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 22, 1980

The Hockey News February 22, 1980

<h2>DANNY GARE&hellip;Buffalo Sabres</h2>The Buffalo Sabres continue their pursuit of the point leading Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL&rsquo;s overall race and the Sabres are getting some big offense while doing the job.Team captain Danny Gare had another prolific week for the Sabres as he scored four goals, three of them in one game as Buffalo lowered the boom on Pittsburgh 9-0. When the Sabres went down to defeat at the hands of St. Louis 3-2, Gare scored his 36th of the year.Gare now has 61 scoring points for the season putting him within six of his total for last season, 67 in 71 games, and only 16 points behind his career high of 77. With 36 goals already, he could also surpass his top 50-goal season.Gare was one of five NHLers to score four times last week. Mike Murphy of L.A., Bernie Federko of St. Louis, Mike Rogers of Hartford and Atlanta&rsquo;s Guy Chouinard also did it. &#9632;

IN THIS ISSUE

NHL Player Of The Week

<div class="byline">BY ARNOLD IRISH</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011255/5042356-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The dedication and intensity of Brian Sutter, plus his ability to take advantage of his talents, make him the natural Blues&rsquo; captain. (Photo By Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>Brian Sutter presents an interesting study in contrasts.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have a bucketload of talent,&rdquo; the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; captain says humbly, adding in the next breath, &lsquo;&lsquo;If I tell myself I can knock somebody off the puck, I can.&rdquo;Sutter&rsquo;s actions are as dissimilar as his words. Off the ice, the rosy-cheeked 23-year-old is as good-natured and likeable as the proverbial boy-next-door. During games, the square-jawed little forward seems always to be either (a) involved in a scoring play, (b) trading punches with a taller, heavier opponent or (c) seething in the penalty box.Will the real Brian Sutter please stand up?As it happens, all the aforementioned represent valid component parts of Sutter, who led all National Hockey League left wingers in goals last season with 41 and has been a central figure in the Blues&rsquo; transformation from embarrassment (only Colorado finished with fewer points in last year&rsquo;s standings) to respectability.Personally putting the puck in the nets never has been the bottom line in Sutter&rsquo;s life.&ldquo;My personal goals in pre-season,&rdquo; Brian says, &ldquo;were for the team to win 30 games and make the playoffs&mdash;everybody told me I was crazy because the writers were all picking us to finish last, or close to it&mdash;and for me to be a plus hockey player. That&rsquo;s important to me.&ldquo;I knew if those two things happened, I&rsquo;d score between 20 and 30 goals. Everybody likes to score goals, and I&rsquo;m no different in that respect, but if I don&rsquo;t get 41 again and my other two objectives are realized, it will be a successful season because I&rsquo;ll know I&rsquo;ve contributed in other ways. I never want our team to finish last again in goals-against like we did last year.&rdquo;If your mind&rsquo;s eye visualizes Sutter as a fiery leader who puts team before self, you&rsquo;re beginning to get the picture. Sutter&rsquo;s traits weren&rsquo;t lost on Blues&rsquo; presidentgeneral manager Emile Francis, then-head coach Barclay Plager and assistant Red Berenson (who since has succeeded Barc behind the bench). They appointed Sudsy captain before this season began.&ldquo;I was proud and surprised, because at 23 I&rsquo;m pretty young to be captain although basically we&rsquo;re a young team,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I knew I could do the captain&rsquo;s job, though, because I can communicate with the guys. I&rsquo;m good friends with the players. I&rsquo;ve got to talk all the time to get myself going, and in the process maybe get the others up. You&rsquo;ve got to be motivated in the dressing room.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m proud of our team this year. We&rsquo;re doing so well and making people eat their words. Everybody&rsquo;s working so hard that we&rsquo;ve moved from near the bottom to the middle echelon and proved we can play with the best teams in the league.&ldquo;Last year we had guys on the team, our own team, saying we&rsquo;d lose&mdash;and it just burned you up. I don&rsquo;t like people who think negative. A hockey team has got to be family. You&rsquo;ve got to have pride in yourself and in every other guy on the team.&rdquo;Sutter&rsquo;s pride borders on the paternalistic. When opponents rough up a Blues player, Sudsy rushes to his pal&rsquo;s defense. Only five-foot-11 and lighter than the generous 180 pounds at which he&rsquo;s listed on St. Louis&rsquo; roster (he normally begins the season at 178 pounds and finishes at 172), he will never be compared to Henry Armstrong as a boxing styist. On the other hand, nobody on skates has ever waded into battle with more ferocity than Sutter.&ldquo;Bare taught me his philosophy&mdash;that it isn&rsquo;t as important to be a good fighter as for opponents to recognize that you&rsquo;re a willing fighter,&rdquo; Sutter says.Sutter is willing. He led the team in penalty minutes last season, and most of his infractions were majors. Except perhaps subconsciously, Brian himself doesn&rsquo;t understand why he drops the gloves so often. &ldquo;Lots of times,&rdquo; he shrugs, &ldquo;it just happens. Somebody pushes somebody. I&rsquo;m not a big tough guy, but I&rsquo;m not scared of anybody either. I&rsquo;ll step in there.&ldquo;I never go looking for trouble. If you do that, you&rsquo;ll get hurt. But if somebody wants trouble, fine.&rdquo; Not coincidentally, a dentist told Sudsy that half his teeth have either been chipped or knocked out altogether.Brian, the second oldest of seven brothers raised on a farm near tiny Viking (population 1,178), Alberta, learned early in life how to take a punch and accept the pain as the price you pay to throw a punch in return.&ldquo;We were brought up aggressively,&rdquo; Brian says, fondly remembering his boyhood on Louis Sutter&rsquo;s grain and cattle farm. &ldquo;Mom must have nearly gone crazy the way we kids behaved. On a school day morning, we&rsquo;d have half a dozen fights on the way to the bus. Everything could be peaceful, and then somebody would get whacked over the head. It was a helluva lot of fun.&rdquo;The Sutter boys played hockey the year around. Viking had a rink, and they were driven to town twice a week, once for practice and once for a game, but the Sutters accumulated most of their hockey experience on the frozen sloughs near their home.&ldquo;There was a slough right in front of our barn,&rdquo; Brian remembers. &ldquo;Once chores were over, we were on the loose. We&rsquo;d play in the dark when it was 20 below and hope the moon was out so we could see what we were doing. The two youngest, (twins) Ronald and Richard, were the goalies. They&rsquo;d do what we said or get slapped.&ldquo;On Sundays, five families of kids&mdash;about 15 or 16 altogether&mdash;would get together and play. Each week it was a different family&rsquo;s turn to clean off the ice.&ldquo;In the summer we&rsquo;d play broom hockey up in the empty loft of our barn.&rdquo; Naturally, the competition was always spiced by fights.The Sutter brothers still have disputes when they get together in Viking. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all good-natured now,&rdquo; Brian says. &ldquo;The twins get the going-over these days. My wife Judy thinks we&rsquo;re crazy the way we treat each other, but she had two younger brothers and apparently she used to beat hell out of them, too.&rdquo;Brian already has been joined in the NHL by one brother, right winger Duane, 19, recently called up by the New York Islanders. Darryl, 21, who plays all three forward positions, is Chicago Black Hawks property. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing for Moncton, but I hope he&rsquo;ll be up by the end of the season,&rdquo; Bryan says.&ldquo;Darryl is an excellent playmaker. Duane is good with the puck, too, and he&rsquo;s a bigger guy.&rdquo;Brent, 17, is in his third year of Tier II hockey at Red Deer because his parents insist that like his brothers he finish high school. The 16-year-old Sutter twins are his teammates there.&ldquo;Brent is a centerman and an excellent skater,&rdquo; Brian reports. &ldquo;He got his 50th goal in his 30th game, and there&rsquo;s some talk he&rsquo;ll be drafted this year.&rdquo;The only Sutter brother who doesn&rsquo;t play pro hockey or plan to is the oldest, Gary, 25. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a defenseman and right winger&mdash;he plays Senior in Edmonton&mdash;and he was always better than me,&rdquo; Brian says. He won scoring championships, and I looked up to him.&rdquo;Brian and Gary played together in Junior B. &ldquo;I was just a skinny little guy,&rdquo; Brian remembers. &ldquo;But if anybody hit me, Gary was always there fighting for me.&rdquo; Not surprisingly, Brian engaged in his share of fisticuffs.The transition from Viking to Red Deer (pop. 27,674) was difficult for Brian. &ldquo;Red Deer was a big city, or so it seemed to me,&rdquo; he says.&ldquo;In Viking, you knew everybody at school from grade one to grade 12. If you had any problems, there were half a dozen friends to help you out.&rdquo;At Red Deer, the farm kid with the crew haircut was considered a bumpkin by classmates and Tier II players who wore their hair fashionably long.&ldquo;When I first went there, it seemed there were people who&rsquo;d rather run over you than around,&rdquo; Brian remembers. When they pushed him, however, he pushed back. It became his trademark.&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t believe my eyes in Red Deer,&rdquo; he remembers. &ldquo;Indoor rinks, ice time and the good coaching I probably lacked when I was younger. My first couple of years I wasn&rsquo;t that good a player. I couldn&rsquo;t turn one way skating backwards and I couldn&rsquo;t keep up with a lot of guys. Everybody was bigger, and I had to prove myself. You never stop learning. You&rsquo;re not going to learn, though, if guys are running at you all night.&ldquo;I guess I have to be one of the luckiest people in the world, though. It was in high school at Red Deer that I met Judy. And I was fortunate to stay with nice families&mdash;Don and Marg Teich-roeb in Red Deer and the Ross family, Stub and Marg, later when I played Tier I at Lethbridge. They took us in and treated us like their own kids. Made sure I didn&rsquo;t stay out too late at night and kept my school marks up, which was what my folks wanted. At home, see, you didn&rsquo;t argue when Mom and Dad said something. You did it. After awhile, they didn&rsquo;t have to say anything&mdash;well, they had to press us a little on our school work and the people we lived with were just like our parents.&rdquo;Brian began to benefit from good coaching, from Cec Swanson at Red Deer and from former NHL player and ex-Islanders&rsquo; coach Earl Ingarfield at Lethbridge. &ldquo;I was the poorest skater on the team, but Earl had the patience to work with me on defense and&ldquo;Bernie and I are friends the ice. We&rsquo;re building homes St. Louis about two doors apart. If we have problems in a game, if we&rsquo;re making mistakes, if we&rsquo;re confused about something, we talk about it. A large part of our success is due to working hard together.&ldquo;Some guys complain about being tired, but &lsquo;tired&rsquo; is a state of mind. When you win, you don&rsquo;t feel that tired. Hockey is all in the mind anyway. If I tell myself I can go into the corner with a guy 200 pounds and dig out the puck, I can. If you think you can&rsquo;t, you&rsquo;re right.&rdquo;Sutter lifts weights every summer. &ldquo;I have to,&rdquo; he explains. &ldquo;Everybody else is bigger and stronger. Most of the defensemen in this league could throw me around like a sack of candy.&ldquo;But I go into everything&mdash;a season, a game, a corner&mdash;thinking I&rsquo;m going to win. If not, why bother to go on the ice? I&rsquo;m not cocky, I&rsquo;m confident.&ldquo;It still takes all I&rsquo;ve got to keep up with Bernie and Chappie. But if you work hard, and know what you&rsquo;re doing with regard to your position, you&rsquo;ll be OK. If you don&rsquo;t work hard, you need a little slap.&ldquo;A lot of people in this game don&rsquo;t realize how lucky we are. I&rsquo;ve got friends back home working 15 times as hard as we do and not making nearly as much money. I appreciate the opportunity to live the good life. I think growing up on a farm helped to give me a sense of values.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m still a farm boy. We live in Sylvan Lake, just west of Red Deer, and Judy&rsquo;s dad and I raise purebred cattle. I&rsquo;m into Angus, but I give him a hand in everything.&ldquo;A lot of hockey players leave the farm and never go back. I leave and can&rsquo;t wait to get back. I miss farm life during the season&mdash;combinin&rsquo; in the fall and calvin&rsquo; in the spring. There&rsquo;s nothing better than getting home in spring and sitting on that tractor doing field work. I&rsquo;m almost as relaxed then as when we win a hockey game.&rdquo;It is difficult to imagine Sutter being totally relaxed.&ldquo;I have trouble sleeping after a game,&rdquo; he admits. &ldquo;In the dressing room, I&rsquo;ve got to be talking all the time. I&rsquo;m very hyper. The boys give me a hard time because I&rsquo;m so excitable. They&rsquo;re always playing mind games with me.&rdquo;<div class="sidebar">&ldquo;I never want our team to finish last again in goals against&hellip;&rdquo; Sutter proclaimed.I couldn&rsquo;t believe my eyes at Red Deer&hellip;indoor rinks, ice time and good coaching&hellip;&rdquo; &#9632;</div>

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Sutter Determined To Make Blues Successful

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2340/5044482-1-eng-US/f0034-232.jpg" title="f0034-23" width="593" height="950"></div> &#9632;

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The Point Race…

<div class="byline">BY BILL FLEISCHMAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011195/5043106-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Although Bill Barber, left, shown with teammates Reg Lead and Brian Propp, has been honored as an All Star, he&rsquo;s stil underrrated. (Photo by Robert Wimme)</figcaption></div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Every good team in every sport has at least one&mdash;the guy who does his job with amazing consistency while attracting little attention.Bill Barber is the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; candidate for Unsung Player of the Year.Now, you may object vehemently, arguing that Barber has been recognized&mdash;once as a first-team NHL All Star, last season as the second-team All Star left wing. He has played for Team Canada and Team NHL and he has scored 50 goals in one season. Next season he will pass the prestigious 300 career-goal-mark.What more, you may ask, does a guy want? In Bill Barber&rsquo;s case, he wants nothing more. He sincerely seems happy to play the game, dress quickly and go home. Celebrity status isn&rsquo;t Barber&rsquo;s big aim in life.&ldquo;I like it this way, I really do,&rdquo; Barber insisted the other day. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just not an exciting hockey player. I&rsquo;m not a Kenny Linseman, a guy who can pick up the puck and fly 300 miles an hour.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a Mike Bossy or Reggie Leach goal-scorer.&rdquo; Pausing, Barber shook his head and said, &ldquo;Sometimes I don&rsquo;t know what the hell I am.&rdquo;Such moments of occasional self-doubt occur for most of us. But, since reporting to the Flyers eight seasons ago (is it really that long ago? Barber has been a young man of remarkable consistency and poise. He was in only his second NHL season when the Flyers won their first Stanley Cup, aided by Barber&rsquo;s 34 goals.He has been one of the league&rsquo;s premier penalty killers, leading the NHL with six last season. Barber, 27, plays on the power play, changes linemates without missing a stride and checks tenanciously.Discussing the Flyers switch to a more revved-up offense, coach Pat Quinn said, &ldquo;He (Barber) is one of the reasons I wasn&rsquo;t afraid to change it. He makes the switch from offense to defense as well as anyone.&rdquo;&ldquo;Arnie&rsquo;s personality and game style aren&rsquo;t that flamboyant,&rdquo; observed Bobby Clarke, who successfully centered Barber&rsquo;s line for years. &ldquo;He does a lot of things so well that he makes it look easy and people don&rsquo;t notice him.&rdquo;Helping the Flyers win while collecting his share of goals has kept Barber&rsquo;s motor humming. During the slide preceding the Flyers&rsquo; astounding comeback this season, Barber often spoke through gritted teeth&mdash;that is, whenever he paused to speak at all. He often was the first player dressed and gone from the dressing room following a loss.On those nights, Barber&rsquo;s red cheeks seen above his turtleneck sweater weren&rsquo;t caused by scalding shower water. He was damn mad about what was happening to the Flyers. &ldquo;I got out of the room fast,&rdquo; he recalls, &ldquo;because I was afraid I&rsquo;d say something I&rsquo;d be sorry for.Now that the Flyers are back winning at a record pace, Barber is enjoying it as much as anyone, especially on the ice.&ldquo;I never really doubted this team would come back,&rdquo; Barber said. &ldquo;The management here is too smart for it not to. The only question was, would I be part of it when it did?&ldquo;I want to finish my career in Philly, and I want to win another Stanley Cup here.&rdquo;Although he&rsquo;s one of the six remaining players from the Flyers last Cup champion, Barber isn&rsquo;t a dominating figure in the dressing room or on trips. Quinn did choose him as one of three assistant captains when Clarke was named an assistant coach and had to relin-quish the captain&rsquo;s &ldquo;C&rdquo;. But Barber doesn&rsquo;t take an aggressive approach in counselling younger players.&ldquo;They know a lot more than I did when I came in the league,&rdquo; Barber said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re better and bigger&mdash;it&rsquo;s amazing. They can make the plays and they know where to go.&rdquo;Bill Barber knows where to go, too. During the 1970s Barber, Richard Martin, Steve Shutt and Clark Gillies were the big names among NHL left wingers. But none, according to the Philadelphia delegation and others around the league who look beyond statistics, was more consistent than Barber.FLYERS FACTS: Rick Mac-Leish moved past Bobby Clarke as the Flyers&rsquo; all-time goal-scoring leader. Through Feb. 9 MacLeish had 279, Clarke 278 and Barber 272&hellip;Defenseman Behn Wilson had 3 goals, 7 assists in 7 games.<div class="sidebar">&ldquo;I never really doubted this team would come back&hellip;management was too smart not to&hellip;&rdquo; &#9632;</div>

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Quietly Efficient Barber Keeps Stoking Flyer Fir

The city of Detroit has long worshipped its hockey heroes. There have been many, the most imminent of course is Gordie Howe. But today the Motor City is hailing a new face in Mike Foligno. Detroiters who have seen the best of them all claim the rookie is going to be a good one. Next week in THE HOCKEY NEWS correspondent Vartan Kupelian will look at the Red Wings&rsquo; brightest hockey prospect in years and tell how he&rsquo;s handled his new found hockey success.It has been a trying season for the men who wear the striped shirts in the NHL. It has ranged from abusing officials to fan and player brawls. But through it aaa one veteran referee continues to get the job done day in and day out. He&rsquo;s Bruce Hood and next week in THE HOCKEY NEWS feature writer Ashley Collie talks with the top NHL referee and gets his slant on what it&rsquo;s like handling a major league hockey game today as compared to the past. &#9632;

What’s Coining…

<div class="byline">FRANK ORR&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011227/5042325-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="448" height="342"></div><h2>Fun Time In Detroit</h2>EVERYONE IN THE world knocks the National Hockey League All Star game, especially when it matches the top players from the Clarence Wales and the Prince of Campbell Conferences. They claim it&rsquo;s about as exciting as watching a guy ice-fish or, at least, viewing Harold Ballard put on his hair-spray.Well, you now have it on good authority: Those people who knock the inter-conference format for the game don&rsquo;t know what they&rsquo;re talking about.Granted, the game itself isn&rsquo;t exactly a super contest although the 21,002 folks who were in the splendid new Joe Louis Arena in Detroit for this year&rsquo;s star game didn&rsquo;t complain. They&rsquo;d turned Gordie Howe, All Star appearance into an event, a happening, and made it a thoroughly enjoyable evening.Also, any time you have the chance to see Guy Lafleur, Gil Perreault and Real Cloutier play on the same forward line, it&rsquo;s a good night.The 1979 replacement for the All Star game&mdash;the Challenge Cup series between the national team of the Soviet Union and the NHL All Stars&mdash;was a spendid event but it was far too serious. That defeated the real purpose of the All Star break. Fun! That should be the target of an All Star game. John Ziegler, the NHL&rsquo;s president, saw it that way when he summarized a board of governors&rsquo; meeting in about six sentences at a press conference, then said: &ldquo;That&rsquo;s it for business! We&rsquo;re really here to have some fun.&rdquo;The All Star break should give the chaps in the rather serious business of hockey the chance to relax, shoot the breeze, exchange &ldquo;remember the times&rdquo; and crack a jar or two.Well, the scene in Detroit was that way. Of course, there were the usual meetings, including the inevitable clash between the players&rsquo; association and the owners. That included the threat of strike prior to the &lsquo;81-82 season. Somehow, it&rsquo;s a bit difficult to picture Lafleur on a picket line around the Montreal Forum wearing a sandwich sign that say&rsquo;s &ldquo;NHL Unfair.&rdquo; Of course, the Flower&rsquo;s agent probably would sell advertising space on it.<h2>Normal Nonsense Quota</h2>OF COURSE, all the floaters on hand for the All Star festivities in Deeetroit had far too much time on their hands and that produced the normal amount of nonsense&mdash;bad oneliners, bad two-liners, etc.For all those people who couldn&rsquo;t be there to hear the collection of gems, your probing columnist feels it&rsquo;s his duty to reveal a few of the things that were said. Here goes:Wayne Gretzky, 19, Edmonton Oilers superstar: &ldquo;What a blow! I asked for a glass of wine at the All Star dinner and the waiter asked for my I.D.Gus Badali, Gretzky&rsquo;s agent: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not really true that when they asked me tor my meal ticket at the dinner, I gave them Gretzky.&rdquo;Suggestion for a revised All Star game format: &ldquo;Why not have a four-team tournament? The four teams would be the Europeans (Swedes, Finns and Czechs), the French-Canadians, the other Canadians and the Americans. It would be fun and competitive.&rdquo;Gordie Howe on his inclusion on the All Star game: &ldquo;I guess I&rsquo;m like a very old shoe that you don&rsquo;t want to throw away.&rdquo; (Ed. note: The &ldquo;old shoe&rdquo; was a real hard boot in the game, one of the best players on the ice). Howe, again, on the 21/2-minute standing ovation from the Detroit fans: &ldquo;After a time, it got a little embarrassing amd I didn&rsquo;t know what to do. So I skated over to the bench to ask my pal Lefty Wilson (long-time Red Wing trainer) what I should do. Lefty made a couple of suggestions&mdash;and they were both pretty bad.&rdquo;A PRESS ROOM WAG: &ldquo;The other night at a sports dinner in Toronto, Willie Stargell (Pittsburgh Pirates) and Harold Ballard were at the head table. There&rsquo;s a big difference between their approaches, eh? After Pirate games, Stargell gives his teammates stars. After most Leaf games, Ballard gives the players a moon.&rdquo;NHL general manager: &ldquo;If Perreault and Lafleur played on the same team, it would have to be declared illegal.&rdquo;Reggie Leach, winner of the car as the game&rsquo;s MVP: &ldquo;My wife needs a car. Her mule died last week.&rdquo;Many hockey writers: &ldquo;Where&rsquo;s the Bromo?&rdquo; &#9632;

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HOCKEY VIEWPOINT

<div class="byline">KEN MCKENZIE&#x2019;S</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011286/5042415-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="506" height="341"></div>&bull; DETROIT&mdash;The 32nd Annual NHL All Star Game was more a tribute to Gordie Howe than to anything else. The 51-year-old former Detroit great received a standing ovation of two-and-a-half minutes prior to the start of the game, which was witnessed by over 21,000 fans, largest crowd to see a hockey game in North America. It wasn&rsquo;t a great game but it was better than many, and we&rsquo;ve been privileged to see all 32 of these All Star contests. The most exciting game in our opinion was when Gil Perreault scored in overtime at Buffalo to give the Prince of Wales team a victory in 1978. Philadelphia&rsquo;s Reg Leach won a car as the game&rsquo;s most valuable player but most of the rabid Motor City fans would have been just as pleased if the car had been awarded to Howe who caused most of the excitement during the game. Scotty Bowman, coach of the winning Prince of Wales squad, showed a lot of class in selecting Howe for the All Stars, and further pleased Gordie when he played him on a regular shift throughout the entire game. It was Howe&rsquo;s 23rd NHL All Star Game and he owns almost all of the All Star scoring records&hellip;It marked Bowman&rsquo;s seventh appearance as an NHL coach and he has a record of four wins, two losses and one tie. It was Al Arbour&rsquo;s first All Star game as a coach although he was in one game as a player&hellip;More than half of the players participating in this year&rsquo;s All Star Game were making their first appearance in All Star play. All but two players in the game were born after Gordie Howe played in his first All Star Game in 1948. They were Tony Esposito, 36, and Jean Ratelle, 39&hellip;Youngest player in this year&rsquo;s game was Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton&rsquo;s wonder kid, who is 19. No player has made as big an impact at his age in the NHL since Bobby Orr<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021200/5042408-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="251" height="411"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gordie Howe</figcaption></div>&bull; TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS are trying desperately to make some trades but no one appears eager to do business with them. A much-discussed trade between the Leafs and Buffalo has been scrubbed. &ldquo;There will be no trades between Toronto and Buffalo. I won&rsquo;t explain it,&rdquo; said Scotty Bowman, GM-coach of the Sabres&hellip;Marcel Dionne and Guy Lafleur, the top scoring leaders in the NHL today, have both been sounding off recently and both make excellent points. Dionne has been quoted extensively as saying that the NHL had better put a stop to the violence in the game or they&rsquo;ll be forced to do so by the courts. He also slammed the league for its lack of promotion and its laxity in penalizing the offenders of its rules. Lafleur has been very critical of the wellpaid players not giving it their best shot and also of his own teammates who haven&rsquo;t shown the desire or zeal that they might. No one plays harder than Lafleur and he should be the best inspiration any teammate might need&hellip;It&rsquo;s a treat to see hockey&rsquo;s leading players starting to stand up to be counted. These things would never have happened prior to the World Hockey Association. Incidentally, the WHA left a healthy legacy to the NHL. Three goals and two assists, representing nearly one-fourth of the points produced in this year&rsquo;s NHL All Star Game came through the efforts of players who were in the WHA last season. Of the goals, Real Cloutier was with Quebec, Craig Hartsburg with Birmingham and Kent Nilsson with Winnipeg. Howe, New England Whalers, supplied the pass for Cloutier&rsquo;s goal, while Cloutier also picked up an assist on Hartsburg&rsquo;s goal&hellip;John Ferguson maintains that if his Winnipeg Jets could have retained the players they had last year then the Jets would be up among the NHL leaders this year. No one will argue too much with him on this one&hellip;Everyone pleased to see where Bobby Clarke was honored by the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association as the &ldquo;most courageous athlete of the 70s&rdquo;. The native of Flin Flon, Man. is living proof of what modern medicine has done for diabetics. The dynamic leader of the Flyers was 14 when he discovered that he had diabetes.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031025/5042401-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="282" height="400"><figcaption class="caption-body">Guy Lafleur</figcaption></div>&bull; CHANCES OF the Canada Cup tournament taking place this September appear slim and without teams from the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia taking part there would be little interest shown by most rabid hockey fans. A final decision will probably be made when it&rsquo;s decided what is going to happen with this summer&rsquo;s Olympic games&hellip;Ron Greschner has been playing some very sound defense for the New York Rangers&hellip;Marcel Dionne has told friends he would like to end his playing days in Switzerland like his pal Jacques Lemaire&hellip;Before he&rsquo;s ready for that step he is going to try and negotiate the highest salary ever paid to a hockey professional&hellip;Now that he owns the operating rights to the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Jerry Buss, owner of the Los Angeles Kings, Lakers and California Forum would like to locate his top minor league club in that city. Indianapolis is drawing very well this season in the central League. Buss is also interested in buying the Indianapolis or Ontario, California Motor Speedways, in bringing an NFL franchise to Los Angeles and bringing back world tennis. Needless to say he is a man of many interests&hellip;Don Cherry was telling us that his dog Blue is getting temperamental, &ldquo;yea, she&rsquo;s starting to growl at some reporters and when she sees cameramen and TV people.&rdquo;&hellip;Cherry has made Blue as famous in Colorado as he did in Boston&hellip;Shayne Kukulowicz, 18-year-old center of the Oshawa Generals is the son of Aggie, who always serves as the official NHL interpreter when teams from the Soviet Union tangle with the National Leaguers. Aggie was one of Canada&rsquo;s best junior players himself at one time&hellip;Toronto Marlboros have won the Memorial Cup a record seven times since the team was formed in 1926&hellip;Kalamazoo Wings set a new club record and a new International Hockey League record when they went 15 straight undefeated<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04902/5042394-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="275" height="407"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Greschner</figcaption></div>&bull; SHE IS not our columnist&rsquo;s daughter, but since she has the same name as his daughter and lives in his area, Bill Libby has taken interest in a young leukemia victim and would love to see some contributions sent to The Laurie Libby Fund, 8145 Santa Inez Way, Buena Vista, California 90620. The 20-year-old needs a bone marrow transplant&hellip;Such former National Leaguers as Bob McCord, Doug Favell, Eric Nesterenko, Jim Wiste, Gary Jarrett and Mike Lampman have all settled in the Denver area. Nesterenko is acting as a ski instructor, of all things. Most of these retirees are in the construction or real estate business&hellip;Kalamazoo Wings have remained in first place in the Northern Division of the International Hockey League ever since the season started. This has been a great season for the Wings&hellip;Johnny Wilson, the 50-year-old coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, has been receiving his share of praise for the fine showing of the Penguins this season. There&rsquo;s no doubt but that Johnny has been getting the maximum effort out of his players and the Pens have been up near the top of the Norris Division all year&hellip;Boston&rsquo;s Jean Ratelle credits his trade in 1975 from the Rangers for extending his career to the point where he could be the eighth 1200-point man in NHL history. &ldquo;Boston has a great organization,&rdquo; said Ratelle. &ldquo;I would probably have been out of hockey by now if I hadn&rsquo;t come to Boston&rdquo;&hellip;Minnesota North Stars have stopped two consecutive game streaks this season. They ended Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; 35-game unbeaten record and they stopped Charlie Simmer of Los Angeles after he had scored in 13 straight games&hellip;Coach Glen Sonmor of the North Stars figures the Flyers&rsquo; remarkable streak will last for a long time. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think anybody will ever beat that record,&rdquo; he said&hellip;One of the major points discussed at the NHL coaches&rsquo; meeting at the All Star Game was the failure of referees to call cheap shots. &ldquo;Every coach in the league is upset about it,&rdquo; said one veteran mentor.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05755/5042387-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="276" height="407"><figcaption class="caption-body">Johnny Wilson</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0004-01

PASSING THE PUCK

only by Montreal right winger Guy Lafleur, who has also played 15 games in this half and has 13 goals and 17 assists for 30 points.Center Marcel Dionne of Los Angeles, who had an average of more than two points a game in the first half of the season, still leads the scoring parade with 104 points but his lead of 13 points over Lafleur after all teams&rsquo; first 40 games has shrunk to four points. One of the main reasons for that, of course, is the fact that Dionne&rsquo;s left winger, Charlie Simmer, and the right winger on the line, Dave Taylor, have missed 16 and 10 games, respectively, in this half.In Edmonton&rsquo;s first 40 games, of which he played 39, Gretzky had 58 points, including 22 goals. He trailed Dionne by 25 points. Today, Gretzky has 88 points, 16 fewer than Dionne and 12 behind Lafleur. He has 34 goals.If Gretzky is among the top five pointmen when the season ends April 6 he will surpass the accomplishment of former Toronto Maple Leaf center Ted Kennedy. In 194445, Kennedy finished fifth in the scoring list with 54 points, including 29 goals, in 49 games. He was 19 years, three months old when the season ended March 18, 1945. Gretzky will be 19 years, two months old when the 1979-80 season ends.Lafleur gained one point on Dionne last week, although he lost a goal to the Kings&rsquo; center in that department. Dionne continues to lead in goals with 43 and assists with 61. Lafleur has 41 goals and 59 assists.Vancouver Canucks, who got off to a good start this season and then went into a slump, became somewhat of giant-killers recently. Of their first four games in a five-game road trip which ends at Hartford Tuesday, Canucks recorded wins at Minnesota, Philadelphia&mdash;the first loss for the Flyers at home this season and Montreal. &#9632;

Gretzky Setting Unique Scoring Pace In NHL

VOLUME 33, NUMBER 21 FEBRUARY 22, 1980Editorial and Advertising Offices:214 King Street WestSuite 314Toronto, Ontario. M5H 1K4Charlie Halpin Editorial DirectorTom Murray Assistant PublisherMike Dennis Assistant EditorCathy Munro Copy EditorBob Hanley Editorial ConsultantStan Fischler, Frank Orr Bob Verdi Contributing EditorsBusiness StaffPeter Emerson Executive Vice President and General ManagerJoanne Hatch Sales Service ManagerKenneth W. McKenzie President and PublisherW. C. C. Publishing Ltd.,Suite 217, 1434 St Catherine St W&bdquo;Montreal, Canada. H3G 1R7Donald R. Wall ChairmanTom Murray Assistant Publisher850 Third Avenue,New York, N.Y. 10022Advertising Representatives:New York:Tom Murray850 Third Ave.,New York, N.Y. 10022 &bull; (212) 593-2100Chicago:Hooper, Jones & Associates3322 W. Peterson AvenueChicago, III. 60659* (312) 478-5544Boston:Steve GanakSteve Ganak Ad Reos.Statler Office BoldingBoston, Mass. 02116 &bull; (617) 542-6913THE HOCKEY NEWS, (ISSN 0018-3016), Is published weekly except monthly June through September by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd., 214 King St. W., Suite 314, Toronto, Ont. M5H 1K4. Phone: (416) 598-1753. In U.S. c/0 W.C.C. Publishing Corp., 850 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10022. Phone (212) 593-2100.YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $15.95 in Canada, $15.95 in the U.S.A, and $19.95 In Foreign Countries. Second class postage paid at New York, N.Y., 10001 and at additional mailing Offices. SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO 1434 ST. CATHERINE STREET WEST, SUITE 217, MONTREAL, CANADA H3G 1R7. Second Class mail Registration No. 1327. All inquiries pertaining to subscriptions should be addressed to Subscription Dept., The Hockey News, 214 King St. W&bdquo; Suite 314, Toronto, Ont. M4H 1K4, Canada &#9632;

The Hockey News OFFICIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY WEEKLY FOUNDED 1947

<div class="byline">BY BOB VERDI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02852/5042525-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="522" height="360"></div><h2>Color Them Green</h2>THEY ARE KIDS, really, so young that &ldquo;some of them still believe in Santa Claus,&rdquo; according to their coach.The United States Olympic Hockey Team. Color it red, white, blue and green. But come mid-February at Lake Placid, N.Y., it is hoped that youthful exuberance will be translated into control&mdash;not only of the emotions, but of the puck. Anything less by the American skaters will mean trouble. They don&rsquo;t give medals for nice tries, and the competition is both formidable and venerable.Realistically, even if all goes well, the best the United States can anticipate is a bronze for third place. The Soviet Union, amateur in name only, figures to be the class of the tournament; Czechos-lovakia is next best in show. After them it could be interesting, and if it is, we will know early.The Americans open their schedule against Sweden, a good club. Two nights later, it will be the United States versus the Czechs.&ldquo;To go someplace, we need an upset in one of those two games,&rdquo; said coach Herb Brooks. &ldquo;If that happens anything can happen. It&rsquo;s not that we&rsquo;re conceding the gold medal to the Russians. But look at it this way. The National Hockey League All Star team couldn&rsquo;t beat them. Are a bunch of college kids who have just been together for a few months supposed to go up there and kick their butts?&rdquo;The United States is in the Blue Division with Sweden, Czechoslovakia, West Germany, Romania and Norway. The Red Division is comprised of the Soviet Union, Canada, Finland, Holland, Poland and Japan. After round-robin, games within the division, teams move to the medal round.The Americans plundered everybody but NHL foes in their pre-Olympic exhibition schedule, an arduous 62-game grind: colleges, European teams, teams from the Central Hockey League and International Hockey League, even a skeleton Soviet crew. But it was difficult, there really were no home games, and the fear of fears was that the USA would enter the Olympic compound with eyes half shut.<h2>Letdown Worries Him</h2>&ldquo;I DON&rsquo;T WORRY about us being under-ready, I worry about us being over-ready,&rdquo; said Jack O&rsquo;Callanan, a fiesty Boston University defenseman.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m petrified that we&rsquo;ll go there and not be sharp, that we&rsquo;ll have some sort of a letdown after all this,&rsquo; added Brooks. &ldquo;I should be worried that we&rsquo;d go there and be awed. But I&rsquo;m not. It&rsquo;s almost the other way around.&rdquo;Brooks, a pragmatist, is a highly-successful coach who joined the Minnesota Gophers in 1972 and has won three NCAA titles since, plus a Western Collegiate Hockey Association crown. He has been around the globe, too, having coached the 1979 National team in the World Ice Hockey Championships at Moscow.Brooks is not the greatest living admirer of NHL hockey, which is to say he eschews the excruciatingly mindless dump-and-chase style so prevalent in the pros. For that stance, some of the NHL&rsquo;s deepest thinkers consider him an outlaw. Conversely, deeper thinkers such as New York Ranger general manager Fred Shero and Minnesota North Stars general manager Lou Nanne offer him jobs.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t say I am a critic of NHL hockey,&rdquo; mentioned Brooks. &ldquo;I just don&rsquo;t like to punt on first down.&rdquo;In other words, Brooks preaches puck possession, which in international hockey&mdash;and in Lake Placid&mdash;is nine-tenths of the law. European clubs don&rsquo;t regularly take slapshots from the blue line and don&rsquo;t flip the puck in from center ice. They strive for the high-percentage play which in turn yields the high-percentage shots.<h2>Penalties Mean Doom</h2>MOREOVER, BROOKS HAS informed his-pic squad that the rah-rah college spirit should be manifested in moderation. Doling out and accepting hard checks is one thing, a good thing; getting chippy and temperamental will mean penalties, which will mean impending doom.&ldquo;We will be able to mix it up with anyone in the corners,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But sometimes, we&rsquo;ll have to show our toughness by taking a good hit and leaving it at that.&rdquo;Skating figured to be the least of the Americans&rsquo; problems. This may be the youngest USA team in Olympic history, but it might be the best, too, because it is the quickest and most mobile. At the large Lake Placid rink, that will be an absolute must. The Europeans love to use the ice, all of it.&ldquo;We have tried to build a system on the best elements of the North American game, and the best of the European game,&rdquo; said Brooks. &ldquo;Twenty years ago, we won the gold medal. Since that time, we have improved, but the Europeans have made phenomenal improvement. Better than us. Again, I don&rsquo;t want to rap the kind of game we have been exposed to in the pros, but by doing things like punting on first down, we have taken away so many chances to develop our players&rsquo; skills,&rdquo; &#9632;

f0005-02

HOCKEY TALK

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div>MONTREAL&mdash;There have been several times this season when Mark Napier&rsquo;s frustration has been clearly visible.Often during the past few weeks, Napier has dressed rapidly and without saying much, leaving the room as soon as possible.The 23-year-old ex-Toronto Marlie and Birmingham Bull played a good deal with both of those teams. He was playing a lot in Montreal too, but since Claude Ruel took over the Canadiens, Napier&rsquo;s ice time has been limited.&ldquo;I came into this year expecting to play a little more than I did last year,&rdquo; said Napier, who dressed for 54 regular-season games during the 1978-79 campaign.&ldquo;It hasn&rsquo;t worked out that way. I played a lot at the start and now it&rsquo;s only two or three shifts a game. You can get a little upset at times when the team is ahead by a few goals and you think you could be playing. But that&rsquo;s up to the coach. He&rsquo;s the guy who decides that.&rdquo;Napier, who went through a 16-game goal-less string earlier this year, scored his sixth goal of the season on Dec. 23. He did not score in January and was starting to press.&ldquo;I think the tough part is that if the team is losing and you aren&rsquo;t playing, you, start wondering why,&rdquo; Napier said. &ldquo;But when the team is winning and things are going well, there is not much you can say.&ldquo;There have been a couple of times when I have been disappointed in myself. When you are playing only two or three shifts, you should be giving your best all the time. There are some games where I haven&rsquo;t.&ldquo;It might look as though I&rsquo;m upset with the coach, but a lot of times I&rsquo;m upset with myself, too.But Napier is too much of a battler to give up the fight. He is still one of the last players on the ice in the Canadiens&rsquo; daily practices and generally one of the hardest workers.And the kid from Toronto hasn&rsquo;t lost his wry sense of humor, something that is needed in hockey from time to time because often the game becomes far too serious.He is knowledgeable of the Montreal situation which has seen people such as Guy Lafleur, Steve Shutt and Yvan Cournoyer take a while before they became regulars.&ldquo;There were a few injuries at the start of the year,&rdquo; Napier noted. &ldquo;I was getting the chances, but I wasn&rsquo;t scoring. I could have had 15 or 20 goals but I only had six. The coach has to look at that. Anybody can get the chances, but somebody has to put the puck in the net.&ldquo;That was the problem. I wasn&rsquo;t scoring and I was getting a few goals scored against me.&rdquo;And, of course, with the lack of statistical productivity, Napier&rsquo;s name sprung up several times in the various trade fabrications emanating from his home town of Toronto.&ldquo;They can grow on you a little bit,&rdquo; he admitted. My family and friends and fiancee are in Toronto and they tell me they have read these rumors.&ldquo;You try to tell yourself it doesn&rsquo;t both you, but it does. You start thinking about how good things are here and how bad they are in Toronto. You tell yourself you don&rsquo;t want to be traded.&ldquo;You can work yourself up and put more pressure on yourself than you should.&rdquo;Napier was not included in the latest trade rumor involving the Canadiens which was sparked by someone spying Alan Eagleson, who happens to be Darryl Sittler&rsquo;s lawyer, talking with Montreal boss Irving Grundman at the All Star game in Detroit.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011156/5042494-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="559" height="647"></div> &#9632;

f0005-01

Napier Battles Mounting Pressure

<div class="byline">BY BILL LILBBY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011338/5042563-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Madison Square Garden incident Dec. 23 when Boston Bruins players entered the stands to battle spectators has been the focal point of discussions concerned with the violence associated with hockey. (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>He responded to another by asking, &ldquo;Do you know what spearing is?&rdquo;It is true many reporters in this area are relatively new to the sport, but this is the 13th year for the league in the Los Angeles area and most members of the media were insulted by Ziegler&rsquo;s manner.Nor were they satisfied by what they considered Ziegler&rsquo;s defense of violence in his sport. &ldquo;Hockey, Love It or Leave It seemed to be the attitude of NHL president John Ziegler,&rdquo; wrote Terry Shepard of the L.A. Times in his lead the next day.The five newspapers this reporter read all reported critically of the president&rsquo;s stance the next day. I am not as critical of him. I think he is an exceptional man who can be an exceptional leader.I think he has to learn that if you want to say something is good you will be better believed if you admit it is not perfect. I think he has to develop a better bedside manner.I am not sure if he is right or wrong in his attitude toward violene in hockey, but I think he must take a harder look at the extremes of violence.Ziegler said, &ldquo;We have a great spectator sport.&rdquo; Bobby Orr accompanied him to the conference and I asked both about the wrestling permitted defenders which restricts skating, and stops the superstars from performing freely for the spectators.Ziegler said, &ldquo;You cannot call penalties in favor of superstars.&rdquo; Orr added, &ldquo;If you call all the small penalties you&rsquo;ll slow down the game.&rdquo; Pressed on the point, however, Orr laughed and admitted that as a player he&rsquo;d been so infuriated as to write letters of protest to the league president.Body-checks are a part of the game, not interference. If violence is a part of the game, so is skating. Permitting the skaters to skate would speed up the game, it seems to me.Allowing illegal maneuvers to restrict the marvellous maneuvers of a Bobby Orr, a Guy Lafleur, or a Marcel Dionne subtracts the most spectacular aspects of this sport from the spectators.As for fist-fighting, Ziegler said,&ldquo;By its nature, hockey leads to fights. Men carrying sticks and skating fast collide. Where emotions run high and they fight with their fists spontaneously, we permit it. We penalize it, but we don&rsquo;t outlaw it.&rdquo;Clearly, they could if they wanted to. There is little fighting in other sports because players who fight are ejected. There is fighting in hockey because it is accepted and even encouraged from the first day a young player laces on his skates. But you have only to look around an arena when a fight starts to see the fans love it. The owners see this and, I suppose, if I was an owner I would, too.As for fights which develop into bench-clearing brawls and those which spread into the stands, Ziegler said, &ldquo;The responsibility with these lies with the clubs, not the league. We feel we have taken adequate action against these, but we will look at it again at season&rsquo;s end to see if there are some more of them than there were. I do not think there are.&rdquo;I think the &ldquo;third-man-in&rdquo; rule has been especially effective in limiting bench-clearing brawls. There no longer are nearly the number there once were. No, the league does not encourage these. And I agree it is up to the clubs to police the &ldquo;animals&rdquo; in the stands. But I also think the league must step in to see the clubs do so. It often is not fun for the average fan in the stands these days.I cannot condone it when a player goes into the stands to fight a fan, but I also cannot condone the disgraceful conduct permitted many fans.As for the use of sticks as weapons, Ziegler made two points. &ldquo;First,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you see less fights in European hockey because there is more use of sticks in close. If we eliminated fights, we&rsquo;d be encouraging illegal use of sticks.&rdquo; Orr concurred: There is more spearing, butt-ending, even kicking in their game because they&rsquo;re not allowed to use fists.&rdquo;Maybe, but it&rsquo;s hard to believe we could have more.Second, Ziegler said, &ldquo;We feel stick fights are rare and we feel we have stiff penalties for these when they do occur. We definitely do not deal with this lightly.&rdquo; The reporters present definitely dis-agreed, but a few days later the league handed Holt a 10-game suspension and $500 fine for an act of violence. It also handed out six-game or eight-game suspensions and fines to the Bruins.Perhaps I am picking on Holt because I personally saw the two incidents in which he was involved this season. In Philadelphia in December, he appeared to knock Ken Linseman down from behind, then hit his head on the ice while he was down.Hold, who fills a traditional hockey role of cop for his club, says, &ldquo;I did not knock him down. He was fouling all night. As I came on him from behind, he elbowed me, then covered up and dropped on the ice. I was frustrated so I just lifted him and and dropped him down.&rdquo;That is not the way I saw it, but he is entitled to his say. As I saw it, his was the only inexcusable act in just one more of hockey&rsquo;s gangfights.At the Forum, MacMillan spun around with his stick high and it caught Holt near the eye. Holt stepped back and slashed a cut under MacMillan&rsquo;s eye.Holt said, &ldquo;I was sent out by the coach to stir things up, but I fight with my fists, not my stick. I was surprised by what MacMillan did, but what I did was an eye for an eye. No one would make much of it if I was a star.&rdquo;Coach Bob Barry says, &ldquo;I did send Randy out to stir things up. We were playing without emotion. But I do not approve the use of the stick as a weapon.&rdquo; Manager George Maguire says, &ldquo;I was always taught that when someone hits you, you hit them back harder.&rdquo;Maybe, but when a player has a stick in his hand it is not unlike having a knife or gun. Ziegler says, &ldquo;We have had a few serious injuries from sticks.&rdquo; Maybe, but I do not want to wait for a player to lose an eye or have his skull split open.Off the ice, Randy Holt is a gentleman. On the ice his skill consists mainly of muscle and he gets carried away trying to carve a place for himself.There are only a few players whose fouls run beyond reason.Holt is only one of them. Although he plays irregularly, he has had more than 600 minutes in penalties in about 170 NHL games.Paul Holmgren of Philadelphia has had more than 500 minutes in about 260 NHL and WHA games. Kim Clackson of Pittsburgh has had close to 1,000 minutes in less than 340 NHL and WHA games. There are a few others. The repeat offenders should be singled out.If interference has to be allowed to spoil the speed and skill of this sport, if fist-fights and an occasional bench-clearing brawl are to be accepted as a part of this sport, so be it, but I do not believe stick-fighting should be tolerated.A line has to be drawn and I encourage John Ziegler to draw it here. A first offense should draw, say, a 10-game suspension as he gave Holt. If a player repeats the offense at any time in his career, he should be suspended, for the season. If a third-time loser, his career should be ended.Stick-fighting should be considered unacceptable and any player who continues such criminal activity should be considered unacceptable.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011191/5042556-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="1210" height="1140"><figcaption class="caption-body">Terry O&rsquo;Reilly drew the stiffest penalty for the New York incident, with an eight-game suspension and $500 fine. (Photo by Bruce Bennet)</figcaption></div><div class="sidebar">&hellip;it is up to the clubs to police the. &ldquo;animals&rdquo; in the stands&hellip;it often is not fun for the average fan &#9632;</div>

f0006-01

Ziegler’s Stance On Violence Puzzles Media

<div class="byline">BY PAT CALABRIA</div>We can always pull ourselves out of it, right. Nothing matters until the playoffs, right? Then we&rsquo;ll be okay.&rdquo;Resch paused. &ldquo;Well, I hope that&rsquo;s true.&rdquo;The Islanders had just allowed the Whalers 40 shots while losing 53 in the last game played in Springfield, Mass, before the Whalers moved back into the reconstructed Hartford Civic Center. The loss capped a streak that saw the Islanders win only one of five games and reminded them that their defense needs reconstructing, too.Noting that the team has won just six games on the road all season, that except for a recent seven-game winning streak it has failed to play consistently most of the season and the offense and the defense both are in pieces, Mike Bossy heaved a confused sigh.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no way we&rsquo;re going to win the Stanley Cup like this,&rdquo; he said.The first indications that the defense had forgotten coach Al Arbour&rsquo;s warning to &ldquo;pull up its socks&rdquo; was in a 7-1 loss to the Capitals in Landover, Md. Not only did the Caps score three times in 58 seconds, but two of the goals came in the first 30 seconds of the second period&mdash;the fastest two goals scored at the start of a period in NHL history.The Caps. scored six times in that second period on just 11 shots. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t even think of an analogy for something like that,&rdquo; bewildered defenseman Dave Lewis said.A defeat just as embarrassing followed several days later in Boston&mdash;where the Bruins&rsquo; lineup was diluted by the suspensions to Terry O&rsquo;Reilly, Mike Milbury and Peter McNab. The Islanders were held scoreless for two periods enroute to a 4-2 defeat that left Arbour steaming and the players puzzled by their own lethargy.Bob Lorimer said the team was &ldquo;stupid&rdquo;. Bob Bourne said it was &ldquo;awful&rdquo;.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d have to say we were bullied,&rdquo; Lorimer added, &ldquo;and I don&rsquo;t like to say that. I couldn&rsquo;t believe we regressed that much. It was like the start of the season when we were playing with no confidence. It was a shock.&rdquo;Then there was the after-shock. After a mildly encouraging 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres, the Islanders moved on to Springfield to play the Whalers. The Whalers&rsquo; victory left them thumping each other on the helmet in their finale in Springfield while the Islanders were not sure at all in which direction they were going.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02968/5042594-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="592" height="856"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Bossy is one Islander who doesn&rsquo;t feel the team will be able to just turn it on for the playoffs.</figcaption></div>The power play went 14 straight times without scoring during one stretch. The penalty killing unit allowed seven goals in 20 times short. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s so much that&rsquo;s wrong,&rdquo; Resch said. &ldquo;Okay, we didn&rsquo;t play awful against Hartford. We weren&rsquo;t atrocious. But we didn&rsquo;t go out there and try to earn respect.&rdquo;Instead, the Islanders let a game that was tied 3-3 in the third period get away&mdash;the victims of Jordy Douglas&rsquo; four-goal hat trick for the Whalers. Bossy, the Islanders own prolific scorer, was dis-couraged.&ldquo;If we can&rsquo;t win, then there&rsquo;s something wrong,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t just think we&rsquo;ll be able to turn it on in the playoffs. It doesn&rsquo;t work that way. I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s wrong and I&rsquo;m sick and tired of trying to explain it. I can&rsquo;t. But I know this: we haven&rsquo;t been able to repair what&rsquo;s wrong all year. If we want to win, we&rsquo;d better fix it fast.&rdquo;Bossy was one of the precious few Islanders managing to supply a good effort. Bossy equalled Bryan Trottier&rsquo;s club record 17-game point-scoring streak against the Whalers, then broke the record against the Los Angeles Kings.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been one thing after another,&rdquo; Clark Gillies said. &ldquo;One big, screwed up year.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0006-02

Isles Regressing Into Bad Habits

<div class="byline">BY RICHARD FRIEDMAN</div>NEW YORK&mdash;Is the SuperSwede down for the count?That is the question puzzling the Rangers&rsquo; high command as well as the frustrated followers of the wounded Blueshirts.Foremost on their minds as the Rangers emerged from a much-needed All-Star break was the status of center Ulf Nilsson. At the moment, the word is that Nilsson&rsquo;s sprained neck may keep him out of the lineup until the playoffs, if not longer.That&rsquo;s the bad news. The good news is that the report may be overly pessimistic.After hospital treatment, acupuncture, and examinations by a neurologist all failed to alleviate the pains in his lower back and shoulder and the tingling sensations in his hand, Nilsson flew home to Sweden during the break and was considering seeing other specialists upon his return.A worried Nilsson stood off to the side in the Rangers&rsquo; dressing room after their 3-1 victory over the Nordiques and refused to predict when he would return to action. He did say that he intended to practice with the team this week.&ldquo;The doctors told me I can Skate, but not to use the stick,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s like taking a kid out to play and telling him not to get dirty.&rdquo;Nilsson&rsquo;s absence crumbled one of the Rangers&rsquo; most effective lines&mdash;that of Anders Hedberg, Steve Vickers and Nilsson. It was no secret that Vickers had yearned to play with the Swedes all last year, when Pat Hickey was their fast but questionably effective linemate.Although the plodding but tenacious Walter Tkaczuk filled in ably for Nilsson on the line, Nilsson&rsquo;s absence was noticeable. The Rangers won but seven of 16 games going into the All-Star break with Nilsson out of the lineup.Then came the elbow injury to the seemingly indestructable Barry Beck, suffered against the Sabres late in January, and Carol Vadnais&rsquo; knee and back troubles&mdash;not to mention John Davidson&rsquo;s lingering flu and Dean Talafous&rsquo; pinched nerve, which has sidelined him almost all season.Under the circumstances, the Rangers&rsquo; showing on the two-week road trip that took them to the break was little short of heroic.They beat the Kings and the Canucks and tied the Rockies the first week out, and after bowing to the Sabres, they beat the Capitals, 6-3, in Landover and finally lost to the Nordiques for a 3-2-1 record on the road.The Rangers entered the homestretch fighting the improving Islanders for second place in the Patrick Division and unable to call Madison Square Garden home, for keeps, until Sunday, February 17, when the Maple Leafs come into town. After the Nordiques game, on Sunday, Feb. 10, they journeyed to Chicago on Wednesday for their only other game of the week.Anyone expecting G.M.-Coach Fred Shero to clarify his position for next season&mdash;when present Assistant Coach Mike Nykoluk had been expected to step behind the bench in order to allow Shero to become a full-time G.M.&mdash;is due for a long wait.Once again, Shero confused the issue&mdash;and Nykoluk&rsquo;s future, which already is complicated, in the eyes of some, by the hiring of assistant coach Andre Beaulieu&mdash;when he declared that he still wants to run the team.&ldquo;I expect to be behind the bench next season; I like being behind the bench,&rdquo; Shero told the New York Post. &ldquo;But I also like the idea of having two coaches behind the bench.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a new system that&rsquo;s worked out pretty well for a couple of teams in the league and I think it would be important to have Mike Nykoluk on the bench with me next season. In fact, I might have Mike behind the bench with me sometime this season.Shero hedged his bets in a report in another publication the next day, and on Sunday he stated emphatically that the coaching situation is still an open question.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t made up my mind,&rdquo; he told reporters. &ldquo;At the end of the year we will discuss the whole organization.&rdquo;BLUE CHIPS: The U.S. Olympic Team&rsquo;s visit to the Garden on Saturday, February 9&mdash;they were overwhelmed by the Soviet team in a final pre-Olympic warm-up, 10-3 before a crowd announced as 11,243&mdash;fueled speculation about the future of the highly-respected Olympic coach, Herb Brooks.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had four or five organizations talk with me, and the Rangers are just one of them, but it was just superficially, and I emphasize the superficially,&rdquo; said Brooks, who also revealed an interest shown bv the Islanders.Another legacy of the Dec. 23 fracas between fans and Bruins here: new seven-foot plexiglass lining the entire rink.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02848/5042625-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="568" height="1289"></div> &#9632;

f0007-02

Nilsson’s Return Date Still Cloudy

Published by W.C.C. Publishing Ltd.214 King St. West, Suite 314, Toronto, Ont. M5H 1K4<h2>Hockey and the Olympics</h2>IN THE WINTER OLYMPICS at Lake Placid, this week, North American amateurs may be making their final appearance in the hockey tournament. If the Olympics are to survive the current political buffeting, then next time around (1984 in Sarajevo) prospects are that hockey will have moved to an &ldquo;open&rdquo; tournament, admitting top professionals as representatives of Canada and the United States.For the Lake Placid tournament, however, it&rsquo;s a continuation of the distorted and unfair Olympic policy of pitting old pros from the Communist block against the dedicated amateurs of North America.As for the North America fan, there&rsquo;s a little more excitement this time over the Canadian and U.S. entries&mdash;they&rsquo;re collegians, recently graduated juniors, senior amateurs, but generally speaking the most dedicated and best-prepared of their nation&rsquo;s entries in the last four Olympics. The pros covet many of them, which is a tribute to their quality. They don&rsquo;t have all the &ldquo;moxey&rdquo; of senior NHLers but many of them are embryonic pros making their final appearances before signing professional contracts.To this date, 10 players from the U.S. team, and two players from the Canadian team, have been announced as potential signees by NHL clubs. The count from the Canadian team is smaller because NHL clubs raided the Canadian Olympic team last summer and some of the recruits are already playing NHL hockey.In many ways, the increased interest of the National Hockey League in the two Olympic teams is an endorsement of the college programs in North America.For instance&mdash;the NHL showed earlier interest in Tom Watt, a Canadian Olympic coach on leave from the University of Toronto, and is now showing interest in Herb Brooks, the U.S. Olympic coach formerly with University of Minnesota.In fact, five clubs have shown interest in Brooks, so that he has found it necessary to engage a New York agent to sift through their offers.The NHL is already familiar with players coached by Brooks&mdash;among his graduates now in the NHL are Mike Polich, Tom Younghans, Reed Larsen, Paul Holmgren, Tom Gorrence. Mike Ramsey, currently with Brooks&rsquo; Olympic team, is eagerly awaited by Buffalo Sabres.Brooks&rsquo; teams feature speed and puck control, which tends toward the European systems, but he is realistic in reviewing the chances of his youthful Olympic squad against the Soviets and Czechs in particular.&ldquo;Our chances of an Olympic gold fall into two categories,&rdquo; he says&mdash;&ldquo;slim, and none.&rdquo;<h2>Wayne&rsquo;s challenge</h2>THERE WAS A TIME when fans wondered whether Wayne Gretzky, now creeping up in the NHL scoring column, could prosper in the senior league, as he had done in the old WHA.At the time of expansion, embracing the four WHA survivors, Wayne was still apprehensive about his ability to continue his scoring and to preserve his All Star status in the senior league.First he had to convince himself and secondly he had to set a goal. The goal he set was to finish no lower than third in NHL scoring for &rsquo;80-&rsquo;81.The projection now seems within Wayne&rsquo;s reach but the mental preparedness didn&rsquo;t come easily. As he told Terry Jones in the Edmonton Journal&mdash;&ldquo;Three years ago I sat in the stands and believed Gil Perreault was the greatest. Today, I have to go out on the same ice with him and convince myself that I&rsquo;m just as good.&rdquo; &#9632;

The Hockey News The International Hockey Weekly Founded in 1947

<div class="byline">BY JACQUES DEMERS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011277/5042680-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="285" height="446"></div>Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; coach Jacques Demers expressed his displeasure with the brawling intimidation tactics employed throughout the National Hockey League and for the return to a game of skill as exemplified by the Soviets in an interview with Quebec City correspondent Buddy O&rsquo;Connor.Hockey is the only major, professional sport in North America outside the ring that tolerates fighting. If a fight starts, we should do like in baseball or football, throw the guy out immediately for the whole game at least.I&rsquo;m completely fed up with violence in the National Hockey League, the viciousness of the intimidation, the brawls, spearing, hooking, that is now an every day occurrence in the league.Let&rsquo;s all of us, from coaches to players, from club authorities to league governors, smarten up right now, or within five years, what&rsquo;s left of the beauty of hockey will be a thing of the past and major league play will die.I believe that infractions, whether they be from one club or the other, are not being called closely enough. It&rsquo;s the whole system here in North America that is wrong. We are stepping backwards all the time.&ldquo;We, everyone in any area of hockey, and especially the NHL, are scared of the Russians. Why? Not because they play goon hockey, just the opposite. They are beautiful skaters, pass the puck brilliantly, and are constantly moving the puck. They don&rsquo;t need the rough stuff to win. They do it with finesse.The best example of beautiful hockey here was the recent All Star game at Detroit. There was no viciousness and the players knew they could play their own game without worrying that they were going to take a cheap shot and probably be sidelined for the season or longer.Look at (Wayne) Gretzky, he&rsquo;s a real phenomenon with Edmonton. Just a young kid but with a fantastic present and an almost unbelievable future ahead of him. So what happens, they try to take his head off in Pittsburgh one night. Thank God he has a group of big guys surrounding him. But do we really need such a group? I don&rsquo;t believe that we do to have sensational hockey.Don&rsquo;t get me wrong. Hockey is no game for sissies. A good hard check, clean, there&rsquo;s nothing nicer to see. Take big, young rugged Mike Foligno, of Detroit. He plays it all the way, but cleanly.Where are we going? I saw a Junior major league hockey game and because of the brawls and everything else, the game took four hours to play; this is nonsense. We have to teach the youngster coming up that the dipsy doodle, the sharp pass and skating are what hockey is all about, or we&rsquo;ll go to the bottom of the hill and it will be practically impossible to climb back again.There are so many great, but smaller players, but they are not getting much of a chance to prove their worth in the NHL. They are just not being signed. We have to get back to the basics of hockey, and then these guys will show the way.&rdquo;Real Cloutier would be nearing the 100 point mark now and Robbie Ftorek would have at least 15 more points to his credit if hockey were being played the way it should.Too many games are being won just on sheer intimidation these days. &ldquo;We have a terrific asset in North America and that&rsquo;s hockey. Why are we killing it?&rdquo;People pay a good price to see us in action. Guys like Cloutier also pay a hell of a price. &#9632;

f0008-01

North American System Wrong

The latest to jump on the anti-Ballard bandwagon is former Maple Leafs&rsquo; defenseman Bobby Baun, who says he has a cure for what ails the Leafs.Baun suggests Toronto owner Harold Ballard should sell the club for the betterment of hockey in the city.The Boomer, as Baun was dubbed by his old Leaf teammates, spent 16 seasons in the NHL with Toronto, Detroit and Oakland before retiring in 1973. He gained prominence in 1960 when he helped the Leafs win a Stanley Cup by scoring a game-winning goal on a broken leg. &ldquo;Ballard is a stubborn man and you can&rsquo;t tell him what to do. After all, it&rsquo;s his team,&rdquo; said Baun.Baun said Leafs&mdash;undergoing a traumatic season due to a breakdown in players-management relations&mdash;have a long road back to respectability unless they accept new coaching methods.&ldquo;The Leafs are using coaching techniques 10 or 15 years out of date,&rdquo; Baun claims.He said the teams that are faring badly in the NHL would do well to accept the methods adopted by the Soviet Union teams which have proved highly successful.Baun said that the most successful NHL teams are the ones with multiplecoaching staffs&mdash;like Philadelphia Flyers and Buffalo Sabres.&ldquo;If you have more than one guy coaching,&rdquo; he observed, &ldquo;the players have someone to relate to.&rdquo;The Leafs have always operated with the one-man coaching format. Roger Neilson was their man last year and Floyd Smith this season. Baun says the system is no longer any good in the NHL.He insists that the Leafs need a change and he suggested that it should start at the top&mdash;with Ballard. &#9632;

Ballard Should Sell—Baun

Leafs&rsquo; owner Harold Ballard isn&rsquo;t one to sit back and let someone criticize him without replying. It&rsquo;s something the Leafs&rsquo; top man does best.When former Leaf defenseman Bobby Baun suggested that he (Ballard) should sell the team, and that the Leafs&rsquo; coaching methods were years behind in the NHL, he shook up his former boss.&ldquo;How could that sonofagun say things like that?&rdquo; Ballard asked. &ldquo;Look when he wanted the job of coaching the (WHA) Toros, he came to me and asked for advice. He told me the kind of money he had in mind. I told him to ask (Johnny) Bassett for twice as much. He got it but couldn&rsquo;t hold the job. Now, he&rsquo;s telling us what&rsquo;s wrong with our coaching?&rdquo; &#9632;

Baun Blast Baffles Ballard

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div>BOSTON&mdash;&ldquo;The knee is fine,&rdquo; said Brad Park. &ldquo;Sometimes it gets a little tired but I&rsquo;m satisfied with it. After such a long layoff, I&rsquo;m very happy with the way things are going.&rdquo;It was the best news the Boston Bruins had heard in some time, what with the suspensions to Terry O&rsquo;Reilly, Peter McNab and Mike Milbury plus surgery to Park, Don Marcotte and Dwight Foster and a series of little nagging hurts to the goaltenders, Gerry Cheevers and Gilles Gilbert.Park, who had two bouts with arthroscopic surgery to correct deficiencies in his right knee this season, the first time Sept. 22 and again on Nov. 27, finally got to play Jan. 26 in Pittsburgh, a significant debut that was lost in the furor that surrounded the suspensions.He didn&rsquo;t play very well. After all, he hadn&rsquo;t been on the ice under game conditions since May 10, 1979. Paired with young Ray Bourque, he semed to upset the rookie, who possibly stood a bit in awe of his veteran partner and a little unsure of what Park could do and what he wanted him to do.But it didn&rsquo;t upset General Manager Harry Sinden.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s fun out there with him and Bourque playing the point on the power play and playing together on a regular shift,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I remember seeing 22 (Park) and 4 (Bobby Orr) together for 10 games. I had the same feeling as I have now. I just hope the results aren&rsquo;t the same.&rdquo;It didn&rsquo;t upset Coach Fred Creighton either.&ldquo;How did Park look to you?&rdquo; he was asked after Park&rsquo;s second game back.&ldquo;Like a guy who hadn&rsquo;t played in eight months,&rdquo; snapped Creighton. &ldquo;How did he look to you?&rdquo;Then he added:&ldquo;If Brad Park was able to step right into the lineup and play well then the National Hockey League has been wasting an awful lot of money on training camp for a long time.&rdquo;By his seventh game back, Park&rsquo;s play had improved noticeably. He was taking hits along the boards instead of slipping them and he was making those tight little turns with the puck that so befuddle forechecking forwards.The knee got a real test Feb. 2 in a game against Quebec when Boston defensemen Dick Redmond and Brad McCrimmon were hit with game misconducts at the end of the second period and the Bruins played the final period with only four defensemen. The knee responded fine.&ldquo;I got more ice time than I probably was going to get,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We had a couple of power plays and I got to kill a penalty in the third period. The ice time has been there when I needed it so I&rsquo;m getting more confidence and getting more comfortable.&ldquo;For the first three or four games I felt like I was a step or two behind everybody else. When you haven&rsquo;t played for a while you&rsquo;re trying but you&rsquo;re not thinking as quick and you&rsquo;re not seeing as much.&ldquo;As you go along and you&rsquo;re playing regularly you start to see more and you start to move with the tempo of the game. Now I feel like I&rsquo;m catching up and playing at the tempo of the game.&ldquo;The knee was a little tired Monday and Tuesday during the All Star break. We had just played four games in five days. But it felt better on Wednesday and Thursday it felt fine.&ldquo;You go week by week now. We get three games in four nights this week and if I get through them that means I got two weeks under my belt. That&rsquo;s pretty good. By the time we get into March, hopefully, I&rsquo;ll be feeling very sharp.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011256/5042759-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="540" height="1164"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brad Park came back lineup a little earlier planned, and played mor anticipated.</figcaption></div><div class="sidebar">&ldquo;Now I feel like I&rsquo;m catching up and playing at the tempo of the game&hellip;&rdquo; &#9632;</div>

f0009-01

First Knee Tests Please Bruins’ Park

<h2>NATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>ATLANTA&mdash;Ivan Boldirev, C, and Darcy Rota, LW, traded to Vancouver in exchange for Don Lever, C, and Brad Smith, LW.BOSTON&mdash;Gil Gilbert, G, returned to lineup from injury list. Yves Belanger, G, and Tom Songin, RW, returned to Binghamton of AHL. Mike Milbury, Peter McNab and Terry O&rsquo;Reilly returned to lineup from suspended list.CHICAGO&mdash;Doug Lecuyer, LW, recalled from New Brunswick of AHL.COLORADO&mdash;Michel Plasse, G, recalled from Fort Worth of CHL. Bill Oleschuk, G, returned to Fort Worth as replacement. Rob Ramage, D, placed on injury list.DETROIT&mdash;Thommie Bergman, D, and Alex Pirus, LW, recalled from Adirondack of AHL. George Lyle, LW, returned from injury list and assigned to Adirondack. Rejean Cloutier, RW, returned to Sherbrooke of OMHL.EDMONTON&mdash;Al Hamilton, D, assigned to Houston of CHL for 10-day conditioning period.HARTFORD&mdash;Mark Renaud, D, returned to Springfield of AHL. Tom Rowe, RW, out of lineup for two or three weeks with severe ankle injury.MINNESOTA&mdash;Dave Hanson, RW, recalled from Oklahoma City of CHL. Tony White, LW, returned to Oklahome City.MONTREAL&mdash;Rejean Houle, RW, placed on injury list for two months with broken jaw. Guy Lapointe, D, and Serge Savard, D, returned to lineup from injury list.RANGERS&mdash;Andre Dore, D, returned to New Haven of AHL. Carol Vadnais, D, placed on injury list.PHILADELPHIA&mdash;Don Gillen, RW, returned to Brandon of WCHL. Rick St. Croix, G, returned to Maine of AHL. John Paddock, RW, placed on injury list.PITTSBURGH&mdash;Kim Davis, LW, recalled from Syracuse of AHL. Lex Hudson, D, recalled from Grand Rapids of IHL. Paul Marshall, RW, returned to lineup from injury list.QUEBEC&mdash;Goran Hogasta, G, recalled from Syracuse of AHL and returned. Marc Tardif, LW, returned to lineup from injury list.TORONTO&mdash;Dave Farrish, D, Vincent Tremblay, G, and Jiri Crha, G, recalled from New Brunswick of AHL. Crha later placed on disabled list with flu. Darryl Maggs, D, releasedVANCOUVER&mdash;Curt Ridley, G, traded to Toronto for future considerations. Rick Blight, RW, out for season with knee injury.WASHINGTON&mdash;Gary Inness, G, recalled from Hershey of AHL. Rolf Edberg, C, and Mike Gartner, RW, returned to lineup from injury list. Leif Svensson, D, on injury list for six weeks with shoulder separation.<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>ADIRONDACK&mdash;John Barrett D, recalled from Kalamazoo of IHL.BINGHAMTON&mdash;Ralph Cox, RW, signed to pro tryout from New Hampshire University. Jim Stewart, G, returned to Utica of EHL.HERSHEY&mdash;Roger Lemelin, D, secured from Washington on loan.MAINE&mdash;Sam St. Laurent, G, recalled from Toledo of IHL and returned Jim Trainor, D, recalled from Muskegon of IHL. Dennis Patterson, D, Bruce Crowder, RW, Wayne Schaab, C, and Terry Murray, D, all placed on injury list. Greg Natale, D, signed to pro tryout. Bruce Crowder, RW.NEW BRUNSWICK&mdash;Lowell Loveday, D, on injury list.NEW HAVEN&mdash;Tom Semenchuk, G, recalled from Baltimore of EHL. Mike McDougal, LW, on injury list.NOVA SCOTIA&mdash;Peter McDuffe, G, removed from active roster.ROCHESTER&mdash;Jim Turkiewicz, D, placed on injury list with fractured knuckle. &#9632;

Player Movements

<div class="byline">By Wayne Warriner</div>a fact which was quite obvious by the time the Bruins left the ice that night at the Springfield Civic Center.Mark&rsquo;s versatility has been a big plus for the Hartford team. At the beginning of the season, coach Don Blackburn moved Mark back to the defense corps. He was to be the team&rsquo;s quarterback from back of the blueline. But before long it became apparent that the Whalers&rsquo; offensive punch was lacking, so Mark was shifted back up to left wing. Many times, too, he was used as a defensive forward against a top-scoring line.As a result, Mark&rsquo;s output did not increase greatly, but the rest of the team began to shake their scoring lethargy. The Whalers, however, were mired in a 15-game stretch (1-12-2). It was then that Blackburn decided to reinstate Howe back on defense. With the forwards beginning to find the net more regularly, Mark&rsquo;s ability to get the puck out of the zone really paid off.During the next eight games, Howe racked up 18 points on three goals and 15 assists. He began to fulfill the role that Blackburn, had envisioned from the beginning&mdash;the quick breakout pass or, if open ice loomed ahead, a dash up-ice. Whatever the situation, it was clear that Mark Howe was a key cog in the Whalers&rsquo; drive back to respectability. After the Boston game, Blackie&rsquo;s comment about his young star was simply:&mdash;&ldquo;He was immense!&rdquo;Howe has played back at the blueline on other occasions during his career. In the World Hockey Association, as a matter of fact, one year he made the mid-season All Star squad as a left wing, was switched back to defense, and then named to the end-of-season All Star team as a defenseman!Many observers are looking forward to the time when Mark can play the game outside of the shadow of his famous dad. There is little question that Mark gets nowhere near the notoriety that he would be accorded if Gordie were not around.Grandpa Gordie had one of his best games of the campaign against the Bruins, skating well and assisting on a Nick Fotiu goal. Although the ageless veteran hasn&rsquo;t been getting much ice time, he assured reporters that he was going to be around for the rest of the season. &ldquo;You haven&rsquo;t asked me about next year, yet,&rdquo; he chuckled.After their dismal 15-game slump, the Whalers went on a binge of six wins in their next eight games. That put them back in the playoff picture with a 16th ranking among the 21 teams. And looking ahead, there were six straight home games on the horizon&mdash;several against clubs that were also in the hunt for a playoff berth.Although no more incentive was necessary, there was the added excitement of the team&rsquo;s return to the Hartford Civic Center. The building codes for the new roof were so rigidly enforced (and exceeded), that it must be the safest building of its kind in the world.For Hartford fans it has been a long wait, just over two years. But they can be content in the fact that the city now has a major league building to go along with an organization that has been built to major league standards as well.WHALER WAVES: When Bos ton came in to play the Whalers it was a contest between power play extremes. The Bruins had the best record in the NHL against power plays while the Whalers were ranked at the bottom in scoring power play goals. After the final buzzer of the Whalers&rsquo; 8-2 conquest, however, the stats showed that the Whalers had tallied three times with a man-advantage, bringing their average up considerably. Seven times out of their last 14 opportunities they had managed to capitalize. The Whalers were proud of the fact that they had gone through almost 60 per cent of the season and still hadn&rsquo;t been scored upon while shorthanded. And Hartford was the only team in the NHL that could make that claim.Management is very pleased with the way their Springfield Indians (AHL) farm team is developing. The expectation is that at least four or five of their youngsters are in line to play with the parent club next year.<div class="sidebar">He began to fulfill the role that Blackburn has envisioned from the beginning&hellip; &#9632;</div>

Mark Howe’s Versatility Starting To Pay Off

<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/f0010-011314/5042838-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="572" height="335"></div>on the arms are almost totally useless for 80% of the fans in attendance.And, we really don&rsquo;t need the maple leaf on a jersey to tell us who our Rockies are playing.Jack Sibbald Lakewood, CO<h2>Call Eagleson To Action</h2>If there were any members of the NHLPA who were not convinced that Alan Eagleson should be replaced immediately rather than in 1982, the happenings of the past week should convince them that he&rsquo;s not the guy to have in their corner.The penalties inflicted upon the Boston Bruin players can only be interpreted as extreme and unjustified. Ziegler&rsquo;s decision appears to be based on panic in an attempt to relieve the pressure placed on him by the media.Where has Eagleson been during all of this&mdash;not once has he come to the aid of &ldquo;his players&rdquo;. Has he expressed an opinion or judgment? Not to my knowledge. He has never been one to keep a low profile if there were plaudits or rewards to be served in his direction.Come on, Al, show you deserve to wear this one of many hats. Do something.Edward T. Coda Princeton. NJ<h2>Season Long Enough Without Overtime</h2>I read recently where the NHL is seriously considering adding a 10 minute sudden death overtime period. As a longtime fan and season ticket holder, I am firmly against this idea. I experienced two years of AHL play, where the overtime period is used, and felt that it wasn&rsquo;t worth the time and effort.In addition, it did detract from overtime play in the playoffs, one of the great thrills the game offers. I do have a solution to the large number of tie games, though it may be viewed by some as radical. It is simply to award three points for a win with ties remaining at one point. This would give both teams involved in a tie late in the game the incentive to play for the win.This would result in better, more aggressive play, without the added burden of overtime. The 80-game schedule is long enough without that!Bob Freschi Bergenfield, NJ<h2>Nothin&rsquo; Like A Good Laugh</h2>I continue to read with great amusement the New York Rangers crying about the abuse Ulf Nielson and Anders Hedberg are receiving. Now, I am sure both are taking some unnecessary abuse. However, for the Rangers to cry about it is ludicrous when their roster includes names like Eddie Johnstone, Frank Beaton and Ed Hospodar, who are not exactly known for their hockey skills.And one must not forget big, bad Barry Beck who is one very hard body checker, especially against the smaller players. It seems as though rough and tough players follow Shero wherever he is.The Rangers should remember an old saying, &ldquo;When one lives in a glass house, one should not throw stones.&rdquo;James D. McLean Grand Forks, ND<h2>Feelings Stirred By Suspensions</h2>It is more than a shame that there was an incident between Ranger fans and the Bruins following the game in Madison Square Garden last Dec. 23. While I do not condone any of the actions or criticize any of the suspensions, I do feel very strongly about one thing. In all of the years I have attended games at the Spectrum, I have always been impressed with Terry O&rsquo;Reilly and Pete McNab as people.When Boston was loaded with &lsquo;superstars,&rsquo; it was only Terry who would give the kids a smile or go out of his way to throw them a puck. When Pete was in Buffalo I can still remember the genuine congratulations he gave Fred Shero at center ice following the Stanley Cup series.I think both of these individuals are an asset to the sport and have given us all a great deal of enjoyment. I am sure John Ziegler will take further steps to prevent incidents like this in the future and we, as fans, should reflect for a couple of minutes on what we have to do to avoid situations that penalize two of the finest people my family has had the pleasure of watching.John H. Kegel King of Prussia, PA<h2>Blues No Longer Patsies of NHL</h2>Although they receive little attention from so-called experts, the St. Louis Blues have begun to turn the corner towards hockey respectability. Under the guidance of Emile Francis and Red Berenson they are fast becoming a sound hockey team.I think it is necessary to examine why this year&rsquo;s Blues are making the &lsquo;wise sages&rsquo; who made their prognostications in this publication look foolish. Most of those writers picked the Blues last or near the last in the NHL.The key to their resurgence is the fine job Emile Francis has done acquiring players. Last year Bernie Federko scored 95 points, second only to Bryan Trottier at center ice. Brian Sutter is on the same scoring pace he was on in 1979 when he scored more goals than any other left wing in the NHL.Coach Red Berenson&rsquo;s Blues have cut their goals against from last year and are second in the NHL in killing penalties. As of late January they are ahead of Toronto, Atlanta, and a few points behind the Islanders. Their improved play warrants closer scrutiny by hockey writers who wrote them off this year. With a few more good drafts the Blues will near the top of the NHL. They are no longer any team&rsquo;s patsy.Ken Toenjes Belvidere, IL<h2>Perhaps Vision Belongs To Youth</h2>There has been much discussion about fighting and its elimination from hockey during the past few seasons, and I&rsquo;ve always supported the pro fighting movement. But recently, while attending a junior &lsquo;A&rsquo; game with a three-year-old cousin, I changed my opinion.During the game, a fight broke out between two players and while I sat there enjoying the battle, the little fellow began to cry. I asked him why he was crying and he said, &ldquo;Those guys are fighting and punching each other.&rdquo; Half-jokingly, I asked him what should be done, and he surprisingly told me, &ldquo;That man (the coach) should tell them not to fight before they get on the ice.&rdquo;I suddenly realized that if a little kid can recognize the senselessness of grown men fighting, why can&rsquo;t pro and amateur league directors see this also and curb fighting in hockey? Certainly, men like John Ziegler, Bill Beagan, Dave Branch, etc., have as much intelligence as a three-year-old to see that fighting is a blemish on the game.Tom McNeice Waterloo, Ont. &#9632;

f0010-01

FAN FORUM

<div class="byline">BY NEIL MILBERT</div>CHICAGO&mdash;One game that Black Hawk defenseman Bob Murray is never going to forget is the 3-3 tie in Quebec on Feb. 6.Just before the Hawks left their hotel for the Quebec Coliseum, Murray made a telephone call to Chicago and discovered that he&rsquo;d become a father.His wife, Patty, had given birth to a 6-pound, 14-ounce baby boy.&ldquo;He was supposed to arrive at 2 o&rsquo;clock this afternoon,&rdquo; said Murray. &ldquo;But I think he waited until right before the game.&rdquo;The blessed event in the Murray household made the tie seem like a triumph to the Hawks who stretched their undefeated string to six games (4-0-2).Murray scored Chicago&rsquo;s second goal, assisted on Tim Trimper&rsquo;s game-tying goal, and was chosen the game&rsquo;s No. 3 star.In the eyes of the coaches, Eddie Johnston of the Hawks and the Nordiques&rsquo; Jacques Demers, the man who played the major role was Chicago goalie Mike Veisor, overlooked by the three-star selectors.&ldquo;Veisor was the difference tonight,&rdquo; said Demers. &ldquo;When anybody stops Marc Tardif and Real Cloutier in the clutch the way he did late in the game, he deserves the credit, especially since this was only his eighth game in the season.&rdquo;&ldquo;I thought Mike did a fantastic job,&rdquo; said Johnston. &ldquo;With at least 12 teams in the National Hockey League he could be the No. 1 goalkeeper.&rdquo;The reason Veisor isn&rsquo;t the No. 1 in Chicago is because of the presence of Tony Esposito, whose 73 lifetime shutouts lead all active goalkeepers.&ldquo;Tony is the best in the game,&rdquo; said Johnston, who tended goal himself for 16 National Hockey League seasons. &ldquo;Maybe the best ever.&rdquo;Esposito was the only Black Hawk to play in the All Star Game but he went into the contest with a left hand that was stitched, swollen, and sore and took himself out with 4:50 to play in the first period.The injury came in the Feb. 3 Toronto game, from a shot by Wilf Paiement that tore into the little finger of the left hand, opening a gash that took a dozen stitches to close.Esposito went into the All Star game with a record of 21-14-11 and a 2.76 goals-against average.Veisor&rsquo;s tie in Quebec the following night gave him a record of 1-4-3 and his goals-against average is 3.02.Though the Hawks have one of the NHL&rsquo;s best defensive records their scoring statistics are the second lowest in the league.Demers believes that the Chicago offense is underrated.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re creating excitement around the net,&rdquo; said the Quebec coach. &ldquo;They may not score many goals but they&rsquo;re much more of a threat.&ldquo;The Hawks have very mobile defensemen. Give E. J. (Johnston) credit. He has a good system. I talked to some of his players today and they believe in him and that&rsquo;s half the battle.&ldquo;This is a completely different hockey team than the one I saw in Chicago the three years I was with the Cougars. It&rsquo;s also a different team than I saw for four or five games last year.&ldquo;The most important player in the turnabout in my opinion has been (center) Terry Ruskowski. He&rsquo;s the greatest addition Chicago has made since Bobby Hull left. He&rsquo;s not flashy but he&rsquo;s a winner.&ldquo;I remember him so well from all those years in the World Hockey Association. I was amazed that Winnipeg let him go.&rdquo;HAWK TALK&mdash;Johnston feels the All Star selectors committed an oversight by leaving Murray and fellow defenseman Doug Wilson off the team. Through Feb. 9, Wilson had 7 goals and 31 assists and Murray had 11 goals and 25 assists&hellip; &#9632;

Mobile Defense Lifting Reborn Black Hawks

<div class="byline">HARLIE HALPIN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011288/5042893-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Reg Leach of the Philadelphia Flyers was on the losing end in the NHL&rsquo;s 32nd All Star game in Detroit but he still emerged as the player of the game to win a new automobile. Here he receives the car from Gene Richmond, national advertising director of American Motors. Leach and the Campbell All Stars were beaten 6-3 by the Wales Conference at the Joe Louis Arena. (Photo by Robert Wimmer)</figcaption></div>The 32nd All Star game went into the books as one of the better events of the mid-season classic, possibly as good as the 1977-78 thriller in Buffalo or the 1976-77 contest in Vancouver which was decided on a last-minute goal.What lies ahead for the All Star game remains to be seen. Most everyone is convinced that a change in the format is a must in the near future. Many alternatives have been suggested, like the four division champions meeting in a two-day round-robin, the Stanley Cup champions facing the rest of the NHL, or the one most people would like to see established as the format of the future&mdash;a rematch of the NHL-Soviet Challenge Cup series.An indication that the All Star game may be on shaky ground in the immediate years ahead is the fact the league came away from the Detroit meetings without naming a site for the 1980-81 game. Atlanta is the first choice but the uncertainty of hockey there, casts gloom on the city&rsquo;s hopes of getting it. Washington is second in line and reportedly is not ready for an NHL All Star game as yet. Los Angeles, the likely site, is third pick and there&rsquo;s little doubt the city and the NHL will have to do a hard selling job to make the game the attraction it was this year in Detroit.The 1980 game was staged amid criticism and controversy. One Detroit columnist suggested that hockey, billed as the &lsquo;sport of the &lsquo;70&rsquo;s, now slowly but surely, is dying. There was open defiance by the rest of the NHL teams against Boston&rsquo;s bid to oust Alan Eagleson as executive director of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association, by voting to retain the Eagle as their chief bargainer until 1982. And there were tales of woe that violence was becoming the way of life in the league and president Ziegler was losing control. And there was a public declaration by little Marcel Dionne, the NHL&rsquo;s top point scorer, that the NHL is lacking in discipline and class, and he predicted it won&rsquo;t budge on cracking down on the violence until forced by the courts.But despite all the office disenchantment, the 32nd game went on as scheduled and it ended on an exciting note as the Scotty Bowman coached Wales All Stars swarmed all over the Campbells with four consecutive third-period goals to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 romp.Larry Robinson, Steve Payne, Ron Stackhouse, Craig Hartsburg, Reed Larson and Real Cloutier connected for the Wales goals. Hartsburg was a last-minute addition for injured teammate Gary Sargent and played an excellent game. Leach, Kent Nilsson and Brian Propp connected for the Campbell goals. Leach also assisted on Propp&rsquo;s score giving him a two-point performance that won the hockey writers over. He was chosen the game&rsquo;s MVP and walked away a winner with a losing team while becoming the recipient of a new automobile. Strangely it wasn&rsquo;t a rarity. Billy Smith did it in the 1978 game with a loser as Gillert Perreault scored the game wining goal in overtime.In an abbreviated 20-minute preliminary game to the All Star classic, the Canadian Olympic team edged the U.S. Olympians 1-0 on a goal by Cary Farelli. It was a brief but spectacular show by the two Olympic hopefuls who enter the 1980 Winter Olympics this week at Lake Placid confident and better prepared than any other North American team in Olympic hockey history. &#9632;

f0012-01

Star Format Will Change With Schedule

<h2>Tue. Feb. 5 WALES 6, CAMPBELL 3</h2>WALES: Goal, Don Edwards (But), Gilles Meloche (Min); defense, Ron Stackhouse (Pit), Craig Hartsburg (Min), Jim Schoenfeld (Buf), Larry Robinson (Mtl), Dave Burrows (Tor), Reed Larson (Det); towards, Jean Ratelle (Bos), Real Cloutier (Que), Gordie Howe (Har), Guv Lafleur (Mtl), Gil Perreault (Buf), Mike Murphy (LA), Butch Gorin (LA), Marcel Dionne (LA), Danny Gare (Buf), Bob Gainey (Mtl), Steve Payne (Min), Darryl Slttler (Tor).CAMPBELL: Goal, Tony Esposito (Chi), Pete Peeters (Pha); defense, Lars Lindgren (Van), Mike McEwen (Col), Robert Picard (Was), Ron Greschner (Ran), Jim Watson (Pha), Norm Barnes (Pha); forwards, Morris Lukowlch (Wpg), B.J. MacDonald (Edm), Wayne Gretzky (Edm), Kent Nilsson (Atl), Rick MacLeish, (Pha), Reg Leach (Pha), Brian Propp (Pha), Bryan Trottier (Isl), Mike Bossy (1st), Bernie Federko (St. L), Phil Esposito (Ran).Referee: Dave Newell, Linemen, John D&rsquo;Amico, Ray Scapinello.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021080/5042924-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="626" height="572"></div> &#9632;

f0012-02

How Wales Stars Won

Canadian teams, appeared pessimistic after the defeats.The Canadians, who had earlier beaten the Czechs 6-3 in a spectacular win at Calgary, couldn&rsquo;t get it all together against the Czech team and were facing a 4-0 deficit after the first period when their game fell completely apart. Starting goaler Bob Dupuis, one of the mainstays of the Canadian team during their year long preparation for the games, was riddled by the Czechs.Canadian coach Lorne Davis said the team had come too far and achieved too much to become down over one defeat. The Canadians could find consolation in the fact they outshot the Czechs 10-8 and 10-9 over the final two periods as they came back from their shaky start, a factor that delighted Davis.Anton Stastny, Jiri Bubla, Ladislav Svozil, Jaroslav Pouzar and Jiri Novack scored for the Czechs.Canada&rsquo;s Jim Nill finally connected after the Czechs had run up a 5-0 lead.The Canadians headed for Lake Placid still confident that they can surprise a few people after compiling a 26-12-2 record overall this season in prep competition.When the Soviet and U.S. Olympic teams skated out on the Madison Square Garden ice before a crowd of 11,243, they were both fully prepared to play. Someone forgot to tell the officials and no one showed up for the game. Three men&mdash;Jim Doyle, Dick Trimble and Ed Kickenweitz&mdash;were pressed into service as referee and linesmen. Trimble is 52. The three did a commendable job holding the violence on the ice down as Doyle, who will work the Olympic games as a linesman, took over as referee.The beefed up security around Madison Square Garden didn&rsquo;t seem to deter the Soviets on the ice. They got a three-goal performance from Vladimir Krutov, two in a four-goal first period, and romped away leaving the younger Americans reeling in their skate marks.Krutov and his two linemates, Yuri Lebedev and Aleksandr Maltsev, scored five of the 10 Soviet goals. &#9632;

Canada. U.S. Hammered In Last Prep

Tue. Feb. 12Norway vs CzechsCanada vs HollandGermany vs RomaniaU.S.A, vs SwedenPoland vs FinlandSoviets vs JapanThu. Feb. 14Sweden vs RomaniaGermany vs NorwaySoviets vs HollandCanada vs PolandFinland vs JapanCzechs vs U.S.A.Sat. Feb. 16U.S.A, vs NorwayCzechs vs RomaniaHolland vs JapanSoviets vs PolandSweden vs GermanyCanada vs FinlandMon. Feb. 18Canada vs JapanSweden vs NorwayHolland vs PolandSoviets vs FinlandCzechs vs GermanyU.S.A, vs RomaniaWed. Feb. 20Romania vs NorwayCzechs vs SwedenPoland vs JapanSoviets vs CanadaFinland vs HollandU.S.A, vs GermanyFri. Feb. 22First round playoffsSun. Feb. 24Championship playoffs &#9632;

Olympic Hockey Schedule

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011214/5043003-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="466" height="371"></div><h2>Stan&rsquo;s March Warning</h2>OPEN LETTER TO Harry Sinden, Manager, and Fred Creighton, Coach, BOSTON BRUINS, BOSTON, MASS.Dear Harry and Fred:I am worried about your hockey club.On March 2, the Bruins are scheduled to play the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Ordinarily this would be a routine game for your boys, but nothing that has happened to your club since Dec. 23 can be classified as routine.As you both know better than anyone else, it is no longer permissable for your players to defend themselves from attacks generated by hostile fans. (You&rsquo;re lucky, these days, if you don&rsquo;t get sued just for stepping on the ice). Which means that when your Boston team steps on the New York rink the slings and arrows are apt to be more poisonous than ever. You will be goaded, bullied, bothered and perhaps even bewildered.The upcoming episode will test the mettle, not to mention the frustration tolerance, of your courageous players to the breaking point.We all hope, of course, that the 17,500 fans who crowd the Garden will, for a change, maintain decorum. Both of you, however, are realistic enough to know better than to expect an angelic response when the Bruins take the ice.What concerns me is the ability of Garden personnel to contain the cowards on high. Missile-throwers have a way of disappearing into the mass of humanity before even the most vigilant security people can apprehend them.So where does that leave you and your players? Your (NHL) president John Ziegler says that such violations of order in the arena &ldquo;must be left to the authority of law enforcement officers and security personnel.&rdquo;Fine. But what if the Garden fails to protect yourself and your players? That, Harry and Fred, is where you must take the initiative. Let the referees know that you won&rsquo;t permit an unseen Neanderthal to injure your personnel. Referees have the power to forfeit games if the crowd cannot be suitably controlled. (It happened in Montreal on March 21, 1955 when the Canadiens forfeited a game to Detroit and thereby lost first place).Ziegler has demonstrated that he won&rsquo;t let your players defend themselves from physical assault. So, if the Bruins can&rsquo;t use their fists for self-defence, let them try an alternative&mdash;employ passive resistance. If that doesn&rsquo;t get the message through to the Sonny Werblinites, then maybe we&rsquo;d all be beter off cancelling the match and going to a movie.In closing, let me reiterate that I am very pleased with the manner in which you and your men have endured the fines and suspensions invoked by Ziegler. I doubt that many other teams could have exhibited such collective class. For you, Harry, a special handshake for apologizing to Ziegler and publicly admitting you were wrong for villifying the president. (Personally, I&rsquo;m not so sure how wrong you were, but we&rsquo;ll leave it at that.)I do hope that nothing that has transpired since the &ldquo;cowardly, unprovoked assault upon Stan Jonathan&rdquo; (Ziegler&rsquo;s own words) will alter the basic character and philosophy of your hockey club. You have every reason to be proud of your troops but, at least on March 2, be careful.Yours for saner spectators, Stan.<h2>Name Robby Was Fine</h2>NOTES: IS THERE SOMETHING wrong with the name Bobby? You would think so judging by Orr and Clarke. NHL execs have been calling him &ldquo;Bob&rdquo; Orr. And now the Philly Flyers yearbook tells us that we should be calling their assistant coach and former Bobby, &ldquo;Bob&rdquo; Clarke&hellip;Ugh!&hellip;The Atlanta Flames-to-Dallas rumors are not without some foundation. Dallas&mdash;unlike Atlanta&mdash;has had a hockey legacy dating back to World War II. (Does anyone remember the wild Dallas Texans goalie Nick Pidsodny?) In addition, the population base from which to draw is much larger in Texas than Georgia&hellip;A scouting appraisal of Minny North Stars: &ldquo;Lots of potential but not enough fibre. Just three rugged players&mdash;Ron Zanussi, Tim Young and Al MacAdam but MacAd-am has to be goaded. Need more muscle from Brad Maxwell.&rdquo;&hellip;A first-hand word on why Fred Creighton has been able to follow Don Cherry&rsquo;s act in Boston from one very close to Fred: &ldquo;He (Creighton) levels; he doesn&rsquo;t B.S. you.&rdquo;&hellip;Memo to John Ziegler: A hockey man would like the rights to the NHL&rsquo;s Goal Magazine if those rights are for sale&hellip;North Stars&rsquo; coach Glen Sonmor tells me that the one aspect of refereeing that drives him bananas is the umpteen variations on interference calls. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what the heck they (the refs) consider interference &lsquo;cause one calls it one way and another another way and so on. It&rsquo;s awful.&rdquo;CHERRY-PICKINGS: FROM TIME TO time, as a public service, I will issue the latest communiques from Don (Grapes) Cherry because they are (a) always tart and (b) never dull.Here is Grapes on the difference between the Rockies and Bruins: &ldquo;The Rockies don&rsquo;t drink like the guys on the Bruins. But, then again, neither do I. I guess I&rsquo;m getting old.&rdquo;And Grapes on Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson: &ldquo;Any team that comes to New York is judged by the way it treats the Swedes. They think there are two sets of rules; one for the Swedes and one for the rest of the league. That, of course, is a lot of&hellip;&rdquo;Finally, Grapes on a Ranger-Rockie fight: &ldquo;One of my boys must&rsquo;ve made a disparaging remark to Hedberg&hellip;I&rsquo;ll reprimand him severely!&rdquo;MEDIA NOTES: A Los Angeles media expert says a reason for the Kings&rsquo; modest-to-disappointing gate has been a poor selling job. &ldquo;The team started the season offering half-price tickets for games. Now the fans stay home waiting for the next half-price night.&rdquo;&hellip;CBS boss Frank Smith had this explanation for keeping hockey off the network: &ldquo;Until the NHL puts its own house in order, where each team considers what&rsquo;s best for the league first rather than their own team, the game will not get a shot on network television.&rdquo;&hellip;L. A. Herald-Examiner&rsquo;s Bob Keisser roasted John Ziegler for the NHL prexy&rsquo;s deportment at a West Coast press confab. &ldquo;Everyone,&rdquo; wrote Keisser, &ldquo;was a little perturbed that the commissioner of a major sports league would be so condescending to the press on his first trip to a major city. When asked a pointed question, Ziegler would reply with a demeaning question of his own, such as &lsquo;Have you ever seen a hockey game?&rsquo;.&rdquo;&hellip;Keisser is not alone. Bob Ibach, assistant sports editor of the Philly Journal, has this to say about Ziegler: &ldquo;He is a snort man and like many of his kind, Ziegler tends to play a little Caesar. He has this habit of talking down to people, not to them.&rdquo;&hellip;Can you believe that more than 65 days have gone bv since Bob Casey left the NHL as P.R. head and the league still hasn&rsquo;t picked a successor?<h2>Democratizing The Union</h2>DUMPING EAGLESON: Mike Milbury&rsquo;s longshot campaign to reform the archaic, dictatorial NHL Players&rsquo; Association has taken a giant step forward. Al Eagleson, the one-man-rule union boss, who for 13 years ran the NHLPA with a snap of a finger, now knows that the Association no longer is his private toy. The Eagle had hoped to hand-pick his successor&mdash;in the manner of Bourbon kings&mdash;when (if) he steps down in 1982.Milbury would have none of that undemocratic nonsense and for months had fought to democratize the union. His noble crusade paid off when the NHLPA voted to socialize the autocracy. The result is a four-player committee&mdash;INCLUDING MILBURY&mdash;which will join The Eagle and two non-hockey experts to choose an heir.In political terms Milbury&rsquo;s accomplishment is no less awesome than that of a guerrilla leader who spends years fighting a dictator from a jungle outpost and then, suddenly, finds himself serving as part of a quasi-democratic coalition of leaders.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m pleased,&rdquo; says Milbury. &ldquo;We made a lot of progress and this time we had more participation among the players in NHLPA business than ever before. One of the things we were shooting for was a screening board (to choose a successor to Eagleson) and we got it.&rdquo;Most significant, however, is the fact that, like it or not, Eagleson now is forced to accept Milbury as a member of the union hierarchy rather than disparage him as a radical troublemaker trying to soil the emperor&rsquo;s new clothes.You can be sure that with Milbury monitoring the NHLPA&rsquo;s moves any divine rights nurtured by The Eagle with be caged along with Eagleson himself. For this alone Milbury should be immediately enshrined into the American Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, Minnesota.OVERTIME: With luck, the NHL will restore overtime next season and if it does, hopefully the rulemakers will consider this suggestion from former Eastern League referee Mickey Slowik. Now a minor official at Nassau Coliseum, Slowik suggests that the overtime be divided into two parts&mdash;a five-minute sudden-death, and then a shoot-out. &ldquo;If the sudden death fails to produce a goal,&rdquo; says Slowik, &ldquo;then after five minutes there should be a shoot-out with each team getting one penalty shot. Then, if there&rsquo;s still a tie, call it a night.&rdquo; The man is not only good-looking, he&rsquo;s a genius! &#9632;

f0013-01

ON THE CONTRARY

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;From the depths of despair which has been the camp of the Vancouver Canucks during the past five weeks comes a ray of hope for the future. His name is Stan Smyl.Throughout the drought which has seen Canucks drop from first place in the Smythe Division by as much as seven points at one time to where they now trail the Hawks by almost 20, Smyl has been the one man who has been a leader and kept his production high.In fact, it was on the team&rsquo;s celebration of their first victory in 11 games that Smyl had two of his personal streaks broken, as he approached club records on both accounts.He had gone nine consecutive games with at least one point, which, when compared to the marks of Guy Lafleur, isn&rsquo;t much, but is significant for Canucks. The second was having scored in five consecutive games, with the club record being six jointly held by Andre Boudrias and Dennis Ververgaert.The club record for most consecutive games with at least a point is held by veteran defenseman Dennis Kearns, at 11.Smyl is typical of the success story of a Canadian hockey player. From the small town of St. Paul, Alberta, Smyl left home at the age of 15 to play hockey in an American town, Bellingham, which was the tier two affiliate of the junior club on which he would later play in three Memorial cup finals&mdash;the New Westminster Bruins.He was captain of the Bruins, and while he showed just about every conceivable ability except scoring goals in bunches, Smyl was worried about the draft.&ldquo;I thought that if I didn&rsquo;t score more goals in juniors then the scouts wouldn&rsquo;t draft me,&rdquo; he says.&ldquo;I was always so anxious to score that I never really did get a lot of goals. Now I seem to have that extra second and I&rsquo;m leaning into the puck really well. Every time I go to shoot it I feel I can shoot it well.&rdquo;Smyl, of course, was passed by many teams, as he was not taken until the third round of the 1978 draft by the Canucks, after they had taken Bill Derlago and Curt Fraser. His height, only five-foot-eight, was the capse for concern, and it wasn&rsquo;t until this season that he improved his skating signifi-cantly to the point where he plays well with Thomas Gradin. And has there ever been a Swede who can&rsquo;t skate?&ldquo;Playing with Tommy is so great,&rdquo; says Smyl. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s always thinking out there. You can see we work well together because if something is not working he&rsquo;ll change something he&rsquo;s doing or will suggest things we can do differently. I had to score more goals this season as he keeps givingsays Smyl, who generally does just that. &ldquo;During this slump our spirit has been good and we haven&rsquo;t been down on ourselves, but we haven&rsquo;t been bumping like we should. You have to get out there and go for it on the ice. You can&rsquo;t just lie back and be afraid to make a mistake all the time. Otherwise you end up laying in your own end too much.&rdquo;Smyl is possibly the best fundamentals player on the Canucks, as he plays his right wing spot perfectly, leaving it only to go and crunch somebody. He works coach Harry Neale&rsquo;s system very well, and with Gradin and the designated left winger for the week, forms Canucks most consistent line.Neale has recently switched center Gary Lupul onto the left side with Smyl and Gradin leaving the line with nobody anywhere near six-feet. &#9632;

Scrappy Smyl Bright Spot For Canuck Future

<div class="byline">BY AL SMITH</div>a quality two-way hockey player. I&rsquo;d call him a young Jean Pronovost.&rdquo;When asked why the Flames received one National Hockey League roster player and a minor leaguer for two players off the Atlanta roster, Fletcher said, &ldquo;You do what you have to do to make a trade for what you want and need. We couldn&rsquo;t make the deal for Lever and Boldirev one-for-one, so we looked at their Dallas roster and we believe Smith is the best prospect.&ldquo;He may not be ready for the NHL right now, but we think he can be some day.&rdquo;Boldirev and Rota came to the Flames only last March in one of the biggest and most controversial trades ever made by either team. Along with Boldirev and Rota, the Flames received defenseman Phil Russell, while the Black Hawks received Flames&rsquo; team captain and center Tom Lysiak; defenseman Pat Ribble, Greg Fox, and Miles Zaharko; and winger Harold Phillipoff. Lysiak and Fox are the only players still with the Black Hawks, while Russell is now the sole survivor of the trade in Atlanta. Ribble has been traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Phillipoff to the Canucks, and Zaharko is still in the minors.The Lever deal also cleared the way for the return of Paul Henderson to Atlanta. The 17-year pro veteran has been playing most of the season on the Flames&rsquo; farm team in the Central Hockey League with Birmingham, where he lives and prefers to play.But after nine games with the Flames, it was evident the 37-year-old winger could still play and Fletcher wanted him in Atlanta the remainder of the season.Lever, who never played in the minors, has spent his entire career with the Canucks. Since he was the Canucks&rsquo; first choice in the 1972 amateur draft, 3rd overall. Lever has scored 186 goals for the Canucks, including 21 this season to go with 17 assists.As late as last week, it was thought Fletcher was going to sign Boldirev, who is in his option year. In fact, Fletcher denied a trade with the Chicago Black Hawks, saying he may soon sight Boldirev. But then the Lever deal.While in Atlanta, Boldirev, by his own admission has not played as well as he did while in Chicago. He has had what he describes as a &ldquo;blah&rdquo; season. In 52 games, the 30-year-old center had 16 goals and 24 assists.While Boldirev never did become very popular with Atlanta fans, Rota was an instant hit. In only 13 games at the end of last season he scored nine goals and was thought to be the sleeper in the trade.He also had a fine training camp and played well in the exhibition season, but was not used regularly all the time by MacNeil. This season, he had 10 goals, but his popularity was due more to his aggressive style of play and his hustle.In Smith, the Flames acquire a player with much the same credentials as Willi Plett&mdash;six-foot-four, 200 pounds&mdash;a tough guy, who amassed 222 penalty minutes his last year in junior, and 143 last season with Dallas in the CHL. &#9632;

Nabbing Lever Ends Flames’ Search

<div class="byline">BY CHUCK MOODY</div>&ldquo;I tell the players before a game what to look for, pinpoint the guys who control the game for the other team and tell them to be alert,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;Most players pump themselves up.&ldquo;I work on tempo. You can control the tempo of a hockey game by hard work. If you control the tempo, you will always be in contention.&rdquo;Wilson has come under fire this season for the Penguins lack of success on the power play and their poor record of killing penalties.&ldquo;Practice sessions revolve around theory,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;You can work on theories in practice. If you&rsquo;re working on the power play in practice, it&rsquo;s more co-ordination than theory. That&rsquo;s because your men are giving you liberties, like passing the puck.&ldquo;The key to power plays, and the key to any system and success is against the opposition. You can practice power plays to perfection. But the minute you step on the ice against the opposition, it&rsquo;s tarnished.&rdquo;If Wilson&rsquo;s job is in jeopardy, one would never know it by talking to Penguin General Manager and HOCKEY NEWS Executive of the Year Baz Bastien.&ldquo;He keeps harmony on the hockey team,&rdquo; Bastien said. &ldquo;We have 22 players with the club and it&rsquo;s tough to do that when you have so many. But he&rsquo;s got a knack of keeping everybody together.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the type you can leave totally in charge. He runs a good practice and the players have a lot of respect for him. We bring the players to him and pay him good money to coach them. It&rsquo;s up to him to win.&rdquo;Unless he does, Johnny Wilson may be coaching elsewhere next season. &#9632;

Pressure On Wilson Grows

LOUISVILLE HOCkEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCkEY STICKSSimmer topped all players with a figure of 26.8. Simmer was on he ice for 53.1 per cent of Kings&rsquo; seven-strength goals while he was only on the ice for 26.3 per cent of he even-strength goals against Los Angeles.Dionne, who led the NHL in joints at the halfway mark, is second to Simmer in plus-minus statistics. Dionne was on the ice for 57.8 per cent of his club&rsquo;s even-strength goals. He was on the ice for 33.3 per cent of the evenstrength goals against Los Angeles, giving him a total of 24.5.The third member of the Los Angeles line, Taylor, placed third behind his teammates with a figure of 21.0. Taylor, who played 38 games during the first half of the season, two fewer than Dionne and Simmer, was on the ice for 52.2 per cent of Kings&rsquo; even-strength goals while he was on the ice for 31.5 per cent of Kings&rsquo; evenstrength goals against.Of the 172 goals Los Angeles scored during the first half, Dionne was on the ice for 114, the best in the league during the first half. Simmer was on the ice for 105 of Los Angeles&rsquo; goals while Taylor was on for 95. Only Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; Guy Lafleur, with 100 and Los Angeles&rsquo; defenseman Doug Halward, with 96, were on the ice for more goals than Taylor.Of the 44 power play goals Los Angeles scored during the first half, Dionne was on the ice for 40 of them while Lafleur was on the ice for 42 of his club&rsquo;s 43 and Boston&rsquo;s Dick Redmond was on the ice for 30 of Bruins&rsquo; 31.Fourth in the plus-minus statistics was Boston Bruin rookie defenseman Ray Bourque with a figure of 20.4, tops among defensemen in the NHL.The plus-minus figure is determined by establishing the percentage of the team&rsquo;s goals, for and against, for which a player is on the ice with both teams even. If he is on the ice for a higher percentage of goals by his team, he has a plus; if for a higher percentage against his team, he has a minus.<h2>NHL LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011067/5043151-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="628" height="504"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02857/5043144-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="3199" height="3075"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01938/5043137-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="645" height="4028"></div> &#9632;

f0016-01

Kings’ Hot Line Tops NHL In Plus-Minus

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02759/5043189-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="564" height="635"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03585/5043182-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="566" height="641"></div> &#9632;

f0017-02

Leading NHL Scorers

<div class="byline">BY DICK JOHNSTON</div>All the time, when reporters would ask Coach Scotty Bowman or Associate Coach Roger Neilson about Sauve, they would say something to the effect, &ldquo;We will be using him again soon. Edwards is going very well. We are fortunate to have two such goaltenders.&rdquo;The Sabres finally started Sauve in goal against the Los Angeles Kings. And what happened? Bob didn&rsquo;t have a shot on him for almost the entire first period.The first Los Angeles shot came at the 16-minute 21-second mark. &ldquo;After that first shot I felt OK,&rdquo; said the stocky goaltender, &ldquo;but I have to say I was worried before that.&rdquo;He never did say much when he was warming the bench game after game and, even after his second game back, when he shut out the Vancouver Canucks, 3-0, Bob didn&rsquo;t complain about his long exile from game action.That was Bob&rsquo;s fourth shutout of the season, second in the National Hockey League only to Chicago&rsquo;s Tony Esposito. And the four came in only 20 games&mdash;one every five starts. Not bad.&ldquo;I feel better now,&rdquo; Sauve mentioned, after the shutout. &ldquo;I was getting a little worried after all the games I sat out.&rdquo;And that&rsquo;s all he would say. He has had many frustrations since he was the Sabres&rsquo; first draft choice in 1975, when Edwards was taken in the sixth round. Sauve never seemed to be in the right place at the right time. But he rarely complained.His shutout was the first of two in a row for the Sabres. Edwards blanked Pittsburgh in a 9-0 Buffalo win next time out.That onesided victory over the Penguins, once a team the Sabres couldn&rsquo;t seem to beat, gave the Buffalo five wins in six games.In those six games they outscored the opposition by 36-8.But in their next start, they were beaten by the upstart Blues in St. Louis, 3-2. The Sabres took an early lead and lost the game when Bernie Federko, who scored all three St. Louis goals, scored twice in 2:46 late in the third period.That loss pointed up a worrisome pattern in a long stretch of mostly success for the Sabres. They were not holding the lead in games on the road.The Flames tied them on a late goal in Atlanta. The Bruins beat them on a goal with three seconds to go in Boston. The Islanders beat them on a goal in the closing minutes in Uniondale, L.I. And the Blues beat them on a late goal in St. Louis.The only win on the road during that period was a 7-2 shellacking of the Canadiens in Montreal.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01968/5043220-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="588" height="836"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob Sauve wasn&rsquo;t very rusty after a long lay-off, allowing only one, goal in two starts.</figcaption></div>ICE CHIPS:&mdash;Edwards and Sauve continued to lead the Vezina Trophy race with a combined goals-against average of 2.62 after the loss to St. Louis. Edwards had 22 wins, best among NHL netminders.Danny Gare scored one of Buffalo&rsquo;s two goals in the game, which gave him eight goals and two assists in his last five games.Rick Martin scored the other, which gave him 12 goals and nine assists in his last 16 games.Neilson continued to direct the club from behind the bench. &ldquo;Why break up a winning combination?&rdquo; said Bowman. &#9632;

f0018-01

Sauve Patient For Opportunity To Aid Sabres

<div class="byline">BY VARTAN KUPELIAN</div>But three days later Kromm couldn&rsquo;t control it any longer. First, he confronted referee Andy Van Hellemond after a game against Philadelphia in the corridor leading to the dressing rooms, where he shouted some unprint-ables at the officials. Later, with tape recorders running, he blasted the officials on the record.&ldquo;Why don&rsquo;t they let the teams determine the outcome,&rdquo; Kromm said. He was especially disturbed by the late arrival of linesman Claude Bechard, who didn&rsquo;t show up until after the first goal of the game.&ldquo;First of all, I can&rsquo;t understand why they can&rsquo;t show up on time,&rdquo; Kromm said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the second time that&rsquo;s happened to us for a home game since we moved into this building. The last time, the linesman didn&rsquo;t show up at all.&ldquo;Why isn&rsquo;t there a check to make sure &lsquo;the officials are in (town)? There were only three games last night, he should have been here last night. The teams get fined if we&rsquo;re not on time for a game, why can&rsquo;t they be on time?&ldquo;The teams should determine the outcome of the games, not the officials. You don&rsquo;t get anything (in terms of an explanation) from them.&rdquo;But you couldn&rsquo;t guess that the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Wings, 6-5.It was no fault of Van Helle-mond&rsquo;s that the arena clock didn&rsquo;t work&mdash;team officials said they suspected sabotage&mdash;and it made the game difficult to follow FOR everyone. Flyer coach Pat Quinn sent injured defenseman Mike Busniuk to keep the timekeeper company and make sure there were no lapses.In the game against Washington, the scoreboard at one point showed the visitors leading, 101-1, and displayed the remaining time as 99:09.&ldquo;Aside from the fact they moved in when the building was not ready, it&rsquo;s very nice,&rdquo; Quinn said.Someone suggested that every new building has problems like malfunctioning clocks, but was gently reminded that the Red Wings always had trouble with the clock at the Olympia, too, and that arena was half-a-century old.The clocks at Olympia often were not in synch, and one popular&mdash;and funny&mdash;explanation was that the lights in the marquis at a dancehall across the street were causing the problems.TO STAND, OR NOT TO STAND: How much is a standing room ticket for a Detroit Red Wing game worth? Apparently, it all depends on what you&rsquo;re willing to pay.There are two prices for standing room tickets&mdash;$8 and $6&mdash;for hockey games at the Joe Louis Arena. Some fans who pay $8 find themselves standing shoulder-to-shoulder with those who pay two dollars less. All the tickets were printed with a $6 price tag, but some of them have been changed with the higher price covering the orginal cost.&ldquo;There aren&rsquo;t two prices for standing room. Standing room is $6,&rdquo; said Al Coates, director of publicity and promotions for the hockey club who was caught offguard. &ldquo;If they (the arena administration) did it, I don&rsquo;t know when they changed.&rdquo;Seems like the hockey club should know what its tickets are being sold for, eh?&ldquo;Our ticket prices are below the league average,&rdquo; said a club official. (They range from $7 to $15 at the Joe Louis Arena.) So is the team&rsquo;s performance. &#9632;

Officials Draw Blast From Kromm

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01902/5043306-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hockey observers are wondering what lies ahead for veteran defenseman Guy Lapointe. The seasoned Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; defender, who will be 32 next month, has been knocked out of the lineup for the third time this season. He suffered an irritating skin rash that kept him away from training camp and then separated his shoulder. After missing 10 games, he returned this week and reinjured the shoulder and could be lost for the season. (Photo by Robert Shaver)</figcaption></div><h2>Dual Site Announced</h2>CALGARY&mdash;The Memorial Cup tournament, staged annually between the champions of the three Canadian major junior leagues, will be held this year in both Brandon, Manitoba and Regina, Saskatchewan.According to Western Hockey League president Dave Descent the first three games of the series will be played May 4, 5 and 6 in Brandon with games scheduled for Regina May 7, 8, and 9, as well as the championship game on May 11.Representatives compete from the Ontario and the Quebec major junior circuits as well as the Western League.<h2>Rangers Eye Gregg</h2>DETROIT&mdash;Word emanated from the National Hockey League All Star function that the New York Rangers are said to be interested in signing Canadian Olympic team member Randy Gregg.Gregg, 23, the captain of the Canadian squad, is expected to sign with the Rangers after the completion of the Olympic Games at Lake Placid this month.The Canadian Olympians met the U.S. squad in a 20-minute exhibition contest prior to the Feb. 5 All Star game at the Joe Louis Sports Arena.<h2>Payment Delayed</h2>VANCOUVER&mdash;Vancouver Canucks were granted a stay allowing them to delay payment of a $348,000 judgment to former defenceman Mike Robitaille, whose playing career was ended by a 1977 injury.British Columbia Supreme Court Justice H. E. Hutcheon granted a two-week stay of execution of judgement, pending a possible appeal by the National Hockey League clu&rsquo;&rsquo;.Robitaille&rsquo;s lawyer, John Laxton, argued Robtaille shouldn&rsquo;t have to finance an appeal, saying the process could drag on for three years and cost his client as much as $150,000 in interest from the award.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02674/5043299-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="1845" height="1443"><figcaption class="caption-body">Don Lever has changed uniforms after eight years in the NHL as a member of the Vancouver Canucks. Lever, who was also the Canucks&rsquo; team captain, was traded to the Atlanta Flames in exchange for Ivan Boldirey and Darcy Rota. The Canucks also sent minor leaguer Brad Smith along to complete the deal. Lever has been a major disappointment to the Canucks the past few seasons. (Photo by Robert Shaver)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;The sum of the interest is so great the plaintiffs could pay for the appeal out of Robtaille&rsquo;s lost interest and make a profit,&rdquo; Laxton said.Robitaille was awarded the damage last December in a court decision that found Canucks negligent in pressuring him to continue to play despite his complaint of an injury.<h2>Showdown Returns</h2>TORONTO&mdash;The television hockey series&rsquo;Showdown&rsquo;is back on the tube even if it can&rsquo;t be seen by everyone in the country.Showdown has not been seen between periods of NHL games because of legal complications.The show, which pits leading members of the NHL in a variety of skills to find the champions in various areas of the game, has been beset with problems. Producers of the show, Sports Dimension, instituted legal proceedings against Canadian Sports Network for not showing the series.Canadian Sports Network was not showing it because of an injunction brought by Maple Leaf Gardens.&ldquo;We will continue through the playoffs,&rdquo; said Franke Selke Jr. of CSN. &ldquo;However, Showdown will not be seen during any game involving the Toronto Maple Leafs, regardless of the point of origin of the game.&rdquo;<h2>Ridley New Leaf</h2>TORONTO&mdash;Curt Ridley, who fell out of disfavor with the Vancouver Canucks, has been traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for future considerations.Ridley becomes the 10th new member of the Maple Leafs since the season began and his arrival sent rookie netminder Vincent Tremblay packing for the minors once more. Tremblay stood the Detroit Red Wings on their heads with a 34-save performance and was rewarded with a ticket back to Moncton, New Brunswick in the AHL.Ridley has been on the Vancouver suspended list for refusing to report to the CHL&rsquo;s Dallas Hawks after being assigned there by the NHL club. With Tremblay and Ridley, the Leafs&rsquo; goaling ranks have been swelled to five. Jiri Crha, Mike Palmateer and Paul Harrison are the others. &#9632;

f0019-01

SLAPSHOTS

<div class="byline">BY PAT DOYLE</div>Click.Any National Hockey League general managers who call Ferguson in the hopes he might part with his premier pick in next June&rsquo;s entry draft, get nothing more than an earful of dial tone for their trouble. They don&rsquo;t even have to do any heavy breathing to get Ferguson mad, because the mere thought of losing that top draft makes his blood boil.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re starting to call me now,&rdquo; says Ferguson, general manager of the Winnipeg Jets. &ldquo;But, they&rsquo;re just wasting their time. I won&rsquo;t be trading away my drafts.&rdquo;The reason other clubs in the National League are pestering Ferguson, of course, is because the Jets figure to have one of the earliest calls at the June draft. Perhaps even the top choice, over-allHeading into February, Winnipeg and Washington Capitals were tied at the bottom of the 21-team heap, and the club which finishes last receives the NHL&rsquo;s door prize&mdash;first draft choice.Regardless where Jets finish, 21st, 19th or 16th, Ferguson won&rsquo;t be entertaining any deals.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll never trade my first-round draft choice,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the only way to build for the future.&rdquo;Ferguson won&rsquo;t say which clubs have been calling to feel him out on the draft issue, but he does admit no names have been forwarded.&ldquo;No,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;none of the teams have actually offered me anybody. More than anything else, they&rsquo;re just trying to get my feelings on it. Those who call soon find out how I feel.&rdquo;Naturally, Ferguson won&rsquo;t come right out and say who he&rsquo;d take as his first pick if the draft was to be held tomorrow. However, he is willing to do some name dropping.&ldquo;We like this kid Babych a lot,&rdquo; says Ferguson, &ldquo;and Wickenheiser has really come into his own this year. Jim Fox out in Ottawa is another good one we&rsquo;re keeping our eye on.&rdquo;Dave Babych of the Portland Winter Hawks would appear to be Ferguson&rsquo;s main man at the moment, but it&rsquo;s a long way to the drafting table. The Winnipeg GM dispatched coach Tom McVie to Portland in January to get a firsthand-look at the big defensemen.Doug Wickenheiser is a center who knows what to do with a puck. He&rsquo;s the Western Hockey League&rsquo;s leading scorer and, although he could play another year with Regina Pats, it&rsquo;s almost a certainty he&rsquo;ll be in the NHL next winter.Fox, meanwhile, leads the OHA in scoring. He&rsquo;s another center, which is an area Jets need some strengthening.Chances are one of these kids is going to land in Winnipeg. &#9632;

Gergie Won’t Part With Jets’ Draft Choices

<div class="byline">BY STEVE WINTER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01761/5043361-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Stephenson put himself back into the Capitals&rsquo; goaltending scene by playing well despite a barrage of snots. (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>check for an earlier clean shot by Rick Green, which left Bulley sprawled in a corner in the Washington zone.Gartner, in that same game, bruised the heel of his left foot, and sat out the following night&rsquo;s 42 loss in Atlanta. He returned to the lineup the next day against the Rangers, but could do little to offset a three-goal second period in a 6-3 New York win which saw Phil Esposito score his 699th and 700th NHL goals.&ldquo;A lot of our problem is a matter of timing,&rdquo; said coach Gary Green, whose record since assuming command of the Capitals stood at 9-20-6 at All Star break. &ldquo;With all our injuries, we&rsquo;ve had to juggle lines around so much that even though the guys are supposed to be playing a system, their timing is off.&ldquo;Maybe it&rsquo;s depth that we&rsquo;re missing,&rdquo; offered defenseman Pierre Bouchard, the 31-year-old former Canadien, playing his first full season for Washington. &ldquo;It seems that we have two or three injuries, and the other guys have not been able to pick up the slack.&ldquo;Either we&rsquo;re missing, or we lose confidence, or maybe we&rsquo;re just a step slower.&rdquo;Green pointed toward a forechecking flaw on the part of the Washington forwards, which he said partly contributed to that trio of losses.&ldquo;In our system, the forwards are supposed to &lsquo;pinch&rsquo; the opposing defensemen,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The third forechecker backs up deep in the slot to help out our defensemen and cut down the three-on-two&rsquo;s.&ldquo;Our forwards, however, aren&rsquo;t &lsquo;pinching&rsquo; the way they&rsquo;re supposed to. In the win over the Islanders, we &lsquo;pinched&rsquo; well out there. As a result, we backchecked well, and we were able to control the Islanders. Against Atlanta and the Rangers, it seemed we were slow getting to the &lsquo;pinch&rsquo; and as a result their wingers constantly got going.&rdquo;In Atlanta, the Flames &lsquo;got going&rsquo; well enough to pour 39 shots against Washington goalie Wayne Stephenson, who turned aside the first 26 before rookie Paul Reinhart scored at the 15:36 mark of the second period. The following night, he faced 27 shots in the first two periods, before allowing #700 to Esposito, and departing in the third against the Rangers.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t pull Wayne out of that game because we thought those goals were his fault,&rdquo; said Green after the Ranger game. &ldquo;In fact, I felt he&rsquo;s been playing really well.&ldquo;I pulled him because we probably exhausted him. He had enough work in five periods (against the Flames and the Rangers) to equal three games worth.&rdquo;Stephenson, since returning to action in a relief role against Philadelphia on Jan. 15, compiled a 2.93 GAA in the six games which followed, and re-established him-self as a fixture in the Washington goal.And with the solid blueline play of Bouchard, All Star selection Robert Picard and Rick Green, Paul Mackinnon and Alan Hanges-leben, defense has not been the problem of late.Scoring goals has.&ldquo;What we&rsquo;ve really needed is one guy that can finish the play off,&rdquo; said Gary Green. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what to do out of frustration, except put Maruk and Charron back in the lineup.&rdquo;Charron, of course, is out of the question, his knee operated on Jan. 23. Maruk, however, recently resumed skating, and&mdash;in fact&mdash;has been seen warming up on the Capital Centre ice before home games.And nobody knows better than Green that the Capitals&rsquo; best chances for success in their run for a playoff spot lies with Maruk&rsquo;s eventual return to action.Hopefully, for the Capitals, it won&rsquo;t be too late by then.CAPSHOTS: Rolf Edberg, the exciting five-footten Swedish center scored a dazzling goal on a penalty shot which electrified the Capitals&rsquo; second largest home crowd of the season, against the Rangers.&ldquo;It was easy,&rdquo; said the 29-year-old Stockholm native, who burst in on Ranger goalie Doug Soetaert, and faked him from one side of the net to the other, before ripping a five-footer into an open net. &#9632;

f0020-01

Capitals Suffer Setback In Bid For Playoff Spot

<div class="byline">BY BILL LIBBY</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;Most teams build with a rookie or two capable of moving into their starting lineups each season. A few are instant stars. The Kings have not because since their inaugural season they have traded away all 11 first-round draft choices they had.Last summer they had three picks in the first two rounds and the players they picked, defensemen Jay Wells and Mark Hardy and right-winger Dean Hopkins were the first high draft choices ever to start a season with this team. All were rugged, good-sized, and promising.However, Hopkins is the only one who has stayed all the way so far and his contributions have been limited, especially because he has been sidelined by an injury for a prolonged period.Wells and Hardy were sent to the minors early. Wells was recalled recently because of injuries to regulars, but may go back. Possibly, however, Hardy should be recalled.Approaching mid-season on a long road trip, the Kings&rsquo; defense appeared to have tightened and the goalers were getting by fairly well. Injuries to regulars started to take their toll, however.The first line carried the club, but injuries to Charlie Simmer, then Dave Taylor, left Marcel Dionne alone and he couldn&rsquo;t do it alone.Simmer was sensational, but it was surprising how much the big guy&rsquo;s hard work was missed by the line and the team. A spark seemed extinguished. Then Taylor was toppled and the Kings sagged seriously.Others were out and those that were left seemed to start to feel sorry for themselves and lose heart. At the end of January, the Kings had won only one of their last eight games and had been routed in Buffalo, 9-1, and in L.A. by Winnipeg, 7-3.It was the second time Winnipeg had beaten the Kings in this stretch and these are the only victories by the Jets in their last 18 games.Unable at the moment to dominate opponents on offense, the Kings&rsquo; defense has started to fall apart. A deal with Toronto for Darryl Sittler and/or Mike Palmateer has been discussed which might involve future draft choices and it might be time for the Kings to come to a conclusion about the ability of their two rookie defensemen to become important players for them in the future.Reportedly, both were playing well at Binghamton in the America League. Coach Bob Berry says, &ldquo;Since he was recalled Wells has been our best defenseman at times, but has looked like he needs experience and development at other times.&rsquo;&rsquo; Wells was recalled because the Kings felt they needed more muscle, but Hardy is the better puck-handler and so the more advanced of the two.Wells is a six-foot-one, 205-pounder from Paris, Ontario. He was born in May, 1951. He grew up on a farm with older brothers Donnie and Bill, who have played as amateurs, and sisters Chris and Susan. Jay had 385 minutes in penalties in three seasons at Kingston and was regarded as the best fist-fighter and a first All Star in the OMJHL.He says, &ldquo;I love the farm and winter weather and I felt a little out of place here at first, but now I&rsquo;m happy to be back and hope to stay. It didn&rsquo;t do me that much good to go down. I wasn&rsquo;t playing much until they changed coaches. I make mistakes, and every one seems to cost us, but I think I can make it if I keep at it.&rdquo;The kid curiously lacks confidence: &ldquo;As a boy I never even thought about making the majors. Suddenly, here I was. I&rsquo;ve always been a hitter, but the guys up here are hard to hit. And I&rsquo;ve just started to work on carrying the puck because I&rsquo;ve been afraid to fool around with it. I&rsquo;ve got to get more aggressive, but I guess it will come with experience.&rdquo;Hardy is by nature a more confident kid. He was voted the best defenseman in the Quebec Junior League two seasons back with the Montreal Juniors, but admits he laid back a little last year because he was just waiting to turn pro. Before he went down, he admitted, &ldquo;I was nervous and holding back for fear of making mistakes, but I can dipsy-doodle with the puck and make crisp passes and I can play good defense if given the time to settle down.&rdquo;A five-foot-eleven, 190-pounder from Montreal, he was born in Switzerland, where his father, Leo, now a furniture refinisher, was playing hockey, in January of 1959. He played amateur in Canada, then met Mark&rsquo;s mother, Barbara, in England. Mark&rsquo;s 14-year-old brother Drew is now a bantam. There&rsquo;s also a 16-year-old sister, Kelly. Mark says, &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to think I can help the Kings.&rdquo; So would they.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01560/5043392-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="578" height="1039"><figcaption class="caption-body">Because he has more confidence than other Kings&rsquo; rookies, Mark Hardy could turn out to be the best if they give him a chance.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0021-01

Kings Forced To Rely On Rookies

<div class="byline">BY JIM MATHESON</div>EDMONTON&mdash;Edmonton Oiler coach Glen Sather walked into the lobby of the Detroit Plaza hotel at All Star time and gazed at the trophies on display.&ldquo;With the price of silver these days,&rdquo; said Sather, &ldquo;I can see why they&rsquo;ve got armed guards. You don&rsquo;t want anybody walking away with that stuff.&ldquo;Unless it&rsquo;s Wayne Gretzky, of course.&rdquo;Gretzky, the youngest player in the National Hockey League, is writing an amazing story in his first NHL season. Even though the 19-year-old Oiler center isn&rsquo;t eligible for the Calder (rookie) trophy because he played in the WHA last year, he stands a great chance of winning the Lady Byng (most gentlemanly). Gretzky has only 10 minutes in penalties as the season winds down. That&rsquo;s in the same ballpark as other contenders Marcel Dionne (22) and Guy Lafleur (eight).But that&rsquo;s not the trophy Gretzky has in mind. He may not get the Art Ross for scoring champion. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if I can beat Jesus (Dionne) and God (Lafleur),&rdquo; laughed Gretzky. But he&rsquo;s giving it a helluva run.As of Feb. 6, Gretzky had moved with seven points of second place Lafleur and 13 of leader Dionne with 87 points. With a brilliant four-game burst that included six goals and eight assists, Gretzky roared into contention for the title. With Dionne stumbling without Three Crowns linemates Charlie Simmer and Dave Taylor, the Kid picked up eight points on the Kings&rsquo; center in two meetings in late January and early February. Lafleur, who plays every two and a half shifts and the power play, may be harder to catch.Even if Gretzky falls short&mdash;and he has 23 goals and 52 points in his last 28 games&mdash;it&rsquo;s still a remarkable feat. &ldquo;To be honest, I didn&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;d do this well,&rdquo; said St. Louis winger Wayne Babych, who was a prime contender for last year&rsquo;s Calder until he broke an ankle. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got so many moves it&rsquo;s incredible.&rdquo;Dionne, who doesn&rsquo;t like making comparisons between players, nevertheless admits that the teenager is going to be a superstar. &ldquo;There is only one Guy Lafleur, one Gil Perreault,&rdquo; said the speedy Kings&rsquo; center. &ldquo;There is only one Gretzky, too.&rdquo;The youngster has already obliterated the NHL rookie marks of the two players he&rsquo;s chasing for the scoring championship. Dionne mustered only 77 points with Detroit Red Wings in 71-72. Lafleur, who has become the best player in the game (no questions asked), had just 64. With 33 goals, he&rsquo;s certainly within reach of Buffalo&rsquo;s Rick Martin, who fired 44 in his initial NHL campaign with Sabres to become second best rookie sniper. Mike Bossy&rsquo;s 53 might be secure, though, even if Gretzky has scored 10 goals and is scoring at almost a goal-a-game clip since the first of December.&ldquo;Really, I should have close to 40 by now, said Gretzky, not boasting, just stating the facts. If he&rsquo;d been sharper on breakaways, he might be there.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve only scored on two of 12,&rdquo; shrugged the center. &ldquo;I seem to want to deke the goalies all the time&hellip;maybe I&rsquo;ll have to start shooting more.&rdquo;Philly&rsquo;s exceptional rookie netminder Pete Peeters certainly wasn&rsquo;t fooled by the kid&rsquo;s juking and jiving on a clear-cut chance in late January. &ldquo;I watched him in Philadelphia early in the year and he likes to deke. I just stood my ground in Edmonton (in a 5-3 Flyer win). It was a fairly easy save.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s strange really when you consider that Gretzky, who was supposed to have a bad shot as a junior, has scored more often on 40-footers than five-foot breakaways. But it&rsquo;s true. At least half a dozen zingers have beaten NHL goalies. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t have an overpowering shot, either,&rdquo; said Oiler netminder Jim Corsi, who faces Gretzky every day in workouts. &ldquo;But he puts it on the corners.&rdquo;Corsi is one of Gretzky&rsquo;s biggest fans, mind you. An unabashed supporter, even if he doesn&rsquo;t belong to the booster club. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s like an artist on the ice. You could practise and practise and not be as good as he is.&rdquo;His only fault may be a tendency to whine when penalties aren&rsquo;t called on him. That and a dive technique he must have learned from Flyers&rsquo; winger Bill Barber. Some nights he looks like he&rsquo;s ready to try a half-gainer with a full twist when checked.But that&rsquo;s his only sign of young age. For the most part he&rsquo;s far more mature than his calendar years. He&rsquo;s 19 going on 25. Don&rsquo;t be surprised if he&rsquo;s captain of the team by his 21st birthday.&ldquo;I just wonder whether he might even be considered for the Hart trophy (league MVP) this season,&rdquo; said Sather, gazing at the baubles in the Detroit hotel again. &ldquo;Tell me who&rsquo;s more valuable to his team?&rdquo;ON THE BENCH: Oiler veteran Al Hamilton was dispatched to Houston Apollos at the start of February to work himself into playing shape. &#9632;

Gretzky’s Glitter Amazing Everyone

<div class="byline">BY FRED PIETILA</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01646/5043447-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Randy Pierce is becoming more consistent in both, scoring and his hitting game under the tutelage of Don Cherry. (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>DENVER&mdash;Astronaut Randy Pierce has finally landed in the National Hockey League.No, Pierce isn&rsquo;t really an astronaut. But the 22-year-old&rsquo;s free-spirited attitude and his casual approach to life and hockey has been a cause of consternation for some of his previous coaches.And now, after two up-and-down seasons in the NHL, it appears Pierce has finally settled down. Anyway, Don Cherry, Pierce&rsquo;s current coach, feels that way.&ldquo;Well, I&rsquo;ll tell you, at the start of the year, he was sort of a space cadet,&rdquo; Cherry says of Pierce&rsquo;s carefree nature, which more than once has left the volatile coach talking to himself after practice. &ldquo;But things have changed since then and he&rsquo;s come around. He&rsquo;s one of our team players now.&rdquo;&ldquo;Everybody thinks that I&rsquo;m an easy-going guy,&rdquo; Pierce says. &ldquo;People think that if I&rsquo;m smiling or laughing, I&rsquo;m not ready to play the game. They&rsquo;ll say, &lsquo;Look at him, he&rsquo;s not ready.&rsquo; But I&rsquo;m always ready.&ldquo;Psychology is a lot of this game. Someone&rsquo;s always watching you, whether it&rsquo;s the fans or the other team. And if you can get them believing you&rsquo;re not serious, it&rsquo;s all the better. Like I&rsquo;ve been like this my whole life and I&rsquo;ve made it to the NHL. Why should I change now?&rdquo;A change on the surface Pierce may never make, but on the inside, he&rsquo;s approaching hockey differently this season.&ldquo;My attitude has changed. I think I&rsquo;ve become more dedicated too. I think I&rsquo;m working harder. The thing is, like I hate to practice. But the way he (Cherry) runs &lsquo;em are great &lsquo;cause you&rsquo;re always skating, always working,&rdquo; Pierce says.Attitude aside, Cherry says that he was advised by a keen observer of hockey talent that he would like Piesce this season, after leaving the Boston Bruins.&ldquo;Gerry Cheevers always liked Piercie. He told me after I took the job here that Pierce is &ldquo;One guy you&rsquo;re gonna like on the Rockies.&rsquo; Cheevers saw something in him that he liked and I believed him,&rdquo; Cherry says.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s my type of hockey player. Him and (Ron) Delorme. They muck around in the corners and they&rsquo;re both aggressive and won&rsquo;t back down. He (Pierce) accomplishes what he gets with hard work.&rdquo;Pierce feels &ldquo;that his aggressiveness is paying off. &ldquo;Oh yeah, I think so. Oh, I think it&rsquo;s more or less doing what Cherry says. That&rsquo;s the whole story.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m hitting more. I&rsquo;m getting in more fights. At least earlier I was. But I didn&rsquo;t start any of &lsquo;em. They wanted to fight me. And my scoring is getting more regular, more consistent. I&rsquo;m not scoring once and then missing seven or eight games like I did last year.&ldquo;The thing is, with Don, you&rsquo;ve got to be able to do one of three things&mdash;score, hit or fight. If you can&rsquo;t score, then you&rsquo;ve got to hit and if you can&rsquo;t hit, then you&rsquo;ve got to fight. If you can do one of them well, then that&rsquo;s what you&rsquo;ve got to stick to.&rdquo;For the most part, Pierce has succeeded in all three aspects of Cherry&rsquo;s game. At the All Star break he appeared to be virtually certain of topping his single-season NHL highs of 19 goals and 17 assists. And in 51 games, he had already more than doubled his penalty minute total from the previous season.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the guys that I switch back and forth, from left wing to right wing. He&rsquo;s like (Boston&rsquo;s Wayne) Cashman or (Rick) Middleton,&rdquo; Cherry says of Pierce, normally a right winger.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s one thing that&rsquo;s changed my attitude,&rdquo; the five-foot-eleven, 187-pound Pierce says, in reference to the treatment he&rsquo;s received from Cherry. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been treated well this year, considering all the trades. They&rsquo;re not hassling me&mdash;so far, anyway.&rdquo;While Pierce&rsquo;s behavior during practices and off the ice is sometimes erratic, he leaves no doubt about his seriousness on the ice and his frankness after games is refreshing. &#9632;

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Pierce Returns To Earth As Triple Threat Rockie

<div class="byline">BY ARNOLD IRISH</div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;If anyone had desired to suggest at the end of last season, when they had the National Hockey League&rsquo;s worst goals-against record, that the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; objective this season would be eighth place and assurance of a home berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the prognosticator would have been dismissed as a madman.Yet, at the All Star game break, the Blues were only two runs away&mdash;10th in the NHL&rsquo;s overall standings.They&rsquo;ve executed an about-face as snappy as any seen in the NHL recently, and not by mistake.Emilo Francois, St. Louis&rsquo;s President and general manager, as made a chess-like series of moves that would do Bobby Fischer proud.&ldquo;The big thing was to bring down our goals-against,&rdquo; said Denis Ball, Francis&rsquo; right-hand man. &ldquo;That was our top priority, and we&rsquo;re very fortunate Mike Liut has come through in goal like he has.&rdquo;Originally drafted by the Blues in 1976, Liut elected to play in the now-defunct World Hockey Association. Last year, however, the Blues reclaimed him from the Cincinnati Stingers in the WHA expansion draft and he promptly took Ed Staniowski&rsquo;s job.Besides being proficient (a 2.98 goals-against average), Liut has been durable. At the All Star game break, he&rsquo;d started in 28 of St. Louis&rsquo; last 30 games, including one Streak of 19 consecutive games. Liut was tied with Philadelphia&rsquo;s Pete Peeters for victories with 20, one behind Chicago&rsquo;s Tony Esposito and Buffalo&rsquo;s Don Edwards.&ldquo;The acquisition of Ralph Klassen was important,&rdquo; Bull said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s done a super job of killing penalties, along with Hartland Monahan.&rdquo; Quebec sold Monahan to the Blues last summer. &ldquo;We had to give up a pretty good goalie, Terry Richardson, to get Klassen from New England (Hartford).&ldquo;Getting Ed Kea and Red Laurence for Garry Unger was another plus. Kea, playing better than we had any right to suspect he could, really settled our defense down.&ldquo;Of course, the topper was getting Blair Chapman from Pittsburgh. He was in the doldrums there, some of the fans were on him and he needed a change. It was kind of like Unger&rsquo;s situation here. We knew Pittsburgh needed a defenseman, so Emile worked out a trade for Bob Stewart.&ldquo;Stewie&rsquo;s played well for them, too, but in Chapman we got somebody who came right in and began scoring goals. He had played Junior with Bernie Federko, and when Chapman came here it was a rejuvenated player.&rdquo;Ball thinks St. Louis&rsquo; farm strength is at an all-time high. &ldquo;For the first time,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;we&rsquo;ve got kids on the farm who could come up and play. People like (forwards) Bobby Simpson, Laurence, Joe Mullen and Bobby Crawford and (defenseman) Dick Lamby. It used to be we&rsquo;d watch Salt Lake and everybody was up here.&ldquo;We picked Crawford on the fourth round of the draft, and he made the club in training camp. He&rsquo;s in Salt Lake to get ice time, but he&rsquo;s dying to get up here and so are the others. The players up here know it, so they can&rsquo;t afford to let up.&rdquo;How could a player of Liut&rsquo;s potential go as late as the fifth pick in 1976? &ldquo;I saw Liut when he was playing for Bowling Green, and he looked like a helluva prospect,&rdquo; Ball said. &ldquo;We knew he wanted to be a pro, but that he still had some schooling to go. We had goalkeepers that we thought would do the job. Sometimes a team is looking for immediate help. There may have been some teams who passed Liut because they needed a junior who could come right in and play.&rdquo;Being able to tab Liut so far down in the pack was a stroke of genius for Francis & Co. &ldquo;If Mike can play between 2.70 and 3.00 (goals against), we&rsquo;ll be in it for a long time,&rdquo; Ball said. &#9632;

Blues’ Buck Stops With Goaler Liut

<div class="byline">BY JIM LEAHY</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSHALIFAX&mdash;Ever since the start of the year, the Voyageurs have been on a hot streak. The Vees have a 7-4-3 mark since that date and are locked in a battle with New Brunswick for the top spot in the northern division. The club is second only to New Haven in goals scored and trails Rochester in penalty minutes, proving that the Voyageurs are also aggressive.They were in action three times, winning twice. Adirondack won a 5-3 contest in Halifax and then the Vees took on the Binghamton Dusters also on their home ice, the Halifax Metro Center. In the first game the Voyageurs won 5-2, and the return match was a 6-1 rout for Nova Scotia.ROCHESTER: The 5-3 loss to Hershey at the War Memorial before a crowd of 4,466 started the Amerks recent stretch of games. The Amerks then went on to play a home-and-home series with New Haven, splitting the two game set. In Rochester, a five goal first period sunk Jim Pettie and the Nighthawks as the Amerks breezed to an easy 8-3 win. A mid-week crowd of 4,865 saw the action.Rob Mongrain had the three-goal hat trick and the club got solo tallies from Ron Schock, Dave Schultz, Ron Garwasiuk, Norm Lafebvre and Paul Crowley.Rochester beat Syracuse 5-4 to end the week.Despite being in the nets for all eight Rochester goals, ex-Amerk Jim Pettie livened up the action late in the game when he stopped Norm Lafebvre cold on a penalty shot. Unfortunately, the return match down in New Haven turned out to be a long night for Rochester fans. Their club was blasted 6-0 with Pettie getting his revenge with the whitewash.Injuries continue to pile up for coach Billy Inglis. Jim Walsh will be out for two more weeks with a broken left wrist and Joe Kowal is out definitely with injury to his right knee. Daryl Drader is back after missing 17 games with broken bones in his face and is now forced to wear a protective helmet while the injury heals.SPRINGFIELD: The Tribe&rsquo;s nine game home ice unbeaten streak came to an end when Maine won 7-6 in an exciting overtime game at the Big E Coliseum. The next night the New Haven Nighthawks came to town and skated to a 5-4 victory after the Indians had taken an early 3-0 lead in the first period. Earlier, Springfield had visited Maine and upset the Mariners 6-5.Prior to the loss at home against Maine, Springfield had their nine game streak going and had only lost one of the last 15 at home. It was a record that no Springfield club had even approached in a number of years. Even though they lost to Maine and New Haven, the Tribe is mounting a real challenge to third place Maine.In addition, fans are starting to come back to Springfield to view AHL hockey. Nearly 4,000 were on hand to see the game against New Haven.NEW BRUNSWICK: A strike by city employees in Moncton has forced the Hawks to vacate the Moncton Coliseum. Games are being played in various cities in the province pending resolution of the strike.The Hawks have also been hot during the last several weeks and are trading first place with Nova Scotia almost on a daily basis. Three games were on top during their latest stretch of games. The club started in Hershey and skated to a 4-3 win over the Bears. Up in Glens Falls, the Hawks edged Adirondack 2-1 then flew over to Moncton to play Binghamton. New Brunswick won that game by a 4-1 margin.MAINE: The defending AHL champions are sputtering. Due to the promotion of several players to the parent Philadephia Flyers, the Manners do not have the depth they once had and cannot seem to overtake either New Brunswick or Nova Scotia in the battle for first place in the tough Northern Division. For a while, Springfield was making a serious bid to overhaul Maine but they seem to have fallen back. They key series with the Tribe was even. Springfield won 65 in Portland and the Mariners squeaked out a 7-6 overtime win down in Springfield. In between those contests Maine tied Syracuse 3-3 and blasted Adirondack 8-2.The club has added rookie defenseman Greg Natale who played in Italy last season. The five-ten, 180 pound backliner played his college hockey at the University of Michigan with Mariner goaltender Robbie Moore and right winger Gary Morrison. In addition, the club also recalled goaltender Sam St. Laurent from Toledo of the IHL.ADIRONDACK: Ex-Nighthawk John Bednarski scored on a slapshot mid-way through the third period to give the Red Wings a 5-5 tie in New Haven. The Wings came back from a 4-1 deficit to earn a much needed point on the road. In that game, J.P. LeBlanc scored twice and Rich Shinske along with Mal Davis got one each.Three of their four early games ended in losses for Adirondack. It started in Nova Scotia, when the Vees skated well but dropped a 5-3 decision to the Wings. Up in Syracuse it was a 5-3 loss for Adirondack. Back home in Glens Falls the New Brunswick Hawks came out on top 2-1.The visit to Maine was a disaster. The Mariners routed the Red Wings 8-2. The only win, which was the 5-3 victory in Halifax, was set up by Rich Shinske and Rick-Vasko. Each scored once and had two assists in the contest.The club picked up right winger Bob Murdoch. He was playing for Salt Lake City in the Central Hockey League while with the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; organization.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01584/5043502-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="600" height="1036"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rob Mongrain&rsquo;s hat trick was one of the lone bright spots for the injury-plagued Amerks</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Offense. Muscle Spearhead Voyageurs’ Surge

SYRACUSE: The vastly improved Firebirds have a solid hold on fourth place in the southern division and would make the playoffs if the AHL season ended today. It&rsquo;s been a remarkable turnaround for a club that got off to a slow start and has been constantly riddled with call-ups by their parent clubs. To prove that point, the Pittsburgh Penguins took up center Kim Davis and left winger Jim Hamilton.Only nine players currently on the Syracuse roster have played in more than 40 games. Despite the turnover of players, Syracure continues to improve under coach Duane Rupp. Recently they went 71-2 during a 10 game span. Syracuse skated to a 3-3 tie with Maine at home and defeated Adirondack 5-3 and also beat Hershey 3-2 in games at the War Memorial. The Firebirds beat Hershey once again later, this time 5-4. But then the &lsquo;Birds dropped a 5-4 game in Rochester.This is the time for Syracuse to move up in the divisional standings. Starting with the game at home against Hershey, won by the Firebirds, Syracuse has 26 of their last 31 contests against southern division rivals.HERSHEY: The Bears and Rochester Americans are battling it out for second place in the southern division since Hershey has just about given up on trying to catch New Haven. The Bears currently tail the Nighthawks by about 20 points.Four games were on top for Hershey in AHL action recently. A big 5-3 win in Rochester helped the club&rsquo;s morale. New Brunswick came to town and won a 4-3 contest and a trip up to Syracuse ended in a 3-2 loss to the Firebirds. Back home against the same Firebirds Hershey also lost 5-4.Two skaters went up to the parent Washington Capitals. Left winger Greg Poulis and right winger Tim Coulis are in Washington. The Bears then signed winger Cam McGregor to a trial contract in the meantime.BINGHAMTON: Five losses in their last six games have dropped the Dusters deep into the southern division basement. The club also lost some key players to call-ups. Don Howse and Tom Songin, two of the team&rsquo;s leading scorers, were sent up to the NHL. Howse went to the Los Angeles Kings and Songin to the Boston Bruins. Defenseman Jay Wells is still in Los Angeles and goaltender Yves Belanger is with the Bruins.In four road contests the Dusters failed to get a point. They lost to New Haven 7-4, Nova Scotia twice&mdash;5-2 and 6-1&mdash;and rounded out the action losing 4-1 to New Brunswick,NEW HAVEN: After an 8-3 loss in Rochester the Nighthawks rebounded to beat the same Rochester Americans 6-0 in New Haven, ditched Springfield 5-4 in Springfield, and skated to a 5-5 overtime tie back home at the Coliseum.&ldquo;We continue to work hard and that&rsquo;s what impresses me the most,&rdquo; said general managercoach Parker MacDonald, when asked to comment on his divisionleading Nighthawks. They are running away with the southern division race at this time with a 20 point lead over their closest competitor.A season-high crowd of 6,331 saw Jim Pettie throw the whitewash at Rochester. In that game, Larry Skinner scored twice in a row. However, after the contest the Rangers called up defenseman Jocelyn Guevremont to fill in for the injured Barry Beck. They also sent back goaltender Doug Soe-taert to the Nighthawks. Earlier, Andre Dore also came back from brief stay, only to be suspended by the AHL indefinitely for his alteraction with a linesman in the game against Adirondack. &#9632;

Syracuse Rally Continues

<div class="byline">BY TOM LOBAUGH</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSSALT LAKE&mdash;Four straight victories in their continuing long home-stand had opened up a little breathing room for Jack Evans&rsquo; Golden Eagles at the top of the CHL pack. The latest triumphs were a pair over Dallas (5-2 and 42) and one over Tulsa (6-4).The Birds, 6-1 at that point in their eight-game homestand, had pulled four points ahead of challenging Birmingham, and had three games in hand.While the veterans were doing their part, Evans could point to five first-year pros as the finest crop of Salt Lake rookies in many years. Goalie Rick Heinz (from Port Huron), right wings Bobby Erawford (Cornwall) and Joe Mullen (Boston College), and defensemen Steve Harrison and Kevin Willison (both with Port Huron last year) were reminding Eagle fans of the 1973-74 crop of rookies on Salt Lake&rsquo;s last team in the old Western League (Lou Patey, Brant Meeka, Gary Holt, Gary Coulter).Heinz worked the two Dallas games, running his personal streak to six victories, seven games without a loss. Crawford had 18 goals, Mullen 17.Little Doug Palazzari was running away with the CHL individual scoring race, owning 75 points in 49 games, 18 points in front of his closest challenger, Rob Fudor of Dallas. Two years ago, when &ldquo;Pizza&rdquo; became the league&rsquo;s first Triple Crown winner (goals, assists and total points), he had only 53 points at this stage. An empty-net goal in the first victory over Dallas made Palazzari only the fourth Salt Lake player ever to get 100 goals in his career. Then he added two in 47 seconds in the middle period in the rallying victory over Tulsa.Lyle Bradley&rsquo;s franchise record of 166 career goals wasn&rsquo;t yet threatened, but Palazzari seemed certain to become the No. 2 goal scorer in Salt Lake history, moving up on Del Hall (107) and Gary Holt (104).Eagles owner Art Teece was happy to report attendance was up an average of 365 fans per game over last season.Bobby Simpson and Mullen provided an early two-goal lead in the game against Dallas. The Hawks tied it in the second period, but Crawford and Red Laurence regained the Eagle advantage, and Palazzari found the empty net with 48 seconds left.In the rematch second-period tallies by Floyd Thomson and Crawford rallied the Birds into a lead. For the second straight night the Hawks came back to tie, but Mullen and Richie Hansen scored for Salt Lake in the last two minutes.Palazzari&rsquo;s two goals, and two power play scores by Brian Ogilvie, enabled the Eagles to come back from a two-goal deficit against Tulsa, clinching the 10-game series at the earliest possible moment. The Birds had won five of six starts against the Oilers, and tied the other.TULSA: After being near the top of the standings in the early months of the season, the Oilers were threatening to fall out of the first division. They split a pair of overtime games against Oklahoma City (both by 3-2 scores), but then found their defense falling apart. A pair of three-goal leads couldn&rsquo;t stand up at home against Fort Worth (a 5-4 loss) and a two-goal advantage disappeared in Salt Lake (a 6-4 loss).As a result, Mike Smith&rsquo;s club (3-10 for their last 13 games) shared fourth place with Fort Worth, although owning three games in hand. Oklahome City was only three points back, and Houston four.The season&rsquo;s largest crowd&mdash;6,142 for 10-Cent Beer Night&mdash;saw the Oilers forge two leads against OC, but eventually succumb to Joe Contini&rsquo;s goal after 3:41 of overtime. The next night in Oklahoma City, Dave Hoyda tied the game with 2:44 left in regulation time, and won it after 4:35 of overtime. That gave Tulsa a 7-4 advantage in the 17-game Turnpike Series.Larry Hopkins&rsquo; uninterrupted hat trick in the first 21 minutes was wasted at home against Fort Worth. He scored twice in the first period (the second with 14 seconds left), and then again after 31 seconds of the middle period. The loss in Salt Lake gave the Oilers a 1-3 record for the first half of an eight-games-in-10-nights grind, which concluded with five straight on the road.HOUSTON: The Apollos broke a three-game losing streak by going into Dallas and comine out with a 6-3 victory, notching two goals in each stanza. Earlier they had dropped a pair of one-sided games in Indianapolis (6-2 and 8-2) and bowed at home to Birmingham (43).Young goalie Clay Hebenton was sensational in the victory, and six different Apollo players scored goals. Ron Carter had three goals in the two games at Indy, singletons in the next two starts, running his league-leading total to 33.Al Rollins&rsquo; Apollos were within a point of Oklahoma City in the battle for sixth place (and the final playoff spot). They had a four-point advantage over last-place Dallas.Veteran forward Ace Bailey came out of &ldquo;retirement&rdquo; to rejoin the club.DALLAS: Woe mounted upon woe for the Black Hawks. The week brought five losses, running the slump to seven straight, and giving coach John Muckier a 1-7 record since he.took over after John Choyce was axed.The Hawks scored first, but lost in Oklahoma City, 3-1. In Bloomington, Minn., goals came in clusters of five, with the U.S Olympic team blowing an early lead but coming back to win, 10-6. The Hawks lost in Salt Lake (5-2 and 4-2), and later they fell at home against Houston (3-6).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01625/5043557-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="582" height="840"><figcaption class="caption-body">Goaler Rick Heinz, a Port Huron graduate, has been a mainstay in Salt Lake this season.</figcaption></div>INDIANAPOLIS: Lopsided victories over Houston (8-2 and 6-2) ran the Checkers&rsquo; string to three victories, but the modest string was broken by Fort Worth (6-2). All three games were at home.Busy Neil Hawryliw scored two goals each night against Houston, and Dave Cameron also had two goals in the first game. In the second game, every Checker on the ice except goalie Jim Park collected at least a point. Fourteen of the 15 skaters had at least an assist. The only non-assister was Hawryliw. &#9632;

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Bountiful Rookie Crop Has Eagles Opening Daylight On CHL Opponents

OKLAHOMA CITY&mdash;Goalie Louis Levasseur notched his third shutout and ran his victory string to six, as the Stars toppled Birmingham, 3-0, in a Sunday after-noon game in the Bulls&rsquo; own rink. Lavasseur had a 1.67 average yield for his six-game streak.His previous two shutouts were at home against Fort Worth, also by 3-0 margins. In those games Louis had faced only 16 shots each night. Birmingham made it a lot more difficult, with 39, while the Stars were getting only 24.Earlier the Stars had won in overtime at Tulsa, 3-2, but lost in overtime at home to the same foes by the same score. Their season&rsquo;s largest turnout&mdash;6,888 fans&mdash;came out for Free Megaphone Night. (The first 6,000 spectators received megaphones.) They started the week with a 3-1 home win over Dallas.Left wing Dave Hanson was recalled by Minnesota, and right Wing Alex Pirus, traded by the North Stars to Detroit a month earlier, was called up by the Wings. Defenseman Peter Shier, recovering from a pulled groin, was shipped to Baltimore in the Eastern League &ldquo;to skate himself into shape&rdquo;. Installed at right wing, Shier scored five goals in one game there, before returning to OC. Defenseman Don Jackson returned to duty after a long shoulder-injury layoff.Joe Contini&rsquo;s overtime goal won the game in Tulsa (after 3:41 of overtime play). Joe scored at home against the Oilers, but Tulsa won after 4:35 of the extra period. Ted Olson, Robbie Laird and Alex Pirus backed up Levasseur&rsquo;s per feet goaltending in Birmingham.FORT WORTH: Winning three of four on the road pushed Ron Uilyot&rsquo;s Texans into a fourth-place tie with Tulsa. Fort Worth always has an eight or nine-game road trip while the Stock Show and Rodeo occupies Will Rogers Coliseum. This year it was a 10-game swing, but the Texans were 4-4-1 with one contest remaining.Four shorthanded goals were scored in three games by the Texans. Merlin got two of them, one in a 6-2 loss at Birmingham, the other as the Texans over-whelmed Indianapolis, by the same score. Bobby Sheehan and Don Ashby scored shorthanded as the Texans rallied from a 3-0 deficit to whip Tulsa, 6-4. In an earlier game at Birmingham the Texans had prevailed, 4-2. Bob Atwell scored twice in that one, and Nelson Pyatt had two goals at Indianapolis.Goalie Bill Oleschuk, just returned from the Colorado Rockies, played the week&rsquo;s first three games, with rookie Carey Walker picking up the win in Tulsa.The Texans acquired defenseman Jack Hughes, cut by the U.S. Olympic squad, but Kevin Morrison and winger Mike Gillis were called to Colorado.BIRMINGHAM: It was a breakeven week for the Bulls, as they split at home against Fort Worth (2-4 and 6-2), won in Houston (4-3), then lost at home to Oklahoma City (3-0).The loss to Fort Worth snapped a seven-victory string in Birmingham-Jefferson County Coliseum. Bobby Gould and Mike Dwyer each scored twice to key victory in the rematch.Paul Henderson got the winning goal in Houston, after the Apollos rallied from two down to tie in the third period. But the Bulls couldn&rsquo;t score in 39 shots against Louis Levasseur. &#9632;

Bulls’ Barrage Can’t Dent Stars’ Levasseur

<div class="byline">BY BUD GALLMEIER</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSKALAMAZOO&mdash;The K-Wings 11-point spread over second-place Saginaw in the North Division shrunk considerably because of a crippling injury&mdash;potentially, if not mathematically. Center Tom Ross, the International League&rsquo;s leading scorer, suffered a hair-line fracture of the jaw when struck by a deflected puck in a game at Grand Rapids. The injury will keep Ross out of the Wings&rsquo; lineup for possibly four weeks.&ldquo;Better he&rsquo;s out now than for the playoffs,&rdquo; reflected coach Doug McKay. &ldquo;Tommy told me he would be out for from three to four weeks. He might be able to skate in 10 days or two weeks. When the doc tells me he can skate and when Tommy says he can skate, well that&rsquo;s it,&rdquo; McKay said.At the time of the injury, Ross was leading the league in scoring. He since has yielded to Fort Wayne&rsquo;s Al Dumba. Ross was clinging to second, one point in front of his linemate Tom Milani.With Ross out of the lineup, McKay has moved rookie Steve Marengere to center for Milani and Mike Wanchuck. That frees Neil Meadmore for duty on right wing with Ron Plumb in the middle and Gene Chouinard on the left wing.The K-Wings may rely more heavily on their defense without Ross, which is also best in the 10-team circuit. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got the goalscorers,&rdquo; McKay points out. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;ve also got the best goals against. Many a game they (the opposition) get three goals on us in the first period and that&rsquo;s it for the night. If we score eight goals a game and the other guys score nine, we lose. That&rsquo;s why I&rsquo;m concerned about goals against. The goals will take care of themselves.&rdquo;McKay didn&rsquo;t have to worry about goals against in their first test without Ross. Larry Lozinski pitched his fifth shutout, tops in the league, as the Wings turned back North Division rival Port Huron, 5-0.Goals against were a concern against Flint, however. The Generals stunned the K-Wings in Wings&rsquo; Stadium, 5-3.Elsewhere in the IHL:SAGINAW: A pep talk by owner Wren Blair failed to ignite the victory spark for the Gears who dropped a pair of games at home. Blair went to the Gear dressing room following the opening period of a game with Milwaukee with the Gears trailing 2-0.&ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t hurt to hear another voice,&rdquo; said coach Don Perry. &ldquo;He (Blair) told them to &lsquo;hit more. There&rsquo;s no easy way to play this game, you know.&rsquo;&rdquo; The Gears responded somewhat to Blair&rsquo;s challenge, but couldn&rsquo;t quite make it all the way. Milwaukee hung on for a 6-5 victory.PORT HURON: The Flags&rsquo; week started in utter frustration in a 5-0 loss to Kalamazoo. Two home games followed and the Flags got a split beating Toledo and losing to Milwaukee. Port Huron stayed in third place a point behind Saginaw and a point up on Flint.FLINT: The Generals welcomed the return of Gerry Leroux from the injury list with a goalscoring feast against Dayton. The Generals romped 9-5 as Leroux marked his comeback with a three-goal hat trick. The explosion launched a 3-0-1 week and moved the Generals to within two points of second place.MUSKEGON: General manager-coach Gerry Moore continues to shuffle players in the effort to find the spark which will propel the Mohawks into the playoffs. Anchored in last place, and with dwindling figures reflecting from the box office, Moore feels getting a playoff spot is vital for the Monawks to survive&mdash;as a franchise.Latest addition is Steve Murphy, a hustling little center purchased from Fort Wayne. &ldquo;Murphy can fly. He sure can skate and he rattles all over the place,&rdquo; said Moore. &ldquo;He definitely wants to play.&rdquo; Muskegon was 1-1-1 for the week and remains in a tight battle for one of the wild-card playoff spots with Milwaukee, Toledo, Dayton and Grand Rapids.FORT WAYNE: Coach Moose Lallo was a little concerned about the lack of balance offensively. The Komets have the league&rsquo;s leading goal-scorer in Barry Scully (42) and the top point-producer in captain Al Dumba (84) but the punch trails off from there.&ldquo;We need more goals from some of the rookies,&rdquo; Lallo said as the Komets prepared for a two-game homestand. Fort Wayne enjoys a fat 21-point lead over second-place Grand Rapids and is just seven points behind overall leader Kalamazoo.GRAND RAPIDS: The Owls continue to move up in the South Division. A 2-1 record put the Owls in second place. A key road win at Dayton, 4-1, and a 5-2 triumph over Toledo provided the impetus. The lone loss was a 3-1 verdict at Flint.DAYTON: Highlight of the Gems&rsquo; week was a 5-3 win at Saginaw which snapped a five-game losing streak. Dayton played.500 for the week winning two and losing two. That left the Gems in third place, a point out of second and one point in front of fourthplace Toledo.TOLEDO: One point in four games caused the Diggers to slip from second to fourth. The lone point came in a 5-5 tie at Muske-gon. Losses were at Fort Wayne, Port Huron and Grand Rapids as the Diggers played four straight on the road.MILWAUKEE: The Admirals are still last in the South, and overall, with just 39 points. But the way the Admirals have been skating lately, they could rise to the surface quickly.Milwaukee completed a lengthy road trip with two big victories&mdash;6-5 at Saginaw and 7-3 at Port Huron. The two-game sweep gives Milwaukee a three-game winning streak on the road.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01547/5043612-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="584" height="970"><figcaption class="caption-body">General sharpshooter Gerry Leroux returned to the lineup with a bang and a hat trick.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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Injury To Ross Endangers K-Wing Advantage

<div class="byline">BY PATRICK LYON</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSRICHMOND&mdash;The Richmond Rifles have resumed their winning ways and lucky for them it came at the right time.Mired just recently in a slump that saw them drop five straight games, the Rifles rebounded to win four of their next five as they staged a head-on battle with Erle Blades for first place in the EHL.Unbeaten in 19 consecutive outings earlier this season, the Rifles looked like world beaters in running their first place lead to 15 points, but then disaster struck and the Rifles went into a tailspin in the midst of a long and tiring seven-game road trip. Their brief demise allowed the Blades to close the gap to three points.&ldquo;Every team has its highs and lows,&rdquo; explained club spokesman Sandy Reiss. &ldquo;The Blades had one early in the season and we&rsquo;re glad we had ours now instead of later. The sign of a good club is to come back after a long losing streak and our guys proved they could do it.&rdquo;The Rifles will be under new leadership from behind the bench after it was announced that the New York Rangers had recalled Richmond coach Andre Beaulieu to become an assistant coach with the NHL team. Beaulieu was called upon to help the Rangers with practice sessions and install a new system. He was expected to emain with New York for two to shree weeks.In his place, the Rangers assigned Ray Clearwater to run the Rifles until the return of Beaulieu. Clearwater reported to the Rifles after serving as assistant coach with the Rangers&rsquo; number one farm team in New Haven. And, an ex-WHA player, Clearwater has also seen action with New Haven, appearing in 12 games with the American Hockey League team.Following much discussion, the brass of the Rifles decided to attempt to improve on the left side of their line. Richmond swung a deal with the Utica Mohawks with defenseman Greg Wilkie going to Utica for winger Ray Kurpis. &ldquo;We felt we needed more physical strength on the left side and thus we made the deal for Kurpis,&rdquo; said Reiss. &ldquo;Wilkie played well for us, but you have to trade quality to get quality.&rdquo;Richmond continued to wheel and deal and obtained defenseman George Klasson from Hampton in a two-for-one deal, only to see the deal voided. Right wing Mike Shields refused to report and defenseman Bob Grant did not pass a Hampton physical, negating the swap. The Rifles immediately suspended Shields for an undetermined length of time.The Rifles proceeded to sign 20-year-old United States Hockey League defenseman Terry Jones to a five game try-out, along with Ian perrin, who saw action on the back line earlier this season with Erie.Rookie goaltender Tom Semenchuk recorded his second shutout of the campaign in Richmond, a 30 whitewash of Johnstown. Semen-chuk continued to lower his goals-against-average to 2.65 as he increased his glossy record to 15-3, by far the best in the EHL.Salem, Virginia, considered one of the prime spots for expansion next season, was the scene of Richmond&rsquo;s &lsquo;home game&rsquo; against Utica with 3,777 people in attendance. Those at the game caught a good glimpse of just what the Rifles can do When Richmond overcame a 5-4 Utica lead to top the Mohawks, 6-5. Lawrie Nisker, who blasted home two goals, tied the contest with just 38 seconds left and Mike Clarke won the game 15 seconds with a clutch score.Richmond extended their win skein to three with a 5-2 decision over Johnstown. Kurpis scored in his first game as a Rifle.JOHNSTOWN: The Red Wings continued to have their problems on the road as they dropped four straight away games before returning home, only to see their eight game home winning streak snapped by the Rifles.Coach Marty Reid had his club&rsquo;s road record slip to 2-19 when they came away the losers in Richmond 3-0, Erie 10-3 and Baltimore 8-1. Playing at the War Memorial Auditorium in the flood city has been a completely different story with the Wings posting an impressive 14-5 record. Richmond handed Johnstown two losses in less than a week when they tripped the Red Wings 5-2 in Johnstown.Dave MacQueen was the lone bright spot in a five game Johnstown losing streak as he continued to mount his lead as the circuit&rsquo;s top point maker. In 39 games, MacQueen had tallied 33 goals and 35 assists for 68 points.The Red Wings hatched their mascot &lsquo;Reddie Redwings&rsquo; from an egg and the mascot will be a regular feature at all home games in Johnstown.Reid remains concerned over the mounting injuries that haunt his club. Pierre Tremblay and Wes George are the latest players nursing injuries while Brian Patton, Rick Carriere, Guy Bohmer, Randy Wilson and Harry Shaw remain out indefinitely. Among the latest additions to the roster are Duke Johnson, who was waived by Baltimore, and defenseman Bruce Garber.HAMPTON: The Aces saw themselves slip 14 points behind fourth place Utica and the final spot with a pair of tough losses inflicted by the Blades.Goalie Jim Bales put on two outstanding efforts in the nets, but Hampton was beaten at home in overtime by Erie 2-1, and were also dealt a narrow 3-1 loss in Erie. Bales stopped 31 shots in Hampton and 33 in Erie, to no avail, with the Aces sliding to 1127-2 for the year.Danny Gruen and Roger Lemelin joined the Aces as the club tried their best to gain momentum and escape the basement. Lemelin was a stand out with Hampton a year ago.UTICA: Goalie Jim Stewart set an Eastern League record when he faced 69 shots in Utica&rsquo;s game in Salem with the Rifles. Stewart managed to turn Richmond away 63 times, but the Mohawks lost the game in the last minute, 6-5. It marked the second time in a week that the Mohawks led the Rifles only to see Richmond come away with victories in the final minute of play. Lee Keller had two goals in a losing cause.Bob Ferguson managed the only goal in Utica&rsquo;s 3-1 loss in Baltimore, but the Mohawks did manage to make up some ground and gain some revenge when they clipped the Clippers 5-2 in Utica. Ed Smith paced the attack with two goals, Ferguson netting three assists. Paul Conway and Keller each posted a goal and an assist.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01579/5043643-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="594" height="826"><figcaption class="caption-body">Veteran defenseman Ray Clearwater was assigned by the parent Rangers to coach Richmond.</figcaption></div>Ferguson and Smith remain in the top 10 and are in a tight race for the scoring leadership on the club, as both are tied for the team lead with 47 points apiece.Coach Larry Mickey feels that the acquisition of Wilkie plus the return of Bob Beatty from the injured list will greatly help Utica on defense.Local netminder Scott Card was inserted as back up goalie to Tom O&rsquo;Toole until the return of Stewart from Binghamton.ERIE: Coach Nick Polano and his Blades are the hottest team in the loop, with Erie winning 10 of its last 12 games, including five wins at home and five of their last seven on the road.With Norm LaPointe doing Yeomen&rsquo;s duties in the net, Erie won close decisions against Hampton, 3-1 and 2-1 in overtime, and then flexed their offensive muscles in ripping Johnstown 10-3, Erie&rsquo;s first win over the Red Wings after three straight defeats. The Blades are now 3-0-2 when extended into the overtime session.Defenseman Daniel Poulin paved the way to a pair of Erie wins with two goals against Hampton and a five assist performance vs. Johnstown. Recent acquisition Dave Lundeen got the game winning tally in overtime to beat Hampton, and Jim Cowell registered ninth hat trick with his three goal, two assist game in the Johnstown victory.The 10 goals against Johnstown were the highest offensive output exhibited by the Blades and Greg Tebbutt (four points) along with Ron Hansis and Sylvain Cote (three points each) played instrumental parts.Hampton managed to shut down Brad Rhines, who since his return from Syracuse scored in 12 of 13 games picking up 12 goals and 12 assists for 24 points.BALTIMORE: The Clippers solidified their hold on third place by winning two of three games. Baltimore goalie Jim Weaver allowed Utica and Johnstown just one goal in 3-1 and 8-1 triumphs before the Clippers were dealt a 52 loss in Utica. Weaver improved his record to 15-11 and lowered his GAA to 3.17, which ranks second among netminders. Henry Taylor and Warren Young remain Baltimore&rsquo;s top offensive weapons with both players occupying spots in the top 10. Taylor has totalled 47 points and Young 46 points. &#9632;

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Rifles Regain Sights On Winning In Time To Hold Off Erie Charge

<div class="byline">BY TOM BURKE</div>BOSTON&mdash;It was just a slap shot. It was well tagged, to be sure, from just inside the blue line directly out from the net.But when the shot, off the stick of Northeastern University junior forward John Montgomery, eluded Boston University goalie Bob Barich at 5:09 of overtime, most of the 14,456 in attendance nearly tore the roof off the Boston Garden.The shot, you see, accounted for the winning goal in the first round of the 28th annual Beanpot Tournament. It propelled Northeastern, the Huntington Hounds who&rsquo;d always been known as the Beanpot&rsquo;s consolation kids, into the championship round of the prestigious Boston event for only the third time ever. And it relegated Boston University, defending champs and virtual owners of the Pot since 1966, to the 6.00 p.m. game one week later. BU hadn&rsquo;t played in a consolation game of Beanpot Tournaments since 1964.One has to have been following Beanpot hockey for a while to fully appreciate the feeling of delight that Fernie Flaman&rsquo;s crew is finally getting another crack at the title. Their last try was in 1967. They&rsquo;ve had poor teams since then, and they&rsquo;ve had some pretty fair teams too. But never have they been able to break that first round jinx until last week when, led by the freewheeling, devil-may-care seniors Wayne Turner and Dale Ferdinandi, they gave up three cheap goals to BU and still pulled it out.After a sprawling defenseman kicked the puck past nervous freshman goalie George Demetrou-lakas to give BU a brief lead, goals by Mark Derby, Sandy Beadle, and Turner put NU ahead 3-1 after a period. The Huskies had some good chances in an even second period, but only BU&rsquo;s Grant Goegan connected. Goegan tied the count just ten seconds into the third frame, and most of the Northeastern faithful as well as the fans of Harvard and Boston College, all rooting zealously for the Hounds, were prepared to write the game off as just another frustrating try with nothing to show.The feeling only became more certain when NU&rsquo;s Gerry Cowie and Goegan swapped a pair of quick markers and then the Terriers&rsquo; Paul Fenton stole and stuffed a loose puck with the goalie out of position behind the net. That gave BU a 5-4 lead with 6:33 to play.But lo and behold, there was Turner, arriving at the crease at the same time as a pass from Ferdinandi, knotting the count at 17:04 and sending the game to the extra session. NU poured it on, getting five shots to BU&rsquo;s one, and almost winning when Ferdinandi clanged the disc off two posts before it was batted away.It ended with the slapper from Montgomery, a transfer from Salem State who, along with a handful of his mates, would not have even dressed for the game had not Seven Huskies left the squad before the season to try the pro ranks. Their defection diminished the talent available at NU, but it kindled a spark that, nourished over a long and unlucky season, finally burst into a flame that in-cinerated a netful of bad memories.The night&rsquo;s feature game wasn&rsquo;t a bad one either, but the throng was limp after Northeastern and BU left the ice. In the feature, favored Boston College fell behind Harvard 3-0 in the first period before settling down and clawing back to tie at 6:13 of the final frame when Mark Switaj beat goalie Wade Lau after a faceoff, six minutes later, Gary Sampson drove a slapshot past Lau for the winner, 4-3.Never has there been a BC-Northeastern final. Nor has the Beanpot seen a more lopsided title match, on paper, as BC held a 194-1 mark while the Huskies checked in at 4-12. But the hope for a miracle is alive on Huntington Avenue, and you might just be reading about one in this space next week.The Beanpot loss to Northeastern counted in the ECAC standings of BU, and coupled with a 3-2 defeat by Providence at Walter Brown Arena, it pushed the defending pennant winners to 6-8 in league play with eight contests remaining. Another unexpected holder of such a record is Cornell, favored by this writer to win the East before the season but plagued by a leaky defense and inconsistent scoring all year long. The Big Red fell behind an aroused Harvard sextet 4-0 in Cambridge and ended up losing 5-3, as Greg Olsen&rsquo;s empty net goal sealed it for the rebuilding Johns.Then Cornell journeyed to Hanover where Dartmouth routed them 8-3, dropping their record to 6-8. The Greenies, straightened away and flying now even though they&rsquo;ve lost defenseman Dave Robbins for the season with a shoulder separation, seem assured of home ice for the playoffs along with Providence, BC, and either Clarkson or Vermont.With a month to go in the season, the other playoff contenders shape up as RPI, BU, Cornell, and New Hampshire. Still in it but with rugged schedules are Brown, Colgate, Harvard, and Princeton.New Hampshire was the playoff titlist last year, but their graduation losses were too great on the front lines to mount a serious pennant run this season. Still, Charlie Holt is hopeful of slipping into a lower seed as the recod stood at 8-9 after a close 4-3 loss at Boston College.&ldquo;I thought our year started off a little faster than we deserved to,&rdquo; commented Charlie. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;re not too far away from being a good team right now. I&rsquo;ve been very pleased with our progress.&rdquo;Lacking the skillful shooters like Ralph Cox, Bob Gould, and Frank Roy who brought so much success in recent years, Charlie has been forced to experiment with defensemen Ross Yantzi and Scott Burkart playing on the same forward line.&ldquo;The way I&rsquo;d really like to be playing is the way that Swedish team does,&rdquo; commented Holt about the outfit that blasted Dartmouth 17-3 in an exhibition tilt the night before. &ldquo;Someday I&rsquo;m going to prove that you can win a hockey game without ever dumping the puck into the zone and chasing it.&rdquo; &#9632;

Northeastern Defeats Terriers In Beanpot Upset

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div>MADISON&mdash;There&rsquo;s few better rivalries in college hockey than that between Minnesota and Wisconsin, two neighboring states who annually fight over the best high school hockey players in Minnesota.For this year, Minnesota has the bragging rights as the Gophers completed a four-game season sweep over the Badgers by shocking Wisconsin twice on its home ice, coming from behind in both games to pull off the trick.Minnesota remained in the running for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association championship by beating Wisconsin 6-4 in the opener, thanks to the hat trick by senior wing Tim Harrer, the leading scorer in the WCHA.The Gophers spotted Wisconsin a 2-0 lead on goals by Ron Vincent and Chuck Durocher, then tied it on goals by Rusty Erickson and Harrer. Brian Campbell put Wisconsin up 3-2 entering the last period, but two goals by Harrer and one each by Steve Ulseth and Kevin Hartzell pulled out the triumph for Minnesota. Hartzell&rsquo;s goal with 7:09 left was the winner.The Gophers had a whirlwind finish in them the second night, too, to quiet 8,000-plus Wisconsin fans. The Gophers pulled it out with third period goals by Ulseth and ERickson. Harrer was the big gun again for Minnesota with his second hat trick in two nights, giving him 36 goals in 26 league games, tops in the league.Minnesota got some good news earlier in the week. For much of the season, it was rumored that Harrer would join the U.S. Olympic team for the Winter Games. Then came the report that prize freshman Aaron Broten might be pirated from the Gopher roster as well to help the Olympians, coached by Herb Brooks, the long-time Gopher coach who is guiding the Olympic effort.Both Harrer and Broten had tryouts with the Olympic team last week. Brooks said Harrer was good enough to make the team, but decided it was unfair to those who had been with the Olympic team all year to cut one of them to make room for Harrer.That was good news for the Gophers, who celebrated by sweeping Wisconsin on Madison ice, a rare feat in any year.Earlier in the year, Minnesota beat Wisconsin 6-5 and 7-2 on Minnesota&rsquo;s home ice.It wasn&rsquo;t a week of all good news for Minnesota. They learned that venerable Williams Arena, the home of the Gophers, had been declared structurally unsafe and that they might have to find a new home next year. Cost of repairing Williams Arena, which also houses the Gopher basketball team, was estimated at $10 million. It&rsquo;s likely that Minnesota will be playing in St. Paul next season, either at the St. Paul Civic Center or the St. Patil Auditorium.But the way the Gophers are playing now, it doesn&rsquo;t seem to matter where they play. Toss the puck out, and Brad Buetow&rsquo;s collection of transfers and newcomers come through.Minnesota might be too far back in the standings to catch league-leading North Dakota, but the Gophers will be a force to be reckoned with in the WCHA playoffs, which start March 7-8.Front-running North Dakota, meanwhile, had a week to brag about, too. The Sioux won three games at home, including a 7-2 rout of the Japanese Olympic hockey team.The Sioux ran their home ice winning streak to 12 by bringing Denver back to earth. The Pioneers, who had won three straight, including a sweep over potent Michigan, were beaten 7-1 and 5-2 by the Sioux before capacity-plus crowds each night.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01550/5043698-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="594" height="677"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tim Harrer was a one-man wrecking crew for Minnesota with a pair of hat tricks versus Wisconsin.</figcaption></div>Doug Smail, a junior wing who is one of the more explosive players in the college game, was the chief thorn in the side of Denver. He scored four goals in the two games against Denver, including two in the third period of the second game to help the Sioux snap a 2-2 tie and go on to win. Mark Taylor, who is battling Minnesota&rsquo;s Harrer for the league scoring title, picked up five assists in the two games to remain hot on the heels of Harrer, who has played four more games than Taylor.For the second straight year, a rookie goalie has emerged as a sensation in North Dakota&rsquo;s title drive. Last year it was Bob Iwabuchi, who earned All-America status for his great play.Iwabuchi has been struggling this year, but rookie Darren Jensen has picked up the slack. Jensen is unbeaten in all seven games he&rsquo;s started. He has a brilliant 1.96 goals against average and a lofty.921 save percentage. He gave up just three goals to Denver in 49 shots on net.Earlier in the week, Taylor&rsquo;s two goals and three assists from Smail helped the Sioux to a 7-2 win over Japan. Phil Sykes, Rick Zaparniuk, Paul Chadwick, Cary Eades and Glen White also scored for the Sioux as Iwabuchi and senior Mel Donnelly combined for 22 saves to 40 for Japan&rsquo;s Takeshi Iwamoto.Michigan snapped a three-game losing streak to remain in contention for the WCHA title. Playing without scoring leader Murray Eaves, sidelined with mono, the Wolverines got an overtime goal by Dan Lerg 3:19 into the suddendeath session to rally past Michigan Tech 3-2.Tech had led 2-0 after one period on goals by Todd Scott and Al Michalich. But goals by Steve Richmond and Tim Manning brought Michigan even after three, then Lerg scored on the first shot on goal by either team in overtime.Tech&rsquo;s Rob PolmanTuin, with 30 saves, and Michigan&rsquo;s Paul Fricker, with 34 stops, were both outstanding.Earlier in the week, Michigan was bombed 9-2 by the Polish Olympic team, which then turned around and lost 5-4 to spunky Michigan State the next night.That Michigan and Michigan Tech should have to decide the result in overtime isn&rsquo;t so strange. They met just once earlier this year, with Tech taking a 5-4 triple overtime win in the finals of the Great Lake Invitational in Detroit&rsquo;s Joe Louis Sports Arena before an all-time college hockey record crowd of 17,642.Minnesota-Duluth, fighting hard to earn a playoff spot, shocked Notre Dame by beating the Irish on their home ice 7-6 and 9-8. Gregg Moore&rsquo;s goal midway through the last period proved to be the winner in the opener. The losses dropped Notre Dame into fifth place.WCHA NOTES: Michigan Tech has lost winger Greg Hay with a knee injury and is still missing wing Gord Salt, who may get an enzyme injection to relieve a disc problem that has shelved him much of the season&hellip;Senior wing Rick Myers has returned to the North Dakota lineup after missing three weeks with a knee injury&hellip;Denver lost wing Shawn Dineen with a shoulder separation in the series with North Dakota&hellip;When Duluth&rsquo;s Dan Lempe got a goal and two assists in the 7-6 win over Notre Dame, he became the first player in Duluth history to surpass 200 points in his career. He needs eight more assists to break the Duluth record of 135 set by defenseman Curt Giles, now playing with the Minnesota &#9632;

f0028-01

Gophers Digging Into Playoff Form With Sweep Against Rival Badgers

<div class="byline">BY MIKE MURRAY</div>MONCTON&mdash;It was a week of firsts for the Moncton Aigles Bleus. For the first time in their history they defeated every team in the Maritimes at least once. Not since 1965 had Moncton defeated St. Mary&rsquo;s in regular season play in Halifax. Also, their big gun Francois Bessette broke the league record of 62 points in a season as he upped his total to 65. If he keeps up his present pace he will surpass the 80 point plateau. Bessette wiped out the old record jointly held by Ron Naud of Dalhousie and Connie Leblanc of Moncton.Moncton made it 12 games in a row without a loss as they downed Acadia 6-5 and St. Mary&rsquo;s 4-2. The Aigles Bleus fell behind 2-0 to Acadia within the first 10 minutes and if it hadn&rsquo;t been for the brilliant work of goaltender Conrad Beliveau, Acadia could have salted the game away. But true to form Jean Perron&rsquo;s club fought back and with the help of Reni Levesque&rsquo;s three goals Moncton kept their streak alive. Beliveau ended the night with 45 saves, the most a Moncton goaler has been called upon to make this year.Then it was off to Halifax to face a 15-year jinx. It looked as if the story was going to have the same old ending as the Huskies scored late in the second period to draw even at two. But Bessette took things into his own hands and scored two third period goals to lift the jinx. Moncton so dominated the third period that St. Mary&rsquo;s had only three shots on goal.&ldquo;Bessette comes alive when they really need him,&rdquo; explained P. R. man Bob Scott. &ldquo;It was the biggest victory of the season for the team.&rdquo;In the Eastern Division, Dalhousie and St. Francis Xavier split their weekend doubleheader. It was a homer&rsquo;s series as the Tigers won 6-2 in Halifax and then lost 7-3 to the X-Men in Antigonish. Tony Cuomo was the big gun as he knotched a pair of goals in the X-Men win. Acadia continued to fade. Besides their loss to Moncton, the Axemen lost to Mt. Allison 10-6. Kevin Foran was a one man wrecking crew as he had four goals and four assists while linemate Ross Yates also collected four goals.Inter-divisional play has ended and all remaining games are played between clubs in their own division. With the wild card playoff spots still up for grabs each of the games in the next three weeks becomes more and more important.QUAA: The Trois-Rivieres Patriotes avenged their only loss of the season and virtually ended Concordia&rsquo;s hopes for finishing first as they downed the Stingers 6-2. The Patriotes&rsquo; big captain, Yves Pellerin, scored a pair of goals as well as setting up two others in leading his team once again. If it hadn&rsquo;t been for the Stingers&rsquo; netminder, Grant McNicholl, the Patriotes could nave easily duplicated their previous 122 win over Concordia. The Stingers&rsquo; defense was woefully weak as the Pariotes fired 55 shots toward McNicholl while at the other end of the rink Daniel Coutu hardly worked up a sweat as he faced only 12 shots.After dropping out of the race for first place the Stingers then tried their hardest to drop out of the race for even second place. The Ottawa Gee-Gees, who had never beaten Concordia before last week, made it two victories in a row over the fading Stingers as they up-ended the Stingers 4-3 in their own rink. The Gee-Gees got two goal efforts from Chris Jodoin and Paul Webster as they moved three points up in the race for second place.Next in line for the Stingers were the lowly Laval rouge et or. Falling behind by two goals at the end of 40 minutes, things looked bleak once more for Concordia. But for once they reversed the trend of recent weeks and knotched two third period goals to preserve a tie.Elsewhere around Quebec, the Patriotes made it still only one loss in 17 outings as they clobbered McGill 9-1. Claude Huard and Carol Labrie each netted a pair as the Patriotes moved four points up on the second place Gee-Gees. The race for the final playoff spot has now started to heat up.Bishop&rsquo;s won their only game of the week, a 5-0 whitewashing of McGill. Andre Paradis earned his second shutout of the year as he turned aside 21 Redmen shots. Chicoutimi kept ahead of the Gaitors as All Canadian Bernard Chamberlain scored a hat trick to help salvage a seven-all tie with Laval.OUAA: Another week has gone by in Ontario and once again no other team was able to put a dent into the loss column against McMaster, Toronto or Queen&rsquo;s. These three schools are all presently ranked in the top ten and there is little to choose between them as the playoffs approach.Toronto added two more wins to their record as they downed Western 5-3 and Laurier 7-3. Both games were identical in that Toronto jumped off to an early lead only to squander it and have the visitors tie the game at three before the end of the second period. Fortunately for the Blues they turned things around in both third periods and outscored their opposition 7-0 to preserve both victories.&ldquo;The Western game was very close and we were very fortunate to regroup and win,&rdquo; said Toronto coach Gord Davies. It must be remembered that the Blues have been accomplishing their most recent victories without three veterans&mdash;Doug Caines, Jim Snet-singer and Tom Thiesen. But Davies has had three most unlikely players step forward and pick up the slack. Mike Todd, was cut by Bill Mahoney of McMaster last year, has rebounded to strengthen the weakened center position. After being cut the past three years by Tom Watt, Jeff Andrews tried once more and the Blues are glad he did, as Andrews has turned into a star left winger. Jeff Shaw, who has played in the shadows of other Blues&rsquo; stars in recent years has taken over the leadership role of this team with 13 rookies in their line up.Queen&rsquo;s maintained their one point lead over McMaster as they picked up three of a possible four points. Barry Ashbee was outstanding as he stopped 31 shots in Queen&rsquo;s 5-1 triumph over Waterloo. Paul Stothart had a goal and two assists to move him into a first place tie in the scoring race. The Golden Gaels then hosted York and almost suffered a tragic defeat. The host Gaels jumped off to an early 3-0 lead in the first 10 minutes but ended up holding on for dear life as York tied the game and then took control. &ldquo;York really should have won. We were very lucky,&rdquo; he said.John McIntyre, who was the league&rsquo;s fifth leading scorer before he got injured, has now started to skate again and if Queen&rsquo;s intends on finishing first they will need their big left winger back in their line up.McMaster kept pace with the pack as they won their only game. Rick Mastroluisi had a goal and an assist as his teammates downed Laurentian, 4-1. Mastroluisi is tied with Paul Stothart of Queen&rsquo;s with 46 points in the scoring race. Even though Guelph has had all sorts of problems, Mike McParland has been able to play his game and is only one point behind the leaders in the scoring race. McParland was Canada&rsquo;s leading scorer last year.CWUAA: Calgary and Alberta are still neck and neck in their battle for the top spot in Canada&rsquo;s western conference. The Dinosaurs and Golden Bears have been raging their weekly battle since the first week of the season and not once has there been more than a two point difference on Monday morning. However, Calgary feels that they are now in the driver&rsquo;s seat. Of their remaining six games, four are with Alberta&mdash;the key being that all four games between the co-leaders will be played in Dinosaur country. First place is very important as all three games in the best of three final are played at the home of the first place club.The Golden Bears and Dinosaurs presently have identical records. In Edmonton the Golden Bears hosted a hustling Huskie club and almost lost both ends of their weekend doubleheader. Alberta was on the run as they were behind 3-2 after 40 minutes. But within a span of only 37 seconds the Golden Bears turned what appeared to be a loss into a victory as they netted three goals. Rolland scored at 13:42, Riggins at 13:59, Snyder at 14:19 and the Huskies had another heartbreaking loss for their record. In their next game, the teams left the ice after two periods tied up at three. Then an unlikely hero arose as Bill Hylnsky knotched two third period goals to lift the Huskies to a well deserved victory. Hylnsky had only four other tallies to his credit before he netted his pair.Alberta is on the limp these days as two of their stars are out of the line up. Chris Helland has a damaged knee and will be out for another two weeks while Mike Broadfoot separated his shoulder and is lost indefinitely.Out in Vancouver, Calgary lost its fourth game in a row as they fell 6-2 to the Thunderbirds. Hugh Cameron had a pair of goals for the winners while Bill Holowaty had four helpers. Brent Stuart started only his fifth game of the season, but came up with his best effort as the kicked out 34 Dinosaur shots. Calgary finally ended their losing streak as they edged their hosts 6-5 in a seesaw battle. A pair of Jerry&rsquo;s were the heroes&mdash;Jerry Orban scored his first two goals of the season and Jerry Bancks had a hand in five of Calgary&rsquo;s six goals.Only six games remain for the co-leaders and it looks as if it will all be decided only during the weekend of the season when Calgary hosts the Golden Bears for two games. &#9632;

Flying Aigles Reeling In Records

<h2>ECAC CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Mon. Feb. 11)DIVISION I<h3>East Section</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01472/5043872-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="540" height="178"></div><h3>West Section</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02324/5043865-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="549" height="152"></div><h3>Ivy Section</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03207/5043858-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="551" height="179"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Vermont 5, Brown 3Colgate 8, St. Lawrence 3Dartmouth 5, Providence 3B&ouml;ston College 4, N. Hampshire 3Providence 3. Boston Univ. 2Clarkson 8, RPI 5Harvard 5, Cornell 3Princeton 4, Brown 2Dartmouth 8, Cornell 3RPI 6, St. Lawrence 2Yale 7, Vermont 4<h3>BEANPOT TOURNAMENT</h3>Northeastern 6, Boston Univ. 5Boston College 4, Harvard 3<h3>OTHER GAMES</h3>Maine 2, Colby 1Bowdoin 11, Northeastern 3Colgate 11, Union 3Elmira 11, Hamilton 1Lowell 11, Norwich 3Oswego St. 12, Cortland St. 1Amherst 9, Bryant 6Fitchburg St. 3, Assumption 2Geneseo St. 7, Rochester Tech 4Hamilton 5, Hobart 4Geneseo St. S, Potsdam St. 4Lowell 4, Williams 1Nichols 5, Ramapo 4Oswego St. 6, Buffalo 1Plattsburgh St. 7, Merrimack 4Westfield St. 8, Fairfield 2<h3>LEADING SCORERES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04142/5043851-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="552" height="650"></div><h3>WCHA CONFERENCE</h3>(Standings on Tue. Feb. 12)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-05124/5043844-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="563" height="281"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wisconsin 7, Notre Dame 5Minn.-Duluth 7, Notre Dame 6Dultuh 9, Notre Dame 8North Dakota 4, Denver 1North Dakota 5, Denver 2Minnesota 6, Wisconsin 4Minnesota 7, Wisconsin 6Michigan 3, Michigan Tech 2 (ot)Michigan 8, Mich. Tech 4<h3>NON-CONFERENCE</h3>Minn.-Duluth 5, Japanese Olympic 4Polish Olympic 9, Michigan 2North Dakota 7, Japanese Olympic 2Michigan State 5, Polish Olympic 4<h3>LEADING SCORERES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-06102/5043837-1-eng-US/f0029-062.jpg" title="f0029-06" width="569" height="529"></div><h2>ECAC CONFERENCE</h2>DIVISION II<h3>East Section</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0785/5043830-1-eng-US/f0029-072.jpg" title="f0029-07" width="571" height="403"></div><h3>West Section</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0875/5043823-1-eng-US/f0029-082.jpg" title="f0029-08" width="574" height="408"></div><h2>CCHA CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Feb. 12)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0970/5043816-1-eng-US/f0029-092.jpg" title="f0029-09" width="581" height="178"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Fri. Feb. 8Western Michigan 3 at Bowling Green 9Ferris State 5 at Ohio State 6Lake Superior 2 at Northern Mich. 12Sat. Feb. 9Western Mich. 4 at Bowling Green 8Ferris State 6 at Ohio State 5Lake Superior 4 at Northern Mich. 6<h2>ONTARIO CONFERENCE</h2>(Standings on Wed., Feb. 13)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1062/5043809-1-eng-US/f0029-102.jpg" title="f0029-10" width="569" height="342"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Toronto 5, Western 3Waterloo 11, Ryerson 1Guelph 7, Brock 2McMaster 4, Laurentian 1Western 8, York 5Queen&rsquo;s 5, Waterloo 1Windsor 4, Ryerson 4Queen&rsquo;s 3, York 3McMaster 12, Ryerson 2Waterloo 5, Laurier 1Toronto 4, Brock 1Western 4, Laurentian 1Toronto 3, Waterloo 2Guelph 5, McMaster 2Queen&rsquo;s 8, Brock 3Laurentian 9, Western 2York 5, Ryerson 0Laurier 6, York 7Guelph 9, Windsor 2<h3>OTHER GAMES</h3>Concordia 7, McGill 2St. Mary&rsquo;s 2, St. F. Xavier 2Dalhousie 4, Acadia 2UPEI 7, Moncton 2Bishop&rsquo;s 5, McGill 2Concordia 5, Laval 3Chicoutimi 6, T. Rivieres 3Dalhousie 8, St. Thomas 1Moncton 4, UPEI 5St. Mary&rsquo;s 5, Acadia 2St. F. Xavier 9, UNB 2Bishop&rsquo;s 2, Chicoutimi 1Tr. Rivieres 10, Laval 1Dalhousie 6, UNB 5St. F. Xavier 10, St. Thomas 8Mt. Allison 9, UPEI 5Chicoutimi 4, Tr. Rivieres 3Regina 4, Lakehead 2Alberta 1, Calgary 0Brandon 9, Winnipeg 2UBC 5, Saskatchewan 3<h3>LEADING SCORERES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1157/5043802-1-eng-US/f0029-112.jpg" title="f0029-11" width="567" height="306"></div><h2>QUEBEC CONFERENCE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1252/5043795-1-eng-US/f0029-122.jpg" title="f0029-12" width="578" height="215"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1345/5043788-1-eng-US/f0029-132.jpg" title="f0029-13" width="567" height="186"></div><h2>ATLANTIC CONFERENCE</h2><h3>EASTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1441/5043781-1-eng-US/f0029-142.jpg" title="f0029-14" width="574" height="137"></div><h3>WESTERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1537/5043774-1-eng-US/f0029-152.jpg" title="f0029-15" width="567" height="187"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>UNB 10, Mt. Allison 5UPEI 4, Memorial 0Mt. Allison 10, Acadia 6UPEI 8, St. Thomas 1St. Mary&rsquo;s 10, Mt. Allison 2UNB 14, Memorial 1UPEI 5, UNB 3Moncton 4, St. Marv&rsquo;s 2St. Thomas 5, Memorial 1<h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><h3>Eastern Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1635/5043767-1-eng-US/f0029-162.jpg" title="f0029-16" width="560" height="156"></div><h3>Western Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1733/5043760-1-eng-US/f0029-172.jpg" title="f0029-17" width="561" height="163"></div><h2>CANADA WEST</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1831/5043753-1-eng-US/f0029-182.jpg" title="f0029-18" width="572" height="136"></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

How They Stand

<h2>ECAC Conference</h2><h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1926/5043938-1-eng-US/f0029-192.jpg" title="f0029-19" width="598" height="1004"></div><h2>WCHA Conference</h2><h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-2022/5043931-1-eng-US/f0029-202.jpg" title="f0029-20" width="620" height="580"></div><h3>MARCH</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-2122/5043924-1-eng-US/f0029-212.jpg" title="f0029-21" width="616" height="270"></div><h2>CCHA Conference</h2><h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-2218/5043917-1-eng-US/f0029-222.jpg" title="f0029-22" width="590" height="410"></div><h3>MARCH</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-2317/5043910-1-eng-US/f0029-232.jpg" title="f0029-23" width="584" height="90"></div><h2>CIAU Conference</h2><h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-2416/5043903-1-eng-US/f0029-242.jpg" title="f0029-24" width="592" height="1385"></div> &#9632;

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Games To Come

1. McMaster Marlins2. Moncton Aigles Bleus3. Alberta Golden Bears4. T-Rivieres Patriotes5. Calgary Dinosaurs6. Toronto Blues7. Queen&rsquo;s Golden Gaels8. Ottawa Gee-Gees9. Brandon Bobcats10. St. Marv&rsquo;s Huskies &#9632;

Top Canadian College Teams

<div class="byline">BY JIM SCHNEIDER</div>COLUMBUS&mdash;Bill Joyce and John Kyle each scored two goals to give Northern Michigan, the nation&rsquo;s number-one ranked team, a 5-3 win over Ohio State and a split in the showdown Central Collegiate Hockey Association series,Ohio State took the opener 4-3 in the first CCHA weekend that resulted in all splits as Bowling Green lost 6-1 beat Ferri&rsquo;s State 64 and Lake Superior recorded its first win of the year, 6-4 over Western Michigan before WMU bounced back for a 9-5 win.In an exhibition contest Bowling Green handed the Polish Olympic team a 5-4 loss.First place was on the line when Ohio State knocked off Northern Michigan 4-3, marking the first league loss of the season for the No. 1 Wildcats.OSU&rsquo;s Jim Mruszak had a hand in all of the scoring for the Buckeyes with a pair of goals and two assists.NMU had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 on goals by Jeff Pyle and Jeff Tas-coff, but Tom Scanlon&rsquo;s power play goal in the second period tied the game heading into the final period.Paul Tilley pushed OSU ahead at 3:59 of the third period and Mruszak&rsquo;s second goal made it 4-2.Steve Bozek scored a power play goal for NMU at 15:55 for the final margin.NMU coach Rick Comley made a few lineup changes that included moving defensemen Tom Laidlaw and Don Waddell to forward positions and his move worked as NMU jumped to a 5-0 lead with Tascoff scoring at 3:38 of the first period and Joyce scoring his two goals before the first period ended.Kyle netted a pair of power play goals at 1:56 and 9:32 of the second period for the 5-0 margin.Brent Morrow scored in the second period and Tilley and Mark Collins scored third period goals as the Buckeyes fought back.NMU&rsquo;s Steve Weeks made 15 saves in the third period and 25 in the game for the win. Steve Jones played both nights in goal for OSU.Lake Superior freshman Steve Mulholland had a six-point weekend and earned CCHA player-of-the-week honors as Rick Yeo&rsquo;s Lakers earned their first league win of the season.LSSC goalie Murray Skinner made 52 saves in the opener incing 26 in the first period for the win. WMU fired 27 shots on Skinner and Bob Scurfield scored the only goal at the 11:12 mark to tie the game after Mulholland&rsquo;s 3:46 marker opened the scoring.The tie lasted several seconds before Bryan Alexander put the Lakers ahead 2-1.Bobby Ciotti scored two second period goals and Andy Clark made the score 5-1 after two periods. Steve Sherman added the lone third period score for the hosts.Kevin Scott scored four goals for WMU in the second game leading the Bronco attack in the 9-5 win.Scurfield put WMU ahead at 9:17 of the first period and Scott made it 3-0 with two goals just 31 seconds apart. Mulholland&rsquo;s first of three goals made the score 3-1 after of period.WMU moved its lead to 5-2 after two periods. LSSC bounced back on two goals by Mulholland and one by Sherman to make the score 6-5 in favor of WMU.The Broncos iced the game with three goals in 34 seconds with Scott adding the last two just 19 seconds apart.Ferris State collected its sixth straight CCHA win in the opener over Bowling Green with Paul Cook and Rocki Smith scoring two goals to lead the way.FSC&rsquo;s Perry Zoldak and BG&rsquo;s Brian Hills exchanged goals in a 11 first period and the host Bulldogs ran off three quick goals in the second period by Cook, Tom Rudrud and Smith. Cook and Smith scored third period goals for the final margin.Ted Ykema made 38 saves in the opener for FSC, but had only 21 in the loss.George McPhee collected two goals for the Falcons in the second game, his first two-goal game of the season. McPhee had 40 goals by Steve Banonis and Randy Strong.McPhee&rsquo;s second goal of the game tied the score at 2-2 and goals by Andy Crowther and Derek Arzoomanian gave BG a 4-3 lead after two periods.Hills scored the winner on the power play, the lone power play goal of the series, at 1:05 of the third period and Tim Alexander added an insurance goal at 7:53.Michael David had 34 saves in front of the 2,932 fans, the second largest FSC crowd ever.Three nights later Alexander was named the first star as he scored two goals as BG topped Poland 5-4.Wally Charko made 15 saves in the first period as BG grabbed a 3-0 lead on goals by Alexander,<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01539/5043993-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="528" height="604"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Kyle pumped in a pair goals to build a big lead NMU&rsquo;s win over Ohio State.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0030-01

Wildcats Claw Buckeyes After League Loss

<div class="byline">BY MORRIS DALLA COSTA</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSNIAGARA FALLS&mdash;Rookie coach Fred Stanfield couldn&rsquo;t have been out in a more difficult situation.He took over Niagara Falls Flyers seven games Into the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League reason, when coach Barry Boughn-was fired. Boughner had just an over from Bert Templeton who had gone to Nova Scotia Voyajeurs. In simple terms, in a short period of time, Flyers had to go rom Templeton to Boughner to Stanfield. Not an easy adjustment.&ldquo;Sure it&rsquo;s hard to come in early in the season and take over somebody else&rsquo;s team,&rdquo; says Stanfield. &lsquo;You have to teach them a whole new system and it took them a while to get adjusted to it.&rdquo;That adjustment seemed to be easier to make at home than on road. Flyers went 13 games undefeated in their arena, but had ill sorts of trouble out of town. According to Stanfield, they are playing better on the road right now than earlier in the season.&ldquo;We had to cut down our goals against on the road. We were lossing games 7-6 which is really heartbreaking. The players were getting down on themselves, but wins in the last few outings in the other guy&rsquo;s building are helping confidence,&rdquo; continued Stan-leld.Flyers try to play a total game both offensively and defensively. According to Stanfield, when they don&rsquo;t have the puck they are on defense. He&rsquo;s tried to instill this aspect in his hockey players.&ldquo;Most junior hockey players are brain-washed into wanting to score goals. It takes discipline to first to a system.&rdquo;It isn&rsquo;t that Flyers don&rsquo;t have he people to put the puck in the let. They&rsquo;ve got more than enough ire-power. Flyers have eight players with 10 or more goals. Leading the charge are linemates Steve Ludzik and Steve Larmer, both in the OMJHL top 10 scorers. Daryl Evans also has over 30 goals. Other double figured players are Jim Jackson, Brian Carroll, Tom Gibson, Kevin McClelland and Pat Graham. Graham came to Niagara Falls for Wayne Crawford, who went to Toronto Marlies. Although Crawford is leading the Marlies in scoring, Stanfield can&rsquo;t say enough good things about Graham, and 25 goals don&rsquo;t hurt.On the blueline it&rsquo;s devastating checker Paul Thomas. A pure open ice body checker, he holds down the blueline brigade.As the season wears down to the playoffs (and goaltending is the key according to Stanfield), Flyers&rsquo; netminder Glen Ernst is playing exceptionally well. Ernst will have to go well if Flyers&rsquo; want to threaten anybody.Flyers have had an up and down season so far, and they proved it recently by playing strongly one week and then coming up cold.Flyers lost a 6-2 contest to Oshawa Generals and didn&rsquo;t look well at all. Bob Kucheran had a pair of goals for Oshawa, while Graham and Brian Rorabeck scored for Flyers.Things didn&rsquo;t get any better. Peterborough travelled to Niagara Falls and wound up on the long end of a 2-1 count. Flyers just couldn&rsquo;t seem to beat Terry Wright, who normally backs up regular Petes&rsquo; netminder Rick Laferriere.Then it was time to host the high-scoring Brantford Alexanders, who brought their scatter-gun attack to the Falls. The result was a typical 10-8 Brantford win.Ron Leaf led Brantford with three goals, while Kevin Lavallee had a pair. Other scorers were Mike Bullard, Greg Terrion, Scott Vanderburgh, Art Rutland and Rick Goodfellow.For Niagara Falls it was rookie Todd Kwiessen with a pair of markers.Brantford didn&rsquo;t stop there as they jumped all over Windsor for a 9-5 win. This time it was Lavallee and Terrion leading the assault with two goals each.Spitfires are still leading the Emms division, but Toronto is hot on their heels only four points back. Niagara Falls is seven behind and eight back is Brantford.Windsor did some shoot &lsquo;em up themselves as they defeated Sudbury Wolves 9-7. Steve Peters and Mike Carson had two goals each in the wild and wooly affair. Claude Julien, J. P. Leroux, Blair Barnes, Shawn Babcock and Paul Gagne scored for Windsor.Toronto kept pace with a big 5-4 win over Kingston Canadiens. Dan Barber, Scott McGeown and Jim Peplinski scored in the third period for the win. Crawford had a goal and three assists.Tim Kerr had a pair of goals for Kingston, while Scott Howson, Justin Hanley had the others.The same two clubs also played to a 4-4 tie with Barber, Dave Aquin, Stewart Gavin and Jim Malone scoring for Toronto, who trailed 4-1 at one time.Peter Dineen, Craig Muni, Bernie Nicholls and Howson scored for Kingston.Todd Bidner scored an overtime goal to give Toronto a 3-2 win over Sault. Ste. Marie Greyhounds. McGeown and Peplinski had the others while Dave Robson and Bob Hicks scored for the Soo.In that contest All Star netminder Bruce Dowie suffered a pulled hamstring in the Toronto net and may be out for three weeks. That will hurt Toronto.London Knights went through another bad week. They tied Greyhounds 5-5 and then lost 3-2 to cellar-dweller Kitchener Rangers. Rangers got a goal 64 seconds from the end from Paul Pooley to take the victory. Russ Adam&rsquo; and Jim McGeachie had the other goals. Wayne Thompson had both goals for Kitchener.In the Leyden division the race has tightened up again with five points separating Peterborough, Ottawa, Oshawa and Kingston.Peterborough is 2-5-1 in their last eight games. They lost 6-5 to London and then went into Oshawa and were beaten 5-3. Two goals each by Generals&rsquo; Mitch Lamoureux and Bob Crawford did the damage. Lamoureux, a rookie, has 25 goals and is a contender for the rookie of the year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01491/5044024-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="582" height="748"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Ludzik has been a key cog in the Flyers attack this season, teamed with Steve Larmer.</figcaption></div>Petes have had their trouble with mental fatigue, due in part to the World Junior Championship they played in and with several injuries. Bill Gardner, Dave Morrison and Mark Reeds have been lost to the team for three weeks. &#9632;

f0031-01

Stanfield Drew Tough Assignment As Third Flyer Coach Within Year

SAULT STE. MARIE&mdash;Angelo Bumbacco has stepped down as general manager of the Sault Ste. Marie Greysounds.Bumbacco has been a fixture in the Soo for a number of years, but tough sledding the past three seasons has caused him to pack it in.The new general manager will be super scout Sam McMaster, who was with the Toronto Marlboros. McMaster helped build the Niagara Falls Flyers and Toronto clubs. &#9632;

Bumbacco Leaves Soo

<div class="byline">BY GREGG DRINNAN</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSBRANDON&mdash;One night, right winger Don Gillen was skating with the Western Hockey League&rsquo;s Brandon Wheat Kings, as they defeated Lethbridge Broncos 6-2.The very next night, Gillen was making his National Hockey League debut, and scoring a goal in the process.Early on Sat. Jan. 26, the six-foot-three, 210-pound Gillen received a phone call from the Philadelphia Flyers, who had selected him in the August 1979 entry draft. The Flyers were requesting his presence in Edmonton the next night for a game against the Oilers.Later that day, Gillen picked up one assist as the Wheat Kings downed the visiting Broncos, for their seventh consecutive victory.The next morning, Gillen drove into Winnipeg, hopped a plane to Edmonton and ended up skating in the Coliseum before 15,423 fans.The Oilers were clinging to a 32 lead late in the second period when Gillen, wearing No. 21, took to the ice with center Bobby Clarke and left winger Bill Barber. The Flyers moved into the Edmonton zone and Oilers&rsquo; goaltender Jim Corsi tried to clear the puck around the boards. Philly defenseman Jack Mcllhargey trapped it and fired a shot towards the net. Gillen, parked about 15 feet out in the slot, redirected the shot and it caught the corner of the net.Evading the outstretched arms of Clarke, Gillen ducked under the cross-bar and fished out the puck.Gillen&rsquo;s goal came at 17:02 and just 59 seconds later Reg Leach scored, sending the Flyers on their way to a 5-3 triumph.&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t believe it when it went in,&rdquo; a thrilled Gillen said. &ldquo;In fact, I still can&rsquo;t believe it.&rdquo;Gillen, who had 20 goals and 41 assists with the Wheat Kings, leads the WHL in penalty minutes, with 326. But, he never incurred a penalty in his pro debut.&ldquo;I hit a couple of guys,&rdquo; Gillen offered, &ldquo;but nothing real serious. In fact, I got kind of burnt once. I went to hit (defenseman Pat) Price in the comer. He stepped back, went around me, picked up the puck and away he went. I&rsquo;d never seen a move like that in my life.&rdquo;But, what impressed Gillen most about hockey&rsquo;s big time?&rdquo;&ldquo;Everyone&rsquo;s got a job to do and they do it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Some guys can skate with the puck and others can move it. You don&rsquo;t see anyone trying to do something someone else can do. You don&rsquo;t see (Flyers&rsquo; defenseman Andre) Dupont ripping up the ice carrying the puck.&rdquo;So, with one goal, Gillen put his name in the WHLs &lsquo;Book of Trivia&rsquo;: Who is the only active player in the WHL to have scored a goal in an NHL regular-season game?Gillen rejoined the Wheat Kings on Tues. Jan. 29, in a game against the visiting Regina Pats. And, the big winger pumped in three goals, including the gamewinner and the insurance marker, in a 7-5 Brandon victory. That was the Wheat Kings&rsquo; eighth consecutive win and lifted their record to 24-24-1, the first time they had reached the.500 plateau since Nov. 25.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t play very well (against Regina),&rdquo; said Gillen, whose three goals gave him 22 on the season, one more than he scored last year. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m tired&hellip;mentally and physically&hellip;all the excitement&hellip;I haven&rsquo;t slept much the last few nights.&rdquo;CALGARY: The Wranglers whipped Seattle Breakers 9-1 in Calgary to move seven points ahead of the second-place Regina Pats in the eastern division chase. Captain Kelly Kisio, with two goals and an assist, hit the 100-point mark. The Wranglers, though, lost three in a row to Billings Bighorns.&mdash;&mdash;REGINA: Center Doug Wickenheiser scored his 51st, 52nd and 53rd goals of the season, tops in the league, as the Pats dumped Lethbridge Broncos 5-3 in Regina. The Pats&rsquo; Darren Galley accounted for the winning goal when he beat Lethbridge goaltender Cleo Rowein on a second-period penalty shot. Wickenheiser followed that effort with another three-goal night, leading the Pats to a 9-5 victory over the New Westminster Bruins. The Bruins held a 5-4 lead heading into the third period, but the Pats, sparked by Ron Flockhart&rsquo;s two goals, scored five unanswered goals. Wickenheiser then hit for two goals and a pair of assists as the Pats lost 7-5 to the Wheat Kings in Brandon. With 114 points, the Regina captain is 13 ahead of Calgary&rsquo;s Kelly Kisio.MEDICINE HAT: The Tigers got three third-period goals and went on to a 6-4 home-ice win over the Seattle Breakers. Ken Solheim, with one of the hardest shots in the WHL, scored his 31st and 32nd goals, while team-mate Tom McGillivray also had a pair. Solheim added two more goals as the Tigers hammered New Westminster Bruins 9-2 to stay four points ahead of the hard-charging Brandon Wheat Kings.LETHBRIDGE: Broncos&rsquo; coach Mike Sauter was fined $500 for pulling his team off the ice during a 4-3 loss to the Wranglers in Calgary on Jan. 18. Sauter, unhappy with the officiating, yanked his club with 2:19 left in the third period. The Broncos returned to finish the game, but did so without Sauter, who was given a game misconduct. The Broncos, after losing on consecutive nights in Regina and Branden, returned home to whip Seattle Breakers 7-0. Gord Williams pumped in four goals, giving him 42, and Sandy Sullivan added a pair. Goaltender Cleo Rowein blocked 23 shots to earn his first shutout. Williams then had his second consecutive four-goal game as the Broncos scored a 9-7 homeice win over the New Westminster Bruins. Williams, the property of Philadelphia Flyers, also added two assists, while Randy Ruff had a goal and four helpers. Lethbridge led 4-1 after the first period but the Bruins tied the score 7-7 late in the third. The Broncos then got goals from Ralph Andreesen and Mike Moller to wrap it up.BILLINGS: The Bighorns took three in a row from the first-place Calgary Wranglers. Lindsay Carson scored twice and set up two others as the Bighorns dumped the Wranglers&rsquo; 10-6 in Billings. The Bighorns outshot the visitors 55-36. The two teams staged a benchclearing brawl in the first period that resulted in both clubs being fined $250. And, one-game suspensions were handed to Carson and John Strait of the Bighorns and Leigh Verstraete of Calgary. Two nights later, also in Billings, Marcel Frere banged in three goals as the Bighorns won 4-3. Two of Frere&rsquo;s goals came late in the third period to wipe out a 3-2 Calgary lead. Then, in Calgary, Jeff Zilkie scored all three goals, giving him 33, as the Bighorns erased a 21 deficit and won 3-2. That left Billings tied with Brandon and Lethbridge for fourth place in the eastern division.SASKATOON: The Blades snapped a 13-game winless streak by scoring a home-ice 8-4 win over the hapless New Westminster Bruns. Linemates Glen Ganchar, with two goals and two assists, and Brent Sapergia, with two goals and one helper, led the way. &#9632;

Step Up To NHL No Problem For Brandon Star

VICTORIA: The Cougars, playing before their largest home crowd of the season, didn&rsquo;t disappoint the 4,392 fans as they got past Portland Winter Hawks 5-2 to take a three-point lead atop the western division. Defenseman Bob McGill&rsquo;s goal at 12:02 of the third period snapped a 2-2 tie and turned out to be the winner.PORTLAND: The Winter Hawks then nipped Victoria&rsquo;s lead to one point by whipping the Cougars 10-6 in Portland. Florent Robidoux led Portland with three goals and Gary Yaremchuk added a pair. Portland goaltender Darrell May kicked out 38 shots to earn his 21st win of the season.SEATTLE: The Breakers continued an Eastern road swing, and they have not had a good time. Seattle lost 9-1 in Calgary, 7-0 in Lethbridge and 6-4 in Medicine Hat, running its losing streak to six games, all on their current trip. But, the Breakers still have a lock on the Western Division&rsquo;s third and final playoff spot, as they are 30 points ahead of New Westminster Bruins.NEW WESTMINSTER: The Bruins lost their 43rd game of the season, 9-7 to the Broncos in Lethbridge. They also lost 8-4 in Saskatoon, 9-5 in Regina and 9-2 in Medicine Hat. The one bright spot in the four games has 18-year-old center Anthony McMurchy, who had eight goals and four assists, including a four-goal outing in Lethbridge. &#9632;

Cougars Thrill Fans

<div class="byline">BY DANNY YOUNG</div>LOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSLOUISVILLE HOCKEY STICKSMONTREAL&mdash;More than ever before, pennant fever is alive in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. With about 15 games remaining on each team&rsquo;s schedule, only nine points separate the top six teams.How&rsquo;s that for parity in a 10-team league? Just compare that to the 21 team NHL where the first and sixth place teams have over 25 points between them.This parity is more a product of inspired efforts from certain coaches and players rather than a proper distribution of talent.&ldquo;On paper, nobody can touch Sherbrooke,&rdquo; says Chicoutimi coach Orval Tessier. &ldquo;But on the ice, there are a lot of teams who can play with them.&rdquo;The improved competition between the teams has evolved since the beginning of December. Since that time, front runners Sherbrooke and Chicoutimi have had inferior records to three clubs&mdash;Quebec, Cornwall, and Trois-Rivieres. And sixth place Montreal has kept pace, particularly since the arrival of new coach Jacques St. Jean.This has set the stage for an exciting conclusion to the 1979-80 season. There will be 27 &ldquo;four point&rdquo; games played between these six teams and the competition should be intense, as it has been for the last couple of weeks.&ldquo;Every game is like a playoff game,&rdquo; says Doug Carpenter, coach of the Cornwall Royals. &ldquo;You just can&rsquo;t afford to lose games anymore.&rdquo;In the past, such increased pressure on players and coaches often had some negative results. More specifically, they have reacted with &ldquo;over-aggressiveness&rdquo;, to be polite about it. Fortunately, this has not yet occurred. At least, not during the games.Something did happen after one game between Trois-Rivieres and Shawinigan. A fight broke out in the lobby of the arena and the combatants were not players but coaches Michel Bergeron and Ron Racette.The rivalry between these two cities is intense, and this is quite apparent whenever the two clubs meet. On this particular night, Shawinigan trailed 4-2 going into the third period, but scored two goals in the space of 27 seconds to earn a 4-4 deadlock.The league has reviewed the case and disciplinary action is expected to be announced shortly.Thankfully, this event has not detracted from the excitement of the pennant race. Enthusiastic fans are showing up in greater numbers and the teams are responding with outstanding hockey.QUEBEC: Since the beginning of December, Gaston Drapeau&rsquo;s forces have accumulated the league&rsquo;s best record with 42 points in 28 games. The Remparts kept their impressive record going with two easy wins. They outshot Sorel 54-19 en route to an 8-2 win. Dan Rioux scored twice. Then the Remparts blanked Laval 6-0 with Pierre Giard notching a pair.MONTREAL: The Juniors continued to roll with three Wins before losing to Hull 11-4. First, Alain Bouchard scored twice in a 4-3 win over Laval. Then Denis Savard had three goals and two assists to lead an 8-4 win over Cornwall. Against Shawinigan, Jean-Pierre Dubois scored a hat trick and Eric Morin added two in a 12-2 landslide victory. Linemates Denis Savard, Alain Bouchard, and Denis Cyr are now third, fifth, and eighth in league scoringHULL: The improved Olympics picked up three of a possible four points against difficult competition. Mike Brisebois was the hero in both games. He scored twice in a 2-2 tie with Chicoutimi, and then four more as the Olympics stunned Montreal 11-4CHICOUTIMI: After two disappointments&mdash;a 2-2 tie with Hull and a 9-1 loss to Cornwall&mdash;the Sagueneens delighted 4,500 home town fans by coming through in the clutch with a 9-7 win over rival Sherbrooke. Robert Millette raised his goal total to 36 with a hat trick, while Guy Carbonneau scored his 56th and 57th goals of the season.SHERBROOKE: The Beavers&rsquo; performance was the opposite of Chicoutimi&rsquo;s. They won two games before losing the big one to Chicoutimi. Alan Haworth scored twice in a 3-2 defeat of Sorel. Then Norm Aubin scored three in a 7-4 win over Trois-Rivieres. In the 9-7 Chicoutimi loss, Aubin had another hat trick, giving him a total of 76 goals in 56 games.SOREL: The Hawks had two home games postponed due to a workers&rsquo; strike in Sorel. They did play two other games, losing to Quebec 8-2 and Sherbrooke 3-2. The Hawks trail Hull by seven points, and must overtake the latter to make the playoffs.SHAWINIGAN: On the evening of the Racette-Bergeron bout, Alain Rioux scored twice to give the Cataractes a 4-4 tie. In other games, the Cats lost to Trois-Rivieres 5-2 and Montreal 12-2.CORNWALL: Rookie Dale Hawerchuk scored twice in an 8-4 loss to Montreal. The Royals then destroyed Chicoutimi 9-1. Scott Arneil and Mark Crawford each had two goal nights. The Royals then tied Laval 4-4.TROIS-RIVIERES: Michel Leblond scored twice as the Dra-veurs defeated Shawinigan 5-2. Then a 7-4 loss to Sherbrooke prevented them from gaining ground on the league leaders. Finally, the Draveurs had to settle for a 4-4 tie with Shawinigan.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01465/5044134-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="580" height="820"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chicoutimi&rsquo;s Robert Milette notched a hat trick in an important victory against Sherbrooke.</figcaption></div>LAVAL: With no chance of making the playoffs, the Voisins can only play the role of spoilers. In three games, they only managed a tie. That was a 4-4 deadlock with Cornwall thanks to three Neal Megannety goals.<h2>THE QMJHL LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02335/5044127-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="1170" height="274"></div> &#9632;

f0033-01

Pennant Fever Grips Quebec Teams

<h2>FEBRUARY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1682/5044399-1-eng-US/f0034-162.jpg" title="f0034-16" width="604" height="1224"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1775/5044392-1-eng-US/f0034-172.jpg" title="f0034-17" width="570" height="800"></div><h2>MARCH</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1871/5044385-1-eng-US/f0034-182.jpg" title="f0034-18" width="598" height="418"></div> &#9632;

f0034-16

WHERE NHL TEAMS PLAY

(Standings on Mon. Feb. 11<h2>NORRIS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1967/5044451-1-eng-US/f0034-192.jpg" title="f0034-19" width="565" height="152"></div><h2>ADAMS DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2058/5044444-1-eng-US/f0034-202.jpg" title="f0034-20" width="560" height="125"></div><h2>PATRICK DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2148/5044437-1-eng-US/f0034-212.jpg" title="f0034-21" width="554" height="126"></div><h2>SMYTHE DIVISION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-2243/5044430-1-eng-US/f0034-222.jpg" title="f0034-22" width="556" height="159"></div><h2>GAMES COMPLETED</h2>Tue. Feb. 5Wales 6, Campbells 3Wed. Feb. 6Washington 1 at Detroit 2Los Angeles 3 at Hartford 7Chicago 3 at Quebec 3St. Louis 6 at Edmonton 3Thu. Feb. 7Los Angeles 1 at Islanders 4Vancouver 4 at Philadelphia 1Colorado 3 at Montreal 4Pittsburgh 0 at Buffalo 9Toronto 6 at Boston 8Fri. Feb. 8Atlanta 4 at Edmonton 2Washington 6 at Winnipeg 3Colorado 4 at Hartford 4Sat. Feb. 9Quebec 0 at Islanders 5Philadelphia 6 at Detroit 5Vancouver 4 at Montreal 3Minnesota 5 at Pittsburgh 2Los Angeles 7 at Toronto 2Chicago 2 at Boston 5Buffalo 2 at St. Louis 3Sun. Feb. 10Quebec 1 at Rangers 3Los Angeles 2 at Philadelphia 5Atlanta 6 at Colorado 1Montreal 3 at Boston 2Minnesota 6 at Hartford 2Pittsburgh 2 at Chicago 3Toronto 4 at Detroit 1Edmonton 2 at Winnipeg 2 &#9632;

f0034-19

NHL SCOREBOARD

ATLANTA: Chouinard 18, 19, 20, 21, MacMillan 9, Lever 22, Nilsson 26, Clement 6, Pronovost 15, 16.BOSTON: Middleton, 24, 25, Jonathan 19, Rateile 22, Bourque 10, Miller 12, McNab 23, Wensink 9, Cashman 10, Redmond 12, Secord 15, 16.BUFFALO: Perreault 31, Martin 30, Gare 33, 34, 35, 36, McKegnev 13, Ramsav 15, Seiling 16,17, Van Boxmeer 7.CHICAGO: Sedlbauer 13, Murray 11, Trimper 3, 4, Lysiak 17, Preston 17, Bordeleau 6, Mulvey 29.COLORADO: Valiquette 16, 17, 18, Robert 20, 21, 22, Delorme 17, Deblois 19.DETROIT: Labraaten 22, Peterson 1, Nedomansky 28, McCourt 21, Mahovlich 12, Thompson 23, Foligno 25, 26.EDMONTON: Gretzky 33, 34, Callighen 18, 19, Messier 6, Weir 28, Chipperfield 13.HARTFORD: Stoughton 32, 33, Rogers 25, 26, 27, 28, M. Howe 17, 18, Douglas 24, G. Howe 12, Johnston 3, Debol 8, Ley 1.LOS ANGELES: Murphy 18, 19, 20, 21, Howse 1, Hopkins 6, 7, Apps 5.MINNESOTA: Young 18, 19, Zanussi 9, McAdam 28, 29, 30, Payne 29, McCarthy 13, Eaves 10, Andersson 4, B. Smith 13.MONTREAL: Tremblay 7, Lafleur 40, 41, Mondou 21, Languay 2, Shutt 30, 31, Larouche 34, Englbom 2, Naaier 7.ISLANDERS: Bossy 36, 37, Trottier 30, Tonelll 9, 10, Harris 14, 15, Kallue 12, Lorimer 2.RANGERS: Sulllman 4, Miller 5, Hedberg 27.PHILADELPHIA: MacLeish 28, Barber 28, 29, 30, Holmgren 15, Leach 37, Bridgman 10, Kelly 9, 10, Gorence 3, Propp 22, Dailey 10.QUEBEC: Cloutier 32, Tardif 16, Ftorek 18, Goulet 13.ST. LOUIS: Zuke 15, 16, Currie 12, Federico 22, 23, 24, 25, Dunlop 11, Patev 9.TORONTO: Williams 21, Sittler 21, 22, Turnbull 7, 8, Saganluk 14, Hockey 19, 20, Gardner 10, Maloney IS, 16, Anderson 18.WINNIPEG: Maricell 3, 4, Mann 3, Lukowich, 24, Marsh 16. &#9632;

NHL’S SCORERS THIS WEEK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01529/5044354-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="264" height="386"></div><h2>Wed Feb 6 WASHINGTON I DETROIT 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02412/5044347-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="569" height="525"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES 3, HARTFORD 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03314/5044340-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="566" height="695"></div><h2>CHICAGO 3, QUEBEC 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04219/5044333-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="572" height="620"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS 6, EDMONTON 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-05171/5044326-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="604" height="747"></div><h2>Thurs. Feb. 7 LOS ANGELES 1, ISLANDERS 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-06145/5044319-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="580" height="572"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 4, PHILADELPHIA 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-07134/5044312-1-eng-US/f0034-072.jpg" title="f0034-07" width="568" height="566"></div><h2>COLORADO 3, MONTREAL 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-08126/5044305-1-eng-US/f0034-082.jpg" title="f0034-08" width="582" height="587"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH 0, BUFFALO 9</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-09114/5044298-1-eng-US/f0034-092.jpg" title="f0034-09" width="570" height="711"></div><h2>TORONTO 6, BOSTON 8</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-10111/5044291-1-eng-US/f0034-102.jpg" title="f0034-10" width="624" height="1012"></div><h2>Fri. Feb. 8 ATLANTA 4, EDMONTON 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-11104/5044284-1-eng-US/f0034-112.jpg" title="f0034-11" width="576" height="570"></div><h2>WASHINGTON 6, WINNIPEG 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-12100/5044277-1-eng-US/f0034-122.jpg" title="f0034-12" width="581" height="675"></div><h2>COLORADO 4, HARTFORD 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1391/5044270-1-eng-US/f0034-132.jpg" title="f0034-13" width="575" height="573"></div><h2>Sat. Feb. 9 QUEBEC 0, ISLANDERS 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1487/5044263-1-eng-US/f0034-142.jpg" title="f0034-14" width="568" height="600"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA 4, DETROIT 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-1583/5044256-1-eng-US/f0034-152.jpg" title="f0034-15" width="564" height="768"></div><h2>VANCOUVER 4, MONTREAL 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01500/5044249-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="583" height="627"></div><h2>MINNESOTA 5, PITTSBURGH 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02397/5044242-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="560" height="623"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES 7, TORONTO 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03314/5044235-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="578" height="649"></div><h2>CHICAGO 2, BOSTON 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04261/5044228-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="562" height="646"></div><h2>BUFFALO 2, ST. LOUIS 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05214/5044221-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="620" height="476"></div><h2>Sun., Feb. 10 QUEBEC 1, RANGERS 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06195/5044214-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="571" height="500"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES 2, PHILADELPHIA S</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-07183/5044207-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="562" height="747"></div><h2>ATLANTA 6, COLORADO 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-08162/5044200-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="564" height="674"></div><h2>MONTREAL 3, BOSTON 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-09154/5044193-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="562" height="502"></div><h2>MINNESOTA 6, HARTFORD 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-10134/5044186-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="579" height="691"></div><h2>PITTSBURG 2, CHICAGO 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-11122/5044179-1-eng-US/f0035-112.jpg" title="f0035-11" width="573" height="664"></div><h2>TORONTO 4, DETROIT 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-12106/5044172-1-eng-US/f0035-122.jpg" title="f0035-12" width="574" height="620"></div><h2>EDMONTON 2, WINNIPEG 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1392/5044165-1-eng-US/f0035-132.jpg" title="f0035-13" width="581" height="578"></div> &#9632;

f0034-01

NATIONAL LEAGUE SUMMARIES

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Feb. 12)<h3>NORTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01476/5044607-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="564" height="155"></div><h3>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02361/5044600-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="573" height="279"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tues. Feb. 5Springfield 2 at New Brunswick 2Wed. Feb. 6New Haven 5 at Adirondack 6Rochester 3 at Hershey 2Nova Scotia 4 at Maine 6Binghampton 2 at Syracuse 5Thu. Feb. 7Springfield 3 at New Brunswick 5Fri. Feb. 8New Haven 4 at Binghamton 5Hershey 1 at Rochester 2Nova Scotia 4 at SyracuseSat. Feb. 9Rochester 0 at Adirondack 9New Haven 4 at Hershey 3Binghamton 1 at Maine 9Syracuse 4 at Springfield 8Sun. Feb. 10Maine 4 at Binghamton 1New Haven 4 at Syracuse 6<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03287/5044593-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="565" height="524"></div><h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tue. Feb. 12)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04209/5044586-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="583" height="315"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon. Feb. 4Tulsa 4 at Salt Lake 4Tue. Feb. 5Oklahoma City 3 at Birmingham 4Wed. Feb. 4Dallas 4 at Houston 5Fort Worth 5 at Oklahoma City 3Tulsa 1 at Salt Lake 5Fri. Feb. 8Salt Lake 3 at Birmingham 4Oklahoma City 0 at Dallas 4Houston 5 at Fort Worth 4Tulsa 0 at Indianapolis 2Sat. Feb. 9Salt Lake 5 at Birmingham 2Indianapolis 7 at Dallas 1Oklahoma City 1 at Fort Worth 5Tulsa 1 at Houston 1Sun. Feb. 10Tulsa 2 at Houston 4Salt Lake 4 at Indianapolis 3<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05165/5044579-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="573" height="472"></div><h2>CENTRAL JUNIOR</h2>(Standings on Tues., Feb. 12)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-06143/5044572-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="559" height="190"></div><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon., Feb.11)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-07135/5044565-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="566" height="159"></div><h3>SOUTH DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-08130/5044558-1-eng-US/f0036-082.jpg" title="f0036-08" width="571" height="287"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Wed., Feb. 4Toledo 7 at Grand Rapids 3Kalamazoo 2 at Fort Wayne 3Saginaw 1 at Port Huron 1Thu., Feb. 7Flint 4 at Milwaukee 2Fri. Feb. 8Muskegon 2 at Saginaw 4Kalamazoo 6 at Toledo 4Port Huron S at Grand Rapids 5Sat., Feb. 9Muskegon 0 at Fort Wayne 2Grand Rapids 4 at Port Huron 5Toledo 4 at Dayton 2Flint 1 at Saginaw 4Milwaukee 3 at Kalamazoo 8Sun., Feb. 10Flint 5 at Dayton 8Muskegon 4 at Kalamazoo 3Port Huron 3 at Toledo 4Saginaw 3 at Grand Rapids 2<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-09124/5044551-1-eng-US/f0036-092.jpg" title="f0036-09" width="568" height="401"></div><h2>EASTERN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Wed., Feb. 13)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-10121/5044544-1-eng-US/f0036-102.jpg" title="f0036-10" width="577" height="255"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tues., Feb. 5Baltimore 1 at Hampton 4Wed., Feb. 4Hampton 2 at Utica 7Johnstown 1 at Richmond 10Erie 3 at Baltimore 5Thurs., Feb. 7Soviets 9 at Erie 0Fri., Feb. 8Hampton 3 at Johnstown 5Sat., Feb. 9Richmond 0 at Baltimore 3Utica 4 at Johnstown 5Hampton 1 at Erie 9Sun., Feb. 10Erie 2 at Baltimore 4Johnstown 4 at Utica 9<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-11117/5044537-1-eng-US/f0036-112.jpg" title="f0036-11" width="565" height="281"></div> &#9632;

f0036-01

MINOR SCOREBOARD

1&mdash;Montreal2&mdash;Chicago3&mdash;Boston4&mdash;Rangers5&mdash;Detroit6&mdash;Toronto7&mdash;Philadelphia8&mdash;Los Angeles9&mdash;St. Louis10&mdash;Minnesota11&mdash;Pittsburgh12&mdash;Islanders13&mdash;Vancouver14&mdash;Buffalo15&mdash;Atlanta16&mdash;Washington17&mdash;Colorado18&mdash;Edmonton19&mdash;Hartford20&mdash;Quebec21&mdash;Winnipeg<h2>OTHER AFFILIATIONS</h2>22&mdash;Chicago&mdash;Toronto23&mdash;Boston&mdash;Los Angeles24&mdash;Quebec&mdash;Pittsburgh25&mdash;Edmonton&mdash;Winnipeg26&mdash;Montreal&mdash;Chicago27&mdash;Vancouver&mdash;Islanders28&mdash;Boston&mdash;Pittsburgh29&mdash;Atlanta&mdash;Colorado30&mdash;Washington&mdash;St. Louis31&mdash;Los Angeles&mdash;Hartford32&mdash;Que.&mdash;Islanders&mdash;Buff.33&mdash;St. Louis&mdash;Philadelphia34&mdash;Boston&mdash;Hartford &#9632;

Who They’re Affiliated With…

<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2><h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2746/5044683-1-eng-US/f0036-272.jpg" title="f0036-27" width="574" height="1052"></div><h2>CENTRAL LEAGUE</h2><h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2841/5044676-1-eng-US/f0036-282.jpg" title="f0036-28" width="566" height="780"></div><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2><h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2938/5044669-1-eng-US/f0036-292.jpg" title="f0036-29" width="572" height="736"></div><h2>EASTERN LEAGUE</h2><h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-3036/5044662-1-eng-US/f0036-302.jpg" title="f0036-30" width="548" height="678"></div> &#9632;

f0036-27

PRO GAMES TO COME…

<h2>ONTARIO MAJOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tues., Feb. 12)<h3>Emms Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-12113/5044812-1-eng-US/f0036-122.jpg" title="f0036-12" width="569" height="179"></div><h3>Leyden Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-13110/5044805-1-eng-US/f0036-132.jpg" title="f0036-13" width="566" height="157"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tues., Feb. 5Oshawa 4 at Peterborough 5Ottawa 2 at Kingston 4Toronto 3 at Brantford 7Sudbury 7 at Sault Ste. Marie 2Kitchener 4 at London 9Thurs., Feb. 7Kingston 1 at Windsor 3Kitchener 0 at Peterborough 8Fri., Feb. 8Kingston 1 at Kitchener 0Brantford 4 at Ottawa 7London 3 at Sudbury 4Peterborough 5 at Sault Ste. Marie 3Windsor 4 at Oshawa 4Niagara Falls 2 at Toronto 5Sun., Feb. 10Kitchener 2 at Toronto 10Kingston 1 at Oshawa 2Windsor 4 at Ottawa 2London 4 at Sault Ste. Marie 8Peterborough 4 at Sudbury 0Niagara Falls 4 at Brantford 11<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-14104/5044798-1-eng-US/f0036-142.jpg" title="f0036-14" width="562" height="406"></div><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Tues., Feb. 12)<h3>Western Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-15103/5044791-1-eng-US/f0036-152.jpg" title="f0036-15" width="564" height="132"></div><h3>Eastern Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-16100/5044784-1-eng-US/f0036-162.jpg" title="f0036-16" width="576" height="177"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Tues., Feb. 5Seattle 9 at Saskatoon 10Regina 4 at Calgary 3Wed., Feb. 4Brandon 2 at Portland 7Regina 3 at Medicine Hat 3Sat., Feb. 9Brandon 3 at Victoria 4Saskatoon 0 at Medicine Hat 4Portland 3 at Seattle 2Regina 3 at Billings 9Sun., Feb. 10Victoria S at Portland 12Brandon 8 at New Westminster 5Saskatoon 4 at Lethbridge 5Regina 4 at Billings 3Medicine Hat 3 at Calgary 8<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1794/5044777-1-eng-US/f0036-172.jpg" title="f0036-17" width="554" height="674"></div><h2>QUEBEC MAJOR LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Mon., Feb. 11)<h3>LeBel Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1889/5044770-1-eng-US/f0036-182.jpg" title="f0036-18" width="569" height="151"></div><h3>Dillo Division</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-1987/5044763-1-eng-US/f0036-192.jpg" title="f0036-19" width="569" height="132"></div><h3>GAMES COMPLETED</h3>Mon., Feb. 4Sorel 4 at Laval 5Tues., Feb. 5Shawinigan 1 at Quebec 7Cornwall 7 at Trois-Rivieres 4Wed., Feb. 4Chicoutimi 4 at Montreal 7Fri., Feb. 8Quebec 4 at Chicoutimi 12Cornwall 9 at Shawinigan 7Montreal 4 at Sherbrooke 15Hull 5 at Sorel 7Sun., Feb. 10Shawinigan 3 at Chicoutimi 7Quebec 3 at Cornwall 9Laval 2 at Montreal 15Sorel 4 at Sherbrooke 9Hull 2 at Trois-Rivieres 7<h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2083/5044756-1-eng-US/f0036-202.jpg" title="f0036-20" width="567" height="272"></div><h2>UNITED STATES LEAGUE</h2>(Standings on Fri., Feb. 1)<h3>NORTHERN CONFERENCE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2176/5044749-1-eng-US/f0036-212.jpg" title="f0036-21" width="568" height="135"></div><h3>SOUTHERN CONFERENCE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2273/5044742-1-eng-US/f0036-222.jpg" title="f0036-22" width="563" height="112"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2367/5044735-1-eng-US/f0036-232.jpg" title="f0036-23" width="562" height="499"></div><h2>GEORGIAN BAY LEAGUE</h2>(Standings On Fri., Feb. 8)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2460/5044728-1-eng-US/f0036-242.jpg" title="f0036-24" width="568" height="209"></div><h3>LEADING SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2556/5044721-1-eng-US/f0036-252.jpg" title="f0036-25" width="572" height="424"></div><h2>NORTHLAND LEAGUE</h2>(Standings On Fri., Feb. 1)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-2653/5044714-1-eng-US/f0036-262.jpg" title="f0036-26" width="582" height="162"></div> &#9632;

f0036-12

AMATEUR SCOREBOARD

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01487/5044864-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hockey aids the kids (Photos by Robert Wimmer)</figcaption></div>It was a heart-warming moment during the 32nd NHL All Star center, chairman of the All Star game dinner, was joined by Bob Montague, left and Red Foster, to accept a check for $75,000 in aid of the Special Olympics for handicapped children this summer. Looking on at rear left is Bruce Norns, owner of the Detroit Red Wings. NHL has been solidly behind the kids&rsquo; summer program for many years.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02385/5044857-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="1162" height="1845"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hands across the border</figcaption></div>Roger Doucet of Montreal beams out the Canadian national anthem during the All Star pre-game ceremonies at center ice. While Roger thrilled the record 21,002 crowd with his Canadian version, Roger Whittaker, left, followed with a magnificent rendition of the American anthem.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03308/5044850-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="1152" height="1381"><figcaption class="caption-body">Proud moment</figcaption></div>Reed Larson, star defenseman of the Detroit Red Wings, poses happily with his father who came from Minnesota to see his son perform with the winning Wales&rsquo; team in the NHL&rsquo;s 32nd All Star game at the new Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04236/5044843-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="1799" height="1380"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rolling back the clock</figcaption></div>When they performed as the great Production Line of the 1950s, Gordie Howe, left, Sid Abel, and Ted Lindsay, right, were untouchable. During the recent All Star game in Detroit, the three former Red Wing linemates had a reunion. Howe is still active while Lindsay is the current GM of the Red Wings. Abel is a color commentator for Detroit games and is an active businessman. &#9632;

f0038-01

HOCKEY PEOPLE

<div class="byline">BY MIKE DENNIS</div>TORONTO&mdash;Some people might not consider Patrick Wayne Ribble as lucky after coming to the Toronto Maple Leafs from Chicago Black Hawks early in the 1980 campaign, but the six-foot-four, 210-pound native of Leamington, Ont. is happy because he&rsquo;s playing regularly and he feels a part of the team.&ldquo;I know there was a lot of stuff going on here when I joined the team but I&rsquo;m keeping my nose out of it,&rdquo; Ribble explained. &ldquo;I just play my game and don&rsquo;t let anything bother me.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m playing more than I did in Chicago and actually, I would have been glad to go any place where Td get a chance to play. I had my name in their (Chicago&rsquo;s) bad books and although I dressed for 23 games I think I only played about two whole games this season,&rdquo; Ribble added.&ldquo;I was injured off and on and then when I&rsquo;d play I have a few shifts in the first period and wind up watching the rest of the game on the bench.&rdquo;Ribble&rsquo;s plight sounded much the same as Dave Hutchison&rsquo;s, the Leaf for whom he was traded. Hutchison had one of the best plusminus ratios on the Leafs a year ago under Roger Neilson but hardly saw any action under coach Floyd Smith. And while Hutchison had a reputation as a hard-nosed player, he apparently did not deliver the physical style expected of him by Smith and general manager Punch Imlach, and the Leafs went after Ribble, hoping to acquire a player who could move out some of the opposition forwards who have been setting up camp on the doorstep of the Leafs&rsquo; goal.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always been a defensive player,&rdquo; Ribble said. &ldquo;Just move the puck out and make sure around our net is clear.&ldquo;It was a big change for me going from Atlanta, (last March) where Fred Creighton just wanted the defensemen to get rid of the puck, to Chicago where they wanted us to rush when the opening was there, but now I&rsquo;m with a very experienced defense. At Chicago, I was the second oldest guy at 25 and Greg Fox, the only guy older than me, had only a few years of pro experience. Now I&rsquo;m playing mostly with Borje (Salming) and it works out well, his offense and my defense.&rdquo;Ribble, in effect, replaced Joel Quenneville in the Leafs&rsquo; defense corps, but the club&rsquo;s goals against average has been hovering above the five goals per game mark for the past several weeks with number one goaltender Mike Palmateer sidelined with an ankle injury.&ldquo;It will help when Palmy&rsquo;s back,&rdquo; said Ribble. &ldquo;Harry (Paul Harrison) isn&rsquo;t used to playing game after game as a starter so it&rsquo;s been tough on him. I&rsquo;m not sure why we&rsquo;re having so many goals against us. Part of it is that the other team is clogging up the front of our net with a big player, like Buffalo sends (Jim) Schoenfeld in there and Philadelphia does the same thing, but we&rsquo;ve got to take the man more.&ldquo;I feel that I&rsquo;m getting my legs and my wind back. I feel very well physically and I work hard in practice. I like to think that I&rsquo;ve always done that and I&rsquo;m ready to help this team.&ldquo;The attitude of the players isn&rsquo;t bad here. I don&rsquo;t read the papers, I just judge on how the players are, but you see a guy like Sit (Darryl Sittler) and he&rsquo;s playing really well for us despite all the pressure that&rsquo;s on him,&rdquo; Ribble commented.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve just got to plug away and tighten things up,&rdquo; Ribble summarized.As the Leafs opened the post-All Star portion of their schedule in Boston, where they had dropped a humiliating 10-0 decision which preceded their mid-December and January downslide, the aura of uncertainty surrounding the club continued to thicken.GM Imlach seemed intent on covering all of the angles about trading players from his team as strongly suggested by owner Harold Ballard who longs for a winning configuration. Sittier&rsquo;s name arose again in the middle of a supposed blockbuster deal with Buffalo which tabbed the Leafs&rsquo; ex-captain, along with Tiger Williams and Palmateer for the Sabres in exchange for goaler Don Edwards, winger Rick Martin and either Rick Seiling/Bill Hajt/or Jerry Korab&mdash;take your pick. Buffalo denied the deal.Upon departing for Boston, the Leafs left behind veteran center Walt McKechnie and winger Dan Maloney refurbishing the rumor mills that their days as Toronto players were numbered.LOOSE LEAFS: Ribble was handing out a number of stiff checks in the Leafs game against Los Angeles at home when he was sidelined after the second period. &ldquo;I had hurt my chest in Chicago and I kind of squeezed it in the second period and the doctor told me I had popped a couple of ligaments was Kibble&rsquo;s post-game analysis. He did not make the trip to Detroit that night for an afternoon game which Leafs won, 4-1 (halting a four-game losing streak) but indicated he would be at practise the following Monday&hellip;Leafs acquired goaltender Curt Ridley from the Vancouver Canucks in a cash deal and sent Vincent Tremblay back to Moncton. Jiri Crha was up with the team but down with the flu&hellip;Dave Farrish became the newest addition to the Leafs&rsquo; defense corps, also coming up from Moncton tor the Los Angeles game. He took the spot on the roster previously occupied by defenseman Darryl Maggs, who ended his comeback attempt and was last seen heading for Florida for a midwinter vacation.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01456/5044895-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="594" height="1044"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat Ribble&rsquo;s size and ability to hit should discourage rivals around the Leafs&rsquo; goal.</figcaption></div><div class="sidebar">The Leafs went after Ribble hoping to acquire a player who could move out the opposition. &#9632;</div>

f0039-01

Toronto Haven For New Defenseman

<div class="byline">BY PAT THOMPSON</div>BLOOMINGTON&mdash;Team unity, how do you build it and how do you find it again?The North Stars were asking that question heading into the All Star break after struggling through much of January after such a fine start.Soon after they had beaten the New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins and then stopped the record unbeaten streak of the Philadelphia Flyers, the Stars hit a snag.Did it all come too easily the first half of the season? The slip saw the Stars dip from third place to a torrid fight for sixth place by winning only once in a nine-game period.&ldquo;When things are going great, you don&rsquo;t pay much attention to the little things that might bother you,&rdquo; said defenseman Fred Barrett, who has been in Minnesota longer than any of the Stars. &lsquo;&lsquo;When they&rsquo;re not going well, things tend to be magnified.&rdquo;The Stars tackled the problem head on after a series of these little instances.The most major involved third year defenseman Brad Maxwell, who drew a fine and sat out two games after he vocally criticized coach Glen Sonmor for being benched.Before Maxwell was reinstated, he apologized to Sonmor and his teammates.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always considered myself a team man,&rdquo; Maxwell said. &ldquo;When Glen told me I wasn&rsquo;t going to play, I didn&rsquo;t feel a part of the team. I had no confidence. It was easy to apologize. I know now that I put myself above the team. Hopefully we&rsquo;ve worked this out, for the good of the team.&rdquo;Maxwell, in his first game, played a key role as the North Stars tied the Islanders in New York.&ldquo;Brad was just outstanding,&rdquo; Sonmor said. &ldquo;We chart takeouts and he had 16 in that game. We sat him out before because he just hadn&rsquo;t been playing like he can.&rdquo;The tie against the Isles came soon after Sonmor called a team meeting to discuss the very question of team unity and spirited play.&ldquo;In the games after the meeting, I think the players did everything we talked about very well,&rdquo; Sonmor said. &ldquo;For one thing, we wanted to be more encouraging on the bench. It doesn&rsquo;t do anyone any good if they come back to the bench off a shift and hear grumbling. Another thing is that we know how teams are going to play us on the road, and we shouldn&rsquo;t be letting any of that nonsense stuff continue.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m confident that we have weathered the worst of it. We are showing signs of coming out of this slump. The best way to work out of these things is through hard work. We&rsquo;re going to be a much better team for it.&rdquo;The Stars showed a great deal on the ice during a fine first half, and they seemed to have rediscovered it heading into the final 30 games of the regular season. It showed against the Islanders.Right winger Ron Zanussi felt so. He has been one of the better checkers, and he felt renewed confidence after the comeback tie. &ldquo;It was great to see everyone taking their guys out,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what we have to do to get out of this thing. Every game now, you can see us playing better hockey again. We are progressing to the point we were at earlier in the season.&rdquo;Now if the Stars can ever have everyone healthy at one time, the unification process will be that much smoother.All Star team selection Gary Sargent missed the final four games before the All Star break with a back injury, playing only one in a seven-game period. Left winger Mike Fidler, who missed most of the first half with a broken bone in his knee, was lost indefinitely with a shoulder injury.Right winger Kent Anderssqn, who has played with a broken bone in his foot, missed several games with a rib injury. Flu swept through the team at the worst possible time.Through it all, the Stars sought unity.STAR DUST: Called up from Oklahoma City were defenseman Curt Giles and wingers Tony White and Dan Chicoine. White returned to the minors and Dave Hanson was recalled after a three-game trip to the Central League&hellip;Rookie Tom McCarthy leads the team in game-winning goals, four, and adds one game-tying score&hellip;The Stars had not been shutout this season until losses to Boston and Chicago in a week&rsquo;s span&hellip;They&rsquo;ve still never won a game in Boston Garden, a span of 32 games in 13 seasons. &#9632;

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