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.

February 1, 1980

The Hockey News February 1, 1980

<h2><b>POINT LEADERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-09167/4244712-1-eng-US/f0017-092.jpg" title="f0017-09" width="527" height="355"></div><h2><b>MOST GOALS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-10154/4244705-1-eng-US/f0017-102.jpg" title="f0017-10" width="524" height="351"></div><h2><b>MOST ASSISTS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-11135/4244698-1-eng-US/f0017-112.jpg" title="f0017-11" width="520" height="165"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-12124/4244691-1-eng-US/f0017-122.jpg" title="f0017-12" width="521" height="159"></div><h2><b>POWER PLAY GOALS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-13104/4244684-1-eng-US/f0017-132.jpg" title="f0017-13" width="523" height="284"></div><h2><b>SHORTHANDED GOALS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1491/4244677-1-eng-US/f0017-142.jpg" title="f0017-14" width="524" height="222"></div><h2><b>GAME WINNING GOALS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1575/4244670-1-eng-US/f0017-152.jpg" title="f0017-15" width="523" height="164"></div><h2><b>MOST PENALTIES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1672/4244663-1-eng-US/f0017-162.jpg" title="f0017-16" width="525" height="347"></div><h2><b>TOP ROOKIE SCORERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1763/4244656-1-eng-US/f0017-172.jpg" title="f0017-17" width="522" height="351"></div><h2><b>MOST GOALS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1854/4244649-1-eng-US/f0017-182.jpg" title="f0017-18" width="524" height="158"></div><h2>MOST ASSISTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-1945/4244642-1-eng-US/f0017-192.jpg" title="f0017-19" width="517" height="40"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-2032/4244635-1-eng-US/f0017-202.jpg" title="f0017-20" width="520" height="132"></div><h2><b>LEADING GOALERS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-2121/4244628-1-eng-US/f0017-212.jpg" title="f0017-21" width="524" height="352"></div><h2><b>MOST GOALING WINS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-2219/4244621-1-eng-US/f0017-222.jpg" title="f0017-22" width="520" height="223"></div><h2><b>MOST SHUTOUTS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-2317/4244614-1-eng-US/f0017-232.jpg" title="f0017-23" width="522" height="192"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0017-09

IN THIS ISSUE

First Half Leaders In NHL

<div class="byline">BY AL SMITH</div><p>ATLANTA&mdash;Drenched in sweat and surrounded by reporters, Pat Riggin smiled and had the look of satisfaction on his face.</p><p>The 20-year-old goalie had just won his first National Hockey. League game and in the process, tasted his first shutout as the Atlanta Flames beat the Winnipeg Jets, 2-0.</p><p>It was a gratifying victory for the Kincardine, Ont., native who only a month before had been sent down to the minors and been replaced as backup goalie by Reggie Lemelin.</p><p>While in Birmingham, Riggin played in 12 games and had an 8-22 record, which warranted his return to Atlanta.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got the guys in Birmingham to thank for getting me back here,&rdquo; Riggin said. &ldquo;They played great in front of me and got my confidence back.&rdquo;</p><p>Since his shutout over the Jets, Riggin has posted more victories and since his return from Birmingham is 4-0 with a 1.75 goals against average. A far cry from his start when he was selected over Lemelin to begin the season in Atlanta.</p><p>Before he was sent back to Birmingham, Riggin had seen action in six games, starting four, and had an 0-4 record and a 4.71 goals against average. But it must be mentioned that the Flames did not play well in front of him.</p><p>At the time, although disappointed and disheartened, Riggin vowed he&rsquo;d be back.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll by back,&rdquo; the five-foot-nine, 163-pounder said, &ldquo;you haven&rsquo;t heard the last of me. I don&rsquo;t think I played myself off the team, but I didn&rsquo;t do anything spectacular to warrant staying, either.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always played regular&mdash;in junior and in Birmingham&mdash;now I can get right back in there and show people what I can do.&rdquo;</p><p>And he did, earning himself another trip to Atlanta.</p><p>While in Atlanta the first time, Riggin saw limited duty, mainly because in his first start he broke a finger.</p><p>&ldquo;I do need to play more,&rdquo; Riggin said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to get into every third game and get some kind of rotation going. I felt more a part of the team when I played so much in Birmingham.</p><p>&ldquo;But I had a chance to work on things that I&rsquo;ve learned from Boosh (Dan Bouchard, Flames&rsquo; No. 1 goalie),&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We have a good relationship and he&rsquo;s taught me a lot. He&rsquo;s still number one, but I&rsquo;d like to work into a rotation and play more.&rdquo;</p><p>Riggin was voted the first star in his shutout over the Jets, but an even bigger accomplishment might have been when he won two games later in Vancouver. The Flames won 5-3, largely due to Riggin. They were outshot 49-22 and Riggin was voted second star for stopping 46 of the 49 shots.</p><p>He came up big right after the Canucks tied the game 3-3 when he stopped Brad Smith on a breakaway.</p><p>&ldquo;He looked more like the guy we drafted, tonight,&rdquo; coach Al MacNeil said, after Riggin&rsquo;s shutout over the Jets. &ldquo;He looked cool in there, tonight, and I think the work in Birmingham helped him.</p><p><b>NOTES:</b> Flames went through a financial restructuring recently when Tom Cousins, owner of the team, foreclosed on Atlanta Hockey Inc. But it was a paper foreclosure, because Cousins also owns the company that foreclosed (Omni Promotions Inc). Up until the time the foreclosure went through. Cousins only owned 89 percent of the Flames, but now has control of 100 percent. He has been taking 100 percent of the loss, but getting only 89 percent of the tax break.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Riggin Hot After Rejoining Flames

<h2>The NHL&hellip;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-02953/4243677-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="491" height="920"></div><h2>The Minors&hellip;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03706/4243670-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="484" height="356"></div><h2>Columnists&hellip;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04482/4243663-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="491" height="266"></div><h2>Features&hellip;</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05351/4243656-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="482" height="274"></div><h2>What&rsquo;s Coining&hellip;</h2><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>ith the Olympic Games in the offing, we will devote several stories next week to both the Canadian and U.S. Olympic teams in their quest to dethrone the Soviet Union at Lake Placid, N.Y. In addition, we will have an indepth look at the other competing nations for the 1980 Winter Olympic Games as well as a complete hockey schedule of all the games. So don&rsquo;t miss our special pre-Olympic issue next week in THE HOCKEY NEWS.</p><p>The NHL has turned into the second half of the 1979-80 season and attendance figures are continuing to climb. The addition of the four new NHL teams has definitely helped and next week we will present a complete breakdown of crowd figures for all 21 teams, both for this season and last year.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0002-02

Where To Find It…

<h2><b>GUY LAFLEUR&hellip;Montreal Canadiens</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>fter a temporary mid-season slump, the Montreal Canadiens appear to be well on the road back. One player who hasn&rsquo;t lost a step in the Montreal plunge is Guy Lafleur, their super star right winger, who continues his pursuit of NHL scoring leader Marcel Dionne.</p><p>Lafleur enjoyed another big week in the NHL as he scored five goals and added four assists running his season totals to 85, just six in back of Dionne, who was only able to contribute a solitary goal for his week&rsquo;s work.</p><p>The Canadiens won their three starts this past week with Lafleur scoring in all three games. He now has 36 for the season leaving him one behind Dionne and putting him into a tie with injured Charlie Simmer for second place. The scoring spurt also pushed Lafleur&rsquo;s all-time career mark to 391 goals.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

NHL Player Of The Week

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01690/4246711-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Robert Shaver)</span></figcaption></div><p>DEDICATION GETS TOP PRIORITY WITH GUY LAFLEUR</p><p>FLYERS DOMINATED FIRST NHL HALF</p><p>NORTH STARS PUSH FOR OVERTIME PLAY<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Cover-01

CHAMPS BACK ON TRACK Page 15

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011054/4243708-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="506" height="342"></div><h2><b>Cherry &lsquo;Enfant Terrible&rsquo;</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>N THE MOST</b> visceral sport of all, hockey, Don Cherry is the most visceral person of all. He is Vince Lombardi and Knute Rockne and Casey Stengel and Woody Hayes and Attila The Hun all wrapped up into one, always neat, three-piece suit.</p><p>But as coach of the Colorado Rockies, a job that grosses him $150,000, he operates the same as he did when he bummed around the minor leagues, a has-been-who-never-really-was earning $4,500 a year for 10 straight years.</p><p>He drinks beer with friends and players, laughs loudly, talks even louder, pounds his fist onto tables, then orders two club sandwiches to go so he may dine peacefully in his hotel room. Fancy he ain&rsquo;t.</p><p>To a National Hockey League which encourages blandness, and will never be major until the league starts running the teams instead of vice versa, Cherry is the &lsquo;enfant terrible&rsquo;, the tempest in a teapot, the guy who is so selfassured that he struts in his sleep. He also, by the way, is the game&rsquo;s finest salesman.</p><p>You wouldn&rsquo;t know that by his team&rsquo;s record. The Rockies have been accused of being the only living thing that could give a bad name to a mountain range. But give him time.</p><p>&ldquo;After our first game this season, I told my wife Rose, &lsquo;Take a good look at that team, because by Christmas, half of &lsquo;em won&rsquo;t be here,&rsquo;&rdquo; said Cherry. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re right on schedule. We&rsquo;ve gone from hapless to lowly to erratic. That&rsquo;s progress.&rdquo;</p><p>Cherry could have remained in Boston, where he was a mirror image of the city&mdash;tough, Irish, earthy. But, though he compiled a .658 winning percentage there in five years, he constantly bickered with Bruins&rsquo; executives. They thought he wasn&rsquo;t sufficiently management-oriented, that he leaned toward the players.</p><h2><b>They&rsquo;re Starting To Care</b></h2><p><b>&ldquo;I&rsquo;VE ALWAYS ENCOURAGED</b> an us against the world&rsquo; attitude on my clubs,&rdquo; Cherry said. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t know if it&rsquo;s right, but it works. The challenge is what brought me to Colorado. What a feeling if we could just turn this team around. We have at the gate. They averaged about 6,000 last year. This year, we have to be near 10,000.</p><p>&ldquo;On the ice, too. Earlier this season, when I whistled the end of practice, it was like somebody yelled &lsquo;fire&rsquo;. Everybody was gone. Now they stay around and skate after practice is over. They don&rsquo;t play bingo after we lost anymore, either. They&rsquo;re starting to care.</p><p>&ldquo;The first month of the season, though, was brutal. I never felt so depressed, so lonely. I was at the airport one night and the attendant there said something, and his voice sounded just like Terry O&rsquo;Reilly&rsquo;s of Boston. I started crying. I hadn&rsquo;t been that down since I was unemployed a few years ago.</p><p>&ldquo;I had dug ditches and tried selling cars, and now I&rsquo;m down in Charlotte, N.C., applying for a coaching job. I was turned down and I got back to this fleabag hotel. I&rsquo;m lying in bed trying to figure out what to do with my life, and a cockroach ran across my chest. A cockroach!&rdquo;</p><p>Cherry succeeds through unorthodox methods. He disdains chalk talks and visual aids, and is the only coach in the NHL without an assistant. He doesn&rsquo;t check rooms on the road and has never fined a player.</p><p>&ldquo;But,&rdquo; he intoned, &ldquo;if one of my guys isn&rsquo;t ready to play, I take it as a personal affront. I never forget, and I can be positively ruthless. I can ruin lives. I am for them, but they have to be for me, too.&rdquo;</p><p>It is that mixture of fear and love which prompts players to hide behind the veranda when Cherry is angry, but name him the godfather to their sons. There is no gray area with &ldquo;Grapes&rdquo;, a nickname bestowed on Cherry years ago because, more often than not, he is sour grapes about something or other. Wouldn&rsquo;t you be after being sold for $50, then banished to Eddie Shore&rsquo;s Springfield graveyard?</p><p><b>THE WRATH OF GRAPES</b> was vented on the timekeeper at Colorado&rsquo;s home games a couple weeks ago after the Rockies lost to the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 before the largest crowd in the team&rsquo;s history. Seems that the fellow didn&rsquo;t anticipate a stoppage in play during the last minute and let a couple of valuable seconds elapse. Cherry pinned the guy to the wall afterward.</p><p>The warmth of Grapes is reserved for family and his prize bull terrier, Blue. Miller Lite wants Cherry and his dog to do a commercial, but Cherry is in a quandry about how to transport Blue from Colorado to New York for the screen test.</p><p>&ldquo;Not by plane,&rdquo; murmured Cherry. &ldquo;Baggage compartments are for dirty underwear, not Blue.&rdquo;</p><p>A month ago, Cherry staged a gala homecoming to Boston Garden. He bought a new suede suit, then preened as the Rockies spilled the Bruins. He received several standing ovations, one when he held a bunch of grapes up to the crowd.</p><p>With seconds remaining, Cherry, the consummate showman, called a timeout to sign autographs for fans who knew that under him, the Bruins were a family of the Pittsburgh Pirate ilk.</p><p>&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t slink into bars, we would swagger in and take them over,&rdquo; gushed Grapes. &ldquo;Never been a bunch so close as us the last couple years. But it&rsquo;s gonna happen again. Here.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0002-01

HOCKEY TALK

<div class="byline">BY FRANK ORR</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011061/4243739-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Describing Guy Lafleur&rsquo;s efforts are hard enough, but trying to prevent him from dominating a game is the most difficult challenge.</i> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>o any Guy Lafleur watcher, a National Hockey League season is a string of splendid memories, of superior plays and spectacular goals, of immense ambition and total dedication to his craft.</p><p>In a recent week, the mighty right winger of Montreal Canadiens added two more super-specials to the list, goals he scored that demanded incredible talent. They were executed with an ease that made the scoring plays appear simple but, on closer examination. were of a magnitude that bordered on the eery.</p><p>Describing the Flower&rsquo;s magic, of course, is difficult. Translating such talent and instinct into words perhaps is impossible.</p><p>The first of the two scores came in a win over the Maple Leafs in Toronto. Lafleur was cruising close to the Leaf net, his stick in the backhand position and his back to the puck which was in the possession of Canadien defenseman Rod Langway at the blueline.</p><p>Langway passed the puck to Lafleur who, remember, wasn&rsquo;t watching it. But somehow&mdash;and this is the spooky part&mdash;he knew where the puck was and took the pass as if he had a set of eyes in the back of his head. He accepted the pass on his backhand, spun to his forehand at top speed and lashed a shot into the net.</p><p>It was a second or two before anyone in the place&mdash;player or fan&mdash;reacted to the play because, really, there was no way it could happen. But it did.</p><p>Move now to Canadiens&rsquo; next game, an important Forum encounter with Philadelphia Flyers, the National Hockey League&rsquo;s best team this season. Flyers were in command of the match for the first half, holding a 3-1 lead until Canadiens scored halfway through the second period.</p><p>In the concluding minute of that period, Lafleur arranged a score by Doug Risebrough that tied the splendid match at 3-3 heading into the third.</p><p>Then it was spectacular time again. In the fourth minute of the third period, The Flower took a pass just outside the Philly line and moved on young Behn Wilson, Flyers&rsquo;precocious defenseman.</p><p>Lafleur, remember, was moving at top speed. His fake pulled Wilson to the ice and as the Flyer was falling, Lafleur slid the puck under him. To move around the prone Wilson, a large-sized lad, and recover the puck was impossible&mdash;impossible, that is, for anyone but The Flower.</p><p>Swinging around Wilson&rsquo;s feet and cutting at an angle to the ice where he really should have fallen over sideways, Lafleur executed both impossibles. He recovered the puck and shot in one motion&mdash;and Canadiens had a 4-3 win.</p><p>When it comes to explaining such moves, Lafleur is the same as most extraordinary performers in any field. He can&rsquo;t really give detailed explanations of his plays or his goals.</p><p>&ldquo;Rod (Langway) gave me a good pass that hit my stick and I had room to turn to my forehand before I shot,&rdquo; was Lafleur&rsquo;s woefully inadequate description of his goal against the Leafs. Really, though, it was the only one he had.</p><p>&ldquo;The moves I make just seem to happen,&rdquo; Lafleur said. &ldquo;Each situation on the ice is different and I react to them sort of automatically.&rdquo;</p><p>Last season, Lafleur&rsquo;s three-year domination of the NHL scoring championship was ended. He counted 129 points and finished third to Bryan Trottier of New York Islanders (134) and Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; Marcel dionne (130).</p><p>This time, Lafleur is running second to Dionne. At the 43-game mark of the schedule, Dionne held a 14-point edge on The Flower but it wasn&rsquo;t bothering Lafleur.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>&ldquo;We needed to have everyone contributing to win those four Stanley Cups,&rdquo; Lafleur said.</b></blockquote><p>&ldquo;Sure, personal honors such as the scoring title are nice to get but, really, the only thing that matters is how the team does&mdash;and Canadiens have not been doing that well this season,&rdquo; Lafleur said.</p><p>That attitude is one that&rsquo;s mouthed glibly by many NHL players. But in the Canadiens&rsquo; case, and especially Lafleur, the team thing is a heavy. They haven&rsquo;t won all those titles because they Were a group of men concerned with individual laurels. Of course, the presence of a few workers who collect NHL awards and All Star nominations hasn&rsquo;t hurt the cause but when The Flower talks of the team first and him-self second, who can question his sincerity?</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve never been a club that could rely on a few players to carry us, although having some of the best players in the league, the All Stars, hasn&rsquo;t hurt us,&rdquo; Lafleur said.</p><p>&ldquo;We needed to have everyone contributing to win those four Stanley Cups. Look at the way some of our guys who aren&rsquo;t big stars have played in tight playoff games.&rdquo;</p><p>A man who knows Lafleur well is Gerry Petrie, his agent and the man who has helped him build his business empire. Petrie verifies Lafleur&rsquo;s team approach.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>&ldquo;&hellip;of all the great scorers&hellip;Guy is the best when his team doesn&rsquo;t have the puck.&rdquo;</b></blockquote><p>&ldquo;Guy is a very interesting combination of personal drive and caring for the team,&rdquo; Petrie said. &ldquo;He wants to be the best hockey player alive and he works with every ounce of his being to achieve that. But, with equal ambition, he wants the Canadiens to be the champions. The two targets dovetail together rather well.</p><p>&ldquo;If Guy just wanted personal accomplishments, he would play the game much differently. He would be totally devoted to offensive hockey and would do things in that direction when he didn&rsquo;t have the puck, things that would give him the edge when Canadiens got the puck.</p><p>&ldquo;But no one can watch him coming back up the ice, may be even skating harder than he die when he was on the attack, and say that he isn&rsquo;t trying to help the team in every wav he can. I&rsquo;d say that of all the great scorers in the game. Guy is the best when his team doesn&rsquo;t have the puck. When he decides that he wants to get it back, who&rsquo;s better at getting it back?&rdquo;</p><p>Lafleur probably is in the top income bracket of any Canadian athlete when his hockey salary and off-ice enterprises are added together. These days, he endorses automobiles (General Motors), yogurt, sports, clothing (with Howie Meeker, Borje Salming and baseball&rsquo;s Gary Carter), skates (Bauer) and hockey sticks (Sherwood).</p><p>&ldquo;Guy is very much in demand from the business community and we&rsquo;re looking at potential deals for him all the time,&rdquo; Petrie added. &ldquo;Right now, there are about five major companies in a variety of fields that have made proposals to us, some of them quite exciting long-term arrangements.</p><p>&ldquo;Really, though, all the off-ice stuff is secondary to Guy. Hockey is the only thing in his life.&rdquo;</p><p>Lafleur claims he plans to reduce his activities in the summer of 1980.</p><p>&ldquo;Last summer was a really busy one for me, maybe too busy,&rdquo; Lafleur said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t have very much time just to relax. Next summer, I think I&rsquo;ll take it easy and try to unwind completely for quite a bit of time.</p><p>&ldquo;The season is long and very grinding, especially when the team goes until almost June, the way we have the past few seasons.&rdquo;</p><p>Lafleur paused and smiled: &ldquo;Come to think of it, that&rsquo;s what it&rsquo;s all about, isn&rsquo;t it? Playing almost until June. If your season ends in April, then you haven&rsquo;t done much.&rdquo;</p><p>Lafleur feels that injuries to forwards Bob Gainey (14 games out) and Doug Risebrough (25 games) contributed to the team&rsquo;s slow start, especially in a year of change as Canadiens were in because of the retirements of goalie Ken Dryden and center Jacques Lemaire and the coaching change.</p><p>&ldquo;When those two players were hurt, it meant that two of our forward lines were upset and we had to switch things around to fill the holes,&rdquo; Lafleur said. &ldquo;It upset our balance at a time when the club was in a bit of a state of change.&rdquo;</p><p>Lafleur also feels that the NHL is an improved league this season.</p><p>&ldquo;The style of play has changed quite a bit this season,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;More teams are playing a skating style of hockey with the emphasis on movement. There are more goals being scored, too, in the league because of the change in style.</p><p>&ldquo;Look at what Philadelphia Flyers have done this season by playing a skating game. They still can check strongly when they have to but they&rsquo;re always on the move and they control the puck very well.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0003-01

Lafleur Dedicated To Personal. Team Goals.

<div class="byline">KEN McKENZIE&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011112/4243798-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="484" height="317"></div><p>&bull; <b>JUST RETURNED</b> from a Western trip where we saw four exciting games played before capacity crowds in four different locales. It was indeed a treat to see first hand such hockey enthusiasm. Highlight of the trip was seeing the dynamic Minnesota North Stars down the Philadelphia Flyers, 7-1, thereby stopping the Flyers unbeaten streak at 35 games, and a streak that will take a long time in bettering or at best equalling. In beating the Flyers, the North Stars played before their largest crowd in history, 15,962 cheering fans. In fact there was such a demand for tickets that they could have sold another 10,000 had the seats been available. General manager Lou Nanne who has done such a super job in turning Minnesota around was confident prior to the game that the charges were going to stop the Flyers&rsquo; streak. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll win. No doubt about it,&rdquo; he told us just minutes before the opening face-off. It was a complete team effort with the North Stars young forwards such as Bobby Smith, Mike Eaves, Tom McCarthy and Steve Payne flying all over the ice. The defense was rock hard and captain Paul Shmyr, Fred Barrett, Gary Sargent and young Craig Hartsburg played brilliantly, particularly when they held off the Flyers for close to two minutes when Philadelphia had a two-man advantage. Gilles Meloche played brilliantly in goal. The veteran netminder who leads all NHL goalies in victories turned in his eighth one-goal game of the season with 14 crucial saves in the second period when the Stars were shorthanded a great deal of the time&hellip;The noisy crowd gave the North Stars a two-minute standing ovation at the end of the game&hellip;The Flyers showed a great deal of class following their streak-breaking defeat and were high in their praise of Minnesota&rsquo;s play. Paul Holmgren, a native of St. Paul who plays for the Flyers said: &ldquo;If the North Stars continue to play like that they are definitely in the running for the Stanley Cup.&rdquo; Coach Glen Sonmor like Lou Nanne is dedicated to the youth movement. Sonmor, who has also played a major role in the North Stars&rsquo; success this season, is very high on Hartsburg, his 20-year-old rookie defenseman who is better than Denis Potvin was at the same age.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021067/4243791-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="263" height="386"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Craig Hartsburg</i></figcaption></div><p>&bull; <b>WE CAUGHT</b> Boston Bruins twice in action, once in Winnipeg where they eked out a 2-1 win over the Jets and also in Denver where they came back from a two-goal deficit to tie the improving Colorado Rockies, 2-2. Well over 15,000 fans turned out in Winnipeg on a cold January night to cheer their Jets against the Bruins. They are still working on the enlarged Winnipeg Arena but it appears close to completion and should rate with the better hockey arenas in the land shortly. Peter Sullivan, 28-year-old center, impressed us the most of the Winnipeg players. He is one of the fastest skaters in the NHL right now and one of the most exciting players to watch. He played a key role in Winnipeg winning the WHA championship three different times. Peter escaped from the Montreal organization and is definitely one of the better players in the league. His father, Frank Sullivan, was a member of Canada&rsquo;s 1928 Olympic hockey winners. The elder Sullivan was also a running back on the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, first team to win the Grey Cup, emblematic of Canada&rsquo;s football championship&hellip;Pierre Hamel, 27-year-old Winnipeg goalkeeper, was named winner of the second segment of the Molson Cup three-star award. He received a check for $1,000 from Don Lewis of Molson&rsquo;s prior to the start of the game against Boston. Willy Lindstrom, a member of Winnipeg&rsquo;s three WHA champions and one of the club&rsquo;s most prolific goal scorers, was runner-up and pocketed a cheque for $500. Ed Mazur, who played some fine hockey for the Montreal Canadiens during the 1950s, is now Director of Marketing for Molson&rsquo;s Manitoba Brewery located in Winnipeg. Molson&rsquo;s and Winnipeg Jets are closely associated in all of their promotional material, logos etc. It&rsquo;s been a very happy marriage for both organizations. Marc Cloutier, executive director of business operations of the Jets and right-hand man to general manager John Ferguson, has done a fantastic job in marketing the Jets in Winnipeg. Cloutier made his name as a top marketing man while working with the Montreal Canadiens and Montreal Expos. He was a real find for the Jets and is highly regarded by the Winnipeg media and advertising circles.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-03962/4243784-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="265" height="400"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Peter Sullivan</i></figcaption></div><p>&bull; <b>MOST PLEASANT</b> surprise came in Denver where the greatly improved Colorado Rockies tied the Boston Bruins, 2-2, before the noisiest and most fun-loving spectators any hockey arena ever housed. Over 15,000 enthusiasts were on hand to cheer Don Cherry&rsquo;s charges against his former team. The Rockies received a standing ovation every time they skate on and off the ice and especially when they score a goal. With the background of Gary Glitter&rsquo;s Rock and Roll Part II, the fans stand up, clap their hands and give three resounding cheers after every Colorado goal. With this kind of support the Rockies should concentrate on offense and make the fans happy&hellip;If it hadn&rsquo;t been for Arthur Imperatore and his stepson Armand Pohan there wouldn&rsquo;t be NHL hockey in Denver today. The former owners left the club in a shambles and if the wealthy New Jersey-based trucking executives had failed to come up with the money to purchase the ailing franchise, it was all over. &ldquo;Hockey was dead here before Imperatore and Pohan took over,&rdquo; several local Denver business executives told us&hellip;Ray Miron, hard-working general manager of the Rockies, has made some sensational trades since he took over the club. Hardy Astrom, who was the star of th&eacute; game against the Bruins and is now the No. one goalie, was obtained from the New York Rangers for Bill Lochead, now playing in the AHL with New Haven. Peter McNab, star scorer for the Bruins and former University of Denver ace, had this to say after the game: &ldquo;They&rsquo;re much improved. I think every one of the trades they&rsquo;ve made has helped them. You don&rsquo;t see the fringe players on the team anymore. They&rsquo;ve picked up guys who can play, like Lanny McDonald (from Toronto), Rene Robert (from uffalo) and Mike McEwen (from N.Y. Rangers)&rdquo;&hellip;Teams such as Edmonton, Winnipeg, Quebec, Vancouver fail to draw fans in Colorado. They want to see Montreal, Toronto, New York, Philadelphia and Boston. Even Los Angeles, closest major league city to Denver fails to draw people. Therefore Colorado, like Edmonton and many of the other new cities favor the balanced schedule so that everyone sees the same teams the same number of times.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04860/4243777-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="265" height="393"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Armand pohan</i></figcaption></div><p>&bull; <b>EDMONTON OILERS</b> still pack them in at every home game but the press is starting to get on the team for their inept play on the ice. The media boys feel the team should be doing much better in the standings than what they&rsquo;ve shown to date. The team lacks a leader along the lines of Paul Shmyr, who did such a fine job with the Oilers last year and is doing the same thing for Minnesota this year. Wayne Gretzky has played brilliantly for the team and has more than done everything expected of him for an 18-year-old as has Mark Messier, the only Edmonton native on the squad and who is only eight days older than Gretzky. The Oilers plan to install an additional 2,500 seats during the summer which will bring the seating capacity to 17,746. The arena still lacks an out-of-town scoreboard, however&hellip;The Oilers picked up a top goalie in Jim Corsi. The Montreal native should soon be No. one goalie&hellip;We presented Mike Eaves with THE HOCKEY NEWS Minor League Player of the Year Award on the NHL Cable TV network from Minnesota. The classy North Star rookie won this award with Oklahoma City Stars of the Central League last season&hellip;Cam Connor handed out two of the best bodychecks we&rsquo;ve seen in years against the Rangers in a losing cause. Connor, obtained from the Canadiens, is a pepperpot on the ice. Unfortunately, he has been injured most of the season and the Rangers 6-2 win over the Oilers marked his 10th game of the season. He scored his first goal of the season as well that night. Oilers can&rsquo;t wait to get defenseman Al Hamilton back in the lineup. He&rsquo;s been out since early November with a shoulder separation&hellip;Sarah Coyle, a beautiful blonde, hosts a popular weekly television show &ldquo;This Week in the NHL&rdquo; over Edmonton&rsquo;s CITV. Rod Phillips. Ken Brown and Tiger Goldstick do a standout job bringing Alberta fans the Oiler games over CFRA radio. Cactus Jack Wells of Winnipeg still the most popular sportscaster in Western Canada. Easing into retirement he still does daily shows over Station CJOB.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05721/4243770-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="263" height="372"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Cam Connor</i></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0004-01

PASSING THE PUCK

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div><p class="dropcap"><span>P</span>ITTSBURGH&mdash;Since Bob Stewart was obtained earlier this season from the St. Louis Blues he has been one of the Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; most consistent defensemen. And that is one of Stewart&rsquo;s main goals in hockey&mdash;consistency.</p><p>&ldquo;It was an adjustment going with a different team and a different style of play,&rdquo; said Stewart, who was picked up from St. Louis in November for right wing Blair Chapman. &ldquo;This team has got a lot of good skaters and shooters and they&rsquo;re a fast team. It took me a week or two to adjust and find out what the guys are like. It took a while to get used to the guys and get used to playing with the defense.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;Johnny (coach Wilson) was great. He told me the system and how he wanted me to play. It&rsquo;s been working out great.&rdquo;</p><p>Stewart had played one year for the Blues after being obtained from Minnesota and was surprised he was traded.</p><p>&ldquo;I knew that St. Louis was going with a lot of the young players,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I just turned 29 and they had a lot of new defensemen that came in from World Hockey and we had about seven defensemen there. I knew that they&rsquo;d be making a move somewhere down the line. I didn&rsquo;t think it would be me.</p><p>&ldquo;As it worked out I&rsquo;m very pleased. Pittsburgh&rsquo;s got a good hockey team, a good owner and I think this team&rsquo;s got a lot of potential to go places.</p><p>&ldquo;Baz (general manager Bastein) told me you&rsquo;re here and you&rsquo;re going to play. Johnny said&rsquo; give 100 per cent and work hard while you&rsquo;re out there and that&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;ve been trying to do.&rdquo;</p><p>One of the few players in the National Hockey League from Prince Edward Island, Stewart was a first round draft choice of Boston in the 1970 amateur draft. He was eventually traded to the California Seals and moved on to Cleveland when the franchise transferred there.</p><p>Stewart scored a career high five goals last season with the Blues, and had his lowest career penalty minute total with 47, He picked up 181 penalty minutes while playing for the Seals in 1972-73, his first full season in the NHL.</p><p>&ldquo;What I&rsquo;ve tried to do, always, is to play consecutive good hockey, game in and game out,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Consistent in the way of playing not to have too many ups and downs.</p><p>&ldquo;I think the penalty minutes had a lot to do with the style of the game then. You had to play more of a rugged game then, but now I think it&rsquo;s going back to having to play good hockey. You&rsquo;re not going to be able to play this game just because you&rsquo;re a tough guy or something.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Consistency Stewart’s Byword With Penguins

<div class="byline">BY PAT CALABRIA</div><p class="dropcap"><span>L</span>ONG ISLAND&mdash;The Islanders have begun to show signs of emerging from the slump that has plagued them most of the season. And they are doing it because of outstanding efforts from players who are not expected to be outstanding.</p><p>Although the reunited Trottier line continues to carry the biggest load of the team&rsquo;s scoring, players such as Wayne Merrick and John Tonelli are making solid contributions as the Islanders&rsquo; offense perks.</p><p>Merrick and Tonelli could not be more different in their styles. Merrick is the smooth, swift center who moves the puck skillfully&mdash;and now is finding it easier to score goals than during a slump that produced only one goal in 17 games earlier in the season.</p><p>&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m playing with more confidence now and I know the team is counting on me,&rdquo; Merrick said.</p><p>Tonelli is the left wing who plays savagely, chopping at the puck and bumping others with ard checks. Now he is finding he can be clever with the puck too, like when he assisted Merrick on two goals in a game against St. Louis.</p><p>&ldquo;I sat down, looked in the mirror and admitted I wasn&rsquo;t playing as hard as I could have,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>Merrick and Tonelli are two players the Islanders count on for support. Both have had their problems and both had gotten off to disappointing starts.</p><p>And both were additions&mdash;Merrick in a trade two years ago and Tonelli as a free agent formerly in the WHA&mdash;who were expected to help fill out an explosive offense.</p><p>Instead, both were struggling until a dressing room dressing down&mdash;a closed door meeting held by the players without the presence of general manager Bill Torrey, coach Al Arbour or assistant coach Billy MacMillan.</p><p>Although few players wanted to place undue significance of the meeting, several thought the discussion was beneficial. Certainly, it had an immediate effect on Merrick and Tonelli.</p><p>First, Merrick scored the insurance goal in a sound 3-1 victory in Toronto, snapped a nine-game slump. He did it by capturing a rebound and shoving it in through a tangle of players that clogged the crease. &ldquo;It was like a crowded toll booth,&rdquo; Bobby Nystrom said later.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m trying to do my best and I&rsquo;ve had some problems,&rdquo; Merrick said. &ldquo;I know I&rsquo;m supposed to be helping more. I try and try. What else can I do? I think things will start getting better. I think I&rsquo;ve been playing better. There isn&rsquo;t anything I want more than to help this team win.&rdquo;</p><p>Merrick proved that by scoring the team&rsquo;s first two goals in a 3-1 victory over St. Louis, with both assists coming from Tonelli. Arbour missed that game with a bout of the flu, but MacMillan filled in and quickly juggled the line combinations in an effort to stir a lethargic offense.</p><p>With Tonelli as his left wing, Merrick had his first two-goal game since last March and proclaimed: &ldquo;I think this win could be a turning point for us.&rdquo;</p><p>It could also be a turning point for Tonelli, the gruff, likeable checker, who occasionally can look as good with the puck as he does without it.</p><p>That was the case when Tonelli fed Merrick for the two goals&mdash;once making a clever pass from behind the net and into the slot, where Merrick burst it and whacked the pack home.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think the enthusiasm had been there for me,&rdquo; Tonelli said. &ldquo;I thought I was working hard, but maybe I wasn&rsquo;t. Now I&rsquo;m excited again. I took a long look at myself. We can&rsquo;keep playing the way we&rsquo;ve been playing or they&rsquo;ll be some changes around here. I don&rsquo;t want to go anyplace. I like it here. I want to make sure I stay.&rdquo;</p><p>What followed was Glenn Resch&rsquo;s first shutout of the season in a 3-0 victory over Vancouver, one of the defense&rsquo;s soundest games so far.</p><p>Even though the Islanders were beaten, 3-2, in Buffalo, Arbour was not displeased by the effort and the Islanders were not unhappy with their continuing progress.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Lesser Lights Propel Isles’ Attack

<div class="byline">FRANK ORR&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-01963/4243901-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="426" height="328"></div><h2><b>Leafs&rsquo; Hockey Funny</b></h2><p><b>WHAT THE HELL</b> is going on in Toronto with that hockey club?</p><p>For anyone even remotely associated with Toronto Maple Leafs, that question is the one he&rsquo;s heard most often in this 1979-80 season.</p><p>What&rsquo;s going on with the Leafs? Trying to explain it in less than 100,000 words is the same as trying to write an assessment of Iranian politics on the back of a streetcar transfer.</p><p>Mostly, hockey with the Leafs is fun. It&rsquo;s ha-ha funny. It&rsquo;s unusual funny. It&rsquo;s weird, strange, crazy, nutsy or any other word you&rsquo;d care to apply.</p><p>At times, it seems that Toronto didn&rsquo;t need to spend money to build a new zoo. Placing a high wire fence around Maple Leaf Gardens would have accomplished the same thing.</p><p>There hasn&rsquo;t been a great deal of good hockey but there&rsquo;s been a barrel of laughs with Harold, Punch, Floyd and the boys. And Carl Brewer, 41, making a comeback on the Leaf defense after a five-year retirement from hockey. There was the night when the Leafs actually considered using Johnny Bower as a backup goalie. Bower is 55,56 or 58 depending on which record book you believe. There have been trades, rumors of trades, namecalling and the occasional victory.</p><p>If you don&rsquo;t think the Leafs are fun, consider this collection of quotes and happenings on the blue-and-white scene.</p><p><b>Punch Imlach,</b> Leaf general manager, on why he was-bringing back Brewer, who played for the Leafs in the 1960s, during Imlach&rsquo;s first stay in Toronto: &ldquo;Why not? Besides, Allan Stanley never could skate, Bob Baun has a bad back and Tim Horton&rsquo;s dead.&rdquo;</p><p><b>A Leaf player</b> when he heard Brewer was to return: &ldquo;Brewer must have caught Imlach&mdash;(allow your imagination to wander and fill in your own phrase).&rdquo;</p><p><b>Comedian Johnny Wayne</b> when he heard that Bower might be used in a game: &ldquo;Leafs&rsquo; problem won&rsquo;t be knee injuries; it will be prostate surgery.&rdquo;</p><p><b>Famous last words</b></p><p><b>DEFENSEMAN DAVE</b> Hutchison, who wasn&rsquo;t used in a few games on Brewer&rsquo;s return, and later was traded to Chicago Black Hawks in exchange for defenseman Pat Ribble: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just a big joke having Brewer on this team. There are all sorts of guys in this league who would sooner play 80 games against Brewer than one game against me.&rdquo;</p><p><b>Carl Brewer</b> on his comeback: &ldquo;I want to do well because I don&rsquo;t want to disappoint a great Canadian&mdash;Paul Rimstead.&rdquo; Rimstead is a columnist for the Toronto Sun.</p><p><b>The dart game:</b> When Hutchison was traded, a few Leafs took him out for a farewell party in a downtown Toronto pub. They pinned a photo of Imlach on the dart board and threw darts at it.</p><p><b>Imlach:</b> &ldquo;These players think this is a bloody country club. We&rsquo;ll change that.&rdquo;</p><p><b>Roger Neilson,</b> Leaf coach for the past two seasons, now associate coach of Buffalo Sabres: &ldquo;I resent that crack Imlach made about a country club atmosphere. The Leafs worked hard the past two seasons.&rdquo;</p><p><b>Lanny McDonald,</b> who was traded to Colorado Rockies along with defenseman Joel Quenneville in exchange for forwards Wilf Paiement and Pat Hickey, to Danny Gare of Buffalo Sabres during a pregame warm-up: &ldquo;You guys were able to get rid of Imlach. Please, oh please, tell us how you did it?&rdquo;</p><p><b>Leaf defenseman Ian Turnbull</b> to a Winnipeg Jet: &ldquo;What year are you guys playing in? We&rsquo;re playing in 1932!&rdquo;</p><h2><b>No spark for Punch</b></h2><p><b>THE GREAT JUMPER</b> cable caper: When Leafs returned to Toronto from Montreal by charter aircraft, landing at a small airport near Toronto International at 1.30 a.m., Imlach discovered that he&rsquo;d forgotten to turn off the lights on his car and the auto wouldn&rsquo;t start. The players were asked if they had jumper cables in their vehicles to start the GM&rsquo;s car and no player confessed to having them. The story goes that a player roared past Imlach&rsquo;s dead car in his own vehicle, waving a set of jumpers and wearing a large smile.</p><p><b>Leaf coach Floyd Smith</b> in a post-game interview: &ldquo;I have nothing to say&mdash;and I&rsquo;ll only say it once.&rdquo;</p><p><b>The media war:</b> The Leafs are covered intensely by the competitive Toronto media, both print andelectronic, and some feel that others are &ldquo;house men&rdquo; supporting Imlach totally and others feel that some give the players too many anonymous quotes.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s terrific,&rdquo; quipped a Leaf. &ldquo;At least when the writers and broadcasters are fighting each other, they stay off our backs.&rdquo;</p><p><b>Imlach. again,</b> after the big trade with Rockies when told that the wives of both Paiement and McDonald were close to delivering babies: &ldquo;So what? I traded hockey players. I didn&rsquo;t trade wives and babies.&rdquo;</p><p><b>Goalie Mike Palmateer;</b> who&rsquo;s in a contract hassle with the team: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure sick and tired of all the horse manure (approximate translation) from Imlach. I wish he&rsquo;d sign me or trade me.&rdquo;</p><p><b>Turnbull again,</b> looking towards the heavens after another Leaf loss: &ldquo;Is there life after hockey?&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0005-01

HOCKEY VIEWPOINT

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div><p>DETROIT&mdash;Dale McCourt is on a scoring rampage.</p><p>The Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; captain got off to a slow start this season, like the rest of his teammates, and he didn&rsquo;t begin turning things around until the first of the new year when he found himself with new linemates.</p><p>McCourt credits his new wingers with much of the improvement. &ldquo;My game is controlling the puck,&rdquo; said McCourt after a two-goal, two-assist performance in a 5-3 victory in Winnipeg behind Rogie Vachon&rsquo;s third shutout of the season.</p><p>&ldquo;This line is younger and they&rsquo;re looking to give me the puck so I can handle it, I look for them later.&rdquo;</p><p>The &ldquo;new&rdquo; line has a pair of first-year pros playing alongside McCourt, No. 1 draft pick Mike Foligno on the right side and John Ogrodnick on left wing. Ogrodnick was a fourth round pick from New Westminster.</p><p>McCourt came off the line with Vaclav Nedomansky and Dan Labraaten in the final game of 1979 when he was placed between Foligno and George Lyle. It was Lyle&rsquo;s first game as a Wing after being summoned from the Adirondack Wings of the American Hockey League. Lyle, set up by McCourt, scored a pair of goals in that game and filled the Wings&rsquo; need for a big, rugged winger. He scored again two games later but was knocked out of the lineup with a knee injury. As his replacement, the Wings called up Ogrodnick, who is much like Lyle. They&rsquo;re both big, young, rugged and determined.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>He&rsquo;s &ldquo;more comfortable&rdquo; now knowing that he&rsquo;ll be staying with the Red Wings</b></blockquote><p>The McCourt-Foligno-Ogrodnick line fit smoothly. The two goals against Winnipeg, and another by McCourt the next night in a 5-4 victory in Minnesota gave him 18 for the season and placed him atop the Wings&rsquo; scoring parade&mdash;where he belongs. Incidentally, when the Wings defeated the North Stars, it was only their third loss at home this season.</p><p>McCourt also said he&rsquo;s &ldquo;more comfortable&rdquo; now knowing that he&rsquo;ll be staying with the Red Wings.</p><p>&ldquo;My mind is at ease,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m staying in Detroit and it&rsquo;s not a matter of leaving at any time.&rdquo;</p><p>The victory in Minnesota was the Wings&rsquo; six in eight games, and four of those came on the road, an impressive statistic. With the spurt, the Wings moved well into the playoff picture.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re getting a more consistent record,&rdquo; Coach Bobby Kromm said as the Wings moved to 17-20-7. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re playing 60 minutes a game instead of 20 or 40. Hhopefully, it will stay that way.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re finally in a good position. In February, we play 10 games at home and only three away. We&rsquo;re always up and ready at home.</p><p>McCourt went from 12 goals and third behind Nedomansky and Labraaten among the club&rsquo;s scoring leaders to 18 goals and the top rank in the eight-game stretch.</p><p>Peter Mahovlich also has come on very strong after an 18-game scoreless drought. Mahovlich scored twice in a 5-1 victory over the Rockies after he snapped his long slump with goal No. 6 in a 4-0 victory over the Rangers. In the next five games, he added four more goals and a bundle of assists.</p><p>&ldquo;It helps to win a couple on the road when you&rsquo;re going bad at home,&rdquo; Mahovlich said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve played better on the road than we have at home. Now if we can carry it over and get something going here at home, I think we&rsquo;re on the verge of turning it around.</p><p>&ldquo;If everybody keeps participating like they have, we can keep winning. If we go on our own ways, we&rsquo;ll have problems again. I just know, if we come together and everybody participates, we&rsquo;re a pretty good hockey club.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011143/4243932-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="569" height="929"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>It&rsquo;s not a coincidence that the Red Wings began winning when McCourt got hot.</i></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0006-01

Young Linemates Unveil McCourt’s Best Side

<div class="byline">BY TOM MURRAY</div><p class="dropcap"><span>N</span>EW YORK&mdash;The injury bug, which started its rampage on the Rangers on Christmas Eve in Fred Shero&rsquo;s house, is still going at it strong in Madison Square Garden, dropping Rangers like, well, flies.</p><p>Christmas Eve, you will recall, is the night coach Shero tripped over a shoe and crashed into a piece of furniture, breaking four ribs and missing his team&rsquo;s next 10 games. Well, Freddie&rsquo;s back now, but the team he&rsquo;s watching from his perch behind the bench is a lot different from the one he left almost one month ago.</p><p>Since that time, the injury bug has gone on a rampage, first cutting a path through the Rangers&rsquo; forwards (Ulf Nilsson, Dean Tal-sfous, Don Murdoch) and now moving on to another feeding ground - the defense. And its impact on that particular aspect of the team has been so devastating that, at this writing, only one regular defenseman&mdash;Mario Marois&mdash;is 100 percent.</p><p>The first rearguard to drop was Ron Greschner, who missed three games with back spasms, is now back in the lineup, but nowhere near perfect.</p><p>Dave Maloney was next. In a game against the Winnipeg Jets (a 4-1 win) Maloney banged up his shoulder when Hilliard Graves, of all people, eluded Dave&rsquo;s check. Result? A subpar performance against Boston (a 6-3 loss for New York) and a missed game against Chicago (a 2-1 loss) the next night.</p><p>Carol Vadnais, Maloney&rsquo;s defensive partner, was also hurt in that Winnipeg game when someone hit him from behind as he was twisting his body in an awkward posi-tion. Vadnais&rsquo; back is now so stiff that he won&rsquo;t be joining the team on its three-game road trip to Los Angeles, Vancouver and Chicago.</p><p>How about Barry Beck, you ask? While Bubbs has no dibilitating physical injury plaguing him, he has been severely hampered by a lingering case of the flu bug, a distant relative of the injury bug.</p><p>What this means is that for the road trip the Rangers will be re-quired to promote Tim Bothwell rom New Haven, take along Andre Dore, move Ed Hospodar back to defense&mdash;where his weaknesses in that position were glaringly exposed in that loss to Boston&mdash;and hope and pray that Beek, Maloney and Greschner recover&mdash;quickly.</p><p>With four-fifths of your defensive corps doing a hurt dance, things would certainly be bad enough. But the Rangers are also hurting badly up front, with Ulf Nilsson, Dean Talafous and Don Murdoch suffering minor ailments.</p><p>Nilsson&rsquo;s problem, he says, stems from a shoulder and neck injury be suffered in the WHA two seasons ago. When Ulf started experiencing numbness in his back and right arm several weeks ago (&ldquo;A constant pain,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;like an electric shock.&rdquo;) he was put in the hospital for eight days of observation. When the condition didn&rsquo;t improve, Nilsson tried acupuncture. The jury is still out on the results of that experiment, but one thing is for damn sure: It didn&rsquo;t work so well that Nilsson is ready to play, because he&rsquo;s not making the road trip to the coast.</p><p>Dean Talafous is still plagued by that neck injury which gave him so much trouble last year. The Rangers keen saving that Talafous&rsquo; condition is a &ldquo;day to day thing,&rdquo; but they&rsquo;ve been saying that for three weeks now.</p><p>Don Murdoch bruised his back in that Winnipeg game (the third Ranger to fall in that costly win) when he slammed into a goalpost, had to be helped from the ice, and missed the next two games. He&rsquo;ll make the trip, but Doug Sulliman, reunited with his old junior linemate Don Maloney, has played so well in Murdoch&rsquo;s place that Shero may not want to tamper with that combination. The only thing is, the Rangers sorely miss Murdoch&rsquo;s offense. At the time of the injury, he was the team&rsquo;s hottest scorer.</p><p>As for those minor injuries, Ed Johnstone is playing with a badly bruised thumb, Hedberg has a sore collarbone and Larose has a bruised shoulder.</p><p>And here&rsquo;s the really good news: If the Rangers can crane their sore necks enough to look over their aching shoulders, they&rsquo;ll see that the Islanders are a scant four points behind them in the standings&mdash;almost close enough to catch the Rangers&rsquo; injury bug.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Full-Scale Injury Siege Has Rangers Limping Badly

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><p>BOSTON&mdash;There&rsquo;s trouble ahead for 20 of the 21 teams in the National Hockey League.</p><p>Stan Jonathan is hale and hearty again. He has rediscovered the net. And he&rsquo;s able to play his usual slam bang game once more without the threat of a match penalty hanging over his head.</p><p>The little (5-foot-8, 175 pounds) Indian with the intimidating grin who plays left wing for the Boston Bruins like an erratic bowling ball scored eight goals in six games recently, running his session&rsquo;s total to 15.</p><p>That&rsquo;s nine more than he had all last season when he missed 47 games, first with a broken bone in his right wrist that was slow to heal and then with a right shoulder injury that required him to play with a restrictive brace.</p><p>The shoulder problem was corrected by surgery May 12 but he did not regain full range of movement in his right arm until sometime in November.</p><p>The wrist was a different story. It was an unusual break, the kind doctors call a &ldquo;non-union of bones&rdquo;. It was painful. And he had to wear a solid support bandage similar to a cast so that he could shoot with authority.</p><p>Jonathan got into a fight with Paul Stewart of Quebec Nordiques on Nov. 22 and he wound up with a five-minute match penalty for cutting Stewart&rsquo;s face with the bandage. The Bruins were ahead 5-2 at the time and fortunately Quebec did not score.</p><p>&ldquo;But it could have cost us the hockey game,&rdquo; said Coach Fred Creighton. &ldquo;Somebody could have gone out there and scored three goals in the five minutes. The referee had no choice. It&rsquo;s automatic.</p><p>&ldquo;Stanley has to have the bandage for his wrist. We tried to cut it down but he couldn&rsquo;t get enough support.&rdquo;</p><p>The bandage came off in January, at least during games, and Jonathan celebrated with his old coach. Don Cherry.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not bothering me any more,&rdquo; he reported after the game. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re out there and you try to play an aggressive style and there&rsquo;s an opportunity to take a guy out and you know you might get into an incident, it makes you think before you do anything.</p><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011020/4243987-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="531" height="270"></div><p>&ldquo;I already got a match penalty and thrown out of the game for cutting a guy because I had something on my hand and when that happens you sort of shy away from your game. It took away a lot of the aggressive style I like to play.</p><p>&ldquo;If you&rsquo;ve got something on your hand, even if it&rsquo;s a bandaid, they&rsquo;ll give you a match penalty and your team is short. You&rsquo;ve got to think of your team before you think of yourself.&rdquo;</p><p>Jonathan, who has been playing on a line with speedy Rick Middleton and slick Jean Ratelle, also had to be cautioned by Creighton to hang back a little while the others are working the corners.</p><p>&ldquo;Stanley wants to help out so much that sometimes he ends up in the corner when we have a couple of people there already,&rdquo; said the coach.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s almost like you gotta put a rein on him and keep him back when you&rsquo;ve got Ratelie and Middleton working deep. Stanley feels like the corners are his personal territory.&rdquo;</p><p>The fact that Ratelle and Middleton are such offensive forces in the Bruins lineup also inhibited the distinctive Jonathan style that got him 27 goals two years ago.</p><p>&ldquo;They certainly have a knack of scoring,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was more or less backing them up a lot. They&rsquo;re so great offensively I found myself playing defensively for them. I was trying to get back to stop goals.</p><p>&ldquo;Really that&rsquo;s not my game because my game is in their end and in the corners.&rdquo;</p><p>General Manager Harry Sinden has another theory.</p><p>&ldquo;Taking the bandage off has probably done an awful lot to help him,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but there is another thing to remember. A steady diet of Jean Ratelle never hurt anybody either.&rdquo;</p><p><b>WHAT&rsquo;S BRUIN</b>&mdash;Bruins took no chances on a repetition of the ugly fans vs. players incident in New York when the Rangers visited Boston Garden Jan. 19.</p><p>The security force was boosted by 16 to 48 officers, the number of ushers was increased by 15 to 75 and 14 of the security officers were seated on stools facing the stands where they could watch for trouble.</p><p>There wasn&rsquo;t any.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0007-01

Jonathan Takes Wraps Off Customary Physical Style

<p>The International Hockey Weekly Founded in 1947</p><p>Published by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd. 214 King St. West, Suite 314, Toronto, Ont. M5H 1K4</p><h2><b>Turnaround Under Ruel</b></h2><p><b>HE HAS THE</b> countenance of constant, unremitting crisis and his total dedication has become a positive and contagious factor in the regrouping and advance of Montreal Canadiens.</p><p>Claude Ruel is a dyed-in-the-hide Canadien whose name does not appear in the current NHL guide among practising coaches and general managers of this season. The reason, of course, is that Ruel was not the original 1979 nominee for the Montreal coaching job, although first-half statistics would probably have been better under his stewardship.</p><p>He refuses to look backwards or to pass any judgment on the early season. In all interviews he dates discussion from the day on which he was named to succeed Boom Boom Geoffrion. He talks fundamentals, refuses to touch on personalities or front-office decisions, and looks forward to the champions&rsquo; defense of their title.</p><p>His tactical philosophies are refreshingly honest and simple. He&rsquo;s strong on the work ethic and the constancy of high endeavor. And he believes that the road to the top is ensured by adherence to fundamentals and by the excellence of their execution.</p><p>Under Ruel, Canadien hockey is more than quick sticks, flashing blades and high scores. It&rsquo;s two-way hockey carried out by some of the fastest skaters in the league.</p><p>In an early season inhibited by injuries, Canadiens fashioned one of their worst statistical stories in a decade. In trying to win they surrendered some of their old disciplines. With the appointment of Ruel and the beginning of the turnaround they went back to those fundamental disciplines according to the gospel of Ruel</p><p>He called upon pride&mdash;&ldquo;I want the players to remind themselves of what it took to get here and to wear the bleu blanc et rouge.&rdquo;</p><p>He pounded home the essentials of hockey&mdash;&ldquo;You&rsquo;re never going to change the fundamentals,&rdquo; he said, after Habs had beaten the Soviet Red Army. &ldquo;You get out of your own zone quick and fast. Every time you move the puck ahead you&rsquo;re moving it out of danger. The trouble comes when you try to play the game in your own zone.&rdquo;</p><p>Under Scotty Bowman, he was the practice tutor who was meticulous about detail and the correction of bad habits. Behind the bench he has surrendered none of his old responsibilities.</p><p>In his own dedication he&rsquo;s tireless and the influence has embraced the entire roster. His systems are simple, his orders are absolute and he can&rsquo;t be fooled.</p><p>If Canadiens can remember the Ruel lessons&mdash;and Heaven help them if they don&rsquo;t&mdash;they can once again be the NHL playoff power.</p><h2><b>Questions For 1980</b></h2><p><b>THE NEXT WEEK</b> or two could determine the scope of international athletic competition in 1980.</p><p>Will a boycott of the Moscow Olympics prevail, so that the summer show in the Soviet capital will lose size, glitter and consequence? Can reaction to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, influence participation in the Olympics in Lake Placid? And finally, is the Canada Cup, scheduled for September, also in jeopardy?</p><p>If the Soviets are not invited to the Canada Cup then the event could continue with other contesting teams. But would the satellite Czechs, ranked second, withdraw if the Soviets are snubbed?</p><p>And would the Canada Cup have much meaning&mdash;without the Soviets and Czechs?<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

The Hockey News

<div class="byline">BY LOU NANNE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011134/4244042-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="280" height="430"></div><p class="dropcap"><i><span>L</span>ast summer a rules committee vote on installing overtime play throughout the season was narrowly defeated. Had it passed, it would have been recommended to the Board of governors and possibly added to the NHL rules.</i></p><p><i>Recently, NHL president John Ziegler was quoted as being in favor of overtime if the league was able to overcome hurdles regarding realignment and scheduling. Also in favor of overtime is rules committee member Lou Nanne, the general manager of the Minnesota North Stars.</i></p><p>We voted for it because the amount of time it would take to play overtime wouldn&rsquo;t be significantly more than, I&rsquo;d say, five or six minutes of play, and in that time I think it makes for a more exciting third period which people tend to forget. A lot of times a team might be on the road and they might have a tie, and they just play to hang on for one point&mdash;knowing there&rsquo;s no over-, time.</p><p>So if you open it up and there&rsquo;s going to be an overtime you&rsquo;re going to have a ten-dency to have more wide open play all the way through the third period because you know there&rsquo;s going to be an overtime. And you won&rsquo;t have teams hanging on, so to speak, and it might make a better overall product in that manner, and of course, for the fans, there&rsquo;s no question that overtime is the next most exciting thing to a penalty shot, and we just feel that it would have a lot of advantages.</p><p>The only disadvantage that came up was that some teams, or some people figure that it would make the discrepancy between the top team and the bottom team even greater in the league, but when you look at it and you look at the average number of over-times&mdash;say if there were ten overtimes on the average per team, and if the poor team only won two and two ended up in a tie, there&rsquo;s only a discrepancy of six points and that&rsquo;s not going to be that significant.</p><p>I feel that we want to have an unbalanced schedule, many of us, and I&rsquo;m for an unbalanced schedule, but I don&rsquo;t feel that it has any effect on the overtime.</p><p>Right now charters (flights) are almost negligible. We have one charter this year and it only came about because of the cancellation of a game. And there&rsquo;s no late flights after the games, in most cases, maybe one or two. You&rsquo;re staying overnight anyway.</p><p>If you look back at last season could you tell me which games ended in a tie? Now you might say, o.k., how&rsquo;s it going to affect overtime? Well if you can hardly remember the ties, you might be able to remember the overtimes, but it&rsquo;s not going to be so significant that it&rsquo;s going to have any effect on the playoffs. I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s any relation at all.</p><p>In the playoffs you see how exciting it (overtime) is there, because the game means something and I just think you&rsquo;re adding another dimension to it. It&rsquo;s not going to be as exciting as a playoff overtime that&rsquo;s for sure, but it&rsquo;s going to give the fans a little more for their dollars&rsquo; worth of entertainment.</p><p>I think overall that it&rsquo;s a thing that is going to come because every major sport has it. I mentioned at the meetings, &lsquo;Why are we voting against it?; you tell me one major sport that doesn&rsquo;t have overtime and some wise guy says boxing.&rsquo;</p><p>You look at any other competitive sport, team sport and they have overtime.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-01

Nanne Favors Adoption Of Overtime

<div class="byline">BY MIKE MILBURY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021023/4244073-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="306" height="460"></div><p class="dropcap"><i><span>D</span>efenseman Mike Mil-bury, the Boston Bruins&rsquo; representative to the National Hockey League Players.&rsquo; Association (NHLPA), has been urging his colleagues to reshape the union along more sophisticated lines than it has followed since its inception in 1967. The following is Milbury&rsquo;s declaration of purpose:</i></p><p>Many people have wondered why my teammates and I on the Boston Bruins have taken issue with the operation of the NHLPA. For this reason, I believe it is appropriate for me now to set the record straight.</p><p>The Bruins and I have sought to confront the issues that have brought increasing in-stability to professional hockey, and to both players and management alike. It is through the NHLPA that we tried to do so.</p><p>However, we have become convinced that the present structure and organization of the NHLPA is not suited to efficiently handle these problems. Some fundamental changes must be introduced to gain maximum effectiveness. These changes are a logical consequence of the continuing growth and complexity of the NHL and the Association.</p><p>We would like to see a reorganization of the NHLPA along more formal lines. This type of structure would be neither new nor radical. It would in fact be similar to that used successfully by many modern unions. Therefore, the proposed changes should cause very little apprehension.</p><p>We are making very basic demands of the Association. Proposed steps include:</p><p>&bull; Distribution to every player of an NHLPA Constitution.</p><p>&bull; A brief written history of Association decisions.</p><p>&bull; An agenda detailing possible solutions as well as problems.</p><p>&bull; A full-time rather than, as now, a parttime director.</p><p>&bull; Specific voting procedures and a stenographer to record the minutes of our meetings.</p><p>We have distributed a specific resolution to all members of the NHLPA. It seeks to establish a precedent for choosing a new Executive Director with the aid of an inde-pendent screening board. It would be an important first step in reorganization.</p><p>Adopting our proposals would hopefully create the foundation for a very strong and independent union. It would be immune to the constant turnover of our player repre-sentatives and our executives, allowing us to carry on our business, always in an or-derly, prepared way.</p><p>These steps should not be misinterpreted to mean that the player representatives or our executives would be of less importance. Their responsibilities would be as great as, or greater than, they are now.</p><p>However, it <i>does</i> mean that we will have opened the way for full participation by every member of the Association in its workings. We would be encouraging our 400-plus members to be informed of and to discuss Association matters, to submit ideas and alternatives for consideration, and to accept the responsibilities they assumed by joining the NHLPA. We would be tapping our greatest resource&mdash;our membership. For too long, there have been too many barriers against our being informed, and participating, in matters that affect our futures: the time to change that situation is at hand.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-02

Upgrading The Players Union

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div><p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>UFFALO&mdash;It was like one of those sports novels kids used to read. The fathers of present-day National Hockey League players probably read them. By Ralph Henry Barbour, Vic Heyliger, Bert L. Standish, Clair Bee.</p><p>Here&rsquo;s what happened:</p><p>Danny Gare, the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; captain and top goal scorer, suffered a corneal abrasion on his right eye during a game in Edmonton.</p><p>After examination by a specialist, Gare was sent back to Buffalo for treatment. Rick Dudley, a veteran winger who sat out that game in Edmonton (a Buffalo loss) as an extra player, took Gare&rsquo;s place the next game.</p><p>Dudley, who plays both wings, became the right winger on a line with Derek Smith and Tony McKegney. That line, with Gare on the right side, had been the Sabres&rsquo; most effective scoring combination over the last ten games or so.</p><p>The game after Edmonton was in Los Angeles, against the Kings and Marcel Dionne, far and away the league&rsquo;s leading scorer.</p><p>All Dudley did was score two goals and assist on a third as the Sabres won, 4-2. He was, in fact, credited with a hat trick, three goals, on the official score sheet.</p><p>In the dressing room after the game, Dudley spoke as one of the heroes of one of those Ralph Henry Barbour books might have.</p><p>&ldquo;I thought I scored two goals and had one assist. No way I scored that (Buffalo&rsquo;s) second goal. That should go to Derek Smith. I wish I could say that I scored it,&rdquo; said Dudley.</p><p>The official score sheet later was changed.</p><p>Still, not a bad night for a guy who went into the game with three goals and nine assists for the season.</p><p>Dudley, however, is not an extra forward who wonders whether he is going to dress for a game or not. He is a utility man, all right, but he nearly always is in the lineup. The Edmonton game was unusual.</p><p>Roger Neilson, the Sabres&rsquo; associate coach, was directing the club in the Los Angeles game as he was on all four stops on a western tour. After the game he said, of Dudley, &ldquo;He has been a useful guy all year for us. We use him on the power play, he kills penalties, he&rsquo;s a good defensive forward. He stirs things up. He&rsquo;s a real utility player.&rdquo;</p><p>Dudley has been especially valuable in front of the net on power plays. The last game of the western trip, against Vancouver last Friday, he stirred things up in front and got an assist on a powerplay goal by Gil Perreault in a 2-2 tie.</p><p>Dudley was a 31-goal scorer on the Sabre team that went to the Stanley Cup finals in 1975. Then he jumped to the World Hockey Association for the big bucks.</p><p>In the WHA he was a league allstar with the Cincinnati Stingers, where he had been a favorite earlier, in his American Hockey League days.</p><p>Rick returned to the NHL partway through last season. He received a rousing welcome from the Buffalo fans, who remembered his headlong dashes into the corners and his combat in front of the opposing net.</p><p>Dudley didn&rsquo;t exactly resume where he left off. It took him a while to work into the Buffalo team. He went through the first ten games back without picking up a point.</p><p>Then he got ten points in the last ten games of the season. This season, he got off to a slow start again. Eleven games without a point, until he scored a goal in a 43 win over Toronto.</p><p><b>ICE CHIPS&mdash;</b> Dionne was shut out without a point in that Los Angeles game for only the third time this season. Don Luce and Craig Ramsay, who with John Gould, played against Dionne&rsquo;s high-scoring line, also did a great job of killing penalties and Ramsay scored a goal.</p><p>Neilson was in charge of the Sabres for six of the Sabres&rsquo; last nine games, including the four on the western trip, plus the club&rsquo;s 6-1 victory over the Central Red Army Team.</p><p>Gare, who had perhaps his best first-half season, hoped to be back in action after missing three or four games.</p><p>Don Edwards started all four games on the western trip, two wins, a tie and a loss, which gave him nine straight goaltending starts, plus the game against the Soviets.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Sabres Have Stock In Dudley’s Utility Power

<div class="byline">BY JIM MATHESON</div><p>EDMONTON&mdash;He practices every day. Makes the road trips. Even skates in the pre-game warm-ups.</p><p>But former Finnish national team forward Kari Makkonen spends almost every night watching Edmonton Oilers from the stands or press box. As of the third week in January, the 25-year-old leftwing from Pori, has played in just eight of Oilers&rsquo; 43 games. Actually, that&rsquo;s not wholly true. In four of those, he barely budged from the end of the bench.</p><p>Considering he&rsquo;s making in the neighborhood of $40,000 to $50,000 on the first-year of a two-season pact, that&rsquo;s pretty good money for R&R. About $5,000 a game and even league scoring leader Marcel Dionne doesn&rsquo;t haul down that much per outing.</p><p>Makkonen would rather not take the money and sit, however. &ldquo;The money is very good,&rdquo; said the Finn, who is slowly but surely learning to speak English. &ldquo;But it is not everything. I came to the National Hockey League to play.&rdquo;</p><p>To many it&rsquo;s a mystery why he&rsquo;s not. Especially on a club that isn&rsquo;t endowed with shifty goalscorers. Makkonen, who scored 36 goals in as many games with his club team Assat last season, has a good touch around the net. But, he can&rsquo;t seem to beat out Brett Caliighen, who plays leftwing on the team&rsquo;s No. 1 line with Wayne Gretzky and Blair MacDonald; checking forward Dave Hunter; rugged Cam Connor or even police-man Dave Semenko.</p><p>On a 19-man roster, he&rsquo;s firmly ensconced as the 20th man. Even as Oilers keep losing, he keeps sitting.</p><p>&ldquo;I have not been told why I don&rsquo;t play,&rdquo; said Makkonen, who is one of four Finns (teammate Risto Siltanen, Washington&rsquo;s Antero Lehtonen and Atlanta&rsquo;s Pekka Rautakallio are the others) in the National Hockey League this season.</p><p>&ldquo;Perhaps it is because the coach does not like Finns.&rdquo; Sather has never bad-mouthed Europeans. In fact Siltanen, a 21-year-old rushing defenseman, is a regular. And the club protected a Swede, Bengt-Ake Gustafsson, in last summer&rsquo;s expansion draft, before Washington Caps pirated him away.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>He&rsquo;s not going to dazzle anyone&hellip;but he&rsquo;s more physical than lots of Europeans</b></blockquote><p>&ldquo;Kari had a language problem to overcome when he first came here,&rdquo; said Sather. &ldquo;That and the fact that his wife (Tujin) was pregnant. It was a tough time for him.&rdquo;</p><p>But that&rsquo;s all in the past now. Makkonen, while he won&rsquo;t win any public speaking awards, is more comfortable with North America and it&rsquo;s particularities now. And his wife gave birth to a baby boy in December.</p><p>December was Makkonen&rsquo;s big month, all around. He actually got to play regularly in a couple of games. He picked up an assist (his first point) when Oilers got bombed 8-3 by Winnipeg Dec. 7: then he popped two goals and a helper in back-to-back games against Atlanta and Montreal at home Dec. 12 and Dec. 14.</p><p>He hasn&rsquo;t played since Dec. 21 in Colorado, however, as Sather&rsquo;s enthusiasm for the winger waned. He&rsquo;d like to maybe send him to the minors, but Makkonen has a clause in his contract that says he can veto that. He went once for two weeks but that was plen-ty.</p><p>&ldquo;He played well for a few games,&rdquo; said Sather, who inserted the winger in Callighen&rsquo;s spot with Gretzky. &ldquo;But&hellip;&rdquo;</p><p>But the audition was shortlived.</p><p>Again strange when you consider that Makkonen has more points in eight games than Semenko has in 40-plus. Strange when you see how he likes hitting opposing players&hellip;Something not all Europeans relish.</p><p>It&rsquo;s true he&rsquo;s not Hans Brinker on skates. He&rsquo;s not going to dazzle anyone with his footwork like Swede Anders Hedberg or Czech Vaclav Nedomansky. But, he&rsquo;s more physical than a lot of Europeans playing regularly on other teams.</p><p>All in all, it&rsquo;s difficult to understand. Oilers are paying a salary, not to mention an additional $50,000 ($25,000 down and the additional when he plays 40 games in the NHL) to the Finnish Ice Hockey Federation for his services.</p><p>And all he is a DS.</p><p>Designated Sitter.</p><p>&ldquo;I really think he can play,&rdquo; admits Sather. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not a waste of time.</p><p>Maybe not. But Makkonen must feel Oilers are wasting his.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Designated Sitter Makkonen Waiting For Chance

<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/f0010-011121/4244152-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="547" height="319"></div><h2><b>Canadian Division Realignment Must</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span> am confident most Canadian hockey fans would agree that in any realignment of the NHL, a Canadian division is a must. Originally an opponent of an NHL-WHA merger, I finally hoped it would take place so that perhaps a Canadian division within the NHL could become a reality. Since hockey is primarily a Canadian game, this would make a lot of sense economically and politically.</p><p>The concept to which I refer is not without precedent. In 1926, upon the admission of the New York Rangers, Chicago Black Hawks and Detroit Cougars, the 10 team NHL was divided into two sections&mdash;the Canadian and American divisions. Unfortunately, this arrangement was short-lived due to financial hardship. It was revived by the late WHA in a modified form in what was seen by that organization as a logical step in an attempt to attract fans. If nothing else, at least the WHA was progressive.</p><p>If a Canadian division of the NHL is agreed to, I believe it will not only bring a greater sense of national unity to all Canadians, but will also encourage cities like Calgary, Halifax and Hamilton to apply for a franchise in the NHL. The people in these places deserve and could support professional hockey teams.</p><p><b>Bernard Kerr</b><br><i>Mississauga, Ont.</i></p><h2><b>Against Abuse Of Rangers</b></h2><p>I am writing on behalf of many New York Ranger fans to try to do something about the abuse they have been taking from one of your more controversial writers. Week in and week out Stanley Fischler finds something to knock the Rangers about and I am sick and tired of this verbal envy by the Islanders&rsquo; announcer. I can understand why Stanley is so envious&mdash;if I had to watch the Islanders choke on the playoff apple year after year I would be envious too.</p><p>However, I feel Mr. Fischler should write advice to Mr. Torrey instead of knocking Sonny Werblin every time he tries to improve his hockey club. Believe me Stanley, we, the fans, will let Mr. Werblin know when we&rsquo;re upset with him.</p><p><b>Robert Chacon</b><br><i>West Babylon, N.Y.</i></p><h2><b>Thinking Twice About Penalties</b></h2><p>I can&rsquo;t stand going to a game that&rsquo;s filled with penalties, so one of the things I would really like to see is the two-minute penalty changed to three minutes instead. This way a player would have to think twice about taking one.</p><p>When two teams are playing a whale of a hockey game, the last thing a coach wants is a guy to take a double minor penalty, especially if it&rsquo;s a low scoring game and the goalies are hot (a 1-0 or 1-1 score).</p><p>This would really speed up a game, cut down the member of goons, make the players and goalie happier with five guys on the ice instead of four, and most of all, make a more satisfying game for everyone.</p><p>Anyone for a four minute penalty?</p><p><b>Doug Horvath</b><br><i>Hamilton, Ont.</i></p><h2><b>Thrives On CHL Action</b></h2><p>I whole-heartedly agree with the views in the letter submitted by Bill Westerman of Muskegon, Mi. (Jan. 11) when he said that hockey has little, or no place in the south.</p><p>Granted, the Central Hockey League is alive and well in Ft. Worth-Dallas and Houston areas, but it is my opinion (and that of several people) that the NHL would be making a grave error in placing a team in the north Texas metroplex. If the NHL does go through with their plans to put a team in the Dal-las-Ft. Worth area, then not only will the CHL suffer, with the loss of the Ft. Worth Texans and Dallas Blackhawks, but the fans will suffer also.</p><p>Dallas cannot support a team, nor can Ft. Worth. If the NHL is to grant this area a franchise it would have to be located in the mid-cities area, much the same way as the Texas Rangers baseball club is located in Arlington, Texas (about half way between Ft. Worth and Dallas.)</p><p>I strongly urge the NHL higher-ups to compromise and put the team in Arlington (if we are to get one) or don&rsquo;t give us one at all. We are just as happy with CHL action.</p><p><b>H.G. Robin</b><br><i>Ft. Worth, TX</i></p><h2><b>Time To Count Flyers&rsquo; Virtues</b></h2><p>I am writing in response to Robert W. Sundermann&rsquo;s letter (&ldquo;Flyers&rsquo; Style Remains Same,&rdquo; Jan. 11 issue).</p><p>Why is it that fans of other cities can only see the Flyers&rsquo; faults? What about their incredible unbeaten streak? To accuse the Flyers of being &ldquo;&hellip;masters) of the cheap shot&hellip;&rdquo; is unfair. Their unbeaten streak was not formulated by goonery, as Mr. Sundermann implies.</p><p>Because the Flyers won two Stanley Cups, everyone overlooks the real intimidators in the league. Case in point: Ed Hospodar of the Rangers personally sidelines three Flyers and nearly one linesman with his cheapshot tactics in a game in New York on Jan. 4. Doesn&rsquo;t that count, or can only Flyer players be called goons?</p><p><b>Anthony Rufo</b><br><i>Upper Darby, PA</i></p><h2><b>Short On Unity In Toronto</b></h2><p>The recent trade of Toronto Maple Leafs Lanny MacDonald and Joel Quenneville to the Colorado Rockies seems to be another chapter of the Toronto Maple Leaf soap opera; &lsquo;The Struggle for Power&rsquo;.</p><p>It is apparent that the players on the Toronto Maple Leafs are becoming more vociferous and involved with office politics rather than playing the sport for which they are being paid.</p><p>As fans, perhaps we are not totally informed of internal affairs within the Leaf organi-zation; however, the recent behavior and actions by both management and players does not indicate overall improvement for the interest of the team. It is time for egos to be deflated and players to concentrate on playing the game! It is also time for Harold Ballard to support &lsquo;his team&rsquo; rather than publicly criticize in an attempt to shake-up the team.</p><p>Without <i>a</i> doubt there is a tremendous amount of pride and history for the fans of Toronto and the city. They do deserve more than what has been presented to them by the players and management. It is a time for unity between players and management.</p><p><b>George L. Godden</b><br><i>Islip Terrace, NY</i></p><h2><b>Banner Tells Fans&rsquo; Story</b></h2><p>Mr. Werblin should make an exception and allow one banner to be displayed at Madison Square Garden, reading: FAN: 1) Enthusiastic devotee (as of a sport or performing art), usually a spectator; 2) An ardent admirer or enthusiast.</p><p>In addition to the true Ranger fans, their home games are attended by a large number of the following: 1) Idiots who throw anything not nailed down to the floor. The possibility that someone in the seats or on the ice might be physically injured does not matter to them. 2) Those trying to get involved with the teams (Madison Square Garden vs. Boston Bruins, Dec. 23). Though the players shouldn&rsquo;t have gone into the stands, there should have been no provocation for them to do so.</p><p>And, what about the large number of loudmouths who chant profanities and obsceni-ties in unison? Inoffensive words would convey their feelings just as well, and booing has sufficed for thousands of years to effectively convey displeasure.</p><p>Because they paid to see the game, these ticketholders believe they have the right to say anything. These people should clean up their act or turn in their tickets so that more true Ranger fans can attend games.</p><p><b>Rosalyn Biggers</b><br><i>Hillside, NJ</i></p><h2><b>In Defense Of Serge Savard</b></h2><p>I was just incensed when I read all the cheap shots by several of your columnists di-rected at Serge Savard. I couldn&rsquo;t believe the lack of class shown by their remarks. It seems like everyone is taking Bernie Geoffrion&rsquo;s words as gospel when he was only looking for a scapegoat. Unfortunately every newspaper in the country picked up the wire service stories and his comments resulted in a lot of unfavorable criticism for Savard. And I can&rsquo;t let so many hockey fans get the wrong impression of a guy who has dope so much for hockey in Montreal and the NHL over the years.</p><p>He certainly is not responsible for the way Canadiens have been playing this season. Just because he wears a &ldquo;C&rdquo; on his jersey doesn&rsquo;t mean he&rsquo;s Houdini. Technically, he&rsquo;s been captain (although acting) for two of the last three seasons and nothing was mentioned about his lack of leadership then.</p><p>And the Professional Hockey Writers Association need never fear about their choice of last season&rsquo;s Masterton trophy winner. To accuse Savard of lacking dedication is slanderous! In conclusion, Ken McKenzie and I obviously have not been watching the same player this season because I certainly can&rsquo;t agree with his assessment of my star defenseman. With all the pot shots being taken at him lately it&rsquo;s a good thing Serge has people like me who keep reminding him how great he really is.</p><p><b>Jean Cardillo</b><br><i>Somerville, MA</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-01

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011073/4244183-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Kings will have to do something about lessening the workload of Butch Goring, especially penalty-killing.</i> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>L</span>OS ANGELES&mdash;The Kings reached the halfway point of the season at a higher plane than ever before in their history&mdash;in a tie for first place in their division. And they&rsquo;d played two less games than Montreal. Of course, no one expects the Canadiens&rsquo; slump to last forever. And Pittsburgh was close behind. But it was nice.</p><p>The Kings weren&rsquo;t exactly tearing the league apart. At the midway mark they were six games over .500 at 19-13-8 for 46 points. Last year they were 17-17-6 for 40 points. They put together an identical second half to finish 34-34-12 and 80 points.</p><p>One season they had 22 wins, another season 21. They have had 40 or more points at the halfway six times in their 13 seasons, but 44 matches their second-best ever. In the 1974-75 season under Bob Pulford and Jake Milford they were 22-6-12 for 56 points and wound up 42-17-21 for 105 points.</p><p>This could be their second-best season ever. They led the league in goals with 172, primarily due to the first line of Marcel Dionne, Charlie Simmer and Dave Taylor, which had 97. The second line, led by Butch Goring and Mike Murphy, has been struggling. Defenseman Doug Halward was the highest scoring defenseman in the league and has been contributing a lot to the offense.</p><p>The defense has given up 151 goals. Only four clubs have given up more. But the defensemen have tightened up lately and the forwards have been providing more help. The goaltending by Ron Grahame and Mario Lessard has been adequate.</p><p>The Kings&rsquo; primary problems have been with and against power plays. They are just about the worst in the league in both.</p><p>Offensively, this is inexplicable since the first line fronts the unit and has been punishing opponents at even strength. And Halward and Goring provide splendid point work. But, the unit just hasn&rsquo;t been clicking.</p><p>Defensively, Goring and Murphy long have been among the league&rsquo;s top penalty-killers, but may have slowed down.</p><p>Bob Berry admits he knows little abut it since he never served in shorthanded situations. He will let his aide, Frank St. Marseille, take over. Steve Carlson and others may get more work. Freeing Goring of this chore may revive the 30-year-old veteran.</p><p>Coach Berry says, &ldquo;In my first season as coach last season I aimed for a .500 record and was satisfied to get it. Now I&rsquo;ll need a lot more to be satisfied, but I haven&rsquo;t set any goals. I just want the team to play every game as well as it can and lately we have been playing the kind of hockey we can play most games.</p><p>&ldquo;We do not yet have a great team, but we have a good team that can have a good season. We have some tremendously talented players, but we don&rsquo;t have enough of them. We can&rsquo;t count on the first line for all our scoring. We have to get better balance in our scoring. We have to continue to tighten up on defense. We have to improve our penalty-killing.&rdquo;</p><p>General manager George Maguire says, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m pleased with our progress so far. I think Bob is doing a good job. I think we&rsquo;re doing more with what we have than some other teams are doing with what they have. But I do think we need a couple more bodies to give us a lift through the second half.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t expect to land top players, but I would like to get a couple of players who are better than what we have at a couple of positions. I&rsquo;ve been trying to trade and I&rsquo;ve offered good deals to a couple of clubs, but everyone wants something for nothing, everyone wants to do me in.</p><p>&ldquo;We have everyone we own who can play or is ready to play in this league with us now. It&rsquo;s no secret we could use a good-sized defenseman who can play, but I&rsquo;ll take anyone who can help. But we&rsquo;replaying pretty well, I don&rsquo;t feel I have to make a move, and I&rsquo;m willing to wait.&rdquo;</p><p>Owner Jerry Buss has come in with the same sort of enthusiasm Jack Kent Cooke had when he founded the franchise and is providing support to his leaders while having relieved them of some of the pressure they formerly felt. The organization seems to be operating effectively now.</p><p><b>KINGS THINGS:</b> Reportedlv rookie pros Jay Wells and Mark</p><p>Hardy are playing well in the AHL and could provide defensive help before long&hellip;The Kings have been interested in Indianapolis as their farm team&hellip;Buss is interested in deals to buy the Oakland A&rsquo;s bring an NFL team to LA, and bring back World Team Tennis.</p><p>At the midway mark the Kings had lost only two of their last 12 games, had won eight straight at home, and were successfully getting through their longest road trip of the season. They were 12-2-5 at home and 7-11-3 on the road.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-01

Kings Breathing Rare Air Near Norris Division Top

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div><p class="dropcap"><span>V</span>ANCOUVER&mdash;It is that time in Vancouver again. The time every year about mid-January when everyone starts asking, what&rsquo;s happening to the Vancouver Canucks?</p><p>And every year there is some pawing at half-answers never realy getting at the question. Injuries and the schedule are the usual excuses and reasons, but there never seems to be a change in behavior.</p><p>This year it did look like it could be different. Early in the year Canucks were sixth in the overall standings and had a comfortable lead in the Smythe Division standings.</p><p>But as they came home from their stretch which saw them play 16 of 20 games on the road, they found themselves in third place, 15th overall, and looking about as poor as they have for several seasons.</p><p>They are still a better hockey club than at any time in their 10-year history, but that doesn&rsquo;t seem to matter much when you&rsquo;ve just lost five straight and only won one of the last 14 on the road.</p><p>And the losses are coming in the strangest way.</p><p>How many times have Canucks gone into Washington and Toronto and generated 40 and 48 shots respectively in the other team&rsquo;s rink? Still they lose.</p><p>Crazy things happen to them, like Glen Hanlon being tossed out of a game for being the third man in to save Jere Gillis from what he thought was a pounding from Paul Mulvey.</p><p>Players like Chris Oddleifson and Lars Lindgren, who got off to such great starts, have fallen on slow times. The goal production has fallen off radically. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not playing with nearly the intensity we were at the beginning of the season,&rdquo; said Harry Neale, the coach who is trying to figure out why. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re into the toughest part of our schedule and that is part of the reason, but I don&rsquo;t think that is really the problem. I could see this sort of thing coming back when we were home and playing Edmonton and Quebec. Actually, in our last 20 games, we played four of our worst games at home and won three of them. We have played some good hockey lately and have not been rewarded for it and that gets spirits down. We&rsquo;re like children and we like to be rewarded right away for our efforts.&rdquo;</p><p>Canucks&rsquo; efforts of late simply have not been good enough for a team with injuries to win on the road against teams who need the points just as much as they do.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011094/4244214-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="577" height="722"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Chris Oddleifson cooled off after a fast start much the same as has happened with the Canucks as a team.</i></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re going like we are, you never seem to get a timely goal,&rdquo; said assistant coach Dave Dunn. &ldquo;In some instances you might get another if you get that timely one, but teams that are in slumps never get them. We&rsquo;ve just got to make sure we don&rsquo;t get discouraged, and hope our luck changes when we get home.&rdquo;</p><p>Indeed, Canucks do have 22 of their final 36 games at home, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean they&rsquo;ll have a good finish.</p><p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to guard against the feeling that just because you are home that you will automatically win,&rdquo; said Neale. &ldquo;We play some pretty tough teams, especially right now in this next week, and getting off to a good start on the homestand will certainly help.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-01

Breaks Evaded Canucks On Lengthy Road Trip

<div class="byline">BILL LIBBY&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02931/4244252-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="333" height="358"></div><h2><b>All-Canadian Kid</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>T IS SAID</b> of Bobby Smith that he is the prototype All-Canadian Kid and too good to be true. After watching, meeting, and talking to this 22-year-old second-season marvel of the Minnesota North Stars, you wonder if he is not underrated.</p><p>Robert David Smith was born in February of 1958 in North Sydney, Nova Scotia. His father, Gerald, was an excellent all-around athlete who played football, baseball, and tennis, as well as hockey, and coached his kids extensively.</p><p>&ldquo;He grew up in depression days and had to go to work early. He never really had a chance to pursue professional athletics, but he was talented. He never pushed us into athletics, but he encouraged us and coached some of our organized teams,&rdquo; Bobby says.</p><p>One brother, Dan, quar-, ter-backed McGill University in Canada&rsquo;s national collegiate championship football game. A sister, Mary Lou, was Canada&rsquo;s national junior champion in tennis at14. Another sister, Paula, played for the Canadian National Junior Volleyball Team. Bobby was a superb all-around athlete in high school and represented Team Canada in the 1974 hockey series in the Soviet Union.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03676/4244245-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="265" height="431"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Bobby Smith</i></figcaption></div><p>Gerald Smith works for the federal government in Ottawa. His wife, Jeanne, is interested in education. Of their children, Dan became a lawyer; Bobby wants to become a doctor. The oldest daughter, Helen, was a nurse in Toronto and now is with her husband at Duke University. Mary Lou, who wants to teach, is headed for Ottawa University. Paula works for the government.</p><p>Bobby says, &ldquo;My parents always wanted us to get an education. They wanted us to make the most of ourselves in all aspects of life, not just sports. I remember when I was in the second grade and brought home a math paper in which I had gotten nine ques-tions right out of ten. My mom asked why I had missed the one I missed. She taught me to set high standards for myself.</p><h2><b>Prepared For Pre-Med</b></h2><p><b>&ldquo;THIS WAS TRUE</b> of my hockey, too. She and dad did everything possible for me to play because it was what I wanted, but when I was playing poorly at the bantam level she wondered if it was what I should pursue. She suggested new skates might help and took me to a sporting goods store. The salesman who sold me my skates was Denis Potvin. This was in Ottawa, where he was a junior.</p><p>&ldquo;When I was a junior playing in Ottawa, I enrolled at the University. I took courses in chemistry, math, and psychology and was preparing myself for Pre-Med. I took two years to finish my first year. I didn&rsquo;t want to cheat my hockey or my studies so I made time for both. I did all right at both. I read books on bus-trips to games. But when I got to the game, I concentrated on my sport.</p><p>&ldquo;I knew I had the potential to play professional hockey, but I didn&rsquo;t know if I was going to make it and I wanted to keep my studies up and my grades high so I could devote myself to medicine if I didn&rsquo;t make it in hockey. I still don&rsquo;t know if I made the wise choice but I love hockey and wanted to play. The money is very good, but money isn&rsquo;t everything. Besides, I don&rsquo;t know many doctors who are starving. I still want to be a doctor some day and I want to keep up my studies summers, but after awhile I may turn to something else.</p><p>&ldquo;Suddenly, I&rsquo;m a hockey star, but I&rsquo;m sure my parents are as proud of my brother who&rsquo;s a lawyer and of my sisters. I&rsquo;m proud of them all. I don&rsquo;t feel above them one bit. I&rsquo;m just a little more in the spotlight. I can use that to good effect.&rdquo;</p><p>He has. Even as a junior he visited nursing homes and hospitals regularly. He still does. He&rsquo;s been working with the United Way. The last couple of Christmases he was involved in charity drives. He says, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m getting a lot. I can give back a little.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>Met His Potential</b></h2><p><b>OTTAWA COACH</b> Brian Kilrea said, &ldquo;If you could pick your son, you&rsquo;d pick someone like Bobby.&rdquo; Minnesota manager Lou Nanne says, &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the kind of young man and player you pick out of a crowd.&rdquo;</p><p>He picked Bobby when Minnesota had the pick of all amateur players with the first choice in the NHL draft in the summer of 1978. Well, in his last year with Ottawa of the Ontario Hockey Association, Bobby scored 69 goals, 123 assists, and 192 points in only 61 games and was voted Most Valuable Player in the league and the Outstanding Junior in Canada.</p><p>A lot of first choices have not lived up to their potential, including Greg Joly, Mel Bridgman, Rick Green, and Dale McCourt of the preceding four years, but Bobby Smith did. He scored 30 goals, 44 assists, and 74 points and was chosen in separate polls by the fans, writers, and his fellow players as Rookie of the Year in the NHL last season. He received twice the votes of any other newcomer in the Calder Cup competition.</p><p>He is six-feet, four inches tall, weighs 210 pounds, has long arms and an enormous reach. He is smart, powerful, and fast on his skates. He is a superb playmaker, who also shoots hard and hits hard. His coach, Glen Sonmor, says, &ldquo;He is going to put a lot of people in the seats because he is the type of player who brings people out of their seats.&rdquo; Assistant Murray Oliver says, &ldquo;He has a feel for the game, an instinct you can&rsquo;t teach.&rdquo; Rival Scotty Bowman says, &ldquo;He is the game&rsquo;s next superstar.&rdquo;</p><p>Bobby, who is still single and lives alone in an apartment near his home arena, savs. &ldquo;Every step I&rsquo;ve taken has required an adjustment, but I&rsquo;ve reached the top at each stage. I don&rsquo;t know how far I can go, but I&rsquo;ll work hard to make the most of my potential. I haven&rsquo;t had a hard life, but I have worked hard to make the most of it. I&rsquo;d like to help my team reach the top and we may be the most improved team in the league. Life is a lot of fun for me right now.&rdquo;</p><p>He broke his ankle early this season, but didn&rsquo;t let that stop him. Recently he returned and banged in two goals in one game.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-02

HOCKEY AD LIB

<div class="byline">BY PAT DOYLE</div><p>WINNIPEG&mdash;Tom McVie can&rsquo;t seem to escape conflict with opposition coaches.</p><p>First, of course, he had his infamous run-in with Al MacNeil of Atlanta Flames back in November. If you came in late, it was on the night of Nov. 6 in the Georgia city when McVie attempted to punch out MacNeil during the course of Winnipeg Jets first game ever at the Omni.</p><p>For his trouble that night, McVie was fined $500 and suspended for three games.</p><p>Now, McVie has been dragged into a verbal feud with Frank St. Marseille, assistant to coach Bob Berry with Los Angeles Kings.</p><p>St. Marseille, it turns out, isn&rsquo;t&rsquo; wild about McVie&rsquo;s coaching techniques.</p><p>&ldquo;They look tired to me,&rdquo; St. Marseille said recently about McVie&rsquo;s Jets. &ldquo;And I&rsquo;m not at all surprised. He works them too hard. Everyone says he&rsquo;s a good coach, but his teams always die in midseason because they&rsquo;re too tired. They get the jump on every-body, then die.&rdquo;</p><p>Marseille&rsquo;s comments came while Jets were deep in the throes of their longest National Hockey League winless streak, nine games.</p><p>Reluctantly, McVie reacted to St. Marseille&rsquo;s appraisal of his coaching.</p><p>&ldquo;Every team has to have a trademark,&rdquo; says McVie, &ldquo;and my teams have to be the hardest working.&rdquo;</p><p>McVie preached according to the same gospel during his two and a half seasons as coach of Washington Capitals, and he wasn&rsquo;t without detractors then, either. He was accused of overworking his club on game days.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;d waited 25 years to get to the NHL,&rdquo; McVie offers in defense of himself, &ldquo;and I wasn&rsquo;t going to blow my chance by being a lame duck coach.&rdquo;</p><p>McVie drummed the work ethic into the lethargic Capitals when he took control of the team on Dec. 31, 1975, and he reformed the club from the laughing stock of the NHL into a very respectable squad.</p><p>&ldquo;We became competitive,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We restored the players&rsquo; pride. They began thinking about hockey.&rdquo;</p><p>Directing his comments toward St. Marseille, McVie said, &ldquo;Our workload is bigger than L.A.&rsquo;s. Of course, Frank wouldn&rsquo;t know anything about that. Besides, I don&rsquo;t know who St. Marseille is to talk. He&rsquo;s been looking for a job for three years now.&rdquo;</p><p>McVie didn&rsquo;t have any numbers at his disposal to discount St. Marseille&rsquo;s theory, but the facts indicate the latter was simply spewing hot air.</p><p>McVie coached two full seasons in Washington and the club&rsquo;s record in the final three months of each season was better than the first three.</p><p>In the first portion of the 1976-77 term, Capitals&rsquo; record was 10-22-4; in the final half they were 14-20-10. That&rsquo;s an increase of 14 points:</p><p>In the first portion of the 1977-78 term, Caps&rsquo; stood at 6-21-8; the rest of the way they went 11-28-6. That makes for an eight-point increase in production.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

McVie’s Techniques Draw Rival’s Scorn

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011049/4244307-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="437" height="345"></div><h2><b>Refereeing System Bad</b></h2><p><b>PLEASE&mdash;PRETTY PLEASE!&mdash;</b> don&rsquo;t tell me that NHL refereeing is worse than ever this season. It is ever thus, always <i>seemingly</i> bad.</p><p>&ldquo;When I did publicity for the Rangers in 1950,&rdquo; says journalist Stan Saplin, &ldquo;we said the refereeing was bad. And when I covered hockey for the (N.Y.) Journal-American later in the 1950s we said it again. I&rsquo;m not surprised that they&rsquo;re still saying it.&rdquo;</p><p>Nothing changes. The refereeing is not&mdash;repeat <i>NOT&mdash;</i> bad. It is the officiating <i>system</i> that stinks. Anyone with half a puck in his head should realize that it is both physically and mentally impossible for one referee to detect the innumerable infractions through the maze of swirling skaters in today&rsquo;s high-speed game.</p><p>What to do? Get the linesmen off the ice and placed in upraised chairs at all lines. Have two referees on the ice, each responsible for half the rink and don&rsquo;t worry about them calling plays slightly differently.</p><p>What about the present? The best NHL referee is John McCauley who, unfortunately, was punched by a certain cretin last year and now is acting as officiating supervisor until&mdash;we hope&mdash;his injured eye regains normal vision.</p><p>With McCauley sidelined who, then, is number one with whistle?</p><p>I pick Andy Van Hellemond although others disagree. &ldquo;He (Van Hellemond) gets a bit chippy,&rdquo; complains one NHLer, &ldquo;and makes it difficult to speak with him.&rdquo;</p><p>Another sometime top choice is Bruce Hood&mdash;with a big <i>IF.</i> Hood is a veteran ref and like too many oldtimers, he tends to cruise. &ldquo;But,&rdquo; says a player, &ldquo;when Hood is on his game he is the best!&rdquo;</p><p>The worst? One fellow suggested Bryan Lewis, yet when I mentioned Lewis&rsquo; name to another NHLer he shot back that Bryan &ldquo;is one of the best, if not the best.&rdquo;</p><p>Interestingly, few critics knock the linesmen. (&ldquo;They&rsquo;re all good,&rdquo; was one reply I obtained).</p><p>That&rsquo;s not surprising. After all there are <i>two</i> linesmen and only one ref, yet the ref&rsquo;s job is twice as hard.</p><p>CONCLUSION: Change the system. Put two refs on ice.</p><p><b>NOTES:</b> The whisper in Toronto is that Leafs&rsquo; emperor Hal Ballard would like GM. Punch Imlach to retire before all the stress at Maple Leaf Gardens physically ruins Punch who already has a heart condition&hellip;An NHL coach tells me that he&rsquo;s already casting an eye at the Flames&rsquo; roster should Atlanta be unable to support NHL hockey through 1980-81&hellip;Alan (Bottom Line) Cohen, the one-time Madison Square Garden exec, reportedly has queued up for the New Jersey Meadowlands NHL franchise&hellip;If you can believe a chap close to the club, some members of the Rangers are still quietly expressing their jealousy of the bread-and-butter combo, Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson&hellip;If anything proves that Al Eagleson should <i>NOT</i> be both union boss <i>and</i> individual player rep it is his role in the anti-Imlach uprising in Toronto&hellip;Don (Grapes) Cherry auditioned for a Lite Beer commercial without his pet dog, Blue. Could it be that they&rsquo;re separating, or does Blue prefer ale?&hellip;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m four regulars away from having a contender,&rdquo; says Grapes&hellip;Why did Vancouver trade Ron Sedlbauer to Chicago? When I talked to Canucks&rsquo; coach Harry Neale about it, he said, &ldquo;There are nights when Ron is in lunar space!&rdquo;&hellip;Goalie John Davidson has this to say about Ranger fans: &ldquo;The booing is the way people do things in New York. I&rsquo;m for the fans&mdash;out I don&rsquo;t like the smut they use sometimes.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>Flyers&rsquo; Quinn Exceptional</b></h2><p><b>BEST COACH:</b> Last week I mentioned that if I had three hundred grand to spend on a coach I&rsquo;d go for Don Cherry, Glen Sonmor, Johnny Wilson or Harry Neale, knowing that Scotty Bowman is tops.</p><p>This opinion is not shared on Broad, Walnut, Chestnut or Market Streets in Philadelphia. There it is believed that nobody can hold a blackboard stick to Pat Quinn. Just ask Flyers.</p><p>&ldquo;Pat,&rdquo; says Rick MacLeish, &ldquo;is the ideal coach. I used to think that a tactical system was the most important thing a coach could do for a team.&rdquo;</p><p>That, of course, was the way when Fibber McShero coached the Flyers. &ldquo;But,&rdquo; MacLeish elaborates, &ldquo;if the players don&rsquo;t understand the coach on a personal level and there aren&rsquo;t open avenues of communication when the problems arise, there isn&rsquo;t any way of solving them.&rdquo;</p><p>Captain Mel Bridgman puts it another way: &ldquo;I like a coach who delegates leadership responsibilities but can still run a firm ship.&rdquo;</p><p>Then, there is Andre (Moose) Dupont. &ldquo;The ideal coach must understand the game, himself, his players and management. Until Quinn came along I hadn&rsquo;t seen anyone who could put all four elements together. Pat is the exception/&rsquo; Obviously Quinn <i>is</i> exceptional!</p><p><b>HELP WANTED:</b> A serious shortage of effective nicknames has afflicted the NHL. Why isn&rsquo;t there a Duke, Peewee, Lippy or Skoonj in the lineups? Where are the Hurricanes, Clippers and Babes? Next week I&rsquo;ll find some and pin a few monickers on the likes of Glen Hanlon, Bobby Smith, Larry Robinson and Darryl Sittler.</p><p><b>MEDIA NOTES:</b> Press agent Stan Obodiac&rsquo;s name is on the cover of the new McLelland and Stewart book, <i>The Leafs,</i> but the heavy writing was done by the Toronto Star&rsquo;s Frank Orr as well as Wayne Lilley, John Gault and George Horhota. I asked M&S editor Al Potter why only Obodiac made the cover to which he replied, &ldquo;That&rsquo;s an embarrassing question.&rdquo;&hellip;The NHL&rsquo;s faint hope of landing a U.S. network TV contract now hinges on an American gold medal hockey win in the Olympics being televised by ABC&hellip;Busy Brooklynite Eli Gold handles play-by-play for both the St. Louis Blues and the CHL Birmingham Bulls&hellip;Vancouver Sun hired Englishman James Lawton to fill the spot once occupied by Jim Taylor, now with the Province. Lawton can&rsquo;t&hellip;Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette columnist Ira Lacher must be doing something right. Small-brained fans are ripping him for his courageous anti-ice-littering stand&hellip;Is Newsday&rsquo;s Pat Calabria in the minority when he condemns the rotten during-the-game organ music? I think not.</p><p>The more I see, the more I like Fred Creighton, the quiet but classy Boston Bruins&rsquo; coach, whose sense of humor has gone unnoticed in the media.</p><p>I&rsquo;ll always treasure Creighton&rsquo;s quip when he was coaching Atlanta and the Flames had a lengthy unbeaten streak going. A reporter told Creighton that the Flames&rsquo; success was good for hockey.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if it&rsquo;s good for hockey,&rdquo; Fred shot back, &ldquo;but it sure is good for the family of Fred Creighton!&rdquo;</p><p>This low-key wit was evident again the afternoon that the Blues blew Fred&rsquo;s Bruins out of Boston Garden, 7-4. With both regular goalies unavailable, Creighton started Jim Stewart who was strafed for five goals until Fred gave him the hook.</p><p>At this point Creighton put his hand on the shoulder of spare goalie Marco Baron and indicated that he was next on the firing line. Baron replied with a &ldquo;but-coach-I-can&rsquo;t-do-better&rdquo; look.</p><p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t worry about it, Marco,&rdquo; chirped Creighton, &ldquo;my wife&rsquo;s got a good job!&rdquo;</p><h2><b>Milbury&rsquo;s Superb Move</b></h2><p><b>MILBURY VS. EAGLESON:</b> The last round of the David (Mike Milbury) and Goliath (Al Eagleson) struggle is almost at hand, with the Bruin still an underdog in his Dump Eagleson crusade.</p><p>But Milbury made a superb move in hiring the prestigious Price, Waterhouse outfit to survey players on their feelings about reorganizing the players&rsquo; union. Eagleson&rsquo;s counterploy was a fatuous charge that the Price, Waterhouse poll ignored the NHLPA constitution and has no binding effect.</p><p>Players I&rsquo;ve talked to didn&rsquo;t know that such a NHLPA constitution exists unless it is kept well hidden in The Eagle&rsquo;s lair. And as for the charge that the ballot is binding, well, Milbury has said over and over again that it merely is a <i>SURVEY.</i></p><p>But even if it were a showdown, yes-no vote, is Eagleson that afraid of his first-ever direct challenge that he has to bob and weave like a scared jackrabbit? Obviously, The Eagle cannot cope with the idea of a free NHLPA election.</p><p>Win or lose, it is a tribute to Milbury that he has persevered in this challenge despite the enormous odds stacked against him. As for Eagleson, the time has come for him to realize that the divine right of kings went out with The French Revolution.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0013-01

ON THE CONTRARY

<div class="byline">BY BUDDY O&#x2019;CONNOR</div><p class="dropcap"><span>Q</span>UEBEC CITY&mdash;The Nordiques&rsquo; house, being cleverly and carefully built in the National Hockey League this year by young coach Jacques Demers, took a terrific shock wave recently when big centerman Serge Bernier was rudely knocked out of the lineup for the rest of the season after knee surgery and left winger Marc Tardif sidelined by another knee injury that will keep him out of action until at least sometime in March.</p><p>The loss of these two players, Bernier and Tardif, spells almost disaster regarding playoff positions. Both experienced, both tremendous playmakers and scorers, they are the &ldquo;heart&rdquo; of offensive experience with the Nordiques, as far as the NHL is concerned.</p><p>Though disheartened by the sudden turn of events, coach Demers said &ldquo;Our great first half of the season has given us some breathing room. We played .500 hockey, something that was unheard of before the season began. If we had had a bad first half and then these two guys go out, goodbye to the playoffs.&rdquo;</p><p>Dr. Marc Campeau, the Nordiques&rsquo; medic, finally had to tell Bernier that he could not play any longer and that his knee had to be operated on. The diagnosis: torn cartilage in the left knee.</p><p>As for Tardif, he has pulled ligaments in the left knee. Tardif already has had trouble with his right knee this season and with his holdout on contract negotiations at the beginning of the season, has been hampered most of the time.</p><p>Dr. Campeau declared that should Bernier continue to play, his career could end at any moment. Bernier is now 32, a former Los Angeles King, and a strong, heady player with a tremendous shot. For the Nordiques, he has proved one of the best men at the point on powerplays. He also is a big factor on the Nordiques&rsquo; penalty killing team.</p><p>He is tough as nails and moody. But behind his bravado, Bernier is a winner and his aim is to keep on winning with the Nordiques, especially this year. When he called Demers to tell him of Dr. Campeau&rsquo;s decision, Bernier broke down. Demers said, &ldquo;He couldn&rsquo;t have had a worse misfortune. He really wanted it bad this year.&rdquo;</p><p>Bernier has been playing hurt for most of the season, missing 10 games out of 42. The knee had to be drained regularly and was constantly puffed up. His record up to the time he was hurt was eight goals and 15 assists, low for him but his injury was constantly with him.</p><p>As for Tardif, his latest injury has left him depressed. He states that this year he seems to have lost his confidence. &ldquo;In the NHL, just one practice and your game action are not enough. When I get back, I&rsquo;m going to get in two practices every day I can.&rdquo;</p><p>Demers says that coaching, &ldquo;can drive a man crazy. Sometimes I feel like a zombie. I&rsquo;m walking around not even knowing what I am doing.&rdquo;</p><p>He quickly added however, that this was situational. &ldquo;I have always been a positive minded person, and this present situation will straighten out eventually &ldquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-02838/4244338-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="571" height="787"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Continuing to play may have caused permanent damage for Serge Bernier, who will now undergo knee surgery.</i></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0013-02

Heart Of Nordique Offense Shelved

<div class="byline">BILL FLEISCHMAN&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02886/4244400-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="329" height="346"></div><h2><b>Goalers As Coaches</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>S</span>OMETIMES PEOPLE</b> think columnists know everything. This may surprise Keith Allen, Scott Bowman, Lou Nanne and some of my other friends in hockey, but I don&rsquo;t know everything.</p><p>While Keith and the others are picking themselves up off the floor, I&rsquo;ll confess that one question in hockey (among many) that has always puzzled me is, why don&rsquo;t more goaltenders pursue coaching as a profession?</p><p>Only three former goaltenders who switched to major-league coaching spring quickly to mind: Emile Francis, Eddie Johnston and Jacques Plante (WHA). There are several ex-goalies who should qualify as coaches, the most prominent being Ed Giacomin. Many people thought the leadership he displayed as a New York Rangers&rsquo; player would have transferred nicely behind the bench when the talented Rangers were wobbly like a drunk on 42nd St. Maybe now that Giacomin is back on board the Good Ship Shero as a goaltender consultant, he&rsquo;ll eventually wind up behind the bench.</p><p>Anyway, the most obvious theory about goalies-as-coaches is: When they&rsquo;ve finished stopping shots for a living, most are last seen fleeing down the expressway, trying to get as far away from hockey as possible. This opinion appeals to Bernie Parent, who, like many goalies, now works as a scout for the Philadelphia Flyers.</p><h2><b>No Time To Study</b></h2><p><b>&ldquo;THERE&rsquo;S SO DARN</b> much pressure when you&rsquo;re playing that a guy might want to stay away from the game when he&rsquo;s through,&rdquo; said Parent.</p><p>&ldquo;Maybe we&rsquo;re not smart enough&mdash;or too smart,&rdquo; said Parent&rsquo;s friend, Marcel Pelletier, another former masked man-in-pads.</p><p>Eddie Johnston, like Pelletier, was smiling when he responded to the question.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not because the numbers on our back represented our IQs,&rdquo; said the gentleman who deserves a large share of credit for reviving the Chicago Black Hawks. &ldquo;No, I think it&rsquo;s because only in the last few years have teams begun using the two-goalie system. We had to play almost all the games&mdash;there was no time to sit out a game and take the time to study it.&rdquo;</p><p>Johnston was the last goaltender to play all of his team&rsquo;s games in one season&mdash;70, in 1963-64 for Boston. Those Bruins were, of course, without such skilled players as Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito and finished last with an 18-40-12 record. That Johnston compiled a respectable 3.01 average with six shutouts is a tribute to his skill. That he survived with his sanity reasonably intact is also remarkable.</p><p>&ldquo;Later in Boston, when I was sharing the job with Cheesey (Gerry Cheevers),&rdquo; Joh-nston said, &ldquo;I was able to help a little bit. I even had some ideas on the power play. I designed sort of a pick, and we used it in the games. And then later, when I was in St. Louis and not playing as much, I was able to help, too. With the two-goalie systems, I&rsquo;m sure you&rsquo;re going to see more exgoalies moving into coaching.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>More Well Grounded</b></h2><p><b>CHEEVERS, WHO SEEMS</b> like another good coaching candidate, supports the Parent theory that once a goaltender has stopped his last shot, it&rsquo;s time to sit on the beach in Florida and perhaps sip a few shots, or orange juice.</p><p>&ldquo;Most goalies probably want to get away from hockey when their careers are over,&rdquo; Cheevers said. Nearby, teammate Terry O&rsquo;Reilly chimed in, &ldquo;Yeah, and do something more sensible and practical, like betting on horses.&rdquo;</p><p>The man who coaches Cheevers and O&rsquo;Reilly and the other Bruins, Fred Creighton, was also rendered momentarily speechless by the question. Finally, Creighton, a man with a subtle sense of humor, said, &ldquo;Really, I don&rsquo;t have a theory. Maybe they&rsquo;re making too much money now to go back to what a coach makes.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had some I&rsquo;ve played in front of who were pretty flakey, some who have played for me were pretty flakey, but a lot now are pretty well grounded.</p><p>Among those who are well grounded are Buffalo&rsquo;s Don Edwards, Vancouver&rsquo;s Glen Hanlon, Philadelphia&rsquo;s Pete Peeters and Montreal&rsquo;s Denis Herron.</p><p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a whole new generation of young goaltenders coming along,&rdquo; said a proud Bernie Parent. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s good for their teams and good for hockey.&rdquo;</p><p>Parent included Toronto&rsquo;s Mike Palmateer in the new wave. Palmateer doesn&rsquo;t always act well grounded, but then, he&rsquo;s a goaltender. We don&rsquo;t want too many goalies qualifying as coaches, do we? But then, some people say you have to be half-crazy to try coaching&hellip;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-02

HOCKEY WORLD

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011075/4244369-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="561" height="876"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Rejean Houle is so handy for the Habs because he can perform whatever tasks are necessary.</i></figcaption></div><p>MONTREAL&mdash;With mid-term only a few days past, it is time for the annual mid-term Canadiens&rsquo; report card.</p><p>Unlike former years, the marks are not high because for the better part of the first semester, many of the players were struggling to pass. They were also not skating or shooting very well either.</p><p>There were rumors of transfers from the organization and an influx of needed talent in the system, but the only person who left was the chief instructor, Bernard Geoffrion, claiming he could not take the class of 79-80 any longer.</p><p>The goaltending left much to be desired for most of the first half, mainly due to a serious injury which forced Denis Herron to miss two months of activity.</p><p>1. Michel Larocque&mdash;Here is the guy who kept on thinking he should be the starting goaltender before Ken Dryden graduated on to other things. Larocque&rsquo;s average was 3.78, which might be fine in some academic institutions, but not so hot on the ice lanes. Grade: D.</p><p>32. Denis Herron&mdash;A transfer from Pittsburgh who performed well before breaking his collarbone. He was missed during his forced absence but has come back to be one of the sounder people around. Grade: B.</p><p>33. Richard Sevigny&mdash;Filled in admirably while Herron was away and was able to take and pass some of the stiffest tests. Grade: B.</p><p>The defense corps came under close scrutiny as some of the older members did not perform to expectations.</p><p>3. Brian Engblom&mdash;Probably the best man in this position early in the year, but sagged. Had a difficult time with plus-minus figures when he returned from an ankle injury, but resumed solid play when a couple of mates went down. Grade: C +.</p><p>5. Guy Lapointe&mdash;Used to be one of the highest-ranking people around, but game slipped badly during the first half. Grade: C-.</p><p>17. Rod Langway&mdash;The youngest and strongest of the group. Was ignored from time to time by the ex-instructor, but has been solid since Claude Ruel took over. Grade C+.</p><p>18. Serge Savard&mdash;Bad start to the first half, but got better towards the final two weeks of the term. Grade: C.</p><p>19. Larry Robinson&mdash;Often criticized for his effort, yet the figures show he is as good as he was last year. A leader of this group. Grade: B.</p><p>24. Gilles Lupien&mdash;Another one who was ignored for a while, but has passed tests when given the chance. Grade: C-.</p><p>Production from the forwardthinking people was off markedly in some cases and thus the marks here are much tougher.</p><p>6. Pierre Mondou&mdash;Statistics about the same as they were at the same stage last season. But had a chance to start with the brightest stars in the class only to be shifted away from them because of a shaky performance. Grade: C.</p><p>8. Doug Risebrough&mdash;Often overlooked when it comes to giving merit awards. His absence as a worker for close to two months affected others. Once he returned, the others started working to keep up with him. Grade: B.</p><p>10. Guy Lafleur&mdash;The best. Grade: A +.</p><p>11. Yvon Lambert&mdash;Missed mate Risebrough and some think physical condition had a lot to do with first half difficulties. Grade: D +.</p><p>14. Mario Tremblay&mdash;A big producer last season who struggled in the first half. Grade: D +.</p><p>15. Rejean Houle&mdash;Any assignment he is given, he works on diligently. Grade: B +</p><p>20. Danny Geoffrion&mdash;Not enough tests to evaluate. Grade: Incomplete.</p><p>21. Doug Jarvis&mdash;Industrious young man who seldom gets recognition for his importance to the team. Grade: B +.</p><p>22. Steve Shutt&mdash;Admits he is a streak offensive producer, but his totals are better than last season&rsquo;s production. Works well with the A+ student. Grade: B +.</p><p>23. Bob Gainey&mdash;Another whose talents were sorely missed when he was away because he could hardly walk to assignments. His return was a big factor in the over-all improvement. Grade: A.</p><p>26. Normand Dupont&mdash;Again, there is not enough data to give an evaluation of this person&rsquo;s abilities. Grade: Incomplete.</p><p>27. Rick Chartraw&mdash;More useful than many people seem to think because of versatility. Under new instructor, work has been more spread out, but, generally, response has been fair. Grade: C-.</p><p>28. Pierre Larouche&mdash;Had a bad reputation for not working in the past, but the effort has been visible this time around. Has produced when asked, so what more does anybody want. Grade: B.</p><p>31. Mark Napier&mdash;Disappointed that he is not getting more assignments now. Worked hard during first term, but statistics don&rsquo;t back this up. Seldom called on for answers these days. Grade: C-.</p><p>There were others such as Keith Acton, Rick Meagher and Gaston Gingras who made brief appearance with the class of 79-80 but as was the case with Geoffrion and Dupont, it was difficult to give a just evaluation of their talents.</p><p>The class seems to respond much better under the tutelage of Mr. Ruel, who is from the old school of hard work and dedication and spends many extra hours giving some of his younger pupils some lessons in basic fundamentals.</p><p>Under his guidance, many of the first-term marks should improve and there have been signs of this early in this term.</p><p>Ideally, he would like to have his class with an A average, but that will be difficult after the poor start they had.</p><p>Still, he will work as hard as he can to make sure his pupils come as close as possible.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-01

Canadiens’ Marks On Rise With Ruel

<div class="byline">By NEIL MILBERT</div><p>CHICAGO&mdash;It began as a Tale of Two Cities, Chicago and Atlanta. On March 13, 1979, the teams in these two cities made a stunning trade.</p><p>&bull; The Black Hawks parted with three of their most popular players&mdash;defenseman Phil Russell, center Ivan Boldirev, and left wing Darcy Rota.</p><p>&bull; The Flames gave up Tom Lysiak, a center with tremendous pizzazz on the ice and charisma, Greg Fox, Pat Ribble, and Miles Zaharko.</p><p>Now, 10 months later, the ramifications have entangled three other players and the plot has begun to resemble As the World Turns.</p><p>Except for a one-game cup of coffee, Zaharko has never surfaced from the Black Hawks&rsquo; New Brunswick farm which they operate jointly with Toronto.</p><p>In December, Phillipoff, whose career seems to be in jeopardy because of ankle tendonitis, was packaged with recalcitrant defenseman Dave Logan and bartered to Vancouver for left wing Ron Sedlbauer.</p><p>Then, on the first week of the New Year, Ribble was traded to Toronto for another defenseman, rough and ready Dave Hutchison.</p><p>Of all the individuals involved probably the man who has benefited most is Fox. Because Fox is a defensive-oriented defenseman. his statistics&mdash;1 goal and 8 assists through Jan. 19&mdash;don&rsquo;t sufficiently show his value to the Black Hawks.</p><p>His name was on the ballot of all three of the All-Star selectors from Chicago, none of whom are &ldquo;homers&rdquo;.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy the way things are working out for me,&rdquo; said the 26-year-old graduate of the University of Michigan.</p><p>&ldquo;Actually, I welcomed the trade. The timing was tough for the people on both teams. Atlanta made the trade to get help for the playoffs but that sort of backfired.</p><p>&ldquo;What helped me a lot was the fact that I came with some really good human beings. Tom and Pat also are single and we were pretty close friends off the ice in Atlanta.</p><p>&ldquo;No question, the trade bothered Tom at first. The people down there considered him the franchise.&rdquo;</p><p>Lysiak was Atlanta&rsquo;s first choice and the second overall selection in the 1973 amateur draft. In the same draft, Fox became the property of the Flames but he came in the 12th round and was the 162nd player chosen.</p><p>For some, such a low evaluation by the National Hockey&rsquo;s League&rsquo;s brain-trust would have been decidedly discouraging. For Fox, it was extremely encouraging.</p><p>&ldquo;I never even thought about the NHL until that draft,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;Then, I really started working on my game. The WCHA (Western Collegiate Hockey Association) was ideal for me. We practiced all week and played on Fridays and Saturdays.</p><p>&ldquo;If I hadn&rsquo;t stayed in school to work on my game, I&rsquo;d never have made the NHL. I was a late developer. It took a long time for me to acquire the basic skills. When I was 15 I quit playing hockey for a winter and snow-skied instead.&rdquo;</p><p>After completing his studies in natural resources (ecology and wildlife, the native of Port McNeil, B.C. decided to accept an invitation to the Atlanta training camp in 1976.</p><p>&ldquo;I went without a contract and had a good camp,&rdquo; he recalled. &ldquo;Then, they sent me to Tulsa for a 10-game trial and I had 1 goal and 7 assists. But they still wouldn&rsquo;t give me a contract. They kept saying they wanted me but money was scarce in the franchise and they couldn&rsquo;t sign me just yet.</p><p>&ldquo;I thought they were giving me a line. In retrospect, I realize probably it was true. At any rate, I agreed to go to Greensboro, N.C. in the Southern League and it took me about a week to realize, that it wasn&rsquo;t for me. I knew the general manager in Kalamazoo, Bob Lemieux, from my college days in Michigan and he told me to come up there and play in the International League.&rdquo;</p><p>Fox&rsquo;s career in Kalamazoo turned out to be a one-night stand. After the game came a call from Atlanta&mdash;a contract at last was waiting. &ldquo;I was told to join Nova Scotia for a game in New Haven,&rdquo; said Fox.</p><p>He spent the rest of the 1976-77 season up on the Nova Scotia farm and most of the following winter before being brought up by the Flames for 16 games at the end of the campaign.</p><p>Last winter was Greg&rsquo;s first full-season in the NHL. Yet at 26, he is Chicago&rsquo;s second oldest rearguardsman and, according to Coach Eddie Johnston, &ldquo;he&rsquo;s probably the steadiest defenseman I have; he&rsquo;s rarely out of position.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;Because we&rsquo;re so young I think we&rsquo;re going to improve a great deal, as individuals and as a unit,&rdquo; said Fox. &ldquo;This year our defensive record is one of the best in the league but the main reason is Tony Esposito. He&rsquo;s so consistent&mdash;he&rsquo;s just great every night.&rdquo;</p><p><b>HAWK TALK</b>&mdash;After winning six of seven games, the Black Hawks suddenly hit the skids. They were trounced 6-1 by Montreal in Chicago Stadium; drubbed 5-1 by the Flyers in Philadelphia; and fell apart in the late stages to take a 5-3 beating from the Hartford Whalers in Springfield, Mass.&hellip;&ldquo;If it hadn&rsquo;t been for Mike Veisor, the score would have been in double figures for Philadelphia,&rdquo; said Hawk Coach Eddie Johnston.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Trade Benefit For Upcoming Star Fox

<p class="dropcap"><span>M</span>ONTREAL&mdash;After setting off to the poorest start in several seasons, both Montreal Canadiens and New York Islanders appear ready to resume their familiar roles as the National Hockey League&rsquo;s most productive teams.</p><p>The defending Stanley Cup champion Canadiens, who earlier this season lost six consecutive games&mdash;the longest losing streak for Montreal since 193940&mdash;are presently riding a six-game winning streak.</p><p>Like Canadiens, Islanders had their share of problems earlier this season, losing 16 of their first 36 games. However, things look much better for last - season&rsquo;s overall points leaders right now as they&rsquo;ve won six of their last seven games, including four consecutive wins.</p><p>Montreal&rsquo;s recent success has helped it claim first place in the Norris Division ahead of Los Angeles and has moved Canadiens into fourth place in the over-all League standings. Philadelpia Flyers continue to lead with 70 points while Buffalo is next with 63 then comes Boston with 58 while Montreal has 54.</p><p>Islanders who lost a lot of ground to Philadelphia when the Flyers compiled a North American professional sports record of 35 games without a defeat, are presently in ninth place over-all and third to the Flyers and New York Rangers in the Patrick Division.</p><p>Guy Lafleur, off to the best start of his career, continues to pace Montreal and is now giving Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; Marcel Dionne a run for his money in the scoring championship race. Last week in three games, Lafleur picked up nine points, five goals and four assists. In two games last week, Dionne was limited to just one goal. Lafleur. who trailed Dionne by 14 points at this time last week, has gained eight points on the Kings&rsquo; star and now trails Dionne by just six points. Dionne, however, has two games in hand over Lafleur.</p><p>Meanwhile, Flyers are threatening to establish another record. After 24 home games this season, Flyers have yet to be beaten, winning 18 and tying 6. Montreal Canadiens hold the record for the fewest home losses in one season of one, which they established in 197677.</p><p>Another team that has been playing extremely well of late, is St. Louis Blues. Since December 8, when Red Berenson replaced Barclay Plager behind the bench, the Blues have only lost four of 18 games. During that span, the Blues have won 11 games and are three points behind the Smythe Divisionleading Chicago Black Hawks who have 48 points.</p><p>In the Vezina Trophy race, Boston Bruins now lead with 122 goals against while Buffalo is second with 124 goals against. Tony Esposito continues to lead the league with 5 shutouts.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Canadiens, Islanders Regain Winning NHL Form

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01880/4244500-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"></div><p><b>LOUISVILLE</b></p><p>HOCKEY STICKS</p><p><b>LOUISVILLE</b></p><p>HOCKEY STICKS</p><h2>WINNIPEG JETS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01772/4244493-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="561" height="835"></div><h2>GOALING STATS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02651/4244486-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="549" height="2250"></div><h2>TEAM PENALTIES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03503/4244479-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="524" height="528"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0016-01

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

<div class="byline">BY CHARLIE HALPIN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04384/4244531-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Marcel Dionne of the Kings was the leading individual performer of the first half of the NHL season. He lea the point race by 13, was No. 2 in goals scored with 33, led</i> in <i>assists with 50 and pocketed $500 as the midway scoring leader.</i></figcaption></div><p>TORONTO&mdash;It was simply a case of too much Philadelphia Flyers for the rest of the National Hockey League in the first half of the season.</p><p>The revitalized Flyers completely dominated the first 40 games of the 1979-80 NHL season finishing as the No. 1 team overall with an auspicious nine-point lead over the Buffalo Sabres.</p><p>Showing flashes of their 1973-75 Stanley Cup years, the revamped Flyers rolled to an impressive 27-310 first-half record as they went undefeated in 37 of their first 40 games to finish a commanding 23 points ahead of their closest pursuer in the Patrick Division.</p><p>The runaway Flyers, who set a new professional sports unbeaten record of 35 straight games, amassed 16 wins and five ties in 21 starts at the Spectrum in Philadelphia and there was little the opposition could do to slow them down.</p><p>The Flyers won the most games, 27, had the fewest losses, three, and ended No. 2 in offense with 171 goals. It was clearly a Philadelphia first half and to show they meant the business, the Flyers went 4-2-1 after they had their streak stopped Jan. 7 by the Minnesota North Stars.</p><p>The Los Angeles Kings emerged as the expected offensive leaders with 172 goals on the strength of the production of their prolific first line of Marcel Dionne, Charlie Simmer and Dave Taylor. The three dynamic Kings were the dominant scoring figures of the first half and except for the tenacious Guy Lafleur, they would have swept the boards in the individual points race.</p><p>Dionne was the outstanding individual figure of the first half as he led the scoring race with 83 points, was No. 2 in goals with 33 and was the top playmaker with 55 assists, <i>a</i> performance that earned him $500 as the first half scoring leader. Lafleur, who finished 13 points behind Dionne with 70, was awarded $250.</p><p>In team leaders, the Kings led in goals with 172, the Flyers were second with 171 and Minnesota third with-168. The Flyers had the most wins 27, Buffalo was second with and Boston third with 22.</p><p>The Sabres, adapting to coach Scotty Bowman&rsquo;s style, were the best defensive team allowing 107 goals as the Buffalo&rsquo;s goaling tandem of Don Edwards and Bob Sauve led the first half Vezina Trophy race and pocketed $250 each.</p><p>Individually, Dionne was top point man with 83 with Lafleur second with 70 and Taylor and Simmer tied for third with 68 each. Simmer, the NHL latecomer who blossomed into a hot scorer this year, was No. 1 in goals with 36. Dionne was second with 33. Dionne also led in assists with 50, eight more than Lafleur.</p><p>Montreal&rsquo;s Steve Shutt was the NHL power play leader with 12 goals. Larry Patey of St. Louis led all shorthanded goal scorers with three and Simmer connected for the most game-winning goals, seven.</p><p>In other departments, Terry Reilly of Boston was the leading &lsquo;bad man&rsquo; with 154 minutes; Brian Propp of Philadelphia paced all rookies with 40 scoring points, two more than Mike Foligno of Detroit; Propp had the most goals, 21, and assists, 19, among the freshmen players; Gilles Meloche of Minnesota registered the best individual goals-against average with 2.52 and led in goaling wins with 18. Chicago&rsquo;s veteran Tony Esposito was the shutout king with five.</p><p>It was an eventful first half for the NHL with the Flyers clearly the big surprise of the campaign. The major disappointment was probably the Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens, who could do no better than hold third place in the Norris Division behind L.A. and Pittsburgh. The Canadiens were 29 goals behind the leading Sabres in the defensive race, a strange twist indeed for the champions, who have been No. 1 in the Vezina race the last four years.</p><p>Among the four new teams, only Quebec Nordiques managed to play .500 hockey. The Nords were 17-17-6 but their other former WHA brothers, Hartford, Winnipeg and Edmonton, all turned in dismal first half performances in their first test as NHLers.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-04

Flyers Easily Class Of First Half; Dionne Dominates Point Scoring Race

<p><b>(Standings after 40 games in schedule)</b></p><h2>NORRIS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05301/4244583-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg" title="f0017-05" width="501" height="214"></div><h2>ADAMS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-06252/4244576-1-eng-US/f0017-062.jpg" title="f0017-06" width="503" height="215"></div><h2>PATRICK DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-07221/4244569-1-eng-US/f0017-072.jpg" title="f0017-07" width="503" height="213"></div><h2>NORRIS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-08187/4244562-1-eng-US/f0017-082.jpg" title="f0017-08" width="503" height="249"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0017-05

How First Half Finished

<div class="byline">BY MIKE DENNIS</div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>ORONTO&mdash;Consider the dilemma you&rsquo;d be in as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs as they embarked on a seven-game road journey, their longest trip of the year. Put simply, it was a simple case of &ldquo;damned if you do and damned if you don&rsquo;t.&rdquo; Let me ex-plain.</p><p>When the Leafs departed TO with an 18-19-4 record on the heels of general manager Punch Im-lach&rsquo;s fourth trade of the current campaign and subsequent &ldquo;victory party&rdquo; held for Dave Hutchison who departed for greener, in more than a few players&rsquo; opinions, pastures in Chicago, in exchange for Pat Ribble, the chance to get way from all of the media attention and pressures of Toronto figured to be an elixir fostering togetherness for the aspiring Leafian employees. At least it offered the newcomers (now up to eight since Darryl Maggs first joined the club in midDecember) a chance to get to know the survivors, or something of that order.</p><p>However the first few stops of the two-week sojourn only seemed to heighten the suspense in Im-lach&rsquo;s not-so-funny comedy &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s Make A Deal.&rdquo;</p><p>Darryl Sittler had no sooner finished scoring three power play goals in the Leafs&rsquo; 6-4 loss in Pittsburgh when his name became the subject of trade talks right across the continent&mdash;Chicago, Minnesota, Edmonton, Los Angeles&mdash;to name the latest.</p><p>The problem&mdash;Punch is willing to make a swap to remove the excaptain from the Blue and White ranks and Sittler is suddenly red-hot, his hat trick coming right after a two goal, three-assist effort against Vancouver. He&rsquo;d also had seven goals in a five-game stretch at that point.</p><p>Sittier&rsquo;s name was being mentioned by Imlach at numerous spots around the league. Chicago GM Bob Pulford was said to be discussing a trade where either center Tom Lysiak or defenseman Doug Wilson were proposedly being offered.</p><p>Lou Nanne, general manager of the resurgent North Stars in Minnesota admitted interest in Sittler: &ldquo;Sure, I&rsquo;m interested. He (Imlach) tells me he&rsquo;s interested in building with youth. Well, I&rsquo;ll give him a couple of promising young minorleagues and agree to pay the buyout (a tidy half million dollars arranged by Imlach&rsquo;s least favorite player agent Alan Eagleson). But I&rsquo;m probably just wasting my time. He probably wants Bobby Smith.&rdquo;</p><p>A couple of other GMs were also skeptical about the kind of price Imlach was seeking in return for Sittler. Imlach asked Edmonton, according to coach Glen Sather, for Wayne Gretzky, while Los Angeles manager George Maguire allowed that Punch &ldquo;would be totally unrealistic&rdquo; and that he was afraid to ask what he wanted, then adding, &ldquo;I know what he&rsquo;ll say&mdash;Marcel Dionne.&rdquo;</p><p>Another Leaf in a similar light as Sittler is Dan Maloney, the rugged winger known as &ldquo;Snowshoes&rdquo; for his plodding skating style, but third on the team in goal-scoring nonetheless with a respectable 14 goals.</p><p>Maloney had a strong first two months but then was relegated to the bench in December when the Leafs began their rebuilding project and a number of speedier for-wards were inserted into the lineup. Maloney heated up about the same time as Sittler, though, and reeled off five goals in six games to put himself up with the pace he kept the year he popped in 27 goals with the L.A. Kings.</p><p>At the opposite end of the spectrum were the Leafs&rsquo; defensemen. With Joel Quenneville and Hutchison already banished, veterans Ian Turnbull and Dave Burrows had a rough night in Pittsburgh and it was Ribble and Carl Brewer who were particularly noticeable when the Leafs were blown out by the Islanders on their second stop, 9-6.</p><p>Turnbull, who had a dreadful first 30 games, and then began to finally display some of his large supply of talent, was described by Toronto Star&rsquo;s Frank Orr as making two costly blunders for every excellent move. His trade value was definitely down, but by the same token, he simply wasn&rsquo;t making the plays that would convince the Leafs that they wanted to hang onto him.</p><p>And to further complicate matters, here&rsquo;s the Leafs taxisquad which didn&rsquo;t depart for the trip. Veteran Ron Ellis was reportedly fuming that he was left behind. Maggs and forward Terry Martin just haven&rsquo;t seen much duty and then there&rsquo;s goaler Mike Palmateer. Latest prognosis has him possibly trying his injured ankle in Atlanta when the club sets out on the second leg of the road swing.</p><p><b>LEAFS BRIEFS:</b> Leafs carried one extra player on the trip with Brewer sitting out the Pittsburgh game&hellip;Rocky Saganiuk pulled a groin muscle in the Pittsburgh game and did not play against the Islanders, saving Turnbull a spot in the lineup. Turnbull didn&rsquo;t play until midway through the second period&hellip;Leaf players are complaining on the lack of a system from coach Floyd Smith for getting the puck out of their own net. Leaf giveways are the core of their troubles as they keep providing the opposition with chances which they are quick to convert into goals.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01790/4244743-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="575" height="1485"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Darryl Sittler is supposedly up for grabs if a team is willing to pay to release his contract.</i></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0018-01

Leafs Crumpling As Pressure Keeps Building

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02606/4244829-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Stan Jonathan of the Bruins has changed his playing philosophy and it is paying off in goals for Boston. The rugged winger counted three times this past week and turned in a hat trick the previous week. In addition he has resumed his tough guy role on the ice and came to the defense of veteran Jean Ratelle in a recent game with Edmonton to illustrate he means business.</i> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>Orr Supports Boycott</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>L</span>AKE PLACID&mdash;President Jimmy Carter&rsquo;s proposal that the United States boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow has the support of hockey super star Bobby Orr.</p><p>The former NHL defenseman, now assistant to NHL president John Ziegler, has come out in support of a Western boycott of the games. Orr said he would also be in favor of cancellation of a further competition between the Soviet Union and NHL teams.</p><p>Orr said he sympathizes with amateur athletes who have trained hard for the Summer Games.</p><p>&ldquo;I was hurt a lot last year, and I practised a lot by myself&mdash;not with the team (Chicago Black Hawks). It was the toughest thing I&rsquo;ve ever had to do.&rdquo;</p><p>Still, Orr said it was important to side with the Canadian and U.S. governments against Soviet Union intervention in Afghanistan.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very easy for me to sit here and say there&rsquo;s no way I&rsquo;d go,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But with the time and work and effort individual athletes have put in, it&rsquo;s going to be a very hard decision.</p><p>&ldquo;I believe I&rsquo;d boycott them,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>Orr predicted: &ldquo;Somewhere along the line, the NHL is going to be involved with it (the boycott).&rdquo; Soviet hockey teams, he said, &ldquo;make a lot of money here.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>Hands Off Super Star</b></h2><p>BOSTON&mdash;Stan Jonathan has become quite productive for the Boston Bruins in a goal-scoring way of late but th&egrave; hard-nosed winger has a message for NHL opponents.</p><p>The message: don&rsquo;t take any shots at the old super stars, particularly Jean Rateile.</p><p>Jonathan and coach Fred Creighton played down a second period brawl after Rateile was clobbered. But Terry O&rsquo;Reilly mixed few words after the Bruins&rsquo; 7-1 victory over Edmonton Oilers.</p><p>&ldquo;Quick to retaliate?&rdquo; O&rsquo;Reilly said. &ldquo;Yeh, you should, any club in the league should. A guy like that, who&rsquo;s going to be a hall of famer, doesn&rsquo;t deserve that kind of treat-ment.&rdquo;</p><p>Edmonton&rsquo;s Dave Hunter whacked the 39-year-old Ratelle. Jonathan, came across the flattened Hunter with an elbow and that led to a couple of fights.</p><p>&ldquo;There are certain unwritten rules,&rdquo; said O&rsquo;Reilly, who watched the brawl from the bench. &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t think of taking a run at a Gordie Howe or a Dave Keon. When a guy reaches a certain age or a certain number of years in the league, you&rsquo;re not proving anything. It&rsquo;s considered a cheap shot to take a run at a guy like Ratelle.</p><h2><b>Coliseum &lsquo;Unsafe&rsquo;</b></h2><p>QUEBEC CITY&mdash;The wrangle over expansion of the Quebec Coli-see to provide the NHL Nordiques with more seating continues to flourish between mayor Jean Pelletier and building contractors.</p><p>Pelletier has gone to New York to consult with Anton Tedesko, an international expert on building structure procedure.</p><p>Tedesko said in an interview that the planned $16.8 million expansion, which would require drilling holes and doorways in the arched, concrete roof of the arena, could be dangerous.</p><p>The plans call for a new shell to be constructed around the existing structure. Access to new, suspended balconies would be cut through the roof of the old building. Capac-ity in the 30-year-old Colisee would increase to 15,000 from 10,000.</p><p>The proposal of the Beaulieu, Poulin and Robitaille consulting engineering firm, which has had the mayor&rsquo;s support from the start, received a serious challenge this fall from the Desourdy Construction Company which helped build Montreal&rsquo;s Olympic stadium.</p><h2><b>Dionne Aims High</b></h2><p>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Marcel Dionne knows how much he&rsquo;s worth as a major leaguer and he expects to get it.</p><p>The L.A. Kings&rsquo; super scorer has left the matter in the hands of his agent, Alan Eagleson, who has been negotiating with new Kings&rsquo; owner Jerry Buss. But Dionne, who now makes $300,000 a season, will enter the option year of his contract this June.</p><p>A new contract would give Dionne about $500,000 a season, making him the highest paid performer in the NHL. Guy Lafleur of Montreal is paid $350,000 a season, which is considered tops for the league.</p><h2><b>Brawl Misses Record</b></h2><p>PITTSBURGH&mdash;The Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins did their darndest to set a new single game penalty record when the two teams met last week at the Civic Center but they fell short.</p><p>In the first meeting ever between the two teams, five fights broke out, resulting in 257 penalty minutes, still more than an hour short of the NHL record for a game.</p><p>In the largest of the fights, a brawl that interrupted the second period for almost one hour, eight players were ejected and 191 minutes of penalty time handed out.</p><p>The trouble started when super kid Wayne Gretzky was struck in the face by Penguin defenseman Kim Clackson&rsquo;s stick. Oiler Dave Semenko and Clackson squared off, and with Gretzky still face down on the ice, both benches soon emptied.</p><p>Oilers won the game 5-2 but the brawl will be scrutinized by NHL vice-president Brian O&rsquo;Neill.</p><h2><b>Flyers Rewarded</b></h2><p>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Ed Snider, the chairman of the board of the Philadelphia Flyers, showed his appreciation for his team&rsquo;s record undefeated streak by presenting each member of the team&mdash;players, coaches and trainers&mdash;with a gift of $1,000 each.</p><p>Snider made the presentations at a private luncheon and passed out the bonus money as a token of the Flyers&rsquo; appreciation for their outstanding ice efforts. The flyers went 35 games in a row without a defeat for a new all pro sport record.</p><h2><b>Referees Return</b></h2><p>MONTREAL&mdash;Two of the NHL&rsquo;s top referees, Andy Van Hellemond and Ron Wicks, sidelined with back injuries for some time, have been released from Wellesley Hospital in Toronto, Ont., and have returned to the officiating lineup.</p><p>Van Hellemond had not worked in a game since Nov. 18, while Wicks has not seen action since Dec. 12.</p><p>Referee-in-chief Scotty Morrison also noted that John McCauley, another senior official, has been absent since the middle of last season. McCauley suffered an eye injury and he has had slow but steady improvement. Morrison feels that it is still some time before any speculation could be made as to when McCauley will return.</p><p>&ldquo;The loss of these three officials put a tremendous burden on our remaining senior officials,&rdquo; said Morrison. &ldquo;We have had to make revisions so that officials have increased their assignments.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>Canada Quits Izvestia Tourney</b></h2><p>TORONTO&mdash;Canada has made the first move to sever its hockey relations with the Soviet Union. After the government cancelled an all sports exchange program with the Soviets in retaliation for the Russian intervention of Afghanistan, there was speculation that the move would further jeopardize the proposed 1980 nada Cup series next September.</p><p>Canada will not participate in the Izvestia hockey tournament in Moscow next December as the result of the Canadian governmental move to drop athletic ties with the Soviets.</p><p>Alan Eagleson, executive director of Hockey Canada, said the Canada Cup series would go on even without the Soviets.</p><p>&ldquo;We can do without the Russians,&rdquo; Eagleson said. He pointed out that the Czechs, Swedes, Finns and the Americans are capable of joining with Canada and staging the tournament. &ldquo;The Russians are a good draw, granted. But we can have a tournament without them,&rdquo; commented Eagleson.</p><p>Eagleson will meet with Soviet hockey officials in Lake Placid, N.Y. during the Winter Olympic games to determine their participation in the tournament. The Canada Cup will be held from Sept. 15 to Oct. 1.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01753/4244822-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="1817" height="1200"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>The New York Islanders are starting to roll after a dismal first half of the season and their two most productive forwards, Mike Bossy, left, and Bryan Trottier, are up to their old tricks. Bossy banged in four goals last week and Trottier two as the Isles won all three games last week and scored a total of 18 goals doing it.</i> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo By Bruce Bennett)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0019-02

SLAPSHOTS

<div class="byline">By PAT THOMPSON</div><p>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;Someone pointed out to Gilles Meloche that he could become one of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s all-time trivia questions.</p><p>&ldquo;Who was the goaltender the night the record breaking streak of the Philadelphia Flyers ended?&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; Meloche answered without hesitation, &ldquo;that would give me two of those honors. I was in goal the night we stopped Charlie Simmer&rsquo;s record goal-scoring streak at 13 games.&rdquo;</p><p>Good comeback, Gilles.</p><p>The North Stars stopped the Flyers flat, or should that say, stopped the flat Flyers, 7-1, in Minnesota after they had gone 35 straight games without a defeat. It was a total team victory&mdash;seven different players scored goals, everyone excelled and Meloche played his usual exceptional game.</p><p>&ldquo;Going in, I treated it as any other game,&rdquo; Meloche said, &ldquo;But now that&rsquo;s over, maybe it is going to be a little more special.&rdquo;</p><p>As for ending Los Angeles winger Simmer&rsquo;s streak. Meloche was disappointed about something else. &ldquo;We lost, 4-3, and I&rsquo;d gladly trade Simmer a couple of goals for a victory,&rdquo; said the Minnesota goalie who has carried the Stars into the elite class of NHL teams.</p><p>In commenting about his goalie, Minnesota coach Glen Sonmor used one word:</p><p>&ldquo;Phenomenal.&rdquo;</p><p>Meloche, with that victory over the Flyers, turned in his ninth one-goal game of the year. That goes along with one shutout and six two-goal games. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t worry about shutouts&mdash;let&rsquo;s get the two points first,&rdquo; Meloche says.</p><p>The net result is that Meloche became, in mid-January, the NHL&rsquo;s leading statistical goalie with the most victories (18 at the time) and best goals-against average (2.40).</p><p>And because balloting for the All Star team was concluded before Meloche&rsquo;s sensational play the last few weeks, he will probably have to be an add-on Star for the mid-season spectacular in Detroit rather than an elected one.</p><p>Recovering from a shaky start this season, Meloche went one stretch by starting 13 of Minnesota&rsquo;s 15 games. The Stars won 11 of them. Included were games against teams like Montreal, Boston, Pittsburgh and the Flyers.</p><p>He went one span with seven straight starts. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re never tired when you win,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>But Meloche, averaging 25 to 30 saves a game, is far from a one-man team. The Stars, simply, are playing the best hockey of their 13-year history. At home they have been especially tough, one loss in their first 20 games at Met Center.</p><p>And a good portion of their outstanding record was accomplished with several injuries.</p><p>A good example was Bobby Smith, who missed 19 games with a broken ankle.</p><p>The return of last year&rsquo;s Calder winner as the NHL&rsquo;s top rookie was an added plus. He scored four goals and two assists his first three games back. And Greg Smith, no relation, missed the first 25 games of the season, and was beginning to show why he was voted Minnesota&rsquo;s outstanding defenseman last year.</p><p>Greg Smith and Mike Eaves led the Star offensive against the Flyers, each with a goal and two assists.</p><p>And the goalie, who remembers who the goalie was that game? Not a bad trivia question?</p><p><b>STAR DUST:</b> The Stars traded winger Alex Pirus, who had been playing on their Oklahoma City farm team, to the Detroit Red Wings for winger Dave Hanson, who was playing at Birmingham in the CHL. The next day, the Stars traded winger Kris Manery to Vancouver for a future draft pick&hellip;Mike Fidler, who missed 17 games with a broken bone in a knee, went down with a shoulder injury. Stars attendance is up almost 4,000 a game compared with last season.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Phenomenal Best Word For Meloche, Teammates

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE WARRINER</div><p class="dropcap"><span>H</span>ARTFORD&mdash;There aren&rsquo;t many teams in the National Hockey League who can boast of a winning record while playing on the road. And for an expansion team to aspire to such heights is ridiculous.</p><p>The Hartford Whalers suffered no delusions of grandeur upon entering the NHL this year. They were hoping, however, for an overall .500 record by the end of the season, but they knew that they&rsquo;d have to build most of that in front of the friendly folks at home. The trouble there was that even the &lsquo;friendly folks&rsquo; had to travel in order to watch their favorites play &lsquo;at home&rsquo;.</p><p>And thus it was that the majority of the Whalers home schedule was pushed down on the calendar. The first half of the season found the Whalers playing 25 games in the opposition&rsquo;s rinks and only 15 times &lsquo;at home&rsquo; in Springfield.</p><p>Supposedly it&rsquo;d all be worth it, since the re-built Hartford Civic Center would open on Jan. 17. But, as so often happens when people rely on construction timetables, delays occur. Instead of beginning the second half of their season in the new building, the Whalers found themselves once again travelling north to their home-away-from-home.</p><p>The schedule called for 12 of 14 games to be played in the &lsquo;new&rsquo; rink, but things wouldn&rsquo;t work out that way. How long the delay? No one was sure. There was more speculation that the Whalers&rsquo; opener in Hartford may happen Jan. 30 when the Bruins are slated to visit.</p><p>Over the first half of the season the Whalers had managed to win seven and tie two of the 15 games played in Springfield. But, of their 25 road games, Hartford won only three while tying eight.</p><p>Actually, early in the season, the Whalers were 8-8-8, but then things fell apart.; They won only one of their next 15 including a winless skein of nine straight. Then came a big game in Detroit.</p><p>It was a big game in many ways. For the team it marked the last game on the road before a long home stand&mdash;and in the new arena. Management was happy because it had been losing upwards of $75,000 every night the Whalers played in the smaller Springfield Civic Center. (At the time they weren&rsquo;t aware that their new building would not open on schedule.)</p><p>But the Detroit game meant even more than that. It marked the return of Gordie Howe to his old stamping grounds. True, the Red Wings had moved across town to the new Joe Louis Arena, but 20,000 of the Red Wing faithful jammed their new building to welcome Gordie back for his first NHL visit in an opposition uniform.</p><p>The cheers, and the chants of &ldquo;Gordie, Gordie&rdquo;, echoed throughout. Perhaps in support of their famed teammate, the Whalers put forth one of their better efforts in recent games to cop the final decision 6-4. Although Grandpa Gordie didn&rsquo;t figure in the scoring, he was awarded a sentimental No. 1 star of the night.</p><p>Jordy Douglas, who scored two goals for the Whalers, noted that it was like playing before a home crowd, such was the support for Gordie Howe. He hoped that Whaler fans would offer that same kind of support once the team finally got into their new large arena.</p><p>It was nice, at least for that moment, to forget the misery of the last few weeks when the Hartford team couldn&rsquo;t seem to get untracked. A victory after 15 winless road games was worth savoring.</p><p><b>WHALER WAVES:</b> At the midseason mark the Whalers stood 17th among the 21 teams contending for 16 playoff berths. Considering the abysmal tailspin during the second quarter of the season&mdash;and looking forward to a very favorable home schedule, most of which would (hopefully) be played in their own new building.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Homecoming Delay Builds Whaler Woe

<div class="byline">By BILL FLEISCHMAN</div><p class="dropcap"><span>P</span>HILADELPHIA&mdash;There must be thousands of &ldquo;em, back home in Barrie and Sherbrooke and Flin Flon, men now in their mid-30s who are convinced they were good enough to play in the NHL. However, through bad timing, bad scouting or maybe even the brutal truth&mdash;that they weren&rsquo;t good enough&mdash;they never had a fair shot at an NHL job.</p><p>Mike Busniuk was almost ready to join this large group of frustrated former athletes. When you&rsquo;re 28, with five minor-league seasons behind you and several younger prospects in the organization ahead of you, hopes for NHL (employment are as dim as Bob Kelly winning the Art Ross Trophy.</p><p>&ldquo;This was gonna be my last year,&rdquo; Busniuk said, in of all places, the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; dressing room. &ldquo;I would play this season in Maine, then go to Europe.&rsquo;&rsquo;</p><p>Busniuk isn&rsquo;t among those forsaken hockey players who are doomed to wander the frozen lands, searching for one more team that can use them until retirement finally seizes the legs and shouts, &ldquo;Find another way to make a living!&rdquo;</p><p>Busniuk is a Denver University graduate, with a teaching certificate in physical education and a math minor. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always felt that when I do stop playing, my hockey experience would help me get a teaching job in Canada.&rdquo;</p><p>Keith Allen postponed Busniuk&rsquo;s teaching career when he telephoned Maine Coach Bob McCammon shortly after the season began. An injury to Behn Wilson forced Allen to summon Busniuk, presumably for only a few games. Little did anyone, including Busniuk, know that this was finally his big chance.</p><p>In his second game with the Flyers, the 6-3, 200-pound defenseman contributed two assists to the offense in a victory over the New York Rangers. Three games later, Busniuk was perhaps Philadelphia&rsquo;s best defender in a 5-3 victory in Montreal.</p><p>As the Flyers glided toward the NHL&rsquo;s record unbeaten streak, observers continued to gape in astonishment at the work Busniuk, Norm Barnes and Frank Bathe were doing. In a compliment Busniuk should treasure all his life, people were comparing his effi-cient style and ram-rod straight posture to the late Barry Ashbee.</p><p>The Ashbee comparison is eerie because the careers of both players are similar. Both spent a lifetime in the minor leagues before the NHL called. Busniuk was Montreal&rsquo;s 10th choice in the 1971 amateur draft. After graduating from Denver, he spent one season at Nova Scotia, the next season with the immortal Beauce Jaros of the North American League, and another year with Nova Scotia.</p><p>The defense-rich Canadiens abandoned him after the 1976-77 season. &ldquo;I had no idea what I was going to do then. Fortunately, Keith Allen called.&rdquo;</p><p>Allen was then stocking the new Maine Mariners. The hope was Busniuk, Terry Murray and Dennis Patterson would give the Mariners&rsquo; defense some experience. As it turned out, the three anchored a defense that helped the Mariners win consecutive AHL titles.</p><p>Pat Quinn was the Mariners coach the first half of last season.</p><p>While he was impressed with Busniuk, even the Flyers&rsquo; coach admits he wasn&rsquo;t sure the Thunder Bay native could play in the NHL.</p><p>&ldquo;I was as guilty of underestimating him as anyone,&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;He was a very steady player for me there, but I guess because he didn&rsquo;t have that one outstanding physicial talent, he&rsquo;s always been the type to be overlooked. I&rsquo;d be a liar if I said he&rsquo;d be a good National Leaguer. We had no way of knowing that.&rdquo;</p><p>As Jimmy Watson&rsquo;s defense partner, Busniuk has been a coach&rsquo;s dream. He plays the man, handles the puck crisply, puts his right-handed shot on the net and generally makes few mistakes. Surely there&rsquo;s the temptation to send all the other NHL general managers a telegram with these words screaming from his soul: &ldquo;I told you I could play here!</p><p>And now that he&rsquo;s made it as a National Leaguer and shared in the Flyers&rsquo; record streak, how does he feel? &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a dream come true,&rdquo; the smiling Busniuk said.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Busniuk’s Last Time ‘Round Enough To Fulfill Dreams

<p class="dropcap"><span>P</span>HILADELPHIA&mdash;Flyers&rsquo; Vice President Lou Scheinfeld will be leaving the organization this spring to establish his own business, it was announced today by Club Board Chairman Ed Snider.</p><p>Scheinfeld, 44, who has been with the Snider organization since its inception nearly 14 years ago, plans to operate his own sports and entertainment consulting and creative agency in the Philadelphia area.</p><p>&ldquo;Lou is one of the most creative persons I have ever met,&rdquo; said Snider. &ldquo;He has successfully served in executive capacities at The Flyers, Spectrum, and PRISM. His imaginative ideas and colorful flair has been a cor-nerstone of our organization and set a standard of creative quality that is our hallmark.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01438/4244932-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="484" height="684"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Flyer vice-president Lou Scheinfeld has resigned his post with the NHL team to operate his own agency in Philadelphia.</i></figcaption></div><p>Snider said Scheinfeld&rsquo;s new firm &ldquo;would serve as a creative subcontractor to The Flyers, Spectrum, PRISM and Ovations, so that our organization would continue to enjoy the benefits of his innovative thinking while at the same time giving Lou the freedom to involve himself in other business opportunities.&rdquo;</p><p>Scheinfeld, who Joined forces with Snider in May, 1966, after serving as City Hall reporter and night city editor of the Philadelphia Daily News, named The Spectrum, invented hockey&rsquo;s running shots on goal sign, created the Kate Smith/God Bless America Flyers&rsquo; legend and designed The Spectrum&rsquo;s electronic scoreboard.</p><p>He currently is vice president of The Flyers and has served as President of The Spectrum, President of PRISM, and Secretary of Ovations.</p><p>He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Big Brothers, for whom he has helped raise considerable funds.</p><p>&ldquo;It has been a terrific 14 years,&rdquo; said Scheinfeld. &ldquo;My association with Ed Snider has been a fantastic experience. I&rsquo;ve learned a lot from him and I&rsquo;m eagerly looking forward to using that knowledge in taking on this new challenge.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been quite anxious for some time to set up my own company,&rdquo; said Scheinfeld, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;m extremely excited with this opportunity to develop a business in an area which I truly enjoy&mdash;sports and entertainment creativity.&rdquo;</p><p>Linda Kramer, Scheinfeld&rsquo;s executive assistant for the past six years also will be leaving the oganization to join the new firm.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0021-01

Scheinfeld Leaves Flyers For New Business Venture

<div class="byline">BY ARNOLD IRISH</div><p class="dropcap"><span>S</span>T. LOUIS&mdash;&ldquo;The pieces are starting to fall together,&rdquo; St. Louis Blues coach Red Berenson said. &ldquo;The guys are beginning to live up to their potential.&rdquo;</p><p>The National Hockey League season thus far has been so dominated by Philadelphia&rsquo;s unprecedented success, that the Blues&rsquo; efforts have gone largely unno-ticed, but their improvement in a year&rsquo;s time represents at least a mini-happening and serves notice that the young team is progressing well ahead of schedule and could make its presence felt in the Stanley Cup playoffs.</p><p>And if that seems an imprudent prognosis for a team that last year inhabited the NHL&rsquo;s pits (the Blues&rsquo; last season permitted more goals than any of the league&rsquo;s 17 teams, 348, and turned in the next-to-worst won-lost record), you couldn&rsquo;t prove it by the Flyers.</p><p>St. Louis skated them off their sturdy legs in a 1-1 tie Jan. 13 at Philadelphia.</p><p>After 43 games, the Blues (1719-7) had the 21 team circuit&rsquo;s twelfth highest winning percentage (.477) team, were riding the crest of a four-game unbeaten streak and had lost only once in their last nine contests. That&rsquo;s a far cry from their 8-29-6 (.256) record after 43 games a year ago.</p><p>Carrying the 43 game yardstick further, the Blues&rsquo; this season had secured 41 points in the standings as compared to 22 last year, cut down opponents&rsquo; goals against from 198 to 142 while increasing their own goal production from 123 goals to 136, and reduced the opposition&rsquo;s power play goals from 39 to 19.</p><p>The Blues were 7-14-3 and struggling when a combination of failing health and frustration forced Barclay Plager&rsquo;s resignation as their coach. Since Berenson (who had been Plager&rsquo;s assistant) moved into the driver&rsquo;s seat, the team has posted a 10-5-4 record.</p><p>Berenson discourages suggestions that he is a miracle worker. &ldquo;When I took over, I felt the talent was there, just as Barc had felt it was,&rdquo; Berenson said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s <i>a</i> question of how good a coaching job Barc did or how good a coaching job I am doing. The important thing is the team is going in the right direc-tion.&rdquo;</p><p>Maturity has played a big role on a team whose key players, with only a few exceptions, are only in their early twenties, but equally important have been the contributions made by such newcomers as goaltender Mike Liut, who toiled the last two years for Cincinnati in the now-defunct WHA, and Blair Chapman, who has added punch since general manager Emile Francis picked him up from Pittsburgh early in the season.</p><p>&ldquo;It all starts with Liut,&rdquo; Berenson said of the 24-year-old goalie who recently assembled a string of 18 starts, relegating Ed Staniowski to back-up role. Mike has posted a 15-11-4 record in the nets and boasts a respectable 3.05 goals against average. Last season taking turns in goal were Phil Myre (4.33) and Staniowski (3.82).</p><p>&ldquo;Liut definitely has been the difference,&rdquo; Berenson continued. &ldquo;He gave our defense some confidence and kept us in games when we had some bad shifts.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got our goals against down&mdash;we&rsquo;re eighth in the league (sixth in average with 3.30)&mdash;and, we&rsquo;re beginning to lake pride in our defense. Last year the players were so dispirited because they could see no light at the end of the tunnel. Now they&rsquo;re all contributing&mdash;goalies, defensemen, penalty-killers, everybody.&rdquo;</p><p>Perhaps the Blues&rsquo; most noticeable improvement has been in the area of penalty killing. Their short handed unit has foiled 85.6 per cent of the opposition&rsquo;s power plays, the NHL&rsquo;s second best record. After 43 games last season the Blues&rsquo; penalty killing crew was porous with only 71.4 per cent efficiency, which was next to last in the NHL.</p><p>&ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t a team of individuals,&rdquo; Berenson emphasized. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a team of players, including some great individuals, who perform as a unit. Maybe in past years individual heroism was stretched too much on this club. I like to see everyone get due credit&mdash;not only the Liuts and Bernie Feder-kos and Brian Sutters, but also the Ralph Klassens and Bryan Maxwells and Mike Zukes and (defensemen) Ed Keas.&rdquo;</p><p>Federko, the playmaker extra-dorinaire who last season set a club record with 95 points, was on schedule to reach that mark after 43 games with 54 points. Sutter, at the same stage of this season, was five points ahead of the pace that a year ago enabled him to lead all NHL leftwingers in goals with 41.</p><p>&ldquo;Sure, Federko and Sutter do a super job,&rdquo; Berenson said, admitting the obvious. &ldquo;They come to play every night, and they&rsquo;re outstanding game in and game out. Federko&rsquo;s line is always dangerous, but Larry Patey&rsquo;s line, with Perry Turnbull and Mike Crombeen, has done some fine work too. Crombeen has scored five goals in our last six games.</p><p>&ldquo;Our most improved player is probably Patey. I&rsquo;ve never seen him play as well or as consistently as he has this season. He&rsquo;s been forechecking as well as anybody in the league. He&rsquo;s destroyed (Los Angeles&rsquo; Marcel Dionne and (Detroit&rsquo;s Dale) McCourt.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s beem a long time since - anybody&rsquo;s blown us out. But we don&rsquo;t want to get carried away by our success. You strive for improvement in all areas, but our power play has been a bit of a problem. We don&rsquo;t want to let our heads get pumped up out of proportion to what we&rsquo;ve done.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01477/4244963-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="567" height="999"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Blues&rsquo; defenseman Bryan Maxwell has been an unsung performer, but he&rsquo;s noticed</i> by <i>his coach.</i> <span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Bruce Bennett)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0022-01

Team Play Emphasis Promotes Blues’ Revival

<h2><b>NATIONAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p>ATLANTA&mdash;Serge Beaudoin, D, Bob Gould, RW, and Curt Bennett, LW, assigned to Birmingham of CHL. Bill Clement, C, returned from injury list.</p><p>BOSTON&mdash;Gil Gilbert and Gerry Cheevers, G&rsquo;s, back from sick list. Jim Stewart, G, returned to Binghamton of AHL. Marco Baron, G, returned to Grand Rapids of IHL.</p><p>CHICAGO&mdash;Rick Paterson, C, recalled from New Brunswick of AHL and returned. Doug Lecuyer, LW, sent to New Brunswick. Greg Fox, D, back from injury list.</p><p>COLORADO&mdash;Dean Turner, D, and Mike Gillis, LW, sent to Fort Worth of CHL. Gillis back from Injury list. Nick Beverley, D, and Jack Valiquette, C, returned from injury list. John Flesch, LW, recalled from Fort Worth.</p><p>DETROIT&mdash;Dennis Sob-chuk, C, assigned to Adirondack of AHL. John Ogrodnick, RW, called up from Adirondack. Tom Webster, LW, retired to become asst, coach with Adirondack. George Lyle, LW, on injury list.</p><p>EDMONTON&mdash;Mike Forbes, D, and Peter Driscoll, RW, sent to Houston of CHL.</p><p>HARTFORD&mdash;Alan Hangsleben, D, traded to Washington in exchange for Tom Rowe, RW. Rick Ley, D, back from Injury list. Bernie Johnston, LW, recalled from Springfield of AHL.</p><p>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Rick Hampton, D, and Mark Wells, D, recalled from Binghamton of AHL.</p><p>MINNESOTA&mdash;Dave Hanson, LW, recalled from Birmingham of CHL. Brad Max-well, D, back from injury list.</p><p>MONTREAL&mdash;Guy Lapointe, D, on injury list for six weeks with shoulder separation. Gaston Gingras, D, called up from Nova Scotia of AHL. Rick Sevigny, G, returned to Nova Scotia.</p><p>ISLANDERS&mdash;Alex McKendry, RW, returned to Indianapolis of CHL.</p><p>RANGERS&mdash;Doug Sulli-man, LW, and Pat Conacher, C, called up from New Haven of AHL. Ulf Nilsson, C, on injury list with neck ailment. Don Murdoch, RW, on Injury list for week with back contusions.</p><p>PITTSBURGH&mdash;Jim Hamilton, LW, returned to Syracuse of AHL. Kim Davis, C, called up from Syracuse. Orest Kin-drachuk, C, and Mario Faubert, D, back from injury list.</p><p>QUEBEC&mdash;John Smrke, RW, recalled from Syracuse of AHL. Alain Cote, LW, sent to Syracuse. Serge Bernier, C, out for season after knee surgery. Marc Tardif, LW, out six weeks with knee injury.</p><p>TORONTO&mdash;Rocky Saga-niuk, RW, back from injury list.</p><p>VANCOUVER&mdash;Bob Manno, D, on injury list.</p><p>WASHINGTON&mdash;Bob Sirois, RW, recalled from Hershey. Greg Polls, LW, and Garry Inness, G, assigned to Hershey.</p><p>WINNIPEG&mdash;John Markell, LW, and Patrick Daley, RW, recalled from Tulsa of CHL. Wayne Dillon, C, released. Barry Melrose, D, back from injury list.</p><h2><b>AMERICAN LEAGUE</b></h2><p>ADIRONDACK&mdash;Doug Derkson, C, returned to Kalamazoo of IHL. Larry Elson, LW, recalled from Kalamazoo. Fred Ahem, RW, sent on loan by Detroit.</p><p>BINGHAMTON&mdash;Ken Ku-zyk, RW, released.</p><p>HERSHEY&mdash;Ron Lalonde, C, and Tim Coulis, RW, off injury list.</p><p>NEW BRUNSWICK&mdash;Gord Gallant, LW, signed to tryout. Bob Parent, G, returned to Port Huron of IHL. Ron Wilson, D, on injury list, Bob Hoffmeyer, D, off injury list. Guy Bouchard, G, released.</p><p>NEW HAVEN&mdash;Dennis Owchar, D, off injury list.</p><p>NOVA SCOTIA&mdash;Michel Bergeron, RW, had suspension lifted and assigned to Milwaukee of IHL. Mark Wells, RW, and Bruce Horsch, G, returned to U.S. Olympic team. Dave Allison, D, on injury list.</p><p>MAINE&mdash;Jim Roberts, LW, secured from Winnipeg.</p><p>ROCHESTER&mdash;Jim Bedard, G, signed to tryout. Bill Stewart, D, placed on suspended list by AHL. Jacques Richard, LW, and Ron Schock, C, off injury list. Mike Parker, G, released. Billy Inglis, playercoach, removed from active roster. Mark Toffolo, D, signed to tryout. Jim Walsh, D, on injury list.</p><p>SPRINGFIELD&mdash;Brian Spencer, LW, signed as free agent.</p><p>SYRACUSE&mdash;Mike Caffrey, G, released. Goran Hogosta, G, off injury list. Yves Belanger, G, on injury list. Brad Rhiness, C, returned to Erie of EHL. Kurt Walker, RW, released after tryout. Jamie Masters, D, assigned by Quebec. Rob Garner, C, acquired from Pittsburgh. Louis Sleigher, RW, off injury list.</p><h2><b>CENTRAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p>BIRMINGHAM&mdash;Paul Stewart, D, loaned by Quebec. Jimmy Bennett, LW, re-as-signed to Muskegon of IHL.</p><p>OKLAHOMA CITY&mdash;Wes Coulson, D, Pat Westrum, D, and Henry Taylor, RW, recalled from Baltimore of EHL. John McCahill, D, assigned on loan by Colorado. Ken Kuzyk, RW, signed as free agent by Minnesota and assigned to CHL team. Rod Romanchuk, C, returned to Baltimore.</p><h2><b>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p>DAYTON&mdash;Rick Tarasuk, RW, and Neil Smith, D, traded to Milwaukee for Dan Kreiner, RW Tim Thomlison, G, recalled by Colorado and returned Kim Koswin, RW, loaned to Port Huron.</p><p>MILWAUKEE&mdash;Al Mackenzie, RW, added to roster.</p><p>PORT HURON&mdash;John Rockwell, G, loaned by Los Angeles.</p><h2><b>EASTERN LEAGUE</b></h2><p>ERIE&mdash;Stan Gulutzan, LW, returned by Fort Worth. Ron Hansis, RW, removed from suspended list. Ian Perrin, F, placed on waivers.</p><p>JOHNSTOWN&mdash;Jim Boyin-gton, F, and Paul Wilkins, F, placed on waivers.</p><p>UTICA&mdash;Dan Gauthier, F, signed to tryout.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Player Movements

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>NN ARBOR&mdash;The big news on the University of Michigan campus much of the hockey season has been the prolific scoring of sophomore Murray Eaves, the leading scorer in the nation in college hockey.</p><p>But the University of Wisconsin left here last weekend muttering about senior Dan Lerg, not Eaves, as the Wolverines swept a pair of games to remain in the thick of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association race.</p><p>Lerg scored four goals as Michigan erupted for six goals in the last period to blast Wisconsin 8-4 after the Wolverines won the opener 6-5.</p><p>The sweep enabled coach Dan Farrell&rsquo;s Wolverines to keep pace with defending league champion North Dakota, which downed Minnesota-Duluth twice to remain in first place.</p><p>Lerg ran his season goal total to 25 by peppering Wisconsin goalie Roy Schultz for his four goals. After a scoreless first period, the fireworks began.</p><p>Lerg got the first goal of the game 4:06 into the second period, then scored late in the period to give Michigan a 2-1 edge after two.</p><p>Lerg then chipped in with two more goals in the wild third period as the Wolverines had just too much offense for Wisconsin.</p><p>Eaves wasn&rsquo;t silent. He got one goal and two assists to remain as the leading scorer in the WCHA as well.</p><p>In the opener, Jeff Mars got the game-winner for Michigan with 2:52 left to play. Michigan had rallied to tie it on a goal by Steve Richmond, his second of the game, with 15 minutes left. Chuck Durocher had put Wisconsin on top just 16 seconds before Richmond tied it to set up Mars for the heroics.</p><p>Home ice has continued to be profitable for Michigan. The Wolverines are 14-0-1 at home, including 8-0-1 in WCHA play. But with seven of its last 12 league games on the road, the Wolverines will have to take some of that home-ice magic with them out of town to stay hot after North Dakota.</p><p>Another big story for Michigan all year has been the power play. Michigan is clicking at 44 percent on its power play chances. Bruno Baseotto and Lerg, with 13 power play goals, and Eaves, with 12, give Michigan perhaps the best power play unit in the country. Defenseman John Blum, with four power play goals, is no slouch, either.</p><p>Like Michigan, league-leading North Dakota continues to fatten up at home. The Sioux ran their home ice winning streak to 10 by flattening Duluth twice in Grand Forks before sellout crowds of over 5,700 each night.</p><p>Junior Doug Smail put on a one-man show in the opener, won 7-3 by the Sioux. Smail got his first hat trick as a pollegian by getting a shorthanded goal, a power play goal and a third unassisted goal with teams skating even to spark the Sioux. Rookie wing Dean Da-chyshyn found his scoring touch with a pair of goals to help. Rookie goalie Darren Jensen faced just 14 Duluth shots in a quiet night in the nets. Bill Perkl had 29 stops for Duluth.</p><p>In the second game, North Dakota scored three unanswered third period goals to score a 5-1 win and take the series from Duluth 3 games to 1. Five different players scored for the Sioux, including Smail and Dachyshyn. Others were by Paul Chadwick, Mark Taylor and Erwin Martens.</p><p>The goal by Martens was his first of the season. The senior wing, who had 13 goals a year ago, was sidelined for six games with an ankle injury.</p><p>Taylor, North Dakota&rsquo;s leading scorer, had four assists in the 7-3 game and a goal in the 5-1 win to run his streak to 22 straight games in which he&rsquo;s scored at least one point this season.</p><p>The sweeps by North Dakota and Michigan have turned the WCHA into a two-team race featuring those two teams. It might all boil down to a Feb. 22-23 series between the two teams in Grand Forks.</p><p>Minnesota, which has been a miserable road team, found the magic on the road to sweep Denver 7-3 and 6-4 to move into third place in the WCHA.</p><p>But the sweep was a bit tainted. Cellar-dwelling Denver is missing its top two goalies (Stu Birenbaum and Scott Robinson) and played a converted wing, Frank Xavier, in goal against the Gophers. He played well with 29 stops in two periods the first night and 11 in one period the second, but Minnesota just had too much.</p><p>John Meredith, Mike Knoke, Aaron Broten, Bob Bergloff, Tim Harrer, Dave Terwilliger and Steve Griffin scored for the Gophers in the opener as Xavier and walk-on goalie John Gagnon faced 48 shots.</p><p>In the second game, Harrer had two more goals as the Gophers doubled their victory total on the road with their first road sweep. Darrell Morrow scored twice for Denver as Gagnon and Xavier combined for 31 saves to just 21 for Minnesota&rsquo;s Jim Jetland.</p><p>Notre Dame remained at the .500 level by running Colorado College&rsquo;s winless streak to six games. The Irish took 6-5 and 5-3 wins over Colorado College at Notre Dame.</p><p>Notre Dame spotted CC a 2-0 lead in the opener, then won it in the third period on goals by Dave Poulin and Greg Meredith. Bruce Aikens had two Colorado College goals. Tom Frame stopped 40 Notre Dame shots to just 19 saves for Notre Dame&rsquo;s Bob McNamara.</p><p>Poulin, coming off a bout with the measles, had the hat trick in the second game, all goals coming in the second period.</p><p>The sweep brought Notre Dame coach Lefty Smith to within three wins of gaining his 200th college coaching victory.</p><p>Meanwhile, Michigan Tech&rsquo;s John MacInnes is now just one win away from his 500th coaching victory and three away of setting the all-time college coaching win record, currently held by John &ldquo;Snooks&rdquo; Kelly, who had 501 wins at Boston College.</p><p>Darcy Way recorded the WCHA&rsquo;s third shutout with a 6-0 blanking of Michigan State to hand MacInnes his 499th win. Al Micka-lich and Dave Stewart each had two goals for Michigan Tech.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01450/4245018-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="570" height="717"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Dan Lerg chipped in with four goals, including his 25th of the season, to lead a Michigan sweep.</i></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0023-01

Wisconsin Curbs Eaves, But Not Lerg As Wolverines Keep On Sioux’s Trail

<div class="byline">BY JIM SCHNEIDER</div><p class="dropcap"><span>M</span>ARQUETTE&mdash;Top-ranked Northern Michigan notched a pair of one-goal wins over Ohio State in the first showdown of the season in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.</p><p>In other CCHA league action Western Michigan pulled back to the .500 level with a 9-2, 6-5 sweep over Lake Superior, while Ferris State was able to get a split at Bowling Green. BG took the opener 10-4, but Ferris took the second game by a 5-3 score.</p><p>The battle in NMU&rsquo;s Lakeview Arena featured two of the top 10 teams in the nation and the host Wildcats grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period with Jeff Pyle and Eric Ponath scoring the goals.</p><p>OSU senior Tom Scanlan tied the score with a pair of goals in the second period, but NMU took the lead with a key late goal scored by Terry Houck assisted by Pyle at 19:42 of the middle stanza. NMU&rsquo;s Mike Miekle scored the winning goal on the power play assisted by Bill Joyce at 8:04 of the third period before the Buckeyes cut the score to the final 4-3 margin with Larry Marson, who assisted on both of Scanlon&rsquo;s goals, scoring just 12 seconds later with Scanlon drawing the lone assist.</p><p>NMU&rsquo;s Steve Weeks made 38 saves in the opener and gained CCHA player-of-the-week honors for his play in goal for the Wildcats. Weeks is the first player to win the award twice this season.</p><p>OSU received fine goaltending in both defeats with Steve Jones making 32 saves in the opener and junior Mike Blake lowering his league leading goals against average to 2.17 with 42 saves in the 2-1 loss. All the scoring in the 2-1 game came in the second period with Mike Conrad giving Ohio State a 1-0 lead at 4:37 assisted by Mark Freeman. Joyce tied the game at 11:19 and just 15 seconds later Bozek scored the winner with assists by Joyce and Steve Fisher.</p><p>Western Michigan used a five-goal third period to decide the opener against Lake Superior as the Broncos held a 4-2 lead after two periods. Steve Mulholland had given the Soo Lakers an early 1-0 lead, but WMU moved the score to 3-1 after one full period with goals by Hakan Millen Ross Fitzpatrick and Scott Coulter. Tom Hilfman&rsquo;s shorthanded goal made the score 4-1 before LSSC&rsquo;s Kevil MacDonald scored the final Laker goal of the game. Murray Skinner made 44 saves in the loss for Lake Superior, while Jim Doyle made 26 saves while allowing just two goals.</p><p>In the second contest Ralph Murphy scored the lone first period goal to give the host Broncos a 1-0 lead.</p><p>The score was tied 3-3 after two periods with Bob Scurfield and Dan Stothers scoring for WMU and Myles Forget, Mulholland and Bobby Ciotti getting goals for Lake Superior. WMU jumped ahead with three goals by Hilfman, Terry Olson and Scurfield before the visitors rallied to cut the lead to one goal. Chris Delabbio and John Wilson gave the 3,050 fans in Lawson Arena a thrill, but the Broncos held on.</p><p>Pat Ansell made 43 saves, giving LSSC goalies 87 saves in the series, in the loss. Steve Abbott collected 29 saves in the nets for WMU.</p><p>T. Olsen had six points in the series to tie teammate Fitzpatrick and NMU&rsquo;s Joyce for the overall CCHA scoring lead with 45 points.</p><p>Fitzpatrick, who suffered a jaw injury in the second game, set a WMU team record in the opener when he netted his 12th power play goal of the season breaking the mark of 11 set by Pete Raps.</p><p>Defending CCHA champ Bowling Green exploded for six goals in the first period and had 10 goals after two periods in the 10-4 opener over Ferris State. BG&rsquo;s Brian Hills scored at 00.53 of the first period and FSC&rsquo;s Randy Strong tied the game on a power play at 4.52. Andy Crowther and Chris Guertin scored twice in 40 seconds and the Falcons were flying with Brian MacLellan, Yves Pelland and John Gibb adding first period goals.</p><p>Hills and Crowther made the score 8-1 before BG freshman Kim Collins netted his first career goal at 12:39 of the second period with Doug Olson setting up the short-handed marker.</p><p>Strong scored his second PSC goal before BG&rsquo;s Tim Alexander added an unassisted goal for the 10-2 second period lead. Brian Walters and Bob Bishop scored third period goals for the final margin.</p><p>BG continued to control the series with a 2-1 lead in the first period of the second game with goals by Guertin and Collins sandwiching a FSC counter by Ron Andrzjewski.</p><p>The Bulldogs scored four times in the second game to ice the first Ferris State win a regular season CCHA game. Walters tied the game at 2:27 and Rocki Smith scored at 10:43. Dann Pupillo added the winner at 11.31. Strong&rsquo;s third goal of the series gave Ferris State a 5-2 lead after two periods.</p><p>Hills scored the lone third period goal assisted by tri-captain Mike Cotter. The fact that Cotter was playing was amazing as he left the opener after collecting three assists when he took a slapshot in the face. The puck caught him above and below the eye and he played with 13 stitches and a face mask in the second game.</p><p>Another BG tri-captain, Steve Dawe, received a shoulder injury.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Wildcats Slip By Scrappy Buckeyes

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div><p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>OSTON&mdash;The attendance wasn&rsquo;t of Beanpot proportions, but the hockey was as good as that in any of the many college tournaments staged in venerable Boston Garden down through the years. It was the Teapot Tournament final, with 6,253 in the stands and Bowdoin tipping Salem State 4-2 for the title on the second Monday of January.</p><p>Neither finalist had been favoured to win its opening round game a week earlier. So when Bowdoin knocked off Division Two favorite Merrimack 5-3 and Salem eliminated defending NCAA Division Two champion Lowell 5-2, fans of the East&rsquo;s junior circuit sensed that something special was brewing.</p><p>They weren&rsquo;t disappointed. The Polar Bears needed two third period goals from junior Scott Corwin, the second one into an empty net with just 13 seconds remaining, to nail down the verdict. Corwin&rsquo;s game winner came at 9:53 of the third, with the assist going to senior Dave Boucher.</p><p>Boucher had tied the contest at 16:53 of the second, converting a goalmouth pass from Paul Divin. The Vikings&rsquo; 2-1 lead had lasted a little over ten minutes after Dom Perdios beat Bowdoin goalie Bill Provencher with a short blast from the right side.</p><p>The first period, indeed, was indicative not only of what was upcoming in that game but of the trend in today&rsquo;s college hockey back close to the European style of close checking, total team play and relatively few shots on goal. Bowdoin managed a goal in the first, but Salem goalie Jay Palladino only made five saves while Provencher stopped but three shots.</p><p>Overall, Provencher stopped 19 Salem bids and Palladino turned aside 14. In the consolation game, Lowell dumped Merrimack 10-6 with Dean Jenkins getting a hat trick.</p><p>Upstairs in Division One, Boston College and Providence each won a pair of games to edge out a bit further in the ECAC East; Vermont nipped Clarkson but lost 2-1 to Providence which knocked them out of the lead in the ECAC West, and Dartmouth split a pair, retaining top spot in the ECAC Ivy.</p><p>The week&rsquo;s feature games were BC at BU and Clarkson at Vermont. The Eagles came away with a 7-6 overtime triumph over the Terriers in steaming Walter Brown Arena before a sellout throng, while the host Catamounts avenged an earlier defeat in Potsdam by downing Clarkson 6-4 before an equally vociferous gathering in Gutterson Field House.</p><p>BC&rsquo;s win was their first in 11 tries since the new rink was constructed on BU&rsquo;s campus, and it was the first time ever that they&rsquo;d bused the three miles down Com-monwealth Avenue for the annual Montague-Capulet festival as the favored team. The game was fast and hard hitting, and not only the players but the fans as well were dead tired by the time Mike Ewa-nouski took a feed from Bill O&rsquo;Dwyer and beat Bob Barich from in close at 1:52 of the extra session.</p><p>BU took a quick 2-0 lead on a pair of goals by hard working senior John Melanson, who had to sit out all of last year with a back injury.</p><p>Lee Blossom and Ewanouski tied the game up for the visitors. Then Tony Meagher and Tim Kimball put BU back up 4-2, whereupon Gary Sampson, Steve Barger, and Paul Hammer tallied to give BC a 5-4 lead. Meagher and Paul Fenton scored within a 1.03 span to put BU back in front midway through the third period, setting the stage for O&rsquo;Dwyer to slip behind the defense and tie it up with 3.50 remaining in regulation. BC&rsquo;s Doug Ellis had 38 saves to 29 for Barich.</p><p>Some 150 miles north that same evening, Vermont and Clarkson were battling through a nearly scoreless third period after the Knights&rsquo; Derek Embody scored at 17.41 of the second to bring Clarkson within a goal at 5-4. Clarkson took a short lead on Bill Norton&rsquo;s tally at 0.16 of the first, but Tom Cullity got that one back for UVM 51 seconds later. The teams again traded goals, with Mike Prestidge putting Clarkson up 2-1 for nearly ten minutes until Cullity bagged his second with nine seconds to go in the period. Cullity&rsquo;s third put the Cats in front to stay at 5:07 of the final frame.</p><p>That was the only league win for Vermont during the week, but Clarkson had enjoyed a 14-6 thrashing of Cornell in Potsdam two nights earlier. Steve Cruickshank netted a hat trick and Jim Armstrong, Bruce McDonough, and Craig Laughlin all had a pair. A six goal second period by the Knights put the contest out of reach for Cornell. The Big Red, Ivy League favorites who have had a lot of trouble in the first halt, journeyed home to knock off Yale 9-4 in Ithaca, Roy Kerling and Brock Tredway found the range for six of Cornell&rsquo;s scores.</p><p>Yale was an Ivy co-favorite at the season&rsquo;s beginning, but the loss of center Paul Castraberti (broken leg) has hurt them more than expected. The Cornell loss was their seventh against three wins as they&rsquo;d dropped a 9-6 decision at RPI earlier in the week. Again a six-goal period, this one the third frame by RPI, did in the visitors. Mike McPhee was the hat trick man for RPI, making nice progress on the whole under new coach Mike Adessa.</p><p>Ivy leader Dartmouth was shut out 4-0 by Boston College despite throwing 28 shots at Doug Ellis. Then the Big Green came home and easily bested Maine 5-1 with senior Dennis Murphy tallying three times.</p><p>Northeastern lost three close ones to slide into the Eastern cellar. Fernie Flaman&rsquo;s Huntington Hounds dropped an 8-6 game at Providence, then let New Hampshire and St. Lawrence escape from Boston Arena with identical 4-3 victories. Northeastern took an early lead in each of the home contests but couldn&rsquo;t hold on for Fernie&rsquo;s 100th career victory.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Good Hockey Boiling Over In Teapot Tourney

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div><p class="dropcap"><span>B</span>OSTON&mdash;Now that they&rsquo;ve played a full semester and the initial emotional reaction to the newly mandated mask for Eastern college hockey players has subsided somewhat, it&rsquo;s a good time to take stock of the situation and see how the provision has actually affected the game.</p><p>&ldquo;The emotional side of things has definitely subsided and we can take a more realistic look at the issue,&rdquo; said ECAC assistant commissioner Brian Petrovek. &ldquo;The reactions have generally been positive, although there is still some concern for the style of play along the boards. We have to gather as much information as possible to forward to the NCAA Rules Committee before March so they can make a decision for all of college hockey.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01466/4245104-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="520" height="1138"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Peter Evans of Harvard displays the face mask all Eastern colleges are compelled to wear in games this season.</i></figcaption></div><p>To gather this information, Petrovek is working on a questionnaire which he&rsquo;ll shortly be sending out to the coaches of the East&rsquo;s hockey playing schools. Their response will, Petrovek maintains, go a long way towards influencing the thinking of the NCAA Rules Committee. The topics discussed will be, among others, what combination of the helmet and mask the team in question is using; whether the trainer or equipment manager has seen fit to make any alterations to the purchased masks; a medical report, asking about injuries to face and eyes, both prevented and caused by the mask; opinions of coaches as to whether the style of play has changed drastically; how the players have reacted psychologically; and eliciting comments on proposed rule changes.</p><p>In short, it is an attempt to dredge up whatever lies beneath the waters of the public statements which have been flying around since the mask was ruled in before the current season. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re looking for constructive criticism,&rdquo; said Petrovek. &ldquo;We couldn&rsquo;t have gotten it before now.&rdquo;</p><p>An informal poll by this writer indicates that the responses will be of two types: concerning the quality of the mask-helmet combinations currently available, and concerning the effects that the mask has had on the way the game is played. Thecoaches and players seen to have come to the realization that they won&rsquo;t be able to change things, so the feedback will probably be both interesting and worthwhile. It would be well for the suggestions to receive serious consideration, especially in light of the fact that the coaches weren&rsquo;t consulted at all when the rule was passed.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02372/4245097-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="1716" height="1134"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Only ECAC teams use masks to protect their faces. Here&rsquo;s Mark Fusco (6) of Harvard, right wearing one against U.S. Olympian Rob McClanahan, left during non-conference game. Controversy has been raging about the values of the maska and if opponents, like McClanahan, should be forced to wear them, too.</i> <span class="photo-credit">(Photos by Steve Babineau)</span></figcaption></div><p>As for the quality of the product, Mike Addessa of RPI sums up the general feeling of the coaches when he says that &ldquo;There&rsquo;s not one hockey helmet made today to support a mask.&rdquo;</p><p>Addessa says that his school&rsquo;s engineering department ran tests on what was available after several RPI players received facial cuts from the masks sliding around rather than staying put. He and several other coaches had their equipment men break out the riveting guns to tack on extra straps, supports and other paraphernalia to make the helmet stay put.</p><p>The lack of a product to do what was intended by the rulemakers is evident in the remark by Petrovek that he was interested in. knowing why some teams went out and bought a whole new supply of helmets and masks shortly into the-season. Evidently there was a goodly amount of dissatisfaction with what is currently available.</p><p>&ldquo;The rule was made because of some very well intentioned people&rsquo;s concerns, but the research simply wasn&rsquo;t done to support the rule,&rdquo; said Addessa.</p><p>Availability of suitable mask/helmets is one aspect which the Rules Committee must consider in March when they&rsquo;re deciding what will be required next year. For one thing, the equipment companies may not be able to turn out enough product for everybody, even if there is general agreement as to the best possible design (which there obviously is not). Then there is the possibility that the Hockey Equipment Certification Council (HECC) may tighten up its standards so that the masks which have HECC approval now will not have it next year.</p><p>Of particular concern here is the ability of some stick parts like blade comers and butt ends to penetrate even the approved masks of 1979-80. If the mesh size is required to change, all the programs of AHAUS (Amateur Hockey Association of the United States) will be back at square one and forced to buy again. If college hockey, not bound by AHAUS dictates, is nonetheless told to use the mask nationwide next year, and if there are few good models available to meet the sudden demand, a big squeeze will be put on the manufacturers.</p><p>In fact, AHAUS held off for a year in requiring the players in its programs, comprising the thousands of youngsters&rsquo; teams below junior age, to wear HECC approved masks this season. The only stipulation now is that a mask must be worn, but the plan is now to have HECC approved masks mandated for 1980-81. So a tremendous surge in demand for fewer available masks next year is a real possibility.</p><p>As far as the effect of the masks on the game is concerned, Petrovek thinks that his upcoming report will have a great influence on the Rules Committee because, if they do go to a nationwide mask requirement, then the changes evidenced this year in Eastern Hockey will be even more pronounced out West. If there&rsquo;s been a tendency towards more chippy stuff along the boards and in the corners in the ECAC, then the rougher WCHA will certainly have more of the same. WCHA Commissioner Burt Smith would do well to anticipate change and tighten up his league&rsquo;s rules beforehand. Ditto for the CDHA and Fred Jacoby.</p><p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re a lot more physical out there than we are,&rdquo; commented Petrovek. &ldquo;So they&rsquo;re very interested in what&rsquo;s happening to our league in this first year. But I must say that while I am concerned about the style of play around the boards, I don&rsquo;t think it has been a problem with the better teams in the league.&rdquo;</p><p>So, we haven&rsquo;t heard the last of the mask controversy yet. There is some acceptance afoot, and perhaps if some administrative co-ordinating is done among the manufacturers and the alphabet soup of committees with a stake in the project (HECC, AHAUS, ECAC, NCAA, ECHA, WCHA, CCHA, CAHA, NOCSAE) we will have a minimum of dissatisfaction. But the league commissioners, coaches, doctors, and players ought to get their thoughts straight about the matter and examine very closely what&rsquo;s been happening in the ECAC test tube.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0024-01

Face Mask Hysteria Subsiding But Jury Still Out

<h2>ECAC CONFERENCE</h2><p>(Standings on Tues., Jan. 22)</p><h3>EAST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01402/4245254-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="526" height="173"></div><h3>WEST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02294/4245247-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="529" height="148"></div><h3>IVY DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03202/4245240-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="528" height="172"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p>Providence 8, Northeastern 6</p><p>Boston Univ. 10, New Hampshire 3</p><p>Boston College 4, Dartmouth 0</p><p>Colgate 4, St. Lawrence 1</p><p>RPI 9, Yale 6</p><p>Clarkson 14, Cornell 6</p><p>N. Hampshire 4, Northeastern 3</p><p>Providence 4, RPI 3</p><p>Boston College 7, Boston Univ. 6</p><p>Vermont 6, Clarkson 4</p><p>St. Lawrence 4, Northeastern 3</p><p>New Hampshire 3, RPI 2</p><p>Cornell 9, Yale 4</p><p>Dartmouth 5, Maine 1</p><p>Providence 2, Vermont 1</p><h3>TEAPOT TOURNAMENT</h3><p>Consolation</p><p>Lowell 10, Merrimack 6</p><p>Championship</p><p>Bowdoin 4, Salem State 2</p><h3>NON-CONFERENCE GAMES</h3><p>Colgate 4, Holy Cross 2</p><p>Vermont 6, Middlebury 4</p><p>Maine 5, Colby 2</p><p>Potsdam State 7, Buffalo 6</p><p>Oswego 6, RMC 3</p><p>AIC 5, Norwich 4</p><p>Colby 3, Connecticut 2</p><p>Hamilton 9, Geneseo 3</p><p>Hawthorne 4, Curry 0</p><p>Merrimack 7, Army 2</p><p>New Haven 2, Trinity 1</p><p>Salem State 5, Bowdoin 2</p><p>Wesleyan 5, Clark 2</p><p>Williams 7, Amherst 5</p><h2>WCHA CONFERENCE</h2><p>(Standings on Tues., Jan. 22)</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-04144/4245233-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="532" height="264"></div><h3>NON-CONFERENCE GAMES</h3><p>U.S. Olympic 6, Wisconsin 2</p><p>Air Force Academy 5, Denver 3</p><h3>CONFERENCE GAMES</h3><p>North Dakota 7, Minn.-Duluth 3</p><p>North Dakota 5, Minn.-Duluth 1</p><p>Michigan 6, Wisconsin 5</p><p>Michigan 8, Wisconsin 4</p><p>Minnesota 7, Denver 3</p><p>Minnesota 6, Denver 4</p><p>Michigan Sate 4, Michigan Tech 3</p><p>Michigan Tech 6, Michigan State 0</p><p>Notre Dame 6, Colorado College 5</p><p>Notre Dame 5, Colorado College 3</p><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-05122/4245226-1-eng-US/f0025-052.jpg" title="f0025-05" width="535" height="337"></div><h2>CCHA CONFERENCE</h2><p>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 21)</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0793/4245219-1-eng-US/f0025-072.jpg" title="f0025-07" width="555" height="177"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p>Ohio State 8, Bowling Green 2</p><p>Ohio State 5, Bowling Green 0</p><p>North. Michigan 5, West. Michigan 3</p><p>North. Michigan 8, West. Michigan 2</p><p>Ferris State 10, Lake Superior 3</p><p>Ferris State 11, Lake Superior 0</p><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0883/4245212-1-eng-US/f0025-082.jpg" title="f0025-08" width="537" height="573"></div><h2>ONTARIO CONFERENCE</h2><p>(Standings on Mon., Jan. 21)</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0974/4245205-1-eng-US/f0025-092.jpg" title="f0025-09" width="531" height="313"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p>Toronto 6, Ryerson 3</p><p>Laurentian 4, Laurier 3</p><p>Brock 4, Windsor 4</p><p>Toronto 8, Windsor 4</p><p>Waterloo 4, Ryerson 2</p><p>Queen&rsquo;s 4, Guelph 4</p><h3>OTHER GAMES</h3><p>Manitoba 8, Brandon 3</p><p>Mount Allison 4, UNB 5</p><p>Trois-Rivieres 14, McGill 2</p><p>Saskatechewan 4, Alberta 2</p><p>Calgary 4, UBC 1</p><p>Brandon 4, Regina 4</p><p>Lakehead 5, Winnipeg 3</p><p>McGill 5, Laval 4</p><p>Concordia 5, Chicoutimi S</p><p>Bishop&rsquo;s 4. Ottawa 2</p><p>St. Marv&rsquo;s 3, Acadia 0</p><p>St. F. Xavier 4, Dalhousie 3</p><p>Moncton TO, Memorial 3</p><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1057/4245198-1-eng-US/f0025-102.jpg" title="f0025-10" width="537" height="340"></div><h2>QUEBEC CONFERENCE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1149/4245191-1-eng-US/f0025-112.jpg" title="f0025-11" width="528" height="195"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1240/4245184-1-eng-US/f0025-122.jpg" title="f0025-12" width="526" height="197"></div><h2>ATLANTIC CONFERENCE</h2><h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1334/4245177-1-eng-US/f0025-132.jpg" title="f0025-13" width="524" height="124"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1431/4245170-1-eng-US/f0025-142.jpg" title="f0025-14" width="526" height="169"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><p>EAST DIVISION</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1526/4245163-1-eng-US/f0025-152.jpg" title="f0025-15" width="528" height="168"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1621/4245156-1-eng-US/f0025-162.jpg" title="f0025-16" width="523" height="147"></div><h2>CANADA WEST</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1716/4245149-1-eng-US/f0025-172.jpg" title="f0025-17" width="524" height="123"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1812/4245142-1-eng-US/f0025-182.jpg" title="f0025-18" width="525" height="172"></div><h2>Leading U.S. College Teams</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-06100/4245135-1-eng-US/f0025-062.jpg" title="f0025-06" width="479" height="381"></div><h2>Top Canadian College Teams</h2><p>1 - Alberta Golden Bears</p><p>2 - McMaster Marlins</p><p>3 - Calgary Dinosaurs</p><p>4 - Concordia Stingers</p><p>5 - Dalhousie Tigers</p><p>6 - Toronto Blues</p><p>7 - Moncton Aigles Bleu</p><p>8 - Manitoba Bisons</p><p>9 - Trois-Rivieres Patriotes</p><p>10 - Queen&rsquo;s Golden Gaels<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0025-01

How They Stand

<h2><b>ECAC Conference</b></h2><h3><b>JANUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-197/4245341-1-eng-US/f0025-192.jpg" title="f0025-19" width="556" height="407"></div><h3><b>FEBRUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-205/4245334-1-eng-US/f0025-202.jpg" title="f0025-20" width="565" height="841"></div><h2><b>WCHA Conference</b></h2><h3><b>JANUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-214/4245327-1-eng-US/f0025-212.jpg" title="f0025-21" width="574" height="291"></div><h3><b>FEBRUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-223/4245320-1-eng-US/f0025-222.jpg" title="f0025-22" width="574" height="743"></div><h2><b>CCHA Conference</b></h2><h3><b>JANUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-233/4245313-1-eng-US/f0025-232.jpg" title="f0025-23" width="554" height="174"></div><h3><b>FEBRUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-243/4245306-1-eng-US/f0025-242.jpg" title="f0025-24" width="559" height="675"></div><h3><b>MARCH</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-253/4245299-1-eng-US/f0025-252.jpg" title="f0025-25" width="544" height="77"></div><h2><b>CIAU Conference</b></h2><h3><b>JANUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-263/4245292-1-eng-US/f0025-262.jpg" title="f0025-26" width="552" height="1082"></div><h3><b>FEBRUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-272/4245285-1-eng-US/f0025-272.jpg" title="f0025-27" width="501" height="244"></div><p><b>VICTORIAVILLE</b></p><p><b>Quality sticks from PeeWee to Pro.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0025-19

Games To Come

<div class="byline">By MIKE MURRAY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01417/4245372-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>The 1980 Micron Invitational Tournament All Stars joined sales manager Cookie Perno, left, for awards at the Montreal tournament. Next to Perno from the left are goaler Grant McNicholl and defenseman Kevin O&rsquo;Neil of Concordia, Toronto defenseman Brad Tamblyn, plus left winger Roy Halpin and center Doug Feasby of Concordia. Feasby was the tourney&rsquo;s MVP.</i></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>M</span>ONTREAL&mdash;An unexpected optimism has started to settle into the camp of the Concordia Stingers. The nationally ranked Toronto Blues were blown out by the Sting-ers in the championship game of the Micron Invitational Tournament, 11-5, in the most lopsided score in recent Toronto history.</p><p>&ldquo;After being down 4-1, and fighting back to within 5-3 we then gave up two easy goals and that was the game,&rdquo; explained losing coach Gord Davies.</p><p>&ldquo;We converted each of our scoring chances into goals, and the Blues&rsquo; goaltending was certainly not up to par tonight,&rdquo; expressed winning coach Paul Arsenault. Stinger Grant McNicholl turned aside 36 of the Blues&rsquo; shots while Dave Jenner had a night that he won&rsquo;t cherish.</p><p>The opening round was one of the most exciting ever witnessed in university tournament play. The Dalhousie Tigers and Toronto started with a bang going into double overtime before Geoff Shaw scored to put the Blues in the finals. Controversy hung over what many thought was a tainted victory for the Blues. Dalhousie scored what appeared to be the winner in the last minute of overtime when Brian Gualazzi connected from close in. Immediately upon seeing the red goal light go on the Blues requested a measurement of Gua-lazzi&rsquo;s stick. However, before referee Pierre Gibeau could get his hands on the stick Louie Lavoie deliberately broke his teammate&rsquo;s stick. The only call that referee Gibeau had was to disallow the goal as well as having to assess the Tigers a penalty for playing with an illegal stick. Lavoie then proceeded to get an unsportsmanship like conduct penalty. The four-minute penalty carried over into the second overtime period, and it was on this powerplay when Toronto netted the winner and a 65 victory.</p><p>Luckily there is no curfew on the campus of Concordia University for the second game in the first round also went into overtime. The University of Plattsburgh Cardinals twice rallied from two goal deficits to tie the hosts at four and send the game into overtime. The Cardinals Don McNairn stole the show early as he robbed the Stingers on numerous occasions. The only man to beat McNairn was Doug Feasby&mdash;unforty ately he managed to do it four times. The Stingers Grant McNicholl reserved his two best saves for the overtime period before Kevin O&rsquo;Neil drifted a shot through a maze of players to give the host club a chance at the championship.</p><p>Doug Feasby showed why he is presently Canada&rsquo;s leading pointgetter and why he was an unanimous choice as the tournament MVP as he scored twice and set up two others in the championship game.</p><p>&ldquo;Even if you put a check on him he would still get his points because his two wingers complement him well,&rdquo; explained Davies. The Stingers jumped off to an early 4-1 lead, and when things looked like Toronto might mount a comeback Mike Piano scored a dramatic solo effort goal to end any hopes of a Blues comeback.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m speechless,&rdquo; claimed Stinger coach Arsenault. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve now defeated four other teams who are in the Top Ten Poll and I hope that now Quebec will get some recognition.&rdquo; With thirteen rookies in their line-up the Stingers have now gone undefeated in Canada since October 31st. &ldquo;We used the boards well and never really got ourselves into trouble in our own zone,&rdquo; said assistant coach Bob Philip. &ldquo;This was a confidence builder but don&rsquo;t underestimate Toronto, we know that they&rsquo;ll be back.&rdquo;</p><p>In the consolation final, Gualazzi, using a new stick, knotted four goals as Dalhousie easily handed Plattsburgh an 8-3 setback.</p><p>Four All Star awards went to Stingers Grant McNicholl, Kevin O&rsquo;Neil, Doug Feasby and Roy Halpin. Toronto&rsquo;s Brad Tamblyn was the other defenseman while the controversial Gualazzi rounded out the All Star team.</p><p><b>CWUAA:</b> The Calgary Dinosaurs took six out of a possible eight points and now feel that they are in the driver&rsquo;s seat to finish on top of Canada West&hellip;&ldquo;Splitting those two games in Edmonton was exactly what we wanted,&rdquo; said Calgary coach George Kingston. &ldquo;Alberta now has to play us four more times but all in our building&rdquo;</p><p>Jerry Farwell made acrobatic stop after acrobatic stop as he held the high-scoring Golden Bears to only one goal. &ldquo;Some nights you just feel right, thankfully tonight was one of those nights for me.&rdquo; Farwell said Captain Randy Joeve-nazzo scored early in the third period and that marker proved to be the winner as Calgary held on to a 2-1 win. However the following night the Calgary defense looked as if they were day-dreaming of their previous night&rsquo;s exploits, as the Golden Bears trampled the Dinosaurs 8-1. The win moved Alberta back into a first place tie with Calgary.</p><p>The Dinosaurs returned home to face Saskatchewan Huskies to complete their four games in five nights stints. The goaltending pair of Jerry Criska and Farwell held the Huskies to only one goal in each game. Farwell picked up right where he had left off in Edmonton as he stoned the Huskie forwards. Farwell&rsquo;s victory in the nets ran his regular season record to 9-0. The following day Jerry Bancks scored two third. period goals to lift the Dinosaurs to a 3-1 victory.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-01

Tournament Win Boosts Concordia Confidence

<div class="byline">BY MORRIS DALLA COSTA</div><p><b>LOUISVILLE</b></p><p>HOCKEY STICKS</p><p><b>LOUISVILLE</b></p><p>HOCKEY STICKS</p><p>LONDON&mdash;The Knights are wondering what happened.</p><p>It seems like a long year from last year to this for the London squad. No doubt they were itching to start the 1979-80 campaign. Last year they came close to winning their division and having a crack at Peterborough Petes for a Memorial Cup berth.</p><p>They just missed, but there was always this year. They had a lot of returning players and were picked by many as the class of the league. Now, they are second last in the Emms division, one point back of Brantford Alexanders, three points behind Niagara Falls and seven behind Toronto Marlbo-ros and Windsor Spitfires, who are tied for top spot. The worse part of it is that they are three games below .500.</p><p>&ldquo;We got off to a bad start,&rdquo; says London coach Bill Long. &ldquo;We ran into some injuries and have never really gotten a full team into the line-up. We showld be better going down the stretch.&rdquo;</p><p>Long&rsquo;s enthusiasm may have been slightly curbed when his club lost a 6-1 decision to Oshawa Generals and looked bad doing it. It didn&rsquo;t get any better. They dropped a 6-4 game to Leyden division leading Peterborough and to cap it all off (oh, humiliation) they lost to hapless Kitchener Rangers 7-5.</p><p>There isn&rsquo;t really any solution to what&rsquo;s wrong with the Knights. Maybe the talent on the club was just over-rated, or maybe, they aren&rsquo;t working hard, or maybe it&rsquo;s a combination of both.</p><p>&ldquo;When this season started I thought that all the power teams would be in the Emms division. As it turns out, it was exactly the opposite. A lot depends on the individuals who have come back from the pro camps. We&rsquo;ve been fortunate that our guys came back with a great attitude. They could take all my players as long as they send them back,&rdquo; continued Long.</p><p>Despite the hardly vintage year Knights are having, there are several bright spots. Number one has to be the play of center Wayne Thompson. He&rsquo;s fourth in the league scoring.</p><p>The big man on the squad was expected to be Dino Cicarelli. The winger, drafted as an under-age by Minnesota North Stars, is obviously hampered by the after-effects of a broken leg suffered last season. He has a steel rod in his leg and the mobility he has displayed in past seasons is not as evident.</p><p>Knights also had goaltending troubles which forced them to take on Paul Minaker as an over-age player from Ottawa &lsquo;67s.</p><p>&ldquo;I like to decide on 19 players after the first couple of days in camp and go with them. I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s any advantage to keep changing players. You won&rsquo;t find me making too many deals,&rdquo; says Long.</p><p>He may wish he&rsquo;d made a few before the season&rsquo;s over.</p><p>Windsor Spitfires,-after an amazing start, have bitten the onion. For the first time since the season started, they are sharing first place with the resurgent Toronto Marlies.</p><p>Windsor travelled to the north country and had their ears pinned back. They were defeated by Sault Ste. Marie 6-1 and then lost to Sudbury, 6-3.</p><p>Meanwhile, Toronto came up with what could be their biggest win of the season. In front of over 13,000 fans (most of them left from a Toronto Maple Leafs practice), Toronto defeated Peterborough 2-1 in overtime. After a 0-0 deadlock going into the third period, Scott McGeown scored for Toronto only to have Andre Hidi tie it up. It took Marlies&rsquo; Stewart Gavin only 28 seconds into the overtime to win the game for the Dukes.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Unsettled Season Leaves Knights Wondering

<div class="byline">BY JESSIE LEVY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01395/4245434-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="574" height="712"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Even though Jim Fox may set an OMJHL record for scoring, he feels his size will hurt him in the draft.</i></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02298/4245427-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="567" height="710"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Sean Simpson, at 5&rsquo;10&rdquo; is the biggest member of the line, a playmaker for Fox and Yvan</i></figcaption></div><p>OTTAWA&mdash;Little-guys can get the job done, insists Jim Fox, Ottawa 67s diminutive right winger.</p><p>And no one around the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League who has seen the flashy Fox and his linemates in action disputes that.</p><p>Fox, left winger Yvan Joly, who has already signed with the Montreal Canadiens, and centerman Sean Simpson have amassed&mdash;as of Jan. 14&mdash;124 goals and 183 assists so far this season.</p><p>The trio also did well at the recent World Junior Championships in Finland, collecting a bunch of goals and some great international experience.</p><p>Fox, a former weightlifter, is built like a fireplug. Small by National Hockey League standards, the five-foot-eight inch, 180-pound hustler leads the league in scoring with 44 goals and 75 assists.</p><p>At the rate Fox is notching points, he is a shoe-in to break the OMJHL scoring record of 192 points set two years ago by former teammate Bobby Smith, the NHL&rsquo;s number one draft choice in 1977 who has added a touch of class to Minnesota North Stars.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the smartest hockey player in junior hockey today,&rdquo; says coach Brian Kilrea. &ldquo;He has Gretzky&rsquo;s (Wayne) great anticipation and he is quick and smart like Smith (Bobby).&rdquo;</p><p>Yvan Joly, a five-foot-nine inch, 175-pound left winger, is second in scoring with 43 goals and 60 assists.</p><p>&ldquo;Joly has a knack around the net and a loose puck doesn&rsquo;t stand very long with him around,&rdquo; Kilrea says.</p><p>Centerman Sean Simpson, a fine playmaker who is an inch taller than Joly, is sixth in scoring with 37 goals and 48 assists.</p><p>But despite the success of smaller NHL players such as Marcel Dionne of Los Angeles Kings and Bobby Clarke of Philadelphia Flyers, Fox still thinks his size will work against him in this summer&rsquo;s draft.</p><p>&ldquo;I know it will hurt me in the draft,&rdquo; says Fox. &ldquo;I know that if I were a six-foot-two inch, 225-pounder with the same stats it would be a lot easier.&rdquo;</p><p>And the higher a player is drafted the more money he makes,&rdquo; says Fox.</p><p>But the softspoken Sudbury native says he has no regrets about turning down offers last fall from several NHL clubs, including high-flying Philadelphia.</p><p>&ldquo;It would be an honor to play for the Flyers,&rdquo; says Fox. &ldquo;But they weren&rsquo;t willing to pay the bucks.&rdquo;</p><p>Fox, Joly and Simpson graduate to the NHL at the end of this year but first they have to dispose of arch-rival Peterborough Petes, who have beaten Ottawa four consecutive times this year.</p><p>The third-place 67s trailed the league-leading Petes by seven points&mdash;as of Jan. 14&mdash;in the overal standings with two games to play between the clubs.</p><p>&ldquo;They are going to be tough to catch,&rdquo; says Kilrea. &ldquo;And we&rsquo;ll have to do it ourselves.&rdquo;</p><p>Kilrea points out that Ottawa has 25 games remaining&mdash;as of Jan. 14&mdash;and 16 of those are at home.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a chance.&rdquo;</p><p>Besides his top offensive guns, Kilrea can also count on big games from three graduating defensemen, including Bill Kitchen, whose brother Mike plays for Colorado Rockies, Doug Crossman and six-foot-five inch, 225-pound Rory Cava.</p><p>&ldquo;The secret in being able to stay close is to draft players who all can play,&rdquo; Kilrea says. &ldquo;All my lines are scoring lines and they all know how to backcheck.&rdquo;</p><p>And Kilrea&rsquo;s remarkable talent for drafting fine young players has given Ottawa depth and a solid core of players for next year.</p><p>Although Ottawa loses it&rsquo;s three best forwards and three top defensemen, 10 forwards who make up three regular lines, are returning next year.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s up to us,&rdquo; says Kilrea. &ldquo;If we want it bad enough we&rsquo;ll take it.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0027-01

‘Small Package’ Houses 67s Power

<div class="byline">By GREGG DRINNAN</div><p><b>LOUISVILLE</b></p><p>HOCKEY STICKS</p><p><b>LOUISVILLE</b></p><p>HOCKEY STICKS</p><p>PORTLAND&mdash;Just when it seemed that Victoria Cougars were going to run away with the Western Hockey League&rsquo;s Western Division crown, along came coach Ken Hodge and his Portland Winter Hawks. And the Winter Hawks are suddenly the WHL&rsquo;s hottest team, riding a 14-game winning streak.</p><p>The last time the Winter Hawks tasted defeat was Dec. 1, when they came out of Victoria on the short end of a 7-4 count. Victoria&rsquo;s victory that night lifted the Cougars eight points in front of the Winter Hawks.</p><p>But the very next night, Portland went into - Seattle and emerged with a 6-5 victory over the Breakers. And, the Winter Hawks were off and running, eventually skating into a first-place tie with the Cougars.</p><p>The Winter Hawks posted seven victories at home and seven on the road, and 12 of their wins were over Western Division opponents.</p><p>Up until the beginning of December, the Winter Hawks simply lay dormant. They were always within shouting distance of Jack Shupe&rsquo;s Cougars, but people were starting to wonder if they were ever going to make a move.</p><p>Part of the reason for the Winter Hawks&rsquo; inconsistency up until December was obviously the absence of David Babych, the 18-year-old Portland defenseman, who will likely be the first choice over-all in the National Hockey League&rsquo;s June draft, went down with an ankle injury and sat out 17 games.</p><p>Babych is back now, but his absence really hurt, because this is the team that last year made it to the WHL final, with Keith Brown and Blake Wesley shining on the blue line. Brown now is a regular with the NHL&rsquo;s Chicago Black Hawks, while Philadelphia Flyers drafted Wesley and assigned him to Maine of the American League. Now, Portland has the likes of Jim Benning and Randy Turnbull, a pair of 16-year-olds, on its blueline.</p><p>And Benning has been nothing short of spectacular during the winning streak. After a slow start offensively, which has to be expected considering his age, Benning really took off and now has to be considered a strong contender for rookie of the year honors. After all, he&rsquo;s got 45 points, including 39 assists, and is the second highest scoring defenseman in the league.</p><p>Most of the Winter Hawks&rsquo; offense during the streak has come from center Tim Tookey and captain Jim Dobson. Tookey has moved into contention for the scoring crown, with 35 goals and 46 assists, while Dobson has 31 goals and 40 helpers.</p><p><b>CALGARY:</b> The Wranglers got involved in a couple of real shoot-outs on the West Coast. First off they erased an early 3-0 deficit and went on to an 11-8 victory over the once-powerful Bruins in New Westminster. Kelly Kisio, a 20-year-old who signed with Detroit Red Wings as a free agent, led the way with four goals and four assists. Rookie Greg Chudiak added two goals and three helpers and Don Keller chipped in with three goals.</p><p><b>REGINA:</b> The Pats have closed to within six points of the Eastern Division-leading Wranglers; and they did it by winning 5-4 in overtime in Calgary; on Brian Varga&rsquo;s 23rd goal of the year at 1:33. Rookie Ron Flockhart set up the winner and ran his consecutive point-scoring string to 31 games. Center Doug Wickenheiser picked up his 46th goal of the year, and that leads the league, as does his 87 points. Earlier, Darren Veitch, the league&rsquo;s highest scoring defenseman, scored his 16th and 17th goals of the year, as the Pats edged Medicine Hat Tigers 6-5 in overtime. Veitch tied the game at 18:52 of the third period and scored the winner at 1:09 of sud-den death overtime. Wickenheiser pumped in the Pats&rsquo; first five goals in a 7-2 home-ice win over Billings Bighorns.</p><p><b>MEDICINE HAT:</b> The surging Tigers got second-period goals from Ken Solheim, his 4th, and Brant Kiessig, his 16th, to beat Saskatoon Blades 3-1. The Tigers are alone in third spot. Medicine Hat acquired 18-year-old center Drew Koules, a native of Chicago, from New Westminster for a player to be named later off the Bruins&rsquo; list. And, the Tigers also released veterans Brian Ziegler, Mark Komonoski and Tim Bailey. The night after the minor shakeup, the Tigers dumped Brandon Wheat Kings 7-1 at The Hat. Goaltender Randy Jaycock was superb, kicking out 41 shots. Curt Broadhead and Solheim had two goals apiece.</p><p><b>SASKATOON:</b> Kevin MacNaught scored his 21st goal of the season on a penalty shot in the Blades&rsquo; 5-2 home ice loss to the Billings Bighorns. That was Saskatoon&rsquo;s fourth straight loss. Jerome&rsquo;s Engele&rsquo;s Blades, after getting hot late in 1979, have fallen on hard times early in &lsquo;80.</p><p><b>LETHBRIDGE:</b> Sandy Sullivan&rsquo;s second goal of the year at 8:24 of the third period gave the Broncos a 6-5 win over the Blades in Saskatoon. Gord Williams, a 19-year-old who was drafted by Philadelphia Flyers, picked up his 30th goal. Two nights later, the Broncos scored five unanswered third-period goals to drop the Blades 7-4 in Lethbridge.</p><p><b>BILLINGS:</b> Defenseman Jim McTaggart banged in three third-period goals, giving him nine on the season, as the Bighorns lost a 5-4 overtime decision to the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings. The Bighorns bounced back two nights later and hammered Brandon 9-4, Billings scored five power-play goals and another shorthanded effort in that win. Lindsay Carson led the way with two goals and an assist.</p><p><b>BRANDON:</b> Coach Dunc McCallum was named Western Manitoba&rsquo;s 1979 Sportsman of The Year by The Brandon Sun and the newspaper also selected the 1978-79 Wheat Kings as the area&rsquo;s Team of the Year. Center Dave Chartier&rsquo;s goal, his 16th of the year, at 2:33 of sudden-death overtime gave the Wheat Kings 5-4 win over the Bighorns in Billings. Brandon forced overtime in that game when right winger Kelly McCrimmon scored with only 16 seconds left in the third period.</p><p><b>VICTORIA:</b> Bob Jansch had two goals, his 22nd and 23rd, and two assists as the Cougars dumped Calgary 6-3 in Victoria. It was Victoria&rsquo;s third win in four games with the Eastern Division-leading Wranglers.</p><p><b>SEATTLE:</b> Dan Held had three goals in the 10-7 loss to Calgary, giving him 20 on the year. The reakers have been having their troubles of late, but still hold a 24-point bulge over New Westminster Bruins in the Western Division.</p><p><b>NEW WESTMINSTER:</b> The Bruins lost their 30th game of the season, 11-8 to Calgary, Randy Wickware had three goals in the losing cause giving him a total of 17. Boris Fistric added a goal and three assists, as did Anthony McMurchy.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Mid-Winter Spurt Has Portland Hopes Flying

<div class="byline">BY DANNY YOUNG</div><p><b>LOUISVILLE</b></p><p>HOCKEY STICKS</p><p><b>LOUISVILLE</b></p><p>HOCKEY STICKS</p><p>MONTREAL&mdash;Who&rsquo;s the coach of the Montreal Juniors? (A) Ron Lapointe (B) Jacques St. Jean; (C) Jean-Pierre Dubois; (D) None of the above.</p><p>The correct answer to this question depended for a while on what time of the day it was asked. The confusion had started when general manager Roger Poitras accepted a resignation that coach Lapointe said he never made.</p><p>Poitras proceeded to hire St. Jean as a replacement but the players refused to play for anyone except Lapointe. It was then decided that until the dispute was settled, 20-year-old team captain Dubois would take over as coach.</p><p>The conflict between Poitras and Lapointe started as a result of Poitras&rsquo; disappointment in the club&rsquo;s performance. Lapointe became annoyed at Poitras&rsquo; subse-quent meddling into his coaching duties. In a moment of anxiety, Lapointe allegedly said something to the effect, &ldquo;If you don&rsquo;t like it, I&rsquo;ll quit.&rdquo; Poitras apparently called the bluff.</p><p>The move, however, drew an immediate adverse reaction from the players.</p><p>&ldquo;We like Ron as coach,&rdquo; Dubois simply stated. &ldquo;This was something that happened upstairs. We weren&rsquo;t involved.&rdquo;</p><p>Despite the players&rsquo; protest, it was decided in a meeting of team brass that St. Jean will replace Lapointe as coach of the juniors.</p><p>Before that decision was made, the team actually played two games with Dubois as coach. The first was an embarrassing 10-1 loss to Sherbrooke. The second, however, was an exciting 7-5 home victory over Sorel.</p><p>At that game, several banners were displayed calling for Lapointe&rsquo;s return, and a group of fans chanted that theme during the national anthem.</p><p>Dubois&rsquo; game plan was unorthodox and the players responded with an outstanding effort.</p><p>&ldquo;Before the game, J. P. told us that we have to forecheck,&rdquo; said Denis Savard. &ldquo;He told everybody to go in and forecheck.&rdquo;</p><p>After gaining a 5-3 advantage, Sorel came back to tie the score at five. But Denis Cyr put one in with 20 seconds left and the crowd and players went absolutely wild. They scored an open netter and departed with a glorious victory.</p><p>&ldquo;The guys pulled together for a great game,&rdquo; said Dubois. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;ll be happy with a coach behind the bench.&rdquo;</p><p>Even if it&rsquo;s Jacques St. Jean.</p><p><b>SHAWINIGAN:</b> In an effort to spark the Cataractes&rsquo; attack, general manager Ron Racette made two deals to pick up a couple of quality forwards. He acquired Denis Tremblay from Montreal in exchange for Eric Morin, and Alain Rioux from Quebec for defenseman Dan Rondeau.</p><p>On the ice, the Cats were not too successful. They lost to Cornwall 4-2 and Chicoutimi 7-4 before tying Cornwall at four on a third period goal by Chris Thellend.</p><p><b>TROIS-RIVIERES:</b> The defending champion Draveurs are now just seven points out of first place and on the move! In a wild snoot-out with Quebec, Jean Francois Sauve scored three goals and three assists to lead an 11-7 win. Pierre Aubry added two goals and three assists to that effort. Against Laval. Aubry and Marc Roy each scored twice as the Draveurs triumphed 6-3. Finally, Aubry scored yet two more and Michel Champig-ny had a hat trick in an easy 10-3 defeat of Hull.</p><p><b>QUEBEC:</b> The Remparts did lose to Trois-Rivieres 11-7, but came back with two big wins. First they stopped Cornwall 7-4 with Dan Rioux and Pat Masse scoring two apiece. Then the Remparts stunned Sherbrooke with a 6-1 victory which put the team six games over .500. Claude Drouin scored twice in that game.</p><p><b>CHICOUTIMI:</b> The Sagueneens opened their biggest lead&mdash;four points&mdash;over Sherbrooke with two wins. Alain Lemieux scored twice in a 7-4 win over Shawinigan. Then Gilles Hamel scored four goals to support an easy 10-2 decision over Laval. Hamel now has 52 goals.</p><p>Though attendance is down in the QMJHL, the Sags have drawn just under 17,000 fans more this year than they did at the same time last year. They have drawn 16,000 more spectators this season than Hull, the second most successful team.</p><p><b>CORNWALL:</b> The Royals lead the Lebel division with a relatively confortable six-point lead over Montreal. They are 12 points behind the lead in the overall standings.</p><p>In action against Shawinigan, Gilles Crepeau scored twice in a 42 win. Then the Royals lost to Quebec 7-4 and tied Shawinigan 44.</p><p><b>SHERBROOKE:</b> Norm Aubin became the league&rsquo;s first player to reach 60 goals this season by scoring three in the Beavers&rsquo; 10-1 destruction of Montreal. Alan Haworth and Sean McKenna added two goals each. Then the Beavers were embarrassed by Quebec 6-1.</p><p><b>HULL:</b> Mario Chartrand had a big night for the Olympics with three goals to pace a 7-3 win over Sorel. In other games, Hull lost to Laval 8-4 despite two Jean Poulin Goals and dropped a 10-3 final to Trois-Rivieres.</p><p><b>LAVAL:</b> There haven&rsquo;t been too many bright Monday nights in Laval this season, but the Voisins and their supporters did celebrate an 8-4 win over Hull. Marcel Tou-rigny had a hat trick, and Louis Haman scored twice.</p><p><b>SOREL:</b> Chris Valentine scored twice for the Hawks in a 7-3 loss to Hull. They then lost to Montreal 75 after a fine third period comeback.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Montreal’s Musical Coaches End With St. Jean

<div class="byline">BY JIM LEAHY</div><p><b>LOUISVILLE</b></p><p>HOCKEY STICKS</p><p><b>LOUISVILLE</b></p><p>HOCKEY STICKS</p><p>NEW HAVEN&mdash;Bill Lochead&rsquo;s record-setting fifth hat trick of the season lifted the Nighthawks to a 7-0 win over Hershey at the Coliseum. It was easily the most impres-sive performance of the year for the southern division leaders. The crowd of 4,612 gave Lochead a standing ovation after he scored his third of the night with 5:02 left in the one-sided contest. New Haven also got solo tallies from Jeff McDill, Mike Backman and Tom Colley. Jim Pettie shared the whitewash with Doug Soetaert who had to leave the game late in the first period after being struck in the throat with the puck. He returned to the Coliseum later in the game after receiving an OK from the New Haven medical staff. Soetaert played two days later against Syracuse.</p><p>Pettie was outstanding in the nets in a 3-1 win at Hershey a few days earlier. He made 25 saves, losing his shutout with just 24 seconds to play when Glen Currie scored for the Bears. Jocelyn Guevremont, Jeff McDill and Larry Skinner scored for New Haven in that contest. A visit to Maine resulted in another loss to the Mariners. This time it was by a 4-1 margin, breaking New Haven&rsquo;s 10-game unbeaten streak. The week ended at home in the Coliseum against Syracuse. The Nighthawks edged the Firebirds 5-3 on Doug Sulliman&rsquo;s game winner late in the third period before 3,818.</p><p>With netminder Wayne Thomas out of action for several weeks following knee surgery, it is unlikely that the Rangers will try to make a deal for one of the three Night-hawk goaltenders. Jim Pettie has been hot of late and is now alternating with Doug Soetaert giving New Haven the best goaltending duo in the league. However, both of them would probably rather play in the NHL and the Rangers seem to be happy with Steve Baker and John Davidson.</p><p>Meanwhile, Pettie and Soetaert are giving the Nighthawks a 100 per cent effort, which has a lot to do with the fact that New Haven is running away with the AHL southern division title.</p><p><b>BINGHAMTON:</b> New Dusters&rsquo; coach Dave Forbes has made two moves since taking over the coaching duties from Pat Kelly. He has named Randy MacGregor as team captain and decided to concentrate on coaching as a full time occupation rather than to be a playercoach. MacGregor replaced veteran defenseman Darryl Edestrand as the team captain after Edestrand resigned the post for &ldquo;personal reasons&rdquo;. MacGregor was the captain last year when the Dusters made it to the AHL playoffs,</p><p>Forbes played two games in the dual role as player and coach and the club lost both contests. &ldquo;Thus far I have found that in trying to play and coach at the same time, I have done justice to neither,&rdquo; the new coach stated, &ldquo;and therefore, I feel it necessary to devote myself more to coaching. I want to gain experience in coaching and if and when I feel confident that I can do both then I will make a further adjustment.&rdquo;</p><p>Only one game was on the schedule during the week. The Dusters visited Glens Fall, N.Y. to take on the Adirondack Red Wings and they tied at 5-5.</p><p>Left winger Mike Marson came back after a brief stint with the coparent Los Angeles Kings. Marson only had 4 points in 22 games as a Duster, a far cry from his normal output. Don Howse and Tom Songin lead the club in scoring and Ken Hodge contributed 15 points in his first 13 games back in the AHL. Once he gets into shape the NHL veteran could be a big help.</p><p><b>HERSHEY:</b> Glen Currie scored with 24 seconds to play against New Haven, but it was the only time the Bears were able to beat Nighthawk goaltender Jim Pettie, The Bears lost 3-1 before a crowd of 3,083 at the Hersheypark Arena. Right winger Eddy Godin had his 10-game scoring streak stopped in the loss to New Haven. Just a few days earlier, center Currie had an 11-game streak halted in Rochester.</p><p>A game two nights later over in New Haven proved to be a total disaster. Hershey took one of their worst defeats of the year, losing a 7-0 blowout to the Nighthawks.</p><p><b>ADIRONDACK:</b> The Red Wings fell into the northern division basement during the week as improving Springfield moved past the slumping Wings. Adirondack ended a five-game losing streak with a 55 overtime tie at home against Binghamton.</p><p><b>ROCHESTER:</b> Four losses in five games dropped the Amerks several games below the .500 mark and left them only eight points ahead of fourth place Syracuse.</p><p>After a wild 8-6 win at home over Syracuse, the Amerks lost the next two contests. New Brunswick came into the War Memorial and left with a close 2-1 win over the Amerks and Hershey came out on top by a 4-1 margin in Hershey.</p><p><b>SYRACUSE:</b> After completing his two week AHL conditioning stint, left winger John Smrke was returned to the co-parent Quebec Nordiques. A week earlier,, the Firebirds released winger Kurt Walker.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01375/4245513-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="576" height="719"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Steady goaltending by Jim Pettie has helped the Nighthawks move into the overall lead.</i></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0030-01

Lochead’s Unequalled Scoring Feats Have Nighthawks Soaring Above Rest

<p class="dropcap"><span>H</span>ALIFAX&mdash;The Voyageurs found themselves locked in a titanic struggle with arch-rival New Brunswick in the battle for first place in the northern division. Going into a match with the Hawks, the Vees had only lost one of their last 10. That game with New Brunswick in Halifax ended in a big 5-3 win for the Vees, lifting them into first place.</p><p>Goaltender Richard Wamsley threw up an iron curtain in a 6-0 win for Nova Scotia at home against Maine. A few days later, the Vees skated to a 5-5 overtime tie in Moncton. Wamsley also received a big helping hand when the Montreal Canadiens returned Rick Sevigney to Halifax recently.</p><p><b>NEW BRUNSWICK:</b> The Hawks beat Maine (5-2), Adirondack (5-4) and Rochester (2-1) before their 55 overtime tie at home against Nova Scotia. The critical return match in Halifax with the Vees ended in a 5-3 loss to the Voyageurs.</p><p><b>MAINE:</b> Once again the Mariners were the team to stop a New Haven unbeaten streak. This time they ended the Nighthawks&rsquo; six-game road unbeaten skein and their 10 game overall record without a loss. The Mariners did all this in a 4-1 victory over New Haven before 6,194 at the Civic Center. Earlier in the week the Mariners lost in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia before splitting a home and home series with Springfield. The Mariners beat the pesky Indians 5-1 in Portland and skated to a 3-3 overtime tie down in Springfield. In the big win over New Haven Wayne Schaab scored twice and the club got solo tallies from Jim Cunningham and Gordie Clark. Goaltender Rick St. Croix was in the nets. The crowd of more than 6,000 keeps the Mariner home average over the 5,000 per game mark, one of the best in the American Hockey League.</p><p>Jim Roberts has recently been acquired by the Mariners. He had been playing in the CHL with the now-defunct Cincinnati Stingers. In 26 games, he had goals and 10 assists with the Stingers. He is a 23-year-old left winger with three seasons of NHL experience. Roberts had 17 goals while with the Minnesota North Stars.</p><p>The big victory over New Haven left the Mariners five points behind Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, who are currently tied for first place in the northern division. The Mariners have a good chance of overtaking either one of those clubs since they have four games in hand on Nova Scotia and three in hand on New Brunswick.</p><p><b>SPRINGFIELD:</b> The Indians moved into fourth place briefly, marking the first time since opening day of the 1978 season that the Tribe has moved into playoff contention. Last season the club was in last place all year.</p><p>The month of January is proving to be very important to the Tribe&rsquo;s hopes of staying in the playoff picture. Eight of the 10 games on the schedule were against northern division opponents and four of them are with the champion Maine Mariners. They started in Portland against the Mariners where the Indians were on the short end of a 5-1 contest. Two nights later the same teams met In Springfield and they skated to a 3-3 overtime tie. The last game was also on home ice at the big E Coliseum where the Indians met Syracuse and the two clubs skated to a 2-2 overtime tie.</p><p>Brian Spencer finally made his debut with the Tribe after being out with an eye injury suffered in practice. He impressed the fans with his hustling style of play. Tim Sheehy was out for a few games after being bothered by muscle spasms in his back, but the good news from Springfield was the long-awaited return of Marty Howe.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Vees Victors In Maritime Showdown

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div><p><b>LOUISVILLE</b></p><p>HOCKEY STICKS</p><p><b>LOUISVILLE</b></p><p>HOCKEY STICKS</p><p>INDIANAPOLIS&mdash;Insult was added to injury when vandals broke into the visitors&rsquo; dressing room at Fort Worth&rsquo;s Will Rogers Coliseum and stole five of the Indianapolis Checkers&rsquo; road sweaters, Mike Hordy&rsquo;s pads and helmet, and an assortment of garter belts. The Checkers had just suffered their second straight humiliation at the hands of the lowly Texans, a 7-3 loss on the heels of Bill Oleschuk&rsquo;s 7-0 shutout.</p><p>It was an angry bunch of Checkers who bused to Dalias to wind up the three-game road trip. Wearing five borrowed Fort Worth sweaters, they took out their wrath on the poor Black Hawks, 9-5, then came home to trounce Houston, 8-3, and suddenly the Checkers were back in first place for the first time in three weeks. They had started the week with a 5-3 home triumph. over Birmingham.</p><p>The Fort Worth break-in was the second time the Checkers had property stolen in Texas. Earlier this season some of the team&rsquo;s medical supplies disappeared from their bus in Dallas.</p><p>Four goals in the middle period did the trick against Birmingham at home. Hector Marini scored on a power play just 57 seconds into the period, and Yvon Vautour a minute later. Billy Carroll got his first goal since an Oct. 24 knee injury, and Neil Hawryliw also tallied. Garth MacGuigan scored an empty-net goal with 39 seconds left. That ran the Checkers&rsquo; unbeaten string to four games.</p><p>The streak ended in Fort Worth, where Indy couldn&rsquo;t beat Oleschuk at all, than succumbed to five Texan goals in the third period in a later game.</p><p>Jim Park was in the Checker nets for the home victory but Richard Brodeur took the bombings in Fort Worth. Park came back for the victory in Dallas. The Checkers jumped on top with three goals in the opening period, and never let up. Alex McKendry and Kelly Davis each scored twice, with other goals by Marini, Hawryliw, Kevin Devine, Bruce Anres and Dave Cameron.</p><p>Bruce Andres&rsquo; hat trick, the Checker&rsquo;s first such feat in 42 gamers highlighted the home victory over Houston, with Brodeur regaining his winning touch.</p><p>Charlie Skjodt was sidelined with a severe Charley horse in the first game at Fort Worth. Left wing Ed Pizunski was recalled from Fort Worth in the International League.</p><p>At all January home games the Checkers were holding a U.S. Olympic Hockey Donation Shoot. For <i>a</i> $10 donation, fans were shooting from the blue line at an empty net. If they scored, they won a choice of a USA Hockey baseball cap or a team poster.</p><p><b>BIRMINGHAM:</b> The Bulls lost the first two tests on a six-game trip, 5-3 in Indianapolis and 2-1 in Oklahoma City, but came back to win, by another 2-1 score, the next night in OC. They were tied with Salt Lake for second place, a point behind Indianapolis, but six in front of fourth-place Tulsa. The parent Atlanta Flames sent down veteran left wing Curt Bennett, along with defenseman Serge Beaudoin and forwards Bobby Gould and Earl Ingarfield, who had been called up two weeks earlier. Left wing Paul Stewart was acquired on loan from the Quebec Nordiques. Left wing Jimmy Bennett was shipped to Muskegon in the International League.</p><p>In Oklahoma City, Curt Bennett opened the scoring in the second period, but the Stars tied it up in less than two minutes, and won it early in the third. The rematch saw Rick Adduono get the winning goal midway of the second, after Dave Gorman&rsquo;s early goal had been answered by OC.</p><p><b>SALT LAKE:</b> The rarefied atmosphere of first place was too thin for the Golden Eagles, who dropped two out of three games in their own Salt Palace to fall into a tie with Birmingham for second place, although only a point out of first. After beating Oklahoma City, 4-1, the Birds lost a rematch to that club by the same score, and then fell to Fort Worth, 4-3.</p><p>Young goalie Rick Heinz had to miss a start when he was hit in the mask by a shot in warmup before the OC rematch, closing his right eye and necessitating 36 stitches to close the gash below that eye. Richie Hansen missed the Fort Worth game with a bruised knee.</p><p>Heinz got the victory over Oklahoma City, backed up by goals from Doug Palazzari, Brian Ogilvie, Bobby Crawford and Bobby Simpson (into an empty net).</p><p>Palazzari continued his march toward a second CHL scoring title in three seasons. He had 62 points, 12 head of his closest challenger, Rob Tudor of Dallas.</p><p><b>TULSA:</b> Goaltending, of all things, became a problem for the Oilers, and coach Mike Smith had to borrow Steve Janaszek from the U.S. Olympic team for a game against that team in Wichita.</p><p>Gary Smith was recalled by the parent Winnipeg Jets as they returned Lindsay Middlebrook after a month&rsquo;s callup. Scott Olson, who had served as backup while league-leading Markus Mattsson was sidelined with leg injury, was returned to the Brandon Wheat Kings.</p><p>After losing at home to the Olympians, 5-2, with Mattsson in the nets, the Oilers went to Wichita a day early to practice for the rematch. But an injury to Pierre Hamel forced the Jets to recall Middlebrook, and Mattsson reinjured his leg in the workout. With a borrowed goalie, the Oilers bowed, 7-4.</p><p>Jim Bedard, who played briefly for Rochester in the American League, and Gilles Moffat, an All Star goalie for Merrimack College in Massachusetts last winter, were brought in also.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Vandals Ignite Checkers Spurt Towards Lead

<p class="dropcap"><span>F</span>ORT WORTH: Having vacated the CHL cellar, Ron Ullyot&rsquo;s Texans were nearing the top of the second division. They trounced Indianapolis, 7-0 and 7-3, at home, then went into Salt Lake and took a 4-3.game.</p><p>&ldquo;We never win in Salt Lake, so this one was especially gratifying,&rdquo; beamed president Cliff Overcash. &ldquo;And to get 14 goals in two games against Indianapolis, the league&rsquo;s No. 1 defensive team, that&rsquo;s something else.&rdquo;</p><p>Goalie Bill Oleschuk, who blanked the Checkers, was summoned by the Colorado Rockies for an emergency. The Texans announced they would call up Tim Thomlisson from Dayton in the International League, and Carey Walker from Erie in the Eastern League, to serve as backup goalies for two games each, as they were to play four games in four nights. Colorado sent down defenseman Dean Turner, obtained in a trade, and left wing Mike Gillis, called up from Fort Worth earlier.</p><p>In the shutout victory over Indy, the Texans got goals from seven different players&mdash;Gary Dillon, Merlin Malinowski, Andy Spruce, Bob Atwell, Kevin Morrison, Willie Trognitz and Dave Watson.</p><p>In Salt Lake the Texans again had to rally to tie the score in the first two periods, on goals by Rey Comeau and Ashby. Dillon&rsquo;s third-period tally was answered by the Eagles, but Malinowski scored the winner midway of the third.</p><p>That ran the amazing Texans&rsquo; string to four straight wins, six games without defeat since Jan. 2.</p><p><b>DALLAS:</b> The Hawks broke even in four games, winning two of three with the Houston Apollos before a home loss to Indianapo-his. Oddly enough, Johnny Choice&rsquo;s men suffered a 6-1 whipping at home against the Apollos, ral-lied to win in Houston the next night, 5-4 with four goals in the final period, then came back home to take a 3-1 decision.</p><p>CHL penalty leader Brac Gassoff was suspended by the league for the last two games against Houston, as a result of striking linesman Bob Firth in an earlier game. Gassoff and the Apollos&rsquo; Owen Lloyd were sepa rated by the officials after a fight, but Brad broke loose from his restraints and tried to hit Lloyd, who was being held by Firth. The punch missed Lloyc and hit the linesman, who went down. (Some say he was knocked down, Dallas sources insist Firth tripped over a skate or stick.) In falling, the official hit his head on the penalty-box partition, and suffered a concussion.</p><p><b>OKLAHOMA CITY:</b> Ted Hampson&rsquo;s Stars salvaged one game out of two in Salt Lake, breaking even in a pair of 4-1 games, then came home to divide a pair of 2-1 contests with Birmingham. They had started by losing at home to the U.S. Olympic team, 4-3.</p><p>Defensemen Peter Shier, Don Jackson and Jim Boo were still out with injuries. The Stars brought in right wing Ken Kuzyk, who had been with the ill-fated Cincinnati Stingers for a trial.</p><p><b>HOUSTON:</b> The Apollos broke their string of four winless games by winning a 6-1 rout in Dallas. But they promptly built up a new string of four losses (5-4 to Dallas at home, 5-3 to the U.S. Olympic squad in Wichita, 3-1 in a re-match at Dallas, and 8-3 in Indianapolis. That ran their road streak to six losses.</p><p>The Edmonton Oilers sent down left wing Peter Driscoll, and the Apollos gave a pro trial to goalie Clay Hebenton.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Ullyot’s Texans Move Up Quickly

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div><p><b>LOUISVILLE</b></p><p>HOCKEY STICKS</p><p><b>LOUISVILLE</b></p><p>HOCKEY STICKS</p><p>MUSKEGON&mdash;Muskegon&rsquo;s Gerry Moore thinks the International Hockey League All Star team will have its hands full with the U.S. Olympic team when the teams collide in Milwaukee.</p><p>&ldquo;This is the best team the U.S. has ever put together,&rdquo; the Mohawk coach and general manager said recently. Flint coach and GM Marc Boileau would agree. The Olympians blitzed Boileau&rsquo;s Generals in an exhibition game early in the season 15-0.</p><p>Talking about the upcoming All Star game, Moore thinks the league&rsquo;s general managers could have enhanced their chances had they included Muskegon&rsquo;s high-scoring Jimmy Johnston on the squad. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve won more games than four other teams and you mean we&rsquo;ve only got one guy capable of making the All Star team?&rdquo; Moore commented. The lone Mohawk to be selected was versatile Mike Penasse who has played every position during his career but goal and made the team as a defenseman.</p><p>Johnston, who&rsquo;s leading the Mohawks in scoring, has been a prolific scorer since he joined the IHL with Saginaw in 1972. Now in his seventh season, Johnston started the year with an IHL total of 195 goals and 529 points. During his IHL career, Johnston has also made stops in Toledo and Flint. He came to Muskegon from Flint last season.</p><p>Johnson&rsquo;s play so far this season is one of the reasons the Mohawks are no longer a sure two points for rival teams as they were a year ago. &ldquo;Johnston makes things happen. He&rsquo;s good for the team because he wants to win badly and he knows how the game is played&mdash;with headmanning the puck, passing quickly, playing the correct position.</p><p>&ldquo;He gets frustrated at times when plays break down but that&rsquo;s because he cares. Everytime we lose he takes it badly,&rdquo; Moore says of his star performer.</p><p>Moore is hoping Johnston continues his consistent play as the Mohawks are currently skating on thin ice as far as the post-season playoffs are concerned. A 1-2 week left Muskegon with 34 points. The total is just one more than Grand Rapids and five better than Milwaukee, the two teams Muskegon must stay in front of to make the post-season party.</p><p>Elsewhere in the IHL:</p><p><b>KALAMAZOO:</b> The K-Wings continued their torrid pace with three more victories. The three-game spurt boosted the club&rsquo;s unbeaten string to 13, a team record.</p><p>Victims of the K-Wings&rsquo; latest splurge were three South Division teams, Dayton, Grand Rapids and Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne is the South Division leader and the 6-3 triumph marked the third straight time Kalamazoo has dumped the Komets.</p><p>Kalamazoo opened the week with a 6-3 win at Dayton and followed with a 4-3 triumph against Grand Rapids at home.</p><p><b>SAGINAW:</b> The Gears did better on the ice than off. General manager and coach Don Perry found out that he will have to be without the services of rookie Mel Hewitt indefinitely and also lost goalie Bob Froese for two games. Commissioner Jack Riley imposed an indefinite suspension on Hewitt in the wake on an off-the-ice assault case. Hewitt also got an additional one-game suspension in the same incident Froese was penalized. The two were involved in a bench-clearing brawl in the game with Flint.</p><p>On the ice the Gears split, losing in Dayton, and winning over Muskegon at home.</p><p><b>PORT HURON:</b> Coach Doug Hinton was planning to make some moves in an effort to stop a winless streak for the Flags which was approaching alarming numbers. Under consideration were line changes. &ldquo;I changed lines eight games ago but we haven&rsquo;t done a damn thing since,&rdquo; Hinton warned.</p><p>The winless streak hit seven following successive losses to Milwaukee, Muskegon and Flint. The Flint loss was at home. The streak ended with a 5-3 win over Muskegon. The week found the Flags just three points ahead of Flint for the last guaranteed playoff position in the North Division.</p><p><b>FLINT:</b> The Generals got off to a good start with a pair of victories, at home over Milwaukee, and 5-3 at Port Huron, but the week ended on a sour note when the Komets picked up the first win of the season at Flint. The game was marred by a bench-clearing brawl in the final period which delayed action for 30 minutes.</p><p><b>FORT WAYNE:</b> Moose Lallo&rsquo;s concern about a post-Christmas slump, like the Komets suffered through a year ago, are fading. The Komets completed a demanding three-game road trip with a pair of victories. The Komets started with a win in Toledo, lost to Kalamazoo, but picked up their first win of the season at Flint.</p><p>Barry Scully continued to hold a hot stick. He scored in all three road games and now has 37 for the season, a league high.</p><p><b>TOLEDO:</b> The Diggers continued to play in spurts. They managed just one win in three games, losing at home to Fort Wayne, and at Dayton. The lone win was a 7-4 romp over Milwaukee at home.</p><p><b>DAYTON:</b> After losing to Kalamazoo, which extended a winless streak to eight games, the Gems rebounded to win two of the next three. Dayton snapped the unbeaten string with a 5-4 win over Saginaw when defenseman Larry Bo-lonchuk converted a &ldquo;pinball&rdquo; shot for the winning goal. Bolonchuk&rsquo;s winning goal came with just 15 seconds left to play. The puck bounced off a Saginaw player&rsquo;s skate, then bounced off the right post and the left post before settling behind the goal line. Dayton followed that victory with a loss at Grand Rapids, but the week ended on a happy note as the Gems beat Toledo 6-4.</p><p><b>GRAND RAPIDS:</b> The Owls skated over .500 for the week and continued to show playoff potential. The week opened with a big win at Milwaukee as Gord McLaren scored a three-goal hat trick. A loss at Kalamazoo followed but the Owls got back in the victory column by edging Dayton 5-4. The victory put Grand Rapids to within one point of third-place Gems.</p><p><b>MILWAUKEE:</b> The Admirals started the week with a 3-2 win over Port Huron but three straight losses followed. Grand Rapids skated off with a 7-4 decision and road losses at Flint and Toledo followed.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01354/4245616-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="578" height="692"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Veteran forward Jimmy Johnston has scored over 200 goals in the IHL but didn&rsquo;t make the All Stars.</i></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0032-01

Johnston’s All Star Squad Snub Miffs Moore

<div class="byline">BY PATRICK LYON</div><p><b>LOUISVILLE</b></p><p>HOCKEY STICKS</p><p><b>LOUISVILLE</b></p><p>HOCKEY STICKS</p><p>HAMPTON&mdash;The Eastern Hockey League will be minus its most colorful coach with the announcement that Murray &ldquo;Muzz&rdquo; MacPherson was relieved of his duties with the Hampton Aces.</p><p>Well-known in all EHL cities as the coach &ldquo;everybody loved to hate,&rdquo; MacPherson was dealt his walking papers by co-owners Jim Humphreys and Jerry Decker after the Aces had no luck in escaping the league basement, a position they occupied for the majority of the season.</p><p>Hampton selected Glen Patrick, a former Aces&rsquo; player and the current assistant coach to replace MacPherson for the remainder of the season.</p><p>The inability to win on home ice was just one of the reasons given for MacPheron&rsquo;s firing as the vociferous coach led his club to just four wins in 16 games at the Hampton Coliseum. Among Hampton&rsquo;s 22 defeats this season were eight by one goal. &ldquo;This was a very tough decision to make,&rdquo; revealed Humphreys. &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t something made easily and was not based on any one. loss. Because of the way the club was going, I felt I had to step in and make a move.&rdquo;</p><p>Humphreys noted that it was evident that the former coach was unable to select the talent and mold them into a winning group because there had been almost a complete change of personnel since the season began. There were just five players left on the Hampton roster from the team that started the season. The management of the Aces were not happy with the way MacPherson was securing players as director of player personnel, so Humphreys took over and swung some deals that have turned the franchise in the right direction.</p><p>Humphrey&rsquo;s first move was to trade for Steve Salvucci of the Johnstown Red Wings and the acquisition sparked Hampton offensively with the winger netting nine points in his first seven games including seven goals. The club president then acquired Jim Misener and Fred Barry from teams in the International League and the Aces showed signs of offensive punch, an aspect that had been lacking all season.</p><p>Misener, one of the top scorers on the Aces a year ago, was obtained from Dayton, while Barry joined the Aces from Toledo of the International League. Misener chipped in a goal in each of his first four games, Barry contributing six points in three games. &ldquo;What we needed was goal scoring and we feel we accomplished something in getting these three players, but we&rsquo;re not finished yet,&rdquo; related the Aces&rsquo; president. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re trying to secure more players even though it&rsquo;s kind of late. The team is only ten points out of fourth place and we feel our team right now is as good as any team in the league with the exception of Richmond.&rdquo;</p><p>Though Humphreys was forced to fire MacPherson, he still had some fine words for the man who led Hampton to the North Eastern Hockey League finals last year. &ldquo;He (MacPherson) was a very colorful coach, and a nice guy who was good for the league, but he couldn&rsquo;t get the job done this year.&rdquo;</p><p>This will be the first coaching job for Patrick, who has been in professional hockey since the 1970 season. He saw plenty of NHL duty in St. Louis, California and Cleve-land before winding up his playing career in Hampton. &ldquo;We know Glen is untested, but we have the utmost confidence that he can do the job,&rdquo; said Humphreys. &ldquo;He has his own concept of what should be done and he comes from a strong hockey background.&rdquo;</p><p>Hampton lost a tough 7-6 overtime decision on the road in Erie, but bounced back in surprising the Clippers 4-3, with Salvucci getting his first ever hat trick. Utica also dealt the Aces a 4-2 loss in the Hampton Coliseum.</p><p><b>BALTIMORE:</b> Gene Ubriaco&rsquo;s charges suffered a letdown after beating first place Richmond 4-2 before the home fans. The Clippers had their troubles in falling 4-3 in Baltimore to the Aces and they were also ripped 7-2 in Utica by the Mohawks.</p><p>Warren Young continues to move up the scoring ladder and is now sixth in the latest statistics with five goals in three games helping the effort. Young tallied a pair including a game winner against Richmond and pumped in both Clippers&rsquo; goals in Utica. Henry Taylor claimed his 28th goal against the Aces which is a high water mark in the league and goalie Clay Hebenton is second among the league&rsquo;s mesh men with a 2.73 goals against average.</p><p>Ubriaco was looking forward to the return of Scott Lang, Ron Fri-est and Barry Alter as all three players were out with injuries.</p><p>Taylor and Wes Coulson joined the Oklahoma City team for an exhibition game with the United States Olympic squad.</p><p><b>UTICA:</b> Third place is beginning to look inviting to Larry Mickey&rsquo;s Mohawks, who are just three points shy of third and the Clippers. The Mohawks split their four games, losing to Johnstown and Erie, while topping Hampton and Baltimore. Utica dropped a 5-3 road game in Johnstown, but returned home and laced the Clippers 7-2 with Lee Kellar leading the way with two goals, Bob Ferguson passing off for three assists.</p><p>Utica rallied from behind to trump the Aces 4-2, but the Mohawks continue to have problems with the Blades, Erie wiping out a 6-1 Utica advantage to scalp the Mohawks 8-6. Utica has managed just one in nine tries when playing the Blades.</p><p>Ken Grabeldinger and Dan Gauthier are the latest players to wear the green and gold of the Mohawks with both helping out on defense. Grabeldinger is a local product hailing from nearby Clinton, New York, while Gauthier was obtained from Grand Rapids.</p><p><b>RICHMOND:</b> In the middle of a long eight game road trip, the Ritles finally ran into some hard times when they lost three straight games after going 30 games with only three losses. Richmond is very proud of the fact that its 22-6-5 mark is the second best in all of professional hockey.</p><p>The Rifles have four players in the top ten in scoring with Lawrie Nisker, Kent Reardon, Alex Jeans and Mike Clarke. Nisker is the best in the six-team circuit with nine power play goals.</p><p>Goaltending has also been a strong point of the Virginia City club as rookie Tom Semenchuk has the top goals against average with his glossy mark of 2.53. Semen-chuk&rsquo;s long 12-game winning streak finally came to an end with a narrow 3-2 loss in Erie. Richmond also came out on the short end of a 4-2 score in Baltimore and a 6-3 decision in Johnstown.</p><p><b>ERIE:</b> Just when it appeared the Blades might be succumbing to the onrushing Clippers, Erie pulled out of its slump and posted three straight triumphs including a 7-6 overtime thriller vs. the Aces, a 32 home win over the Rifles and aramazing 8-6 comeback victory in Utica. Erie pulled to within nine points of first place Richmond with wins and beat the Rifles for the first time in the Erie County Fieldhouse.</p><p>Brad Rhiness has been a terror since returning to the Blades from Syracuse of the AHL. In five games, Rhiness has sizzled the nets for 16 points on ten goals and six assists including the gamewinning shot to beat the Aces in OT. The centerman also played a major role when Erie rallied to beat the Mohawks when he scored a four goal hat trick, his second hat trick in five games.</p><p>Sylvain Cote has also been a positive influence in the turnaround of the Blades since he has poked home two goals in each of the last three games. Cote also made good on a penalty shot in the Hampton contest, Erie&rsquo;s second penalty shot of the year.</p><p>Injuries are taking their toll on the second place Blades with starting goalie Carey Walker the latest on the injured list with a pulled groin.</p><p><b>JOHNSTOWN:</b> The Red Wings are currently the scourge of the EHL with a three game winning streak and six triumphs in the last eight games. Coach Marty Read has been successful recently in getting the club&rsquo;s goals against mark down in wins over Utica (53) and Richmond (6-3).</p><p>The forward line of center Brian Shmyr and wingers Wes George and Colin Ahem has exploded for 11 goals in the last five games, while quick Brian Paton has accumulated 23 points in just 17 games.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01320/4245647-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="574" height="851"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Glen Patrick, an Aces&rsquo; assistant, steps up to handle the club replacing Muzz MacPherson.</i></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0033-01

MacPherson Handed Walking Papers As Hampton Tries To Escape Cellar

<p>ATLANTA: Chouinard 12, 13, 14, 15; Pronovost 10, 11, Nilsson 21, 22, Unger 12; Houston 12.</p><p>BOSTON: O&rsquo;Reilly 12, 13; Middleton 18; McNab 20, 21; Jonathan 13, 14, 15; Milbury 6; Secord 14, 15, Lalonde 4; Foster 1, 2; Rateile 18; McCrimmon 2.</p><p>BUFFALO: Dudley 4, 5, 6; Smith 17; Ramsay 13; Perreault 25, 26; Luce 8; Martin 22, 23.</p><p>CHICAGO: Mulvey 24, 25; Preston 13; O&rsquo;Connell 2; Murray 6, 7; Brown 1.</p><p>COLORADO: Ramage 6; Saleski 8; Pierce 12; McDonald 20, 21, 22; Robert 18, Deblois 15.</p><p>DETROIT: Mahovlich 8, 9, 10; Larson 10; Foligno 14, 15, Thompson 20; McCourt 16, 17, 18, Nedomansky 25; Huber 7, 8; Ogrodonick 1; Labraaten 19.</p><p>EDMONTON: Chipperfield 9; Connor 2; Gretzky 23, 24, 25; Weir 20, 21, 22; Fogolin 1, 2; MacDonald 26, 27, 28; Schmautz 12; Callighen 12.</p><p>HARTFORD: Douglas 15, 16, 17, 18; Stoughton 25; Carroll 5; Rogers 17; Fotiu 5; Roberts 5; Debol 6; M. Howe 13.</p><p>LOS ANGELES: Gibbs 2; Goring 13; Manery 3; Dionne 37.</p><p>MINNESOTA: B. Smith 11, Shar-pley 18; Younghans 5, 6; Hartsburg 7, 8, 9; Mac Adam 20, 21; Sargent 11; Polich 9; Fidler 5.</p><p>MONTREAL: Lambert 9; Shutt 25; Lafleur 32, 33, 34, 35, 36; Gainey 6, 7; Larouche 30, 31; Chartraw 1; Jarvis 4, 5; Risebrough 5; Houle 15.</p><p>ISLANDERS: Trottier 25, 26, Bossy 26, 27, 28, 29; Nystrom 9, 10, 11; Gillies 11, 12; Harris 9, 10, 11; Sutter 8, Tambellini 4; Lorimer 1.</p><p>RANGERS: Sulliman 1, 2, 3, Johnstone 9; Miller 3, 4; Vadnais 1; Beck 10; Tkaczuk 6; Marois 6, 7; Dave Maloney 7; Esposito 18; Vickers 18.</p><p>PHILADELPHIA: Paddock 3; Dailey 7, 8; Leach 28, 29, 30; Linseman 11; Wilson 4; Barber 24; Holmgren 12, 13; Ververgaert 9, 10, 11; MacLeish 24; Clarke 7.</p><p>PITTSBURGH: Davis 1; Schutt 10; Ferguson 14; Faubert 4; Lee 12; Lon-sberry 8; McAdam 17; Malone 12, 13.</p><p>QUEBEC: Hislop 6; Stewart 7; Cloutier 26, 27, Cote 1.</p><p>ST. LOUIS: Federko 17, 18; Chapman 16, 17; Crombeen 8; Currie 7; Kea 2, Zuke 12.</p><p>TORONTO: Sittier 16, 17, 18; Maloney 13, 14; Salming 10; Anderson 12; Hickey 11, 12; Williams 18; Gardner 9, Saganiuk 11.</p><p>VANCOUVER: McCarthy 7, Fraser 9; Kearns 1; Smyl 16; Lever 20.</p><p>WASHINGTON: Charron 11; Gartner 15, 16; Gustafsson 10; Edberg 11; Sirois 3; Kaszycki 5, 6; Lehtonen 7; Hangsleben 3, 4, 5; Lofthouse 7.</p><p>WINNIPEG: Sjoberg 4, Wilson 12; Lukowich 21.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

NHL’S SCORERS THIS WEEK

<h2>JANUARY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1812/4246041-1-eng-US/f0034-182.jpg" title="f0034-18" width="558" height="1223"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1911/4246034-1-eng-US/f0034-192.jpg" title="f0034-19" width="384" height="50"></div><h2>FEBRUARY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2010/4246027-1-eng-US/f0034-202.jpg" title="f0034-20" width="557" height="1176"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0034-18

WHERE NHL TEAMS PLAY

<p><b>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 21)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-219/4246072-1-eng-US/f0034-212.jpg" title="f0034-21" width="516" height="906"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0034-21

The Point Race…

<p><b>(Standings on Mon., Jan. 21)</b></p><h2><b>Norris Division</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-228/4246124-1-eng-US/f0034-222.jpg" title="f0034-22" width="535" height="149"></div><h2><b>Adams Division</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-237/4246117-1-eng-US/f0034-232.jpg" title="f0034-23" width="536" height="126"></div><h2><b>Patrick Division</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-248/4246110-1-eng-US/f0034-242.jpg" title="f0034-24" width="534" height="128"></div><h2><b>Smythe Division</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-256/4246103-1-eng-US/f0034-252.jpg" title="f0034-25" width="536" height="151"></div><h2><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h2><p><b>Mon., Jan. 14</b></p><p>Colorado 6 at Rangers 6</p><p>Atlanta 2 at Montreal 3</p><p><b>Tues., Jan. 15</b></p><p>Winnipeg 2 at Islanders 5</p><p>Washington 4 at Philadelphia 7</p><p>Minnesota 1 at St. Louis 2</p><p><b>Wed., Jan. 16</b></p><p>Winnipeg 1 at Rangers 4</p><p>Atlanta 5 at Washington 2</p><p>Edmonton 5 at Washington 2</p><p>Montreal 6 at Chicago 1</p><p>Toronto 4 at Pittsburgh 6</p><p>Colorado 1 at Detroit 5</p><p>Buffalo 4 at Los Angeles 2</p><p>St. Louis 3 at Minnesota 7</p><p>Boston 3 at Quebec 1</p><p><b>Thurs., Jan. 17</b></p><p>Toronto 6 at Islanders 9</p><p>Chicago 1 at Philadelphia 5</p><p>Atlanta 4 at Colorado 1</p><p>Pittsburgh 1 at Hardford 7</p><p>Edmonton 1 at Boston 7</p><p><b>Fri., Jan. 18</b></p><p>Detroit 5 at Winnipeg 0</p><p>Buffalo 2 at Vancouver 2</p><p><b>Sat., Jan. 19</b></p><p>Rangers 3 at Boston 6</p><p>Quebec 1 at Islanders 3</p><p>Philadelphia 4 at Washington 4</p><p>Atlanta 4 at Los Angeles 2</p><p>Toronto 2 at Montreal 7</p><p>Chicago 3 at Hartford 5</p><p>Edmonton 5 at Pittsburgh 2</p><p>Detroit 5 at Minnesota 4</p><p>St. Louis 3 at Rangers 1</p><p><b>Sun., Jan. 20</b></p><p>Chicago 2 at Rangers 1</p><p>Washington 2 at Quebec 3</p><p>Edmonton 4 at Buffalo 4<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0034-22

NHL SCOREBOARD

<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE SUMMARIES</h2><h3><b>Mon. Jan. 14 COLORADO 6, RANGERS 6</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01350/4245972-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="539" height="675"></div><h3><b>ATLANTA 2, MONTREAL 3</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02282/4245965-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="540" height="581"></div><h3><b>Tue. Jan. 15 WINNIPEG 2, ISLANDERS 5</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03204/4245958-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="538" height="553"></div><h3><b>WASHINGTON 4, PHILADELPHIA 7</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04127/4245951-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="540" height="791"></div><h3><b>MINNESOTA 1, ST. LOUIS 2</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0587/4245944-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="543" height="408"></div><h3><b>WED., JAN. 16 WINNIPEG 1, RANGERS 4</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0662/4245937-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="529" height="128"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0754/4245930-1-eng-US/f0034-072.jpg" title="f0034-07" width="535" height="452"></div><h3><b>ATLANTA 5, VANCOUVER 3</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0847/4245923-1-eng-US/f0034-082.jpg" title="f0034-08" width="539" height="604"></div><h3><b>EDMONTON 5, WASHINGTON 2</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-0937/4245916-1-eng-US/f0034-092.jpg" title="f0034-09" width="540" height="531"></div><h3><b>MONTREAL 6, CHICAGO 1</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1035/4245909-1-eng-US/f0034-102.jpg" title="f0034-10" width="544" height="602"></div><h3><b>TORONTO 4, PITTSBURGH 6</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1130/4245902-1-eng-US/f0034-112.jpg" title="f0034-11" width="541" height="676"></div><h3><b>COLORADO 1, DETROIT 5</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1228/4245895-1-eng-US/f0034-122.jpg" title="f0034-12" width="539" height="625"></div><h3><b>Buffalo 4, Los Angeles 2</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1322/4245888-1-eng-US/f0034-132.jpg" title="f0034-13" width="537" height="558"></div><h3><b>St. Louis 3, Minnesota 7</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1419/4245881-1-eng-US/f0034-142.jpg" title="f0034-14" width="534" height="222"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1518/4245874-1-eng-US/f0034-152.jpg" title="f0034-15" width="536" height="441"></div><h3><b>Boston 3, Quebec 1</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1618/4245867-1-eng-US/f0034-162.jpg" title="f0034-16" width="538" height="513"></div><h3><b>Thurs., Jan. 17 TORONTO 6, ISLANDERS 9</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1713/4245860-1-eng-US/f0034-172.jpg" title="f0034-17" width="534" height="361"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02263/4245853-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="536" height="412"></div><h3><b>CHICAGO 1, PHILADEPHIA 5</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02a/4245846-1-eng-US/f0035-02a2.jpg" title="f0035-02a" width="536" height="125"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03193/4245839-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="535" height="387"></div><h3><b>ATLANTA 4, COLORADO 1</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04155/4245832-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="531" height="527"></div><h3><b>PITTSBURGH 1, HARTFORD 7</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05120/4245825-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="530" height="574"></div><h3><b>EDMONTON 1, BOSTON 7,</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06101/4245818-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="526" height="340"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0792/4245811-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="529" height="338"></div><h3><b>FRI. JAN. 18 DETROITS, WINNIPEG 0</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0874/4245804-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="514" height="557"></div><h3><b>BUFFALO 2, VANCOUVER 2</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-0970/4245797-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="505" height="506"></div><h3><b>SAT. JAN. 17 RANGERS 3, BOSTON 6</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1060/4245790-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="511" height="405"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1155/4245783-1-eng-US/f0035-112.jpg" title="f0035-11" width="509" height="277"></div><h3><b>QUEBEC 1, ISLANDERS 3</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1246/4245776-1-eng-US/f0035-122.jpg" title="f0035-12" width="512" height="436"></div><h3><b>PHILADELPHIA 4, WASHINGTON 4</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1340/4245769-1-eng-US/f0035-132.jpg" title="f0035-13" width="537" height="670"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1616/4245762-1-eng-US/f0036-162.jpg" title="f0036-16" width="531" height="124"></div><h3><b>ATLANTA 4, LOS ANGELES 2</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1713/4245755-1-eng-US/f0036-172.jpg" title="f0036-17" width="534" height="622"></div><h3><b>TORONTO 2, MONTREAL 7</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1813/4245748-1-eng-US/f0036-182.jpg" title="f0036-18" width="536" height="598"></div><h3><b>CHICAGO 3, HARTFORD S</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1912/4245741-1-eng-US/f0036-192.jpg" title="f0036-19" width="521" height="77"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2011/4245734-1-eng-US/f0036-202.jpg" title="f0036-20" width="532" height="459"></div><h3><b>EDMONTON 5, PITTSBURGH 2</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2110/4245727-1-eng-US/f0036-212.jpg" title="f0036-21" width="542" height="975"></div><h3><b>DETROIT 5, MINNESOTA 4</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-229/4245720-1-eng-US/f0036-222.jpg" title="f0036-22" width="474" height="58"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-238/4245713-1-eng-US/f0036-232.jpg" title="f0036-23" width="535" height="564"></div><h3><b>ST. LOUIS 3, COLORADO 1</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-248/4245706-1-eng-US/f0036-242.jpg" title="f0036-24" width="537" height="525"></div><h3><b>Sun., Jan. 20 CHICAGO 2, RANGERS 1</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-255/4245699-1-eng-US/f0036-252.jpg" title="f0036-25" width="532" height="384"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-263/4245692-1-eng-US/f0036-262.jpg" title="f0036-26" width="531" height="242"></div><h3><b>WASHINGTON 2, QUEBEC 3</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-273/4245685-1-eng-US/f0036-272.jpg" title="f0036-27" width="538" height="509"></div><h3><b>EDMONTON 4, BUFFALO 4</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-283/4245678-1-eng-US/f0036-282.jpg" title="f0036-28" width="540" height="669"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0034-01

HOCKEY NEWS STATISTICS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0035-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01328/4246155-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg"></div><p>&mdash;C&mdash;Captain<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0035-01

NHL TEAM ROSTERS

<h2><b>AMERICAN LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Wed., Jan. 23)</b></p><h3>Northern Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01310/4246312-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="535" height="151"></div><h3>Southern Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02234/4246305-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="533" height="130"></div><p>1-Nova Scotia. 4-New Haven. 5-Adlrondack 7-Malne. 14-Rochester. 16-Hershey. 18-Sprlngfleld. 22-New Brunswick. 23-Blnghamton. 24-Syracuse</p><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Wed., Jan. 16</b></p><p>Hershey 5 at Adirondack 5</p><p>Springfield 3 at Binghamton 2</p><p>Nova Scotia 3 at Maine 4</p><p>New Haven 2 at Syracuse 4</p><p><b>Thurs., Jan. 17</b></p><p>Hershey 0 at New Brunswick 3</p><p><b>Fri., Jan. 11</b></p><p>Binghamton 5 at Rochester 7</p><p>Maine 2 at Springfield 4</p><p>Adirondack 5 at Syracuse 3</p><p><b>Sat., Jan. 1</b></p><p>Syracuse 4 at Adirondack 7</p><p>Rochester 5 at Binghamton 9</p><p>New Haven 7 at Maine 2</p><p>Hershey 4 at New Brunswick 4</p><p>Nova Scotia 3 at Springfield 4</p><p><b>Sun., Jan. 20</b></p><p>Hershey 2 at Nova Scotia 2</p><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03171/4246298-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="532" height="558"></div><h2>SCORING BY TEAMS ADIRONDACK</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04102/4246291-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="536" height="460"></div><h2>BINGHAMTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0568/4246284-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="532" height="481"></div><h2>HERSHEY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0650/4246277-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="532" height="456"></div><h2>MAINE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0746/4246270-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="526" height="148"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0841/4246263-1-eng-US/f0036-082.jpg" title="f0036-08" width="535" height="343"></div><h2>NEW BRUNSWICK</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-0935/4246256-1-eng-US/f0036-092.jpg" title="f0036-09" width="529" height="455"></div><h2>NEW H&Auml;VEN</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1032/4246249-1-eng-US/f0036-102.jpg" title="f0036-10" width="531" height="481"></div><h2>NOVA SCOTIA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1129/4246242-1-eng-US/f0036-112.jpg" title="f0036-11" width="527" height="336"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1225/4246235-1-eng-US/f0036-122.jpg" title="f0036-12" width="527" height="148"></div><h2>ROCHESTER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1322/4246228-1-eng-US/f0036-132.jpg" title="f0036-13" width="534" height="460"></div><h2>SPRINGFIELD</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1418/4246221-1-eng-US/f0036-142.jpg" title="f0036-14" width="533" height="437"></div><h2>SYRACUSE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1518/4246214-1-eng-US/f0036-152.jpg" title="f0036-15" width="536" height="458"></div><h2><b>CENTRAL LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 21)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-292/4246207-1-eng-US/f0036-292.jpg" title="f0036-29" width="530" height="244"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Wed. Jan. 16</b></p><p>Salt Lake 6 at Dallas 3</p><p>U.S. Olympic 3 at Fort Worth 4</p><p>Houston 5 at Oklahoma City 4</p><p>Birmingham 2 at Tulsa 1</p><p><b>Thu. Jan. 17</b></p><p>Salt Lake 5 at Fort Worth 8</p><p>Birmingham 5 at Indianapolis 7</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 18</b></p><p>U.S. Olympic 4 at Dallas 3</p><p>Birmingham 5 at Indianapolis 2</p><p>Fort Worth 0 at Oklahoma City 3</p><p>Houston 6 at Tulsa 7</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 19</b></p><p>Fort Worth 2 at Dallas 4</p><p>Houston 3 at Oklahoma City 5</p><p>Salt Lake 6 at Tulsa 2</p><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 21)</b></p><h3>NORTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-30/4246200-1-eng-US/f0036-302.jpg" title="f0036-30" width="535" height="145"></div><h3>SOUTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-31/4246193-1-eng-US/f0036-312.jpg" title="f0036-31" width="531" height="148"></div><p>5-Kalamazoo. 7-Toledo. 20-Mllwaukee. 25-Dayton. 26-Fllnt. 27-Fort Wayne. 28-Grand Rapids. 29-Muskegon. 30-Port Huron. 31-Saginaw.</p><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Mon. Jan. 14</b></p><p>Kalamazoo 6 at Milwaukee 6</p><p><b>Wed. Jan. 16</b></p><p>Muskegon 4 at Flint 6</p><p><b>Thu. Jan. 17</b></p><p>Fort Wayne 4 at Milwaukee 7</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 18</b></p><p>Flint 4 at Muskegon 3</p><p>Port Huron 7 at Saginaw 4</p><p>Dayton 3 at Kalamazoo 9</p><p>Toledo 0 at Grand Rapids 6</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 19</b></p><p>Toledo 4 at Fort Wayne 2</p><p>Kalamazoo 1 at Muskegon 5</p><p>Flint 1 at Port Huron 8</p><p>Milwaukee 2 at Dayton 4</p><p>Grand Rapids 0 at Saginaw 5</p><p><b>Sun. Jan. 20</b></p><p>Flint 2 at Fort Wayne 4</p><p>Saginaw 2 at Port Huron 7</p><p>Toledo 4 at Dayton 8</p><p>Milwaukee 4 at Kalamazoo 2</p><p>Muskegon 3 at Grand Rapids 5</p><h2>EASTERN LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon., Jan. 21)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-32/4246186-1-eng-US/f0036-322.jpg" title="f0036-32" width="532" height="172"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Tues., Jan. 15</b></p><p>Utica 2 at Baltimore 8</p><p><b>Wed., Jan. 16</b></p><p>Erie 6 at Utica 2</p><p><b>Thurs., Jan. 17</b></p><p>Utica 6 at Hampton 3</p><p><b>Fri., Jan. 18</b></p><p>Johnstown 2 at Baltimore 4</p><p>Richmond 3 at Erie 6</p><p><b>Sat., Jan. 19</b></p><p>Baltimore 4 at Hampton 5</p><p>Erie 3 at Johnstown 4</p><p>Richmond 4 at Utica 3</p><h2>Who They&rsquo;re Affiliated With&hellip;</h2><p>1&mdash;Montreal</p><p>2&mdash;Chicago</p><p>3&mdash;Boston</p><p>4&mdash;Rangers</p><p>5&mdash;Detroit</p><p>6&mdash;Toronto</p><p>7&mdash;Philadelphia</p><p>8&mdash;Los Angeles</p><p>9&mdash;St. Louis</p><p>10&mdash;Minnesota</p><p>11&mdash;Pittsburgh</p><p>12&mdash;Islanders</p><p>13&mdash;Vancouver</p><p>14&mdash;Buffalo</p><p>15&mdash;Atlanta</p><p>16&mdash;Washington</p><p>17&mdash;Colorado</p><p>18&mdash;Edmonton</p><p>19&mdash;Hartford</p><p>20&mdash;Quebec</p><p>21&mdash;Winnipeg</p><h3>OTHER AFFILIATIONS</h3><p>22&mdash;Chicago&mdash;Toronto</p><p>23&mdash;Boston&mdash;Los Angeles</p><p>24&mdash;Quebec&mdash;Pittsburgh</p><p>25&mdash;Edmonton&mdash;Winnipeg</p><p>26&mdash;Montreal&mdash;Chicago</p><p>27&mdash;Vancouver&mdash;Islanders</p><p>28&mdash;Boston&mdash;Pittsburgh</p><p>29&mdash;Atlanta&mdash;Colorado</p><p>30&mdash;Washington&mdash;St. Louis</p><p>31&mdash;Los Angeles&mdash;Hartford</p><p>32&mdash;Que.&mdash;Islanders&mdash;Buff.</p><p>33&mdash;St. Louis&mdash;Philadelphia</p><p>34&mdash;Boston&mdash;Hartford<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0036-01

MINOR SCOREBOARD

<h2><b>AMERICAN LEAGUE</b></h2><h3><b>JANUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01270/4246392-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="537" height="556"></div><h3><b>FEBRUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02190/4246385-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="533" height="531"></div><h2><b>CENTRAL LEAGUE</b></h2><h3><b>JANUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03136/4246378-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="532" height="495"></div><h3><b>FEBRUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04108/4246371-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="519" height="460"></div><h2><b>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</b></h2><h3><b>JANUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0589/4246364-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="534" height="383"></div><h3><b>FEBRUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0669/4246357-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="500" height="101"></div><h2><b>EASTERN LEAGUE</b></h2><h3><b>JANUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0753/4246350-1-eng-US/f0037-072.jpg" title="f0037-07" width="497" height="289"></div><h3><b>FEBRUARY</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0847/4246343-1-eng-US/f0037-082.jpg" title="f0037-08" width="498" height="170"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0037-01

PRO GAMES TO COME…

<h2><b>ONTARIO MAJOR LEAGUE</b></h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon. Jan. 21)</b></p><h3><b>EMMS DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-0938/4246549-1-eng-US/f0037-092.jpg" title="f0037-09" width="506" height="171"></div><h3><b>LEYDEN DIVISION</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1033/4246542-1-eng-US/f0037-102.jpg" title="f0037-10" width="505" height="146"></div><h3><b>GAMES COMPLETED</b></h3><p><b>Tues. Jan. 15</b></p><p>Brantford 6 at London 12</p><p>Kingston 4 at Ottawa 9</p><p><b>Thurs. Jan. 17</b></p><p>Kitchener 4 at Sault Ste. Marie 2</p><p>Brantford 7 at Windsor 10</p><p>Toronto 5 at Peterborough 1</p><p><b>Fri. Jan. 18</b></p><p>Kitchener 0 at Sudbury 5</p><p>Peterborough 1 at Ottawa 5</p><p>Windsor 4 at London 3</p><p>Toronto 3 at Kingston 3</p><p>Oshawa 2 at Niagara Falls 3</p><p><b>Sat. Jan. 19</b></p><p>Niagara Falls 4 at Brantford 4</p><p><b>Sun. Jan. 20</b></p><p>London 4 at Windsor 7</p><p>Kingston 3 at Niagara Falls 1</p><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1122/4246535-1-eng-US/f0037-112.jpg" title="f0037-11" width="527" height="383"></div><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon., Jan. 21)</b></p><h3>Western Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1220/4246528-1-eng-US/f0037-122.jpg" title="f0037-12" width="525" height="120"></div><h3>Eastern Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1318/4246521-1-eng-US/f0037-132.jpg" title="f0037-13" width="525" height="170"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Tues., Jan. 15</b></p><p>Victoria 4 at Brandon 5</p><p>Portland 7 at Saskatoon 7</p><p>Billings 1 at Medicine Hat 2</p><p><b>Wed., Jan. 14</b></p><p>Victoria 2 at Regina 4</p><p>Portland 6 at Lethbridge 5</p><p>Billings 2 at Calgary 4</p><p><b>Fri., Jan. 18</b></p><p>Regina 5 at Saskatoon 1</p><p>Lethbridge 3 at Calgary 6</p><p>Portland 0 at Billings 7</p><p><b>Sat., Jan. 19</b></p><p>Lethbridge 2 at Medicine Hat 5</p><p>New Westminster 0 at Victoria 4</p><p><b>Sun., Jan. 20</b></p><p>Regina 5 at Lethbridge 8</p><p>Calgary 8 at Saskatoon 4</p><p>Seattle 1 at Brandon 4</p><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1418/4246514-1-eng-US/f0037-142.jpg" title="f0037-14" width="531" height="811"></div><h2>QUEBEC MAJOR LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings on Mon., Jan. 21)</b></p><h3>LeBel Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1517/4246507-1-eng-US/f0037-152.jpg" title="f0037-15" width="525" height="151"></div><h3>Dillo Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1614/4246500-1-eng-US/f0037-162.jpg" title="f0037-16" width="525" height="128"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3><p><b>Mon., Jan. 14</b></p><p>Sherbrooke 8 at Laval 4</p><p><b>Tues. Jan. 15</b></p><p>Shawinigan 5 at Montreal 4</p><p>Chicoutimi 5 at Quebec 2</p><p>Hull 2 at Trois-Rivieres 12</p><p><b>Wed., Jan. 14</b></p><p>Sherbrooke 4 at Hull 7</p><p>Sorel 2 at Laval 5</p><p><b>Thurs., Jan. 17</b></p><p>Trois-Rivieres 5 at Cornwall 7</p><p>Chicoutimi 9 at Sorel 2</p><p><b>Fri., Jan. 18</b></p><p>Chicoutimi 2 at Montreal 4</p><p>Sorel 1 at Shawinigan 10</p><p>Quebec 9 at Sherbrooke 2</p><p><b>Sun., Jan. 20</b></p><p>Montreal 1 at Cornwall 7</p><p>Quebec 5 at Hull 3</p><p>Chicoutimi 3 at Sherbrooke 7</p><p>Laval 0 at Trois-Rivieres 7</p><p>Shawinigan 4 at Sorel 4</p><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1711/4246493-1-eng-US/f0037-172.jpg" title="f0037-17" width="523" height="269"></div><h2>GEORGIAN BAY LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings On Mon. Jan. 14)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1811/4246486-1-eng-US/f0037-182.jpg" title="f0037-18" width="527" height="199"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-197/4246479-1-eng-US/f0037-192.jpg" title="f0037-19" width="525" height="386"></div><h2>NORTHLAND INTERMEDIATE</h2><p><b>(Standings On Wed., Jan. 9)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-207/4246472-1-eng-US/f0037-202.jpg" title="f0037-20" width="525" height="149"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-217/4246465-1-eng-US/f0037-212.jpg" title="f0037-21" width="521" height="268"></div><h2>CONTINENTAL SENIOR</h2><p><b>(Standings on Thurs. Jan. 10)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-227/4246458-1-eng-US/f0037-222.jpg" title="f0037-22" width="528" height="239"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-237/4246451-1-eng-US/f0037-232.jpg" title="f0037-23" width="531" height="313"></div><h2>UNITED STATES LEAGUE</h2><p><b>(Standings On Wed., Jan. 9)</b></p><h3>NORTHERN CONFERENCE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-247/4246444-1-eng-US/f0037-242.jpg" title="f0037-24" width="526" height="126"></div><h3>SOUTHERN CONFERENCE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-257/4246437-1-eng-US/f0037-252.jpg" title="f0037-25" width="525" height="101"></div><h2>NEW ENGLAND JUNIOR</h2><p><b>(Standings On Mon., Jan. 7)</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-265/4246430-1-eng-US/f0037-262.jpg" title="f0037-26" width="526" height="147"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-274/4246423-1-eng-US/f0037-272.jpg" title="f0037-27" width="519" height="287"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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AMATEUR SCOREBOARD

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01322/4246601-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photo by Bernie Moser)</span></figcaption></div><h2>Right on the mark</h2><p class="dropcap"><i><span>J</span>ay Greenberg, hockey writer for the Philadelphia Daily News, gets a helping hand from Flyers&rsquo; board chairman Ed Snider and team GM Keith Allen, in center, after Greenberg was hit in the face by a pie thrown by both club officials. It was all in jest of course and in aid of the Flyers &lsquo;Wives&rsquo; Fight for Lives Carnival. Greenberg volunteered for the messy job and it cost Allen and Snider $10 each for the pleasure of hitting Greenberg. &ldquo;It was worth every penny,&rdquo; Allen said jokingly. Wives raised $100,000 for leukemia research.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02254/4246594-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="1127" height="1730"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photo by tan MacAlpine)</span></figcaption></div><h2>A new addition</h2><p><i>Barbara Engblom, pretty wife of Canadiens&rsquo; defenseman Brian Engblom, shows off the newest member of the family, a seven-week-old puppy. Mrs. Engblom brought the, animal to a recent team party.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03190/4246587-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="1128" height="1054"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(Photos by Jerry Hobbs)</span></figcaption></div><h2>Old grads come back</h2><p><i>The Ontario Metro Junior Hockey League held their 25th annual reunion dinner in Toronto and the event brought back some old faces from the more than 150 league graduates who went into professional hockey. One of the most popular grads is John Anderson of the Leafs, shown above with Jim Hibben, on left, a current league coach. Anderson, who worked to help make the event known throughout hockey, joined other league figures at right including two other Leafs, who once toiled in the Toronto league. Shown from the left are Colin McKenzie, league convenor, Andy Darby-son, league coach, Dave Burrows, Anderson and Paul Gardner, all Leafs, and Jack Minaker, the chairman of the dinner. The league has more former players now playing on 19 of the 21 NHL teams.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04132/4246580-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="1767" height="1659"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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HOCKEY PEOPLE

<div class="byline">BY FRED PIETILA</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01300/4246632-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="569" height="842"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>Mike McEwen would just as soon forget about New York, he&rsquo;s happy in his Denver ice role.</i></figcaption></div><p>DENVER&mdash;Mike McEwen winced at the mere suggestion.</p><p>The suggestion was, now that he&rsquo;s been in the Mile High City playing for Colorado for more than two full months, to compare what he&rsquo;s doing here with what he was doing in New York with the Rangers.</p><p>McEwen, who led the Rockies in scoring from the time of his arrival in the Barry Beck trade through mid-January, just shook his head.</p><p>&ldquo;Are we still talking about New York?&rdquo; the 23-year-old shrugged. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to talk about New York anymore.&rdquo;</p><p>So McEwen proceeded to talk about his play with the Rockies, play which has been very, very good.</p><p>&ldquo;Grapes (Don Cherry) is using me a lot,&rdquo; McEwen began. &ldquo;On the power play. It&rsquo;s still basically the same. It&rsquo;s hockey.&rdquo;</p><p>Was McEwen surprised at his point production the first half of the season? He was among the top two or three leading defensemen in scoring following his 20-goal, 58-point season with the Rangers.</p><p>&ldquo;A little bit, yeah,&rdquo; McEwen said nonchalantly. &ldquo;Sometimes they come and sometimes they don&rsquo;t. You can play a great game and never get a point and you can play a (bleep) game and get two or three points. Statistics are for losers.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the kind of thing where we&rsquo;re always in a close game&hellip;it&rsquo;s given us a lot of spirit.&rdquo;</b></blockquote><p>Last season McEwen was a member of the Ranger team which almost pulled off one of the great Cinderella acts in hockey history before bowing to the Canadiens in the Stanley Cup finals.</p><p>There were Stanley Cup visions dancing in McEwen&rsquo;s head at the start of the season, before the shocking trade.</p><p>&ldquo;As a team, we were trying to do better than we did in the playoffs last year, which means win the Stanley Cup. But this year we were going to have to become tighter than we were last year&mdash;more of a family,&rdquo; McEwen said.</p><p>&ldquo;As far as points or individual play, I was just trying to improve my defensive play. I wasn&rsquo;t expecting to get 60 or 70 points because you don&rsquo;t get that much ice time.&rdquo;</p><p>But now solidly entrenched with the Rockies and playing on a power play with Rene Robert and Lanny McDonald, two of the league&rsquo;s premier shooters from the right side, the lefthanded-shooting McEwen is getting more ice time and has readjusted his goals.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m trying to skate a bit more. Carry the puck more. Grapes is working with me on defense every day. I&rsquo;m trying to make safe plays when we&rsquo;re ahead 2-1 or 3-2, not gambling,&rdquo; McEwen said.</p><p>And he keeps scoring. &ldquo;Everybody&rsquo;s in front of the net when the points are shooting. Me and Rene and Rammer (Rob Ramage). I mean I think the ultimate to reach as a defenseman would be if I get hold of the puck, it&rsquo;s always out of the zone. I&rsquo;m learning to take the man a bit better.&rdquo;</p><p>The family atmosphere which McEwen felt the Rangers needed in New York is beginning to develop with the Rockies, mainly because of Cherry.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s coming together pretty good. It&rsquo;s the lynd of thing where we&rsquo;re always in a close game. It&rsquo;s never a laugher. If we get beat, it&rsquo;s by one or two goals and if we win, it&rsquo;s by one or two goals. I think it&rsquo;s given us a lot of spirit. A lot of personality. Just spending time together helps. There&rsquo;s a great bunch of guys here.&rdquo;</p><p>But there were frustrating moments in the first half of the seasons when the Rockies gave their all, only to continually drop games.</p><p>That&rsquo;s where Grapes comes in and tries to get us fired up. He&rsquo;s always got something to say to us. One thing&rsquo;s for sure. This team ain&rsquo;t gonna do bad because he doesn&rsquo;t try anything. He tries everything,&rdquo; McEwen said in admiration of Cherry.</p><p>The acquisition of McDonald, a popular player with his peers, is another plus for the Rockies&mdash;on and off the ice, McEwen felt. &ldquo;Lanny&rsquo;s great. He&rsquo;s always yapping in the dressing room. He&rsquo;s always got something to say. Plus with Lanny, he treats everybody on the same level. That&rsquo;s important, coming from a guy like him.&rdquo;</p><p>ROCKY RAMBLINGS: At the midway point of the season, the Rockies were averaging 3,400 fans per game more than a year ago&hellip;Gary Croteau, captain of the Rockies last season, had a beautiful assist in his first game after a 2&frac12; month recovery from minor knee surgery in training camp.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0039-01

Rockies’ Togetherness Suiting McEwen Fine

<div class="byline">BY STEVE WINTER</div><p class="dropcap"><span>L</span>ANDOVER&mdash;Everybody loves a winner, and after five-and-a-half years of frustration and grief, no NHL city is more deserving of one than Washington, D.C.</p><p>Thus, one can surely imagine the joy felt by Capitals fans when a 22-year-old goalie from Westlock, Alberta arrived on the scene to help transform the Capitals into a contending team.</p><p>Enter Rollie Boutin, a winner.</p><p>Rollie Boutin is one of those players who can&rsquo;t seem to avoid good luck. The Capitals&rsquo; seventhround selection in 1977&mdash;and the 111th overall&mdash;Boutin split consid-erable playing time last year with Hershey and Port Huron, Washington&rsquo;s two top minor league affiliates And despite a 3.70 goals against average with the two clubs, when the 1979-80 season began, Boutin found himself the number one goaltender at Hershey, as the parent club juggled Wayne Stephenson, Gary Inness and Jim Bedard, with only modest defensive results.</p><p>Stephenson, whom the club acquired in an off-season trade with Philadelphia, played erratically, at best. Inness, forced to ride the bench behind Stephenson, turned into a replica of the Tin Man from the &ldquo;Wizard of Oz&rdquo;, but still shook off enough rust to win games over the Rangers and Nordiques. Bedard, seeing no playing time whatsoever, was handed his walking papers.</p><p>So when word filtered up through the minor ranks about a young goaltending sensation with an 11-2 record and a 2.48 GAA, the next step seemed natural.</p><p>Boutin played his first game of the year for Washington on December 15, at home, and the Capitals responded with a come-from-behind 5-4 win over the Rangers.</p><p>Since that day, Boutin started eight of the next nine regular season games&mdash;all eight, in fact, in succession, after Stephenson dropped a 5-4 decision to Hartford.</p><p>The results: six wins, two losses and a tie. What&rsquo;s more, Boutin&rsquo;s six victories after only nine games have surpassed the combined totals of Stephenson (3-12-3) and Inness (2-9-2), playing in 31 games.</p><p>Yet when the team representing the capital of the United States met and tied the team from the capital of the Soviet Union, 5-3, it was Inness, rather than Boutin who tended goal.</p><p>Was it because Inness had faced the Soviets before, while playing for Indianapolis, of the WHA?</p><p>Nah. &ldquo;We just decided to give Rollie a rest, and give Gary some playing time,&rdquo; said coach Gary Green.</p><p>Boutin, it seems, came along at just the right time to give the Capitals the boost they desperately needed. Many of the club&rsquo;s wounded warriors were just returning to action, after surviving what has to be termed the worst rash of injuries the club has ever faced. (Center Dennis Maruk and defenseman Yvon Labre are still out, nursing long-term knee ailments.) But equally important, the Capitals were finally beginning to adjust to the system installed by coach Green, who took over the club from Danny Belisle, on November 14.</p><p>So the timing couldn&rsquo;t have been better.</p><p>&ldquo;The whole hockey club is playing well,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not just one person out there, it&rsquo;s every single last guy, giving a more concentrated effort.</p><p>&ldquo;Of course, like any good club, you&rsquo;ve got to have good goaltending. With Rollie in there now, we can rely on a good solid effort in between the pipes, and obviously, that makes a lot of difference.</p><p>&ldquo;Right now, our hockey club is very confident in Rollie. He&rsquo;s making some very good saves.&rdquo;</p><p>Guy Charron, the veteran center whose recent scoring explosion has played a major role in the Caps&rsquo; current success, views Boutin much the same way.</p><p>&ldquo;Rollie&rsquo;s made a big difference,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Even in some of the games we&rsquo;ve won big, Rollie&rsquo;s. come up with the big saves when those games were close. That gives us momentum, and he&rsquo;s been doing that on a regular basis, in every game he&rsquo;s been playing.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;The guys have played real well in front of me,&rdquo; says Boutin, an honestly humble person, who gives more credit to his teammates than himself as reasoning behind the Capitals&rsquo; recent success. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve still got a lot to learn,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to keep playing well, every game up here.&rdquo;</p><p>Apparently, as long as Boutin keeps playing well, the Capitals will keep winning, as evidenced by wins over Chicago, Hartford and Vancouver.</p><p>In perhaps their most impressive game of the season, Boutin turned aside 32 shots, many of them &lsquo;labeled&rsquo;, as the Capitals tied Minnesota, in Bloomington. The North Stars are fast becoming one of the &lsquo;elite&rsquo; teams in the NHL, having lost only once at home at the midway point of the season. In that game, Boutin registered some outstanding saves, two in particular on Steve Payne in the first period, before Bobby Smith beat Boutin on a backhander late in the game. The tie, however, gave the Capitals their first point against the North Stars, after a pair of early losses.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Capitals Discover Winner In Boutin

<p>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s call it the Mike Eaves-University of Wisconsin power-play.&rdquo;</p><p>That was the answer of Minnesota assistant coach Murray Oliver when he was asked how the North Stars should describe one of the NHL&rsquo;s most-successful man-advantage formations.</p><p>Fair enough. Eaves has been the prime mover of Minnesota&rsquo;s power-play since the former Wisconsin two-time All-American was called up from Oklahoma City on Nov. 18.</p><p>The North Stars have scored 23 of their 43 power-play goals since Eaves arrived. He has accounted for five of them personally and has played a role in many more.</p><p>Eaves made Oklahoma City&rsquo;s power play the Central League&rsquo;s finest when he won CHL rookie of the year honors last season. &ldquo;So When he came up to us this season, it was only natural for us to discuss the system with him,&rdquo; Oliver explained. &ldquo;What he told us sounded good. We installed his ideas. They have worked out just fine.&rdquo;</p><p>The 23-year-old scored a record 267 points at Wisconsin. He&rsquo;s not scoring at that clip in the NHL&mdash;yet. But in his last 12 games Eaves has scored at least one point in 10 contests and has six goals and eight assists for 14 points in that same span.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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February 1, 1980

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