of Glenn Resch and Bill Smith.</p><p>Trottier became the first player of a team which entered the league since 1967 to win the individual scoring title and the Ross trophy and also the first player from Western Canada to win the championship since Gordie Howe won his sixth Ross trophy in 1962-63.</p><p>Trottier, a 22-year-old native of Val Marie, Sask.&mdash;the same province in which Howe was born&mdash;ended the season with 134 points, including a league-leading 87 assists. He had a four-point lead over runner-up Marcel Dionne of Los Angeles Kings.</p><p>Bossy, who last season became the first rookie to score at least 50 goals in a season (he had 53), scored 69 goals, the second-highest total ever attained in the NHL. Phil Esposito of Boston set the record of 76 in 1970-71. Included in Bossy&rsquo;s total were a league-leading 27 power-play goals, one shy of the record set by Esposito in 1971-72.</p><p>The scoring champion of the previous three seasons, Lafleur made a valiant effort to overtake Trottier in the final weekend of the schedule when he had six points Saturday night against Washington. But Dionne had five points later that same night and slipped into second place with 130 points, one more than Lafleur, who was blanked in the windup game.</p><p>This is the first time since 1974-75 that the scoring leader was not either the second-half leader or runner-up. Dionne led in the second half with 69 points. He was also the leader in 1974-75 when Bobby Orr of Boston won the title. Bossy was runner-up in the second half with 66 points this season and received $250.</p><p>Trottier collects $1,000 as overall winner and $500 as first-half leader. Dionne received $500 as overall runner-up plus $500 as second-half leader while Lafleur received $250 as a first-half runner-up.</p><p>Four players reached the 50-goal total. Besides Bossy, Dionne had 59, Lafleur 52 and Guy Chouinard of Atlanta Flames 50.</p><p>Seven players attained 100 or more points, including Islanders&rsquo; Potvin, who became only the second defenseman to reach that plateau. He had 101 points, including 31 goals. Orr reached the&rdquo; 100-point mark six straight seasons with Boston.</p><p>The other 100-point scorers were Bossy (126); Bob MacMillan, Altanta (108); Chouinard (107). The last time there were as many players with at least 100 points was in T975-76 when nine reached the figure.</p><p>The Vezina Trophy was won for a fourth straight season by Montreal Canadiens. Ken Dryden, who led the league in shutouts with five and had the best personal goals-against-average&mdash;2.30&mdash;has now had his name on the Vezina Trophy five times, one short of the record by two former Canadien greats, Bill Furnan and Jacques Plante. Dryden and Michel Larocque, who shared the award with Dryden the previous two seasons, combined to give Montreal a goals-against total of 204, 10 fewer than Islanders&rsquo; Resch and Smith. The winners share $1,500 as overall champions plus $250 for each half in which they led. Resch and Smith share $750 as overall runners-up.</p><p>Islanders and Canadiens each receive 21 units of $5,000, half of which is for the conference title and the other half for division championships. Boston Bruins received 21 shares of $2,500 as Adams Division titlists and Chicago Black Hawks the same amount as champions of the Smythe Division.</p><div class="sidebar"><p><u>Coming Next Week</u></p><p><b>Hockey News&rsquo; Readers Pick The WHA All Stars Next week in THE HOCKEY NEWS we will publish the fans WHA All Star teams and individual player awards. Don&rsquo;t Miss Them !</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

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Islanders, Trottier End Canadiens’ Three-Year Domination Of NHL Race

<h2>THE NHL&hellip;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02871/3860534-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="616" height="686"></div><h2>THE WHA&hellip;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03649/3860527-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="622" height="256"></div><h2>OTHER LEAGUES&hellip;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04444/3860520-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="626" height="370"></div><h2>COLUMNISTS&hellip;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05317/3860513-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="632" height="178"></div><h2>FEATURES&hellip;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-06221/3860506-1-eng-US/f0002-062.jpg" title="f0002-06" width="614" height="322"></div><p>Following is the schedule for the world tournament:</p><h3>PRELIMINARY ROUND</h3><p>Sat. Apr. 14</p><p>Czechoslovakia vs. Finland</p><p>Canada vs. UnitedStates</p><p>Sweden vs. West Germany</p><p>Soviet Union vs. Poland</p><p>Sun. Apr. 15</p><p>United States vs. Finland</p><p>West Germany vs. Soviet Union</p><p>Poland vs. Sweden</p><p>Canada vs. Czechoslovakia</p><p>Tue. Apr. 17</p><p>West Germany vs. Poland</p><p>Canada vs. Finland</p><p>Czechoslovakia vs. UnitedStates</p><p>Soviet Union vs. Sweden</p><h3>PLAYOFF ROUND</h3><p>Wed. Apr. 18</p><p>Team 4A vs. Team 3B, 4 p.m. 8 a.m.</p><p>Team 3A vs. Team 4B, 7:30 p.m. 11:30 a.m.</p><p>Thu. Apr. 19</p><p>Team 2A vs. Team 1B, 4 p.m. 8 a.m.</p><p>Team 1A vs. Team 2B, 7:30 p.m. 11:30 a.m.</p><p>Frl. Apr. 20</p><p>Team 4A vs. Team 4B, 4 p.m. 8 a.m.</p><p>Team 3A vs. Team 3B, 7:30 p.m. 11:30 a.m.</p><p>Sat. Apr. 21</p><p>Team 2A vs. Team 2B, 4 p.m. 8 a.m.</p><p>Team 1A vs. Team 1B, 7:30 p.m. 11:30 a.m.</p><p>Sun. Apr. 22</p><p>Team 3B vs. Team 4B, 4 p.m. 8 a.m.</p><p>Team 3A vs. Team 4A, 7:30 p.m. 11:30 a.m.</p><p>Mon. Apr. 23</p><p>Team 1B vs. Team 2B, 4 p.m. 8 a.m.</p><p>Team 1A vs. Team 2A, 7:30 p.m. 11:30 a.m.</p><p>Tue. Apr. 24</p><p>Team 4A vs. Team 3B, 4 p.m. 8 a.m.</p><p>Team 3A vs. Team 4B, 7:30 p.m. 11:30 a.m.</p><p>Wed. Apr. 25</p><p>Team 2A vs. Team 1B, 4 p.m. 8 a.m.</p><p>Team 1Avs. Team 2B, 7:30 p.m. 11:30 a.m.</p><p>Thu. Apr. 26</p><p>Team 4A vs. Team 4B 4 p.m. 8 a.m.</p><p>Team 1Avs. Team 2B, 7:30 p.m. 11:30 a.m.</p><p>Fri. Apr. 27</p><p>Team 2A vs. Team 2B, 2 p.m. 6 a.m.</p><p>Team 1A vs. Team 1B, 5:30 p.m. 9:30 a.m.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Where To Find It…

<p>MOSCOW&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>oth Team Canada and Team U.S.A, arrived here for the start of the 1979 World Cup championships and while neither team figures to be in the showdown for the first-place gold, there was speculation that possibly the Canadian team might figure in the top three when it is all over April 27.</p><p>Canada and the United States will oppose one another at the Army Club&rsquo;s CSKA rink the first day of the tournament. All eight teams will see action on the opening day with the Soviets facing Poland, Czechoslovakia meeting Finland and the Swedes opposing West Germany.</p><p>The tournament will last two weeks and will end with the championship game on April 27. Opening day is April 14.</p><p>Team Canada, which will be coached by former NHLer Marshall Johnston, now the head coach at Denver University, will comprise five top line NHL rookies including No. 1 draft pick Bob Smith of Minnesota. Other first year stars chose, were Ryan Walter of Washington, Wayne Babych of St. Louis, Steve Payne, also of Minnesota, and big Willie Huber of Detroit Red Wings.</p><p>The entire Team Canada roster will comprise goalers Jim Rutherford of Detroit and Ed Staniowski of St. Louis; defense will be Huber, Robert Picard and Rick Green of Washington, Brad Maxwell and Greg Smith of Minnesota, and Trevor Johansen of Colorado.</p><p>The forwards will be centers Dale McCourt of Detroit, Dennis Maruk and Guy Charron of Washington and Minnesota&rsquo;s Smith. On right wing, it will be Babych, Wilf Paiement of Colorado, Al MacAdam of Minnesota and Paul Woods of Detroit; on the left side it will be Walter, Payne, Nick Libett of Detroit and Garry Unger of St. Louis.</p><p>Team Canada officials will add three more players before the opening game with the likelihood that the trio will be selected from whichever WHA team&mdash;Cincinnati or Birmingham&mdash;fails to make the playoffs. Players mentioned include Mike Gartner of Cincinnati, Pat Ramage and Craig Hartsburg of Birmingham.</p><p>The American team will be coached by Herb Brooks of Minnesota University who recently piloted his Gophers to the 1979 NCAA championship at Detroit. But Brooks will have his work cut out for him in Moscow with a limited professional roster at his disposal. The U.S. team won&rsquo;t have defenseman Gary Sargent of Minnesota, who declined to play in the Soviet Union. The Americans certainly could have used him.</p><p>The U.S. team will include goalers Jim Warden of Oklahoma City and Jim Craig of Boston University; defense will consist of Les Auge of Oke City, Bill Baker of Minnesota Univ., Jack Brownschidle of St. Louis Blues, Jim Korn of Providence College, Don Jackson of Oke City and Wally Olds, who has been playing hockey in West Germany.</p><p>On the attack, the Americans can count on such NHL players as Curt Bennett of St. Louis, Danny Bolduc of Detroit and Steve Jensen of Los Angeles Kings, but beyond that the team will be strictly minor leaguers and college stars.</p><p>Others accompanying the Team U.S.A, to Moscow were Steve Christoff, Rob McClanahan, Eric Strobel and Phil Verchota from Brooks&rsquo; Minnesota team, Mark. Johnson, the Wisconsin ace, Joe Mullen from Boston College, Ralph Cox of New Hampshire, the ECAC&rsquo;s player of the year, Bob Collyard of Philadelphia Firebirds, Craig Patrick from Tulsa Oilers and Craig Sarner, who also is a refugee from the West German league.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Canada, U.S. Set In World Cup Start

<div class="byline">BY TOM MURRAY</div><p>NEW YORK&mdash;</p><p><b>Scene:</b> The New York Rangers&rsquo; locker room, just moments after the final game of the regular season, a game the Rangers lost, 5-2 to the Islanders. In winning the game, the Isles finish first in the NHL. For the Rangers, the loss&mdash;coupled with Philadelphia&rsquo;s 4-2 win over Atlanta&mdash;meant that the Rangers finish the season in third place in the Patrick Division, behind Philadelphia, after holding down second place for most of the year. A reporter cautiously approaches Ranger Ron Duguay, who sits slumped at his locker, his head down, his eyes riveted on the pile of sweaty socks and underwear at his feet. How does it feel the reporter asks, to have finished in third place after being in second for so long?</p><p>Duguay suddenly straightens up as a broad smile spreads across his face, &ldquo;What the hell,&rdquo; he said, beaming, &ldquo;third place isn&rsquo;t too far down&hellip;just one spot behind second&rdquo;.</p><p>If you look at the situation from the bright side, that statement is certainly true enough, and it seemed to be the prevailing sentiment in the Rangers&rsquo; room last Sunday night, when the grueling, 80-game schedule finally came to an end. While all of the Rangers admitted that the club&rsquo;s record for the last 10 games of the season (2-44) and inability to hang onto second place in the Patrick had been a disappointment, they were quick to point out that the team had made tremendous strides over last season.</p><p>&ldquo;We accomplished what we set out to do last June when all of this started,&rdquo; said Pat Hickey, &ldquo;and that was to improve ourselves as a team. We moved up five or six notches in the standings from last year. Just think if we do the same thing next year, we&rsquo;ll finish in first place.&rdquo;</p><p>Without jumping that far ahead, the Rangers&rsquo; progress this season can best be illustrated by looking at&mdash;what else?&mdash;the numbers. Here they are:</p><p>Last season, the team finished with a 30-37-13 record, good for 73 points and the 11th-best record (that&rsquo;s really looking on the bright side) in the then 18-team NHL.</p><p>This year, the team&rsquo;s final record was 40-29-11, good for 91 points, a third place finish in the Patrick, a home advantage in the opening round of the playoffs, and the fifth-best record in the league. Only the Islanders (116), Montreal (115), Boston (100), and Philadelphia (95) finished the season with more points.</p><p>That really is tremendous progress, and while the Rangers certainly deserve credit for being the NHL&rsquo;s most improved team for the 1978-79 season, they really have no time at all to rest and enjoy their laurels. The playoffs, or &ldquo;second season&rdquo; start so soon that by the time you finish reading this sentence, the outcome of the Rangers&rsquo; first game&mdash;against the Los Angeles Kings&mdash;will already be decided.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to start thinking about L.A. right now,&rdquo; said Steve Vickers after the Islanders game. &ldquo;In a short series (two out of three) like that one, we&rsquo;ve got to get off to a really good start. Otherwise we&rsquo;re gonna find ourserves behind the eight ball really quickly.&rdquo;.</p><p><b>BLUE CHIPS:</b> Prior to that final regular season game, the annual West Side Association of Commerce Awards were presented for the 38th consecutive season. Phil Esposito was voted the team&rsquo;s most valuable player by the members of the press who cover the team, and Ulf Nilsson won the &ldquo;players&rsquo; player&rdquo; award, which is voted by the players themselves&hellip;Espo was also on the receiving end of the Frank Boucher Trophy, which is given by the Ranger Fan Club to the most popular Ranger on and off the ice. Whew. What a difference a year makes&hellip;According to team or-thopedist Dr. James Nicholas, Ulf Nilsson, whose cast came off April 9, won&rsquo;t be able to skate for another three weeks. Nicholas also revealed that Jocelyn Guevernmont is two weeks away from active duty and that Dean Talafous, who tried to play in that Isles&rsquo; game but had to come out should really be in the hospital with that pinched nerve in his neck.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Season’s Progress Pleases Rangers

<div class="byline">BY TOM MURRAY</div><p>NEW YORK&mdash;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01964/3860586-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="501" height="841"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DAVE MALONEY&hellip;Still Learning</b></figcaption></div><p>It is a half hour or so after a recent Rangers&rsquo; game, and Don Maloney, the 20-year-old left wing for the New York Rangers, is leaning up against his cubicle in the team&rsquo;s lockerroom. His arms are crossed in front of his chest, a towel is wrapped around his waist, and a smile is on his face as he chats amicably with a reporter, whose name Maloney has been sure to get before the interview started.</p><p>Directly across from Don&rsquo;s quiet subdued locker, a slightly different scene is taking place. One of the cubicles is entirely surrounded by reporters, all of them furiously scribbling or squirming for position as they attempt to capture every word coming from the mouth of a player who still cannot be seen. Suddenly, the throng of scribes parts, forming a path for the speaker, and Don&rsquo;s brother Dave appears, a modern-day Moses facing a Red Sea of reporters. Dave, age 22, gracefully excuses himself and, after signing an autograph and offering a few words to a youngster visiting the room, heads for the showers.</p><p>In a very big way, this little vignette perfectly illustrates the styles&mdash;both on and off the ice&mdash;of the Maloney brothers, the first sibling combination to play for the Rangers on a regular basis since Lynn and Muzz Patrick in the 1940s.</p><p>While Dave Maloney is not the kind of person whose ego needs to be massaged by having hordes of reporters crowd around him after every game he realizes that the &ldquo;C&rdquo; on his jersey demands that he be accessible to the press as the leader of the Rangers in the most mediaconscious town in the world. Maloney is not only accessible, but he is honest, self-effacing, receptive, and cordial&mdash;so much so that he was voted this season&rsquo;s &ldquo;Good Guy&rdquo; award by the New York Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04331/3860579-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="520" height="838"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DON MALONEY&hellip;Super Digger</b></figcaption></div><p>And while Don Maloney probably wouldn&rsquo;t mind talking to a few more reporters after a game, it really doesn&rsquo;t matter that much to him. His locker, aptly nestled in a corner of the room, is a perfect location for someone who in just 28 games this season firmly established himself as one of the best &ldquo;corner&rdquo; men in the game. If Dave Maloney&rsquo;s label is &ldquo;leader,&rdquo; then Don Maloney&rsquo;s tag would have to be &ldquo;digger,&rdquo; for he just loves to go into the corners and unselfishly sacrifices his body as he fights off one, most often two, opponents and more times than not emerges with the puck, ready to make a perfect pass to one of his linemates, Phil Esposito or Don Murdoch.</p><p>Don appeared in his first game for the Rangers as a regular right after the All Star break, and in that game against the Boston Bruins he scored a goal on his first shift and off his first shot ever in the NHL. Ever since that night, the Maloney-Esposito-Murdoch line has made a lot of people in New York forget about those &ldquo;other&rdquo; guys&mdash;(Anders) Hedberg-(Ulf) Nilsson- (Pat) Hickey.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tell ya something about that kid,&rdquo; said Phil Esposito, who at 37 does not realistically have too many active years left. &ldquo;With him as my left wing I might play until I&rsquo;m 50.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;Donnie&rsquo;s one of the main reasons this team has been playing as well as it has this year,&rdquo; said Ron Duguay of Maloney. &ldquo;I mean he&rsquo;s just a rookie, and yet he plays with so much emotion. We see him going into the corners like he does, skating like crazy, trying like hell, and we can&rsquo;t help but try harder.&rdquo;</p><p>Trying hard, sacrificing yourself, doing what&rsquo;s best for the team. All of these qualities seem to run rampant in the brothers Maloney, and while both brothers are indefatigable workers&hellip;Dave is the one who seems to have the uncanny ability to inspire his teammates and lead by example. Ranger coach Fred Shero recognized this trait in Dave when he appointed him captain early in the season, and Don, because he is Dave&rsquo;s brother, was one of the first people who benefitted from Dave&rsquo;s influence.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02829/3860572-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1130" height="1383"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03555/3860565-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="1117" height="1390"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Rookie forward Don Maloney, shown battling against the Toronto Maple Leafs, impressed everyone with his hard-working, driving ! style of play-a trait made famous by older brother, Dave, who&rsquo;s a natural as captain of the Rangers.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photos by Robert Shaver)</span></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;He was always an inspiration to me,&rdquo; Don says, &ldquo;an example for me to follow. He was almost like an idol to me when we were kids, and he&rsquo;s a big reason for why I&rsquo;m here today.&rdquo;</p><p>While Dave scoffs at such praise &ldquo;Everything my brother did, he did on his own,&rdquo; he says), one thing that he cannot deny is the affect he&rsquo;s had on the Rangers as a team this past season. And while the players are understandably a mite more conservative than Don Maloney when it comes to doling out platitudes to David&hellip;one point comes across from all of them to a man that is crystal clear: Dave Maloney comes to play. He&rsquo;s young and he tends to get too emotional at times, but he is a constant inspiration to everyone on the team. Listen:</p><p>Fred Shero: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t worry about Davey. He&rsquo;s got very few bad points, and he&rsquo;ll overcome them in good time. Sometimes excess emotion is good for the team. I&rsquo;m never going to caution him on that.&rdquo;</p><p>Don Murdoch: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve lived with him for two years now, and he&rsquo;s like that all the time. If he&rsquo;s got something to say, he&rsquo;s going to say it. He&rsquo;s learning and he&rsquo;s leading at the same time, and I think he&rsquo;s a helluva captain.&rdquo;</p><p>Walter Tkaczuk: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s really gung-ho, and he&rsquo;s the most outgoing captain I&rsquo;ve played under with the Rangers. He&rsquo;s always thinking of the team, always giving 100 percent. What more can you ask from a guy?&rdquo;</p><p>The praise goes on and on, far outweighing any criticism Maloney has received for some of the dumb penalties he has incurred&mdash;especially toward the end of the regular season, when the play of the team slipped noticably. Maloney shrugs off the praise, however, preferring instead to talk about what he has to do to improve as a hockey player and, more importantly, as a leader for his teammates.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll learn,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m only 22 and God knows I make my share of mistakes out there. But I don&rsquo;t think that being over-emotional is necessarily a bad thing. As long as I can curb my temper so that it&rsquo;s not a deterrent to the team&hellip;then 1 think emotion can be a good thing.</p><p>&ldquo;I need to grow,&rdquo; Maloney continued, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;ll be the first one to admit that I have a quick temper and that I hate to lose. But I mean well, and as long as I have faith in myself and the players and coach Shero have faith in me&hellip;I think everything will work out OK in the end. As far as I&rsquo;m concerned, the future of this team is as bright as we want to make it.&rdquo;</p><p>With Don doing the digging in the corners and Dave doing the leading all over the ice, the Rangers&rsquo; future&mdash;for the next decade, anyway&mdash;couldn&rsquo;t look much brighter.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0003-01

Rangers’ Hustling Maloney Combo Wins Club’s Respect, Admiration

<div class="byline">Ken McKenzie&#x2019;s</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011015/3860669-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="512" height="479"></div><p>&bull; <b>SCORE ONE</b> for youthful exuberance over age and experience if the Birmingham Bulls manage to outlast Cincinnati for the final spot in the World Hockey Association playoffs. The Bulls went with a kiddie corps alignment of juniors and underage players for the entire season and their young legs didn&rsquo;t wilt in the late stages of the campaign&hellip;Red Burnett, longtime hockey writer for the Toronto Star, died March 31 of a heart Attack at age 68&hellip;Ebbie Goodfellow and Herbie Lewis, star members of the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; Stanley Cup winners of 1936 and 1937, are neighbors in Englewood, Florida where both are retired and often go fishing together. Ebbie and Herbie roomed together when they played for the Red Wings&hellip;Minnesota North Stars have never beaten the Boston Bruins in Boston Garden since they&rsquo;ve been in the NHL and that&rsquo;s now 31 games (24 losses and seven ties over 12 seasons)&hellip;Recently Pittsburgh broke a lengthy winless streak in Boston when they downed the Bruins 3-1 for their first victory there in over 11 years. The only other Penguin win in Boston is still remembered as Les Binkley&rsquo;s greatest game. He shut out the Bruins, 1-0 on Jan. 28, 1968&hellip;Dave Lafave, sports director of CKO Canada, an all news station located in key cities across Canada, tells us his network will have comprehensive playoff coverage on all games played by Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Edm, onton, Winnipeg and Quebec.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02971/3860662-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="308" height="529"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Les Binkley</b></figcaption></div><p>&bull; <b>JOE DIMINO,</b> general manager of Boston&rsquo;s WSBK-TV (Ch.38), which has a national reputation for sports coverage, says that during the early 1970s the Bruins attracted as large an audience as NFL Monday night games despite the fact hockey was on a small station and had to compete with three network affiliates. The audience has been halved in recent years due to a number of reasons. Bobby Orr has gone, the enthusiasm for the Bruins was so high that it had no place to go but down and although the team may still win as often as before, it fails to do so with the same gusto and excitement&hellip;Dimino figures the best way to improve the TV ratings would be for teams to play more games against clubs in their same division so as to build up more inter-city rivalries, which existed in the past. This is the same feeling of most hockey fans who figure that today&rsquo;s fans do not associate with players because they see them play so seldom&hellip;The NHL will have to rearrange their schedule so that hockey fans once again become familiar with the players in the arenas and those watching the games on television&hellip;George and Gordon Gund, owners of the Minnesota North Stars, are trying to buy an NBA franchise for the Met Sports Center in Bloomington where they operate under a long-term lease&hellip;Bart Hunter, son of Bill Hunter, one of the founders of the WHA, plays goal for the Portland club in the Western Hockey League&hellip;Most NHL teams envy the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; schedule. &ldquo;One seldom finds the Canadiens playing four games in five nights or similar situations,&rdquo; pointed out one NHL general manager.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03867/3860655-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="300" height="509"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Marshall Johnston</b></figcaption></div><p>&bull; <b>GARY SARGENT,</b> one of the best United States born and developed players in the NHL today has no interest in playing in the world championships in Moscow later this month. Sargent, a standout defenseman with the North Stars was looked upon as a top player for the U.S. team. &ldquo;1 played in a junior tournament in Russia before, and once is enough. I&rsquo;m definitely not interested,&rdquo; he informed listeners&hellip;Marshall Johnston will coach Team Canada in the same tourney. His players will come from the five weakest NHL clubs, the ones which will miss the Stanley Cup playoffs&hellip;Johnston may not have enough talent on his club to win top honors but they should make it interesting&hellip;Glen Sonmor, Minnesota coach, is a great admirer of Fred Shero of the Rangers&hellip;It&rsquo;s too bad that Rangers have tailed off towards the end of the schedule&hellip;Bob Ertel, who resigned as coach of the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League in tears the other day, had this to say: &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve got to get the goon coach out of hockey. But the problem is, it&rsquo;s not only the coaches or the players. It&rsquo;s also the governors. They encourage it. I don&rsquo;t care what they say, the violence is something they like. And as long as I&rsquo;m breathing, I&rsquo;m going to do something to make sure it&rsquo;s wiped out. But I&rsquo;m through as.a coach.&rdquo;&hellip;It&rsquo;s a shame the way things are going in Junior hockey all across the Dominion&hellip;Hockey nabobs surprised at the sudden resignation of Bill Hughes as president of the Vancouver Canucks. Feeling is that he had a falling out with chairman Frank Griffiths.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04765/3860648-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="300" height="455"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Gary Sargent</b></figcaption></div><p>&bull; <b>HARRY SINDEN,</b> Boston Bruins&rsquo; general manager, has been the most vocal opponent of the merger to date. &ldquo;The Bruins will do what they can to make the new 21-team league as strong as possible but we have preserved our legal options,&rdquo; Sinden stated&hellip;Mike Emrick, demon publicist of the Maine Mariners, elated that his team won the American Hockey League North Division championship for the second year in a row, advises that two members of the Mariners appear to be shoo-ins for AHL awards this year. They are Bernie Johnston, a center, who collected 91 points in 66 games. Johnston was never dratted by NHL or WHA teams and was a &ldquo;walk on.&rdquo; He formerly played with Syracuse of the North American Hockey League&hellip;Pete Peeters, Maine goalie, with a won, lost, tied record of 23-6-1 after 31 games, will win the goalie award&hellip;Nova Scotia Voyageurs won the AHL goalkeeping award the last six years&hellip;The Mariners went over the 200,000 attendance mark at home with two weeks remaining on the regular schedule. Last season they drew 185,000 for the entire regular schedule and 234,000 including playoffs&hellip;Jim Salderink of Grand Rapids, Mich, tells us he has a collection of over 1,500 hockey pucks&hellip;Tony McKegney, Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; first black player, says the only place he&rsquo;s had any trouble was in Pittsburgh. &ldquo;Some guy kept yelling something about shoeshine,&rdquo; McKegney reported. &ldquo;However, it didn&rsquo;t bother me and just pushed me to play that much harder.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05627/3860641-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="308" height="523"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bernie Johnston</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0004-01

PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><p>CHICAGO&mdash;</p><p>It was ?. one-liner little noticed and quickly forgotten amidst the turkey ads two America. Thanksgiving days ago:</p><p>&ldquo;Nov. 23&mdash;Black Hawks obtained forward Reg Ken from Cleveland for defenseman Randy Holt.&rdquo;</p><p>With rave notices like that, who needs enemies?</p><p>But now all you hear around Chicago Stadium on game nights are the chants: &ldquo;Reg-gie, Reg-gie.&rdquo; They aren&rsquo;t going to name a candy bar after this Reggie, but the Black Hawks consider him a treat, nevertheless. As they sputtered toward the end of a regular season which admittedly will not go down as particularly memorable, they could say at least that this 21-year-old center who is thin of hair but thick of spirit, has 4 become the team&rsquo;s most improved for ward.</p><p>And surely, he ranks as a leading member in the revised Black Hawks, many of whom should be wearing nametags.</p><p>&ldquo;You look at that team picture we had taken earlier in the season and there aren&rsquo;t many people left&hellip;how many, eight?&rdquo; noticed Kerr. &ldquo;Maybe we should take a new one, eh?</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s one thing I hope the fans remember about our club. We are very young and inexperienced and there&rsquo;s been a tremendous turnover of faces. It takes a while to learn to play together, and 1 just hope they&rsquo;re patient with us.</p><p>&ldquo;Yeah, I hear the fans chanting every once in a while, and it&rsquo;s nice. I really appreciate that, though I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;d play any differently if they didn&rsquo;t say anything.</p><p>&ldquo;I also see the sign they have up there, &lsquo;Bring Back Bobby Hull.&rsquo; I understand why they do that, too. But I just hope they give us a chance. We 4 want to be ourselves and make a name for ourselves, too. I appreciate how they seem to enjoy the way I play. But we all need time.</p><p>&ldquo;Look at the deal we just made with Atlanta. We got five players, all under 25. That&rsquo;s pretty much the story with our whole club now. Inexperienced. And maybe that&rsquo;s why we&rsquo;re a little bit erratic. We play real well one night and not so good the other night.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-06381/3860700-1-eng-US/f0004-062.jpg" title="f0004-06" width="584" height="894"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>REG KERR&hellip;&lsquo;Give Us Time&rsquo;</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;It has to all come down to mental preparation. I mean, the body is the same every day. Unless you&rsquo;re a little tired. So it all comes down to how hard you concentrate on the game. If you have your mind on something else, it doesn&rsquo;t take much to miss a pass or not get all of a shot or let a man get by you.&rdquo;</p><p>Kerr didn&rsquo;t get by the Black Hawks, it seems, because whenever somebody from their organization saw him play, he did big things.</p><p>&ldquo;I remember one game (assistant general manager) Bobby Orr saw me score a couple goals, and another time (assistant general manager) Jack Davison was there when I did the same thing,&rdquo; recalled Kerr, the third draft choice for the deceased Barons and 41st overall in the 1977 market after a tour with the Kamloops Chiefs.</p><p>&ldquo;I had no idea Chicago was interested in me, and even after they got me, I really didn&rsquo;t know what they had in mind for me. I played a couple games for them last season right after I was called up, but then I went to the minors for the rest of the year.</p><p>&ldquo;This year, I made the team at training catnp, but I didn&rsquo;t really feel at home till around Christmas. Since then, they&rsquo;ve sent Jim Harrison down and traded Ivan Boldirev, and I&rsquo;ve been used more and more&mdash;not only for regular shifts, but on power plays and killing penalties.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad I came here, because I could see even before Chicago got me that Bob Pulford played the kind of style that I might be able to help with. In Cleveland, we pretty much got out there on the ice and went whereever we wanted. Here, we have a system.&rdquo;</p><p>And a lot of that system, now and in the future, is likely to revolve around Reg-gie, Reg-gie.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0004-06

Kerr Draws Raves As Black Hawks’ Diamond In Rough

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-05217/3860807-1-eng-US/f0005-052.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DON CHERRY&hellip;Has Been Collecting Evidence</b></figcaption></div><p>BOSTON&mdash;</p><p>Don Cherry was upset.</p><p>You could tell that because he was standing on his desk, which is not really a rational thing to do because the ceiling of his office is low and you have to duck your head when you stand on the desk or it will hit the ceiling.</p><p>As a matter of fact, Cherry was hitting the ceiling in more ways than two as he struck back at his tormentors, in this case the usually friendly Boston media and the ever-hostile National Hockey League referees, in the order named.</p><p>&ldquo;Is there no mercy in the world?&rdquo; he cried as the assorted writers and broadcasters stared up at him like tourists a little cowed by a swaying tall building.</p><p>&ldquo;Is there no mercy shown to anybody anymore in the world? Can&rsquo;t people realize we&rsquo;ve got about four guys playing with sore shoulders and elbows and stuff like that? We&rsquo;ve got five regulars out. Can&rsquo;t you show a little mercy once in a while? I hear it on television. I read it in the papers&hellip;.&rdquo;</p><p>(&ldquo;Whatsa matter with radio?&rdquo; said Bob Wilson, the Bruins&rsquo; broadcaster, indignantly. But that was later on and not in the coach&rsquo;s hearing.)</p><p>&ldquo;Just a little mercy,&rdquo; Cherry went on. &ldquo;Give us a break. Don&rsquo;t I give you stories once in a while? Do you have to wring us to death all the time?&rdquo;</p><p>What angered Cherry, who doesn&rsquo;t need much to become angry, was a recent flurry of analyses on television and in the papers&mdash;and, yes, on radio, too&mdash;of the Bruins&rsquo; second half slump that had seen them go 14-16-5 since midJanuary after a 28-6-7 first half.</p><p>None of the analyses had taken into consideration that the Bruins have never really had a fully healthy lineup in any game this season. Or at least Cherry didn&rsquo;t think so.</p><p>At the time the coach was hitting the ceiling, figuratively and literally, after a 7-4 victory over Minnesota, Bob Schmautz was out with a bad back, Gary Doak with bruised ribs and Rick Middleton with a groin pull. Al Sims was playing his first game in 10 with his left shoulder held in place with a harness and Peter McNab was hobbled with a hip injury.</p><p>Cherry&rsquo;s gripe with the officiating, another chapter in a running feud of long standing, was a more serious matter since it was obvious that he had been collecting and analyzing evidence for some time.</p><p>&ldquo;I would like to know why,&rdquo; he began.</p><p>&ldquo;Everybody knows that there are some teams that only lose a couple of games a year when they get the first goal. Right? Whoever gets the first goal wins 70 or 80 percent of the games in the National Hockey League. All right?</p><p>&ldquo;The Boston Bruins so far this, year have got the first penalty 46 times.</p><p>&ldquo;Now you must take into consideration that we&rsquo;re about seventh of eighth (seventh, actually, at the time) in the league in penalties. If we were one or two, you could see it. But we were short first 46 times and the opponents 29. You tell me why that is.</p><p>&ldquo;Now, I got another one for you,&rdquo; he added, barely pausing to catch his breath.</p><p>&ldquo;So far, in 75 games, the other team has had&hellip;in 42 games they&rsquo;ve had more power plays than us. We&rsquo;ve had 21 and 12 even. 42-21: You know what that means? If we were first or second or third or even fourth in penalties you could see it. But 42 games&hellip;Now you tell me why?&rdquo;</p><p>Two nights later, when the Bruins clinched their fourth straight Adams Division title with a 4-1 victory over Washington, they were hit with the first penalty for the 47th time.</p><p>And referee Dave Newell added a call that drove Cherry to new heights of paranoia.</p><p>The Caps&rsquo; Dennis Hextall threw a punch at goalie Gerry Cheevers. Stan Jonathan retaliated for the Bruins. Jonathan drew a minor, a major and a game misconduct. Hextall didn&rsquo;t even get probation.</p><p><b>WHAT&rsquo;S BRUIN:</b> General manager Harry Sinden is unhappy with the schedule that will come out of the merger (or expansion) of the NHL and the WHA. Each of the 21 teams will play each other twice at home and twice on the road.</p><p>&ldquo;We finally made a step in the right direction last year when we scheduled teams eight times against teams in their divisions to build rivalries and fan identification,&rdquo; said Sinden. &ldquo;Now we have taken a giant step backward. Something has to be done to allow the fans to get to know the players on other teams and this is not the way.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0005-05

Coach Questions Media’s Analysis, Referees Giving Bruins Hard Time

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011047/3860845-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="355" height="482"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>HOCKEY TALK</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>A</span>CADEMY AWARDS TIME</b> always has a strange effect around here. My Poison Quill starts getting itchy to issue citations, harpoons and unsolicited manuscripts pertaining to the current hockey season. Rather than keep the poor pen pent up with an antacid pill, let us proceed with venom and vigor:</p><p><b>BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT:</b> That the National Hockey League come next year will allow only 16 or its 21 teams into the Stanley Cup playoffs. What would have been nice is a bye for the Montreal Canadiens, and ten divisions of two teams each with the champion and runner-up all qualifying for post-season play.</p><p><b>CECIL B. DeMILLE AWARD:</b> To Harold Ballard for his &ldquo;stunt&rdquo; involving Roger Neilson. Ballard fired Neilson as coach of the Maple Leafs, tried to hire Eddie Johnston, was refused, then rehired Neilson back, later to explain that the whole thing was just a hoax, that Neilson wasn&rsquo;t really fired. Said Neilson, &ldquo;If it was a joke, nobody told me about it.&rdquo;</p><p><b>MOST ACERBIC REMARK:</b> Ballard wins again. After decrying the &ldquo;dummies&rdquo; who voted for merger, he remarked that, &ldquo;if they want to restore parity to this league, I can do that myself by sending Jim Gregory to the Canadiens for five years.&rdquo; Ouch.</p><p><b>MOST SHOCKING TURNABOUT:</b> By the Soviet National Hockey Team, which scored the last nine goals of the Challenge Cup to win the series 2-1 after losing the first game and trailing the second game 4-2. The uprising was so catatonic that the NHL couldn&rsquo;t even blame referee Victor Dombrovsky.</p><p><b>OUTHOUSE TO PENTHOUSE AWARD: To</b> the Los Angeles Kings. After Rogie Vachon and Gary Sargent left, the Kings were supposed to be jackals. But general manager George Maguire and coach Bob Berry must have done something right.</p><p><b>PENTHOUSE TO OUTHOUSE AWARD:</b> To the Detroit Dead Wings. They had a traumatic season even with Vachon and Dale McCourt. What happens next year if neither of them is around? How&rsquo;s that new T-shirt read&hellip;&rsquo;&rsquo;Regressive Hockey is Back in Detroit.&rdquo;</p><p><b>BEST ROOKIE:</b> Bobby Smith of the Minnesota North Stars.</p><p><b>BEST NEW FRONT OFFICE EXECUTIVE:</b> Lou Nanne of the same team. With untold amounts of energy, plus a bit of blarney, Nanne worked hard to put his team back on the map in a region where hockey fans have lots of other games to watch beside NHL games.</p><p><b>RIPLEY&rsquo;S BELIEVE IT OR NOT PLAQUE:</b> To the Chicago Black Hawks. For 50 years, they&rsquo;ve given their fans only one thing free&mdash;aggravation. This season, they decided on a series of modest but effective promotions. Of course, it took an injured captain, Keith Magnuson, to do the spadework, but at least it was done.</p><p><b>BEST TRADE THAT WASN&rsquo;T MADE:</b> The New York Rangers were quite anxious to part with Phil Esposito, the veteran center. They failed, but he didn&rsquo;t. He had a splendid season, and so did the Rangers, who might not have done it without him.</p><p><b>WORST WEEK:</b> Within eight days in November, two of the great ones retired&mdash;Bobby Hull and Bobby Orr.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02805/3860838-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="825" height="974"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Never one to mince words, GM John Ferguson outlined his views on the NHL-WHA agreement.</b></figcaption></div><p><b>SEE YOU LATER AWARD:</b> To the Indianapolis Racers, who proclaimed that Wayne Gretzky was the greatest thing to hit that town since the auto race. Shortly after he unpacked, Gretzky was sold to Edmonton while the Racers finished their season with a not bad record. Only 18 losses.</p><p><b>NAKED TRUTH AWARD:</b> By Winnipeg Jets. general manager John Ferguson. After scanning the merger proposal offered by the NHL, Fergie decided, &ldquo;Hey, we&rsquo;re getting raped.&rdquo;</p><p><b>BEST TV SHOW, UNITED STATES:</b> Don Cherry&rsquo;s color commentary on the Monday Night Game of the Week. The Boston Bruins&rsquo; coach next stop should be The Tonight Show.</p><p><b>BEST TV SHOW, CANADA:</b> Ballard, again, who ruffles feathers wherever he goes. When he&rsquo;s on with Dick Beddoes, watch out. Or better yet, just watch.</p><p><b>SOPHOMORE JINX BE DAMNED HONOR:</b> To Mike Bossy, the Islanders&rsquo; right wing who was even more awesome this season than during his rookie season.</p><p><b>SILENT NIGHT AWARD:</b> To Punch Imlach, who has yet to emerge from The Buffalo Massacre with much of anything to say. No doubt we&rsquo;ll be reading about it in Punch&rsquo;s upcoming book, though.</p><p><b>WISH I WAS LIKE THAT PLAQUE:</b> To Aldo Guidolin. He coaches the worst team on the planet, Colorado&rsquo;s Pet Rocks, but he maintains his sense of humor.</p><p><b>LONGSHOT PREDICTION:</b> That the Montreal Canadiens will win a fourth straight Stanley Cup this summer, despite the Islanders nipping at their heels. The team that eventually dethrones the Canadiens&mdash;next year, two years?&mdash;it says here, will be from New York, but it will be the Rangers. I<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0006-01

Ballard ‘Scores’ Hat Trick, Rangers Future Contenders

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div><p>PITTSBURGH&mdash;</p><p>For a man who stepped into a very tough situation, Pittsburgh Penguin left winger Gary McAdam has handled things pretty well.</p><p>McAdam was traded to the Penguins earlier in the season for one of the most popular players to ever wear a Penguin jersey, Dave Schultz.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if it&rsquo;s a fact that I had to fill anybody&rsquo;s shoes or adjust when I was traded here,&rdquo; said McAdam. &ldquo;Schultz and I are two different hockey players. I think the biggest thing was to win the crowd over.</p><p>&ldquo;I want to please the crowd because that&rsquo;s what makes a hockey team a really good franchise. The biggest thing was to get the crowd to like me because they really liked Schultz. I&rsquo;m working hard here to get the fans to like me because I like to be liked where I play. I don&rsquo;t want to be anywhere I&rsquo;m not liked or wanted. It&rsquo;s important to me to have the fans like me and cheer for me.&rdquo;</p><p>In a five-game stretch late in the season, McAdam had the crowd on his side. After getting off to a slow start after the trade, he picked up three goals and three assists in that stretch. Gary had numerous other scoring chances, created mostly by his speed.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always had the hard luck around the net,&rdquo; said McAdam. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never admitted to being a goal scorer. If I was ever a goal scorer, with all the chances I get during the year, I&rsquo;d have no problem scoring 50. Unfortunately, I&rsquo;m not of the goal scoring lot, so I&rsquo;ve got to work hard in other areas.</p><p>McAdam brought with him from Buffalo the nickname &ldquo;Wheels&rdquo;. It came from his quick acceleration and skating speed.</p><p>&ldquo;In my hometown of Smith Falls, Ont. I learned to skate on a river,&rdquo; said McAdam. &ldquo;It was a little town with only one rink, so you went where you could. You could skate for miles on the river without running into any boards like you would in a rink. We even used to skate in between the railroad tracks.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03564/3860876-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="578" height="845"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GARY McADAM&hellip;Pleasing Fans</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;Smith Falls is near Ottawa. My first year of junior hockey, with the Ottawa 67s, we used to skate on the canal. Sometimes I think my play shows where I learned to skate because I&rsquo;m all over the place.&rdquo;</p><p>The 23-year-old McAdam also attributed another sport with helping him gain his skating speed.</p><p>&ldquo;I played soccer for eight years and I think that had a lot to do with building my legs and my speed up,&rdquo; said McAdam. A guy once told me, if you can skate, the other abilities can be taught to you, but you can&rsquo;t learn to be a fast skater. I think the fact that I can skate as well as I can, put me in the National Hockey League.&rdquo;</p><p>If McAdam can ever change his luck around the net the same way he adjusted to being the man traded to Pittsburgh for the popular Dave Schultz, Gary will have quite a future ahead of him in the NHL.</p><p><b>PENGUIN TRACKS:</b> Defenseman Dale Tallon may need an operation on his broken right leg. He is expected to be in a cast for at least four months&hellip;Right wing Rick Kehoe suffered a bruised hip and missed two games&hellip;Center Greg Malone became the 10th player in club history to go over the 30-goal mark. Peter Lee was the ninth earlier in the season<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0006-03

Penguins’ McAdam Faced Tough Task Replacing Schultz

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div><p>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>e now take you to Keith Allen&rsquo;s office where the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; successful general manager is staring into a mirror and muttering to some unseen force, &ldquo;A goaltender, my kingdom for a goal tender.&rdquo;</p><p>Allen isn&rsquo;t worrying about this season. Wayne (Ricochet) Stephenson has been playing well enough to carry the revived Flyers as far as they expect to go (semi-finals?) in this spring&rsquo;s Stanley Cup playoffs.</p><p>Stephenson has had almost as many comebacks as Muhammad Ali. When Bernie Parent is healthy, Stephenson sits. When Parent is injured and the Flyers are in trouble, Stephenson plays&mdash;and, generally, very well. Goals-against averages of 2.72, 2.58, 2,31, and 2.75 in his first four seasons with Philadelphia prove that &ldquo;Fort Wayne&rdquo; can stop shots.</p><p>The Flyers&rsquo; dilemma revolves around the ages of Stephenson and Parent&mdash;both 34, and Parent&rsquo;s latest injury. A stick in the right eye during a Feb. 17 game against the New York Rangers sidelined Parent for the season&mdash;and, maybe, forever.</p><p>As the playoffs neared, Parent reported slight improvement in the eye. But, during his first Spectrum game as an observer, he said that when he closed his left eye and tried to watch the action with his damaged eye &ldquo;the players on the ice looked like ghosts.&rdquo;</p><p>The agonizing time he is spending recuperating has, at least, convinced Parent he wants to continue playing if he&rsquo;s physically able.</p><p>&ldquo;When something like this happens, you have a lot of time to think,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This kind of thing makes you realize how good the game is to you., want to come back. I have four-five good years in front of me.&rdquo;</p><p>Parent was speaking after receiving&mdash;in absentia&mdash;the third annual Class Guy Award from the Philadelphia chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. The award is given to the Flyers&rsquo; player &ldquo;who distinguishes himself in his relationship with the press.&rdquo; Through the great times and bad, Parent has always been cooperative.</p><p>On the day he received the award, before a luncheon gathering of almost 200 at the Spectrum&rsquo;s Ovations restaurant, he spoke via a tape obtained when Jay Greenberg, the Philadelphia Daily News&rsquo; hockey writer, visited the Parent estate in Cherry Hill, N.J. As the award-winning goaltender spoke, there were many misty eyes in the audience, as if they were hearing the great goalie speak for the last time as an active player.</p><p>If Parent&rsquo;s distinguished career is over, at least the Flyers have some promising successors waiting off stage. In this situation, off-stage extends from the Flyers&rsquo; bench, to Portland, Me., to the Philadelphia Civic Center.</p><p>The candidates, in order of location are:</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01934/3860914-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="576" height="692"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ROBBIE MOORE&hellip;Ideal Personality</b></figcaption></div><p>&bull; <b>Robbie Moore:</b> Some snickered when the five-foot-five 155-pound former University of Michigan goalie showed up at training camp. But all he&rsquo;s done is impress people with the AHL Maine Mariners and then win his first two starts with the Flyers. Discussing the &ldquo;toy goalie&rdquo; who has been nicknamed &ldquo;Rocky&rdquo; by his new teammates, Keith Allen said, &ldquo;He hasn&rsquo;t been tested severely, but he has the ideal personality to be a second goalie: he&rsquo;s popular, he&rsquo;s a winner and he&rsquo;s enthusiastic.&rdquo; Don&rsquo;t tell the confident Moore he&rsquo;s only regarded as a back-up specialist.</p><p>&bull; <b>Pete Peeters:</b> The Flyers like the potential of the six-foot, 175-pounder who is the toast of the AHL and played five NHL games (3.43 average) earlier this season. Allan and his colleagues don&rsquo;t want to be quoted, but a job in Philadelphia is awaiting Peeters&mdash;all he has to do is prove he deserves it.</p><p>&bull; <b>Rick St. Croix:</b> Another capable goalie&mdash;how many NHL clubs have three solid prospects? He played in seven Flyers&rsquo; games last season, two this season, &ldquo;to get work&rdquo;, and wound up with the AHL Firebirds, climbing the stairs to their second-floor Civic Center dressing room.</p><p>Next September&rsquo;s training camp should be a gambler&rsquo;s delight. Place your bets now on who the Flyers&rsquo; goalies will be.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02775/3860907-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="580" height="878"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PETE PEETERS&hellip;Philly Job Reserved</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0007-01

Flyers’ Goaling Future Assured With Array Of Bright Prospects

<div class="byline">&#x2014;BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011037/3860959-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="425" height="471"></div><h2><i><b>Hottest Of The Hot&hellip;</b></i></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>O</span>NE OF THE HOTTEST</b> teams in hockey the last part of the season was Pittsburgh. Peter Lee was one of the hottest Penguins as the Steel Town team surged into the playoffs under a head of steam. A former member of the Montreal farm system, Lee has lived up to the rich promise he showed as an amateur.</p><p>Short at five-foot-nine, but husky at 180 pounds, Peter is a swift skater. He is agile and makes marvellous moves. He gets free for good shots. And he has good shots. He always has been a good scorer. A great scorer, in fact.</p><p>As a junior, he scored 213 goals in five seasons and 81 goals in his last season in the Ontario Hockey Association and both are records for that league. The year he scored 81 for Sudbury, 1976, Rod Schutt scored 72 for Ottawa to finish second in goal-scoring.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02932/3860952-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="830" height="1172"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Peter Lee was sad to be traded away from Montreal after never getting the chance to play for the best, but has blossomed as a super player with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Lee is looked upon as the</b> 44 <b>hardest worker on the club.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Robert Shaver)</span></figcaption></div><p>Sudbury beat out Ontario for the league title and Lee was selected Most Valuable Player in the league. Montreal had the 12th and 13th choices in the first round of the draft and used them to take Lee and Schutt. Neither was said to be a solid all-around prospect.</p><p>Other teams might have pulled these talented goal-getters right to the top, but the talent-rich Canadiens sent them to their Nova Scotia club in the American League. In their first pro seasons, each scored 33 goals there.</p><p>Both expected to make Montreal last season, but neither did. The Canadiens wanted talented young Pierre Larouche and offered &ldquo;old&rdquo; Peter Mahovlich in exchange. The Penguins asked also for a young player, either Lee or Schutt. The Canadiens surrendered Lee, who scored only five goals in 60 games for the Penguins. Meanwhile, Schutt scored 36 goals in Nova Scotia.</p><p><b>THIS SEASON</b> the Penguins sent a first-round draft-choice to the Canadiens in exchange for left-winger Schutt and put him on a line with right-winger Lee and hard-working center Greg Malone. Late in the season, Lee passed the 30-goal mark and Schutt was within one of 25. Malone also surpassed 30. It had become one of the best lines in the league.</p><p>Meanwhile, Larouche, who has as much talent as Lee or Schutt, or any player in the league, for that matter, has not fit in with Montreal and does not play a lot. Pierre, who scored 53 goals in his second season in the league, is now finishing his fifth season in the league, and his career is in eclipse.</p><p>Lee says, &ldquo;It is sad. He could be me. I felt bad when I was traded from Montreal. They are the 4 best. I thought I could play with the best. I never 4 got the chance. Looking back on it now, I don&rsquo;t know if I ever would have gotten the chance.</p><p>&ldquo;A young player has so many good, proven players ahead of him on the Canadiens he may never get much of a chance to prove himself. The pressure on him is very heavy. A year like I had here last year could have finished me there.</p><p>&ldquo;Here, they needed me and didn&rsquo;t give up on me. The trouble was, I was intimidated by the big leagues. I gave the goaltenders too much credit. I figured I couldn&rsquo;t get the puck past them unless I threaded the needle.</p><p>&ldquo;I aimed for small openings and tried to hit the corners. All my life I&rsquo;d gotten goals by just letting fly at the net. I went back to that this season and it&rsquo;s worked. The puck finds the openings by itself.</p><p>&ldquo;Schutt and I are similar in that we&rsquo;re small wingers who use our speed a lot. Malone is a digger. He digs the puck out of the corners for us. He goes in front and gets a lot of goals from in close. Schutt gets a lot on the fly, from his slap shot. I make more moves, try to beat the defensemen, and get my shots off from in close.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve come around offensively to where I expected to be, but I&rsquo;m working hard to become a more solid all-around player.&rdquo;</p><p><b>KEN SCHINKEL&rsquo;</b> the Pittsburgh scout and former coach, says, &ldquo;Lee is the hardest worker we&rsquo;ve ever had in Pittsburgh. He works out at home before practice. He gets to the rink early so he can lift weights to build up his strength. He practices hard. He skates after practice and has improved his skating. He hits a punching bag after practice to build up his hand speed and timing.&rdquo; Johnny Wilson, the Pittsburgh coach, says, &ldquo;Lee has all the talent it takes to be a super star and the willingness to work to become one.&rdquo;</p><p>Lee is an interesting young man. He was born in Ellesmere, England, where his father was a professional soccer star and a star of the Olympics in 1948. Peter was only three months old when he was moved to Canada. His father, Eric, and mother, Irene, are English. His father is vice-principal of Philemont Wright High School in Hull. One of Peter&rsquo;s brothers, Steven, is a teacher. Another, David, works for the government. Peter has taken courses at Carleton University.</p><p>A good-looking lad of 23 with a lot of dark, curly hair, Peter is in his second year of marriage to his old high school girl friend, the former Judy Perry. They lived in an apartemtn in Pittsburgh last season, but rented a house in the suburbs this season. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m feeling a lot more secure these days,&rdquo; he smiles.</p><p>Next season, he&rsquo;ll buy a house.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03785/3860945-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="1200" height="1180"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ROLF EDBERG&hellip;Pair Of Two-Goal Games</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0008-01

Hockey Ad Lib

<div class="byline">BY RUSS WHITE</div><p>WASHINGTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>rne Stromberg, the Capitals&rsquo; European scout, came to Washington last week and was delighted to see Swedish rookie Rolf Edberg score four goals in two home games for the Caps.</p><p>Edberg, capping a fine rookie season, helped Washington to its first victory ever over the New York Islanders and then led the way for his team two nights later in a victory over Los Angeles.</p><p>On one of his goals against L.A., Edberg received a perfect feed from Swedish pal Leif Svensson, who was on for all six scores by the Caps against the Kings.</p><p>&ldquo;Bring us more Swedes,&rdquo; a Caps&rsquo; fan told Stromberg.</p><p>There is a possibility that the Caps will have at least one, maybe two more Swedes in 1979-80. They drafted winger Bengt Gustavsson in the fourth round of last year&rsquo;s draft, and Stromberg says that Gustavsson, is ready to play the NHL.</p><p>The hitch is this&mdash;the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association have already signed Gustavsson, who played a year of Elite hockey in his native Sweden this past season and is now a member of Sweden&rsquo;s National team for the World Championships in Moscow.</p><p>Under the recent NHL-WHA expansion agreement, Gustavsson must be returned to the Caps, however, unless the Oilers make him one of their two priority protected players.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not about to panic,&rdquo; said Caps&rsquo; general manager Max McNab.</p><p>McNab is delighted with Swedes Edberg and Svensson, who made significant contributions to the Caps McNab feels Edberg will be a 25-goal scorer next year and has nothing but praise for the little center who moved over to left wing most of the year.</p><p>&ldquo;I watched Rolf Edberg for 10 years and he always played center in Sweden,&rdquo; scout Stromberg said. &ldquo;No one ever moved him out of position because he was so very good at where he was. If he were moved to wing, it would have been easier in Sweden than the NHL because there is so much more room for him to skate.</p><p>&ldquo;But, I come here and see Edberg at left wing and he was doing just fine. He didn&rsquo;t have room to do all the things he can do but no one was getting to him either, no one could trap him. He was too quick.&rdquo;</p><p>Edberg&rsquo;s plus 14 plus-minus mark is the best by any Capital in five seasons. In one stretch of 32 games, he was on the ice for only three goals by the opposition. Caps&rsquo; fans made him their Unsung Hero for 1978-79.</p><p>Early in the year Edberg won the respect of his teammates for his finesse and for his courage. He hit people and he took the hits. He made the move to left wing because the club needed him there and he didn&rsquo;t complain.</p><p>Defenseman Svensson also had to play out of position at right wing because of injuries to Greg Polis, Bob Sirois and Tom Rowe. He, too, did a good job and without a whimper.</p><p>The Caps were 0-6-4 before tripping the Islanders, 6-4. The Caps jumped ahead 6-1 and held on for dear life as goalie Jimmy Bedard went to the wire, holding off the hot New York shooters. Mike Bossy got his 62nd and 63rd goals but Bedard posted the victory.</p><p>Denny Maruk kept scoring to become the Caps all-time point getter with 89 points. Caps&rsquo; fans voted him their player of the year award. Maruk is anxious to improve his minus 24 rating and play for a winning team next year in Washington.</p><p>Guy Charron was named most popular by Caps&rsquo; fans and defenseman Gord Lane was named Most Improved Capital.</p><p>The most promising Cap in fans&rsquo; vote was rookie Ryan Walter, who stands a good chance of winning this year&rsquo;s Calder Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s top first year player. Walter has 26 goals and 27 assists and came on strong after having knee surgery during the same week that training camp opened.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Caps Eye Europe After Assessing Swedes’ Success

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011002/3861014-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PER-OLOV BRASAR&hellip;Last Year&rsquo;s MVP Hit Slump</b></figcaption></div><p>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;</p><p>A funny thing happened to the North Stars on the way to the playoffs. They&rsquo;re not going to make them.</p><p>As a fan taunted them in the Boston Garden during a late-season loss to the Bruins, &ldquo;You call this a contendah.&rdquo;</p><p>No, the North Stars did not make the playoffs and they were not contendahs long.</p><p>So what happened&mdash;just what turned the contendahs into pretendahs?</p><p>There are a number of theories:</p><p>&bull; The early season slump which saw the team lose eight straight games before strong showings in December, January and March.</p><p>&bull; The coaching status of Harry Howell, his in-again, out-again change might have been a little unsettling.</p><p>&bull; That general manager Lou Nanne traded the wrong guy, Dennis Maruk, early in the season to Washington for a first round draft choice. Maruk will end up scoring close to 90 points, almost double the totals of Glen-Sharpley or Tim Young.</p><p>&bull; A variety of little reasons, such as dropoff of outstanding goaltending by Gilles Meloche and Gary Edwards; disappointing play of Bryan Maxwell, who never got in shape; dramatic scoring slump of Ole Brasar, the team&rsquo;s MVP a year ago who had six goals this season with a week to go.</p><p>&ldquo;No question those eight straight losses made it an uphill battle,&rdquo; said coach Glen Sonmor. &ldquo;But we were starting to win that battle. You have to give credit to the teams we were chasing, too. Buffalo lost only once in a 13-game span. Toronto took off on a five-game winning streak and Pittsburgh just didn&rsquo;t lose when they were supposed to. They handled the pressure and this team didn&rsquo;t.</p><p>&ldquo;The greatest quality about our team, though, was that it never quit battling, even when they fell behind by three or four goals right off the bat&mdash;they spotted Toronto a 5-1 lead and came back to put on the pressure. They gave Montreal a 3-1 lead and beat the Canadiens. They were out of it early against the Islanders, but made it a helluva close game. They were still coming back when a lot of other teams would have folded.&rdquo;</p><p>Sonmor agreed that if he had to pinpoint any one loss it had to be the March 10 game in Minnesota against the Bruins, who were trailing 3-2 in the third period and won in the final 20 seconds, 4-3. The next day, the lowly St. Louis Blues blew out the Stars, 7-2, and that just about sealed Minnesota&rsquo;s fate.</p><p>Just seven days before, Washington dealt the Stars a one-goal loss in the closing seconds.</p><p>The merger with the Barons was supposed to make the Stars instant contenders in a very rugged Adams Division. They were expected to finish last, but be a good bet for a wildcard berth. Not performing well against their Adams opponents ultimately did the Stars in&mdash;they were. 500 against the rest of the NHL and 4-13-6 against their own kind, heading into the final week.</p><p>Nanne and Sonmor already are thinking about how the club should be modified next season to ensure it of contender status. Changes could come in trades and the draft and the signings of possible free agents.</p><p>&ldquo;One of our big needs is to get twp power wingers who will take men out every night,&rdquo; said Sonmor. &ldquo;We have far too many players who are reluctant to do so now. Our No. 1 need might be a big, experienced defensive defenseman.&rdquo;</p><p>With a twinkle in his eye, Sonmor paused for effect and added. &ldquo;Now Bill Nyrop is a perfect example of that type of player.&rdquo;</p><p>Nyrop, 26, a regular for Stanley Cup champion Montreal last season, is rumored heading to the Stars after sitting out this season to enter the insurance business. Reed Larson, Detroit&rsquo;s high-scoring and hardhitting defenseman, is another possibility, depending on how the courts rule on the status of free agent signings.</p><p>The addition of the four WHA teams next season would seem to make the Stars automatic playoff contenders just from the fact that they will no longer have to play their Adams opponents eight times during the year. Every team will play a two-home, two-away series with all other teams.</p><p>And at the end of the season, the four division champions will automatically advance to the playoffs with 12 wildcard teams to follow based on points. The North Stars look like sure contendahs next season, But, they were saying that this year.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0009-01

Many Factors Contributed To Early Holiday For Stars

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011024/3861045-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"></div><p><b>Write to:</b></p><p><b>FAN FORUM,</b></p><p><b>The Hockey News, 1434 St. Catherine St, W.,</b></p><p><b>Montreal, Canada H3G 1R7</b></p><h2>New Trophy For Defensive Stars</h2><p>I feel that the NHL should bring in a new trophy for the best defensive defenseman in the league. The Norris Trophy is usually presented to the defenseman with the most points. Players such as Orr, Potvin and Robinson are great defensemen, but defensively they might be weak.</p><p>Players such as Serge Savard of the Montreal Canadiens plays a steady defensive game every time he is on the ice. But Savard does not get the credit he deserves mainly because he does not receive as many points as other defensemen.</p><p>With this trophy, the NHL defensive defensemen can finally receive something for the credit they deserve.</p><p><b>BOB BAKER,</b><br><b>Vancouver, B.C.</b></p><h2>Come May Montreal Stays No. 1</h2><p>What&rsquo;s wrong with the Montreal Canadiens? If anything, it&rsquo;s that they&rsquo;ve won the Stanley Cup for three consecutive years. This could be separated into two distinct problems.</p><p>First, every team that plays Canadiens knows that if they don&rsquo;t play to their highest capabilities, they could be totally humiliated (12-0 vs. Pittsburgh, 11-1 vs. Vancouver) hence, great games by Jim Rutherford and Doug Soetaert and from teams like Los Angeles, Detroit and Chicago.</p><p>Secondly, are the Canadiens playing all out every night? 80 games is a lot for anybody, even a Canadiens. After all those Stanley Cups, are pride and tradition enough to drive a team? Maybe not. True they still have the most points in the league and the lead in the Vezina Trophy race. It&rsquo;s also my opinion that they have the most talented roster in the league, injuries or not. So they could be doing better.</p><p>Or could they? Is it possible that Montreal is declining like the Yankees of the early 60s? Instead of thinking that they&rsquo;re not hustling or that other teams are better, maybe Lafleur, Lemaire, Shutt and company have lost a step or two. And it is true that Montreal let their first five draft choices slip away.</p><p>But not to get too carried away, come May, I still have to think that nobody but Montreal will win the Stanley Cup.</p><p><b>JOSEPH GENNARELLI III,</b><br><b>Binghamton, N.Y.</b></p><h2>Problems Outweigh Benefits of Merger</h2><p>The recent acceptance of the merger leaves this west-coast fan with very mixed feelings. The merger has been long-awaited by some and long-feared* by others.</p><p>On one side, I feel that the merger would be terrific for teams in the Western U.S. and Canada, such as Los Angeles, Vancouver and Colorado. With teams such as Edmonton and Winnipeg possibly joining the league, travel costs and jet-lag would be decreased.</p><p>However, assuming these same Western teams were placed in the same division, they would see each other several times a year while being lucky to receive the &ldquo;big-draws&rdquo; such as the Islanders and Montreal more than once or twice. No offense to the Canucks or the Rockies, the four teams mentioned above would be, I&rsquo;m sure, delighted to see players like Marcel Dionne, Dave Taylor and Butch Goring of the Kings three or four times a year, but I must say that with attendance down in L.A. this year, the Canucks, who don&rsquo;t draw well here now, would not be likely to sell the Forum out after a merger either.</p><p>The biggest minus involved in the merger, affecting all NHL teams, is the problem of who owns whose rights. I feel that NHL owners have a right to be upset that a top-notch WHA player would be coming into the NHL on some other team. Top teams like Montreal, which owns about 25 WHA players, don&rsquo;t really have that much room to improve. Teams like St. Louis could use several new faces who can play hockey.</p><p><b>MEL POWELL,</b><br><b>Los Angeles, Ca.</b></p><h2>Playoff System Remains A Joke</h2><p>As playoff time draws near, the NHL finds itself confronted with an embarrassing situation. The fact that the Vancouver Canucks are going to make the playoffs is an absolute disgrace to the NHL&rsquo;s playoff format. It is a travesty of justice that, at the time of this writing, Detroit, Washington, and Min-nesota are all ahead of Vancouver, and yet all three of those clubs have no chance of making the playoffs, all because Vancouver holds down second place and the final playoff spot in their division.</p><p>Even more of a joke is that the playoff system is supposed to allow only the 12 top teams in the league to take part in the post-season action. Vancouver is most definitely not among these teams. In fact, Vancouver is one of the league&rsquo;s worst teams, ahead of only St. Louis and Colorado, Vancouver&rsquo;s rivals in the almighty Smythe Division.</p><p>To avoid situations like this one in the future, perhaps the NHL should alter the playoff structure to give only first place teams automatic passes into the playoffs, while the remaining eight teams are decided by overall standings, rather than divisional standings. This would prevent ludicrous situations such as this from re-occuring in future years.</p><p><b>DAVID GALE,</b><br><b>Burlington, Ont.</b></p><p><b>Editor&rsquo;s Note: This, more or less is what the NHL will do in next year&rsquo;s playoffs, with the four division winners and 12 wild-card teams, based on overall points, involved in the playoffs.</b></p><h2>Merger Leaves Stingers In The Cold</h2><p>I agree that the NHL and WHA should have merged, but I think the NHL is leaving a good franchise, the Cincinnati Stingers, out in the cold.</p><p>The Stingers draw more fans and play better hockey than four or five NHL cities. I think that if the NHL let Cincinnati in, they would be a contender and the fans would pack the house every game.</p><p><b>BRUCE BROWNLEE,</b><br><b>Chilliwack, B.C.</b></p><h2>Kings&rsquo; Lessard Calder Trophy Candidate</h2><p>There&rsquo;s one NHL rookie that has received little or no credit as being a Calder candidate, L.A. Kings&rsquo; goaler Mario Lessard. Mario has been consistent all year and has beaten some of the top teams in the NHL.</p><p>For example, recently in L.A. Mario faced Montreal and held the three-time defending champions to only one goal. Throughout the game he was spectacular and his mates finally came away with a 3-1 win.</p><p>He made a rookie mistake when he threw his stick in a game against Detroit causing a penalty shot. Still he was able to stop Red Wing star Dale McCourt at point-blank.</p><p>So let&rsquo;s recognize a player worthy of the Calder trophy, Mario Lessard.</p><p><b>ROBERT MICKNAK,</b><br><b>Buena Park, CA.</b></p><h2>Players&rsquo; Attitudes Ruining Pro Hockey</h2><p>On page 27 in the March 30 issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS, there was a note in the Oil Drops section of the Edmonton story which bugged me. It said that Joe Micheletti started playing well ever since he started fighting. His teammate (Brett) Callighen even agreed with this statement. That just proves the attitude of most major league players.</p><p>Whatever happened to the days when fights were rare? What happened to players like George Armstrong, Andy Bathgate and Rocket Richard?</p><p>If the major league would make players instead of goons, then maybe they&rsquo;d have a chance in future meetings with the Russians.</p><p><b>MIKE BURTON,</b><br><b>Mill Cove, N.S.</b></p><h2><b>LETTER OF THE WEEK</b></h2><h3>Penguin Fan Enjoys Caps&rsquo; Setup</h3><p>I am a Pittsburgh Penguins season ticket holder, and while on vacation recently in Washington, D.C., I had the opportunity to see the Pens play the Capitals at Cap Center. It turned out to be a fantastic evening for reasons other than I had expected. The Penguins won 5-2, but beside this fact, I was tremendously impressed by Capital Center, the Capitals as a team, and most especially the Washington fans.</p><p>I had expected a rough evening, since the Penguin Booster Club was also to be on hand, and because this was a tension game with the Caps needing a win if they even entertained the idea of making the final wild-card spot.</p><p>I was immediately impressed with Capital Center. The instant replay system is fabulous, the sound is decades ahead of what exists at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena, and most importantly (in my view at least) the fans were patient with their young team and remained enthusiastic throughout the game.</p><p>Congratulations Washington, for the extremely entertaining sports package which you have put together. Many cities could benefit by such a program which is futuristic, smartly presented, and oriented toward families&mdash;especially Pittsburgh.</p><p><b>BOB MATZEN,</b><br><b>California, Pa.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-01

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02829/3861076-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="524" height="777"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>REJEAN LEMELIN&hellip;Won Backup Job</b></figcaption></div><p>ATLANTA&mdash;</p><p>Almost, but not quite.</p><p>That&rsquo;s the story of the Atlanta Flames, One of the best teams in the National Hockey League, yet a step below the best.</p><p>With three games to go in the regular-season schedule, the Flames had one more than their point total for the 1977-78 season (87, a team record), yet they were in last place in the Patrick Division.</p><p>With three more chances, Guy Chouinard was striving to become the Flames&rsquo; first 50-goal scorer, yet the Flames still were plagued with a struggle for consistency.</p><p>And for the first time in their history, the Flames had two players. (Chouinard 103 and Bob MacMillan 104) in the top 10 scorers in the league, yet they had to battle almost to the end to gain home ice advantage in the first round.</p><p>Big reason for the glowing credentials and yet not much progress in the standings was the fact the Flames, even as late as the end of March, was a team trying to find itself.</p><p>Since the end of the 1977-78 season, only 11 of the 19 players who finished that campaign, were still on the Flames&rsquo; roster.</p><p>In all, the Flames had made more than a dozen player changes, the most recent coming just before the NHL trade deadline, when five players were sent to the Chicago Black Hawks in return for three exChicagoans.</p><p>In what general manager Cliff Fletcher called &ldquo;The biggest trade since the Espo-Park deal,&rdquo; eight players changed uniforms, but more importantly, it created chaos among the Atlanta players.</p><p>Fletcher admitted at the time of the trade, &ldquo;The timing is bad, but we are looking at long range plans and that&rsquo;s why the trade was made.&rdquo;</p><p>The trade, which saw Ivan Bol-direv, Darcy Rota and Phil Russell come to the Flames for Tom Lysiak, Harold Phillipoff, Pat Ribble, Greg Fox and Miles Zaharko won&rsquo;t be gotten over until the start of the 1979-80 season, and even then popular, quality players will be missed.</p><p>Many players on the Atlanta roster lost friends in the wheeling and dealing Fletcher went through during the &lsquo;78-79 season and if nothing else, a lesson may have been learned. No one is indispensable. The trading of Lysiak&mdash;team captain, all-time leading scorer and most popular player on the team&mdash;proved that.</p><p>With the trade, Fletcher proved he isn&rsquo;t one to accept &ldquo;The almost, but not quite tag&rdquo;&mdash;he won&rsquo;t quit until he molds the Atlanta Franchise into the best in the NHL.</p><p>Only time will tell what effect Fletcher&rsquo;s transactions during the past season will have on the Flames in years to come.</p><p>One thing is for sure&mdash;Fletcher won&rsquo;t sit still and will shuffle players until he gets the combination he wants. Fletcher wasn&rsquo;t happy with the progress of his team and proved it during the &lsquo;78-79 season making it the most active ever in the history of the franchise.</p><p>Here&rsquo;s proof:</p><p>&bull; Acquired veteran winger Jean Pronovost by sending defenseman Dick Redmond to Boston Bruins, who in turn sent Gregg Sheppard to Pittsburgh.</p><p>&bull; Acquired free agent Gene Carr from the Penguins. Carr ended up in Tulsa of Central Hockey League.</p><p>&bull; Goalies Yves Belanger and Reggie Lemelin were sent back and forth to Philadelphia Firebirds of American Hockey League with Lemelin winning backup role late in the season.</p><p>&bull; Two rookies, Red Laurence and Brad Marsh made the roster and played in Atlanta all season.</p><p>&bull; Traded defenseman Rick Mulhern, a first round draft pick in 1975, to Los Angeles Kings for defenseman Bob Murdoch.</p><p>&bull; Acquired free agent defenseman Rod Seiling from St. Louis Blues and later sent him home to practice with amateur team before recalling him late in the season.</p><p>&bull; And then came THE trade.</p><p>The &lsquo;78-79 season will always be remember in Atlanta as a year of change. A year in which Cliff Fletcher tried to get rid of the &ldquo;almost, but not quite&rdquo; tag. Only time will tell if he succeeded.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-02

Flames’ Activity On Trade Market Arouses Players

<p>TORONTO&mdash;</p><p>A tie, a win, a loss.</p><p>That&rsquo;s the way the Toronto Maple Leafs finished their final three games of the 1979-80 regular season to close the campaign with 81 points, one more win than loss, and the National Hockey League&rsquo;s ninth best&mdash;or ninth worst, if you prefer&mdash;record.</p><p>Though they remained third in the Adams Division&mdash;the NHL&rsquo;s second most difficult&mdash;the Maple Leafs earned 11 less points and had seven fewer victories than a year ago. And while their offense produced just four less goals this time around than the previous year, their defense slipped by allowing 15 additional goals.</p><p>The biggest difference will be in the playoffs, though. While the Leafs enjoyed home ice for their preliminary series against Los Angeles last year, they&rsquo;ll be forced to open their playoffs against the Atlanta Flames who finished with the sixth best record in the NHL, and the series will begin in Atlanta.</p><p>So, while the Leafs used a road victory in the quarter-finals to oust the New York Islanders one year ago, the facts are that it is much tougher to win one on the road in the shorter two-out-of-three preliminary round than in the quarter-finals.</p><p>However, not all is gloomy for the up-and-down Leafs, in spite of the formidable first-round opposition. There were several encouraging signs in the home stretch, starting with the play of ace scorers Lanny McDonald, who finished strongly to top the 40-goal mark for the third consecutive time, as well as newcomer Paul Gardner, who seemed to regain his scoring touch in the closing few weeks and reached the 30-goal plateau for the third straight season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01981/3861107-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="577" height="712"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JOHN ANDERSON&hellip;Three-Goal Week</b></figcaption></div><p>Power play specialist John Anderson also came up with three goals in the closing trio of games, one each in the 3-3 tie with Boston, the 6-2 home ice win over the Buffalo Sabres and a season-ending loss in Boston Garden by a 6-3 decision, giving the rookie 15 goals in limited action.</p><p>The Leafs were successful in out-bumping the Islanders in last year&rsquo;s quarter-final upset, but the Flames, the NHL&rsquo;s largest team, with perhaps the league&rsquo;s best scoring balance (nine 20-goal players), may be too much for the streaky Leafs to handle.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-01

Leafs Finish In Middle Of Pack

<h2>FINAL RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-02837/3861138-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="610" height="642"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0011-02

1978-79 Penalties By Teams

<h2>Looking At Development</h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>F THE DEFEAT</b> of the National Hockey League All Star team by the national side of the Soviet Union had been a one-goal loss or the result of some fluke, perhaps the gloom inflicted on the men involved in the operation of NHL teams would have been more severe.</p><p>But the loss, a 6-0 drubbing in the third game of the Challenge Cup, was of such thoroughness, administered by a superb team which had everything, that the men who really care about their game seriously want to know what&rsquo;s gone wrong with it.</p><p>The NHL assembled a team with its best players and there really were some excellent athletes on the All Star club. But their deficit in the basic skills of the game&mdash;skating, making and taking a pass, especially&mdash;to the level the Soviets have in those areas, was considerable.</p><p>Some NHL men don&rsquo;t give a damn. They&rsquo;re interested only in profit and loss statements. Those who do care went away from New York, not with their heads down but with their brains in gear to try to determine why Johnny can&rsquo;t play the game as well as Ivan?</p><p>Here are the observations of three good NHL general managers:</p><p><b>Harry Sinden, Boston Bruins:</b> &ldquo;What the series should do is to bring recognition to the Soviets for what they&rsquo;ve done and that&rsquo;s to produce the world&rsquo;s best hockey players. It should also drive home to us that some changes are needed in our hockey, especially the development of young players.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01998/3861169-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="586" height="602"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Max McNab</b></figcaption></div><h2>What&rsquo;s Skating Secret?</h2><p><b>&ldquo;THE QUESTION I HAVE</b> to ask&mdash;and I don&rsquo;t have an answer for it&mdash;is how come the Soviet players, who are absolutely superb skaters all skate with the same style and how come our players all skate the same way and, as a group, not as well as the Soviets? I wish I knew.</p><p>&ldquo;That great skating by the Soviets is a big reason why they appear to pass the puck so well. To pass well, you have to skate well&mdash;and we lag behind in both areas.&rdquo;</p><p><b>Cliff Fletcher, Atlanta Flames:</b> &ldquo;We must take a long look at our entire development system from pee wee to pro. Maybe the NHL has to be involved again in pre-professional development of players.</p><p>&ldquo;Since NHL sponsorship of junior clubs ended, the skill level of the junior players the system has produced has decreased steadily, not a gigantic amount but enough to be noticeable.</p><p>&ldquo;When an NHL team sponsored a junior club, it didn&rsquo;t have winning championships or making a profit on that team&rsquo;s operation as the No. 1 concern. The NHL clubs were willing to lose a sizeable amount on the sponsorship if the junior team produced some quality players.</p><h2>Juniors Now A Business</h2><p><b>&ldquo;NOW THE JUNIOR TEAMS</b> are operated as independent businesses and the men who own them are more interested in not losing money than they are in the skill level of the players they produce. Maybe we&rsquo;ll have to be directly involved in that level of hockey again to get the best results.&rdquo;</p><p><b>Max McNab, Washington Capitals:</b> &ldquo;Baseball draws much of its talent from the colleges who do a good job of preparing the players up to a certain skill-level, just as the junior hockey leagues do for the NHL.</p><p>&ldquo;But to take those players closer to the major league skill-level, baseball has rookie or instructional leagues in Florida in the offseason. The best skill-teachers the big league teams have work with the youngsters.</p><p>&ldquo;Perhaps it&rsquo;s time the NHL took a serious look at a similar arrangement, a development program between junior and pro hockey. The emphasis in it would be on teaching and improving the basic hockey skills.</p><p>&ldquo;We can produce some mighty exciting hockey to watch with the level of skill we have now in the NHL. But after watching the Soviets for three games, just think how exciting our games could be if we added their level in basic skills to the good things our game has now.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-01

HOCKEY VIEWPOINT

<div class="byline">BY NORM MacLEAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02842/3861200-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DENIS POTVIN&hellip;Finished With 100 Points</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Bruce Bonnett)</span></figcaption></div><p>LONG ISLAND&mdash;</p><p>The New York Islanders just made it in their battle to finish atop the NHL in points in the regular season. They slipped past the Montreal Canadiens by one point as they showed their mettle in the final week with clutch one goal wins over Atlanta and Philadelphia, to stay within range of the Habs. In the final weekend they trounced the Flyers 9-2 and broke a 2-2 deadlock with three third-period goals to down the Rangers. Meanwhile the Canadiens scored 10 goals in a laugher at home, but were blanked by Detroit 1-0 to finish second.</p><p>&ldquo;I will be disappointed if we don&rsquo;t make the Stanley Cup finals,&rdquo; said Bill Torrey, the cautious GM before the Isles&rsquo; surge. &ldquo;And our goal has always been to win the Stanley Cup.&rdquo;</p><p>The man who held the Isles together in the final week was the often unnoticed, frequently underrated coach, Al Arbour.</p><p>When New York was blown out by the Washington Capitals 6-1 a week before the season ended, placing them three points behind Montreal, Arbour was furious. He had been forced to bench goalie Billy Smith after he gave up three early goals&mdash;but then came right back with Smith against Atlanta two days later. A knee injury to Chico Resch may have helped the decision.</p><p>&ldquo;Al told me I was going to play against Atlanta before Chico hurt his knee in practice,&rdquo; said Billy. &ldquo;I was nearly sick before the game,&rdquo; said Billy. &ldquo;I had heard those rumors that Chico would play the rest of the way. And I knew I had let in a few soft goals. It was too important for us for me to play poorly.&rdquo;</p><p>Atlanta got off to a 2-0 lead, but the gritty Isles hung in there and won 3-2 on Billy Harris&rsquo; most important goal of the season.</p><p>&ldquo;For all of you who buried Billy Smith he&rsquo;s very much alive and well,&rdquo; said Arbour, after the game. &ldquo;We have two number one goalies on this team and that has never changed.&rdquo;</p><p>Against the Flyers in the Spectrum the Islanders fell behind 1-0 after being victimized by a quick whistle by referee Bob Byers, which deprived them of one goal. Then they won the game 3-1, with Bob Nystrom&rsquo;s 17th goal of a spotty season, being the winner, and Clark Gillies&rsquo; 34th into an empty net the clincher.</p><p>The Islanders go into the playoffs a team being challenged. They had first place in their grasp, let it get away, then turned around and got it back.</p><p>New York&rsquo;s first line is the best in the NHL, but in the last month Arbour has partially broken it up, by placing Gillies elsewhere in order to attempt to gain offensive balance. When they are together, the Bryan Trottier&mdash;Mike Bossy&mdash;Gillies line is awesome.</p><p>&ldquo;The key to the playoffs for the Islanders may be Gillies, said a rival NHL scout, who has been following the team. &ldquo;When he plays like he did against the Russians he can do anything. But he doesn&rsquo;t do it often enough.&rdquo;</p><p>Arbour and Torrey have held all the team meetings possible trying to gain the extra effort needed so that key victories against lesser opposition don&rsquo;t slip away.</p><p>The coach is innovative and much more the thinking man&rsquo;s type than most hockey coaches. He seems to have a little Tom Landry in him, with his detailed statistics and charts on how the opposition does things.</p><p>&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m the only coach in the NHL who does this,&rdquo; said Al, proudly showing off a thick booklet on an opposing team. We do this on every team, check the way they bring the puck out, the way they forecheck, their habits on penalty killing.&rdquo;</p><p>Arbour molded the Islanders from 1973-74 on, his first season. He cut the goals against by 100 that year, a figure never before approached and disciplined his men into a tough defensive style.</p><p>&ldquo;Al spends hours in front of a TV set putting tapes of plays on and watching and analyzing over and over,&rdquo; said Torrey. &ldquo;No one else does that.&rdquo;</p><p>The coach is often unhappy when the team wins, but plays less than 100 percent.</p><p>&ldquo;Sometimes I think our best is not good enough for him,&rdquo; said one Islander.</p><p>In the playoffs the best will be good enough only if the Stanley Cup is the result.</p><p><b>ISLAND SOUNDS:</b> Mike Bossy easily broke Roggie Leach 61 goal mark for right wings, finishing with 69&hellip;Only Bobby Orr has previously gone over the century mark in points amongst all defensemen. Denis Potvin finished with 100&hellip;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-02

Islanders’ Sights On Cup After Hot Run Down Stretch

<div class="byline">BY FRED PIETILA</div><p>DENVER&mdash;</p><p>It happened on April Fool&rsquo;s Day, but the joke was on the St. Louis Blues and goalie Terry Richardson.</p><p>The Colorado Rockies closed their disastrous home season with a bizarre 95 win over the St. Louis Blues in a battle between the two worst teams in the National Hockey League.</p><p>Maybe it figures. The two tail-end teams in the weak Smythe Division helped close the regular home season for the Rockies, whose high aspirations dissipated quickly into a dreadful season.</p><p>But the 9-5 shootout win over the Blues spared the Rockies a piece of a dubious NHL record. The win ended Colorado&rsquo;s 14-game home winless streak and similarly ended an eightgame winless streak as the team went on the road for its final three games.</p><p>The NHL record of 15 consecutive winless games at home is shared by the 1928-29 Black Hawks and the 1939-40 Canadiens.</p><p>The stage for this wild one was established early&mdash;maybe even the last time the teams met in Denver. At that time, the Blues scored three goals within a span of 2:13 early in the third period to snap a 2-2 tie and then faltered and gave up three goals in a span of 5:00 later in the period as the game ended deadlocked 5-5.</p><p>On April Fool&rsquo;s Day, the Blues struck twice within 19 seconds early in the first period, then yielded two goals within 27 seconds just 22 seconds later. That amounted to four goals in 1:08 and it was a 2-2 game with more than 53 minutes to play.</p><p>The Blues&rsquo; Brian Sutter and Don Saleski matched goals later in the first period, which ended 3-3. The Rockies&rsquo; Nick Beverley, off a great play by Rey Comeau, and the Blues&rsquo; Larry Patey matched second-period goals and Patey&rsquo;s score triggered a controversy which eventually wound up with referee Gregg Madill ejecting one of the goal judges from the game.</p><p>Patey scored on a breakaway late in the second period, but the goal judge was apparently screened and never flashed the red light. It was clearly a goal and the goal judge was quickly overruled. It had only just begun.</p><p>With the Rockies leading 6-4 on goals by Merlin Malinowski and Ron Delorme, the two top stars of the game, Malinowski shot from the right faceoff circle and the puck eluded Richardson and rolled toward the goal line. Richardson snagged the puck before it crossed the goal line, but the goal judge flashed the red light. He again was overruled and the score remained 6-4 with 11:56 left to play.</p><p>Moments later, the Blues&rsquo; Inge Hammarstrom scored a power-play goal to trim the margin to 6-5. When Wilf Paiement rifled a shot off the left goal post at 14:00, the goal judge again flashed the red light, signifying a goal, even though the puck clearly bounced away from the net. At the next stoppage of play, Madill ordered the goal judge to relinquish his duties.</p><p>The Rockies then added goals by Randy Pierce, his second of the game; Don Ashby, his first as a Rocky, and Delorme, capping his first NHL hat trick, to complete their biggest offensive game in three years in Denver.</p><p>Aside from the goal judge ejection and the fact that neither the Rockies now the Blues have distinguished themselves this season, the small, but raucous crowd of 5,284 enjoyed nearly every minute of an incredible home finale. It was especially sweet for the Rockies, who had the worst offense in the league going into the game.</p><p>The nine-goal outburst raised their season scoring total to 200 in 77 games. The matchup featured the Rockies&rsquo; 17th-ranked offense against the Blues&rsquo; 17th-ranked defense something like &ldquo;the movable object vs. the resistable force.&rdquo;</p><p>The win was only the 15th of the season for the Rockies, who established several team records for futility, especially on home ice. Their 8-23-8 home record was the worst in the league and the worst in their three-year history in Denver. The 23 home-ice losses was the most by a Denver-based team, and the eight home-ice wins were similarly the fewest.</p><p>Vancouver&rsquo;s Gary Bromley had recorded his second shutout over the Rockies the night before, pinning Colorado with its seventh whitewash loss of the season. Chicago&rsquo;s Tony Esposito recorded two straight shutouts against the Rockies.</p><p>Anyway, the four-goal victory was a nice way to end a terrible home season for the rockies and team president Armand Pohan, who had earlier called a news conference for April 11 to announce plans for next season, said it best when he signed, &ldquo;This is ethereal,&rdquo; several hours after the game. It was, particularly for a team which had scored only six goals in its eight preceding games.</p><p>The final night crowd raised the Rockies&rsquo; 40-game attendance total to 243,227, or an average of 6,081, far under last season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01960/3861231-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="580" height="940"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RON DELORME&hellip;First Hat Trick</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0013-01

Rockies’ Denver Scoring Outburst Spells End To Home Losing Streak

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01980/3861283-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg"></div><h2><i>Something in Common</i></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>N</span>ew York Rangers&rsquo; star Don Murdoch shares some football thoughts with two people whose paths crossed many times in the past. Nick Garen, right, veteran trainer of the Rangers, holds a football with Dr. Joseph Cimino, president of the N.Y. Medical College when two met recently to reminisce about the past. Both Dr. Cimino and Garen were born and raised in the Bronx section of New York. Both attended Stuyvesant High School and the two men played for the same football coach. Both were captain of the football team and both became Alt Star players. They were both born Jan. 1 and both ended up in the medical field. Where does Murdoch fit into all this? He practices with the Rangers at Hawthorne, N.Y., which happens to be on the edge of the N.Y. Medical College campus. It&rsquo;s a small world.</b></p><h2><i>Hockey Goes Rock</i></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04433/3861276-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="1194" height="1308"></div><p><b>He&rsquo;s hardly a member of the Cincinnati Stingers even though he&rsquo;s wearing one of their jerseys. If you haven&rsquo;t figured out who he is, it is Alice Cooper, the rock star, who did a recent concert at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati. Cooper, who likes to collect professional hockey sweaters, enjoyed the Stinger jersey so much he took it with him on a country-wide tour.</b></p><h2><i>Beat The Goaler</i></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02817/3861269-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="1208" height="1438"></div><p><b>Maine Mariners&rsquo; goaler Pete Peeters, who is destined for the NHL one day with the Philadelphia Flyers, put on the pads to face a barrage of shots in the &ldquo;Beat The Goalie&rdquo; booth at the Mariners&rsquo; wives second annual carnival in Portland, Me. Peeters faced more shots during his carnival stint than he did in over 20 AHL contests with Maine. The ladies raised over $7,500 for Maine&rsquo;s Pine Tree Society for Crippled Children.</b></p><h2><i>Whalers Get &lsquo;Bud&rsquo; A ward</i></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03617/3861262-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="1823" height="1564"></div><p><b>Whalers&rsquo; managing general partner Howard Baldwin is flanked by vice-presidents Ross Hollander, left, and Michael Weinstein, right, of Hartford Distributors after Baldwin accepted Budweiser Cup to be presented to the most valuable defenseman on the Whalers this season. Team captain Rick Ley won it last season. He is one of six Whalers in the running for this year&rsquo;s award.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-01

HOCKEY PEOPLE

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><p>BUFFALO&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>J</span>ust how much Billy Inglis&rsquo; modern methods of coaching have to do with it, no one can be sure, but the results certainly have pleased the hockey fans of Buffalo.</p><p>Going into the last week of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s regular season, the Sabres were traveling an exact opposite course from the early season. After the break for the All Star series against the Soviets, Buffalo had the best record in the league through March 30, tied with the Philadelphia Flyers.</p><p>Throw out a four-game losing streak shortly after the All Star break and the Sabres were tops. They lost only two of 18 games, both to Philadelphia.</p><p>The Sabres went on a four-game western trip and won all four games, the first time since they entered the NHL in 1970 that they had won four games on a trip. They never had won three before, in fact.</p><p>Upon return to Buffalo, the Sabres further pleased the hometown fans by shellacking the Boston Bruins, the team that beat them out for the Adams Division title, to the tune of 9-2.</p><p>In that game, Rick Martin, who had trouble finding the net in the early phases of the season, had the hat trick, plus an assist, for a four-point night. The three goals gave him 12 in his last 12 games.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01944/3861314-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="572" height="1515"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BILLY INGLIS&hellip;Players Like Him</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Robert Shaver)</span></figcaption></div><p>After the game, Rico praised the Sabres&rsquo; new regime&mdash;Billy Inglis, the scout who became a coach for the first time when Marcel Pronovost was fired early in December, and John Andersen, director of player personnel, who is acting as general manager since Punch Imlach got the axe at the same time as Pronovost.</p><p>&ldquo;You have to give Billy and John Andersen a lot of credit,&rdquo; Martin said. &ldquo;They have eased up the pressure on us.</p><p>&ldquo;They give us days off. At this time of year, you don&rsquo;t need to go out and practice two hours. They have given us days off and the guys appreciate it.</p><p>&ldquo;On the western trip, we only went on the ice once except for the games. Sometimes it&rsquo;s nice to get away from the game. Then you look forward to going back to the rink. You&rsquo;re hungry for ice.&rdquo;</p><p>Craig Ramsay, who had a goal and an assist in the game and who is having perhaps his best season ever, was more emphatic about the new atmosphere on the club.</p><p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t say enough about the days off we&rsquo;ve had,&rdquo; said Rammer. &ldquo;Practice on the road hurts you more than it helps. On the western trip we were tired from the travel but we weren&rsquo;t tired of being in the rink all the time.</p><p>&ldquo;We had a chance to relax in Los Angeles&mdash;a day to sit around the swimming pool and take it easy. I think that was tremendous. I think the mental part of the game is 90 percent. When you are treated as a person, you appreciate it.&rdquo;</p><p>The thing about the western trip the players seemed to appreciate most was that Inglish took all his able-bodied players along. That gave him a playing complement of 22, three more than can dress for a game.</p><p>&ldquo;We are a team,&rdquo; said Inglis, &ldquo;so we travel as a team. Everybody who is on the team is expected to be ready to contribute, so we should have everybody along when we make a trip like that.&rdquo;</p><p>The Sabres ran into travel difficulties on the trip&mdash;twice they had to wait around airports for from three to five hours and once they had to take a three and one-half hour bus trip instead of traveling by plane&mdash;but the coach did his best to keep the delays from being too irritating.</p><p>He eased the bus trip by springing for two bottles of beer or soda pop for each player, plus potato chips and pretzels.</p><p>Rather than leave Los Angeles early in the morning after playing the Kings, he delayed departure until four p.m., gave the players the day off until then and told them to relax around the swimming pool&mdash;no practice.</p><p>The relaxed approach might not work all the time, but it certainly seemed to be working for the Sabres during the late stages of what was a turbulent season.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-01

Inglis’ Relaxed Methods Have Sabres Razor Sharp

f0016-01

NHL FINAL POINT SCORING AND PENALTY STATISTICS

<h2>Preliminary Round</h2><h3>VANCOUVER VS PHILADELPHIA</h3><p>Tue. Apr. 10 at Philadelphia</p><p>Thu. Apr. 12 at Vancouver</p><p>Sat. Apr. 14 at Philadelphia</p><h3>LOS ANGELES VS RANGERS</h3><p>Tue. Apr. 10 at New York</p><p>Thu. Apr. 12 at Los Angeles</p><p>Sat. Apr. 14 at New York</p><h3>TORONTO VS ATLANTA</h3><p>Tue. Apr. 10 at Atlanta</p><p>Thu. Apr. 12 at Toronto</p><p>Sat. Apr. 14 at Atlanta</p><h3>PITTSBURGH VS BUFFALO</h3><p>Tue. Apr. 10 at Buffalo</p><p>Thu. Apr. 12 at Pittsburgh</p><p>Sat. Apr. 14 at Buffalo</p><h3>Quarter Finals SERIES &lsquo;E&rsquo;, &lsquo;F&rsquo;, &lsquo;G&rsquo;4&lsquo;H&rsquo;</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02584/3861428-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="574" height="252"></div><h3>Semi-Finals SERIES &lsquo;I&rsquo; & &lsquo;J&rsquo;</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03470/3861421-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="545" height="300"></div><h3>Finals SERIES &lsquo;K&rsquo;</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04360/3861414-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="543" height="308"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0017-02

Stanley Cup Playoffs

<div class="byline">BY MIKE DENNIS</div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>his is a tale of the tape. And of the face bandages, birdcage masks, whirlpool baths, shoulder harnesses, casts and assorted paraphernalia employed by the Montreal Canadiens to make it through their 1978-79 schedule.</p><p>It&rsquo;s a tale of five shoulder separations, four leg muscle pulls, four knee injuries, two broken noses, two groin injuries, two injured backs, two damaged wrists, two bouts with the flu, two cases of back muscle spasms, and single occurrences of a broken jaw, pneumonia, sore ribs, an injured ankle and a hip pointer.</p><p>What it all adds up to are 224 games that have been missed by 19 different members of the Canadiens, a figure which places Montreal well up among the most-injured teams in the league this year&mdash;Vancouver, Colorado and Boston. In fact, only three players have appeared in all 80 Montreal games this year, Serge Savard, Guy Lafleur and Doug Jarvis, who&rsquo;s never missed a game during his four-year National Hockey League career.</p><p>But despite their 1-0 loss in Detroit to end the regular season, which placed the Canadiens one-point behind the New York Islanders in the overall standings, it dit not detract from the fact that the Canadiens will enter the playoffs just about as healthy as they&rsquo;ve been all season.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re in great shape now,&rdquo; said Doug Risebrough, who has been installed at his usual center spot between Mario Tremblay and Yvon Lambert for about 20 games now after coming back from his second shoulder separation of this year. Risebrough, who missed 32 games, which is more than three times the number he had missed in his first four years with the club, explained how some of the players were faced with coming back after the Challenge Cup break, at a time when the scheduling was extremely tight.</p><p>&ldquo;It was a tough thing to come back at. that time,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;we didn&rsquo;t have too much time to practice and the guys (like Jacques Lemaire, Guy Lapointe and Risebrough) had to get right into game situations, sort of get back into shape as they went along.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m feeling well. There&rsquo;s been no problem with the shoulder. I&rsquo;m pleased. I&rsquo;d like to do some therapy on it,&rdquo; Risebrough said as a trainer helped him unbandage his right shoulder, &ldquo;but with games on the road and everything I haven&rsquo;t had the chance. I&rsquo;d like to build it up for the playoffs.&rdquo;</p><p>Canadiens, as a team, have been preparing for the playoffs, exhibiting a close-checking style which has featured taking advantage of opponents mistakes and taking care of their own end before pressing the attack.</p><p>&ldquo;I guess every team is into a playofftype game. There are a lot of teams playing well and you have to be at this time,&rdquo; Risebrough said.</p><p>As the regular season quickly slipped away the hottest of the Canadiens was Jacques Lemaire, another of the more prominent of the indisposed this year, having sat out 30 games with a severe shoulder separation which occurred in between Risebrough&rsquo;s two mishaps.</p><p>Only captain Yvan Cournoyer, who appeared in 15 games before undergoing surgery to correct a disc problem in his back, and Risebrough, missed more games than Lemaire, but the hustling 33-year-old centerman has been making up for lost time with a furious finish to the regular schedule.</p><p>Lemaire collected his second hat trick in 14 games (the first was against Vancouver in an 11-1 drubbing) plus an assist in the Canadiens&rsquo; second to last regular season home match, a 4-1 decision over Detroit. The three goals gave him eight in eight games and 16 in 25 games since his return to the lineup, for a total of 24 on the season, and 366 in his career, 18th on the all-time goalscoring list.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01677/3861383-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="568" height="1118"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DOUG RISEBROUGH&hellip;Back In Groove</b></figcaption></div><p>Larry Robinson, who is the latest player to return to the club after waler on the knee kept him idle for seven games (earlier a broken nose sidelined him for six contests) set up Lemaire&rsquo;s first goal in the Detroit game with an adroit move along the boards and a pass back into the slot to Lemaire who was following up on the play.</p><p>The sole worry, injury-wise, was Rejean Houle, who missed the final 10 games with a torn stomach muscle. It has been healing slowly, though, and with the eight day &ldquo;rest&rdquo; they received by virtue of winning their division and getting to sit out the preliminary round with a bye. the Canadiens were likely to be as healthy as they&rsquo;ve been all season, entering the playoffs.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-01

Canadiens Regain Health For Playoff Start

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01694/3861466-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JACK BROWNSCHIDLE&hellip;Regarded As Unpolished Diamond</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</span></figcaption></div><p>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><p>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><p>ST. LOUIS&mdash;</p><p>Jack Brownschidle is struggling to establish himself in the National Hockey League. He has made progress this season, but the road is hard.</p><p>Brownschidle, a defenseman, is completing his second season of pro hockey after a fine collegiate career at Notre Dame. He split last season between St. Louis and the Blues&rsquo; farm team at Salt Lake City. This season he started in Salt Lake City and joined the parent team Nov. 11.</p><p>&ldquo;The Blues have given me plenty of ice time this season,&rdquo; Brownschidle said. &ldquo;At the end of last year I still had to question myself, but now after two years I feel more confident as far as having a career in hockey. I hope the St. Louis management feels the same way. I know I have a lot to learn.&rdquo;</p><p>St. Louis coach Barclay Plager and assistant coach Red Berenson regard Brownschidle as an unpolished diamond.</p><p>&ldquo;Jack is an excellent skater,&rdquo; Plager said, &ldquo;but he has to keep working. He&rsquo;s come a long way this season, but he still has a long way to go.&rdquo;</p><p>Brownschidle is a likeable fellow, and many persons very much want to see him succeed in the major leagues. Some perhaps want to see him succeed more than he himself wants success.</p><p>&ldquo;Desire is something you have to have to be in the NHL,&rdquo; Plager said. &ldquo;Jack obviously has had enough to come this far.&rdquo;</p><p>Brownschidle was born in Buffalo, played on the U.S. National Team in 1975 and was an All American twice at Notre Dame. His contemporaries at Notre Dame included two other players who entered the NHL, Bill Nyrop and Alex Pirus.</p><p>&ldquo;Jack has a lot of talent,&rdquo; Berenson said, &ldquo;especially skating ability and puck-handling ability. He carries the puck well but he has to have the confidence to do it with authority. He&rsquo;s a skilled poke-checker but not so strong in the corners.&rdquo;</p><p>Berenson, tough on himself as a player and a perfectionist as a coach, pushes players such as Brownschidle to play to the limits of their abilities.</p><p>&ldquo;For a young defenseman Jack has had lots of opportunity to play and been given every opportunity to develop,&rdquo; Berenson said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve seen some good signs and some signs of slipping, but maybe we expect too much from him. We all have strengths and weaknesses. He&rsquo;s a young guy, and we want him to be as good as he can be.&rdquo;</p><p>Brownschidle is a serious young man and he approaches hockey seriously. He loves the game but he realizes the craziness of it. He is somewhat frustrated by the emotional peaks and valleys. He is a quiet person but he realizes high emotion is part of the game.</p><p>&ldquo;I enjoy playing hockey,&rdquo;-he said, &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s an insecure type of living.&rdquo;</p><p>Brownschidle feels that insecurity and worries about it. Although he is unsure of the future, he emphatically would like to spend it with the Blues.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll have a darn good team in St. Louis,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and 1 want to be part of it.&rdquo;</p><p>Brownschidle&rsquo;s youth is needed on the Blues&rsquo; defensive corps, which appeared to be turning toward youth but has taken on surprising age during this season.</p><p>Early this season the Blues&rsquo; defense had Bruce Affleck, 24, Bob Hess, 23, Jamie Masters, 23 and Dick Lamby, 23, and the average age of the unit dropped when Rod Seiling, 34, moved to Atlanta. But with Affleck, Hess, Masters and Lamby shipped to Salt Lake City, Brownschidle was the youngest defenseman on the team at 24 until Neil Labatte, 21, joined the parent club. The other five St. Louis defensemen are Barry Gibbs, 30, Bob &lsquo;Stewart, 28, and Larry Giroux, Neil Komadoski and Steve Durbano, all 27.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02555/3861459-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="576" height="1052"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RED BERENSON&hellip;Blues&rsquo; Taskmaster</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0018-01

Blues’ Brownschidle Sets Sights On Developing His Hockey Talent

<p class="dropcap"><b><span>N</span>ew York Islanders needed two wins on the final weekend for a chance at first place in the standings and they got them, thanks in large part to the phenomenal Mike Bossy.</b></p><p><b>The sophomore scoring sensation collected six goals, including his first four-goal effort, against the Philadelphia Flyers as the Isles trounced the Flyers 9-2 and topped the Rangers 5-2. In the latter game, Bossy broke open a 2-2 tie with a pair of goals and then assisted on the fifth Islanders&rsquo; goal.</b></p><p><b>His six-goal burst gave Bossy the second highest goal total for a season, 69, with only Phil Esposito scoring more with his 76 goals in the 1970-71 season. Bossy also finished fourth in the scoring race with 126 points, eight less than linemate Bryan Trottier.</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03416/3861497-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="528" height="677"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MIKE BOSSY&hellip;New York Islanders</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0018-03

NHL’s…Player of the Week

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div><p>VANCOUVER&mdash;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01665/3861535-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="564" height="928"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>THOMAS GRADIN&hellip;Surprisingly Sturdy</b></figcaption></div><p>It shouldn&rsquo;t be told, but the Veli Pekka-Ketola story just about typifies the season for the Vancouver Canucks.</p><p>About a month ago, Canucks&rsquo; general manager Jake Milford set off to Finland in search of some hockey talent for his floundering NHL squad. He had heard some scouting reports on varipus players, but he wanted to see for himself.</p><p>One player he did see and liked was Ketola, the former member of the Winnipeg Jets. Having had North American experience, Ketola, a big rangy center, was more or less what Milford was looking for with Canuck centers Chris Oddleifson, Pit Martin and Don Lever all ailing at the time.</p><p>Well Milford landed Ketola, signing him to a contract for the rest of this season and giving the team the option on his services for next season.</p><p>Ketola was expected into town at the latest in the middle of March, as he was involved in the Finnish first division playoffs and his team reached the best-of-five final series.</p><p>Almost predictably, Ketola was injured in his last game in Finland, fracturing his wrist, leaving the Canucks with injured hockey players all over the globe.</p><p>Milford hardly said a word about the incident. It wasn&rsquo;t necessary. The team has been so snake-bitten this year one would almost hate to face them in the first round of the playoffs.</p><p>Because they are so due for a change in fortunes, one might almost expect either a complete collapse in the post-season play, or a sudden change in luck, repaying them for all the grief they&rsquo;ve had all season. When all is totalled, they will lose close to 300 games to injury, with all of their centers, with the exception of the supposedly fragile Swede: Thomas Gradin&mdash;suffering a serious injury or two during the year.</p><p>Harold Snepsts and Lars Lindgren have played hurt all season, the latter now having suffered a shoulder separation, and he will be lucky to be back by the final game of the season.</p><p>Jack McIlhargey has been hurt so often, his body looks like something out of Sesame street. Kevin McCarthy recently underwent surgery on his hip to remove a big bone chip caught between his hip and the muscle, something which did not show up on the x-ray, and he&rsquo;ll be lost for the rest of the season.</p><p>It is only the return to the lineup of Pit Martin and Chris Oddleifson, plus the continued fine play of captain Don Lever since his return from the sick list which spurred Canucks on to the point where St. Louis Blues could no longer pose a serious threat to their final honeymoon playoff spot in the Dream (Smythe) Division.</p><p>Canucks played a close-checking style of play during their recent five game homestand, and only a three-goal third period from the Buffalo Sabres prevented the locals from getting points in all games.</p><p>&ldquo;Our goalkeeping has been much improved over the last six games, and that has certainly been a factor in our playing better,&rdquo; says coach Harry Neale. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the way we have to play with our personnel. We don&rsquo;t have anyone to score goals and when you&rsquo;ve only got three 20-goal scorers on your roster and you&rsquo;re playing a team with seven or eight, then I think you&rsquo;re wise not to get into a goal-scoring contest with them.&rdquo;</p><p>What Vancouver might have managed had they stayed healthy is an interesting hypothetical argument, as is the same, whimsical idea of how well would they do if they didn&rsquo;t have to travel 70,000 miles per season. The two are inter-related, or at least trainer Pat Dunn thinks so. Realistically, Neale is looking forward to the point where he can get Lindgren back and maybe get a game or two out of Bill Derlago, their first round draft choice who severed his knee cartilage back in November. Goalkeeper Glen Hanlon is simply a lost memory, the doctors having advised the Canucks not to bring him back this season for fear of risking his future. He stretched his knee ligaments Jan. 27.</p><h2>Dryden, Larocque Win Vezina Trophy Again</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02545/3861528-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="1138" height="2827"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0019-01

Canucks’ Injury Problems Extend To Europe

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01511/3861566-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DALE McCOURT&hellip;Finished Season Playing Well</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Steve Babineau)</span></figcaption></div><p>DETROIT&mdash;</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a season where everything that could possibly go wrong has gone wrong.&rdquo; said Ted Lindsay.</p><p>&ldquo;I think all the controversy at the start of the year upset the chemistry. It had to have some bearing on Dale (Mc-Court). The way he&rsquo;s been playing lately, that&rsquo;s the way he&rsquo;s capable of playing and that&rsquo;s the way he will play for us.</p><p>&ldquo;It started out with the arbitrator&rsquo;s ruling in the McCourt case. The collective bargaining agreement says &lsquo;fair and equal&rsquo; compensation for free agents. His decision wasn&rsquo;t.</p><p>&ldquo;One of the things we do not have is depth of personnel. If we lose an average hockey player, we can overcome it. If we lose a good hockey player, with good hockey sense, we&rsquo;re in trouble. Like in the case of Greg Joly.&rdquo;</p><p>The Red Wing general manager continued, &ldquo;I figure we had 100 goals scored against us this year where we had possession of the puck in our end and lost it. As a direct result of that loss, we gave up a goal. That&rsquo;s not the fault of the goaltender. That&rsquo;s the fault of the players. 1 don&rsquo;t care if you&rsquo;re playing the Montreal Canadiens 80 games a year, you should not give the puck up in your end if you&rsquo;re a National Hockey League player.&rdquo;</p><p>The Wings finished second in the Norris Division a season ago with a 3234-14 record and 78 points. This season, they got off to a bad start, suffered a horrible slump in mid-season when they lost seven games in the final minutes, games in which they enjoyed two&mdash;or&mdash;two or three goal leads at some point. They were out of playoff contention by mid-December, or so it seemed.</p><p>&ldquo;Nine games that we had won, we gave away because some guys were petrified out on the ice,&rdquo; Lindsay said. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t play hockey like that.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s almost a mental deficiency, a lack of confidence. No one man is responsible, it happened no matter who was on the ice. Some guys were tying their skates together so Bobby (coach Bobby Kromm) wouldn&rsquo;t send them out in a situation like that.</p><p>&ldquo;We will try to correct our weaknesses.&rdquo;</p><p>The Wings have their own first-round draft choice this year, and it will be a very high pick, third overall. They may also select to exercise a first-round pick from Toronto as well.</p><p>Lindsay wouldn&rsquo;t zero in on any particular player or positions he would draft for.</p><p>He said the club needs help at all positions. It is accepted that the most troublesome areas are defense, right wing and center, in that order, and Lindsay said he&rsquo;d like to find another left winger, too.</p><p>Lindsay is looking forward to getting Brent Peterson, a first-round pick in 1978, in the lineup on a full-time basis. Peterson suffered a broken leg in the second week of the season and was lost for the season.</p><p>&ldquo;To me, Brent Peterson is a better all-around hockey player than Ryan Walter (the outstanding Washington rookie),&rdquo; the Red Wing GM said. &lsquo;</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s smarter, and better defensively. He&rsquo;s the kind of young player we&rsquo;re looking for&mdash;guys that want to play and guys that will sacrifice.&rdquo;</p><p>He concluded, &ldquo;When 1 say we&rsquo;ll be better, when you don&rsquo;t make the playoffs you can only be better.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-01

Detroit’s Lack Of Depth Sent Club Into Basement

<p><b>ATLANTA: Boldirev 34,35, Rota 19,20,21,22, Plett 23, Houston 19,20,21, Lalonde 24, Vail 34,35, Chouinard SO, MacMillan 37, Pronovosl 28.</b></p><p><b>BOSTON: Redmond 7, Cashman 27, Secord 14,15,16, Foster 11, O&rsquo;Reilly 25,26, Marcotte 20, Schmautz 19,20, Smith 7.</b></p><p><b>BUFFALO: R. Martin 29,30,31,32, Gare 25,26,27, Robert 21,22, Perreault 27, Ramsay 26, Richard 7,8,9,10, McKegney 8.</b></p><p><b>CHICAGO: Mulvey 19, Higgins 5,6,7, Walton 15,16,17, Bulky 25,26.27, Kerr 16, O&rsquo;Connell 4, Bordeleau 15. Murray 19.</b></p><p><b>COLORADO: Pierce 19. Van Boxmeer 8,9, Dwyer 1,2, Delorme 20, Ashby 2, Malinowski 6. Beck 14,15.</b></p><p><b>DETROIT: Nedomansky 38. St. Laurent 18, Larson 18, Hamel 2, McCourt 28.</b></p><p><b>LOS ANGELES: Goring 34,35,36, Simmer 16,17,18,19,20,21, Dionne 57,58.59. Taylor 43, Murphy 16, Mulhern 6, M. Wilson 11, Heaslip 4.</b></p><p><b>MINNESOTA: Payne 21,22,23, Carlson 3. Fidler 23, MacAdam 23,24, Manery 17.</b></p><p><b>MONTREAL: Lemaire 22,23,24, Shutt 36.37, Risebrough 10, Mondou 29,30,31, Savard 7, Lafleur 51,52, Lambert 26, Gainey 20.</b></p><p><b>ISLANDERS: Lewis 5. Trottier 46,47, Harris 15, Potvin 31, Nystrom 17,18,19, Gillies 34,35, Bossy 64,65,66,67,68,69. Merrick 19,20, Bourne 29,30.</b></p><p><b>RANGERS: Tkaczuk 15. Hickey 32,33,34, Greschner 17, Esposito 42, DeBlois 11, McEwen 20, Don Maloney 8.9, Hedberg 33, Vickers 13.</b></p><p><b>PHILADELPHIA: Watson 9, Ververgaert 18. Barber 34, Clarke 16. Leach 34, Dunlop 20, Holmgren 19.</b></p><p><b>PITTSBURGH: Sheppard 15, Malone 33,34.35, Davis 1, Ferguson 21, Lonsberry 24, Kehoe 27. Cossette 7.</b></p><p><b>ST. LOUIS: Stewart 5, Sutter 40,41, Patey 14,15, Giroux 5, C. Bennett 14, Hammarstrom 12.</b></p><p><b>TORONTO: Maloney 16.17. Butler 8. Anderson 13,14,15, McDonald 42,43, McKechnie 25. Gardner po. Sittier 36, Ellis 16.</b></p><p><b>VANCOUVER: Lever 23. Gillis 13. Sedlbauer 40. Goodenough 4.</b></p><p><b>WASHINGTON: Edberg 13.14, Mulvey 7. Stewart 7, Lynch 2, Maruk 31, Patrick 1, Girard 9. Charron 27,28, Lofthouse 13, Hextall 6, Walter 27,28.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

NHL’s Scorers…This Week

f0022-12

Penalty Leaders

<p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><h2>NORRIS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-1363/3861924-1-eng-US/f0022-132.jpg" title="f0022-13" width="599" height="168"></div><h2>ADAMS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-1455/3861917-1-eng-US/f0022-142.jpg" title="f0022-14" width="603" height="141"></div><h2>PATRICK DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-1553/3861910-1-eng-US/f0022-152.jpg" title="f0022-15" width="620" height="149"></div><h2>SMYTHE DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-1646/3861903-1-eng-US/f0022-162.jpg" title="f0022-16" width="626" height="149"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><p><b>Mon. Apr. 2</b></p><p>Los Angeles 4 at Rangers 5</p><p><b>Tue. Apr. 3</b></p><p>Atlanta 2 at Islanders 3</p><p>Los Angeles 2 at Washington 6</p><p>Pittsburgh 3 at St. Louis 2</p><p>Colorado 1 at Vancouver 2</p><p>Chicago 3 at Minnesota 4</p><p><b>Wed. Apr. 4</b></p><p>Atlanta 3 at Rangers 3</p><p>Detroit 1 at Montreal 4</p><p>Minnesota 1 at Chicago 7</p><p>Boston 3 at Toronto 3</p><p><b>Thu. Apr. 5</b></p><p>Islanders 3 at Philadelphia 1</p><p>Colorado 4 at Los Angeles 4</p><p>Buffalo 9 at Boston 3</p><p><b>Fri. Apr. 6</b></p><p>Rangers 2 at Atlanta 9</p><p>Minnesota 2 at Vancouver 2</p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 7</b></p><p>Philadelphia 2 at Islanders 9</p><p>Washington 3 at Montreal 10</p><p>Detroit 3 at Pittsburgh 4</p><p>Minnesota 1 at Los Angeles 7</p><p>Chicago 1 at St. Louis 4</p><p>Buffalo 2 at Toronto 6</p><p><b>Sun. Apr. 8</b></p><p>Islanders 5 at Rangers 2</p><p>Atlanta 2 at Philadelphia 4</p><p>Montreal 0 at Detroit 1</p><p>Pittsburgh 2 at Detroit 1</p><p>Pittsburgh 2 at Washington 5</p><p><b>St. Louis 2 at Chicago 3</b></p><p>Colorado 5 at Buffalo 5</p><p>Toronto 3 at Boston 6 (End of schedule)<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0022-13

The NHL Scoreboard

<h2>DIVISION LEADERS</h2><p><b>(Bye into second round)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-1742/3861969-1-eng-US/f0022-172.jpg" title="f0022-17" width="626" height="148"></div><h2>FIRST ROUND</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-1841/3861962-1-eng-US/f0022-182.jpg" title="f0022-18" width="604" height="288"></div><h2>OUT OF PLAYOFFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-1941/3861955-1-eng-US/f0022-192.jpg" title="f0022-19" width="598" height="178"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0022-17

Overall, Wild Card Playoff Picture

<p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-2040/3862007-1-eng-US/f0022-202.jpg" title="f0022-20" width="530" height="522"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bob Smith</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>obby Smith of the Minnesota North Stars maintained his comfortable lead in the rookie scoring over St. Louis&rsquo; Wayne Babych to win the scoring title among first year players, while Toronto&rsquo;s Dave (Tiger) Williams held off a fast-charging Randy Holt of Los Angeles to earn the less dubious distinction as the most penalized player in the National Hockey League.</p><p>Smith, the number one choice in the NHL&rsquo;s amateur draft last June was the only rookie to score 30 goals and finished with 74 points, for an 11-point bulge over Babych. The scoring title solidified Smith&rsquo;s chances of winning the Calder Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year as two of the past three winners, Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier, both of the New York Islanders, were the top scoring rookies and became Calder winners. Trottier, in fact, is the NHL&rsquo;s highest scoring rookie ever with 95 points in his first year.</p><p>Ryan Walter of Washington was the rookie runner-up in goal scoring with 28, one more than Babych and finished third in the rookie scoring derby with 55 points, while Vancouver&rsquo;s Thomas Gradin was the only other rookie over the half-century mark with 51 points. Philadelphia&rsquo;s Behn Wilson led rookie defensemen with 49 points, including 36 assists, a total achieved only by Smith and Babych.</p><p>The volatile Tiger Williams captured his second penalty minutes title in three years by edging Holt 298 minutes to 282. Williams&rsquo; total was the lowest to lead the league since 1972-73.</p><p>Defending penalty minute leader Dave Schultz, who was traded in mid-season from Pittsburgh to Buffalo, finished third this year with 245 minutes, although he did pass Bryan Watson to become the all-time penalty minutes leader with 2,268 minutes.</p><p>Other players to top the 200minute mark in penalties this year included Dave Hutchison, Toronto, 235, Willi Plett, Atlanta, 213, Dennis Polonich, Detroit, 208, and Terry O&rsquo;Reilly, Boston and Garry Howatt, Islanders, each with 205.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-2140/3862000-1-eng-US/f0022-212.jpg" title="f0022-21" width="533" height="529"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Dave Williams</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0022-20

Smith Leads NHL Rookie Scorers; Williams Most Penalized Player

<h2><b>Mon. Apr. 2 LOS ANGELES 4, RANGERS 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01384/3861817-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="634" height="774"></div><h2><b>Tue. Apr. 3 ATLANTA 2, ISLANDERS 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02293/3861810-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="602" height="520"></div><h2><b>LOS ANGELES 2, WASHINGTON 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03247/3861803-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="636" height="617"></div><h2><b>PITTSBURGH 3, ST. LOUIS 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-04194/3861796-1-eng-US/f0022-042.jpg" title="f0022-04" width="608" height="532"></div><h2><b>COLORADO 1, VANCOUVER 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-05157/3861789-1-eng-US/f0022-052.jpg" title="f0022-05" width="616" height="502"></div><h2><b>CHICAGO 3, MINNESOTA 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-06123/3861782-1-eng-US/f0022-062.jpg" title="f0022-06" width="648" height="575"></div><h2><b>Wed. Apr. 4 ATLANTA 3, RANGERS 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-07110/3861775-1-eng-US/f0022-072.jpg" title="f0022-07" width="604" height="624"></div><h2><b>DETROIT 1, MONTREAL 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0899/3861768-1-eng-US/f0022-082.jpg" title="f0022-08" width="664" height="642"></div><h2><b>MINNESOTA 1, CHICAGO 7</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0991/3861761-1-eng-US/f0022-092.jpg" title="f0022-09" width="620" height="596"></div><h2><b>BOSTON 3, TORONTO 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-1080/3861754-1-eng-US/f0022-102.jpg" title="f0022-10" width="600" height="536"></div><h2><b>Thu. Apr. 5 ISLANDERS 3. PHILADELPHIA 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-1175/3861747-1-eng-US/f0022-112.jpg" title="f0022-11" width="612" height="560"></div><h2>COLORADO 4, LOS ANGELES 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01360/3861740-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="624" height="627"></div><h2><b>BUFFALO 9, BOSTON 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02279/3861733-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="635" height="705"></div><h2><b>Fri. Apr. 6 RANGERS 2, ATLANTA 9</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03211/3861726-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="629" height="710"></div><h2><b>MINNESOTA 2, VANCOUVER 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-04166/3861719-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="609" height="569"></div><h2><b>Sat. Apr. 7 PHILADELPHIA 2, ISLANDERS 9</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-05139/3861712-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="635" height="634"></div><h2><b>WASHINGTON 3, MONTREAL 10</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-06123/3861705-1-eng-US/f0023-062.jpg" title="f0023-06" width="609" height="820"></div><h2><b>DETROIT 3, PITTSBURGH 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-07108/3861698-1-eng-US/f0023-072.jpg" title="f0023-07" width="606" height="644"></div><h2><b>MINNESOTA 1, LOS ANGELES 7</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0893/3861691-1-eng-US/f0023-082.jpg" title="f0023-08" width="611" height="583"></div><h2><b>CHICAGO 1, ST. LOUIS 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0978/3861684-1-eng-US/f0023-092.jpg" title="f0023-09" width="592" height="559"></div><h2><b>BUFFALO 2, TORONTO 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1067/3861677-1-eng-US/f0023-102.jpg" title="f0023-10" width="638" height="616"></div><h2><b>Sun. April 8 ISLANDERS 5, RANGERS 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1154/3861670-1-eng-US/f0023-112.jpg" title="f0023-11" width="602" height="588"></div><h2><b>ATLANTA 2, PHILADELPHIA 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1245/3861663-1-eng-US/f0023-122.jpg" title="f0023-12" width="603" height="540"></div><h2><b>MONTREAL 0, DETROIT 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1339/3861656-1-eng-US/f0023-132.jpg" title="f0023-13" width="609" height="428"></div><h2><b>PITTSBURGH 2, WASHINGTON 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1437/3861649-1-eng-US/f0023-142.jpg" title="f0023-14" width="637" height="601"></div><h2><b>ST. LOUIS 2, CHICAGO 3</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1529/3861642-1-eng-US/f0023-152.jpg" title="f0023-15" width="609" height="577"></div><h2><b>COLORADO 5, BUFFALO 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1626/3861635-1-eng-US/f0023-162.jpg" title="f0023-16" width="600" height="662"></div><h2><b>TORONTO 3, BOSTON 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1719/3861628-1-eng-US/f0023-172.jpg" title="f0023-17" width="609" height="631"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0022-01

NATIONAL LEAGUE SUMMARIES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-18" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1814/3862045-1-eng-US/f0023-182.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1911/3862038-1-eng-US/f0023-192.jpg" title="f0023-19" width="1192" height="1194"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MIKE BOSSY&hellip;Ended Fantastic Season</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0023-18

Final NHL Leaders

f0023-20

Top 20 Rookie Scorers

<p class="dropcap"><b><span>S</span>tan Weir has been an unsung addition to the Edmonton Oilers, but the 27-year-old centerman has been enjoying his finest professional season ever and aiding the Oilers in some crucial situations.</b></p><p><b>The Oilers won three of four games last week as they attempt to lock up first place in the World Hockey Association and Weir played an important part in each victory.</b></p><p><b>He started the Oilers rolling with a goal and an assist in a 5-1 triumph over Cincinnati, scored the winning goal as the Oilers, pulled away from New England 7-2 and then scored both the tying and winning goals as Edmonton edged the stubborn Birmingham Bulls, 5-4. The four</b></p><p><b>goals upped Weir&rsquo;s total to 28 on the season, fourth best on the team.</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02292/3862138-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="515" height="649"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>STAN WEIR&hellip;Edmonton Oilers</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0024-02

WHA’S—Player of the Week

<p>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><p>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><p>WINNIPEG&mdash;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01372/3862107-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="564" height="1035"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PAULTERBENCHE&hellip;Steadies Defense</b></figcaption></div><p>The Winnipeg Jets will be richer by about $2.7 million, the result of a six-year pact signed by the soon-to-be National League Hockey Club and Molson Breweries which gives Molson&rsquo;s the sole radio and television promotion rights.</p><p>Molson also signed a similar promotional agreement with the Edmonton Oilers who will join the NHL for the 1979-80 season, along with the New England Whalers and Quebec Nordiques. Molson now holds sole promotional rights, which includes any advertising pertaining to the team, for five of the six Canadian cities in the NHL. Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver are all under similar agreements.</p><p>Jets&rsquo; president Michael Gobuty announced the signing at an April 5 press conference and indicated that he felt the brewery was instrumental in the four World Hockey Association clubs getting accepted into the NHL.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believe that without them (Molson&rsquo;s) fighting for us&hellip;that this great merger would have happened,&rdquo; Gobuty said.</p><p>Meanwhile, on the ice, the play of veteran defenseman Paul Terbenche, which often is overlooked by the media, has prompted coach Tom McVie to call him one of his top two rearguards.</p><p>The fans know it, too. Terbenche was chosen as the team&rsquo;s unsung hero for the current campaign. Recognition, however, is something the veteran player doesn&rsquo;t care to receive.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not big on recognition, anyway,&rdquo; he states. &ldquo;1 really don&rsquo;t have much to say because I&rsquo;m a firm believer in that as soon as you say something, you have to live up to it. Invariably, when you do say something, it turns around and slaps you in the face a lot of times.&rdquo;</p><p>Standing at five-foot-10 and weighing 170 pounds, Terbenche can be classified as small by hockey standards. Despite, his size, he is probably the finest hipchecker on the team, and blocking shots is also part of his repertoire.</p><p>Terbenche tries not to think about next year&rsquo;s expansion into the NHL, nor his future in hockey. But he looks at them realistically.</p><p>&ldquo;After 13 years, if you&rsquo;re good enough, you&rsquo;re good enough, if you&rsquo;re not, you&rsquo;re not. All you can do basically is go out there and do what you do best.&rdquo; His rights are owned by Colorado, but there is some question in his mind as to how much longer he will play.</p><p>Coach McVie likes what Terbenche does best, and that is, to steady down the young defense which desperately needs steadying. He has known him personally for a long time, but he didn&rsquo;t realize, till he started coaching him, that he was as good a hockey player as he is.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s very good defensively,&rdquo; says McVie. &ldquo;He moves the puck out of our zone well, and he&rsquo;s just doing a good job for us. He uses his smarts to get himself out of predicaments.&rdquo; McVie adds that he and Scott Campbell are the two defensemen he has depended on the most since he has begun coaching the team.</p><p>Terbenche, on the other hand, does not give himself much credit, but says that playing with the Jets is very enjoyable.</p><p>&ldquo;Some of them are so talented, it&rsquo;s unbelievable. The ones that aren&rsquo;t, just work hard all the time. It has been somewhat rewarding, and it&rsquo;ll be even more rewarding in the end when we win everything.&rdquo;</p><p>This bit of restrained optimism is characteristic of the 33-year-old Terbenche. He feels strongly that the Jets will be the team to beat come playoff time, and that prying the Avco Cup from them will be a difficult task for even the best of challengers in the WHA.</p><p>Terbenche, had to share some of the spotlight this past week with another Winnipeg defenseman. It was the return of &ldquo;The Shoe&rdquo;, Lars-Erik Sjoberg, that received the accolades of the Winnipeg fans.</p><p>Last year&rsquo;s outstanding defenseman in the WHA, Sjoberg received a one minute standing ovation as he stepped on the ice for his first shift. If there were any doubts about how well the Swede had recovered from an Achilles tendon injury, he removed them just as soon as the puck was dropped. Receiving the puck from a face-off deep in the Jets&rsquo; end, Sjoberg dashed past three Nordique players, around a defenseman and let go a back-hand shot that forced goaltender Richard Brodeur to make a fine save. Once again the 10,000 plus fans came to their feet knowing full well, The Shoe is indeed ready to play.</p><p>Despite his efforts, the Jets couldn&rsquo;t beat the hot hand of Brodeur as they were clipped 2-0 by the 2nd place Nordiques. Despite the score, the consensus was that it was the best game played at the Winnipeg Arena this year.</p><p>The Jets avenged the shutout two nights later in Quebec where they pounded the Nordiques 7-3. Morris Lukowich paced the Jets with his 60th and 61st goals of the year and set the stage for an important encounter with the New England Whalers three days later.</p><p>The Whalers were an inspired hockey club under new head coach, Don Blackburn. Opening up a 3-0 lead, New England coasted to a 4-2 win and by doing so, they vaulted into third place. The Jets however will meet the Whalers again at the Winnipeg Arena and that game could very well determine the final standings in the playoff hunt.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0024-01

Jets, Molson Sign $2.7 Deal As Winnipeg Readies For NHL

<p>EDMONTON&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he summer time hockey game has already started. All over professional hockey general managers, personnel coordinators and coaches are seriously studying the list of World Hockey Association players whose rights are owned by NHL teams.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll protect Wayne Gretzky,&rdquo; said Glen Sather, the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; vice president and operations director. &ldquo;Then what do I do? Do I protect Blair MacDonald? Or Ron Chipperfield? Or even Paul Shmyr? Why couldn&rsquo;t they have let us keep our teams. The fans have really been keen to see matchups between the NHL and WHA. There is no question in my mind that we&rsquo;ll be weaker. It&rsquo;s almost like starting over.&rdquo;</p><p>Sather, a veteran utility forward in the NHL before he arrived on the Edmonton scene two years ago, knows the NHL personnel. He was in Gotham to scout the Atlanta Flames and New York Rangers, with another former Ranger, director of player personnel Bruce MacGregor. He asked questions about Ranger forward Eddie Johnstone, who figures to move on in the expansion portion of the draft.</p><p>WHA front office people are in a quandary over the terms of the expansion agreement between the four fledgling NHL teams and the establishment. Edmonton, Winnipeg, Quebec and New England have the right to protect just two skaters and two goalkeepers before NHL teams claim those players they have the NHL rights to.</p><p>In Winnipeg, John Feguson, the Jets new GM, wants to protect his retired super star, Bobby Hull, so that he can extract a huge ransom from the Chicago Black Hawks, who want the 40-year-old super star back next year.</p><p>&ldquo;I want to keep Terry Ruskowski (owned by Chicago) and Morris Lukowich,&rdquo; said Ferguson. But if I keep Hull, I&rsquo;ll lose one of those guys.&rdquo;</p><p>Fergy is resigned to losing star center Kent Nilsson, to the Atlanta Flames&mdash;and might have lost him to the Dixie team even eithout the amalgamation of his team into the NHL.</p><p>&ldquo;Nilsson wanted to try the NHL and the Jets knew this long ago,&rdquo; said a WHA source. &ldquo;He almost signed with Atlanta three years ago and went to their camp.&rdquo;</p><p>The Whalers desperately want to keep the Howe family, Gordie, 51, Mark and Marty together. Gordie Howe, is exempt from the reclaim draft because he is a retired NHL player. Mark Howe, the best all around player in the WHA, will be the New England team&rsquo;s first protected player. Then the guessing game starts.</p><p>Howard Baldwin, the president of the Whalers said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll make the decision to protect Mark, then it&rsquo;s up to Jack Kelley (the Whalers director of hockey operations).</p><p>&ldquo;I might stick with Rick Ley or I might go with Gordie Roberts,&rdquo; said Kelley.</p><p>Ley, 30, an original Whaler, is Toronto porperty and is the glue of the New England defense. Roberts, a Detroit native, is a great offense player, but reminds observers of a young Carol Vadnais or Ron Greschner. There is doubt he can play NHL defense enough to lead a new team. Gordie Roberts is 22, and is the property of the Montreal Canadiens.</p><p>&ldquo;Playing alongside Larry Robinson, Guy Lapointe and Serge Savard, he could mature and learn the game until he was really ready,&rdquo; said NHL scout Dave Brewer.</p><p>The Boston Bruins have the NHL rights to Mark Howe&mdash;and still threatening to sue the NHL and WHA over the expansion agreement. It is significant that Boston and New England are not in the same division.</p><p>&ldquo;Rivalries like that would make sense,&rdquo; said the Rangers Phil Esposito, an influential member of the NHL Players Association. &ldquo;But some of the owners are selfish, I guess.&rdquo;</p><p>The Red Wings own the rights to Marty Howe, but Gordie opined, &ldquo;They didn&rsquo;t make much of an effort to sign Marty in the past. Maybe they will let us keep him.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;They&rdquo; refers to Detroit GM Ted Lindsay, Howe&rsquo;s former Production Linemate in his 25 years with the Wings. At present, the ex-buddies are on the outs, and Lindsay might just pluck young Marty.</p><p>&ldquo;Marty Howe has played much better this year,&rdquo; said Sather. He could help sell tickets in Detroit and also make their team.&rdquo;</p><p>Gordie Howe isn&rsquo;t certain he will play in 1979-80.</p><p>&ldquo;The way I feel now I might not,&rdquo; said Gordie. &ldquo;1 have been hurt three times this year, chipping an ankle, a thumb and a toe. I won&rsquo;t play just as a token in two or three games. If I play, I&rsquo;d like to play a full shift.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;The merger (that&rsquo;s what Gordie called it) is a good thing for hockey,&rdquo; said Gordie. &ldquo;But we really want to play the NHL with our full team. That&rsquo;s not possible now.&rdquo;</p><p>In Quebec City, the Nordiques will protect Real &ldquo;Buddy&rdquo; Cloutier and prevent the Chicago Black Hawks from grabbing him&mdash;and they will also hold onto Marc Tardif, who is revered in God like fashion in the Colisee.</p><p>&ldquo;That means we have to let Serge Bernier go (to Los Angeles) said Jacques Demers, the Quebec coach.</p><p>&ldquo;We have the added problem of trying to maintain our French ethnic makeup. I am resigned to the loss of defenseman Gary Lariviere to the Islanders. He will help them.&rdquo;</p><p>Boston figures to regain center Rich Leduc, who has worked with Cloutier and Tardif much of the season. He will fit into the third line in Beantown very well.</p><p>A spot check shows that Atlanta will benefit from center Kent Nilsson, Boston will pick up Leduc and New England defenseman Ron Plumb, Chicago figures to get Hull and wishes they could sign Ruskowski and Cloutier.</p><p>Detroit may take Marty Howe, and has the right to reclaim George Lyle, a slight forward who is somewhat slow of skate. The Kings want Serge Bernier&mdash;and if Edmonton doesn&rsquo;t hold onto MacDonald, they would welcome him.</p><p>Although Minnesota owns the rights to Shmyr, there were reports the North Stars weren&rsquo;t too interested in Paul.</p><p>The Canadiens, owning the most WHA players (21) are very much interested in New England&rsquo;s Alan Hangsleben, a sophisticated Rick Chartraw type, who plays both defense and forward and hits with abandon. They will ink Danny Geoffrion, the young forward who is the son of their former all star right wing Boomer Geoffrion. And they want Cincinnati&rsquo;s Peter Marsh.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01315/3862176-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="524" height="678"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>KENT NILSSON&hellip;Atlanta Bound</b></figcaption></div><p>Louis Sleigher, the best goal scorer on the Birmingham Bulls is Montreal property, and he will be added to the Habs list.</p><p>&ldquo;If Roberts is available we will take him,&rdquo; said Ron Caron, Montreal Director of Recruitment. &ldquo;We have the WHA scouted thoroughly.&rdquo;</p><p>The Islanders are sure to go for Lariviere, and might look at Edmonton&rsquo;s American born defenseman Dave Langevin. There were some reports that Langevin had a bad knee.</p><p>Philadelphia will consider Edmonton centers Chipperfield and Dennis Sobchuk, although Sobchuk is shy in the corners, a most unlikely trait for a Flyer.</p><p>A bone of legal contention may be Finnish defenseman Risto Siltanen who had signed with Edmonton, but has been drafted by St. Louis in the NHL.</p><p>&ldquo;He is the best young defenseman in Europe, with the possible exception of Russia&rsquo;s Vyacheslav Fetishov,&rdquo; says Sather. &ldquo;We signed him in good faith.&rdquo;</p><p>There isn&rsquo;t much doubt that Emile Francis&rsquo; Blues will press their rights to the 19-year-old whiz kid.</p><p>&ldquo;We are also looking forward to signing Scott Campbell, the Jets&rsquo; defenseman, who was our number one pick two years back before the financial re-organization under the Purina Company,&rdquo; said Francis. &ldquo;We had no money that summer and he got away to the WHA. &ldquo;If Ferguson protects Lukowich and Ruskowski, we get Campbell, and he is rated highly.&rdquo;</p><p>Mike Rogers, the Whalers third line center will go to Vancouver.</p><p>Harry Neale, the Vancouver coach, was the Whalers&rsquo; bench boss last year and he wants Rogers.</p><p>&ldquo;He hustles and checks in NHL style. He makes things happen, said Neale.</p><p>On other fronts, Esposito was leading the NHL Players Association charge against the schedule which calls for a balanced 80 game affair with every team playing every other four times.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s for two years, not one,&rdquo; claims Phil. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s bad for hockey. Rivalries are what the fans want. I guess it&rsquo;s good for the Patrick Division teams to get to play all those weak teams, but it&rsquo;s selfish and it&rsquo;s bad for hockey.&rdquo;</p><h2>WHA Leaders</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02231/3862169-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="601" height="1165"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0025-01

Sather Feels Teams Starting Over By WHA’s Amalgamation With NHL

<h2><b>Tue. Apr. 3 EDMONTON 5, CINCINNAT11</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01323/3862277-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="622" height="520"></div><h2><b>QUEBEC 3, BIRMINGHAM 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02265/3862270-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="621" height="710"></div><h2><b>Wed. Apr. 4 EDMONTON 2, QUEBEC 4</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03225/3862263-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="651" height="596"></div><h2><b>NEW ENGLAND 4, WINNIPEG 2</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04172/3862256-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="625" height="722"></div><h2><b>Fri. Apr. 6 NEW ENGLAND 2, EDMONTON 7</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05137/3862249-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="603" height="763"></div><h2><b>BIRMINGHAM 2, WINNIPEG 1</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-06107/3862242-1-eng-US/f0026-062.jpg" title="f0026-06" width="617" height="525"></div><h2><b>Sat. Apr. 7 QUEBEC 2, CINCINNATI 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0796/3862235-1-eng-US/f0026-072.jpg" title="f0026-07" width="651" height="644"></div><h2><b>Sun. Apr. 8 BIRMINGHAM 4, EDMONTON 5</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0886/3862228-1-eng-US/f0026-082.jpg" title="f0026-08" width="618" height="683"></div><h2><b>NEW ENGLAND 4, WINNIPEG 6</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-0980/3862221-1-eng-US/f0026-092.jpg" title="f0026-09" width="659" height="742"></div><h2><b>Where WHA Teams Play</b></h2><h3>APRIL</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1076/3862214-1-eng-US/f0026-102.jpg" title="f0026-10" width="668" height="345"></div><h2>The WHA Scoreboard</h2><p><b>(Standings on Tue. April 10)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1172/3862207-1-eng-US/f0026-112.jpg" title="f0026-11" width="611" height="205"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2><p><b>Tue. Apr. 3</b></p><p>Edmonton 5 at Cincinnati 1</p><p>Quebec 3 at Birmingham 5</p><p><b>Wed. Apr. 4</b></p><p>Edmonton 2 at Quebec 4</p><p>New England 4 at Winnipeg 2</p><p><b>Fri. Apr. 6</b></p><p>New England 2 at Edmonton 7</p><p>Birmingham 2 at Winnipeg 1</p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 7</b></p><p>Quebec 2 at Cincinnati 6</p><p><b>Sun. Apr. 8</b></p><p>Birmingham 4 at Edmonton 5</p><p>New England 4 at Winnipeg 6<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-01

WORLD HOCKEY ASSN. SUMMARIES

<p><b>BIRMINGHAM: Ramage 10. Stephenson 18.19,20, Stewart 24, Vaive 25,26, Cassolato 10, Goulet 27, Adduono 19,20.</b></p><p><b>CINCINNATI: Ftorek 38, Hislop 27,28,29, Marsh 40, Shutt 9, Parizeau7.</b></p><p><b>EDMONTON: Weir 25,26,27,28, Gretzky 36,37,38, Flett 24,25,26,27, MacDonald 33, Driscoll 17,18, Hughes 5, Micheletti 14, Carlson 16, Callighen 25, Sobchuk 26.</b></p><p><b>NEW ENGLAND: Pleau 5, Keon 22. McKenzie 16,17,18, Mark Howe 40, Lyle 15,16. Miller 25, Lacroix 32.</b></p><p><b>QUEBEC: Tardif 39,40. Brackenbury 13. Fitchner 9, Cote 12. Bordeleau 17.</b></p><p><b>WINNIPEG: Lindstrom 24,25, Sullivan 41, Lukowich 62,63, Nilsson 37,38, Ruskowski 18, Lesuk 17.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

WHA’s Scorers…This Week

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE WARRINER</div><p>HARTFORD&mdash;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01303/3862339-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="556" height="694"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RICH LEDUC</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>s so often happens, when a team goes into a deep tailspin it&rsquo;s the coach who gets the axe. With the New England Whalers floundering and headed out of the playoff picture, director of hockey operation Jack Kelley &lsquo;reassigned&rsquo; coach Bill Dineen. Don Blackburn, the Whalers&rsquo; jack-of-all trades, was called in from the scouting trail to fill the gap for the rest of the season. Dineen was immediately dispatched to take his place watching Montreal at the Boston Garden.</p><p>Said Kelley of last season&rsquo;s WHA Coach of the Year, &ldquo;Bill has worked very hard to make this team a winner; however, I am hopeful that this change will benefit the team both on the ice for the remainder of the current season and that it also will have a long term positive effect on the New England Whalers.&rdquo;</p><p>New England had been in a dismal slump having won only eight of their last 24-games&mdash;including eight losses in nine starts nine in the home rink. A lackluster effort in a 3-1 loss to Edmonton apparently was the final straw for Kelley. Two days later, just before the next encounter with the same Oilers team, Kelley introduced Blackburn as his new coach.</p><p>In the first game under their new coach the Whalers looked like a completely different team than they had been 48 hours earlier. But the results were the same. It was a good effort, but the Oilers came out on top again, 5-3. The consensus, however, was that it was a good start. The upcoming road trip of four games would give the team a chance to get back on the winning track. Having lost only five of their last 12 on the road, the players felt their trip to Winnipeg (two games), Edmonton, and Quebec would be an opportunity to hone themselves into playoff condition. A look at the standings, however, showed that the Whalers had little choice. They had to come through or they&rsquo;d be facing an extra series&mdash;or perhaps even an early summer.</p><p><b>QUEBEC:</b> The Nordiques had their eyes on first place in the WHA and it was time to make a move. Edmonton had a three-point lead in the standings when the Nords welcomed them to Le Colisee.</p><p>When the night was over Richard Brodeur had stopped the Oilers cold by turning aside 26 shots from the Edmonton sharpshooters. Meanwhile the Nordiques bombarded the Edmonton net with 38 shots including Alain Cote&rsquo;s 11th goal of the year. That was enough for the win but Real Cloutier put icing on the cake by delighting the SRO crowd with his 72nd goal of the season. Richie Leduc also banged in a tally (shorthanded) for his 31st of the season.</p><p>Coming off that big win, it would have been natural to let down a bit as the Quebecers hit the road for a tilt in Winnipeg&mdash;but it didn&rsquo;t happen. Coach Jacques Demers again nominated Brodeur to mind the nets and the diminutive goalie came through once more&mdash;this time he stopped 35 Jet shots for his second consecutive shutout, 2-0.</p><p>Quebec&rsquo;s winning goal came in the second period from none other than Real Cloutier. That gave him 73 goals in the team&rsquo;s 72nd game of the season. Two nights later the teams were back in Le Colisee and the Jets, who were in a dog fight with New England for third place, downed the Nordiques by a 7-3 score.</p><p>The first period alone had a total of seven goals, and ended with the Jets getting a late tally for a 4-3 lead. From that point on, it was no contest as Winnipeg racked up_ three unanswered goals in the second to end the scoring.</p><p>Quebec fans, however, did have something to cheer about. Their young super star right winger notched a pair of assists and&mdash;you guessed it&mdash;goal number 74 to stay one ahead of the goal-a-game pace.</p><p><b>BIRMINGHAM:</b> With the official announcement of the expansion of the NHL and therefore the demise of the Birmingham entry in the WHA, it might be expected that there&rsquo;d be little excitement in Magic City. Not so, the Birmingham Bulls and the Cincinnati Stingers were embroiled in quite a tussle for the last spot in what was to be the final playoffs in World Hockey Association history.</p><p>First the Bulls polished off-New England, thereby winning the season&rsquo;s series between the two teams, 7-5-3. Whaler-killer John C. Stewart got the winner, something he&rsquo;s enjoyed doing lately.</p><p>Then it was time to lock horns with the Stingers. By faceoff time there were over 9,000 fans in the Jefferson County Civic Center&mdash;one of the largest crowds of the season. Paul Henderson got the Bulls off on the right foot with an early shorthanded goal, and Stewart scored his 23rd of the campaign to end the scoring. But in between, Cincy&rsquo;s Mike Gartner tallied a pair and the WHA&rsquo;s second leading scorer, Robbie Ftorek got one to give the Stingers the game, 32. That put Cincy four points ahead in the standings.</p><p>The Stingers should have left town while the getting was good, but they were scheduled for another game in the Bulls&rsquo; pasture the following night. This time Cincy jumped out on top 2-0. The valiant Bulls charged right back, however, to win it going away, 6-3. Again the spread was only two points and Birmingham had a game in hand.</p><p>The road ahead was difficult&mdash;the schedule showed the opposition to be Edmonton and Winnipeg for three games each, and Quebec for one. If the Bulls were to make the playoffs they would certainly deserve it.</p><h2>WHA Revised Attendance</h2><p><b>Due to a typographical oversight in our last issue of THE HOCKEY NEWS, attendance for the WHA&rsquo;s first 30 home games was reported erroneously in the plus-minus column.</b></p><p><b>Here is the revised attendance table with the proper indicators:</b></p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02240/3862332-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="1144" height="379"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0027-01

Whalers Hope Coaching Change Can EndSlump

<p>CINCINNATI&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>ill DeWitt Jr., executive vice president of the Cincinnati Stingers, said the city would have a professional hockey team playing next season in Riverfront Coliseum.</p><p>&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said DeWitt, &ldquo;we plan to have a team next year in the best available league that we can find. Hockey has been the prime tenant and we hope it will cintinue to be the prime tenant.&rdquo;</p><p>The National Hockey League formally agreed March 20 to a merger with the World Hockey Association, a move which means that Edmonton, New England, Quebec and Winnipeg will be playing in the NHL in the 1979-80 season.</p><p>Neither Cincinnati nor Birmingham was included in the NHL&rsquo;s expansion plan and the Stingers will receive $3.5 million and the Bulls $2.8 indemnification from the four WHA teams joining the NHL.</p><p>A Cincinnati franchise in either the American Hockey League or the Central Hockey League has been mentioned, along with the possibility Birming ham might join the CHL, but nothing definite has been decided.</p><p>There has also been discussion that Cincinnati, Birmingham, Indianapolis and Houston would renew their WHA rivalry in the CHL.</p><p>&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t actually talked to anyone in the Central league yet,&rdquo; said DeWitt. &ldquo;I have talked to John Bassett (the Bulls&rsquo; majority owner) and others regarding a minor league franchise.</p><p>&ldquo;Having those four teams would make a desirable combination for any league. We&rsquo;d be happy to be in one of those leagues (AHL or CHL) or a comparable league.&rdquo;</p><p>DeWitt also said that every alternative is being explored and some decision should be reached by the end of May.</p><p>Talking about the possibility of a CHL team, DeWitt said he imagined &ldquo;the ownership would remain the same. We would welcome new local investors but we haven&rsquo;t had any success in attracting them in the past.&rdquo;</p><p>DeWitt was asked why Cincinnati was not included in the NHL&rsquo;s merger plans.</p><p>&ldquo;The other four teams have drawn better than Cincinnati and Birmingham,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and not only did the NHL look more favorably on them, it was easier for them to come up with the dollars since they have drawn better.&rdquo;</p><p>Formal approval of the expansion means that many Stinger players will be playing in NHL cities, since the majority of the players&rsquo; rights are owned by NHL teams which will exercise their options.</p><p>By a strange quirk of fate, Robbie Ftorek, the Stingers&rsquo; All Star center who has been rewriting the Cincinnati record book this year, is a free agent and will go to the team which bids the highest for his services.</p><p>Stingers&rsquo; coach Floyd Smith, who finished a one-year contract at the end of the season, has declined to discuss his future until the season is over. However, DeWitt said &ldquo;he (Smith) knows we want him back.&rdquo;</p><p>Still up in the air is the fate of the two Stinger underage players&mdash;Mike Gartner and Mark Messier&mdash;who have not been signed for next year. The NHL will hold its Junior draft in June and Gartner is expected to be the number one pick since he has topped the list of virtually every scouting report.</p><p>DeWitt said the question of where the players would come from for the team next year has not been resolved yet but &ldquo;we don&rsquo;t anticipate any problem getting good quality hockey players in Cincinnati.&rdquo;</p><p>He also said the team would probably retain the name of the Stingers because there already was a built-in identification with the Stingers and hockey in the city.</p><p>Just how important is hockey to the City of Cincinnati?</p><p>&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s (professional hockey) been built up over the years,&rdquo; said DeWitt. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve drawn better this year than ever before and the long term pro-spects for hockey for the city look good.&rdquo;</p><p>With Bill DeWitt Jr. and the rest of the Stinger owners committed to professional hockey, it appears the sport will be in Cincinnati for years to come.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01288/3862377-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="581" height="572"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BILL DeWITT Jr.&hellip;Prospects Look Good</b></figcaption></div><h2>Looking At WHA Goalers</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0965/3862370-1-eng-US/f0028-092.jpg" title="f0028-09" width="1251" height="930"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0028-01

Cincinnati To Remain Hockey Town

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02209/3862450-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="252" height="246"></div><h2>BIRMINGHAM BULLS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03154/3862443-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="767" height="806"></div><h2>NEW ENGLAND WHALERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04123/3862436-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="787" height="832"></div><h2>CINCINNATI STINGERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-05105/3862429-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="749" height="792"></div><h2>QUEBEC NORDIQUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0688/3862422-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="743" height="860"></div><h2>EDMONTON OILERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0778/3862415-1-eng-US/f0028-072.jpg" title="f0028-07" width="740" height="842"></div><h2>WINNIPEG JETS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-0871/3862408-1-eng-US/f0028-082.jpg" title="f0028-08" width="744" height="741"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0028-02

WHA’S POINT SCORING AND PENALTY STATISTICS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01248/3862509-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="562" height="690"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MARK JOHNSON&hellip;Player Of Year</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02202/3862502-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="557" height="698"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CURT GILES&hellip;All Star Repeater</b></figcaption></div><p>GRAND FORKS&mdash;</p><p>North Dakota didn&rsquo;t win the NCAA championship this season but they did manage to salvage their share of the post-season individual awards and WCHA All Star berths.</p><p>Led by a pair of sensational freshmen performers, goaler Bob Iwabuchi and winger Kevin Maxwell, the Sioux were the dominant team in the 1978-79 WCHA All Star teams and awards as announced by the Denver Post.</p><p>Iwabuchi, who didn&rsquo;t figure in North Dakota&rsquo;s goaling plans at the outset of the season, ended up being the regular netminder for the Sioux as Gino Gasparini went with the youngster in the crucial stretch run. The strategy proved the difference between winning and losing the title as UND won the WCHA only to lose the NCAA championship game to arch-rival Minnesota. Iwabuchi ultimately emerged as the WCHA&rsquo;s No. 1 netminder with a goals-against average of less than 3.00.</p><p>Maxwell, the freshman star who captured WCHA rookie of the year honors in the post-season newspaper poll, set a North Dakota team point record this season when he registered his 66th point to surpass the old UND mark of 65 set by Reg Morelli in 1959-60.</p><p>Both Iwabuchi and Maxwell earned All Star berths giving North Dakota two spots on the first team. Others selected were Minnesota captain Bill Baker and Colorado College&rsquo;s Curt Giles on defense, Mark Johnson of Wisconsin, Mark Pavelich of Minnesota-Duluth and Maxwell on the forward positions.</p><p>Johnson walked off with a double honor as he was chosen the player of the year in the WCHA after a brilliant season during which he led Wisconsin with 41 goals in 40 games and 90 individual points.</p><p>The NCAA champion Minnesota Gophers placed two players, one on the first team, Baker, and one on the second. Colorado College and Michigan Tech each put two men on team two.</p><p>Selected on the second All Star team were goaler John Rockwell of Michigan Tech, Dave Feamster of Colorado College and Wisconsin&rsquo;s Bob Suter on defense, WCHA scoring champion Dave Delich of Colorado College, Steve Christoff of Minnesota and Gord Salt of Michigan Tech on the forward line.</p><p>Giles and Johnson were All Star repeaters on the first team from 1978 while Delich and Christoff were chosen on the second team for the second straight year.</p><p>Both Baker and Christoff played key roles in Minnesota&rsquo;s victory in the NCAA&rsquo;s at Detroit over North Dakota. Baker set two Gopher marks for defensemen when he collected the most assists. ever, 42, and most points, 54, in a single season.</p><p>Christoff, a junior center-wing, led Minnesota in scoring with a personal high in goals, 38, assists, 39, and total points, 77. His total points are the third highest ever recorded at UM in a single season. Christoff pushed himself into a tie with former Gopher star Mike Polich, now with the Minnesota North Stars, as the fourth highest scorer in team history with a career total of 159 points.</p><p>Pavelich, the strong Minnesota-Duluth center who led the individual scoring race for a good part of the season only to lose out to Colorado College&rsquo;s Delich in the closing weeks, ended as UMD&rsquo;s top scorer. Delich edged Wisconsin&rsquo;s Johnson on the final weekend for the point title, finishing with 70 points, one more than Johnson.</p><h2>ECAC All Star Teams</h2><h3>DIVISION II TEAMS</h3><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03134/3862495-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="1122" height="786"></div><h3>DIVISION III TEAMS</h3><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04101/3862488-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="1136" height="574"></div><h2>WCHA All Star Teams</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0592/3862481-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="1136" height="662"></div><div class="sidebar"><p><u>Coming Next Week</u></p><p><i><b>College All-Americans For Both East and West</b></i></p><p><b>In our final college report for this season, THE HOCKEY NEWS next week will publish the AllAmerican teams for both the ECAC and WCHA as well as the final top 50 scorers for the ECAC, WCHA and CCHA. Don&rsquo;t Miss It !</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0029-01

North Dakota Earns Major Share Of WCHA Awards, All Star Spots

<div class="byline">BY JIM LEAHY</div><p>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><p>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><p>HALIFAX&mdash;</p><p>The Nova Scotia Voyageurs, in danger of being eliminated from the American Hockey League playoffs for the first time in the club&rsquo;s history, came off the ropes in fine style to nail down the third and final playoff spot for the upcoming Calder Cup round.</p><p>The Vees did it by eliminating the final hurdle to a playoff berth&mdash;the Springfield Indians. Both teams were waging a stiff stretch battle to land the third playoff position behind Maine and New Brunswick in the Northern Division and the Voyageurs won it by virtue of a 6-2 victory over the Indians while playing on home ice.</p><p>The inclusion of the Voyageurs in the playoffs concludes the six-team postseason lineup for the Calder Cup. In the Southern Division, New Haven, Hershey and Binghamton clinched playoff berths eliminating Rochester Americans and Philadelphia Firebirds from contention.</p><p>The ouster of the Americans, longtime Calder Cup challengers and past league champions, was also a surprise. Rochester hadn&rsquo;t missed an AHL playoff berth since the 1971-72 season.</p><p>Earlier four straight goals by the Voyageurs propelled the home team to a big 5-2 win over New Haven before 3,389 fans at the Metro Center. Since the Vees had lost six of their last seven prior to the win over New Haven, it was a giant step by Nova Scotia towards ultimately securing a playoff spot.</p><p>The Vees visited New Brunswick and it resulted in a 3-1 victory for the Hawks. Things have started to improve for the once-powerful Vees. Goaltender Richard Sevigny came back from Montreal and was in the nets in the win over Hew Haven. Center Ron Wilson who was chosen the team&rsquo;s most valuable player this season, came off the injured list and Nova Scotia is getting lots of offense from Dave Lumley, Rick Meagher and Jerry Byers.</p><p><b>NEW HAVEN:</b> The Nighthawks came up with an even record during the week. A win, a loss and a tie still left New Haven more than 20 points ahead of second place Hershey. The Nighthawks clinched the Northern Division pennant several weeks ago.</p><p>Another great crowd, some 5,511 fans saw New Haven skate to an easy 73 win over Hershey. Each club traded goals in the first period, Alex Tidey scoring for Hershey and Dave Hrechkosy for New Haven. Bobby Sheehan, Claude Larose and Frank Beaton found the range in the second period as the Nighthawks rolled to another win over their Southern Division rivals. The victory also set an alltime Nighthawk record for most points in a season, as the club continues to rewrite nearly every mark in the New Haven record book.</p><p>A rare Tuesday night game with Rochester at the Coliseum attracted 3,518 who saw the Amerks and Nighthawks skate to a 3-3 overtime tie. New Haven&rsquo;s Dean Turner and Brad Knelson of Rochester squared off in the main event of the evening, but the tie kept Rochester alive in their attempt to earn a spot in the playoffs.</p><p><b>ROCHESTER:</b> A record of 5-3-2 during their last nine games wasn&rsquo;t enough for Pat Kelly&rsquo;s Amerks to make the playoffs. It was a near impossible taks for Kelly.</p><p>Bill Bennett&rsquo;s second goal of the game gave the Americans a big 6-5 win in overtime against Springfield. Brian McGregor, Steve Langdon, Don Larway and Greg Vaydik also scored for the Amerks. Barry Smith had four assists and Dave Parro stopped 20 shots to pick up the win.</p><p>Rochester skated to a 3-3 tie in New Haven later in the week, but dropped a 6-3 contest on home ice to New Brunswick three nights later. The loss to New Brunswick helped turn the lights out in Rochester as far as making the playoffs this year were concerned.</p><p>Binghamton defeated Philadelphia 3-2 and the Dusters went on to later eliminate the Amerks.</p><p><b>SPRINGFIELD:</b> Defenseman Pierre Roy made the AHL record book last week, but his record-breaking performance is not a mark to be proud of. After picking up 31 penalty minutes in a 6-5 loss in Rochester, Roy set an all-time AHL record for most penalties in a season. His 395 penalty minutes, with nine games still left in the season, broke the record set in 1971-72 by Dave Schultz.</p><p>The Indians continue to shuffle players back and forth to the New England Whalers. Left wingers Mike&rsquo; Antonovich and George Lyle went back to New England after a short stay in the AHL.</p><p><b>PHILADELPHIA:</b> A five-games-in-six-nights stretch ended recently in Binghamton when the Dusters buried the tired Firebirds 8-1. Even though they were badly beaten in that game, the Birds have a respectable 5-5 record over the last ten games.</p><p>After a season long drought in the goal scoring department, the Firebirds have begun to find the range during the last few weeks. Led by Larry Skinner, Gordie Brooks and Steve Coates, the club has averaged more than four goals a game during the last 11 contests.</p><p>Rick St. Croix, the AHL&rsquo;s leading goaltender, continued his outstanding play since joining the &lsquo;Birds from the Philadelphia Flyers. St. Croix ran his record to 3-1-0 and lowered his GAA to a find 2.36 by virtue of his strong outings against Nova Scotia and Binghamton.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01284/3862540-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="564" height="1013"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RON WILSON&hellip;Voyageurs&rsquo; MVP</b></figcaption></div><p><b>NEW BRUNSWICK:</b> It&rsquo;s official now, the expansionist New Brunswick Hawks will finish the regular season with a winning record and in second place in the tough Northern Division. They will meet Nova Scotia in the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs. The winner will meet divisional champion Maine in a best-of-seven series.</p><p>By roaring to a 6-3-2 record during the last three weeks, New Brunswick was able to clinch a berth in the playoffs with the home ice advantage.</p><p>The Hawks had a good week. It started in Moncton where they skated to a 3-1 win over Nova Scotia. Three nights later in Hershey, the Hawks were on the short end of a 4-3 Hershey win. They moved on to Rochester and blasted the Amerks 6-3, and skated to a 1-1 tie in Maine the next night.</p><p><b>BINGHAMTON:</b> The Dusters had three important roster changes just as the season was about to end. Brian Spencer was suspended by Pittsburgh and is off the club, right winger Mark Lofthouse went up to the Washington Caps and left winger Mike Marson was returned. In addition, center Norm Dube is off the injured list and should help the Dusters in the playoffs.</p><p>Binghamton won two of three during the week, They beat Philadelphia twice on home ice but lost 4-1 in Springfield. They trailed second place Hershey but the Bears had three games in hand.</p><h2>AHL Playoff Dates</h2><h3>Series&rsquo;A&rsquo;</h3><p><b>N. BRUNSWICK vs N.SCOTIA</b></p><p><b>Wed. Apr. 11 at New Brunswick</b></p><p><b>Thu. Apr. 12 at Nova Scotia</b></p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 14 at New Brunswick</b></p><p><b>Tue. Apr. 17 at Nova Scotia</b></p><p><b>Thu. Apr. 19 at New Brunswick</b></p><h3>Series &lsquo;B&rsquo;</h3><p><b>BINGHAMTON vs HERSHEY</b></p><p><b>Wed. Apr. 11 at Hershey</b></p><p><b>Thu. Apr. 12 at Binghamton</b></p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 14 at Hershey</b></p><p><b>Tue. Apr. 17 at Binghamton</b></p><p><b>Wed. Apr. 18 at Hershey (Quarter-finals will be best-of-five series)</b></p><p><b>(Winners of series &lsquo;A&rsquo; will face Maine in Northern Division finals. Winners of series &lsquo;B&rsquo; will meet New Haven in Southern Division finals. Calder Cup will be best-of-seven series between two division winners)</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0030-01

Voyageurs Grab Last Playoff Spot; Rochester Ousted From Cup Hunt

<div class="byline">BY PATRICK LYON</div><p>ERIE&mdash;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02208/3862602-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="576" height="600"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DICK LAYO&hellip;Unsung Hero Award</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t&rsquo;s playoff time in the North Eastern Hockey League, but everyone concerned isn&rsquo;t going to soon forget the regular season&rsquo;s final game between the Erie Blades and Hampton Aces played in the Erie County Fieldhouse which resulted in one of the largest fines ever given in hockey.</p><p>With the Aces apparently not playing up to their potential and using an amateur goalie, Reggie Reggenelo, the Blades raced to an 8-0 lead after one period outshooting the Aces 24-5. After a scoreless first seven minutes, the Blades came up with eight goals in a matter of some 12 minutes against the poorly outclassed shot stopper.</p><p>The Aces had left six of their better players in Hampton to rest up for the playoffs which started the following night and also absent with the flu was coach Muzz MacPherson. After a long in-between period delay, Blades&rsquo; owner Doctor John Caruso and coach Nick Polano elected to stop the game. Polano made an announcement to the crowd on Fan Appreciation Night, &ldquo;Because of the lack of effort and the shortage of players on the Hampton team (the Aces dressed only 13 players), we will give a full refund to all those who have bought tickets for tonight&rsquo;s game. As much as we would like to continue we would rather call this thing off than let our loyal fans who have supported us all year watch something like this.&rdquo;</p><p>At a quickly called press conference, Polano and Caruso elaborated on their decision. &ldquo;They came in and they were short of players,&rdquo; related Polano. &ldquo;Obviously they start their playoffs tomorrow night. They felt the best idea would be not to play their entire squad with the hope of resting some players. They did not take into consideration what it would do to hockey in Erie. It was obvious after the first period they (Hampton) were not even trying out there. After a meeting with the commissioner (Jack Timmins) and my boss, Doctor John Caruso along with John Paul Dellacamera (Blades&rsquo; communications director), we decided the best thing to do to save hockey, to not let this thing develop into a complete farce would be to cancel the game and offer a full refund to the fans. We felt that if the game would have continued it would only have hurt the great efforts we made during the year.&rdquo;</p><p>An immediate conference call was set up to all the owners in an attempt to correct the situation and after a two hour meeting on the phone, the owners agreed to fine the Aces franchise $5,000 plus make the group pay for the lost proceeds of the Blades which totalled approximately $9,000. The Aces were fined close to $14,000 and McPherson was suspended indefinitely. Caruso made an attempt to get the Aces&rsquo; franchise terminated immediately and set up a round-robin playoff with Erie, Cape Cod and Utica.</p><p>MacPherson, who had Mike Keeler, Larry Billows, Pat Donnelly, Brian Coates, Lome Rombough and goaltender Michel Belhumeur remain in Hampton for the finale in Erie, stood by his decision. &ldquo;All I know is that I&rsquo;ve got the only team in the league that is going right from the regular season into the playoffs. All the other teams had some kind of break in between regular season and the playoffs,&rdquo; said an irritated MacPherson.</p><p>The outspoken Aces&rsquo; coach-GM said he tried to get the Blades to change the date of the final game from March 27 to either March 18 or March 26, but was turned down on both dates. MacPherson also accused the Blades of lying to him when they told him there was no ice available on the 18th or 26th when, by making a phone call, the Aces&rsquo; coach found the dates open at the Erie County Fieldhouse. Caruso answered MacPherson&rsquo;s charges by saying, &ldquo;They (the Aces) knew the only way I would agree to let them move from Cherry Hill to Hampton was if they fulfilled all their dates on our home ice and they agreed to it.&rdquo;</p><p>Showing up in Erie with only the 13 players was given the OK by Timmins, according to MacPherson. &ldquo;I talked to him and he gave me permission to go with the 13. He also told me I could dress an amateur goalie for the game.&rdquo; The regular Aces&rsquo; goaltender, Jim Bales, was scheduled to start the game but was hurt in the workout before the game.</p><p>MacPherson isn&rsquo;t taking his suspension and the fines lightly and vowed to fight them both. At press time, MacPherson was in federal court trying to get an injuction against the NEHL in an attempt to rejoin his players on the bench for the remainder of the playoffs.</p><p>The Aces lost only their fourth game since moving to the Hampton Coliseum when they dropped a 6-1 decision in the opening game of the playoffs to the Freedoms. MacPherson blamed all the travel and turmoil for the club&rsquo;s open-With Jim Misener recording a pair of goals the Aces bounced back in game two for a 4-1 victory with injured Dave Leonardo and Billows doing the coaching from the bench. In 18 games at the Hampton Coliseum the Aces drew an average of 2,953 per game.</p><p><b>ERIE:</b> The Blades capped the regular season with a 5-1 win over the Aces and an 8-4 triumph over Utica that featured an outstanding individual performance by Brad Rhiness. Trailing Cape Cod&rsquo;s John Cunniff by four points in the scoring race, Rhiness&rsquo; outstanding hustle and determination resulted in four goals and a pair of assists for a six point game that gave him the NEHL scoring championship with 120 points.</p><p>Blades&rsquo; winger Stan Gulutzan also came in for some individual honors by winning the goal scoring title with 53.</p><p>Rhiness was also awarded the Player of the Year trophy by a local Erie restaurant and was further lauded when his teammates selected him their Most Valuable Player. Defenseman Dick Layo was chosen as the Blades&rsquo; unsung hero.</p><p><b>UTICA:</b> The Mohawks may feel a bit intimidated as they begin the playoffs with Erie at the Erie Fieldhouse since Utica lost all 10 games played there in the regular season. At home the Mohawks were able to take six of nine games with the Blades.</p><p><b>CAPE COD:</b> The Freedoms accomplished what they wanted to in their first two playoff games in Hampton by winning one of the pair to take the home ice advantage away from their foes.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0031-02

Erie Fans Given Refund As Aces Leave Stars Home

<p>HERSHEY&mdash;</p><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he newspaper headlines read: &lsquo;Game Called By Radiation&rsquo; and it was not an ad for a science-fiction movie. The scheduled game between Hershey and Philadelphia set for the Hersheypark Sports Arena had to be postponed when the facility was being used as a refugee center for people who were evacuated from the site of the nearby nuclear power plant accident.</p><p>The Bears were in the process of clinching second place in the AHL Southern Division and were primed to feast on the lowly Philadelphia Firebirds. In a light schedule during the week, the Bears were only in action twice. They lost 7-3 in New Haven, but bounced back to hand the New Brunswick Hawks a 4-3 defeat.</p><p>Hershey will meet Binghamton in the first round of the playoffs, with the Bears having the home ice advantage.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Radiation Accident Cancels AHL Game

<p>DALLAS&mdash;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01264/3862681-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="524" height="644"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RICK SHINSKE&hellip;Winner By One</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>R</span>ick Shinski of Salt Lake Golden Eagles held off a fast finish by Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Mike Eaves to win the Central Hockey League scoring championship by one point, 88 to 87.</p><p>The 23-yeariold Shinske who had 70 points in his other full season in the CHL (1976-77 with Salt Lake) scored 22 goals and a league-high 66 assists to cop the championship which was won last year by teammate Doug Palazzari.</p><p>Dallas Black Hawks&rsquo; Steve Hazlett was the goal-scoring leader with 44, two more than Mai Davis, a rookie with Kansas City. Salt Lake&rsquo;s Floyd Thomson placed third in both goals, with 41, and points, 81.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0032-01

Shinske Wins CHL Scoring

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div><p>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S, and Canada</p><p>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S, and Canada</p><p>SALT LAKE&mdash;</p><p>Terry Richardson&rsquo;s back-to-back shutouts in Fort Worth and Tulsa wrapped up the regular season championship for Jack Evans&rsquo; Golden Eagles. Terry was handling all the goaltending chores, as Doug Grant was recuperating from a hamstring pull.</p><p>After the 5-0 win in Fort Worth on Thursday, and the 6-0 pennant-clincher in Tulsa Friday, the Big Birds completed their sweep of the three-game road trip with a 3-2 verdict in Oklahoma City. The shutouts were Terry&rsquo;s fourth and fifth (a franchise record), and gave the Eagles 10 for the season, only one short of the Central League record established by Oklahoma City in 1967-68.</p><p>Two more CHL records were within grasp of the Eagles, as they prepared to face Oklahoma City at home in the last two games of the regular schedule. They needed another victory to tie the league mark of 46, set by Kansas City in 197677, and four more points to share the record of 101, set by Omaha in 1970-71 (a 72-game schedule) and tied by KC in 1976-77 (a 76-game slate like the current one).</p><p>Doug Palazzari and Rick Shinske scored in the first period at Fort Worth, Rick Bowness and Len Frig in the second, and then Palazzari again in the third. Richardson made 24 saves for the shutout.</p><p>In Tulsa, Shinske got two in the opening period, and Floyd Thomson two in the second. Bowness also tallied in the first period, and Rick Bourbonnais completed the rout in the third. Richardson faced only 19 shots.</p><p>It wasn&rsquo;t quite that easy in Oklahoma City the next night. Palazzari and Shinske scored 27 seconds apart, midway in the first period, and Thomson&rsquo;s 40th goal made it 3-0 early in the second. But the Stars retaliated with two, as they outshot the Eagles, 16-2, in the final period.</p><p>Shinske had four goals and five assists for the week, and went on to win the league scoring championship with 88 points, one in front of Oklahoma City&rsquo;s Mike Eaves. Thomson was third with 81.</p><p>Richardson (2.45) and Grant (2.92) were one-two in the CHL goaltending race, and had clinched the league&rsquo;s Terry Sawchuk Award for the Eagles for the second straight year.</p><p>Terry and teammate Gordie McTavish were called up by the parent St. Louis Blues for one game (Sunday), and the CHL&rsquo;s stingiest goalkeeper was treated roughly in the National League. The Colorado Rockies bombed Richardson, 9-5, in Denver.</p><p>Shinske was voted the Eagles&rsquo; most valuable player, Frig the best defenseman, and blueliner Dick Lamby the rookie of the year. Thomson was named the &ldquo;most inspirational,&rdquo; Brian Ogilvie the &ldquo;unsung hero,&rdquo; and Gary Holt &ldquo;Mr. Hustle.&rdquo;</p><p>The first-place finish was the Eagles&rsquo; first in a one-division CHL format. They captured the Northern Division title in 1974-75 (with the league&rsquo;s best record), and went on to win the Adams Cup playoff championship.</p><p><b>KANSAS CITY:</b> Needing a victory to clinch third place, the Red Wings suffered three straight losses on the road&mdash;6-5 in overtime at Tulsa, 4-2 at Fort Worth and 8-5 at Dallas. But Larry Wilson&rsquo;s crew still nailed down the third spot, as challengers Fort Worth and Oklahoma City were both beaten by Salt Lake.</p><p>It was the second time in three seasons Kansas City had made the playoffs since re-entering the CHL. Fan support was evidenced by the sale of 1,000 season tickets for next season. The Goaltenders, a group of local businessmen organized to sell the tickets, set their goal at 3,000 to be sold before the end of April.</p><p>The Wings got two goals from Roland Cloutier (one shorthanded) in Tulsa, and twice moved in front, but the Oilers came back to break the league&rsquo;s longest losing streak in history (12 games). Mai Davis and rookie Randy Wilson (Larry&rsquo;s son) got the other Red Wing tallies.</p><p>In Fort Worth the Wings were down by three goals in the first period. Rick Vasko scored in the second, and Cloutier in the third.</p><p>It looked like another rout in Dallas, as the Hawks had a 5-2 lead after two periods, with Cloutier and Sylvain Locas owning the KC goals. But power play markers by Basko and Locas, and an even-strength goal by Jim Maladrewicz squared it with 6:21 left. However, Dallas came back with three more goals in a span of 1:49, including two by Rob Flockhart 20 seconds apart, to continue the Wings&rsquo; losing streak.</p><p>There was a bench-clearing brawl in the third period at Dallas, and Steve Short picked up two major penalties and a game misconduct, running his total to 210 penalty-minutes. That was enough to regain the CHL penalty leadership, eight ahead of Fort Worth&rsquo;s injured Alex McKendry.</p><p>Davis had 65 points to share seventh place on the CHL chart. With 42 goals, he was one behind Dallas&rsquo; Steye Hazlett in that department.</p><p><b>FORT WORTH:</b> The week started dismally for the Texans, shut out at home by Salt Lake and Terry Richardson, 5-0. But they downed Kansas City, 4-2, at home, then took a 3-1 victory in Tulsa, and moved into fourth place by one point over Oklahoma City. That lead held up as the two teams matched records the. final two games of the season.</p><p>Yvon Vautour missed two games with a slight shoulder separation. Alex McKendry was hit in the lower back by a slapshot in the Kansas City game and missed two starts, while Steve Tambellini continued playing despite a deeply-cut left elbow.</p><p>After the humiliation by Salt Lake, the Texans lost no time in taking command against Kansas City. Charlie Skjodt, Ed Pizunski and Dwayne Lowdermilk made it 3-0 in the first period, and Mike Hordy scored late to dim KC&rsquo;s hopes of rallying.</p><p>In Tulsa, Hector Marini&rsquo;s early goal was answered, but Ralph Stewart got the winning goal early in the last period, and Mike Hordy added insurance on a power play.</p><p>Hordy took over ninth place in the league scoring, with 63 points, followed by Skjodt at 62.</p><p><b>DALLAS:</b> The Black Hawks&rsquo; slim hopes of overtaking first-place Salt Lake were dashed, but Dallas locked up the No. 2 spot, and had terrific momentum heading into the playoffs. Ed Walsh blanked Tulsa, 5-0, at home. The Hawks came back from a 4-1 deficit in Oklahoma City to force overtime, but eventually lost to the Stars, 5-4. Then at home they blew a 4-1 lead over Kansas City, but then scored three quick goals for an 8-5 triumph.</p><p>Steve &ldquo;Stumpy&rdquo; Hazlett had the first goal in all three games. He want on to score the hat trick against Tulsa. His 43rd, against Dallas, gave him the league lead.</p><p>Hazlett scored two in the opening period of the Tulsa rout, but didn&rsquo;t clinch the hat trick until only 33 seconds were left in the game. Ron Carter and Jim Mayer had the other Hawk goals. Hazlett scored in just 11 seconds at OC, but the Stars had built a 4-1 lead with only 5:21 gone in thee second period. Greg Hubick scored 22 seconds later, and Doug Hicks two minutes after that. The Hawks tied the score by pulling goalie Curt Ridley, with Drew Callender getting the goal with 23 seconds left in the third period.</p><p>Doug Berry chalked up the winner with 2:50 left against Kansas City, and Rob Flockhart wrapped up the game with two goals only 20 seconds apart (18:39 and 18:59). Earlier Hazlett, Tom Roulston, Brad Smith, Mayer and Cal Sandbeck had built the lead.</p><p>Hazlett&rsquo;s 74 points put him fourth on the CHL chart, and Mayer was fifth, with 73. Steve Clippingdale, out all week with a neck injury, was tied for seventh place at 65.</p><p>The Hawks had broken the league record with 329 goals (the old mark was 322 by Kansas City in 1976-77), and still had two games left with archrival Fort Worth. The turnpike series was deadlocked at 9-9.</p><p>Carter set a club record by getting goals in seven straight games before he was halted in Oklahoma City.</p><p><b>TULSA:</b> They had to go overtime to do it, but the Oilers finally broke the CHL&rsquo;s record losing streak. Ken Kuzyk&rsquo;s goal after 34 seconds of the extra period brought a 6-5 verdict over Kansas City. The Oilers had suffered 12 straight losses (seven straight at home) and had played 16 games without winning in the span from Feb. 16-Mar. 25.</p><p>Guy Lash had a hat trick, and Jim Wiley and Paul Messier also acored in the long-awaited victory. But the winning touch (and scoring touch) immediately vanished. The Tulsans suffered back-to-back shutouts in Dallas (only 10 shots against Ed Walsh) and at home against Salt Lake (19 shots against Terry Richardson). They finally scored a goal (Mike Penasse&rsquo;s second-period slapshot from the blueline), but lost at home to Fort Worth, 3-1.</p><p><b>OKLAHOMA CITY:</b> The Stars had their backs to the wall in the bid for a playoff berth. They trailed fourth-place Fort Worth by a point, and closed the regular season with two games in Salt Lake. They were held without a point and missed the playoffs.</p><p>Ted Hampson&rsquo;s men edged Dallas in overtime on Angie Moretto&rsquo;s goal at 4:51 of the extra period. But a 3-2 home loss to Salt Lake cost the Stars fourth place.</p><h2><i>CHL Playoff Dates</i></h2><h3>SERIES &lsquo;A&rsquo;</h3><p><b>SALT LAKE vs FT. WORTH</b></p><p><b>Fri. Apr. 6 at Salt Lake</b></p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 7 at Salt Lake</b></p><p><b>Wed. Apr. 11 at Ft. Worth</b></p><p><b>Fri. Apr. 13 at Ft. Worth</b></p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 14 at Ft. Worth</b></p><p><b>Wed. Apr. 18 at Salt Lake</b></p><p><b>Fri. Apr. 20 at Salt Lake</b></p><h3>SERIES&rsquo;S&rsquo;</h3><p><b>DALLAS vs KANSAS CITY</b></p><p><b>Fri. Apr. 6 at Dallas</b></p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 7 at Dallas</b></p><p><b>Thu. Apr. 12 at Kansas City</b></p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 14 at Kansas City</b></p><p><b>Tue. Apr. 17 at Dallas</b></p><p><b>Thu. Apr. 19 at Kansas City</b></p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 21 at Dallas</b></p><p><b>(Both semi-final playoffs best-of-seven series)</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Eagles No.1 As Richardson Glows; Stars Lose Last Playoff Position

<h2>AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><h3>NORTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01235/3862810-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="598" height="140"></div><h3>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02180/3862803-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="598" height="169"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Mon. Apr. 2</b></p><p>Hershey 2 at Maine 11</p><p><b>Tue. Apr. 3</b></p><p>Philadelphia 1 at Hershey 1</p><p>Springfield 1 at New Brunswick 4</p><p><b>Wed. Apr. 4</b></p><p>Binghamton at Hershey (Ppd.)</p><p>Rochester 3 at Maine 3</p><p>Philadelphia 3 at New Haven 9</p><p>Springfield 2 at Nova Scotia 6</p><p><b>Fri. Apr. 6</b></p><p>Binghamton 2 at New Haven 5</p><p>Rochester 4 at Nova Scotia 10</p><p>Hershey 4 at Philadelphia 1</p><p>Maine 3 at Springfield 3</p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 7</b></p><p>New Haven 1 at Hershey 2</p><p>Philadelphia 2 at Maine 8</p><p>New Brunswick 7 at Springfield 3</p><p><b>Sun. Apr. 8</b></p><p>Springfield 11 at Binghamton 6</p><p>Hershey 1 at New Haven 5</p><p>Rochester 5 at Nova Scotia 6</p><p>New Brunswick 8 at Philadelphia 5</p><p><b>(End of Schedule)</b></p><h3>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03135/3862796-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="597" height="384"></div><h3>GOALING RECORDS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04108/3862789-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="609" height="688"></div><h2>CENTRAL HOCKEY LEAGUE (Final Standings)</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0584/3862782-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="608" height="195"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Mon. Apr. 2</b></p><p>Oklahoma City 3 at Salt Lake 5</p><p><b>Tue. Apr. 3</b></p><p>Fort Worth 5 at Dallas 6</p><p>Tulsa 4 at Kansas City 3</p><p><b>Wed. Apr. 4</b></p><p>Dallas 4 at Fort Worth 3</p><p>Oklahoma City 5 at Salt Lake 6</p><p>Kansas City 5 at Tulsa 4</p><p><b>(End of schedule)</b></p><h3>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0665/3862775-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="609" height="301"></div><h3>PLAYOFF GAMES Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0756/3862768-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="604" height="114"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Fri. Apr. 6</b></p><p>Fort Worth 1 at Salt Lake 4</p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 7</b></p><p>Fort Worth 2 at Salt Lake 3</p><h3>GAMES TO COME</h3><p><b>Wed. Apr. 11</b></p><p>Salt Lake at Fort Worth</p><p><b>Fri. Apr. 13</b></p><p>Salt Lake at Fort Worth</p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 14</b></p><p>Salt Lake at Fort Worth</p><p><b>Wed. Apr. 18</b></p><p>Fort Worth at Salt Lake</p><p><b>Fri. Apr. 20</b></p><p>Fort Worth at Salt Lake</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0848/3862761-1-eng-US/f0033-082.jpg" title="f0033-08" width="587" height="110"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Fri. Apr. 6</b></p><p>Kansas City 1 at Dallas 2</p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 7</b></p><p>Kansas City 3 at Dalias 6</p><h3>GAMES TO COME</h3><p><b>Thu. Apr. 12</b></p><p>Dallas at Kansas City</p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 14</b></p><p>Dallas et Kansas City</p><p><b>Tue. Apr. 17</b></p><p>Kansas City at Dallas</p><p><b>Thu. Apr. 19</b></p><p>Dallas et Kansas City</p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 21</b></p><p>Kansas City at Dallas</p><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Final Standings)</b></p><h3>NORTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0939/3862754-1-eng-US/f0033-092.jpg" title="f0033-09" width="609" height="168"></div><h3>SOUTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1035/3862747-1-eng-US/f0033-102.jpg" title="f0033-10" width="622" height="147"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Tue. Apr. 3</b></p><p>Fort Wayne 1 at Toledo 6</p><p><b>Wed. Apr. 4</b></p><p>Saginaw 5 at Grand Rapids 5</p><p>Kalamazoo 3 at Fort Wayne 8</p><p>Flint 5 at Milwaukee 3</p><p><b>Fri. Apr. 6</b></p><p>Muskegon 5 at Saginaw 7</p><p>Flint 3 at Kalamazoo 7</p><p>Port Huron 4 at Milwaukee 2</p><p>Toledo 2 at Grand Rapids 3</p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 7</b></p><p>Toledo 2 at Fort Wayne 3</p><p>Saginaw 5 at Muskegon 3</p><p>Milwaukee 3 at Port Huron 8</p><p>Kalamazoo 9 at Flint 5</p><p><b>Sun. Apr. 8</b></p><p>Toledo 3 at Muskegon 3</p><p>Fort Wayne 4 at Flint 6</p><p>Port Huron 4 at Saginaw 6</p><p>Grand Rapids 6 at Kalamazoo 9</p><p>(End of Schedule)</p><h3>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1134/3862740-1-eng-US/f0033-112.jpg" title="f0033-11" width="603" height="410"></div><h2>NORTH EASTERN LEAGUE</h2><p><b>PLAYOFF GAMES</b></p><h3>Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1233/3862733-1-eng-US/f0033-122.jpg" title="f0033-12" width="604" height="120"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Wed. Mar. 28</b></p><p>Cape Cod 6 at Hampton 1</p><p><b>Thu. Mar. 29</b></p><p>Cape Cod 1 at Hampton 4</p><p><b>Sat. Mar. 31</b></p><p>Hampton 5 at Cape Cod 1</p><p><b>Sun. Apr. 1</b></p><p>Hampton 5 at Cape Cod 2</p><p><b>Tue. Apr. 3</b></p><p>Hampton 8 at Cape Cod 1</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1322/3862726-1-eng-US/f0033-132.jpg" title="f0033-13" width="606" height="118"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Fri. Mar. 30</b></p><p>Utica 2 at Erie 7</p><p><b>Sat. Mar. 31</b></p><p>Utica 4 at Erie 1</p><p><b>Wed. Apr. 4</b></p><p>Erie 5 at Utica 2</p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 7</b></p><p>Erie 5 at Utica 4</p><p><b>Sun. Apr. 8</b></p><p>Utica 1 at Erie 8</p><h3>Finals</h3><p><b>(Best-of-seven series)</b></p><p><b>Tue. Apr. 10</b></p><p>Hampton at Erie</p><p><b>Wed. Apr. 11</b></p><p>Hampton at Erie</p><p><b>Fri. Apr. 13</b></p><p>Erie at Hampton</p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 14</b></p><p>Erie at Hampton</p><p><b>Wed. Apr. 18</b></p><p>Hampton at Erie</p><p><b>Thu. Apr. 19</b></p><p>Erie at Hampton</p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 21</b></p><p>Hampton at Erie</p><h2>PACIFIC HOCKEY LEAGUE (Final Standings)</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1419/3862719-1-eng-US/f0033-142.jpg" title="f0033-14" width="593" height="143"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Wed. Mar. 28</b></p><p>Phoenix 2 at San Diego 5</p><p><b>Thu. Mar. 29</b></p><p>San Diego 2 at Phoenix 4</p><p><b>Fri Mar. 30</b></p><p>Spokane 3 at San Diego 2</p><p><b>Sat. Mar. 31</b></p><p>Tucson 3 at San Diego 5</p><p>Spokane 3 at Phoenix 7</p><h3>FINAL SCORING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1515/3862712-1-eng-US/f0033-152.jpg" title="f0033-15" width="601" height="822"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0033-01

Looking At The Minor League Scoreboard

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

Who They’re Affiliated With…

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div><p>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S and Canada</p><p>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg. Ontario Sold in U.S and Canada</p><p>PORT HURON&mdash;</p><p>The down to-the-win battle for the North Division championship between Port Huron and Kalamazoo has extended beyond the playing surface. Harsh words have been exchanged between Flag coach Ron Ullyot and K-Wing general manager Bob Lemieux.</p><p>The charges and counter-charges resulted from a 6-2 Flag victory over the K-Wings in Wing stadium&mdash;a win which opened up a five-point lead for the Flags. The win snapped a 17-game regular season winless streak for Port Huron in Wing Stadium.</p><p>Ullyot charged after the game that Kalamazoo used &lsquo;awful tactics.&rsquo; &ldquo;They tried to intimidate us and they used sticks. What&rsquo;s wrong with their management?</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not a case of the pot calls the kettle black either. We were aggressive and had fighters last year. But we didn&rsquo;t hit people with sticks. Someone is going to be seriously injured if they keep that up.&rdquo;</p><p>A total of 93 penalty minutes was dished out in the first period by referee Mike Hoberg. The period required one hour and 15 minutes to finish. Three players were ejected and Flag goalie Rick Heinz was knocked out of the game by a cross check from Glenn Wylie.</p><p>Earlier, Wylie was sent sprawling during action around the Flag net. Heinz siad &ldquo;I was trying to clear the puck and evidently the knob of the stick hit him in the face.&rdquo;</p><p>Wylie later fought Bruce McKay and was given a match penalty for hitting Heinz and fighting, unsportsmanlike conduct and gross misconduct penalties. Brian Schnitzler was bounced for being the third man in the fight. The Flags&rsquo; Serge Menard was ejected in the first period for arguing with Hoberg after he was knocked to the ice.</p><p>Lemieux countered with &ldquo;A lot of our guys remember the butcher job they (Port Huron) did on us in the playoffs last year, and the butcher job they did on us the last time they were here when they sent people out to deliberately run us when we were short-handed. I don&rsquo;t blame the guys for wanting to get even. Not that I condone it.&rdquo;</p><p>On the Wylie-Heinz incident, Lemieux said, &ldquo;Wylie should have gotten two minutes for either elbowing or charging. That&rsquo;s all. Heinz was out of the crease and was in direct line of the puck. It&rsquo;s on the replay.&rdquo;</p><p>Lemieux also claimed Ullyot used the &ldquo;worst gutter language&rdquo; he ever heard in a post-game confrontation. Also, Lemieux charged some of the Flag players had defaced the dressing room for which he has sent the Port Huron management a bill for $250.</p><p>Meanwhile, on the ice, the Flags finished the week with a 2-1-1 performance, losing only a home game to Flint 6-5, while winning at Milwaukee, 3-0, and playing a 5-5 tie at Toledo. Heinz posted his fifth shutout in the win at Milwaukee, tying a team record. The Flags finished the week aith a four-point lead over the K-Wings who were 1-3. In addition to losing to the Flags, the Wings lost at Grand Rapids, 7-3, and at Toledo, 5-2, while winning at Milwaukee, 6-4.</p><p><b>SAGINAW:</b> The Gears, who have been struggling of late snapped back by nipping Toledo on the road, 3-2, and after dropping a 6-2 decision at Flint turned back Fort Wayne at home, 6-3. The 2-1 week left the Gears four points up on Flint in the battle for third place in the North.</p><p>In the victory over Fort Wayne, defenseman Bob Gladney scored his 15th goal of the season, tying his own club record for defensemen. Dave Westner scored his 30th in the same game.</p><p><b>FLINT:</b> The Generals completed one of their best weeks of the season&mdash;if not all time&mdash;by notching a fifthstraight triumph against Muskegon, 125. Earlier, the Generals scored impressive road wins at Fort Wayne, 6-3, and Port Huron, 6-5. The other victory came over Saginaw at home, 6-2.</p><p>The win at Port Huron was especially satisfying. It was the Generals first win there in two years. And it featured a two-goal comeback after Flint had &lsquo;blown a 4-1 lead.</p><p>If the North division race stands as it is, Flint and Port Huron will be firs-round opponents and the 6-5 win could be a real confidence builder for Marc Boileau&rsquo;s club which led Fort Wayne to the Turner Cup in a four-game sweep of Port Huron in 1972-73.</p><p><b>MUSKEGON:</b> Muskegon fans can&rsquo;t be blamed for hollering &ldquo;Wait until next year.&rdquo; Although bounced from this year&rsquo;s playoffs, the Mohawks have been playing excellent hockey of late&mdash;which lends promise to a much more satisfying 1979-80 campaign.</p><p>In posting a 2-1-0 week, the Mohawks knocked off the IHL&rsquo;s two top clubs on successive home dates. The Mohawks beat Fort Wayne, 7-4, and followed with a 9-4 lacing of Grand Rapids. The Mohawks have won seven of their last nine home games.</p><p>The lone loss was a 12-5 affair in Flint.</p><p><b>SOUTH DIVISION:</b> The race for top spot&mdash;and the Hubert Trophy for the regular season championship&mdash;was all but wrapped up by Grand Rapids in a 42 win over runner-up, Fort Wayne. The Owls&rsquo; victory boosted them into a 13-point lead over the Komets with seven games left, The Komets have eight. One more Komet loss and one more Owl victory will clinch the championship for Moe Bartoli&rsquo;s skaters who didn&rsquo;t make the playoffs a year ago.</p><p>The loss to Grand Rapids was the fourth straight for the Komets, three of which came on the road. The Komets opened the week by losing at home to Flint, 6-3, and then fell at Muskegon, and Saginaw, 6-3, before losing to the Owls.</p><p>Grand Rapids also posted a 7-3 win over Kalamazoo while losing at Toledo, 5-1 and Muskegon, 9-4.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01256/3862865-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="566" height="1058"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RICK HEINZ&hellip;Goaler Flattened</b></figcaption></div><p>Toledo had a 2-1-1 week as Ted Garvin appears to have his team approaching playoff pitch. The loss was at home to Saginaw, 3-2. The Diggers whipped Grand Rapids at home, 5-1, Kalamazoo on the road, 5-2, and were held to a 5-5 tie at home by Port Huron.</p><p><b>MILWAUKEE:</b> The Admirals, who face the unahppy situation of probably playing Grand Rapids in the opening round of the playoffs, came up with a zero week. The Admirals were blanked by Port Huron, 3-0, and lost to Kalamazoo, 6-4,&mdash;both at home.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0034-01

Hot Pennant Race Heats Up Off Ice As Flags, K-Wings Battle To Wire

<h2>SERIES &lsquo;A&rsquo;</h2><p><b>FLINTvs PORT HURON</b></p><p><b>Fri. Apr. 13 at Port Huron</b></p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 14 at Flint</b></p><p><b>Sun. Apr. 15 at Port Huron</b></p><p><b>Fri. Apr. 20 at Flint</b></p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 21 at Port Huron</b></p><p><b>Sun. Apr. 22 at Flint</b></p><p><b>Wed. Apr. 25 at Port Huron</b></p><h2>SERIE &lsquo;B&rsquo;</h2><p><b>GRAND RAPIDS vs MILWAUKEE</b></p><p><b>Wed. Apr. 11 at Grand Rapids</b></p><p><b>Thu. Apr. 12 at Milwaukee</b></p><p><b>Sat. Apr.14 at Grand Rapids</b></p><p><b>Wed. Apr. 18 at Milwaukee</b></p><p><b>Fri. Apr. 20 at Grand Rapids</b></p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 21 at Milwaukee</b></p><p><b>Tue. Apr. 24 at Grand Rapids</b></p><h2>SERIES &lsquo;C&rsquo;</h2><p><b>KALAMAZOO vs SAGINAW</b></p><p><b>Fri. Apr. 13 at Kalamazoo</b></p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 14 at Saginaw</b></p><p><b>Tue. Apr. 17 at Kalamazoo</b></p><p><b>Wed. Apr. 18 at Saginaw</b></p><p><b>Fri. Apr. 20 at Kalamazoo</b></p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 21 at Saginaw</b></p><p><b>Sun. Apr. 22 at Kalamazoo</b></p><h2>SERIES &lsquo;D&rsquo;</h2><p><b>FORT WAYNE vs TOLEDO</b></p><p><b>Wed. Apr. 11 at Fort Wayne</b></p><p><b>Fri. Apr. 13 at Toledo</b></p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 14 at Fort Wayne</b></p><p><b>Tue. Apr. 17 at Toledo</b></p><p><b>Wed. Apr. 18 at Fort Wayne</b></p><p><b>Fri. Apr. 20 at Toledo</b></p><p><b>Sat. Apr. 21 at Fort Wayne</b></p><p><b>(All quarter-final playoffs are best-of-seven series)</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

IHL Playoff Dates

<p>SAN DIEGO&mdash;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01246/3862920-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="556" height="544"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JOE NORIS&hellip;Selected MVP</b></figcaption></div><p>Citing a series of problems, owners of the Pacific Hockey League voted March 31 to cancel this year&rsquo;s post-season playoffs, leaving the Phoenix Roadrunners the 1978-79 PHL champions.</p><p>&ldquo;We are reversing our earlier decision to have a four-team playoff and announcing that the first-place regular season team (Phoenix) will be declared the league champions with no playoff,&rdquo; said PHL Commissioner Ken Broderick.</p><p>&ldquo;This decision came as a result of a series of problems; an ice-plant breakdown in Spokane, scheduling of arena dates and overall financing,&rdquo; continued Broderick.</p><p>The biggest problem was at Spokane, where, according to Spokane Coliseum director Mike Kobleck, the evaporator Of the ice-making until broke. The unit must be replaced at a cost of $30,000 and Kobleck said there could be no guarantee of the ice being ready before April 23.</p><p>In San Diego, the Sports Arena is blocked out until April 11. Phoenix also had problems with the early-April scheduling of dates.</p><p>&ldquo;The time gap between the end of the regular season and the earliest possible completion date of our originally-planned playoff format was among the considerations,&rdquo; said Broderick. &ldquo;It would have been at least three weeks and that was too much of a burden economically and time-wise.&rdquo;</p><p>Meanwhile San Diego center Joe Noris, the first league player to score 100 points in a season, has been selected the most valuable player on the PHL All Star team selected by the league&rsquo;s players and coaches.</p><p>Norris, a six-foot, 185-pound 27-year-old product of Denver, Colo., scored 27 goals and 77 assists during the season for the Hawks.</p><p>He polled 123 votes, including 37 first-place votes in the balloting, which didn&rsquo;t allow players to cast votes for members of their own teams. Noris failed to get only 17 first place votes from those eligible to vote for him.</p><p>Second in the MVP balloting was another center, Phoenix&rsquo;s Jim Boyd. The PHL&rsquo;s third-leading scorer (20 goals, 61 assists, 81 points) drew 58 votes and 14 first-place votes.</p><p>Spokane&rsquo;s Seth Martin, whose club led the PHL race for nearly two-thirds of the season before injuries hit, won coach of the year honors with 31 votes.</p><p>Chris Evans of Phoenix outpolled Spokane&rsquo;s Ted McAneeley for defenseman of the year honors? San Diego winger Kevin Devine won the most inspirational player award over Spokane&rsquo;s Ron Sonmer.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0035-01

Internal Problems Force Playoff Cancellation

<p>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><p>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><p>OSHAWA&mdash;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01223/3862958-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="556" height="514"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BOB ERTEL&hellip;Quits In Disgust</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02168/3862951-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="558" height="720"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BILL WHITE&hellip;Playoffs Did It</b></figcaption></div><p>Violence in junior hockey is not only getting to the players and the fans, it is taking its toll on the coaching fraternity as well.</p><p>The Ontario Major Junior Hockey League is two coaches poorer today as a result of the rough-house hockey that has crept into the league&rsquo;s regular schedule and post-season playoff round.</p><p>Bill White was dismissed shortly after his Oshawa Generals were ousted from the first round of the OHA playoffs by the Sudbury Wolves for failing to bring the Generals through against the Wolves. White said indirectly unnecessary violence cost him his job.</p><p>White&rsquo;s dismissal came just two days after Bob Ertel quit as coach of the Kitchener Rangers citing a &ldquo;disgusting attitude that encourages violence.&rdquo;</p><p>Oshawa team owner John Humphries fired White after the Generals lost their first-round playoff to Sudbury 8-2 in an eight-point series. The 52-year-old White said he is certain he would have been retained as coach if his team had won the series with Sudbury. However, he also maintains that the loss of star winger Tom McCarthy in the second game of the series meant that the Generals had virtually no chance to beat Sudbury.</p><p>White charges McCarthy, who lost the league individual scoring title on the final weekend to Sudbury&rsquo;s Mike Foligno, was lost to the team &ldquo;only because of the over-aggressiveness inspired by a coach who makes money from hockey only.&rdquo;</p><p>White was referring to Sudbury coach Andy Laing, whom he said reportedly sent the Wolves out to get McCarthy out of the game. McCarthy had his eyeball jarred in a fight with Frank Perkins of Sudbury. White declared that McCarthy wasn&rsquo;t a player to go around looking for fights and he insists the Wolves did everything in their power to provoke him. Perkins apparently gave McCarthy an uppercut to the eye while the Oshawa star lay crouched on the ice. The injury put him out for the season.</p><p>White claimed that losing McCarthy finished his club in the series. &ldquo;You lose your top player and naturally you can&rsquo;t win. I don&rsquo;t want to make excuses but if McCarthy had played, I think we would have won and I&rsquo;d still be coaching.&rdquo;</p><p>Laing said he wasn&rsquo;t surprised by White&rsquo;s accusations but denied them. He said Perkins was assigned to shadow McCarthy &ldquo;but in no way shape or form was he told to get him out of the game,&rdquo; added Laing. Laing said the punch by Perkins that struck McCarthy in the eye was instinctive. Laing said Perkins felt bad about the incident because the Sudbury player had almost lost an eye himself earlier in the season.</p><p>White said hockey is a physical game but he points the finger at coaches who tend to instill aggressiveness into their players to the extent it is detrimental to the game. During his two seasons as Oshawa coach, White built a reputation for being a heady coach. &ldquo;The way a team plays is an extension of the coach,&rdquo; concluded White.</p><p>Meanwhile, Kitchener Rangers were looking for a new coach after Ertel resigned calling the Ontario Major League &ldquo;a damn disgrace.&rdquo;</p><p>Ertel deplored the goon attitude that is prevalent in the league and like White, put much of the blame on coaches who influence players to use goon tactics in games. Ertel said he grew up with hockey and had too much respect for the game to stay on coaching any longer under the present intolerable conditions.</p><p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve got to get the goon coach out of hockey. But the problem is, it&rsquo;s not only the coaches or the players, but the governors as well. They encourage it. I don&rsquo;t care what they say, the violence is something they like. I&rsquo;m going to do something to make sure it&rsquo;s wiped out, but I&rsquo;m through as a coach,&rdquo; said Ertel, who quit the Rangers during their series with Niagara Falls.</p><p>The Rangers&rsquo; series with the Flyers had been marred by violence&mdash;including one game in which 17 players were thrown out of a game.</p><p>OHA commissioner Sherry Bassin suspended Ertel for three games for failing to keep his players on the bench dur ing the playoff brawl. Ertel also accused Flyer coach Bert Templeton of enticing his players to fight against Kitchener.</p><p>Ertel became so incensed over the fighting and rowdyness in the playoffs that he left the Kitchener bench during the game and asked Ranger GM Mike Penny to take over. He promptly quit later and said he would never return.</p><p>Confusion reigned on the ice as the OHA playoffs moved into the semifinal round. Windsor Spitfires, who were beaten out 8-6 by London Knights in their eight-point quarter-final series, lodged a protest with the league over a referee&rsquo;s ruling and won a playoff reprieve.</p><p>The Spitfires claim was that referee Jim Lever erred in not assessing Dean Hopkins of London a match penalty for spearing. Hopkins escaped with only a major penalty and returned to the game to score the tieing goal in the windup 3-3 game which allowed the Knights to win the series.</p><p>In a replay of the game, Windsor won 3-2 to knot the series at 7-7 and went on to win the deciding game 3-2 to take the series 9-7 and oust the Knights, who in turn have filed a protest of their own with the OHA.</p><p>Meanwhile, Windsor advanced against Niagara Falls and tied the Flyers 3-3 in the start of their eight-point semifinal series.</p><p>Peterborough Petes led Sudbury 4-2 in the other eight-point semi-final series.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0036-01

Generals Bounce Coach White; Violence Drives Ranger Pilot Out

<div class="byline">BY NORM COWLEY</div><p>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><p>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY, LTD Arnold Street, Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S. and Canada</p><p>NEW WESTMINSTER&mdash;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01196/3862989-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="566" height="726"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PUNCH McLEAN&hellip;Out Indefinitely</b></figcaption></div><p>One of the Western Hockey League&rsquo;s most colorful coaches may soon leave the fraternity.</p><p>Ernie (Punch) McLean, coach of the New Westminster Bruins, said in the aftermath of a one-sided brawl at Queen&rsquo;s Park Arena that he&rsquo;s considering retirement.</p><p>&ldquo;When I look at it, maybe the game has gone by me, maybe my coaching style is not what&rsquo;s needed anymore,&rsquo;&rsquo; he told a group of reporters at a news conference. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m on old horse that&rsquo;s been at it for 25 years and it&rsquo;s tough to change your thinking. The game is changing&mdash;maybe I haven&rsquo;t changed with it,&rdquo;</p><p>Regardless of whether or not he decides to retire, McLean may not be allowed back in the WHL&rsquo;s coaching ranks. He&rsquo;s currently serving an indefinite suspension which will keep him off the bench for at least the playoffs and possibly next season as well.</p><p>His future will be decided when the league&rsquo;s board of directors meet at the end of the season.</p><p>Besides McLean&rsquo;s suspension, eight members of the Bruins&mdash;Andrew Ristau, John Paul Kelly, Boris Fistric, Rob Roflick, Bruce Howes, Rick Amann, Terry Kirkham and Bill Hobbins&mdash;were also suspended after the New Westminster bench emptied at the end of a game against Portland Winter Hawks. Reporters covering the game said there were several instances of three or four Bruins ganging up on a single Portland player.</p><p>No Winter Hawks left their bench to join in the brawl, and three of the Portland players on the ice went to their bench when the brawl started.</p><p>McLean, who later apologized for the brawl, said that because he was unable to stop his players, &ldquo;I have to take the full load, the full responsibility for what happened.&rdquo;</p><p>But there was a note of bitterness in his voice when he said the Winter Hawks had &lsquo;all of a sudden become holier than thou.&rsquo;</p><p>&ldquo;I remember last year when guys by the name of Playfair, Mulvey and Turnbull challenged our bench, and you didn&rsquo;t hear me crying and hollering to the league &lsquo;get these guys out of here because they&rsquo;re hurting my little angels&rsquo;.&rdquo;</p><p>New Westminster, assessed 156 of the 194 penalty minutes in the game, was also fined $500 for the players leaving the bench while McLean was fined $1,000 for not controlling his players.</p><p>Charges were not immediately laid but the New Westminster police were investigating the incident.</p><p>The two Portland players who were pummelled&mdash;former Bruin Jim Dobson and defenseman Blake Wesley&mdash;looked like &ldquo;black and blue and green hamburgers&rdquo; after the brawl, according to Winter Hawks&rsquo; general manager Brian Shaw.</p><p>Asked why he and coach Ken Hodge kept their players at the bench (some by physical force), Shaw replied: &ldquo;1 don&rsquo;t believe two wrongs make a right. Just because they sent their guys off the bench, doesn&rsquo;t mean we have to.</p><p>&ldquo;Besides, if we bad, it would have been a full-scale brawl. Then more people could have been possibly hurt&hellip;and for what?&rdquo;</p><p>With Perry Turnbull already taken to hospital after swallowing his tongue, Winter Hawks had only 15 players&mdash;including two 16-year-olds&mdash;in the lineup.</p><p>&ldquo;There still would have been two-on-ones,&rdquo; pointed out Shaw.</p><p>&ldquo;But I don&rsquo;t condone that. It that&rsquo;s hockey, I don&rsquo;t want any part of it,&rdquo; he concluded.</p><p><b>PORTLAND:</b> After the brawl at New West, the Winter Hawks dropped their final two regular season games. Ron Chorney scored his 20th goal in an 8-6 loss to Victoria to set a league record for most 20-goal scorers on one team (11). The loss, only Portland&rsquo;s third at home this year, snapped a 13-game undefeated streak. Then Winter Hawks suffered their 10th loss of the season, 73 at Seattle, even though Al Szott hit the 40-goal and 100-point plateaus. But once the playoffs started, Portland was winning again as Turnbull fired two goals, and Joel Elliott and Bart Yachimec scored seven seconds apart to tie a WHL playoff record for the fastest two goals in a 6-3 rout of Victoria.</p><p><b>VICTORIA:</b> Four second-period goals helped the Cougars overcome a 31 deficit en route to an 8-6 victory over Portland, then rookie Len Dawes scored twice&mdash;including his first WHL goal&mdash;to spearhead the attack as Victoria trounced Medicine Hat 8-1. Over-age goalie Steve Amiss lost his shutout with five minutes to play. In the playoffs, Bob Jansch fired three goals as Cougars broke open a tight game with four second-period markers en route to a 7-4 decision over New Westminster. Geordie Robertson had a pair of goals in a losing cause the next night, a 6-3 loss at Portland.</p><p><b>NEW WESTMINSTER:</b> Despite missing eight regulars because of suspensions, the Bruins exploded for 9-1 and 9-5 victories over Seattle and Medicine Hat, respectively. The line of Neil Meadmore-Scott Macleod-John Ogrodnick led the way with a total of 23 points in the two games, Meadmore collecting his 30th goal in the process. In their lone playoff appearance, however, the Bruins were defeated 7-4 by Victoria.</p><p><b>SEATTLE:</b> Errol Rausse scored two goals to break his own club record of 62 goals in a season as Breakers trounced Medicine Hat 12-5 in a game which also saw defenseman Tom Marsh score three goals and three assists and Jim Bissett tally four times. Rausse added his 65th goal, and a club-high 149th career goal, in a 7-3 upset of Portland. Len Dies scored in a 9-1 loss to New West.</p><p><b>BILLINGS:</b> Bighorns concluded the season with a 5-4 victory over divisionrival Lethbridge as Cal Roadhouse scored two goals, including his 50th, and Jeff Zilkie tallied twice in the last six minutes. Zilkie added three more goals in Billings&rsquo; 7-5 playoff victory at Calgary.</p><p><b>LETHBRIDGE:</b> Four goals within 52 seconds propelled the Broncos to a 9-7 triumph at Saskatoon. Randy Ruff scored four goals, Duane Sutter netted his 49th and 50th goals, and Doug &ldquo;Morrison was stopped by goalie Murray Stephens on a penalty shot. After dropping their final regular-season game 5-4 to Billings, Broncos split two playoff matches with Calgary, edging the Wranglers 4-3 on two goals each by Sutter and Morrison and losing 5-4 in overtime.</p><p><b>CALGARY:</b> The Wranglers were close&mdash;but not close enough&mdash;in their first two games, dropping a 4-3 verdict at Lethbridge and losing 7-5 to Billings, before upsetting Lethbridge 5-4 in overtime on Ralph Krueger&rsquo;s goal.</p><p><b>MEDICINE HAT:</b> Tigers&rsquo; loss total was pushed to 50 when they were outscored 29-11 in their final three games. Seattle routed the Tigers 12-5, Victoria romped to an 8-1 victory and New West coasted to a 9-5 decision.</p><p><b>BRANDON:</b> Brian Propp fell short in his bid to smash the WHL season goal-scoring record, but he finished with a new points mark of 194 with three goals and three assists in a 9-3 victory over Regina. Laurie Boschman added four goals to extend his goal-scoring streak to 21 games. Wheat Kings also dispelled any rumors about a playoff jinx by opening with a 4-0 decision over Edmonton as Propp scored twice and goaltender Rick Knickle blocked 28 shots.</p><p><b>SASKATOON:</b> After putting together a six-game unbeaten streak, the Blades suffered through three straight losses, including a 6-3 decision to Edmonton in the first game of the playoffs. Saskatoon was outscored 9-7 by Lethbridge and beaten 5-2 by Edmonton in the final two regular-season games. Blades evened their playoff record at 1-1 with a 5-4 win at home over Edmonton.</p><p><b>EDMONTON:</b> Ray Karlson and Steve McKenzie netted their first WHL goals in a 5-2 victory over Saskatoon to end the season, Then another rookie, Ron Fischer, tallied twice as Edmonton began the playoffs with a 6-3 win over Saskatoon. Two-goal efforts by Ray Neufeld and Craig Levie weren&rsquo;t enough to prevent Saskatoon from winning the second game 5-4. Oil Kings also lost 4-0 to Brandon.</p><p><b>REGINA:</b> The Pats had a slim chance to make the playoffs, but first of all they had to beat Brandon. They didn&rsquo;t losing 9-3, and now have all summer to think about next year.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0037-01

McLean Banned After Wild Brawl; Bruising Bruins Fined, Suspended

<h2>ONTARIO MAJOR LEAGUE</h2><h3>PLAYOFF GAMES Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02180/3863163-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="594" height="115"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p>Peterborough 6, Sudbury 5</p><p>Peterborough 5, Sudbury 3</p><p>Sudbury 5, Peterborough 2</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03135/3863156-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="594" height="113"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p>Niagara Falls 3, Windsor 3</p><h2>Quarter-Finals</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0491/3863149-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="599" height="114"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p>London 5, Windsor 2</p><p>Windsor 5, London 2</p><p>London 6, Windsor 5</p><p>London 5, Windsor 4</p><p>London 3, Windsor 3</p><p>Windsor 5, London 4</p><p>London 3, Windsor 3</p><p>London 3, Windsor 3 (protested game)</p><p>Windsor 3, London 2 (replayed game)</p><p>Windsor 3, London 2</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0564/3863142-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="594" height="116"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p>Kitchener 1, Niagara Falls 0</p><p>Niagara Falls 5, Kitchener 3</p><p>Niagara Falls 9, Kitchener 4</p><p>Kitchener 5, Niagara Falls 3</p><p>Niagara Falls 10, Kitchener 2</p><p>Kitchener 3, Niagara Falls 1</p><p>Niagara Falls 6, Kitchener 1</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0650/3863135-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="616" height="233"></div><h2>WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE</h2><p><b>PLAYOFF GAMES</b></p><h3>Preliminary Round-Robin EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0744/3863128-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="592" height="191"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p>Edmonton 6, Saskatoon 3</p><p>Saskatoon 5, Edmonton 4</p><p>Brandon 4, Edmonton 3</p><p>Saskatoon 5, Brandon 4</p><p>Brandon 8, Edmonton 2</p><p>Edmonton 5, Saskatoon 4</p><p>Brandon 4, Edmonton 3</p><p>Brandon 5, Edmonton 3</p><p>Saskatoon 5, Edmonton 3</p><p>Brandon 4, Saskatoon 3</p><p>Brandon 8, Saskatoon 2</p><p>Brandon 13, Saskatoon 1</p><h2>CENTRAL DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0830/3863121-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="614" height="163"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p>Lethbridge 4, Calgary 3</p><p>Billings 7, Calgary 5</p><p>Calgary 5, Lethbridge 4</p><p>Billings 10, Lethbridge 2</p><p>Billings 4, Calgary 1</p><p>Lethbridge 5, Billings 3</p><p>Lethbridge 8, Billings 4</p><p>Calgary 5, Lethbridge 4</p><p>Lethbridge 5, Calgary 0</p><p>Lethbridge 6, Billings 3</p><p>Calgary 9, Billings 2</p><p>Calgary 4, Billings 1</p><h2>WESTERN DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0925/3863114-1-eng-US/f0038-092.jpg" title="f0038-09" width="601" height="191"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p>Victoria 7, New Westminster 4</p><p>Portland 6, Victoria 3</p><p>Portland 9, New Westminster 2</p><p>Victoria 6, Portland 4</p><p>New Westminster 5, Victoria 2</p><p>Portland 8, New Westminster 3</p><p>Portland 3, Victoria 1</p><p>New Westminster 4, Victoria 3</p><p>Portland 4, New Westminster 3</p><p>Victoria 4, New Westminster 3</p><p>Portland 5, New Westminster 3</p><h2>QUEBEC MAJOR LEAGUE</h2><h3>PLAYOFF GAMES Semi-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1022/3863107-1-eng-US/f0038-102.jpg" title="f0038-10" width="608" height="113"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p>Sherbrooke 6, Verdun 4</p><p>Sherbrooke 11, Verdun 3</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1120/3863100-1-eng-US/f0038-112.jpg" title="f0038-11" width="608" height="110"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p>Trois-Rivieres 5, Montreal 3</p><p>Montreal 4, Trois-Rivieres 3</p><h3>Quarter-Finals</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1218/3863093-1-eng-US/f0038-122.jpg" title="f0038-12" width="612" height="112"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p>Cornwall 8, Verdun 5</p><p>Cornwall 7, Verdun 2</p><p>Verdun 10, Cornwall 8</p><p>Verdun 2, Cornwall 0</p><p>Verdun 3, Cornwall 1</p><p>Cornwall 2, Verdun 0</p><p>Verdun 9, Cornwall 3</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1313/3863086-1-eng-US/f0038-132.jpg" title="f0038-13" width="605" height="322"></div><h2>NEW YORK COLLEGES (Final Standings)</h2><h3>DIVISION I</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-1411/3863079-1-eng-US/f0038-142.jpg" title="f0038-14" width="605" height="251"></div><h3>DIVISION II</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-159/3863072-1-eng-US/f0038-152.jpg" title="f0038-15" width="597" height="221"></div><h3>DIVISION III</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-167/3863065-1-eng-US/f0038-162.jpg" title="f0038-16" width="609" height="247"></div><h2>MAN.-ASSINIBOINE LEAGUE (Final Standings)</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-176/3863058-1-eng-US/f0038-172.jpg" title="f0038-17" width="598" height="599"></div><h3>FINAL GOALING RECORDS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-185/3863051-1-eng-US/f0038-182.jpg" title="f0038-18" width="598" height="221"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0038-02

The Amateur Scoreboard

<div class="byline">BY DANNY YOUNG</div><p>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S and Canada</p><p>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS Made in Canada by HILLERICH & BRADSBY. LTD Arnold Street. Wallaceburg, Ontario Sold in U.S and Canada</p><p>MONTREAL&mdash;</p><p>From the crop of Quebec Major Junior League graduates selected in the National Hockey League&rsquo;s amateur draft last June, not one prospect was able to break into the regular lineup of an NHL squad in his first season. This dismal showing can be partially accounted for by the fact that the two highest rated performers, Danny Geoffrion and Richard David, signed contracts with the WHA&rsquo;s Quebec Nordiques.</p><p>But even considering this, the showing was very disappointing. After all it was only the year before when the Quebec League supplied the NHL with talents like Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders, Robert Picard of the Washington Capitals, Jere Gillis of the Vancouver Canucks, and Lucien Deblois of the New York Rangers.</p><p>With this year&rsquo;s draft approaching, QMJHL supporters are hoping that the class of &lsquo;79 will make a better showing than their immediate predecessors. While the depth of this class is limited, there are a handful of players that have drawn considerable attention from the pro scouts. In other words, the quality is there, but the quantity isn&rsquo;t.</p><p>Heading the list, and most experts will agree, is Quebec Remparts&rsquo; defenseman Kevin Lowe. The six-foot-two, 196-pound native of Lachute, Quebec is a complete rearguard. An excellent skater in terms of speed, strength and maneuverability, Lowe has developed his defensive skills to an incredibly high level for a junior. As a playmaker, his passes are a work of art, and he can shoot and stick-handle with the best. This past season, Kevin scored 26 goals and set up an additional 60. Though not extremely aggressive, Kevin holds his own, and will hit anyone that he must take out of the play.</p><p>Not far behind Lowe in the rating game is Sherbrooke Beavers&rsquo; right winger Jimmy Mann. The most solid six-foot-one, 200-pounder you&rsquo;ll ever see, Mann has learned to use his strength to the utmost advantage. His shoulder checks are devastating, and his corner work is equally effective. Mann tallied 35 goals and 47 assists this season, and turned on the scouts with seven goals in his first four playoff games. And if checking is the game, the big man can keep up with Quebec&rsquo;s fastest.</p><p>Although, even Mann might have a little trouble with the Cornwall Royals&rsquo; speedy canterman Bob Crawford. This 62-goal scorer might be the closest thing to a jet on skates. Two steps and he&rsquo;s gone. His moves and puck control are superb, and his shooting is even better. Crawford&rsquo;s size, five-foot-eleven, 170 is not great, but remember, you have to catch him before you can hit him. Besides, he&rsquo;s strong enough to take the punishment.</p><p>Montreal Juniors&rsquo; defenseman Mark Hardy may not have improved that much this season, but many believe that he had already reached pro caliber the year before when he won the league&rsquo;s most outstanding defenseman award. Quite strong at five-foot-11, 185-pounds, Hardy&rsquo;s ability to rush the puck may have actually hurt his defensive game. When he&rsquo;s thinking defense, he gets the job done. Except for some occasional carelessmess, he&rsquo;s an excellent defender.</p><p>Don&rsquo;t let the 25-goal total of Montreal teammate Patrick Daley fool you. This left winger is a good one. Several injuries and problems associated with playing on a new club hampered his senior year. At six-foot-two, 180, Daley is an exceptional skater with tremendous acceleration. His puck carrying ability is highlighted with a superb use of his extension to get around a defender. Though far from being a goon, Pat can get tough when he wants to.</p><p>Of the three goalies rated highly for the draft, Quebec&rsquo;s Vincent Tremblay gets first nod, with Montreal&rsquo;s Marco Baron and Laval Nationals&rsquo; Yves Deschene not far behind. Tremblay is an excellent standup goalie, though his playing of angles in the playoffs left something to be desired. Baron has the technique and ability, but lacks consistency. Deschene has showed some potential, but the absence of a strong defense at Laval has hurt his numbers. All three goalies are tall. Deschene is six-three; Baron and Tremblay are both six even.</p><p>If Trois-Rivieres&rsquo; blueliner Pierre Lacroix&rsquo;s defensive ability is questioned, his offensive ability is certainly not. This season, Lacroix rewrote the record books by scoring 37 goals and 100 assists. Yes, that&rsquo;s correct! It is not a printing error. Though the five-foot-11, 185-pound native of St. Foy has been a sound defender in junior, some question whether or not he can make the jump to the pros. My feeling is that this guy is too talented to pass up.</p><p>Sherbrooke&rsquo;s Pierre Tremblay is another quality defenseman. The brother of Denis Tremblay of Montreal&rsquo;s acclaimed &ldquo;Les Trois Denis&rdquo; could be a bit of a sleeper. His size is good (six-foot, 185) and his knowledge of the game is excellent. Built a little like Borje Salming, Tremblay is an excellent playmaker, and knows all the tricks to be a successful defender.</p><p>Left winger Jean Chouinard, also from Sherbrooke, would probably be most likely to fit the role of a checker in the pros. The brother of Atlanta Flames&rsquo; scoring ace Guy Chouinard was a defensive specialist for Sherbrooke, and reached the top of that unheralded field. Amazingly enough, Chouinard managed to score 54 goals this season. Makes you wonder whether hockey is genetic. Chouinard&rsquo;s six-foot, 200-pound frame is more than adequate.</p><p>Montreal left winger Richard Suwek is a difficult player to gauge because he only played in 16 games this season. A knee injury in September sidelined him for most of the season. Still he is a proven sniper and an effective corner man.</p><p>In playoff action:</p><p><b>VERDUN:</b> Trailing Cornwall two games to one, the Hawks came back to win their next two games by scores of 2-0 in Cornwall and 3-1. The Royals, however, tied the series at three with a 2-0 win at home. In game number seven, over 5,000 fans jammed into the Verdun Auditorium to see the quarter final finale. The Royals took a 2-1 lead in the first period, but the Hawks proceeded to blow them out by a 9-3 count. Jean Martin picked up a hat trick in that game, and Normand Aubin added two goals. They were Aubin&rsquo;s seventh and eighth goals of the series. Verdun now advances to meet the Sherbrooke Beavers in the semis.</p><p><b>MONTREAL:</b> After Quebec had tied the series at two, the Juniors took the next two games to advance to the semi-final round where they will meet Trois-Rivieres. The Juniors downed Quebec in Montreal 8-3 as defenseman Mark Hardy scored three times. Then they clinched it in Quebec with a 5-3 win.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01231/3863020-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="562" height="806"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>KEVIN LOWE&hellip;Best In Quebec</b></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0038-01

QMJHL Pro Hopes Feature Quality

<h2>Bemidji Has Special Place For Goalers</h2><p>He is often the forgotten man on the ice.</p><p>Masked, padded and set on oversized skates, he physically appears, at times, like a more mobile version of R2D2, the hero robot of Star Wars.</p><p>Yet this skater is very much human, and just as much a hero. He is the goalie.</p><p>Underneath the pads and behind the mask skates what many people feel is one of the most important team members. He has to be, for when he is at work, the situation is always tense and the moment critical.</p><p>The Bemidji Hockey Camp recognizes the importance of goaltenders, and works individually with each goalie in camp to build the positive attitudes necessary to play that position.</p><p>&ldquo;The pressures on a goalie are more evident, although they aren&rsquo;t obvious to the fans,&rsquo;&rsquo; noted Blaine Comstock, one of the veteran goaltender coaches for the BHC. &ldquo;The goaltender is the last line of defense as well as the first stage of an offensive attack.&rdquo;</p><p>Bill Halbrehder, another goaltender coach at the BHC, put the importance of the goaltender in another perspective. &ldquo;He is the pivot, the focal point of the game,&rdquo; the highly regarded coach explained. &ldquo;All activity on the ice rushes to him, or from him.&rdquo;</p><p>Comstock and Halbrehder should know about the challenges, excitement and enjoyment of playing goalie. Comstock was a three-time All American goaler at Bemidji State and a fixture on U.S. National and U.S. Olympic teams. He has donned the U.S.A.&rsquo;s colors the past four years and is currently training for another round with the Olympic team.</p><p>Halbrehder, who has coached at North St. Paul for the past 10 years, is recognized as one of the premier goalie coaches in the country. Credited with developing innovations in new goalie training technique, he was slated to be on the 1968 Olympic team before an accident ended his playing career.</p><p>Both the goalie coaches impart all the knowledge and experience they have accumulated as playing netminders and coaches to their wards at the Bemidji Hockey Camp, where they have 10-years combined experience as coaches.</p><p>&ldquo;Obviously safety is one of our primary concerns and we practice to prevent it almost as much as we practice to keep the puck out of the net,&rdquo; Halbrehder mentioned. &ldquo;The reasons are simple. For a goalie to be productive, he has to be on the ice.</p><p>&ldquo;It is important that a goalie know how to warm up for a game and stay loose during the game, so he doesn&rsquo;t incur nagging injuries like pulled muscles or back strains.&rdquo;</p><p>Comstock feels this healthy preparation leads to healthier attitudes and better play.</p><p>&ldquo;Frame of mind as well as skills are important,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;The technique comes with practice, and is reinforced with positive results.</p><p>&ldquo;A complete goalie is one who works hard at his skills to refine them, and is comfortable in his ability to do his job as best he can when he must.</p><p>It is the job of Halbrehder and Comstock to see that young, potential goalers get the best instructional advise and still have fun doing it at Bemidji Hockey Camp.</p><h2>Roger Neilson Magnet For Trinity</h2><p>The firing last fall of Woody Hayes as football coach at Ohio State University brought into focus the &ldquo;win at any cost&rdquo; syndrome. Hayes was coaching young men who should have been taking delight in the game, as well as possibly preparing themselves for a pro career. His behavior seems at least partly attributable to the pressure he put himself under to win, leading to a series of bizarre incidents.</p><p>The contrast between his attitude and that of Roger Neilson in dealing with young people is noteworthy.</p><p>An eight-year-old youngster decided last summer to attend Neilson&rsquo;s hockey school at Trinity College School in Port Hope. He had never played hockey or even skated before, and had professed to find the sport &ldquo;dumb&rdquo;. Obviously he was at a distinct disadvantage compared to the other boys at the school, many of whom, at his age, had been playing organized hockey for two or three years.</p><p>Neilson and his school manager Michael Hargraft recognized the difficulty the boy was having, and determined that hockey will be fun, they spent extra time at lunch and other spare hours working with his skills while encouraging his positive attitude. Children whose skills are less well developed than others often become victims in athletic endeavors. Neilson recognized this possibility and worked to forestall it.</p><p>The boy and the big league coach became friends, each sensing the other had attributes separate from those necessarily found on a rink. It seems this man has a habit of looking at people as whole beings, not just as a device to hold a hockey stick. If he can instill this habit in a dred boys a summer, he will have performed an invaluable service.</p><p>The boy is now playing happily in house league, delighted to win or score a goal, but not crestfallen when he doesn&rsquo;t. He recognized the abilities of boys on teams other than his own and looks forward to seeing his friend &ldquo;Rog&rdquo; at hockey school again this summer.</p><p>The boy&rsquo;s story pretty well portrays the vital association between Neilson, who coaches the Toronto Maple Leafs in the NHL, and Trinity Hockey School.</p><p>The dedication Neilson has to the school is the keynote of its success. You know who was first to the rink every morning to get things properly started. Roger lives on the grounds; he has his meals with the campers; he plays ball with the kids; he simply lives the program as the campers do. His leadership qualities are extra-ordinary with boys.</p><p>School director Michael Hargraft said he feels the Trinity Hockey School in many ways is an extension of Trinity College School. The spirit of cooperation, good sportsmanship, keen competition&mdash;people being happy&mdash;are common to both schools.</p><p>Because of the overwhelming success of Trinity&rsquo;s 1978 school of two sessions, the school expanded this year to three sessions to include a one week as well as two two week sessions.</p><p>Registrations are running well ahead of last year; enquiries have come from all provinces and territories in Canada, from 30 states in the U.S., and from Holland, Great Britain, and Sweden. Last year Trinity had boys from Alabama, California as well as the Maritimes and Prairie Provinces.</p><p>Hargraft said his comprehensive staff will all be returning this year&mdash;Bob Gainey, Doug Jarvis, Jerry Butler, Jimmy Jones, Ron Lalonde, Colin Campbell, Jim Turkiewicz and Chicago goaler Mike Veisor will all be on hand at Trinity for the 1979 program.</p><h2>New England Camp Top Ranked</h2><p><b>SCHOOL SHORTS:</b> Werner Rothschild, co-director of the New England Hockey Camp, reports that parents and campers who attend his school at Contoocook, New Hampshire, are particularly pleased to learn that the March issue of Town and Country Magazine chose the New England Hockey Camp as the best in the United States in a featured article. Rothschild, top ECAC official, will be back for his 20th year while Pete Melchiono will be starting his eighth year at the camp&hellip;Under the help wanted dept. Leslie Levine of Birmingham, Mich., has a problem. Will some hockey school take in an 11-year-old? Leslie&rsquo;s problem is she&rsquo;s a girl. If any hockey school can help her out, THE HOCKEY NEWS will be glad to provide her home address&hellip;Sid Watson, director of the Bowdoin College &lsquo;Clinic&rsquo; summer school for boys 10-17, has announced his 1979 faculty. The teaching staff will include Charlie Holt, head coach of the ECAC Division I champion University of New Hampshire team; Jim Higgins, head coach at Princeton; Jerry York, head coach at Clarkson; Michel Goulet, head coach at Colby; Ken Martin, coach at the Belmont Hill (Mass.) School; Bob Kullen, assistant coach at University of New Hampshire; Bill Matthews, coach at St. Paul&rsquo;s School, Concord, N.Y.; Dave Hagerman, coach at Deerfield (Mass.) Academy; and Doug Morrell, coach at Tabor Academy in Marion, Mass. Cap Raeder, now playing for the Cape Cod Freedoms and former goaltender for the New England Whalers and Cincinnati Stingers, will be the goalie coach.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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April 20, 1979

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