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.

December 21, 1979

The Hockey News December 21, 1979

<div class="byline">BY NEIL MILBERT</div>CHICAGO&mdash;As a last resort, Stan Mikita has let himslf become a human pin-cushion.&ldquo;I never saw the needles,&rdquo; said the Black Hawks&rsquo; senior citizen with the excruciating&mdash;and perhaps insoluble&mdash;back problems. &ldquo;I hate the sight of them. All I know is that sometimes between noon and 3 o&rsquo;clock, I got 90 shots total&mdash;70 in the back. My wife counted them.&ldquo;This is it. If the back doesn&rsquo;t come around after this treatment and six weeks of rest, I&rsquo;m not going to fool with it any more. If the back keeps bothering me, I&rsquo;m no good to the team and when that time comes that&rsquo;s the time to call it quits.&rdquo;By early February, Mikita, 39, believes he will know which way to go&mdash;back into the mainstream of the violent world of professional hockey or into retirement.&ldquo;The injections were a dextrose solution,&rdquo; Mikita explained. &ldquo;They cause fibrous tissues to form on ligaments and muscles so that you can stretch and move without pain.&ldquo;The way it was going, I was just embarrassing myself. I couldn&rsquo;t turn without pain and it was tough to do stops and starts. The pain was restricting me. I&rsquo;d make a move one way and all of a sudden it would be there. Some nights, I felt great; other nights I couldn&rsquo;t go around the rink twice without being in agony.&ldquo;On airplanes, if I fell asleep and unconsciously moved a certain way the back would go into a spasm. It was like somebody sticking a knife in there.&ldquo;These injections aren&rsquo;t instant relief or anything like that. It takes time for the fibrous tissues to grow. They&rsquo;re sort of like new shoots of grass. That&rsquo;s why my doctor, Dr. Augustus Henwall, doesn&rsquo;t want me to do anything physical for a minimum of two weeks. I might damage the tissue.&ldquo;After two weeks we&rsquo;re hoping I can start riding the stationary bike. The next thing would be to start skating again. There won&rsquo;t be any contact for at least six weeks.&ldquo;Before I went to the hospital I talked it all over with E.J. (Coach Eddie Johston) and explained what the injections would entail. If he can use me, it&rsquo;s better that he has me for the last couple months of the season. Of course, that&rsquo;s provided somebody hasn&rsquo;t taken away my job.&rdquo;Even though Mikita is one of the Black Hawks&rsquo; all-time greats and a cinch to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, he admitted: &ldquo;Every year when I&rsquo;ve come to training camp I&rsquo;ve worried about somebody replacing me.&rsquo;Mikita&rsquo;s 1,467 NHL points make him third on the all-time scoring list; he ranks second in assists; and is sixth in goals. This year he&rsquo;s off to the slowest start of his career. Playing in 17 of the Hawks&rsquo; first 23 games, Mikita produced 2 goals and 5 assists.But the aching back has been a psychological skeleton in the closet that has made recurring appearances through the years.&ldquo;It goes back about 13 years,&rdquo; said Mikita. &ldquo;We were playing Montreal in Chicago Stadium and I was cross-checked twice across the lower back within 15-20 seconds. It was right by the penalty box near their blue-line and the guys who hammered me were Jacques Lemaire and Ted Harris.&ldquo;Instead of resting I played with the pain for the rest of the year. The pain stayed. Six or eight years ago it kept getting worse so I went to Dr. Henwall and he gave me injections the way he did this time. First, he gave me 50 and then a couple of months later, I got 15.&ldquo;They worked. But I was a little too anxious to come back. After two weeks I played again. Gradually, the pain came back and kept getting worse.&ldquo;Coming back is going to be tough, but not as tough as training camp. At least, I don&rsquo;t think so. If I come to the conclusion things aren&rsquo;t working out, it&rsquo;s all over. I don&rsquo;t want to embarrass myself or the team.&rdquo; &#9632;

IN THIS ISSUE

Mikita Trying to ‘Pinpoint’ Relief Remedy

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2317/4317261-1-eng-US/f0034-232.jpg" title="f0034-23" width="532" height="703"></div> &#9632;

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The Point Race…

<div class="byline">BY BUDDY O&#x2019;CONNOR</div>QUEBEC CITY&mdash;Quebec coach Jacques Demers calls him the best defensive centerman in the National Hockey League. He considers himself as just another guy doing his job, but now, and only now, everyone here has finally realized that there&rsquo;s not a better man than Bob Fitchner when the chips are down.Nordiques&rsquo; centerman Fitchner has never brought the house down here at the Quebec Coliseum. He has had more than his share of the boos that have rippled through the building.But this season, the first in the NHL, Fitch has come into his own. He won&rsquo;t speak about it but he has brought the most fervent anti-Fitchner fans over to his side because of his tremendous play, on penalty-killing, forechecking, but especially his particular skills on getting the most crucial faceoffs.In a game here against Montreal Canadiens, Fitch took four in a row and these were against the likes of Doug Jarvis, an acknowledged master of the faceoff.Talk to Fitch and he says candidly, &ldquo;I would rather be known as an offensive player but you have to look at your own abilities.&rdquo;The fact is, don&rsquo;t give Fitchner a chance or he&rsquo;ll pop it in behind you on the blink of an eyelash. In 18 games, playing defensively, big Bob, at six-foot-plus and 195 pounds, had five goals and seven assists, one of the best efforts on the Nordiques.Not the most elegant of skaters, Fitch, on the injured list because of a slight fracture just behind the collar bone, has been working out recently with power skating expert Gene Bourassa, who has a power skating school in Sainte-Foy, a suburb of Quebec. Says Bourassa, &ldquo;Bob has been changing his stride with me and the results are very encouraging.&rdquo;The Nordiques&rsquo; have not played one game this season with a full club because of injuries.Coach Demers remarks, &ldquo;You cannot replace a guy like Bob Fitchner. He&rsquo;s out and we really miss his play, every time and everywhere. He and (Serge) Bernier are the best.&rdquo;Fitchner, commenting on his coach&rsquo;s remarks that he is the top defensive centerman in the NHL, runs true to form. &ldquo;OK, Jacques said it but there are a heck of a lot of good players doing the same work as I am. I&rsquo;m just doing my job. I would never say that I am the best.&rdquo;The value of Fitchner lies in the fact that he is always ready to fill any position.&ldquo;If you talk defense,&rdquo; Bob remarks, &ldquo;you have to think of communication between you and your guys. You must have a good idea of what everyone will do. Not only your team, but especially your opponents. Proper position ii what defense is all about.&rdquo;He continued, &ldquo;To really be effective as a defensive centerman, you must sacrifice the chance for a breakaway. Or again, for a scoring opportunity. You have to hang back and make sure that the puck is out of your own end.&rdquo;As for his facility on faceoffs, Fitch says the best &ldquo;cheater&rdquo; and the best overall is Philadelphia&rsquo;s Bobby Clarke. &ldquo;You have to get the jump on the guy in front of you but especially on the ref. The best for both is Bobby.&rdquo;Factors involved in the drama of the faceoff are strength and quickness, he opines.&ldquo;Big Serge (Bernier) takes them out because of his extraordinary body momentum and his strength,&rdquo; he continues. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s good to the right while I go on the left side.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011111/4315524-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="566" height="891"><figcaption class="caption-body">Defense is a matter of communication between teammates says Nordiques&rsquo; Bob Fitchner. (Photo by Ian MacAlpine)</figcaption></div>But Fitchner, always giving credit to the other man, did not add that he has both the strength and the quickness that made coach Demers call him the best defensive centerman in the NHL.Fitch is from Nelson, B.C. and says that he will return west after his career is over. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to play about five years more. Hockey is my job now but it is only a way to secure the future of my wife and children. When I leave hockey that&rsquo;s going to be it! &ldquo;Bob is married to the former Bev Whitford of Brandon, Manitoba where he played his junior hockey with the Wheat Kings. The Fitchners have three children, Kim, 6 years old, Kerri, 4, and the wee one, Chrysti, just two.He is working on his French but says, &ldquo;Bev, my wife, is much better than I am.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Defense Job For Nordique Specialist

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tues. Dec. 11)<h3>NORTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01326/4317393-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="527" height="150"></div><h3>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02246/4317386-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="526" height="125"></div>1-Nova Scotia. 4-New Haven. 5-Adirondack. 7-Maine. 14-Rochester. 14-Hershev. 19-Sprinofield. 22-New Brunswick. 23-Binghamton. 24-Svracuse<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Dec. 4Nova.Scotia 2 at New Brunswick 4Wed. Dec. 5Springfield 7 at Hershey 2New Brunswick 4 at Maine 4Fri. Dec. 7Hershey 3 at Binghamton 1New Brunswick 4 at New Haven 10Adirondack 1 at Nova Scotia 7Maine 2 at Springfield 4Rochester 4 at Syracuse 1Sat. Dec. IRochester 4 at Hershey 1New Haven 4 at Maine 4Adirondack 1 at New Brunswick 4Syracuse 4 at Springfield 8Sun. Dec. 9Syracuse 4 at New Haven 5Adirondack 0 at Nova Scotia 3Maine 2 at Rochester 5<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03182/4317379-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="531" height="294"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04113/4317372-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="530" height="387"></div><h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Dec. 11)<h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0579/4317365-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="523" height="122"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0661/4317358-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="528" height="146"></div>9-Salt Lake. 10-Oklahoma City. 12-Indianapolis. 13-Dallas. 15-Birmingham. 17-Fort Worth. 18-Houston. 19-Cincinnatl. 21-Tulsa.<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue. Dec. 4Fort Worth 5 at Indianapolis 4Salt Lake 3 at Tulsa 1Wed Dec 5Dallas 3 at Cincinnati 6Tulsa 7 at Houston 2Thu. Dec. 6Salt Lake 3 at Birmingham 9Fort Worth 5 at Indianapolis 6Oklahoma City 3 U.S. Olympic 5Fri. Dec. 7Salt Lake 1 at Birmingham 5Fort Worth 5 at Dallas 5Cincinnati 4 at Indianapolis 6Sat. Dec. 8Indianapolis 2 at Cincinnati 7Oklahoma City 3 at Dallas 6Fort Worth 2 at Houston 6Sun. Dec. 9Tulsa 2 at Cincinnati 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0757/4317351-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="524" height="268"></div><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standing on Wed., Dec. 12)<h3>NORTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0852/4317344-1-eng-US/f0036-082.jpg" title="f0036-08" width="525" height="149"></div><h3>SOUTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0946/4317337-1-eng-US/f0036-092.jpg" title="f0036-09" width="527" height="148"></div>5-Kalamazoo. 7-Toledo. 20-Milwaukee. 25-Davton. 24-Flint. 27-Fort Wayne. 28-Grand Rapids. 29-Muskegon. 30-Port Huron. 31-Saglnaw.<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>WED., DEC. 5Grand Rapids 3 at Fort Wayne 7Saginaw 7 at Dayton 2Kalamazoo 11 at Milwaukee 5THURS., DEC. 4Muskegon 3 at Milwaukee 2FRI, DEC. 7Port Huron 3 at Flint 5Dayton 4 at Kalamazoo 10Saginaw 7 at Toledo 3Fort Wayne 5 at Grand Rapids 5SAT., DEC. 8Milwaukee 1 at Fort Wayne 5Flint 3 at Muskegon 1Grand Rapids 2 at Port Huron 3Kalamazoo 3 at Saginaw 4Dayton 4 at Toledo 5Muskegon 8 at Port Huron 8Dayton 5 at Flint 3Milwaukee 1 at Saginaw 5Toledo 2 at Kalamazoo 7<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1043/4317330-1-eng-US/f0036-102.jpg" title="f0036-10" width="533" height="414"></div><h2>EASTERN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Dec. 11)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1140/4317323-1-eng-US/f0036-112.jpg" title="f0036-11" width="526" height="171"></div>4-Richmond. 5-Johnstown. 10-Baltimore. 32-Erie. 33-Hampton. 34-Utlca.<h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed. Dec. 5Baltimore 2 at Utica 3Johnstown 3 at Richmond 6Fri. Dec. 7Johnstown 1 at Erie 8Utica 2 at Hampton 4Sat. Dec. 8Hampton 2 at Johnstown 3Baltimore 4 at Richmond 7Utica 3 at Erie 5Sun. Dec. 9Baltimore 6 at Johnstown 3Erie 3 at Hampton 2 *<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1236/4317316-1-eng-US/f0036-122.jpg" title="f0036-12" width="522" height="267"></div> &#9632;

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MINOR SCOREBOARD

The Buffalo Sabres are holding forth as one of the NHL&rsquo;s top four teams this season and much of the credit is in the Sabres&rsquo; improved offense. The Sabres are scoring goals this year and one of their leaders is Gilbert Perreault. Next week in THE HOCKEY NEWS correspondent Dick Johnston will reveal in his page 3 special Just how much Perreault has improved as a hockey player playing under new coach Scotty Bowman.Our special NHL Backgrounder series will return NEXT WEEK with an in-depth look at the Minnesota North Stars and their rise back to contention in the league after many dry years. The North Stars are rolling in high gear and it is a big change for Minnesota&rsquo;s loyal hockey fandom, who have been suffering through nearly a decade of apathy. Next week, read about the New North Stars. &#9632;

Where To Find It…

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011071/4314956-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="424" height="333"></div><h2>View From Left Wing</h2>STEPHEN JOHN (Steve) Shutt has been around the National Hockey League for eight seasons now, injecting his quick feet, big shot and good humor into the cause of Montreal Canadiens.This season, he and right winger Guy Lafleur have a new center, Pierre Laroucne, replacing Jacques Lemaire, who&rsquo;s manager-coach-star for a club in Switzerland this year. The Larouche-Shutt-Lafleur line has carried a large sack of offensive mail for the Canadiens. In one stretch, they had a hand in 23 of 27 scores by the Montreal club.The first one-third of the &lsquo;79-80 campaign wasn&rsquo;t exactly a vintage time for the Canadiens. Of course, they were in contention for the NHL&rsquo;s overall lead, a position they&rsquo;re accustomed to holding, not chasing, during the past few seasons.While Shutt acknowledges that the Canadiens haven&rsquo;t exactly been overwhelming this season, he does offer some logical evidence to support his claim that the NHL is, overall, a stronger league this time.&ldquo;It has been a little topsy-turvy, too,&rdquo; Shutt said. &ldquo;Of what happened last season when New York Islanders finished ahead of us for the top place during the season and New York Rangers played us in the final, you would have expected those two clubs to have been right up there this season.&ldquo;But Philadelphia, Boston and Buffalo plus our club have been at the front end. The New York teams both have good talent and they aren&rsquo;t going to struggle much longer. They&rsquo;ll be along to make things hot before the season is over.&ldquo;Through the whole league, though, I think the calibre of teams is up and I think that&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s more difficult to shake a slump if you get in one.&ldquo;When you were in a sag, there were a few teams you could look to as certain slump-enders. But there are fewer clubs now that you&rsquo;re certain of beating.&rdquo;<h2>There&rsquo;s More Talent</h2>SHUTT FEELS THAT several factors have contributed to the improvement of the competitive level in the NHL. He doesn&rsquo;t mention parity, that pipe-dream some hockey people have in which they see a 21-team race for the overall lead.&ldquo;Look at what&rsquo;s happened in the game in the past few years and you see that more and more good talent has become available,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;This season with the merger of the two leagues, it meant that two teams from the World Hockey Association (Birmingham Bulls and Cincinnati Stringers) folded and that made a group of players, some of them good ones, available to spread around the leaue.&ldquo;There were quite a few players signed as underage juniors over the past few years and many of them have become excellent players, although it&rsquo;s taken them time to do it. The NHL drafted 19-year-old juniors this season and there&rsquo;s a dozen or so of them in the league, some playing quite strongly.&ldquo;In the past five years, look at all the players who&rsquo;ve moved to our league from Sweden plus a few from other European countries. Some of them are among the best players in the NHL.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t been around that long but each year that I have, it seems that the quality and number of U.S. players has increased, not only from their colleges but from the junior hockey programs in a few areas.&ldquo;I just feel that the calibre of the players we have in the NHL has really improved. The teams just have more talent to choose from this season than they&rsquo;ve had in a long time.&rdquo;<h2>Help In Two Ways</h2>IN SHUTT&rsquo;S VIEW the improvement in the calibre of players has helped in two ways, aside from a general upgrading in the quality of hockey. There&rsquo;s good competition for jobs on many teams, always a healthy situation, and a higher skill level in players leads to a more entertaining product plus a reduction in the need for some clubs to attempt to substitute muscle for skill.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt about the fact that a big part of the Canadiens&rsquo; success over the years has been our management&rsquo;s ability to retain some depth in talent in the organization,&rdquo; Shutt added.&ldquo;Having that depth not only allowed us to survive injuries without falling down the ladder but it created competition for jobs. There&rsquo;s nothing that keeps a guy hungry like having a couple of players breathing down his neck, itching for his job.&ldquo;Of course, not all clubs in the NHL are eight deep at all positions but many of them have more legitimate candidates for jobs than they&rsquo;ve had for a few years. On those clubs, the guys that work will keep the jobs and he guys who don&rsquo;t will be moved out.&rdquo;Shutt feels that as the level of talent goes up, the player categorized as &ldquo;tough&rdquo; becomes less in demand.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt that many teams in the NHL are stressing speed and moving the puck this season,&rdquo; Shutt said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s been our game and we&rsquo;ve won the last four Stanley Cups. That&rsquo;s had some influence on the style in the league.&ldquo;As teams get more talent, their power-plays improve and that cuts down on the number of penalties their opponents want to take.&ldquo;Back in the mid-70s when there seemed to be a large number of altercations in the NHL, I&rsquo;d say that ten per cent of the players in the league were involved in more than 75 per cent of the fights. The only players from that ten per cent who are still around in the NHL are the ones who had some good hockey ability as well as toughness.&rdquo; &#9632;

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FRANK ORR’S HOCKEY VIEWPOINT

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>It has been a full decade, but the Vancouver Canucks are finally getting together some hockey players who may one day play on a Stanley Cup winner.One such man is Glen Hanlon, whom everybody is willingly referring to as the franchise out in Vancouver. He is not solely responsible for the upward mobility of the Canucks in the standings this year, but to say he was not a major factor is to delude oneself.To know Glen Hanlon is to know a man obsessed, even sometimes to his own detriment, with success as a National Hockey League star. He admits to wanting nothing else. When other players talk of dedication to a sport, it is literally a joke compared with the way Hanlon dedicates himself to his profession.Kis social life suffers, but he doesn&rsquo;t care. He doesn&rsquo;t even care about the money. Winning, contributing, stopping pucks are all that matter to Hanlon, and that is what just about every member of the team, the media and the fans have fallen in love with.The career of this 21-year-old goalkeeper began at the age of three, when his mother says he used to catch missiles with oven mitts on the floor and pretend they were hockey pucks. When he was five, he&rsquo;d hang around with his older brother Ward and play pickup games in goal.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011078/4314994-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="541" height="711"><figcaption class="caption-body">Glen Hanlon thanks his parents for helping him unwind during his junior days.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;One day he came home with a bad cut on his forehead,&rdquo; recalls his father John. &ldquo;When I asked what happened he said he got hit by a puck. The kids had him propped up in goal and were firing pucks at him. The next day I went down to the sporting goods store and ordered the smallest mask they had.&rdquo;Hanlon admits Brandon was a great place to grow up. He played all his hockey there, including the three years of junior with the Wheat Kings before being drafted in the third round, 40th overall, by the Canucks three years ago.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d just follow my brother to the rink. All the other kids wanted to play cowboys and Indians but I didn&rsquo;t. I&rsquo;ve been playing hockey since I was old enough to hold a stick.&rdquo;Indeed there has probably never been more than a fleeting moment in which Hanlon has been relaxed enough to do anything else but play or think about playing.He is hyper-active to say the least.On a recent trip into Quebec City, Hanlon arrived with his mates at midnight at the airport and boarded the bus to the hotel. The bus had straps hanging from the bars along the side, so Hanlon decided he would do some flexibility exexcises. He grabbed the straps and began some twisting, getting his feet up on the roof of the bus to loosen up after the tedious flight from Vancouver.But this hyper-activity, though it has almost cost him his life, seems to help enormously on the ice.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the best I&rsquo;ve seen in a long time,&rdquo; said Roger Crozier of Hanlon. &ldquo;I like to see a goalie with a spring in his rear end so that when he goes down he can jump up quickly. I&rsquo;m really impressed by him.&rdquo;Yes, it did nearly cost him his life.He&rsquo;s alleged to have fallen out of a tree and dislocated his elbow. He&rsquo;s had hip waders fill up while fishing and been dragged down a river. Fishing again, he had a fly hook catch in his eye while casting.&ldquo;Glen,&rdquo; his coach Harry Neale once told him, &ldquo;I think you are going to be a helluva goalie in this league but I don&rsquo;t exactly know whether you&rsquo;re going to live long enough to prove it.&rdquo;But as Neale goes on, &ldquo;What you like about the guy is his enthusiasm. He gets carried away sometimes, but we are fortunate enough to have a goalie like him who is a leader. He&rsquo;s the hardest working guy we have, and with an example like him it&rsquo;s bound to rub off.&rdquo;What Hanlon has done is pick the Canucks up by the bootstraps by constantly making the big save behind his teammates.After Canucks&rsquo; recent 5-2 win over Montreal, the Montreal writers came in to see Neale and asked him about Hanlon.&ldquo;I told them this was just an ordinary night for Glen,&rdquo; said Neale. &ldquo;He was sharp, but he makes four or five unbelievable saves a night. He&rsquo;s been doing that as long as he&rsquo;s played on this team.&rdquo;In 21 of the team&rsquo;s 24 games to date, Hanlon has a goals against average a little under three, which is quite an accomplishment in light of the shots he often faces.Hanlon was drafted and spent his first year in pro winning the rookie of the year award in Tulsa of the Central League. Then last year, he began with the Canucks and was doing an unbelievably good job until Jan. 27 when he injured his knee. He was out for the season, and so, pretty much, were the Canucks, though they managed a good showing against Philadelphia in the playoffs.&ldquo;Funny thing,&rdquo; said Hanlon about his injury. &ldquo;I was always preaching about the good effects of stretching exercises and I was the guy who got hurt. I have a theory that maybe you get hurt when you are tired. We had played in Vancouver the previous night and then taken a bus to Seattle and stayed in a hotel before going to Denver in the morning. I didn&rsquo;t sleep, and when I went into the game that night I felt really tired for the first time in my life. I didn&rsquo;t know if I would be able to play. When the game started those thoughts went away, but five minutes into the second period I got hurt.&rdquo;There have been no injuries this year, though Neale says he&rsquo;s got to start taking it easier on Hanlon, using the capable Curt Ridley more often.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to reduce the overall work Glen is doing,&rdquo; says Neale. &ldquo;If I don&rsquo;t let him handle a lot of shots before the game, he is likely to go out and rent a rink himself and get somebody to shoot at him. I think he&rsquo;s going to have to take it a little easier because we need to have him.&rdquo;Hanlon was originally an admirer of Johnny Bower, the former Leaf star, then became a Tony Esposito fan because he was lefthanded like himself. Then he became a watcher of Bernie Parent because he had &ldquo;such finesse, played the angles so well and his feet were always in position.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-02921/4314987-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1810" height="2409"><figcaption class="caption-body">The only thing which exceeds Glen Hanlon&rsquo;s modesty about his contributions to the Vancouver Canucks is his dedication to the sport and desire to excel. (Photo by Bill Cunningham)</figcaption></div>But now he is developing a style and some quirks that are all his own. Take his pre-game ritual for instance, when he touches both goalposts after the national anthem and then bashes his leg pads with his goalstick. He&rsquo;s strictly one of a kind.One of his problems earlier in his career was an inability to handle a loss. But now, with help from a book called Sports Psyching by Dr. Thomas Tutko, he&rsquo;s learned to handle losses a little better.&ldquo;When I was younger, I demolished a few dressing rooms,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I would come home upset from a game and my parents would help me unwind. It helped playing junior in my home town. Now I have learned to take some positive things out of every defeat.&rdquo;But he doesn&rsquo;t have that many losses to handle now that he has given his teammates such solid backing in goal. In fact, you literally couldn&rsquo;t pay any of his teammates to say a derogatory word about him. They think he&rsquo;s the greatest.After one game, Rick Blight said: &ldquo;We should ail chip in and help pay part of his salary. He is unreal out there.&rdquo;Hanlon is always modest about his achievements, never failing to point out that the defense took care of rebounds or that he didn&rsquo;t have that much work.Some of the best stories about his humility come from general manager Jake Milford.&ldquo;I was negotiating with his agent Herb Pinder and we had everything all worked out when Pinder called me and said he wouldn&rsquo;t sign it,&rdquo; said Milford. &ldquo;I said why not, and he said Glen thought it was too much money. He didn&rsquo;t want it to change his lifestyle and spoil himself. He finally signed it, but only after I assured him that it wasn&rsquo;t too much.&rdquo;But the best things, and most appropriate compliment paid the &lsquo;carrot&rsquo; as he&rsquo;s called, comes from former goaler George Wood, the Canucks&rsquo; western scout who spotted him and has been largely responsible for Canucks&rsquo; excellent line on young goalies.Wood, says of Hanlon: &ldquo;If he was your son, you&rsquo;d be wanting to,&rsquo; go around and tell everyone, that&rsquo;s my son.&rdquo;Indeed, John Hanlon surely feels the same way. He&rsquo;s the only guy who can say such a thing.He should say it with feeling.<div class="sidebar">Hyperactivity, though it has almost cost him his life, seems to help enormously on the ice&hellip;he&rsquo;s going to have to take it a little easier because we need to have him.&rdquo;&mdash;Neale &#9632;</div>

f0003-01

Hanlon Pivotal Figure In Canuck Franchise

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011129/4315053-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="491" height="318"></div>&bull; LOOK FOR tighter security measures when teams from the Soviet Union play exhibition games in Canada and the United States from now on. The Soviet Ice Hockey Federation is wary of defections, in light of the defections recently of several Soviet ballet stars who were on tour in North America at the time&hellip;Vancouver Canucks, who were known in the past for their gaudy uniforms, are now known for their fine hockey. They say the uniforms were designed by a psychologist to have a demoralizing effect upon the opposition&hellip;When Floyd Thomson, captain of Salt Lake Golden Eagles, was recalled by the parent St. Louis Blues recently, it shattered the longest consecutive-game playing streak in the Golden Eagles&rsquo; history. In his third season as an Eagle, Thomson began his streak on Dec. 10, 1977, appearing in every game the balance of that season plus the playoffs. Last season he never missed a game capturing the league&rsquo;s official &ldquo;Iron Man Award&rdquo; while performing in all 76 regular season games and 10 playoff tilts. This season he&rsquo;d played in their first 11 games. Thomson&rsquo;s streak was 151 consecutive games. Previous high for the Golden Eagles was Dennis Kassian&rsquo;s 142 games&hellip;Hartford Whalers worked out one of hockey&rsquo;s most successful deals when they purchased Rick Ley and Blaine Stoughton from Toronto Maple Leafs for $50,000. Both players have been sensational in the club&rsquo;s games to date&hellip;Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; center Butch Goring, who is from St. Boniface, Man., adjoining city to Winnipeg, never has played in his &ldquo;home town&rdquo; as an amateur or a pro and will do so for the first time when the Kings play the Jets on January 6&hellip;If he was on a team covering him with defensive defensemen the Kings&rsquo; offensive-minded Doug Halward would be blossoming as one of the star defensemen in the National League&hellip;Moe Bartoli, one of the International Hockey League&rsquo;s veterans, didn&rsquo;t take long before he took over as coach of the Grand Rapids Owls. Nelson Leclair started the season as coach and Bartoli was general manager. He&rsquo;s back doing both jobs again.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021083/4315046-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="306" height="425"><figcaption class="caption-body">Floyd Thomson</figcaption></div>&bull; OF THE 21 players the Colorado Rockies had on their roster at the start of this month, only seven were with the team the first game of the 1978-79 season. Nine new players joined the club since the end of last season&hellip;Kalamazoo Wings of the IHL won seven more games this season than they did for the same period a year ago. Kalamazoo goalie Larry Lozinski has been the leading IHL goalie for eight straight weeks&hellip;Actress Susan Saint James says she saw 40 hockey games in Los Angeles and across the country last season&hellip;Stan Mikita will become a golf professional on a full-time basis at the end of this season. The veteran Chicago center plans to retire at the close of this season (his 22nd) with the possibility of even sooner if his aching back continues to give him trouble. Stan will be an assistant golf pro at the Kemper Lakes Golf Club, a suburban Chicago bourse&hellip;Minnesota North Stars play eight home games this month, a club record&hellip;The top rated juniors available for next year&rsquo;s amateur entry draft are Brandon Wheat Kings&rsquo; Steve Patrick, a winger and son of the former Winnipeg Blue Bomber of the same name; Paul Coffey, Kitchener Rangers&rsquo; defenseman; Norman Rochefort, a defenseman with Quebec; Dave Babych, a Portland Winter Hawks defenseman, and Doug Wickenheiser, a Regina Pats forward&hellip;Pierre Larouche asked for and received a stick from Gordie Howe after the recent Whalers-Canadiens 4-4 tie at the Forum&hellip;Ken Dryden will be at the Izvestia tournament in Moscow this month. He will analyze hockey at this winter&rsquo;s Olympics for a major U.S. television network. Incidentally, Canadiens miss the retired goalkeeper more than they ever imagined.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03977/4315039-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="298" height="416"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ken Dryden</figcaption></div>&bull; JOHN MUCKLER, who coached the Dallas Black Hawks to the Central Hockey League championship last season, is now living in Rhode Island and scouting for the Vancouver Canucks&hellip;Dallas has been at or close to the top of the CHL West Division all season and four of the top ten scorers are members of the Hawks. They are Brad Smith, Rob Tudor, Gerry Minor and Bruce Affleck&hellip;Minnesota North Stars are gaining quite a reputation for tying or winning games in the final minutes of the contest. It&rsquo;s kept the North Stars up near the top of the NHL standings and also caused oodles of thrills for their fans&hellip;Detroit Red Wings are scheduled to play their first league game at the new Joe Louis Arena on December 27. St. Louis Blues will supply the opposition&hellip;Kate Smith no longer sings &ldquo;God Bless America&rdquo; prior to Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; games. She has been replaced by a recording of Canada&rsquo;s own Roger Doucet singing the &ldquo;Star Spangled Banner&rdquo;&hellip;The Flyers, incidentally, are the talk of the hockey world these days with their super play and lengthy unbeaten streak&hellip;In six of their remaining home games this season the Maine Mariners will host schoolboy contests comprised of high schools in the Greater Portland area&hellip;The 1978-80 Michigan State hockey team doesn&rsquo;t seem the same with the legendary Amo Bessone missing from behind the bench. Bessone was head hockey coach at Michigan State for 28 years before retiring at the close of last season. He was the dean of WCHA coaches at the time of his retirement and was selected &ldquo;Coach of the Year&rdquo; in 1965-66 when the Spartans won the NCAA title. Ron Mason, after 13 years coaching in the college ranks, the last six successfully at Bowling Green State, has taken over from Amo. Mason&rsquo;s Bowling Green teams finished in first place in the Central Collegiate Association in three of the last four years&hellip;Nate Greenberg, highly respected public relations director of the Boston Bruins, turned down the same position with the National Hockey League&rsquo;s office in New York. The NHL appears in no hurry to hire a replacement for the departed Bob Casey.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04875/4315032-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="304" height="390"><figcaption class="caption-body">Amo Bessone</figcaption></div>&bull; FOUR MEMBERS of the New York Rangers, Phil Esposito, Anders Hedberg, Ulf Nilsson and Barry Beck earn at least $200,000 a season each. Don Murdoch, Wayne Thomas, John Davidson, Walt Tkaczuk, Ron Greschner, Carol Vadnais and Steve Vickers are reported to be earning in the vicinity of $150,000 a season each. But Dave Maloney, the Rangers&rsquo; leader and captain, earns around $90,000 a season. Something appears wrong here&hellip;Sam Rothschild, who is now an active 80, is one of two members of the Montreal Maroons Stanley Cup team of 1925-26 still alive. The other is &ldquo;Dinny&rdquo; Dinsmore. The Maroons entered the NHL in 1924-25 and Sam was a member of the club during its first three years of existence. We received a very newsy letter from Rothschild the other day in which he took out a subscription to THE HOCKEY NEWS for his nephew. He was the first Jewish player to play in the National Hockey League and he was a star winger who never weighed more than 125 pounds, making him one of the lightest players to ever perform in hockey&rsquo;s major league. The 1926 Montreal Maroons had such former hockey greats as Clint Benedict in goal; Dunc Munro, Reg Noble and Toots Holoway on defense; Nels Stewart played center between Babe Siebert and Punch Broadbent on the big line while Bill Phillips centered the line of Rothschild and Frank Carson. Dinny Dinsmore was the sole penalty killer. Eddie Gerard was the coach and Bill O&rsquo;Brien, father of Andy and Larry O&rsquo;Brien, was the trainer&hellip;Jim Clegg, Steve Kachan and Nick Azzarone are three of hockey&rsquo;s keenest fans, who live in the Providence area, and drive to all the American Hockey League cities to watch games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05736/4315025-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="293" height="415"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave Maloney</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0004-01

KEN MCKENZIE’S PASSING THE PUCK

VOLUME 33, NUMBER 12 DECEMBER 21, 1979Editorial and Advertising Offices:214 King Street WestSuite 314Toronto, Ontario. M5H 1K4Charlie HalpinEditorial DirectorTom MurrayAssistant PublisherMike DennisAssistant EditorCathy MunroCopy EditorBob HanleyEditorial ConsultantStan Fischler, Frank OrrBob VerdiContributing EditorsBusiness StaffPeter EmersonExecutive Vice President and General ManagerJoanne HatchSales Service ManagerKenneth W. McKenziePresident and PublisherW. C. C. Publishing Ltd.,Suite 217, 1434 St Catherine St W.,Montreal, Canada. H3G 1R7Donald R. Wall ChairmanTom MurrayAssistant Publisher850 Third Avenue,New York, N.Y. 10022Advertising Representatives:New York:Tom Murray850 Third Ave.,New York, N.Y. 10022 &bull; (212) 593-2100Chicago:Hooper, Jones & Associates3322 W. Peterson AvenueChicago, III. 60659 &bull; (312) 478-5544Boston:Steve GanakSteve Ganak Ad ReosStatler Office BuldingBoston, Mass. 02116 &bull; (617) 542-6913THE HOCKEY NEWS, (ISSN 00183016), Is published weekly except monthly June through September by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd., 214 King St. W., Suite 314, Toronto, Ont. M5H 1K4. Phone: (416) 598-1753. In U.S. c/o W.C.C. Publishing Corp., 850 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10022. Phone (212) 593-2100.YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION RATES. $14.95 in the U.S.A., 13.95 in Canada, $19.25 in Foreign Countries. Send all subscription requests to The Hockey news, 850 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10022.Please allow 4-6 weeks for processing. SEND ADDRESS CHANGES (AND 3579 FORMS) to: The Hockey News, Martinsville Center, Martinsville, New Jersey 08836. Second class postage paid at New York, N.Y. 10001 and additional mailing offices. Second Class ZMall (Registration No. 1327). &#9632;

Hockey News OFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY FOUNDED 1947

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; coach Glen Sonmor once made this statement about Tim Young:&ldquo;Tim Young has more talent in his little finger than a lot of hockey players have in their entire bodies.&rdquo;Young&rsquo;s pinky has not been that active this year. Oh, he played in 19 of Minnesota&rsquo;s first 20 games, but he was in the position of centering the team&rsquo;s third line. There was not much ice time on the power play, and if there were a lot of penalties, Young would wind up with only two or three shifts a period.When leading scorer Bobby Smith suffered a broken ankle, Sonmor had an easy decision to make on a center for Steve Payne and Al MacAdam.Tim Young. That trio spent a 33 tie against Chicago getting acquainted. Next time out, the North Stars defeated the New York Islanders, 3-1.Guess who the No. 1 star was. Yep, Tim Young. The Islanders took a 1-0 lead and protected that margin most of the second period until the 24-year-old native of Scar-borough, Ont. took over.Young scored the tying goal on a centering pass from MacAdam. He put in the tie-breaker on a breakaway with his sixth goal of the season. And he won a faceoff and passed back to the point to Fred Barrett for the game&rsquo;s third goal.&ldquo;Actually, I didn&rsquo;t think I was playing very well,&rdquo; Young said. &ldquo;I was nervous, a little scared. Bobby was playing so good and that line was going great. I was worried about the line not doing well. Usually, it takes a line three or four games together to start clicking&rdquo;That performance came a week after Young scored two goals (one shorthanded) and. picked up an assist in helping the Stars beat Quebec, 7-2. In that one, Sonmor sent a checking line out against Real Cloutier. Three lines took the ice before Young got his chance.Young has received the praise now.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m down to about 180 and 185 now,&rdquo; Young said. &ldquo;I think I can play at that weight. There was no problem when I was skating. It just seemed to be a matter of getting started quicker.&rdquo; &#9632;

North Stars’ Young Puts Talent On Display

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01980/4315156-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="512" height="353"></div><h2>Ziegler Speaks Truth</h2>WHEN THE NATIONAL Hockey League finally shot the World Hockey Association dead last summer by accepting four lodge brothers in a merger that was labeled an expansion, president John Ziegler offered a word of caution to the paying public.&ldquo;This solves some of our problems,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but not all of them.&rdquo;After observing the &ldquo;new&rdquo; National Hockey League for two months, one is tempted to telephone Honest John and thank him for the warning. If they ever name a serum after Ziegler, it will be a truth serum.When the Washington Capitals aren&rsquo;t drawing 6,000 people, and when the New York Rangers aren&rsquo;t making a trade with the Colorado Rockies for Barry Beck and a Meadowland to be named later, and when a coach isn&rsquo;t removing up upper bicuspids so as to challenge another coach on a rainy night in Georgia, the sport seems to be nudging ever so slightly into the 20th century.Trouble is, something always keeps happening to the NHL, which, of course, too often allows these somethings to happen.If hockey couldn&rsquo;t be the best and most beautiful of all games&mdash;when it is played well&mdash;then it wouldn&rsquo;t matter. If hockey didn&rsquo;t possess some of the finest athletes anywhere and place them in a milieu of such splendid ingredients&mdash;speed, plus contact, within an enclosed area&mdash;then it wouldn&rsquo;t matter. If hockey had a history of failure based on past rebuffs by the sporting fans, and therefore no future, then it wouldn&rsquo;t matter.But it does matter, because hockey has everything. It is a good game. It could be a great game. One must hope the NHL realizes it before it&rsquo;s too late.<h2>Oneupmanship Overdone</h2>THE NHL, for starters, is a league only in the loosest sense. It is really an omelette of 21 different owners who are so interested in back biting and practising oneupmanship and worrying about their own backyards that The Game just happens to be dying on the vine. It is one thing to try and outdo the other guy because his team finishes above yours in the standings. It is quite another to look at him cross-eyed because he is Canadian or American or Jewish.An omnipotent type such as Pete Rozelle might be able to whack all these disparate elements into some sort of shape or at least frighten them into progress through co-existence. But Ziegler, noble though his intentions may be, is merely a lead man in a limited partnership. If he names a tune and half his glee club doesn&rsquo;t like the sound of it, then it&rsquo;s the same old song.Ziegler discovered that during one of his early weeks in office. He went before the Bored (cq) of Governors and pleaded with them to hire a marketing firm that might enhance the image of the NHL, which to this day cannot sell a Farrah Fawcett poster in Stalag 17. Ziegler was hooted from the podium.&ldquo;Who,&rdquo; wondered Toronto owner Harold Ballard, &ldquo;does that little squirt think he is?&rdquo; So much for respect. Ziegler may not be the NHL&rsquo;s savior, but he does have some pragmatic views. If the owners let him carry the ball, he might surprise them. But don&rsquo;t hold your breath.<h2>NHL Image Laughable</h2>THE NHL&rsquo;s IMAGE is the laugh of major league sport&mdash;if, indeed, the NHL can still merit such a label. Sports Illustrated tells us its worst selling issues are the ones with hockey covers. Network television won&rsquo;t touch the game with a 10-foot aerial.And the league that once told sports editors it was the sport of the the &lsquo;70s is now being told by newspapers that it belongs on page 70.Yet, hockey continues to do what it does best. Slam doors. Do you know that you can interview the starting pitcher for Game 7 of the World Series 30 minutes before he throws the first ball, but the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; dressing room is closed to the media after practice on an off day during the Stanley Cup finals? Never mind the frustration such rudeness causes Team Typewriter: What about the customers who want to read more than scores?&ldquo;Hockey,&rdquo; said New York Times&rsquo; columnist Dave Anderson, a shinny buff, &ldquo;has the worst public relations of ANY sport.&rdquo;Meanwhile, back at ice level, we witness the sad attrition of basic skills&mdash;skating, bodychecking, stickhandling&mdash;while the NHL continues to sanction the bane of its existence. Fighting. Who needs it?The merger, at a time when hockey lacks identity, provided the public with four more teams and 80 more players. Pity the poor fan in Atlanta. It was hard enough to convince him that four visits by the Islanders were worthwhile. Now he settles for two by them and two by the Edmonton Oilers. The NHL is developing franchises faster than players.This ludicrous balanced schedule will hardly balance the books. The NHL is a smash in Canada, and a few other cities, and the four expansion teams have comported themselves admirably. But how long can 21 teams play 840 games in seven months to eliminate five teams for the Stanley Cup playoffs?Well, not very long, Mr. Ziegler said the other day that expansion is just around the corner. On that weighty matter, the governors will undoubtedly vote yes. Progress, you know. &#9632;

f0005-01

HOCKEY TALK

<div class="byline">BY TOM MURRAY</div>NEW YORK&mdash;Fred Shero, the coach, says that they are &ldquo;still nowhere near anything. They&rsquo;re struggling, just like everyone else in the league.&rdquo;Mike Nykoluk, the slightly more optimistic assistant coach, says that he &ldquo;sees some good signs. They&rsquo;re working harder and they&rsquo;re more conscious of what they&rsquo;re doing out there.&rdquo;Dave Maloney, the earnest captain, says that he too sees some good signs and that &ldquo;the intensity is back. We&rsquo;re starting to play 60 minutes of hockey per game.&rdquo;After 29 games, several false starts, and more slumps than you can shake a stick at, it appears that the Rangers just might be on their way to getting back on the right track. And while most of the players feel that the team is beginning to pull together, all concur with Shero&rsquo;s opinion that they have a long, long way to go. Take for instance this past week, which saw the Rangers play four games&mdash;against Montreal, Chicago, Hartford and the Islanders&mdash;and lose none of them. That&rsquo;s the good news. The bad news is that they tied two of those games and could have won them.Against Montreal, a game which ended in a 3-3 tie, the Rangers were ahead, 2-1, when disaster struck in the form of back-to-back second period penalties by Dave Maloney and Ron Greschner. Anytime you give Montreal that much skating room, the results are inevitable. And this was no exception: The Canadiens potted two goals within 35 seconds and held a 3-2 lead until early in the third period, when Phil Esposito scored his second goal of the game and the Rangers&rsquo; first power play goal in six games.A tie is certainly not the most gratifying result in the world, but the Rangers were able to take solace in the fact that they really were the dominating team in a game which featured a lot of playoff-like rushing, body-checking and crowd-pleasing plays.For awhile, the Rangers were just as impressive two nights later against the Chicago Black Hawks in a game which saw goalie Steve Baker going up against his idol, Tony Esposito, who has more shutouts than any active NHL goalie.This night, it looked like Baker just might give Espo a lesson in the art of the shutout, as the Rangers jumped to a 3-0 lead, which they held through two and a half periods.Then, disaster struck again. This time, the team simply decided to stop playing hockey for two minutes and eight seconds. And that&rsquo;s all the time it took for the Hawks to score three unanswered goals and tie up the game, which is the way things stood when the final buzzer sounded. Back to the drawing board.Two nights later (this balanced schedule is something, huh?) the Rangers were on the road against Hartford. The Whalers jumped out to a 3-1 lead, but then the New Yorkers roared back, scoring six straight goals and giving the ego and confidence of John Davidson, the starting goalie that night, a much needed boost.&ldquo;I was a little apprehensive,&rdquo; J.D. said after the 7-4 win, &ldquo;but my knee felt fine.&rdquo;The Rangers felt fine when they ended their week two nights later against the Islanders, winning 5-4 and moving to within one victory of that elusive. 500 mark. The winning goal in this contest was scored by Anders Hedberg with just under four minutes remaining in the game and the Rangers were able to make it stand up despite some intense pressure from the Isles.Awesome is really the only way to describe Hedberg&rsquo;s play lately. In his last 22 games, the smoothskating Swede has 28 points (14 goals, 14 assists), leads the team in shots on goal and is usually the leading scorer. He seems to be getting better with every game this year, a sharp contrast to the tentative, confused style he displayed in much of the early going last year.BLUE CHIPS: Hedberg and Nilsson are taking such a beating from chippy opponents that Shero is pondering the idea of putting Frank &ldquo;Seldom&rdquo; Beaton on their line. Beaton&rsquo;s addition would hurt the line&rsquo;s scoring ability but would undoubtedly prevent the muggings they are now subjected to&hellip;Doug Soetaert cleared waivers and was sent to New Haven, leaving the Rangers with three goalies. Wayne Thomas has supposedly cleared them too, so he could be gone soon&hellip;Defenseman Josh Guevremont is history. He hasn&rsquo;t played in the last seven games, was placed on waivers and claimed by Detroit. A trade could be in the offing&hellip;Steve Vickers netted his 200th goal as a Ranger in that Chicago game. With 11 goals so far this year, Vickers is just two shy of his total for last season&hellip;Eddie Johnstone has nine points, one more than he had all last year&hellip;Dave Maloney&rsquo;s game against the Islanders was his 250th as a Ranger. &#9632;

Rangers Improving But Face Long Road

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011160/4315187-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Disgruntled winger Bobby Schmautz criticized coach Fred Creighton for employing four forward lines and was &ldquo;sent home&rdquo; by the club who announced intentions to trade him as soon as possible.</figcaption></div>BOSTON&mdash;Bobby Schmautz was angry and it wasn&rsquo;t just because the Boston Bruins had just lost to the Colorado Rockies for their third defeat in a row, their fourth in five games. It went deeper than that. And it was more personal.&ldquo;We were outplayed and out-coached tonight,&rdquo; he snapped in the deserted dressing room. &ldquo;We were outcoached because Fred Creighton insists on using four lines. It was just a matter of time before things started catching up with us.&ldquo;Whether you want to believe it or not, that&rsquo;s the reason we&rsquo;re losing now. It&rsquo;s hard to get out on the ice every six minutes. There&rsquo;s no way you can sit out that long and then go out and play well.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been told and he&rsquo;s been told that but he&rsquo;s still going with four lines. The guys are not morally prepared when they get on the ice. The other guys won&rsquo;t say this on record because they&rsquo;re afraid of getting into trouble.&rdquo;Whereupon Schmautz said no more, on the advice of his attorney.But he had already said enough. As far as the Bruins&rsquo; brass was concerned it was the last game the 34-year-old right winger would ever play for the Bruins. He wasn&rsquo;t exactly suspended. He was just told not to show up any more.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t have him undermining my authority,&rdquo; said coach Fred Creighton. &ldquo;I have 20 other players to think about. It just won&rsquo;t fly for me to have him on this team anymore. There&rsquo;s nothing he can do to get back in my good graces.&rdquo;&ldquo;Bobby Schmautz is no longer a member of the Bruins,&rdquo; said General Manager Harry Sinden from Key Largo, Fla., where he was attending the NHL governor&rsquo;s meeting. &ldquo;And he&rsquo;ll not play for the Bruins as long as I&rsquo;m associated with the team.&ldquo;He was not happy playing. He made that clear to coach Creighton. He was not happy with his contract. He made that clear to me. He was just not happy being here. He made it plain last spring he didn&rsquo;t want to play in Boston.&rdquo;It was last spring that negotiations began in earnest on a new contract for Schmautz, who was entering his option year. It was not a propitious time. Schmautz&rsquo; favorite coach, Don Cherry, had just left the team after a bitter dispute with Sinden.&ldquo;I just couldn&rsquo;t justify paying Bobby the kind of money his agent was looking for,&rdquo; said the Bruins&rsquo; general manager.&ldquo;He disappointed me as a goalscorer. He never reached the kind of scoring figures I thought he would when I brought him here from Vancouver five years ago.&ldquo;The role he had been filling was as a designated back-checker for whatever line he was on and he didn&rsquo;t like that. But that&rsquo;s where he belonged because he hadn&rsquo;t shown the kind of goal-scoring we thought he might.&rdquo;Schmautz asked to be traded during the summer but, said Sinden, the best offer he had was a fourth round draft choice. They agreed to cool their dispute for a while and see what happened.Creighton said he was aware that Schmautz would be a free agent in June and &ldquo;I told him I&rsquo;d try to help him have the kind of season that would make him marketable. He started fast but he didn&rsquo;t give it enough time.&rdquo;&ldquo;He can talk about four lines being the problem but that&rsquo;s just a smoke screen,&rdquo; the Boston coach went on. &ldquo;The crux of the matter is that we differed in my assessment that he was no better than the fourth right winger on the team. He disagreed on that.&ldquo;This is not something that popped up ail of a sudden. Bobby requested to be traded as early as the summer. He expressed his displeasure at his limited ice time on our western trip.&ldquo;It was a cumulative thing and I just felt by this time that Bobby obviously wasn&rsquo;t happy with his role with the team and I thought he&rsquo;d be a bit of a disturbing influence on the team so we&rsquo;d be better off without him right now.&rdquo;A number of Bruins have indicated their displeasure with Creighton&rsquo;s four lines but while the club was losing only two of its first 19 games and it was something new there was no point in complaining.&ldquo;You sit a little longer and you&rsquo;re not as mentally into the flow of the game,&rdquo; said Peter McNab. &ldquo;You can do it but it takes a while to adapt mentally, not physically.&rdquo;Bruins players were inclined to sympathize with Schmautz although they would have worked it out differently if they had the same beef.&ldquo;If a player is going badly they can trade him at a whim,&rdquo; said Mike Milbury. &ldquo;What kind of leverage does a player have when he&rsquo;s unhappy with the role that he&rsquo;s been given and he&rsquo;s in the late stages of his career and in the last year of his contract?&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a very difficult situation for a guy like Schmautzie.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0006-01

Schmautz’s Open Criticism Ends Tenure With Bruins

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Maybe when you&rsquo;re a 6-5, 220-pound hockey player, whatever you do isn&rsquo;t enough. People think &ldquo;he&rsquo;s soooo big, he should be great every game.&rdquo;Bob Dailey is 6-5, 220, but he is also human, which means he won&rsquo;t resemble an All-Star defenseman every night. There are many Flyers&rsquo; fans, and some front-office people, who wish Dailey would play like an All-Star more than he does.What the critics are forgetting is, Dailey has been handicapped by injuries the last two seasons. In addition, those who know Dailey well realize it is not the man&rsquo;s nature to play like a mad dog every game. Need a candidate for Mellow Man of the Year? Dailey&rsquo;s your man.For someone Dailey&rsquo;s size. hockey is often been relatively easy. Few opponents care to annoy him, so Dailey generally does his job without aggravation, or extra exertion.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m always trying to do my best, but sometimes it doesn&rsquo;t look it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If things aren&rsquo;t going well, I probably never show it. I don&rsquo;t scream and shout, but I take it inside.&rdquo;The season has gone extremely well for the Flyers, but for one month of the club&rsquo;s unbeaten streak, Dailey wasn&rsquo;t a participant. A shoulder injury kept Dailey sidelined until Dr. Joseph Torg, the Flyers&rsquo; orthopedic surgeon, manipulated his arm to tear away 10 years worth of scar tissue, a souvenir from an earlier operation.Shortly after returning to the lineup, Dailey played like an AllStar in a 2-2 tie with Boston. Several Dailey bodychecks stunned some Bruins and excited the Spectrum crowd, which is convinced Dailey must hit to be effective.There is some truth to the public&rsquo;s opinion. Although the Flyers have had enough players performing at peak level, a few clean hits each game from the towering defenseman seem to stimulate his teammates and the audience. When Dailey leaves an unsuspecting opponent groggy with a jolting check near the Philadelphia blue line, it&rsquo;s like plugging in a sign reading &ldquo;Warning: Danger Area; Keep Out&rdquo;.Dailey has been keeping opponents out of the Flyers&rsquo; crease area ever since he was pried loose from Vancouver in January 1977. And when he feels it&rsquo;s necessary, Daily can be mean.Overlooked by some in the Flyers&rsquo; opening night 5-2 victory over the Islanders was a jousting match between Dailey and Clark Gillies. The Islanders&rsquo; 6-3, 215-pound left winger insisted upon settling in the area near Flyers&rsquo; goaltender Phil Myre. Dailey didn&rsquo;t think this was a good idea, and while the Islanders passed the puck in the Philadelphia zone, Dailey and Gillies traded angry crosschecks. Neither man won, but from the Flyers&rsquo; view the message was clear, Loiter around our goalie and it&rsquo;s going to hurt.Offensively, Dailey has been a valuable workman for the Flyers. Two years ago he set club records for goals (21) and points (57) by a defenseman. Dailey&rsquo;s biggest fault was gambling too much, which often left his right-point position vacant. That risky habit has been cured, however, as Dailey fits into Coach Pat Quinn&rsquo;s system.Quinn isn&rsquo;t worried about Dailey&rsquo;s point total.&ldquo;Bob has the capabilities of scoring points for us,&rdquo; said Quinn. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s not a priority. Any points we get from him or our other defensemen are kind of a bonus. I don&rsquo;t expect points out of our defense.&rdquo;One reason Quinn made the quick transition from NHL player to coach is his understanding of players. Quinn thinks he knows why Dailey was too offensive-minded when he first joined the Flyers.&ldquo;He got into the habit in Vancouver of trying to do too much, and some of those habits were hard to break,&rdquo; said Quinn.Dailey has been in the NHL seven seasons, but he&rsquo;s only 26, which isn&rsquo;t too old to still develop into an All-Star. If he can avoid injuries for awhile, the All-Star status predicted for him by the late Barry Ashbee is within his long reach.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011032/4315242-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="564" height="814"><figcaption class="caption-body">Big Bob Dailey is adapting well to Pat Quinn&rsquo;s new sys-tem.</figcaption></div><div class="sidebar">Clean hits from the towering defenseman seem to stimulate his teammates. &#9632;</div>

f0007-01

Dailey Keeps Flyer Crease Clean

Published by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd.214 King St. West, Suite 314, Toronto, Ont. M5H 1K4<h2>The Road Back</h2>IT ALL BEGAN with a rash of injuries from which New York Islanders refused to fashion an excuse. They over-tried, over-compensated, departed from the disciplines of Al Arbour&rsquo;s systems, and bumbled away 11 of their first 22 games this season.At the one-third mark of the present schedule they were sorry shadows of what they had been at the close of the previous season&mdash;the team with the best record, overall, in the National Hockey League.Perhaps it was the injuries and perhaps when they found themselves in an early slump they over-talked, over-thought, over-analyzed and over-reacted. As individuals departed from the essential systems, trying to turn things around single-handedly, the malaise worsened and the slump became agonizingly deeper.The front office became frustrated and confused, and trades were entertained which didn&rsquo;t help the team&rsquo;s shaken confidence.They stumbled, bumbled and slowly fought it off&mdash;finally turning things around with successful conquests of Bruins and Leafs. By now, the Islanders are looking a little more like themselves, and confidence is growing, along with a renewed faith in Arbour&rsquo;s systems.There are a dozen explanations of what might have happened to Islanders at the beginning of the season&mdash;the most popular being a depressed attitude after their springtime playoff beating by Rangers.But the fact of the matter is that Islanders were a better team than their early-season record and that in self-doubts and over-analysis they had been digging their hole deeper. They tried to rise up, but in over-trying, they slumped backwards.We&rsquo;ve all seen it with hitters in baseball and with the putting of golfers. When they&rsquo;re rattled by failure they try every sort of gimmick and panacea and in the haste to find new systems they fall further backwards.With Islanders, when all else failed they reverted to their old order, earned a couple of significant wins, and began to recapture their confidence.In searching out the essence of a slump, what you find most often is a tendency towards panic. And when panic comes in, confidence goes out.<h2>Ballard Has Point</h2>HAROLD BALLARD is the recalcitrant and gregarious symbol of a dying breed&mdash;in several ways the hockey counterpart of baseball&rsquo;s Charlie Finley.The unrepentant Ballard is still proposing an appeal against his record $10,000 fine by NHL president John Ziegler, whom he has deprecated colorfully over the last two years.Ballard&rsquo;s sin was in seeking to prevent the appearances of Darryl Sittler and Mike Palmateer on a between-periods television series which was designed to earn them some &ldquo;walking around&rdquo; money.The NHL Players&rsquo; Association and some of Ballard&rsquo;s lodge brethren welcomed the record Ziegler fine, holding for the rights of Sittler and Palmateer to be masters of their own decisions on the use of leisure time.But we may not have heard the end of Ballard&rsquo;s position which also deserves a little attention. Except for their paid exposure as members of the Maple Leaf Hockey Club, would anybody wish to see Sittler or Palmateer injured on this competitive television series?And if knee or other injuries wiped out the season for Sittler or Palmateer, who, as Ballard asks, would compensate the season seat purchasers at Maple Leaf Gardens? Ziegler may have a point, but so has Ballard! &#9632;

The Hockey News The International Hockey Weekly Founded in 1947

<div class="byline">BY MIKE LIUT</div>St. Louis goaltender Mike Liut, who played Junior B hockey at age 15 and Tier II Junior at 16 before entering Bowling Green University, is thankful for his college education.Here, he shares some of his opinions in an interview with HOCKEY NEWS correspondent Arnold Irish:More young players are deserting junior hockey for the college variety today because individuals are more aware of what&rsquo;s going on in the world.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011151/4315297-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="263" height="392"></div>They&rsquo;re aware that hockey as a profession is a short-run situation. They recognize that they can play hockey for only 10 years of their adulthood and that they will face 30 or 40 working years after that. They are looking beyond their hockey careers, which doesn&rsquo;t detract in any way from their dedication to the sport as players.College hockey has an advantage over junior hockey in that it offers not only a degree, but the experience of living and an exposure to diverse groups of people and lifestyles.The college hockey player has an opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with professors, deans, academicians&mdash;a community of scholars, if you will&mdash;while the junior hockey players&rsquo; scope is limited. He&rsquo;s restricted to just hockey.That&rsquo;s fine if you&rsquo;re going to be a first or second draft pick. The life is all right. But what about the others who don&rsquo;t make it up here until later or spend much or all of their hockey careers floundering in the minors? All they did in Junior hockey was help to create an environment for the high draft picks.That&rsquo;s changing today because more young men are willing to sacrifice a contract for a degree, knowing the latter can make up for dollars in the long run and that if you&rsquo;re a good enough hockey player, the NHL will find you.If you look at hockey in anything more than a superficial way, you&rsquo;ll see that the sport&rsquo;s pressures are a good foundation for the pressures you&rsquo;ll encounter later in life.I&rsquo;m looking forward to entering law school next summer because a law degree represents an individual&rsquo;s ability to handle pressure. Competition, whether on the ice or in the classroom, is good for the mind as well as the body. When you&rsquo;re tired, it&rsquo;s the mind that forces the body to continue and gives you discipline.Let&rsquo;s face it, the Guy Lafleurs of this world are more talented than the checking lines, but a Bryan Watson survived in the NHL for 14 years of so because he developed concentration and mental readiness. Day after day, grinding it out. &#9632;

f0008-01

Looking Beyond Hockey

<div class="byline">BY PAT QUINN</div>Perhaps a few people around the NHL are scratching their heads a little this season when they heard that I, who hardly ever was mistaken for a rocket on a pair of skates, want the team I coach, the Philadelphia Flyers, to play a go-go skating game with a great deal of motion and as little stop-and-start, static hockey as possible.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021036/4315328-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="257" height="391"></div>But that&rsquo;s the trend in the game these days. Hockey has moved away from the grinder style that the Flyers used when they won two consecutive Stanely Cups in the mid-1970s to a skating game that stresses motion and high level in basic skills, such as passing the puck.The muscle game was fine in its time. But for the past four springs, the Montreal Canadiens have carried the Stanley Cup around the ice after the final game and their style stresses speed and skill.The Canadiens never abandoned that style although several other clubs changed to a grinder approach. Of course, the Canadiens had players who could grind with anyone if they had to do it. But all their big guys had good speed and skill, too.Then the Soviets beat the NHL All Stars in the Challenge Cup series last winter with a superb display of skating and skill, especially their passing and receiving passes, their constant motion and the consistent pace they maintained. It was just beautiful hockey to watch.In our &lsquo;79 playoff series against the New York Rangers, I realized for certain that the Flyers had to change their approach. The Rangers were a fast, finesse team. We tried to use a little muscle on them, picked up penalties that weren&rsquo;t the smartest sentences in history and placed ourselves in a hole.Of course, we haven&rsquo;t tossed out all the features that made the Flyers the NHL kings in 1974 and &lsquo;75. Those clubs played with almost incredible ambition and there wasn&rsquo;t a single player on the roster who ever bailed out, who wouldn&rsquo;t take a hit to make a play.I feel we still have that ability to outwork most teams and to never give up. We&rsquo;re still a tough team along the boards and in the corners, places where a team can gain important possessions of the puck.Really, though, the changes in the Flyer approach aren&rsquo;t of a gigantic nature. When Fred Shero coached the team, there was a certain way he wanted things done and his system was very successful. It was more of a static, stop-and-start style in which the wingers came back into their own zone to a certain spot and stopped, there were similar boundaries in the attacking zone and almost pre-set plays to use in most situations.This season, we&rsquo;ve tried a more free-flowing system in which our players are on the move all the time. Our roster contains plenty of good skaters who are strong in the basic skills. That&rsquo;s made the style-change much easier to acccomplish than if we had to go out and round up a large number of players who were effective in the new way the game is being played.Hockey always has moved in cycles and, often in the NHL, the Stanley Cup champion&rsquo;s approach had a big influence on the way the game is played. I just hope we get the opportunity to dictate the style of hockey that&rsquo;s played in the NHL for the next few seasons.&bull; Pat Quinn is coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. &#9632;

f0008-02

Time To Change Style

<div class="byline">By GLENN COLE</div>MONTREAL&mdash;The Canadiens continued to go every which way but up in the National Hockey League standings during the early part of December.And nobody could come up with a fool-proof answer for the main reason of the strange inconsistent play which continued to frustrate fans and the players.There were a lot of noticeable things, for example the play of. Larry Robinson, Serge Savard and Guy Lapointe, regarded as the backbone of the defense.On some nights, they all looked good. Other nights, two of the three and sometimes all three appeared to be having the type of difficulties which have driven people such as Brian Engblom and Rod Langway to the bench.After 28 games, Savard was a plus 2, which was poor considering the amount of ice time he gets. But it is tough to bench a team captain even when he isn&rsquo;t playing well, presumably.Engblom was by far the best defenseman of the group in the first 28 games, although he didn&rsquo;t escape not being dressed for a couple of contests while Langway, who was steady, but not spectacular, started riding the bench for reasons best known to the coach and not understood by anybody.Gilles Lupien, who popped off at not being played, still was not getting much action as December rolled into high gear.Lupien was one of the Canadiens&rsquo; better defensemen in a 3-2 loss at Toronto on Dec. 5, but the next game, he never got on the ice.It is obvious the Canadiens do not have the same bench strength that they have had in former years. Last season, for example, people such as Cam Connor, Pat Hughes and Danny Newman all filled in admirably when called upon by the coaching staff.Certainly, Normand Dupont and Dan Geoffrion did not set the world on fire when they were in the lineup, but then again it was tough to judge what they could do with the limited ice time they were getting.Young Geoffrion worked hard and wasn&rsquo;t afraid to go out and bounce a few people around when he got the chance, but there were times when he took a dumb penalty here and there.Certainly the Black Aces weren&rsquo;t as numerous as before, nor did they seem as ready as Hughes. Connor and Newman were last season.The Canadiens have little at Nova Scotia, except forwards Rick Meagher and Keith Acton. Meagher played two games for Montreal in the first third of the year, but spent the majority of his time in Halifax.Contrary to what some believed, the Canadiens did not need help on defense, and certainly there wasn&rsquo;t anyone at Nova Scotia ready to give it anyway, despite the hype the organization was trying to give Gaston Gingras.The Canadiens had a long way to come back as they began their longest road trip of the season.They looked nothing like the Stanley Cup champions of a year earlier. They weren&rsquo;t even close. &#9632;

Weakening Of Usual Depth Hurting Mighty Canadiens

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011108/4315383-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">PAUL MARSHALL&hellip;Pittsburgh Penguins (—Photo by BRUCE BENNETT)</figcaption></div>At six-foot-two, 182 pounds, Paul Marshall has the kind of size for a winger to make the scouts drool. And since he&rsquo;s just turned 19, it&rsquo;s no wonder that the Penguins wanted him in their lineup at left wing. Marshall, who tallied 42 goals and 72 assists for Brantford last year in the Ontario Major Junior loop, was a late reporter to training camp with the Penguins because he couldn&rsquo;t decide whether to play one more year in the juniors, but once he arrived he played well enough to make the club and is now a regular. &#9632;

f0009-01

Meet The Rookies

<div class="byline">Fan Forum Compiled By CATHY MUNRO</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02912/4315445-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="551" height="322"></div><h2>Closer Doesn&rsquo;t Mean Better</h2>A rebuttal to Arthur Lord&rsquo;s letter of Nov. 9 is due at this time. I am not disputing his expertise as director of news for NBC, but his knowledge of hockey coverage for his network leaves a lot to be desired.The primary reason for the poor ratings was the fact that too many commercials affected the rhythm and excitement of the game. As an avid hockey fan, this bored me so much that I decided I had two choices: mow the lawn or paint the spare room. I did the lawn.His contention that the camera has to follow the puck and lose the side action is ridiculous. The Canadian TV crews and/or directors pull back their cameras to give viewers a larger coverage of the ice area, showing two or three lines about 75 per cent of the time.The fallacy of camera crews and directors is to get as close to the puck carrier as possible. This does restrict the visual effect of the game. I feel camera crews should drop the stereotyped method of concentration and use a little more imagination by televising a larger ice area. And if the puck carrier does not fill the screen, so what?!Walter Luzler Red Bank, NJ<h2>Drawing Power Down in NHL</h2>It&rsquo;s about time readers woke up. In the NHL the average attendance at home games is 12,200. Teams such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Atlanta and St. Louis are in deep financial troubles because of poor attendance, and in Denver people can&rsquo;t expect an NHL franchise in their city much longer, with crowds of 6,000 or 7,000 (sometimes reaching 10,000 and 12,000). The Meadowlands is where the Colorado team will be next year if the rare Colorado fans do not smarten up and support their team while they have it.My hometown has a population of only 200,000, yet it almost always sells out its 5,200 seats in the Windsor Arena to see a bunch of entertaining but inexperienced juniors, the Windsor Spitfires. If our small city can bring 5,200 people to a hockey game, a large American city such as St. Louis or Colorado should be able to draw a few more.Mike Canzi Windsor, Ont.<h2>Let Him Make His Own Moves</h2>I am getting a bit tired of the way people in the league criticize every move Sonny Werblin makes. They did not like it when he signed Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg, they do not like the trade for Barry Beck. How are the Rangers supposed to improve their team?Older fans remember how the pre-expansion Canadiens built up a stockpile of players who could not crack their lineup, but were good enough to play for other teams. When the league expanded and adopted a common draft, the Canadiens traded some of these excess players for draft picks from poor expansion teams. That&rsquo;s how the Canadiens got players like Guy Lafleur.I don&rsquo;t remember people complaining that the Canadiens were trying to ruin the league. Everyone talked about what a genius Sam Pollock was. Doesn&rsquo;t Sonny Werblin have just as much right to use his personal powers of persuasion and his team&rsquo;s assets to improve that team? Could the problem be that Werblin is a newcomer and a doer in a league where most owners want to run things the way they did 20 years ago? Where owners do not want to make any concessions to the facts that fans, players, the competition from other sports and the economic picture are all different from what it was twenty years ago?Marie Knox Stony Brook, NY<h2>Three Cheers For WHA Teams</h2>For years I have heard most &lsquo;Knowledgeable&rsquo; NHL officials bad-mouth the former WHA as a &lsquo;minor league&rsquo; and try to label their teams and players not good enough to compete at the NHL level. Yet when expansion did come, the ruling body made sure that the four new teams didn&rsquo;t enter intact. Were they afraid that the four new entries wold prove too powerful if they were allowed to keep their players?Despite attempts to dilute them, the four WHA teams are more than holding their own and in many cases are considerably better than some established NHL teams. As for individual performers, former WHA&rsquo;ers Wayne Gretzky, Blair MacDonald, Kent Nilsson and Real Cloutier were in the top 20 scorers as of Nov. 25. It&rsquo;s time everyone realized the WHA played some good hockey and I just wish it wasn&rsquo;t too late for the four merged teams to have remained intact.John A. Hamm Falls Church, VA<h2>In Praise Of Balancing Act</h2>Doesn&rsquo;t anyone out there favor the balanced schedule? I have yet to read a single favorable comment on the current schedule set-up in any hockey publication.But have you noticed every word of dissent comes from the east? Cliff Fletcher, general manager of the Atlanta Flames, and Islanders&rsquo; gm Bill Torrey, and even the newcomers from Quebec all have something to say about it. It seems they want to see Montreal or the Rangers in their buildings 40 times a year, and who can blame them? But, there are some other teams in the NHL, including seven west of the Mississippi.Fletcher talks about financial loss. Well, how about the other guy? By putting the Islanders in the Omni thrice more in a season they are taken away from Vancouver once, from St. Louis once, from L.A. once. When the Rangers storm Nassau five or six times a year, it becomes impossible for them to visit Colorado, Chicago or Winnipeg more than once. Talk about not getting to know the players!How about looking at it logically? Does it seem fair to compare statistics of different teams when they&rsquo;ve been playing different numbers of games against stronger or weaker teams?I would only suggest that the hockey giants from the east begin thinking about the good of entire NHL and not just their own desires.The balanced schedule makes sense, maybe that&rsquo;s why its days are numbered.Gordie Schenk Seattle, WA<h2>Points Finger At Playoffs</h2>I&rsquo;d like to know why the NHL, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to increase the number of teams making the playoffs from 12 to 16. This means, sports fans, that teams such as Colorado, St. Louis, and Washington have an excellent chance of making the playoffs. This means that teams 20 games under. 500 will be in the so called playoffs.Why even play the regular season? Why don&rsquo;t the owners just make an announcement prior to the season that all teams are in the playoffs? That way we can start the playoffs immediately in mid-October and play best of 15 game series with great matchups such as St. Louis vs. Colorado. Having 16 of 21 teams in the playoffs is ridiculous and an insult to the game!Nick Vitacco Chicago, IL.<h2>Who Deserves The Credit?</h2>I agree 110 per cent with your Nov. 23 editorial praising the Philly Flyers for their rise back to hockey&rsquo;s elite class, but I think you just skate around a more interesting question&mdash;Fred Shero.True, Shero did a number in Philly and New York but he is in reality receiving too much glory. If one really takes a look closely, he will note that it was Keith Allen&rsquo;s excellent general managing that led Philly to the top, and it is his work today that has the Flyers flying again. In New York it&rsquo;s another case of Shero receiving all the credit when in fact John Ferguson deserves it as he drafted and traded for the nucleus of what is the &lsquo;79-80 version of the Rangers.So, while Freddie deserves the credit for coaching he doesn&rsquo;t deserve a place with the Holy One, as his GM&rsquo;s and predecessors have done terrible jobs in handing him overflowing talented kids to work with.Warren Rosenberg New York, NY<h2>Extra Points For Goals</h2>I think the meaningless regular season of the NHL could garner greater fan interest if the league adopted the practice now popular in North American soccer league that work on a points basis. The formula could be worked out among the league owners and games would be made more exciting.If this new points system was adopted and the red line eliminated, hockey would attract fans for its action rather than the fisticuffs it now depends on in the American cities in which the sport is still new.Joseph Reilly Clinton, NY<h2>All Sabres&rsquo; Lovers Unite!</h2>All hockey-loving peoples of the world join in support of the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; glorious struggle to throw off the yoke of oppression forged by the hegemonistic forces of the Gang of Four (Montreal, Boston, Philadelphia and Long Island).Well-trained Sabre Cadres have long carried on the fight to vanquish these teams and their regressive, revisionistic philosophies. Now, under the heroic guidance of Chairman Bowman, the People&rsquo;s Sabres are prepared to undertake the Long March to victory, and to send the running dog Gang of Four in flight with their tails between their hind legs.The hero-team Sabres have hidden in the mountains until now, diligently studying Scotty Bowman thought and awaiting the proper moment to attack the bourgeoise Canadiens, Bruins, Flyers and Islanders. Even now, the masses are being educated throughout the land, and are ready to move against these enemies of hockey.Crush Gang of Four hegemony! Assiduously study correct Scotty Bowman thought! Assist the struggle of the glorious hero-team Buffalo Sabres! Liberate the masses from the stranglehold of the evil Gang of Four!Jeff Klein New York, NY &#9632;

f0010-02

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY JIM MATHESON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011138/4315414-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="567" height="814"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stan Weir remained with Edmonton after some stickhandling past the Maple Leafs.</figcaption></div>EDMONTON&mdash;When the good people at Molson&rsquo;s decided to hand out three-star awards to Oiler players this season, most people figured it would be little more than a benefit for the Kid&mdash;Wayne Gretzky.Nobody is more popular in this town. Nobody gets more ink or more requests for TV interviews. When the games are on Gretzky almost always seems in control of the play&hellip;as though the puck is on a string. It&rsquo;s damn hard to overlook the Boy Wonder when it comes to picking the three stars.But after 20 games, a funny thing is happening.Gretzky isn&rsquo;t running away and hiding with the three-star trophies. It doesn&rsquo;t look like he&rsquo;s going to line his jeans with the handsome cash awards handed out by the brewery. After a third of the season, Gretzky is in a neck-and-neck battle with linemate Blair MacDonald (no real surprise) and fellow center Stan Weir (a bit of a shocker).Weir, 27, has quietly been the most consistent Oiler in their trying rookie season in the National Hockey League. He&rsquo;s not flashy like Gretzky and he hasn&rsquo;t scored like MacDonald, but he&rsquo;s done so many little things well he&rsquo;s been in contention for a star award almost every Oiler game. At least the ones the club is in. There have been a few stinkeroos.&ldquo;The mark of a good pro,&rdquo; says coach Glen Sather, &ldquo;is somebody who comes to play every night. Well, almost every night. It&rsquo;s almost impossible over an 80-game schedule to not have a few off nights. But good pros keep them down to 10 or so.&ldquo;Stan Weir has been consistently good, night in and night out. On the road or at home.&rdquo;Considering Weir entered training camp as the third center&mdash;behind Gretzky and in arrears of his lockerroom next-door-neighbor Ron Chipperfield, it&rsquo;s been a pleasant turn of events for Sather. While Weir had his best pro season in &lsquo;78-79 with 31 goals, he was still thought to be more of a question mark going into the first NHL campaign for Oilers than Gretzky or Chipperfield, who had 32 goals in only 55 WHA games last year.Strange. But true.Weir, who seemed to have the world on a string in 1972 when he fired 58 goals and added 75 assists for Medicine Hat Tigers, hadn&rsquo;t really shone in five and a half previous NHL seasons. He&rsquo;d led a checkered career, certainly a little off what a second-round draft pick should have accomplished.Prior to coming to Oilers in the summer of &lsquo;78, Weir had rung up just 84 goals in 375 NHL games. His over-all point totals (198) were nothing to get excited about. Three years with the California Christmas Seals and two and a half with Hal Ballard&rsquo;s Maple Leafs hadn&rsquo;t gotten him too many fan clubs.But he did come through pretty well in his first WHA season, even though at times it looked like he&rsquo;d rather be back in Toronto than Edmonton. He lost the tip of a little finger on his left hand in an exhibition game in Winnipeg and missed the first month. He was also hampered by a groin injury and a bad cut on his nose during the season, but he still finished with 61 points in 68 games.While he hasn&rsquo;t made it public, the strong checking center seems to have a new lease on life. A purpose. It&rsquo;s almost as though he wants to show how the game should be played. He&rsquo;s charging into corners, killing penalties and otherwise creating havoc for opposing defensemen.In short, he&rsquo;s playing the way all NHL centers should. Get on the puck and make things happen seems to be his motto.This past summer, with NHL clubs reclaiming their old players off WHA rosters, it looked like Weir would be on his way back to Toronto. They certainly could have used him to take some of the heat off Darryl Sittler, even if journeyman Walt McKechnie had come on so well in the &lsquo;78-79 NHL campaign to help out at center.But Leafs wanted to keep 34-year-old winger Ron Ellis. They knew they couldn&rsquo;t protect him on their 15 and 2 list&hellip;so Sather and Leafs worked out a deal. Oilers would keep their hands off Ellis, a 300 plus goal scorer, in exchange for the rights to Weir. &#9632;

f0010-01

Oilers Strike Paydirt With Weir

<div class="byline">BY FRED PIETILA</div>DENVER&mdash;Several days after his ceremonious and triumphant return to the Boston Garden, flamboyant Don Cherry insisted that none of his antics in the Colorado Rockies&rsquo; most memorable 5-3 win over the Bruins had been planned.To reset the stage for this drama, and it was just that, Cherry and his struggling Rockies&mdash;who had won just five times in 22 games&mdash;played the Bruins, Cherry&rsquo;s former team in the coach&rsquo;s first return to Boston and the place where he earned the respect and admiration of thousands.Cherry had been thinking about that Dec. 2 date since the National Hockey League schedule came out. And he claimed the people in Boston had, as well.What transpired did not leave much to be desired. It was as D. Leo Monahan, the long-time Boston (Herald American) writer, said as he watched the game. &ldquo;Grapes (Cherry) couldn&rsquo;t have written a better script.&rdquo;Cherry entered the bench area in the Garden wearing a three-piece ultra-violet velvet suit&mdash;one he had planned to wear in last year&rsquo;s Stanley Cup finals with the Bruins. But he had no such chance since the Bruins were eliminated by Montreal in overtime in the seventh game of the semi-finals. So, after taking the challenging job of converting the Rockies into some kind of a contender, he promised the folks in Boston he&rsquo;d wear that outfit when he came back to town.Cherry waited until after the national anthem was played before appearing behind the Rockies&rsquo; bench. He was greeted with a one-minute standing ovation, but that was just a beginning.The Rockies, as might have been expected, fell behind 2-0 on first period power play goals by Jean Ratelle and Dick Redmond. &ldquo;I heard the guys in the dressing room after the first period saying &lsquo;Let&rsquo;s win this one for Grapes&rsquo;, and it made me feel real good,&rdquo; Cherry said.The Rockies came back with a goal by Jack Valiquette and then a short-handed score by Wilf Paiement as the second period was winding down.Valiquette put the Rockies ahead for keeps in the third period and Doug Berry added what proved to be the game-winner a couple of minutes later. But then with the Bruins pressing and the Rockies leading 4-2, Cherry called a time out&mdash;not for any knd of strategy session for he didn&rsquo;t say a word to his players. He simply signed autographs at the end of the bench to the amazement of all involved, players, fans, media and officials.However, John Wensink was credited with a deflected goal some 30 seconds later to make it 43 and it appeared as if Cherry&rsquo;s grandstand play might backfire. But Paiement hit an open net in the waning seconds to put it out of reach. Cherry walked across the Boston Garden ice, thrustring two clenched fists in the air to applause from his old fans, who certainly had mixed emotions about this one.&ldquo;If I get into the finals of the Stanley Cup and win it in overtime, I&rsquo;ll never feel any happier than I do right now. I can&rsquo;t go any higher than this. I have never felt any better in the world than I do right now,&rdquo; Cherry said.A couple of days later Cherry insisted that, &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no encore for that. That&rsquo;s it.&rdquo;And at what point did he plan the time out to sign autographs? &ldquo;No, I really didn&rsquo;t plan it that way. Everybody thinks I did it to be a wise guy to sign autographs. I really did that to rest (Nick) Beverley and (Mike) Christie, two of my older defensemen. I just happened to be near the end of the bench and some people reached over with programs to sign. Our owner (Arthur Imperatore) and our president (Armand Pohan) weren&rsquo;t enthralled with it, but I knew exactly what was going on behind my back. And some of the Bruins who were close to me on the other side were looking over and probably saying &lsquo;Look at him twist the knife in our backs.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to take credit that I had that much showmanship (to call time out to sign autographs). But it just happened. It was a spur of the moment thing. I was happy with the win as a win &lsquo;cause we needed the two points. But I never gloated or enjoyed beating the Bruin players themselves &lsquo;cause they&rsquo;re a great bunch of guys and I love &lsquo;em,&rdquo; Cherry said.&ldquo;And I think D. Leo expressed my feeling more in words than I could express them,&rdquo; Cherry said of the Boston columnist who aptly described the evening&rsquo;s events.&ldquo;It was the Don Cherry Show, hockey fans&hellip;&rdquo; Monahan wrote. &ldquo;And after a pulsating 5-3 upset of the Bruins, the coach of the struggling, but improving, Colorado Rockies was absolutely beautiful. A phalanx of photographers and cordons of media types had him surrounded in the dressing room. And he absolutely loved it. He ate it up. He reveled in it&hellip;&ldquo;It was the old underdog tale,&rdquo; Monahan wrote. &ldquo;That fiction that rarely occurs in reality. And Cherry pulled it off&hellip;The man may showboat a bit, but he sells tickets, creates interest. He&rsquo;s a gem among his drab, colorless clichespeaking breathren. Hail, Don Cherry. Hail.&rdquo;<div class="sidebar">&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll never feel any happier than I do right now. I can&rsquo;t go any higher&hellip;&rdquo; &#9632;</div>

Cherry Pulls Off Perfect Script In Beantown

<div class="byline">BY ARNOLD IRISH</div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;When they protected rights to Mike Liut from the defunct Cincinnati team in the National Hockey League&rsquo;s absorption of four World Hockey Association franchises, the St. Louis Blues thought they might have plucked a goaltender who could spell Ed Staniowski.As it turned out, one-third of the way into the season, Liut not only shared netminding duties with Staniowski on virtually an equaltime basis, but gained the upper hand statistically with a 6-5-2 won-lost record and 3.08 goals-against average in his first 13 starts.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had some successes and some failures,&rdquo; Liut says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to see the team in a better position. If we&rsquo;re (Nos.) 10, 11 or 12, then I&rsquo;m doing my job, and that&rsquo;s my main objective regardless of my statistics.&rdquo;St. Louis&rsquo; 5th pick (56th overall) in the NHL&rsquo;s 1976 amateur draft, Liut signed instead with Hartford and was traded to Cincinnati, where two years ago the Bowling Green University graduate made his pro debut with a 4.25 average in 27 games. Last season, playing twice as many contests, he lowered his average significantly to 3.47. This year&rsquo;s figure indicates he&rsquo;s making progress.Liut is a standup-butterfly goalie, and whenever the word &ldquo;outterfly&rdquo; is mentioned, the name of Glenn Hall pops up. &ldquo;Hall promoted the butterfly style most with his second effort, his acrobatic saves and his intensity,&rdquo; says Mike, who tries to incorporate all those qualities into his own style.To his credit, Liut never has emulated the high-strung Hall&rsquo;s well-known ritual of throwing up before every game. &ldquo;Nothing is worth that,&rdquo; Mike says.&ldquo;Rather than being categorized as a standup goalie or as a flopper, though, I think of myself as a position-conscious goalie. I want to become a good angle player, and I&rsquo;m starting to angle the puck more. Trying to handle the puck more, if I can do it without the club getting hurt.&ldquo;I want to be more like (Eddie) Giacomin. A goalie who can control, feed, shoot the puck down the ice, but within the framework of what the team is trying to accomplish. Not doing something idiotic or goofy.&rdquo;The lanky six-foot-two Liut has been compared by some to Ken Dryden, which puzzles the Blues&rsquo; goalie. &ldquo;Dryden, is much taller (6&rsquo;4) and played a different style,&rdquo; Mike says. Dryden, however, was a thinking man&rsquo;s goalie, on and off the ice, and perhaps hockey people sense that Liut is cut of the same cloth.Like the former Montreal net-minder par excellence, Liut is intelligent and given to speaking his mind, notwithstanding the sparks his comments may touch off among members of hockey&rsquo;s establishment.Liut is proud to play pro hockey because that profession is so demanding. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s one of the few occupations in which the workers come out at a given time and perform on command, then be criticized by the media and their peers,&rdquo; Mike says.&ldquo;No matter how moronic people may think athletes are, it takes mind over matter to be consistent. For a job well done at the top of the class, there&rsquo;s a feeling of grati-fication, of calm, of contentment.&rdquo;Since he broached the issue, ARE athletes moronic? Is it a valid rap?&ldquo;It is and it isn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; Liut says, explaining that athletics is a microcosm of society.&ldquo;There are some space heads, and some very laid-back types, all competing for jobs in a world full of insecurities,&rdquo; Liut says. &ldquo;They earn their living performing on command for a lot of dollars, but they still have to live in the real world of mortgages and marital problems. They&rsquo;re in that world but not of it, like entertainers.&ldquo;Someone who moves in both worlds&mdash;say, the hockey player who does his job and also meets challenges the non-athlete faces&mdash;can&rsquo;t be termed stupid. He may not be educated, but he&rsquo;s streetsmart. He has common sense and a knack for survival.&ldquo;Because athletes work in serious situations, it&rsquo;s hard for them to be serious away from the game. It&rsquo;s difficult for them to unwind, to get their heads above ground. Difficult to do anything but regroup for the next game. I think that&rsquo;s why so many athletes away from their work play the class clown.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve found a great many athletes, regardless of their education or lack of it, to be very perceptive. Oh, you encounter the floater. You encounter all types&mdash;the hard worker who doesn&rsquo;t get the great dividends he deserves, the guy who through knowing somebody or some other reason has his job on a pass.&rdquo;And on a team, as in any office or other work setting, there are cliques, disagreements and minor uprisings. &ldquo;But when you step on the ice, all is forgotten,&rdquo; Liut says. &#9632;

Liut Goes Beyond Plans As Busy Blues’ Goaler

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02945/4315562-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="328" height="352"></div><h2>The Golden Guy</h2>BIG AND BLONDE in the black and red of the Black Hawks, he was the most exciting player of the Sixties. His curly hair and big grin were captivating. His powerful physique was imposing. His speed was startling. His shot was frightening.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03687/4315555-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="388" height="415"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bobby Hull</figcaption></div>When Bobby Hull cradled the puck on his stick and sped on skates down the left side of a hockey rink, he raised the fans to their feet. When The Golden Jet slapped the disc on the fly, he brought goaltenders to their knees.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s gonna kill a goaler some day,&rdquo; warned Jacques Plante, one of the great ones.Hull hasn&rsquo;t yet, but he&rsquo;s wounded a few, shattered some sticks, ripped the gloves off goalers&rsquo; hands.Hull was the fastest skater and hardest shooter hockey has had. His skating speed was measured at close to 30 miles per hour, his shot at close to 120 miles per hour.His five-foot, ten-inch, 195-pound bulk made his speed dominating. Defenders did not want to get in his way. When he fired the puck on the fly, even goalers wanted to get out of the way.He is not as fast today. His legs may not be gone, but they have not yet come back from a year away from the rinks. His body has softened a bit. The blonde curls are gone, replaced by a woven hairpiece which lays flat. In-between, he went all but bald. He does not even look like the same man. His face is fleshier, spider-webbed by scars of stitches. The grin is still there, but less boyish. He has had his heartaches. But when he slaps that hard disc, it still is something to see.We in NHL cities are fortunate we can see him once again, now wearing the white, blue and red of the Winnipeg Jets, for whom he has been entertaining towns in the WHA in recent years. He is 40 now and not nearly what he was, but don&rsquo;t miss him because he has been one of the great ones and he will be gone for good before long. I rank him right behind Rocket Richard as the most exciting hockey player I ever saw.<h2>Entertaining Performer</h2>THERE MAY HAVE been superior players, though he is the finest left wing who ever lived. There are arguments about the all-time All Star at every other position except his. There have not been many, if any, more exciting, entertaining performers, and we must treasure them, even in the twilight of their careers.The fifth of 11 children reared by a powerful, 240-pound mill hand in the tiny town of Point St. Anne on the Bay of Quinte in eastern Ontario, Hull burst into the big leagues in 1957. At 18, he was the youngest player in the league. He was a scared kid when he came into Madison Square Garden for the first time 22 years ago. I was there that night and after seeing him for a shift or two, I knew, without having to know much, that he had to become one of the best.That night, he said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what I&rsquo;m doing yet, but I think I can do a lot of things and I&rsquo;d like to have a long career.&rdquo; He played 15 years with the Black Hawks and this is his seventh season with the Jets. He was nine times an All Star in the NHL and three times an All Star in the WHA. He has led his leagues in goals eight times. He scored 50 or more goals nine times. He set the NHL record of 58 in 1969 and the WHA record at 77 in 1975.But numbers do not tell the story of this man, on or off the ice. The story lies in the way he played. His speed was lightning, his shot thunder. He combined thunder and lightning as no other player ever. And the way he lived. &ldquo;I love the game and I&rsquo;ve got to give back to it what it&rsquo;s given me,&rdquo; he always said.When his jaw was broken and wired shut and he was weak from sipping his food through a straw, he was still playing with a football helmet and mask. Leaving the ice, he was exhausted, but he&rsquo;d still stop to sign autographs for the fans. It was painful for him to speak, but he&rsquo;d talk to his fans. And to the reporters.Sometimes his teammates would have dressed and gone and Bobby still would be sitting there in his sweaty gear, giving interviews. One night I recall a clock struck midnight as we left an arena. But, he was still Bobby Hull. One of the three or four most gracious athletes I&rsquo;ve ever encountered.I said he must have by then signed an autograph for every man, woman, and child in North America. &ldquo;Twice over,&rdquo; he grinned. He must have answered the same questions a thousand times. &ldquo;A hundred thousand,&rdquo; he said. But it didn&rsquo;t bother him? &ldquo;I like it. At least I don&rsquo;t mind it. It goes with the game,&rdquo; he said.<h2>Always A Fighter</h2>HE HAS GIVEN the game more than it has given him, though he&rsquo;s always fought rightly for the things he believed in&mdash;more money for the players, proper protection for the stars, a cleaner game, a higher-scoring game. He won trophies tor his sportsmanship as well as his spectacular play, but he always was a fighter. When he was wearing that mask to protect his wired jaw and John Ferguson challenged him to fight, Bobby Hull fought.When he went to Winnipeg, he was far from finished. He was 34 and still playing with passion. He bought a house and ranch in Manitoba for his wife and five children. But age and foes and life leaned on him. He hurt his wrist, his elbow, his foot. Twice, he had surgery. He returned to play in pain, slowed down, but still dynamic. Then his stormy marriage finally fell apart. His divorce is in the courts, his children with their mother. His middle son just had surgery to correct a neck ailment, which was a birth defect.Last November, Hull left the game. This November, he came back. He said he went to Winnipeg because it was best for his family. When he lost his family, he lost his reason to stay. But, he missed the game, so he came back. He has sold his cattle. He still lives on the ranch. Where else? He lives alone and lonely. &ldquo;I just wanted to play again,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I can still play. What else is there for me to do?&rdquo; he asks.He has had more standing ovations than any player ever. He came to L.A. for the first time in seven seasons and when he skated on the ice the small crowd started to applaud a little and it spread into a storm and didn&rsquo;t stop until it was a reception he had to respond to by waving his stick. He was touched by it.He was slow and struggled through the game, but passed up an open shot to pick up a point with a perfect pass. Afterwards he was smiling that great grin of his, his lips split by a scab where a stick had cut him. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s good to be back,&rdquo; he said. &#9632;

f0012-02

BILL LIBBY’S HOCKEY AD LIB

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHER.</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011066/4315593-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="446" height="350"></div><h2>Increasing The Crease</h2>AFTER YEARS of slumbering on the subject, I finally doped out the dumbest aspect of the National Hockey League rule book. It has to do with the goal crease. When the rulemakers wrote the regulations, they made the crease too darn small. The crease extends only four feet out from the goal line.When you think of it, that is sublimely asinine since the crease is designed to protect the goalie. But since the crease is so insignificant it doesn&rsquo;t allow the key figure on the ice&mdash;the goaltender&mdash;to do what he&rsquo;s supposed to do, see the puck and block shots without interference.The way it is now, the embattled goalie resembles a china shop invaded by bulls. On most nights the netminder is pushed, pulled and, as demonstrated in the most sickening case of all (Bernie Parent), poked in the eye with sticks. Considering the dimensions of the contemporary crease, it is a miracle that more goalies&rsquo; careers aren&rsquo;t abruptly ended in the manner of the Flyers&rsquo; unfortunate Parent.The four-foot crease has been a detriment to The Game in three ways: (a) It has encouraged large people such as Paul Holmgren to purposefully stand in front of goalies simply to block their view and otherwise disturb their equilibrium, (b) It has en-couraged an assortment of body deflections and, therefore, more than 50 per cent of goals scored are cheap goals. And, finally, (c) It has spawned a breed of woodchopping goaltenders, such as Mike Palmateer and Billy Smith, whose original sin is trying to see where the puck is at. They merely flail away to gain their rightful place in the sun.Some serious observers such as Plymouth, Rhode Island hockey historian Don O&rsquo;Hanley agree that the four-foot crease has got to go because of the manner in which it corrupts play.&ldquo;A goalie,&rdquo; says O&rsquo;Hanley, onetime publicist for the New York Rangers, &ldquo;deserves the right to see the puck just as a soccer goalie is able to view the ball unimpeded. The hockey goalie should not have to fight other players just to get a bead on a shot travelling 90 miles an hour or more.&ldquo;The small crease produces scrambles, sloppiness and plenty of unnecessary injuries with all the high sticking and elbowing that goes on around the goal.&rdquo;The solution is simplicity itself. Arrange an inviolable goal crease that fully protects the goalie from interference, guarantees him a better-than-fair chance at seeing the puck and insures the scoring of good rather than punky goals.What the NHL rulemakers should do is design a new, enlarged, all-protective crease at least triple the size of the present arrangement.Thus, anyone who trespasses into the goalie&rsquo;s &ldquo;No Admittance&rdquo; area would either be penalized or, at the very least, cause a stoppage in play in favor of the defending team.Naturally, this supremely intelligent rule will find disfavor with disciples of the Gary Dornhoefer-Holmgren school of goalie interference. That&rsquo;s good. Anything they dislike I figure is for the good of the game.<h2>Grind Getting Gordie</h2>NOTES: Gordie Howe occasionally whispers to chums about a pre-spring retirement. He says the grind is getting him&hellip;Then, again, Gordie has &ldquo;retired&rdquo; about 51 times earlier&hellip;I asked Minnesota GM Lou Nanne to name the best NHL team &ldquo;Buffalo,&rdquo; says Louie, &ldquo;but Montreal has the best personnel.&rdquo;&hellip;Nanne argues that the weakest position in the league is goaltending. &ldquo;The two best goalies today,&rdquo; he adds, &ldquo;are Tony Esposito and Glen Hanlon.&rdquo;&hellip;No way, Louie. The two best are Don Edwards and John Garrett, followed by Jim Rutherford and Phil Myre&hellip;How come Reg Leach is playing first-rate hockey for the first-rate Flyers? He&rsquo;s got a first-rate coach, Pat Quinn&hellip;Fred Shero ruined Leach in Reggie&rsquo;s years with The Fibber. &ldquo;Reggie was caught in a vicious cycle,&rdquo; says Bobby Clarke. &ldquo;He scored a lot of goals but Shero wanted him to check more. So, he checked more and people didn&rsquo;t think he was working hard because he wasn&rsquo;t scoring all those goals. It destroyed his confidence.&rdquo;&hellip;Speaking of Shero, The Fibber is taking credit for promoting goalie Steve Baker from New Haven (AHL). But it was John Ferguson, not Shero, who discovered and signed Baker for the Rangers&hellip;As Nick Fotiu says, it&rsquo;ll take a couple of years before everyone catches up with The Fibber&hellip;So far Shero&rsquo;s best move was the signing of Mickey Keating and Josh Guevremont&hellip;You want to know who the best coach in the NHL is right now? Don Blackburn of Hartford. He&rsquo;s like Rumplestiltskin; he weaves gold out of straw&hellip;Expect to see more of Bobby Orr in Boston than New York. Since dumping Al Eagleson as his rep, The Orr has hired a Beantown attorney.BAITING BOB: Don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;m going to let that verbal hurricane from the Windy City (cousin Bob Verdi) go without reply. My bombshell of a commentary to Bob&rsquo;s beautiful bombast will appear here next week. Don&rsquo;t miss it!EYEING THE ISLES: After 20 games last year, the Islanders had 31 points and led the Patrick Division. After 20 games this year they had 16 points and can&rsquo;t see first with a telescope. How come? At this time last year they had three worthies named Bert Marshall, Ed Westfall and Gerry Hart in their lineup. Now they don&rsquo;t. Underestimating Marshall&rsquo;s consummate defensive talents a few years ago was the biggest &ldquo;faux pas&rdquo; of my hockey-watching career. Westfall&rsquo;s toughness always was underestimated. As for Hart, his name was misspelled. Shoulda been Heart.<h2>Ballard Has Challenger</h2>A KISS FOR BUSS: Bizarro, flamboyant&mdash;not to mention dedicated&mdash;owners such as Harold Ballard provide a tonic for our game. Harold remains the reigning czar of the zanies but he now has a challenger in the Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; new boss, Jerry Hatten Buss.Whether he can produce a winner or not in L.A. remains a moot point. But I feel like throwing a kiss for Buss after hearing what he had to say after attending one of Hugh Hefner&rsquo;s Playboy parties.&ldquo;As we were walking through Hefner&rsquo;s home,&rdquo; said Buss, &ldquo;I said &lsquo;I guess you and I are the two most written about people who still play Monopoly.&rsquo; So I challenged him to a game and he said he&rsquo;d love to do that. He said, &lsquo;I&rsquo;ve got this great Monopoly set with ivory hotels and gold men and everything.&rsquo; I said, &lsquo;Oh, no. The real game is where you sit facing each other and you just have a pair of dice between you and you memorize the plays as you go along. And if you play enough Monopoly and have a good memory you can do that.&rsquo; And he said, &lsquo;I can&rsquo;t believe that you aren&rsquo;t kidding.&rsquo; I said I really meant it. He said, &lsquo;How do we know if we made a mistake?&rsquo; I said, &lsquo;We have a referee sitting across the room whom you can&rsquo;t see, and he plays the game as we go along. And you forfeit $500 if you make a mistake&rsquo;.&rdquo; Now Buss has a sports monopoly in Los Angeles.FLYERS FIGURING: Why are the Flyers playing better than anyone in the Patrick Division? North Stars&rsquo; coach Glen Sonmor has one theory. To wit: &ldquo;They take you out on every shift. They work like hell as a team.&rdquo; Former Flyer Larry Zeidel has another idea: &ldquo;Pat Quinn always has at least one forward coming back to help the defensemen. That&rsquo;s making it a lot easier for their young guys.&rdquo;MEDIA: Larry (Ratso) Sloman is trailing the Rangers enroute to a book on the Blueshirts. If Ratso is as close to the club as he seems, the end product could be atomic&hellip;Montreal Gazette is blowing it by not running more Red Fisher columns&hellip;If you&rsquo;re unhappy with the dearth of hockey in Sports Illustrated or Sport, be patient.Next March Newsweek&rsquo;s new Inside Sports will be a regular on your newsstands&hellip;At least one newsman put in a bid for the NHL p.r. job vacated by Bob Casey&hellip;NHL will alternate its &ldquo;color&rdquo; TV commentators around regular broadcasters Dan Kelly and Scott Wahle on its Games of the Week&hellip;Bobby Orr and Gary Dornhoefer will be among the guest analysts&hellip;If The Toronto Globe and Mail&rsquo;s Don Ramsay turns player agent next season&mdash;which he hints he might do&mdash;I wonder which current agent will be hurt most. The great irony, of course, would be if it were Al Eagleson.MORE NOTES: Red Wings&rsquo; coach Bobby Kromm is the only sage among the many I&rsquo;ve talked to who has any doubts about Barry Beck&rsquo;s guaranteed stardom. &ldquo;Beck,&rdquo; says Kromm, &ldquo;paces himself. He doesn&rsquo;t seem to rise to any great heights in a game&rdquo;&hellip;Wonder when Masterton Trophy-winner Serge Savard will stop skating on last spring&rsquo;s press clippings. &#9632;

f0013-01

ON THE CONTRARY BY STAN FISCH LER

<div class="byline">BY PAT DOYLE</div>WINNIPEG&mdash;Peter Sullivan would rather not dig up any skeletons.He won&rsquo;t criticize former Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; general manager Sam Pollock for refusing to promote him to the National Hockey League years ago. Nor will he take Pollock&rsquo;s name in vain for not trading him to another NHL team.But&hellip;&ldquo;I think I should have been playing here long ago,&rdquo; Sullivan said shortly after the Winnipeg Jets had paid their first visit to the Forum in Montreal.&ldquo;I always believed that I belonged,&rdquo; added Sullivan, &ldquo;but there was a lot of politics involved. I don&rsquo;t want to say anything, though, because it would only sound like sour grapes.&rdquo;Sullivan, of course, is a former farmhand of the Canadiens. He spent two-and-a-half seasons with Nova Scotia Voyageurs of the American Hockey League and, although convinced he was good enough to play in the National League, Sullivan never wore the bleu, blanc et rouge pullover of Les Canadiens.Sullivan had no intentions of staying in Novy the rest of his playing days, though, and he found an escape route with the World Hockey Association. The slick center signed with the Jets in 1975-76 and, following an unsuccessful attempt by the Canadiens to prevent him from playing in the WHA, Sullivan proceeded to cement himself as one of the league&rsquo;s top players in the four seasons to follow.Only once with the Jets has Sullivan failed to score more than 30 goals. That was in the 1977-78 season when he hit for a lowly 16, but he rebounded last year with a career high 46.Despite his impressive numbers, there were many skeptics who felt Sullivan wouldn&rsquo;t cut it in the NHL because of the closerchecking and more physical game. Well, actions speak louder than words and Sullivan&rsquo;s play has silenced the doubting Thomases.Through Winnipeg&rsquo;s first 26 games, Sullivan led Jets in both goals and points with 14 and 23, respectively.Sullivan comes by his athletic skills honestly. The 28-year-old native of Toronto is the youngest of nine children bom to Frank Sullivan who excelled in both football and hockey. The elder Sullivan played in the same backfield as Lionel (Big Train) Conacher with University of Toronto Varsity Blues, winners of the Grey Cup in 1921. He also was a member of the U of T Varsity Grads and helped them win a gold medal in hockey in the 1928 Winter Olympics at St. Moritz, Switzerland.Peter Gerald Sulivan has won his share of titles, too. He can show you three WHA championship rings and there are only seven people on the globe who have as many.For now, Sullivan will have to be content with those championships because it doesn&rsquo;t figure that the Jets will be winning the Stanley Cup in the near future.&ldquo;It would have been nice to play here with that C-h on my sweater,&rdquo; Sullivan said after his initial game on the Forum freeze. &ldquo;But, I&rsquo;m just as proud to be here wearing the Jets&rsquo; crest. Probably more so.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02850/4315624-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="561" height="813"><figcaption class="caption-body">Peter Sullivan is convinced he should have been in the NHL long ago.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0013-02

Jets’ Sullivan Silences Doubters

<div class="byline">BY PAT CALABRIA</div>LONG ISLAND&mdash;In this topsyturvy season that has plunged the Islanders into fourth-place in their division, there have not been many breaks for coach AI Arbour&rsquo;s team. Unless, of course, it has been a bad break. Which, it turns out, is what Denis Potvin has.A break&mdash;actually a tear&mdash;of the ligaments in his right thumb required surgery when the Islanders returned home from an exhausting 17-day road trip and Potvin, the Norris Trophy winner in three of the last four years, will be lost to the struggling Islanders for nearly eight weeks.Or, as Arbour said: &ldquo;Just what we needed, right?&rdquo;Potvin had missed the first eight games of the season with a bruised collarbone. When he returned to the lineup he scored four goals and 21 assists in 3 games, but absent was a sound defensive game. The Islanders hoped Potvin would soon melt into the defense and help jerk the team out of its slump. Now he can&rsquo;t.Potvin shredded the ligaments when he jammed the right hand against the sideboards in the second period of a game in Edmonton. Unaware of the seriousness of the injury, Potvin finished the game and did not have x-rays taken until the following day. Along with the ligament damage, bone chips were discovered and the hand was placed in a cast.The decision to operate was made when the Islanders returned home by club physician Dr. Jeffrey Ninkoff and Dr. Charles Melone, a Manhattan hand specialist. While the team was losing its first game in Nassau Coliseum in more than two weeks, 5-1, to Vancouver, Potvin was operated on at New York University Hospital.When he first suffered the injury, Potvin did not believe he would be sidelined so long. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s major surgery,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll probably miss 10 days or so.&rdquo; The extent of the injury caused the doctors to be more cautious and general manager Bill Torrey to be especially careful with one of his prized players.Now the Islanders, already weak on defense, have to shore up a position that&rsquo;s always been their strength. Few good defensemen are available at a reasonable price, so a major trade appears unlikely, although Torrey did depart with center Mike Kaszycki for Washington defenseman Gord Lane.&ldquo;Denis is our best defenseman, the best defenseman in the whole league,&rdquo; Torrey said. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t replace him so easily. The thing is, you hope the team will rise to the occasion. Will they? That&rsquo;s up to them.&rdquo;Torrey had already summoned help from the Indianapolis Checkers of the Central Hockey League. Randy Johnston joined the club and immediately was inserted into the lineup by Arbour. With Dave Lewis, Bob Lorimer and Stefan Persson improving their play, the Islanders may be able to survive defensively, although they are likely to miss Potvin&rsquo;s offensive skills, especially on the power play.&ldquo;Denis is the quarterback,&rdquo; Lewis said. &ldquo;We all just have to try to play better than we have been. That&rsquo;s all we can do. If we play like we can, we should do all right. I don&rsquo;t think anyone expects us to be like Denis when we have the puck. We&rsquo;ll just play the defensive game we know.&rdquo;It did not help at all that Persson suffered a pulled hamstring muscle that sidelined him for a week, forcing Arbour to adjust his lineup again. In a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins, the Islanders had a defensive unit of Lewis, Lorimer, Johnston, Dave Langevin and Jean Potvin.Jean Potvin once ran the Islander power play with brother Denis before he was traded to the Cleveland Barons. Now in his second tenure with the Islanders, Jean was returned to that position by Arbour. The coach also did some experimenting. Other players used on the point were Bob Bourne and Mike Bossy.The realignments are new to the Islanders. They have been one of the most injury-free teams the last few years, although players such as Potvin, Bossy and Bryan Trottier have suffered serious injuries in the playoffs. But playing without several regulars&mdash;as the team as done this season&mdash;has. taken its toll.Now, Torrey says, it&rsquo;s up to the players that are healthy to do more than their share to compensate for the loss of players such as Potvin and Persson. While Potvin has to mend his breaks, the Islanders have to make their own.In one of their best showings of the season the Isles scored a 6-1 victory in Toronto with Chico Resch in goal. However, they didn&rsquo;t come out of the game unscathed as Mike Bossy injured a groin muscle and had to leave the game. He&rsquo;s expected back shortly. &#9632;

Potvin Out Again As Isles Try To Regroup

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011092/4315679-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="324" height="349"></div><h2>Bruins Bouncing Along</h2>IT&rsquo;S BUSINESS as usual with the Boston Bruins these days.With Don Cherry in Denver putting a boom in the men&rsquo;s clothing business, the Bruins still have been clanking along as a top NHL team. A recent slump dropped the Bruins back off the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; league-leading pace, but the feeling is that at playoff time, the Bruins will be there again.Visit the Bruins&rsquo; dressing room and you still see Gerry Cheevers, a svelte 39, talking with humor and insight about the latest game. There&rsquo;s Terry O&rsquo;Reilly, thoughtfully answering questions after another night of earning his money with a full game of honest perspiration. And over there is Jean Ratelle, one of hockey&rsquo;s classiest people, still playing effectively at 39.The Bruins are far from being the NHL&rsquo;s youngest team, but this isn&rsquo;t exactly a team bordering on senility. Younger players such as O&rsquo;Reilly, Rick Middleton, Peter McNab, Mike Milbury and outstanding rookie Ray Bourque form the nucleus of a team that, with the proper draft additions, will be among the league&rsquo;s best for awhile.<h2>Good Hockey Coach</h2>WHICH BRINGS US to the coach. Fred Creighton isn&rsquo;t the guy you&rsquo;d want to bet on in a comedy debate with Don Cherry. While Cherry is disco lights, ultra-violet suits and irreverent one liners, Creighton is Saturday afternoon at the library, plaid sport coats, and honest-but-bland answers.However, like Cherry, Creighton is a good hockey coach. He proved that in Atlanta, with a 156-136-56 record. It was Atlanta&rsquo;s playoff record under Creighton that convinced GM Cliff Fletcher to look elsewhere for a coach. When a team wins only one of nine playoff games, and never advances past the opening round, it must be the coach&rsquo;s fault, right? Wrong, says Bobby Lalonde who played for Creighton in Atlanta and is now a handyman forward who gives the Bruins a much-needed dose of speed up front.&ldquo;Criticizing Fred for the Flames not doing better in the playoffs isn&rsquo;t fair,&rdquo; said Lalonde. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t fire 20 guys so you have to blame somebody. Just making the playoffs should be motivation enough. Firing Fred was just an excuse. They wanted a change.&rdquo;Lalonde only knows Cherry through reputation, but he can see the difference between the two coaches.&ldquo;Fred is quiet, he keeps to himself, but during a game he&rsquo;s behind his players 100 percent,&rdquo; said the nervy five-foot-five Lalonde. &ldquo;You won&rsquo;t hear a lot from him, but sometimes that&rsquo;s the best way to be.&rdquo;<h2>One Of The Changes</h2>SOME PEOPLE THINK Cherry was too flamboyant, that he detracted from attention Boston&rsquo;s players deserved. I don&rsquo;t know any Bruins who will confirm that feeling. Most still have too much affection for Cherry. But O&rsquo;Reilly did say:&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s just the team or just the coach. Don Cherry certainly had a lot to do with our success, but we&rsquo;ve got a heckuva group of hockey players. You do need somebody to organize it behind the bench, and if Fred Creighton wasn&rsquo;t behind the bench, we wouldn&rsquo;t be doing as well as we are.&rdquo;The first crisis in Boston occurred for Creighton when veteran Bobby Schmautz, a Cherry disciple, criticized using four lines. Creighton quickly pointed out that he doesn&rsquo;t always use four lines, but since Schmautz was on the fourth line, his restlessnesss was understandable.&ldquo;One of the few changes I&rsquo;ve made here,&rdquo; said Creighton, &ldquo;is, I like to go with six defensemen and 11 forwards. And I like to use the 10th and 11th forward. They&rsquo;re not used to that here. Philadelphia won two Stanley Cups using all its players so there must be something to it.The Bruins of the Cherry era always seemed to me to be one of the most stable in sports. Whacko comedian Rip Taylor could be behind the bench and the Bruins would still give an honest effort for 60 minutes. Fred Creighton is also the stable type who, given a talented team like Boston, should keep them among the NHL&rsquo;s more distinguished entries.Maybe one reason Creighton doesn&rsquo;t worry too much is his wife, Elayne, has the perfect occupation for a coach&rsquo;s wife: she&rsquo;s a real estate saleslady in Atlanta. &#9632;

f0014-01

BILL FLEISCHMAN’S HOCKEY WORLD

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>DETROIT&mdash;Danny Labraaten&rsquo;s patented dash down left wing is becoming commonplace around the National Hockey League.The 28-year-old speedster from Sweden streaks down his wing, cuts outside the defenseman and&hellip;let him pick it up from there.&ldquo;I try to go wide all the time,&rdquo; Labraaten said. &ldquo;It gives several options.&ldquo;I can drop it to Dale (McCourt). He knows me pretty well now and he comes in close behind. Or I can throw it across the front to Ned (Vaclav Nedo-mansky), who&rsquo;s always in the right place.&rdquo;Or, Labraaten can slip the puck into the net himself and that&rsquo;s been happening with considerable regularity.Labraaten has been the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; most consistent player this season. Even when the club was struggling in the early weeks, Labraaten was doing his share to get it untracked.Now the rest of the players seem to be catching up to the tempo set by Labraaten, and that is a mighty fast pace, indeed.&ldquo;No argument there,&rdquo; Coach Bobby Kromm said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been our most outstanding player.&rdquo;Labraaten is well ahead of his scoring pace of the 1978-79 season, his first in the National Hockey League. His ninth goal, was the game-winner in a 6-4 decision over the Winnipeg Jets, the Wings&rsquo; fifth straight without a loss.Labraaten wasn&rsquo;t at full speed in that game, the victim of a flu bug. But the best the flu can do is slow Labraaten a stride or two, and even at that reduced pace he&rsquo;s faster than most in the NHL.Labraaten is skating on left wing on Detroit&rsquo;s big line. He joined McCourt and Nedomansky about midway in the 1978-79 season and all three have prospered.&ldquo;You have to be very careful of the three of them,&rdquo; said Coach Harry Neale of the Vancouver Canucks. &ldquo;Labraaten is on a great streak and McCourt is an excellent player who can get the puck to the others.Labraaten was originally on Detroit&rsquo;s negotiation list but turned pro with the Jets. General Manager Ted Lindsay was determined to get Labraaten when he became a Tree agent. However, once Labraaten arrived in Detroit, it took a while for him to establish himself. Now, he seems finally to have done that.He&rsquo;s well ahead of last year&rsquo;s scoring pace of 18 goals and 18 assists. He&rsquo;s the Wings&rsquo; third leading scorer after Nedomansky and McCourt but his contributions go far beyond statistics. There were many nights in October and November when he almost singlehandedly made the big line go.&ldquo;I really feel good and I think I&rsquo;ve played pretty steadily,&rdquo; Labraaten said.&ldquo;I have my confidence and I think the whole team has the confidence now. We practiced hard for a month. The coach had to do something, and he really had us skating. We got into condition and we are ready to play 60 minutes.&ldquo;As for myself, Maybe there was a period of adjustment to the NHL. I don&rsquo;t really know, I&rsquo;m 28, I played on the National Team (Sweden) and a couple of years in Winnipeg, but I am pretty new to this team.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a different style and I have to work on it. I&rsquo;m working on getting the puck off the boards in our end and going up and down my wing more, not so much all over the ice.&ldquo;Last year I played the right side for a while before moving to left wing (his normal position). Now I&rsquo;m back on left wing with Ned and Dale. When they put me on the left side, I could feel the difference.&rdquo; &#9632;

Wings’ Labraaten Beginning To Fly

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;For Pittsburgh Penguin right wing Peter Lee, the start of this season was considerably different than last year when he got off to an extremely fast beginning,&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a little different situation his year,&rdquo; Lee said. &ldquo;I came into last year and we had a few injuries and didn&rsquo;t have quite as many forwards and the depth we have now. We have four good lines here now and it&rsquo;s tougher.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s better team-wise. Sure I had more ice time last year, but it&rsquo;s more important that we win. So what if the scoring&rsquo;s spread out a little more. As long as you win&mdash;that&rsquo;s the main point.&rdquo;Lee, 23, led the Penguins in hots, power play goals and winning goals last season while scoring 32 times. He came to Pittsburgh in November 1977 along with Pete Mahovlich from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Pierre Larouche and the National Hockey League rights to Peter Marsh.The 5-foot-10. 180-pound native of Ellesmere, England, scored only five goals during the 1977-78 season for Pittsburgh after Coming from Montreal.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I was out to really prove anything last season,&rdquo; Lee said. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t playing very much the previous year because I was sitting on the bench because I wasn&rsquo;t contributing to the team.&ldquo;When I came to training camp last year, I wanted to be part of the team and have a regular spot. This year it&rsquo;s more a question of getting the opportunities&mdash;getting to the right position to get that good shot.&rdquo;Through the Penguins&rsquo; first 20 games this season, Lee tallied five goals and added six assists, but then had a goal and five assists in his next two outings.&ldquo;Recently, I&rsquo;m starting to get in the right position and get the jump in there,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m getting the chances. I&rsquo;m getting my three or four shots a night where early in the season I wasn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;Most of last season, Lee played on a line with Greg Malone at center and Rod Schutt at right wing. Combined, the trio scored 91 goals last year. This season, however, Penguin coach Johnny Wilson has been mixing his line up and going with a number of different combinations.&ldquo;Sometimes it affects me to be playing with different guys,&rdquo; Lee said. &ldquo;And since we have been going with four lines because of our depth, I&rsquo;m not getting as many shifts. But sometimes it works in reverse, whereby you get more of a jump and you want to get out there even more. The hustle&rsquo;s there even more.&rdquo;Despite Lee&rsquo;s size, he is one of the best players on the team in the corners and stands up well to a solid check.&ldquo;Obviously to be big has its pluses and also to be not quite so big has its pluses, too,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not saying one is better than the other. I think a balance of both on a team is warranted.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s healthy in a way that I may be just that little bit quicker to get in or get out of the corners. It doesn&rsquo;t bother me to get banged around in the corners. It&rsquo;s just a little harder to be more aggressive than a bigger guy.&rdquo;Peter and his wife, Judy, who live in Ottawa during the off-season, are expecting their first child in February. He says he is optimistic about the success of the Penguins the rest of the season.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s balance in every position on this club,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I may not be getting as much ice time as I did last season, but that&rsquo;s because of the depth we have. We have strength in every position, which is a rarity on this team. As 1 said before, as long as we win. That&rsquo;s the main point.&rdquo;PENGUIN TRACKS: The Penguins sent defenseman Dale Tallon to their Syracuse farm club for conditioning purposes. Tallon broke his leg late last season when he banged into a goal post&hellip;Right wing Gary McAdam scored his first NHL hat trick against Quebec&hellip;Malone tied a club record with six assists in the same game against the Nordiques.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011045/4315734-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="569" height="784"><figcaption class="caption-body">Peter Lee hasn&rsquo;t let a slow start bother his contribution to the Penguins.</figcaption></div><div class="sidebar">&ldquo;Sure I had more ice time last year, but it&rsquo;s more important that we win.&rdquo; &#9632;</div>

f0015-01

Lee Finds Solace In Pens’ Depth

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01897/4315772-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"></div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01789/4315765-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="583" height="3891"></div> &#9632;

f0016-01

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">By DICK JOHNSTON</div>BUFFALO&mdash;&ldquo;For a long time there I couldn&rsquo;t buy a goal, now they&rsquo;re giving them to me.&rdquo;That was Rick Martin&rsquo;s reaction when he was credited with two questionable goals in successive Sabre games in Buffalo&rsquo;s Memorial Auditorium.The question was, on both goals, whether Martin touched the puck before it glanced off an opposing player into the opposition&rsquo;s net. It was decided he had.The important thing for the Sabres, though, was that Martin, a 52-goal scorer in both 1973-74 and 1974-75, seems to have found the range again.When the Sabres went on a streak that saw them win nine of ten games, Martin scored ten goals. He scored four Buffalo goals in a row over three games. When the Sabres extended their streak to 10 of 11 against the Colorado Rockies last week, Rico failed to score but he did have an assist as his line got two of Buffalo&rsquo;s five goals.After a slow start this season, Martin had 16 goals in the first 27 games. And maybe the frustration the hard-shooting left winger went through for three straight seasons was dissipating.Rico scored 49 goals the season after those two 52-goal years but since then he has had injuries and all sorts of trouble.In 1977-78 the big goal-man of the Sabres&rsquo; famed French Connection line suffered a severe head injury when he was upended in a collision during a game with the New York Rangers and his head struck the ice.After recovering from his injury, Martin came back wearing a helmet, which he has worn since, and seemed almost as good as ever. He had missed 15 games, however, and had an off year (for him) 28 goals for the campaign.Rico had been bothered by injuries the year before and then, again last season, various ailments plagued him. For the last three years, Martin scored 36, 28 and 32 goals.The French Connection had fallen on hard times. Martin, Gil Perreault and Rene Robert were playing together very little as a line.Sometimes Martin had Perreault as his center, as he had almost since joining the club in 1971, and other times he didn&rsquo;t. Quite often Rico was put on right wing, which he clamed had some advantages, some disadvantages.At the start of this season, new Coach Scotty Bowman played Martin with Perreault, stating that would be one of his forward duos who would play together with different third members. But Martin was on right wing with the fine checking forward, Craig Ramsay, on the left side.Rico wasn&rsquo;t having much luck with his shots. He scored five goals in the first ten games then went six games without a score.Then, after experimenting with his forwards from game to game, period to period, sometimes shift to shift, Bowman appeared to settle on fairly stable forward align-ments. Martin was back with Perreault and at left wing, with Ric Seiling, a steady two-way player on the right side.Things went well for nearly all the forwards. All three were scoring. And Martin was putting the puck into the net again.He scored the winner in the third period of a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers. Then he scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Washington. Then, in the next game, a 6-1 win over Atlanta, Rico started the Sabres on their way by scoring the first goal, then added another in the third period. That last one was just like old times, Martin let go from about 35 feet out and the puck zipped into the net so fast hardly anyone saw it until the twine bulged.ICE CHIPS&mdash; In the Colorado game, Bob Sauve recorded his seventh straight goaltending victory. He is tied with Chicago&rsquo;s Tony Esposito for the league lead in shutouts with three and he and Don Edwards lead the Vezina Trophy race with combined 2.37 goals-against average.The Perreault-Martin-Seiling line scored nine of Buffalo&rsquo;s 11 goals over a period extending through four games.Andre Savard, who was the leading scorer for the Sabres&rsquo; Rochester farm team in the American League, was recalled by the big club.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02663/4315803-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="571" height="757"><figcaption class="caption-body">Back at home on left wing, Rick Martin has been on a hot streak.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0017-02

Martin Regains Past Scoring Eye

BOSTON&mdash;Several months ago, when the Hockey Hall of Fame held its annual induction ceremonies, one very significant event was overlooked in all of the hoopla and excitement surrounding the installation of Bobby Orr, Harry Howell, Henri Richard and Gordon Juckes. For at the same time these four were constantly being hounded by photographers and autograph seekers, one of the game&rsquo;s nicest men and finest gentlemen&mdash;Tom Fitzgerald&mdash;was quietly assuming his new role as chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee.Prior to being named its chairman, Fitzgerald served for eight years on the committee, which was founded in 1961 and is responsible for choosing the players who are to be installed in the Hall of Fame each year.&ldquo;This is a remarkable honor for me,&rdquo; Fitzgerald said, &ldquo;especially since I am succeeding Frank J. Selke one of the game&rsquo;s most distinguished builders.&rdquo;Fitzgerald&rsquo;s elevation to his new role is just another step in a distinguished career which started at the Boston Globe in the 1930s, when Fitz was a copy boy. He very quickly moved up, covering all sports for the Globe but ultimately specializing in Bruins hockey, which he covered for more than 35 years, and golf, which he covered for 40 years.Before his retirement from the Globe in 1977, Fitzgerald became a founding member and first president of the Hockey Writers Association, serving two terms in 1967 and 1968. And in 1978 he was a recipient of the Lester Patrick Trophy, which recognizes &ldquo;outstanding service to hockey in the United States.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03513/4315834-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="550" height="576"><figcaption class="caption-body">Veteran Boston hockey writer Tom Fitzgerald is ready to assume his new role as chairman of the NHL&rsquo;s Hockey Hall of Fame committee.</figcaption></div>Now living in Scituate, Mass., Tom&rsquo;s &ldquo;retirement&rdquo; consists of writing articles for hockey and golf publications, performing various public relations chores for the league, attending Bruins&rsquo; home games (&ldquo;Probably on the Pavlovian theory,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;I have an almost unblemished attendance record&rdquo;), and fulfilling assorted speaking engagements &ldquo;for any organization sufficiently misguided to offer a fee for the purpose of inflicting my rambling nonsense on patient audiences.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0017-03

Fitzgerald To Direct Hall Of Fame Committee

<div class="byline">BY MIKE DENNIS</div>TORONTO&mdash;Goalscorers are something the Maple Leafs&mdash;and for that matter, most National Hockey League clubs&mdash;could use a few more of so it came as something of a surprise when 23-year-old Paul Gardner, a centerman who has averaged 30 goals a year in three less than full NHL campaigns, spent most of the first quarter of the 1979-80 season doing a lot more watching from the bench than scoring on the ice.Gardner, obtained from the Colorado Rockies last March for Don Ashby and Trevor Johansen, has always been able to put the puck in the net from his days with the Oshawa Generals through his rookie year in the big leagues, 1976-77, when he potted 30 goals in just 60 games with the Rockies, on to a brilliant sophomore season when he scored another 30 goals in just 46 games and into last year when he managed 23 for the Rockies and then seven more for the Leafs in just 11 games.This year he had been used primarily as the team&rsquo;s fourth center behind Darryl Sittler, Walt McKechnie and rookie Laurie Boschman, before Sittler&rsquo;s sprained ankle dropped him into the pivot slot on the team&rsquo;s number one line with Tiger Williams and Lanny McDonald.&ldquo;Naturally I&rsquo;m pleased with the increased ice time,&rdquo; Gardner said, &ldquo;although unfortunately it had to come as a result of Darryl getting hurt.&rdquo;Earlier, playing on the fourth line with Pat Boutette and Jerry Butler, Gardner had managed four goals in Toronto&rsquo;s first 20 games, of which he had played in 17, although sometimes only briefly.&ldquo;You&rsquo;re right in describing that line (the one with Boutette and Butler) as one where the two wingers are great diggers and I just have to be out in front of the net, but it&rsquo;s tough when you&rsquo;re only getting a shift after sitting on the bench for six, seven or eight minutes at a time,&rdquo; Gardner said.&ldquo;When I came here last year,&rdquo; he remembered, &ldquo;Jimmy Jones and I alternated at center, depending on the game situation. If we needed a goal, I might be sent out and he&rsquo;d be sent out to protect a lead if we were ahead. I played a lot on the power play, but it&rsquo;s been different here than playing in Colorado. There I knew that they&rsquo;d be going to me more often.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy to be here, though,&rdquo; Gardner admitted. &ldquo;I just want to be able to contribute as much as I can. We have a really close bunch of guys and I appreciate what each of them adds to this team and they appreciate what I do. It&rsquo;s fun to play here.&rdquo;Much of the pleasure that Gardner has derived from playing with the Leafs has occurred since his placement on the club&rsquo;s chief offensive unit. Sittler scored the only Leafs&rsquo; goal in the game against Chicago in which he slid into the boards and jammed his ankle and when Gardner stepped in to replace &ldquo;Sit&rdquo; he immediately scored in three consecutive contests, Leafs&rsquo; victories over Rangers, Atlanta, and Washington. Two games later set up Lanny McDonald for a power play goal to get the Buds started to a 3-2 decision over Montreal.Asked about possible pressure on him to score when he&rsquo;s suddenly getting ice time after relative inactivity throughout much of the early season, Gardner responded: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s much more pressure on me to score. I&rsquo;ve been concentrating on feeding the other guys. Lanny is such a good scorer, he&rsquo;s probably got the best shot in the league and Tiger and I just kind of scramble around, just on loose pucks and rebounds.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just going to work hard and try and fit in with the team until Darryl gets back,&rdquo; he concluded.LOOSE LEAFS: Gardner is just three goals shy of the century mark after just over 200 NHL contests&hellip;Darryl Maggs, a defenseman who has played in the NHL, the World Hockey Association and Europe practiced with the Leafs for a couple of weeks. Maggs still had an offer to play in Holland if he didn&rsquo;t win a spot with the Leafs&hellip;Coach Floyd Smith after Toronto&rsquo;s 3-2 victory over Montreal, the Leafs first regular season win against the Habs in more than three years: &ldquo;I&rsquo;d say it was our biggest win of the season. It gives us respectability&hellip;now maybe people will consider us a serious hockey team.&rdquo; Then he added, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re a young team, very young, and we&rsquo;re going to get nothing but better&rdquo;&hellip;Gardner had the only Leafs&rsquo; goal in a 6-1 home loss to the Islanders which stopped an unbeaten streak at five. The Leafs outshot the Islanders 15-6 in the first period but couldn&rsquo;t score.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01806/4315865-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="441" height="617"><figcaption class="caption-body">Center Paul Gardner has filled in admirably on the Leafs&rsquo; big line with Sittler injured.</figcaption></div><div class="sidebar">Much of the pleasure&hellip;has occurred since his placement on the Leaf&rsquo;s chief offensive unit &#9632;</div>

f0018-01

Sharpshooter Gardner Has Adjusted Sights

<div class="byline">BY STEVE WINTER</div>LANDOVER&mdash;It had to come sooner or later, and when it finally came, it came big.After eight games of frustration in which the Washington Capitals managed but a pair of ties, coach Gary Green was finally rewarded with his first &ldquo;bundle of joy&rdquo;, as his Capitals manhandled the visiting Quebec Nordiques, 7-2, to snap an aggravating 10-game winless streak.For Green, 26, who with wife Sharon, currently awaits his second &ldquo;bundle of joy&rdquo;, sometime in early January, his much-beleag-guered &ldquo;system&rdquo; finally paid off, as the Caps exploded for five third period goals to beat the Nordiques, three of which came off the stick of number one 1979 draftee, Mike Gartner.&ldquo;The system is the key,&rdquo; said Green, finally relieved from the burden of the Capitals&rsquo; sixth consecutive year in which a winless streak hit double figures. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;ve been talking about all along.&ldquo;We needed a win to give (the club) some confidence; give them some life, and build them back up again, and make them believe that (the system) is the way it has to be done.&rdquo;Captain Ryan Walter agreed.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been just inches away for the past two months. The system is proven. And that&rsquo;s the reason we finally won&mdash;because of the system.&rdquo;Green&rsquo;s system has been a major topic of conversation since he replaced Danny Belisle as coach on November 14. And since his appearance in Washington, the club has come, oh so close on many occasions.But heavy thumpings from Chicago and Buffalo, a tie with Quebec, and a 4-2 loss to Toronto had the Capitals&rsquo; numerous critics wondering when Green&rsquo;s system would start paying off.&ldquo;People were always asking me when that first win&rsquo;s going to come,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;And we&rsquo;ve been playing well and coming close, so many times.&rdquo;At least now, win number one is finally history.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been doing the same thing night after night,&rdquo; said rookie Wes Jarvis, who chipped in with a goal and three assists the night the streak was broken. &ldquo;It had to come.&rdquo;CAPSHOTS: Hard luck continues to press the Capitals in the form of injuries. Forwards Guy Charron and Bob Sirois recently aggravated old injuries which will sideline both players for a few more games. Charron, who missed four games due to a pulled thigh muscle, scored goals in three consecutive games before re-pulling a groin muscle against Quebec. Sirois recently returned to action after &ldquo;recovering&rdquo; from a pulled back muscle, only to have the injury resurface two games later.And with the club already short-manned at defense on account of injuries to Pierre Bouchard, Paul MacKinnon, Yvon Labre and Pete Scamurra, the Capitals suspended blueliner Gord Lane, after the 26-year-old veteran failed to show up at two practice sessions before the scheduled game with Quebec.Lane told general manager Max McNab that he felt the club lacked confidence in his abilities and he felt he was making little personal progress as a player. The obvious indication occurred when Lane was benched during much of the third period, and replaced with rookies Brent Tremblay and Greg The-berge, during the recent loss to Toronto.Not long after, the Caps made a deal with the Islanders, sending Lane there, in exchange for centerman Mike Kaszycki.The club has been playing &ldquo;follow the leader&rdquo; with some of their youngsters at Hershey, shuffling them back and forth between the parent club and the farm, by the truckload. In recent weeks, eight players have spent considerable time under Green&rsquo;s tutelage. Defensemen Tremblay and Theberge, and forwards Jarvis, Tony Cassolato, Claude Noel, Steve Clippingdale, Tim Coulis and Gary Rissling have made their way through the revolving door as Green tries to find the proper combinations to plug some of the injury leaks.&ldquo;Gary knows what we can do,&rdquo; said Jarvis, cousin of Montreal&rsquo;s Doug Jarvis, &ldquo;that&rsquo;s why he&rsquo;s not afraid to put any of us on the ice.&rdquo; &#9632;

Caps’ Ills Hamper Green’s System

<h2>WILLY LINDSTROM&hellip;Winnipeg Jets</h2>The Winnipeg Jets are struggling in their first NHL season and if they hope to make an impact on the Smythe Division race they are going to need more offense.Willy Lindstrom, the brilliant Swede who rattled in 123 goals in four WHA seasons with the Jets, appears to be well on his way to duplicating his past scoring feats, which can only help his team move up.This past week Lindstrom drove five pucks past NHL netminders while the Jets produced 20 goals in four games as they divided winning two and losing two. Lindstrom, who came to Winnipeg from the Swedish National Team in 1975, turned in a pair of two-goal games during his productive week for the Jets. &#9632;

Player Of The Week

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01770/4315951-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Leafs&rsquo; owner Harold Ballard, right, shown with team GM Punch Imlach, has been hit with a $10,000 fine for attempting to restrain two of his super stars, Mike Palmateer and Darryl Sittler, from competing on the Hockey TV series, &lsquo;Showdown&rsquo;. The NHL imposed the fine on Ballard but the bombastic team owner says there is no way he&rsquo;ll pay it. Ballard has launched an appeal.</figcaption></div><h2>Ziegler Fines Ballard</h2>KEY LARGO&mdash;National Hockey League president John Ziegler has handed Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; president and owner Harold Ballard the league&rsquo;s stiffest fine ever, $10,-000, for attempting to prevent Leafs&rsquo; players Darryl Sittler and Mike Palmateer from participating in the Sports Dimensions Inc. intermission feature, Showdown.According to Ziegler, Ballard was fined &ldquo;for the team&rsquo;s deliberate attempt to breach a league resolution when it sought to enjoin certain Leafs players from participating in Showdown.&rdquo;Ballard attempted to have an injunction served by the Ontario Supreme Court to prevent the players from competing, but was turned down. He has, however, blocked the program from being shown in Canada with a threat of legal action.The Leafs&rsquo; president was quoted as saying that he wouldn&rsquo;t pay the fine and that Ziegler was &ldquo;a little dictator&rdquo; and has promised to appeal the fine. The NHL constitution allows for an appeal to be made by the offender within 10 days of notification of the fine.President Ziegler said that &ldquo;the fine will be collected. The fine will be paid. He (Ballard) can say whatever he wants about it. He has the right of freedom of speech.&rdquo;<h2>Selects Named</h2>TORONTO&mdash;The Canada Selects who will compete in the Izvestia Tournament from Dec. 16 to Dec. 23 in Moscow were named just before the team flew out of Toronto for two warmup games in Finland and then on to compete against the top Soviet teams as well as Sweden, Finland and Czechoslovakia.Picked to the team were goalers Rick St. Croix, Philadelphia, and Tim Bernhardt, Atlanta; defense, Dave Logan, Chicago, Richard Mulhern and Rick Hampton, Los Angeles, Dennis Owchar, Colorado, Dale Tallon, Pittsburgh, Jim Turkiewicz, Buffalo, Warren Anderson and Randy Gregg, both members of Canada&rsquo;s Olympic team.Forwards selected were Chuck Arnason, Vancouver, Wayne Dillon, Winnipeg, Doug Morrison, Boston, Steve Tambellini, Islanders, Dave Gardner, Los Angeles, and Dan D&rsquo;Alvise, John Devaney, Cary Farelli, Kevin Primeau, Doug Hindmarch, Stelio Zupanchich and Jeff Shaw, all Canadian Olympic team members.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02619/4315944-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="1802" height="1453"><figcaption class="caption-body">Not too many goaltenders manage to break into the NHL with a flourish but former U.S. collegian Steve Baker has been nothing short of sensational since the Rangers called him from the minor leagues last week to solve their goaling problems. Baker&rsquo;s record is 2-1-3 meaning the ex-Union College netminder has lost only once in six NHL starts. (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>Tom Watt is the Selects&rsquo; coach with Derek Holmes serving as his assistant. Bill Watters is the team&rsquo;s manager.<h2>Plager Quits</h2>ST. LOUIS&mdash;Red Berenson has taken over the helm of the St. Louis Blues and the team&rsquo;s higher hierarchy will have to make a quick decision whether to keep him behind the Blues&rsquo; bench as successor to Barclay Plager or to bring someone else In from outside.Plager opened up the Blues&rsquo; coaching job when he resigned because he felt he could no longer motivate the Blues, who have fallen on lean days after a somewhat improved start.Plager quit his coaching job with the Blues after the team slumped in recent weeks. Berenson was rushed into the breach and could stay on. If not the Blues may call on Jack Evans, the coach of their top farm club at Salt Lake in the CHL.&ldquo;It was probably the toughest decision of my life,&rdquo; Plager said, &ldquo;but it was the only decision I could make to be honest with Mr. Francis (team pres at Emile) and the Blues.&ldquo;I was not getting the best out of the team, and, when a coach believes that, it&rsquo;s time to get out. I hope whoever comes in here can get more out of the team than I could.&rdquo;Francis said Plager would be offered an unspecified position with the Blues&rsquo; organization.Francis said he hoped to appoint a new coach from within the organization, and said he hoped to make that decision today.Berenson coached the team for four games last month when Plager was in hospital for treatment of an old hockey injury that left him with scarred brain tissue. The Blues, who only won 18 of their 80 games last season and collected a team-low 48 points, had an 8-16-4 record under Plager this season.<h2>Rookie Sizzles</h2>NEW YORK&mdash;The New York Rangers&rsquo; search for some stability in their netminding could be answered by a young rookie just two years off the campus.Steve Baker, a 22-year-old Boston native with only one year of pro hockey experience under his belt, has stepped into the Ranger goaling limelight the past two weeks in a manner unbefitting a freshman.Baker has goaled in six of the last seven games and has lost only once since the Rangers summoned him from New Haven of the AHL when Fred Shero found his established three goalies&mdash;John Davidson, Doug Soetaert and Wayne Thomas&mdash;lacking in consistency.The former collegian goaler has two wins and three ties to his credit and has lost only to Buffalo Sabres. He even gained his first major league shutout during his brilliant run as he blanked St. Louis 2-0.<h2>Unger In Trouble</h2>ATLANTA&mdash;The NHL&rsquo;s reigning Iron Man, Garry Unger of the Atlanta Flames, could be toppled from his throne unless he can overcome a serious shoulder injury before the Flames take the ice for their next game.The veteran center, who has performed in 910 successive games, without a miss, has been close to having his longevity streak snapped but has always managed to get on the ice for a game despite several past injuries.Indications are Unger will do everything in his power to make it into uniform when Atlanta skates out against Edmonton in the Flames&rsquo; next NHL encounter. Unger has not missed a game since beginning his streak back in 1968 with Detroit.<h2>Islanders Trade</h2>LONG ISLAND&mdash;The troubled New York Islanders may resort to trading to get out from under In their Patrick Division tailspin that has plunged them 21 points behind the leading Philadelphia Flyers.Islanders&rsquo; GM Bill Torrey decided to unload some of his excess forwards when he traded center Mike Kaszycki to the Washington Capitals in exchange for defenseman Gord Lane.The Islanders have been hampered by injuries to defenseman Denis Potvin and Stefan Persson. Potvin is out six to eight weeks, while Persson will remain out of the club&rsquo;s line-up, for another few days.&ldquo;We felt we needed more strength on the blueline,&rdquo; said Torrey. &ldquo;Lane is a strong, aggressive player and can help us.&rdquo;Kaszycki has played 16 games this year with one goal and four assists, while Lane has appeared in 19 games with two goals and four assists for the Capitals.Meanwhile the Islanders also assigned center Steve Tambellini to the Canada Selects, which will play in the Izvestia hockey tournament in Moscow, Dec. 16-22, after which he will return to the Islanders.<h2>Hockeybriefs</h2>ATLANTA&mdash;Jean Pronovost of the Atlanta Flames scored his 350th NHL career goal recently to move up on the all-time scoring list. Others who are making overtures at improving their lifetime marks are Gordie Howe, who now has 797 NHL goals, three away from 800, Phil Esposito, 689, just 11 off the 700-goal plateau, Guy Lafleur, who has 379 and will certainly make 400 this season, and Marcel Dionne, who is at 349 tieing him with retired Andy Bathgate for 22nd spot on the list&hellip;Charlie Simmer of L.A. Kings continues to be the surprise story of the hockey season. Languishing in the minor leagues in recent years, he has come on this season after a great windup last year when he was recalled late to help the NHL team out, to score 25 goals this season putting him ahead of such proven NHL snipers as Lafleur, Dionne, Bossy, Reg Leach and Pierre Larouche&hellip; &#9632;

f0019-01

SLAPSHOTS

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01604/4315982-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="513" height="871"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jack Carlson would like to play more and for people to forget his &ldquo;Slapshot&rdquo; role.</figcaption></div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Eight weeks into the 26-week season its appears the Kings are just about the same. 500 team they were last season. Efforts to improve themselves have not paid off at this point. Their offense is explosive, but their defense is a disaster.A number of new players were expected to strengthen the team, but only four remain, and so far they have not added a lot. The four are forwards Steve Carlson, Dean Hopkins, and Andre St. Laurent, and defenseman Barry Gibbs.After 23 games, the four had contributed a total of six goals on offense and done only a little to tighten the defense. Gibbs began as a starter, but currently is serving as fifth defenseman, used only in spots.The other three essentially form the team&rsquo;s third line, called the checking line because it is not an attacking line. But St. Laurent shares center duty with Syl Apps and Carlson shares left wing with Bert Wilson. The five total six goals.Until future draft picks are made and their worth established, St. Laurent is all the Kings have to show for the defection of Rogie Vachon and so far has not made a dent in the loss.Although he scored 31 goals and 70 points two seasons back, he did not get a point here until the 20th game, nor a goal until the 21st.The little 26-year-old has played well at times, but has missed many scoring opportunities.Carlson has missed some scoring opportunities, too, but, essentially, he is the 10th forward and he has not played a lot. He has been deemed disappointing by the brass, but he feels he has to play regularly to do what he can do.The 24-year-old center and left wing out of Virginia, Minnesota, is an intelligent player, who does not shoot skillfully, but skates well and defenses foes well.He has good size at 6&rsquo;3&rdquo; and 185 pounds.He has a reputation as an effective penalty-killer and coach Bob Berry had planned to use him here to ease the work on 30-year-old Butch Goring.But Berry has done little of this and the King penalty-killing has been the worst in the league.Carlson is in his sixth season as a pro. He divided his first four seasons between Johnstown, Pennsylvania, of the North American League and Springfield, Mass., of the American League and Minnesota and New England of the World Hockey Association. Last season, he played regularly for Edmonton&rsquo;s WHA playoff finalists.He topped 30 goals once and 20 goals two other seasons in the minors and had 18 in the WHA last season.Carlson, who was drafted by L.A. last summer, says, &ldquo;I can play if they&rsquo;ll let me play. I&rsquo;m not spectacular, but I work hard. I keep running into situations where I&rsquo;m sitting a lot and it&rsquo;s hard to get going when I&rsquo;m sent out there.&ldquo;But I&rsquo;ve disciplined myself to be patient.&rdquo;Carlson believes his image may have been hurt by his appearance as one of the moronic, maniacal &ldquo;Hansen Brothers&rdquo; in the movie &ldquo;Slap-Shot.&rdquo;Nancy Dowd wrote the screen play. Her brother played with the Johnstown Jets and she travelled with the team to get background before selling her script to Universal. A lot of the movie was made in Johnstown and Steve and brother Jeff were hired to play two of the three brothers who turn the team into tigers.They tried to get a third brother Jack to complete the trio, but he was busy in the WHA with Edmonton. So Richie Hansen, now with the Detroit organization, was used and the brothers were called &ldquo;The Hansens&rdquo; instead of &ldquo;The Carlsons&rdquo;.Steve and his wife, Lynn, whom he met and married in Johnstown, have a son, Kris, and another child due in March. Steve showed a flair for comedy in his film, but turned down the offer of a contract so he could stay in hockey.He wishes people would forget his performance in the film and discover him as a hockey player.KINGS THINGS: Mario Lessard started seven straight games in goal until he turned up ill and was replaced during the seventh by Ron Grahame. It is difficult to get through the long season if you hesitate to use your backup goaler&hellip;Rob Palmer has been put down by the press for his lack of aggressiveness. The offensive-minded defenseman did not draw a penalty in his first 20 games. &#9632;

f0020-01

Kings’ Carlson Wants Better Image

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE WARRINER</div>HARTFORD&mdash;&ldquo;I&rsquo;d have to say&hellip;maybe people have over rated the overall caliber of the National Hockey League and under-rated the World Hockey Association&mdash;and somewhere in between lies what you&rsquo;re seeing.&rdquo; So said coach Don Blackburn as his Hartford Whalers attained the. 500 level for the third time during the first quarter of the 1979-80 season.&ldquo;The WHA has been a little better league, caliber-wise, than people have given them credit for,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Once you get by the top four or five teams in this league (NHL), there&rsquo;s not much to choose between anybody really.&rdquo;Blackburn&rsquo;s comments were made shortly after the Whalers had beaten the Pittsburgh Penguins 7-5 in a sloppily played contest. Hartford had yielded an early goal but came quickly back with six unanswered goals to lead 6-1 at the 15:00 minute mark of the second period.It was then that the Whalers apparently became disinterested. Before the period was over the Penguins had drawn to within two goals. Only a power play tip-in by the ageless wonder, Gordie Howe, put the game out of reach in the third stanza. It was Gordie&rsquo;s ninth of the season.Blackie was. most unhappy with his troops after the game. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a word to describe it (their performance), but I think you should ask all my little young gentlemen in the room because I&rsquo;ve got no explanation for it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be over very early tomorrow night if we play like that.&rdquo;The reference was to the Whalers&rsquo; first visit to the Montreal Forum scheduled for the next night. Whatever he said in &lsquo;the room&rsquo; must have sunk in because the Whalers salvaged a tie (4-4) at the Forum, coming back for two goals in the third period, and then withstanding a Montreal power play in the final two minutes.In describing the performances of the Hartford Whalers so far this season, one might use words like, awe, concentration, confidence, challenge.Many of the younger players with the Whalers were very much in awe of the whole NHL scene as the season began. And it showed markedly in game number one at Minnesota where, before they knew it, the Whalers were down by three goals.Then in buildings like those in Chicago, New York, Buffalo and Philadelphia, it showed up again. Perhaps the first visit in any building the young guys had read about or seen on television during their boyhood years presented that kind of a problem. If they could survive the first few shifts, however, then the concentration would come back.Going into places like Boston and Montreal, the mystique of the building seemed to be over-ridden by the challenge of it all. The Boston Bruins will one day be a major rival of the Hartford Whalers&mdash;if they&rsquo;re not already.&ldquo;Our guys play well against the better teams,&rdquo; said coach Blackburn. &ldquo;The better the team we play, the more the challenge.&rdquo;Confidence has been building rapidly among Hartford players. Sure, there was a quiet confidence among some of the veterans. But there remained a lot to be proven. When Al Sims came over from the Boston Bruins in the expansion draft, he had resigned himself to thinking that the Whalers would be scrapping to make the playoffs. He admitted being completely unfamiliar with the WHA and the quality of play in that league.But now when you ask him about the team&rsquo;s chances, he&rsquo;ll quickly tell you&mdash;&ldquo;We can play hockey with anybody in this league &ldquo; &#9632;

Awe Now Determination As Whalers Play Tough

<div class="byline">BY ASHLEY COLLIE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01452/4316037-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg"></div>NEW YORK&mdash;When the NHL was expanding and the fledgling WHA was trying desperately to get a firm skate-hold in the early 70s, there was a dearth of good hockey talent to fill out the growing roster demands.However the success of Borje Salming has caused an explosion of interest in European players. His discoverer, Gerry McNamara claims Europe &ldquo;is now swamped with NHL scouts&rdquo;. The result of his find has been that there are now close to 30 Europeans on NHL rosters or farm teams with an overwhelming majority from Sweden. Hockey Canada&rsquo;s technical director Derek Holmes says, &ldquo;If you consider the number of players and rinks, then you must conclude that Sweden has the most effective way of producing talented players.&rdquo;Bobby Kromm, the Red Wings&rsquo; coach who once had seven Europeans playing for him with the Winnipeg Jets, says, &ldquo;Scouts are recommending players for the NHL draft. Everyone is looking: you might even see someone like Don Cherry, who&rsquo;s always been against Europeans, looking that way. He already has a good one in goalie Hardy Aastrom. The NHL is beginning to face reality.&rdquo;He feels the NHL is &ldquo;dipping into other sources to find these quality players&rdquo; because they&rsquo;re a lot better than many fringe NHL players. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re fundamentally better than the average North American. They&rsquo;re great skaters, handle and receive the puck very well. And they have a sense of being in the right place on the ice.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0021-01

Discovery Of Salming Started European Invasion

<div class="byline">BY AL SMITH</div>ATLANTA&mdash;The Atlanta Flames, at the beginning of the season thought to be one of the strongest teams in the National Hockey League, found themselves playing. 500 hockey 24 games into the season.And although General Manager Cliff Fletcher said he was concerned, he wasn&rsquo;t panicking.&ldquo;I think the team can turn things around,&rdquo; Fletcher said. &ldquo;I think we have the personnel here to do it.&rdquo;After winning four games in a row, the Flames did a complete turnabout and lost their next four. It left them with a 11-11-3 record and left Coach Al MacNeil shaking his head and wondering what had gone wrong.But one thing was for sure.&ldquo;We lack intensity much of the time,&rdquo; MacNeil said. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have the drive I have been looking for from this team.&rdquo;The fourth game in the Flames&rsquo; losing streak occurred in Buffalo, when the Flames lost 6-1 to the Sabres. For the first period, the Flames played the best 20 minutes of hockey they had played all season, but in the final 40 minutes they reverted back to the poor form that had lost them three games in a row.In the last two periods, they were outworked, outhustled, outshot and after taking a 1-0 lead were outscored, 6-0.&ldquo;I wish I had the answer,&rdquo; MacNeil said, when asked the difference between the first and second periods. &ldquo;I think we have to become more disciplined on the ice. We gave them (Sabres) too much room and let them take over.&rdquo;One or two of the biggest reasons the Flames are off to such a slow start has been the play of two of the GEM line players, Guy Chouinard and Bob MacMillan. Both were struggling after being injured and after 24 games had only four and five goals respectively. Last season, Chouinard was a 50-goal scorer, while MacMillan had 37. They were fifth and sixth in the league in scoring.&ldquo;I just don&rsquo;t feel right,&rdquo; MacMillan said. &ldquo;Players I used to be able to beat are now beating me. I was jumping last season&mdash;so were Guy and Eric (Vail, the other member of the Gem line). But that isn&rsquo;t happening this year.&rdquo;MacMillan, who had an appendectomy during training camp, said he had talked things over with captain Jean Pronovost and was told that Pronovost, who missed the early part of last season with a knee injury, said it took him until February to start feeling right. &ldquo;I hope it doesn&rsquo;t take that long,&rdquo; MacMillan said.During their losing streak, the Flames also suffered a rash of injuries that kept MacNeil shuffling lines for much of two weeks.Chouinard broke a knuckle on his left hand, Willi Plett sprained a knee and was out four games, Curt Bennett pulled a muscle in his thigh; Bill Clement broke a finger; and David Shand suffered a slight shoulder separation.NOTES: With so many injuries, Flames called up Paul Henderson and Dave Gorman from their Birmingham farm team. Henderson, 36, showed he could play in the NHL by scoring a goal and adding two assists in four games. The Flames sent back-up goalie Pat Riggin back to Birmingham and recalled last season&rsquo;s back-up goalie Rejean Lemelin. &#9632;

Lack Of Intensity Diminishes Dixie Flame

<div class="byline">BY ALEXEI LIPOVETSKY</div>MOSCOW&mdash;The Central Army Sports Club is still the class of the Soviet Union.The second round of the first half of the USSR championship season came to a close at the end of November and the result left the Army team in its usual spot&mdash;No. 1 in the country. Dynamo Moscow trailed the Army by four points at the finish of the round with Spartak in third place. Some changes transpired in the lower half of the division where teams are equal in class but no match for the Soviet&rsquo;s big three&mdash;Army, Dynamo and Spartak.As usual, the games between the top teams aroused greatest interest. At the beginning of the second round Dynamo was knocked off 7-1 by Spartak. The latter placed second for some time but then slumped, caused possibly by an unstable line-up. One half of the championship is over but the Spartak coaches are still searching for the optimal alignment of their players.Despite their problems, Spartak was close to victory in the showdown game against the defending champions&mdash;Central Army. Spartak led 3-1 and twice failed to hit on empty nets of the Army Club in which Vladislav Tretyak has been playing practically without a break. In the second period Central Army scored four times and it appeared Spartak players, led by Alexander Yakushev, had become careless with their lead. The champions won the game 7-3 without too much effort.The match between the Army Club and Dynamo highlighted the second round. Both of these teams are to meet the best NHL squads in their December-January tour of Canada and the United States. Dynamo produced a. spectacular performance by beating the Army 6-3 (the first defeat for the champs this season).Dynamo led 6-1 till almost the end of the game but relaxed just before the final whistle allowing the Army to score twice. Dynamo&rsquo;s excellent play gained momentum after the victory giving them 20 points in 10 games in the second round.The second round saw a certain deterioration of the goaltenders play. Even Tretyak allowed many goals which he would never have permitted in playing for the National Selects. Vladimir Myshkin, the little goaler from Krylya Sovetov, who put up a brilliant performance in the third match of the 1980 Challenge Cup series against the NHL, allowed goals (four per game on average) mainly through a weak defense in front of him. Both Dynamo and Spartak would like to have more solid goaltenders.Dynamo&rsquo;s trio consisting of the Golikov brothers and Aleksandr Maltsev has greatly improved its performance since the middle of the second round. Last year the Golikovs played brilliantly in the Challenge Cup games together with Sergei Makarov from the Moscow Army Club. Many are wondering who will be their line partner this season. An answer to this question may be provided by the Izvestia competition which will begin in Moscow on Dec. 16, as well as by the Army and Dynamo matches overseas later this month and early in 1980. &#9632;

Central Army Still No. 1 Soviet Team

<div class="byline">BY MIKE MURRAY</div>MONCTON&mdash;All eyes have recently been on the Eastern Division race between Dalhousie and St. Francis Xavier. But look who now has the best record in all of the Maritimes. None other than the University of Moncton. The Aigles Bleus made it eight victories in their last nine games by winning all three of their most recent games. Jean Perron&rsquo;s club ran their undefeated record at home to 7-0 by knocking off the University of New Brunswick, Acadia and St. Mary&rsquo;s. &ldquo;Our victories have all come from different sources&rdquo; explained Perron. &ldquo;Early in the season our defense held us in some close games but now Bessett and Parenteau have hit full stride and they have been carrying us more recently.&rdquo;Francois Bessett and Gilles Parenteau are presently running first and third in the scoring race. But it has been Bessett who has brought this Moncton team to the top of the pack. After arriving at Christmas last year, Bessett had 39 points in the last 12 games and, this year, he has continued his three points per game average by putting 36 points on the board.Moncton received a one goal and four assist effort from Parenteau. in their 10-4 victory over UNB. Then, Bessett took over the reins of the team again as he had two goals in Moncton&rsquo;s 9-5 win over Acadia and their 7-3 victory over St. Mary&rsquo;s.In the long awaited rematch between Dalhousie and St. Francis Xavier, it turned out to be &ldquo;Ken Bickerton night&rdquo; as he recorded a stunning shutout. &ldquo;Considering St. Francis Xavier has three of the top six scorers in our division, it was a super effort,&rdquo; said coach Pierre Page. So, the Tigers have won both matches over St. Francis Xavier by scores of 5-4 and 3-0 and, coming up to the Christmas break, these two victories have almost assured the Dalhousie Tigers top spot. For the time being that is!The X-Men made up for their setback at the hands of the Tigers by pulling out two classic victories over St. Mary&rsquo;s. Tony Cuomo scored at 18:02 to give St. Francis Xavier a 4-3 win. Then, in a following game, Greg Keating duplicated Cumo&rsquo;s feat by scoring at 19:01 of the third period to pull out 3-2 victory. So, Dalhousie and St. Francis Xavier remain even in the loss column and both teams are looking forward to a hard fight in the second half.OUAA: As the last week of play before the Christmas break draws near, the struggle for top place in Ontario continues. Two points separate the top five teams and as McMaster coach Bill Mahoney puts it, &ldquo;This one division has sure made for better competition and rivalry. It&rsquo;s turned out to be the best decision our league has made in the past fifteen years.&rdquo; Mahoney&rsquo;s Marlins continue to sit on top of the OUAA, but only by the skin of their teeth. They&rsquo;ve kept ahead of the pack as they downed York 4-1. John Holmes paced the Marlin attack with two first period goals.Toronto, at the same time, remained undefeated as the pesky Waterloo Warriors made a gallant attempt to knock the Varisty Blues from the undefeated ranks, falling 3-1 in the end. Dave Jenner shone in goal for Toronto as he stopped 31 of 321 shots directed his way.Queen&rsquo;s and Laurentian both won double headers and kept pace with the pack. Laurentian had different players score in both wins over Windsor, as they won by scores of 7-1 and 5-1. &ldquo;This is a complete team effort,&rdquo; says Bill Harris. Proof is that we do not have one scorer in the top ten.&rdquo; Rick Brown lowered his goals against average to 2.88 as he only allowed two goals.Queen&rsquo;s knocked off Western twice by scores of 6-4 and 7-6. Jamie Conroy led the Golden Gaels as he connected for a total of two goals and five assists. Guelph was hard pressed to earn a tie with Sir Wilfrid Laurier as Mike Pidgeons&rsquo; goal, with less than two minutes left, earned the Gryphons a 5-5 tie.QUAA: Another week has passed and the Trois-Rivieres Patriotes still remain the topic of conversation around college circles in Quebec. The &ldquo;Pats&rdquo; made it 10 in a row without a defeat as they defeated Laval 9-7 in a shootout and then, the following day, had to settle for a 4-4 tie with Ottawa.The Concordia Stingers can count their blessings that their big line found the scoring touch right from the start of the season. The Stingers&rsquo; line of Doug Feasby, Roy Halpin and Roman Dziatkoweic are presently the nation&rsquo;s top scoring line with 41 goals and 59 assists between them. The Stringers defeated Bishop&rsquo;s 4-2 as Halpin set up all four goals. They then clobbered Chicoutimi 14-4 as Feasby collected two goals and five assists.CWUAA: With the traditional early Christmas break upon the teams in the Canada West Conference, the coaches now have six weeks to look back at the first half and reflect upon just what went right and what went wrong for their respective teams. The Calgary Dinosaurs have slowly climbed into a first place tie with the defending national champion Alberta Golden Bears and we asked coach George Kingston to offer a few views on the league and his team in particular.In summing up the CWUAA hockey teams so far this season Kingston noted, &ldquo;There are no free lunches in the league this year.&rdquo; Both Saskatchewan and UBC, as well as ourselves and Alberta all have excellent hockey clubs.GPAC: The &ldquo;Flin Flon Connection&rdquo; has arrived in Winnipeg and coach Andy Bakogeorge is sure happy they chose the University of Manitoba. Scott Davidson, Art O&rsquo;Connell and Derek Brother all grew up and played their minor hockey in Flin Flon and, as rookies, each earned a starting position with the Bisons. Last year, Brothers and Davidson starred for the Humboldt Broncos in Saskatchewan while O&rsquo;Connell stayed at home and worked so as to pursue his university career. &#9632;

Moncton Winging In Atlantic Race

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div>CANTON&mdash;Saying that &ldquo;It&rsquo;s time for a change,&rdquo; St. Lawrence University head coach Leon Abbott resigned his position on December 3. The university released the news the next day and announced that assistant Dale Henwood would serve as interim coach for the remainder of 1979-80.Abbott&rsquo;s resignation came in the wake of an eight-game losing streak by the Saints. The last game in the skein was a disastrous 12-3 drubbing by Clarkson in their annual grudge match in Potsdam. It tied a record for consecutive defeats at St. Lawrence after a 3-0 start to the current season.Henwood took over for the next contest, a close 5-4 loss to Cornell in Canton. This game and a subsequent 7-1 defeat by Boston College established a new standard for frustration as the first semester in Canton finally ended.The usual nice words were mentioned on both sides during the announcement. The school greatly regretted Abbott&rsquo;s decision, and Abbott in turn wished Henwood and charges all the best. The move, however, focuses more attention on the overall state of Hockey at St. Lawrence than on the qualifications of Leon Abbott to coach the team.Let&rsquo;s consider. Abbott&rsquo;s record in three full seasons at Canton was 28-59-2, augmented to 31-67-2 by the 3-8 start. That certainly tells you that the program wasn&rsquo;t headed back to prominence under his direction. Anticipated improvement in team cohesion and the level of raw if inexperienced talent just didn&rsquo;t materialize.The question is whether it could happen under any coach. This is the problem which the school&rsquo;s president, trustees, and athletic administration must face squarely before they bring in yet another regime. Leon Abbott is the third consecutive coach, following Bernie McKinnon and George Menard, to direct St. Lawrence through a succession of mediocre to poor seasons. All three are respected hockey men, so it&rsquo;s a fair question to ask whether the job of coaching St. Lawrence hockey back to playoff contention is indeed &ldquo;doable&rdquo; at all.&ldquo;The official release says it all, essentially,&rdquo; commented Abbott a few days later. &ldquo;I felt that in a three-year period I had to change the attitude, not only of the players but of the administration. I didn&rsquo;t succeed in doing that.&rdquo;&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re defeated by an opponent, you should acknowledge that defeat. But when you start to accept the defeats, that&rsquo;s something else. Too many of the players on the team had come to accept defeat. I was optimistic early, especially with some of the new kids we brought in. But then in the crunch we just didn&rsquo;t improve.&ldquo;I feel badly, but after I&rsquo;d made the move it was the biggest feeling of relief in three years. It will probably help the team, too. I just think that St. Lawrence University simply hasn&rsquo;t kept pace with the times.&rdquo;The last assertion by the departed coach is the central issue for the Saints. They&rsquo;ve had but one winning season since 1967-68. They haven&rsquo;t made the ECAC semi-finals since 1967, and haven&rsquo;t competed in the championship game since 1964. It&rsquo;s been a long decline for the team that won the first formal ECAC playoff championship back in 1962 at Boston Arena.Let&rsquo;s probe further. George Menard was the St. Lawrence coach from 1955-56 to 1970-71, with a one-year sabbatical in 1967-68. Until 1968-69, he had one losing season. The record slipped to 11-112 in &lsquo;68-69, then 11-15 and 10-14 before assistant Bernie McKinnon took the reins.McKinnon fared no better, posting marks of 10-14-2, 15-13, 12-15-1, 10-17-1 and 11-17-1 before yielding to Abbott. Leon couldn&rsquo;t turn it around either, with records of 8-20, 12-18, and 8-21-2.Notice that the slide by St. Lawrence coincides with the rise of many other teams to consistently good hockey. The more teams that became playoff contenders, the worse the Saints&rsquo; record became. New Hampshire brought in Charlie Holt to coach an upgraded program and has missed the playoffs but once since &lsquo;68-69. Almost ditto for Providence, which finally got its own on-campus rink in 1973-74. Vermont jumped into Division One with a bang, grabbing a home ice berth. Pennsylvania made some waves for a while. Dartmouth turned its program around, helped also by a new rink. RPI improved, first under Abbott and then Jim Salfi. Harvard bounced back to prominence for Cooney Weilend&rsquo;s last few years, then enjoyed success under Bill Cleary. Brown remained a threat.Some of the others like Boston University, Boston College, Clarkson and Cornell got jostled occasionally in the brawl for playoff spots but made the adjustment and remained solid, competitive programs. Then Yale came into the picture with a vengeance, hiring Tim Taylor with the promise of, among other things, more administrative support than that enjoyed by his predecessors. St. Lawrence, by standing still all the while, faded back. Now, Maine looks good in its first Division One year, and the recruiting pressures among the top Division Two schools are fiercer than ever.Only Colgate and Princeton, both of which are now showing some more muscle, had records roughly comparable to St. Lawrence&rsquo;s during the seventies. In the intensifying boardinghouse free-for-all in quest of the play of pie, St. Lawrence has been elbowed out time and again.So the question remains. Did George Menard suddenly lose his coaching acumen, and did both Leon Abbott and Bernie McKinnon not bring enough savvy to Appleton Arena; or, is the job they have all held a virtually impossible one, in light of the changes in college hockey?The answer is probably closer to the latter, and there are signs that it is beginning to be recognized. For one, the school may drop its need basis for recruiting and institute the grant-in-aid system. President Frank Piskor has received favorable referenda votes on the proposal from several on-campus groups, and he is due to present it to the trustees for consideration in the near future.The grant system may help, but will it be enough? First and foremost, the school must decide whether it really wants a return to hockey excellence. It&rsquo;s altogether possible that a more sensible decision for the University would be to channel funds and personnel into some other area, whether within the curriculum or in the extracurricular area. Only the insiders know the facts necessary for such a policy decision.However, if the decision is made in favor of rebuilding the hockey program, then the school should ascertain that the financial as well as spiritual backing is there in sufficient quantity to make the goal of hockey competitiveness a reachable one. While this writer is obviously not privy to the school&rsquo;s athletic budget, he suggests that not only the scholarships budget, but the recruiting budget, salary structure, and funds available for physical plant be brought into line with the better schools in Division One if they are not so presently. What was more than enough in 1968 merely scratches the surface in 1980.One final note&mdash;a personal one. If St. Lawrence does decide to strive for a return to the good oI&rsquo; days, I hope they rechristen the team the &ldquo;Larries&rdquo;. The &ldquo;Skating Saints?&rdquo; Hasn&rsquo;t there been enough martyrdom in the last decade among Larrie faithful? &#9632;

Abbott Retires From St. Lawrence Dilemma

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01482/4316164-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="470" height="565"><figcaption class="caption-body">North Dakota is often sparked by the scoring exploits of Doug Smail.</figcaption></div>DULUTH&mdash;With the Western Collegiate Hockey Association slimming down already for Christmas vacation, it&rsquo;s a good time to take a quick rundown on the progress of the league as compared to preseason expectations.With the WCHA playing a varied schedule that has some teams playing 26 league games and others 32, some teams got an early jump on Christmas vacation. As a result, only two WCHA series were on top. League-leading North Dakota split a pair of overtime decisions with Minnesota-Duluth and Wisconsin and Colorado College remained deadlocked in the standings by splitting 5-4 scores.North Dakota lost 5-4 the first night when Scott Carlston scored on a power play 1:25 into the sudden death session to give Duluth the victory. North Dakota&rsquo;s Mark Taylor, the leading scorer in the league, had tied the game with four seconds left in regulation play after the Sioux pulled their goalie for a sixth attacker.The second night, Taylor got the overtime winner with just 18 seconds to play. North Dakota&rsquo;s Doug Smail got his second goal of the game at 15:24 of the second period to set up the overtime. Duluth goalie Bill Perks was sensational with 49 stops to 27 for North Dakota All-American goalie Bob Iwabuchi.In Madison, Wis., both games went down to the wire. Colorado College won the opener in overtime on Greg Hampson&rsquo;s goal 4:49 into the 10-minute session.In the second game, Wisconsin survived a CC comeback after the Badgers jumped to a 4-1 lead in the second period.1. NORTH DAKOTA: The Sioux are right where the coaches predicted them to finish. The defending WCHA champions are doing it the same way as last year&mdash;with defense. No team in the league has a better goals-against average than North Dakota&rsquo;s 3.5 mark.Offensively, senior center Mark Taylor and junior wing Doug Smail have carried the load. Taylor just went through a stretch where he had 17 points in four games, enough to give him the league scoring lead. He just might be the best forward in college hockey.2. MICHIGAN: In recent years, Dan Farrell&rsquo;s Wolverines have been the toughest team in college hockey to figure out. It&rsquo;s no different this year. Picked to finish down the ladder, Michigan has been the early-season surprise.It&rsquo;s not hard to figure out why. The answer is veterans Dan Lerg and Murray Eaves, both healthy and scoring big, and freshman Bruno Baseotto, who just scores and scores.3. MINNESOTA: Who said the defending national champions are down? Coach Brad Buetow has overcome the loss of head coach Herb Brooks (U.S. Olympic coach) and mass exodus of many of last year&rsquo;s stars through optimism and hustle.The Gophers have more than optimism and hustle&mdash;they also have Tim Harrer, maybe the hardest shooter in the college game.4. MICHIGAN TECH: Like North Dakota, Michigan Tech is doing it with defense this year. The 3.8 goals-against average posted by the Huskies is the second best in the league.Michigan Tech has a man behind the bench who knows how to coach a winner, too. John Ma-cinnes now needs just five more victories to reach 500 as a head coach. Tech is one club with good balance&mdash;the Huskies have nine players with 11 or more points, led by center Rich Boehm, with 21.5. (tie) WISCONSIN: with AllAmerican Mark Johnson gone to the Olympic team, the Badgers figured to have withdrawal pains&mdash;they have.The Badgers have a defenseman (Theran Welsh) who leads the team in scoring and you don&rsquo;t win championships that way.5. (tie) COLORADO COLLEGE: If Coach Jeff Sauer had his way, his Tigers would play a contender every weekend. &ldquo;Unfortunately, we play to the level of the competition we play every week. It&rsquo;s too bad we don&rsquo;t always play the kind of hockey we&rsquo;re capable of playing,&rdquo; Sauer said.He may be right. The Tigers have beaten No. 1 North Dakota as well as Michigan Tech, but that pattern hasn&rsquo;t continued against teams below the Tigers in the standings.5. (tie) NOTRE DAME: &ldquo;I guess you could say we have imped through the first half of the season with all the injuries and troubles we have had. By playing. 500, I&rsquo;d say we have left ourselves in a good position to begin the second half of the league schedule,&rdquo; said Coach Lefty Smith.8. MICHIGAN STATE: New coach Ron Mason has found that his tremendous success at Bowling Green didn&rsquo;t move to Michigan State with him.But the Spartans are no longer the doormat of the WCHA. They&rsquo;re skating with everyone. &ldquo;We still lack consistency. We haven&rsquo;t put together six good periods of hockey yet. If we can do this, we should be in good shape,&rdquo; Mason said.9. MINNESOTA-DULUTH: Coach Gus Hendrickson puts Duluth&rsquo;s problems in a nutshell. &ldquo;Our biggest problem is that we haven&rsquo;t been able to sweep a two-game series, either at home or on the road. We have to find the consis-tency to do that,&rdquo; he said.Duluth has proven scorers in Dan Lempe, Scott Carlston, Glenn Kulyk and Bill Dieksuk and a capable goalie in Bill Perkl.10. DENVER: Coach Marshall Johnston&rsquo;s Pioneers lack scoring, defense and goaltending, and that&rsquo;s a tough order to overcome.Johnston looked at this season as a rebuilding year. Unfortunately for Denver fans, it is turning out to be just that. &#9632;

f0024-01

Splits Feature Pre-Holiday Games

<h2>ECAC CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Tues., Dec. 11)<h3>EAST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01418/4316272-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="535" height="174"></div><h3>WEST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02310/4316265-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="533" height="152"></div><h3>IVY DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03216/4316258-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="534" height="174"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Boston College 4, Brown 4Providence 7, Northeastern 5Cornell 5, St. Lawrence 4Clarkson 5, Vermont 4Harvard 4, Boston Univ. 3New Hampshire 5, RPI 4Yale 7, Maine 4Boston Coll. 8, Clarkson 4Northeastern 3, Princeton 2Boston Colt. 7, St. Lawrence 1Boston Univ. 4, Princeton 3Harvard 4, Brown 4Vermont 4, Colgate 3New Hampshire 4, Cornell 3Providence 8, Colgate 3NON-CONFERENCE GAMESPrinceton 3, Merrimack 2Michigan 10, Dartmouth 2Michigan 4, Dartmough 5Framingham St. 5, Boston St. 3Holy Cross 12, Assumption 4New Haven 7, U.S. Inti. 1New Haven 3, U.S. Inti. 1Bowdoin 4, Boston St. 2Elmira 4, Potsdam St. 3Assumption 3, Curry 0Williams 4, Norwich 3Lowell 14, N. Adams 2Holy Cross 8, Bryant 1<h2>WCHA CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Fri., Dec. 14)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-04156/4316251-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="535" height="271"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Minn-Duluth 5/North Dakota 4North Dakota 4Minn-Duluth 3Colorado College 5, Wisconsin 4,Wisconsin 5, Colorado College 4NON-CONFERENCE GAMESMichigan 10, Dartmouth 2Michigan 6, Dartmouth 5Michigan Tech 4, Lake Superior 2Michigan Tech 5, Lake Superior 3Denver 2, U.S. Inti. 1Denver 7, U.S. Inti. 3Ferris State 6, Michigan State 3Ferris State 4, Michigan State 3Western Michigan 6, Notre Dame 5<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-05133/4316244-1-eng-US/f0025-052.jpg" title="f0025-05" width="533" height="168"></div><h2>Leading Teams</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-06110/4316237-1-eng-US/f0025-062.jpg" title="f0025-06" width="530" height="440"></div><h2>ONTARIO CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Mon., Dec. 10)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-239/4316230-1-eng-US/f0025-232.jpg" title="f0025-23" width="534" height="320"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Toronto 6, Guelph 3York 10, Ryerson 0Western 10, Windsor 2Waterloo 5, Guelph 5Western 8, Brock 7Laurier 7, Laurentian 4Toronto 5, McMaster 5York 3, Windsor 1Laurentian 6, Waterloo 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-248/4316223-1-eng-US/f0025-242.jpg" title="f0025-24" width="541" height="434"></div><h2>QUEBEC CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Dec. 3)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-257/4316216-1-eng-US/f0025-252.jpg" title="f0025-25" width="538" height="197"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Concordia 4, Bishop&rsquo;s 2Ottawa 6, McGill 3UQTR 9, Laval 7Bishop&rsquo;s 4, Laval 3Concordia 14, UQAC 4Ottawa 4, UQTR 4UQAC 6, McGill 3<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-267/4316209-1-eng-US/f0025-262.jpg" title="f0025-26" width="537" height="265"></div><h2>ATLANTIC CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Dec. 3)<h3>Eastern Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-276/4316202-1-eng-US/f0025-272.jpg" title="f0025-27" width="536" height="126"></div><h3>Western Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-284/4316195-1-eng-US/f0025-282.jpg" title="f0025-28" width="532" height="174"></div> &#9632;

f0025-01

How They Stand

<h2>ECAC Conference</h2><h3>DECEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-293/4316359-1-eng-US/f0025-292.jpg" title="f0025-29" width="557" height="294"></div><h3>JANUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-303/4316352-1-eng-US/f0025-302.jpg" title="f0025-30" width="565" height="845"></div><h2>WCHA Conference</h2><h3>DECEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-313/4316345-1-eng-US/f0025-312.jpg" title="f0025-31" width="583" height="488"></div><h3>JANUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-323/4316338-1-eng-US/f0025-322.jpg" title="f0025-32" width="576" height="647"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-333/4316331-1-eng-US/f0025-332.jpg" title="f0025-33" width="527" height="127"></div><h2>CCHA Conference</h2><h3>DECEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-343/4316324-1-eng-US/f0025-342.jpg" title="f0025-34" width="558" height="221"></div><h3>JANUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-353/4316317-1-eng-US/f0025-352.jpg" title="f0025-35" width="552" height="579"></div><h2>CIAU Conference</h2><h3>DECEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-363/4316310-1-eng-US/f0025-362.jpg" title="f0025-36" width="477" height="81"></div><h3>JANUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-372/4316303-1-eng-US/f0025-372.jpg" title="f0025-37" width="574" height="1266"></div> &#9632;

f0025-29

Games To Come

<h2>UNION HOLIDAY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-07103/4316495-1-eng-US/f0025-072.jpg" title="f0025-07" width="488" height="79"></div><h2>FRAMINGHAM CLASSIC</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0893/4316488-1-eng-US/f0025-082.jpg" title="f0025-08" width="507" height="77"></div><h2>BROWN OLDCOLONY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0984/4316481-1-eng-US/f0025-092.jpg" title="f0025-09" width="523" height="146"></div><h2>CODFISH BOWL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1067/4316474-1-eng-US/f0025-102.jpg" title="f0025-10" width="508" height="80"></div><h2>NEW HAMPSHIRE BLUE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1159/4316467-1-eng-US/f0025-112.jpg" title="f0025-11" width="494" height="76"></div><h2>RPI INVITATIONAL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1250/4316460-1-eng-US/f0025-122.jpg" title="f0025-12" width="535" height="154"></div><h2>AULD LANG SYNE CLASSIC</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1344/4316453-1-eng-US/f0025-132.jpg" title="f0025-13" width="472" height="78"></div><h2>COLONIAL CLASSIC</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1441/4316446-1-eng-US/f0025-142.jpg" title="f0025-14" width="498" height="75"></div><h2>MERRIMACK BLUE-GOLD</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1536/4316439-1-eng-US/f0025-152.jpg" title="f0025-15" width="459" height="78"></div><h2>SALEM STATE CLASSIC</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1631/4316432-1-eng-US/f0025-162.jpg" title="f0025-16" width="512" height="76"></div><h2>HOLY CROSS CLASSIC</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1726/4316425-1-eng-US/f0025-172.jpg" title="f0025-17" width="467" height="75"></div><h2>BOSTON TEAPOT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1822/4316418-1-eng-US/f0025-182.jpg" title="f0025-18" width="503" height="76"></div><h2>DOWN EAST CLASSIC</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1917/4316411-1-eng-US/f0025-192.jpg" title="f0025-19" width="518" height="76"></div><h2>WESLE YAN TOU RN AMENT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-2014/4316404-1-eng-US/f0025-202.jpg" title="f0025-20" width="504" height="76"></div><h2>NAVYCRABPO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-2111/4316397-1-eng-US/f0025-212.jpg" title="f0025-21" width="524" height="80"></div><h2>BOSTON BEANPOT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-229/4316390-1-eng-US/f0025-222.jpg" title="f0025-22" width="523" height="74"></div> &#9632;

f0025-07

College Tournaments

<div class="byline">BY JIM SCHNEIDER</div>MARQUETTE&mdash;Northern Michigan took a commanding lead in the early going in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association with a 52. 7-2 sween over Ferris State.In other CCHA action Western Michigan swept a series from Miami University 5-4 and 8-3, while Bowling Green beat U.S. International 8-2 and Ohio State topped Wilfrid Laurier 10-5 in single games.Northern Michigan moved its CCHA record to 4-0 and remained the lone league team to have a win in a conference game. Meanwhile, Ferris State dropped into a tie, for last place with Lake Superior State College at 0-2, both victims of NMU.The host Wildcats took a 3-1 lead in the first period of the opener in Lakeview Arena with all four goals scored on the power play. Bill Joyce put NMU ahead with an unassisted goal and Keith Zoldak tied the game for the Bulldogs at 13:19.Don Waddell and Steve Bozek scored the last two goals of the period and Bozek added his second goal of the game in the second period.The two teams exchanged third period goals, with Joyce notching his second of the game for NMU.The second night brought goals in the first minute of each period with a pair of goals scored in the first minute of the opening period.NMU freshman Eric Ponath scored after just 27 seconds of play, but Jim Baker tied the game at 55 seconds. Tom Laidlaw and Jeff Pyle added first period goals and NMU held a 3-1 lead after one period for the second straight game.Tom Rudrud pulled Ferris State to within one goal of the lead at 13 seconds of the second period, but that marked the end of the Bulldog offense for the weekend.Bozek and Denis Flanagan added second period goals for a 5-2 NMU lead, and Terry Houck (at 47 seconds of the third period) and Keith Hanson finished off the scoring.Steve Weeks played in both games for NMU and made 68 saves in the weekend including 17 in the first period of the second game allowing the Bulldogs just one goal in the frame.In Kalamazoo the WMU Broncos finished off a season sweep of Miami University with four wins. The first three games were one goal affairs.In the series opener in Lawson Arena Rob Reid and Pete Raps scored for a 2-1 WMU lead after one period.The Bronco power play came alive in the second period after Miami had taken a 3-2 lead as CCHA player-of-the-week Ross Fitzpatrick tied the game and Ken Calder and Reid added goals for a 5-3 margin after two periods.Steve Abbott made 12 third period saves while allowing just one goal as WMU held on for the win.In the second game Fitzpatrick raised his league-leading overall statistics to 17 goals and 16 assists for 33 points with a four-point night.Miami took a 1-0 lead, but the score was 3-1 for Western Michigan after the first period on goals by Terry Olson, Fitzpatrick and Dave Berthelesen.The Broncos blew the game open in the second period on two goals by converted defenseman Kevin Scott and one each by Fitzpatrick and Bob Scurfield.Abbott moved his record to 6-2 on the season with wins in goal each night.In Bowling Green tri-captain Mike Cotter returned to the active list and scored the winning goal as BG finished off its season with two wins and a tie against U.S. International.The host Falcons scored four times in the first period with Yves Pelland and Chris Guertin each getting a goal just nine seconds apart at 5:09 and 5:18 of the first period.Cotter, who has played defense his first three seasons at BG, got the winner at 6:18 of the first period and Tom Newton made the score 4-1 for the Falcons after the first period.Pelland, Brian Hills and Tim Alexander scored second period goals and Pete Sikorski scored his first of the season in the third period.Wally Charko and Michael David shared the goaltending for BG as the Falcons moved back to the. 500 mark for the season.Senior Ed Lisegar paced Ohio State in the 10-5 win over Wilfrid Laurier.The rangy forward came out of a sick bed to collect two goals and add four assists for a six-point game. Lisegar now has seven points for the season.Goals by Tom Scanlon and Brian Jenke, shorthanded, put OSU ahead 2-1 after one period of play and the Buckeyes opened the game up five unanswered goals in the second period.Jamie Grapper and Dan Mandich scored goals 32 seconds apart and Steve Amoruso, Jim Penningroth and Lisgar made the score 71 after two periods.The wild third period included seven goals with four for the visitors and four goals, two for each side, in the final 2:30 of play.Steve Jones gained the win with 12 saves and freshman Jim Finch finished off the game for OSU allowing four goals and making 13 saves.Amoruso was selected as the Buckeye-of-the-Week for his play in the two games of the week including the 1-1 tie with Miami University.Lake Superior State College was idle.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01430/4316526-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="559" height="893"><figcaption class="caption-body">Senior Mike Cotter notched a game-winner for the Falcons over USIU.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Bronocs Riding Roughshod Over Rivals

<div class="byline">BY MORRIS DALLA COSTA</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSWINDSOR&mdash;Trades and streaks have been the order of the day in the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League.The biggest deal pulled off of late was between Windsor Spitfires and Oshawa Generals. Spitfires sent talented netminder Roland Melanson to Generals for centers Steve Peters and Glen Cutting, defenseman John Odam and goaltender Steve Bienkowski. Generals also received Windsor&rsquo;s second round draft pick.Last season it would have been inconceivable for Windsor to give up Melanson. Touted as almost certain pro quality, Melanson has been one of the top goaltenders in the league for the past two seasons. He became expendable when back-up netminder Shawn Mackenzie began playing so well. Melanson had not played much this season.Oshawa may have plugged their biggest gap with Melanson&rsquo;s acquisition. Generals were forced to deal when their top netminder Greg Stefan injured a knee. What Oshawa had left couldn&rsquo;t stop a soccer ball, so they made the trade. When Stefan returns, Generals could have the best one-two punch in the OMJHL.Melanson has won his first two games as a General, defeating Toronto Marlboros 7-6 and shutting out Kitchener Rangers 3-0.Spitfires have gone into a slump. They&rsquo;ve had trouble winning at home.Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds won their first road game after 10 losses when they travelled to Windsor and came away with a 4-3 win. Bill Terry and Tony Butorac had two goals each in the win.Windsor did come back for a 3-2 win over Kitchener but then playing in front of a home town crowd for the first time since the trade of Melanson, Spitfires laid an egg. They were trounced by a surging London Knights team 8-1. That loss came on the heels of a 5-4 loss to Toronto Marlies. Three losses in four games is enough to send general manager coach Wayne Maxner back to the trade table.In other streaks, Kitchener ended one, but may have started another. When Rangers defeated Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 4-0 at home, it ended an 11-game losing streak. Goaltender Dave Jennings recorded the shutout. The one spot where Kitchener doesn&rsquo;t have trouble is between the pipes. With Jennings, Jim Sidwell and Jacques Cormier they&rsquo;re in a position to deal and deal they will, and have been.Among the players brought in have been Paul Coffey in a three-player swap with the Soo, Lee MacKenzie and Mike Moher from Sault Ste. Marie for Rob Motz and Paul Pooley and Dave Clement from Kingston for Walt Poddubny.Despite the 4-0 win, Kitchener came back the next day for a 3-0 loss to Oshawa. Jennings stopped 49 shots and Kitchener was never really in the game.Kingston Canadians are the quiet team of the Leyden division. All they seem to do is win hockey games. Canadians constructed a five-game winning streak. During that streak Kingston defeated Peterborough Petes 3-1 in Peterborough. It was the first loss in the last 10 games for Memorial Cup champion Petes.Doing the damage for Canadians was Tim Kerr with a pair of goals and Poddubny with the other.Canadians&rsquo; string of wins was snapped by Ottawa &lsquo;67s who took a 5-4 overtime decision.Ottawa has gotten league-leading scorer Jim Fox back and they&rsquo;ve increased their goal scoring pace. &lsquo;67s fattened up on Kitchener with an 8-2 win with Sean Simpson scoring a pair. Simpson has started to really motor. After a slow start the slick winger is finding the range with great regularity.Ottawa ran into Peterborough during the Petes&rsquo; 10-game win streak and wound up on the short end of a 6-3 score. Peterborough played an exceptional game. It was the type of hockey Petes have played the last three years. They took advantage of their scoring opportunities and then checked Ottawa silly.Peterborough also made a deal and acquired a back-up netminder to Rick Laferriere. Terry Wright, who has toiled with Toronto the past two seasons went to the Lift Lock city for a draft choice.Sudbury Wolves have not been playing as well as pre-season prognosticators predicted they would. The big surprise is the number of goals they&rsquo;ve been giving up.Sudbury managed to defeat their weak sister Sault Ste. Marie 4-1 on goals by Rob Mazzuca, Mike Martin, Mike Hickey and Frank Perkins (into an empty net).But they&rsquo;ve been beaten by the stronger clubs in the league. Kingston Canadians defeated Wolves 4-2 and then they went into Niagara Falls and had their ears pinned back 8-3. Concern over injuries to the defensive brigade worries coach Andy Laing.Niagara Falls continue their hot and cold play this season. One game they&rsquo;ll go out and look like. world beaters, but the next game they look terrible.Toronto Marlies took them 5-4 in overtime when Wayne Crawford scored 31 seconds into the overtime period. Flyers&rsquo; two Steves, Larmer and Ludzik continue to play well, each scoring a goal in the loss. Greg Foy and Pat Graham, who has scored regularly since coming over from Toronto had the others.Flyers did edge Sault Ste. Marie 5-4 but didn&rsquo;t look good doing it.Brantford Alexanders gave their home fans something to cheer about when they destroyed Oshawa Generals 9-3 in a fight-filled game. Both benches emptied in the final period and as a result Brantford coach Ron Carroll (who took over four games ago) had to sit out a one-game suspension.Brantford performed a rarity in their lopsided win. They scored three shorthanded goals in the first period.Alexanders didn&rsquo;t have long to cheer though. They travelled to London and Knights welcome them with a 14-3 shellacking. Watch out for those Knights.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01411/4316557-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="572" height="864"><figcaption class="caption-body">Roland Melanson has plugged Oshawa&rsquo;s biggest gap after trade from Windsor.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Spitfires Swap Melanson To Oshawa Kingston Quietly Builds Win Streak

<div class="byline">BY DAVE SENICK</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSBRANDON&mdash;Someone once said that nobody is irreplacable. That may be true, but the Brandon Wheat Kings will have to search long and hard to replenish their roster with the likes of the players who graduated last season.The Western Hockey League club has to replace 120 goals, 270 assists and four veteran defensemen this season.Last year, Wheat Kings dominated the WHL, compiling a 58-5-9 record and advancing to the Memorial Cup final which it lost to Peterborough Petes. Three of the reasons for the impressive showing were Brian Propp, 94 goals and 100 assists, Ray Allison, 60-93 and Laurie Boschman, 66-83.The club also had a talented defensive corps with Brad McCrimmon, Mike Perovich, Tim Lockridge and Wes Coulsen.But, that is history. Those players have graduated and Brandon carries on without their services.&ldquo;Last season, we took a run at the championship and sacrificed some of the future for it,&rdquo; says Wheat Kings&rsquo; coach Dunc McCallum.&ldquo;An example was going with four, 19-year-old defensemen. This year, we have a big hole on defense.&rdquo; Wheat Kings have been relying on people like Kelly Elcombe, Don Dietrich, Chris Blight and Greg Mann to fill that hole.Wheat Kings aren&rsquo;t lacking experience in goal with Rick Knickle returning but there&rsquo;s still the task of replacing Propp, Allison and Boschman. Forwards who are expected to provide offense include Mike Winther, who had 18 goals and 19 assists in Wheat Kings&rsquo; first 27 games; Don Gillen, 10-25; John Strait, 12-12 and Steve Patrick, 11-11. &ldquo;We do have a number of veterans but it&rsquo;s hard to discipline the kids who were here the past few years,&rdquo; says McCallum. &ldquo;They didn&rsquo;t have to worry that much about offense. They had been assigned duties such as checking other lines, but now they have to turn around and carry the load.&ldquo;We have been inconsistent this season but things will start to come together after Christmas.&rdquo;Although Wheat Kings haven&rsquo;t dominated like last season, they have been extremely competitive.During the past week, Winther collected seven goals including four in a 6-3 win over Great Falls. He also tallied twice as Brandon edged Great Falls 4-3. Along with the two wins, Wheat Kings suffered three defeats, losing 4-2 to Billings, 8-0 to Calgary and 8-5 to Saskatoon.BILLINGS: Bighorns remained second in the Eastern Division with 29 points. Jeff Zilkie scored twice in a 4-2 win over Brandon but Billings also lost twice, 3-2 to Lethbridge and 5-3 to Medicine Hat. Bighorns, despite losing, outshot Lethbridge 43-23. John Eger scored two goals against Medicine Hat. Gord Stafford is the league&rsquo;s second leading scorer with 21 goals and 32 assists.CALGARY: Wranglers completed a west-coast road trip with three wins and two losses. The team is first in the east with a 16-5 slate. Greg Chudiak and Clint Fehr scored late in the third period to lift Wranglers into a 5-4 victory over New Westminster. In another game, Warren Skorodenski made 20 saves for the shutout as Calgary blanked Brandon 8-0. Glen Merkosky had three goals and Kelly Kisio two. Wranglers also lost 6-3 to Victoria and 6-5, in overtime, to Seattle.GREAT FALLS: Americans dropped four consecutive games leaving their record at 1-18-1. They lost 6-3 and 4-3 to Brandon, 6-4 to Lethbridge and 8-2 to Medicine Hat. One encouraging sign has been the offensive play of Brad Yachimec. He had a pair of two-goal games during the week. Brad Owen, who had been acquired from Lethbridge, has seven goals and six assists after 21 games while Oren Koules was six and seven in 16 outings to lead the club.LETHBRIDGE: Broncos increased their record to 12-10 with a 3-2 win over Billings and 6-4 triumph over Great Falls. Overage goalie Lee Pickett stood out against Billings, making 41 saves. Doug Morrison continues to lead the team in scoring with 25 goals and 25 assists in 22 games.MEDICINE HAT: Tigers moved into a third place tie with Regina, at 28 points, by picking up five points during the past week. Stewart Robertson collected two goals in a 2-2 tie with Saskatoon then scored three times as Medicine Hat tripped Billings 5-3. Curt Broadhead scored twice in a 8-2 triumph over Great Falls. Robertson is the club&rsquo;s leading scorer with 18 goals and 14 assists. Defensively, goalie Kelly Hrudey turned in a good performance, stopping 51 shots in the tie with Saskatoon.REGINA: Pats compiled a 2-3 record on a westcoast road trip. Mike Blaisdell scored five times and assisted once while Brian Varga tallied twice in an 11-7 win over New Westminster. Blaisdell, a 19-year-old right winger, has 21 goals and eight assists in 16 games. Bill Ansell tallied twice in a 6-5 loss to Portland while Doug Wickenheiser had two goals in a 76 overtime loss to Seattle. Regina also lost 6-2 to Victoria. Wickenheiser, who leads the league with 32 goals and 27 assists, has scored at least one point in all of his team&rsquo;s 24 games, the only player to have accomplished that this season.SASKATOON: Blades&rsquo; evened their record at 12-12 with one tie by beating Brandon 8-5. They also played to a 2-2 deadlock with Medicine Hat. Goalie Ron Loustel made 42 saves in the win. Dan Bent continues to lead the club in scoring with 16 goals and 14 assists in 24 games while Kevin MacNaught is 15-14, Blake Stephen 14-12 and Terry Paskaruk 10-11.<h2>WEST DIVISION</h2>NEW WESTMINSTER: Bruins dropped three consecutive games, losing 5-4 to Calgary, 11-5 to Seattle and 11-7 to Regina. Dan Webeniuk tallied twice against Calgary and Dan Sylvester two times against Regina. Marc Chartier, who was acquired from Saskatoon, leads the club in scoring with nine goals and 16 assists in 25 games. Rookie Anthony McMurchy has compiled a 7-15 slate.PORTLAND: Winter Hawks played only one game but made it count by edging Regina 6-5. Jim Dobson scored three goals, including two of five Portland powerplay markers. Winter Hawks are second in the West with 28 points, six less than Victoria.VICTORIA: Cougars won twice to remain leaders in the East with a 17-5 record. Greg Adams and rookie Mark Morrison both tallied twice in a 6-3 triumph over Calgary. Cougars also defeated Regina 6-2. Barry Pederson had collected 34 points after 21 games and Adams 26. Victoria has the best defensive record in the league, allowing just 59 goals in its first 22 games. &#9632;

Brandon No Pushover Despite Depleted Ranks

SEATTLE&mdash;Hockey runs in the Neeld family and the newest member to make a bid for ice fame is John Neeld of the Seattle Breakers.Young Neeld had the distinction of setting a WHL assist record in a recent game when Seattle bombed New Westminster Bruins 11-5. Neeld was front and center on offense as he assisted on seven goals.His seven assists allowed him to erase a mark from the record book that had previously been credited to 20 players over the years who collected six assists in a game including Bobby Clarke, Orest Kindrachuk, Tom Lysiak, Terry Ruskowski, Ron Greschner, Brad Maxwell and Kevin McCarthy among others. All the mentioned players are NHL stars and Neeld is indeed in select company.John is the younger brother of Greg Neeld, the defenseman who lost an eye playing junior hockey several years ago, a tragedy that deprived him of certain stardom in the NHL.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01396/4316612-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="483" height="569"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Neeld of Seattle was a one-man show against New Westminster with, seven assists in an 11-5 romp.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Seattle’s Neeld Breaks League’s Assists Mark

<div class="byline">BY DANNY YOUNG</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSBy trading Norm Aubin, Brian Johnson, and Richard Larocque to Sherbrooke, the Verdun Black Hawks lost three of the four 19-year-olds on their roster. And when the fourth, Alain Bouchard, quit the team&mdash;though quite possibly only temporarily&mdash;the Hawks were reduced to a club of nine 17-year-olds, seven 18-year-olds, and single 16-and 20-year-olds.The Hawks are now the youngest team in the Quebec league, and probably in the three Canadian Major Junior leagues.&ldquo;It was a move made for future years,&rdquo; said coach Aldo Giampolo of the big deal with Sherbrooke. &ldquo;On defense and in goal, we didn&rsquo;t have anyone over 17 (excluding Laroque) so we figured we might as well go for youth. If Raymond Bourque (Boston Bruins underage rookie) had stayed, it might have been different.&rdquo;The trade was still a shock to everyone, not least of all the Verdun players. You don&rsquo;t see a league&rsquo;s leading scorer being traded too often.&ldquo;I was shocked like everyone else,&rdquo; said Chris Valentine, Aubin&rsquo;s linemate.&ldquo;I was very surprised,&rdquo; said Steve Kasper, who has replaced Aubin as captain. &ldquo;We had no idea what was going to happen.&rdquo;A win over Sherbrooke after the trade helped to soften the blow. But that game was followed by a four-game losing streak which did not do much for the team&rsquo;s confidence and may have been responsible for Bouchard&rsquo;s departure.The losing streak was ended with a 14-9 shootout victory over Hull. Andre Chartrain, one of several promising Hawk rookies, scored four goals to earn first star honours. As demonstrated by the win, Verdun&rsquo;s youth will hurt them more defensively than upfront.The Hawks will still get plenty of scoring from Kasper (31-35-65) and Valentine (23-51-74), who has added pressure to produce without Aubin at his side.CHICOUTIMI: Three convincing wins put the Sags one game out of first with an impressive 209-1 record. Captain Guy Carbonneau netted a hat trick and Robert Millette added two as they eased by Verdun 10-4. In another encounter with Verdun. Gilles Hamel scored three goals and four assists, and Carbonneau had another hat trick in a 10-4 win. Against Montreal, both Carbonneau and Gilbert Delorme had two goals and three assists to support a 12-6 landslide for Chicoutimi.QUEBEC: The Remparts had what is probably their best week of the season. In four games decided by a margin of two goals or less, they won three and tied one. Stephane Lessard scored two in a 5-3 win over Shawinigan. Against Sherbrooke, Dan Rioux scored twice and Guy Riel picked up a late third period goal allowing the Remparts to record a 6-5 upset victory. It took a late goal by Gaston Therrien to tie Montreal 2-2. Then another late goal, this time by Jacques Chouinard, gave the Remparts a 3-2 win over Cornwall.CORNWALL: The Royals rookie sensation Dale Hawerchuk scored two goals and two assists in a 5-3 win over Verdun. Then Pat Hara-mis and Dan Daoust each scored twice as the Royals downed Hull 84. Against Shawinigan, the Royals lost 8-6, but they did come back from a 7-2 deficit as Dave Ezard scored a hat trick. The Royals lost their next start to Quebec, 3-2.TROIS-RIVIERES: Against the tougher teams, the Draveurs had some problems. Against a weaker team, it was like gravy. The Draveurs lost to Montreal 6-4 and Sherbrooke 7-4, but clobbered Laval twice. Winger Pierre Aubry continues to fill the net with regularity. In a 9-1 win over Laval, Aubry scored four goals, while Marc Roy and Rene Labbe added two apiece.MONTREAL: Linemates Denis Savard and Denis Cyr teamed up with two goals each to support a 64 win over Trois-Rivieres. The Juniors then tied Quebec at two, and dropped a 12-6 final to Chicoutimi. Savard scored two more in the latter contest. The Juniors are still on top of the Lebel division with a 15-14-2 record.HULL: The Olympics allowed 29 goals in three games. Not surprisingly, they dropped all three. Mike Brisebois scored four goals in a 7-4 loss to Laval and an 8-4 loss to Cornwall. The Olympics were then shelled by Verdun 14-9. Jean Poulin had a hat trick in that game, giving him a total of 25 goals in 30 games. The losses dropped the Olympics into ninth place in the overall standings.SHERBROOKE: Since their lengthy unbeaten streak was broken a few weeks ago, the Beavers have been unable to get back into the groove. They lost 6-5 to Quebec, but then defeated Trois-Rivieres 7-4 with Serge Boisvert firing four goals. Ten major penalties and seven misconducts were called in that game, including two misconducts to Trois-Rivieres coach Michel Bergeron.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01348/4316643-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="549" height="705"><figcaption class="caption-body">After the trade, Chris Valentine was worried more about scoring goals but now he&rsquo;s setting them up.</figcaption></div>SHAWINIGAN: After a 5-3 loss to Quebec, Pierre Rioux scored twice in an 8-6 win over Cornwall for the Cataractes. They then lost to Sherbrooke 5-3. The Cats are second in the league defensively, but ninth offensively. &#9632;

f0029-01

Black Hawks Look Towards Future By Icing Loop’s Youngest Lineup

<div class="byline">BY JIM LEAHY</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSPORTLAND&mdash;Don&rsquo;t worry about the Maine Mariners, right now they are the hottest club in the American Hockey League. During their last six games, the team is undefeated, having won four and tied two. Maine is just about ready to cruise into first place in the Northern Division.As every AHL fan knows by now, Maine has been the most successful new franchise in the history of the league. Recently, they played their 200th game, a 3-3 tie with Rochester at the Civic Center. During that skein, Maine has an unbelievable 114-60-26 record and two Calder Cup titles. On home ice the team is an amazing 68-20-14. Fans in the Portland area continue to support this great team, with attendance more than 400 per game ahead of last season&rsquo;s record.This year&rsquo;s team has an outstanding defense and two top-notch goaltenders in Rick St. Croix and Robbie Moore. St. Croix has the best goals-against-average in the league (2.03) and Moore has the third best mark, an impressive 2.80 GAA. As a team, Maine has the best defensive mark in the AHL.During the week, Maine was in action only twice. Rochester held the Mariners to a 3-3 tie in Portland and Springfield came to town and left on the short end of a 5-1 Mariner win. All of this left the club within striking distance of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in the scrambled Northern Division race. Gordie Clark and Wayne Schaab were up to their old tricks. They were pacing the Mariner scoring attack along with steady Paul Evans.HERSHEY: The Bears continue to play pass the buck with their NHL parent club. The Washington Capitals, desperate to get their act together, have shuffled many players back and forth between Hershey and Washington. Earlier, they took Hershey coach Gary Green.Injuries to several players in Washington forced more changes in Hershey. Center Wes Jarvis, left winger Tim Coulis, defenseman Greg Theberge, right winger Tony Cassolato, left wingers Gary Rissling and Steve Clippingdale were all recalled to Washington at one time or another. The Caps assigned left winger Errol Rausse and rookie Lou Franceschetti to the Bears from Port Huron of the IHL.SPRINGFIELD: Injuries continue to plague the Indians but this club continues to play inspired hockey even though they are not winning many games thus far. Recently, they came up with one of their best performances of the season with a 4-2 win over the Binghamton Dusters at the Coliseum. With Brian Hill and Jean Savard out with injuries, the Tribe had to go with just 14 skaters. They managed to overcome their player shortages and pull together for a morale-lifting win over the Dusters. Both Hill and Savard were Injured in a game in New Haven with Hill suffering a hyperextended knee and Savard a mild concussion that kept him in a New Haven hospital overnight.To help fill the void, veteran winger John Cuniff was brought in for the game with the Dusters. Cuniff scored a power play goal and was a big factor in the Springfield win.NEW BRUNSWICK: The southern division-leading Hawks took on the northern division-leading New Haven Nighthawks in a two-game series in New Brunswick recently and the Hawks won both. The twin victories over New Haven coupled with a 2-0 win over Maine behind Murray Bannerman, gave the Hawks a five-point lead over Nova Scotia in the tight northern division race. New Brunswick beat New Haven twice despite losing flashy center Bruce Boudreau to the co-parent Toronto Maple Leafs.A week night crowd of 3,358 saw the home town Hawks skate to a 53 win over New Haven in the first game of the two game set. Goaltender Murray Bannerman got his 11th victory of the season and was helped by five different New Brunswick scorers.Two nights later, the return match was held at the Moncton Coliseum and the result was the same. New Brunswick came out on top, this time by a 3-2 margin. Darryl Sutter scored on a power play late in the second period to give New Brunswick a 3-2 win. Rick Jodzio and Jean-Gaston Douville had found the range earlier to help Murray Bannerman to his 12th victory. Sutter&rsquo;s gamewinner came after Nighthawk winger Mike Backman was given a five minute major penalty for spearing. The power play tally was the 36th of the year for the Hawks, the best mark in the AHL in that category. In addition, New Brunswick has a slight lead over Nova Scotia in the race for team scoring honors in the American Hockey League. At this writing, the Hawks have won more games than any other AHL club and it looks like the three-way battle between New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Maine may continue all season.SYRACUSE: Duane Rupp, the new coach of the Firebirds has a few weeks under his belt with his new club and they are starting to respond to his methods. Firebirds&rsquo; president George Piszek welcomed Rupp to the organization, saying, &ldquo;I am confident that this club has the talent to be competitive in the AHL, and that Duane can get the most out of our talent and turn things around. His past record and his willingness to join the team here make me certain that we can deliver the type of winning product that the people of Syracuse deserve.&rdquo;It didn&rsquo;t take long for the &lsquo;Birds to start playing for Rupp. Even though Nova Scotia spoiled his debut with a 4-2 victory, the club played a solid game. Not even the appearance of Ranger first string goaltender John Davidson in a New Haven Nighthawk uniform could intimidate the Firebirds. They treated a crowd of 3,123 at the War Memorial to a 5-3 win over New Haven. John Stewart got two goals and three assists, a five point night to set a Firebirds&rsquo; record, also eclipsing the best mark attainable when the club skated out of Philly.The next night, Syracuse visited nearby Rochester and upset the Amerks by a 4-2 margin. It was an especially sweet win for Duane Rupp who was fired by Rochester last year.NOVA SCOTIA: A crowd of 3,398 turned out at the Metro Center in Halifax but the Voyageurs fell 6-4 to the New Haven Nighthawks. Earlier in the week the Vees had lost 5-3 in Hershey, beat Binghamton 4-3 and tied Adirondack 6-6 in road contests. Tim Burke, Dan Metivier, Jerry Byers and Norm Dube scored for Nova Scotia in the loss to New Haven.The Vees saw center Dave Stewart recalled by Hartford and then sent to Cincinnati of the CHL. Despite the loss of Stewart, the Vees were off to a great start and are playing aggressive and hardhitting hockey.BINGHAMTON: The Dusters have hit rock bottom. After losing their sixth straight, they are now in the southern division cellar. The week was a total disaster for Binghamton fans. The club lost 4-2 in Springfield, 4-3 at home against Nova Scotia, 5-0 in Glens Falls to Adirondack and 7-5 in Syracuse.The Dusters lost scrappy Don Bonar who is out for a while with a knee injury but Boston did send center Dwight Foster to their AHL club.Meanwhile talented rookie center Craig MacTavish, who recently set a new team record when he scored a goal in his sixth consecutive game before being stopped by Nova Scotia and Tom Songin were called up by Boston.ADIRONDACK: The Wings got defenseman Perry Miller from Detroit, but lost Jim Korn to the parent club as the Adirondack defense continues to go through a revolving door process. They did play well in a 5-0 whitewash of Binghamton, but had a let down in a 6-6 tie with Nova Scotia and a 5-4 overtime loss in Rochester. The Wings ended the week in fourth place in the northern division.NEW HAVEN: After losing the first three games of a five game road trip, the Nighthawks rebounded to beat Nova Scotia 6-4 in Halifax on a hat trick by Bill Lochead. It was also the first win for goaltender John Davidson who had lost three straight during his brief stay in the AHL. The Nighthawks had Previously lost two games to New Brunswick and one to Syracuse during the long road trip.Davidson was in the nets as part of a self-imposed exile to the AHL. His presence was supposed to give New Haven a big lift during this important series away from the friendly confines of the New Haven Coliseum. Instead, he was forced to play in front of New Haven&rsquo;s relatively inexperienced defense in three games against two of the best teams in the AHL. The club lost both games in New Brunswick (5-3 and 3-2) and dropped a 5-3 contest to Syracuse.ROCHESTER: Winning only one of four games will not help the Amerks to climb over New Haven into the northern division lead. The fact that Dave &ldquo;The Hammer&rdquo; Schultz is now an Amerk will undoubtedly put quite a few people in the War Memorial. Schultz was deposed by the parent Buffalo Sabres and sent off to Rochester. His response to that decision by the NHL club may be to play aggressively in the AHL and earn a promotion back to the National Hockey League. If he merely tries to go through the motions in Rochester, coach Bill Inglis will probably bench the 30-year-old winger who has played for eight seasons in the NHL.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01390/4316674-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="575" height="528"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rick St. Croix has the best goals against average in the AHL.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Mariners Propel Climb With Stingy Defense

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSHOUSTON&mdash;&ldquo;You think you&rsquo;ve got a good hockey team, but you realize you&rsquo;re missing one ingredient. And then, all of a sudden, a couple of guys come along, and you have that ingredient.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s the way Al Rollins, general manager-coach of the Houston Apollos, feels about the addition of left wing Roy Sommers and defenseman Owen Lloyd, brought up early in the season for amateur trials. Both are now signed to professional contracts.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re aggressive, and they&rsquo;re just what we needed,&rdquo; says Al. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d say they were the salt and pepper of our hockey club. They really get the rest of the guys going.&rdquo;Since Sommers came up from Grand Rapids of the International League and Lloyd from Spokane of the Western League, the Apollos had gone 12-2, and moved into a second-place tie with Birmingham in the CHL&rsquo;s Eastern Division, with Houston owning four games in hand. The two clubs were still seven points back of the front-running Indianapolis Checkers.The three latest victories were 6-2 at home against Cincinnati, 7-6 in overtime at Dallas, and then a whopping 11-2 home romp over Birmingham.&ldquo;Our goaltending is still hit-and-miss,&rdquo; Rollins observed, &ldquo;but the club is finally getting stabilized after we had so many player movements early in the season. Injuries had us down to three defensemen (for the one-sided win over Birmingham), but we got Paul Popiel back from Edmonton to help us out.&rdquo;Three victories left the Apollos unbeaten in six games, all at home. The home unbeaten streak was the longest in the CHL to date.Tom Roulston started and ended the scoring against Cincinnati as the Apollos had a 5-0 lead before the Stingers got on the scoreboard. Roulston had a power-play goal in the first period, then Ron Carter, Sommers, Mike Boyd and Mark Miller tallied in the second, the last two on power-plays. Roulston wound up the barrage in the third.In Dallas Charlie Huddy had the hattrick, with two goals in the third period and the winner on a slapshot from the point after 5:13 of overtime.After spotting Birmingham an early goal, the Apollos exploded to a 9-2 lead after two periods, with six goals coming in the middle frame.Patey was the club scoring leader, with 29 points, second best in the league, but Carter notched his 16th goal to take the CHL lead in that department. Boyd twisted a knee in warmups for the Birmingham game. Bryon Baltimore suffered a nose cut in practice, and recurring bleeding forced him into the hospital. Connor was recalled by the Edmonton Oilers.CINCINNATI: Three more losses, all on the road, added up to seven straight setbacks for Al Karlander&rsquo;s Stingers, capped by a 6-1 loss to the U.S. Olympians in Bloomington, Minn. Earlier they had bowed in Houston, 6-2, and in Ft. Worth, 6-3.That left the Stingers mired in fourth place in the CHL East, 11 points back of Birmingham and Houston, who shared second place.Jim Roberts finally spoiled Jim Corsi&rsquo;s shutout bid in Houston at 14:56 of the second period, after the Apollos had scored five times. Dale Yakiwchuk scored early in the third.Roberts also had the only goal against the Olympians&rsquo; Jim Craig, midway of the last period, as the Olympic team ran its record against CHL opponents to 7-1. Buzz Schneider and Neil Broten scored twice each for the U.S. team, with other goals by Dave Christian and Rob McClanahan.Jim Bedard, former Washington goalie trying to work himself into shape after a long inactivity, was in the Cincy nets against Houston and the Olympic team, with Norm Lapointe working against Fort Worth.INDIANAPOLIS: Bert Marshall&rsquo;s Checkers racked up two victories and a tie running their unbeaten string to six games, and padded their Eastern Division lead to seven points over Houston and Birmingham. They won in Bir-mingham 3-1, took an 8-2 decision at home against Dallas, then blew a two-goal lead in Dallas and had to settle for a 3-3 draw.Dave Cameron had two goals, one on a power-play, and Yvon Vautour added an empty-netter with a minute to go in Birmingham. Richard Brodeur, in the nets, was unbeatable after the first period.As the new week started, defenseman Randy Johnston and winger Vautour were summoned by the parent New York Islanders. Left wing Pizunski returned after missing eight games with a strained knee, but center Billy Carroll was expected to miss at least another week with his bad knee.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01357/4316705-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="565" height="877"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rookie Bobby Crawford of Salt Lake had his eight-game point streak snapped after coming down from St. Louts.</figcaption></div>BIRMINGHAM: Winning only once in four starts, the Bulls dropped into a second-place tie in the division race with Houston. Birmingham broke even in a two-game invasion of Salt Lake, winning 4-3 after losing 3-1. But John Brophy&rsquo;s Bulls had earlier dropped a 3-1 home game to Indianapolis, and they closed the week with a horrendous 11-2 loss in Houston.Mike Dwyer, making his first start for the Bulls after being reassigned by the Colorado Rockies from Ft. Worth, had the only goal against Indianapolis goalie Richard Brodeur, in the opening period. &#9632;

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Apollos Find Missing Ingredients To Launch Big Rise In Standings

TULSA: After tying a CHL record with six power goals the Oilers couldn&rsquo;t score on 15 power chances for the week. They rallied in the third period for a 2-1 home win over Fort Worth, but succumbed, 4-1, also at home, against Oklahoma City.The parent Winnipeg Jets bolstered the attack and muscle by sending down 6&rsquo;6&rdquo;, 220-pound left wing Dave Hoyda and 6&rsquo;4&rdquo;, 200-pound right wing Gordon McTavish.Bob Guindon had the tying and winning goals against Fort Worth. Hoyda, making his CHL debut, had the only goal against OC, and it didn&rsquo;t come until the final period.Markus Mattson, former Finnish National goalkeeper, was the winner against Ft. Worth. He lowered his average to a leagueleading 2-0, vaulting over Richard Brodeur and Jim Park of Indianapolis.OKLAHOMA CITY: The Stars made good on their only start in a 13-day span, while forced out of their home rink by a rodeo. Jim Warden&rsquo;s effective goaltending and a superb powerplay gave the Stars of coach Ted Hampson a 4-1 decision over the archrival Oilers in Tulsa and squared the Turnpike Series at 2-2.Joe Contini and Tony White scored on first-period powerplays. Dave Delich and Fred Ahem made it 4-0 in the second. Delich had an easy tap into an unguarded net when Tulsa goalie Lindsay Middlebrook was upset by a sliding teammate. Warden&rsquo;s shutout bid was ruined 40 seconds into the third period by Oiler newcomer Dave Hoyda. The Stars were outshot, 33-19, in the contest.With the inactivity, OC&rsquo;s scoring leader Rob Flockhart had just two assists. With 27 points he fell from first place to a tie for third in the CHL scoring race.SALT LAKE: For the second time in six days the CHL powerplay goal record (unofficial) was tied, as the Golden Eagles had six power goals in a 6-4 victory in Fort Worth. They made good on all six opportunities in the first two periods. Earlier Jack Evans&rsquo; club nad won at home against Birmingham, 3-1, then lost a brawling rematch, 4-3.Floyd Thomson, just back from the St. Louis Blues; Rick Bowness, making his first home appearance since returning from St. Louis and rookie defenseman Steve Harrison tallied in the first period of the win over Birmingham. The only goal given up by Doug Grant was also in the first period, by the Bulls&rsquo; Harvey Bennett.Tony Currie, Doug Palazzari and Len Frig scored in the fight-filled rematch, with rookie Rick Heinz in the Salt Lake nets. Grant was back to post his fifth straight victory in Fort Worth. The powerplay barrage included Bob Hess at 11:18 and Palazzari at 16:16 and 19:12 in the first period, Hess again at 2:09, Currie at 12:18, and Bowness at 15:52 in the second.Palazzari, with three goals and six assists during a week&rsquo;s action, took over the league scoring leadership, two ahead of Houston&rsquo;s Doug Patey. Currie was tied for third at 27. Rookie right wing Bobby Crawford had an eightgame points streak snapped at Fort Worth. The Blues sent down defenseman Bryan Maxwell for a three-game stint.Forward Chris Bordeleau, who retired from the Eagles a few weeks earlier, lost his 22-month-old son in a farm accident at Noranda, Que.FORT WORTH: A 6-3 home victory over Cincinnati broke a near-record 10-game losing streak for the Texans. But the lone victory was sandwiched between a 2-1 loss in Tulsa and a 6-4 setback at home against Salt Lake.DALLAS: The Black Hawks broke a seven-game losing streak, but it was only with a tie, 3-3 at home against Indianapolis. Earlier Johnny Choyce&rsquo;s club had bowed in overtime at home against Houston, 7-6, and lost in Indianapolis, 82.Defenseman Bruce Affleck topped the Hawk scoring with 24 points, tied for sixth in the league. &#9632;

Oiler Power Play Loses Potence

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div>LOUISVILLEHOCKEY STICKS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01370/4316760-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="564" height="1064"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stu Irving, an original Gear, was shifted to Dayton for the rest of the season.</figcaption></div>FORT WAYNE&mdash;Fort Wayne has taken a strong grip on the South Division lead&mdash;and can thank its success against North Division clubs.A two-game sweep over north division leader Kalamazoo highlighted the Komets&rsquo; play which boosted Moose Lallo&rsquo;s skaters to a 13-6-4 record. The lone blemish on their efforts was a 4-4 tie against south division rival Toledo.Ironically, the Komets had skated no better than. 500 against division rivals and 4-4-2 until they swept a pair from Dayton, evening the season&rsquo;s series at 2-2.But against the north, the Komets have been almost unbeatable. They are 7-2-2 with the two-game sweep of the K-Wings providing the razor&rsquo;s edge.Conversely, Kalamazoo has had no trouble within its own division. The K-Wings are 9-3-1 against north division teams and are only 5-6 in the south.Hero of the Komets&rsquo; home-and-home sweep against Kalamazoo was rookie goalie Bob Janecyk, who was salvaged from practicing with the Chicago Black Hawks after being cut by Flint.&ldquo;I got caught in the numbers game,&rdquo; reflected Janecyk after his sensational debut against the Wings in which he kicked out a total of 76 shots as the Komets were winning, 5-3, in Kalamazoo and 3-1 back home.&ldquo;Marc (Flint coach Marc Boileau) wanted to go with the veteran (Jean Pominville) and Gord (Garbutt) was Flint&rsquo;s draft choice last season. I just coudn&rsquo;t beat the numbers,&rdquo; Janecyk continued.Janecyk had played well in two games for Flint, winning both. His two victories for the Komets give him a 4-4 record and he&rsquo;s allowed just nine goals for a 2.26 average.&ldquo;He really gave us a lift,&rdquo; said Lallo.&rdquo;He came up with the big save and that built our confidence.&rdquo;Following the double setback to the Komets Kalamazoo returned to their own &ldquo;league&rdquo; and promptly set Port Huron down, 4-0. Larry Lozinski recorded the shutout&mdash;his second of the season. The victory was the fourth straight for the K-Wings over the Flags and the third in McMorran Arena.The win over Port Huron kept the K-Wings on top of the north division race. Kalamazoo opened with a 9-3 romp over Saginaw.Elsewhere:TOLEDO: A half a loaf is better than none as far as Gregg Pilling&rsquo;s Toledo Goaldiggers are concerned. While the Diggers had gone seven games without a victory, Tour straight ties shoved them into the runner-up spot in the south division race. And the Diggers certainly are making things exciting.The streak of ties started when Port Huron scored in the final second of one game for a 3-3 deadlock. The Diggers did just about the same thing at Fort Wayne the next time as Bob Sullivan scored in the final 18 seconds to give them a 4-4 tie. Toledo trailed at one time, 4-1.In Milwaukee, Toledo bounced back for a 3-3 tie on Dean Solheim&rsquo;s tying goal with 2:42 left. The tie in Flint was less exciting. Pierre Giroux scored with more than 14 minutes left in the final period as the Diggers and Generals settled for a 3-3 tie. Then the Diggers won three straight to solidify their hold on second place.DAYTON: The Gems launched a three-game invasion of Michigan on a winning note, skating to a 5-3 win at Muskegon. Then trouble popped up. The trip ended with a 3-2 shutout loss at Port Huron and a 6-3 reverse in Saginaw.MILWAUKEE: Things didn&rsquo;t start very well for coach Richard Jamieson and the Admirals. About the same time his team was taking a 10-3 licking in Flint he learned Yves Danurand of the Admirals was suspended for seven games for his role in a fight in Toledo. Rich Kramp, Bob Dugan, Bob Sauve and Daniel St. Laurent were also fined as a result of the Toledo incident. Toledo&rsquo;s Tony Horvath was suspended for two games and coach Gregg Pilling for one game.The Admirals played well in a 3-3 tie at home. The best part was the crowd&mdash;4,953. The tie was the fourth of the season for Milwaukee who is battling for last place in the south with Grand Rapids.GRAND RAPIDS: The Owls continued their comeback with three more victories&mdash;boosting their record to 5-0 since Moe Bartoli took over the coaching duties again. Grand Rapids whipped Saginaw at home, 6-2, won at Muskegon, 7-5, and beat Muskegon in a rematch in Grand Rapids, 4-2. They slid back, though, with a three-game tailspin&mdash;losses to Muskegin, Flint and Saginaw.Captain Kevin MacDonald filled in for Bartoli, who was called home to visit his ill sister.PORT HURON: Kalamazoo continues to make life miserable for the Flags and new coach Doug Hinton. Eliminate the K-Wings from the Port Huron schedule and Hinton would be sitting on top of the North Division.The K-Wings put an end to Port Huron&rsquo;s latest surge&mdash;a six-game undefeated string&mdash;with a 4-0 shutout. The loss prevented the Flags from moving into a challenging position for first place.FLINT: The Generals embarked on a critical five-game road trip minus two players who had made significant contributions to the 9-5-5 record. First, Bob Boileau, nephew of coach Marc Boileau, left to play in Sweden. In 10 games for the Generals, Boileau scored seven goals and had six assists.Flint did not exactly close out its home stand with a roar. The Generals were 1-1-1 with a 10-3 win over Milwaukee and a 3-3 tie with Toledo sandwiched around a 5-2 loss at Saginaw. The Generals, who have played more games at home than any club in the league&mdash;12; and the fewest on the road&mdash;seven, opened their journey with two losses, then came back with a pair of wins.SAGINAW: Saginaw general manager-coach Don Perry did not let sentiment influence his decision to make the Gears a contender in the north. Currently in fourth place, the Gears got some defensive help from Grand Rapids in the person of Peter Luksa. In return, Perry sent veteran Stu Irving to the Owls on loan for the balance of the season.Irving was one of two remaining players from the original Saginaw club which joined the INHL in 1972. The departure of Irving leaves Marcel Comeau as the only original Gear on the roster. Comeau is currently on the shelf with an ankle injury.The Gears did not gain any ground, skating at. 500 with a pair of wins and a pair of losses. They won over Flint and Dayton at home while losing at Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids.MUSKEGON: The Mohawks came out second best in a battle of the two last-place clubs. Muskegon dropped a home-and-home series to south division tailender Grand Rapids to finish at a frustrating 03. The Owls whipped the Hawks at home, 7-5, and repeated the performance in Grand Rapids, 4-2. A 5-3 loss to Dayton, also at home, was the third loss. &#9632;

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Komets Get Rich On Southern Foes; Flags Can’t Shake Kalamazoo Hex

<div class="byline">BY PATRICK LYON</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSJOHNSTOWN&mdash;What more can you say about an eight game losing streak except, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad it&rsquo;s over!&rdquo;Those were the exact sentiments of Johnstown Red Wings&rsquo; rookie coach Marty Read after his young club finally broke into the win column for the first time in two weeks with an 11-3 thrashing of the Utica Mohawks.After Read was given a rude welcome into the league in Johnstown&rsquo;s first two games, he piloted his club to four straight home wins before the roof caved in and the Red Wings lost eight straight which dropped them into the basement of the EHL. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve learned a lot since I came into the league, but after seeing all the clubs I know they pretty much play alike although Richmond has a somewhat different style,&rdquo; related the first year mentor. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never been discouraged and I&rsquo;m very happy to be where I am.&rdquo;According to Read many things were responsible for the long losing skein including injuries to his defensive corps. The romp over Utica was the first time in six games that Johnstown had finished with five defensemen, as they were forced to go three the previous five games. &ldquo;All we need is two or three changes to become contenders,&rdquo; Read said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not trying to keep things shook up all the time, it&rsquo;s just that we&rsquo;d like to make some positive changes to help the team.&rdquo;Hockey is a far cry from the way things used to be in the Flood City. Long time owner John Mitchell is no longer around and new general manager Al Blade is running a tight snip with the full cooperation of the Detroit Red Wings, the majority owners of the club.Since the naming of Blade to his general manager&rsquo;s post, he and his staff have increased advertising revenue 100 percent and have attendance up close to 50 percent at the War Memorial Arena. The Wings pulled in an average of 1,900 per game last year, while the new, young and exciting Red Wings have been attracting an average of 2,800 in winning five of eight games.Read has been extremely pleased with the overall play of the line composed of center Pierre Tremblay and wingers Dave MacQueen and Steve Salvucci. MacQueen, the club&rsquo;s top scorer with 15 goals and 17 assists, was the sparkplug Johnstown needed to snap their slump as he racked up five goals in the victory over Utica. The hat trick tied an existing Johnstown record for most goals in a game. Linemates Salvucci (two goals) and Tremblay (one goal) combined with MacQueen as the threesome was credited with eight of the team&rsquo;s 11 goals.MacQueen comes to the Red Wings from the Sudbury Wolves where he was a 60 goal scorer, while Tremblay is a converted defenseman who last saw action with Sherbrooke. Salvucci was an 84 goal scorer in a league in New York state.Concerning his top scorer, Read said, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re pleased with Mac-Queen&rsquo;s output in goals. He&rsquo;s a natural goal scorer who has a variety of shots and the only thing we&rsquo;re trying to get him to improve on is his body checking.&rdquo;Read is hopeful that his Red Wings will be going to the scoreboard fast in all their upcoming games since they have won five games this season and in each win they tallied the first goal of the game.ERIE: The lucky plaid sportcoat of coach Nick Polano came out of the closet again after the Blades&rsquo; losing streak extended to three games. The sportcoat, which was worn by the coach 14 times last season (each resulted in a victory) was said to have been retired, but it was brought back to inspire the club.The night against the Red Wings was no exception as the coat racked up victory number 15 as Erie topped Johnstown 4-3 at the Erie County Fieldhouse. Polano jokingly noted after the, game that the pressure on the coat was intense and because of that it was put into safekeeping in the closet for the next special game.After 15 games, defenseman Daniel Poulin was the squad&rsquo;s top scorer with seven goals and nine assists. The Blades have an overall record of 6-3-1 at home and 3-2 on the road.In the first 10 home games, Blades&rsquo; attendance reached a new high with 26,894 fans passing through the turnstiles for an average of 2,689 per game. Last year at the same time the club was watched by some 14,776 fans for an average of 1,478. The club has drawn 12,118 more people and 1,211 more fans per game. With attendance figures still climbing, plus the fact that attendance in all hockey games goes up after January, the Blades are looking at their best season off the ice in their four year history.Blade center Brad Rhiness was loaned to the Syracuse Firebirds for three games, but since returned to the Blades after getting two assistswith Syracuse.RICHMOND: Rifle madness is sweeping Richmond since their hockey club stretched their winning streak to 11 games and own a 12-game unbeaten streak. The Rifles definitely aren&rsquo;t firing blanks at anyone since they recorded a 122-1 record through November which included seven road triumphs.It was impossible to single out any player or players as the reason for Richmond&rsquo;s success as it is truly a team effort with the Rifles comfortably out in front of the rest of the EHL clubs.Richmond held Hampton to just two goals in two games as they handled the Aces easily, 6-1 and 31. The Rifles also improved their home record to 7-1 with a 7-2 decision of the Clippers. In the last four home games, the Virginiabased franchise has attracted one crowd of over 5,000 to over 4,000 and another over 3,000. They are averaging 3,300 for home contests.A rarity in hockey circles shows the Andre Beaulieu coached team with two goaltenders possessing goals against averages lower than 3.00. Cap Raeder and Tom Semen-chyk have seven victories apiece, both suffering only one loss.The city of Richmond is also making plans for the visit of the Soviet National Team, who will play the Rifles on Dec. 14 at the Richmond Coliseum. Mayor Henry Marsh III has proclaimed the week as Richmond Rifles Week. The Soviets will be playing at the World Invitational Tournament at Lake Placid and the club is composed of players trying to make the rugged Soviet Olympic team.The Rifles continued heavily into the promotion end of things with Golden Skillet fried chicken night and men watchers night. The first 4,000 people will receive a chicken dinner and trimmings for golden skillet night, while female fans will have a chance to vote for their favorite Rifle on men watchers night.UTICA: The Mohawks&rsquo; four game unbeaten streak came to an end with a 5-3 road loss inflicted in Hampton and an 11-3 drubbing in Johnstown. C.D. MacGregor was an instrumental part in Utica beating the Blades&rsquo; 4-1 as he hit for two goals. It was the first win for the Mohawks over Erie in five tries.Coach Larry Mickey, who placed himself on the active roster due to club injuries, played four games before removing his name from active duty. He took his customary seat behind the bench after scoring three assists in his short return.Mickey continued his attempt to improve the team by signing free agent Pete Mavroudis and Dean Willers, both former Johnstown players. Mavroudis saw plenty of action for Johnstown a year ago, Willers playing 10 games with this year&rsquo;s edition of the Red Wings.The Mohawks picked up their best crowds for the season (over 2,500) on state lottery night and a special night given by WOUR-radio. Upcoming promotions for Utica include a media game, puck and pennant nights and a promotion by WIBX-radio, the broadcasters of the Utica games.BALTIMORE: It was a big week for Henry Taylor, the winger completing a three game stretch by scoring nine goals. A four goal game already to his credit, Taylor continued his outstanding play with a hat trick in an 8-0 Clipper romp over Johnstown viewed by 5,337 fans. Taylors picked up number one star honors in three straight games as Baltimore came away victorious in all three.Jim Weaver became the first goalie in the EHL to record two shutouts as he rejected all 24 shots fired his way by the Red Wings. With the shutout, Weaver&rsquo;s record was evened at 6-6 with a 3.27 goals against average. Dave Herbst backed up Taylor&rsquo;s hat trick with a goal and three assists of his own.Baltimore&rsquo;s win streak was short-lived as they absorbed a 7-2 setback in Richmond.HAMPTON: The Aces managed to escape the cellar for the first time this season when they posted a 5-3 win over Utica which put them ahead of the Red Wings. Hampton lost a pair of games to their inter-state rival when Rich-mond topped them 6-1 and 3-1.Richard Duguay, Bo Schryer and Kelly Dean all have accumulated 13 points for the club lead in scoring. Hampton continues to find things rough in the offensive department as the club didn&rsquo;t show a scorer in the top 20 at press time.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01334/4316791-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="573" height="774"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pierre Tremblay, a converted defenseman, is on the Red Wings most potent line.</figcaption></div>Brian Gustafson was the league leader in the penalty department, racking up 143 minutes in only 16 games. &#9632;

f0033-01

Johnstown Deluge Puts End To Losing Skein

ATLANTA: Chouinard 4, MacMillan 4,5, Reinhart 4, Nilsson 15, Boldirev 9,Rota 5, Russell 3, Murdoch 3.BOSTON: Bourque 5, Smith 4, O&rsquo;Reilly6, Wensink 6, McNab 11, 12, 13, 14,Secord 5, Middleton 10.BUFFALO: Martin 14, 15, Ramsay 8,Dunn 1, Perreault 16, Seiling 6, 7, 8,Gare 15, 16, Smith 11.CHICAGO: Mulvey 10, 11, Kett 5,Daigle 2, Bordeleau 3, Wilson 1, 2,Higgins 5, 6, Ruskowski 6.COLORADO: Sheehan 1, 2, 3, Ramgage3, Robert 11, Hickey 5, Valiquette10, Paiement 6, 7, Pierce 7, 8, Delorme8, Saleski 6.DETROIT: Larson 6, Woods 3, Nedomansky15, 16, 17, 18, Bolduc 2, Labraaten 9, Thompson 10, Joly 1,McCourt 11.EDMONTON: Weir 12, Chipperfield 6,Lumley 4, 5, Hunter 3, Price 5, Gretzky11.HARTFORD: G. Howe 10, 11, Douglas7, 8, Allison 7, Roberts 3, Rogers 11.LOS ANGELES: Taylor 18, 19, Dionne21, 22, Simmer 22, 23, 24, 25, Murphy 9,10, Hopkins 4, Halward 8, Jensen 11,St. Laurent 2.MINNESOTA: Young 7, 8, 9, Eaves 3,Payne 18, 19, Younghans 2, Sargent 7,McCarthy 6, Barrett 7.MONTREAL: Robinson 4. Lafleur 22,23, 24, Larouche 18, 19, 20, 21, Mondou8, Savard 3, Houle 11, 12, 13, Gainey 4,Shutt 16.ISLANDERS: Harris 8, Bourne 1, 2,Bossy 16, Trottier 15, 16, 17, Nystrom3, 4, Merrick 3, Sutter 3, Kallur 4, 5, J.Potvin 2, Tonelli 6.RANGERS: Miller 1, Esposito 11, 12,13, Vickers 11, Larose 1, Beck 3, 4, 5,Talafous 1, 2, Greschner 7, Don Maloney6, 7, Hedberg 16, 17, Murdoch 13,Johnstone 3.PHILADELPHIA: Leach 19, 20, 21, 22,Holgrem 10, Linseman 8, 9, Ververgaert6, Barber 13, Watson 1, Dailey 2,Kelly 4, MacLeish 17, Bridgman 4,Propp 14.PITTSBURGH: Hughes 4, Malone 7, 8,Lonsberrv 4, Libett 7, Kehoe 10, 11, 12,Ferguson 6, Bladon 2, Kindrachuk 11.QUEBEC: Tardiff 7, 8, Stewart 1, 2, 3,Goulet 6, Ftorek 7, 8, Roland Cloutier1.ST. LOUIS: Babych 9, 10, Federko 9,10, 11, Lefley 1, Chapman 7, Sutter 9,Brownschldle 5.TORONTO: McDonald 13, Saganluk 5,Anderson 7, Gardner 8.VANCOUVER: Valve 9, 10, Gillis 7,Smyl 10, Derlago 5, Blight 10, Ashton3,4, Lupul 1, 2, Gradin 9, Lever 13.WASHINGTON: Walter 6, Tremblay 1,Mulvey 3, Gartner 7, Jarvis 3, Rausse6.WINNIPEG: Hull 4, Stamler 6, Sullivan 13, 14, 15, Lukowich 8, 9, 10, 11,Lindstrom 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, Marsh 6, 7, 8,Norwich 4, 5, Moffat 2. &#9632;

NHL’S SCORERS THIS WEEK

<h2>DECEMBER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2120/4317178-1-eng-US/f0034-212.jpg" title="f0034-21" width="545" height="1085"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2218/4317171-1-eng-US/f0034-222.jpg" title="f0034-22" width="542" height="1127"></div> &#9632;

f0034-21

WHERE NHL TEAMS PLAY

(Standings on Mon. Dec. 10)<h2>NORRIS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2416/4317230-1-eng-US/f0034-242.jpg" title="f0034-24" width="529" height="149"></div><h2>ADAMS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2512/4317223-1-eng-US/f0034-252.jpg" title="f0034-25" width="528" height="124"></div><h2>PATRICK DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2610/4317216-1-eng-US/f0034-262.jpg" title="f0034-26" width="529" height="124"></div><h2>SMYTHE DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-278/4317209-1-eng-US/f0034-272.jpg" title="f0034-27" width="530" height="147"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Mon. Dec. 3Montreal 3 at Rangers 3Tue. Dec. 4Vancouver 5 at Islanders 1Boston 2 at Philadelphia 2Los Angeles 6 at Atlanta 2Hartford 3 at Washington 3Winnipeg 4 at St. Louis 2Colorado 3 at Quebec 1Wed. Dec. 5Chicago 3 at Rangers 3Atlanta 1 at Buffalo 6Montreal 2 at Toronto 3Vancouver 3 at Pittsburgh 3Winnipeg 4 at Detroit 6Edmonton 1 at Minnesota 6Thu. Dec. 6Boston 3 at Islanders 4Los Angeles 4 at Philadelphia 9St. Louis 2 at Quebec 5Fri. Dec. 7Rangers 7 at Hartford 4Pittsburgh 5 at Washington 3Los Angeles 2 at Montreal 5Edmonton 3 at Winnipeg 8Buffalo 5 at Colorado 3Sat. Dec. 8Islanders 6 at Toronto 1Atlanta 4 at Minnesota 1Washington 1 at St. Louis 5Chicago 3 at Pittsburgh 3Vancouver 1 at Detroit 5Sun. Dec. 9Islanders 4 at Rangers 5Chicago 4 at Philadelphia 4Atlanta 5 at Winnipeg 4Colorado 7 at Montreal 5Hartford 0 at Edmonton 3Los Angeles 2 at Quebec 3Vancouver 3 at Boston 5 &#9632;

f0034-24

NHL SCOREBOARD

ECOLE DE HOCKEY HOCKEY SCHOOL<h2>Mon. Dec. 3 MONTREAL 3, RANGERS 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01365/4317116-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="534" height="555"></div><h2>Tue. Dec 14 VANCOUVER 5, ISLANDERS 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02299/4317109-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="542" height="653"></div><h2>BOSTON 2, PHILADELPHIA 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03218/4317102-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="553" height="53"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04139/4317095-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="534" height="482"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES 4, ATLANTA 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0599/4317088-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="540" height="601"></div><h2>HARTFORD 3, WASHINGTON 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0673/4317081-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="533" height="554"></div><h2>WINNIPEG 4, ST. LOUIS 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0765/4317074-1-eng-US/f0034-072.jpg" title="f0034-07" width="536" height="458"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0858/4317067-1-eng-US/f0034-082.jpg" title="f0034-08" width="528" height="76"></div><h2>COLORADO 3, QUEBEC 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0948/4317060-1-eng-US/f0034-092.jpg" title="f0034-09" width="535" height="504"></div><h2>Wed. Dec. 5 CHICAGO 3, RANGERS 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1046/4317053-1-eng-US/f0034-102.jpg" title="f0034-10" width="533" height="622"></div><h2>ATLANTA 1, BUFFALO 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1141/4317046-1-eng-US/f0034-112.jpg" title="f0034-11" width="521" height="77"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1239/4317039-1-eng-US/f0034-122.jpg" title="f0034-12" width="536" height="435"></div><h2>MONTREAL 2, TORONTO 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1333/4317032-1-eng-US/f0034-132.jpg" title="f0034-13" width="536" height="507"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 3, PITTSBURGH 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1430/4317025-1-eng-US/f0034-142.jpg" title="f0034-14" width="537" height="577"></div><h2>WINNIPEG 4, DETROIT 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1529/4317018-1-eng-US/f0034-152.jpg" title="f0034-15" width="539" height="672"></div><h2>EDMONTON 1, MINNESOTA 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1629/4317011-1-eng-US/f0034-162.jpg" title="f0034-16" width="530" height="551"></div><h2>Thurs. Dec. 4 BOSTON 3, ISLANDERS 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1724/4317004-1-eng-US/f0034-172.jpg" title="f0034-17" width="532" height="479"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1823/4316997-1-eng-US/f0034-182.jpg" title="f0034-18" width="529" height="126"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS 2, QUEBEC 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1922/4316990-1-eng-US/f0034-192.jpg" title="f0034-19" width="535" height="554"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES 4, PHILADELPHIA 9</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2021/4316983-1-eng-US/f0034-202.jpg" title="f0034-20" width="533" height="723"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01345/4316976-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="540" height="321"></div><h2>Fri., Dec. 7 PITTSBURGH 5, WASHINGTON 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02280/4316969-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="543" height="672"></div><h2>RANGERS 7, HARTFORD 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03209/4316962-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="540" height="770"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES 2, MONTREAL 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04168/4316955-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="538" height="624"></div><h2>EDMONTON 3, WINNIPEG 8</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05131/4316948-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="532" height="293"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06112/4316941-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="542" height="602"></div><h2>BUFFALO 5, COLORADO 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-07103/4316934-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="538" height="599"></div><h2>SAT., DEC. 8 ISLANDERS 6, TORONTO 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0885/4316927-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="539" height="625"></div><h2>ATLANTA 1, MINNESOTA 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0981/4316920-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="538" height="575"></div><h2>WASHINGTON 1, ST. LOUIS 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1071/4316913-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="529" height="361"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1166/4316906-1-eng-US/f0035-112.jpg" title="f0035-11" width="533" height="242"></div><h2>CHICAGO 3, PITTSBURGH 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1256/4316899-1-eng-US/f0035-122.jpg" title="f0035-12" width="540" height="625"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 1, DETROIT 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1350/4316892-1-eng-US/f0035-132.jpg" title="f0035-13" width="541" height="720"></div><h2>Sun., Dec. 9 ISLANDERS 4, RANGERS 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1439/4316885-1-eng-US/f0035-142.jpg" title="f0035-14" width="542" height="886"></div><h2>CHICAGO 4, PHILADELPHIA 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1535/4316878-1-eng-US/f0035-152.jpg" title="f0035-15" width="533" height="291"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1632/4316871-1-eng-US/f0035-162.jpg" title="f0035-16" width="537" height="459"></div><h2>ATLANTA 5, WINNIPEG 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1722/4316864-1-eng-US/f0035-172.jpg" title="f0035-17" width="537" height="673"></div><h2>COLORADO 7, MONTREAL 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1819/4316857-1-eng-US/f0035-182.jpg" title="f0035-18" width="543" height="817"></div><h2>HARTFORD 0, EDMONTON 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1916/4316850-1-eng-US/f0035-192.jpg" title="f0035-19" width="535" height="459"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES 2, QUEBEC 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-2015/4316843-1-eng-US/f0035-202.jpg" title="f0035-20" width="535" height="408"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-219/4316836-1-eng-US/f0035-212.jpg" title="f0035-21" width="534" height="172"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 3, BOSTON 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-226/4316829-1-eng-US/f0035-222.jpg" title="f0035-22" width="538" height="603"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-236/4316822-1-eng-US/f0035-232.jpg" title="f0035-23" width="539" height="292"></div> &#9632;

f0034-01

NATIONAL LEAGUE SUMMARIES

MONTREAL&mdash;For the first time in their sterling modern hockey history the Montreal Canadiens are hearing almost as many jeers as cheers.The wrath of the Montreal Forum fans came to a boil last weekend when the lowly Colorado Rockies skated off the ice with a 75 upset of the Canadiens, their second loss in their last three games, and their eighth in 29 starts this season.The cup champs, who have dominated the NHL race for the past five years, are still No. 1 in their Norris Division race but they are only fourth in the overall team point race behind Philadelphia, Buffalo and Boston.Which still isn&rsquo;t bad but losing to the Rockies was just too much for the Canadiens&rsquo; usual loyal and knowledgeable fans. They roundly jeered the Habs as they skated off the ice after they blew a 4-3 third-period lead and allowed Colorado to score four times in a row to steal the decision away from them. It was the first time they had lost to Colorado on Forum ice since the team moved to Denver. They also lost for the first time in Toronto last week since 1976 when they were beaten 3-2 by Toronto Maple Leafs.Meanwhile, the Canadiens have relinquished the NHL spotlight to the Philadelphia Flyers and with good reason. The former Broad Street Bullies are the toast of the NHL despite some unexpected heat from the Buffalo Sabres.Flyers are tying themselves in knots these days and the Buffalo Sabres don&rsquo;t appear to be complaining about it. Flyers stretched their undefeated streak to 24 games&mdash;17 wins, seven ties&mdash;with a win and two ties last week. That gives them the second-longet such streak in the National Hockey League history.Only the 1977-78 Montreal Canadiens, who went 28 games without a loss, had a longer streak. Canadiens&rsquo; record included 23 wins and five ties.Four of Flyers&rsquo; last five games ended in ties and three of those were 4-4. In their last 11 games, Flyers won five games and tied six for 16 of a possible 22 points. Meanwhile, Sabres are on a sevengame winning streak and in their last 11 games, they won 10 for 20That, of course, means that Buffalo, despite Philadelphia&rsquo;s undefeated streak, has gained four points on the Flyers in less than a month. Philadelphia has 43 points on 18 wins and seven ties in 26 games. Sabres have 39 points on 18 wins and three ties in 27 games.In the individual scoring race, right winger Guy Lafleur of Montreal continued to peck away at Marcel Dionne&rsquo;s lead. Lafleur picked up nine points in four games last wek compared with the Kings&rsquo; center, who had six points in four games. Dionne has 57 points, including a league-leading 35 assists. Lafleur is six points behind and six points ahead of third-place Dave Taylor of Los Angeles, who has 45 points, the other member of Kings&rsquo; high-scoring line, Charlie Singer, is fourth with 44 points, including 25 goals. &#9632;

Irate Montreal Fans Rain Boos on Champs

<h2>ONTARIO MAJOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Dec. 11)<h3>EMMS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1333/4317529-1-eng-US/f0036-132.jpg" title="f0036-13" width="529" height="171"></div><h3>LEYDEN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1429/4317522-1-eng-US/f0036-142.jpg" title="f0036-14" width="530" height="146"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tue 4Niagara Falls 4 at Brantford 7Sudbury 4 at Sault Ste. Marie 1Ottawa 7 at Toronto 4Thu. Dec.4Toronto 1 at Peterborough 4Oshawa 4 at Windsor 4Brantford 5 at Kitchener 4Windsor 1 at Ottawa 4Oshawa 7 at London 2Peterborough 5 at Kingston 7Sat. Dec. 8Sault Ste. Marie 3 at Toronto 5Sun. Dec. 9Kitchener 5 at London 11Kingston 2 at Toronto 5Sault Ste. Marie 9 at Brantford 4Niagara Falls 5 at Ottawa 7Windsor 2 at Oshawa 3<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1529/4317515-1-eng-US/f0036-152.jpg" title="f0036-15" width="530" height="338"></div><h2>WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon., Dec. 10)<h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1627/4317508-1-eng-US/f0036-162.jpg" title="f0036-16" width="525" height="125"></div><h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1724/4317501-1-eng-US/f0036-172.jpg" title="f0036-17" width="523" height="223"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>MON. DEC. 3Medicine Hat 2 at Billings 6TUES., DEC. 4Brandon 1 at Calgary 7Medicine Hat 3 at Great Falls 4WED., DEC. 5New Westminster 6 at Portland 7Calgary 3 at Medicine Hat 2THURS., DEC. 6New Westminster 3 at Seattle 5Billings 4 at Victoria 7Lethbridge 1 at Brandon 3FRL, DEC. 7Billings 3 at Seattle 4Brandon 2 at Regina 11Lethbridge 3 at Saskatoon 8Portland 5 at New Westminster 4Great Falls 0 at Calgary 2SAT., DEC. 8Billings 1 at Portland 3Lethbridge 5 at Medicine Hat 2Moscow Spartak 14 at Victoria 3SUN., DEC. 9Victoria 3 at Seattle 2Billings 1 at New Westminster 4Saskatoon 5 at Regina 8Medicine Hat 2 at Calgary 9Great Falls 5 at Brandon 8<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1824/4317494-1-eng-US/f0036-182.jpg" title="f0036-18" width="534" height="576"></div><h2>QUEBEC MAJOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Dec. 10)<h3>LeBel Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1923/4317487-1-eng-US/f0036-192.jpg" title="f0036-19" width="528" height="126"></div><h3>Dillo Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2022/4317480-1-eng-US/f0036-202.jpg" title="f0036-20" width="524" height="124"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. Dec. 3Sherbrooke 4 at Laval 4Tue. Dec. 4Cornwall 4 at Hull 5Shawinigan 0 at Trois-Rivieres 4Wed. Dec. 5Verdun 2 at Laval 2Thu. Dec. 4Hull 2 at Chicoutimi 2Quebec 4 at Montreal 7Fri. Dec. 7Hull 1 at Quebec 4Montreal 3 at Shawinigan 11Chicoutimi 5 at Sherbrooke 8Cornwall 5 at Verdun 2Sun. Dec. 9Trois-Rivieres 4 at Cornwall 3Verdun 3 at Hull 10Chicoutimi 7 at Montreal 4Quebec 0 at Shawinigan 0Laval 3 at Sherbrooke 4<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2121/4317473-1-eng-US/f0036-212.jpg" title="f0036-21" width="533" height="288"></div><h2>NEW ENGLAND JUNIOR</h2>(Standings On Fri. Nov. 30)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2220/4317466-1-eng-US/f0036-222.jpg" title="f0036-22" width="525" height="148"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2319/4317459-1-eng-US/f0036-232.jpg" title="f0036-23" width="532" height="318"></div><h2>CENTRAL JUNIOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings On Mon. Dec. 3)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2419/4317452-1-eng-US/f0036-242.jpg" title="f0036-24" width="526" height="172"></div><h2>CONTINENTAL SENIOR</h2>(Standings On Tue. Dec. 4)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2516/4317445-1-eng-US/f0036-252.jpg" title="f0036-25" width="531" height="241"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2614/4317438-1-eng-US/f0036-262.jpg" title="f0036-26" width="531" height="245"></div><h2>GEORGIAN BAY LEAGUE</h2>(Standings On Mon. Dec. 3)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2714/4317431-1-eng-US/f0036-272.jpg" title="f0036-27" width="526" height="193"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2814/4317424-1-eng-US/f0036-282.jpg" title="f0036-28" width="525" height="149"></div> &#9632;

f0036-13

AMATEUR SCOREBOARD

1&mdash;Montreal2&mdash;Chicago3&mdash;Boston4&mdash;Rangers5&mdash;Detroit6&mdash;Toronto7&mdash;Philadelphia8&mdash;Los Angeles9&mdash;St. Louis10&mdash;Minnesota11&mdash;Pittsburgh12&mdash;Islanders13&mdash;Vancouver14&mdash;Buffalo15&mdash;Atlanfa16&mdash;Washington17&mdash;Colorado18&mdash;Edmonton19&mdash;Hartford20&mdash;Quebec21&mdash;Winnipeg<h2>OTHER AFFILIATIONS</h2>22&mdash;Chicago&mdash;Toronto23&mdash;Boston&mdash;Los Angeles24&mdash;Quebec&mdash;Pittsburgh25&mdash;Edmonton&mdash;Winnipeg26&mdash;Montreal&mdash;Chicago27&mdash;Vancouver&mdash;I slanders28&mdash;Boston&mdash;Pittsburgh29&mdash;Atlanta&mdash;Colorado30&mdash;Washington&mdash;St. Louis31&mdash;Los Angeles&mdash;Hartford32&mdash;Que&mdash;Islanders&mdash;Buff.33&mdash;St. Louis&mdash;Philadelphia34&mdash;Boston&mdash;Hartford &#9632;

Who They’re Affiliated With…

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2><h3>DECEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2913/4317605-1-eng-US/f0036-292.jpg" title="f0036-29" width="552" height="848"></div><h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2><h3>DECEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-3012/4317598-1-eng-US/f0036-302.jpg" title="f0036-30" width="519" height="696"></div><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2><h3>DECEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-3111/4317591-1-eng-US/f0036-312.jpg" title="f0036-31" width="538" height="811"></div><h2>EASTERN LEAGUE</h2><h3>DECEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-3210/4317584-1-eng-US/f0036-322.jpg" title="f0036-32" width="497" height="599"></div> &#9632;

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PRO GAMES TO COME…

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01339/4317664-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The beauty and the beast</figcaption></div>Marcel Pelletier, the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; player personnel director is one of hockey&rsquo;s most efficient people. He is also one of its most fun-loving individuals. Here he gets a chance to clown it up on the ice with ice show skating star JoJo Starbuck at the Spectrum. JoJo is the wife of Pittsburgh Steelers&rsquo; ace QB Terry Bradshaw.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02267/4317657-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="1746" height="1393"><figcaption class="caption-body">A close shave (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>Hockey teams take much delight in initiating rookies. Glenn Hicks of the Detroit Red Wings received the head shaving treatment from his mates ana when he took off his helmet for the playing of the national anthem, he exposed his shaved dome. That&rsquo;s teammate Vaclav Nedomansky at right and coach Bobby Kromm in rear.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03202/4317650-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="1124" height="1497"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rookie of the year</figcaption></div>Mike Eaves of the Oklahoma City Stars of the Central Hockey League accepts the Ken McKenzie Trophy from CHL president Bud Poile as the recipient of the league stop rookie award. Glen Hanlon of Vancouver was last year&rsquo;s winner. Eaves has stepped up into the NHL with Minnesota North Stars after starting out with Oklahoma City.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04142/4317643-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="1122" height="649"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05105/4317636-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="1123" height="653"><figcaption class="caption-body">Sign language (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>Toronto Leafs&rsquo; coach Floyd Smith reflects the mood of the game when he&rsquo;s behind the bench. At top he makes a gesture to his team on the ice while at bottom he grimaces with clenched fists after Leafs missed a goal. That&rsquo;s Dick Duff on right playing the role of the understanding asst, coach. &#9632;

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HOCKEY PEOPLE

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;Over his last five games, Don Lever has missed enough scoring chances to catch Marcel Dionne. You don&rsquo;t know how he could miss some of them, they&rsquo;ve been so remarkably easy. But though he&rsquo;s been having a mild drought lately, the center-left winger is having a superb year, with the goals coming just about as fast as he would have liked.He is the team&rsquo;s leading goal scorer and despite the recent dry spell, has been generating many chances centering Rick Valve and Curt Fraser.He feels more comfortable on left wing and coach Harry Neale knows it. But Lever has never complained and has recently begun providing a tremendous degree of leadership for the club that is surprisingly two games over. 500 after 27 games and leading the Smythe Division.And there have been times in Vancouver when it was thought the team was not getting sufficient leadership from the seven-year veteran.Lever has taken going round to every one of his mates when they come out to start the game and patting them on the rear and giving them encouragement.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;ve started this year,&rdquo; says Lever. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;m doing just to get everyone ready to go. It&rsquo;s just a little thing. Probably doesn&rsquo;t mean much. But it&rsquo;s something I want to do.&rdquo;Lever has also been scoring, his 12 goals putting him on the pace of a plus 40 goal season.And all this has come under considerable personal duress, as his wife has been ill and recently suffered a miscarriage. Lever missed a game as a result but it was one his teammates won in Atlanta. Lever came back from Toronto the next night and scored two goals to help his tired mates to a 5-2 victory over the division rival Chicago Black Hawks.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just so much fun winning, that we&rsquo;re working together for it,&rdquo; said Lever. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re just a bunch of hard working guys who want to keep having success. We&rsquo;ve got the kid (Glen Hanlon) in the nets and we know he&rsquo;s going to keep us in any game and that what we have to do is work to get some goals and things will work out.&rdquo;Canucks would really like to make a trade to get a center and move Lever permanently back to left wing. His versatility has really helped the team out as he is an excellent defensive center as well as being fairly strong on the draws.&ldquo;We would really like to move Donnie back onto the left but it&rsquo;s something we just can&rsquo;t do at this time with our personnel. We&rsquo;ve maybe been a bit unfair with him, but there is nothing we can do about it.&rdquo;Lever, who had said he wanted to play out his option at the beginning of the year because he wanted to play on a winner, has changed his mind. He recently signed a multi-year contract with the club and seems happier than ever as a Canuck.Canucks&rsquo; general manager Jake Milford meanwhile has been busy doing his signing routine, the latest to put their names on a contract being Thomas Gradin and Lars Lindgren, the Swedish backbone of the club.Gradin, the classy little center, had been playing out his option this year and negotiations had been prolonged between Milford and Swedish agent Bjorn Wagnsson. But the two reached agreement, the length of the contract being named as between three and 12 years, which likely means a three-year deal with an option. Lindgren, who has been the leader on defense, got a three-year extension to his contract, which means he is committed to the Canucks for the next four years.The club also recently sent center Gerry Minor back to Dallas of the Central League, after he had played four games for the Canucks.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01317/4317695-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="574" height="578"><figcaption class="caption-body">Although he&rsquo;s more comfortable at left wing, Don Lever is big help at center.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Vancouver Having Fun As Winners

<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>ATLANTA&mdash;Guy Chouinard, C, returned to lineup from injury list. Dave Gorman, RW, returned to Birmingham of CHLBOSTON&mdash;Tom Songin, RW, and Craig MacTavish, C, recalled from Binghamton of AHL. Wayne Cashman, LW, placed on injury list for 10 days with knee sprain. Bobby Schmautz, RW, returned from injury list and later removed from active roster.BUFFALO&mdash;Andre Savard, C, recalled from Rochester of AHL.DETROIT&mdash;Tom Webster, LW, placed on injury listEDMONTON&mdash;Alex Tidey, RW, recalled from Cincinnati of CHLHARTFORD&mdash;Chuck Luksa, D, recalled from Springfield of AHL. Rick Ley, D, placed on injury list for 10 days with broken bone in his foot.MINNESOTA&mdash;Glen Shar-pley, C, signed to new multiyear contract.MONTREAL&mdash;Rick Meagher, C, recalled from Nova Scotia of AHL and later returned.ISLANDERS&mdash;Mike Kaszycki, C, traded to Washington in exchange for Gord Lane, D. Denis Potvin returned to injury list after undergoing surgery for torn ligaments in his thumb. Stefan Persson, D, placed on injury list with Charley horse.RANGERS&mdash;Doug Soetaert, G, cleared waivers and assigned to New Haven of AHL. John Davison, G, recalled from New Haven.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Greg Millen, G, returned to lineup from injury list. Dale Tallon, D, returned from injury list and assigned to Syracuse of AHL for two-week conditioning period.QUEBEC&mdash;Roland Cloutier, LW, and Blair Stewart, LR, recalled from Syracuse of AHL. John C. Stewart, RW, recalled from Syracuse and later returned along with Greg Tebbutt, D.ST. LOUIS&mdash;Bryan Maxwell, D, returned to lineup from injury list and later assigned to Salt Lake of CHL for conditioning period.TORONTO&mdash;Bruce Boudreau, C, returned to New Brunswick of AHL.VANCOUVER&mdash;Brad Smith, RW, and Gary Lupul, LW, recalled from Dallas of CHL. Gerry Minor, RW, returned to Dallas. Jack McIlhargey, D, placed on injury list with bruised ribs.WASHINGTON &#8213;Errol Rausse, LW, and Tony Cassolato, RW, recalled from Hershey of AHL. Claude Noel, D, Bob Girard, LW, and Steve Clippingdale, LW, returned to Hershey. Gord Lane, D, removed from roster and placed on suspended list before being traded to Islanders. Guy Charron, C, returned to injury list with pulled thigh muscle. Bob Sirois, LW, returned to injury list with pulled back muscle. Jack Lynch, D, announced retirement and removed from roster.WINNIPEG&mdash;Hilliard Graves, RW, recalled from Tulsa of CHL. Dave Hoyda, LW, and Gord McTavish, C, sent to Tulsa. Wayne billon, C, loaned to NHL team for Izvestia tournament in Moscow.<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>ADIRONDACK&mdash;Brent Peterson, C, on injury list. Mike Melanson, C, added to roster.BINGHAMTON&mdash;Darryl Edestrand, D, and Dan Bonar, C, off injured list.HERSHEY&mdash;Ray McKay, D, signed as tree agent. Kandy Stover, D, and J.D. Mathers, RW, signed to tryouts. Ron Lalonde, C, on injury list.MAINE&mdash;Dave Faulken-berg, RW, assigned to Toledo of IHL.NEW BRUNSWICK&mdash;Mark Kirton, C, Ron Leblanc, RW, and Bob Gladney, D, off injured list.SPRINGFIELD&mdash;Jean Savard, C, and Dave Inkpen, D, off injured list. Julian Baretta, G, returned to Saginaw of IHL.SYRACUSE&mdash;Brad Rhiness, C, assigned to Erie of EHL. Kim Davis, C, off injured list.<h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>DAYTON&mdash;Don MacIver, F, returned to Winnipeg. Ian Perrin, F, sent to Milwaukee of IHL on loan. Randy Mohns, F, added to roster.FLINT&mdash;Bob Janecyk, G, sent to Fort Wayne of IHL on loan. Marc Wells, F, returned to U.S. Olympic team. Dominic Miele, F, assigned by Montreal. Dave Chapman, F, sent to Port Huron of IHL on loan. Marc Hetnik, F, added to roster.FORT WAYNE&mdash;Tim Thomlison, G, sent to Dayton of IHL on loan. Dave Norris, F, added to roster.KALAMAZOO&mdash;Doug Derkson, D, added to roster. Robert Clavette, F, sent to Johnstown of EHL.MILWAUKEE&mdash;Kevin Zappia, F, added to roster.MUSKEGON&mdash;Danny Gruen, F, added to roster.PORT HURON&mdash;Rick Bragnalo, F, added to roster.SAGINAW&mdash;Julian Baretta, G, sent to Muskegon of IHL on loan.TOLEDO&mdash;Mike Keating, F, sent to Dayton of IHL. &#9632;

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December 21, 1979

Mikita Trying to ‘Pinpoint’ Relief Remedy

The Point Race…

Defense Job For Nordique Specialist

MINOR SCOREBOARD