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.

October 5, 1979

The Hockey News October 5, 1979

<div class="byline">CHARLIE HALPIN&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011071/4003447-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="381" height="453"></div>IT SEEMS INCREDIBLE that so many changes have transpired in the National Hockey League since they shut down the 1978-79 season last May.When was the last time you can recall that the two coaches who masterminded behind the benches in the best series of the Stanley Cup playoffs would be doing their thing elsewhere this year. Scotty Bowman has moved from Montreal to Buffalo and Don Cherry from Boston to Colorado. Both men were locked in a classic seven-game semi-final confrontation that far outstripped the actual cup final, which turned out to be so one-sided it was laughable.Now Cherry and Bowman, probably the NHL&rsquo;s best two strategists, are plying their wares in the new settings. And unless both men do some deft manoeuvring, there&rsquo;s no way they&rsquo;ll meet again in a showdown playoff series to match their spring performance. In fact it is even conceivable that Cherry won&rsquo;t be in the playoffs at all and Bowman could even miss the semi-finals. Time will tell.Looking at the NHL&rsquo;s new season makes one wonder what ever happened to that much cherished security that once went with the job of coaching major league hockey teams. There will be no less than seven coaching changes in the NHL this season and with 21 teams now in the fold, that constitutes a one-third turnover. It appears hockey is fast catching up with baseball in job instability where baseball managers are fired and hired faster than a man can change his socks.IF YOU LOOK back into the pages of the informative NHL press guide, you&rsquo;ll discover that the league is taking on multiple expansion for the first time since 1967 when the NHL admitted six U.S. cities. This season the assimilation of the WHA will be realized with the entry of Hartford, Quebec, Edmonton and Winnipeg into the league.Hockey critics who scoffed at such an undertaking in the past, the most outspoken of whom was the very assertive Harold Ballard, will be watching and judging. Ballard has gone on record in the past as saying the NHL didn&rsquo;t need the WHA or its teams. He could still be right.It seems that the addition of four new teams has tended to make the NHL unwieldy. For one it will rob the paying public of such great past rivalries as the Bruins against the Canadiens, Leafs-Canadiens, Rangers-Bruins, etc. For the statistical minded, if you thought you were getting a watered down product with 17 teams, consider this. Last year, the NHL played 680 games. This season the total has risen to 840. That means that you could see the Stanley Cup champion Canadiens in October and not again until March. It works out that each team plays the others four times each&mdash;two away and two at home.The NHL was obviously forced into another expansion by the threat of litigation from the WHA. But in the long run it could cost the NHL more money letting the WHA in than keeping them out. Past NHL president Clarence Campbell, a man still wise in what&rsquo;s good for the league despite his 76 years, contends the NHL has too many teams. He thinks time will force the league back to a more workable 16 or 18 teams. &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

INSIDE HOCKEY

<h2>Western Hockey League</h2><h3>SEPTEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01255/4005387-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="584" height="254"></div><h3>OCTOBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02193/4005380-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="592" height="1566"></div><h3>NOVEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03143/4005373-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="616" height="1832"></div><h3>DECEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0489/4005366-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="620" height="1712"></div><h3>JANUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0557/4005359-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="592" height="374"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0640/4005352-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="600" height="1502"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0736/4005345-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="586" height="192"></div><h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0831/4005338-1-eng-US/f0036-082.jpg" title="f0036-08" width="590" height="1220"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0925/4005331-1-eng-US/f0036-092.jpg" title="f0036-09" width="578" height="688"></div><h3>MARCH</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1022/4005324-1-eng-US/f0036-102.jpg" title="f0036-10" width="574" height="778"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01246/4005317-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="568" height="851"></div> &#9632;

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HOCKEY NEWS SCHEDULES

Vaclav Nedomansky is off to a flying start in his first season with a new NHL contract. The free agent center came up with three goals in Detroit&rsquo;s 6-6 exhibition tie with the Minnesota North Stars.The high-scoring Czech, who led the Red Wings in scoring last season, was on the free agent market this season and was feared to be headed elsewhere. But the Wings made him an offer he couldn&rsquo;t turn down and he returned with Detroit a content and happy player.The Wings are counting on the Czech defector to carry their offense again this season and his three-goal blast in the club&rsquo;s first exhibition was encouraging for the Wings. &#9632;

Player Of The Week

The National Hockey League will start its 62nd campaign with many changes in both players and coaches and four new teams.&bull; The league has increased its team complement to 21 from 17 with the admittance of the four WHA clubs&mdash;Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets.&bull; There was division moving with the arrival of the new clubs. Washington went from the Norris to the Patrick division: Hartford replaced them in the Norris. Quebec moved into the Adams division as the fifth team. The Patrick division also has five teams now with the shifting of Washington; Winnipeg and Edmonton joined the Smythe Division to swell the number to six teams.&bull; The NHL will stage its 1979-80 All Star game Feb. 5 at Detroit&rsquo;s new Joe Louis Arena. The Red Wings will be the host and in case of any construction problems to finish the arena, it would be held in the Olympia.&bull; There will be seven new NHL head coaches this season. Scotty Bowman moved from Montreal to Buffalo. Don Cherry from Boston to Colorado. Fred Creighton from Atlanta to Boston. Ed Johnston is taking over at Chicago with Bob Pulford remaining as GM. Al MacNeil has replaced Fred Creighton at Atlanta. Floyd Smith is the new Toronto coach, replacing Roger Neilson, who has gone to Buffalo as assistant under Bowman. Bernie Geoffrion is the new man at Montreal in Bowman&rsquo;s spot.&bull; The 21 NHL teams will play a total of 840 games and will play 80 each, 40 at home and 40 away. They meet each other four times.&bull; The only rule change of any consequence was the introduction of helmets for the first year players coming into the NHL. It is mandatery for all rookies to wear them. Veterans don&rsquo;t have to. The choice is being left up to the other players who have been in the league prior to July 1, 1979.&bull; The playoff structure is also changed. Now 16 teams will get into the Stanley Cup hunt. That means only five will miss out. There are no wild card playoff spots. &#9632;

WHAT’S NEW…With The NHL

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01660/4005681-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Ian MacAlpine)</figcaption></div>NHL PREVIEW AND SCHEDULEBRUINS AVERT GOALING CRISISMONTREAL&rsquo;S LARRY ROBRISON AND BERNIE GEOFFRION &#9632;

Cover-01

HABS WELCOME DAPPER BOOMER—Page 3

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-01991/4003106-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="532" height="427"></div><h2>Bruins Will Miss Cherry</h2>DO YOU THINK the Boston Bruins&rsquo; management made the right move dismissing Don Cherry for the reasons they gave, namely that Cherry was too player-oriented?Patrick Vecchio Olean, N.Y.I think the Bruins made an error. Don Cherry&rsquo;s record speaks for itself. His job was to win games, and he won a lot of games. I can&rsquo;t see how his closeness with the players hurt the Bruins at all, because even though he was close with them, they respected him, and played hard for him I don&rsquo;t mean this as a rap at Fred Creighton, who&rsquo;s their new coach and a good coach. He&rsquo;ll do a fine job in Boston. But I think the Bruins made a mistake. They&rsquo;ll miss Cherry.You said in your first column that you weren&rsquo;t going to sidestep any issues. Then you left the question that&rsquo;s on everybody&rsquo;s mind unanswered: why did you leave a long-term contract with the Black Hawks&rsquo; Are you going to answer it, or are you being hypocritical?Carl Anderson Mounds, Okla.First of all, I still have a contract with Bill Wirtz, president of the Black Hawks, and I am working for him. But I have nothing more to do directly with the team. There comes a time in all walks of life where personality conflicts arise. I had them in Chicago, and part of the problem was my fault. I just felt that it would be best if I ended my direct association with the hockey club.<h2>Helmet Rule To Spread</h2>WHAT DO YOU think of the new helmet rule in the National Hockey League?Frank Miller Staten Island, N.Y.It&rsquo;s a great rule. I think pretty soon, you&rsquo;ll see everybody wearing a helmet. It&rsquo;s difficult to tell a guy like Gordie Howe to start wearing a helmet after all these years of not wearing one, and they&rsquo;re not going to. I like the way they&rsquo;ve set it up. After a short period of time, I think you may see some veterans who don&rsquo;t have to wear a helmet or who haven&rsquo;t been wearing one for all these years, decide to wear one, anyway.What is the best kind of hockey stick to use?Darren Mackie Chaplin, Sask.Darren, hockey sticks are like clothes. It&rsquo;s a matter of tastes and what makes you comfortable. I used a Victoriaville stick when I was playing, and was very happy with it. You don&rsquo;t have to buy the most expensive stick or the most popular brand name. Use the stick that you feel best with and don&rsquo;t concern yourself with what sticks everybody else is using.Does it hurt hockey that the same team, the Montreal Canadiens, win the Stanley Cup every year?Wayne Sharp Indianapolis, Ind.No. It doesn&rsquo;t hurt hockey, anymore than football was hurt when the Green Bay Packers were dominant for a period of years. Having a team that everybody looks up to gives the other clubs an idea of how hard they must work to get to the top. The Canadiens earned what they have. They don&rsquo;t take anything for granted, on or off the ice. I do think, though, that the gap between the Canadiens and the rest of the NHL is diminishing. There are a few clubs coming on strong.(If you want to ask Bobby Orr anything on hockey, write Ask Bobby Orr, Post Office Box No. 11, Northbrook, Illinois, 60062. All letters must be signed. Bobby has made a special request. Kindly do not write him for autographs or pictures at this address. It is reserved for his weekly column in THE HOCKEY NEWS.) &#9632;

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ASK BOBBY

<div class="byline">By GLENN COLE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-01998/4003137-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Boom Boom was all smiles when he was introduced to the press by Canadiens&rsquo; managing director Irving Grundman as the new coach of the Canadiens. (Photo by Ian MacAlpine)</figcaption></div>MONTRE.AL&mdash;Bernard (Boom-Boom) Geoffrion has returned home to the Montreal Canadiens after a 12-year absence.And the 48-year-old Hall of Fame member has more than a bit on his plate as he steps behind the bench of the most successful club in the National Hockey League.He comes in here with a tough act to follow. The Canadiens won their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup last spring and that only whets the appetite for a fifth and sixth in a row, which would shatter the record the Canadiens set from 1956-60 when Geoffrion was a star right wing on the team.Many observers are skeptical about Geoffrion&rsquo;s ability to coach because ill health forced him out of two jobs before&mdash;in New York with the Rangers mid-way during the 1968-69 season and in Atlanta during the 1974-75 campaign.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sick and tired of answering questions about my health,&rdquo; said Geoffrion. &ldquo;A month ago I went into the hospital for about five days. I hadn&rsquo;t had a check-up for about 15 to 20 years. My health is a thousand percent better than it was when I was playing.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want you guys coming to me in the middle of the year and asking me how my health is.&rdquo;<h2>Appeared Excited</h2>When Geoffrion was introduced to the Montreal media a day after Labor Day, he appeared genuinely excited about the challenge given to him by managing director Irving Grundman.His first week of practices were tough, along the same lines of those conducted in years gone by.But it is going to take a while before anyone can truly evaluate Geoffrion&rsquo;s mettle as a headcoach. No one should jump on or off the bandwagon yet.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to have to work hard. I&rsquo;m not afraid to work hard,&rdquo; Geoffrion said. &ldquo;I gave everything I had when I was a player. I can assure you I will do all I can to help the Canadiens win a fifth Stanley Cup.&ldquo;People talk about pressure. But I don&rsquo;t care about pressure. The more pressure I&rsquo;ve got, the better I like it. I love the competition.&rdquo;<h2>Colorful Analyst</h2>There was a time though when the pressures of coaching got to Geoffrion, although this summer he says he found an inner peace which should help in the hockey&rsquo;s No 1 pressure cooker.He comes here after serving the past few years in a promotional role for the Atlanta Flames, including being their colorful analyst on team telecasts. He could have gone to other clubs, and he says he had received several offers a year ago to get back into the caching ranks.&ldquo;My dream was to finish my career and my life as the coach of the Montreal Canadiens. Even if it would have taken 20 years, I wanted the chance to prove what I could do.&rdquo;He got the chance when Grundman finally made up his mind Labor Day weekend while walking around the lake near his country home in the Laurentians.Other names had been put forth including Dickie Moore, Gilles Tremblay, Jacques Laperriere, Phil Goyette and Marcel Pronovost. All but Pronovost had played for the Canadiens and only Goyette and Pronovost had NHL coaching experience.The fact that a son is playing for his father on the Canadiens has some tongues wagging, although Geoffrion Sr., was hasty to point out there will be no favoritism.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t see any difficulty in it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Off the ice, he&rsquo;s still my son. On the ice, he&rsquo;s a player, just like any other player. If he doesn&rsquo;t do things the way I like them, he will be benched just like any other player.<h2>Used To Pressure</h2>&ldquo;Danny has had pressure since he was 14 and when he played in the Quebec Major Junior League (with Corn-wall). He&rsquo;s matured. He&rsquo;ll be able to take the pressure here.&rdquo;And the coach, whose overall record in the NHL is 99 victories, 110 losses and 42 ties for a. 478 average, is confident he will be able to take the heat too.&ldquo;Nothing bothers me now,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to have a lot of pressure but that doesn&rsquo;t bother me any longer. I&rsquo;ve learned a lot about myself and I&rsquo;ve learned a lot about character. I can cope with players. You can let them be themselves, but you have to mold them together.&ldquo;I hope people will give me a chance to prove that I&rsquo;ve changed,&rdquo; said the man who was the second 50-goal scorer in NHL history and who won a pair of scoring championships and the Hart Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s most valuable player.&ldquo;Tell people who knew me in the &lsquo;50s that I&rsquo;ve changed and they probably won&rsquo;t believe it.&ldquo;Sure I used to go into the room and try to get some pep in there. There were times I would walk in and it would be dead. And, if I was starting out again at 19, I&rsquo;d do it the same way.&rdquo;Getting the players going here won&rsquo;t be the hardest job Geoffrion faces in Montreal.&ldquo;There was no No. 2 choice,&rdquo; said Grundman. &ldquo;There was a No. 1 choice. I thought he was the best man for the job.&rdquo;The new coach will have a good deal of help during his first year at the helm.Hector (Toe) Blake, who coached eight Stanley Cup winners in 13 years with Montreal, including the record five in a row, was appointed vicepresident, hockey, by Grundman a few days before the Geoffrion announcement was made.Geoffrion will report directly to Blake, who will be on the road with the hockey club all season.Claude Ruel, who was the No. 1 lieutenant under the old regime, will be back in his familiar role this year, although he may be sent on special scouting assignments from time to time during the year.And then there is the Montreal media which is always there with a not-so-helping hand.The players have responded well during training camp.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the best camp I have ever seen,&rdquo; said Geoffrion. &ldquo;They all came into camp in good shape. They are all working hard.&ldquo;But I&rsquo;m not surprised with that. It&rsquo;s the way the Canadiens are. You can go to the other training camps around the league and I bet you will find they are skating the way we&rsquo;ve been working.&ldquo;The game hasn&rsquo;t changed over the years. It&rsquo;s the same ice, same puck and the same 85 &times; 200 rinks.Among those working to impress is Geoffrion&rsquo;s son Danny, acquired by Montreal in the reclaiming draft from the incoming Quebec Nordiques.The players will be out to prove that they were the main reason four Stanley Cups have been won in succession.From initial appearances at training camp, Geoffrion appeared to have their confidence, their respect.That&rsquo;s all that counts.<div class="sidebar">&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to have a lot of pressure but that doesn&rsquo;t bother me.&hellip;I&rsquo;ve learned a lot about myself.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the best training camp I&rsquo;ve seen,&rdquo; the new coach said. &ldquo;&hellip;They are all working hard.&rdquo; &#9632;</div>

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Geoffrion’s Homecoming A Dream Come True

MONTREAL&mdash;The coaches standing behind the benches were different but when the Montreal Canadiens and the Buffalo Sabres met in their first exhibition contests of the season before 15,941 fans in the Forum, the results were just about the same as always.The Canadiens beat the Sabres 5-2.It was a successful debut for new Canadiens&rsquo; coach Bernie Geoffrion and a non-debut for general manager and coach Scotty Bowman of Buffalo who did not make the trip, leaving Roger Neilson and Jimmy Roberts to handle the coaching.Naturally it&rsquo;s the players who score the goals and not the coaches and the Canadiens got the jump on that with three first period goals.Mario Tremblay banged in a power play goal for the Canadiens just 1:10 into the contest, while Doug Risebrough made it 2-0 at the 11:15 mark.Ric Seiling got the Sabres on the board at 12:05, but Pierre Larouche made it 3-1 with 18 seconds left in the period and Steve Shutt had the only goal of the middle frame making it 4-1 for the Canadiens.Serge Savard broke the Sabres&rsquo; backs with a shorthanded goal while the Canadiens were two men short at 7:10 of the third period before Craig Ramsay closed out the scoring.Strong forechecking by the Canadiens kept the Sabres off-stride for the first two periods as Buffalo managed just now shots on goal.&ldquo;They went out and did exactly what I asked the said Geoffrion. &ldquo;They all worked so hard. This pressed me the most. It was only their fifth time.So far, so good for Bernie Geoffrion. &#9632;

Boomer Easy Winner In Montreal Debut

<div class="byline">KEN MCKENZIE&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011049/4003220-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="494" height="418"></div>&bull; BILL BEAGAN, commissioner of the &ldquo;new&rdquo; Eastern Hockey League, has done a sterling job in getting hockey&rsquo;s latest six-team circuit ready for the new season&hellip;Bruce Norris, wealthy owner of the Detroit Red Wings and one of hockey&rsquo;s greatest supporters, was the catalyst of the league when he took over the floundering Johnstown franchise to give the league five teams and make it viable and then Lou Nanne and the Minnesota North Stars backed the Baltimore entry to make it a compact six-team circuit&hellip;Norris and his Detroit Red Wings own outright or sponsor a team in every professional league operating today. Norris has been one of hockey&rsquo;s best friends over the years and has repeatedly come up with the money when teams and leagues in the minors were in dire straights&hellip;Other clubs in the revamped Eastern League are Utica, Erie, Richmond and Hampton. Beagan runs the league office out of Virginia Beach, Va&hellip;. Henry Ford II has accepted the position as honorary chairman of the NHC All-Star banquet to be held at the Detroit Plaza Hotel on February 4, 1980&hellip;Believe it or not, but Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nillson will both be free agents at the end of the 1979-80 season&hellip;The 1980 United States Olympic team will be the youngest to ever represent the U.S. in Olympic competition&hellip;Ron Greschner, New York Rangers defenseman, is after a new contract worth a reported $200,000&hellip;Rod Seiling, veteran NHC defenseman, is trying to crash the lineup of the Winnipeg Jets&hellip;Kevin O&rsquo;Brien&rsquo;s Colorado Rockies 1979 Tryout Camp Guide is the finest book of its kind to reach this office.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021004/4003213-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="271" height="433"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bruce Norris</figcaption></div>&bull; QUEBEC NORDIQUES will have one of the better NHC forward lines this winter with Robbie Ftorek centering for Marc Tardif and Real &ldquo;Buddy&rdquo; Cloutier. Ftorek scored more than 100 points in each of the last four seasons in the WHA. He moved to Quebec when the Cincinnati Stingers dropped out of the major leagues and signed a seven-year contract with the Nordiques&hellip;Dick Duff should do an outstanding job as assistant to coach Floyd Smith of the Toronto Maple Leafs. A popular player in his NHC days, Duff was a great competitor and had the winning complex. Duff hopes that in time he will be to the Maple Leafs what Claude Ruel is to the Canadiens&hellip;The 1979-80 NHC&rsquo;s exhibition schedule features a record 105 games, including five contests against the Canadian Olympic team and tour against the United States Olympic squad&hellip;People who&rsquo;ve seen Canada&rsquo;s Olympic team play in Europe tell us that Canadians are in for a pleasant surprise at the Olympics in 1980. Even though they lost regularly the team shows a great deal of promise and should be ready in &lsquo;80&hellip;Montreal fans happy to see both Toe Blake and Bernie Geoffrion back with the Habs. It is looked upon as a good move by the Montreal management&hellip;Derek Sanderson was invited by Glen Sather to attend the Edmonton Oilers training camp but the 33-year-old Sanderson left suddenly just when the camp was to start&hellip;New York Rangers have been trying to trade Don Murdoch all summer but without success&hellip;Fort Worth Texans of the Central Hockey League will be the principal farm of the Colorado Rockies this season. Colorado-Fort Worth agreement marks time in the history of the Denver that the Rockies have sole-rm team for the development prospects.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03899/4003206-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="273" height="433"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dick Duff</figcaption></div>&bull; RICK MacLEISH is still on the trading block in Philadelphia. The Flyers have come close a couple of times in making a deal for him but in each case the other clubs wouldn&rsquo;t give up enough&hellip;When Dave Schultz of the Buffalo Sabres was asked recently what he thought of his new coach, he replied: &ldquo;Which one?&rdquo;&hellip;The National Hockey League would very much like to work out a geographical realignment to avoid such lengthy trips as Los Angeles to Hartford, Atlanta to Edmonton and New York to Vancouver etc. It doesn&rsquo;t make too much sense the way it is presently structured&hellip;Jean-Claude Tremblay has played his last game of pro hockey. The former defense star in both the NHL and WHA will confine his hockey to games with the Canadiens&rsquo; Oldtimers. He will join Dollard St. Laurent, Claude Provost, Jean-Guy Talbot and Phil Goyette&hellip;Larry Gordon, general manager of the Edmonton Oilers, is pleased to have landed Lee Fogolin, who was left unprotected by Buffalo in the June draft. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s still young and we can count on him for many years. That&rsquo;s one of our strengths, young players who should be around for a long time,&rdquo; stated Gordon. The Oilers will ice one of the youngest teams in the NHL this season&mdash;the NHL plans to use 13 referees and 25 linesmen during the 850-game schedule&hellip;Mary Todd, dynamic president of the Los Angeles Kings Booster Club, tells us that Dr. Jerry Buss, new owner of the Kings, has been most co-operative with the Kings Booster Club. Nice to hear as this is not always the case with NHL teams and their respective booster clubs&hellip;Nelson &ldquo;Freckles&rsquo;&rsquo; Little advises us about the recent death of Jim Menzies, who covered hockey in Tulsa since the mid 1940s and befriended many players who performed in that city.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04797/4003199-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="280" height="430"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rick MacLeish</figcaption></div>&bull; FRANK J. SELKE, the grand old man of hockey, is retiring as chairman of the selection committee for the players division of the Hockey Hall of Fame. The 85-year-old Selke headed the selection committee since its inception and did an outstanding job&hellip;Fred Creighton, Boston&rsquo;s new coach isn&rsquo;t worried about too much heat from the Bruins&rsquo; management. It&rsquo;s his father he worries about. Jimmy Creighton, Fred&rsquo;s dad, played a few games for Detroit Falcons (now the Red Wings) in the early 1930s and is his son&rsquo;s severest critic. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t anticipate any problems with Harry Sinden second-guessing Fred Creighton&rdquo; said the Bruins&rsquo; coach. &ldquo;My problem is with my father when he comes to watch the hockey team play. He&rsquo;s very difficult to handle.&rdquo; The elder Crighton, whose brother Bill played for the Stanley Cup champion Quebec Bulldogs in 1912-13, lives in Brandon, Man. and is the former mayor of that city&hellip;Hartford Whalers will retire John McKenzie&rsquo;s sweater No. 19 in a special ceremony on January 30, 1980. The feisty right winger who enjoyed his finest days with the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins of the early 1970s has finally decided to end his playing career&hellip;Chicago Black Hawks are going again with old standbys, Tony Esposito and Stan Mikita. Mikita inked his 22nd Chicago contract and Esposito will be starting his 10th season in the Hawks&rsquo; goal&hellip;Toe Blake was seen asking Bobby Orr for an autograph at the Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Toronto&hellip;Mrs. Weston Adams Sr., wife of the late owner of the Boston Bruins, did a phenomenal job in introducing and highlighting the career of Bobby Orr. Bobby is the youngest player to he inducted into Hockey&rsquo;s Hall of Fame.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05658/4003192-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="290" height="429"><figcaption class="caption-body">Frank Selke</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-06394/4003251-1-eng-US/f0004-062.jpg" title="f0004-06" width="601" height="768"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bobby Smith is determined the North Stars will one day win the cup.</figcaption></div>Sophomore Jinx? Are you kidding?That phrase does not exist in the vocabulary of Bobby Smith, the 1978-79 National Hockey League rookie of the year.Bobby Smith enters his second season, confident and determined to improve&mdash;improve not only on his totals of 30 goals and 44 assists but on the standing of his Minnesota North Stars.&ldquo;I want to be as good as I possibly can,&rdquo; the six-foot-four, 210-pound scoring whiz declared during the off-season. &ldquo;You can exist in this league&hellip;and you can excel. I want every thrill on the ice that there is.&rdquo;Now that&rsquo;s a very encompassing statement, but one delivered in Smith sincerity and conviction.That makes for a considerable challenge in the coming seasons. Scoring championship, All-Star team and the Stanley Cup.Bobby is very serious about all of this.With the North Stars taking an early vacation last spring, Smith had plenty of free time during the Stanley Cup playoffs and he traveled to Montreal to watch the Canadiens wrap up the coveted cup against the New York Rangers.&ldquo;When the Canadiens came off the bench after beating the Rangers,&rdquo; said Smith, &ldquo;I said to myself, &lsquo;Wouldn&rsquo;t it be great to be a Canadien right now?&rsquo; I thought for a moment and said to myself, &lsquo;That&rsquo;s garbage thinking. Wouldn&rsquo;t it be great to be a North Star and win that Cup? No dynosty losts forever. We the North Stars, can win that cup too, some day&rsquo;.&rdquo;Smith wills himself, and his team, to succeed. He&rsquo;s good&mdash;and knows it.&ldquo;I remember when I was in the second grade and I brought home a math paper,&rdquo; said Smith. &ldquo;I had the right answers on nine of 10 questions. My mom wanted to know, &ldquo;Well, why didn&rsquo;t you get all 10 right? I get my determination from my mom. Don&rsquo;t take this the wrong way. She knew when to push.&ldquo;And I have to thank my dad, too. He&rsquo;s a pretty good athlete and he always made sure I had the equipment and the transportation.&rdquo;The trip eventually led to the NHL, where he was honored as the best of the freshmen last season.&ldquo;This time last year,&rdquo; said the Ottawa resident who was the first pick of all amateurs in 1978, &ldquo;I was considered the top of my field. Winning the Calder Trophy means I&rsquo;m still considered at the top of that field for my own age group. But I can&rsquo;t be happy with just my rookie season. I don&rsquo;t want to go through my career and hear anyone say, &ldquo;There is a guy who never played up to his potential.&rdquo;The North Stars do not seem to be too worried about that aspect. General manager Lou Nanne says, &ldquo;The biggest mistake I made in signing Smith is that I didn&rsquo;t sign him to a longer contract. Bobby has the attitude of a winner, and that will make the players around him winners, too.&rdquo;&ldquo;Bobby is the kind of player every coach hopes for,&rdquo; remarked coach Glen Sonmor. &ldquo;He joins such players as Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin, Bryan Trottier and Ken Dryden as a Calder winner. That&rsquo;s good company, but he&rsquo;s not out of place.&rdquo;No, there is no sophomore jinx expected in the Minnesota precinct this winter.STAR DUST: General manager Nanne signed the team&rsquo;s two first-round draft choices, left winger Tom McCarthy and defenseman Craig Hartsburg&hellip;Negotiations were about complete, too, to bring defenseman Bill Nyrop under contract&hellip;Also signing was free agent Dino Ciccarelli, a London junior who missed last season with a broken leg after finishing third in scoring two years ago among Ontario juniors behind Smith and Wayne Gretsky&hellip;Two International League forwards also signed&mdash;Robbie Laird, former Penguin draft choice who scored 45 goals for Fort Wayne, and Jon Fontas, Boston-born center who collected 36 goals for Saginaw&hellip;The North Stars are training on their home ice in Bloomington, but have only one exhibition there, against the U.S. Olympic team Sept. 30. &#9632;

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Sophomore Slump Not In The Stars For Whizzer Smith

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011080/4003282-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="534" height="416"></div><h2>Dryden Has Class</h2>NEWS: KEN DRYDEN RETIRES from hockey.VIEWS: If the true measure of a man is grace under pressure, then Kenny Dryden was not a mortal, but rather a monument. Because of his size and because he was playing with the team he was playing with and because Montreal is Montreal, he was supposed to stop every puck. When he didn&rsquo;t, particularly in last year&rsquo;s playoffs, Dryden was a man without a province. But he wore the albatross well because he is a winner, and will be in whatever endeavor he chooses. Professional hockey was just a brief interlude.One suspects Dryden didn&rsquo;t take himself or life as seriously as everybody thought. He speaks in low, educated tones and his mind is forever working, but he never came across as grave. After his absolute worst game, he could field a reporter&rsquo;s capricious question with, &lsquo;You know, Al, when you die, they&rsquo;re going to put on your tombstone that you perished because of terminal flippancy.&rsquo;There are stories about how Kenny &ldquo;conserves&rdquo; his money: how he would park his car at a gas station outside Dorval Airport to keep inflation down. And there are stories about his non-stop mind: how he would memorize what appeared on those message boards during stoppages in play. And there are stories about his curiosity: how he would go have dinner somewhere and by night&rsquo;s end, have the owner explain the en tire operation of the place down to the dishwashing methods.In his own right, then, Dryden is a character. Or better yet, he has character. And in a sport that encourages blandness of personality, Dryden was a delightful exception to the rules. Sometime, somewhere, we&rsquo;ll all be calling him Mister Dryden.NEWS: BOOM BOOM GEOFFRION named coach of the Montreal Canadiens.VIEWS: Perfect man for the job, because he&rsquo;s already had his ulcer.NEWS: NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE referees and linesmen gain widespread pay increases, plus fringe benefits.VIEWS: The NHL&rsquo;s striped set has been ignored too long. They deserved more money; they still deserve more backing and more respect. Maybe when the NHL holds one of its fashionable dinners, the officials won&rsquo;t be stuck at a table in the back of the room behind a post. And one of these days, when a player bumps an official on NHL ice, the player really will be in trouble and won&rsquo;t have to submit to a mere slap on the wrist.<h2>The Court Game</h2>NEWS: GARRY UNGER PLANS to go to court against the NHL Players Association. Toronto Maple Leafs plan to go to court against players Darryl Sittler and Mike Palmateer. Junior players threaten to go to court over restraint of trade caused by common draft of amateurs. Winnipeg Jets plan to go to court against Black Hawks over signing of Rich Preston.VIEWS: Johnny Cash once made a song about the NHL. It&rsquo;s called, &ldquo;A League Named Sue.&rdquo;NEWS: GUY LAFLEUR slips a disc.VIEWS: Relax. Les Canadiens&rsquo; skating virtuoso has issued an instructional album to a disco beat. Nothing new for Lafleur, really. He&rsquo;s been in the record business for years.<h2>Helmets In Thing</h2>NEWS: NHL ADAPTS mandatory helmet rule.VIEWS: Presumably, this bit of legislation will be another step toward eliminating violence. Then again, if helmets discourage blows to the head, one hopes that the helmets don&rsquo;t encourage sticks to the midsection. Don Cherry makes a good point out in Colorado. Helmets will rob players of identity, he says. Everybody will look the same out there. As long as Grapes doesn&rsquo;t wear a bubble machine, though, have no fear.NEWS: DALE McCOURT, saying he would rather be in Detroit than California, remains with the Red Wings.VIEWS: I don&rsquo;t think this was as much a setback for the Los Angeles Kings as it was for the California Chamber of Commerce.NEWS: The New York Rangers, pride of the Big Apple, hold training camp in Richmond. Fans don&rsquo;t have the foggiest idea why.VIEWS: Yes, Virginia, there is a Fred Shero. &#9632;

f0006-01

HOCKEY TALK

<div class="byline">By PAT CALABRIA</div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;With the quiet addition of some experienced and skilled players, the New York Islanders may be &bull;eady to repeat as the National Jockey League&rsquo;s best regular-season team and&mdash;finally&mdash;o overcome the playoff jitters chat have destroyed the club&rsquo;s chances at a Stanley Cup the ast two seasons. Few times, in &lsquo;act, have the Islanders seemed certain to make as many changes as they are now.General manager Bill Torrey does not have to be reminded that the Islanders have stumbled in the playoffs the ast two years, losing to Toronto in the quarter-finals in 1978 and being upset by the Rangers in the semi-finals last season after leading the league with 116 points. Rarely one to complete a big trade, Torrey has begun to slowly replace worn parts.Anders Kallur, a swift right wing from Sweden, is certain to help the club&rsquo;s offensive balance. With Kallure, Bobby Nystrom and Mike Bossy presumably the right wings, coach Al Arbour may move Billy Harris to center&mdash;a move he has contemplated for some time.&ldquo;There are a lot of things that we can do and that&rsquo;s what I want,&rdquo; Torrey said. &ldquo;I want flexibility.&rdquo;The Islanders may be more flexible than ever. There are six forwards who have played more than one position and one, Bobby Bourne, who has played all three. Arbour hopes that kind of balance will lend support to the lopsided contributions of the line of Bryan Trottier, Clark Gillies and Bossy.Bossy, of course, is coming off a 69-goal season, the second-highest total ever behind Phil Esposito&rsquo;s 76 goals. Trottier is coming off a season in which he earned the Ross and Hart Trophies as scoring champion and most valuable player. Gillies was voted the league&rsquo;s best left wing for the second straight season.Yet, there is a chance the line will be dismantled as it has been on occasion in the past, especially with the team having relied too heavily on it and the line having been defensed in the playoffs. Arbour was typically non-committal.&ldquo;Not playing together is something I&rsquo;ve thought about,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll have to see, but it has crossed my mind.&rdquo;With those three players and Bourne and Norris Trophy winner Denis Potvin, the team has five 30-goal scorers back from an offense that was the league&rsquo;s best. Players such as John Tonelli, Bobby Nystrom and Garry Howatt provide determined and forceful checking and goal-scoring threats.The biggest deficiency that Torrey and Arbour see on offense is enough goal-scoring from the centers behind Trottier. Merrick played brilliantly during the playoffs and Mike Kaszycki had his best playoff last season, too. Both must remain consistent during the season. And there is Harris.The defense is likely to be strengthened by the addition of Dave Langevin, who played with Edmonton last season. Goalie Richard Brodeur, acquired from Quebec for Goran Hogosta, should provide emergency help for Glenn Resch and Bill Smith&mdash;still one of the top goaltending combinations around.Then there is Potvin, voted the best defenseman for the second straight year and the third time in his career, and Bob Lorimer, who improved measurably in the second-half last season. Dave Lewis adds textbook defense and locker room punchlines and the club will need a big season from him. Stefan Person remains a marvelous passer and an expert on the league&rsquo;s best power play, but the Islanders will need more forceful checking all around.For depth there is Lorne Henning, still a clever penalty killer, and a stable of young players such as Hector Marini, Yvan Vautour and Mike Hordy whom Torrey believes can fill in and perform more than adequately.ISLAND SOUNDS: Persson and Henning are among those who have reached new contracts while former Islander Jude Drouin has landed a tryout with Winnipeg. Bossy negotiated a new multi-year contract estimated at $275,000 per season. He was in the option year of his original three-year contract. &#9632;

Torrey Wants Islanders To Show Flexibility

<div class="byline">By BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02828/4003313-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="602" height="858"><figcaption class="caption-body">Esposito says now he can concentrate on playing hockey again.</figcaption></div>CHICAGO&mdash;It&rsquo;s over, done with, official.Tony Esposito will be the Black Hawks&rsquo; goalkeeper in good (financial) standing from now until further notice.The veteran masked man, who at times has been the team&rsquo;s only link to respectability in the past few seasons, ended a knockdown, dragout negotiation with management about one hour before the team was to take the ice for its first training camp workout Sept. 16.No terms were disclosed, of course, because as Esposito says, &ldquo;that&rsquo;s my business&rdquo;.But feel free to assume that the man considered as the best active goalkeeper in the National Hockey League autographed a multi-year contract which will insure his lifetime security&mdash;even greater than it was insured by his previous contract.&ldquo;It was a long, hard-nosed negotiation,&rdquo; said Esposito, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;m glad it&rsquo;s over. I just want to get down to playing hockey now. I think we have a chance to become a pretty good hockey club, and I&rsquo;m very excited about the idea of playing for Eddie Johnston. I think he&rsquo;ll be a terrific coach. I also am happy about staying with the Wirtz family. They have been good to me ever since I came to Chicago.&rdquo;Conspicuous by his absence in Esposito&rsquo;s honor roll is general manager Bob Pulford. Suffice it to say that Esposito has felt demeaned on occasion by the lengthy contract talks.&ldquo;Two years this took,&rdquo; said Esposito&rsquo;s Boston attorney, Arnold Blum. &ldquo;It was worse than pulling teeth. But I&rsquo;m glad it&rsquo;s done. Tony has a fair contract, and it&rsquo;s a good thing that it was consummated before the start of training camp. It bodes well for team harmony and unanimity to have a man of Tony&rsquo;s stature there at the start.&rdquo;Esposito last June 1 became a free agent. A couple days later, he went to Nassau, the Bahamas, in his role as player representative for the Black Hawks and participated in a vote that actually was self-injurious.&ldquo;He had the most to lose at that meeting in Nassau,&rdquo; said NHL Players Association executive vice president Al Eagleson. &ldquo;It was there that the players decided that in exchange for our approval to merge with the WHA, we would take no stand on relaxing the compensation clause in our collective bargaining agreement.&rdquo;The threat of compensation for Esposito naturally scared other NHL clubs from pursuing his signature on a contract. You sign an Esposito, and what do you lose from your team? Still, as August rolled around and the Black Hawks were still far apart with him, Blum allowed that other teams were making serious offers and that &ldquo;all avenues are being pursued&rdquo;.In September, the negotiations warmed, and on the weekend before camp was to open, Esposito said he was &ldquo;five minutes away&rdquo; from reaching an agreement with team president Bill Wirtz. It took a couple days for the two sides to decide on which five minutes, but, alas, it ended.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m the happiest one of all,&rdquo; said rookie coach Johnston. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the best there is. Taking Esposito away from Chicago would have been like taking Guy Lafleur away from Montreal.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0006-02

Hawks Wouldn’t Be The Hawks Without Tony O

<div class="byline">By TOM HENSHAW</div>BOSTON&mdash;The Boston Bruins are fixing to open the season well fortified in goal&mdash;but for a while there this summer it looked like they might have to start off with an empty net.In fact, for the better part of the off season, the Bruins had only one goalie under contract and that was 38-year-old Gerry Cheevers, who underwent cartilage surgery on his left knee in June.Gilles Gilbert, the sensation of the semi-final Stanley Cup series against Montreal, was a free agent, telling anyone who would listen how many clubs he was dickering with and what wonderful deals they were offering him.Dave Parro, the second round draft choice of 1977 who was the hope of the future, was lost unexpectedly to Quebec Nordiques in the expansion draft, leaving only backup Jim Pettie and Gary Carr, who has spent most of his career in the International Hockey League.Both Pettie and Carr turned out to be free agents, too, and few outside the Bruins&rsquo; organization knew how serious things were until Pettie signed a New York Ranger contract and Carr turned up on the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; pre-season roster.That&rsquo;s why everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Gilbert, muttering nasty things about the inequities of the compensation clause in the NHL Players Association agreement, finally signed a two-year contract in mid-August.And why general manager Harry Sinden was happy to be able to pick up Marco Baron with his 3.80 average and three shutouts from the Montreal Juniors in the entry (nee amateur) draft.And why Yves Belanger, a free agent well thought of by new Bruins&rsquo; coach Fred Creighton, was invited to pack up his six years of pro experience in goal and hie himself to the Boston training camp in Fitchburg.Sinden also indicated there was a chance for at least one of four goalies from New England who were at the Bruins&rsquo; rookie camp&mdash;Ed Arrington of Danvers, Mark Evans of Freedom, N.H., Jim Stewart of Hudson, and Joe McGongile of Wollaston.As training camp opened, Bruins&rsquo; goaltending prospects actually could be called bright.&ldquo;The knee feels super right now,&rdquo; Cheevers reported. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the best it&rsquo;s felt in a couple of years. I&rsquo;ve been working on my knee with the Nautilus. It&rsquo;s a great thing.&rdquo;The Nautilus, a conditioning machine, has been fascinating Boston athletes (and goaltenders, too) since Fred Lynn of the Red Sox worked out on one all winter and began hitting home runs at a pace beyond his known capabilities.Cheevers said he was looking forward to splitting the season&rsquo;s goaltending chores evenly with a rejuvenated Gilbert.&ldquo;The best thing that could happen is that we both play 40 games,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great situation when you have two goaltenders who can play half the schedule each. Eddie Johnston and I did it for years and it was great.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care how good or how young you are or what your situation is, it&rsquo;s just impossible to play more than 40 or 45 games.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got the greatest admiration in the world for Gillie. He&rsquo;s a very talented goaltender. I feel that if he&rsquo;s happy&mdash;and there&rsquo;s no reason why he shouldn&rsquo;t be happy this year&mdash;he&rsquo;ll have a fine season.&rdquo;Gilbert, of course, was unhappy during his last year or two or three in Boston because he spent most of the time in ex-coach Don Cherry&rsquo;s doghouse. He says he doesn&rsquo;t really know why.&ldquo;The first three years I am in Boston I think I prove myself,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But in the last three years I got to prove myself again. The last three years is not the way I want to play, 25, 28 games. It&rsquo;s pretty tough.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been trying to figure it out myself. The only thing I can think of is because I&rsquo;m French-Canadian.Gilbert said he met Cherry at the National Hockey League meetings in Montreal during the summer and the goalie added bitterly:&ldquo;He came up to me and he say, &lsquo;Hey, my old buddy Gillie.&rsquo; Yeah, old buddy&hellip;old buddy Gillie. I don&rsquo;t care if he is the greatest coach in the NHL. I&rsquo;m not going to be with him.&rdquo; &#9632;

Bruins Avert Goaltending Crisis

<div class="byline">BY JIM MATHESON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01964/4003368-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="602" height="1038"><figcaption class="caption-body">Lee Fogolin may not have fit into Buffalo&rsquo;s plans, but the Oilers had offers for him after the expansion draft.</figcaption></div>EDMONTON&mdash;Unless Glen Sather has a sudden change of heart, he will play baby-sitter to a gang of fuzzy-cheeked kids this winter in Edmonton Oilers first kick at the National Hockey League cat.Presumably, he&rsquo;ll be getting the standard rate of $1.50 an hour&mdash;on top of his yearly salary.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there will be too many guys over 30 on the club, not that that&rsquo;s exactly a sin,&rdquo; said the Oiler coach, who looked in the mirror the other day and found himself to be a creaky 35.&ldquo;If we&rsquo;re going to struggle in our first year, and that&rsquo;s a possibility, I&rsquo;d rather do it with kids than guys, say, 32 or 33 with only a few years left in their careers. I plan on building with youth&hellip;like teams like the New York Islanders.&rdquo;With that in mind, the only sure-fire senior citizens who will absolutely make the club are goalie Dave Dryden, who turned 38 on Sept. 5; and original Oiler defenseman Al Hamilton, who&rsquo;s two years younger than Sather. The only other guys on the wrong side of 30 invited to training camp are former Los Angeles King blueliner Larry Brown, 32, and utility winger Ace Bailey, who joined Oilers last season as a 30-year-old.Dryden, who won the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s MVP award last season, is proof positive that he&rsquo;s not getting older&hellip;he&rsquo;s getting better. The former Edmonton sportsman of the year (1977) had a fine 2.89 average in 63 games in &lsquo;78-79, backstopping the pennant-winning Oilers to a first place finish.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think David will be able to handle that sort of load in the NHL,&rdquo; admitted Sather, &ldquo;but he&rsquo;s still my No. 1 man.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s expected Dryden will play about half the schedule, which will leave the other 40 games for either ex-Minnesota North Star Peter LoPresti or returning back-up Eddie Mio. &ldquo;We might just carry three goalies for a few months into the season to sort things out fully,&rdquo; said Sather.Defense will rest entirely with kids. It&rsquo;ll be anchored by former Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; underage draft Lee Fogolin, who&rsquo;s a mere babe at 24. He was an unwanted wallflower with the Sabres, who left the five-year NHL veteran unprotected in the expansion draft in June, but he&rsquo;ll be playing in the shadow of no one here.&ldquo;I think we have one of the hottest young properties in the NHL,&rdquo; said Sather. &ldquo;It sure seemed that way the minute we got him from Buffalo. Three clubs came up and wanted to deal for him.&rdquo; By the time he signed a four-year contract in Aug. a dozen clubs had expressed interest in the son of former Chicago-Detroit defenseman Lidio Fogolin.Fogolin should get plenty of support from onetime New York Islander Pat Price, 24; Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Colin Campbell, 26; No. 1 draft Kevin Lowe, 20, of Quebec Remparts; former Finnish national teamer Risto Siltanen, 21; Chicago farmhand Doug Hicks, 24; and the veteran Hamilton. Hamilton is the only surviving member of the first WHA team in 1972, although his career was almost shortened by two broken legs and a severe eye injury along the way.Down the middle, Oilers will be led by the Boy Wonder, 18-year-old Wayne Gretzky. The amazing talent merely had 110 points in his first pro season in &lsquo;78-79. Ron Chipperfield, who had 32 goals in only 55 games, and former Toronto Maple Leaf Stan Weir are the three main pivots. Ron Areshenkoff, a former Buffalo No. 2 draft pick, and Dallas&rsquo; Tom Roul-ston should fight it out for the fourth line spot.Second team WHA All Star Blair MacDonald (71 points), is still No. 1 on the right side after the Oilers lost shifty Swede Bengt-Ake Gustafsson to Washington.Left wing is peopled with feisty checkers and tough guys. But don&rsquo;t expect too many goals, even if Brett Cal-&rsquo; lighen hit for 31 last year playing alongside Gretzky. Former Montreal No. 1 pick Dave Hunter is an excellent defensive player while Dave Semenko and Peter Driscoll provide muscle. &#9632;

f0007-01

Edmonton Puts Hope With Kids

The International Hockey WeeklyFOUNDED IN 1947Published by the W.C.C. Publishing Co. 214 King St. West, Suite 314, Toronto, Ont. M5H 1K4<h2>New Hopes, New Problems</h2>THE EXPANDED NHL is about to embark on its 63rd season with four new franchises, new whizz kids, new hopes, new color, and perhaps some new legal and economic problems.When the league opened for business in the 1917-18 season the four clubs played a 22-game schedule and only one of them (Toronto Arenas) had artificial ice.In the jet age, with expansion having terminated the inter-league war of the Seventies, the NHL has 21 teams playing 80-game schedules in palatial but frequently unfilled facilities.Whether the present franchise total is too many, as former president Clarence Campbell contends, and whether the farm systems can adequately stock the 21 teams, are questions to be answered in the next half dozen years.But the &rsquo;79-&rsquo;80 season is a milestone&mdash;the WHA has evaporated like so many of Gary Davidson&rsquo;s franchise-peddling dreams, the NHL is now scattered to the populated peremiter of the continent, and players and player-agents are still using the Brinks&rsquo; service to haul their gold to the banks.It&rsquo;s another season without a major television contract in the United States (although the league is now venturing into the cable field) and for the present at least, many young franchises are forced to exist on live gate revenues.As has been threatened in other professional sports, there is the possibility that the league&rsquo;s compensation rule will be tested in court, as were decisions of the league&rsquo;s arbitrator in equalization, earlier this year.It&rsquo;s a year of new coaches, but more particularly of old coaches in new places. Roger Neilson has taken his statistics to Buffalo, there to share them with Scotty Bowman, and Floyd Smith has promised a new brand of fire-wagon hockey for Leafs.Boom Boom Geoffrion is back in business in Montreal, Punch Imlach is back in business in Toronto, and Don Cherry is way out in Denver, baying his philosophical sweetness against the foothills of the Rockies.One thing certain, with so many teams and so few visits, fans will sometimes have problems identifying with their visitors. Familiar faces will pop up weekly but few fans will know the whole guest rosters&mdash;as they did in the days of the six-team league.But on the positive side there will be more clubs with weak defenses, accounting for more scoring, and more teams moving to an offensive emphasis.It should make for brighter entertainment&mdash;which is what the whole thing is about.<h2>Stanley Cup On Tour</h2>ONE OF THE BEST IDEAS of the young hockey season has been the decision of Canada&rsquo;s Hockey Hall of Fame to put its show on the road and to take some of the treasures from the Toronto building and display them across the country before hockey-loving outlanders.With curator Lefty Reid in charge, the Hockey Hall of Fame (or at least part of it) is making an 11-week tour across Canada with a mound of treasures including the Stanley Cup, the Vezina, other trophies interesting memorabilia and equipment.For those hockey fans who anticipate catching the hockey road show, here&rsquo;s the remaining itinerary tour for both Canada and U.S cities: Calgary Sept. 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30; Winnipeg Oct. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6; Montreal Oct. 9, 10, 11, 12 and 14; Boston Oct. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21; New York Oct. 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27; Philadelphia Oct. 21, 28, 29, 30 and 31; Detroit Nov. 5, 6, 7 and 8; Chicago Nov. 10, 11 and 12; and finally St. Louis Nov. 14, 15, 16 and 17.Included in the storied Hall of Fame memorabilia going on tour will be equipment with which Bobby Orr, Terry Sawchuk and Gordie Howe set some of their records.True, the odyssey will be a means of pushing goods which bear the NHL logo, but it&rsquo;s a wonderful idea to show trophies and tools of the trade which so many fans in so many other cities have seen only in photographs, on television, or heard about on radio.The Stanley Cup is one of the oldest emblems of sport on the continent. Better that more people see it, than that it be dusted daily and put back in its case in Toronto. &#9632;

TheHockey News

<div class="byline">DON WALL Chairman</div>This issue marks the start of a fresh new hockey season and the beginning of THE HOCKEY NEWS&rsquo; 33rd year of serving everyone who is interested in hockey either as a business or an avocation.Hockey has changed greatly over this period, with the most dramatic changes coming in the late sixties and into this decade. The National Hockey League doubled its size in one swift move. A rival league was born, struggled, and finally died. Minor leagues have come and gone and come again. International hockey has gone from a seldom discussed, almost elitest segment of the sport to become an area of major interest.The number of universities offering hockey has more than quadrupled. And, perhaps more important than any of these factors, but obviously connected to them, is the fact that participation, the actual playing of the game on ponds and rinks by players from age 6 to 60, has mushroomed beyond belief.But this great game has not been without its problems. The expansion of the NHL and its subsequent long and expensive war with the World Hockey Association has proved costly in many ways. Franchises have come and gone, quality has suffered, and the dilution which sheer numbers brings to the media and the fans have all taken their toll.Currently, we live in a period where business deals, legal disputes and fiscal problems, for better or for worse, vie tor attention with scores and standings, player profiles and predictions.Change is the name of our game.But we appear to be in the dawn of a new era. Many of the problems besetting the business end of hockey appear to be solved or on their way to being solved. The NHL/WHA solution alone puts one basic problem behind us.The continuing development of college and international hockey both in participation and spectator interest continues high. And the playing of the game by amateurs of all ages, after suffering some shakeout in the United States, due in good part to economic problems at the rink level, is on the increase once again.With this issue introducing the new season, THE HOCKEY NEWS is making a most significant series of changes to help you to keep pace with everything in the hockey world.At a glance you can see that we&rsquo;re employing new graphics to make the paper more attractive and easier to read. But that&rsquo;s only the packaging. You&rsquo;ll find the stories more up to date&mdash;and much more interpretive. By means of electronic transmission, our writers can now file their stories later and make them more timely.New writers are joining us. Bobby Orr will take you inside the game with an insight that only a brilliant and dedicated super star can possess.Stan Fischler will ask the hard questions for you&mdash;as only he can&mdash;to present &ldquo;the other side&rdquo; for all of us to ponder.Roly Thompson will help us understand the new techniques and methodologies being employed in the coaching and playing of our game.Bob Verdi, Bill Fleischman, Bill Libby and Frank Orr, four of the best writers in hockey will examine and interpret for you.You&rsquo;ll notice a new editorial and opinion page. We&rsquo;re going to speak out on the issues as we see them. We invite responsible opinions, criticism and counter-point which we hope will help us all to better enjoy and understand our game.In summary, THE HOCKEY NEWS will be more investigative and more informative than ever. We&rsquo;ll stay on top of all that&rsquo;s important in this greatest and most exciting of sports.Rest assured that much of what you value in terms of encyclopedic coverage of league standings, full summaries and statistics will not only continue to inform you, but you&rsquo;ll find them presented in a more up-to-date, attractive and easier to read fashion.Here&rsquo;s to a great season for each and every one of us. &#9632;

A Special Message To Our Readers

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011058/4003502-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="752" height="434"></div><h2>Stars Still Shine Despite Helmets</h2>My congratulations go out to the National Hockey League for finally making helmets mandatory for incoming NHL players.After the tragic death of Bill Masterson of the Minnesota North Stars I was expecting the move to come sooner. I remember players like Dave Balon and Phil Goyette moving to the helmet and people laughing. Well, it is no laughing matter.A couple of seasons ago Stan Mikita crashed into a goalpost, headfirst. The veteran Hawk stated then that only his helmet saved him from serious injury. Still, NHL players had too much pride (vanity?) to switch to helmets. Finally the move has been made to protect some of these players.For years people argued that stars would be hard to recognize wearing helmets. Well, I had little trouble last season recognizing Darryl Sittler, Gil Perreault and Jacques Lemaire. A player&rsquo;s talent and style identify him, not flowing golden locks!TOM GAVEY Toronto, Ont.<h2>Cold &ldquo;Harted&rdquo; Writers Choose Trophy Winners</h2>I am very disappointed with the way the Hart trophy recipients have been chosen during the past few years. The Hart trophy rightfully belongs to the player who is most valuable to his team throughout the season. It shouldn&rsquo;t automatically go to the leading scorer or perhaps a fifty goal shooter.I believe that the publicity of playing in New York (Bryan Trottier) or Montreal (Guy LaFleur) influences the many hockey writers every winter.For instance, this year Bryan Trottier of the Islanders won overwhelmingly with 201 votes. Now, I realize that he is a &lsquo;top notch&rsquo; player, but is he as important a cog in the Islanders&rsquo; machine as Brad Park is for the Boston Bruins? I do not think so and yet Park received one vote!What would the Maple Leafs do without Mike Palmateer (18 votes)? The Black Hawks would be in trouble if Tony Esposito left that franchise. However, Esposito picked up only five votes.Even hockey&rsquo;s hardest worker and finest leader, Bobby Clarke, received but one vote! Something is drastically wrong somewhere.Actually, I thought that Marcel Dionne of the Los Angeles Kings truly deserved the Hart trophy. He does everything for the Kings consistently, year after year. How he was overlooked in the ballotting (47 votes) is beyond me.I just hope the writers will pick a well-deserving recipient after the 1980-81 season.ALLAN TURNER Milton, Ont.<h2>TV Gives Distorted Picture Of Violence</h2>I&rsquo;ve had it with CBS! First, they botched up the telecast of the NHL Challenge Cup series and now they re-run &ldquo;The Deadliest Season&rdquo; TV Movie which gives such a distorted picture of pro hockey that it borders on demagoguery.The movie gives a worstcase scenario of hockey violence. It implies that you cannot play aggressive and physical hockey without it resulting in a death of a player. It portrays owners and league officials as greedy and self-serving, and fans as bloodthirsty and mindless.The hypocrisy of CBS presenting this movie is appalling. During the commercial breaks, there were ads for a violent John Wayne movie, a violent karate-oriented film, and an announcer exclaiming headlines of violence and tragedy in the news to follow the program.Okay, CBS, fish or cut bait. If you believe that hockey&mdash;and sports in general&mdash;profits the owners, dehumanizes the athlete and panders to our bloodlust, then I challenge you to cancel NFL football, boxing shows, auto racing and other events that could be deemed violent.Will CBS do it? Of course not! There is too much profit in it for them to do it. This movie is typical of the hypocritical garbage the media presents as entertainment. Hockey and the NHL are not perfect, but clean up your own act first, CBS.CARLTON LEE San Francisco, Ca.<h2>Selfish Players Must Follow Rules Of Game</h2>I see that Dale McCourt gets to stay in Detroit while Andre St. Laurent gets sent packing to Los Angeles. I wonder what St. Laurent thinks about that.He must have been disappointed when he was traded from the New York Islanders to the Red Wings a few years ago. St. Laurent went to Detroit, however, and did his best for his new team. Now he is being asked to pay the price for McCourt&rsquo;s stubbornness.Personally, I am tired of reading about young athletes who think only of themselves and who throw tantrums when they don&rsquo;t get their own way. The trend is hardly likely to be reversed, however, as long as a player like St. Laurent is penalized for following the rules while a player like McCourt is rewarded for refusing to follow the rules.PAT DALEY Mt. Sinai, N.Y.<h2>Time NHL-WHA War Came To An End</h2>This letter is in response to the reversal of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s decision to award the rights of Swedish forward Bengt-Ake Gustafsson to the Washington Capitals.A statement was issued several months ago saying that Gustafsson belonged to the Edmonton Oilers. Unfortunately, the Oilers and their supporters relied on the integrity of that statement. The four incoming clubs were not made aware of the NHL&rsquo;s directive to freeze all World Hockey Association contract negotiations until the opening day of the expansion meetings. Active negotiations with Gustafsson and the Oilers were established months before the directive was issued.By reversing the decision, the League implies that all negotiations made prior to the effective date of the directive are governed by it. We question the League&rsquo;s authority to infringe on a WHA team&rsquo;s autonomy in matters not pertinent to NHL expansion. In addition, Gustafsson was one of the four protected players on the Oilers&rsquo; list. This leads us to wonder just how &ldquo;protected&rdquo; the remaining players on the four expansion teams are.The terms of entry into the NHL were hard enough to accept, but now since we&rsquo;re in the same league, the war is over, isn&rsquo;t it? We sincerely want to believe that the best interests of the entire league are being looked after, but actions such as these force us to reluctantly conclude otherwise.BARB and BRENDA HENNIG Edmonton, Alta. &#9632;

f0010-01

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY RUSS WHITE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02859/4003533-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Stephenson was obtained from Philadelphia and will be one of the Caps&rsquo; three candidates for No. 1 gosling role.</figcaption></div>WASHINGTON&mdash;For the first time in six years there is real joy for the hockey season to begin. The Washington Capitals appear to be a legitimate National Hockey League team for 1979-80. They&rsquo;re not just dreaming of the playoffs this year. They&rsquo;re working toward that goal.A week before training camp found most of the Caps in Washington to skate in special non-supervised drills. These workouts were noisy and spirited. The players wanted to play.Former NHL goaltending standout Roger Crozier had the team&rsquo;s goalies in a school session and then let them skate and grill on their own at Ft. Dupont Park.Much of the Caps&rsquo; fortune this year will depend on its goaltending. General manager Max McNab has purchased veteran Wayne Stephenson from the Philadelphia Flyers and that gives the Caps three chief contenders for the No. 1 job.Gary Inness, who gave the Caps a tremendous lift midway into last year, is back for his first full year with the team. Young Jimmy Bedard, who began the past year as No. 1 but who failed to keep the job, is determined to regain his status.&ldquo;I can see what the club is doing and why they are doing it,&rdquo; Bedard says. &ldquo;They brought in Inness last year and he did a great job and now they&rsquo;ve brought in Stephenson. I don&rsquo;t intend to roll over dead. I figure this is the best thing that could happen to me. I took my job for granted last year. This year I know I have to work for it.&rdquo;In addition to these goalies, the Caps are also taking a long look at young Dave Parro, obtained this year after he spent a couple of years in the Boston Bruins&rsquo; system.The Caps scored 273 goals last year but gave up 338. They feel they&rsquo;ll score even more this year while dropping the goals against figure.The offensive gang is led by little Dennis Maruk, who scored 90 points last year. That was a team and personal record. Maruk is on the verge of being a more complete hockey player and seems to have found a perfect linemate in right wing Tommy Rowe. Both are former London Knight stars of the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League.Rowe matched Manik&rsquo;s 31 goals last year before missing the last couple weeks of the year with a knee injury. With his power shot and skating ability Rowe could bag as many as 40 goals this year. His confidence is soaring.Swedish forward Rolf Edberg set a team record with his plus 13 rating last year and should be even better as a sophomore in the NHL. Now, the Caps have added Finnish left wing Antero Lehtonen to their international lineup. &ldquo;Our reports are that Lehto-nen, of all the players in Finland, was the best NHL prospect,&rdquo; McNab says.There is no telling how far Ryan Walter will go as a secorid year pro. The Caps&rsquo; first draft choice a year ago oodles in enthusiasm and desire to play, is a tremendous team man and is willing to go in where he is needed. Caps would like to get Walter back to center this year. He played left wing as a rookie and despite a late start because of knee surgery, Walter scored 28 goals and had 55 points.Mike Gartner, a 27-goal scorer for the Cincinnati Stingers, tries the NHL this year. He was Caps&rsquo; first draft choice and McNab is certain Gartner will fit in as one of the right wingers.Robert Picard, who made some second team All Star squads in his second pro year, is a powerful defenseman with much to show. He had 21 goals, 65 points and bids now for even more recognition.Rick Green is another former No. 1 draft choice who is a polished NHL blueliner. Caps still hadn&rsquo;t signed Green, who has an option year left on his first contract. Other clubs waved deals before McNab but with playoff ambitions, McNab wasn&rsquo;t in the mood to deal Green.Caps once again held their training camp at Hershey Park, Pa. Gary Green is the new Hershey coach and assisted Danny Belisle in Caps&rsquo; drills. Also helping is Doug Hinton, former Michigan University assistant, who&rsquo;ll coach Port Huron this year. &#9632;

f0010-02

Capitals Excited Over ‘79 Outlook

<div class="byline">BY BUDDY O&#x2019;CONNOR</div>QUEBEC&mdash;Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; top brass say they have a four-year program traced out which will lead the club to a National Hockey League Divisional championship.Considering the Division that the club plays in, the Adams, which is probably the toughest in the entire NHL circuit and includes Boston, Buffalo, Minnesota and Toronto, the expansion Nordiques have a really rough row to hoe.How will the club achieve its aim? (And it&rsquo;s short term any way one looks at it).Simply with the new, brash and very young tigers, the &ldquo;Kids&rdquo;, fresh from junior ranks or with plenty of World Hockey Association experience such as the &ldquo;veteran&rdquo;, high-scoring Real (Buddy) Cloutier, all of 22 years old.The brain-trust of the Nordiques, general manager Maurice Filion, head coach Jacques Demers and assistant coach Andre Boudrias, are looking to a solid future, but what&rsquo;s the outlook for the coming season, their NHL first ever?Coach Demers is no dreamer: &ldquo;If we can get by just one of the other four in our division this year, then we will certainly have accomplished the first segment of our programme.&rdquo;&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t ever forget, every NHL team and its coach, whether established or one of the 12 earlier expansion teams, has one thought in mind, collect eight points out of eight against us. And they&rsquo;re going to come out to get us every inch of the way. It&rsquo;s going to be dog eat dog.&rdquo;Nordiques dealt well in the draft this past summer and have the young players that will be the future of the club. Michel Goulet and Pierre Lacroix are just two cases in point.But how about leadership? &ldquo;We have it in Robbie Ftorek, a super star player. There is no doubt on that. But I believe his leadership quality is his biggest asset. He is always up, he is fantastic on the ice and even more so off the ice,&rdquo; says coach Demers.The Nordiques, who will cut some 55 candidates down to 22 or 23, will ice a club with an average age of 24, height will be five-feet-eleven and a half and 189 pounds in weight.Demers is emphatic when he reminds you that out of the 22 or 23 players who make the club this year &ldquo;only about eight to ten are now certain of staying in Quebec. The re maining jobs are wide open This includes new players 1 the organization.&ldquo;Look, if a guy is a singer and one night, he&rsquo;s lousy, the next night the place is empty We owe it to our fans the there&rsquo;s not going to be any be singers this year,&rdquo; Demer added. &#9632;

Nordiques Hope To Roar With Young Tigers

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011012/4003588-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="487" height="429"></div><h2>High Stick Brutality</h2>FOR THE MONTREAL CANADIENS, losing Jacques Lemaire is like a priceless work of Leonardo DaVinci being stolen from The Louvre.It is a tragedy. And not simply for the Stanley Cup champions but, on a broader and more significant scale, for the National Hockey League as a whole.The defection of Lemaire to Switzerland has been thoroughly misinterpreted by the English language press and rank-and-file hockey fans.Lemaire&rsquo;s emigration has nothing to do with money or a shorter schedule or the fact that he (originally, before the switch took place) feared playing another season under Scotty Bowman, his BETE NOIRE.&ldquo;I got tired,&rdquo; Lemaire confided to friends, &ldquo;of having sticks waved in front of my face. It got to the point where the high sticking and a lot of that other nonsense was getting out of hand.&rdquo;Those close to Lemaire report that he irrevocably made up his mind to skip the NHL for Switzerland during the Montreal-Boston semi-final last Spring. &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t hockey anymore,&rdquo; Lemaire confided, &ldquo;it was woodchopping.&rdquo;Right or wrong, Lemaire&rsquo;s decision will have far-reaching repercussions unless NHL President John-Ziegler looks below the tip of the iceberg and realizes that Lemaire could eventually he followed across the Atlantic by Marcel Dionne, Jean Ratelle, Gil Perreault&mdash;who knows?&mdash;Guy Lafleur.The bottom line is excessive cheap brutality. Not thudding hip checks. Not a clean shoulder in the ribs. We all know that major league hockey is not governed by the Marquis of Tiddlywinks rulebook.But whether NHL overseer John Ziegler cares to admit it or not, the menacing use of the stick around the face&mdash;which is basically a gutless maneuver&mdash;not only has increased but has virtually been accepted as part of the game.This is just dandy for the hooligan element but where does it leave a Lemaire, still in his prime at age 34, who was the unobserved balance wheel of eight Stanley Cup teams in 12 years with Montreal? There is absolutely no reason for Jacques to leave the NHL, especially when you consider that he and linemate Guy Lafleur were the top scorers in the playoffs with 23 points each.Except that Lemaire enjoys having his eyesight, and when those sticks keep flashing near the retina, there&rsquo;s always the chance that dangerous contact will be made. Bernie Parent, unfortunately, can vouch for that.It is possible that the Lords of Hockey believe that such maniacal MACHO high stick behavior is both a necessary and intrinsic part of the game and to heck with the Lemaires. I disagres.The time has come for John Ziegler to unequivocally define the absolute outer limits of illegal stick work. If I was Ziegler I would urge the governors to push through and enforce a rule that ABSOLUTELY FORBIDS THE CARRYING OF THE STICK ABOVE THE SHOULDER. Further, I would enforce this rule in the same stringent manner that soccer ensures that plyers do not put their hands on the ball.It can be done: all that is necessary is the will to do it. And if Ziegler needs any incentive he should conjure up the image of a press conference next June with the likes of Marcel Dionne telling the world that HE too, would rather play hockey in The Alps.<h2>Fired The Shrinks</h2>DID SCOTTY BLUNDER? Buffalo Sabres, under Punch Imlach, had hired a psychologist-sociologist team last December to work with that trouble-filled club. Professors Al Turowetz and Ed Freeberg apparently had made meaning ful progress as resident shrinks at The Aud and seemed to have earned at least one more full season to deal with the Sabres. But Generalissimo Scotty gave them the hook; a move that could very well put the Sabres back to square one in the Psyche Dep&rsquo;t. (Next week, we&rsquo;ll have Scotty&rsquo;s expiation.)NOTES: NHL will show not one but two &ldquo;Games of the Week&rdquo; on American TV but neither will be on NBC, CBS or ABC&hellip;One will be on Monday night, the other on Friday night&hellip;Overlooked in the hiring of Boomer Geoffrion as Canadiens&rsquo; coach is the role played by Toe Blake who earlier had been hired as Montreal veep and set the stage for Boomer&rsquo;s return&hellip;Blake&rsquo;s influence on the Habs&mdash;as well as Geoffrion&mdash;should not be underestimated&hellip;The irony of Boomer&rsquo;s comeback, as well as the attempted return of Frank (Big M) Mahovlich, is that both passionately insisted to reporters this Summer that they wanted no part of coaching (Geoffrion) or playing (Big M)&hellip;One of the unfortunate victims of the NHL-WHA marriage was Frank Polnaszek, the WHA&rsquo;s ace stat man and newspaper-clipper&hellip;NHL made a BIG mistake not taking him on staff&hellip;New York Post will have the biggest hockey coverage in the States&mdash;if not the continent&mdash;with four men on the beat. Larry Brooks will pen a three-time-a-week column while Hugh Delano, the pungent veteran, and Doug Gould and Mark Everson rounding out coverage of the Islanders and Rangers&hellip;The most underplayed deal of the year: Montreal nabbing goalie Denis Herron from the Penguins&hellip;Guy Lafleur&rsquo;s &lsquo;marketing magic now extends to skin treatments for men. The Flower showed up recently at a Toronto &ldquo;Cosmetic Beauty Fair&rdquo; pushing new ointments&hellip;Hartford Whalers&rsquo; behemoth Nick Fotiu still loves New York but not three of the Rangers. Their heads had better be up when the Blueshirts and Whalers clash Oct. 28 in Manhattan.MEDIA CORNER: Jim (Vancouver Sun) Kearney hit a good point in his column, noting that the NHL botched up by placing a limit on the 1979 entry draft. He zeroed in on the case of Don Stewart, who was bypassed in all six rounds of the entry draft but signed a three-year contract with bonus for Detroit Red Wings. By contrast, drafted players couldn&rsquo;t go shopping. &ldquo;All these supposedly unwanted players,&rdquo; wrote Kearney, &ldquo;have the security of locked-in contracts. Before putting their signatures on them, they had the freedom to negotiate with other teams&hellip;Claude (Le Soleil, Quebec) Larochelle has written the definitive biography of Guy Lafleur in both French and English. His publisher, Andre Veilleux, is looking for an American firm to put it in paperback&hellip;Wise-guy hockey players, beware of Will (Boston Globe) McDonough. Grabbed by New England Patriot cornerback, Raymond Clayborn, McDonough hauled off and belted the big guy&hellip;The blood battle between Montreal&rsquo;s two dailies, the Star and Gazette, could be tilted by the hockey coverage. The heavyweights are Red (Star) Fisher and Tim (Gazette) Burke.EMPLOYMENT DEP&rsquo;T: There must be a place in the NHL bureaucracy for retired Montreal goalie Ken Dryden. The scholar-athlete would be ideal as John Ziegler&rsquo;s AIDE-DE-CAMP. If I were naive, I&rsquo;d push Dryden as an overall commissioner of pro AND amateur hockey but I&rsquo;m aware that the ice politicians, from Al Eagleson on down, would veto the brilliant proposal.<h2>Imlach Dooms Habs</h2>MORE NOTES: Behind the Boomer Geoffrion signing&mdash;Habs high command was worried about potential loss of season ticket sales. Bernie&rsquo;s magnetism&mdash;a la Billy Martin&mdash;was determined as best Catalyst for hyping the box office&hellip;One of the more interesting power struggles continues in the Rangers&rsquo; high command. So far, it has resulted in a stalemate&hellip;I go along with Punch Imlach who predicts the downfall of the Habs without Lemaire and Dryden&hellip;Time Flies Dep&rsquo;t: John Halligan starts his 15th year as Rangers&rsquo; publicist. His wife, Janet, launches her 14th semester in the Blueshirts&rsquo; front office&hellip;Longest running PR man is Chicago&rsquo;s Don Murphy, who it often seems, preceded the invention of the rubber puck&hellip;The death of Herb Elk stung all of us who appreciated his love of hockey and diligence with which he compiled his guides, Herbie, along with Marv Milkes, provided us with some amusing moments in their brief fling with the New York Raiders&mdash;remember them?&mdash;in the WHA&hellip;Likewise, the passing of Tom Lockhart, former president of the American Amateur Hockey Association, and one of the game&rsquo;s superb promoters, also was a blow this past summer. &#9632;

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ON THE CONTRARY

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;&ldquo;When you look at the last half of last season, Pittsburgh Penguin coach Johnny Wilson was saying, &ldquo;after the All Star break we ended up with the their best record in the National Hockey League. That&rsquo;s a he of an impressive record.&rdquo;Wilson is entering the thir and final year of the contract he signed when he became Penguin coach in 1977, buy says he feels no added pressure to produce a winner.&ldquo;I give it 100 percent,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I feel if I do a good join and give it 100 percent, 1&rsquo;n sure something will happen I&rsquo;d like to stay in Pittsburgh for eternity. It&rsquo;s a good city.&ldquo;The players that we&rsquo;ve brought in love Pittsburgh and they want to play. They was to come here now.&rdquo;One of the players Wilson said was anxious to play for Pittsburgh is forward Pa Hughes. The Penguins obtained Hughes and goaltende Bob Holland from the Montrea Canadiens in early September in exchange for No. 1 goaltender Denis Herron and a second round draft choice in the 1982 entry draft.&ldquo;Pat Hughes is my type on hockey player,&rdquo; Wilson said &ldquo;He plays as well on the road as he does at home. That&rsquo;s the balance I look for.&ldquo;The home fans are inclined to get a little more out of you. But I have the forward line now so that I can feel very comfortable that when we go on the road and go in any building and we can beat them.&ldquo;We have depth up front. We&rsquo;ve doubled, if not tripled, our strength in the forward position in the years I&rsquo;ve been here.&rdquo;What about defense and in goal, where last year&rsquo;s top netminder has been traded away?&ldquo;On defense we have some good, solid hockey players,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not discriminating against any of the kids we&rsquo;ve drafted, but looking down the stretch, if we would have a couple of injuries on defense&hellip;we could use a couple of more defensemen.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of good goaltenders in the minor leagues that are just frothing at the mouth for an opportunity. There are a lot of NHL goal-tenders who were in the minor leagues just waiting for an opportunity to prove themselves&mdash;Bouchard, Myre, Palmateer, Smith, Resch, Edwards.&ldquo;That happened in our own backyard last year with Greg Millen when he came out of nowhere. The job&rsquo;s open.&rdquo;Among those competing for the backup position to Millen will be the club&rsquo;s 1975 No. 1 amateur draft choice Gord Laxton, who was the International Hockey League&rsquo;s top goaltender last season; Nick Ricci, drafted fifth in this year&rsquo;s entry draft from Niagara Falls, where he had the lowest goals-against-average in the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League; and Holland.&ldquo;We made considerable trades last summer and I think we improved the overall personnel and we did the same thing this summer,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;We have depth in certain positions now that the &ldquo;players are looking over their shoulders. A couple of years ago we didn&rsquo;t have that pressure. To have that extra competition makes you go a little bit harder. Competition is a big factor in winning.&ldquo;As a result of that depth, we might be able to negotiate a good move to help us on defense. If push comes to shove and we have to make a deal, we have something that we can deal.&rdquo;PENGUIN TRACKS&mdash;Hughes, 24, can play any of the three forward positions. He &ldquo;played for the University of Michigan before being drafted by the Canadiens. Last year he saw limited ice time with Montreal in 41 games and scored nine goals and eight assists. He spent two seasons with Nova Scotia in the American Hockey League and in his last year in the AHL scored 40 goals. Holland, 22, had a 3.89 goals-against-average for Nova Scotia, last season. The previous season he shared the award as the AHL&rsquo;s top goaltender when he had a 3.17 goals-Against-average. &#9632;

Penguins Could Fly With Depth

<div class="byline">BILL LIBBY&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011032/4003643-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="348" height="431"></div><h2>Walter Young Leader</h2>GIVEN THE CHOICE of all the first-year players who broke into the National Hockey League last season, most managers and coaches would pick Ryan Walter, of Washington, although he finished second to Bobby Smith of Minnesota in the writers&rsquo; voting for the Calder Cup rookie-of-the-year prize and was outscored by Wayne Babych of St. Louis in the points standings.Walter was a 6-foot, 195-pound left-hander playing left wing instead of the center slot he filled in amateur ranks and he hit his foes with thunderous impact. He hit the biggest and toughest foes the hardest and he hit them ten or twelve times a game. A capable playmaker and accurate shooter, he scored 28 goals and assisted on 27, but it was his spirited play that impressed.At 20, he provided the leadership that as much as anything else was responsible for lifting the Caps out of the cellar and with numerous other young and promising players he gives the club nope for the future for the first time in its brief and dreadful history. &ldquo;He is a born leader,&rdquo; says Bill Torrey, boss of the New York Islanders. &ldquo;He is another Bobby Clarke.&rdquo;&ldquo;He can be compared to Bobby Clarke and Darryl Sittler when they broke in,&rdquo; says Max McNab, manager of the Caps. &ldquo;He plays the same sort of all-around game and nas their sort of hockey sense. For his youth, his maturity is unbelievable. His attitude is outstanding. Everyone wants to win, but he sacrifices for his team&rsquo;s success.&rdquo;Walter, himself, says, &ldquo;It is a compliment to be compared to Clarke and Sittler. I respect them for the complete game they play. My first coach in junior was Harvey Roy, a scout for the Flyers, and he taught me a lot about tough play. Of all the teams I watched on television, I admired the Flyers most for their hard-hitting style, and I admired Clarke most for his all-out style.&rdquo;<h2>High NHL Standards</h2>DESPITE HIS YOUTH, Walter was not afraid to take charge. &ldquo;I had a good offer from a World Hockey Association team, but I thought there was a good opportunity in Washington and I wanted to play in the National League,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;When I got to Washington, I found there was a negative attitude on the team, as did some of the other young guys. We decided to think positive, get to work and try to change things.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re aiming for the sky and shooting for the treetops,&rdquo; he laughs.He is an unusual young man. He was born in April of 1958 in New Westminster and reared in Burnaby, British Columbia, near Vancouver. His father, Bill, who works for the B.C. Telephone Company, played in Alberta until his late teens when he had to go to work for a living. He taught his son. &ldquo;Always take the body so you can take the other guy out of the play.&rdquo;Another son, George, played for Seattle of the Western League last season at 17. Still another, Brent, was in minor hockey at 13. Even a daughter, Donna, 16, played in girls&rsquo; games. &ldquo;She&rsquo;s real brave and real good,&rdquo; Ryan says of his sister.He scored 130 goals and assisted on 178 in his last three seasons as an amateur with the Kamloops Chiefs and Seattle Breakers and was voted most valuable player his last season in the Western League. He captained the Canadian Juniors in their confrontation with the Soviet team.When he selected Walter behind Bobby Smith as the second choice of the 1978 draft, McNab said, &ldquo;He is not flashy, but he is smart, tough, and determined. He comes from a fine family and has great character. He is level-headed, team oriented, and determined to succeed.&rdquo;Ryan took little time proving this. He injured his left knee playing lacrosse with his brother in their backyard ten days before last-season&rsquo;s pre-season camp commenced. Rushed to Washington, he had surgery on his knee the week camp opened. Less than two weeks later, he was in camp on crutches. Less than two weeks after the season opened, he was on the ice in action.<h2>Star On The Way Up</h2>HE WAS ALL OVER the ice all season despite torn rib muscles and other injuries, shifted to the wing because he was needed most there, skated his wing, checked hard, dug in the corners for loose pucks, took the key faceoffs, accounted for some big goals, scored in a team-record five straight games and seldom was scored on. His center, Guy Charron, said, &ldquo;Ryan is the sort of digger who turns games around.&rdquo;Ryan and defenseman Robert Picard are kids who are turning the team around. Bachelor roommates in a townhouse in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, not far from the Capital Center, they talked more about their game than their girls. &ldquo;We eat, drink, and sleep the game,&rdquo; Ryan says. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re young yet. and it&rsquo;s the big thing in our lives.&rdquo;A good-looking guy, he does like the ladies, but he spent most of his free time touring the capital&rsquo;s historical landmarks. He has taken history, psychology, sociology, and science courses in colleges the last couple of years and does a lot of reading. He says, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if I&rsquo;ll go for a degree, but I want to get something for my life after hockey.&rdquo;An outdoors type, he has been introduced to hunting duck and geese on the Eastern shore and is hooked on fishing for trout and salmon back home. Summers he gets in his four-wheel-drive vehicle and gets as far away from most people as he can. However, winter now is on its way and he is on his way to the top in hockey, thrilling the fans with his hard-hitting and inspirational play. &#9632;

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HOCKEY AD LIB

<div class="byline">By GLENN COLE</div>MONTREAL&mdash;Rick Meagher vas the leading scorer with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs last season.So, he&rsquo;s automatically going to make it with the Canadiens his season, right? Not necessarily.Certainly, the 25-year-old native of Belleville, Ont., was mpressive during the Canadiens&rsquo; early training camp sessions with slick passing and smooth skating his fortes.&ldquo;This year it&rsquo;s do or die as far as Montreal is concerned,&rdquo; admitted Meagher, who had 35 goals and 46 assists for the Vees last season. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what their plans are for me or what they have in mind. I&rsquo;d like to stay here. It&rsquo;s a great organization and they&rsquo;ve looked after me very well during the last couple of years.&rdquo;Meagher, a center, joined the Canadiens&rsquo; family after graduating from Boston University with a bachelor of science degree. A first-team allEast All Star in his final year of college hockey, the five-foot-eight, 175-pounder is tough to knock off the puck and did not back down last season when the ever-present heavies started their goon acts in the AHL.But Meagher would love to be able to join in a chorus of Farewell to Nova Scotia, just as most people who have played there would.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t mind it in Novy,&rdquo; he noted. &ldquo;The people were good to me there. But there is only one place to play and that&rsquo;s the National Hockey League.&rdquo;It was surprising that no one picked up Meagher in the expansion draft. He was left unguarded by the Canadiens and rumors were going around that the Winnipeg Jets were going to grab him. They didn&rsquo;t and now he finds himself in competition with several others for the spots on the team vacated by Jacques Lemaire, Pat Hughes and Cam Connor.Lemaire went to Switzerland, Hughes in the deal which brought goaltender Denis Herron to the Canadiens and Connor was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers.&ldquo;In my situation, I&rsquo;d always like to play in the National Hockey League, but if it doesn&rsquo;t work out, I always have something to fall back on.&ldquo;My brother (Terry) is teaching college (at Clarkson) in the States and I can always get a green card from him. I&rsquo;d like to get into college coaching eventually.&ldquo;If I don&rsquo;t make it within the next two or three years, I might look into teaching.Meagher won&rsquo;t be weeded out. He&rsquo;s a quality hockey player just looking for a chance to play; If he doesn&rsquo;t get it here, he&rsquo;ll surely get it somewhere else. &#9632;

Meagher Set For Final Shot with Canadiens

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div>BUFFALO&mdash;The Buffalo Sabres will open training camp for the 1979-80 National Hockey League season with the same personnel, just about, as they finished with last spring, when they were knocked out of the Stanley Cup playoffs in the preliminary round by the Pittsburgh Penguins.The Sabres are counting on a change of command to jolt them out of the rut of the last four years, when they always finished second in the Adams Division and never got beyond the quarter-finals of the playoffs.Seymour H. Knox III, the club president, and his brother, Northrup, vice president, went out and got the best coach in the league, Scotty Bowman of the Montreal Canadiens.Scotty, whose Montreal teams won the Stanley Cup five of the eight years he was coaching them, picked up Roger Neilson, Toronto coach the last two years, and one of his old players from St. Louis and Montreal, Jim Roberts, to fill out a three-man coaching staff.It&rsquo;s up to these three to influence the Sabres to play up to the potential most fans and hockey people feel they have failed to reach in recent years.Bowman is the head coach but Neilson will have much to do with the coaching; that was evident before camp even began.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02873/4003674-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="604" height="736"><figcaption class="caption-body">Scotty Bowman moves from a cup winner to a team that has not played the way it should.</figcaption></div>The camp schedule was changed and it is believed Neilson was influential in this. Three groups went on the ice in the morning, starting at 8 a.m., and then the squad got the afternoon off.The three groups then scrimmaged in the evening, from 5 p.m. until 9.15.That gave the athletes plenty of chance to rest up for the evening games and made sure that they didn&rsquo;t have so much time to get out and around after the day&rsquo;s work was done.The feeling seemed to be that everyone who would make the team this season would have to earn a job, as there was a surplus of players from last season and the new regime had no preconceived notions.Bowman had 23 players, including two goaltenders, back from the team that finished the season with the Sabres in 1978-79. That&rsquo;s four players over the total who dress for a game.Eight were defensemen. And two more backliners, a rookie and a veteran picked up as a free agent, figured to be contenders for the five or six jobs available.Jim Schoenfeld, Jerry Korab and Bill Hajt were the proven veterans back. Hajt was coming off a season in which he missed exactly half the games&mdash;40&mdash;because of injuries.Mike Boland, called up from Hershy late in the season and a regular for Buffalo from then through the playoffs, headed the contingent of young defensemen back.Bill Stewart, now a third-year pro, played regularly during last season but was benched in the playoffs. Ken Breitenbach, who quit the game then returned, played regularly at the end. Big, tough Larry Playfair started the season in Hershey and finished in Buffalo as a part-time defenseman. Richie Dunn started in Buffalo and finished in Hershey.Lindy Ruff, a 19-year-old who played defense for Lethbridge, the Sabres&rsquo; No. 2 draft choice, is the player who best has a chance to move right into the lineup, according to Bowman.Mike Pelyk, once a regular for the Toronto Maple Leafs and in the World Hockey Association, figured to have a chance to make the club. He played in Switzerland last season.Bowman had four returning centers plus two wingers, Tony McKegney and Jacques Richard, who play both wing and center. Gil Perreault headed the regular pivot contingent, which also included Don Luce, Andre Savard and Derek Smith.On the left side were Rick Martin, Craig Ramsay, Dave Schultz and McKegney, plus Rick Dudley, who plays both sides. Besides Dudley, right wingers were Danny Gare, Rene Robert, Ric Seiling and Richard. &#9632;

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Sabres Banking On New Command To Provide Lift

<div class="byline">By AL SMITH</div>ATLANTA&mdash;Once regarded around the National Hockey League as not much more than a push and a shove, crunchbunch who won when they used their size and lost when they didn&rsquo;t, the Atlanta Flames take on a new look for the 1979-80 season.Once the biggest and youngest team in the NHL, both tags have been sacrificed as general manager Cliff Fletcher has added speed, finesse and experience.New coach Al MacNeil takes over an Atlanta team with more depth at forward and experience at defense than ever before.The off-season acquisitions of forward Kent Nilsson from the Winnipeg Jets and defenseman Pekka Rautakallio from Finland gives the Flames three 100-point scorers and some added mobility behind the blueline.Nilsson, a 107-point scorer both his seasons in the World Hockey Association, combines with Bob MacMillan and Guy Chouinard to give the Flames three players in triple figures. MacMillan finished the &lsquo;79-80 season fifth in the NHL with 37 goals and 108 points, while linemate Chouinard became the Flames&rsquo; first 50-goal scorer and finished sixth in the league scoring race with 107 points.But scoring wasn&rsquo;t the Flames&rsquo; problem last season. They finished with 327 goals, third highest in the NHL, and MacNeil has stated his first job is to get his team thinking more defensively while not sacrificing too much scoring punch.&ldquo;I believe we have to work here to build a tough defensive hockey team,&rdquo; MacNeil said. &ldquo;Most players today are geared offensively, and I like to see the offense as much as anyone. But it&rsquo;s the defense that&rsquo;s going to get you a lot of your wins when you&rsquo;re in the playoffs. I want to see more drive, more forechecking&rdquo;.The lack of forechecking and backchecking was never more evident than last season when the Flames, while compiling their highest point total ever, 90, gave up 280 goals&mdash;ninth highest in the league.To try to rectify the situation, Fletcher made the biggest trade in the history of the franchise when he sent team captain Tom Lysiak, winger Harold Phillipoff and defensemen Pat Ribble, Greg Fox and Miles Zaharko to the Chicago Black Hawks for defenseman Phil Russell, center Ivan Bol-direv and winger Darcy Rota.The trade came late in the season and Fletcher maintained it wasn&rsquo;t made to get his team through the first round of the playoffs, but to help the team in the future.Well, it didn&rsquo;t get the Flames by the first round of the playoffs. The Atlantans have yet to get to the second round in five tries.Now, with the shock of the trade over, Fletcher and Atlanta fans will get a chance to see what long range effect it will have on the team.One thing is for sure. The Flames gave up a lot of size and muscle in the trade. Ribble and Phillipoff are two of the biggest players in the league and Lysiak and Fox are by no means small.Russell will help in the muscle department, and during the off-season, Fletcher reacquired six-foot-three, 195-pounder Curt Bennett.It is hoped that Bennett will regain some of the form that brought him two 30-plus goal seasons in an Atlanta uniform, but more importantly he will supply some of the aggressive forechecking MacNeil is looking for.Bennett was one of 15 forwards with pro experience vying for 12 openings in the Flames&rsquo; most competitive camp ever.MacMillan, Chouinard and Nilsson were of course the highest scorers among the Flames in training camp, but there was also Eric Vail and Jean Pronovost, both 35 goal scorers last season; Boldirev, who had 29; Bobby Lalonde, 24; Willi Plett, 23; Darcy Rota, 22; Ken Houston, 21; and Bill Clement, 12. Also in the Flames&rsquo; camp were ex-Birmingham Bulls Rick Adduono and Dave Gorman. Adduono had 20 goals with the Bull while Gorman had 14.And while not deep in numbers, the Flames did ha quality behind the blue line They had six legitimate NH defensemen with pro experience and for the first time since going into the leag didn&rsquo;t have to put added pre sure on a draft choice by waning him to step right into the starting lineup.All in all, the players as sembled by Fletcher for the &rsquo;79-&rsquo;80 season are the best eve put together in Atlanta&mdash;o paper at least. Now, it&rsquo;s up to MacNeil to take Atlanta&rsquo;s best paper team and make it work on ice. &#9632;

Flames Sacrifice Size For Speedier Style

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011013/4003753-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="538" height="1152"><figcaption class="caption-body">Can Serge Savard and the Canadiens bring the cup ack one more time? (Photo by Ian MacAlpine)</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;There&rsquo;s lite question the Montreal canadiens will have to weat it out this season if ley hope to bring back the stanley cup for a fifth straight time.A hockey club doesn&rsquo;t five up the likes of Scotty owman, Ken Dryden and acques Lemaire, and still onsider itself impregnable, Here&rsquo;s our preview of the Canadiens for the 1979-80 eason. It clearly shows the Habs are on the spot.STRONG POINTS: Solid defence, with youngsters Brian Engblom and Rod angway a year older and riser and likely to lend even bigger hand to the &lsquo;Big Three&rsquo; of Larry Robinson, Guy Lapointe and Serge Savard. Acquisition of Denis Herron gives Montreal solid goaltending duo and of course, there&rsquo;s Guy Lafleur.WEAK POINTS: The loss of Lemaire will hurt, especially if people such as Pierre Mondou and Pierre arouche don&rsquo;t come through for the new coach. The Canadiens will undergo a transition period early inder the new boss whose style differs from that of his predecessor.NEW FACES: New head coach Bernie Geoffrion, and goaltender Herron. Right wing Danny Geoffrion, who was Canadiens&rsquo; first-round draft choice in 1978 but played with the Quebec Nordiques in the final year of the WHA. None of the other newcomers, including first draft pick Gaston Gingras, are likely to be around when the season starts.OUTLOOK: How well will the Canadiens adjust to new coach Geoffrion? The Montreal players will be out to prove that they are still the best and can win without the departed coach. First in their division but they&rsquo;ll have a battle on their hands for the overall championship. &#9632;

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Cup Champs On NHL’s lot Seat

f0015-01

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PREVIEW COLORADO ROCKI

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01819/4003846-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">NHL president John Ziegler, right, helps referee John McAuley with his jersey. McAuley, who is battling to overcome an eye injury suffered last season, hopes to be back refereeing this year.</figcaption></div><h2>Howe Too Dizzy To Play Hockey</h2>HARTFORD&mdash;Hockey&rsquo;s &lsquo;Great One&rsquo;, Gordie Howe, said he will not make a decision on his future until the end of training camp.Howe has been bothered by recurring dizzy spells, a problem he has discussed with his doctors. The 51-year-old aging star of the Hartford Whalers was cleared on a medical examination and then developed dizziness when he took to the ice.Howe has stopped training with the Whalers and said he&rsquo;ll have a better idea of whether he feels he can help the team by the end of training camp.&ldquo;I won&rsquo;t play if I feel it could be harmful to my health,&rdquo; he added.<h2>Hull Still Loose</h2>CHICAGO&mdash;Whether Bobby Hull plays or not with the Black Hawks doesn&rsquo;t seem to concern the Winnipeg Jets. All they want is to iron out a final deal, collect their compensation for the Golden Jet and get on with the new season.The Hull affair appears to have reached an impasse. The Jets claim Hull has two choices: either he plays for them or he stays retired.The Hawks won&rsquo;t give up their young players for Hull. They say they are still talking. Chicago claims Winnipeg&rsquo;s attitude about Hull must change in order for any deal to go through.<h2>Four Join Hall</h2>TORONTO&mdash;The doors of Hockey&rsquo;s Hail of Fame swung open for four more members Sept. 12 at Toronto&rsquo;s Royal York hotel. Harry Howell, Bobby Orr and Henri Richard were inducted in the players&rsquo;category while Gordon Juckes, former executive director of the Canadian CAHA, was named to the builders&rsquo; section.Howell won the Norris Trophy in 1967 and declared then that he thought he would be lucky to ever win it again because of a young man coming up by the name of Orr. He was right. Orr won the Norris the next eight seasons.<h2>Nyrop Spurns Stars</h2>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;Defenseman Bill Nyrop has made it official. He is staying with his business career and won&rsquo;t play hockey again.The much-sought rearguard, who quit the NHL&rsquo;s Montreal Canadiens last year and was traded to Minnesota, has decided to sit out the season. The 27-year-old Nyrop told the North Stars he will remain in Minneapolis where he is a junior executive with an insurance company.<h2>Hockeybriefs</h2>DETROIT&mdash;Mickey Redmond and Frank Mahovlich are attempting comebacks with the Red Wings. It won&rsquo;t be easy. Both have been away from the game&hellip;The Soviet Union won the international Rude Pravo hockey tournament in Prague. They won by beating the Czechs 6-4. They were 4-0. The Czechs were 3-1. Canada&rsquo;s Olympic team and Sweden were 1-3 in the event&hellip;Mark Howe will start the new season on defense with the Whalers.<h2>NHL Officials Get New Deal</h2>TORONTO&mdash;The NHL has signed a three-year collective bargaining agreement with members of the NHL Officials Association. The announcement was made at a special news conference by John Ziegler, president of the NHL.Among those present at the conference was NHL referee John McCauley, president of the officials association, and James Beatty, attorney for the association.Highlights of the agreement provide for a salary scale from a minimum of $25,000 to a maximum of $60,000, based on years of service in the NHL, and specific fringe benefits including insurance, pension, playoff awards and fees for international competition.Ziegler said: &ldquo;I am extremely pleased that we were able to finalize this agreement in principle. It has resulted from a great deal of hard work on the part of John McCauley and James Beatty, as well as Scotty Morrison, the league&rsquo;s referee-in-chief, and Brian O&rsquo;Neill, executive vice president of the NHL.&rdquo;&ldquo;When we began negotiations, the gap philosophically and economically between the Association and the League was great,&rdquo; said Ziegler. &ldquo;However, through a spirit of concern for the game and through a practical demonstration of compromise and a recognition that both sides should keep an open mind to change, we were able to reach this agreement.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02693/4003839-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="1838" height="1312"><figcaption class="caption-body">Four newest inductees into the Hockey Hall of Fame gathered at Toronto&rsquo;s York Hotel for official ceremonies. From the left, Henri Richard, Gordon Juckes, Harry Howell and Bobby Orr. (Photo by Jerry Hobbs)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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SLAPSHOTS

<h2>NHL EXHIBITIONS</h2><h3>Thu. Sept. 20</h3>Buffalo 5, Philadelphia 5Rangers 5, Richmond (AHL) 4<h3>Fri. Sept. 21</h3>Montreal 5, Buffalo 2Minnesota 2, Atlanta 2Washington 7, Pittsburgh 3Boston 5, Philadelphia 3<h3>Sat. Sept. 22</h3>St. Louis 3, Atlanta 3Winnipeg 3, Colorado 2Boston 3, Toronto 2Minnesota 6, Detroit 6Montreal 5, Chicago 5Pittsburgh 5, Hartford 5Washington 2, Rangers 1Philadelphia 4, Islanders 2Los Angeles 7, Portland (WHL) 2<h3>Sun. Sept. 23</h3>Toronto 4, Boston 5<h2>OMHL GAMES</h2><h3>Thu. Sept. 20</h3>Peterborough 3, Ottawa 1Windsor 5, London 4<h3>Fri. Sept. 21</h3>Oshawa 6, Sault Ste.Marie 2 Sudbury 5, Brantfod 2Kitchener 5, Toronto 3Peterborough 7, Ottawa 5Windsor 3, London 1Kingston 7, Niagara Falls 4<h3>Sun. Sept. 23</h3>Sault Ste. Marie 5, Brantford 2Sudbury 4, Oshawa 2Niagara Falls 7, Toronto 4<h2>QMHL GAMES</h2><h3>Sun. Sept. 23</h3>Trois-Rivieres 7, Quebec 3Verdun 14, Montreal 4Sherbrooke 7, Cornwall 3Chicoutimi 4, Shawinlgan 3Hull 8, Laval 2 &#9632;

Scoreboard

<div class="byline">BY TOM MURRAY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01710/4003901-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Goaler John Davidson, who&rsquo;s injured, won&rsquo;t be in the Rangers&rsquo; opening night line-up.</figcaption></div>NEW YORK&mdash;With visions of repeating last year&rsquo;s Stanley Cup final fantasy dancing in their heads, the New York Rangers opened their 1979 training camp on Sept. 16 in Richmond, Va. A total of 80 players, one of the largest groups in team history, participated in workouts and scrimmages until five days later, when the team was cut down to 62 players. Among those who were not present for the opening of camp were:&bull; John Davidson. The injury-prone goalie, hero of last year&rsquo;s playoffs, was the apparent victim of a gross miscalculation by the Rangers&rsquo; medical staff and front office. After playing the entire final round with what was later diagnosed as strained ligaments in his left knee, the Rangers did nothing about the injury until three months later, Aug. 10, when J.D. underwent surgery. The delay, Ranger assistant general manager Mickey Keating explained, enabled J.D. &ldquo;to build up the strength of his knee before the operation could be performed.&rdquo; Keating also stated that J.D. was &ldquo;way ahead of schedule&rdquo; in his ther-apy and that &ldquo;he&rsquo;ll be ready for training camp.&rdquo;Wrong. By the opening of training camp, Davidson, according to team physician Dr. William Liebler, was &ldquo;only 70 percent there&rdquo;. And just before we went to press, a Ranger spokesman told THE HOCKEY NEWS that J.D. was &ldquo;in camp, skating, feeling a lot better and getting ready for the opener.&rdquo;Don&rsquo;t count on it, fans.&bull; Bobby Sheehan. Remember this little guy? Sure you do! He was one that turned the Philadelphia series around for the Rangers and who was described by Keating in these glowing words after the upset over the Islanders: &ldquo;He was the spark,&rdquo; Keating said, &ldquo;no question about it. We haven&rsquo;t stopped since Sheehan joined us.&rdquo;How quickly they forget. Bobby Sheehan didn&rsquo;t even get an invite to training camp. The reason, the Rangers say, is that they don&rsquo;t think Sheehan, a free agent, is capable of making the big club. Besides, they point out, he had showed some interest in trying out for the Hartford Whalers. But when that deal fell through, Sheehan came back to the Rangers, hoping for at least a tryout. &ldquo;Sorry,&rdquo; the spark of last year&rsquo;s playoffs was told in so many words, &ldquo;but see ya later&rdquo;.&ldquo;If he can&rsquo;t sign with another team,&rdquo; the Rangers are now saying, &ldquo;we&rsquo;d&rsquo;love to have him play for New Haven this year.&rdquo;&bull; Dean Talafous. The versatile, hard-working center, who was stricken by a painful nerve injury in his neck last season and who missed all of the playoffs, is still hurting&mdash;badly. He was slated as &ldquo;ex-pected to join the team in New York&rdquo; but, again, don&rsquo;t hold your breath on that one, either.&bull; Nick Fotiu, Dave Farriah, Pierre Plante, Lindsay Middlebrook and Ken Hodge. The first four, you will recall, were lost in the expansion draft to, respectively, Hartford, Quebec, Quebec and Winnipeg. Hodge, 35, was not invited to training camp. Why? &ldquo;A lot of people around the league,&rdquo; coach Fred Shero said, &ldquo;figure he&rsquo;s finished as a player.&rdquo;So much for those players who were not present for training camp. Among those who were in attendance and who showed some promise for the future are:&bull; Doug Sulliman. He was the Rangers&rsquo; first pick in the 1979 amateur draft and was a teammate of Don Maloney at Kitchener. He plays a lot like Maloney, too, and the Rangers think he&rsquo;ll be an integral part of the big club before too much longer.&bull; Warren Miller. At the right wing position the Rangers are already overloaded, with Anders Hedberg, Don Murdoch, Lucien Deblois and Eddie Johnstone. But, according to observers at training camp, Miller, who played in the World Hockey Association last year for Hartford, is as close to a &ldquo;shoe-in&rdquo; for the big team as he can be. How the Rangers are going to carry five right wings is another question.&bull; Wally Presinger. Ah, yes, Wally Presinger. This kid didn&rsquo;t impress anyone with his deft moves or blistering shot&hellip;but he&rsquo;ll never be forgotten for his debut with the team in their first scrimmage of training camp. During that 90-minute session, the 25-year-old Presinger had three fights with three different teammates. And listen to the names of the guys he took on! First, there was Frank (Seldom) Beaton. Then came Ed (Boxcar) Hospodar; Presinger finished up his day by getting sucker-punched by Dean (The Hulk) Turner. The kid lost all those fights and to make matters even worse, Shero, the man Presinger was trying so hard to impress with his enthusiasm and aggressiveness, didn&rsquo;t even show up for that particular practice. Three days later, Presinger was cut from the team. Now, his hockey career over after five frustrating years of trying to make it in the bigs, he must go back home and finally face what he&rsquo;s been putting off all these years&mdash;a job as a grain elevator worker in Thunder Bay, Ont.BLUE CHIPS: Once Davidson gets back into action, the ord around camp is that one of the other two goalies&mdash;Soetaert or Thomas&mdash;will be traded. Look for Thomas to be the one to go&hellip;Speaking of goalies, Steve Baker had a sensational 30-minute stint against the Rangers in a scrimmage; he shut them out and received a standing ovation from the crowd&hellip;Jocelyn Guevremont is finally skating. Whether or not he&rsquo;ll ever don a Ranger uniform and play with the team still has to be determined&hellip;Jim Pettie, a goalie who split time last year between the Bruins and their Rochester farm team, is now Ranger property&hellip; &#9632;

f0017-01

Ranger Docs In Error: J. D. To Miss Opener

<div class="byline">BY MIKE DENNIS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01727/4003932-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Nothing would make Maple Leafs&rsquo; owner Harold Ballard happier than a Stanley Cup championship. (Photo by Jerry Hobbs)</figcaption></div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSTORONTO&mdash;Say what you will about Harold E. Ballard, owner and president of the Toronto Maple Leafs&mdash;and just about everybody who has come in contact with the 76-year-old outspoken Ballard has some opinion about him&mdash;but he&rsquo;s certainly had an effect upon hockey in the National Hockey League in a number of ways.Asked what he would like most in life, Ballard quipped, &ldquo;Another 60 years.&rdquo; After a couple more Ballard-style replies, straight from the shoulder, with some prompting by ex-Leaf Eddie Shack, Ballard admitted that he just wanted &ldquo;a championship.&rdquo;&ldquo;Sports, he added. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s been my life, my interest. There&rsquo;s no prize for second place.&rdquo;It was more than a dozen years ago, in 1967, when the Leafs last won the Stanley Cup. Ballard and Conn Smythe were the principal owners then and Punch Imlach was the coach and general manager. Imlach was fired after the Leafs&rsquo; elimination from the 1968 playoffs and then returned at the beginning of this summer for a second go-round with the club.Said Ballard of Imlach, &ldquo;Punch is the Moses of this generation.&rdquo;Naturally through a summer of restructuring the Leafs&rsquo; front office with the signing of Imlach, then Floyd Smith as coach and Dickie Duff as assistant coach, Ballard has managed to keep the Leafs in the news and the activities increased as the club&rsquo;s training camp got underway.In the first week of training camp there was a front page story in a Toronto daily paper concerning the removal of the famed &ldquo;gondola&rdquo; at the Gardens where the first hockey broadcasts were conducted by Foster Hewitt. The gondola had been dismantled, the story said, and fed into the Gardens&rsquo; incinerator. Ballard explained: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been two years since the original gondola was taken out and what they removed was just the TV gondola. If they want that for the Hall of Fame, well it&rsquo;s only about 12 years old, hardly an antique. We could put up another one and give it to the Hall of Fame in 12 years if that&rsquo;s what they want.&rdquo;Ballard went on to say that he had just got off the phone with Hall of Fame curator Lefty Reid and that Reid had said that he hadn&rsquo;t expressed interest in getting the 60-foot gondola for the Hall. Hewitt also indicated that he had been misquoted in the article on several points and that he hadn&rsquo;t made any comments whatsoever about Ballard.The gondola &ldquo;controversy&rdquo; came on the heels of a injunction by Ballard, Imlach and the Leafs to prevent Toronto players Darryl Sittler and Mike Palmateer from competing in the Showdown Feature of Hockey Night In Canada prior to the start of training camp. However the injunction was denied.&ldquo;I think we were a little late in bringing the injunction,&rdquo; said Ballard, who last year saw his top defenseman Borje Salming open the season with a broken finger obtained during the filming of Showdown. &ldquo;The uniforms belong to the club, the players&rsquo; contract belong to the club and the league constitution states that the rights of the club have to be respected.&rdquo;Ballard&rsquo;s point was well taken and for a change, public opinion was generally on his side, although the NHL Players&rsquo; Association wasn&rsquo;t and the Leaf players competed on the show.Was it nice to have public support for a change? &ldquo;I can stand on my own feet. I can take care of myself.&rdquo;If there is one thing that is pleasing Ballard these days, though, it&rsquo;s his Leafs in training camp. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve noticed a difference in them. Look at them,&rdquo; he said raising an arm toward a Leaf scrimmage, &ldquo;that&rsquo;s the way to practice. You&rsquo;ll never make it the way we practiced last year. It was deplorable,&rdquo; Ballard related, in reference to Roger Neilson&rsquo;s coaching tactics. &ldquo;There aren&rsquo;t any pylons to go around or ropes to jump over on Saturday night. You can&rsquo;t practice one way and play the games another way.&rdquo;Ballard did praise Neilson as a hockey intellectual and as a teacher but felt he couldn&rsquo;t translate his knowledge into effectiveness on the ice.&ldquo;If we sign (Laurie) Boschman, or I should say when we sign him,&rdquo; Ballard said about the Leafs&rsquo; No. 1 draft, who did in fact sign a multi-year contract just hours after Ballard&rsquo;s statement, &ldquo;I know he&rsquo;s going to make a big difference to the club. And other guys like (Rocky) Saganiuk and (Jimmy) Jones are doing well. I know we look a lot better at this time than we did a year ago.&rdquo;When Imlach began managing the Leafs again he said that the club had five or six good players but that they needed more to win consistently. Heading into the exhibition slate, it didn&rsquo;t appear as though the Leafs had made the necessary changes on paper, but GM Punch disagreed.&ldquo;If Boschman comes in the way we plan, if we keep a new second goaltender (either Czech Jiri Crha or Don Mcleod is a possibility) when you add in the increased use of two good young players like Saganiuk and (John) Anderson, you&rsquo;re looking at four changes and that&rsquo;s a lot. The top teams in the league won&rsquo;t be making as many as four changes. Montreal won&rsquo;t, Boston won&rsquo;t, Islanders won&rsquo;t.&ldquo;There seems to be a good attitude here,&rdquo; Imlach related. &ldquo;These players are working hard and I&rsquo;ve never seen Ron Ellis skate better. He looks great.&ldquo;We want to build up enthusiasm through offensive hockey,&rdquo; Imlach continued, &ldquo;Everyone likes to score and it gets the fans and the players excited. Defensive hockey is boring and dull.&ldquo;In the pre-season we&rsquo;ll give everybody a chance to play, an opportunity to show what they can do,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Our goal is to finish first in our division and get in the playoffs.&rdquo;The Harold and Punch show will open its second run before a packed house of 16,485 on Wed., Oct. 10. &#9632;

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Ballard Discovers ‘Moses’ To Guide Leafs

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;Probably the most abused player at the Pacific Coliseum last season&mdash;verbally&mdash;was Dennis Kearns.Now that Ron Sedlbauer has climbed somewhat out of the doghouse with his 40 goals, the fans clearly had to find a new scapegoat. Kearns, not playing well through December and January of last season, became the favorite man to dump on and drew boos at the strangest times.In one game, he was selected the No. 1 star of the game and came out to a chorus of catcalls. On another occasion, when he was playing some of the finest hockey of his career the last two months of the year, he had a pass go astray and one fan yelled: &ldquo;Kearns, when are you going to learn to pass.&rdquo;Well, if one might be so bold, if there is one thing Dennis Kearns most certainly can do, it&rsquo;s pass the puck. In fact, the last few weeks of the season Kearns did everything for the Canucks as he led the defense in every area. And although he is reputed not to be a Harry Neale type player&mdash;that is, a guy who throws his weight around&mdash;it was Neale who threw Kearns his finest compliments.And it is Kearns, at 33 and entering his ninth season in the National Hockey League, who is counted upon to carry a heavy load on the back end of the Smythe Division contenders. And having signed a new contract which will keep him in Vancouver another two years, barring trade, he appears ready to do just that if he can pick up where he left off last year.Among the following he does have at the Coliseum, he is known as the &lsquo;classy Canuck,&rsquo; with a banner strung up in the stands adding to the compliment. He survives by his ability to move the puck and his experience on the youngest team in the league last year was a valuable commodity.&ldquo;He was our best defenseman by a mile the last part of the season,&rdquo; said Neale. &ldquo;He was one of the guys who decided that when things were going badly in late January and February, he was just going to do everything he could to pull the team out of the slump. He gave everything he had.&rdquo;When Kearns is at his best, he is most pleasing to watch. He gets the puck out of his own end easily, and in fact calls to his partner, whoever that may be, to give him the puck. When you see Kearns calling for the puck, you know he&rsquo;s brimming with confidence.Kearns felt the coaching staff was part of the reason the team pulled out of the doldrums late last year and looked respectable in the playoffs.&ldquo;Harry and Dave (Dunn) showed that they aren&rsquo;t afraid to accept input from the players,&rdquo; said Kearns. &ldquo;When things weren&rsquo;t going well they stuck with us.&rdquo;As the elder statesman on the club this year, the veteran left side defenseman is looking forward to some significant improvement in the team.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always felt we&rsquo;ve drafted good young hockey players and I think it&rsquo;s only a matter of time before they start to carry this club,&rdquo; said Kearns.Kearns&rsquo; rejuvenation is one of the keys to what Neale feels will be an improvement of the defense, one that will lead to the reduction in goals against by about 50. Lars Lindgren is expected to be a little better having had a year in North America under his belt; Bob Manno showed superbly in the playoffs; the injection of Kevin McCarthy should help; and a slight reduction in playing time for Harold Snepsts should give him more rest. Throw in the muscle of Jack McIlhargey and John Hughes and the defense has the potential to give goalkeepers Glen Hanlon and Gary Bromley good support.Meanwhile, the team has signed their No. 1 draft pick Rick Vaive for three years and an option. Vaive was signed after the league cleared up the hassle involving the five Birmingham clients of Toronto agent Bill Watters. &#9632;

Vet Kearns Finally Gets That Wanted Feeling

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01696/4004018-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"></div><h2>SEPTEMBER</h2><h2>OCTOBER</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02565/4004011-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="1132" height="1306"></div> &#9632;

f0019-01

Exhibition Schedule

<div class="byline">FRANK ORR&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01540/4004049-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="447" height="435"></div><h2>To Russia, For Fun</h2>BECAUSE THE MEN who were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame&mdash;Bobby Orr, Harry Howell and Henri Richard&mdash;were three of the game&rsquo;s most illustrious stars, Gordon Juckes was forced to play a second banana role at the annual hall rites this year.Juckes entered the builders&rsquo; section of the hall and it was a satisfying day for the pleasant man from Saskatchewan.Juckes&rsquo; field was amateur hockey in Canada. He was secretary-manager of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, a second career for him. He&rsquo;d published a newspaper in his hometown of Melville, Sask., for many years.There must be times when Juckes chuckles as he hears the amounts of money at stake when hockey teams from the Soviet Union meet clubs from the National Hockey League in events such as last winter&rsquo;s Challenge Cup series.Chaps like Juckes and the other amateur hockey people aren&rsquo;t involved in the megabuck dealings with the comrades these days. But it&rsquo;s because of the trail-blazing done by Juckes and the other amateurs that the National Hockey League and its players&rsquo; association can fatten their coffers in exchanges with the USSR clubs.&ldquo;I can remember a tour of Canada by the Soviet national team in 1960 when we paid them $12,000 for it,&rdquo; Juckes recalled.&ldquo;They had to pay their transportation to North America and that cost them $9,000. They didn&rsquo;t make much money out of that trip.&rdquo;<h2>First Soviet Tourists</h2>JUCKES TOOK THE first North American hockey team to the USSR&mdash;the senior amateur Kelowna, B.C., Packers in 1958&mdash;and was a tour guide for the first USSR national team to play in Canada the same year.&ldquo;When I hear teams that have visited Russia recently complain about the conditions they encounter, the bad hotels and the horrible food, I have to laugh a little,&rdquo; Juckes said.&ldquo;Conditions in the USSR now are heaven compared to what they were when I took the Packers to Russia in 1958. Things were positively primitive then. The hotels were drafty and cold, all with those incredibly high ceilings. In the dining rooms, the players often joked that they had tons of silver and no food. They figured things would have been better in reverse&mdash;tons of food and no silver.&rdquo;At the time, there was only one artificial ice rink in the USSR in Moscow. Many of their matches were played on outdoor rinks under extreme conditions.&ldquo;We played one game in Leningrad on an outdoor rink and the temperature was 20-below zero,&rdquo; Juckes said. &ldquo;The dressing rooms were a block and a half from the rink which meant the players had to dress there ad walk through the streets to the ice.&ldquo;We got ahead, 6-0, in that game and then the cold started to get to our players and by the second period, they could barely make their legs work. We wound up losing the game.&rdquo;<h2>No Binding Contracts</h2>IN JUCKES&rsquo; DAYS as the arranger of international hockey exchanges, there were no signed, formal contracts with the Soviets.&ldquo;We had no formal contract with the Russians until the 1972 series between their national team and Team Canada,&rdquo; Zuckers added. &ldquo;We did it by verbal agreement and we had no troubles, although the Russians often tried some little ploys to get us upset.&ldquo;It was interesting the way Anatoli Tarasov (called the &lsquo;Godfather&rsquo; of Soviet hockey) took control of the national team with Arkady Chernishev as his assistant.&ldquo;As the coach, he had great power but he never seemed to have enough money when he got to North America. I can remember the first tour his team made in &lsquo;58. I met them in Montreal, then We moved on to Toronto.&ldquo;In Toronto, Tarasov and Chernishev called me up to their hotel room. They poured me a stout belt of vodka, then asked if they could have another extra $500 to &lsquo;do a few things extra for their boys.&rsquo; They also asked that I not tell the members of the official Soviet party about it.&ldquo;Well, from then on, we just wrote an extra $500 into the budget for Soviet tours so Tarasov could do something extra for his boys. I&rsquo;ve always wondered what he bought to take home with that money.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0020-01

HOCKEY VIEWPOINT

<div class="byline">BY PAT DOYLE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02388/4004080-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="612" height="760"><figcaption class="caption-body">Defensive specialist Bill Lesuk will see action as a penalty-killer for the Jets.</figcaption></div>WINNIPEG&mdash;The ultimate goal in professional hockey is to win the Stanley Cup, but when you&rsquo;re a new kid on the block you don&rsquo;t talk about it.Dream about it, yes.Discuss it in public, no.So, like their National Hockey League expansionist counterparts in Edmonton, Quebec and Hartford, the Winnipeg Jets have to train their sights on more obtainable targets.Making the playoffs would do for starters, but Jets&rsquo; coach Tom McVie doesn&rsquo;t even want to talk about that.&ldquo;I suppose that&rsquo;s the No. 1 goal for any expansion team,&rdquo; he said during Winnipeg&rsquo;s training camp. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s not mine. As far as I&rsquo;m concerned, my job this season is to prepare my hockey club as well as I can 80 times. If we have something to show for it at the end, then that&rsquo;s great.&rdquo;McVie gives his reason for refraining from making predictions on the 1979-80 NHL season saying, &ldquo;If I was to come out and say I expect so many wins, or so many goals, what happens when we get to a point in the season when we can&rsquo;t get there? Do we pack all the equipment away?&rdquo;McVie readily admits Jets are in for a lean year and he warns of the hard times ahead.&ldquo;There are going to be times when the players are going to say &lsquo;what&rsquo;s the use? Why bust my butt when it&rsquo;s hopeless?&rdquo;&rsquo; McVie says. &ldquo;But, we&rsquo;re just going to have to go out and perform our best for 80 games&hellip;It&rsquo;s my job to keep the players enthused.&rdquo;There are at least seven players McVie knew he could rely heavily on before Jets opened their initial NHL training camp, and all but one, Peter Marsh, was with Winnipeg in the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s final season.Along with right winger Marsh, who was employed by Cincinnati Stingers, goaler Gary Smith, defensemen LarsErik Sjoberg and Scott Campbell, center Peter Sullivan and wingers Morris Lukowich and Willy Lindstrom were assured of jobs. After that there were no guarantees.Another player who is bound to be around when they drop the first puck is veteran winger Bill Lesuk. He may not figure into McVie&rsquo;s plans as a regular, but his penalty-killing talents make him a lead-pipe cinch to stick with the club.One of the best dog fights at the 67-player training camp was among the eight goaltenders. Going in, McVie declared Smith to be his No. 1 man until proven otherwise, but he was getting a good chase from Lindsay Middlebrook, Markus Mattsson and Pierre Hamel. &#9632;

f0020-02

Jets’ Readiness Me Vie’s top Goal

DETROIT&mdash;Barry Long, a ewcomer to the Red Wings his season, was one of 13 deinsemen with experience in he National Hockey League or he World Hockey Association i training camp with the rings.Long, formerly of the Winnieg Jets, joined the holdovers rom last year&rsquo;s team, Willi uber, Reed Larson, Greg oly, Thommie Bergma, Perry filler, Jean Hamel and John ilworth. Add a couple of others, mostly minor leaguers and ookies, and you have quite a attle for jobs and, naturally, once the NHL season starts in october, somebody is destined on be left out. Long is not likely to be that somebody.When the Detroit Red Wings raded Danny Grant to the Los angeles Kings in January, 978, they received a third-ound draft choice and &ldquo;future considerations.&rdquo;Long was the &ldquo;Future conciderations&rdquo;. When the NHL expanded this year to include four WHA teams, Long&rsquo;s rights were obtained by Detroit.&ldquo;I think that when a team is on the bottom and having trouble, anyone who comes in has a good chance of helping the club,&rdquo; Long said, &ldquo;Two years ago they were pretty successful. I don&rsquo;t know what happened last season.&ldquo;My best asset would be experience. They have a lot of young guys here, and there&rsquo;s a lot of potential. Moving the puck out of our end, things like that, would be my responsibility.&rdquo;Bobby Kromm coached the six-foot-two 210-pound native of Red Deer, Alberta, in his early days as a pro in the Chicago organization, and, later, for a championship season with the Winnipeg Jets of the WHA.Long played the last three seasons with the Jets. He was the backbone of that club as well as being one of the best players in the league. The Jets didn&rsquo;t want to lose him and Long didn&rsquo;t especially want to leave, but he&rsquo;s a Red Wing now, and prepared to make the best of it.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be interesting,&rdquo; Long said, &ldquo;I know some of the players here and, of course, I&rsquo;ve played for Bobby before so I know him and he knows me.&ldquo;I played with the other guys in Winnipeg. Danny Lab-raaten, Thommie Bergman, Perry Miller. I played with Rogie Vachon in Los Angeles. So I&rsquo;m not really a stranger.&ldquo;I would have preferred to stay with a WHA team if they had not been dispersed. It would have been interesting to see how we would have done. I was pretty proud of that league.&rdquo;Long, 30, left Los Angeles and the NHL after the 1973-74 season. It was his best year and it appeared a bright NHL future awaited him.&ldquo;The reason I left the Kings was strictly because I had to do what was best for me and my family,&rdquo; Long said. &ldquo;The best thing was to jump to the other league. It was a gamble on my part. As it worked out, it was the best move I ever could have made.&ldquo;The only thing I have to see is if I can readjust to the league. The NHL is where of the players wanted to play. Each team here has more star players. In the WHA, we may have two or three of star standing; here, each team has more. Here it&rsquo;s faster. They just have better players. If I can contribute something to the team, then I&rsquo;m looking forward to it. I&rsquo;ll work. I&rsquo;m kind of curious to see what happens.&rdquo; &#9632;

Long On Readjustment Trip With Red Wings

TORONTO&mdash;The decision of the National Hockey League to pay five former members of the Birmingham Bulls a combined total of approximately $500,000, has headed off a legal battle that neither side could afford.At least that&rsquo;s the opinion of player agent Bill Watters who represents all five of the players, each of whom was selected by an NHL club during the league&rsquo;s entry draft in August of players 19 and 20 years of age.&ldquo;It could have turned into a real mess,&rdquo; claimed Watters.Goaltender Pat Riggin, who was drafted by the Atlanta Flames, defensemen Rob Ramage, the number one choice of the Colorado Rockies and first overall in the entire entry draft, Craig Hartsburg, top selection of Minnesota North Stars, and Gaston Gingras, tabbed in the second round by the Montreal Canadiens, plus right winger Ricky Vaive, the World Hockey Association&rsquo;s penalty minute leader for the 1978-79 season, all signed with Birmingham despite having a year of junior eligiblity remaining.All five then signed new four-year contracts in March of last year with the Bulls totalling $2.8 million.Watters had threatened to take the NHL to court in an effort to have the players declared free agents if their contract claims were not settled, thus leaving the players free to make their own deals with any of the NHL teams. The Bulls, along with the Cincinnati Stingers, were not invited to become members of the NHL which has now expanded to 21 teams.The four teams that were accepted into the NHL, Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques and the Winnipeg Jets, are the ones responsible for providing the $500,000 settlement on a prorata basis.According to the expansion agreement, the four WHA franchises were required to pay all of the &ldquo;clean-up&rdquo; costs for the folding of the league and the matter of the five ex-Bulls comes under that category.A special contingency fund had been established by the. four WHA teams to meet contract obligations necessary to close down their old league.NHL sources indicated that the league wanted no part of a court case over the issue because it might have posed a large threat to the entire draft proceedings.The expansion agreement introduced to incorporate the four WHA teams into the NHL determined that the five players were eligible for the 1979 entry draft which had previously been known as the amateur draft.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01385/4004142-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="600" height="754"><figcaption class="caption-body">Craig Hartsburg was the first choice of the Minnesota North Stars</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02254/4004135-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="598" height="759"><figcaption class="caption-body">Vancouver selected WHA penalty-minute leader Ricky Vaive.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0021-01

NHL Will Pay $500,000 To Avoid Court Case

NEW WESTMINSTER&mdash;An incident that occured last season in the Western Hockey League has been rehashed in the court room.Seven members of the New Westminster Bruins were granted conditional discharges after pleading guilty to assault charges following a one-sided brawl in a game here March 22 against Portland Winter Hawks.The seven were also banned from playing hockey anywhere until Dec. 1. If they obey that stipulation they will not acquire criminal records.Those charged were Boris Fistric and Rick Amann, both 18 years of age, Rob Roflick, 17, Bill Hobbins, Bruce Howes and John Paul Kelly, all 19, and Terry Kirkham, 20.Lawyers said that with four seconds left in the game March 22, the Bruins&rsquo; players left their bench and ganged up on the Winter Hawks on the ice while the remainder of the Portland team remained on their bench.Judge James Shaw said, &ldquo;It must be brought home to all young men who play the aggressive brand of Canadian hockey that their agression cannot go beyond the bounds of the rules of the sport and enter the area of criminal law.&ldquo;&hellip;The entire system of hockey as it exists in North America today from midget to the National Hockey League, the team owners, management and in particular the coaches must bear a large share of the responsibility&hellip;You&rsquo;re playing a dangerous game in advocating intimidation and violence above the basic sporting skills.&rdquo; &#9632;

Court Hits Brawling Bruins

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE WARRINER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01418/4004197-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="612" height="968"><figcaption class="caption-body">Al Hangsleben&rsquo;s ability to swing between forward and defense may save his job with Whalers.</figcaption></div>HARTFORD&mdash;Depth and size are key factors for the Hartford Whalers as they prepare to make their debut in the National Hockey League. As members of the now-defunct World Hockey Association, the Whalers could have no more than 25 players under contract. Often they had only 23 or 24 active players.With the restrictions removed and the new challenge ahead, director of hockey operations Jack Kelley and his assistants have begun to build the organization to NHL caliber. By the time the first puck is dropped in the 1979-80 season, the Hartford team will have approximately 45 aspirants for their 19-man NHL roster.Those who are unable to crack the varsity will be playing for the Springfield Indians (American Hockey League), Saginaw Gears (International Hockey League), Cincinnati Stingers (Central Hockey League), or Utica (Eastern Hockey League). The intense competition in training camp is a first for the eight-year-old Whalers&rsquo; hockey organization.Only three players from last year&rsquo;s team were expected to be among the missing when training camp opened. Veteran right wing John McKenzie&rsquo;s retirement and right wing Warren Miller&rsquo;s selection by the Rangers in the NHL reclaiming draft, opened up a pair of slots on the right side. And George Lyle&rsquo;s move to Detroit created some space at left wing.In addition to returnees from last year&rsquo;s team, Hartford will have some promising talent acquired in the WHA dispersal draft, the NHL expansion draft, and the NHL&rsquo;s entry draft. Emphasis remains on youth with Kelley maintaining his &lsquo;bite the bullet&rsquo; stance. Having resisted the temptation to trade draft choices and/or young talent for experienced veterans Kelley brought into rookie camp a strong group of youngsters.The one over-riding quality of the rookies is size&mdash;something that was sorely lacking in the past. Veteran players who dropped by the rookie camp had pretty much the same comment&mdash;&ldquo;Big, eh?&rdquo;Two of the biggest kids in camp&mdash;third round choice Don Nachbaur (Billings) and fourth round selection Ray Neufeld (Edmonton) are given a good shot at making the parent club. Says coach Don Blackburn of Nachbaur: &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll be about six inches taller than any of our other centermen.&rdquo;The Whalers are sure that the smooth-skating Neufeld can help them on the weakened right side&mdash;but only if they can motivate him. The knock against the big winger was * his attitude. Blackburn put it this way&mdash;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a gamble, but he&rsquo;s talented. He got 54 goals last year and never broke a sweat&hellip;He&rsquo;s got all the skills but it doesn&rsquo;t seem like he&rsquo;s motivated all the time.&rdquo;Nineteen-year-old defenseman Stuart Smith (second round choice) from Peterborough, impressed observers with his solid defensive style but, with the keen competition for the Whalers&rsquo; fifth defense spot, he&rsquo;s expected to play out his last year in juniors.Mark Howe will quarterback the Whalers this year from back of the blueline. He and Rick Ley, Gordie Roberts, and Al Sims (Bruins) are expected to form the nucleus of the defense corps. With Blackburn planning to use only five men, returnees Al Hangsleben, Ron Plumb, Marty Howe, and Dave Inkpen will be battling with Chuck Luksa (Cincinnati), Rick Hodgson (Atlanta), Kevin Kemp (Toronto), and the rookies for the final spot. If Blackie decides to use a swing man, Hangsleben or Marty Howe might step up to a wing position.At the forward spots, the Whalers have most of their experience lining up at center. Dave Keon (39), Andre Lacroix (34), and Gordie Howe (51)&mdash;if he decides to play&mdash;give the team plenty of NHL experience to rely on. But behind them are seven other candidates for the center ice spot. Besides Mike Rogers, Jean Savard (Chicago) and rookie Nachbaur have the best shot.On the wings the Whalers have a lot of youth, size&mdash;and inexperience. On the left, Jordy Douglas and veteran Larry Pleau may have the best chance. Nick Fotiu&rsquo;s return (from the Rangers) provides the team with a necessary ingredient. And coach Blackburn would welcome the size of big (six-foot-five) Bill Bennett if he can make the team.At right wing, number one draft choice, Ray Allison, has earned a spot, but the ranks are somewhat thin after that. Bob Stephenson (Birmingham Bulls) has been improving in recent years and may help. Returnee Blaine Stoughton&rsquo;s history proves that he can score but he hasn&rsquo;t shown much with the Whalers.With all those eager youngsters around looking for jobs, Blaine may be more motivated.In the goaltending department, the Whalers are looking to sign at least one&mdash;maybe two&mdash;to augment the trio already under contract. John Garrett and Al Smith will be working to keep Terry Richardson (CHL&rsquo;s leading net-minder) from taking one of their jobs away. &#9632;

f0022-01

New Whaler Hulk Incredibly Big

<div class="byline">BY FRED PIETILA</div>DENVER&mdash;Colorado Rockies&rsquo; general manager Ray Miron isn&rsquo;t talking point improvement this time around when he talks about the upcoming National Hockey League season.It seems a year ago about this time Miron established a goal of around 70 or 75 points for the Rockies, who had finished the previous season in second place in the slovenly Smythe Division with a 19-40-21 record. The Rockies, with top draft choice Mike Gillis going down with a knee injury the first week of training camp, never got it together (failed to win two games in a row all season) and floundered to the worst record in the NHL at 1553-12.&ldquo;No, I&rsquo;m not going to say how many points I think we can get this year. We did last year and it didn&rsquo;t work out. Our first goal is to make the playoffs,&rdquo; Miron said of what could be interpreted as cautious optimism.The Rockies have a new coach, Don Cherry; the top entry draft choice in Rob Ramage; a new goalie in Hardy Astrom, obtained from the New York Rangers in a trade for left winger Bill Lochead, and a recharged attitude.Otherwise, the cast is pretty much the same, but hopes are high. Besides Gillis, another promising rookie, Dave Watson, went down with a knee injury in the exhibition season. Both are rehabilitated and ready to play.Throw in NHL veterans Don Saleski, Trevor Johansen and Don Ashby all of whom will be with the Rockies from training camp on. All three joined the team well after the die was cast in last year&rsquo;s write off season. And add center Doug Berry, reclaimed by the Rockies from Edmonton, and center-left winger Barry Smith, signed as a free agent and a favorite of Cherry. It should add up to an improved club, but like they always say, a lot depends upon how much the other teams have improved. Hope always springs eternal before the first puck is dropped.&ldquo;Well, I think we&rsquo;re way ahead of a year ago. We&rsquo;ve got more depth. And we&rsquo;ll have a lot of competition for jobs. I think that&rsquo;s important. We&rsquo;re deeper in every position now. I think there&rsquo;s going to be real battles&mdash;especially down the middle at center,&rdquo; Miron said.&ldquo;Every position is going to be a battle, especially in goal. Bill Oleschuk has a year in the NHL under his belt and with the addition of Astrom, it&rsquo;s going to be a battle,&rdquo; Miron said. Veteran Michel Plasse also figures in the goalie competition. After showing up at camp last year with a bad attitude and in bad shape, Plasse got himself squared away during a stint in the American Hockey League and seems to have cleaned up his act.&ldquo;I think our defense is a lot better (with the addition of Ramage). A lot of people think we&rsquo;ll have one of the top three or four defenses in the league,&rdquo; Miron said. And Cherry is one of those people who agrees with him in the joint evaluation of defensemen Ramage, Barry Beck, Mike Christie, Johansen and John Van Boxmeer. Defenseman Mike Kitchen, who suffered a broken bone in his wrist early last season and who was ineffective when he returned, will play left wing this season.Offensive production was a sore spot last year. Losing Wilf Paiement for his 15-game suspension took away the heart from the Rockies&rsquo; offense and Beck, the hulking third-year man, was bothered by personal problems and nagging injuries yet still finished sixth among defensemen in voting for the league&rsquo;s All Star team.&ldquo;Some people around the league, not coaches, tell me we&rsquo;ll finish in the top 10 and others tell me we&rsquo;ll finish around 15th or 16th. We&rsquo;ll just have to wait and see,&rdquo; Miron said.ROCKY RAMBLINGS&mdash;Five veterans were signed to multi-year contracts&hellip;They were goalie Oleschuk and forwards Gary Croteau, Ron Delorme, Ashby and Randy Pierce.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01391/4004228-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="598" height="726"><figcaption class="caption-body">There will be a heated battle among Rockies&rsquo; goalers with newcomer Hardy Astrom in on the challenge.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0023-01

Miron Cautious Assessing Rockies Outlook

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>NEW YORK&mdash;Alan Eagleson, who once appeared to have a lifetime job as boss of the National Hockey League Players&rsquo; Association, may step down from his post as executive director by 1982.A memorandum distributed to members of the union reveals that the 46-year-old Eagleson suggested that he may abdicate his throne &ldquo;some time before 1982&rdquo; but will remain available to the association in an advisory capacity.Although Eagleson has threatened from time to time to give up his directorship in the past, such a decision appeared to gain impetus this summer, especially during Association meetings, Aug. 6-7, in Toronto.It was then that Boston Bruins&rsquo; defenseman Mike Milbury, his club&rsquo;s representative to the players&rsquo; union, suggested that a revision be made in the association&rsquo;s hierarchy.&ldquo;What came of it,&rdquo; said Milbury, &ldquo;is that Eagleson indicated that he plans to disassociate himself, eventually, from the players&rsquo; association.&rdquo;In an interview with this reporter, Milbury said he obtained confirmation of Eagleson&rsquo;s intent to leave his post early this month when he received an Association memo with minutes of the August meetings.According to Milbury, one line from the minutes reads as follows: &ldquo;Mr. Eagleson suggested that he would take steps toward retirement as executive director and that a target date of 1982 would be reasonable.&rdquo;Eagleson, who was in Amsterdam when Milbury made his revelation, agreed that the subject did come up. But he added:&ldquo;I told the players&rsquo; association that if they wanted a fulltime man immediately that I would pack by bags and leave. What I wanted was to phase myself out gradually as executive director and stay on as advisor or consultant or whatever you want to call it. Brad Park (a vice president of the association) then said he hoped I would always be around.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to get away from the day-to-day grind of the association; to gear down my activities a little. I&rsquo;ve tried to quit a couple of times in the past but the players have always asked me to stay on. There are a couple of tough years ahead for the NHL despite the merger of the two leagues. The league must find out which of the 21 places they are in are viable markets for hockey.&ldquo;Also, the Players Association has the right to terminate the collective bargaining agreement we have now in 1981. I think we probably will do that and I&rsquo;d like to be there to negotiate the new one. Until we negotiate, it wouldn&rsquo;t be fair for me to leave.&rdquo;Despite his apparent omnipotence as union czar, Eagleson has been regularly twitted for his conflicting roles as personal representative of several NHL players on one hand and as association leader on the other.&ldquo;Eagleson,&rdquo; said Milbury, &ldquo;was subject to all sorts of innuendo and insinuation about the conflict-of-interest thing. The players&rsquo; association has the responsibility of 400 people throughout, the league who want to be represented properly and on a full-time basis.&rdquo;With this in mind, Milbury proposed that a new position&mdash;a super executive director&mdash;be created so that Eagleson&rsquo;s successor would have no personal links to players and would work exclusively, fulltime, as union head.&ldquo;The idea,&rdquo; Milbury explained, &ldquo;is to have a top-flight individual who would earn something in the $150,000-$200,- 000 range. At the moment, we&rsquo;re going to hire a full-time assistant to work with Eagleson. I think that&rsquo;s at least a half-step in the right direction.&ldquo;If Eagleson wants to take the job at $200,000-a-year, and divest himself of his other interests, that&rsquo;s fine with me. But I&rsquo;d like to see someone in there devoting himself full time to this. It certainly can&rsquo;t continue beyond 1982 the way it is now, and I&rsquo;d like to see i straightened out as soon as possible.Eagleson replied that he is not interested in such a fulltime position, but was hoping to find an assistant.&ldquo;What we&rsquo;re looking for is a young lawyer in his early thirties who has government or labor union experience to take over the job as executive director,&rdquo; said Eagleson.The association has virtually been Eagleson&rsquo;s fiefdom ever since he took on the lords of the NHL in the winter of 1966-67 and put the Association on its feet. &#9632;

Eagleson To Pack It In By 1982

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Decimated by injuries, the defensemen dragged the Kings down to the. 500 level last season. By far the most intense competition for positions as the team opened pre-season camp in Portland, Oregon, in mid-September was on the back line.With veteran Brian Glennie not recovered from back surgery, there were expected to be 12 defensemen, including nine veterans, vying for six slots, and there was not a lot to choose among most of them. Coach Bob Berry and new assistant Frank St. Marseille hoped one of three rookies would prove worthy.The club could come into the October opener with seven or eight defensemen, but Berry said he expected to make the hard cuts earlier than the team did the last two seasons. A veteran or two who did not make it might not be cut so the club could try to make some sort of deal first.The candidates and the ages they will be at year&rsquo;s end:Right-handers: Randy Manery, 30; Barry Gibbs, 31; Randy Holt, 26; Rob Palmer, 23; Mark Hardy, 19; John Gibson, 20.Left-handers: Darryl Edestrand, 34; Brad Selwood, 31; Doug Halward, 24; Rick Hampton, 23; Richard Mulhern, 24; Jay Wells, 20.Wells, Hardy, and Gibson are rookies right out of the amateur ranks, selected on the first, second, and fourth rounds, respectively.A 204-pound defenseman, Wells has to be given a good look, but it is interesting that Gibbs (1966), Selwood (1968), and Hampton (1974), and Mulhern (1975) were first-rounders, found wanting by other teams, who made their way to this team.Gibbs, obtained in a trade for Tommy Williams, has played for Boston, Minnesota, Atlanta, and St. Louis in a checkered 12-year National Hockey League career and he doesn&rsquo;t hit the way he did before injuries took something out of him, though he is a 200-pounder.He will get a good chance because he is new and has shown leadership qualities in the past. So will Selwood, a six-foot-one 200-pound veteran of Toronto and New England, signed by Montreal but recently dealt to L.A.Halward, Hampton, Mulhern, and Edestrand had disappointing seasons last year, but injuries reduced their performances. Age is against Edestrand, but he was one of the team&rsquo;s few hitters last season. Age favors Halward and he was one of the team&rsquo;s best puck-carriers last season.Manery has been the team&rsquo;s best all-around defenseman the last two seasons. Palmer is developing into a good all-around defenseman. Holt was picked up to provide muscle late last season and he did. Although second in the league in penalty minutes with 282, he did not act like a goon.The odds favor Manery, Palmer, and Holt, with Gibbs and Halward early favorites in the run for the three other slots.One problem is that Manery, Palmer, Holt and Gibbs all are right-handers, while Wells is a left-hander who has been playing the right side. However, some can and have played the off-side.There is a lot of youth here, but more quantity than quality. There remains the chance the Kings will yet develop another deal for another defenseman. They have taken a chance on several &ldquo;castoffs&rdquo; in recent seasons in hopes of finding a &ldquo;sleeper&rdquo;.Unlike Jack Kent Cooke, new owner Jerry Buss believes in building with amateur stars out of the draft, but the team now is not a new one and it now will be 1982 or 1983 before the Kings can figure out if they received fair compensation for the 1978 loss of Vachon.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01406/4004283-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="589" height="1114"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rob Palmer is developing into a good all-around defenseman and should be a big asset to the Kings.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Competition intense For L.A. Defense Posts

<div class="byline">BY DONALD BERNS</div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;The success of the St. Louis Blues this season may depend on the success of coach Barclay Plager&rsquo;s efforts to put together a second big scoring line.The Blues already have the spectacular trio of Bernie Federko, Brian Sutter and Wayne Babych. Plager probably will resist any temptations to tamper with that unit.But the scoring power of that line last season was not enough to move the Blues higher than the second-worst record in the league. The team&rsquo;s goals-against record was the worst in the league.So, Plager&rsquo;s task is to experiment with various combinations of his old and new forwards to form that second dependable scoring line. He seems to have the talent for such a line. The likely candidates are centers Mike Zuke or Blake Dunlop, right wingers Bob Murdoch or Mike Crombeen or perhaps Tony Currie and left wings Chuck Lefley, returning from Europe, or top draft choice Perry Turnbull.The Blues, who strengthened their defensive corps by acquiring Rick Lapointe and Bryan Maxwell in trades, pointed toward the task of assembling a second scoring line when they decided to draft Turnbull rather than one of the highly prized defensemen available to the team picking second. Turnbull also plays center but scores more from the wing. The Blues have enough centers but they definitely need scoring from the wings.The Blues strengthened themselves during the off-season, but other teams also have been strengthened, partly because of the players available from World Hockey Association teams which went out of business.The off-season trading and drafting was not without cost. The Blues start the season without goalie Phil Myre, defenseman and captain Barry Gibbs and wingers Curt Bennett and Inge Hammarstrom.The dispatching of Myre to Philadelphia puts a burden of responsibility on the young, broad shoulders of Ed Staniowski. The tough, little goalie is ready for that responsibility.&ldquo;Eddie came a long way last year,&rdquo; Plager said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a competitive little guy.&rdquo;As backup for Staniowski, the Blues have acquired Mike Liut, who was with Cincinnati in the WHA last season.The troops in front of the St. Louis goalie should be more reliable this season after they become accustomed to playing with one another. In addition to Lapointe and Maxwell, the Blues have acquired Joe Micheletti to go with steady Bob Stewart, Jack Brownschidle and Larry Giroux. Neil Labatte, Bruce Affleck, Dick Lamby and Steve Durbano are also ready to serve.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re happy with the players we have,&rdquo; Plager said. &ldquo;We have young guys with ability, and we have good depth. The nucleus of our team is 20, 21 and 22 years old.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not going to be world beaters but we&rsquo;re going somewhere; our players believe it,&rdquo; the coach said. &ldquo;We know we&rsquo;re not going to have another season with only 18 wins. We&rsquo;ve stopped the backsliding in St. Louis.&rdquo; &#9632;

More Second Line Scoring May Reverse Blues’ Slide

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;&ldquo;New Faces of &lsquo;79&rdquo; may be the Flyers&rsquo; theme as another season begins. As Fred Shero used to say, &ldquo;Why not?&rdquo;Although many forget the Flyers had a respectable regular season a year ago&mdash;only four teams won more than their 40 games&mdash;the Rangers&rsquo; humiliating hammering in the Stanley Cup quarter-finals convinced general manager Keith Allen and coach Pat Quinn it was time to introduce some new people in the lineup.Allen was able to make just one trade during the summer, bringing in capable goaltender Phil Myre. There is hope that the club&rsquo;s top two draft choices, left wing Brian Propp and defenseman Blake Wesley, will be impressive enough to start the season in Philadelphia. But Quinn isn&rsquo;t counting on seeing the two on Spectrum ice soon.&ldquo;The way I approach rookies is, I don&rsquo;t expect them to be members of the team,&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;If they are, it&rsquo;s a bonus for us. I don&rsquo;t want to put the type of pressure on them that some people here, and through the whole league, faced last year.&rdquo;The positions that Propp and Wesley play have openings and are two of Quinn&rsquo;s biggest problem areas.After Bill Barber, there are no established left wingers. A rejuvenated Rick MacLeish may play left wing again, but he prefers center.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m as good as any tenter we have,&rdquo; the normally humble MacLeish said prior to training camp. With Bobby Clarke, Mel Bridgman and Ken Linseman available centre is one position Quinn&rsquo;s not worried about.&ldquo;If that&rsquo;s Rick&rsquo;s attitude, what an addition he&rsquo;ll be for us,&rdquo; said Quinn. &ldquo;But he has to realize I&rsquo;ll use him with the team&rsquo;s interest in mind.&rdquo;Which means MacLeish, returning from an unproductive (26-32-58), injury-marred season may play the left side permanently. Other left wing candidates include veteran Bob Kelly (7-31-38), Danny Lucas (21-19-40 at Maine), Yves Preston (35-32-67 at Maine) and Grinder Al Hill, who divided the season between the Flyers and the American Hockey League champion Mariners. Veteran Barry Dean, who was demoted to Maine last season, also will be in camp.&ldquo;Preston had an excellent camp,&rdquo; Quinn said, referring to the gathering of rookies and free agents in Yarmouth, Maine. &ldquo;So did Gary Morrison. He was probably the real pleasant surprise of the camp. But if we needed good news, it certainly wasn&rsquo;t at right wing.&rdquo;Morrison, a fifth-round draft choice out of the University of Michigan in 1975, had only 14 goals and 15 assists last season for the Mariners. But he is developing fast and the Flyers like his size (six-foot-two, 200 pounds), and potential.Morrison&rsquo;s problem will be trying to dislodge Reggie Leach, whose 34 goals tied him with Barber for the club lead last season, plus Paul Holmgren, T. J. Gorence and Dennis Ververgaert.If the Flyers were as deep on defense as they are at right wing and center, Quinn and Allen could relax. After Bob Dailey, Jim Watson, Behn Wilson and A. Moose Dupont, there are no sure-shot candidates. Wesley, a six-foot-one 200-pound Jim Schoenfeld lookalike from the Portland Winter Hawks, could qualify as a fifth defenseman.Quinn says he&rsquo;s maintaining an open mind about a goaltender to keep Myre company. The Flyers&rsquo; brass rates Pete Peeters the leading contender, but don&rsquo;t tell that to Robbie Moore or Rick St. Croix. &#9632;

Flyers Won’t Pressure Rookies

LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSSPRINGFIELD&mdash;It will be the old meeting the new when the Hershey Bears meet the Adirondack Red Wings in game one of the 1979-80 schedule on Thursday, Oct. 11 in Glens Falls, N.Y.The Bears are the oldest active franchise in the American Hockey League while the Red Wings will be facing off for the first time.The Syracuse Firebirds, transplanted from Philadelphia during the summer, will be in Halifax to meet the Nova Scotia Voyageurs in the other game scheduled on opening night.This year&rsquo;s unbalanced schedule, 400 games long, will expand over 179 days and calls for each team to play the teams within its own division, six times (six at home and six away), the teams in the other division three times and one extra game against its closest geographical rival. This will give each team 40 games at home and 40 away which is identical to last year.Weekend hockey is the name of the game as the AHL heads into its 44th year. More than half of the 400 games will be played on weekend dates, 275 to be exact. As in the past, Saturday proves the most popular with 104 games. Next comes Friday night with 88 and Sunday with 83. Surprisingly enough Wednesday has more games than Sunday with 87 scheduled at mid-week.Assuming that all teams traveling to and from the Maritimes will go via Boston, it is estimated the 10 teams in the AHL will log a total of 208,700 miles during the 1979-80 season. Under the 40 game home schedule, it is estimated the average miles traveled per team will be 20,870.As naturally expected, because of their geographic location, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia will be compelled to travel the greater distances. It is estimated New Brunswick will travel approximately 37,000 miles and Nova Scotia approximately 28,000.Travel distances for the teams based in the U.S. is considerably less, each of the eight teams averaging about 18,000 miles. It is estimated Hershey of this group will travel the most miles logging approximately 19,800 miles while Binghamton is scheduled to travel the least (15,800 miles) because of their proximity to the other teams.Each member club will make on the average, 23 to 24 trips during the course of the season.This year will mark the sixth time the AHL has fielded 10 teams. Only Springfield, Hershey and New Haven were around in the first 10-team year, 1941-42. Other 10-team years included 1946-47, 1949-50, 1950-51 and 1974-75. &#9632;

AHL Teams Kept Hopping On Weekends

<div class="byline">BY JIM LEAHY</div>GLENS FALLS&mdash;The American Hockey League expanded to this upstate New York area with great expectations for the new season. The Red Wings hope to sell 4,000 season tickets and look to the parent National Hockey League club in Detroit to make Adirondack a winner in the tough Northern Division against the likes of the Maine Mariners, Nova Scotia Voyageurs and New Brunswick Hawks.Adirondack will start with many of the players who skated for Detroit&rsquo;s Central Hockey League franchise in Kansas City last year. AHL fans should see CHL All Stars Mal Davis, a left winger, and J. P. LeBlanc who can play centre or left wing, in action. Defensemen Steve Short, Rick Vasko, John Taft, Lorry Gloeckner and John Hilworth could also be in Adirondack this season unfortunately, CHL All Star goaltender Ron Low was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques and will not be around to help the AHL Wings.Detroit held its rookie camp in Glens Falls and scheduled two pre-season contests in the new Civic Center. Hartford Whalers will play here on Oct. 3 and Quebec Nordiques on Oct. 6.NOVA SCOTIA: It&rsquo;s Montreal against Boston on Oct. 2 in the magnificent Halifax Metro Center with many of the players skating for Montreal expected to be in a Voyageur uniform once the AHL season starts. Coach Bert Templeton&rsquo;s Vees received a blow when goaltender Bob Holland was traded by Montreal to Pittsburgh during the summer. However, the Vees will still have a powerful club.SPRINGFIELD: The Indians will travel to Glens Falls to play a pre-season contest with Adirondack on Sept. 29 and the same two clubs will skate at the Big E in an Oct. 6 rematch as new coach Larry Kish begins to get his club ready for the upcoming AHL season. Whalers director of hockey operations, Jack Kelley, said &ldquo;Indians&rsquo; coach Larry Kish feels to be competitive his team must have a well balanced offense as well as being physically strong to stand up to the type of contact displayed in the American Hockey League. The Tribe may be running a constant shuffle of players across the river to the Whalers this season as the new teams in the NHL search for a winning combination, a situation that has created havoc among some AHL teams in the past, resulting in the purchase of free agents to add a bit of stability to the club. At any rate, the Indians may have a rough time with the very competitive Northern Division.MAINE: The parent Philadelphia Flyers selected four forwards, two defensemen and a goaltender in the recent NHL draft. Some of their selections could be skating in Portland this winter, adding to what is already the most potent team in the AHL.The Flyers chose left winger Brian Propp of Brandon in the first round after the five-foot-nine 185-pounder scored 194 points last year in the WHL. He led the league in scoring for the second straight year, picking up an amazing dozen hat tricks last season. Propp will probably stay with the Flyers.Their second pick was defenseman Blake Wesley who had 52 points and 292 penalty minutes, also in the WHL last year. The six-foot-one 200-pound rearguard will almost certainly be a Mariner in the &lsquo;79-80 campaign. Goaltender Pelle Lindberg from Sweden was picked third by the parent club. However, he may have a difficult time making the AHL with the number of good net-minders currently in camp.Two 19-year-old skaters were chosen next and will be returned to their respective junior clubs if they don&rsquo;t make the Flyers. Another Swedish player, defenseman Thomas Ericksson was a fifth round pick. The Flyers added a 19-year-old right winger named Gord Williams as their last draft pick.Pre-season contests in Maine include Washington against Philadelphia on Oct. 3 and the Mariners against the U.S. Olympic team on Monday, Oct. 8.NEW HAVEN: The Nighthawks will open training camp in Richmond, Va., with the New York Rangers. Nearly 80 players, one of the largest groups in Ranger history, will be on hand. Nighthawk general manager-coach Parker MacDonald will join Fred Shero and his assistants and run the skaters through grueling drills before the roster is thinned and minor league assignments are made. Being the Rangers&rsquo; top development club means that the Nighthawks will once again be loaded with talent. A new addition to the Ranger organization will be the Richmond Rifles of the Eastern Hockey League, who will serve as a farm team for the Nighthawks.Season ticket sales are nearing the 2,000 mark, an increase of more than 400.HERSHEY: The parent Washington Capitals went through four-a-day continuous game conditioning scrimmages at the Hersheypark Arena during training camp. Each of the four squads contained a mixture of veterans and rookies.We look for this move to bring competition to a peak,&rdquo; said general manager Max McNab. &ldquo;Last year we divided the players into two squads, and that may have killed some initiative. These teams were together for three days in Hershey and we gave our rookies a chance to show what they can do under actual game conditions.&rdquo;BINGHAMTON: Randy MacGregor, who was leading the league in scoring before suffering a knee injury last year, will be in the Boston training camp as a free agent. He should play in all of the pre-season games for the Bruins and could be a Duster this season if the NHL club offers him a contract.ROCHESTER: The parent Buffalo Sabres wil play a preseason contest at the War Memorial Auditorium in Rc Chester on Oct. 1 against the Don Cherry-coached Colorado Rockies. Cherry was an extremely popular coach in Rochester, winning AHL coach of the year honors while with the Amerks. &#9632;

Glens Falls Making Big Pitch Hoping NHL Wings Will Deliver

SYRACUSE&mdash;The Firebirds have signed a working agreement with the Pittsburgh Penguins that will bring as many as six players to Syracuse this season from the NHL club. Most of the Firebird skaters will be affiliated with Quebec, however. Under the terms of the deal with Pittsburgh, the AHL club will have the first right of refusal on all Pittsburgh-owned players who do not make the NHL.For the last two years, the Penguins have had a working agreement with Binghamton and have sent the Dusters such standout players as Jacques Cossette, Mario Faubert, Jim Hamilton, Tom Price and Mike Meeker. Last season, Meeker won rookie-of-the-year honors in the AHL.&ldquo;We are fortunate to be able to work with teams such as Pittsburgh and Quebec,&rdquo; commented Firebird&rsquo;s director of operations John Den Hamer. &ldquo;The Penguins made their mark on the NHL last year with a tremendous improvement in their organization. We will gain flexibility by working with two clubs, especially as sound as these two are.&rdquo;Penguins&rsquo; general manager Baz Bastein remarked that he was &ldquo;very pleased&rdquo; with the association, and added, &ldquo;I think we have some good young hockey talent, and with the combination of Quebec and ourselves, I&rsquo;m sure you&rsquo;ll have a winner in Syracuse.&rdquo;Syracuse area hockey fans will get a chance to see the Firebirds two parent teams in action at the War Memorial on Oct. 2 in a pre-season contest. &#9632;

Syracuse Gets First Crack At Penguins’ NHL Rejects

<div class="byline">By TOM LOBAUGH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01357/4004434-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="610" height="1012"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jim Wiley is back in Tulsa and that&rsquo;s good news for the Oilers.</figcaption></div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSTULSA&mdash;Jim Wiley, 29-year-old center, who was playingassistant coach for the Tulsa Oilers last season, will be back with the club for the 1979-80 campaign. It will be Jim&rsquo;s seventh season in pro hockey, his fourth with the Oilers.When Wiley signed with the parent Winnipeg Jets, it marked the third National Hockey League club to whom he has been under contract.Jim was already enrolled at the University of Tulsa in pursuit of his doctor&rsquo;s degree. That meant his trips to the parent club&rsquo;s training camp in Winnipeg were for weekends only, because of class commitments.Jets&rsquo; player personnel direcor Mike Doran commented, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very much impressed with Wiley, both with his skills and his knowledge of hockey. He can be a big asset for us here in Tulsa.&rdquo;As a Vancouver farmhand, Jim was the Central League&rsquo;s eading scorer in 1975-76 (33 goals, 96 points) and led the Oilers to the Adams Cup. A raining camp injury sidelined rim for part of the next season, but he managed 17 goals and 34 points for Tulsa (29 games) and 10 points in 34 games for Vancouver.New Oiler coach Mike Smith assistant coach with the Coloado Rockies last season) wouldn&rsquo;t be sure of which other players he would get from the lets&rsquo; training camp, but expressed hope for an aggressive Hub.&ldquo;With this size rink (the Assembly Center ice surface is smaller than other Central Hockey League rinks, if you don&rsquo;t play a physical game, you&rsquo;re forfeiting one of your advantages,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;I grew up in a town with a rink exactly this size (Potsdam, N.Y.), and played my college hockey in the same rink (Clarkson), so I&rsquo;m quite familiar with a smaller rink.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want a brawling team, but when the puck goes into a corner, I expect some of our people to go in after it. That&rsquo;s the only way we can be competitive.&rdquo;CINCINNATI: Bringing the CHL back to Cincinnati for the first time since 1963-64, general manager Ron Ryan was looking to four parent clubs. All four of the latest National Hockey League expansion teams&mdash;the Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, Winnipeg Jets, and Edmonton Oilers&mdash;were to supply players, with the biggest contingent expected from Hartford, where Stinger coach Al Karlander would be in training camp.Ryan was assured that any former World Hockey Association Stingers on the rosters of the four expansion clubs would come to the new CHL Stingers, if they failed to make the parent club.INDIANAPOLIS: The first player signed by the new CHL Checkers was goaltender Jim Park, a former Indianapolis Racer in the WHA.Bert Marshall, making his coaching debut after a standout playing career with the parent New York Islanders, was heading for that club&rsquo;s training camp to see what talent would be coming his way. The Checkers hired Craig Smith, formerly with Fort Wayne in the International League, as trainer, and named Cheryl Carter publicist.FORT WORTH: Earl Curtis, formerly trainer with the CHL Kansas City Red Wings, took over that post with the Texans. General manager Cliff Overcash was excited about prospects at the camp of the parent Colorado Rockies, but Cliff and new coach Ron Ullyot were still in the dark as to personnel coming to Fort Worth.Overcash was making an attempt to sign three former Texans now on the free-agent market&mdash;forwards Dave Salvian and Garth MacGuigan and defenseman Neil Nicholson. Overcash said the Fort Worth games apparently will not be broadcast this season.HOUSTON: The Apollos took on more of an Aeros look, when Bobby Kincade, who trained Houston&rsquo;s WHA club, became trainer of the new CHL entry. Two former Aero defensemen, Paul Popiel and Glen Irwin, were already under Apollo contracts.Manager-coach Al Rollins was looking for a strong Houston club to come down from Edmonton&rsquo;s training camp. One of the names which Rollins mentioned hopefully was young center Tom Roulston, acquired by Edmonton from the St. Louis Blues during the summer. After being cut from the Salt Lake roster last fall, Roulston was loaned to Dallas, where he had a 26-goal season and a hot hand in the playoffs for the Adams Cup champs.SALT LAKE: Olympic decathlon champion Bruce Jenner was to be the Golden Eagles&rsquo; guest of honor for their home opener, Oct. 12, against the U.S. Olympic team. It will be the first time a U.S. Olympic team in any sport has appeared in Utah, although Olympic teams from other countries have been there.BIRMINGHAM: The new CHL Bulls appeared to be taking shape faster than other league teams, with four members of the old WHA Bulls already signed by the Atlanta Flames, Birmingham&rsquo;s new parent club.Left wing Paul Henderson, sparkplug of Team Canada&rsquo;s victories over the Russians six years ago, was considered a Birmingham fixture, after announcing &ldquo;the family really wanted to remain here&rdquo;. Other Flames signees&mdash;defenseman Serge Beaudoin and forwards Dave Gorman and Ray Adduono&mdash;were to be given a chance to make the Flames&rsquo; roster at their Smyrna, Ga. training camp, but could return to Birmingham.John Brophy, WHA coach of the year at Birmingham last season, will guide the new CHL club.OKLAHOMA CITY: Goaltender Louis Levasseur, cast adrift by the Quebec Nordiques, was quickly picked up by the Minnesota North Stars, expressly for their Oklahoma City farm club. The North Stars also signed rookie left wings Robbie Laird and Tony White for the OC Stars. And winger Les Auge was expected to return to Oklahoma City if he failed to make the U.S. Olympic team.Coach Ted Hampson and trainer Al Bryant were back with the Stars.DALLAS: The Black Hawks were assured of at least one familiar face. Greg Hubick, voted most valuable defenseman in the CHL and captain of the Adams Cup champions last season, will return to Dallas.Hubick, 28-year-old native of Strasbourg, Sask., came to Dallas as a Toronto Maple Leaf farmhand in 1977-78, and returned on loan last winter, even though the Leafs shifted their farm operation to New Brunswick in the American League.Aside from obtaining Hubick, the parent Vancouver Canucks hadn&rsquo;t given Dallas&rsquo; new coach Johnny Choyce any names for his Hawk roster. He was expecting at least a few of the players he coached two seasons ago at Tulsa. &#9632;

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Wiley’s Return Plus For Oilers; New Stingers Get Solid Support

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSFORT WAYNE&mdash;The Western Union won&rsquo;t be back. And Fort Wayne Komet Coach Moose Lallo is singing a sad song. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re breaking up that old gang of mine.&rdquo;But Lallo, who has been around the International Hockey League for almost three decades as a player, coach, general manager and owner, is philosophical about his loss.&ldquo;After all, that&rsquo;s what they are here for. That&rsquo;s what the league is all about.&rdquo;The reference is to Lallo&rsquo;s line of Terry McDougall, Robbie Laird and Al Dumba. The trio combined for 149 goals last season and 362 points. Tabbed the &ldquo;Western Union&rdquo; because all three hail from western Canada, the trip was the most potent offensive unit in the IHL last season. The trip was voted to the first IHL All-Star team, the first time in the league&rsquo;s history a line from one team was accorded such an honor.But Lallo, who started his IHL career with the old Grand Rapids Rockets and then helped put Muskeong into the league before moving to Fort Wayne last season, will have to start the season without his &ldquo;big line&rdquo;. Laird has signed a contract with the Minnesota North Stars and McDougall has been invited to the Philadelphia training camp.Laird, nicknamed &ldquo;Charlie Hustle&rdquo; because of his 100 percent-plus effort on the ice, scored a career high 45 goals last season. He originally was the property of the Pittsburgh Penguins.McDougall was the league&rsquo;s scoring champion with 139 points on 57 goals and 82 assists. Dumba, who became a Komet when the Dayton Gem franchise folded&mdash;actually suspended two years ago&mdash;scored 46 goals and had 65 assists for 111 points.Lallo is disappointed to lose Laird&mdash;and most likely McDougall&mdash;but said, &ldquo;I wish them both all the luck in the world. That&rsquo;s what the game is all about. It will hurt our team to lose them but they deserve a shot. And I wish them all the luck in the world.&rdquo;Other coaches in the IHL may be faced with the same problem. But Lallo&rsquo;s unit was the backbone of his club offensively which chased Grand Rapids all season for the league championship.With the start of training camp on the near horizon, Lallo and his rival IHL coaches are hoping veterans will return in enough numbers to form a sound nucleus and that youngsters from parent National Hockey League clubs will fill the gaps with talented youngsters. But at this time of the year, nothing is certain.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s this way every year,&rdquo; Lallo said as he reflected on the certain loss of Laird and the strong possibility McDougall would also be among the missing. &ldquo;You just have to wait until camp opens and see what you got.&ldquo;And even then, things can change. But, sooner or later, all the pieces seem to fall in place. You have a team&mdash;and you start playing.&rdquo;International Hockey League clubs open training camp on Oct. 8.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01339/4004465-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="578" height="528"><figcaption class="caption-body">Moose Lallo has been around. He knows the pitfalls of being a development club.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Lallo’s Message: Do It Without Western Union

KALAMAZOO&mdash;The Kalamazoo Wings wasted little time finding a new coach when they lost the old one. The incoming coach is Doug McKay, who will serve as both general manager and coach of the International Hockey League club.McKay, 49, and a native of, Hamilton, Ontario will succeed former general manager and coach Bill Purcell who has been elevated to the coaching position with the Adirondact Red Wings, the American Hockey League affiliate of Detroit.Assistant general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, Jimmy Skinner commented on the appointment of McKay by saying &ldquo;Doug is a disciplinarian, but a man who understands and communicates with younger players. Doug spent 10 years in the Detroit chain during the 40s and early 50s as a member of the Windsor Spitfires, then sponsored by Detroit, Indianapolis, and Omaha, both Red Wing farm teams, and played a minor role as a member of the Red Wing Stanley Cup team in 1949-50.McKay, since retiring from the playing ranks has devoted his time to young people through his coaching abilities, having coached bantams, and midget hockey teams in Hamilton and graduating to the Hamilton Jr. Red Wings in 1970-71. Doug has also coached high school and Junior A Tier II clubs, never once being out of a playoff position. His latest post was that of coach with Welland, a senior A hockey club.&ldquo;He is a leader. Some people are born leaders,&rdquo; commented Detroit general manager Ted Lindsay. Lindsay found it extremely difficult and took considerable time to find the right man, &ldquo;as a player he played tough, accepted a role and always was a 100 per cent effort player. As a coach I anticipate nothing less.&rdquo;To McKay his life long ambition since retiring as a player has been to coach in the professional ranks. &ldquo;I have been trying to get into professional coaching for three years, ever since my boys have grown up, and are out on their own. I am happy to accept this challenge, and feel confident that I can accomplish all which is necessary to produce another winner in Kalamazoo.&rdquo;Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Admirals&rsquo; 1979-80 schedule features a home-and-home series against the defending Turner Cup Champion Kalamazoo Wings on the opening weekend as well as the 1980 IHL All-Star games.The Admirals begin their third campaign in the IHL Friday, Oct. 19 in Kalamazoo, followed by the home opener against the Wings Saturday, Oct. 20 at the Milwaukee Arena.The 40-game home slate represents the best schedule since joining the league in 1977-78. Included are 18 weekend dates, with seven Fridays, seven Saturdays and four Sunday contests. The Admirals will be at home on two Mondays, six Tuesdays and seven times each on Wednesday and Thursday. In their first eight home games they will host all but one of the other clubs in the league.Highlighting the schedule will be the 1980 IHL All-Star game against the United States Olympic Hockey Team, Monday, Jan. 21 in Milwaukee.The IHL begins its 35th consecutive year of operations this fall. The recent reinstatement of the Dayton Gems (who suspended operations in 1977) gives the league two five-team divisions. The Admirals are in the Southern Division with Dayton, Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids and Toledo. The Northern Division is made up of Flint, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Port Huron and Saginaw. The schedule is &ldquo;unbalanced&rdquo; to add importance to intra-divisional games. Teams will play 10 games against each member of their own division and eight games against teams in the rival division.The Admirals also announced the hiring of David Marotte as the club&rsquo;s new head trainer. Marotte has served as trainer for the Traverse City Bays and Grand Rapids Blades, both former members of the United States Hockey League. He is a recent graduate of Grand Valley State Colleges at Allendale, Mich., where he received degrees in counseling and physical education. He also has a degree in sports medicine.Marotte, 33, was born in Detroit. He received special training as a medical reseach technician at the Edsel Ford Research Center, Detroit, and emergency medical training at a Windsor, Ontario, hospital. &#9632;

Kalamazoo Names New Man At The Top

<div class="byline">BY PATRICK LYON</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSBALTIMORE&mdash;Eastern Hockey League commissioner Bill Beagan successfully completed Phase I of his three-phase expansion program when he announced the addition of the Baltimore Clippers as the circuit&rsquo;s sixth club for the 1979-80 season.Beagan hotly pursued the Maryland city for a grueling six-week time period and following an agreement between the hockey club and the Baltimore Civic Center that sealed the deal, Beagan said, &ldquo;This is just the beginning of a great league.&rdquo;According to the EHL commissioner, the Minnesota North Stars of the National Hockey League will serve as general partners and will staff the whole organization from the general manager to the stick boy.Local backers in Baltimore showed renewed interest as they raised $150,000. Jim Watson, a spokesman for the backers, is hopeful that there will be at least 15 local citizens involved. Hockey has come and gone four times previously in Baltimore, but people are hoping the fifth time will be the charm. &ldquo;Despite the American Hockey League folding here twice and teams in the World (WHA) and Southern Hockey Leagues folding, people are still very optimistic,&rdquo; said Watson.Among the first acts performed by the North Stars was naming Gene Ubriaco as head coach. The former member of the Chicago Black Hawks is coming off a two-year stint with the Milwaukee Admirals of the International League where he coached playoff clubs each season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very happy with the appointment,&rdquo; said Ubriaco. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never worked for an NHL team before as a coach.&rdquo; In his tenure with Milwaukee he coached five players who went on to sign contracts with NHL teams. &ldquo;I like to work with the younger players and I like the fact that this will be a development league.&rdquo; Ubriaco will be attending the North Stars training camp and plans on putting an entertaining and fast team on the ice this winter.Beagan related his feelings at securing the Baltimore franchise to Sir Edmund Hillary&rsquo;s climbing of Mount Everest. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m ecstatic,&rdquo; said the EHL boss, &ldquo;I feel like I just put the flag on top of Mount Everest.&rdquo;Beagan feels that with Baltimore in the fold the league is on its way and now has instant credibility. &ldquo;We needed Baltimore,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;We were just border line with five teams, but now we have that good foundation with six clubs. This will reduce travel costs and enhance rivalries.&rdquo;The Clippers are the second EHL club to be run by a National Hockey League organization. Earlier, 60 percent of the Johnstown Wings franchise was picked up by the Detroit Red Wings with local citizens owning the remaining 40 percent.Beagan&rsquo;s next priority will be the finalization of a schedule. For the first time the EHL brought in a professional to make out the six-team schedule.RICHMOND: The Rifles will get the jump on the rest of the clubs when they open training camp on Oct. 10 at New Haven, Connecticut. Richmond is expecting several top draft choices from the New York Rangers, who are training in the Richmond Coliseum. A Rangers-Rifles exhibition game is also slated to take place, marking the first time an EHL club has taken on an NHL team.Richmond also worked out a radio agreement with WPVA-FM in Petersburg, Virginia which will feature 35 road games and 15 selected home games.With season ticket sales hovering around the 600 mark, the Rifles bolstered their sales department crew by naming popular Danny Schock to a safes post. Schock was a former member of the Richmond Robins of the AHL.General manager Hlllman Lyons has initiated an aggressive promotion campaign and Jacques &ldquo;Jocko&rdquo; Cayer will return as the team&rsquo;s trainer.HAMPTON: Aces coach Muzz MacPherson was in attendance in Portland, Maine watching the workouts of the Philadelphia Flyers, the Aces and Flyers working together for the second straight season.MacPherson will greet his players at training camp starting Oct. 16 in Hampton. Season ticket sales have reached 450 for the Aces.UTICA: New Hohawks public relations director Stu Gamper revealed that the Mohawks will play a three-game pre-season schedule starting on Oct. 17 when the Mohawks host Richmond at the Clinton Arena. Utica will be in Erie on Oct. 20 and then complete the pre-season with a game against the Blades in nearby Rome, New York. The club is playing its two home exhibitions in towns near Utica to further promote Mohawks hockey.Coach and general manager Larry Mickey was a visitor to the training camp of the Hartford Whalers prior to the start of the Mohawks training camp on Oct. 15.Dave King will man the microphone for all home and away games on WIBX radio in Utica.&ldquo;The Goalkeepers&rdquo;, a group of businessmen, are helping promote season ticket sales to other businesses. Mohawks management dropped ticket prices over last year and have thus far sold 350 season tickets.ERIE: Not one to rest on past laurels, the Blades made known two more working agreements with the Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders of the NHL. Previously the Blades announced a working package with the Quebec Nordiques.New Sabres coach and general manager Scotty Bowman was a surprise visitor to Erie for the announcement. &ldquo;We feel we are very fortunate to be able to hook up with a championship club, stated Bowman. &ldquo;The main reasons we agreed to this is that we will be close to Erie, so we&rsquo;re just a short drive from seeing our players and our confidence in what Nick Polano (Blades coach) can do with our young players.&rdquo;According to Polano, who doubles as general manager, the Blades desperately needed the Sabres agreement if they were to have a chance to repeat their championship performance of last season. &ldquo;The other clubs in the league felt they were getting the advantage over us, but we surprised a lot of people by getting this agreement, said Polano. &ldquo;I feel that working with the Sabres will give us an advantage.&rdquo;The Blades continued their strong showing in the season ticket sales race with 842 tickets sold.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01321/4004520-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="550" height="766"><figcaption class="caption-body">Erie&rsquo;s Brad Rhiness received a tryout from the parent Buffalo Sabres.</figcaption></div>Brad Rhiness, who played an important role in the Blades championship season, has been invited to try out with the Sabres. Bowman was impressed with the man who led the former North Eastern Hockey League in scoring in 1978-79. Polano will be in the Sabres camp and also make trips to the Nordiques and Islanders training sessions.Former Blade winger Stan Gulutzan was signed to an NHL contract with the Colorado Rockies and will be in camp trying to earn a spot on the roster. Blades goaltender Carey Walker, who carried a 2. 58 goals against average last year, will also be in the Colorado camp trying to earn a contract.JOHNSTOWN; The Red Wings named Al Blade as general manager of the Johnstown club and Blade just recently added office personnel to his staff.Johnstown was still without a coach when this issue went to press, but an announcement was expected within the next week. &#9632;

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Beagan Lands Baltimore As Sixth EHL Entry

<div class="byline">BY MORRIS DALLA COSTA</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSOSHAWA&mdash;For many Ontario Major Junior Hockey League teams the 1979-80 OMJHL season will be a matter of waiting and seeing what it will bring&hellip;or take away.The season opened this past week in a state of uncertainty. This season may prove to be one of the most important in junior hockey in recent years and in junior hockey cities that uncertainty and in many cases trepidation will be the dominating force for the management of the clubs.Most of the worry is caused by the recent draft of underage junior hockey players taken by the National Hockey League. For most cities that draft meant their top 19-year-old hockey players will be spending up to a week in professional camps. The worse part for the hockey clubs is they are in no way assured those stars will be coming back. Twenty-one underage players were selected from the OMJHL. Many of those players are meal-tickets for their respective clubs and at a time when junior hockey is searching for a key to bring more fans into the rinks, they don&rsquo;t need their under-age stars making the pros.The draft is also causing problems with the players left on the junior teams. With coaches trying to establish some type of consistency on the ice, it doesn&rsquo;t do them any good to have their players out of camp for as long as a week.As Oshawa Generals&rsquo; new coach Paul Theriault says, &ldquo;We wish them the best of luck in making the pros. If they are good enough God bless them, but for coaches it&rsquo;s hard trying to implement a system and then having to fit three or four hockey players back into it.&rdquo;Oshawa Generals were hit heavily during the under-age draft. Four players will be going to pro camps. Tom McCarthy, a high scoring winger with the club was drafted 10th by Minnesota North Stars overall, Steve Peters went in the fourth round to Colorado, Lee Norwood went to Quebec Nordiques in the third round and Dan Lane, although he wasn&rsquo;t drafted has signed with the Montreal Canadiens.Defending Memorial Cup champions Peterborough Petes also had four players drafted as under-age players. Mark Reeds, giant Carmen Cirella, Stuart Smith and smart center Bill Gardner will all be at pro camps. Gardner, is happy about the call to camp, but he predicts the under-age draft will hurt hockey.&ldquo;I was surprised I went as high as third round to Chicago Black Hawks,&rdquo; says Gardner. &ldquo;I feel sorry for the other guys who didn&rsquo;t get drafted. The guys in their regular draft year would have gone if it wasn&rsquo;t for the under-age.&ldquo;This draft is going to hurt junior hockey. A lot of the good players are going to be gone and because of the money, even if they aren&rsquo;t ready to play, they might make it to the pros. I wouldn&rsquo;t hesitate to come back to junior hockey and continue my career, but the only reason you go to pro camp is to make it. If you go for any other reason you may as well not bother,&rdquo; continues Gardner.Regardless of the under-age draft junior hockey will swing into full shift by the last week of September.Over the summer months the league has made numerous changes. Five new coaches will be behind OMJHL team benches and a new commissioner will sit at the head of the OMJHL.In Oshawa it&rsquo;s Theriault taking over from Bill White. Theriault was relieved of his duties with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and in his place in the northern Ontario city will be veteran NHL per. former Terry Crisp, who served as an assistant coach to Pat Quinn last season.Peterborough will be going into this season as defending Memorial Cup champs, but it won&rsquo;t be with Gary Green. Green, in two seasons as coach and general manager led Petes to a Memorial Cup final and a Memorial Cup. He&rsquo;s accepted a contract to coach Hersey Bears in the American Hockey League. Trying to fill a pair of mighty big hockey boots will be Mike Keenan, who for the past two seasons coached Oshawa Legionaires of the Metro Junior B league. He will also take the general manager&rsquo;s position.In Toronto another Bill White was fired. This one was the former All-Star defenseman with the Chicago Black Hawks. He&rsquo;ll be replaced by Dave Chambers, who will have a lot of help. Sam McMaster will be doing the recruiting for the Toronto Marlboros and judging from the job he has done in the past, (look at last season&rsquo;s Niagara Falls Flyers), Toronto will be in good shape.Speaking of the Flyers they&rsquo;ll have a new man behind the bench. Last year&rsquo;s head honcho Bert Templeton will coach for Nova Scotia Voyageurs of the AHL.Taking over for Templeton will be Barry Boughner, who came highly recommended by Templeton. Boughner likes his teams to play the way Templeton&rsquo;s do, tough and physical.Flyers should be one of the clubs to beat this season. Their draft last season, which produced Steve Larmer, Brian Rorabeck, Wayne Crawford, John Kirk, Mark Bottell, Daryl Evans, Steve Ludzik and Glenn Ernst will look better than ever this season. A year&rsquo;s experience under their belt and watch out.Out of Ottawa word comes that 67&rsquo;s will have a big scoring machine. Who&rsquo;s to doubt it with Jim Fox, Yvan Joly, Sean Simpson and John Linseman coming back. Doug Crossman, who will be attending a pro camp, has developed into a top rearguard.Sudbury Wolves, on the other hand, have lost a lot of goals. OMJHL leading scorer Mike Foligno is gone and so are Scott Gruhl, Bob Lekun and Dave MacQueen. Things may get worse. They have Dale Hunter, a smooth centerman attending Quebec Nordiques camp as an under-age. They drafted him second, so they obviously think highly of him.Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds have had an excellent training camp. Last season most of their draft choices and several strong players opted either not to report or to head to college. This year with a strong draft, Dirk Rueter, number one, Paul Fulcher, two and Hugh Larkin, three, they should be stronger.Petes will provide Peterborough with another strong club. As usual, they have a number of huge players, but the big questions are whether Keenan can replace Green and whether Petes can replace graduated netminder Ken Ella-cott.In Kingston, the Canadians are a mystery team. They had an exceptional playoff last season, but their success on the ice this season may be tied to how good a draft they had. Two big pluses are talented winger Mark Wichrowski and coach Jim Morrison.The big disappointment of last season was the Oshawa Generals. This year they have a new coach and a new lease on life if training camp is any indication. They lost only one exhibition game in nine.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01280/4004551-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="578" height="1474"><figcaption class="caption-body">Philadelphia assistant coach Terry Crisp will be behind the bench for Sault Ste. Marie.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

Teams Adopt Wait-And-See Policy For Return Of OMJHL Underagers

<div class="byline">BY DAVE SENICK</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSREGINA&mdash;The coaches and general managers are entering the Western Hockey League season with a degree of uncertainty.There are the usual questions to be answered about rookies and returnees regarding their talents. But this season there is a new twist. Players under 20 years of age were selected in the National Hockey League&rsquo;s entry draft. The uncertainty revolves around the issue of what players will become available to the WHL clubs once the NHL teams have made their decisions.But that doesn&rsquo;t mean that operations slow down. It&rsquo;s a new season and there is always a crop of hopefuls ready to fill the gaps created by graduating players.Here&rsquo;s a rundown of the teams in the league and their talent:<h2>East Division</h2>LETHBRIDGE: There&rsquo;s a big &ldquo;if&rsquo; Broncos must contend with. On paper, they will have one of the league&rsquo;s strongest teams if Duane Sutter, Doug Morrison and Gord Williams are part of that team.They were selected as 18-year-olds in the National Hockey League entry draft. Last season, Sutter had 50 goals and 75 assists, tops on the team. Morrison was next in line with a 56-67 total followed by Williams at 58-59.The team is well stocked with goalies. Greg Dumba, a 19-year-old, compiled a 4.27 average last season while 17-year-old Mark Frank had a 4.89 mark.Broncos are solid on defense with veterans Jay Soleway, Ralph Andreesen, Lindy Ruff and Roger Wolfe, all with good size. Mike Moller, a 17-year-old, who played midget in Red Deer last season has a good chance of earning a spot at right wing.BRANDON: Wheat Kings, last season&rsquo;s league champions, have players to pick up the slack left by the loss of last year&rsquo;s three league leading scorers, Brian Propp, Ray Allison and Laurie Boschman.Veterans Steve Patrick, 23 goals and 31 assists, Brad Kempthorne, 22-31, Don Gillen, 21-30, Brant Kiessig, 29-15, and Dave McDonald, 19-20, are expected to provide scoring power up front.Don Dietrich and Kelly Elcombe are the only returning defensemen. Rookies who will fill vacancies include 19-year-old Doug Steven, with St. Boniface of the Manitoba Junior League and Greg Mann with Brandon Travellers of the same loop last season.Rick Knickle, who had a 3.16 average last season, should give Brandon strong goaltending.BILLINGS: Bighorns, as in the past, are an extremely balanced club.They have two goalies who have proved they can play, and perform well in the league. Neil Girard, who had a 4.11 average last season, and Andy Moog, 4.13, are both back.The team has a solid nucleus of defensemen with 19-year-olds Murray Brumwell, Jim McTaggart and Mike Bustin. Brumwell had 43 points last season, McTaggart 38 and Bustin 20. Bruce Holloway, 16 years old, played with Revelstoke of the B.C. Junior League last season but Bighorns expect him to play in the WHL this season.Gord Stafford had 37 goals and 66 assists last season and he&rsquo;s back. Lindsay Carson, 3451, Jeff Zilke, 27-31, Pat Rabbitt, 23-25 and John Eger, 2028, are among those that add to a balanced attack up front. Rene Lemere, who played as a midget in Swift Current could also earn a left wing spot.CALGARY: Warren Skoro-denski should give the Wranglers steady goaltending and, along with overage Kelly Kisio, will comprise a strong nucleus for the team.Skorodenski had a 5.16 average last season while Kisio produced 60 goals and 61 assists. Sheldon Currie, 32-26, and Gary Slezak, 27-24, are two veteran forwards who should complement Kisio&rsquo;s offensive output. Dale Cross is returning at right wing and Ray Cote at center.On defense, the team will be relying of veterans Jim Crosson, Buzz Gottschalk and Blair Peebles, all regulars last season.Wranglers also expect 19-year-old center Glen Merkosky to produce points. Last season at Michigan Tech, he had 14 goals and 29 assists in 40 games.REGINA: Pats will be relying on 18-year-old Doug Wickenheiser, entering his third season, to get their offensive machine rolling. Last year, he had 32 goals and 62 assists.Returning wingers Brian Varga, who had 26 goals and 25 assists, along with Darren Bobyck, 22-27, are also offensive threats.Winger Bill Ansell showed promise last season with 10 goals and eight assists in 21 games and is back as an 18-year-old. Brent Pascal, a centre with Regina Blues of the Saskatchewan Junior League, is a rookie who figures big in Pats&rsquo; plans.Darren Veitch, 19 years, is Regina&rsquo;s mainstay on defense. He had 11 goals and 36 assists in 51 games. Bud Langstrom, six-foot-two, 200 pounds, who was with Merritt of the B.C. Junior League last season, will also patrol the blueline.Pats have 19-year-old Jeff Lastiwka returning in goal, coming off a 5.89 season.SASKATOON: Blades general manager Jack McLeod has hired Jerome Engele to handle coaching duties. He&rsquo;ll be working with a team that has an offensive reputation but has lost its top six scorers from the previous schedule.Center Marc Chartier, who had 16 goals and 35 assists last season, along with veterans Terry Paskaruk, 13-34, and Kelly Kuspira, 29-14, will have to provide the bulk of the offense up front. Blake Stephens and Bob Black are two other returning forwards.Tim Hack, with Melville of the Saskatchewan Junior League last season, is an 18-year-old rookie expected to help out.On defense, Blades have Doug Archibald, Chuck Taylor and Ian Tennant returning. They&rsquo;ll blend in with rookies like Dick Kortje from Saskatoon J&rsquo;s of the SJHL.Murray Stephens, with a 5.33 average last year, will handle goaltending chores.MEDICINE HAT: Pat Ginnell, in his first season as general manager-coach with the Tigers, admits he is undertaking a &ldquo;rebuilding job&rdquo;. The team had only 37 points last season, the lowest in the WHL.One of the cornerstones to build upon is 18-year-old goalie Kelly Hrudey. He had a 6.17 average last season but turned in some exceptional performances.Steve Tsujiura is also returning. He&rsquo;s small, five-foot-five, 153 pounds, but can score. He had 24 goals and 45 assists last year, tops on the club.Other returnees include center Mike Winther, 36-32 and Curt Broadhead, 23-22, Mark Komo-noski and Brian Ziegler. On defense, there is Peter Steblyk, coming off a 64-point season, Tom Adams and Rod Buskas.Newcomers include 18-year-old Ken Solheim who had 58 goals with St. Albert last season.GREAT FALLS: The Edmonton franchise, formerly Flin Flon, has been transplanted in Great Falls. One problem is that not too many of the players made the switch.Americans&rsquo; coach Les Jackson has returning forwards Dave Barr, Mike Moskalyk and Ryan Switzer to work with along with veteran defensemen Butch Barkwell and Derek Davis but the list doesn&rsquo;t go beyond that.Barr was the top scorer among the forwards with 16 goals and 19 assists in 72 games.In goal, Americans are counting on 18-year-old Wayne Maduck who played with Yorkton Terriers of the SJHL.<h2>West Division</h2>PORTLAND: Winter Hawks have consistently come up with good young talent and this season appear to follow the pattern.Youngsters include Alberta Junior League rookie of the year last season, Jim Benning of Fort Saskatchewan. Other prospects include Gary Nylund of the B.C. Junior League&rsquo;s Delta Suns and Randy Turnbull, cousin of Perry Turnbull.Other newcomers are Brian Shaw from St. Albert, Joe Engert of Fort Saskatchewan and Rob Geale from Sherwood, all teams in the AHL.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01317/4004582-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="624" height="784"><figcaption class="caption-body">Medicine Hat is counting on young goaler Kelly Hrudey in Tigers&rsquo; big rebuilding year.</figcaption></div>Dave Babych, an 18-year-old with 79 points last season, will lead the team on defense. If Keith Brown does not play in the NHL, it will be a big plus this season.Winter Hawks are set in goal with Darrell May, who had a 3.45 average last season, third best in the league. Up front, returnees Tim Tookey, 33 goals and 47 assists, Jim Dobson, 38-39 and Florent Robidoux, 36-41, could form a potent unit. Bart Yachimec, 2632 and Ron Chorney, 26-32 are expected back.VICTORIA: Barry Pederson should provide scoring punch. The 18-year-old had 31 goals and 53 assists last season, the second highest total on the club.Other expected returnees include Greg Adams, 23-31, Bob Jansch, 23-23, Torrie Robertson, 18-23 and Brad Palmer, 18-15.Mark Robinson, who had 34 points last season, will anchor the defense.In goal, Cougars have 19-year-old Kevin Eastman, with a 4.70 average last season, returning.NEW WESTMINSTER: Bruins, due to a court ruling, will be without the services of five players until Dec. 1. Those missing will be veteran defensemen Boris Fistric, who had 52 points last season, BruceHowes and Rick Amann along with forwards Bill Hobbins, who had 43 points, and Rob Roflick.Other returnees include centre Doug Hall and left winger Pat McGill.Youngsters being counted upon include Anthony McMurchy, an 18-year-old center who had nine points in 14 games last season and 73 goals with Abbotsford in the B.C. Junior League.New defensemen are Larry Mollard, 17, and Stuart Orpen, 18.Tom Semenchuk, who had a 4.06 average last season, may play as an overage goalie.SEATTLE: Breakers should have sound defensive team starting with returning goalie Ken Hodge. He had a 4.30 average last season.On the blueline, there are veterans Tom Marsh, who had 40 points last season, Greg Lynott, acquired from the Pats, Tim Hunter, 41 points, and six-foot-three, 210 pound, rookie Derrick Vopelka.Seattle doesn&rsquo;t have as much veteran depth up front, though. There&rsquo;s Joe Ward, 48 points, and Peter Gerlinger. Rookies include John Neeld, who was with Vernon in the BCJHL last year and six-foot-three, 215 pound Wayne Van Dorp who toiled with Bellingham. &#9632;

f0030-01

Underage Drafts Create Uncertainty But WHL Puts Show On The Road

<div class="byline">BY DANNY YOUNG</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01293/4004613-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="589" height="901"><figcaption class="caption-body">Guy Jacob was given call to captain Montreal juniors under a rookie coach.</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;Apparently, 1979 has become the year for coaching changes in the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; organization. While Bernie Geoffrion was signing on with the Habs, the Juniors announced that Ron Lapointe was replacing Roger Bedard as coach of the Quebec Major Junior League team.Though obviously not as well known as Geoffrion, the 29-year-old Lapointe has achieved some notoriety for his successes as coach of the Lac St. Louis Lions, a powerhouse in Quebec&rsquo;s Midget AAA League. Lapointe also directed a midget team in Verdun where he coached the three current stars of Montreal: Denis Savard, Denis Cyr, and Denis Tremblay.In Montreal, Lapointe wants a team that&rsquo;s &ldquo;consistent and doesn&rsquo;t go through the motions&rdquo;. Certainly, this has not been characteristic of the Juniors in recent years.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like anybody that lacks desire and motivation,&rdquo; warns Lapointe. &ldquo;I won&rsquo;t put up with that.&rdquo;Does that mean that the new coach will crack the whip? Lapointe says no.&ldquo;I won&rsquo;t be a strict disciplinarian,&rdquo; declares Lapointe. &ldquo;If you do that, the kids end up losing interest. I try to keep practices interesting and entertaining.&rdquo;On the ice, the Juniors will also be taking on a new look. Lapointe promises a more offensive-minded team. With &ldquo;Les Trois Denis&rdquo; leading the way, that shouldn&rsquo;t be too difficult.&ldquo;I will forecheck more than Bedard,&rdquo; explains Lapointe. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll open it up and send two men in.&rdquo; Lapointe added that there will be less emphasis on backchecking.One of Lapointe&rsquo;s tougher tasks will be to contend with the loss of star defenseman and captain Mark Hardy. The rookie coach has chosen Guy Jacob to wear the &ldquo;C&rdquo; on his jersey, and lead the Montreal defense.While he realizes Jacob will not be another Hardy, Lapointe does have confidence in his new captain.&ldquo;Jacob has had his ups and downs because he&rsquo;s lacked confidence,&rdquo; says Lapointe. &ldquo;But he&rsquo;s looked very good in training camp so far. He&rsquo;s starting to take charge.&rdquo;Joining Jacob on defense will be returnee Taras Zytynsky, rookie Jean-Jacques Vezina, and Heikki Lenme, an import from Finland.Up front, Lapointe claims that he has &ldquo;as much depth as last year.&rdquo; In addition to the spectacular &ldquo;les Trois Denis&rdquo; line, Lapointe anticipates a fine production from veteran Marcel Tourigny and second year skating whiz Sean McKenna.The Juniors will no longer play at the Montreal Forum. Their permanent home is now the Paul Sauve Arena, and according to Lapointe, the facilities are ideal.As the season opener approaches and the final cuts are being made. Lapointe is extremely pleased with the way things are going.&ldquo;The spirit in training camp has been super,&rdquo; says a delighted Lapointe. &ldquo;If we stick together, we&rsquo;ll have a very good season.&rdquo;LAVAL: The Laval franchise has a new owner, a new coach, and a new name. Claude Fournel purchased the club during the off-season, and will take on the coaching duties himself. The team formerly known as the nationals will now be called the Voisins.To further his house cleaning efforts, Fournel has already traded his first two players. In two separate deals, Fournel sent offensive firecrackers Gilles Hamel and Constant Priondolo to Trois-Rivieres in exchange for a few big guys to give the Voisins aggressiveness, and for Bernard Gallant, a super skater who will double on wing and defense.As far as Trois-Rivieres is concerned, it appears that general manager Michel Bergeron has done it again. With the acquisition of Hamel and Priondolo, the Draveurs should be tough again this year. And you can bet that Bergeron has some more deals up his sleeve. &#9632;

f0031-01

Montreal Pulls Coaching Change

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-10" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1013/4004773-1-eng-US/f0032-102.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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Starting Times For NHL Games

<h2>National Hockey League</h2><h3>OCTOBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01295/4004742-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="613" height="2560"></div><h3>NOVEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02227/4004735-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="606" height="1202"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03158/4004728-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="628" height="2148"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0496/4004721-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="602" height="148"></div><h3>DECEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0559/4004714-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="626" height="1938"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0641/4004707-1-eng-US/f0032-062.jpg" title="f0032-06" width="606" height="1614"></div><h3>JANUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0730/4004700-1-eng-US/f0032-072.jpg" title="f0032-07" width="608" height="2056"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0826/4004693-1-eng-US/f0032-082.jpg" title="f0032-08" width="604" height="2905"></div><h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0917/4004686-1-eng-US/f0032-092.jpg" title="f0032-09" width="594" height="904"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01265/4004679-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="576" height="2172"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02201/4004672-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="584" height="198"></div><h3>MARCH</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03151/4004665-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="610" height="1980"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04122/4004658-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="610" height="1404"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0598/4004651-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="610" height="424"></div><h3>APRIL</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0679/4004644-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="584" height="934"></div> &#9632;

f0032-01

<h2>NORRIS DIVISION</h2>Montreal CanadiensDetroit Red WingsPittsburgh PenguinsLos Angeles KingsHartford Whalers<h2>ADAMS DIVISION</h2>Boston BruinsBuffalo SabresMinnesota North StarsToronto Maple LeafsQuebec Nordiques<h2>PATRICK DIVISION</h2>Philadelphia FlyersNew York IslandersNew York RangersAtlanta FlamesWashington Caps<h2>SMYTHE DIVISION</h2>Vancouver CanucksChicago Black HawksSt. Louis BluesColorado RockieEdmonton OilersWinnipeg Jets &#9632;

How NHL Divisions Will Look

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0033-14" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1429/4004964-1-eng-US/f0033-142.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0033-14

AHL Starting Times

<h2>NORTHERN DIVISION</h2>Maine MarinersNew Brunswick HawksNova Scotia VoyageursSpringfield IndiansAdirondack Red Wings<h2>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h2>Binghamton DustersHershey BearsNew Haven NighthawksRochester AmericansSyracuse Firebirds &#9632;

Starting AHL Teams

<h2>OCTOBER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0769/4004933-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="622" height="1098"></div><h2>NOVEMBER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0859/4004926-1-eng-US/f0033-082.jpg" title="f0033-08" width="590" height="328"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-0950/4004919-1-eng-US/f0033-092.jpg" title="f0033-09" width="614" height="292"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1046/4004912-1-eng-US/f0033-102.jpg" title="f0033-10" width="622" height="294"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1144/4004905-1-eng-US/f0033-112.jpg" title="f0033-11" width="588" height="822"></div><h2>DECEMBER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1243/4004898-1-eng-US/f0033-122.jpg" title="f0033-12" width="606" height="558"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-1332/4004891-1-eng-US/f0033-132.jpg" title="f0033-13" width="592" height="762"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01289/4004884-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="614" height="306"></div><h2>JANUARY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02230/4004877-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="616" height="850"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03171/4004870-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="612" height="860"></div><h2>FEBRUARY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04108/4004863-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="624" height="344"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0570/4004856-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="652" height="1260"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0647/4004849-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="610" height="248"></div><h2>MARCH</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0741/4004842-1-eng-US/f0034-072.jpg" title="f0034-07" width="614" height="964"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0836/4004835-1-eng-US/f0034-082.jpg" title="f0034-08" width="580" height="752"></div><h2>APRIL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0926/4004828-1-eng-US/f0034-092.jpg" title="f0034-09" width="600" height="476"></div> &#9632;

f0033-07

American Hockey League

<h2>OCTOBER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1024/4005075-1-eng-US/f0034-102.jpg" title="f0034-10" width="578" height="928"></div><h2>NOVEMBER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1120/4005068-1-eng-US/f0034-112.jpg" title="f0034-11" width="578" height="1492"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1218/4005061-1-eng-US/f0034-122.jpg" title="f0034-12" width="664" height="72"></div><h2>DECEMBER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1313/4005054-1-eng-US/f0034-132.jpg" title="f0034-13" width="600" height="1576"></div><h2>JANUARY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1410/4005047-1-eng-US/f0034-142.jpg" title="f0034-14" width="602" height="1656"></div><h2>FEBRUARY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-159/4005040-1-eng-US/f0034-152.jpg" title="f0034-15" width="588" height="1546"></div><h2>MARCH</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-169/4005033-1-eng-US/f0034-162.jpg" title="f0034-16" width="618" height="564"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-176/4005026-1-eng-US/f0034-172.jpg" title="f0034-17" width="582" height="1210"></div><h2>APRIL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-185/4005019-1-eng-US/f0034-182.jpg" title="f0034-18" width="560" height="458"></div> &#9632;

f0034-10

Central Hockey League

<h2>EAST DIVISION</h2>Birmingham BullsCincinnati StingersHouston ApollosIndianapolis Checkers<h2>WEST DIVISION</h2>Dallas Black HawksFort Worth TexansOklahoma City StarsSalt Lake EaglesTulsa Oilers &#9632;

Starting CHL Teams

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-19" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-194/4005130-1-eng-US/f0034-192.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0034-19

CHL Starting Times

<h2>Ontario Major League</h2><h3>SEPTEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01279/4005231-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="592" height="379"></div><h3>OCTOBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02228/4005224-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="591" height="1521"></div><h3>NOVEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03166/4005217-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="595" height="894"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04134/4005210-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="596" height="991"></div><h3>DECEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05102/4005203-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="588" height="951"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0683/4005196-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="607" height="609"></div><h3>JANUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0774/4005189-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="611" height="1306"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0856/4005182-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="571" height="544"></div><h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0953/4005175-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="612" height="1810"></div><h3>MARCH</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1045/4005168-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="607" height="262"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1140/4005161-1-eng-US/f0035-112.jpg" title="f0035-11" width="595" height="726"></div> &#9632;

f0035-01

<h2>EMMS DIVISION</h2>Niagara Falls FlyersLondon KnightsWindsor SpitfiresKitchener RangersBrantford AlexandersToronto Marlboros<h2>LEYDEN DIVISION</h2>Peterborough PetesKingston CanadiansSudbury WolvesSault Ste. Marie GreyhoundsOshawa GeneralsOttawa 67s &#9632;

Starting OMJHL Teams

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0035-12" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1232/4005286-1-eng-US/f0035-122.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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OMJHL Starting Times

<h2>EASTERN DIVISION</h2>Billings BighornsGreat Falls RustlersCalgary WranglersLethbridge BroncosMedicine Hat TigersRegina PatsSaskatoon BladesBrandon Wheat Kings<h2>WESTERN DIVISION</h2>Portland Winter HawksSeattle BreakersNew Westminster BruinsVictoria Cougars &#9632;

Starting WHL Teams

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-11" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1119/4005442-1-eng-US/f0036-112.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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WHL Starting Times

<h2>Quebec Major League</h2><h3>SEPTEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01222/4005543-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="580" height="334"></div><h3>OCTOBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02166/4005536-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="590" height="1604"></div><h3>NOVEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03120/4005529-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="524" height="90"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0497/4005522-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="588" height="1564"></div><h3>DECEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0579/4005515-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="586" height="410"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0660/4005508-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="574" height="1130"></div><h3>JANUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0745/4005501-1-eng-US/f0037-072.jpg" title="f0037-07" width="584" height="728"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0840/4005494-1-eng-US/f0037-082.jpg" title="f0037-08" width="588" height="810"></div><h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0932/4005487-1-eng-US/f0037-092.jpg" title="f0037-09" width="610" height="1024"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1027/4005480-1-eng-US/f0037-102.jpg" title="f0037-10" width="588" height="494"></div><h3>MARCH</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1117/4005473-1-eng-US/f0037-112.jpg" title="f0037-11" width="580" height="782"></div> &#9632;

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<h2>DILIO DIVISION</h2>Sherbrooke CastorsTrois-Rivieres DraveursQuebec Remparts<h2>Chicoutimi Sagueneens</h2>Shawinigan Cataracts<h2>LABELLE DIVISIONS</h2>Verdun Maple Leafs<h2>MONTREAL JUNIORS</h2>Cornwall Royals Laval NationalsHull Olympics &#9632;

Starting QMJHL Teams

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01262/4005626-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Jerry Hobbs)</figcaption></div><h2>Window dressing for Hall of Fame</h2>Lefty Reid, the curator of the NHL&rsquo;s Hockey Hall of Fame, is flanked by Don Smith, left, and Joe Buckhalter, two senior executives of Seagram&rsquo;s, as he accepts two historical hockey paintings from Seagram&rsquo;s to adorn the walls of the Toronto hockey shrine.<h2>Signing up to play tournament golf</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02205/4005619-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="1540" height="1760"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photo by Jerry Hobbs)</figcaption></div>The NHL Players&rsquo; Association have again joined with American Airlines to stage a golf tournament June 12-15 in 1980 at the Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont. Shown at official signing, from the left, are Alan Eagleson, executive director of the players&rsquo; association, Darryl Sittler of the Leafs, Gregory Britz, Canadian general manager of American Airlines, and Canadiens&rsquo; vice-president Jean Beliveau. Proceeds of the event will go to the Variety Club of Toronto. All 21 NHL teams will send players to the tournament.<h2>High rider</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03152/4005612-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="894" height="1480"></div>Minnesota left winger Steve Payne is surrounded by autograph-hunting youngsters during parade at Apple Valley, Mn. North Star players took part in 14 such community affairs this past summer to promote NHL club.<h2>Islanders in the winner&rsquo;s circle</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04103/4005605-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="1558" height="1576"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0575/4005598-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="602" height="1586"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photos by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>The New York Islanders showed this past summer that they are No. 1 off the ice as well as on. The NHL&rsquo;s regular season champions finished first in a special harness cup race at the Roosevelt Raceway in New York. Here&rsquo;s Islander coach Al Arbour with the winning trophy along with forward-driver Lome Henning. Gary Howatt, right, also competed to help in race win. Other NHL teams that participated included the Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers. &#9632;

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HOCKEY PEOPLE

<div class="byline">BY MIKE MURRAY</div>MONTREAL&mdash;After all the optimism that oozed from the coaches&rsquo; meetings during the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union hockey finals in Montreal, the athletic directors of Canada&rsquo;s universities have put a damper on the hopes of the coaches for a super league in 1980.At the coaches&rsquo; meetings held in March, 23 universities threw their support behind the acceptance for a super hockey league in 1980. The coaches&rsquo; proposal of tiering was accepted, with some minor modifications, by the CIAU committee Beaded by Vance Toner from Moncton University. Everything looked bright and ready to go. Unfortunately, these were only the hockey coaches who voted in March. For, in July, when the athletic directors gathered for the CIAU national meetings, only five schools voted YES while two others requested more information before committing themselves. A far cry from the 23 who were in favour only four months prior.Is there a lack of communication between the hockey coaches and the athletic directors? Not so, says Bob Pugh, executive director of the CIAU. &ldquo;The hockey coaches obviously put their priorities on what is best for hockey, while the athletic directors have to concern themselves in all areas of the universities&rsquo; athletic program.&rdquo; Then why, all of a sudden, such a drastic change of heart in only four months? &ldquo;Without a sponsor, most of the universities could not handle the extra financial burden of $25,000 for travel expenses across the country three or four times a year,&rdquo; explained Pugh. &ldquo;Also, the athletic directors could not justify their budgets to the other varsity coaches, like football or basketball if the hockey team received substantially more money in their allocated budget.&rdquo; Therefore, without a sponsor, we would have to hope for a self-supporting league.A self-supporting league almost seems out of reality for, even during the past few years, regional finals have always drawn larger crowds than the national finals. In the Maritimes, a St. Mary&rsquo;s versus Dalhousie game catches all local interest, but, when any outside team travels to Halifax, interest tends to drop over 50 percent. Therefore, it would be unrealistic to think that people would flock to see the University of Regina play Dalhousie. At present, without a major sponsor, the only possible way to off-set the huge travelling costs would be by gate receipts.Bob Philip, assistant coach at Concordia, explains further: &ldquo;With no readily available funds, you would have to look at complete success on a long term policy; unfortunately, not enough schools are financially strong enough to be able to handle the extra financial burden for any length of time.&rdquo; Also, the responsibility for promotion would fall directly on the shoulders of the participating schools. With tiering in operation, a school like Concordia would be battling crosstown rival McGill for public support in two different Leagues. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard enough getting a full house when we play McGill even though there is a great rivalry, imagine how hard it would be to promote a University of British Columbia game where no one knows anyone&rdquo;, explained Pugh.So this October when the CIAU&rsquo;s committee head, Toner, meets with George Kingston, president of the Canadian Hockey Coaches&rsquo; Association, the idea of a super league amongst Canada&rsquo;s best collegiate hockey team will probably, once more, be put on the shelf for the time being. &#9632;

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October 5, 1979

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